Inquiry is here, finally!

Yesterday when I went and got the mail there was a package in the mailbox for me. It looked like it was a book and at first I was really confused because I hadn't ordered a book online recently. Turns out the package was two copies of the journal Inquiry, a new publication put out by the Kennedy Center and the Anthropology Department. It was really exciting for me because my paper was in it! I had submitted it for publication a year and a half ago. Last year around this time I was revising it, and now it is pulished. It's feels good to see it in print, but I am also so nervous to have people actually read it. I hate having people read my academic papers because I feel so vulnerable. What if they don't like it? What if they think it's trash? I still haven't gotten myself to actually sit down and open the book to my paper yet. What if looking back on it I don't like it? And now it is out there for the entire world to read. Anyways, that's just a little bit of my insecure rambling. Really, the entire world is not going to read it, and most of the people at BYU who read it don't even know who I am.

Of the Beginning

Just a quick note- I posted this poem a couple years ago, but my last post made me think of it again, and I decided it was worth posting again. I love this poem!

By Susan Elizabeth Howe

O Daughters, I will speak
of excellent things. The opening
of my lips shall be from everlasting,
from the begining or ever
the earth was.

When darkness was upon the face
of the void, we were there.
When there were no depths, we
exploded against the bleakness
of density.

We watched the gassy sweep
of the galaxy, loved the forming sun
for its light, for its patience,
the stars for their distance
and immensity.

As Earth swirled in its sphere
we were centripetal. As seas
gathered together, we touched a finger
to the face of the deep.
As clouds meandered

into the sky, our cheeks moistened
in the mist. Bedrock settled
in our beds, and from us
soils learned to nourish.
We saw matter

organized-- hills everlasting, fountains
of the deep. Matter inspirited
as flower, fish, bush, beast,
all bearing egg or seed.
These we gathered,

enfloding spheres of truth within
ourselves, prepared with wisdom,
the wisdom of God, the God of light,
the light of the daughter
and the dawn.

Extrasolar Planets

And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. -Moses 1:33

When I was in high school I was a horrible chemistry student. I really liked science but for some reason chemistry was beyond me. I despaired one term that my chemistry grade was going to ruin my GPA because for the life of me I just couldn't do well on the tests. Luckily, my teacher allowed us to do a ten page extra credit report to bring our grade up a full letter grade! We were able to choose the topic ourselves as long as it had something to do with science. I chose to write my paper on the search for extrasolar planets.

Ten pages in high school was a long paper and by the time I finished writing that paper I felt like an expert on the subject. So I am still always interested in reading about the latest findings in the area of extrasolar planets. Today I came across this article on MSN about the ten most intriguing extrasolar planets. I was amazed to read that there have now been almost 230 extrasolar planets detected throughout the universe. Twenty years ago it was just a theory, now a new detection is almost a mundane occurance.

Back when I wrote my paper most of the planets that had been discovered were giant gassy planets, like Jupiter, because only the large planets made a big enough impact to detect their presence. Scientists figured there probably were other smaller planets closer to the stars they orbited, even multiple planets orbiting around the same stars. Now new advances in the way they detect the planets has allowed scientists to find a lot more smaller, rockier, planets, and, as the article shows, a whole lot of other kinds of planets. It makes me excited to see what other scientific discoveries (and not just space discoveries) the world will see in my lifetime.

...wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.- Moses 1:4

Hot Dogs and S'mores

Last week during Elder's quorum Robert was looking at the lesson manual, I'm sure trying to follow along with the teacher, when he was distracted by a picture of some people roasting marshmallows. He thought, "wow, that looks like a lot of fun," and immediately made plans with the person sitting next to him to go to the beach and have a little bonfire.

Battle at Kruger

This is an amazing video of the struggles in nature

Tagged

Melanie tagged me last week, so here is a little bit about me:

5 things I was doing 10 years ago......(wow, ten years was a long time ago...and I was so young!)
1. I was thirteen and thinking back on it now I don't even know what I did everyday. I started junior high school and all that went with it. Seven (was it seven? i don't quite remember)classes all in different classrooms, with lots of new people. I had a real gym class for the first time and I had to run the mile for the first time. The very first time I "ran" the mile I actually walked/ran, mostly walked.
2. Going to the orthodontist every month to get those braces tightened.
3. Our stake was reorganized that year and they created a new ward, the West Mountain ward. I had a lot of fun as a Young Woman in that ward. Now I am in Young Women's again!
4. I played the clarinet in band
5. I went to Canada on a family vacation

5 things on my to do list today......

1) Call a client to have her come in and fill out an application for a transitional shelter.
2) Go out to lunch with Robert
3) Go to Mutual.
4) Put away the laundry
5) Cook up something for tommorrow's enrichment

5 songs I know the lyrics to.....

1) "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor
2) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band
3) "Big Iron" by Marty Robbins (it's an old, old country song)
4) "Come Come Ye Saints" and many many other hymns
5) "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire.....

1) Buy a really nice house and hire an interior decorator to decorate the inside.
2) Go on a world trip (or a couple trips)- going to at least Spain, France, Italy, Japan, India, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Peru, Brazil and Argentina. To begin with.
3) Invest it and become a billionaire
4) Create a charitable foundation
5) Buy some fancy clothes and new shoes

5 things I'll never wear again......

1) Sweaters that go down to my knees
2) Neon pink and green suspenders!
3) The bangs. Oh the bangs. Yeah, never again with that.
4) The same jacket everyday, all winter
5) Oversized t-shirts

5 favorite toys.......

1) Computer- it's not extraordinary or anything, but I am always using it
2) Library card- because there are so many things to get from the library!
3) Digital Picture frame- so I can actually see all the pictures that we have taken
4) Cell phone- its so nice to finally have one
5) Cable- a luxery we have at the moment

5 lucky people who get to do this next......
1) Katrina J.
2) Jessica R.
3) Annie F.
4) Chris S.
5) Tina T.

New Job

Surfing Wheats

While we were in Kauai someone spotted a random wave in an empty parking lot. So of course we pulled over, tumbled out of the car, and ran to the wave to take pictures.

Aloha!

We are back from our trip to Hawaii and we had a blast. We spent a week on Kauai and three days in Waikiki with Robert's family. His grandma has a timeshare on Kauai and invited us all to come with her this year. It was beautiful. The resort was right on the beach so anytime I wanted to could just go for a stroll along the beach. I really liked going out in the evening before the sunset and watch the surfers. One time we went out and watched the surfers we saw sea turtles catching the waves too. It was so Finding Nemo.

We did a lot of snorkeling which is something I had never done before this trip. The first time we went I had to sit down on the beach to get my fins on and then walk in backwards. I had a lot of sand in my swimsuit after that. I still get claustrophobic when I first get in the water because there is so much sand in the water near the beach. You can't see anything and your breathing is restricted and you don't really know where you are going. After a few minutes you get away from the beach, the water clears up, you get used to breathing through a stick and it is a lot of fun. My father-in-law got some fish food and it seemed like all the fish in our area were packed right around us.

We also did a lot of relaxing, which for me means reading by the pool. I started reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer a few months ago. The third book came out the week that we left, so I just had to finish it while we were in Hawaii. Now I can't wait for the fourth book. I also picked up For One More Day by Mitch Albom. It was a nice easy read about a man who gets to spend one last day with his deceased mother.

Waikiki was nuts! We went from small town relaxed Kauai to the heart of Waikiki, what a shock! Waikiki is packed full of tall hotels, tourists (a lot of whom were Asian), and just about every big expensive fashion store. It was nice for about an hour, then it was just nauseating. Luckily we spent a lot time around the rest of the island, visiting the Polynesian Culture Center, the Laie Temple, and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor.