Swing, Swing, Swing

Today's Adventure: Swinging

The weather this afternoon was just right; not too hot and not too cold (Goldilocks herself couldn't ask for better weather). I'm so glad I have roommates who put up with my whims!

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

Today's Adventure: Tip Toeing Through the Tulips.

Inspired by the song.

All Day...

it rained


so we jumped

and I danced.

Battlecreek Boutique

So why would I write about something as seemingly trivial as a trip to a boutique you ask? Well because the amazing kid from this post moved very last minute and will no longer be attending the program. I didn't get to say goodbye. I am extremely distraught about it and browsing the boutique lifted my spirits to a small degree. That's why. Thanks for telling me about it, Kass! I had fun.


New sunglasses. I tend to lose or break sunglasses about as soon as I remove the price tag. Good thing they were inexpensive!


I love green. And I love shoes. Like Kassidy said, my shoe size is one of the very few constants I have in my life.

Don't Forget the Lyrics

Music- big fan of it. Here's a list of lyrics that I find creative, memorable, or funny:

What am I here for/ I left my home to disappear is all/ I'm here for myself/ Not to know you/ I don't need no one else/ Fit in so good the hope is that you cannot see me later/ You don't know me I am an introvert an excavator/ I'm duckin out for now/ a face in dodgy elevators/ Creep up and suddenly/ I've found myself / an innovator
-L.E.S. Artistes (by Santogold)

She likes me for me/ Not because I look like Tyson Bedford/ With the charm of Robert Redford/ Oozing out my ears

-Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me) (by Blessid Union of Souls)

Sing with me/ Sing for the years/ Sing for the laughter/ Sing for the tears/ Sing with me if it's just for today/ Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

-Dream On (by Aerosmith)

Talk, talking a lot, but it's still talk/ Gotta love how it's somehow all on me/ All the pretty scenes/ And all the pretty things/ Say whatever you want/ 'Cause I can laugh it off

-Let It Happen (by Jimmy Eat World)

So let go, jump in/ Oh well, whatcha waiting for/ It's alright/ 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown/ So let go, just get it/ Oh, it's so amazing here/ It's alright/ 'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown

-Let Go (by Frou Frou)

Let me keep you in this place/ You'll be better off this way/ I will keep you warm and safe/ You'll be better off this way/ I will not raise you from this sleep/ Leave you wandering counting sheep/ No more sad and sunshine days/ Trust me dear you're better off this way/ You'll be selling books at the airport

-Airport Song (by Guster)

I'm bringing sexy back

-Sexy Back (by Justin Timberlake)

And if you were with me tonight/ I'd sing to you just one more time/ A song for a heart so big, God wouldn't let it live/ May angels lead you in/ Hear you me, my friends/ On sleepless roads the sleepless go/ May angels lead you in

-Hear You Me (by Jimmy Eat World)

Bones sinking like stones/ All that we've fought for/ Homes, places we've grown/ All of us are done for/ We live in a beautiful world/ Yeah, we do, yeah, we do

-Don't Panic (by Coldplay)

Let's dance in style let's dance for a while/ Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies/ Hoping for the best but expecting the worst/ Are you going to drop the bomb or not?

-Forever Young (by Youth Group)

Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather cool, the folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine/ P.S. I love you

-P.S. I Love You (by Heather Doiron)

When a problem comes along, you must whip it

-Whip It (by Devo)

I tried my best to leave/ This all on your machine/ But the persistent beat it sounded thin/ Upon listening/ And that frankly will not fly/ You will hear the shrillest highs/ And lowest lows with the windows down/ When this is guiding you home/ They will see us waving from such great heights, "Come down now", they'll say/ But everything looks perfect from far away/ "Come down now", but we'll stay...

-Such Great Heights (by The Postal Service)

Ok, that got longer than I intended, and there are HUNDREDS (literally) that I could write down. Thanks, all you wonderful musicians/lyricists out there! You make life even more lovely

Spring Break

So this is Easter, right? Nice weather, able to be outside in short sleeves.

This is 3 days later. Did it snow during my spring break? Why yes, in fact it did. Thanks a lot, Mama Nature. See if I plant a tree for you this Earth Day.

Despite the weather, it was a good time. I got to see this lovely girl, for example.

And maybe I really wanted to see the new Zac Efron movie. Maybe I made my little brother go with me. Maybe that was the same day it came out. Maybe. Don't judge me.

Spring in Provo

Fickle though it may be, spring in Provo is pretty

The lovely ladies in this photo and I went to Comedy Sports a couple weeks ago. Tickets on Thursdays are only $4! Totally worth it. I definitely laughed $4 worth.

FYI: Everything on Center Street either closes at 5:00 pm or opens at 8:00 pm. There's nothing to do around the 7:00 hour. Learned that the hard way.

Fun with Photos

Of all the mediums that could be used to create a portrait of me, I choose spray paint thank you very much

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder???

Ok so I may have had a little too much fun with photofunia.com. But how cool are those pictures?! Plenty more photofunia to come, I'm sure.

Monday

Monday morning, 6:50 am: "Bones sinking like stones, all that we've fought for. Homes, places we've grown, all of us are done for." My ipod alarm summons me from my dreams with my favorite Coldplay song. My arm raises. The snooze button is hit.
7:00: "We live in a beautiful world, yeah we do, yeah we do." My pesky alarm goes off again. I don't care how much I like the song. Anything besides my internal clock that causes me to wake up is pesky. My arm raises, my brow furrows, the reset button is hit. Much to my dismay, Monday is here... already. Time to get up and get ready for work. Where did the weekend go??? Spring break is just around the corner, and I am living for it! I simply do not want to go to work. I couldn't fall asleep last night for hours and the idea of saying, "voices off in the hall please," "WALK, please!" "raise your hand" "are you tattling to help or to hurt?" all day long is anything but enticing. No, I do not want to get up this morning. Yet somehow I lift my still foggy head out of bed to face another day.

As I stand outside with my class during their lunch recess, I tilt my head towards the warming sun. So this is what spring is like, I muse. I'm glad I have recess as an excuse to be outside in the middle of the day. No cooped up little office for me, thank you. Then I turn my focus back to the kids. Given that these kids come to the program based on behavior problems, they require constant watch. So, I watch. I watch them run, climb, and laugh.

I watch as one of the girls in my class, a little third grader whose arm is completely bandaged up from a fall last week climbs the ladder and leans towards the monkey bars. She's going to try and traverse them, bandage and all! Then I watch something truly remarkable. I watch as a baggy pants wearing, earring sporting, "trouble starting," sixth grade boy steps in front of her and gently holds her by the waist to assist her across the bars. When she can go no farther, he sets her carefully back on the ground. "Look at how far you got!" He says smiling at her. She smiles back and runs off. And I, watching all of this, am completely struck. No one told the boy to help her. Surely no one would expect it from a "trouble maker." There was no reward in it for him. I am the adult and he, a 12 year old, has shown me what a truly selfless, small, random act of kindess looks like. And to think I didn't want to come to work today!

12:45 pm: My attitude has done a complete 180.

This is not the first time this student has blown me away. I've watched as he has instructed one of the less coordinated students in my class to go out for a pass then tell him "Oh! Almost! Nice try!" as the kid misses a pass that could have been easily caught by someone else. I've watched him make sure everyone gets a turn in the game. I've watched him hurry over to a hurt child to make sure they're ok.

This is not the first time I've seen the incredible, undeniable, mind-blowing potential of such a "troubled kid." This is not the first time I've wondered why me? Why am I lucky enough to cross paths with such outstanding kids? Why am I so blessed to learn from kids who, despite what they've already endure in their short years of life, are so good? Why do I get such moments? All I know is that Coldplay was right: We really do "live in a beautiful world."

Who Loves General Conference??? I DO!!!

Image found here

I LOVED general conference this weekend! I'm so grateful to have living prophets on the earth to teach, guide, counsel, and uplift me. I love that we, an LDS people, gather all across the world in our homes, churches, conference center, and other locations to listen to the messages. As I listened to the talks, I noticed some reoccurring themes. Here are some that I picked up on:

-Faith over coming fear

-Temple attendance

-Obtaining advice from experienced individuals (scriptural leaders, people around us, those who have gone before us, etc.)

-Developing faith through obedience

-The ministry of Christ

I'll add more as I think of them. I love the gospel!

"We got a dollar, we got a dollar, we got a dollar hey hey hey hey!"

Have you watched the movie The Little Rascals lately? I'm talking the 1994 version staring Bug Hall and Travis Tedford with brief appearances by Reba McEntire, Donald Trump, and Whoopi Goldberg. If you haven't, I highly suggest you do because it is down right hilarious! I liked it when I was seven and I still like it now that I'm an adult... or something akin to an adult anyway. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

"I, Stymie, member in good standing of the He-Man Woman Haters Club, do solemnly swear to be a he-man and hate women and not talk to them or play with them unless I have to. And especially never fall in love. And if I do may I die slowly and painfully and suffer hours or until I scream bloody murder."

"Porky, you sure know how to make a sandwhich!"

"That wasn't sand! That was kitty litter!"

"I had to eat six boxes of cracker jacks to find it. It's a symbol of my undying affliction for you."

"My father just bought the oil refinery."
"That explains why you're so refined."

"Yeah, and so oily."

"That ugly scum led me on as if he cared, then dropped me like a hot-tamale!"

"Hey there again, you stud-muffins, going my way?"

"If you were my kids, I punish you!"

"If we were your kids we'd punish ourselves!"

"Then the clouds opened up and God said, 'I hate you Alfalfa!"

"There's a perfectly logical explanation for this... which I'll make up later."

"Dear Darla: I hate your stinkin guts. You make me vomit. You're scum between my toes. Love Alfalfa."

"I'll sell you my pickle for a nickle."

"How 'bout two cents?"

"O-tay."

"Come see the four foot man-eating-chicken!"

"You Benedict Arnold; you Judas Priest!"

"I wish I had a club to throw you out of!"

"All great knights ride into battle wearing the colors of their lady fair."

...such a great flick!