I am so excited that today is Friday, May 11th! My mom is coming to visit this weekend, which is always wonderful, but it is extra special since it's Mother's Day weekend. We have a weekend full of fun activities planned, things we hope she enjoys.
My mother's visits aren't stressful but very relaxed and fun. Mom doesn't judge the state of my house (I do a quick straightening beforehand, of course), my decoration, my cooking, my relationship with Steve, or anything else. She comes ready to have a good time, and we do our best to help her accomplish this and to make sure she feels at home. Her visits are my favorite because seeing us isn't her secondary purpose - she isn't here to go shopping or see a doctor or any other reason - the main reason she's here is to visit her daughter and son-in-law. It makes me feel special and very loved. (For the record, I love visits from people even if we're not the primary reason for the visit. So, come visit me even if you have another reason for doing so!)
My relationship with my mom has grown a lot as I've matured and become smarter. I appreciate our similarities and differences and am really, really thankful to be able to talk to her about my life without worrying too much about how that's going to affect our relationship. I know that she doesn't always agree with choices I make, but I know without a doubt that she will always love me.
Mom deserves a lot of the credit for me turning out as good as I have (however good that is). She instilled in me a sense of cleanliness and taught me the skills to obtain that state. Growing up, my brothers and I always had chores; we had a chore or two that had to be done after school before we could go out and play with friends AND we spent a good couple hours or so every Saturday cleaning the house. At times, I had wished that she was like my friend's mom who never made her do anything, not even make her own bed! Now, though, I'm so grateful to have learned to appreciate having a clean house and the know-how to clean it well.
Mom was the disciplinarian in our home. When we broke a rule or did something that was unacceptable (more often than not we knew it wasn't a good thing to do), she didn't let it slide. I like that she wasn't obscure or surprising in her discipline. We always knew what was good and what wasn't. We also knew without a doubt that we'd get punished. Mom was consistent and very fair - we all had the same standards and were equally punished when we didn't obey. She taught that there are consequences to our actions - it was our
choice whether or not we did something and so we had to live with the
consequences. It's probably one of the best lessons a person could ever learn. Thank you, Mom!
My mom wasn't all work and no play, though. I have happy memories of playing with her. When I was a teenager, she and I would always be on a team against my dad and older brother when playing Pinochle. We'd cheat horrifically and still lose every time. It was so fun, though! We'd giggle about it and I loved the conspiratorial glint in her eyes when she'd use our prearranged signals. I remember how we'd all get giggling so hard before family prayer, Mom giggling right along with us. It would make my dad so upset that a few times he'd leave the room, which made us laugh harder.
My love of walking comes from my mom. Off and on while I was growing up, she'd take me walking with her in the evenings. She walked pretty fast, so I had to work hard to keep up with her, but it kept me in shape when I was already showing signs of a tendency towards chubbiness. And we would talk. Talk about our day, boys, dreams, plans, everything. I learned to be able to trust my mom during these walks. I've always been able to talk to her.
Faith, hope, belief in a loving Father in Heaven and Savior were taught in our home. We're not the most religious family in the world, but my mom instilled in us these traits. Although I haven't always been as obedient to my beliefs as I could have been, I have never once doubted the things she taught me. The foundation she laid for me is priceless. I know people who didn't have that and they miss it, whether they know it or not. Having experienced the death of loved ones, how blessed am I to know that I will see them someday! How blessed am I to know that I can be forgiven of my sins by a Father who loves me and wants me to be happy! Thank you, Mom, for giving me these and so many other lights of knowledge and hope.
Mom, I definitely don't tell you often enough how much I love you and how much I appreciate being your daughter. This blog doesn't even begin to express my feelings, but I hope you're able to see the top of the iceberg and realize how much more lies hidden underneath. I'm so glad I'll get to spend Mother's Day weekend with you. I love you!!
Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
April Updates
I had a good April. It's always such a lovely month. I enjoy watching the flowers pop through the earth and for color to be re-introduced into my world. I love the cessation (hopefully) of snow and enjoy the rain as long as there are a few days of sunshine in between storms. Even if it does snow, at least I know that it won't last long and the snow will melt quickly, if it sticks at all.
I didn't have the best of months as far as goals went, quite frankly, but I'm still pleased with how my month turned out. Here's the rundown:
School. Is over! My last day of classes was Thursday, April 12, since I only had Tuesday/Thursday classes. The final for my Auditing class was actually the weekend before that, so after class on the 12th I was done with that class. I took my remaining two finals on Friday the 13th (scary?!) so was completely done with school by 10:30 that morning. It felt great! It feels even better now that I know that I earned straight As for the semester. Woohoo! I worked 4 hours a day the following week with Friday the 20th being my last official day until Fall semester. I have agreed to work a few days here and there up until June to cover my coworker's vacation days, which will be nice. I'll get a little extra income, will get out of the house, and can read for 6 hours because I imagine it's going to be pretty slow. In other school news, I received a letter on April 30th announcing that I have been accepted into the Masters of Accounting program! I'm not overly surprised because I get good grades and had a good test score, but it's still nice to get the confirmation and can now move forward with registering for classes. Yay!
Summer Trip. We accomplished the two big things I wanted to get done with regards to our trip. We booked our shore excursions and we applied for passports. My passport didn't actually expire until next year, but with getting married, I needed to get it updated. Steve has never needed a passport, so he had to get a brand new one. We finally were able to get into the post office (by appointment only) and get everything turned in. I'm actually quite pleased with my passport picture. I figure that anything now would be tons better than my old one! I'm also really pleased about the shore excursions we have picked out. I really didn't want to sit in a tour bus/truck/train for hours on end to look at pretty scenery. That's all okay for a bit but gets old quickly. We're going to go on a zip line over a forest, go to a salmon bake, tour a salmon hatchery, river raft, and a couple other things I can't recall at the moment. It's a good mix of active and not-so-active. I'm really excited.
Journaling. Fell apart this month. I'm totally out of the habit. It's sad because there were a lot of things that I would have liked to record, silly things that don't mean a lot but that I'd like to remember. Like the time I was so tired and jokingly asked Steve to carry me into the bedroom. He picked me up and carried me all over the downstairs turning off lights, shutting blinds, locking doors before finally depositing me on the bed. It was so silly and fun and I was laughing the entire time. It's moments like this that I want to capture and that don't get captured if I don't write daily or close to it. So, I'm recommitting to this goal. Now that I'm not in school and not working, I may try switching the time I write to the mornings instead of at night. We'll see what works.
Exercise. I'm bummed that I didn't meet my goal of exercising 100 miles in April; however, I know I still exercised every day, sometimes twice a day or more, so it's not as bad as it could be. Seriously, having a dog and not having a yard is good for my health! That's why my mileage is down - I walked most of the month and only rode my bike a couple times. It was either too chilly to ride my outside bike or I ended up going for the evening stroll with Steve and Sadie instead of riding my inside bike. No matter, I know I got in a lot of exercise, so I'm okay. This month, I'm going to get back into a routine of riding my bike every morning. The past two weeks have been crazy (plumber, painting, etc) but starting tomorrow I'm going to ride my bike every week day. That should really help out my mileage numbers. AND I really enjoy it.
April exercise totals: 1775 minutes (29.5 hours), 82.5 miles - mostly walking
Second dog. Isn't going to happen. In a way, I'm disappointed because I was really excited about getting another greyhound. However, I'm very proud of myself for recognizing that I couldn't do it and accepting it instead of feeling guilty and doing it anyway. And being miserable. It was hard for me to admit that I wasn't happy with a second dog (it totally wasn't the dog, it was me), but now we know that two big dogs isn't a good idea for us. Other people do it easily, not me. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I'm really enjoying having Sadie and that's good enough.
Summer To-Do List. Since I'm not in school and not working, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish this summer. In April, I accomplished three things - I planted a garden (with Steve), put together a puzzle, and painted the sitting room. Technically, I didn't finish painting until today, but I started on April 30th, so I'm counting it for both months. :) Some of the items are really easy, quick things and others may take more time, but all of them are things I've wanted to do for a long time so am happy to have some time to work on them.
Other. We took a trip to Cedar City for Easter and had a great time seeing my family. Wish Jason would have been able to be there, though. I finally managed to hook up with my cousin, Cassie, and heard all about her trip to Peru. It's always fun to hang out with her. And, I heard wonderful news about one of my best friends getting engaged! I'm so excited for her!
The highlight of the month was my one-year anniversary of being married to my wonderful husband, Steve. In a way, I can't believe we've been married for a whole year. In a way, I can't believe that I haven't been married to him all my life. He's my best friend.
Yep. It was a good month. I love this time of year.
Hope everyone has a wonderful May!!
I didn't have the best of months as far as goals went, quite frankly, but I'm still pleased with how my month turned out. Here's the rundown:
School. Is over! My last day of classes was Thursday, April 12, since I only had Tuesday/Thursday classes. The final for my Auditing class was actually the weekend before that, so after class on the 12th I was done with that class. I took my remaining two finals on Friday the 13th (scary?!) so was completely done with school by 10:30 that morning. It felt great! It feels even better now that I know that I earned straight As for the semester. Woohoo! I worked 4 hours a day the following week with Friday the 20th being my last official day until Fall semester. I have agreed to work a few days here and there up until June to cover my coworker's vacation days, which will be nice. I'll get a little extra income, will get out of the house, and can read for 6 hours because I imagine it's going to be pretty slow. In other school news, I received a letter on April 30th announcing that I have been accepted into the Masters of Accounting program! I'm not overly surprised because I get good grades and had a good test score, but it's still nice to get the confirmation and can now move forward with registering for classes. Yay!
Summer Trip. We accomplished the two big things I wanted to get done with regards to our trip. We booked our shore excursions and we applied for passports. My passport didn't actually expire until next year, but with getting married, I needed to get it updated. Steve has never needed a passport, so he had to get a brand new one. We finally were able to get into the post office (by appointment only) and get everything turned in. I'm actually quite pleased with my passport picture. I figure that anything now would be tons better than my old one! I'm also really pleased about the shore excursions we have picked out. I really didn't want to sit in a tour bus/truck/train for hours on end to look at pretty scenery. That's all okay for a bit but gets old quickly. We're going to go on a zip line over a forest, go to a salmon bake, tour a salmon hatchery, river raft, and a couple other things I can't recall at the moment. It's a good mix of active and not-so-active. I'm really excited.
Journaling. Fell apart this month. I'm totally out of the habit. It's sad because there were a lot of things that I would have liked to record, silly things that don't mean a lot but that I'd like to remember. Like the time I was so tired and jokingly asked Steve to carry me into the bedroom. He picked me up and carried me all over the downstairs turning off lights, shutting blinds, locking doors before finally depositing me on the bed. It was so silly and fun and I was laughing the entire time. It's moments like this that I want to capture and that don't get captured if I don't write daily or close to it. So, I'm recommitting to this goal. Now that I'm not in school and not working, I may try switching the time I write to the mornings instead of at night. We'll see what works.
Exercise. I'm bummed that I didn't meet my goal of exercising 100 miles in April; however, I know I still exercised every day, sometimes twice a day or more, so it's not as bad as it could be. Seriously, having a dog and not having a yard is good for my health! That's why my mileage is down - I walked most of the month and only rode my bike a couple times. It was either too chilly to ride my outside bike or I ended up going for the evening stroll with Steve and Sadie instead of riding my inside bike. No matter, I know I got in a lot of exercise, so I'm okay. This month, I'm going to get back into a routine of riding my bike every morning. The past two weeks have been crazy (plumber, painting, etc) but starting tomorrow I'm going to ride my bike every week day. That should really help out my mileage numbers. AND I really enjoy it.
April exercise totals: 1775 minutes (29.5 hours), 82.5 miles - mostly walking
Second dog. Isn't going to happen. In a way, I'm disappointed because I was really excited about getting another greyhound. However, I'm very proud of myself for recognizing that I couldn't do it and accepting it instead of feeling guilty and doing it anyway. And being miserable. It was hard for me to admit that I wasn't happy with a second dog (it totally wasn't the dog, it was me), but now we know that two big dogs isn't a good idea for us. Other people do it easily, not me. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I'm really enjoying having Sadie and that's good enough.
Summer To-Do List. Since I'm not in school and not working, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish this summer. In April, I accomplished three things - I planted a garden (with Steve), put together a puzzle, and painted the sitting room. Technically, I didn't finish painting until today, but I started on April 30th, so I'm counting it for both months. :) Some of the items are really easy, quick things and others may take more time, but all of them are things I've wanted to do for a long time so am happy to have some time to work on them.
Other. We took a trip to Cedar City for Easter and had a great time seeing my family. Wish Jason would have been able to be there, though. I finally managed to hook up with my cousin, Cassie, and heard all about her trip to Peru. It's always fun to hang out with her. And, I heard wonderful news about one of my best friends getting engaged! I'm so excited for her!
The highlight of the month was my one-year anniversary of being married to my wonderful husband, Steve. In a way, I can't believe we've been married for a whole year. In a way, I can't believe that I haven't been married to him all my life. He's my best friend.
Yep. It was a good month. I love this time of year.
Hope everyone has a wonderful May!!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
My Dress
Today I wore my wedding dress to school/work.
I love how I feel when I wear this dress. I feel very feminine in it, beautiful even. It gives me a smaller waist, accents my assets, hides my chubby knees (which I've become mildly focused on lately with short and skirt season), and shows off my slender calves and ankles. I've always had a thing for white eyelet fabric, so I burst through the ceiling when I saw the simple summer dress in white eyelet on the rack at JCPs last year. My cousin Cassie, who was helping me with my Spring shopping needs, teared up when I put it on. She knew what I knew as soon as I had seen it. This was going to be the dress in which I married my Steve.
And that is the real reason I love this dress. When I wear it, I feel the tangible reality of the love I have for my husband and the love he has for me. It's another reminder of the promises we made to each other a year ago this month. It brings a flood of memories of that wonderful morning; getting dressed before heading to the ceremony, stopping at the floral store to grab a single gerber daisy to act as my bouquet, looking into Steve's eyes as we said our vows, feeling like my heart was going to explode from happiness.
A year later and my life has lived up to the promises of that somewhat chilly April morning. Our love is evolving, growing. I'm often amazed by how comfortable I am with sharing my whole self with him. With that comfortableness there has come a wonderful sense of security and peace. I know that he loves me despite, or sometimes because of, the things that I perceive as weaknesses or flaws. And yet, I know there is still so much to discover about him and about us. It excites me to know I have a lifetime to spend with him and I know that anything that happens in this life will be better because he is by my side.
My wedding may not have been what I thought it would be (though it was what I had always wanted it to be), but my marriage has been better than I could have ever imagined. I may not have the typical wedding dress, but I love that I can wear it again and again. I don't wear it so much that it has lost it's special-ness, but I am so happy that I can wear it on an ordinary day and feel the extraordinary feelings from that wonderful day almost one whole year ago.
I love how I feel when I wear this dress. I feel very feminine in it, beautiful even. It gives me a smaller waist, accents my assets, hides my chubby knees (which I've become mildly focused on lately with short and skirt season), and shows off my slender calves and ankles. I've always had a thing for white eyelet fabric, so I burst through the ceiling when I saw the simple summer dress in white eyelet on the rack at JCPs last year. My cousin Cassie, who was helping me with my Spring shopping needs, teared up when I put it on. She knew what I knew as soon as I had seen it. This was going to be the dress in which I married my Steve.
And that is the real reason I love this dress. When I wear it, I feel the tangible reality of the love I have for my husband and the love he has for me. It's another reminder of the promises we made to each other a year ago this month. It brings a flood of memories of that wonderful morning; getting dressed before heading to the ceremony, stopping at the floral store to grab a single gerber daisy to act as my bouquet, looking into Steve's eyes as we said our vows, feeling like my heart was going to explode from happiness.
A year later and my life has lived up to the promises of that somewhat chilly April morning. Our love is evolving, growing. I'm often amazed by how comfortable I am with sharing my whole self with him. With that comfortableness there has come a wonderful sense of security and peace. I know that he loves me despite, or sometimes because of, the things that I perceive as weaknesses or flaws. And yet, I know there is still so much to discover about him and about us. It excites me to know I have a lifetime to spend with him and I know that anything that happens in this life will be better because he is by my side.
My wedding may not have been what I thought it would be (though it was what I had always wanted it to be), but my marriage has been better than I could have ever imagined. I may not have the typical wedding dress, but I love that I can wear it again and again. I don't wear it so much that it has lost it's special-ness, but I am so happy that I can wear it on an ordinary day and feel the extraordinary feelings from that wonderful day almost one whole year ago.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
On Finding Love
I wasn't depressed, but I certainly wasn't ecstatic. In fact, I was a little nervous.
I had finally accepted that the single, age-appropriate guys in my life were either not interested in me that way or they were and weren't doing anything about it. Either way, the results were the same. I wasn't dating anyone.
The problem wasn't that I wasn't dating anyone but that it seemed like there was no one to date. I lived in a small town, but people get married in small towns all the time, and not just 18-21 year olds, so I didn't blame my town. I blamed my lifestyle. I worked in a small medical office where the patients tended to be quite a bit older than me (although I did date the only two age-appropriate patients we ever had, one of them for a few months even), I attended church where the only single guys were jail bait (under 18) or worm bait (old), and I had a pretty tight-knit group of friends. This group did include a few guys; however, please refer back to the previous paragraph.
Sitting at my work computer, after business hours, I typed my profile paragraph. How does one sum up who they are in a paragraph? How do you capture that wonderful personality, breath-taking sense of humor, and quirky looks in such a way as to attract the guy you're going to be with for the rest of your life? Okay, I didn't honestly believe I'd meet my future husband online. In fact, I was banking on it. The thought of spending a lifetime admitting to anyone who asked that we had met online wasn't appealing at all! Nope, all I wanted from this experience was to have a little fun, meet some good guys and maybe some crazies (but NO scaries), and maybe get some free meals/entertainment.
It wasn't until later that night that the possibility of no one being interested in my online profile occurred to me. What's worse than having a few guys not being interested? Having a whole world wide web of guys not be interested. Or so I thought. The next morning, I checked my online account and the only guy who had shown any interest had the worst grammar, spelling, and punctuation that I had ever seen in a post elementary school person. Not only that, but he sounded really, really weird. Great, I thought, the only men I attract online are weirdos.
Turns out, I got what I wanted from my online experience. I met and dated several really good guys, exchanged emails with a couple harmless crazies, and was treated to some great free food and entertainment. One guy even took me to a Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas, helping me cross an item off my Bucket List.
In addition to all that, I found Love. Heart-consuming, tears-of-joy-producing, mind-enhancing and befuddling Love. Love that is as quiet and gentle as a rain drop sliding off a flower petal. There is passion, but it goes deeper than passion. He is my best friend, the person that understands me almost as much as my mother does, though give him a couple years and he might surpass her. He enters my mind as soon as I wake up, and thoughts of him send me off to sleep every night. When he gathers me up into his arms, I feel peace and truly at home. I may not always be in a good mood when I'm around him, but he improves whatever mood I'm having; no matter how rotten I'm feeling or for whatever reason, being around him lightens my spirits. If I had to choose between him and a lifetime supply of free chocolate, I'd choose him and never regret the decision.
For a long time, I didn't want to ever get married. Then, when I started to want it, I felt sure I would never find a guy who would want to marry me that I would also want to marry. Steve came as a surprise, the best and most pleasant surprise imaginable. Being married to him feel as easy as being single was except now there's someone on the weekends to kill me at Wii Battleship. Today, we celebrate our 2nd Valentine's Day together; I hope it's the second of many, many more. He is my hero, my lover, my friend, my partner in goofiness, my sous chef, my bed warmer, and my husband. I love him with all my heart and am honored to be the one he chose to spend the rest of his life with.
On this Valentines Day, I hope you are surrounded by the people who love you and that you love. Or, if you're far away from the ones you love, I hope that you know that you are loved by them. Wouldn't it be great if we all took just a few moments to let the people in our lives know that they are loved by us?
Here's my Valentine to all of you, because I love you!
I had finally accepted that the single, age-appropriate guys in my life were either not interested in me that way or they were and weren't doing anything about it. Either way, the results were the same. I wasn't dating anyone.
The problem wasn't that I wasn't dating anyone but that it seemed like there was no one to date. I lived in a small town, but people get married in small towns all the time, and not just 18-21 year olds, so I didn't blame my town. I blamed my lifestyle. I worked in a small medical office where the patients tended to be quite a bit older than me (although I did date the only two age-appropriate patients we ever had, one of them for a few months even), I attended church where the only single guys were jail bait (under 18) or worm bait (old), and I had a pretty tight-knit group of friends. This group did include a few guys; however, please refer back to the previous paragraph.
Sitting at my work computer, after business hours, I typed my profile paragraph. How does one sum up who they are in a paragraph? How do you capture that wonderful personality, breath-taking sense of humor, and quirky looks in such a way as to attract the guy you're going to be with for the rest of your life? Okay, I didn't honestly believe I'd meet my future husband online. In fact, I was banking on it. The thought of spending a lifetime admitting to anyone who asked that we had met online wasn't appealing at all! Nope, all I wanted from this experience was to have a little fun, meet some good guys and maybe some crazies (but NO scaries), and maybe get some free meals/entertainment.
It wasn't until later that night that the possibility of no one being interested in my online profile occurred to me. What's worse than having a few guys not being interested? Having a whole world wide web of guys not be interested. Or so I thought. The next morning, I checked my online account and the only guy who had shown any interest had the worst grammar, spelling, and punctuation that I had ever seen in a post elementary school person. Not only that, but he sounded really, really weird. Great, I thought, the only men I attract online are weirdos.
Turns out, I got what I wanted from my online experience. I met and dated several really good guys, exchanged emails with a couple harmless crazies, and was treated to some great free food and entertainment. One guy even took me to a Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas, helping me cross an item off my Bucket List.
In addition to all that, I found Love. Heart-consuming, tears-of-joy-producing, mind-enhancing and befuddling Love. Love that is as quiet and gentle as a rain drop sliding off a flower petal. There is passion, but it goes deeper than passion. He is my best friend, the person that understands me almost as much as my mother does, though give him a couple years and he might surpass her. He enters my mind as soon as I wake up, and thoughts of him send me off to sleep every night. When he gathers me up into his arms, I feel peace and truly at home. I may not always be in a good mood when I'm around him, but he improves whatever mood I'm having; no matter how rotten I'm feeling or for whatever reason, being around him lightens my spirits. If I had to choose between him and a lifetime supply of free chocolate, I'd choose him and never regret the decision.
For a long time, I didn't want to ever get married. Then, when I started to want it, I felt sure I would never find a guy who would want to marry me that I would also want to marry. Steve came as a surprise, the best and most pleasant surprise imaginable. Being married to him feel as easy as being single was except now there's someone on the weekends to kill me at Wii Battleship. Today, we celebrate our 2nd Valentine's Day together; I hope it's the second of many, many more. He is my hero, my lover, my friend, my partner in goofiness, my sous chef, my bed warmer, and my husband. I love him with all my heart and am honored to be the one he chose to spend the rest of his life with.
On this Valentines Day, I hope you are surrounded by the people who love you and that you love. Or, if you're far away from the ones you love, I hope that you know that you are loved by them. Wouldn't it be great if we all took just a few moments to let the people in our lives know that they are loved by us?
Here's my Valentine to all of you, because I love you!
Happy Valentines Day!
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Year In Review - 2010
Last year may possibly be the best year I've had to date. There have been so many changes, some sad and painful times, and some really amazing good things. Great things, in fact. For so long, my life seemed to be a broken record, the same things over and over again, year after year. Some minor changes, but mostly the same. This year definitely broke that mold. I just wish I would have spent a bit more time documenting all the changes, on this blog and/or my journal. Oh well, here's the review of 2010 to the best of my recollection.
Places Visited: (new in italics)
Paris, France
San Francisco, CA
Las Vegas, NV
St. George, UT
Layton, UT
Ogden, UT
Denver, CO
Colorado Springs, CO
Manitou, CO
Riverdale, UT (my new home!)
Salt Lake City, UT
Vernal, UT
Guys I went on dates with: 4 (I think that's all)
Sam
Guy from Cedar whose name I can't remember. We only went out once.
Danny
Steve
Number of boyfriends: 2
Sam
Steve
Guys kissed: 5
Alex (midnight New Years Eve 2009/10 so I'm counting him for both years)
Sam
Brian
Danny
Steve
Guys I got engaged to: 1 - Holy Cow! I'm engaged!!!!
Steve
Craziest thing I did: Skydiving in Vegas with Aly and Cassie
Number of jobs: 3
Intermountain Hearing Clinics
Southern Utah University
Spinal Care Center of Utah (I hated it!)
Number of deaths: 3 (what a year)
Cousin-in-law Annie
Grandpa Merrell
Grandma Rasmussen
Big accomplishment: Maintaining my weight loss, I've lost 180 lbs to-date. Yay!
Least proud moment: dating other guys while dating Sam. I should have just broken up with him, but I learned a valuable lesson.
Brave decision: quitting my good, stable job at SUU to move to Layton to progress my relationship with Steve.
Favorite moment: Christmas Eve morning when Steve knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Fun memories: farmers markets all summer; Bees baseball games; camping with Mom, Cassie, Alyson, and Katie; tennis with Cardine, Kyle, and Jon; sledding with Scott, Robbie, Mom, Jason and Rachel, Kevin, and Steve; dinner with Joy, Cardine, Sarah, Shiree, and Steve before Shiree left for England; sky diving (worth mentioning again); my niece's baptism; Bryce Canyon with Kyle, Jon, and Jon's date in February - the stars were amazing; moving into my new home in November; working at SUU - it was a great job; putting my contact in medicated eye drops and having my eye dilate big time; playing Mario Kart at Kyle's then getting it for Christmas (yay!); exploring Antelope Island with Steve; discovering lots of new restaurants in Ogden, Layton, and SLC; University of Utah football games (we're getting season tix for next year); Christmas in Denver and meeting Steve's best friend and his family; spending lots of times with lots of amazing people. I have the best family and friends!
Hopes for 2011: find a good job, marry Steve, look into plastic surgery for my excess skin, visit a new place.
I know it's a little late, but I hope you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Places Visited: (new in italics)
Paris, France
San Francisco, CA
Las Vegas, NV
St. George, UT
Layton, UT
Ogden, UT
Denver, CO
Colorado Springs, CO
Manitou, CO
Riverdale, UT (my new home!)
Salt Lake City, UT
Vernal, UT
Guys I went on dates with: 4 (I think that's all)
Sam
Guy from Cedar whose name I can't remember. We only went out once.
Danny
Steve
Number of boyfriends: 2
Sam
Steve
Guys kissed: 5
Alex (midnight New Years Eve 2009/10 so I'm counting him for both years)
Sam
Brian
Danny
Steve
Guys I got engaged to: 1 - Holy Cow! I'm engaged!!!!
Steve
Craziest thing I did: Skydiving in Vegas with Aly and Cassie
Number of jobs: 3
Intermountain Hearing Clinics
Southern Utah University
Spinal Care Center of Utah (I hated it!)
Number of deaths: 3 (what a year)
Cousin-in-law Annie
Grandpa Merrell
Grandma Rasmussen
Big accomplishment: Maintaining my weight loss, I've lost 180 lbs to-date. Yay!
Least proud moment: dating other guys while dating Sam. I should have just broken up with him, but I learned a valuable lesson.
Brave decision: quitting my good, stable job at SUU to move to Layton to progress my relationship with Steve.
Favorite moment: Christmas Eve morning when Steve knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Fun memories: farmers markets all summer; Bees baseball games; camping with Mom, Cassie, Alyson, and Katie; tennis with Cardine, Kyle, and Jon; sledding with Scott, Robbie, Mom, Jason and Rachel, Kevin, and Steve; dinner with Joy, Cardine, Sarah, Shiree, and Steve before Shiree left for England; sky diving (worth mentioning again); my niece's baptism; Bryce Canyon with Kyle, Jon, and Jon's date in February - the stars were amazing; moving into my new home in November; working at SUU - it was a great job; putting my contact in medicated eye drops and having my eye dilate big time; playing Mario Kart at Kyle's then getting it for Christmas (yay!); exploring Antelope Island with Steve; discovering lots of new restaurants in Ogden, Layton, and SLC; University of Utah football games (we're getting season tix for next year); Christmas in Denver and meeting Steve's best friend and his family; spending lots of times with lots of amazing people. I have the best family and friends!
Hopes for 2011: find a good job, marry Steve, look into plastic surgery for my excess skin, visit a new place.
I know it's a little late, but I hope you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
How I Impressed My Future Boss
So many of you know this story, but I'm going to tell it anyway...because I can...it's my blog.
I can still remember how I felt as I walked down State Street in downtown Salt Lake City. It was a beautiful, warm April afternoon (exactly 13 years ago today), and the sun felt glorious on my upturned face. There was a slight breeze, so I was glad for the light sweater I had worn that matched my flowing floral skirt and white cotton blouse. I was on my way to a job interview and was a little nervous but mostly confident...even back then I was a pro at job interviews.
That day, I had decided to skip my last class so had arrived downtown early. I'm a freakishly punctual person, but an hour is excessive even for me. I decided to eat lunch at the mall food court to pass a little time. Clam chowder in a bread bowl. Mmmm. It was yummy. When I finished, I had plenty of time to walk the 7 or so blocks down State Street to the small repertory theatre at which I had the job interview. State Street is one of the busiest streets in Salt Lake and at lunch time it was teeming with cars and people. I strolled amongst my fellow walkers, daydreaming about my latest crush, enjoying the hustle and bustle around me.
I was about a block away when I noticed a guy running across State Street's 5 lanes. He was kind of cute, from what I could see at that distance. I smiled when he turned and started to walk toward me; he really was good-looking. As we passed each other, I said a quiet "hi" and my smiled widened when he turned around.
"Excuse me, Miss." he said, walking back toward me. He had an accent I didn't recognize. I turned around and smiled again. I figured he was going to ask for the time or directions or something. I was wrong.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Um...your dress...it's trapped." he stuttered.
"Excuse me??"
"Your dress...it is trapped."
I slowly felt behind me. He was right; my skirt was trapped. When I had sat down at the mall, my skirt had been pushed up and now happily resided in the bottom my sweater, exposing my backside (covered by undies, of course) to all the world.
Turning bright red, I fixed my skirt and thanked this nice, cute guy for telling me. I appreciated him having the decency to tell me my skirt was trapped, unlike all the people, women included, that hadn't. True, some of them may not have noticed, but I can guarantee that a lot did and said nothing. I try to think charitably; I'm sure they just didn't want to embarrass me. To this day, I always tell people when they have food in their teeth, a zipper in the down position, or a trapped skirt. Better to have a moment of embarrassment than to get home and wonder how long that piece of spinach has been covering your front tooth.
For a brief instant, I considered retreating to a safe place - I was at 6th South and could easily turn up it and walk the 6 blocks to my home. I needed the money, so I went to the interview. When I told the box office girl who I was, she called the boss, Tom, to inform him I was there. He said he'd be a few minutes, so I waited quietly for about 2 seconds. And then, because I'm a chronic oversharer, I told her about my trapped dress. She was still laughing when Tom arrived. He wanted to know what was so funny, so I told him the story. He hired me after 10 minutes.
He later told me that he had been impressed with my ability to laugh at myself and had known immediately that I'd fit in perfectly at the theatre. I worked there the rest of the time I lived in Salt Lake and considered it my home-away-from-home. In fact, I spent more time there than at my apartment. The actors and stage crew members became my friends. Tom was like a father to me and his family like my family. I even had Thanksgiving with them that year. I loved that job more than any I've had.
And I owe it all to my trapped skirt.
I can still remember how I felt as I walked down State Street in downtown Salt Lake City. It was a beautiful, warm April afternoon (exactly 13 years ago today), and the sun felt glorious on my upturned face. There was a slight breeze, so I was glad for the light sweater I had worn that matched my flowing floral skirt and white cotton blouse. I was on my way to a job interview and was a little nervous but mostly confident...even back then I was a pro at job interviews.
That day, I had decided to skip my last class so had arrived downtown early. I'm a freakishly punctual person, but an hour is excessive even for me. I decided to eat lunch at the mall food court to pass a little time. Clam chowder in a bread bowl. Mmmm. It was yummy. When I finished, I had plenty of time to walk the 7 or so blocks down State Street to the small repertory theatre at which I had the job interview. State Street is one of the busiest streets in Salt Lake and at lunch time it was teeming with cars and people. I strolled amongst my fellow walkers, daydreaming about my latest crush, enjoying the hustle and bustle around me.
I was about a block away when I noticed a guy running across State Street's 5 lanes. He was kind of cute, from what I could see at that distance. I smiled when he turned and started to walk toward me; he really was good-looking. As we passed each other, I said a quiet "hi" and my smiled widened when he turned around.
"Excuse me, Miss." he said, walking back toward me. He had an accent I didn't recognize. I turned around and smiled again. I figured he was going to ask for the time or directions or something. I was wrong.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Um...your dress...it's trapped." he stuttered.
"Excuse me??"
"Your dress...it is trapped."
I slowly felt behind me. He was right; my skirt was trapped. When I had sat down at the mall, my skirt had been pushed up and now happily resided in the bottom my sweater, exposing my backside (covered by undies, of course) to all the world.
Turning bright red, I fixed my skirt and thanked this nice, cute guy for telling me. I appreciated him having the decency to tell me my skirt was trapped, unlike all the people, women included, that hadn't. True, some of them may not have noticed, but I can guarantee that a lot did and said nothing. I try to think charitably; I'm sure they just didn't want to embarrass me. To this day, I always tell people when they have food in their teeth, a zipper in the down position, or a trapped skirt. Better to have a moment of embarrassment than to get home and wonder how long that piece of spinach has been covering your front tooth.
For a brief instant, I considered retreating to a safe place - I was at 6th South and could easily turn up it and walk the 6 blocks to my home. I needed the money, so I went to the interview. When I told the box office girl who I was, she called the boss, Tom, to inform him I was there. He said he'd be a few minutes, so I waited quietly for about 2 seconds. And then, because I'm a chronic oversharer, I told her about my trapped dress. She was still laughing when Tom arrived. He wanted to know what was so funny, so I told him the story. He hired me after 10 minutes.
He later told me that he had been impressed with my ability to laugh at myself and had known immediately that I'd fit in perfectly at the theatre. I worked there the rest of the time I lived in Salt Lake and considered it my home-away-from-home. In fact, I spent more time there than at my apartment. The actors and stage crew members became my friends. Tom was like a father to me and his family like my family. I even had Thanksgiving with them that year. I loved that job more than any I've had.
And I owe it all to my trapped skirt.
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Spider and the Fly
Close your eyes.
Picture a playground at an elementary school.
Now picture a huge, wide, gently-sloping, climbing net with the top end attached to the middle of the jungle gym and the other attached to poles and stopping just a few inches from the ground.
Got that?
Now imagine 20 or so giggly girls, about 8 or 9 years old, sitting as close to the top of the net as they can get and looking at the solitary boy, sitting at the bottom of the net, looking up at the girls.
I was one of those giggly girls, though not nearly as giggly or outgoing as I grew to be (I was actually a pretty quiet child, believe it or not). All these years later, I don't know how it started, but we ended up playing a version of the Spider and the Fly. The boy - I don't remember his name but can picture his face as if it had happened yesterday - was the Spider, the girls were the Flies. We'll call him John...because I like it as an alias.
The game boiled down to John choosing which girl he liked the most by eliminating the ones he didn't.
"The girl I like the most has blonde hair", he'd announce, and all the non-blondes had to leave the web. I was a natural blonde, fyi.
"The girl I like the most is not wearing a skirt", and those unfortunate girls with skirts left the web. I wore pants.
"The girl I like the most has freckles." Oh what a great time to have brown spots all over my face!
A few at a time, or sometimes one by one, John narrowed the field, finally leaving just two girls in his web. Unbelievably, I was one of them. Every time he made his declaration, I'd look at what I was wearing, check my hair for braids, color, bangs, etc, and generally make sure I could stay in the web.
I don't remember who was the other final Fly in the web with me, but I remember how we huddled close together at the top of the net...ahem...I mean, web... and nervously giggled while we waited for John's final pronouncement.
Maybe that's what the final two Miss America (or American Idol or ANTM) contestants feel like as they wait to hear who has won. Huh.
I knew I wouldn't be the Chosen One. I was taller than all the girls my age and most of the boys, an awkward situation. And yet, I didn't stick out but tended to settle nicely into the background. Sometimes I wondered if anyone would ever remember me because I was just average, nothing remarkable, not too quiet/smart/funny/troublesome/etc. I had friends but I wasn't one of the girls that boys noticed...I didn't realize at the time that most boys don't notice girls that way at that age.
John either took his time deciding which of us he liked most or he was nervous to finally make his choice irrevocably known to the rest of the grade (by this time, our game had garnered a lot of attention from non-playing girls and boys) but either way, it seemed like an eternity before he finally made his last pick.
"The girl I like the most is wearing a butterfly barrette."
Can you believe that to this day I remember that final sentence? Okay, I can't. All I remember is the shock and pleasure at realizing that I was the girl he liked most. He had chosen me! The loser...I mean, non-winner...whatever...left the web, and John climbed up to where I sat in amazement. We ended up spending the rest of recess sitting on the net together, holding hands, and talking.
Or something like that. I don't really remember what happened afterward. Quite honestly, the most powerful memory I have of this event is the feeling of being liked the most, of being picked from a bevy of cute, nice girls as the most cute and nice. I was the Fly the Spider wanted to catch!
More than 20 years later, this memory still makes me smile. It was the first time I realized that a boy could find me attractive. It boosted my confidence, helped me out of my shell a bit, and well, set the foundation for me becoming a bit of a flirt (reformed, currently).
Whenever I start to get bummed that there doesn't seem to be a Spider who likes me most, I try to remember that Spiders have different tastes and that somewhere out there is a Spider who likes curvy, blue-eyed, freckled, (currently) blonde Flies. 'Til our paths meet, I guess I'll just sit in this comfy web and enjoy the view.
Picture a playground at an elementary school.
Now picture a huge, wide, gently-sloping, climbing net with the top end attached to the middle of the jungle gym and the other attached to poles and stopping just a few inches from the ground.
Got that?
Now imagine 20 or so giggly girls, about 8 or 9 years old, sitting as close to the top of the net as they can get and looking at the solitary boy, sitting at the bottom of the net, looking up at the girls.
I was one of those giggly girls, though not nearly as giggly or outgoing as I grew to be (I was actually a pretty quiet child, believe it or not). All these years later, I don't know how it started, but we ended up playing a version of the Spider and the Fly. The boy - I don't remember his name but can picture his face as if it had happened yesterday - was the Spider, the girls were the Flies. We'll call him John...because I like it as an alias.
The game boiled down to John choosing which girl he liked the most by eliminating the ones he didn't.
"The girl I like the most has blonde hair", he'd announce, and all the non-blondes had to leave the web. I was a natural blonde, fyi.
"The girl I like the most is not wearing a skirt", and those unfortunate girls with skirts left the web. I wore pants.
"The girl I like the most has freckles." Oh what a great time to have brown spots all over my face!
A few at a time, or sometimes one by one, John narrowed the field, finally leaving just two girls in his web. Unbelievably, I was one of them. Every time he made his declaration, I'd look at what I was wearing, check my hair for braids, color, bangs, etc, and generally make sure I could stay in the web.
I don't remember who was the other final Fly in the web with me, but I remember how we huddled close together at the top of the net...ahem...I mean, web... and nervously giggled while we waited for John's final pronouncement.
Maybe that's what the final two Miss America (or American Idol or ANTM) contestants feel like as they wait to hear who has won. Huh.
I knew I wouldn't be the Chosen One. I was taller than all the girls my age and most of the boys, an awkward situation. And yet, I didn't stick out but tended to settle nicely into the background. Sometimes I wondered if anyone would ever remember me because I was just average, nothing remarkable, not too quiet/smart/funny/troublesome/etc. I had friends but I wasn't one of the girls that boys noticed...I didn't realize at the time that most boys don't notice girls that way at that age.
John either took his time deciding which of us he liked most or he was nervous to finally make his choice irrevocably known to the rest of the grade (by this time, our game had garnered a lot of attention from non-playing girls and boys) but either way, it seemed like an eternity before he finally made his last pick.
"The girl I like the most is wearing a butterfly barrette."
Can you believe that to this day I remember that final sentence? Okay, I can't. All I remember is the shock and pleasure at realizing that I was the girl he liked most. He had chosen me! The loser...I mean, non-winner...whatever...left the web, and John climbed up to where I sat in amazement. We ended up spending the rest of recess sitting on the net together, holding hands, and talking.
Or something like that. I don't really remember what happened afterward. Quite honestly, the most powerful memory I have of this event is the feeling of being liked the most, of being picked from a bevy of cute, nice girls as the most cute and nice. I was the Fly the Spider wanted to catch!
More than 20 years later, this memory still makes me smile. It was the first time I realized that a boy could find me attractive. It boosted my confidence, helped me out of my shell a bit, and well, set the foundation for me becoming a bit of a flirt (reformed, currently).
Whenever I start to get bummed that there doesn't seem to be a Spider who likes me most, I try to remember that Spiders have different tastes and that somewhere out there is a Spider who likes curvy, blue-eyed, freckled, (currently) blonde Flies. 'Til our paths meet, I guess I'll just sit in this comfy web and enjoy the view.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Past Dates II
Homecoming Dance 1994
I had had an on-again-off-again crush on Keith since the summer after my sophomore year when we had held hands on his cousin’s porch one evening, so I was ecstatic when we finally started dating…and kissing…a few weeks before the Homecoming Dance. When he asked me to the dance, I was thrilled – it was my first dance date with a bona fide boyfriend. We were going with a few of his (our) friends and their dates (including Missy!). Have I mentioned how excited I was? Well, I was.
I had had an on-again-off-again crush on Keith since the summer after my sophomore year when we had held hands on his cousin’s porch one evening, so I was ecstatic when we finally started dating…and kissing…a few weeks before the Homecoming Dance. When he asked me to the dance, I was thrilled – it was my first dance date with a bona fide boyfriend. We were going with a few of his (our) friends and their dates (including Missy!). Have I mentioned how excited I was? Well, I was.
The morning of the date, I met Melissa (who sadly was going to the dance in another group) at McDonald’s for hot chocolate. Melissa, do you remember why we did this? I don’t any more; in fact, I just now remembered that we did! Anyhoo, I then returned home to prepare for the activity portion of the date: bowling.
Keith picked me up in his old green car, and one of the other couples, Ben (not Missy’s current husband) and Stacy, were with him. He gave me an arrangement of six red roses that were gorgeous and wonderfully fragrant. I love getting flowers. At some point we must have met up with the other two couples, Bryan and Missy and Matt and Brooke (wow, it took me a bit to remember who the last couple was – it was so long ago!), because I remember following Bryan’s car out to the bowling alley. At least…we followed them for a little while. A few miles from the bowling alley, Keith’s car ran out of gas and died! He pulled over and was not a happy camper. He hit the dashboard in frustration, breaking it. That made it worse. It probably didn’t help that I wasn’t being very successful at holding back my giggles. Ben and Stacy hopped out of the car and went somewhere – to this day I don’t know where they went – so we were alone. I had to work hard, but eventually I lightened Keith’s mood. We decided to hitchhike to the nearest gas station, so we got out of the car and crossed the road so we’d be on the same side as the cars traveling the way we wanted to go. It started to snow. Neither of us wore coats. I giggled. He didn’t.
Rather quickly, a small, white truck pulled over and we explained our dilemma to the driver. He offered us a ride and we hopped in, first arranging the numerous grocery bags filled with heaven-only-knows-what so we could fit. At the gas station, Keith bought a red, plastic gas can-thingy and started putting gas in it. I insisted on staying with him despite the cold and snow and his bad mood, so I witnessed him overfilling the can and gas spraying all over him. I was far enough away to avoid getting splashed, but it totally got him. You can probably guess that his mood didn’t improve and that I found it all absolutely hilarious. Poor Keith, he wasn’t having much luck. He put up with me surprisingly well, though, which, looking back, I can now really appreciate.
Oh, when we first arrived at the gas station, we had called the bowling alley (remember, this is before cell phones) and had told our friends what had happened, and Bryan left to come get us. He showed up shortly after the can was (over)filled and took us to Keith’s car. We arrived at the bowling alley just in time to leave. At some point, Ben and Stacy found us, either at the car or the bowling alley, I don’t remember now. We headed to the college’s science building, where Bryan’s dad worked, and watched a movie in his dad’s room on a big screen. It was a good show, nice and romantic, and I cuddled up to Keith despite the reek of gas coming from his clothes. He slowly started to be happier and by the end of the movie, he was fine. We must have eaten at some point, but I don’t remember when or what. I’m sure it was yummy and fun. How’s that?
Keith took me home to get ready for the dance. Two of my friends who weren’t going to the dance were there to do my hair for me. They did a really good job – it looked really nice, if I do say so myself. It was kind of a French twist, but with a tweak, and they incorporated some baby’s breath from the roses Keith had given me. When I walked down the stairs, Keith was there, looking stunning in his tux. I’ll always cherish the look on his face when he saw me. I have never ever felt so beautiful, and it was because I could tell he thought I was.
The rest of the night was absolutely perfect. He treated me like a princess, while we danced he whispered sweet things; telling me how much he loved me, how beautiful I was, how lucky he felt to be there with me. A lot of the time, we didn’t talk; we just gazed into each others' eyes, smiling. Us being us, we also kidded around a lot, laughing a lot. An acquaintance later told me that she had watched us dancing and had gotten a kick out of how much fun we were having and how totally into each other we were. I remember wishing that the night would never end. Being with him, dancing with him, being held by him was heaven and I didn’t want to ever leave.
It did end, of course. At this point the plan was to go home, but no one wanted the date to be over, so we ended up going to Keith’s house to watch a movie. He and I cuddled the whole time. I love cuddling during movies. He finally took me home and we talked and kissed on my porch ‘til we finally managed to say good night and he left.
Keith certainly had his faults as a boyfriend, and I certainly had mine as his girlfriend, but I will always love him for many reasons; one being this date. So many things went wrong at the beginning (which, like I’ve mentioned, I found funny), and even though it frustrated him and he got upset, I knew then and I know now that he got upset because he wanted so much to impress me, to show me a good time. Plus, no one has ever made me feel so special or so loved as he did that night.
Wherever you are, Keith, thank you for such a great memory.
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