Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Gratitude Challenge

So, on the first presidency message it talked about being grateful. President Eyring said, "it is a challenge to count our blessings because we have a tendency to take good things for granted." Then it gave a gratitude challenge. I really do have so much to be grateful for!

Gratitude Challenge

Physical Abilities:
1.    Walking
2. Dancing
3.  Laughing
4. Stretching
5. Running
6. Hiking
7. Sewing
8. Lifting
9.  Spinning
10. Writing
 
Material Possessions:
1.    Computer
2. Pictures
3.  Ipod
4. Scarves
5. Shoes
6. Jewelry
7. Books
8. Phone
9.  Clothes
10. House
 
Living People:
1.    Mom
2. Dad
3.  John
4. David
5. Mary
6. Leslie
7. Steven
8. Heather
9.  Alexis
10.  Kya
 
Deceased People
1.    Grandpa Ekins
2.  Grandpa Castleton
3.   Gordon B. Hinkley
4.  Patriarch Petersen
5.  Patriarch Rupp
6. Grandma Castleton
7.  Grandpa Sundblom
8.  Joseph Smith
9.  George Washington
10.  Walt Disney
 
Nature:
1.    Flowers
2. Sunsets
3.  Spontaneity
4. Clouds
5. Blue Sky
6. Sound of Water
7. Mountains
8.  Green
9.   Animals
10. Quiet
 
Today:
1.    Finishing Doctor for Mission
2. Amanda
3.  Finishing Geology Quizzes
4. Ambri’s smile
5. Christmas lights
6. Kya giving me a ride to walmart
7. Working in Costume Shop
8. Getting homework done
9.  Blankets
10.  Louie talking to me in Library
 
Places on Earth:
1. Mom and Dad’s house
2. Rocky mountains
3.  Cedar City
4. Ellice’s house
5. Hawaii
6. My bedroom
7. Libraries
8. Waterfalls
9.  Salt Lake City
10. China

Modern Inventions:
1. Heaters
2. Lightbulbs
3.  Cellphones
4. Microwaves
5. Ipods
6. Alarm Clocks
7. Curling Irons
8. Email
9.  Running Water
10. Washing Machines
 
Foods:
1.    All-in-One Dinner
2. Orange Chicken
3.  Spicy Chicken
4. Beans
5. Turkey
6. Oranges
7.   Apples
8. Bananas
9.  Pumpkin Pie
10.  Hot Chocolate
 
Gospel:
1.    Atonement
2. Scriptures
3.  Prayer-everyday.
4. Support system
5. My ward members
6. Brings me peace
7.  Knowledge of Eternal Families
8. Repentance
9.  Christ’s Love
10. Joy that comes



Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving: Family Adventures

This weekend was spent with my wonderful family. I don't remember the last time we spent so much time together. Usually when I go home I end up spending a lot of time with friends. I think part of it comes with age. All of us are graduated from high school now and we value the time we get to spend together more because of that.

The past week has just been full of family time. It all started with the family coming to my ballroom concert last weekend. Mom, Dad, Leslie and John (along with his girlfriend Elizabeth) came and saw me perform. I did a two-step, a cha cha, and a waltz. They all went really well. Some people even said we stole the show, especially with our fantastic cha cha. Mom liked the waltz the most. Not surprising, she likes things that are elegant. I also had a solo in it, so she might have been a little biased. Anyway, they stayed with me at my place and went to church with me for the first meeting, then decided to head home. It was so great to have them with me and to introduce them to my awesome roommates.

After that, Leslie had a ballroom performance on Tuesday, so I headed all the way up to Logan. It was a long drive, but it was great to see Leslie perform. She danced beautifully and looked the part. She did a tango, along with competing in waltz and cha cha.

Next, came Mary and and her boyfriend Shaine. We all ate dinner together as a family over at Dave's house. We ate Hawaiian Haystacks--delicious! We talked and talked and talked. We caught up on life, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company. Since Mom doesn't have to work at the butt crack of dawn anymore, she was able to be there with us after she got off work too. I just have to say, I have the cutest niece EVER! She remembers me now, she even attempted to say my name. I was reading a book with her and I pointed at a banana and then she said 'nana.' She really is so smart!


Anyway, on Thanksgiving we went to Tooele and ate with Glen's family. Grandma JoAnn, being the wonderful person that she is made an announcement that since she hasn't given a Christmas Present to us in a long time, that she wanted us to come to her house and pick out what we wanted. She is downsizing and she wants us to remember her. Mary and I went and picked some things out. I got a some jewelry, one of which is a necklace that she wore in a picture that her father took and then painted over when she was about my age. I also got candlestick holders that were once her Grandma Castleton's. It was a precious moment when Mary got her wedding necklace. She went and opened up the room where her wedding picture is and had us go look at it. My grandmother was beautiful then, and still is now.

We enjoyed life this weekend. Shaine and Mary love to do jump photos, so we did lots. At the church in Tooele, the first jump photo we did was perfect. Us Sundblom girls just have a gift. We also did jump photos at temple square. It doesn't feel like Christmas season without a trip to see the lights. I love seeing the temple, and thinking about the birth of Christ, (and even listening to Christmas music now that Thanksgiving is over.)


Another picture taking extravaganza occurred when we went shooting. We went out to the west desert and shot all sorts of guns. Pistols, shotguns, and Dave even shot a rifle. After the shooting, we went and did a Charlie's Angels photo shoot, with real guns. Shaine starred as Charlie.

I would post more photos, but I don't have them yet. They'll come at some point...

Monday, November 7, 2011

Finding the Bright Side

It's really easy to forget how great life is. I know that I do all the time. But, then there are those really great  moments that are sometimes so simple. It has been snowing in Cedar City. I'm not a huge fan of the cold, but the past few days my attitude about it has changed a little.

Saturday, my roommate Ambri, asked me if I wanted to go have a snowball fight. Ashton, her and I had a great one. We also built a snowman... let me rephrase that, a snow-woman, named Bertha. The bottom got so big that I literally fell over while Ashton and I were pushing it. It was awesome. Ambri and I made two balls about the same size. I don't even remember which one was the middle and which one was the top. Anyway, I even gave Bertha my scarf. While we were there we also made snow angels. It's always one of my first urges when I go play in the snow. I loved every second of being out in the snow, even when Ambri hit me in the face with a snowball... It was worth it.


Sunday, the snow didn't stop. After an awesome games night, my friend Tara decided that we should sneak attack and start a snowball fight. At the time I had slippers on, so I just slipped them off and followed her out the door. In bare feet, I went out and made some snowballs and waited for the rest to come out the door. As soon as they emerged, chaos ensued. For a while it turned into a battle between girls and guys. It was the perfect end to a fabulous night.

Without the snow, neither of those experiences would have happened. It's always important to look for the positive in a situation and find the bright side.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Learning to Write

This week I attended a Creative Writing Conference at SUU.  I learned so much while attending it!  The featured authors were Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent, and J. Allyn Rosser, author of Foiled Again and other poetry anthologies.  Firoozeh focused on how to write a memoir and J. Allyn Rosser focused on how to write poetry.  (It makes sense as each of these is their specialty.)

In my poetry class we read some poems from Rosser's Foiled Again.  The poem "China Map" was my favorite, by far.  I felt as if I was there in the market with her, feeling the compassion of the man who drew the map for her all those years ago.  I felt the significance of not understanding how rare and important that moment was.   When she visited our class she read that poem to us and it made the poem come off the pages with her voice.  Also, she talked about that experience after reading.  I connected to the poem because I went to China and had similar experiences to the one presented in "China Map."  Overall, Rosser's poetry is to the point, relatable, and fascinating.  Poetry does not always captivate me, but hers does.  I really came to realize that as she did a poetry reading the next day how real and personal many of her poems are.

The conference officially started with Firoozeh Dumas speaking mainly about Funny in Farsi.  The stories in her book contain a humor, and when you meet Firoozeh, it's as if you are reading her book.  She is funny.  Her book talks details some experiences of being an immigrant from Iran in America.  I haven't read all of the book yet, but I am so excited to because the few that I have read were fabulous.  I laughed out loud multiple times during each story.  One of my favorites was "The F-word."  It talks about how it was growing up in the United States with a name like Firoozeh.  It's definitely not the typical name, and indicates that she is not from the United States.  I could relate to some extent, because my last name is Sundblom (pronounced Sun-bloom, not phonetically, the D is silent and it sounds like there should be two Os.)  Anyway, the anecdotes in it, just made me happy.  Her style is very relatable.  And as Firoozeh put it, it sounds as if "any old idiot could have written it."  She then points out that it was "this idiot that wrote it."  Her writing is accessible to the masses, and that's why she has become popular.

Firoozeh also talked about the path to becoming published.  It was sad to me that one of the publishers said that humor and the middle east didn't mix.  People in the United States didn't want to hear about people from Iran who weren't oppressed.  It just wouldn't work.  Is our view as a nation of the middle east so narrow that we can't recognize the beauty of each culture?  That people are people regardless of their background?  She started writing because she wanted her children to realize that the similarities far outweigh our differences.  How true that is.

The next day we had two craft workshops.  Many attendees were high school teachers, and so we talked a lot about teaching as well.  J. Allyn Rosser used different translations of the same poem to illustrate how important it is to choose specific words.  Each word in poetry counts.  Each word, even if they are synonyms, represents something different and gives connotations.  She gave us a template, which was very unspecific, and told us to write a poem.  Afterward, some participants read their poems.  How beautiful some of those poems were.  Firoozeh came and talked about how important it is to provide interesting prompts for students to write about.  They need to get the students thinking.  One of those prompts was to come up with 6 words that represent who you are.  It is a difficult thing to do.

My six words are: ambitious, loving, passionate, hard-working, artistic, religious.

I got the opportunity to participate in the Master's Workshop with Firoozeh.  Five students turned in a non-fiction piece and Firoozeh gave us advice on how to improve the piece.  I wrote about being a tall, brown haired, blue eyed person in China.  After receiving her comments, I realize I have a lot of work to do, but in the end, it will be so improved and a better story, along with illustrating my point more fully.  I have the tendency as a writer to state the point, and not let the reader infer it, which can be so much more powerful.  The reader gets more involved and excited when they figure out something themselves.  It was a pleasure to be able to learn from Firoozeh.




Thursday, September 8, 2011

Family Time

Sometimes I forget how I love to spend time with my family.  Often, when I go home for the weekend I end up spending the majority of my time with friends instead of being with those lovely people that I love and have always been there for me throughout my entire life.  It's a little ironic how often they end up on the back burner while other things slip up to the forefront.

For Labor Day weekend I went home.  My friend Melissa and I drove up after she got of work on Saturday.  Instead of driving straight through, we stopped at the Iron County Fair.  It was pretty fantastic.  We bough matching earrings for only $1 each.  We were quite excited about it; we even decided to wear them on Monday so we could be matchy-matchy.  Anyway, we had a good drive up and talked a lot about all sorts of interesting things.


When I got home, no one was home because my parents went to the temple.  I was only there for a little while until they got home.  Once they got home I just spent the night with them.  It was so wonderful.  We chatted about life, laughed, and just had a good time together.  I think it also helps that my mom doesn't work at 5 a.m. anymore, so she can stay up later than about 10 p.m. and not be exhausted the next day.  For as long as I can remember, my dad would stay up late, but my mom would try to go to bed early (who can blame her for it--working that early). Anyway, after my little brother got of work, he came and chilled with us too.

We quarreled and bickered like siblings do.  I would poke him and then he'd try to stop me.  He and I were the only two kids in the house for two years before I moved away to college, so we got pretty close, even though Steve isn't a huge talker.  At one point, I was laying across his lap and he decided that he wanted to stand up, even though I was still on him.  Instead of falling to the ground I wrapped my arms around his legs and then I started tipping over, while nearly doing a face plant into the ground.  Apparently my legs flailed around and my dad, sitting opposite us thought I was going to kick him in the face.  Even though I almost died, I loved every second.

Sunday, we decided to go surprise my sister up in Logan!  Only two years apart, we were inseparable when we were younger.  Now, she's up at Utah State while I'm at Southern Utah.  That makes for a long drive if we ever want to see each other!  We didn't spend a ton of time there, but it was still worth it.  John, Mom, Dad, and I drove up, helped her with her new electronics, made spaghetti (her favorite meal) for dinner, then talked a bit before leaving.  It was a quick trip, but wonderful nonetheless.

I did go on a hike with my friends the next morning.  Originally we planned on doing Donut Falls, but instead we went to Lake Mary.  Not only did Melissa and I wear matching earrings (that part was planned), but we wore matching shirts and jeans (that part wasn't).  We were like twins!


I knew my parents also were planning on going on a hike, so right after I finished the hike with friends, I called my parents and learned that they actually wanted to hike in the same area.  Instead of driving back down the mountain, I just told them to come up and I would meet them there.  I sat and pondered for a while, then explored for a bit after that.  I was at a waterfall when my parents called saying they arrived.  I hurried back down and ate a hotdog quickly that they brought up for me and then I took them to the waterfall I found.  From there, Dad started blazing a trail up the mountain.  That's one of my favorite things about hiking with him.  He has a great sense of direction and he finds beautiful places.



I also got to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-law.  I have the cutest niece EVER!  Alexis just steals my heart away every time I see her.  I love going over to their house and chatting and playing with Aiden and Alexis.  It makes me happy to see them.

Over all, it was just good to have some family time.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Writing Overload

This semester is going to require strict time management so that I can accomplish everything that I need to get done.  I don't really know how it's going to happen, but I have to do it, so I am going to!  Ironically, by writing this right now, it just adds to my load.  I will be writing papers, stories, ideas, journal entries (and apparently blog posts) as often an alcoholic drinks booze.  I guess it's a good thing I enjoy it.  Hopefully this semester won't change that.

I am looking forward to gaining knowledge from my awesome professors.  I actually started this blog in 2008 when I was taking a creative writing course from Dr. P.  Once again, I am taking a creative writing course from him.  The first time it was Intro to Creative Writing, this time it is Intermediate Fiction Writing. Unfortunately, I must confess between then and and now, my creative writing has been limited.  The majority of my writing has been academic writing--essays for my classes.  As an English major, I get to write my fair share.  I'm making up for it this semester though.  It'll be like a fat kid who has been on a diet getting to eat as much candy as he wants to again.  One of my other classes is Intermediate Poetry Writing.  It should be great.

Anyway, if those two classes didn't create enough writing for me to do, I also have Non-Western World Literature for which I will be writing a few papers.  My Marriage and Family Relations class also requires four or more 3-5 page papers.  No big deal, right?  I am probably even forgetting something else that will require me to write something.

At some point I will post some of my writings that I'm doing for these classes on this blog.  I just need to write something that is worthy of it.  (Which is pretty much everything I write)...  Not really, but hey, I can wish.  If nothing else, I will become a better writer this semester.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bryce Eroded Side of a Plateau

My friend Sam has been working at Bryce Canyon as an intern and since I'm in Cedar City which is only an hour and a half from there I promised him that I would go visit him.  It took quite some time to actually get out there because my summer has been a busy one (to say the least.)  A few weeks ago we planned on going, however, it didn't work out because Sam wasn't going to be in Bryce's, so instead we went to Arches National Park, which, by the way, was another fabulous trip.  The drive there was like nothing I had ever seen before.  I'd like to call it our "rainbow drive."  The sun was at the perfect angle.  We saw at least ten rainbows throughout the course of our drive.  We stayed in Green River with Kya's aunt, then went hiking until the rain stopped us.  


Best Friends at Arches 

Anyway, this Wednesday me and Kya finally made it happen!  It's nearly the end of the summer, but who cares, it still happened.  I got off work and then Kya and I headed up there. We got there a little earlier than we planned to meet Sam, so we went into the visitors center and looked around.  One of my favorite moments at the visitors was when Kya and I were listening to this desert music and Kya had a raccoon puppet on her hand.  They basically became best friends.  

Sam met us at the visitors center and then took us on a little tour of the park.  We went to see his little cabin that he stayed in all summer.  As you walked in there was a bedroom to the left, a bathroom straight ahead, and a kitchen on the right.  I guess you really don't need much space to live.  It was quaint, in a good way.  Next we went to some of the viewpoints.  Bryce Canyon is truly beautiful--the red rock formed into what looks almost like millions of upside down icicles, formed over millions of years.  Each layer of sedimentary rock a different shade ranging from pink, red, to orange.  


We started our hike from a point (I think it was called Inspiration Point.. or maybe Sunset point?)  which led is down in between the towering red upside down icicles.  We did some exploring throughout the hike.  Sam saw this offshoot that he always wanted to go down, but never had.  So we did.  Also, there comes a fork in the road, which you can either go on the horse trail or the other trail.  Since Sam had never done the horse trail either, we went that way. We climbed trees, stopped at any running water and made dams then created a flash flood afterwards.  It was like being a little kid again.  Sam also taught us that Bryce Canyon is indeed, not really a Canyon.  It is an eroded side of a plateau, so I decided we should rename it... Bryce Eroded Side of a Plateau.  Not quite as catchy... I can see why it's called a canyon.  In the end, we figured we hiked about five miles total.  I enjoyed every second!






Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Shifting Schedule

Today I went to the academic counselor to talk about officially changing my major from English Education to the composite major of English Education/ Creative Writing.  I've been planning on doing this for quite some time.  As soon as I heard that the composite major would be offered I jumped right on that wagon.  I had some concerns about changing catalogs, because when I started at SUU it didn't exist yet.  I like to plan my future.  I mean, this isn't weird in and of itself.  Lots of people go to get counseling about their academic careers, right?

The weird thing is I have spent hours upon hours pondering my schedule for the next 2 1/2 years.  I should be graduating after the Fall semester of 2013 if all goes according to plan.  (Woohoo!)  Anyway, I have a color coated schedule that I organized that tells me what classes I will be taking what semester so that I can graduate by then.  I created the original schedule about 1 1/2 years ago, but it has undergone many revisions.  I just can't go with the flow.  I have to know what I am taking when!  I didn't need any prompting at all to create this schedule.  I just did it.

My problem is that as soon as I decide on this schedule, some loophole is thrown in my path.  Usually it is a schedule conflict.  I love SUU and all, but at times it drive me crazy.  Because of the small size of the school, classes (except for the GE classes) are only offered one time; if you can't do it that one time, well then, no class for you!  Of course, there are also tons of great benefits of having such a small university.  But when it comes to my organizational ways being disrupted, I forget all of those benefits and just want to pull my hair out.

Another problem that disrupts my planning is that I just want to do too much.  If I could I would go to school for forever and just keep learning and learning and learning.  I want to do more than just the basics while in school.  I want to get the best experience possible.  This results in my schedule being full and sometimes overflowing.  I haven't had a semester with less than 17 credits.  Am I crazy for that?  Maybe.  But I'm okay with that.  I love being busy.

Anyway, I pray that the schedule I have now will not be disrupted again.  My brain can only handle so much change when it comes to my school schedule.  I am also planning on making an effort to keep my extra curricular activities to a manageable level so I don't fall over and die of exhaustion while working on school.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Joy in the Simple Things: A Night of Fun

Yesterday, one of my best friends, Kya and I had a absolutely fantastic night.  We decided that we wanted to go see one of the plays at Utah Shakespearean Festival.  I had already seen two of those shows, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and The Music Man (Thanks to my awesome roommate Emily.)  The options of shows to go to were Noises Off and Richard III; we decided on Noises Off, a comedy about a play in three acts.

The first act chronicled the dress rehearsal where the characters were completely underprepared and the director pulled them through the rehearsal slowly but surely.  The second act was after they had been on the road for about a month.  They all had drama between them and it showed the backstage action that went on while they tried to pull of the show.  The third act showed how the show had deteriorated to a point where no one had any clue what the original show was supposed to be.  Kya and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  We laughed, along with everyone else in the audience through the entire thing.  One of my favorite things about it was hearing the young girl next to me giggle hysterically as the actors ran around the stage with their pants around their ankles.  Brilliant.

After the show, I still had tons of energy.  I'd like to say, I was high on life!  So, I suggested to Kya that we go swing.  I've always loved swinging since I was young, so we went to an elementary and started swinging.  It is the closest I can get to flying for free, and I adore it!  I looked up at the sky, filled with stars sparkling, and acted like I was up there with them.  After we finished swinging, we played on the playground and then ran around the field acting like airplanes.  I laughed, lived, and loved the moment. After that we still walked around Cedar City and talked about life. it was such a simple night of absolute bliss.

It's amazing how such a simple night full of fun could be so wonderful.  I often think about going and doing big, exciting things, and don't focus on the moment.  If I live in the moment and enjoy the small things, life will be so much better.  Last night was a reminder of that.