strangely exquisite

Sometimes at midnight, a car alarm goes off for an hour because no one bothers to turn it off.

One of the best things about getting married is having twice the number of grandparents. Twice the goodness. (And being with Husband of course.) Grandpa R. is from the South and has taught his family the important stuff. Like cheating at cards. The whole family cheats. I have a hard time playing a fair game around them. A person has to be careful around here. Grandpa was offering applesauce to everyone a couple days ago. No one took him up on his offer because we had just finished eating, which was fortunate for us. Turns out, the applesauce was fermented. He knew that, he just wanted to see us eat it.

When I was little, living in California, we had a pomegranate tree. Or something more like a bush, really. It made a few pomegranates every year. It was nothing compared to our neighbor's backyard; their whole backyard was full of pomegranate trees. The owners of the trees were an older (at least to me) married couple. They let us pick as many pomegranates as we liked, so in the fall, we would pull our little red wagon over to their house. We would fill it completely full of pomegranates and go back home to begin our feast. We would eat several pomegranates a day. For breakfast, pomegranates with milk and sugar; for dessert, pomegranates with ice cream. It was heavenly. We would return and fill our red wagon again and again.
Now that I live in Utah, it's too cold to grow pomegranates, so I have to buy them. And that is why, no matter how much grocery stores charge for them, I buy a pomegranate every time I go to the grocery store in the fall.

Goodness, it's been a while since I've posted. The only thing motivating me now is the impending computer science test. The last day is today, of course. The more time I spend programming, the geekier I feel. Send me a cs joke, I'll probably get it.

I like poetry because you can take what you read and apply it to your life. No one needs to tell you what a poem means, because it is a personal meaning. This is a combination of three songs that we sang in Concert Choir: Dare to Call it Good, Salvator Mundi (Herbert Howells), and Carol of Joy. Take from it what you will.

I. How shallow former shadows seem beside this great reverse
As darkness swallows up the light of all the universe.
Creation shivers at the shock; the temple rends its veil
A pallid stillness stifles time and nature's motions fail.

But deep within this darkness lives a love so fierce and free
That arcs all voids and risk supreme, embraces agony.
Its perfect testament is etched in iron, blood, and wood.
With awe we glimpse its true import and dare to call it good.

II. O Savior of the world
Who by thy cross and thy precious blood
Hast redeemed us
Save us and help
We humbly beseech thee O Lord

III. Earth wrapped in sorrows lift up your eyes
Hail to the chorus filling the skies
Look up sad heartened witness God's love
Join in the carol swelling above.

O friendless world, to you is the song;
All heaven's joy to you may belong.
You who are lonely, laden, forlorn
Now unto you a Savior is born.

I hope not to offend as I try to sensitively address the subject of evolution. As a biology major and a Christian, I feel that there is a general a lack of understanding of how religion can co-exist with science.

First of all, here are the LDS Church's official statements about evolution. This site was created for all biology students at BYU. I want to focus on two statements made in it.

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, declares man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity...man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes.
(First Presidency in 1909, 1925)

2. Upon the fundamental doctrines of the Church we are all agreed. Our mission is to bear the message of the restored gospel to the world. Leave geology, biology, archaeology, and anthropology, none of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of mankind, to scientific research, while we magnify our calling in the realm of the Church...
Upon one thing we should all be able to agree, namely, that Presidents Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund were right when they said: "Adam is the primal parent of our race." (Presidents Heber J. Grant, Anthony W. Ivins, and Charles W. Nibley, 1931)

The LDS church tells us why man was created, and is not so much concerned with how. The how is left to those who study it.

Most scientists believe in evolution. The people who have studied it out believe it, which is good reason for those who haven't studied it to also believe. Sometimes I hear the argument that evolution is only a theory and is not well supported. This is a misunderstanding of the word theory. A theory is something that has tons of data backing it up. Evolution is a theory in the same way gravity is a theory. I believe in gravity and have no desire to disprove it by trying to fly.

Some people make up solutions that combine what they know about the history of the world with the doctrine of the church. I have heard that that humans were transported to earth by aliens. I feel that the real answer will probably be more complicated, and also more probable than that. I don't know if or how Adam evolved, and it's not critical to my faith. I believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of the doctrines it teaches. I believe in evolution because I've studied it and it is the best explanation for the diversity in the world.

In Concert Choir, we are always striving for excellence. Sister Hall, our conductor, says "Why be mediocre when you can be excellent? It's much more fun to be excellent." The world is full of people who think excellence is for others and it can't happen to them, but they're wrong. Any of us can be excellent if we work hard enough. Choir is a microcosm of life. In choir, the first time we sing a scale, it's usually bad. Then Sister Hall gets on our case and the second time is much better. Singing well doesn't require much more effort than singing badly, we just have to be aware of the sound we're making. Wouldn't it be better if we followed the advice in D&C 58:27? "Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves." When every member of the choir tries thinking before they open their mouths, the sound is life changing. The power is in us; we can do it. In choir, we have a conductor to get angry with us for not doing our best. There are people in our lives who are also disappointed with us when we don't do our best: our parents, close friends, and spouses. We should appreciate them for the service they do for us by expecting good things from us. Be your best, try hard, it's worth it.

Now isn't that a lesson for life?