How To Get Married

Today I was at the library with Eliza and stumbled across this:

How To Get Married - By: Me, The Bride!

Immediately I knew I had to get it... It must have all the answers!

Okay - in reality, I started literally laughing out loud and took a picture.  THEN, I sat down in the middle of the book aisle to read it... 

Yep.  It was exactly the kind of advice a girl needs to hear!  And, since it was SO good, I decided I would share my abundance of new-found knowledge on the subject.  I'm pretty much an expert now, realizing things I had never even thought about...

To start (and I'm quoting here), "When you want to get married, first find someone you can marry."  Smart advice.  I mean, you don't want to be a home-wrecker and try for someone already taken, or someone who is illegal.  Good idea.

She goes on to let us know all those we could marry - "...your best friend, your teacher (um - thankfully illegal in most states, so look back to rule #1), your pet (a bit weird, but okay...), or your daddy (again... legality issues?  Not in West VA.).  

Second step - "You can marry anyone you like!  Except they have to like you back."  That's the way it is written - and that's the kicker, ladies and gents.

Following those rules, the writer delves into what you actually have to DO to land a husband or wife.  She states, "... you have to be on your best behavior.  You can't be mean.  You have to be nice."  Here are things she lists as mean or inappropriate, in case you need a reference point to judge your actions against:

 - Gobbling up all the other person's candy and never offering any.  (I agree.  Ever seen Rush Hour?  They say "Never touch a black man's radio!"  I say, never touch a woman's chocolates!)
 - Picking your nose in front of them.  (Key words - in front of them. *It's gross - she was right.)
 - Pinching them.  (Debatable...)
 - Yawn when they are talking to you.  (I laughed a lot at this... a lot.)
 - Wear old PJs and slippers in mid-day.
 - Don't ever bathe.
 - Don't ever brush your hair and it looks like a bird's nest back there. (I would just like to say, "The back of your head is ridiculous!")
 - Dribble your dinner down your chin.

ALL valid points... these are real things to think about people.

The next point?  "Usually you're not allowed to marry lots of people at once.  Except sometimes you are."  I'm not going to even comment... Okay, I am.  I'm a one man woman - so are the other LDS people I know - just puttin' it out there.

She goes on (and yes, I am actually going on too.): "Not EVERYONE is good to marry."  Good point yet again - let's see who she heeds us from marrying...
 - If you marry a cat... you have to let them lick your face.  (Um... yea.)
 - If you marry a teacher, she (note it did NOT say "he" anywhere) could make you do homework instead of watch TV.  (Great - I'm screwed.)
 - If you marry a noisy, shouting person he (not "she" anywhere - I was thinking sports, but then I thought of me and my mom watching a BYU game...) will give you a headache.

"Sometimes you have to search and search for the right person... and sometimes you have to sit quietly and wait for someone."  Hm... There might be a non-sarcastic valid point to that line... nah.

"When you find your Own True Love, you have to ask their permission. [When they say yes] do your best curtsy or bow and kneel down and give them a golden (white gold in my opinion) ring, or your favorite toy, or a bite of your cookie."  I'd prefer the ring, but to each his own...

Sidenote:  I really hope whoever proposes to me bows or curtsies to me.  I REALLY hope.

She elaborates on names to call them, like "Honey Darling Sweetheart!" so that everyone will know they are yours and not try to take em' away.  Wedding invites must be in "Wedding Language" - aka:  promise candy to the guests - and make sure to put RSVP at the bottom, which means "Please say yes, please!!! Thank you."

Sidenote:  Yes.  I AM still writing... Yes.  I found this book that funny.

After finding a place to get married (a palace, beach, up a tree, or your playroom), get dressed in things like:
 - A beautiful gown
 - Shining armor
 - A mustache (good thing I have one of those handy!)
 - A crown
 - Some ears if you're marrying a rabbit...

Personally, I would think Mr. Rabbit wouldn't want me to change myself because he'd love me just the way I am, but every hare is different.

As the wedding actually happens, try not to fall over (good tips here) and then "look into each other's faces."  This is a vital point, because so many of us believe it's the eyes that we should look into, but it is actually the entire face we should be searching.  After you are pronounced as "huibbie and wifey" throw flowers at people's heads and whoever it hits will get married next.  Lucky them.

"You now are Married People (in caps - written that way for emphasis?).  So, you have to yell, "HOORAY!" and then do some cartwheels for joy."  Married People must also do the following things:
 - Get some children... and some pets.
 - Live in a house on a hill by a little stream.
 - Watch the sun go down together.
 - Go along together, holding hands.
 - Live Happily Ever After.

Could it really be this simple?!  Perhaps I am making things MUCH to complicated.
*muah*

P.S. I really thought this was HILARIOUS!  I totally got married about 40 times when I was a little girl - but only to human beings.  Obviously, none of those quite panned out, which I'm willing to bet is a significantly positive thing...

Song of the Day:  I found this girl on my friend's page and she is just TOO good to not give attention too.  She is merely 13 years-old, and I'm not normally an advocate of child stars... but this girl is pretty awesome!  Here is a self-written song by Faith Johnson called "Just Me."  Enjoy!

Zoey: Take One

"I'm in love!  I'm in love!  
And I don't care who knows it!" 

- Buddy the Elf

I am in love.  Yep.  It was so out of the blue, but the second I looked into these beautiful eyes, I just knew:

Yep.  I am in love with my new, baby niece - Zoey.  Is she not the most adorable thing in the world?  I am completely obsessed with her little toes and fingers - amazing.  She is SUCH a good baby too - not too whiny or full of tears and her cry is often more gentle than not.  I just love her.

I've already been whispering "I know you'll like me best, Zoey.  It's okay - when you're having a tough time, need to talk about school or a boy, or want someone to sneak you chocolate before dinner, talk to auntie Linze."  I know, deep down, she understands - we have a bond that solid.  I can feel it already.

*muah*

Song of the Day:  So, I thought today's song was from the Fast Five Soundtrack, but when I looked it up... It was not.  Thus, I'm not sure which thing I was watching, but something where they had a bomb soundtrack!  Haha... Anyway, I picked up this new jam-out song... Here is MIKE-E (don't think I've ever heard of him either) with "Stamina."  Enjoy!

"Tuesday Ten" - Back Again!

I told you this was going to become a tradition!  You doubted, didn't you?  Yep - shame on you.  I am ACTUALLY going to commit to writing each Tuesday... for at least two weeks in a row.  Hopefully it'll be past that!  Okay, here we go:

1. Toast.  I know that seems simple, and it is!  I just realized this past week how much I really love toast... White, wheat, or a mix from Great Harvest with a little butter and cinnamon sugar - and sometimes, bananas!  It's my comfort food (that and mashed potatoes), and makes me smile just a little bit with each delectable bite.

2. Clementines.  I am obsessed.  I'm eating them by the bucket load lately to avoid eating too many Christmas cookies and European treats from the parentals.  I prefer them with no seeds, but beggars can't be choosers, eh?  Okay - I can, and so I do choose no seeds.

3. Last week I posted a video by Vocal Point with the lead singer being Ryan Innes.  This week, HE is on my favorites list.  His voice is like the butter and sugar to my toast... Haha!  I just really like him - check it.  Here he is singing one of my favorite songs "Colors" (orig. by Amos Lee):


4.The Amazing Rapping Baby.... just wait till he can talk!  If my kid can do this at 2 years old, I'll feel pretty fulfilled as a parent.  Haha - you think I'm kidding. Also, this boy is ADORABLE!


5. Lights.  I love lamp...s.  I love lamps, spotlights, nightlights, black-lights, strobe-lights, flashlights, Christmas lights... so this time of the year it pretty much one of my favorites.  Perhaps it's the hopeless romantic beneath the surface, but I can't explain it other than I love light.  Observe - Check the picture of the Tunnel of Lights in Japan (Nagano Hotel).

(So amazing... How can you not love that?!)

6. I am in love with the following quote:

I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder. 

- Emma Watson

7.   Jimmy Fallon's "Thank You Notes."  I could even just say a favorite is Jimmy Fallon himself, but this week I'll stick to the "Thank You Notes."  If you do NOT know what I'm talk about, check the clip below.  If you DO know what I'm talking about, you've already watched the clip below.


8. I am in love with the show Modern Family.  However, more than that, I am in love with the characters from Modern Family - Cam and Mitchel.  Oh my word - they're my favorites.  Check out a little of their amazingness below!  (Sidenote:  I just got Season Two in the mail - my love was just reaffirmed.)


9. Scarves.  They dress-up any outfit, keep you warm, and make you look even cuter!  I happen to know that my mom spent my Christmas gift money in London- buying me eight or nine new scarves... not kidding and NOT ashamed.  I'm counting down the days till they're mine.

(I like this chart because it shows you the different ways to wear them...)

AND...
10. Take a look below:

I am SO excited to see two of my best friends (Derek & Cami - my brother and sister-in-law) on Tuesday night, and my new niece - Zoey! I am so gonna spoil her like every auntie should...

This is me and Cami - gangsta fo' life! Or, till we give away the jackets...

Here I am with Derek - back in my junior year at BYU, while platinum blond... Oh, the choices we make. Haha! He's been my bestie for 26 years and counting! 

*muah*

Dare to Have a Purpose Firm. Dare to Make it Known.

I've been contemplating the power to choose.  We make choices everyday- some big and some small... miniscule perhaps.  However, choices lead us to where we are today and create us into who we are today - even the miniscule ones.  I would say that we aren't shaped by our small choices to eat an salad or a sandwich, but I know a pair of thighs that would say otherwise... :)

I am mostly thinking about the simple choices we have in our lives to just do the right thing when it counts.  We have the chance to be something - to stand for what we believe in within all aspects of our lives.  It's hard sometimes - a lot of times.  It can be the peer pressure or just habits we fall into... We have to know what we really stand for and who we are truly striving to become and live that way.  Why portray something your not and live in a way you don't really want to be living? 

I like the following quote - you can take out the first part of you aren't LDS:

Dare to be a Mormon.

Dare to stand alone.

Dare to have a purpose firm.

Dare to make it known.

- Pres. Thomas S. Monson

Now, I'm and LDS girl, and the line I am thinking along mostly pertains to my religious convictions.  However, this can pertain to anything that you believe.  I'm passionate about education and funding for the arts.  I'm passionate about film and creating good, positive forms of media.  I can stand up for those things, and I can make my purpose known.   I can fight for things that I believe in, even when no one else is on my side.  It's hard as all get-out, but I can do it!  I'm pretty sure you can too....

Choose to do the right thing - even if it makes you look "uncool," or feels awkward at first, or even if it's really hard.  Do what you believe is right - do what you know in your heart is right.  Stand up for those things that you are passionate about, and dare to make your purpose known.  No one is perfect - no one is asking for that (hopefully)... However, we can always strive to be better.

"Try a little harder to be a little better." 

 - President Gordon B. Hinckley

*muah*

Song of the Day: My friends, Nicole and Cameron (love them!), sang this as part of a medley of Christmas songs for the ward Christmas party last weekend.  I have heard it before, but only once... I never realized the pure awesomeness of this song.  Here is Relient K with "I Celebrate the Day."  At least listen through the first chorus - then you'll be hooked!  Haha... Enjoy! 


Honorable Mention: I love the piano.  I wish that I could play better - I need to take lessons, but growing up I always go stuck with teachers that I could not relate to and grew tired of scales.  I know - you have to learn the little things to get to the big things... I just started teaching myself one year and created arrangements (clarinet and oboe in middle and high school made learning piano ten times easier), but haven't put the practice in that it takes to be great... I suppose I'll simply stick to singing and just do piano here and there for now.  ANYWAY, I couldn't find this song anywhere to share so I'm making mention of Chris Rice's Christmas instrumental tracks - just piano! His version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" is wonderful!  Check him.

"Tuesday Ten" Edtion... on a Wednesday.

This woman named Lauren Conrad (LC), who some of you might be familiar with, writes an awesome blog each day full of style, make-up, event planning, self-help, and cooking tips!  She's kind of fabulous and I adore her.  Shout-out to one of the only girls from The Hills who I didn't believe was a pretensions super B - for real.  Haha! 

Anyway, LC does this thing on her blog called the "Tuesday Ten," and I am going to start my own tradition doing a "Tuesday Ten!"  I'm going to make a short entry about ten things that make me happy that week.  They can be a newly discovered YouTube video (or an old fave), a short story, a picture, a quote, anything!  So, with that introduction... I forgot that IT IS WEDNESDAY... All the same, I am just giving this a procrastinators go and saying, here goes my first "Tuesday Ten!" - kinda.

1. There is a site I have recently discovered via pinterest that I am now obsessed with! 
http://hpotterfacts.tumblr.com/ 
This is one of the many HP facts that I have learned and LOVED!  If you haven't seen the last HP movie, this part will most DEF make you giggle a bit... or if you're a man, chuckle?

2. I have been in LOVE with this video for the past few years - which my friend now, Ben Truman, actually recorded - small world!  I watch it around Christmas every year about 30 times, and just recently discovered the full song is available with THIS SINGER!  He is the best - hands down - at this song.  He's soulful, heartfelt, and just has an AMAZING set of pipes.  He's also a UT star, which I had no idea it was him singing till this year... I keep making new discoveries! Aside from the singer, this SONG is amazing - truly, tied for my favorite Christmas song. (Click on the title below for the FULL version - it's worth it too...)


Vocal Point - "He Is Born" - Lead: Ryan Innes

3. Neal's Yard - London, England - Picture: I was slightly less excited when I found out it was a Remedies shop... Haha!  Still it just is aesthetically healing... or just really cool!

4. I found an article entitled: "Damn You Auto-Correct - Reveals  9 Funniest Texts of the Year."  Now, I know for a fact, there are some even funnier ones out there, but these are REALLY classic.  One of them is below, but click on the article title to read them all - this was just the one that made ME laugh the most!

5.I love peppers.  I mean, I REALLY love peppers.  They are, hands down, my favorite vegetable.... This recipe below also includes corn and onions - other favorites - so I'm excited to try it for lunch tomorrow!
http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2010/09/29/spicy-black-bean-stuffed-peppers/

 

6. Pinterest.  I simply adore pinterest and genuinely believe it has helped me organize my online life - haha!  If you have not yet,check out my pinterest page (or just the site in general): http://pinterest.com/linzekate/

7. This song gained a lot of attention around Halloween, and again around the time Breaking Dawn went into theaters... I think it's hilariously, brilliant.  Check out Stephanie Maybe's "The Zombie Song."



8.Mcvities Dark Chocolate Digestives (aka: Cookies) from England - thanks, Mom and Dad.

9. I am currently in love with the show - it's a new fave.  The New Girl!  Oh, how I adore Zooey Deschanel (ya, I had to triple check to spell that write - just like my name...)  The main girl reminds me slightly a lot of myself... awkward and funny - and awkward.  It's hilarious. This show along with How I Met Your Mother are current staples.  Here's the trailer for The New Girl:



10.  My new hamster, Page!  Nope, there is no "I" in there... I have named all my past hamsters with music in mind - Mozart and Cadence, calling him Cade.  This is my first girl hamster and I knew I needed to choose a musical of theatrical based name.  So, I looked at terminology and tried out what felt right these past few days and decided on, Page.  Example:  A Page in a script of musical score.... Yep.  She's pretty adorable!

Sidenote: Today was my last day of my first semseter in my MAT program!  I can't believe how fast it went by me, and how fast I'm sure next semester will pass.  I LOVE the program, the professors, my cohort - man, I am a blessed woman! :)  Good luck to all my friends still taking finals - eat em' for lunch!
*muah*

I'm Pretty Crafty,,, No, Really.

I am crafty. Well, I fake it well... and I'm pretty good at little kid crafts. It's the blessing of being a nanny. I have "pinned" more than enough holiday crafts on pinterest, and looked at a million and one "mommy blogs" for ideas... Thus, I think that I can claim I am quite crafty now.

Here are some examples of my latest works with Eliza:

*muah*

Song of the Day:  I love the Christmas song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," even if it IS a bit scandalous.  Haha!  So, when my friend, Nicole, asked me to do something funny for the ward Christmas Party I knew that rewriting it would be the ticket.  I called my friend, Spencer, and asked him to sing it with me/help me write the new lines, and it was perfect!  Here's the fruits of our labor below... by Spencer Minnick and Linze Struiksma - Enjoy!