Possibly Insightful Ramblings

That's what we do in Spanish Fork around the 24th of July each year when we celebrate Fiesta Days. The whole idea of juxtaposing Pioneer Day with Fiesta Days is rather interesting, as Pioneer Day celebrates our Mormon pioneer heritage, while Fiesta Days honors our Spanish/Catholic tradition. But it's a fun combination, and I'm deeply grateful to both groups of pioneers who sacrificed to allow me to be here now. I'll let you all on in a little secret - I've never been to the highly acclaimed SF rodeo, around which Fiesta Days almost revolves. And I likely never will, because, despite growing up in Spanish Fork, I've never been much of a cowgirl. But I love the parade! And hanging out in the park for food and entertainment. Good times. I haven't been to many other small-town parades, so perhaps my basis for comparison is not that great, but there are a few things about the SF parade that make it stand out in my mind. 1) Domination of baseball teams. Th...

When the call came to go You answered. You left all you ever knew Because of what you’d come to know. You crossed rivers of icy depths And fainted from the sun’s smiting heat. You had left. And for what? To bury father, Mother, Sister, Child, But never your faith in God. For Him you had left. And for me. You were chased and hunted and hated, Forsaken on every side (Yet not by Him who meant most to you). You could have quit at any time – Gone back to friends and family, Lived out your days in peace. But you sought a greater peace And stayed the course. You brought me here. And you handed the baton to me. Now I live In the light of your legacy, Striving to be strong, To love my God as you did, To serve in all I do. I look at you, And I am humbled. I want to learn to live And sacrifice And love As you did, To continue where you left off. On days when I am too tired to go on, Too heart-broken to endure, ...

Within the depths of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum resides a spotted skunk. But this is not just your everyday, run-of-the-mill spotted skunk. No - this is an epic, talented, hand-standing skunk that would be about to spray you had it not met its untimely death years ago. Super cute, no? Earlier this year, I applied for a position with the Western North American Naturalist, a peer-reviewed, scientific journal headquartered in the Bean Museum. When my future boss invited me in for an interview, she informed me that the journal office was right next door to the hand-standing skunk. Not yet fully understanding the implications of such a hand-standing skunk, I thought that was an unusual method of direction-giving. Shortly after beginning my job, I read an article about the journal in a magazine. Much to my amusement, the article introduced the journal as residing next door to my skunk buddy. I laughed to myself at the strange obsession that seemed to exist with this...

Dear Harry Potter, I realize that you may not remember me, and if I'm honest with myself, I'll admit that there's no way The Chosen One would ever condescend to read my humble blog. (And, keep it a secret, but some people don't even believe in you! But I'm not one of them, Harry! Don't you worry.) But, hopefully without sounding too creepy, I want you to know that I know all about you. In fact, I've been following the unfolding events of your life for years. I know all about you sneaking out of bed after hours. And Hogsmeade - don't think I didn't see that. Yeah, and I even was spying on you when you and Cho snogged. I just know most of everything you tried to keep secret. No big deal. Now that I sound like the creeper of the century, let me just thank you for over a decade of entertainment and insight. The first time we met, it was in my third grade classroom, remember? My teacher was sitting in that weird chair shaped like a hand and she read m...

My signature currently graces the skyline of Provo city. Not through my own merits, but because my dad is awesome. The topping off ceremony for the Utah Valley Convention Center occurred this Monday (which also happened to be my parents' silver anniversary!). My dad is the project manager/government representative of the convention center, so my whole family went to the ceremony, signed the steel girder, and listened to my dad speak. He's pretty cool. If you squint really hard, you can almost see my signature on the white steel beam. I feel almost famous! At least until the steel is covered with drywall and bricks and our signatures are forever hidden from human view . . .  But until then, I'll enjoy the "fame" of riding on my dad's coattails. :)

For anyone who was wondering, it is true that interlocking the pages of two phone books does make it impossible to pull them apart. Perhaps none of you are quite as doubtful as I was, but when my brother and I grabbed our respective ends of the connected phone books, I was fully anticipating the books to slide apart with a disappointing "thupe." (Pretty sure that's how it would sound.) Yet, despite my lack of faith, the two phone books remained firmly attached, and the science nerd inside me squealed with joy and surprise. Ah, the incomparable beauty of nerd moments.

As someone whose heroes growing up were George Washington and Patrick Henry, and whose favorite movie for years was "A More Perfect Union," I have a special place in my heart for this day of the year (as, I'm sure, do most Americans). There's nothing quite like barbecuing, spending time with family, Oh, cute! We all match . . . definitely one of the most popular shirts in Provo today. :) . . . parade-going, Yes, he did wave to me. Warm fuzzies. . . . or balloon watching (although this was earlier this weekend for me). Darth Vader . . .   . . . with his attendant crew of friendly neighborhood Storm Troopers usw. But even more than that, today's a day of remembering, reflecting, and rejoicing. I firmly believe that the establishment of America as a nation and her success to the present day is nothing short of a miracle. And a miracle with a purpose, at that. (If you're looking for a good article on God's hand in America...