A young old prude.

Why am I so serious?

Because I believe in respect for others.
It really bothered me in high school when students would refer to teachers only by their last name. I was taught and still believe that I should address all my superiors and acquaintanced by their correct titles unless instructed otherwise. In cases where this kind of respect is not present, I have observed that there is a lack of structure and discipline and the opportunity to learn or gain something from this individual is compromised.

Because I trust people.
I believe that every person on Earth has a piece of God inside of them. People are born that way; they just left His presence. I find it extremely disappointing to hear of and see people using their agency given by Him to make poor decisions. For this reason, I use my agency to do my best to judge righteously and choose carefully those with whom I associate. Recently I have found that I need to be more cautious still. I don't lie and I want people to trust me, so I do what I can to extend the same courtesy.

Because I believe in people.
Again with number two: God is in everyone and everything. The potential of any given human being is truly unlimited, but restricted only by one's self. If one person takes a stand, there is almost a complete surety that someone else feels the same way. Often the only thing needed is courage. Fear not.

Because I love my family.
I have had no greater friends, no greater support system than my family. I could not trade any given moment good or bad that we have experienced together, because I know that it is those things that have made me the person that I am. Noted, I do wish many times that some lessons I could have learned differently, but I didn't, and those are often the most important lessons.

Because I love my Heavenly Father.
Simply put, He gives me everything. Not one thing done, not one smile smiled, not one tear shed, not one breathtaking moment felt is without Him. To hear those that defend Him be disrespected is to me, well.... beyond words of disgusting.

We are extremely blessed witht the ability to feel and have emotion. Not one person thinks the same way, not one person feels the same way even in exact same environmental conditions and replicated situations. Just because you feel that something is not important does not mean that it should be discarded. Nor must you hold yourself of higher dignity because you take something more serious than someone else. These are just pieces of me. Other pieces include the fact that I love spontanaety, I love to sing, to dance, to smile, and to simply enjoy another friend's company. I love to live and experience all that I can because my life here is but a small moment.

Read at your own risk. Really.

So on facebook there is this really funny page called Overheard @ BYU where students and such post funny things that they heard people and professors say on campus. I made the wall last weekend. And apparently I made it good- it's been posted at least four times. I'm not sure how to take this. I know that there are people that are actually trying to make the wall, hoping someone else will post what they said. The whole thing is supposed to be annonymous.
At any rate, here's what happened: my professor for bio 100 was gone last Friday, so the TA had to teach the lecture and get through the slides. Our current topic is genetics. That day in particular, we were talking about probability and genetics and inherited diseases and genes. Prior to this, we talked about meiosis. We never referred to it any other way. So, speaking in terms and ideas of genetics, probability, and inheritance, I asked the following question, "So what's so bad about close relatives doing.....the, uh... whole meiosis thing?" I didn't know how else to say it without sounding scandalous or causing young adult hormones to rage even more and get into a more sexual discussion. Funny how the use of one word can do that. I just wanted to know what goes scientifically wrong in situations like that. Needless to say the WHOLE class laughed. Loudly. I have never actually felt so red in my life. The TA didn't quite know how to answer. One dear classmate nearby leans over and says, "So in other words, ask Professor Stevens when he gets back." Yeah... I'd love to put myself up for complete and utter embarrassment another time. Pass. I just decided to let it go. I can promise that it won't be on any exam in that class.
I knew it in my gut that I would make the wall and it would sound like I was an incest-loving daft clueless BYU co-ed. Once found, I did post as my facebook status that I was quoted on Overheard @ BYU, but I wasn't quite sure or ready if I wanted to say which one. NOT wanting people to go and figure out which one was mine, NOT wanting people to ask so I would tell them. But it is certainly more interesting than complaining about homework or bragging about my significant other (which I don't have anyway...). I was a little more than baffled when someone really had enough time to decided to take time to sift through and figure it out. I did mention that I was on the wall twice that day, and I turned out to be the only one, which is actually rare. So yes, this is my fess up. And last I checked, the quote has been posted at least four times. The only other quote or story that I see that's up multiple times is in reference to some guy who proposed to a girl on campus using a CTR ring. I guess if it's right and they're happy.... Only at BYU.

Only in Utah....

I thought about sharing a snippet of this experience in my facebook status, but I decided it was too long, so I suppose I'll put something here.

This weekend, I had the chance to go home over the holiday. I'll spare the details and hopefully get more pictures and information from my short vacation soon. Among other things, I got a new cell phone. The old one that I had was beat. I was none too gentle with it, but it was practically indestructable anyway. And during it's final months, it was held together with neon blue duct tape. I was fortunate enough to have parents that love me and I convinced them to let me get a nice phone. I have to pay the required internet service fee every month which sucks because I carry my laptop around campus and get free wi-fi whenever and wherever I want! That's the only thing that my mom and dad and I don't like. But I really like the phone. I plan on keeping it for a looooonnnggg time.

So this evening I was playing with some of the gadgets trying to figure it all out and I got a notice: "Initial Programming Required." I was confused, so I called verizon customer service to figure out the problem. I entered my phone number, my password, told them what I needed, and finally was connected to a real person in tech support. The funny thing was, he was confused as to why I had to sort of re-activate my phone. It worked all day yesterday and today but it just changed its mind I guess. Through the strictly business converstation he made a speech mistake and just threw it off and said it was late and he still had quite a few hours to go. I somewhat sympathize with telemarketers; I was in the business for about two or three weeks and I hated every minute of it and I know that the people on the other end didn't like me all that much either. Anyway, still trying to get to the bottom of the mystery, he asked me if I was still in Blackfoot, where the phone was purchased and activated. I told him that I was in Blackfoot yesterday, obviously, but I was currently in Provo, Utah. "Oh really?" he said, "I'm in Salt Lake!" Funny how that works, isn't it? We ended up having a short conversation about BYU and Utah and Idaho and the U and college and even ice cream... it was kinda nice and I could tell it made him a little happier. We actually talked for about 20 minutes or more I think, not including about the phone. He did explain that changing location affected my phone, because in Idaho I was using Alltell signals through Verizon, but in Provo, as he said, back in civilization, I was going just off Verizon towers. Made sense to me. So he gave me a quick number I could dial on my cell phone and even told me exactly which options to take to get it all fixed. Good customer service!

I of course was pleased to get my phone all dandyfull and just the way I like it, but it also brightened my night a little too to have just a casual, relaxed converstion with someone else. So, somewhere in the Verizon technical support staff, I guess I have a friend :)