candidely candide.

so i just finished reading candide by voltaire. i know, i sound so intellectual huh. (please don't be fooled.) anyhoo, despite being all in all depressing and a rather tedious read, there were a few things that inspired some deep ponderings and elicited a few chuckles out of me.

first, an amusing quote. the context is the main character (candide) has never been to paris before and is currently headed for france, so he's discussing the people and culture with his friend martin (who has previously spent time there):

"Is it true," said Candide, "that the people of Paris are always laughing?"
"Yes," replied the abbe, "but it is with anger in their hearts; they express all their complaints by loud bursts of laughter, and commit the most detestable crimes with a smile on their faces."

this definitely made me laugh, especially since voltaire was in fact french. i love it when people can smartly satirize their own culture without being totally ignorant or crass. i guess i have a lot to look forward to when i go to paris, huh? kidding...

the other thing that particularly stuck out to me in the story was the plight of the old woman (no, she didn't have a name. she was referred to as "the old woman" throughout the entire work). she was captured by soldiers at one point in her life, and as a method of torture they cut off one of her butt cheeks. so she spent the rest of her life with one butt cushion. when i really think about it, i know i shouldn't laugh or even be slightly amused by it. but come on. ONE BUTT CHEEK?! how would you sit down? would you walk funny? jeans would definitely be even harder to shop for (as if the process of selecting a nice fitting pair of denim wasn't difficult enough). imagine sitting on a bench in the old salt lake tabernacle with only one butt cheek. yikes.

so now i have to write a really deep and insightful paper combining the overall message of this story with two other works about my thoughts on the nature of evil when all i can think about are angry parisians and an old woman with only half a derriere.

my life is basically a kelly clarkson song.

it's decision time. i've decided that it's time for me to be my own person. i can't follow the lead of people who don't know where they're going. i need to figure out where i'm going and be my own leader. i'm capable of taking control of my life and accomplishing the things that i know are worth doing. it's a terrifying thing to let go of what could have been and try to embrace what is. because there's so much risk- there's always that agonizing question of "what if?" it's so tantalizing to live by thoughts of what if, but when it comes down to it, that's not really living. so i have to be decisive. i have to be brave and do things that i don't want to do, but need to do. i have to let go of things, even though if it were up to me, i would hold on to them like nobody's business. so that's that i suppose. my man dieter f. uchtdorf said, " therefore, enduring to the end is not just a matter of passively tolerating life's difficult circumstances or 'hanging in there.' ours is an active religion, helping God's children along the strait and narrow path to develop their full potential during this life and return to Him one day." so it's time for me to stop passively waiting, passively "hanging in there," passively letting life float by without striving to make myself better each day. i gotta show this world who's boss. and do the dang thing.

♥

dear everyone,

i love my mom.

sincerely,
amy

awesomeness of today

1. i slept in and still finished writing my french paper in a matter of 20 minutes. yeaaah procrastination!
2. my french teacher brought our class truffles. smooth, creamy, wonderful truffles.
3. I GOT A VALENTINE'S DAY PACKAGE FROM MY MOM! i'm pretty sure i giggled uncontrollably the whole way back to my apartment. and she made me a scarf. :)
4. my birth certificate came in the mail so now i can get my passport turned in! yeaaaaaaaaaaah france!
5. i got a scholarship for spring term! now i don't have to pay tuition when i got to france.
6. adam (the boyfriend of megan) made me some grilled cheese. and it was delish.
7. IT'S A THREE DAY WEEKEND!

the birth of arizona and romantical things

my purple flower

yesterday was not only the day of love, but more importantly the day that arizona made its way into our sweet coalition of states. since both events happened to fall on the same day, i choose to celebrate both for twice the enjoyment of course!

dinner: cafe rio. initially when we decided we were going to go there, we made a deal that spenccer would get a burrito (since he always gets the salad) and i would get a salad (since i always get the burrito). but then spencer had a dream about being forced to buy a burrito against his will, so we compromised on getting what we like and then sharing...a little. the guy at cafe rio was pretty funny. he was like "is this guy with you? you want him to sit at your table? i can put his food on your tray too." hmm. now that i write it it doesn't sound funny at all. i guess you had to be there to appreciate the situation.
my cute little date

after dinner, it was time for some birthday celebrations. holli made the cake, i made the frosting, and we did the dang thing! it looked absolutely phenomenal if i do say so myself. arizona would be proud of our efforts. we created, we posed, we ate.

dental disappointments

so i bought a new toothbrush on my last excursion to the grocery store, since my old one's bristles were getting all soft. i hate when the bristles get soft. it makes me feel like i'm brushing my teeth with a cotton swab. hence the need for a new toothbrush.

first of all, toothbrushes are ridiculously expensive if you want one that's half decent and has more than 5 plastic bristles sticking out of it. seriously, i paid like $5 for mine. i hate to get all grandpa cletus "back in my day" on you, but i remember the days when toothbrushes were like a dollar. let's bring those days back.

anyway, so i make my selection (and it was a pretty dang good selection if i do say so myself) and pay for it. when i get home i liberate it right away from its package and try it out (i know, i have the mentality of a 5 year old when it comes to new things- i want them now now now!). imagine my horror when i start brushing away, expecting nice, firm, almost make your gums bleed bristles but instead i get SOFT, SILKY, PAMPER MY BABY GUMS bristles! what's going on with the world?! can't a girl get a reasonably priced firm-bristled toothbrush these days?

and of course i already covered it with my own saliva so it's not like i can take it back or anything. although to be honest, i did consider it. customer satisfaction should be more of a priority in this world.

british invaaaasion

last night was ward date night, hollywood couple theme. spencer and i went through several possible options (bill and hillary clinton, anna nicole smith and really old guy, gwen stefani and gavin rossdale, and my personal favorite-britney spears and kevin federline). we finally settled on david & victoria beckham, a.k.a. posh and becks. spencer got off easy with his costume since he already had a beckham jersey, but i had to search and scavenge the surrounding country for something suitable to wear to a ward party while still looking posh-y.

anyhoo, the night was an overall success. we came, we ate, we conquered the other couple dressed up as the beckhams. the other posh and i even had a dance off to one of the spice girls' songs. i'm pretty sure i looked like an idiot, but you gotta do what you gotta do to defend your honor on the dance floor.

photos included for your personal enjoyment.

we're smug.

the group:
ken & barbie, ron burgundy & veronica corningstone, posh & becks

go big or go home.

the ultimate smirk

so i got my passport pictures taken today. i swear, out of all the pictures, passport ones are the worst! you can't smile with your teeth, which means you basically have to do one of those second grade school picture smiles. you know, the cheesy no-teeth perfect half-circle smile that if anyone other than an 8 year old was doing they'd look like a total creeper. of course i didn't do that, but my options were pretty slim. i ended up with an incredibly smug-looking picture, but i suppose i'll fit right in in europe. i hear they're pretty smug over there...

on another note, I'M GOING TO PUNCH WINTER IN THE FACE IF IT DOESN'T GET THE HECK OUT OF MY LIFE SOON! "hey janet reno, did you stick a gun in spring's face and send it back to cuba too?!"

bam!

so last night we had a sledding extravaganza, even though i generally maintain a strictly anti-snow position. complete with $4 plastic sleds and snow pants, to my pleasant surprise, it was a fun time for all.

and i learned my lesson with the last post, so here are some no-frills formated pics!

the crew
(brad, marcus, holli, me, spencer)