Life Updated

Hey there.

Yeah, not much is going on in my life.

Working between 50 and 60 hours a week.  That's pretty much all I do.

I got called as an FHE group leader for this summer.  It's going to be really good, my group seems fun, and my 'husband' is from Chile.  Last week we combined with another group to play soccer (which, I realized, I'm absolutely no good at) and tonight we had an awesome spiritual thought then introduced ourselves to everyone, telling about our most serious or recent injury.  Good stuff.

I've been reading ravenously since I got hooked on Uglies last week, and so I'm itching to get my hands on more books.  If only I didn't have to work so much, I could read to my heart's desire!

I bought my plane ticket home for this summer.  I decided that since I'm working so hard Spring Term that I'm going to come home for a whole month!  I can not wait to party and hang out with all my buddies and go to the BEACH (that is, if they aren't slicked in oil) and go to theme parks (omgosh-- HARRY POTTER!!) and be hot in the wonderful humidity.

It snowed today.  It was an adventure riding my bike to campus in that.  I was completely soaked and didn't dry out until about 5 hours later.  Lame.  Tree branches broke everywhere from the weight of the snow on the leaves, and at work we got a call about a power line that fell on a car.  Yikes.  Plus, everyone's gardens are now nicely frozen.  Gotta love Utah (or not).

I got new shoes last week.  My old ones had holes everywhere, side of the foot, toe, sole, it was pretty bad.  I ordered some Vans online that I've wanted for a while.  Best thing was they were 20% off and free shipping!  Love!

Yay for new shoes!

Well, I think that's it for me.  Hope you are doing as wonderful as I am (or wonderful-er)!

Summer Reading-- Switching Gears

Ok, so I totally failed at my original summer reading list.  I got a few of the books, but I never really got into any of them.  Plus, I don't have a lot of spare time to read like I want to.  But, last week I read Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, and I got completely sucked in!  I'd originally started reading it a few months ago, but I didn't quite get into it back then.  But over the months I found myself wondering what happened next, so I guess curiosity eventually got the best of me and I picked it up again last week.  I inhaled it in a couple of days, only able to read between calls at work.  At the end of last week I bought Pretties, the sequel, and gobbled that one up too, finishing it this afternoon.

I guess I've decided that I need a lighter selection for my summer reading.  I think the subjects on my first list were a little too heavy (politics, bios, etc.) so I'm switching gears.  My friend Kellie has been reading some really good books lately and so I think I'll start copying her (hehe).  I want to finish off the Uglies series (though I hear it gets really weird with the next book, Specials) and then do the Fablehaven and Leven Thumps series.  I'd love suggestions of other good juvenile fiction series you've read.

Wallpapers

The other day, I decided I wanted inspiring wallpaper for my desktop.  These are what I came up with.  I like some of them better than others, but they're my first attempts.

Thoughts on Hypocrisy and Army Wives

Image source

I've been thinking a lot about some things after a conversation I had with a coworker, Garett, at my new job.  He's a really nice guy, funny, flirty, etc., and he's in the army.  I remember the first few days I met him, he was talking about basic and deployment and such, and because of that I automatically ruled him out as a potential romantic interest.  

Why?  Because my cousin is in the army and was deployed all of last year.  I saw his wife's daily struggles, how much she missed him and how hard it was to only get to see him for a couple weeks at a time very occasionally.  I just thought to myself that that's exactly how I would feel.  I imagine that I will want to see my husband everyday, have him around for comfort and security, and not worry about him all the time.  And so I silently vowed to myself that I would never marry someone in the military.  There were other things, too, like having to move around a lot and uprooting ourselves and our kids socially and academically.  I was convinced that these were all great reasons.

Then I was talking to Garett the other night at work, and I asked him about why he joined the army.  Later, he asked me if I thought a man in uniform was attractive.  I avoided the question, trying to figure out what I to say.  The conversation went something like this.

Garett: Does seeing a guy in uniform spark anything in you?  A military uniform?

Me:  My uncle gave me some of his old desert camo and I really like that.  [Avoiding the question]

Garett:  That's not what I meant.

Me:  What do you mean? [Stalling]

Garett: Like, is it attractive?  

Me:  Mmm, maybe the navy.  [This is true, I really like the navy uniform]

Garett:  Ah, the sea daaaawgs.  You know they're all gay right?

Me: Sadly, they're the best-looking.

Garett: Do you at least think something like, "He has a job, he's not lazy"?

Me:  Yeah, I guess so.

A few minutes later:

Garett:  So, what do you think about guys in the military?

Me:  I don't know.  [Yes, I do, I just don't want to say it.]  I mean, I don't think it's a bad thing, I think it's good discipline for a guy, and I support our troops and all...

Garett:  But you just don't know how close to home you want it?

[And THAT was the kicker that got me thinking.]

Me: Yeah... is that bad?

Garett:  No, I don't think so.

----------

Well, now that I think about it, I DO think it's a bad thing for me to have that mentality.  I've always thought it was wrong of people to be so selfish that they wanted to live in our free country but wouldn't be willing to have their family members sent off to war.  Let some other family's son or husband die for you.  I guess I just always thought that was what other people thought, and didn't realize I had pretty much the same mentality.  I felt like a total hypocrite.  

Since that conversation I've been thinking a lot about the possibility that I could have to see my husband and sons sent off to war.  Conditions in this world most likely aren't going to get better from here.  What if full-blown war broke out and they were drafted?  That's something I couldn't control, even if they weren't enlisted in the military before that. 

I've finally come to the conclusion that  I need to have a less selfish attitude about the military.  After all, I've always believed that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" and that it is noble to sacrifice your life for your country.  How can I believe those things and not be willing to live them?

Sometimes inspiration really does come from unlikely sources.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Here's a special post for my mommy.. I love her so much!  She is my best friend.

I was thinking what I could post about and I thought of some of the songs that remind me of her. Some of them are on my blog's playlist so you can listen to them.  I'll just mention some of them and why they remind me of her.

Escapade- This was the number one song on the day I was born, and I think of my mom doing her Janet Jackson impression with her shoulders.

Eye of the Tiger- I remember her talking about how her band used to play this song at football games in high school.

Flowers on the Wall- We loved this song for a while, I remember her trying to explain to me who Captain Kangaroo was.

Goodbye Earl- Back in the day when we were huge Dixie Chicks fans we used to sing along with this song really loud.

I am a Man of Constant Sorrow-  From the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" which I've never seen, but I remember her listening to the soundtrack a lot.

She Blinded Me with Science- I just remember her listening to it a lot when I was little, and we would sing really loud to it in the car.  Just about any song from the 80s reminds me of her, actually.

So Long, Farewell- She would sing this to her 5th grade students as they were leaving for the day.

There is No Arizona- Another one of those songs that we obsessed over for a while.  It reminds me especially of her because she's lived in Arizona.

Wedding Bell Blues- Agian, we used to sing real loud to this in the car.  I always thought it was funny because the song is about Bill, and that's her dad's name.

I Get Knocked Down- I remember she and Lorraine loved this song years and years ago and we would always dance and sing to it in the car with their family.  Good times.

This Stuff Keeps Me Up Until 3am

Well, I haven't posted in a while, and that because frankly there isn't much to post about.  I'm working my 2 jobs right now, and it's keeping me pretty darn busy.  I work a shift usually something like 11-3 at BYU Info, then everyday 330-midnight at the Census office.  I really love my job at the Census, it keeps me busy just about every minute.  My job at BYU Info is a lot slower, though, and I get bored easily.  Oh, well, it's money, right?  :)

So, last night I stayed up really late (like 3 something) watching YouTube videos.  I love looking up stuff about Michael Jackson for some reason.  Well, I recently re-discovered and then fell in love with the song "Say, Say, Say" by possibly my two favorite singers: Michael Jackson AND Paul McCartney.  (I guess I would say that the only thing that bothers me about it is that Linda McCartney is in the music video-- why??)

If you need to turn off the background music on my blog to watch and enjoy the music video, the player is at the very bottom of the page.



There's what the director calls a "magical moment" when Paul puts the shaving cream on MJ's cheek, because Michael didn't know it was coming and his expression is so genuine.  Cute!

Sidenote:
I re-discovered this video because I found a 30 minute clip of the MTV premier of the Michael Jackson Pepsi Commercials where they interviewed the director, who actual directed the music videos for "Beat It," and "Say, Say, Say," as well as "Love is a Battlefield."  I thought it was so interesting.  


He also talked about the accident with MJ's hair catching fire, and I re-watched the footage of the accident that was only just released last year (and I can't believe it took almost 25 years for it to surface).  The director pointed out that Michael first thought it was his jacket that caught fire, so you can see him try to take it off at the bottom of the stairs, then he does two quick spins that pretty much puts the fire out before all the guys tackle him.  So sad.  I guess that's the pivotal point in his life where he started needing the pain medications, and eventually became addicted which led to his death.