Don't Forget to Wear Clothes on 10-31

Today in The Daily Universe (BYU’s daily campus life newspaper) there was an article about maintaining modesty—and decency, even for Halloween.  My dear Watson and I have been putting a lot of thought into what we are going to be for Halloween, and as a result have dropped in at a few Halloween stores looking for inspiration.  We were anything but inspired. Instead, we found a lot of incredibly inappropriate and perverted costumes. Since when does Dorothy from Wizard of Oz wear a booty-skirt, hooker heels and a skin tight cleavage showing blouse? Have you ever seen a nurse wearing lingerie on the job? Last year I went to a few different Halloween parties around BYU, most of them put on by people in my ward. A lot of the costumes were really creative and funny, but I was surprised at the number of skanky costumes worn by girls in my ward.  The article from The Daily Universe argued that we should be modest at all times including Oct. 31^st.  She also of course brought up the leggings issue which is an interesting one to talk about around BYU. I mean,  I totally understand how someone could think wearing skin tight leggings can make a shirt-- only slightly longer than a t-shirt-- modest to wear with no pants. I guess the “Dresses, skirts, and shorts must be knee-length or longer” part of the Honor Code doesn’t apply if you wear tights underneath. The author of the article brought up a good point that you don’t have to ‘dress like a square’ in your everyday life in order to maintain modesty. You can make a modest version of what’s fashionable and still look great.  Here’s the best quote from her article:

“So while you’re putting together your Halloween costume this week, try to give a little more thought to your outfit. There are plenty of ways to feel cute, even hot, in a costume while still maintaining the standard. You just have to be a little more creative.  It’s cold outside anyway—you’ll thank me later.”

 You can read the entire article HERE.

I Made an OWL

Lately I have been having an owl fetish. I think owl's are so cute I can hardly stand it. SO, I decided to try to make my own and this is how it turned out.  It looks like an owl which means I did a pretty good job, I suppose. I made it using Adobe Photoshop. It's just a bunch of shapes all thrown together. I'm bad at choosing colors that go well together, so I got the color scheme from a pre-made color sample from kuler.adobe.com. You can sign up for free and download really cool color schemes to upload to Photoshop, InDesign and I think Illustrator (I don't know Illustrator very well and I haven't figured out how to Load Swatches). 

Enjoy looking at my cute little owl! hoooot hoooot!

CELEBRATE

Everyone say WOOT! for my Dear Watson!!  It’s his birthday today!!!! Now we’re the same age (I’ve been older than him for 3 months).

For his birthday we stayed one night at a hotel (I won a free night’s stay), ordered pizza, stayed up late and watched a movie at his parent’s house, I got him some movies, chapstick and a UVU t-shirt, and today we’re going to eat at Red Robin (because they give you a free meal on your b-day).   

My dear Watson is one of the most genuinely kind people I’ve ever met. He treats people so well, no matter what—he just assumes the best of everyone. He also has this amazing super power to turn the negative into positive. He is eternally patient and humble. He can fix or build anything, and somehow always finds something that needs fixing. He so willingly cleans the house and helps with dinner (in fact, I think he does both jobs better than me).  Did I mention how handsome he is? You should see how children flock to him. It doesn’t matter if they’ve never met him, they instantly love him. One time a lady walked passed us while my dear Watson was whistling (he whistles a lot) and she said “you are such a good whistler—I think that means you have a happy heart.”  And that’s the truth.   

Since the moment I met him 6 years ago, I’ve been drawn to him. And now, I’m MARRIED to him. It is definitely a dream come true.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY my dear Watson, I love you!

I'm not sure if he is in pain or if he's happy in this picture. Probably happy, because he's drinking Sprite!

MOOSE

On a relaxing and much needed drive up the canyon last Sunday, my dear Watson and I saw a MOOSE.  Strangely, moose are and will always be an indication of God’s love for me. 

The last time I saw a moose, which was my first time ever seeing a moose, was in answer to a prayer that ended something like this:  “oh…and…please help me see a moose.”  I was spending my 13^th or 14^th birthday (I can’t remember which) at girls camp that year. For me, it was the worst way to spend a birthday. I didn’t like girls camp because of its tightly regimented schedule and uptight rules.  Not to mention the cliques in my ward which I was never included in . As I shed some tears by my cot the night before my birthday, I wondered if it was even okay to ask Heavenly Father for something like a moose. There’s only one roaming the mountains of Camp Shalom girls camp and I reeealllly wanted to see it.

The next morning, on my birthday, there was a moose taking a dip in the lake right by my cabin.  It waited there long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures.  Then it walked away and I never saw a moose again, until last week. Feeling stressed and slightly overwhelmed, I need an escape to nature. Again, I shed some tears and prayed silently that I would be able to feel Heavenly Father’s love for me—to strengthen me and lift me higher. Traffic along the Alpine Loop slowed and I thought for sure someone hit a bicyclist.  My dear Watson spotted the young black moose along the side of the road and we knew immediately that it was the real cause of the stopped up traffic.It moved deeper into the woods as we came around the bend. He froze for a few minutes while we drove by him and took a picture.  

I wasn't looking for a moose this time just some manifestation of God's love, and there it was once again in the form of a Moose. I think He was telling me to remember, and that if He loved me on that birthday at Camp Shalom, He loves me today and everyday. 

Where is My Dust Collecting Dress?

The other day at work one of my colleagues brought his wife’s wedding dress in because he had to ship it to one of his daughters and didn’t want to leave it in the hot car.  It was the second time since my wedding that I longed for a wedding dress that was mine forever. I’ll never be able to ship my dress to my daughter, and when they ask to see my wedding dress I’ll only be able to show a picture. 

I know, I know, if I had purchased a dress it would hang in a closet, never to be worn again. It would collect dust and turn yellow---until my little girl asked to see her mommy’s beautiful wedding dress. And then it would sit some more until my oldest girl asked me to ship it to her so she could show it to her children and so on. There is nothing like a wedding dress to rain down the memory floods of the most important day of your life, and to connect your children and grand children to the day as well. 

Some of you know about the wedding dress shop that ruined my life (okay maybe not ruined, but at a very stressful 2 weeks before the wedding, it felt ruined). For some reason their workers in China wouldn’t ship the dresses they had ordered for the last month. I went to the store and tried to find something else I liked, but they were going to have to alter it from a size 8 to my size and it was too risky so close to the wedding.  So we said ‘no thanks life ruiners, we’re going somewhere else. Oh, and give us our money back.' We were one of the lucky few to actually get our money back before they started denying money back and forcing everyone to wear a size 8 that they altered.

Anyway, through the kindness of many, I was able to find a place where I could rent a dress. I went in and about 10 minutes later found one that suited me. At this point I had detached myself from all sentimental feelings I had about a wedding dress. My dress was definitely pretty, and I’m happy I found it. 

In a couple days I’ll forget all about my desire to have my own wedding dress for keeps, but for today I wish I knew there was one hanging in my closet collecting dust and good memories.