I Get By With Alot of Help from My Friends

This post is about my friend Janell. You can read her blog here. Her journey is by no means over, but what a journey it has been thus far.

Janell and I met on day one of law school orientation in 2000. Orientation was grouped according to legal writing sections; and, Janell and I were in the same section. And, somehow we ended up being friends. I think we were drawn together, in part, because we were single (as were the others we ended up in a group of friends with from that section...Collette, Taeya, Aleea, Jay, and Jason).

After a frustrating 1 1/2 years of law school, Janell registered for a semester abroad in Australia the 2nd semester of our 2nd year. Shortly after arriving in Australia, she met the man of her dreams and was married a few short months later.

About 2 1/2 years ago, Janell went back to law school, finishing 2 years worth of courses online. And, about 1 1/2 years ago, shortly after having her 3rd child, she moved with her family from Australia to Indiana where her husband had been accepted to graduate school in psychology.

If you read Janell's blog, you will see that in the last year and a half, her life has been anything but easy. Her husband, who suffers from an intense and debilitating depression, has decided that he is agnostic. So, he no longer attends church with his family. But, Janell, who is the early morning seminary teacher for the youth, attends church each week with her kids and ensures that they participate in family home evening and are taught the basic principals of the gospel. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which was removed, and resulted in the loss of hearing in her right ear. Her oldest son has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. And, her daughter has yet to be diagnosed with anything related to an intense leg pain that they thought could be leukemia or something of that nature (so far the doctors have only ruled a very long list of things out). Of course, in the middle of all of this, Janell graduated from law school, which meant studying for the Bar.

Because of the way Janell went back to school, she has to pass the California Bar before she can take any other state's Bar. So, late last Spring, Janell began studying full time. She took the Bar in July. Unfortunately, the result received in November (only about 15 points away from passing) meant that she had to turn around and do it all again to take the Bar in February, which she did this past week.

Janell has an amazing outlook on life. Instead of allowing her trials to make her angry and bitter, she has turned to the Lord and found a humility and solace that few individuals would be able to find in her same situation. And, she has remained optistic, hopeful, and above all, positive. She is an inspiration to me. If we talk when I am feeling down about things, I let her talk first because after I hear about the events of a typical week for Janell, my problems seem so small and insigificant and I feel badly for not being able to dig in and have the same positive outlook for my life/situation.

After both July and February's Bars, I have been fortunate to spend about 36 hours with Janell. It is sooo much fun! I LOVE talking with Janell and spending time with her. This time, my goal was to see how pampered Janell could be by the end our time together. I picked her up from her hotel on Thursday night and took her Tito's Tacos...then it was home to my house for Survivor and little R&R. Friday morning, we headed out to Santee Alley for a little shopping (yes, I did come home with 4 new purses...what can I say?!?!?!); lunch at Potato Chips with dessert from Yogurtland (I LOVE the new red velvet cupcake flavor); home to change clothes for the afternoon/evening; manicures and pedicures (a FIRST for Janell--can you believe that?!!?!? It's criminal really...BUT, she understands now that it is possible to wear sandals and like your feet ;); Dear John at the AMC in Century City; dinner at Gaucho Grill in Brentwood with Billy...and, last, but certainly not least...massages (I LOVE that you can get a massage a reputable establishment at 10 p.m. in LA)! Saturday morning, we headed out to breakfast with Billy at Quality and then it was time to take Janell to the airport.

I truly hope that Janell passes the Bar this time...she deserves it! Her kids deserve it! While I would love to have her come back to visit, I'd rather have it be just for fun.

Love you Janell!

Murphy's Law

So, yesterday was ugly, gray, and cold (for LA) with rain in the forecast for last night and today. So, about noon yesterday, I spoke with the other YW leaders and we cancelled our trip to Disneyland--to be postponed until later this Spring. It rained cats and dogs last night; but, of course, the sun shone all day today. My girls were NOT happy! But, had we not postponed, it would have rained today...

Proud to Be an American

Evan Lysacek is a class act! In addition to his amazing performance on Thursday night in men's long program, his interview last night during the Olympic coverage was humble and mature. It's too bad that Evgeni Plushenko can't show the same respect for his sport and the other competitors in the field!

Hopeless Romantic

I admit that I am a hopeless, sappy romantic; and, I LOVE chick flicks. Thanks to my friend Barbara, I got to see this one at a screening on the Warner Bros. lot last night. It's so much fun to be on the lot...makes me feel way more important and connected than I am. I guess I just choose my friends appropriately. ;) Anyway, I digress...Valentine's Day is a pretty good as far as chick flicks go...some predictability, some surprises, and you CANNOT beat the cast! It was also fun that it was filmed entirely in the LA area...it's always fun to recognize the sites as they pop up on the screen.

One of the things that is fun about the WB screenings is that they always do an intro with insider information about the movie. This movie was all about being green. It was fascinating to hear how much they did with solar panels, biodiesel and recycling. Here's an article about it:

"The production is among the first in the film industry to consciously “go green” in a major way and try to lessen its environmental impact.

Executive Producer Diane Pokorny was largely responsible for spearheading the project’s green initiative, which extended from director and cast to the entire crew. It encompassed virtually every aspect of production, including the use of reusable set pieces, solar-powered lighting, hybrid or biodiesel vehicles, solar and biodiesel generators, and biodegradable plates and utensils at craft services. The crew even composted or recycled 25 tons of waste. Every member of the cast and crew was given his or her own reusable stainless -steel water bottle, eliminating the need for thousands of plastic bottles during the production.

'Every department was very proactive about coming back to us with ideas on what they could do, and we also had the strong back of Warner Bros, which was key. We met with [Warner Bros. Pictures sustainable production manager] Jon Romano about how to make the entire production more environmentally responsible,' said Pokorny. 'It’s not only about making a difference now; it’s about creating technologies and methods that will continue to be improved upon for the next movie. And so on. It was exciting for everyone involved in the film because they could see the tangible differences they can make.'

...Warner Brothers estimates that it reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 67 metric tons. Filmmakers explain that the solar generators increased the costs, but otherwise the movie did not cost more to make.

'There are a lot of things wrong with our environment, so to ‘go green’ seemed to be a very good thing. It’s not that big and effort; if we could do it, others can do it,' Marshall says."

Amazing Race

I love this show; but this season, I'm particularly excited that this team is playing...I know, I'm a geek...I just loved them on Big Brother, so it's exciting to see them on the race. However, there is going to be a contest between Jordan and the Miss Teen contestant for who can say the stupidest thing on The Race! Seriously, girls...you do nothing for showing the intelligence of the female portion of the human race!

Oh yes I am...

Stay tuned...after way too much time figuring out the "system" on my part, my young women did a service project for the Burbank Temporary Aid Center (we made 302 sack lunches for the homeless) and I'm taking them to Disneyland on Saturday...should be a wild and crazy day!

Not enough hours in the day!

I LOVE the Olympics. Perhaps its watching people accomplish tasks I don't even dream of accomplishing. I mean, I can't even skate around an ice rink once without something (or someone) to hold on to; so, the idea of things like triple or quadruple toe loops is unfathomable to me. Don't even ask about my abilities on skis...I've been once and it wasn't pretty! And, the Summer Olympics aren't any better...just ask my mom how successful swim lessons were when I was growing up...I'm not going to drown in the water, but I'm also not going to successfully swim laps using any stroke!

Perhaps its watching the world come together in the spirit of good old-fashioned competition.

I don't know...I just love watching them.

The trouble is that work is suddenly busier than it's been in a LONG time! It's probably the busiest I've been in 3 1/2 years. Or, perhaps I just don't remember how busy I was a year and a half ago because I've spent the last year cutting my hours in an attempt to heed the advice of my annual reviewers by delegating more work and just plain taking time to do other things with my life. So, I'm not just WAY TOO busy, I'm also way out of practice working these kinds of hours. And, I've got about a million other commitments that have taken the place of work. So, I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to squeeze in 6-plus hours of sporting events per days.

Oh, and of course, Amazing Race and Survivor have started in the middle of all of this too.

Ahhhhhhh....the complicated things in life. ;)

Tax Refunds R Us...

It's obscene how much I pay in taxes each year...it seems like a lot when I get each paycheck, but when the W-2 comes, the total number is shocking! I feel only slightly better having now done my taxes and knowing that I'm getting a refund from BOTH the Feds and the State. It's going straight into my savings account, but at least it will be MY money and not someone elses. (I know, where's the Democrat in me when I make these comments???? What can I say, I'd rather control where I contribute my money...can't say the Feds or the State do a very good job when they have control of it!)

Very Clever

I've never tried this posting from an email thing through Blogger, so we'll see how this works. A friend of mine sent this to me this week and I thought it was a very clever threading of the hymns we sing each Sunday in church.

Why LDS Women Stress

As Latter-Day Saint women, we are practically obsessed with anxiously engaging ourselves in good causes. Maybe it's subliminal.

Glancing through the hymnal last Sunday I noted that as sisters in Zion, we who are called to serve are all enlisted to go marching, marching forward because the world has need of willing men to all press on scattering sunshine. We wonder if we have done any good in the world today because we have been given much and want to do what is right, keep the commandments, press forward with the Saints, choose the right, and put our shoulders to the wheel going where He wants us to go. However, as the morning breaks high on the mountaintop, truth reflects upon our senses, and while we still believe that sweet is the work, we also realize that we have work enough to do ere the sun goes down.

And thus we ask Thee ere we part, where can we turn for peace?

Blog Title

So, today is one of those days when I'm tempted--as the result of the stupid actions of a boy--to change the subtitle of my blog to read "and all the MEN are merely players." But, I'll be nice and refrain from such childish behavior. Enough said...no further comment!