A Poem, by Minnie Lou Haskins

i said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

give me a light that i may tread safely into the unknown.

and he replied:

step out into the darkness

and put your hand into the hand of God.

that shall be to you better than a light

and safer than a known way.

Deal Breakers...

1. Did your man ask you on a date over a text message? That's a deal-breaker, ladies.
2. If you have to figure out your man's life for him on Date #1, that's a deal-breaker.
3. Deal-Breaker: If your man has asked you on a date after you have dated 2 of his best friends.
4. Does your man send you mass texts when he hasn't talked to you at all in a couple of weeks? Deal-Breaker.
5. Have you been dating your man for a couple of months, but when he is asked about the girl he is dating, he just shrugs his shoulders with an, "ahhownknow"? Um, DEAL-BREAKER.
6. What do you call a guy who doesn't ask you about yourself? Correct. Deal-Breaker.
7. Does your man let you sit alone when you don't know anyone else at the party? Uh-huh. Deal-breaker.
8. Does your man try to avoid seeing you in the halls at school when he knows you are there? And let me just remind you--he is no longer in the 8th grade. You know what that makes him.
9. What if you are dating your man for a couple of months, pretty steadily, and then when you ask where things are going, he lets you know that you are just friends? D. E. A. L. -. B. R. E. A. K. E. R.
10. Say that, on your first date, your man decides to list off the people he hates. What does that make him? A deal-breaker. (Guess what, Deal-Breaker, there is this little thing you should look up called "class." And while you are at it, look up "good-taste." Thank you.).
11. Did you text your man on his day off and he didn't text you back all day? Then, when he saw you later that night, after you two had said your "hellos" he let it slip that he had been chilling all day, doing nothing. Then, after your "goodbyes", did he text you back with an answer to what you texted him? I know it's complicated, but you gotta know. That's a deal-breaker.
12. Did your man forget there are no such things as secrets on Facebook? Ouch. Deal-breaker.

Listen ladies*, I know it's rough. But it seems like all of this would be common sense, right? Wrong. Some guys just don't get it. That's why we as ladies* have to be alert to what is actually going on. Shut. It. Down. Shut it down if your man really is a deal-breaker. We deserve what we deserve and we happen to deserve the very best.

*Note: The "ladies" I was just talking to probably don't exist. I just made them up. That was me talking to myself, trying to make me feel better and to get myself excited again about dating. And my list of deal-breakers is my way of venting. Now, I can cool down and breathe. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

La-Di-Da

So, I am sitting awake in my bed, not sleeping for the past few hours, but listening to that kid's rendition of "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" (from the previous post, a few hours ago). Do you want to know what I think is so amazing? The way people express themselves through music.

For some, it's creating music. The lyrics and the music come from someone's thoughts and feelings. The emotion that is put into the music I listen to just astounds me.

For some, it's sharing music. Whether you are this kid who uses another artist's music to express himself, or whether you are a person who produces music or distributes it, you must believe in it at least a little to share it with the world.

For some, like me, it's listening to it. I don't know about you, but there is music I listen to that corresponds with my mood. I have music that I listen to when I am happy--it's the upbeat, fist-pumping type music. It's the kind you just can't help but dance to. On the other end of the spectrum, there is music I listen to when I am sad. There is also music I listen to to calm down, or music that says exactly what I can't say.

Music is such a universal language. I can listen to something foreign and love it as much as I love my usual music. I was talking to a friend who wants to go to Brazil to play his music. He was telling me how much Brazilians love American music, even if they don't understand what it is saying. That's pretty awesome.

Music creates experiences that can be both personal, and communal. Portable music devices made music a personal experience. Groups, such as choirs, make music a shared effort. Niches, groups of people that share a common interest, are formed based on music preferences, like when people gather at concerts. It can be shared with friends, or be kept special for yourself. I like to share my favorite music with the people I care about most.

I never really realized how special music is to me until these past few days when someone asked me if I know any really awesome music, and I thought twice about sharing it. That may sound a little selfish, but when something is so special to me, I like to be sure it will be appreciated by those whom I share it with.

Music is so amazing. It is truly one of the Lord's gifts to His children. I am just so grateful that talented friends and family will share it with me.  

Happy Birthday

Actually, it's no ones birthday. But here is this kid's gift to the world. Enjoy.

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Floodgates A-Gush

Church was a little interesting.
It is fast Sunday and for some reason, in testimony meeting, I started crying and that was that.
I couldn't stop. I'm still not completely stable at the moment, but at least I'm not blubbering anymore.
It was quite embarrassing and did not go unnoticed.
My amazing Branch President actually called me to make sure I was OK. He is so amazing and was actually one of the deciding factors of me staying in Utah for a while.
I just want to say that I am OK. It was just a build up of the past few weeks of emotion and low blood sugar. I don't know why it came out all at once, but I was having struggs. (Thank you to Alex Agle for letting me use the word "struggs"--aka struggles--just this once. I owe you).

But, believe it or not, I did get a lot out of Testimony meeting.
President Walker reminded me that even if something is a good thing, maybe it is not meant to happen right now. We need to move forward with faith to work on the Lord's time table.
That is such a hard thing for me to remember. If I know what I want, I want it now.
It is a hard thing to understand and remember that even if it is good, maybe now is no the best time to have it.
It seems to me that sometimes, that's harder than finding out that something is not good, so we should not have it.
Is this making any sense? I hope so, because it is important to remember.

Another thing I got out of Testimony Meeting is what President Fischer talked about.
He reminded me that Satan's sole purpose is to make us miserable.
Sometimes, he gets such a strong hold on us and we can't seem to shake him, but we are never alone. We always have someone to turn to.
Also, at this time in our lives, we are super vulnerable to falling under the bus and being lost. Because of this, Satan is hitting us as hard as he can just to get us down and keep us down.

These things are so important to remember and I feel like they were talking directly to me. Isn't it interesting how the Lord works?

Happy Sunday, everyone. Love you all.

True Love

"True love requires action. We can speak of love all day long—we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it—but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing..." 

--Elder Uchtdorf

Yoga=Togetherness, Forever.

Yoga. I love it. With my whole heart.
It is amazing. I cannot get over it and I think about it often.
It is sometimes hard and makes me want to die, but I love it so much.
I take a hot yoga class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I can honestly say that it is my favorite part of those days.
 I sweat a lot. And breathe a lot. And forget to breathe a lot. But it is amazing.

Today, in class, we yoga-ed to Sting and Dido.
WHAT? REALLY?
Why haven't I thought of that?
There is no one better to yoga to.
Except maybe Peter Gabriel.

 Imagine doing yoga to THIS, or THIS.
I know they seem a little crazy and up-beat, but we are talking POWER YOGA, people.
I had an amazing idea, all resulting from Yoga:
Yoga Tuesdays. Everyone from the singles branch would be invited, and we just do yoga together.
Yoga...bringing singles together. Forever.
I think so.