Today I was thinking a little about what I was going to miss when I left for Scotland. And the funny thing is that what made me start thinking about it was the conversation I heard as I was leaving the house today. “Why dont you put your feet on somebody ELSE’S head for a change!” It was Gini yelling at Lando while Lando was yelling at Trin saying “Don’t touch the rubber bands!” I just kinda sighed and smiled to myself and it set me off on a train of thoughts of all the little things that I will miss. Like making Lando dance with me in the kitchen. Who am I going to do that with in Scotland? My companion? It didn’t make me sad thinking about what I will miss though. They will be good misses. It’s ok to miss some things I think. As long as it’s not consuming.
Ok, funny thing that happened today… this will be especially funny if you know how Trin can get sometimes. So yeah, I upset Trin today by trying to joke about something to make her feel better about something she was annoyed with. In the end it just sounded like I was mocking her and she ran out of the room. Anyway, she came back in and I told her I was sorry and I reached out my arms to give her a hug and she kept walking and it seemed like she was going to let me hug her BUT she kept walking. Now the thing you must realize is that I was sitting on our computer chair that has wheels and as she kept going so did I… then the chair hit something and as I started tipping, the chair went backwards, and I went forward. Then I hit the floor. Hard. I feel like I broke my tail bone and I scraped my elbow, sprained my wrist and bruised my sholder. Now you may be thinking how I did ALL of that in one landing… Well that will just tell you what a rediculous situation I was in. So at that point I didnt know whether to laugh or cry. So I just layed there in my painfully humerous position. For a while. Then I got up laughed a little to myself and got back up and finished what I was doing at the computer. I just wish someone could have seen me. Trin saw me, but becuase she was mad at me she just looked at me like “serves you right for being such a dork”. I would have much rather someone laughed at me. sigh so that is why I write this. Maybe someone will laugh at me. So anyway, between that and my burnt wrist from making chocolate chip cookies and stubbing my toe while moving a church pew uptsairs for my mom I am a mess! But I am still in a fabulous mood!
Filed under: random thoughts
“Getting to know [me]! Getting to know all about [me]! Getting to like [me]! getting to hope you like me!!”
I found this random quesionaire and I decided to answer it. So here ya go! It’s kinda long…
Are your parents married or divorced?: Married for eternity
Are you a vegetarian?: No…. I don’t eat that much meat really but I love a good steak!
Do you believe in Heaven?: SURE DO!
Have you ever come close to dying?: not that I know of.
What jewelry do you wear 24/7?: Used to be a CTR ring. But I loose it occasionally.
Ever thrown up in public? Yes. Soccer conditioning after running REALLY hard.
Would you take a bullet for anyone? I’m not sure if I would for just anyone. I am not that brave. But there are a few people I would for sure!
Have you ever seen your best friend cry? yeah.
What kind of vitamins did you take as a kid? Only the kind I could swallow.
Are you eating?: No… weird! Do you eat the stems of broccoli: yep yep yep!
Do you wear makeup?: should, but don’t. I wear mascara about every other day.
Would you ever have plastic surgery?: no, too risky. And I like how I look.
What do you wear to bed?: T-shirt and pj pants
Have you ever done anything illegal?: I stole gum when I was little. And other than that and my drug addiction, no. 
Can you roll your tongue?: Yeah
What is your Hair color?: Brown
Eye color?: Poop green
Future child’s name, not sure exactly except I want to give one of my boys the name Kent and another the middle name of Loyal after my dad.
If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?: Um, Scotland!
Do you sleep with stuffed animals?: Not anymore. Now I sleep with books.
If you won the lottery, what would you do first?: Go with Liz to see Wiked on broadway.
Gold or silver?: usually silver.
Hamburger or hot dog?: Hamburger. Although I love hot dogs rosted over a fire. Everything tastes better when you are camping!
If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?: Oh dear. I don’t think I would like anything for that long! Maybe raspberries, celery or cabbage. I think it would take me the longest to get sick of one of those.
City, beach or country?: Oh I like em all. but right now I want to be at the beach.
What was the last thing you touched?: my hair
Where did you eat last?: At home. I ate crackers and cheese!
When’s the last time you cried?: A couple nights ago I think. It was out of the blue! I dont even remember what it was that made me cry! All I remember is I was looking in the miror… I don’t think that was why I was crying though… plus it only lasted like 2 seconds. And I think it was a happy cry.
Do you read blogs?: yeah.
Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?: I wear my brothers shirts all the time.
Ever been involved with the police?: Not other than speeding tickets
Do you talk in your sleep?: yes. I laugh too.
Ocean or pool?: OCEAN hands down! Although I’ll take a pool if there is nothing else.
What’s your favorite song at the moment: “Hey there Delilah” by plain white Ts Or… “I told you so” by Keith Urban. And that will probably change tomorrow.
have you ever had a cavity?: sadly yes. Window seat or aisle seats?: WINDOW Ever met anyone famous?: Thurl Bailey
Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life?: It depends on what you think is successful. I’d say yes!
Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?: kinda twirl. Mostly just slirp.
What is your fav. sport to play?: Play?? Soccer? or volley ball. or ultimate Frisbee, I really like that… I don’t know. I’m not particularly good at any one sport, so I just like ‘em all!
Basketball or football?: Basketball I think
when was the last time you went to the bathroom?: weird question. About 2 minutes ago.
Do you drive a stick?: NO. (sigh)
Cake or ice cream?: Ice cream generally. but sometimes I really like cake. I hardly ever like them together though.
Are you self-conscious?: SOMETIMES… wait, was that a bad answer?
Do you like any of your close friends?: Well, they are my close friends
Have you ever given money to a bum?: yes
Have you been in love?: yes.
Where do you wish you were?: In Scotland
Who was the last person you kissed? Skyler
Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?: NO.
Can you tango?: Heck yes! I Love the tango!
Last gift you received?: a book from my friend Erik
What occasion did you recieve your gift?: Early birthday present
Last thing you spent lots of money on?: My passport
Where do you live?: ProvidenceLast
wedding attended.: actual wedding? My sister Nicole’s. A few years ago
Favorite restaurant?: From most expensive to least: Le Nonne, Firehouse, or Wendy’s.
What is your favorite kind of car?: anything that runs? I like SUVs and right now I am driving a F150 truck and I am really liking it. I just like all cars I guess.
Most hated food(s): red onions I think.
Most loved food(s)?: right now, chocolate chip cookies. Can you sing?: I like to!
Person on your mind?: my dad
What’s your least fav. chores?: mopping
Favorite drink?: water
Currently have a Crush?: I usually do!
How long was your longest drive in a car?: The longest straight drive was from Florida to Utah. 2 days!
Feel free to answer these random questions too!
Filed under: random thoughts
Have you ever been in one of those moods where you really want to talk to someone, not because you have anything specific to say to them, but because you crave the conversations that you have with them? That’s how I feel right now.
“He divided his thoughts between the innocent things he was doing, and the grand things he had done.” -Les Miserables
I love that book. I wish I had time to read more There are so many things that I should be reading and studying right now that I almost feel a little guilty when I read “other” books.
I now have an adorable baby boy named Jasper. He arrived at 7:40 last night in little blue overalls and the cutest little hat to match. He is for the pioneer trek that I am going on in a few weeks. I am one of the ma’s. And we got our babies yesterday and I was nominated to take him home with me. He stays at home with Grandma while I work. ALSO, I made my very own pioneer skirt and bonnet! They look amazing. I almost want to wear them to work! But not really. If I knew how to put pictures on here I would show you them.
Busy busy busy. That has been my life right now. I love lifeguarding in the mornings. It’s a wonderful feeling to wake up just really excited to go to work in the morning. I am not sure if there is any one thing that makes it so great or if I just love every part about it. I love being with the kids. I love teaching them to enjoy something that I absolutely LOVE. This week and last week I have been working with a level 1 and its a group of 4 year olds and this class has been SO rewarding! They all started off just terrified of the water, but the more they got to trust me and the other teacher, the more we showed them that water can be fun. Last week one of the little girls gave me a big hug and said “I love you teacher!” So cute! I really enjoy watching “K” teach the class. I love the different tactics she uses to keep them interested! The more I do these classes the more I am interested in teaching swimming classes myself! Maybe someday! Another thing that I love about this job is I get to do laps in the pool in between classes! It’s so nice. Especially since I dont have time to exercise otherwise.
Anyway, back to my busy-ness. I work in the Inn at night and I still like it a lot and I have worked every day these last few weeks and more than just 4 hour shifts! But next month it will slow back down a bit because we got a new manager and she is taking over quite a few shifts. So in between lifeguarding and “Inn-keeping” I try to get other things in such as studying preach my gospel, my mission prep lessons, Trek stuff, and other mission things like passport and VISA stuff.
Ok, now I love being busy, but here is the problem. When I have only a few hours a week of “free-time” I am kinda picky about how I want to use it. And when some people want to do things I am hesitant to commit to anything because I am not sure that I want consign my time to them. And yet sometimes I feel guilty for not being as social as I should be. So I usually end up doing things that I am not really all that excited about. And sometimes it ends up really good. But yeah. I get exhausted sometimes. Physically, mentally etc. But I really love life right now and am happy to be really living it.
Wow, I dont usually have time to update my blog, and I guess it’s because I always write so stinkin’ much!
Filed under: random thoughts
- A good friend of mine has come home from his mission He is a best friend of mine who has been in Chicago the last 2 years and is now home! He is going to BYUI in the fall so I will get to see him before I leave for Scotland!! YAY! I cannot wait to see him! He makes me laugh.
- Would it really be that bad to pee in the pool? Today I life-guarded for 2 more groups than I usually do and half way through the last group I realized that I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. And Ican’t leave, I am the lifeguard! So I just tredded water and wondered to myself, “would it be so bad…” In the end I decided against it. The water is REALLY clear!
- There is a mirror at the Inn that reminds me of the mirror off of Snow white.And every time I walk by it I think “mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest in the Inn?”
- I love frozen Mandarin oranges.
- Parents are funny. Since today was the last swimming lesson of the week parents were invited to come and watch their kids. And I realized why they are only allowed to some on the last day. “Billy, keep your head in the water!” “Honey, look at mommy, I want to take a picture of you!” It’s a little distracting when the teacher is trying to get the kids to listen. But that’s the moms. The one dad that did come to see his son read the paper the whole time and occasionally said “good job Ian” without looking up. It kinda made me laugh. I doubt the kid even noticed. At least the dad was there right?
- I really should have worn sunscreen today. It hurts to raise my eyebrows
- I am going to the zoo tomorrow! First time since out of the womb! (my mom went into labor while pregnant with me at hogle zoo.)
- I need to clean my room. It smells like chlorine, and I have books and letters and clothes on the floor. BUT my bed is made!
- I am in the mood for Gene I have a crush on Gene Kelly. I feel like watching singing in the rain. Possibly Brigadoon.
- My hair is ALMOST long enough to donate! As soon as it gets to 10 inches I am chopping it off! I am so ready!
- Time to get off the computer I believe. Yay, it’s FRIDAY!
Well since today is flag day, I decided to put up MY flag! Not the best picture… but still, a picture! I got my mission call yesterday! I am going to the Scotland Edinburgh mission! And that is Scotland’s flag! Sweet huh? I report to the Preston England MTC on October 10th! It’s kinda crazy and I almost can’t believe that I really am going to Scotland! But I am WAY excited!
My uncle went to England on his mission and he has gotten me really excited about serving in that area. He even has a name of a lady he baptized who lives in Scotland and he wants me to look her up and fellowship her. Yay! I’m stoked! I have quite a few ancestors from there too (The Livingstons) and that makes me really excited.
Anyway, I will probably write more and more about Scotland the closer I get to October.
First of all I will explain the new picture. This is a sign that is posted at the swimming hole. (A favorite place on the ranch where I grew up.) It is a wonderful little place to swim with rope swings, a zip-line, a diving board, a soft shell turtle, the occaisional baby aligator, a volleyball net, basket ball hoop, and wooden docks. All I am going to say is I am pretty sure that the swimming hole is no “ool”.
Florida was absolutely wonderful!! It was actually really hard for me to leave. But it also felt really good to get home. I will tell you a little about the trip but I will spare your eyes and my fingers and not write too much.
The wonderful week started off at 3:00 in the morning which was when we had to get up and out the door in time to catch our flight. The first flight we were on took us to Denver and I slept the whole time. I dont even remember take off. Poor Gini, I was a boring plane buddy. I was next to the window too and so she didnt even get to enjoy that. The rest of the flights went well also. Mom made sure she brought plenty of snacks. Although on our flight coming back in to Salt Lake I was about 4 rows ahead of everyone so they enjoyed all the snacks without me while the man I was sitting next to and I discussed ice cream, and dancing, the whole 4(ish) hours.
Probably my favorite days were Thursday and Saturday. On Thursday we spent the day at the beach and then that night my family and I went to the Orlando Temple. I LOVE that temple. So beautiful! Saturday we did a lot of playing and a lot of swimming. We went to the beach that evening and it was perfect weather and the water was the perfect temperature. I could have stayed there all night.
Some of the souvenirs that were brought home from Florida were a bazillion seashells, some flip flops and trinkets from my favorite store in Florida, and a huge cockroach that came unexpectedly in my moms suitcase. She was mortified. 
Well, it’s been good being home so far. I started lifeguarding today. The guy I work with is about a year or 2 older than I and its pretty fun to watch him handle a bunch of 8-9 year olds. There is one really dramatic little boy who kept yelling “I’m dying! I’m dying!” when we made him go in the deep end. Its quite entertaining. I will really enjoy this job.
There you go, now it’s time to get back into real life again.
Ok, so I am going to Florida tomorrow for a week and I thought that I should probably make a post before I leave. It has been a while anyway. I am SO excited to go to Florida and to have a family vacation. I will write a post about it when I get home and by that point I will hopefully have my mission call!! YAY!!! Any last minute guesses? Feel free to put your guess in a comment if you havent guessed already! I had everyone make 2 guesses one in the United states and one out.
Alright, now I will tell you a little about what is going on in my life. Work is still going very well. I still love it and really enjoy being there. I will be honest there are days that I would rather do something else, but you probably get that with every job. Another coworker quit without notice. (I’ll call her D) That will make 3 in a month, and 4 since I started working there. I guess nobody gives 2-week notices anymore. Its strange really. I dont get it. Oh and I had a girl got fired the second week I was there too. So that makes 5 losses. Maybe I am bad luck…. Oh well. Anyway, D was over the wedding side of where I work. She was THE wedding consultant, so now we dont have one and we have 3-5 weddings this month I believe. Luckily they have someone that can temperarily step in for a bit. I thought about it, and were I not going on a mission, I would train for that job. I would love to be someone’s wedding consultant! I think it would be pretty fun. But oh well, I have other things I need to do. Anyway, the point of bringing all that up was just to say that I am already getting more hours! Hurray!! AND, when I get back from Florida I will be starting my second job.
A lady in my family’s ward teaches swim lessons in her back yard pool and I am going to lifeguard for her in the mornings! I am VERY excited about it. I worked for her the summer after I graduated high school and loved it! Plus I will be getting 2 more dollars an hour than I do working at the Inn. So I have been very blessed in that part of my life for sure. I have figured out a sort of budget for myself and it seems to be working quite well. It may be thrown off a bit on this vacation, but we’ll see.
Our dryer is not working. It hasnt been for over a week. Its been interesting kinda annoying. Mostly its not too bad but what bothers me is that “outdoor” smell. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Like when someone has been playing outside for awhile and they come in and they have a certain stench about them? Yeah, thats what my clothes smell like and it almost makes me sick. I am really big on smells and I almost cant handle it. Luckily some materials don’t pick it up as much. (It’s really not as bad as it sounds. I guess I just wanted to complain about something)
I am in a new ward. And I really think I am going to like it. Its a little smaller than my regular ward because it’s summer, which means it will be easier to meet new people. A couple friends who kinda live around me decided that we should carpool so that means I will save some money on gas! Plus its nice to not have to go alone. Oh and today I sat in front of a young man with a beautiful voice. I quite enjoyed it. Afterwards I thanked him for sitting behind me and told him that he should every week. We’ll see how that turns out. I may have just freaked him out. story of my life.
This weekend I went canoeing. I LOVE canoeing! But I discovered one thing about myself. I am not always very… whats the word… patient? Tolerant? when it comes to canoeing. I don’t know what word works best really so I will explain what I mean. OK, So we get the canoe in the water and the guy I was with asks me if I want to sit in front or in the back. The person in the back steers. Now, there is kinda a rule that if a guy and a girl are in a canoe, it is the guy that steers, so of course I chose the front. But I am not sure if that was such a good idea. Because my problem is some people just cant steer. (sigh) And then I get rammed into bushes. So next time I may just steer it myself. That way I don’t have to get frustrated with anyone. Its not good for my blood pressure. But one thing that is really fun that everyone should try when you go canoeing is to get a ball and have a contest to see who can hit the ball in the other canoe the most. I actually was not very good at it. All I could to was splash. Which also proves to be pretty effective. I was the official “distracter” Sounds intense huh?
DW got a new motorcycle yesterday! For 200 bucks and it runs! PLUS it is a little bit less threatening and intimidating than his other one, so I may just learn how to drive it! Sweet huh? Also this weekend I got to ride a scooter for the first time. (the motorized kind) K and J brought it over to Gnome and Rizzo’s house and they let me try it out! It made me want one. So tempting especially when you think about what it would save on gas. I wanted to ride on it forever! Until a bug got in my eye.
Well, I believe that is it for now, I really need to pack for my trip. I havent even started yet.
This post is to mention one of my favorite things. My happy list. Maybe you have already been told about my happy list. But just so you know, everyone should make one. I am definitly one who gets joy out of simple things. So one day I decided to make a list of them! Plain and simply a “Happy List” is just a list of things (little or big) that make you happy! Here is an example of some of the things on mine. It can be ANYTHING! Anything that makes you happy!
- The smell of rain and fresh cut grass
- Brushing my teeth in the shower
- Working outside on a nice day
- Key lime soda
- Cypress trees
- Contagious laughter
- Eating snow (strictly white)
- Dental Floss
- Fresh hot Bread
- Late night games with my family. The ones that end in us laughing until we cry.
Anyway, there it is. There are SO many things! I advise anyone who doesnt have one to make one. I add to my list occasionally when I think of something new and I now have over 150. Try it! Its fun to read others too.
So I was trying to decide how to write this post without sounding incredibly insensitive… but I cant. I will just be honest. I can be insensitive sometimes. So, this is going to be a post skimming the surface of my insensitivity. I will start off with an analogy. Why I post about my weaknesses I don’t know.
Ok, so you get a cut on your arm and you put a band-aid on it. Later, when you are pretty sure that the cut is healed you proceed to take of the band-aid ever so carefully. It’s a little painful and it takes a long time. But after it is off it feels fine and the pain doesn’t bother you again. The next time that you have a band-aid to pull you rip it off really fast. It hurts but only for a second. From experiences like this I have developed the”pull it fast” strategy. It works for me. The slow torturous pull never suited me much.
Now, let me compare this to saying goodbye. In goodbyes one may hear something like: ”I will miss you, I am so glad I got to spend as much time with you as I did… I’m so sad….” they may cry a little, give a long hug and it goes on as such. I am a little different. I do a lot better with “Welp. See ya later!” The problem with this is it is later that I feel the pain I think. I do have emotions; (although some may wonder) I just feel them on my own time table. But, if I don’t feel sad, I won’t act sad. Why? I just don’t really get it.
I bring the subject of goodbyes up because this Sunday I experienced a “slow pull.” And as torturous as pulling off band-aids may seem, this was worse. Ok, let me set the scene a little by telling you that I had just got out of church, I was tired, I was hungry and I wanted a little alone time. Ok, then my friend calls me up saying that he wanted to see me before he left. (couldn’t I just say goodbye on the phone?) So he came over and stayed at my house, and stayed and stayed until I was really ready for him to leave. I like the kid generally, but when it is our “last time together” as he put it, it’s kinda annoying. I think I just feel like if you are going to leave, just do it. No sense in drawing it out right? But what do you do in that situation? So basically he kept saying he should go and I kept saying “yeah” and then he would say “I’m really going to miss you” And what do you say that when honestly you don’t really feel the same way? Anyway, I could go on and on about our “last conversation” but it will just make me look worse and bore you to tears. So, I ended up standing up and walking to the door myself and having him follow me. We continued to talk outside. Then I proceeded to tell him that my family would be coming home soon and then we would be having dinner. So he drove away. Then the whole rest of the night I wondered why I didn’t care that he was leaving, and why I wasn’t sad. Wouldn’t I miss him? My usual routine goes this way with goodbyes. I seem to not care until they are actually gone and then it becomes real to me and I feel sad. Problem: Its been a week. And I’m still not sad. Am I hopeless? Heartless?
