"Because I Said So!"

Growing up, instead of hearing, "Because I said so!" We would hear, "Because you are a member of this family, and that is what we do!" If we thought we should get paid for our chores or be reimburshed somehow for anything, we were told what we were doing was our responsibility because we were a member of the family, and that is what we do in our family! This morning I woke up grateful for this philosophy.

My brother needed to move out of his apartment,but his car got hit. I have been carrying around his house in my car for over a week. He helped me move my classroom at school a couple of days ago, and all that loaded down weight + extreme heat = car problems. My car has been overheating, and probably my water pump is broken, not because of helping my brother, but just because my car is fastly becoming an old junker :D. My brother helped me fix my car twice as it broke down, and watched patiently as I bumped my head twice, swore, and then proceeded to cry over my life. What a good brother! And then he decided to delay his trip home a while to drive me home, so I don't die in my car somewhere in Oregon.

Last night we took his car to Les Mis down at the Tuachan Theatre in St. George, and had a super, super good time, the play is amazing! We did the trip in one night so we had to keep each other awake until 3:35 a.m. when we rolled back into Provo, laughing at old family stories, singing to the radio, and chomping on beef jerky. While we were doing this I was reminded that my family has a funny sense of humor, but we always find what anyone in the family says extremely halarious, which I love about my family because I dearly love to laugh.

The point of all this rambling? I love my family. Familes are there when you cry and when you laugh, when your car breaks down, and when you do crazy things together like drive back from St. George at midnight instead of camping out like normal people. I'm glad Heavenly Father put us into families because it is much better to go through the bumps and bruises as well as the good times, together. So I am grateful we stick together becuase "That's what we do in this family!"

The Dreaded Question

I hate being asked, "So what do you like to do?" Seems so canned, and is usually a pre-cursor to being asked out. But somehow when people ask you, "So what do you like to do?" You suddenly feel amazingly uninteresting and cannot think of a single thing you "do." It is like being asked the almost equally lame question, "What's new in your life?" And although your life seems amazingly interesting to you, you cannot think of an interesting thing to share that sounds interesting when you are about to say it. I think it's a mental thing.

Last night at a combined ward party a guy talked to me for about 45 minutes to an hour about life I guess. I had never met him before and he was acting engaged in the conversation, and then we got to point, that point we all know about, when it's time to ask, "So what do you like to do?" And I went blank. You see, I like to do everything! The only thing that I really said no to that was presented to me was rock climbing on a first and blind date, not in a practice quarry type place, but on the side of a mountain. My main, lame reason for not trying it, (not that I told him this) was harnesses make your backside look big, and I obviously didn't know him very well! :) But what do I actually do on a regular basis? I read, and scrapbook and go to the gym, and um yeah, that's what I spend my free time doing. Of course I socialize with friends at dinners and movies and concerts and hiking and those types of things, but yeah. Well, when I said I like to run and read he was like, "No, what do you like to do?" And I smiled lamely and said, I like to do those things, yes by choice, on my spare time. I think it must be time I come up with a new hobby like mountain biking or playing tennis. That's what I will try to work on this summer, something interesting to say to that dreaded question: What do you like to do?

Memoirs of a Geisha

I got a tag and I guess I will do it! Here are the instructions I followed:

1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!
6. Tag 5 people.

'But within your okiya...Don't you find it odd that Mrs. Nitta has never adopted Hatsumomo as a daughter? The Nitta okiya must be the wealthiest in Gion without an heir. By adopting Hatsumomo, not only would Mrs. Nitta solve that problem, but all of Hatsumomo's earnings wold then be kept by the okiya, without a single sen of it paid out to Hatsumomo herself. And Hatsumomo is a very successful geisha!' (123)

This is from Memoirs of a Geisha which I just finished yesterday. It is a really good book! It has some adult content, obviously it is about a Japanese courtisan, but it moves you along so beautifully, 1-because you learn all about the Geisha culture, 2-it curiously does not sound like it is written by a man, 3-it curiously does not seem too much like it is written by a Westerner vs. someone imersed in the Asian cultures. 4-I've been picking up some good guy-getting tips; some good seductive eye-contact techniques! LOL. jk. Okay, it moves you along similarly to The Mercy of Thin Air, which it is not at all like, but similarly is able to talk about hard topics and still move you along as if you are floating along on a river or a cloud from the fist page to the last. This being said, I don't think I would like it if I was a man, nor would I recommend men read it. Somethings are just for the women, of course this being said as well, I probably shouldn't read it either? :D

There are some good jems though, this is what I would have posted if I could have chosen my passage. Good advice:

"I understood the danger of focusing only on what isn't there. What if I came to the end of my life and realized that I'd spent every day watching for a man who would never come to me? What an unbearable sorrow it would be, to realize I'd never really tasted the things I'd eaten, or seen the places I'd been, because I'd thought nothing but the Chairman even while my life was drifting away from me." (349

Good advice for me I guess! ;)

The Universe Has a Sense of Humor

Life requires a sense of humor, becuase the universe has one too. Most of you probably know without me having to say who it is, that there is a guy that I met several years ago at a party that I had the most embarassing experience of my life with, compounded by the fact he is very handsome, and how we have had random embarassing moments everytime I have run into him of the years. Well, yesterday again I ran into him for the first time in a very long time actually, and I am not obsessing over how handsome he is or anything, don't ever even think about him, so that is not the context of this story. But, luck would have it that I would run into him again yesterday just after stepping out of the dentist's office, having two cavities filled and my cheeks as puffy as they can get, with no ability to smile. My lips were so numb that putting on lipstick, which I think I can do in my sleep, became nearly impossible; I had to wipe it off the outer-reaches of my cheeks where it wanted to land instead of my numb, puffy lips. Anway, rambling! So I am walking down a street laden actually which a huge bag of groceries that I am carrying in my arms, when low and behold, who should I run into? And of course I said 'Hi, how are you,' as did he, and he gave me a huge smile, which I tried--attempted--willed--but could not quite get my puffy face, and numb cheeks and lips to return! Alas, I just had to laugh at the thought of how my face probably looked attempting to smile at him, I probably looked like some strange, grimacing, I-need-to-go-to-the-bathroom-really-bad, looking person! Again, no significance to this story other than life can just be funny sometimes, and I am determined to laugh with it!

"I'm just Sitting Right Here Having Another *Rootbeer* in Mexico" Cruise 2008

4-day cruise, 7-day Girls Night Out!

The first day we went to Las Vegas and walked around the strip and became alternately grossed out/fascinated at the body exhibit, if you haven't seen it you need to; they replace body fluids with polymer and so you see the "live" tissues coated in plastic, it is amazing.


Las Vegas.


My Mexican boyfriend; one of my favorite vacations photos! La Bufadora, Ensenada, Mexico.


Mexican markets are so fun and colorful! I bought a couple of vases and some silver jewlery~.


Wearing our life jackets, just in case we sink!


Mexico, obviously.


Sitting at an outdoor cantina on Catalina Island, post snorkeling experience.


"Give me two pina colatas, I gotta have one for each hand." Laying out by the pool was amazing, but yeah, I didn't wear quite enough sunscreen!


On our last day of the trip we got all dressed up and went to Wicked at the Pantages in LA! Such a fun show! It was fun to have occasion to wear a little black dress and heels, both for Wicked and the dress up night on the cruise!

We had a really great time, went to Las Vegas, then the cruise from Long Beach to Catalina to Ensenada and back to LA. In LA we went to the Getty art museum and to Wicked. I burned pretty bad, I should have had higher SPF than 30, but my face didn't burn which is good! I hate looking like a cherry-tomatoe! We did run into some Provo boys on the cruise and ate a lot, the food is amazing. Had a blast! Love governement money! ;) I'll be posting a whole photo album on facebook if anyone is interested in seeing more photos!

Desperate Times Call for Kissing Booths?

I promise to blog my trip to Mexico, but first, look what was left in my classroom for the summer! If anyone needs to borrow this to send a message to someone in particular that they want to kiss, just let me know! I'll try it out and see what good use I can put it to! JK.

I had a student do a research paper on displays of affection; whatever, he didn't write the paper, just did the presentation! But it was a pretty good one, I might add. Very creative, and apparently, he thought I could use the kissing booth over the summer!