Thursday, December 25, 2008

My Favorite Christmas Story

Well of course I love the story of Christs birth which is the meaning behind Christmas, but this story is my favorite... it show's Christ-like love throughout the whole thing.



THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

by O. Henry

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."
The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.
On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.
Where she stopped the sign read: "Mne. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the "Sofronie."
"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.
"I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."
Down rippled the brown cascade.
"Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.
"Give it to me quick," said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by metretricious ornamentation--as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value--the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.
When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends--a mammoth task.
Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a traunt schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.
"If Jim doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty- seven cents?"
At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.
Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty."
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.
Della wriggled off the table and went for him.
"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say `Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you."
"You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.
"Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?"
Jim looked about the room curiously.
"You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy.
"You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"
Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.
Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first."
White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.
For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.
But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"
And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.
"Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."
Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.
"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."
The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.


I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year. Enjoy the music, movies, books, and joy that comes with this season of love.

---Gabrielle Jean

Friday, December 12, 2008

Music Fills The Soul

Well as many of you know I LOVE music (if you didn't before I'm very sorry that you don't know me very well). I love singing, playing the piano, listening to music... it's my life basically. I can only go so long without listening to something, even if it's just in the background.
Since it is Christmas Time I figure I should start with my favorite Christmas CDs. I grew up listening to Amy Grant, Nat King Cole, and Johnny Mathis each year and if you watch our home videos those are the Christmas CDs playing in the background. So obviously I LOVE those CDs, but I've come to enjoy many other CDs including:
Celtic Woman - A Christmas Celebration
Dean Martin - Christmas With Dino
The Rat Pack - Christmas With The Rat Pack
Faith Hill - Joy To The World
Christina Aguilera - My Kind Of Christmas
Charter's Chord - O Come O Come Emmanuel
Knudsen Brothers - Yuletide
Aly & Aj - Acoustic Hearts of Winter
...These are just some of the Christmas Cds that are a must have.

Now for music that I LOVE and listen to all the time:
Richard Marx is my all time favorite
Kenny Loggins
Bryan Adams
Celtic Woman
The Andrew Sisters
Hayley Westenra
Delta Goodrem
Brian McFadden
Kelly Sweet
A Fine Frenzy
Lenka
Mates of State
Miles Davis
Celine Dion
The High Kings
Johnny Cash
Heart
ABBA
Ella Fitzgerald
Dean Martin
Frank Sinatra
Beach Boys
Journey
Paramore
Enya
John Barry
Aly & Aj
Steve Perry
The Corrs
Joe Cocker
McFly
Natalie MacMaster
Bing Crosby
Peter Gabriel
Elvis Costello
Diana Krall
Harry Conic Jr.
Creed
Yellowcard
But of course if I'm giving you this long incomplete list of my favorite singers I might as well give you a complete favorite. My all time favorite song ever is "Children of the Night" by Richard Marx, my favorite score piece is the Dragonheart theme, and my favorite classical piece is "Cannon in D" by Johann Pachabel, my favorite song to sing is “Something’s Gotta Give” performed by Ella Fitzgerald, the coolest song written is “Last Train Home” by Pat Metheny, and my favorite song to play on the piano is “Plato’s Requiem” written by me .

Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Things They Say

So I've been watching these kids while their parents are on a cruise and they've said some very funny things but my favorite was this:
So I'm driving the oldest Amanda to her violin lessons and its night time. I see a deer in the middle of the street; I stop and wait for her to choose which side of the road she will be going on. After choosing the right side I say "By deer, be safe." Amanda laughs and then I add "I feel like I was saying bye to my husband... but I don't have one."
Then Amanda says, "Yeah, why aren't you married yet?" Keep in mind she is 13 not 5.
I then turn to face her a little more and reply "Well it helps that I haven't actually gone to college yet," I jokingly add "but don't worry it's a BYU school. Expect an announcement in about 5 months."
She then replies with "I guess that makes sense."
We then go back to listening to the music/driving scene when she adds, "I have an uncle who isn't married yet too. But he's 35. He's a dermatologist."

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Stranded On A Desert Island...

Baby Blues has kind of always reminded me of my relationship with my little brother Tommy when we were littler and still a little bit now... these ones the most:






Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Thanksgiving

This is my little ode for thanksgiving so I can say I wrote something for it before writing about stuff for Christmas...

I LOVE Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday of the year. It could be because it was my Grandpa's favorite, but I've always loved it. It's a good time to sit back and be with family, the people who you should be most thankful for in your life. I like that it does kind of get overlooked because then it will always be the same. It'll always have it's true meaning to hold onto. Sure you hear the commercials about buying the right turkey but they never try to change the meaning of it like they do with Christmas.

It's also my favorite holiday though because of the food. I LOVE all of it and I could eat it for hours... which I do every year. My favorite is the mashed potatoes, but they are accompanied wonderfully by the turkey, gravy, and other delicacies of the night.

I love to get dressed up and sit out at our dining room table and have a real family dinner. We always seem to have the TV going whenever we eat in the family room and it's all about can I finish this meal in time to get on the Xbox to play with my friends. With Thanksgiving we all take our time, enjoying the food and each other. It's a perfect beginning to the ending of each year.

Now this couldn't be complete without taking time to reflect on things that I am thankful for ahead of time and not just that one day.

I'm thankful for my family, for all the day, for their patience with me, their love and support with everything. I'm grateful for friends who are good examples and teach me new things. I'm grateful for music, poems, books, and artwork. I'm grateful to live in a good home, for the things I have, and for the ability to live in a comfortable situation. I'm grateful for the church and for all I've learned within it and from my own studies Christ's words. I'm grateful that Jesus atoned for my sins, that he has felt my sorrows and my pains, but I'm even more grateful that he has felt my joys and knows of my most precious moments. I'm grateful for His love and understanding of me. I'm grateful that I have a job and that I can go to college soon. I'm grateful for all the good and bad things that have happened in my life and for all that they have taught me. I'm grateful for people who stand up for their beliefs and are willing to listen to both sides. I'm grateful for many things...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

November 12, 2008

This is what's going on in my life right now...

  • I still work at footzone

  • My family has lice, including myself... it's annoying and time consuming

  • I saw "The Secret Life of Bees" with my mom and it was pretty much amazing... Dakota Fanning's grown up so much and did a wonderful job. As did all the others in the movie.

  • I saw "Madagascar 2: Escape from Africa" with Tommy and Jessy and it was just as funny as the first one.

  • I'm hooked on "Wizards of Waverly Place" on Disney Channel right now... it helps that Justin (the nerdy older brother) is good looking and by far my favorite character.

  • I want to learn Italian, Latin, and Gaelic...

  • Money is the devil.... or just a lack of having money in my life

  • I want to live in Ireland for a year, atleast, and stay in Italy for a month

  • I voted last week for the first time...

  • I love wearing high heels and skinny jeans

  • I've already started listening to a couple of Christmas songs

  • And I want a pet giraff
  • I love watching old movies I grew up watching that know one really knows about like "Flight of Dragons" "The Last Unicorn" and "Once Upon A Forest"

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Lectures on Faith

So I just finished reading Lectures on Faith. They don't really know who wrote it, but the church thinks it might be Sidney Rigdon. It once was part of the scriptures as the doctrine in doctrine and covenants. They stopped publishing it with that in 1921, but you can still buy Lectures on Faith at a church book store if you're interested. These are some of the things I thought/learned from reading it. I'll divide it by the different lectures:
Lecture First
  • "Faith being the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness"
  • What is faith?
  • "Now faith is the substance (assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
  • "From this we learn that faith is the assurance which men have of the existence of things which they have not seen, and the principle of action in all intelligent beings."
  • "...it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental."
  • Faith is the motivation behind all things, because you have to believe in it to feel the need to act for it and persue it (my thoughts) -- 1 Nephi 17:50
  • "Are you not dependent on your faith, or belief, for the acquistion of all knowledge, wisdom and intelligence?"
  • "Would you have ever sought unless you had believed that you would have found? Of, would you have ever knocked, unless you had believed that it would have been opened unto you?"
  • "Faith is the moving cause of all action." -- Mark 16:16
  • "But faith is not only the principle of action, but of power also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heave or on earth."
  • Hebrews 11:3, Matthew 17:19-20, Ethere 12:13, Alma 14:23-29, Helaman 5:37-50
  • Faith is important even when we die, because to create worlds and be Gods ourselves we need faith. (my thoughts)

Lecture Second

  • Romans 1:20
  • "And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so."
  • "...though mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but remember that I forbid it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die..." (talking about the tree of knowledge)
  • God talked with Adam face to face
  • "If thou doest well thou shalt be accepted, and thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door"
  • Faith builds a testimony and God will make it be known if it is true...
  • "...there is a God, who has created and does uphold all things, the extent of their knowledge respecting his character and glory will depend upon their diligence and faithfulness in seeking him, until, like Enoch, the brother of Jared, and Moses, they shall obtain faith in God, and power with him to behold him face to face."
  • Enoch, the brother of Jared, and Moses, as well as many others are who we compaire ourlselves to the most had to work diligently on increasing their faith; while it seems we just sit there and expect it to happen... Glory depends on our diligence and faithfulness in seeking him. Do you seek him daily, hourly, by the minute?
  • We have faith in our Heavenly Father, but does he have faith in us? Or, is it a knowledge and understanding, or could it be driven by hope?

Lecture Third

  • "...it was reason of the knowledge of his existence that there was a foundation laid for the exercise of faith in him... the idea of his existence in the first instance is essential to exercise faith in him." --Romans 10:14 --- "...faith comes by hearing the word of God."
  • "So in like manner we are indebted to the revelations which he has given to us for a correct understanding of his character, perfections, and attributes... without the revelations which he has given to us, no man by searching could find out God...the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
  • Why do people fear to trust in God when we know he loves us and wants us to find the eternal happiness.. for God is love.
  • Exodus 34:6, Psalms 103:6-8, Psalms 103:17-18, Psalm 90:2, Hebrews 1:10-12, James 1:17, Malachi 3:6
  • "For God doth not walk in crooked paths... his paths are strait, and his course is one eternal round."
  • 1 John 4:8 "God is love"
  • "...he was God before the world was created, and the same God that he was after it was created."
  • Without him the faith necessary for salvation couldn't exist, but neither would we. So we must always show our gratitude towards him.
  • "...he is a God who changes not"
  • Would we put our faith in something that is changing?
  • "...he is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, and that his course is one eternal round."
  • "...he is the God of truth and cannot lie is equally necessary to the excercise faith in him."

Lecture Fourth

  • "...without correct ideas of his character the minds of men could not have sufficient power with God to the exercise of faith necessary to the enjoyment of eternal life."
  • Knowledge: Acts 15:18, Isaiah 46:9-10
  • Faith & Power: Isaiah 14:24, 27
  • Justice: Zechariah 9:9
  • Judgment: Deuteronomy 32:4
  • Mercy: Nehemiah 9:17
  • Truth: Exodus 34:6
  • "for without the idea of the existence of these attributes in the Deity, men could not exercise faith in him for life and salvation."
  • "He has power to save all who come to him"

Lecture Fifth

  • "he kept the law of God, and remained without sin, showing thereby that it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also without sin."
  • Did it help that Christ knew all things and he was able to take that knowledge with him to Earth? And that he was sent to teach while we learn? But by learning aren't we also capable of teaching? With the more we teach and learn the more it increases our knolwedge to give us up. And with hope you grow to have faith. Which leads to us wanting to know more and the veil seems to lessen a little. Therefore giving us the knowledge and testimony that builds strength to live in righteousness...
  • "The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light"

Lecture Sixth

  • "...confidence in God without which no person can obtain eternal life."
  • Heb. 10:34, 2 Cor. 5:1
  • "...unless they have an actual knowledge that the course they are pursuing is according to the will of God, they will grow weary in their minds, and faint"
  • "Those, then, who make the sacrifice, will have the testimony that their course is pleasing in the sight of God."

Lecture Seventh

  • "...for no world has yet been framed that was not framed by faith" "...for it is by faith that the Deity works."
  • "...when a man works by faith, he works by mental exertion instead of physical force."
  • Genesis 1:3, Joshua 10:12-13, 1 Kings 17:1; 18:1, 41-45, Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6, Leviticus 19:2, Peter 1:15-16, Matthew 5:48, John 14:12; 17:20-24, Romans 9:32, Mark 9:23
  • "Faith, then, works by words; and with these its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed."
  • "Without faith it is impossible to please God." "...without faith it is impossible for me to be saved."
  • "Neither pray I for these (the apostles) alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their words; that they all may be one."
  • "Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." Luke:45
  • "...every man received according to his faith- according as his faith was, so were his blessings and privileges; and nothing was witheld from him when his faith was sufficient to receive it."
  • "There is a great difference between believing in God and knowing him- knowledge implies more than faith."

I want you all to read if you feel of it's importance as I have for it to be.

Somethings I wrote a while ago:

What gives someone hope, to believe in something that may or may not occur, to find security in something that might happen, who knows what that hope is grown from, but hope leads to faith, which drives our motives each day, you wouldn’t act or respond they way you do if you didn’t believe in something, you’d be lost, but what do you place your faith on family, religion, death, medicine, the future, the past, something you read once, do you try to grow your faith or do you stay in its shadow?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

This One Time In Rexburg and Provo

So I went to Rexburg for a day with my parents and Jessy. I went to three classes with Camille, English, Humanities, and American Foundations. I met some of her friends and had so much fun...


The next day my parents, Jessy, and myself all went down to Provo. Jessy went to our cousin Scotty's lacross game while my parents and I went to the BYU vs UNLV. The Cougs won even though they struggled for a while. Then I went over to Michelle's and we went on a double date, very fun. The trip was all a good experience and I can't wait to finally go to college.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Scriptures for the Soul

These are somethings I read last night that I loved...

Mormon 2:23 "...that they would stand boldy before the Lamanites and fight for their wives, and their children, and their houses, and their homes."

Alma 56:47 "Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that they did not doubt, God would deliver them."

"Live in such a way that people who know you, but don't know Christ will want to know Christ because they know you." H. David Burton, May 1994 ensign

Mosiah 24:12 "And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts."

Jacob 7:25 "...trusting in the God and rock of their salvation; wherefore, they became as yet, conquerors of their enemies."

Ether 6:9 "And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long: and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord."

Sunday, October 19, 2008

When Poetry Takes Your Heart And Soul

This is my favorite poem... I think it's beautifully written:

Incident in a Rose Garden

By:Donald Justice

Gardener

Sir, I encountered Death

Just now among our roses

Thin as a scythe he stood there.


I knew him by his pictures

He had on his black coat

Black gloves, and broad black hat.

I think he would have spoken,

Seeing his mouth stood open.

Big it was, with white teeth.


As soon as he beckoned,

I ran.I ran until I found you.

Sir, I'm quitting my job.


I want to see my sons

Once more before I die.

I want to see California.


Master

Sir, you must be that stranger

Who threatened my gardener.

This is my property, sir.


I welcome only friends here.


Death

Sir, I knew your father.

And we were friends at the end.


As for your gardener,

I did not threaten him.

Old men mistake my gestures.


I only meant to ask him

To show me to his master.

I take it you are he?





These are some poems I've written that I am some what proud of, you don't have to like them and I know that they don't even compare to Incident in the Rose Garden...

Love's Eyes

“Love Looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged cupid painted blind…” for we do not choose whether we shall fall or not, no matter what we may tell ourselves, but it is within ourselves, in our innermost corners of our heart, we may search for a life time, or be hidden blind, but love will always touch us in a way we might not recognize, but to believe in it even if blind is when it will be visible to our inner eyes, for now I see you not as the world may look, but only as I have seen, for truly you’re more beautiful as I look on the inside then out, for your strength and wisdom I give up these worldly eyes, for your laughter and love I’d give up mine own life, for to love you over and over I wish never to end, to spend all mine days and much longer with you by my side, so stay a little longer, let mine heart memorize the beat of thine own, to stay in your arms forever, my prince, my love, my life…


His Hands

Stretching forth His pure white hands,
Reaching towards His gentle lamb.
His hands had stories to tell,
Rough from His knowledge of carpenter skills.
Performing marvels, defying all odds,
They helped and comforted, with love as their cause.
He taught and showed others to watch His hands,
To follow His example of living the plan.
His hands were steady as He molded our hearts,
Teaching us truths and how to do our part.
They pierced His hands and watched Him die,
He’d come again with His all-knowing eyes.
He returned for them and showed the way,
We’ll find it simple if only we obey.
His hands reach for me and He calls my name.
I’ll return to Him, His glory to proclaim.


Love's Crisp Fellings

Oh my love a thousand tears I shed for you, never fully allowing myself to realize my deep
love under this burning hate.
I laughed as a child when you left, wishing to never see you again, yet I die each day over
that you aren’t here.
My Clark, my dearest enemy, my dearest love, come back to me for my hate will surely
fade to nothingness and my love will glow brighter than the sun.
Yet my hatred burns like the sun and can’t be hidden away, the stabbing pain tearing me
apart with you gone.
Can hate be born with love dearest Clark? I swear to it that I, Cathleen, will always love
you my dear, even if it must come with hate, for a million years my feelings will burn true.
Clark as Heathcliff - “…he'll love and hate equally under cover, and esteem it a species of
impertinence to be loved or hated again.”


Snow White and The Queen

Cold, cruel, calm and crisp,
Winter’s colorless stagnant hold,
The tight grasp of the evil Queen.

Bursting, blossoms, buds and butterflies,
Spring comes again to renew life,
A new beginning for Snow White.


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Air Flight Fright

Were you ever afraid of flying, listen to this... It's Bob Newhart's stand up comedy on flying... so funny...

For those of you who don't know Bob did the voice of Bernard in Disney's "The Rescuers"
--- Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Classic Life Style



I've always felt like I should have grown up in the 30s and 40s... it's when they had the best movies, music, and style in my opinion...


These are some of my favorite actors and actresses back then:


Cary Grant- The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, North By North West, Notorious, To Catch a Thief, Walk Don't Run, That Touch of Mink, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Philadephia Story, Holiday, Charade, and so many others...


Grace Kelly- High Society, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief


Bing Crosby-White Christmas, High Society, Anything Goes


Gene Kelly- An American in Paris, Cover Girl, On The Town, Brigadoon


Katherine Hepburn- Philadephia Story, Little Women, Holiday, African Queen, Woman of the Year, Pat and Mike, Stage Door


Audrey Hepburn- Roman Holiday, Charade, Sabrina, Funny Face


Lucille Ball- Your's Mine and Ours, Stage Door, The Long Long Trailer, Room Service


James Stewart- Candle, Book and Bell , Rear Window, You Can't Take It With You, Vivacious, Philadephia Story, The Shop Around the Corner, Vertigo


Humphrey Bogart- Sabrina, Casablanca, African Queen


Henry Fonda- Your's Mine and Ours, The Mad Miss Manton, The Lady Eve, How the West Was Won


Greer Garson- Pride and Prejudice, Random Harvest, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Mrs. Parkington, Julia Misbehaves, Little Women


Barbra Stanwyck- Christmas in Connecticut, The Lady Eve, The Mad Miss Manton


Myrna Loy- Cheaper By The Dozen, Bells on Thier Toes, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Thin Man -series, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer


Ingrid Bergman- Casablanca, Notorious, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


Fred Astair- Daddy Long Legs, Royal Wedding, Funny Face, Shall We Dance, Easter Parade


Leslie Caron- Gigi, Daddy Long Legs, An American in Paris, Father Goose


Eleanor Parker- The Sound of Music, Scaramouche The Woman in White


Jane Powell- Royal Wedding, Small Town Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers


Janet Leigh- Little Women, Holiday Affair, Scaramouche, Bye Bye Birdie


Jeanne Crain- Cheaper By The Dozen, Bells on Thier Toes, State Afair, A Letter to Three Wives, People Will Talk


...


These are some of my favorite music artists back then:


Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Cab Callaway, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Dooley Wilson, Fred Astair, Gene Kelly, Glenn Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Dorris Day, Ann Miller, Benny Goodman, Connie Frances, Rosemarry Clooney, Wayne Newton, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr, Duke Ellington...


Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Silly Things We Do

Holly and I had a sleepover in February... it was one of those ones where you're up until about 3:30 in the morning. Well during this sleepover we made a list of guys we called claims on.

My Claims

Wolverine

James Franco in Fly Boys

Aragorn

Peter Parker

Irish friend in Ps I Love You

Leopold

Mr. Bingley

Patrick Dempsey in Enchante

Jude Law in The Holiday

and Jasper Cullen in the Twilight book series


Holly's Claims

Cyclopse

Other guy in Fly Boys

Boromir

Harry Osborn

Jerry Kenedy

Prince Adam

Mr. Darcy

Edward

Jack Black in The Holiday

Emmet Cullen in the Twilight book series



I Saw the Duchess today with my mom and one of her friends... it was pretty good... I felt sorry for her and the life she had to live in some ways... I thought Keira Knightley did a good job though....

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The True Beauty of My Neverland

Neverland
How good it feels to be back, the beauty of shedding all my sorrow, and being able to kiss my stag again, he always seems to know when I'm coming, he shows up just as I step into my world, my neverland, he's so serene and calm, how can I but feel joy when I'm with him, he's my true comfort and peace, his eyes see through all the scars and masks, he sees my soul and still loves me just the same, today he promises to take me to a new part that I've never been to before, now don't be silly animals can't talk, but this is the same still in realland, we talk to our pets and feel like they understand us, well it's just the same here, but I know he does, it's in his eyes, they only show truth and love, so I believe all that he says, we walked through my forest of beautiful trees with their purple, green, and blue leaves, then we went to the beach just behind the forest and it was there that I first saw it, a small cave hidden by boulders, he passed in front of me, he approached the cave as I stood watching, then he turned to face me, as if calling me to join him, I walked slowly and felt the sand between my toes, I reached my stag and placed my hand upon his back, he lead me through the cave, we walked for a long time, but a soft melody was calling my name as I walked, I closed my eyes and allowed the music and my stag to be my eyes and guide me as I walked, we walked for a while and then I noticed I began to feel a little cold in the cave, I pulled my body closer in towards my stag, but still allowed him to be my eyes as we walked on, finally we stopped and it was quiet cold, I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful scene in the world, he had taken me into a cave that had ice and beautiful diamonds and gems in it and they reflected the most beautiful rainbows, my breath froze in the air as I watched the rainbows dance, it truly was a wonderful place, the real beauty of my neverland, I wiped a tear from my cheek and hugged my stag as I thanked him, we stayed a while longer so I could take it all in and try to never forget it, we left and my stag lead me back to the wooden gate door, I whispered goodbye as I stepped back here…

--gabrielle jean murphy September 16, 2008

Ps...

Check out my drawings on shoes and such at http://www.zazzle.com/foreverbeginstoday

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

September 30, 2008

Today was my first time I went and did visiting teaching, it was so exciting and nerve racking. I also had my visiting teachers come over today, I LOVE them, they were both trying to think of people they could set me up with today, it was kind of funny and felt good. My dad has been wanting to set me and Tommy up with blind dates a lot lately. It's all a little weird, but it's a part of life I guess.
Have you ever been someone who wishes on stars, holds their breath in tunnel and makes a wish, or tries to blow out all the candles on a birthday cake to make a wish. This has been me my whole life. I guess you can say I'm a bit of a dreamer. But I don't do it because I know that if I wish for it it'll happen, I just enjoy the act of doing it. Hoping and pretending for that moment that it'll maybe come true. Like when I was little I'd wish for the my size barbie jeep, then when I got a little older it was that a boy would like me and tell me, now I wish for things to happen in my future. I guess you can kind of say it's like a prayer in my heart, but it's a little different, like I wouldn't pray for a barbie jeep, but I want my family to be safe, and for people to find themselves. Maybe it's just learning to seperate things that are for yourself versus what you want for others to make them happy. I don't really know where I'm going with this and I didn't intend for it to get this long, I guess I got caught in one of my SC moments, oh well...

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

September 17, 2008

Today was my second day of training for work. Both days were kind of slow, but I've had to learn a lot about running shoes these two days. Things like:


-Does the person pronate, supinate, or are the neutral


-What type of shoe to have them try on based on their pronation/supination... meaning are they in Motion Control, Stablility/Performance, or Neutral shoes


-The different brands we carry (Mizuno, Brooks, Asics, Saucony, and a couple of Nikes)


-The styles of shoes within the brands and what catagory they fall under ( ex: Mizuno Alchemy (motion), Mizuno Inspire (stability), Mizuno Creation (neutral), and Mizuno Rider (neutral)


-The cushioning systems used by the different brands like Mizuno uses a wave plate


But overall I'm really enjoying it all.



Besides all of that yesterday I started painting my neverland on this big canvas... it's really fun, exciting, and interesting to watch as it progresses.


Peanut Butter


Whoever invented peanut butter was a good man in my opinion. I love putting peanut butter on things. Such as:

PB&J (what I'll be living off of in college)

PB on Oreos (yes I got it from the parent trap but it's AMAZING)

PB mixed with syrup and heated up in the microwave and then you dip pancakes in it

PB on apples

A spoon full of PB

PB shakes

and the new best thing that was my complete idea licorice and PB (soooo good)

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Behind My Neverland There's This Girl

I've always been viewed as the good journal keeper... well I've never really been one. My journals are all filled with poems and pros, a few drawings here and there, and songs I want to buy. So this will be my real journal I guess...
But here's something I wrote a while back that explains this blogs name and maybe me a little:
My Neverland
Did he name it neverland because even though to him it was real and for that moment when people saw it in his play it was real to them, he knew that it could never exist, it was a never land, never real, and imagination, a place to escape to in his mind, but then don't we all have a neverland with maybe even a neverlife, not a fairytail life but a neverlife, the one you can imagine and at certain times believe in its existance even though it really never was there, my neverland is filled with many beautiful things, the entrance is through a wooden gate, covered by ivy and clovers, and when i turn the handle i enter into my neverland and my neverlife, there i can sail the seven seas with the glorious pirate queen, Grace O'Malley, i can dive off and climb the ocean waves on the path given to me by the moon and as i climb the mood grows closer and i'm able to live upon it with the man in the moon as we count and wish upon the stars, i taste the sweet sugars that falling stars leave behind them as their tail while they race through the air, but when i tire of the sugars and stars i ride down from the constalation view point upon a slow falling star, when i reach the earth's beautiful ground again i call to my white stag and we race with the unicorns and centars, the purple breeze playing with my golden hair, braiding it with lilacs and roses, as it splashes me with mists of fair lilly scents, my stag always wins and he lets me off slowly as he watches me run to the faires and the mermaids who promise to show me their worlds if i can tell them the stories of mine, the mermaids give me pearls and shells which i wear as my necklaces and earings and the faires give me soft geathers and fine spider webs so i can sew together a beatiful dress, we laugh, dance, and sing, then i bid them farewell and promise to bring stories from my world to them, then i approach the beautiful snow white stag who is my companion and friend, who's beautiful eyes watch me like a loving father over a young child, i hug him tight around his neck and he nuzzles his nose in my hair, he takes me through beautiful gardens filled with roses, lillies, lilacs, pansies, and baby's-breath, we pass a white bench that sits beside a blue weeping willow then we reach a gate, the one i secretly long for even as i feel a deep pain of dread, beyond that gate lies my real world, my realland, my reallife, but it my family, friends, and my love, i take the handle and ease the door to reality open, i turn around and whisper goodbye and that i'll return soon, my stag watches me leave and in my heart i feel him whisper goodbye and that he loves me too, i then turn back and step into my realland, to know that in my sleep i might dream about my neverland...
--gabrielle jean murphy july 16, 2008

So that's the flow of how my mind thinks... but this blog is to show more my realland than my neverland even though I'm lost in neverland sometimes...

September 13, 2008

I applied to a couple of places and now I finally have a job. I'm so happy now... first day is tuesday at Foot Zone...


Last night I saw "The Women" with my mom... I LOVED it... it was so funny and a feel good movie over all... plus there were no men at all in the movie... not something I'd think of... not to say that they didn't exist you just never saw them.... but it's a must see...


Today I took a bunch of pictures of two different families and they were both awesome... I hope to have those pictures as well as many others on foreverbeginstoday.blogspot.com I still have some pictures from this summer I have yet to put up.

The Girl Behind the Curtain

8 random facts that you may or may not know about me:

1. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah

2. I love finding something that can take my breath away.

3. I wish I grew up in the 40s.

4. My favorite movie is Finding Neverland

5. I love learning new things.

6. Creativity is one of my favorite things, in myself and in others.

7. I really want to go to Ireland and Italy one day.

8. I have my own Neverland


8 things you probably don't know about me:

1. I attempted the viola in the 4th grade.

2. I love to read comics, DC comics to be specific

3. I've always wanted to be cat woman for halloween, the old one who wore a dress with a hood that had cat ears on it, not the leather cat suit.

4. I hate going to dances, not because I don't like to dance because I do, I hate the music they play at both school and church dances.

5. I love trying peanut butter on new things.

6. Sometimes I sleep in just so I can dream.

7. I've always wanted to be an F1 racer.

8. I hate moving but I often yearn for change.