Tagged

This is kind of fun, just because you get a peak inside someone's life.
So, here goes.
Rules:
1.Post rules on your blog
2. Answer the five '8' items
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV Shows: (not in order)
1. So you think you can dance
2. The Office
3. Gossip Girl
4. 30 Rock
5. Project Runway
6. What not to wear
7. Arrested Development
8. Flight of the Conchords (maybe??)

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Worked out.
2. Went to Tyson's II (Anthropologie and J.Crew) and didn't find anything.
3. Went to Tyson's I (Sephora, Banana Republic, Gap) and found Mom's and Hunter's presents.
4. Went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and found Dad's present.
5. Went to Moby Dick's. Ate amazing chicken and rice.
6. Met Ann at Greenberry's for steamers.
7. Organized my room.
8. Watched my mom make peppermint bark.

8 Things I look forward:
1. Christmas! (specifically - opening Christmas stockings, watching nieces and nephew open their presents, Bob King's mint brownies, hanging out with the Johnsons since Justin is adorable [Jenny and Mark are okay too], and the presents I am getting!)
2. Moving to NYC
3. Not being in debt
4. Having lasik
5. Warm weather
6. Knowing where my parents are going on their mission
7. Carlyle Grand with Mary (yes?)
8. My drying rack I ordered arriving (I don't know how people live without a drying rack -- a clothes drying rack)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Khoury's (excellent Mediterranean food in Las Vegas. Loree and I made frequent visits and George and Ree formed a close bond)
2. Archi's (delicious Thai food. There are a couple locations in Vegas.)
3. Carlyle Grand (It's in Arlington - Shirlington, specifically. It's just really, really good food.)
4. Moby Dick's (the greatest hole in the wall in McLean. Mouthwateringly delicious Greek food.)
5. BJ's (pizza place in Vegas. I like the bbq chicken pizza and their basic greens salad.)
6. Maggiano's (it's just basic, excellent Italian food.)
7. In-N-Out (is Five Guys good? Can it really take the place?)
8. Nagoya (At Fort Apache and Trop in Vegas. I need a new sushi place.)

8 things on Wishlist:
1. Hardback of Bridge to Terabithia (I've read, and reread this book so many times in my childhood, and I read it during grad school again. I've been introduced to many new and wonderful authors in grad school, but I think this book claims the title of my favorite children's/young adult book. Katherine Patterson writes so well as she portrays the difficulties in a young boy's life and the loss of a loved one.)
2. Lululemons (I've been wanting these forever, but just haven't gotten around to it, or resolved to spend the money on them. I've heard they are the greatest workout pants ever)
3. Silver hoops from Lost Button Studio (it's one of those Etsy places. I just want silver hoops, but I want them to be a little unique looking and this place has some really darling things).
4. Yoga mat (I always have done yoga on carpet, but I'm thinking I'll start going to yoga classes, so I'll need one.)
5. Purse at Urban Outfitters (I've been wanting one I saw there for awhile. It's just so hard for me to justify this, because I have so many perfectly fine purses already. Ann got the cutest one there just yesterday).
6. A pink swimsuit (I don't know why I decided recently that this is a necessity, but of course, I don't need this 'til the summer, and I have to look good in it once I have it).
7. Clarisonic Skin Care Brush (Does anybody have one of these? I'm curious if people like it.)
8. A new camera (since it's very possible mine is beat. The shutter is broken. I'm sending it in to be fixed. Anybody have a suggestion of a camera they just absolutely love? Remember I'm pretty lazy when it comes to picture taking, so I don't want anything complicated. Or, should I just get an IPhone, because my phone is also falling apart?)

I tag Sierra, Kenzie, and Katie D. Johnson! I'll probably have to post on K.D.J's facebook wall to make sure she reads this! How annoying.

Cutest Kimball

We were all headed to the park (in St. George) and were taking two cars, because I was going to leave and head back to Vegas directly from there. Sammi was going to ride with me, and Kimball decided he was going to too. He was all positioned, sitting in the back seat when he saw his dad coming after him (Kimball had to ride in the other car with his car seat). It was so funny to see him immediately scramble to the place he thought his dad would be least likely able to reach.

I love Spencer and Trina's family so much. They don't get any cuter.

When I first got to St. George for Thanksgiving and was playing with the kids, I had this thought that Isabelle looks like ME when I was little! In pictures that I've seen of me, I feel like what Izzy looks like must be exactly how I looked! I told this to my mom, and she agrees, but says that Juliette (Stephanie's third girl) looked like me too. It's weird to be playing with a look-alike!

I haven't posted in forever, I realize. So, this post is to request the following: I'd like to ask that you send me your top 5 (or 10) things to do in the following cities: Las Vegas (since I'll be leaving in a week! I realize this list might be difficult to compile for this city), Washington, D.C., and New York City.


I'll tell you, I'm looking forward to my runs and rollarblading in this park:


My friend, Ashlee, asked me recently what made me decide to move to NYC, and I told her that it was something I had never really thought about until the last little while (like couple of months). It just seemed to make sense, and the fact that it's such a diverse, active city is exciting and appealing, AND...I told her that Gossip Girl might have had something to do with it. Oh...embarrassing.

Components of a Good Singles Ward.

I guess I wrote this awhile ago. I realize it isn't that interesting, but I figured I'd post it anyways. I'm seriously about ready to be inactive...

We all hate singles wards. We just do, but there's just no way to get out of them -- we know this (oh, okay, aside from getting married).


I've been in many a singles ward, and I just feel I'd like to impart some of my wisdom on aspects that comprise a good singles ward, because we'd all like to be in a good one as it provides a network of people to interact with. And, since I don't normally make it to bars and clubs, this social network would and could be nice to have.


1. Motivated people going somewhere in their lives.

2. People capable of carrying on light conversation.

3. Interesting people who have meaningful things to say.

4. Nice people who aren't stuck in a high school clique mentality.

5. Leadership that is active and wants to have activities in order to have interaction amongst their membership.

P.S. Loree tells me the funniest part of this post is the fact that I decided to put this down on paper.

I think I can!

I am definitely in the groove of living in Vegas.

Some examples of ways that I am so in the groove here:

I know exactly where I can get away with parking for x amount of time.

I have perfected my rollar bladding route to the "T."

I know all the short cuts to buildings and the back stairwells.

I've discussed inventory with the employees of the Sidewalk Cafe about 5 times, because they've taken the peanut butter Reeses Peanut Butter Cup cookie off their list. They sympathize. We're friends.

I have a key for the main curriculum and development office. I've had this key for a year now, and I'm 99% sure I wasn't supposed to be given one, but it's awesome because I can get in there any time I want. We're talking access to all the professors' boxes, the copier, the microwave and fridge (and since the office closes at 5, but I'm on campus sometimes until 10, this is SO nice to have), endless supplies of paper, the good paperclips to hold thick amounts of paper, padded envelopes, and you name it. I LOVE this access.

I think I've been through a lot living here and well, grown up a lot. Now it's time to leave. I'm ready for this higher education crap to end and move on to being in the real world.

And, I'm excited for Christmas and to see my family.

Oh, and NYC, here I come! Anybody want to find a job for me? I'm slightly worried.

Tomorrow will begin my 1 month count down. I just need to make it through this next month. At least I'll have a day or two break in my constant working/studying to hang out in St. George with Spencer's family. Everybody cross your fingers for me.

Beauty

I went and saw American Ballet Theater II on Wednesday. It was a beautiful performance.

From the website we read this about the company:

ABT II is a small classical company of fourteenth young dancers of outstanding potential. In its fourteenth season, ABT II prepares these dancers to enter American Ballet Theatre and provides opportunities for the emergence of new and established choreographers and composers. Through national performances, lecture-demonstrations and academic residencies, ABT II brings the excitement of close contact with a professional company into communities around the country. The dancers (ages 16-20) are handpicked from around the world by the artistic staff of American Ballet Theatre. ABT II dancers will train in the program before joining American Ballet Theatre’s main Company or other leading national and international professional companies.

One of the dancers trained at Washington School of Ballet. It's strange to think she's taken classes from my same teachers. She went to Kirov for awhile and now she's with ABT II (but remember she's only 18).

I haven't been to a professional ballet performance in a long time. I think this is due to the fact that every since not dancing anymore, watching other dancers gives me high anxiety. My body would tense up completely for the entire performance as I know exactly the exertion that their bodies are undergoing. I also think I felt a certain amount of depression, because I was so involved in that world and I'm sad that I don't feel the art and beauty that dance brings anymore and probably also sad because I know my body physically won't do what I had trained it to do anymore.

However, the bottom line was and is this: I was good, but I wasn't that good, and I also am happy to have the gospel in my life, which is almost an impossible thing to have in "that world." After stopping right before my senior year I went into full depression mode -- not knowing how to deal with the weight I was putting on. Freshman year at BYU I sprained one ankle to be followed a week later by the other (one ankle was in a ballet class, and the other was just outside - I probably didn't know how to deal with this new body I had which was much heavier, and the time off had made my ankles weak). I started dancing more (gradually) and BYU allowed me to take classes with the company without technically being in the company. Even after my mission I returned to occasionally take classes with the company and was actually really skinny at the time. And now here we are in 2008, and I haven't taken a class since probably early 2004. I work out all the time, and I know that my muscles could do a lot of what they used to, but will I eventually lose all of the ballet training I've had? I'm hoping not, because wouldn't that mean it was all a waste? Ballet is wonderful and beautiful, but also stressful and somewhat debilitating as you are never good enough. I think I missed out on a lot of my childhood because of it. Did all my parents' money go to waste?

Golden Lines

So, in this book, Dr. Cyndi Giorgis, and Dr. Nancy Johnson describe "when literature and literacy intersect" or in other words how to use quality literature to create good readers and writers, and it also addresses promoting inquiry. One of the authors is the professor I worked for last year when overseeing the manuscript review process for the Journal of Children's Literature. So, I actually had a hand in choosing some of the literature that is referenced in the new edition of The Wonder of it All.

So, in the book, the authors discuss a belief given by very well known Louise Rosenblatt that meaning is created through the interaction between reader and text. They suggest "teaching readers how to attend to the language, the format, the ideas, and even the phrasing and word choice an author uses." They suggest teaching students how to choose "golden lines" and emphasize it as a way to attend to author's craft. Some suggestions are given for choosing golden lines, and I'll include them here:

Select a passage, phrase, or sentence that:

• is very descriptive (helps you see, smell, feel, taste, hear something in the book/story)
• sounds poetic
• connects with your life
• connects with another book
• makes you wonder
• makes you laugh
• makes you sad or upset
• makes you stop and think
• is your favorite part

Don't forget to include the page number at the end of your selected passage (put it in parentheses)

Now, in saying all the above I would like to contend that we are hit with golden lines frequently in our lives, but we often don't slow down to really ponder them and absorb them.

And here's the golden line given to me by my good friend Loree awhile ago (I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile)... "Las Vegas is full of white trash Mormons."*

Now I don't want to be offensive, but this line is "golden" to me in many ways. For one thing, about a year to a year and a 1/2 into living in Vegas I was expressing to my good friend Elise (who is from middle of nowhere Nevada -- near Carson City) my complete confusion as to the people I was interacting with here in Vegas. And she says to me "Meredith, what did you expect? You moved to Nevada! Nevada is full of white trash!" So, Loree's line connected with something somebody else had said to me, it made me laugh, made me wonder, made me sad, made me stop and think, is descriptive, and it connects with my life.

I love golden lines. I love people who expose me to golden lines on a regular basis whether it be in print or oral language.

*Disclaimer: We ALL know that some Las Vegans are not white trash. Let's not speak in absolutes.

Highlights of my trip back east.

Since, we are now already into October, this post is long overdue (I was back east Aug. 7 - Aug. 24), but I still want to define these highlights:


1. Seeing Mamma Mia with Ann (I really did love this movie) and kind of want to be in it.

2. Going to Deep Creek...waterskiing, tubing, canoeing with the family, and having some time to catch up with my cousin Ariel (who is almost 40 has 7 kids and I don't know when I've had a real conversation with her, but we have some fundamental similarities in our personalities - we both danced/performed a lot when we were young, are teachers, love literature and the field of education and I think she understands what it's like to be "older" and single and a member of the church since she's talked to her sister who is in this position a good amount about it).

3. Catching up with Ann and Jenny at the Johnson's. It's always fun to get together with these girls, and to see Paige and Woody, and Mark and Justin. It really is kind of amazing to think about the fact that Paige and Woody have seen us grow up along with their children. They are great people, and it's meaningful to me to have them in my life. Woody exclaims, "Wow! It's just amazing how grown up you girls are! I mean you are really women now!" Yes, thanks, Woody.


4. Seeing my adorable neices and nephew. Steph and Aaron were still living with my parents at this time and waiting for the renovations on their new house to be done. We played on the trampoline pretending to do ninja and be gold medalists in the Olympics, made cookies, and just ran around the house. It was so fun to spend time with them, and I'm already anticipating seeing them again.

5. Going to my old school. It's always so fun to go see my old kids (who'll be in first grade next year!) and that they still remember me and want me to be their teacher. This boy is not one of my old students, but I just got to know him and his parents well which teaching there. They were in Vegas a couple months ago and we went to see the tigers and lions at the Mirage. He's adorable.

6. Running in the neighborhood. I love running in our neighborhood. It brings back so many memories of my childhood, and it helps that beautiful houses have now been built in the neighborhood, so it's such a picturesque run. I run by the new Johnson's home, and think of them; I run by the Dolls and think of babysitting the kids; I run by the Keating's old house and think of bus rides flirting with Chip (Frank Keating was considered as a VP pick for McCain); I run by the Scalia's and think of Meg and the last horribly embarrassing incident when I was in the Scalia's home (I'll blog about it soon...look for the title "Running Mishaps"); and I think of the Swintons as I run by their old mission president's home).

It was a good trip. And now I'm just back in Vegas for a two more month long-haul and then I'll be done and free.

Barack, and well, just all of them

So, I'm putting aside my grading to create a post, which I began formulating while rollarblading this morning.

I was forwarded an email this morning about some apparent quotes taken from the books Barack has written. I do hesitate to include this because I do doubt the authenticity; however, I'm only inserting it to discuss some issues to follow. My brother-in-law forwarded some more trustworthy data to be found at: http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_obama_write_that_he_would_stand.html

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

After all of that these are the thoughts and questions I have...

First this, I want to know what percentage of blacks are NOT voting for Obama.

Last weekend a black girl (I'd honestly say no more than 25 years old) arrives at my house asking if I'm registered to vote (I am, but in Virginia). She asks if I've decided who I'm voting for and I said I hadn't. She then asks me how I feel about the last 8 years or the price of oil. So, in response I say, "Well, I don't feel like I know enough about what's been going on to really make an informed opinion about how I feel about what's been going on the last eight years." And, my thought, as she is asking me this, "Is how in the hell do you have any idea what's been going on for the past 8 years. You were 17 years old 8 years ago, most likely worrying about what party you were going to that weekend. I also mentioned that maybe the problem isn't the cost of oil, but the fact that we use too much of it. It's only then that I see her huge truck parked on our street (I actually pointed to it, because I saw it, but only then realized it must be hers).

I actually feel incredibly fine about my life the last 8 years. Now, I realize I have huge advantages that some people haven't had. However, I also don't see how the economy, war, and etc., etc. really could be affecting this girl.

With that said, I've been reading Lies My Teacher Told Me (I have to), which takes a very liberal stance on pretty much everything (Columbus, American Revolution, Civil Rights, and more I haven't gotten to yet) and thinking a lot about racism in the United States. Blacks are angry, and I think they are rightfully so. The effects of racism are so incredibly hurtful and debilitating, and I don't think we've come far enough. I think there's a very high liklihood blacks will vote for Obama strictly because he is black. Maybe having a black President would help race relations and equality.

Now, I just finished watching the V.P. debates, and let me just say that I LIKE Sarah Palin. There I did it. I trust her and I trust her judgement. I don't think I trust Obama. He seems to propose drastic measures to improve the state of middle-class America, but once in office I don't believe he'll be able to do it. I also doubt his judgement on foreign policy and the war.

Okay, that's all I have to say.

Birthday shout outs!

September is birthday month. I'm taking a moment here to tell these people happy birthday and to let them know how much they mean to me.
My dad's birthday is in early September, but I don't have a single picture of my dad on my computer. So, he doesn't get one. I'm grateful for my dad. He has some amazing qualities, and he's definitely passed some of those on to my siblings.

Hunter's birthday is on the 25th (along with my cousin, Emily!). He turned 25. I really am so grateful for Hunter. He is such a great brother, and sometimes I'm amazed I'm related to such a good person. This is Hunter driving the boat at Deep Creek in August. Paige O. is in the foreground!

Spencer's birthday is just the next day on the 26th. Spencer is a wonderful person. Basically everybody that knows him and meets him recognizes this. He is busy with his crazy family right now, and I know he's being a great dad.

And now we have Sierra! Sierra's birthday is on the 27th. She turned 28 this year. My birthday is in July, so I always hit the new age just right before her. I remember talking to Sierra on my 20th birthday and we both admitted to each other that we had been telling people we were 20 for the last couple months. Sometimes it's just easier to lie. I was doing this with my last birthday too. 28 just seems like an age that makes more sense to be than 27 (maybe it's the odd number that throws me off??). So, last night I was talking to Sierra and she tells me what a friend of Alli's (Sierra's daughter) says to her mom (Sierra's friend). Daughter says to mother: "Alli's mom thinks Alli is four, but Alli knows she is five." Alli has convinced her friends that she is 5 and apparently has inherited this tendency to lie about her age since she doesn't turn five until January.

This is a bad picture of Sierra and I, but it's the only one I've got. Sierra has been one of my closest friends for 10 years. I am so grateful for her and feel we could be sisters!

This is a picture of Alli. The girl is hilarious. I love talking to her. Her language abilities are amazing! I remember having full conversations with the girl when she was two. She was speaking in complete sentences at two! She's such a fun girl and so smart and inquisitive.

Happy Birthday to all of you! Hope you all had a great day full of festivities.

I heart blogging

I LOVE blogging. These are the things I love about it:

1. I love writing as it really is the art of expression

AND

2. I find that through blogging I am able to keep in touch with people and know about the everyday happenings of their lives. These are people I really care about, but there's just not time to have phone conversations with all of them.

I guess that's it.

But let me just tell you that if you don't blog, you should. People want you to. And it's kind of your moral responsibility.

And now, we come to this question ... If I really love blogging as much as I say that I do, why does it sometimes feel like a chore to blog?

I've come to this conclusion. I'm a lazy person. Well, I'm actually not lazy at all, but sometimes with everything I have going on in my life (reading, reading, reading, work out, eat, zone out occasionally in the front of the t.v. so that I don't go crazy before I have to go back to reading) I can't or won't do it. So, there's my explanation for not blogging. I've realized that I've had a consistent head ache for like the last two weeks and I was thinking that I really may be just taking in too much information. Is that ridiculous?

Love you all.

P.S. I've discovered Google Reader only recently, but I find how great a tool it is to keep all the blogs I read in one convenient location. Wonderful. If you haven't, try it out.

3rd Grade

I taught 3rd grade this summer. It was really wonderful. Third grade is just a great grade to teach. The kids are still cute and enthusiastic learners. One of my girls would give me a new name every morning based on the outfit I had on that day. She was so cute and creative. I loved hearing what she would come up with. A couple of my names were Ms. Sailboat (I was wearing blue and white -- it's really pretty amazing that she would pick up on this since her exposure to a sailboat I can almost gaurantee is null), Ms. Funeral (I was wearing black and dark purple), and I really wish I could remember more. This same girl was an incredible writer. I loved reading her work. This is a picture of Sierra hugging Lance. Lance probably reads at an 8th grade level. I told Sierra on the first day that one of my best friend's names is Sierra. She loved it.
The kids -- running on the second to last day of school bounce off the wall energy.
After my students "tracked out" (most schools in Vegas are year round schools, so they have different "tracks") I had to go into another 3rd grade class just to hang out, basically. There was another teacher still in there. This is a picture of me and John who is the son of the teacher whose class I was in. John is in 5th grade and is the class President. His fro is AMAZING.

I think Marshawn was absent on this day. Marshawn is a 4th grader I tutored in reading over the winter and spring. Marshawn and I would plan to have matching Transformer tatoos on some days.

While I don't plan on teaching in the traditional school setting, I am really grateful for the experience and training I've received in this area. The education system is such a difficult one to be in - especially at this time. While I know all school systems have the same problems, I think Vegas sees these difficulties at a heightened degree. It's just not a place that values education and for this reason any educated people who end up here realize relatively soon that they need to leave; so it's a transient place with high teacher turn-over. It's unfortunate that this is the case, because, of course, there needs to be good teachers here and everywhere.

I love kids and I love learning. I love being in this field. And with that, I'm off to read John Dewey's Experience and Education or my Educational Research text, or Schooling Around the World. Does the reading never end?? It really doesn't. I have SO much I have to read, but also so much I want to read. I wish I could take off a whole summer to read, or something.

New York City!

I had such a fun trip to New York this past week. It was so nice to catch up with Lauren and to hang out with her adorable kids. Lauren seriously may have convinced me to move to the city. I had always pegged NYC as a dirty, smelly, and congested city. It may be all of this, but perhaps it is so much more. I am ready for an adventure in my life and want to be living in an exciting place. NY is so dynamic and draws in such diversity. And there really are beautiful areas in the city. Some pictures from my trip...

Beautiful Boat Lake at Central Park

With Abby and Elizabeth

With Lauren, Elizabeth and James trying to get Wicked tickets

Cute Abby outside of Central Park

With Nicole at Legally Blonde

So You Think You Can Dance forum begins and ends at the same time.

So, for awhile there (at the beginning) I was completely obsessed with SYTYCD, because, well, I'm a dancer and I just loved analyzing and critiquing their performances. I even was taking notes on it with what they danced, how they danced it, predictions, etc. (I know...embarrassing). I also had DVR so I could watch them over and over again. I moved, and no longer had DVR, so I could not do this, but I actually think it prooved to be a good thing. There's no reason to be obsessed with this show. So I never began my forum, and obviously, it's ending now.

I actually, have yet to know really how it ended. I watched the finals Wednesday night Aug. 6th, but then I was flying to D.C. on the night of Aug. 7th, so I missed the results show. I am very excited to watch it when I return (I'll find someone who DVRed or recorded it). However, someone did let it slip and so I think I know who won, and it surprised me.

I really just can't believe that Courtney stayed in and Chelsie got kicked off. Seriously, America? Courtney was okay, and every once in awhile I felt like she did a really good job on her solos, but what happened? Chelsie is a MUCH better dancer technically, and a much better performer. I realize that Courtney is cute and everything, but Chelsie is just as cute if not cuter. I felt bad for her. Josh and Twitch are both just pretty much awesome and I LOVE Katie. I think I really wanted Katie to win...she was just the best technically and the best overall performer. But, from what I hear this is not what the final result was.

And, can I just say that Twitch and Katie's kiss that they did in that routine with the music that (I thought) sounded like Amy Winehouse was incredibly hot. I think I had no words after seeing that. I'd just definitely kiss Twitch.

I haven't figure out yet how to post video. If anybody could let me in on the secret, that'd be great. Here's the link to the kiss though...(You'll hear all the intro stuff, and then it'll come on after, but the video with all the intro. gives the best video quality)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoiSSl7qGig&feature=related

I also love, love, love the Bleeding Love performance with Chelsie and Mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGY5lhFZFpc&feature=related

I think Mark turned out to be kind of a weird/quirky dancer and not really all that technically good, but initially I thought he seemed to be able to pull off ballroom standard style even though he's never been trained in it.

And to give you an idea of how good of a latin ballroom dancer Chelsie is here's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvrQ9j9SPMM&feature=related

Just one more...Katee and Josh - Samba:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDho5N62Adc&feature=related

I'm sorry, I have to keep going...This one with Kherrington and Twitch (I didn't love Kherrington, but she actually may have been better than Courtney and she should've been in Courtney's place, but whatever). This viennese waltz is REALLY beautiful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2su8w3zL1xU

Okay, so put Katee and Will together and you will have impeccable technique. This one is amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBcMQolR2Tw

Kim and I are throwing around the idea of going to see the tour show. It would be really great, but maybe we aren't fully committed and the die-hard fans that we need to be in order to go.

Ice cream...OH the JOY!

So, recently, embarrassingly enough, all I want to do after work is curl up in my bed with a pint of ice cream. My new favorite is Ben & Jerry's Phish Food. This flavor consists of the following: Chocolate Ice Cream with Gooey Marshmallow, a Caramel Swirl & Fudge Fish. Oh, yum...my mouth is watering.

I NEVER allow myself to buy full fat ice cream, but I just haven't been caring recently, and my weight has been staying the same (this is coming from someone who pretty much has some sort of ice cream on a daily basis, so I've studied and compared fat/calorie content of many brands and flavors). Even allowing myself the Haagen Daz 1/2 the fat is an indulgence, because the calorie content is still really high on those. They are delicious though. Anything Haagen Daz is delicious.

This posting started out with the title "What I Want For My Birthday" but I really think it's actually going to just turn into a posting about ice cream. The items for discussion that I want for my birthday will be forthcoming.

Now here's an idea of the flavors Haagen-Daz has:

Chocolate peanut butter, Baileys® Irish cream, Banana split, Black walnut, Butter pecan, Caramel cone, Caramelized pear & toasted pecan, Cherry vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate chip cookie dough, Cinnamon dulce de leche, Coffee, Cookies & cream, Crème brulée, Dulce de leche, Green tea, Mango, Mint chip, Mocha chip, Pineapple coconut, Pistachio, Rocky road, Rum raisin, Sticky toffee pudding, Strawberry, Vanilla Vanilla bean, Chocolate chip, Vanilla honey bee, Vanilla swiss almond, White chocolate raspberry truffle.

Now, is it just me, or do some of those flavors sound just to die for? I am especially anticipating trying caramel cone and the sticky toffee pudding.

Let me share with you some of the experiences I have already had with these fabulous flavors.

If you are going for full fat...One of my very favorites, if not the favorite is White Chocolate Raspberry...Dulce de leche is also SO incredibly good. And the good news is that while you can get it in the full fat type, you can also get it in the 1/2 the fat, and you almost can't tell any difference...The pineapple coconut is absolutely amazing. You really almost can't stop. My roommate, Kim, can attest to this. The good news? It also comes in the 1/2 the fat variety... Does that not look SO delicious?Now this one I have not tried. But, how mouth-watering does this look and sound? Behold, chocolate peanut butter. The description from the website is below..

Start with our legendary chocolate ice cream, made with premium Dutch cocoa. swirl in ribbons of creamy, smooth peanut butter. then experience an almost irresistible blend of flavors as the robust peanut butter complements the classic chocolate in every delicious mouthful

I'm also a huge coffee ice cream fan, and Haagen Daaz just recently came out with coffee and almond ice cream bars. They just may be to die for.

Recently, my roommate and I did some cleaning out of our freezer. We found a roll of cookie dough that probably had been in there forever, so we decided to make the Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies that night. We also had on hand the Costco Kirkland brand of vanilla ice cream. This brand is VERY good. It is so rich and creamy. It tastes just like Haagen Daz and is cheaper. So, Kim and I made sundaes/sandwiches. I made an ice cream sandwich, Kim decided to throw on hot fudge, whipped cream, and almonds (yes, all of this we had on hand, somehow). Here is a picture:

So, there you have it. Ice cream is my obsession. But, remember, I can't have sex...

My next task is to find the Ben & Jerry's Phish food in 1/2 the fat. I just discovered it's existence, and I'm thrilled.

Resume

Hello, friends.

I am currently working on my resume to be sent out this fall, and I'm wondering if there are any readers out there who wouldn't mind looking over a resume and maybe have a little more experience than I do in the area. I feel kind of clueless as to the matter, and feel I'd rather ask help from people I know than just googling "resume help."

So, if you would want to help, let me know!

My resume will most likely be going in two directions: the Department of Education (D.C.) to work on reading programs or literacy development (I don't know exactly), and to children's publishing companies such as Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins (NYC) to do editing.

I have an education background (obviously...after this degree) - teaching strategies, curriculum development, etc., but I also have a good understanding for english (literature, and language acquisition) and psychology/human development. I feel I want to highlight these things in my resume, but I don't know if there's a clear way to do this. I guess you just list degrees and call it good?

Does a resume have pictures/graphics sometimes? I've been thinking having a website up and running is probably something I should do. I guess this blog doesn't count. I used to have a website - mersbookshelf.com. It was for my "independent consulting" I was doing for awhile for Usbourne Books. It is a great children's publishing co., but when I started school again, I didn't have time to do anything with it. I should probably put that on my resume! I had forgotten all about that. Mary...remember when you found out I had my own children's book side business?

A new favorite place

My new favorite place is Brianhead. This is a picture of me and my roommate Kim. We went and hung out in St. George for the 4th of July, and then went up to Brianhead for the day on Saturday. Kim's parents have a great condo they are just finishing up there, which we will (hopefully) be enjoying a lot of also. We got kettlecorn and went to a craft fair, which I expected to be kind of kitchy (or whatever that word is) or just more Mormon handcraftish. It wasn't. I got some beautiful jewlery for me and my mom's birthdays this month. Brianhead is a resort, but still small. It really is so beautiful.

Maclane Lawrence came with us. (My sister-in-law's brother)
Right before we went kayaking on the Cedar Breaks Lake (??? I'm not sure which lake it was up there...There are a lot) It was so peaceful! I'm looking forward to my time at Deep Creek in August. I'm ready to be waterskiing.

Bill Smith

Over Christmas an interesting thing happened. I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile.

I somehow heard that Bill Smith (the Bishop of my home ward, who my family has known forever) was planning on quoting ME in his Christmas message he was giving to the ward from the pulpit. I obviously was surprised and confused. What could he want to quote me as having said? I'm just this little insignificant person, and I don't understand what would be important enough or interesting enough that everybody in the ward would want to hear it.

So, we are sitting there listening to his message, and he tells about this time when I was like 11 or 12, and he is teaching my sunday school class. The lesson is about the plan of salvation and apparently, I make a comment about how, in short, we're born, we have trials, and we die. I make no mention of the living and having joy in life, but only emphasize the fact that I believe life is about having trials. I didn't understand much of why Bishop Smith felt this would be a good message for the ward to hear, because basically he was revealing to the congregation my depression and cynicisms that seemed to have been manifested at a young age. He said, that when I said this, it struck him, and that he hadn't really thought about it before, but that he agreed with me.

One time, I remember discussing with Kenzie Lawrence the fact that we felt completely fine about dying at that point in our lives. We had both just gotten back from missions, and I do think that when you get back from a mission you feel a sense of closeness to the spirit and also complete exhaustion from the mission-life. This period didn't last long, and I don't know how I feel about dying now. I just think it's funny that we both felt okay about dying then.

I think fighting depression and being happy in life is a constant battle for many people. I wonder about happiness sometimes, because I feel that I'm a very even-keel (is that how it's spelled?) person and I've wondered how I am to gauge my degree, or level (if you will) of happiness. I have a great life, great family, great friends, and no clinical diagnosis for depression. I appreciate people who are very realistic about the challenges they are facing in life and do not try and bury struggles they are having.

I do think that we should remind ourselves on a consistent basis that joy should not be negated from life.

And another update...

So, I'm at church today and S. corners me again (the guy who may be MR...I'm not sure yet). So I'm enduring the excruciatingly painful conversation and dodging the spit that I am SO fearful will land on me. We are in the chapel at this point and waiting for a meeting to begin. He comes and sits in front of me, but then completely turns around in his seat to speak with me. It's the normal conversation..."Why haven't you called me back?" He actually hasn't called me recently, so I ask him when he'd called (it's been like 3 weeks). Awhile back I had (surprisingly) come up with a really good comeback, which was..."I don't call anybody." His response, "Oh...so, it isn't just me? You don't call anybody back?" "No, S. I don't." But, he must have been forgetting this prior conversation, because he wants to know why I haven't called. "I've just been really busy." "Well, why don't you give me a call and we can do something sometime." "Yeah, yeah. I'll try to give you a call this week."

At another point during the speaker he turns around completely again to like take a breather and talk to me, and he like extends his hand wanting to shake it? or hold it? I don't know. He says, "Hi, Meredith." "Hey, S." I pointed to the front and helped him realize that the speaker was that way and everybody else is looking forward. He has a tendency to just stare at girls. Oh, I forgot! When he turned around he was like looking at my necklace, or garments hanging out, or something. It's possible he was trying to tell me something, but him looking at my chest was making me extremely uncomfortable. So, I'm doing my best just to cross my arms around me completely.

Now, here's the great thing about this update... S. drops the "f." word FOUR times in the course of it!!!! We are in the chapel! He was struggling to say a word, and so was getting upset and therefore, cursing. I felt bad for him! But, I was hearing the "f" word in church! In the chapel! I'm sure he just hears it around him and so, echos it. He also said "What the hell?" at one point, and I responded with "S. you aren't allowed to say that in the chapel." His response, "Why? It's just like any other place." And so, I kind of laughed and was like "Oh, I'm just kidding."

So, there's the update. I can't give him a call this week though. I just can't.

Flashback

Me, Natalie, and Niki

I so loved getting together with these girls. Natalie is living in Vegas now, and Niki was in town visiting her family and was stopping in Vegas midway moving from Washington to NYC.

I think the reason I love being with these girls so much, is because they really know me well.

I think I saw Natalie once in 2003, but before that I hadn't seen her since 2001.

Let's just get down the conversation highlights of the evening:

1. Discussing our "hell" of a sophmore year, living in the Granary, and how every day one of us was crying...sobbing, doors being slammed. Remember, Ty, this is right around the time when you were in the picture (pre-mission). Sierra, wasn't all that happy with you around this time. Apparently, Natalie found a audiotape that we made for our guy friends who were on missions our Sophmore year, but when Natalie listened to it a couple years ago, she says all you can hear is us talking and laughing amongst ourselves, and not talking to them at all. We are SO DAMN funny it's unbelievable. I'm really glad that the audiotape apparently never got sent. Nat says you can hear Adrienne in the background like calming us down...of course. We are so ridiculous it's embarrassing.

2. Budge boys. This conversation entailed the retelling of a so-called event in the history of our freshman year (1998) when the police showed up at Budge for some reason. And Whit Wright (of course) decided to make his appearance to the cops in a leopard speedo (or thong). Oh, and the kissing pole that apparently 3rd floor kept.

3. Me being 28 and ready to go (in all senses, but particularly one).

4. Lesbians, tree huggers in San Fran.

5. Niki being told by Adrienne's grandmother that her grandson has never put ice cream to his lips, and that Caleb shouldn't yet either.

6. Adrienne's parents hating Nat, Sierra, and I, because we decided we didn't care they didn't want us to go to the strip on New Year's Eve 2000. So, we went without Adrienne.

7. Me being off Facebook..."I don't want to know you." You're exposed to people you otherwise wouldn't be exposed to through Facebook, and it annoys me.

8. Crazy in-laws smoking pot.

9. Seeing Natalie's home they are building. We are getting so old and mature. I can't even believe it.

10. Being covered in vomit in the psych unit...Natalie's a nurse.

11. Garments. Wear them around the house? Or not?

12. Blogging. Greg's blog is ONLY Greg's blog and not Greg AND Natalie's blog. Whatever. It's the same thing.

13. Our reunion. NYC? Puerto Rico? Cabo? The real question? Why didn't we do it in San Fran ever?

I love you guys so much!

And it begins...

So, my friends, I am blogger ready.

I've just returned from my friend Stacy's wedding reception where the bride and groom could not have been any cuter (and of course, being the non-picture taker that I am, I don't even think to take any pictures). It's almost depressing how cute they were.

I stopped at Cafe Rio after I left and was talking to my friend, Savannah. We start discussing a certain event in my life that she has already been privy to, and then the feeling came to me -- I had had a perfect day -- rollarblading in the morning, laying out at the pool all day, got a pedicure, went to the wedding reception, picked up Cafe Rio and I was going to finish it off blogging about this certain event that Savannah assures me is blog worthy. It really is a great story. I don't know why I didn't think to blog about it.

So...after all that...we begin.

I'm not leaving out a single detail. I think this story warrants a play-by-play.

The story begins with a simple passing (or giving, if you will) of my phone number. No big deal.

I get the call Tuesday night and agree to a date for Saturday night. It's a good first date.

I met his family Sunday (He invited me. I KNOW -- this seems totally weird, but it was Easter weekend and I was bored and kind of felt like being around little kids for an easter egg hunt, so I went). He lives with a family member and another family member lives nearby, so they were all over. It was a last minute thing.

Next weekend we go out again. Here's where it gets good, or maybe horribly, horribly awkward. We go to the Springs Preserve and then to dinner. We're driving by a movie theater and so I say something like, "I don't even know what's out right now." I wasn't asking to go to a movie. I'm just making conversation. He asks if I'd want to go to a movie or rent a movie. I respond affirmitavely for either -- I don't care what we do. So, it was kind of late to make it to the 9:30 shows (I guess), so we go to rent a movie at Red Box. We are back in the car and I realize we are driving to my house, which was completely unexpected, because he didn't even ask me. Whatever. I just hoped I wouldn't bug Loree if she was watching something and we show up with "August Rush" to watch, and kick her out. We get home. Loree's in her room reading, so it works out just fine. Does that not seem odd though? I guess he doesn't bring people to where he lives, because he lives with his sister's family, but still, you've got to clear things with people. He didn't ask me, so I just assumed he had something worked out. If there's one thing that bugs me (of the many, many things) it's a failure to communicate.

So, we are watching "August Rush" -- awful, awful movie by the way. I can't handle cheesy movies. And here we go peeps...you ready?

He holds my hand! My hand was NOWHERE in the vicinity of asking to be held. Whatever, though, so we hold hands, but really, he's holding my hand, but I'm not holding his if that makes sense. This is how I feel about it...hand holding is a very intimate exchange. Definitely more intimate than kissing. Yes, yes, it's true. I can and will make out with just about anybody. However, I certainly don't. So, back to the hand holding. I just can't do it. I feel way too awkward about it. PERHAPS a hand-hold can come before I first kiss, but I just feel weird about it. I just 100% have always felt more comfortable kissing some guy than holding hands with them. Honestly, my hand holding experiences have been very few, because my relationship experiences have been so incredibly few.

So, I'll continue to admit the awkwardness that is me and of this situation...At one point I even pull away and comment on my horribly sweaty hands. I told you I wasn't going to leave out one detail! So, yes, I was sweaty, because I was horribly nervous and awkward! I didn't want to be holding his hand! So, it has been mentioned that I could've just gotten up at some point, come back, and crossed my arms for the remainder of the movie. And yes, this could have been the tactic, but I'm too damn nice!

I'm even second guessing myself as I'm tying this and wondering if I should really be so verbal and exposing so much.

So, the night ends with nothing noteworthy.

And then the next day after church (where I didn't really see him at), I get a voice mail, basically along these lines...

"Hey, Meredith, I didn't really get to talk to you at church today, and I just wanted to say hi. I wanted to let you know that I really had fun on our date last night. I hope I wasn't too forward for you. I guess I just really like you...and that's what I was doing..." (and his voice trails off right there). He closes the voicemail.

So, I CANNOT even believe this voicemail. I call Hunter immediately needing advice. Hunter tells me that the guy has poured his heart out here and so I have to give him some sort of response. So, I do, eventually. I text him, because Hunter points out that a text is a way to say I'm contacting you, but I don't really want to talk to you. This is something I clearly know, but in times of uncertainty as to the correct form of behavior it is good to be reminded of why we do the things we do. I basically resort to not texting OR calling people back ever, just because I avoid any form of contact, but in this situation I couldn't do this.

I regress...so, I text this..."Maybe it was a bit forward, but don't worry about it. Maybe I just need a little space. Hope you have a good Sunday too."

He responds (maybe the next morning? I can't remember) "What does 'need a little space' mean?" He proceeds to list a serious of options that I guess I'm supposed to choose from, like, "I'm interested, but don't know how interested" "Get lost, I never want to see you again" and etc, etc. For the last option he's like "Fill in the blank..." He also includes in the text something about him being a "big boy" and being able to take it. He additionally, suggests that I "ask Becca Marsh" about him who is a friend of his (acquaintance of mine) and apparently she can shed some light for me on how cool she thinks his is and that I should totally date him. BLAH....
So, I text back appalled!, "No, I am not going to ask Becca about you!" (I don't even talk to the girl) and I continue "I don't know if I'm interested and that's why I need a little space."

And, so you think this is done. Hell, I thought it was done after the first, "Maybe I just need a little space" but apparently he needed further clarification. Let me just mention that Hunter is shocked at the gall of this guy since I am telling Hunter at every step of the way what is being texted back and forth.

But, it's still kind of not done. He texts back something like..."Hah! Okay, we can just be friends. I think you are a fantastic girl." Whatever. So, what is crazy about all of this is that I never said I just wanted to be friends!

And then, I've really just interacted with him once since all of this (and this was a long time ago). He seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. I totally was wanting to talk to him when I saw him on this once occasion at church! And he was SO cold to me. He shook my hand and continued to walk past me!

So, now apparently, I don't have a chance in hell of dating him even if I wanted to! And what if I do! Who knows!

So, it is confirmed yet again...dating sucks. It's okay though, it prooved to be a really entertaining story to tell.

Playing the dating game...

So, I SUCK at the dating game. I fail, time and time again. I don't know what it is about me.

This post is dedicated to my good friend, Sierra, because her knowledge on the subject matter never fails to impress me.

Her knowledge can be summed up by the following phrase she said to me once: (and this isn't word for word -- it was much funnier and phrased much better when she said it to me) "It's so hard because you have to show that you are interested, but you can't come right out and say it, even if you want to, because if you do that then even if they were interested, they won't be anymore, because you showed your interested too early."

Now who are the people that struggle with dating? I think it's those of us who are too sensitive. We don't know how to handle the sensitive emotions we've got bottled up inside of us. We care too much about people. So, how have I dealt with this trait? I know exactly what I've done...I've built a wall. My wall surrounds me so completely and is so thick that I don't know who or when or ever I could ever let it down. I don't let people in because I fear realizing who they really are and then wanting to distance myself, and that's just too hard to do. Why would I want to distance myself? Well, I think basically because I find that people annoy me and it's more effort to be around them then to not be. I also find the whole getting to know you process somewhat painful. You might think you want to commit to dating them, or to be their friend, but what if you change your mind, and how do you know how committed they want to be? Of course, this is all retarded and this should happen naturally, but I've grown up knowing that life requires effort and God knows I've tried to combat this endlessly.

It's good that my good friends are the only people that read this, because I'm revealing way too much information about myself.

Why I moved to Vegas...

1. I needed a reason to get out of D.C. not because I don't like D.C., but because I needed change in my life for multiple reasons (escaping my parents being one of them).

2. I realized my life needed progression and going back to school seemed to make sense.

3. Natalie, Niki, Adrienne - all friends from BYU and all grew up in Vegas, and they are normal and cool people. However, none of them live here now. Hmmm....I wonder if that says something.

4. I knew there were lots of mormons here, and I'm trying to get married.

5. It's close to Spencer in St. George.

6. It's closer to my good friends in Utah.

7. It's warm year round.

8. I told myself I wanted to be in a more relaxed environment and around more laid back people. I don't know if this is true now. Yes, I'm a laid back person, but I don't know HOW laid back I am.

Those were my reasons. Are they good enough reasons? I kind of ask myself this daily.

Hair advice, please

So, I haven't blogged in forever, and I hate it, because I feel out of touch with some of you a bit. And, ALEX CANNON - RIGHT NOW you must invite me to your blog.

So, here's the deal, I've been so busy with finishing up this semester that I haven't been blogging. I finally have a chance to get my hair done this week, and I'm wanting advice. I mostly just get an all-over color when I go (yes, I have gray hair to hide), but I'm wondering if I should do highlights. I've had highlights maybe one other summer of my life. I've just started thinking recently that I should do it again. Could you please tell me what you think? Do I look better with just dark hair, or should I do some highlights?

You can tell my hair is lighter in this picture a little bit:

Memorial Day...

Enough said right here:

http://nyheartsme.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-duck.html

You have to hand it to these people though. At these they are trying to have fun. Too bad they are retarded and can't go about it in a normal way.

Sexual frustration is never something you want to be in the middle of.

And on boredom...What is wrong with these people? Stink bombs? Jumping of the 2nd/3rd stories of houses into 8 ft. deep pools?

Mare, I'm glad you enjoyed (or didn't) your only Duck experience with me. I will never forget making fun of people the whole weekend with you and Aar. Where did I have one of the most awkward experiences of my life? That's right -- Duck Beach. It's just a mecca of awkwardness.
Mare, maybe you should just take over the whole Duck experience? Well, I know this is something you would never want to have a hand in, but think how much more organized and fun it would be? However, really I think the problem is putting such a volume of LDS singles in one location. It is hilarious that the hype has gotten so out of control.

Words I hate...

There are two words I really hate. They are:

Sassy and Sexy

I'm just really not comfortable with these words being used in everyday communication.

Who seriously says the word sassy? I mean, what does it even mean? There are certainly better and more descriptive words to get your point across than sassy.

And sexy? I don't even like typing the word.

Words you hate?

Close vs. Independent...

I know that Kenz and I have had a couple conversations on this topic, but I thought I'd open it up, because I'm curious what other people think about it. Maybe it's really not something you care about or think about, but I've thought about the subject a fair amount.


So, I think over the years I've wished that I had closer relationships with some of my siblings. It just seems that there are some families where all the kids are like best friends.


The thing is that our parents raised us to be a united, happy family, but they also raised us to be really independent, and to kind of go out and start our own families.


It's interesting that maybe Spencer has kind of craved the family togetherness that our family has not had. I think he also just really didn't want to live in the D.C. area. I think he feels to a certain extent that he fits in better with a more relaxed, and easy-going atmosphere. So, I am 100% sure that he'll live in St. George for the rest of his life, since Trina's family is all there.


I really love the idea of having cousins close and having them grow up running around together. It is fun to go to see Spencer and to kind of feel that I'm an aunt to Tally and Cort, et al. in addition to Sam, Lesil, Kib, et al.

I would love to live near my siblings as I'm raising kids. I can see Aaron and Steph in the D.C. area forever. Hunter could be there forever too. Who knows where Carter and Brooke will end up. I don't know if I see them living in St. Paul forever, but they do really like it.

I am really grateful that my parents raised us to be really strong-willed (maybe, too strong) and independent and I do think we are all close, but just not all best friends and calling each other all the time. Hunter and I talk a good amount now just because we are both going through the same things. And I don't know the last time I really talked to Spencer, which is incredibly sad to me, because we used to be so close. I know we are just going through a tough spot, and we'll get through this with time. I just really feel he doesn't have time, or kind of even want to be a part of my life right now.

I really am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. You are all great.

Just an update on special needs...

So, I DID call him back on Thursday (he had called on Monday). It was totally fine. Saw him Friday night at a party, saw him today at church. He's only called a couple times during this period...He called Friday, but I hadn't gotten around to listening to his message and then I saw him. He called Saturday too, I'm pretty sure. He'll definitely be contacting me on a regular basis it seems, which is fine. I can handle it. A friend says she always just says to him when he asks for her number, "Don't you already have it?" which is funny and pretty clever. I just don't know how to respond at those pivotal moments. He's really a nice guy, and the sexual harrassment thing I don't think is really going to be an issue.

Dating and an encounter with special needs.

So, Katie tells me this is blog worthy. I believe her, but if anybody is offended or disappointed in me, please, please put in my place.


So, I'm at church on Sunday and I'm not even kidding 3 guys got my phone number. I couldn't believe it! So, I was driving home after and called Katie. She didn't answer. I called Mary. She didn't answer. I called Hunter. He didn't answer. So, I'm seriously dying! Why the hell won't anybody answer their phone! I can't remember if I tried anybody else...maybe Sierra. Fortunately, everybody got back to me in a reasonable amount of time.


So, they all heard how the events of my Sunday went down, but it's worth getting down in writing, and here's where my encounter with special needs comes in.


I'm standing there talking to some people in like a little circle after church, and this guy "S." (we'll call him) seriously jumps right into the middle of the circle from nowhere near the vicinity to talk to me specifically. He didn't say hi to anybody else - just me, which is fine, just unusual, because I barely know the guy. Some background on S. ... He really does have some disabilities and special needs. I'm unsure about the exact definition of MR and I should know. He doesn't seem to have any physical limitations. He struggles in his speech - stuttering, lisps, spitting, etc.


Anyways, so we start talking (away from the circle -- I had to urge him out), and he tells me he was fired from work this week.


"Oh, that's too bad," I say. "Are you upset about it? Did something happen?"


He then proceeds to tell me that he was fired for harassing a girl at work. However, it's pretty hard to understand him, and he was struggling to say the word "harassing." So, because I'm not understanding him I am needing clarification several times, and he is providing further information.


"Harassing, Harassing - like sexually. No, no, but I didn't have sex with her - just like harassing." This sentence is said a couple times, making me feel more and more uncomfortable. The reason for it being said a couple times is that I was still struggling to understand him.


"Wait, what?" I say. And finally, "Oh, harassing. Okay."


And then S. again, "Yeah, so, like I didn't have sex with her, but like harassing like asking her out on dates all the time." Not even kidding next sentence out of his mouth: "Can I get your phone number?"

Me: "Umm, yeah, okay."


And then, here's where the bad part comes in. I really saw that he put in a 702 area code, and I didn't correct him. I don't have a Las Vegas area code.


Next day at FHE, he walks right up to me, "So, I'm kind of mad at you." He then tells me that he tried to call the number several times and some guy was really rude to him, and I think he was even trying to tell me some of the awful things that were said to him, but I couldn't really understand him. I felt so horrible.


So, I explained that he probably had put the wrong area code in, and that I have a 703 and Virginia area code.


I know, I know, I'm an awful, awful person.


And then I get a call from S. Monday night. He leaves a voice mail and asks that I call him back. I haven't yet. Remember, I'm busy...I've got a lot of things I have to think about during the day. So, the question is what should I do? What do you think other girls do when he asks them for their phone number? Do they just avoid the situation? I can't be mean. It really is a difficult situation. I could just call him. Even go out with him? There's no question he's a better person than I.


Suggestions? Guidance?

I'll do a separate post on dating, but just to get started...how do you decide when to give guys a chance and when to not?

Osguthorpe Return...Sibling Dynamics

Maybe due to the passing holiday, I am feeling so grateful for my blessings.

I have a wonderful family. And although, my parents drive me crazy a lot of the time, they are wonderful people and have taught me so much. It's kind of overwhelming when I think about each of my siblings. They are amazing, accomplished people, and have given me perfect examples of who I want to be and follow in my life.

There's a big age difference between Carter and I and we haven't always talked a ton. Everybody knows what a great person he is. And I love Brooke. It's sad I don't get to see them frequently. I'm coming in the fall, I think!

August in St. Paul with Carter, Brooke, Davis, Mason, Sadie, Harrison, Mom, and Hunter

Stephanie and Aaron and family are moving back to the states. I'm really excited for them to be back. London is just too far. They'll be moving to McLean. Aaron has accepted a job with a new company and will be working at Tyson's. My parents have been looking for homes for them in McLean. It's funny to talk to the girls on the phone. They've definitely acquired little British accents.

At Anna's baptism in London -- with Mom and Dad, Steph, Aaron, Paige, Juliette, Sam, and Russ and Lolly

Hunter and I were talking recently about something interesting (or depressing) and this relates to maybe why I had a little break-down when I came home for Christmas and saw that furniture had been rearranged in our house because my parents had gotten rid of a couch. When I demanded the reasons for this rearranging, my mom starts talking about "Well, when we go on a mission..." and "We'll need to really start sorting through things and getting rid of stuff." And, yes, the idea had been thrown out there, but I just didn't know it was actually being discussed for the very near future. And at that, I cried. Maybe it won't be that big of a deal, if they're gone, but I'm just scared to not have anybody around who cares. I really just need to be fine with this, but I don't know if I am. So, I don't think I realized at the time how big a deal it was that the Lawrences were gone for 3 years. When Kenzie got back from her mission she was completely alone and MacLane too. I guess they had each other. They were still young. Kenz was 21 when she got back from her mission. Those are definitely still "growing up" years. Of course, how isolated I would feel would probably depend a lot on where my parents went.

Now my point is that my older siblings are great people, but they aren't involved in my life. I know they have incredibly busy lives of their own, but they don't have any idea what it is like for us. When they were in college and coming home for Christmas we were all still there. We were still a family at that point. They had the secure family back at home. All my older siblings also got married a lot younger than I, I realize. It's just sad to think about the fact that they probably don't even see the difference. My siblings have moved on and are compltely engulfed in their own families. Honestly, I feel that I am a burden sometimes. Sorry, to make this blog turn depressing. I wasn't really even meaning for it to go in this direction.

Happy Easter! It's amazing to me that I have the knowledge I do of the gospel. I don't think I ever feel really worthy to have it. Life is so incredibly hard, and it is so hard to keep a perspective on the reasons for us being here.

Haven't hit the two year mark yet.

So, here I am living in "fabulous" Las Vegas. Recently, when I mentioned I didn't like living here to someone, they asked how long I'd lived here. I answered "A year and a half." They said, "Oh, well, you have to give it two years." Umm...sorry, but it shouldn't take that long to start to like a place. If you are living in a city for more than a year and don't like it, you get OUT. I don't know. If a city takes two years to live in before you start to like it, then you've moved to the wrong city.

I love Katie Smith SO much, and one time I was telling her how I kind of feel like I can't get people to really TALK to me here -- like have meaningful conversation about noteworthy topics. Her response while laughing was, "How awful! It's like living in a special ed class!" I loved it. I almost died.

My second graders and the attribute set...

Me with my second graders!

So, I don't really ever plan on teaching, BUT if I do, I want to teach 3rd, 2nd, or Kindergarten (first grade is just an annoying grade to teach, because half of them are reading and half of them aren't). Right now I'm in a 5th grade class, but I still go and visit and will sometimes teach my second graders from last semester. I like the little kids, because if you are going to be surrounded by kids all day, I think they've at least got to be cute still - they aren't cute once you're above 3rd. Notice the butterfly attribute set on the board behind us. It was a lesson I did on sorting (looking at only one characteristic/property) and classifying (looking at more than one characteristic/property). They loved the lesson and were so cute about it.

My favorite things...

Some recently decided upon favorite things of mine...AND...some recent acquisitions.


Mac makeup - I've always looked to Sephora for my makeup needs - wearing Stila, or Benefit, but I've had a change in opinion, and now really love my Mac foundation, and I've also recently bought a purple liner that I'm really excited about. Oh, and I bought a conditioning lip balm that is great too.

Soma bras - I was wanting to explore my options a little bit. I walked into Soma the other day with really no time to allow for delving into bra fitting, but after describing my requirements for a bra, one was immediately placed into my hands to try on. She basically said it was the most amazing bra she'd ever worn. So, I tried it on. I was sold on it immediately.

Michael Cera and Juno. I love this movie. I want to meet someone who doesn't even have to try hard to be cool.

Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume. So, I couldn't believe when my friend Jessica got me this perfume! What an incredibly nice gesture just to say thank you for throwing her a birthday party! I really love it.

Chi flat iron! My flat iron died on Friday, and so, my hair stylist is getting me a Chi, which I will have on Wednesday! I'm so excited!

I am passionate about Trader Joe's. I seriously am just amazed when I find yet another product I love so completely and am devoted to. Some of my favorite things...Tomato Basil Bisque Soup, the spinach salad with 1/2 a Turkey Gouda Sandwich (it's all packaged together, so it's a perfect complete lunch!), Guiltless White Cheddar Potato chips, chocolate ice cream bon bons, and there's SO much more.

Dole grapefruit cups. I get these at Costco. They are fantastic, and grapefruit is so healthy.

What are your favorite things?

My "to do" list for spring break.

So, this week has been awful, and I know it's not over, but most of the hard stuff is finished for me, and regretfully my blogging has seriously fallen behind. I so love blogging! I hope I haven't lost my readers! I'm still reading yours!

I teach one lesson tomorrow and then I'll be done with everything until after my spring break. I have been adding things to my mental list of things to do on my spring break for some time, but I've decided it's time to get it all down.

So, I'm not going anywhere for spring break. I realize this is probably pretty lame, but I seriously just feel the need to regroup. This semester has been killing me, and I'm at a breaking point. Additionally, I didn't feel I could justify spending money to go anywhere because I'm so poor. However, I apparently could justify this last week when I bought two new pairs of jeans, which were "grown-up jeans," and therefore, expensive.

Let me just explain that I've never let myself buy nice jeans (well, I bought Luckys when I got back from my mission, but I weighed like 115, and that didn't last long). I just have this totally messed up notion (I realize. Remember I grew up around surrounded by skeleton ballet dancers) that I have to be really tiny if I'm going to let myself pay that much for new jeans. However, what's the result? I can't wear them when I start eating again. So, I got down to 120 (for like a day) and that was the weight I've told myself I had to be to buy nice jeans. However, I feel okay about myself at 122 (what I'm at now) - just no more. So, I've decided I look good at 12o, or 122, and that I deserved them.

A couple times I've gotten down to 120 before and gone to try jeans on, but I just chicken out on spending that much money. So, I went to Nordstrom's, had a great girl helping me figure out which were looking good, and which weren't, and then put them on hold for a week (Sevens, and Joe's). This time I was NOT going to chicken out though. I went back before the week was up and bought the Sevens and I decided against the Joe's and got some Paiges. They are SO great and it feels amazing to have nice jeans! Well, I don't have them yet -- they are both being altered, but I'm excited. Here are some pictures (not on me). The Sevens are kind of high waisted wide, wide, leg trouser jeans, and the Paige's are also a really dark wash, and just a good basic jean, without being boring, I think. They fit great. Okay, sorry for all that...

Sevens (left) Paiges (right)

Now for my spring break list:

Car issues (headlight burned out. oil change, tire rotation)...I HATE dealing with cars.

Hair appointment (I think I'm getting more and more gray hair and I'm depressed about it) on Wednesday.

Blogging. I will get all caught up I promise.

Read. I so love books, and recently I am bombarded with only my texts books and children's literature, which I love, but I feel the need to read something "adult," and would really like some suggestions from people. I do have a million books I need to finish, but I want something that will be really engaging.

These are the books currently on my nightstand. And actually, 3 have been added to the top since I took this picture.

Television. That's right. It's on my list, but I honestly don't know if I'm really going to get to it. My plan has been to watch all of Heroes Season 1, because all the current season is still on our DVR, because I can't watch it yet. Oh, and Arrested Development is on the list too.

Getting caught up/ahead on school stuff.

Appointment with my endodontist in St. George. Yeah, my parents are (understandably so) really careful about who they let work on my mouth, because I've had a lot of work done. So, I have to go to St. George for a check-up with my endodontist. And, it's Easter, and I think Hunter will come down from Provo. Of course, Spencer doesn't know about this plan yet, but he won't even notice. That's for another posting...

Take other Gap jeans I have to make them my jeans to wear with flats. The new jeans I bought are being altered so I can wear them with heals. Remember, I'm REALLY short.

I'm actually really excited for my spring break! And I'm getting started early! I started this blog posting yesterday, so my lesson I had to teach is over, and tomorrow I just have to go to work for a couple hours, and that's it! My jeans should definitely be ready, so maybe I'll pick those up tomorrow too! Yeah!