The Fall

So to start off strong with this new goal of mine, here is my first blog.

These past few days, I read the beginning of Genesis, which tells the story of creation, the Fall, the flood and some other things. It was delight to read them this week.

But I wanted to focus on one thing in my blog. That is the Fall and when Satan enters the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This time around, I read it and this question came to my mind: Was Satan aware that he played a crucial part in the plan of salvation?

Allow me to explain. Sin had to occur in the Garden of Eden in order for Jesus Christ to become the Savior of the World. So Satan did that; he brought sin into the Garden and essentially into our lives. It was crucial for that to happen. So my question/thought is: Did Satan know he was bringing to pass the work of God? He rebelled against God in the war in Heaven and would nevver want to do anything that would please our Heavenly Father. I spoke to a leader at my church about this and he helped me with a few things. He explained that there must be opposition to all things and that Satan wants us to be miserable just like he is for all of eternity. Satan probably did not realize that by tempting Eve he was assisting in the plan of salvation but rather God knew the characteristics and desires of Satan's heart and knew Satan's power. God, being all-knowing, used that to His good.

It made me think a lot about the power of our Heavenly Father and how much He loves us. It also reminded me of the manipulative power of Satan and how he actively tries to, through sin, make us as miserable as we can be.

To make this post worth it even more, here is a picture of something I thought was cute.

Casie's Goal

Today, while waiting at the doctor's office, I picked up the January issue of Friend and browsed through it. I read an article entitled, Amy's Goal (click to read the article). And the idea came into my mind that if an eight year old could do that, so could I. I have the read the Bible multiple times but never cover to cover. So for the next (insert the time you think it might take to read it), I will blog weekly about one lesson I learn through reading the Bible. It begins tonight, right after I finally finish studying at the library and studying the brain in anatomy!

Edible Eats

This is what I made for Sunday Dinner tonight. For my first time making both, I think they tasted alright. Of course, it never tastes as good as Mom's!

Family Famous recipe: SCALLOPED CORN!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie! Before Picture

After Picture!

I don't know if I can top this dinner!

Update on the Quest to Feminity

Well, the week has come to close and as promised, here is my update on how increasing my feminity worked.
Almost everyday this week (besides the one I woke up super late... late being 7:45am), I did my hair and all. I accessorized by wearing a necklace one day and a bracelet another day. I also spoke to a few guys in my classes (I know, astonishing) and one guy was really embarassed once. I was at a review session for anatomy and he introduced himself and then asked me my name. He thought it was Jaycee and went on this whole entire story about how he had known a Jaycee in a previous life (okay, not really but it was a weird connection) and then he told me, "Oh my goodness, that was embarrassing and you didn't need to know that nor do you care." It was funny. Oh and his name is Hyrum. In addition, I tried to let guys hold the door open for me even though I really don't like it but there weren't many opportunities. Most guys chose not to hold the door open so I think the next lesson in Elder's Quorum should be how to be more gentleman-like.
Now, Emily suggested I dye my hair blonde, buy some bumpits and tilt my head. Well, I have tried to dye my hair blonde before and it was an epic failure. I am bias against Bumpits currently but I can tilt my head. As I learned from Janet and her Visiting Teachers, tilting of the head is a method of flirting and more specifically, tilting it at a 70 degree angle. That is my challenge for next week- tilting of the head. It is a art form and I am determined to master it!

The Quest to Find my Feminity

Today in Relief Society, the Bishop's wife spoke to us on.... DATING! I discovered that I am doing a lot of things that decrease my chances of marriage such as I hang out with girls and sometimes by myself, I am not feminine and I spend my Friday (and sometimes) Saturday nights studying.
Janet, my roommate took a quiz in one of her classes about feminine versus masculine and she gave me the same quiz a few weeks ago. My results declared that I am masculine. So in order to become feminine, I have to change a lot about me. Here are some things I thought I would try in the next week or so.
- Actually DO my hair every morning rather than brushing it and rushing out of the door.
- Wear makeup more often.
- Not wear sweats to class.
- Accessorize more meaning I actually have to plan my outfits!
- Let guys hold the door open for me.
- Help my roommates become more feminine.
- Have nicer manners.
- Talk to guys in my classes.
Man, this whole feminine thing sounds like a lot of work for me. It better be worth it!
So those are my ideas. I will be sure to report on how it goes. Any other suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!

Let the fun begin!

I have an assignment for the next few days and that is to become a person with a disability. For my Accessible Recreation class, we are given the task of becoming disabled in any way for a day. We could choose to not use an arm, leg, go on crutches, be deaf, mute or blind or any other physically-disabling condition. I have chosen to be paraplegic and got a wheelchair for the weekend. The assignment is to do it for only one day but I really want to do it for more to receive a better understanding of wheelchairs usage as it is most likely the population I will be working with. I think I will become "paraplegic" both on Saturday and Monday. I can't do it on Sunday because church is on campus and it would take FOREVER to get there. It might be a little tricky getting up to my apartment on the 3rd story (I may just be miraculously healed for a few minutes when walking up the stairs with my wheelchair). But all in all, I am sure it will be a learning process!

Here are some pictures of what I think I will try to do in the next few days:

Alas, It is Over

Winter break has come and gone once again and now I am back in Utah. Break was quite exciting this year as I did many things with family and friends. Some of the activities included:

- Getting and decorating a Christmas tree

- Seeing my niece Megan and playing with her a ton

- Visiting with my whole family over the holidays

- Seeing friends from high school

- Dominating the Obstacle Course on Wii

- Playing games and doing puzzles with my family

- Sledding

- Going to the dentist and getting a clean bill of health

- Sleeping in a little and taking naps almost every day

- Making Christmas Eve dinner for my whole family by myself- and it was very edible.
- Suffering in my house with the temperature at 55 degrees because the furnace went out with a power outage

Now that I am back in Provo, it is time to refocus on classes and all that jazz for the next few months. The perk of coming to Provo is that is a lot warmer than Wisconsin. When I left, it was -24 in Wisconsin and in Provo, it is the low 30's. I don't mind the warmth one bit!