Shower the Bride

The Hyde side of the Hurst/Hyde union threw McKenzie a bridal shower on Saturday. It was perfect for the initial blending of families. Thanks to all! I enjoyed it.

Showing off the ring to Grandma Hyde.

Utility size KitchenAid = Pure Joy

Hyde cousins.

Grammie, you're a doll! Thanks for making the party happen.

Lauren, me, Lindsay.

: )

Momma Hyde, G-ma Hyde, G-ma Smoot, the Bride, Grammie, Momma Hurst.

Mom and Great-Aunt.

Aunt Renee and Mom.

The Hyde women.

HOORAY!

I'm like, so pretty and so popular

Right now I'm in the Daily Universe newsroom working on some more stories, and my editors turned to me:
"Hilary, did you see that your story is the most popular on the website?"
"What?"
"Yeah. It's the most read story online."

So I had to brag.
http://universe.byu.edu/

LYG

A little bit of Advocacy

For one of my communication's classes, Media Advocacy and Social Change, I have to do a number of hours of advocacy for a certain subject. I've been thinking about it, and I have always been interested in fairness. Okay, I'm aware of how understated that sentence was. I have a passion for fairness. Life isn't equal, but it should be fair. So as I thought about it, how does one advocate fairness? Fairness in thought, in action, in trust?

You can't really.

But a lot of separation and discrimination that leads to unfair situations are spawned by fear. A fear of the new, the weird and the unknown. When people are uniformed, they tend to believe what they are told, what feels most comfortable to them or simply just make something up, leaving them biased based on falsity.

That can not stand.

I am a part of a generation that continues to break down barriers. Interracial relationships are normal. Differing sexual orientations are acknowledged. Opposing religions are discussed. We are trying to embrace the new and misunderstood. And yet that's the problem. Even if we strive to accept the formerly ignored, we still lack a level of understanding that allows us to completely and purely love the different. We have to know more, we have to be unafraid to discuss and we have to be willing to admit our own prejudices and fears in order to truly and honestly become like Christ.

So that is my goal for the next six weeks or so.

I, as an advocate for the fair, will strive to educate my peers and even more importantly, open up channels of communication and thought in the hope that we can all be a little more loving and honest.

Siblings do go on dates sometimes

Yesterday Philip called me and asked if I was free today to play. He wouldn't tell me what we were doing except he told me to bring me camera. So what we did was we drove to south Provo and took pictures at the railroad tracks. It was a lot of fun, even though my toes got cold.

I love that we both have an artsy eye so we have fun pointing out weird things that look cool.

Love him.

On campus before officially starting our date.

A marsh hawk (?) that was just kicking it right over our heads.

I know it's a little delayed, but hey.

Aren't they fabulous?!

So here's my side of the story:

McKenzie and Austin stopped by my apartment Wednesday night after I got back from class just to say hi. I just finished eating chicken pot pie (that I cooked. It was delicious, if I should say so myself) so I was drinking some tea and offered them some. They declined, saying that Austin is currently obsessed with apple cider so they were heading to get some and then, as Austin subtly said, "go for a drive."

No big deal.

But as they walked out the door, Austin turned back to me and flipped me off with his ring finger. It took a second, and then WHAM! My mouth dropped and my eyes popped open and I wouldn't leave the house until I heard from them.

The rest is history. They're fantastic and perfect and beautiful. Not to mention the distracting shiny-ness of the ring. Solid work Austin.

Oh... P. S.

http://universe.byu.edu/node/5191

http://universe.byu.edu/node/5245

Christmas and New Years

I am going to let pictures from my brand new Nikon D80 speak for me today.

I love you all!

Haha. So Taylor will hate this, but I appreciate it.

This was when we cooked our turkey (that I

into turkey soup. Amazing.)

Utah Valley University's campus.

They have a hallway that connects all the buildings.

New Year's day breakfast.

German pancakes that we ate at midnight.

We were so excited to watch the pancakes"puff"

we sat on the floor watching.

Someone put Christmas trees all around my condo complex.

McKenzie missing Austin at Maggianos in San Jose.

LYG!

Cocoa Puff Cookies

I'm pretty sure this has been the longest week of all time. I don't even know exactly why it was such a long week; busy, to be sure, but just interminable. By Wednesday I felt like I was running through molasses, so I turned to the best comfort food I had: Hurst cookies smothered in peanut butter. It didn't make the rest of the week go any faster, but it did make me feel better. Weird how some weeks hit you like that.

So, now to detail the week that never ended.

School has been a beast. Not necessarily hard, just busy. Plus, seeing Thanksgiving just around the corner makes it hard to buckle down and study. Don't worry, I'm doing well. I nailed my two midterms, and I'm hoping that will carry onto the two I have this week.

Then socially this week has been packed too.

Tuesday night I attended my first BYU baby shower. I told you about the quilt already, but Tuesday was Charlotte's official shower. It was a very pleasant evening despite the fact I only knew Charlotte. Her friends are easy to talk to and welcomed me in and we all enjoyed just celebrating the next stage in life. The only thing that was really weird about the evening is the thought of how quickly Charlotte and I moved to completely different stages in life. She began dating Jonah, her husband, a few weeks after Austin and I started dating. Then, they got married the week Austin entered the MTC, and here we are 13 months later. I love it though. I would not ask for anything different for either of us.

Wednesday night we had a Relief Society meeting (formerly known as Enrichment) Jessi is on the planning committee and helped put together a meeting on "Feasting on the Sabbath". I really appreciated it. Jessi, Ashlan and I went and purchased six loaves of Great Harvest bread then went and set up tables and chairs for the 30-ish girls that showed up. After chatting and eating bread and butter Jessi gave a well prepared lesson about how to make our Sabbaths more meaningful. She presented lots of good ideas and led a very personal and well-participated in discussion. It was exactly right for the setting and the people.

Can I pause my week and tell you how much I love my roommates? They are unbelievable. Incredible, really. Maria, Ashlan and Jessi are all so strong in different ways, hilarious and caring. Basically, they make my life so easy and fun and exactly what anyone could want.

Back to Wednesday: After RS we headed downstairs to the Acoustic Explosion. Our three friends, Kevin, Anthony and Zack played three of their songs in the Varsity Theater. Here it is in simple terms: Three silly friends, two guitars, one awesome musical show.

I wish I could link the video, but it's on a secure Facebook profile, sorry.

Saturday we drove up to Salt Lake for Hailey's baptism. It was really nice. Watching Grandpa sit Hailey on his lap and honestly tell her his feelings hit my heartstrings. I have a lot of respect for Grandpa and for some reason he seems to understand me. Plus, I've had tender moments like that one with Grandpa before and I hold them close to my heart. Basically, I love my family. I can't express it better than that.

I love you all. 8 days of class until Thanksgiving.

LOVE.