quiero ser mansa

Robert E. Wells "The Beatitudes: Pattern for Coming unto Christ"

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Matt. 5:5.) We don’t usually think of successful executives as meek; nor can we accept the idea of a “meek,” successful quarterback on a winning football team. In fact, to us, success in anything seems to involve quite the opposite. In the minds of many, meek means being submissive, passive, retiring, placid. Their mental image of a meek person is that of a compliant “doormat” who is so timid and unassertive that he accomplishes nothing, seeks nothing, and contributes nothing to the world in which he lives.
Is this really what the Savior had in mind when he said, “Blessed are the meek”? The Spanish language offers another, better interpretation of the word meek.
I was visiting a 100,000-acre ranch in Argentina, where more than a thousand head of beautiful horses were being raised. Some were for the gauchos, or cowboys, to ride; but most were thoroughbred polo ponies, trained and sold to people throughout the world.
I asked the owner of the ranch if we could see a rodeo where the gauchos “broke” wild horses as our Western cowboys do.
He was aghast. “Not on this ranch, you won’t,” was his emphatic answer. “Although a polo pony has to be obedient, lightning fast, fearless, and superbly maneuverable, we would never ‘break’ a horse—we don’t want to break his spirit. We love our horses and work patiently with them until they are meek, or manso. Our manso horses are still full of fire and spirit, but they are obedient and well trained.”
I can see a great spiritual application to the meaning of manso. The Savior didn’t mean for us to be “doormats”—he meant that we should be obedient and well trained. We can be strong, enthusiastic, talented, spirited, zealous, and still be “meek”—able to coexist in the success-oriented world in which we live."

me-ow

so a couple weeks ago, facebook was taken over by "doppelganger" fever. this basically consisted of people finding celebrities that they "looked" like (but in many cases i would just laugh and say "yeah you WISH you looked like that person..." because i am a mean person). i've never really been told that i looked like anyone famous (except for one guy who once told me i looked like angelica houston from the adams family. which really warmed my heart and boosted my self-esteem), so i didn't go off in search for my celebrity doppelganger.

but then, one day, the bishop from my ward last year (who yes, has a facebook) posted a picture on my wall saying this:
"While watching reruns of The Time Tunnel, I found your doppleganger: Lee Meriwether - AKA Catwoman."
and then posted this picture:


i think it's mostly in the eyes, but this could possibly be what i look like in...maybe 10 years? which of course got me thinkin...

this is pretty much me in like...40 years. i showed the picture to matthew, saying that this was probably what i was going to look like when i was old, and this was his reply:
"amy, i'm not going to be able to afford plastic surgery."



eh?

barf.

ok so i think valentine's day is stupid. and i'm not saying that as a bitter, single girl. because i actually have someone, and i still hate this day. despite my cynicism, we did have a good time at the stake valentine's day dance. i know what you're thinking: "losers went to the stake dance..." but mostly we had to because matt is on the planning committee and was therefore forced to be there, so we were supportive. also, they do put on a pretty good shindig in our stake. so i get points for being supportive girlfriend, and i get to have fun. win-win.



roommates before the dance.


happy dancin'


funniest picture of my life. so many different elements going on.

oh, by the way.

i'm dating him.
(him=guy with ridiculously long legs, circa 2006)

la cabane.

so this weekend can be summed up in one word: FORT.

yes. we built one.


yes. it was awesome.


the fort made everything instantly more magical: watching movies, eating in and out, doing homework, taking naps, even talking about the law of consecration. fort=happiness. when i have my own house, i would like to make fort-building a regular occurrence.

but, as with all good things, they must be done in moderation, and also must eventually come to an end. it was decided that too much fort probably isn't a good thing, and eventually one of my roommates succeeded in taking it down. although i felt like she was ruining my life at the time, i now see the wisdom in her decision. mostly.