Thursday, September 30, 2010

Whelmed

I had a roommate named Becky once upon a time, and she used to commonly say, "I'm not over-whelmed so much as I'm just whelmed." That is how I feel today. I am whelmed. Today I had training and a shift and Dave Ramsey. Did I mention that the training was practically a personal finance class that had clips of Dave Ramsey? It was just too much for one day. And for one girl.

Jameson is gearing up for duck season, which starts Saturday. Yes, I know that it is the same day that General Conference is. Let's just not discuss it. Also, because I am in Nursery, no one told me when the Relief Society meeting was.

Okay, I think I am done complaining. Seriously. I am. I think. Wait . . . Yes. Done.

Great Book: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I am working through it now that we are into THE MONTH OF HORROR!!!!! (October)

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Modify

So I have a rule on Sunday for Jameson and I. It is that we can watch a movie if it is a documentary or a children's/family movie. It is a fairly loose rule with a lot of loopholes and is rarely enforced. Regardless, this Sunday, we watched the documentary Modify.

For my siblings -- I do not recommend this show. It was scarier than snot. It was about how people modify their bodies from tattoos to teeth to body building to gauges to plastic surgery to you name it. It showed people splitting their tongues and all kinds of nastiness. It really honestly traumatized me. It showed people doing suspension with hooks in their backs.

It brought up some interesting questions, like what is the difference between modification and mutilation. I think the general consensus was that if you do it to yourself, it's modification and if it is done to you, without your consent, then it is mutilation. It brought up questions of religion, and of course, most of the extremists had no faith, and therefore it wasn't a concern.

Ultimately, everyone kept saying, it's my body, I can do what I want with it. This made me think back to the lesson that we taught in nursery the very same day. Our bodies are not our own, they are on loan from the Lord. Paraphrasing from Elder Holland, the body and the spirit are the soul of man. When we abuse our bodies, whether voluntary or not, we are abusing our soul. This can come through anything from fornication to tattoos. We are meant to keep our bodies clean and pure, just like our spirits.

It was a good reminder.

Good Movie: Outsourced -- super cute little thing about a guy who goes to india to train employees in a call center.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Relationship Advice Via Dave Ramsey

So on Thursday, Jameson and I went to our second FPU (Financial Peace University) class. It was pretty cool. This class was about relationships in relation to money. It was kinda like a mini lecture on marriage. There were a lot of good principles, many of which we had read about before (believe it or not, Jameson and I have actually read books on marriage, like we are responsible adults or something . . . weird). Whether we actually put them in practice is another idea entirely. He had some really good insight on how to do a budget that could really help us. Essentially, it entails one person actually putting the budget together, and this should be whomever wants to do it. And that would be me. And then once that budget is made, slide it over to the other person, and let them make the changes they feel need to be made. Seems like a good plan. I am excited to follow that.

Later, when I was reading his book, there was a chapter on money and relationships, outside of marraige. Primarily regarding when to help someone and when not to. This was good for us since we want to help everyone and make everyone do this Dave Ramsey business. His advice was essentially to shut our mouths unless someone asks for help. It was good stuff. I think, in fact, good stuff on giving advice in general.

Anyway, this is just my weekly plug for financial responsibility and my plug to get people to either sign up for an FPU course, read the book, or at least take an interest in personal finance.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Devil

Yes, that is right, we watched Devil by M. Night Shyamalan. It was awesome. I evidently embarrassed Jameson by telling him that I was scared at the movie theater. I guess that I embarrass him a lot there . . .

Anyway, I love M. Night Shyamalan. His style is very similar to Alfred Hitchcock, another one of my favs, and this was no disappointment. For me. I realize that many people don't like his style, and that's totally fine. However, I love how he wraps up principles about faith and forgiveness in a scary story, and it comes out feeling hopeful.

That's how this flick was. Very scary (and a great way to kick of the month of October -- also known as horror month), but the last line in the movie was something along the lines of 'do not worry, for if the devil is real, then God must be real also'. I also loved Signs for the same reason. It's not an alien story, it's a story about a man's faith. I just love the way he tells his stories. So I would recommend this movie.

Another Movie Recommendation: Carolina starring Julia Styles. Reminded me a bit of the book Charms for the Easy Life

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Weird Dreams

So I had the WEIRDEST dreams last night. Seriously. I was married to JD from Scrubs (and I swear, I haven't even been watching lately) and we were hanging out with Elliot in her apartment. I was like, hey, this is a nice place -- let's see if they have any availability in the complex. We talked for a while, then headed out to see. Flash forward, we are standing outside an available apartment, but the landlord said there was a squatter. If we could get him to go, the apartment was ours. Turns out the squatter was my dad. So we decided to move in with him. He had the upstairs and we had the downstairs. JD seemed nervous about it, and my Dad wasn't too happy, but we moved in anyway. We had a lot of nice stuff.

Then I had a dream skip and I was married to Jameson and we were at a family party, but he hadn't shown up yet. I think it was a graduation party. Anyway, Jameson's ex-girlfriend Brittany showed up looking all skinny and tan and super buff. In my dream I didn't know how to talk to her, so we just pretended we were friends. Also, I had super long wavy blonde hair. Like down to my waist.

Anyway, Jameson and I are in the middle of this documentary about dreams. Did you know that at least three Nobel Peace prizes were awarded to projects inspired by dreams? I know that a lot of people think that they are repressed emotions finding their way to be expressed (I think that often dreams are that very thing, see above mentioned examples). However, I think that there is a different class of dream that comes from a different source that is meant to inspire and move us.

Great Documentary: Nova's Dream series

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Roll With The Punches

So, it turns out that being sick over three days sucks. But, as that great country singer, Jo Dee Messina once sang,"Well, oh, that's the way it is, you gotta roll with the punches, that's the way it goes, you gotta bend when the wind blows."

That is what my life has been the last few days. I just had to put my life on hold for just a few days, throw a few goals back a few weeks. I have a strong belief that a goal isn't useful unless it can survive some minor and often, major setbacks. In fact, most of our lives are about overcoming challenges to accomplish our goals, whatever they may be.

Anyway, I need to go sit in the shower for a while and hopefully my sinuses with start to agree with the 'roll with the punches' theory.

Good Book: Last in the Dark is Rising Series; The Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper

Roll With The Punches

So, it turns out that being sick over three days sucks. But, as that great country singer, Jo Dee Messina once sang,"Well, oh, that's the way it is, you gotta roll with the punches, that's the way it goes, you gotta bend when the wind blows."

That is what my life has been the last few days. I just had to put my life on hold for just a few days, throw a few goals back a few weeks. I have a strong belief that a goal isn't useful unless it can survive some minor and often, major setbacks. In fact, most of our lives are about overcoming challenges to accomplish our goals, whatever they may be.

Anyway, I need to go sit in the shower for a while and hopefully my sinuses with start to agree with the 'roll with the punches' theory.

Good Book: Last in the Dark is Rising Series; The Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper

Monday, September 20, 2010

Sick with a Cold --- Again

I swear I can't stay healthy for longer than a month! I have another cold and so does Debbie and most of the people that I work with.

I mostly blame Nickelmania. Not only do I work with a ton of dirty dirty coin, but it is extra dirty because little kids play with it all day. I fixed a machine the other day and had something in my eye. I touched my eye before putting on disinfectant, and an hour later, I had a sore throat. Now I am not saying that it was that . . . but it was that. To be honest, I am shocked that I didn't go blind.

As it is, I am a whiney cry baby. Fortunately, my husband loves me anyway.

Good Music to Listen to: Unknown Anthem (Jameson has a concert this Saturday -- just trying to raise awareness)

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday Drive

Today, Jameson's Dad was kind enough to let us take the Harley for a Sunday Drive. We decided to go up and around the Alpine Loop to see if the trees were changing color.
We ended up forgetting the gas key (isn't that just like us?), so we stopped at a picnic area and ate some snacks and played in the creek. There were some great skipping rocks.

It was so much fun playing in the creek! We haven't done that in a long time. However, the water was FREEZING! I swear it was fresh of the glacier.

Overall, we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. It was a great way to be reminded of the beauty around us and that God made for us.

Good Movie to Watch: Motorcycle Diaries -- see previous post.


Saturday, September 18, 2010

Beth and Parker and Chloe and . . .

Jameson's brother Parker is getting married in November to Beth Hoven (I know, it looks like Beethoven all together, huh?). Beth has a little girl named Chloe from a previous marraige. They are going to do her bridals this morning.

Last night Chloe was staying with Beth's Dad and Stepmom. She was bit by their dog and got seven stiches. So now she is being babied even more. The poor thing can't really say anything or eat much.


So she is hurting pretty badly. But somehow I think that she will make it. She has both her mom and Debbie to mind her -- they are pretty responsible.

Good Music: Glee Soundtrack -- the new season starts this Tuesday.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Super Savers

Through Zions Bank, Jameson and I get to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes. This is very exciting. We took the first class tonight. We get to do it for free because we are the liaisons between Zions Bank and the course coordinator, Gary (of whom I got the distinct impression that he didn't like me).

Here are some impressions of what I got from the first lesson, entitled 'super saving'.

1. Saving money is about emotion and contentment.

2. Three basic reasons to save include:
- Emergency Fund
- Purchases
- Wealth Building

3. We have to face our money woes and deal with them. The first step is to cut back and start to save.

It was a really good class, and I am really excited for the rest of the course. Money has always kind of scared me. Not having it so much, but feeling confident that I know how to handle it responsibly. Working at a bank has helped a lot, but even better has been learning this stuff.

Great Book to read: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, also Financial Peace University by the same author.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Diary of Anne Frank

The whole reason that I began posting every day was because I thought, probably mistakenly, that it may improve my writing. I read a short children's book on writing and there was a section about journals. It highlighted Anne Frank, among others, as a great author who told their story through journal. Now, I am certainly not Anne Frank. Nor do I have nearly the story to tell that she did. But I do wonder if she ever felt that her days weren't really worth chronicling. I am sure that life in hiding, while a little exciting, was mostly horribly boring.

I remember when I went on my mission, it was my last day in the MTC. Our usual teacher couldn't be there for some reason, and we had a substitute. I remember his lesson almost more than the others I had in the 3 weeks I was there. He asked us what we planned to do everyday. We all gave various answers that mostly involved teaching fabulous lessons to those that were just trembling to be baptized. He looked at us and said, okay, so you teach a lesson for an hour (looking back, that is extremely generous for the time it takes to teach a lesson), what else do you do? We looked at each other and said call media referrals. He said okay, that takes 15 minutes, what else do you do? It was at this point that I realized that there is a ton of time in a day that I had to somehow make productive. He then went on to teach us about tracting, which did in fact make up a large majority of what I did on my mission.

The point of all this rambling is that our lives are punctuated by exciting moments when we get to do exciting and wonderful and fun things. The rest of it is made up of everything else that we do. The less glamorous, but very necessary part of life. We have to do the dishes and plan the meals and do the laundry and go to work and go the gym. These things are what make up most of our lives. So if it occasionally seems that I only talk about these things, it is because that is the majority of what I do.

I will say though, that some of my best and most personally defining moments came when I was tracting on my mission. I think that the same thing happens during the regular course of life.

"The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands" ~ Anne Frank

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sleepy Tired

I am really really tired. I will probably just sit on my bum for a few minutes and read a book. Oh the luxury of time. Even if it is only for a few minutes. :) Anyway, I thought I would come up with 10 words to describe the word tired.

1. Exhausted
2. Sleep-deprived
3. Burned-Out
4. Beat
5. Bushed
6. Dead
7. Spent
8. Wiped Out
9. Weary
10. Sleepy Tired

I am all of these things. So I will go and sleep/read my book.

Great Music: Air in G by Bach

Monday, September 13, 2010

Save the Cheerleader, Save the world

Heroes has taken over our lives. I know that we are behind by a few years on the craze, but we just got Netflix, and reason has gone out the window. I really love this show (remember that we are only on season one) because everyone wants to be a hero. They discover they have these abilities, and they all want to do something good with them, for the most part.

It made me think about myself, and the abilities that I do or don't have. I have been feeling like rather a failure lately. I think that it is mostly because I am overwhelmed. Which is sad because I don't really do all that much . . .

Anyway, back to the point. I was thinking about how Heavenly Father put us all here on this earth, and we all have different abilities. We don't think of them as particularly remarkable, but they really are. And we have the choice to do the right thing. To be heroes in a sense. Between reading The Dark Is Rising series and watching Heroes, I have been reminded that it is so very hard to do the right thing. It often requires that we make sacrifices and difficult changes in our lives. It requires us to look past the present situation at the larger picture. It requires us to look past our own needs, which are most pressing, and look at others needs. It is so easy to simply NOT do it. It would be so easy to simply give in and let go, and let it be somebody else's problem. But the right way is rarely the easy way. And Heroes never give in!

Good Series to watch: Heroes, Season One

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Day 1 . . . no water . . . little food . . .

Debbie is gone visiting Alycia for her birthday. You would think that everyone was going to die. I came home from work at midnight, and Jameson whined saying there was no food in the house. Cricket, of course, might die at any moment from lack of Debbie.

I however, am excited for the day. I was going to go to the Greek Festival, but I think that might be a bust since it doesn't start until 11. However, I will be running in just a few moments through the cool autumn air listening to some great tunes. Also, I am in charge of our WIG (Wildly Important Goals) session at our next staff meeting and I am thinking I will read a little kids book. So I will go to Borders and get one . . . any excuse to go to Borders :)

Anyway, time for me to get ready!!

Great music: She and Him with Zooey Deschanel. If I only had her coloring . . .

Friday, September 10, 2010

Busy Bees

I am a very busy bee. So is Jameson. It seems sometimes like school starts, and then life picks up. I went to work today at one and should be on my way to my second job. I'm not too worried about it, though to be honest. I don't have to be there until 9:00. I have been thinking a lot about motivation today and how we gain and lose it. I don't know how it works that every Monday I think the week will go a certain way, and I am determined to make that way work. I occasionally even have the motivation to get out of bed early -- don't fall over dead. Then by the end of the week, it is simply gone, and I run into survival/I don't care mode.

I understand that there are various ways that people are motivated, including habits, punishments,and rewards. I think that the greatest motivation is love. In it's many forms. That is why I run, I love it. That is why I work on my marriage, I love it. That is why I read books, I love to. I think that when we are motivated by loving something, it becomes a joy to do it, and not work, thereby enabling us to be continuously motivated. It's why I go to church. I love the gospel.

This may seem silly, but I need to find a way to love both my jobs. It is just kinda hard sometimes, and it sometimes just doesn't seem like enough of a reward with the getting paid thing (not that I am going to quit anytime soon). Just emotionally I can sometimes come up kinda short.

Also, I still have California Gurls in my head. I love Katy Perry. Sigh.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Love Running!

This is very true. I went running late in the evening last night, and was reminded of how much I love to run in the evenings. It was about 9:00 and I was listening to my music. It was a little bit scary, but that made me run a bit faster. I was running on the canal road, which for those of you who don't live in Taylorsville, is a small road with trees and a canal on one side that looks just like Houston. It was so exhilarating and at the same time relaxing. Nothing but exercise can do that for me!

Jameson sent me an interesting article about training for ultramarathons. It highlighted focusing on cross training and avoiding injury. I really enjoyed it. Probably because it made me feel self satisfied that that is what I am doing. I don't plan on running any ultramarathons any time soon, but I will be training for a marathon VERY soon. So it was good to note that the cross training I do is good for me to prevent injuries.

Good Music: California Gurls by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg -- seriously gets me running! I know, I know, it's all hip hoppy. I love it.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I ran into a tree with my head today

I did, and it ruined my hair. I also helped staff the Zions Bank mini bank at the Willow Creek Country Club for the PGA tour. I am sure I met some very famous people, but I didn't really know it because I don't know anything about golf. Sad. It was so slow that I read two books (Dark is Rising Series -- still so in love with it) by 3:00.

So it is back to life, back to reality. And I have laundry to do, so this is what you get.

P.S. I still need a good vest for work -- and ideas would be appreciated.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Paul Warren Kistemann is Blessed!

Jameson and I drove down to Arizona with my mother for my sister Cami's youngest baby's blessing. We left on Friday night and went to the Golden Hills motel. I loved it! Mainly because the owner was so excited that he could offer wireless internet and long distance to his clients. He was doing his best to provide the best customer service skills he could in his corner of the world. It made it my #1 place for Mt. Carmel junction for sure!

When we woke up in the morning, we drove into Kanab to visit with my grandparents for a few minutes and eat breakfast. It is always such a pleasure to see them. And so hard to say goodbye.


We also got to see my Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Ali and their daughter Terra because they stopped by as well. It was a very exciting to see them . . . passing as ships in the night. :)

Then we went all the way to Cami's. Her second oldest son Timmy, had his birthday on Monday, but we decided to celebrate on Saturday while all his family was there. There was lots of family (both Cristian's and Cami's) there to celebrate. We also celebrated his cousin Isaiah's birthday.

Then the next day we went to church to see Paul Warren Kistemann be blessed by his father. It was a very special and a little bit of an emotional experience for all of us.
.
As a little side note -- Jameson is Mary's new favorite person. For some reason unknown to the rest of society, Mary (my sister's second youngest) attached herself to Jameson. Calling him 'her boy' and stopped just short of gluing herself to him. Probably because no one would help her with the glue. When we left, she asked if she could come with us. Her parents said that they wouldn't come with, and she said that she would come back later for them. Turns out Jameson does have a way with the ladies . . . who knew? :) Just kidding :) I knew :)


Overall, it was a great trip, with a ton of great moments and stories that have already become a regular part of our vocabulary and joke scheme. It was quite the worthwhile road trip.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Dark Is Rising

I am reading a series by Susan Cooper called the Dark Is Rising Series. I absolutely love it. Mainly because it is about the eternal struggle between light and dark. In the end of one of the books it states that one side can never win because we each have a little of both in us. For those of us who are members of the church, we are constantly fighting this battle in ourselves and in the world.

Yesterday, Jameson and I planned to go to the temple. I thought that it was PERFECT timing because I ended up leaving work early. We went to get some pre-temple ice cream at Leatherby's, and then drove to the temple. We pulled up in the parking lot and guess who forgot her temple recommend. By the time that we drove back to get it, it was too late to go back.

I felt so bad that my silly small mistake robbed us of the pleasure of attending the temple (this isn't the first time this has happened). It just reminded me that there are good forces in the world, and not so good ones. The dark forces are powerful and easy to succumb to, but the lighter ones are always there and represent every good part of the human character, including forgiveness and trust.

So there may be times when I forget my temple recommend, or don't get everything done in the day that I deem necessary, but it is a small battle in the war that I think we are winning (you'll just have to guess which side I'm on :))

Good Book: Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper, book 2 in the Dark Is Rising Sequence

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

My Life . . . In a Nutshell

So life has pretty much gone how you think it might lately. I work, clean, eat, run . . . and that is about it. My mother is coming down to Salt Lake today, but I won't see her. She has a class she has to attend before her knee surgery in October and then she is off to visit Kerry -- her good friend who could use a little support. We will be going to visit Cami and Cristian . . . and Micah and Timmy and Sammy and Ellie and Mary and Paul . . . as we go down to visit them for Paul's baby blessing.

I have grown less than fond of my wardrobe lately, partly because I can't seem to lose the weight to fit into half of my clothes and also because I have to wear professional clothes everyday and seem to wear the same things over and over. I will be buying a skirt, cardigan and vest soon . . . but am not sure where to go. Any suggestions?

Good Music: Hey Soul Sister by Train