This morning I heard the alarm, promptly rolled over, turned it off, and rolled back into my loving husband's arms.
Ahhhh....wedded bliss. How good it feels to have my husband home to sleep in with me on this beautiful Saturday morning. Birds chirping, sun shining, what more could I ask for?
I drifted slowly back into sleep. 1.5 hours later I rolled over to hug the aforementioned loving husband - who was gone. Before I could figure out why any reasonable rational decent human being would get out of a bed so comfy, in a place so perfect, he came in and told me it was time to wake up.
"wakey wakey!" he shouted
"why?" I groaned
"It's time to get up!" His voice is entirely too loud for my sensitive morning ears. I buried my head in the pillow.
"It's Saturday" I moaned
"nuh uh. you have to get up now" his voice was too cheerful to be serious. I didn't believe him.
"no I don't, I don't wanna and I don't have to." sensing a debate and chance to prove that I know everything, I started to perk up.
"Yes you do. It's Friday, last night we went to graduation and out to dinner with my family because it was Thursday. Now it's Friday and we have to go to work 1 more time this week." Ugh, the bitter agony of defeat!
I woke up, showered, and ran out the door to face yet another non-Saturday-non-holiday-normal-boring-working-day-of-stress-and-loneliness.
Do old people get to have Saturdays every day? That's all I want from life. A string of 21,120 more Saturdays with no other days of the week. I know you're thinking "Saturdays wouldn't be much better if that's all you ever had. You have to have good in order to truly appreciate bad. There must needs be opposition in all things!" Well, I disagree. I want Saturdays every day for the rest of my life.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
House stuff
Since Josh was home yesterday, we ran some errands, most of which involved a drill and a ladder - which means Josh got to play handyman after we got home. He's brave, and he likes sitting on the top of the ladder. I went up 2 rungs when I was helping balance the new curtain rods, and thought I was going to pee my pants because I was so scared, it feels so unstable! Reading that now, I know it's unreasonable AND irrational, but I really am a big baby about heights. Fortunately Josh is not. He's kindof like a monkey.
The hair
So, here's my new haircut, you'll have to ignore the weird thing it's doing on my right side....part of the joys of weird wavy hair. :) So yeah, that's it. Blond and SHORT!
Monday, May 26, 2008
New hair
Over the weekend our friends Ashley and Jake came over to play games. Ashley looked at a picture of me and Josh that's on the wall in our living room in which I'm VERY blond. It was after a particularly bad highlighting experience, and I HATED being that blond. It takes too much maintenance, and it feels too fake for my taste.
Ashley took one look at the picture and dropped her jaw. "Oh my gosh you're blond!" which was pretty much my reaction, when I saw my hair too. Josh got a big goofy grin on his face, "Nice huh?!" (he has always maintained that he likes me best as a blond) and I got a depressed look on my face, "I hated it. I'll never do it again."
Ashley, politely told me she liked it too. I still don't like it, but now that Josh is out of school, he'll be looking at my hair more than I will. Combine that with the way too many makeover shows I've seen while he was in school, and I truly don't believe there is such a thing as bad change....a dangerous belief. So on Saturday I decided I needed a change and went to get my hair cut and dyed.
I now have short blond hair. I guess I shouldn't say short - because truthfully it still hits my shoulders, which by many people's standards is long - but when the hairdresser tells me she'll be taking "about 4 or 5 inches off" that translates to a big change for me.
I'll post pictures later, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the fact that Josh is home, it's only 10:00 and we could go to bed right now if we felt like it.
Ashley took one look at the picture and dropped her jaw. "Oh my gosh you're blond!" which was pretty much my reaction, when I saw my hair too. Josh got a big goofy grin on his face, "Nice huh?!" (he has always maintained that he likes me best as a blond) and I got a depressed look on my face, "I hated it. I'll never do it again."
Ashley, politely told me she liked it too. I still don't like it, but now that Josh is out of school, he'll be looking at my hair more than I will. Combine that with the way too many makeover shows I've seen while he was in school, and I truly don't believe there is such a thing as bad change....a dangerous belief. So on Saturday I decided I needed a change and went to get my hair cut and dyed.
I now have short blond hair. I guess I shouldn't say short - because truthfully it still hits my shoulders, which by many people's standards is long - but when the hairdresser tells me she'll be taking "about 4 or 5 inches off" that translates to a big change for me.
I'll post pictures later, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the fact that Josh is home, it's only 10:00 and we could go to bed right now if we felt like it.
Walk it off....
This morning after sleeping in (which felt SOOOO good) Josh and I got up and went running together. It was fantastic, and we both ran really well. We went straight from there to South Davis Rec Center for a game of racquetball. Turns out I'm REALLY bad at racquetball, and Josh isn't nearly as bad as I am.
He kept hitting it so it would hit the floor and then immediately hit the back wall, with no time for someone as slow as me to smack it back to the front wall in between. When I asked Josh what I was supposed to do in that situation, he was showing me how you can smack it REALLY hard off the back wall, and it would go clear to the front wall. So, he turned around to smack it REALLLLLY hard against the back wall, only instead of going to the front wall to keep the ball in play, it hit him straight in his eye. Now, I don't know if you've ever been hit with a racquetball travelling approximately 9,000 miles/hour, but it looks very painful, and from Josh's whimper, I'm assuming that's correct. He was only standing like 4 feet from the wall, and with the power he hit it with....ouch.
He immediately dropped to the floor and covered his eye with his hands. It took him almost 5 minutes to be able to remove his hands, then another couple of minutes before he could open the eye. He amazingly wanted to play anyway since we had just barely started. So we played anyway. Now, here's the embarrassing part (for me....the smacking himself in the eye was the embarrassing part for him.) I still didn't win. He looked like a pirate, couldn't keep his eye open through the whole game. I held my own for the first game, but lost it at the last minute since I was too much of a chicken to try his signature move (which was clearly dangerous, as earlier exhibited). He started to be able to see a lot better during the 2nd game and beat me again.
We had a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got to play, the South Davis Rec Center is REALLY nice, and I'm excited to go back already. I'm fairly certain I got better from the beginning to the end, and really it's just a matter of time before I beat him. I can't wait for that day.....
He kept hitting it so it would hit the floor and then immediately hit the back wall, with no time for someone as slow as me to smack it back to the front wall in between. When I asked Josh what I was supposed to do in that situation, he was showing me how you can smack it REALLY hard off the back wall, and it would go clear to the front wall. So, he turned around to smack it REALLLLLY hard against the back wall, only instead of going to the front wall to keep the ball in play, it hit him straight in his eye. Now, I don't know if you've ever been hit with a racquetball travelling approximately 9,000 miles/hour, but it looks very painful, and from Josh's whimper, I'm assuming that's correct. He was only standing like 4 feet from the wall, and with the power he hit it with....ouch.
He immediately dropped to the floor and covered his eye with his hands. It took him almost 5 minutes to be able to remove his hands, then another couple of minutes before he could open the eye. He amazingly wanted to play anyway since we had just barely started. So we played anyway. Now, here's the embarrassing part (for me....the smacking himself in the eye was the embarrassing part for him.) I still didn't win. He looked like a pirate, couldn't keep his eye open through the whole game. I held my own for the first game, but lost it at the last minute since I was too much of a chicken to try his signature move (which was clearly dangerous, as earlier exhibited). He started to be able to see a lot better during the 2nd game and beat me again.
We had a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got to play, the South Davis Rec Center is REALLY nice, and I'm excited to go back already. I'm fairly certain I got better from the beginning to the end, and really it's just a matter of time before I beat him. I can't wait for that day.....
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The end
It's 10:05 AM on Saturday. My husband will be home in 4 short hours, He will be coming home from his last clinic at UCMT and we are officially DONE with school! I should say that he is done with school, but even though I haven't studied with him, gone to classes, or prepared for tests I feel like I've been in school for the past year too. For the last time, I have a Saturday morning filled with cartoons (aka HGTV) blogging, and sleeping in! I couldn't be more happy with the fact that it's my last Saturday of this. I like all of those things, but "it's always better when we're together".
Since Josh is a morning person, I'm pretty sure I won't get away with lounging around in my bathrobe at 11:00 on a Saturday morning. he'll be up at 7:00 and want to get up and "go somewhere! come on it's so boring here!" which means that this summer I may learn to play racquetball, we'll definitely explore the Davis County mountains, and I'm hoping we eat a lot more banana pancakes. I know we'll be doing a lot more picnics, camping trips, and home improvements. In all, it's going to be a great summer and I couldn't be more THRILLED that it starts today!
So in celebration of the last day of school, we stayed up and played games late last night, and this morning Josh got up and I slept in. He went off to work at school, while I stayed in bed. Until the doorbell rang. We all know I have issues with answering the door when I'm not prepared to do so. So, I stayed in bed and didn't answer it. Fortunately it woke me up, and I was kinda ready to get up, so I lazily rolled out of bed, poured myself a bowl of fruity pebbles, and turned on the tv.
I love that this is my last lonely Saturday, and starting Monday, Josh is free again!
Since Josh is a morning person, I'm pretty sure I won't get away with lounging around in my bathrobe at 11:00 on a Saturday morning. he'll be up at 7:00 and want to get up and "go somewhere! come on it's so boring here!" which means that this summer I may learn to play racquetball, we'll definitely explore the Davis County mountains, and I'm hoping we eat a lot more banana pancakes. I know we'll be doing a lot more picnics, camping trips, and home improvements. In all, it's going to be a great summer and I couldn't be more THRILLED that it starts today!
So in celebration of the last day of school, we stayed up and played games late last night, and this morning Josh got up and I slept in. He went off to work at school, while I stayed in bed. Until the doorbell rang. We all know I have issues with answering the door when I'm not prepared to do so. So, I stayed in bed and didn't answer it. Fortunately it woke me up, and I was kinda ready to get up, so I lazily rolled out of bed, poured myself a bowl of fruity pebbles, and turned on the tv.
I love that this is my last lonely Saturday, and starting Monday, Josh is free again!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wow
Now that American Idol is over, it's Dance season - and I know it's pathetic, but I was excited to watch it tonight. And THIS is a prime example of why. I have never seen anything like this, I think it's absolutely amazing. Even if you don't really like the show, or even like seeing dances like this....it's absolutely worth the 2 minutes to watch it. Wow wow wow!!!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
My adorable family
A couple of weeks while we were down at my parent's house, Katy was pushing Tyler and Ryann on the tire swing in the front yard. Dallin was pretending like they were going to hit him and they were positively shrieking with delight. They thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen, which of course was the funniest thing the rest of us had ever seen. There is just something about the real live delighted laugh of a child that always makes you smile.
Katy is saying "to infinity" and Tyler is saying "and beyond!" only it comes out more like "anbion!" The kids love Buzz....what are you gonna do?
My family has sone dang cute kids.
Katy is saying "to infinity" and Tyler is saying "and beyond!" only it comes out more like "anbion!" The kids love Buzz....what are you gonna do?
My family has sone dang cute kids.
I love my ward
Not only do we have cool book groups, we also have cool craft groups.
Lookit what I made! I'm totally crafty and cute. I know it came in a precut package, but I picked the colors all by myself. AND I think I did a really great job - I'll work on the bow part of it, but I think it's cute for now.
The next couple of months, our craft group is going to be doing new/different danglers for each season. So, we're starting with spring, but I'll have a fantastic year round decoration with different things for each season and I'm stoked about it! I'm such a grown up.
Lookit what I made! I'm totally crafty and cute. I know it came in a precut package, but I picked the colors all by myself. AND I think I did a really great job - I'll work on the bow part of it, but I think it's cute for now.
The next couple of months, our craft group is going to be doing new/different danglers for each season. So, we're starting with spring, but I'll have a fantastic year round decoration with different things for each season and I'm stoked about it! I'm such a grown up.
Tagged - 4 things
I love you Mal!
Four Jobs I've had:
1. Administrative Assistant for Apex Management – Four things I do at that job? Accounting, legal, hiring/training, and tenant liaison
2. Data Processor for AAA Fair Credit Foundation - I kinda miss that job sometimes….it was quite nice.
3. Legal Secretary for Bird and Fugal – my dad is the Fugal part. :)
4. Business Office Intern for Utah State Developmental Center – I pretty much always miss that job, it was fantastic.
Four Movies I've watched more then once:
Just for the sake of narrowing this down, I’m limiting it to the 2nd viewing in the past month. I watch too many movies too many times.
1. The Perfect Man – I’m a sucker for little girl movies and believing I’m a princess. Movies like this make me happy.
2. Cars - I have the mental and entertainment maturity of a 4 year old and I like it.
3. SWAT – That guy is GOOOD looking.
4. National Treasure - we saw the second one, which made me crave watching the first one.
Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Fresno, CA - I like to claim I'm a California girl, but really I don't remember anything about living there, we moved when I was 3.
2. Lindon, UT - That's home to me.
3. Salt Lake City, UT – I absolutely loved living downtown.
4. North Salt Lake in my very own townhome! Check me out bein’ a grownup!!!
Four TV Show I watch:
1. American Idol
2. Law & Order: SVU – I watch old reruns while I run every night. It’s new to me.
3. The Office. I heart Jim
4. Bones/House – I think these are the same show, they’re on at the same time, I never watch 1 without watching the other, and they’re about dying/dead people and medical mysteries. That means they’re the same.
Four Places I've been:
1. Catalina Island – as far as I’m concerned, that is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
2. Boston – Good times with debate.
3. Sea World – I can’t believe I paid $50 to get in the door and didn’t see a dolphin show OR Shamu, how lame am I?
4. Oregon Coast – also one of the most beautiful places on earth. Someday I will have a cute little vacation home on the beach....someday.
Four People Who Email Me Regularly:
1. Jamie
2. Mom Reilley
3. Josh (once a month counts as regularly right?)
4. I can’t think of anyone else, my socialization has turned into just reading and commenting on people’s blogs and nothing more. Between the 32 blogs I read and facebook updating me on every detail in everybody’s life, I never need to e-mail anyone. That’s the cold hard truth.
Four of My Favorite Foods:
1. Pasta
2. Subway sandwiches – I seriously think I could eat the same thing every day for lunch and be happy – as long as it’s Subway....
3. Summer salads – weird salad, green salad, potato salad, ramen salad, pasta/pepperoni salad, picnic salad, the list goes on…..
4. Hamburgers, home grilled (I'm struggling for the perfect terminology to explain that these hamburgers are cooked on my grill by my husband and seasoned to my liking. They are not from Wendy's or McDonald's, but it's not like they're really home-made......I didn't slaughter the cow or anything......), and fresh with garden veggies on them….mmmm…..I’m drooling right now.
Four Places I'd Like to Visit:
1. Alaska
2. Holland
3. Australia
4. Richland, WA
again with the drooling!
Four Things I'm Looking Forward to This Year:
1. The Cruise
2. Getting my husband back (stupid school holding him hostage....)
3. Economic stimulus package – putrid feds haven’t given us our money yet.
4. Finding out why I don’t get pregnant as fast as my sisters (not that it means anything, they are super-fertile and have babies faster than most people…..) – apparently the super-fertility gene was used up by the time my mom had me…..it’ll be nice to know what’s wrong with me.
Four People I Tag:
1. Jamie
2. Anna Hill (If I keep tagging you, I think you’ll start a blog. Just think, your first 2 posts are built in and you don’t have to think of anything to write about! :))
3. Julie Buckner
4. Hailey Ledford
I’m trying to mix it up, so if you feel neglected because I didn’t name you, pretend I did and do it anyway. :)
Four Jobs I've had:
1. Administrative Assistant for Apex Management – Four things I do at that job? Accounting, legal, hiring/training, and tenant liaison
2. Data Processor for AAA Fair Credit Foundation - I kinda miss that job sometimes….it was quite nice.
3. Legal Secretary for Bird and Fugal – my dad is the Fugal part. :)
4. Business Office Intern for Utah State Developmental Center – I pretty much always miss that job, it was fantastic.
Four Movies I've watched more then once:
Just for the sake of narrowing this down, I’m limiting it to the 2nd viewing in the past month. I watch too many movies too many times.
1. The Perfect Man – I’m a sucker for little girl movies and believing I’m a princess. Movies like this make me happy.
2. Cars - I have the mental and entertainment maturity of a 4 year old and I like it.
3. SWAT – That guy is GOOOD looking.
4. National Treasure - we saw the second one, which made me crave watching the first one.
Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Fresno, CA - I like to claim I'm a California girl, but really I don't remember anything about living there, we moved when I was 3.
2. Lindon, UT - That's home to me.
3. Salt Lake City, UT – I absolutely loved living downtown.
4. North Salt Lake in my very own townhome! Check me out bein’ a grownup!!!
Four TV Show I watch:
1. American Idol
2. Law & Order: SVU – I watch old reruns while I run every night. It’s new to me.
3. The Office. I heart Jim
4. Bones/House – I think these are the same show, they’re on at the same time, I never watch 1 without watching the other, and they’re about dying/dead people and medical mysteries. That means they’re the same.
Four Places I've been:
1. Catalina Island – as far as I’m concerned, that is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
2. Boston – Good times with debate.
3. Sea World – I can’t believe I paid $50 to get in the door and didn’t see a dolphin show OR Shamu, how lame am I?
4. Oregon Coast – also one of the most beautiful places on earth. Someday I will have a cute little vacation home on the beach....someday.
Four People Who Email Me Regularly:
1. Jamie
2. Mom Reilley
3. Josh (once a month counts as regularly right?)
4. I can’t think of anyone else, my socialization has turned into just reading and commenting on people’s blogs and nothing more. Between the 32 blogs I read and facebook updating me on every detail in everybody’s life, I never need to e-mail anyone. That’s the cold hard truth.
Four of My Favorite Foods:
1. Pasta
2. Subway sandwiches – I seriously think I could eat the same thing every day for lunch and be happy – as long as it’s Subway....
3. Summer salads – weird salad, green salad, potato salad, ramen salad, pasta/pepperoni salad, picnic salad, the list goes on…..
4. Hamburgers, home grilled (I'm struggling for the perfect terminology to explain that these hamburgers are cooked on my grill by my husband and seasoned to my liking. They are not from Wendy's or McDonald's, but it's not like they're really home-made......I didn't slaughter the cow or anything......), and fresh with garden veggies on them….mmmm…..I’m drooling right now.
Four Places I'd Like to Visit:
1. Alaska
2. Holland
3. Australia
4. Richland, WA
again with the drooling!
Four Things I'm Looking Forward to This Year:
1. The Cruise
2. Getting my husband back (stupid school holding him hostage....)
3. Economic stimulus package – putrid feds haven’t given us our money yet.
4. Finding out why I don’t get pregnant as fast as my sisters (not that it means anything, they are super-fertile and have babies faster than most people…..) – apparently the super-fertility gene was used up by the time my mom had me…..it’ll be nice to know what’s wrong with me.
Four People I Tag:
1. Jamie
2. Anna Hill (If I keep tagging you, I think you’ll start a blog. Just think, your first 2 posts are built in and you don’t have to think of anything to write about! :))
3. Julie Buckner
4. Hailey Ledford
I’m trying to mix it up, so if you feel neglected because I didn’t name you, pretend I did and do it anyway. :)
Monday, May 19, 2008
Survival
We've now survived our second weekend since Jamie and Cameron abandoned us for Washington. I'm proud to say we not only survived, we had fun!
Friday night was full of Redbox - which I didn't mind because I got to drive the cool car. :) Funny how something so stupid makes me not hate the fact that we're working on a Friday night.
Saturday night Aubrie and Corey came over and we ate pizza and played games. We had tons of fun, and learned that Jamie and Cameron are not the only people in the world who are fun to play with (sorry guys! we had no choice....). After food and some games, we made strawberry ice cream and at it with brownies and the best blondies I've ever had in my life (which unfortunately isn't saying much because my first experience with blondies was not good but these ones DEFINITELY were). We learned some new games, and I'm sure Game Night Games, will be thrilled with our new addictions.
Every time we (I) go to that store - we (I) wander around the tiny little room for like an hour, and pick up every single game, covet it, weigh it in my hand and try to decide if I'll be in trouble if I spend $1,000 on games today.
Inevitably I decide I will be in trouble if I do that, and then wind up feeling really good about myself for only spending 1/10 of that. Usually before I go I vow that I will only buy _______ (insert the name of the game here) game and I will immediately ask where it is, pick it up, pay and walk out. However, the guy is always busy, so I am forced to wander against my will. Then the cravings start in. My palm sweat and I get fidgety and I know that if I don't pick up and read about a new game I'll have a panic attack right then and there. At that point it becomes my civic duty to window shop and an hour and $100 later, I walk out with 1 expensive game, and 3-4 little ones. Needless to say, I try to avoid the game store so we can still pay our bills.
For some reason I think I'm doing good at not spending money as long as I don't buy everything I want. I do it with everything. If I go shopping for clothes, I pick and try on about a million things. Say I like 10 of them, then I can buy 3. But I always have to put away at least half of what I liked or else I'm spending too much money. Never mind the fact that I planned to buy a $15 pair of pants, and instead I'm walking out with 2 shirts and a dress (no pants) for $60 plus shoes and a new purse for $30 (6 times what I intended to spend and not even getting what I really needed) I put back at least $150 worth of merchandise which means I'm budgeting. :) It's sick and twisted, I know, but it's how my brain works.
Anyway, after a fun Saturday, and some great lessons in church on Sunday, we had the Egberts over for dinner. Just Meleta and Ben came because Ron wasn't feeling well, and to be honest, we weren't really sure he'd be able to get into our house....
Yesterday marked the first barbecue of the Summer, Josh cleaned the grill, I made weird salad, and we had some REALLY good hamburgers, and leftover homemade strawberry ice cream. Mmm.....I love summer food. Fresh watermelon, green salad, weird salad, and fresh homemade hamburgers and ice cream. Seriously I think I've died and gone to heaven. That will be dinner at LEAST once a week through the summer. I don't have to cook much AND the house doesn't get as hot as cooking something on the stove or in the oven, and it tastes sooo good (thank you Spade L). This is a very happy time of year for me. Soon they'll open the pool and I'll never leave my neighborhood again.
Friday night was full of Redbox - which I didn't mind because I got to drive the cool car. :) Funny how something so stupid makes me not hate the fact that we're working on a Friday night.
Saturday night Aubrie and Corey came over and we ate pizza and played games. We had tons of fun, and learned that Jamie and Cameron are not the only people in the world who are fun to play with (sorry guys! we had no choice....). After food and some games, we made strawberry ice cream and at it with brownies and the best blondies I've ever had in my life (which unfortunately isn't saying much because my first experience with blondies was not good but these ones DEFINITELY were). We learned some new games, and I'm sure Game Night Games, will be thrilled with our new addictions.
Every time we (I) go to that store - we (I) wander around the tiny little room for like an hour, and pick up every single game, covet it, weigh it in my hand and try to decide if I'll be in trouble if I spend $1,000 on games today.
Inevitably I decide I will be in trouble if I do that, and then wind up feeling really good about myself for only spending 1/10 of that. Usually before I go I vow that I will only buy _______ (insert the name of the game here) game and I will immediately ask where it is, pick it up, pay and walk out. However, the guy is always busy, so I am forced to wander against my will. Then the cravings start in. My palm sweat and I get fidgety and I know that if I don't pick up and read about a new game I'll have a panic attack right then and there. At that point it becomes my civic duty to window shop and an hour and $100 later, I walk out with 1 expensive game, and 3-4 little ones. Needless to say, I try to avoid the game store so we can still pay our bills.
For some reason I think I'm doing good at not spending money as long as I don't buy everything I want. I do it with everything. If I go shopping for clothes, I pick and try on about a million things. Say I like 10 of them, then I can buy 3. But I always have to put away at least half of what I liked or else I'm spending too much money. Never mind the fact that I planned to buy a $15 pair of pants, and instead I'm walking out with 2 shirts and a dress (no pants) for $60 plus shoes and a new purse for $30 (6 times what I intended to spend and not even getting what I really needed) I put back at least $150 worth of merchandise which means I'm budgeting. :) It's sick and twisted, I know, but it's how my brain works.
Anyway, after a fun Saturday, and some great lessons in church on Sunday, we had the Egberts over for dinner. Just Meleta and Ben came because Ron wasn't feeling well, and to be honest, we weren't really sure he'd be able to get into our house....
Yesterday marked the first barbecue of the Summer, Josh cleaned the grill, I made weird salad, and we had some REALLY good hamburgers, and leftover homemade strawberry ice cream. Mmm.....I love summer food. Fresh watermelon, green salad, weird salad, and fresh homemade hamburgers and ice cream. Seriously I think I've died and gone to heaven. That will be dinner at LEAST once a week through the summer. I don't have to cook much AND the house doesn't get as hot as cooking something on the stove or in the oven, and it tastes sooo good (thank you Spade L). This is a very happy time of year for me. Soon they'll open the pool and I'll never leave my neighborhood again.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
My Jedi-mind tricks
Now that Josh has a super-sweet Redbox car I drive my own car to work. As much as I love having the freedom to come and go as I please, it also has it's drawbacks. Actually just 1. It's that I don't get door-side service anymore.
Since we work out of a home, there is not adequate parking for all of us. And since David wants to stay friendly with his neighbors, when they asked him to stop having so many cars lining the streets directly around his house, he gladly volunteered that we all walk 2 blocks and park down by Ensign Park. He gladly volunteered because he still parks in his garage.
Truthfully it's quite a nice walk, particularly in this time of year because it's beautiful outside, and it's nice to have a few minutes before/after work to calm down and prepare for what's next.
HOWEVER, I just remembered that when you walk down the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood at 9:00 am, more than 1 yard usually has sprinklers going. On this road, there is the lawn of the homeowner, the sidewalk, a small strip of lawn, and then the street. So, they all have sprinkling systems for the small strip, which means the sidewalk gets drenched.
On my way in this morning I was listening to the radio and heard how you get your star wars name so you can kill a syth lord and become a Jedi by religion. My Jedi name is Egbam Gofre (I've chosen NOT to say it like Gofer, but like Go-Free because Gofer is a stupid Jedi name and technically since it's a name, I could pretend it's french and pronounces it "Jones" if I wanted to.)
Anyway, I was practicing my Jedi-mind tricks to control the sprinkling systems so I wouldn't get soaked on my way to work. I came up to a part of the sidewalk that was wet so it was CLEARLY just sprinkled giving me the perfect opportunity to use my Jedi powers to tell the sprinklers NOT to come on and be able to brag about how when I waved my hand and told them not to come on they didn't. So, I went to raise my hand.....and of course I heard the gurgle. The gurgle that makes me wish Josh was with me so I could use him as shield while I scream and run.
Yes, that's right, my Jedi-mind trick is wired backwards, so even though the sprinklers had just come on, when I Jedi-told them not to, they heard the wrong message and came on again! How powerful am I huh? Now that I know I'm just reverse wired, I can control the world! Watch out for Egbam Gofre!
Since we work out of a home, there is not adequate parking for all of us. And since David wants to stay friendly with his neighbors, when they asked him to stop having so many cars lining the streets directly around his house, he gladly volunteered that we all walk 2 blocks and park down by Ensign Park. He gladly volunteered because he still parks in his garage.
Truthfully it's quite a nice walk, particularly in this time of year because it's beautiful outside, and it's nice to have a few minutes before/after work to calm down and prepare for what's next.
HOWEVER, I just remembered that when you walk down the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood at 9:00 am, more than 1 yard usually has sprinklers going. On this road, there is the lawn of the homeowner, the sidewalk, a small strip of lawn, and then the street. So, they all have sprinkling systems for the small strip, which means the sidewalk gets drenched.
On my way in this morning I was listening to the radio and heard how you get your star wars name so you can kill a syth lord and become a Jedi by religion. My Jedi name is Egbam Gofre (I've chosen NOT to say it like Gofer, but like Go-Free because Gofer is a stupid Jedi name and technically since it's a name, I could pretend it's french and pronounces it "Jones" if I wanted to.)
Anyway, I was practicing my Jedi-mind tricks to control the sprinkling systems so I wouldn't get soaked on my way to work. I came up to a part of the sidewalk that was wet so it was CLEARLY just sprinkled giving me the perfect opportunity to use my Jedi powers to tell the sprinklers NOT to come on and be able to brag about how when I waved my hand and told them not to come on they didn't. So, I went to raise my hand.....and of course I heard the gurgle. The gurgle that makes me wish Josh was with me so I could use him as shield while I scream and run.
Yes, that's right, my Jedi-mind trick is wired backwards, so even though the sprinklers had just come on, when I Jedi-told them not to, they heard the wrong message and came on again! How powerful am I huh? Now that I know I'm just reverse wired, I can control the world! Watch out for Egbam Gofre!
All nighters for home work? I think not!
Josh has been asking me all week long to help him write up his Russian Protocol assignment that is due today. In the true nature of me being me, I blew him off until last night. And now I'm having flashbacks.
According to the people in charge of my high school reunion, I graduated from high school 5 years ago (really? 5 years?!?! I know it makes me sound old to say this - but that makes me sound SOOO old!!!). And that was probably the last time I pulled a really late night for the sake of my education. The roomies and I had all kinds of late nights during our time at the Business College, but I have to say I don't think even 1 of them had anything to do with homework or school assignments in any way shape or form. It was mostly Friends marathons, Skipbo, and Wendy's runs with an occasional trip to Freaky Dee's in Sugarhouse.
Don't get me wrong, I was a great student in college....well mostly great. I graduated with a 3.98 or something, (thanks to the 1 A- from my design teacher, I hated that class.) And I pretty much always completed my assignments the night (or moments) before they were due. Really.
I have far too many memories of writing papers in high school and having my mom and dad review them after 1:00am so I could turn them in by 7:00am that day. I am a last minute person, I think and flow better under pressure, and I've always thought that there's no point in taking 2 hours a day for 3 weeks to prepare an assignment when I can just stress out for 6 hours the night before. Technically that's more efficient and I stand by my theory that it is the right way to do things.
Unfortunately I don't think Josh agrees with that point of view. We started working on it again (he forced me to start a little of it the night before too) when he got home at 11:00 last night. We kept working on it until about 2:00 when he was falling asleep sitting up at the table. I now understand how my parents felt when I stopped caring about the quality of my work and they were still trying to make me do the best I could. Around 11:30 Josh told me that he'd rather just make up a bunch of numbers and fail the assignment because "nobody likes the stupid Russian anyway" (that isn't directed at people who are from Russia, that's directed at the style of massage that is called "Russian Sports Massage" or "the stupid Russian" for short).
In any case, we got everything to work out beautifully. And Josh is eternally grateful for my mad typing skills and ability to divide time on a spreadsheet. So, I guess it worked out well - those are good results in my mind. :) In the mean time, I don't really think I'll be going back to school anytime soon....I'm dead tired this morning (pathetic I know) and I only kindof miss the kind of pressure and anxiety that only school can give me.
And now for the most fantastic part of the whole thing:
Josh only has 7 more days in school! Yes, that's right. 1 more week and he's DONE! FINISHED! COMPLETED!!!! Which means, summer time can officially begin! Woo hoo!!!!! I'm gonna get my husband back! I'm gonna get my husband bank! (You're supposed to be singing that like in the tune that you sing, "you're gonna get in trou-ble")
According to the people in charge of my high school reunion, I graduated from high school 5 years ago (really? 5 years?!?! I know it makes me sound old to say this - but that makes me sound SOOO old!!!). And that was probably the last time I pulled a really late night for the sake of my education. The roomies and I had all kinds of late nights during our time at the Business College, but I have to say I don't think even 1 of them had anything to do with homework or school assignments in any way shape or form. It was mostly Friends marathons, Skipbo, and Wendy's runs with an occasional trip to Freaky Dee's in Sugarhouse.
Don't get me wrong, I was a great student in college....well mostly great. I graduated with a 3.98 or something, (thanks to the 1 A- from my design teacher, I hated that class.) And I pretty much always completed my assignments the night (or moments) before they were due. Really.
I have far too many memories of writing papers in high school and having my mom and dad review them after 1:00am so I could turn them in by 7:00am that day. I am a last minute person, I think and flow better under pressure, and I've always thought that there's no point in taking 2 hours a day for 3 weeks to prepare an assignment when I can just stress out for 6 hours the night before. Technically that's more efficient and I stand by my theory that it is the right way to do things.
Unfortunately I don't think Josh agrees with that point of view. We started working on it again (he forced me to start a little of it the night before too) when he got home at 11:00 last night. We kept working on it until about 2:00 when he was falling asleep sitting up at the table. I now understand how my parents felt when I stopped caring about the quality of my work and they were still trying to make me do the best I could. Around 11:30 Josh told me that he'd rather just make up a bunch of numbers and fail the assignment because "nobody likes the stupid Russian anyway" (that isn't directed at people who are from Russia, that's directed at the style of massage that is called "Russian Sports Massage" or "the stupid Russian" for short).
In any case, we got everything to work out beautifully. And Josh is eternally grateful for my mad typing skills and ability to divide time on a spreadsheet. So, I guess it worked out well - those are good results in my mind. :) In the mean time, I don't really think I'll be going back to school anytime soon....I'm dead tired this morning (pathetic I know) and I only kindof miss the kind of pressure and anxiety that only school can give me.
And now for the most fantastic part of the whole thing:
Josh only has 7 more days in school! Yes, that's right. 1 more week and he's DONE! FINISHED! COMPLETED!!!! Which means, summer time can officially begin! Woo hoo!!!!! I'm gonna get my husband back! I'm gonna get my husband bank! (You're supposed to be singing that like in the tune that you sing, "you're gonna get in trou-ble")
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A 5K a day....
So about 2 months ago I started running regularly. At first I went 4-5 times a week, and now I'm only going 3 times a week, but I've been doing at least 3 miles every time I go, which I have to say feels pretty good.
It's stupid, but I'm really proud of that. I still don't like running, but I'm surprised at how much I don't hate it. So, that's a big step for me. Maybe someday I'll like it, and maybe someday I'll start running a distance that is impressive to someone other than myself. :) In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing my 5K a day, and hopefully keep the Dr. away.
It's stupid, but I'm really proud of that. I still don't like running, but I'm surprised at how much I don't hate it. So, that's a big step for me. Maybe someday I'll like it, and maybe someday I'll start running a distance that is impressive to someone other than myself. :) In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing my 5K a day, and hopefully keep the Dr. away.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
1 more reason I love Redbox
No, that's not us, it's not our table, and that's probably not in Salt Lake City; but the fact that Josh got a call on Friday from the Dodge dealership asking him when he could come in to pick up his 2008 Dodge Nitro and we picked it up first thing Monday morning is the latest reason that I love Redbox. I have never in my life driven a car with only 280 miles on it (yes, that's 280, not 280,000 or even 28,000. Just 280. That's all. Anyway, we've been sharing a car for almost a full year now, and we're both ready for the freedom and independence that comes with having your own car. So, THANK YOU REDBOX!
My husband is crafty
Last Saturday night as we were getting ready for Mother's Day making cards and invitations for Josh's graduation party, I made Josh help me with the craftiness of the whole thing.
He admitted that he liked it, he was all proud of himself for sticking stuff together and even using "buttons" (eyelets) to attach stuff. I have to say that it was kinda fun to have him help me with it, and I was pretty impressed with his mad skills.
The more I scrapbook the more I appreciate my super-cool mother in law. This woman is amazing. Seriously. Josh has 5 STUFFED books of his life, and every single page is adorable and amazing. The layouts are incredible, and the amount of time she spent on each one blows my mind. For our wedding she made us a dating scrapbook that I LOVE. It makes me happy every time I look through it because we had so much fun, and she put it together so well. I've always sworn that I will never be a scrapbooker because I'm just not creative enough, but the more I do it, the more I like it. The problem is it's SO time consuming, that if I started doing it, I would always be behind, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life on a big guilt trip because I'm behind in scrapbooking. So, I'm torn. My poor babies will miss out, but I just don't think I can commit to that much time of scrapbooking. Maybe if they're lucky, their grandmother will make them mini-books with just a few pages of the highlights.
He admitted that he liked it, he was all proud of himself for sticking stuff together and even using "buttons" (eyelets) to attach stuff. I have to say that it was kinda fun to have him help me with it, and I was pretty impressed with his mad skills.
The more I scrapbook the more I appreciate my super-cool mother in law. This woman is amazing. Seriously. Josh has 5 STUFFED books of his life, and every single page is adorable and amazing. The layouts are incredible, and the amount of time she spent on each one blows my mind. For our wedding she made us a dating scrapbook that I LOVE. It makes me happy every time I look through it because we had so much fun, and she put it together so well. I've always sworn that I will never be a scrapbooker because I'm just not creative enough, but the more I do it, the more I like it. The problem is it's SO time consuming, that if I started doing it, I would always be behind, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life on a big guilt trip because I'm behind in scrapbooking. So, I'm torn. My poor babies will miss out, but I just don't think I can commit to that much time of scrapbooking. Maybe if they're lucky, their grandmother will make them mini-books with just a few pages of the highlights.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Happy Mother's Day
I sometimes complain that we live so close to our families because it means we have to choose on holidays and it really stresses me out. But, after a fantastic day like Mother's Day, I have no complaints AND I hereby withdraw all previous complaints. :)
One of the things I love most about my mom is that she knows pretty much everything. Late Saturday night I called her to ask what the rule is when you're playing the piano for primary. Are you supposed to play while all the kids come up? If so, what are you supposed to play? Another mother's day song? The song they're singing? A primary song? A scale? OK, I know not a scale, but I wasn't sure about the rest of it. Of course she immediately solved my problem, naming the exact song I should play while they walked up - in fact, if I had asked her I bet she could have told me what page it was on. She's just that cool.
Sunday morning came, and I of course got really nervous. It wasn't even that big of a deal. 1 song. 1 minute. Nobody was even listening to me, it was about the kids singing, and most of the mom's didn't even care how they sounded. BUT I'm me, and I was nervous. The time came, I walked up to the piano and opened my book to start playing, but I couldn't do it. It was too quiet. Then nobody else was coming up, then someone made the announcement to the kids that they should come up, I was dying, then I had waited too long and it would have been weird to start playing. So, I skipped the reverent come up to the stand music. I'm a big baby.
After hanging out at my parent's for a while, we headed up to West Jordan to hang out with Josh's family. They were having a big fat barbecue with everybody in the world and it was great fun. I have to say the highlight of the night was when I was outside playing BOLT with Cami (Josh's 14/15 year old sister) and we somehow got distracted by a football. I confessed that I have never in my entire life been able to throw a football properly and she told me that she'd teach me, which she did! Seriously, I'm 23 years old and I've never once gotten a football to spiral, but we played catch for probably half an hour and I did a great job! I caught, I threw, I chased the ball, it was so fun! And I was so proud for making such an important step in my life. Cami rocks for teaching me and being patient while I learned. :)
This mother's day held another first for me when we headed over to the Egbert's. Ben had out the Wii, and showed us how to bowl. Turns out I rock at fake Nintendo bowling. :) Much better than in real life anyway. We had fun doing that, then he busted out the baseball - wow. I am REALLY bad at baseball. And the most embarrassing part is that I think I threw out my arm while I was swinging. :) Josh and I tied our 2nd game with a score of 1. Neither of us are very good at it, that's for sure, but we had a great time, and I'm sure we looked very cool.
In all it was a great Mother's Day. I'm so glad to have so many mom's who love me and who are such fantastic examples to me, I can't wait for when I get to celebrate Mother's Day with a child of my very own. I'm past baby hungry - I think it's baby-famished.....
One of the things I love most about my mom is that she knows pretty much everything. Late Saturday night I called her to ask what the rule is when you're playing the piano for primary. Are you supposed to play while all the kids come up? If so, what are you supposed to play? Another mother's day song? The song they're singing? A primary song? A scale? OK, I know not a scale, but I wasn't sure about the rest of it. Of course she immediately solved my problem, naming the exact song I should play while they walked up - in fact, if I had asked her I bet she could have told me what page it was on. She's just that cool.
Sunday morning came, and I of course got really nervous. It wasn't even that big of a deal. 1 song. 1 minute. Nobody was even listening to me, it was about the kids singing, and most of the mom's didn't even care how they sounded. BUT I'm me, and I was nervous. The time came, I walked up to the piano and opened my book to start playing, but I couldn't do it. It was too quiet. Then nobody else was coming up, then someone made the announcement to the kids that they should come up, I was dying, then I had waited too long and it would have been weird to start playing. So, I skipped the reverent come up to the stand music. I'm a big baby.
After hanging out at my parent's for a while, we headed up to West Jordan to hang out with Josh's family. They were having a big fat barbecue with everybody in the world and it was great fun. I have to say the highlight of the night was when I was outside playing BOLT with Cami (Josh's 14/15 year old sister) and we somehow got distracted by a football. I confessed that I have never in my entire life been able to throw a football properly and she told me that she'd teach me, which she did! Seriously, I'm 23 years old and I've never once gotten a football to spiral, but we played catch for probably half an hour and I did a great job! I caught, I threw, I chased the ball, it was so fun! And I was so proud for making such an important step in my life. Cami rocks for teaching me and being patient while I learned. :)
This mother's day held another first for me when we headed over to the Egbert's. Ben had out the Wii, and showed us how to bowl. Turns out I rock at fake Nintendo bowling. :) Much better than in real life anyway. We had fun doing that, then he busted out the baseball - wow. I am REALLY bad at baseball. And the most embarrassing part is that I think I threw out my arm while I was swinging. :) Josh and I tied our 2nd game with a score of 1. Neither of us are very good at it, that's for sure, but we had a great time, and I'm sure we looked very cool.
In all it was a great Mother's Day. I'm so glad to have so many mom's who love me and who are such fantastic examples to me, I can't wait for when I get to celebrate Mother's Day with a child of my very own. I'm past baby hungry - I think it's baby-famished.....
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Evie's Blessing
Sunday we got to go to Evie's blessing and see Jamie and Cameron for the last time before they left. It was a beautiful blessing and I'm so glad we got to be there for it!
This is Josh holding Evie, he was a bit of a baby hog.
Look at us all happy!
When we left we got in the car and I started crying again. Then I was grumpy because "stupid Washington is stealing my best friends" and then I laughed at myself because in real life I'm happy for them. (Oh my crazy-emotional-lady moment!) We'd been driving in silence for about 10 minutes when Josh randomly started making gun noises.
"Fzew Fzew!" (that's my pathetic attempt to spell the sound that a fast bullet of a 22 (or 17 or whatever kind of gun Cameron just bought) makes)
Silence. I'm still in my own little world thinking about life and forgot to notice that it's weird that my husband is making little boy sound effects for no apparent reason.
"Cameron was just shooting at the can of tomato juice in my head." (I just read that, and it sounds like there was a can of tomato juice in Josh's head and Cameron was shooting at it. In real life, he meant he was remembering (in his head) when they went shooting together a couple of weeks ago.) Then he started making explosion noises that I'm not even going to try to spell. "Then he hit it and it exploded."
Josh gets this goofy smile on his face. "Man we had fun."
My poor husband is gonna have to start hanging out with his crazy-emotional-lady wife instead of cool Cameron and his tomato-shooting-gun.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Pet Names
My bother and my husband both work for Redbox. It creates kindof an interesting dynamic for me. They both know I work in an office. They both know my boss is pretty flexible. They both know I sit at a computer all day. And neither of them use a computer with internet during the day. When Josh got his computer from Redbox, the number of calls I got in any given day significantly decreased. Until Nate started up.
I get requests from either one of them for things you wouldn’t even believe. Most of the calls are for machines, food, or cars “can you check my e-mail and tell me the address for machine 6547 and how to get there from machine 5530?” “I’m in Park City and I’m starving, where’s the nearest Arby’s?” “I have some spare time and I need some new shoes, where should I go?” “Closest bank?” “Closest Walmart?” “Closest cell phone store?” “I blew a tire, where is a Big O in Payson?” “I just looked at my gas tank, and I’m about empty, between Lehi and Saratoga Springs. help!” (that one used to be a much more significant problem that usually lead to the response “turn around now!”) I even got a call one day from one of them (I won’t say which to protect his pride) because they needed to buy a new pair of pants due to a puking incident. I have to say, there are not enough ______marts in Sandy. They’re all clustered together, and none of them go up the mountain, which sucks for he-who-shall-not-be-named because he had to drive in puked on pants clear down the mountain. Needless to say with so many various calls, google has become my best friend.
This weekend after shopping at the Close To My Heart warehouse sale (TOTALLY worth an hour’s drive and fighting off hundreds of women and strollers) Sarah, the boys and I were going to go on a picnic. I decided we’d have Subway since I have about 10 gajillion points and I figured it’d be easy to know what we wanted there. Only problem was, I didn’t know where one was. Who did I call? Nate. And he told me right off the top of his head, which worked out perfectly. He also informed me that:
“you know you can text google right?”
“text google?”
“yes. Text google. Tell them what you want and they will text you back with where it is.”
“Google is not a person, you know that right?”
“Yes they are. They answer the phone when you call them too.”
“You can call google?”
“Yes. You say, ‘hello google? I am hungry and would like to find the nearest Arby’s I’m in Orem’ and they say ‘OK, would you like us to text you the addresses or just tell them to you?’”
Seriously! They do that! For free! Granted, when you call google you can’t say “I’m hungry, what sounds good?” which means they aren’t as cool as I am. Well, maybe you could, they might have a food-mood-reader on site. Given the cool-level of google (currently 10,153,649 and rising) I wouldn’t put it past them.
Anyway, today on the 3rd time Josh called me at work to ask where something was (we googled Panda Express, and I looked up a bunch of stuff from work for him) I kindly informed him that he could call Google.
“You know you can call Google and they’ll do this crap for you.” I snapped at him – in my defense, it’s been a very busy day at work.
“But they won’t say they love me” he reminded me
“I love you. Neither will I.” I retorted
Laughter ensued.
“I’ll be your google.” My heart was now softened and I could look up the nearest branch of America First Credit Union.
“I’ll be your huckleberry.” He responded.
And that’s how the latest pet name of “google” was born for the Egbert household.
Stake Conference
Today we had a fantastic adult session of Stake Conference. Josh and I almost didn’t go – because Redbox and other stuff came up – but we decided to and boy am I glad.
The meeting was about 1 ½ hours, and we probably heard 10 speakers. Only 2 of them were in the Stake Presidency and the other 8 (or so) were just members of the stake.
They were each asked to share an experience in their life (some had specific direction) which strengthened their testimony of the Holy Ghost and it was REALLY fantastic. I think that’s how Testimony Meetings are supposed to be. They were all simple, not discourses, not thankimonies, not doctrine, just a simple testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost in their lives. They were each different, and they were each very powerful. It was a fantastic meeting.
One story that I especially liked was of a guy who explaining how in his life he feels the power of the spirit a LOT more when he asks for it than when he doesn’t. (Makes sense huh?) He explained that while there are some instances that we are overwhelmed with the feeling of the Spirit, much more often, we have to ask for it first.
One night, when his kids were teenagers, he came home from work and his wife immediately told him, “You need to talk to your daughter.” This particular daughter was 13 years old, they lived in California and there was a school dance coming up. It was their family practice not to attend dances until they were 14. He knew he was in for it.
He went upstairs and silently prayed to have help in knowing what to say to his daughter to help her to make choices that would make her happy in life. He knocked on her door and asked if he could come in. She said yes and immediately started into her speech outline all of the reasons she should be able to go to the dance.
“The bishop’s daughter is going.” “It’s just a dance, not a date.” “I’m only a month away from being 14 anyway.” Etc.
He said he listened to her speech, then he very clearly thought about the thing that would make the most sense to her.
“When you turn 14 and start going to stake dances, how many will there be?” He asked.
She thought about it, and he could see her doing the math in her head. “2 a month, plus an extra one for Christmas....25.” She answered.
“And how many at school?” he continued.
“5 or 6 a year”
“So total, that’s about 30 every single year, right?” He verified.
She nodded
“So over the course of the 4 years you can keep up this routine, that’s at least 120 dances. Right?”
She nodded.
“Do you really think you’re going to miss that much by not going to this one?”
“You’re right dad, I don’t need to go.” She answered happily and went on doing her homework.
Seriously! That’s what she said. Wow. I have to say I doubt that happens very often, but he was thankful that the Holy Ghost was willing to show him how best to approach this topic with his daughter. He also reminded us that if we want to be inspired or feel the Spirit, we should 1. Ask for it. 2. Listen so you can hear it. and 3. Act on it. Ask, listen, act.
The 2 speakers from the Stake Presidency took a little longer and were more doctrine-y, but one was first and the other was last so it was easy to pay attention. One of them gave an absolutely fantastic talk about how the power of Holy Ghost pretty much encompasses everything that makes our religion different. Personal revelation, modern prophets, everything else falls under the Holy Ghost, which is pretty cool. His talk was fantastic.
It really was a great meeting and Josh and I both came away wanting to be better and already feeling more grateful for the blessings we have.
The meeting was about 1 ½ hours, and we probably heard 10 speakers. Only 2 of them were in the Stake Presidency and the other 8 (or so) were just members of the stake.
They were each asked to share an experience in their life (some had specific direction) which strengthened their testimony of the Holy Ghost and it was REALLY fantastic. I think that’s how Testimony Meetings are supposed to be. They were all simple, not discourses, not thankimonies, not doctrine, just a simple testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost in their lives. They were each different, and they were each very powerful. It was a fantastic meeting.
One story that I especially liked was of a guy who explaining how in his life he feels the power of the spirit a LOT more when he asks for it than when he doesn’t. (Makes sense huh?) He explained that while there are some instances that we are overwhelmed with the feeling of the Spirit, much more often, we have to ask for it first.
One night, when his kids were teenagers, he came home from work and his wife immediately told him, “You need to talk to your daughter.” This particular daughter was 13 years old, they lived in California and there was a school dance coming up. It was their family practice not to attend dances until they were 14. He knew he was in for it.
He went upstairs and silently prayed to have help in knowing what to say to his daughter to help her to make choices that would make her happy in life. He knocked on her door and asked if he could come in. She said yes and immediately started into her speech outline all of the reasons she should be able to go to the dance.
“The bishop’s daughter is going.” “It’s just a dance, not a date.” “I’m only a month away from being 14 anyway.” Etc.
He said he listened to her speech, then he very clearly thought about the thing that would make the most sense to her.
“When you turn 14 and start going to stake dances, how many will there be?” He asked.
She thought about it, and he could see her doing the math in her head. “2 a month, plus an extra one for Christmas....25.” She answered.
“And how many at school?” he continued.
“5 or 6 a year”
“So total, that’s about 30 every single year, right?” He verified.
She nodded
“So over the course of the 4 years you can keep up this routine, that’s at least 120 dances. Right?”
She nodded.
“Do you really think you’re going to miss that much by not going to this one?”
“You’re right dad, I don’t need to go.” She answered happily and went on doing her homework.
Seriously! That’s what she said. Wow. I have to say I doubt that happens very often, but he was thankful that the Holy Ghost was willing to show him how best to approach this topic with his daughter. He also reminded us that if we want to be inspired or feel the Spirit, we should 1. Ask for it. 2. Listen so you can hear it. and 3. Act on it. Ask, listen, act.
The 2 speakers from the Stake Presidency took a little longer and were more doctrine-y, but one was first and the other was last so it was easy to pay attention. One of them gave an absolutely fantastic talk about how the power of Holy Ghost pretty much encompasses everything that makes our religion different. Personal revelation, modern prophets, everything else falls under the Holy Ghost, which is pretty cool. His talk was fantastic.
It really was a great meeting and Josh and I both came away wanting to be better and already feeling more grateful for the blessings we have.
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