Count Your Blessings

As most of you know, I started a new job up in Rancho Cordova just about two weeks ago.  It takes me about 50 minutes to get to and from work, so in that period of time there is some thinking going on in this little brain of mine (surprised?).  And today, I decided to be positive and think of all of the things that are going great in my life. (Side note: yesterday was an awful day for a myriad of reasons and there was a lot of the opposite kind of thinking going on during my commute home.  My mood never recovered the rest of the night.)  There is a hymn in our church called Count Your Blessings.  While I didn't count all of mine (because I'm pretty sure that's not possible), I thought of some of them.  And it makes it hard to have negative thoughts about yourself when you recognize what the Lord has blessed you with.  Scratch that.  I believe it is IMPOSSIBLE to have negative thoughts when you recognize how much the Lord has blessed your life in every way possible.

So, on the eve of my 27th birthday, I realized that while I am not married (much to my mother's dismay) I have a college education.  I am debt free with some money in the bank for a rainy day.  I have a good job that pays more than I have ever made before.  With benefits!  And great people who are so helpful to the new kid on the block.  I have a car that runs beautifully that I didn't even have to pay for.  I have the most supporting family who loves me and who I love as well.  I have great friends.  I can walk.  And see and hear.  I don't have gray hair (yet!).  I have all of my senses (minus common sometimes!)  I live in a country where I am free to practice the religion of my choice.  I have over 25 cardigans (silly, I know...but so important!).  I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and is always there for me.  I have a Savior who died for me so that I can return to live with my Heavenly Father again after this life is through.  There are so many more...I am just so grateful for my blessings and for the opportunities that I have had in my life thus far.  And I am looking forward to so many more years full of abundant blessings.  I just hope that as the years go on I will still have the ability to recognize them.

My Post-Shopping Rant

Dear plus-size clothing manufacturers,

Please stop making pants made to only fit women who are 11 feet tall. I realize that proportionately this makes complete sense, but realistically? I am in California, not the Amazon. If I have to go the extra mile to get anything altered, I will not buy it. So really it is your loss.

Sincerely,

A frustrated shopper

P.S. I would also appreciate some age appropriate designs. I don't want to look like a grandmother at 27.

P.S.S. You really don't see an issue AT ALL with designing a bikini or shorts that look like underwear made for overweight women??? Do you you want the general population to go blind? Most of us have the sense not to wear them. Those who don't apparently end up on Maury.

P.S.S.S. I understand it takes more fabric to make our clothing. But $40 for a shirt? Let's be real here.

P.S.S.S.S. Big prints and horizontal stripes - they should NEVER be allowed on any of our clothing whatsoever. Don't even get me started on skinny jeans. What part of skinny don't you understand, sister? I don't really want to look like an elephant's backside, thankyouverymuch.

My mother is hilarious.

So, a little while ago I was complaining to members of my family about this guy on an LDS dating site kept messaging me the same thing over and over again. I found it annoying because I was not interested in him and it he didn't even change the message up at all. Like that is going to win me over! Pshh. Anyway, so my mom enters the conversation. And it goes a little like this:

Mom: "Well do you know this boy?"

Me: "Mom, of course I don't know him."

Mom: "Well I wouldn't talk to anyone on the internet who I didn't know. Don't talk to him."

Me: "I don't think you understand the concept of internet dating websites."

So far, the experience has been lame and I have decided to give it up. And maybe get a cat. Just kidding about the cat. I hate cats :)

The Day I Met the Dr.

I will never forget the day. I was in the fifth grade and our class went on a special field trip to the local roller skating rink. My teacher at the time also happened to be my bishop so I made sure that I was on my best behavior at all times. My mom had given me some money to pay for some snacks and after skating for a bit the time had come to get a nice cold beverage.

Now, my parents had always been pretty strict when it came to drinking soda when I was a kid. We almost never had it in the house, only occasionally when we would have pizza on a Friday night. And when we did, it was only Root Beer and Squirt. My parents had subscribed to the idea that caffeine was bad and that there were certain drinks we did not drink. We stuck to the basic non-caffeinated beverages and that was that.

This day, however, I decided that I didn't care about all of that. I wanted to see what the harm was in drinking a soda that I was not supposed to. Would I die? Would I be struck with lightening? I made sure my bishop was not looking and I made my move. I walked up to the counter and I made my choice. I remember thinking that the soda tasted disgusting, but I had to drink it. I paid for it, after all! I immediately felt guilty. I felt that if my parents ever found out, I would be in trouble. I vowed that I would never do anything like that ever again because if I had just listened to my parents I would have chosen a soda that I actually liked. But instead, I was disobedient and had a disgusting drink.

But somehow, I ended up drinking it again. I'm not sure when and I'm not sure how, but not too far down the road I drank this soda again. And I was in love. It tasted like heaven in my mouth. It was the nectar of the gods, the elixir of life! I had met my match and it was perfect. Now if I could only find a REAL doctor to love...

This is why my life should be a reality TV show...

I just got back from a mini trip to Provo, Utah for the wedding of my old roommate, Christina. I am so grateful that I was able to go and be there on her wedding day. She looked so beautiful! And like the goober that I am, I didn't take any pictures. At all. But it was such a great weekend. I was able to see lots of people who are so important to me. They are all people who have impacted my life in such positive ways and I am so thankful to have each and every one of them in my life :) Utah is such a happy place for me that it is always good to go back and remember the great times that I had there. It was a great trip!

This was also the first trip that I have ever taken and not had to rely on anyone. I felt like such a grown-up! I drove myself to the airport, rented a car in Utah, and stayed at a hotel. It was fabulous! The hotel was like a little mini apartment and I fell in love with it! I told my dad that I would love to permanently move there in that very room. I don't think it would be very cost effective though. Bummer. It was really cute though.

This was my very first time renting a car. It was a pretty big car! They gave me a Ford Taurus. The thing about rental cars is you are not used to them at all. And they don't give you any information about them, except for the owner's manual in the glove box. But who has time to read that when they are on vacation??? Not this girl! Anyway, when it came time to turn this car back in I had to find a gas station close to the airport to fill it up. I was running a little later than I wanted to be so I just wanted to hurry and fill up the car. Only when I pulled up into the gas station did I realize that I had no idea where the buttons or functions on this car were to make this possible. But I thought to myself, "how hard could it be?" On my car there is a lever that is clearly marked to open the door leading to the gas cap. I did a quick look at the buttons and couldn't find anything. So I scanned the levers near the driver's seat. Nothing. So I looked again. And again. By the third or fourth look-over, panic started to set in. Which then turned into a little mini freak out session where I may or may not have said some words I am not supposed to. I didn't know how to fill up this stupid car with gas and I was going to be late for my flight! I was close to tears.

Then this crazy man comes up to the car (my door was open) and tries to sell me meat. I was in panic mode so I wasn't the nicest person to him. The conversation pretty much went like this:

Meat man: "I am trying to get a promotion at work and the only way to do that is to sell more meat, so do you want to buy a steak?"

Me: (What???) "No, thank you. I am trying to make my flight and I am running late. I don't have time."

MM: "Oh, but these steaks will travel well! They are frozen and you can take them with you."

Me: "Please leave me alone."

I may have left out the please...

So I decided to look in the owner's manual, thinking there would be a diagram or a symbol or even an explanation of how to open the gas door. NOTHING! I got out of the car to look around hoping it would lead to some revelation of how to put gas in this stupid thing. This woman then comes up to me and asks me if I am leaving, to which I confide in her that I am too stupid to figure out how to get gas! I would have been embarrassed but I knew that I desperately needed help. Her daughter was running late for a job interview and all the other gas pumps were busy. Only in Utah would this woman stop what she was doing and help me. But still, two minds were not better than one. We looked at the key less entry button thingy, she looked around in the car, and still we could not figure it out. Then she pointed to a man who she thought worked there. So I approached him (complete side note: He was very good looking! Tall, dark, and handsome! Yum! ...okay, I'm done now...). He happened to be talking to the meat man at the time.

Me: "Excuse me? Do you work here?"

Man: "No, but I work there (pointing to a Direct TV van, which happened to also be a Ford)."

Me: "Oh! You drive a Ford! Can you help me?"

So, I again explained my predicament of stupidity and he took pity on me. He got in the car and searched as well. Then he busied himself with the owner's manual while we continued to look outside the vehicle. Meat man then got the attention of a gas station employee who joined in our mystery search. So for a good, solid two minutes there were FIVE PEOPLE trying to figure out how to open the door. FIVE! Then, by some miracle the woman who first helped me pushed on the door leading to the gas cap. And guess what? It opened! No lever, no button, no NOTHING! We were all dumbfounded and I was relieved! In the end, we all celebrated our victory and parted ways. I was not late for my flight and it gave me something to shake my head and laugh about the whole way home. I swear things like this only happen to me.

Stupid car.

I < 3 NY

A couple of weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to NYC to visit my friend, Stephanie. She is working as a nanny a little outside of the city and met me in Manhattan for the weekend. It was a short weekend, but so so so worth it!

I flew into LaGuardia airport on a Friday night and took a cab (all by myself!) to the hotel which was located only a couple blocks away from Times Square. Stephanie met me at the hotel and we talked the night away! It totally made me miss having roommates to just chat with, no matter the time. Anyway, we woke up on Saturday and spent the day just walking the streets. We stopped at street vendors along the way (we all know how I loooove to shop!) and saw so many famous buildings. The New York Times building, Trump Tower, Radio City music hall, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, the Chrysler tower (from afar...) are just a few that we were able to walk past and see. We didn't really have much time to specifically go to each and every building, but it was cool enough to just be there and see them!

We walked, and walked, and walked and we eventually made it to 5th Avenue. My Mecca! Not that I could afford to shop at most of the stores, but it was amazing to see them in real life. And I even decided to get myself a little souvenir at Tiffany & Co. I just HAD to! I was at THE Tiffany's in New York! So I bought a little necklace that I fell in love with :) Isn't it beautiful?!

Then after much walking and much shopping, we went back to the hotel to drop off our loot and rest up for a bit before walking to the Gershwin Theater to see WICKED!!! It was absolutely amazing and breathtaking! It was even

better than I imagined it would be! I had heard it was a great show and didn't really have an intense desire to go see it until it was almost done playing in San Francisco. At that point, it was pretty much hopeless so I didn't even try. But to see it on Broadway was a dream! I still can't believe that I went. Words cannot even describe to you how amazing it was. Just go see it for yourself! You will not regret it!

After the show, we went again to Times Square so we could see it at night. It was stunning! Even though it was almost midnight, it didn't even feel like it was night because of all the lights and people everywhere. It was so incredible. I loved it! It truly is such a magnificent city.

On Sunday, we went to church at a Singles ward that met in the same building as the Manhattan temple. The doors on the right lead to the

meetinghouse and the doors on the left lead to the temple. The Manhattan temple is absolutely beautiful! It is in a great location in the city too. It is pretty much sandwiched between Central Park and The Juilliard School. I was a little obsessed with taking pictures of the temple. I just couldn't stop! Even in a big city, amid tall buildings, you can tell that you are standing on holy ground and it is the House of the Lord. So beautiful!

After church, Stephanie and I walked around Central Park for a little bit. It was beautiful and a great place to spend the rest of our Sunday. We sat and ate lunch and talked some more. I love that girl! I had such a great time with her!

I am so grateful for the chance that I had to go on this trip. It gave me the opportunity to do and see things that I have only dreamed about. I also learned some valuable lessons about myself in the process. It opened my eyes to the world that we live in and has made me realize that I want to experience so much more in this life. I went expecting a fun weekend and I left inspired.

Hoarders

So, you've heard of the show called Hoarders, right? I actually have not seen a single episode, on account of the fact that it absolutely disgusts me. I kept seeing these commercials for the show and I would have to change the channel. Kind of like those ones that show the starving children and the abandoned puppies. I hate those commercials because they always make me cry. I hear the Sarah McLaughlin music and the tears just flow. Which is why I change the channel. But the commercials for Hoarders do not make me cry. They make me gag. I mean, how do people LIVE like that??? There are mice and maggots and who knows what else living in their stuff! It just makes me want to clean everything around me and take a shower. Gross.

But today, I realized something. I AM A HOARDER. Of clothing. I compulsively buy clothing. Weekly. I don't think a week goes by without me buying some article of clothing. It's a sickness, really. You would think that once I run out of room or hangers I would clean through and get rid of stuff I don't wear. But, I don't. I buy more hangers. I mean, come on! They are so cheap! A dollar for 10 whole hangers? Totally a good deal! And when I do get rid of clothing, I usually talk myself up to getting rid of 40% of my clothing. Buuuuuuuuuuuut, then I actually go through the clothes and get rid of maybe five things. You see, clothing holds memories for me. I remember where I was when I bought it, how happy I was wearing it for the first time, who I was with when I wore it, etc., etc., etc. That is why it is hard for me to get rid of them! I have an emotional attachment to my clothing. I need therapy.

However, today was the day! I have the day off, thanks to good ol' Christopher Columbus. So, in honor of him, I decided to clean out my closet. That, and I have nothing better to do since no one else has the day off. What is this world coming to? Anyway, I put my mind to it. If it didn't fit, it was gone. If I hadn't remembered the last time I wore it, bye-bye. If I thought, "Oh, I will totally wear this again!" and thought that the last time I did this, adios! So, how did I do? Thanks for asking! See for yourself...

You can't really tell, but that is A LOT of clothing right there. I would estimate that there are alt least 10 skirts, 15 shirts, 10 pairs of shorts/capris, and a few pairs of pants. I am pretty proud of myself. Yay me! :) But, the sad part is my closet is STILL full. But it looks a whole lot better! And I don't have to worry about dislocating a shoulder when trying to shove everything in anymore.