Tomorrow is the beginning of another General Conference weekend. (if you're not sure what that is, click here for more info) I'm so excited this year to listen for a new little insight that I've discovered the past six months.
Every day to keep up my Spanish I read a little bit of the Spanish Liahona- a magazine published by the LDS church. The Liahona includes articles for children, teens and adults. Just like in any language, the children's articles are written in simple words that can be easily read and understood by someone who has only been reading a few years. For me, the kids' articles are a breeze- I often sit down and read a couple stories before I even realize I'm reading Spanish. The articles for teens take slightly more thought, and the articles for adults require my 100% concentration and often the help of a Spanish/English dictionary.
This might sound slightly surprising to you if you've never learned a second language. I know before I joined the bilingual ranks myself, I always assumed that once you were 'fluent' in a language you were just as good at it as you are your first language. I was surprised when my Spanish teacher in the missionary training center admitted one day that he actually hadn't ever learned the Spanish word for door nob. 'How is that possible?' I thought, 'You're fluent.' Boy did I have a LOT of lessons in store for me.
I soon realized that I would never be finished looking up words in the Spanish language. After all, I still have to do that in English! As I became more and more comfortable speaking Spanish I learned that the key to speaking a second language well wasn't necessary knowing every word, but being able to take a thought and figure out how to express it in the limited vocabulary you already had. It's like playing a never ending game of Taboo.
Keeping this in mind, you'll understand my delight when, every time I finish reading an article written by Dieter F Uchtdorf I look up and think to myself- oh yeah, I was just reading Spanish! It's the same response I get when I read the kids' articles.
President Uchtdorf's first language is German but he gives his talks in English, a second language he speaks very well. So well that I'd never imagined his vocabulary to be limited in any way. However, as I read his addresses in Spanish I realized he's playing that second language Taboo game right along with the rest of us. Every single word he uses in his talks is a word I know in Spanish- which says a lot since I have the Spanish reading comprehension of a young kid. Yet with that simple language he shares deep and interesting thoughts that enlighten the minds of the most educated adult. It's a beautiful result that could only be done by someone who had to learn English the hard way.
So this weekend I especially look forward to listening to the addresses given by President Uchtdorf and those speakers who have been working not only to compose a talk for millions to hear, but to translate it into a language that is not their own. Their extra effort and discomfort (I can not imagine speaking to so many people in a second language!) allows us to have intricate truths explained plain and clear. I am so excited to listen and appreciate their efforts a little more this time around.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Family Photos
I got a 500 gig external hard drive back in October when I started digitizing my family's old photos. The hard drive holds nothing but family photos and movies so you can imagine my surprise when I went to back up the last bunch that I've been working on and there wasn't enough room to store them all!
500 gigs of old photos and videos is a lot- those files aren't huge like our 12 megapixel cameras or HD video cameras now days. That hard drive holds literally thousands of old photos and about 10 years worth of home videos. Going through so many photos all at once has been a different experience than I expected. I didn't realize how much I'd learn about keeping a family history through images. Since I certainly hope none of you will ever have the 'opportunity' to be stuck in bed for months on end, unable to do anything but digitize 40 years of family photos, I thought I'd share a couple interesting things I've learned.
Photos
My new goal: Take pictures of people, places and things that make up every day life rather than focusing on a the main events.
If you're like me, you'll probably make sure to grab your camera at big events like birthdays and Christmas and then just happen to take a few shots in between. Those times seem like the most important at the time, but as my Mom and I went through our old slides it was amazing to see how, while we enjoyed looking at the birthday and Christmas pictures, the pictures we LOVED were the ones that reminded us of what every day life was like. My personal favorites were of me sitting and playing in my doll house (my favorite toy growing up) or standing in my bedroom which was a disaster of toys spewing from every corner. I could have easily see my mom thinking- we're not getting a picture of that mess of a room! But I'm so glad she did- seeing all my old favorite things brought back so many memories and seeing my room like that reminded me of what life was really like and how I used to think.
Additionally, while it was great to find a few beautifully composed shots that were worthy of a frame on our living room wall, my favorite pictures were those that included places we'd been, friends I played with or things we did. A lot of those pictures were blurry or had bad lighting. Of course it would have been nice to have a beautiful shot of those things, but I'm glad no one threw away what we did have just because the picture wasn't perfect.
Videos
My New Goals: (1)Take more videos (2) Interact with those on camera rather than just sitting back and watching an event (3) Make a 'Day in the life' video every few years
(1)We digitized all the photos and then moved to video. After looking through all those photos I thought I understood what life was like back when I was little and couldn't remember many details. But I was so wrong! As soon as I watched those old home movies it was like I'd stepped into our old lives for a few minutes. Photos are great, but there is just nothing like a home movie! Photos capture a moment, but videos capture life and feeling. I've always kind of put home videos into a 'less important' category below photos. I felt like no one ever got them out and watched them, but honestly- how often do we pull out the old photo albums? For me, this digitizing process was the first time in my entire life for both, so I'd say that reasoning doesn't really work for my any more. Video is my new number one.
(2) We have so many hours of birthdays and Christmas and football games (those three things were just about equally important in our family- with football slightly above the rest.) And again, they're fun to watch. But then every once in a while my dad would pull one of us aside and ask us a few questions- How did the game go? Tell me about that great play you made. What was your favorite present this Christmas? etc. I enjoyed watching the 'interviews' so much more than anything else.
(3) Day in the Life video. Back in '87 my parents didn't own a video camera so they rented one for one day. We did a 'day in the life' video where we just kept the camera going for the whole day. My dad interviewed each of us, asking how old we were and what we liked to do best. He filmed us jumping in the leaves, going to Bill's football game and helping our mom make dinner. It feels like you walk right into our house and spend the day with us. I felt like of all the years of videos I've gone through- that year was documented the best. And it was the year when we only had a camera for one day. As we watched it we thought about how great it would have been if we'd done that every 5 years or so- just to see how the dynamics of our family life had changed as we all grew up.
Organization
My new goal: Download, back up and organize as I go
My parents had VHS tapes and mini video tapes and those half sized video tapes all waiting to be copied. The VHS tapes were easy-since that was a very common technology for so long you don't have any problem digitizing those to a DVD. But the other tapes that were made specifically for a video camera were harder. My goal is just to get all our photos and videos to the most common technology. That way in 20 years when we want to update it to the newest thing it will be easier to do.
Also, for as much time as it took to digitize everything, it took longer to organize it all. You don't have to go crazy with organization, just keep all the things from one year together. In a folder on your computer, in a big box in your closet- it doesn't matter. It doesn't need to be beautifully scrapbooked or perfectly edited. It just needs to be together.
Last of all, because everything is digital now things are SO easy to lose. I was so excited to see that there are very affordable external hard drives now that back everything up automatically. And they have tons of memory so you won't have to worry about them getting full for a long time. All you have to do is plug them into your computer, take a few minutes to set things up, and then for the rest of time that hard drive will back up all your stuff all by itself. Amazing!
500 gigs of old photos and videos is a lot- those files aren't huge like our 12 megapixel cameras or HD video cameras now days. That hard drive holds literally thousands of old photos and about 10 years worth of home videos. Going through so many photos all at once has been a different experience than I expected. I didn't realize how much I'd learn about keeping a family history through images. Since I certainly hope none of you will ever have the 'opportunity' to be stuck in bed for months on end, unable to do anything but digitize 40 years of family photos, I thought I'd share a couple interesting things I've learned.
Photos
My new goal: Take pictures of people, places and things that make up every day life rather than focusing on a the main events.
If you're like me, you'll probably make sure to grab your camera at big events like birthdays and Christmas and then just happen to take a few shots in between. Those times seem like the most important at the time, but as my Mom and I went through our old slides it was amazing to see how, while we enjoyed looking at the birthday and Christmas pictures, the pictures we LOVED were the ones that reminded us of what every day life was like. My personal favorites were of me sitting and playing in my doll house (my favorite toy growing up) or standing in my bedroom which was a disaster of toys spewing from every corner. I could have easily see my mom thinking- we're not getting a picture of that mess of a room! But I'm so glad she did- seeing all my old favorite things brought back so many memories and seeing my room like that reminded me of what life was really like and how I used to think.
Additionally, while it was great to find a few beautifully composed shots that were worthy of a frame on our living room wall, my favorite pictures were those that included places we'd been, friends I played with or things we did. A lot of those pictures were blurry or had bad lighting. Of course it would have been nice to have a beautiful shot of those things, but I'm glad no one threw away what we did have just because the picture wasn't perfect.
Videos
My New Goals: (1)Take more videos (2) Interact with those on camera rather than just sitting back and watching an event (3) Make a 'Day in the life' video every few years
(1)We digitized all the photos and then moved to video. After looking through all those photos I thought I understood what life was like back when I was little and couldn't remember many details. But I was so wrong! As soon as I watched those old home movies it was like I'd stepped into our old lives for a few minutes. Photos are great, but there is just nothing like a home movie! Photos capture a moment, but videos capture life and feeling. I've always kind of put home videos into a 'less important' category below photos. I felt like no one ever got them out and watched them, but honestly- how often do we pull out the old photo albums? For me, this digitizing process was the first time in my entire life for both, so I'd say that reasoning doesn't really work for my any more. Video is my new number one.
(2) We have so many hours of birthdays and Christmas and football games (those three things were just about equally important in our family- with football slightly above the rest.) And again, they're fun to watch. But then every once in a while my dad would pull one of us aside and ask us a few questions- How did the game go? Tell me about that great play you made. What was your favorite present this Christmas? etc. I enjoyed watching the 'interviews' so much more than anything else.
(3) Day in the Life video. Back in '87 my parents didn't own a video camera so they rented one for one day. We did a 'day in the life' video where we just kept the camera going for the whole day. My dad interviewed each of us, asking how old we were and what we liked to do best. He filmed us jumping in the leaves, going to Bill's football game and helping our mom make dinner. It feels like you walk right into our house and spend the day with us. I felt like of all the years of videos I've gone through- that year was documented the best. And it was the year when we only had a camera for one day. As we watched it we thought about how great it would have been if we'd done that every 5 years or so- just to see how the dynamics of our family life had changed as we all grew up.
Organization
My new goal: Download, back up and organize as I go
My parents had VHS tapes and mini video tapes and those half sized video tapes all waiting to be copied. The VHS tapes were easy-since that was a very common technology for so long you don't have any problem digitizing those to a DVD. But the other tapes that were made specifically for a video camera were harder. My goal is just to get all our photos and videos to the most common technology. That way in 20 years when we want to update it to the newest thing it will be easier to do.
Also, for as much time as it took to digitize everything, it took longer to organize it all. You don't have to go crazy with organization, just keep all the things from one year together. In a folder on your computer, in a big box in your closet- it doesn't matter. It doesn't need to be beautifully scrapbooked or perfectly edited. It just needs to be together.
Last of all, because everything is digital now things are SO easy to lose. I was so excited to see that there are very affordable external hard drives now that back everything up automatically. And they have tons of memory so you won't have to worry about them getting full for a long time. All you have to do is plug them into your computer, take a few minutes to set things up, and then for the rest of time that hard drive will back up all your stuff all by itself. Amazing!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Games, Games, Games
I know that as soon as I say this, everyone who knew me in college is going to laugh out loud. But here it goes... Doug and I have really been into playing games lately.
I know, I know. But let me explain before you laugh too hard.
When I look back at college I just envision me sitting in a room full of people I don't know, being completely humiliated because we were playing a board game that is supposedly fun. Not my favorite thing. And after a few years of it I got more vocal about my opinions. Those games were horrible! (I'm not going to name any because I'd inevitably horribly offend someone) They either made me feel stupid, horribly awkward, super embarrassed or (most often) all of the above. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.
So when some friends invited us over to play games a while back I was hesitant. But we went. It was the weirdest thing- I had fun. I think it was a first for me. Since then we've found a whole list of games that we've enjoyed playing- mostly all Eurogames. Our current favorites being Carcassonne, Agricola and Dominion. It's been a great way for us to spend the evenings when I'm too sick to get off the couch.
Who Knew?!
Happy Spring
It happens to me every year. I'm always telling myself not to get excited about the warm whether until May. But March is always so tricky with its warm days here and there... and then the crocuses come and I think, If the crocuses think is spring, they must be right! Never mind the fact that they get snowed on every year...
Maybe one year I'll stick to my May philosophy. But not this year.
Happy Spring!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Catch Up
Life has been so necessarily low key lately (a requirement that comes when half of the household has to be in bed 22 hours of the day.... everyday....) that it's hard to even think of anything worthy of a blog update. But I suppose there have a been a few mini things-
-Doug and I went out to Ohio for a week. We went out for a doctor visit which left much to be desired, but we had a fun week hanging with my parents.
-I celebrated my birthday- My Grandpa Stacey even surprised me by bringing over a cake! I'm not typically the receiver of cake (I like making cakes so much you'd have a hard time convincing me not to make my own) so it was a nice surprise. My mom made me a cake too while we were in Ohio, so I was doubly spoiled this year.
-Doug worked very hard to make our extra bedroom into a studio for me. Which of course involved changing the wall color and adding chair railing and wainscoting, because we're apparently addicted to home projects (but it looks so good! How could we not!?). We moved in an adjustable bed and a hospital table (the kind that fits over your bed) so that I can paint and draw in bed- something that I have missed so much! For a girl who can't sit up longer than 30 mins or so, this set up has opened up more doors than you can imagine. I know this is nerdy of me, but there have been so many things that this illness has stolen from me and it just feels so good to find ways to steal them back! It makes me feel like we're winning. I just love my new studio and spend all day, every day in there now.
-Valentine's Day! I had a lot of fun making V-day decorations this year. I copied an idea that my aunt does for valentine's day dinner- She sets the table all fancy and places a box in the center filled with little goodies. Then she strings ribbon from each place setting- one end tied to a quote about love (usually something funny from a movie or something) and the other end tied to a present that's in the box. During dinner we all go around and read our quote and pull out our prize. This year we had our own dinner- it doesn't look nearly as cool with only two ribbons coming out of the box (when my aunt does it there are usually 10-12 people) but we still had fun!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy New Year!
Welcome 2011! I'm so excited for a new year and a fresh start on life. I hope it brings all of you much joy.
I had a bunch of requests to see my completed Christmas book. I just sent it in to get printed and I'm so excited to get it back and get to use it in December. Here's a virtual version of it- you can flip through the pages and see what it's like (click on the square with the arrows to see it big enough to actually read it). My favorite part was making the time line- it was so fun to watch as it got closer and closer to Christmas!
I had a bunch of requests to see my completed Christmas book. I just sent it in to get printed and I'm so excited to get it back and get to use it in December. Here's a virtual version of it- you can flip through the pages and see what it's like (click on the square with the arrows to see it big enough to actually read it). My favorite part was making the time line- it was so fun to watch as it got closer and closer to Christmas!
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