New Album Titles PLEASE

Why is it that almost everyone has a facebook photo album called "Summer Loving" (or some form of that)!! Aren't there an infinite number of word combinations that could be used to title the photos and yet everyone seems to pick that one. Odd!!

Hi...um...I'll let you go now

I'm not good at talking on the phone to people when I'm the one to initiate the call. I get nervous and can't talk or change the subject frequently only to come back to the same topic. Sometimes I even just not say anything at all and then get more nervous about the silence. (Humans can't tolerate silence in a conversation, they always try to fill it ASAP). Then, when I've said whatever my purpose was for calling, I almost try and immediately try to end the conversation. Even with friends, unless I have what I want to say planned out and such then I just blubber my way through the conversation.

On the other hand, I love talking to people in person and it's something I think I'm good at. Conversations flow and it's easy to merge topics and have an in-depth talk. Odd, because a phone conversation is kind of the same in that you get an immediate response including emotions, tonal changes, and such.

Sorry to anyone who's had to endure talking to me on the phone only to hang up frustrated or confused.

Dial-up is My Enemy

Had post of cross-country roadtrip (with pictures and stories) all ready to go when my grandparents' dial-up stopped and the computer crashed. This is the "I-don't-want-to-write-that-whole-thing-again" version

WEDNESDAY 12th - Dad and I left PA early and made it all the way to Springfield, Illinois before nightfall. Drove 700 miles. With my navigation skills and dad's good driving, we didn't have any wrong turns. Discovered that my car gets 31 mpg. Such a good little car! Brother had blown fuse in the car so we had no radio or air-conditioning at all

THURSDAY 13th - arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Nothing to see the whole day so my form of entertainment was looking at the license plates of the passing cars and trucks. Whooppee!! (no enthusiasm present) Saw the National Headquarters of Cabela's in Sidney, WY which is the most po-dunk town you'll ever see (emphasis added). Drove about 850 miles. I fixed the blown fuse and reconnected the broken wiring...Eeezy Peezy!!!

FRIDAY 14th - left Cheyenne and made it to Rexburg, Idaho around 6:30pm. Favorite part of the drive was seeing Palisades Lake near Ririe, Idaho. BEAUTIFUL!!! Hit the biggest and juiciest bug ever. SPLAT!! Rode up to see the Rexburg Temple after dark. Camera battery was dead and so I didn't get pictures.

SATURDAY 15th - Saw Peterson do the triathlon. Started early in the morning with a 1/2 mile swim, then a 14 mi bike ride, and finished with a 3.1 mi run. Met his sister, brother-in-law, and their kids. Developed a little, giggly, blonde shadow. He finished in under 2 hrs and broke his own record from the previous year. No accidents. Mom and Baby Brother were planning on coming up and going to Yellowstone and Lava Hot Springs, but my brother didn't want to so dad and I ended up just going down to SLC. We wanted to go to the TV museum in Rigby, but it wasn't opened yet. Drove around and saw the town. Really nice! Ate at Artic Circle (dad's favorite fast food) before leaving Idaho. Made it to grandma's by 4pm. Saw the house my parents lived in when I was born. Took Baby Brother to IKEA (still don't know why he wanted to go there). Ended the day by watching The Lawrence Welk Show with grandma and grandpa; just like the old days. Felt sick

SUNDAY 16th - Went to church. Helped Baby Brother move in to his apartment because he just couldn't wait to get there. I think that he just wanted to get away from my parents....you know, independence. Still sick

MONDAY 17th - Cleaned the car out. Did some Watercolor. Helped dad clear weeds, shrubs, and trees from around the building my grandpa owns so someone will rent it. Got eyes checked. Made dinner with Aunt and watched "Sabrina" (starring Audrey Hepburn) with grandma. Still sick.

The Night Before Life Goes On

Tonight's the last night my life will be relatively close to the way it used to be. My brother is packing up all of his belongings and preparing to leave the house forever...figuratively speaking. No longer will we all be living under the same roof, sharing the same cars, and fighting over who has to do the dishes. Tay's heading out to Utah for orientations and such at Utah State University in Logan. After tonight he'll technically no longer live in this house (he'll have the same status as me...wanderer). I thought it was weird for me to be the one leaving, but now that it's my baby brother, I feel like life will never be normal again. As Carrie Underwood sang "it's the night before life goes on". I don't like this growing up thing!

Whoops!!

So pretty much the dumbest thing I've ever done. I accidentally vacuumed one of the keys off my laptop keyboard...still not sure how I managed to do that. Had to go vacuum diving in the GIANT home-based vacuum system. Found all the pieces (for they were tiny and clear). Was quite an experience, but not one I will ever do again. ALL FIXED!!!

(still sneezing)

"A record shall be kept..."

...That's why the Doctrine & Covenants were written...and more importantly why we should journal - because we're commanded to. Alright, so I'm not the best example of a perfect record keeper, but I'm doing much better. I've taken a (figurative) page out of my roommate Shley's life and decided to be more consistent with my journaling. She writes like no novelist/writer/poet/playwright ever in the history of the world. (She can fill a journal in about 2 1/2-4 weeks). She, as well as K-Girl, have been my examples of journal writers. Anytime they wrote in or mentioned their journals I got a pang of guilt knowing my posterity wouldn't get to delve inside my heart and mind. That's when my goal was born - fill a journal...even just one...with a stream of information/ponderings/happenings

One of my jobs this summer was to do some typing and secretarial/computer work for my ex-bishop. He wanted to have his mother's journals accessible electronically so he can make discs of them for his kids. He reads from them while I just sit and type away. He pulls out the spiritual tidbits as well as weather and important family memories (births, marriages, deaths, etc), whatever he thinks will be of value to his family. What we have compiled is phenomenal - 20 years of her journals. I'm just amazed that someone can be this constant with something that so many people take for granted and don't do. The funnest tidbit was documented today "I don't think anyone will ever read this...." She may have been right, but that's not what's important. Some of her entries were pages and pages while others, mere sentences or phrases but each has its significance. You can definitely see a progression not i=only in her life but those of her family and friends. We covered grandkids' graduations, births, baptisms, temple trips, priesthood to all worthy males, death of Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, EVERYTHING. It's neat to see the past through another's eyes.

In my life I've only fully completed 1 journal of my 7 1/2 weeks of experiences in London, but it set a fire under me to keep going. If I can find time to write when I'm bombarded by travel and fun then I can certainly write when I've just sat and done homework. I'm going to strive to follow her diligent example and write in my journal as often as possible - more than just once every few months or so. I typically shy away from journaling when there's nothing exciting happening in my life - THAT'S WHEN I SHOULD BE WRITING THE MOST. I learn from the insignificant just as much as from the significant. "A goal not written down is merely a wish"...well now it's written down and the whole world are witnesses (well, my blog followers/casual readers at least) to my commitment to journaling. Now, will you follow my example or just wish me luck?!?! Remember "And again, let all the records be had in order, that they may be put in the archives of my holy temple, to be held in remembrance from generation to generation, saith the Lord of Hosts" (D&C 127:8)