Crazy story today, kids!
I work in the Richards Building, more commonly known as the RB on campus. I am a custodian, I clean things. *shrug* Anyways, with as much time as I spend in the RB, one is bound to pick out a few regulars. Most of the time, it's the people whose offices I clean that I see all the time [weird, its like they work there too or something! ;) ] I can still remember the first time I actually ran into one of the professors whose office I clean. It felt like I was meeting my rock star idol, because it feels like I know them so well! Its strange how much about a person you can glean from looking at a space they inhabit on a regular basis. Is anyone understanding what I am trying to say? I'm not trying to win the creepy janitor award, I am just trying to make a point that sometimes I see people, regularly, and it feels like I know them, but I don't...
*the only other people who don't work at the RB and who are still there on a regular basis are the dancers. Specifically the ballroom kids. If they could figure out a way to actually spend the night in the RB, they would do it.
Anyways, the secretaries are mostly students. So, like, my age. And there is this one kid, Russel McDonald (he has a name tag on his desk, ok?) that looks like a nice kid, but I never had the chance to talk to him before.
WELL! Today on my way home from work, I saw him walking toward the RB (so opposite direction) and so I waved. (we have gotten to the point of recognition, ok?) He smiled and waved back but he was with a girl! (and that is fine! good for him, seriously!) This girl recognized me! She is a friend of some good friends of mine, affectionately known as Apartment 35 (even though they don't live in a #35 anymore) and so we were chatting, and then I was officially introduced to Rusty, as he is commonly known, and apparently him and Sydney (this girl) are in the same ward, and used to be in the same ward as Apt 35! CrAzY! Its funny because the only reason I am friends with 35 is because they were good friends with the Gilliland sisters, some good friends of mine in MY ward! It's like one giant circle! (the circle of life, and it moves us allllll!!!!)
This is a very small world. Being mormon makes it smaller. (everyone knows everyone else) AND being mormon and college-age and attending BYU makes the world even smaller.
Hence the story.
The End
:)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Road Trip
As most of you know, I recently returned from a 700+ mile road trip to Oregon. Come to think of it, I haven't done anything like that before ever. I mean, the longest distance I have ever driven previous to this excursion was Provo to St. George, when my mother ran in the marathon down there. But strangely I wasn't terribly nervous about that. I had some heartache over my car for awhile (turns out the starter was ka-puuutt) but it worked fine on the trip.
One of the best things of Portland? The International Rose Test Garden. Soooo pretty...I love roses. Did you know the rose is the flower of the month for June? It's like it's meant to be. Oregon is like THE best place in the world to grow roses, apparently. The red ones are my favorite. So Dramatic!
So Oregon is basically amazin! I think travel in general is one of the best things you can do with your time. Sure, I only went a couple of states away, but there are differences I noticed, believe me. That is the thing with travel. It makes you realize that people are different from you and they are happy that way. Sometimes I can get really caught up in myself and the way that I live and I begin to think that what I am doing is the ONLY way and that any other way is wrong or bad. And that is one of the most dangerous mindsets anyone can find themselves in. Not only do people live their lives differently from me, more often than not they live their lives better. I think the gospel has spoiled me a little. It's entirely my fault, but I've grown up with the knowledge of the church as being the one, true church and it was a big, brilliant lesson when I realized that there are good things, good people outside of the church, and more especially, outside "mormon culture".
Once I learned this lesson, the world has become a much larger, much richer place to live and grow in. This is partly the reason why I have decided to study history, and the art of teaching it to others. I want to show them this lesson that has been so valuable for me to learn.
History is like traveling, but in the past. You not only get to travel from continent to continent but from time to time. That may seem really obvious to the reader but its true! History isn't just about dates and names, those facts are good and necessary, but that seems to be the only thing people associate about history. It's so much more than that! It's about going through the millions of different stories in the world; picking out the best things and incorporating them in your life, so that at the end of the day, at the end of YOUR story; you have become the best sort of person you could be.
Without things I have picked up from my association with history and the study thereof, I would be a much less motivated and much less pleasant person to be around.
Woah.
Back to my stories of Oregon. Sorry, I got so sidetracked!
We went to the ocean and it was the greatest experience when I first caught glimpse
of the endless horizon and smelled the ocean breeze. It was seriously like coming home. I have lived my whole life in Utah, and really only spent three months living by the ocean, but I'm telling you man, once you've had it, there really is no going back. The weather was storming and chilly and typically not the most excellent weather for the beach, but while I was there I couldn't stop thinking how perfect it was. It was absolutely perfect.
of the endless horizon and smelled the ocean breeze. It was seriously like coming home. I have lived my whole life in Utah, and really only spent three months living by the ocean, but I'm telling you man, once you've had it, there really is no going back. The weather was storming and chilly and typically not the most excellent weather for the beach, but while I was there I couldn't stop thinking how perfect it was. It was absolutely perfect.
Let's see...we took a day trip into Portland. It's not the capital, but its the biggest city in Oregon. It was a good experience. We took the wrong exit coming into the city and had to find the interstate again. It totally wasn't my fault, as the road suddenly split and I was in the wrong lane. I kinda just flowed into the wrong exit. Good news though, we miraculously found the interstate and then the next exit was ours! Hallejulah! So there are like five bridges in Portland. I'm fairly sure we went over at least four of them. NOT on purpose mind you. There are so many danged one-way streets in Portland, we went bridge-touring because we were so lost.
One of the best things of Portland? The International Rose Test Garden. Soooo pretty...I love roses. Did you know the rose is the flower of the month for June? It's like it's meant to be. Oregon is like THE best place in the world to grow roses, apparently. The red ones are my favorite. So Dramatic!
So things I learned/experienced in Oregon:
- People drive slowly. very slowly, and yet, so much roadkill...
- Women dress naturally. They don't look "made-up", so no exaggerated makeup (guilty!) and natural colors, and comfortable shoes.
- THEY FILL UP YOUR GAS FOR YOU: this is a biggie, it was one of the biggest culture shocks I had to get used to.
- Trees everywhere! This shouldn't have come as a shock but no, I was still amazed.
Last picture: there was a train engine in a park. Just so you know...and now you can look at it too!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Memories of Birthday's Past
Hello All:
On the eve of my twentieth birthday (its a big deal ok? I realize that people have birthdays every day and everyone has been twenty before but I haven't, which makes this birthday pretty neat.) I have decided to sit down for a moment and share a couple thoughts of birthdays past.
Birthday on the Island
So this is probably one of my bestest birthday memories ever. So the summer after I graduated high school, I flew to Catalina, California and lived on the island there for three months. I worked at a boy scout camp (i'm sorry that i tend to talk about it a lot...its basically the only cool thing i can remember doing *shrug*) anyways...this was my first birthday away from home, and this was only a couple weeks into the summer. So we lived only a couple of yards away from the ocean. (mahvalous!!!) Between meals, we would have free time and of course we would go to the ocean to relax. The girls in the kitchen, we tended to ignore the scouts. And it was a monday and so the staffers were strategically placed in stations to teach the scouts about water safety and various other lessons. So as me and my friend, Haylee, walked to the beach, we passed each station and said hello to the boy-staffer there. Well, at each station, they sang happy birthday to me, personally! And it wasn't like these stations were very far apart from each other. It was like one long, beautiful chain of personal attention. That, and the beautiful sun and weather, and just all the great people I worked with...sigh, yes indeed that was a wonderful birthday. Oh...haha, I just remembered...it wasn't all sunshine and happiness. Like I said before, it was my first birthday away from home, so I got really homesick...and called one of my best friends, Ben. And basically bawled to him, gee. I feel bad for the kid. I have put him through a lot. Ha, but I guess that is what good friends are for right? All in all, good day.
Antelope Crush
This one makes the record books because this was one of the first times I remember having a crush. Haha, oh silly elementary school crushes. Anyways, my mother planned this big excursion to Antelope Island (Utah's readily accessible island in the Great Salt Lake) and we had a picnic and played in the sad, and my crush came! Aw!
Birthday in the Park
Summer birthdays are a trial sometimes...The weather is almost always nice and therefore, the usual activity is almost always water oriented. Blah! After several years of water activities, it gets a little redundant. So this birthday (during high school) I planned a picnic in the park. We had a BBQ and food and games. It was delicious. The reason this one is memorable is because we had a watermelon and nothing to cut it with, except for this huge knife that we used to check the meat...so this kid (scott kershaw) really was brilliant, decided to santize the knife by sticking it in the fire. Good plan, except he tried to use it while it was still hot. And burned long knife mark in his hand. Poor kid. Still. In school, he was a smartie.....
Enough memories.
This year is going to rock too!
Love birthdays.
p.s. Did you know that eskimos don't celebrate birthdays?
On the eve of my twentieth birthday (its a big deal ok? I realize that people have birthdays every day and everyone has been twenty before but I haven't, which makes this birthday pretty neat.) I have decided to sit down for a moment and share a couple thoughts of birthdays past.
Birthday on the Island
So this is probably one of my bestest birthday memories ever. So the summer after I graduated high school, I flew to Catalina, California and lived on the island there for three months. I worked at a boy scout camp (i'm sorry that i tend to talk about it a lot...its basically the only cool thing i can remember doing *shrug*) anyways...this was my first birthday away from home, and this was only a couple weeks into the summer. So we lived only a couple of yards away from the ocean. (mahvalous!!!) Between meals, we would have free time and of course we would go to the ocean to relax. The girls in the kitchen, we tended to ignore the scouts. And it was a monday and so the staffers were strategically placed in stations to teach the scouts about water safety and various other lessons. So as me and my friend, Haylee, walked to the beach, we passed each station and said hello to the boy-staffer there. Well, at each station, they sang happy birthday to me, personally! And it wasn't like these stations were very far apart from each other. It was like one long, beautiful chain of personal attention. That, and the beautiful sun and weather, and just all the great people I worked with...sigh, yes indeed that was a wonderful birthday. Oh...haha, I just remembered...it wasn't all sunshine and happiness. Like I said before, it was my first birthday away from home, so I got really homesick...and called one of my best friends, Ben. And basically bawled to him, gee. I feel bad for the kid. I have put him through a lot. Ha, but I guess that is what good friends are for right? All in all, good day.
Antelope Crush
This one makes the record books because this was one of the first times I remember having a crush. Haha, oh silly elementary school crushes. Anyways, my mother planned this big excursion to Antelope Island (Utah's readily accessible island in the Great Salt Lake) and we had a picnic and played in the sad, and my crush came! Aw!
Birthday in the Park
Summer birthdays are a trial sometimes...The weather is almost always nice and therefore, the usual activity is almost always water oriented. Blah! After several years of water activities, it gets a little redundant. So this birthday (during high school) I planned a picnic in the park. We had a BBQ and food and games. It was delicious. The reason this one is memorable is because we had a watermelon and nothing to cut it with, except for this huge knife that we used to check the meat...so this kid (scott kershaw) really was brilliant, decided to santize the knife by sticking it in the fire. Good plan, except he tried to use it while it was still hot. And burned long knife mark in his hand. Poor kid. Still. In school, he was a smartie.....
Enough memories.
This year is going to rock too!
Love birthdays.
p.s. Did you know that eskimos don't celebrate birthdays?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Good Times, Good Times
This morning at work, I was just thinking of happy memories. I happened to have a little Michael Buble on and it got me thinking about dancing, real dancing, like waltzing (my fav) and other "social dances" (which I don't understand that title exactly, as when you are dancing these dances you are only dancing with one other person. which isn't the epitome of socialness...however, this could be debated further) AnYwAyS, I was thinking about waltzing and I remembered one of the coolest things ever that happened in my dancing career.
Once Upon A Time... (last fall semester) I took a beginning social dance class. They made you attend a dance lab to show everyone else in dance classes that you actually knew what you were doing...since it was required, I attended. Not expecting to know anyone I meandered around, said hello to acquaintences from my class, and tried to not get crushed to death by the huge mass of people. Lo and behold, I ran into a kid from my ward, who goes by the name AJ who also happened to dance, quite a bit actually. He is on the back-up ballroom tour team and had taught me earlier how to cha-cha properly. So, nice guy. As we were chatting, again avoiding death from five million other people dancing in the room, other girls from our ward joined us and we had a little mini 2nd ward reunion. All of a sudden, AJ turns to me and asks, "Would you like to dance?" Uh...hold on a minute, i have to think about this one...HECK YES. Ladies, this was the waltz! And he actually knew how to dance! And it was a beautiful memory.
So I thought I should share that one with you. I was thinking of others, but that is the problem when you are busy with memories and there is no pen or paper around. Next time, though, next time...I'll remember.
Perhaps its a good thing that I couldn't remember, that way I don't overwhelm you with memory lane. It's a pleasant thing to enjoy the past, just not all at once. A little goes a long way, don't cha know. Kinda like the time I substituted a handful of salt instead of sugar in my sister's cream-o-wheat...
p.s. salt goes a loooooooooonnnnnnng way.
Once Upon A Time... (last fall semester) I took a beginning social dance class. They made you attend a dance lab to show everyone else in dance classes that you actually knew what you were doing...since it was required, I attended. Not expecting to know anyone I meandered around, said hello to acquaintences from my class, and tried to not get crushed to death by the huge mass of people. Lo and behold, I ran into a kid from my ward, who goes by the name AJ who also happened to dance, quite a bit actually. He is on the back-up ballroom tour team and had taught me earlier how to cha-cha properly. So, nice guy. As we were chatting, again avoiding death from five million other people dancing in the room, other girls from our ward joined us and we had a little mini 2nd ward reunion. All of a sudden, AJ turns to me and asks, "Would you like to dance?" Uh...hold on a minute, i have to think about this one...HECK YES. Ladies, this was the waltz! And he actually knew how to dance! And it was a beautiful memory.
So I thought I should share that one with you. I was thinking of others, but that is the problem when you are busy with memories and there is no pen or paper around. Next time, though, next time...I'll remember.
Perhaps its a good thing that I couldn't remember, that way I don't overwhelm you with memory lane. It's a pleasant thing to enjoy the past, just not all at once. A little goes a long way, don't cha know. Kinda like the time I substituted a handful of salt instead of sugar in my sister's cream-o-wheat...
p.s. salt goes a loooooooooonnnnnnng way.
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