Mandible's Blog

New Things!

2012-01-07T15:46:00.001-07:00

So, things have been going on in my life that I have been reluctant to blog about because … I don’t know, I guess mostly because blogging about it takes time, and I am lazy. And also, blogging about it just makes it more REAL, you know? (Funny that that makes it MORE real ...)

Anyway, the basic thing is that my job is now over. Well, it will be very soon. As in December 31^st was supposed to be my last day. And then it was changed to Jan 6 was my last day – the 31^st would still be my last day at work, but Jan 6^th would be the day I turned in my badge and stuff and then I would have just had that last week as vacation because I have so much vacation built up! SO MUCH VACATION! I digress.

So, the 6^th was supposed to be my last day but then I was flying home for vacation and I got this phone call while I was in the air from my boss and she left a message saying that they had had some meetings about the project and have a few more things for me to do and would I be able to stay until mid to late Feb? So, now I am not exactly sure of my last day, but I know that it will be soon.

I am planning when I am done to move back to my original home, Southern Alberta (yeah, the same place where the photo in my background was taken). And I am actually really excited for the most part. It will be different – I have lived in the US for a long long time now (10 years) and it has been pretty much all my adult life, so that will be odd – but I just know that is the right decision for me. My other option was to move to Pitt and continue working for my boss, which would have had a lot of benefits (like I would have had a job) but I just didn’t feel right about that. And I might be crazy – I am moving to a place I haven’t lived in a long time and I want to get a job in a field I have never worked in before and there are moments where I am FREAKING OUT but I still feel like it is right, you know? I have felt for a long time like I needed something new and this is going to be the perfect way to get that - new place, new job, new friends, new Ward. Yay (yikes!)

Heh, my bishopric found out that I am leaving and they want me to give a talk before I go. So the day is Jan 29^th, the same day that a guy in our Ward is giving his farewell talk before going on his mission.

Anyway, that is the main reason I have been putting off posting for so long (obviously not the only reason since this stuff hasn't been going on for as long as I haven't posted) – I just wasn’t sure the best way to write about all this stuff and for a long time I was so unsure about what was even going on. Go ahead and call me crazy if you want, but I don’t care, I know I am and I still know I am right. Also, send good vibes this way. And if you know anyone hiring send them my way too :D

Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T14:54:00.002-06:00

So for Halloween this year Jasmine and I decided to be Betty and Veronica from the Archie comics. But we decided to be the versions with the Ben-Day Dots - the dots that always showed up on old comics. It was so fun! We won 'best costume' again (thank goodness - it took a long darn time to get ready!) Here is a picture of The Veronica Lodge, and then a pic of what I looked like dressed up as her. Fun right?

And here is a pic of the two of us together. Betty and Veronica. The unstoppable duo!

It was a great party, hosted by our friend Heidi again this year. She is such a great party thrower. Love that girl. I had a great time, as did everyone who went.

Other than that I have been keeping myself quite busy - so busy I haven't had time to write on my blog. Okay, I am not really that busy, but it sounds better than "I haven't written because I got distracted". Someday I will post full updates about everything - but today is not that day. I just wanted to do the Halloween update and say thanks for sticking with me!

2011-07-16T11:50:00.000-06:00

Holy crap on a cracker! I am the worst blogger ever! Okay ... not ever, but I have been bad lately. I keep thinking "I should post" and then I get all busy doing nothing as usual and I don't do it. So, in no particular order of importance or chronologicality (I know its not a real word, just go with it) here is what I should have posted about but haven't.

1) Vancouver. Obviously I was allowed back into the country because had I not been you would have heard from me much much much sooner saying 'woe is me, I have to move back to Canada without a job!' Thank goodness that didn't happen - not because I don't want to move to Canada, but because I want that to be my choice if and when that ever happens. In fact, the border crossing this time was the easiest time I have had. They didn't hum and haw forever. They didn't make comments about 'how little they are paying me'. Nothing. We waited in line forever - 1.5 hours in the car and another 45 mins in the building (maybe I have those backwards - not that that really matters) - but that was the worst of it. We also stayed in the crappiest "Bed and Breakfast" known to mankind. Ugh. It was kinda scummy and gross. Oh well, that's what happens when you are poor and you wait too long to book a hotel I guess. Other than that it was fun - we went to a suspension bridge and we ate lots of fun junk food and basically just enjoyed ourselves.

2) The fourth of July was fun! Let me tell you about it! I ran a 5k for Cancer Awareness and Treatment in the morning. I was slow, but I ran almost the whole thing and I wasn't even too sore the next day! Then we went over to my friends sister's house to watch the parade and they fed us breakfast - waffles, bacon, eggs, sausage - perfect after race food! Then we watched a really long parade and then the same friends invited us to stay for BBQ lunch. It was soooooo good. Hamburgers, beef brisket, pulled pork, yummy cheesy potatoes .... *drools* Makes me hungry just thinking about it. Then we went home intending to nap but my other friend called and said he had free tix to the movies and did we want to go. We did want to go, so we showered quick and took a short short nap (only 30 mins - I wanted to sleep for like 5 times that!) and went to see Cars 2. It wasn't my fave Pixar movie ever, neither was the first Cars, but it was still fun. Then we went to St. Helens to watch the fireworks display there. Then we went home and slept. It was a great day. I love when those happen :D

3) Speaking of 5k's - I not only ran the one mentioned above, but I have now ran 3 so far! I did one in April for Earth Day, and then I did another one on June 21st for the Summer Solstice. It has been fun. The main thing being that since running them I have sorta (read: really!) slacked off on running regularly, so that is dumb of me. I should get back on that horse. But I do love the atmosphere and feel of a race. Good times!

4) My boss was in town a couple weeks ago. She said that we may have overspent our grant money (she wasn't sure but would know more after talking to the guy who deals with the finances more next week). That means worst case scenario is that if we have overspent and if we don't get our other grant funded then my job will essentially be over in like Nov or Dec. She assured me that I wouldn't be screwed - I could either move to Pitt with her or she would help me find something else either here or wherever because she thinks the world of me. I know that this has been a concern before, but it is so annoying. And it makes me feel like I can't ask for a raise even though I need and deserve one. My friend who used to work here recently contacted me and told me he knows of a job opening in Philly and I think I am going to apply for it. I may not take it, but I would rather get it and turn it down than always wonder whether I could have gotten it. Also, according to what he says it pays quite a bit more than I am making, so that'd be a huge plus.

5) Harry Potter! I went to a midnight showing of Harry Potter (this is not really special - I feel like almost everyone in the world went to a midnight showing - but it was still fun!) It was awesome. I enjoyed so much about this movie. Pacing was great, the actors were great, they cut things out but did a good job of tying it all together and not confusing the crap out of the lay person (used in this instance to refer to those who didn't read the book). I have been wanting to re-read the series but I held off so that I wouldn't sit there during the whole movie and just compare it to the book like I did with movie 2 - such a good choice! I think this helped me really get the most from the movie. I wasn't smart enough to go to a double feature of 1 & 2 in a row (I actually didn't know they were doing them until after I bought my ticket) so I think I will go see this again some day when I can watch 7.1 right beforehand, just for fun.

6) Sunday, Aug 14th, I taught Relief Society. (For those who don't know I am LDS and Relief Society is a church meeting where all the women get together and learn together and help each other grow spiritually) Anyway, we only have one teacher right now and it happens to be my friend who is in charge of assigning people to teach so she just had me do it this one time. It was about Family Roles. Not my first choice to teach a lesson on, but I didn't really get to choose so whatever. It went well I think. I am not really the best teacher - in my opinion I am not really even a GOOD teacher - but we made it through and I think I did a good job about not repeating things we have all learned a bazillion times and I didn't dwell on depressing topics for a singles Ward, we had good comments and I didn't end up talking the entire time so I am satisfied.

7) Well, there isn't really a 7 ... so there you have it. My life for the last little while. I am basically happy and the same as always. What a surprise, NOT! (yeah I think I was channeling the early 90's for a minute there, sorry). Well, I guess I should go be productive. I will update sooner (I hope ;D)

My Room

2011-05-03T19:21:00.000-06:00

So, we moved into a new apartment. I think I mentioned this, but I haven't mentioned my new project in the house. I don't have a headboard, so I decided to do a 'faux headboard' of sorts. So I painted a tree branch on the wall ... kinda ... and then put some frames around it with the flowers on the frame and viola! Beautiful. I am going to post some pics of the process and the final results. It was fun. (Mom, aren't you happy I am finally posting these?)

This is the before shot. Ain't it boring?

So I taped the tree branches on the wall. I wanted the branches to remain white and have the rest be a different colour so that is all blue painters tape.

I painted it all. Golly I hope this works!

It worked! What a shocker! (You didn't think I would post it if it hadn't worked did you? ... Well, okay, I would have, but I would have figured out what DID work before posting.)

Then I painted flowers on the glass parts of some frames, put the frames on the wall and ta-da! Doesn't it look good? I am rather pleased with the results :D

February 23rd: Costa Rica Day 10

2011-04-02T21:03:00.001-06:00

Mom and I got up around 10 or so to make sure we had time to get ready, re-pack and check out by 11. Calgary was even colder when compared with the glorious heat that was Costa Rica. We had to take a picture of the coldness.

Then we had a bite to eat (mmmm, fries with gravy!) and then Mom dropped me off at the airport again so I could head back to Portland via SLC. The return trip went off without a hitch and my lovely roomies met me at the airport. I chattered at them about how great it was all the way back to the apartment where I then commenced to show them pictures of all the stuff we did and gave them the stuff I got for them.

Even Oregon was mad I was gone - this is the weather I woke up to the next morning when I was headed to work. Blech. Luckily that was all melted by about noon, but still, rude!

And that is it. Now I have been back for a while and I miss it terribly. It was a great vacation and it was amazing to spend some time with my Mom as well. Thanks for sticking with me over the slowness of this recap. And hey, now I can do posts about other things again. Aren't you excited?

February 22nd: Costa Rica Day 9

2011-04-02T20:57:00.000-06:00

This was really only a half day, or less. We got up and had our last breakfast in Costa Rica and then we lounged by the pool for the last few minutes that we could. Soaked up the few remaining rays that were soakable. Took one last picture of the view.

And then headed to the airport. We had a little food in the airport and then we had a long flight back. This is us all sad in the airport because we don't want to leave.

But we did have a good time.

This was taken in Panama - we were there for about an hour and a half, just sitting in the plane on the tarmac. That still counts right?

For anyone interested the movies in the flight on the way back were "You Again" and "Going the Distance" which managed to keep me sufficiently entertained.

Then we got back to Calgary and took a shuttle back to the hotel and pretty much crashed! It was a long day.

February 21st: Costa Rica Day 8

2011-04-02T20:50:00.000-06:00

Side note - these guys drove the little shuttle that went around the resort all the time and they were awesome!

So we had to get up and go zip-lining which was postponed from the previous day. We didn't want to go on a huge long bus trip to get to any area really far away, so we did a nearby zip-line trip at this place called the Papagayo canopy and it was amazing. And we ended up going in a small group with only 6 people (Jess didn't want to come, and MaryJane was going to come but she had to pack and get ready to leave so she didn't come so it was just Mom and I from our group). We were with this other mother/daughter group and then a husband and wife duo - all of the others were from England. It was interesting to get to know them and it was amazing to go zip-lining.

This is us 'suiting up' for the adventure. Don't we look excited? Mom looks cool as a cucumber! No nerves there! And I think I was trying to be sexy, but it more came across ... sad. Hehe.

I was always the first person to volunteer to do the crazy things - like going upside-down or doing the superman. I think my experience with crazy stunts helped in this area (after bungee jumping this really didn't scare me at all!)

Random Howler monkeys we saw right before the last line. Cheeky little buggers ;)

And the pic below is our entire zip-lining group and the two guides who went with us. So much fun!

After the zip-lining trip we got back to the resort just in time to leave again to go on a river boat tour. This was definitely the best trip for seeing wild-life. We were so close to so many different things.

Capuchins

"Jesus Christ" lizards - I am not just being sacriligeous, that is really what they call them because these little dudes can walk on water. The one on the right is the female and the left pic is the male.

Bats. Yes, those really are bats. During the day they sleep in the tree all lined up like that so that other animals think they are a snake and don't attack them. Smart eh?

Birds. A blue heron followed us down the river for a good chunk of time - we would pass him and then he would just get up and fly by us, and then we would pass him again and he would fly past again. It was so funny. We saw tons of other birds too, but I don't know their names - the bottom one is a King Fisher I think, but it is really blurry.

Crocodiles! We got so close to these guys that it would have been scary if the guide hadn't assured us that they don't attack anything bigger than them, and we were in a boat that was MUCHO bigger than they were. Also, they weren't even attacking little birds at the time so I think they were a bit sleepy? Full? I don't know. But it was still way cool. The top pic is one of my favourite pictures from the whole trip.

We also saw more Howler monkeys. These guys are just everywhere!

Then we went back to the resort and tried to get all packed and ready to go. We had dinner, we hung out for a bit by the bar, we said our goodbyes for the most part, and mostly we tried to get some sleep.

February 20th: Costa Rica Day 7

2011-04-02T19:44:00.001-06:00

So, originally we were planning to go zip-lining on this day, but there was an issue with the vehicles or something, so we had to postpone to the next day. That meant we were free so we decided to hire a cab to take us in to Coco beach so we could do some shopping and exploring. This was all decided after sleeping in quite a bit - which was very welcome (although I didn't sleep in as much as I would have liked - Mom doesn't really let that happen. Of course, it was good because I didn't want to sleep my whole trip away!)

We asked up at the lobby where we could get a cab and they hooked us up with this guy Carlos, who was really nice. On our way to Coco beach he stopped and showed us some great views of a a couple other beaches in the area that were less touristy and more locals were there, and that was way interesting. The below pics are us on each of those beaches (I don't remember which they were, but they were two different beaches, I swear! Can't you tell by the different backgrounds and the fact that we are in a different order?)

Then we went to Coco beach and we were hungry so we told him to take us a place that he would eat. We had these really good sandwiches at this little sandwich/burger stand thing. Then we just walked up and down the street looking at all the shops - and there are a ton! It makes it a bit touristy, but it was good shopping anyway. Then we stopped at this little bar called CocoNutz that was owned by a guy from Wisconsin. He came and chatted with us for a bit and said that he was on vacation for a few days a couple years previous, and he was totally drunk and the next thing he knew, he owned a bar! It was really a cool place - half covered and half open to the trees. And while we were sitting there, we looked up and right above us in the trees were some howler monkeys! Just chillin'. That was way fun.

Then we walked down to this little place that is kinda like the Wal-Mart of Costa Rica (I don't remember the name of it) and bought a few more goodies. We saw this giant pac-man on the way so I had to take a photo. Seriously, it was HUGE! I think the mouth came up to my waist or something.

Then it was back to the hotel to make our 8 o'clock Italian restaurant dinner reservation. This is us with Carlos, our cab driver.

The Italian place was really good food. And we saw Oscar for a brief moment - he was busy so didn't chat, but he was carrying wine or something and he was looking at us and he didn't notice a door open into his pathway and he ran into it. Poor guy. It was funny though.

Then we hung out in the bar again for a while - we had to get pics with all our favourite bartenders (we just decided to do it all at one time!)

Then we went to bed. It was MaryJane's last night so she had to make sure to say a bunch of her goodbye's and whatnot, and Mom and I were prepping to go zip-lining in the morning so we had to be fresh and ready!

February 19th: Costa Rica Day 6

2011-03-30T00:50:00.000-06:00

So, I guess the name of this one is a bit of a misnomer, because we spent most of the day in Nicaragua, not Costa Rica.

We had to be up at the lobby to catch our bus at 530 in the morning - ugh. Let me tell you, that was an early day! On the way to Nicaragua we stopped at a little restaurant place for breakfast which was pretty tasty - I had the best orange juice I have ever had in my entire life! Now, I am not a huge orange juice fan usually, but if all orange juice tasted like that I would drink it 24/7. I was AMAZING! Anyway, then we hopped back on the bus and went to the border.

At the border we had to get off and we each had to get our passports stamped with an exit stamp on the Costa Rica side, but on the Nicaragua side the tour guide took all our passports and they could stamp them all together and then just verify that we were who we said we were when we got back on the bus. So the time in between we got to just kinda chill out at the border for a while which was odd. We perused the duty-free shops (I bought some yummy candies that were like Starburst, but so much better!) and then we just sat around chatting and getting to know some of the other people on the bus. There were a lot of Canadians and then there were also a lot of British people and a couple people from Ireland as well, so that was interesting. Also, there were a lot of Nicaraguans at the border trying to sell you stuff they made - and most of it was crap. I hate to say that, but it is true.

Our next stop was small little spot on a each with a great view of a couple volcanoes. While we were there we saw a bunch of little, hard, almost coconut looking things that had fallen off a bunch of trees. We asked about them and the guides told us that they were called ??? and that the people would often take the stuff out of the inside and grind it up and mix it with milk to make women more fertile, then they would use the shells as cups and stuff like that. It was beautiful there.

The next stop was a volcano in Nicaragua that is still active called the Masaysa volcano. It was smoking and everything! It was so sulfury up there that you are only allowed to stay in the area off the bus for 20 mins. There was a giant cross at the top of this giant flight of stairs and they said that a lot of people get confused and think that the cross used to be involved in the human sacrifices they did, but that isn't the case. In fact, they did do human sacrifices in the area because they were placating the gods of the volcano so that it wouldn't erupt and kill them, but then this Christian guy came and said that actually the volcano was full of evil spirits, so he did an exorcism on it and then put up the cross to show that the volcano was 'clean'. And they always had a lot of gold in the area so later some other guys came and thought that the gold was actually what was in the volcano (basically they thought that when lava cooled it turned to gold) and they assumed there was a 'cooling room' somewhere in the area (there are a ton of little caves all around the outside) so they went exploring through all the caves to try to find this mythical 'cooling room'. It is so funny to me what people think sometimes.

Next was a quick stop to go shopping in Masaya square - that was great, I got lots of fun things there. :D Then we went to lunch in Grenada city in this little restaurant. Afterwards we took carriage rides all around Granada city. The guide was so knowledgeable about the area - he had been driving the carriage for like 7 years (since he was 15 years old!) and he told us lots of cool little facts about the things we drove past. It is the oldest city in Nicaragua and so there was a lot of history to tell us about.

After that we hopped back on the bus and headed back to Costa Rica. We went through the border again - same drill. Then we headed back to the resort. (I can't remember if we had dinner on the trip or not ... )

That night we went to the bar area and guess who was there? The waiter from the Mexican restaurant! (His name was Oscar just fyi) He was like "there you are! I haven't seen you in a while, I missed you" and we were just like "missed you too". We chatted a bit about what we had been doing and stuff. Then he says "You are really beautiful, do you have a boyfriend?" and I was like "no" and he was all surprised and then he asked "How old are you?" and I said "27" and he was like "me too! marry me?"
I, of course, said yes (jokingly of course - I would never agree to marry someone that I didn't know very well ... unless he could get me a green card! haha jk). This is our engagement pic.

We saw this kid we had met the previous night again named Pablo and chatted with him for a bit. He was interesting to talk to because he was from Costa Rica, just a different part, and he was there on vacay with his family. He had some great stories about snakes and other wildlife so that was pretty entertaining. Then it was off to bed because we were super tired.

Day 6 ... Oh Wait

2011-03-24T23:54:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, I know ... we are stuck on day 5 and it is terrible! But I am just writing this little post to let you know that I haven't forgotten you! I swear! I just moved is all. And that kinda makes a girl forget about daily blogging. But I will finish telling you all about the trip. I guess maybe this is my way of making it last longer? I don't know, but I do know that I WILL do it.

February 18th: Costa Rica Day 5

2011-03-10T00:07:00.000-07:00

So this was the day we were going on an excursion to the Arenal volcano. We had to be up at the lobby by 7:30 so we could get on the bus. Our tour guide's name was Alonso (Mom kept calling him Alfonso which was funny) and he was really smart. He knew a lot about the area and the wildlife and filled us in on interesting facts all along the way. We drove for a while and stopped for a quick bathroom break and bite to eat around 10am in a little town that I don't remember the name of. Then we continued on our way to the volcano. The driver and the guide were good at spotting wildlife and at one point they saw a sloth in a tree, so we just stopped in the middle of the road and all hopped off the bus so we could go get a better look. Alonso had a telescope he let us use to get a better look and he even let us take pics through is which was amazing. It just looked like a big fuzzy up in the tree if you didn't know better.

We also got to see a Guanacaste tree, which is what the region is named after and that was kinda fun.(I think it is a beautiful tree and I have a bit of a decorating project in mind for use with that picture - I will let you know if/how that turns out)

We stopped on the way again and got to take some really good pics from this one spot by the Arenal lake - which is actually a man-made lake by the volcano.

Then we went further and saw some coati (or maybe they were cotamundi - I don't know) on the side of the road, so we pulled over again to take pics. They are like raccoons too, but a little more anteater-y than the other ones we saw.

Then we went further around the lake to a different spot and we got in a little boat and got to go to an area that had a beautiful view of the volcano. When we first got there it was a bit overcast, but it cleared up pretty nice and gave us some really nice photo-ops. (I am not sure I mentioned this before, but I got a new camera for Christmas, and every single day on the trip I was so glad to have gotten it!)

After that we had a quick stop in the city of La Fortuna to do about 45 mins of shopping. It was a really neat area and we got a pic of us standing in front of this garden-y area right in the middle of the city.

Then we went for lunch at this different resort that had a lot of beautiful greenery on the grounds and after we ate we walked around and took pics of the grounds. I even got to hold a parrot which was cool (he was not indigenous to the area). But we saw a green macaw later that IS indigenous and that was fun. I was walking along a path kinda alone and suddenly off to my right I heard a whistle as if I was a beautiful girl walking by some construction workers. I looked around and said 'what the crap?' and a voice repeated after me. I kept looking and then suddenly, it was like one of those 3D eye puzzles and he appeared there. He was the same color as the tree he was in so he was hard to find at first. That was cool. There were lots of other pretty flowers as well.

Then we went to these hot springs called the Tubacon hot springs which were naturally heated by the volcano. They had 16 pools with different temperatures (most too hot for me with my sunburn) and they also had three water slides. The slides were not too hot for me. There was one that you just shoot out the end of like crazy and so we got a sequence of photos of me coming out of it - I know it mostly looks like a splash of water, but it was caused by me! I actually came out of the water to a round of applause because of how awesome the splash was. :D

Then it was back to the bus to head back to the resort. We were back by a decent time and went to eat dinner. Then we did the same thing we did most nights - hung out in the bar chatting with the people we met at the resort, and went to bed pretty early since we had to get up in time to be in the lobby by 530 the next morning for our trip. Where were we going? Find out in my next post!

February 17th: Costa Rica Day 4

2011-03-09T23:11:00.000-07:00

*Sorry that I have sucked it up at updating. I am posting several days today to make up for it :D

So I hate to say this, but reading about Day 4 might end up being a bit boring since we mostly did the exact same stuff that we did on Day 3. Yeah, that's right, we just laid around by the pool and tanned. We went up to the office to try to book an excursion or two on day 3 (I know, I didn't mention that part, but I didn't really think it was super important). Anyway, we got our wires crossed and ended up booking more excursions than we intended on different days than we had intended - but none of them were for day 4, so we still just got to lay around and get tanned/burned.

Yeah, so we got a different spot by the pool this day because Jessie mentioned that she wanted a spot that was a bit sunnier because on day 3 we were in a sorta shady spot (which was actually nice we realized later). Anyway, Mom and I got up, got spots, got breakfast, sat by the pool. We heard the howler monkeys down on the beach making crazy noises (I swear they sounded almost exactly like the TARDIS from Dr. Who) so we went to check them out.

Then we sat by the pool some more. Ate lunch. Sat some more. Kinda napped. Read a bit. It was a great day. We went up to the room to rest for a while out of the sun and to take a nap - I spent some time using a little sewing kit we bought so I could fix this bag I had brought with me (but I didn't have time to fix before we went) so I could use it for our trip the next day.

We had reservations to go to the Mexican restaurant that night at like 8:30pm or so. At some point we went up to the room and showered and actually put on some clothes that didn't involve a swimming suit so that we could go to dinner. Mom and I both realized we should have been a bit more diligent about our reapplications of the sunscreen during the day because we both had some pretty nice sunburns going on. We were both a bit splotchy because we had spray-on sunscreen, and although we put it on each other we kinda didn't do the best job of rubbing it in. Oh well. So when dressing for dinner I realized that my burn hurt too much to wear anything that was going to touch my burn too much - this included bra straps. Luckily the bra I brought has straps that come off easily so you can convert it - I only bought it because it was cheap at the time and figured I would never detach the straps. I was so glad that I had one that did that though. I ended up not even wearing a shirt with my sleeveless dress (which I usually do for modesty reasons) because it hurt so bad that a shirt just wouldn't cut it.

Then we went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner and it was pretty darn tasty. The decor included a cactus with a sombrero on which was fun. We had a waiter take a pic of the four of us together at the table so we could remember the moment. It was a good dinner. :D One of the best moments being when our waiter came back with our drinks (or something like that, not long into the meal). He looks at me and says "I really like ... your face." I was like "Um, thank you?" because, really, how do you respond to that? Anyway, then he continued with "I think you are beautiful" to which I actually said "thank you" - and not just as as a question.

After dinner we went out to the bar area for a while, but we went to bed pretty early because laying in the sun all day can sure wear you out! (Seriously, you might think I am kidding here, but it is almost like getting mild heat stroke and you really do get tired!) Plus there was the whole shuttle stops running at 11 thing as well. And we had booked a trip to go see the 'Arenal Volcano' the next day and we had to be up at the lobby by 7:30 in the morning so we couldn't really sleep in too much. Although, I did get a picture of Jess feeding fries to some mipatchi's (I am not sure if that is the right spelling - and actually I just looked it up and I can't figure out what they are - maybe that is just the Spanish word for raccoon?) They are little raccoon-like guys who live in the area surrounding the resort. Actually, I think the staff hates that the stupid tourists feed them all the time because then they don't go away. But they were cute!

February 16th: Costa Rica Day 3

2011-03-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

So I hate to say it, but looking back on Day 3 of the trip, it is actually pretty boring. We got up around 8 (I think ... I don't really remember) and went down to breakfast. I just want to mention here that the food at the resort we stayed at was pretty good almost all the time. They always had a variety of foods on the buffet - potatoes, meats, rice, beans, salads; anything you want basically. And then they always had the best fruit ever. And they had these loaves of fresh made bread every day that was to die for. Mmmm. Thinking about it now makes me drool :D The way it worked was that you could always go to the buffet, but they also had 2 restaurants on the property that you could go to once each - there was an Italian place and a Mexican place. To make sure you only went to each one once you had to make 'reservations'. Also, there was a dress code for the restaurants - basically it was semi-formal.

Anyway, after breakfast we went and claimed our spots by the pool. If you didn't do this early in the day all the lounge chairs would be taken and you would lose out. After claiming our spots we laid around for a while soaking in the rays and getting tons of Vitamin D. This was what the pool looked like that day.

From the spot where we waited for the shuttle to go back up to the room we could see this tree that was always full of awesome birds - like the one below.

That was pretty much all we did all day. We had lunch in the middle there somewhere which was tasty. That night there were these guys playing this cool instrument while we waited in line for dinner.

Also, every night they have different entertainment. On the 15th they had all sorts of dance numbers that were sort of traditional numbers they did some where the girls were in these huge awesome dresses and the guys wore these kinda old fashioned-y frontiersman outfits. In the number below it was a sort of tribal thing and it was GOOD.

Other than that we didn't do a whole lot. Hung out in the bar until it got late and then went to bed. A nice relaxing day all around.

February 15th: Costa Rica Day 2

2011-03-01T23:46:00.002-07:00

So one of the main reasons we stayed in Calgary overnight was because our flight out was RIDICULOUSLY early in the morning. Seriously. The flight left at 6am, so we had to be at the airport at 4am. See what I mean? RIDICULOUS. Anyway, we got up and got the airport at around 4 or 4:15, but that was the same time everyone was getting the airport for this flight (shocker eh?) so we ended up waiting in line. And then when we got to the front there were no seats left next to each other so we ended up sitting one in front of the other which was sad. It was my first time ever flying with my Mom and we didn't even get to sit next to each other. Oh well I guess, c'est la vie.

Anyway, we got on the plane and we got all settled and took off and then the first thing that they came around and offered, at 6:20 in the morning mind you, was wine. What the crap? Who drinks wine that early in the morning? I guess a lot of people since most of the people on the plane took it. Weird. I guess people figured "I am officially on vacation now so I can drink whenever I want". We also got breakfast on the plane which was nice since I was starving. It wasn't too bad considering it was plane food. The movies they showed were "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" and it had Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf in it.It looked pretty boring to me so I didn't watch it. That and I was tired. They also showed "Eat, Pray, Love" and that I did watch since I had kinda wanted to see it anyway.

We got in to Costa Rica and then had to wait in line for a long time to go through customs and all that stuff. And boy howdy was it HOT! This was expected, of course, but I was wearing jeans since it was cold in Calgary that morning so it was even more hot. Once we got outside we got checked into our hotel - they do it right there which was cool - and then we got on the bus which was air conditioned. Whew! Thank goodness for whoever invented air conditioning. This is a pic of us on the bus - the first photo we took in CR.

We then went to our resort which was about a half an hour drive from the airport on the bus. We got there and our room wasn't ready yet (not shocking since check-out for all the people who left was at noon and it was like 3 something) but we were starving so we went down to the 'snack bar' area and ate some food. Then we went to the beach and guess what we saw? That's right! We saw capuchins! On the first day! After we had been there only like 3 hours!

Aren't they cute? I think so too. And they came super close (if you can't tell). Then we went back up to the office to see what time the Edmonton bus was coming in. The guy we asked was the guy who usually drives the shuttle and he didn't know about the time that the bus came in. Then we went to our room for a bit and hung out for a while, then we decided to go down to the pool. We went out and caught the shuttle (let me just interject here that the resort we stayed at was on a giant hill with the office at the top and the pool/restaurant at the bottom and all the buildings in between. We were in building 1 so we were near the top. There was a shuttle that went by every 10 mins or so because of the hill. We took it a lot because Mom has bad knees and I am lazy). So on the way down the hill in the shuttle the driver asks Mom if she is waiting for her husband or something. She says no, we are waiting for a friend coming from Edmonton. He says that the Edmonton bus will get there in 20 mins. Mom says "Oh, that's good - we asked in the office and no one knew." That was when I had to interject "Mom - that's the guy you asked!" In her defense, we had only talked to him for a few minutes, and she was tired. I only knew it was the same guy because of two things - one was that I noticed his name was Jesus and I had never met anyone with that name before; and two was that he was cute. :D (don't worry, I have a pic of him later).

Anyway, we hung out by the pool for a few mins, but then since the Edmonton bus was coming we went back up to the office. Then we met Jess and she dropped her stuff in our room and we went to find her Mom. Find her we did. Then we tanned for a bit, then we ate and sat in the bar area for about 10 mins - then we went to bed. We were tired - we had gotten up early. It was a great start to the trip though - a no surprises plane ride and the hot hot sun.

February 14th: Costa Rica Day 1

2011-02-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess this is a bit of a tricky title since I never got to Costa Rica on Feb 14th, but still, that's what it is called. I had to fly to Calgary first because originally we thought that you would have had to fly out of Canada to get the deal for the all-inclusive trip. Anyway, later we realized that maybe I could have flown out of Portland straight to Costa Rica but we had already booked it all so there was no changing it.

So, back to the story. On Feb 14th I got up at about 430 in the morning to pack the last of the stuff I needed to pack and get to the airport on time for my flight which was at 7am. Jasmine, my amazing friend and roommate, also got up at this ridiculous time with me so she could shuttle me to the airport because she is a sweety (also I think that she was excited to get rid of me so she could use my bed while I was gone). Got to the airport and through security in good time. I then flew to SLC, was there for about an hour, and then on to Calgary.

I arrived in Calgary at around 1pm (which was actually a little earlier than we were supposed to land, which is amazing since the last couple times I had flown I got stuck overnight in the wrong city). Luckily, my Mom likes to be early for things so she was already waiting at the airport for me. We then went to pick up a few things we needed - snacks and stuff of that important nature. Then we went to eat at Moxie's so we could kill time before we could check in to the hotel. After eating (mmm, fries with gravy!) we checked in and I realized there was an awesome bathtub in the hotel room that we were staying in. It was HUGE - so I took a bath.

And it was an awesome bath! But then I remembered that I had forgotten something. Something important enough that I couldn't just not have it. I needed a contact case (at least it was something cheap!). So Mom and I ventured out again to pick that up. Then we got back - watched TV for a bit and were just lazy for a bit, and then we went to bed pretty early. Luckily I was super tired so it was easy for me to go to bed early, and I think because of working nights my Mom has trained herself to be able to sleep anytime she wants.

It was a pretty good day all in all. It was good to see my Mom and be able to catch up and get each other excited about the upcoming trip. It was also good to start the trip like that. It was VERY cold in Calgary, so it was even more glorious to think about how great it was going to be when we were in the hot hot sun in Costa Rica! Tune in tomorrow to see how day one in Costa Rica was ;) (I will try to make it tomorrow ...)

Blog Plans

2011-02-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

So, as most of you know, I was lucky enough to be on vacation from the 14th to the 23rd of February (thanks again Mom, it was a blast). I had a great time and I did a lot of really cool things, and I saw a lot of amazing things and I know that if I try to post it all in one sitting you are going to hate me, and I am going to get annoyed by it and not do the whole thing justice, and nobody wants either of those things to happen. So instead, I am going to do it day by day. So for the next 10 days or so you will slowly learn about how my trip went. Yeah, that means I get to drag it out longer too! I will post a whole schwack of pics on facebook in the next couple of days so you can see them, but I am going to post some here that I don't post on there and I am going to explain stuff with the ones here. I was planning to do it everyday for the next however many, but I don't want to have the pressure to blog EVERY DAY because I know work is going to be crazy again, but I will try really hard to do it almost everyday. And of course, if anything exciting happens in my life in between there I will make sure and post that in between as well (don't worry, I am just throwing that in as a disclaimer, nothing exciting will happen in my life because nothing ever does! lol)

I will post the first one later today sometime. They are all going to be titled 'Costa Rica: Day #' even though day 1 and day 10 don't involve CR at all. And also, if you guys have any questions about anything that I post or if you just have questions or comments in general, then feel free to ask! Looking forward to sharing my vacation with you!

February Things

2011-02-04T01:55:00.001-07:00

I'm back for another post. And here you thought I wasn't going to post again for a year to make up for all the posts I had in January didn't you? It's okay to admit it, I was a bit worried too. Okay, I wasn't really worried, no year can be as bad as the first couple on this blog - '05 and '06 were not the years that I got turned into a blogger, that's for sure!

Anyway, I just wanted to come back and give you all a real life update since all the updates you have gotten for the last month had nothing to do with how things are going currently for me - although they were fun.

First I think I need to say that I am going to Costa Rica. I am not sure that I have mentioned this before, and I don't know how I forgot to, but I am soooo excited! I am going with my Mom and my brother's girlfriend and her mom and it should be a blast. I am flying to Calgary on Feb 14 (good thing I don't have a honey to feel neglected haha) where I will meet my Mom, and then early in the morning on the 15th we are headed to Costa Rica! We are going to be there for a week and we come back to Calgary late late on the 22nd and then I come back here on the 23rd. I have been checking the weather there and it has been in the 30*C range since I have been checking it in December. Have I mentioned that I am excited. I have a mental packing list and I am still working on making sure I have everything, but it is coming together.

Of course the trip has been consuming my thoughts for a while now, but work has also been crazy. Of course it always is at this time of year for me and I was super lucky to get the time off to go on this trip. I just spend a lot of hours at work, and a lot of them are odd. Sometimes I get to stay until about 130 in the morning. Lucky me! But I can't complain too much, at least I have something exciting coming up to look forward to, which is more than I can say for my co-worker. She probably won't have a great time while I am gone, but I think she will live.

Other than that, life isn't too exciting. I think maybe I would have more things to say if my brain wasn't so over-taken by this trip (I am leaving in 10 days!) and I imagine that once I get home and do a big post about the trip, then I will actually have other things to talk about. I hope. If not then that is way boring for me. And for you. lol. Or it will turn into '06 all over again. Haha.

Anyway, I guess I have nothing else to talk about so I am going to go ahead and log off and go to bed. I will probably post again before I leave, but I can't promise that you won't get sick of hearing me talk about how excited I am to go somewhere warm ;)

*Oh PS I totally forgot to mention this, but the pic that is the background on here, I took that photo! It is in my hometown. I took it with my new camera. Isn't it pretty? :D

Conclusion

2011-01-31T23:47:00.000-07:00

Well, that's it. Those are all the friends I have. Peace out.

.....................

Okay, not really.

I have a hard time ending things. I love writing stories, but I find it very difficult to end them because I don't know how to appropriately do it. I think maybe because I am still in the middle of my own story, or maybe even just in the first few chapters (nothing too exciting has happened so far), and since I haven't experienced a good ending I am not sure how best to write one.

You know as well as I do that there are a lot of other friends that I have that I haven't mentioned here on this little blog - lets face it, you live for 27 years and you meet a lot of people. But I just don't have time, or the energy, and, let's face it again, I am kinda lazy. And if I didn't mention you on here then don't be offended, I really do love you, but I just am lame and left you out cause I suck I guess.

I think the main thing that I want to conclude with is that I am really grateful that I have had the chance to meet and get to know all the friends that I have talked about here, and all the friends that I haven't had the chance to mention on here. I am really one lucky girl. I know that I have been lucky my whole life to have the opportunities that I have had to meet the people that I have met in my life. I am very lucky that I had such a good string of roommates my whole life as well.And I know that the list will just continue as I keep on going in my life.

I have no idea what will happen next. I don't have everything all planned out (fooled you didn't I? You thought I had it all figured out). I don't even have the next step planned. I don't know what I am going to do after this job or this city or this apartment. I don't know where I will be 10 years from now, or 5 years from now, or even next month for that matter. There is one thing that I do know though - it will be awesome. Partly because I will make it that way - I have talked about how I learned from a lot of my friends the importance of a good attitude - but also because there are a lot of great people out there that I haven't met yet. At least, I assume there are, I can't be POSITIVE because I haven't actually met them. haha.

I am going to recap the things I have learned from my friends. I learned to walk and talk. I learned to stay cool in a crisis. I learned to love other people, even when they aren't perfect. I learned that family is important. I learned the importance of picking my battles, and how to pick the right ones. I learned how to be kind and yet firm. I learned that it is better to be truthful and trusting. I learned that all kinds of friendships can occur, seemingly out of nowhere. I learned that connections can happen anywhere - it really is a small world. I learned that attitude is really important. I learned that all people have redeeming qualities, and that everyone deserves a second chance. I learned that I can get along with a large variety of people. I learned that I LIKE getting along with a variety of people. I learned that different people can teach me new things about themselves and about myself. I learned that I have things in common with lots of people, but I am also have huge differences from a lot of people - and both of those things are good. I learned that the differences between people is what makes things fun. I learned to always be myself and to not care what other people think - if they don't like me for who I am then I shouldn't want to be friends with them anyway. I learned that it can be fun to go out of your comfort zone. I learned that things that were once out of your comfort zone can actually, over time, become part of your comfort zone. I learned that it can take time to find out who you really are, and that is okay, you can still make great friends on your way. I have learned that crying isn't weak. I learned that as much as I want to, I can't manage other people's feelings. I learned that I am never too old to have fun. I learned that I am not too fat to have fun either. I learned that talking things through is a good idea, even though it can be difficult to do sometimes. I learned to not be afraid of what other people think, but to go for what I want, even if it seems hard or scary. I learned that asking guys out on dates isn't the end of the world. I learned it is good to be yourself. I learned that sharing different opinions isn't always a bad thing. I learned that it is okay to make the decision that is best for yourself and not think about other people; it is okay to be selfish once in a while. I learned that keeping in touch with friends is important. I learned that making more money doesn't always make you happier, but it CAN. I learned that sometimes it is just time to move ont. I learned that sometimes things can go fast, but that is okay. I learned that sometimes you need to leap before you look. I learned that when you are in a new place you need to make the most of it and explore. I learned that hard work can be rewarding. I learned that everyone has some sort of redeeming quality, and usually, it isn't that hard to find. I learned to love others and to show that in whatever way possible, because you never know how you are affecting someone else's day, or month, or life. I learned that love at first kiss can happen. I learned you can be comfortable with someone instantly. I learned that weight loss happens in real life, and not just on tv or in the movies. I learned that true happiness can come from a short courtship and engagement. I learned that it is possible to hang out with an engaged couple without feeling like a third wheel (I know, amazing right?) I learned that you can be happy for someone else and sad for you all at the same time. I learned that you can recover from heart-break. I learned that sometimes what you think you want for your life isn't really what is best for your life. I learned that sometimes it is okay to take a break for a while to get back on your feet. I learned that it isn't weakness to admit that you aren't doing okay. I learned to not regret things that you didn't do, just to learn from them and make better mistakes in the future. I learned that it is okay to let someone in quickly. I learned to always be nice, no matter how frustrated you are. I learned to always be worried about other people's feelings. I learned to always be who I am, even if it is unexpected. I learned to look on the bright side. I learned to laugh and have fun. I learned that it is good to do things that scare the crap out of you (every once in a while at least). I learned that a broken heart can mend, and bounce back better than ever. I learned to be confident. I learned to be social and outgoing. I learned that it is good to approach someone you don't know and talk to them, because probably they are just as freaked out as you are. I learned it is never too late to fix your life - if you think something needs fixing, then work on it and it can be fixed, simple as that. I learned that good people can have crappy things happen to them, but you can still chose to be positive and grow out of those experiences. I learned that I am lovable and worth protecting. I learned that I am a good judge of character and I can make good decisions. I learned that a short fuse isn't good, and drinking just shortens it. I learned that out of adversity and out of hurt, we can be changed for the better. I learned that we are all given gifts and talents and not to be embarrassed about sharing those gifts with other people. I learned that everyone has a different story to tell. I learned that creativity should always be expressed. I learned that positive reinforcement is good. I learned that I am a good listener and I am good at being there for others. I learned that even as a person changes over time, they are still always worth loving. I learned how to get along with people I didn't always see eye-to-eye with. I learned that sometimes kids, and people in general, can be mean, but that doesn't mean they are evil.

I want to thank all of you who are my friends. You mean a lot to me and so do the things that I have learned from you. Keep being awesome and teaching me things I need to know :D

Most Important Friendship

2011-01-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, I know you are all sitting there thinking that I have neglected to mention the most important friendship that I have ever had in my life - don't worry, I was just saving the best for last. I know that this is going to sound super corny, but I would have to say that the person who is my best friend, and always has been, is my Mom. (I told you it was corny).

Now, I am not just writing this post because I know she is one of the 3 people that read this blog (well, it might have been a bit more than three this month, but she has been one of the faithful 3). I am writing it because I mean it. I would have to say that my Mom is the best friend I have. I know that most people don't feel that way about their mother's and I feel like that makes me pretty darn lucky. I remember when I was in High School this kid Bill was throwing a huge keg party out at his place. I was standing in the hall talking to a bunch of the other girls about it and they were all saying things like "I told my mom I am staying at so-and-so's house" or "I told my mom that his parents would be there" and other such nonsense. I said "I told my Mom I was going to Bill's kegger." Every person in that conversation (and there were probably about 10 of them) gaped at me. One even asked me to repeat myself. It was weird to them - we were all underage and their parents wouldn't have let them go. They didn't understand that my Mom knew that I was almost an adult and that I was going to make my own decisions, and she knew that they would be good ones. She trusted me, and in turn, I told her the truth. Now, I realize that a lot of this was because of who I am as well as because of how awesome she is, but I think it is very telling of our relationship.

She is one of the most understanding people on the planet. I could tell her anything in the whole world and I feel like she would still love me - and not just because she has to. I guess she got practice being accepting after all the crazy crap that my brother did growing up. There is one thing that I hid from her for about 5 or 6 years while we were growing up - and when I did finally tell her it was a relief. The thing is that I hadn't just been hiding it from her, I had been hiding it from everyone. But when I did finally break down and tell someone, she was the second person I told (JR was the first person actually - but he kinda had to wrench it out of me).

Not only do I feel like I can trust her with anything, but she is also someone that I want to emulate. I have been told before that I look a lot like my Mom (which is totally true), but I hope the resemblance goes deeper than that. She is not only understanding to me, and my brothers, but to everyone. She is caring towards all people and she can make rational decisions in a crisis (I guess that is why she is a good nurse).

She is also one of the smartest people I know. She went to nursing school when I was 14 years old and she graduated from Nursing School the year that my older brother graduated from High School - and even though she went to school 5 days a week driving an hour each way, and she worked almost every single weekend for the entire 2 1/2 years, she still managed to get really good grades. I was so proud of her for that and I regret that I didn't do as well in my college career so that I could make her as proud (not that I did terrible, but compared to her I did - and her circumstances were way tougher than mine). Of course, she never judged me for it, she is still proud of me anyway.

From her I learned everything - from my first steps and first words (thank goodness she taught me my first words - where would we all be if I couldn't talk?) to how to stay cool in a crisis. I learned to love other people, even when they aren't perfect, because they never are. I learned that family is important. I learned the importance of picking my battles, and how to pick the right ones. I learned how to be kind and yet firm. I learned that it is better to be truthful and trusting.

Other Oregon Friends

2011-01-30T00:51:00.000-07:00

So, other than the ones I have already mentioned, I have also met a ton of other great people here in Oregon.

At my job I became friends with this guy named Paul - he is funny and very addicted to running. He would ride his bike to work even though it would take him an hour. Then there was Jon - he would take whatever challenge came at us with a smile on his face, telling us to calm down. Skyla was always very precise. These people have all moved on to bigger and better things. I also met Whitney, who still currently works with me. She and I have similar opinions about a lot of things and we have been working together so long that we can practically read each others minds. We can finish each others sentences and determine what the other person is thinking when she can't articulate clearly. We work together seamlessly and even when we are stressed out we manage to have fun (at least for the most part). We both try very hard to make sure the other person isn't put out or stressed out too much, and that is one of the main reasons we work well together. If one of us was a giver all the time and the other was a taker, it wouldn't work, but luckily that isn't the case.

I have also met other great people at church. There is Cec and Laura who I love to get together with and talk about fangirl stuff and watch silly shows and movies and just laugh and laugh and laugh. I feel like I could tell those girls anything and they would never judge me about it - at least not to my face. They always have my best interests at heart and they never hesitate to give me advice, and more importantly, confirmation, when I need it. I also have gotten to know Rachel, Molly and Joanna pretty well - they are in our Relief Society presidency. We have meetings every Sunday morning, and as much as we get important stuff done at these meetings, we also have bonded. I also got to know the old RS presidency really well - Jenny and Heidi are great girls.

I have met so many great people here in Oregon that it would be impossible to go through and list everyone, just like it was impossible to do about all my friends in Utah. I think the important thing to know is that I value the friendships I have had with all of these people - no matter how well I know them, or how little, and no matter how strong or weak those friendship bonds are, I enjoy every moment spent with those other people. From every person that I come across in my life I have learned something - either about myself or about human nature in general.

I learned that all kinds of friendships can occur, seemingly out of nowhere. I learned that connections can happen anywhere - it really is a small world. I learned that an important part of having a good time somewhere or with someone, is the attitude you approach that event with. If you go somewhere expecting it to suck, it probably will; whereas if you go expecting it to be fun, you can usually salvage something from the event. I learned that sometimes, you have to learn the same lesson more than once for it to really stick. I learned that all people have redeeming qualities, and that everyone deserves a second chance.

Oregon Roomies

2011-01-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

While living with Julie there were a lot of other people who moved in and out - that tends to happen when you live with one person for more than 3 years but the other room in the house is available for rent. When I first moved in a girl named Lindsay lived there. She was from Utah and was a bit of a rebel as far as LDS standards go, but she was still super fun to live with (although she would not respond to her alarm in the morning and it would just beep and beep and beep - haha). She moved out not too long after I moved in because of differences in opinion from Julie, who is a bit stricter than Lindsey was, so I didn't live with her long, but it was fun while it lasted.

After Linds moved out we had a couple of months with no one there, and then that summer Julie's sister was doing an internship at Intel and she stayed with us. She was one of the sweetest, most soft spoken people you would ever meet. She spent a lot of time reading so we would often talk about books and the things we liked to read. She wasn't there for long, but she was fun to live with and have book conversations with. She left to go back to school at the end of Aug/beginning of Sept. By October (the wedding of our friends Lex and Barlow - mentioned below) she was engaged to a guy named Tyler. They are now happily married and living in Utah (I think).

After Laurie left this girl named Lex moved back in. I say 'back' because she had lived with Julie before, but she was in PA school so she left to go on rotations so she had to move out. When she moved back with us it was for a short period of time between her graduation from school and her wedding in October. I met her on the camping trip as well, but because of her rotations she wasn't around very often so I didn't get to know her as well as Julie, Jasmine and Mark. She was dating (and eventually married) this guy named Barlow who was my HT (and was also on the fated camping trip) so I got to know him pretty well, which was fun. We all took a road trip to Utah for their wedding in October - it is always fun to see two people you are good friends with get married to each other :D

After she moved out, Jasmine moved in for a while, which I mentioned the other day. That was a great time, as I already mentioned.

After she left this girl named Adrianna moved in. She had met Julie's sister in Cali not too long beforehand, but was moving to Oregon because it is where her fiance was from, and it is where she was going to get married so she wanted to be here to plan the wedding and get to know his family better. Her fiance didn't live in the area the whole time she lived with me, so that was hard on her, but she had been with him for a long time so she managed. She was fun to live with as well. She was planning her wedding the whole time, but she would always come and ask me what I thought about this or that and tell me all about her plans. And we would make late night Krispy Kreme runs too, so that was good (okay, not a lot of those happened - but I remember them vividly).

After she got married and moved out this girl named Becca moved in. She was in our Ward and she had been good friends with Julie for quite a while, and I didn't know her well, but I knew her enough to know I liked her. Not long after Becca moved in Julie got engaged to her fiance, so we both then had to move out, so we didn't live together long. She plays the cello amazingly, so it was always fun to hear her practice - although she was careful not to let that happen too often, she was kinda shy about practicing in front of people (which is odd to me since she would perform in front of people). She was (and still is) dating this guy named Aaron and they are really cute together. I miss living with Becca.

After moving out of Julie's house I found a place with a girl named Jenn, back in the same apartment complex I had moved into when I first came to Oregon - of course it was cheaper since I would be sharing with someone and not having my own apartment. Jenn is an interesting person, because on the surface she seems very down to earth and professional, but once you get to know her she is so not that way. Not that she isn't down to earth or professional (although that is what I just said, right?) but rather that she is so much more crazy fun than I originally thought. We spent every night for probably the first month I lived here staying up late and talking and giggling (obviously this is what it really means to me to be friends with someone). We get along really well. She and I are the same in so many areas - and not all of them good. The way we deal with stress for example (by ignoring it) and all other sort of things. Our sense's of humor are very similar and we have similar dating histories (or lack's thereof) and she is just fun fun fun. I like Jenn a lot. Wow ... clearly I can't think of anything else good to say about her, but there is a ton of good stuff, believe me, I am just too out of it to list them all off right now.

I know that I have been lucky all through college, and even since then, to have good roommates. I have managed to get along well (or at least decently) with all of them. I have learned so many things from them. So many things that I have already mentioned that I have learned, and so many things that I have to re-learn. There are a lot of lessons that I have learned from my friends and roomies all throughout my life - some have stuck and some haven't. Some are still trying to wriggle their way in there. I learned that I can get along with a large variety of people. I learned that I LIKE getting along with a variety of people. I learned that different people can teach me new things about themselves and about myself. I learned that I have things in common with lots of people, but I am also have huge differences from a lot of people - and both of those things are good. I learned that the differences between people is what makes things fun.

Emily

2011-01-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

So, this is slightly out of order ... but then not really. So, I met Emily when I was at BYU. She worked with me at the 4am job. She was on the same crew as Christina, but we still got to know each other okay. And Emily was a pretty new freshman at the time, and still fresh out of high school. And Emily went to a pretty small high school out in the middle of nowhere and so she was a bit ... awkward. But we still totally bonded, because guess what? I am awkward too.

Now, I hate to say this, but I kinda can't remember what made us hang out first. I think that what happened was that she and I bonded at work over how we quoted the movie "She's the Man" all the time. Then, we saw that a new movie with Channing Tatum (who is the lead male in "She's the Man" and is so totally smoking hot!) was coming out called "Step Up" and we decided we needed to go to it together. I think maybe that we had watched "She's the Man" before this together. So when it was finally in the dollar theatre we walked up there and saw it together. And it was awesome. And then we walked home. Funny story though, when we were on our way to the theatre we saw this guy walking along carrying a set of bagpipes. We were in a very goofy mood so we stopped him and asked him to play a little diddy - and he DID! It was the most amazing thing ever. I think that to this day Emily wishes she had gotten that guy's phone number.

We would hang out every once in a while after that, but then she left to go to a semester abroad in England. And then I graduated and moved here. I didn't really give much thought to her on a day to day basis (that sounds mean, but you know what I mean) until one day in church, I looked over and who did I see? You guessed it - Emily! It shocked the heck out of me. I was so not expecting to see anyone that I knew from school there, but it was so delightful. It was amazing.

So we started hanging out in Oregon too. She was here because the semester abroad was pretty expensive and she had to spend time working again to make money to go to school some more, and her Dad lived in the area so she was staying with him. We spent a lot of time watching movies and doing things that I didn't do with my other friends while watching movies - like talking through the whole thing and then later, analyzing the crap out of them. It was always way fun. Then she eventually earned enough to go back to school, but whenever she comes back to visit the family or go to the dentist or whatever, she makes sure to visit me. In fact, a lot of the times she stays with me :D One of the things I love most about Emily is that she is never afraid to be herself. Ever. And since she has gone back to school this last time she has really figured out what she likes and who she is and she isn't afraid to be that. She is such a good friend, always there to offer advice and listen when I need it. Also, she lets me live vicariously through her adventures at BYU in the fun new dance crowd she is in.

From her I learned to always be myself and to not care what other people think - if they don't like me for who I am then I shouldn't want to be friends with them anyway. I learned that it can be fun to do something that you normally don't do and to go out of your comfort zone. I learned that things that were once out of your comfort zone can actually, over time, become part of your comfort zone. I learned that it can take time to find out who you really are, and that is okay, you can still make great friends on your way.

Mark

2011-01-27T01:02:00.000-07:00

Now, I think a lot of this post is going to sound like a repeat of things I have already said, but that is just because Mark and Jasmine and I do a lot of stuff together. I met him the same way I met Jasmine, on the fated camping trip with Julie. I guess on the way back with Jasmine he commented that she seemed to really hit it off with me. I think he knew then that Jas and I would become good friends and he just accepted that and decided to like me as well haha.

With him I have also done a lot of things such as go to Disney World twice, go on lots of road trips, watched tons of movies and tv shows, gone out to eat a lot (probably too much lol). Everything that you do with your good friends. Also, he and I have very similar sense's of humor (sense of humor's?) and we watched a lot of the same stuff growing up so that always makes hanging out fun. He is also a computer genius and is always very willing to help out when I have problems in that area, which is way nice.

Like most guys, I think he has a hard time expressing his emotions (who am I kidding? I am totally the same way!) but he shows that he cares by the things he does. You can see the concern on his face (either that or it is confusion lol) when there is something worrisome going on. I will always be grateful for him being there during the crappy moments. Like when I was in a wreck last November, he saved the day so many times. It is moments and days like that that remind me why he is such a good friend. It is times like that that make up for all the times he acts totally weird or jerky or intentionally tries to piss me off (for some reason he thinks it is so funny).

With Mark, just like with Jasmine, I think I don't tell him often enough how great I think he is. I get into this trap in my life of just assuming that the people I love know that I love them (I know it, so obviously they do too, right?) and I don't say anything. Also, I think that it is hard when you see someone on a somewhat day-to-day basis. Are you just going to be like 'how was your day? mine was super long. PS you are awesome"? Probably not. It just doesn't go with the flow of conversation. So thanks Mark, for being so awesome so often. And thanks to all my friends who have been following along so far. We are nearing the end. Aren't you excited? I know I am!

Jasmine

2011-01-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

On the camping trip with Julie, another one of the people that I met was named Jasmine. She told me later that when I walked up to the campsite saying "Hi guys!" all cheery and familiar her first thought was "who is this girl that knows everyone but me? and why don't I know her?" She didn't realize I was faking it at the time, but she figured it out pretty quick when I had to learn everyone's name except for Julie. Over the next couple of days Jasmine and I got to know each other a little bit, and by the end of the camping trip we had stacked a bunch of half-blown-up air mattresses and one of us would lay on them and the other would jump on the other side, popping the other person off. It was a very fun time :D

After that we sorta hung out together a little but here and there, and said hi to each other in church, but we didn't really start hanging out until Halloween of that year. There was a party that we weren't planning on going to, but this other girl Chelsea who we knew convinced us to go with her. So we all dressed in dark clothes and put on heavy makeup and we used some wire to put in fake piercings and we were dressed as crazy goth rocker girls. After that Jasmine started coming over to hang out, her and this guy Mark came over all the time and we would play Guitar Hero. Julie and Mark and Jasmine were planning a trip to Disney World in December of that year, but as we bonded more and became better friends they postponed their trip until January so I could go with them.

Since then Jasmine and I have had tons of sleepovers and told each other almost everything we could ever tell each other. We talk about the silliest, stupidist, most random things ever and we laugh and laugh and laugh all the time. We have been on vacations and to concerts and on road-trips and had tons of adventures together. Pretty much any situation you could come up with, we have a funny/crazy/sad/interesting story that fits the situation. We do what I always do to bond with my friends - stay up late and girl talk and watch shows.

We have had our tough times too, but those times have made our friendship stronger. You know how it is with life, good things happen, but bad things happen too, and you can't have one without the other. Jasmine left for school for a spring term at BYU-I, but it wasn't really right for her, so she didn't stay. After that we lived together, and then because of financial issues she moved elsewhere. She has also had a crazy set of health troubles that seem like they keep coming one after another. But even with all that going on she recently finished beauty school and is the most amazing hair stylist a girl could ask for. Not to mention she helps me wax when I feel so inclined (which isn't super often, but it does happen). When it comes to having the strength to power through something, she definitely has it.

She is a good friend (and a goo friend lol) and we have shared a lot. She is one of the few people that have seen me cry and has lived to tell the tale. Haha. But really, for those who don't know me very well, I am not a big crier, but it has been known to happen. I have even gotten through those times with here there beside me.

From her I have learned that crying isn't weak, but sometimes it can be a great release. I learned that as much as I want to, I can't manage other people's feelings, and that is totally okay, and I need to accept that. I learned that I am never too old to have fun. I learned that I am not too fat to have fun either - I have too often let that hold me back. I learned that talking things through is a good idea, even though it can be difficult to do sometimes. I learned that there is always fun to be had, even if all we are doing is sitting around watching shows we have seen before and telling stories we have heard before as well. Jasmine is a really awesome person (and I know I don't tell her that often enough) who I am so glad I met. Thanks again Julie ;)

Julie

2011-01-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

So, after the interns left I finally got up the courage to go to church all by myself (I only skipped a few Sundays ... maybe 4). So by the end of September I went to church and I even convinced myself to go to family home evening (which is a where the people in my Ward get together and do activities and other things to get to know each other better - people who are married would have this with their spouses and children, but since we are all Young Single Adults we just hang out together). So I was sitting there alone at FHE, wishing I knew someone and trying to get up the courage to talk to someone, when what do I know, this girl I was sitting next to started talking to me. Her name was Sandy and she was super nice (I know, you are confused, because the title of this post is not Sandy - I am getting there, I promise). Part way into my conversation with Sandy another girl who knew Sandy came over and started talking to us, and her name was (you guessed it) Julie. We all talked for a bit and Julie and I found out that we had both gone to BYU and graduated not too long previous, so we had that in common. She then said to Sandy "We are going camping on the long weekend, do you want to come?" and Sandy said "I can't, I have to work, but my sister might want to go." Julie said, "Okay," then she turned to me and said "do you like camping?" I was shocked. She had known me for about 5 minutes and she was inviting me camping? But, I had told myself I was going to get more involved and actually do something so I said "sure!"

Well, I hummed and hawed over going on that trip. I didn't know anyone going except for Julie - I didn't even know if it was going to be co-ed or not. Also, I had to work on the Saturday so I was going up a day later than everyone else except for Sandy's sister, who I was going to ride up with. So I met with Jill (Sandy's sister) and she was a little more reserved than I was expecting, so I was nervous that everyone else who was going to be there was going to be as well. But I decided that I was going to make the best of it, anyone can do anything for 2 days, right? So we get to the campsite and I just walked up to where Julie was with the other people and said "hi guys!" Luckily, everyone was super nice. I met some of my best friends (who I will talk about later) on that camping trip.

I was so grateful to Julie for inviting me on that trip. She didn't have to, she barely knew me and really all she knew about me was that I went to BYU. She and I became pretty good friends because of that. A few months later I ended up deciding that I was paying too much in rent and Julie happened to own a house that she was renting out extra rooms in and she let me move in - that was in November of that same year. I lived in Julie's house for about 3 years. That was the longest time that I had lived anywhere since high school, and it was good. I have only recently moved out of there (about 4 months ago) because she got married.

In the meantime we spent a lot of time together. We went on a lot of camping trips, 2 vacations to Disney World, we had birthday parties, a couple trips to Vancouver, several canoeing trips and all sorts of other fun stuff. We had a lot of the same friends, so hanging out was always easy. Julie always impressed me because she was never afraid to do what she wanted to or thought she needed. Or at least, she never acted scared, even if she told me later that she was actually scared. She would invite people for cheesecake night, or game night, she was super brave and asked guys on dates all the time.

She taught me to not be afraid of what other people think, but to go for what I want, even if it seems hard or scary. She taught me that asking guys out on dates isn't the end of the world - but rather, it can be quite invigorating. She taught me that it is good to be yourself and that you don't have to be the same as everyone else. She taught me that sharing a different opinion isn't always a bad thing, but among friends, it's actually good.

Chris

2011-01-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

So when I got my job here in Oregon I started in June of '07, and there was a brand new set of interns. I didn't really know anyone in the area so I just hung out with them most of the time and didn't worry too much about making friends. But, as internships tend to do, it ended and they all left. So I was alone. Except for one person. The previous year, when my internship ended, one of the guys, Chris, had gotten a job there. So of course, when I returned he was still there. For the entire summer of '07, and then for the first couple months after that, he was one of the only people I knew (other than the interns that left). He was my saving grace that first couple months after the interns left. It was hard for me to go to a Ward where I didn't know anyone and so I was really crappy at going, and when I did go I didn't really talk to anyone.

Even after I ended up making friends, Chris was still there to talk to about work stuff and just whatever. Chris is one of the least judgmental people I have ever had the pleasure to be around. He was always around to listen whenever I wanted to complain about work, or about my friends, or my family, or whatever. He and I never stayed up late watching shows or chatting, but we spent a lot of time at work hanging out and chatting :D

The thing I liked most about Chris was that he knew what my college experience was like, because he also went to BYU and so his was quite similar. And he knew what my work life was like, and not just from me telling him. It is different for some reason when someone has been there with you and knows what the work situation is like as opposed to what its like when you just tell them about it. And so I could tell him pretty much anything, or complain about anything, and he would totally get it. And he never judged me for making different kinds of decisions than he did. And he never looked down on me for it either (or at least he never made it seem like he did). And although he had different beliefs than me, he made sure to never rag on me for that or try to make me feel stupid or bad for it either.

After we worked together for however long he got pretty sick, and that sickness was intensified by his stress, and at a job like mine, stress levels are often high. So he got a new job. A better job. Which was awesome for him. But for me, it was so sad. I knew I would miss him a lot. Why did the new job he got have to be all the way across the country? Stupid. Of course, I never blamed him for doing it (although I coveted it a little bit) and I have to say were the situations reversed I would have done the same thing.

The thing I still like about Chris is that whenever he comes in to town he always makes sure to see me. And if it has been a long time since that happened he will call or email or chat with me somehow. And when that does happen, it is like he never left. I fill him in on what has been going on with me, and he fills me in on whats going on with him, and we just chat like we just saw each other the day before.

From him I learned not to judge, but just to accept others as they are. I learned that it is okay to make the decision that is best for yourself and not think about other people; it is okay to be selfish once in a while. I learned that keeping in touch with friends is important. I learned that sometimes, if you don't keep in touch perfectly, that is okay, you just need to pick up where you left off. I learned that making more money doesn't always make you happier. But I also learned that it CAN make you happier. I learned that sometimes it is just time to move on, and sometimes, it is hard to figure out that time, but sometimes you just have to go for it. I learned that sometimes things can go fast, but that is okay. I learned that sometimes you need to leap before you look.

The Internship

2011-01-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

So, the last summer that I was in college I did an internship at OHSU in Oregon. It was kinda a whirlwind - I wasn't sure I was going to go until pretty close to the time that we had to leave for the trip, so I didn't have a long time to sell my housing contract and pack all the things I was going to take, and store all the things I was going to leave (it was convenient that my grandparents had a big old garage I could store stuff in instead of paying for a storage unit). And then it was off to Oregon!

I didn't know much about the other people who were going - I had only met them for a while in a class that was only day a week for 2 hours, so forgive me for not knowing them. And then, there was one guy who was coming who I didn't know at all because he was never in the class. That summer was crazy. We all came in a huge 15 passenger van that was supplied by the school, and to drive said van you had to take a 'van driving class'. Basically it was just a little thing you sit through that reminds you that big vehicles drive differently than small ones and how when you are in a giant van people will probably try to get in front of you a lot. Anyway, we drove here all in one day and my turn to drive was near the end - so my first time driving in Portland over all the crazy bridges and stuff on all the one way streets was in a huge 15 passenger van. Yay me :-/

That night we stayed in a hotel and then bright and early the next morning we made a quick stop at our new place of work for a while and then we went over to try to make sure we could check into our apartments and unpack and all that. Then we had to go grocery and other stuff shopping - couldn't live without things like shower curtains and the like. It was a long day to start off a long summer. The first week we had a ton of training and that kinda stuff, and then it was pure craziness. We worked 10 long days on, and then 4 short days off, and then 10 on, and 4 off etc etc. You can imagine our enjoyment.

The group was made up of 3 girls and 3 boys. It was me and Leslie, and Jen for girls, and then the boys were Chris and Stuart and Nate. It was originally planned that we would just have the girls live together and the boys all live together, but it didn't turn out quite like that. Jen is originally from the area so she just stayed with her family instead of making anyone have to share a bedroom. Nate had family here as well, I think it was his sister and brother-in-law, so he stayed with them most of the time (although he had his own car, as did Jen, so they both were nice enough to give us rides so we didn't have to take the giant van everywhere!).

Luckily we did manage to get to do a lot of the things that make Portland area so great - we went to the coast, and to Powell's, and to a dragon boat festival, and all sorts of other fun things like that. We also spent a lot of time in our apartments sleeping. Leslie and I made a fort out of the furniture in the living room and left it there for a couple of weeks, and even slept in it at times, which was fun. Jen's family had an extra tv so she lent it to us with some bunny ears so that we could watch tv once in a while (even though it ended up being kinda fuzzy). The boys had a tv too, and an x-box, so we ended up becoming big proprietors of the nearby Blockbuster (which is closed now :( so sad) and watched a lot of movies. We had a whole Alien and Predator and then AVP marathon. Luckily, we didn't stay up too late watching these shows - we were so tired all the time that by 8pm it was already late for us.

I got to know those kids pretty good. We went to the local Ward, but we didn't want to get to know anyone because we didn't really have time and we also knew we weren't staying for very long so we didn't want to get attached. So the 6 of us became good friends - and the 4 of us (not including Jen and Nate) became even closer. We enjoyed our time as much as we possibly could and it was like ... the summer of being super involved with only ourselves. Haha. I liked it a lot but I was definitely glad to get back to normal life when the summer came to an end. (why I came back is still a mystery lol).

From the interns I learned that having a crazy schedule can still be fun as long as you are with the right people and you have a positive attitude. I learned that when you are in a new place you need to make the most of it and explore. I learned that Oregon can get really hot (I guess I didn't learn that from the people so much as the time with the people). I learned that hard work can be rewarding. I learned that different people have different talents - and some people don't have a talent for crazy intense research. I learned also that people can adapt, even if intense research isn't your forte, you can still do good at it. I learned that it is always fun to have a new adventure as long as you have a positive attitude. Mostly, I think a positive attitude is important here eh?

Other Roomies, Friends From School

2011-01-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

I could spend weeks and weeks talking about all the amazing people I got to meet and spend time with while I was in college, but I think that we would all get sick of that, so I am just going to do this last college related post. Over the time I was in school at BYU I had the opportunity to have 12 roommates (more than that if you count the people that I lived with when I was doing an internship in Oregon and even more if you count my grandparents! lol) All of them were great to me and great for me. I couldn't have asked for a better experience in school (well, I guess I could ask for it if I want, but that would just be selfish and I probably wouldn't get it anyway).

While living with Christina the first time we also lived with 2 girls named Laura and Jill who were fun to hang out with. We went around one day taking 'glamour pics' of us around the property, as if we were doing advertising for the complex. After those girls moved out we lived with a girl named Kristin who was in school to be a dental hygienist and even though she was engaged she would stay up late at night with us playing guitar and singing and girl talking. Then we lived with Mel and this other girl I can't remember the name of (but I think it might have been Jessica). She had a lot of legal type troubles and although we barely saw her, she was always really nice and I hope she got it all worked out. Also, for a few months we lived with a girl named Krystle who was also a female engineer and she was so fun and awesome. We took a road trip to Vegas to go bungee jumping together.

While living with Chels and Connie we also had one other housemate named Jan. She wasn't around a lot either, she was always off hanging out with her guy friend that she wasn't dating (but who she later got married to), but when she was around, we always had fun! After Chels got married she left and 2 girls moved in upstairs named Katie and Kelli. They were these young, cute, blond cheerleader type girls, and although I never would have thought I would get along with people like that, I had tons of fun with them too.

When Christina and I moved back in together, we only had one other roommate, and her name was Bethany (I called her Bethy). She moved in with us because her fiance was in our Ward and she wanted to live close to him. She was amazing! We would spend lots of time staying up way too late talking and having fun. Her fiance spent an inordinate amount of time at our apt as well, but since I was so used to this from all the other roomies I had had, I didn't mind in the least. In fact, he became a great friend as well. He was in the same major as me so I would often try to give him hints and tips (although, I don't know how useful that was).

I also met tons of amazing people in my Wards and at my job. At work I met David, the boy I was 'engaged' to (the Pope was going to marry us). I also met Anthony, the guy that I 'stalked' because of his beautiful eyes. I met Taylor, Anthony's friend and our friend as well. I met Melsa and Sally and Rachel and Brette and Holly who were always a blast to vacuum with and have breakfast with at 7am! Melsa and Sally especially because they would regale us with stories of how things are done down south - believe me, they are done weirdly. I also met my boss Dave who was more like an older brother to me than a boss (except an older brother that I didn't actually have to grow up with). I could always tell him what was going on and I knew he had my best interests at heart when he offered advice. I also met Christina's boss, Lynn, who was the kind of person I always imagined would be the perfect father. We called each other 'best friend' all the time and could have serious and silly conversations any time we wanted. In my Wards I met the Cougars hockey team (well a few of them anyway) and they were always fun to hang out with because it was like getting a glimpse into what I imagine a gang would be like (but a little less violent). I met lots of other boys I had crushes on (and got crushed by lol) and girls I could confide in and girl talk with. I met Rachel who made me an angry chick music CD. I met Taylor, who knew I was friends with Rachel and would come hang out just so he could talk about her. I met Katie who is an amazing singer (and strangely enough, lives near me here and I saw her once at a dinner I was serving for). I met so many other great people, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I even met great people in my classes (amazing, I know, since I did major in Neuroscience) like Jaclyn and Brett and Jenni and Brandon.

From all these people that I met in school I learned so much. I learned how to get along well with a variety of people. I learned how to spend my time efficiently. I also learned how to waste my time! I learned that I can have a good time almost anywhere and doing anything, as long as I put my mind to it. I learned that I am a good roommate, and I learned that there is such a thing as a bad roommate (luckily, not from personal experience, but rather from stories shared with me from others). I learned that studying it important, but so is having fun. I learned that everyone has some sort of redeeming quality, and usually, it isn't that hard to find. I learned to love others and to show that in whatever way possible, because you never know how you are affecting someone else's day, or month, or life.

*Edit - I can't believe I almost forgot about her. I suck.

Carmando

2011-01-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

So, when I first started school at BYU I was planning to be a film major. That winter and spring I signed up for a bunch of film classes and I met a bunch of really talented people (which is part of what made me realize I wasn't really cut out for it, because I didn't think I could compete). One of the people I met in these classes was a girl named Connie who was from Germany. She was one of the only people that I hit it off with in those classes and we would sit together in the big lecture sections and we would do projects together and stuff like that.

Fast-forward a few years. I changed my major to Neuroscience, I lived with Christina for a year, had this awesome time. Then I move into a house down the road. I mentioned that I lived with 3 other girls in that house. Guess who one of them is? (other than Chels since I just told you about her). That's right, it was Connie. It was so amazing to me that of all the people I would meet and see again and accidentally move in with from those old classes it would be her. I had really liked her and I was sad that I had lost contact with her, so finding out that she was a roommate was one of the happiest surprises I had had in my entire life. It was amazing that I was moving into a house and a new Ward where I didn't know anyone, and then 'SURPRISE!' I did know someone. She had changed her major to communication and so didn't see many of the old crowd either.

At the time I lived with her she was dating this guy named Armando. He was from Mexico and was this short little curly haired guy, who was just awesome. They were the perfect little non-American couple and I loved them together. The thing was that Armando lived in a really crappy place up north of campus (I think) and so they never went to his house, and he practically lived at our place. I almost never saw Connie without Armando, which is why Chels and I started calling them Carmando. :D

They were so fun to live with. Very laid back and fun to hang out with. They had been together for a long time (as far as I knew) and so they weren't like some newly dating couple that were super awkward to hang out with (I have been lucky to not have to deal with that). They always were watching fun Indie or foreign films and inviting us to join and they always cooked together and were just great. They moved to Germany after they both graduated and are now married and have the cutest little chubby cheeked daughter who just melts my heart every single time I see a picture of her (yeah, it needs to be melted, because otherwise it is just made completely of ice!)

From them I learned that a green-card marriage isn't all that matters (no one in that relationship ended up with a green card!).I learned that it really can be a small world, and having people you knew before come back into your life in a surprise way can be really fun. I learned that height isn't everything (Connie is taller than Armando). I learned that you don't have to get married within a year of meeting someone to be happy. I learned to be accepting of others, even if their background isn't the same as yours.

Chels/Ry (and Marcus!)

2011-01-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

So, during the time that Christina and I decided we had spent a lot of time together and that we should live separate for a while I moved into a house just down the street from where we had lived before. I found the place by looking online at the BYU approved housing website and checking the places out. I knew that I wanted a private room and I thought it would be fun to live in a house instead of an apartment, but those things were my only criteria. I looked at several and most of them were so old they were kinda scary, or they were just really small and crowded or the room was too tiny. And then I looked at this one, and it was so cute and fun, and the land-lady was super sweet, and it just felt perfect and right. So I signed the lease and prepared to move in. The house had 3 private rooms and one that was intended to be a shared loft space, but no one else ever signed up for that room and so she had it to herself and there were just 4 of us in the house.

I met the girl who stayed in the loft-space (I say that loosely, it was more of just a giant upstairs), Chelsea, the day I moved in and we clicked right away. I felt like I had known her my entire life and that we had always been the best of friends. She was super fun and cute and perky. I envied the way she always had energy to go to work and to the gym and then come home and do fun things like cute crafts or paint the kitchen or whatever. And she even had time to flirt with boys. I looked at her and I saw this girl that I really wanted to be like. To top it all off, she was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever met in real life. We had an easy natural relationship - we would hang out together when we wanted to and needed to, but we were always free to do things without each other and the other person would never feel left out of offended or anything. It was a great roommate and friend situation. We went to a Ward activity in October and she and I started talking to a couple of guys who lived down the road. She knew them a little bit, since one of them used to be her home teacher (in our church we have people who are assigned to come to your home once every month and give you a little spiritual lesson and help you with anything you might need), and she was flirting it up with him hardcore. The two guys were named Ryan (the ex-HT) and Marcus (who was his roomie). Somehow Chels and Ryan got into a game of kissing chicken and neither pulled back and so they kissed (I think - either that or it was a dare). That was the start of them dating. They had a whirlwind romance - and all throughout it the four of us would hang out (don't worry, Chels and Ry had their alone time as well).

They were soon engaged an to be married in May. The winter semester was a fun time. Chels wasn't in school at the time, and was working full-time, regular hours from 9-5. Ry had a job that he worked from 2pm-10pm (he might have been taking classes too - I don't recall because I suck). I had work from 4am until 730am, then classes in the morning but then I was off by about noon on most days. Ry and I would usually go to lunch (Marcus would go with us on his days off). Then Ry would leave for work and I would do homework or whatever, and then Chels would get home an I would hang out with her for a while. Then I would go to bed and Ry would get off work and they would hang out. We jokingly referred to me as 'the other woman' because often I would spend as much time with him as Chels. And since we went to lunch all the time it was almost like dates. Except he was totally and completely in love with her and so it was never actually a worry, but it was funny. That year was amazing. We all had so much fun together doing all sorts of crazy things. I went to a bridal show with Chels once, but future brides got in free and I wasn't one, so I lied and said I was engaged to Marcus so that I didn't have to pay.

From them I learned that love at first kiss can happen. lol. I learned you can be comfortable with someone instantly. I learned that beautiful girls can be nice and fun and crafty as well. I learned more than I ever thought I would know about computers and video games. I learned to appreciate indie films and art. I learned that weight loss happens in real life, and not just on tv or in the movies. I learned that true happiness can come from a short courtship and engagement. I learned that it is possible to hang out with an engaged couple without feeling like a third wheel (I know, amazing right?) These are some of my favourite people as well. I would live close to them again if I could. Even though I live so far away from them I am continually inspired by how crafty and amazing (and beautiful - but she can't help that ;)) Chels is and it makes me want to become more like her.

Matty

2011-01-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

So I met Matty not too long after meeting Shara and Melanie and Christina. He started working the same 4am job as we were (lets face it, that is how I made all my friends for a long time there!). This was after the Zach and Dan era (as Christina so kindly reminded me about - I can't believe I forgot about Zach! oops). Matt was always very perky in the mornings and he would sing showtunes really loud in the middle of the empty, echoey building and everyone would sing along. It was always way fun (we all always were singing - it was the only way to stay awake haha). It is funny, because I don't really remember how we started hanging out either. I do remember that every time he saw me he would sing "Mandi, there's a minister handy" and I just kept telling him I had no idea what that was from. I was also friends with this guy named David (he and I were pretend engaged haha) and Matty and Dave were super good friends. Anyway, Matty finally said - we are going to watch "White Christmas together!" (which is what that song was from if you didn't know). We decided to have some sort of really good spanish food (I think) and watch that movie and invite everyone we knew to a little shindig in the lobby of mine and Christina's apartment building. Then we just started hanging out. It also helped that Matty and Christina's then boyfriend Steve got along really well and we would all hang out together.

We did things like go on roadtrips together - we went to California, which is where Matty had gone on his mission, and we got to go to Disneyland and we got to see a lot of things that Matty had done on his mission and meet people that he had met there. We stayed at the house of one couple and the wife had us draw a picture of a tree a person and a house and then she could look at the picture and tell us a bunch of stuff about ourselves which was way cool. We had put the camera on the dash and pretended we were getting in an accident and then later, the roads were kinda snowy and we actually did spin out on the road and hit the guardrail. We were so lucky that we spun when we did because the guardrail had just started so we didn't fly off the road into the ditch. Also, we were lucky that there was no one else around to run into. Of course, that didn't stop us from taking more road-trips. Matty was having a hard time that semester and just wanted to get away, so one time he was planning to go visit some family in Canada for a long weekend and asked if I wanted to come. So I did and surprised my Mom which was fun. We also went just up to visit his family in Montana which was way fun too. I probably wouldn't have done quite so much with him, but I was totally in love with him at the time, but I never knew how to say anything or do anything about it. So I just went on roadtrips with him and got on his cell phone family plan with him and treated him as a good friend. I remember on one of our roadtrips he mentioned something about his first kiss and I asked him about it and he said he didn't want to talk about it. I said okay and just let it go, I didn't pry very often (that was Christina's job, but she wasn't there). He said it was very astute of me to realize that he wouldn't be okay with prying and to just let it go.It made me happy that even though he didn't share the details with me, he gave me a compliment like that.

As I mentioned, he had a hard time that semester and by the end he had pretty much sucked it up at all his classes and just needed a break. He knew a guy from Virginia from his mission, and although that guy was still on the mission, Matty went out there to stay with his family (I think he knew them, although I could be totally wrong here) probably in either April or June of that year. Before he left Christina told me I should just kiss him, so that I wouldn't regret not doing it. I said no because I am weird. She then said she would pay me $20. I still said no, that would be weird. Then our bosses and co-workers all caught wind of this and said they would chip in on the 'kiss Matty' fund - I think the total ended up being around $75! I even told him about it and he said that he'd do it if I split the money with him. I never did it. I wanted him to kiss me because he WANTED to, not because he was getting money out of it. I regret not ever telling him I liked him, but I don't regret turning down the money for the kiss.

We stayed in touch quite a bit after he left - we still had a cell phone bill to pay together - and by October of that same year he came back to Provo to visit and for a mission reunion and he brought a girl with him that he was engaged to that he wanted me to meet. It hurt me a lot that he was engaged but at the same time I was so happy for him and glad that he was happy. He never ended up marrying that girl, and I am not really sure why. I think he might have mentioned what happened in passing, but we didn't talk a whole lot after that. I was too hurt and didn't know what to say, and he had his new life with his new friends over in Virginia. Not that we never talked, but we were just never close like we had been.

From him I learned that you shouldn't pretend to be someone you aren't just to impress someone. I learned that you can be happy for someone else and sad for you all at the same time. I learned that you can recover from heart-break. I learned that road trips can be a total blast as long as you have a positive outlook. I learned that sometimes what you think you want for your life isn't really what is best for your life. I learned that sometimes it is okay to take a break for a while to get back on your feet. I learned that it isn't weakness to admit that you aren't doing okay. I learned to not regret things that you didn't do, just to learn from them and make better mistakes in the future.

Melanie and Shara

2011-01-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I am combining these two girls into one post for one reason - not because they aren't both super important in my life, because they are, but because the way that I became friends with both of them is the same to me. You see, Christina worked at the 4am job before I ever did (obviously since she got me the job) and she met all these really awesome people, Melanie and Shara included. And then when I started hanging out with her she introduced me to all these awesome people, Melanie and Shara included, and they just treated me like we had known each other forever, which was awesome. Really, I don't remember actually meeting either girl. I remember meeting Christina, and then after we started hanging out, I was suddenly friends with all these people and I am not sure how that happened - but I loved it! I went from not really knowing anyone at BYU to feeling like I was suddenly part of this amazing group of people. And it rocked my socks off.

Melanie is a tall, blonde, beautiful girl who I am so lucky to have had the time to hang out with. I lived with her for a summer and that summer was amazing! She didn't work the 4am job anymore when I started there, and then not too long later she graduated and moved back to her home town (which I think was in Nevada although ... I might just be sucking here). Then after realizing that she wasn't supposed to be there, she moved back to Provo and lived with Christina and I. It was great. It was only us in the apartment for a while and we had so much fun together all the time. We watched shows all night and invited boys over and we girl talked and just had a blast. Melanie was gone for a chunk of time there because she went on a trip to Italy. She loves traveling and every year she saved as much as she could so that she could take a huge epic trip somewhere. She was always talking about where she was going to go next - what the next stamp in her passport was going to be. We always talked about going on a trip together but that never really happened (which was sad - we still all need to go to Ireland together!). After I lived here for a few years, and Melanie had moved to Texas, her and few friends decided they wanted to come to the Pacific NorthWest so they could check out the area, and go see Forks Washington, and just experience a different climate for a while, so she came to visit me. That was so much fun for me. I didn't get to go to Forks with them (sad for me) but they stayed around the area a few days and we went to see Multnomah Falls, and I tried to take them to Powell's (giant bookstore in downtown Portland) but I got lost because I suck, although driving around was still fun, and just hang out with them in general. Melanie recently got married to man she met since living in Texas and every time I see pictures of them she looks so ridiculously happy that I can't help but smile.

Shara has always been the sweetest girl ever. She is so accepting and loving of everyone and always sees the positive. She takes care of people all the time, even if they probably would be better off not being taken care of. She was one of the two girl engineering majors I knew in college (and I sure knew a lot of male engineering majors though!) but she was so nice and so personable that you would never have guessed that's what she was (I know it sounds terrible, but usually there is a certain personality that engineers have, and she doesn't). She ended up going to Africa (I think) for a project with her department in the final year of college. And she brought me back some shells she got there. It was so sweet. She always made me laugh because she was the cutest, nicest girl you could ever meet, and every time that she even thought a guy might be interested in her she would say "I am afraid he likes me". We would always ask what was wrong with that and she would say "I don't know" but I think it was just that she was so worried about hurting someone's feelings that if she wasn't sure she was interested she would get worried for them. She got married to a man who is perfect for her and they live in Washington now (I am so so so embarrassed to say that I have never been to visit them). I know she had some problems with her shoulder causing her pain for quite a while there, but when I talked to her about she was just so positive. She would say things like "It hurt so bad and I couldn't even move my entire arm for a few months because it hurt so much, but it's okay, I got through it and we are good". To me, her attitude is so inspiring.

I learned from them that it is okay to let someone in quickly. I learned to always be nice, no matter how frustrated you are. I learned to always be worried about other people's feelings. I learned to always be who I am, even if it is unexpected. I learned to look on the bright side. I learned to laugh and have fun. I love both of these girls a ton (and am now thinking about how long it's been since I talked to them ... I think I need to give them both a call!)

Christina

2011-01-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

When I first started going to BYU I was intending to be a film major. I wanted to be an actress in film and so I figured 'I have the talent for acting, I need to learn about the business'. Yeah, that idea fell apart pretty quickly. I was overwhelmed by the talent of everyone else and I am not really one for trying to sell myself all the time. I am not 'arty'. Also, I realized that to work in that industry you don't really need a degree in it, so I decided to change. I went through the catalog and found all the majors I thought would be interesting. I then took an intro class for each one and picked my favourite. I ended up enjoying Neuroscience the most and so that was my decision. As much as I loved Neuro I had always had a love for writing, so although I had a new major I was still taking writing classes (of course, film classes dropped off the face of my planet). So it was Fall semester in 2003 and I was taking a creative writing class. The only version that I could fit into my schedule was at 8 in the morning. I rode the bus, so I made sure to always take the early bus so I wouldn't be late - of course that meant I was EARLY. I wasn't the only one who was early - there was this one girl who always came early. But not only was she early, she was also ridiculously perky. Here I was, trying to sleep on the desk for the last few minutes possible, and she would breeze in, smiling away and saying 'Hi everyone! how are you?' I thought it was a little irritating. After getting to know her a little better over the semester I found out that she was that stinking perky because she worked at 4 in the morning.

The next semester rolled around and I was in a Biology class, and who do I see in the same class - annoying perky girl (Christina). We were both so glad to see at least one person we knew, so we started sitting together. Then we found out that we both had no class right before, so we would hang out in that time. We totally hit it off and became really good friends. I mentioned that I was looking for a job, and she told me they had openings at her job (yeah, the 4am one). I got hired and started right away. It was so early that I had to ride a bike down to the school because the buses don't go that early. Then, as the end of the semester rolled around we decided we should live together. And we realized our majors were very similar so we signed up for all of our classes together. We had a great time for about a year like this - maybe not quite that long. We eventually realized that was too much of each other, so we moved to different places and by that time she had changed her major so we weren't in all the same classes together. We still worked together though. We lived together again after that for my last semester in school and then a few months after I graduated while I was figuring out what to do with my life.

That is the living together history. But we did so much fun stuff together. We went sky diving and bungee jumping together. We did the FuddRucker Challenge together. We went on road-trips to Disneyland and to Vegas. We stayed up until ridiculous hours girl talking. This is the only girl that I have ever shared a room with (I am not counting sleepovers and stuff). She is an amazing person and I am so lucky that even though we didn't start hanging out while we were both in that English class that we had another chance in Bio.

I don't think I can ever word strongly enough how much I love Christina. She is one of my best friends in the world. We can go for a long time without seeing each other, and then when we do, it is just as comfortable and normal as ever. We always talked about how when we got married we would have to make sure our husband's liked each other because the poor guys would have to be spending a lot of time together (still working on that one hon but I just can't find a guy that likes Matt - haha jk).

From her I learned that it is fun to do things that you don't feel comfortable doing. I learned that it is good to do things that scare the crap out of you (every once in a while at least). I learned that a broken heart can mend, and bounce back better than ever. I learned to be confident. I learned to be social and outgoing. I learned that doing things when I don't want to can still be fun. I learned how to be a good friend. I learned that talking it over can solve a lot of problems. I learned that it is better to just come out and say something uncomfortable instead of beating around the bush (I still have to work on that though). I learned so much from her and I still constantly do. She is definitely one of my favourite people ever. :D

Jenni

2011-01-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

I think that I need to mention here, before I continue going on talking about all the amazing people I met in school, one more 'friend for life' that I was blessed with, that really made a difference in my college life - my cousin Jenni. Well, my whole family in general made a huge difference. I was very lucky that I accidentally decided to go to school in the same state, and within hours of, 5 of my mothers siblings and their spouses and children. That means that aside from just my grandparents living in the area, I also had 8 aunts and uncles who lived close, as well as 20-30 (depending on the specific time) first cousins nearby. This was a huge blessing for me since I didn't know anyone and I had a hard time making friends at first. It was also great because I got to know so many of my family members that I barely knew due to us living in a totally different country, a little bit better.

My grandparents have lived in the house they live in for a long time (I want to say going on like 40 years, although that might just be me exaggerating - I am not sure). About 15 years ago they went on an LDS mission to Tonga. Just before they went they decided to add on to their house by building a top floor*. It wasn't a top floor that was going to be part of the house, but rather, a separate apartment that they could rent out. After returning from their mission they moved back into the house and pretty much ever since have been renting out the other apartment to family members who either need help financially, or just those who want to live there at the time, or for whatever reason. When I lived with my grandparents, my Aunt Jeannie lived upstairs with her daughter Jenni, and Jenni's daughter as well. Jenni was in school at the time and her mom helped a lot with babysitting when she could and it was convenient for them to all live together.

Since I didn't have friends from school, and since Jenni lived right upstairs from me, we started hanging out. I am not sure what sparked it at first. I think maybe the fact that we both really enjoy reading books and talking about books and watching movies and talking about them, and writing things and then talking about them. Also, we both are into the whole sci-fi/fantasy thing which always seems to bond people. I didn't mind that I didn't have friends from school for so long because I would come home and then just go upstairs and hang out with Jenni. She and I would watch all sorts of dumb shows together, and go to movies all the time, and just hang out in general.

Sometimes when I tell people that I didn't do the whole living in the dorms thing, and I didn't even live anywhere near campus at all my first year and half in school they are like 'oh, that must have sucked'. And, for some reasons I agree. I had to ride the bus to school and that always sucked since it took like 20 mins, but I got to know the area by doing that. I couldn't just pop over to campus when I wanted because it was so far. I didn't have roommates to be automatic friends with. But, it was also awesome because of the time I got to spend with my grandparents, who are amazing people. And it was awesome because of the opportunity it afforded me to get to know Jenni better, and her daughter and her mother, and a bunch of other family members of mine.

I learned the importance of family. I learned that weird isn't always bad - in fact, it can be really good. I learned that in my family, I am actually not as odd as I am to people I am not related to (haha). I learned that family members can be your friends in a real way (I was friends with my brothers, but they were still my brothers so it wasn't the same). I maintain that Jenni and I are friends first, and cousins second. I also learned that red-heads aren't ALL bad ;)

*The sequence of events here might be a bit incorrect, at the time I was like 10-12 and we lived really far away.

The Beg Off

2011-01-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

So, it is late (yeah, it is almost 2am, what of it?) and I totally have to go to work in the morning and it has been a long long long day. So this is me, begging off doing a post for today (but this little paragraph will count) and promising two for tomorrow in return. Don't worry, they will be good. At least, I think they will be :D

Lisa and Amy

2011-01-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned in the previous post, I was lucky in my first Ward in college to meet some really awesome people. I started school in January, which I think can often be a bit tricky since the general student usually starts in September and by the time January rolls around everyone else already has their schedules kinda worked out (even if classes change, it still kinda stays the same) and then they also have their friendships worked out. The first day in my first Ward I arrived super early. As I mentioned I was living with my Grandparents and they believe in going really early to stuff and since they dropped me off I was kinda on their schedule. So I got there probably 20-25 minutes early and just went and sat in the chapel all by myself. I didn't know the Bishop or any of the people there - I didn't even know who was supposed to be in my Ward and who was in the Ward that met previously in the same building. I was just sitting there, freaking out internally but trying to appear calm, when a girl walked in and came right over to me and asked if she could sit by me. She then proceeded to ask if I was new, and I said I was, and she introduced herself as Lisa. At that moment she was my favourite person ever. I think that I didn't do as good of a job of looking calm as I thought and she could tell I was totally freaked out. From then on she was super sweet to me, inviting me to any events she was taking part in or going to without even a second thought. She was one of my only friends that first semester and term (at BYU winter semester is Jan through April, and then Spring term is May and June). I spent a lot of time just adjusting my class schedule and the new area so I didn't do a lot of things with her, but the fact that she invited me meant so much. I went home for the Summer term (July and August). When I left she had just met this boy and when I returned she had just recently married him. I was so glad that she was happy and they were super cute together (I had seen them interact a few times before I left), but I was also sad that one of my only friends wasn't in my Ward any longer.

So again, in September, I got a ride from my Grandparents really early for church up to that building, and I went and sat by myself in a pew. It was totally deja vu, but that didn't make it any less overwhelming. Nor did the fact that I had already been in that Ward for 6 entire months, because still, I didn't really know anyone. Again, I was lucky, and again a girl walked right in and asked if she could sit by me. She introduced herself as Amy and she did almost the same thing Lisa had - she took me under her wing, so to speak. She invited me to all sorts of things she was doing - parties and just to hang out at her house. She was an amazing girl. She treated me as if we had known each other our whole lives. She would come get me in her car and we would drive around with the heat and the music blasting, but with the sunroof open. We would go drive up the side of the mountain to what she called 'her spot' and then we would sit and talk about our lives and why we were the way we were and all those things. She met a guy at her Institute class at UVSC (I think that is where she met him) and asked him to this dance that was one of those girls choice dances. She set up a 'date' for me too and I think it was with her cousin Matt who I had met a few times before and got along with quite well. Her date (his name was Matthew as well which was a bit odd) ended up being the man of her dreams - or at least close enough - and by the time the summer rolled around again I was leaving just in time to miss her wedding. I was sad to miss it, but I was so glad she found someone she could be happy with. She was an amazing girl with such a great outlook on life and she really deserved to be with such a great guy. I then hadn't heard from her or seen her in a very long time, but in the last year or so I decided to see if she was on facebook (luckily I remembered her email address and her new last name - which for some reason I can't seem to do with Lisa) and of course she was. It was so good to reconnect with her. She is still an amazing person and although she has had many tough times she still has such a great outlook and is always working on improving it.

From these girls I learned that it is good to approach someone you don't know and talk to them, because probably they are just as freaked out as you are. I also learned that inviting people to things is a good idea because you can't get to know someone very well by only seeing them once a week for a few hours. I learned that positivity is good. I learned it is never too late to fix your life - if you think something needs fixing, then work on it and it can be fixed, simple as that. I learned that good people can have crappy things happen to them, but you can still chose to be positive and grow out of those experiences. Even if I never was able to communicate with either of these girls again, both have made such a strong impact on my life in a good way that I will never forget either of them. And I am glad for the internet and for facebook because that means that I can communicate with them again. :D

The End of Times Brings the Beginning of Other Times

2011-01-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

So obviously, finishing High School is an end of an era for most people. It is when you have to face the fact that you are growing up and either take it in stride, or try to hide out in your parent's basement. With me, as I mentioned previously, I took it in stride. Well, I went to University. I worked at a local gas station (in the town that the High School was in) from graduation until I started school in Jan of 2002. And ho boy, was it a change.

I mentioned before that the town I grew up in had only about 250-300 people in it - 261 according to the 2007 census (which I guess technically makes it a village, eh?) The town I went to Jr. High in has a population of about 350. The town I went to High School in has a population of almost 2000 people. The distance between my hometown and my High School town is about 40 km (which is about 23 miles for you American reading this post). I am only re-iterating the above information so that you will understand the full impact of me saying that the University I went to, Brigham Young University in Provo Utah, has about 30,000 undgraduate students alone. Then you add to that the number of Graduate students and teachers and all that and you have a very VERY different setting than what I was used to.

It may seem odd to some of you who know me well, but I had a really hard time making friends at first. Part of the problem was that for the first little while (it was the first year and a half I think) I lived with my Grandparents so I didn't have the benefit of having roommates and an entire apartment complex all around me. My Grandparents live right on the Provo/Orem border, technically in Orem, so my Ward was a Young Single Adult Ward, which meant we had students from BYU and the local college, UVSC, as well as other people who were older and had bought houses in the area and those who still lived with their parents - most of these people were very secure in the friendships they had with others and they didn't think to include the new girl in things. Not that I was intentionally left out, I just didn't know anyone well and I didn't go out of my way to talk to anyone, so they never got the chance. I was definitely very shy for the first little while there. I met kids in my classes at school, but again, I never really went to hang out with them or anything like that. I wasn't used to having to become the kind of friends that hang out together with people that I hadn't known for a really long time. Even the people in High School that were 'newer' to me because they lived further away, I had still kinda known forever from competing in sports and things like that. So believe me when I say that meeting new people and putting myself out there was really hard for me. Mostly because I didn't have the experience and I was totally unsure of myself.

I got lucky and met a few great girls in my first Ward and in my first classes. And then I had a lucky break in meeting one of my best friends ever. I will go into more specifics about those instances later, but for now I just want to say that going to University very quickly helped me see that although I am generally an outgoing person, I definitely have a shy side. Especially when I am unsure of myself and at the time I was completely unsure of everything - I didn't know my way around, I wasn't used to the measurement system, I wasn't used to the weather, I wasn't used to the mountains, I wasn't used to University level classes (having to study turned out to be really crappy) - and all that un-surety made me want to finish school with my head down - not needing to get to know anyone or have a life at all. I would do what I needed and I would be done with it. I am glad that that attitude didn't stick! I met so many great friends in school and I had so many great experiences. Aren't you excited to learn more about them? ;) Come back tomorrow then!

The End of High School/Friends For Life

2011-01-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

As High School came to an end I would have to say I had a lot of friends and a lot of great experiences with those friends, and even some not so great experiences as well (you can't have one without the other). I think that this is the time that I need to mention 2 specific friends that I have had for a long long long long long time. My whole life, in fact (well, one was my whole life and one was his whole life). If you haven't guessed it by now, I am talking about my brothers.

So, I have 2 brothers. My older brother, JR, is a year and a half older than me, and living in a small town like we do we ended up having the same friends and going to the same events and even being in the same classes sometimes in elementary school (they would often combine classes due to a lack of teachers). As I have mentioned, my friends have often had crushes on him which has always irked me - I hate the feeling of being used for that, but of course that is not his fault.

JR is, in a word, charismatic. Everybody likes him. I remember when I first started in High School I would go to a new class with a new teacher and they would read my name off the roll and then they would groan, and tell me they hoped I studied more than he did, but they would also grin and tell me how much they loved him. Teachers would tell me this. It is the same reason that most of my friends had a crush on him. You can't help but like him ... when he wants you to. Of course, he can flip it and reverse it if he wants, and make you hate him with just a look or a word. He has this ability to almost control the feelings of others, if that makes sense. And I love him for it. And I hate him for it. I always hated that people would love him for no reason. I hated that they would love him when really they had every reason NOT to love him. There was one girl in my High School who referred to him as her 'future husband' even though he was almost always mean to her and treated her like crap. But I loved him because I knew (and I still know) how good he can be. How much he can care about other people, especially those he loves, and the (sometimes ridiculous) lengths he will go to to protect those people.

The perfect example is my first day of High School. We had to wait for the bus over at the post office because then on cold days we could go inside and not freeze, but it wasn't out of the way for the bus to get there and it was super close to our house. As we are waiting for it JR says to me "At school, we don't know each other. You don't talk to me. You don't talk about me. We aren't related." I agreed because a) I knew that it was totally ridiculous to think that anyone would not know, and b) I didn't really give a crap and I didn't want to ride on his popularity anyway. But then, at lunch, he comes and grabs me and drags me over to a big group of guys from his grade that are all just milling about and says "This is my sister Mandi, if you hurt her, I will hurt you" in a very threatening way. It was dumb, and probably pointless since I imagine I was not really the object of any of his friend's lusts, but it was also really sweet. When I was in kindergarten there were some grade 2 kids picking on me and even though he was only in grade 1 he stood up for me, because he loved me and didn't want to see me get hurt. And I love that about him. And although he can, and often does, make bad decisions, and he does things I don't like, and gets mad at stupid things because of his temper, and he says things that are mean and he pulls my hair (okay, not so much anymore, but you get the picture) and even though there are times when I just HATE HIM, I always know that I love him.

I hope that all of you reading this now haven't fallen for him because he is currently in a long term relationship with his girlfriend and baby-mama Jessie. They have been together for about 7 or 8 years now and they have a 3 year old boy who is the most adorable little boy on the face of the planet (so far, until I have kids that is lol). She is like a sister to me and I love her a lot as well.

My younger brother, Dallas, is a different story. He is 4 years younger than me, so our interactions in school were kept to a minimum. He was in the same school as me for 2 years in elementary school, and then never again. His friends were never really the same as my friends, but instead they were the younger siblings of my friends. I regret to say that until we moved to the town we stayed in, I don't really have many memories of him. I knew he was there, I guess I just didn't really care (I know, I am so callous). Well, that and he was a baby and I was a self-centered 6 year old, so I think you have to give me a break. A few Christmas' ago I found a picture of me sitting on a tricycle in a pink dress and a crown, with Dallas in front of me, pulling me along with a rope tied to his waist. I asked Mom about it and she said that I was being a princess and he was the horse. She said he liked it. I laughed pretty hard at that one.

But that's the thing, Dallas has always been so sweet to me. While JR always tried to control my decisions, Dallas trusted my judgement and wanted to hear my opinions about things. He never felt like he had to be over-protective (at least not that he ever said to me) and I think that wasn't because he didn't care, but rather because he knew I was smart and would make good decisions about things so that I didn't get hurt (as much as a person can). And I know that if I ever was hurt and needed his help he would be right there for me, (as much as he can since he lives pretty far away) because that is the way he is, but he doesn't assume I need the help. I felt like my relationship with JR was always laid out pretty strictly as he was the 'protector' and I was the 'thing to be protected' and Dallas was more of an actual friend. Someone I could chat with for a long time without worry of judgment and without worrying that what I say is going to upset him into thinking he has to save me.

Once I did realize that my younger brother was more than just a little drooly baby and instead was a fun, interesting person with whom I could interact, and my brain decided to start forming memories of him, they are almost all good memories. I don't remember fighting with him much (although JR claims there was this one time I threw a tape measure at him and hit him square in the back, so I must have been angry, but I don't remember it). I know that he has a bad temper, just like JR, and I know that he has also made some bad choices here and there (because really, who hasn't) but despite those things he is one of the most awesome people I know. He truly cares about others in a way that is so hard to describe but it feels overwhelming. He doesn't have the same natural magnetism of JR, but he is darn close. Honestly, it could be the same and I just didn't notice it as much because of the age difference. I do know that he was always friends with everyone - he could be friends with the popular kids and the underdog and no one could ever peer pressure him into changing his mind about that. He had a tough reputation to live up to when he went to High School. JR was so scrappy and tough and yet lovable and obviously his younger brother was going to be tough too, and then to top it off he was taller and bigger than JR. Add that up and you end up with a lot of people thinking that they need to beat you in a fight. But he held his ground and never punched anyone (although he did punch that one kids truck and put a huge dent in it haha). And to top off the whole package of awesome, he always smelled so good (which might be why I love guys that smell good, because they remind me of the awesomeness of my bro).

Dallas is currently working a good job and living with his girlfriend of a couple years, Suzie, who is amazing. Although I have only really got to meet her and interact with her a couple of times due to me living so far away, I still feel like I have known her forever and I could tell her all my secrets. And I love that. And I love how much I can tell that they love each other.

I want to end this post by saying that I am lucky to have had some great built-in friends for my whole life. I have learned so much from them. Not just from stuff they have told me, but also from the way they interact with me and the way they interact with others. I have also learned from their mistakes. I have learned a lot about how men think and how they act. I learned that I am lovable and worth protecting. I learned that I am a good judge of character and I can make good decisions. I have learned that a short fuse isn't good, and drinking just shortens it. I learned that out of adversity and out of hurt, we can be changed for the better. I learned how to be likable to anyone (at least, I tried to pick up that skill, but I often think with them it is more of a natural talent). I have a different type of relationship with each of them - neither is better than the other, but rather, they are just different. And I am okay with that, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Confessions

2011-01-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

Well followers, and anyone else out there on the world wide web who stumbled upon this little blog here, I have a confession. It is late. And I am tired. And the next post I have planned is going to be long and kinda intense, so I am going to skip it for tonight and write it tomorrow. I hope it is worth the wait. If it makes you feel any better, I am tired because I stayed up too late with my friends. :D

Maryn

2011-01-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Those were most of my close friends from Jr. High School. Again, I need to mention that we went to a small school, so everyone was 'friends' in a sense of the word, but not always the kind that hung out together. We would spend time together as needed on projects and we would all interact in class since we were so small.

Also, we had what we called 'Grade 9 Grad'. Since our Jr. High was in one town and then we all went to the next town over to go to High School, it was definitely a graduation. It was always a big deal to pick out our theme and decorate (the grade below always decorated for the graduating class which was fun) and to pick out our dresses and all those fun things.

I have mentioned Maryn a few times before in this blog, because she was another girl that I knew from church, but at the point where Jr. High ended I didn't know her SUPER well since I didn't go to church that much - but I still knew her from camp and stuff like that so we weren't totally unknown to each other. A bunch of the kids from the town where we would eventually go to High School were invited to our grade 9 grad celebration, and I remember that Maryn came with her boyfriend at the time, J. Now, this boy was quite ticklish and he was very fun to poke and I pretty much spent the night torturing the heck out of him. Later I found out that Maryn thought I was flirting with her boyfriend, much to my surprise. That's how you flirt? Wow. My obvious lack of interaction with boys who wasn't a brother or a friend of a brother was obvious.

Luckily, Maryn forgave me for the incident and we got to be good friends. We were more of 'acquaintances' (as much as you can be in a place that small) for the most part until the end of grade 10, when we were both on the rugby team together. All of my best friends - Renee, Lissa, Mel, etc - didn't play rugby, so I had to make some 'new' friends. I have never really been the kind of person who is a good runner, but I have always been pretty tough (growing up with my older brother kinda makes that happen, whether you like it or not) and I thought it was fun to be able to hit people without getting in trouble (maybe I had some aggression issues I had to get out? hmmm ...). Maryn played though, and that was awesome. We bonded a lot as team members when we would go to away games and during tournaments and stuff like that.

By the time graduation from High School began to roll around, I hadn't really thought about where I would go to school or what I was going to do afterwards. Maryn and I talked about it and she told me she was applying to church schools, and we decided it would be really fun to go to BYU together - so I applied to the church schools as well, but of course I am a procrastinator so my applications were submitted late. Maryn got a response first from BYU, and unfortunately she didn't get in, but she got in to BYU-Idaho. I got my letter from the Y-I first, and I was rejected. I was so sad - if I couldn't even get into the Y-I (which had just recently made the transition to a 4 year university) then I was never going to get into BYU Provo either. What was I thinking only applying to those schools and nothing else? Crap! I was pretty much panicking. But then, I got my letter from BYU Provo and to my surprise, I was accepted (but because of my late application I wasn't accepted until the winter semester)! Woo! I could go to college! I was sad I couldn't go with Maryn, but at least I had somewhere to go. And if she and I hadn't applied 'together' then I never would have applied at all and who knows where I would be now? Thanks Maryn!

Later on she moved to Provo so she could attend UVSC and work and just experience something new. We hung out quite a bit and it was always a blast - she is so much fun! While in Provo she met her husband and got married and all that fun stuff. They now have 2 kids and are happily supporting each other while her husband finishes school (at least, that's the impression I got from her Dad, who I saw at Christmas - he was very sad she couldn't be there). It is interesting to me because I know that Maryn had her period of time where she wasn't the best member of the church, just like I did, but she managed to grow and learn from those experiences and become the amazing person that she is now because of it. She taught me that people can change, and will change, and that we can definitely learn from our mistakes. She taught me to be forgiving of other people's mistakes as well, because just like I changed and became better, other people can too, and they deserve the chance to prove that.

Ashlee

2011-01-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

The year below me in Jr. High was a girl named Ashlee. Now, I am not exactly sure what caused us to start hanging out, but we did hang out a lot. I think it might have started in volleyball - our school had an 'A' team that had all the really awesome players and then a 'B' team that had everyone else. I was on the 'B' team, but I was part of the starting group (as if that makes up for it). It didn't matter really, all my friends were on the 'B' team and we still had fun playing. There were other school's that had 'B' teams, and then there were some schools that just had one team, but they were in the 'B' league I guess ... anyway, we always did well in our tournaments and things so I never felt like we were the sucky ones. But I think that is mostly why she and I started hanging out, and then we just sorta, stuck. She and Lissa and Renee and I would hang out together.

I spent a lot of my time writing stories with us as the main characters. None of these stories were anything like real life - in them we had boyfriends (in real life there weren't any boys to be our boyfriends since we had a severe lack of boys in the school, and the ones that were there tended to be more interested in the 'A' team), and crazy things would happen in these stories like vampires would exist, or there would be witches and curses or one of us would be evil, but which one was it? *dun dun dun* It was good times. Ashlee and Renee also wrote stories in a similar fashion (I don't recall if Lissa did, but she read and added input to all of ours) but I maintain that I started the trend (if I am wrong I really don't want to be corrected on this if any of you are reading this).

We did a lot of fun things together. Unfortunately, I am not sure that any of the stories I wrote exist anymore - our computer at the time was more of a word processor with a screen and it had a big old floppy disk drive, so saving things to a newer format was a bit difficult. Also, I had them all printed off and in a binder at one point, but I gave them to a friend in High School to read them and I never got them back from her. That was pretty sad, but I think I will get over it (in fact, I probably don't want to read anything I wrote back then - it would probably be really discouraging to see how crappy I was haha). I think maybe some of Ashlee's survived though, or maybe even some of Renee's and I would be interested in reading those if ever they were dug up *hint hint guys*

From Ashlee I learned that we are all given gifts and talents (such as writing) and not to be embarrassed about sharing those gifts with other people. It has always been hard for me to share anything I wrote with other people, in fear that they would judge me or tell me it is crappy, (and yet here I am, writing a blog post for anyone who wants to read and I am not even going to edit it!) but Ashlee was never scared to share her stories and she always encouraged me to share mine. I learned that the same characters, and even the same plot-line in some cases, in the hands of different people can become different. I learned that everyone has a different story to tell. I learned that creativity should always be expressed (well, maybe not ALWAYS, but you get my drift right?)

Forget Me Some ...

2011-01-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

So it is funny to me when I look back at things from when I was younger and I realize something was way more important at the time than I ever remember it being. And I am sad to say that over time there are people that I think were really important to me during certain periods of time that I have come to forget. Not the person specifically, but rather, the importance of the friendship. There are a couple people who were in this category that I am going to talk about today - I was reminded when I was home for the holidays and looking through some old papers and notebooks and stuff (yeah, the ones I didn't clean out, but just looked at and put back).

One of these girls is named Shauna. She was also a member of our church, and she and I were pretty good friends in Jr. High because of that. She was a year older than me, but she lived in the town where we had our Jr. High. We became really close for a while and would talk on the phone every night and all that fun stuff. I stayed at her house a few times and that was always fun too. I think her parents split up around the time that she was going off to High School and we didn't see much of each other after that. She had a crush on my brother for a while there and that really kinda hurt my feelings because I think I thought that she only wanted to be my friend so she could get close to him. Looking back she never really gave that impression when I would spend time with her, but I guess the teenage mind makes whatever assumptions it wants. I hadn't seen her or talked to her in forever but I found her on facebook in the last couple years (I love fb for that reason) and I can report that she is now married with four kids (I think) and looks ridiculously happy.

The other friend who I forgot the importance of at the time is Arren. I met her in Jr. High as well and again there were several times I would go stay at her house and we would talk on the phone often. But more than talk on the phone, Arren was a note writer. What I mean is, she would be home at night, bored or just thinking about things or whatever, and instead of call me and talk about it she would usually write a note about it. I always thought it was odd, but looking back I totally get it. For me, when I am all full of emotions about something, it helps to write it all out - she was probably the same way. Also, it takes more time than a phone call might so if you are bored and trying to kill time it is way better for that. The thing that I like most about them now is that since I am such a pack-rat I still have a lot of them and they are in that aforementioned drawer at my parents' house. I read a bunch of them when I was home and I remembered how much I loved that girl. She would randomly write me notes just to tell me how much she thought I was awesome - if I had any confidence growing up it was in large part to her. She was another one of those people that had a crush on my brother. She and I grew apart after grade 10 and for a while I thought it was because she 'got over him'. But really, that was dumb, and I have all those 'you are awesome' notes from her to prove it! And when I say we 'grew apart' all I mean is that our friendship ebbed in the way that friendships tend to do. But as far as I know she is now married and has a few kids (although the last time I saw her in person was when her first was first born and that was quite a while ago!). She is part of the non-fb crowd so I am not as up with her as I could be, but she still spends time with some of the other girls that I am friends with on fb and so I see pics once in a while and she is looking great.

From these girls I learned that just because someone has a crush on my brother, doesn't mean they are using me to get closer to him. I learned that positive reinforcement is good. I learned (a long time ago, and then again recently in re-reading some notes) that I am a good listener and I am good at being there for others. I learned that keeping stuff from the past isn't always a bad thing and it can remind you of good things that you completely forgot about.

Renee

2011-01-08T01:13:00.000-07:00

So when I went to Jr. High - which we went to the next town over because our town only had a k-6 school - I met 'a lot' of new people. Now my class size was like 17 instead of just 8. Woot.

My friend Renee is one of the first people I want to talk about. I knew her before from small things here and there. She went to my church, but since I didn't really go, I didn't know her all too well. I am LDS and in my religion children get baptized when they are 8 years old, which I did because my Mom's parents are strong members and were very emphatic about my brothers and I all getting baptized at 8, but we never really went to church because my Dad isn't a member and my Mom was always working or something and it just wasn't a priority for us. Renee's family on the other hand were very good members. She went every Sunday and to young Women's every week and all that stuff (Young Women's is a night when all the Young Women get together for a spiritual lesson and/or activity - I think at one point they called it Mutual because the boys go too, we just had a severe lack of boys). Renee decided I should be going to things like this and so she became very persistent in inviting me to things. All through Jr. High and High School she invited me to camp, activities, church - anything. She became very adamant. Eventually it got to the point where I felt like I couldn't say no. I would try to come up with some excuse "Oh I can't drive" and she would have a reply "come to my house after school and then someone can pick you up, or we can take you home". After finding out she had cats I would say "oh, you have cats, I can't go to your house" her reply would be "sure you can - that's what claritin is for!" And of course I was too nice to just say "No I don't want to" so I would go. It started off that I would just go to Young Women's activities and camp in the summer because those were social activities and it was way easier to drag me to those. And of course once we were old enough to go to Stake dances those were easy to drag me to since there were no cute boys in our school but there were tons of people we didn't know at the dances. It took a long time for me to start going to actual church though. Renee set up a ride for me with some other members that lived in our small town and I started going. After that it was kind of a whirlwind - I didn't really have clothes so an older member who lived in town and didn't have kids bought me a skirt and some nicer tops I could wear. I started going every week. Next thing you know the Bishop came to my house and called me to be Laurel President.

Now for those who aren't members I will do a bit of explaining. In our church they group all the young women from 12-18 together. Those ages are then broken into smaller groups by age - BeeHives, who are 12-14, Mia Maids who are 14-16, and Laurels, who are 16-18. They have adult leaders to guide the girls but then they also call some of the young women to have their own presidency, so that they can have experience with leadership, and also so they can help plan activities that will be beneficial and fun for them and the rest of the girls. It was a bit of a shock to me to be called as Laurel president when I had only been active for what seemed like a month (it might have been longer but I can't be sure). After that I was converted. I don't really have one thing in specific that I can say made me believe in the church, I think I knew it was true all along, but I just didn't have the background or the resolve. After that I applied to only church schools, went to BYU in Utah and my life has never been the same.

Now, I am not saying that Renee was the only one who did anything in this regard. My friend Lissa was also a member and she helped, and my friend Maryn from High School (who I will talk about later) also helped out a lot. But Renee was the most persistent and so I do credit a lot of my conversion to her. It is funny because all growing up she was dragging me along to try to make me do what was right and be a good little member and now she doesn't go to Church anymore and I am the active one. It is strange to me how people change.

We had a lot of fun together. We would play this game called 'Rooms' in their downstairs hallway that was so much fun. We drank Barq's rootbeer and had whip cream straight from the can and giggled like maniacs (Lissa was there too). We even put whip cream in her younger sister's hand while she was sleeping and tickled her face, just like in the movies and tv shows. It worked the way it was supposed to - her sister got whip cream all over her face. And then she cried because it freaked her out (sorry Amanda - turns out it wasn't as funny as all those shows made it seem :-/). I also feel like maybe Renee was one of the people I didn't always treat as good as I should have. She is a very quirky girl, and that plus her religious strength often made her a target for teasing and I think there were times when I might have joined in, and if not that, I know for sure that I didn't stick up for her the way I should have. I am sorry Renee for giving in to peer pressure - thanks for not giving up on me in spite of that.

I also saw Renee when I was home for Christmas this year. She just got married this last summer, but I wasn't able to attend the wedding so this was my first time meeting her husband. They are so good together - they are very happy and in love and it was great to see that. From her I learned that being different is not always bad, in fact it is really good. I learned that persistence is good. I learned the hard way that sometimes you need to stand up for your friends in the face of peer pressure.

The Rest of the Town

2011-01-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

So, my other friends that I acquired in elementary school are all going to go in this one post because if I did each person I know separately this would have to be nablopo-everydayforthenextseveralyears.

There was Joe and Jay - they were the boys of my class. Joe ended up going to a different school for Jr High and High School because he lived just far enough the other direction and because his parents liked that school better (and it very well might have been). Joe was my biggest rival in Elementary - he and I always fought for the best grades in the class, so I was totally okay with him going elsewhere (then I met Lisa and Chels and they were worse lol). Jay lived across the street from us until his parents split up and then he moved to the town where we went to High School. His family had 4 boys and so my brothers really liked hanging out with them. One time his Mom was supposed to bring us home from some sort of activity or function at the school and she forgot me because she wasn't used to girls. Good thing we lived close to the school.

There was Michelle and Delaine. I once stayed the night at Delaine's house and drew a picture of her (which I am sure was pretty darn crappy but her Mom exclaimed over it like it was the most beautiful thing she'd seen which was nice of her). Michelle always had epic birthday parties at her house where everyone would come and we would go crazy.

Stacey and Jodie. We had this thing called 'The Comedy Club' for a while in Elementary school. Everyone who was in it got these little green beaded rings that Stacey made (or maybe it was Jodie). I was kicked out of the comedy club because we had put together a little play and the girls were all trying to sell tickets to the other kids and I thought it was stupid since we couldn't stop them from watching us so what was the point of selling tickets. I kept my ring out of spite. I might still have it in my room at my parents house. These girls were pretty much the founders of the Comedy Club (at least, as far as I remember).

Jen and Kelsey were sisters. One older than me and one younger. During recess we would act out movies and tv shows that we had seen. Well, at least Jen had seen them. She was always the director. She would tell each person what role they were going to be and then feed them their lines as we went through the scene. It was fun. I was almost always the male lead because of my short hair. I am pretty sure this is what made me want to be an actress. When we were acting out some soap opera (I don't recall which one) Jen's character was burying Mel's character alive and I started fake crying because I was in the moment. The girls were all very impressed with my acting skills. As for Kelsey, she was a super fun spazzy girl. She and I taped our own 'radio show' a few times and mostly we just recorded ourselves eating pickles and burping and telling dumb jokes. But it was fun.

Lexi and Shara were in the same grade and Kelsey and were younger than me. I never knew them very well. Lexi's Mom was a hair stylist and she always had the coolest hair. I remember when she came to school with shapes crimped into her hair - stars and hearts - I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Shara seemed pretty snobby to me when we were younger, but was actually super funny. I don't know why she came across snobby to me - I guess because I thought her and Lexi were cool and I assumed they thought the same and I didn't really get much of a chance to prove them wrong since they were younger than me and both lived on farms.

There were also Corey and Kyle who were in my older brother's class. They had the same last name but were only cousins. they just seemed like quiet guys to me and I didn't know much about them. Corey went to a different school like Joe did, but Kyle came along with us. He was a really nice guy whenever I talked to him, which wasn't super often.

That was the crew that I grew up with since Elementary School. In general they taught me the value of lasting friendships. I keep up with most of them via facebook even now and I still get excited when someone gets married or had a kid or buys a house. Naturally, the next step was Jr. High and there was a whole new set of people to get to know and add to the mix. I will start with some of those kids tomorrow.

Lissa

2011-01-06T01:25:00.000-07:00

So, Lissa and I met on the first day of school - at least I think. Like I said before, I don't really remember that first day, but I know that I had to have met everyone at the school that day because it was so small and we were the new kids. Lissa was in my grade and lived on a farm. She was really quiet, but super fun once you got passed the quiet part. I thought she had lived there her whole life, but it took until Jr. High for me to figure out that she had been new the week before me and she only knew everyone by the time I got there because the school was so darn small. She had a couple cousins in the school, but no one that she knew super well.

Lissa is the friend that no matter where we were or what was going on, she and I were the best of friends. With Mel, since she was in the grade above me, we would go a long time without seeing each other much, but since Lissa was in my grade we never had those times we didn't hang out (except maybe in the summer - but even then we still did stuff, just not quite as often). With Mel, she and I were more of 'after school friends' but Lissa and I were always friends. Like I mentioned before, we had 8 kids in my elementary school class. 2 were boys and so I always lump them together in my head. As for the girls, they all go in groups of 2 in my head as well, it was Delaine and Michelle, Stacey and Jodie, and then Lissa and I. And I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who lumps us all up like that. I stayed close to this girl all through elementary, then through Jr. High and High School as well.

I went to my first concert with her (it was 'NSYNC and it was awesome!), and my second concert as well (The Moffatts) plus many others, not to mention tons of dances and parties (we would drive together since we were coming from the same direction). She went to my church as well, so when I did go to stuff (which I didn't really do growing up, but I will get to that later) she was there too - like camp and church dances and other activities. We had tons of sleepovers and talked on the phone all the time and did all sorts of girly stuff like that.

With most of my friends on this list so far (which I admit isn't very big so far) I have talked about a specific instance with them, but with Lissa it is so hard because there were so many instances. This is the girl who convinced her dad to drive us to both the above mentioned concerts and wait outside for us. The girl who, the year I couldn't go to girls camp, took a picture of me along and held it up for every picture they took so that later they could show me how I was 'there'. The girl who stayed up almost all night on the bus to Vancouver with because we were both so excited for our school trip that we couldn't sleep. The girl who helped me stay awake the next day even though I was dead tired! The girl who I had a 'band' with and together we designed a logo and a CD case and everything (except we didn't have songs - we didn't even play instruments!) and then we put those designs on shirts and wore them on Halloween. One of the few friends I was close with growing up that didn't have a crush on my brother at some point (there are only 2 or 3 girls I can say that about). I never felt judged or looked down upon by her no matter what I did - and I did a lot of things that I knew I shouldn't and that she knew I shouldn't.

She is now currently married to a man who is good for her, and good to her (from what I can tell - I have only met him a few times). She has 2 kids, one daughter who is almost 3 who looks just like Lissa did when she was younger, and a son who is only a few months old but is already quite sweet and charming. From her I learned that it is okay to express myself creatively, and that I actually can have good ideas sometimes. I learned that quiet isn't always bad. And neither is blond (haha). I learned that I can be a good member of my faith and still be fun.

A final note - I realize now that I should be including pics with these, but I don't really have any from when I was little (digital wasn't really invented back then, and if it was it was WAY to rich for our blood) with me here seeing as they are mostly at my parents house. I will see what I can do about posting some in the future (and maybe adding to some of these) but I am making no promises.

Mel

2011-01-05T01:37:00.001-07:00

*I know that technically this post says it was posted on the 5th, but I haven't gone to bed yet, so to me it is still the 4th, so I am counting it. So there. *

As soon as the moving truck was unpacked in our new small town, JR and I grabbed our bikes and went to ride them around and explore. We had seen some kids riding around earlier and were just itching to go and meet them. All around town there were big drainage ditches on the sides of the roads, especially the more 'main road' into town. Right down from our house (this is a pretty familiar phrase for me since living in a small town makes everything 'right down' from us, but in this case, I mean on the same block) one of these ditches was the perfect shape and size for a little bike jump, which some kid had discovered long before (I imagine) and now there was even a little path right where you were supposed to go. If you went at the jump from one side, the jump ended up being kinda small, but if you went at it from the other side it was a pretty big jump. The main road into town was one of the few paved roads, but right after the bike jump area and right before it gets to our house is where the paving stops and it becomes gravel, so some of the rocks from the gravel migrated right up onto the pavement, making things a bit slick.

We met the kids we had seen earlier they were a boy and girl who lived down a couple streets or across town (they were the same thing) and also some other boys who lived across the street from us in a different direction. After riding all over town and them showing us their houses and the houses of other important figures (read: kids our age and scary people to stay away from) we came back to the bike jump and were all taking turns. I am not sure exactly how it had happened but my brother was teasing/flirting with the girl we were playing with and he rode close to her bike tire, she swerved to get out of the way and crashed her bike, right there, face first on the half gravel paved road. She cried and when she stood her face practically looked like hamburger. I ran home and got my Mom and she came in the car and got my new friend Mel. We needed to get her and her bike home. Instead of taking the time to put her bike in the back of the station wagon my Mom was driving, I thought it was a brilliant idea if I rode Mel's bike to her house and lead the way for my Mom in the car since I already knew where she lived. Anyway, Mom made it there ahead of me since Mel just told her the way and eventually she got all taken care of.

From then on we were really good friends. Obviously we had better times and worse times. Her parents split up and her Mom moved to a big city pretty far away and I got to go stay with them for a couple weeks one summer, which was super fun. Then once she went to Jr. High we drifted a little since she was a year older and went to a different school than I did. Then we were back together again for a couple years and then we drifted even further apart when she went to High School because she moved to the town where the High School was with her Mom (who moved again - this is not the big city I referred to earlier). I am not saying we weren't friends, but sometimes friendships just ebb and flow, and this was like all those.

I am happy to say though that we are still friends to this day. She is married to a great guy who is perfect for her and she has three daughters, twins who are around 4 and the other who is only 3 months. I recently saw her when I was home for Christmas and it was amazing. It was amazing to me that although we haven't seen each other since before her twins were born, we were able to get together and talk and just click like we always had. The hours we spent hanging out felt like less than half the time we actually spent because we were so comfortable. And I think that because of the bond we have from knowing each other so long, that will always be the case. I can remember us fighting once. I am not exactly sure what it was about (I have a feeling it was because I was being annoying and the other girls all didn't want to hang out with me and I felt left out and I was blaming her for that for some reason ... but I am not totally sure) and I know that eventually her Mom and my Mom had to force us to make up. And we were probably around 8 or 9 years old. And other than that I don't really remember fighting with her. Ever. And considering we have known each other for 22 year that is pretty darn good in my opinion. From Mel I learned that within one person is any number of different versions trying to get out, and depending on the circumstance or the situation, that is totally okay. I learned that you don't have to talk to someone every single day to consider someone a friend. I learned that even as a person changes over time, they are still always worth loving.

Small-Town Friends

2011-01-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

So, when I was 5 my family moved to a new town again - this was probably the fourth move since I was born (that I know of, there might have been more) and it also happens to be the one that stuck. We moved to one of the smallest towns you can imagine, with only about 250-300 people for the total population, and that includes the outlying farms. I was excited about the house we were going to live in because I was finally going to get my own room - up until this point I had been sharing with my older brother but my younger brother was going to share with him now and I got my own. When we first saw the house the previous owners were either still living there or they just hadn't moved all their stuff yet. I remember Mom saying "honey, do you want this room?" I looked inside and it was filled with old people furniture - like an old rocking chair and and china cabinet and those kinds of things - and for some reason I thought those things were staying there as well, so I said no. Young minds are very strange to me.

Anyway, on the first day of school we were still living in our old house in our old town, and I somehow got it in my head that I was going to go with Dad and he would drop us off at school on the way to work and then pick us up on the way home. I am not sure if this was ever the actual plan according to Mom and Dad, but it was MY plan. Of course I got up that day and I think Dad was already gone .. or just leaving or something. Somehow, I was told that I wouldn't be going until we were finished moving. I was pretty bummed, but I managed to survive.

We finally did move the next weekend after that and I had missed an entire week of school *gasp*. I had carefully picked out this outfit that I thought was amazing - it was a sweater dress and it was black and white with pink on it. Amazingly, I don't really remember the first day of school there. I do remember finding out that most of the other kids were related or that their parents had grown up there and so I thought they all knew each other and had forever. I found out later that one girl, Lissa, who ended up being one of my best friends had just started at the same school just the previous week (when school started and I didn't come with Dad) and although she was kinda distant cousins with some of the other kids she didn't really know them either.

The school was small so we all got to know each other fast. My class had 8 students in it - 6 boys and 2 girls. And we were the BIG class. My brother's class, which was a year ahead of me, had 5 kids in it - 3 boys and 2 girls. The class below us had only 3 students - all girls (of course, since I was in Grade 1 at the time they weren't really there yet since they were in kindergarten all the way down in the lunchroom and only part of the time). Of the kids in my class three of us lived in town - me, one other girl and one of the boys. Of my brother's grade three also lived in town - my brother, and two girls. The grade below us had one girl who lived in town. One of the girls from my brother's class and the one from the class below me who lived in town were siblings and they lived right next door to the other girl from my class who lived in town which was a couple blocks away from us. The boy from my class lived right across the street from us (well, he was across the street and across a big field as well) and the last girl who lived in town lived much closer to the school than the rest of us (yet it was still only about 4 blocks from us).

That didn't leave a lot of options for friends. You pretty much all had to be friends with everyone. And you had to be the kind of friends that hang out with the town kids, even if you preferred hanging out with the farm kids at school, because getting permission to go to a friend's farm after school either meant you had to be driven back or someone had to come get you.

This was a good time for me. I was probably pretty obnoxious, as I think I mentioned before, but everyone still put up with me for the most part. I had a few instances of disagreements with the other kids, but we always made up and things turned out okay. I learned how to get along with people I didn't always see eye-to-eye on which is a good skill to have now. I learned that sometimes kids, and people in general, can be mean, but that doesn't mean they are evil. I learned to forgive, even if my Mom had to force me.

Come back tomorrow to learn about the first friend I had in this small town and how we met and how our relationship developed and changed over time (heh - I feel like I am advertising for a TV show).

First Friends

2011-01-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

So, I am going to talk about 2 people in this post, one a little more than the other.

To start I want to mention that we moved around a lot for the first 5 years of my life because of my Dad's job (for those of you who are curious, no, my Dad was not in the army). I don't remember all of them, but I remember a couple of the people we met.

The first friend I remember having was named Ryan. I think this was mostly a friendship of convenience for our mothers because, from what I can recall, we lived across the street from one another (although I could be wrong here, I was only like 3 or 4 at the time). All I really remember is that for his birthday we got to play on a slip'n'slide. Also, he had this kit that had balloons in it you could blow up and then a bunch of different parts you could attach - like the balloon version of Mr. Potato Head. And for some reason I also always associate the song 'Crocodile Rock' by Elton John with this friend of ours as well, although I don't know why.

The second friend I ever remember having is named Laura. This was also a convenience for the parents friendship I think, since we definitely lived across the street from her. But it was also convenient that she had an older brother who was the same age as my older brother and we could all go over and no one would be bored or left out and my bro wouldn't have to play with icky girls. I remember we used to do everything together. I remember getting a hula-hoop for my birthday and then she broke it (I always said she did it on purpose, but probably she just was using it and it broke and I blamed her).

Laura and I were in kindergarten together and I remember one time we were painting. They made us bring shirts to wear over our clothes while we painted in case of splatters, so she and I were both wearing these shirts that used to belong to our fathers that on us looked more like dresses than shirts. Somehow we started splattering each other and then realized that it would be way more fun to paint on each other than to paint on the paper. So there we sat, painting on each other's shirts, having the time of our lives. But we had to use a lot of paint to really make the colours show up on each other. Well, after painting time was over and we took those shirts off we found out that the paint had soaked through to our regular clothes as well. I don't really remember getting in trouble for that, although we must have, but I remember how much fun it was.

We moved away from that town when I was just starting grade one, and I never talked to Laura for a long time. There were a couple times over the years where we would write each other a letter or go visit each others house or something, but it wasn't really the same. I went to her High School graduation and party and by that time we were so different it was really no fun for me. I didn't know any of the other kids and she wanted to just go have her last hurrahs with her graduating class so it was kinda a bust for me - but I don't blame her for me not having fun and we still keep up with each other. We are now friends on facebook and I was invited to her wedding. She is now married and has little twin girls who look really sweet. I am glad she was one of my first friends and from her I learned a lot about how to have fun and interact with others.

Friends: A Definition ... Kinda

2011-01-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

I started by googling 'friend definition' just because I was curious as to the what the actual official definition would be. According to 'the free dicitonary' is it 1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts; 2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance; 3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade; 4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement; 5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.

I know, this is starting off sounding like some kind of high school paper or church talk, but I only include that definition because I want to emphasize that the word 'friend' can have a lot of definitions and a lot of different intensities.

I have a known a lot of people in my life, and by the above set of definitions, I would call most of them friends. According to facebook I have 532 friends. Obviously those aren't all people that I see and spend time with on a day to day basis or anything like that, but they are all people that I have met and felt some sort of affiliation with at some point or another. I always hear about people culling their friends list down, but I don't do that because ... well mostly I am too lazy. Haha. But also because I feel like I added them all for one reason or another and removing them just seems silly.

But, way back in the days before facebook, when I was growing up (I know - it seems like forever ago to me too) I still had friends. A lot. In fact, some that I almost forget about now because it was like a different world. I was recently home for Christmas and I was going through a bunch of old papers and stuff that I have in a drawer somewhere (and I promise Mom, someday I will go through and get rid of stuff, not just look at it and then put it all back) and it reminded me of friendships that I had completely forgotten about, and friendships that were more important at the time than I remember. And it got me to thinking about how friendships seem to wax and wane like the moon, and how that is okay. Every person I have been friends with in my life have served some sort of purpose - all have helped me grow and learn in some way.

I am glad of this. There are times I wonder how I have any friends at all. And then I remember that it is because of who I am, and I am who I am partly because of the people who are in my life and the experiences I have had with them. I think back to when I was in elementary school and I remember how obnoxious I was and I am very thankful that I lived in a small town where there weren't many other people so the kids were friends with me whether or not they liked me - either because they were forced to by their parents, or because they felt bad for me, or because they knew that if they didn't hang out with me they themselves would be bored - whatever the reason I am glad they did it and I was shaped a lot by those early friendships.

Over the next month I am going to go through and talk about different friends I have had over the years who have influenced me in my life, either when I was young or as I got older, and how those friends have changed me for the better. And they have all changed me for the better and I hope, however minutely, I have done the same for them.

*Disclaimer: The following posts are all going to be pretty personal, but I will only be using people's first names for protection of the innocent ... or maybe just so that you can't go look them all up and stalk them. Either way. Also, any events that are related are purely how I remember things and from my own point of view so if you think I got it wrong you can state your opinion and then just suck it up - this is my blog, I will post the truth according to me :D

Maybe I'm Stupid ...

2010-12-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

But I just signed up for NaBloPoMo for January. Basically I need to post a blog entry every day for the month of January. It might be stupid but the theme is friends and I think it will be interesting. I plan to write about a different kind of friend or about a friend in specific every day for the 31 days. I will prob start tomorrow with a better description of what I am going to do specifically and what I think of friendship in general. It will be fun :D Check back every day in January for updates and to learn more about my views on friends and my friends.

My New Car (Again)!

2010-12-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

So, I got a new car. It is a 2009 Pontiac G6 GT and I love it! It drives really nice and has all sorts of fun features like an auto-dimming mirror and an auxiliary jack on the stereo and stuff like that and I got it for a pretty decent price. I am glad to be done with the rental as well so I no longer have to worry about returning it and all that stuff. Here are some pics:

Other than that I have been trying to make sure to take care of everything with the car and insurance stuff before I leave for the holidays. That hasn't been too bad - there are just a lot of things to remember. For one the insurance people are giving me some $ to make up for the 'inconvenience' of my finger being all bi-jiggity for however long, so that is nice. I have a few other things I need to make sure to do as well like figure out who the new lien-holder is (I forget the bank name) so that I can tell me insurance company.

I am also trying to figure out what to get all my family and friends and stuff for Christmas. I have a few people's things figured out, but not everyone. My brother's are ridiculously hard to buy stuff for because they are adults and they tend to just buy whatever they want, unless it is really expensive in which case I can't afford it! Oh well, I am sure I will figure stuff out, it will just take a bit of thinking and asking around.

Also, last night I went to Wal-Mart over in Cornelius because I like Wal-Mart and it is pretty new. I guess I didn't stop coming out of the parking lot and I got pulled over. Ugh. The cop was super nice and didn't give me a ticket, but I still felt dumb. It thought I stopped but I was trying to figure out where to go at the light coming up and I guess I just didn't. Also, he was super cute! Thanks hot cop for giving me a bit of a break! And of course I get pulled over when I don't have registration or even an official insurance card :-/ That was fun. He was nice though. He said "Oh you got it at Dick Hannah? How was that?" and I said "pretty good, they were nice" and he said "yeah I went with a friend to get a car there about 6 months ago and they were great".

Anyway, other than that, that is about all I have been up to lately. Not super exciting. I sang at a Relief Society thing on Thursday night. It was a bit shorter notice than I would like, and I know that if I had had more time to practice it would have went better, but it was still okay so I am not too embarrassed to see those people again ;) And now I just need to finish out this week and I am leaving to go home for the holidays on Friday. I am super excited to see my parents and brothers and their girlfriends and nephew (mostly my nephew) and I am way excited to not have anything to do for a week and a half! No work! Yay for the holidays!

Saturday (Where Mark Saves the Day - SEVERAL Times)

2010-11-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

So we had this Relief Society meeting after church planned for Sunday so we could do a little extra training for all the girls who have callings in the RS. On Sat I was supposed to go to Costco with one of the councilors so we could get some little sandwiches and stuff (we have church from 2-5 so by the end we are all a little hungry). Anyway, I text the girl I was supposed to go with around 3:30 to see if we are still on. She calls me at 4:30 and is like "I kinda forgot and I am in NE Portland - but I can be at your house by 5:30." Well I really didn't think that with Costco closing at 6 on Saturdays we would have time so I told her I had another person who I thought would take me and not to worry. So I ask my friend Mark if he is busy and he says no and I ask if he would go with me and he says sure. (Mark saves the day #1).

By then it is about 5 so we decide to just meet at the Costco over on 158th in Beaverton. We get there and get the stuff and as we are over in the deli area he sees the Rotisserie chickens and suggests that we got one and call Jasmine and do dinner. I agree, we get a hold of Jasmine and decide to go ahead with things - Jasmine has gotten off work and will meet us at Mark's place. We then look around for potato salad and can't find any (I don't go to Costco often and he really doesn't either) so we call Jasmine and see if she can pick some up at a different store. She is a bit annoyed because she will have to backtrack a bit, but says okay. We pay and leave. I take forever to get out of the parking lot and so Mark is ahead of me by quite a bit. I am driving north on 158th and there is a guy who is headed south on 158th, turning left onto Walker road. I have a green light and he has a yellow flasher and I guess for some reason he doesn't see me or he thinks I am turning or something and decides he has enough time to go - but he does not. I see it coming and try to swerve and I hit the brakes and he cuts the corner more than he normally would, but neither thing really helps at all and I pretty much t-bone the crap out of him. He then continues on and side-swipes a van that is waiting at the light on Walker. My airbag deploys and there is smoke/crappy stuff everywhere. I am all discombobulated and in the middle of the intersection and I can't breathe so I turn on my flashers (I am so responsible) and get out of the car. A couple in a van pull over and ask if I need them to call 911 but it looks like the guy who was driving the other vehicle (a Honda Fit) is on the phone with the police already so I say I think we are okay and tell them thanks. I kinda get my bearings and start to think that 'oh my gosh - did I just run a red and hit that guy?' and I don't think that's what happened but I go over to the Fit and ask if they are okay. The guys says that one of the kids seems pretty hurt and I think he hit a pedestrian or something and I realize that no one can go anywhere because I am in the middle of the freaking road. I go back to my car (which was still running by the way - albeit leaking fluid all over the place). I get in, roll the window down (still can't breathe from the airbag) and then pull the thing off to the side of the road. It has a hard time turning but I am thinking it was because the fender is rubbing against the tire. Anyway, I get out and go back over to the guy on the phone and I hear him say that he had 2 15 year-old passengers with him and think "oh good, he didn't hit pedestrians". They seem okay - one has a bloody nose and the other is complaining about his hip but he didn't look broken or anything so I decide I should call Mark and let him know what happened so he isn't shocked when I don't get to his place. I call him and say "I got in a bit of a wreck". At this point I am on the verge of tears but kinda holding it in. He says "do you need me to come back?" I (being kinda dumb and not wanting to freak him out) say "you can if you want, but you don't have to" (how I thought I would go anywhere is beyond me!) He says "yeah, I think I will come back" so I tell him where it was and we hang up. (Mark saves the day #2)

I then call Jasmine so I can tell her the sitch so she isn't sitting waiting for us. I say "I hit someone" and she says "A person?" and I go "no, a car." I guess that is a bit of a confusing statement. Anyway, I told her I called Mark and he is coming back and she says "he needs to come get me first because my car won't start." And I am like "What? Where are you?" and she says Safeway, but then Mark is calling her so we hang up and she can talk to him. (Mark saves the day #3)

Next the couple who pulled over in the first place are back and I am a bit confused. They come up to me and say that they saw the whole thing and wanted to come back and make sure that I had their name and number and all that. They said I definitely had the green and it wasn't my fault. I say thanks so much and do they mind waiting while I go get a pen and paper to write their info down. They say sure and come to my car with me. I am rummaging around in my purse and I start kinda sobbing for about 10 seconds (I kinda cried when I was on the phone with Mark and again with Jas, but not really) and the old man puts his hand kinda awkward on my shoulder and says "there there, that's why they are called accidents. It's okay" I apologize for blubbering and then I stop doing so and finish finding the pen and paper. He writes down their info and I repeat it back to them so that I can make sure I can read it. As I am talking to them the fire truck shows up and they check out the kids and start cleaning the street. Also the police show up and an officer comes over towards us. I am rummaging again for my insurance card and license and the couple approach him and say that they saw it all and tell him what happened. He asks them to write their info down officially on this paper thing and they say sure and he ushers them over to his car and tells me he will be back for my license, insurance, registration in a few.

Anyway, I grabbed the things I need and I head back towards the firetruck. They give me a paper to fill out all my info (but they give me nothing hard to write on) and I kneel on the ground and start writing it all down. The police take my cards and stuff and put all the info in their computer or whatever. I mention that my hand hurts like the dickens to the fire guys and he looks at it and tells me it doesn't look too bad but I should go get it checked out somewhere anyway. The police gives me my cards back and I hear them asking the other guy if he needs a tow. I quickly say I need one because my fluid is leaking all over the place and I can't really turn and the police kinda looks confused because he hadn't really looked at my car and didn't think it was bad. He goes and checks it out and decides I am right and calls for the tow. I finish my paperwork and give it to them and they go and start to put it in their computer or whatever. The mother of one of the 15 year old boys shows up and I ask if he is okay. At first she didn't realize who I was but just says "yeah, he's fine, just a bit shaken. It is just so scary you know?" and then I am like "yeah, I know, I am the person who hit them" and she just says "oh! are you okay?" and I assure her I am. She was so sweet. I sobbed a few times then as well just looking at the stupid Fit sitting right in front of us all crinkly and crunchy. The firemen and police officers are impressed with how well it held up. I see Jasmine and Mark kitty-corner to where I am standing and wave across to them - they are waiting for the walk signal so they can come over. From their side they can just see the Honda Fit (which looks fine on that side) and the van that was side-swiped and my car (which also looks fine from there) and a suburban and they don't really realize how bad it is (by this point I think the firetruck was gone).

Anyway, they get over to our side and see the Fit and are like "oh ... it is worse than we thought" and I kinda re-hash things for them. I try to take a pic of the Fit with my phone but it is a pos so doesn't work so well. Mark lends his phone because it has a flash. I take a few good ones and then I think about taking pics of my car and the tow guy shows up and says it will be safer to take the pics of my car once we get to the lot since then we won't be in the road. We get it all hooked up and get over there and I took pics of my car too (which doesn't look terrible, but so much fluid came out - good thing I parked it right over a drain on the side of the road). Then we went to eat since we were all starving. After the eating and then sitting around for while to kinda give me a chance to calm down (oh and I called my mom when we were on the way from the site to the place they took the car so don't worry, I didn't neglect her).

Then we had to go and figure out Jasmine's car at the Safeway. We got there and she tried it and it started right up, so we just assume it was low on gas. We get gas and it wasn't super low so Mark follows her home to make sure she gets there, and because Mark wants to check the oil pan since her car has been leaking lots of oil lately. We get there and he messes around with things a bit. Car starts fine in the garage and he thinks it might be a battery problem (which has happened in that car before) and wants to clean the posts but swe are all tired and she says she will do it in the am. So Jasmine decides to back it up and put fresh cardboard under it so we can better see whats dripping, and Mark is going to take me home, so we start to back up and she goes to start it again and it doesn't start. So then Mark is really convinced it is the battery and she still says she will find the cleany thing in the morning. The car still didn't start the next day and Mark ended up picking her up and taking her to work in the morning. (Mark saves the day #4 - except it is a new day I guess so he saves the next day #1? I don't know)

That is the story of my crazy Saturday. I am going to post pics here from the accident site. I am only putting up a couple but I have more. I took the ones of my car while it was still up on the tow truck so that's what the straps and stuff are.

The real kicker is that it hasn't even been a whole year since I got rear-ended. That time wasn't my fault either. But that time it took them a long freaking time to fix my car!Of course I now know that they have to total the darn thing out and I really will have nothing to show for it. I will let you know more details once I get things a bit more straightened out, but for now I am going to bed.

Updates on Project Statii

2010-11-08T17:11:00.001-07:00

Statii is the plural of status, right? Oh well, moving on.

I have been super busy trying to work on crafting. I am trying to knit this thing for my brother's girlfriend for Christmas and so I keep making sure I work on that - it is slow coming. I started it and almost made the whole thing last year but I didn't have a pattern and I was just kinda smashing a bunch of patterns together and I didn't check gauge (I never ever do) and it was HUGE. So recently I found a pattern that is almost perfect (it needs a bit of tweaking, but it is way closer than the other one I had) so I started it and it is going really well so far. I did the whole back panel before I finally broke down and actually ripped the first version out. It hurts me to rip out knitting that I worked so long and hard on, but since I have what looks like a suitable replacement it made it easier. Also, I needed the yarn. Lol. I hope it turns out okay. Especially since it is a vest and so it needs to fit her, and it is hard to fit something to someone you haven't seen in a year and a half (and now I hope she doesn't read my blog or she will know what she is getting for Christmas ... oh well I guess) Luckily this pattern is ribbed so it will still fit decent on a variety of body sizes. At least that is the hope.

Another crafty thing I am working on is a jacket. You see, a few years ago I was 'Penelope' for Halloween (if you haven't seen this movie, you should, it is WAY cute). I was planning to make this jacket she wears so I bought fabric and a pattern, but then it got too close and I knew I wouldn't have time, so I didn't do it. I just recently found the fabric again (I forgot I had it!) but I had lost the pattern. Then two days ago, I found the pattern. Huzzah! I think I am going to make it. I was originally going to add red cording to it to make it similar to the original, but now I think I will leave that off. I might do some red buttons or something, but that is the extent of it. I am excited. I am not so good at using patterns, but my roommate is so she will be able to explain the stuff I don't get to me. It might turn out crappy though, so you will only get to see a pic if it turns out okay. :)

Other than that I am slowly working on NaNo. This is hard because when my roommate is doing her crafty things and watching a movie I can't write unless I go in the other room. So usually I will end up working on the other things I am doing because then I won't have to concentrate or ask her to turn it off and be bored and I don't have to be anti-social. Luckily I usually have a chunk of time between when I get off work and when she does, so I try to do it during that time. I haven't much, but I can catch up! Lol.

Well, I should go get back to my working on stuff. I have tomorrow off so I hopefully will make progress on a few of them - of course, I have a lot of shows on Hulu that I need to catch up on, so I might get NO crafting done. We will see. :D

Halloween Pics

2010-11-02T15:43:00.003-06:00

So, Halloween was so fun. Jasmine and I dressed up as Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. It was great. This was my inspiration:

And this is what I ended up looking like:

And here we are together as Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck:

We won cutest costume. Yay! It was such a blast.

I only have one more project to show you, and I am nowhere near having that done. And now it is November, which is NaNoWriMo which I might participate in (if I can think of a good idea soon enough). If that happens I will be doing even less knitting than I am currently (and that isn't much) so, like I said before, don't hold your breath for that. But, if you are lucky (and I do participate in NaNo) I will post excerpt(s). So yay ... maybe. Lol.

Project Update

2010-10-22T00:13:00.000-06:00

So, I finished making my dress. I will show you some pictures. This first one is just the dress on the hangar in my closet. (sorry for the terrible quality, as I mentioned before my camera is now officially dead so I had to take these on my phone :-/)

This one is a pic of me IN the dress. It was right after church so my hair is all did nice and I have my shoes on. I kinda wish my roommate had been home to take it for me. Oh well.

And this is just me playing around taking a picture of myself. It isn't too often I make myself all pretty so I figured I should capture a picture as proof that at one time I looked somewhat decent. lol.

Well, that's all for now. I am pretty much done my Halloween costume but I am not going to post pics until after I wear it for the party - so you will have to wait until almost November for that. And the knitting - well that is going to take a LOOOOOONNNGGG time. Don't hold your breath.

Wow

2010-10-16T14:52:00.000-06:00

So, I have gone almost a month without posting AGAIN! I suck. Actually, what I really need is a schtick. Something that I post about other than just my boring life - because when all I do is post about my boring life I go a long time between posts!! So I think for the next little while I am going to post about my projects that I work on. This has 2 purposes - one is so that I will post more often (hopefully) and the other is so I will actually work on my projects since I will know I need to post about them. I will start today off outlining what I am currently working on. (Pics will be hard to post of current projects because my camera is officially dead - but I can take crappy pics with my cell phone and upload those. Sorry.)

1) Halloween. I am making my costume. Last year our costumes were awesome and we won a costume contest (voted for by everyone who was at the party - closest I will ever come to winning a popularity contest!)

So this year has to be good - we have to live up to quite a high standard now! But I think we have something good planned. I am done most of it, I just need my facial accessories and shoes.

2) Making a dress. My roommate has a sewing machine and I haven't found any clothes that I have liked in the stores lately so I am making a dress. It is looking a bit 50's-esque so far, but I like it. Also, I have no pattern and I am making up what I am doing as I go along, so we will see how it comes. But it is fun and it keeps me busy.

3) Knitting. I have many a knit projects going on currently - I am really good at starting something and being gung-ho about it for about 2 weeks and then my excitement fizzles out and I just kinda stop. But I plan on working on all those fizzled projects because, for one, I already have the materials purchased so it is cheap-as-free to do, and two is that I need to get them done!! I don't want them cluttering up my space anymore. I want to have room to put stuff for new projects! Also, knitting projects can make for good Christmas presents. Right now I am working on this thing for my bro's girlfriend. We were watching 'Be Cool' together many years ago and she mentioned she liked something that Uma Thurman's character was wearing and said I should make it for her. (You can't see it well in this pic, but it is this vest.)

I bought yarn and tried to make a pattern (by mushing together a couple different patterns) and that didn't work. Recently I found a pattern that is almost perfect (I just need to add a hood and pockets which is way easy peasy!) so I am ripping out all the other stuff I have done and I am going to do that. I have a blanket I am making for another friend and I have a scarf I have been working on as well, not to mention a few other projects so I will keep you all updated on how these things come. Yay for projects!

One Month

2010-09-26T21:45:00.000-06:00

That is how long it has been since my last update (almost) and I kinda feel bad about it, but I kinda don't because I feel like not a ton has happened and so if I had updated more then you guys would have just been bored. Or something like that. Although looking back at my last post I have to admit that at least one major thing has happened so ... I guess that excuse sucks.

That big thing is that I moved. My roommate (and landlord) got engaged so I had to find new accommodations. I found a place with a girl in the Ward that is a little more expensive than where I was living before, but not a lot, and it is with a super fun girl. It is actually the same complex that I lived in when I first moved to Oregon (not as an intern, but when I got my actual job) so that is nice because I know where everything is and stuff like that. Of course the management is different so things are a bit different, but in general things are pretty much the same. I am in a 2 bed/2 bath this time which is good. It is a super cute apt and the girl is super fun. We are a lot alike in a lot of ways so I feel very comfortable with her and I did almost immediately which is good. I have had that with a lot of the important people in my life and since it happened again I feel like she is going to be an important person in my life as well, which I am totally okay with :D

I have also started a 'Biggest Loser' and I am chronicling those adventures over at this blog. I am not going to say much about it here since I will try to keep that over there, but I do want to say that I feel pretty motivated and I really want to do this and keep going with things after the end of the competition. Let's hope that feeling continues!

Other than that I spend a lot of time working and hanging out with my awesome friends. Life is pretty good right now, I think I am working out problems and trying to find ways to be happy even if I don't get what I want.

Pics of San Fran!

2010-08-30T19:10:00.007-06:00

Since Christy (Wheeler) asked so nicely here are some pics from our SF trip. If you want to see more go here.

This was the sign that was there when we got there. So cute of them to welcome us like that!

Us on the ferry from Oakland over to the city. Such a nice relaxing trip and beautiful weather.

Mmmm ... I don't usually like clam chowder but this was delicious! And in a yummy sourdough bread bowl to boot. Heaven!

Us with the cars at Pixar! So cool to take a tour there!

Us in front of the Golden Gate bridge. It was a bit foggy but it made for really cool pics.

San Fran!

2010-08-27T11:19:00.002-06:00

So last week Jasmine and I went on vacation to San Francisco to visit some friends and enjoy some time off. This is going to be the quick version of the things we did on our trip to San Fran.

Tues - Leave at about 7am. On the way we took a small detour on the way to SF so we could stop in Yuba for Costa Vida :D It was so amazing! Then we got to SF around 730pm or so and basically said 'hi guys' and then chatted for a bit and then crashed - driving all day makes for a long day.

Wed - In the morning we went in to the actual city of SF on the ferry and hit up Piers 39 and 41, the Ghirardelli square, ate some clam chowder in a real sourdough bread bowl (mmm). Then we took the ferry back and went home and we were exhausted.

Thurs - We had a tour and lunch at Pixar because the man of the family we were staying with works there. That was pretty cool. Then we went to the Oakland temple which is beautiful. Then on the Jelly Belly Factory where we got free samples and I bought (too many) 'Belly Flops'. I am basically going to be eating jelly belly's forever. Good thing they have many flavours!

Friday -We went into SF again but this time we drove across the Bay Bridge, which is awesome. Then we went back to Pier 39 where we went to this store called 'Del Sol' that sells stuff that changes color in the sunlight. We would have gone on Wed but we didn't realize where it was. So we did that and then had some fish and chips on the pier (more mmm). We drove around for a while after that and went up, and then down Lombard street, and we went to the Full House park (which is actually called Alamo Square Park fyi), and then we went to see the Golden Gate Bridge - and then we crossed it. Then we went to dinner that night with our friends. That night we also made our own mozzarella string cheese. It was so cool!

Sat - In the morning we went to the California Academy of Sciences which also pretty neat. They had all sorts of cool exhibits about different countries and they had a really neat rainforest dome which was fun. Then we met the fam we stayed with at Muir beach for lunch and we messed around there for a while. It was their baby's first time on the beach which was so fun. Then we tried to go to Muir woods but it was so crowded we just ended up taking a long drive around the area and then we left. That night we got a log and had a fire in their fireplace - not because it was cold, but because it was fun.

Sun - We left :( but we stopped at Costa Vida again which was yummy.

That was it. Now we are back and I am basically just spending my time trying to find a place to move, getting ready to move (my roommate got engaged!! Yay!) planning a bridal shower and also just trying to enjoy the rest of the summer. It has been busy. :D

Vending Machine

2010-07-31T13:04:00.002-06:00

So, I am sitting at work, surfing the net (not that that is all I do at work, but it happened to be what I was doing at the beginning of this story) at about 1045am when suddenly, out of nowhere I see the word Skittles. In that second I thought "I want those right now!!!" And then I remembered that the vending machine down the hall has skittles. Yay!

So I dig out a dollar bill that I think the machine will accept and I trek down the the machine. I put the bill in and then the machine says '1.00, please make your selection'. Yes! I push 8D or whatever it is for the skittles and it says 'make another selection'.

What?

I try again. 'Make another selection'. I decide that if I can't have skittles then the next best choice is clearly M&M's (they are like chocolate skittles) and again it says 'make another selection'.

Why do you hate me vending machine? Why? All I want is skittles and/or chocolate. I don't care if you think it is too early in the day for these things, I WANT THEM!

Now I am sad. :(

The End of the Trip

2010-07-28T09:38:00.002-06:00

So, after the last post I really didn't do any more fun things in Pittsburgh. The last 2 days was just filled with me making sure we got everything done before I left. Then Thursday morning I went to the airport and that was a bit of an adventure. They loaded us all on the plane and then taxied us out to the runway (which took forever - longest taxi ever!) and then we sat there. Doing nothing. Then they announced that there was something wrong with the plane that was probably fixable but we had to head back to the gate. We get back to the gate and they announce that there is something wrong with a charger for an emergency back-up battery or something like that (it didn't sound like anything huge, but regulations are regulations). They said that they hoped it would be something they could fix by switching some fuses around. No dice. After trying something for about 20 mins they said it wasn't working so we all had to get off the plane. A bit later they said they were getting the part from United and once they got that it would be a 10 min fix. 30 mins later they said that it was taking longer than they expected, but we were going to do a 'plane swap' which basically meant that we were going to take a plane that was just coming in that was headed to Orlando next, and they would have to wait for our plane. That way we didn't miss anyone's connections and neither did the next group - we would just all be inconvenienced. Lol. Anyway, 2 hours late we finally took off to go to Vegas. I was just glad that my layover was supposed to have been 3 hours in the Vegas airport so then I didn't miss my flight. I got on the flight to Utah when I was supposed to and that flight went smoothly. My Mom made it without any problems (which was practically a miracle as well) and was waiting to pick me up when I got to Utah. The first thing we did when we got there was go to Cafe Rio. Lol. It was soooooo good. :D

Then we went to my grandparents' house and visited my aunt and uncle for a while and then went to bed. It was still on Pitt time so the next morning I got up at 7:30 thinking I had slept in until 9:30. Haha - that will never happen again. We spent the day going around and visiting different family members and friends and basically relaxing. Also, a friend of mine had recently published a book and was having a book signing that night, so in support of them we went and got a book and got it signed (so far it is not the greatest thing I have ever read, but it isn't the worst either - gives me hope to publish lol). The next day we visited some more and then I went to the airport. I had a great time in Utah, that is for sure. I wish I had been able to see a few more of my family members but I guess that will have to wait until next time.

Overall I really enjoyed my two weeks away. I saw some new things, saw some familiar things (I was going to say I saw some old things but then I thought you would think I was calling my Mom old, lol) met some new people, caught up with people I know and love. I am glad I am home. My room is finally unpacked and everything is back how it should be. The problem is I liked it too much and now I want more. More. MORE! But this time I want it to be a REAL vacation. Not a work-cation. I just feel unsettled, but settled as well. Does that even make any sense at all? Probably not (even I am confused!) Sorry for the confusion, but I am glad to be back. :D

Pittsburgh!

2010-07-20T19:26:00.002-06:00

So, I have been meaning to write an update for days now and I have just been enjoying myself soooo much taht I haven't done it yet. Lol. It is a bit weird to me that I can be enjoying working so much that I haven't posted. Of course, the enjoyment hasn't been had at work, it has been all the time not at work. I think I will start from the beginning. Monday was 'travel day' for me. My flight left for Las Vegas at noon, so I left for the airport at about 10am. I had to wait a couple of hours in Vegas before flying to Pitt so I called and chatted with my mom and I even had time to chat with my older brother for a bit, which is amazing since I almost never talk to him on the phone. Anyway, so as I was waiting in line for my turn to board the plane to Pitt from Vegas I noticed that the lady behind me in line looked familiar. I asked her if she just came from Portland and she said yes. I started chatting with her and she said she was from Pittsburgh. I mentioned that I had never been to Pitt before and asked if she had any suggestions about things that I should do while I was there. She said that there is a place that you can rent a kayak and go up and down the river. That was all she could think of at the time, and then we had to get on plane so I didn't see her again. I ended up not sitting by her and instead sat next to this cute couple from Pitt who were in Vegas for a niece's wedding. They were cute and told me that while I was in Pitt I had to make sure that I had a sandwich at the Primanti Bros and that I had to have a salad with french fries on it which is apparently something they do in Pitt. Anyway, I get off the plane and go to the baggage check and there is the woman that I met in line. She says "I am so glad to see you! We discussed it on the plane and we made a map for you of things to do while you are in town," and then she hands me a little map that she and her seat mates had drawn of Pittsburgh with numbers all over it, and a little key at the bottom with the names of things I should go. It was super sweet of them I thought.

Anyway, Judy was nice enough to let me sleep in on Tues since I was on west coast time. Still I was super tired when we got back home that evening because I had stayed up later than I meant to so Tues night I fell asleep about 6pm and slept until the next morning. It was glorious. :) So then on Wednesday I went for a little walk around the area that Judy lives over to squirrel hill area and that was super fun. It is a cute little area where they have all sorts of shops and a movie theatre and cool things like that. On Thursday I just stayed in and read a book and chillaxed around the house. Friday we went to Primanti Bros and then we went over the Incline (we went to the Duquesne Incline if anyone knows that there are more than one Incline) and that was super cool. You should look at the pics from it on my facebook if you get a chance - there was a great view of the city! Then we went and got frozen yogurt and that was yummy.

Saturday was busy. I slept in (yay!). Then I got to babysit some kittens outside for a while which was fun. They are super cute. Then I went down to the Phipps Conservatory and walked around there for a while which was really pretty. I took tons of pics there but I have been haven't uploaded them yet (don't worry I will!) and then I walked back from that and only got a little bit of a sunburn ;) (It has faded to a tan already!) Then a bunch of people from the lab came over to the house for dinner and that was fun. It was interesting to meet everyone's significant others. After everyone left from there we went to a concert that was being performed by a friend of Judy's ... or something. This country singer named Dallas Marks sang, and then he rappelled down from the top of a fire hall, which was daring but turned out okay (although his wife was pissed!) Today instead of going to church (I know, I am a bad girl lol) I slept in again, and then we went to the Cathedral of Learning and the Carnegie Natural History museum. After that we went to a taiwanese place for dinner which was awesome and then we went to see 'Inception' which I thought was pretty good (kinda Matrix-esque and mind blowing!).

Monday was good for work things. We ended up having a very successful day at work which was great, since I felt like we had sort of been treading water on the reason I came here until then. So that was good. Today we also had a good day at work and tomorrow will be good too (knock on wood!). And then that is it! That is my last day! My flight out is on Thurs morning at like 10ish (must remember to check in for flight 24 hours in advance!) and then I will be getting to Utah around 6pm on Thursday night (with a long and probably boring bout in Vegas in the middle - ugh). I am super excited to get to Utah because then I can see my family and enjoy a few non-work, non-boss days. Even the days off that I have had here have seemed a bit like work since the boss was still around. I am grateful that I get to stay in her house and that she has cooked for me and made sure I wasn't bored to tears while I was here, but I will be glad to not be with her all the time.

I am only going to be in Utah for almost exactly 48hours (give or take 10 minutes!) and I plan to make the most of it. I will be glad to see my mother who I haven't seen since she came to visit me at Easter and I will be glad to see my grandparents and other family members who I haven't seen in even longer than that. And then do you know what? I will be glad to go home! I miss my bed and my friends and my car and my office at work and my roommates and even my weather! Okay, that last bit might be pushing it, but you get the picture. I mean, if I was not working at all and this was a vacation it would be different, but since I am still doing work while I am here it is a bit stressful and it will be nice to get back to my un-stressful (heh - not exactly I guess) regular job. I don't mind training people but I will be glad when it is over. :D

So, that has been what I have been up to for the last little while. Hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed doing it!

Oops?

2010-07-10T11:39:00.003-06:00

Heh, so much for being better at posting. Oh well. You guys have all lived so I think no harm done. A lot has been going on lately and I just haven't really wanted to sit and type it all out because that means that I have organize my thoughts into some kind of coherent manner and that is tough to do.

First off one of my best friend's was diagnosed with what is called psuedo-tumor cerebri which basically means that she has many of the symptoms of a tumor but without an actual physical tumor. She had extra cerebral spinal fluid build up which was giving her headaches and all other sorts of nasty symptoms. Anyway, this diagnosis was then followed by getting a shunt placed in her brain so that the extra fluid would drain off and she wouldn't have the pressure anymore. The surgery went well, but then the next day her heart stopped and so she required another surgery to get a pacemaker put in. So there was about a week in there that I spent mostly at the hospital or at her house helping her out and just basically being there for her. Through it all I realized a couple of things.

One is that I have great friends. She was such a trooper the whole time. I know it is hard to maintain a positive outlook on things when you are facing so much, but she has been so good. I am continually amazed at what people can go through emotionally and physically and still manage to come out okay.

I also realized that I am like my Grandma in ways that I never really realized. My Grandma is a worrier. She has stayed up nights worrying about every single one of her children and grandchildren because she wants so much to help them out. Now, I don't stay up nights, but I worry. I am pretty good about keeping things internal and not letting it effect me too much, but I still worry about things. Sometimes even ridiculous things that I shouldn't worry about. Also, my Grandma is a fixer. I know that if she could just fix all her loved ones' problems she would. Of course this isn't possible, so that leads to the worrying. I also just want to fix things for people. If I could have been the one to have the surgeries for my friend I would. It really sucks when you just want to help someone and there is absolutely nothing you can do.

Other things that have been going on include that I had to get my status renewed so that I could continue to work in the US. I am on TN status and this requires that I go through a border crossing and apply for status every year. It has always been a pain because almost every time I have been missing some kind of paperwork (despite double and triple checking on my part) or something else has gone wrong. This time, thankfully, nothing went wrong. But it made me sick with worry the whole 2 or 3 weeks leading up to it. Add that to worry about my friend who's surgeries were the week before the planned trip and I was a little bit of a wreck.

Thankfully - status is approved for a year, so the worry about that is gone. Thankfully - surgeries are over and my friend is on the mend, so that worry is alleviating. Of course, new things to worry about always pop up. Now I have to take the previously mentioned trip to Pittsburgh for my job for 2 weeks and that is nerve-wracking for about a million different reasons that I don't want to go into because it will just make me freak out more. It will be good. And at the end of it I am going to Utah to visit my family for 2 days, which will be a good end to that adventure. I have been wanting to go to Utah for a while now and so even though it will be a short trip it will be very fulfilling I think. I hope!

Anyway, I will make sure I take pics in Pitt and keep everyone updated on how things go there. I leave on Monday and I am totally not ready to do so (ack!) but I still have 2 days ... that's enough time right? I better go do laundry.

Catching Crap

2010-05-06T10:23:00.004-06:00

So, I have gotten a little flack lately from some of you (and from myself) about not posting anything in a long while. It has almost been 2 months! Where has the time gone? I am not really sure - I guess I have been working a lot and trying to keep busy when I am not working. And I am boring so I feel like I have nothing too exciting to post. Well ... that is not totally true. I have one thing.

So, let me start by saying that I have to go to Pittsburgh to help my boss train the crew there to do my job. To do this I have had to take about a million online trainings and I have to fill out a health questionnaire, get a TB test and a measles titer. Most of those things are easy to do ... but the stupid measles titer was a thorn in my side. I couldn't just get it from employee health, I had to go to my actual doctor to get a lab slip etc etc. The problem with that is I don't really like my old doctor (the one I went to about twice a couple years ago) so I had to find a new doctor just to get it done. So I went for a first time appointment last week so she could set me up with the lab slip. She was awesome. She asked if there was anything else that I wanted to talk about while I was there. I mentioned my lack of periods and she asked a few other questions and took some blood and determined that I have PCOS. This is what I study at work so I am not too shocked (I knew I had most of the symptoms). She prescribed me a few things (metformin to deal with the insulin insensitivity thing and an anti-androgen) that she thinks would help. This means I am on meds from now until eternity. Woo (note the sarcasm). The doctor assured me that many women who have PCOS can and do end up having children, but I know that there are people who can't. A lot. I know at least one friend whose blog I follow has infertility due to PCOS. A few girls I work with have the same issue. Not that I want kids right now since I am unmarried and not even dating, but, now that will always be in the back of my mind. Obviously it was there anyway - I knew I wasn't ovulating and if you don't ovulate then you can't conceive, but for some reason having an official diagnosis makes it more real. Bleargh.

On a lighter note - I got the stupid measles titer and found out that I am not immune to the measles! Or mumps or rubella. I did a little bit of searching online and found out that 95% of people who get the MMR shot one time end up being immune to all three things and 99% of people who get the MMR twice end up being immune. Guess how many times I got the stupid immunization when I was younger? That's right folks, twice. I am in that small 1% of people who don't become immune even after 2 freaking shots! I got the MMR again. Hopefully this time it takes!

I will try to be better about posting. Thanks for the kick in the butt!

Fame!

2010-03-18T22:24:00.004-06:00

Posting twice in one day? What? It is just because I wanted to post this little tidbit from the Calgary news. Go Carmangay (my hometown). Click here.

Plan B?

2010-03-18T16:43:00.003-06:00

So, I got the official rejection notice from KU yesterday. Oh well. On to plan b I guess. I just wish I actually had a plan b ... Any suggestions?

Okay, Finally

2010-03-15T11:40:00.002-06:00

So, I got an email today telling me I didn't get in to FSU. I kinda figured as much, but I am glad to finally know. I am still waiting to hear from KU, but I kinda think I won't get in there either. Maybe a miracle will happen? Whatever.

Round 1, Down; Round 2, Here I Come!

2010-03-06T02:26:00.002-07:00

I just got this email from KU saying I made it through round 1 of cuts! Yay! Of course, they do a second round of cuts, then they do interviews and then they do even more cuts, so I am nowhere near actual admission, but I am one step closer. I still haven't heard anything from FSU, but I decided to give them a week after their 'we make decisions on March 1st' deadline before I email them demanding a no (or yes, but chances are if they haven't emailed me by then it will be a no - lol). So they will be hearing from me on Monday. But ... I haven't been totally forgotten about. Yay!

Still Waiting ...

2010-03-03T00:47:00.001-07:00

So they said that they were deciding on March 1st and I should hear shortly thereafter ... is March 3rd too early to email and badger them about it? Seriously, I am pretty sure it will be a 'no', I just want it to be an official 'no', you know? Gah! I think I have said this before, but, I HATE WAITING!!!!

Goals

2010-03-01T18:49:00.002-07:00

So, I suck at posting things in a timely manner - not that anything exciting has happened since my last post - but I still suck. I have been trying to keep up with my goal to be more social and I think I have been doing pretty good. Let me tell you about it.

Monday - I already wrote about this, but I went to FHE. That was good. Go me.
Tuesday - Also already written about, but I took the day off because I was sick and I cleaned my kitchen. Yay for a clean kitchen. Go me again.
Wednesday - I went to work. Not that that is very surprising, but I went. I still felt sick so I wasn't the most productive, but I was there. Then that night I went visiting teaching. The girl we vt is a bit self-conscious about her house being messy so we picked her up and took her to DQ for some food and ice cream. It was good.
Thursday - ~~I kinda forget what happened. Maybe it was nothing too exciting. Maybe I hung out with Jasmine and Mark. Leave me alone, I am sick.~~ Jasmine and Mark and I went to Costco to get a Polish dog and some ice cream (love that stuff) and then we went to his place to watch his giant tv, but instead just sat around chatting for a while.
Friday - Went to IKEA with Jasmine and Mark. Then we went to Red Robin and ate some noms. Love their onion ring sauce (which, in my opinion, should just be called Fry Sauce, since that is what it is ... but we are in Oregon, so alas ...)
Saturday - Worked (boo). That night my co-worker Whitney had a belly-dance show in Portland at this wine car called Vino Vixens. I went with this girl at our work who is a vet. Afterwards we went to Pix Patisserie and spent way too much money on really delicious fattening noms. So worth it. :D
Sunday - After church I went to my friend Sandy's house for dinner with a bunch of other people. Also, celebrated that Canada won the men's gold medal in hockey. And celebrated that Canada won 14 gold medals in this Olympic games! So proud to be a Canadian. After that went to Jasmine's house to watch "The Time Traveller's Wife" which she rented a few days ago and had to return today. It was cute. Not awesome, but cute.
Today - Worked. So far that is it, but it is only 5:30 so far and I do plan to go to FHE, so that is still fulfilling my goal.

Other than that, I am still impatiently waiting to hear back about Grad Schools. I really think they will be sending me big fat NO's but I would like to know so I can at least then move on and figure out what to do next. I hate waiting. Have I mentioned that? Lol. Anyway, I guess I should go. I am going to do a little bit of reading before I head to FHE. I will try to post more updates before next Monday - but no promises.

Ugh ... Sickness

2010-02-23T15:57:00.002-07:00

So, I make this great new goal to be better at life, and then ... I get sick. Bleurgh. I NEVER get sick, so this is totally weird. Yesterday I had the day off and so I spent the day being girly and fun with Jasmine - we got mani/pedi's and went shopping and stuff. Then I got all ready for FHE and we went to that. I didn't feel awesome - my throat was kinda sore all day and my tummy was a bit swirly (does that make sense?) feeling, so I didn't participate in the v-ball/b-ball fun they were having. Also, I did my vt and that was good. I like my companion and I like the girls I teach so that is always good. We are doing one of the other girls tomorrow night and the other one on Sunday (I think - not totally sure about that one). Anyway, I also spent some time chatting with some people that I don't usually chat with. I didn't meet anyone I didn't know, but in looking around the room I think there were only like 2 people there who I didn't know anyway, and then they were gone by the time I was done with the vt anyway. I will make a note to introduce myself next time.

Then today I took off as well. I had 2 days off this week and I wasn't really sure which days I was going to take, but then since I was feeling all sicky I decided today would be a good day for the second one. I almost took Thursday but then changed my mind. My roommate was supposed to get her bridals done on Saturday (I am going with her to be her assistant) but then the photographer called and said that something came up and can they please change the date? He said Thurs would work or some other Sat. She didn't want to do the next Saturday because her fiance is in town that weekend so she thought Thurs - and I was like sure I have another day off coming anyway, I will just make it Thurs. But then she was like, wait I don't want to take a day off to do this - esp on such short notice. So now she doesn't know which day she will be doing them, but it worked out for me because I could take today off and not have to worry about getting Thurs off as well.

I am really weird when I get sick-ish (not so sick I am throwing up or anything, but just not feeling so hot) in that I like to clean. It is very odd, I know. But today I decided to tackle our kitchen floor. It has been forever since it was last cleaned - and that is not all my roommate's fault, but I feel like I am the only one that does it so I was kinda hoping someone else would do it. Whatever, finally I got too sick of it to leave it. It looks better, but it is still pretty bad. Gah. I hate it when I clean something and it doesn't look that good - I feel like a custodial failure! Oh well I guess. At least it looks better than before. If no one says anything about it though I think I will be utterly disenchanted. Meh.

Okay ... that is it for updates. Not a lot about the goal, but overall I think I am doing better emotionally. I am still filled with an impending sense of doom about my job/grad school, but there is nothing I can do about that but wait. And be patient (as we learned about in FHE yesterday). I still hate waiting.

New Outlook

2010-02-21T19:32:00.002-07:00

Okay, the thing is, I am sick of my attitude and mood as much as you guys are. And I just read the comments left to me after my last post, and I am turning over a new leaf. My friend Christina always somehow seems to know what to say that I need to hear, and her comment was what I needed to hear. First I just want to say that I didn't mean that I didn't think anyone else ever really felt like they will never get married, but sometimes people don't really mean it. And to those who have felt it and meant it ... I guess the older I get the more I think those feelings intensify. But, of course, like all things it gets stronger and weaker depending on the day and the mood I am in and all that jazz.

Secondly I want to talk about my new outlook. Christina is right, I can't expect some guy to just come sweep me off my feet. This is the 21st century. Not to mention I think men have just as many self-confidence issues as women. So I am going to make sure I get to know everyone in my sphere - of course, this mostly includes people in the Ward, but it also includes anyone in my realm of contact. It is something I feel like I should do anyway - I was talking to my visiting teachers the other day about how when I first went to a singles ward I was so scared and this girl came and sat by me and was super nice. I think that we don't realize sometimes how much it will mean to someone else just to say hi and sit by them. Also, I like getting to know new people. That was one of the reasons I usually didn't stay in the same ward more than one year in college. Since I can't just move 2 blocks and be in a different ward I guess I am going to have to get my fill of new people a different way. So I am going to try hard to make sure I know everyone.

And I am going to update my progress here. Every time I go somewhere fun or do something with a group of people (more people than just the same ones I see all the time) then I will post about it here and I will make sure I update everyone on my success at fulfilling my new outlook. Thanks for all your love and support everyone who reads this. I am glad you are in my life and that you don't let me stay in the dumps when you find me there!

My Boring Life

2010-02-20T15:18:00.003-07:00

That is my life - not exciting. I ended up having to work on the 14th and 15th and that was super fun (note the sarcasm). And then I ended up working until that Tues and Wed too. Of course there was all kinds of work stress which just freaks me out even more about what is going to happen in the near future. I seriously have no idea what I am going to do if I don't get in to Grad School. I start to panic just thinking about it! Okay, not thinking about it, moving on. I did have a job interview on the hill the other day - but they aren't sure they are hiring and I am not sure I can even get status again, so ... I don't want to bank on that. Gah!

Moving on. Friday, I did a whole lot of nothing. I slept in late, watched a movie. Jasmine came over and we hung out watching some tv on DVD. Then I felt lazy like I had done nothing all day so I went for a walk. It was a good day. Of course then I couldn't get to sleep at a decent time because I slept in so much so getting up this morning for work sucked, but oh well I guess. Today I came to work, and then I went to a baby shower for this girl who used to be in the Ward and got married last May. She is super cute and it was cool to see her and a bunch of the other people who used to be in the Ward but have 'graduated' (so to speak) as well as a couple of girls who are about to 'graduate' from the Ward. It was tough to be surrounded by all the wedding and baby talk though. I feel like I am never going to get married. I know, I know - lots of girls feel like that. The two girls at the shower who are both engaged said that they felt that way before they got engaged. But I have a theory on that. You remember back when you were in school? You come out of a big final or something and everyone says - "I think I did terrible". Well, there are people who studied a lot and actually know they did okay, but they are just saying that. There are also people who didn't study all that much, but managed to wing it. There are also people who didn't study and really did do terrible. I think most girls who say "I think I am never going to get married" are in those first two categories. They know they will get married eventually, or somehow think they will wing it. I, on the other hand, think that I really won't get married. I am 26 years old and have never had a boyfriend. I haven't even had an almost boyfriend or anything like that. I got on maybe 1 date a year (I have actually gone on 2 dates in the last 3 years, so I am not even doing that good) and I have never had a second date with the same guy. Ever. So ... that makes me feel like I am the third category. And I think that even more because I know that I don't really make myself emotionally available to anyone. I don't like to get close to people because I don't want to get hurt. I guess I feel like I have been hurt a lot growing up by my brother and by men who I would foolishly fall for and then they would reject me, so I just don't let that happen. Even if I get a crush on someone these days it just seems to be short lived. It is enough to remind me I am a woman and still like guys, but it's like in the back of my mind I know that they wouldn't want me so I don't get too attached and at the first hint that he likes someone else I am like "okay, I am over it!" Wow. The thing is, I think part of me has come to accept this as the truth of how things are. I sometimes get sad about this, but lately it's like, I have accepted my terminal single-hood. For instance, when I write posts like this it is usually when I am in a sad mood and feeling depressed, but right now I don't feel that way. I just feel ... resigned. I am okay with that.

Part of me feels bad for people who are friends of mine anyway. I think that being close to me is a disadvantage. Let me explain. I mentioned that I am not very emotionally available - and that is in almost any respect. I will be happy for you, and have fun with you, and when it comes to anything tough I will be there for you. But a lot of times I don't want this in return. I don't NEED it usually. My emotions are usually on a pretty even keel. I told Jasmine the other day that I was feeling more depressed lately than I ever have and she said that I didn't seem that way at all - because I don't let it show. And that is okay, I don't really need it to show. And if you make me mad, I might not let that show either. I will let you walk on me. I hold A LOT in. And I like it that way. I like having other people's emotions be the ones that we will worry about. The reason that this is a detriment to my friends is because they come to think this is normal. And then they interact with people who aren't like this - and they get burned. It is like they are so shocked that any person might stand up for themselves that they get more hurt by other people's words than they would have if they were used to this happening. Sorry friends.

And sorry for the post that makes it sounds like I am unhappy - I am not. I think I am coming out of the being more depressed than I ever have before thing that I was telling Jasmine about because it is spring and beautiful outside. I have a job, I get paid, I have good friends, I have a great family - I am in a good spot (at least for this second!).

Responses

2010-02-08T22:33:00.001-07:00

So, I got an email back from University of Florida (don't get too excited, keep reading) it said I was still under consideration and they are making final decisions on March 1, so I should hear more shortly thereafter. Poo. I hate waiting.

No News Is Good News ....?

2010-02-05T14:03:00.002-07:00

So, I still haven't heard anything from Grad Schools - gah! It is so frustrating to just wait. I got the okay from 2 people today that I am not jumping the gun to email them and ask, so I did. Hopefully they respond with something positive. Keep your fingers crossed.

In other news, Florida as AWESOME! I love vacation. There were a few slight hiccups, but it was still a great time and I enjoyed myself immensely. We went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot twice and Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios thrice (there were a few of those days that Julie went elsewhere because she isn't a huge fan of Hollywood Studios). We also went to the Kennedy Space Center, which was really neat. The worst part about going on vacation for two weeks though is the getting back to real life. After being in Disney parks for that long work and real life are just so mundane. Bleargh. Anyway, I shared the pics that Jasmine posted on facebook (I would just post my own, but I would post all the same ones and that just seems redundant).

Oopsie Doodle

2010-01-06T19:33:00.001-07:00

I am planning on applying to Grad School, which is why I took the GRE the last time I posted anything on here. So I got my statement all written and some documents scanned in that I was planning to send to FSU and I went to their online app page and I was blocked out. What the heck? So I did a little scouting and it turns out that even though the deadline for their Grad program is Jan 15, the deadline for the Neuro Grad program was actually Dec 15. That doesn't explain to me why I was able to access the site up until Jan 3rd or something like that, but anyway, I was pretty sad. So I emailed the office and asked if there was any way I could still submit my application. They wrote me back and said that re-opening the online portal is a huge pain so if I sent them my stuff via email she would evaluate if I would be 'competitive' as an applicant. Then, if she thinks so they will go through the process of re-opening the portal and letting me submit it officially. This is good and bad I think. Bad because they will probably judge me more harshly since I missed the deadline and no one else did. Also bad because I will be associated with that now. Good though because it means they will tell me if they think I have a chance before I ever have to pay the fee. Yes! Also, they will know who I am. Is it true that all press is good press, even when applying to Grad School? I got in an app to Kansas State as well. Those were the only two I went for in the end. I don't think I will get in (which might be a bad attitude, but I know how competitive it is - esp now - OHSU is interviewing like 23 people!). So I am still pondering a 'plan B'. Judy wants me to go to Pitt but I am pretty sure that I will not do that - but I don't know what I WILL do so I need to do more thinking and praying. I hate deciding what to do with my life! Oh well I guess.

In other news I went to the dentist today and I got three compliments on my teeth from actual trained professionals. It was odd. I have had that before - when I was younger my dental hygenist asked me on 2 or 3 separate occasions if I had ever had braces. Today they asked if I whitened (no) and the dentist himself told me I have really nice teeth. Which is a weird compliment. It made me feel good, but it is not like I did anything to make them that way. They grew in straight all on their own! I guess they are probably white because I don't smoke or drink coffee, but my brother had really white teeth after doing both those things too, so I think it is just genes. It is like when people (read:strangers) tell me I have really pretty eyes. I say 'thanks' but really, I didn't do anything so I feel weird taking credit for something I didn't do. I think it is good I am not beautiful because if people told me all the time it would be really weird for me. I mean, I can look good - but that is when I do something to take what I have and make it look its best. Does that even make sense? Whatever.

Anyway, I am done. I keep going on tangets (at least in my brain). I keep thinking about random things like Florida. In one week from today we will be landing in Florida! One week from tomorrow we will be going to some Disney park and having the time of our lives in balmy weather! (Don't worry, I checked - their cold snap will be over by the time we get there!) And I am thinking about boys. I was thinking about the guy that I went on a 'date' with before the holidays and that I wouldn't mind going again. Adrianna and I even devised a plan to let him know I wouldn't mind without it being awkward (which I think worked - thanks Adrianna!) So, because my thoughts are wandering, and because I need to pee, I am going to go. I will keep you updated on the whole Grad School/Plan B thing!

Day of Random Happenstance

2009-12-16T00:18:00.007-07:00

Okay, so today was a little crazy. I was supposed to have this job interview this morning, but the people never talked to me about a time or a place, so I called last night and there was no response. I called again at like 8:30 this morning (which is a bit early for me to up on my day off!) and there was still no response. I finally got a call back from them around 10 o'clock saying today was going to be too busy for them and that they could do it Thurs afternoon or Fri. I told them that wasn't really possible. So we decided to reschedule for sometime in January.

With that out of the way I decided to get ready for my GRE. I was scheduled to take it at 1pm so I figured if I left around noon then I would be okay to get there in time. I got there took the test and did okay (I got 520 verbal, 660 quantitative - not as good as I was hoping, but still okay). I was super duper fun (that is sarcasm in case you didn't notice).

On the way home I was feeling pretty good about things, listening to Christmas music and happy that I had taken the test and got that out of the way. I came to a stop on I-5 just about to get on the I-405 because of traffic and I had been stopped for a minute or two when suddenly *BAM* I got rear ended. Look in my rear-view mirror and this old lady is behind me with her car all smashed in. I get out and see if she is okay - all the while shaking like crazy. She is fine - but we don't really know what to do because neither of has been in a wreck before. We give each other our insurance info and I am thinking about calling the police and then this guy pulls up to help and he has road flares. He was super nice and his name was Dave. Then about a minute later the police show up so Dave leaves. The police officer takes our stuff and starts filling out this paperwork. Then about two minutes later ODOT comes and the police officer leaves. We fill out some stuff. I get to leave because my car runs fine (hers won't start and they have to wait for a tow).

I get home and call everyone I know to tell them about it. Then randomly a guy that I kinda know but not very well that I used to have a HUGE crush on texts me "hey what's up?". So I am like, okay, whatever. We text chat a bit and then he says he is looking for a dinner partner and would I like to go. I am like heck yeah, I need something to make my day better. He finally realizes I wasn't kidding about the getting rear-ended thing (as if I would joke about that) and then comes on over to get me. We go to this Hot Cake House in Portland that is pretty tasty. Then we came home. It was fun.

Then Adrianna and I went to WinCo quickly so we could get a few things - I needed to get stuff to make more cookies (I had made some for FHE on Monday, and now I need more) for a work potluck tomorrow and she needed food because she was totally out.

All-in-all, it was a crazy day. I really need to go to sleep and then in the morning I need to call and report that accident to the insurance peeps. I have never done this before but I imagine it is going to be a HUGE pain in the arse. Wish me luck!

Boring-ness

2009-12-03T18:11:00.001-07:00

So, my life are still pretty much the same as the last time I updated. I have no idea what to do with my life, I am not dating anyone, I live with some pretty good girls (even if they are a little quirky) and I work all the time. Tomorrow is this luncheon at work Christmas and that should be super duper fun. Mostly because it is free food and time I can spend at work not being too productive and not feeling guilty about it because no one else is going to be productive either! What I really need to do is work on grad school apps, but I am waiting to take the GRE which takes money to register for and I have none of that. Plus I need to figure out what to get people for Christmas that is personal and yet still cheap, because again, I am feeling very broke. I was going to make my brothers both sweaters but I won't have time to do that (I am going home in 17 days - there is def not time for that!) so maybe that will have to be next year's project or something. In the meantime I have no idea what to get them. Boys are hard to buy stuff for, especially when you live so far away from them you don't really know them as well as you would like. Maybe I should forget grad school and forget Oregon and move closer to home? That is a bad idea. I always get to thinking that when I am unsure of what to do with my life, but I think that spending Christmas vacation at home will remind me that I don't want to live there. Of course living there would be different than visiting there because I would hopefully get a job and make friends so I wouldn't be doing nothing all the time, and hopefully I would not live with my parents, which is what I do when I am home for the holidays. Not that I don't like my parents, but I am too old to be living with them for any prolonged period of time. Especially since they live in the middle of nowhere so living with them would help me to never make friends or get a job.

This whole post has been all stream-of-consciousness, and I apologize for that since the stream of my consciousness is not so fun to try to follow. That was just the quick update. Maybe if I did this more often (updated the blog that is) I wouldn't get so behind and then feel like I have nothing to talk about and just complain through the whole thing. Okay, I will try to update again sooner this time and hopefully it will be a blog post made of win!

MIA

2009-10-14T12:13:00.002-06:00

I know I have been kinda MIA for a while, but I have a few excuses (I know, I know - that is all they are, excuses - I could have posted had I really wanted to). Anyway, I was in Utah this last week on vacation before the week from hell here at work. I was so shocked I actually got to take a week off and I didn't get any calls from work or anything. It was amazing! And I realized a few things. One is that I need something new. I spent time with some family (which was great and I didn't see enough of them) and I spent some time with some friends (ditto the above parenthetical comment) and I made some new friends. No one that I will be new best friends with, or anyone that I will date or anything like that, but just new friends. People I liked spending time with and felt comfortable around after only a few moments of meeting them - and that hasn't happened in a long time. I haven 't met anyone new in a long time that I just felt so comfortable with that it was like I could chill with them forever. And maybe that feeling would have gone away, but that isn't the point is it? The point is that I miss meeting people and feeling comfortable immediately. But the main reason that hasn't happened lately is because I don't meet new people all that often. So therein lies the problem. And the solution is for me to go out and meet new people. But that is scary (not to mention difficult) so we will see if it happens. I think as I think more and more about going to grad school or some other such place the more I will be able to actually get to know new people - esp if I ever interview anywhere! Wish me luck!

So

2009-09-19T13:42:00.003-06:00

Well, it is Saturday and guess what I am busy doing? You got it, dear reading, working. What else do I ever do? Nothing it seems. But I have tomorrow off. And I have next Wed off as well. So that is something right?

Anyway, I don't really have much to say right now, other than I am a little bored at work. I know that I have stuff I should be doing, but I am feeling way too lazy to do any of that stuff. I have been feeling that way a lot lately about work - which is not good. I have this huge to-do list and so little motivation to do it. Gah.

Last week my uncle died. My dad's older brother. He was only 57 or so and they say that the official cause of death is a heart-attack but there was probably more to it than that since he was a heavy drinker his whole life, plus he had some sort of leg issue not too long ago. Anyway, regardless of the cause of death he is gone now. It is sad. My whole family went to the funeral - even Johnny went (and now I find myself wondering if he acted like he did at the wedding we went to in the summer - haha). I, of course, wasn't there because I was, of course, working. And it would have been very expensive to fly home for that and I have no dinero. Mom said it was a nice service. She said that Auntie Wendy spoke (that was Reb's wife) and she held herself together pretty good. She is an amazing woman. She just got through having a mastectomy because of breast cancer (I know it is odd I put that - why else would she have a mastectomy?) and now this happened. I don't know them all that well - we never visited them a lot when I was younger, and when we did I just wanted to go play and not hang out with the adults, but from what I do know she has great faith in God which I think helps her be so strong in the face of adversity. I hope I can be like that.

RIP Uncle Reb, you will be missed.

Seriously?

2009-08-29T14:12:00.002-06:00

So, ever since ... who the crap knows when I have been doing most of my banking online. I would say that most people my age do this. I only actually go in a bank maybe twice a year and even then that might be pushing it. I only write about 1 cheque a month and that is for more personal things than bills - like tithing. Also, I have been trying to convince my mom this is the way to go. It cuts down on your cheque usage and time spent at the bank. Also, it is nice for her since she lives in the middle of nowhere so she won't have to travel anywhere to pay bills and whatnot. And she could do it at midnight if she wanted! But has she listened to me for the last 10 years? No. Why would she? I have no idea what I am talking about. Besides that crazy internet isn't safe to enter banking information into.

Well, she signed up for online banking the other day and she thinks it is the greatest thing ever - probably even better than sliced bread! All I have to say is, Mom, maybe next time I make a suggestion to you like this you will listen to me!

Hallelujah! It's Over!

2009-08-20T22:14:00.002-06:00

One more summer over. To me this isn't a sad thing, but rather a joyous occasion as it also signifies the end of roundups. Thank the heavens. It means I can get back to a more workable schedule and life. No more 16 hour days (I hope). And more blog posts. (Lucky you!) The only sad part of this whole thing is that it isn't summer anymore - and I didn't really do anything fun the whole time! Oh also, I told myself that once roundups were over I would make a really good effort to exercise more. I have an idea of what I am going to be doing for this, it is just the finding of the motivation that will be the hard part, but I think I will try to follow my mom's lead on this one (she has been going swimming every day after work) and use that as motivation to do something. If she can do it, so can I, she is at least 2x my age! So I will be trying to do that. Keep an eye out for updates dear reader. About this and all other things in the life of yours truly. Until then, sleep well!

Okay Then Mom

2009-08-13T11:21:00.002-06:00

Well, I just got a nice little comment from my mom about how a couple of days ago I said I was going to post tomorrow, but then I didn't. So now I am posting. I am waiting for the next big event at work and thought I would do a small update. About yesterday. So basically, I came to work as per usual, and I waiting for a phone call in my office around 10am and my boss comes in a says she is getting ready for tomorrow blah blah, and also, weirdness, but her right butt hurts. Kinda like a pulled muscle. So she took some ibuprophen and thought it would go away in a day or two. I then got the call I was waiting for so off I went to do what I needed to do and about an hour and a half later I get paged on the overhead pager. I NEVER usually get paged, so I though 'oh no, this can't be good'. I call the number and it is my boss saying she can now barely walk. She went to the bathroom and it took her 10 minutes just to get her pants back on! And once I am done with what I am doing can I take her to the ER? Sure. So, around noon we head up to OHSU main campus to the ER. By about 3 o'clock she comes out with a perscription for some pretty good stuff and asks me if I will drive her to her house and drop her off, then if I will go and pick up the scripts for her. I do. I get home around 4:30. Oh man, what a crazy day. Seriously. And now the whole next week is hanging in the balance since the drugs didn't really help all that much and she still can barely walk. Great.

Quickie

2009-07-19T13:37:00.001-06:00

I really am going to post something real eventually, and not just junk, but I just wanted to put this on here because I found this video on youtube and I thought it was a pretty good version. I am usually not a fan of remakes of songs because they often get butchered, but I think Daughtry does great here.

2009-06-19T10:42:00.002-06:00

I will not go into a big long diatribe about how much I suck at posting, yada yada, because any of you who might read this know that I have not updated in like 2 weeks and so you know I suck at updating. Anyway, yeah. I just feel like I have been neglecting everything lately - I haven't even updated my Facebook status that much! I know, gasp in shock, it is crazy! But now I think I feel cleansed of whatever was making me not post or update or anything and I should be back in full force on the internets for a while. Go me!

So, I didn't go back and read my last post, so I really have no idea what I talked about last, so I am just going to talk about what I feel like talking about and you can complain if I missed anything huge or important.

Most importantly, I am going on a vacation (of sorts) soon. I am flying home on Wednesday. I am way excited about that. I haven't been to see my fam in a while and I am excited for a few reasons - 1) I get to see my little nephew again, he is so cute! 2) I get to meet my little brother's girlfriend. He has been with her for a while now I think, but he was hesitant about the relationship at first because she has a kid already, so I haven't met her. Also, I haven't been near enough to meet her for the last however long. Oh well, that should be fun. 3) I get to see my Mom. I love that woman. She is amazing and I can't wait to give her a big hug!

So, we are going to be in Canada for a few days, then my mom and I are going to drive down to Utah (renewing my status along the way at the border, which is the main reason I was 'allowed' to go). Not sure when we are leaving exactly or what, but that should be good. I really won't get a chance to do much while I am there since I will only be there for about 10 minutes before I have to leave again since I need to be back in Portland on July 2nd for work stuff. Stupid Job! The more I think about it the more I get annoyed. So I will stop thinking about it. Anyway, I am way excited for that to start.

Another thing that is exciting is that my friend Emily is in town and it is super fun to hang out with her. She is a fun girl. She is totally quirky and weird, but in that awesome I wish I could be like that way. The thing I like most about her is that she isn't afraid to be herself and I kinda hope that hanging out with her will cause some of that stuff to rub off on me. Here's to hoping. :)

Well, that is about all that is exciting that is going on in my life. That and the interns are here so work is now super busy because I get to spend amazingly awesome amounts of time babysitting them. In their defense, they don't know what to do, and how will they learn if I don't show them, but still, it can be really frustrating when my list of things to do is a million miles long and then I can't do any of it because I have to take care of them. Oh well I guess. They are fun kids and it should be a good summer.

I have started reading this new series that my roommate is into right now, but I am not sure how I feel about it. It is the 'House of Night' series written by PJ and Kristen Cast (they are a mother/daughter duo). I think it was more the mother wrote it and the daughter did a lot of heavy editing to make it sound like it wasn't written by a 40 year old woman and then she added a bunch of pop-culture, which I think it a bad idea because it really dates it, but whatever. Anyway, my roommate really likes this series, but I am not to sure how I feel about it. I mean, I will probably read them all, but I can't say that I am enjoying them. I have many thoughts and ruminations about them, which I don't feel like going into right now, so I think I will just say that much now and I will write my thoughts out better when I have read more of this series (I only just finished the first book last night and there are like 6!)

Well, I should be off. I need to go do some actual work while I am here at work. Boo. I wish it was the weekend, but, oh wait, I have to work this weekend! Boo again! Good thing I have some time off coming up or I would be seriously annoyed.

It's Been A While

2009-06-06T20:34:00.004-06:00

Since I posted on this blog.

Lol. Yes I was singing that song by Nickelback as I typed that. I am funny, I know. Whatever. But, it has been a long time since I posted - the last time being before my birthday - and I know all my faithful followers must be chomping at the bit to see how my life is going! So here I am to fill you in.

I will start with my birthday. I ended up helping Barlow move all the stuff out of his parents' house all day. I know, I know - you are sitting there thinking 'poor girl, had to move stuff all day on her birthday' but seriously, you shouldn't feel bad for me. I wanted to do it - he told me more than once that he wouldn't be offended if I left. But I got to see my friends all day, I got to do something useful, and I got to use my muscles (which I know there aren't a lot of, but it still felt good to use them). Afterwards we went to dinner with Barlow and Lexie and both my roomies and my other friend's Adam and Mark. It was good times. I had a really good birthday. :D

The interns got here which is exciting. It is weird, I felt like at this time last year I had so much ready for them, and now I feel like I still have so much to do to get ready for them to be here. I am prepared I guess, it just feels like it came sooner than usual. Which is pretty good I guess since that means that I didn't stress about it for a million years before they came. Yay for no stress. There are only four of them this year which is kinda nice since that is less people to deal with. Also, they seem like a fun group so this will be a good summer I think.

On Friday Jasmine, Julie, Adam, Mark and I all went out to Lexie and Barlow's house so we could have a bonfire and then go shooting on Sat morning. Well, it was kinda rainy and cold and Lex was feeling a bit sick, so we had a bonfire in their yard rather than on the beach (which is totally fine by me, walking in the sand in the dark is no fun!). Then the next morning (this morning!) we had a coming back deadline for Jasmine and Mark so we came back a little sooner after skipping out on shooting (the others all still went). It was good times.

My mom called and we chatted. I have to get my status renewed by June 30th and so we talked about that and how that was going to work out. I am planning on flying home to visit her and then I am going to drive with her down to Utah where she was planning to go for vacation anyway, and then fly back to Portland from there. It should be a good time if I can ever figure out which days are okay to go. Gah. It is kinda frustrating since I have to wait to hear back from someone that my boss was going to talk to and I haven't heard anything. Annoying. When I was talking to my mom she was babysitting my nephew and he is so cute (sounding anyway). He is getting very talkative and can say lots of words - I heard him saying 'spider' and 'cricket' as he was flipping through this book. Then I heard him say Grandma and Suzie (my brother's g/f) - he says her name super cute. Then mom said "do you want to say hi to auntie Mandi?" and he said "Mandi" Oh my gosh. So cute! He can say my name! He doesn't know what it means, but he can say it. I want to see him so much. I can't wait!!!!

Anyway, that is about all for now. I gotta go - not that I really have anything to do, I just can't type anymore since I am lying on my bed on my stomach and my laptop is in front of me and it is kinda hurting my back. So I am going. I hope this will satiate the masses for now. I will try not to take so long to post next time.

Free Stuff!

2009-05-29T13:51:00.003-06:00

So, since it is my birthday tomorrow I thought I would check online to see if there is any cool stuff I can get free on my birthday and there is a ton! I found this website and they had a good list. But most of them are things you have to sign up for in advance so do it sooner rather than later! I only wish I lived near a Disney park so I could go there for my birthday since they let you in free too! Dang. Oh well, I am going to eat well tomorrow!

May Long

2009-05-26T12:14:00.001-06:00

That's what we would always call it when I was in high school. What are you doing for May Long? Want to go camping on May Long? We didn't even specify that we were referring to the weekend. I don't know if people do that in the states. I tried it a few times and just got weird looks. Oh well.

So this weekend was good. I did so very many things. Friday we went to my friend's wedding after we made the strawberries for it (which turned out awesome by the way!) and it was so good to see them so happy. They are a really cute couple. At the reception a bunch of people were talking and we decided we needed to do something, so one of our friends said 'meet at my house around 10 and we can do something.' So we went over and by maybe 11 everyone who was going to be there ended up there. We couldn't really decide what to do so some people suggested going to get some VooDoo Doughnuts (which is this really awesome place in downtown Portland - if you live in the area and have never been there you should go!) so we went. We ended up taking three vehicles because there were so many of us. Our vehicle got slightly lost and then we had to park a few streets away from the place, so by the time we got there everyone else had their goodies. I wanted one, even though Jasmine and Emily didn't, so I sat waiting in line forever (it was the Rose festival so the lines were long). Anyway, everyone else was getting impatient so some of them left (their ride didn't park but instead drove around waiting for them) and the other car stayed but this one guy mentioned how impatient he was getting. It was kinda annoying since we get dragged there and it wasn't like I was dawdling - the line was just long! Anyway, after I got my doughnut I came out and ate it and then the other people decided they were going to go back to the house we met at and watch a movie. We said goodbye, but we didn't really feel like leaving since we just freaking got there! So we wandered around for a bit. Nearby we saw these guys playing music on 5 gallon pail's and stuff like that and we stopped to listen for a while - they were pretty good. I was going to take a quick video of it but it was too dark to see anything on my phone camera. So anyway, as we were watching some girl walked by and gave us free tickets to a club. So we figured, what the heck, lets check it out. It was not very busy, so no wonder they were giving out free tix, but it was fun. We got there around midnight and stayed there dancing until the bar closed at 2am.

Saturday was our birthday party. We spent all day cleaning and picking up things we thought we would need and stuff like that. The party ended up being really good I thought. There weren't a million people there, but there were quite a few, and we just barbequed and then we ended up building a fire in this portable fire pit thing we were using and just sat around the fire chatting and roasting marshmallows and stuff. It was good times.

Sunday we went to church and then we left early (I know, we are sinners and going to hell! lol) and went swimming at my friends apt pool. He was out of town and said we could use the pool if we wanted and it was so nice we just had to take him up on it. That was fun. We laid out for a while and then went in the pool. After that we went home and chatted through a movie (we intended to watch it, but instead we just talked through the whole thing) and messed around online and stuff.

Monday I came in to work for a bit. I wanted to set up my new office and also had some other things to do. It is cool having an office. I still feel like I am sitting at Skyla's desk though and that she might come in at any minute and kick me off her computer. lol. It is a weird feeling. But yeah, anyway, then after that we had some friends who were having a BBQ, so we went over there to eat. That was fun times. I like sitting around just chatting with people. Then we went to FHE for a brief few minutes but then we left to go to the pool again. This other girl Melanie came with us as well. It was super fun times. We swam around for a while then we went in the hot tub and had some good girl talk.

That was my weekend. It was fun for the most part. There were definitely parts where I was getting annoyed at people, but that never lasts long for me anyway, so whatever. I know this post is all about the stuff I have done and I really don't go into anything else (it is kinda a fluff post if you will) but that is okay right? You have to have those every once in a while right? Whatev. I don't really want to start going into my thoughts and feelings because then it will get all boring. Blah. So I will leave it at this. Thanks for reading!

Can't think of a title

2009-05-15T13:56:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I suck at posting. I did great for a while there but then I just kinda petered out on my posting. The real problem is that I got busy and/or lazy. I always feel like I have all this stuff to do and then I don't do it and instead I just sit around putting it off making it so I have even more to do and I never get anything accomplished. Like posting on my blog. Oh well. Nothing too exciting is going on anyway. Work is going great. I am going to write a paper. Well, let me rephrase ... I am going to help write parts of a paper and then it will be heavily edited and maybe three words that I originally wrote will end up in a journal somewhere. Lol. But that's cool. It will give me good experience and I like writing anyway (in case you hadn't noticed). Not to mention it will be good to put on a resume somewhere.

My roommate (the one who owns the house I live in) is going away for a week. She is leaving tomorrow and won't be back until the long weekend Monday. I am kinda excited. Not that I don't like having her around, because I do she is really fun (although sometimes odd, but aren't we all) but it will be different to have her gone for a while. And I like change. That is why I used to move all the time at BYU. It wasn't because I couldn't find a place I liked enough to stay longer, but rather it was just because I like moving and I like living somewhere new and having new people around etc etc. It is really hard on me that I have lived in this house for so long because I find myself itching to move. But instead of just moving down the street like I did at BYU I want to move across the country! Which I won't do, and I don't always want to do that, but still, I find that I have those 'cravings' once in a while.

The other thing that is good about my roommate leaving for a while is that it gives my other roommate and I a chance to get her birthday present together. You see, it is Jasmine's birthday on May 20, Julie's on May 24 and mine on May 30. Last year we had a fun party that turned not so fun but since Julie will be gone this year Jasmine and I decided to make her something good for her birthday. It is going to be awesome and I am way excited and it is perfect that she will be gone so we can leave it all over the place and not have her see it :D

On that note my planned projects for the next little while include:
1) write a few short stories that I can then submit to fiction journals
2) finish the knitting project I have been working on from the pattern I made up
3) edit my novel
4) write article parts for work
5) make b-day thing for Julie
6) figure out something for Jasmine's birthday
7) figure out something for my Mom's birthday (almost forgot about that - jk)
8) have a fun party
9) update blog more often

That is about all. Anyway, on that note I am going to go because my fingers are freezing and I have to sit on them while reading an article so I can get hints about how to write this thing for work (okay, I don't HAVE to sit on my hands, but I am going to). Have a good weekend kiddies and I will try to update more often (hence number 8 above).

Oh Man

2009-05-11T11:30:00.003-06:00

So I went to see Star Trek on Friday. I was planning to blog my thoughts about it the night I saw it since I knew a couple of other people weren't going to see it until the next day and I wanted to rub it in their faces. Oh well, I got distracted. It turns out I had a busy weekend. Friday was the movie.
It was so stinking good. It was funny cause every time someone new came on screen everyone in the audience would murmur and you just knew they were saying "Oh, that's so-and-so, he looks just like him!" And they did a really good job casting (I think). Also, I didn't know until Friday morning that Simon Pegg was in the movie and I just have to say that I love him. He is so great in everything I have seen him in, so that was a real treat.

Then Saturday we (Jasmine and I) went up to Tillamook to go shooting and spend some time with Lexie and Barlow. That was super fun. They have the cutest little house up there and every I go there I just want to hang out longer than I have time for. Anyway, then we rushed back and cleaned up in time to go to our friend's BBQ birthday party that he does out at his family's house every year. That was a good time. Then we left that a bit early to go to our other friend's bridal shower/bachelorette party. That was super fun. One of the best bridal shower's I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot!) the bachelorette part was fun too. We went to downtown Portland and asked random strangers to take compromising pictures with Christy (the bride to be). When I say compromising I mean like them giving her a hug or pretending they are proposing. It was fun and most of the strangers we asked to help us out were super good sports about it (thanks random Portland guys!).

Sunday of course was church, and more importantly, mother's day. I love my mother. She is a good person. I really am glad that she is my mom becuase not only do I get to hang out with her and call her whenever I want, but that means I am going to turn out like her, which is awesome. And I am not just saying those things because I know she reads this blog, but rather, I am saying it because I mean it. I even called and chatted with my Grandma Reeder for a bit. She is a special lady as well and I really like her. I am lucky to have such a good family.

Since my family is not close enough I could go hang out with them, Jasmine was kind enough to invite me to have dinner with her family. It was great. They are a fun group of people - they are just really accepting and loving. I felt like one of the family even though I had never met most of them before then. After dinner Jasmine's cousin came to stay with us for the night she Jasmine could do her hair and then she could have company on the way to the hospital tomorrow since their grandpa is having surgery.

Now I am at work again. Boring boring me. There is one funny story from yesterday though. We went to Safeway so Jasmine could get some flowers for her mom and grandma and aunt's. So we are in the parking lot and I had my door open and Jasmine was getting her purse out of the back seat on the driver's side. I had got out and I was leaning back in to grab my phone and I had my hand on the car (stupid stupid girl!) and Jasmine closed the door right on my finger. I just said "Oh F*** open the door please please please please please." Jasmine was like "What? Are you serious?" She couldn't even tell that my finger was in there because there were no problems closing the door. So she opened it again and my finger survived. It was actually really funny. And my finger is only a little sore today - and there isn't even a bruise or anything (yet). I will leave you on that funny note until next time. :D

Inspiration

2009-05-06T11:50:00.001-06:00

I was inspired the other day in the grocery store. I was in line behind this woman and her total came to about $45 or so. Then she handed this huge wad of coupons to the cashier and I saw the total go down down down ... until she ended up paying only about $4 for the entire cart full of stuff. It was amazing. It kinda made me want to coupon clip. We will see about that though. The problem with that is that it takes forethought and planning and usually I am too unmotivated to do either of those things. We'll see.

Boring Old Me

2009-05-05T14:09:00.005-06:00

Well, I haven't posted in a while so I figured I should make an effort, even though it is going to be a sucky post since I am the same boring old me as usual (hence the title). The weekend wasn't bad. The bleed went fine and Skyla's talk was great. I mean, Dr. Skyla's talk went great. Lol. Then on Friday night we went out to McMenamin's (the Hillsdale Pub one) and hung out for a long time to celebrate her success. It was good times.

****Spoiler Alert******
Then Saturday we went to see The Wolverine movie. Now I know that every fan has already posted their thoughts on it and I agree with most of those. I think they did a little poorly for the reason he lost his memory. And seriously, the part where they finally defeat the baddy and he falls with his head all chopped off but his laser eyes still working and making the nuclear tower thing fall apart was pretty ridiculous. I seriously laughed out loud during that scene. My friend next to me must have thought I was having convulsions or something. But all in all I like the movie.

Anyway, then we went to a Mary Kay thingy my friend was doing and that was fun. Then we played some Rock Band. I love that freaking game! Sunday was good too. It was Stake Conference so it was early for once, and the choir sang so it was even earlier! Oh well, we sounded pretty darn good if I do say so myself, so it was all worth it. And we got to be out of church by noon which is just amazingness in and of itself.

Also, the girl who had the Mary Kay thing got these great highlights recently (courtesy of my awesome roommate) so she inspired me to want highlights as well. So last night we did it. We gave me some highlights. It isn't a lot different than before, just slightly lighter on top. It looks sun-kissed. I am liking it. My hairstylist is awesome! If you want to put her services to use just let me know and I will try to hook you up (she lives in Oregon though so ... heads up ... lol).

Blah

2009-05-01T00:53:00.003-06:00

I am really sick of being at work. I came in this morning and was here until about 12:30, then I went home and napped for a while, then I came back around 5:00pm and I won't be leaving again until about 1:30 in the am. And then I have to come back in the morning around 7am. I might as well just move in! But, today I was praising my Mom and the fact that I am a lot like her. See, she works nights and she has this amazing ability to fall asleep whenever she needs to. I have the same ability (I am not sure if it is a genetic ability, but it surely is amazing!) Anyway, if I hadn't had that nap this afternoon I would be dying now ... and tomorrow who knows what I would be like! All I can say is, thanks Mom.

Needless to say work is kinda crazy and so my actual life is pretty much non-existent. Oh well, at least tomorrow will be fun. We have a work talent show in the afternoon and I get to dress up like a monkey (we are doing this evolution of a scientist thing - it is a musical odyssey and it should be funny). And then tomorrow night we are going out to celebrate Sklya's defending her thesis (which is why I have to be up so early). It should be a good afternoon/evening. Let me just say that I am so glad that I will have Saturday off and can sleep in like it is going out of style!

On that note, I am going to sign off, because I have nothing else to say.

Lazy ...

2009-04-28T10:10:00.003-06:00

As my mother pointed out to me last night, I haven't posted since I got my new phone. I guess I am just too busy talking on said phone to update my blog (although, I don't see her blogging, so I am not really sure if she has any right to complain! lol). But yeah, so here I am attempting to update and not be too dreadfully boring.

Let me start with my weekend. It was good. I watched a lot of Buffy. I saw '17 Again'. I went to a karaoke party at a friend's house. I made a new skirt. I worked because my boss missed her flight. I watched more Buffy (just in case you were wondering we are almost done season 4 - then on to my favorite season!) It was a good weekend all in all.

Last night was FHE and we did a photo scavenger hunt. It was super fun. And we fit 5 people in the trunk of my car! Talk about a spacious trunk! Lucky me for having such a grande trunk. And I learned how to put the seats down to make the trunk really big - yay me! I can't believe I have had the car for over a year now and I just barely learned how to do that. Oh well. Anyway, it was good times. And our team won. Woo.

In sad news, my Mom called just before FHE and told me that my aunt has breast cancer. She is having a mastectomy on May 6 and then she will go in a month later to see if they need to do try doing chemo and radiation therapy. I just want her to know my prayers are with her and I know she can handle whatever trials come her way because she is a strong woman. I just want to also comment here that I have a link on the side of my page ----> that says Breast Cancer Site (or something like that). If you go to that website and click the little button they will donate money to help fund breast cancer research. Go and Click.

The Reason I Am Awesome!

2009-04-22T09:51:00.002-06:00

I know, I know, the thing you have all been waiting for. The reason for my awesome-ness. Drum roll please. I got a new phone. And not just a new phone, but a new phone number. I know, I know, this is a little disappointing and you are now sad you held your breath so long and mad at me for making you do it, but oh well. Lol. If you want my new number email me and I will give it to you (if I haven't already).

It is an LG Voyager. I love it. It is really fun with a touch screen on front and then it flips open to reveal a qwerty keyboard inside so it makes texting super easy. It is a bit heavy and kinda bigger (I thought cell phone sizes were trending downwards, but bot was I wrong - the iPhone changed it all) but I still like it a lot. It is pretty nifty. And it has a 2 megapixel camera, which is better than my old phone camera. Heck, it is almost as good as my actual digital camera since the one I have is really old and only has 3.2 megapixels. Lol. Here are some pictures. Now all I need is someone to call me ...

Games!

2009-04-20T12:34:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to tell you all about this game. Basically, just go to this link and then you can create a little 'brute'. You just type in a name, and then you pick a character shape and colors by clicking on the little person and the little paint palette. Then, if you follow the link you will be my apprentice so you will fight me first, then you can go on to fight other little dudes who are on the same level as you and you can level up and stuff, and as you level up you get more cool weapons and skills and stuff. But the best part is that it is all random. You don't have to do anything other than click on the word fight. It has a little automated fight and you can cheer for your little guy and then you can do it over again. And if you don't like how good or bad your thing is turning out you can just create a new one. And as you get apprentice's then you get more experience points as well. You only have 6 fights your first day and then you have 3 fights every day after that. It is really fun. I am enjoying letting the little things loose on each other. :D

I will fill you in on my weekend later!

I Am Awesome!

2009-04-17T10:58:00.002-06:00

And I am not going to tell you why. Well, I will, but not for a few days - not until it is official. And then when you do find out you are going to be disappointed because it is not as good of a reason as you all hope. :)

In other news, I had a pretty good night last night. I made some yummy rice krispy squares but with fruity pebbles instead of regular krispies and they are de-lish (but way way more sugary than I would like! whew!) And yes, I have eaten more of them then I would like to admit. Oh well, in the words of my Grandma "I gotta get rid of 'em!" Then I will not have them to eat anymore and I can try to work off the 5 pounds I am going to gain from eating the whole pan in 2 days. Lol. Then I finished the book I was reading (it wasn't that good) and I surfed the internet for a while. And then I was bored because my roomie decided to go visit her family for the night and my other roomie was visiting the neighbors so I decided to go for a walk. It was good. I got my iPod and my cell phone and I went for like an hour long walk. It was good. Then I watched some mindless tv and went to bed. Not the most exciting night, but it was nice. Although I missed my roomie.

Saturday morning we are going to go shooting. That should be fun. I hope it is a little bit warmer than the last time we went. That time it was f-f-f-freezing! When we weren't taking our turns with the guns we would huddle together in a group so that we didn't lose any limbs. Okay, not really, but it was pretty chilly. Also, we are hoping not to sustain any injuries this time. Last time we went my roomie caught the scope from a pretty high-powered rifle in the forehead on the kickback. She still has a perma-bump from it. Sad. Yet, kinda funny.

Tonight I am not really sure what we are doing. Maybe 5 Guys again? Maybe nothing. I know some people from the Ward are going to play Ultimate Frisbee but I abhor that game and won't play it. Plus, I am too out of shape to compete (but even if I was in shape I wouldn't play that stupid game!).

I am still trying to think of an idea for the story I want to write for the competition (I need to hurry so I can have time for writing and editing!) and I am not really sure what to do. I have received some advice (thanks to those who advised) and I know that often true stories are better but I don't have any good stories from my life that I think would work. But I am going to keep thinking about it. I was also thinking about using this idea I got from a dream I had - but that is a horror story (would that make it more of a nightmare?) and I am not sure I am any good at writing horror. I guess it can't hurt to try right? I think I will start the horror story just so I am working on something as I try and think about some other good ideas. Plus, I wrote out my dream when I had it, so I kinda already have a basis. Yippee! This will be fun! (I know, I know, I am a major dork!)

Again! Oh Noes!

2009-04-16T14:11:00.001-06:00

Okay, I know I already posted today, but there is this writing competition that I wanted to enter ... and the deadline is in a month. But the problem is that the entry can only be 4000 words. Uh oh. I am not sure I have anything at all decent that is that short (I don't know if I have anything at all decent that is longer than that either, but I have more recent stuff that is longer). So, if you have a good idea then let me know. I think tonight I am going to have to look through some of my old story ideas and try to find something that is suitable for that length. Wish me luck!

I've Done It Again!

2009-04-16T11:06:00.002-06:00

So last night I did that thing where I go up to my bed to 'read' and then I fall asleep and don't wake up until the next morning. It was nice. I had had a headache all day and I was feeling kinda grumpy and sleepy and so I read but I wasn't really into the book all that much so I set it down and fell asleep around 7:30. It was awesome. I woke up all happy and warm this morning and didn't even need my alarm (which was good since I didn't set it last night). I even had enough time to get breakfast from McDonald's before work. I really do enjoy a good Mcy-Dees brekkie.

But I forgot my phone at home. I might have to run home and get it at lunch. But I am not sure. By the time lunch rolls around I figure that the day will be over soon and do I really need my phone and then I just don't go. We will see how I feel about driving anywhere by then. Maybe I will just want to get out of this place for a while.

Anyway ... that is about all I have to say. I am content. :D