snow + shoes = my new favorite thing

I went showshoeing today.
Snowshoeing.


Me.
The girl who used to not do much "outdoorsy" stuff.
The girl who forgot she was missing the hiking at Fitness Ridge.
The girl who has just found her new favorite thing.


It was beautiful.
It was relaxing.
It was a good calorie workout.
And it was fun.

Apparently, in addition to being born to run, I was also born to snowshoe.
I've already planned my next outing.

(I promised my witness-protection-program friends I would not reveal their identity. I'm loyal like that. And I'm also the cute one on the left.)

Elder Holland & the golf cart

It's time for another "Did you know" story.
(yes, the introspection on this blog is getting to be a bit much, even for me. there's been a serious lack of random lately. my apologies.)

In 1997, the Mormon Church celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the Pioneers entering the Salt Lake City Valley. I had the tremendous opportunity of being the Production Assistant for the Sesquicentennial Spectacular Celebration held that summer.

There are several stories I could tell from that summer.
How Martha Stewart almost got me fired.
How my friend and her husband almost got me kicked out of BYU.
How I nearly died running up to the top of the stadium.

But let's just start with one.

The night of the dress rehearsal, I had one oh so simple job.
My assignment was to transport Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland via golf cart from the production trailers in the parking lot to the stage on the field inside Cougar Stadium.
Like I said, it was a simple job.

But, there were several problems with this assignment.
1.) I was a tich on the "awe struck side" by the passengers
2.) I had never driven a golf cart
3.) I didn't admit I had never driven a golf cart

As is customary, the senior one of the two sat in the front with me.
That left Elder Holland on the back seat (facing backwards, btw).
I remember Elder Scott starting a conversation with me.
I remember not knowing what to say.
I remember Elder Holland said something funny.
I remember laughing.
And then I remember my foot hit the gas pedal.
A. little. too. hard.

The next thing I knew I was making a sharp turn (to stay on the path) and I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Elder Holland nearly fall off the back.
I hit the brake.
Elder Holland caught his balance...barely.

And there we were.
Stopped.
I was mostly frozen.
Elder Scott said something like "Whoa there."
Elder Holland smiled.
I think I said, "I'm so sorry" a dozen times.

Somehow I got them to the stage.
They both got off the cart.
Even thanked me for the ride.

And that's the story of how I nearly threw Elder Holland off a golf cart I was driving. Pretty classic, eh?

PS It really was quite a spectacular celebration. I caught the production bug from this experience. I credit it for pushing me into events as a career. Here's the finale. 3,000 missionaries entered the stadium as a surprise. It still makes me cry to watch it.

Storytime: Rejected by God

I decided it's time to start telling the "did you know?" stories.

And first up...Seminary.
(Most high school age youth in the Mormon church participate in a daily religion class early before school. Yep...every school day...all four years of high school. Depending on the time school starts, classes can begin as early as 6am; which means you can be getting up as early at 4:30.)

When I returned from my mission, I just knew I no longer wanted to be a Speech-Language Pathologist (my major in college). And actually, I knew I wanted to go back to my original plan of being a teacher. As I thought about it, studied it out and prayed about what direction my life should take, I felt strongly about being a Seminary Teacher. (in Utah, seminary happens all throughout the school day and the LDS Church actually hires teachers. In other places, teachers serve on a volunteer basis.)

I enrolled in the program at BYU and took the first class. The end of the class included a week of student teaching. I had been teaching at the Missionary Training Center and I felt confident in what I could do. I worked so hard to prepare the lessons and I was so excited to finally put it all into real practice.

And it just felt right.

I remember my first day of student teaching. I watched the current teacher with the students. My impression was that he wasn't connecting and the kids seemed disinterested. I wanted my shot.

It was one of the best weeks of my life at the time.
I felt totally alive with those kids.
I loved teaching the Old Testament, Kings specifically.
The whole experience fascinated me.

When I left the classroom on Friday, I knew it was just the beginning of what I was meant to do.

Like I said, it just felt right.

I was able to see my student evaluations. They were really good. It seemed what I tried to do worked. I was excited about what was ahead.

So the day the letter came from the program, I couldn't open it fast enough. And I distinctly remember the comic sans font on the envelope. It was so cheery and whimsical. Surely one would only use "cheery and whimsical" for sharing very happy news.

"We strongly encourage you to pursue other endeavors."

That's the only part of the letter I remember.
They didn't even have the backbone to come right out and say, "You aren't good enough and we will not be offering you a position."

I called my dad with the letter still in my hand.
I cried.
Oh, I cried.
I was in the middle of a college love heartbreak and I said to my dad, "It's one thing to be rejected by a boy but it's quite another to be rejected by God."

I mean, if I was trying to be hired to teach His word, the rejection felt a little personal.

I really was devastated.
Funny, I rarely think of it now.
But, at the time, it seemed like my life's biggest disappointment (oh that that could have actually been the biggest.)
I couldn't imagine what my life was going to become...
what I was going to do...
where I was going to go.

I ended up graduating and moving to Connecticut to live with my sister and her family. It was the beginning of a whole new journey.

I've learned enough since then to realize how unhappy I probably would have been in that program. And now that I've seen where the Lord has led me and the opportunities He has given me in other ways, I couldn't be more grateful. It simply wasn't right for me.

Sometimes closed doors really do create open windows.
Sometimes "rejections" end up being invitations.

Even when it looks like the rejection came from God.
Maybe especially when...

Did you know?

Did you know
I tried to get hired to teach seminary and got rejected?

Did you know
I'm still bugged the rejection letter was written using the comic sans font?

Did you know
I wet the bed until I was 12? (Well, then there was that one time at BYU).

Did you know
When I was little, I played Donahue...all by myself? I was the talk show host, the guest AND the audience.(that's a separate post)

Did you know
My sisters and I used to play Sacrament Meeting? I still remember the talk I always gave (and we MIGHT have used bread and water...we might have.)

Did you know
I got my first kiss at...nevermind.

Did you know
That sometimes I'll be sitting thinking or working and I'll notice I haven't inhaled for like a minute and so suddenly I'm gasping for air?

Did you know
I always wanted to be a radio talk show host?

Did you know
I got offered a job hosting a show on a new station here in SLC and then got the offer withdrawn in the same week before I could even tell anyone?

Did you know
I once went to visit a boy I had never met before in person in a far away city and after 36 hours, I changed my ticket, called a cab and left a note?

Did you know
The cab driver couldn't find the place I was staying and so the boy had to take me to the airport?

Did you know
that was awkward?

Did you know
I once took one of President Hinckley's daughers AND one of his granddaughter's into a Coyote Ugly?

Did you know
I got suckered into $194 in Chinese drugs? Oh, wait...yes, you did.

Did you know
I didn't go to my High School Prom?

Did you know
I once got my finger stuck in the penny loafer of a married man? (again, another post)

Did you know
One time at work I said to a male colleague on the phone, "Can I hold you?" instead of "Can I put you on hold?"

Did you know
I almost threw Elder Holland off a golf cart I was driving?

Did you know
I got kissed by Donny Osmond in the middle of a concert when I was 10 years old and that I wrote about it in my journal with a purple pen? And then, when I met him 20 years later, I had him sign that actual journal entry...with a purple pen?

Did you know
I'm kind of a nerdy girl who's kind of lived a unique life and kind of loves it?

I'm just glad I'm me today.

(And now it looks like I have a summer worth of stories to share.)

Down on one knee

It started with a double (actually triple, but you can't see it) rainbow on a short walk after our event this weekend (which was incredible, btw and a great reminder of why I've loved the privilege of my job these past several years).

But, I digress.
It started with the double rainbow:

And then a magical giant red wagon.
I should have known something was up.

But, I couldn't have been prepared for what was just around the corner.





There he was.








All alone.






As if he was waiting for me.







While he was...







Down on one knee...

(Yes, I'm a total nerd and there might have been a few people in Spokane Saturday night who were mildly amused by my antics. But, seriously, how does a blogger pass up a shot like this? How?)

Funny too. Of all the men I thought I'd end up with, an astronaut wasn't on the list. But, who am I to fight destiny?

Just another week

My "free time" has been/currently is committed to a project that has a looming deadline (i.e. MONDAY). It's been in the works for several years (you might even say twenty-five...true story) and since I've already asked for the deadline to be extended three times, Monday is it. (And I'll tell you more about the project in the coming weeks...assuming I make the deadline.)

And, as is typical with me, I've bitten off more than I can chew.

But, I digress.

So, this week was just another week in my interesting life:

I went to see a show at Capitol Theatreand was bugged with how casual people were dressed (it's a pet peeve of mine about casual people...love you all, but seriously, you're too casual...at church...at Capitol Theatre...too casual...).

And so, I obnoxiously took pictures to document (is that appropriate? well, never mind my pictures, is the following appropriate?)(birks. really? at the theater?)(and, unless you have a note from your dr., sneakers are not appropriate either.)

Does this make me a snob? I like to think it's just a matter of respect.

But, back to the show. I was at the show with 4 other women who I loved before, but I loved even more when we all walked out about 25 minutes into it because life is too short and the $66 per ticket we paid wasn't worth sitting there through unecessary irreverance (thanks for you goodness, girls!).

And then, upon leaving the show, we asked the family walking by if they would take our picture. The family just happened to be the head coach of Xavier University who was in town for the Sweet 16. Very cool. (and I was just a little excited)
And even more cool because Xavier was the team BYU would have played had we won our game last Saturday. A game where, 7 minutes in and 10 points ahead, my partner in crime and I decided to get tickets for the upcoming SLC Sweet 16 game because we KNEW BYU would win.They did not.

But we did because we had SUCH a great time at the game and I particularly loved rooting for my new team, the Xavier Musketeers(who lost in a heartbreak double-overtime nailbiter.)(actual picture from our actual seats...see the "X" flag down there?)

And also this week, I:

-successfully negotiated something that even a year ago I couldn't have negotiated (really, I don't like to brag but I'm getting quite good. yay me.)

-said "I'm sorry" when I unfairly assumed something (I don't like it when I have to do that but glad I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong.)

-had an "ah ha" of "you're right where you're supposed to be (I love it I get to have that)

-talked to a friend who's mom talked to a friend who happens to be the aunt of a boy I dated once and it was kind of fun to hear that said aunt said the family thinks said boy is "an idiot for letting that girl go" (and he was, btw.)

-got to help rip the paper off the window of my company's new flagship store (and it's incredible! Go visit!)

-had SEVEN lunch or dinner dates (not necessarily all with real live dates) and have committed to NOT EAT OUT next week. Seriously. I'm done.

-realized that I can be a little bit of a hypocrite (more later) and so didn't finish a book I really wanted to finish because I should have stopped reading it sooner than I did thanks to some rough language (why, people, why?)

-sold my tickets to go see the artist that makes my heart skip a beat because I had to acknowledge that I've spent too much money lately and I've got to be more responsible...darn it. (Well, that and I also committed last time I saw him, which happened to be my THIRD time seeing him, that I would only see him a 4th time with a boy. And, alas, currently....)

-didn't run enough because I overcommitted myself to things other than running. And that is not okay (struggling with it, people. not gonna lie. tell me I can do this...)

Now off to bed, doing a personal 5K in the morning (outside and everything. please don't drive by and honk), and then sequestered for the weekend to make my deadline.

Yep.
Just another week.

BYU: My Great American Novel

It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times.

So starts Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, one of the great American novels. And it could also just as easily be the opening line of the summary of my days at Brigham Young University.

BYU is where I started my dream of becoming a High School English teacher.
It's also where I changed my major to Speech-Language Pathology because it sounded like a cool thing to say during a "get to know you" game at my first FHE (true story...I changed my major shortly thereafter).

BYU is where I had my first date.
It's also where I spent a cold winter night sitting outside the library studying (yep, you read that right) so that I could "bump into" (casually, of course) the first boy I ever really loved (that story really does deserve its own post).

BYU is where I learned to let my heart fall in love.
It's also where I felt what it meant to have it broken.

BYU is where I learned that a mission wasn't for me.
It's also where I made the decision to serve one.

BYU is where I discovered who I really was.
It's also where I discovered I had yet to uncover what that meant.

BYU is where I first devoured the writings of Neal A. Maxwell.
BYU is where I learned that I didn't want to live with a girl for the rest of my life.
BYU is where I made the decision to go to the temple...a year before my mission.
BYU is where I got my love of college football.
BYU is where I learned to master my mother's banana bread recipe (and that might deserve its own post too).
BYU is where I gained my independence.
BYU is where I met some of my life's dearest friends.
BYU is where so much of my life began.

I had a Disney's THE KID (oh, I love that movie) experience tonight as I walked into the JKB to speak to a group of really impressive 18 & 19 year old girls.

Oh, I remember being them.
And I remember what it felt like to have a whole BYU experience ahead of me--
One that I was CERTAIN...CERTAIN...included married-student housing, a baby or two, not serving a mission and probably not receiving an actual official diploma.

And of course it was different than what I was "certain" it would be.

Oh, if freshman Laurel was sitting in that crowd, I would have wanted to help prepare her just a little better for what lie ahead.
All the hard things...
and all the amazing things too.

It's been a book I couldn't have written if I tried.
One I couldn't have imagined.
And it's probably good I didn't know then what I know now.
In fact, I'm glad I didn't.

And I guess it's good those girls don't know it either.

Thanks, 2009. I love you.

"The world is round
and the place which may seem like the end
may also be
the beginning."
-Ivy Baker Priest

Dear 2009:
I can't imagine how I could have had a better year than you.
Truly.

First there was the Graduation
(um, I'm a master!)

And then there was the celebration
(and I'm better for it)

Then, I had a paradigm shift
(and didn't we love that discussion)

Oh, but then I went to China
(hello! me! I went to China! Look at the archive to see it all.)

And then...I got brave
(when, really, I was still scared)

So that I could thoroughly enjoy a great thing
(and it really really was)

2009, you have blessed my life.
And really, we just got along so well.
I think you've been my favorite.
(but, don't tell all the other years. I don't want them to feel badly).

xoxo,
L

(PS If you're reading this, you've likely blessed my life this year as well. Gratzi. I'm grateful for YOU too.)