Another home story

This is just a quick story...my uncle and cousins have snow mobiles. Dad and I went out with them today. No, that's not the story, I just wanted to post a couple of pictures-notice the helmets. We're responsible adults!
When dad and I got home and started talking to mom, I said "Turns out a snow mobile can go 75mph...who knew?"

Anyone who knows my mom can imagine the pained face she made. She expressed her exasperation at my love for speed, then asked whether we had helmets on. Dad and I assured her we did. Dad then said "You always have to beat me. I only got up to 70!"

For all you Texans, that white stuff on the ground in the pictures is snow. It's what happens when precipitation comes and the temperature is below freezing. Not the freezing when you go outside and say "It's freezing out here." The freezing where it's actually below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (Zero Celsius...273 Kelvin, you get the point).

I love being home.

The Joys of Home

I promised pictures in my last post-I realized it doesn't matter if I brought the camera cord home, because lappy has a card reader. Don't you just love modern technology? Pictures will follow, but there are also stories that need to be told.

For reasons I love being home, family is at the top of the list. I'm pretty close to my cousins. We had a party last so we could all get together. My cousin Owen called and left my dad a message earlier in the day, asking if his sister Mindy could bring her boyfriend. I returned the call-it went something like this:
Owen: Hello?
Me: Hey Owen, this is Janelle. Dad said he got a message from you asking about bringing Mindy's boyfriend...he's welcome to come.
Owen: Who's your dad?
Me: Your uncle...Doug.
Owen: Oh!
Conversation continues, but is not funny past this point.

Yeah, that was the first laugh of the day. When Owen, Rachael (his other sister), Brad (one of his brothers), Uncle Kieth (his dad) and Aunt Jo (his mom) arrived, I was in the kitchen helping mom cook. The conversation kind of stayed in the kitchen area. We asked about significant others. My lack of said other came up, and they offered to set me up with someone (like any good family would). I said sure, as long as he's Mormon. Owen said (with much surprise) "Janelle, you're Mormon?!?! When did this happen?" and everyone burst out laughing. I said something like "All my life". Aunt Jo said "She went to BYU!". Poor kid, he then started asking other family members if they were Mormon too. Turns out he had no idea. I wish I had been able to see his face, I'm sure he was pretty surprised-he sounded pretty surprised. I guess we can't give him too hard a time-he is 10 years younger than I am, which means that he was about 10 years old when I left for college.

Now, for pictures.

Below is a picture of my uncle Dennis and our dog, Zeke. He usually doesn't come in the house (the dog, not my uncle), and we were super surprised when he came right in the open door after someone said his name. He is part chow part lab and probably something else too. He's quite camera shy. I've tried to get pictures of him several times, but he runs away from the camera. This was the best one.


Below is how we often spend our cousin parties. Pinochle is a favorite with my cousins, and we almost always play a game (or eight) when we get together. There was also a table playing Five Crowns, and eventually the Farming Game came out too.


As I mentioned before, Mom and I always make copious amounts of cookies and candy. What's in the bowl below is divinity.

These are my favorite Christmas cookie. Not only do the look neat, they taste great too!

What Christmas cookie plate would be complete without ginger snaps?

The finished products, awaiting delivery.

And, no trip home would be complete without several trips to town in the Mustang. I love the way this car feels. The seats are comfortable, the steering wheel feels good in my hands, and all the world is right (even when she won't start easily because it's cold-she can be coaxed). Sitting in front of Shubert's eating my milkshake behind the wheel of the Mustang. How can Texas ever hope to compete?

Life is Good

Home for Christmas...all I can say is it's great to be home! I miss California when I'm not here! I love the farm land, the trees, and the weather-it finally feels a little like winter. I realize that it's nothing compared to other places, but it's more wintery than San Antonio. Mom and I are baking cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. I'll have to see if I brought my camera cord so I can post some pictures. I love being with my family, and it's nice to have a break from the reality of being a grown up.

A Proud Graduate

I heard on the news this morning (NPR or WOAI, I can't remember which I was listening to) that a researcher at the University of Queensland, Australia (the university at which I chose to pursue my Master's Degree), just came out with findings that removing a band-aid quickly is less painful than removing it slowly. Ah, the wonderful research that takes place. I'm sure this finding will change the world (can you see my tongue in my cheek?).

Is it interesting just to find these things out scientifically? Why do people study things of little to no significance when diseases like cancer and HIV still need better treatments? Just wondering.

Turducken Tuesday

My wonderful Cajun friend brought me a turducken from his trip home to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. I've since been looking for an excuse to cook said bird(s). We did so on Tuesday-which I dubbed Turducken Tuesday. I put it in the oven bright and early, and let it cook all day. The house smelled amazing when I came home that night. When we cut the bird, it looked like this:

You can see all the bird and stuffing layers. I cooked several side dishes, and made a trifle for dessert. I love how it looks through the dish. I topped it with whipped cream-delicious.

Here's a shot of Keri loading up her plate.
I can now highly recommend turducken. It was amazing!

As time goes by

My grandma's 90th birthday is on Sunday. My grandma is amazing. I remember her making clothes for my dolls when I was very young. She crocheted baby blankets, afghans, and clothes, and made intricately beaded jewelery. She can no longer do most of these things. Between her failing eyesight and carpal tunnel syndrome, things just don't come together like they once did. My grandmother is still an amazing woman-she serves in her church callings with dedication, and loves my family. I am grateful for her example and lessons.

All of this has me thinking about my genes. I have long life genes from both sides-my dad's mom is not far behind mom's mom, and his aunt lived to over 100, as did my mom's great aunt. I am...over 21. I have started to realize that I can't do things I used to be able to do, or that they aren't as easy as they used to be. I remember soccer in high school, and when I play now I just can't do some things I used to do...easily. I imagine this problem worsens with age. I can still see relatively well (as long as I'm wearing my contacts), I can crochet, knit and sew without trouble. I can French braid my own hair, which is neither grey nor falling out. Running is only sometimes painful (outside of the normal soreness because I don't do it regularly enough), and yoga keeps me pretty flexible. There will be a time, I'm afraid, that these things are no longer true. At this point, I hope to have figured out what it means to grow old with grace.

Meanwhile, my goal is to live a life that I will be content to look back on. I do not want to regret my actions, nor do I wish to mourn things I should have and could have done, but didn't for whatever reason. This means I have to know myself well enough to confidently decide when to take action and when to hold back. I think I'm well on my way-I have lived an amazing life up to now. I am grateful for the blessings that have made this possible. I look forward to whatever my future holds, because I know there are things waiting that I can't even imagine right now.

More Moments of Decision

Wednesday night was my last Institute class for the semester. We talked about the last week of Christ's life. There was an interesting discussion about decisions that made me think. Interesting how we know things, but hearing them at certain times makes them more poignant. There are some decisions that only need to be made once, and others that we make over and over again...what university to attend is usually a "once" decision. Even if it is made more than once, there's usually a finite limit. What I'm having for breakfast is a decision that gets made every day (not as important a decision as school, but still a decision). Some of the more interesting decisions are the ones we wish we could make once, but we usually make over and over. One such decision (in my mind) is my life outlook. I learned at BYU that happiness is a decision. I may have known before I attended, but it was explained once there in a way that I really understood. I made a decision to be happy. I wish that were a decision I could make once and never have to think about again.

It's not!

I don't remember exact circumstances, but I think the decision lasted about a week or so-then something happened. Again, I don't remember what. My reaction was un-happy. I remembered my decision to be happy, and made it again. This time it lasted for about 10 seconds. I made the decision again, and it lasted a little longer. Each time the thing that made me un-happy came to mind, I pushed it out with a decision to be happy. It seemed to get a little easier each time, and yet I wondered (and still wonder when I'm in the situation again) if this was really being happy, or if it was something else. I don't remember how long it took, but things went back to normal, and my decision to be happy was easy again-I no longer had to think about it. As time has passed, things have continued to happen to make me un-happy. I made the decision to be happy several years ago, but have to stick with it over and over again. It is not a decision I regret, though sometimes it is a trying one. Looking at others I sometimes wonder what the harm would be in wallowing in my unhappiness-but I realize that those people are usually un-happy for most of their lives. What's the point of being miserable all the time? It takes too much energy!

I think I've digressed. The point I wanted to make when I started was that I think many of us make good decisions ("I'm going to be happy") and expect them to be easy (i.e. we'll only have to make them once, and magically they become our nature). Many of these good decisions go against human nature (in its most raw form, at least), but paradoxically make us happier for the struggle. We are more grateful for things we have to work for because we appreciate the cost.

It's a funny story....

I bought myself new wiper blades several weeks ago-at this point, it may have been two or three months. When I tried to put them on, I realized the release mechanism for the old blades was different than any I had encountered before. I messed around a while before giving up. I asked an un-named individual to help me. Said person agreed, but hasn't followed through (not that I've reminded them...). I was driving home in the drizzle today, thinking about how poorly San Antonians drive when the road is wet. I turned the wipers on the mist setting-just to clear the windshield a bit. The driver's side wiper blade fell off.

That's never happened before.

When I got home, I figured out the release mechanism for the right blade, and replaced both with the semi-new ones that had been riding around behind my seat waiting for help. Sometimes help comes from unexpected sources.

Moments of Decision

I know I already posted today, but why not post twice...I have something to write.

I'm sitting here watching "Enchanted" while I work on some Christmas (and other) presents I'm making. I've been thinking about relationships and decisions a lot lately. There are so many little moments of decision in everything we do-related to our relationships, and to our lives. The ball scene is what caught my attention just now. They show Patrick Dempsy and Idina Menzel dancing. They look quite happy in spite of all their relationship has been through lately. I thought to myself, they're at a moment of decision. They've decided to put aside the things that have happened, and to go on with the path in their lives that they believe will bring them happiness. What would have happened if Amy Adams and James Marsden hadn't shown up at that moment? Their "happily ever afters" would have been different, but would they have been less fulfilling? Personally, I don't think so. There are so many things in our lives that are choices that we don't see as such. For instance, many of our emotions are choices. Of course, I'll admit that emotions come quickly and are not really within our control, but after the initial hit of the emotion, I believe we start facing decisions.

Do I continue to spend time with this person that I'm attracted to? Do I hang on to the anger I feel when someone cuts me off on the freeway? Do I wallow in guilt when I've wronged someone? Do I doubt my faith when something or someone shakes it? Do I float on the sea of nostalgia that I find each time something reminds me of days gone by? If we were really the emotional creatures many believe us to be, I don't think we'd get much done. We'd always be busy following our emotions, selfishly. We all feel many emotions each day, each hour, sometimes moment to moment. Some are meant to be savored, others meant to be let go. Sometimes this is an easy thing-I tend to get over being cut off rather quickly. Other times, not so easy-losing a friend leaves a hole that is only filled by constant choices to remember the good times, be grateful for what was, and not think about what might have been. This constant stream of choices can replace the hurt with fond memories. Coming out of ourselves through our choices helps us minimize (or maximize, depending on the choice) our selfishness, and lets us expand. Each time we make a choice, our capacity to do is increased.

I believe this is especially true for faith. Each time I make a choice to be faithful and patient, my capacity to be faithful and patient increases. It is a self-perpetuating circle. The choices in the beginning are difficult-believing is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Taking the first steps may be the most difficult, yet also sometimes the most rewarding.

Meanwhile, I hate the dress they have Amy Adams wear to the ball. I don't think it flatters her at all.

Triumph

It's true what they say, practice really does make perfect. I've been practicing for The Messiah for several weeks now. There are some really tricky passages in the flute part. My roommates can vouch for the fact that there were times when I thought I was getting worse, not better. I picked up my flute to practice today and nailed them! Hooray. I may actually feel ready when the performance comes along (in a little more than a week). I hope if you're in San Antonio you can make it.

Gratitude

I found this in the Dear Abby column.

Oh, Heavenly Father,

We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.

We thank thee for health and remember the sick.

We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us to service,

That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.

I thought it was beautiful. I hope we can all be grateful for what we have not only when Thanksgiving rolls around, but all year round. Remembering my blessings helps me forget my troubles. I hope it can do the same for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Change in plans

I had planned to blog about institute today. My class last night was great-I took some notes of things to post here-mostly so that I don't forget them myself, but also in order to share them with anyone who was interested. Then I found this on failblog

and I couldn't resist posting it instead.

Just what I needed

I found this on a friend's blog...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

I love it!

What would you do?

Running shirt...$22.00 (it wicks, and I live in Texas-wicking is necessary)
Running shorts...$8.00Running shoes...$45.00 (I can wear little girl's sizes-makes them less expensive-jealous?)
Sunglasses...$5.99

Practicing for the turkey trot, going to take a shower in the bathroom at work, stepping in and wetting down your hair only to realize that you left your towel in your office...Priceless.

Lunchtime field trip

Some background information...

• I am taking the Texas Teachers course-it's at a hotel here in town.
• Across the street from said hotel is a Jo Ann's craft store-I make frequent trips there on our lunch breaks.
• Keri is taking the class with me-she also knits.
• There is a craft fair at work in the beginning of December.
• I am wearing a Shevchenko jersey today.
  

Okay, on with the story-the info will all make sense soon. Keri and I are knitting scarves with the yarn below-a great chunky yarn that is a Jo Ann's brand. It takes size 35 knitting needles, and we can make a scarf with one skein in about an hour and a half. Pretty good all things considered.

A couple of weeks ago, I found a 20% off coupon for Jo Ann's, so Keri and I took a lunch time trip to Jo Ann's for yarn-it would cut down on our costs for the scarves we plan to sell at the craft fair. We basically cleaned them out, and have both sped through our respective piles of yarn, and visited Jo Ann's again last Saturday. The woman we talked to mentioned that they receive their yarn shipments on Thursdays. We decided it would be a good idea to go on a Thursday so we could have our pick.

We went at lunch today and found a less than satisfying selection. We decided to ask someone, and approached the fabric cutting counter. Keri asked our question, and told her a couple of other things. I stood by watching. The lady waiting for her fabric looked at me, looked at Keri, and asked "is she a visiting athlete from somewhere?" Awesome. I'm a Ukrainian soccer player :) Just call me Дженя.

Meanwhile, while the shipments of yarn technically come on Thursday, they don't get put out until Friday...I guess another lunchtime excursion is in order.

My Weekend, Post 3: Foot Guy

Okay...here's the disclaimer. The picture below will be up for a while, but since I can hardly stand to look at it, it may disappear. On with the story. The day before Halloween, there was a big party in Berkley, that Amy, Wade and I attended. We walked in, and wondered what the big line twisting up the staircase was for. When we found out it was for the haunted house, Amy and Wade insisted on joining. In the 10 minutes it took us to find out what was going on, we saw the guy below mingling, and pretending to eat one of those feet you hang out your trunk as a joke. Gross. What else can I say? He was instantly dubbed "foot guy". We waited in line for the haunted house and chatted-I warned Wade and Amy that I'm not the best person to take in haunted houses, and they might be better off leaving me at the door and meeting me when they're through. They would have none of my excuses. We got to the basement (where the "house" was), and went in with Rodger (whom we hadn't met at this point, and who I thought was supposed to be our tour guide through said haunted house). The first room seemed unassuming enough-a table with a tablecloth, and a non-lit fireplace. Not much else. We stood there for a while, then suddenly Rodger dropped dead. The lights went out, the fireplace roared, and in the black light above the mantle we could see that "you're next" had been written. I knew I was in trouble at this point. The door on the other side of the room popped open, and I grabbed Wade's arm, closed my eyes, and prepared to be led through the haunted house, as I knew that if my eyes were open I was in for an unwanted scare. Amy pulled her pirate gun and led the way. I heard lots, and "saw" the change in lighting through my tightly clamped eyelids as we passed from room to room. Strobe lights, flickering lights, mostly dark...empty aerosol cans spraying...I was scared. The terrified chatter of the others in our group didn't help. Thriller started playing. I imagine there were zombies in that room, but I sure didn't open my eyes to find out! At one point, we went through a doorway, and Amy said something like "oh my gosh, it's foot guy!" at which point I clamped my eyes tighter and held my breath. As I'm back in San Antonio, I need not tell you I made it through without incident. However, every time I saw foot guy upstairs, I avoided him like the plague (which it looks like he might have caught somewhere).

The haunted house exit was on the other side of the house, and took us through an indoor basketball court where there was a DJ, music, not-so-scary strobe and other lighting, and dancing. There were also giant fans. Too good to resist. Think Bollywood and the always present and unexplained indoor wind. Amy and I took several pictures. Below are my favorites.
I also like this shot of Amy and Wade dancing. I think it's the fact that her gun is being flailed above her head.
Another priceless moment was being on the porch when these two showed up. Amy and I made bets about how many people would actually get their costumes. As if on cue, the redneck on the right side of the picture struck up a conversation..."What are you on strike from?"
Meanwhile, later on my suspicions about zombies was validated. The DJ played thriller, and these guys did the whole dance with all of us watching (or quietly joining in).
What a great weekend. A much needed break, and a reminder of why I love California so much! Thanks Amy!

My weekend, post 2: Food

Here is my second post-on one of my favorite subjects. There are a couple of things I didn't take pictures of-either they were not important at the time, or couldn't be properly illustrated by a photograph. Of the first category is lunch with my mom on Saturday. Having her there was way more important than the food, as were the sail boats passing to and fro outside the restaurant window. The second category encompasses the Round Table Pizza we had Friday night (I miss Round Table-I love their crust), and the ice cream we picked up on our way back from the city-amazing. Grasshopper pie-if you don't know what it is, you should! Mint ice cream with fudge swirl and oreo cookies. Heaven for a chocolate and mint lover like me.

On to the photographed food-in a mostly random order. Amy, Wade and I had a picnic at the temple grounds Sunday afternoon. It was a bright sunny day, so we ate by one of the fountains. Wade snapped a couple of pictures of us-this is my favorite because of the looks on both of our faces...feel free to make up dialogue.


The next pictures are from lunch on Friday. Amy and I stopped in downtown Walnut Creek and picked a Chinese place. We had won-tons for appetizers, soup, then the main course. I had the almond chicken-satisfying, but American Chinese food has disappointed me since my return from Australia. Nonetheless, the presentation was wonderful, and the orange made a tasty dessert.

Amy had the orange chicken, which in my opinion was better than my almond chicken. It was just as pretty too. Any guesses about what the tiny bowl of peanuts is for?

Saturday night we were home for the trick-or-treaters. I had a great time handing out candy. It took two of us to answer the door-one to hold Vader (the giant black lab), and the other to give out the candy. We entertained ourselves with a murder mystery dinner-Death By Chocolate. Below, people are pointing a who they thought the killer was...notice no one is pointing at me:)


I love that "Rodger" is pointing with his pipe. His name is actually Ben, but we met him at the Halloween party the night previous, and as his costume is for Rodger from 101 Dalmatians, we had trouble remembering the right name.
Here's the whole group. Turned out that Kim's boyfriend was the killer. Who would have thought. You can also get a peek at Vader's imposing form in the foreground. Please forgive the camera angle, but I didn't have a tripod.

Lastly for the food pictures, I'm adding one from the costume party. Watching a guy wearing gorilla gloves trying to eat a baby carrot was a highlight. He eventually succeeded.

Until next post, that's all. More costumed pictures to follow.

My weekend, post 1

I spent the weekend in the Bay Area visiting my friend Amy. We did several things, and I took lots of pictures. I've been having a great time learning more and more about my digital camera. While the pictures it takes don't compare to my SLR, it's wonderful to have. The first set of pictures I'm posting are from our Sunday afternoon trip to the Oakland temple.
This bird of paradise was a great bloom.
I loved the color of these flowers-I don't know what they are.
My parents have these in their front yard. I love them-it's like getting a whole bouquet of flowers for one stem! They come in some great colors too.
And they make a great back-drop for these bright mums. I wish the front flower was a little more in focus-that's one drawback of autofocus. I still think it's not a bad shot.
I thought this was a cute, albeit somewhat munted, flower. I love the detail you can see, even if some of the details are the imperfections in the petals.
More to come when I get a chance-there's plenty more to tell!

Alcohol (that's right, I said alcohol)

I have to laugh at life's ironies sometimes. Case in point. I play softball with some friends from work, in a work league that consists of my company and our sister company (though it's mostly people from our sister company). The normal MO is to play a game, and then enjoy victory/drown-our-sorrows beverages. Said beverages usually include, but are not limited to, beer, some crazy alcoholic pick-me-up type drink, Gatorade, and bottled water. Needless to say, my choice is always Gatorade or water. My friends drink the other stuff. We had a game last night which was a rough one. We were up for nearly the entire game, and lost it at the end. Such is life, right? We cracked open the ice chest and re-hydrated at the bleachers as the next game started. I headed home to dinner.

When I got to work this morning, I had some cell culture to do. I cleaned our biohazard hood with ethanol, as usual. As I sometimes do, I read the warning label on the squirt bottle that holds the ethanol. To use said ethanol, the recommended personal protective equipment (PPE in lab jargon) is goggles or a face shield, a lab coat or apron, a fume hood, and the proper gloves. The list of target organs includes the eyes, skin, respiratory system, central nervous system, liver, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and cardiovascular system.

So outside of work, my friends can drink whatever concentration of the stuff they want to, but when I get to work, I have to put on all sorts of PPE in order to just use it to clean the hood. Huh. I looked up the MSDS for ethanol out of curiosity. Below is the first aid section:

Eyes: Get medical aid. Gently lift eyelids and flush continuously with water.
Skin: Get medical aid. Wash clothing before reuse. Flush skin with plenty of soap and water.
Ingestion: Do not induce vomiting. If victim is conscious and alert, give 2-4 cupfuls of milk or water. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. Get medical aid.
Inhalation: Remove from exposure and move to fresh air immediately. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. Get medical aid. Do NOT use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Notes to Physician: Treat symptomatically and supportively. Persons with skin or eye disorders or liver, kidney, chronic respiratory diseases, or central and peripheral nervous sytem diseases may be at increased risk from exposure to this substance.
Antidote: None reported.

Here is the link if you're curious about the rest of the information.

In which I admit how much of a nerd I am

I work in a lab. Most of you probably know this. We have chores that we take turns doing-things that affect all of us, but are inconvenient to do individually. One of these things is taking things to be sterilized in one of our autoclaves. This is my favorite job! While I admit it's just a pedestrian task, I for some reason find great joy in taking things down to be sterilized and returning them to the lab once they're done. I think part of it is that the office is usually cold, and everything that comes out of the autoclave is nice and warm. Another part is the autoclave gloves. We have a giant pair of orange gloves like the one pictured below. I can't help but think about the thing from Fantastic 4. I have been known, after making sure there's no one else around, to make a fist, look at it, and think "It's clobberin' time!" Don't ask why, but this is fun for me. I went to retrieve the autoclaving today, and much to my dismay, the orange gloves had been replaced with a pair like these:

Now I have nothing against blue, but I can't think of anything fun about a puffy pair of blue gloves. I had to take solace in the fact that I know where at least one of the orange gloves is, and I'll be sure to retrieve it before the next time I run a load in the autoclave. So now you know. Try not to tease me too much.

Sam was right!

One of my friends in Australia used to tell me that Aussies were "tougher" than Americans. Thinking of myself, I argued the point. I've been home for almost two years now, and I'm discovering it's true! I should preface this with the fact that our cooler is usually set around 75 degrees while we're home. It's the temperature that everyone could agree on. Currently, Texas has been having a cold snap. Personally, I've been enjoying the change. I open the windows in the house, grab a blanket and some hot cocoa, and happily enjoy the change from the sweltering heat that is the norm for south Texas. I stand in my closet in the morning and wonder which of my neglected sweaters I should wear.

Yesterday morning I got up, got ready, and spent some time downstairs baking cookies before the rest of the residents in my house were awake. When I wandered back upstairs and was talking to an un-named roommate, she was complaining about how cold it was! I told her it was 71 degrees in the house-a mere 3-4 degrees cooler than the preferred temperature. She didn't believe me, and persisted in complaining about the cold. I laughed and headed back downstairs. Have we grown so soft that we can't take a 4 degree temperature change without complaint? I've lived in houses with no heating and no air conditioning and am still around to tell the tale (mind you, this was not in Texas-I don't think I would make it in the heat and humidity without air con). So while I'm relishing in the cooler weather, and torturing my roommates by perpetually opening the windows in our house to let in the cool air, others in San Antonio are running around like this: Please make note-this picture was taken in New York in December. There is ice on the water, and it was literally freezing. I'd like also to note that the "cold snap" here in Texas means our high is in the 60's somewhere, and maybe ten degrees cooler at night. My friends in Utah have had highs in the 50's and lows in the 20's! So while I may be wearing a coat or sweater to protect against the "cold", I am well aware that it really isn't cold.

Happy Fall, everyone. 34 days until my birthday (not that I'm counting...actually I guess I just did).

The Messiah

About a month ago, one of my roommates and I noticed a poster that kept showing up at church, just outside the chapel. The West Stake here in San Antonio was planning a community production of Handel's "The Messiah". I've heard the music several times. I even attended a Messiah "sing-in" with my college roommates at the Salt Lake Tabernacle. The audience was the choir, and the orchestra and soloists were provided. The music was fun to sing, and my roommates and I skipped around singing different parts.

My roommate here (Teagan) and I decided we'd go to the first rehearsal and decide from there whether we really wanted to join the production. Rehearsal last week wasn't bad. There were certainly parts that I couldn't play just sight-reading, but I was confident, and so was Teagan. I went to rehearsal alone last night (Teagan is out of town). We worked on different pieces this week, and my view is changing slightly. While I'm sure that I can still play the part, I'm also beginning to wonder if I'll be having a life outside of practicing! If I'm going to do this, I want to be able to say I played well. Pages full of pieces in keys with 2-4 sharps (I like to play with 3 flats) and lots and lots of sixteenth notes are making me question my abilities. Practicing slowly here at home today has restored some of my confidence. The performance isn't until the first weekend in December-I think I can, I think I can...

Institute

For those of you who don't share my faith, Institute is what we call our weekly Bible study class. I don't know why. I've really enjoyed my class this semester. The New Testament is a great text, and I've enjoyed Brother Baillio's approach to teaching. I also find it nice to be in a smaller class. I'm getting to know my class mates better, and it makes the potential for baking treats for everyone something other than a daunting task.

I think my favorite part of class this semester is that each week Brother Baillio leaves us with a challenge-something to work on during the week to keep us thinking about what we have learned, and to help us become more Christ-like, and to have lives full of joy, peace and love. While I may not have had some big, amazing experiences, the small quite ones mean more to me anyhow.

Our first challenge was to show more gratitude. Try to recognize even the small things that are blessings and express gratitude for them. Be grateful to the people who make your life as good as it is, and even grateful for the people who are trying-they are helping with learning and growth probably more than those we get along with easily. As I recognized things I was grateful for, and expressed that gratitude, I found more to be grateful for-the cycle repeated itself often. Try to be anything but happy when you realize how well cared for you are!

The second challenge was forgiveness. Forgive people, forgive yourself, forgive life. Holding on to a grudge will only hurt one person-you. The people you're angry with rarely know of your feelings, and sometimes don't care about your feelings. Learning to let go frees you of the burden, even if the circumstance is still bad, it helps with perspective. Forgiving others allows you to be forgiven, which brings with it the peace of progress toward the person God wants you to be. I love the knowledge that I can be free of my burdens, and I have felt freed as I tried to recognize those instances in which I should forgive, and done so.

Love was our third assignment. I find it easy to love, especially after a week of thinking about forgiving, and two weeks of thinking about gratitude. I started seeing people a little differently, forgiving them more easily for being human, and finding reasons to love everyone.

To me, a natural outgrowth of loving people is finding ways to show that love through actions. I thought it appropriate that service was our next assignment. I had trouble finding big things to do, and wonder if anyone noticed the small things I did. Whether they were noticed or not, my view was changed by my actions. In a cycle like the one I observed with gratitude, the more I did for my friends, the more able I felt to love them, and the more I wanted to do for them.

Optimism is our assignment for this week. With a life full of love, peace and joy, how can one not be optimistic? Situations do make it difficult sometimes, but for me, that's where faith comes in. I hope that by focusing on optimism, I can also become more aware of God's plan for me, and develop more faith in the fact that He knows what is best, even when I think things are not going well. Ask me how it went next week:)

Awkward!

I went on a date Friday night. We went to dinner, saw a friend play soccer (and win 3-0), and sat at Freddy's for quite some time after our custard was done talking. When he finally took me home, I remembered there was a party at my house. Any parking near our house was taken, so he double parked in our driveway. I figured there wouldn't be anyone leaving in the next few minutes anyhow. We got out of the car, walked up to the door and were exchanging some dialogue when Tony and Steve walked out the front door of the house! They said something like "Oh, we're just leaving", then realized that said date had double parked behind their vehicle! We laughed, they went back inside the house and said "we'll wait". I said goodbye to me date, who was laughing along with me, and went inside. Not a long story, but one I found amusing.

When it rains, it pours

It seems that things come in groups, be they good, bad, or indifferent. Life goes along for some time without a whole lot to make you sit up and take notice, then all of a sudden you feel like you're dodging things right and left. I enjoy the contrast. Since I moved to Texas, I think I've been going on cruise control. While I don't mind those instances, I'm happy to say that I now have some interesting situations with which to busy myself. I won't bore you with the details.

Meanwhile, Texas has finally been getting some much needed rain. I have been relishing in the change (while eschewing the crazy drivers to the best of my ability). The temperature has dropped, and I haven't seen the sun in a couple of days. While I'm sure this is depressing my friends who are not used to passing a day without some rays, it reminds me of home. I happily donned a sweater this morning, and walked out my door with my umbrella.

I wish I had some more exciting (and less personal than the events glossed-over above) to write about. I'm sure I do, but it has slipped my mind at this point. And don't get me started on topics like this.

Labor Day Weekend

I’ve had the opportunity to travel a lot, and I love food...for the most part. A shining exception is sea food. While I love almost everything about the coast, I never get excited about going to a nice seafood restaurant. Because my parents love seafood, I've spent a lot of time in them-eating whatever chicken or steak dish they have as a non-salty option. Don't get me wrong, I've tried the fish, I just don't like it. Occasionally I allow myself to be talked into a bite by some well-intentioned friend who thinks they can prove how wrong I am in not liking the stuff. Sometimes I'm not in the mood, so I don't try what they offer. I confess, I passed up a chance at caviar because I didn't think I could keep it down. My roommate at the time ate it, and from her face, I was glad I'd passed.

That being said, I have nothing against others eating whatever of the sea's bounty they fancy. On our way out of Rockport last weekend, we stopped at the Boiling Pot-a Cajun style sea food joint. I ordered a PB&J, and watched in awe at what the others were served:

The waitress brought a huge stainless bowl out and dumped the contents on our table. I thought it made a rather nice still-life. I wish I had captured the faces of some of my companions. I am not squeamish about food that still looks like it's alive. Some in our group certainly were. Others went straight for the mallets and dug into the crab, or started peeling shrimp. As I downed the sandwich and chips in front of me, the picture above turned into the one below:

I think everyone left the meal satisfied, though some more than others. Personally, I was much more satisfied having spent most of the day playing soccer, volleyball, and as follows...

Oh how I love the beach! If only I weren't peeling...

Naming things

We had a visitor from Norway at work for about a year...when some of our equipment was mis-behaving, she mentioned that in Norway, they name things, and then they have something to call it while trying to get it to function. I subsequently named our 3730xl DNA analyzer Roxanne, because when she malfunctions, there's a red light that comes on. I don't think it has helped. Over the past two weeks, we have had problems every day.

Meanwhile, my truck finally has a name. All it took was a day with Tina.

That's all.

Yes, I am using my blog to vent.

So...I hate driving in Texas. I'll admit it, I thought Utah was bad. I got cut off a lot, and talk about running red lights-I went through lights that were yellow (for which I normally would have tried to stop) because I was afraid of being hit from behind. Usually I watched two or three cars come through behind me. But for the most part, the drivers were at least courteous. I drove in Australia where they have right hand drive cars and drive on the left hand side of the street. I was probably the one causing headaches there, but I did my best. I drove in Fiji, where I was more afraid of hitting livestock than another car, and was praying to just be able to see far enough ahead in the rainstorm to stop in time for whatever might jump out in front of me; but the drivers were so laid back that they didn't really care about much. Now I live in Texas. Not only have I had someone stop in front of me in the fast lane on the freeway so they could wait for the cars next to us to pass and take the exit they'd missed, but I am also regularly flipped off and cut off by people who don't seem to notice that there is no one behind me. There's plenty of space for them there! Are they in such a hurry they can't be one car behind while they wait for the traffic to clear?

What prompted this post today, though, goes back about a week-more if you want to know why I back into parking spots, but let's just say a week for now. My parents were in town, and we (I) drove us up to San Marcos to the GIANT factory outlet stores. They were, for some reason, packed. We drove around for probably 20 minutes trying to find a parking space. I finally happened upon a spot where there were two cars leaving and only one person waiting for the space. I put on my blinker, to add to the obvious fact that I was waiting for one of the parking spots. The two cars pulled out, and from the other direction a Lexus pulled into my spot. The man in the truck that was waiting for the other spot shrugged at me, and I returned the gesture. He was waiting longer, so obviously the spot left was his. Lexus guy was too afraid to get out of his car until we were well away from the area. I had a fleeting desire to take the valve stems out of a couple of his tires, but restrained myself. We drove around for a while longer, and finally found a spot.

Now, a week later, I was headed to Chad's place. I pulled into the parking lot and proceeded to start to back into the parking spot I'd chosen (yes, I back into parking spots). Someone pulled in behind me, and was so close to my tail that I couldn't go anywhere. I was across the flow of traffic, and couldn't really go forward as there was a parked car there. I couldn't back into the parking spot, because genius was on my tail. I looked at her and said "Back up." I'm sure she couldn't hear me...our windows were up, and as we are in Texas in the summer time, the AC was on. She started yelling at me (I'm guessing b from the way her lips kept moving and her large gesticulations). I pulled up the foot I could without hitting the parked car, and she angrily gunned her car around me. What kind of problems do these people have? Everyone kept telling me how nice Texans are, and how great it would be here. Now, the Texans I've met have been great-no complaints there. What happens when these people get in cars that makes them loose all their manners and turn into the kind of people that block you in and steal your parking spot?

Bugs! (okay, technically they're insects)

I was happily getting ready for my day this morning when my roommate announced that she'd found a cockroach in her shoe...she put it on and felt something moving, took the shoe off and found something none of us would like to come face-to-face with. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of insects, but roaches still kind of get to me. Aren't they and the ants in the kitchen why we bought pest control from the summer bug boys? Shouldn't the spray be at least keeping them out of the house? Needless to say, I looked in my shoes before I put them on this morning.

Utah!

I spent last weekend in Utah visiting friends and attending a wedding reception (yay for Penny!). It was fun to show Chad around some of the sights in Salt Lake City and Provo. We ate at restaurants I used to love, walked around BYU a little bit, and went to several temples. Sadly, the Salt Lake temple was closed for cleaning, so Chad only got to see the outside. We went through the Oquirrh Mountan open house, and did sessions at Provo and Manti. I've never been to Manti-it's a beautiful temple, and I loved it! It was fun to drive through the mountains and small towns.

I really enjoyed seeing my old roommates, and remembered again how much I miss them! While I don't think it is likely, I hope that life brings us closer in distance in the near future. Cynthia, Emily and Penny made my life so much better during the time I spent with them.

By far the most memorable experience was at the conference center. We took the tour with a couple from France and three people from Idaho. We were headed to the roof for the climax of the tour. We got in the elevator, the guide swiped the card, pushed the 4th floor button, and we started to descend. That's right, I said descend. We picked up another person on the parking level, making ten in total. The card was swiped again, button pushed, and we went nowhere. We pushed one of the buttons for a floor that didn't need a card, and still went nowhere. The guide picked up the emergency phone, and we listened to it ring..."elevator emergency-elevator emergency." Very comforting, I can assure you. Especially for the girl from Idaho who was afraid of elevators. He told the person on the other end that we were stuck on the first floor of the parking garage. They said they'd send someone right over.
About ten minutes later, it was getting pretty hot, so he called again, and let them know we were still there, and didn't hear anyone outside the elevator working on the problem. The person on the other end said someone should be there in a few seconds. Our guide waited another five minutes and called again. When he hung up for the third time, we felt the elevator start moving. There were people on top of it! We heard them do something, then heard a ratcheting noise, and the doors started opening. We piled out of the elevator as quickly as we could, and took the stairs to street level. Everyone but us left-I guess they didn't want to see the roof that badly. We took the stairs up, and ended the tour quite nicely.

Meanwhile, I'm back in Texas, where the sun is hot and the humidity is high!

Garden update 3

It's amazing how quickly things go from this:

to this:

Obviously, my watermelon is doing just fine! In fact, there are at least four baby watermelons like the one below. Very exciting, and cute.


The beans have all decided to be ready at once, so there are three vines that look like the one below. Not that I'm complaining, I love beans, and the fresh ones taste so much better!


The tomatoes are finally starting to turn, and I have tons, so Chad and my roommates can enjoy.
I also have a few cantaloupes growing. The vine came up by itself, so hopefully the fruit will be good.I didn't add a picture of my cukes, but I picked 6 yesterday morning. The vine itself is looking a little sick, so I'm investigating what might be ailing it. Meanwhile, if you're in Texas and want to try some fresh produce, stop by!