Living Without You Hurts Me So Bad, It's Almost Like Having You Here

Dad likes to say that should be in a song and as I couldn't really think of one for today I am going to go with that one.

I have changed my blog to let anyone view it. I originally made it private because I was going to put pictures on it and I thought it might be nice for those in the pictures if I only let other friends view my posts but as you can see so far it's picture free and until I take the time to figure out how to post pics it might as well be viewable to my friends who can't login. I didn't realize that you had to have a gmail account to login but some of my friends couldn't so hopefully they will see it now.

Anyway good news in my life is........I'm going to be an Aunt again. Yep, Serge and Jenny are expecting a new addition in late April/early May. I'm super excited especially because they are visiting next summer so there will be another cute kid to play with. For those who suffer through all my stories about Andrew and Annabelle I thank and warn you- watch out, with this news you might be in for lots more stories due to my excitement. I really do love being an Aunt!

This morning is a Relief Society activity- with breakfast and games. I'm excited but already hungry so 9 o'clock seems far away. I need to go but I will leave you with a funny quote I read somewhere, "I try to take life one day at a time but sometimes several gang up and attack me all at once." That's how I felt several times this week.

I Love Technology (but only when it's working)

Did you catch the movie reference? At the end of Napoleon Dynamite when Kip and Lafawnda are getting married Kip sings, "I love technology. But not as much as you, you see. But still I love technology..." Anyway I bought a computer and was excited that I could access the Internet from the comfort of my own room and maybe be able to post consistently and check others blogs. BUT technology has a love/hate relationship with me. It loves to hate me. My Internet connection only works sporadically and is not secure so I am still blogging and reading others blogs when I visit home.

School has started up and I am busy during the week with it and then church meetings are a whole day deal for me because I am in the Relief Society presidency so I start at 9:30 with a leadership training meeting and then other meetings follow with church ending at 3:30. I will admit it has made Fast Sunday a lot easier because I am not in a place that food is just a room away but I also don't get a Sunday nap until 5 pm if I need one; which I usually do.

Oh, I just remembered I turned 25 on Monday! I mentioned it before but it has come and gone. My roommates made me a scrumptious cake and we were going to go out to dinner together but that got postponed. I have noticed that holidays and birthdays just don't have the same flair that they did when I was young and I really do mean 8 years old. Everyone asks what do you want? what do you need? And sometimes that is great because there really is something you would love to get but just can't justify buying for yourself, but in a way it has taken all the fun away. I really don't want people to read this and think I didn't appreciate the calls and birthday wishes because they were wonderful but it is funny how events change over time. Another friend was sad this year because her youngest sibling now knows the truth about the Easter bunny and so a lot of the family traditions associated with it are being dropped from now on. Reading over what I just wrote I think a lot of what I am observing is that we (each individual) needs to keep those traditions alive that have meant the most to us because over time things do change and we need to appreciate the uniqueness of where we are now. I am sure those who are parents have different birthday experiences than a single gal and I look forward to those.

Tonight I am having birthday cake with my family and then hosting a classic movie night at my apartment. I am constantly surprised with what people have and haven't seen. For those who haven't seen "The Court Jester," or other wonderful musicals I wish you could come join the girls of my Relief Society for a little culture but if you can't then watch them on your own because musicals are great.

Speaking of musical-I have always wished my name fit into the song, "Maria," from West Side Story but stretching 2 syllables into 3 doesn't sound so pretty. I mean it! For instance Kuh-ayt-lyn, is just not as flowing as A-man-da or Me-lis-sa or Ca-ssan-dra, all girls I know who- if they found the right guy- could be serenaded with that beautiful song.

I have got to go but I love you all and hope your name is 3 syllables.

I Will Survive/You Gotta Be

Really I don't know what the theme song should be for this week. The "Buddy Holly" song by Weezer has been on repeat in my head lately but I really don't know what the song is about so I don't think it qualifies. When I sat down to write this entry the song "You Gotta Be," by Des'ree came into my head and I really like that song ('you gotta be wise, you gotta be stronger, etc' the lyrics just make me feel happy. Then I thought about how I just finished the first full week of teaching this school year and am considering "I Will Survive."
I was able to get back into the groove of school pretty easily. Getting up at 6 am and being to school by 7:30 and such but man some of the kids are still mentally on vacation. I will admit kindergarteners are hilarious- you've got to love anyone who gets excited that they can pick 2 books by themselves and take them home for a week. I thought this being my 2nd year teaching would mean everything would go so much more smoothly. HA!! I think teaching is like triage, you have to focus on the most important thing and work through it before moving on. Well now that I have those most important things learned and ready all the little stuff seems to be piling up. You get good at something and another thing pops up to keep you busy; I am sure it happens in everyone's life.

Besides school I was released from my calling as RS 1st Counselor and put in as RS 2nd Counselor on the same day. What is kinda funny is the RS President I worked with first switched the responsibilities around so that the 1st counselor was over enrichment. The current RS President has the responsibilities as they are normaly laid out so I am still over enrichment. It really did make me happy because I think I have some good ideas for activities.

I got a foot zone tonight...aahhhhh (good sigh). For those unfamiliar with it I would compare it to the best foot massage you can get. The girl is from my ward and is great. I also got one for Mom and Michael. I enjoyed watching Michael, who is apparently very ticklish. Anyway foot zoning is about how different parts of you foot are connected to different parts of your body and it is supposed to release tension and stimulate areas and help you feel better. I am already part way there.

Funny story time- the former RS Presidency went out to dinner together as a good-bye and while there we of course mentioned dating and guys. I had been observing how quite a few guys in the ward had been flirting and trying to date the newest girls in the ward, which happen to be the girls who graduated from high school in June. Mentioning this I remembered that I will be turning 25 soon and started quoting a movie but apparently messed it up. What I said was, "Soon I will have better chances of marrying a serial killer." What the quote is supposed to say is that by 30 or so you have, "better chances of being murdered by a serial killer than getting married." Apparently I need to watch Sleepless in Seattle more.

When I got home after that dinner I told Michael what happened and he reminded me that Sister Oaks said her brother-in-law told her when she was turning 50 that she had better chances of getting killed by terrorists than of getting married. Luckily my brothers know better than to say such things so when I turn a quarter of a century in September I don't think I will be told any grim statistics.

The Beginning

So I have thought about starting a blog but held back for a few reasons.

One, my life is pretty boring. I look at blogs to catch up with people and get a weekly/daily dose of my niece and nephew who live across the country but I've decided this excuse won't work anymore. While I may not have an exciting life on the surface a lot of life is your attitude and perspective and when you look at it right everyone has funny and entertaining things happen to them on a daily basis so take that excuse number one.

Two, one of my brother's has wanted a few of us to jointly blog for awhile but I have turned him down several times. Sorry Jeff! I think I have been worried that I would start something and not finish it or just ignore it. Well since I decided excuse number one was no longer valid it kind of made this one obsolete also. I know that I won't be posting a lot but that's okay. Anyway those are two of the excuses I used before I finally buckled down and made the blog, now on to the good stuff.

As I do think that life should be a musical (or a soundtrack if you will) I will try to tell you what the theme song of the week is when I'm writing. Now this may sound silly but the song that has been running through my head constantly this last week is "Love Song," by Sara Bareilles. The song is actually about how she's not going to write a love song for someone just because they want one (there is a video on youtube if you want to hear it). I have heard this song almost every time I have turned on the radio these last 2 weeks. Surprisely I chose it not because I am frustrated with men but because I am frustrated with excercise. I have started excercising to the video, "30 Day Shred," and let me tell you after day one and two it is hard to use your legs because your muscles are screaming at you. Thankfully I am past that point but the routine isn't any easier, there is just less aftermath.

Every time I hear this song on the radio I think about how some people say they love to excercise and then I recall what I go through when I am really good about doing it and you know what I'm never going to love excercising. While I am never going to write a "love song" about excercising I am going to enjoy the benefits. Even though I haven't really lost weight since beginning my clothes do fit better, I have a stronger stamina, and I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that I survived another bout with Jillian Michaels (the trainer on the dvd). There are things in life we don't necessarily love doing at the time but they make our life better and happier in the end. So for all those times- I will try to remember it's not always about the here and now but quite often about the eternal.