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.

Being an LDS Woman

"There is only one way I can visualize religion being a legitimate issue in an American political campaign. That would be if one of the canidates for the presidency had no religious belief." -Richard Nixon

I heard recently that in April a member of John McCain’s presidential campaign made public comments alleging that the LDS Church (Mormons) had ties to Hamas and related the treatment of women within the LDS Church to treatment of women under the Taliban. He also made comments questioning if members of the LDS Church were Christians, all comments directed at drawing support away from fellow presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

It is interesting that staffers of two other presidential candidates (Rudy Giuliani and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback) and the Reverend Al Sharpton have also made public derogatory comments about the LDS Church, and all three have subsequently apologized to the LDS Church and Mitt Romney. I find it odd that after three other figures in the limelight have come out and apologized for similar comments that staffers would still decide to make attack Mitt Romney’s religion. Leave it alone already! I know however, that this will probably happen again. What can I say, politics is a dirty game.

What bugs me most about this particular comment is, well, one, frankly I don’t see how anyone would connect the LDS Church to terrorists. That comment just baffles me. But what bugs me even more that than is the comment that women within the LDS church are treated like women under the Taliban. That is even more ridiculous.

As an LDS woman I do not feel like I am repressed. Why would I? Yeah, I am going to have kids and I will probably stay at home to take care of them, but that is my own choice. That is what I want to do. No one is forcing me. I can’t image a better way to live my life than being there for my kids.

I can just hear the responses now. “She’s been brainwashed! Of course she doesn’t really feel like that. Years and years of brainwashing has made her think that’s what she wants when really she is, in fact, oppressed.” Oh please.

Everyone has different ideas about the nature of reality. Every human has certain beliefs that allow them to synthesize the world around them. Different cultures and religions may have a different idea about the nature of reality than you do. You may disagree with their nature of reality, and they probably disagree about yours.

Religion is a set of beliefs that create an order of reality for individuals, beliefs that are so true to individuals that they seem “uniquely real” or common sense. Individuals will use these ideas to interpret their life experiences. However, these ideas do not necessarily need to be associated with an established religious organization. A person can develop their ideas by various social experiences. Everyone therefore, even those who do not participate in a recognized church, has an idea about the nature of reality. So this brainwashed theory? Well, I guess if I have been brainwashed, then so has everyone else.

Sandberg Reunion