Facing Fears and Breaking Down Walls

I had an interesting experience yesterday that really made me reflect on the way I act and treat people.

Yesterday I spent 13 hours at the library. While I was there a boy came and sat by me in one of the big booths. He sat down and introduced himself and shook my hand and I introduced myself. We made small talk for a minute then moved on to homework. Over the course of maybe 45 minutes, at least 10 people stopped to talk to him. And not only did people come to talk to him, he would also stop random people and pay them a compliment or something. I was like "Who is this kid? He knows everyone." Then Jade showed up and we decided to walk home together for dinner. Before we left, he got up and shook her hand and introduced himself to her as well. Then he proceeded to tell her how the two of us went way back, and he couldn't believe I hadn't ever told him about her before. I played along and he thought it was hilarious.

When I got back from dinner I found him still in the same spot, so I went and joined him again because I was so intrigued by him. We made small talk again then went back to our homework. A little while later, we struck up conversation and really got talking for probably half an hour. (Ps- I'm a terribly awkward conversationalist.) But we really talked. He treated me like we really did go way back, and like he was planning on being good friends forever. I was fascinated by how he did this. As the night went on, he continued to get visitor after visitor. He told me that some of them he really didn't know all that well, and that he had just met them a day or week ago. But each one of them acted as if they had been friends forever. Later, I was talking to a friend in the lobby and this kid stopped by on his way back from a drink and introduced himself and told my friend that he dressed really nicely (which is something that this friend really prides himself on.)

I went home that night thinking about how this boy talked to everyone, and how he talked to them like he fully intended to be good friends. I thought it was so cool. Then I thought about how I usually act at the library. I sit alone at my table and avoid eye contact with anyone who walks past. I asked myself why I act like that when I think it would be so great to be like my new friend. I've got a couple of hypotheses. 

1) Sometimes I remember faces. Sometimes I remember names, but not very often do I remember a name and a face together. Because of this I think I find it intimidating to talk to new people because I don't know if I will recognize them the next time I see them. And I worry about how rude it would be to ignore them the next time I see them because I don't recognize them.

2) I'm always worried about social norms. In my heart I know that most people love conversation and making new friends. But in my head I think that when people come to the library to study and that they don't want to talk to a random girl about what classes they took in high school, or an embarrassing story, or their favorite song that just came up on Pandora. Because I assume that people don't want to talk, I am really quiet and don't say anything.

After thinking about how this boy made my day by talking to me and my lame excuses for being so anti-social, I've made a decision. I have decided that I am going to throw social norms out, pay better attention and interact with anyone and everyone. If nothing else, I can smile at people more, or I can at least say "Hi " as I walk past. I can stop people in the library to tell them that I like their shirt or hair. And I can really get out of my comfort zone and actually talk to the people who join me at my table. This is my new goals. I want to make friends everywhere I go. I want to make someone's day by treating them like an old friend. Maybe you can go do the same?

Washington D.C.

I finally fulfilled my lifelong dream of visiting Washington DC. I have wanted to go there since I was literally about 12 years old. And it was everything I ever imagined it would be.

We flew in Thurday, April 18th, and went to the hotel. The next morning we hit the ground running. First we went and did a session in the Washington DC Temple. It was one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair number of them).

After the temple we went to the Air and Space museum and the American History Museum. I have to admit that the American History  museum was better than I thought it would be.

Saturday we went to the Capitol, Holocaust museum, and Natural History museum. We tried to see the Archives and the National Gallery of Art, but everything closes so early there. The Holocaust was what I was most excited for, but I was a little bit disappointed. What I was expecting it to be, was very different than what it actually was. I didn't cry. I'm a horrible person.

Sunday was our day to see all of the monuments. We saw all of them but the Korean War Memorial. They were all fantastic. The Vietnam one was impressive, WWII was huge, Lincoln was awesome, Iwo Jima was massive, but my favorite was the Franklin D. Roosevelt Monument. It was a big maze type structure with four big rooms, one for each of his terms as president. Each room had a waterfall/fountain and they got progressively bigger. There were tons of good quotes from him on the walls. It was a really reverent monument. I think that what made it the best though was that we saw it at night. The monuments that we saw during the day were cool, but they were crowded and loud. The ones that we saw at night were quiet, and lit up really nicely, and had the reverent feel that a memorial should have.

Iwo Jima

Air Force

FDR

At the Jefferson looking at Washington

Vietnam

Sunday afternoon between monuments, Tiana took us to Mr. Vernon. It was spectacular. It's no wonder that George Washington loved it so much.

Monday morning we ran around and saw the Supreme Court and the Natural History museum again. Then Cortney and I flew home. Over all the trip was......AMAZING! But now that it's over, I don't know where I want to go next. Maybe Texas? :)

Lesson in Dating

Today I had an epiphany and learned a valuable lesson. Now I understand one possible reason why people here do not date. The simple explanation: It's hard to find someone to ask out.

That seems ridiculous doesn't it? I mean, there are thousands of young men and women attending college. It would seem like a person could walk up to any one of them and ask them out. But it's not that simple. Once you go through the process of narrowing down your options, you're not left with a lot to work with. Allow me to elaborate.

First you have to go through the contacts in your phone and your friend list on Facebook. You narrow it down to the people that you think you could enjoy going out with. That part's not too hard.

Next you have to narrow that list down to the people with whom you have a relationship that would allow you to ask them out. Some people you are really only facebook friends with. Others, might take the invitation as a declaration of your love for them, and that may totally freak them out. Some of them you already spend so much time with that you want to go on a date with someone new. By the time you consider all the factors associated with each person, you've only got a few left.

Last, you remember to check their relationship status. Since it's spring and couples are popping out of the snow like daises (literally), you need to double check before you ask anyone out. By the time you eliminate all of the people who have recently gotten married, engaged, or otherwise attached to a significant other, you're down to one or two people.

Now you look at your last options. You are sad to realize that they were the people who barely made the first cut. And you accept that in all honesty you really would rather not go out with them.

So now what? Back to square one. You've got a gift card to dinner and no one to invite. There are several options.

1) Text your best friend in hopes that they will inspire you. Maybe they will think of someone you missed, or at least have a friend they could set you up with.

2) Think of every single person in each of your classes and determine if there is a single one of them that you could potentially get away with asking.

3) Consider just inviting one of your roommates or best friends to go with you. Or at worst, going by yourself.

4) The last option (and my personal favorite) is to just walk up to the super attractive person that you see at the library almost every day and ask them out. You could say something like "Hey. I just met you, and this is crazy. But here's my number, so call me maybe?" Or even better, "Hey. Want to mate? I... I... I mean date." Or you could follow the lead of the ladies in the movie Top Gun and just say "Take me to bed or lose me forever." (Just kidding, I would never say any of those things. But I did really consider asking out the really attractive guy that I see at the library all the time.)

While considering all of those options, you might get lucky and stumble upon a date. But if not, you have now learned a valuable lesson about why people don't date.

Temples, Concerts, and Strange Men

It has been so long since I have really blogged, and so much has happened. I have so many stories.

First, I went through the temple for my own endowments on March 23rd. It was so fantastic. I had half of my family there, and it was a really great experience. Here is a picture of the group.

That night I went to a Utah Symphony Orchestra concert with my friends, then we went to the most amazing pizza place ever. I loved it. And I love my friends more than I can even say.

The next weekend I went with some other friends to the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork. That always makes for a really great time, because what is better than throwing colored cornstarch at your friends and getting covered in the stuff yourself. So great.

We started out so clean.

And ended looking like this.

Then that night my roommate, Sammy, and I dyed Easter eggs. By some crazy, random happenstance, neither of us could find any friends to do anything with, but we both really wanted to do something. So we ended up hanging out together.

After we dyed eggs, we went to the movies together. While there, we got talking to these two guys sitting behind us. One was married, and the other was his single brother in law visiting from BYU. When the movie was over, the single guy invited us to go meet up with one of his friends for ice cream. I agreed to it because I thought stuff like that happened to Sammy all the time, and I didn't want to cramp her style. But we failed to  think about the fact that it was like 11:30 so everywhere in Logan was closed. So then we ended up going to Walmart to buy ice cream and Rootbeer. We sat across from the redbox in the Walmart entrance and ate our rootbeer floats. It was odd. When we got home, I discovered that Sammy was totally weirded out by the whole thing, and thought it was totally bizarre. Apparently stuff like that DOESN'T happen to her all the time. Who knew?! The best part about the whole thing though, was that when this kid's sister showed up to pick up his brother-in-law, I knew her way back from my freshman year. And it's terrible, but I couldn't take him seriously once I knew who his sister was. It was quite the experience though. Can't say I've ever had anyone in a movie theater ever try to pick up on me and my friends before.

Blast from the past

"There I was drunk as an Indian out in the dessert, then I saw Homer Bennett and he told me I should run for student body officer"

That is the first of many historic references that will be made in this post. Do you ever think about the good ole' days? Sometimes I do. Mostly when I'm on youtube. So I thought I'd dedicate a post to all the things that used to make me laugh. Here we go!

Can I have your number? Can I have it???
Remember that creepy little boy who kept asking for your number? And asked about your boyfriend, and reassured you that you could "work that up-do!"? Oh wait... that was just Cassidy Heiner.

"Your laugh is like a child's laugh. Children's laughter brings joy, and you your laughter brings joy."
Still hands down the best compliment I've ever been given. Courtesy of Chris Call.

Middle School Dances
When you hear this song, does a vivid image of a middle school dance come to mind? No middle school dance was complete unless we heard this song at least three times. And secretly, I still smile when I hear it just because it is just so funny to me.

Right along with middle school comes the mention of "Stinky Feet" and "Socks" and "Toe Socks". If you don't know what these mean, you don't want to know.

David Beckham
How many girls drooled over this picture hanging in Merrilyn's locker? We will never know.

Justin Timberlake- Single Ladies
How many times did my friends say that "We're the dancers"? Not enough.

Sisters
Two words. Class-sick. This is the most classic video ever. I still really aspire to perform this someday.

"There I was spittin' on my goldfish, trying to keep it alive."
Why would anyone start a story with anything other than that statement? I know neither I or Kirsten ever did.

Achmed
Oh Achmed... how we loved to mock you.

And finally, you can't forget all the great nicknames. K-Dog, Savage, Foxy-Coxy, Scanty-Randi, Sexy Beast/Thermal Disney, Melyn/Mrlyn, Dino, Blackie-Chan, and all the others that I can't remember right now. So great.

Spring Break

Everyone who knows me, knows that I love the beach.. If my plan to get a PhD and become a professor falls though, my backup plan is to be a beach bum/professional dumpster-diver in Florida. What could be better right? Well I don't know when I will get to actually do that, so I came up with an alternative that will have to suffice for now.

This week, my nieces and nephews and I painted a beach scene on a bed sheet to hang over my bed. It went rather well.

And the end result was really awesome.

And now when I wake up in the morning, I can pretend that I am on a beach in Florida. :)

"Hey, watch this."

Granite. Snowmobiling and swimming combined. Heaven right? Usually yes. But today, no.

Sometimes I'm not the wisest or skilled snowmobile driver (only sometimes though). Exhibit A: today.

There I was thinking that I would be brave and take on the challenge of a big hill right off the bat. I figured it would be a good start to the day. So I take off, I swear I was hitting the gas hard enough. But I felt like my tracks just weren't digging in, I was fishtailing all over the place. Then the machine jerked to the right and before I knew it, I was sitting sideways on the mountain. I couldn't turn it back up the mountain, and I was scared that if I tried to turn it downhill, I was just going to just roll it down the mountain. So I stopped where I was. I waited for a minute, and finally my dad came back over the top of the hill. Together we dug it out, and rotated the machine enough for me to take it down the hill. It took a while to accomplish all that though. It was not fun. And it totally scared me to death.

I know it doesn't look that bad, but it was really steep, and the machine was really lopsided.

Oh wait. It gets better. This is where I turned really stupid.

There we were, driving around the open meadows, having a grand ole' time. I followed a set of tracks over a little hill, then towards some trees. I didn't realize how thick the trees were, or how much powder was there. I just thought the tracks would turn and head back towards the open range. A little too late, I realized that it wasn't looking good, but the powder was too deep to deviate away from the trail. Finally the tracks led off of a HUGE drop-off. There was no way I was doing that, so I took my only other option. I took off into the powder. I knew immediately though that I wasn't going anywhere. So I cut the engine and started hiking towards the open space so I could wave my group down as they hopefully drove past again. But the powder was so deep and so soft that I couldn't even walk. I had to crawl most of the way out. My group found me waving my coat in the air, and they came to my rescue. We were there digging the machine out for probably 30 minutes. Just me, Dad, Cortney, and Cortney's friend. Finally we got it turned around for my Dad to drive it off of the big drop off, then he was able to bring the machine back to where we started.

Moral of the story: Think about where you're going before you go. Also, if you're going snowmobiling with me, you should probably bring a shovel, and a couple strong men. There's a good chance that I may do something stupid, and having those things may help undo stupid.