Friday, January 29, 2010

A house without a dog is not a home

"Maybe you've been looking for love in all the wrong places. A dog will treat you better than anyone you'll meet at happy hour. Trust me. I've been to happy hour."
"A dog will quickly turn you into a fool, but who cares? Better your dog than your boss. I'm a fool for my dog and proud of it."
"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater. . . suggest that he wear a tail." - Fran Lebowitz
"Old dogs, like old shoes, are comfortable. They might be a bit out of shape and a little worn around the edges, but they fit well." - Bonnie Wilcox
"I used to look at my dog and think, 'If you were a little smarter, you could tell me what you were thinking,' and he'd look at me like he was saying, 'If you were a little smarter, I wouldn't have to.'" ~Fred Jungclaus
"I once decided not to date a guy because he wasn't excited to meet my dog. I mean, this was like not wanting to meet my mother." - Bonnie Schacter
I miss my dogs soo much. I wish I could have just brought them here to Utah with me.




Pray for Obama

I got this in an email and thought it was to good not to share. Enjoy!

We were in slow-moving traffic the other day and the car in front of us had an Obama bumper sticker on it. It read:
"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8."
My husband's Bible was lying on the dash board & he got it & opened it up to the scripture & read it. He started laughing & laughing. Then he read it to me. I couldn't believe what it said. I had a good laugh, too.
Psalm 109:8 "Let his days be few; and let another take office."
At last--I can voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it
up--it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

WoRdS tO lIvE bY

ONE: Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO: Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, t heirconversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE: Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
FOUR: When you say, "I love you," mean it.
FIVE: When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
SIX: Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN: Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT: Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't havemuch.
NINE: Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way tolive life completely.
TEN: In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN: Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE: Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN: When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smileand ask, "Why do you want to know?"
FOURTEEN: Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN: Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN: When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
SEVENTEEN: Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; andResponsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN: Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN: When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps tocorrect it.
TWENTY: Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY- ONE: Spend some time alone.

Monday, January 25, 2010

A new way to learn.

So I've actually had a lot of people ask me about my education. It's hard for some people to think about, to understand. When telling people I was home schooled my whole life, I get the same answer, a stunned "Really?" And then the questions start. I've never really been able to answer these questions right. So in a way to help explain, I've looked to Oliver DeMille for help. It's a lot to read, but it covers pretty much everything. I hope this helps you all better understand.
The Three Types of Education
“All men who turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.”
—Sir Walter Scott
What is true education? Is it good grades and high test scores? Is it memorization/regurgitation of facts and dates? Is it measured by how much income one can earn, by how much political power one can amass, or by popularity?
Education can’t be fixed as long as we believe this basic myth. The myth is that it is possible for one human being to educate another. The fact is that the only person who can fix education is the student.
…Great teaching will solve our educational problems… Teachers teach and students educate… There are two types of great teachers which consistently motivate student-driven education: Mentors and Classics.
Conveyor Belt Education
The modern public school system was set up about the same time as the industrial revolution with the intent to educate the poor so that they could get a job, and thereby support their families. Each person who travels through the conveyor belt receives a stamp of approval at the end (diploma), and comes out into the world as a “finished product,” ready to be marketed to the highest bidder for employment. And like a factory, conveyor belt institutions test and grade all students on the same scales regardless of individual needs or interests.

The Conveyor Belt does precisely what it was designed to do. It produces a relatively literate workforce for the general populace. It rarely, however, produces independently thinking leaders. Conveyor Belt education can be found in public schools, private or charter schools, and even in home schools. It is often referred to as the “soviet conveyor belt,” because standards and grade levels are set low enough to ensure that nearly everyone can make it through the educational assembly line.
Conveyor Belt Education, has as its objective to prepare everyone for a job, any job, by teaching them what to think. This includes rudimentary skills to help them function in society. Most public schools are set up on the conveyor belt model, although most of us can cite wonderful examples of many excellent teachers in the public system who use leadership methods.

…Conveyor Belts have an important place in society, but it is essential that they don’t become a monopoly and that professional and leadership training schools are maintained.
Goals:
Educate the Poor
Teach What to Think
Get a Job

Curriculum:
85% Social
15% Textbooks

Method:
“Soviet” Conveyor Belt—Schools look and run like factories
Careers: (According to age)
0-18 Play
18-24 College Major/Job
24-68 Work/Job
68+ Retire or Volunteer
Professional Education
Professional education systems create specialists by teaching their students when to think. This system has been used much longer than the soviet conveyor belt, since it arose from the tradition of apprenticeship, where the student was systematically taught what his master knew, before venturing out on his own. Now, each professional, whether a mechanic, a lawyer, a doctor, or a financial adviser, is trained to meet a certain set of standards and to think creatively within his field of expertise. However, outside of that narrow scope of knowledge, he tends to rely on the understanding of other experts.

Professional education is also known as the “competitive conveyor belt,” since the methods usesd are the same as the soviet conveyor belt, but the standards are set much higher—the top 10-15%.

The professional system does what it's designed to do—create expertise. And if you need a doctor, a lawyer, or a manager for your business, you are glad they are well prepared. The professional system has been very effective in achieving its goals, but it is not a substitute for leadership training.
Goals:
Train Experts
Teach When to Think

Curriculum:
50% Case Studies
50% Ethics

Method:
Competitive Conveyor Belt—Students Compete

Careers: (According to age)
0-18 Play
18-22 College Major
22-26 Professional Training
26-65 Career
65+ Retire or Volunteer
Leadership Education
Leadership Education has three primary goals. First, to train thinkers, leaders, entrepreneurs, and statesmen—those with understanding and competence to lead society (do things right) and the moral character to act with integrity in the areas they lead in (do the right thing). Second, to perpetuate freedom by helping people understand what freedom is and what must be done to maintain it, and inspiring them to actually do the difficult things required to make it happen. Third, teach students how to think, which is how the first two goals must be accomplished. Those who know how to think are able to lead effectively and help a society remain free and prosperous, while those who know only when or what to think will be unable to do so.
The method for training leaders is as old as humanity—classics and mentors. The student studies the greatest works ever created, and submits to the guidance of great mentors, who customize the education for the student’s mission in life. This is the simplest, though arguably the most challenging of the educational paths.

"Leadership Education, which I call “Thomas Jefferson Education,” teaches students how to think and prepares them to be leaders in their homes and communities, entrepreneurs in business, and statesmen in government.

"…What happens when a society does not prepare leaders? We get managers and professionals leading in areas they have no training for, such as government, and we get a nation of followers who see no problem with that because they have no experience with anything else. …This was the legacy of Germany in the 1930s—a highly trained but uneducated people easily swayed by Hitler."
Goals:
Create Leaders
Teach How to Think

Curriculum:
Classics (any works that inspire greatness)

Method:
Mentors that Design a Custom Education for Each Student

Careers: (According to age)
0-12 Play/Family Work
12-16 Scholar Phase
16-20 Superb Education
20-24 Depth Phase (Liberal Arts College)
24-50 Build Two Towers (a Family and an Organization)
50+ Impact the World (Statesmanship)
The Four Phases of Learning
One of the most significant differences between Thomas Jefferson Education and other classical styles of education has to do with the belief that people, especially children, learn differently at different ages. Thus, there are different phases for learning certain lessons.
Core Phase (approximately ages 0-8)
The Core Phase is the first of the Foundational Phases, and serves as the foundation for all the rest of a child’s life. This is when parents nurture their children in the safe, cozy atmosphere of home and family life. During this period, they get a spiritual education by learning about the difference between wrong and right in the secure care of their mother and father.
A child in Core Phase should:
Learn the difference between good and bad, and how to make good choices
Learn how to work, and how to be responsible
Learn about God and his or her relationship with Him
Play—which is the best way for a child to learn about the world around him
Spend most of his time at home with his family, being nurtured and loved
Love of Learning Phase (approximately ages 8-12)
The Love of Learning Phase is the second of the two Foundational Phases, and it sets the stage for the child’s later scholarly pursuits. This is when a child begins to play in new ways, and this sometimes begins to look like study, but maintains the spontaneity and curiosity of play. If a child at this stage (or earlier) is forced into academics, what results is usually a “Hate of Learning.” This is one of the earmarks of a conveyor belt education, and why most of us schooled that way can’t fathom the idea that young adults will eventually choose to study 8-10 hours a day, if this phase is successfully nurtured.

This is a time when the student-in-embryo is encouraged to study anything that interests her. If she chooses it, she’ll be excited about it, and so her play will include things that sometimes do and sometimes don’t look like work: reading, writing, discussing, drawing, sculpting, building, cooking, and cleaning. The parent’s job during this phase is to keep the home stocked with “educational products,” and model to the child that learning is one of the funnest things she can possibly do.
A child in the Love of Learning Phase (who has had a solid Core Phase) will:
Study what they are excited about, with minimum "requirements" or "assignments" and maximum inspiration
Be fascinated by a variety of subjects, and will move from one subject to another at a random pace
Grow to love learning, if they are free to follow their interests (and conversely, grow to hate learning, if forced and coerced in academics before they choose)
Continue to learn and add upon the lessons of Core Phase
Scholar Phase (often ages 12-16)
As the student nears the culmination of a successful Love of Learning phase, he naturally begins to transition towards more scholarly pursuits, until he enters the Scholar Phase, the first of the Educational Phases.
"It is a time to study “everything under the sun,” to read, study science and math, practice art and study the great artists, and cover every topic and subject in a spirit of passion and excitement for learning."
Young adults in Scholar Phase (who have had a solid Core Phase and Love of Learning Phase) will:
Study 8-12 hours a day in subjects that interest them
Willingly submit to a demanding mentor to "fill in the gaps"
Feel passionately driven by a sense of “mission,” even though they are might not yet be sure what that mission is
Immerse themselves deeply in subjects of their own choosing that the they feel will help them in their life’s mission
Need time to study and read on their own
Depth Phase
Depth Phase is the second of the two Educational Phases, and as the name suggests, it is where the student digs deeper into the great wealth of learning available. Where the presence of a mentor is required to enter Scholar Phase, submitting to a more demanding mentor is critical to an effective Depth Phase. It is this mentor who will personalize the course of study for the individual mission of the student, filling in gaps and exposing weaknesses that the student must address.
"Depth Phase (ideally between 16-22) is characterized by a profound hunger to prepare for on-coming responsibilities and future contributions in society. This hunger leads a Scholar to acknowledge his or her limitations, and the limitations of the current mentorial arrangement, and to submit to the grueling expectations of a mentor at a new and higher level. For most, this is best accomplished in a college setting."

Saturday, January 23, 2010

SNOW!!!!!

Utah got snow!! Amazing I know!! Lastnight it just started coming down like no other! I didnt know it could snow like this in Utah! But I guess I've got lots to learn lol. Chelsea, Kirsten, Jenessa and I decided to go see Dear Frankie, it was showing on BYU campus. We were walking. It's not that far, but man was the snow coming down! The flakes were huge! Jenessa and I were in the lead with Kirsten and Chelsea taking up the rear with their trusty unbrellas. I opened my mouth trying to catch some flakes, they were yummy :) I forgot how great snow is! The movie was good. People laughing in all the wrong spots, and Gerard Butler is always a fine site to see.
We got a ride with one of Chelsea's friends, us four squeezed into the back of her car and prayed not to get pulled over. No one has studs in Utah, they don't even know what they are! Weirdness. Anyways, after some slipping and sliding all over the road we pulled into Her apartment. We had to walk the rest of the way to out apartment. Only like five blocks. We said thank you and started out journey home. The snow was perfect for snowballs. So we threw a few! We were almost to our apartment when three guys stepped in front of us, I thought about it a split second then threw the snowball I was holding at the guy in front of me! HA! I had to turn my head to laugh. Hoping he wouldnt notice it was me. I'm not sure if he did or not, but he threw a couple back. Haha aww, how I love snow!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Friends for life

As I've been here in Utah, I've been out of contact with all my Alaskan friends. Friends are the family you're not related to. They are important in your growing up and going through life. They either make or break you. As we go throughout our lives we meet new people. Sometimes they are great and inspiring, other times they lead you astray. But all the time, they are you friends, whether for that second, or the rest of time. I'd like to take sometime and spotlight some of the great people I get to call my friends.


Samantha Lierley.
Dude there are so many inside jokes I have with this girl. So many "you just had to be there" moments. It's kinda hard to remember them all. Haha. Sam has been my friend for seven or so years now. Ever since the Annie play where we met and then finding out we were going to the same school. We fought and dissagreed, but what friendship doesnt? A good friendship has to do with what we bring into it that counts. We've got memories and a TON of pictures to keep as remiders. I love you Sam

Ethan Shepard.

Hmm what to say about this handsome stud? I've know him for five years now I think, the last three years, he's been my bestfriend. And that'll never really change, I mean, he knows way to much about me lol. He's helped me when I thought nothing could get better. He's always been there to tell me I'm wrong, haha. Someone to make me laugh when I need it the most. He's my unofficial big brother. I love you Ethan =)

Reahna Hayes.
So ever since the day I met you at church. You were odd. And havnt really changed lol. From the Rouge bangs to the mini's. You've been someone I can always have fun with. Whether it's the good kind, or the kind that gets you in trouble. We've been through it all together. Good luck on you marriage!




Jordan Gingery.
Yeah I know, it's a little weird putting you in here. I mean we've only known eachother for like not even a year. But you were awesome during PP. Remember how I would tell you that you couldnt leave because nothing went right without you there. And you didnt believe me untill it was proven? Yeah, I was right. So always be here ok? Lol. Love ya!


Sarah Long.
I LOVE YOU SARAH!!!!!!
That right there pretty much says it all! Haha. Nah, you're amazing. And so much fun tp be around. You have this positive influence on everyone you're around. You've got the energy of a..oh I don't know what would have as much energy as you lol. But just so you know, I love talking to you, it just cheers me up. :)

Mambo number 5

"A little bit of Sandra in the sun,
A little bit of Mary all night long.
A little bit of Jessica here I am,
A little bit of you makes me your man!
Mambo number five.
Jump up and down and move it all around.
Shake your head to the sound, put your hands on the ground.
Take one step left and one step right."
So we've all heard this song, right? I mean, who hasn't? It's a classic. I was sitting in the library doing some homework when this little boy, had to have been like four years old, walked by singing it. A four year old! Word for word! It brought back memories. Memories from girl scouts. With my best girlfriend. Times like those can never be forgotten, they just get replaced by new ones. But it's always nice when they get brought up, you can relive the past for that little bit. Laugh about it. Treasure it. Always.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

PMS?

Yes, very much so. That's exactly how I would describe Utah. PMS'y. I mean come on, it was cloudy this morning, then as I was standing outside waiting for the buss, it started snowing!!!
Like it was just coming down! Made me miss home. But anyways, then it clears up to a bright and sunshiny day! Like by the time I got to school, the sun was so bright and the sky so blue, I wish I had my sunglasses. So after two hours in class, I come outside again only to see the clouds back and the wind blowing, then rain....what happened!?! It can only be Utah. All different weather experiences in all of 5 hours.
Craziness.
No offence to any Utahan's.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Dear Elder.

So I finally got around to sending a letter to my brother. Yeah, finally. I've actually had a couple of letters waiting to get sent. But I just havnt found the time to run to the store and get envelopes and stamps. Then my mom calls me up, asking why I havnt sent any letters yet, and tells me about this really cool website called dearelder.com. It's amazing! You can write your letter online, like an email and then the website will print the letter and send it for you, at the price of a stamp! Amazing I know! Anyways, just thought I would share this tidbit with every one.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Update!

Ok so I'm really really gonna try to keep this updated from now on...Haha yeah right... Anyways. So I'm in Utah now. Yep, again. I'm a Freshman at Utah Valley University. I've got five awesome roommates! Yeah, they're pretty cool. I'm taking institute classes which I love. And will be taking some Theatre classes. I'm way excited for that! Right now I don't have a phone.. Or a computer.. So I'm at the Library. I finally got a card after three trys! Yes, it really took me three trys to get the dumb card. But.. now I have one. So thats good.

Lastnight I went out with Lauren and Kirsten (two of my roomies) We went and saw Where the Wild things are. Can you believe they actually made that book into a movie!? I know, I remember reading it as a little kid. But anyways, It was....undescribable. Haha, good movie, but yet I'm not sure if I really like it or not. I don't think I would buy it and watch it over and over again, thats for sure. But it was a fun outing.

Stay tuned for more to come....