Interesting Experience

I recently attended the baptism of a YSA in this stake. This girl is from Mexico and was introduced to the gospel by a family she was living with. It was a really neat experience to sit through the service in Spanish and try to brush up on what little language skills I have. I was there to show my support and also to represent the single's branch I am in. The Spanish branch president introduced himself to me in the middle of the meeting as we were walking into the room where the font was. He asked if I would be willing to bear my testimony. I said sure, and then got really nervous because I have never born my testimony in Spanish before. I had a couple of friends there to answer the few vocabulary and conjugation questions I had. After the baptism a few more people spoke and then it was my turn. I had been praying that I could say what I needed to, but when I got up to the pulpit the branch president stood up next to me to interpret my testimony. Part of me was relieved and the other part was disappointed; I really wanted to try to bear my testimony in Spanish, I don't get that type of opportunity every day.

It was nice of the branch president to translate, but it also made bearing my testimony extremely difficult. I was already nervous as it was, but waiting for him to translate every phrase was extremely disorienting. By the time he was done translating a phrase I had forgotten what I said. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

This same girl came to FHE on Monday night. I got to work on my Spanish skills for another hour on that night as we sat and attempted to communicate. I can understand a lot more than I can speak and she is the same way with English. It is kind of fun to be using Spanish again though, I rather enjoy it.

Fun Stuff

Recently my friend took me out on her quads. We had so much fun! We started early in the morning when it was still cold. We went up the canyons, over the jumps, and fast on the straight-aways. My friend was a little gun-shy about going really fast, especially if it were over a jump, but I gave it a good throttle every time. I LOVED catching air on some of the jumps! I think I could become addicted soon and acquire some expensive habits...this is two weeks in a row on motorized fun. In fact, we were having so much fun that we didn't pay much attention to how long we had been out. We kept "going and going..." but unfortunately we weren't runing on battery power alone, and we ended up running out of gas. I thought it was hilarious! We had cell service and called her brother, who came to our rescue. It's always an adventure!

Whew!

This has been an eventful week for my calling. I am currently trying to figure out how to replace a counselor because one of mine is getting married in less than a month. We also had a visiting teaching conference at my house this week. It was nice to get together with some of the sisters in the branch and hear about their experiences and testimonies of visiting teaching. A few of us stayed and chatted after the conference was over. I had really been stressing about how the conference would go, and it was nice to have it behind me. I was chilaxing with and getting to know some of the sisters really well.

Around eleven we heard something in the front yard. One of the girls went to the window and said we had been toilet papered. I guess there were some guys wanting to hang out with us and they were waiting for our meeting to be over. When we didn't leave for a while they decided to let us know how frustrated they were with our lingering. Not only did they toilet paper, which was actually one of the worst toilet papering jobs I have ever seen, but they got a couple of the girls' windshields with toothpaste. It's freezing outside, and I don't know if you have ever tried to get frozen toothpaste off of a window, but it is not an easy task. We were a little frustrated and decided to boycott the boys involved. We also decided that we would subtly pay them back. Our first idea is to put dots of honey on their windshield wipers. Any other great ideas?

New Hobby?

Since I have seriously been considering the purchase of a motorcycle, I decided that I should probably learn how to ride one. I have some uncles who love motorcycles, so this past weekend I drove to Chico, CA to learn how to ride from one of the best.

I thought it was hilarious, when I got to their house I had just driven for five hours through snowy mountain passes and long winding roads, and my aunt immediately had my uncle take me out to the shop and start riding. It was fun. I got the clutch down and then I started shifting and going faster. After a few of hours of riding we called it a day and went to dinner. The next day it rained and rained and rained. I love the rain! This aunt and uncle happen to live in the middle of an almond orchard, so they had some room for me to ride. My cousin told me that if I was going to properly learn how to ride a dirt bike that I ought to ride in the dirt. There is a track around their house so I rode around that track. After a few hours the rain really started coming down and that was when it got fun. I slipped around every turn and almost biffed it a couple of times, but I learned how a bike reacts in the mud. I was covered in mud from my head to my toes-it was awesome!

Now I have a huge decision to make (well it's not actually that huge, I just like to be dramatic every now and again): do I buy a dirt bike or a road bike?

I drove home through a huge snow storm and caught some great pics.

My Kind of Research

This has been a great weather week. It finally feels like winter here! It has snowed twice and stuck! One of my friends gave me his old bindings for my snowboard and I waxed it all up. I am so stoked because some of my students told me about some great back-country snowboarding trails! I also just learned of some great cross-country ski trails that I need to try out. I forgot how much I enjoy winter sports. It just kind of stinks that I have to drive so far to get into the good snow. I miss Logan.

The branch is planning to go snowshoeing at the end of the month, hoping that there will actually be some snow to use. The girl who is in charge of the activities doesn't know any good snowshoeing spots and has never been snowshoeing so she asked me if I could show her the ropes. I don't really know of any good snowshoeing spots either since I have never been snowshoeing in Nevada. We decided that we needed to do some research-field research.

We went after work on Monday but were sorely disappointed because there wasn't actually enough snow to put on our shoes. We just hiked in our boots through a couple of inches; there wasn't even enough snow to do a proper flip. Since our first field research attempt was less than successful (altough it was a good work out), we decided we needed to make another attempt.

Wednesday after work we drove about fifty miles to a spot I was certain would have enough snow. Sure enough. There was about a foot of fresh powder on top of three feet that had been crusted over. It was awesome. There was more than enough snow to do flips and falls from trees. We found a little meadow and cut a trail around and through it for the branch activity. It was snowing most of the time we were up there and it got dark too. I absolutely love snowshoeing in the dark, it is one of the most ethereal experiences I have ever had.

We are going to take the branch to that spot at the end of the month. I love doing free things that are fun! In fact, I am always looking for more fun free things to do, so if you have any suggestions just let me know.

Cha-Ching, Bling Bling

Today I filed my tax returns and I'm getting the largest chunk of change the government ever owed me-it's only because I earned more this year than ever. I think I even earned more this year than the last two years combined-wow, having a job and not going to school puts money IN my pocket. New concept.

Today I also found out that my bonus for moving to Nevada to teach will be in my check on the 25th. I will get my refund and bonus around the same time. The motorcycle I have been drooling over is calling for me....(see below). Don't worry though, I will also responsibly make a large payment on my car and contribute to my IRA.

This is also the first month that all of the bills will be split in half between my new roommate and I. How wonderful that feels! I don't think that I worry about money all that much, because I never really had too much of it to worry about. Having Becci move in last weekend has really lifted a burden off my shoulders that I didn't even realize was there. It was heavy, but now things are looking up.

It's a good thing I have all this dough coming my way soon, my car insurance agent kind of didn't call me back for the last six months, and now things are a littly nasty.

Sweet Deal

Remember when rollerblades were all the rage? I bought some when I was still quite young and quickly proceeded to grow out of them. I was disappointed when they no longer fit. I remember going to Classic Skating in SLC and choosing to use rollerblades and feeling really cool because I knew how to look good on them...oh, the good old days.

Occasionally on my way home from work I swing by Goodwill to see if they have anything I can decorate my house with (I've really become a decorating fiend lately-I found and put up six cool mirrors in my living room last week). Today at Goodwill I found a sweet pair of rollerblades. It was rather a dilemma though because I couldn't think of the proper way to test them out. I took them over to the furniture section, sat down, and tried them on. I stood up but didn't think it would be appropriate to actually skate around the store, there being some small toes running around. After not so much deliberation I decided to purchase the blades. Maybe it was nostalgia that made me do it, or the fact that the price was right. Either way I raced home to test them out.

As I was driving down my street I couldn't help but laugh to myself. On the right side of the street were three boys playing with their razor scooters, while on the left there was a groups of kids playing on their skateboards. I wonder what went through their minds when I raced out of my garage down the street on rollerblades! ( :

Although I'm not quite as good on rollerblades as I remembered, I am excited to have yet another mode of exercise; I've been getting sick of biking, running, pushups and sit ups. Between my new blades and the free punching bag I put up in my garage last week, I think I'll be busy for a while.