I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for slippers.  I had a rough day at work.  We were crazy busy and my feet are killing me, so I came home, got in the shower and then cuddled up in my pj's and slippers.  I can't even begin to explain how awesome slippers feel on sore tired feet.  Next best thing to pedicures I'm telling you!!!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for yummy food.  I had a really loooong day at work and afterward had made plans with a friend to hit Zupas.  It is my FAVORITE restaurant.  Soup, salad ,and panini sandwiches.  They have this combo meal option, where you pick any two and it's one price, but today I couldn't decide between salad and panini, so I got all three.  That my friends is a lot of food... and I ate every bite, including 3 pieces of baguette and 2 chocolate dipped strawberries.  Good thing it's kind of good for you!!  Yay for yummy non Arctic Circle food!!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for sleeping in!  I don't get a ton of opportunities to sleep in being that I have to be at work most mornings by 8 and my church on Sunday is at 9, but on Thursdays I don't go to work till 10.  I usually stay up really late on Wednesday night, so I don't get anymore sleep than normal nights, but last night I went to bed at 10:45 and didn't get out of bed this morning until 9:30!  It was pure bliss!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for toilet paper.  Nicole commented that my "thankfuls" were very practical and it's true.  I'm trying to appreciate the small things!  Today I had to unclog a toilet at work and as I was cursing the person that put half a roll of toilet paper in our somewhat ridiculous toilet (anything clogs it!)  I was thinking how grateful I am for this small roll of awesomeness.  I mean at the moment it was somewhat the bane of my existence, but overall, I'm really glad to have it.

I'm Thankful for...

My sister in law decided to blog something that she is thankful for every day in November and since I think that's a pretty swell idea, I'm going to copy her.  Also since I am a day behind, I will do two today.

 I'm thankful for my health.  It is such a great thing to get up in the morning feeling good and rested and ready to start a new day, so I'm thankful that I can get up and out of bed and feel good.

I'm thankful for hot water.  I got into the shower today and the water came out crazy hot, and as I turned it toward cool I thought about how lucky I am that my water is hot.  I'm glad that I have the ability to have heated water and don't have to shower in the cold.

Ew Sick!

I am 32 years old and for all the time I can remember have escaped having the flu. I rarely get stomachaches, in fact don't really know how to handle them. I had big plans for the weekend that involved a lot of family fun in Logan and getting the flu was not in the plan. Nevertheless, I woke up Saturday morning with a strange feeling in my gut. I thought I was hungry so I made some oatmeal and left for work. I ate my oatmeal and opened the store, then was feeling ultra tired (attributed that to going to bed at 1 in the morning) and had some serious heartburn. I had to go to another store to pick up some product, so I ran by home and grabbed some Tums. I took four Tums and continued working. When it was time to go on break I didn't really feel good, but knew that I should try eating something. I got a hamburger and a small fry. As the day went on the heartburn faded but my stomach got more and more sore. At 2:30 I called my boss for permission to leave early. He agreed and I went home. I took a bath and laid down for awhile, and then my friend Tierny came over so we could drive to Logan for the Pumpkin Walk. I got dressed and ready to go and really felt like I was going to toss my cookies. I knelt down by the toilet and nothing happened. I decided to just get in the car and go. I made it all the way past Ogden about 10 miles outside of Brigham City and then knew I was going to lose it. I started to pull off the freeway at an exit and tried really hard to race down the ramp so I could at least get out before I threw up. No such luck. Halfway down the ramp I lost control of my stomach. Have you ever tried driving while puking??? NOT RECOMMENDED!!!!!! Now my car smells like some nasty combination of throw up and Febreeze. Needless to say, after a clothes change at the Brigham City Wal-mart and a shower at my brother's house in Logan, the Pumpkin Walk was not as fun as other years. I'll post pictures from that tomorrowish. Sunday I laid in bed all day and today I've been really careful about what I put in my mouth. Hope I'm better tomorrow, because someone needs to detail the car!

Discovering the Key to Happiness

This week has been kind of hard. Not to be all preachy, but I think one of the big reasons for it, was that I wasn't doing the whole scripture study thing as well as I should have been. I recommitted Monday and the last two days have been a little better. Work has been a pain, because it seems like a lot of the people I work with are sad, depressed, emotionally unstable, etc. and the sad part is most of it is because of "my stupid ex-boyfriend". I'm so sick of it and realized that if you spend enough time with downers you start to feel a little down yourself. Yesterday I was reading in 2nd Nephi 9 where verse 3 says, "Behold, my beloved brethren, I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and lift up your heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon your children." This chapter is Jacob, teaching the people about the plan of salvation, or the plan of happiness. Later in verse 52 he says, "Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice." Now if my understanding of the scripture is correct, Jacob was ordained to be a teacher over the people. That means that basically he is God's servant and "whether by my own voice, or the voice of my servants, it is the same." Letting our hearts rejoice therefore is a commandment. I've learned this week (again) that if we want to be happy, we have to do what it takes to get the blessings from our loving Heavenly Father who wants us to live the plan that leads to happiness. I wish I worked with more members of the church so I could make them understand. In the meantime, I'm choosing to follow the plan and find my happiness, and when I can't find it, I will pray continually until I am at peace.

32 candles

It was one year ago today that I made a birthday resolution to be less selfish. It's funny, but I'm not sure how I'm doing. Today at work I was like, "It's my birthday... it's all about me!" That's a very selfless attitude right??? Well in all fairness to my selfless goal, I did spend the night of my birthday with the youth in my ward, doing a service scavenger hunt. We did a lot of really great things for the people in our ward, and I was happy that I chose Young Women's over any other way to spend my birthday. After I was done, my roommate and her boyfriend took me out for ice cream, so all in all not a bad way to spend the day! Here's to another year of striving to be better than I was last year!! Happy Birthday to ME!!

October in Utah feeling more like Arizona

It is barely October 1st. I just got done with month end at work and I was thinking as I walked out of work, that it is unseasonably warm. It was 90 degrees earlier today... maybe I should bust out the fall wreath to remind the weather that there should be a chill in the air. I'm so ready for sweatshirts and long pants. Come on Fall!!

Payoff

I've been trying (some days less than others) to lose weight for 10 months. Today I decided it was time to replace some pieces of my wardrobe, even though I had decided not to buy anything new until I was where I wanted to be, but my work pants are trashed! I went to Shopko and grabbed pants a size smaller than the last ones I bought and headed for the fitting room. I put on the first pair of pants and they fit okay, but alas no pockets. I need pockets. I tried on the next pair and they were saggy. The next pair also too big. I went back out and grabbed both styles in the next smaller size and went back to the dressing room. Both fit rather well, with room to spare, which is what I want a little of in work pants because I have to tuck my shirt in and don't want to feel like I have to suck it in for ten hours at work. I was really happy! I haven't fit in that size in 6 years! If that's not a motivator to keep eating right, I don't know what is! Maybe by Christmas I can drop one more size! Here's to healthy eating!!

Early Monday Morning

Today was one of those days that you get into and then realize perhaps staying in bed would have been a better choice. Last night I was following the news about the Herriman fire, and so didn't get to bed entirely early. It wasn't really late, but I woke up at 7:30 a little groggy. I read the latest news that ksl.com had about the fire, and then got ready for work. I pulled into the parking lot just as the governor was saying a few words so I sat in the car for a few minutes and then decided it was time to get to it. My opening cook wasn't there yet, which is really strange for him, he usually beats me by 5 or more minutes and I ended up having to call and wake him up. I walked in and glanced at one of my cash registers and it had squiggly lines on it, and was blinking like a strobe light. This is not the first time I'd seen it do that, but I had the guy out on Friday to fix it and was charged $200 for it. I went immediately to the phone and called him back. He told me he'd be there around 10:30. Next I went to my office computer. It has been having some problems, but as long as it doesn't get turned off, it's been okay. Over Sunday, it must have gotten some new updates and restarted itself to install them, and wouldn't go back on. I called my boss to let him know, then called the IT guy to come. He told me he'd build me a new tower, and bring it by tomorrow. That's all well and good... for tomorrow. What about today?? I tried throughout the day to get it to start, but no go. Without the computer, one must do all the paperwork by hand. Now luckily, I've worked for Arctic Circle long enough, so I remember how to do things the precomputer way; however my assistant manager and supervisor have no clue, so not only do I get to do day books by hand, but also night books. That means going back in at 10 and spending an hour doing it the hard way. Needless to say, I'm really not appreciating the wonderful technological advances of the 21st century. If only they would work!! It's amazing what I take for granted at my job. Hopefully tomorrow will bring less excitement!

Early Sunday Morning

So I don't know much about the inner alarm clock or whatever, but everyday I have to be to work by eight, and I'm usually stumbling out of bed at 7:40, racing to the bathroom, putting in contacts and praying while I pee (yeah seriously), pulling my hair into a ponytail, dressing quickly (usually forgetting something important like deodorant), and running out the door with 20 seconds to spare. Yup, I can be ready for work in 7 minutes...and I look like, well never mind. The last two Sundays? Awake at 6 or shortly thereafter. And not like, oh it's 6 something, roll over and go back to sleep. No, like oh it's 6. I'm done sleeping. And so I get up and curl my hair and apply makeup and think about how much better I'd look for work if I got up and put my face on. So here we are, 8:04 am and I've been reading blogs for the past 45 minutes and all I have to do is put a dress on. Now please explain to me why I can't be done sleeping at 6 on Monday morning and have a nice leisurely morning before I have to go open my store? It's the mystery of the week. I've tried all the tricks. I put my alarm clock across the room so I have to get up to turn it off, no go... I push snooze and take it back to bed. I've tried going to bed earlier, later, whatever. For some reason, I can only wake up at a decent time on Sunday morning. Maybe it's because subconsciously I know it's my only day off, so I want to be awake for it. But then again, last Sunday I woke up at 6:18 and by 5:30 I was napping on the couch and then wasn't tired at bedtime. It's a pretty conundrum. Maybe someday I'll figure it out. In the meantime, morning is quite a nice time of day. Maybe I'll try to see it tomorrow before the mad dash to work!

Christmas Music in September?

I just opened my email to an email from a local radio station proclaiming 100 days until Christmas. They were having a Christmas kick off- playing Christmas music from 8 to 5 today and giving away a great Christmas prize. I was really afraid this was the kick off and they'd be playing 100 days of Christmas music, but luckily for me, not so much. Now let's get something straight. I love Christmas music. A few years ago, I was that girl that started playing Christmas music the day after Halloween. Sometimes I listen to The Forgotten Carols in July. Then the radio stations started the radio wars, you know- be the first station to play nothing but Christmas music, and it starts a little earlier each year. I like Christmas music. Play it in November--maybe mix it in every fifth song or so. I just don't like turning on the radio in November and hearing the same songs over and over for eight weeks until I've completely lost the spirit of the holiday and threaten to throw the radio if they play Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer one more time! So for what it's worth, here's my two cents... Please hold the Christmas music for a few more weeks! There are a lot of other holidays between now and then!

Connection is the Key to Courage

Today I dragged my tired worn out work body home quickly, jumped in the shower for some rejuvenation, and headed out in my Sunday best for a Stake Youth fireside. It was a veg on the couch kind of day, but I'm so glad I didn't give in to that feeling. The speaker was Doug Nelson (not sure if the spelling is right), but he's a public speaker/psycotherapist and was amazing! I told one of the counselors in the Young Women's presidency that I love youth speakers, they are way more entertaining than adult speakers! He took our Courage in Action theme from Youth Conference a few months ago and expounded on it. He talked about how we all need a little fear in order for us to exercise Courage. He then said the key to courage is connection. We all need to be connected with our Heavenly Father so that He can help us to "Be Strong and of a Good Courage." He related several scripture stories. He talked about how in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve had partaken of the fruit, God came looking for them. He asked us to think about how often in our lives is God looking for us, and we're not paying attention, or we're hiding from him. He talked about the Prodigal Son and how the Father saw him coming from afar off. The Father had to be watching and waiting for the return. Our Father watches us and looks for us and if we live connected to Him we can have courage in the hard times. He also talked about how important it is to remember whose we are. If we truly know that we are children of God we will have the courage to face what the adversary throws at us. He talked about how fear is holding us back from accomplishing the mission we came here to do. We all have a mission in life, and if we don't fulfill our mission, we are selfish. We need to overcome fear with courage and defeat Satan in all of his power. It was such an amazing fireside. I really hope the youth got as much out of it as I did. It really is rejuvenating to have a spiritual experience after a hectic day, and for that I am grateful.

September???

Is it just me or did September come really fast this year? I swear time goes twice as fast every year I get older. I was thinking last night about my goals at the beginning of the year, to eat better and get in shape and I can't believe that it was nine whole months ago that I decided to do that and that it's been five months since I did it well. Good thing there is forgiveness, because I've decided to forgive myself and start again. I still can't believe that it's the beginning of fall and cooler temperatures and almost time to get out the harvest decorations. It's sad when I look back and feel like I've lost chunks of my life because time passes too fleetingly. It's good though, when I look back over my blog, and feel that I've done a pretty good job of documenting at least the highlights, and it's not completely hopeless. Well here's to another September. Maybe we can hold December off for a few years huh??

Cheese :D

Sunday was a bittersweet kind of day. Todd and Nicole are moving to Arizona tomorrow, so we all met together for a final family dinner, minus Spencer and Katie. Mom asked Todd what he wanted for dinner, and he said he wanted a repeat of his graduation party, which was a Mexican fiesta. Mom made enchiladas, chile relleno casserole, cream cheese chicken taquitos, carne asada tacos, ground beef tacos, and queso dip made with velveeta and rotel tomatoes. We all were pretty excited because the last time we did it, it was awesome. We all served up buffet style and sat down to chow down. Rory started with a taquito and was really going at it. When she was done, Todd asked her if she wanted some chips and she heartily agreed. Looking over she noticed Grandma dipping her chips so Rory started chanting dip dip dip. Todd got her a small bowl of the queso dip and she started dipping her chips.

Pretty soon she couldn't keep up with the chips so she gave up on chips and dug in. I was a little surprised because it's slightly spicy, but Rory didn't seem to notice. A few hours later when I went to get her sippy cup, it was covered in cheese. I would say that queso dip is a big hit with this toddler!! Can you say cheese??

Eat Pray Love

Tonight for the last girl's night with Nicole, we decided to go to Jordan Commons to see a movie. I think I've decided I'm giving up PG13 movies, so we decided to see Eat Pray Love, and I decided it will be the last PG13 movie that I see. I'm glad I slipped this one in. It was so profound and thought provoking. It's a true story about a woman who decides that her life is not what she wants it to be and so she goes on this year long journey to find herself and figure out what she really wants. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever felt that their life is somewhat different than they had always planned or anyone who loves a good movie!! When we got out of the movie we were talking about it's effect on each of us and I said that I didn't really see myself in her character. On the drive home, I changed my mind. I don't think I need a year long journey to places far distant to find myself like she did, but I do feel like I need to gain some control in my life like she did. I came home to my messy kitchen, messy bathroom, and laundry all over the hallway wondering when I was going to find time to clean. I spent Sunday at my parents house, Monday night I went to a play, tonight a movie, tomorrow Young Women's, Thursday I work late. It's a miracle my house even gets dirty since I feel like I'm hardly here anyway, but nevertheless... it is! I think that my journey is going to begin by not letting people and things dictate what I do or who I am. It's time for me to take control of my destiny and my dirty house. It's time for me to find that balance that the movie talks so much about. Her balance is about learning to love someone while still loving herself and my balance is to find myself in my schedule! I need to work. I need to be able to live and eat and sleep somewhere, but my job isn't who I am. It doesn't need to be my whole life. I need to find myself in spite of the circumstances that have become my life. I used to be so excited about my new eating plan... now I don't even remember to eat. I need to do things that scare me and get past my fears. I need to find myself and get back on track with the things that used to be important to me. Time to Eat right, Pray more, and learn to Love myself so I can be open to loving someone else. Here's to change... wish me luck!

Rachel Gayle Porter

SO much has happened in the last week, I have a million things I could and should blog, but since it's 11:00 at night and I have had a very sleep deprived weekend, I will do a short post about my newest niece. She was born Saturday at 12:47 pm to my oldest sister and her husband. She weighed in at 7 lb. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. My sis got out of the hospital today and met at a family party with a 28 hour old baby. She has this perfectly round head and long fingers and perfectly adorable toes, and compared to the other nieces and nephews present weighs nothing!! Welcome to the family Rachel!!

Meeting my Pen Pal

So a little more than a year and half ago, I wrote a post about pen pals. I had found an old friend on facebook and linked to his family's blog and then through blogging have gotten to know his wife and children like they were family. Today they blessed their third baby and were thoughtful enough to send me an invite. A few weeks ago I sent her an outfit for the baby and she emailed me and mentioned that it would be fun to meet in person at some point. At first, I was a little apprehensive, because I've always thought I'm a different person online; a likable one. I was afraid that the relationship would lose it's magic...for her. I knew I'd love her, I just hoped she'd love me as well. Well today I put aside my apprehension, and with the help of Mapquest found their church and went to the blessing. As I walked into the foyer, the husband was there and I greeted him. After a moment, recognition set in and the greeting back was warm and friendly. We figured out later that we hadn't seen each other since high school graduation over 14years ago. We walked into the chapel and he got his wife's attention. She immediately recognized me and we met. She made me feel so welcome, and introduced me to all the family present. After the blessing, she let me hold the baby for the rest of Sacrament Meeting. When it was over, they extended the invitation to meet at his parent's house and I readily accepted. I spent the afternoon getting to know the kids a little more. In fact, Miss E, the two year old, and I had a fantastic conversation and it was so much fun to get to know the little girl that I had watched grow up through pictures. I helped take pictures for them and when I left I felt as if I had known them for years. I guess if you think about it, I kind of have... you don't need to see each other in person to know someone. All you need is an honest medium and through blogging we have found that. So thanks to my pen pal and her adorable family for making our meeting possible and for inviting me into your family. We decided we definitely will get together again!

The Boring Life

I know I changed my blog title and so therefore I shouldn't have posts like this, but here we are. I feel a need to post, but don't have much excitement going on right now. Yesterday I spent a half day at work, then went to Andrew's birthday party and then to a wedding of a girl that my mom used to tend. Let me tell you how old I feel when I see the video of this 22 year old girl's wedding and when it flashes back to the 2 year old, I think "hey that's the Jessica I remember." Besides the few moments of excitement yesterday, this week has been fairly uneventful. I worked some and slept a lot and was so tired today I laid down for a half hour (I even set the alarm) and woke up 3 1/2 hours later. I felt bad for about 30 seconds and then told myself it was okay and I needed to feel like the sleep was what I needed so don't feel bad about "wasting" a Sunday afternoon. Then I read a book and then went to work to count inventory and somewhere in the middle of it I realized I hadn't eaten today... at all. Not even a morsel. I'm not even that hungry. Weird! Well, I guess that's enough random rambling for one Sunday. Maybe this next week will bring some excitement!!

It is better for us to pass through sorrow

I just realized that sounds like a really depressing blog title! This post is not really about sorrow. It's more about awesome temple insights. Last night I decided to go to the temple. It was kind of a silly reason. I had opened my fast early so I could finish it right after church today and didn't want to be home all night surrounded by yummy food, so I figured I'd take advantage of the temple to get me away from the temptation of eating. I ended up at Salt Lake because Bountiful was closed for one more day, and as I walked downstairs, Tom was sitting at the information desk. I smiled and said hello, and walked on to the dressing room. It's the first time I've seen him since the email and it was fine... weird how things work out for themselves. Anyway, I have been reading the book Six Events by Stephen Covey and the sixth event is the restoration of temple blessings. He encourages us to go to the temple completely prepared for the experience and then outlines how that can be done. I copied it out of the book, printed it really small and took it with me so I could reflect on it. The best part of it says, "During the entire time you are in the temple, have the expectation that God will reveal to you the answers to your prayers. You don't know when, but you know that he will-- you just feel it." I went this time, thinking about the purpose of my fast. I listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the car on the way and felt really good about my choice to be there. As we got into the session, I was really impressed by the sister playing the part of Eve. She was really happy and her countenance glowed as if she understood the full impact of the part she was playing. It was probably the first time I ever saw someone absorb the part. As the session progressed, there is a part where Eve tells Adam that "it is better to pass through sorrow, that we may know good from evil." As this sister said that line, she kind of choked up and I felt very strongly that she (Eve) knew exactly what she was giving up. She understood that it would not be an easy thing, and that her decision would force them to give up their blissful life in the presence of God, but she was willing to experience sorrow for the greater good. I also thought about that line. The point is that we pass through sorrow. We don't stay there. Today in Young Women's, the lesson was about agency and choices, and we were talking about how making good choices can lead us to happiness, but ultimately even happiness is a choice. I realized sitting in that sacred place, that I am happy. I may not have everything I want, and I may not be living the life I saw myself living 15 years ago, but as I pass through sorrow, I find happiness, and that makes the sorrow worth it. Not easy, not even really fully understood, but worth it. And for moments like that in the temple, I'm happy for the experiences I've had that have led me to that realization. Side note... I was sitting in the Celestial Room, thinking about the whole thing with Tom and as he walked out of the veil area, I realized there were no feelings. No more wondering what could have happened and no desire to go back. I felt peaceful and I am grateful.

Life Unexpected

The other day I was reading the book Spare Change and came across this quote by E.M. Forster. I decided this was a main theme in my life and it seemed appropriate as the title of the blog. Hope you all agree!

What's in a Name???

So as many of you know, I've been searching for a new title to my blog since many of my readers have commented that my life is not boring. So today I decided to call the blog Floccinaucinihilipilification. By definition, floccinaucinihilipilification means to estimate something as worthless. Now I'm not necessarily suggesting that I feel like my life is worthless, which is why I didn't call my blog The Floccinaucinihilipilificatious Life. It's mostly that I just wanted a really fun word as the title of my blog and The Egregious Life is less accurate than The Boring Life. I'm seriously taking suggestions. It's too much of a mouthful to leave my blog title as Floccinaucinihilipilification for too long. Time to comment people!! Find me a less boring, shorter blog title!! There will be a small prize for the winner... probably just a shout out in future posts!!

Courage In Action: My two days as a Secret Agent (sorry it's really long)

As most of you know, my church calling is Laurel Advisor, which means I get an awesome opportunity to attend Youth Conference with the girls. This year the stake chose to make us secret agents in the CIA, which stands for Courage in Action. The YM/YW theme scripture this year is Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee, withersoever thou goest." They decided to emphasize what it means to be of good courage and taught us a lot about how courage requires action. We started at one of the buildings in our stake and received our special CIA T-shirts. After we had changed, one of the counselors in the Stake Presidency, President Farrell, welcomed us and we we were split into 7 color groups. I was in the green group with all of my girls and all of the Young Women leaders from our ward and then a few other young men and young women and leaders from other wards. The Stake Youth Leaders began with a skit where one person was the head and body, one was the arms and one was the legs. They had to get ready for the day and it was very enjoyable to watch someone else's arms feed, brush the teeth of, and otherwise prepare the face they couldn't see. The lipstick was probably my favorite part. Poor Natalie had lipstick all over her chin. Wish I had pictures, but the camera was in the car... dumb dumb dumb. After the skit we played get know you games with our groups. We all took group pictures and then loaded up the cars and headed up to the Ogden Boys and Girls Club for service. The Ogden Boys and Girls Club is a nonprofit organization that caters to the inner city kids. These kids have been through things I never even imagined when I was their age, but oh, the sweetness inside. They started at age 5 and went up to 12. The green group was paired up with about 10 kids ages 7-9. A lot of the kids are hispanic and bilingual. One little girl didn't speak any English, but luckily one of the leaders in our group did, and he helped her to communicate. We played the getting to know you games with them, then split for lunch. After lunch, we went through 8 different stations with the kids. They had tug-o-war, basketball, face painting, tag, slip n' slide, a parachute, the sponge passing game (you know wet sponge over your head and see how much water you can collect in a bucket), and then a station with popsicles and a rest. We then took a group picture with our kids and then the Boys and Girls Club leader came and talked to the kids about how special it was that we would come to play with them. It was an amazing experience and I think all of our youth left with a slightly bigger heart and a place in there for a new favorite. Some of those kids were just too cute!! When we were done at the Boys and Girls club, we headed up to our stake camp Zarahemla. We set up our cabins and then headed down to the lodge for dinner.

After dinner, President Wurthrich from our Stake Presidency talked to the youth. He told a story about an Emperor who knew he didn't have much longer to live, so he sent out for all the young people in the empire and gave them a task. He gave each one a seed. He told them to take the seed home and plant it and nurture it and take care of it, and then come back with whatever they grew, in one year and at that time he'd choose who would take his place as emperor. Well, in the empire was a boy named Ling. Ling did just what the emperor said, and took his seed home. He told his mother about the Emperors challenge and she helped Ling find a pot and plant the seed. In two weeks, after Ling had spent time watering, and nurturing his seed, nothing had grown. In a month nothing had grown. In six months nothing had grown. All around Ling, the other youth in the empire were talking about what was growing in their pots and Ling began to feel like a failure. His mother told him to wait a little longer to see what happened. The year quickly passed, and nothing had happened with Ling's seed. He was discouraged, and didn't want to go back to the emperor knowing he was a failure, and now everyone in the empire would know it as well. When Ling got to the palace, there were many young people with all different kinds of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Ling hid in the back, half concealing his pot full of dirt. When the emperor entered the room, Ling shrunk back a bit more, afraid of what the emperor would say when he found out that Ling had failed. The emperor walked through the room, noticing and commenting on the beautiful plants around him. He then walked to the front of the room and called Ling up to join him. Ling was frightened. He was sure the emperor would make an example of him and could only imagine what his punishment would be. To his astonishment, the Emperor announced to everyone, that Ling was their new emperor. He told them that the seeds they had been given had been boiled, so they would not grow. Ling was the only one who kept the original seed. The rest had noticed that their plants were not growing, and so planted other seeds in their place. Ling's integrity and honor won him the role of emperor and he ruled honestly the rest of his life. President Wurthrich then talked about virtues that are important in our lives. He quoted from President Faust and talked about 10 virtues that are very important. Exercise Faith, Be honest with yourself, Be chaste, Be humble, Develop self-discipline, Be fair, Strive for moderation, Be clean, Live with courage, and Grow in Grace. At this point the youth were blindfolded and led to an iron rod at the end of the camp. Several leaders were chosen to help them through the path as Guardian Angels. I was one of those. At the beginning, two young women Presidents greeted each youth and gave them a charge to hold fast to the rod no matter what else happened for the rod would lead them on their journey. They were given a pebble that represented unresolved sins and told to put it in their shoe. They were also given an egg, that they were told represented their virtue and they were all given instructions to guard their virtue. Then their hand was placed on the rod and they began their journey. I was right near the beginning. My job was to tell each one that they had been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was also to help them stay on the path. Along the way, were deceivers. They were the members of our stake’s young single adult ward. Their job was to lead the youth off the rod and to try to get them to give up their virtue egg. The youth came in two groups. I noticed a couple of key things. When the first group came through the deceivers weren’t quite as sneaky as on the second group. They would try to outwardly deceive the kids and a lot of them fell for it, but as we got further along less and less kids were falling for it and the deceivers got sneakier. It surprised me, how many kids early on gave up their eggs for a chance for help. The deceivers would say something like, “there’s a big hole here, so let me hold your egg and I’ll help you around it.” Needless to say the kids didn’t get the egg back. Each time one of the deceivers would get one of the eggs they would hold it up triumphantly and kind of laugh. I wanted to cry! It was so easy. By the time the second group came up, I had gotten a lot more insistent on my end. Instead of just telling them they’d been baptized and had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, I would add that it was so so important that they keep their hand on the rod and hold onto their egg no matter what else they were told. The deceivers got better too. They started helping the kids find the rod and then once they’d gained the trust of the kids they’d lead them off the path and you wouldn’t believe some of the tactics they were using. I heard one of them tell a girl that she could have temple marriage if she’d just give him her egg. A gleam of triumph and the deceiver was holding up her egg. It was so unbelievably heartbreaking to see each of the youth go through and I just hoped in my heart that they’d have the faith to remember my words and keep their hand on the rod. At the end of the rod, stood the Bishop of each ward. He took the youth off the rod and handed them off to a guardian angel to help them off to the “Spirit World.” The Spirit World was at the top of a hill where the Stake Presidency was waiting to welcome each of the youth in. Some had sticks instead of eggs, given to them by their deceivers. Some held fast to their virtue and were clutching it at the end. At the top of the hill they were given an opportunity to sit alone and write their feelings. It was so amazing to see and hear about their experience on the rod. We followed the experience with a very emotional testimony meeting. I was so humbled by the strength of our youth. Even the ones that were deceived into giving up their virtue, learned a very important lesson and I hope walked away from the experience a little more aware of how sneaky Satan can be. We finished the night off with scones and honey butter and a slide show of the days activities provided by our resident photographers Papa Rat See and Watt Chin Ewe. It was a great end to a great day. We went back to the cabins and luckily it was a warm night so sleeping was okay. I didn’t need my sleeping bag to sleep in, so I laid on top of it with a blanket and used the sleeping bag for padding on the wooden bunk. Not the most comfortable bed, but I did okay. Holly woke us up at 7:30 this morning singing Rise and Shout the Cougars are out… and I’ve had the song in my head all day!! That’s for you Andrew! We went down to the lodge for breakfast which was amazing!!! Big thanks to the cooking staff… we did not go hungry! After breakfast we had a devotional where the Stake President, President Martin and his wife shared with us the importance of being awakened. Sister Martin talked about King Benjamin’s people and about Enos. She related their experiences to ours as we read the pages of the Book of Mormon and feel the awakening that reminds us of our responsibility for action. They then discussed a few experiences of giving someone a Book of Mormon, and then encouraged us to write our testimony in a Book of Mormon to give to someone. President Martin said that our role was to be rescuers. We need to rescue those who are in need of being rescued even if that was us. He told us not to give away our Book of Mormon if we didn’t have a testimony of it yet, because it was going to be very important that we testify of it. He told the youth that they could write the message in the book to themselves if that was who they felt needed the rescue.

After we were finished putting our testimonies in the books, we broke up into our color groups and played Minute to Win It. For those of you unfamiliar with the game show on TV, you have some silly, somewhat ridiculous challenges that you are required to finish in one minute. On the show it’s one contestant competing against the clock for money. At Youth Conference we did it in teams and competed for ribbons. We had three attempts at each of 12 stations to accomplish the task in less than a minute. I did get some pictures of this, but I think I’ll do them all in a slideshow so you can look if you choose. The stations all had some pretty funny names, only a few of which I remember, but I’ll make it so you get the general idea. The first one was called Paper Scraper. We had 18 index cards folded in half and 9 index cards that were flat. We had to make three skyscrapers 9 stories high by putting the two folded ones down facing each other and then the flat ones on top stacked up. We did pretty well, got two out of three ribbons. The next one was called spoon frogs. We each had 3 spoons and had to flip them into a bin in the middle of the table. We had to get 12 spoons in before the minute was up. I was really good in the beginning. I got 2 spoons in right away, but beginners luck was the key. Luckily the team came through to help and we got all 3 ribbons in record time. The third one was something about blowing…. We each had to blow up a balloon and then using the air in the balloon, we had to knock 150 Styrofoam cups off the tables. Green Team holds the record! 150 cups in 16 seconds. We also got 3 ribbons on that one. The next one was something to do with a catapult and a broom. We had 3 paper plates hanging half way off the table holding a marshmallow. One person had to drop a broom handle just right to hit the plate to catapult the marshmallow and then the rest of the team was standing back with cups and had to catch 3 marshmallows before time ran out. We got 2 ribbons. The next one was Ping Tac Toe. It was probably the hardest one ever. We had to bounce ping pong balls into water filled cups alternating colors and try to make a tic tac toe. We didn’t get any ribbons, but I got really good at fielding ping pong balls! The next one had some catchy name that I can’t remember, but the main gist of it was we had to hold a spaghetti noodle in our mouth and without using our hands we had to pick up penne pasta on our spaghetti and hold it there. The 12 of us had to get 40 penne pastas to win. The catch… if your spaghetti noodle breaks, nothing counts and you start over. It was pretty intense, but we ended up getting all three of our ribbons. The next one was called Face the Cookie. You take an Oreo, place it on your forehead and move it down your face into your mouth with no hands. This one was very funny to watch and I got a couple of really great pictures. One of them is the second counselor in our bishopric and I just had to laugh. Such great facial expressions! Our team wasn’t really that great at it though and out of the 12 we needed each round, the highest we got was 6. No ribbons for Face the Cookie. Next we had to put together cereal boxes that had been cut into puzzle like pieces. Luckily it was square pieces, so not too hard, but there were 5 separate boxes we had to figure out and on the last round, we were working on the Cocoa Pebbles box and it was off center enough that it was seriously confusing people. One of the girls yelled something like, “Come on guys, it’s just Cocoa Pebbles!” That got us all laughing and we finally figured it out and got all three ribbons. We decided if they made us do cheers, that was going to be ours! Next one was called Suck It. We had to suck M&M’s up in a straw and transport them into a bottle across the stage without using hands. I tried and got about half way across before I could no longer breath, so I bowed out gracefully and then took pictures. We didn’t do so well on the first round, but rounds two and three we had it in the bag… or the bottle. Two ribbons for that one. Next we moved on to one where we had a tennis ball tied to a rope tied to our waists behind us and we had to spin to get the momentum on the rope to force the ball to swing and then knock 3 cups off the table. It was dizzying, but a lot of fun. We got all three ribbons and some awesome feelings of vertigo. The next one was called Shoe Fly. You can only imagine. You had to fling your shoe, using nothing but your foot and land it on a table about five feet away. I chose to be the shoe catcher and throw back the ones that didn’t make it. Did you know that most sneakers bounce?? We had some real shoe flinging effort but the most we ever got on the table was 10 and we needed 12. No ribbons. The last activity was called Movin’ Up. We had a stack of blue cups with one red cup at the bottom. We had to pass the cups around the circle with each person moving one cup at a time to the bottom of the stack until the red one made it back on bottom. We didn’t quite have the right rhythm on the first round, but the next two rounds we got it down and came out with two ribbons. After all the teams were done, the stake leaders counted up the ribbons. We came in second place, behind a tie for first place, but we only lost by one ribbon. The sad part was one of the teams that came in first contained the Aaronic Priesthood side of our ward and the Bishop took up bragging rights. It was a really fun activity to teach the youth the importance of team work and to let us enjoy a little healthy competition. We wrapped up with a lot of thanks to the Stake leaders for pulling it off, cleaned up the area, ate lunch, and came home. Being that it’s free fry day at Arctic Circle, that was our final stop where we gorged on ice cream cones and fries before bringing the girls home. It was a great weekend and I was very blessed to be able to go.

Righteous Living

Today I am struggling... I just read a quote by President Harold B. Lee that says, "The most important commandment is the one you are having the greatest difficulty living." I've been struggling lately with my entertainment choices, specifically movies and TV. Without trying to shove my opinions on others or sound completely self righteous, I feel like it's time to give up some of my favorite things and yet there is this part of me that isn't quite strong enough. I don't feel like the entertainment I choose is even "that bad" but the fact that I even have to write that should probably be the first clue that it's not "that good". I am working so hard on my personal spiritual life and this is like the last thing I just can't decide to let go of. I really like The Office. My struggle is in the fact that I know it's a giant waste of time, that doesn't really promote my getting closer to my Heavenly Father, but I can't seem to stop. Probably owning all the seasons isn't helping my conundrum, but like I said, I don't know if I'm strong enough to stop. One of my friends decided she wasn't going to watch PG13 movies anymore and I so admire her, but I don't know if I can give up some of my favorite movies. The logical me acknowledges that it's a colossal waste of time and I'd be a better person if I followed her in this pursuit, but I don't know if I can do it. In this respect, I'm really riding the fence. I want my Celestial mansion while keeping my Babylonian Summer Home and it doesn't work that way. God grant me strength to stop justifying and commit to choosing more righteous entertainment.

Confessions of an Addict

Hello, my name is Julianne and I am an addict. You can laugh if you choose, but I am addicted to Showtunes. Specifically Showtune Saturday Night. It's sad really. Each week for five hours I sit in my house listening to this radio program, and then when I hear music that I really love, I download it (legally of course) and then I listen to it all week. Of the 400 songs that fit on my MP3 player, about 350 are showtunes. The worst part probably is that I'm not even sorry. I'm not planning on giving up my addiction anytime soon and I'm strangely okay with this fact. Some of my friends have just accepted that if you ride in my car or come to my house on Saturday nights, it's inevitably on. So there you have it. I am a confirmed addict and intend to stay that way. Keep all your programs away from me... I won't go off willingly.

Interruption

Okay so I am interrupting my regularly scheduled scripture study time for this blog post, but I found something I needed to share. I'm actually working on Personal Progress. Probably the best part of my calling as the Laurel Advisor is that I get to work on Personal Progress with my girls and what an amazing blessing it is in my life! I've been working on Divine Nature experiences and one of them has you read 2 conference talks on womanhood. I found one by Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, a past General Young Women President. The talk was given in the October 2000 conference. She says, " Woman of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."
She then closes her message with this, "Sisters, regardless of your age, please understand all that you are and must be, all that you were prepared to be in royal courts on high by God Himself."
Doesn't it just make you so grateful to be a woman!! To all the women in my life who are tender, kind, refined, faithful, good, virtuous, and pure, thank you for being who you are and for recognizing the glory of God that is innate in you. For the rest of us... let's be grateful there is still hope in the Savior and try a little harder to be Women of God.

Camp Post 5: The Hike

Many of you remember my complaints last year about the hike. It was really hard and I was really slow and it nearly killed me. This year I was desperate to not let that happen again. One of the things I learned last year was that the back pack with a sweatshirt, lunch, extra water bottles, first aid kit and such was not needed and resulted in unnecessary weight which didn't help me move any faster or feel any better. Also last year, I learned that one extremely out of shape leader in bad shoes and a rocky mountain are not a good combination. This year I was determined to be in shape for the hike and thanks to the purchase of Wii Fit, I am in much better shape. I wore strong supportive tennis shoes and took a fanny pack (thanks to Holly) and only took my camera and a water bottle. I decided I'd eat lunch when I was done so I didn't have to pack it. This year we did the same hike as last year with an extra leg added on to the beginning. Last year we parked in the parking lot at the top of Big Mountain and hiked down. This year we parked a few miles past the parking lot at the top of Big Mountain and hiked to it then down. The first part was up hill at first and then lots of long switch backs led us higher and higher. Holly asked me at the parking lot if I wanted to blaze or bring up the rear. Remembering last year and how slow I was I chose blaze, with the idea that if the rule was no one could go in front of me, they'd all have to hike slowly for my benefit. Abby and I took the front, with Holly and Roseann and our Priesthood leader, Brother Armatage, taking the rear. Each of us had a two way radio that we could communicate with and we set off. About 100 yards into the first hill, I was breathing hard and was sure I had made a mistake even attempting to come on this hike. At the top of the first hill, I demanded a break and I'm sure the girls thought I was crazy to stop so soon into it. As soon as I caught my breath, we continued on and the trail, although it went high quickly, became easier as the switchbacks made it easy for us to climb. Soon we were in two definite groups. Abby and I had five girls up front with us and Holly and Roseann had five back with them. As we climbed we sang Star Wars songs (of course) and later Holly said it was so awesome to hear us singing ahead. It gave them strength to keep going. A few minutes into the hike, I found this... It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but it's bushes covered in snow. It was pretty shady, and you could tell the higher elevations hadn't figured out yet, that it was summer. As we got closer to the top, and got above the tree line, you can see a bit of what the pioneers saw as they conquered this last leg of their journey. If you look way out on that far mountain, you can see Kennecott Copper Mine. As we neared the top, we could see people in the big parking lot and knew the first part was over. We waited in the cold and wind at the top for the rest of our group, and when they finally came around the last bend, we greeted them with the victorious humming of Raiders March. After a potty stop for a few of the girls and a picture, we headed down the trail leading to the end of our hike.
The group of us blazing went at a steady pace, reminding the girls to stay hydrated and let us know if they needed to stop. They didn't so we just continued on enjoying the beauty around us. It was awesome! I didn't feel tired until well into the fourth mile, and aside from the trail being much wetter than last year, and having to find the trail under the stream at times, we made it to the bottom! At the bottom you are supposed come out of the brush and find a bridge leading across a very full river. This time we found a swamp blocking the trail completely so a group of brethren were showing us the other way out. It involved climbing up the mountain a bit, to a place where there was a rock you could step on to get across. One of the men was standing on the edge holding a large walking stick in the water to anchor himself as he helped us across the rock (that was buried under 3 inches of water) and safely to the muddy other side. We got out mostly unscathed... a few muddy footprints and made our way to the bridge where the stake Young Women's Presidency was giving high fives. My calves were sore for a few days after but nothing like the torture I experienced last year!! Yay for being in shape and finding a smarter way to hike!