Until We Meet Again, Preston

One of my best friends, Stefanie Carver, lost her husband to loss of brain funtion on Tuesday, September 14. They were married just over a year ago and they have a son, Braxton D Lodeserto, who is 9 months old. You can read his obituary here.

I just can't even imagine what she is going through right now. She is being so strong for herself and her little boy. I can't even comprehend losing a husband at age 21. He in a serious ATV accident over Labor Day weekend, where it rolled and landed on him cutting the flow of oxygen to his brain. He was life flighted to the Provo Hospital where he was in the ICU for almost a week and a half with no brain activity. The thing that gets me is that his spinal cord was still funtioning so he had reflexes such as he would squeeze your hand, and when he heard noise he would turn his head and LOOK at you. Yes, his eyes would be open and look at you. But he wasn't awake and he was comprehending what his eyes saw, because his brain wasn't working to register the sight. I dont' know how his family was so brave. If i saw that i would fight and say that he was alive, but the doctors were very understanding and simply told them that he was gone and just his body was there.

It has been a week and half fight for his family throught this struggle. I feel terrible. Life is so short. I can't imagine what their families are going through, but my prayers are with them.

Catch Up!

Wow, I have been wanting to blog forever! So much is going on that we just don't have time...

First off and most exciting.. I just wanted to announce that... IT'S A GIRL!!

Yep, and I am so excited. She will be here January 25. Which should be easy to remember because it is my best friend Heather's bday and my father-in-law Steve's Bday! It's a popular day. .. This is be my stepmom's (Sage) 2ND girl! My 2ND little sister! And... My dad's 3rd daughter! Seriously? There are no boy grandchildren on my dad's side, but I guess that is just how it is going to be! I am super excited. I just love babies...

On this baby note, I just a got new calling in my ward. And I am not so sure I can get the job done. I was called to be the 2ND counselor in the Primary Presidency... I am super excited because I get to miss Sunday school and be around babies, but I will miss Relief Society. (It really is a relief to be around all women.) But my biggest concern: I never went to primary. I didn't start going to church until I was 15. Though somehow I was baptized when I was 8. I don't know any primary songs or what even happens in this class, but I am super excited to find out. It was pretty funny what I was thinking about before I had the interview though. I was reading a talk on my Droid (cell phone) from an Apostle (I forgot who though, I'm terrible) and it was talking about how you are given a calling from you bishop, but you are called of God when you receive it. And although you were chosen for this calling for inspiration, it is our job to make it work. Just because we were called doesn't mean the gift will be naturally given to you to fulfill the calling, you have to work to receive it. So... I have a lot of work a head of me.

Anthony has been so busy with school. He is just getting all the requirements done for all of his upcoming Medical school applications. He needs 4 different leadership opportunities so he is a VP of MUSA (Marriott Undergraduate Student Association) and a member of the Marriott Business School Marketing club. With these clubs he had to add a 2 credit hour class so he now has 19 credits! And he is working 25-35 hours a week. Isn't he amazing. I wish I had that stamina; I am just counting down the days until I can quit working and attending school. I am pretty excited to start teaching English. I am learning more and more everyday that I can't wait to share, though I am dreading making over 400 lesson plans per year. It seriously takes me about 3-4 hours to make one lesson. That is a lot of hours.

Good (and some bad) Reads

So I get asked all the time what I am reading once I tell people I am an English major. So I should probably keep my blog up to date on my current reads.

Faves or Dives.

Light in August is a great book. I read it in my Modern American Lit class and I couldn't put it down. It is about 3 strangers who end up me coming together in very strange circumstances. The characters are amazing and who can say no Faulkner?!

Fave.

Regeneration is also a fave. I read it in my Modern British Lit class last year. It is a WWII book about the soldiers with PTSD and how they experimented on treatments back then. It is a great book.

Fave.

I just finished this. I know that English majors aren't supposed to like Stephanie Meyer, but I do, so there! It is an easy read, except I already knew the ending because of the Eclipse book so that was a downer. I would say So-So.
Not a Dive, but not a Fave.

John Steinbeck=Genius. This is probably the book that has impacted my life this most. It is set during (I think) the 30's-40's and goes through the depression. It has such a large variety of characters that anyone can relate to them. It based on the story of Cain and Abel and every character can relate to a character in that story, but some character can also be represented as Adam and Eve characters. If you notice the names and the actions it is fun to play with biblical ideas.
FREAKING FAVE. (That is a lot.)



This book was recommended to me. Although I couldn't put it down and it cost me many hours of sleep I hated it. It had no literary value to me. Although it captivated me, it wasn't written well. It had a bit of the same feel as the Twilight series. I couldn't put them down, but a lot of people can't stand the way she rights because she doesn't make you think. Same goes for this book. I like books that don't tell me how it is, but let me actually figure things out for myself. If I wanted to have easy entertainment I would watch TV. I guess I am growing out of Adolescent Lit pretty fast.

COMPLETE DIVE. (It hit the bottom of the deep end.)

Let The Wild Rumpus Begin!!

Well, it is back to the grinding stone for us. We both have started school and we already are super busy. Anthony has only been in school for 3 days and I have been awake with him for probably 6 hours total. This is going to be one crazy semester and next semester will be even more hectic. Because of my school schedule I had to start taking the closing shifts at work so I don't even get home until 9:30! Then I have a ton of homework and Anthony does too. Ugh.. so glad it's almost OVER.

I am pleased to announce that I have started my LAST semester of classes! Wooo WHooo! I start student teaching in January! I have some pretty interesting classes and I am loving it already. ( I have been in class for 2 weeks.) I am taking a class called Literature of the Sacred. This class focuses on the different religions of the world and how they are different through the sacred texts that they read. My professor is focusing on the different readings that the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths read the Genesis 1-3 Adam and Eve story. I am learning a lot, though there are some extremely retarded people in my class. We argued for 30 minutes about what IS evil. That wasn't even the point of the lesson; the lesson was supposed to be how evil came to be by pulling evidence from the text. There are a lot of different religions in my class and this girl kept trying to say the death isn't evil! We know it's not evil, but it's not GOOD! I was about to stuff my carrots in her mouth so she would shut up! But besides my actual classmates, I am enjoying it.

I have considered getting my minor in Religious Studies or Film Theory, but it's more school and at this point I just want to be done for awhile. Anthony has a LOT more school left, so I just want to work so we can get a break from having no time and no money haha. And maybe save up money to have some little babies... (In the future, please don't ask WHEN! After the whole maternity insurance thing it is all we hear!)

On some lighter news... I went and saw the Lion King Broadway play with my family. I went with my mom, Kennya, GRandma Pat, Monica, Brooke & Kennedy. My friend Kehly also got to come with me. It was so fun. We went to dinner and then to a Blue Grass concert after it. The Lion King was one of the best plays I have ever seen.

My favorite part was the giraffes. There are 2 people inside each costume and they are on stilts! They created every animal perfectly. I wish everyone could see it!

And you can't see the dancers because they are leaping, but they are in costumes to look like the antelope and they are holding them too. The lady next to them is supposed to Rafiki. She had the best voice out of the whole cast.

Day 10.. Anyone getting sick of this?

Day 10 - Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Lazy, Excited, Angry

I love music. I have always been a bit of a connoisseur of music. No not really. But I love finding music that nobody else knows.. eventually they are on the radio, but I am usually already sick of them by then.. i.e. Matt Nathanson. Love him, but radio killed him.

Happy songs/bands:
Anything by Blink 182.. Love 'em.
Heels Over Head ... by Boys Like girls
I Get a Kick Out of You... Frankie (we are on first name basis) Sinatra
Fat Lip... Sum 41
Brat Pack... The Rocket Summer
That's our Hero Shot... Daphne Loves Derby
Cheeseburger in Paradise... Jimmy Buffet (it's love)
Anything by Something Corporate or Limbeck. These are my favorites!



Sad Songs/bands:
Better Days... The Goo Goo Dolls
Hands Open... Snow Patrol
Feist
Blue October



Excited:
Allister
Blink 182
Sum 41
Black Eyed Peas

No particular songs.. Any of their songs do it for me.

Angry:
Any hard rock...
R.A.T.M.- I grew up listening to them and I like them, but only when I'm in a certain mood.
Sum 41 (they fit in everywhere!)

Day 9.. Of the Challenge of the Blog

Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Well, I got started on my South Beach diet.. By started I mean I wrote down the grocery list.

Blog Challenge.. Day Ocho

Day 08 - Short term goals and why

1. Well, this is my LAST semester! Yay!!! So I'm going out with a bang. 4.0? I think so.

2. Quad-weekly (4 times???) gym attendence.. It is much needed.

3. Heathly cooking.. Anthony and I have been making extremely healthy meals for the past month. It has been great. It's amazing how great you feel after eating things your body actually NEEDS.

4. Actually read EVERY book assigned. This is tough one.

5. Be more patient... (Not just short term.)