HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAREN!

Today is the day that my sister Maren was born. When we were little we didn't get along very well. This could have been for a number of reasons... Maybe it was because she would always make me clean the room, or do other chores for her before I could play with her and Leah. Or maybe because she would trick me into telling her what she was getting for Christmas. (Mom used to have me wrap all the Christmas presents when I was little so I would know what everyone was getting.) It could have been because neither one of us was very good at sharing our clothes with each other.
We became better friends when she got into high school. I remember when she started dating Marco Lopez when she starred in Bye Bye Birdie. (Giggle... you know why!) I also remember watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer faithfully with her. We used to have dance parties and lip sync parties in our white silky pajamas. I remember dressing up and daring each other to walk around the block in our silly clothes and crazy makeup. I remember going to my first concert with her. I also remember going to Matchbox 20 with her when she and Gavin were starting to date. I didn't like Gavin at first because he made fun of the pink highlights we had put in my hair for the concert. Then I didn't like him because he was going to marry one of my best friends! (It all worked out quite well in the end.)
I remember Maren reading to me at night when we shared a bed. I remember hanging out in London and laughing at night when we were trying to fall asleep through Uncle Tony's snoring. I remember going to see the Witches play in London with her. I remember walking on the beach with our hands on each others bums. I remember putting on plays with cousins Tom and Carrie and Bouvis Jascada. I remember building extraordinary barbie houses with Maren. I remember taking baths together when we were really little and having a great time. I remeber dad singing to us when we would go to sleep. (Good Night Ladies, There Once Was A Farmer, Mia Jangada, Accorda Maria Bonita...) I remember riding bikes and roller blades in the summmer together. I remember asking Brother Khuni if we could ride his power wheel. I remember playing in the Hatch's backyard on their swingset and jungle gym. I remember road trips with Maren. I remember our epic trip to Hawaii together and driving Anna crazy by singing Barbie Girl all over the big island. I remember Maren telling me how to use a Tampon. Perhaps this last bit is too much information, but it meant a lot to me and I am grateful that Maren has always been there to help me get through life. I remember when Maren sent me a dozen roses for my birthday when I was in Jr. High. I remember her giving me the best Valentines day basket with the most beautiful tulips. That's the best Valentine I've ever had!
I LOVE you Maren! Thank you for being one of the "Little Girls" with me and making my childhood the best ever! You are a great mother and a wonderful sister and a true friend! I hope you have a great day!

Forget the Boys Dilmount! Get Yourself a Man!

I woke up this morning wanting a boyfriend quite badly. This isn't usually my first thought when I wake up so it seemed a bit strange. While I was at work, I was contemplating what I would say my theme song for the day would be... and then I found this treasure on YouTube. Perhaps this is why I woke up wanting a boyfriend, just so that I would be led to this incredible music video. I hope you all enjoy!

Obsessed...

I read these five books and Remember Me in a week. I LOVED them, even though Becky Bloomwood can drive you insane, she can also make you giggle. I think they are a fun read and I give them an 8 out of 10!



Remember Me is about a girl who wakes up from a car accident and can't remember the last three years of her life. In those three years she went from being a fun, frumpy, messy, single person to married, career obsessed, model looking, rich person. She tries to figure out how all of these changes occurred and runs into some surprises along the way. It was a great read!

My Weekend With the Darling Gibbs Girls

I realize that this post is LOONG overdue, but I would still like to celebrate this lovely weekend by again wishing Alison a happy birthday! I would also like to thank Debby and Hilary for the lovely weekend! It is always a playzure to spend time with the Gibbs girls!

Yummy breakfast in Salt Lake... I believe it was called Eggs in the City?

Recreating Alison's surprise at mine and Hilary's unsuspected arrival!

The drivers ed teacher offered to take this picture of us in front of the Logan Temple.

Alison and I in the grand reception area... isn't she lovely?

Charming!

The delightful dining room

Me Chilaxin...

Mine and Alison's romantic Pioneer suite and bathroom...

More of the Pioneer room

Dinner at the yummy mexican restaurant whose name has escaped my memory...

The cootie infested mexican birthday sombrero

Enjoying our new sleepwear in the Rose Garden room, while watching "A Good Year". (Good movie by the way...) after we had seen "He's Just Not That Into You."

Gourmet breakfast at the charming B&B

Old Rock Church, Logan, Utah

Providence Inn, our romantic getaway for four for the weekend...

Alison and Hilary were so excited to see the snow!

The lovely cadilac escalade, sort of like a pumpkin coach conjured by a fairygodmother.

The beautiful scenery in Logan...



Some lovely renditions of "The Wind Beneath My Wings" opera style...

Thanks for the lovely weekend!

FLIMS

I have placed a running record of the movies I have seen recently and my own personal rating, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, on the side of my blog. I really do love movies and perhaps you might enjoy some of the ones I have seen as well!

Visiting Teaching Gone Wrong

This happened last semester, but it still lingers in my mind as one of the most horrendous and hilarious visiting teaching experiences of my life. The girl that I used to visit teach was preparing to leave for a month trip to Africa. She was also preparing for a job interview the morning of her departure and was pressed for time. I offered to help in any way that I could and this is how I got myself into this disaster. She asked me if I would be able to finish ironing her white shirt for her job interview the following morning. I'm no fool, I've read about the blessings that come from service and more especially from visiting teaching so I was all like, yeah for sure I will do that for you!

I took the shirt down to my apartment and pulled out a rather scary looking iron from the back closet. I plugged it in, waited for it to heat up, and then proceeded to iron her cotton-polyester and whatever other synthetic material shirt. I was only at it for less than thirty seconds when I looked down and realized that the shirt was smoking and there were large striations where the iron had just passed over.


In a matter of seconds I had managed to anihalate her only white button up shirt just in time for her impossible morning deadline! I didn't know what to do! Maybe she wouldn't notice!? She was having a going away party at that very moment so I couldn't go up to her apartment to show her what I had just done. After ten minutes of panic and despair filled with intermittent fits of giggles at the total shock of what had just happened, I decided that she could wear whatever she wanted out of my closet for her interview and that I would rush to the store first thing in the morning to replace the mutilated one.

In the end, she borrowed a shirt and I was able to find a nice suitable replacement at the local Shopko.


I learned my lesson. I am never giving service again.

It Takes a Trained Eye

The other evening I was telling my family members that they should go check out Dan Steinhilber's installation art display at the BYU MOA. He has taken a lot of every day objects and turned them into art. Jayson, whom I assumed knew nothing about art made some snarky comment about making art out of garbage... I tried to ignore it because his ignorance offends me, so I can't even recall the exact quote. Despite is poo pooing, I think that the exhibit is definitely worth the trip.


On the following day, I received an astonishing photo from Jayson. Just when I thought that he didn't get it, that he wouldn't recognize good art if it slapped him silly, he sent me this brilliant example of contemporary installation art in the workplace.


"I thought you would like this art installation we have at work. It must have taken forever to arrange the water bottles that way."

You can really feel the artists intent when you look at this piece. The juxtaposition of the water bottles and the filing cabinets really makes me think about our relationship to work and our own physical needs. Good eye Jayson! Thanks for sharing!

Not to be Crude or Nothing... Butt...

A few thoughts to preface this post. Number one: My blog title is as you might have noticed "Awkward." Number Two: Everybody Poops, this is just a fact. Number Three: I'm sure I'm not the only person who lives in fear of pooping in public restrooms. If after reading these prefaces you feel that you do not want to continue reading, I will understand.

While at work the other day I had to go to the restroom. I was working with Cuz Carrie so most of the time I feel pretty comfortable taking that kind of time away from the office for a potty break. So off I went, and as I did so, I experienced some of the typical anxieties that I have come to feel time and time again. These include but are not limited to the following fears or discomforts.

#1 Fear of people hanging around outside the bathroom. (They could be timing you!)
#2 Fear of people hanging around outside the bathroom that you know! (Even worse if they are timing you!)
#3 Fear that these same people will still be hanging around outside the bathroom when you exit.
#4 Fear of someone being in the stall next to you. (They might hear you and even more dreaded and feared, they might smell something...)
#5 Fear of people waiting in line while you are in the stall. (They might know what you're doing in the the stall! This also adds a lot of pressure to the whole experience.)
#6 Fear of someone coming in and using your stall after you. (The seat might be warm, they could be smart and make the connection that you were the last person to be using that particular stall and this could lead to a lot of embarassment.)
#7 Fear of someone you know coming in and using your stall after you. (It's worse, it just is.)
#8 Fear of taking too long. (People that you left behind in the office, classroom, or dinner table to go to the restroom will start to notice your absence.)
#9 Fear of someone coming in and using the stall next to you and leaving before you are finished. (Its kind of like a race in there!)
#10 Fear of walking out of the stall when someone is waiting and has been waiting the whole time to use your stall, so in a sense they've known all along what's been going on. (This is by far the worst one!)
#11 Fear of running into someone you know in the bathroom and having to have a conversation with them. (It's true that women go to the bathroom in groups, but this is different because it's mostly to touch up hair and makeup or if you have to pee... but who really wants to have a conversation in a bathroom?!)

I do believe I have always had these fears from an early age. It just so happened that at work the other day, I went to the bathroom and encountered a lot of these fears. Sitting outside the bathroom was an older couple from the old 13th ward. I am usually stopped by her because she wants to ask about the family. I normally wouldn't mind talking to her but I hate that it is right when I am about to go to the bathroom, this makes them, and all of the other missionaries, teachers or whoever else might be there, aware of me and thus start the mental clock in their heads. I imagine that ten minutes later they notice that I am FINALLY returning to work... anyway, I had to stop and talk. I then proceded to do my business and while I was doing so, someone came in and out beating me in the great bathroom race. To top it off, Marissa, one of my work collegues who now teaches at the MTC, wandered into the bathroom just as I was finishing up. We had a few words, and then she entered my old stall. I felt mortified and wondered what kind of person she might think I am. I then had to walk back out and face the older couple again, feeling a sense of shame, they've known what I've just done in there. Then I had to go back and face Carrie and tell her that I ran into Marissa. She then laughed and responded, yeah she was here for a while and then left all while you were gone. (Clearly a reference to the time that I had been gone.)

Point is, I don't like public restrooms. They make me uncomfortable and anxiety ridden. I would rather not have people know when I am going or what I'm doing in there. I dream of a world where we will all have private bathrooms all over the world and I won't have to worry about running into people. Those will be the "Golden Days", the time of enlightenment, and a time where doctors will administer very few if any enemas.

Canadian Border Patrol

Ummm... just watch it...



Exactly...