What are Mormons?

Well, I think most of you who read my blog already know fairly well. :) But in light of all the negative criticism that our church has received, I would like to post this video. The world has a tendency to really get you down, and criticism and hatred of our church can get to our cores. I know it does to mine. It really hurts. 

Tonight I came across this video of a Harvard student from Blackfoot, Idaho (woohoo, Idaho pride!) and I thought I would share it. This is Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose with Rachel Esplin answering some questions about our religion. It gave me goosebumps, and I hope it'll do that to you, too. :) 

I found this on cjane's blog. 

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

NOTE: Watch for some Cheap Vegan Meals coming this week! 

An Ode to Frontline

Scroll down for the next post to continue the conversation about exercising. :)

I have a new obsession: FRONTLINE. 

I have seen the show here and there on my parents TV, but since we don't have cable of any kind, I couldn't watch it. Well, the other day I discovered that you can watch tons of them...online! Lately it has been our guilty pleasure. When we get done with homework, we look at each other and ask, "You wanna watch Frontline?" We're such nerds. 

Two of my favorites I've seen lately have been "The Meth Epidemic" and "The Medicated Child." This show is exactly what it says, "Thought provoking journalism." 

I constantly find myself drawn to social problems that are growing in the United States. The two episodes above are alike in that they both talk about substance abuse and the breakdown of the family. 

"The Meth Epidemic" talks about the history of meth and how the main component of the drug, ephedrine, made it's way into the United States from the pharmaceutical companies that produced it in India. Because meth made from this ephedrine was so pure, it had a huge impact and increase on how many people were addicted to the drug, and it continued to spread from the west coast to the east coast. The documentary emphasizes that most of the time, it is the children that really suffer from these addictions. Many families are broken up and children put into foster homes because their parents are junkies. 

"The Medicated Child" talks about the role of child psychology and medication in America, and how it is becoming a large business. The documentary talks about psychologists who misdiagnose children and keep giving them medication. One psychologist goes as far as saying he believes most kids that have ADD actually have bipolar disorder. A family takes their child to the doctor concerned about the amount of medication that he is taking and they leave with yet another prescription. 

It was so hard to watch these documentaries and to not get frustrated. Both talk about the role that huge pharmaceutical companies play in both illegal drugs and perpetuating the idea that it is okay to medicate our children who are often around three or four years old. And in both of these cases, it is our children who are suffering. 

I try not to judge anyone and I can't speak for each child and their needs, perhaps they do need medication. But I can't help but think there is a bigger problem that no one is addressing when parents give their child medication after medication. Are people giving medication to their children to babysit them? Are they doing it to make parenting easier? Isn't there an alternative?

I don't know what is behind the increase in the amount of children diagnosed with ADD. But like it says in Frontline, after a psychologist came out with the theory that children with ADD actually have bipolar disorder, bipolar disorder diagnoses soon increased by over 4,000%. Can you believe that?!

They also point out in the documentary that we do not really know the implications of putting our children on these meds. But as it shows, it is not a good outcome. 

What's important is to educate ourselves so we know what's going on around us, especially with the variety of factors that can damage our families. 

Note: If you're interested in the debate of medicating children, there is also another Frontline episode that is a little older than "The Medicated Child." It is entitled "Medicating Kids." I haven't watched it yet, but I'm getting around to it. 

Thank you!

I just wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last post about exercising. I'm so thankful for the tips and I will really try to apply them to my life! 

Just in case you're reading and you wanted some of the tips from the comments, here they are: 

-Keep going and get into a schedule. Bailey said she recommended three days of cardio and two days of weight training and mixing it up with other activities to keep yourself interested.

-Try doing a workout at home, such as yoga. Whitney recommends Crunch Yoga, available on Amazon. 

-Kami suggested working out with a friend because then you have an appointment that you would have to meet. 

I have to tell you, I love these tips. Honestly though, I think that motivation really does come from the inside and only I can decide if I am going to make it to the gym or not. If I want to, I will. These suggestions will make it a lot easier, though. I would like to add a tip that really worked for me when I made it to the gym every day:

-Plan on going to the gym right after work or school. This really worked for me because I would get home, immediately change, and head out the door. I always fail when I go home and sit down. Then I have no motivation to go back out. 

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a podcast that I had downloaded onto my iPod the other day, and the title of it is "Oprah and Bob Greene's Weight Loss Webcast" and it's dated January 13. If you have iTunes, I would suggest that you download and listen. (Search Oprah.com's Health and Wellness Channel) It's a little lengthy, but it's worth it. I thought that I would sum up a few things they said that I thought were really powerful. 

What I liked about the podcast is that they talked about letting yourself down. Oprah said that once she makes an appointment with someone, she will never let them down and keeps her promises. However, if she plans on doing something for herself like working out, she's less likely to keep that promise because the only person she's letting down is herself. But Bob Greene explains that when you plan on doing something during the day and you don't get around to it, you disappoint yourself constantly. After a while, you stop trusting yourself and almost expect to fail. Does this sound familiar? I know it does with me. 

Bob also talks about making sure your life is really balanced. He suggests making a circle and naming 7-8 things that are really important to you, such as family, religion, career, spirituality, health, etc. Then he says to think about each factor and decide if it's going positively in your life or going negatively. For example, my health would probably be a negative. Although I eat really healthy, I just don't work out. Bob says that when something is going negatively 

in your life, you are probably overcompensating with other things to make yourself feel better. One lady that called in figured out that she ate food to make herself feel better because her relationship with her husband was lacking, for example. 

So what am I missing? I'll have to figure it out, but I think there's a lot to be said about living a balanced life and constantly working towards that goal. 

What do you think? 

My Idea of Working Out Lately

Or perhaps...

or last but not least...

I'm being completely serious. Well, at least somewhat. 

Before I got married, I used to have a regular workout schedule. But now, it's pretty much...oh you know... NONEXISTENT. 

And let me tell you something, I hate it. Almost every day I tell myself that I'm going to make it outside or up to the gym but when I actually have time to do it, I would rather do other things. At the end of the night, I kick myself for not going. The next day, it happens again. 

AHH the constant frustration! Where has my motivation gone? 

What do I get as punishment for not exercising? My body is in shambles. SHAMBLES. This morning, I woke up and felt so stiff in my neck and my arms. I was so confused, what have I done lately to be sore? Oh, and I instantly had the answer: practicing my violin. How pathetic. 

So I'm asking you, in some form of desperation, where/how do you get your motivation to get up and get moving? Also, what is your favorite, most effective form of exercise? And last but not least, I know you all are so busy, how do you fit it into your schedule?

So what did I do on Saturday?

*had lunch at Barbacoa with the sisters

*visited Whole Foods and stared in awe at the piles and piles of delicious produce

*stopped by Peter Prier and bought a shoulder rest for my violin

*met an internationally renowned violinmaker 

*stared in awe at a violin once owned by Napoleon

*held 2.2 million dollars in my hands

*left with a lifetime of inspiration and a million more thank yous

Not bad for a trip to Salt Lake, wouldn't you say?

Click here to watch this video about the Peter Prier violin making school.

Violin Lessons--Take Two

I am so excited to tell you all this: I am starting violin lessons again!

I've wanted to do it for awhile, but I finally got around to it. Just in case you didn't know, I started playing the violin when I was eight and stopped playing towards the end of high school. It was a nice break at the time and I had other things to concentrate on in my life, but now I really miss it. 

I think everyone has something that they regret, and this is one of mine. I went to a string concert last Friday night and at the end of the concert, I knew that I had to start again. I also knew that if I didn't, it would be something that would haunt me the rest of my life. There are so many experienced and amazing musicians up on campus that to not take advantage of this opportunity would be, well, dumb. 

The dates haven't been set just yet, but it's going to be soon! I'm going to have to practice tons to make up for the lost years, but I will be so worth it. 

If any of you have something you regret or have a goal in mind, why not take care of it or accomplish it while you can? It may sound a little daunting, but you'll be so glad you did. 

Identity Crisis!

No, not me. Thankfully.

You might have noticed that my blog has changed. I have decided to change the title from "A Pixel or Two" to "Soup of the Day." (Still pending, actually.) A lot of people pick themes for their blog or try to stick to one or two things, such as their thoughts. Mine always seemed like a collage of mismatching things. Hence the identity crisis. What is my blog?! 

But since I've started blogging, I've learned a thing or two about myself. 

1. I never liked to post things about what Mark and I were up to, perhaps with a few exceptions. I must be a private person, because not only did I never have pictures of what we would do, I never felt like it was something that I should be posting, for some reason. Plus, I just felt like that kind of stuff was boring for me to write and even more boring for the people reading. 

2. I liked to post more about current events and my thoughts on things (ironically, something a private person probably wouldn't do.)

3. It is rather creepy who can see these things. I haven't received any threats or weird messages, but I have had some strange things happen. Do you remember when my blog was private while I was on my vacation? It was related to that. Let's just say it made me more aware of what I post and I don't really intend to make my blog private.

So, in light of these recent "discoveries," I've decided to change my blog up a little. It will still be pretty much the same blog, but I will talk about things that are important in my life and the events that change the world around us. Other things are open for posting, as well. 

And frankly, who doesn't like a makeover? :)