Just over a month ago, my family had a family reunion of sorts in Utah. My oldest sister came to Utah for two weeks with her 5 daughters, which motivated us all to expand the trip! Luckily, we were not all stuck together for the entire trip, different people came and went, when everyone that could be there was there we had as many as 22 people! Including my parents, my oldest brother Brian, his wife Amanda and 3 daughters Emily, Paige, and Isabell, my oldest sister Hilary and her 5 daughters Alyssa, Kaylie, Lauryn, Emma, and Sydney, my sister Helen, her husband Matt, and 2 sons Jacob and Isaac, my sister Sarah, her husband Rick and 2 sons Jackson and Carson and daughter Natalie and me of course! It was a great trip full of ups and downs, but for the most part it was a positive reunion. We were sad that Seth and Ashtyn couldn't be there with us as well, but such is life! Due to the convenience of having the majority of the family in one place, Sarah decided to have Natalie's Baby Blessing while we were there. On the morning of the blessing my Mother and I had a little adventure...
First of all, the condo we were staying in was in Midway, UT which is 45 minutes away from Salt Lake. So my mother and I set out to Salt Lake early in the morning in effort to help Sarah get ready for the blessing and the lunch afterwards. While driving we made a wrong turn. Once we realized that we didn't recognize the place, we debated turning around or not. As we kept driving, unable to decide what to do, we saw a sign that said 5* miles to Park City. Figuring that it was in the same general direction that we intended to go we continued driving. About 3/4* of a mile later there was a sign for "Rough, Curvy Road Next 4*miles" and another one that said "End of State Maintenance". Usually signs like this exaggerate, figuring that we would be fine we soon dismissed any ideas of turning around and pressed forward. Then the pavement stopped, gravel started. Still we kept going. Then the gravel slowly transitioned into dirt. And the switchback turns started. Unable to find any place to turn around, we continued driving. Climbing higher and higher, getting more and more frightened with each corner as the trees shielding the fall disappeared and the chance of hitting an oncoming car increased due to our driving in their lane so as to stay away from the edge, we kept driving. We drove through groves of birch trees, and through the Wasatch State Park, we drove over Empire Pass, we drove up into the clouds, and were ecstatic to see any form of life such as a cottage, or a snowmobile, or even power lines. We had no cell phone coverage, and no one to rely on but ourselves, but we kept going. Finally, we started going down, the number of houses increased, as did the number of oncoming cars. We regained cell phone coverage and we were able to contact Sarah and tell her what was taking so long. We finally navigated our way back to the freeway and made it safely to Sarah's house. And despite the laughter, the fear, the insecurity of not knowing where we were, and all the other emotions we felt while on the drive we managed to find the positive in the experience.
I liken this experience to any other mistake we make in life. At first it is easy to turn around and repent, however, as you keep going it becomes less and less realistic to turn around. We feel like we are too far down the path to ever come back and repent. This is when the mistake forces us to do things that teach us something. As a result of our wrong turn and not turning around, we were forced to drive along an unsafe, long, road, making our trip longer and much less enjoyable than it could have been. We had to do things that we didn't want to just so that we could make it back to the right path, this is the same as when we make mistakes in our life. We sometimes have to confront people, or admit to things that we are ashamed about, but we have to do it in order to make our way back to the right path. Sometimes we even feel like we have lost contact with everyone around us, like we are alone, but let me reassure you that we never are. The savior will always help us, if we but call on him, even in the most difficult times in our life the Savior will be there for us. During our drive we said many prayers that we would be safe and find our way, and even though we couldn't call anyone we knew that we could call on the Lord. And even though we may feel like we are the only ones that have the problems that we have, there is always someone that has been through the same thing. If no one had ever travelled on the road we did, the road would not have been there. However, the most important thing about this whole experience is that with faith, and perseverance we made it safely back, even after our mistake.
Looking back it was a very good experience, even though it might have been hard at the time.
Until later,
Safe and sound
*Estimate, please do not quote me in any court of law, or any other venue in which accuracy is vital.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Caught in the whirlwind called life...
It has been a very long time since I last posted anything, and a lot has happened. I have been on two trips, had a birthday, and had many forgotten moments that would have been worth mentioning. Unfortunately, some things many have been lost, but that is to be expected when there is so much happening in ones life. My typical Friday goes something like this...wake up 7am, workout 8am, work 9:30-12:30pm, either work 4-8 or babysit 5-11ish...of course the evening varies week to week, but it is essentially the same thing, earning money and losing sleep. Each other day of the week is equally busy, and filled with more or less the same thing. For now I desire to recall a few very fond memories that remind me of the important things in life.
Over the past year, my family has lost a few close friends. Each was unexpected and equally difficult for my father. Those of which I am writing about now were all men, in similar health and age to my father, and they were all friends of his. The memories of which I choose to recall are as follows:
1). Dave passed away leaving his wife, 3 sons, and daughter. Though I do not have a specific memory of Dave, I admire him for many reasons which I will now explain. Prior to becoming sick, Dave felt impressed to pay off all debts, and ensure that his family was taken care of. Following this prompting, he paid off his home, and a debt. While it is hard to know if he knew that he would not be here much longer, or if he was just trying to follow the council of the prophets, the important thing is that he followed the prompting of the spirit and blessed his family in countless ways. Dave was an engineer, he worked specifically on pacemakers. I recall Dave telling a story of a young man and the lose of his life. Because he works with pacemakers, one of the things that he must do is to monitor to pacemakers, to ensure that they are functioning correctly. When a pacemaker is failing, he is notified. Sometimes there are things that he can do, and other times there is nothing he can do. He told of a time in which he was notified and there was nothing he could do. He said that the most difficult thing was being forced to watch this young mans heart suffer and fail and have no way to help. He related the experience to how the savior feels when we chose to do things that harm us on an eternal perspective. I will forever admire Dave, and look forward to seeing him again someday.
2). Sean passed away alone in his house, and left behind a son. Sean worked for my parents. Shortly after Sean lost his job (as did we all) he and his wife divorced, leaving him alone. His death was the result of a malfunction of antidepressants. Shortly after hearing of the death of Sean, I was sitting in my sisters house trying to access the Internet. When all of a sudden I was connected to the Internet. At the time I could have sworn that was Sean's way of communicating with me that all was fine and that I should not fear. I now remember that I set up my computer to save the information necessary to connect to my sisters wireless, however, I cannot deny the feeling of peace that I felt when the event occurred.
3). Dallas passed away of unknown causes. Dallas was my father's friend from church. He was a stubborn veteran, addicted to morphine due to his time in the military. One of my last memories of Dallas was on the night before crimsonnaire initiations. He was over at my house, and he knew that I was worried about whether or not I would make it. I knew that initiations would happen that night, and that knowledge alone probably made it more stressful. I had to work that night, and while I was at work I got a phone call. To my surprise it was Dallas, he asked me for my cell phone number, confused, I gave it to him. I then went and got my phone and took it into the room I was working in (shh...don't tell my boss). A few minutes later, I received a text from an unknown number that said "Hey you know that thing you was worried about, don't". It was that moment that I knew I would make it! While it took away the element of surprise, it felt really good to know that Dallas cared enough about me to go through so much effort to keep me from worrying.
I know that talking about people that have died is not really uplifting, and you might be thinking I am now some Gothic, pain-loving weirdo...but I am not, sorry to disappoint you. I do have a reason. These three individuals all taught me important life lessons about what is important. From Brother Wiggins I gained a stronger testimony of the importance of following the promptings of the spirit. From Sean I became more sure that death is not a thing to fear because it will all be okay in the end. And finally from Dallas I have yet another example of how important it is to take the time to show others that we care about them. While caught in the whirlwind of life, it is easy to forget what really matters. It is only when we take the time to stop and think that we realize what we have been doing is insignificant in the larger scheme of things.
Until later,
Reevaluating what is important
Over the past year, my family has lost a few close friends. Each was unexpected and equally difficult for my father. Those of which I am writing about now were all men, in similar health and age to my father, and they were all friends of his. The memories of which I choose to recall are as follows:
1). Dave passed away leaving his wife, 3 sons, and daughter. Though I do not have a specific memory of Dave, I admire him for many reasons which I will now explain. Prior to becoming sick, Dave felt impressed to pay off all debts, and ensure that his family was taken care of. Following this prompting, he paid off his home, and a debt. While it is hard to know if he knew that he would not be here much longer, or if he was just trying to follow the council of the prophets, the important thing is that he followed the prompting of the spirit and blessed his family in countless ways. Dave was an engineer, he worked specifically on pacemakers. I recall Dave telling a story of a young man and the lose of his life. Because he works with pacemakers, one of the things that he must do is to monitor to pacemakers, to ensure that they are functioning correctly. When a pacemaker is failing, he is notified. Sometimes there are things that he can do, and other times there is nothing he can do. He told of a time in which he was notified and there was nothing he could do. He said that the most difficult thing was being forced to watch this young mans heart suffer and fail and have no way to help. He related the experience to how the savior feels when we chose to do things that harm us on an eternal perspective. I will forever admire Dave, and look forward to seeing him again someday.
2). Sean passed away alone in his house, and left behind a son. Sean worked for my parents. Shortly after Sean lost his job (as did we all) he and his wife divorced, leaving him alone. His death was the result of a malfunction of antidepressants. Shortly after hearing of the death of Sean, I was sitting in my sisters house trying to access the Internet. When all of a sudden I was connected to the Internet. At the time I could have sworn that was Sean's way of communicating with me that all was fine and that I should not fear. I now remember that I set up my computer to save the information necessary to connect to my sisters wireless, however, I cannot deny the feeling of peace that I felt when the event occurred.
3). Dallas passed away of unknown causes. Dallas was my father's friend from church. He was a stubborn veteran, addicted to morphine due to his time in the military. One of my last memories of Dallas was on the night before crimsonnaire initiations. He was over at my house, and he knew that I was worried about whether or not I would make it. I knew that initiations would happen that night, and that knowledge alone probably made it more stressful. I had to work that night, and while I was at work I got a phone call. To my surprise it was Dallas, he asked me for my cell phone number, confused, I gave it to him. I then went and got my phone and took it into the room I was working in (shh...don't tell my boss). A few minutes later, I received a text from an unknown number that said "Hey you know that thing you was worried about, don't". It was that moment that I knew I would make it! While it took away the element of surprise, it felt really good to know that Dallas cared enough about me to go through so much effort to keep me from worrying.
I know that talking about people that have died is not really uplifting, and you might be thinking I am now some Gothic, pain-loving weirdo...but I am not, sorry to disappoint you. I do have a reason. These three individuals all taught me important life lessons about what is important. From Brother Wiggins I gained a stronger testimony of the importance of following the promptings of the spirit. From Sean I became more sure that death is not a thing to fear because it will all be okay in the end. And finally from Dallas I have yet another example of how important it is to take the time to show others that we care about them. While caught in the whirlwind of life, it is easy to forget what really matters. It is only when we take the time to stop and think that we realize what we have been doing is insignificant in the larger scheme of things.
Until later,
Reevaluating what is important
Saturday, May 29, 2010
When I grow up I wanna be...
...I wish I knew...
About a month ago I finished my first year at Brigham Young University. It was amazing, I met the most amazing friends! And was blessed so many times. I can't even begin to give justice to all the blessings I received at school. I mean the car, my roommates, my jobs, understanding what I was studying, having enough time, getting to play Belle, etc. And no I was not blessed with the stereotypical BYU experience of being proposed to during my first semester...thank heavens (literally)! And unfortunately they do not hand out personalized liahonas that point us to the correct major and eternal companion, so now I am left to figure it all out on my own!
Here are the ideas I have come up with so far:
1. Music with emphasis in vocal performance- Singing is one of the most important things in my life, I don't know where I would be without it. However there is not a whole lot you can do with a degree in music except teach(and seeing as how most schools are cutting their music programs this would be difficult), or perform (and since I doubt I could ever make it big in the music industry this is not a very plausible idea). So getting this degree would be more just for the sake of getting the degree and mastering the art and talent I have been given.
2. School of Family Life with emphasis in human development- I love little kids! They are so amazing, full of love and light. Working with little kids has always been one of my greatest joys. My only hesitation is that if I get this degree at BYU I look like the typical girl that is really just looking for her RM and who just wants to be the perfect little wife and mother. Don't get me wrong, I want to get married, and have children but I hate it when people just try to meet everyone's expectations instead of figuring out who they really are. I know that I would get this degree with the right reasons but I don't want people to assume I am just some ditsy little girl.
3. Biology-Last semester I got a job as a Biology 100 TA for Dr. Riley Nelson. It was one of the biggest blessings of my college experience. I had never really considered this as option before I got the job, but now that I have it I realize how much I love it. I remember in high school spending hours studying biology (drawing out the charts, and rewriting all the definition, etc.). I love that I can look at things and question why they work the way they do, and I love that biology gives us a lot of these answers. I love how it all is so intricate and ornate. I would love to travel to beautiful places around the world and just learn about nature and the life there.
4. Business- This idea comes from always wanting to grow up and go to work in New York City in my pencil skirt and adorable blouse. I can just see myself working in a big building in the big city and loving every minute of of it. However, I am a little worried that it is not as glamorous as it all seems, and for all I know I could end up hating it.
5. Recreational Management- I would love to be an event planner and decorate weddings, dinners, or anything. This would probably be the most stressful but rewarding of all the ideas I have. I mean to watch everything you have planned come together (not perfectly) but to come together and to somehow work out is amazing. I know I could do something with this degree but I also know it would be difficult to get going with it.
6. Law- Ever since I watched Legally Blonde for the first time, I have wanted to be a lawyer. I find it fascinating how laws work, and I see so many flaws in our current system that I would love to be able to help correct. However, I don't know if I really want to be in school that long...
Six options and I still have no clue as to which one I should pursue. So for now I have been taking classes that are just general education (not even directing them towards any particular major). I am completely at a loss...
Until later,
Undecided
About a month ago I finished my first year at Brigham Young University. It was amazing, I met the most amazing friends! And was blessed so many times. I can't even begin to give justice to all the blessings I received at school. I mean the car, my roommates, my jobs, understanding what I was studying, having enough time, getting to play Belle, etc. And no I was not blessed with the stereotypical BYU experience of being proposed to during my first semester...thank heavens (literally)! And unfortunately they do not hand out personalized liahonas that point us to the correct major and eternal companion, so now I am left to figure it all out on my own!
Here are the ideas I have come up with so far:
1. Music with emphasis in vocal performance- Singing is one of the most important things in my life, I don't know where I would be without it. However there is not a whole lot you can do with a degree in music except teach(and seeing as how most schools are cutting their music programs this would be difficult), or perform (and since I doubt I could ever make it big in the music industry this is not a very plausible idea). So getting this degree would be more just for the sake of getting the degree and mastering the art and talent I have been given.
2. School of Family Life with emphasis in human development- I love little kids! They are so amazing, full of love and light. Working with little kids has always been one of my greatest joys. My only hesitation is that if I get this degree at BYU I look like the typical girl that is really just looking for her RM and who just wants to be the perfect little wife and mother. Don't get me wrong, I want to get married, and have children but I hate it when people just try to meet everyone's expectations instead of figuring out who they really are. I know that I would get this degree with the right reasons but I don't want people to assume I am just some ditsy little girl.
3. Biology-Last semester I got a job as a Biology 100 TA for Dr. Riley Nelson. It was one of the biggest blessings of my college experience. I had never really considered this as option before I got the job, but now that I have it I realize how much I love it. I remember in high school spending hours studying biology (drawing out the charts, and rewriting all the definition, etc.). I love that I can look at things and question why they work the way they do, and I love that biology gives us a lot of these answers. I love how it all is so intricate and ornate. I would love to travel to beautiful places around the world and just learn about nature and the life there.
4. Business- This idea comes from always wanting to grow up and go to work in New York City in my pencil skirt and adorable blouse. I can just see myself working in a big building in the big city and loving every minute of of it. However, I am a little worried that it is not as glamorous as it all seems, and for all I know I could end up hating it.
5. Recreational Management- I would love to be an event planner and decorate weddings, dinners, or anything. This would probably be the most stressful but rewarding of all the ideas I have. I mean to watch everything you have planned come together (not perfectly) but to come together and to somehow work out is amazing. I know I could do something with this degree but I also know it would be difficult to get going with it.
6. Law- Ever since I watched Legally Blonde for the first time, I have wanted to be a lawyer. I find it fascinating how laws work, and I see so many flaws in our current system that I would love to be able to help correct. However, I don't know if I really want to be in school that long...
Six options and I still have no clue as to which one I should pursue. So for now I have been taking classes that are just general education (not even directing them towards any particular major). I am completely at a loss...
Until later,
Undecided
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Invasion
I have this little fear of things being in my personal space (like my bedroom, or bathroom) that just don't belong there. I mean its one thing for inanimate objects to be out of place, but it is an entirely different story when it is living. Don't get my wrong, I love insects and spiders, but only when they are in a jar, outside (no where close to touching me), or dead. I don't go stomping around in their bedrooms (at least I try not to) so they have absolutely no right to invade mine!
My bedroom at home had always seemed to be a hot spot for spiders to go on such missions. I am not sure why, but this has always been the case. Just since I have been home from college, there have been two found in my room, and the only spiders I had in my room at school were because of my Nature Experience and were safely double bagged and dead.
Two nights ago occurred one of these battles...
I was lying in bed reading Pride and Prejudice when I glanced up and saw the invader. I threw the book to the side, remembering to save my place of course, and jumped out of bed. I knew that my dad was still awake so I thought I would pull a "daddy will you save my from the big nasty spider card". It worked, we pulled out our weapon of war (the Swiffer) and proceeded to the site of the battle. Swiffer in hand, my dad made the first strike, slamming the head of the Swiffer onto the ceiling, which was a mere causality because of our textured ceilings. So a second strike was made, this time in addition to the initial hit a sliding motion was added (in effort to move the spider to a more convenient killing location). However, all that happened was the spider fell from the ceiling and could not be located. My father insisted that it was dead, however, I could feel the 12 little beady eyes still watching me and waiting till the coast was clear. Upon deciding I could not give up the search, I got down on my hands and knees and looked everywhere under and around my nightstand. It was difficult to see under the nightstand in the dark, however after much searching, I spotted the enemy, he was hiding in the shadow by the leg of my nightstand. Taking the Swiffer, I struck a blow onto the carpet but the nasty little thing merely used the carpet padding to reduce the impact. He then moved to a much larger "safe zone" under the nightstand. I then found his new location, and prepared to strike again, when this strike was carried out, I added more pressure to compensate for the carpet. That's when I heard the Swiffer crack, and break....causing a serious advantage for the spider. However, reinforcement came when my father returned to check on the situation. It turns out we had to pull out the nightstand to find the spider and my father killed him with his bare hands. I then put the nightstand back, said some heartfelt prayers that I would be safe from spiders, and went to bed.
I swear that somewhere in my house is a spider military headquarters, and they keep sending in bigger and quicker men to attack my room. I can just hear them now, "Another man down, we are going to have to up our forces and try again, lets send in the big guns". You might think this is ridiculous, however, I am quite positive that I am right. And how do I know this? Well you see...yesterday I was taking a shower, blissfully unaware of any spider activity, when I turn off the water, reach for my towel, look up and see a freaking huge spider right above the towel rack. And I don't know about you but I think there is just something wrong about that, I mean the two places I go and close my eyes for extended periods of time are the two places that they decide are great to explore, NOT OK with me! I mean its just wrong! Morally, and ethically wrong.
I am now determined to clean every surface of my bedroom (walls, carpet, ceiling, closet, and dusting everything) just to be sure there is not a permanent base anywhere. I have also considered bug bombing the room, but that just smells and would probably give the spider eggs immunity to it and make them stronger and harder to kill (and we all know that would not be good thing). SO for now I will continue cleaning and destroying any intruders I come across.
Until later,
Invaded
My bedroom at home had always seemed to be a hot spot for spiders to go on such missions. I am not sure why, but this has always been the case. Just since I have been home from college, there have been two found in my room, and the only spiders I had in my room at school were because of my Nature Experience and were safely double bagged and dead.
Two nights ago occurred one of these battles...
I was lying in bed reading Pride and Prejudice when I glanced up and saw the invader. I threw the book to the side, remembering to save my place of course, and jumped out of bed. I knew that my dad was still awake so I thought I would pull a "daddy will you save my from the big nasty spider card". It worked, we pulled out our weapon of war (the Swiffer) and proceeded to the site of the battle. Swiffer in hand, my dad made the first strike, slamming the head of the Swiffer onto the ceiling, which was a mere causality because of our textured ceilings. So a second strike was made, this time in addition to the initial hit a sliding motion was added (in effort to move the spider to a more convenient killing location). However, all that happened was the spider fell from the ceiling and could not be located. My father insisted that it was dead, however, I could feel the 12 little beady eyes still watching me and waiting till the coast was clear. Upon deciding I could not give up the search, I got down on my hands and knees and looked everywhere under and around my nightstand. It was difficult to see under the nightstand in the dark, however after much searching, I spotted the enemy, he was hiding in the shadow by the leg of my nightstand. Taking the Swiffer, I struck a blow onto the carpet but the nasty little thing merely used the carpet padding to reduce the impact. He then moved to a much larger "safe zone" under the nightstand. I then found his new location, and prepared to strike again, when this strike was carried out, I added more pressure to compensate for the carpet. That's when I heard the Swiffer crack, and break....causing a serious advantage for the spider. However, reinforcement came when my father returned to check on the situation. It turns out we had to pull out the nightstand to find the spider and my father killed him with his bare hands. I then put the nightstand back, said some heartfelt prayers that I would be safe from spiders, and went to bed.
I swear that somewhere in my house is a spider military headquarters, and they keep sending in bigger and quicker men to attack my room. I can just hear them now, "Another man down, we are going to have to up our forces and try again, lets send in the big guns". You might think this is ridiculous, however, I am quite positive that I am right. And how do I know this? Well you see...yesterday I was taking a shower, blissfully unaware of any spider activity, when I turn off the water, reach for my towel, look up and see a freaking huge spider right above the towel rack. And I don't know about you but I think there is just something wrong about that, I mean the two places I go and close my eyes for extended periods of time are the two places that they decide are great to explore, NOT OK with me! I mean its just wrong! Morally, and ethically wrong.
I am now determined to clean every surface of my bedroom (walls, carpet, ceiling, closet, and dusting everything) just to be sure there is not a permanent base anywhere. I have also considered bug bombing the room, but that just smells and would probably give the spider eggs immunity to it and make them stronger and harder to kill (and we all know that would not be good thing). SO for now I will continue cleaning and destroying any intruders I come across.
Until later,
Invaded
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Why my summer job puts yours to shame...
I work at ClubSport Oregon Kidsworld, it is basically the best job in the world. Kidsworld is the daycare at ClubSport Oregon, we watch children while their parents use the club. Here are the first twenty reasons why I love my summer job!
1. The semi-dramatic staff-adds an element of pure entertainment. I mean hearing stories about some of the things people have done, oh I love it!
2. I get paid to play with kids, to act like a kid, and sometimes to just sit in a room holding an adorable baby.
3. The members scandals...I can't tell you how many members have left their spouse for another person, leaving behind trails of dirt that make it impossible to not know the story. Its really awesome when they go through two wives, both of which are still members of the club and see them regularly.
4. Walking into a room and hearing "Hello Teacher" "Wanna play with me?" or anything else that the kids say.
5. Having a mom drive past you as you walk out to your car, stop, backup and roll down her windows just to tell you that as she drove past, her youngest little girl says "mommy I really love that girl", and her older daughter say "Yeah me too". Breaks my heart to hear things like that.
6. When you babysit for kids one night (where they just sleep and see you for maybe a grand total of 10minutes) and you see them the next day and they remember you. Every time you walk in the room they run up and grab your legs. When you are finally zoned in the room with them, they want to play with you the whole time. So then when its time to go, you say "OK I have to go home now, I will miss you" And they respond "No I don't want you to leave me. Stay!" I don't even know why the kid likes me so much, but I don't mind it.
7. Free membership to one of the best fitness clubs in Oregon.
8. 25% discount on food in the restaurant, which is all delicious.
9. I can get as many hours or as few hours as I want...there are always people willing to cover shifts, and always people who don't want to work.
10. As you might already know...I really like to be in charge/in control of things, so when at 16 years old I was allowed to supervise Parents Escape (the night the parents drop off their kids and leave) I knew the job was meant for me.
11. Awesome hours, I mean it is not possible for me to ever work before 7:30am, or after 8:15pm (unless it is P.E. which goes until 9:45pm). But this really beats working until midnight, or later (*cough* Catering), or having to to bring work home and finish it along with all the other things I have to do (ummm...Biology).
12. Extremely simple and fun, yet never boring. OK sometimes its boring, but you have the choice to make it as fun as you want it to be.
13. I have to opportunity to see the look on parents faces when I make their day with a hilarious story about their kid.
14. Waking up babies because their parents are there to pick them up and watching their faces as they try to figure out what is going on.
15. Opens the door to the BEST babysitting jobs ever!!! (Well almost the best, babysitting my nieces and nephews still wins)
16. You see different kids everyday, and they are only there for two hours, so if you get tired of them, you can count down the time until they leave, but usually another kid you like comes and distracts you.
17. You get to sing little babies to sleep.
18. SO many twins!!! I love twins! Right now we have like 7 sets of twins that come consistently.
19. Bubbles!! I get paid to blow bubbles and watch the trance that comes over children when they see the bubbles.
20. The uniform, I know a lot of people that have to wear ridiculous uniforms to work. Usually they are either embarrassing, uncomfortable, or smell funny. Mine uniform consists of black Adidas Warm-Up pants, a blue jersey, a black Adidas zip-up jacket, and Adidas tennis shoes...comfortable, fairly normal looking, and don't smell bad (unless you don't wash them, but that's your fault then).
Don't worry, there will be more!
Until later,
Happily Employed
1. The semi-dramatic staff-adds an element of pure entertainment. I mean hearing stories about some of the things people have done, oh I love it!
2. I get paid to play with kids, to act like a kid, and sometimes to just sit in a room holding an adorable baby.
3. The members scandals...I can't tell you how many members have left their spouse for another person, leaving behind trails of dirt that make it impossible to not know the story. Its really awesome when they go through two wives, both of which are still members of the club and see them regularly.
4. Walking into a room and hearing "Hello Teacher" "Wanna play with me?" or anything else that the kids say.
5. Having a mom drive past you as you walk out to your car, stop, backup and roll down her windows just to tell you that as she drove past, her youngest little girl says "mommy I really love that girl", and her older daughter say "Yeah me too". Breaks my heart to hear things like that.
6. When you babysit for kids one night (where they just sleep and see you for maybe a grand total of 10minutes) and you see them the next day and they remember you. Every time you walk in the room they run up and grab your legs. When you are finally zoned in the room with them, they want to play with you the whole time. So then when its time to go, you say "OK I have to go home now, I will miss you" And they respond "No I don't want you to leave me. Stay!" I don't even know why the kid likes me so much, but I don't mind it.
7. Free membership to one of the best fitness clubs in Oregon.
8. 25% discount on food in the restaurant, which is all delicious.
9. I can get as many hours or as few hours as I want...there are always people willing to cover shifts, and always people who don't want to work.
10. As you might already know...I really like to be in charge/in control of things, so when at 16 years old I was allowed to supervise Parents Escape (the night the parents drop off their kids and leave) I knew the job was meant for me.
11. Awesome hours, I mean it is not possible for me to ever work before 7:30am, or after 8:15pm (unless it is P.E. which goes until 9:45pm). But this really beats working until midnight, or later (*cough* Catering), or having to to bring work home and finish it along with all the other things I have to do (ummm...Biology).
12. Extremely simple and fun, yet never boring. OK sometimes its boring, but you have the choice to make it as fun as you want it to be.
13. I have to opportunity to see the look on parents faces when I make their day with a hilarious story about their kid.
14. Waking up babies because their parents are there to pick them up and watching their faces as they try to figure out what is going on.
15. Opens the door to the BEST babysitting jobs ever!!! (Well almost the best, babysitting my nieces and nephews still wins)
16. You see different kids everyday, and they are only there for two hours, so if you get tired of them, you can count down the time until they leave, but usually another kid you like comes and distracts you.
17. You get to sing little babies to sleep.
18. SO many twins!!! I love twins! Right now we have like 7 sets of twins that come consistently.
19. Bubbles!! I get paid to blow bubbles and watch the trance that comes over children when they see the bubbles.
20. The uniform, I know a lot of people that have to wear ridiculous uniforms to work. Usually they are either embarrassing, uncomfortable, or smell funny. Mine uniform consists of black Adidas Warm-Up pants, a blue jersey, a black Adidas zip-up jacket, and Adidas tennis shoes...comfortable, fairly normal looking, and don't smell bad (unless you don't wash them, but that's your fault then).
Don't worry, there will be more!
Until later,
Happily Employed
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Source of the Name
Many people ask where the name Matha Trigg comes from. No, it is not missing an R. No, I am not a math genius. Yes, my pseudo middle name is Lily. Yes, many people have believed this is my real name, but, not it is not. You see the name comes with a story... an all together simple story. However, it seems to have withstood the test of time...thus far at least...as of yet, it is the only name other than my given name that has stuck. The story goes a little something like this...
Phase 1: The first name
At a mere 15 years of age, I went to Especially for Youth (more commonly known as EFY) with my friends Susanna, Aubrey, and Kelsey. EFY is a church camp for youth 14-18 years old. My favorite place to go to EFY was in Tacoma, WA at Puget Sound University. So as could be expected, the most important thing there was finding some hot older guy to crush on, I had my share (one for each year)...lets see there was Nick (the dreamy pianist), Tyler (the awkwardly cute boy from the middle of nowhere), and Kory (the older and more mature counselor)..but that's not really part of the story. Anyways, the first year I went, was the year that math camp was being hosted on the same campus. I don't know about you but math camp isn't exactly my idea of summer vacation. And being the immature 15 year olds that we were, we found it hilarious to mock the math genius' (never to their face, but amongst friends). So at lunch one day we were goofing around and somehow came up with the hilarious idea to walk up to a math camper and introduce ourselves as Matha (with as hick of an accent as you could get).
Phase 2:Finishing the name
I am not sure if it was the same summer, or a year later, but the rest of the development occurred at Girls Camp. I recall being on our yearly hike with Aubree Lee, Susanna Gardner, and Aubrey Wiggins. We were talking to an elderly gentleman we liked to call Papa Roo (not sure where his name came from). But we convinced him that I was named Matha Lily Trigg, with a boyfriend named George. We had tons of detail about my alternate identity that I don't remember now, but the important thing that came from this all was the full name.
Phase 3: Trial
During my sophomore year of high school, the choir travelled to Jamestown, VA to sing at the 400th Anniversary of the Settling of Jamestown. While we were there a chaperon asked for our names, I think it was something to do with getting money back for lunch. Anyways, being the brat that I am, I told her my name was Matha Trigg with as straight a face as I could muster. And it worked, she believed me. And it became official, the name was the perfect alias.
That is about it for the development of my pseudonym Matha Trigg. I use it in any situation I deem worthy of a fake name...creepy people I meet, awkward situations, times when I am just bored and feel like messing with someones head, etc. I believe everyone should have a backup name just in case. I know mine....do you know yours?
Until later,
Matha Trigg
Phase 1: The first name
At a mere 15 years of age, I went to Especially for Youth (more commonly known as EFY) with my friends Susanna, Aubrey, and Kelsey. EFY is a church camp for youth 14-18 years old. My favorite place to go to EFY was in Tacoma, WA at Puget Sound University. So as could be expected, the most important thing there was finding some hot older guy to crush on, I had my share (one for each year)...lets see there was Nick (the dreamy pianist), Tyler (the awkwardly cute boy from the middle of nowhere), and Kory (the older and more mature counselor)..but that's not really part of the story. Anyways, the first year I went, was the year that math camp was being hosted on the same campus. I don't know about you but math camp isn't exactly my idea of summer vacation. And being the immature 15 year olds that we were, we found it hilarious to mock the math genius' (never to their face, but amongst friends). So at lunch one day we were goofing around and somehow came up with the hilarious idea to walk up to a math camper and introduce ourselves as Matha (with as hick of an accent as you could get).
Phase 2:Finishing the name
I am not sure if it was the same summer, or a year later, but the rest of the development occurred at Girls Camp. I recall being on our yearly hike with Aubree Lee, Susanna Gardner, and Aubrey Wiggins. We were talking to an elderly gentleman we liked to call Papa Roo (not sure where his name came from). But we convinced him that I was named Matha Lily Trigg, with a boyfriend named George. We had tons of detail about my alternate identity that I don't remember now, but the important thing that came from this all was the full name.
Phase 3: Trial
During my sophomore year of high school, the choir travelled to Jamestown, VA to sing at the 400th Anniversary of the Settling of Jamestown. While we were there a chaperon asked for our names, I think it was something to do with getting money back for lunch. Anyways, being the brat that I am, I told her my name was Matha Trigg with as straight a face as I could muster. And it worked, she believed me. And it became official, the name was the perfect alias.
That is about it for the development of my pseudonym Matha Trigg. I use it in any situation I deem worthy of a fake name...creepy people I meet, awkward situations, times when I am just bored and feel like messing with someones head, etc. I believe everyone should have a backup name just in case. I know mine....do you know yours?
Until later,
Matha Trigg
Friday, May 14, 2010
No pain, no gain
Currently, I cannot stand up straight, sit down, walk, roll over in bed, stand up, cough, or do anything, except lie flat on my back ,without my abdominal muscles practically killing me! You see it all started because of pride....its a nasty thing that pride...ruined many a nation, person, and the ability to stand normally (in my case at least).
You see, it all started after work on Wednesday, I took my workout clothing and decided that it would be wise to get in a workout between shifts. So I stair-mastered it up for a splendid 45 freaking minutes (which was only possible because of the wonderful distraction of a book). Then once I was thoroughly sweating through my t-shirt and the 45 minutes was over, I felt like I needed to do more (like 45 minutes on the StairMaster isn't good enough!!!). So I decided that the rowing machine would be a good way to switch up my workout a bit. 1000m and 6minutes later, I remembered how much the rowing machine focuses on the back muscles, so I thought it would be wise to counteract that with some good ol' fashioned crunches. Only the crunches I did were not old fashioned, (this is where pride comes in) thinking I could handle it, I decided that the elevated hanging-upside-down crunches would be a good idea. Started out strong, and finished 25 easy. (Pride enters again) I then began the second set of 25 (BIG MISTAKE!!!)...
I could feel the pain coming on that night, but it was too late already. Yesterday, was significantly worse, and then today I decided that I needed another workout (despite the amount of pain and soreness from Wednesday).
Today I ran for 33min on the treadmill, and then did the StairMaster for 33min. Realizing that it was mostly my upper abs that were sore, I figured I would workout my lower abs. (Probably not the best plan) So I did some knee raises, and some abdominal rotations, and some toe taps on an exercise ball.
And thus, we have my current condition...barely able to walk, sit, stand, move, etc. without being in pain. I still do whatever needs to be done, but it sure doesn't feel good. However, I am convinced that this too shall pass. And while I know I will only get more sore over the next few days, I know that the pain means improvement. It is things like this that help me to keep perspective of trials throughout life, for trials are placed in our lives to make us stronger, and even though it sucks, you do what you need to do to make it through and come out a better person. I am just hoping that I can keep up on the working out part, so that I don't lose all the progress I have made.
Until later,
in pain
You see, it all started after work on Wednesday, I took my workout clothing and decided that it would be wise to get in a workout between shifts. So I stair-mastered it up for a splendid 45 freaking minutes (which was only possible because of the wonderful distraction of a book). Then once I was thoroughly sweating through my t-shirt and the 45 minutes was over, I felt like I needed to do more (like 45 minutes on the StairMaster isn't good enough!!!). So I decided that the rowing machine would be a good way to switch up my workout a bit. 1000m and 6minutes later, I remembered how much the rowing machine focuses on the back muscles, so I thought it would be wise to counteract that with some good ol' fashioned crunches. Only the crunches I did were not old fashioned, (this is where pride comes in) thinking I could handle it, I decided that the elevated hanging-upside-down crunches would be a good idea. Started out strong, and finished 25 easy. (Pride enters again) I then began the second set of 25 (BIG MISTAKE!!!)...
I could feel the pain coming on that night, but it was too late already. Yesterday, was significantly worse, and then today I decided that I needed another workout (despite the amount of pain and soreness from Wednesday).
Today I ran for 33min on the treadmill, and then did the StairMaster for 33min. Realizing that it was mostly my upper abs that were sore, I figured I would workout my lower abs. (Probably not the best plan) So I did some knee raises, and some abdominal rotations, and some toe taps on an exercise ball.
And thus, we have my current condition...barely able to walk, sit, stand, move, etc. without being in pain. I still do whatever needs to be done, but it sure doesn't feel good. However, I am convinced that this too shall pass. And while I know I will only get more sore over the next few days, I know that the pain means improvement. It is things like this that help me to keep perspective of trials throughout life, for trials are placed in our lives to make us stronger, and even though it sucks, you do what you need to do to make it through and come out a better person. I am just hoping that I can keep up on the working out part, so that I don't lose all the progress I have made.
Until later,
in pain
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