Rats

I have so many awesome things to blog about but I lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer so I can't show you my fun pictures! Noooo!

Anyway the most important thing for you to know is that I love him SO MUCH!

So now I am forced to post old pictures from the fall

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!

Of course I had to blog about my engagement! Blake proposed on December 19 and we're getting married on May 1! Be there...  So in honor of my most exciting post ever, I thought I'd tell everyone the story of our rencontre, or "chance meeting" if you will

It was the glorious day of June 30, and I was at the UVSC party they threw for turning into UVU.  I went with my sister Tiffany and our awesome friend Laura.  We were walking out when I saw Blake standing with a bunch of his friends.  I recognized him from high school and thought I should go say hi.  I was kind of scared because I didn't think he knew me and I didn't want to to look dumb in front of all of his friends.  I decided to just leave but then he looked over at me like he recognized me, so I thought i would just say hi.  I grabbed his arm and said "Are you Blake?" and so it began....

To make a long story short, while we were talking his phone kept ringing.  Finally he looked at it and said "I'm really sorry, this is my friend from my mission" I told him to answer it of course.  He did, and then he started speaking to someone really quickly in Spanish.  Little did I know that his "friend from his mission" was his old mission companion Dallin who was standing 5 feet behind me.  Dallin called Blake to tell him in Spanish that he should ask me out.  Blake said he was too shy but maybe he would.  

After he hung up (and this whole time i was thinking he was talking to some long lost friend or something)  We kept talking, and that's when Blake's other friend Brandon took THIS picture:

(taken on his phone so it's kind of blurry..)

He showed it to Blake right after I left (I think?) and said "you need to ask this girl out, you had this big smile the whole time you two were talking" (CUTE!!!)  So Blake did... about a half an hour later.... :)

Fast forward about six months and here we are:

SO happy, SO grateful, SO excited! Merry Christmas!

(P.S: This picture is of my left hand I promise, it looks like my right hand because the picture got turned backwards somehow)

Finals!

Because the excitement of CHRISTMAS must sadly be dulled by the stressfulness of FINALS, I am attempting, however unsuccessfully, to look on the bright side.

-Negative: I have no time to do anything but study 

-Positive: Blake and I can study together, ya know, the whole kill two birds thing... 

(Blake is a little better at staying focused than I am)

-Negative: I have to cram my brain with so much knowledge which normally wouldn't be a bad thing but when I have professors who I don't agree with at all and I have to study their "theories" on things like the nature of homosexuality and why the Proclamation to the Family is flawed

-Positive: I have more things to blog about??

-Negative: Severe lack of sleep

-Positive: I get to sit by my window and study at 3 in the morning and experience the exquisite solitude of the first few snowfalls of the season in the quiet darkness over Utah Valley

Alright so maybe some of them are a stretch, but I'm still incredibly grateful to be getting a world class education at BYU, or at least that's what I keep reminding myself during finals season

Finalement

Lisa my gorgeous and extremely talented sister is doing my hair.  I will have three inches of re-growth no more! Hurray!

Update: My hair is naturally turning kind of strawberry blonde

I wish

that lisa would give me private blog lessons, so i could learn how to add more friends to my friend list thing on the side, and figure out how to change my background, and add music to my blog.

I also wish I could get into a French class from 2-2:50 next semester so i can keep it as my minor

I also wish I didn't have to go to campus right now to watch a French film, I wish i could stay here in my bed and study for finals so i don't turn into a stressball of fiery misery and I can go into finals at least somewhat prepared

I wish Blake wasn't at work and could come over right now

I wish I had a dang job that would work with my schedule next semester

I wish timing was better... no need to elaborate, that's all.

Je souhaite que je peux etre heureuse et pas pense a des choses que je n'ai pas, au lieu je peux pense a tous mes bénédictions

Once Upon a Time

This was my life.

This is me in the pink shirt with my arms folded behind John McCain and Mitt Romney

Me and Campaign Carl from Fox News! He smokes like a chimney.  And that's me and Bill Hemmer from Fox News above this picture

And here's Chris, Kelly, Sheba (one of my favorite people in the whole universe, really, probably the most incredible person I've ever met) Me, and Laurinda at the campaign headquarters in Boston

Do I miss it? Yes.  

Am I glad I did it? Definitely. 

Am I happy with where my life is right now as opposed to where I thought I would be today? Happier than I ever thought possible in my entire life.  

Presenting...

Tiffany. 

I have many gorgeous, incredible, funny, talented, smart, beautiful, charming, witty, athletic, spiritual, compassionate, strong and darling sisters  (and one adorable, hilarious, athletic, witty, talented, entertaining and way too charming for his own good brother)

Tiffany happens to be one of those sisters.  She also happens to fall under the category of "famous sisters that I have"  She is so talented and beautiful and she recently took some time out of her hectic life of being a country singer/songwriter in Nashville to come home and visit the "little people" for Thanksgiving.

Welcome home puddles, it's been too long.  

P.S this time, please don't steal my eyeliner.  Love you.

Thanks to Caitlin's Wedding

Blake and I have these pictures from her photographer

True Dat

"Women need a cause.  Any other life would be empty."

-Alice Paul, early suffragette

Just Sayin...

I don't hate gay people.  Not even a little bit.  I can't imagine battling as hard of a trial as same sex attraction.  That being said, I really love this quote by William Wilbanks, a frequently quoted Law Professor from some big deal University that I can't remember right now.  

"I call it the New Obscenity.  It's not a four-letter word, but an oft repeated statement that strikes at the very core of our humanity.  The four words are "I can't help myself."  

This philosophy sees man as an organism being acted upon by biological and social forces, rather than as an agent with free will.  It views offenders not as sinful or criminal but as "sick". By ignoring the idea that people face temptations that can and should be resisted, it denies the very quality that separates us from the animals."

         -William Wilbanks.

I have nothing against gay people, I have everything against the argument that they were "born that way."

Dear Michelle Obama:

Your husband was just named the President.  Step it up! You look pregnant, or eerily black widow-ish.  Perhaps that was on purpose, and this hideous dress is a subtle precursor to the next 4 years where you plan on killing your husband and taking over his reign of terror.  Oh well, couldn't be much worse, could it? 

 

OR maybe she is pregnant? With another one of John Edwards' love children? The Democrats sure do have a lot of drama

P.S. that is not a personal attack on her figure, she is a skinny woman, that's just an ugly dress.  It doesn't even look good on 90 pound women on the catwalk.  I'm not attacking her because of her looks, I'm just pointing out the first in an inevitable string of bad decisions that she will make these next four years. 

Crossing my fingers

for tomorrow

Because I absolutely MUST

Since the creation of my glorious blog, I've tried (rather unsuccessfully) to avoid a lot of my own political analysis.  I've strayed from my primary objective to post adorable pictures of nieces and nephews and fill you in on the recent happenings of my quite eventful life (also, unsuccessfully).  

That was fun for awhile, but now I absolutely no matter what cannot afford to remain quiet any longer.  We've all heard it said: This is quite possibly the most important election we've ever faced.  Not only because we're faced with the option of electing a Muslim who may have been lying about being born in the United States, who has clear, indisputable ties to William Ayers, a self proclaimed anarchist and known terrorist, (it is so incredible to me that that's not even enough evidence for people to stop supporting his candidacy), but also because the controversial, emotional, offensive, and dare I say it, MORAL issue of PROPOSITION 8! Purple, how fitting.

Being a BYU student gives me the opportunity to hear from incredible speakers (with the minor exception of Harry Reid, whose visit I boycotted) every Tuesday.  Today I was lucky enough to hear the most powerful talk on the sanctity of marriage and the value of human life.  

Robert P. George is the founder and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and has more degrees than I can even remember.  He spoke to us about the moral purposes of law and government.  I attended the forum (and shamefully admit it was the first I've been to all semester) because I didn't have anything else to do between 11:05 and 12:05 Tuesday afternoon and I am so incredibly glad that I did.

Robert George spoke about the importance of limited government, but the dangers of libertarianism.  He made a strong point of telling us that law and government exist to protect and serve individuals, not the other way around.  Government exists for the people.  One of my favorite quotes of this portion of his talk was when he said "the commitment to limited government is itself the fruit of moral conviction."

He addressed the fact that those of us who firmly believe that any other marriage than that between a man and a woman is destructive not only to society but also to the psyche and general well-being of it's children, are the vast minority these days.  We need to stand up for what's right and what we believe in.  He said "speak it lovingly, speak it kindly, but speak it firmly." 

Here are a few of my favorite things he said about marriage  (these quotes are not verbatim, this is the best that I can remember, and I can't find the transcript or video of it online):

1.  There is a reason that all cultures treat marriage as a public concern and even legally recognize it.  Marriage is the indispensable foundation of the family. 

2.  Children are gifts, gifts that solidify the couple as a unit.

              Pretty basic so far, but now it gets scary...

3.  Once we've given up the idea of marriage as a male/female ratio, there is only a thin layer of moral standing keeping us from legalizing marriage between 3 or more people!!!!

I never NEVER thought about that! Seriously, if we think that a strong bond between same sexed people, call it "love" if you must, is enough to create a marriage, then what's to say that a group of people, say three close girlfriends who get along really well and have a strong bond with each other, decide that they are in love and want to get married...all of them... to each other.  What's stopping them? Certainly not the constitution (if prop 8) doesn't pass.  It's the inevitable next step

4. The three states that have legalized gay marriage (MA, CT, CA) have not done so because of a strong democratic voice by the citizens of those states, but because of the "creative interpretation of the constitution by socially liberal judges."  So much for government BY the people.  

Some people say that they don't know why Utahns care so much about Prop 8, after all, "it doesn't even directly affect us"

Well, in the words of Dwight Shrute: False.

Once states start legalizing this, the Full Faith and Credit Clause will make it so Utah will have to recognize their unions.  The judiciary will find us.

On Abortions:  he compared abortion to Hitler's German phrase, (I wish I could remember it in German, Natalie could tell me how to say it, she served her mission there) anyway, the Nazi phrase that they used to describe the Jews, and it means "a life unworthy of a life"

Food for thought.

So, to clarify, I do NOT hate gay people by any means, I just feel very strongly that marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God.  I don't wish to infringe on their rights, but when their rights to marriage infringe on my rights to raise a family with as minimally skewed view as possible on morality, the way society functions, and love, then it crosses the line.  

Move to Iran, they love gay people there.

Please vote.  Unless you disagree with me, then please do not.  Also, women don't forget it took us 75 years to get the vote, don't belittle the incredible sacrifices and advancements of our foremothers by not voting

Dear Blogging Community,

I NEED you! When I'm sitting in my classes listening to my professors drone on, occasionally my fingers slip to navigate my laptop screen away from my Word Document full of pointless notes (that are always included on blackboard anyway) to the fill in the blank URL of some www.---------------.blogspot.com web address.

Suddenly my world transforms from lecture slides to hilarious anecdotes and musings from my closest friends.  I laugh as I read the Julie Garbutt's of the world's critique of their latest dates.  I am inspired by the Lauren Stratton's incredibly unique sense of style, and the Aly Williams penchant for photography.  I smile in my head when I read the Chelsea Gould's unique "Chelsea-isms" (and cringe at her sicko pictures from her cadaver classes).  I am entertained by the Kristy Wilson's sarcastic tones and of course, my heart is warmed when I see the beautiful pictures of the families of the Lisa Deans, the Natalie Clawsons and the Stephanie Grants.  The list goes on and on...

So, dear sweet blogging community, you can see how dependent I am on you.  When you fail to post regularly (and I KNOW I am the pot calling the kettle black when I make these claims considering I am the world's most inconsistent blogger, and can't even figure out how to link my friends to my bloggy thing, but no one is depending on me for their happiness so get off my back about it) but anyway, when you fail to post regularly, I am forced to pay attention in my endless hours of classes.  

Please, do us all a favor and keep it coming.

Passionately yours,

Michelle Lee

(P.S. I sincerely hope no one thinks it is creepy that i really like their blogs.  My intent behind this post was to keep my friends, and not make them want to get a restraining order against me)

Ugh...

I'm writing in red because I'm mad that NONE OF MY PICTURES WORK when I try to load them on my blog! FYI I put some way cute pictures of bangs online but alas, none of you will get to see them...

p.s. I got bangs, and they're awesome, but you'll never know now, will you?

I am a terrible, poor excuse for a blogger.

Lisa-Pizza!

Today is My beautiful Sister Lisa's birthday. In honor of this glorious day of her birth, I'm going to list just a few of the many billions of reasons why the world is so much better because she is in it:

1)Lisa is funny, no wrong word. Lisa is beyond anything you've ever seen, laugh so hard your stomach hurts, you're sure she should be a stand-up comic or on TV or something, she is so so funny. She doesn't even have to try, she finds humor in life's simplest conversations.

2) Lisa is a Helpful Holly. Lisa is always, ALWAYS volunteering to help me with my problems. A week ago she buffed my nails for no reason for heaven's sakes!!! She is the best listener and has aided me in avoiding many a meltdown

3) She has so many talents. She's an incredible photographer, if you don't believe me, check out her blog. Consequently, she has taken many pictures of me that she's posted on her blog, leading me to be skyrocketed to world renowned fame and undoubtedly impending fortune.

4) She's an incredible mother. Have you seen her children? My goodness. She and Rhett produce beautiful human beings. She's always possessed that natural motherly quality. I have a lot of fun memories of her baby sitting me when I was little, she always makes things so much fun!

5) All my sisters and I, along with many other lucky people, have Lisa to thank for our hair cuts and color. She is so talented and I'm not just saying that because I love my hair. She puts Warren Tricomi to shame.

6) She is the most hospitable person ever. She always lets Blake and I and Steph and Dave come over on Sunday nights (and throughout the week) to watch a movie and hang out and have a fun little party, CommVa's usually included.

7) Have you seen her makeup? Flawless. Lisa is so creative and always looks so beautiful. Lisa taught me how to put on and subsequently love makeup. Lisa's brand of choice? Nothing but MAC. She knows what it's all about. She also has an incredible fashion sense and always looks SO gorgeous!

8) She has so many friends. She has such an incredible capacity to care for other people. She is genuinely concerned about others and does all she can to help them.

9) She always TiVo's my favorite shows for me when my hectic weekly school schedule won't permit me to watch them when they air. Then I get to come over on Sunday nights and catch up! (SO excited for Desperate, Brothers and Sisters, and of course, THE OFFICE!)

10) Lisa is SO family oriented and I don't think she's ever missed one of my basketball games or tennis matches. She's a die-hard sports fan (especially BYU football and Sean's basketball games). To sit next to her is to truly know what it's like to Bleed Blue and love Orem High

She is one of my best friends, and would be even if we had no relation. I am so lucky to have her in my family! Happy Birthday Lisa! I love you

Your Thoughts?

       Me and Blake Lively, the girl from Gossip Girl, People have told me we look alike before, but I got it more when I had longer hair.  (P.S she totally copied my look)

(P. P.S too bad I'm fake smiling)

Things That Are Cute

Alright so here is just one thing from a list of hundreds of billions of things that are cute: Primary Programs. My mom is in charge of the primary program in her ward so the past few Sundays I've been helping her hold rehearsals for the kids. This year my mom decided to let all the kids tell a quick experience about times when they've felt the Holy Ghost or had a great experience with prayer. The stories from the children are unbelievably adorable! They mostly consist of times when they couldn't find their shoes or something and they would say a prayer and remember where they left them, or times when they didn't have a good feeling about something or some situation they were in so they left. I love hearing their stalwart testimonies. It is so, so cute.

So this especially fidgety little boy got up to say his line, and he gets real close to the microphone and says "so one time I was at a park when I was really little and I was standing on a garbage can, then I fell and landed on the table, but then I hit my head on the table and landed on the bench, and then I landed on the concrete.......in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen"

Funniest. Thing. Ever. I'm sure there was more to that story but he decided to edit it in his head before he said it out loud. I love little kids.

I also love how Heavenly Father answers the prayers of faithful little children. I remember being in T-Ball and being late for a game and I couldn't find my mitt. Of course I was freaking out because I am the most competitive person on this planet and I couldn't bear the thought of being late and not having as many times at-bat as everyone else. I was frantically searching my house and couldn't find it anywhere. Finally I had the thought to say a prayer, so as a little 6 year old I kneeled down and prayed that Heavenly Father would help me find my mitt. Almost immediately I remembered I had left it on the boot rack. I remember thinking that this prayer thing was pretty cool, and that I should try it out more often. It's so fun to have these tiny memories that seem so insignificant but really lay the foundation for a much stronger testimony later on.

On an unrelated note, look how incredible my niece Taylor is. She's only 4 months old

Ode To...

Ode to the Oblivious Female:

Oh oblivious female, your plight is getting old. 

if i am with him, holding his hand, walking side-by-side, laughing with him and hugging him, I am his girlfriend.

Do not ask him out.

Thank you for your time

Tagged

3 Joys:

-realizing that i missed a call, and it's from him :)

-spontaneous parties with my sisters and brother until 4 in the morning, much like what happened tonight.  (we're all a little too competitive when it comes to skip-bo and phase 10 so we have to keep playing until we all feel vindicated)

-turning on the radio when my favorite song of that second is just coming on, then singing to it really, really loud

3 Fears:

-Anything medical.  Anyone who knows me will attest to this.  Perhaps I should be more clear: Anything medical includes but is not limited to a)talking about veins b) asking me to look in your eyeball because there is something in your contact c) telling me about previous injuries involving any amount of blood

-Getting my belly button poked.  Don't ask me, I don't understand it either.  It's just something I hate.  Don't go there and we can still be friends

-Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  To this day, she is the scariest thing I can imagine.  You know how sometimes if you're alone in your house or in the dark or something and your mind plays terrible tricks on you by making you think of the scariest scariest thing ever and you get scared to the maximum capacity? Well my mind conjures up images of Large Marge with her bulging eyeballs and trucker overalls.  Sickening. 

3 Goals:

-Be much more organized.  I'm in the process of deep cleaning my room at my parents house.  This includes looking specifically at every single item I've accumulated throughout the course of my 19 and 5/6 years of life and deciding whether or not to throw it away.  No joke, I just came across a Barbie pencil box that my neighbor Megan gave me for my 6th Birthday party.

-Be a better Scripture reader.  I love reading them, I just need to make sure I do it every single day.  I'm trying to start reading them in the mornings so I won't be too tired at nights

-Make more time for my nieces and nephews.  They are the most incredible, hilarious, brilliant, adorable people on this earth.  I love being with them.   

3 Current Obsessions:

-Being with Blake

-Tennis, again.  It's good to be back

-Blogging

3 Random and Surprising Facts:

-I have the sweetest freckle on my second toe on my left foot, and just found out that Tiff has the same one.

-I'm a direct descendent of Rebecca Nurse, the woman from The Crucible who was hanged as a witch in the Salem Witch Trials in Salem Essex, Massachusetts in 1621

-I would rather eat something spicy or sour, like a pickle, then ice cream

I tag everyone who reads this.  Suckers

Shaking Things Up a Bit

Due to some gentle prodding from a few of my close friends, I've decided to transform my blog from a harsh political criticism to something slightly more personal, (although I don't see how you can get more personal than by exposing your most raw and real opinions to the world).  

I am now entering the ranks of traditional bloggers. So, to kick things off, I'll update you, the gentle reader, on my life:

1) BYU starts on Tuesday! Who's excited? Obviously I am. I can't wait. Even though I went to school Spring and Summer semester, I'm still extremely excited about coming back for Fall! I love it there, I'm convinced that you can find the very most interesting people in the world at the Y.  To top it all off, I'm taking the coolest classes ever AND I get to be on campus with my incredible boyfriend :)    (yes, i really did just type a primitive smiley face with proper English punctuation.  I must really be happy)

2) I moved home. I LOVE home! The way I see it, it's a pretty winning combination.  I love my family, my family resides in my home, therefore, I love my home.  It's a pretty basic syllogism really.  It makes perfect sense.  Plus, it's a pretty awesome way to save up some pennies

3) I'm playing tennis again, so I'm even MORE happy, if you can imagine it.  My little (if you can call 6'6" little) brother Sean and I have been playing a lot lately.  I love playing with Sean, he is such an incredible athlete.  Is there anything this boy can't do?  (The jury's still out on that one)

4) On a not so positive note, I threw out my back.  Well, technically what happened is my SI joint, or the lowest joint in my spine slips out of place sometimes, temporarily restricting my motion and causing me quite a bit of pain to be honest.  Not a big deal though, It's happened before and I'll be back to normal after a few days of stretching, alternating heat and ice and a visit to the physical therapist or two.  This new injury is probably attributed to my sudden and rapid return to tennis after a long, hard absence.

Okay I'm sorry, I can't resist, I plan to post my thoughts on Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, but this post can be a nice little break from politics for a second.

Just an informative little video...

This is an endearing biography of our darling presidential contender: B. Hussein Obama

... it's worth the 13 minutes!

    

http://www.eyeblast.tv/Public/Video.aspx?rsrcID=2036.

The Life and Times of a Hard Core Republican

So I've been jealous of my sisters and their blogs for quite some time now, and I can't help but notice as I tirelessly peruse their endlessly entertaining and endearing blog posts that one of the reasons that I keep returning to their blogs (and to so many others) is for the adorable stories and pictures of their beautiful families and brand new babies.  I love logging on and seeing the nervous excitement on little Spencer's face as he is about to embark on his first day of school, and reading about baby Sophie's many trips abroad.  You see, to me the world of blogging is an elite club, and to ensure your spot on the proverbial guest list, participants must have an adoring husband, beautiful children, and a never-ending list of humorous anecdotes about all of them.  Since I am a wee child of 19 and 8/12's and have yet to embark on the wondrous journey of marriage and motherhood, I will instead monopolize this great byproduct of the internet to enlighten all of you with my own political beliefs, as well as personal thoughts.  You're welcome.  

Ladies and gentlemen, I am scared.  I'm scared for the state of our nation, as I imagine many of you are also.  Typically, when we get to this point in American politics, we have the choice of choosing between a Democrat or a Republican as the next leader of the free world.  This election, however, we do not have that luxury. Instead, we are given the choice between an admitted Democrat, and closet liberal.

Be that as it may, I hope with my whole heart that Senator McCain becomes our next President.  The issues that are the most important here are:

1.  Protecting America from terrorists

2. Staying in Iraq until we can safely exit (not just when it's safe for our troops to exit, but also when it's safe for the Iraqi people to govern themselves without the possibility of repeated anarchy and tyranny.  Until we can ensure Democracy)

3. Fighting to protect traditional families and preserve the sanctity of marriage between men and women (wow, how close-minded of me to think that we should be obedient to God's commandments)

4. Protecting our economy

My opinions on these subjects are matched far more closely by Senator McCain's than by Senator Obama's.  I am also disgusted by the fact that if Obama were to be President, he would sit down with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  That is saying he's willing to negotiate with terrorists.  We know that this man hates Americans and is capable of nuclear warfare.  Why isn't this higher up on Obama's list of priorities to keep nuclear weapons out of Iran?

Anyway, I'm excited to see who will join McCain on the ticket.  I don't think he or Obama will announce their choice until it's much closer to the convention, maybe a week or so before.  The big question is, will McCain pick Governor Romney? The man who knows more about our economy than any of the other candidates and their advisors combined? The man with first hand leadership knowledge and real experience? The man who I can confidently say will be the President of the United States of America at some point? Or will he pick someone else.  Maybe Governor Bobby Jindal, there's a lot of speculation about Jindal joining the ticket.  What about Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida? Although I think that's unlikely because of all the controversy surrounding his tax issues.  Maybe Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota? He's been a McCain fan for a loooong time.  Who knows....

For now, I hope people don't ignore the glaring problems with a possible Obama Presidency.  Why is the issue with his "personal spiritual advisor" Reverend Jeremiah Wright suddenly seem to be disappearing? Does this not raise any red flags for anybody? What possibly qualifies this man to be President? What does he have other than his charisma and the increasingly obnoxious "Yes We Can" chant?  Sure, he's optimistic, but an optimistic political rookie is still a rookie.  Also, as a personal side note to Hussein Obama's advisors, stop trying to deter people from voting for McCain by comparing him to President Bush.  One of the main issues people have with him is that he isn't enough LIKE President Bush because he isn't conservative enough.  I think that by comparing the two, they are actually encouraging the social conservative to vote for John McCain, so I guess, keep up the good work.  

That's all I've got for today.  Once I get sick of this, I'll just start posting cute pictures of my nieces and nephews to make sure all interest is not lost and my blog doesn't fall into oblivion.