Mes Belles Lettres

I can still remember when I graduated from law school. It was still technically finals week, but all my finals were done. It was a Sunday, I was at church, looking forward to my parents and youngest brother coming out to Vermont for my graduation. People at church were congratulating me on finishing this really ridiculously difficult, expensive, and time consuming thing that I had been working on for the last three years. However,there was a moment when someone said to me, "that's great, but it's nothing compared to being married and having a family. Just wait until you have kids." In that moment I had no words, I wished that he would have just walked up to me and stabbed me in the heart instead. I think we've all endured some form of this torture. "Why aren't you married?" "Why don't you have kids?" "What aren't you doing/having/being (insert someone else's opinion of what makes your life valuable here)?" I've r...

I think about blogging on this blog a lot. Blogging just to write seems to be a lost art form. It's all Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram. People want the short and sweet and only look at blogs for recipes and tutorials. So maybe I'm selfish and want to just write this for me. Prior to my mission this blog really became like my journal. I was really bad at journaling, but I could write on this blog easily, and I did so often. Maybe it's pride, believing that there are people out there that want to hear what I have to say. I mean, a lot of people aren't reading it anyway, so I guess in the end it is still mostly just for me. There is so much happening in my life right now and I don't want to forget it. I don't want to forget how I feel about it, I don't want to miss the chance to write down my feelings so I can come back later and reflect on it. I should get this blog printed as a hard copy journal and keep it for my future generations to read. Maybe...

I've been ruminating on this post for some time now. I want to give it the time and attention it deserves. I also don't want people to get bored reading it, or feel lectured. I'll do my best to not fail at those things. Forgive me if I fail. Please read the whole thing! In this social network age we live in, it is easier to stay in touch with people, and also hear about their really hard trials. We all get hard trials in life, sometimes people feel like sharing parts or all of those trials on social network. A recurring theme I see from people reaching out to the one in the midst of the storm is to say, "God gave you this trial because He knows you can handle it." We really need to stop imagining God as someone who sits around all day imagining up horrible thing for us to endure. That is untrue and unfair, and diminishes who God is, and what He wants for us. To understand the way life really works you need to ask yourself three questions: 1. Where did I ...

   I have been married a grand total of 7 and a half months. Now that I am obviously an expert on the subject I thought I would share some of my late night musings with you.  It is amazing to me all of the random little things I will realize that I love about my husband. For example, the other night after he got out of the shower he was shaving and I was watching him shave and thinking about how I love that he has facial hair. I don't mean in a purely physical, I am attracted to guys with facial hair kind of way, although I always have been a fan of the five o clock shadow, and my husband does look good with it. We just moved and our house is a mess and things are everywhere and he hadn't shaved in a week and a half because he couldn't find his razors. That facial hair was life happening. He couldn't shave easily because we were moving into a new house. Our home, that we are spending the rest of our lives in (because I seriously never want to go through the m...

Do you ever find yourself in those quiet moments of deepest thinking, you know, when you can't fall asleep at night or when you're in the shower, feeling like you should be writing these thoughts down and sharing them with people? These are the thoughts to end world hunger and cure all illness after all. Well I have. When it happens I think, I should dust off the old blog and start writing again. In the light of day, fully dressed with clean hair, it's hard to remember all of those brilliant thoughts that I should be sharing. I miss this blog though. I blog with my mom and sisters now, at this site . It's so much fun. I love it! Sometimes I miss having a place all of my own. This is my little corner of the universe where all my thoughts can spill out, and anyone with the Internet and sufficient boredom can read them. I don't know if I want a meandering blog. People like structure. They like purpose and direction. I want to give the people what they want. Man...

No, this blog post is not going to get into the fact that Cake songs currently seem to describe my life. Although they do. Ever since the Supreme Court ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges came out last week the internet has been abuzz with debates and anger, and I have been called "such a libertarian" "so Mormon" at work more times than one. I don't want this post to be a rehash of everything that has already been said on the subject, there are plenty of other bloggers out there telling you what is right or wrong with the ruling according to them. I do, however, feel compelled to give you a history lesson. If you majored in history like I did, you just got excited. If you didn't, please read this anyway. Then you can tell me I am such a libertarian and so Mormon! It's fun! I want to start by going back into some ancient American history. In the Book of Mormon we read about a king named Mosiah who was nearing the end of his life on this earth. He had four ...

It is the last day of February, and I promised I would blog at least once a month. I have a blog post I am working on, but it isn't quite ready yet. I think I probably care too much about it, mais bon. That is how I roll. I have been crazy busy volunteering with Community Legal Services, teaching piano lessons, enjoying new babies in the family, and  very  anxiously waiting to hear back on a few job prospects. I hate not having a plan. I need a plan. If I have a plan and the plan changes that is okay, but I need a plan. That is probably a blog post for another day. Tonight I thought I would write about something that has been on my mind lately for so many different reasons. I am going to start with this quote from Gerald N. Lund from a conference talk he gave in April 2008. The heart is a tender place. It is sensitive to many influences, both positive and negative. It can be hurt by others. It can be deadened by sin. It can be softened by love. Early in our lives,we lea...

This is a post I have been ruminating on for some time now. I wrote it in my head a few times and now here I am committing it to blog. Finally. So, here it is: I am not a feminist. In fact, I find it incredibly irritating when people tell me that I must a feminist because I am a woman. I already know what womanhood means to me, and it does not mean being a feminist. Feminism has been turned into a political party and I do not have to be part of it merely because of my gender. That is not empowering, in fact, it is the opposite.  The fact that I received an education does not make me a feminist either. This isn't the 1800s. Girls can go to college and law school. They don't have to be a feminist to do it. In this post I intend to create a definition of feminism, talk about what the role of women has been in history, and what the role of women ought to be, and describe what I see as a better approach to appreciating women and men. In all of this my ultimate goal is to expla...

Human nature is a funny thing isn't it? I have noticed in relationships that I lean towards the side of carefully guarding everything about myself in order to avoid seeming vulnerable in any way. I am certain that I am not the only one who does this. Although The Main Ingredient explained to us clearly in the 70's that everybody plays the fool sometimes, we still try to be the exception to the rule. Lately I have been evaluating myself and how closely I guard emotions, experiences, and fears in order to not end up as the fool. I find myself coming back to this question: when is it good to keep the upper hand, and when is it better to trust and let go?

Il y a tant des choses que je peux dire. Mais surtout je veux vous dire desolee. Sorry I never write, sorry I am a slacker. I am not avoiding you, je vous promis! Maybe I'll get one of those new fangled personal computers for Christmas and then I wouldn't be subject to the millions of other people that live in this home using this computer all the time. Sinon, j'aurai besoin de l'acheter (un ordinateur je veux dire.) It is Christmas break. My older brother came into town about a week and a half ago. With him here my auntly duties to care for his children has diminished, I can get out of the house more all by myself. Which is nice. Don't get me wrong, I love those tiny people more than life itself, but, you know, sometimes I just want to be alone. Or be in my car NOT listening to Katy Perry. (Although hearing Jayda belt out Roar is adorable.) Mais bon. It is almost Christmas day. That is exciting. In some ways this year I have had many moments where I have just...

Desolee mes amis! I have every intention of blogging more often and telling you all about my mission, the new Phoenix temple, things I am baking, and many other things. Life just gets away from me. It is also hard being computerless. I have to share my family computer, which has many people that want to use it. The second I get on my nieces and nephews are right there, wanting to play their online learning games. 3 year olds don't really care about my need to apply for jobs. Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about all the reasons I went on a mission. So many people ask me, "why did you go? What was it like? How does that work? What is the biggest thing you learned?" So, I want to write this blog post to respond to that.

C'est carrement difficile pour moi d'exprimer mes sentiments sur les derniers 18 mois. Comment puis-je commencer? Je ne sais pas. I can't decide how to do this blog post. I have been home for three weeks. Sometimes I look down and go, "holy crap! Where is my plaque!" Then I remember I don't wear one anymore. Sometimes I am in the store with someone and they go down a different aisle while I am looking at something and I stop and follow them since I can't be alone... but I can. Sometimes people call me by my first name and my heart twists a little. You can't call me that! But they can. Coming home from a mission is just wonderful and terrible all at the same time. You are figuring out your next step, ("where am I going to find a job?") you are trying to speak in English, but you don't want to stop thinking in French because you don't want to lose it. You are happy to be with your family, but you just want to go back to France and t...

This is officially it my dears. The last pre mission post. Yesterday my grandma, two aunts, and an uncle came into town. Today was my last day at work and I was given presents and cake. Tomorrow is the party at my parent's house. Sunday I get set apart as a missionary. Sometime this weekend I have to pack. Monday we leave for Utah. Wednesday at 1:30 PM I enter into the MTC. You know what is crazy? I am not freaking out about this at all. That is very unlike me. You know how I was the last time I went to France. I sat on the plane thinking, "turn around, turn around. TURN. THE PLANE. AROUND!" This time I'm like, "yeah... I'm going." It is so nice to know that someone else is taking care of the travel details for me. Unless this is an "Other Side of Heaven" situation and I have to sit in a make shift storage prison because nobody is there to get me and the French didn't know I was coming. Oh well, at least I'll have my trumpet to keep m...

We're in the final countdown here my friends. I spoke in church today, my "farewell" talk if you will. I ended up getting a little teary eyed while speaking, something I don't like to do and usually don't do. Today I was overwhelmed by the people that came to see me, people I hadn't seen in a while, and a few people I really wasn't expecting to see at all. It was so lovely. The only sad part of the day was that I arrived at the church early to practice the song my sister and sister in law would be singing. I was opening up the piano and the top part snapped down on one of the buttons on my sweater and it broke into a million pieces and shot everywhere. Now my cute turquoise cardigan is missing a button, and I don't know where the spare is. :( I must find a new button before I leave. This Saturday we are having an open house with lots of delicious french foods (no escargots I promise.) If you're in the Phoenix area I'd love it if you could s...

I have a confession guys. When I first joined Pinterest I was rarely on the site. I was busy, didn't have time for more social networking, I never thought about it, etc. Ever since I started my job I've becoming a Pinterest maniac. Our kids have computer lab every day. They have to work on SuccessMaker, a program designed to improve their reading and math scores on the ultimate indicator of whether one will be successful in life: standardized tests. Because working with kids to make them successful by helping them with concepts they have not yet mastered is taboo, we are not allowed to help them while they work on said program. Therefore, we have a lot of time to sit in the lab, and be on Pinterest. I often start pinning things involving my current food craving. All of this pinning led to me making pretzels today. They were delicious friends. Also, not hard to make. I followed the recipe exactly. No substituting ingredients, no experimenting with ratios or trying to...

Happy Martin Luther King Junior Birthday Observance Day today guys. For the first time since 2008 I took part in a family tradition of heading up to Flagstaff and playing in the snow. We took the tiny people with us. They are ridiculously cute. It was good times. After the mission I am definitely going to have to move to Flagstaff. Coconino County here I come! Soon... Anyway, in other news, here is a video for y'all to watch. Just in case you didn't catch it, Stephen Christian wrote this song after listening to a radio show about the life of MLK, Jr. Remember to always judge people by the content of their character. I think people always kind of forget that part of his dream. Content of character counts.

The title of this post is ridiculous, but I was at a loss for words. It is 2013 everyone. Who else finds this a little surprising? No, not because of the whole Mayan calendar thing, that was silly. I just remember when it became the year 2000 and it didn't seem possible that we would move so far beyond that as to be in the teens! That was thirteen years ago! Where has the time gone? I've already looked back at 2012. It was a full and wonderful year for me. I think 2013 will be even more so. After all, In a mere 50 days I'll be entering the Provo MTC. Six weeks later I'll be in Lyon, France, or somewhere else in southern France/ western Switzerland/Corsica. There I will stay for the rest of this year and most of next year. Crazy. My life is crazy. Crazy awesome. The slight bummer about today, besides this persistent cold, is that my sister +Alicia Reynolds   and brother in law  +adrian Maruri  left this morning to head back to Provo. My sister is a teacher at a ...

Yesterday was one of  those days when I was reminded why I went to law school. This last October when my church had it's General Conference Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave this talk on protecting children . I just sat there the entire time thinking, "yes. So much yes!" I have this little blog, for anyone to see. I don't know who will come across this spot and read it. I don't know if it'll be someone who lives in Connecticut, or some one who is just struggling to come to grips with the idea that we live in a world where someone would walk into an elementary school and start shooting innocent children. Yesterday I hugged my nieces and nephew a little tighter and told them I love them a little more. I can do so very little for people on the other side of the country whose hearts are broken. Christmas is coming, this should be a time of happiness and love. Just in case you've happened upon here today, in whatever mood you may be in, I want you to know ...

I found out I have had three people from Poland look at my blog.  Please come back! Unless you are the people who have been spamming me. Then go away. I just took this picture for our family Christmas card. Everyone has to hold a letter of our last name in the picture. I am 'N.' Hence the letter. Anyway, here is a brief Christmas letter update on my life. In case my blog in general was insufficient for you to know. Lets do a one thing a month thing okay? January: I found myself back in Vermont ready to start my last semester of law school. I lived in a little apartment right across the street from the school. It was ideal, except there was no counter space. February: I believe it was February when I was finally able to get to Middlebury Vermont and visit my friend Kathy and take a tour of Middlebury. I liked Middlebury. Go visit. I also like Kathy. I won't invite you to her house though, because that is rude. March: I spent my spring break in Utah visiting my si...

Life is flying by fast guys. I can't believe that in a mere matter of weeks it is going to be Christmas. My job is going as well as can be I suppose. Did I ever tell you I got a job? I work at an elementary school. It is pretty much adventure time all the time. Things around here have been pretty crazy,  we finally got the house all decorated for Christmas yesterday. This year for the church Christmas business I've had to pull out my flute, which I haven't played since 2010. I've had my flute for about 12 years now, so it really needs to be fixed. It makes me sad to have to mess with it as much as I do to keep it in tune. My plan this week is to see what I can get done on it just this week, in time for the 23rd, the Sunday before Christmas. I had to play it tonight for a stake fireside, it was... interesting. Anyway, now my sister and I are reveling in the joy of the ABC Family original musical "The Mistle-Tones." Tia Mowry guys, you know, the pretty one...