Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Excited for this weekend and it's only Tuesday!

It's ok, though-- I have plenty to work on so I can be ready. I really want to get caught up with homework (I even want to work ahead!) and have my room cleaned and organized, not to mention finally buy school supplies. It feels good to have a lot to do and a good challenge! :) Can't wait to go to Nauvoo with the family and Eric!

Today's writing prompt:

Why do you think some people don't exercise their right to vote?


I think some people don't exercise their right to vote because they are disinterested or don't have enough information to pick a candidate, or they dislike them all. That's why some people don't vote anyway. My feeling is if people don't care enough to vote, they probably shouldn't.


Sunday, August 28, 2011

I miss across-the-street neighbors

For whatever reason(s), today was just a lonely downer of a day for me. I just feel as if there are weights on me. I guess one of the prices you end up paying if you decide to be a money-saving commuter student is that you feel alone some of the time.

Yesterday I had a nice breakfast with one of my friends who I very seldom see, but then the rest of the day was spent sitting and working on homework. I got through the readings ok, and I wrote a not-very-good paper for a class, but the bulk of my day was spent working on these pre-calculus problems, which were supposed to be review of things we already knew. I literally spent hours and hours working on that assignment, from not too long after breakfast until dark. I had to give up on a lot of them, too. It's a very frustrating experience to struggle with something that's supposed to be easy, but I guess I've had several of those experiences.

My parents suggested I drop the class and switch majors... I guess to political science? What am I going to do with a Political Science degree? I have some talents (underdeveloped as they may be at this point,) but they aren't in anything useful, so I feel stuck and worthless. Why am I even in school? I'm just going to study something that isn't going to help me get a job. Last night I thought about it and decided to just try to help people, even if I'm not the person who could do the most good. I've been blessed to be born in the US, and that's advantage enough for me to try to help the less fortunate. I just need to think of how, so that even if my degree ends up being worse than worthless, I won't be held back from making a positive difference.

So anyway, today I'm just really not feeling connected to anyone. Everyone has their own lives they're concerned with, and I can just wander around the house. And now I'm up at 11:18 pm, not really tired, and still feeling down when I start reminiscing.

When I was in Elementary School, Sarah and Olivia were around to play with. But when we were bored, we would just wait and see if the Zoellners were home. Olivia and I would even wait in our driveway, trying to send telepathic messages for them to come home. And when they did, we would do all kinds of stuff!

We'd play in the creek, play "Military", ride our bikes around, have a "funeral" for Josh, sled down the stairs in a blanket, find creative ways to wage war on the ants, drag each other in a wagon, build dams, picnic on the roof, make orange juice with a power drill, climb trees, and much, much more! For some reason, one of the funnest things I remember is when there was a rain-storm, we just opened the garage door, had a radio on, and used nets and cups and other random things to "predict/measure" the weather. We just had so much fun, acting like we were doing any kind of real work while the storm was going on. We also acted like the weathermen didn't know what they were talking about, and that's why it was up to us.

But Olivia, Sarah and I all had fun a lot of the time by ourselves. We'd always be outside playing games we made up, throwing gravel into the creek or looking for frogs, swinging, pogo-sticking, playing with our animals or with some electronic toy we'd gotten for Christmas, and making little videos. It was a blast. I feel sorry for Laura, because I know her childhood was (and still is) spent with people telling her what to do, or telling her "no". We live in a different house, and there aren't kids her age for her to play with; just old tired parents and a mopey older sister in college who never want to do anything.

My childhood was carefree, at least it seems that way in hindsight. There wasn't too much indecision over what to play or how to spend my time, and it seems like today most aspects of my life are paralyzed with fear of making the wrong choice. Even doing things that have value feel pointless to me in the scheme of things, and too often it's hard for me to be motivated. It's ironic that in the electronic age, I feel less connected to people than ever I did when I was a kid. I would pay a lot to get to experience a week from my childhood again. I'd be perfectly content to wait with Olivia in our driveway for the Zoellners to come home.

--Sannah

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thoughts on Sociology-- From 2011

I've been going through my old posts, and found this unfinished draft. Enjoy?

I had a few minutes, so I thought I'd jot down some thoughts while I was at the college library... apparently no one's used this computer since I was here yesterday evening. Anyway, some notes on the classes I've had so far today:

International Trade/Finance:
  • The class was very quiet. I think we were expected to finish the professor's thoughts/sentences, but we didn't always know where he was going with his thoughts.
  • I need a quick review in basic economics. I don't know why, but I just was not following what he was talking about.
Sociology:

At the beginning of class, the Professor had one student spit in a cup, and then asked if anyone would volunteer to drink it. She then said it was an accepted cultural norm for us not to want to drink spit out of a cup, even though "when you kiss someone, you're swapping spit. When you share a toothbrush or drink out of someone else's straw, you're swapping spit. You wonder, who makes up these rules? It's not ok to ingest someone else's saliva from a cup, but fine to do it straight from someone's mouth... One of the things us sociologists do is to take something normal, and then make it look weird!"

I understand the point she was trying to make, but I see that as more of a cost/benefit kind of thing. There is usually nothing to be gained from drinking someone's spit out of a cup, whereas in all of her other examples, there was. People get over the fact that spit is gross and move on with their lives.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

First Day of Class

Summer vacation is officially over. Some highlights from the first day of class, since I am too lazy to be a good writer tonight:


  • My expository writing professor seems nice. I learned about H. L. Mencken today because I signed up to write a paper about one of his essays... he seems like an interesting character. My dad apparently has a few books by him.
  • Western Civilizations II seems ok. We'll see how that goes...
  • My library employer Cindy Schoolcraft is an awesomely nice person! She gave me my own orientation today, and I found out that Kat Barden (another awesomely nice person) had created a "spiritual space" in the library, with nice pillows and a prayer list, as well as a holy books bookshelf, among other things. The bookshelf had several Qur'ans, Bibles, and the Torah, but no Books of Mormon. So I think it'd be a good idea to get a nice copy, maybe even put "Westminster College" on the front. And since Westminster has a high international student population (from 65 countries), I even think it'd be neat to have some in different languages. Just a thought :)
  • I finished buying my textbooks. I hope the ones I ordered online come in soon!
  • I finished scheduling my library hours, and soon I'll post my schedule.
  • Dance was all right. We learned the Electric Slide, the Waltz, Fox Trot, and Rumba. I'm not a natural dancer, but it was fun.
Dinner was delicious. We had Macaroni and Cheese, and Bacon Wrapped Green Beans with a garlicky onion sauce, and then strawberries filled with sweet cream cheese drizzled in chocolate. It was WONDERFUL!

Also, Eric got a call from the MTC today. It was an over-the-phone Spanish test to see where he was as far as language fluency, and it sounds like he did pretty well! I'm so proud of him :)

Later,

--Sannah

P.S. Eric and I made the Brazilian Lemonade, and boy was it great. We also made pudding hot cocoa. Mmm mmm! I drove to see him on Monday night and stayed at his parents house till I had to go to Library training the next afternoon. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, but it was so worth it! I got to surprise Eric on his one break at Walmart (I was lucky to arrive just as he went on break), go on a walk with Debra and her friend, watch Home Alone on a 1996 tape, and make some good food! I love him.

Oh yeah, and writing prompt:
 Imagine you had a hundred dollars, but you couldn't keep it. You had to give it away to a person or charity. Who would you give it to? What would you want them to do with it?
(Another money-related one?)
This one is easy. I would a) Give it to Eric for his Missionary Fund, or b) Give it to Matt and Sarah to go eat at a nice place a few times, since I don't have enough money yet to give them a decent wedding present. (It'll come once I start working, I promise!) I'm not a very good sister :(

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Elderberry Jam

Today was spent from the time I woke up this morning helping my mom sort out the green elderberries from the dark ones, because the green ones have cyanide in them. Laura just said she would like for me to add that she helped as well, which is true. Mom is now jarring the elderberry jelly, and it is delicious. I am very much missing Eric right now, and if it weren't for gas money I'd probably go see him and watch Home Alone with him! I had a nice time at Missouri Botanical Gardens with him and Jon yesterday, even though it was hot. Tomorrow I'm going to be called as Ward Assistant Librarian or something, which will be nice :)

Today's writing prompt: If you won the lottery, what would you do?

I don't gamble, but if I did win the lottery somehow and there wasn't a moral problem with me accepting the money (I don't know if there would be... probably not?), I would pay the tax on it, pay 10% for tithing, pay off my loans for school and use it to pay off school. If there were savings left over, I would put it in an interest-earning account for my later years.

--Sannah

P.S. There's this great book I want to buy called "Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen". Dad checked it out from the library, and all of the recipes sound tasty and simple! I would love to cook out of America's Test Kitchen Cookbook for everything, but there's something to be said for time savers, especially when it's not very unhealthy and it tastes great! Dad made Brazilian Lemonade (recipe here) today, and it was  very good, and dad said it was as easy as opening a can of limeade to make, believe it or not!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Even the blogs are multi-tasking!

In order to make My Mountaintop a little more interesting for me to write, I think I'd like to write both whatever's current in my life, plus a response to a writing prompt, and maybe several writing prompts if my answer is short/boring. Maybe that'll be a good exercise as well for creative writing!

In other news, I'm going with Eric and Jon's family tomorrow to the St. Louis temple, and afterwards we'll be going to the Missouri Botanical Gardens! I'm looking forward to that, I hope we drive safely. For the past couple of days, I've mostly read, gone swimming, and tried to play "The Morning Breaks" on the piano. (Here's the Tabernacle Choir singing "The Morning Breaks"). It's slow going, but I think it'd be great to learn how to play the piano a little better. Still not sure exactly what I'll be doing for school, but I guess for now, I'll just keep studying Economics with a bit more emphasis in law/politics. That seems like a fine plan to me.

And poor Eric! He's had to work so hard, because the managers at Walmart keep scheduling him to work entire shifts by himself in the middle of the day! And it's a huge Walmart, too. He finally brought it up to the managers, and they just completely blew him off, like it wasn't a serious concern. It makes me really mad! But anyway, I'll get to the writing exercise.

Spoonbricks*

The spoonbricks were so excited for the family reunion! Spoonbrick family reunions only happened when they had to build a house for someone, and then they all stayed in the walls until someone decided to tear them down. In fact, they actually were a little in denial when someone wanted to tear down their building.

They would wait for the construction crews and equipment to arrive, and only when a wrecking ball and crane drove too close to the building would one of the spoonbricks would yell "Run for it!" and they'd all chaotically bounce out of the wall. Since the spoonbricks made up the wall, the roof would soon collapse after they bounded out of the scene in a big cloud of dust. But all of that would happen years down the road, if ever, and today was a joyous day to build!

"Come on, spoonbricks! We've got a job to do!" Said one of the brave spoonbricks. The excited spoonbricks gracefully hopped and leaped the long distance to the open lot where the house would be built. As they traveled, they all sang "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," starting at a mid-range pitch and ascending, kind of like Ariel in The Little Mermaid, but it was a whole group of them and they weren't always in unison.

When they finally got to the building site, the brave spoonbrick said "Happy family reunion, everyone! Let the festivities begin!" All the spoonbricks began stacking themselves into a wall. Even though no one was directing them, they all knew what to do. The spoonbricks also had this classic prank to play on the top row of spoonbricks.

When the first spoonbrick on the top row jumped up there, the whole wall jiggled and quivered. "Woah!" It shouted. Then the second landed next to it, and the building wiggled and wobbled like Jello. "Uh oh, I don't like the looks of this," it said worriedly . By the time the fifth spoonbrick tried to get on top, the whole building was violently swaying and lurching back and forth so hard that half of the spoonbricks were flung into a nearby field. "Haha, good prank, everyone," the seasick spoonbrick said as he threw up. "Yes, yes, that was awfully funny, but we're behind schedule, so let's move!" the brave and slightly cranky spoonbrick from the nearby field said.

The spoonbricks worked quickly and made up on lost time. It wasn't before long that they had built the new home and were singing their song that they always sang when they completed a building:

"We are fam-i-ly! I got all my spoonbricks with me! (Repeat Chorus many times)" 


And they were family. And sometimes, that's all you can say.

THE END

 

*Spoonbricks are pretty much how you imagine them. A brick that has a spoon in it. Or on it... or something.


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Middle School

So, the Public Schools started today, which means that Summer is practically as good over. And Laura just started Middle School. I just realized it's been about nine years since I started sixth grade (but not quite). I remember everything pretty well, and although I didn't really like many things about middle school, I get a kind of nostalgic feeling when I think about it. I can remember the teachers from each year, and in a lot of cases the people who were in each of my classes, and what everything was like. I walked to the public library after school for a lot of sixth grade.
 
I really loved being in band when I was in middle school, and I probably had closer friends back then too (not to mention my sisters were around). I went to several of my classes in temporary trailers, and Laura is going to class in a renovated building. One of my favorite parts of middle school was going to Fayette for the percussion solo contest.

I don't know, I just remember the people I associated with and where they are now, and it's very different.  

Friday, August 12, 2011

Wishing Summer Would Last Forever

Things I've done recently:
  • Went on a fun little shopping trip with Mom, Dad, and Laura and found an awesomely cute dress at Goodwill for only $6.00, as well as some shoes. Maybe I should take/post pictures, but I don't have a camera other than my phone...
  • Watched my cousin Kelly and little sister Laura. We watched as little TV as possible, which was a goal of mine :)
  • Visited Eric! We ate at China Garden, bought silly stuff at Walmart, shot some basketball hoops, played croquet with his parents, watched Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows: Part 1, made chocolate pudding, played with water balloons and washed Eric's car! 
  • Got pulled over for the first time because of a broken back brake light. Didn't get a ticket though!
  • Started reading a biography on Brigham Young. Quite the interesting man!
  • Had to deal with a dog killing eight chickens in our back yard. More of a sad thing for Mom.
I wish that I had other things to report, but I guess not much has been happening. School's starting on the 24th, and I don't know if I've got everything quite figured out yet as far as that goes. We'll see! Looking forward to getting some sleep!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Back to Plan 'A'

As of now, I don't think I'm going to be continuing my major in Economics. Even though I used to think that planning on going to law school was naive (it's such a crowded field!), I'm just more built for that kind of thing than pursuing a business-related degree, as much as I wish I could. I asked several of my Econ professors why they went into Economics, and I repeatedly heard, "I really enjoyed mathematics..." which unfortunately isn't a strength of mine. I liked Economics because of Thomas Sowell. So, I'll talk to a career adviser and find out the best way for me to go right now.

In other news, I talked to both of my sisters who are in Utah, and they both sound like they are doing well, which makes me very happy. I gave a family home evening lesson about how keeping the commandments brings freedom, which is such an obvious basic thing to me, but when you look around the world, SO many people will say, "Religion restricts my freedoms. It tells me what I can and can't do. I should be free to make my own decisions." Seldom do the same people complain about how traffic laws similarly hinder their "freedom". God gives us commandments because He ultimately knows what will make us happier and freer in the long run, and He loves us. We can choose whether or not to obey, but we cannot choose whether or not to take the consequences of our actions.

And Walmart has Eric working long shifts almost every day of the week, lately by himself. I just read that pavement can get up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit on hot days, and boy has it ever been hot lately! I can't believe they're scheduling him by himself...

Saw "Captain America" earlier this week. Overall, it was a pretty ok movie, but I noticed myself scoffing at many of the parts, because they had a few very predictable characters and plot sequences. It was fun to get to go to the movies though. Finally finished Parley P. Pratt's autobiography, and I can't believe that a life could be so full of so many great and horrible experiences, and he only lived to be 50! (He was murdered on the way back from one of his missions). He was an amazing, amazing man.

--Sannah