running through the sprinklers

"Running" looks like it is spelled wrong, and I fixed it so many times it lost its meaning as a word.

Anyways, I have just been running through the sprinklers in my new Roxy boardshorts. I love Roxy boardshorts. There is just such a novelty in waterproof shorts. Back to the sprinklers, they are amazing. Its just as good as the water park, I'm pretty sure.

I'm feeling happy and content with life at this particular moment in time. I am very excited to go to The City of Angels (Los Angeles) next week. Actually, I am ecstatic to be going.

Tonight I must work, but I am not dreading it tenfold as per usual, so, life is good.

Love,

Lizzy ;-)

beauty

Beauty is such a useless thing. Think about it: we're forever trying to be something we're not. We try to make what's shiny dull (faces) and what's dull shiny (lips, hair). We want what's small (chests) to be big and what's big (behinds) to be small. We want what's short to be long and what's long to be short. Basically, our idea of beauty is whatever we're not.

Why sell out to such a pointless, useless measure of an immeasurable thing? Can you name three top supermodels from 5 years ago? Can you tell me who won Miss Universe the past three years? 

I didn't think so. Can you tell me the name of your three best friends? Can you name five of your most influential teachers? Can you tell me of someone who has been an influence in your life for good?

What is really important in life?

Love who you are. Define beauty your own way. Stop trying to conform to a silly, impossible, ridiculous standard of beauty. Be yourself. Live your life. Be healthy. Eat good food. Dance around the kitchen when you feel like it. Hug your best friends. Say "I Love You" when you really mean it. Read in the sunshine. Pray. 

Do what you love. Life your own life. You create your future. Serve other people. 

Be happy!

a quiet whispering, deep in your heart

there's a quiet whispering, deep in your heart

its a voice that reminds you who you really are

you were faithful to Father, you worshipped the Son

you rejoiced in the plan that allowed you to come

to this earth, to learn and achieve

now is the time

to stand up for what you believe

do you remember the promise you made back then?

how you longed for the chance to show faith in Him

now that you're here and you're finding your voice

you're living the plan and you're making the choice

where you stand!

where you stand

where you stand...

you knew there'd be moments

when you'd walk alone

with darkness and trials you'd face on your own

you knew there'd be times when the choice was unclear

and you'd need Him to quiet your doubts and your fears

to give comfort, to show you the way

now is your moment to say...

you remember the promise you made back then

how you longed for the chance to show faith in Him

now that you're here and you're raising your voice

you're living the plan and you're making the choice 

where you stand!

where you stand

where you stand

where you stand...

This song, Where You Stand, is by Jenny Phillips. She, and I, are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as the Mormons.

I've just spent a week at Girl's Camp, where young women of the Church get to take time out of the daily grind to learn about our Heavenly Father and about His plan for us. 

This was my sixth and last year at camp, and it was...incredible. The song "Where You Stand" has come to mean a lot to me. It was our theme song at camp last year, and it just has so much power and love invested in it. It stands for the unity of the Youth Camp Leaders (5th and 6th years) and our testimonies.

My testimony has become so strong. I know my Savior Jesus Christ. He is my best friend. I know my Father in Heaven. He loves all of us, each and every one of His children on earth.

Sometimes life can get really hard. We're beset with the adversary trying to tear us down and trials to help us learn and grow. But I have learned that we are never alone. Our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ is always there, right beside us. We can't see him, but if we know he's there, we begin to be able to see his imprint in our lives. 

I didn't used to be so public about my beliefs. But as time wears on, I've come to see that my testimony isn't just part of me--its the most important part. The Gospel is the one thing in my life that is always rock solid, that I can always turn to. I'm so blessed to have it, and I want everyone to have the kind of happiness I have in my life, even when things don't go well for us and we struggle.

For more about the LDS (Mormon) church, please visit lds.org.

nevertheless, it moves

So said Galileo when being questioned on his thesis that the earth revolves around the sun.

In Italian, it is "Eppur Si Muove". 

In the language of modern Italian band Enigma, it means a beautiful song.

To me, it is my dance choreography.

I wish so much that I had never moved away from ballet. As a young girl I was a ballet dancer, but then I moved to jazz, and after that modern, and then colorguard (badly executed ballet moves paired with extensive prop work, particularly with flags) and finally back to ballet. Oh, if I had been taking ballet constantly! It is the joy of my existence. I am currently horridly sick, and didn't sleep at all last night, and am generally miserable, unable to breathe, and an achy mess. But, of course, I never miss a night when it comes to practicing dance, so I have just rehearsed. Not extensively, I don't rehearse for hours at a time, but I run through the music, get the choreography down, stretch, engage those muscles. It helps, loads.

Just now I have finished rehearsing. While I was running through the choreography to that music, I never once thought about the horrific pain I should've been feeling, dancing ballet when every muscle in my body aches. I noticed when my stomach muscles, weakened beyond belief, failed to hold me up in the first grande plié, but I was so intensely concentrated and immersed that I completely forgot that I couldn't breathe. That my head feels like someone has filled it with concrete and slime. I forgot everything, everything but the dance.

It is a beautiful thing, to dance. Although I will never be a professional dancer--at seventeen I am too old and not far enough along to do that--I will always know the joy of dancing. Besides, I think I'd have been a bit wasted on the world as a pro ballet girl. They are lovely and I have the highest respect for them, but it doesn't exactly require or cultivate intelligence, now, does it? It doesn't really change or affect the world. It doesn't really help people or change lives for the better. 

So perhaps I am simply ecstatic to be exactly where I am. Maybe I don't need a career in dance to love love love dance with all of my soul. It is my personal retreat, escape--a beautiful thing.  

Nevertheless, I move.

Lizzy 

inspiration

Inspiration is a tricky thing. It tends to hit out of the blue. For me, it happens when I look at pretty pictures!! Here are some of my favorite inspirational images. All credit for these images goes to fellow bloggers. They're not mine. I can't remember whose they are. But they are so brillo pads!!

This first image I love because of the color choices. I absolutely adore the chartreuse and gray! Also, those swirly oval things are absolutely marvy! I can't quite put my finger on it, but this is one of my FAVORITE images of all time.

This pic is a fabby way to use an Eames rocker. I never really saw what was so great about Eames chairs, but this rocker fits in this place SO perfectly. I'm in love. 

Look at the picture on the top left. It has a Monopoly piece on the wall!! I want to see the rest of this house REALLY bad. Also live there.

exciting english excellence

I have been introduced to the Wonderful World of JANE BROCKET. She is a lovely Englishwoman with a clear love of all things domestic. In fact, I want to make her recipes so much and conversions are such a pain that I wish I had the money to buy this lovely culinary scale...

But I am also happy to settle for online converters. I fully intend to make these fairy cakes
...and soon...

Anyways, you really ought to check out Yarnstorm, the fabulous blog of great author and domestic goddess Jane Brocket.

book review: tunnels

Book Title: Tunnels
Authors: Broderick Gordon and Brian Williams 

***.5  (3 and a half stars out of 5)

Tunnels is a british novel filled with suspense and intrigue. It is about teenage Will, who lives in a dysfunctional family and is bullied at school, and who shares his father's strange obsession of digging holes underground. He befriends another outcast Chester, and together they discover a mystery in the dark world that Will so loves. Then, Will's father goes mysteriously missing. Chester and Will uncover a series of clues in the search for Will's father that lead them to a creepy underground world of strange, pale people that have never seen the light of day. When Chester is imprisoned by a horrible, mind-torturing race of policemen called The Styx, Will makes it his duty to rescue both Chester and his father from the sick and twisted Tunnels of the Colony. But a botched escape plan, complications in which Will discovers his "real" family, dangerous betrayals, martyred heroes and a cliffhanger ending keep you wanting more of this dark story.

Overall, the book is a fun read. It is at times suspenseful, original, and well-written. However, the plot is underdeveloped, and clearly a "first book". The characters are less than true-to-life, and act in improbable ways. The novel, while entertaining, does not convert you, or keep you guessing. Unlike more masterful fiction, the story remains just that, a story, and does not consume you into forgetting that it isn't reality. Still, it is very entertaining, and will make for a good new series. The ending was unsatisfying, which always bothers me, but it was clearly intentional. Much credit must be given to the book for the originality of its ideas and writing style, the likes of which I have not before seen. I recommend the books to well-read pre-teens and teenagers looking for a light summer read.

Following movie rating guidelines, I rate this book PG-13 for graphic violence and disturbing images.

Buy it here for $10.79 new or $6.50 and up used.

Creeped Out By Tunnels,

Lizzy