Honey, dinner is ready!

This morning I wanted to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. I put the pan on the stove with a little oil and waited for it to heat up. While I waited, I cut up onions and got out the eggs. I noticed where I had poured the oil started to turn black. I quickly moved the pan from the burner. When I did so, the pan ignited into 2-3 foot flames. I was so taken aback I didn't react well. All I said was-we have flames, we have flames! My roommates came from the other room. One poured baking soda and the other found a pan to put on top of the flames. Kristen, one of my roommates, said "Dinner's ready!" The other suggested doing cold cereal for breakfast. I've graduated from flames in the microwave to flames on the stove. Not a good progression...hopefully whoever I marry will have great fire insurance!

In matters of style,

Swim with the current.

In matters of principle,

Stand like a rock.

~Thomas Jefferson~

I found this quote in a fashion magazine. I thought it was such a profound statement, probably because it supports two points I feel strongly about. I found it interesting this quote was in a magazine, so obviously supporting the fashion part of the quote. However, the last part of the quote is just as influencial, if not more so. Thomas Jefferson has such an eliquent way of stating basic principles. I love it. So, live life fully-swim when it doesn't matter, stand when it does.

Aaron's In Utah!

Aaron has actually been here in Utah for a week, but he was at EFY and I wasn't able to see him until this morning. I went to bed rather late (kind of a trend I've set but want to soon break...) and got up really early. I was on the road by 5:30 or so and drove to Brigham City. It was actually quite an interesting drive because there were so many police man on the road through the construction areas. At one part, I had to laugh because there was a policeman driving in traffic with us and NO ONE dared to pass him. He wasn't driving at any consistant speed either. But there was a whole cluster of cars around him not going any faster than he did. I was one of those cars. A big cement truck pulled up behind me and flashed his lights for me to go faster. I actually invited him out loud to pass me and dare to drive faster than the speed limit, while passing a cop. Finally, the cop pulled off at an exit and almost immediately, all the cars started going faster. I found that entertaining. :) It's amazing what one car can dictate the actions of a whole fleet of cars. Finally I found the gas station I was to meet Sister Bran, the ward member and friend who picked Aaron up from EFY and brought him to the main road. Thanks so much Sister Bran! I got to spend a couple hours with Aaron in the car on our way to Highland. He was so inspired by EFY and the committments he made while he was there. He's set some great goals to work toward and it made me smile because for so long I still saw him as a little boy. He really has grown to be an incredible young man. From the kind things he says or does to the little things that touch his tender heart I can see the great changes that have taken place over the years. He was always a good kid, but now he's a young man with a strong testimony, a desire to do the will of Heavenly Father, a friend to many, and a wonderful brother. We talked about things he learned at EFY and listened to music on our ipods. It was a short little trip, but I was so grateful for it. He is growing up, and I don't want to miss that! I love you Aaron! I'm so glad you and I are in the same state for the summer!

The Big Question...

How many hours until Mom flies in you ask? Well, let me tell you. We are down to 110 hours until Mom flies in!! Are you excited? I am!

My First Rodeo

::Strawberry Days Rodeo::

I've never been to a rodeo before and I loved every minute of it! Ashley and Donny got there before my group did. We met up and found a whole bleacher almost to ourselves at first. Since my group consisted of almost 20 people, we found this a big blessing. The strawberries and cream are absolutely worth the wait. No wonder why people eat up to 6 cups of them. I don't know if it was the recipe or purely the atmosphere, but they were incredible! Then, there was the Mutton Buston (I think that's what it's called). It was so cute to watch these little kids ride these huge sheep into the arena. I loved watching the bear back bucking horses, the cattle tie race, bucking horses in with saddles, women riding horses for the barrel race, and of course, bull riding. There was half time entertainment of dirt bikers on jumps. They were more risky than I would have ever been! It was so fun to be there with my roommates and other ward members and friends, but mostly because I was able to be there with Donny and Ashley. Ashley found a perfect hat for me. She said she knew I wouldn't want a major country hat, and she found one that absolutely perfect! I don't wear hats too often because I don't find many that fit the way I like. She found the perfect one! I loved the rodeo! I want to go to another one soon! One recent discovery, I do have country in me. :)

Strawberry Days Rodeo

I'm going to my first rodeo EVER tonight! I am so excited!!

Happy Father's Day!

I want to take a second to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day. As I think about all the things he's done for me over the years, it's hard to sum up in one letter the gratitude I feel. From the beignning of my life, he chose to be an engineer rather than a doctor or something because he needed to get through school to support a family. The other day I was getting my bike ready to go for a ride and was a little annoyed I couldn't fix it as fast as Dad did so many times growing up. It's amazing, all the things in life he needed to get done, or all the places he needed to be, he still stopped to fix my bike so I could ride it. I remember once when I was younger I had some money and wanted to take Dad out for a Daddy Daughter outing. It was a lot of fun! We watched The Net and went to TCBY for frozen yogurt. There were al those times where he wanted to play a joke. So many times he wanted to play a joke....from Egore the nasty funny looking man who would come into our room to say good night to us with his pajama shirt pulled up over his head and walking with a limp, putting his nasty running shirt in my backpack for me to find when I got to school (he was kind enough to put a plastic bag in there too so I could put the nasty thing in the bag so it wouldn't stink up my locker...it still did), to putting his "hand" on my shoulder while playing piano just to find out it was the fake hand we kept in our closet, to jumping out to scare us while we walked past the stairs going to the basement. There were many more jokes he played, but one thing stands strong in my memories. His conviction to run every morning regardless of the weather. I am amazed at that dedication. He bore his testimony many times through action. I can't remember a time where he didn't hold two callings at a time. He was a great scout master. I never was a scout, but I saw the influence he had on those young boys who are now serving missions or older. I remember the many times Sunday morning answering the phone and having a young boy on the other end asking for Brother "C". I remember the many times he'd sing in the choir and watch his face as he sang hymns and other praises, right next to our opera singer choir member. He bore his testimony in sacrament meeting a few times. I didn't see my father cry often, but when he spoke of his admiration for his Savior and love for Heavenly Father, his eyes would get a little moist. I loved when he'd share his testimony during Family Home Evening right next to Mom. (and the many times he'd act out the scripture stories using barbies...my favorite was Ammon and gathering all the arms). I appreciate the support he gave me while I prepared to serve a mission and the many times after the mission where I needed help to get through certain times of my life. After graduating from college, I had a little bit of loan money left, but quickly used that up. Several times I've had to humble myself and ask for some help to cover rent that month. I asked him why he offered the money so willingly and so quickly. It frustrated me I couldn't take care of myself completely by now. His response surprised me a little with the answer with absolutely no hesitation. He replied to wait until I had children and I'd know what that felt like. Parents just want their children to be happy. Growing up in my home with my Dad certainly has made me happy! I love my dad very much and want to wish him the best Father's Day! I love you Dad!!

Pay It Forward

I worked at both Gap and Pier 1 today. I got to Pier 1 and started helping a customer with some wicker furniture. She had all sorts of questions about the wicker rocker and how well it matched with another set of wicker chairs, and love seats. It's been a lot of fun to offer my opinion to people on what I think looks good and actually having some agree with me! After spending a good twenty minutes talking about wicker chairs, I showed her our baskets and scents. She loved the diffuser idea. I currently love the scent called Citrus Cilantro. It's great! Anyway, I also mentioned there were some great dishes on sale and walked her over to the set I loved. It's also the set we've sold many of and only had one left in the store. In fact, earlier that day I had been doing mental calculations to see how much it would cost if I bought if myself. Not wanting to take it from a customer who may want it more than me, I was happy trying to sell it to another customer. I found out this customer didn't have green and blue in her kitchen and moved to some yellow dishes. Somehow it came up I loved those dishes and considered buying them but wouldn't until after my shift ended several hours later. She noted there was only one left and insisted she buy them for me right then. I declined several times, but she told me a story about how she went out to eat and someone had given her a coupon out of the blue at the resturaunt which covered half her bill. She wanted to do something like that for someone else. I tried to decline once more but she insisted. The dish set was 25 dollars. She bought a few other small things along with the dishes. After ringing her up, I walked around the counter and asked if I could give her a hug. She smiled and agreed. I am so grateful for people like her who do acts of kindness like that. I have no way of contacting her to send or give her a thank you note. The only way I can thank her is to do a kind deed like that for someone else. Pay it forward.

On the Hunt

I've been looking for apartments, which as anyone who has ever done this knows, it can be somewhat frustrating. I seem to come across the ones who are looking for a female roommate, and then later on say they are male. Not exactly the living conditions I want. Or the renter and their partner are looking for a male or female roommate, but they must be gay or lesbian friendly. That's not what I'm looking for either. Last night I spent a long time looking at rooms and came across one which I might have been interested. I emailed a few questions and got a reply. I was slightly confused because all the message said was "Could you please respond to this girl. Ask her if she's working for my mom." First of all, completely confused at who this guy was, why he was asking me to respond to someone I didn't know. Who was "this girl" and why was I needing to respond? and so forth. Finally, I understood what he had done. Rather than emailing his wife, he replied to me. When I understood that, I wondered why he wanted his wife to ask me details and not himself. Why would it have been a bad thing if I was working for his mom? Why couldn't he ask himself? Why did he confuse me with his wife? Rather than figure all that out, I crossed the apartment off my list. It wasn't the top of my list anyway...

I did come across another room I am very interested in. The girl is a BYU-Idaho graduate and living in a house, renting one of the rooms out for 300/month which includes utilities. The house is in Sandy, which is clean and a good part of town. She's looking for someone who is active LDS and sounds really nice. I am meeting her and seeing the house on Sunday night. The other interesting detail is it will be as if I am living in my own house part of the time as she is busy with job and school. For 300 month, nothing can beat that!

The Countdown is on ...or continuing.

The update for today:

Still not sure when Aaron is coming. Due to some complications, Aaron might not come until later. Hopefully he will be in America on Friday.

Mom will be flying into Salt Lake City in 15 days!!

Dad will be flying here in 50 days.

I AM SO EXCITED!! I have missed my family so much and am so grateful we have technology such as the internet to close the gap between one side of the world and the other. How blessed we are to have such technology and means to communicate, but also to travel the way we can. Even though it is a long time to us for loved ones to fly across the world (and even longer for them...) it's amazing this is even possible. Family, I hope you have a safe flight, but in the meantime, thanks for blogging!

Huge Thanks

I'd like to offer a huge thanks to the wonderful artist who makes bringing up my own blog a surprise because of the beauty. Mom has taken a lot of time and energy to make my blog look so cute! Thanks so much Mom!! Love you so much and can't wait to see you in 17 days!

June 3, 2008 Is It Summer Yet?

I worked quite a bit today, which I am grateful. It's nice to have income after not for a while. Anyway, I worked at Gap from 9am-1:30pm, then I ate lunch on my way to Pier 1 and worked for them from 2pm-6:30pm. By the time I got home, I was ready to be done working. I ate dinner and went to work out. All day today it's been somewhat pleasant outside. It wasn't too hot, but it wasn't unpleasant to be outside. Tomorrow I have most of the day off and want to go do something outside. Weather forcast: cold and rainy. WHO may I ask, makes it nice and sunny on the days I'm working inside all day and rain on the days I'm off?! This is some kind of cruel joke. I guess that's when you call in "sick" when it's sunny...