Sunshiny Life

Adios

2011-06-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggie buddies! I started a new blog called jaimiesjargon.blogspot.com. I sorta wanted to get away from the egocentric title of just-jaimie, and also the hyphen annoyed me. Anyway a lot of words for something not that important. Basically what I'm trying to say is that this blog is dead and I am now working on a new one. Hopefully this one will be a little bit more accurate as to who I am and what I am about. It's still hard to identify life accurately through words, but maybe this time around will be a little bit better.

Loves!

Me gusta los pinguino

2011-05-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Remember how I watched Dora the Explorer one morning in Mexico? And remember how Dora taught me how to say, "I like the penguin" in Spanish? Well guess what, later that night my friends were ecstatic when they found me these little suckers at the market -

Yep, that's right. Penguin cupcakes. I told the cashier "me gusta los pinguinios" as I bought them and she laughed and nodded. Basically what this means is that she understood me. One star for awesomeness right there please. And get this, the next day I went to the zoo and asked if they had any penguins at the gift store by saying, "donde esta los pinguinios?" The cashier answered in the negative and said "no tengo pinguinos."

I think this means I am bilingual now. Thank you Dora.

Beautiful Mazatlan Mexico

2011-05-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

I was surprised at how fast I fell in love with Mexico. My good friend used to tell me about how the culture there was extremely friendly and loving, but I had no clue truly how great the people were until I arrived. Everybody went out of their way to talk to us and be polite. Part of me says this was because we were the "rich" American tourists, but the other part thinks that people are just straight up good.

True Mazatlan has its share of crime and drug wars, but with our resort being in the golden zone, I felt 100% safe. I think that the people realize that their work and economy depends on the tourists coming in and being protected. This being said, it was the perfect trip because the town was deserted due to warnings from the US about traveling there mixed with a bad economy. This all resulted with us getting things for very cheap prices and having catered service. I would do it again in a heartbeat as well as recommend others to go. I'll blog more about our fun services and experiences, but for now here are a few ocean pics from the balcony at the Royal Villas Hotel.

Loves

I hablo Spanish?

2011-05-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggie buddies!
Guess what? I'm in Mexico!!! The pictures probably won't come in until I get home next week though. The pictures will also be few as I forgot the battery charger for my camera. That's ok, it's not like i am a good photographer anyway.
So far while being in Mexico, I have found that 9th grade Spanish was actually somewhat beneficial. I was able to ask what my cab drivers name was, if he lived in Mazatlan, and tell him that he was a good driver.
Another big Spanish help was watching Wonder Pets this morning on Nick Jr. in Espanol. From this I learned how to say -

I like the penguin
Hedgehog
I planted the cactus
and Teamwork

My goal is to find a little shop and ask if they have a penguin for sale and tell them that I like the penguin all in Spanish. Maybe I will come home with some cool glass figurine now? I'm crossing my fingers.

Loves!!!

Awkward Massage

2011-05-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

Get this, yesterday I went with my 3 bff's to UCMT to get a massage before we all leave on our Mexico trip tomorrow. To start out, the masseuse kept chewing on something that sounded like hard candy. Nothing like trying to relax with "crunch crunch crunch" in your ear. But whateve, I tried to let it go. Just as I was starting to get used to the crunching, I notice that the pressure on my beck kept getting lighter and lighter. After a few minutes of crappy pressure, I opened my eyes and looked up at the woman giving the massage only to see that she was asleep! I just laid on the table looking at her wondering what I should do. Finally I made an "uh" noise and she woke up and started to massage just as if nothing had happened. Did I bust up laughing periodically throughout the rest of the massage? You better believe it! Awkward? I think so.

And to all of your mommies out there, happy mothers day. You know what I love about mothers day? That my dad still gives me chocolate even though I don't have kids. Woot!

Loves yo

The walrus who sat on me

2011-05-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

I have frequent shark dreams. Usually in these shark dreams I am swimming in the ocean and then the next thing I know, I'm looking face to face with a shark. It's awesome! Well last night I had a walrus dream that was a little less thrilling. In this dream, I was sailing on the ocean when all of the sudden a crazy bad storm hit. I fell off of the boat, swam to shore for what seemed like forever, and when I finally reached land I was exhausted. Now when I say exhausted, I mean the can't move, can't speak, can't do anything type of exhaustion. So when I tried to move every fiber of my being to get out of Mr. Walruses way, I couldn't because I was just plain old stuck. So what does the walrus do next? Well the little bugger sat on me. And in the dream, I was just like, "whoa, this sucks. I can't move at all." And then I proceeded to wait out the walrus sitting on me. But then panic sets in. How long can a walrus survive sitting in one place? What happens if I don't get food or water? Could he eat me? Now you think the dreams about the crazy ax man murderer chasing you are scary? Try having something that can weigh as much as 2,700 lbs holding you hostage. When I woke up it took me the better half of 5 minutes to not feel extreme walrus anxiety.

This dream may go down as the most bizarre dream so far in my existence.

I drew you an amazing artistic picture of the horrific creature so that you could have a visual of what this experience was like for me.

Done and Done

2011-05-01T22:08:00.001-07:00

I was ready to sit down last week and write this big long "school is finished and I am a grown up now" post, but then I told myself that I couldn't blog until I cleaned my room. And then it took me like a week to get the gumption to clean it (am I divulging to much about my cleaning habits? probably). Anyway, this sorta resulted in the fire dying about the school thing. But with that being said, I am done. Finally done. Yep yep yep, I'm a grown up now.

So what does all of this mean? It's SUMMER! Oh. My. Heck. I'm excited! My Summer plans?

Asian week in Utah (I'll explain later)

Mexico

Asian week again

A little Boston for a couple of weeks

A little Montana for the 4th of July

Apartment hunting in Riverton (leaving Utah Valley and crossing my fingers that SLC will be better?)

Lots and lots of lesson planning

Reading

And what am I reading? Well, this.

So far my Summer list consists of A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations both by my man Charles Dickens, A little Leaves of Grass (one can never get to much Walt), My Antonia (maybe this will be the year I actually finish it?), and last but not least, the oh so famous Gilead. I also plan to read The Outsiders soon because that is the first unit I will teach as an 8th grade teacher. Gosh, I am going to be an 8th grade teacher. Wow, it still seems so surreal just typing it. But definitely a good surreal at that.

Do you have any fun Summer plans and a stack of books to read?

I quit

2011-04-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day that I work at Lehi Legacy Center as a swim instructor. I quit my job two weeks ago because I wanted to spend my summer writing lesson plans and getting ready to teach 8th grade English. Oh yeah, did I ever tell you that I am going to be an English teacher this fall at Vista Heights Middle School? I might have forgotten to mention that small detail on here, oops! Anyway, I will miss teaching swimming lessons and especially miss stealing towels from the lost and found. From this picture it looks like I came out with about 16 towels (give or take, some are my own). Awesome. If you see any here that look like yours, let me know. They probably are if you swim at Lehi Pool and left a towel ;)

Loves

Shark Post - duh da. duh da. duh da duh da duh da

2011-04-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

I have a freakishly abnormal obsession over the idea of swimming with great white sharks. If I could hitch a ride to South Africa and get in a cage where a bunch of these sharkies were trying desperately to eat me but couldn't because I was in a cage, my dreams would come true. So of course if I wake up at 1:30 in the morning and can't go back to sleep, I go straight for the shark videos on YouTube. Here are some of my favorites with my man Michael Rutzen. Cool stuff

Now if I could be a shark tamer like this guy, that would be pretty awesome too.

Loves

Some Easter Flowers For You

2011-04-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

This Easter season I feel overwhelmed by the beauty of the world around me. How miraculous God's creations are.

Happy Easter :)

Loves

I like to take long walks on the beach

2011-04-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah yeah yeah, I don't care if it's a little cliche - I still dig the beach walks.

And yes I did take this picture, thank you very much.

Tonight I was sitting outside on the grass looking at the ocean. It's such an eerie feeling to be so small and to see such a large magnitude of vast dark water that lies beyond the safe sandy shore. To realize that the edge of where I am standing marks the place where the sea begins. To know that the ocean covers more of the earth than the land. How small and insignificant we are in this big world that we live.

Tired Burrito

2011-04-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

I'm tired. But I ate a burrito today. Awesome.

You know you gotta question the nutritional value of something when it's bigger than your arm.
In other news, I watched kids and did homework all day. And I sat behind Mitt Romney at church. I believe in America. And The Weepies. They are a cool band. The end.

Loves

As I sit here and think

2011-04-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Clearly I am avoiding homework once again. Clearly. But it's days like today that cause a girl to stop and think about what's important in life. So let me explain to you my inner reflections by first laundry listing my day:

1. Watched kids that I love

2. Watched kids that I love on the trampoline

3. Watched kids that I love at the beach

4. Brought a kid home for a nap

5. Attempted to go surfing and was advised by my man Mitt Romney that the waves were breaking to close to the shore and to avoid surfing if I wanted to keep my back intact

6. Body surfed instead

7. Ate dinner at the burger lounge

8. Answered my nanny kids question that yes, I am indeed single because I have not decided if I want to marry a man with a mustache or not (he's into mustaches lately and trying to figure out if he should have one when he grows up. he just figured that I am probably having the same dilemma. Cute)

9. Read Splat the cat

10. Put kids to bed

Honestly, today was perfect. Absolutely perfect. And then I thought about what I am doing with my life. Why is it that I choose to be a teacher and give up this life of luxury? It is simply this, I want to do something more with my life than sit in a pretty house and have nice things. I want to be a contributor to society. I sort of weigh it like, I could help 1 or 2 kids grow up or I could help many kids grow up every single day. If I can be a positive influence for good in the life of that one student who needs a helping hand, I will be satisfied. I guess I just realize that I can do more good being a teacher than being a nanny. And that is why I chose to teach.

Loves

Meet Liv

2011-04-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Yep, I named my camera Liv. Not only do I admire Liv Tyler's modern elegance, but if I were to declare a global objective for this blog it would be to not be afraid and live. It just seemed fitting to name my adventure capturer accordingly. Now only if I knew enough about my new friend to actually do it some justice. *sigh*

Ok ok, enough with the muck already. Onto bigger and better things. I am currently at the nanny fams in sunny California listening to the breaking ocean waves mixed with some Regina Spector while bloggin. Awesome. So as you know I was a little bummed when I found out I had missed The Bahamas and Hawaii all in one day, but coming to California and finding out that I was being sent to my favorite beach home ever made up for the sorrow. Meet my casa :)

Pretty little house isn't it? I love it. I love the spanish tile, the white walls and furniture, the clean linens, the fluffy couches, the big yard. If I could imagine Heaven, it would be this house mixed with all of the people that I love and never ending Nelson's Frozen Custard. Now I told you a lot that I love about this house, but I haven't told you the best part. The most magical thing about this place are the two surfboards located upstairs and the beach that is right out my back door. What am I going to do every morning before I go nanny? You guessed it.

Well blog friends, I talk big but really my reality is that I have 100 homework assignments to do this week. I shouldn't be on here but I really wanted to post some pics up for my mama and share a few thoughts. But reality sets in and I gotta do 800 years of homework and hangout with the homework boyfriend that I have been trying so hard to neglect. You know, I talk about how this place would be Heaven under the right conditions but having to do homework and not being able to enjoy it fully is like, well you know.

Girl Meets Camera

2011-04-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in ones life where they realize that they don't have kids or a husband so therefore, they are perfectly justified to spend $450 on a camera. I mean, its not like I am a dude who got chewed out by Pres Monson for buying toys instead of getting married (See here for more details about Pres Monson). So yeah, it's totally legit for me to buy a camera, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too as I purchased my little Canon Rebel T1i (priced at $700 from Costco, but I am a big believer in buying stuff for cheap off of ksl). Here it is, see!

What this means is that this is the last time you will ever see pics taken off of my little mac. Woot! It also means that when I go to La Jolla on Friday, I will actually have a chance to capture some of the beauty around me and hopefully at least give it SOME justice this time around.

So I've been thinking about a few names for my new baby. I figure just because I don't have my own kids doesn't mean that I have to be left out of the naming world, right? I mean I have a few names up my sleeve that I like that need to go somewhere because they are just that good. Some names I'm considering (in no particular order) are:

1. Lola

2. Rogue - Like off of x-men. My camera would definitely be a yobbo (British term for thug) with a name like Rogue! Woot!

3. Kirk

4. Ramona

5. Liv - I really like Liv Tyler. And also the name is like the word live which means to exist. What better name to give this little sucker than something that symbolizes life. Yeah, deep.

6. Ferngully

7. Xavier

8. Rufas - The name of the first dog I ever owned. One day he got lost and we spent all day driving in the car to find him. It wasn't until years later that I found out my parents took him to the vet to be euthanized because he bit a neighbor kid in the butt.

9. Gretta (thank you hippyhames.com for that suggestion)

Don't worry folks (because I know you are sitting on the edge of your chairs), the name results will be posted later once I have reflected deeply about this issue.

I hope all of you are having a terrific Sunday. I know I will be looking forward to some family dinner and dinking around with (insert camera name here).

Loves

Oh yeah, oh yeah

2011-04-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

It's Friday night and i'm at the nanny fams. Awesome. Ok, maybe not so awesome. But one good thing about tonight is that instead of doing homework, I may have found the coolest blog ever. Eeeever. This is it. If you get a chance, hop on over to her street art page followed by the about me page. Make sure to watch the movie about her at the bottom of the about me page (and here are some more abouts for your enjoyment in case you didn't get enough. aBoUt. AbOuT. aBOUt). Now if you don't feel as inspired as I do from this chick, then well maybe you're just not cool. maybe. Ok fine, you are still cool if you don't like her. I guess.

Next piece of information. Last week my nanny family said to me "Jaimie, instead of going to California this year, we might take a boat trip to The Bahamas." Well this was ok for me, I went to The Bahamas last year and loved it. Remember?

(The boat. Aka, yacht)

Or how about when I did this in The Bahamas

Ok so then this week the nanny fam says, "You know, instead of The Bahamas, we might go to Hawaii." Me, in Hawaii??? Yes please! I've never been to Hawaii before. I pictured that it would be something like this -

(Macs are cool little toys, yeah?)

But alas, I got word yesterday that the final destination really is just California. Now usually California would be pretty cool, but when you compare it to The Bahamas or Hawaii, its a little bit of a let down. I guess beggars can't really be choosers though. I will enjoy seeing chief Julie down in La Jolla and hopefully snapping some pictures of the beautiful masterpieces of food that she makes.

So bloggie buddies, who do you read that I should know about? Any favs that you have?

Loves

Pink

2011-03-28T17:39:00.001-07:00

I dyed my hair pink because I wanted it to match my new blog colors. Plus, I never went through a rebellious teenage stage and I just wanted to make up for it. I mean, who wouldn't want pink hair?!?

So, whatcha guys think? Hawt, right?!?

Ok so I'm sure by now all of you who know me are like, "What the flip Jaimie" because lets face it, I am just not hardcore enough to do something that extreme, cool, and punk rockish. What really happened is that this -

Turned into this

-->

Yes, the Spanish Fork Festival of Colors turned my hair pink! After 9 hair washes, a lot of prayers, and a couple breakdowns about not wanting to go to church with pink hair, I still have pink hair. My best option? To embrace the look for the next couple of days and hope that it eventually washes out.

Now remember how I told y'all that I would post pictures about James Ray, the man with the shady name? Well I got one for ya.

So is he a keeper??? Unfortunately, regardless of if you think he is a hottie or not (I mean, from this photo who wouldn't be attracted to any last one of us here), I had to pull the reigns back on Mr. Ray. He was moving a little bit to fast for me and I am just not quite ready to jump into a relationship. Sad panda. But I must say that I was impressed by his skilz to pick me up and put me on his shoulders during all of the color throwing chaos. That was attractive.

Now my dear bloggie buddies, any suggestions as to what to do about my hair? I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to seek out professional help on this one.

Peace and loves

Konichiwa and Sushi

2011-03-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

I made sushi on a date with a new boy. See -

Yes, I stepped out on my homework boyfriend for a night to go on a date with a boy I met last Sunday. I always get so nervous going on dates with new men. Nervous enough that I asked my friend Matt, "Matt, will you just marry me so that I can stop going on first dates?" I don't know how he could refuse a proposal like that. The boy doesn't know what he's missin! Anyway, I had legit reasons to be a little freaked out on this date. When I was telling Matt about it, he asked me what his name was. Of course I didn't realize the significance of his name James Ray but Matt pointed this out to me. To make matters worse, on the date James Ray talked about going camping at Death Valley sometime. Like I want to go camping at Death Valley with James Ray? Yeah right!

Ok but in all honesty any guy who teachers me how to make sushi is at least worth a second date. I think. Well, we shall see as tomorrow is the Hare Krishna Color Festival and he is coming along. I have to say one thing though, the boy met me on Sunday, texted me on Monday, asked me out for Tuesday, wanted to go on a date on Thursday and another on Friday. A little obsessive? I think so. But don't worry, I'll post pictures after the color festival so that you can tell me what you think. So thanks in advance for that one blog friends ;)

And finally the last topic of discussion. I am meeting up with some Utah bloggers tomorrow morning just for the fun of it. And I have to say that I am so so so excited! It's not like I have a big cool blog or anything that makes me official enough to meet up with fellow bloggers, but I do love blogging. Woot woot!

Loves for bloggers and sushi.

Some of those Awesome Memories at Sundance

2011-03-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

Not much beats a good time snowboarding with great friends. Sundance ski resort is a small little place but still big enough for a lot of lovin. And boy do I love me some good times on the mountain with my amigos. Here are a few scenes from the weekend. And be warned, pics of me actually making a normal face are few and far between with this bunch :)

The fruit in the above pic was used in a fruit fight where Chantel and I dominated against the outsiders (the outside of the car people).

And to end the picture gallery, here is our fun group of friends up on the mountain. It was a beautiful day for riding.

Sadly, my homework boyfriend will be occupying my time this week. Don't be surprised if this blog seems a little quiet. It's not that I don't love you, it's that Mr. Homework is a little bit demanding of my time. He's a little selfish like that, the jerk face.

I hope all of you have a terrif week. Loves and peace yo!

Date with Phil - A Tale of Two Cities

2011-03-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age or wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only (Dickens, 1)."

I went on a date with Phil. Yes ladies, I do go on dates despite my previous post. ha! Ok so Phil is a guy that was in my church ward before I taught English in Taiwan. I haven't seen him for about 2 years now until we got together and decided to go see the play A Tale of Two Cities at the hale in SLC. And let me tell you that the Hale Center Theater in SLC is 10 times cooler than the one in Orem. Here is a pic that I stole from their website of the Hale so you can see how cool it looks:

I didn't really want to bust out my camera with Phil there because what would I say? "Hey Phil, I have this blog that I like to write stuff about my life on so can we take pictures even though I haven't talked to you for a couple of years?" Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Now you wouldn't think that Charles Dicken's work A Tale of Two Cities would make for a good musical, but it was very Les Miserables in the storyline and plot structure. The Hale did such a good job with the production that I basically bawled through the second half of the play. Phil had to lean over and say to me "It's ok Jaimie, the cute guy doesn't really die in real life."

Spoiler Alert - You see the trouble is that this man - Sydney (yes, handsome Sydney), a smart alec alcoholic and lawyer sacrifices his life to die for another. To die for the husband of the woman that he has loved for years but never got to hold and love himself. He switches places with the man she is married to who is to be hanged because of love. The fact that he sacrificed his life because he had this hidden love for this woman and her family is so beautiful and touching. The characters go throughout the story thinking that he is a drunkard screw up, but love him despite his flaws, yet they never expect the greatness that he is capable of because nobody does anything that selfless. Especially an alcoholic.

Gah, I get teary eyed just thinking about how touching this play was. I was surprised at how much I loved it. I think part of it is due to the fact that Charles Dickens is my favorite author of all time.

All in all, it was a good date :)

self diagnosis

2011-03-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

I have diagnosed myself with androphobia, or the fear of men. So if some guy says, "Hey Jaimie, do you want go out?" I can reply with, "No thank you, I have a bad case of androphobia" and move on with life.

So this tactic was going fine and well until ehow had to go and get all psychological with me by saying that "While many phobias can be relatively harmless and easy to deal with, a fear of men can really hinder possibilities in life and inhibit many opportunities for happiness and success."

Uh, do you get where I'm going here? Ehow is telling me that this phobia might actually stop me from moving forward and having possibilities in life. Uh yeah, that is no bueno. So I've been working on it.

Some steps that have helped me combat man fear in this past month include -

1 - I went on a good snowboarding date. I went snowboarding with a legitimately nice boy that I didn't know all that well. Unfamiliar men sorta freak me out but this guy was awesome. Kudos for meeting new cute boys who enjoy listening to Ingrid Michelson, appreciate ihops all you can eat pancakes, and share in my love for the ski resorts.

2 - Paper roses from Michael. My dear friend michael made paper roses for all of the girls in our ward on Valentines and attached a cute little poem along with them. Sweet huh? But of course I lost mine before it ever made it home. Finding out about this tragedy, Michael hand delivered me another and visited with me for a good while at my house. It was nice to catch up with him because Michael and I were really great friends over the Summer.

This picture is called, "Look, Michael's rose. But where is Jaimie's head?"

Followed by "Nothing beats smelling a fake rose"

(I really try hard to give you guys visuals on all of the posts if you couldn't tell by now)

3 - I've gone on 5 dates with 3 different guys in the last month. That is good for me because I have been avoiding dating like the plague. Like seriously avoiding it. But I realized its time to get over my androphobia and face life head on.

And the last thing to help my man fear. Drum roll please.

4 - Dane Hess, my very best friend in Taiwan. We left the country on not so good terms, of course it was my fault. It had been a couple of years since I've seen him until last month. We got together as a group and went to a restaurant called "Africa" in SLC where we ate Etheopian food with our hands. Nothing beats getting down and dirty while eating food. Anyway, it was really really good to see him again. All of the awkwardness felt after our parting was gone and it was just joyous to see somebody that knows me so well and that I have had so much fun with during such a big part of my life. Here is Dane -

Just kidding. That is some squid on a stick.

Here's Dane

And

(sometimes I made him braid my hair. Not because I couldn't, but because it was more entertaining if he did it. But he doesn't know that so don't say anything)

So I guess the point of this whole blog is that - I've had my share of loser men in the past but that shouldn't stop me from recognizing the good ones that are in my life too. I do not need to be afraid of the unknown and can trust the future because the majority of people are good. And to all of the great guys in my life who are helping me defeat my androphobia, thank you.

Loves

It was a good day, and then it was a bad day

2011-03-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

This is one that hasn't been thought out, planned, paid for, paired off. You get the idea

It's just that today was really good and then it got really bad.

The really good - teacher work sample at Lehi High, homemade rolls, making pinata's with my nanny kid Jack, taking my nanny kid Erin to the discovery center at the gateway followed by some Costa Vida. This part was a really good day. In fact, it was a great day.

The really bad - coming home to find out that something sad happened to somebody that I love. It's hard to see somebody you care about go through rough things and feel discouraged. Especially when that somebody is a spiritual giant, a hard worker, a good person. To see this type of person be treated badly by others is unfair and cruel. I'm sure you all know people who go through bad experiences where it just seems like the world is not on their side. Or perhaps have gone through that yourself. The hard part is feeling helpless and that you wish you could change things to make it better, but knowing that you can't. And that is what makes it a bad day. The inability to change reality.

But thank goodness for hope. Hope for a brighter world. That is what keeps me going, what holds me together despite the bad days and seeing the bad things that happen.

Ether 12:4

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

Legit is the new Cool

2011-03-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

I came across this little word over the Summer on a rafting trip when some guy told me,

"Your kayaking down that rapid was way legit!"

And of course I just smiled at him like, "oh yeah, I use legit in my everyday vocab as well" sort of smile. You know what I mean by that? Like when somebody says something to you and you don't have a clue what they are saying but just agree to avoid looking dumb? Yeah, that was how I responded when he said legit.

So as time progressed I heard the word pop up here and there, but then last week I did some observations at Lehi high and I probably heard it 7-10 times that day from the high school students. That is when I knew that I had to inform all of the people my age (aka out of high school and the trend setting era) that legit is the new cool.

I will put this into context for you a little bit better with some visuals (because we all love pictures, right?). So here you go:

That chocolate milk is legit.

Dude, the angry cat with the melon helmet is wicked legit.

And last -

That guy with the ninja sign is legit.

Now this one might be confusing because one might question how a man saying his father was killed by ninjas could be legit. But you have to think about legit as cool, not as legit. Get it? Good. My prediction is that within 3 years, everybody will be saying legit. I figure you guys might as well have a heads up about it :)

Good job blog class, todays lesson has been way legit.

LOVES and smiles yo!

My Epic New Do

2011-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Because I own a Mac it can take a photo collage with 4 pics at a time. I thought about just choosing one for y'all to see but then I thought, why choose only one when you can see 4 pics of my head instead?!? :)

The Image of Perfection

2011-02-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Coming home from church today I felt a little discouraged. After doing some serious soul searching, I came to conclude that my biggest flaw in life is often the fixation on the image of perfection. I seem to think that in order for me to be happy, I need to have or do particular things. For example,

I would be happy if I had around $100,000 in my bank account

I would be happy if I were married

I would be happy if I had a closet full of trendy clothes

I would be happy if I had a couple of bambinos (aka babies) running around

I would be happy if my homework was done

I would be happy if I were finished with school and teaching

I would be happy if everybody in my family was healthy

I would be happy if I were thinner and a little more healthy

I would be happy if I were like that person that I see who looks like they are perfect and happy

Now its not to say that I am depressed right now in my life or anything like that, its more or less a realization that I look to external things to find happiness. But the reality is that my happiest times of life were when I was living simply. When I was doing things like reading my scriptures, exercising, and praying daily. And its not even that I was just doing these things mediocrity, I was budgeting my time around these essentials. I found that when I followed this lifestyle, hard times are easy and they become my happiest times. So my new goal is to simplify and prioritize my life to put the meaningful things first and the external things last.

Below is a picture from Taiwan when I got stuck running in a rain storm. It represents one of the happiest times of my life. The time when I would wake up early in the morning and go running on the beautiful tropical trails, followed by meditation and scripture reading, and ending in prayers to Heavenly Father. Best way to start a day ever. I love this picture because it reminds me of that time of my life when I was strong physically and spiritually. My goal, to get back to that place in my life again.

I once read, "life is not about weathering the storm, it's about learning to dance in the rain." Today, February 27th, 2011, I dedicate my life to learning how to dance in the rain.

Loves

I was totally on the news

2011-02-25T22:59:00.001-08:00

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

It's official, I'm almost a grown up

2011-02-18T23:23:00.000-08:00

I am FINALLY entering into the world of adulthood as today I interviewed for a teaching job at Payson Jr. High.

I don't particularly want to teach in Payson, nor at a Jr. High, but it was still my first interview and the first possibility to a teaching career.

Now that it is actually happening, I find myself filled with butterflies and fear about the future. This thing that I have worked so hard for is almost in my reach. C r A z Y ! ! !

Dating Advice from my Dentist

2011-02-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

The other day I broke my tooth while flossing. Yes that's right, I was doing something that was supposed to prevent damage and what happens instead? I break part of my tooth. Great... Anyway I finally got in to see my dentist (female mind you) and sat on the stupid chair with my head back and mouth wide open as the conversation turns to my love life. It goes something like this:

Dentist - So how old are you?

Me - 24 (of course my comments are all said with her hand in my mouth)

Dentist - Really? And you aren't married?

Me awkwardly - No

Dentist - Wow, I got married when I was 18

Me - cool

Dentist- So you aren't dating anybody?

Me - Uh, no

Dentist - You know, I hear that a lot of people are online dating now in days. Maybe you should check out something like eHarmony sometime.

Me - maybe

And then the conversation got awkwardly quiet after that.

All I have to say is that she was pretty lucky that her hand was in my mouth or else she would have heard a lot more then "maybe" at the end. Because seriously, how annoying people. Just because I live in Utah doesn't mean I have to get married right out of high school.

*Sigh*

And because I am trying to liven my blog up a little I decided to provide you a picture of dental floss. Because I ultimately place all of the blame for this mishap on it.

The End

i write poems on my saturday mornings

2011-02-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

I saw the best friend of a guy that I might have dated before I went to Taiwan at a party last night. I say might have dated because looking back, he probably thought we were dating and I just thought he was my really good friend. I have a tendency to think that I am just friends with guys and then one day they kiss me and I'm like, whoa, what just happened there? It's annoying. And actually, this awkward kissing experience happened with a different guy but it sort of helps me put other dating experiences into context a little bit better. Anyway, seeing this one guys best friend made me have some emotions and memories about him that I didn't even know existed within me.
I wrote a poem about it so that maybe at least I could organize my thoughts in some form. And publish them so that they are complete. Its like throwing something in the trash once you publish. Because then its finalized, it is what it is, and life goes on once again. And now my poem:

A Poem to Articulate Something?

Here I sit.

But is here where I should sit.

Or ought it be over there

I used to sit discontent,

playing musical chairs to find the best fit

But now I look back and think,

twas my seat so comfortless there?

I see those who sit content

in the seats that I had rejected

and now I reflect

And to Kelsy, thank you for the fun memories of walks to the gas station to get sodas in the middle of the night, putting together 5000 piece puzzles of Jesus, craft nights with Jessica, dance dance vinyl monkey, rock band until 6 in the morning, boating trips, going to Jazz games, hanging up mirrors for me from Ikea, movies up the canyon, Italian food in Provo, etc. I'm happy that you are going to law school back east and making something with those brains of yours. And also that you have a beautiful new girlfriend that you seem to be madly in love with.
And despite the reflective post, I really am happy things happen the way they do. I think.

Take that, New Years Resolution

2011-01-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

ok ok, i know this might be an annoying brag post but i sorta can't help it. At the beginning of the year, I set the good ol cliché goal to exercise more. But really, not just exercise more but specifically run 3 days a week no matter what. AND so far so good! This month I ran a total of 45 miles! yay yay :)

Also I realized I have like zero pics of myself on this blog lately so I figured I would post a running pic. I choose this one because it was from my first race but it also has Ethan in it. Today Ethan and I are going to Park City to go boarding. Woot!

I love Saturdays :)

Sometimes I wonder about Social Networking

2011-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

This may be the story of my life. Sometimes I wonder if social networking has ruined dating??? What do you think? I think this new form of media has changed how society functions both for the good and the bad.

Dear Carbs

2011-01-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Carbs,

I know we have had a wonderful time together and I definitely cherish those memories. It's not that I don't love you, because believe me I do. In fact I think I love you a little to much. See the thing is that you just are no good for me. A few here and there every once in a while seems like an innocent enough relationship, but then I just find myself getting carried away when you offer me things like texas toast, fry bread, pasta, bagels, tortillas. Ultimately my infatuation with you is unhealthy and has decreased my physical well being. I think its best if we stop seeing each other for a while. Lets still try to stay friends.

I'll call you later,

Jaimie

Creeped out by the Creeper

2011-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Story.

Yesterday morning I was driving to school going from Lehi to UVU. I was in the far left lane so that I could pretend to go "fast" as there is all of the stupid construction work going on around here. I looked over to the right lane beside me and a man in a blue SUV was smiling and waving in my direction. I do the awkward hi wave in return and keep driving. So as I'm driving, I realize that if I go slower, he goes slower. If I go faster, he goes faster. He basically stays right with me all the way into Orem.

I tried to keep zero eye contact with him at this point because he started to be even more aggressive by blowing me kisses and such. I mostly was just laughing it off because you all have been with your friends when a bunch of guys in cars try to hit on you right? Well I just figured it was like that, only a little bit weirder. Anyway, because he was right beside me, I couldn't change lanes. If I sped up to pass him, he would speed up. If I slowed way down to go behind him, he would slow way down. I finally slowed down quite a bit and then gunned it so that I could pass his stupid SUV.

I got off of my exit and thought he would just keep driving and I would just chalk that one up as another guy who hit on me while driving. But no, he followed me off of the exit. It was getting creepy at this point. I didn't know what to do. I wondered if should I call the cops, call my mom, or what? So the exit I got off on had two lanes. He got in the lane next to me and was prepared to travel up the road following me again like on the freeway. Luckily I was able to make a right turn to go into UVU and because he was in the left lane, he couldn't follow.

After that incident, my heart was racing for like the next two hours. What would I have done if he had been able to follow me into school? All I can say is that I'm just glad I was able to lose him. What a crazy ordeal. And yes, don't worry I'm alive. In case you were worried.

On another note, I'm going to Vegas in an hour to listen to my sister-in-laws little brothers band Imagine Dragons open for Weezer. Yep, free concert tickets, possible back stage passes, and trip to Vegas for the weekend. I can't complain

Breaking Nasty Habits

2011-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I am a nail biter. I've pretty much always been a nail bitter. I remember being little and my mom taking me to the doctor and he promised me that if I stopped biting my nails, I would get to pick out a present. Well, at age 23 I finally got to do that. After many fake nails, manicures, and tons of money down the drain, I have pretty much kicked the habit of nail biting. Except that I always have to have polish of some sort on my nails because once its off, I become a nail biter again. This means:

Nasty. Habit. Broken. YAY!!! :)

The finger nail polish for this week is purple on the bottom with a big Z of green on top. The nice thing about having to always apply polish is that I get the chance to have creative nails :)

You might do this too

2011-01-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I play cleaning games with myself. Like if I pick up 20 things off of my floor then I can play on the internet for half an hour. And then after that if I clean off my nightstand I can drink hot chocolate. And then after that, if i vacuum then I can watch a t.v. show. A little pathetic huh.

A. this tells you something about how organized I am right now (meaning not at all).

and

B. I don't even have kids or a husband. How do people like my sisters and sister-in-laws do it? Maybe its for the best that I haven't reached that magical next step of life :P

Citrus Salad and Kiwi Cupcakes

2011-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Blog, Sometimes I feel like you are more like my journal. I sort of like that. My picture journal that the world can access if they want, or can choose to not to access if they want. Either way I like you.

So here we go

One of my favorite parts about Sunday is coming home feeling spiritually fed and then getting the chance to literally eat and feel physically fed. Ok so basically that sentence was a little bit to formal for me. What I am trying to say is that if you are anything like me, you probably eat everything in sight when you first come home from church. It's like being somewhere for 3 hours strait and then not being able to shop on Sunday is the perfect combination for some major carb loading. But today, I was a little bit better and made a conscious choice about what I put in my body and it ended up being a yum yum food day :)

First on the menu, a citrus salad (we have a lot of oranges sitting around. its orange season you know). This consists of lettuce, spinach, pineapple, oranges, lemon, almonds, and mozzarella (but feta cheese would always be better if you have it). The dressing is pineapple juice, lemon juice, orange zest, balsamic vinegar, and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).

Next on the menu, kiwi cupcakes. For the recipe on this one go here. After eating a taste of these, my mom said, "hum, that's interesting." Apparently she wasn't so thrilled with this recipe but I really liked it. Food has a tendency to taste better to me when I know its healthy. That could be part of the reason why I enjoyed them so much :)

All in all, a day spent in the kitchen listening to cool music while i cook = perfect.

coached by the coach - lessons from Bronco Mendenhall

2011-01-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

Every Friday the Orem Institute of Religion has devotionals. Sometimes I go, sometimes I don't. Actually lets be honest here, most of the time I don't. But when they announced that Bronco Mendenhall was going to give the devo, I felt that if anybody could whoop me into any sort of shape, a football coach would be the one to do it.

And boy, I had no clue how badly I needed this big bad football coach to whoop me into spiritual shape! You know, nothing is quite more intimidating then a football coach telling you what is what.

The Man who put me through a spiritual workout - Bronco Mendenhall

The spiritual workout included first the facts:

When he got married he was 31 and his wife was 30 (by Utah's standards, she was an old maid like me! Woot, there is hope).
Entering into marriage meant $250,000 of debt because she had to sell her travel business in order for them to be together.
They lived off of ramon noodles while he rode his bike to work because as you know, biking is free and gas costs $.
When he got the chance to interview for the coaching job at BYU, he wasn't their first pick. BYU really wanted a different coach but were denied.
His first day on the field, the BYU stadium of fans booed him for an extensive amount of time and he felt like a failure.
The whole time he was going through adversity, he felt like he was growing closer to Heavenly Father

What He Did About Adversity:

He remembered how when Henry B. Eyring interviewed him, he asked him one question, "Is the church true?" Instead of talking about football stats and accomplishments, he realized that coaching football for BYU was a spiritual journey, not a temporal one.
Coach Mendenhall approached coaching football saying that, "All that BYU football is, is just a vehicle to bring members of the human race to Jesus Christ." If he had the opportunity to tell ESPN about what BYU is all about, then he has done good.
When Coach Mendenhall took on BYU, they were in a 4 year losing streak. Instead of placing all of the focus on the game, he focused on the spirituality and grades of his athletes, knowing that once they were strong in the basics, they would be a strong team. He held devotionals before the games. He encouraged good grades. BYU quickly had the highest GPA for all football players across the nation. With this increase in spirituality and grades, a miracle happened. A team that had been through a huge losing streak started to have huge success.
He said, a miracle happens when good people who have their priorities right do the best they can. BYU winning games for him was a miracle.
Bronco Mendenhall decided to have the team leave the MWC so that more publicity would come when games were shown on ESPN, once again to expose the world to BYU and who we are.

My point for telling you all of this:

Bronco Mendenhall seriously has his priorities right. BYU football is not more important then his family, his membership in the church, and his integrity. Once he placed God first, BYU football fell into place and he was successful.

Lastly, I leave this blog today with a video of Coach Mendenhall and BYU football team supporting my dear friend Brigham Larkin who has down syndrome. I see Brigham every day on UTA riding to school and I sort of watch out for him. He has told me about this experience quite a few times and here I will share it with you so that you can see the goodness coming from this team:

Bad Day Flipped

2011-01-06T05:49:00.000-08:00

This has definitely not been my week. First of all, I had such a high in California that coming back to Utah has been much like the weather, just plain old dreary and overcast. Second, I went to a funeral for a little baby yesterday. Sad. Third, I am starting to be aware that I am desperately single and 24 in Utah. Due to Mormon culture, that practically makes me a spinster. And lastly, the pants I wanted to wear on my first day of school for my last semester ever did not make it to they dryer in time and are still wet. And there you have my laundry list of woe's.

So I prayed. And I told Heavenly Father that I was not happy. And then I decided to clean my room. First loner piece of paper that I picked up to start the organization frenzy was this message from Richard G. Scott from the 11/06 ensign saying:

True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage, and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ. Obedience to His teachings provides a secure ascent in the journey of life. That takes effort. While there is no guarantee of overnight results, there is the assurance that, in the Lord’s time, solutions will come, peace will prevail, and happiness will be yours.

The challenges you face, the growth experiences you encounter, are intended to be temporary scenes played out on the stage of a life of continuing peace and happiness. Sadness, heartache, and disappointment are events in life. It is not intended that they be the substance of life. I do not minimize how hard some of these events can be. When the lesson you are to learn is very important, trials can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining focus of everything you do. Your life can and should be wondrously rewarding. It is your understanding and application of the laws of God that will give your life glorious purpose as you ascend and conquer the difficulties of life. That perspective keeps challenges confined to their proper place—stepping-stones to further growth and attainment.

The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. Your progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether you welcome the experience or not. Trust in the Lord. Ask to be led by the Spirit to know His will. Be willing to accept it. You will then qualify for the greatest happiness and the heights of attainment from this mortal experience.

I guess my point sharing this with you is that maybe you are feeling the same way I am, just in your own way. Maybe the January blues are getting to you too and you need a little sunshine. Looking at Richard G. Scott's words, it shows plain and clear that the Savior provides that light, peace, happiness, and joy. If we view life as though it is a test to be overcome, then we can better have control over our feelings and emotions. I know that this helps me cope with the hard things a little bit better. Not perfectly, but at least have the strength to work towards a perfect eternal perspective.

So take care all of you dear blog readers who are also seeking to find the strength and peace to carry you through the hard times. Even though it is tough, hold on. It's just part of the test.

Goodbye Ocean, I'll miss you. You are so much better than Utah

2011-01-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Nanny Time, the California Chapter

2010-12-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

A day nannying consists of -

1. A beautiful La Jolla jog around the cove to see the sea lions at 7 am followed by a quick bath in this beauty:

My favorite feature of this tub is the fact that it has little balls for the feet. I always wanted to take a bath in a tub like that because its such a classic style and here I get to do it every stinking day. Love love love La Jolla.

2 - Next I get the kiddos dressed and we play games, all sorts (name that movie and I'll give you a dollar). Here is an example of My style of games - bed forts :)

Inside this jumbled mess are 3 kids pretending to be kitties. I love those little kiddos.

3 - after playing around, we eat lunch and sometimes i give them a little taste of Hogan Doss triple chocolate chunk ice cream if they are good. After lunch, the baby takes a nap and the older kids go off with their other nanny. This is some time for me to sit around and soak up some vitamin D while reading my favorite author, Charles Dickens.

4 - After that, I look out the window and see a whole pod of dolphins swimming. Here is the view.

5 - When the baby wakes up, its time for a Disney movie. Today it was Cinderella. You know what? Cinderella might be my second favorite after The Little Mermaid. But Tangled was really good too so who knows.

6 - The kiddos come home and we all do some bike riding while the chef makes dinner. On the menu is chicken casadias and the most amazing lentil soup I have ever tasted.

7 - Once dinner is over, it is bed time. And blog time. Today was a GREAT day and I can't wait for tomorrow :)

That Time I Hung Out With Mitt Romney (and thanks Lauren)

2010-12-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get to shmooze with cool people like Mitt and Anne Romney because of the nanny job.

This month, my nanny family and I sat by Brother Romney at church and I was pleasantly pleased to hear him bear his testimony about Christ. He got up and told a story about how he and Anne were in the kitchen the saturday before when somebody sent him a link called "Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus." This same link here:

Mitt said as he sat and watched this on his iPad in his kitchen, he started to get teary eyed. Anne wondered what he was blubbering about and he told her to come watch. When she did, she started to cry as well. Mitt explained how touching it was to see normal day to day people being exposed to and stopping and thinking about Christ. He said that Christ is the reason for all good that happens on the earth and how important it is that we remember him.

I was very touched and pleased to see this testimony of Christ come through brother Romney, a man who is very often in the public eye. After this, I say three cheers for Mitt Romney, hip hip horray, hip hip horray, hip hip - ok you know what i mean.

Popcorn Popping

2010-12-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

On the Apricot Tree!!!

I heart Jello Popcorn Balls at Christmas :)

Crafting???

2010-12-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ok really Jaimie + crafty = oxymoron.

BUT

Because I never finished last years relief society craft, I still had everything laying around and was able to pull together these little beauties

Sorry Tiff, no surprise here as you will be getting one of these creations at Wednesday nights Mimi festivity.

(and yes, they're Christmas cards in case you couldn't tell)

Also, I really really dig this group and this song. Check them out -

I am Jaimie

2010-12-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

I am Jaimie. I am not particularly beautiful nor am I despairingly ugly. Just average. If somebody were to ask me how to resolve the debate between a turkey or PB&J sandwich, I would always pick turkey. That is as long as it was made with wheat bread. Traveling the world is my forte and sometimes I get tripped up on internal debates like, would I rather go to Ireland or Australia? Ireland is beautiful and green, but Australia has surfing, surfer boys, and great white sharks. I stay up late at night and wake up early in the morning but wish that I went to bed early. When wondering which is better between ninjas and pirates, pirates win hands down. I collect books. Good books, books that I feel proud to put on my shelf after I read them. The thing that I miss most about being a kid is the sheer excitement about simple things like Christmas and coloring. If somebody said they would either give me a million dollars or true love, I would choose true love. If I could change my name, it would be Rogue. You know, like the girl off of X-men. I love snowboarding and being on the mountain, but I despise the snow in the valley and having to scrape my car windows! I plan to go to India someday

This Just In

2010-12-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

You know my below blog about the key drama? You might find yourself asking, "now what did you do Jaimie?"

Well after a fun filled day of nannying (and it really was! The gateway, McDonalds, and gingerbread houses:), I came home, got out of my car, and realized I had my nanny families car keys in my pocket. If you find yourself asking, "how?" I would gladly respond that,

I don't even know.

I just laugh at this point. Good thing they had an extra pair of keys because I was not looking forward to the 40 min drive back to Holiday Utah. And good thing they just laugh too :) Oops!

Some major car keys drama

2010-12-13T13:32:00.001-08:00

So far during the week of finals I:

1 - Thought that I had locked my keys in my car at my nanny families house. This resulted in me having to call my Dad to make the 45 min drive to SLC with me spare key. Of course this happens the night when I had oh so much homework to do. When I got home, I discovered that:

2 - I had locked them in their car and not mine.

3 - Lost my spare key about 4 different times throughout the week. One day, I had to take my parents car to school because of lost keys.

4 - Finally today after my final, I realized I had locked my spare key in my car at my parents house 35 minus before I was supposed to leave to go to the nanny people's house again.

Oh the key drama!

Blog readers, my question now is what have you done under major stress which resulted in even more stress???

I patiently await your answers

I Work at a Pool

2010-12-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

I teach swimming lessons at the Lehi Legacy Center. I teach a parent child class, little kids, and one week every month I teach adults. Sometimes my 3 year old kids say something to me like this:

Me - Ok guys, show me how you can blow your bubbles (look at kids in class and see Alice just standing there). Alice, why aren't you blowing your bubbles?

Alice answering in an innocent voice - oops sorry, I was going potty.

I laughed. I heart my job :)

Sleeping to the Sound of Breaking Ocean Waves

2010-12-04T22:53:00.000-08:00

My first experience with my nanny family was in California. The start of my employment with them began with a dinner eating steak outside and watching the sunset on the ocean. This is that same view:

I have this picture because over the weekend, I revisited California for the first time since I quit my nanny job. It was so nice to sit and reflect on all of the things that I have done over the last year and think about how I have grown. As a few of you might now, going back to California with them presented me with a lot of anxiety. It was a big relief to face some of the fears that I had previously had. In the end, I found myself having a delightful time. Nothing makes me happier than being by the sea. On a walk to the beach, I commented, "I can smell the ocean." My little girls grandpa made the rebuttal "yeah, it stinks. Smells like seaweed." I smiled and said "I'll take it." And then heard the response, "It's good to have you back Jaimie." It's fun to have worked so closely with a family and develop a love for them similar to that of my own. They are good, good people.

On this trip, I stayed in this room:

I show you this picture because my nanny kid came in and said to me:

"This is the room that uncle A uses. He sleeps naked you know"

Awkward.

Despite knowing that I was sleeping in uncle A's bed that he sleeps naked in, I had a wonderful time in California. Nothing does the soul good like getting some vitamin D in the midst of all of the winter drudge. I'm glad I had the courage to go on this trip; it was well worth it.

What did YOU do this semester?

2010-12-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up, looked at my big stack of books for school, then got excited about how I get to sell a big bunch of them back so that some new students can figure out that they hate them too. The books at the top of this picture are the ones that I am going to SELL. Woo hoo! I hated some of those. I mean really, I can only take so much early puritan writing. Boring! But, if you know me, you also know that I am not a book hater. The bottom row shows the books that I will keep and lovingly place on my wooden bookshelf that my Dad made me when I was in Junior High.

The books that enter into that honored location called juniper wood bookshelf are:

The Remains of the Day (one of my favs. Good read)

New British Poetry

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Brick Lane

The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

Hawthorne's Short Stories (I realized how much i LOVE Nate Hawthorne this year)

The Blithdale Romance (another good read)

Frederick Douglas

Leaves of Grass (Ok so I already owned 2 copies of this, but I did revisit it as was required for class so I included it anyway)

Wow, this semester flew by and then dragged by and then flew by again. I'm happy its almost over and I can reap the rewards of another one down and then just one more to go. Gosh, can you believe that after this semester, I will become a teacher??? I can't wait to start my big kid adult life soon :)

Sick of Being Sick and Ode to Mr. Blog

2010-11-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

With a dozen kids running around over Thanksgiving, I eventually caught the nasopharyngitis (thanks for the new term Matt).

I don't know if this is the same for you, but sickness seems to invoke a careless attitude towards fashion. As shown in exhibit a -

Exhibit A

Apparently from this picture, I am wearing plenty of layers and I'm sporting my new warm maroon socks with Christmas holly on them. My feelings about this - everybody needs a few pair of Christmas socks that your Mom gives you after black Friday shopping, yes? Yes. And in all reality, who cares if I have been running around in the same shirt since Sunday? Who cares if I wear a coat all over the house even when not going outdoors? Does it really matter if I fashion my beanie for an entire day in class? All I know is that throughout this whole ordeal, I sure am thankful for the kleenex that has become my constant companion.

BOO FOR BEING SICK

But!!! On the flipside, sickness means I got to pay a little attention to my dear friend Mr. Blog. I've been thinking lately that Mr. Blog and I need to spend some more quality time together. This thought process came about because I will admit it, I have a blog fetish. I religiously follow a couple of blogs like Nienie, Darlyblog, and Lauren. Sometimes I look at these people and think, "if only i were better, more witty, cuter, cooler, had more fashion taste, was more fluid of a writer, I could have a cool blog too." But you know what? I don't care. It doesn't matter if I walk around sporting the same outfit for practically 3 days because I am sick. It doesn't matter if I don't have a big exciting life filled with high adventure (at least currently). It doesn't matter if I don't have a husband or kids to write little cute things about. I am what I am right now. And I can choose this day to give my blog as much of a voice as I have in me to write. I look forward, from this day on, to the challenge of articulating the development of myself and those I love through the creativity of this external thing known as my blog. I am what I am, with my mismatched clothes and all, and it is good.

The Emerald City (aka Seattle)

2010-11-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

I sort of fell in love with Seattle last weekend. Here is proof of my love affair

Ode to Caprese Salad AND a Recipe!

2010-10-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Want some food on a yacht?

I can tell you that I want some food on a yacht... Caprese salad, I miss you. I miss the simple flavors of the buffalo mozzarella mixed with tomatoes, basil, e.v.o.o. (how Rachel Ray says extra virgin olive oil), balsamic vinegar, and sea salt.

I miss you like a couch by the window during a snow storm misses a friend to sit and read To Kill a Mocking Bird on it. I miss you like a surfer misses a good set of waves. I miss you like my new black and red cardigan misses the oh so needed black tank top to go under it. Point being, I miss you.

But! Thank goodness for moms, gardens, and fresh tomatoes. Did you know that one can just about mimic a caprese salad here in the United States? I wouldn't have thought this to be possible because I thought that only in Capri Italy could one eat a caprese salad (yes, it originated in Capri) except that I learned a little secret. It is this -

1 - Fresh tomatoes and basil make the best caprese salad

and

2 - Mom's who grow fresh tomatoes and basil in their garden so that their daughters can make caprese salad are the best ever

Another few big tips. First, the secret to a good caprese salad is the right cheese. Now costco has the closest thing to buffalo mozzarella (the cheese you would use in Italy on your caprese salad). If you look in their cheese section, you will find a cheese called BelGioioso. Next to Italy, this cheese is as good as it gets and it makes for a pretty tasty salad. Second, not all e.v.o.o. is the same. Did you know that you can tell the quality of e.v.o.o. by the amount of times that the olive has been pressed? For this salad, you need a good olive oil. You want to buy one that says first cold press on it. This means that the olive was only pressed once so that you are getting the best and freshest olive oil.

Ok so a Caprese salad is pretty easy to make. All that it entails is a layering of fresh tomato, followed by an equal size of sliced belgioioso, and a big piece of basil. After I have layered all of these ingredients on top of each other, I sprinkle the salad with course sea salt. I then drizzle e.v.o.o. lightly but evenly over the salad. Sometimes if you like, you can put balsamic vinegar over your caprese salad for another tasty treat. Yum!!!

And this is how you can have a taste of Italy right here in the U.S. :)

My Song of Myself

2010-10-17T19:12:00.001-07:00

Inspired by Walt Whitman

I cherish you, my failures and my flaws

I cherish the bad decisions and shortcomings

I cherish the multitude of mistakes

for they let me know that I am human

To the battered and bruised, join me

For we know that only through weakness comes growth

To you who have experienced hurt and pain

(and you have, I know you)

I say to you, come

Come rejoice in your accomplishments

Come sing praises to the existence of life

Come acknowledge the peace maker of your soul

It is only through recognizing success

that all fear of failure dissolves

When we feel weak, do not say to yourself

I fear the journey

When we feel weak, stand up and walk

Walk when others let you down

Walk when all seems to be against you

For we know that only through weakness comes growth

Thus I say, I cherish you

my failures and my flaws

We no speak Americano

2010-10-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

I've probably watched this about 50 times since I found it yesterday. This is why I am sharing it with you, so that you can watch it about 50 times today :)

Love Notes from Matthew

2010-10-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Life is about simple things such as my love note from Matthew, my dear friend from institute with down syndrome. I was pleasantly surprised to receive this from him today after class (and if you have a hard time reading it, don't worry! I will translate at the bottom:)

And the translation - Yo Hey Jaimie How are you? Oh Jaimie Why did the hamburger go to the gym? it wanted better buns what do you call a cow with a twitch? beef jerky. what do you call a cow with no legs? ground beef. why was the ant confused? because all of the ants were uncles! Im so proud of you. Do you have a school picture of you? And do you have a cell phone? Thanks for being my new friend! here we go silly Jaimie the cutie girl!

Matthew from institute, thank you for making my day a little brighter :)

Faith and Curios

2010-10-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today in relief society, I shared an experience that I had this last week that I decided I would like to tell you all about as well because it has come to mean a lot to me.

Lately, I've been feeling like I am going through some interesting trials that really test my faith. I'm sure all of you have felt this way at one point of your life or another. To combat these trials, I made the attempt to do the basics (prayer, scripture study) with a little bit more faith. That is how this story I'm about to share with you comes about.

When I moved back to my parents house, I decided that I wanted to clean out my room and just organize my life and put things into focus, both with my room and who I am personally. Part of me doing this entailed buying a new shelf to replace the hand me down that my brother Gary had given me. I put $40.00 in my shelf budget (I'm a very thrifty girl) and looked online on ksl for about a month and a half waiting for the perfect thing. I was getting really discouraged because I could never find what I wanted.

Eventually my frustration over my pile of clutter in my room due to the lack of shelf became a little bit to much for me to handle. Then, I started to think about the gospel. I realized that I have a testimony that there is a Heavenly Father, but could he help me with my shelf problem, as small as it? I decided to put this question to the test and see if Heavenly Father really cared about the things that are small, but yet important to me in my life. I prayed Monday on my way home from school in my car and let Heavenly Father know that I had faith that he could help me find a shelf and that I needed his help because I wasn't able to find what I needed on my own.

When I got home and checked ksl, somebody posted the perfect shelf! (well, technically it is a curio)

I loved it! I loved it so much, that I was even willing to double my budget and spend $80 for it. I bought it that night, stuffed it in the back of my friends truck, then placed it in my room. The girl I had bought it from told me that her mother gave it to her as a wedding present and that it was a Palecek shelf so it was probably pretty nice. I didn't know what this meant and didn't really care, I was just glad to find a shelf. Then after getting it home, and admiring it, I researched palecek a little bit more.

This little shelf that I had bought for $80 is priced around the ballpark of at least $2000, but probably realistically about $3000. I was shocked! and amazed and very grateful.

I credit any success that I received for getting this shelf to the fact that I prayed to a Heavenly Father who loves me and listened to my prayer. I don't always have the faith to know that he will answer, but when I put forth the faith on my part, Heavenly Father blesses me and ultimately wants me to be successful and happy. The value of this lesson is even more meaningful to me than my new shelf.

This is my story and my belief. I live it and love it

Watching General Conference with Mom and Dad

2010-10-03T15:30:00.001-07:00

Have You Ever?!?

2010-09-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

See this skirt?

I own this skirt, only it is in dress form. Meaning that the same fabric they (down east outfitters) use here, is what makes up my dress. So I wear my cute dress to church on Sunday only to discover during sacrament meeting that I

Put my dress on INSIDE OUT!!!

Yes that little inside seam that is usually on the inside was in fact on the outside! My first response was sheer horror. My second response was to smile at my mistake and say to my church buddy Chantel, "Hey guess what?" and after her response of the "what" face, I simply just show her my seam from my dress. It was all we could do to stifle our laughter throughout the rest of the meeting.

My question I now pose to you is, have you ever? or can you one up this?

Today

2010-09-18T13:54:00.001-07:00

Today is hard. In the past few weeks, I've been having some great experiences with the gospel and remembering who I am again. I think a lot of that has to do with my institute classes, lds.org with its mormon messages, and a pure desire to learn and grow. But sometimes, especially on days like today, I just feel overwhelmed with anxiety over my life and where I am at.

I went with my bffffff's from high school to the Lone Star Taqueria (featured once on the foodnetwork, yum!). It was weird to feel alienated by the mere fact that I am missing some jeweler on my left hand ring finger. It seems like everybody is growing older and moving onto the next part of their lives except for me. What makes it even harder is that in the past year, I've had to deal with some of the hardest trials with guys and dating. I didn't even realize how big of a ride this whole dating thing could be until I found myself stuck in some pretty lousy situations. The phrase when it rains, it pours has never seemed so true. But when all seems lost, I remind myself that

I can do hard things

Life is hard. Some have trials a whole heck of a lot worse then I do. And the thing is that life is supposed to be hard. It is how we handle the hard that is the test. That being said, I too can do hard things. Sometimes when we may not know the answers, the best thing to do is just to remember the blessings, don't give up, and keep on going.

crossroads

2010-08-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Its one of those times in my life where I am just not sure which way to go. My life feels like this ambiguous sign:

Some possibilities I'm considering are following Elizabeth Gilbert's life and going to Italy, India, then Indonesia to avoid men and to do some serious soul searching.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the reality is that due to grant money, I am stuck in Utah for at least a year. I mean, I am grateful to have gotten a grant but it doesn't give me an excuse to run away. Oh how I would love to run away right now because as we all know:

Maybe someday I will get this mess all figured out. But for now, I dream of India.

Great Adventures

2010-07-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time I lived in Taiwan. In Taiwan, I learned that for me the beauty of life is found when I am with those that I love and trust exploring new and exciting things. My best memories of that little island include things like climbing monkey mountain, scooter rides to church, jumping off of waterfalls, speaking awful chinese, being with my students, surfing, deep sea diving, and well basically the whole entire thing was one giant memory of sheer joy.

Now one would think that with all of the experiences that i have had in the past year that my life would be filled with these same types of memories, but it hasn't necessarily been so. I've come to realize that experiencing life with my friends is more meaningful to me then experiencing a big life. That is why my latest adventure down the beautiful desolation canyon has been one of my greatest. I loved having the chance to paddle the entire time down the river and attempt to keep up with the boys. I really appreciate and loved being around such a great group of people and feeling like myself once again for the first time in quite a long time. So if anybody from this trip happens to read this, thank you for everything. it was wonderful. I hope that this is the catalyst towards becoming my normal self again with a life full of wonderful memories

Nanny Reflections

2010-05-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

there are a few things in life that make me cry. some of which include watching white fang, boys who let me go to taiwan, the death of my dog Tanner, and the day that i said goodbye to my old nanny kid. for the privacy of this same ex nanny kid, i try to be pretty candid about my life and experiences while working with her and her family, however, i feel no apprehension expressing my feelings and emotions about her and sharing some of the experiences that we have had recently.

this past weekend I had the chance to go with the family to Montana, a land where you will see a taxidermy on just about on every street corner and find yourself talking with a hick accent saying things like howdy and ain't. it was fun to hangout with my ex nanny kid in the same way that we used to. she still looks to me to figure out how to act, asks me if she can have candy or go outside or whatever she needs to do, when she gets hurt she runs to me, i have no problems telling her i love her, but realize that it is important for her to know how lucky she is to have so many wonderful people in her life that love her such as me, her new nanny, her family, etc. i think about how curious it must be for a child to develop so many attachments to people and see them dissolve. i believe it is for this purpose that when i left her i cried so much because the reality of it is that i can't be her mother, i was just her nanny. but with being her nanny, i developed a strong love for her as i served her and acted as a mother would act towards a child.

as we were sitting and playing with linkin logs sunday morning i was singing. she used to tell me "you have a funny singing voice" to tease me, but this time around she started to cry and she looked at me and said "i miss you singing." it just about broke my heart. the reality of the situation is that i love this girl very much and she means the world to me but understanding this love just makes me realize the capacity for a mother to love a child is so much stronger then even i can understand. i think that perhaps one day, when i have my own family i will understand this love more. i realize every trip that i go on that by giving up my job, i gave up a ton of opportunities to see the world and to do great things, but perhaps as cool as that job was, even better things are in store for me. one day when i am quite grown up, having a family of my own will be the biggest blessing of all.

Pics from the ranch in Montana:

Catching Up - the Bahama Mama

2010-05-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know that I went to The Bahamas?!?!?

It was probably the single most unrealistic experience of my life. I did things like jump off of my employers yacht into the blue water. At nights I rode on a speed boat to an island where I stayed in a cute house on the beach with the other nanny. I was able to fulfill my life long goal of swimming with sharks. I snorkeled under thunderball cave - the same cave from the James Bond movie. I was fed fancy yacht food (one of my favorite parts). We played on our own private islands with white sandy beaches all day long. I had my fare share of tube rides and jet skiing. It was a trip of a lifetime and one that I will most likely never have the chance to experience again and I loved every second of it :)

Spring Break Pics

2010-03-21T22:52:00.001-07:00

For UVU's spring break, i went to California with my family (wow, does that sentence not sound like the beginning of a bad jr high paper addressing what was done for summer vacation?) Anyway, I found the vitamin d to be rejuvenating, disneyland to be magical, and the ocean to be full of waves. All was as it should be; a girl couldn't ask for much more!

The Good Old Days

2010-03-12T20:46:00.001-08:00

I hung out with my first ever roommate this last week after not seeing her in about 4 years. I'll tell you what, man how time flies! Brittany and I were roommates at BYU-Idaho in 2005 at Royal Crest apartments in Rexburg. I started talking to Mrs Brittany Potter on facebook the other day and was pretty much shocked to learn that she and her new husband moved to Utah about a month ago. We met up in Salt Lake on Thursday and decided to just walk around and look for some restaurant and after spotting out some thai place, we talked about those good old days. That semester was the most influential and changing time of my life so I decided to write down some of the memories that I had and was reminded about after hanging out with her.

1 - Once my parents said the goodbye's, I ran right to my room and started to cry my eyes out.

2 - My roommate Jordan was a new freshman just like me. She walked into the room and was already crying and then we both started to laugh at ourselves and cry together.

3 - We met the rest of the roommates. Brittany came from Canada and along with Brittany came Adam Piper. He was pretty much our 7th roommate. He had a cupboard for food, kept some shoes and clothes in our apartment, and would brush his teeth in our sinks.

4 - none of us made friends with anybody else. We were content to just be in our apartment and hang out together.

5 - We were poor! I lived off of roman soup and learned about 101 ways to make roman more exciting.

6 - our roommate Crystal knew how to cook. We were all jealous when she would make food and hers smelled good and then she would horde it away.

7 - Every Sunday we would have Sunday dinners. I would have to call my mom about 3 times for one simple recipe like "how to make jello"

8 - None of us had a car. We would walk about a mile in the snow to wal-mart together to buy food. We would make it our Saturday activity.

9 - Big Judd's! If you have been to Rexburg, you have heard about Big Judds. We went to this burger place where the hamburgers were the size of your plate. We each ate a fourth of the burger and it was still the size of a normal portion.

10 - Brittany and I once decided to take some tweezers to Jordan's caterpillars (eyebrows) and she has never been the same since.

11 - singing with our hairbrushes to songs such as "men in black," "I love you always forever," Adams bad music, and Jordan's oldies!

12 - Going ice skating at the homemade ice skating rink at the football field.

13 - taking a carton of ice cream and putting milk in it and then gathering everyone around to eat "milk shakes" right out of the carton.

14 - pretending to play tennis at the tennis fields outside of Royal Crest

15 - walking to hogi yogi to get the cheapest thing off of the menu on Friday nights

16 - Jordan making beany weanies every single day

17 - Adam Piper hiding in my room because he knew that I would flip out at him for breaking the honor code

18 - laughing so hard we would cry. over the stupidest things. oh oh, sometimes jordan and i would just start laughing at each others laughs and then we would be up like all night just laughing

19 - Studying on the 4th floor of the library together and never getting anything done because we would just end up talking

20 - and finally, the time Brittany and I were in our apartment when it was a complete and total mess from the night before. We were both in our pajamas on a Friday night, no makeup, and pretty much looking awful. I was at one end of the room throwing something away and Brittany was at the fridge when this HOT guy walks in. He takes one look at us, then our apartment, and then walks out. We laughed forever and didn't take it personally. Although we probably should have.

Good Times BYU-Idaho. Good times. And thank you for the memories!

Brittany and Jaimie 2010

What Up Blog?!?

2010-02-14T21:07:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been a good long while since I've blogged about exciting things or even less exciting things, but I couldn't hold off blogging about my beautiful baby niece Ellie Beth. Stewart and Cynthia adopted this ball of sunshine about 6 months ago and on Thursday she was officially and legally adopted. On Saturday she was sealed to our family and today she was blessed. I love this baby so much and I'm happy that she is ours both legally and for forever.

Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?

2010-02-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

The Truth

2010-02-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

Well mostly because I decided it was probably a bad idea to have my homework up for a blog post for the next couple of weeks, I decided to inform you all about the meaning of my name according to urban dictionary. It says:

Jaimie -

a Godlike girl who is most likely the greatest single asset to someone's life. She also most likely has the best personality of anyone within a million mile radius.

This is obviously a very accurate definition here and I agree with all of it :)

What Happened

2010-01-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

Heres the long and short of it, I had a boyfriend for 3 weeks and broke up with him today. It wasn't that anything went wrong or that he was mean but mostly we were just two very different people. It was really good for me to date him and see what functioning couples do, but in the long run, it wasn't right. Somehow we got into youtubing our dates and hanging out (my mom loved that she could see what I was up to) so here is a glimpse of a little of what I have been doing over the past 3 weeks.

Dear Blog, I'm Sorry

2010-01-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Blog, I am sorry for neglecting you. See, the problem is that I have been having to much fun with real life and haven't been taking pics. Plus, its not like I have a family of my own with kids and stuff so I seriously doubt you want to see images of me opening up my Christmas presents such as my Gandolf hiking stick, knee high snowboard socks, and water bottle key chain holder (yes, all presents I got this year). But I do know that you would feel the pain if I didn't post my pics from 80's dancing at UVU last night. I love dancing like an 80's weirdo. *Sigh*

Pity that the guys that surprised me and Chantel by coming didn't dress up with us. Well kudos to them for putting forth effort and going to a dance anyway.

Tis the Season

2009-12-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

The best part about having a dad that works at the Conference Center is scoring tickets go stuff like the Christmas Devotional and taking friends. Pres Monson's talk was my favorite because it was a nice story. Elder Eyring and Uchtdorf's talks required to much thought for me, especially at Christmas time. he he. The music is the best part and if you have never been to the Conference Center and heard Motab live, you have to do so. It's amazing! I love this time of the year.

Merry Christmas y'all!

Rethinking Figs

2009-12-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to go to Italy this past September. While there, I feel in love with figs. It wasn't until the last week there that a kind person in our group informed me that she didn't eat figs because of how they are pollinated. I didn't think much about it until I was watching the food network today with my mom and saw some figs on TV then thought to look up the fig pollination process. This is the information that I have gathered -

Edible figs are pollinated by fig wasps. There are two types of figs, a male fig and a female fig. Fig wasps themselves are born inside of the male fig because this type of fig has a place for the babies to house. The only way for a fig to become a fig is by being pollinated by a fig wasp. If a female fig wasp goes into a female fig to try to lay her eggs, she will die inside of the fig. The reason for this is because she loses her wings on the way inside the fig so she has no way to get out. Meaning, each fig must be pollinated by a fig wasp and once the fig wasp enters the fig, they can't get out.

So - what I am trying to tell you is this: every single fig we eat is guaranteed to have at least one dead fig wasp inside of it.

GROSS!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T22:09:00.001-08:00

I ran!

2009-11-21T18:54:00.001-08:00

My friend Becca asked me if I wanted to go to the Mesquite Marathon last Sunday at church and of course I said yes. Today I ran the 10k which is 6.4 miles and got a time of 1:06:04. That means that I pretty much did my average which means 10 minute miles. I did end up placing 2nd in my age division so yippie for that. My favorite moment in the race was the last mile where I decided that I wanted to beat the two girls that were in front of me. When I passed them, they got a little bit faster and passed me. I followed them until I could see the finish line where I sprinted in to beat them. They weren't to happy about that, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do.
Becca ran the full marathon and got a time of 3:30:00. She is pretty much an amazing runner and also got 2nd in her age division.

We went to the St. George temple and walked around then decided to take pictures with our medals :)

The two most attractive girls running in Mesquite.

Running!

2009-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

K guys, I know there are people out there that read my blog. Somebody want to run a race with me sometime in November? Check out the list and let me know!

http://www.utahrunningguide.com/home/races/november-2009-races/

Shallow Hal

2009-11-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

I had only seen Shallow Hal once and it was a long time ago, but I remember that at the time I really liked it. Today while flipping through the channels, I came across this movie from my past and found that the same affection I once had remained today. Not only does it include two of my favorite movie myraids - Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow, it also has a message that goes beyond the ever popular but pointless slap stick comedy. What makes it endearing is that the once 'shallow' Hal is hypnotized into seeing the appearances of people by their inner beauty. A physically handicapped man was seen to be strong and handsome, children in a burn hospital with huge physical scars were seen to be whole and beautiful, and he sees Rosemary - a severely obese woman as Gwyneth Paltrow. After time, he falls in love with Rosemary because he realizes that she does have an amazing heart and great personality. When the hypnosis finally wears off, he loves Rosemary so much that it doesn't matter what she looks like and he fights for her love and affection. Anyway, both times I saw this movie it made me think about how often I overlook people and make unfair assumptions based on appearance. It makes me recall 1 Samuel 16:7 which says:

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

For the 3rd year in a row, my bff's and I gathered for a Halloween fest. This year was pretty exciting because we read predictions that we had written about ourselves a couple of years back. It's funny how what you think will happen with people over time does or does not happen. For the most part, everybody was on track. Amy went on a mission and although not engaged yet - it may happen any day now, Tiffany had a baby and is still working at her night job, Jessica got married but is not working in the medical field, and Stephanie doesn't have kids yet. Of course I was predicted to be engaged and already started in my teaching profession but the reality of where my life is at now is so much different then what I had planned. I don't see this to be a good or a bad thing, it just is what it is. I wonder what may have happened with my life had I not taken so many adventures, but then again that's what life is - one big adventure.

Now I'm finally ready to go onto the next step. So dear blog let it be known to you that as of yesterday, I have officially sent in my letter of resignation and will soon be no longer be known as "the nanny." I'm ready to go back to where I originally started and to get my life back into focus. The money was good, the travel was nice, I've had great experiences, but I no longer want it. It's time to use what I have gained for some greater good if it be through teaching, family, or whatever it is no longer about me. So Provo, school, life, here I come.

Home Sweet Home - California

2009-10-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Cleveland

2009-10-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

Tiffanie and I went to Cleveland. Here are some of the pics :)We stopped at a museum along the way and these are the actual stairs that Jesse James walked up as he was going to rob a bank.Some miner guy we saw in some town and decided to take pics with

~~~~ Life is a Highway ~~~~

2009-10-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

She's Gone Country

2009-09-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

Montana was probably the best place that I've been so far. I think I liked it so much because there was a lot of outdoors things for me and my nanny kid to do. Here are some highlights from the weekend.
Yes, I am finally on a horse. And my Dad laughed when he saw the way I was riding the horse - apparently I look like a new rider. Luckily my child is young enough that we just rode around in the horse corral in a circle for a long time.I got my own house and it was adorable. It was so nice to get away and not feel like I was always at work!

Loving Home

2009-09-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

While going to Italy was an amazing experience, I love being home 10 times more. Can you see why? Oh how I miss and love my family. But, its off to Montana tomorrow. I hope I survive at the ranch.

To Naples and Back

2009-09-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

On top of the yacht

2009-09-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

I realized I loved my job today as I was going wakeboarding, snorkeling, then ended by kayaking through a cave on the Med.

Just Another Day at Work

2009-09-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

Life is Great

2009-09-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well I'm sick, tired, and ready to fall asleep in two seconds but I thought I would do a quick blog. Today my child and I finally had some time alone to ourselves for the first time since being here in Italy so we decided to go to the shops where she bought a toy, a game, candy, gelato, ate lunch, and got to pet the cats for a good while. No wonder I am such a great nanny. It was actually quite enjoyable to get her away from so much activity because she is so bombarded with people that she doesn't have a chance to just be a 4 year old and the result of this is some not so good behavior. I like when I can get her away and let her mellow out a little bit and just act her age. It puts everybody in a much better mood - her and those around her. Anyway, here is a picture of where we went today. Not such a bad place, huh!

LIfestyles of the Rich and Famous

2009-08-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Today I took my child to swim at the Grand Hotel Quisiana (http://www.quisisana.com/). This is the same place that I went with the bosses and Mrs R yesterday. It was a little different my second time around - I actually paid attention to what was happening around me due to the fact that it was just me and the kid. The people that were swimming there were all stuck up, rich, had perfect bodies, and were annoyed at the fact that there were children anywhere close around - apparently this is a famous/prestigious hotel in Italy. After my bosses left, the kid and I went for a swim and as we were swimming, I was told that I couldn't be in the pool with a child because it was "quiet hour" from 2-5. I looked around and all the rich people and celebs were rolling their eyes and smirking at me as I grabbed the kid and headed over to the restaurant to eat lunch instead. Memo to self - what a horrid place to take kids! Next memo to self - never have any desires to become like the guests at the Grand Hotel Quisiana, its just not worth it.

In other recent events, we took a cruise around the island today. Here is my favorite picture from the day. Ciao

Capri at Night - and other adventures

2009-08-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

Today has been quite the day of days. I woke up to the news that Ann R was arriving this afternoon and didn't quite know what to expect. I went with the family to a nice hotel because they wanted to swim in the cool pool. After playing around for a while, we were greeted by Ann who ate lunch with us at an Italian restaurant. Unfortunately my first Italian pizza was experienced under the most stressful of situations where I had to make small talk with the bosses and Ann R. After finishing a successful lunch (due to the fact that my child was asleep), we went window shopping and talked about clothing (of course stuff I could never even look at the price tag of) along with literature, taiwan, politics, and different life things. After scary and successful conversation, my child and I were treated to a heavenly gelato and I choose a flavor that everybody decided to want to try. My gelato was such a hit that we all shared it.

Below are some pictures of my dinner plate because with nannying and such - I got my own setup from the yacht staff for dinner tonight. Because it was just for me, I decided to take a picture because I could and because the staff is so awesome I feel comfortable enough to tell them how crazy it is that I get such special treatment. But basically if I wasn't with who I was with, I would be snapping pictures of all of my meals and my dinner party.

Capri at night -

History Lesson

2009-08-26T22:54:00.000-07:00

This morning my boss took me outside and showed me where the great hiking trails are here at Capri. He pointed out a couple of old buildings and said that Nero moved his headquarters to Capri because it was so beautiful (the same Nero that burned the city if Rome however AD ago). He told me that on the other side of the island there are a bunch of rocks and that those rocks are where Homer said that the screaming syrens are supposed to be living from The Odyssey. I'm in shock that I am here seeing things that I have learned about in history, what a great opportunity.

Capri

2009-08-26T07:06:00.001-07:00

Have you ever watched Annie where she goes to Daddy Warbucks home and expects to scrub floors, make beds, and do tons of house work then finds out that she doesn't have to do any of that? That is exactly how I feel right now! I have never been so spoiled in my entire life. It's so funny to me to have egyption cotton sheets, a candy fridge filled with ghirardelli chocolates and fiji water, fresh orchids in my room, meals looking over the island of Capri, laundry service where i just put my laundry in a little bag then leave it outside of the door and it magically gets take care of, my luggage being folded and put away, tilapia for dinner, etc. The best part about all of it is how nice and sweet everybody is. I thought that I was coming as the worker, but I am definitely being treated as the guest. I feel very blessed to be working for people who care so much about me as their guest and nanny and take the time to make me feel welcomed and at home.

The YachtCapri

Going to the Zoo!

2009-08-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today my kid and I went to the San Diego Wild Life Zoo. It was aMaZiNg! First of all - due to Dr. Glenn L. Latham's parenting advice, my child was great. Second of all, the zoo had an African Safari and we saw cool animals living in their unnatural habitat right from a jeep :)

Here are some pictures of what we saw (I stole them from the zoo because my camera broke again):

Surfing - A deadly sport

2009-08-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

Being the girl that I am, I decided to go surfing here in La Jolla :) I went out about two weeks ago and it was a pretty flat day so I just learned how to balance really well sitting on my surf board waiting for the waves that I never saw. Some kid came and joined me and told me that a place called something like earth, wind, and sea was the best place to go but that the guys there were a bad word and don't let people surf with them. Of course I took this advice into no regard and headed out to the waves this morning to check it out.

The miracle is that I'm still alive to tell the story, the waves were brutal! I paddled out there at an angle so I never had to hit the waves full on and all I saw were a bunch of old surf guys who were probably in the 40's or 50's who didn't seem so scary to me. When I came paddling out, one of them said to all of the others to watch their language and then he told me that I didn't have to worry about any of the other guys because they were all homosexual except for him.

So I attempted to ride the waves... The waves won. If you have ever been with me to a theme park, you know that I scream a lot. Me screaming at a theme park is nothing compared to what I let out today. I was scared out of my mind, and everybody knew it! The waves were huge and once I sort of rode some in, I would look behind me and see massive waves breaking above my head and have no clue what to do because they were so big! Was I supposed to ride them as they were breaking like I could do in Taiwan or was I supposed to go through them? The way they broke so high, it was impossible to go under them because once you start going through, the wave is already in washing machine effect so you get thrown around like crazy. All of the older men were laughing and shacking their heads and then they told me that this was pretty much as hard is it gets and that it was a great learning place because it kicks your trash - and let me tell you, my trash got a good kicking!

As I was leaving, they told me "you know, you really got in our way today and we would have thrown you out but you were cute enough that we let you stay around." Well, at least I know that although I wasn't a good surfer, I can be reassured to know that a bunch of surf guys in their 40's and 50's thought I was cute.

Here is a pic that I pulled off of the internet from the place I went and these are probably actually some of the guys that I was out there with. They all looked pretty much like this and they are the regular local morning going group. It was a fun day and a fun adventure!

California Girl

2009-08-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Life has some amazing surprises, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes both. I was surprised to change my life in a way that I wouldn't have dreamed in a million years. On the 23rd of July, I got a phone call from Amelia asking if I could go to California for a week to nanny for Lane's boss. I had the impression that I wanted to serve these people and thought of this to be similar to the story of Ammon when he goes to serve King Lamoni so needless to say, I gave it my all while I was there and had an amazing week and an amazing time with these people. They are a great family and I feel very comfortable with them. They hired a new nanny before I came so I was just there while they were in between nannies, but I guess while I was there, we all just sort of clicked. I met the new nanny and last Thursday I handed over the job to her and then on Friday morning John made me an offer I couldn't resist saying that they will pay me well then followed this up by saying "have you ever been to Italy? Have you ever been to Italy with Mitt Romney?" After 24 hours worth of thinking and praying, I feel very confident that doors are opening up in my life and although I may not understand them and feel overwhelmed by the experiences that I will have, I am excited for this new opportunity. It seems like this is just something that was supposed to happen the way it happened. Don't worry, the new nanny knew she was only on a trial base but I do have a commitment until May. I will get to be in Utah for a lot of my nanny experiences because the kid will go to school in Utah after we return home from Italy. But don't worry, that won't be the end of my travels, after Christmas, it will be a month in The Bahamas :) I'm excited to see and learn new things both through being a nanny and through travel.

Here are some pictures from the California home where I stayed with them last week:

This is outside of the house There were two houses that they own along the beach in California and this is the other house, not the one that I stayed at. It got to dark before I could take a picture of the the main house.Here is my roomMy bathroom has a temperature gauge on the shower to know how hot the water is! My room was upstairs on my own separate wing and this is just a sitting area outside of my room.

Italy comes up on the 25th of August, so there will be more new and exciting pictures for sure :)

5k run

2009-07-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

I ran my first race today and LOVED it. It was a 5K so only 3.11 miles - not too long. I came in at 151st place out of 400 and my time was 31:40 so about 10 minute miles (that's pretty much always my average).
It was the pioneer day run and this couple dressed up as pioneers to run it. It was funny cause he carried a Book of Mormon. I told my friend that we just had to make sure that we beat the pioneers!
This is my friend Ethan. He ran the race with me. It was fun to have a friend there, especially for my first time.
Ha ha, after the race was finished, they had an oxygen bar so I got to breath some yummy flavored oxygen. Ha ha, I found this picture online from a photographer at the race. This pic of me not paying attention looks a lot better then my other pictures! lol

Life Goes On

2009-07-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

Back in Utah. Glad to be here? I haven't had a chance to think about it, I've been busy! In current events, Dad had knee surgery.Apparently when they give it to you, they shave your leg and then color it orange like an umpa-lumpa.Jeanne and kids came down when I got back from Taiwan and we had a chance to go to the open house for the Oquirrh Mountain temple.
Of course I went boating at the first chance I got.
If you concentrate really hard, you will make it over the wake.
Pity, I do usually smile and live it up, but not in the two shots we got that day. Lame.

Over and Out

2009-07-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

The time has come for things to end. It has been a wonderful ride and I will miss Taiwan dearly. This is a picture of me and my primary children Emily and Bradley Bachleon. They are the branch presidents kids. There are three times that I have cried about leaving Taiwan and saying goodbye to Emily was one of them. I have loved being called to the primary. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
Anyway, at the end we just vacationed around like crazy. Here are the pictures from that.

I tried to stick Derek in my luggage. Unfortunately we ended up not being able to fit him in plus all of my stuff :(