Last Weekend

I was sick this past week, probably due to a lack of sleep this past weekend, so I haven't posted pictures. Last Friday we had a party from down under to attend and were told to dress Australian. Seeing as how the only Australian I know dresses like me I was a bit perplex. Like a real Australian or like a Hollywood Australian? My roommates went with Hollywood and I went with a Kangaroo. Before we were ready though we had to go to Wal-Mart, and as usual Wal-Mart is the only place where a kid can really be a kid.

This could not be helped, if you see these things you have to put them on your hands and beat someone up.

Roommate Anne decided to go as a Dingo (as in, "Maybe the dingo ate your baby"). Notice the amazing acting skills of this doll. Feel the fear and despair as it cries out in pain and shock with an perfect o-shaped. "oh no!"

So here we are, Anne as a Dingo with her baby in mouth, Emily as the Australian, Darla from Finding Nemo and me as a kangaroo with a teddy bear joey.

When we got to the party we realized that someone had gone all out with an actual Kangaroo custome...great. So out came the teddy bear and the rest of the evening was spent as a human. In the picture above Nic is killing the Kangaroo (*sigh* defending my personal Kangaroo honor I'm sure).

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early for the Temple trip. Our temple is 2 hours away right outside of Washington D.C. (Hence why it is the D.C. Temple). The three Richmond area stakes as well as the Scranton, PA (Go The Office!) all met at the Temple. They've been talking about it for months and the day was finally here! Our ward chartered two buses to head up there.
Before we set out though we had to get us some breakfast! So we stopped off at Panera first to get some bagels.

Anne and me at Panera

Then we rushed off to the church because we thought we were going to be late! Then we sat on the bus for FOREVER!

Arianne and I sitting and waiting on the bus.

Emily, Anne and I doing the "oh no!" face inspired by her doll from the night before.

Then Sunday I got up early because we had to be at the church building between 8:30 and 8:45 to get our seats and a parking spot for our 10:00 o'clock meeting where we were able to sing as a ward for our stake conference with Boyd K. Packer and we were able to hear from three amazing speakers. Not to mention that beforehand Emily, Anne and I were apparently being shown on a big screen to the people in the back of the gym...and we were talking about decorating our outfits with a bedazzler so you can imagine our movements were pretty entertaining, or maybe just plain embarassing. Why can't the people in the back just squint? Why did they have to have a camera on us to make us larger? Good news though, once everything got started they focused on the speakers, not on the crazy single's waiting on the stand.

Holla at ya boys!

http://www.letterboxing.org/BoxView.php?boxnum=44029&boxname=LDS_Letterbox

This is our box from letter boxing last week :) YEAH!

The Classics

I kind of fell in love with Paul Newman....so then I thought, what other classic hollywood men have made my heart skip a beat? And yes, when I appreciate something I feel the need to make a video...so deal. :)

"Special" Meetings

October has been a month of special meetings at church. The first planned special meeting was conference. Then this coming Sunday we have a special meeting that will be taking place of our stake conference that was planned for November. Then there is another special meeting at the end of the month, but I've been sworn to secrecy so I can't say what it's about. I don't know what this Sunday is about either, but all the stakes in the area are going to have their own "stake conference" on the same day. Our stake just so happens to be having a General Authority coming. Elder Boyd K. Packer (which I'm pretty stoked about because he's been one of my favorites for a long time - I have to point out that it's been for a long time because some of the newer guys are favorites too).

Since as a YSA ward we were going to sing for our Stake Conference we are now given the privilege of singing for this meeting, with Elder Packer there. Yes folks, that means I get prime seating for this meeting, sure I have to make the 30 minute drive at 8:00 which is way too early for me, but it will be worth it.

So yesterday we practiced the hymn we'll be singing. For any of you who have had to sit next to me before when singing was involved you either suffered through my impaired singing (due to being tone deaf) or you couldn't hear me at all because I tend to whisper. So yesterday was interesting as we were divided into Sopranos and Altos (If I'm even spelling any of this right, I know nothing of the musical world). At first I was with the sopranos until I realized that Altos existed, I asked the difference between the two and discovering that altos sing the lower part I switched over, but it turns out Sopranos sing the easy part, they go right along with the tune. So I became a mix, but I sang - not whispered. It was kind of cool, to hear us all singing like that and I know it had more to do with everyone else up there, and not anything to do with me, but it was neat being a part of it.

I'll let you know how next Sunday goes!

Letter Boxes

Today for our Enrichment activity we went to do Letter Boxes. I had never done letter boxes before, so here's the jest of it. You can do one of two things (or both if you want). First thing, you can look for letter boxes. You get the clues to the location online and then go from there. The other thing you can do is hide your own box. In each "box" or Tupperware container there is a stamp and a notebook in a plastic bag (sometimes a pen, a pen is nice). When you go to find Letter Boxes you take your own stamp too, kind of like your signature, along with a notebook that kind of acts like your passport. So when you find a box you open it up, take your stamp and stamp it on the notebook inside the box and put the date and your name. Then you take the stamp from inside the box and stamp it in your own notebook, writing down what the hider called the box and the date. For our first box we went to Hollywood Cemetery.



Here's Emily stamping the very first notebook with our signature. This is when she came up with our name...The Virgin Bees"...you had to be there.

There's our signature!

This is me stamping the first stamp in our "passport"! It was so exciting!

The second box we were looking for told us to look for a grove of stumps, and something about a man name Lloyd, it gave us directions to find it because finding one particular headstone in Hollywood Cemetery is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But this is the "grove" we finally found.

They're pretty cool huh? They aren't trees, can't tell if you'll be able to tell, but they are all headstones. Maybe the Lloyd's are a family of lumberjacks. You'd be surprised how many headstones are made to look like they are made of wood in the cemetery. I don't know if you can see but "Lloyd" is carved on the "trunk". It's awesome!

Then we decided we wanted to hide our own box. Emily asked me where I would like to go and she gave me a few options. When she found out that I have never been to Pump Park (or even heard of it for that matter) so that's where we went. When we parked the car in front of this sign I just knew we had to be in a good part of town.

For the sarcasm impaired...that was sarcasm. Before we hid the box we decided to look for one in the area since we had the clues already printed out.
I found this box so I had to take a picture because I was so excited that I saw it first!

We learned a lesson today, well, Emily learned one because my mom trained me pretty well to not trust strangers. It wasn't that anyone got hurt, but I think it was quickly realized that it could have happened. A man we had seen earlier suddenly comes around the trail and asks if we want to see a snake. Immediately I said, "Not really." Because I don't really want to see a snake, snake-a-phobia is what endears me to Indiana Jones. Emily, being brave, says sure. So I got dragged along. The man was further ahead of us so I leaned towards Emily and said, "Hey, I've got some puppies in my car you want to go see them too?" I stiffened at the thought of being any where near a snake and Emily finally realized that following a stranger probably wasn't a good idea. She asked if I had my phone on me and I only had my camera, but since it was in my pocket we pretended it was a phone just in case. Couldn't find the snake (thank goodness) and we parted ways. Then we continued our search for a good place to hid our box.

Not sure if you can see how big this spider is, but I got to hear Emily scream, which made up for the scary time I had watching out for a slithering snake. He was big, and he was yellow and black and Emily got really close before she saw him. We could have died!
We finally picked a spot, a creepy, creepy spot near a haunted pump house. I wouldn't go down the alley way, so I took a picture from the turn of Emily putting the box into a cubby we found.
In case you were wondering it was just Emily and me. We had about 8 people say they would come but when the time came around it was just the two of us, we waited for half an hour and then we went out. Such is the life in a YSA ward I suppose, Enrichment just doesn't get the greatest turn outs. But personally, I didn't mind it being just the two of us, we still had a lot of fun and I can't wait until we do it again!

The Elevator Conundrum

In our office building we have four elevators. This is an upgrade of two from our last office building. You would think that since there are four elevators you would never have to wait long for one right? Wrong. With this in mind I’ve made some observations about our elevators.

Let me start out by saying that I take the stairs most of the time, but on some occasions have taken the elevator (usually because I’m with someone, when I’m alone I like the stairs). Let’s take the morning elevator ride for instance; we’ll start with this one because it’s the easiest to explain away. You come in on the ground floor and hop on; it stops at the first floor (because there are entrances to the building on the ground and first floor) and picks up a few more people. It goes up and up by each floor dropping off people. If your floor was the last button and therefore you are the last to exit the elevator the elevator doors open and a soothing female voice says, “Going down”. Take the elevator to the ground floor and the same voice says, “Going up”. Normal right? But my question is, there are four elevators, why not just stay where you are? Why does the voice have to say anything? She could just remain quiet and close the doors and take a nap!

Today I was on the elevator, about 9:00 a.m. The rush is over and not many people are out riding the elevators. I came in on the ground floor, got on the elevator and it brought me to the third floor and then said, “Going down”, so I asked the ladies with me why it always says that (one of which I already brought up the whole ordeal with so she was just paying attention to the elevator to see what I was saying). The other said, “All the elevators go back down to the ground floor when they are done.” Simple enough, but why do I still have to wait so long for an elevator when I’m on the ground floor? Is the elevator there but doesn’t want to raise expectations so therefore it sits for a few minutes and then finally decides to open up? It certainly can’t be traveling from a higher floor, and even if it was if all the elevators come to the ground floor then why can’t I ever happen to get one quickly when I need one? Why is it when I take the elevator to the ground floor it says, “Going up”, certainly one of the remaining three elevators could have answered the call of someone on the top floor while this one took me downstairs.

Does anyone else see the insanity in the elevator operation!? I realize there are more important things to let bother my mind, especially with the world around us crumbling, but I have a right to choose what bothers me and dog gone it, I choose the elevators over the economy right now. It’s my right to be ridiculous, like when I questioned why they call it a hunger strike. When the writer’s wouldn’t write it was called a Writer’s Strike. When people don’t eat?? Not a hunger strike my friends, an eating strike, a food strike maybe, but not a hunger strike. Hunger isn’t going on strike, hungry people aren’t going on strike, they are becoming hungry, but they aren’t striking against becoming hungry…yes, more than one person has pointed out how ludicrous this is, but it’s a thought I choose to dwell on and maybe one day with my crazy thoughts I can change the world and make it a better place, where people call things what they really are and elevators don’t try to deceive us into believing they are efficient.

The Door Phenomenon

You'll have to forgive me if I write about my dog too much, but I don't have children and I don't have a husband...or even a boyfriend, or a guy friend, or anything. Life is pretty simple right now so little things amuse me. One such thing is The Door Phenomenon. Chubbers has a habit of jumping off of the back porch into the front yard (there's fence all the way around the yard except for when you come up on to the porch). It's an annoying habit and I've threatened him several times but it doesn't seem to work (go figure). Then the other day out of desperation I tried this little number

The door is propped open by one table and kept from opening any further by another table. Believe it or not this does in fact keep him from jumping off of the back porch. He'll jump into the backyard and run around, but he won't jump into the front yard.

My roommate asked me today how it works and I told her I honestly don't know. I think somewhere in his mind he thinks eventually that door will open and I'll let him in (he can come inside but only through the side door). I just hope it keeps working because it has made my life a lot easier. I also hope that should I ever have children they are this easy to trick.

In other news, Chubb's and I went to watch Conference at my parent's house. He is truly a grandpuppy. My dad doesn't like dogs in the house but he said that Chubber's could come in if he was calm, and he was for the most part, but even when he randomly got up in my dad's face he was still allowed to stay in. He even made my dad laugh, and it turns out that Chubb's thinks grandpa is calling him when he's snoring.

I also tried to get a picture of Sam and Theo pretending like they like each other. This is the best I could do, and this is about the 9th or 10th shot. Its hard to believe that once upon a time I may have fought with one or two siblings the way they fight with each other. Hopefully they grow out of it.

6 degrees of Randomness

I got tagged.

Sarah tagged me in a post about 6 random things about her. So I suppose that means that I have to write six random things about me. I am already kind of a random person so it’s difficult to think of things that you would think are random. But I’ll try really hard.

1. The first thing, I guess it’s random, though amongst my friends it is now a well known fact. I hate having my wrists touch, and I abhor people rubbing their own wrists together. The only thing worse is when people do it on purpose after finding out that I don’t like it…I don’t like those kinds of people. I don’t know where it comes from, not for sure at least. The closest thing I can think is that when I was younger my friend and I were doing a magic trick for the kid who lived behind her, in which I was “handcuffed” though not really, that way I could work my way out of it magically. Well, he played his own trick on us and told us that his cat was having kittens right then! So we jumped up to look over the privacy fence (the kind with the triangles on top) and when we realized that the cat wasn’t even in the backyard we jumped down. Only thing was that the handcuff actually cuffed to my wrist got caught on one of the triangles and was ripped off of my wrist. That may not even have been it, I mean I know that I also had a fear of slap bracelets digging into the veiny part of my wrist causing me to bleed to death, that would have been around the same time so it’s difficult to know for sure how it all started. (Yes, I’ve always been dramatic) I’m working on this wrist thing, three years of therapy and I can finally keep from gagging when someone grabs my wrist.

2. Yes, I have been to therapy before, but not for my wrist. Can that count as a random thing?

3. I have taken a breathalyzer test (don’t tell my mom). I was young and stupid and 100% sober. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The cop tried to scare me by looking at it and asking if I was sure I hadn’t had anything to drink (I used to get asked that question a lot but I’ve never had a drink in my life). Then he asked if I had anything in my car, like a bacon stretcher or anything like that. I turned to my friend who seemed just as confused; I thought maybe it was some type of drug paraphernalia. But then I realized the cop had some personality and was making a joke.

4. I lack all original thought. Even if you thought it was original, it probably wasn’t. Almost everything I say is a movie or television quote. Basically if it sounds original it’s really just modified to fit the situation. The good news: if I say something incredibly rude to you I’m probably just quoting a movie in a friendly, endearing manner…but sometimes not – so you’re the one who decides how to take it.

5. I’m writing a story. Been working on it since the beginning of the summer. Some people have read bits and pieces of it, and I have over 100 pages written, though not all of it still goes with the story line now. I love writing (as if this blog didn’t prove that even if I have nothing to say I still feel the need to say something). Basically, I like to spend much of my free time writing or researching for my story. (P.S. it’s kind of about super heroes).

6. I have 7 smiles...just kidding! Um...I don't eat chocolate, haven't eaten it for 8 and half years and it started on a dare in high school. That's all I can come up with :)

I guess now is the time to tag other people. I tag my sisters, Martha, Kathryn, and Joanna, and my sister-in-law Heather. (I don't know how many people I have to tag) Let's throw in Marianne too.

The Relief Society Pool Party and Broadcast

Last Saturday was the relief society broadcast, it was also the only Saturday we could do our pool party, so what do you do when you find it's the last possible day to do a pool party and it's the broadcast? You combine them of course! So we had the pool party from 2-6 and then if you wanted to you could stay at Natalie's parents house and watch it or you could go to the stake center, or if you were lucky like me to have BYU TV you go home and watch it. Here are some pictures from the pool party (not I spent most of my time dry and inside).

This is Lilly, she was the highlight of the party, I mean, look at that face? How could you not fall in love with it?

I don't remember her name, but she's adorable, doesn't talk much and apparently doesn't like the idea of being compare to Bilbo Baggins, because that's what we all thought she looked like with these glasses on.

This is my new boyfriend Joey, he's kind of a ladies man and moves on quickly, but for a good 15 minutes we had a connection, and then again later when I drew him a picture. Oh and then the next day at church he informed me that he was coming over to my house. So obviously there is something still there right? And it shouldn't be a surprise, I mean, everyone says I like 'em young! Oh, you didn't think that young? OK.

Okay, notice Lilly's eyes. Seriously, I ask again how you could not love this dog??

The girls having fun in the pool under the water.

The broadcast was awesome, as usual. I always enjoy what is said. There seemed to be a lot of talk about Temples. Elder Uchtdorf talked about creating beautiful things, even if it's just a smiles. He also talked about not being so hard on ourselves. I loved the comparison between the way he cooks and the way his wife cooks. She could have a masterpiece on the table and still feel like she didn't do something right or left something out and he can burn the eggs and feel like he's accomplished something big. I think it's true, a lot of women beat themselves up, because even their best doesn't seem to be good enough. At least that's the way I feel sometimes.

It was a good Saturday and I'm sorry I've waited so long to write about it.