Hotel Rwanda

So the other night, Parker and I watched Hotel Rwanda. I am sure that most of you have seen it before, but Parker hadn't. In fact, we had it for about a month before we actually watched it. I just knew I would be sad after it, and I had to be in the right mood. Before I jump up onto my giant soap box, I want to tell a different story.

I just started working part time at the Boys and Girls Club in Mid-Vale. It's a summer gig, and so far, I can't get enough. I LOVE IT. Which for those of you who followed my blog during the dark months of my last job, welcome to the arrival of Bekah's happiness in the working world. Am I making near as much money as before???? NEVER! But, I love going to work each day. I have awesome people to talk with, awesome teens to work with, and awesome satisfaction knowing in a small way, I am making a positive difference.

NOW, let me tell you my story. I worked a teenage girls' sleepover last weekend. Besides the fact that the girls didn't go to sleep until 5:30am and had to be up at 8:00am, I would call it a success. I was pretty tired by about 5:00am, but I am glad for the bonding which occurred. Earlier in the day, I was talking with one of the teenagers. She is a nice girl, kind of loud, and pretty silly, but I really like her. I think maybe DRAMA is a good label for her. All day she had been putting me off when I would try to talk with her, and that was just fine. So imagine my surprise when around 4:00pm, I sat down on the couch next to her, and she turned to me and said, " I like a boy here at the club...but you can't tell anyone." How is that for opening up? She was really funny about it and kept saying she didn't know where these feelings were coming from while simultaneously swearing me to secrecy. I swore not to reveal this secret love...and with that promise, she decided to talk a bit more about "him."

Still not knowing who the boy was, I asked "What do you like about him?" Well, let me just preface this by saying that this girl is black, and she turned to me after I asked this question and said, "Well....no offense, but he's black." That was the number one trait folks, and I was A okay with that, but it made me laugh that she prefaced it with "no offense." As if, being white, I was pulling for all the other whities out there.

All chuckles aside, however, my mind was triggered back to this conversation later that weekend when I was watching Hotel Rwanda with Parker on the couch. I am sorry if I spoil any of the movie for those who haven't seen it...but it is based on a real life event...so history kind of spoiled it first. Essentially, there was a massive genocide taking place in Rwanda between the Tootsies and Hutus...both natives of Rwanda and only distinguished as such by the colonizers.

Anyway, there is this part of the movie where the real killing of the Tootsies by the Hutus has begun, and people of both Tootsie and Hutu background rush to the Hotel for safety....a hotel run by a Hutu man married to a Tootsie woman...a very good man named Paul Rusesabagina.

Anyway, after days of trying to shelter so many displaced people, Paul is practically crying when he sees the troops show up to protect, evacuate, and SAVE these people...his people. AND THEN MY HEART BREAKS. The troops are not there to protect his people...instead they take only the white people...the non-natives...and save them, leaving all the colored/black/native people to wage this awful genocide alone. At this part, my whole heart breaks open, and I feel guilty for a moment to have been born into such privilege. I feel guilty that the world looks on the outward appearance and not on the heart like the Lord does. I feel sad that a sweet teenage girl telling me about her innocent crush has already learned in her young life that skin color matters, that it makes her different, that it is an important distinction...perhaps THE most important distinction.

So where is the silver lining? Where is the blessed release from this depressing event in history? From this awful mistreatment of others? Well, I am not entirely sure how others find hope in light of these events without the atonement, because that is my answer. I suppose I fall back on the KNOWLEDGE that Heavenly Father's work is to bring to pass our happiness and joy, and that is for EVERY person, so I believe... in fact, I have to believe, that as unfair as the world often looks, feels, and is...every person is exactly where God intends them to be...where they have the greatest chance of finding REAL joy...perhaps not on Earth, but certainly for eternity.

And, I suppose it gives me a great deal of purpose, hoping that I have a chance to help bring a little of what will be to the here and now...THAT is a work worth doing.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from a sweet little Indian man, he says, "EVERYBODY HAS 5.5 LITERS OF BLOOD." I agree...everybody is the same in some way, and it is focusing on those similarities, NOT THE DIFFERENCES that will bring the world and each of us happiness, joy, and peace. I know that is TRUTH.

Spring Cleaning and A BIG MOVE!

SO friends, CH-CH-Changes are a brewing in the Wightman household.

Way back in January, when we still thought we were going to Norway, Parker and I hopped on the waiting list for a two bedroom apartment because we thought we would be moving out, and we didn't really want to move back into a one bedroom. We have been married two years, and though we have loved all 483 square feet of our current apartment, 604 square feet sounds so much nicer.

Anyway, I have been slowly getting our life prepped and ready for the move. Hence the picture that I have included of Parker's tie collection. I went through his closet and decided to arrange them like a little store because honestly we had enough to open one. That is a queen sized bed under there! So, Parker had to pick...mean? Yes. Necessary? DOUBLE YES.

SO, for those of you who need to find us, the Wightman's are officially moving from 603 University Village, Salt Lake City, UT to 601 University Village. I know that you all think that sounds like a small move...and small it will hopefully be, but alas, it is BIG for us.

Also, here is a big and exciting GASP, we are totally painting this new apartment. I am so excited! I feel like I finally have an idea for decor that will reflect more of Parker and my colorful personality. So please stay tuned for more pics and exciting updates on our new 2 bedroom adventure.

Washington D.C.

So Parker and I went on an awesome trip. It was more than a month ago now, but all the same, here are your pics :-)

Parker and I got a private tour of the Capitol building. It was pretty awesome. Our tour guide was this awesome BYU student too, and that made it even more fun. If graduating in International Relations limited my options for work in Salt Lake City; it certainly made up for a lot of that in this vacation :-) I had so many awesome friends and connections out there that made our trip AWESOME.

I wish that I had thought to put make-up on this day since we ended up taking a ton of pictures, but alas, you all have the pleasure of seeing authentic me.

This is the Capitol's rotunda, it was so beautiful.

This is the Korean War Memorial. I thought it was so neat, probably my favorite of the bunch. Also, did Parker and I mention that we stayed with this really nice Jewish family while we were out there? Well we did. My greatest regret was setting off the house alarm at Six in the morning, the day we left. Whoops...we had good intentions, but at least this way, everyone got to say their final goodbyes.

This is in Ford's theatre. It is the booth where Lincoln was shot. The more I learn about that man, the more I like him, and wish that our last few presidents democrats and republicans a like had a bit more Lincoln-esqueness to them.

This was at the Air and Space Museum. I think this was Parker's favorite of the whole trip; he was kind of like the boy in a candy shop. I love that he loves space. I was really hungry and grumpy during this particular visit though, so I doubt that really showed through.

I love this quote. It was at the F. D. R. monument. I think that one of my blogs coming up will touch on this more, but all I can say is, AMEN.

This is the Jefferson Monument. In front of this monument, there is a huge lake pond thing, and you better believe that Parker and I with the assistance of my friend Jennifer paddle boated that pond with all our might :-)

Cute Jennifer! She was my roommate freshman year of college. LOVE HER.

Isn't he cute? I think so. Though this was probably his only cute moment during this particular venture. Parker's feet hurt, and he was less enthused than me about paddle boating.
Here Parker is "acting" excited because I asked him to. We are at Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home. I really want to read more about George Washington. He was kind of a romantic, and I am sure he was a great many other things that aren't always displayed so prominently on the history channel, but I left having so much respect for him and all the founders of our nation. They truly were AWESOME.

The house where we stayed was just down the street from the National Zoo. So we went for a look see. Notice the hype about the pandas in the top of the pictures...turns out the pandas didn't want to be seen the day we went...lame.

Chinatown had the best restaurants, namely OUR FAVORITE, Matchbox. It is a pizza and burger joint, but I promise it is nothing like what you have had before. It was SOOOOO good, we came back on the last day of our trip just to have it again.


Yes, these little mini burgers are divine. I can taste them now. If you go to Washington D.C. Matchbox is a MUST!

The Long Pause

So, there was this one time when I took a HUGE break from blogging. People's hearts broke. Tears were shed. There was an all out panic. Where were people to get the somewhat useless and usually strange stories that make up my life???? It was hard, people took all sorts of drastic measures...I got texts...I got in person comments...glares and the like, but have no fear, I have returned, and here's the real heart stopper. I have pictures!

Here are the Boston pics for your viewing pleasure.

Ms. Lucy had an Easter Egg hunt, and she was soooo excited.

But not so eager to share her loot....

Earlier on Easter Day we had a family photo shoot.

This is my brother Andrew and Ms. Lucy.

So, as it turns out, photo shoots are not all they are cracked up to be.

But we got a few winners :-)

Here is the Brighton-man... he is such a sweet little guy.

So Lucy LOVES to read books. My brother Andrew is really good about reading them to her, but this picture just makes me laugh...I swear to you, they really were having fun, and Andrew doesn't even beat his children with books.

This is Ms. Lucy in the B-man's bouncer chair. She LOVES to recline in this baby and read the day away.

One of the days, Ms. Lucy and I made cookies, we had a blast, and she of course wore her fancy apron to help. Aprons are the MOST important part of cooking when you can't actually participate in the making of the food.

And that is that, I promise to you to have pictures of DC soon, and then even more exciting posts about my current life after that.

HUGE UPDATE

Alright everyone, if I told you pictures were coming, would you believe me?...Me neither. I keep putting off blogging so that I actually have some pictures to go with my blogs...I even bought a shirt to announce which school I am going to, but I have yet to take a moment to just put it on a snap a picture.

So, let's get real...real serious. Um, in backward order to make things interesting. I FINISHED my first half marathon today. As you will all recall, I attempted one in October, but well, that ended in heart break as I fell and killed my ankle in the first 1.5 miles. TODAY, however, my race was excellent. I had trained very well. It helped that this time I had a partner living here in Utah...my sister-in-law was my training partner for this race, and boy did she ever make me stick to that training schedule. Also...I will never mock Katy Perry again. I don't really LOVE her...but today, her song Firework did get me through the last 2.5 miles of my race. I just set that song to repeat and felt the endorphins flow. If you have never listened to the song before...I will post a link, I can unfortunately only recommend this ONE song of hers...but I think you will understand how the beat lends itself to good running music. Anyway, it was an excellent experience, and I am certain that I will be running another one. Parker says I have to take a little break, so I will, but soon, I will train for another one. Racing is so fun. Everyone is so positive. I LOVED it.

One sad story, on the route, there was a turn off for the full marathoners...as is the halfers went right and the full marathoners went left. As we were running, we saw several marathoners that had missed the turn off. The saddest one was a lady that we saw about three miles after the turn off, she was running back the other direction, tears filling her eyes...can you imagine mentally preparing for 26.2 miles, and then suddenly realizing you would be running 32 plus because of a mistake. Yikes. My heart went out to those marathoner folks.

NEXT big thing, I chopped my hair off. I have a lovely little pixie do now. I am really digging it. It is fun to see all the new things that I can do with my hair now.

SCHOOL. Where am I going to law school? Well, some of you already know, but here is a big ol' announcement. I will be attending the University of Utah in the Fall for law school. This was a very difficult decision for me. More difficult than I realized it would be. I was really torn between BYU and the U. However, after a lot of thought, discussion with Parker, and prayer, we came to the determination that the U will be better for our family. I think part of me will always wonder how things would have been if I had attended BYU, but school is what you make of it, so I will just make sure I give law school my all :-)

Also, NORWAY. Well, it's not happening. This was sort of a blow. I found out two days or so before my last day of work that things had fallen through with our summer plans to go to Norway. I am bummed that our European adventure has been reduced to a state-side, utah-side experience, but I am going to make the most of it. I have considered finding a part time job for the summer, so far, Parker is still lobbying for me to just relax and chill for a while before summer. I am thinking that might be good, but I will just take that one day at a time.

IN conclusion, I WILL be leaving in about three days for Boston. I will be there for two weeks....I can't wait. Hopefully, my soreness will be gone before I embark because I can't imagine that 8 hours of sitting in a plane will do much for me to recover :-)

Sorry that this post is not real funny or fun...but I assure you that I will try to make my blogging return to a regular regiment complete with more posts full of my life's adventures and the crazy funny things that happen. Thanks for reading :-)

Secondarily,

So dear friends, let me just say, it has been very nice to relax since quiting my job. Parker and I purchased a garden plot here at our apartment complex...that's $5.00 that I will never see again, so you see, I will be a gardening woman this Summer. I will be one with the land. Today I bought seeds, it brought me back to all the gardens I had growing up. I love gardening, and I am rather excited to try my hand at it here in this drier hotter climate. Should be good for tomatoes.

Some of you have asked what I am going to be doing now that my job is over? Well, Parker and I were supposed to go on an internship to Norway from May to August, but just this last week, that kind of fell apart. Have no fear, Parker is a wanted man, and he has secured a position here in Utah with the university as well as some independent contract work, so he is sitting pretty. But then you are probably thinking...why did she quit her job when she knew that her summer had cleared up? Well, Parker and I decided, it was time I took a rest from my career. Besides, who could we really trust to till our land all 5 feet by 3 feet of it, hmmmm? Exactly! There really is no other way :-)

But, I will be doing a bit of traveling. In two weeks, I will be leaving for Boston to snuggle my new nephew and play with my sweet niece. So, I am very much looking forward to that :-) Parker is super nice for letting me go...there was a bargain, I believe when I return, a pretty new I-pad will be sitting in his lap, you have to pick your battles in marriage, you know?

Anyway, so far in retirement, I have purchased two summer water park passes for Parker and I...a garden plot...some plane tickets...and fabric, if only I could figure out how to thread my 50 year old sewing machine...I suppose I have the whole summer to figure it out.

Tuesday Tunes

Today's tune is AWESOME! My favorite band ever is Vampire Weekend. I fell in love with them when I was doing a study abroad in France. I went to a Shins concert with another girl who was in my study abroad group. Turns out that Vampire Weekend was opening for the Shins...and so our love affair began.

"Well, hello there." I said to Vampire Weekend in my head at the concert...but I was forlorn...why? Because I did not know this amazing group's name just yet. How would I become their devoted groupie without it? So then I screamed, "What is your name?"...and when the lead singer yelled back Vampire Weekend...I knew it was love.

From that moment forward, I have expressed my undying love for this band...and that means, that contrary to popular belief, I DID love Vampire Weekend, before they were cool!

So, today you will be favored with "Cousins." Enjoy! Also, should you be interested in more of their music...I would recommend it all except for Cape Cawassawassa, Oxford Comma, and Walcott (on account of some naughty words) aside from those though, all the rest are clean, and I enjoy them immensely.