Oh my, I am such a nerd...

Disclaimer #1:  This is from Kaylie not Derek.  He wanted to make sure I put that ;)

I think everyone has certain songs that they just love.  Songs which day after day, year after year, still mean something to you.  

For me there are too many of those to number and they come from all sorts of genres.  But today I've needed the motivation you can only get through epic movie soundtracks.   (Thank you, endless homework.)  

So, because I think these songs are incredible, I've decided to share them with you all.  :)  And guys.  This is so dumb.  I can't even convey how much I love these.  Baaah!  It's embarrassing. But I just love it.

Disclaimer #2:  it's pretty nerdy the stuff I love.  (and these probably aren't the best songs out there, but they're the ones I've chosen to make special.)  So yep I'm obsessed with Harry Potter, I love Narnia, etc.  It's okay to judge. 

Here we go :)

1.  Great for running to and feeling epic.

The Battle  from Narnia

2.  Even better to go running to.  It builds, it builds, and then at 2:59 it's literally impossible not to sprint to.  Try it I dare you.  

Raid on the Castle from Caspian

Literally one of the most sad/beautiful/baaah! moments in movies ever.  that knowing look of "it's okay go ahead.  i know I'll die."

3.  Don't bother listening until 2:45.  But then HOLY COW IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.  Seriously.  

Rue's Farewell from Hunger Games

While we're talking about hunger games, I actually really didn't like the first movie.  But the second movie is powerful.  loved it.

4.  Something about farewells is just beautiful.

Dumbledore's Farewell  from HP6

5.  Slow build, but  once it gets going it's so pretty. And okay, yes, this was the part of the movie that made me cry when I first saw it.  First five minutes.  Pathetic.

Obliviate from HP7a

6.  Brace yourself.  The first note squeals at you.  

Dragon's Flight  from HP7b  

7.  Yeah, it's an oldie.  But something about flying songs is beautiful.  Cue Harry's awkward yelling at 1:21.

\Buckbeak's flight from HP3

Sometimes Harry's just awkward.  

8.  Just good.

Lily's Theme from HP7b

9.  "I've always wanted to use that spell!!"  

Statues from HP7b also Courtyard Apocalypse  

10.  More good homework music.

Arrival at Aslan's How from Caspian

Door in the Air Caspian

Return of the Lion Caspian

Don't you just love how much you can learn about Christ and the Atonement from watching Narnia?  I'm a fan :)

That's all for today folks. Hopefully you either got a really good laugh at all this, or you got to listen to some pretty, pretty stuff. :)

  

Vegetables

Today during Sacrament meeting a cute mom in my ward got up to bear her testimony about God's love for us.  She began by speaking about how hard it is to teach her little girl to eat her vegetables and not just the chicken nuggets.  She told us that it would be so easy to give up the fight on the vegetables completely.  But then this mom told us about how she looks forward into her little girl's future to how much happier and healthier she will be if she can endure the broccoli now.  So while this daughter can only see as far as finishing dinner to go play with toys, her mother can see much further.

This mother related her experiences to how Heavenly Father must feel when we go through trials.  It must be so hard to see us suffer, but He sees further into our lives and understands what will help us.

I loved her testimony.  It reminded me of similar thoughts I've had.  As little children, we didn't understand why we needed vegetables or why we couldn't touch the hot stove or run out into the street.  But we knew that our parents loved us, and we trusted that they would take care of us.  With that faith and knowledge of their love, we faithfully obeyed.

Ignore that my pictures are very obviously off of google images.

So it is with our Heavenly Father.  We may not always know why we need to do something; it doesn't make any sense to us.  But if we remember His love and have faith He will take care of us, we're able to step forward.

And as time goes on, and as we grow up a little, it begins to make more sense.  We may even learn to love what we have been asked to do.

When I was younger, the three hours of church were the longest hours of the week.  The only fun part was Primary because we sung and played games.  But the rest of the three hours were painful.  Especially Sacrament meeting.

From left to right:  Kyra, Kaylie, Jennie, neighbor

Just kidding.  It's google again.

Same thing with scripture study.  I never paid attention during family scripture study (sorry Mom!) and only did it by myself because I was supposed to, but not because I really wanted to.

But.  As I faithfully performed and attended these obligations, something wonderful happened.  Over time, my tiny perspective began to open.   I began to love more and more things about church. (Yes.  The treats in YW always helped.)  In fact, one day in high school I realized that that I actually looked forward to Sundays.  In addition, with diligence and practice, scripture study became more meaningful and I learned to enjoy it.  And as I learned about the significance of the Sacrament and why I needed it, it became a sweet moment each week.

It would have been nice if I could have paid better attention during family scriptures as a kid or started searching for a testimony earlier.

But I wasn't ready.   It took me time to reach a fuller understanding of these things' significance.

This is my attempt at a "perspective" picture (it's our family hiking...sometime...somewhere in Southern Utah.)  Notice the little bits of light coming in from the top symbolizing increased perspective and light.  I know, it's genius ;)

And so it is now.  There are certain things we're asked to do that I still really struggle with.  For example, I still don't quite understand the complete significance of the temple.  And that's so, so hard for me.  It's hard not to understand anything and then to get lost between all the hallways and rooms (I look like I'm new every single time.)  But I try to attend anyway.   Because I have faith that just as it is with vegetables, I'll grow up and someday understand the whys behind the whats.