Christmas Spirit

To end this blogging adventure (for class at least), I thought I'd share a video that combines two of my favorite things: Christmas and Penguins.

Time to Fly

In just a few hours I will be headed to the airport. I get to go spend a week in California; partying it up with Shamu and Mickey Mouse. It's the perfect stress reliever before finals begin.

I saw this video awhile ago, but since I am about to get on an airplane, I figured it was appropriate for today's blog post.

 Next time I fly, I wish it could be on this airplane heading to New Zealand.

Thanksgiving

I cannot believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I feel like it just creeped its way here this year. I am grateful for so many things. I am truly blessed to be where I am today. There is a lot of Christmas music for the season, but not a whole lot for Thanksgiving. 

So enjoy this wonderful song from Josh Groban: 

Riverwoods Christmas Lights

Okay, so I know there are a lot of people who wait for anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving. But I am not one of those people. To help bring in the spirit of Christmas my friend and I went to the Riverwoods shopping center this weekend where they did a show and then turned on all the Christmas lights for the first time. Santa even made an appearance. There were a couple of groups and bands that put on a concert to help kick of the holiday season.

The musicians did a wonderful job. Especially The Str!ke (who just happens to be one of my personal favorites). It was great to see music bring so many people together to have fun and begin the celebrations of the upcoming month.

General Conference views on media

I mentioned in a previous post how I like to review the conference talks when they are printed in the Ensign. As I have been re-reading some of the talks today, I noticed that quite a few of them mentioned the importance media has played in helping spread the word of the Gospel.

President Thomas S. Monson said "We acknowledge the blessings of modern media in allowing millions of members of the Church to watch or listen to general conference. The sessions of this weekend are being broadcast via television, radio, cable, satellite transmission, and the Internet, including on mobile devices."

Wahoo! Media and the Church for the win!

Facebook

The slogan Facebook used when it was created was that you could connect with friends around the country/world. When I first got an account, this was not really the case, since practically everyone I knew lived within 20 minutes from me and went to the same High School. As I've gotten older it has slowly become a way to keep me informed of my friend's lives who have moved to other states or countries. Although a lot of people post random crap that has no purpose or they abuse the whole idea of Facebook, it's nice that it is there so I can see pictures and updates from those I don't see very often but don't want to completely forget about.

And then, at work this morning, my boss called me into her office because she wanted help with her Facebook account. She got one awhile ago, but she needed help with all the notification settings. Once we got her squared away, she became very excited showing us all these posts from people she grew up with. She expressed true gratitude for the invention of Facebook and being able to stay connected with people from her childhood. And the fact that she's in her sixties, makes it a big deal.

Snapchat

I wasn't sure quite how I felt about snapchat when it first came out. Wasn't it just the same thing as sending a picture through a text message. But then I learned the joy of being able to make silly faces that could disappear. Unless someone took a screenshot, then that was just rude. Depending on my mood I still have mixed feelings about whether I'm a supporter of it or not.

However, there has been a big positive about snapchat in my life, and I was reminded of it after today's lecture in class. We talked about how media can either bring your family together or create conflict that could create a wedge. In my family, snapchat has brought us together. I've never been extremely close to my brothers, but with the joys of snapchat we have found a form of communicating that works for us. They are not always hilarious selfies, but of other things going on with our days. Whether it be work, play, or pictures of their children, it has seemed to work as a good style of communication between us. So for that, I am thankful for snapchat.

Songs Getting Stuck

I love listening to music. Background noise is one of my favorite things. It may just be me, but when there's music playing it almost feels as if my life is that much cooler (could be a movie or something). But, there are those times that a song gets stuck in my head and it drives me crazy. It could be a song that I absolutely love, but when I can't get it out of my mind, I almost want to rip my hair out. Ever feel that way? While this was on my mind, my friend sent me this link about the top songs that get stuck in people's heads. I love these songs, and I definitely agree with the article that they are catchy. But I wouldn't be the happiest if they were constantly on repeat in my head.

http://fox13now.com/2014/11/05/and-the-worlds-catchiest-song-is/

Voting

Today I am grateful for the electronic voting system. Just imagine how annoying it would be if we were still counting all the votes by hand. I for one, am glad its electronic now. I would not want to be the one counting all the votes. Definitely makes life easier.

Mash Up

I've mentioned before that I am kind of a nerd. I came across this little video of joy the other day. And it made me laugh. I don't know how people have time to do these things, but I'm grateful for them. I need a good laugh every once in awhile.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/catesish/my-heart-will-go-ultron

Scary Stories

Seeing as it is almost Halloween, I figured I would share some horror stories. I love Halloween and all the spookiness that goes along with it. Enjoy!

http://m.9gag.com/gag/av0v95O?ref=fb.s.mw

Talking Babies

This video has been around for awhile, but my dad just reminded me of it and I couldn't stop laughing. I love how these twins are totally having their own conversation. Super cute!

Skype

In my opinion, Skype (or any other form of video chat) is one of the greatest inventions. I have a niece who is three years old, and she loves calling people on the phone to talk to them. But, it's even better when we Skype because she gets way more excited about being able to see the person she is talking to. Her sister is only nine months old, so the other day when I was Skyping with them, she saw my face and got super excited. She can't talk to me on the phone, but seeing my face and smiling at me was her form of being able to "talk" to me. And on a plus side I got to see her crawl, so I was happy too. Thank you technology!

And just so you can see their faces too, you'll know why I love Skyping with these adorable girls.

Cute right?!

Love Lessons

I'm in that stage of life where I'm searching for the one I'm going to marry. And I've mentioned it before on how crazy it can be with the whole dating thing; it's frustrating. And sometimes it just gets really hard and I become fed up with the whole system. Then there are those times you get a kick in the butt reminding you of what you need to be doing. And I hate it. It's never fun when you have to be vulnerable and it can be hard to open up.

There's been an article going around that relates a devotional from Elder Holland about lessons of love and dating. Some of them make me think "yah, that's right!" where others are "I should be focusing more on that...whoops." It was another kick in the butt, but a good reminder at the same time. Here it is if you haven't seen it pop up on the book of face yet: 

http://www.millennialmormons.com/10-love-dating-lessons-can-learn-elder-holland/

Feeling 22!

So...today is my little sister's birthday. She's 22 years old today. I don't know how she got to be that old, but it happened. I texted her this morning dedicating Taylor Swift's song as her theme song for the next year of her life. We all need a song to give us a boost right? Even though I have to be in the right mood to be able to listen to Taylor Swift, this song always brought a smile to my face when I was 22. It just feels cool to have a song about a phase of your life. Now its time for my little sister.

You Are Worth It

Yesterday in relief society we talked about eternal marriage. Such a wonderful topic. But you know the direction it ends up going in a singles ward. Everyone puts in their two cents about dating and all the things that are wrong and complain about how they're not married yet. Not to harp on all the girls in my ward, but some of them are 18, first semester at college, and complain about not being in a relationship yet with a returned missionary who is dying to whisk them away to the temple. There were a few of us older girls who have had quite a bit more dating experience than them, who are just as frustrated about living the single life in Provo.

As our discussion continued we focused a lot on becoming the best version of ourselves that we could be, this has to happen before we end up meeting Mr. Right. I remembered an article that I read a few weeks ago on a blog that talked a lot about how a girl shouldn't settle for what she doesn't deserve. It was a good reminder after the relief society chit chat that we are all worth it. There is a time for all things, and you just have to live your life to the fullest while everything pans out. Yesterday I was very grateful for social media and the ability we have to express our thoughts and opinions (like in a blog, haha) because you never know when someone else in the world is going to need to hear that thought and how it could affect them.

If you feel like reading the article, here's the link: http://ashlinsblog.com/2013/09/24/youre-not-a-plan-b-kind-of-girl/

Entering a Different World

Do you ever find an amazing book and spend countless hours reading it until you are finished? I have this problem. When I get a good book that I become super involved with, I cannot do anything until I have finished. This has occurred way too often with all the Harry Potter series; buying the book the first night it comes out and going straight home to read it until I'm done. Forget sleeping, who needs that anyway. But do you ever get so invested that you forget about the rest of the world? It feels as if you enter a different world and the real world should just freeze. But when you're done, the world continued on without you and you're now left with a torn heart between the book world and the world around you.

Sadly though, during school, the only world I enter into while reading is that of a textbook. But every break in school allows for a time to escape reality. I countdown for that time again.

Childhood Fail

I always get distracted when I get on the internet. I start off doing really good with homework, and then, I just need a break. I start looking at one thing, that leads to another, and before I know it I've looked at all these crazy articles and realize that I officially accomplished entertaining myself for an hour without realizing it.

However, during that "wasted" hour I find so many good things. Good as in random/interesting/funny things that make me think "who has time in their life to research and find out all this stuff?!" Exhibit A: An article on answers.com that mention a bunch of unhealthy snacks from your childhood. As sad as it may be, I ate so many of these snacks, and now that I look back through the article, it's as if part of me died by seeing the sad non-existent future of my childhood food fun.

http://www.answers.com/article/1214337/12-totally-unhealthy-snacks-from-your-childhood-that-went-extinct?param4=fb-us-de-health&param1=health&param2=1650051&param5=5&param6=6

General Conference

I am so excited for General Conference this weekend. It is one of my favorite times of year. As I've gotten older I've noticed the different ways I prepare for the sessions. When I was younger the focus used to be which pair of pajamas I was going to wear and which coloring books I was going to use. As I've gotten older I've found more profound ways to prepare myself.

Before each new session of Conference I like to re-read all the talks from the previous one. This helps me remember what has been discussed and allows me to open my mind to more questions that I might have that could be answered in the next session. Without media, this would be impossible. We have so many options available to us with access to review counsel from our leaders of the Church. I can purchase the Conference edition of the Ensign, or download it to my phone or I-pod. There are times (like this weekend) where I am extremely grateful for media and the positive use we can use it for. And let's face it, without media, we wouldn't be able to watch Conference in the comfort of our own homes.

The Piano Guys

So, I’m a nerd. I may or may not be obsessed with Marvel and DC Comics. I saw this video that the Piano Guys did of the Batman theme song and I literally got chills. The Piano Guys are so talented. And bringing together all the cars from Batman brought a smile to my face. I'm not a huge fan of classical music, but there are certain artists that are only instrumental that I really enjoy. The Piano Guys are one of them. Every time I listen to their songs I feel so peaceful inside. Super helpful for getting through a Monday.

http://thepianoguys.com/portfolio/batman-evolution/

A song to describe yourself

Today's class lecture really got me thinking about the type of music I listen to and reasoning of why I prefer a certain genre over another. I'm not the most pickiest person when it comes to types of music; there are certain types I will not listen to, but for the most part whatever comes on I'm pretty okay with listening to. I'm the worst with naming songs and the artists behind it. When I'm singing a song and someone asks me who its by, I just look at them blankly, because I honestly have no clue. (Don't worry, I'm working on it.)

So then in class when Dr. Coyne asked us to pick a song that described us, my mind went blank. I was able to come up with a few that I knew I listened to pretty frequently, because they made me happy. In thinking more about it, I don't necessarily have certain songs that I would say describe me or I listen to because they have a specific meaning. For the most part I try to listen to music that makes me feel happy and has a good message (even if I don't know all the words, I assume for the most part its good). Some of my favorite songs would be ones that remind you to make the most out of what you have in front of you and don't let anything stop you from trying your best (Defying Gravity is basically what I'm referring to).

Disney: Then & Now

I grew up watching Disney movies. Whenever we went on road trips, we'd bring enough along to make the drive go by quicker; and let's be honest, it was a ton of fun having the whole family sing along in the car. And I won't lie, even now I watch them quite often. Walt Disney definitely knew what he was doing; all those movies are just classic. I mean, who doesn't love to break out in song randomly to express what's going on? But, do you ever watch them now (being an adult) and see them in a completely different light than you did when you were a child?

I have a niece that just turned 3 and she is OBSESSED with Disney movies. Being the awesome aunt than I am, I watch them with her and sing along (I'm a kid at heart, no big deal). She's got the songs down. But I find myself paying more attention to the plot and messages being received from the movies, and I can't help but be a little put off by what I find sometimes. Don't get me wrong, the Little Mermaid is awesome. But if you think about it, doesn't it seem wrong that she tries to change herself to be able to marry a man she "loves," even after never speaking a word to him (that he could hear)? Or Aladdin pretending to be someone's he's not just to impress a girl? I'm not trying to harp on Disney, but it makes me a little sad to think that these movies I loved so much as a child, can have such a different meaning when you think critically and try to pick apart the plot. It gets to a point where you don't fully realize the messages the movies you watch can be sending.

Knowing me, Disney will still play a big role in my life. Whether it's got a twisted plot or not.

Music with homework

Everyone is different on whether or not they can have music/noise while trying to focus on homework. I've never been able to take a test in the classical musical section at the testing center. I have such a hard time focusing. But for some reason, while working on homework, I need to have some background music playing. I guess it technically depends on what type of homework I'm doing. If I'm reading a text book or working on a math problem, the quieter the better.

However, while writing a paper, it takes me a lot longer if I'm not listening to something. I just wrote a paper for a class and was having a hard time focusing on exactly what I wanted to write about. I decided to turn on some music and after a few minutes I was focused enough and wrote the paper in pretty good time. It depends on the person, but I think for me the music distracts part of my brain so that the other part can focus on writing. If it's silent while writing my brain is trying to think of too many things at once. It'll be interesting as I experiment throughout the semester where its more helpful for me to listen to music and where I shouldn't.

Messages Learned

When we think of media, the form that usually comes to mind would be television, movies, and/or music. News articles are not normally the first thing we could categorize as media; at least, I don't. When I think about the shows I've been watching and what type of messages are being portrayed, it will influence how much I will continue to watch that specific show and the take home message I receive from it. At times I am not fully aware that the information I read in newspapers or books have as much of an influence on my life and perspective of things as the television programs do.

My father sent out an article to our family that discusses someone's view of marriage. While reading it, I found myself "talking" to the author of the article and giving my own opinion in reply to what she was saying. I realized that I end up doing this quite often while reading anything. I have my own dialogue going on and by the end I realize the influence of what I'm reading and how I am going to disperse it out into the rest of my life. I decided that this is a good form to keep up because it is helping me become more aware of the media I am being exposed to and what I truly think of the message it's sending.

The Reason Behind the Show

Today in class we discussed a variety of theories and the ways they look at forms of media. Specifically the outcomes of what media can have on a person or society and what hidden reasoning lies beneath the surface. One of the theories is called Uses and Gratifications. Basically, you watch a television show or movie because you are trying to fill a need that you have for yourself. It can either be to hide behind a relationship with someone in the show, or to deal with some traumatic emotional situation.

This really got me thinking about why I find myself so hooked and obsessing over certain TV series or being in the mood to watch a specific chick-flick. There have been times in my life where the dating game has not gone too well, and instead of dealing with the "real life boys," I focus in on a relationship that is developing between characters somewhere else. There's always the classic Nicholas Sparks movies that we are all dying to watch when we want to see the sappy (and predictable) love between a couple. And when you just can't seem to find the perfect man, we resort to watching Pride & Prejudice, and fall back in love with Darcy. A problem that comes from this sort of "obsession" with finding fictitious love in media, is that we then get an unrealistic view of how it is in real life. And yet, we still fill our time with searching for romance inside the media. The media industry has gotten their hands wrapped around the emotions of women, and quite frankly its difficult to fight against them.

Media Fast Fail

For our class we were challenged to go 24 hours without media. That means no computer, cellphone, television, music, etc. I figured it would be easy enough to try it out. Boy was I wrong. For two days I was going to start the morning good and make it through with no form of media. However, the rest of either day did not go as planned. Things came up that resulted in me using my phone or computer. And driving up to Ogden was going to be a very boring ride without music.

I was thinking about this and how difficult it has become to "survive" without some form of media. It is becoming extremely easy to allow it to overtake our lives. In class yesterday we did a little self-survey to see how much media we actually use throughout our days. Yeah....my hours were higher than I wanted them to be. It can be hard to fight the use of media. So instead, my goal for this semester is to try and use media more for good. I'm going to find ways where I feel like I'm benefiting from using media and not just wasting my time away. We'll see how it goes.

Blogging is back!

It's been a little while since I've posted anything on my blog. 2 years is a long time, but better late than never right? Having a smart phone, it just seems easier to use Instagram instead of taking time getting onto a computer. However, I'm taking a media class at school this semester and we get to blog about thoughts, experiences, interactions, etc. that we have with media. So for the time being, this blog will take a break from the normal daily activities of my life, and focus more on the media that sadly takes up a lot of my time :).