Tonight is my final night being twenty-three. If you would have asked me back in January how I felt about this year, I would have told you it was my worst yet. From my birthday, all through the winter, I was a hot mess. I was burnt out, I was anxious, I was sad, I was angry, and I just didn't care. I felt hopeless and spent so many nights crying my eyes would swell up. I told so many people that looking back at who I was the year before, and who I was now, I was so disappointed in myself. I felt that I'd gone backwards. But tonight, I'm so proud of who I've become, what I've accomplished, and the person I am. Twenty-three was not the worst year of my life. It might actually be one of the best. I want to remember the things that I've learned in this past year. Friends- You need them. First off I wouldn't even be writing this post about how this has been a great year without the help of great friends. Back in February when I felt utterly hopeles...
Posts
It's been forever since I've written, so I thought I would give a little life update on Sammy and I. Sammy is going to graduate from school in December, and is currently studying for the GRE to go to grad school. He's thinking about getting his MPA, Masters in Public Administration. He's so excited to get his Bachelors since it's been a rough journey. I know he'll do great this last semester and can't wait to go to his graduation! He's finishing up an internship with Congressman Perlmutter on Wednesday. He's learned so much in the office and has loved every minute of it. He was able to take pictures at Veteran memorials, visit farmers to talk about water conservation, visit schools implementing new programs, and take phone calls from constituents. He received some pretty funny phone calls, one man was worried the the world was going to turn into Terminator. Sammy was set apart as the Elder's Quorum president yesterday. I know that...
Here are a few of the great jokes I came up with this week, that were under appreciated by those who had the pleasure of hearing them. I had a job interview for a promotion at work this week and was stressing in the morning about what to wear. I didn't want to stay in my fancy clothes all day long, but it would be weird/time consuming to change into a different outfit halfway through the day. I kept bouncing ideas off of Sammy who said I was fine to wear whatever. To which I said, "Well you're supposed to dress for the job you truly want, so maybe I should wear my Captain Picard jacket." I giggled to myself for a good hour about that. Thankfully some Star Trek fans at work appreciated it. Sammy has a lot of random Philosophy books laying around for finals week papers, and I saw this on the table. Sammy was eating breakfast and it was sitting right next to him. I asked him what Edward said. Sammy was confused, so I asked it again multiple ...
Remember Valentines day? Well I do. I was pretty bummed in advance of Valentines Day because it's one of my favorite holidays, and this was the first year that Sammy and I wouldn't be able to really celebrate it since I had to work all day and couldn't take it off, and Sammy had school. Sammy made it work though. The night before, there were flowers waiting for me. When I woke up in the morning, Sammy gave me a balloon. Then, he presented me with chocolates and chocolate covered cherries. While he was in the shower, I found a little tag on the floor. It said plush on it. I knew what that meant. I went to Sammy in the shower and asked him what that was about. He laughed since he'd been saving that for later in the day, but then Sammy presented me with this lovely panda. I freaking love stuffed animals and even though I have a million, I'm always willing to add another to my collection. I hugged my little friend right when cramps hit. To spend some more time ...
Anyone remember this show? I know I loved it as a kid, but looking at the pictures now is horrifying. Anyways, I'm not talking about this comfy couch, I'm talking about the one in our living room. It's one of my favorite places. The last few months, some of my favorite memories (besides Mexico of course) have been on our couch. For some reason when we're sitting there at night, we get inexplicably giggly. The other day I was lying on the couch and Sammy was eating some grapes. He wanted me to open my mouth so he could throw a grape in. I refused and caught it instead. I asked Sammy if he'd washed them and he said no. So I licked my finger and pretended to shine the grape. We both burst out giggling. Then Sammy told me that one of the weirdest thing he's observed about me in our tutelage together (that word alone had me dying) is how I clean my sunglasses. Instead of rubbing them like a normal person I lick them. We were both laughing so hard we were cryi...
I'm so thankful for all the girlfriends in my life. There are so many more than I have pictures of. I'm thankful to have friends in all stages of life, and to have someone I can turn to for each of the weird things that come my way. Back in January when I was feeling down in the dumps and hopeless, I had a perceptive friend who asked me if I'd changed birth controls recently, because a similar thing had happened to her. I went to the doctor the next day and got a different brand and immediately felt better. I have friends who are willing to sit in the corner and be introverts with. I have a friend in the same situation when it comes to thinking about kids, friends who have kids, friends who never want kids. I have friends to ask questions about making it work while your husband is in grad school, if that's a path Sammy decides to take. I have friends who push me out of my comfort zone, and hold my hand the entire way. I have friends ...
About a month ago we had chickens at the library. It's seriously been one of my favorite things we've done here. I've always wanted to incubate chicks because my sister got to in 1st grade and I was so jealous. Finally, fourteen years later, my moment came. All of us picked an egg and watched it everyday, waiting for any signs they were about to hatch. I picked a green egg because it's my favorite color. It's so good I took this picture because when the chickens had finally hatched, no one could agree on how many original eggs there were, so I was able to prove them wrong. Finally one fateful Tuesday morning, we saw a crack inside an egg. That's when the hopping from the desk to the egg began. We all took turns all day, waiting for the first chicken to hatch, which was Katie's. As soon as there was that little crack, we could hear him cheeping all the way at the desk. However, for all that cheeping, it took him seven hours to emerge. The first...
Because of my experience landing in Mexico, and my bouts with motion sickness, I was terrified to fly home. I did my best to stay calm at the airport while we waited, finished my book, almost cried happy tears at the ending, and yeah. When we were checking in, we were unexpectedly moved up to business class. I didn't think much of it until we actually got on the plane and were in the fourth row. There were only two seats, and they were HUGE! There was leg room, so much that I could get up to go to the bathroom with no problem! And there were only two seats! Then there was the perk of having our own bathroom, a full meal, a hot towel, warm nuts, and a cookie! All for free. We didn't do anything except show up to the airport early. Random woman at the airport, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! It was a much less stressful flight because of the extra room and being able to go to the bathroom. I also took allergy medication in hopes it would help my ear. Sa...
Thursday was our last full day in Mexico, and we had absolutely nothing planned. We saw a lot of animals out that morning. One of the coatis walked right next to me, and followed us into the hotel lobby. My foot for reference Iguanas, my favorite! We slept in, had a great breakfast, then headed straight to the pool where we stayed all day. I hadn't gotten a tan at all by then and I didn't want to go back home with nothing, so I decided to go with a lower sunscreen and sit out more. By lunch time, I had a nice tan going and beautiful olive looking skin. I was so happy! By the time we finished eating our lunch, I'd quickly turned into a lobster. A painful lobster. The best part was my butt was sunburnt because I forgot to put sunscreen there. Whoops! This was the only day I was able to swim up to the pool bar and get a drink, a shirley temple. The bartender again laughed at me. I was able to drink it in the pool and felt like peak spring breaker. We spent the...
On the fourth day in Mexico we went to see Tulum. They're ancient Maya ruins on the coast and I was beyond excited. I've been drafting a fantasy series for a few years now that is based on Mayan history, and going to see actual ruins is the kind of research that I need. I've always been interested in the ancient civilizations in Central and South America since I'm LDS. I've grown up reading the Book of Mormon which was written by the people living in the Americas before, during, and after Christ's life. Now, I'm in no way saying that the Maya people, or the Aztecs, Incas, or anyone are the people from the Book of Mormon. I do sometimes notice slight overlaps between what I'm reading there and what I learn about those cultures, but that doesn't mean anything. It's just part of the reason I've always been so interested in the Maya people. But, the morning of the trip I was terrified. I'd gotten sea sick kayaking, and knew we would be in ...