My very normal, very boring family

I want to preface this post by saying that I'm not referring to anyone specific when I say a few things here.  If some of my comments hit close to home for you, I'm sorry.  My intent is not to make anyone feel bad or be judgemental or arrogant.  I just simply want to express my gratitude for my very normal, very boring family. 
There we are.  That's how many we started with.  That's my mom and dad in the middle.  My oldest sister is in the black.  Then me in the blue (seriously, what is that shirt?) My younger sister in the white and finally my bebe brother behind my dad.  And I just want to thank them for helping me be who I am today.  I've been thinking alot about my family recently because we're all going to be together (A LOT) during the next few weeks and we'll probably get sick of each other but then cry and sob when everyone goes back to their lives.
First my parents.  Thank you for respecting each other.  Thank you for staying married and raising us with the gospel.  Thank you for teaching me right and wrong and living what you were teaching.  Thank you for helping me get an education and stressing the importance of reading and being informed.  Thank you for not kicking me out of the house- EVER.  Thank you for loving me enough to discipline me and be a parent rather than my friend, although you are that, too.  Thank you for all the little things like teaching me how to work and earn my life rather than expect someone to give it to me.  Thank you for giving up literally everything you had to go serve a mission. 
For Meg, Emi and Herc:  Thank you for being siblings that I want to be around.  Thank you for the laughter and jokes and arguments.  Thank you for loving each other enough to speak to each other and associate with each other.  Thank you for bringing me a shoe when I needed to squish a spider.  Thank you for letting me borrow your car or your Girbaud jeans.  Thank you for keeping "secrets" in order to surprise others.  Thank you for always welcoming me in your homes for holidays and vacations.  Thank you for calling me when you drink hot chocolate for the first time and sing to Andy Williams.  Thank you for movie reviews and political debates and nasty card games with the block technique.  Thank you for turning me loose in your kitchens for baby blessings and baptisms.  Thank you for marrying amazing people who have added to our very normal, very boring family.  And thank you for raising some of the best nieces and nephews an aunt could ask for.
I'm not really sure where my burst of gratitude came from.  Perhaps I've just listened to too much bad about the family lives of people I know or those on the news and in the courts.  I couldn't tell you.  But I'm truly so thankful we're as normal and boring as they come.  (I hope the black helipcopters picked up on every word.)

The stock I come from... might explain a few things LOL

Meet my Great Grandmother :)  I think I'm the final sister to post her on our blogs but really I added her for the benefit of Sun and Lou and any other overwhelmed mothers who might be reading.  She scrapbooked this picture herself, long before Picassa and Snapfish and archival safe adhesives.  I love the determination on her face as she's hauling across the yard with a football-like child tucked under her arm!  I'd hate to be that kid when they arrived where ever they were going!  Our favorite part of the picture is the caption she added underneath:

"GO RIGHT BACK AND LET ME ALONE!"

Yep- ask any of the men in our family- this is where we get it :)

The Garden Party

I hosted a Garden Party at my home tonight with some of my girlfriends who are little crazy and fun.  It was a requirement to wear a hat like you would see at a Southern Garden Party or perhaps the Royal Wedding.  Jane probably got closest to the Royal Wedding look with her sparkler inspired piece but the rest of us stayed with flowers.  This is what mine looked like. (keep in mind- we were somewhat mocking the whole idea...)

And here we all are with our hats:
Top left- Jill- she didn't wear one but we let her come anyway haha
Top middle- Jane- sparklers!
Top right- Sunshine- she hand made her flowers that you can't see- bummer!
Bottom left- Rach- big feathers!  I should have included those.
Bottom middle- Aleisha Lou- leopard print with handmade flowers- dynamo!
Bottom right- Mars- awesome awesome purple "mink" tail to the side.
Silly for sure!  But we sure had a great time!

Shredded.

Three huge sacks of old paper work.  Gone.  My filing cabinet is happy!:)

Happy Birthday to my blog!

Its been four years ago today that I jumped into the blogging world.  I still haven't figured out why I blog other than its kinda fun every now and then.  I obviously don't say anything of great importance.  I don't use it to further a career or make money.  The reasons I started it are no longer valid.  So why blog?  I don't know.  But I'll keep doing it until I'm bored, I suppose.  I never know who actually reads it and in some ways it really doesn't matter to me.  I know there are moments where I WISH specific people would read it, but... meh... no big deal.  I wish OTHER people would update their blogs.  I still enjoy blogging more than facebook so *hint, hint* some of you get on the updating!

For my Papa :)

That's my dad.  This is a picture from his second mission to Norway.  This time he took my mom with him. :)  He looks very serious- and he can be- but he's also one of the funniest people I know.  I thought of posting something lengthy and tender, but then I remembered several distinct moments where I realized how much I needed my dad because he knows what I don't know- what to do with a car. And even when he didn't know, he made it up and it sounded like he did to me and he remained my all-knowing father.

I was in my third year of college.  I was living away from home.  Up until that point, my car had always been looked after by my dad.  If anything needed to happen with it, my dad took care of it for me.  Oil change?  Dad.  Tires checked?  Dad.  I was driving a little red Mazda 323.  This car gave me more fun stories with my dad than I think all my other cars combined.  Her name was Scarlett. I bought Scarlett for gas mileage.  She wasn't in the best body shape but she was mine.  I thought she was especially cool because she had a sunroof haha Here is her story...

I had to travel through Sardine Canyon in order to return to school.  It can be treacherous, at best, during a snow storm.  One evening I was headed back to school and was just coming around the bend near Mantua when my driver's side windshield wiper flew off Scarlett!  Suddenly the snow is piling up and all I can hear is the fingernail-on-chalkboard sound as my barren metal wiper is scraping across my windshield!  I somehow managed to pull off the side of the road and figure out the process of changing my passenger wiper to my driver's side wiper to make it home.  The next morning I had to ask dad what to do.  Problem solved.  Go to Checker and get some new ones.  They'll help you out.  My dad knows everything. :)

Next problem with Scarlett.  Again, I'm driving up to school and as I'm passing 21st south on I-15, I start hearing this horrible ripping noise in my car!  I'm looking around, wondering what is happening.  Frantically trying to think of what to do because my car is still running.  The noise continues until about 6th South when it suddenly comes to a stop.  I glance in my rearview mirror to see my sunroof glass being shattered on the side of the freeway.  WHAT?!  I open the fabric part and sure enough, no glass.  Well, I couldn't do much about it so I kept driving.  Imagine the phone call home to dad when I said "Umm... my sunroof flew off my car."  The BEST part of that story is that when we tried to have it replaced, they kept claiming that make and model of my car didn't come with a sunroof.  Apparently the previous owners had it "custom" made LOL

Final story about Scarlett and my dad is probably my all time favorite.  I'm not sure my dad has ever laughed so hard about my mistakes in my life and thankfully, this is one I'm ok with people laughing at.  Scarlett needed to have her oil changed.  I wasn't going home for a bit so I asked my dad what to do.  I was a junior in college and had never ever been to have the oil changed in my car.  So I called my dad, of course.  He told me to just go to Jiffy Lube and tell them I wanted to get my oil changed.  He warned me they would try and talk me in to full service but to just be firm and tell them I only needed an oil change.  Ok.  I. CAN. DO. THIS.  I wanted to be prepared so I called Jiffy Lube and asked if I needed to make an appointment.  "No miss, just first come, first serve."  ok- what time do you open?  Is it busy?  "We open at 7 and yes, Saturday's can get a little busy."
So there I was- first car in line BEFORE the bay doors even opened.  Keep in mind, I'm living in a college town with college boys working.  (sigh- I'm an idiot).  I pull Scarlett right over the bay and this nice sophomore asks if I'd like full service.  NO! Just an oil change, please.  "Are you sure?"  YES!   (gosh- stop being so pushy.  my dad warned me about you.)  So he says "Ok- go over to that computer- we need some information from you."  O gosh... so I walk over and start entering in my information!  I can hear some giggles behind me but I'm thinking I've got this covered!  This nice sophomore walks over and says "Umm, can I help you?"  My reply? "No thanks- I think I've got it!" 
When I'm done, I turn around and this lovely older gentleman, about my dad's age, walks over and escorts me to the waiting room.  A few minutes later one of the boys brings me in my air filter and asks if I want a new one... NO!  FINALLY, this nice man comes in and just sits down next to me for a minute (keep in mind, there's STILL no one in Jiffy Lube on this very busy Saturday) and says "This is your first time getting your oil changed, isn't it?"  I immediately get self-conscious and sheepishly say "Yes... does it show?"  LOL And this kind man explains to me what oil changing etiquette breaches I've caused but then says he's proud of me for trying.  hahahahahahaha Scarlett was finished and as I drove away, I could hear the laughter reverberating around the bay.
I immediately went home and called my dad to tell him how it went.  I can still hear him laughing on the other end of the line... yep.  True story.

Scarlett went to my sister Emi.  She drove her for awhile and when she was sold, I'm convinced she became a drug trafficking car!  Such a bitter ending for such a well loved car. haha   As for my dad, he still helps me with my car issues, but mostly by telling me to call Farell lol  Love you Papa-san!

Fern Young Hall

Writing this post may make has made me a little nostalgic.  It may make my sisters and some of my friends feel the same way.  Years ago, my older sister, Meg, was the first of us to attend Snow College.  Its a junior college in the middle of the state in a very small town.  Everyone knew everyone.  Your chem teacher was also your bishop.  It was far enough away from home that you could feel like you were growing up and being independent, yet it was close enough to home that you could come for a weekend and do your laundry.  When Meg went down there, she lived in Fern Young Hall.  This was on campus dorm housing (as most places were, even if you lived "off campus" you were close enough to still be on campus when you crossed the street.)  I was the next to attend Snow and live in Fern Young.  Then finally Emi completed the trio of sisters to attend and live in the same dorm.  It was set up as a small apartment with bad couches, outdated appliances, mattresses covered in plastic that made your sheets slip off and we loved every minute of it.  I have so many memories of being down there with Meg ( I felt SO old when she let me come down to stay for a night), being down there myself and meeting Steph Judd (now Olsen), who lived across the hall, on our first day of classes.  We had "Fitness for Death" at 7:30 a.m.  I ended up living with her for another roughly 8 years.  Then it was Emi's time.  Fern Young has a long history with my family.

One of my dear friends, Loren, still lives down in San Pete county and we keep in touch, mostly through FB these days.  He just posted this picture earlier today.  Fern Young and a little piece of Snow College history is being torn down.  Demolished and lying in rubble as I write this.  If I'm being honest, I shed a few tears.

I spent a lot of good time in that place.  My bedroom was actually right where the tractor/backhoe machine thing is parked.  I met many good people down there and some of my dearest friends- Loren, Steph, Amy, Ryan.  I got locked out.  I played practical jokes and had them played back.  I sang BIG SPENDER at the top of my lungs more than once while a feather boa was draped across my shoulders.  I cooked my first turkey in Steph's apartment.  I saw my first dead bunny on a window ledge, left compliments of the "local" boys who went bunny bashing at night.  I spent my first weekend entirely alone in a place I called home because all my roommates were gone.  I learned to shower when there were people on the other side of the curtain getting ready.  I figured out how to ration toilet paper because it wasn't my turn to buy it that week.  I forgot how to lock my front door because there wasn't any reason to.  I watched the running of the sheep every spring and fall right from my front window.  I discovered the best place to get some sun was the front porch. 

I learned so many important life lessons just from being within those walls, it really makes me feel like a little bit of my life is going with it.  As you can see, the memories are numerous.  The experiences are priceless.  Even now, every time I drive down I-15 and see the turn off, my heart wants to head over, through all the little places that lead to my first home away from home.  I've been back a few times but once Charlie's Chapel was gone, I didn't want to go back. Charlie's was one of two fast food places in town.  Todd's dad owned it and that's where Loren and I would go to meet with Todd and Dave to discuss life and drink $.49- 32 oz Dr. Pepper's.  I was the only girl allowed haha The boys called it their "religion" class.

I loved my little home.  May it rest in peace.

What do I do in the summertime?

Oh what do you do in the summertime?
When all the world is... blue?  green?  I can't remember! haha I've been singing that old Primary song in my head all afternoon and now I can't remember the words!  That's about my luck.
There's something about swimming in a stream and drinking lemonade and watching the clouds go by.  That's all I've got.  Anyway- without fail, people are always asking me what I do with my time when I'm out of school.  Here goes- in no particular order-

• Read
• Stay up late and watch talk shows
• Organize my house and rearrange furniture (some of you think my house is already in order... I just hide it really well during the school year.  The real organization takes place during the summer.)
• Plant a garden and flowers (REAL ones this year, haha!)
• Watch the entire series of Dawson's Creek or Alias a few discs at a time
• Attend conferences
• Work as a receptionist for my friend's company
• Go to lunch with people who have real lunch hours, unlike myself
• Movies... lots of movies
• Lay in my backyard and read (did I mention I read a lot during the summer?)
• Hang out with old friends and family
• Watch every tennis tournament :)
• Date jailbirds... LOL kidding kidding

And that's some of what I do.  I know it sounds like 10 weeks of relaxation and you all wish you could have that much time off your job, too.  Trust me- if you want my job in order to get the 10 weeks off, I'll be more than happy to arrange that for you.

21 Day Promise

I was recently called to be a ward missionary.  (insert here all the groans and complaints that went on in my head)  As part of the ward missionary leadership, we were given the 21 Day Promise and asked to participate in it with the others.  (I say we meaning myself and Sheridan, my "companion".)  If I'm being honest, this calling is way out of my comfort zone and I really don't enjoy it.  However, I have really enjoyed the 21 Days so I'll get back to that.
Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert E. Wells issued a special promise to the Salt Lake City Mission.  The instructions were to make a list of those in your life who were less active, struggling, non-members, etc.  You were to include them in your morning and evening prayers.  As you did this, you were also to read specific scriptures each day.  By the end of the 21 days, the Lord promises that at least one of the individuals will experience a change of heart. They quoted D&C 82:10 "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
I'm just coming up on the last 5 days of my challenge.  I can't say that any of my friends have had lightening bolt moments and suddenly want to be baptized or reactivated.  But I can say that I've had the opportunity to speak more with them about the Gospel.  I've had the chance to clear up some misconceptions and share my testimony about certain parts of the Gospel like temple work and tithing. Just planting little seeds, as it may be. 
Here's the scriptures if you'd like to do your own list and participate:
1 Nephi 3:7
1 Nephi 11:1-6
2 Nephi 2:24-29
2 Nephi 31: 10-15
2 Nephi 32: 7-9
2 Nephi 33: 4, 12
Enos 1:1-8
Alma 5:13-16, 33-36, 46
Alma 17:2-4
Alma 34: 18-24
Alma 37: 37-40, 43-45
Helamen 3: 27-30, 35
3 Nephi 12: 2-16
3 Nephi 13: 7-15
3 Nephi 17: 18-25
Moroni 6: 1-6
Moroni 7: 6-9
Moroni 7: 15-18, 26
Moroni 7: 44-48
Moroni 10: 3-5
3 Nephi 18: 18-21
The progression of the scriptures and what they say is probably one of my favorite parts.  Its been a fun thing to do and a great blessing at the same time.

Dating... from my perspective

Remember that tirade I wrote sometime last year about dating?  Well, its not time for another one of those, thank goodness haha But I thought I should share a few of my thoughts and experiences to maybe shed some light for those of you who think we "older" women aren't trying hard enough or are being too picky. 
Since April Conference, there's been a lot of talk in my circles about marriage and "securing" ourselves an eternal companion.  Never fear- still something I'd like and want and hope for!  However, I get really frustrated when people think its just that easy.  When people assume that I don't try.  When they tell me I'm too content with my life and no man will ever feel like he can bring anything to the table I'd want so that's why I'm not dating more.  *sigh* 
I'm sure a lot of these individuals feel they are expressing their thoughts out of concern and doing what they feel is best.  I don't feel like they're being malicious.  However, I DO feel like they don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about.  You can't tell me that you remember what its like to be single when you got married before you could even buy alcohol.  You don't have any idea what its like to go to church by yourself or buy a house by yourself or pay your bills by yourself or whatever.  My comments are not to garner sympathy or pity- please spare me.  But perhaps shed some light on the process that you claim is so easy and I should try to do more of.
Let's start with where to find me a date.  If I want someone of my faith, the best place for me to start is at church.  Ok- I can attend a singles ward and go to all the activities they plan.  I can even be in charge of those activities in various callings for 12 of the roughly 15 years I attended singles wards.  Not working.
So... alright- I'll try out this online thing, right?  Some of my best of friends have had great experiences with it so I'll give it a shot.  Here's what I ended up with:

• One man who told me I was "pretty but not really beautiful, but that was ok because all the beautiful women were actually crazy."
• Or the man who wanted me to meet his daughter after our third date and was incredibly upset when I told him I wasn't ready to bring kids into it unless I knew where we were going... he responded "Well don't you know where this is going?!  I do!" 
• Or maybe the man who thought he could turn raw sewage into drinking water?
• Or the man who cried about his ex-wife on our first date?
• Or finally- and my personal favorite- the most recent guy who apologized for not being in touch over the weekend because he'd been in JAIL.

So let's see- my next option for finding someone to date would be frequenting bars or dance clubs.  Considering I don't drink, don't want someone who drinks and seriously doubt I could find a worthy priesthood holder in that situation, I'm fairly sure those to places are out. *sigh*  Where else would you suggest?  There's a Home Depot at the top of my street and I've considered spending my summer mornings there to try and snag myself a general contractor... (KIDDING! haha lighten up!)
Again, I'm not sharing this to garner sympathy or hear all your well-intentioned words of comfort and support.  At this point in my life, its really quite comical. I mean, who can say "Ya... I didn't hear back from "BOB" because he was in jail."  That's something you hear from Jerry Springer, right?  Yes, I'm quite content with my life.  I wish things were different but I know I'm being watched out for and protected in the process. I can't ask for more than that.  Just maybe consider your words and actions before rushing to judge or comment on the marital status of others.  

What is beautiful?

I was talking with one of my favorite people in the world tonight.  While we were talking, he was playing with my piano a little bit and talking about how he wished he could make beautiful things...but what exactly was beautiful?  I responded that art was beautiful, music was beautiful, sunsets are beautiful, flowers are beautiful. He stopped my list cold when he said "Are your 7th graders beautiful on the last day of school?  I bet their parents think they're beautiful.  All parents think their kids are beautiful."  I think he was trying to be sarcastic, but at some point, we both realized it was a really good question and point to think about. So I sat there for a moment because my initial response was "NO!  They were crazy today and I hope the 4 hours I have with them tomorrow goes quickly."

But as fast as I thought that, a few things of beauty came to my mind.  For example, the beauty and wonder I saw on my Ukranian student's face when he saw an air popper for the first time.  At the time, he had only been in the U.S. for about two weeks and knew little to no English.  I had two 7th grade boys who were letting Kola shadow them.  They plugged in their popper and when the kernels started to float and come out, Kola took the lid off and tried to look inside!  HA!  All I saw was his face and popcorn shooting 3 feet in the air!  But he was so delighted and fascinated, I couldn't be mad at all.  It was a beautiful moment.

Another beautiful moment was watching two bff's walking down the hall together.  I was standing at my door inbetween classes, trying to be a presence in the halls haha I couldn't hear their conversation, but it was obvious that one was very upset about something.  The other one shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "I don't know but I'm sorry." and then proceeded to put her arm around her friend and continue to walk as the bff rested her head on her shoulder.

I think my favorite beautiful thing I've seen was not recently, but two years ago at Christmas time.  I work with the Sub for Santa program at my school.  We had selected a young girl and her father to be one of our families.  When we spoke with the dad, he had been very gruff and told us that if his daughter wanted something, we'd have to work through her.  So we went to the girl and explained the situation and asked if there was something she wanted for Christmas that we could help with.  She kind of hestitated so I prompted her a little bit.  When she finally responded, her response was simple: "I want a bed for my dad.  He has to sleep on the floor."  Tears welled up in my eyes and I asked her a little more about their situation.  Dad worked nights and slept most days.  But they only had one bedroom and he gave it to his daughter.  He slept in the living room on the floor because the couch hurt his back.  To make a long story short, I made a couple calls and RC Willey donated a $1300 bed set for this dad.  When it was delivered, we pulled into the driveway and the dad walked out.  He looked like he'd been through several trips to Sturgess and back.  When Brandon, the guy I work with, explained that his daughter had only wanted a bed for her dad, this gruff of a man burst into tears.  It was a beautiful moment.

Are my 7th graders beautiful on the last day of school?  Probably not.  But they are at so many other times that its easy to see how their parents think they are beautiful all the time.  I'm not a parent myself, but I feel fairly parental with some of these kids and I do see their beauty even when they're not doing beautiful things. 

I've thought about that concept on an eternal level and I feel really blessed to have a Heavenly Father who thinks I'm beautiful even when I think my 7th graders are not. He's my heavenly parent.  And just like my earthly parents or my students' parents, He's going to find the beauty in me and its up to me to create beautiful moments, not just with art or music or sunsets or flowers, but with my life.