First Date?!

The other day my younger brother asked me if I remember my first date ever. I chuckled to myself, said, "yes." and then asked, "Why?"

He had been on a date and the girl had asked him who his first date ever was with, what they did, etc. For the life of him he could not remember and he felt terrible. He felt like you should remember your first date ever.

Well, I thought it was a fun question so I started randomly asking people I knew if they remembered their first date. One day at work I asked one of my friends about her first date. We laughed about the awkwardness of it and everything funny and not so funny that comes with a first date. She then asked me about my first date ever.

It was the day after I had turned 16.
It was awkward.
It was a group date.
We had pizza and salad
and then rode TRAX downtown to an Off Broadway Theater and saw some show that was a spoof on Dracula

But the best part... My date was a twin and to this day, I have NO idea which twin I was on the date with.

After I told my friend this she laughed so hard! It was the best reaction. I've never realized how hilarious it was that I had no idea who I was on the date with.

aaaaaaaand that is a nut shell of my first date ever.


So I don't usually do this but I would love to get some comments on your first date and the story behind it... so don't be shy!

You've Never Met a Mere Mortal

A few months ago I was asked to talk in church and my topic was the "Worth of Souls." When the member of the bishopric asked me to speak and gave me my topic he said that there were a lot of people in the ward having a hard time realizing that they are important, etc. I thought this was so sad but at the same time I didn't have a hard time believing it. We live in a world where we sometimes get caught up in comparing ourselves to others and if we don't match up we feel like failures and unimportant.

For my talk I summarized the children's story, You Are Special. (One of my favorites)
One of my favorite conversions in the book is the following: (P.S. The puppet's name is Punichillo but while I gave the talk I called him Ted because that was a lot easier to say over and over again, haha)

“You know my name?” said Ted

“Of course I do. I made you.” (This is the woodcarver talking)

The Woodcarver then picked up Ted and said, “Hmm, it looks like you have a lot of blue dots.”

Ted hangs his head and says “I didn’t mean to. I really tried hard.”

The Woodcarver replies; “Oh, you don’t have to defend yourself to me, I don’t care what the other puppets think.”

You Don’t?

No and you shouldn’t either. Who are they to give stars or dots; they’re puppets, just like you. All that matters is what I think and I think you are special.

Me, Special? Why? I can’t walk fast, I can’t jump high and my paint is peeling.

The woodcarver replies, “Because you are mine, That’s why you matter to me.”

They continue to talk more about if Ted decides that what the Woodcarver thinks is more important than what the other puppets think then the stickers will no longer stay on. The stickers will only stick if you let them.

As Ted leaves the woodshop the Woodcarver says, Remember, you are special because I made you. And I don’t make mistakes

Barnes and Noble Book Summary

I also took several pieces from President Uchtdorf's talk in general conference entitled, You Matter to Him
Check it out: You Matter to Him

NOW! To the actual reason for writing this post:
Below is a quote by C.S. Lewis that I really like and I wanted to put in my talk but it didn't end up having a place in my talk so I thought I would just share it here: It is C.S. Lewis' reminder that every single person you encounter on the street, in the classroom, at the workplace or at home is immortal, in a very real sense.

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

I just think it is a cool way of saying that we are all important but also a reminder that if we treat each other like the person they have the potential to become... then we can lift everyone to become those types of people.

Overheard at Work: Part Two

From my last post related to this I have gotten a new position at work and I sit somewhere differently. I am now out in the open but yet still sit pretty much secluded from other people on my floor (they must be scared of me or something). Well, I still hear funny things and some have even been said to me, since starting in my new spot, and I think it's time to share the next set of Overheard at Work. It's nothing fantastic... but I'm sharing anyways.

Gross, I can't believe you actually know where that file is of the top of your head.

Umm, this guy emailed to see if I would help out with this service thing but I hate this guy.

Hey! What happened to your 29 hours?!
Oh! Sorry, Yeah, I've moved it down to 2.9 hours.

Nobody sees the great and powerful OZ!

He's probably told you I am the most important person here.

I'm up to my armpits in alligators.

Link to the original Overheard at Work: Overheard at Work

Fall Travels 8 or 8: Cancun

I went to Cancun with my parents and my grandpa which was a lot of fun.

The resort was great! Our room was right outside from the ocean! We just walked right out into greatness and paradise.

 This was my mom's reaction to realizing we could walk right out of our bedrooms to the grass and eventually onto the beach.

The little lizard I found on my night stand

On the days we stayed at the hotel we would go to the beach in the morning and read/sleep, build things in the sand or play in the water.

Me reading

After lunch we’d go to the pool and swim around. I also taught everyone an easy card game so we’d play that as well.

While we were there it was turtle egg hatching season (or however you would describe that) and so the resort we stayed at would help with releasing them back into the water and we got to help. So every night when we would go release them in the water; my mom and I would name our turtles and then let them go. They were so tiny, cute and really cool!

The days we went to visit the ruins were long but so neat as well! They were pretty places and neat to learn the history. The tour guides were the neatest people and it was very humbling being around them. I really am so lucky and have so much.

It was a fun trip and I can't wait to go again

Well this concludes my All You Can Jet Through Jet Blue and my Other Fall 2010 Travels Bloggings. It took me long enough! Thanks for letting me share. It was such a fun two months and I feel so lucky I was able to do it.

You Can Jet/Fall 2010 Travels Blog Post Series

All You Can Jet/ Vegas

Boston

Maine

New Orleans

San Diego

Lake Powell

Washington DC

Fall Travels 7 of 8: Washington DC

I went to Washington DC and stayed with my Dad’s cute cousin, Shauna, for a week; she wouldn’t allow me to stay any less. I arrived the first day at FIVE A.M., yup, I took the red-eye, but not without a layover in Long Beach, California. Oh yeah, the Long Beach Airport is so small and ghetto that it doesn’t connect to all of its terminals so… I even had to be escorted from my SLC flight over to my DC flight because the terminals did not connect. That was funny. So I arrived at 5 a.m. to a big lovable hug from Shauna and she took me to her home where she had the master guest bedroom all ready for me… complete with chocolates on the night stand. I went back to bed and then got up at a reasonable hour.

We took that day easy and went to High Tea at a Mansion/Museum in DC. That was very fun and proper.

The next day we went into DC and went on a tour of the capital. We walked around the entire Mall to the other end to see the Washington monument, the WWII memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

In the rotunda of the capitol

The next day we went to Mt. Vernon; George Washington’s home. It was so beautiful. It is this HUGE estate right by the water; so green and lush. We toured his house and then went on a slave tour. Apparently George Washington was against slavery to a degree but since it wasn’t “cool” at the time he didn’t really speak out about it but he did do his best not to separate his slave families, but he also didn’t free them.

The next day I went into DC all by myself, Shauna dropped me off at the subway stop by her house and I rode it into DC! I walked a TON that day! I was even mistaken as a local a few times… that made me feel way cool. I visited the Vietnam and Korean Memorials, walked around a HUGE pond/lake thing to FDR’s memorial, which ended up being one of my favorites, over to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial which I thought was cooler than Lincoln’s (sorry Lincoln), I tried to get in on a tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing building but they cut the line off right when it got to me… shucks, I walked to the White House where my camera died so I’ll have to photoshop a picture of me into a picture of the White House. 

 The majority of the pictures of me on this trip were taken by me

After that I walked back to the mall to go to the American History Smithsonian which was SO COOL (I got to see the original puppet of Kermit the Frog, Dorothy’s shoes from the Wizard of OZ, a Stradivarius violin (the most expensive/ nicest violin you can get), the lunch counter where the sit-ins started with the human rights movements, and there was a whole section for the all the First Ladies of our country and it had a display of all of their Inauguration Gowns and lots of other cool things. That was a long day with lots of walking! 

The next day I went into DC all by myself again. I went to the international spy museum; that was so interesting and a lot of fun. Apparently some movies have inspired actual spy equipment and vice versa of course.

After that I walked passed the Ford Theater, where President Lincoln was shot. I didn’t get to do a tour because a play was going on… something to do the next time I go.

After that I went to the National Museum of Art Smithsonian and took a tour through the American Art Section. After that I went to the Air and Space Smithsonian but I didn’t stay long because I don’t really have a huge interest in airplanes BUT I did LOVE the Wright Brother’s display; that made it worth it. There was this quote I really liked by Orville Wright, “We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment, our curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit.” I just thought that was really cool and I hope I can create that in my home one day.

After that I walked through the U.S. Botanic Gardens and then tried to make it to the National Reserves before it closed but I missed it so I went and bought a pretzel.


The next day we slept in, I got up and read my book on her back porch that is screened in, and then we went to a movie, out to lunch and then to watch her granddaughters play softball.


My last day there we stopped by the temple which is beautiful, we visited the National Cathedral and then went to Arlington Cemetery before Shauna took me to the airport.

It was such a fun trip and it was a lot of fun spending time with Shauna, she is so sweet, fun to talk with, adventurous and hilarious. I loved DC and would love to live there.

Enjoying the Stage We're At

You know, when we're little we just can't wait to be grown up. We talk about what we'll be when we grow up, we play house and pretend to take care of a family and go to work. I used to play school with my younger brother; I was the teacher, he was the student. (Ha, and for any of you who know Nate, you know the kid is a genius. So you probably wouldn't be surprise that these pretend school lessons were pretty much a joke because Nate would get bored with my dumbed down work for him.)

As we get older our time starts to fly, our lives are more complicated as we take on more responsibilities and try to figure out what is the best thing to fill our time and what to cut out but really we just burn ourselves at both ends and just get burned out eventually wishing we were still children with no cares in the world and so happy with the simplest things in life.

So I have gotten to a point in my life where I am done with school and I have decided not to serve a mission. When people ask me what I am up to I just say that I'm working and playing. At this point in life girls in my area and culture are getting married (if they're not already), but that hasn't come my way yet. I'm not avoiding it but I'm also not searching for marriage as if it will bring true happiness and full meaning to life. I am excited to one day be married and have a family of my own but I am also enjoying my life right now. I think it is important to be happy with whatever stage you are at in life. I figure if you are waiting for the next step to happen in order to be happy, then you never will be. You'll just always be waiting for the next step and missing the joy of the step you are at right now.

Now I am being true and enjoying what stage of life I am currently at but I must say... I am excited for some aspects (only some) of being old. And when I say old... I mean Old. Like 80s+ old. See, at that stage of life you can say whatever crap you want and nobody corrects you because it would be rude or they figure "Oh they're old, just let them be." You can fart in public and pretend like you didn't hear it. OH AND HEARING! If you don't want to listen to someone... you can either pretend like you can't hear them OR if you really ARE loosing your hearing you can just take out your hearing aid. Problem solved.

Fall Travels 6 of 8: Lake Powell

I went to Lake Powel with my cousin and his wife and their friends for my cousin's birthday. It was a lot of fun and an awesome group of people. The weather was perfect, the water was smooth and the scenery was beautiful.

So I went on this trip with the plan of swimming around in the water and tubing. I was perfectly content with hanging out in the boat while people skiied and wake boarded. (Is boarded a word?)

Jessica, Julie and I... We were singing disney songs because we're that awesome

Colby and Jessica

And this is why they are guaranteed to have cool kids

(This is not photoshopped, I repeat this is not photoshopped)

Well I got talked into trying out the wake board. The first time I tried I couldn’t get up for the life of me and it was killing my arms. I tried again on the last day and I got it! I was a proud mama and I loved it!

I'm just happy to be up

Cliff Jumping! Wahoo!

(All credit of these fabulous pictures go to Jessica B)

This Post is Part of the All You Can Jet/Fall 2010 Travels Blog Post Series
All You Can Jet/ Vegas
Boston
Maine
New Orleans
San Diego