somewhat-quickie post

look to the left on my blog. see the bright pink rectangle that says "bloggy giveaways carnival"? click it. trust me, CLICK IT. (or click that.) It's a list of a massive load of blogs that are all doing giveaways this week!! wow, the things that are being given away... just amazing. babylegs, handmade jewelry, starbucks gift cards, books, and more. honestly, it's the coolest thing to see. like this giveaway, from angela (yes, i've blogged about her before; i check her blog religiously and love her!), it's a giveaway of a gift certificate to Nina & Tom! and props to rocks in my drawer for organizing this mass hysteria of giveaways!

in more somber words, President Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, passed away on sunday. i wish i could be eloquent in words and say all the things that he meant to me, to us, as mormons, but it's a bit too raw i think. i remember the first time i ever saw him in person though. i was in college in southern virginia, and we were told that he was coming to virginia, to do a special conference with the saints in the area. and area institute program was asked to sing at it!!! since 99% of the school was LDS, plus there was also a good amount of local college age LDS, we had a great sized choir. i still remember the practices, we sang "God Bless Our Prophet Dear" combined with "Come Listen To A Prophet's Voice". finally the day came of the conference, and we all hopped on bright yellow schoolbuses and headed to the conference. we got to sit behind President Hinckley!! i remember sitting there and watching him walk on stage, and *knowing* that i was looking at God's living prophet. after we sang, he was introduced and he stood up to talk. and the first thing he said was how much he loved the songs, how proud he was of us and how much he loved us. i felt surrounded by so much love that day, it will always be with me. Godspeed, President Hinckley. what a great and cheerful noise must have been raised in Heaven on Sunday.