Don't take FREEDOM for granted!- The Giver, Anthem and Harrison Bergeron (2081)

     Here in America, we enjoy many freedoms. Everything from what we wear to what we say and do, we have the freedom to choose. Ayn Rand's book Anthem is an anti-utopian novel in which the people in society have basically no freedom. Every single day they eat, sleep, work and watch a play about work. There are long lists of laws restricting them. They can't say what they want to say, they can't excel and do better than other and they can't go where they want to go. They can't even think what they want to think or prefer things without breaking the law! The book takes place in a very primitive, future America. They have no electricity, their tallest building is only about two stories tall and their two greatest inventions are the wax candle and glass. Our times- times of cars, skyscrapers and electricity, are the Unmentionable Times. Most people in this society have no clue about what things were like before the "Great Rebirth". The society is so collectivist they don't even know the word "I". If they do somehow discover the word, they are killed. The book is written in the form of a journal by Equality 7-2521. Equality is different. He's much smarter than everyone and yearns to learn new things. Unfortunately he was assigned to be a street sweeper instead of working and developing new technology in the Home of the Scholars. I won't tell you what happens in the rest of the book because I really, really want everybody to go and read this amazing book (along with The Giver by Lois Lowry and the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut) and I don't want to spoil it for you! I love how this book helps show how much we take freedom, learning and excelling for granted.

     "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut also takes place in future America- the year 2081 to be exact (movie got its name). In this story total equality is enforced. People who are more athletic than others are required to wear weights to make it harder to move. They also have to wear bulky earphones that play loud annoying, sounds every 20 seconds to keep smart people from getting too far with a thought. Harrison Bergeron is a 14 year old fugitive who was taken from his home because he is the smartest and the strongest. He escapes and tries to show the world that total equality is not a good thing. Once again I won't tell you what happens next but it too also gets you thinking.

     Finally, The Giver by Lois Lowry. I'm sure most people have already read the book. To be completely honest I haven't because my teacher in elementary moved me to a different group when we were only like a chapter into it and I just never got around to reading it, but now I totally am! I watched the movie last night and it was AMAZING! I loved it! It was soooo... good! When we first started reading Anthem in English, my teacher said that she thinks it was greatly influenced by The Giver. After watching the movie and seeing some of the resemblances I can totally see why she said that. The societies are quite similar except for The Giver is much less primitive, the people have a bit more freedom than in Anthem and overall, their society seems more normal-ish even though it isn't really normal. Just go read them and you'll see what I mean. ;) The Giver really makes me appreciate all the good and the bad in the world so much more than I did. I am a pretty thankful person, but some of the scenes such as the war scene really help me to be more thankful especially for some of the bad because it shows how amazing love really is. Sorry if that doesn't make too much sense but it's really hard at the moment to put my thoughts into words... there just aren't good enough words to describe what it makes me feel but I'm pretty sure if you read/watch it you'll understand and feel it too.
     Anyhow, I really liked these three books because they are just such eye openers and it makes you realize how blessed we really are. I am so thankful for the freedoms we do have and that we are able to learn and excel and do what we want! So, please, please go read/watch these things!!!
     By the way, I found the entire book Anthem online so just click on the title and it'll take ya there. It's actually a pretty quick and easy read so if you feel you don't have lots of time, I'm pretty sure you could fit it in. I also found the 30 minute movie 2081 on Youtube so you can click here and it'll take ya there. I apologize it has Spanish subtitles which get slightly annoying if you're like me and don't know how to read it but the sound and stuff is all in English.  Let me know what you guys thought afterwards! And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

The Importance of Keeping a Personal Journal

     I am a big journal writer. I admit I'm not perfect at being super consistent sometimes, but journaling is something dear to my heart because it blesses me and my family so much!
    President Henry B. Eyring said in one of his talks, "As I would cast my eyes over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day." This quote is so true! Just taking a few moments to reflect on your day can really open your eyes to the small tender mercies of the Lord.
     Back in January, I was walking home alone from school in the pouring rain. When I was almost home, I stopped at the corner and decided I had two options. A.) I could just keep going straight and get home out of the rain or B.) I could take my normal rout and stop at Grandma's to see how she was doing. After thinking about it for a minute, I felt that I needed to go with option B. As I walked up the street to her house, I kind of thought to myself that maybe it was the Holy Ghost telling me I needed to go see her. Once I got there, I asked her how she was doing. She told me that she had a pain deep in her leg and debated about driving to the Instacare but she didn't want to drive alone in the sloshy wet snow. I then offered to go with her. Within a few minutes we were on our way. The doctor did some tests then told her she needed to go to the ER. At the ER, we found out she had a blood clot in her leg. It wasn't until I was writing this in my journal that I realized that it was in fact the Holy Ghost prompting me to go to Grandma's. I am so thankful that I was able to realize this and learn more about how the Holy Ghost speaks to me personally and how oftentimes God works through others to help us.

     My Grandma is a genealogist and is constantly telling me names of my ancestors who I know nothing about. I know they are people, but to me, the names of people in FamilyTree are just names until I know their story. Once I know their story, I feel like I really know them. When you're in Heaven someday, do you want your descendants to know you as just a name on a screen or do you want them to know you for who you are and what you've done? I've started reading the journals of some of my ancestors and I am starting to really love them even though I never knew them in person! Their personalities are also captured in their writings. Reading one of my great-great-grandpa's journal's I've found out he's a pretty tough and funny guy! Reading my 5th-great-grandmother's journal, I've learned about the struggles she faced, the sacrifices she made and the hope she had for her children by coming to America. Spencer W. Kimball also said, "How happy we are as we find our grandparents' journals and follow them through their trials and joys and gain for our own lives much from the experiences and faith of our ancestors."
     Writing in your own journal and reading your ancestors' journals can also help you to be more grateful. My 2nd-great-grandpa wrote about having to walk 3 miles barefoot in the middle of winter to school. It was so cold they'd have to build a fire a few times along the way to warm up their feet a bit before continuing on. He also talked about him and his wife getting out their tonsils on the same day; they were wide awake for the procedure and didn't have pain medications. Each story makes me so much more grateful for how much my life is blessed because of advanced technology and medicine and even the sacrifices they made which have helped us today.    
     Keeping a journal can also make us happier. I wrote in one of my entries a while back that I don't like being a negative person. My journal is a place where I can just vent and let out all my emotions, and then go out and be a happier, more-positive person. This blesses me and my family because I'm happier and therefore they are happier because they aren't suffering from my anger. I realize over the periods of time where I haven't written in a while, I feel way more stressed and ornery than I do when I am more consistent. Some of my siblings went to see a therapist because of depression and anger issues and he gave them a composition notebook and told them each to keep a journal and it has helped them to be kinder and happier when they do write.
     I found a cute quote on Pinterest by Benjamin Franklin that says, "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." I absolutely love this quote. I feel I live by this in a way even though I only found it the other day. I want to have an intriguing story that my kids and grand-kids will someday really want to read. Also, I want something to write about. I don't want my entries to just be, 'Oh, today I slept in then watched SpongeBob all day while eating goldfish.' That's why I try to live my life fuller now and go on more adventures.
     If you don't keep a journal, I would highly recommend you do. It will bless you and your family in so many different ways. So, get out there and start journaling! I promise, you won't regret it.

Tips For Learning A New Language

     Learning a new language can be both fun but also kind of hard. In this post, I'll tell you how I've been able to learn quite a bit of German in a short amount of time and how you can too.
     Sometime just over a year ago, I became fascinated with the German language. Because I wanted to stick with learning violin, I wasn't able to sign up for the German class at school. Luckily, I found an AMAZING website called Babbel. I have really enjoyed learning with Babbel because it is so effective. You do have to pay once you use up all your free courses, but if you are really committed to learning the language, I'd say it's totally worth it! I tried learning from some other websites at first, but nothing worked as well for me as Babbel has. If you use Babble, you can get an app on your handheld device, but I personally prefer doing it on my laptop.

     Writing things down is a great way to learn faster, that's why I take notes on lined paper as I take each lesson. After a few days, I'll review what I learned by typing my notes into a folder in my Google Drive.

I also make flashcards on my iPod by writing down the word on a little piece of paper and then taking a photo of that item with the word in front. This way, when I have a few minutes, I can just flip through the photos in the German album I made and review words I know. Sometimes I'll even give my iPod to my sister and she'll tell me the object and I'll tell her the word. 

   Listening to music is a fun way to learn a new language. I listen to some songs so frequently that I know the German version better than I do the English one! I listen to a lot of Disney songs and songs by German artists such as Andreas Bourani on YouTube.
      I've also been reading and listening to the Book of Mormon in German. In school a few months ago, we learned a bit about subliminal learning. I really believe that listening to it, (even if it all sounds like gibberish) will really help learning. As I've listened to it (even without paying too much attention), it's helped me learn to the point now where I can pick out and understand words, phrases and occasionally even whole sentences that are being said.
      I found a nice little book at Deseret Book titled German Missionary Words, Phrases and Grammar. It's meant for missionaries but it has tons of useful everyday words (and of course gospel words too) and grammar explanations which are helpful.
      So, if you are learning a new language, I would highly suggest doing some of these things to learn it quicker so you can go out and speak so fluently, some might even think you're a native.
      (Comment what you like to do when you learn a new language and if this article has been helpful to you.)

Advice On Making A Fondant Cake

Last summer I went to my aunt’s for a week. One of the days she gave a cake decorating class and she let me join in. I learned how to make marshmallow fondant (which is WAY better than the store bought kind!) and a variety of gumpaste/fondant flowers such as roses, mums, peace lilies, fantasy flowers and daisies. When I got back from my trip, I bought a Wilton cake decorating set and my friend and I made our other friend a birthday cake. It took us 7 hours to do everything. So this year, we were determined to make it as easy as possible so we planned. If you ever make a giant cake with fondant, here’s how I would do it now after learning from my mistakes…

1.)            Spread it out over the course of a few days- Don’t overwhelm yourself.  7 hours the first time seemed like forever and it was exhausting! This time we decided we would make the fondant and bake the cake the night before we decorated so that the cake could cool completely and we wouldn't have to wait for it. If you are going to make homemade gumpaste or use a mix, I would suggest making that either the same night as the fondant or doing it the night before the fondant. The final day we used to make the frosting and ice the cake and put the fondant on.

Day 1.) make gumpaste

Day 2.) make fondant and bake cake

Day 3.) make frosting, ice and cover cake with fondant and decorate it to your heart’s content

2.)            Plan what you want to do- Yes, plans can always change like ours did, but have an idea of what you want to do beforehand and know what types of things/colors the recipient of your cake likes and be creative. I asked my friend what colors she liked and she told me pink and blue. I thought to myself, ‘How in the world am I supposed to put those two colors together?!’ I then remembered the most beautiful sunset I ever saw over Lake Michigan a couple years ago; the water was a beautiful cerulean blue and the sky was a stunning, solid coral pink- the sight was just breathtakingly beautiful! My friend loves California and the beach so we decided to turn it into a Sunset on the Beach themed cake. We sketched a little picture with the bottom tier being a cerulean blue (the ocean) that was tall enough so that we could turn the bottom edge into the bottom of the sea. The top tier would be a coral pink (the sunset). We then wanted to make some black fondant and cut out the shape of the silhouette of a small island with some pal trees and put that on the side of the top tier and make a few tropical-looking flowers out of fondant and gumpaste to further decorate the top or something.

3.)            Make sure you have EVERYTHING beforehand! - I went through my house looking for the ingredients I knew I would need to make a shopping list. I couldn't find any cake mix so I told my mom to buy some but she thought we still had some boxes in another room so she didn't buy it when we were truly out. Luckily, my friend’s mom was able to go buy us some but by then we didn't have time to bake the cake so I had to wake up really early the day we were supposed to be decorating to bake it. I also knew my family has like 2 different things of food coloring so I didn't worry about that, but when it got time to dye the fondant blue we were 100% out of blue! My sister used up all the blue the week before making play-dough. We then spent the next 20 minutes trying to find someone that had blue food coloring. Luckily my friend, Gracie, who was helping me to make the cake was able to find some at her house.

4.)            Know how the color will change with each drop of dye-  When we were adding blue dye to the fondant to make the cerulean blue, it looked like a little bit more would do the trick and the color would be perfect. We had this turquoise color but it wasn't cerulean so we added more. The dye totally skipped the cerulean color and went to a dull, gloomy shade of blue instead.  It was also hard to get the right color for the coral.

5.)            Improvise when needed- We were exhausted because it took longer to do everything than we anticipated because of all our setbacks. My mom also bought a gumpaste mix that we’d have to make on our own and we didn't want to bother with it so we improvised. We ended up just doing a blue bottom tier and a pink top tier with colorful balls of fondant all around the edges and we used a stencil to spray paint the words ‘Happy Birthday’ on the top with food coloring spray. It turned out pretty cute and she liked it but next year we are determined to make a cake that actually ends up like our original plans now that we know what we can do better.

The Captive Maiden

At Deseret Book yesterday, I found a good looking book titled The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson.

 It's a retelling of Cinderella, but it's so many times better than Cinderella! I absolutely love this book! It's really exciting and intense and if you're like me, you won't want to put it down (I started reading it at 3:30 and didn't stop until I was finished at 2 A.M).  I love how the book is more complex than Disney's Cinderella movie- and by complex, I mean there's more bad guys, more action, more that happens, and it also switches from Gisela's point of view to Valten's so you get to see more of what's going on and what they're feeling. I personally am not someone who normally reads fantasy books so I really liked how Melanie Dickerson made this without having a fairy godmother just poof out of nowhere and solve her problems. This book was so fun and intense to read, I would highly recommend this book if you are someone who's into romance books. Also, in case you were wondering, it is 281 pages long.

The Fault In Our Stars

I recently finished reading The Fault In Our Stars by author John Green. I love this book! It is such a cute story! I love all the little quotes in it! If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it. It does occasionally swear, but in my head I just replaced them with better words. There's also one part where you may want to skip like 3 pages but other than that, I really loved the book! I can't wait to see the movie! Also, from what I've seen of the movie trailers so far, the movie follows along with the book really well.