Spectacle

I actually didn't go buy the new jeans. MJ had to pick them out for me the next day. Instead, I read all about creationism and evolution and if I had to put myself in a category (which I hate doing) right now I would probably say I am a theological evolutionist. I'll have to blog about all my findings another day I have time. I'm so excited to spend some time with some friends from high school tomorrow, ah yeah!

What's new?

Just a list of the new things in my life:

New semester (and last one ever before I get my bachelors in biology and minor in international development)
New haircut (only 1 person has even noticed and said something, so not a big change)
New sign language class (this is going to rock!)
New i-phones (not sure if I shoulda bought this one for the hubby)
New job (it's also old- I have been a bioethics T.A. before)
New nieces coming in the next 2 months (my sister-in-law and sister are both pregnant with girls)
and now I am headed to buy some new jeans since pretty much my whole collection is from high school!

Now and Later

Now is pretty tough. I know people say enjoy the now now because you will want it back later, but I am really not finding the now enjoyable. Maybe if I make a list of things I am enjoying now, it'll help me have a better perspective. I find joy in playing with the nursery kids for 2 hours every Sunday, when hubby is home and I am not alone (it's not that I am bored without him- I have plenty to do- it is just that I am doing it alone), being in the middle of a great scientific controversy at work right now and helping to find the right answers to questions even if it's not the miraculous outcome everyone was praying for including me, reading the great books I am in the middle of right now, baby-sitting for my neighbor, hiking, being outdoors doing anything really (except playing frisbee with a big-a paper cut like yesterday), getting to know new places, visiting with friends and family, taking pictures, bonko night every month, and a whole lot more. Ok, I think I can start to enjoy this day off more now instead of wanting things that will probably be better for me in my life later.

Sweet Stuff from the Great Book I am Reading Right Now

"Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle"- Philo of Alexandria.

The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh.

The physicist/theologian John Polkinghorne "believes in a God who created something more beautiful than a ready-made world- a world with an inborn capacity to become and create itself". This one is totally awesome. Think about it.

"The more personal you are willing to be and the more intimate you are willing to be about the details of your own life, the more universal you are."- Sherwin Nuland (surgeon and author)

Nuland: "There isn't a reason in the world that the religious have to explain their faith on a scientific basis. What is needed between science and religion is not a debate, but a conversation, each one saying, "You know, you're here to stay and I'm here to stay, so let's find out how our relationship can be of greatest benefit to this world."

Nuland again: "And given the opportunity to make choices, they will always choose the more salubrious way...Every cliche has a reason".

Clinic Cliche

So, it's almost been a week since I have been working in the medical clinic doing research. I love that I can do research, read of fascinating finds in disease, and still interact with people. My time has gone by fast and I am working hard. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been quite the dramatic disease. Right now, if you enter into the CF world, log into the CFS chat rooms, or try to find the most recent published articles it brings you to a medical mess. Scientists are trying to find the cause, patients are trying to receive the care, and their medical doctors trying to know best what can be done for them. We are doing specific studies on the XMRV virus (which gives me hope, personally because it seems that many symptoms seem to go hand-in-hand with a viral disease), migraines for teenagers, and a bio blood bank to be used for further research later. It feels awesome to be a part of break-through discoveries!

Quimica

So, I feel like I spend all day studying chemistry. And for what? To figure out what a bunch of scientists before me already know? I'd rather discover something new. Like how to make gold-sanded beaches with sparkling silver seas. That is what my world will have someday. Ahh, sometimes I get exasperated with the same old, same old. Which is why I am taking a break from a 7-hour study session to write a little list.

THINGS I WANT TO DISCOVER SOMEDAY:

1. How to stop the fighting all across the globe. Why can't people figure out that if we help each other build things up all the time instead of tearing each other down that the world would be a much better place (and receive it's paradisaical glory:). This includes little tiffs and domestic violence.
2. How to travel at the speed of light. Time is a silly thing to me. It is only relative. I hate it when people waste their time on bad things (me included). It is one thing to take a break and enjoy your time, but it is quite another to spend your time, griping, hurting others, destructing, I am going back to #1 again- fighting.
3. I used to want to cure cancer someday. Then I figured out that there are many types of cancer and you can only cure one type at a time.
4. The cure for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I thought I had an epiphany one day in my chemistry class when we were learning about how you can treat viruses. I thought a similar treatment could be used with the XMRV virus if that is what caused CFS. Turns out, the virus probably isn't what is causing this. More on this this summer...
5. A new transportation system where the vehicle will not emit any poisonous gases and you don't have to waste your time paying attention to where you are going to get there. Just set the destination point and time, and voi-la. It could be a rail system that designates what vehicle can move when, etc. That way there would be much fewer wrecks, drunk driving, etc.
6. Why adults stop laughing as much as kids when they get older. On average a kid laughs 400 times while an adult laughs 70 or something like that. Especially in the United States, we have SO MUCH, and it seems like the people in Brazil are much happier even with nothing.
7. Lastly, how a student smashes all the chemistry in their brain that they need to know during a spring semester. I am going crazy and feel like I can't jam another reaction in my brain...back to studying.

Graduation Time

So, my cousin recently told me that another one of us Hunts had to speak at their high school graduation this year. Ah Yeah! She said it was great! Well, I started searching for the speech I gave in 2003 and finally found it in a silver file in our library. I thought I'd given the last copy to a friend's grandma when she asked for it for years now! I sang once in the MarVal choir, once in the special senior choir, and gave this speech during those commencement exercises. I remember the valedictorian reading a Dr. Seuss book (wait, was that Kate or was it Deidre?)I worked hard on it at the time, but that was 7 years ago. Enjoy the memory :D

Commencement Exercises at Marsh Valley High School 2003:

"""Well, we're here, gathered with all of our vast wisdom that we've accumulated over the past four years. I'd try to tell you everything I know tonight, but that may take too short a time.
We still have a plethora of things to learn, not only through education, but through experience.
Throughout the rest of our existence, we need to focus on the small and kind things, on living our own lives, and on rising from failures.
First of all, there are just as great men here tonight than there are anywhere else in the world. Greatness is intrinsic, it is in the personality. Greatness really consists of doing great deeds with little means- in the accomplishment of vast purposes; from the private ranks of life- in benefiting all that surrounds you. There, and there only, is the great test of human goodness and human ability. Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit."
Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret to success. Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.
Try not to be a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value (Einstein). It is high time the ideal of success was replaced by the ideal of service, for they are one in the same. The value of a man resides in what he gives, not in what he is capable of receiving.
After tutoring a special education class first trimester of this year, I've had the privilege of being influenced by Justin Kay. Although Justin may not be capable of much human praise, he knows what true happiness is, to love and serve others. I'll never forget the nights he called to say he missed me or to strum me a love song on his guitar. We should all strive to show our appreciation to others. In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, and in return you will be happy.
Love your friends, family, yourself and your life. You are who you are because of their influences. I want to thank all my friends, family, teachers, and all those who have influenced me. Believe in appreciating life.
Next, Albert Einstein (I'll be mentioning his sayings a lot tonight because he is my hero), once said, "Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts." Many times we get so wrapped up in the approval of others when that is not what is important. "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best night and day to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting"-E.E. Cummings. Be patient when the world ignores you; be calm and unspoiled when the world praises you. Never be afraid or hesitant to step off the accepted path and head off in your own direction if your heart tells you to.
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are. I've always wanted to be tall, but as you can see, I am not. As some of you have noticed, I wear tall shoes (like the rocket dogs*that was for John:) to make me appear taller than I am. Recently, a friend told me to just enjoy my height, and try not to be like everyone else. So love and live your own life.
Don't be afraid of risks because if you don't risk anything, you risk even more. Sometimes you will succeed. Sometimes you will fail. If you ever make a mistake or fail in something, don't let that fall keep you from climbing. Confucius said: "Our greatest glory is not in winning, but in rising every time we fall." Winning isn't everything. Sometimes it is the one who fails who benefits most from the experience because they are the ones who look back and better themselves. Forget the times of your distress, but never forget what they taught you.
Finally, what lies behind you and before you are tiny matters compared to what lies within you. The other day I read a story of a boy who was bothering his dad to go play catch with him while his father was busy watching T.V. The dad finally got so aggravated with the boy bothering him that he tore up a magazine picture of a world, and told the little boy he'd play with him as soon as he could put the picture together. A few minutes later they boy returned and said, "I'm done daddy, can we play catch now?" Stunned, the father glanced at the small hands with the world pieced perfectly together. Amazed, the dad asked his child how he put the world together so quickly. "It was simple" stated the boy, "On the back of the world was a picture of a person, and once I put the person together, that's when the world came together". If we do not change our daily lives, we cannot change our world.
In closing, I want to tell our class that you are all incredible people, and we can do great things in the world. Your destiny is in your hands and your all-important decisions are your own to make, JUST never go to a doctor who's office plants have died. In the words of Confucius, wherever you do go, go with all your heart. Fear less, hope more; whine less breathe more; talk less say more; hate less love more; and all great and good things are yours.
I hope that our achievements in life shall be these- that we will fight for what is right and fair, that we will risk for that which matters, and that we will give help to those who are in need that we will leave the earth a better place for what we do and who we are."""
I remember plethora was the cool word that year:)

Change

Alright, since the hubby has been out of school for a few months for summer, and still has not written a whole new song, (which was the point of the previous title, Jensens' Jams) I have taken the liberty to change our blog for the purpose of doing research this summer and teaching bioethics this Fall. And customizing it the way I want. And writing what I want. Freedom of speech. That's all.

The Silvas in the U.S.

The coolest thing ever- my mission president was staying in a hotel in West Valley close to my in-laws house, so we got to invite them over for dinner. He gave me a big Brazilian chocolate egg that had been busted from his suit case being lugged around distastefully, but the chocolate was still tasty. Mom Jensen's food was tasty too.

International Health

Yesterday before he started his lecture, my Professor of international nutrition played "We Are All One" for the whole class, and I could feel my face get a little red when he announced who wrote it and recorded it because I didn't know he was going to play it for the WHOLE CLASS (though I prominently announced to the whole class that I'm not the star here, my husband is :). The song fit perfectly with our discussion for the day on starvation and refugees.

The teacher, Dr. Johnston, is a softie- caring, kind, and probably has one of the biggest hearts on the planet. He has been all around the world working with various prominent church leaders to help solve international nutrition deficiencies, building small farms, testing rural areas for nutrient levels, and even making fortified cookies for children. I admire and respect him for his work and personality and hope to someday do work along those same lines. But for now, this little certificate I received from Save the Children will have to suffice.

Hunger Banquet Jam Jolt

So, we wrote a song called "We Are All One" to celebrate human dignity for this year's hunger banquet. I have pretty much done everything at this banquet. One year I was a server, one year I was on the entertainment committee, but this year we sat on the floor and ate rice and beans while the people on the tables scarfed their food down. If you have never been to one, I highly recommend it. It forces you to realize how Americans are so in their own little world with all their food and goods while almost the rest of the entire world sits on cardboard boxes scarfing down what little they can find being constantly hungry. If one was to divide all the food in the world up into jelly beans, America would have WAY, WAY too many jelly beans for the amount of people they have. Why can't we share our jelly beans? Go here to listen to the song we wrote and sang:

http://www.myspace.com/marshalljensen

The CRUISE JAM JOLT

On this trip, the peak jam jolt happened after we ended up calling TWO TIMES to reschedule our flight after the captain had a heart attack or something, so we had to go back to the last port and drop him off and pick up a new captain! It put the cruise ship way behind schedule and because of the high tides the show in which he was supposed to be Ricki Martin was postponed until the next morning because "they were afraid for the safety of the performers", especially the half-naked dancers because they could fall into "the pit". The pit was a big hole in the front of the stage where the orchestra played during the show. Their concerns were valid, the ship really was rocking all over the place- so much that you didn't even have to drink to know what it was like to be drunk. ANYWAY! Sorry, the Jam Jolt, gosh. After the performance we ended up getting all packed and ready to go and waiting in a lobby FOREVER with about all the other passengers doing the same thing. Needless to say, people were sick and tired of waiting forever like sardines in a can, and that's when my brilliant MJ unpacked his guitar and started jammin' away for all the annoyed passengers. So, they all got a free concert instead of just waiting, and everyone LOVED it and LOVED him for it. We ended up giving out like 5 cds right there as we finally left the ship for customs in California. You think that would be the end of the Jam moment, but I'm not through yet. We got off the cruise line and realized we had left our cameras from the trip in our suite. SO! Instead of heading off to the airport after waiting hours, we were told if we waited about another three hours while they cleaned we could get our cameras. I figured it was worth it because I am madly in love with pictures and the waiting began again by the poor taxi man's booth who gets yelled at about all sorts of things like the bathrooms, etc. Geez! Give the guy a break! Like he can do anything about that shiz. Tangent- so MJ decides to bust out the guitar again and soon we have a flock of elderly ladies gathered around him snapping their fingers and dancing like crazy! They love him, and one guy even puts out a hat where MJ earned enough money in 30 minutes to pay for dinner at the LAX airport that night! SWEET! So, that moment has inspired this blog of Jam Jolts. Boo-yah. Wish I had more pictures of the moment, but this will have to suffice. We did get our pictures back finally, but not the ones from para sailing :(

Karaokein' it up!

How I wish the temperature was like this now, but then again I couldn't go snowboarding on Saturday if that was the case. The grass is always greener on the other side!

MJ tried out as Ricki Martin in the ship's show, and of course with his incredible amount of talent, he made it! He's a superstar, just look at him or come to one of his gigs and you will know it too if you're not convinced by the pictures...or the back of the balding man's head...

Ca-ruisin'

November 2009









We hit a few ports in Mexico and had a great time aboard the Carnival ship. This is called the Gold Pearl Dining Room aboard the fancy ship where we dined every night.
We each gained about 10 pounds in one week because the food was SO GOOD!!! There was this melting chocolate cake that luckily we discovered mid-week because if we had discovered it earlier, we would have each gained about 20 pounds!