I Love My Vacuum

And thus it begins that I discover my vacuum can do so much more than clean the floors.

On another note, I cleaned my house! Yay. Not really any different than every other Saturday of my life. Also, I was doing sooo well on being productive today. Right up until the point where I thought, Oh, I've got 2 hours until I need to be anywhere and I've gotten (almost) everything done. Why don't I sit down on the computer for a while and relax?

And 45 minutes later, here I am. Now I have to scramble. Stop being lazy! Why does showering have to be so inconvenient??

Gross. Pretend I didn't say that. I do enjoy showering...on the occasional day where I feel exceptionally greasy. The thing is, I'm not a fish like my husband or my sister-in-law. I don't look forward to the moment when I can wake up and get into the shower for an hour. I look forward to breakfast in the morning, not getting myself all wet.

When I was 14, I can home from Trek and I laid down in the hallway and refused to take a shower. I stayed up until 2:00am countless times in my youth because I would not take a shower, yet couldn't go to bed until I did. I just hate getting wet!

Ok, that's a lie. I love swimming, and I love the lake, and all other fun things like that. I guess it's the after part that I hate when my face gets all dry and my hair gets all tangled and frizzy.

Now you know all my secrets. Don't tell anyone I told you this!

Old Lady

I can officially say I'm an old lady. I seriously just vacuumed my blinds yesterday.

Wow.

But they look better now! Not so dusty, so who's complaining!

For the First Time

There's nothing like seeing something for the first time and having a lasting memory made in your mind/heart. New vacations are my favorite because I get to go to a place I have never been before. I always try to imagine what it will look like in my head, and always the actual thing far surpasses my imaginations. And as much as there's a want to go back and re-live those memories, you know that you can't, at least not the same as they were the first time.

I took a walk today on the Provo River trail, but backwards, away from the canyon. It was a part of the trail I had never been on before, and it was SO fun exploring those new areas! There were so many trees lining the over-flowing river, and it was really fun walking inbetween everyone's backyards. I had quite the adventure. And even though my feet are so-ore (don't wear dress sandals on long walks in the sun), it was totally worth it!

I know that this blog is supposed to be about CC and Scotty, but I'm sorry that I write about me a lot. Scotty doesn't write in blogs. His only internet time is when he checks his Facebook (he never posts anything) and checks the news/sports. I think it would be a miracle if Scotty got on and actually posted something on our blog!

So, to honor Scotty, I'll make this next paragraph completely about him.

Today he cleaned the car. And waxed the headlights. I am so proud of him! He's such a good, hard worker. And then he ate all his dinner. And now he is playing XBox as a reward for being so good today. He went boating yesterday with our brother-in-law. Now my Scotty is all tan and super sore. He says he feels like an old man. I don't blame him. He was whipped around all over the lake like a rag doll. He still works at Walmart. Nothing new there. And we still get discounts, and that's why I still shop there. Oh, and he "bought me a grill for Mother's Day." We had our first BBQ on Tuesday night. How fun was that!

Also, my Scotty is very handsome. I love my Scotty very much!

Remember When We Used to Be Like This?

So on Sunday, I was sitting in primary with my husband and I overheard these three 5-yr old girls talking to each other behind our row. Their conversation went something like this:

Girl #1: I'm sorry I couldn't play yesterday. I had to do [something]. (I couldn't really tell what she said)
Girl #2: That's ok. Can you play on Monday?
Girl #3: I can play on Monday.
Girl #2: I wasn't talking to you, I was asking [Girl #1].
Girl #3: Oh. Well, can I play with you on Monday, too?
Girl #2: Yeah, I guess.

Oh, it was just the cutest thing and it brought back so many memories of calling my friends up on the phone when I was 5 and asking them if they can play. How tender.

P.S. I grabbed this photo from online and so I really hope it wasn't someone's personal photo of their children. Because that would be awkward.

A Mason Jar, Tennis Balls, and Beans

I wish I had some fun stories to tell y'all as we sit here and wait for a new post on my blog. I guess I can announce some pretty big news - We bought our plane tickets!

I am very excited for our trip out to Virginia this August. Scott's best friend is getting married in DC and that's where he served his mission, so it will be lots of fun to spend time out there this summer together. It's not going to be a super long trip, but it is a solid week away from work and that's just what we need.

Other thoughts, sometimes I wish I had more free time, or maybe just more motivation. You know when life gets easy, it's actually quite harder to do what you know is good for you? What I mean is, I really need to exercise better. When I was a student up at Utah State, I was young, I was free, I was not married, and I was bu-sy! The best part about being up at school was that I got to go running a lot! And the reason that I went running when I did was because I knew I was going to be too busy to do it if I ever put it off. Well now that I have a set schedule every day and absolutely free evenings and weekends, I don't have that mindset anymore. I just let it slip and think, Oh, I'll have time to do it later.

The same goes for temple attendance. And for scripture reading. And for any other good habit that takes time and work to develop. Always have the mindset to do it now and get it done, and then you don't have to worry about it later when you have other stuff you want to do.

My eighth grade history teacher showed it to us like this, and I have never forgotten it. You have a mason jar, two tennis balls, and a bunch of beans. The jar represents your day, the tennis balls represent what you need to do and the beans represent what you want to do. When you put the beans in the jar first, the tennis balls don't fit. But when you put the tennis balls in first, miracously the beans ALL fit and fall neatly into place. It's amazing, and so very true. I think he was just trying to tell us to get our homework done but I took it on a much more personal level and remembered it the rest of my life. And am very grateful for it.

So instead of listening to me ramble anymore, just remember to be good and focus on the important things until they are done, and then play.

The end!

The Walmart Spark

Let's sit back a moment and reflect on how ridiculous Walmart is:
They scheduled one cashier for a Monday morning.
This one cashier was put in a speedy checkout, 19 items or less.
That means no conveyor belt for speedy checkout of more than 19 items.

Wouldn't it be that the one morning I decide to run inside real quick to get something before work, I end up in line behind one of those girls who fill. up. their. cart. to. the. brim. with stuff and can only unload "19 items at a time" and has to put her full grocery bags on the floor because there is no room in her cart because she has so much stuff!! This is seven 'o clock in the morning, lady! Don't you know Walmart is only going to have one cashier and that there are people that have to get to work?? I had a HALF HOUR before I had to leave for work and I barely made it out in time!

I got a little sick of waiting in line and since I know all the in's of Springville Walmart, I thought I'd head back to Electronics to find someone to check me out there. Nope. No one. Not a soul. Isn't there always someone scheduled in electronics at 7:00am??

So, quite annoyed at this point, I head back to the front of the store. The same guy is waiting in line behind the same girl, so I was back to where I started. Except now she was starting on coupons. The cashier had a whole pile of printed out coupons at her register that she had just started scanning. I hate people like that!!!

Not really. I actually don't blame her for trying to come to Walmart on a Monday morning to do her huge shopping because yes, it is slow. But once again, let's sit back and reflect on how stupid Walmart is and doesn't know how to manage their own stores.

Sorry for the rant. I know I shouldn't hate Walmart. They pay my bills, and I'm grateful for that.

Thanks for listening!

Pain

Such a fascinating subject. I mean, pain drives you to do things you wouldn't ever normally do. What would you do if you were in such agonizing (physical) pain and you knew someone held the key to your relief? What would you do to obtain that relief?? Would you lie? Would you cheat? Would you steal? Would you kill?

Would you go so far as to completely demoralize yourself and treat those in your way like they weren't anything more than something you can take your wrath out on and leave beaten, lying on the side of road?

We're people, too, people! It just...amazes me how easily people forget about others and only think of themselves in times of greatest need.

Amazing.


**To further inquire into the subject of pain, I would refer you to read a fascinating (yes, I like the word fascinating, ok?) book called Complications: A Surgeons Notes on an Imperfect Science. Very, very good.

Blessings Come After Obedience

That's all. Pretty self-explanatory, I think. Have a good day!