All is well....

I just wanted to comment about the last week or so and the things that have been happening in the world. It seems unfair that we can live in such peace, sleeping in comfortable beds, eating full meals when there are so many that are suffering.

As I am sure most of you, if anyone reads this, knows about the horrible disasters that have happened on the other side of the world. The 7.9 earthquake in China blows my mind. I have been through some scary earthquakes, but they have all been in the 6 range. A 7.9 is 15 times as strong as any earthquake I have felt. I watched some footage on the earthquake and it was unbelievable how long the quake lasted. When the ground is shaking, it already feels like forever- but this one lasted at least a whole minute.

News reports are saying that 50,000 my be dead, or dying. I can't imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a pile of rubble- probably with no idea what happened. All those schools that collapsed- it's horrible.

Malaysia is a whole other story. Over 100,000 dead? That's insane! And the injured and homeless are controlled by a government that will not allow the world to come to their aid. What a horrible situation.

I watched the Kite Runner the other night with Jessica. It was an amazing, but sad movie. Not sad like the ending is sad. It was sad because of the horrible events it portrays and in a place so little understood by us westerners- the middle east. I would recommend this movie (or book, which I badly want to read now) to everyone.

Finally, a little closer to home (my home actually), in California, I read news that despite the popular people's vote to ban same-sex marriage the supreme court of CA has decided to recognize this union. It doesn't make since to me that despite the opinion of the majority, the high court would rule to approve of it.

It is really interesting to watch the current history of the world unfold with an eternal perspective and with religious education. We are so fragile as humans. Our whole society could be thrown into chaos within a few moments. As I think about the energy problem and the food problem throughout the world, I wonder if this could be it. Will the energy and food crisis be the factors that throw the world into utter chaos? Will even more war begin? It is unsettling to think about, but why should I live my life thinking all is well when all is not well. The events of this past week have really made me realize that I need to prepare myself today and not wait until an earthquake shakes up my world. Am I ready?

The Film Program

I never did write about how I got accepted to the film program. I found out the day I got home to California and I hadn't slept more than 2 hours during the 36 hours before I got the e-mail that informed me. I kind of wish that I wasn't so tired when I found out because my reaction was pretty muted. I was really relieved, but too tired to jump around and freak out. Anyway, I am really excited to finally be in the program and think it is really cool to be learning about things I really enjoy and love. It makes all the hard work way worth it. When I talked to a friend in the program and asked how the workload was (she took the same classes as me during one term), she said it killed her but she loved it. I guess that's a good way to describe it. If you have to be killed though, you might as well enjoy it right?

I just looked up my grades for last semester. I got four A's, one A-, and a B. This brings my cumulative GPA to 3.7. Too bad that is normal at BYU and you have to pretty much get a 4.0 for a scholarship. I am going to link a blog I created to collaborate on film projects to my blog. You are all welcome to check it out if it interests you.

Loving My Classes

I love my classes. I am definitely busy. I don't have much spare time. The spare time I have is used to sleep, or do homework. I don't even normally eat 3 whole meals a day. But I love my classes.

One of my classes meets on the set of a film at the motion picture studio. We get to watch and help with the scenes. It is really exciting. I have just started working on a group project and I really like working with my classmates. There are 7 of us in the class and it is really cool because we get so much more feedback on our ideas.

I went to California before spring term began and it was beautiful. It was really good to see my family and spend time with my sisters. I don't get to do that enough. I took some pictures at the beach and have been manipulating them in photoshop a bit. It's fun.

The Water was so clear

These purple flowers were growing everywhere

This jellyfish washed up on shore... you can't tell, but it was really big

My sister Morgan... she was the only one willing to
have me take pictures of her

I manipulated this one a little