New Goal

I have a new goal.

I've noticed that when I go to a restaurant, when ordering a drink, I always say while lowering my head and having a look of deep apology, "I'll just have a water." But no more. I'm going to own up to what I want to drink. Boldly declare "I would like a water, please." That doesn't sound very bold, but I still need to have manners.

Do I feel bad that they won't be making any money on me? Sure, but it's time to let that go.

Maybe if I sing "WATER!!!!"

That would be a nice touch.

D & D

At the conclusion of an evening with a male, he made a few comments that led to this discovery - Tuesday night is Dungeons and Dragons night.

Yep. He chose me over Dungeons and Dragons night. I'm so flattered.

I couldn't stop laughing.

I asked a serious of questions about this game. Turns out, I totally had the wrong game in my head. I was thinking about Magic. Which, I remember trying to be friendly with a kid in 9th grade who played magic during lunch. Which reminds me of the group of kids at college that wore robes around campus and then met in the park at night and would have mystical fights. I don't mean to judge...but, wow.

Here are a few highlights from the game:
1. There is a Dungeon Master. He's the moderator and tells the story. He has serious preparation when it comes to this game.
2. The players get to choose who they are and what's in their pack of magical elements.
3. No one ever wins or loses, but rather, just gain experience points...which, by missing one night, is totally putting this male behind.
4. All you really need to play is a the rulebooks, the character sheet and a set of polyhedral dice.

Feel free to read the overview on wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons

This is such an interesting concept for a game. Just making things up. Guided imagination. Who knew it would have such a following. And I was not anticipating this little enlightenment. So you all should share in the joy of it.

Green

I like to give myself challenges. I don't know why, mostly just to see if I can do it. And I don't really know where they come from. I decided to go without sugar for the month of December. I made it til December 23. Not too bad. Tried it again in February, didn't make it past the 15th. I don't think my heart was in it.

Then my sister noticed I have a lot of pink in my closet. So, I took the challenge upon myself to only wear blue for a week. Done.

Then I only wore pink on the week before Valentines, naturally.

I was in the middle of wearing everything in my closet (only 1 week left of clothes left!) when my co-worker challenged me to wear green all week. That's difficult. Turns out I only have 3 work worthy green tops. One of them being a jacket. Now, I would argue that green is one of my most favorite colors. So it's weird to me that I don't have enough green in my closet to make it a week. Luckily, I have a dress that has green leaves on it, ever so small, but there. This is kind of stressing me out. AND, I've had to double up on clothes that I've already worn once in my ongoing challenge. But I will succeed in this challenge.

I was telling this to my dad, and although he likes green, he does not like green shirts. I think that's totally interesting.

I don't know if I'm up for other challenges, but you can suggest something if you'd like.

Wow

Tis the time of year for luck...Right?

Well, since I'm not Irish, I have crazy things happen to me instead.
This is the most recent, and I really can't stop laughing about it.

Almost daily I get an email from an online dating service that lets me know I've been matched with someone. Imagine my surprise today when upon checking out some of these men, I find I've been matched with my cousin.

Yep.

You can be jealous.

Or die laughing.

We texted about it for a while and had some good laughs.
"It's a good thing blood runs deeper than desperation."
"I didn't know they matched on DNA compatibility."

Classic.

All Star

So my nephew is a freaking basketball star. #3 - red (madison)
His team just won the state basketball tournament. He has rocked this season.
Then he got to play in the all-star game, placed 3rd in the dunking competition.
Who is this kid? A 360 dunk?
And then there's a shot of him hitting a 3 - left handed.

Local Hoops All-Stars Show Skills - Sports News Story - KIFI Idaho Falls

You don't have to watch the girls.

I am always just in constant awe of my nephews and nieces. They rock my world.

Choice

In my odd way of thinking of things, sometimes I'm grateful that I'm not always super diligent at reading scriptures. Mostly because there are times when things come together in the most perfect way. I'm not sure that's how the Lord wants me to learn these lessons, but it happens. BUT, it doesn't mean I don't have to read my scriptures every day.

So here's a little recap on my studies last night:

I started by reading the account of Ammon in the Book of Mormon. Incredible story. He protected the flocks of the king and then didn't make a big deal out of it. King Lamoni was in shock that he couldn't even form a question to ask Ammon how he did it. Ammon realized his concern and taught him who God is, and that we are His Children. Then he taught of Christ and testified of his power. Throughout this story, the word joy is mentioned over and over again as these wonderful people are brought to the understanding of the true nature of God and how they can return to live with him.

Then, in the book of Luke, I read about the light that comes from looking to God and having our will in alignment with Him, and how our whole body can radiate that light.

THEN, I read a general conference address by Elder Hales about Agency. Really, this is the key to everything. God will never force us to do anything. Satan does. And when we follow God, a huge amount of happiness and contentment comes into our lives.

"The scriptures teach us that we do have agency and our righteous exercise of agency always makes a difference in the opportunities we have and our ability to act upon them and progress eternally."

Agency truly is the essential part to why we are here on this earth. And correct understanding of it, and choosing God's will, help us to live happy lives and experience joy. True joy.

Just some thoughts. I'm glad I was able to have all these readings at once yesterday.

And, this is my 100th post. That means I get to be done blogging, right?

Hypochondriac

Before meeting up for a basketball game, me and my friend had a phone conversation that informed me she had been to the doctor. So, first thing I do when I see her is ask her why she went to the doctor, and was everything okay (she is a stellar friend and usually takes care of people, so it could have been someone else that she was with).

"Before you say anything, don't touch anything I touch."

"Excuse me?"

"The Doctor says I might have strep, but the infectious part is probably over."

My throat starts to close and I feel light headed. I've never had strep throat before, but I imagine that's how it feels. Her disease probably jumped onto me in the few seconds I had seen her and hadn't been closer than 3 feet to.

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At work, I stepped into the restroom and saw one of our volunteers sitting on the couch, I asked her if everything was okay. She felt dizzy. It was probably the carrots that she had eaten.

I get back to my desk, and what's my little snack? Carrots. I force myself to take the first bite. Yes, I think I'm getting dizzy. Oh no, I'm going to have to go home.

Through self-talk, I decided I was okay. My carrots weren't the same as hers. I would be fine. I wasn't even dizzy at all.

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Nothing like a being a self-diagnosed hypochondriac to keep me on my toes.