I'm a thief.

I have really smart, really creative, really cool friends {family included under this umbrella}. Many of them are meant to be. Sometimes, they say what I can't. Or what I want to, but just don't think of. :) Or, what I think is just neat {I say neat for lack of a better word}. So, I'm stealing their blogs today. Three of my favorites:

• Emma posted this quote, & it made my day: Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable. -Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Patience", Ensign, Oct. 1980

• Kellie posted about the Ingred Michaelson {+ Joshua Radin} concert that we are both going to on Thursday {hooray! Can't wait!} & enlightened me on the words to one of my favorite songs as of late. I don't know how I've never really paid attention, but I love the lyrics.

Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?
Just a cage of rib bones and other various parts.
So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess,
And to stop the muscle that makes us confess.
.
And we are so fragile,
And our cracking bones make noise,
And we are just,
Breakable, breakable, breakable girls and boys.

• Tara posted about her trip to New York, better than I ever could {obviously}. In the spirit of avoiding a massive display of grotesque plagarism, I'm only duplicating an excerpt here:

Kathryn took us to a very hip restaurant for brunch, a pile of whipped cream, and the richest hot chocolate I've ever had, and then we wandered around Rockefeller Center and 5th avenue, stopping along the way for a makeover at the Mac counter. By the way. When I told Kevin that we had gone to the Mac counter for makeovers, he was totally confused. He was thinking the Mac counter as in computers. Funny enough, he figured they must do some sort of makeovers, and it was only this afternoon that he figured it out that I meant makeup. Mike joined us later for an amazing dinner in another fancy "must make a reservation weeks in advance" restaurant, and after eating our fill of yummy sushi and Asian food, we headed back to their perfectly organized and slightly OCD apartment. No offense meant. I say it with great admiration.

Saturday, we slept in, grabbed a bagel, and headed to try our hand at getting tickets to Wicked. Let me say, I was excited to see it, but I wasn't going to be heartbroken if we didn't see it. As it turns out, now that I've seen it, I am a HUGE fan and I would travel back to New York to see it again and again. Kathryn is obviously a big fan, because she has, in fact, now seen it again and again. We stood in line, waiting patiently for people to no show for the matinee, and then two honest looking girls came up and said they had three tickets if we had cash! Kathryn ran for the ATM, Susannah emptied her wallet, and we scored amazing tickets for the evening show! It was so stressful! I think Susannah almost had a stroke, but we were just skipping down the street singing we are going to Wicked over and over!

We totally changed gears, and in the time we had to wait, we headed to Ground Zero, where it still takes my breath away at how huge the gap is that was left by those enormous buildings. They way we felt as we approached the site was like a pendulum swinging. It's strange to leave the hustle and bustle of Times Square with all the lights and glitz and come to a place where it is so quiet and haunting. I was glad we took the time to go visit such a significant living memorial.

A few subway stops later, and perhaps some more food, we got to accept our Oscars for something significant, and then we headed to Wicked! Did I already say I thought it was amazing? It was amazing. What a beautiful story of friendship and doing what you know is good and right, and not at all Wicked. LOVED it.