Mommy WOW! I'm a big kid now!

Today I signed up (with the gentle prodding of G) for a class called "Contacting Agents and Publishers". Yeah...that's right. We're preparing for the step you do once you've finished writing a book, because apparently G thinks I'm close enough to having a full novel...either that or she is just a lover of learning everything.

So G gave me all the information necessary and even said that she would do the class with me. So I called the number and got us signed up. First I made sure it wasn't too late to sign up because there is nothing quite like going off and trying to get something only to find out that you no longer can. When I asked if the class was still available there was nothing, complete and utter silence. No, "hold on one moment" or "let me see" or even an "OK"...just silence. So I sat there resisting the urge to say, "hello?" because I knew he had to still be there, he just had to be. Finally he comes back and tells me it's still available so I ask him if there is a processing fee or not because the website thingy had said that a phone in registration received one week prior to the class beginning does not incur the registration fee. I don't know, it doesn't flow well. So he says, "Let me put you on hold for a moment." and rather than receiving sweet vibrations to my ear I hear silence, and then a strange beep like the phone used to do if you had call waiting (it may still do that but it's been a while since I've heard it). It continued to do this for several minutes and I think I preferred the awkward silence.

Finally he came back on the line and we began the registration process. I signed up G at the same time and when he asked me for my address I realized that I don't know G's address...so I pretended she was my roommate.

Anyway, so I'm all signed up now, kind of excited though I'm not so sure how useful it will be. Hopefully it is because I'm taking 2 hours out of my life for it, and of course, dropping money on it as well.

Thanks G for letting me know about the class and for taking it with me...and for believing in me just enough to have thought of me when you saw the class.

The class is next Tuesday, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Look At Me! I'm Indie!

One of the things I like to do when I'm not "seriously" shopping at a store is to dress up. I've done this many times at Wal-Mart and Target and gotten mounds of enjoyment out of it. I create a Jessica that looks like she knows what she is doing when she puts this stuff together (though I just randomly grab items and wrap them around my head or something...Rub - that scarf at Target that I used as a kind of head band). Last night while waiting to get into the Cheesecake Factory (turned out I could have skipped dinner, gotten married, had children, and grown old by the time our table would be ready) we hung out at Urban Outfitters. I had never been into one of these stores before, probably because in my realm of reality Target and Wal-Mart are it. The mall?? ...what is that?

First of all, the last time I went to the mall it wasn't about Indie clothes and "being green" but apparently that's the bag of chips* right now. Also, the last time I went to the mall the guys wore gender specific clothing...as in, they didn't wear women's clothes. ...and this is why I'm still single. Turns out it had nothing to do with me. Thank goodness!

So while we were in there I tried on sunglasses, the usual low key "dressing" up in the store.

There's something about these glasses that I absolutely love. Could be because they take up half my face...not sure.

It was a rather long time we were in Urban Outfitters and it was time to step it up a notch. So I got some glasses, walked towards the door and found a hat, took a sharp right and grabbed a scarf and wa-la!

...Indie girl (in the guys clothing). And while taking this picture I happened to look into the dressing room area and the guy working the counter there was watching and smile-lessly shook his head. He's a judger...which kind of goes against the Indie thing right? Maybe? I thought so at least. Had he been the one wearing the red women's v-neck I would have shook my head right back, and maybe called out a "Shame on you." and told him to get a haircut and finally express his individuality instead of living life thinking he was unique because he wore his hair the same way every "Indie" boy wore it (that long, just got out of bed look) and ignoring the fact that he works at a store that sells Indie clothes...because I think that's an oxymoron, like Jumbo Shrimp. It's playing right into the man, shelling out money for clothes you should buy at the thrift store so you could actually be Indie. But I might have it all wrong, I don't know this stuff that well. Heck I'm against the whole "be green" movement, so I must be out of touch.

Regardless, I put away my clothes and stopped dressing up. That strange looking teenage boy broke my spirit. ...jerk.

Just because I don't want to make a separate entry for the same day here are some pictures from my Target trip earlier that day.

Sam and I find the same sweater on the clearance racks. And neither of us got it, but we thought it would make for a good picture.

St. Patty's day is quickly approaching and mom and Sam like to get into the spirit of things...with hats.

Okay, that's it. That's my story in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed. If not...you just don't get me.

Oh and just for those of you who were worried I would leave you hanging, we finally made it to our table...almost two hours after we got there. I was so hungry I was beyond hungry. I hate the Cheesecake factory.

Notes

*As in "All that and a bag of chips!"

I like the night life...I like to boogie.

Last night Claire (C$) and Gretel (G or G-sauce) and I went to see "Against Grace". I have to admit right off that I hadn't heard their music until Tuesday after Twilight when Claire gave me the CD. But I like to support local music, so I was willing to go, and Claire said they were good and I trust her music taste.

We went downtown to The Canal Club. I have never been there before (there are a lot of places downtown I haven't been). After witnessing Claire giving the lady a hard time about her age "I'm over 21 but I won't be drinking" and the woman just saying something about the age or if she was drinking, or something and then finally brutally marking Claire's flesh with two 'X's, I just held my hands out and told her to mark me. I didn't have my ID with me anyway and if this woman chose to believe that I looked under 21 (or actually as I learned from selling cigarettes at the grocery store, under 30 to be safe) then I was happy to be branded.

Before "Against Grace" came on we heard two other brands which I thought were really good. "The Bigger Lights" and "We The Living". I tried to look up "The Bigger Lights" on iTunes, but looks like I should have probably shelled out for the CD while I was there. I haven't looked up "We The Living" but they are from California so I have a better chance of it. "The Bigger Lights" are from Newport News (I think) and "Sometimes" Richmond, and they seem to really need a hug because the lead singer kept telling everyone to come and give them a hug. Uh...Not so much a hugger, especially when the guy is tall and super skinny and probably wearing women's jeans. But their sound was good, kind of like The Format mixed with something else that Claire said but I just forgot, but it was perfect what she said. Anyway.

So "Against Grace" came up and we went to stand in front of the stage. I'll admit I've never really been to a concert unless you count Weird Al at Innsbrook after hours...and I'm not going to lie, I don't really count that. So the strange thing to me is that everyone stands in front of the stage and stares at the band. That's it. Sometime people danced, or took pictures, but mostly they stood there staring. So I stood there staring and felt ubber awkward. Now, even though I had only been listening to their CD for the past 24 hours I had my favorites, and my most favorite is their song "Radio". It's C$'s favorite too so we kept hoping the next song would be it, but it wasn't. Finally their last song they played it! Yeah, I'm a nerd because that really did make me happy.

After they played we pretty much left. But not until G bought me a beanie. She's amazing!

Then we took pictures outside and several people stopped to ask us what was going on at The Canal Club. So we got our pictures and left before anyone else could ask us. But I mean, why wouldn't they want to make up an excuse to talk to us? Look at us.

After that little "fix" I think I'm on my way to being a concert Junkie. I already have tickets to the Jack's Mannequin concert May 5th (so excited!).

Second Chances

So Twilight came to The Byrd. For those of you who have never been to Richmond (or have been but somehow missed the oldest theater in the city) the Byrd is like our cheap theater, our Movies 8 if you will...except cooler because it's got history and on Saturday nights an organ and player rise from somewhere beneath the stage and plays before the movie showing. The Byrd is pretty sweet. Anyway, not the story here.

So I meet up with Claire and Gretel because they were appalled that after having seen the movie once I lost all interest and desire for the books. I really did, it was kind of sad and I was at the point that I wished I had never seen the movie because I really did like the books (with the exception of the last one...I only kind of liked that one). Claire had given me the soundtrack last week and my job was to listen to it without skipping any songs (except I was permitted to skip the Looney Tunes song - not the theme song, but you know how Looney Tunes always has that classical music throughout). The instruction to listen to it all the way through without skipping was just for the first turn, but I was actually too afraid to skip any until the 4th or 5th listen. Then I started to skip around and listen to my favorites (sorry gals, the Rob Pattinson one didn't make that list).

So I get to the theater, late I feel though I guess I wasn't and I buy my ticket and I'm looking for Gretel. I had seen her when I walked up to buy the ticket but now I didn't see her anywhere. So in my search for the familiar face I walk past the girl taking our tickets. I have to turn around and give her mine and she's like, "I know, it's Twilight" and I felt like telling her I wasn't one of those, I was looking for my friend. But what's the point right?

So we go into the theater and we sit, or should I say we tried to sit. The problem with being in the oldest theater in the city is that it was made a long time ago, before the days of really tall people. Ever been to an old house, and I mean really old, the doorways are too short and the stairs are steep and narrow. Anyway, that's why I say (without any other proof) that those were the days when people were shorter. That means that in order to sit comfortably in these seats I had to sit straight up, butt pushed back to the crevice where the seat and the back meet, just to have a little room for my knees. Only thing is that this is not actually that comfortable. So I started out with my knees pressed into the back of the seat in front of me and moved around the entire time until Gretel showed me that if you lean forward and rest your arms on the seat in front of you that you might finally find some comfort. Thanks G.

Well - so the movie, my second impressions? I guess it wasn't as bad? Edward is actually just creepy to me now, and Bella is back to bugging me (which I reminded myself I couldn't stand her in the books). I still hate the glitter and wind chimes. I mean the glitter isn't so bad, I have seen Legend so therefore I have seen worse, but the chimes do them in. Unless someone can prove to me that a fist full of diamonds would make a similar noise in the sunlight, I'm not buying into the movie enhanced chiming. Don't worrying, chiming is not the only reason I don't love the movie, I'm not that irrational.

I have to say though, I enjoyed the experience in the Byrd. We went to the 9:30 showing, and that means that we got the interesting crowd. Not as interesting as The Simpsons Movie crowd, but really, you can't top the anytime crowd for that movie. The guy behind us had some interesting things to say and that cracked me up, and of course when Edward's "father" says "Remember who you are" I cracked up, and that could just be because of the parental saying, "Remember who you are and what you stand for." I can see it now...the first LDS vampires.

So in conclusion, I no longer hate the movie, but I'm afraid it's not on my top 10, 20, or even 30. Probably because I can't put my finger on what genre it is (is it action? drama? ...comedy?). And I won't be owning it, unless I can buy it for 5 bucks. Then I'll own it. But hey, it moved up from a will not own to a cheap bin at Wal-Mart purchase. That's saying something!

Basketball

P.S. we won our basketball game, which means new bestie is good luck and I need to get him to cross his fingers whenever we have a basketball game. We won by about ten points and I didn't bleed at all. I know...shocker. That doesn't mean I didn't fall, cause I did, just not as much as usual. For a few days there I thought I would need a doughnut for sitting on, but I'm mostly better now (just can't lay down on my right side...weird I know).
Our next game is this Saturday.

Well, I just wanted to let you know that we won. I have nothing else to say right now!

Captain's Log (And if you don't get this reference don't talk to me)

Today I got the opportunity to do something that I have never really done before. I got to entertain an interview candidate. Yeah, being the reserved individual I am and also being that this kid is close to my age I really had no desire to go and shoot the breeze with him. In fact I told Boss Lady sarcastically that talking to strangers was one of my favorite things to do. It is, in fact, the furthest thing from it. So I asked her what I was supposed to say, she told me to offer him water, talk to him for a bit until the Pres. was ready to see him. I jokingly asked if I should take things to entertain him, possibly a magic trick.

The problem with waiting for Pres is that I had no clue how long that could take. So, with my nerves rattling around inside of me (I strongly believe that I suffer from some kind of anxiety) I walked to the conference room where he was waiting. I entered the room, told him it was just me again, but informed him the person interviewing him next had someone with him so he would be here shortly. I offered him water (for the second time today, and right after the first time Boss Lady offered him some) so I told him that I would just keep asking until he wanted some. Then I pretty much explained that I was there to keep him busy and actually asked if he would like to see a magic trick, I don't remember if he even had a chance to respond before I admitted that I don't actually know any. I asked him if he had any questions so far and he replied in the negative - nothing. I didn't even contemplate turning around and leaving him to wait in boredom because I knew if I went back to my desk Boss Lady would make me return (she said this experience would be good for me and developing my interviewing skills). Well, fine if you have a list of questions already prepared, I was going in with nothing except to offer a magic trick I couldn't pull through on.

So I took a seat across from him and put my fingers up in quotations marks and told him I would interview him. I asked him if he was from around here. Born and raised. He asked me the same question back and I told him the same answer. Then I asked what high school he went to and then he asked me. Why did this feel like a date? (P.S. I hate dates). Then I remembered from his resume (because I get access to all this information) where he went to school and it seemed odd to me to be born and raised here and go out of state for college (even though that's what I did, but normally there is an interesting, fact finding reason for it). This is when I mention that I have seen his resume (probably not a comfort). He went down there because a brother's friend or something and ended up liking it so he went to school there. I know all this information and later when Boss Lady asked me about how it went I went off and told her where he went to school, where he has lived (including a ranch in Wyoming for 5 months where he tried to pick up fly fishing and went to Jackson Hole twice (it was on my list but I never went)). He played football in high school and lacrosse, but isn't really coordinated enough for sports so he just runs. He now knows about me (if he cares to remember) that my favorite vacation spot is Jacksonville, North Carolina, I'm not going there this weekend because I have a basketball game on Saturday and despite being the "young" team we aren't winning very often but maybe this weekend we will (he'll keep his fingers crossed for us), that I went to school in Idaho and loved it despite how cold it was, I've never been to Jackson hole but I went to Yellowstone and I paused before I said it was 'fun' because honestly, it wasn't the most thrilling thing I've ever done (and I went off on how we took a million pictures of Old Faithful back before we owned a digital camera and were stuck with all these pictures of the same thing). No clue how long I was in there but I feel like it was a while. There were a few long seconds of silence too while I tried to think of things to ask him. I finally got to the bottom of the barrel and asked if he'd seen any good movies lately. The way he said 'yes' was like he had seen quite a handful of delectable movies lately, and I began to wonder why I didn't currently know what is out in theaters. He picked one to tell me about...slum-something millionaire. I told him I had never even heard of it so he was telling me how it's about this kid in the slums of...enter country other than U.S. here - and then Pres walked in. I told Pres I was just interviewing and he seemed surprised and I told him I was just kidding because even though that should go without saying I felt I should probably say it. I said goodbye to new best friend and tried to calmly walk back to my desk (because when I do things that I didn't want to do I have a habit of letting it all out after I'm done, such as the phlegm sound I make whenever I hang up the phone, despite whether or not the conversation was good or bad because I hate the phone).

I waited until I got back to my desk and let my face redden and laughed at myself for what a moron I am. I may or may not have violently shaken my arms...may or may not have. Then I thought on the fact that I don't think I could ever conduct an interview without wanted to claw my eyes out afterwards. And it's nothing against this kid, because it wasn't an interview and I happen to know a lot about this kid should he be hired, we're already besties...it's just for the same reason I don't like dating, the anxiety that builds up in me, the pressure to make conversation and try not to sound lame but also not talk about myself the whole time. The pressure to make eye contact rather than look all over the room (which I prefer to do when I'm talking to someone, especially boys - no matter if there is any interest there or not). ...I'm retarded.

All I know is now that I've formed an attachment he'd better get hired. I didn't do all that work for nothing.

My own little 'pay it forward'

So I got this from G-sauce's blog, and I thought it was a pretty cool idea, but mostly I want her to make me something.

Here's the deal: The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (But I'll try)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song(doubtful). It may be a self portrait or maybe even some creation I haven't yet dreamed up. I may write something for you, I may draw, I may bake you something and mail it to you. It may not be big or impressive. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! So come on, sign up!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange (and let's face it, I'm extremely stange so chances of that are high).

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift by me!

Happy Valentine's Day...Loser!

Buhahaha! I love this http://despair.com/bittersweets.html. I came across this today while surfing the web.
Conversation hearts for the rest of us! (Since most of my readers are happily married they may not enjoy this quite as much as I do, but hopefully you can still see the beauty in it). Conversation hearts such as "Tradin you in", "kiss a frog", "Return my CDs", "I'm hot inside" and "So so alone". I want some so badly!!

Hankering

On the Clever girl blog I signed up for the ABC game and was assigned the letter 'H'. What I am supposed to do with this is to write about ten things that I love that start with the letter 'H'. This should keep me busy for a while.

1 Halloween - It's my most favorite "holiday" and I'm not even quite sure why. Maybe it's the smell of fall in the air, the creativity bursting at the seams, the loads and loads of free candy. But it can't just be that because I don't get free candy anymore in fact I am now required to give it out, but I still dress up and that's got to count for something! There's just something about Halloween that brings sheer joy to my soul.

2 Hats comma baseball (on guys) - I could have just left it as hats, but what if the hat is fugly? I wouldn't so much love it on the guy. Baseball hats barely ever go wrong. I have a neighbor (in a way) who lives behind me and to the right. I cannot see his face so well but he is hot. How do I know this? He wears a baseball hat. I see him sometimes when I am standing on the back porch with my dog and he comes out to his car looking oh so good in his baseball hat. I told my roommate about him, told her that he is probably super hideous but with support of the distance and the hat I am in love. Oh, and he could be horrendously old as well, but I can't tell. I just have a weakness for them, guys look 79% better when wearing a hat. It's attractive, I'm going to stop talking about it and just show you my "celebrity" baseball hat wearing crush.
Exhibit A: Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs

Yeah, sure he hangs out in sewers, pig farms, poo pot plants. But he is incredible, and if his name started with an "h" he would have been his own number.

3 House M.D. (Hugh Laurie...ha! Two!!) It's like getting double letters in Scattergories!! I haven't really watched the show in a while, but he is my favorite television doctor by a landslide (with the exception of Doogie Howser of course). Super smart, handsome, the father of Stuart Little, tells it like it is, and musically talented.

4 Horoscopes - I may not believe them, I may not read them for months at a time. However, sometimes it's fun to just check them out. I also like the things that describe what you should be like if you are a certain sign and it's amazing how close they can get! Which makes me wonder, are all Capricorns alike?? If that is the case are there only 12 types of people? One for each Zodiac sign?? Or are there 24 since the people who fall on the lines sometimes are a mix between their two signs. I mean, seriously, horoscopes could occupy me for hours if I let them.

5 Hairspray (the movie) - I wasn't raised on musicals, I don't have a strong desire to watch musicals, Mama Mia was a disappointment at best. I had no intention of watching Hairspray when it came out and I held out for quite some time. I finally did see it (don't remember how or why) but I actually like it a lot. It was the first time that I saw Zac Efron too (remember, not a musicals kind of gal so High School Musical was not something I had seen (and still haven't despite Evan having me watch 2 and 3). Therefore it was "Zac without a 'k' who?" I must admit I like him with the darker hair...but he's not what is being talked about here, it's the movie. Amazing cast, John Travolta as an obese agoraphobic, Michelle Pfieffer (as the bad person yet again!), Christopher Walkin, and James Marsden. There was no way I couldn't like it.

6 Hamburgers - especially on the grill. I'm not even hungry at the moment but my mouth is still watering.


7 Hugh Jackman...For oh so many reasons, X-men, Prestige, raging self confidence (look at the video from below...I mean, seriously if that's not apparent from his wardrobe then hit 'play' watch the rest). Did I mention incredibly talented? Cause I meant to.

8 The Hokey Pokey - It really is what it's all about.


9 Hearts (of the Brach's persuasion) - yes, I'm a cheater...so technically these start with a "C" but they are always hearts and since V-day is coming up I think you should let me have this one. Thanks!


10 Hot Hot Heat - they're a good band, I like their music...do I love them? Not quite sure if I am ready to be that committed but I am ready to be done with this. So...they are the only band I could think of that start with 'H'...therefore for the sake of this blog, yes, I love them.

That's it folks. If you are incredibly bored or just think this kind of stuff is fun, then let me know and I'll share the joy and assign you a letter.

Holiday Party

Sorry for the delay with these (not that you were expecting them, but if you were I truly am sorry). I was waiting to get access to everyone's pictures, well, at least the ones they put on the shared drive at work.

Let's start with the fuzzy one.

Check-In

We're a month out since I made my New Years resolutions so I think it's time to check in and see how we are doing. I figure the easiest way for me to do this is to just go down my original list and say what's still 'in', what's 'on hold' and what's a sunken ship. Hopefully since it's only February I won't have any in the latter category.

Uno - Lose weight. I'm happy to report that yes, I have lost weight. You might not be able to tell yet, but I have lost almost 10 pounds since I made that goal.

Deux - Budget. It's not really on hold, more, it just got screwed up somehow. I know how, I blame the government because this is a free country and I can, but really I am the only one to blame. But I have spent less this month on frivolous things than any other month so far. But I haven't spent less (again, the government slash my own daftness).

Tres - Read a book a month. Doing great! I've read two books and am half way through two more. I like to read a fiction and a nonfiction at the same time. Keeps my brain on it's toes...you know, if it had toes. Which is actually a creepy thought so...moving on.

Oven - Expand my vocabulary. This month seemed to be more about maintaining. Though I have developed a new fondness for masticated and cordially (cause its not spelled like it sounds) Thank you Martha for trying to make your wedding invites and getting the vocabulary wheels working again.

Cinco - Read my scriptures...everyday. I was doing good until Monday this past week, but I read the chapters I would have and am working on not waking up so late in the morning.

Six - Overcome my fear of the phone. Work in progress.

Siete - Get Domesticated. Oh yeah! Who sewed the collar on her sweater? *points at self* this girl. I also used a safety pin Tuesday morning. I looked at what darning a sock is but have yet to do it.

Huit - Be more outgoing. I...guess. I mean, I've made a couple of new friends since January 1. I smiled at some people, and averting my eyes with others (hard core creep emanations coming from them). Okay fine! That's one that I still need to work on! You happy now!?

Neun - Organize. Uh...yeah. Well, I bought this little table that has a filing cabinet and some storage and I think that it will help me to better organized rather than putting all my folders into a tupperware container and using that stack on another container as a nightstand. Plus...ahem...my sister said she's getting me a shredder for my birthday and that will help me to get rid of some stuff.

Diex - Have fun. Oh yes, that one is being completed.

What a weekend!

Friday night we had our basketball game (save you the suspense we lost) I didn't do so well and I didn't play hard. Next week will be better, but I was just off on Friday, not quite sure why. After the game I came home and had some friends over to play games. I stayed up pretty late talking to friends but figured I would be fine because I could sleep in on Saturday.

I woke up early Saturday with a phone call from my sister saying that one of the puppies died. It had gotten an infection and passed away early Saturday morning. It was very sad.

Saturday was also my mom's birthday and my sister and brother-in-law were in town. So all of us went bowling, and I think it helped Kathryn to get her mind off of the puppy.

This is Jacob and I. I bowled my second turn like this and ending up getting a spare...turns out the kids seems to know what he's doing.

I am the first 'J' and as you can see I'm losing. Even the kids beat me, granted they had bumpers. But I had fun and that's what mattered.
Due to a remark that my mom made on the way to bowling we decided that her cake should resemble that. "Go Steelers", don't worry, we wrote it on there and it was on purpose, the bakery didn't mess up that badly.

Saturday night I went to hang out with Natalie, Kelli, and Amber. Mikey came too, and he should have since watching Kung Fu Panda was his idea. A few other people showed up too, Isaac, Jesse, Sarah, Adam, and Orin. It was hilarious because Mikey compared people to the characters in the movie and soon we were all picking out which characters we were. I was first assigned the snake and then it was finally decided that I was the crane. It made the movie so much more interesting (Its interesting as is but it was even better) because everyone was like, "Look! Did you see what I just did!?" Yeah...we're weird.

I ended up staying at Natalie's talking to her and Kelli until 4:00 am. I don't remember much of what I said, but I remember a stuffed animal (a moose) and his name was Roberto, and I spoke for him, an awful lot.

I came home and got to bed around 5 (again, thinking I could sleep in) and then Chubbers decided that I would wake up at 9. I was unable to fall asleep so I got ready for church and then worked on my lesson for today. It was on Kristen Oak's five single switch points (which are good whether or not your single). I ended up going to church early and read over my lesson there, well, started to read over my lesson. Then one of the sisters came in and I put the lesson away and let her vent about some things. Then we went into the chapel. I sat down and reached for my lesson to read it before church. But it wasn't in my bag, it wasn't in my purse, notebook, scriptures, pockets...nowhere. Though I had already prayed before hand just to have the spirit with my while I taught I was praying now that I could pull this off without my lesson. Luckily I had the book I wrote the lesson from and I remembered a lot of the quotes, but I also decided that I needed to pay attention in Sacrament and Sunday School.

So Relief Society came and I was nervous, but they set apart the new Relief Society Presidency (more on that in a moment) and then we had annoucements. Then I gave my lesson (starting with the story of how I lost my lesson). Kelli had suggested that my lesson was so good it was translated, so I let everyone know that. Amazingly I remembered most everything I wanted to say, I had a few snags when I forgot what I wanted to ask but other than that I felt it went smoothly. There was one time when I asked a question and this girl, Brianna answered it with the exact answer I was looking for and I said, "Did you find my lesson?" It was just perfect! I went over on time, but I don't regret it, it was my last time teaching (Oddly going to miss teaching too).

So...you already put it together but I was released from my calling. For those of you who don't know I was the first counselor in our Relief Society (Enrichment). A year ago I was the second counselor (Education), so I've been in this calling for two years now. When the bishop told me I have to admit that I was really sad. As much as I hadn't wanted this calling, I hated the idea of the calling at first, thinking that there was no way I was qualified to be a leader and an example in that ward. I didn't even go to Relief Society before this calling was originally extended to me. I didn't go to Enrichment after that until I was called as the Enrichment counselor. The Lord has truly known me, and called me to do the things that I needed to do, that I needed to learn and grow in. And now, he's called someone else who needs it as much as I did.

It's amazing to me, how far I have come in the last two years. What kind of person I have changed in to while on this veritable roller coaster on personal growth and achievement! I have sunk to the bottom but I have also soared to the top. I don't think I would be the person I am at this point in my life without this calling. I wouldn't know what it feels like to have a genuine love for strangers (the sisters in the Relief Society that I didn't even know their names), I wouldn't appreciate the hard work that goes into Enrichment, I would understand the inspiration that goes into organizing Relief Society. I'm eternally grateful for this calling, for the chance that I had to serve in that capacity.

After Relief Society I stayed after for Break the Fast. Natalie and Kelli brought Roberto and I continued to give him a voice...and possibly chase away any chance of potential suitor! But I had a good time, and I hope to see Roberto again soon.