the little things...

Having recently traveled out of the country has made me blindingly aware of how many things I need to be more grateful for in my life, and I'm talking about the smallest things-things I have never thought to be grateful for before.

water

I never realized how blessed I am to have clean water to drink, to shower in, to cook with, to wash with. Access to this water is so easy too! I simply have to go to any of THREE sinks in my house to have clean water, any time of day or night-I have the option of having varying temperatures of water as well. I even have water hooked into machines in my house that will wash my dishes or clothes for me. Wow. So blessed!

toilet paper

Okay, this has to have a few clarifications; I am grateful for soft toilet paper that I can flush down a toilet. I am grateful that I don't have to carry my own toilet paper with me wherever I go, or pay for it when I have to go. ( : I can buy numerous brands of soft toilet paper at most local stores. I am so blessed.

sanitation

I can go to local grocery stores and expect the groceries I buy there to be clean. I don't have to worry too much about scouring everything I consume. I can also put all of the waste I generate into a plastic can and someone will come by once a week and take it all away-I don't have to try to find a place to store it or dispose of it on my own. I can even choose to recycle and someone will come by and take that away from me too. I am blessed.

health

This is something that I think I take for granted the most. I have access to doctors who can help me deal with something as serious as cancer or as simple as burning a wart off of my foot. Any ailment I have, there is some sort of specialist that I can go see to get help.

I have always been a somewhat healthy person because of how active I choose to be and how I choose to eat. It has always been my choice to be healthy. Never have I thought about my health not being a choice. Recently, I haven't had much of a choice when it comes to my health, and it has been humbling to see how blessed I have been to have such good health in my life thus far. I am blessed.

opportunity

The things I am most grateful for in life lately are the opportunities I have. I can choose to be whatever I want to be in life, do whatever I want to do, live wherever I want to live, and really make it happen. I can afford an education. I can afford a roof over my head. I can afford a car AND a motorcycle. I can afford to eat three times a day. I can afford to work only five days a week, nine months a year. I can afford a cell phone and the internet. I can afford clothing for myself. I am so blessed.

In the past, I have looked at what I don't have and longed for it. Lately, I look at what I do have and feel much gratitude for it. I am so blessed.

It's Hee-eere

The rapture began today. In case anyone missed it, this is what happened: people (the righteous) were 'taken up'. I didn't make it, but I did notice that there were a few in town who seemed to have done so.






Truth be told, I had this great idea Friday morning, to 'punk' the rapture Friday night, and leave random outfits around Carson. It was great fun, and I had a few friends help me with it. Had I thought of it sooner, we could have made it a much more organized operation. We hit a few spots like Wal-mart and the capital building. It was hilarious. I only wish that I could have been there when people 'found' the people-less clothes, that would have been fun to film. Oh well, I guess the rapture is supposed to last for five months, so we still have time.

SPRING!

The weather has literally been perfect lately, and it has made me want to be out in it as often as possible. Luckily, with my job, I get to be outside every day, playing games and sports with my students.

I love Spring! I love the warmer weather at night so I can leave my window open and awaken to bird song in the morning. I love the smell of blossoms that permeates my walks or bicycle rides. I love seeing tree limbs laden with the new growth of pink or white blossoms. I love watching the transition from the dormancy of winter to the awakening of the new life Spring brings. I love Nevada at this time of year, because it is the only time that it is somewhat green, even in the hills. The colors of Spring make me feel light and happy.

I have enjoyed working on my 'yard' which has no grass, well, no grass that is supposed to be there. My front flower bed, pictured above, surprised me with some tulips, daffodils, irises, and oriental poppies. It's always fun to see what comes up in the Spring at a new residence. There are also some weak bulbs in the back yard, but they seemed to be a bit more vertically challenged than the front bulbs.

Besides the bulbs in my back yard, there is a pine tree, some sorry looking rose bushes, a small lilac bush, and formerly, lots of weeds. I love that I have a lilac bush! Lilacs are one of my favorite Spring fragrances-it's a light smell, not too intoxicating, but sweet enough to make me smell it every time I see one.

A large portion of my back yard is xeriscaped, meaning there are plenty of rocks. I have been 'maintaining' my rocks by pulling all of the weeds that have been peaking through the spaces between them. The problem with the back yard is that it is slanted, and all of the rocks are well aware of this slant, and tend to follow it towards the fence, leaving the black fabric meant to discourage weeds from growing, which lies beneath the rocks, exposed. There are also some areas that have no black fabric or rocks. I am planning to even it all out one day.

Is it strange that I want to plant some sage brush in my back yard? I love the smell of sage brush, and I love when they bloom. I wouldn't have to water it, and it would take up some of the immensity of space that is my lonely back yard. The trick is, I doubt that I could buy one. What do I do? Go dig up some sage brush and transplant it in my back yard?

Another of my plans is to dig a fire pit in my back yard. I have always wanted a fire pit, and this yard is most ideal for such a venture. I am afraid to ask my landlord if I can though, because he may shoot the idea down. I'll work up the courage soon, I'm sure. In the meantime it's only a dream to dig a fire pit, transplant some sage brush, and even out the rocks because I don't exactly own a shovel... ( :

Denver

I recently had the opportunity to attend a technology conference in Denver, put on by the company whose platform my school uses for its online content. It was a very informative conference, which was actually a first for me. Since our school's approach to education is so unique, conferences I have attended in the past have never really been applicable. I learned so much at this conference that I can actually incorporate into my classes. It was worth the time away from my students.

I also got to stay at a VERY nice hotel, had all of my meals per diem (I only used about $40 of the larger sum that I was given), visited the REI in Denver, went to an aquarium, saw one of my former roommates, and got to wander all over downtown Denver. We were right on the 16th Street Mall, which made everything accessible. It was a blast! Here's a small glimpse of what I saw.

Unfortunately, much of my wanderings through Denver were at night, after the sessions of the conference were over, so many of my pictures were dark. I enjoyed the art and architecture of Denver.

I got on this sculpture that was in the middle of a dry fountain. My nightly ventures involved lots of interaction with my surroundings.

I loved the fact that the construction site was fenced off with some crocheted chain-link.

This was a large cow and her calf. I decided that I should go for a ride here too.

A huge dust bin and broom.

My co-worker Lynn and I at the state capitol. We are standing on the step that says 'One Mile Above Sea Level.'

Playing the piano at the hotel. No tips. I guess I should practice.

My former roommate Audra and I got to hang out, catch up and eat some frozen yogurt!

Lynn, Cindy and I following our photographer's direction.
The boss and his side-kick. ( :

Visiting Teaching?

It's official. I am officially a part of a family ward again. It has been an interesting journey thus far, not too difficult, just interesting. There is this amazing family that has kind of taken me under their wing, and I'm grateful for that, it makes the transition smoother. I am slowly getting to know more people in the ward.

I had my records moved to this ward in February, and had a visiting teaching route immediately. ( : I like that. I don't like to be too idle for too long. My companion and I were assigned three sisters to visit. Since my companion hasn't really done much visiting teaching, I decided to take the reigns and set up the appointments for last month. I called everyone on our list, only to discover that two of the numbers were wrong. Sweet. One of the sisters was easy to find because she is active, so I just chatted with her at church to set up an appointment. The other one is someone that I have never met before, so I didn't know what she looked like, or how to get a hold of her.


One afternoon I decided to pull out some dusty missionary skills and simply track down the address. Easier said than done. I found the address, which wasn't really on the street that it was supposed to be on, but rather on a side street. The FIRST problem in trying to contact this sister is that she lives in a very small gated community. When I say gated community, I mean that there are literally gates around the entire three blocks-no openings on the sidewalks or anything. The SECOND problem was that each address has six units, and I had no idea which unit she lives in.


After driving around the perimeter of the gates, and trying to figure out how to get in, I decided to park and wait to see if anyone would come in the next few minutes. As I was sitting there waiting, my overly anxious uncle called me and wanted to talk. I was more than happy to pass the time with my uncle on the phone as I was doing my visiting teaching, which felt a whole lot more like stalking than it should have. After only a few minutes on the phone with my uncle, a little truck drove up to the gate and drove in. I quickly grabbed the plate of goodies I had prepared, got out of my car and ran through the gate right before it closed. Since I didn't know which unit my sister lives in, I decided to seem like even more of a stalker and followed this truck to its garage, then stood there and waited until the driver got out and eyed me with more than a little suspicion.


I pulled my phone away from my ear as I asked my uncle to hang on for a second, and asked this guy if he knew where a Stephanie lived. Still wary of me, he asked for the name again, and a little more information. Since I'd never met this woman before, I told him that I think that she and her mother had recently moved in to the building. He pointed me toward a door and told me that he thought the person living there was the most recent to move in.


Relieved, I finished the conversation with my uncle and went and knocked on that door. No one answered. I had not thought to bring anything to write a note with, so I didn't want to just leave the cookies. I walked back toward the gate, and realized that I didn't really have a way to get out, other than jumping the gate. There was snow on the ground, and this was not a chain-link fence. This was a gate, a wrought-iron gate, with spikes on top of each rail. I pushed the cookies under the gate and then went to the side and, after a few attempts, was able to get over.


I went back later that night, when I thought Stephanie would be home. I parked by the gate once again, and only had to wait 15 minutes for someone to drive in so I could sprint in behind them. I went to the door that I had tried earlier and found that Stephanie did not live there. The woman who did live there pointed me to her next door neighbor's door. No answer. I decided to simply try all of the doors of the building; there were only six. Three didn't answer, and two didn't even open the door, but stood in the window and asked me what I wanted. After not being able to find Stephanie on the last door, I decided to call it a night, and was heading back to jump over the gate again, when I saw a woman pulling up in a cab. She opened the gate and was walking towards the building I had just canvassed. I walked up to her in the dark, with my plate of cookies (and my black eye), and asked if her name was Stephanie.


Understandably, she was a little taken back by my boldness and the circumstances in which I was approaching her. She asked, "Why?" After all of my searching that day, I simply said that I was just looking for a woman named Stephanie that lived in that building. After admitting that her name was Stephanie, I introduced myself as her visiting teacher and she let me come in and warm up my hands for a bit as we got acquainted. I got her correct number and even got her to relax a little bit after being approached by a stranger in the dark, holding a plate of cookies and sporting a black eye. I still had to hop the gate to get out, but at least I didn't have a plate of goodies the second time around.

Double Takes

Yep, it happened again, I got another black eye. At least I didn't get kicked in the face this time. This time it was only an elbow to the face during an intense game of President's Day basketball. The only similarity between this sporting black eye and the one I got about six months ago is that no foul was called either time. ( :

It has been really funny to watch people's reactions when they first notice that I have a black eye. They do a double take, and then most are very cautious not to look again, or bring it up. It's kind of obvious though, so I get to chuckle inwardly as students, colleagues and friends try to avoid looking at my purple eye as we have a conversation. Those who know me well don't hesitate to bring it up, while those who don't, tend to skirt around it. I find it rather hilarious--such simple entertainment for my simple mind.

Oh Valentine's Day

I'm pretty sure that if I started dating someone in November, I could use the logic in John Mayer's St. Patrick's Day to keep a boyfriend around until at least March, but then John leaves me on my own. While I'm no grump when it comes to Valentine's Day, it's not usually a holiday that I tend to celebrate because it's rare that I'm dating someone during this time of year. Today was no different?

Today was actually different. There was love in the air at school, and everyone was just a bit sillier than normal. One student was making duct tape roses (?), another student was wandering through the teacher's offices with a large heart-shaped box of chocolates.

When I went over to the middle school, one of my cute little seventh grade boys ambled up to me awkwardly and threw a cute little valentine on the desk next to me, and then scampered off. Another student who knew that tootsie rolls are my favorite candy brought me a very large bag, sort of as a joke.

And then these (and a box of chocolates) were delivered to the school around lunch time.

They are pretty and I'm sure they will smell wonderful, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about their sender. Don't get me wrong, it is completely flattering to receive flowers from anyone, even more so when it is on Valentine's Day. There is a guy here who has been 'trying' to date me, but I'm not so sure. He took me to Shakepseare (my favorite author) for our first date and to a VERY expensive dinner for my birthday-VERY expensive. He dropped something by for Christmas, and has been very persistent in asking what time I play soccer each Saturday and Monday. He is a nice guy, I'm just not feeling it. I don't want to lead him on, so I have been 'busy' or unavailable for many of his invitations, but he doesn't seem to be picking up on my vibe. Advice?

It's nice to be remembered on Valentine's Day, and I guess that I kind of have a Valentine today...

To everyone else out there reading about my little corner of the world, I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day, whether you have a sweetheart or not.