Men

One of the reasons I never want to get married is because most wives have no idea how their "perfect" husbands act and what they say when they aren't there. Men are creeps. I'm kinda tired of being hit on by married men.

end rant.

Martin Luther King Jr

Today I was off of work. Today, many people across the nation were off, and many mock the reason for being off or don't care. Just as I think that the 4th of July should be observed with celebration and reverence so too, should Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While I have been discriminated against before for the color of my skin it isn't often. I do not however, tolerate other people judging others based on the color of their skin. I don't care if you are black, white, purple, religious, atheist, educated, uneducated....I think everyone should be judged on the merits of their actions, NOT the color of their skin or any other than what needs to be judged at the moment. I am grateful for people like Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and others who non violently demonstrated for what they felt was right.

I can't express how grateful I am that we are judged on what we make ourselves. I also think he is such an inspiration for me to always speak my mind in what I find fair and just, even if it isn't popular with society.

Always bow in reverence but never in defeat.

Just Because

I have the coolest people in my ward and I am fortunate to call many of them friends. One of my all time favorite people is a girl named Emily Utt. Emily works for the Church* (of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) as a historian. My first Sunday in my new ward I knew I wanted to stay after hearing her correct the Gospel Doctrine teacher (in a very fun and very kind way) to tell the correct version of whatever it is we were talking about. She has such passion for church history and is almost always smiling or giggling but is so amazingly smart at the same time. She is guest blogging for a church related site this next week and I thought some of you might be interested to read it. Her first blog is a little about her job and what she does in relation to historic church sites. You can read it here. Check back at this site more this week to see a few more posts by her.

*church hereafter refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; my religion. It is so dominant in Salt Lake that we just call it " the church" and everyone knows what we are talking about.

Let The Drummer Kick

Today was an emotionally hard day.

All I could think of are the words of Herman Melville from Moby Dick..." when I felt grim about the mouth ...and wanting to knock people's hats off... I take to the sea." Well dear friends, I had no canoe, no raft, no boat and could not take to the sea. I had no idea where I would go if I just got in my car and went....

I felt like I was trapped and needed to escape or scream. The end result was making a playlist of angry and high energy music. Loud beats, mean words, and music that would flow through my veins complete with Taylor Swift (picture to burn), Jay- Z/ Linkin Park (collision course) and much more...

First on the playlist was Gifted with Kayne West and Lykke Li.

I had my newly made playlist in hand and because Salt Lake City has advisory warnings for breathing the air I took to the treadmill at the gym... with music playing so loud I'll regret it one day when I am deaf... I ran the fastest, hardest 4 miles I've run since shortly after I graduated high school and stopped running track. I normally have pain in my knee or my shin and I can't go for very long. Not today. Today I ran four straight miles like it would set me free; it did. Somewhere between mile 1.5 and mile 2 I felt a release of anger, a release of negative toxins that had circulated through my body all day, a release from nearly 6 months of an unhealthy relationship, and a release from any feelings that might have been there and felt happier than I have in a long time. I kept running.... and right at mile 4 I knew that I had friends waiting for me at my house and I headed back home. What a shame....

The night was followed by frozen yogurt, hot tubs, jumping fences and climbing trees in bikinis, and 500 days of Summer.

One of the best days in my history if you ask me.

What do YOU do to cure a bad day?

a frustrating day

today for lunch i decided to venture out of the building. i walked across the street to the parking garage, got in my car, and decided to go to a mexican joint across from the local high school. while there i ended up sitting by a numch of kids skipping school. every other word out of their mouth was the F word and all these 14 year olds could talk about was sex. There was one guy and about 6 girls. He was UGLY... and he kept saying how he was going to do all of them at once. They all giggled. He then proceeded to give them all inappropriate sexual nicknames and they just giggled and blushed and said how they wanted to do inappropriate things to them. One girl said something to the guy and responded with "why are you talking?!? i don't care!" he also demanded money from all the girls because he was hungry. Mind you, they oculdn't have been much older than 14.

My blood was boiling the whole time. I wanted to say something. I wanted to say " do you know who you are?!?! do you have ANY idea the potential you have and you are hanging out with THIS loser?!? hes good for NOTHING! HES UGLY AND UNEDUCATED AND HE ONLY WANTS TO USE YOU! go back to school! get an education! or you are going to end up pregnant in high school to a guy who won't pay child support and you are going to have a crappy miserable life. get up, go to school and realize you're potential!"

ugh! i left... not saying a word. i am so mad! i wish i wouldh ave said something but i couldn't think of anything to say that they would actually listen to. i left and ive been so upset all day. what's going to happen to those girls? why are they so stupid? who is really that desperate for attention that they flock to this creep of a guy? i dunno... i hope things turn out ok for them.

Letters

Dear Drivers of Utah,

My turn signal means that I want to get over and I'm letting you know I am about to change lanes. It is NOT a plea from me for you to speed up and not let me in.

Dear boys of Utah,

Please be more into sports. You make me feel like a dike when I am the only one that cares about game day.

Dear University of Texas,

No matter what happens I still love you but please don't make me so stressed by not playing like I know you can.

Dear mouth,

Please don't crave yummy sweets. Im trying to resist them.

New Years @ Church

One of my New Years informal resolutions is to be better "at church." (as well as blogging more, can you tell? ) Meaning, be more diligent in reading scriptures, saying my prayers, going to the temple, personally getting to know those I visit teach... all that jazz. I do those things now... I just don't do them like I should be doing them.

I am really excited to start the new year with Gospel Principles, our new manual. In Relief Society it was discussed that too many times we get lost in the doctrine and we forget to go back to the basics. I think this is a great year for me to remember the basics of what I believe in, and why I CHOOSE to live a different life.

This morning my roommates were going to breakfast as I was running late for church. The invitation was offered for me to come. I REALLY wanted to go, but I non chalantly declined. When Rita said she was sorry I couldn't come I made sure to let her know that I could, but I was choosing to go to church. I really like the video below and I think it is a good reminder that we all need to choose today to serve God.

Choose-This-Day

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

This is the first picture of me of the New Year. I really had no desire to go out this year. I was depleted of energy. I was convinced to go out and I am so glad I did. Rachel always makes me laugh non stop and in so many ways. I can't think of a better way to bring in the New Year than with friends and laughter!

2009 In Review

WOW!! I can't believe I am writing to you in the year 2010! It's amazing how quickly time flies. As I was reviewing my planner this past week at work nearly every day was scribbled in with one type of appointment or another. I meant to bring it home to use it to blog about the past year but I'll try and do my best here. Just a quick recap of a few of the highs and lows of the year.

January

Obama was put into office. Could it really have been a year ago? I was sick most of the month and spent it working and hanging out with Dave most of the time.

February

Flew to Oregon. bought my new Mac! Got to eat Washington apples in the state of Washington.

March

Dave and I are stopped being friends. I guess he got tired of me.

Went to Vegas to enjoy a weekend trip with the girls.

April

Went to a Britney Spears concert. Judge me if you want, I had a great time!

May

28th-30th had a surprise visit from Matthias. He came into town to see the Superbike World Championships and he got me tickets and passes to go with him! I hadn't seen him in over 5 years.

June

Ben & I stopped being friends. Flew to Vegas for Jade's homecoming from Taiwan.

July

Watched the fireworks from the

foothills that overlooked the valley. We got to enjoy 4 fireworks shows from one spot for free with no crowds of people.

6th-Went to Bear Lake for Rita Bita's birthday.

15th- I bought my new car dubbed Fancy Nancy

15th- got a call from the Dr. telling me they thought I had Cancer and that I needed to come in for further testing and to get a biopsy.

22nd-ish my sister Irene flew to Utah/Idaho for a few weeks. I took her to outdoor concerts, the pioneer day parade, and to climb a mountain. Drove her up to Idaho to see our sister Marie and we went to Jackson Hole for the day.

28th- woke up in excruciating pain and spent the rest of the day in the hospital. Spent the next week going to other dr's appointments and getting tested. They found out I have gastritis, and lots of large cysts on my ovaries. There were other things as well but I can't remember.

August

1st- moved into an apartment all by myself for my first time ever. I was done with roommates and just wanted to live by myself not having to move every year because of other's situations. Also the start of having no internet for the next three months.

16th had my biopsy and flew out to San Diego for a care free weekend with one of my most favorite people ever. I also got to see the San Diego temple for the first time in person. My brother was in Utah when I flew back from San Diego and I got to hang out with him for a few days.

September

3rd- I was broken into by a random drunk guy. Decided that living by myself was not a good idea for the time being 5th- I cut my hair into two ponytails. One 12 inches and the other 15. Also, I can't remember if it was August or September but Jade once again displayed her love and devotion to me by brining back BLUE BELL ICE CREAM from her adventures in Dallas. (this must have been august but oh well. September is lacking for pictures.)

October

Moved in with Raquel and Rita. Rita went to Jordan to visit her boyfriend and ended up not coming back to the States once she got engaged. Went to a random Halloween party with Raquel and Brit.

November

Flew to Houston for my 25th birthday and Thanksgiving. I got the Swine Flu as an early birthday present. I was miserable for close to 2 and a half weeks.

December

Flew to Houston again for Christmas. Spent close to 2 weeks there and I was in Heaven getting to see old friends and my wonderful family! Rita also surprised up from Jordan for the holidays. She flies back out in Jan.

Well, it's been a great year! Everyone keeps saying 2009 was bad and that 2010 will be so much better. All I have to say is that 2009 was divine for me... and if it only gets better from here... I am one lucky girl and I just can't imagine the wonderful things that lay ahead in the next 12 months!