2012: Let's recap

The year of monthly challenges. Yay for being able to do something for a month! And for just doing fun stuff.
Best April Fool's joke ever!
26.2 miles. Marathon. Check.

Skydiving. Take 2.
Shot a gun for the first time.
Saw Wicked. Totally awesome.
Moved again.
Got a new job- Fort Knox
Rafting

No sugar, no meat, no facebook, service, temple, no spending, dating, Book of Mormon in a month, new recipes, running. Success

- Go on a cruise '11
- Go skydiving '11
- Learn Italian
- Visit Italy
- Learn to play the guitar
- Go to the festival of colors '11
- Run a 1/2 marathon '11
- Ride in a hot air balloon/ go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico
- Shoot a gun '12
- Write a children's book
- See Josh Groban in concert '11
- See Wicked '12
- Go to all the temples in Utah
- See a firefly
- Watch a meteor shower
- Hike the Y '12
- Be in a flash mob
- Visit Prince Edward Island
- Swim with dolphins
- Visit all 50 of the United States
- Be the voice of an animated character
- Be complaint free for 30 days
- Ride a tandum bike
- Run a Marathon '12
- Run a Ragnar
- Go to a Brad Paisley concert
- Visit Europe. A lot of it.
- Go on a spur of the moment trip. on a plane. to somewhere random.
- Be a volunteer at a telethon

Christmas with the Candy Bomber

This morning I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert in conjunction with Music and the Spoken Word, featuring Alfie Boe. When I heard Alfie Boe would be the guest this year, I knew I needed to try for tickets.
My mom and dad went to his concert when he was at BYU-Idaho and RAVED about him. That's really not my dad's thing, so I knew if he was raving about it, Alfie Boe must be pretty amazing. I put my name in the lottery, as well as my mother's and waiting. No dice.
I had friends who had tickets and were so excited to be going, but no invitation for me. Sad day. I tried not to dwell on it and really it didn't bother me too much.
Miraculously my cousin got tickets to Music and the Spoken Word and invited me to come. It may not be the full performance, but something is better than nothing. We arrived in plenty of time and waited for the performance to start. Lloyd Newell came out and told us that we would not be allowed to applaud for the first 30 minutes because of the live broadcast of music and the spoken word. He drilled it into us that no matter what we couldn't applaud. We would REALLY want to, but we couldn't applaud. NO applauding. I think we got it. Little did I know.
The concert began and it was great. Wonderful orchestra and choir. Alfie can really sing! Then came Tom Brokaw. And he began to tell the story of the Candy Bomber. I had never heard this story and I was not prepared. I'll try and sum it up, but here's a link to a news report on him.
After WWII Germany was in need of supplies and we would ship in flour. Hal Halvorsen, a pilot, noticed children watching the planes take off and land and went to chat with them. He noticed they didn't ask for candy like other children often did. He gave them two sticks of gum and then decided he would see what he could gather up from other pilots to give out. They then dropped the candy out of the airplane using handkerchiefs as parachutes. Millions of pounds of candy were dropped to the children of Germany. As the story was told, images of the planes and children were shown and then, Hal Halvorsen himself came on the stage. AND WE COULDN'T APPLAUD!
I was crying. Hard core, no makeup left, crying. I think in light of the horrific events of Friday it was an even more powerful message of hope and love. There are awful people in the world, who do awful things. But there are also wonderful people who can, and do, amazing things. The rest of the concert was great, but the Candy Bomber has given me hope in humanity and a renewed desire to do what I can for those around me.

 Thank You Hal Halvorsen and everyone who reaches out to offer what they can.

Hal Halvorsen (who is now 92 years old)

oh hello December

Here it is December 9th and I find myself wondering where has the year gone!? With the upcoming end of year, I also find myself starting to think about New Year's Resolutions. You may recall that I did it a little different this year. For a refresher you can look here. Instead of thinking a few things to do throughout the entire year, I broke it up into month long challenges. Some were silly and others more serious. Spiritual, temporal. I had quite a variety. I think I'm going to do the same thing for this next year. I haven't put a ton of thought into it yet and so I'm going to start by asking for suggestions. Maybe something you did to challenge yourself or improve your life that you really enjoyed or just something you think would be a good one. Maybe we can do it together and report to each other. At any rate, I'd like your suggestions. So use the comment box, send me an email, write on my facebook wall, do what you got to do. Ready, set, GO!

An Attitude of Gratitude

November 25
Babies!! My cousin blessed his little baby today and it's such a miracle that babies arrive the way they do and that those little tiny people grow into adults! I love the joy children bring to life and I'm grateful that if I can't have any kids of my own at this time in my life, at least there are people around me who do, and I can feel of the special spirit that comes with them. Talmage. You're my favorite.

November 26
Missionaries! We went to temple square tonight to see the lights for FHE and of course saw all the sister missionaries. There was even a group from the Philippines doing a special Christmas musical number and I couldn't help but think of my sister out there as a missionary. Hurray for missionaries and their sacrifice and dedication to the Lord and his work.

November 27
Options. I am grateful I live in a country where I have options. If one thing doesn't work it's not the end of the world (even if I feel like it is in the moment) and I have other options I can go to to get what I need.

November 28
The Priesthood. I am so grateful for God's priesthood restored on the earth and for worthy men in my life who can use that to bless me. I am also grateful for their willingness to use that, no matter the time of day.

November 29
Life's lessons. I'm grateful for the life lessons I've learned first hand and the lessons other people have learned and shared so I don't have to experience them first hand.

November 30
The gospel of Jesus Christ. It gives me direction and purpose in life. Helps me to keep going even through the hard times.

So much to be thankful for

November 18
My parents!! Today is their 29th wedding anniversary and I'm so grateful for them and all they've done for me in my life. I'm grateful they have worked through the hard times and given me a good example of how marriage can work. :)

November 19
Optimism. I really am grateful for optimism and optimistic people. As I sat tonight doing a service project at FHE with a few people on the cynical side, I was grateful for all the people in my life who will try and look on the bright side instead of seeing and commenting on all the bad things. I understand realism and knowing that the world isn't sunshine and roses all the time, but it really does make like easier and better to try and find the positive in a world that sometimes feels like it's filled with darkness and thorns.

November 20
Modern Medicine. When you feel crappy like I did today, it's nice to take some medicine and feel better. I'm a fan of somewhat instant pain relief. People who like to just endure it are crazy in my book.

November 21
Great people in my ward and their willingness to serve. Tim and Alex get the shout out on this one for lifting the giant motorcycle engine out of my trunk into Hollie's car for me. Pretty sure that one wouldn't have happened without them.

November 22
Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday and I really do have so much to be thankful for.
November 23
The gospel! I grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I know why I'm here and where I'm going and that I can be with my family forever!

November 24
My patient mother who is a wonderful example of love and service.

Let's be thankful some more

November 11
I've really been trying to not pick a person, outside of family, specifically by name to be grateful for, but I just can't help myself today. My old home teacher Kory is in town visiting and at church today he gave me the hug I've been waiting for, for a month! He really just made my whole day and reminded me that sometimes you just have to wait through the bad times to get to what you really want and God knows the little desires of your heart. Prayers are eventually answered.

November 12
I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to serve a mission. I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Sub for Santa program tonight, for the Spanish speakers. I just LOVE Spanish! Aside from the Spanish, the mission was just a great opportunity to serve, share the gospel, strengthen my own testimony and build lasting friendships. Hurray for missions!

November 13
Technology. It may bring with it many evils, but it has astounding good. I'm grateful for the ease it creates in keeping in touch with people and making our lives easier.

November 14
Visiting Teaching. I'm grateful for this program within the Relief Society to make sure that every sister has someone checking up on them. It's another boost to the testimony and a great opportunity to make new friends.

November 15
Talents! I'm grateful for the talents I have been given and for the talents of other people. It makes life more interesting and sometimes much easier. :)

November 16
Little miracles. I'm grateful for the little miracles that a lot of times we don't even notice. Like tonight when my computer wasn't working and then I just did something that I didn't think would fix it, but it did. God is good.

November 17
Fabric. It's the little things in life that make it worth living. ;) But really, it makes me really really happy.

Thankful x's 2

November 4
I was struggling to think of something to be grateful for today. Not that I don't have things, but I didn't have anything that really stuck out that I was particularly grateful for, until I just checked my email, because you know it's Monday in the Philippines and that means it's p-day for my sister. To my great surprise and delight there was an email, but it was short and said to be continued at the bottom so I looked at when it was sent and it was only 21 minutes ago! Do you know what that means!? That means she's on right now so I can email her and it's like instant messenger, only not so instant, but we can have a sort of normal conversation through sending emails back and forth. I did that with my dad on my mission. BUT back to my grateful thing for the day. I'm grateful for my SISTER!!! I just love her. She can always make me laugh and make a sour situation great. She is strong and determined and full of life and love and energy. I love the inside jokes we have and how when we both get laughing it can go on and on and we're both crying and can hardly breathe. THAT is a good time. Who knew that my mom was right, when I was 15 and my sister was 9 and I didn't want her to tag along with me and my friends and I just didn't really want a sister, and my mom said, someday you'll change your mind and she'll be one of your best friends. True statement. Mom is smart. I miss her like crazy with her being on the mission and sometimes I go to text her to ask her something or tell her something funny only to remember she's in a different country and won't be able to respond, but I'm so proud of her for going on a mission and being an example to my family. She's a gem and I'm glad if I only have one sister that she's it.

November 5
Tonight I went to FHE. It's not my most favorite thing, but I try to be supportive of people in the ward and their callings.  As I sat there listening to everyone discuss a conference talk, I was very grateful for their insights and testimonies on the gospel. I am surrounded by really good people who help strengthen me and help me see things in new, different and sometimes better ways. I'm grateful for the gospel and the common ground it gives us to connect and help each other grow, so maybe this counts as two things, but I can play by my own rules and I say it's okay.

November 6
My body. I am really grateful for a healthy body. It is amazing all the things my body can do and how it just keeps going even when I put it through awful things, like not sleeping enough, eating junk and running 26.2 miles. It is a miraculous machine and I'm grateful for the health I have and the ability I have to run. Running just clears my mind and makes me feel better about things. Yeah for a body! and yeah for running!

November 7
My job. Not only that I have one, but that I have one that I like. I know a lot of people who can't say they have both of those things. I'm grateful to work with nice people and feel like a productive person at the end of the day. I'm grateful I have a paycheck. Although it may not be the biggest one, it pays the rent and buys me food. Hurray for having a job in this less than ideal economy of ours!

November 8
Nature! God is the ultimate artist. The sunset tonight as I was going into the temple was AMAZING. The changing leaves on the trees were stunning and I am always amazed by the beauty in the mountains and really all around me. To add to this on the 9th, the BEAUTIFUL SNOW!

November 9
A place to live. As it snowed and snowed today, I am very grateful that I have a warm house to go home to. A house that keeps out the elements and keeps me safe.

November 10
My family. I've always loved my family. I of course went through the teenage years of not liking them very much and not getting along with my mom at all, but it seems growing up fixes that. At least for me. College opened a whole new world of what my family means to me. I love to be able to call up my mom and dad to just chat. Or to ask a question and get their opinions. I love to go home for a visit and just hang out with them. Family really is where it's at.

I am not political

I am not a political type person. I don't get super wrapped up in the comings and goings of anything political. I would rather do almost anything else than have a political conversation. I really think it brings out the worst in people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that. What I don't respect is you trying to convince me that your way is the only "right" way. It goes for both parties. Have an opinion! But don't cram it down my throat.
That being said I did try and watch the debates and be a bit informed on the issues this year. I voted. Sure I don't live in a swing state and my vote probably "doesn't make a difference". BUT I am an American, I have the freedom to vote, and so I did. Did things turn out the way I would have liked? No. Will my world end? No. Will the world in general end? not likely (although there is that Mayan calendar thing . . .)
The future may look bleak and uncertain to some, but there is one thing of which I am sure.

God is still there for us and watching out for us and as long as we stay close to Him, we'll be okay.

It's that time again

It's November, a time to remember all that we are grateful for. Instead of annoying all my facebook friends every day in November, I choose to do a weekly blog post of all I'm thankful for each day.

November 1
Music. I love it. It can change a bad day to good and cheer you up just like that. I'll just lump Josh Groban into this thing that I'm grateful for. I'm really grateful for him. My life is better because he's in it. :) So music in general and Josh Groban specifically.

November 2
Friends. Throughout my life, I have been blessed with amazing friends. Really quality people who lift me up and keep me going. They support me and love me through the good times and the bad. They make me laugh and listen to me cry. I'm not sure what I have ever done to deserve such great people but I am truly grateful for their examples and friendship. I'd name them, but I'm sure I'd forget someone and then they'd feel bad and I'd feel bad and who wants a bunch of girls feeling bad? No one, that's who.  So you know who you are and I LOVE YOU!

November 3
The temple. I am grateful for God's house here on earth and the peace, direction, and strength I can find there. I'm grateful that I live close to temples. I'm grateful for the blessings that come from being worthy to hold a temple recommend. I went to the temple this morning with a friend and as we were coming out, I saw an old roommate who was going in to receive her own endowment. How happy!!! What a blessing for her and her family. I'm so proud of her for working to achieve that goal and I'm excited for her to enjoy the blessings of the temple as well. 

Masquerade!

Any excuse to dress up and dance around. 

Sometimes you just need a Leandro

I once heard some statistic that to be really healthy you need the human touch. Something like 7 times a day. I don't really remember and someone could have been making it up, but I believe it.
There is just something about the human touch. I don't know what it is, but there are definitely days that I just crave it. Usually any hug will do, but there are sometimes when it's not just anyone. It needs to be a boy.
When I was in college ( I feel like I've told this story, but I can't find it) I had a friend named Leandro. We worked together and every day he would give me a hug. I'm pretty sure on most days that was the highlight of my day.
We also lived in apartment complexes that were right next to each other and one night I was having one of those moments where you just need somebody to hold you. It was past curfew (we were at BYU-I) :) so I walked over to his house and stood on the front steps until he came outside and I said through my tears, "I need a hug" and he just gave me a hug. That was all. And then I felt better.
Why do I bring this up? Last Thursday was definitely one of those days. All day long I just wanted a hug, and it really needed to be a guy. It didn't happen. I got a hug from a girl and then I went to bed and in the morning I did feel better, but I really wished that I just had a Leandro living next door and I could just go over and get a hug and feel better. Felt it again last night as I lay in bed. Sadly I am no longer in college and Leandro lives in Brazil. Someday . . . someday.

Compassionate Service

I've talked about it before and I'm sure I'll talk about it again. I'm the compassionate service supervisor in my singles ward and I've found it very difficult to figure out what we are suppose to be doing. We're having a meeting tomorrow to talk about how best to do this calling. This is a hand out I made for them giving some ideas of where to start.

Things you should definitely do
1.      Pray
•         Pray for yourself to know the needs of the sisters
•         Pray for the girls by name. Pick a couple each week to
focus on. Do NOT underestimate the power of prayer.

2.       Get to know the girls
•         There are only 10-12 girls in your district. Pick a different
girl (or two) a week/2 weeks/month, to get to know. If nothing
else, learn her name and say hi to her at church.
•         Visit the girls. Pick a different girl every week and
visit. Take the Visiting Teaching supervisor for your district
with you if you want.
•         Send cards, emails, and texts to the girls you know.

3. Work with your Visiting Teaching counterpart. Two heads
are better than one.

Things you could do
1.       Get-togethers
•         Once a month (or how ever often you think) have a
district activity; something low key where the girls can come if
they are able and get to know each other (and you can get to
know them as well).
Examples: Craft night/afternoon, breakfast, dinner,
movie night, etc.

  2. Whatever the Lord tells you. That is truly your best
resource.

Thoughts from October General Conference I felt were applicable to Compassionate Service
• Observe and then serve. Sister Burton

We can only know the needs of the individual sisters
through prayer, getting to know them, and observing
what they specifically need.


Keep the lower lights burning. President Packer
o There are sisters who are struggling and searching
for a way back, who are feeling through the dark
to find their own testimony. Be the lower light,
reflecting the Savior’s bright light to guide them
where they need to go.

Be anxiously engaged. Elder Ballard
o “Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four
months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey
to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon.
Though seemingly insignificant when compared to
the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of
honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend
on each other. Work that would be overwhelming
for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of
the bees faithfully do their part”.

Become a disciple

•  “Making the covenant to be a disciple of Christ is the beginning of a lifelong process, and the path is not always easy. As we repent of our sins and strive to do what He would have us do and serve our fellowmen as He would serve them, we will inevitably become more like Him. Becoming like Him and being one with Him is the ultimate goal and objective—and essentially the very definition of true discipleship”.

Babies

You don't get to be 27 and a 1/2 in the LDS culture without thinking about marriage and babies at least once. Even if it wasn't something I really wanted for myself, it would still come up since, EVERYONE I KNOW is either married, getting married or having a baby. And that is great! It really is.
I think it can be very easy to be bitter when people around you have things that you really wish you had. I'll admit it, sometimes it's really hard. It's also easy to go the other way and glorify the single life. I've come to accept that they both have pro's and con's.

For now, I get to be the proud "aunt" of 4 beautiful children. 3 of them live far away in Florida and I'm very grateful for technology so I can still see the youngest one learning to walk and all of them discovering the world. Thanks Kate for letting me be the "aunt".

And then there is the newest one. My one "nephew" who is a week old today. I get to be the "aunt" here because I played a key role in his parents getting together. Yes, you're welcome little Hyram, because of me, you are alive. Ha, just kidding. But as I was sitting there holding him and talking with Denae I was just amazed that he was there. That any baby arrives the way it does. Truly it is a miracle. That little thing grew inside of you! Props to all the moms who have endured great discomfort to bring that tiny little life into the world.

For now, I'll enjoy the pro's of being single, like getting 8 hours of sleep every night and being able to go and do whatever the heck I want, and try to wait patiently for the day when I will no longer have those luxuries.

Toenails are for sissies.

If a year ago someone had told me I would run a marathon, I would have laughed in their face and told them they were crazy. Turns out, I'm the crazy one.
Back in the beginning of July my visiting teacher Lori somehow talked me into running a marathon with her. I don't know how she did it. She must have said something very convincing or maybe I just don't have the ability to tell people no.
At any rate I started my training with only 10 weeks to go. Training is not fun. It's very time consuming and what normal person really enjoys getting up early on a Saturday to run 19 miles? Definitely not this girl. But I did it.
Sadly the marathon was the same day my dad had a 50 mile bike race so mom and dad wouldn't be able to come. THEN dad had to work Friday night at the MoTab concert so they couldn't even just skip his race. I was a bit sad. I mean a marathon is kind of a BIG DEAL. Oh well. My cousin was going to come and cheer for me as were a couple girls from my ward.
So Friday I headed up to Salt Lake to get my packet. Then I went to stay with an old roommate from college. We went out to dinner and caught up on what's been happening in life. Then we were back at her house. It was only 9 so we decided to put in a movie. Walk, don't Run. I recommend it to anyone. It was super funny and cute Lindsey left a note on my bag in the morning that said Run, don't Walk and a good luck message. It was a great way to start my day at 4 a.m.
I got to the bus with plenty of time and we headed up the canyon. It was a very long bus ride. I headed straight from the bus to the porta potty line and as luck would have it I found Lori! In the dark! at 6:15! But the line was slow moving and when it was finally my turn, the race started. Oops.
So I finished my business and then got out there. It was just after 6:30 and kind of cold. I had forgotten my long sleeve shirt, but they had given us some gloves so I just hoped I'd warm up after a mile or two and sure enough at 2.5 I was tossing the gloves to the side.
The canyon was pretty steep and by mile 8 my knees were hurting pretty bad. I was glad I had decided to wear my knee brace. I took some advil or aleve or whatever they gave me at the first aide station and kept going. The canyon was BEAUTIFUL!!! Perfect for the first day of Fall. The temps were great and the leaves were amazing.
Coming out of the canyon at mile 14.5 I could hear someone cheering for me. I was expecting my cousin to be there so I was looking for him. Instead I see this man on a bicycle and had to do a double take. IT WAS MY DAD!!!! I almost started crying right there. He biked around with me and ahead of me for about 3.5 miles. It was good to have him there. The uphill started at about 15.5 and I was getting kind of tired. Mile 19 was super painful with it's downhill again. My muscles did not appreciate that at all. From there on out it was a mile at a time. Usually it was more of a song at a time. Lori and I were together from about 15 to 20. Then I could always see her just ahead of me.
At mile 22 or 23  (it kind of starts to run together by this point) I was super mad at the world. I hated everyone and everything and I was ready to be done. Dad found me again around this point and helped me through and then dad was with me again through mile 24 and my cousin was at mile 25. I was SO thirsty by this point and that last mile might as well have been another complete marathon.

My cousin walked with me through the aide station while I drank all my water (3 cups) and was still thirsty but still had that last mile to go. It was awful. My right big toe had started to hurt at mile 23 because of a blister and it was hard to figure out how to run without that hurting super bad. At mile 26 that blister popped and there was no way I was going to run with my shoe rubbing against that. So I took off my shoe. I was going to run with just one shoe on but that was awkward so I took off the other one and ran the last .28 miles in my socks. I had just enough left in me to run across the finish line, shoes in hand, and then I was completely spent. I cried.

I can't believe I actually did it. It was hard and not very fun, but what an accomplishment!
My mom and dad drove me home and stayed for a while, but they had to head back to Idaho because my dad had to work today.
It was good and I suppose I'm glad I did it. I'm feeling pretty sore today and I imagine tomorrow will only be worse. I lost one toenail in training and I'm going to lose both my big toenails. They hurt almost as much as my muscles. We saw a sign as we were running that said "toenails are for sissies". Guess I'm not a sissy.
I'd do it again if I didn't have to train for it, but it just takes too much time. For all you who can keep on doing it, kudos to you. As for me, I think once was enough.

Mile 22? Maybe. Dad said smile, I said no. He said fake it. So I tried.

I'll keep my toenails from here on out.

The Blog chain

My friend Jenn tagged me in this blog thing

The rules are as follows:

1::Each person tagged must post 11 random facts about themselves

2::They must answer the 11 questions posted by the previous blogger

3::They must create 11 more questions to ask their tagged bloggers

4::They must tag 11 blogs with less than 200 followers

5::The bloggers must be told

6::No tag backs 

 

I'm gonna have to do the parts 3 &4 later. Maybe when I'm laying in my bed dying after my marathon.

11 Facts about me:

1:: I love barns

2:: I have a fabric addiction. It's hereditary.

3:: Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday

4:: I really want people to like me. All people. I don't have to be their best friend, but I don't want them to hate me. It's a problem.

5:: I have been bitten by a monkey. It hurt. Real bad.

6:: Pizza Pie Cafe is my most favorite pizza ever!

7:: I hate pears and cantaloupe. Disgusting.

8:: Lasagna and sloppy joes are my favorite. I could probably eat them everyday and be just fine.

9:: I lettered in boys basketball. Twice.

10:: I love to quilt.

11::  I'm a loyal friend. If the other person will put in some effort, I'll be your friend forever. I tried just being friends with everyone forever, but it was too much. Gotta have some effort on the other side. It makes me sad, but so did trying and not getting anything.

 

Here are your questions:

1:: What is your favorite movie soundtrack?

I really like the soundtrack to Tangled. Don't judge. If we just go soundtrack and skip the movie part I choose Wicked. 

2::What is your favorite go-to pair of shoes?  Why?

I have a pair of black sandals that i just love, but they are close to death. I love them because they are easy to put on, they go with everything and I can wear them to work or church or just in life. So great. 

3::What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

 It use to PPL but I gave up on that when I missed a couple episodes. So I'm going to go with eating Nutella and watching the Cosby show. A complete waste of my time and calories, but it's just so great.

4::What's your favorite smell in the entire world? 

I can't think of anything I LOVE, but I really like the smell of fresh cut grass. And dirt.

5::If you could take ANY class, what would it be?  (get creative)

 If I could take a dance class and not just learn to dance, but really LOOK legit, I'd choose that. I look like a fool when I dance. No matter the type. Or maybe welding. My odds would be pretty good in that class. ;)

6::What is your all time favorite junk food?

 Peanut Butter M&M's

7::What is your favorite day?  (Could be day of week, holiday ect...)

Thanksgiving. Good food. Family time. Reflection. It's good. 

8::I often say that many things are a "nightmare."  Explain what your absolute worst nightmare would be.

Public speaking. Especially if I have to sell anything. Shoot me now. 

9:: If you got to live any love story (from history, movies, books ect) which one would you choose?

As I'm thinking of all these different stories, I'm realizing that although there is a great love story there is the depressing part too. I realize that's life, but it's kind of depressing. So having said that, I think . . .  Titanic, or Return to Me, or the book Hearts in Hiding.

10:: As of right now, what is your number one personal goal and career goal.

Personal goal: Run a  marathon. Guess as of tomorrow I'll need a new one. Career goal; can't I just get married and have some little babies? I like that. Good goal.

11:: List one thing you wish you had the guts to do right now.

Ummmm, ask out that one guy . . .

Who wants a taco?

I've decided I really like the people that I work with. They are super nice and can be pretty entertaining. Sometimes without even trying. Like today for instance.
I work with 6 men and one pregnant woman. Yesterday Becky left early to go to the doctor to find out if she is having a boy or a girl. Collin bet it was a boy since Becky already has 3 girls. This morning when I got to work I asked her what she is having and it turns out, she's have another girl. :/ Collin was not yet at work.
Later in the day, around noon I warmed up my lunch and Collin commented on how hungry his was. Becky then told us she was going to go and get some lunch. As she was getting ready to leave Collin called out "Wait! What are you having?!" To which Becky replied "I'm going to get a taco. Do you want one?" This made perfect sense to me. Collin stared at her for a minute and then said "What is the sex of your baby?" Becky started to laugh, as did Collin and I. She then said "I'm having a taco!" Followed by "It's another girl". It's been cracking me up all day. Maybe it was one of those things where you had to be there, but what perfect timing. What are you having? A taco.

Who knows

This morning I slept a little longer than I should have. I still had time to get ready and figured I'd just take my breakfast with me in the car. It's been done before and I will probably do it again. For some reason today it just did not happen. I got out my frozen fruit and put it in the magic bullet glass. I then got out my juice to add to it. Opened the juice and immediately could smell that I would not be using that juice. Poured it in the sink and went to use my roommates juice. It was bad also. I finally just went with orange juice and twisted the lid on. I put in on the blender motor thing and it started up. I took it off and shook it and then put it back on. When I went to take it off, it wouldn't budge. I had to unplug it and then I still couldn't get it off. It's still sitting on my counter. This has happened before and it's super obnoxious, but as I got to work I just wondered why. Maybe it was just bad luck. I got up late. Two juices were bad. Then it got stuck. But maybe there was some higher power at play here. Maybe if I had been drinking my smoothie in my car on the freeway something bad would have happened. There is no way to know, but thinking of it that way helps me be less irritated by the whole situation. Who knows how many times things happen to prevent other things from happening. I think I'll just say a prayer of thanks for all those unknown to me times and be happy that I'm alive, and although I may be hungry, I've got a lot to be grateful for.

Sometimes I run 19.28 miles

But let's be honest here. I've only done that one time and that was this morning. Marathon countdown is 3 weeks from today. Today was my last long run before the race. Nothing more than 10 in my future for a while. I had great plans. I'd get up and run at 6. That would give me time to get out run before it got hot and be back to take a package to the UPS store by 10:30 to mail to my sister in the MTC.
All my plans went down the drain when I woke up at 5:30 to thunder and lightening and pouring rain. I got up and watched it for about 15 minutes, reset my alarm for 6:30 and went back to bed. Luckily it had stopped raining and I was out the door and running at 6:50. First 6.3 miles were great. Second 6.3 miles weren't bad, but the hour was getting late and I didn't think I'd have time to make it to 20 miles like I had planned AND make it to the UPS store. After the 2nd 6.3 ish miles I stopped at home and got the package and keys all ready. Took me about 7 minutes. Then I went out to finish the running. It was 9:10. At about mile 14 it started to thunder and lightening and I kept praying as I ran that I wouldn't get struck by lightening. Then at about mile 15 or so, the lightening stopped and the rain started. I kept trying to think how I could do my run so that I'd at least get 18 miles and still make it to mail the package. Time was getting short (too bad I can't just run faster, THAT definitely wouldn't work for me). I couldn't really figure out how to do it so I just ran some and hoped it would be good. I ran the final stretch to my house, hurried inside to grab the box and my keys and then back to my car. As I was getting into my car my right foot started cramping. I pulled my shoe off and rubbed it a bit and then headed to the UPS store. It was 10:18. Of course since I was in a hurry I got behind every slow car there was. If I managed to change lanes to get around them, some other dumb car would cut in front of me. I was not a happy camper. I finally made it the store and headed in. Let me remind you, I had just run a very long way, I was hot and sweaty and wet and very smelly. I also only had one shoe on. Don't worry I had my roommate take a picture when I got home so you could see just how lovely I was looking.

This is with my hair not so wet and the sweat marks dried a bit. It was real bad.

I got there at 10:30 and luckily they hadn't sent the shipment out yet. They told me I had to write my name, address and phone number on a piece of paper. I got my name okay, but I struggled with my address and phone number. My brain just wasn't really firing on all cylinders. The man said, oh it's okay, it's early. Early definitely wasn't my problem. At least I had put my other shoe on by that time. At any rate, the package made it and I watched them load it into the van to be delivered. I did eventually get my phone number and address written down. I then went outside and stretched for a while. AND I went to the store. Lucky for me I didn't see anyone I knew.I called my dad and told him my story. He got a pretty good laugh out of it. I've done nothing for the rest of the day. I tried to take a nap, but that didn't work. Maybe I'll be a productive human being, but I'm betting it won't happen. Good thing I don't often run that far, I'd be completely worthless.

Have you ever

Have you ever had a list as long as your arm of things to do and you have really good intentions of doing them and then you do none of them and sleep for 3 hours instead? That was me yesterday. I had a list of things to do and instead I went home read for a bit and then fell asleep on the couch. FOR 3 HOURS! A nap from 7-10 p.m. isn't really the ideal time to sleep. I got up and was up until about midnight and then went back to sleep. I had great thoughts of getting up early to run, I even set an alarm. Apparently my body didn't really think that was a good idea. I don't remember my alarm going off, but I definitely didn't go run this morning. As my roommate said, I guess your body needed it. I guess so. I hope that whatever it needed, it got, and that today can be a bit more productive.

Baby Shower

When I found out one of my companions from the mission was pregnant I knew we'd need to have a sister baby shower for her. We always look for any reason to get together. Not much better than a new baby. I took it upon myself to plan it. Lucky for me, Camille was willing and eager to help. She did the games and they were fantastic. Nothing too ridiculous or time consuming.

I

This was the first game. Drink apple juice from a sippy cup and see who can do it the fastest. Denae and I tied, but I got the prize since Denae was geting all the gifts. :)

The second game was being blind folded and trying to scoop the marshmallows up with a baby spoon and put them in the bowl. It was quite entertaining to watch. The other game was little bags filled with powder and you had to guess what it was. Things like rice cereal and cream of wheat. I failed at that game.

Then it was on to everyone's favorite part (or at least my favorite part) presents. I'd say she made out pretty well. This one is from Sarah. She went a bit crazy in the clearance section, but baby clothes are just so cute!

This one is from me. I always make quilts for my friends. This one of course had to have a little Disney theme to go with the rest of the party.

Bath toys from Camille!

Cute burp clothes from Emily.

 

more cute baby clothes

Group shot. Denae's friend from Oregon, Camille, Denae, David, me, Emily, Sarah, Callie and baby.

Girl's weekend

First off, I fail. I didn't take a single picture this weekend. I think Pam got 2 and Dana got 1. Complete fail on my part.

This weekend was full of weddings. Thursday I went with Pam to Springville for the reception of a sister from our mission. They had some delicious crepes, Elise looked beautiful and we even made some new friends and I got the name of "Safe Master".
Friday after work I went and picked Pam up and we headed to Farmington for the reception of an elder from our mission. This one was a bit more tricky since I wasn't going to be coming back to Provo so we needed to find Pam a ride back. Luckily another elder from our mission was going and he was able to give her a ride home.
After the reception I headed to the airport to pick up my friend DANA!!! She was here for the wedding of her friend Mallory. From the airport we headed to Murray for the Bachelorette party. Karoake bar. Dana did a lovely rendition of Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Just for everyone's future reference, if you choose that song, pick the Marvin Gay version NOT the Diana Ross version. :) From there we headed back up to Bountiful to stay the night at Dana's aunt's house, since we'd need to be at the Salt Lake temple SUPER early, it made more sense to stay there since it's closer. That was good thinking, but that's where our good thinking stopped. It's not a good idea to stay up talking til all hours of the night when you have to get up at 5:15 to get ready to be to the temple by 6:30. Here's another tip for people, when you get married, don't pick the 7 a.m. temple time, although it was considerably less crowded.
We made it to the temple on time and I waited in the lobby while Dana went to the sealing. Then we headed outside for pictures. While I was waiting I saw a few couples coming out and actually knew one of the grooms from when I worked at Video Productions at BYU-Idaho. After pictures, we had a nice breakfast in the temple and then did a session together. That was fun. I've done sessions with some sisters from my mission, but never any of my childhood friends. While we were sitting in the Celestial room I looked over at a bride and groom sitting on the couch next to us and discovered it was an elder from my mission. Only in Utah. :) We then headed to the Lion House for lunch and then back to Bountiful to see her family for a little bit.
What we really wanted to do then was take a nap, but Mallory needed help getting things ready for the dinner and reception so we headed to Lindon. It was hot and we were tired, but we helped anyway. The dinner was tasty and the reception was beautiful. We skipped out early on the reception. We were just too tired. Once we got to my house in Provo, we didn't have any energy and just sat and watched TV for an hour and then went to bed. With all the weddings this weekend I thought of this card I saw on pinterest. Obviously the drinking part doesn't apply to me, but the rest was fitting. Oh 27 how I love you.



Sunday was pretty chill. Dana and I made an awesome breakfast, went to church, came home, made a sandwich and then we were off to the airport. It was a short visit, but we had a great time. It was so great to see her. I just love her and her funny personality. What great memories I have with this girl.

Adios

What a week for change and saying good-bye. Last Wednesday my sister entered the MTC. That's rough to say good-bye to one of your favorite people for a year and a half. If that wasn't bad enough, yesterday one of my very best friends who has been living in Orem the last two years, moved. She moved to FLORIDA. That's really far away and she'll be gone two and a half years. AND she's taking her kids with her (obviously), but I'm going to miss them! All of them! Even Marc. When I was over there Tuesday night saying goodbye I lost it when the 3 year old gave me a hug. They're going to be so big. It's hard to have change and have to say good-bye.

Katie has been one of my very best friends since we were sunbeams. For those who have no clue what that means, it means a really long time. 3 years old. That means we've been friends for 24 years. I'm going to miss her while she's gone, but I know we'll still be friends and that she'll have great adventures while she's out there.

Good luck Marc and Katie! Don't get eaten by anything. :)

Answers

I know I've written about this before. I never seem to learn my lesson when it comes to asking for blessings. It's so hard to do EVERY TIME! I don't know why. Maybe I'm much more prideful that I think or maybe Satan just works really hard on me in that department.
Wednesday I should have thought of asking for a blessing on my own, but it didn't even cross my mind. Thursday morning at work, the lady I work with was asking me about the new job and after I broke down and told her all the hard things going on in my life right now, she asked me if I had asked my dad for a blessing. DUH! Why didn't I think of that!? My dad was at my house! If I can't have dad do it, the next best thing is to ask the home teacher. I resolved pretty quickly after she suggested it to ask. Then the rest of the day went on and I called and accepted the job and was feeling pretty good by midday. Then I started to debate with myself. "Get one. It will be good" and "I'm really feeling much better and I already accepted the job so what's the point? You'll be fine. You got this". Honestly! Why would I try and talk myself out of a good thing?
Lucky for me the smart side one and as soon as I got home I called my home teacher. That's actually 2 points because I called. I never call. But I figured it would be harder to back out if I actually asked with my own voice and it forced me to be really humble. I'm sure texting would have worked just fine, but calling was what I needed to do I think. So did my home teacher tell me no way? Of course not. I don't know why I always freak out to ask them. They really don't mind. They live across the street and it takes maybe 10 minutes to come over, give the blessing and be done. WHY CAN'T I JUST ASK WITHOUT FREAKING OUT!?
Okay, enough beating myself up. I did ask. They did come. And it was amazing. I am so SO grateful for the priesthood and for worthy men in my life who are willing to serve and bless me.
Most of the blessing didn't really have anything to do with the job. It was just a beautiful testament that God loves me and is aware of the tiny details of my life and the desires of my heart.

Lucky for me I did much better at controlling my emotions than I did last time I asked them for a blessing. There was no sobbing this time, just a few tears. I didn't have to worry about my mascara running or worse, my nose running, onto Josh's white shirt. I'm sure they were grateful for that as well, even if they didn't think about it.

If you ever feel like you need a blessing, don't let yourself talk you out of it. It's hard. It's hard for me every single time, but it's worth it. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
Maybe one of these days I'll find the constant humility I really need.

Sage advice from my dad

So when you have a big decision to make in life what do you do? You call your parents and hope they'll tell you what to do, or at least what you want to hear. Sadly that usually isn't quite what happens. I called my dad this morning to get his opinion on my job situation and this is what he told me. "Life sucks. It never works how you planned it. Doesn't mean you can't still do the things you plan,  you just have to go about it in a different way." He did not tell me anything I didn't already know, but it was good to get a reminder. Even if it did make me cry. Let's be honest though, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't really matter what he said, I would have cried. Between a new job, my sister going to the MTC yesterday, my best friend moving to Florida next week and just being a crier in general, I didn't really have a prayer of holding it together. At least I don't have to move.
My mom also made the point that I can always quit the job and move home next year and go on my trip and at least this way I'll have a full time job so I can actually pay for the trip. It'll all work out.
Next step, ask home teacher for a blessing. I'm gonna need a lot of help.

Decisions

So I'm on the job hunt right? And it's awful. I've applied to lots of things and mostly the only response I've gotten is, "Thank you for applying. After careful consideration we have chosen another applicant who more fully fits the job." Or something like that.
I'm planning on going to Europe next summer with my friend Brenda. She served in Romania and I served in Spain and we thought it would be fun to go and visit as much of Europe and go to as many temples as we possibly can. I jumped on the idea and started planning and mapping things out. Pretty much it will take at least 3 weeks. More likely a month. How the heck do you take a month off of work? Easy solution: you get a job at a school. 3 months of summer vacation. It would be perfect. There have been a few secretarial jobs and local schools here that I have applied for along with the dozens of other jobs I've applied for. But I haven't heard back from them. Not even the "Somebody else was more qualified" reply. School starts in like a week! You'd think I'd hear something.
So why is any of this a problem? Because I have had ONE interview. Actually two. But they were with the same company. And I got a call today from them saying I got the job and they want me to start on Monday. That's great! I won't be jobless and I won't have to move home (much to mom's disappointment) and I won't have to move at all, BUT (of course there had to be a but) what about my summer vacation to Europe?
The practical side of me says "Take the job. Having a job is more important than a vacation and you haven't heard a peep from the schools". But the other side of me says "What if?" It's lame and I don't like it. MAN this is crappy! Really crappy. I don't like hard choices. I suppose I'll take it to the Lord and see what he has to say about it. Really ponder it out and decide. Too bad my time for pondering is being cut so short.
I know I need to make sure I'm not overlooking the answer God has already given me.

Friends who DO stuff

Life changes. When that happens, you have to change with it. Sitting back and complaining about it really doesn't do anything but make you more upset about the situation. When I saw friendships in my life changing, it was sad. I definitely moped about it for longer than needed, but then I thought to myself "Cathy, you have loads of friends. Your problem is that you don't DO anything with them". That's one thing I really want out of friendships in life. I want to actually DO stuff. Not just say hi when I see you at church. (I do have other friends, with whom I do things, as seen in Cowboy month with Denae, Camille and Sarah. Thank goodness for mission friends.) ANYWAY instead of just waiting for some friend to decide they wanted to do something with me, I took some initiative, looked at all my friends and decided to ask them to DO something.
You may remember my post Cowboy Month begins. That was my first attempt to consciously initiate DOing something with a friend. Deb is a girl in my ward who I just adore. She is incredible. I invited her to be my "date" to see Juanito Bandito with Denae and David. We had a lovely time.
And guess what!? Deb invited me to go rafting this last weekend!
My one step out of my comfort zone has turned into "Friends who DO things" and I love it. We really had a great time. Made a few more friends and strengthened my testimony of acting instead of waiting to be acted upon. I may not have succeeded in my marathon training or my ride a horse for cowboy month goal, but I had a great time with great people and that is worth the 8 or so other things I had to forgo for the weekend. It was awesome!

Getting ready to hit the river

That's right. We're friends who do things.

Who knew that Wyoming could actually be beautiful?

So the July challenge (which we have established wasn't really a challenge at all) wasn't quite up to par since I missed riding the horse, but it was still fun. Kevin took me out shooting and that was really fun.

I shot four different guns and it wasn't as awful as I imagined it was going to be. I don't know why I thought it would be super awful . . . but now I don't. 

August will be a real challenge. I'll probably post on here a bit more since facebook is off limits and I'll be bored out of my mind. It will be good for me I suppose, but I'm already dreading it.

Friends

I love my friends. I really just love them. I've always been the listener and I love it! I don't know why, but I really do. I love to listen and I love to be there. I hope they know how much I love them and that it's a blessing to me to be there for them when they need to "unload" or need a shoulder to cry on. I love you!

July is just great

Cowboy month continues. I found some new things to add to the festivities in the most unlikely place. Yesterday I ran a half marathon in Mona, Utah. It was Lavender Days and they do a run through the lavender fields. It was a tough course, mostly flat with a few gradual inclines, but I finished.
After the race they had lots of things to go and see. I wish that I had people there with me, but I went and did stuff by myself and asked random people to take pictures for me (except at the very end when I ran into my friend Erin).
So what kind of "cowboy" things are there at Lavender Days?

Of course you need to ride a moose

And what Cowboy is anything without an Indian?

Do a little Indian dance.

cute little baby miniature pony

Bison, a staple of any good cowboys life . . .  maybe?

and ride a bull. I was actually going to get on this and ride it, but I was tired and there were lots of people around.

I also went on a wagon ride, but I didn't get a picture. It was a good day at Lavender Days and then an excellent afternoon filled with a 4 hour nap. I did manage to be a bit social and went to Battle of the Bands with some people from the ward. It was super fun, even if I was ridiculously tired. I also saw the man I'm going to marry. . .  maybe I should work on actually talking to him next time. Camille where's that book? ;)

Sometimes

You get hit in the face by something you weren't expecting at all. I go back and forth with how I feel about change. I'm usually on the dislike side of things.
I've known for a while that I'd need to find a new job sometime in the near-ish future. I didn't know exactly when, but I knew it was coming. I felt ready for change. A new job would be great. And now here it is. Time to change. Have to find a new job. You know what? I don't like it. Finding a job is hard. Then you start thinking, why? Why can't I find a job? Should I be looking somewhere else? Should I move? Where should I move? I don't want to move. And it's frustrating and makes me anxious and sad and  . . . and . . . scared. Terrified even. Where the heck am I going?! Where should I go!?
Good thing I know it'll all work out. I've just got to have some faith, keep at it, work for it, even though it's hard. Things will be okay. God has a plan. He's given me a way to get a little glimpse of the plan so I can take the steps I need to, but DEAR ME it's really not any fun at all.

So in the meantime I checked out pinterest to get some inspiration and cheer me up a little. Here is what I found. 

Cowboy month begins

June was a crazy month with all the running around and just running in general for my June goal. I'm excited for this July "Challenge" which is really no challenge at all. It's just a fun month of all things Cowboy. I started off the month with a rodeo on the 4th of July. I had never been to a real rodeo before so it was a bucket list thing to do as well as an activity for Cowboy month. My friend Sarah went with me and we had a lovely time. There were a few times during those bull rides when I was sure someone was going to die and I'd never go to another rodeo again. But no one died and it was so much fun! The fireworks afterward were awesome as well and it was an overall great day.

The 4th also provided the annual Provo Freedom Run which I did alone this year. It was a good run and it's always fun to get out and run with so many people. In the afternoon there was a huge BBQ at the park by my house which was fun and that was followed by a nap. Then the above mentioned rodeo. 

Provo has some great summer activities. One of them is the Provo Rooftop Concert Series the first Friday night of every month. This month I went with my roommate Stephanie and a friend from the ward, Lauren. We had a great time dancing and people watching. I just love the great girls I get to associate with!

Saturday morning I headed up to West Valley to go to breakfast with my friend Camille. Her birthday was on the 27th of June and for her birthday her husband gave her lunch dates with her friends every day of the week. I live a bit farther than is convenient for lunch, so we did breakfast on Saturday. I just love that girl and it was fun to see her and catch up. Happy Birthday Camille!

After breakfast with Camille I headed up to Logan. For my birthday back in February, my friends Denae and David gave me tickets to the Pickleville Playhouse in Bear Lake, The Hanging of Juanito Bandito. They got me two tickets so I could bring a friend and they came as well. I asked my friend Deb to come with me. It worked out that she was going home that weekend for a wedding and would be in Logan, so I stopped and hung out with her and her family for a while and then we headed to Bear Lake. We had a delicious dinner and then went and played at a park for a while. We grabbed some "famous" raspberry milkshakes real quick before heading to the play. The play itself was worth the trip. The company, dinner, and general lounging was awesome, but the play was FANTASTIC!

Of course I had to get my picture taken with cowboy, Sheriff Jackson.

 

We just loved it! We laughed so hard, and as Deb and I were driving back to Logan, we decided we would definitely see it again. It was just SO good. I recommend it to EVERYONE! You may have to wait til next year, but you should definitely check out Pickleville Playhouse. They do a fantastic job. Best birthday present EVER!

And the night would not have been complete without a picture with Juanito Bandito!