(tap, tap) Is This Thing On?

Hello? Is anyone still out there? Anyone?

OK - I know it's been a while.

Well...maybe more than a little while.

But I think I may be ready to blog again. Who's excited?! :)

Since I've been totally MIA for pretty much this entire past semester (see that my previous post was January 8!), I'll do a little recap of what I've been up to.

1. STATISTICS! Holy moly, good golly Miss Mollie, and oh my heck - this was quite a semester. I realized that if I was ever going to apply to graduate school, I was going to need to take a stats class. So I bucked up and registered for basic statistics at the junior college. (Well, first I convinced the counseling office that I should qualify for the class because even though I hadn't actually taken a math class since my junior year of high school I do have a college degree which certainly proves that I have math competency, right? They went for it.) All in all, I have to say that the class wasn't horrific. I really enjoyed using my brain in a new way, and I had an excellent teacher. That being said, I am SO glad to no longer be in class from 7-9 pm every Monday and Wednesday night.

2. And the class paid off - I got into grad school. Cool, huh? Starting this fall I'm going to be a University of the Pacific tiger. I'm entering the Speech Language Pathology program, and I'm really excited! Some of you may know that I'm a bit of a worry-wart when it comes to making gigantic life decisions, but I feel really good about this one. It's taken me a while, but I'm excited for this education/career move.

3. Have I done anything besides school, work, life decisions, and sleeping?

4. Took a trip to Oregon and Washington (post to come).

5. Took a trip to a mid-singles conference in Southern CA (oh yeah, a post to come).

6. I bought my first (and second) maxi-dress. LOVE! They're super cute, and it's like wearing pajamas. But pajamas that I can wear to work. (I know - this is the life-changing stuff right here.)

7. I went with my parents and sister to an amazing concert - Straight No Chaser. They're a male a cappella group, and we just kept turning to each other and saying things like, "Did you hear that? That was incredible!" Go see them. Seriously.

8. I'm trying to come up with a nice round number of 10 things to write here, but I'm kind of struggling. Did I mention that I took a class this semester and made huge life changing decisions? I did, huh? Did I mention that part of my life changing decisions include that I'm moving back in with my parents while I go to school? I didn't? They have graciously offered me a room, which I have accepted. And to think that they thought their adult kids would leave someday... :)

9. I'm going to be an aunt again!

10. My next post will not ramble so much. Well...I guess I can't make that guarantee. But i'll pick an actual topic and go with it. And maybe add pictures. Get excited.

It's good to be back.

Post #101

I totally forgot to celebrate my 100th post! But that's ok, because everyone always celebrates the 100th whatever. Poor, sad 101st always gets left out. So today we will celebrate the 101. Someday maybe we'll choose to celebrate 253. I'm pretty sure that one always gets forgotten.

Christmas Eve.

I know. I'm so far behind chronologically.

I'm not even in the right year.

Stay with me. We're almost current. :)

Somehow I've convinced my family that fun runs are fun and that we are a family of runners.

Is this true? the jury's still out on that one.

But in the meantime, we organized what we called, "Running in a Winter Wonderland."

T-shirts were made.

With a big snowflake on them.

Which is ironic because despite the fact that it was stinking cold when we actually did the run, it was clear as a bell, and later that day we had to turn the heater off and open windows because it was too warm in the house.

Maybe there should have been an asterisk next to the title with a note down at the bottom saying, "traditionally thought-of winter weather not included or guaranteed."

Nonetheless...

We braved the bitter California Christmas Eve morning cold to run about a mile and a half (with a rest stop halfway). And we looked good doing it, as evidenced below.

I have a fun family*.

The before.

Danny and Dylan. Already feeling victorious for simply managing to get David out of bed and on the family run.

Kari might have been cold.

Mom, The Moll, and Claire all looking good!

Action shots are always best. Right Dad?

Claire in her sweet ride wearing Auntie Kari's hat.

Kallie always managed to come in first. I wonder why? :)

Pulled a hammie?

Chad likes to chicken dance when he's on the home stretch.

Brad is looking very determined here.

Harlows are #1!

The aftermath.

*This asterisk is not a note on how fun my family is. It's to apologize for knowingly creating such a long post. But if you made it this far, you know the post was long. And, of course, thoroughly enjoyable. :)

Ice Skating

I finished work on December 23rd at 11:30am, and vacation began immediately! I didn't have to go back to work until the next Wednesday, and I hadn't had that many days off in a row since June. So not only was all of my family in town, but I was on vacation. 

To kick things off, my mom drove up to my neck of the woods with Kallie and her adopted grandchildren (with makes my sister-in-law so jealous!) Allie, Jaden, and Bella. We had a quick lunch at McDonald's (so gourmet, I know), and then we headed to the outdoor ice skating rink that they built in my neighborhood this winter. 

Though skating was difficult for some, we all had a great time! It was a beautiful day and not too crowded. I was amazed at how quickly the younger girls picked it up - even though they wouldn't really let us lace their skates properly. :)

Allie and Kallie warming up. The rink had buckets to let the kids stake with as they got used to it.

My mom helping Bella. Umm...you may want to go the other way. :)

Kallie using the bucket.

Time to pose! Can you tell by the squinting that it was a little bright?

Allie and Bella - so cute! Somehow I never got a picture of Jaden. Oops!

Cute Bella...

Then Kallie, Allie, Jaden and I went on the Ferris Wheel. These are some of the better pictures. To my mom's credit, it is very hard to catch people when they're in a moving object. :)

Hey - there's a face or two! :)

A quick snack and everyone was back on the road, and the family Christmas vacation time started for me!

My Christmas Dreaming

Christmas was dreamy.

I'm pretty positive that what made it so wonderful was not the presents or the music or the food (SO much food!) - even though all of that was exceptional. I'm pretty sure it was the time that I was able to spend with my favorite people in the world.

So here's a quick snapshot of just a few moments from Christmas. (Please remember that I'm not a great photographer and I have a slow camera. So most of these images are more beautiful in my mind. :) )

Kallie on our ice skating adventure (before she lost her tooth!).

Claire on the slide. Literally hours of entertainment for her on this thing.

Dylan all bundled up for our Christmas Eve Fun Run.

I'll give more details and updates, but I just wanted to throw my three favorite faces out on to the internet. I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!

I At Least Thought About Blogging Today...

And I have a lot to say.

But that's as far as I got.

Yep.

Can I fall into bed now?

It's Almost Christmas!

I can't tell you how excited I am to be with my family this Christmas. It's been several years since we've all been together on Christmas, and this is the first time that I will celebrate with the twins. I just love my family so much, and we have a stinkin' good time together!

I know I mentioned it before, but this has been my favorite Christmas CD this year - Glad Christmas Tidings. I just listen to it over and over again. And then it plays in my head all day at work.

And one of the things for which I'm most grateful is that I haven't heard my least favorite Christmas songs at all this year. That's right - I've pretty much only listened to my music (not the radio because the one in my car is stuck on AM and really only gets KNBR), so I haven't had to listen to the ones I don't like. AND, when a friend asked what my least favorite Christmas song is I, of course, said The Little Drummer Boy, but then I couldn't even think of the other one I dislike so much! If it wasn't so annoying that I couldn't recall that information, I'd be 100% happy that it's so far distant from my thoughts. Instead I'll be 99.99% happy. OK - I'll go a full 100%. What the heck?!

I feel like I''m rambling. Am I rambling?

I'll just say one more time...I'm excited for Christmas!

Also - our house is just magical right now. The lights on the outside, the decorations on the inside. Just magical.

Can you tell I'm exhausted?

I Love Winning!

I am not the most competitive person in the entire world.

However...

When I go to bridal or baby showers and have to play the games, I want to win them.

Not like I'm going to gauge someone's eyes to make sure that I get the prize, but I definitely put on my game face and get serious. Especially if the prizes are good.

I went to a shower on Saturday, and here are my spoils:

I also scored a butterfinger, but Ari used it for a dessert for the party, so I didn't get it in the shot. But that's a really nice candle! And I totally earned it. I mean, not to brag, but I totally killed it. Basically I brought my A-game and was totally AWE-some. It was a hard game.

Oh...and it was nice to celebrate the impending birth of the child of my friends too. :)

Fancy, Part II

The most important part of any gathering is the people that you get to share it with. I was not very diligent about taking pictures at our party, but our friend David snapped a few.

Here's our fancy music. Nicole brought her flute and Chandra brought her violin. Julie made our horrible piano sound melodic, and Jacosa graciously sang for us. It was all beautiful! This made it feel like Christmas to me.

Why don't we do this more often? In the olden days people would sing and play instruments for entertainment after dinner. I wish we would do this more often.

Here's a group shot. We didn't get a picture with everyone because not everyone was here at the same time, but this is the after-music crowd. What a good-looking group!

This was our silly picture. Did I need to explain that?

Heidi, Nicole, Christina, and David.

I didn't actually get a picture of myself or with my roommates. I knew I was forgetting something... :)

Thanks everyone for such a fun, fancy evening!

Oh, the Fanciness!

I love having and/or attending fancy Christmas parties.

There's something so wonderful and kind of grown-up-feeling about making yourself up a little bit nicer and slipping into a fabulous dress and heels and then spending the evening munching on yummy food that's elegantly presented, sipping sparkling cider, and chatting with friends. Add Christmas lights, decorations, and super-classy live music and it becomes an "occasion."

Of course, I'm writing this while sitting on my couch in my sweats.

But last night, there was fancy. I was fancy. And it was fun.

My roommates and I decked out the house (inside and out - I even helped with lights!), whipped up some of our favorite food and invited friends to come fill our home for a fancy Christmas party. It was so fun!

Here are a few shots of some of the fancy food:

Charity's white chocolate craisin cookies.

I made mini chocolate peppermint cupcakes. I should have taken a picture of them on the red plate. It looked better.

Up close. Yum!

This is something that I think I want to do with my niece this Christmas. Ariane made these hot chocolate dippers. It's a marshmallow on a stick that you dip in chocolate and then decorate. These are reindeer and snowmen, but she also did some plain ones. Super cute and fun for a hot chocolate lover like myself.

We had other food, and it wasn't all sweet. I just forgot to take pictures of the other stuff. Sadly, my lemon bars didn't cook all the way through. I don't know what I did wrong. I took them out when they were golden brown on the top, but when I cut into them they were liquidy. Needless to say, they did not make it to the table.

I'll save the rest of the pics for tomorrow so that the fancy can live on a little bit longer. :)

Also, my favorite Christmas CD this year is the concert from last year by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with David Archuleta. It's so good! My favorite new song that I had never heard is "The Cat and Mouse Carol." I just love the worshipfulness of the music. And David Archuleta is better than I thought he'd be. I've never listened to much of his music, but he's really quite talented. I highly recommend the CD. I got mine at Target. :)

Ten Thoughts In My Head Today

1. Man, 5:30 is early!

2. This tree sure drinks a lot of water. I really hope it lives through Christmas. Or at least through Saturday.

3. Why did I only bring healthy snacks to work with me?!

4. Ooh! I love getting my hair cut! And I'm glad we went with just the blonde this time.

5. Wow - you can definitely tell that I haven't been to the gym in a couple of weeks.

6. Would it kill them to put some fans in this gym?! I'm sweating like a pig! But I'm running surprising well for my recent lack of gym time. Well...running and walking. It's all cardio.

7. How are people buying tickets for Wicked already?! They weren't supposed to go on sale until Saturday! Drat those online codes!!!

8. If I eat a very healthy lunch then I don't have to feel bad when I just eat cereal or toast for dinner, right? Right.

9. Oh man! Has my slip really been showing like that all day? How embarrassing!

10. I love the little outdoor ice skating rink by my house. It's not New York City, but I still think it would be a fun little winter date to go there.

It's Christmas!

I love Thanksgiving!

And ours was wonderful this year. Food, family, and friends all rolled into one great weekend. We played new games, I laughed until I cried, and my mom and I even made our own cinnamon rolls.

One of the fun parts of Thanksgiving weekend is that we then get to prep for Christmas! Hooray!

Two of my roommates have fake trees, but we heard that WiseBuys had trees for $10, so Ariane and I decided that we should go check them out and maybe get a real one for the house this year. We looked at about two trees before we decided on one. It's a beauty! It's about 9 feet tall and it smells like delightful evergreen. I think this is the tallest tree I've ever had in my life. OK - maybe one of the Boston Christmas trees was taller, but probably not by much. This one just seems so huge!

However...somehow I always manage to get myself into projects that require putting large things on top of cars. There was the gigantic dry erase board in 2004, and yesterday there was the tree. We did pay the extra $2 to have it netted, which was very helpful. But this was a 9 foot pine tree! And Ari and I had to hoist it up on top of her car and then make sure that it didn't fall off on the drive home. And we're GIRLS!

This was no simple feat, but we did manage. I guess that's the thing about buying a tree at WiseBuys. They'll net it for you, but they can't take it any farther than their little lot. So we lugged it to the car and then got it on the roof and tied down. I got pine needles everywhere. My hair, my shirt - I even found one later that day that had gone down my pants. How does that even happen?! Also...this may not be a good omen for our $10 tree. Should it really be losing that many needles? Let's hope that it lasts at least a week. :)

We got it home, in the stand, in the house, standing up relatively straightly, and decorated. Here are a couple of shots.

Not bad, huh?

I'm now sitting snugly on the couch, wrapped up in my blanket looking at the tree with its beautiful lights, and White Christmas is playing on the television. White Christmas is one of my absolute favorite Christmas movies. 

Ahh...Christmas contentment.

My Not-So-Hidden Talent

It's time for me to admit one of my talents.

I feel that I should no longer hide my candle under a bushel.

Perhaps I can help someone somewhere because of the natural gift that I have been given.

So here goes.

I am amazing at watching television.

Scoff if you will, but I believe that this takes stamina, discernment, a sharp eye, and impeccable taste. I can whip through the guide and know what's worth wasting my time on and what's not. I can learn, laugh, cry, travel, and cook all from my couch. I can get sucked in for hours. That sounds sad. But it's not because I do leave my couch and live life too. And that's happy.

Being sick this week allowed me the opportunity to put my skill to great use. Because...realistically, most days are so busy that I don't have a ton of time to devote to developing under-valued talent.

Yesterday was kind of a marathon event for me, so let's see if I can give an accurate recap. I woke up WAY too early, but then I compensated by going back to sleep from 10:30am to 1:40pm. I guess that's what happens when your body is recovering?

Here's what I watched in no particular order: The Muppets Take Manhattan (got that for $5 at Wal-mart), part of The Next Iron Chef, two episodes of International House Hunters (they were in Holland!), Survivor, two and a half episodes of Psych, two and a half episodes of Designing Women (what a find on a Saturday!), the end of the USC/Oregon football game, some of the Cal/Stanford game, the finale of Top Chef Just Desserts, Gilmore Girls, Keeping Up Appearances, the end of last week's The Sing-Off, and I think something else that I'm forgetting right now. But even if I'm not forgetting anything, that's kind of a lot of TV.

Really...days like this are only justified when I'm not feeling well. Which is probably why they're fun. They only happen every once in a while. But when they do happen, I know that I am letting my little light shine. :)

On another note, I only have to work three days this week!!! What a fun thought!!!

Thursday Thoughts

1. I have the sniffles. So I am resting in the hopes that they do not turn into a full blown cold. Of course, I also made a deal with my immune system that if it could keep me going just long enough to get through the work week that it could let me be sick all weekend. So far so good. We'll see what happens on Saturday.

2. I would much rather have the sniffles than a sore throat. That's how this started. Just a little scratchy throat on Tuesday morning, but by noon it was on fire. At several points I wondered if it would just be easier to rip my throat out of my body. Don't worry. Instead I went to CVS after work and bought soup, Gatorade, Airborn, and lozenges. And then I went to the youth Etiquette Dinner and prepped, plated, and served food to the unsuspecting masses. Let's hope I didn't pass anything along. :)

3. Do you ever miss a place? This fall I've been missing BYU. Maybe it's because it's the time of year when school begins and football games are being played, and there's a part of me that still longs to be in school. But today I wasn't wanting to be in Provo. I missed Europe today. I know that's very general, and I've only been to three European countries, but I just wanted to be there. And because I've lived there, I feel like I'm allowed to want to be there in a way that is different than just wanting to visit a place you've seen in the movies, you know? Like...I want to visit the Nora Ephron-created, romanticized New York City in You've Got Mail, but I can't really miss that or know what it's really like on West 89th Street, because I've never been there. But I can still see parts of Europe in my mind's eye and I can still feel parts of it in my soul. And today I wanted to be transported there. I wanted to speak Dutch and have someone understand me. I wanted to get on a train. I wanted to ride a bike and visit a museum, and be there again. And then I woke up from that daydream and I was still going through attorney's mail. Someday Europe. I'll be back.

4. Why do I love and hate Costco so much at the same time? They have so much good stuff, which makes me want to buy it all, but then I would be out of money in no time. They have the softest blankets, and fun movies, and great books - all topped off with delicious free food samples. Aaacckkkk!!!! It's a dilemma every time I walk in the door. And they've got us all paranoid that if we don't buy what we think we want the moment we see it, it'll be gone. Because everyone knows that if you wait on something that you see at Costco (especially non-everyday items), you might as well give up on ever seeing it again. Heck - you can't even second-guess yourself during your own shopping trip. You may decide that you want to walk around the store while you think about whether or not to get that Nordic-ware bake set. By the time you get back around...gone. I'll have you know that there were only four - yes four - copies of the Doris Day movie collection on the shelf tonight. Do you think they'll be there the next time I go back? NO! I hesitated and therefore I am lost. I'm sorry Doris. Next time I'll know better.

OK - I'm now going to watch an episode of Gilmore Girls (I'm in season 3 right now), take a bath, and go to bed. I was watching GG yesterday while resting, and Kirk had a great line. Rory and Lorelai each made a funny comment and he said something like, "I'm sorry. I'm a little fuzzy right now which is why I missed your comedic hyperbole." I just love a show that can use the phrase "comedic hyperbole." But my point in using this quote beyond illustrating the writing genius of Amy Sherman-Palladino is that I'm a little fuzzy tonight, and I may be missing more than comedic hyperbole. I just realized that I wrote some LONG paragraphs. The great part is that you can stop reading any time. When people talk to me they can't get me to be quiet, but when I blog people can take me in whatever dose they choose. Anyone still with me? Yep...time for Gilmore Girls. :)

Just Call Me Schnookums

OK - I haven't really been inspired AT ALL to blog lately.

But at the urging of my sister and Corrie and because I just laughed out loud with no one else around, I will post this.

My friend, Erin, writes one of the wittiest blogs I have ever read. AND she wrote a book, which I think is amazing and I want to be just like her someday. (Buy her book!)

Anyway, she has started adding advertisements to her blog. Just by clicking on them I am pretty much sending her money. Not bad, huh?

So I clicked on one this evening. It was to see if I would qualify for a grant to go back to school. But I didn't stop there. I actually went through all the questions. However, at the end they want all of your contact information, which I'm not too keen on giving out. (Besides...I apparently only qualified for one program - an online Master's of Education through Grand Canyon University (who?) with no financial aid. Totally bogus!)

So I just created myself a new internet identity. It's Schnookums McGee. I live at 501 Pleasant Way, in case you wanted to know.

The best part was at the very end when I submitted all of my information. The advertisement at the bottom said something like, "If you liked this, Schnookums, you might also like..." My computer called me Schnookums! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

This kind of sounds like the dumbest thing as I'm writing it, but I just found it hilarious.

Also - conundrum of the day: why do stores that sell skin care and make-up products have the worst lighting of all time? How do I know if that tinted moisturizer actually IS the right one? I walked around Sephora today looking in about a half-dozen different mirrors. All with very different yet equally horrible lighting. Baffling. The staff kept asking me if I needed help. I wanted to shout at them and say, "YES! Please help by creating a not lame environment for me to test your products, stupid!" So I didn't buy either moisturizer. I asked for samples of both and I'll test them in my own light. For cryin' out loud.

Today I'm thankful for a gift card that I found that I'd forgotten about and scripture study and my toothbrush.

Let's Be Thankful

Many moons ago (I'm going to say November 2004), my good friend (and then roommate) AmyAnn, taped several pieces of construction paper to the closet door in the entryway of our apartment. Next to these she fastened a string with a pen attached to it. On the paper in big, bold letters she wrote, "I'm Thankful For..."

Throughout the month of November (and beyond), we (and most people who came to visit) would write what we were thankful for that day. Whenever we felt happy - and especially when we felt unhappy, frustrated, or grumpy - we were reminded to go to the Thankful Board and find something for which we were grateful.

I learned a very important lesson from this Thankful Board. Gratitude has an amazing power to change our hearts and lift our souls! And I have so much for which to be thankful!

So as we approach Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays!), I'm going to make an effort to be more thankful. Starting right now.

I am thankful to work with the Young Women of my ward. Tonight was their annual Night of Excellence, and I can truly say that they are EXCELLENT! They amaze me, and I am grateful that for a few hours each week I get to bask in their stellar-ness.

I'm also grateful that I get to serve with such superior women. They teach me a lot. And put up with a lot from me. So I am thankful to know them and associate with them.

This isn't all of us. We were a few short tonight. But here's us tonight.

 
Let's all be grateful!

Halloween

This year, I decided to make my costume for Halloween. Ok - I decided to ask my incredibly talented grandma to teach me how to sew by making a costume for me for Halloween. :)

We had a great time! It is always fun to spend time with my grandparents, but it's also really fun to have a project. Here are a few of my pictures from the weekend.

Here's me in my Alice in Wonderland costume. I LOVE it!!! I really felt like Alice.

Koreen, Nicole, Christina, and I ventured to Berkeley for a Halloween party on Friday. After I finished changing into my costume in the car (quite an adventure in itself!), we enjoyed the festivities for a bit.

There was another Alice there...

The Berkeley Institute building used to be a mansion, so we climbed up to the attic to look around. Guess what we found? A tiny door! Of course, Alice had to check it out. That's what she does!

Then we found an even smaller door! So...I popped through to say hello.

And then I needed to climb through a window...

...and out onto the roof. (Sorry that the pictures are sideways).

And, I couldn't end my Halloween post without a tribute to Grandma and Grandpa. Here they are at their friends' Halloween party. Don't they look fantastic?! Hmm...I wonder where I get my excitement for dressing up? :)

Monday, Monday

So...this may have been my sister's anthem for the day, but this totally made my night! I was listening to the english version in the car on the way home tonight. So much fun to find it in Dutch!!!

Other random thoughts of the day:

* I have found the piece of clothing that I think I could live in for the rest of my life. It's called sweatpants. I have been longing for a new pair for at least six months, and Saturday that dream came true. They are the most comfortable thing on the planet, and I wish that societal norms allowed me to wear them everywhere!

* I have got to find a way to not be gone for ALL DAY every day. I get up at 5:30, am at work at 7:30, and tonight I didn't arrive home till almost 9:00. That's p.m. Tomorrow's not looking any better. I like all of my extra curricular activities. Maybe I can cut out work? Probably not.

* At least my gym bag made it into the car today. I didn't actually make it to the gym, but I was prepared. Maybe tomorrow...

* My Halloween costume's almost done. And it's AWESOME!!! I'm so glad that I have a patient grandma who likes to teach me to sew. Now it's just the dang zipper. She asked tonight, "Are you sure you don't just want to use velcro?"

* I packed my lunch and ate outside today. I love those lunch breaks. They feel longer, and I get to read my book. And it's the good autumnal warm outside.

* A boy told me that he loves me tonight. Granted, it was Ariane's almost-five-year-old nephew, Allan. But it was so cute! I love you too, Al. :)

*Did you know that the study of unidentified flying objects is called ufology? Pronounced you-fall-uh-gee. Isn't that so funny? I love podcasts. I highly recommend "Stuff You Should Know."

Slaap lekker hoor!

Family History, I Am Doing It!

This has been a very cool weekend for me with regard to my family and family history. 

Yesterday, my mom and I were able to go to the Sacramento Temple to do the endowment work for two of my great-grandmothers. What a wonderful morning it was! I'm so grateful for temples and that they not only allow us to make sacred covenants, but that they bind families together forever. And I love being there with my family members. :)

After the temple (and a quick trip up to the outlets), we went to the Rhoads Family Cousins' Luncheon at Davis Ranch. This is a yearly luncheon that has been put on for the past 30 years by this woman, Ellen Rosa. 

I'm sorry that this isn't a great picture of her, but she's 86 and she LOVES family history! And each year we have the opportunity to gather and learn more about our family and meet distant cousins. 

See...I'm a sixth generation Californian on my mom's side. We came over just before the Donner party. And then we went back and rescued them. And then some went back to Utah, and some (like my family) stayed in California and settled all the land just east of where I live now.

This is the second time that I've gotten to go to the luncheon, and I hope I get to continue to go. It's wonderful to hear the stories and recognize that we are where they were. It helps me to feel more connected to them. And it inspires me to do more family history so that I can spend more time linking us together in the temple.

Happiness is Little Pizzas and Venn Diagrams

Thank you for all of the concerned comments, calls, and texts regarding my last post. Perhaps I was slightly more verbose about my bad day than I usually am, but I didn't mean to make everyone worry.

Let me clear things up.

I may not love my job, and it may be causing me some stress right now, but I'm totally OK. Life is still good.

In fact, tonight when I got to my grandparents' house, grandpa had made little pizzas for an appetizer.

Is there anything that could make a person happier than having a grandpa who makes you little pizzas?

You may be thinking, "yes."

If so, then you've never had my family's little pizzas. :)

And the other good thing about not loving work is that it's causing me to really look at life and what I want my career choices to be. Sometimes you need to know that you're in a situation that you don't want to be in forever to cause you to take some action to create a new situation. Right?

I've also realized that many of my jobs have come as kind-of knee-jerk reactions to needing a job and not really knowing what it is that I want.

The phrase from the scriptures that keeps coming to mind lately is that I now want "to act and not be acted upon." It's time to buckle down and make big-girl choices about where my life is heading.

So...I'm using one of the things I learned at the conference last weekend to help. It's a Venn Diagram.

You all remember what those are, right?

I think they're great.

But I'm also a little nerdy and like things like Venn Diagrams.

They look like this:

Each circle represents something different, and then your middle ground of your three variables is the answer for which you're looking.

The talk I heard related that in order to be in a VERY HAPPY place in your career, you need to put the following three things in the diagram:

1. What you love to do.

2. What you're good at doing.

3. What the world values (i.e. will pay you to do)

If you can find a career that incorporates these three factors, the likelihood of career satisfaction is very high. 

So, I'm using this as a model and making lists. I'll keep you updated. Comments about any of the three factors in relation to me are welcomed. There are no bad ideas in brainstorming. However, I reserve the right to veto your ideas later on. :)

OK - this post is too long, but I'm not editing. I'll sleep instead. 

And, yes, I did more than just learn at the conference. I met many wonderful people (read "great guys"), some of whom I'm hoping to keep in touch with (read, "Hey tall, dark, and handsome - call me!). None of this is making any sense anymore is it? I'm so glad tomorrow's Friday!!!

Hmm...

Can you be grateful and antsy at the same time?

I'm so grateful to have a job in a market where jobs are scarce. I am able to meet my needs and live comfortably. Heck - I drive a mile and a half to get to work! That's fantastic! I work with nice people who are kind to me. I have benefits.

But I'm antsy.

And since my job description got turned upside down a week and a half ago, I'm starting to loathe going to work. I mean really loathe. Perhaps despise, detest, and abhor. Well - that seems strong, but those were all words that crossed my mind today while I was trying not to cry.

And that makes me sad.

Because a couple of weeks ago I knew I was antsy because there's just more for me to be doing in life.

Now it's because I have a job that I didn't think I was going to have and don't know how to do and that might very well give me ulcers someday. Or at least a lot of anxiety breathing.

And yet, I am reminded how grateful I am that I have a job. I'm not desperately looking for a job so that I can pay my rent and eat. My life is richly blessed.

There is opposition in all things?

This too shall pass?

Every rose has its thorns?

I will try to be more cheery tomorrow, but tonight I'm going to fall asleep thinking about the Venn Diagram of Career Happiness that I learned about at the conference, not General, this past weekend.

Oh, yeah, the conference. I'll post about that tomorrow too. :) What a teaser, huh?