Ice Skating

My sister Hollie's been up here the last couple of days because she had a job interview.  We just hung out at my house yesterday, but decided to get out of the house tonight.  So we decided to go ice skating!!

I really love ice skating!  I took a figure skating class when I was a freshman at Utah State and I loved it!  We learned spins and small jumps and all kinds of fun things!  I was like the worst skater in the class, but it was fine because I loved it so much!

So Hollie and I went to an ice rink here in Salt Lake.  We paid our fee and got our little rental skates.  We walk into the ice rink and it looks like we've skated into a training session!  No joke, there were like 10 girls ranging from like 5 to probably 16 and they all looked professional!  They all had their nice skates, were wearing skating outfits, and were spinning and jumping like nobody's business!  Even the five year old! (Okay I don't know if she was really 5, but she looked like it!)

I just stood there for a minute and I was like, "Are we sure that it's public skating time?!"  About 5 other women were skating around with some of these girls coaching them and telling them how to be better.  And I'm over there trying to remember how to stay balanced on my skates!

So we start skating around the outside, just getting our feet under us.  And these girls are skating circles around us!  They were awesome!  When I was a little girl, I loved watching the figure skating during the Olympics.  I would even go in our kitchen and pretend like I was a figure skater, doing little jumps and spins across the kitchen floor....

But what I'm really trying to say is that I love ice skating!  I'm not very good at it and I'm sure I'll still get a few falls in there somewhere! But it's fun!  And I'm glad that other little girls get to learn how to do it if they love it too!  :)

Instead I get to look through old documents and write about them every day!!  :)  But that's pretty much my favorite!  So I reckon it's okay that my figure skating dreams didn't come true!

*Good Band: Daughter

Clumsiness...

I am clumsy.

Yes, I am.

So story time.

A little over a month ago, I was at Smith's in Farmington with my boyfriend Josh and our friend Doug.  Josh was being super nice and buying me chocolate covered cinnamon bears.  (I'm addicted...so if you haven't tried them before, you probably should!)  We were getting ready to check out when I realized I hadn't written the bulk candy code for the cinnamon bears on the bag.  So we trekked back over to the bin and got the code.

As we were walking back to check out, there was a clearance table full of these:
 

 Do you know what those are made of?!  GLASS!  They were all stacked up all cute like.  I accidentally bumped one of the little spigots and down came one of them.  I swear it was like slow motion!  And then CRASH!  Shattered all over the floor...Josh was all nice about it and went and told somebody for me since I was horrified!  Good thing they were on clearance I guess!  :/

Story #2:
This last week Josh and I were again at Smiths, but this time in Salt Lake.  We were just picking up some stuff for dinner.  We walked down the aisle that had the gallon water jugs.  Seriously, I was walking in the middle of the aisle when all of a sudden a water jug fell off the shelf and broke, spraying water everywhere!!  Josh laughed and said something about not being able to take me anywhere.  But I seriously did not even touch it!  I'm so clumsy, I just have to walk by something to make it fall!  Don't even have to touch it!  Crazy!!

And then yesterday at work I got asked to go over to the Beehive House while some people were filming a couple of scenes for a church film to make sure that they didn't break anything...I don't think they know me very well!!

Good thing I didn't bump into one of those 19th century vases!  :/

*Good Song:  Broken Wings by Flyleaf

Peach Days!

Brittany invited me to go to Peach Days in Brigham City for today.  And I've never been so I decided it might be a good idea! I went to bed dreaming of peaches - peach cobbler, peach ice cream, peach chapstick, peach candy, fresh peaches, peach pie, etc.

I woke up early this morning and drove to Brigham City for the parade.  The parade was awesome!!  We even got some candy!  And loads of flyers that we promptly threw away.  Oh, and we got some cereal...yep...cereal!

The parade ended and we decided to check out the booths and activities.  Brittany and I ate chicken BBQ and peach sandwiches.  I know it sounds weird, but it was actually pretty good.  My peach dreams seemed to be coming true.  But nope, I didn't see any other peaches!  A booth was selling peach cobbler, but I didn't see any fresh peaches anywhere...what?!  Where were all the peaches at Peach Days?!?!

There were so many people there that we didn't last very long.  At one point a man kept bumping the backs of my legs with his stroller trying to get me to move, but I couldn't because there was a wall of people!  He was kind of making me a little bit mad!  But I survived it.

The next trip was to the Brigham City Library because they were having a book sale!!  A bag of books for $1!  What?!  But like most library book sales, they ended up not having many books that I was interested in.  But I did end up with one on the American Revolution and a diary from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, so I reckon it was all worth it!!  :)

Also there were two guys playing didgeridoos at Peach Days...awesome!

Even though Peach Days didn't have a plethora of peaches to meet my expectations, I reckon it still turned out to be pretty fun!  Even if I had to get a peanut butter shake instead of a peach one...  :)

*Good Song:  Wasting All These Tears by Cassadee Pope

Country Swing Dancing

Okay, so you all know that I love country swing dancing!  Well I have some wonderful stories from dancing last night! :)

So I haven't been dancing in the last couple of weeks due to a couple of reasons, but last night I wasn't doing anything so I went!

Experience #1: A tall lanky young-looking guy asked me to dance.  Sure!  So we go out and he doesn't really know how to do even the basic step...which is fine!  We all have to start learning somewhere!  He then told me it was his first time!  So that's great!  I am all for converting people to country swing!  And then came the question that I always dread, "Can you teach me something?!"  They always assume that I'm a teacher of country swing when I tell them I've been doing it for awhile.  But here's the thing...I'm terrible at teaching...anything!!  I can usually follow when a man is a good dancer and good at leading, but I don't know what the guy does!

So my teaching this guy last night went as it usually does...

Me: "Okay! So this is a simple one!" I guide him through a simple step. "Now try it!"
He spins me.  Well, close...except that there was no spin at all in what I just taught him...

Me: "Okay, that was close!  Let me show you a couple more times and then we'll try it again!"

He kind of does it, but not really.  Then we go back to the awkward basic step...but it's fine!  It's only his first time!  I really need to get better at teaching men how to dance!  :/

Experience #2:  There's always the guy that wants to chat it up on the dance floor.  This guy was definitely no exception.  We start dancing and he immediately starts spilling out every detail of his day, including how much time he and his roommates had spent watching a certain TV show that I've never heard of. 

"Do you watch that show?" 

Me: "No, but it sounds good!" (That's what I always say...even though I have no idea if it's good!) 

Him:  "What TV shows do you watch?" 

Me:  "I don't really watch TV shows..." (I would if I really wanted to...or if I had TV...)

Him:  "So what do you do?"

Me: "I'm an intern for the LDS Church History Department."

Him:  "I think they sometimes turn people into drones, ya know?  A lot of those people lack personality."

In my mind:  "What?! Everybody I work with is awesome!"

Thank you, stranger man, for bashing on people I work with!  But whatever, go back to spending hours watching lame TV shows while I work with educated people who are awesome!

Yeah...it's a good thing I really love country swing dancing...or the people that go there might have scared me away a long time ago...

*Good Song:  Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran

White Girl Probs and Appreciating First Responders!

Story time, friends!  This one is about how I am an awkward white girl!

Okay, so last Monday I was cooking dinner for my ward dinner group.  The doorbell rings and I went to answer the door.  A young African American man was standing on my doorstep.  He looked all snazzy in his slacks, vest, white shirt, and tie.  Turns out he's from Virginia and he's out here selling books.  He was telling me about this program that gets kids out of the hood and earning money for themselves, to get them off government aid.  We talked for a few minutes and I offered him a drink of water.  (It was hot outside okay?!)

He said no and he was telling me a little bit about Virginia and the Civil War sites.  He then asked, "Have you ever been to the hood before?"  I thought about it for a second, about times when I'd been in shady parts of New York City, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.  I also thought of some of the ghetto places I'd lived while on my mission in Australia.  So I answered, "Yeah, I've been to some hoods."  (Seriously, that's what I said!)  This kid starts laughing!  And I was like, "Oh my gosh...I'm so white!"  Which is fine, I reckon...sometimes I just say the dumbest things!  But I'm good at laughing at myself, so it was fine!  We became fast friends and I finally convinced him to come inside for a drink of water.

This next part actually has nothing to do with the above story.

I was driving back to Salt Lake last weekend from my family reunion in Arizona.  As I was driving on the freeway, I spotted a highway patrol car.  The officer was outside changing a tire for another vehicle.  I thought about all the first responders I've known, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, etc.  All the ones I've known are incredible, spending long hours in training, working, and helping others.  They continually save lives, put their own on the line, and deal with incredibly stressful situations.  I don't think they get as much appreciation as they deserve.  So thank you first responders for all you do!  I think you're awesome!  :)

I Hate to See Your Heart Break

For all the air that's in your lungs
For all the joy that is to come
For all the things that you're alive to feel
Just let the pain remind you hearts can heal

-I Hate to See Your Heart Break by Paramore

Isn't life great?!  So this is one of my new favorite songs and I feel like this section is especially good!  I love poetry and this is pretty good.

I've been thinking too much about life lately. (I know right?!  Me?!  Think too much?! Haha!)  But I realize that I need to give life my 100%.  Holding back only leads to regrets.  Better to see what might happen instead of wondering what could have happened!

That's my little rant for today!  :)  Love y'all!

Lemonade Stands and Nostalgia

I was walking home from work today when I came across some little girls and a lemonade stand. 

They were set up by the sidewalk at the Capitol.  So of course I had to get a cup of lemonade!  I asked them how much they were selling their lemonade for.  They said, "It's free, but we take tips!"  I smiled and pulled out my wallet.  I only had change so I gave them that.  And being the awkward person I am, I ended up spilling half of my change on the sidewalk.  One of the little girls helped me pick it all up and I put it in their little tip jewelry box.

They were so cute and had little signs up on trees along the sidewalk advertising their free lemonade.  It brought me back to the good ol' days when I did the exact same thing.

My sisters and I would set up a little table outside my grandma's house.  Sometimes we sold lemonade and sometimes we sold little bracelets we'd made.  We would get so excited and sit outside for hours hoping that somebody would stop and buy something.  Of course, there was always a sweet old man or one of our aunts that would stop and give us five dollars or something.  We felt like the richest kids!

Those were some good times, my friends.  Being outside, the sun shining, chatting and playing with my sisters while hopefully waiting for somebody to stop.  Going to the store to buy a treat with our 5 dollars we'd earned.

It just made me happy to see other girls having those same experiences.

Life is so great!

*Good Book: Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl