A Cold Ride To Work...

Some people would call my car a an old piece of junk.  I however call it awesome.  Yes it is half my age but it runs really well still.  I have very few problems with it considering its age.  I am really the only one ever in it so it actually looks pretty good.  It might be for this reason I get so upset when something does need to be repaired.  I am not used to it.  I also don't have a lot of free days to just drop my car off and not have a mode of transportation.

Yesterday I left work and got in my car.  It was a little warm in the car so I hit the power window button to crack it and let in some cold air.  I barely hit the button and "thump" ... The glass was gone. My car door had eaten my window.  I panicked just a little and regretted my decision to open the window.  I called my mom to ask if I could borrow her car to go to work the next day because obviously I could not leave it in the mall parking lot for 9 hours with the window completely gone.  Besides theft being an issue we have really unpredictable weather here.  I could come back to a soaking wet car.

Unfortunately my mom reminded me that she and my dad had to work the early morning shift at the temple.  They leave an hour apart and would need both their cars.  She did tell me that if I wanted to wake up and drive her to the temple at 4am I could use her car as back up.  I reluctantly agreed.  What other choice did I have?  I needed to go to work and I needed a car to do it.

Naturally I didn't really fall asleep all night.  I was too afraid I would over sleep.  I got up, dropped my mom off, and went home to sleep a little longer.  And then when my alarm went off at 7 am I had a terrible time getting up.  Suddenly, even though I got in bed at 9:30pm, my body was ready to sleep.   I lectured myself out of bed and got ready for work.  I called the service shop to see if they could fit me in and miraculously the said they could.  Good news: my car was getting fixed.  Bad news: I got up at 4 for no reason.

I jumped in my car and onto the freeway with my drivers side window ALL the way down.  People probably thought I was crazy.  It was for sure the coldest ride to work I have ever made.  My hair was wet which made it so much worse.  I dropped it off and walked 20 minutes to work.  My co-workers had a good laugh at my expense. Which I deserved...it is kind of funny.  Long story short and $600 later-my car is fixed.

Ice Cream Anyone??

This morning as I was eating my ice cream I was struck by an interesting thought.  Yes...it was sparked by ice cream.  My friend Morgan introduced me to a new flavor created by my true loves Ben & Jerry.  It's called peanut butter world.  As I was scarfing on my new love I questioned why I was enjoying it so much.  Most people are probably thinking, "duh it's ice cream! who wouldn't enjoy it?"  well...me.  I don't actually love ice cream. I don't hate it but I am really picky about which ice cream I like and don't like.  And one thing I don't like is chocolate ice cream.  I actually hate chocolate ice cream.  This new flavor I love is...Chocolate.  go figure.  What is the moral of this story?  Try new things because you never know what you might be missing out on. 

just so we are clear I still prefer frozen yogurt and I still don't like chocolate ice cream.  But I do love peanut butter world.  The End.

Please, Avert Your Eyes

I love my job.  I meet the most interesting people.  Sometimes it's great...sometimes it's just...well... interesting.  Let me illustrate what I mean.

I was working over in the body store running go backs when I see this guy walking through the store.  whenever I see a guy in my store I immediately ask if I can help them with something.  Get them what they need and get them out.  So this particular guy says, "I just need an opinion from you."  So he shows me two different shoes in an Eddy Bauer catalogue and asks which ones I like better.  I went through the standard questions, what are you wearing them with? what are they for?  He told me to just pick.  So I gave him my opinion- assuming it was maybe something he had to do for school.  But to my surprise (sort of) he didn't leave.  He kept talking to me.  Asking me if I was in school, what was my major?  Then he goes off on a creepy tangent about diverting his eyes and about his experience in Victoria's Secret last week (umm...you do this on a regular basis?) and how he had no idea that bras came in so many styles and colors.  Guess you aren't so good at averting your eyes after all.    He also tells me he is a massage therapist and hands me his card.  Then he dives right in with, "so would you like to have lunch with me sometime? or are you dating someone?" 
To which I of course lied.  "yes I am dating someone". 
Thinking this was the quickest way to get him to just go away.  But it wasn't.  I should have known.  He then says, "well are you engaged?" 
"No, it's not that serious." 
"well then would you get a Jamba juice with me?"
"I just told you I was dating someone."
" yeah, but you said it wasn't serious."

Wow- I'm completely stunned at this point.  He continued to push for another few minutes.  Telling me about country dancing down at BYU.   He finally gave up saying that he is really good at reading body language and that he can feel if he pushes any more I am going to freak out.  News flash buddy I was already freaking out... you just couldn't tell because I had my work face on.  He was talking to me for about 15 minutes and I wish I could remember more of the details...it was priceless really.  I guess the point of this post is to reassure the public that I haven't lost my touch for attracting creepers.  I have had more than my fair share.  So even though my posts have been few and far between lately...I think the wait was worth it.  Dear Lingerie loser...please never come into my store again. 

A Level Below

I have discovered a new level in emotional relationships. (If you have not read my blog on relationship levels please click HERE) The highest being a Crush.  Less intense is a crinkle and the lowest level of interest being A Dog ear.  For those who don't understand, a dog ear  or ear marking a page is when you fold over the corner so you can come back to your spot at a later date.  That is the lowest level "crush" in known existence.  I didn't realize this until just a few weeks ago.  I was talking to a guy- I knew it wasn't really a crinkle because I wasn't even sure I liked him most of the time.  I talked to him because he talked to me but he was exhausting to talk to. The only thing he'd really ever say is, "hey what's up?" or something along those lines.  In all honesty he could have stopped talking at any time and I probably wouldn't have noticed.  And, in fact, he did.  Just a day after I last heard from him facebook told me he was in a relationship.  That is when I discovered the existence of the 'dog ear'.  If I had even been invested at the crinkle level I would have been disappointed.  But I wasn't.  I really couldn't have cared less.  I think I WANTED to be more disappointed than I was.  But you can't force a feeling.  At this point I was talking to my friend Megan about my lack of feeling over the situation and we realized there is a level lower than a crush.  This boy was a page I didn't really want to stay on, or a book I didn't want to keep open, but that page was interesting enough to ear mark.  Just in case I ever wanted to go back.  But in this particular case I won't be re-opening that book!

Three Generations

This week was a crazy one.  Crazy but really eye opening.  Overall a really really good week.  My second oldest nephew went into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on Wednesday and I am so very pleased with his decision to share his testimony of Jesus Christ.  In just a few weeks my oldest nephew will join him.  I can hardly believe they are that old but I am so happy for them both!

Because of their decisions to serve we were all able to attend the Temple together this last Tuesday.  wow, if ever I have wanted to take a picture in the temple it was Tuesday afternoon.  I did not take a physical picture but I spent quite a long time making a mental picture.  I know this sounds cheesy but it was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen.  My two nephews sat together on a couch with smiles on their faces.  Just to their right was my mom, surrounded by my older brother and his wife, my oldest sister and her husband, and my "little" brother and his pregnant wife (so excited about the new baby).  Their faces so happy and peaceful. I sat next to my dad and we both, with tears in our eyes, tried to absorbed the scene before us.  Three generations of my family together, all dressed in white.  I know it maybe sounds simple and unimpressive but it made a huge impression on me.

It impressed upon my heart that my family is eternal.  That although marriage isn't always easy it is worth it.  I knew all of this but to be honest it's been a long time since I've spent any time really thinking about it.  I am so grateful to my parents for sticking it out 40+ years and to my grandparents before them.  So grateful they taught me that some things are bigger than ourselves and our immediate wants.  I am so grateful for the temple.  For knowledge that my family will be my family forever and that the experience I had last Tuesday can be one of many many more.  I love my family.  Each one of them, although they are not perfect, has been an example to me.  I have learned so much from each of them and they have made me who I am today. 

Dumpster Diving

If you want to see some strange things just spend a little time at the mall.  Yesterday on my way to my car...actually, let me back up a bit.  A few days ago the boutique white house black market closed at my mall.  Because of this there is a huge dumpster in the parking lot for them to toss all their junk in.  now, back to last night.  I am walking out to my car and I see a girl climb up and look into the dumpster.  She then gets down and they boy she is with climbs up and into the dumpster.  Sick.  I immediately start thinking of all the nasty germs.  And I maybe started quoting 'Better Off Dead' to myself. "Its a shame folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy."

So this boy is in the dumpster and he starts handing down half forms. (mannequins that are made of fabric with no head and no limbs.)  By the time I got close she had put 3 in her car.  He must have asked her the question I was thinking, "what are you going to do with these?"  because I heard her say, "you know.  You can  decorate them...and like put them in your house and stuff." 

We have a hoarder in the making folks.  What kind of person decorates their house with mannequins?  She probably saw it on pinterest.  How would you decorate a mannequin anyway?  Also gross.  They are fabric so they can't really be washed and here is a fact:  Just because the dumpster is currently filled with life size dolls and cardboard does not mean that is what was in it last time it was full.  They do not sanitize those before they rent them to the next person.  So who knows what germs are now nicely embedded in your new 'decorations'.  I'm sorry.  I just think it's weird.

You Look Like a Real Prince but...

I read one of my favorite books tonight.  I think I've mentioned it before.  The Paper Bag Princess.  It's a children's book.  But not really.  Yes, children will be entertained by it but the message is for adults as well. 

The story line is as follows,  A fire breathing dragon burns down her castle and steals her fiance away.  She is left with nothing but ashes and an old paper bag.  After donning the bag she follows the dragon, outsmarts him, and saves her fiance.  This is how the book ends:

He looked at her and said, "Elizabeth, you are a mess!  you smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag.  Come back when you are dressed like a real princess."

"Ronald," said Elizabeth, "your clothes are really pretty and your hair is very neat.  You look like a real prince, but you are a bum."  They didn't get married after all.

why do I love this book with it's non traditional happy ending? Because she dodges a bullet.  To think, she almost married that bum.  That shallow man who didn't appreciate her brains, her determination, and her commitment.  In the first place- Ronald should have been attempting to save himself.  Second, he should have loved her not in spite of her haggard appearance but because of it.  So kudos to you Elizabeth.  Go use your life loving skills to find a real prince who can see past your paper bag.  ;)

I Can't Get No...Satisfaction.

Do you ever get cravings for things? And no, I am not talking about food.  Like for example, the other day I was leaving work and as I walked through the parking lot a jet flew over my head.  I suddenly had a very strong craving to get on a plane and go somewhere.  This morning I got a craving to be in school.  Law school to be exact.  Other things I crave, rodeos, shooting, Disneyland, dancing....sometimes I just have insuperable cravings for big expensive, impractical, or impulsive things.  I suppose that these unfulfilled cravings make me a better person...right?  Please say yes. 

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Tonight I went out with my girls.  Rules for tonight no boys and everyone has to dress in something that makes them feel great. The plan for tonight?  Dinner and drinks afterward.  Secretly I was hoping, as I always do when I enter main stream Provo on date night, that I will get some really good material for this blog.  Well I guess wishes come true because I got something- But not in the way I had hoped.

Two things about me and restaurants: 

1. working retail myself, I am generally pretty patient with my servers.  I don't expect a lot.  I just want to be acknowledged.  If you are busy- tell me.  Just let me know that I have not been forgotten.

2.  If I am not ordering very much I usually tip even better because I know you pay your bills with tips.  Instead of the standard 15-20% I will usually pay more like 75-150%...depending on what my bill is. 

Now with that in mind I am going to tell you that tonight I had the worst customer experience at a restaurant EVER.  After being at the Olive Garden for two hours tonight (our server was newish- nice but not really great with efficiency) my friends and I drove half an hour south to a restaurant in downtown Provo called Spark restaurant.  It's been open a couple of years and I have wanted to go for awhile.   

When we got there I was a little let down because it wasn't at all what I was expecting but the Host was super nice and really attentive.  He continued to check back with us and let us know he was still working on getting our table.  Which was fine.  It's Friday night and we expected a little bit of a wait.  After about 20 minutes he sat us at a table and then our server came. 

She took our order and was a little bugged that we were only ordering drinks.  When she brought our drinks, she asked if we wanted anything else.  We told her no we were good for now.  The next 30 min or so were great.  We laughed and tried each other's drinks- it was exactly what it should have been.  Until we all finished our drinks.  I had kind of been thinking that I wanted to try a different one but after about 20 minutes of watching our server on the other side of the restaurant or flirting with the other server I decided it wasn't worth the wait for her to come back.  At this point we all decided we were ready to leave.  We sat at our table for about 20 minutes when "her boyfriend" server, probably seeing my annoyed face, came to ask if we needed anything.  My friend responded without pause that we'd like our check.  He asked how we'd like it and brought us our checks.  We each paid in cash thinking that would speed things up but I needed change.  There was NO WAY on this earth that I was giving her a $6 tip for a $3 drink.  I might have if she'd been really good- but she wasn't even mediocre. 

Another ten minutes went by and still no one had come to get our money.  Behind the bar were two employees and the "boyfriend" server who brought our checks.  I picked up all our checks and took them over.  I spoke to him, rather calmly actually- it wasn't his fault our server sucked, and told him I just needed a $5 bill.  "No one else wanted change and we had a bit of a drive to go home.  I am and have been ready to leave for over 20 minutes."  Instead of just helping me or asking the host to help (which is who I should have gone to in the first place) he took them over to our server.  Who again left us waiting for another 10 minutes!  Who stays at a restaurant for an hour and a half for ONE drink when all the tables aren't full and have not been all night?? 

Nothing ruins an experience like having to stay after the fun has ended.  When she finally did come back, she not very sincerely said, "sorry about the wait".  That would have worked about 20 minutes ago- but since you haven't been back to our table in at least 40 minutes it just isn't cutting it.  Not only did your lack of attention lower sales since myself and another friend both opted NOT to order another drink, but you also lowered your tip significantly- by the time we were ready to pay we were all so over you. When you first came to the table your exact words were, "I am going to take care of you tonight".  Well you are a Liar.  You barely acknowledged our existence. And YOU made my first trip to Spark Restaurant my last.  The drinks were not great and the service was even worse.  Not worth the gas it took to drive there. 

Dear snotty pants server- you have a job because people come to your restaurant.  If you ignore us because you don't think we are spending enough we will not come back.  Repeat customers are your best job security.  If I have a good experience I tell two or three people.  When I have a negative experience I post it on my public blog for the world to see.  So...did I get blog material tonight? yes...along with a horrible experience.  Guess I should be more careful about what I wish for. 

Shhhh...It's a secret

Over the last several weeks I have had some eye opening conversations with some of my male friends.  I've been talking to a couple friends about girls they are interested in and been shocked to find that, as much as I refused to believe it, a lot of guys are afraid of girls.  Which in some cases is totally justified.  Girls can be crazy.  But most of us are not. 

Both guys (separate from one another) told me about a girl they were interested in and their plan to talk to said girl.  They then proceeded to ask something to the effect of:  "but would that be weird?"  "is that creepy?" "Will she think I'm crazy?". 
My response is simply that you are over thinking things.  Fact is, there is no definite answer.  But here is a little secret: 
If she is interested in you she won't think it's weird.  She will be flattered to have the attention.  If she isn't interested- yes you will probably be blogged about and filed away as a creeper ;)

But I'm kind of serious.  You just won't know what she will think until you try.  I know it's scary but you are just going to have to gain (or fake) a little bit of confidence and jump in with both feet.  One of two things will occur:
1.  She's interested and you get a date
2.  She thinks your a creeper, and you can dust your shoulder off and find a girl worth your time.

Think of all the time that's wasted hemming and hawing over all those "what ifs" ... Just do it.  I think you will find that unless she's a spoiled princess, she is not going to shoot you where you stand for saying hi, or sending a text/message, or asking her out.  We may not want to marry you but most of us are pretty nice. 

The Unexplained....

WHAT. THE. HECK?!  So back in...oh maybe the end of October my body store got packaged PJ sets.  Just before black Friday they went on promotion.  Here is the story with packaged PJ'S...everyone wants to undo them so they can look at them but they don't want to buy the one they opened.  So every year I try and make a preemptive strike and set up a display of each style and at least one of each size.  This year I put out my display and by the time I came back into work I had a pair of PJ pants and no shirt.  I set the pants aside just waiting for the shirt to turn up... maybe someone tried it on and it got separated.  Well I waited and waited and finally after Christmas I price killed the pants and just sold them on their own for way discounted. 

GUESS WHAT showed up today.  on the 25th day of January??  THE FLIPPING SHIRT!  Are you kidding me?!?!  It's been missing for two months- the only possible solution...Big Foot.  It's the only thing that makes sense.  ;)

Smack YOU!

Gum.  I used to love the stuff.  Not because I love Gum really but more out of a perpetual fear of bad breath.  I chewed gum for hours every day...and then my jaw decided to lock and I was forced to end my long complicated relationship.  I have been gum free for 3 years now.  Perhaps this is the reason I feel so strongly about what I am about to say. 

NO ONE ELSE SHOULD KNOW YOU ARE CHEWING GUM!

Seriously, if you are over 15 you are not allowed to chew gum in public.  It is so gross when a middle aged adult smacks their gum.  A man came into my store today and I seriously could hear him chewing across the room.  He was probably at least in his 50s and I could barely concentrate on anything he was saying because all I heard was gum smacking.  ewww.  Gross. 

Chew your gum if you must but I don't want to hear it.  Keep it to yourself. The End. 

The Cart Was Pushing Me...

I have not blogged in weeks.  Mostly because I have just been so tired...even if I had the time to write it would have not been much...my brain has not been functioning at full capacity.  So even now I am not going to try to be witty or clever.  I am simply going to share with you a story I found while preparing my lesson...one that is fantastic but maybe a little too "deep" for an introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants lesson. I enjoyed it all the same and thought someone else might as well. 

 

James E. Faust:

“Some years ago president David O. McKay told from this pulpit of the experience of some of those in the Martin handcart company. Many of these early converts had emigrated from Europe and were too poor to buy oxen or horses and a wagon. They were forced by their poverty to pull handcarts containing all of their belongings across the plains by their own brute strength. President McKay relates an occurrence which took place some years after the heroic exodus:

 

“A teacher, conducting a class, said it was unwise ever to attempt, even to permit them [the Martin

handcart company] to come across the plains under such conditions.[According to a class member,]
some sharp criticism of the Church and its leaders was being indulged in for permitting any company of converts to venture across the plains with no more supplies or protection than a handcart caravan
afforded. An old man in the corner… sat silent and listened as long as he could stand it, then he arose
and said things that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white with emotion, yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity. In substance [he] said, ‘I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about. Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie Unthank whom you have cited was there, too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities. ‘I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it.’ He continues: ‘I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. ‘Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.’ (Relief Society Magazine,Jan. 1948, p. 8.)

Here then is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this way the divine image can be mirrored from the soul. It is part of the purging toll exacted of some to become acquainted with God. In the agonies of life, we seem to listen better to the faint, godly whisperings of the Divine Shepherd. Into every life there
come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of
anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. The thorns that prick, that stick in the flesh, that hurt, often change lives which seem robbed of significance and hope. This change comes about through a refining process which often seems cruel and hard. In this way the soul can become like soft clay in the hands of the Master in building lives of faith, usefulness, beauty, and strength. For some, the refiner’s fire causes a loss of belief and faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process.…The proving of one’s faith goes before the witnessing, for Moroni testified, ‘Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith’ (Ether 12:6). This trial of faith can become a priceless experience.” (Conference Report, May 1979 Ensign, “The Refiner’s Fire”