My Fishy Fear

There are a lot of things in this world that people are afraid of: heights, flying, small spaces, and death.

Not me. My fear is fish.

Sorry, Bruce. Fish are not friends; they are, in fact, food.

My fear of fish can be traced back to when I was little. My dad used to take us girls to Free Fishing Day, a day where a bunch of fish were dumped into a little lake and kids could go fishing for free.

One fateful day, we went to take advantage of Free Fishing Day. It was pretty fun! Casting has always been my favorite part of fishing. Of course I wanted to catch a fish (especially if my sisters had already caught some), but sometimes casting and reeling in was enough to entertain me.

For the umpteenth time, I went through the motions of casting and reeling in. Suddenly, I felt a sharp tug at the end of my line. My hearth jumped into my throat, and then I got really excited. I got one! I thought.

I furiously reeled in my line, but found I had to struggle more than usual. My little brow furrowed as I struggled to get that fish to shore.

My parents finally noticed my struggling and chose to grab the video camera instead of helping me. At this point, I was panicking. This fish is going to drag me into the lake and eat me for breakfast! I'm too young to die! I could just read the newspaper headlines now: "Girl Gobbled by Giant Guppy" (my fish name vocabulary was really small).

The fish turned out to be an enormous carp, the biggest fish I have ever caught, and probably the biggest fish caught that day. It's a curse to be good at something you hate.

Since then, the scaly, slimy, wiggly fish have crept into my worst nightmares. It's even gotten to the point where I don't like swimming in open water for fear of what's under the surface nibbling my toes.

Let's just say I don't ever want to find Nemo. Or Dory. Or any fish. Ever.

True Blue, Through and Through

No, the title isn't referring to my love and loyalty to BYU (although, now that we're talking about it, go Cougars!).

The title comes from a story of one of the prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph F. Smith. When he was nineteen, he was returning home from his mission when a wagonload of drunk men came up to him, cursing the Mormons. One of them said, "Are you a Mormon?" Joseph was scared, but his reply was anything but. "Yes siree," he said. "Dyed in the wool; true blue, through and through." His answer shocked the men. The man who had addressed him even shook his hand, saying, "I am glad to see a fellow stand for his convictions." Then the men left.

Isn't this an amazing story? Joseph's reaction is such an inspiration. He had so much courage to stand for what he believed even in the face of certain danger.

That same danger is still in the world today. It may not be a wagonload of drunk men, but there are things that challenge what we believe. This happens all the time, but what really matters is how we react to the challenge. Will we let the challenges make us doubt what we know to be true? I hope not.

I hope to always be like Joseph F. Smith. I know where I stand in my beliefs, and I don't plan on ever budging.

I am a Mormon, dyed in the wool; true blue, through and through.

I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth.

I know that the gospel was restored by Joseph Smith, a true prophet of God, and that The Book of Mormon is filled with answers to our questions and knowledge that will help us be happy and get through the hard times.

I know that the current prophet today is Tomas S. Monson. He and the apostles are true messengers of God. If we listen to what they say, we will hear what the Lord wants us to do.

I know that because of the blessings of the temple I can be with my family forever and that families start with the marriage of husband and wife (see The Family: A Proclamation to the World).

I know that the power of the priesthood is real. I'm so happy I have a husband who honors his priesthood and is worthy so that he might bless me and others.

I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He died so that we might return to our Heavenly Father. He suffered for our sins so that we might be forgiven. His hands are always stretched out; all we have to do is reach out and He'll guide and direct us to where we need to be.

I know who I am, where I came from, and where I'm going. I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father and Mother who love me. I lived before in the premortal world, and I am here to be tested. I am doing my best to follow the commandments and be like Christ so that I might return to heaven to live forever.

I know that paying tithing brings many blessings, not just to those that it helps but also to me.

I know that I am truly happy because of the gospel.

To learn more about Mormons, click on my link on the right or visit

mormon.org. 

To read The Book of Mormon, visit lds.org

Inside the House of God

Until I went away to college, I lived in Riverdale. No, not Rivendale (which is what Lord of the Ring nerds on campus always think I say when I say that's where I'm from); Riverdale. Riverdale is a small city that meshes into Ogden.

It was always a blessing to live just about ten minutes away from the Ogden Temple. I remember going on a lot of youth activities to go do baptisms in the temple and walk its grounds, singing "I Love to See the Temple" in my head and promising that I'd "go inside someday" to make sacred covenants with God and to be married for time and all eternity (check!).

Last Saturday, I got to go inside the temple for another reason. For the past while, the Ogden Temple has been undergoing extensive renovations and reconstruction. Finally, it was finished and opened to the public. I had the wonderful opportunity to go with my family and friends to the open house. 

The temple was beautiful! I mean, all LDS temples are beautiful in their own way, but seeing this temple where the old one used to sit was just amazing. It was obvious that a lot of thought and skill went into the building of the temple with all the beautiful marble and stained glass and woodwork.

The transformation is unbelievable!

I've been to several open houses now, and I love going to them. I love seeing people (and not just Mormons) walking through the temple and going into rooms where we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints perform sacred ordinances. There is a font for doing baptisms for the dead, rooms to perform marriages for time and all eternity (like where my marriage to my husband took place), rooms for sealings for the dead, just to name a few. As you can see, a lot of work is done in the temple.

As we walked through the temple during the tour at the open house, I could definitely feel the Spirit. It was a peaceful and happy feeling. I knew that what would happen in those temple rooms after the dedication would bring people true happiness. And if it felt that good just at the open house, imagine how much better and stronger that feeling will get after the temple is dedicated. That feeling is one of the reasons I like going to the temple. I like being able to shut out the world (even just for a couple of hours) and focus on my spirit and Jesus Christ. I feel safe and happy in the temple, and I feel good that I'm able to do work that will bless others.

I know that temples are essential, and I know that the purpose of the work done inside of them is to bring people (both living and dead) the opportunity for happiness. The temple brings me so much happiness. I know that my family can be together forever because of the blessings that a temple marriage brings. I'm especially grateful for temples now that I'm married because I know that my husband is mine forever. I never have to leave him.

If you haven't been to the open house, go! It is a beautiful experience. If you want to know more about Latter-day Saint temples, visit here or here.

My eternal family (plus two sisters who couldn't be there in person)

My Little, Cute Obsession

It's so fluffy, I'm going to die!

But really, I seem to like small creatures way more than I should.

Like just this weekend I saw some baby goats who were, I kid you not, just four weeks old! Cutest. Things. Ever. They'd prance around and just bounce back when a bigger goat pushed them around. I really wanted to hop the fence that divided me from their cuteness and scoop one up.

Likewise, every day walking to work, I pass the BYU duck pond. I can hear the high-pitched quacking from the wee ducklings before I see them. I try to feed them bread, but the larger, less-cute ducks steal the bits of bread. Rude. I think my husband can fit at least three of those ducklings in his hand. So adorable! I just want to take an armful of them back home.

When it comes to cute things, I just can't help it—googly eyes; fur soft as silk; precious noses; tiny, pudgy fingers and toes. . . .

Ok fine, I have an obsession with little, cute things. Every time I see something cute (whether it be a chubby baby, fluffy puppy, or waddling duckling), all I want to do is grab it and hug it. They are so dang cute—it drives me crazy! I even had a hard time looking for pictures to put with this blog post because I couldn't stand all those images of cute creatures.

Thankfully, it seems I'm not the only poor soul who experiences this. One study explores the explanation that maybe seeing something cute brings out a certain aggression in us that makes us want to squeeze something, preferably the cute thing we are fawning over.

One suggestion for this phenomenon of aggression is that we want to take care of that cute animal or baby that we see, and if it's a photograph, we get frustrated because we can't reach it or, in real life, we can't just go around squeezing other people's babies and puppies. That frustration could turn into aggression.

Whatever you call it—obsession, aggression, frustration—cute things are cute, and I just want to squeeze them all. And there's nothing more squeezable than a teacup pig with an ice cream cone.

Couldn't you just eat him up?

My Dad is . . .

. . . well, this picture about sums it up.

Clearly, my dad is a fun guy to be around. His jokes, though goofy at times, still manage to make us smile and laugh.

I know it's a day late, but I definitely want to give a shoutout to my amazing dad.

One of my dad's best qualities is how thoughtful and kind he is to everyone. At church, he's always the guy who stays after the meetings to make sure all the chairs get put away. He'll escort little old ladies from their cars, open doors for them, and help them up and down stairs. My dad goes out of his way to make sure people have what they need and especially loves doing secret service like shoveling the neighborhood walks after a snowstorm. Once he even sprained his ankle while we were swimming because he wanted to teach his girls how to do a cannonball (we learned not to do one in the shallow end).

Another fun quality of my dad's is that he loves to tease people, especially his girls. I'm pretty sure it's one of his favorite things to do. Teasing us is one way that he shows that he loves us. He teases us about silly things, like how he tells Amber and me that when we were little baby twins, he could fit one of us in each hand (true) and juggle us (not true). 

One of my favorite things to do with my dad is to go on camping trips. He always makes sure it's a fun time and puts a lot of work into making sure everyone is having fun. My dad even baits our hooks for us when we go fishing and doesn't make me touch the fish once I catch them (yeah, I have this weird fear of fish). 

I am so happy I got to spend Fathers' Day with my wonderful dad! Of course, it wouldn't be a family get-together without a funny story coming from it. So my dad loves his sweets, and for Fathers' Day my mom made Reese's trifle. His portion was fairly big, but then my mom took this out of the fridge saying, "And here's my trifle!"

I don't know how he managed to survive with five girls in the house with dogs as the only males besides himself. But I do know that I have the best dad, and I love him very much.

What's in a Name? Apparently a Lot

I recently did something that forced me to change my name.

No, nothing sinister—I just got married!

With that marriage came a cute new name. (I loved my old name, Aimee Hancock, but now I get to be Aimee Robbins. Doesn't that just look so cute?) I love my new name, but I don't love the hassle that comes with it.

We haven't gotten our marriage license in the mail yet, and without it I feel like I'm in limbo. My nameplate at work says I'm Aimee Robbins, my new email address has my new name in it, and my husband (still weird to call him that!) calls me Mrs. Robbins (even weirder to hear him call me that!). But according to my bank, BYU, and my driver's license, I'm still Aimee Hancock. And I can't change that without a marriage license. So much that one little document can do!

One thing I never even thought of when I used to daydream about my wedding was having to jump through all these hoops to change my name. Some women choose not to change their names, for whatever reason, but I always knew that I wanted to take my husband's name. This way, I finally get to have a middle name—Hancock!

I've always wanted a middle name. Back in elementary school (back when it was fun to try and find out each other's middle names), I would always say my middle name was "Nothing" so I could play the guessing game with my classmates.

Hopefully soon, I'll get to truly and legally be Aimee Hancock Robbins. But for now, I'm saying my middle name is "Hancock."

My Angel of a Mother

Have you ever thought that your mom was the best? I think most everyone has, and it's because the world is full of amazing mothers. My mom is one of them.

One of the hardest things about going to college was leaving my mom. It was a bit easier since BYU is only about an hour and fifteen minutes from home, but with school and work, it was still hard to visit very often, and that distance felt very far when I was a freshman. Not having her just in the next room definitely took some getting used to. She had always been there to motivate me and to give me her opinions and advice.

Freshman year, I probably drove her nuts with all my phone calls asking her advice or just talking. Even now as a senior, I still miss my mom and probably still drive her nuts with the amount of phone calls and texts I give her (although I blame that on all the wedding planning that's been going around).

When coming to college, I wasn't only leaving my mom: I was also leaving my coach. It was really hard knowing that I wouldn't be playing competitive sports anymore after high school (besides intramurals, which are super competitive!) and that I wouldn't have my mom to coach me. She had been my coach since I was tiny, probably since I could walk and hold a ball. My mom knows a lot when it comes to sports, and she's willing to help anyone who wants to learn how to play and truly cares about his or her success.

My mom is hilarious and always makes me laugh. She is the most sacrificing, loving, and forgiving person I know. She does whatever it takes to make sure her children and those around her are happy and have everything they need. My mom is still kind to even those who have wronged her. She's the only one who can tell Amber and me apart from our baby pictures and who always treated me like an individual instead of "one of the twins." I love how crazy she gets during games sometimes. Sports are one of her passions, and it's fun when she shows it.

I don't know how she raised us four girls (with only one bathroom!), dealt with our drama, fulfilled her church callings, coached junior high and high school teams, and was a school teacher, all at the same time. I know she did even more than that with all her volunteer work she did, and I'm probably still leaving some things out. I really don't know how she did it. She's truly amazing.

Mothers' Day was yesterday, but I still wanted let my mom know how much I care about her and how much she means to me. I'm so thankful for all that she's done for me. To partially steal from a cute movie that my mom loves, here's a little poem that sums up my mom: "She taught me sports, she's always there; she makes sure my cupboard isn't bare. My mother is beyond compare."

I love you, Mom!