Easter

On the Saturday before Easter, our community held their annual Easter Egg hunt... basically the eggs are laid out all over the green grass and the kids just collect them as they walk. For kids that are young like ours, it's perfect. For the older ones... well...

After the egg hunt we went to lunch. The girls are like me - they love going out. We then went to the park to enjoy the perfect weather.

We took some pictures in our backyard before Church.

Here are the girls walking up the stairs to Church. I love little girls and new Easter dresses. LOVE it.

Flying into the building...

After Church we went to our village green and took a few pictures. The video of them singing is on my private family blog.

The End.

Pondering

I found these quotes from a Religion class I took at BYU. They made me ponder the state of our country, the world... fortunate and unfortunate.

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

- President Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning, p. 64

"Who are you?" You are all the sons and daughters of God.

You are now born into a family to which you have come, into the nations through which you have come, as a reward for the kind of lives you lived before you came here.

[People] will accept without any question the belief that each one of us will be judged when we leave this earth according to his or her deeds during our lives here in mortality. Isn't it just as reasonable to believe that what we have received here in this earth [life] was given to each of us according to the merits of our conduct before we came here?

- President Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, October 1973, pp. 7-8

God gave his children their free agency even in the spirit world, by which the individual spirits had the privilege, just as men have here, of choosing the good and rejecting the evil, or partaking of the evil to suffer the consequences of their sins. Because of this, some even there were more faithful than others in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Some were of greater intelligence than others, as we find it here, and were honored accordingly...

The spirits of men had their free agency, some were greater than others, and from among them the Father called and foreordained his prophets and rulers. Jeremiah and Abraham were two of them. (Jer. 1:5; Abra 3:23)

...the spirits of men were not equal. They may have had an equal start, (Alma 13:5-7) and we know they were all innocent in the beginning; (D&C 93:38) but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some of them to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of immortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it.

- President Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:58-59

Flashback

I've seen a lot of bloggers do FLASHBACK FRIDAYS! (I can't even say it out loud without Jazz hands)

I figure... I finally have some old photos to FLASH you all with... enjoy.


These are a few from my broadcast journalism days at BYU. These are a few of my KBYU/NewsNet crew. I was privileged to be part of the first batch of students to begin and go through the unified newsroom. We had an amazing mentor and friend, Dean Paynter. He always pushed us to be more than a pretty, talking head. It's been wonderful to stay in touch with everyone via facebook.


I remember random things:

Those heavy, black cases that carried those old, wooden tripods for the video camera.


People who wouldn't open the door for you when you were carrying the case and a giant blue, rectangular bag with all the heavy camera equipment. I wish I captured a picture of all that. I think I was barely taller than all that stuff.


Covering the groundbreaking of the LDS conference center.

Mic-ing my interviews.

White balancing.

Doing the KBYU tag. "This is Queen Scarlett, KBYU News."



I totally had a deeper, anchor-gal voice.

Early mornings.

Digging for Truth.

Late, worthwhile, post-mortems.



Editing bay stress, right before air.

Doing the Campus news outside at the HFAC while throngs of other students rush to class.

Skipping other classes to go to downtown Lehi for a news story.


People in the diners totally believe in conspiracy theories.

Wearing shoulder-padded blazers.

The new studio up in the Wilk.


Missing the HFAC tunnel.

Interviewing Chris Cannon and wanting to poke him to see if he'd giggle like the Pillsbury dough boy.


Grilling ...as much as we could, President Bateman in his yearly meeting with us, press kids.

Trying not to use the ellipses (...) when writing for the Daily Universe. I don't try not to use them anymore...I love ellipses.

The awesome music videos Dean would put together for the end of the year graduating seniors.

Putting together audition reels.


Interviewing General Authorities, as the Campus Editor... best thing about that position.

Getting paid to do what I love.

Getting really excited that Elder Eyring at the time, looked me straight in the eye as I was setting up a camera.


Soaking up an education by doing...

Packages, b-roll, script printers, SOT, VOSOT, VO, camera 1, 2... weather.

CCN...those early mornings were cold.

Squirrley teleprompter.

Really bad ad-libbing, anchor banter.

Transitions, lead-in, teasers.

SPJ, NAB trips to Vegas.



Taking that driving course at BYU, so we could take the vans, with our equipment for stories.

Taking TMA....and a make-up course. They used the book by Kevin Aucoin.


Interning at KSL.

Working for Classical 89. I loved radio.

Piper Jaffrey.


Hi-8.

Deadlines.

Frozen yogurt with sliced bananas from the WILK food court.

Having the time of my life.


Do you have a time you love? What do you remember about it?
KBYU/Newsnet Folks - what do you remember?

Cool

I admit.

I think it's cool.

Cool that Elder Holland's video became a top Internet video.

Cool that the video on Temples was one of the most watched videos on the YouTube main page during the HBO hubub.

Cool that during the two days of General Conference #ldsconf was the top Trending Topic - that's twitterific!

Cool that there is a Channel on YouTube devoted to Mormon Messages.

Cool that we can share them, embed them and go viral with them.

Cool that so many of us Mormons are online, blogging, facebook-ing, twittering and sharing who we are, what we believe, and making our voices heard online.

We have our quirks, our imperfections, our own vocabulary... but it's cool that through the world of the Internet we don't have to feel like we're alone. In fact, together we are a massive force for spreading Truth.

That's cool.

Tollipop

IF you love Tollipop - you'll love this giveaway.

How do you know it's Springtime?

Yep... that's how.

Kindling

Sometimes I feel like it's so easy to set me off.

Two weeks ago I had gone to the doctor (in another office - not our normal one, who was out on an emergency) to check on my 2 yr old's throat... she'd been complaining again, and I was worried it might be strep. We went, they swabbed - it came back negative. But, the Dr wrote out a prescription for antibiotics anyway. I had asked him to send the swab to the lab for the culture test...he didn't do it. I even called him back to ask him - he never returned the call. I did not use the antibiotics. She didn't even need it.

Last week my 2 yr old was bouncing on her sister's mattress when she konked her nose on the window sill. I called the Doctor's office. They said that if I left in 10 minutes I'd be able to be seen at my regular office before their lunch break.

I was literally 3 minutes away from their office when the receptionist called to say the nurse practioner that was on duty (the one that told me I was breast-feeding too long ...yeah I don't like her) wanted me to come back in an hour, because she had an errand to see to.

I. Was. Pissed.

Don't tell me to run like the wind, just to tell me to go back home. Doctors always make the patients wait forever in the waiting room anyway. The nurse practitioner can't wait 3 minutes? Seriously?

So we went all the way home, without time for a real nap, just to turn back around. Turns out it was just a bump - nothing broken. Thank goodness. The nurse practitioner acted sheepish. She said she had to drop off her car at the body shop.

Then my 4 yr old asked to have her ears checked. She said they were bothering her. She is prone to ear infections. The nurse practitioner checked and said it was iffy. But she wrote a perscription for antibiotics anyway.

What is the deal? I didn't give my girls the antibiotics, not one drop. Both didn't have any problems following their Dr's visits... and clearly didn't need the meds. Why on earth ... is writing an antibiotic perscription a knee-jerk reaction in the medical profession? Honestly!

I was ready to write scathing letters to the ped office about the free dosing of my kids, and the rude behavior regarding my possible broken baby nose... but I didn't. I actually calmed down. I know myself... I am like kindling...the littlest thing can set me off when it comes to my girls.

Humans are Easy

I am not entranced by people who can pronounce words correctly. I am not going into orgasmic convulsions because a half-white guy got elected president of the USA. I am not going to brag about how historic it is because the half-white guy is also a mixed race guy. Dude... if that were the only requirement, I think I ought to be president... I'm fully Asian... well...ok I'm white on the inside...but that's just in my head.

I guess for my girls... I should be telling them they could be president one day... because look - a halfie got elected too. Woot woot.

I am not going to tell you how nice it is to hear someone speak in coherent sentences... listen it'll be refreshing when the suits in DC demonstrate, consistent honesty... (when pigs fly). Dude, if speaking well will excuse me from any number of inconsistencies, lack of experience... I might actually think about not using the word "dude"....might.

I love words, I love how they sound, how they "taste" (thanks greek goddess) in my mouth. I adore how they paint images, evoke emotions and can hypnotize. Maybe I'm jaded. I studied journalism... then I worked in PR. I know that as PR folks, we're behind the scenes... we create the content. We craft a CEO's quote that investors pick apart to determine buy or sell ratings. We do it... muhahahahahah the power.

That's why I don't flinch, or get aroused when someone has a silver-tongue. That crafty way of saying things to make people suspend reality. I know how it's done. I did it all the time for my job. It was all pretty... lame. One Christmas the CEO asked me to craft a Christmas email for him to send to his employees. I wrote one that had I been the CEO, I would not only say, but actually deliver on what I said. I knew he wouldn't...but I did my job. The CEO received rave reviews for that email of words... no one knew I wrote it. He sent me an email telling me how great the email was because he received a constant stream of applause for it. Later, he terminated my position because doing good work, and having a second child didn't jive with the way he ran his business.

My point is, just like in Book of Mormon days when the people were easily flattered, and impressed, without any substance, skill or proven accomplishments, the people were always simple-mindedly impressed by one who had astounding oratorical skills.

I used to think the stories in the Book of Mormon, about how they interacted, was just a bunch of amusing old stories. In this last year I've realized that people don't change, they just repeat the same stuff over and over. I'm seeing how immediately relevant the stories, the warnings, the exhortations are for our moment in time.

For now... there's nothing and no one worth going all orgasmic for... I'm not that easy... well, except for my hot hunny.

Still hungry? Click here.

Hungry?

I finally posted some recipes and photos of what we've been eating for dinner (the posts will continue through Friday), over at Serrano Sistah's Scintillating Savories. Enjoy! If you would like to be a contributor - email me at queenscarlett at gmail dot com and I can add you. Cheers!

Gender Proof

I've been thinking a lot about gender roles, in relation to our views on womanhood, motherhood in this world of ours.

I have a friend, a mother, that says that companies shouldn't have to pay their employees who make the choice to have baby. At first I was a little shocked. I mean, when I was working I counted on my maternity leave benefits to help with the adjustment. Then I thought about it again, I realized... she was right. If we are truly responsible for our actions - we won't ask anyone to foot the bill for our choices.

I've also talked to a few friends who have told me that they can't wait get back to work after having their babies. They tell me it's so much easier at work. They feel more fulfilled. It's so much easier having a nanny watch their kids. After all, all they need is quality time, not quantity.

I've also talked to friends that have to work. They struggle with guilt and heartaches being away from those they wish they could share each moment with. Sometimes they admit they make out their job to be grander, and more important to them, to ward off the trial of working. It's the ... "if I can make it look like I'm happy working outside the home, then no one can feel sorry for me". Sometimes they sidle the line of, making those that don't work feel like working outside the home is so chic.

There's also the issues people have about gender equality in the work place. Some studies show that it's still very unbalanced. Other studies show that given the ebb and flow of a career in a woman's life...and the consistency of a man's career... the salary difference, isn't so different.

So why all this hullabaloo? I'm beginning to think that society, in some respects is trying to adhere to a natural, higher law.

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

There is a divine design, a plan for us in our roles. I think that when we stop fighting what we know is true, we no longer have this need for outside validation. We don't have to scream and shout to prove we're okay doing something that we know isn't in our nature. I wonder if our souls make us uneasy when we fight against our gender realities/our divine natures. I think that if we realize what our inherent strengths are, and focus on cultivating them that we'll discover more peace in our lives, and more gratitude.

Gender is important. If it isn't why would there be gender in the first place? When we embrace our gender, our role in the plan of families, we no longer need to receive validation from the outside world. We'll just, go and do the things we know that the Lord has commanded. I suppose that's when we'll really be gender proof - immune to the competition, comparisons and confrontations.