Kid History. Also, my new favorite word.

 I cannot express how much I love these videos.

"Girls are mermaids. Some boys are mermaids too."

"I'll go get my bag!"

And now for my new favorite word:

Shibboleth /shɪ bo lɛth/ noun: any distinguishing practice that is indicative of one's social or regional origin. It is most often used by language snobs to describe a word or grammatical structure that separates the uneducated from the educated. (Ain't is the classic example.)

The thing that I love the most about this word is how it originated! The modern use of this word comes from a story in chapter 12 in Judges. As usual, the Gileadites and the Ephraimites were at war with each other and, at one point, the Gileadites had blocked off the passage that led to Jordan. The Ephraimites frequently attempted to sneak through their blockade, so the Gileadites devised an ingenious plan. 

5. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

6. Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

Basically, since the Ephraimites didn't have the 'sh' sound in their language, they were unable to pronounce Shibboleth the same way the Gileadites could, marking them as having a different social and regional origin. It would be like a French person asking me to make the nasalized 'r' sound, or an American asking a Japanese speaker to differentiate between the words rice and lice. Isn't language cool? Every day I sit in my Usage class and my Syntax class and I think to myself, "There is nowhere else I'd rather be." Honestly, once you find something you're passionate about, it is so easy to love learning!

I was going to call this entry Climb Every Mountain, but I realized that I used that entry title two years ago.

I am beyond tired! But the wonderful thing about it is that it is NOT from doing schoolwork. No sir. This semester has been easier than any semester at college ever. So far. And that probably just jinxed it. Anyways, it is an hour past the time I was planning on getting to sleep tonight, so I won't write much. But here are some pictures of one awesome thing I did this week:

 

Trent, Mister-expert-rock-climber-man, took Sarah, Rebecca, Dustin, and me up to Rock Canyon on Saturday and we tackled a pretty intense cliff, if I do say so myself!

I even helped belay!

Despite the soreness in our forearms, we had a blast! I am so blessed to be in such a beautiful place with such wonderful friends!

Life is Delish

My life has been so jam-packed full of wonderful, fantastic, how-great-it-is-to-be-alive moments recently that I just can't get over it! Here are just a few reasons why:

1. Firstly, check out that gorgeous Utah sky. We have had perfect weather the past few weeks and I am loving it!

2. I've started working at the Stance for the Family student journal as an assistant editor. It's never too early to start getting experience, and my experience so far has been great! Everyone is very friendly and I love reading through submissions and giving them the yea or nay.

3. Love packages. Honestly, I have the best mom in the whole entire world. In addition to three new DVDs (including a version of Emma I've never seen before, which, if you know me, is a HUGE surprise), she sent us some of the most delicious, moist chocolate pound cake I've ever eaten. Seriously. It will bring you to tears. I would let you try some, but let's be real. I'm not letting this stuff go!

4. Jimmer returned to BYU! He, Emery, and several NBA rookies came to the Marriott Center for a special game, and it was the greatest, chillest (most chill?) game I've ever been to in that building! All of the players were laid back and friendly; we could tell that they were having fun, which made us have even more fun. Jimmer made some fantastic shots, as expected, and all of the other players had some great baskets too! They were pulling all sorts of moves and making all sorts of dunks, the likes of which have never been displayed in the Marriott Center before! It was a great opportunity to see Jimmer play one more time before his debut for the Kings.

5. I found a recipe for Scottish oatcakes online! So I will definitely be making those sometime very soon.

I'll end with this treasure, courtesy of Hugh Laurie:

Drew's mission call, amongst other things

Good news. I've started doing really nerdy things that make me think I've finally found the right major. When writing the title for this blog entry, I referred to my handy-dandy (is that usually hyphenated? I don't know, but I sure like the look of it, so it's staying) Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage to determine whether or not amongst is acceptable in that context. Good news. It is.

Do you want even more good news? Okay, here it is. Cousin Drew opened his mission call last night and got called to the Spain Malaga mission! He reports to the MTC on January 4th and will spend the next two years serving the Lord and the Spanish.

Drew is going to be a great missionary and will definitely win over the people of Malaga with that killer smile!

In other news, we got another couch! And let me tell you, I had the most wonderful nap on this couch the other day. It is soft and bouncy and, most importantly, NOT ugly gray-brown.

Doesn't that look like the homey-est living room you've ever seen? 

I will leave you with my new favorite poem by Maya Angelou. I love her attitude in the face of adversity, and every time I read this, I decide to up the sassiness and to rise in spite of my problems.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise. 

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.