True Love

I am in love with love.

Not being in love, not falling in love...I am in love with true love.

I just read an article that blew my mind. Many people probably thought it was about same-sex attraction and I will admit that it was an underlying theme, but no. It was about true love. My mind was blown in about seven different directions. I feel like I understand what true love is more deeply then I ever, ever have. I want to shout this quote from rooftops and make people understand what it means:

“I think so many people rely on their hormones and/or their emotions to drive them that they get stuck feeling for their spouse whatever those things tell them to feel. And then if they try to feel otherwise, to love their spouse more than what hormones or emotions tell them to, they feel like they’re doing their spouse a favor rather than recognizing that they hadn’t understood how to truly love in the first place.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW EARTH-SHATTERINGLY PERFECT THAT QUOTE IS??

True love is not connected to hormones. Hormones are just a nice little bonus that Heavenly Father gave us to help us enjoy falling in and being in love. But hormones, while nice, are temporal attributes of love. True love -the kind of love that Heavenly Father feels for us, the kind that Christ exemplified every day of His earthly life- is eternal. It is Celestial. It is spiritual.

This article absolutely, positively changed my life and the way I view love. I highly recommend it. Here's the link:

http://mormonlife.com/story/68799-living-with-same-sex-attraction-our-story

A Controversy Makes For Exciting Blogging Material(An accidental double post)

Today, while I was doing my daily facebook stalking, I was reading a friend's status update. It was about gay marriage. The chain of comments that followed were also about gay marriage. And more specifically about how 'stupid' and 'ignorant' and 'hateful' and 'ugly' the people who oppose gay marriage are. For WEEKS now, this subject has been bothering me, but I haven't said anything about it yet so now my thoughts have built to this point where my they are a bit too lengthy to fit in a status update. Thus, I blog. I thought I'd use the few thoughts that I used for my status update as a starting point and we'd go from there. 

I'm glad that I have such a diverse group of friends and that you all have strong opinions and are willing to share them. HOWEVER; hating people who hate gay people (WRONG though they may be) is hypocritical. Hating people who are against gay marriage, but who DON'T necessarily hate gay people (no, those two life views are not synonymous) is worse than hypocritical. It's ugly. It's mean. And you are wrong to do it. Spouting hate in ANY direction is wrong. If you believe in gay marriage, good for you...defend it. But leave those of us who defend traditional marriage alone to do as we believe is right.

For the record, I am against gay marriage. I believe in the sanctification of marriage for both religious and social reasons. Mostly, I believe that the term 'marriage' is defined as being a union between a man and a woman and that when a gay or lesbian desire to be joined, they are entering into a different kind of agreement. They can't be entering into a marriage because marriage is not defined as a union of two people who love each other. If two people who love each other and just happen to be two females or two males desire to be joined together contractually and spend the rest of their lives together, that is just fine...it just has to be called something different because it is a different kind of union. 

This is not a position of hate. It is not a position of ignorance. I have no fear of or hatred towards homosexuals. Some of my favorite people in the world just happen to be gay. I have no desire to keep gay people apart. I have no agenda to 'eradicate' them from society. I am a live and let live kinda gal. Your choices are your choices. HOWEVER, when you start trying to legally change the definition of something that has the potential to directly affect me and my ability to choose, I have to stand up against it. 

I don't want to go into any more detail about my beliefs about gay marriage than I already have. That's not what this post is about...if you have more questions, please feel free to ask me. I'm always up for a discussion about it. 
The point of this entry, however, is this: disagreeing with me is one thing; you are entitled to your opinion; BULLYING me, berating me, hating me, or verbally assaulting me because of my beliefs is a different thing entirely. It is completely hypocritical, morally objectionable, inappropriate and just plain rude. Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn't mean you have the right to be condescending or judgmental. Isn't that one of the reasons you get so annoyed with the 'Christians' who spout off horrible comments about gays? Aren't you exuding the VERY BEHAVIOR you are seeking to abolish? 

You are allowed to express your opinion and I'm allowed to express mine. But can't we do so lovingly, understandingly and with regard to everyone's right to believe as they choose? I don't deserve to be called a bigot or hateful or any of the other things I just read in those comments. You don't know me. You don't know what I believe. You don't try to understand it or see where I'm coming from...you just label me and put me in a category because of something I believe in. 

Rude. 

Just stop it. 

A Controversy Makes For Exciting Blogging Material

Today, while I was doing my daily facebook stalking, I was reading a friend's status update. It was about gay marriage. The chain of comments that followed were also about gay marriage. And more specifically about how 'stupid' and 'ignorant' and 'hateful' and 'ugly' the people who oppose gay marriage are. For WEEKS now, this subject has been bothering me, but I haven't said anything about it yet so now my thoughts have built to this point where my they are a bit too lengthy to fit in a status update. Thus, I blog. I thought I'd use the few thoughts that I used for my status update as a starting point and we'd go from there. 

I'm glad that I have such a diverse group of friends and that you all have strong opinions and are willing to share them. HOWEVER; hating people who hate gay people (WRONG though they may be) is hypocritical. Hating people who are against gay marriage, but who DON'T necessarily hate gay people (no, those two life views are not synonymous) is worse than hypocritical. It's ugly. It's mean. And you are wrong to do it. Spouting hate in ANY direction is wrong. If you believe in gay marriage, good for you...defend it. But leave those of us who defend traditional marriage alone to do as we believe is right.

For the record, I am against gay marriage. I believe in the sanctification of marriage for both religious and social reasons. Mostly, I believe that the term 'marriage' is defined as being a union between a man and a woman and that when a gay or lesbian desire to be joined, they are entering into a different kind of agreement. They can't be entering into a marriage because marriage is not defined as a union of two people who love each other. If two people who love each other and just happen to be two females or two males desire to be joined together contractually and spend the rest of their lives together, that is just fine...it just has to be called something different because it is a different kind of union. 

This is not a position of hate. It is not a position of ignorance. I have no fear of or hatred towards homosexuals. Some of my favorite people in the world just happen to be gay. I have no desire to keep gay people apart. I have no agenda to 'eradicate' them from society. I am a live and let live kinda gal. Your choices are your choices. HOWEVER, when you start trying to legally change the definition of something that has the potential to directly affect me and my ability to choose, I have to stand up against it. 

I don't want to go into any more detail about my beliefs about gay marriage than I already have. That's not what this post is about...if you have more questions, please feel free to ask me. I'm always up for a discussion about it. 
The point of this entry, however, is this: disagreeing with me is one thing; you are entitled to your opinion; BULLYING me, berating me, hating me, or verbally assaulting me because of my beliefs is a different thing entirely. It is completely hypocritical, morally objectionable, inappropriate and just plain rude. Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn't mean you have the right to be condescending or judgmental. Isn't that one of the reasons you get so annoyed with the 'Christians' who spout off horrible comments about gays? Aren't you exuding the VERY BEHAVIOR you are seeking to abolish? 

You are allowed to express your opinion and I'm allowed to express mine. But can't we do so lovingly, understandingly and with regard to everyone's right to believe as they choose? I don't deserve to be called a bigot or hateful or any of the other things I just read in those comments. You don't know me. You don't know what I believe. You don't try to understand it or see where I'm coming from...you just label me and put me in a category because of something I believe in. 

Rude. 

Just stop it. 

Life Lessons

Lessons learned while trying to duplicate the J-Dawgs secret hot dog sauce for dinner tonight:

1. I should pay attention to what I bought in the prior week, before making grocery purchases. I am now the proud owner of two and a half bottles of katsup, two large-ish bottles of cumin, and four jars of salsa.

2. Pickles are always worth the inevitable pickle-juice explosion that occurs when opening a new jar.

3. Procrastination can be beneficial. I'm really glad I didn't mop before making dinner. Because I had to open a new jar of pickles.

4. Marinade looks exactly like BBQ sauce.

5. Marinade tastes NOTHING like BBQ sauce.

6. J-Dawgs sauce is incapable of duplication.

7. But the stuff I made was pretty darn close and was completely worth having to scratch the first batch to make a second.

About My Cozy Nosey. And the Bugs That Go There.

I've decided that it's high time I write an entry about weird things that are happening to my body. Because who wouldn't want to spend the next five minutes feeling a little creeped out?

1. This classy lassy must have a cozy nosey because three bugs have paid my inner nostrils a visit in the last week. My theories on why this is happening are these: Either a) I breathe extremely deeply and am sucking them in like a tractor beam or b) my nostrils are extra comfy, slightly warm and offer a welcome break from the heat. It's not like I want to seem inhospitable but I sincerely wish they would stop going in there because it tickles and is fairly distracting while I drive. Why do they go in so easily and why are they then so hard to get out? I'm pretty sure about 90% of Bakersfield sincerely believes I pick my nose while I'm in my car. What an awful way for these winged beasties to meet their demise. Death by picking. You might think this is funny, but I assure you it's snot.

2. I'm itchy. I can't remember if this happens to me every summer but hot dang! It's annoying. I think it's on account of all the extra sweating one does when it's in the lower 90 degrees in April. My skin is rebelling against this ridiculously warm spring. Also, it might be because I spent a whopping .97 cents on a body wash at WalMart. Never again, I assure you. I was going for an inexpensive boost to my scent and ended up with..rabies or something. I'm pretty sure it's rabies. Rabies gives you itchy bumps on your belly, right?

3. The hair I lost while I was pregnant (which was excessive, let me assure you) is now growing back. This means that the front of my hair has little patches of new hair that is a foot shorter than the rest of my hair. I have a collection of mini-fros all over my hair line. It's super attractive.

4. I keep losing two pounds and then inexplicably gaining it back. I'm not really changing anything, so this is a mystery to me. I'm fairly happy with my weight right now...I wouldn't complain if I lost another 6 pounds or so, but hey..6 pounds is nothing. I'm sure it'll come off soon, if the current two pounds that are playing games with me will ever completely shed.

Anywhoo...bodies are weird and glorious and disgusting and beautiful all at the same time. I'm grateful for clothing. And my super cute swimsuit. And deodorant. And band-aids.

And I Couldn't Find My Camera!

Luke has one of those walker toys that you sit the baby in and their feet touch the floor so they can roll about the house at their leisure. He hates sitting in that thing. Good thing I only spent 5 bucks on it at a yard sale. But today he discovered that he can pull himself up on it and hang on to the back of it and push it around the house. So I suppose he's still using it as a 'walker'. In fact, it's more a 'walker' being used in that way than it is when he's sitting and rolling in it. I think maybe he knows that. "Walker? Walker, they call it? But they keep sitting me in it. This is absurd. I shall let my protests for this stupidity be known in the form of discontented whining until I am removed from this ridiculous contraption so that I am free to wander about and discover more useful pursuits."

Anywhoo, his uneven, shy steps were the cutest thing I've ever seen. (she says in the most unbiased fashion) AND I COULDN'T FIND MY CAMERA! Blast.

I'm going to miss my seven month old bundle! Every day he gets closer and closer to being my eight month old bundle which puts him closer to being my one year old bundle and then he'll be my toddler bundle and then my very grown-up man with children of his own bundle! Okay, no. But someday. Man, I love that baby boy.

My little sister, Mallory, is going to take family pictures of us on Sunday.

I ate a crap ton of sugar this week. Diet fail. But it's okay! Miraculously I gained not a pound despite the chocolate bunny binge. And the entire box of mac and cheese I consumed on Tuesday. That was a dark day. =)

Um. Hunger Games was absolutely mind-blowingly awesome. I've seen it thrice. Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins were a killer team. (killer. ha. get it?) Brilliantly crafted. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous that he has opted out of doing the sequel because the sequels in that series are severely lacking in my opinion and I thought perhaps Mr. Ross could help things along in the 'that was an awesome story!' department. But, alas. We shall see what is to become of them.

It's raining. I love it. I'm still in my PJs and it's 2:00pm. Do you understand how glorious that feels? Glorious.

Also, our house is all better. No more skylight. Hooray for roofs and ceilings and rain staying outside this time!

...But I'm Happy!

Our house fell down this weekend. And in the same day I got a cold and started my period. Also, my Grandma is in the hospital.

But tonight, I was rocking my little boy and singing songs to him about Heavenly Father and I just knew I wasn't alone. I was so warm and so happy. And he fell asleep in my arms; feeling safe, protected and like everything was right in the world. Despite the piles of furniture that are camping out in his room right now. Despite the gaping holes in our ceiling. Despite the musty smell and the worried Mama.

And I felt like maybe I am doing something right.

=)