Will this sort of thing happen a lot?

Last Wednesday I get this call while getting my hair cut. I check the voice mail and find that it was the executive secretary from the ward I'm in; he's calling because the Bishop wants to meet with me. Immediately my stomach drops and I don't want to call back, why? Because my roommate is the Relief Society President and just aged out of the ward; ergo, there is a new need for a RSP. My worst fears were actualized Thursday night when the Bishop extended the calling of RSP.

So what do you do, I ask, when you are newly sustained as RSP and the girl visiting asks to come over to your house for dinner?

Seriously, right after church this girl visiting from Bakersfield (about 2.5/3 hrs east) wants to come over for dinner so they don't have to stop somewhere. Now my attitude is, if you can't make home in 3 hrs without starving, then plan ahead and pack a lunch or be willing to stop off some place and buy something. But whatever, I'm trying to magnify my new calling and tell her I have no idea what we are having for dinner, but sure, why not, come on over for dinner.

So she and her guy-friend came over. My friend Heather pitched in and brought over some food. My roommate made a salad and we ended up having a very nice dinner. So this is all well and good right? What is so bad about that you ask? Well this girl and her friend stayed for about 2.5 hrs just talking about the most random things. Like, for instance, how she used to be 100 lbs lighter. That she has MS, her dad have Parkinson and her brother (which she was trying to get my roommate to agree to date) used to be in shape and employed. Not really selling the family all too well. The conversation just got even more weird and awkward at times, and we didn't know how to hint that we had other things to do. They finally get ready to leave but not before taking all the cookies we had for dessert and bombing our bathroom twice.

So I wonder, will this sort of thing happen a lot with this new calling? Just curious.

An Epic Fail

Ever do something and the exact moment you do it, you realize what you’ve done is not what you intended and at that same moment you can’t do a single thing to change it? This is a tail of an epic fail.

So Thursday night and two friends went to go see “The Last Song.” Can’t go wrong with a girls’ night out to see a Nicolas Sparks novel-turned-movie. The movie was all right, I would have absolutely loved it had they cast someone other starlet other than Miley Cyrus. Really, does she ever close her mouth? Anyway, that’s not the epic fail.

The epic fail happened when I got home and updated my gchat status to “crying headache” (yes, the movie made me cry that much). One friend, we’ll call him Simon, that has not always shown any real concern for me, asked me why I was crying. I told him why, minimal chitchat about the move that caused my crying headache, but that’s it.

I then wanted to express my… let’s say annoyance for lack of a better word, to my other friend who was also online at the time. I open up a new chat window and tell her how “Simon actually asked me why I was crying… since when does he care.” Cue epic fail – the moment I hit enter, I realized that everything I had said, was in fact, sent to my friend Simon.

This is how the conversation went:

me: Simon actually asked me why i was crying

what is that? since when does he care

Simon: ummm, so who are you chatting?

me: uh... yeah that was for emily

sorry

Simon: lol

me: i'm a jerk

haha

sorry

Simon: that's okay.... since when did you care?

stop crying

me: haha

i'll try

So even though it all ended well, a word of caution – check and double check text and IMs before sending.

As of late...

So I don't know what it is about blogging, but I always feel like in order to write, I need to have good news or something great that's been happening... but I don't. I have been wanting to get into writing again anyway, I think I miss it. Maybe I just miss talking and not caring who is listening…

So... like I said, I don't have much going on. I used to work for Cohn & Wolfe… needless to say, I'm not working anymore, which sucks a bit. But I have some leads on new jobs, but nothing has panned out yet. I actually nanny part time for Holly Hunter, yes the actress, which has interesting. She has twin boys that are 4... I used to think it would be cool to have twins - I don't think that anymore. They are great and I love them, but twins are a handful!

Other than the part time nannying gig, I look for jobs and try to figure out what I want to do with my life. I’ve been thinking about going back to school. My parents have offered (a couple of times) to pay for a Masters degree, but I have no idea what I want to get it in. Feel free to weigh in on the matter. It's kind of driving me crazy. I think I would eventually like to teach at some college someday.

Who knows though... just one more thing I have to figure out. Do you ever feel like you figured everything out, made this plan you were going to follow, and then everything goes off track. I totally thought I had things figured out since high school, I had this plan for my life... what do you do when you are nowhere near where you wanted to be?

Good Reads

As many of you know, I've had some extra time on my hands... which has it's ups and downs. One up though, is that when it came time for my family reunion celebrating my parent's 50th anniversary, I was able to go up to Washington for 12 days, not just 4. Check out the blog about the adventure we had in Olympic, Forks, Sequim... but one thing I must share is what I read (yet another up to being unemployed, you can read tons).

Book one of the Seattle trip was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. First I need to tell how I came to find this book. So a few days before leaving for Seattle my mom asked if I wanted to go to Costco. Now we know that we never pass on a trip to Costco with mom - you're guaranteed to get something. :) So we were there and I had asked my mom if I could get a book for the trip, she of course said yes.

As I wondering around the book tables, I am not finding Time Travelers Wife (Em's pick for Aug) so I was lost as to what to pick for a trip book. Right when I was about to give up and go without a book, some old lady came up besides me. Now this is one thing I love about Costco - the people that go there are all the same, they love to talk. I sear it is a truth universal acknowledged. Anyway. So this sweet old lady comes up to me and asks "Do you love dogs?" I of course said yes. She then handed me this book off the table with a cute dog on the cover. She told me it was funny and a great read and from the point of view of the dog. I was intrigued. Plus, any book that would make this lady talk to a complete stranger and tell her to read it, well, it had to be good.

I started it on my flight from Burbank to Seattle. I cried in the first chapter. I laughed in the second. It is a great book. Makes you reflect on your life, relationships, your pets... man, great read. I hit every major emotion while reading that book, every major one. The story telling is wonderful. Easy to read because Enzo is telling the story in such a fun and playful way. They do touch on serious issues and ways to deal with it. Great book - I recommend you read it. It's worth the time.

So I finished that book in a matter of days, which left me with nothing to read the rest of my trip and on the flight home. Me and my sister went to target and I happened to find The Time Traveler's Wife, so I bought it but later left it at my sisters house without reading a page of it, and yet again I had nothing. That same sister and I went to Borders, to find me another book to read on the way home. She recommended Garden Spell by Sarah Addison Allen. Never heard of her, didn't know what to expect, but I trust my sister and I bought it.

I started this book on the flight home... and got about half way through it. Then I finished it later the next day - less than 24 hrs to finish it. So When I say quick read, it's a quick read. I loved it. Fun theme, playful setting. Love the characters. It's a great summer book filled with magic and love. I'm a sucker for those kinds of things. Read it this summer while outside, you'll love it.

Just a piece of the puzzle

A girl who grew up in a poor family recalls one Christmas when all the family got was a jigsaw puzzle.

Her father picks up a piece of the puzzle and asks his daughter "where does this go?"

The daughter, rather shocked at the silly question, replies, "I don't know."

"Where does it fit?" The dad asks again.

"We haven't put the puzzle together yet, how would I know where it goes?"

The dad then throws the puzzle piece into the fire. As one might imagine, the girl was a little taken aback and shocked.

"Dad, you just ruined the puzzle. Now it will never be complete."

"Never throw away a piece of the puzzle, just because you don't know where it all fits together right now."

So it is with gospel. We know we have the fullness of the Gospel on earth. We know that it's true. We have all the pieces of the puzzle, but we may not know how one piece or another fits. Let's not throw out the piece, or the whole puzzle, just because we don't know now, where each piece fits.