You Can't Beat Momma's Cooking

There is a truth in life that can never be overturned.  You can never be as good of a cook as your mother, and I have proven it this week.  Using yesterday as an example I will explain how one can only dream of being as good of a cook as your madre.  

Yesterday I was craving some cinnamon rolls; but not just any cinnamon rolls, the kind of cinnamon rolls my mother makes.  As I was house sitting for parents I decided I would try to make these cinnamon rolls.  I pulled out the recipe and with a little help from my friends we followed the instructions.  We did exactly what the recipe said and made cinnamon rolls that looked just like my moms.  BUT they did not taste like my mother's, and it was at that point I realized moms have a special touch.  They can make any food taste great.  I can slave away all I want and never be able to make as good of rolls as mi madre.

I hope this holiday season we all realize how awesome our mothers are and that we enjoy their cooking, because you won't ever be able to replicate it.

Happy Holidays!

MCOMM Assignment - Help Someone More Stressed Than Me

Brother Shayne Clarke gave us the assigment in MCOMM to help someone out this week who was more stressed than we were.  This was actually a pretty easy assignment since I wasn't really that stressed, but all in all I did help others who were stressed to be less stressed.

This past Thursday and Friday I helped my mom to be less stressed by going home and staying there for the two days to tend the house and be there for my little sister while my parents were away.  This was actually a really fun!  My little sister and I went and got some Arby's which is always declicious.  We made sugar cookies AND I even helped clean up the kitchen and unload and load the dishwasher.  Overall I believe I made it less stressful for my mom by allowing her to come home with a clean house and that no one was harmed in the process.

I also helped others by cleaning, playing sports, eating food with them, and overall just being there for them.  I hope that I made a difference this week! Can't wait for Christmas!

Thanksgiving with the Muppets

This Thanksgiving was great!  We had a lot of really good food and it was a very nice day to relax.  We have so much to be grateful for in this country.  We seriously have it so good!  Even with all of the economic hard times, we still have to remember that we live in the promised land!  Life is good and can only get better!

After we are lots of turkey and watched some good ol' football we headed to the theater for The Muppet movie.  Classic, and that is a fact.  I have loved watching the Muppet movies in the past and this one does not disappoint.  I suggest everyone go and see it! Live your childhood again and laugh at the Muppet humor.

I am very grateful that I have my family and friends.  I am grateful for the school I go to and the education I am receiving.  I am grateful for the country I live in and for the soldiers who have fought for my freedom.  I am grateful for all of the food on my plat and I am grateful to be alive.  May we all live long and prosper.

Sushi and Sherlock

Last night I was able to meet up with some of my good buddies for Nick's b-day.  It had been a long time since I had been able to see any of them, so it was great to be able to spend some time with them.

We started off the night eating at Happy Sumo and eating lots of sushi.  It was really good, but I couldn't help but think that I was eating raw fish, and that kind of messed with my mind.  We then went and wandered around the Riverwoods.  We stopped at a lot of fires and messed with those, and we are thinking about starting a smore business where we sell smore materials to others so that they can make some smores around the fires.  Brilliant!

We then went into the Toy Store and found some sweet toys... I now know what I want for Christmas!  We then looked at art, went to the ginger bread house contest, listened to some lady sing, and almost got a horse ride.

Then to end off the night we went and watched Sherlock Holmes.  Such a good movie!  Can't wait for the sequel!

Lazyness is good every now and then

This Saturday was one of my most lazy days of my life.  I stayed in my apartment twice, once to go buy something and the other time to drop off Heather.  Other than that I was in my apartment being lazy and doing homework, but you know what? It was exactly what I needed.  I needed to relax one day.  Every other day of my life is just non-stop action, so one day of just nada was good to give my body some rest.

Today was one of the best Sabbath's I have had in a long time.  It was ward conference and all of the talks were just what I needed to hear, it truly inspired me to become better.  Then the rest of the day was spent hometeaching and being home taught.  Hometeaching is great, and helps me feel the spirit so good and gives me the strength to be better.

I am read for the coming week and look forward to dominating it.

The Marvelous Wonderettes

Yesterday we went to The Marvelous Wonderettes at the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  A very fun show.  I was chosen to be Mr. Lee, where I was one of the girls crush.  The girls would sing to me, they pulled me up on stage, hugged me, the works.  I recommend that everyone should go see it if you like a good laugh.

The story is about four girls who are chosen to sing at their prom.  You go through all of their fights, love stories, jokes, etc.  All of the girls had great chemistry on stage and were all way fun to watch. 

Two of my good friends were in the show: Xandra Wille and Kelly Hennessey.  They both did a great job, and stole the show in my opinion.  If you go, be sure to tell them they did a great job.

This is my blog for the week. Not the most exciting thing, but hey, what can you do?

Busy Busy Week

This past week has been one busy week!  Not only have I had a lot of different homework assignments, I have also had different competitions, and family matters going on.  Its been a fun week, but yet I look forward to a less busy week.

I participated in the xTax competition put on by PWC.  That kept me way busy.  Busier than I wanted to be, but because I made a commitment to my team I decided to go through with it; even though I would have rather of just been home sleeping.

This weekend I got to go to my girlfriend's family Halloween party.  It was way fun! We got to carve pumpkins, eat lots of food and even watch some Halloween movies.  All for a good good time.  My pumpkin was obviously the best, since I am the master at carving pumpkins.

Well for all you who look at my blog, which I am pretty sure is no one, see you next week.

Weekend

This past weekend was one of my favorites!  The goodness started off on Friday where I got to with some friends to a private practice of RSL.  We got to eat food, win prizes, take pictures with the players, watch the practice, etc etc etc  It was awesome!

Rito Tinto Stadium

RSL at practice

Then later Friday I headed down to St. George to spend a weekend away from the hustle bustle and that was great!  I got to go swimming a lot, eat a lot of food, drive around a lot, and just be able to relax with family and friends.

One of my favorite parts was being able to go visit my grandparents in St. George.  They are hilarious.  My grandpa was a sailor in WWII and my grandma can never seem to call me by the right name.  I love them lots!  Family is what makes the world go round.

It is sad that the vacation had to end, hopefully another vacation will come along soon!

A Coke

Wednesday Bro. Clarke gave us the assignment to go and buy "a coke" for a complete stranger.  So yesterday I went to my roommate Brock's house for a Halloween party with his family.  There were lots and lots of kids there! So I decided I would give something to one of the kids.  The kids were very, very friendly.  I gave a boy named Crew some candy and he just kept on coming to me after that.  He would copy the things I would do and he became one of my good buddies.

The best part is that he was dressed as Batman.  I bought something for Batman.  Too legit to quit.

WWF - Words with Friends

I remember the days when WWE was big, you know, back in elementary school.  A lot of my friends would talk about how much they loved watching WWE and that it was the best sport ever.  First of all, false.  WWE is not even a sport and its not the best thing ever either.

Fast forward 15 years in the future to the present day.  A new "WW" has come to town, no not WWE but WWF, words with friends.  Words with friends is addicting and can also be a life destroyer, just ask my roommate Randy.  It is pretty much an electronic app version of scrabble.  You compete against friends or random people on the internet to see who is the best at using random letters to come up with words.

I like WWF for a couple of reasons.  One is that if you win, you have bragging rights and you can pretty much say you are the smartest person alive.  Second it is just a fun game to play with your friends, even when your friends are at work and you are at school.  The fun with WWF has no boundaries, you can have fun with it anywhere - unless you don't have wi-fi or phone service, then the fun does have boundaries.

I know WWF can help you with your social and word skills, I have a testimony of it.  If you are a socially-awkward-bad-at-words kind of person, WWF is for you.  It is too legit to quit!

Provo Tabernacle

The most exciting news from General Conference is that the Provo Tabernacle will become the new temple in Provo, UT.  

How awesome is that?!

It was a sad day to many people when they learned that the Provo Tabernacle was burning down.  I not only remember seeing pictures in the news of the building burning, and I remember seeing the smoke of the fire from my work in South Provo. 

What people probably remember the most is the picture of where the firefighters brought out the painting of where everything was burned except for the area around christ.

It is such an amazing photo and so many people have commented on awesome it is.

Now the Provo Temple will be rebuilt into a temple.  It will once again help others come unto christ and help others serve our Savior Jesus Christ.  I look forward to seeing how it all works out and I know that this will be a great blessing to all of us who live in this area.

Church is true!

Blogging

Why is blogging so much fun?  I think I love it so much that I will blog once a week for the rest of the semester.  Then after the semester I might just stop, because I don’t really like to blog that much.  There are many different kind of people out there that like to blog, and I don’t feel like I fall in any of those categories.

One category is the kind of person that likes to blog their every movement in their life.  They let you know what they ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They let you know how many steps they took etc etc etc.  Then there are pictures for each one of those events! Too much people, too much.

Then there is the occasional blogger.  They are the kind of person that blogs only really cool events and share cool photos.  I am fan of those kind of bloggers.  They share info regarding their family events, a sporting activity, a date, or a study abroad.  Those are the kind of blogs I like to follow.

What I like about blogging the most is that everyone gets to blog the way that they like to.  Even though I am not a fan of different styles of blogging, I do like the fact that everyone gets to do it their way.  Just like Burger King.

RSL Game and One Republic Concert

This weekend I had the choice of either going to the BYU vs Utah game OR I could go to RSL game with a One Republic Concert after.  I chose the RSL game, and boy did I choose wisely.

First of all RSL won, and it was a huge win against a very competitive Sporting Kansas City.  This win makes RSL on a winning streak of 4 games in a row.  The win also moves them into an automatic qualifying spot for the playoffs.  We also sat next to some of the funniest fans.  They were making comments the whole time about the other team and it was hilarious!  We got to see a good game and have funny commentary on the side.  After the game we waited until they allowed us to go on the field for the concert.  Once the gates were opened it was a mad dash to get up to the stage, might I add that running on the stadium's field was like a dream come true.

The concert was amazing.  One Republic are amazing live and the lead singer can sing higher than Michael Jackson. (Not sure if this is true, do not quote me on it.)

After the concert we headed home.  I got home saw the score for the BYU game and knew that I had made the right choice in going to the RSL game.

Yeah buddy.

Sunday Dinner

My favorite time of the week is Sunday.  Why?  Because of family dinner.  Nothing is better than having family dinner every Sunday.  My family gets together with my Aunt and Uncle’s family.  We either go to their house or they will come to our house.  It is probably the best way to get ready for the rest of the week.

Our family dinners always turn out to be good times.  When you get my family around food there is bound to be good times.  We laugh about things that have happened that day at church, or about things that have happened to us that week, but mostly we laugh about things that have happened in the past.  

I hope that all of you have the opportunity to have family dinner with your family every Sunday.  If you do not have family around here get some friends together and get some food.  If you don’t have friends, go make some. Not that hard people.

Week One - The Beginning

I would of never thought that I would come back to post on the best site ever created.  Once I left Jerusalem I thought that would be the end of my blogging days. 

 But I was wrong.

I will start up my blog again for my MCOM 320 class.  My goal is to be able to become a better writer and be able to better communicate my ideas and thoughts with writing.

I know this is a short entry, but there will be more to come for sure. I hope you all look forward for good things to come!

I left My Heart in Galilee

Below is a quick view at my adventures in Galilee.... ENJOY!

 The Mona lisa of Israel aka the Love of my life.

 Ancient roman latrines.

 The Sea of Galilee... the real thing, it really does exist!

 Some cool arch, maybe has some sort of significance..

 Me in front of the Sea of Galilee.... so pretty.

 Capernaum.  One of my favorite places! The Savior walked these streets.

 Church on top of the Mt. of the Beattitudes. B-E-A- utiful!

 We went to a place at the Jordan River where people could be baptized and they had Mark 1:9-11 in all sorts of different languages. My personal favorite, Hawaii Pidgin.

 Jess and I looking super fly at the Tiberias Branch building.

 We went to Hippos and we had to say on the trail or else we would wind up in a mine field.

 Random dinosaur... and us being like Dinosaurs. Fun.

 Little girl enjoying her popsicle in the streets of Acco.

 Sunset at the Sea of Galilee with the cool cats.

Emily and I.

A Day in Jeru

Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!


Strawberries are like life... They are just that good.

Want to start your Shabbat off right? All you need is Madi and some Shabbat bread!

I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream!

Love is forever, and so are families!

Mark fits right in with the locals.

Luckily trains don't run on Shabbat.....

Models... that is all.

Pita's are like sunsets... you just can't get enough.

Sunset club after a good day in the Jeru.

Lessons Learned from Today

1. Don't wear flip flops on a freezing day. (Lani)
2. Church of the Holy Sepluchre is an awesome place to go on Friday. (AJ)
3. Sharing is Caring (Piers)
4. Headbutting A.J. can give you a mild concusion (Kelsey)
5. Life is good.

Friend Focus: JASPER AND KAITLIN

Friend Focus

Jasper and Kaitlin

                             "It is one of the blessings of friends that you can afford to be stupid with them"

                                                         - Ralph Waldo Emerson

                                        

friend: a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard, a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.

My first ever friend focus goes to... *drum roll please* JASPER AND KAITLIN!  (You should have known this from the title....)

 JASPER - Is 19, single and looking!  She is from Sacramento, CA and is currently attending BYU Jerusalem.  She is our "brown eyed girl.." and her most favorite thing to do is to be cool and be with the children. Joshua Steele, a local pro-parkour athlete,  describes Jasper as "Outgoing and Crazy"

KAITLIN - Is a blonde, bright eyed beauty.  She is from Moreno Valley, CA and living life to the fullest in the city of Jeru.  She is the best photographer this side of the Mississippi and knows how to throw a party.  Madi Gordon, a local student in Jeru., describes Kaitlin as "Spunky and cute"

Jasper looking daper.

Jasper and Kaitlin doing what they usually do. 

PLEASE COMMENT ABOUT THE THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT KAITLIN AND JASPER  

laniliv.blospot.com

(shameless plug)

hey everyone. as andrew james' personal photographer, i've taken the liberty to take the liberty to liberally upload a few glamor shots.  as one of the best looking members of the j-ru j-crew, i think it only appropriate to dedicate this entire post to aj's photogenic self. you will see right off the bat that aj loves nothing more than his angels hat. since i consider this team to be the best in the mlb, it's no wonder such a trendy guy chose to sport their logo on his forehead everyday. the second thing you might notice is that aj is always surrounded by good looking people doing super fun things. we can't fault him for that. remember everyone: there are some things we should apologize for in life...but never apologize for partying.

enjoy responsibly. and stalk me HERE.

love, leilani elizabeth livingston

Today...

Today is the day I have officially become a man.  Today is the day that I have made it through initiation.  Today is the day I realized my love for Jasper.  Today is the day that marks a difference in my life forever! Today is the beginning of GINGER IN JERU.