The Amazing Race

 

In dedication to our lecture in class today, I'm going to talk about one of my favorite reality TV shows, The Amazing Race!  I do realize that my very last post was about one of my other favorite series, Downton Abbey.  But I promise I do more than rave about TV shows, so visit my blog again!

 

I love this show.  I've watched almost every season since I was in junior high.  I get so thrilled by the drama and challenges and travel throughout the episodes!  It's legitimately on my bucket list to be on The Amazing Race with my husband someday, so he better prepare himself. 

 

The Amazing Race is a race around the world.  The season starts with 11 pairs.  In each leg of the race, teams need to complete "Road Blocks," "Detours," and other challenging tasks related to the culture of the country they're in.  The teams get to see and experience some pretty incredible things while they compete!  For example, in the episode I watched today (Season 24, Episode 1), teams started in LA and flew to China where they got to experience China's tallest tower, the longest street of wedding dress shops, and the stadium where the Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies were!  And that's just one leg!  Ah it would be such an awesome experience to be a team on this show!

 

And just so you all know, the 24th season (the All Stars season!) just started this past Sunday.  So if you've never seen this show, now's your chance!  And know that if you need anyone to talk about episodes with, I'll be available.  Enjoy!

My Emotional Release

I'm so glad this week is finally over.  It's been a stressful week full of both tears and smiles.  I've been taking more naps this week and trying to relax my mind and just reboot more often. 

 

This week, I'm so grateful for my favorite show, Downton Abbey!  It's been a lifesaver, or at least keeping me sane.  I can immerse myself into their world and into their drama, and I momentarily forget about the struggles I'm facing in my life.  I love the story.  I love the romance.  I love their relationships.  I love the time period.  I love everything about Downton Abbey.

 

I owe the conquer of this week to my wonderful fiancé and Downton Abbey.  Bring on Monday.

His Grace is Sufficient

In my Pearl of Great Price class today, we were discussing Moses 6, specifically Enoch and his teachings.  We briefly talked about how the Atonement works as Enoch taught.  This devotional by Brad Wilcox kept playing in my head throughout the discussion.  It's one of my favorite devotional talks!  If you haven't heard it, you need to!

 



Thank You, Mom. And Dad.

I'm sure most of you have noticed that during the Olympics, P&G comes out with commercials thanking moms for their sacrifice and dedication.  Here's one for the Sochi Olympics:

They're really touching!  I get chills literally every time when I watch these commercials.

But in the back of my head, I've always wondered why they don't publicly thank dads for all their hard work too.  In these P&G commercials, dads are definitely under the radar.  Then Zions Bank came along.  Check out their commercial for Sochi:

What are your thoughts?

Darkness and Sadness Will Not Endure

I gave a talk in church two weeks ago about overcoming trials and how to respond to life's difficult circumstances.  Here's a quote by Elder Hales that illustrates perfectly what our attitude should be during trials:

I have come to understand how useless it is to dwell on the "whys," "what ifs," and "if onlys" for which there likely will be given no answers in mortality.  To receive the Lord's comfort, we must exercise faith.  The questions "Why me?" "Why our family?" "Why now?" are usually unanswerable questions.  These questions detract from our spirituality and can destroy our faith.  We need to spend our time and energy building our faith by turning to the Lord and asking for strength to overcome the pains and trials of this world and to endure to the end for greater understanding.

 

I love that quote.  It's more meaningful to me because I gave this talk at a critical time in my life.  My grandma was diagnosed with cancer last year, and her health has been declining rapidly in the past few months.  My grandpa (the same grandma's husband) had a stroke last week and will be in the hospital for a month for physical therapy, trying to learn how to eat again and move any part of the left side of his body.  My supervisor at work passed away last week due to lung cancer and a heart tumor.  And then Ashleigh. 

 

For whatever reason, I'm experiencing a lot of heartache and sorrow right now.  In our lives we will have our dark days, but because of Jesus Christ we can have hope in overcoming our trials and ultimately returning to live with our Heavenly Father.

 

In class today, Dr. Coyne shared a quote from the Ensign that really touched me.  And I found a Mormon Message based off that same talk by Elder Wirthlin.  It's an amazing, uplifting message.  May we all have the faith and strength to turn to Christ in our heartaches and hardships.  And remember, darkness and sadness will not endure.

 

Going for Gold

Well, here's to my next two weeks.

 

I'm completely enthralled with the Olympics--summer or winter.  When I was younger and going to school, I would come home and sit in the family room with my family and watch the Olympics all afternoon into the night.  It was a bonding experience for us.  We get emotionally attached to all of the US athletes, I swear!  They become family by the time the Olympics are over. 

 

While I was making dinner today, I had KSL on in the background, and they were featuring different stories like "History of Sochi" and "Road to Sochi."  Man, it got me so pumped up!  I'm so ready for these Olympics!  I even downloaded the NBC Olympics app for my phone to get updates throughout the day.  I'm ready!

 

Just in case any of you are as obsessed as I am, this will keep you busy:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/

Mormonads

I really loved our lecture and discussion yesterday about advertising.  And I got thinking of some of my favorite Mormonads in the past.  This is one that I had hanging in my room for as long as I can remember:

 

 

Oh, and this one:

 

 

I had a lot of fun looking through the Mormonads website and being reminded of those really popular posters (https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/categories/mormonads?lang=eng).  I think that Mormonads are an effective and memorable way for kids, as well as adults, by providing us a simple reminder of what's important and what our priorities need to be.

 

What are some of your favorites?