Thoughts on a Sunday

I'm hungry, so I'm thinking about food--


Thoughts about food:
1. I love vegetables, and fruit, and cookies made with applesauce, and oatmeal, and peanut butter, and raisins. 
2. I once received a bag of tomatoes as a present from a boy I was dating. I had remarked earlier that day that I would really love to eat some vegetables. Those tomatoes remain in my memory as the best/most thoughtful gift ever. I hope someday my future husband knows that I would rather him give me applesauce than chocolate. Someone tell him for me, okay?

[note: note my picture]

3. Today, after church, I ate raisins and peanut butter and applesauce. Together. No, it was not gross. It was delicious. 
4. This is not related to food, but I also love flowers. I hope my future husband brings me flowers. Again, someone please tell him sometime will you? K, thanks. 

[also not my picture]

5. Today for dinner we're eating shoyu chicken and rice, leftover and preheated sausage pizza, and stir-fried cabbage and onions. ......I'm probably going to be the only one eating the cabbage and onions but oh well, more for me, right? :)


And other thoughts: 
1. I love my calling as the primary chorister. Those kids challenge and delight me. They scare me and they teach me. I love them. (ps only 11 more Sundays till primary program!)
2. Someday I want to serve in the Young Women's program. My heart is always with the Young Women. 
3. In thinking of what I wish I could tell every young woman today, I found a couple of things on Youtube this morning, which I will link here. So good! 

"Virtue" by Jenny Phillips
Modesty #1
Modesty #2
"Happy Ending" by Jenny Phillips


And some just-in-general thoughts:
1. I'm going to the temple this week, for the first time in Hawaii since I moved here. I cannot wait.

[this one's not my picture either..... yet]

2. I have clothes to wear, food to eat, a car to drive around in, residence and citizenship in a free country, a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, friends and family to laugh and spend time with, jobs to work and earn money at, and so much more. I am so blessed. 
3. I have great reason to rejoice!

Buecher

Since graduating and passing though my post-college "I'm too burned out from reading assigned materials to pick up any book so I think I'll pretend I'm illiterate for awhile" phase, I bought a NOOK (such a good purchase, especially for travel) and have discovered some GREAT books. The following is a mostly-complete list of what I've read in the past few months (I don't have a very good memory for every title), combined with what I'm currently reading and planning to read soon. I've offered a short blurb and personal rating along with each title. Enjoy!


FINISHED:

Breakthrough
Very good. A non-fiction history of Diabetes and the discovery of Insulin. Well-researched and fairly well-written. Found it fascinating from a medical perspective. 

My Antonia
Very good. A classic about one boys friendship with the daughter of an immigrant family in Nebraska. Made me miss my rural background.

  The Last Aloha
Very good. A historical novel of the politics surrounding the annexation of Hawaii to the US. Well written and interesting. Very clean, mostly political, but there is a little bit of a love story that is good. 

Moloka'i
Very good. A historical novel about the leper colony on Molokai. Told through the eyes of one leprosy patient, a Hawaiian girl who is sent to Molokai to live in the colony and grows up there. Contains some sensitive scenes, but nothing too over-the-top, at least in this day and age. 

Diamond Ruby
Alright. Novel based on the story of Jackie Mitchell, the first professional female baseball player. I liked this one okay, and especially enjoyed the history of the Spanish plague in NY, which it deals with, as well as the vein of baseball throughout. Overall though it's not that intriguing. 

The Mormon Way of Doing Business
Loved. Made me proud of the high-profile businessmen who represent the members, tenets, and faith of the Church so well by their actions. Also made me want to be better, which is a sure sign of a good book, right? 

The Screwtape Letters
So good. Always, always love reading this book, so I finally bought it. A classic about a devil and his nephew and the wiles they use to ensnare humankind. Definitely changes your perspective and makes you more aware of the temptations you give in to and the sins you succumb to. So good. 

Olive's Ocean
A recent Newberry award winner. Alright. Nothing that special. Basically about a young girl who learns about grief and growing up when an acquaintance of her's from school is killed. 

Kira-Kira
Good. Also a Newberry winner. About two Japanese-American sisters and the life and times of them and their immigrant parents. I felt I could relate because so many of my friends are immigrants. Made me cry. 

When You Reach Me
Good. An interesting book based on A Wrinkle in Time. The story of one girl and an experience she has with time travel. 

A Wrinkle in Time
Good. Reread this one for the fun of it. Still good, first-experience science fiction literature. 

The Help
Good. Very similar to the movie, so if you've seen it you won't be surprised by anything in the book, but still very well written and a really, really good story. 

The Hunger Games
Entertaining, but that's all. Read this because I had nothing else to do at Thanksgiving. Didn't think it was very well written and definitely not a classic book on my list. But I was entertained. 

Catching Fire
Sequel to the first Hunger Games. Not worth reading because it's just more of the same from the first novel. Bleh. 

Unbroken 
LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED. One of the best books I've ever read in my life. Non-fiction--the story of an olympic runner who is drafted into WWII, gets shot down over the Pacific, and becomes a POW to the Japanese. SO, SO, SO good. SO well researched, SO well written, and the author is my new writing/researching hero. Love the subject character of the book and the (non-biased) Christian theme. SO, SO, SO worth reading. 

Born to Run
So good! I LOVED this book. A book about running, racing, and athletes intermingled with the story of the incredible Tarahumara tribe in northern Mexico. A very, very good book. 

Pollyanna
Good. Classic story of the cheerful girl whose innocence, faith, optimism, and love for life changed the hearts of all she came into contact with. A great read. 

Heidi
Also good. Hadn't read this before, but it's the heartwarming story of a young girl from the Alps, her grandfather, and how they influence a young crippled girl. 

Pygmalion
Classic story. Not really complete without "I have often walked down this street before" playing in your head, but love it anyway. I prefer the ending of this play as it is written over how they do it in "My Fair Lady."  

My Samoan Chief
Good. Autobiography of one woman who, after earning her PhD, moves to Samoa with her native husband in the 1950's. Her account of island life as seen through her western eyes. There was so much I could relate to in here, and I respect her a lot. Wish the book were longer or had more info. 

The Mansion
Great story by Henry Van Dyke that teaches readers about the folly of laying up for ourselves treasures on earth. 

Daughters in My Kingdom
BEST. BOOK. Teaches so much about the value of women and the place females have in the Lords Church and Kingdom. So, so good. 

Northanger Abbey
Bleh. Dissapointing. Boring, quickly-read Jane Austen story about a spineless female character who likes some guy and goes to his house and thinks there's some mystery surrounding his mother's death, when there isn't. The worst part of the book is that they end up married, I think. Made me want to gag. Yuck-yuck. 

A Christmas Carol
So good, I'm not even going to say anything. I love this book so much. 

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man
Yuck. Not worth reading. I almost didn't put it on this list because I didn't want to admit I read it. It was on the shelf at work so I took it home. A very worldly look at dating and relationships. Had some valuable advice about self-respect, but overall I don't think it's something most people would benefit from. (aka don't read it)

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. 
Blech. Could have been good--a memoir by a mormon girl about her young adult experiences. But it's most ruined by her yucky choices and wishy-washy opinions. Related with a lot and did make me laugh out loud at some things, but I wouldn't recommend it, and didn't like it overall. 

Heaven is for Real
Very good. The story of a little boy who was very sick, went unconscious, and then proceeds to tell his parents all about the heaven he experienced while he was out. Really made me think and search the book of Revelation. I recommend this one. 






CURRENTLY READING:

Heart of Darkness
Love it so far! Incredible deep story about the theme of darkness in humanity--from nighttime darkness to skin color to the darkness of the human heart. 

Lone Survivor
Haven't finished it because he's so cocky I can't stand it!! Interesting section of what it takes to become a Navy SEAL though. They really do earn that distinction of being the best of the best. Pretty amazing actually. 

Die Buecher Dieben (The Book Thief) 
I've heard it's SOOOOO good, but I bought a copy in German in Berlin a couple of years ago and I am determined to finish it in German and not succumb to curiousity and just read it in English (which would be sooo much easier and faster--the Deutshe version is waaaaaay longer). I was about 2/3rds of the way through when I came back from Germany but haven't picked it up in so long I started over. 

The Emperor of All Maladies
So good so far! A history of Cancer. Can't wait to get really into it. 

Barefoot Running Step-by-Step
Also good. A running technique book. Since beginning this book I watch for the foot-fall pattern of every jogger/runner I see. 

Marley and Me
Good and funny, but very similar to the movie so far, so I'm not in a hurry to finish it. 









TO READ:

 Running with the Kenyans
Just got this today. Can't wait to start reading it!










Yes, I like running books. And I also like classics. And non-fiction. What do you like to read? Any recommendations?

Ko e 'ongoongo fo'ou*

wanna know something I'm so excited about?

(drumroll please...........)

I'm going back to Tonga!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this. So excited that I haven't been able to sleep--every time my head touches my pillow my mind explodes with memories and plans and passion and so much excitement that any tiredness flees for hours. The impetus for going is more research (CANNOT WAIT TO GET BACK TO MY RESEARCH!!!!!!) and along the way I'm going to take the time to see friends, visit several islands, and enjoy a blessed experience.

I love my life, and my Heavenly Father who makes it SO good.

Look at that, yet another reason to rejoice.

*"recent news"