Winston Churchill

I, like my father, am enamored by Winston Churchill. During a bit of morning study I came accross this Churchill quote in a talk I was reading:

“To every man there comes … that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.”

I have been pondering this statement ever since. It has caused an ample amount of self reflection; something I feel that goes missing far too often in the midst of a busy life, and plans for the future, of which I am deeply immersed. Am I prepared and qualified? Am I continuously preparing? Winston's statement is a brilliant call for action then (WWII) and now. Are you ready if you were tapped on the shoulder today??

I am continually amazed at not only Churcill's superior command of the English language but his extraordinarily superior ability to communicate.  He is motivating, witty, courageous and confident. Here are a few more quotables you may enjoy. Oh, and isn't eh portrait incredible?! That's a whole art lesson and blog post in itself...

"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal? And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast down. We are going on swinging bravely forward along the grand high road and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun."

                                                                                        -Speech in Dundee, Scotland (1908-10-10)

"I hate nobody except Hitler — and that is professional."
                         -Churchill to John Colville during WWII, quoted by Colville in his book The Churchillians (1981)

"Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all."


"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

And one of my personal favorites:

"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

Joshua

This is my beloved brother...Elder Hawkins.

(He's the tall one, in case you didn't notice)

He is returning home to us from Cambodia, after his two year mission, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this Saturday July 17th, 2010!

I am so excited to see him again! So much so, that I wanted to share him with all of you.

Let Freedom Ring!

Oh how I love the fourth of July! A warm summer day filled with freedom, BBQ and fireworks. What more could we ask for? Well Provo, UT sure knows how to throw a party, let me tell you. We started off the weekend with a 5:45am wake-up call to go watch the annual hot air balloon festival. It was so neat and there were hundreds of people. If you ever are in P-town, Independence Day weekend, you should definitely check it out.

Then we headed off to watch some excellent fire works after the Stadium of Fire.

Then for the real fourth we had a an awesome BBQ where we played the cheap man's version of being the host. We asked all participants to bring their own meat and a side dish to share potluck style. We provided the water for drinks, $4 worth of sparklers, and our apartment complex provided the grill. It worked out brilliantly. I made this delicious fruit pizza flag and was so happy with it that, yes, I took a picture of my food as one of the highlights of the evening.