Zsa Zsa Gabor:

Okay, you're beautiful. Can I be you?

Ten Things I will never understand:

1. Why some people don't like chocolate.
2. Why people my age (and older) love Pixar movies so much.
3. Why my extended family assumes I must have the same wacky, conservative views as my dad.
5. Why cats are so cute.
6. Why people ask questions like, "How are you?" without caring about the response.
7. Why people have such a hard time with contractions versus possession.
8. Why my mom let me quit dance.
9. Why I don't have more money.
10. Why people get married so quickly.

September 11, 2001

As a child, there was a distinct moment when I realized that the world was not all rainbows, barbies, and hair bows. The moment when I realized there are bad people in the world who do terrible things. There is no monster in bathtub drain or sharks under the bed, but there are real people who seek to hurt people. And every generation shares a day of tragedy when that epiphany is realized or relived. For our grandparents, it was December 7th, 1941; for our parents is was November 22nd, 1963; and for us it was September 11, 2001. I know this post is a few days late, but I felt like I needed to add to the conversation. To me, the memory of 9/11 doesn't entice me to hatred or fear. It was a terrible day, but once the dust settled, we chose to crawl from the rubble, stand tall, and be strong. The country was a country of hope after the attacks, and that entices me to be proud.

There is power in femininity:

"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh’ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don’t let someone steal your tenderness. Don’t allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it’s a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all – look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love."

- Zooey Deschanel

Jackie Kennedy:

Today's post is about one of my favorite women: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. This woman was gorgeous, brilliant, strong, elegant, independent, and fashionable. I would love to be like her. And if that means becoming first lady someday, well then yes please. She was one of the greatest first ladies this country has ever had. Jackie was admired by visiting diplomats, including good ol' Khrushchev, revered for her restoration of the White House, and adored by the American public. Jackie may have been beautiful and the most important woman in the United States, but she was also real. She was well loved by us because her life was so imperfect. When she experienced a miscarriage, we wept with her; when her husband's infidelities became known, we suffered with her; when her husband was assassinated, we mourned with her; and when she married Aristotle Onassis, we rejoiced with her. If I grow up to be half the woman, mother, and wife she was, I will feel like I've made it.

Je suis une enfant:

Nothing like some Carla Bruni to get you through the school day. Bon jeudi, tout le monde!

Another year:

On Monday, I begin my senior year at Brigham Young University. It's weird; I feel like I've just arrived. However, I'm excited. There have been a lot of changes this past year and I cannot wait for this new start. It's another year, but it's also a new complex, new friends, a new job, new goals, new roommates, new everything. I couldn't be happier with the way things are in my life. I still have worries and trials, but I also have a great family, great friends, and great faith in the Lord. There are a lot of things in store for this year: good and bad. All I can say is BRING IT ON.

Panc news:

Oh look at my ultrasound! If you look closely you can see a head and some toes! Okay, just kidding guys, this is an ultrasound of my pancreas and my cute little tumor that I have recently named Georg.  On Thursday, I had my fourth, and definitely not final, endoscopic ultrasound and the pictures show that there has been no change in the last six months. This means that I can delay my surgery for awhile longer; hopefully, until next summer or after I graduate. We'll see. The tumor is the paisley-shaped dark colored shape with the x's around it in the top right quadrant. D'awhh Georg, what a pain you are to me!

Anyways, that's the panc update. Thank you all for your constant prayers and concern. It means a lot.

Also, I am apparently the most polite sedated person ever. According to my mother, as I was coming out of anesthesia, I shook the hand of and thanked the anesthesiologist three times and professed my undying gratitude to my gastroenterologist. I mean, I am normally a nice person, but I guess drugs make me unable to hold back my oozing kindness.

Fittie of the Week:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: he just keeps getting better and better. As a girl, I fell in love with him as the shy and sweet Cameron in 10 Things I Hate About You and as the adorable alien in Third Rock from the Sun. A few years ago I fell in love again when he played the heart-broken, disheveled Tom in (500) Days of Summer. And he did it again as Robin in Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.

Whether he is playing a hero, a troubled drug addict, or a cancer patient, Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes you fall in love. You can't help it. He's the cute boy next door. The cute boy next door who needs a friend. You watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt on screen and you feel like you know him. Who didn't want to punch Zooey Deschanel in the face as she breaks up with him in that shockingly fluorescent diner? You're seriously talking about pancakes right now? I was bitter at her for months thinking about what a jerk she was to use impressionable, beautiful Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a place-holder until someone "better" came along. I swear I boycotted She & Him music for at least six months. Joseph Gordon-Levitt: he may not be chiseled Tom Hardy or hotter than hot Christian Bale, but that's what makes him perfect.

Sigh No More, Ladies:

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever;

One foot in sea, and one on shore,

To one thing constant never.

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into hey nonny, nonny.

Sing no more ditties, sing no more,

Of dumps so dull and heavy;

The fraud of men was ever so,

Since summer first was leavy.

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into hey nonny, nonny.

- William Shakespeare, from Much Ado About Nothing