Why Thor: Ragnorak is the greatest superhero movie of all time

I know there are more reasons than this, but it seems like a good place to start.  

I love The Dark Knight movies and they meant a lot to me.  They still do.  I also really love the original Iron Man and Tony Stark has always been my favorite Avenger, until now.  I LOVE THOR.  And this is why.

In the beginning of Ragnorak, Thor takes on Surta.  But there is still something different about him right from the start.  He is funny.  He is powerful,  he is strong and brave and good, and the music was written for this movie years ago before there was even a Marvel studio.  Funny how inspiration comes together like that.

Then everything starts to fall apart.  He loses everything.

He loses his father, 

his hammer, 

his hair, 

his freedom, 

his Asgard,

his faith in himself. 

He loses everything.

And then he comes back.  Everything is stripped away, and he comes back.  ANd this time he knows he is and who he was meant to be.  He comes back stronger, braver, more powerful than ever before.  He looks into the darkness and comes back fighting.  He finds the strength and believes in the power that is greater than himself.  Because he IS the God of Thunder...And THAT'S WHAT HEROS DO.

ANd then there is just the look on Loki's face when he comes back and Loki sees him and realized no matter what Thor is never going to stop fighting for what is right...and Loki knows it...incredible.  And who knows where Loki really is now.  I don't even know if he knows.  But that whole relationship is so incredible too.  I love where he and Loki are at the end of this movie where Loki says "I'm here."  And his sacrifice at the beginning of Infinity War.  I hope it sticks even though I kind of really love Loki too.  

Cinderella

My day started with my friend Jen from the school office running into my room and telling me to call my husband right away.  Derek crashed on his way to school and knocked out his front tooth.
Poor kid.  He was lying on the sidewalk trying to get a hold of me.  It was Pirate Day at school and I didn't have my phone with me.  I am so grateful for the beyond wonderful people I work with who immediately went into action to cover for me so I could go and rescue Derek.  He crashed by my sweet friend Patty's house and I told him to go knock on her door.  Luckily she was home and she dropped everything to take care of him until I got there.  I walked into the house and he was safe and she was getting him ice and I was so grateful.  I got him settled at home, made an appointment for the first dental appointment that was available and ran to the district office for a meeting.  I ran back to the school for pirate day, and then headed back to take Derek to the dentist in Lehi because that was the only place available today.  I got him checked in and we sat in the waiting room while the last 20 min. of the original Disney Cinderella was on...and that is where I lost it.  Sobbing in the waiting room...it was not pretty.

 Sobbing for a few reasons.  First of all because life just is life.  I am always running short and the whole thing about being there for my kids v.s. working and being grateful for a job and insurance and everything that goes with that security is always on my mind.  So much guilt for so many things.  But those little mice were trying so hard to get that key to Cinderella so she could just run down to try on that glass slipper.  Crying because those birds started to drop the dishes on horrible Lucifer the mean cat to help Cinderella too because they love her so much.  They love her because of all she has done for them.  They love each other.  They would do anything for Cinderella because she would do anything for them.  There is nothing selfish or wrong with caring and helping your friends.  Cinderella calls for Bruno the dog who is sleeping and the birds don't skip a beat to go and get the dog, and the horse realizes what is going on and gets the dog up.  The dog gets up the stairs just in time and Cinderella gets down stairs and when the slipper breaks, she produces the other glass slipper.

Recently I have been reading a lot about how irrelevant fairy tales are.  It is all over social media and in conversations I have in the world.  I love fairly tales.  The summer after I was in 4th grade my family had this big red book of fairy tales that was over 400 pages long.  I wanted to read every fairy tale in that book and I spent my 4th grade summer reading it.  I finished it and I internalized it.  Fairy Tales are part of who I am.  Cinderella is one of those stories I love, and so many people love because of the themes that resonate with so many people.  Identifying with oppression and coping with loss and still being a beautiful person inside no matter what life throws at you.  Enduring to the end, hoping for a better life, kindness, compassion, friendship, service, love, never losing hope, treating animals and others with love and respect. Identifying fairness, developing empathy, distinguishing Christ like Characteristics of Cinderella contrasted by the unkindness and selfishness of the stepsisters.  Having faith in things hoped for.  No one ever has to explain to children that Cinderella is the person we should try to be more like.  Children know it when they see it.  Truth is like that.  We know it.  It is there in plain sight in front of us.

While discussing all of this with my husband Jeff tonight he had a very wise perspective;  "Cinderella did need to be rescued.  Some times in life all of us may need to be. But just as a princess might need to be rescued by a prince, a real man will need a princess in his life to save him too.  They save each other.  There is nothing wrong with that."

What the world really needs

I am at a loss.  And I have had noisy thoughts and feelings that I have kept to myself bouncing around in my brain.  My social media journey has been long.  It has been good.  It has been a friend.  It has brought a lot of good things into my life.  It has also brought hurt, frustration, anger, regret.  In fact I am embarrassed.  Maybe that is how it is for everyone.  But I like to think that I have learned from my experiences.  I would hope that, just like in other aspects of my life, I have become better... more enlightened...wiser?

At the least, I feel like I have become more...empathetic.  And I think it is a good thing.

I remember getting worked up about a topic awhile ago.  I was opinionated.  I was unsympathetic.  I thought I was right.  I thought the world was crazy.  The world was wrong.  And I hurt people I care about.  Because no matter what I think, other people also have very complex and lifelong ideas.  Good, kind people who are doing good things with their lives have ideas that are actually different than mine.  I decided then that my relationships were the very most important thing.  They were more important than getting likes on Facebook.  They were more important than my prideful ideals of what may or may not be right.  I really started listening.  I stopped thinking that I was right, and they were wrong.  I tried to understand...and most of all, I started doing.

I am trying harder to focus more on what my job actually is.  I am not a brilliant political analyst.  I am not a social worker on the front lines seeing people struggle in difficult circumstances.  I am not an unbiased journalist, if there is such a thing.  But I am a teacher.  And my job is to love every one of the children in my class.  That is the career that I have chosen.  It is not my job to put others in their place, especially on social media.   My job is to love, care for, teach and protect.  I am good at it.  That is what I do.

I feel saddened by the hate that has risen up everywhere.  People who pretend they are good people show the world who they really are with the hate spewing from their fingertips as the criticize people they know nothing about.  So many people I know are so mean.  I didn't know it.  But I do now.  You can try to push down who you really are, and cover it up, especially when you are safely behind a computer screen...but the ugly is showing.  It's out now.  Everyone can see it.  And it has nothing to do with being right.  It is pride, hatred, envy, vengeance, arrogance, and nothing good will come of it.

The 3 adults in my family recently voted in the Presidential Election, like so many others.  We voted for 3 separate and very different Candidates. We still love each other.  We still talk to each other, and maybe the very most remarkable thing is that we understand each other.  Because we know that none of us voted for the what was the worst of the candidates.  The 3 of us voted for what was the best in them with a hope that something they had to offer would be for good.  We all still have that hope.  I am proud of my 19 yr. old for voting the way he did.  I respect him.  He is his own person, with his own opinions, he thought long and hard about who he would vote for.  He is such a good kid.  My husband also made his choice on relevant issues.  I understand them.  I appreciate them.  I respect them.  I voted for the other because I also have very well thought out and complex reasons that are important to me.  And now the election is done and in some ways I feel like the world is falling apart, and I am sick.  Not about the election results.  But because of people.

I just wish we could try a little harder to all listen more.  Try to understand why so many people on both sides voted the way they did.  Have we asked?  Have we listened?

How can we put this behind us and come together?

Maybe this.  Love and service.  God has everything under control...but what will WE do?

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world

What the world needs.  All of us.

No Offense Taken

  Passion is important.  I have passion for a few things in my life.  My family, Education, The Arts, America and all it stands for,  my Faith.  And sometimes I feel like something needs to be said.  In response to a most recent quote by Ex-Mormon Feminist Kate Kelly, I feel the need, once again to take a stand for what I believe and to show what few people may be interested to know how I see it.

In her most recent article from The Guardian:  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/06/gay-mormons-not-the-problem-small-minded-religious-paradigms

Quote:  "Sadly, the Mormon faith has become a place that incentivizes the survival of the least fit. Since strict obedience is demanded and harshly enforced, only the least talented, least articulate, least nuanced thinkers, least likely to take a stand against abuse, and the least courageous people thrive in the Church today"

Right.

 "Sadly, the Mormon faith has become a place that incentivizes the survival of the least fit.

 Since strict obedience is demanded and harshly enforced, only the least talented,

least articulate,

least nuanced thinkers,

  least likely to take a stand against abuse, 

  and the least courageous people thrive in the Church today"


It's not that I am offended by these words.  Taking offense would be my decision to make.  I am not offended.  It's more that I just cant believe that someone who screams for acceptance and tolerance would do the exact opposite of what she is preaching in such a public format.  It's name calling and profiling an entire population, when she doesn't know me, or any of the women I associate with.  We are all individual.  We are intelligent, we are strong, we are talented, yet we can still believe.

Maybe we just all get something that you cant.  Maybe we understand things a little bit more.  I admire all of these women so much because of the questions they have asked and the difficult things they have faced.  Yet they have still managed to come through trials with their faith intact.  They thrive, because of their faith.  I will stand with them.  Their acts speak for themselves.  They, like so many other women I know who endure and understand on a deep level who they are and what their faith means.  I know lots of other women like them.  They do not fit the description you choose to label us as.  Such a harsh generalization only brings your true colors to light.  Once again, those who scream tolerance the loudest really are the least tolerant of all. 

I almost hijacked a facebook friends post....

But decided to move it here since it ended up being so long.  Facebook can be such a hostel place sometimes.  It is so hard to sincerely share opinions and ideas when we are all hiding behind our computer screens where we feel safe and willing to take risks that we often regret.  There are so many hot topics right now, and everyone is weighing in because we all feel safe.  Most of the on-line arguments I see are counter productive and mean spirited.  They are emotionally triggered and that is the place where people are coming from.  People are angry.  People are hurt.  People are protective.  But no one, in my opinion, ever wins an online argument.  And I have watched quite a few over the last few days.  I see a lot of pride on both sides.  Everyone feels that they are right.  Formed opinions are going to stay that way.  We are all just trying harder to prove what we already know.  At the same time, these types of things have helped all of us to be more aware and to form ideas and opinions that become more concrete the more we talk or write about them.  I believe Jesus Christ is the head of the church.  I believe the prophet speaks for him.  I also believe Jesus Christ alone will judge everyone when the time comes.  I do not believe the Ordain Women Movement is sanctioned by God.   I choose to follow the prophet.  I think Kate Kelly's actions are based on pride and disillusionment.  That being said, I feel for them that so many in their movement have been hurt and disregarded by idiots and imperfect people who have made mistakes.  But I see them as a bunch of angry women who just got mad instead of trying to do what they are asking others to do.  Understand.  Because in my opinion they really don't.  And mormon leaders are not "afraid".  It is either the Church of Jesus Christ or it is not.  And we cannot demand or appoint ourselves to make changes so the gospel suits our lifestyle so we feel better about ourselves.  Kate Kelly is not a prophet.  She speaks for herself and the people she represents.  She has appointed herself.  That is not how God works.  THat is the only issue I am willing to take on right now because it's all I feel like I need to take on right now.  BUt I am not willing to judge anyone personally.  ANd I have decided to be kind and empathetic to those who have a different outlook than mine. Because different points of view really have helped me to more perfectly form mine.  But lets just all be nice. 

Roles

At what point do we stop just ignoring what is wrong, and do something about it?  I am all about keeping quiet and brushing things off and feeling sad for misguided souls.  But at what point is it important to stop being silent and standing up for what I believe is right? This "sisters in silence" vigil outside temple square this Sunday is one of those things where I ask myself, do I just let this go?  Do I allow some 100+  women I don't even know to speak for me? Do I allow them to say that I am "cowardly and oppressed" because I am not a part of their movement and they understand something I don't?

 I have never in my life felt discriminated against or unequal in  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I have asked more questions and struggled with issues on a personal level.  I have been angry with my ward leaders at times.  I have prayed about things personally, asked family, friends and church leaders for help.  I have come to terms with many things, and still struggle with others.  But I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.  I want to be like Jesus Christ.  I want to do what he would do and what he wants me to do.  I question my decisions and ask myself if my points of view are based on pride.  Sometimes they are.  Sometimes I don't care.  Sometimes I may not realize it.  But what I do realize is that this Ordain Women movement is built completely on pride.  It is all "what about me?"

I do feel bad for some of these women.  I do.  I feel like the church is run by people who are just trying to do their best.  We really are all The Lord has to work with.  Leaders make mistakes.  People say things they shouldn't. We all stumble and fall and offend and get offended.  I have gone to church leaders when I have been angry...at them!  I have confided in others and asked for help.  I have questioned doctrine in the middle of Gospel Doctrine class.  I have asked questions and searched for answers my entire life.  I have left in the middle of sacrament meeting because something made me so mad I couldn't stand to be there any longer.

I guess the difference between me and some of these other women, and I am only speculating, is that I have known and do know some truly wonderful men who are true followers of Christ.  Starting with my sweet Father who taught me the gospel and sometimes worked 2 and 3 jobs to take care of his family, and still found time to fulfill every church responsibility he had.  I am sure the last thing he wanted to do was to go to  church and sit on the stand and go to meetings all day on Sunday.  I am sure on his only day off he would have much rather have stayed in his pajamas and watched football.  In fact, most of his free-time was spent serving others.  Finding apartments for missionaries to live in, working at the temple, helping whoever needed it. Struggling through life as best he could, making mistakes, and looking to Christ to make things better and to help him find the strength and the answers he needed when he needed them.

My brother who has always been my best friend.  Another guy who works hard to support his family, loves his wife and his children.  All 5 of them.  He carves out time in his crazy schedule of work, starting up a new business, and family responsibilities to be Bishop of his ward where he has been yelled at, called names,  and has done whatever has been asked to do.  He is sincerely so much better than I am in so many ways.   He loves Jesus Christ and has told me often when I am angry with circumstances that I have had in the church that I, am the problem.  He is probably the only one who could tell me that and get away with it.  And so far, he has always been right.

I know he is right because he tells me I am the problem, and logically tells me why, and then asks me to think about it and pray about it.  He also usually has an applicable parable or scripture off the top of his head that he can relate to me about what ever it is I am struggling with.  It usually applies. And yes, he really is that wonderful.  Of course he is not perfect.  And I am not always wrong.  Sometimes he talks me through issues that I have right.  But he is always able to remind me that all of us are just doing the best we can.  We are all the Lord has to work with.

As a Sister Missionary in Chile I saw first hand how plenty of 19 yr. old boys don't understand what it means to be a Priesthood Holder.  I also saw amazing young men who didn't know how to make sense of it all try their best everyday to be a true follower of Christ.  I saw them struggle with how to make right decisions.  I saw them humbly try to teach others how to find happiness.  I saw them serve, be kind to children, be loving and patient and giving to all they met.  I asked them for help.  Of course there were idiots and jerks.  But I was drawn to the good hearted and devoted.  They were my listeners,  my supporters, my helpers, my protectors.  My deepest respect for men in general comes from the examples of these sweet elders who were my friends.

My husband.  I have never loved anyone more than I love Jeff.  He has helped me in so many ways.  He has stood by me, defended me, looked out for me, healed me, loved me in spite of all of my crazy.  And I do have a lot of crazy.  He has made me strong, brave, successful, happy, hopeful, complete.  Life is hard and it is always a struggle.  Things just keep coming.  It never stops.  We continue to stumble forward, not knowing the best way to do the whole parenting thing, marriage thing, life thing.  I appreciate him so much for his commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He fulfills his responsibilities in the church not because that is how he wants to spend his free time, or to show off to all his friends how important he is, but because he loves Jesus Christ and will do whatever needs to be done.  Whatever is asked of him.  He is committed.  Just like so many other men I know.

Like my Bishops.  All of them.  From one of my first Bishops back in Michigan who let his daughter come to my house when other members of my ward were to scared to let their kids come play on my side of town.  (I grew up pretty poor just outside of Detroit)  To a Bishop who validated a new baptist member who had just been baptized.  The new guy started singing a gospel song and wanted us all to sing along in testimony meeting and I was so embarrassed for the guy.  But then my amazing Bishop got up and validated the whole thing, and in that moment taught me that testimony meeting is in large part about tolerance and pride.  Pride when one may think that what they have to say is more important than what someone else may have to say.  We all need to be heard.

I have had sweet and extremely tolerant Bishops when I was a self-centered brat during my college years, when it was really all about me.  And my Bishops in recent years who have listened to me complain about my problems, looked to for advice, and tolerated me with divine patience as I questioned them angrily and struggled to come to terms with things that are not right and are beyond my control.  I have never felt anything but an outpouring of love and kindness and a willingness to serve and help.  This is what Bishops do.

Youth leaders who have helped me with my boys more than they could ever fully understand.  Amazing, unselfishness, committed men who care and show genuine concern.  They have willingly intervened during some of my families difficult and uncertain times to be a true friend and guardian angel.  I love them so much. 

I understand the importance of Gender.  As a mother of boys exclusively I know that I worry about them just as much as any mother of girls worries about her daughters.  I want them to be happy, successful, and confident.  I want them to know who they are and what they are capable of.  I am defensive and protective of who they are.  All of who they are.  I want them to be respected and individual.  I want them to honor women and eventually be good husbands and fathers and contributing  members of the community who serve and help whoever they can.  I want them to be followers of Jesus Christ and treat people they way he taught us to treat each other.

 I do not pretend to know why men have been called to hold the priesthood.  Or why it is entirely reserved for them.  I do not pretend to speak for anyone but myself.  I do not have technical reasons, or persuasive arguments.  All I know is how I feel.  And I feel at peace with the whole thing.  I feel that through Faith, I too can see miracles.  I can talk to my Heavenly Father and he hears me.  I have all of the blessings of the Priesthood because of the Priesthood.  I feel respected, loved, admired and equal.  And I feel tired.  Because really, I do too much as it is.  The last thing I want to do is go and set up all the chairs on Sunday morning before the meetings start.  But I appreciate all the boys who do.

Cats

I always thought of myself as a dog person.  Dogs are wonderful, sweet, loyal, loving.  But they are a lot of work.  When we lost our sweet dog Rex, I knew it would be awhile before we got another dog.  My life had changed so much, from stay at home mom to full time teacher.  No one was ever home to be there for a dog. 

So last November, right before Thanksgiving, I left to go grocery shopping, and without even thinking about it, decided to go look at cats at Petsmart.  I got there and saw Charlotte.  She was so small and sweet in cage there.  I hadn't planned on getting a cat that night, in fact, I thought I was allergic to them, which I am.  But I didnt care.  I wanted her.  I left with her. 

She turned out to be a real brat.  She hates to be held, rarely likes to be petted, but she has caught 3 mice since she has been here.  I hate mice.  Sometimes I wonder if there is something wrong with her because she is such a brat.  She likes to be in the room with us.  But always on her own terms.  Clint had an allergic reaction to her when we first go her and broke out in hives.  He has gotten better.  He is allergic to lots of things.  But we are keeping the cats and just dealing with the symptoms.

IN the summer, Derek decided he wanted his own cat.  I decided I wanted a sweet one.  I had a sweet one growing up, and a bratty one.  Pretzel was the sweet one.  He was my sisters black and white tuxedo cat.  We thing Pretzel just went somewhere to die when he was old and toothless.  He was such a sweet and patient cat.  And a good mouser, protector, and friend.  Then we got Tiffanee.   She was awful.  Long haired, snotty, useless. 

I was hoping to find one like Pretzel.  Derek and I answered an ad on KSL for kittens at a farm in Riverton.  We drove out to the farm and found 7 kittens that were all so different.  All of them darling.  We saw Wilson asleep under the stairs and Derek picked him up.  It was instant love.  Wilson was so tired from playing all night.  I tried to talk Derek into getting the sweet little striped kitty, that I ended up bringing home too and talking my friend Clare into adopting, because people with small houses really should not have more than 2 cats.

Charlotte did not eat or drink for 3 days after we brought her home.  She just hid under things and ran from everyone.  Wilson was just the opposite.  He ate right away, and even rubbed up against Charlotte right away and won her over quickly.  They were almost immediate friends.

Derek named him Wilson right away after a character in a darkish video game because he was black.  We loved the name and new it was just right for him right away.  And I was impressed with Derek for naming him such a cool name instead of "Midnight" or "Blackie".  T.S. Eliot, the famous poet who wrote all about cats says that the cats choose their own names and then let you know.  That was most likely the case for Wilson.

He sleeps with Derek, and usually cries a little when Derek leaves.  Both the cats meet us at the door when we come home.  The like to kiss the first person who comes in the door.  If I hold Wilson when I come home, he literally takes all my stress and worry away.  I dont' know how he does it, but he does.  He loves to be held like a baby.  That could be becasue when he was a baby, people held him constantly.  He is used to being loved.  And he really does love us.  Sometimes he just cant get enough love.  Sometimes he likes to just be left alone.  But he never minds if we pick him up.  He never gets upset, or impatient.  I just love him so much and he makes me so happy because he is just so sweet.  He is playful, and has a cheerful little "meow".  Poor Charlotte just has trauma.  I know she wants us to love her, but at the same time she doesn't.  All shelter kitties probably have trauma.  Poor things.  But Wilson loves her and has helped her.  Clint really loves Charlotte and the 2 of them kind of understand each other.   Pets are just so good for kids.  And they are good for adults too.  I just love my kitty so much.  Wilson does so much for all of us.  So does Charlotte in her own way.  Animals are such amazing things.  And I am so glad they are part of our lives.