Oh, what a great day!

Today was a very busy day. I had school all day, and did my final presentation in Honors English. It went really well. It was about family history, mainly, and the drive and motivation that you can get from stories about people before you, especially your ancestors. I passed pictures around of and told a story about my great grandmother Pratt and how her husband passed away at forty, leaving her with six kids to raise on her own. She didn't have a college degree, and at the time (1930s), women weren't exactly equals in society. She had no desire to re-marry, and so she and her children started a turkey farm - the largest one in Whatcom County! With an upwards of 2,000 turkeys, they were able to sustain themselves and live comfortable for the next forty years. Pretty amazing, given the time period and circumstances that she was in. She actually died quite a wealthy, successful old lady. It's stories like that that, first of all, make me proud to be a Pratt, but second of all, keep me grounded and put me in my place when I start to feel sorry for myself. She was an amazing woman!

I also talked about the power that little, insignificant things, done significantly, can have a great impact and invoke change. For example, there is one scene from the movie, "Children of Men," that really stuck out to me as a perfect and beautiful illustration of this idea. The movie is set in the future, 2027 to be exact, the world is going up in smoke, no woman has been able to have a child for 18 years, and everyone is at war. Miraculously, one young girl from Africa gets pregnant. You can imagine the issues that she faces. Everyone wants this baby for science. People are basically hunting her, and her unborn child, and she must find somewhere to keep her and her miracle child safe from the tainted world. The scene from the movie that I showed in class shows her and her child (a girl) hiding out in a warehouse, waiting for the right moment to escape. Bombs are going off everywhere, and people are being shot and killed right and left. She tried to hide her little girl under a blanket, because no one knows still that she has it, but the baby starts to cry, grabbing the attention of all those around. She makes her escape, baby still crying. Instead of violence, everyone around her grows silent as they listen to this little one cry. Old women look longingly and lovingly at the child. People start crying. She makes it outside, and the soldiers yell to cease fire. They go down on one knee, amazed at the simple innocence of the cry of a baby. One man emotionally proclaims, "I had forgotten what that sounded like. It's beautiful. They're so beautiful and tiny." It's a very powerful moment in the movie, because everyone is, for a short moment, unified in this baby. It invokes in them feelings, once lost, of the love for family and compassion. Great movie - if you haven't seen it, I would strongly recommend it!
I also read the book Harold and the Purple Crayon to the class. You can gain some surprisingly mature, philosophical insights from that simple children's book. I then passed out purple crayons to all of them, to remind everyone that we are in charge of the way we draw our own world and the way that we make it back home. We will probably get lost along the way just like Harold, maybe even a few times, but with our purple crayon, we will all make it back home, into our soft warm beds, and draw up the covers. Cute huh? Haha... =)

This evening our boss came over and watched the guys for a bit so Jason and I could go out to our favorite restaurant, the India Garden...yum! We went with another younger couple from our ward at church, the Joslins. They are from Arizona. He is a middle school math teacher, and she is applying to med school. Sometimes I feel so inadequate around people like that! When asked what I am studying in school, I often reply everything, because that is mainly true. I applied to the radiography program, got rejected, and am having a hard time redirecting myself or picking one thing to study. I still love to write, and I don't think that will ever change, but I don't know if I want to be an English major.... suggestions are strongly appreciated! All I know is that I am taking life as it comes, and trying to enjoy everything that comes my way. I am enjoying school so much, and so right now, I'm in no hurry to quick decide. My English class and teacher are probably the best I have ever had. And I have had some pretty good ones!

On a more serious, not so happy note, a girl from RCTC (my school) got murdered last week in her home. This hit closer to home than usual for me, because she was in my ethics class last semester, and was a very sweet girl. She was about my age and married. They still haven't found out who did this, which is I guess what makes me uneasy. You can't walk around being scared all the time, and you can only protect yourself so much from things like this happening, but it really, honestly scared me! She was a young girl just like me, and just the thought of something like that happening around here, about two blocks from where I live, is really eye-opening for me. I walked around today, feeling rather unsafe because of this and also because of the recent tragedy in Virginia. But, then I got mad at myself, because I can't let things like this force me to live in fear my whole life. Then I become a prisoner to my own fear, letting it win. Jason says that this is why he thinks I should get a license for a handgun to carry around with me....what did I say to that? For those of you who know me well know that this is NEVER something that I would resort to. I would even probably feel more unsafe walking around with a gun, then I would without one. My life isn't worth killing anyone else, not even to me. But...I might invest in a spray can of mace. haha.

So...those are some random, some depressing, and some lighthearted thoughts from my day. Sorry to end on a rather negative note, but life really is good! I have been in a good mood lately because I am trying to plan a trip to go somewhere with my best friend Whitney this summer, possible soon. School ends May 10th, and I just can't wait to take a little break! Now, I must go take some pepto bismol because that Indian food doesn't seem to be agreeing with my stomach... uh oh! Signing off...