Creative Wanderings

I used to hate the sound of this book. And I especially hated when people would hear my dating stories and spout off that phrase. Still, I decided that I ought to give the concept a fair trial, so I borrowed a censored copy of the  book. (Some sections don’t directly apply to LDS dating standards.) It was all right. It had some good points. My dislike for the concept lessened. A little.  It wasn’t until I went through another relationship setback that I truly appreciated the philosophy in this fabulous lime green and hot pink book. Like they say in the beginning, it may be hard to hear this but it really is life-changing!! He is just not that into you. And that is a good thing because we women deserve someone who is into us.  Take my roommate: she started dating this guy a few months before he left the state Read more…

You want to go work out at the gym In fact, you want to work out enough that you leave the safety of the womens’ weight room and go to the extremely crowded SFH weight room Successfully work the elliptical for 30 minutes, burning 300 calories (woot!) You go to work and the gym with your hair still wild and crimped from your performance the night before You want to cook again You are happy even when it rains

Souvenir shops abound along the street, showcasing magnets, hats, shirts, miniature trolley cars, key chains. Jewelery vendors and artists take up residence across the street (where there is a little more sidewalk room!), restaurants of all kinds announce their fresh sea fare, and the whole area abounds with a sense of tourism. Which is why you might not expect to walk along and see fine art in a gallery on the same strip. You can take the girl out of the conference, but you can’t take the humanities out of her! Shannon and I walked into at least two different art galleries and saw original works by Dali, Picasso, and Warhol. Like this one we both fell in love with. Martha Graham- The Kick by Andy Warhol We saw another piece that looked like a Degas, but it wasn’t. I was pretty excited about that, but really, just looking in Read more…

My friend and I were chatting the other night and, as often happens, the talk turned to dating. Rather, our lack of success in the field. We weren’t complaining so much, just being frank about things. He sent me a link to this talk, But If Not. I read through it today and really loved the main theme, especially how it elaborated on the principle of faith. I’m far from perfect in my faith, but I do feel like I have traces of the “but if not” in me. Actually, in regards to dating. I have a dear friend who is not a member. From the very first, we clicked,  but it didn’t take long for both of us to acknowledge that there are some barriers to anything happening. How nice would it be to forget about all that and just be happy and give things a go? I don’t know, Read more…

It’s like a hotel from some horror film… gilded lobby, gold elevators, plush red carpets…. lots of mirrors, deep red ceilings, low lighting.. and that’s just walking to the room. The room isn’t so bad. Two nice beds, an armchair, a TV from the 80’s, a small rickety closet, and a bathroom not much bigger. You can feel the humidity in the air (and see its effects on my hair). Lightbulbs flicker in the lamps, and even the wail of sirens outside sounds mournful and eerie. Welcome to Hotel Whitcomb.  Okay, so it wasn’t really that bad of a place. It just had TONS of character, lol. The lobby was gorgeous, but I didn’t take a picture of it so you’ll have to take my word for it. Our whole HERA conference was held here, and overall it was a nice set up. It was arguably in not the greatest Read more…

I am so blessed. I have wonderful friends who help me so much. This past week was hard, really hard. I felt so depressed, and then realizing I was depressed made me even more depressed…. vicious cycle. My less-than-stellar mood made me a less-than-stellar babysitter and I felt bad about getting frustrated, then sad about being single… anyways, the point is that it was shaping up to be a sad weekend. And then, two of my friends invited me over to have dinner and games with them… and I was able to bring along another friend with me! Thanks Amy, Colin, and Kellianne for an amazing Friday! We had such a fun time catching up, eating delicious food cooked by the Slades, playing Cucumber, and watching folk dance clips. It was such a good night that no one seemed to want it to end, even though we all were getting so tired Read more…

It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.Gustave Flaubert(1821-1880)

I am going to PARIS and LISBON this summer!!! As in, I will be able to walk and thirty minutes later saunter into the Paris Opera House, the Louvre, the Musee de Orangerie where Monet’s huge waterlily paintings span two rooms! I’m just a jaunt away from the Moulin Rouge (okay, probably won’t go inside that one, but pictures are sufficient). I will stroll through the Tuilieries and visit the Champs Elysees. I’ll cross the Seine and see the Musee d’Orsay and the Eiffel Tower. And the Notre Dame Cathedral. And did I mention the Rodin museum?  After Paris, how about some Spain and Portugal? We’re staying with host families in Spain, but this is the terrace of our hostel in Lisbon. Maybe I’ll have to expand my job search to Europe. Seriously… what beauty! This is going to be the most amazing summer ever!!

I read another great thing about love today… this time a talk given at BYU-I. You should read it too.No phone call from the guy yet. I think there’s another day or two left in the turn around time. Guess we’ll see if that hand hold last night truly translates into a call. Wow, someone’s got trust issues? Truly, though, mistrust is not my nature. If that first impression is good, the general impression will stay good. On the upside, I connect well with people; on the downside, its easy for me to get hurt by people I shouldn’t trust. Thankfully, those are few and far between. Sometimes people treat you in a way that changes things too, like how much personal info and sharing you’ll entrust to someone else. Is it weird that I write on my blog like a journal, trusting potentially complete strangers with inner details of my life? Read more…