18 April 2011

Amazing

PhotoRec - CGSecurity

OMG this totally just saved me! and it wasn't that hard to use! but a shout-out to my dad and brother who helped verse me in the ways of computing.

17 April 2011

Vexillology

Cool title, right? It is the scholarly study of flags. Just thought I'd share that.

Living in Albuquerque is cool. We are experiencing the city newly every day, since we're still in our first year. There are four seasons here: luminarias, wind, monsoon, and balloons. Many people know about the Balloon Fiesta and that Albuquerque is the hot air balloon capital of the world, in fact, I mentioned it here before. Apparently there is some kind of rare atmospheric condition referred to as the Albuquerque Box which creates a circular pattern of air currents that is ideal for ballooning. But it's not just once a year that you see balloons. We have seen balloons in every month but December and January. It is a simple joy, but it starts your day off right to see them flying along nearly every morning.

Not all is blissful, but sometimes the city is a little bizarre. This is the notorious pre-tax day weekend and I'm sure that you will see the people dancing on the corners in their statue of liberty costumes. In the brief time we were out and about on Saturday we saw a guy with gauges big enough to fit your hand through, a guy who looked like Jerry Garcia, and another guy who kept whacking a little inflatable person with his arrow sign. All dressed up like Lady Liberty. I'm glad I do my taxes at home!

If you are not new to my blog, then you will see a new addition. There is an "I'm a mormon" button. I have a confession: I am a mormon. I mentioned before how I had started a personal profile on mormon.org. I didn't actually finish doing that, but previous to this month's General Conference I was seriously considering it. What finally inspired me to finish was seeing a friend's blog. I followed the link from his mormon button to his personal profile, and remembered some really good times from BYU and sharing faith among almost everyone who surrounded me. Eventually the button will lead to my profile, but each of them has to be approved (thank goodness!). They probably are backed up from in increased traffic after Conference.

I was able to share my faith today also. I was subbing in the Gospel Doctrine class again, and the lesson was "Who is my Neighbour?". I started the class with having everyone stand and greet one another like in Catholic Mass and the exchanging of the kiss of peace. During my preparations I came across Mark 9:83-41 and thought that it would be appropriate to share. A big part of being a neighbor is reaching out to others of the Christian faith. We all believe in Christ, and though I made sure to emphasize my testimony of the Church and the Restoration, I think we need to take a step toward opening our minds and our hearts to those that share in a majority of what we believe. I almost didn't mention the scripture in the lesson since it didn't exactly fit, and we were short on time. But I did, and little did I know there was a Methodist man visiting with a friend sitting in the front row, and he mentioned to me afterward how welcoming it was to feel that. I really love being able to teach, and all the little old ladies make sure to grab me and thank me for the lesson. They also ask me if I'm Canadian, since I spelled neighbor with a '-our' on the board, and to mention that I remind them of the tailor from Fiddler on the Roof.