The Way to a Man's Heart

We've all heard the saying. "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

The question is, have we all heard about the success of feeding a man and getting him to fall in love with you?

While flipping through a magazine my mom had sitting on the counter, I came across a recipe for some sort of "healthy cake" (as if a such thing exists). The lady who had sent in this recipe went on and on about how many dates she got after making it for some sort of function. My question is, do the two things - making a healthy cake and getting dates - really have a connection? Is it possible that men are putting the connection there to get us to continually make them food?

I have a confession, I'm guilty of trying this out. I've made carrot cake, cinnamon rolls, and cookies all with just one guy in mind. After each one, he'd tell me how wonderful they were and how great of a cook he thought I was. Of course he wasn't the only one I would share this food with. And everyone else would comment on it, too, convincing me that with those skills I wouldn't be single for long.

Yet, here I am. Still single. And even though attempt number one didn't work, I tried again. This time I made tacos, scones, cinnamon rolls again, cheesecake, all sorts of things. Again the same results.

And yet, here I am. Still single. So, my question is, why do we women keep making food for these men? I've quoted him before and I'll quote it again. As Dallin H. Oaks said, "Young women...don't make it easy for young men to hang out in a setting where you women provide the food."

And there you have it. The way to a man's heart could be through his stomach, but probably not. It is possible, but most likely there is something else to it. I'll let you know if I figure it out. ;)

My dreams can be a little unusual...

When I was about eleven, I had a dream that I had a twin sister. But I accidentally killed her while doing the dishes. She fell out the window with a bunch of pots and pans.

Yeah, it took me a while to recover from that one.

And then it came back. One of the few recurring dreams I've ever had.

Anyway, my dreams have always been weird. Some a little morbid, some funny, some adventurous (Example, a few weeks ago I had a dream Chelsea and I jumped into a river with a bunch of camping gear).

And some, just plain old weird.

A few nights ago I didn't sleep very well. That always results in fantastic dreams. I woke up a lot in the night. That always results in me remembering almost every detail of my dreams.

To tell the entire dream would take a very long time (just ask Spencer), so instead I will just give you a few details. If you want the full story, let me know. I'll tell you in person. :)

This dream involved a silent and extremely overweight guy named Kirby playing the chopsticks on randomly placed pieces of wood. It involved a zombie "football game" (which was really just us running away from the zombies at the grand canyon while holding a football). It involved one of my roommates turning into a super hero named Kicking Katie, who had a boyfriend sidekick named Jump-kick Jack.It involved turning to dust on a windy day and heads shattering like ice cubes. It also involved magic pizza, savory pudding, a leaping fiance, and snow creams with potatoes.

Right, it was one intense dream.

Say it in your head...

If you recall, I once had a post involving family prayer. It is ALWAYS a big deal to discover who will actually end up saying it, regardless of who's turn it may be.

Even though the youngest is 14, our family still argues about it. You'd think that by now we'd just grow up and say the prayer already. But no. Tonight, with only five of us there, we had a hard time determining who's turn it should really be. I had said it last night. If Julia were living at home, her turn would be tonight. But she isn't living at home and we've always debated whether or not that puts her in the rotation. So the arguement began - Julia or Spencer.

Julia explained that she doesn't enjoy saying prayers out loud. "Just say it in your head," my dad said.

And then it all came back to me. Just say it in your head. This used to be an option for us when family prayer time came around. I'm sure it was Whitney who came up with it. She probably thought it was the smartest idea ever. Just close your eyes, be quiet for a minute, and then shout AMEN! and everyone would be happy.  And me, being the little sister who believed anything she said (example, carry two plates at the buffet and people will think you are skinny), I am sure I thought she was actually praying.

I can remember Whitney doing this almost every night it was her turn. Should I be concerned that we may have missed praying as a family all those nights?

Tonight, after we laughed about all this, my mom said it is no longer an option for us. There were a few pretend, sarcastic groans. But, part of me wonders, were they really pretend? Or do some of us wish that praying in our heads for family prayer was still an option?

New Year's Resolutions

I've heard a lot of people talk about how New Year's Resolutions are just a lame excuse to act stupid the rest of the year. Or about how it is so much better to just make these resolutions as soon as you think of them rather than at the start of the new year. Or about how making resolutions is so ridiculous because they only last a couple of months.

Well, I feel differently.

In seventh grade, I made a New Year's resolution to keep a journal. I've written consistently ever since. In eighth grade, I made a New Year's resolution to stop drinking pop. I haven't since. My senior year I was fed up with resolutions, seeing how it had been a while since I had made one that actually became a habit. So that year I resolved to eat more ice cream. It has become a habit. :)

In the years since, I haven't made any resolutions that have had a measuring stick. I can't literally see the progress I'm making or anything like that. They were more personal goals, and you know what? They've stuck with me as well. Though I'm still working on a lot of them, they weren't goals that I let drop only two months into the year.

This year, Julia, Chelsea and I made a list of "resolutions" and then put them into a hat and took turns pulling them out until they were all gone. We each ended up with ten things to accomplish throughout the year 2013. Some are silly, and some (very few) are slightly serious. I won't say who ended up with what goal, but here are some examples of what we came up with.

- Tell a stranger to meet you at a certain place, at a certain time and on a certain day and then show up and wait for them.
-Go without texting for a while week
-Throw eggs
-Pay for a random person's movie tickets or food at a drive-up.
-Interrupt a boy by kissing him
-Have a paint fight
-Have a "High School Musical Moment."
-Eat pancakes every day for a month

I'm pretty excited about this list. I'm looking forward to some, and not much to others. But it will be fun. :)

Of course I'm making other resolutions as well. One that I am pretty excited about. If you've consistently read my blog (if anyone like that out there exists) then you are about to roll your eyes and say "Seriously, Sorine? You're going to try that again? Just give up already!" But that's the thing, I don't want to give up. This year I am going to make steps towards that dream I have to become published. I don't care if it is in a small publication, or if I end up FINALLY actually finishing something and publishing it. I don't even care if I have to do one of those self publication things, I want it to happen. And this is going to be the year. At least the year where I make a little bit more progress. :) Wish me luck!

And to those of you who are against new year's resolutions, GET OVER IT! ;)

The Jebberkiah

Today my mom said to me, "Sorine, if you help your brother write his paper I'll give you fifty billion dollars."

I couldn't pass it up. So I helped Mitchell produce this incredible paper about a snowboarding trip he once had. Enjoy.

            “Let’s do this thing!” my cousin, Cody, and I shouted.

            We were at the top of an extremely tall mountain. There was a dense fog, so thick that you could chew it. We couldn't even see our own hands. But that didn't stop us. We were ready to tackle this mountain like never before.

            With both feet strapped tightly to my snowboard, I headed down the mountain. I was traveling at an insane speed. Down the triple black diamond lift line trail we headed. Cody was right behind me and I took the opportunity to show off.

            I increased my speed to a crazy insane speed to jump like a ninja. The ramp was getting closer and I planned out my trick. I was going to do the unthinkable. For the first time ever I was going to attempt the Jebberkiah.  The Jebberkiah is a triple back flip with a twist.

            Right as I reached the top of the ramp, I chickened out. I landed with nothing exciting happening in the air. Cody caught up to me and immediately started laughing. “You idiot,” he said. “You were supposed to do the Jebberkiah.”

            I came back with a smart-aleck comment saying, “I didn't see you do it, Cracker Jack.” I kindly shoved him aside into a bush and took off.

            Soon after, we went into the trees. The wind was so bad we saw people being lifted off the ground and thrown miles away. While in the trees, Cody challenged me again. “You know,” he said “there is one more ramp before we get to the bottom. I bet I can do the Jebberkiah before you.”

            I didn't have time to respond. Cody was off like a bullet facing the deadly winds like a madman. Not wanting to hurt my pride, I took even faster than a bullet; I took off like a lightening bolt.  

            This time, when I reached the top of the ramp, I didn't chicken out. I performed the Jebberkiah like never before. Well, I would have, but instead I blinked.

            Suddenly, right after blinking, I couldn't see out of my right eye. I crashed. Into Cody, who was waiting for me at the bottom of the ramp. He looked at me intently and burst out laughing. He said, “Hey dork face, you know your eye is frozen shut, right?”

            “What?” I asked. “It’s no wonder I couldn't see out of it. And here I thought I’d be blind forever.”

            Cody laughed and took the opportunity to kindly shove me into a bush and speed off. I climbed out of the bush and headed towards the lodge. I knew that there I would be able to thaw my eye and hopefully regain my ability to see.

            I took my snowboard off and walked into the lodge, wondering why all the girls were winking at me. Cody came up to me and said, “Don’t get too cocky, dork face. Remember? Your eye is frozen shut.”

            I laughed and kindly shoved him into a table full of winking girls. They squealed like pigs and ran off.

            “Are you going to fix your eye, or keep shoving me into things?” He said, brushing fries and muffins off his pants.

            I took my glove off, reached up and CRACK! I could see. 

The End. 

Girls are jerks.

Okay. First of all, this isn't a post about girls and their drama. This is about how girls, namely me, can be jerks to the male gender.

You see, girls have this way of telling boys things. Meaning, we don't tell them things, we try and show them through our actions and expect them to understand. And when they don't understand, we'll spend our time complaining to each other and when the complaining session comes to an end, we conclude that all guys are jerks. But the truth is, girls are the jerks.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've flat out told guys I like them. Of course, this wasn't an easy thing to do. Just ask my roommates, they'll tell you all about the panic I was in throughout the entire experience. It was terrifying. Yet, I managed to do it. For some odd reason, the idea of rejection was easier to handle than continually not knowing.

There were two times when I told a guy I was interested. They both handled it VERY differently. The first took me out on a date a few months later. The second was one of my best friends, he immediately told me he was also interested and wanted to take me out. That was probably the last normal conversation we had and we never did go on a date or anything. We don't talk much anymore. However, with both situations I've been okay with the outcome.

There have also been two times when I should have told the guy how I felt. Not because I was madly in love with him, but because I wasn't interested at all and he had made his intentions clear. The first was through high school and I was able to get away with just avoiding the situation all together. The second is happening now. After the one date we went on, I stayed up all night stressing about how to let him know I wasn't interested. Although I've convinced myself I tried to let him know (meaning I gave some pretty obvious clues) I haven't flat out told him. And I feel like a complete jerk.

So how come it's easier for me to tell a guy I'm interested and risk rejection than it is to tell a guy I'm not interested and risk having him hate me?

I don't know what it is, but something in me feels the need to protect these guys from rejection, even if it will benefit them in the long run. And it will. Not only will they become stronger from it, but it will free them up for other opportunities.

It pretty much just goes in a circle. I don't want to hurt someone and in the process of trying not to hurt them, I end up being a jerk. To avoid being a jerk, I prolong the awkwardness for selfish reasons.

Guys, is there even a way to kindly inform you of our disinterest?

Girls, we need to remember. The guy pays for the date, he's the one who generally does the asking. He's expected to open our doors, to plan the date, to entertain us, and through all of this he has to try and translate our "hints" into words that he can understand.

And this is what it boils down to. The guy plans the date, picks us up, pays for the activity, can be an absolute gentleman the entire time. And, whether we're interested or not, we let it happen. Girls are jerks.

The Easier Path

I started writing almost an hour ago. When I read through what I had written I realized that I had two completely different topics and had horribly tried to connect them. In my mind at three in the morning it made perfect sense. But, I felt I should cut it down to the topic that actually has a meaning. So here is the last half of the post I started to write when I should have been sleeping.

All day long I've been thinking about how my life is moving. About how easily I am frustrated with life and how I wish I could be satisfied. I often think there has got to be an easier way, that life shouldn't be so complicated and difficult. As I sat in bed, a few scriptures came to my mind.

In Matthew chapter 11:28 it says "Come unto me, ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The majority of the time I'd stop reading there and find comfort. It is a great scripture. By turning to him I can find rest. There is nothing wrong with that. However, if I keep reading, I kind find more. In the next verse it says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

There are many ways to view that scripture. Relating to my own thoughts, I sometimes see it as someone saying "Come see how I do things. I am witty and charming and have my life together. Try things this way and even you can end up where you want to be." I sometimes see it as an observation type thing. I can just see how someone else does things and then suddenly I'll be able to do them that way, too. But that isn't how it works. "Take my yoke upon you." That right there is an action. Christ isn't saying He'll do all the work, but rather He is saying He'll share the work, He's nice enough to do half of  it. He isn't just going to show me, He will guide me and do things with me.

In 2 Corinthians 6:14 it says "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" This verse helps me see that I've been doing a lot of things wrong. I often think that I need to surround myself with people who I think  have all the qualities I lack. Of course, there is nothing wrong with trying to gain new characteristics and attributes. There is nothing wrong with looking up to people and admiring things about them, things I hope to live up to. But sometimes we need, I need to take things at a pace more suited to my own personal situation.

And this is where Christ comes in. He'll take the yoke with me, He's willing to work at the pace I personally need. As long as I am doing my part, He will be there next to me doing his.

The mistake I often make is moving too quickly, slowly, or trying to pull in a direction I feel I need to go. I forget that Heavenly Father is the one in charge and that He is the one to have the final say. If He wants me to slow down, I should. He has the map in hand, He can see what steep climbs are ahead. If I ask and if I listen, He will tell me the way to go, the pace I should travel, and the stops I should make. I honestly believe that if there is something I need to know, He will tell me. All I have to do is ask. He won't leave me hanging. He won't laugh and say "It's a secret! You'll have to wait and hear it through the grape vine!" He'll tell me. As simple as that.

Matthew 11 ends with these words, "For MY yoke is easy, and my burden is light." If we do things His way we will be happy. If we listen and slow down, speed up, take a turn we didn't plan to take, our journey can become what He has planned and will become easier.