Swamp Visit

Having people come visit us out here is the best. Mostly because I miss seeing family but also because it gives Scott and I the excuse to go do things we haven't tried before! Tamara and Shannon came and stayed with us last weekend and Tamara really wanted to hold a gator so we found a swamp tour to try out.

It was gorgeous out there. Not a normal Utah fall mountains gorgeous but a Louisiana swamp gorgeous that can only really be appreciated in person. The only downside was the fact that we were doing a tour in November which meant that there were no really big gators out and about. When it gets cold they basically hibernate.

Gator on a log! He's trying to warm up, it was a chilly day.

Gator!

The water was perfectly still and this tree had the most amazing Spanish moss.

We did see quite a number of birds on our little swamp tour. Isn't this guy so picturesque?

Behold, the gator! She was a little baby one.

This is the only picture of all four of us from the entire trip. How pathetic is that?

Our tour guide was this awesome guy who knew everything and anything about the swamp. He actually lives in a swampy area called Lafitte that is south of New Orleans and he is Cajun. It was so interesting hearing about his life and how he was brought up speaking French and living in the swamp. 

I'm definitely planning on going on another swamp tour in the spring when the weather warms back up and the big gators are out! Friends are always welcome too. :)

Why Write?

With not having a job right now I was running out of things to do to keep me busy during the day. A good friend told me to try out calligraphy, and can I just say that I'm so grateful I did! Calligraphy is amazing and addicting. It has a way of calming you and sucking you in. It's the same feeling I get when I do embroidery. I'm focused in on this simple task, be it a stitch or a stroke, that everything else fades away and I become relaxed. I just write, or I just sew and nothing else matters.

I came across this video though and thought I would share.

Why Write?

Now if you don't have 16 minutes to just sit down and watch this TED clip, then scroll a little further. But really, you should watch it.



The medical loving side of me caught on to this research he mentioned... Here are the notes:

-He took a cognitive psychology class and studied how handwriting helps develop the brain. During the different tactile movements of doing handwriting, the brain is engaged in more areas and the information is ingrained into the brain. The same was not found to be true with typing however, which does not involve the same type of differential tactile movements.
-Handwriting was also found to be incredibly helpful in small children who were learning to read. By forming the individual letters they had a deeper understanding of the anatomy of each one, and were therefore able to recognize it when it came time to read it on the page.
-Cursive was found to be even more beneficial to the brain. Researchers and scientists have done brain scans on children learning cursive and found that the different parts of the brain engaged are similar to those that adults typically use for writing and higher reasoning. The screen went blank when the kids were doing typing because it didn't involve the same type of tactile movement.

Interesting right?! I love learning about how amazing the body is and how things effect each other.

Here's another article for you:

Why Writing by Hand Could Make You Smarter

I think it was in high school that I decided I wanted to start writing in cursive more. (I'll have to check my journal for sure though.) I had to do a google search for the cursive alphabet for some of the letters I had forgotten from elementary school. Cursive became my primary handwriting for my journal and remains still. I love cursive. It's so fun and fast and beautiful.

If all of this hasn't inspired you to take a second look at your handwriting then I don't know what will. It's never to late to try something new. Start with cursive and just a normal pen or pencil. I think knowing cursive beforehand has been helpful with picking up calligraphy. And then try some calligraphy. I'm excited to really study it out and practice. I find myself looking at billboards now and imagining the direction that the strokes would need to go to produce the thick/thin look of the letters. Pathetic I know but whatever. It happens!

5 books I read over and over

I was looking at all of the books in my bookcase the other day and I realized that there are five books that I always come back to. Books that I've read multiple times and will continue to read over and over again. Would you like to know what they are?

In no particular order, here they are:

{1} Jane Eyre: by Charlotte Bronte

The first time I read Jane Eyre I thought it was boring and couldn't read past her living at the school as an orphan. Which is ridiculous because that's the very beginning of the book and it's a short section. Eventually my younger sister read it all the way through and was in love with it. So of course, I had to try it out again.

I love this part... "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?... And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you."

(Also, just reading that has my mind singing the song from the broadway that uses that exact same line in the lyrics.)

{2} Life of Pi: by Yann Martel

When I was younger, the cousins would draw names for Christmas gifts. One year, the cousin whose name I had drawn had this book on her list. I bought it for her and was immediately curious about it. Eventually I read it and instantly fell in love.

The book has these little nuggets of goodness throughout the book.

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

That line! It gets me every time.

Some people have a hard time getting into this book. It's slow at first and they can never make it to the ship sinking. Which is a bummer because after that is where it really gets good!

People also have a problem with the ending of this book. I love the idea that it carries though. "The world isn't just the way it is... we bring something to it, no? Doesn't that make life a story?"

It's the idea of creating a story in order to live through or with a moment. To remember things just a little different so you can still enjoy the memory. 

If you've seen the movie, Big Fish, the dad does this same thing with elaborating the stories and weaving in all sorts of tall tales. It's his way of becoming immortal through his stories, even though his life was more plain and ordinary.

{3} Cyrano de Bergerac: by Edmond Rostand

I have a special place in my heart for this little play. The movers packed this book with the cover bent and I nearly had a fit when I unpacked it. 

I was introduced to this book in high school. It was one of the books we studied in class. It's a play about a man with an abnormally large nose who is very witty and eloquent with words and also handy with a sword. He's in love with Roxana but she sees him as just a good friend. Christian is a new soldier and is very handsome and has caught the attention of Roxana but he gets tongue tied very easily and Roxana wants poetry and eloquence. So Cyrano helps Christian win over Roxana by telling him what to say and writing the letters for him. "You plus I equals one hero of the storybooks,"

Now it doesn't end there of course, but this book has little lines sprinkled throughout that make me laugh out loud sometimes! Cyrano is so witty and clever. "Call it a sort of lie, if you like, but a lie is a sort of myth, and a myth is sort of truth. No reason why Roxana should be disillusioned. Let's start a fruitful collaboration."

{4} The Fountainhead: by Ayn Rand

My last year in junior high, my English teacher gave us a list of books to read for the college bound student. Well, I love reading and I was obviously college bound so I would thumb through the list and underline titles that sounded interesting. Most of the time I had no idea what the book was even about. That's how I discovered The Fountainhead. It's kind of a catchy title and when I found out it was about an architect, I was sold. (I was interested in architecture at the time as well.)

Roark is an architect who battles conventional standards. He is a modern architect and in my mind I envision his style to be similar to Frank Lloyd Wright.

This paragraph defines Roarks ideas about architecture.

 The book is all about individualism instead of collectivism. Which is everything Ayn Rand is about. The book is a little bit of a hefty read as far as length goes. But I love her development of characters and her writing. 

{5} The Screwtape Letters: by C.S. Lewis

I can't rave enough about this book. I don't even remember how I came across it, but it's high up there on my list. And C.S. Lewis is pure genius.

It's about a devil named Screwtape who writes letters to his nephew devil, Wormwood, about how to go about tempting the human he's been assigned. He gives his nephew advice about how the humans work, what areas they are weak in and how to use that to an advantage. 

As you read, you have to flip things around a little to gain the full perspective. When he says, "the Enemy" he's referring to "God."

This is a hefty book, not in length but in quality. You almost have to read one letter a day and just soak it in until you can move on.

Really, the book is amazing and well worth anyone's time. I think I end up relating every church lesson back to this book. 

So there you have it, five more books to potentially add to your reading list!

Enjoy.

Something About Trees

The other day I was thinking about my Utah mountains and I realized that I have yet to miss them. That's a little odd considering I love them and missed them all the time when I was up in Rexburg. But I looked around and I think I know why I'm okay out here.

Trees. Big, tall trees.

The mountains back at Utah cradle you in a way. You feel secure being surrounded by them. Like they're a comfort blanket.

The trees have the same effect to me. They're so tall and loom over you everywhere. You can never see very far without a wall of trees blocking the view. (Unless your driving on the Causeway or in New Orleans... that's a whole different ball game.) But I like it. It feels cozy.

(Views from my balcony)

There's a couple trees here that always catch my attention.

The first are Crepe Myrtle trees. They are literally everywhere. They don't have one solid trunk, but multiple skinny trunks. At the end of the branches shoot out these pink flowers that look like half of a lilac. Most of the ones I see are sparse like this one... and I don't love the look of them.

But if it was an older tree and more filled out, then you get this... Which is pretty cool.

The second are the giant Oak trees that just drip with moss. Really, I can't get enough of these trees! They are my absolute favorite.

I was driving around downtown Covington today initially to find the farmers market. What I found wasn't worth getting out of my car for, so I just kept driving through all these old small neighborhoods. I found the most amazing giant oak tree. Not even kidding you.

This giant amazing oak tree also happens to be growing right in the middle of the road. The photo looks like it's right in the center of the road like a round about, but it's not. It's on the edge right before the intersection. 

Anyways, these trees are everywhere, especially on our drive to church. It's a good thing Scott drives so I can just look out my window. :)

One last picture. This is right by my apartment! (Ignore the yoga pose, sorry!) I love this area though!

A Biography

A few things from the book I'm reading right now, Go Forward With Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley.

Some quotes about Gordon B. Hinckley's father...

"Father was not interested in the mysteries of the Kingdom. The thing that characterized his religion was its application to everyday life. He had little use for religion that did not register in one's life, that did not manifest itself in his behavior. He never regarded religion as a cloak that could be laid off and put on at one's convenience..."

"I think I have never seen as good a man as he was. He preached the loudest by practice and the least by noise or talk of any man I ever knew."

.......

Gordon's childhood...

"All of the pruning, year after year, yielded an important lesson that embedded itself in Gordon's subconscious: the quality of fruit picked in September is determined by the way the trees are shaped and trimmed in February."

"Over time, Gordon developed a familiarity with good books and came to appreciate what his parents valued - literature and history, learning and education. Years later he concurred with Emerson, who, when asked which of all the books he had read had most affected his life, said that he could no more remember the books he had read than the meals he had eaten, but that they had made him."

.......

"There is nothing that dulls a personality so much as a negative outlook."

Swinging Music

Brainiac

Did any of you happen to see this article the other day? (17 year old girl builds artificial 'brain' to detect breast cancer) The title alone blows me away let alone her simple matter of fact statement, "I taught the computer how to diagnose breast cancer."

I don't know about you but I was no where near building neural networks when I was in 7th grade. And as much as I feel like a complete failure after reading articles like these, I still love reading all about them. Smart, talented little prodigy kids are awesome. They blow my mind.

Here's a link to her project summary, if you feel like delving a little further.

Top 50

I came across this website today that has the Top 50 'Pictures of the day for 2012'. It's fantastic. Let me just share with you some of my favorites.

Sorry I had a really hard time limiting how many pictures I wanted to share from this collection. I love some of the titles they gave to the pictures on the website. But here's the site for the Top 50 'Pictures of the day from 2011'. Enjoy!

Math Doodling

Radio Hit Wonder (and I seriously wonder...)

We watch the Today Show at the hospital in the mornings and some mornings they show a live performance from a popular artist. Today's artists was the band Train.
Enjoy. (If you can get past his awful flat tone right from the first measure.)

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I'm sorry but I feel like if you have a career as a singer you should sound the same whether you are heard on the radio or during a live performance. Why are most of our popular radio hits coming from people who can't actually sing? It just all seems a little backward to me.

To make up for posting that awful singing I'll make it up to you with some fantastic songs from Jason Mraz's Live On Earth concert. Enjoy. (For real.)

Shirt/Skirt

Mens button up long sleeve shirt = skirt

Hearts

Average beats per minute: 70
Average beats per day: 100,000
Average beats per lifetime: 2.5 billion

Average blood pumped per beat: 2 1/2 ounces
Average blood pumped per day: 1,980 gallons
Average blood pumped per year: 660,500 gallons

Thank you dear heart for the constant care you give my body.

Benjamin Franklin

So I've been reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and I am so impressed by this man. Firstly he was raised by a wise father who "liked to have, as often as he could, some sensible friend or neighbor to converse with, and always took care to start some ingenious or useful topic for discourse, which might tend to improve the minds of his children. By this means he turned our attention to what was good, just, and prudent in the conduct of life." I can only imagine what a huge impact this had on Franklin for he seemed on improving himself for the rest of his life. There was no petty gossip in his teenage life. He made friends with those who among himself, loved reading. They would go into the woods and read aloud to each other and discuss ideas, themes, poetry... I can't even imagine a group of boys in high school reading to each other like that. Too bad though, Franklin makes a good point later saying, "Influence upon the private character, late in life, is not only an influence late in life, but a weak influence. It is in youth that we plant our chief habits and prejudices; it is in youth that we take our party as to profession, pursuits and matrimony."

Another quote from him that I thought was very interesting about the religions of that time, "These I esteem'd the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, tho' with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mix'd with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote or confirm morality, serv'd principally to divide us and make us unfriendly to one another."

A few years later Franklin tells about 13 virtues which at that time were necessary and desirable to him. He gives his own definition of what they mean and puts them in a specific order at which to work at attaining them.
1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
"Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up... This being acquir'd and establish'd, Silence would be more easy. This and the next Order, I expected would allow me more time for attending to my project and my studies. Resolution once become habitual, would keep me firm in my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues; Frugality and Industry freeing me from my remaining debt and producing affluence and independence, would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, ect., ect."
Franklin goes on to say, "I was supris'd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish."

Now can you imagine any leader of this nation right now having this on their mind? I would be shocked and surprised if any of them were striving like this to better themselves.

Anyways, one last quote.
"In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, tho' I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it."

A World of Half Trees

 This post is dedicated to all the trees out there that sacrificed their limbs for human advancement. Thank you.