Weight Loss Ads

So, I decided to put some Google Ads back on my blog.

But, I've noticed that each ad is about weight loss.

Come on, how does Google know I need to lose weight? I've hardly written about it.

And, now that I am, the ad is sure to pop up below this post.

I am trying and weight is slowly coming off, but if I were to show you a before and after picture you'd be searching to see what looked different and so I may go down to the Goodwill and find some really large pants to provide a demonstration.

For now, you'll just have to look at the picture of the ad that appears - which ironically doesn't show any before or after pictures.

P.S. Haaaa. So, I posted this post and the ad that came up was for the Salt Lake City temple. Well, at least Google knows that I am Mormon and that I need to lose weight. Perhaps this will become my daily fortune cookie.

Temple Geckos - Orlando

If you look closely on this wall, you will see some little creatures. Some very cute little creatures.

Luckily, I was able to get a little closer to one of them before he scampered away. These things are all over the place in Orlando, but not so prevelant as at the Orlando Temple.

Who would have thought that geckos would be so smart to find a beautiful living space at the temple?

Plus, even more exciting than geckos in general is the fact that I came across the GEICO gecko right there on the grounds.

I asked him if I could save 15% in 10 minutes on my car insurance and then realized that I already use his service and so he couldn't help me much.

Seriously, I half expected the little green friend to talk back to me. Such a cute little fellow.

Last, but not least, here's the actual temple. The last time I visited the Orlando Temple was in 2002 with a few friends, but we didn't take the time to go inside. This time I did and was grateful for the break from all the "typical" Orlando stuff and from the conference I was attending. Such a beautiful place and peaceful grounds. I went there twice and both times I had the entire grounds to myself. That happens frequently to me - being the only person actually walking the grounds.

But, it was nice. Just me, the geckos, water fountains, and reflection time.

You Might Be a Mormon If...

For those that are Mormon, or know one, this is fairly funny and accurate:


http://bloggerpickles.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-might-be-mormon-if.html

In Memory of - Bishop Syme

The bishop of the Colonial Ward Single Ward (back in the day) died this past week. He was energetic, caring, and a great example to all of us.

Since these things don't stay available for long, I copy/pasted comments about him down from The Washington Post article for personal record keeping.


Robert Haldane Syme Jr., 87
Longtime Obstetrician Was Active in Mormon Church


Friday, June 12, 2009
Robert Haldane Syme Jr., 87, an obstetrician and gynecologist, died of sepsis June 8 at Inova Alexandria Hospital, the birthplace of most of the 6,000 babies he delivered during his 50-year career.

Dr. Syme practiced in Alexandria most of his life. In retirement, he served an 18-month-long, full-time medical mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine.
He was born in Rock Springs, Wyo., and graduated from the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He graduated from George Washington University's medical school in 1947.

During medical school, he worked at Gawler's Funeral Home in the District, transporting corpses. He didn't have a car, so he and a fellow medical student once picked up their blind dates in the mortuary's hearse. Both couples later married.

After graduation, Dr. Syme interned and served his residency in Salt Lake City hospitals. After his residency, he served in the U.S. Air Force in Texas, then returned to the Washington area. Within a couple of years, he started a practice.

As a member of the Alexandria Ward of the Mormon Church in the mid-1950s, he helped construct the Alexandria Chapel on King Street, the second Mormon Church building in Virginia. He later served as bishop of the Colonial Ward, a large adult congregation in Northern Virginia. At the time of his death, he was on the 12-member High Council of the Mount Vernon Stake.
Dr. Syme retired in 1997 but kept his medical licenses active and attended general rounds at Inova Fairfax Hospital to keep up on the latest medical developments.

Dr. Syme bought a home, formerly owned by CBS newsman Eric Sevareid, that had been designed by Charles Goodman, architect of the Hollin Hills neighborhood and the original Reagan National Airport building.

Dr. Syme enjoyed domestic travel in his motor home in addition to his trips abroad.
His first wife, Suzanne Burgess Syme, died in 1994.

Survivors include his second wife, Miriam Darden Arnold "Suzi" Syme of Alexandria; a son from his first marriage, Robert Haldane Syme III of Virginia Beach; and two stepchildren, Vicki Lee Vargason and Hugh Leon Arnold of Boise, Idaho.

The Secret Happenings of Ward Primary Programs

Our church has a "primary program" every year around this time. We had it when I was young and it will most likely continue if it is as spiritual AND entertaining as it has always been.

The children (between 4-11 years old) sit up in front of the congregation and sing all the songs they've learned throughout the year interspersed with little memorized parts that the children created as a response to questions they were asked earlier in the year.

I was one of the adults sitting in the back row of the choir seats - in other words...a prime location to survey the antics. I teach the 10 year olds and so these antics are primarily from them.

• A boy in my class, that doesn't attend church very often, rolled up a piece of little paper and started to pretend he was smoking. Um, we are Mormon. Um, we are sitting in front of 300 people.
• The boy next to the boy "smoking," tried to hold down the hand of the boy so the audience couldn't see it. He tried to give a mini lecture friend to friend. It didn't work until I leaned down, grabbed the fake cigarette and told him how disappointed I was in him. Of course, I was not moving my lips and so I'm sure the audience just saw a ventriloquist mouth.
• Another boy wanted candy from my purse and leaned down, underneath the choir seats, and was loudly saying he deserved the candy right then.
• The little girl next to me (a very proper little girl) had a cold. Apparently, her nose was numb because she wasn't aware of various colors dripping down to her lip. I about gagged, but didn't have any tissue. She even went up and sang with a small group, got some tissue and didn't use it.I finally had to lean over and say - "Um, there is some stuff on your face below your nose."
• Another girl started a small issue because the fake plants behind us kept touching her hair. She got three people in the back row involved until a song finally started and they could stand up and avoid the fake plant.
• Different kids kept thumping their feet on the floor which surprisingly caused the floor to shake a bit. If little bodies could have the effect on our movement, surely I couldn't move a muscle. And, I tried not to.
• The "smoking" boy asked for candy loudly during a baby's blessing.

There was a lot of great singing (yelling from the four year olds) and some cute little moments when kids sang completely wrong words to songs, changed their lines, shared their lines with great feeling or ...just plain refused to say anything.

All in all it was a fun experience - adults smiled and cried and sometimes laughed. The closing song included the entire audience and I haven't felt that strong of a spiritual feeling in a while.

Good stuff and I'm looking forward to the one next year even if I don't get the same prime seating.

Faith is not a feeling, it is a decision

This weekend I watched the worldwide conference for my church. Luckily, I live in a place where someone local has some influence on these matters and it happened to be on TV. Pretty cool considering that I'm on the east coast far away from the influences of the Rocky Mountain west.

Only the audio files are available at this time, but here's the link - http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html

I only remember one phrase from the conference and it continues to stick in my mind:

"Faith is not a feeling, it is a decision." (I'll put who said it later because I honestly can't remember)

Perhaps it is because I go from having a lot of faith right now to feelings of despair rather quickly. Something will be said, a life event will happen or I watch the 401k start to go down by five digits instead of the usual three or four. I'll admit that it's been even harder during a time where I've made extra efforts to refocus life, study the good word, visit the temple A LOT, try to help others even when it's hard, and plan for an important upcoming event in my life.

Sometimes the going gets tough and that's why this quote seemed to penetrate my heart. It is a decision. I've made the decision before. A few months ago I decided this and the confidence that accompanied it was invigorating. However, when things don't fall into place after deciding to decide...hope does dwindle and faith truly reverts to the size of a mustard seed.

Where does this leave me now? Well, I will do what I always do. Write about it, cry about it, think about it and complain about it. Go to bed. Get up the next day and decide once again to have faith and move forward.

Somehow I, like everyone else, can look back a year (or more) later and say "Wow, I forgot even going through all that" or "I can't believe I was so worried." At that point, perhaps faith does have a feeling. A confirmation that a trial was overcome (or at least "gone through") and quite possibly the next challenge will be manageable.

Until then, it's another day and another decision.

Surrender Dorothy

This week I was speaking with one of my co-workers that commutes from Maryland into Virginia everyday. We started talking about the "Mormon Temple" because I was telling him I had gone up that way last week.

He said that there was a "Surrender Dorothy" graffiti written in huge letters for many years on an overpass prior to driving toward the temple. I had never heard of this before, but apparently it was quite the popular item in Maryland, especially since they tried to cover it with a different color paint to hide the lettering.

Anyway, I jokingly said I would "google it" to find out more info.

Much to my surprise (I don't know why), there is actually a wiki entry about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_Dorothy . Even more surprising, it says that "all the Mormons" have talked about it and it shows up in our newsletters? I had no idea I should be receiving a newsletter let alone the "fact" that this is a supposed common entry in the newsletter.

Ah, the joys of web 2.0. Actually, and I will have to look into this more, wikipedia is rapidly becoming more reliable than the encyclopedia contrary to public opinion.

The wisdom of the crowds comes into play here I guess. I have been in conferences where they have entered bogus information into it at the beginning of the session and by the end it's been corrected by an anonymous expert/person surfing the internet.

Well, more about Dorothy later. I'm late for a meeting that I didn't want to attend anyway.

Kudos to Hilary Clinton

Actually, I can't believe I'm writing this entry, but some things must be acknowledged.

I received this automatic email from CNN on Saturday:

-- Hilary Clinton suspends campaign, endorses Barack Obama for president

I've not been a Hilary fan, but can anyone deny that this woman can fight, endure, debate, defend, etc. with the best of them? She really is quite the contender!

It is also refreshing that we are in a point in time where black, white, women, men, Hispanic, Mormon, war hero, UFO believer, evangelical, old, young, etc. can all run for president. Granted, some of these (race, gender, age) are things that we have no control over. In fact, I've decided that I should select someone to vote based upon things they choose for themselves and not what they are/are not born with, but even so it is great that this barrier has either been overcome or is in process.

So, even though I'm more likely than most people I know to vote Republican, kudos to Hilary for a fight well fought and the will to keep going even when I would talk to the tv and tell her to give it up. Maybe I should stop listening to the naysayers in my life and take some advice from her.

Technology and Memory Lane - Facebook

I signed up for Facebook in 2007 primarily to communicate with my brothers that were/are still in college. They tend to respond to me faster from that forum, but the side benefit was also finding current and old friends.


Last week I logged into Facebook and discovered that one of my brother's had re-connected to a neighbor of ours in Michigan. This was the little boy (Chi Wei) that stood at the end of Burrell Court everyday and waited for Bus 53 with me and my sisters. Out of the 12 houses on that court we had quite the eclectic mix of people. We had my family (Mormon, big family), the Jewish family, the Muslim family, the Chinese family, the Episcopalian bishop and his family, the Methodist bishop and his family, the other bishop (?) and his family, the Dow Chemical chemist who helped invent aspirin (at least I think that's the story), the people that were never home, the Dow Chemical scientist or engineer that woke up every winter morning and shoveled the driveway even before we (the Mormon family) left for seminary (early morning church class for 9-12 graders often referred to as "cemetery" because of the early morning dead feeling), and the amazing pianist/organist that we all took piano lessons from. I think I am missing one or two, but there were a couple of moves of people during the nine years we lived there.

Really, it was a great mix of people and there were often holiday picnics where we all gathered in Bishop Gordon's backyard and had the usual "food, folks and fun."

Oh, back to Chi Wei - he just got married and has an awesome wedding video at http://www.chiweiandstacy.com/

Tributes to President Gordon B. Hinckley

This evening I decided to look up tributes to President Gordon B. Hinckley instead of paint one of my bedrooms. His funeral was today and so I wanted to take some personal time to reflect on his life and how I want to live mine.

It's been wonderful to hear tributes to him on the television news, radio, internet and on friends and families blogs.

Thought I'd share with you a few:

• President Gordon B. Hinckley - a final talk - http://www.respectance.com/GordonBHinckley/videos/CjfYjx00xGGt0PX
• Glen Beck - http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/
• YouTube tribute - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DONH655IR1E
• Aaron Clark - http://forbiddendonut7.blogspot.com/2008/01/passing-of-prophet.html
• Jessica Clark - http://gollyjess.blogspot.com/2008/01/hail-to-prophet.html

President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away - January 27, 2008

I just received an email stating that Gordon B. Hinckley just passed away today.

Here's a link I just found: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ae11627d59eec010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD


He is the president/prophet of my church. I am not sure what to feel or say at the moment. He has been so instrumental in leading our church over the past 13 years. He was spiritually in tune, but also knew how to poke fun at himself and make others laugh. He also devoted his entire life to service in the church and gave up many personal goals and interests for the good of the church membership.

I am grateful for his example and hope that I can take this time to re-align my goals to more meaningful efforts.