Grown Up

I have grown up a lot since I bought that vacuum a few months ago.

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and made some kitchen purchases. All by myself. I didn't even call anyone to consult, I just bought what I wanted.

Oh, and it turns out I've been the free-loading roommate for almost 10 years. Whoops. How did I let that happen? My freshman year of college, I had ugly plates & cups and pots. And everyone else had cuter ones. And did we really need 6 sets of dishes? Nope. So I gladly put mine away, and I really have no idea where I put them. The next year, I may have contributed, but I think it was mostly cheap plastic stuff from the dollar store or wal*mart. As a missionary, I didn't need anything. Living in retirement at my parents home, Genie took care of it all. My Utah Chapter has left me with well established roommates who have everything. So I've had to purchase my womanhood in the last little bit. Luckily, my friend donated an old microwave, and another friend bought me my first crock-pot. I am so lucky and blessed to have such generosity in my life. Sure, it would be nice to register and send out announcements so others can help me set up shop, but right now I'm loving this nesting business.

So I apologize to all past roommates - all 28 of you (missionary companions or family not included) for not providing any kitchen ware. And thanks for letting me use your stuff to make my cookies and ramen noodles.

The Unluck of the Irish

Turns out I don't have much luck, but I sure have fun...

Last year, as I was heading to my Hawaiian Vacation, I got this text from an unknown number that said, "your pretty." How flattering, yet how grammatically incorrect...negates any flattery in my book. Throughout the vacation, I tried to be Nancy Drew and figure out who this kid was. He claimed he got my number at church - him and everyone else. It's not too hard to get my number, especially when we have name tags and I put my number right under my name.

I didn't get much information, so I figured I'd invite him to do something so I could at least figure out who he was, in person. I was okay with that risk. The day that I was to get back to the mainland, I was going to go to the Bee's Baseball Game. I invited him to attend. "That's a little fast for me." Really? How? And then I got stuck in Hawaii for 2 extra days. I texted him and said I wasn't going to be able to make it back in time for the game, sorry. He slightly freaked out on me, saying I was a liar, etc.

About this time, I had someone on the mainland call his number, just to figure out who it was. The person obliged and discovered that he was indeed in the ward and that he had stalker tendencies and to stay far far away from him. Easy enough.

Since then, I get a lot of random texts from him, reminding me that I'm pretty, Happy Valentine's Day, suggesting we do stuff because we live so close, etc. The fun thing is that when I see him in real life, and I say "hi" he acts like he's never met me before or seen me. That's cool.

Last night I got a text from him, "Remember when we were going to go to the bees game? That was the most exciting thing in my life. I still think of how lucky I would have been to go have a good time." Apparently time heals wounds and he has forgotten that I "lied" to him. Interesting. It makes me sad that he's trying so hard. And makes me really happy that I have moved :0)

Happy St. Patrick's Day...may you have more luck than I have :0)

Irish-ness

I have never been one to really celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Sure, I MIGHT wear green that day, but probably not. Really, who's going to pinch me as an adult?

Last night for fhe we had an Irish night. The highlight was by far the dancing. The mother of some stellar people in my ward came and demonstrated her amazing skill and then taught us a little jig. It was so much fun. There's something about just jumping around in a little bit of order that is so pleasing to me. I found myself just giggling.

So here's my hurrah to the Irish and their totally fun dancing.

ALSO...on a bit of Kenyan news, my parents got their flight plans for coming back to America. I am so excited, and so is every single member of my family. They fly into Idaho Falls on July 2. I might try and get on the flight from Salt Lake to Idaho Falls with them :0)

Handwriting

As much time as I spend on the computer, it's fantastic that I still get to use pens and paper. In fact, I replace my pens fairly frequently. I love the idea of having something physical in front of my that I can take and pack away.

The other day, I was stuck on a report that was poorly documented, and so I was filling in a lot of information. A letter that I was writing a lot was "G". I realized I don't like writing the letter G. So I changed how I write it. And luckily I had plenty of practice on this silly report. It still isn't stellar, and sometimes just looks like a 6.

And apparently I can't download pdf's to this blog post. Lame.

I do feel like a new woman with my new letter, and I always hope that I'm going to get to use it.

Movin' On Up

I'm moving.
Not far, just to a different county.
Actually, it's North Salt Lake. It only takes 10 minutes to get to work...I'm slightly in heaven. Kind of pathetic that I am so excited about that.
After a series of events and just having the need, I'm moving. I turned to KSL.com and looked. Monday I went to look at a property and totally dug it. I paid the money today and am moving tomorrow. It seems really fast, but I have to just not think about it :0)
As I locked up my new apartment tonight, it was a totally surreal experience. Am I really doing this? What am I thinking? And then to add to it, some punk made a comment on my facebook profile saying, "About time" to my status update of moving. Ew. I can see the hilarity behind it, yet, it still kind of hurt. Why not happiness? I'm facing a lot of feelings right now, and I don't really like that. But sometimes we get to walk step into the dark and see if the light will follow.
This will be a fun adventure. I'm living on my own. I just had a full background check done. I feel like an adult. I wish I was sharing it with someone else, but I have chosen to not have anyone do it with me. I'll grow. I can see a lot of good coming from this.
Looks like I get to buy my first real set of dishes! Turns out I always just use my roommates' stuff. Happy Birthday to me :0)

The Man I'm Supposed to Marry

First off, I'm not getting married (not ever, just right now, the pool is dry)
Secondly, Harry Potter & Ginny got together! I did a full on cheer - arms in the air and a little hooray! Yes, I am a nerd and have been waiting for this to happen for a long time.

Okay, back to the first.
Most marriage advice will say that you meet the person you marry doing the things you like to do. Sure, I like to do a lot of things, but nothing that I think would ever merit a marriage option. I did, however, realize that I love to attend the temple. It's something that I do once a week. It is built into my schedule and hardly gets bumped. It's nice to have consistency. So wouldn't it be great to meet someone at the temple?

Three experiences for you:

1. Me and a friend decided to join lds singles. So, we created a fake profile, of course, and one of the first "looks" came from a kid with a John Deere hat and the comment that he loved to go to the temple. Done. I had no desire to meet anyone via the temple again.

2. Last year, there was a really cute kid who had the same schedule in the temple as me. Wait, wouldn't it be great to meet someone this way? We even had the same institute class, but I was far too chicken to say anything to him ever. Chance missed. My focus was off. I had no desire to meet anyone via the temple again.

3. In the same session that I attend and the boy mentioned above, there is a man. Probably in his late 40s. He also works in my building. Yeah, you notice consistent faces. I'd see him at work and at the temple and he'd usually say hello. It started to get awkward, especially when he started calling me by name. How did he figure that out? I've probably emailed him unknowingly, but that's not enough information to identify who someone is. So this old man started to make me nervous, that he was the man that I was supposed to marry, mostly because of my "idea" that we meet our spouse doing something we like to do. Really, nervous. So I changed what day I go to the temple to avoid it. I have no desire to meet anyone via the temple.

Oh, the joys of life :0)

My Head is in May

Last week, I decided it was time to turn my calendar from January from February. Big step, I know. I don't understand why I always struggle to make that change, but I do. That was always my grandma's excuse for missing my birthday. Totally understandable as the years progress for me :0) Right after I pinned the calendar back into the wall, it fell down. Grr. So I pick it up and push a little harder with the pin. The next morning I happened to look at the calendar, it was May, not February. Whoops! Apparently the pictures looked a lot alike. I'm not blaming myself for anything, I'm just realizing that my head is in May.

I'm going to KENYA!!! Me and my oldest brother, Russ, are going to visit my parents. I am so excited. We've been trying to figure the details out for the last 2 weeks and yesterday the tickets were purchased. We even have a small layover in PARIS!! I keep getting closer and closer to touring that city. Russ is 17 years older than I am. I have never spent time with just him, it's always been with his kids or with his wife. What a treat for me! Oh, and getting to see my parents - yeah, it's going to be good. I haven't seen my parents in over 2 years, which is a really long time. I will probably help them pack a little, but hopefully give them one last hurrah before they come back to America.

I need to remember to keep my head here in February and take care of my running responsibilities - I get to run 4 miles tonight - and hope that the next 12 weeks really fly by :0)