A Blessing to this World

I have my own personal rules/theories about how each social media site works.

Facebook: Facebook is like going to a party with everyone you know and have ever known. My rules about Facebook are:

a) I have to Facebook friend everyone I know and keep them as a Facebook friend unless they're creepy. If I find them offensive, I unfollow them but remain friends.

b) Facebook is for keeping up with people's lives. I understand why people use it as a platform for voicing opinions about important issues, but for me that feels like yelling out my personal views in the middle of a crowded party. So I very rarely talk about anything of substance on Facebook. If I have something important I want to say, I lure people off Facebook and onto this blog. That way people who don't want to hear my opinions don't have to be subject to them. (Also, I feel like people who know me should already know what I think and believe based on how I conduct myself. But if you're morbidly curious and want me to spell out my political or religious views in great detail, just ask. Really.)

Instagram: Instagram is more of a feel-good, slice-of-life platform. On Instagram, I will talk more in-depth about what I care about but to a wider audience that sometimes includes people I don't know. Unlike Facebook, Instagram is almost always positive and thoughtful. It's also a good way to find out what's going on in a celebrity's life, but it's not a great place for interacting with one on equal footing—because of all social media, Instagram is probably the most one-sided and easiest to curate.

Twitter: Twitter is very American; if Alexis de Tocqueville ever heard of it, he would roll over in his grave. It's the great equalizer of social media because it's a forum where everyone talks to everyone else regardless of status or fame. You're judged almost solely on your content. This means that if you want to connect with a celebrity, Twitter is usually the place to go. If you want to interact with people privately and be limited just to talking within your own social circle, Twitter is not for you. Also, I feel like by its nature, Twitter is the appropriate place to debate something if debates must be had.

One of the real reasons that I have a Twitter account is so that I can reach out to celebrities whose work I admire. I enjoy these interactions, probably for the same reason that I enjoy meeting celebrities at Comic Con. In fact, the other day I was bored, so I tweeted at Adam McArthur.

If you're wondering, "Who's Adam McArthur?" then that is shameful. A few weeks ago, I didn't know who Adam McArthur was either, but I have since repented of my ways and forsaken them. I now know that Adam McArthur is the voice of Marco Diaz in one of Disney's finest cartoon series, Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

Seriously. It's reeeaaally good. And Marco, who is the male lead, is a reeeaaally good character. He has the most personality of any Disney princess's male love interest ever.

I've been on a Star vs. kick in the weeks since I started watching it. Baby Brother even gave me a book featuring Star and Marco for Christmas (here pictured with many other wonderful and nerdy items which I received).

He was so excited about giving me the book as a gift, he could barely stand it.

Since I've been enjoying Adam McArthur's work so much, I decided I'd let him know.

And he responded.

Ideal use of Twitter = executed.

Quirks for Perks

I've been thinking a lot lately about interpersonal relationships.

In most relationships, each person has some annoying or thoughtless things that they do. The other person puts up with these things they don't like (quirks) because of things that the person does that they do like (perks). (Although if they like the other person enough, sometimes the quirks actually become the perks.) I'm calling the system "(putting up with) quirks for perks."

Any thoughts on this?

Not Very Long Ago in a Galaxy That's Literally Right Here

Last year was Star Wars, pretty much.

I imagine at this point, some of you are thinking, "Oh, what did you think of the new Star Wars movie, Awkward Mormon Girl?" My response to that is that I'm not a huge Star Wars person so maybe my opinion doesn't matter that much, but first of all I dislike the entire premise of the new series. It was a pretty weak writing choice to return everything to the status quo of Episode IV, in my (and Baby Brother's) opinion. Second of all, there better be a reason why we were forced to watch Rey snap her fingers at her own reflection for a million minutes, or else I'm gonna be real annoyed. But I digress.

Look, Star Wars is all about bringing balance to the Force. 2017 brought balance to the Force...my personal Force, anyway. While some years are mostly good and some years are mostly bad, if we separated out the good and the bad of my 2017, I suspect that it would boil down to the equivalent of six months of bliss and six months of ghastly horrors.

I imagine that at this point, some of you are thinking, "What bliss? All we heard about all year was the migraines and the Achilles tendons and the closing Chinese buffets."

Hmmm, yes. Well, in the interest of transparency, there were a few months in there where I was blissfully happy...I just didn't share because I tend to keep my happiness to myself for as long as possible. I'm really private that way. And even in the middle of the migraines and the Achilles tendons and the closing Chinese buffets, there was some pretty amazing stuff. I just wasn't as focused on it because I'm a human, and humans are the worst.

In short, what I'm trying to say is that 2017 was a year of balance. The dark side and the light side offset each other nicely, and we didn't even have to kill all the Padawans to achieve that.

Goodbye, 2017. Welcome, 2018! Bring it on.

(But seriously...why doesn't anyone tell Rey that blue lightsaber she's using killed a bunch of younglings? Doesn't anyone think that's important for her to know? This is why Star Wars is not my jam.)

Last Post of the Year

This year I:

-Didn't travel anywhere! (Except to Arizona...post about that still forthcoming.)

-Didn't accomplish anything! (Except becoming Relief Society president, but that's not really an accomplishment. Oh, and I met Elijah Wood and Jess Harnell. And I NaNoWriMoed up a storm. Okay, I accomplished some things.)

Stay tuned for an upcoming post where I review 2017 in more detail and while possibly referencing Star Wars!

Another Yuletide Over

Guess what? I Christmassed again this year!

Christmas version 2017 included such traditional delights as:

-Lunch with sisters! The weather was pretty bad, so we ended up at the same restaurant we lunched at last year. Which is against the Little Sisters' Annual Christmas Eve Lunch rules, but we already broke the rules by letting Older Sister come last year and this year (since she no longer lives in town and we don't see her much). Plus Baby Sister wasn't here, so we just broke rules all over the place like a slap in the face of the tradition founders. Who are us. So we basically slapped our own faces. Ouch.

-Christmas Eve dinner with my mom's family! Each family unit exchanged small gifts and Christmas cards before dinner started. This year, I got a lot of chocolate and some popcorn and my own personal bottle of Martinelli's. I loved that, but it was a little awkward to be given my own gifts because, being unmarried, I don't consider myself to be my own family unit, so I didn't bring anything for everyone else. I just piggybacked on my parents' gifts. Someday, though. (Fingers crossed.)

-Presentation of the nativity story! The older cousins round up the little cousins and persuade them to dress up as sheep or shepherds or wisemen. This year, Dino Cousin's mom encouraged Dino Cousin (who is four years old) to join the nativity. We asked Dino Cousin what she wanted to be: a sheep or a shepherd or a wiseman? Without batting an eye, Dino Cousin said, "Jesus." We always have the newest baby or a doll play Baby Jesus, but we weren't about to refuse Dino Cousin, so we said okay. When Dino Cousin's mom came to the rehearsal area, she asked Dino Cousin who she was going to be. Dino Cousin promptly said, "Jesus Christ." It was equally adorable and amusing.

(P.S. If you ever wonder why I have such a prodigious amount of cousins, it's because not only do I have quite a few first cousins, I also know many of my parents' cousins (my first cousins once removed), their kids (my second cousins), my first cousins' kids (also my first cousins once removed), and my second cousins' kids (my second cousins once removed). Many of us see each other regularly.)

-A slideshow review of the year! There are ~five pictures of each extended family member in the slideshow, and since the family keeps growing, the show just keeps getting longer and longer. (Re: prodigious amount of cousins.)

-Waking up really early on Christmas morning and annoying our parents! We then gather in a line (age order, youngest to oldest; this year Mr. Little Sister was between me and Little Sister) and rush into the living room to open our presents from Santa and each other. (Yes, we all still get presents from Santa. Santa is legit, and no one will ever convince me not to believe in him.)

We also had a few novelties this year:

-Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, something that hasn't happened for years. The Little Sisters' Annual Christmas Eve Lunch was therefore held on the 23rd and not the 24th. (P.S. I found out that Valiant and her six sisters all get lunch together on Christmas Eve, too! How interesting.) My ward had one hour of church in the morning combined with some other wards in the stake. The program was mostly music, which was lovely. I sat with Best Friend Boy. He got a real kick out of trying to predict what Christmas hymn we'd be singing next.

-We got to talk to Baby Sister. (Most of the time, missionaries call home only on Christmas Day and Mother's Day.) She's a cutie patootie. Even though her mission is English-speaking, she's learning some Marshallese because of the area in which she's serving. She told us that she was the happiest she's ever been.

All in all, a good day during a good season. Now on to the new year.

Heavenly Father Must Really Love Me

I have a penchant for waxing philosophical. But tonight, my goal is to avoid too much of a philosophical waxing. Instead, Imma tell you about some things that I noticed this month.

Life this year has been almost exactly 50% wonderful and 50% disappointing and discouraging. Rarely have I had such a centrifugal year. On an note that's seemingly unrelated, a few weeks ago I went to a ward activity (as Relief Society presidents are wont to do). In attendance was a certain sister who, by her own admission, doesn't come to ward activities very often although she frequently attends church meetings. This sister and I both got a ride to the activity location from another sister in our ward, Sophie.

Sophie is a sterling human who is a good example for everyone. In what was perhaps her only lapse of judgment ever, earlier this year she purchased an electric car, not realizing that it could only be started by a key fob and that there was no physical key as a backup.

Well, it just so happened that when we arrived at Sophie's car, her key fob was not working. It was unable to communicate with her electric car, effectively locking us out in the cold.

This sister who rarely comes to ward activities exclaimed that she had the exact same model of car as Sophie. She taught Sophie a trick that would open the car door. However, even though we were able to get inside the car, it still wouldn't start.

I was sitting there, silently praying. No one from our ward had parked near us, and even if they had it would be a major inconvenience to leave Sophie's car in the lot and try to catch rides with others. I'm sure Sophie was praying, too.

But then the other sister said that she knew what the problem was. She said that Sophie's key fob was probably out of batteries, and she suggested that she switch the battery in her own key fob with Sophie's battery. Sure enough, it worked. AND what's more, the sister insisted that Sophie just keep the battery because the sister had a spare at home.

On the way home, Sophie marveled about how incredible it was that this sister who happened to have the exact same car as her had ended up driving with her. The other sister agreed and mentioned that she'd felt strongly that she should come to this activity, even though she never comes to activities.

"Heavenly Father must really love me," concluded Sophie.

That was really humbling to me, because while I was grateful that a solution had presented itself, I was more exhausted that a problem had arisen in the first place. But in Sophie's eyes, the death of the key fob battery was not a problem so much as it was a blessing—because, she said, if the battery had died in any other circumstance, she wouldn't have known what the problem or had an inkling of how to solve it.

Later in the month, the daily Light the World theme was centered on comforting those who were grieving. The church's website suggested reaching out to a person who had recently lost someone for the day's act of service.

To me, that was too specific. I knew a few people who'd lost someone over the past year or so but not recently enough that reaching out would be appropriate. I didn't want to dredge up painful memories for seemingly no reason.

That night at institute, I remembered that the daughter of one of the teachers had passed away just days before. Although I didn't know her super well, the unfortunate circumstances of her passing depressed me. I decided to mention to the teacher that I'd been acquainted with his daughter and tell him I was sorry for his loss.

This man broke into a joyful smile and asked how I'd known his daughter. His seeming acceptance of her death helped me feel better about the situation, too, and his positive attitude inspired me. He actually acted like I'd done him a favor by bringing her up!

Everything worked out so well, that I felt pretty good. Like...you know...Heavenly Father must really love me.

One last thing. Even later in the month, I was at Target (as I frequently am), this time with my mom. We were walking near the clothing aisles when a high, inarticulate little voice said, "Would you like a rose?"

I looked down to see the cutest little toddler in the cutest little dress, holding out a pink rose.

I reached to accept the rose, then paused. Where were this kid's parents? Where did she get the roses? Oh, there they were, holding even more roses.

Quickly, I put two and two together: this was the family's Light the World service for the day. And what a cute service it was! I happily accepted the rose.

Ain't it pretty? Made my night. Let's say it in chorus: Heavenly Father must really love me.

Festival of Lights

As you know if you've been reading this blog for a while, the Obnoxious family observes some of the aspects of Hanukkah every year.

Just as non-Christians can celebrate the hope, light, life, love, peace, and goodwill of Christmastime without being believers, I would think that non-Jews can celebrate parts of Hanukkah without being believers (though I may be wrong, but so far, no Jews have told me otherwise). Especially since, unlike Christmas, Hanukkah isn't actually a major holiday. Or so I hear. Anyway, religiously speaking, we're not Jewish, so we always try to keep our celebration respectful and appropriate i.e. not do anything religious that would be a mockery to those who actually practice Judaism.

The big differences between Hanukkah last year and Hanukkah this year were a) we all bought matching Hanukkah sweaters earlier this year and b) Mr. Little Sister is now an official part of the family.

Last year, Mr. Little Sister got waaaaay into Hanukkah. He told Little Sister that he wants to celebrate it with their future children and suggested buying a menorah. Little Sister talked him out of the menorah idea (re: celebrating Hanukkah in a respectful and non-religious way), but that hasn't kept him from embracing his new Jewish heritage. He was very excited for Hanukkah this year. He and Little Sister bought a chocolate dreidel at some kind of arts festival they attended a few weeks ago, and he also picked out a dessert called "jujus" for the party "because we're Jew-Jews!"

Rosebud and Mr. Rosebud also came to the party last year and also got way into it, so they requested to be invited this year. Plus Little Brother got way into challah bread last year, and he has since mastered delicious homemade challah.

Alongside the challah, we enjoyed brisket, latkes, applesauce, and a chocolate bundt cake that wasn't bad for a bundt cake. We did not enjoy the jujus as they were kind of awful. We also played dreidel for prizes: caramels, chocolates, plastic instruments left over from the year before, sticky dinosaurs, and Star Wars and Christmas Peanuts pencils. Then Little Brother led us in some Jewish dances that he choreographed on the spot and made us listen to his favorite Jewish song, "Hava Nagila," over and over.

So it was a pretty good time. While it made me miss Older Sister and Baby Sister, it made me incredibly grateful for a wonderful family with a strong heritage. And I can't wait until we're all together for Christmas! (Older Sister will be here, and we'll be able to talk with Baby Sister on Skype.)