Islam and the Second Amendment

Last night I had an interesting conversation with my brother.  It started by talking about his experience attending a Islamic mosque and listening to an excellent sermon and ended with the never ending Second Amendment debate.

My brother is taking a class on Islam from BYU, and he expressed frustration that most people expect it to be a class on terrorist. He said despite what many seem to believe Islam is not a religion of terrorism. I asked him what he thought about terrorism and what caused it to be  prevalent in the Middle East. His one word answer surprised me: Culture. His explanation surprised me even more.

He went on to explain that these countries have  been war torn for years. Killings and bombings that would be extreme to us are somewhat expected and unsurprising there. Therefore, in Middle Eastern countries, the culture is more accepting of death and killing. I still was a little unconvinced at this point, but then the story got personal.

"While I was in Honduras I talked with a man who lived in what used to be the most dangerous part of town," he said. My brother lived there for 2 years as a missionary and I have heard many stories of men being gun downed on his front porch or being stabbed to death in the middle of the day in the streets in the not so bad part of town.  He continued, "The man told me that gangs used to be a real problem where he lived. One day the people there got tired in living in fear and whenever they saw anyone commit a gang type crime they would go out with their machetes and kitchen knives and hack them to pieces. Now it is the safest neighborhood to live in." He finished by explaining that death is something you see every day in Honduras, and that has caused death to be more accepted in their culture, and even by him after living there. The story really illustrated how even killing comes to be acceptable if you are exposed to it enough. If seeing death every day had this type of impact on Honduras, what would seeing horrific war every day do to the Middle East?

How does our culture impact our views on death, killing, and violence? Fortunately for most Americans death and extreme violence are not frequent occurrences. In fact, for many Americans firearms, knives, or other weapons are foreign. I have been very surprised by the number of people I have met who have never seen a real gun, let alone shot one. When my husband entered basic training for the army 2/3 of his battery of 195 soldiers had never shot a firearm before.  Knifes are only for the kitchen, and explosives are for bad guys.

I'm not saying its necessary for everyone to have exposure to guns, knives, and explosives. I do think not having exposure to them does have a large impact on our culture and we need to be aware of that. People are afraid of the unknown. I was afraid of being around death until I took anatomy and worked at an elderly living center. I was nervous around guns until I spent time handling one regularly.

If a large portion of the American public has no or very limited experience with firearms is it any surprise that they are nervous about them? Maybe even to the point that it seems irrational? What kind of impact does having guns so far removed have? Does it make Americans afraid of guns rather than the people in possession of guns? Does it make them victims to an inanimate object? Does it cause fear to arise from ignorance? Does it cause discomfort when in the presence of the unfamiliar?

I think so. I think our natural fear of death and violence has in someways been misplaced and mislabeled as a fear of guns. Guns don't kill. People kill. So the question becomes who do we want to have guns? Who do we want educating the public and influencing culture? I think this is really what the Second Amendment is about these days.

So the question is what culture do you want in America? Let me know your thoughts.

Kanarraville Adventure

On our way to Zion National Park David and I stopped to visit a mission friend of David's in Cedar City. He took us on a really neat hike a town just south of Cedar City (the same town in this Mormon Message).

We went up a slot canyon just east of the town and it was my first time ever being in a slot canyon. It makes for a very neat hike and is great to do in the middle of the day because it is so cool and in the shade.

Sorry this is kind of a boring and brief post. David is at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas until the end of the month for army training and I just finished orientation for my Dietetic Internship which starts Monday at Davis Hospital. It is north of Bountiful (even north of Lagoon!) so if anyone has ideas of good audiobooks to listen to while driven of other ways to make driving 3 hours a day productive yet safe please, let me know. 

Visit to My Old Stomping Grounds

When I was in high school I volunteered at Timpanogos Cave with the BATS program (Behind a Tour Specialist). Basically we stayed at the back of tours to make sure no one fell behind or broke rules. I loved it and even got to take over a couple tours. I planned to work there summers during college but didn't because I would have to work Sundays (which is very ironic considering I worked almost every Sunday at The Charleston). David had never been to the cave so of course we put it on our list of summer activities.





We made the 1.5 mile hike up the paved trail in about 45 minutes. My record was 25-30 minutes as a Bat so I was a little sad. I need to get moving while hiking the Y if I'm going to run it by the end of the summer!

We got up and drove up the canyon which was absolutely beautiful, only to realize we forgot our camera, again. I was not deterred and took pictures like crazy with my iPod. I have been in that cave dozens of times and never taken a picture, and I was not about to let it happen again. Here are a few (sorry about the poor quality!).

Entering...

...THE CAVE!

Cave Popcorn

The Heart of Timpanogos

Cave Straws 

Cave Bacon

A little bit of everything

Stalactites and Stalagmites  

Flow Stone 

Stalactites

Lots of Flow Stone

More  Cave Bacon 

Cave Bacon that looks like bacon

Cave Bacon 

Yes, I worked in a cave for 2 summers, listened to half a dozen tours 5-6 days a week and I don't remember the technical names, just the common names. If you don't use it, you lose it! 

Timpanogos Cave is an awesome place to go if you are looking for summer activities. Its $7 an adult to go through the cave and $6 for a car load to gain entrance to the canyon for 3 days. If you are in Utah you should do it at least once. 

Life Means More

My morning conversation with my husband went something like this today:

"Please don't leave me! I don't want to be all alone!" I said half teasing, half serious.

"Call someone." Replied my husband, matter-of-factly.

"Love, I don't know anyone! I have no friends!" I said in feigned agony. 

"Yes you do. Call someone." He said resolutely. 

"No, Love! Please, don't make me!"

This went on for a while, half serious, half teasing until we came to the agreement that I would indeed call someone this very day and do something. 

I don't know why, but I have a fear of calling people to do something with me, stemming from some childhood insecurity. I can throw dinner parties, I can hangout with other couples as a couple, I can meet for school or work, and if I try really hard I can even be social at church. But asking someone to 'hang out' with me one-on-one is terrifying. Period. 

 But, as I agreed to this morning, I did call someone. While scrolling through my phone to find the number of the friend I had promised to call I came across my cousins phone number. I hadn't seen her in forever even though we literally live on the same street two blocks apart. I asked if she wanted to come feed ducks with me at Utah Lake,  and she said yes and even offered to drive. 

 I was still so nervous. For crying out loud, we've known each other since we were in diapers, played together as children, and even went to high school together, what was I so nervous for! I don't know, but I  couldn't think of a thing to say half the time, and when I did I stumbled over my words and wished I'd kept my mouth shut. I was sure she would want to go home as soon as we were done. 

When we got back she walked home with me to see where I lived and I invited her to sit down. We chatted about things as only cousins can. About life as we see it, about family, friends, childhood memories, crazy life stories and our thoughts on it all. We talked for hours and then went out for frozen yogurt before saying good-bye.

When I got home I felt wonderful. My burdens felt lighter, I had new goals and things I wanted to do, I was excited and my life had more meaning. And then I stopped a minute and realized that this is what I had been missing all this time by being too afraid to call. There are many lessons that can be learned here, but the one that stood out the most to me was that people are meant to be in our life. Sometimes with all the complications, drama, stress, and chances of hurt and disappointment that come with relationships it is scary and difficult to be around people, but because of those relationships life means more.

Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family who are here for me to make life meaningful and sorry to all those who I have neglected because of my own insecurities. You are all the best!

I dedicate this to my husband who is always willing to push me to do and be more while always loving me just the way I am. 

Fancy Fort

Dinky Playhouse 

As a child I always was building forts. Couch forts, weed forts, blanket forts, box forts, hay bale forts. Any type of fort you can think of a child building I've probably built. The ultimate dream fort that I always wanted was a playhouse. Not just one of those dinky pathetic things. I wanted a miniature house.

Dream Playhouse

It was a little beyond my skill set, so I petitioned my dad. Being the oldest and the only girl I had him wrapped around my finger and he promised he would build me  playhouse.  We even went to the equivalent of the Parade of Homes for playhouses so I could get ideas for my grand fort. However, I gave up up on getting one when I reached high school and there was no playhouse in sight.

This past fall when David and I were looking at apartments we found one in our price range, walking distance from campus with just one minor flaw; There was no bedroom. The front door opened up into the front room and there was just enough room for a king size bed, maybe. I wasn't that excited about having the front door open to my bedroom so we got creative. 

The 100 year old house has 9 foot ceilings. Prime vertical space for a fort. So, I drew up plans for a loft bed and presented it to my dad. He added some of his own touches and in a matter of a couple weeks had built me my fort. 

Our Fort

Our couch under our fort
(help up by food storage)

Bookshelves
 

The custom designed stairs/ladder
(my dad's invention)

Office

Our fort has many functions. Sleeping. Lounging. Living room. Library. Laundry sorter. Next to it is a built in desk (custom to fit the unsquared corner) that serves as our office and it is soon to have physical therapy hookups so I can do physical therapy from home for my neck. 

The next improvement for our fort is a white coat of paint. Apparently when my dad built it he offered to paint it using his auto body paint sprayer (which would have taken 15 minutes) and I refused. I'm not sure what I was thinking. In my defense I was engaged. So, for the past few months we have had a plywood and 2x4 fort. I did paint the front white (which took 2 hours), but the rest is begging to be painted, which should happen this week. Next the top will hopefully be carpeted. Most of it is covered by the mattress but there is a small walkway on one side and the bottom of the mattress and carpet would be a nice, homey touch. 

Over all it is a very functional, practical fort and we've enjoyed getting a lot of use out of it. The crowning moment for my fort was when some Relief Society sisters came over to welcome me to the ward. One had a 4-5 year old little girl and as soon as she walked in the door she screamed "Woah! Cool fort!" and promptly explored every facet. Yep, I've got a cool fort. 

I would like to give a special thanks to my dad for building the fort and helping me with all my many crazy projects. 

MRE Cooking

A while back David had 3 days of drill up in Sandy for the state wide earthquake drill. He brought back some leftover MREs so I could get a taste of 'army cooking.' So tonight, for our emergency preparedness FHE we ate the MREs.

David home from the hunt

On the menu tonight: Mexican 

Flameless heater
This was pretty amazing. Add 2 tablespoons
of water at it is boiling in less than 10 seconds!

David putting his heater between packages
of beans and rice

After adding water you are to place the carton on a rock
"or something"

David waiting for his food to heat...

While it sits on "something" 

My flameless heater 

I was a bit curious about the nutrition quality of the meal. I was relieved to see that the army had not completely over looked that detail. Food=Energy=Top Performance! Food is important!

While we waited for our food to eat we broke out some appetizers: Crackers with cheese spread and wheat bread. 

Wheat bread: The densest bread you'll ever have yet almost
completely devoid of fiber 

Wheat bread with cheese spread 

Then we ate our Mexican food meal. I was surprised at how good it was. You'd never guess it had been siting on the shelf in a sealed bag for a few years.

Rice 

Beans and meat 

Going in for the first bite

Digging in like a pro

Our meal even came with dessert! We had a strawberry dairy drink. Needs cold water, not luke warm.  

We spilled a bit 

Pink and chunky 

Trying a sip (straw not included) 

The remains of our meal 

As we were cleaning up David decided to make himself a quesadilla with cheese spread and a tortilla

The taste was pretty good and the meal had lots of calories (a lot from fat) and vitamins and minerals. However, it was missing one thing...Fiber. When David was at drill he sent me a text asking if fat caused constipation. "No, not really. Usually the opposite," was my response. 

When he got home later I asked him what brought up the question. He explained that the soldiers at drill were talking about how eating MREs will "back you up" and the general consensus was it was from fat and that the gum provided in MREs was actually secretly a laxative to compensate for the constipation. I don't know all that much about MREs but I'm guessing that the constipation has more to do with the almost complete lack of fiber. 

Alleged laxative gum 

Now we are all revved up and ready to work on our 72 hour kits! David has his and I just won a nice hiking backpack in a raffle and am ready to fill it up with MREs and other emergency preparedness gadgets! For ideas on 72 hour kits and emergency preparedness look here.