Christmas and a New Year

Did you have a good Christmas? I did! I went home to Colorado to spend winter break with my beloved family. Dear reader, did you know that this is the first dry Christmas I have seen in over ten years? We always have deep snow on or before December 25, but the Windsor area has not had any measurable snow this year. We are officially in a drought, though there will be plenty of snow melt from the mountains in the spring. It's kinda weird. But so goes the Windsor bubble.

In other news, one of my new year goals falls in line with Elder Quentin L. Cook's recent conference talk, "Let There Be Light." He encouraged us to make values based on religious beliefs a part of the public discourse. I will be sharing a daily value on this site for all of 2011! It is going to be a challenge, but I think I can do it with enough discipline. And posture. And also pursuit driving abilities. Kudos to anyone who catches that reference. Anyway, if you need a pick-me-up, head on over to Lantern Light for a value-based post. And have a Happy New Year!

I'll post awesome pictures soon! Love ya!

Sailing on the Dawn Treader

As is my tradition, I went to the midnight release of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader this morning. I still feel that rocking, rolling motion of the sea. And every time I have to leave Narnia at the end of these movies, I get sick to my stomach. My mom would call it pathetic. I call it sympathetic. The characters are so real to me that I can easily feel what they are feeling. It's a combination of excellent writing, good acting, and fabulous audience participation. :)

For those of you interested in seeing it, the movie was a spiritual journey for all involved. It's so different from the first two (by the nature of the book) and yet so good! They changed a few things in the adaptation, but everything worked for me. I was emotionally exhausted at the end, but I can't wait to do it all over again! I read a review that perfectly describes the three Narnia movies: "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is iconic. Prince Caspian is epic. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is intimate." This movie is not about war; it's about people. And I love it!

One of the things that impressed me the most was the thematic richness. There are so many layers, it will take me a long time (and several trips to the theater) to figure them all out. Here is one of my favorite lines, given by the adorable Reepicheep to a mourning Eustace: "Extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people. Perhaps your destiny is far greater than you can imagine." To me, it means that sometimes we are put through trials so that we can learn how to reach our potential, how to be like our Heavenly Father. And that our potential is beyond imagination. Which is saying something because I have a big, huge, wild, overactive imagination!

But the movie also takes you on an exciting adventure with a few swordfights, a squall, a dragon, and (gasp!) a sea-serpent that really scared the gold off my boots. I wantwantwant to be a Narnian sailor! Like so:

If I'm a good girl for the rest of the year, maybe Santa will allow me into Narnia for Christmas.

Happy December, and What a Spooky Day

Note to self: the second month of each semester (February and October) will be boring. The third month (March and November) will be busy.

Graduate school is kicking my butt, so I'm here to blog about it, naturally. Actually, I'm here to wish you all a happy December and to tell you about my spooky day. These are the spooky things that happened to me:

1) This morning, when I got up at 6, my roommates were already awake. This never happens. I thought that maybe it was 6 at night instead of 6 in the morning. I've been known to wake up from an afternoon nap thinking that it's already morning.

2) When I walked to class at 7:45, there was hardly anyone on campus. Usually there are lots of people heading to their 8 o'clock jobs or classes and such. I wondered if it was really Saturday instead of Friday.

3) The clock in the Eyring Science Center was 5 minutes fast so I thought I was running late. But I wasn't.

4) The bells did not ring at 8am when class was supposed to be starting. I just had to start teaching.

5) The bells finally rang at 8:20. Three times. In succession.

6) I sat down next to a random person in the library and upon closer inspection, I discovered that it was Jess, my roommate.

7) The clocks in the Jesse Knight Building were 2 hours and 5 minutes slow. At 11:20, they read 9:15.

Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Have you ever had a spooky day? Tell me about it!