My Screen Play!! Fallen

Setting: A vacant city park after dark.

Peter: Who is there?

Stage: PETER looks into the shadows in response to hearing movement by a tree.

Angel: It is I fair child, an Angel of the Lord.

Stage: PETER sees the silhouette of the angel near a tree, the angel is still covered in shadows.

A: Come hither to me, fair child.

Stage: PETER approaches the angel still unable to see him. ANGEL shifts into the light of a nearby street lamp which illuminates him. ANGEL is wearing white and is stained in blood, his wings have been cut, there are feathers strewn about him and there is much blood around him. ANGEL looks exhausted as if he has been through a great ordeal. PETER looks frightened and concerned.

P: What has happened to you, angel? Why are you covered in blood?

Stage: PETER continues to cautiously approach ANGEL.

A: Do not be concerned with me, for there is no hope left, I have betrayed my father and have been cast out of his presence.

P: But you are an angel of the lord, surely he will forgive you, is not your god a forgiving one?

Stage: ANGEL turns slowly in place to show damaged wings.

A: My wings have been cut, even if he were a forgiving god I would not be able to return. In the beginning I was sent to earth to aide in the destruction of the city of Babylon, but as the city lay in desolation, I could hear the cries of the people, those who found understanding in the error of their ways. I asked my Father if I may help those left to die, he told me “Nay, for the people of Babylon are a wicked and conceded people and that they must be made an example unto the world.”  I went against my father’s will and entered into the city to seek out those who were left to die. I found amongst the rubble near the ruins of the great temple a woman holding a small infant. She was barely alive and the infant had already died. I collected her from her soon to be grave and carried her away into the wilderness where we did find a grove of trees. I nursed her back to health but could not leave her.

P: Why could you not leave her?

A: Patience my child! I could not leave her because I knew she would perish on her own.  So I stayed and cared for her, in time we became close, I began to fall in love with her. I decided to put aside my duties to god and have a mortal existence, her and I married and had 2 wonderful children. We were so happy then, but when my father heard of my iniquitous actions and shameful display he struck down my family and forced me to return home to him. (Stage: ANGEL shows great pain in his voice, shaky at first then regains composure).

P: How did you lose your wings? Why are you here on earth in this state?

A: I rebelled against my father and refused to aid in the destruction of other cities. After returning home I never did feel the same, I could not be the Angel I once was. There came a day when my father sought to smite down another great nation and I could not allow this. So I stood up to him and I was punished.  My wings were taken from me with a knife by my brother’s hand and I was banished from my father’s presence. But I must not give up!
Stage: ANGEL stands up, a little shaky at first, shows dedication and vigor. PETER looks shocked and quickly approaches ANGEL to  aid him as he stands but ANGEL collapses under his own weight and into PETER'S arms, PETER helps ANGEL back to the ground.

P: What do you mean? What can you do now in this state?

A: Have you not pieced it together yet? It was my duty to see to the destruction of THIS nation, your home. My father turned me into an Angel of Death, and I never could be that way. So I lay here in my own blood and despair with no hope of returning … I must do what I can to help this nation but not as a Fallen Angel but as a man.

The Legend of Zelda Changed my life...

So I SUPPOSE it is time to explain Zelda and my love of the games (there are 16 different adventures over the past 25 years). Currently I am playing The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance (yes yes I AM kicking it old school style right now). I started playing/ watching and actively participating in the playing of Zelda when I was in elementary school. My brother and I started with The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo, we loved it and it was one of the few things we could do together without trying to kill each other (gotta love those sibling rivalries). We later ungraded to a N64 and The Legend of Zelda the Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask in 1999, these games were where my love of Zelda really took off. I actually played these two and solved dungeons for myself. I got so wrapped up in the story lines and side quests that it felt like I was reading a choose your own adventure book! I also played The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker for the Game Cube which was a huge change in animation but personally I enjoyed it. It created more of a story book sense of things and instead of running around with a horse you were sailing the high seas. Of course I took time away from Zelda games for a while, I did have to focus on school and dating tends to keep you away from individual pass times like that. So I suppose I got back into Zelda when my husband Paul gave me a Nintendo 3DS with the Legend of Zelda Ocarina Of Time 3D for Christmas. Receiving a new system created a new venue for adventure with 2 new games for me to enjoy; The Legend of Zelda the Phantom Hourglass (DS), and The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (DS).

Of course once you are hooked you can't help yourself sometimes and you ... end up... with Link and Zelda costumes and you ... somehow... end up at anime and gaming conventions... and eventually... get your photo taken by random people because you look like you're from a game! (Side note: I was really surprised at the amount of female link cos-players... we had our photo taken a lot because Paul in a guy and I am a girl...) AND THEN you randomly go out and purchase a wii because that is the console with the new Zelda game (Skyward Sword, and a game I missed out on Twilight Princess).  I know there will come a day where I wont want to play as much again but Zelda will always have a special place in my heart. It is good clean adventuring! And yes I know there is such thing as an excessive amount, I do have balance in my life, I am graduating from college in a month or so! :)

Visiting Teaching

Since the big changes in my life started in March, I have had a lot of extra time on my hands. Honestly I would love to say that I am using all my time for good but of course I am only human and fall to the temptations of Zelda... However I wanted to talk about the importance of dedication.

This is a bit of a stretch in a sense but it all connects! According to my Mom when you don't have a calling you still have Visiting Teaching, which then becomes your calling. My patriarchal blessing has stated that I should treat every calling as if it was the most important part of my life and I will be very blessed. Going to church regularly and paying attention in classes, while also going to Institute classes and working on my spiritual self has re-DEDICATED my life! So I have used some of my new free time for good :) Becoming more spiritually centered is always on my list of things to do and yet it is usually put on the back burner.

So I decided to put aside Zelda and the many facets of our relationship together (yes ZELDA the video games) and go visit Carol, Jenna, and Liz. :) Jenna is the farthest from my apartment but is still close by bus and I loved visiting her today!! It was so much fun to finally get to know her a bit better, and I really look forward to seeing her again soon. Sharing the gospel and good times with people, while also getting to know the other sisters of the ward is even more fulfilling and enriching then I could of ever imagined.

Don't put off what is important in this life, don't ever let yourself believe the excuse, "I can do it later" or "I'm too busy for that right now". This is America's favorite excuse and pass time right now, being busy.

Anderson Ln.

We have officially moved to Anderson Lane! Yes it is quite the pun since my last name is Anderson. :) We are the Anderson's of Anderson Lane. Our first steps into the apartment were soft (since there is beautiful carpet), and smelled of paint (since it was freshly painted). We had a lot of help from our new neighbors, old neighbors, friends from church and my family. It was quite a wonderful day!!

Adventures in Unemployment

It is such an odd feeling to be able to go about my day freely, to not be in a hurry to go to work or to another class. I found myself at the Institute talking with Judy the lovely receptionist about a number of things starting with the loss of my job as a blessing. 

I was looking at the the 7 stages of grief and I have made it through Denial, Guilt, Bargaining, and Anger. I am now in the stage of Rejection and possibly Depression, and most defiantly in the stage of Disorientation.  I spent 3 hours at the Unemployment office filing a claim and getting situated back into the job world yet again. It was actually really exciting and fun to focus on what the future could hold! 

Good news today! Our new apartment is ready this weekend! I'll be spending Friday moving into a new place. I am so excited for that! A clean slate, a fresh start, the apartment where we are now has gone down hill since we moved in, our neighbors started smoking inside their apartment and disregarded our pleas to stop, the rent went up but the quality and amenities didn't change. It has been depressing to live there, just as it had become depressing to go to work. I felt stuck in a loop and now I feel so free! 

Paul and I enjoyed dinner with our friends and neighbors Kirk and Leo who also had the missionaries over for dinner. It was wonderful to be close to friends and the spirit. We discussed Elder Holland's talk from Stake Conference this last weekend and he used a wonderful metaphor of a ship at sea caught in a storm, no matter what you do stay on the boat! stay close and ride it though. In relation to trials and hardships in life you can't just turn, run and avoid the situation you must work through it, things will get better just like the storm at sea will eventually pass. I am grateful for the wonderful friends and neighbors i have who have been supportive and kind at this time in my life. 

I wonder what new adventure and pebble of knowledge I will stumble across tomorrow.

Glass half full day

Well today has not been my favorite day, I have a lot to do and not much time to do it. I felt the need to write something seeing as it is my first post and seeing as it is the start to a new chapter in my life. Today I lost my job, based on false accusations of stealing... turns out what I was accused of stealing I actually already owned. Don't worry though I'm handling the situation civilly and fairly. On top of all of this our car broke down yesterday, Tom the mechanic said that we have probably been driving without a fan belt for a few days and it was just a mater of time till the battery died. It was both good and bad news and all I could do was laugh. 

All day today I have had my heart in my stomach, at points fighting back tears and others so overwhelmed with the irony of the situation that I can't help but laugh. I am grateful in some strange way for everything that has happened today with my job, last night with the car and a week ago with being accepted into a new apartment. Change is good! change is great! but change is hard, right now Paul and I are leaning on one another more than ever.

I am claiming that the loss of my job is a blessing, and an opportunity, I can now focus on school, on my marriage, and on seeking out new career opportunities. I am so close to graduating and we have been talking about weather or not I could quit my job, now that decision has been made for me. 

It is hard to describe the feeling of being fired, to be alone with my thoughts is painful, I feel similar to how I did when my grandmother died in 2005. exhausted but not tired, famished but not hungry, and parched but not thirsty. I am a walking contradiction today!