West Virginia

Mmmmm so I guess I am kinda making my blog a little bit of a journal spot.....thats ok, right??? So I went to WV last week--in case you can't tell from the title of this--and it was stupendous!
Of course you can't say something is stupendous until you tell how it is stupendous, sooooo let me tell you....if you want....if you don't, well....STOP READING!

We left Wednesday morning. For the first time in my life I went in my Dad's car instead of my Mom's and what a trip. Of course there was no AC but the open windows made it all the better. The ride up was pretty much good scenery and awkward phone calls. Everytime we called or received a call we had to roll the windows up and then we would sit and swelter in the heat.

Anyway we reached our destination at about 5 p.m. and spent the evening chatting & catching up with everyone. Thursday my Dad woke me up at 6:30 to make our traditional doughnut run. Mmmmmm those were amazing doughnuts. Oh and the trip we made was great too, old familiar sights.....I am finally beginning to understand the layout of Wheeling, WV. Well we hung around the house after that until we went and saw Harry Potter and then we drove back to PapPap's house and spent the evening there catching up with relatives again. It was so great to see everyone.

Friday was the reunion at Benwood Park. That was a great time. Seeing all the relatives and finally figuring out how I am related to everyone was superb. I took a lot of pictures! It was great seeing my brother Joseph, after almost 2 WHOLE years. He looked very happy :)

After the reunion a lot of the relatives came back to Pap's house and we chatted and watched old movies on the projector. Saturday was another great day. My Dad, Sam and I went to a tunnel that dates back to the 1800's and took pictures of an old brewery where my Pap used to play when he was a kid. He used to climb up the elevator shaft to get in!!!

The Lego museum and then more old projector movies ended Saturday. I really enjoyed getting to see some of the relatives who had passed away before I was born. It made it more of a reality and being able to see pictures and silent movies helped me to visualize them better.

Oh ya we also went graveyard walking on Friday night. It was a small group of us, the traditional lot. Jon, PapPap and me. I about jumped out of my skin when a deer ran by us, freaky!

Well the trip home was uneventful and now I am back in MD....whoopy.

Life keeps going on

Mmmmm what were the highlights of my past week......I made a pie, does that count for anything? Yep it was a key lime pie, I must admit that I was a little proud. Oh man I am watching the "Santa Clause" right now. You know the one with Tim Allen? Gotta love that movie. It always brings back happy memories. I feel so sorry for Scott Calvin (Santa Clause) but I love his sense of humor!

Anyway the past week was decent but nothing particularly amazing. I did a lot of babysitting and worked at the office. Today was pretty sweet. I learned how to do Labs in the computer for pap smears, urine and blood samples...not that you wanted to know that. I find it pretty cool because I have absolutely NO medical background. As a matter of fact I am one of the least medically inclined people you will ever meet. I used to get nauseated just looking at them but my stomach doesn't clench as it did before. I consider this a great accomplishment.

I am going to West Virginia in just a matter of days! My goodness its going to be great. Family, food, scenery. Oh you should see the scenery! Old building that are chalked full of memories, walks through cemetaries at night and rolling green hills that stretch as far as the eye can see. West Virgina holds A LOT of good memories for me. For years it was our main vacation and I loved it. I love being with my family. Its great spending time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I always feel special when my PapPap opens up and tells me all of these amazing stories from his past.

I've also been catching up with friends from school and getting excited to go back to school. I am also nervous. I am taking on a HEAVY load too. I am working for the school paper for at least 20 hours a week and taking 16 credits. Not only am I the assistant editor for Campus but I am also Managing editor for the Brides Guide, I am so nervous!

I've also been eating healthy. I went and bought a bunch of fruits and veggies and have them locked in my fridge, in my closet. Yes, I know, who keeps a fridge locked in their closet? Well apparently I do because we have a little problem with stealing right now.

I've also been working out and I can feel some real stomach muscles coming in! So excited because no longer will I look to men for strength but myself. I have some great leg, stomach and arm muscles coming in and soon I will be able to take anyone, anywhere, anytime!

Time

Time. You don't have enough of it, you have too much of it, you keep running from it, you keep chasing after it. The seconds tick by and you wish that it would speed up, so you can leave work to spend an evening in the arms of the man you love and wish that each second were an hour.

Time. It's what gives us life, what ages us, what eventually kills us. Our history is made of moments, days, hours, minutes, seconds. We make time, spend time, and kill time. The clock ticks and another soul passes through the veil while another passes through the womb.

Each minute is a different moment for a different person with a different life. The ticking of a bomb, the death of a loved one, the cry of an infant are all but moments, instances they're all but a matter of time.

How can we measure such a thing? How can we waste such a thing? There are only 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an our and 60 seconds in a minute. Who knows if you will even live to see the end of that day, hour, minute, second. Soak in each moment that you are given, appreciate what you had taken for granted before. Enjoy the moments while you can before that second of time becomes your last.

Before Marriage List

Before I get married I have a list of things I wanna do!

1-Stick my face in a cake
2-Drive across the country
3-Climb a mountain
4-Bungee jump
5-Sky dive
6-Stay the night in New York city
7-Sing in front of an audience
8-Lose 20 lbs
9-Publish a story in the Readers Digest
10-Go to a foreign Country
11-Go horseback riding
12-Watch the sunrise
13-Read at least 100 hundred classic books
I will think of some more and keep adding them in!

You can't buy love, looks don't matter, they'll love you for your personality.....why don't I believe this? I think it would be best if I were to drop all my good works, my happiness, my job, my friends, my family, my religion and marry myself a "sugar daddy".

From there I would poison him--first making sure that I am in his will--and then get some amazing plastic surgery, a tummy tuck and personal trainer. Wouldn't that turn things around? Being wordly is great right? Finally someone would be attracted to me, someone--if not lots of someones--would "love me", hold me......use me.

Looks don't matter. Its how you hold yourself, how you feel about yourself. What are you doing to improve your life? Better yet, what are you doing to improve someone else's life? It seems to me that too much focus is placed on how we can make life interesting for ourselves. I am guilty of this. I sometimes spend too much time in front of the television watching soap operas and reality shows--just kidding, I don't watch either--or on the computer surfing the web....helping myself instead of someone else.

Those of you who are seaching for love, stop! Love will find you. I know its hard to believe that but I stopped searching and look what....oh wait I can't say that yet but soon I will be able to. Right now I am trying to get something from life, keeping busy, serving those around me and trying to learn as much as possible. I was a little "Love" bitter for a while and I was also searching for something I didn't need and wasn't deserving of. I have now made it a goal in life to just simply love others and look forward to the day when someone will....hopefully....love me.

Just another weekend.....or was it?

Another day, another weekend, another week and here I am being the diligent blogger that I am. So I had a slightly interesting weekend if not amazing. I've adjusted to home life and the routines and regular annoyances have become part of my life.
Friday was the most uneventful, but very relaxing, day. I drove an hour to work and then drove an hour home in the sticky humidity of Southern Maryland--that I love very much--without AC. I came home and played tennis, swam, weightlifted and watched "Spies Like Us" and fell asleep reading. I love relaxing days where nothing special or unique happens but you still manage to have fun.

I didn't get any naps or lazy days this weekend, not even a Sunday nap. Saturday I woke up and drove an hour to Point Lookout with my brother.

Point Lookout is a very historic place on the east coast and is also one of the most haunted places in the United States. During the Civil War over 52,000 confederate soldiers were imprisoned there. The actual Light house was rumored to have kept people in there against their will during the Civil War, which explains the rumors of it being haunted.

Anyway I went for the Flag Rasing Ceremony;An American flag hasn't been flown there since 1966 and they raised the first Maryland flag there that day too--so in a way I saw history in the making. I spent my time interviewing and being given a very detailed tour while at the lighthouse. I actually was allowed to walk through the Wharf which is a restricted area right now because the floors are rotted and birds are nesting in there.

I also spent some time "rubbing elbows" with Senator Dyson who was present for the ceremony and tour. To make things even more interesting I saw the Stake President visiting the lighthouse on my way out and was given a lift to my car by a great group of retired people who volunteer all over fixing up lighthouses.

Well after that I went home and did some swimming and weight lifting and then left to go babysit until late that night. The kids are really cute. Beccas(7), Elli(4) and Julia(18months) are good kids and they are fun to play with. I rocked Julia to sleep and then I read to the girls. Being there made me wonder what it will be like when I am a mother. What will it be like to have someone call me Mom and to cry for me, Mom?

Today in Sacrament meeting the Bishop challenged us to work as a family to read Matthwe, Mark, Luke and John before Christmas and so have another great project to work on. Today I taught in Primary. My class was a little crazy but we did our best to have a good lesson and then I went home. Not much else happened. We threw a "no body" birthday party to mess with my Mom's head. You should have seen her face when she walked in the kitchen and we started singing happy birthday. It was altogether a good weekend :)

Shortness

I need to make these blog posts shorter and fewer in between. So here is a short one for you.

Its Friday, I am at work and I am ready to go home. This weekend doesn't seem all that promising. I am doing nothing this evening. Tomorrow I am going to Point Lookout to do a story for the newspaper and then I am babysitting that evening.

So here is a nice and short blog, just for all those people out there who like to 'skim'.

This is my life

I have been falling behind on this whole blog thing. The reason is mostly because I am grammatically shy. I have this fear that everyone will read my blog and judge me by my grammar errors...please don't. If you notice any glaring errors and feel a need to tell me, then tell me in person. If you are a hot, single male and you notice any glaring errors PLEASE tell me in person and then proceed to give me your phone number. If you are middle aged--or older--single and have a big bank account then PLEASE leave me a message with your name and social security number. If you're thinking of hiring me for a job then don't judge this blog, there are worse things that I could be doing--like eating fried worms or hitting policemen.

Anyway onto more interesting things--not the weather and not my latest fling and DEFINITELY not Michael Jackson--lets see what have I done with my life recently? I think I left most of it in a garbage somewhere but the other small part of it has been used quite nicely, I think. I am happy to say that I am officially an athletic person. Yes, I have moved beyond the couch and into the backyard--but wait there is more to come. I swim, play tennis, skate, jump on the trampoline--and everyone hold your breath--weight lift. Yes I feel a little lame when I am sitting in front of the television lifting weights but I could be sitting in front of the television scratching my newly toned rump or shoving candy bars down my throat--mmmmm candy bars.

I spend a couple hours a day working out, which pretty much puts a damper on all the other things I have been doing. I work three days a week at a Doctors office. I won't get into any specifics because you don't want to know what kinda doctors office it is. Its not too bad but I do get bored quite often and thats when I start writing this garbage about my "life".

I also do a lot of babysitting, which is so exciting for a 19-year-old woman who wants to be back at college, or do I? Anyway so exercising has become a big part of my life and babysitting. I actually get paid to babysit on my days off. Of course I also babysit for free for my own family but that is nothing new and at least they feed me and put a roof over my head.

The summer has been slightly exciting but it has mostly been riddled with long moments of boredom and repetative thoughts. Though repetative my thoughts have also waxed quite reflective when it comes to matters of spirituality and the human mind. I don't know if I like the philosophical side of me because once I start thinking philosophically things start to get broader and broader and then I literally get lost in my own thoughts, which is what I am doing now.

So highlights of the summer. I went with my grandparents to the ocean for a week and after a week with me they literally--no joke--dumped me out of their car and didn't say goodbye or say anything. I saw "Chicago" live in concert and they performed one of my favorite songs "Hard to say I'm sorry." I took my brother out to dinner for his birthday and I was involved in my fifth, and hopefully my last, car accident. I went to girls camp for a week, which was totally awesome. I played in the nursery for a month or two until they gave me a calling in primary, which I love! I'm sure there is a lot more I could say and a lot more that has happened but I will save that for another time and save you from having to read all of this, if you even made it this far.