In Romania!

Well, sort of...Rachel and I went to Georgetown University where a Romanian author, Gabriela Adameșteanu, was lecturing and reading passages from her novel, Dimineaţa Pierdută. 


It was fascinating to learn more about post-WWII and communism period Romania from the artistic viewpoint of someone who experienced it! We met a professor who has spent a good portion of his life learning about Romania and studying Romanian just because he likes it, a young man who wanted his picture taken with the author and subsequently failed to give me his email address (I will forever have a picture of an unidentified guy), and I even got the chance to talk to the author afterwards about the revolutions in Romania and Hungary (in Romanian! And she didn't transition to English when she inevitably realized it's not my native language!!). Overall, succes!

 It certainly pays to have the Romanian Embassy alert you when there are fabulous events going on in DC! Finished off a great evening with ice cream from a Georgetown establishment.

Happy Parts of 2011!

So grateful for these! They really made what could 
have been a fail year turn out to be a semi-successful 
year. Thanks happy parts!

Ringing in 2011 at Disney World!

Getting back to my French Class roots and finding 
the king in the cake with the fam. 
Happy Epiphany!

Discovering places like Ford's Theater and the Spy Museum with friends

Almost dying in Snowmageddon the Younger. Thrilled to be a part of it actually. Feel I missed out being in Romania during Snowmageddon the First. Good thing we had Marissa's bed to keep warm in when we didn't have power for, oh, three days.

Discovering places like The National Cathedral with friends

Visiting The Aunt in Asheville, North Carolina

Cherry Blossoms!!!

Saying good-bye to The Brother. Okay, so that wasn't 

totally happy, but getting him back in 16 more 

months will be! 

Knowing I have friends in Utah who still care :) (I think...)

Being in St. George for Elizabeth's wedding and learning 

about a family that is very different than mine but 

as equally incredibly wonderful!

THE BEACH

THE BEACH!

THE BEACH!!

(seeing the USS Cole & the USS New York: a ship 

forged from the steel of the World Trade Center)

DANCING INTO TWENTY-FIVE

@ a party with which some awesome friends 

surprised me. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties,

the video is not available for your viewing pleasure 

on this page. You will have to check The FB.

Running my 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th 5Ks. This year's goal:

Half Marathon. Wish me luck!

Discovering Eastern Market!

Watching Fred learn how to drive 

and parallel park :)

Celebrating the Fourth of July in DC!

Attending my Romania Mission President's homecoming!

So good to see all the mission buddies!!

Driving across the country to get to the homecoming!

If you're ever in Denver, you must hug the big blue bear.

Thank you for making the trip happen Jeffrey Divis.

Spending time in Palmyra, New York with Missy, her family,

and friends visiting LDS Church History sites and

seeing the Hill Cumorah Pageant!

Introducing new family to the best place on earth

and spending two weeks with them there.

Discovering the Library of Congress with the Relief Society.

I now have a reader card and can sit and learn in that 

beautiful building whenever I want!

Um, Grandma got baptized! That's about all I can say

about that. I'm kind of still in shock. :)

Having so many great Romania Mission 

buddies here in DC!!

Visiting Pittsburgh's greatest nurse in Steelers Country!

Bucket List moment on Thanksgiving Day

in New York City :) (well, basically the whole

trip was incredible!)

Making awesome Christmas memories in DC!

Like singing in Institute Choir, singing in the ward

Christmas Program, and singing carols

at the Romanian Embassy!! Did I mention I did a lot

of singing this Christmas? And...discovered a LOT

of delicious holiday recipes. Hit me up if you need

some next Christmas!

Happy New Year!

No longer MIA!...and what he's teaching

Almost 6 months into his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santiago, Chile, I have finally seen pictures of my CUTE wittle brother in a suit with a name tag! Not because he sent them, because our family stalked his mission blog. :) Behold:

 My brother is in the front, second from the left!

Dead center, front row

view of Santiago and the Andes

For details on why he is in Chile and what he is doing there, see here. However, as I spent 18 months in Romania teaching the same things, I can tell you the basics. He was called by a prophet of God (President Thomas S. Monson) to tell people that the church established by Jesus Christ when he lived on the earth began to fade away after His death. Members faced severe persecution and all but one of the apostles were martyred. This is a period called the Great Apostasy, when there was a “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3) from the gospel Christ organized. The authority to bestow priesthood keys and to receive revelation for the Church was lost along with many precious teachings. This website, run by the LDS Church, explains things better than I can.

My brother is telling people about Joseph Smith, a teenage boy in 1820, in upstate New York, during a time of religious excitement. Joseph was confused about which church he should join and asked God through prayer. The answer he received was that none of them were true. He (through the power of God) was instrumental in restoring the true church of Jesus Christ to the earth again.

Recently, there has been a lot of media, political, and other attention focused on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormon Church). I am generally happy about the attention regardless of whether it is positive or negative because it means more people with become at least a little familiar with the church I belong to! Once in a while, however, I feel it is necessary to clarify; even if the offender could be classified as psychologically insane and even if no one is listening to me :)

Anderson Cooper interviews Dr. Robert Jeffress (a baptist pastor who believes there should be an evangelical president in the White House and called Mormonism a cult):

Now...even if "cult" can be theologically defined as a religion/religious group with a founder other than Jesus Christ, Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) doesn't qualify. Why? Because Joseph Smith did not found said church. Jesus Christ did. Joseph Smith restored it. If you have questions about that, see my linked websites, comment here, or get in touch with me and I will put you in touch with people like my brother who are in your area. People called of God to explain it.

P.S. Points to Anderson Cooper, he ROCKS!

Origins

On October 31, 2009 I walked out my door on the 4th floor of an apartment building in Cluj-Napoca, Romania to find dog poop and one kiwi fruit occupying the same 1 square foot space on the landing. Aside from having a strong desire to regurgitate breakfast, I was intrigued. How do two seemingly different objects come to be in such close proximity to each other?? The wonderfully fabulous Sora V., who resides in my top ten favorite people in the entire world list, kindly posed for a picture:

after which, I laughed to myself while the aforementioned Sveta Vasylyeva likely mused on how strange her companion was. Perhaps it was the state of eternal exhaustion I seemed to be functioning in or the two hours I had just spent attempting to create analogies and metaphors tied to scripture stories and religious principles in personal and companion study, but that combination seemed like the perfect example of how nonsensical and purportedly messed up life can seem. I therefore vowed in the elevator ride down that kiwi and dog poop would somehow become my life maxim, motto or mascot, if you will, for putting life events into perspective and proper order. And so it begins...