whoah.

so, as related to my readers in my previous post, i was/am fairly optimistic about the forth-coming year of my life... i had no idea the adventures would be starting so quickly. but i just found out today that from january 2011 to april 2011, i will be an intern for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here:


that's right. GHANA!!! as in i am fulfilling one of my life's all-time greatest dreams and going to africa. i will be teaching members of the church and their friends about starting and improving their own small businesses, i.e. international development, i.e. what i want to do with my life! how did i get so lucky?!

one year older...

i am currently in hour 8 of an 11 hour work day. don't feel sorry for me-- i chose to do it to get work off tomorrow for the byu football game. you may think i am on crack and wonder why i would choose to work this much in one day to watch the byu team get a butt whoopin' and well.... you're probably right.

so...i turned 23 a week ago. weird. i celebrated by 22nd birthday in london. a ridiculously high standard of a birthday experience that will probably never be replicated. while i spent my 23rd bdiddy right here in p-town, i am surprisingly optimistic about the forthcoming year. usually i don't like my birthday because i feel like i didn't accomplish anything in the previous year. however, last year was full of adventure, discovery, and was the greatest year of my life to date despite the difficulties. i feel that sense going into this year as well. opportunities are everywhere, just waiting for me to experience them. so here's to being 23!

one of my goals for the next 365 days is to visit this place:

great smoky mountain national park

and if i go there.... i will definitely have to go here:

also on the docket are the wasatch back, another ragnar relay, and perhaps a marathon? the possibilities are endless.

Interesting:

http://mormonscholarstestify.org/1718/valerie-hudson-cassler

Today is a good day. Not only is it Friday, but it is the day before Saturday. And Saturday for me means college football ALL DAY LONG. When I was in France last fall (gasp! has it really been a year?!) the college football season was honestly one of the things I missed the most. Pathetic? Probably. Do I care? Nope! Not one bit. I'm also playing intramural flag football and we won our game last night 56-0. Go. Team.

The leaves are starting to change which I love, but it's been too dang hot lately. Bring it down 10 degrees and I'll be happy. I need a reason to make soup! But peaches have been coming out of our ears and hopefully the apples will be on soon do we can bust out the apple press and make cider. I LOVE FALL. Cinnamon Roll Sunday (a.k.a. General Conference) is next week, my birthday is a week from tomorrow and I just bought a ticket to spend Thanksgiving in Indiana with my schwestis. Life. Is. Good.

Anyway... there's an update. Now back to reading Le Chevalier de la Charrette by Chretien de Troyes. Hooray for 12th century Arthurian romances.

The "F" Word

Here's an interesting article from the Salt Lake Tribune about the relationship between mormonism and feminism.

I hesitate to discuss my feelings about the "f" word here. (And by "f" word I of course mean "feminism.") I fear that I might offend/ostracize some of my readers (I do have readers, right?). To be brief, I certainly believe there is a place for feminism within the LDS church. And no, that does not mean I think women should recieve the Priesthood, nor should they refuse marriage and child-bearing. Women can be strong, knowledgeable, indpendent, resourceful, and work while still adhering to the counsel laid out by the leaders of the Church. I think this is a generally held belief (or hope so anyway). I have more of a problem with the connotation the word "feminism" has within the Church. A feminist seems to equal a 1. Democrat 2. Supporter of the ERA 3. A woman who is shirking her duties of motherhood. One could argue Sarah Palin, the most conservative of conservative (scarily so), to also be a feminist. Not only was she a candidate for Vice President, but she was also a mother. I think I could go out on limb and safely say that Sarah Palin is not a supporter of the ERA. In summary, I think that the connotation of "feminism" must change with the current culture of the country, both inside and outside the LDS Church. Long gone should be the days where women deferred to their husbands for decision making, where women acquired knowledge strictly for the purpose of teaching their children, and working outside the home received an unfavorable reaction from others. But perhaps those days aren't as far in the past as they should be.

Check!

So I finally achieved one of my New Year's Resolutions with perfection. I ran my first half marathon today. A friend got injured (sorry Julie) and so I ran the Hobble Creek Half Marathon in her place. It. Was. Awesome. Since this is my first half, I didn't really know what kind of time to shoot for, so my goal was under 1:57 which is about a 9 min/mile pace. My end time was...

1:44.47
(I'm choosing not to include the 3 or so minute bathroom break at mile 6.5)

It definitely helped that the first 8 miles were almost all downhill, but I'm happy with the time just the same.

I can't wait to do another one.