So, oficially, I have been engaged for a year and two months. And it has been a really rocky year. I have gone from planning three weddings, to not getting married, cause I was so mad at him. I have felt that sheer bliss of being in love, to the lonliest of lonelys cause I didn't ever think that I would feel that again.
But, I believe that once again, I have found that sheer bliss stage. Between my prayers and moms prayers and Murphy's prayers, my heart has been softened and I am open to the idea of getting married. There are still some things that I would like to see happen before the big day, but I am working towards allowing the big day to take place.
This is a big thing for me. I was ready to start dating, move out of state and go back to school, and go to a singles ward. I was done with the entire relationship; until mom prayed. And then, well, it was history. I am now finding myself thinking of colors for the wedding. I think about where we are going to live.
And in the end, all I can say is that I am one of the best Fickle Females that I know.
Darn. I guess that means I have no chance. Who is this lucky guy anyway?
ReplyDeleteAnd why did you plan three weddings? And why were you so mad at him? This could be a great novel. I need to know, now. For professional reason, of course.
ReplyDeleteNo. Its not love. (you asked) I think he wants in on the family nursery business and you're his pathway to riches. I think a prenuptual agreement is in order. I can draw it up for you. Do you want a sample of my work?
ReplyDeleteI guess not...as far as the chances go. His name is Murphy Sofoifa. And the three wedding were planned because it was postponed due to his studies that many times. Quite the adventure, if you ask me. I was mad at him because of cultural differences that I wasn't ready for. There is a bigger story, but how do you write all of that in the comment space. Maybe one day I'll dedicate an entire post about it. As far as family riches go, where are they, and how do i get in on them?
ReplyDeleteThere is no limit on the number of words in a comment space. Write on my dear. Write on...
ReplyDeleteCultural differences?
ReplyDeleteAnd can we come visit you in Guatemala?
write on....huh? Well, being raised as a very independent, head-strong, opinionated sort of girl, it is hard to mesh with someone who was raised with women begin very docile, who follow the leader, so to speak and who always listen to the men and do as they are told. Now, Murphy does not expect all of that, but he does tell me how to dress and what shoes 'I look better in' and so forth. We have discussed all of this and he now understands me even more and so we hope that things will work out. And all are welcome in Guatemala if that is where we choose to live. But that will only be for a short time...before we move back to the states.
ReplyDeletePoor Murphy. No wonder he cancelled three times.
ReplyDeleteWear the pointy black pumps or its over girl.
Poor Murphy nothing....and I canceled once.
ReplyDeleteAnd if it's the pointy black pumps or nothing... I choose my own shoes.
Who's this Woolley guy? :)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear the whole epiphany. Love you!
Mr. David Woolley is a great friend who has written some of my favorite books. He can be hilarious, which is why we keep him around. (oh, plus the books). Thanks Dave.
ReplyDeleteAlicia I have so much to tell you...and so little time in life. One of these days I am going to call. I promise. Did you get the text that I changed my number?
by the way Dave - I am interested in seeing your legal binding prenup stuff. Could you send it asap? Thanks - I appreciate it! :)
ReplyDeleteYou hope things will work out? Hope? Honey, you're getting married. There's no turning back. You better do more than hope.
ReplyDeleteRedo that wardrobe with a Mayan twist and you'll have something concrete on which to found your betrothal. No more of this willy nilly hope stuff. Tell Murphy its all about the family green, potted, top soil, miracle grow, tulip, pansey, marigold, petunia, evergreen, deciduous fortune. That's something you can understand in any language.
Can I post your prenuptial agreement here in the comment section?
ReplyDeletePretty please?
Or would you prefer it as a gift at your shower?
post away baby, post away.
ReplyDeleteand by the way...clarify for me what a wardrobe with a mayan twist looks like, since you are all knowing.
Thanks -
I think you should end your friendship with Alicia and cut off all ties immeidately. The woman has a can of diet coke on her blog.
ReplyDeleteDid I ever tell you what I think of diet coke? Do you want me to tell you?
No more diet coke friends. Ever!
who is now showing their machismo attitude. you really shouldn't tell me what to do Dave. And Alicia and I go way back; and is the best friend a girl could ask for. So why would I end the friendship, just cause you don't like diet coke.
ReplyDeleteAnd please tell, what does diet coke have? besides caffeine, sugar, flavors, and more sugar?
By the way, how did you see her blog? I thought she went private?
ReplyDeleteGood for you!
ReplyDeleteHi Whitney...good to hear from you. How goes the pregnancy?
ReplyDeleteMachismo? What's that. I was just being a guy. For goodness sakes. No diet coke friends. Ever.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so here is what I think of Diet Coke in a nut shell or you can read this and view the video on my blog in a post titled DON'T FAKE IT
by David G. Woolley
Editor's note: This post continues a Word of Wisdom look at the food we eat. With the holiday season upon us, what better time for a gut check? Today its artificial sweeteners.
She was a soccer mom and a dental hygienist. For the sake of privacy let's call her Sandy. An exercise nut. She maintained a vigorous weekly routine. Three days at the gym with her husband, Brad. On the off days she biked, walked or jogged. She had four handsome sons. All athletic. Physical activity was part of their lives so it was a shock to everyone when Brad got a call from Sandy's dental office. Her hands were numb. She couldn't feel her left arm. And when she went to take a break she walked into a wall. She was losing motor control quickly and could Brad come over to the office ASAP?
Sandy took some vacation time to deal with the symptoms. She saw a few doctors and took a battery of tests. A general practitioner. A neurologist. A psychiatrist. An internist. The tests were negative. No one knew what caused her symptoms. The numbness. The pain in her muscles. The inability to control her fingers. The tripping over curbs. The poor mobility. The falling down. The frustration. Some of the symptoms indicated multiple sclerosis (MS) and none of the doctors wanted to scare her with a prognosis of early stage Parkinson's Disease. They settled on a diagnosis of inconclusive and asked her to consider spending $60,000 plus for a month of testing in a neurosurgeon's office. That's when they called and asked me what I thought.
I said, "So Sandy, what's your diet like?"
She said, "The usual. You know, what everyone eats. Normal food. We eat out of a can a lot."
Turns out the usual included a lot of processed foods and junk food. Not a lot of fresh fruits or vegetables. And then there was this culprit:
I said, "Do you drink any diet sodas?"
She said, "I love Diet Coke." She had one nearly every day.
Sandy's symptoms were like millions of others who consume artificial sweeteners. They go after the nervous system. Destroy the myelin sheath around the neurons, essentially rendering them useless. Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel, Spoonfuls, DiabetiSweet). Saccharin (Sweet'N Low, SugarTwin). Acesulfame K (Sunett, Sweet One). Sucralose (Splenda). They've been accused of carcinogenic bad deeds, but the link to cancer is inconclusive (there's that word again).
What isn't so inconclusive is their association with MS-like symptoms, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's Disease, ADHD, Depression, and the list of neurologic disorders grows longer every year. Millions are affected, but little is done because the law requires food additives be physiologically inert. Once artificial sweeteners got the coveted inert status, the FDA relinquished oversight. They made the GRAS list (generally regarded as safe) and are now considered by government authorities as harmless as flour, raisins or cinnamon. The history of FDA approval of aspartame is an education in food additive law. Its also a wake up call to carefully monitor the processed foods you eat.
I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. It makes great fiction and terrific movies but often bad science. The data is usually inconclusive (once again). Conspiracies are harder to nail down in real life. Aren't people generally concerned about the health and welfare of others over, say, profit? Likely not when there's piles of money at stake. Take a look at this Fox News report on FDA approval of aspartame and see if you don't agree that some food additives, if not most, qualify as a consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days (Doctrine & Covenants 89:4):
SEE VIDEO ON MY BLOG
I said, "So Sandy. Why don't you let me take you and Brad to the grocery store. A few changes to your diet and we can get this under control."
The next day I got a call. Sandy decided to go with the neurosurgeon's office. I couldn't blame her. She was scared. Things weren't getting better.
After thirty days and a $60,000.00 medical tab I got another call. The doctors still didn't have a diagnosis and no recommendations for treatment. The symptoms were getting worse. They were ready for a trip to the grocery store.
We spent a hundred dollars and then went to their home and cooked up all sorts of recipes. She had to re-learn how to prepare meals without all those processed foods. I threw out her supply of Diet Coke and Sandy promised to stay away from it.
Within one week the numbness was gone. In two weeks her balance and motor control returned. The headaches disappeared. The fatigue gone. The pain was out of her life. She went back to work and five years later, she's still happy, healthy and symptom free. She's also a much healthier eater. Not too many desserts. Few processed foods. No Diet anything.
Aspartame is the most widely used artificial sweetener. It’s that chain of elements floating in the glass featured in the photo above. A synthetic compound made up of Phenylalanine and Aspartic Acid held in a chemical bond by Methanol (its that lower left hand branch of the chemical chain in the photo), which breaks down into Formic Acid, Formaldehyde and Diketopiperazine (DKP). It's the DKP that’s associated with brain tumors.
Aspartame breaks down more quickly with heat so the risk is higher in hot drinks like hot chocolate or in soda that has likely been out in the sun at some point in its journey to your fridge, the vending machine or the convenience store cooler. If you've ever tasted a diet drink that didn't taste sweet the aspartame has broken down into one of these three neurotoxins (nerve poisons).
Aspartame toxicity produces all sorts of nasty symptoms like migraines, depression, seizures, attention deficit disorder, angry rages, joint pain, muscle spasm, even obesity by signaling to your brain to expect carbohydrates that never reach the stomach. So what does your body do? It sounds the hunger alarm and you experience some pretty powerful food cravings. Its hard to resist over-eating when you think you're responding to a natural, God-given urge to eat. In the case of aspartame there's nothing God-given. Its all fake. Aspartame also mimics diseases like MS, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's Disease, and fibromyalgia. Migraines may appear quickly in some people, while in others there may be no symptoms for some time. Biochemical individuality plays a role in how quickly and severely you're affected.
If you or someone you care about has any of these symptoms, get rid of aspartame in their diet. I did that for my parents. I wish I'd done it much sooner. My dear sweet mother is a Parkinson's Disease sufferer or at least the symptoms mimic the disease. The doctors aren't certain. They treat her with medication prescribed for Parkinson's Disease. Some days she can hardly shuffle along. The disease cripples and twists her body. The frustration is palpable. The futility terrible. The hopelessness almost unbearable.
I wonder if she could have avoided the loss of mobility, the numbness, or the on again off again paralysis that twists her left foot under and pulls her head down if we'd only been more proactive many years ago. In Sandy's case we removed the cause and reversed the damage before it was permanent. My mother wasn't so lucky. The doctors tell us there's no treatment. The tests remain inconclusive. Sound familiar?
If I appear somewhat passionate about your health, maybe even a little over the top, I'm not. Listening to the council of the Lord when he advises us to avoid a lot of the unhealthy additives in processed foods and enjoy the fruit of the vine in order to enjoy good health just makes sense. There's no doubt Satan wants to limit your free agency. That's His plan. Its been that way since before the foundation of the world. And what could be more limiting to your free agency than loss of nervous system control? There's nothing inconclusive about that.
May your holiday eating be filled with healthy foods. And if you're considering having a little something sweet, which I don’t recommend unless its a Christmas orange, at least do the smart thing.
Don't fake it!
__________________________
Join author David G. Woolley at his Promised Land Website.
Can I just say wow!!!! I never knew anyone who could write so much stuff in a comment space.
ReplyDeleteBut really Dave...I agree with you. And I actually had already read that post on your blog and found it quite interesting. Goes really well with the article in the ensign, I think January, maybe December. You should read it sometime.
But that doesn't mean that we can judge other people. Alicia is a marvelous person and a great mom and the best kind of friend a girl could ask for. So, I will still be here friend if she drinks diet coke.
But I hope that doesn't mean that we can't be friends. It would be sad to lose my comic relief throughout the days.
Okay. You can be friends with Alicia if I can be machismo-isimo.
ReplyDeleteAnd if she promises to drink her diet coke in a well ventilated space when she's in public near the rest of us. The Utah Clean Air Act lives on!
Fair?
Fair enough. I'm glad this is settled. Have a great day!
ReplyDelete