Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. To celebrate his birth, here is one of my favorite sonnets.















My Mistress' Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun
Sonnet CXXX

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go:
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Not Just A Game

I watched an interesting show the other day . . . the famous pairings of guy/girl interactions. I'm not talking about it being spring and how there's love in the air. Instead, I'm talking about women's vain attempts to win over a man. Here's how you know when a girl is interested:

1) She laughs really loudly.
2) She leans in to the guy she's speaking to.
3) She tosses her hair.
4) She touches his arm.

I know this isn't news to anyone, particularly myself because I find myself doing this from time to time (but in my defense, I laugh loudly). However, I watched as every guy in the room found himself amongst a bevy of ladies--all who were displaying the typical signs that she had zoned in that guy as a potential partner. It didn't matter who he was, his singleness seemed to be his number one trait.

I even watched one guy take 30 minutes to cross the room about 5 feet long. You see, he was approached by a pack of girls every step he took. I was actually embarrassed for all of these girls. Who knew if he even wanted to talk to them! They came to him.

Now, there is no easy answer to the highs and lows of dating. And I'm not complaining (necessarily). But yesterday I heard something that disturbed me more than watching the girls flock to guys desperately hoping he would choose them out of the huge mass of available women.

Yesterday's lesson in Relief Society and Elder's Quorum was about the Melchezidek Priesthood, which had all of the potential to be a deeply powerful lesson. The priesthood is the channel through which God works, it's the basis of how our Church operates so effectively. And yet, I heard on multiple occasions girls mutter under their breath and even make (jokey) comments in Relief Society how they didn't understand people we considered to be just boys (read: immature) could have something as precious and powerful as the priesthood.

I'll admit, I certainly am a little jaded when it comes to my faith in men, but this shouldn't be how it is! We should not disparage the group that can give us priesthood blessings, baptize, administer temple ordinances, or bless the sacrament because we as women are feeling frustrated by our lack of prospects. Sadly, this is the way it is. There's no way around it. However, I choose to be happy with my life regardless of my marital status. Instead, we should show respect to the men in our ward because they are able to carry the priesthood. I couldn't ask for anything more than to know that I can call on my home teacher to give me a blessing if I needed one. And, if women really wanted to stick it to The Man, they would demand that their men are better. They wouldn't seem themselves as the inferior ones, instead they would insist on having a partner with whom they could be equally yoked.

Anyway, I know not all of you have to deal with this anymore (bless you :) ). But, I think it's important we teach our daughters and our friends to respect the people who righteously carry the priesthood.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I am told that a lemon raspberry cake is not the way to a man's heart because well, it's an effeminate flavor. Because of this, I apologize profusely for misleading you single gals, wives, and mothers with the promise that lemon raspberry will charm your men and get them to either take you out or even better, take out the trash. To better serve my friends, fans, and family, I am searching desperately for a "non-effeminate" cake flavor that you can use to win over the opposite sex, but, ahem, is there such a thing as a non-effiminate cake? For example, a quick search for cake flavors yielded: vanilla butternut, chocolze hazelnut, almond poppyseed, chai-spiced, cheery cherry, chocolate honey bun, and my favorite, peach cake with sour peach frosting. Do any of these sound manly to you? Perhaps instead we should infuse a shot of Old Spice into the batter.

The Experiment

How many boys do you get when you make LOADS of cupcakes? Um . . . I don't know. However, for Conference Kaylin, my friend Mindy, and I made cupcakes in order to stave away the inevitable--falling asleep during the good word. Does anyone else feel guilty when this happens?

Best Idea Stolen from Martha Stewart and Subsequently Made Better:
Corn on the Cob
If you look closely you'll see we made little butter pats out of yellow laffy taffy.

Cupcake Most Likely To Win A Man's Heart (because they tasted so darn good):
Lemon Raspberry with a raspberry jelly filling.

Best Reason To Subscribe to A Strictly Chocolate Diet:
The Fuzzy Bear
Really, this was just a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing dipped in toasted coconut. I made up the name as a joke and it just stuck.

Discipline

The other day I was at the gym running, which in my opinion is one of the most laborious tasks out there. But I was determined (actually, trying to be determined) to finish my half hour--that's really about all I can take. A girl in front of me was running as well and on the back of her t-shirt it read: The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret. That quote (albeit cheesy) really struck a chord with me so over and over I repeated it in my head as I finished my run. I was surprised how much it helped--it got me through those last ten minutes! Even though it was on the back of someone's t-shirt specifically geared for people who are athletes, I liked the idea . . . especially the real world application. While I'm far from perfect, I don't have a lot of regrets in my life, I think because I have strived to act to the best of my ability. I accept my shortcomings, but I don't think that weaknesses are a proper excuse for not trying. Some of us may shy away from the idea of discipline, but I've found that when I'm disciplined in certain aspects of my life I'm much happier. I've found that discipline is often undermined, but it is usually the place where I find my true grit, my strength to see something through. I'm sure there are a lot of us out there that are trying to see something through, it's nice to know that we're not limited to waiting and seeing, but we are actually capable to take life in our own hands and shape it ourselves.

More of Boston!

Here are a few more of Boston--hope nobody is tired of them! I just wanted to share with everyone all of the places I visited.

The first two pictures were taken in Marblehead which is right outside of Boston. This was the cutest, quaintest town and it was right on the shore, I think it was my favorite part of traveling to Boston. The water sparkled in the sun (but don't be deceived by that sparkling water, it was wicked cold even in the sun!) and there was a faint fishy smell in the town. I thought it was funny that since moving to Utah I've always been attracted to bigger places and more people, but after visiting Boston I realized I really like a simpler way of life. I think that's why I liked Marblehead so much.

We also visited the Boston temple--so beautiful! I love that regardless of what part of the world you're in, the feeling of the temple is always the same.

Also, we visited the Salem Witch Museum where they had a mock trial that we could sit in and observe. They really love their witches! In fact, the employees all seemed to cackle like witches. I almost thought they were getting into character, but I really think that's just how they laughed.

Boston, Day 2

More pictures from Boston, the second day.

Another picture of the Boston skyline, but I really like this picture of the harbor. You have no idea how unbelievably cold it was! I anticipated a chill similar to Salt Lake City, but it was nothing like Utah cold, or Alaska cold for that matter. The humidity caused a bitter chill that penetrated to the bone! I was not prepared and froze practically the whole time. The best part was when Anna and I visited the Harvard Singles Ward and someone mentioned how grateful they were for the spring weather. That made me laugh.





This picture is for my dad--it's Bill Nye the Science Guy! He was at the conference I attended. I should have gotten my picture taken with him but there was a crazy long line. I don't do lines. Every time I tried to take a picture of him, people kept walking right in front of my camera. So it took a few tries to get this pic.









One of my favorite parts of the trip--Beacon Hill. This is where all of the brownstones are located, and all of the apartment buildings are located on a long, steep hill. We just walked up the road and I took picture after picture. It was just beautiful and quaint, it felt like we had stepped out of the city and into a sweet little neighborhood.









Another brownstone, but these were the nicest of the bunch, which is saying something because I peered into the windows of some of those brownstones and they were surprisingly big and pretty on the inside! You can't tell, but all of the cars lined up on the road were BMWs, Audis, Volvos, and Escalades. So posh. We met this nice woman who told us that John Kerry lives in one of these brownstones. Apparently this is what you get when your wife is the Queen of Ketchup. If I ever get to build a house from the bottom up, I think I might have to "mirror" the red/brown brick with black shutters. This same lady told us a funny story about this rude guy who was honking at her one day because she was in the middle of the street talking to someone else--which she thought was so rude and so she refused to move. After he "whizzed" on by, the man she was talking to asked if she knew who the man honking at her was. "Of course, not. I don't care," was her reply. He promptly responded, "That was Mitt Romney, the governor." She got a kick telling us about that because we told her we were from Utah.