Ice Boy

Thursday January 24, 2013

    This is a little entry from a couple of week ago, but I just had to type it out because it was such an experience that the day could not be forgotten :)

    So for all you lucky individuals living in the warm Southern California sun you want to be introduced to what you are missing out on by not living the land of ice? Here you go:

As I walked around I saw many individuals rubbing their knees and bums. We called it “freezing rain.” It usually snows when it is this cold. And yes I do not understand the weather so I am just going off of my observations, but because it “chose” to rain and not snow what ever the rain touched immediately turned into ice. The roads, steps, railings, etc. were all covered in layers of ice. It was a land of sliding!! Some enjoyed the experience by ice skating for free. I saw a video of one boy who literally put on his ice skates and had a very enjoyable time up on BYU's campus. Here is a great video that was taken on campus as well:

(just to show the craziness!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwbFWq2YLb4

    The best experience for me during the day had to do with a young man I met walking through the snow and ice. I was slowly making my way home. I live on the other side of the University Ave. ,the main street that kinda divides up Provo. I was about to cross it when a young man ran up to walk across the cross walk with me. He was rubbing his bum while making conversation with me. He was nice. It was one of those conversations that you know he is trying really hard to make a good impression. As we got to the other side of the street there was the long way around ice to get to the sidewalk or you could cut through the ice quickly, but you had the risk of falling. I had had enough near misses today. Not trying to get away from this young man I went the safe longer way while he took the short cut. He was ahead of me so he did not see me take the other route. As soon as he turned to talk to me, thinking I was right behind him, finding I was a good ten feet behind me I saw the frustration build. He began talking to himself while hitting his forehead, “Man, you are stupid. Why did you take the short cut? You were going to ask her out! Gosh darnit, you should have walked next to her. Stupid, stupid, stupid.” He would occasionally take a peak back and then start hitting and talking to himself again. I tried so hard not to let him notice that I could hear him perfectly. I also tried really hard not to laugh when he would turn back for a peak.

Poor young man! Part of me wanted so bad to run to him and ask him on a date just to put him out of his misery and to help his confidence!! Poor young man! He was trying so hard :)

The First Three Days of February 2013 = EPIC

2-3-13
An Epic Weekend

     We really did know how to live up this past weekend. It started off slow and relaxing and soon became a whirlwind of entertainment, friends, and family! It started for me on Friday. I love my schedule this semester. I have a three day weekend every week! Yep, I have not classes on Friday. I do have a couple hours of internship in the morning, but it is very enjoyable so I will not complain. I still get to sleep in. After being at the internship for a couple hours I come home, usually by noon and then my weekend begins!! This past Friday I stayed in bed doing homework loving every minute of the accomplishing feeling as I completed lots of homework and the lazy feeling of just sitting in bed in my PJs. Later in the afternoon I took a nice long shower, amazing, and got a little dressed up for the night activities! Jeff, his roommate Austin, my roommate Aubrey, a couple other friends from Jeff and Austin's ward, and I drove up to Salt Lake to eat at the delicious MAZA. I ate yummy Chicken Shawarma and falafel! After the cozy little whole in the wall we partied it up by watching a movie with Aubrey and Mav, Jeff's cousins and my good friends.  We left around midnight, if I am remembering right. All I can remember is getting home super late, but fully enjoying myself.
     Saturday started off similar to Friday morning, lots of PJ's and laziness  but sadly it differed in the amount of homework I did not do. Sadness. But I did take a LONG enjoyable shower!! At lunch time Jeff picked me up to go and see the show I have been waiting for: BYU's Contemporary Dance Team performing in The Thing About Love! I feel in love soon after it began.

     As the performance went on I felt a since of peace to see others performing life the way that I feel I see it. To me life in a way really is a dance. Not always bright and spunky, sometimes dark and confusing, but still a dance! A couple of the main points that stood out to me during the different dances is first that I wished that people expressed more of what they felt. How we move and what we feel is beautiful and it is emotional and gorgeous to see that in others and to feel it with them. The second is that a man and a woman are truly meant to carry each other. I do not know where I have been taught this, but I feel like I have learned that the man has the responsibility to carry the woman, but what I loved is that it is equal. At times during the dance she would carry him and lift him, hold his head when he was tired and he would do the same to her. I want that! I want to be needed as much as I need the man I love! And third, that we do not have to be who we see in the mirror. We live in a world where looks define a lot of what we can do or how we feel about ourselves. We are capable to break free and discover who we really are and who we want to be. It takes courage to not stick to the norm, do what you love, and do what you want to do. Don't just follow the motions of the reflection in the mirror!
     I felt so grateful to have Jeff there with me, and not just there but enjoying the performance too. No, he most deffinently was not geeting the same things out of it as I, but do I expect that? No! He saw beautiful lines and talent. But he was supporting me going to what I love. Would he have bought tickets to go if I had not wanted to, probably never. But, I never would have ever gone to an International Car show a couple weeks ago if Jeff didn't LOVE cars, and I really enjoy it. I love what we learn from being in relationships and respecting and loving the other person so much that you will participate in things you do not have interest in just to make the other happy, but after you realize it made you happy too!!    
     The afternoon did not end after the performance though. We made our monthly trip to Costco, which is always a BLAST :) Full of yummy free snacks and good food to bring home! After shopping we got to go to Emmy and Christina's apartment to celebrate their birthdays. I love those two girls, they always make me laugh and their oh so yummy Asian food and movie watching NEVER gets old!! We watched What To Expect When You Are Expecting!! Once again I cried and laughed while watching it and Jeff loved it even though it was his third time watching it. The first time he watched it was over over the summer and he had text-ed me saying that he wanted to kiss me. This time after watching it he did sneak in a little kiss ;)
     The weekend was not even close to ending here! After getting home late from the birthday festivities late on Saturday we got up early and Jeff and I drove to Salt Lake to go to church with his mom who is in town visiting. It is always a peaceful exciting time with her and Janneke and her adorable family! After enjoying their company we headed back to P-Town around three and prepared for the Super Bowl. At 4:30 the coin toss occurred, I won a free Papa- Johns pizza, and the party began. We had tons of good food, I quickly became nauseas from stuffing myself, but it was worth it! Mavanee and Aubrey made some oh so good cookie dough that I just didn't want to stop eating.. you know how that goes :) The Ravens and the 49ers were playing and we all were on the Ravens team and they ended up winning, but not before the lights in the stadium had gone out a little after half time, quite the adventure! Oh and the cutest part was seeing a big Ravens football player make snow angels in the purple confetti that had fallen from above!

      So fun!!! I really do love my busy good life. Now tomorrow back to homework and the likes, but I just need to remember that the few days in the middle of week are good, too enjoy it!! But you know that things will come up that stink a little every now and then, no worries, because the weekend is soon approaching, and they are always GREAT!!

Jeff and Amber's Funny Awkward Adventures

1-28-2013

          Two very funny situations occurred today. They might be the kind of thing that you need to be there to find so hilarious, or not... I guess you will decide :)
          The first was when, once again I lost or better yet "miss placed" my cell phone. Jeff knowing this might happen made me download this app a while back called Find My I-Phone. It is essential if you are like me! I would suggest downloading it for moments such as these. After watching the new Top Gear episode, which was HILARIOUS by the way, and I am not really into cars but yet I find this show thrilling, we got up to leave. It was about 10 pm at this point in the evening. I reach into my pocket and my phone is not there. I usually start getting anxious at this point, but with modern technology and Find My I-Phone I knew it would be all right. Jeff pulled out his I-phone and located my phone. Apparently I left it at the girls apartment that we went to FHE (Family Home Evening) at a couple hours earlier.
         Jeff thinking that it would be funny to play with modern technology finds the gadgets within this app and  tells my phone to start making very loud siren noises. I think this is meant to help me find the phone if I was in close proximity. At this moment in time it was being used to startle the girls in the apartment. We stood in Jeff's apartment laughing at the events that were probably taking place three blocks down in apartment 108. Little did we know what was really taking place. By the way I should mention we understand that if this was not a college town environment but a "real" life town environment we would have respected the after 9 pm rule!!
         I get to their door and after knocking I hear "come in." I open the door and what do I find? This will make more since if you are aware of LDS culture, if you are not I will explain. One of the roommates who was sick was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room with two young men standing behind her as if they had just given her a blessing. This is one of the comforts and miracles of the gospel. We believe young men that are worthy have been given power from God to bless his children. We often use this power when we are sick or are in need of comfort. Well, as you can imagine these moments are usually moments of personal time and quietness, not a time of me barging in or making a phone that is located in the apartment start yelling siring noises at them. Everyone started bursting into laughter. They explained that luckily they had not began the blessing yet when the sirens started, but were just about to. I am so grateful!!!! That would have been extremely embarrassing!! The girls did play back though. They thought the phone was Jeff's, so trying to call me to let him know they had it they could not find my name but called many that had a name close to my spelling. They talked to many and had a good time. They also pretended to call and order 12 pizzas to Jeff's address :)

Second funny experience of the evening:
          I should start this one by saying that Yes, Jeff and I know that we have a lot of fun in weird ways. I guess that makes us weird, but I am perfectly ok with that! But really who isn't!?!
          After the phone situation Jeff drives me home. At about this point it is 10:25 pm. As we say our good nights sitting in his warm car with snow all around us, I know that this sounds like I have made this sound all romantic and stuff :) I mentioned this fact to help you understand that when you sit in a warm car you really do not look forward to getting out and running through the cold to get home. So, to avoid this you distract yourselves with things that keep you from the cold! Well, at this particular time we entertained our selves, extremely well actually, by turning up the radio and singing loudly and dancing, in a very talented manner I might add for being in a car! I can only imagine how we must have looked by those that might pass by. Did Jeff and I care? Not at all :)
          After three songs, a rap song that Jeff and I came to realize was not so good when you actually dissected the lyrics, So Call Me Maybe... which I find so ridiculous, but in these situations energetic, and You Don't Know You are Beautiful. During the last song a group of 4 roommates walked past us. They must be girls in my Relief Society because they lived in the apartment right below mine. They were all staring at us. One girl particularly was in a kind of trance watching the two crazies in the car who were having a blast. Our eyes met and I just began to laugh, but I did not stop dancing. I think she was amused but also caught off guard so her eyes wouldn't leave mine. In the mist of this she didn't see herself tripping on her roommate and as the entire fall occurred our eyes never left each other. That poor girl!!! I send out a Sorry for laughing. It was just so awkward and funny. I am glad you laughed too and were all right!!

The End of 2012 and the Start of 2013

The past few months with the Exciting 

Christmas and New Years Adventures of 2012 

       I have not written in a journal in a long time. I thought it would be a smart thing that I would appreciate later if I wrote a little of what has been happening lately. Last semester I lived in Miller Apartments with five fun girls. Two of them, Shayn and Anna, I traveled to China with in 2011 and Beckha who was Anna's friend. The other two were Ashley Rackham and Cait, both are great friends that I had when I lived at Belmont Apartments. We were all so busy with the lives that we had. I was in my second to last semester of college and I had a great boyfriend, to say the least I was not home much. I began to feel distant from these girls that I so enjoyed. I do not blame it on any one person, I think we were all maturing differently. I felt like the partying I use to enjoy just didn't excited me anymore. I felt uncomfortable. I would have to be the "annoying" roommate when they would bring boys to their bedroom and hide out when R movies were being watched. I felt bad but I needed a change. I felt like my emotions were everywhere and not being happy to go home was too much on top of all that. I needed the comfort of the spirit. I needed a place that I could better focus on my personal improvement. 
        During all this I began hanging out with Amanda, a really good friend that I met when I was at BYU- Hawaii. We both went on missions to Taiwan, but at separate times, and both transferred to BYU Provo. One of her roommates was getting married and needed to sell her contract. It was miracle and I was able to sell my contract. With the new announcement that sisters could go on missions at the age of 19 there are thousands that are leaving and trying to sell their contracts. With all the competition I feel blessed that I was able to sell mine!! Right before we all parted for Christmas break my new roommates, Jeff, and I had fun making our own photo shoot :) Some of those pictures:

 Me, Amanda, Marilyn

 Marilyn, Amanda, Me

 "Cheesy family Photo"

 Me, Amanda

 Jeff and I being Rockstars

Yep I am trying to be strong. P.S. we are standing on a picnic table ;)

 Jeff and I

 "Just Precious"

 He was scaring me

        Since that time I finished the semester with B's and A's, drove home to California for a week during Christmas break. At home it felt so good to see my mom and friends. Katherine and I had great talks like usuall :) and with the help of her family and friends we made yummy home made tamales! I got to see Ann and her adorable family and George and my grandparents. The seek went by quick and before I knew it I was flying to Florida/Alabama for about a week to visit my Mom and Chad. Christmas day was interesting, I was exhausted from my flight the night before, we had a tornado warning, and finding Christmas dinner. It was an adventure!!! My mom and I had a really good time driving around and exploring. One day we drove out to Dolphine Island. It was a little island off of the Alabama coast. It had beautiful homes and pretty white sand. We ate gumbo... I was not a fan :)

We also had a blast shopping all of the good sells at the famous Mobile Alabama outlet malls. Oh and I also discovered the TV show "Once Upon A Time" SOOO good :)

 I then finished off the break by flying back to Utah where I stayed with Jeff and his family. His family is so sweet! Janneke, Jeff's sister lives in the Salt Lake area with husband and two kids. We all celebrated by having a belated Christmas dinner!! I especially enjoyed playing with Jannek's adorable little boys :)

 Benjamin 

                        Benjamin, Me, Janet, Christopher, Janneke

     For New Years Jeff and I went to down town Salt Lake for all the celebrations. We went to a comedy club, live bands, enjoyed outdoor fire places, Temple Christmas lights, hot chocolate, dancing, and fireworks!!! 

     
          We drove back to Provo on January 3rd and my last semester of college started on the 7th of January. It felt great to relax and just hang out with Jeff. From what I can remember one of my favorite things we did was go to two movies in one day. Thank you dollar theaters  five dollars total for both of us!!! Plus popcorn and sour patch kids of course ;) We saw Perks of Being a Wall Flower, which is very thought provoking and makes you feel like you are on top of the world and anything is possible with a mix of life is hard and sad and I am so grateful that we are here to help each other through it. We both found it amazing if you can not tell!!! The other movie we saw was Taken 2, which was also really good!! 

Perfect Quotes!!!

My new all time favorite Quote:

‎"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." 
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I see numbers on digital clocks and love seeing the fun math problems within them. When I notice a cool one I always tell those around me. When I see a cute outfit I will compliment the person and if I do not tell them than I feel I must tell the person that I am walking with. To me everything that can make you happy should be shared. We only have one life here and I want embrace all the opportunities and joys that are out there, sorry if you are not one who wants to embrace these things too, but I will most likely still share them :) We each notice different things. I notice odd things I know, but so do you. I would love for all to share them with me that way there is more to embrace and less that is missed out on! 

Bitter Wine and the Poor Old Man

    One of my favorite peaceful moments involve looking though out photos and or reading old journals. Many memories that we so easily forget come back with that same easiness when we read our journals. Tonight I was reading though one of my mission journals and came across this entry. It brought me so much joy. It is an account of nothing of huge importance, but it is one of those small moments of just plain fun that keep you smiling through the day. The small pleasures.
I hope if you read this that it will make you smile. I understand that this is not actually in your memory but I hope the words I wrote back in February of 2009 will be descriptive enough to help you see why this memory is just plain fun :)

February 25, 2009
     " Today while we were out tracting we saw this cute little group of old people relaxing in the shade under some big trees talking and laughing together.  We walked over and enjoyed entering into their conversation.  They had a lot of fun playing with the little bit of Chinese that I know. They thought it was so cute that this little American girl was there with them in Taiwan trying to speak Chinese. One old man told me " you have a baby face."  He laughed and smiled about it. He was so cute, I felt the same way about him... but in the old wrinkly adorable baby face way, but I did not tell him that :)
     Another old man in the circle was trying to open a very old bottle of Chinese wine. I had so much fun just watching his face as he struggled, but I had to let out a laugh when he finally did get it open and he took his first sip. He got the most disgusted look on his face. It almost looked like like he was about to cry becuase it tasted so bad as he leaned over and spit it out :) !!!!!

Sun-dance I am in LOVE with your Rings!!!

I have been wanting a ring from the Sundance catalog for

years. Today I let myself take a peak once again, I gave into

weakness. It is never a good thing :)

Look at these beauties I found:

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/product/handmade+jewelry/unique+rings/timeless+love+band.do?sortby=ourPicks&vabp=all&page=3#

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/product/handmade+jewelry/unique+rings/half+dollar+ring.do?sortby=ourPicks&vabp=all&page=5

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/product/handmade+jewelry/unique+rings/cherish+life+ring.do?sortby=ourPicks&vabp=all&page=7