weekend update

Some of you folks have been curious as to how the weekend went... I'll refer you to Jason's blog and just tell you that it was perfect and I loved all of it.

Unrelatedly, Luden's Honey Lemon throat drops are the best thing for a sore throat...EVER. No need for nasty salt water gargling. No need.

And you should've SEEN the looks on my coworkers' and home teachers' and roommates' faces when I showed up with a (fake) engagement ring on my finger... Oh man. Priceless. I know the boy who cried wolf regretted his actions later, but I think I'll be chuckling inside for many days to come. Thank you Wal-Mart for the $10 gift of laughter. ... I'm a horrible person.

And now, back to COBOL...

In Loving Memory

I have fought a good fight,

I have finished my course,

I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me

a crown of righteousness,

which the Lord, the righteous judge,

shall give me at that day:

and not to me only,

but unto all them also

that love his appearing.

(2 Tim 4:7-8)

May his memory inspire us to goodness always.

coiffures, crepes, and confidence

Coiffures. There is a group of guys at my work that have started numbering my hairdos. Another guy stops by my desk daily just to see how I've done my hair for the day. Today he informed me that I had "exceeded [his] expectations." Haha, glad I exist to entertain, at least in some form, here at work.

Crepes. The group of women I work with and I went to eat at La Creperie in Harvard Square and it was DIVINE. Coworker Tina and I have decided that heaven consists of eating fruity crepes with Nutella on a warm afternoon, outside, by some water, sitting in a swing in the shade, a light breeze, and a fun flowy sundress with bare feet and windswept hair. Ok, I embellished a little. She just said crepes and outside and warm, but I think real heaven involves bare feet. Let's be frank.

Confidence. One of the best talks ever has been floating around my head this week. I am learning a new definition of faith, as suggested by Elder Uchtdorf in the Oct 2007 conference: that faith is "believing in the Redeemer, the Son of God, 'with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save' and then '[pressing] forward with a steadfastness in Christ, . . . feasting upon the word of Christ' (2 Nephi 31:19–20). I'd always felt strongly about the "believing in the Redeemer" part of faith, but not considered that pressing forward was a form of faith as well, and one of the most powerful ways we exercise our faith. I pray that I can have faith sufficient to be steadfast, even and especially when the going gets tough.

things I could do without

1. Sleep. It is boring.
2. Going to the bathroom. Gets in the way of all my fun and I don't like to have to plan around them.
3. Having to do hair AND makeup. I often just choose one or the other. Both is a little overwhelming.
4. Eating and drinking. See #2.
5. Paying for food. If I need it to live, should I really be paying for it? Should I pay for air, too? I don't think so. Food should be free. Especially tasty food.

life is beautiful... and so are these flowers

This is a picture of what I came home to late the other night... thanks Jason. You are the cheese and I lahv you.

Also in the news: my friend Natalie broke her foot falling down her icy Boston steps.... lame. And my sister Kristen is super amazing with the insights and has the cutest kids. See here.

And now, back to planning my lesson and trying not to daydream too much. Hahaha, I'm a dork.

gamut

Mornings: I love love love mornings. I think they are the awesomest for thinking and getting stuff done. My coworker and I have this new resolution to be in to work at 7am. So here I am early... and definitely blogging, because it's creepily quiet in here and I'm not sure how to handle it. So I reach out to you in this virtual fashion, somehow proving my existence is still valid by posting my thoughts online. What a weird void I'm trying to fill right now.

To Do Lists: Every day I fill out an index card with a list of things to do. They fall in three categories: "Today," "Work," and "Soon." Every day I check off about two things on that list. I'm beginning to wonder why I even make it... maybe to keep myself humble because I can easily see how awesome I am NOT doing. Sigh... Maybe under the "Today" section of the current card I'll write "Do stuff on this list."

Biggest Loser: Week 2's weigh-in showed that if you work out a lot but then increase the amount of food you eat, you stay at the same weight. Huh. Adios, fun nighttime snacks and mid-afternoon treats... :)

Dorkiness: Last night found Jason and I on the phone for over an hour having PFHE--Potential Family Home Evening. Hehehe. His term, not mine. I don't say stuff like that because it gives me ulcers. We made a paper chain (well, two, rather) to count down the days until I go to Utah and then read Alma 32 together. I kept thinking in my head, "This is oh-so-dorky!" But then I got over it because it was still fun. Hehe. Permission to be retarded?

Snow Day: It snowed 8 inches yesterday, or something. I decided I didn't want to have yet another traumatic snow experience with my car, so it was imperative that I stay home for almost the whole day. I slept until 9, made French toast for my roommates, sat in my bed doing some work but mostly burning cds and aimlessly surfing the internet, shoveled snow for a good hour, and finally headed in to work at 4:30pm. What a day.

Back to work...

hahaha

Favorite two links of the day:

http://www.wikihow.com/Braid-a-Woman%27s-Hair-on-a-Date
http://popvssoda.com:2998/countystats/total-county.html

Back to life, back to e-reality...

Here I come, back to the world of the bloggers with a vengeance. A new look, a new outlook, and an apparent affinity for Van Gogh. Who knew? Here's a report on 2007, since I didn't blog about it so awesome...ly.

January: Worked, put off running, made new friends, got new cool coworkers, was very cold.

February: Started running, bought new car to combat coldness, scratched said car, loved missionary work.

March: Can't remember. My mom's birthday is this month, though. Oh yeah, one failed romantic enterprise.

April: Entertained some lovely visitors--my two sisters came to Boston and we enjoyed the sites and Wicked in NYC!

May: Went home for Memorial Day, fell in love with Washington State all over again, ran a half marathon, turned 25.

June: Loved the Boston summer. Had visits from old friends from high school and worked some mo'...went to Phoenix.

July: Went to Utah, younger sister Melissa got married, was very hot, learned to love linen skirts, went to Palmyra for the first time, met more new friends, ate at a restaurant called Pug's, played a lot of tennis. I love summer!

August: Played still more tennis, plus ultimate, plus swam, got a new phone, was anxious to go to Europe.

September: Perfected my newly-acquired salsa dancing skills, WENT TO ENGLAND and FRANCE, went to my first bachelorette party, went to Sharon, VT, had a crush on a boy.

October: Dated aforementioned boy, dressed as Punky Brewster for Halloween, Gen Conf round 2, Elder Holland came for Education Conference, worked a lot, loved New England in the fall.

November: Co-taught a Spanish course, got broken up with for the first time (but handled it quite well, thank you), went to Kentucky to spend Thanksgiving with my nieces and nephew and sister and bro-in-law, claimed title of Favorite Aunt.

December: Worked a lot more, made more new friends, took the GRE, saw White Christmas in the theatre, saw the Urban Nutcracker (unique to Boston), had a New York Christmas trip, shoveled approx. 4 feet of snow, saw the Celtics, flew home for the holidays, loved my family, thought a lot more about Christ this year, read a lot, came back to Boston, headed to NY for New Years and while there, fell in love for the first time.

I'd say it was a pretty awesome year.