Don't Forget to Wear Clothes on 10-31

Today in The Daily Universe (BYU’s daily campus life newspaper) there was an article about maintaining modesty—and decency, even for Halloween.  My dear Watson and I have been putting a lot of thought into what we are going to be for Halloween, and as a result have dropped in at a few Halloween stores looking for inspiration.  We were anything but inspired. Instead, we found a lot of incredibly inappropriate and perverted costumes. Since when does Dorothy from Wizard of Oz wear a booty-skirt, hooker heels and a skin tight cleavage showing blouse? Have you ever seen a nurse wearing lingerie on the job? Last year I went to a few different Halloween parties around BYU, most of them put on by people in my ward. A lot of the costumes were really creative and funny, but I was surprised at the number of skanky costumes worn by girls in my ward.  The article from The Daily Universe argued that we should be modest at all times including Oct. 31^st.  She also of course brought up the leggings issue which is an interesting one to talk about around BYU. I mean,  I totally understand how someone could think wearing skin tight leggings can make a shirt-- only slightly longer than a t-shirt-- modest to wear with no pants. I guess the “Dresses, skirts, and shorts must be knee-length or longer” part of the Honor Code doesn’t apply if you wear tights underneath. The author of the article brought up a good point that you don’t have to ‘dress like a square’ in your everyday life in order to maintain modesty. You can make a modest version of what’s fashionable and still look great.  Here’s the best quote from her article:

“So while you’re putting together your Halloween costume this week, try to give a little more thought to your outfit. There are plenty of ways to feel cute, even hot, in a costume while still maintaining the standard. You just have to be a little more creative.  It’s cold outside anyway—you’ll thank me later.”

 You can read the entire article HERE.

I Made an OWL

Lately I have been having an owl fetish. I think owl's are so cute I can hardly stand it. SO, I decided to try to make my own and this is how it turned out.  It looks like an owl which means I did a pretty good job, I suppose. I made it using Adobe Photoshop. It's just a bunch of shapes all thrown together. I'm bad at choosing colors that go well together, so I got the color scheme from a pre-made color sample from kuler.adobe.com. You can sign up for free and download really cool color schemes to upload to Photoshop, InDesign and I think Illustrator (I don't know Illustrator very well and I haven't figured out how to Load Swatches). 

Enjoy looking at my cute little owl! hoooot hoooot!

CELEBRATE

Everyone say WOOT! for my Dear Watson!!  It’s his birthday today!!!! Now we’re the same age (I’ve been older than him for 3 months).

For his birthday we stayed one night at a hotel (I won a free night’s stay), ordered pizza, stayed up late and watched a movie at his parent’s house, I got him some movies, chapstick and a UVU t-shirt, and today we’re going to eat at Red Robin (because they give you a free meal on your b-day).   

My dear Watson is one of the most genuinely kind people I’ve ever met. He treats people so well, no matter what—he just assumes the best of everyone. He also has this amazing super power to turn the negative into positive. He is eternally patient and humble. He can fix or build anything, and somehow always finds something that needs fixing. He so willingly cleans the house and helps with dinner (in fact, I think he does both jobs better than me).  Did I mention how handsome he is? You should see how children flock to him. It doesn’t matter if they’ve never met him, they instantly love him. One time a lady walked passed us while my dear Watson was whistling (he whistles a lot) and she said “you are such a good whistler—I think that means you have a happy heart.”  And that’s the truth.   

Since the moment I met him 6 years ago, I’ve been drawn to him. And now, I’m MARRIED to him. It is definitely a dream come true.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY my dear Watson, I love you!

I'm not sure if he is in pain or if he's happy in this picture. Probably happy, because he's drinking Sprite!

MOOSE

On a relaxing and much needed drive up the canyon last Sunday, my dear Watson and I saw a MOOSE.  Strangely, moose are and will always be an indication of God’s love for me. 

The last time I saw a moose, which was my first time ever seeing a moose, was in answer to a prayer that ended something like this:  “oh…and…please help me see a moose.”  I was spending my 13^th or 14^th birthday (I can’t remember which) at girls camp that year. For me, it was the worst way to spend a birthday. I didn’t like girls camp because of its tightly regimented schedule and uptight rules.  Not to mention the cliques in my ward which I was never included in . As I shed some tears by my cot the night before my birthday, I wondered if it was even okay to ask Heavenly Father for something like a moose. There’s only one roaming the mountains of Camp Shalom girls camp and I reeealllly wanted to see it.

The next morning, on my birthday, there was a moose taking a dip in the lake right by my cabin.  It waited there long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures.  Then it walked away and I never saw a moose again, until last week. Feeling stressed and slightly overwhelmed, I need an escape to nature. Again, I shed some tears and prayed silently that I would be able to feel Heavenly Father’s love for me—to strengthen me and lift me higher. Traffic along the Alpine Loop slowed and I thought for sure someone hit a bicyclist.  My dear Watson spotted the young black moose along the side of the road and we knew immediately that it was the real cause of the stopped up traffic.It moved deeper into the woods as we came around the bend. He froze for a few minutes while we drove by him and took a picture.  

I wasn't looking for a moose this time just some manifestation of God's love, and there it was once again in the form of a Moose. I think He was telling me to remember, and that if He loved me on that birthday at Camp Shalom, He loves me today and everyday. 

Where is My Dust Collecting Dress?

The other day at work one of my colleagues brought his wife’s wedding dress in because he had to ship it to one of his daughters and didn’t want to leave it in the hot car.  It was the second time since my wedding that I longed for a wedding dress that was mine forever. I’ll never be able to ship my dress to my daughter, and when they ask to see my wedding dress I’ll only be able to show a picture. 

I know, I know, if I had purchased a dress it would hang in a closet, never to be worn again. It would collect dust and turn yellow---until my little girl asked to see her mommy’s beautiful wedding dress. And then it would sit some more until my oldest girl asked me to ship it to her so she could show it to her children and so on. There is nothing like a wedding dress to rain down the memory floods of the most important day of your life, and to connect your children and grand children to the day as well. 

Some of you know about the wedding dress shop that ruined my life (okay maybe not ruined, but at a very stressful 2 weeks before the wedding, it felt ruined). For some reason their workers in China wouldn’t ship the dresses they had ordered for the last month. I went to the store and tried to find something else I liked, but they were going to have to alter it from a size 8 to my size and it was too risky so close to the wedding.  So we said ‘no thanks life ruiners, we’re going somewhere else. Oh, and give us our money back.' We were one of the lucky few to actually get our money back before they started denying money back and forcing everyone to wear a size 8 that they altered.

Anyway, through the kindness of many, I was able to find a place where I could rent a dress. I went in and about 10 minutes later found one that suited me. At this point I had detached myself from all sentimental feelings I had about a wedding dress. My dress was definitely pretty, and I’m happy I found it. 

In a couple days I’ll forget all about my desire to have my own wedding dress for keeps, but for today I wish I knew there was one hanging in my closet collecting dust and good memories. 

We Been a Fair-in'

Last weekend I had it in my mind that I wanted to go to the Utah State Fair. When I found out it costs $9 per person plus the gas to drive to downtown Salt Lake, I changed my mind. I was kind of sad about it though because it seemed like it would be fun. The next day we went to Macey's (my favorite place) to buy groceries. There was a radio station outside the doors and we almost walked by, but I noticed they had some chapstick on the table that I wanted to grab if they were giving it away free. When we got to the table we decided to spin their wheel. We landed on a WINNER spot and got the last two State Fair tickets! That is luck. Actually it's not really luck because the guy moved the spinner to the WINNER spot for us.

So we went to the Fair and I did everything I could to get all the free things we saw. We even sat through a 15 minutes sales pitch in the blazing hot sun just to say "No Thanks" and then get a free DVD about Gordon B. Hinckley. We watched a 5 minute video about breast cancer and got a cool backpack from the Susan G. Komen foundation. I got my wedding ring cleaned, had chips and salsa, pretzels and dip, kettle corn, and of course I got a couple pens. Oh, and we won that black Jeep you see behind us!!!!! Just kidding. We stopped to watch the Sheep show which turned out to be WAY more interesting than expected. The FFA kids grabbed their sheep by the neck and walked them into the arena. If the sheep wouldn't move forward the kids would stick their fingers up the sheep butt and it would move along nicely. You could tell how nervous these kids were by the way they looked at the judge longingly every time he walked by their sheep. Who knows what he was looking for. He eventually chose a winner and then explained some sheep things about why he chose the way he did. It was cool because the kids raise their sheep from the time they are little and put a lot of work into it. I guess it's kind of like losing a football game or something. In New Zealand they always say there are more sheep than people and I believe it. I saw a lot of sheep butts while I was there but never new you could use your finger to make them move. Cool.

2010 Education Week

Whew,

It's 7:22 p.m. on Friday, August 20th and I am about 1 1/2 hours away from completing my first Campus Education Week. It has been long and hard and tiring, and eye opening. I worked overtime all last week which by Friday and Saturday had almost killed me. No breaks, not much food and I kept forgetting to drink water and go to the bathroom. I was dreading Monday and when it came, I couldn't believe I still had 4 more days. Tuesday was worse, by a million. My job during the week is to sit at the chair at the end of the Info Desk/Hosting table and answer questions, listen to complaints, and help the volunteer hosting staff. I don't get breaks so I end up working about 14 hour days. By Tuesday night I had received so many complaints from so many rude, entitled people who all want an exception to the rules, that I was ready to bury myself in my bed and pretend to be deathly ill. I knew I couldn't do that--I would have to go back to my chair at the end of the table in the Garden Court (at least there are real trees and bushes growing around the INDOOR Garden Court to give me plenty of pleasant scenery and oxygen). Wednesday proved to be much easier, and Thursday too. Today the hardest part has just been trying to keep myself from looking at the clock every 2 minutes wondering how much time has passed.

I have been fed well, or at least fed. It was pretty much like I ate at a fast food restaurant for all 3 meals for 5 days in a row. I am grateful for the food because I know I'd forget to eat if it wasn't just brought to me. I could have gone for a veggie, or fruit or cheese tray, but we cut down on costs this year. Today I got a maple and sprinkle covered doughnut from Sugar' N' Spice in the cougar eat. I used to do that while I was at school on the occasional Friday morning.

I feel sad about missing the greatest parts about Education Week. I didn't hear any classes or get to meet very many of the presenters I've been emailing or phone calling since February. I just sat at my chair at the end of the table and got pounded to the ground with complaints. I keep telling myself to just let go of them, but I feel so badly when I can't help someone. I trust that all 20,000 ish of our participants had a marvelous experience though. In the end my experience wasn't that bad either. Looking back on Monday and Tuesday it seems it wasn't as bad as I thought. My poor dear Watson told me on Tuesday after I broke down in tears that he couldn't wait for the week to be over. I haven't seen much of him aside from our morning kiss goodbye while he's still asleep and then the hour we have after I come home and before I fall asleep. I like my job, but I'm definitely glad that Education Week only happens one week a year. Next year I'll know better what to expect and I'll be ready to hit Monday and Tuesday head on. Here are a few tips from an expert about attending Education Week:

1. Register early.
2. Pay attention to ALL deadlines by checking the website or calling the office.
3. If you register early and don't get your badge in the mail, DON'T CALL THE WEEK BEFORE or you'll have to wait in a long line.
4. Prepare to have a hard time finding parking, and to get a ticket if you park where you're not supposed to.
5. Read all the signs and daily updates before you register in case the whole reason you bought a pass was to see Brother Hall, only to find out his class is canceled and now you want a refund--we put it on the signs.
6. Tape or staple your lanyard to your name badge. If it falls off and you lose your badge, you have to pay $4 -- no exceptions.
7. HOLD ON TO YOUR PERSONAL ITEMS--if you lose something (like your IPAD) this is a gigantic campus and we can't promise it will be found.
8. If you have a serious medical issue (like you can't make it to the bathroom without piddling on the floor), don't stay on campus because we can't promise we'll be able to meet your every need. You'd be much more comfortable in a hotel!