Summer Plans

Even though I am working full-time this summer, I will have some time, mostly on the weekends, to devote to myself (and Matt). 

First up will be to catch up on reading! I've started a new series (Alcatraz by Brandon Sanderson):

And I'm hoping to start writing a children's chapter book, so naturally I had to re-read some of my childhood favorites (Captain Underpants, Time Warp Trio, Magic Tree House):

Other summer plans include using our Pass of All Passes, moving apartments, and taking the MPRE. 

What are your summer plans?
Rhetorically,
Rebekah

FINAL-ly Free

What happens when I have to wake up to study for finals:

How I feel when I have a cold during finals:

What happens when I finish finals: Old Spaghetti Factory Celebration!!

I'm so happy to be done!! I get a few days of freedom before starting my summer jobs. I kind of feel like doing everything from the song "When will my life begin?" from Tangled (e.g. pottery, ventriloquy, candle making, stretching, sketching, climbing, reading a book-or two or three) because I actually have the time now!

What do you do to celebrate finals?
Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Easter Appreciation Post 2

I had a surprisingly wonderful Easter. It was so wonderful, in fact, that I'm dividing it into two posts. This is the "traditions" post, which includes: Family Time, a New Recipe, and Easter Egg Decorating. 

Family Time

My brother and his wife were in town and chose to spend Easter with us!! Even though they start a new semester of school today, they postponed going back to Idaho to be with us. It was awesome to have company over. I hadn't expected much out of my Easter because of finals, but this was a great excuse to take a break. 

Apparently I only remember to take pictures when people are playing ping pong or pool. No other times. Even though we did an easter egg hunt, had two picture-worthy meals together, and went to church, this is all I've got. (However, it was a pretty epic game of pool. The white ball hovered on the edge of the pockets several times throughout the game.)

 New Recipe: Bird's Nests 

1 c peanut butter

1 bag butterscotch chips

3 cups chow mein noodles

mini cadbury eggs* 

Melt peanut butter and butterscotch chips in microwave until smooth. 

Mix in chow mein noodles, form into nest-like structures. 

Add "eggs" and refrigerate. 

Ta-da!

*(or other egg shaped candies, but why would you want anything other than cadbury eggs?)

Easter Egg Decorating:

 I have to say, we outdid ourselves this year.

In case you can't tell what the eggs are: (going clockwise) 

Yoda, Batman, Mickey Mouse, Nemo, Despicable Me Minion, and Carolina Blue.

What are your favorite Easter traditions?

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

PS If you like Peeps and creativity, and you are looking for a distraction online, check out this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/lifestyle/peeps-diorama-contest/2014/

Easter Appreciation Post 1

Welcome to the "spiritual" Easter post!

Matt and I went on a walk to the local cemetery on Easter afternoon. The sunny weather was appropriate for the holiday- representing joy in the Resurrection. Did you know that in Russia, during the Easter season, they great each other by saying "Christ is Risen!" and respond with, "Indeed, He is Risen!" How cool is that? What a great way to remember the purpose of the season.

complimentary bunny picture from cemetery

I remember in the Dominican Republic, Easter would be a full-week celebration. Schools usually timed their spring vacations around it. It was a time for traditional Easter foods, such as "habituelas con dulce" (sweet bean soup), a time to spend with family, and especially a time to remember the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Good Friday was almost as big as Easter Sunday. One of the best experiences on my mission was having dinner with a family and seeing "The Testaments" come on their Television- in Spanish!

I sang this song in Spanish when I gave my missionary report in church two years ago. It is one of my favorite Easter hymns:

What do you do to remember the purpose of the Easter Season?
Rhetorically,
Rebekah

I Can't Let It Go

I feel like you all would benefit from these Frozen parodies.

This post is the product of studying-avoidance virus, commonly caught during the months of December and April. 

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Wedding Time: Lund Style

My "little" brother got married this week. He's actually almost a foot taller than me (I made him crouch down in the picture below so it wouldn't look as awkward), so he's not really "little." But you know what I mean.

In the past eight months, my mom's side of the family has had three weddings (me, my cousin, and my brother). So we've been able to have mini family reunions almost every four months! How lucky are we? 

Robby and Megan chose to have their reception the night before their wedding, so we had two days of festivities. Matt and I might have snuck some fast food into the reception since we skipped dinner (we left no photo evidence of this, though, so I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations). 

The only thing that was missing was my sister, who has been out on her mission a little over a year. There was an extra seat set out by accident at the luncheon, but we joked that it was intentionally left empty in her honor.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

General Conference

Who loved General Conference? I did!!
Some talks that I thought I would mention:

• A Priceless Heritage of Hope: How great is family history? I really liked this example in showing how a heritage of faith is more important than a heritage of wealth. 
• What are you thinking?: More importantly, what is the other person thinking? I loved the story Elder Zwick shared about understanding viewpoints. 
• Following Up: A lot of times, I think once a new session of Conference starts, we immediately forget all of the proceeding sessions. I thought it was great that Elder Ballard followed up with us. 

What was your favorite talk at general conference? Or what themes did you see?

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Law Class Descriptions for the Non-Law Student: Part 2

If you appreciated this post, then here is the latest update on the classes I have taken. Again, I waited until the end of the semester so I could better explain what the courses were about. I only had 4 classes this semester, and it was great to have a lighter load! These course descriptions are given in the form of questions, and the course helped me answer each of them.

• Evidence: What kind of evidence is allowed during a trial? What are witnesses allowed to testify about? Why do we have rules for admitting evidence, anyway? 
  
• Immigrant Rights: What rights and obligations do aliens have while they live in the United States?
  
  
  
• Immigration Law: What are the requirements to become a citizen? What are the requirements to enter the United States, either for travel or to live here temporarily? 
  
  
• Wills and Estates: What happens to people's stuff after they die? What if they didn't have a Will?
  
  
  

Rhetorically,
Rebekah