For every blade of grass

There are some moments in life that force you to step back and really take a good look at everything.  It's easy to get caught up in asking questions, "why?", "how?", "what?!"

I've always thought that life doesn't turn out how you plan it, and I stand by that.  Sometimes it turns out better, and sometimes worse. 

This is a week for me that has brought me down to the level where the fog of my standard, routine life is swept away and I actually open my eyes and start to appreciate everything around me. 

It's one of those moments when all reasoning and logic say that I should be miserable, distraught, and feeling like a tiny speck again...but, I don't. 

I spent part of the day sitting on the grass looking at shapes in the clouds, admiring sunsets, and swinging on a playground. As I let my mind wander, I realized that everything around me was beautiful.  I know that sounds like a story carved out of straight CHEESE, and I'm not trying to be over the top, but it was just nice.  Really nice.

I sat in the grass and felt each tiny little blade brush against my hand.  A friend had just joked with me earlier that I needed to count my blessings.  So I did.  I started thinking of little things in that moment, like looking at cloud shapes, enjoying sunsets, and having a listening ear.  Then I slowly branched out to my friends, my family, and all the people that I care about.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that there are an infinite number of things that we can appreciate, which are only ever limited by the walls in our mind. 

Take for example, the little potato bug crawling across the sidewalk, seemingly insignificant.  I'm my mind, I wouldn't think of it as terribly remarkable in any way.....until I remember that when I was little, these little rolly-polly bugs entertained me for hours.  I thought they were the funniest things; I'd always try to pick them up without having them curl up into their protective shell.

I suddenly realize that I’m smiling – remembering something as small as a little potato bug – and to me, that just proves the point that things to appreciate are almost innumerable; as if for every blade of grass, there is a blessing.



Sometimes I run into walls

So once upon a time I went to red robin with a favorite lunchtime buddy and walked right into the plastic wall of the revolving door.  Yes, it's plastic - I can now confirm this to anyone who may have previously wondered.
Needless to say I was totally embarrassed, but luckily my giant red spot on my head probably blended well as my entire face turned a blushing shade of pink.  After recovering from a small laughing attack I realized I hadn't laughed that hard at myself in a while.

While trying to find an accurate way to describe my experience I found this:

Justin Bieber did it too!  I feel your pain little man (although I don't know if I said "ow" as many times.)
Those revolving doors are tricky little things!  I'm just thankful that my experience is not recorded and shared for the world to see.
So, if you go do something foolish go ahead and laugh about it - It's contagious!  And if you don't believe me, here's a video to prove it - I doubt you'll keep from smiling at these ones:

the five and jive

Today I've been in a surprisingly chipper mood which is unexpected given my slight melt-down yesterday, but when you have good people lifting you back up, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise.

Anyway, in this new and improved attitude, I've been noticing the little things today.

For example,

BYU campus in Provo Utah may be the one place where high-fives are a standard salutation.  I noticed a prime example of this today when I saw a little nerdy guy outside the library talking to a cute girl.  It was apparent that he was nervous, and he had this little shaky laugh that gave it away, but I think his dimples made up for it.  Anyway, the girl was really nice and you could tell she was trying to make him feel comfortable.  As I got closer the guy said he had to go and in a moment of what I can only imagine to be part panic, part blackout, he gave the girl a high five and walked away. 
Ok, if you go to BYU I know you've seen this.  Maybe you've even been on the receiving end of this.  Really happy people are particularly prone to it. 

There they are saying goodbye and they hold up their hand......

 In your mind you may be thinking..."really?"..."oh dear"...or even, "I haven't done this since 6th grade, I hope I don't miss", but your general respect for the other person usually makes completing the high-five absolutely necessary unless you want to insult them.

Look! - even Ryan Seacrest does it:

Another classic example of the Provo high-five fever is between runners.  Yes, I have to confess again - I've been part of this, but in my defense it was only on the receiving end!!! 
Honestly I thought they were just waving, so I sort of gave a wave back and all the sudden he hit my hand! I wasn't expecting it, so I have to say it was a really sloppy high-five.

I don't run on a regular basis, I only run when I feel the need to get away from everything.  Given this fact, I don't know if there is some kind of "runner's code" or "pact" that I am completely oblivious to.

This guy in the black even threw in the "live long and prosper". Fancy pants. Some people know all the variations of high fives. They actually have names; the jellyfish, the bomb, around the world, too slow (yes, there are memories with that one that make me slightly bitter ;) see?  High-fives are still cool.  Are you into the high-five jive?

Serendipitous Spring

     First off, the start of Spring has been an interesting experience.  I had four days between winter semester and starting up spring term.  I tried to cram as much fun into those four days as possible, and well - I was pretty successful thanks to Sarah Ludlow and her purple car...yes, it's purple.  Then I came back to Provo and it snowed....that really got me in the great an happy mood to start school again (ya, right).

     For Spring term I get to spend my lunch break sitting through Organic and Biochemisty for two hours everyday.  I go to work, I go to class, I go back to work.   These classes move fast, and we fly through chapters introducing new material everyday.  After 6 days of this, I already get to take my first test...that is a more than a little scary.   I've had to learn a whole new language already- I've learned to speak "Chemese".  Ya, I know you think that's a made up language, but try this:

This is called: 2-butanone  ya, not bad, right?......

and then there's this:



This on the other hand turns out to be: 18-bromo-11-chloro-4,8-diethyl-5-hydroxy-15-methoxy-12-propyltricos-6,3-diene-19-yne-3,9-dione.

     Yep. and these don't even include the higher funtional groups, or cyclo groups, or thiol groups, or phenyl groups.....(see I'm speaking a different language, right? :)

I think I could put "Chemese" on my facebook 'languages' now.  So why would I do this you ask?  Well, honestly I do sometimes enjoy it, but in the bigger picture-it's the last class I need to apply to my major - which I am doing right now.

     In other news, I've been thinking a lot lately on how much timing plays a role in life.  I'm used to hearing that phrase "timing is everything", but honestly - the more I live- the more I believe it.  Where we are and when is the foundation for everything that we do, everything that happens to us - it's the direction that we take.  I think we've all had experiences where we've either been in the right place at the right time, or the opposite and we think "if only I had been this much earlier/later then.....".  For example, a few weeks ago, I was going up to Salt Lake.  I ran into some friends on my way out of town and I stopped to talk to them.  I don't know how long we talked, but I said goodbye and started on my way to Salt Lake, but as I stopped to make a turn, there was a pedestrian who walked right in front of my car that was one of the last people I had ever wanted to see on that day.  WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THAT!?  I talked to my friends for just the right amount of time that a single pedestrian walking across a fairly narrow road happens to be there RIGHT as I pull up, and is someone I wasn't entirely comfortable seeing?  It ALL came down to timing. 

It's like that movie - serendipity where they meet and then never see each other again until right before they're both supposed to get married - I mean, what are the chances of that?  I know it's not real, but it's the same idea - it's all based on timing.

 In the movie they explain timing with the idea of "fate" or "destiny" This ties into the question, "do coincidences exist, or does everything happen for a reason?"   I haven't figured that out yet, but I can pin down individual points in time that have led me to be exactly where I am right now...this state, this town, this city and even this desk right now at this computer...

     I am extremely interested to know what it will be like to look back on my life when I'm old and wrinkly, and see how all these small individual moments of timing add together to create the story of my life.  Where will things lead me in the future?  It's an interesting thought.  I'm not saying that our lives are out of our control, I mean, I make choices everyday, and these choices ultimately steer me in one direction or another, but each choice is made at a particular moment in time - and the timing has just as much weight as the actual choice.  So how's timing working out for you?

30 before Thirty

My brother Chris told me about his "30 before Thirty" list once.  He had just been skydiving and said that it was something he could now cross off the list.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought to myself, "what would I do?"  It's been months just adding little things that randomly came to me.  I went out to dinner with him again and talked about this list.  He still has a few things to do, but he's done a pretty good job considering he started it when he was 28.  For me, I thought, what better time than my twentieth birthday to set this list in motion?

Anyway,  I tried to make this list as original as possible- things that I, myself, truly want to accomplish.  So, without further ado, here is a glimpse into the hopes and dreams swimming around in my mind in no particular order: 

1. Read the complete works of Jane Austen again 

2. Pass the RN examination

3. Play the Bach Prelude in the middle of an open field on a clear summer day

4.Go sledding (That's right - I have never been sledding)

5. Become a better swing dancer (not be scared of lifts)

6. Train a guide dog

7. Move out of Utah - preferably to some place warm

8. Start my 401k plan

9. Go to Harry Potter Land - this one is a must

10. Ride a horse on the beach

11. Watch a show on Broadway

12. Learn Claire De Lune on the piano

13. Study abroad

14. Make Sarah Ludlow a beard hat

15. Make a delicious souffle

16. Go Skydiving

17. Make it to Europe, and eat crepes

18. Scuba Dive or Snorkel

19. Make it to at least 4 continents

20. Sew a new dress

21. Go on a cruise

22. Watch a life be saved/save a life (in the hospital)

23. Go hunting -and yes, I would shoot

24. See Adele in concert

25. Try a cold weather sport - skiing, snowboarding, ice skating

26. Do overseas service or be a volunteer nurse after a natural disaster.

27. Drive a race car

28. Learn french - this is so I can live in France later :)

29. Find someone I love, and don't let them go.

30. Start a family

So here's to the beginning of the next ten years of my life.  Hopefully I can accomplish a lot of these seemingly scattered and rather eclectic tasks with as many friends as possible.  I'm looking forward to all of them!   When I read over this I immediately start to think which ones I can do right now! (like make Sarah her beard hat). 

Ten years may seem like a long time, but hey, I've already done it twice right?

I know that perhaps some of these things won't happen in the next ten years.  It's not a list of "do -or-die" but more of a, "I will try" kind of thing.
So here I go, to try new things! That's how we learn and grow right? 

Who said growing experiences couldn't be fun? :)

Making this list reminded me of how many opportunities can be around us all the time if we search for them.  Although this is a great and exciting list to me, there is on thing it doesn't mention - the people that I want to be involved in this with me.  Sure I want to accomplish all these things, but it will be all the better to accomplish them with my friends, making great memories that I'll have forever.  Thank goodness there are other people in our lives!

  

Hiccups

Hokay,

Let me start off by saying that having hiccups while at work is terribly inconvenient.  Working as a receptionist requires you to talk to people, and while I tend to be a generally quiet person, I don't control the volume of calls that comes to the office.  It's very hard to try and answer peoples questions while sounding like you're periodically being pinched or something.  After one particular call ending with laughter ringing through the handset, I decided I might want to try getting a drink of water.  This reminded me of a trick my Mom told me to try once, which was to drink out of the opposite side of my glass upside down.

To be honest, I sat there considering it for a moment, eyeing the drawer where we keep extra paper cups, but after imagining myself looking like this ^^^^ in my own heels and skirt....well....

In the end, I just went to the drinking fountain and chuged water as fast as possible, imagining that I was "swallowing" my hiccups. 
That worked.
....for 25 minutes.....
needless to say, the day ended with some laughs on the phone and with friends, leaving me to feel like this:
(I think you can guess which one is me)

Movies, Crepes, and Mom

   This weekend was practically perfect in every way.  I was invited to see Peter Pan, which turned out to be a great production by BYU, and then had a great time at a ward activity; but the greatest part of this weekend was a surprise visit by my Mom.  Some kids say they had a rough childhood with their parents, but as for me and my Mom - we are best friends.  We would go bowling, go to the library, spend nights watching movies, and stay up late studying for school together.  This weekend was a walk down memory lane.
    This morning we went to Salt Lake to visit family for a baptism.  My Mom, her brother, and several of her sisters had a fun time catching up and visiting; they're always fun to be around.
In the afternoon, we decided to go see Tangled.  I have to say that when I saw the trailer for this movie, I was skeptical.  After seeing it however, I have come to the conclusion that this is one of my favorite animated movies.  Ever. 

     Since we were so close to Sandy, we decided to go to Jordan Commons, which has one of the greatest theaters I have ever been to.  Why?  Several reasons:
First, you don't have to wait in line for tickets OR concessions.  You can buy both from electronic stations...yes BOTH. 
Second, your soda selection is exponentially magnified.  How?  Introducing Coke's new Freestyle beverage system:

     You pick the flavors you want, and can mix as many different flavors as you can find.  For Example, I mixed  Peach Sprite, Raspberry Fanta, and Minute-Maid lemonade to create a fantastic concoction - it was delicious.
Third, they have a crepe shop.  Crepes are my favorite food, and we had them for dinner AND dessert.  My favorite included raspberries, blackberries, Nutella and whipped cream; this is my soul food :)

     After our movie, drinks, and crepes, we wandered around chatting for a little while until we decided that what we really wanted to do was see another movie....so we did.  Movies are definitely something that my family has grown to love, and at home we have over 365 movies....yes, this means we could watch a new movie every day for a year and still not see them all.
     It was so much fun to just get away for a weekend with one of my best friends, and now I get to go spend the rest of the evening with my roommates and friends....Another movie?.....perhaps :)