Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly

Dear Family and Friends, in case you were not already painfully aware I am a huge fan of cheesy songs, books and movies. One of my favorite "songs" is the sunscreen song, if you have not yet had the opportunity to listen or read the song I highly recommend that you do so. In order to help you on your way to "enlightenment" I have kindly included a transcript of some of the words in this blog... I thought you would appreciate it... I am just so nice.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.


I am so glad that you all had the opportunity to read the uplifting words to that advice column/commencement address (the orgin is still disputed) I think that even though the song is a bit cheesy the advice given is actually applicable to most of us...


So besides listening to cheesy songs what have we been up to? Well that is a great question. We havent been up to much. Yesterday we celebrated our secong wedding anniversary... we bought new furniture last weekend to celebrate (if you havent been introduced to my facination with Ikea please see the previous blog entry). I feel like an old married person now, lets face it 2 years is a long time to be married at BYU.

Brian still in school (only a few weeks left). I think that he is ready for a break and then graduation, not sure how he feels about those last two semesters. He went fishing twice this last week. On Friday night he caught several catfish including 2 at the same time! I know you are all dying for pictures but I cant find the cord to connec the camera to the computer so you will all have to wait on the edge of your seats... sorry. Brian has been trying to patiently introduce me to Lord of the RIngs. First off, lets face the reality, i have seen all of the movies multiple times, but if you have ever watched a movie with me you are aware that I cannot just watch a movie, i need to do something else at the same time. Anyway I think Brian is hoping that his commentary will help me sit still, we only have an hour left so we might just make it.

We hope that you all have a very exciting week!!