Lavish

Since everyone keeps reminding me...

2008-02-10T16:09:00.001-07:00

Since everyone keeps reminding me to blog, I'd like to direct everyone to my new blog found here. Its been a work in progress for a few weeks now. And I guess it continues to be a work in progress since, we're by no means caught up yet. Nevertheless, it's a start.

And Mitch is so excited to have a blog.

One month.

2007-12-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is my pretty "Happy 1 Month Before We Get Married" pastry that Mitch brought me this morning. Isn't he the sweetest?

It's that time of year again...

2007-12-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

Since everyone has been asking...

2007-12-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

Since everyone has been asking about Mitch's job, I suppose I should just update my blog. I guess I didn't realize how many people read this.

We're taking the job in San Francisco.

It ultimately came down to the fact that my family is in southern California and his is in Draper so, S.F. was the closest. We worried that if we took D.C., we'd be like, cut off from our families. San Francisco should be close enough and far enough.

So. Here's the timeline thus far...

This is my last week of school and then I have finals on Tuesday (hooray for UVSC). Mitch finishes up with BYU in like... a couple weeks or whatever. Then he has to move out of his apartment like, right away. And we're going down to CA for Christmas on December 21 and staying until the 26th. When we get back, I'm moving out of my apartment (by January 3rd). Most of my stuff (and M's) is getting boxed up and put in M's parents' basement. We're just keeping the things we'll need until we move. I'm living with a friend and her family for about a week and M is living with his grandma in Orem. (She offered to let us both stay there since she'll be out of town anyway but, we politely declined.) I'm working until about the 8th of January. Then we're getting married January 11th, honeymooning from the 11th - 17th, flying back to Salt Lake, and moving to San Francisco for him to start work the 21st.

[sigh]

At least after next week I won't have to worry about school too though, right?

Why We Should All Have Integrity

2007-11-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Good things happen when you have integrity.

Example 1:

I’ve written before about the agony my math professor has caused me this semester. We’re supposed to have quizzes and turn in any homework once a week and, though they’re not officially set days, we got on a schedule of having them every Wednesday. Well, one Monday I decided I could miss class without consequence. Bad idea. We ended up having a quiz and turning in homework on Tuesday. I didn’t know any of it. Honestly. And my homework wasn’t done because I thought I had until Wednesday. Needless to say, I didn’t do well.

Somehow though, when I got my quiz back, the grade wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Great! But, after looking at it for a minute, I realized it was because he had given me credit for the homework I hadn’t turned in. [sigh]

So there was the dilemma. Did I want to risk having him take back the “free” points in favor of knowing I did the right thing? Or keep the points since I needed them?

Solution: I told my professor he’d given me extra points. I had to. I would have felt guilty like… forever. He told me to keep them!!! (I assume because he was lazy and didn’t want to have to fix it.)

Example 2:

My transmission was bad and it was covered under warranty. I took it in and was given the option of going with a transmission the shop chose or a transmission the warranty people chose. If the shop chose, I’d lose the warranty but I’d get a transmission with 43,000 miles. If it didn’t work, I’d have to pay to have it taken out again and wait for however long for a new one to come and be put in. If I had the warranty people choose one, they’d still be responsible for it but I’d probably end up with one that had like… 90,000 miles on it. I asked the shop and they said if I was planning on keeping it, take a chance on the 43,000. If I was planning on selling it, don’t bother with the chance that I’d pay more if the 43,000 one didn’t work, go with the warranty one. But… the one transmission had 43,000 miles and the other had who knows how many. And the warranty would only cover another 4,000-ish miles anyway.

Solution: I talked to M and he and I decided to take a chance on the 43,000 mile one. We know we might have to pay the extra if it didn’t work but, we’d feel like we’d done what we could to it before we sold it. The shop received that part yesterday… put it in today… and… IT WORKS!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss!!!*

* I’ve never had a better experience with a car repair. Ever. In my life. If you ever need a new transmission, go there. I’m serious. I’m taking them breakfast tomorrow, I think. They were that awesome.

Update.

2007-11-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

M got Cincinnati now too.

He's 3 for 3. Just waiting to hear from Boston.

About being...

2007-11-15T23:14:00.000-07:00

About being my father's daughter and thinking BIG...

I've been looking at invitations. The thing is, I keep wanting to combine different invitations. See, my dream invitation just doesn't exist. Solution? Make my own!!!

But M doesn't want us to make our own "layered (with ribbon!) invitations."

He thinks they'll take a long time to make. And be hard. And that I'll want them to be perfect.

Hm.

And also,

2007-11-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

And also,

Some of you know that M is graduating in December and has been interviewing all over the place. San Francisco, Boston, and Cincinnati have all told him they’ll let him know in a couple weeks. He was in D.C. this Monday/Tuesday though and…

[dramatic pause]

They offered him the job. On the spot.

I was so proud of him.

Thennnnn, San Francisco called him today. (No, not the whole city. Just the company in San Francisco.) They made him an offer too.

I was even more proud of him.

And then, he brought me flowers at work today.

Aren’t I just the luckiest girl ever?

In the interest of...

2007-11-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

In the interest of not always just posting pictures of Mitch and I, I’m going to update the car story.

If you remember where we left off, I’d dropped off my car at the shop, they were going to check it out, and call me. Well, they called me. (Like, a week ago, actually.)

My transmission was pulling a couple codes (433 and 434, for those that are interested) but, without “dropping” the transmission (an automotive term which means, “taking out”), they wouldn’t know exactly what was wrong.

Okay…

The shop then offered to call the warranty people and set up a claim.

A few minutes later, the mechanic called back and explained that the warranty people would send out an adjuster to test drive the car with them and see if the repair would be covered but, in the meantime, I wouldn’t be able to take my car from the shop. The adjuster would be there Monday or Tuesday. [sigh]

The good news of the situation was that I had rental car coverage on the warranty (who knew?!) and, if the claim was approved, I could have that pay for a rental car. (Hooray!) After talking about it with M though, we decided for me not to get a rental until Monday because we didn’t know for sure the claim would be approved, I didn’t really have anywhere to go over the weekend that he couldn’t drive me, he’d be in D.C. Monday/Tuesday so I’d need a car then, and if we did have to pay for it, we wanted to pay for as few days as possible.

That’s right. I spent the weekend without a car. As in, I walked to church.

Fast forward to Monday. Somehow (after a couple of frustrating hours) I got the rental car all figured out, one of the attorneys I work for drove me over to Hertz, and I got the car. That same day, the shop called me. The adjuster came by, drove the car with them, and said he would be filing his report. Right. “Filing his report.” The thing is, I worked for an insurance company before so I know how long “filing reports” sometimes takes and how many times you have to call to follow up. I’m very familiar with the need to light fires under people.

Guess what though! They called the very next day at like… 9:30 to tell the shop that the claim was approved! They’re paying for mostly everything except for like tax and stuff. And it ends up being about $$$$ so I am SO glad that I’m not paying for all that.

Anyway, now they’ve ordered a transmission for me. I had the choice between fixing my transmission (but without knowing what was wrong, who knows how much it would have cost), having the shop find one, or having the warranty people find one. The thing is though, the shop had already found one with 43,000 miles on it. Unfortunately, if they put that one in, the warranty people will pay them and then wash their hands of it and it’s no longer covered. So, if they put it in and it doesn’t shift, I have to pay to have it taken out again. If the warranty people were to have found a transmission, it could have been one with 90,000 miles on it but, if it didn’t work, it’d still be covered for another 4,000 miles-ish. The thing is though, my car only takes two specific transmissions. So, the chances that the one I’m getting is old and won’t work is semi-slim. And if it shows up with rust on it or whatnot, they’ll refuse it without even putting it in.

I asked the mechanic what he thought I should do and he said if I was keeping it, he’d definitely put the 43,000 mile transmission but if I was selling it (which I’ve been meaning to do), not to take the chance of putting more money into the car. I also talked about it with M though and we decided that even if we’re not keeping it, we want to know that we did everything we could before we sold it. Sooo, we went with the 43,000 one. It’s a bit of a gamble but, we’re hoping it’ll turn out okay. That should be here by Monday-ish and then the whole thing should be done by Tuesday-ish.

The End.

(I know it doesn’t seem like it but, that’s the short version of the story.)

Want to get engaged?

2007-11-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Move to our ward. Especially if you're a girl. Every week we have at least two new girls announce they're engaged. Not even kidding.

I think we're up to about 13 of us girls. Em guesses it's more.

Lately my car...

2007-11-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Lately my car has been having problems. Like… fairly big problems. As in, the O/D OFF light has been flashing, my car isn’t shifting (especially between 2nd and 3rd where it like… jumps), and sometimes the engine will rev without making the car go any faster than about 25 mph. Not good. Sounds like a transmission problem, right? Right.

If you know anything about transmissions (or car repairs in general), they tend to be $$$$$$$ and no fun. And unfortunately, they’re not exactly the kind of thing you can just ignore. (Plus I still need the brake boost cylinder thing replaced and that's more money but only $$ instead of $$$$$$$ like transmissions.) At the same time though, I absolutely hate taking my car in for repairs. Here’s why:

1. I worry they’re going to cheat me.
2. I worry it’s going to be expensive.
3. I don’t have anything to drive while my car is being fixed.
4. I worry they’re going to do repairs without me authorizing them and then tell me I have to pay for whatever they did because they’re already done.
5. I don’t have a ton of time to even take my car in.

In fact, I have a history of avoiding car repairs, if at all possible. When I was about 17, my car was my dad’s Nissan Maxima. It was an older car and, one hot summer, the air conditioning decided to stop working. My dad offered to take it in and have it fixed. It was his car still so he was even going to pay for it. I kept meaning to get around to letting him take it in but… well… if he took it, I wouldn’t have anything to drive until I got it back. Needless to say, I kept putting it off and putting it off. A couple months later, I started having problems with my breaks. They started squeaking a bit when I’d stop and, unattended, eventually began grinding. Whoops. My dad told me we had to take it in. Reluctantly, I let him. They fixed the a/c and the breaks at the same time.)

Anyway, I have an extended warranty on my car until it reaches 100,000 miles. Right now it's at 96,000-something. I’d been meaning to just pull out the information on the warranty to see if the transmission stuff is covered and I’d been meaning to take my car in and have an estimate done. I finally pulled out the warranty yesterday morning and…… Looks like the warranty will cover it. (Whew.)

So all yesterday I was excited/relieved because then instead of paying $$$$$$$ for the transmission, I would just have to pay the $500 deductible on the warranty. And that still sucks but, whatever. It's better than $$$$$$$.

Keep in mind though that I still have to do the brake boost cylinder. Which is like... $226 but not super super urgent. So if I do both, it’ll be like... $726-ish total for everything. Which isn’t great but it’s not $$$$$$$ either. My mom agreed that it was better than paying for the whole thing and, until I know, I don’t know. It could be much less. Like a fluid issue. Or something else simple. Like a hose.

Well, that's what I thought too. Until last night when I was actually looking at the warranty. And that’s when I realized that instead of a $500 deductible, it's a $100 deductible!!!

So, even if I have to do the two things separate (looks like I'll have to), it's $200 instead of $700 and instead of $$$$$$$!!!

And furthermore, if it was going to have issues, I'm glad it is at 96,000 miles rather than at 100,001.

I’m a lucky girl.

The End.

Oh, and P.S., since it's the transmission, I ended up taking it to a shop where one of our clients works. I’ve known him for a little while now and he’s a good guy. And I feel better about it because I met him on my turf before I had to go to his turf.

And P.P.S., I took my car in this morning but they still haven’t called me back with an estimate, etc. yet so, this is just the status right now. For all I actually know, it’s going to be something super $$$$$$$ that’s not even covered by the warranty. [sigh]

The Story I Forgot to Tell

2007-11-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

So. Several weeks ago I went wedding dress shopping with my future mother-in-law and Ashley while Mitch went golfing with his dad and one his brothers. We went to a couple of places first and then to Allyse’s in the University Mall. (What wedding dress shopping is complete without going to Allyse’s, right?) Anyway, for anyone that has ever been there, you know that there are dressing rooms and then this little waiting area with tons of mirrors by it. So basically you come out and go stand on a little pedestal thing to admire yourself in the mirrors.

I’d already tried on like a billion dresses at the other places so by the time I got to Allyse’s, I’d basically had my fun with dress shopping. I picked a few dresses, politely told the girl that was helping me that we needed do this fast, and started the trying. After each dress I tried, I’d go out to get feedback from Ash and my FMIL. When I was on my last dress (the $900 one that’s a size smaller than I normally wear and that I just loved but would never want to pay for), standing admiring myself, someone behind me said, “Are you Lavish? From the 100 Hour Board?”

!!!

It was fabulous.

Engagement Pictures-- Round 1

2007-11-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

We're still supposed to be getting more pictures from our photographer and, when we do, I'll try to post more.

(And yes, I know nobody is as interested in my engagement pictures as I am.)

The Engagement.

2007-10-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

(Guess who hates Blogger right now because she had a whole long post and Blogger just deleted it.

The Trip
Most of you probably already know that Mitch and I went down to California this last weekend so that Mitchell could meet my family, etc. We left Thursday afternoon and got back late, late, late Sunday night/early, early, early Monday morning.

I had trip details written but... alas, Blogger hates me and I really don't have time right now to retype it all.

The Father
Friday night we went to The Magic Castle in Hollywood with my parents. We figured (and were right) it would be a good chance for Mitch to get to know my parents and them to get to know him. On the drive home, my dad mentioned that he was going to be gone most of the day Saturday so, despite his original plan to ask my dad some time Saturday, Mitch ended up talking to my dad after the Castle-- at like, 2 in the morning. All in all though, it went well since, after a long talk, my dad gave him permission to marry me.

The Proposal
Saturday night Mitch took me to dinner at Duke's in Malibu. The restaurant is right on the beach and our table was on the patio with the waves crashing on the rocks right next to us. Afterwards, Mitch and I went and sat on the sand watching the waves and looking at the stars (despite LA being known for having so many lights that there are no stars, we were far enough away from the city lights that there were tons of stars). And that's where he proposed.

The Ring
Okay. For the record, I never wanted to be one of those girls that posts picture of her ring but, so many people have asked to see the ring that I now understand why girls do it.

It's a 1 carat round solitaire in the center with four little diamonds on each side. Then, there are eight diamonds on the top of the band and eight diamonds below the band. Also, there's a wedding band with nine more diamonds but, obviously I don't get that until we get married.

Several people have asked if Mitch knows what he's getting himself into by marrying me-- I should think so.

The Couple

And, finally, a picture of the two of us outside my parents' house, just before we left on the long drive back to Utah.

Okay.

2007-10-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Okay.

Now we're engaged.

Details will be forthcoming, I'm sure.

Dear Everyone...

2007-10-10T14:40:00.001-07:00

Dear Everyone Who Has Asked and Those That Have Wondered Privately,

No. That was not an engagement picture. It was an "After Church One Day" picture.

I'm not engaged. Just vain.

2007-10-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Circus!

2007-09-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

P.S. I forgot to mention...

2007-09-28T07:50:00.001-07:00

P.S. I forgot to mention that Abby now has a night life. Remember how she used to be an inside cat? Now she's an insideoutside cat. Most nights she leaves sometime in the evening and doesn't come back until around 10 or so when one of us decides we miss her and are willing to make the effort to get up, go to the door, and call her. She only stays for a few minutes and by about 10:08 or so, she leaves again and doesn't come back until about 12 when Mitchell's leaving. Even then, she spends a lot of the night either sitting by the front door, crying by the front door, sitting by the window, crying by the window, or bugging things enough to get us to let her out again.

The thing is, we don't really know what she does when she's outside. Lots of rolling in the dirt, we think (hence the previous pictures). Maybe some chasing bugs or watching grass blow in the wind or something. Em once saw her making eyes at another cat. Clearly, this suggests that she has friends.

One morning, after Abs had been out all night, Em and I had to have The Talk with her about how, "We don't feel comfortable with [her] staying out all night at [her] age." Especially since, "We don't know [her] friends." The thing is, "It's not [her] we don't trust, it's [her] friends."

I suppose...

2007-09-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

I suppose its been awhile since we've given you any kind of an update on our little girl-- She's doing great!

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-09-26T08:43:00.001-07:00

Adventure #15: Onion Days
Date: 3 September 2007
Participants: Jessica, Mitch, and Emily

Review: Fun! I’ve always liked little fairs and carnivals and stuff. Mitch and I got Em to come with us. She’d worked all night and then played all day so she was tired but the promise that we wouldn’t say long and that she could have cotton candy convinced her.

Part 1: We went to Peteetneet Academy first. I used to work in Spanish Fork so I’m fairly familiar with Payson as well. I’ve driven past the Academy plenty of times and always wanted to check it out but, when you work all the time, it’s hard to find time to go. Em opted to stay in the car and sleep but Mitch and I went in and explored. It actually was pretty cool. We didn’t stand and read all of the historical information but we looked around pretty extensively. Afterwards, we talked to one of the volunteers there about the Academy. He told us about some of Payson’s history and about the Academy’s history and about all the vandalism the Academy sees. He was awfully friendly and extremely eager to tell us about the building. (Also, he commented that he didn’t notice any rings on our fingers but that we make a good team and that if we do get married, “this old building is suurrrrre photogenic.” Bless his heart.) Anyway. That part was fun.

Part 2: Next we went over to the little fair part of Onion Days. It actually looked like it was a lot of fun. The only thing was, it was about four billion degrees outside and we were hot. We wandered around a bit to get Em’s cotton candy and some french fry things but… Mitch and I were just hot and tired and didn’t want to be there for forever. Plus we’d promised Em we wouldn’t stay long. So we didn’t.

Would I go again? Yes. To both.

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-09-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

Adventure #14: Orem Owlz Game

Date: 31 August 2007
Participants: Jessica and Mitch

Review: So. The plan was to go to an Owlz game earlier in the summer with CPM. Didn’t happen. Then Mitch asked me out (on our first date, as it were) to go to dinner and an Owlz game. Didn’t happen either. It rained that day and neither of us wanted to sit in the rain to watch the game so he modified the evening’s agenda so as to not include the game. Then, CPM went to an Owlz game with his family and invited me along. I don’t remember why I wasn’t able to go, just that I wasn’t. The thing about Owlz games though is that they only go on for a certain amount of time and then the season ends. That meant that if I wanted to finish the passport, I had to go and quickly. So that’s why Mitch and I ended up going that Friday night. We actually didn’t go to the whole, whole thing (which I was fine with). I came home from work and he made me dinner—stuffed chicken parmesan, sautéed vegetables, and garlic bread, and then we went to the game. What we ended up seeing of it was good. The game was so exciting, we were out of our seats the whole time. Oh, and, I think the night we went was Hoot’s birthday. (Speaking of which, Mitch really liked all the hooting that the crowd did.) Anyway. Would I go again? Sure.

Do the words...

2007-08-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Do the words “No Soliciting” mean anything anymore? Honestly. Do people really believe that what they have is so good that they should disregard our wishes?

At American Family, people came in all the time. If the person just wanted to drop something off, I’d take it and let them be on their way. If they wanted to sell something, I’d politely point out that we had a “No Soliciting” sign in our window. Most people understood, apologized, and went on their way. Every now and then though, we’d get like high school kids that tried to convince us that whatever they had, we really wanted and they couldn’t believe we didn’t want to buy their whatever-they-were-selling. Those were the ones I didn’t mind being rude to. Also, I’m not particularly fond of people asking us to donate money. You’d be surprised how often parents solicit businesses for their sister’s friend’s son’s best friend’s soccer team.

We still get quite a few solicitations at this office too. Most of them are phone book companies or online listings that want us to sign up. Oh, and the companies that want to put all of documents online. Great. No, thanks,

Last week, a guy came in and wanted to discuss our office supply purchasing. I politely pointed out that we have a “No Soliciting” sign in our window and that we weren’t interested. He pushed further. “Not interested in what?” he asked. Again, I reminded him of the sign. “I’m just curious what you’re not interested in. Are you not interested in saving money or…” He trailed off, hoping I’d respond. Now, you know those times when you later think of something you should have said? I wish I’d said something along the lines of, “Sir, this is a professional office. If you can’t even respect our wishes, why would we be interested in doing business with you?” In actuality, I just more firmly reminded him that we had the sign and he was bothering me while I was supposed to be working.

For everyone’s convenience, I’ve decided to make a list of approved solicitations.

Solicitations That Are Perfectly Okay:

1. The guy from Channing’s Bundt Cake Factory that brought us those little chocolate bundt cakes with the cream cheese on top. Mmm. They were even still hot.
2. The guy from Apple Spice Junction that brought us cookies.
3. The guy from Cracker Barrel that brought us coupons for two free meals. Even if I did forget to use them before they expired.
4. The people from certain restoration companies and glass companies that came to the insurance office. (I maintain that I liked the caramel apples the best!)
5. …

Actually, that’s been it so far. If you’re not on that list, please don’t bother me unless you have food for me. I don’t want to talk about Sam’s Club memberships or IT support or whatever. And we’re not hiring, either. Especially not if you come in wearing cutoff shorts and last night’s makeup.

Have I told you about...

2007-08-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

Have I told you about my math professor? He's kind of old, possibly a bit senile, and therefore rather amusing.

On the second day of class, my professor confessed that he's not very good at arithmetic so, if his math was off, know that it's more about the processes and less about the actual numbers. I couldn't help but wonder if we too will be held to the same standard.

Anyway, today's quote of the day comes to us from this professor. I doubt anyone else will find it nearly as amusing as I did (that's assuming you find it amusing at all) but, I still wanted to write it down.

He asked us a question and, when none of us responded, replied, "That's okay. I don’t know the answer either so I don’t blame you for not answering."

Hm. Great.

Sometimes I turn off my music...

2007-08-28T22:12:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I turn off my music while I drive so that I can just think without distractions. For the most part, I feel comfortable claiming that I think about important things during these times. I do confess however, that every now and then, like today, I think about random (and arguably “less important”) things. For example: Today I thought about kissing.

I was wondering. Do bad kissers know they’re bad kissers? Like, say Girl is a good kisser and, for whatever reason, she knows it. If she were to kiss Boy, who is also a good kisser, one would assume that they would both enjoy it. But, what if one of the two were a bad kisser? Would the bad kisser think that because the good kisser wasn’t kissing like him (poorly) that she was the bad kisser? Or would he still be able to recognize that she was the good kisser and he had room to improve? See what I’m saying?

And I know that obviously the standards of what qualifies someone as “good” or “bad” kisser varies based on the participants and their individual likes and dislikes. But… wouldn’t you agree that there are at least certain universally accepted standards as well? If so, then I assert that this is a perfectly legitimate question.

I don’t have an answer to this one, folks. I mean, how does one go about asking someone they’ve kissed if they know that they are a bad kisser? I certainly don’t know how.

Anyway. That’s all.

Before you and I go on...

2007-08-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Before you and I go on with this relationship of ours—my writing and your reading, it’s time for a confession. A semi-big one, actually.

See, Tuesday was my last day of (relative) freedom. Oh sure, I’ve worked all summer (full-time, thank you very much) but, well, it’s just not the same without having to worry about school too. As of Wednesday, I’m back to being super busy balancing (juggling?) everything. Classes have started again.

I know, I know. For those of you who don’t actually know me (and actually, many who do), this raises a huge question. “Isn’t it the BYU 100 Hour Board? BYU hasn’t started yet…” Right. And an appropriate question it is. See, here’s the thing. I’m not a BYU student, nor have I ever been.

Go ahead. Add it to your list of “Things That After 900 Answers, You Never Knew About Lavish.” (In all fairness, most of the writers didn’t know.)

For those of you wanting to know the whole story (I don’t know why I flatter myself by thinking anyone does), read on. The whole story is that I graduated from high school and took a few classes at a community college back home for about a year. Then, randomly, my friends and I decided to move up to Provo. I hadn’t applied to BYU or anything and by the time we decided to move, it was past the deadline so, I was out of luck. I didn’t want to pay out-of-state tuition at UVSC so I took a couple years off and just took BYU-IS classes in the meantime. (Ugh. Long story there, too.) Anyway, fast forward to a year ago when I started classes at UVSC (who, conveniently, really likes me being a student there). I thought about applying to BYU but if I had, I would have lost some of the credit that I’d already earned. No fun.

And now you’re welcome to make all the snide remarks you want about how much better BYU is that UVSC. You know what? A year ago, I would have cared. In fact, I would have strongly agreed. I think that BYU is a great school. But now? First of all, I think I’ve more than proved myself by writing for the Board. Second of all, don’t hate me, but I’ve started liking (I know, I know. The sin.) The thing is… I just feel like it’s right for now.

Anyway. Telling that was kind of a prerequisite to telling stories about my classes that have suspiciously already started even though BYU hasn’t.

Art and I!

2007-08-21T17:40:00.001-07:00

Honestly, Art. How could anyone hate you?

(Picture used with permission.)

I feel like James...

2007-08-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

I feel like James. As in, “…and the Giant Peach.” It’s not because I have giant talking insect friends because, let me assure you, I don’t. But, I do have plenty of peach. A plethora of peaches, you might say.

As some of you may know, a few weeks ago I bought a case of strawberries and made strawberry jam. It was great. Unfortunately, on the same recipe for the strawberry jam, there was a recipe for peach jam, which, of course, I suddenly had to make.

But you see, the problem with this whole peach jam endeavor is the fact that I didn’t actually check to see how much peach I would need. [shrug] I just figured it’d be a lot so I bought a box of peaches. Yep. An entire box.

As it turns out, peach jam doesn’t take that many peaches and we now have about half to three quarters of this box of peaches left.

[sigh] And I’m already getting sick of peaches.

Yesterday...

2007-08-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw a beautiful boy in a Lexus from Texas.

Sign me up.

Ash and I!

2007-08-17T20:29:00.001-07:00

Dear Governor Huntsman...

2007-08-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Governor Huntsman,

In response to today's order for the lowering of the United States flag, I would like to respectfully draw your attention to information regarding proper etiquette of the U.S. flag.

http://www.usflag.org/nffhalfstaff.html

I understand that you have the best intentions in ordering the flag to be lowered due to the recent events at the mine, however, according to the flag code, the flag is not meant to be lowered for such a circumstance nor do you, as Governor, have the authority to place such an order.

I don't mean to diminish the obvious tragedy that many families have experienced these past couple weeks (or those experienced by the families of those killed at Trolley Square for which the flag was also lowered); however, please do keep in mind that the lowering of the flag is intended to be ordered under certain circumstances, and by certain authorities only. Although our great state has certainly experienced tragedies, I believe that lowering the flag diminishes the respect that lowering the flag under proper circumstances is intended to display. The U.S. flag is a symbol for the entire country, not just for Utah.

Again, I very much respect your hard work and commitment to our State

Thank you for your time.

Admittedly...

2007-08-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, one of the things I was most proud of as a writer was my success at keeping my true identity a secret. Unlike many of the other writers that let out bits and pieces of themselves in their answers (and [cough]have Facebook[cough]), I was extra cautious not to let anything out. Whether it was in the spirit of the Board or just because of who I really am, I don't know. At the same time though, my answers were me. I’ve had several people tell me that they could practically hear me saying the things I wrote because that’s how I actually sound in real life.

Still, I'm kind of excited to finally be able to let out more details about who I am minus the secret identity.

I guess most of the people that read my blog actually know me anyway so posting pictures and stuff now shouldn’t be a big deal. At the same time though, to those of you that don’t actually know me, it may be sort of awkward to go from being a Board writer to just being me. I guess that’s why posting a first picture is like posting a first blog post. You just have to jump right in. Therefore, rather than waiting for a super exciting event, I’ve decided that to start all that, I want to post a picture of the dress that I wore to Dining Out with Latro. It's silly, I know, but I l-o-v-e loved this dress and frankly, wanted to post the picture when I first wore it. While it doesn’t have anything to do with anything going on right now, I think it's a good first Lavish picture.

And P.S., if anyone knows anything I can wear this dress to again, I'd love to know.

(Whew. Glad we got that out of the way...)

As some of you may have heard...

2007-08-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have heard, we've started letting Abby outside occasionally. Although we were semi-concerned about her safety at first, we think she might actually like being an outside cat. She has always loved to sit by the windows in our living room and watch what goes on outside and we've found that she enjoys the one tree we have inside our house immensely. And actually, as luck would have it, Abs is generally really good when she goes outside. She's still not quite sure about it so she mostly just sits on our front porch and watches things. Oh, that and, she likes to roll around in the dirt. (Silly cat...) Unfortunately, her activities outside occasionally make her smell a little bit more than I'm able to appreciate like when she wants to cuddle. And so, last night when I didn't feel like going out and stayed home instead, my poor cat suffered. Abby had a bath.

She actually isn't terrible in the bath. I'd heard from dimmi that she kind of struggles for a minute and then just... gives up. Well, she didn't every really give up with me but she didn't ever scratch or bite or anything so that was obviously nice.

I wasn't able to get a picture of her in the bath (pity...) but, this is one of her after the bath and some blow drying.* (Boy, she loved that...) I felt bad leaving her all wet but anytime I'd try to blow dry her, she'd crawl up on my chest, put one arm around my neck, and nuzzle her head up under mine. It was absolutely the sweetest thing ever. I couldn't help but turn off the blow dryer.

Anyway. She's in a much better mood today, plus she smells better and is a lot softer. The only thing is, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she starts wanting to go outside again.

* Sorry about the picture quality. It was taken with my phone.

Dear Readers...

2007-08-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

Today has been a bittersweet day to be sure.

To everyone that commented on my retirement, thank you. It means a lot to me to know that readers and other writers have appreciated the contribution that I’ve made to the Board.

I guess it goes without saying that it’s really, really hard to move on from something that has been such a big part of my life for so long. With a few notable exceptions, over the last almost two years, all of my close friends and most of the guys I’ve dated (probably too many) have been from the Board. Several times today, I considered changing my mind altogether about this whole retiring thing but, the fact of the matter is, my heart just isn’t in it anymore.

My heart is, however, still in writing. At this point, I intend to keep this blog as my outlet for that and I hope that whether I'm a Board writer or not, you'll stick around for the ride. We’re off on another journey now. I anticipate that it’ll be significantly less exciting without the whole secret identity thing but it’s a journey nonetheless and, if you’ll stick with me, I promise to continue providing the lavishness.

- Lavish/Jessica

And, from JAC's birthday...

2007-08-07T19:42:00.001-07:00

And, from JAC's birthday...

You think it's cool and you know it.

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-08-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Adventure #13: Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country
Date: 24 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: Let's see... there were kids there (see below) and I got to feed them. Basically it was great. I mean, frankly, there wasn't a ton to do and see but... it was worth going once. I think children would probably enjoy it more than adults. Would I go again? Just for the kids, yes.

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-08-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

Adventure #12: Thanksgiving Point Gardens
Date: 24 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: Not bad, not bad. We tried to go to this early so that it wouldn't be super hot and, for the most part, we succeeded. The whole time we were walking around we kept coming up with questions for the Board like... "How many gardeners does Thanksgiving Point employ?" and "How much is Thanksgiving Point's water bill?" (Don't worry. We won't ask them.) Now you know what Board writers are really like. CPM knew his way around pretty well from when he and Krishna went so that was nice. And, aside from the part where I really wanted to rent a golf cart and CPM said no, it was fun. Would I go again? Yes but, especially if I could take my grandparents (and get a golf cart).

Here are a few of the like... 5,000 pictures I took.

What I Did to My Arm Today

2007-08-06T21:57:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned for more summer adventures. (Though, please note. This is not because of a summer adventure.)

How to Tell When...

2007-08-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

How to Tell When It’s Time to Clean Your Room (the Lavish Way):
You have 6+ pairs of shoes out.

I forgot to set my alarm last night...

2007-08-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

I forgot to set my alarm last night and so I woke up late this morning and when I got out of bed to get ready for work I discovered I was out of my favorite eye shadow and by mistake I smeared my mascara and despite all of the clothes in my closet I had nothing to wear. I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

At breakfast time I was rushing out the door so I just grabbed an orange on my way out and as I walked to my car our sprinklers were on and they got my pants wet and when I got to work I ate the orange and some peanut M&Ms and I didn't even eat all of them but for some reason my stomach hurt the rest of the morning.

I think I’ll move to Australia.

My arms still hurt from the gym yesterday and one of my bosses is on vacation and the people he didn’t call before he left got mad at me and the other boss kept telling me to take messages because he didn’t want to talk to people and when I got on the Board there were no new questions and since nobody really cares anymore anyway maybe I will just retire.

A asked me to go to lunch with her and I said yes because I wanted to but then I had to cancel because I wasn’t feeling well so I told her that we could go tomorrow and she said that was okay but then I realized that tomorrow is Friday and our office is going to lunch because one of the guys is leaving and so I had to tell her that I couldn’t go tomorrow either and I don’t think she was very happy.

I could tell the rest of the day was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

That’s what it was, because on my lunch break I came home from work and because my stomach didn’t feel good all I ate was a piece of bread with butter on it and somehow the butter had melted a bit in the tub and it got all over my white shirt so I had to wash it out and then my shirt was wet.

I laid down to read and I read a chapter of my book and two pages of the next chapter but then I fell asleep and I didn’t wake up until it was time to go back to work and since I’d woken up so suddenly I felt more tired than I was before the nap plus I had a headache and a sore neck too.

I got back to work a few minutes late, I realized I’d forgotten to call on something, and a solicitor got mad at me for not letting her talk to my other boss. Who needs solicitations?

I wasn’t sure if the American Fork Court had continued this case for tomorrow but I needed to call our client and tell him whether or not he should go and the clerk up there wasn’t answering her phone to tell me if we could move it to next week.

Next week, I hope to be in Australia.

A friend and I had a fight this afternoon and I wish he’d just understand and I said something really mean to someone that used to be a friend and I wish I could tell her that I’m sorry I said it but I’ve been wanting to say it for awhile and I’m really not sorry for not liking her anyway even though I am a little bit sorry that I don’t exactly have the best reasons for not liking her in the first place.

I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Nobody even cares.

After work I came home and I could smell that dimmi made tacos while I was at work but I didn’t want to just eat the leftovers because they were hers and not mine so I had a pizza Hot Pocket and it burned the roof of my mouth and there are no more paper towels.

The cat won’t sit still and I hate when the cat won’t sit still.

The rain didn’t last long and I hate when the rain doesn’t last long.

I should be looking for the thing that I put in a “safe spot” and can’t find because it was in an envelope and I think I might have accidentally mailed it and I’m probably skipping ballet tonight and I have to clean my room and maybe the reason I don’t have any clothes is because they’re all over my floor and also my room is too hot. I hate when my room is too hot.

I want someone to come over to comfort me but I’ve been a brat all day and the people that would be willing aren’t the people I want to see and the people I would want to see have had it with me and all I want is for someone to give me a hug and tell me that some days are like this.

Even in Australia.

When H and I got gym memberships...

2007-07-29T14:59:00.001-07:00

When H and I got gym memberships, we were each given a free consultation with a personal trainer. Honestly, I would have probably forgotten all about it were it not for H insisting that we schedule our sessions and go. So we did.

My experience with the personal trainer was completely different than what I expected. I was hoping someone would walk me around the gym, show me some things I could do, and, well, get me going in the right direction. Instead, we just talked about what I’m doing now and the more… factual side of things. You know, like how many calories are in a pound or whatever. And like, it was very informative in that sense but I still wasn’t really sure how to put this guys suggestions into action.

Luckily, it turns out that my personal trainer offers regular private sessions—for a small fee, of course. Here are the prices:

30 sessions - $1,499.00
20 sessions - $1,069.00
10 sessions - $579.00
5 sessions - $299.00

And like, I’m not going to lie. I was tempted. There was a little part of me that wanted to hire him. Or sign up. Or whatever you call it. I mean, let’s be serious. Who doesn’t want a hot body quickly?

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if I were to hire a personal trainer, there would be other sacrifices I’d be making as well.

First of all, there’d be the financial commitment. It’s arguable that that’s what I need to really work myself. But on the other hand, isn’t the fact that I’m paying for a gym membership making me committed to it as well? Also, the money that I spent on these personal training sessions would mean that I couldn’t spend it elsewhere. Instead of doing a bunch of fun things this summer, I’d be financially invested in the gym.

Second of all, there’s the time commitment. The personal trainer promised that I could lose like 10 pounds in 5 weeks or something. And while that sounds super appealing, there’s obviously a great time commitment involved with something like that. And suddenly it occurred to me that I don’t have enough time to do everything. And like… that bothered me. It was honestly like I’d never had that thought before. I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

Hypothetically, say your average person—oh heck, we’ll use me. Okay. Let’s take an average week day. Say I were to get nine hours of sleep. I know you supposedly only need eight but trust me, I’m happier when I have nine. So,

24 hours – 9 hours = 15 hours

Then, I work eight hours a day.

15 hours – 8 hours = 7 hours

Plus I have an hour lunch break.

7 hours – 1 hour = 6 hours

In all fairness, most of my lunch break I spend doing other things but I figure we’ll count the whole hour to account for the time that I eat dinner and breakfast too.

And we should probably back up and get the time it takes me to get ready in the morning. (Disclaimer: I know, everybody is going to shun me for taking time to get ready. Whatever. I could be ready in 10 minutes, if I wanted. I choose to take more time and look nice.) With a shower, hair, makeup, getting dress, etc., we’re looking at roughly 45 minutes.

6 hours – 45 minutes = 5 hours 15 minutes

Just to get back down to whole hours, let’s subtract the 15 minutes to cover the time it takes for me to get to work and back. Keep in mind that I’m just including time to and from work in the morning and at night. Not the time it takes to do the same during my lunch break.

5 hours 15 minutes – 15 minutes = 5 hours

Most nights I spend about an hour either at the gym or in dance.

5 hours – 1 hour = 4 hours

So, I’m down to four hours. How about time to get ready for bed? I probably spend 15 minutes taking off makeup, brushing my teeth, changing into pajamas, etc. Also, let’s assume a standard 30 minutes for scripture study and 15 minutes to write in my journal. (The problem with this is that the amount of time spent on each varies so much…)

4 hours – 1 hour = 3 hours

That’s three hours left. Not including any time answering Board questions, fulfilling callings, spending time with friends, talking to my family, running errands, etc. All things that tend to take a lot of time and are important. I can't just not grocery shop. And, most importantly, not including classes or homework. That’s right folks, this is over summer. During fall/winter, I go to school full time and work full time.

It’s impossible to do everything. No matter how much I want to. And that makes me kind of sad. I want to do more. I want to have more time for things. Not just when I’m feeling overwhelmed with a project and need more time to get it done. All the time.

And to kind of bring this full circle, as I was thinking about the gym and the personal trainer, I was suddenly very aware of how important prioritizing is. If the gym is more important to me than other things, then I should do it. But it’s not.

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-07-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

Adventure #10: Lehi Roller Mills
Date: 21 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: Honestly, this adventure was kind of... anticlimactic. You know how you notice Lehi Roller Mills every time you drive to/from Salt Lake? (I do, anyway.) Turns out it's not all that exciting. I wanted like a tour of the mill. All they offer is a store where you can buy their stuff. That's great and all but... I don't know. Not what I was expecting. Oh! I did get an apron though. I'd been needing one those. Also, CPM and I made pumpkin cookies and have pancakes to make in the near future. And, because we made the pumpkin cookies we discovered the Pumpkin Roll, which is the most fabulous thing ever. We made three last week. Still though, would I go again? Probably not.

Adventure #11: Cabela's
Date: 21 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: Cabela's. Wow. I was actually really impressed. I didn't realize Cabela's had so much... stuff. It was actually funny. As we were going around looking at things, CPM made the comment that everyone else was there shopping and we were there looking at things like it was a museum. It's true. We were. Anyway, this adventure had two stickers so we made sure to do them both.

Part 1: Wildlife Displays Actually really cool. We had fun trying to get pictures of the wildlife. My favorite was this bear and this fight scene. Just look at the antelope's expression.

Part 2: Shooting Range Not what I was expecting. We thought it'd be like... real. Instead it's more like... arcade style. Oh well. Still fun. And, those guns are heavy!

(Sorry, the picture is a little blurry...)

Honestly, overall Cabela's was lots of fun. Oh, and the best part? CPM and I had ostrich and elk (respectively) sandwiches for lunch. And then, the sandwiches were so big we traded second halves so we could try the other animals. Well, that and the fact that we were delighted to be able to write "OSTRICH" and "ELK" on our takeout containers.

Would I go again? Yes.

Adventure #12: Springville Art Museum
Date: 21 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: To complete our long day of adventures, CPM and I went down to the Springville Art Museum. The museum is another double stamper but unfortunately, the Autumn Exhibit doesn't take place until, well, autumn. (October, specifically.) Still we were pretty pleased with the quilts. We had fun walking around and admiring all of the quilts. Some of them were even on sale for exorbitant prices. And, I decided that next year, I want a quilt in the quilt show. Also, on the way out, we realized we were supposed to be voting for our favorite quilt so we quickly re-walked the museum to recall our favorites and make our selections. Keep your fingers crossed. Would I go again? Yep. For the Autumn Exhibit.

Turns out, I'm my father's daughter...

2007-07-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

Turns out, I’m my father’s daughter. See, if you know my dad, you know that he likes to think BIG. I’m the same way. For example, when I was little, I always wanted to direct a play. Like, a whole play! When I was in middle school, I decided I wanted to have a birthday party with a hundred people! (Technically it was 104 but, I’m sure I could have cut it down…) And, when I was in high school, I wanted a French street scene painted on my wall! Also, both my dad and I like thing now. With the help of my siblings and a bunch of kids from the ward, we attempted several plays. In middle school, I had a party to which I invited 42 people (which was more than any of my friends were ever allowed to invite and besides, my parents didn’t know exactly how many people I had invited). And the day after I wanted the French street on my wall, I started painting it. (At this point, I should probably warn everyone that it’s a lot harder to paint things on walls than it is to draw them on paper.)

With that introduction, tonight, while I was washing my hair, I had a big idea. I suppose I should also preface this by admitting that I’m not completely sure how practical this idea would be. Right now I’m just thinking about it and, frankly, there’s a good chance nothing will ever come of it. Still, I wanted feedback.

Okay. Here’s the thing. I’m kind of running out of guys that I want to date. Naturally, it seems the thing to do is to find more of them. Like most people though, I tend to only date within the groups of people that I’m a part of and that places severe limitations on the people available. So then I was thinking about the concept of networking. If properly pursued, that could be an excellent strategy. And then it came to me. What if I did like… “X Dates in X Days”?

Now, in thinking about how to make that work, the only way I see remotely plausible would be to have a calendar and have the dates planned ahead of time. Otherwise there would be no way to ensure that I got all X dates done with in the X days. That would also mean that the X guys would have to know ahead of time about the whole “X Dates in X Days” situation. Technically though, I think that would be to my advantage. Then, if by the end of the X days a guy didn’t hear from me again, they wouldn’t be offended because they would have known there were Y other guys.

Also, it’d be important to note that a “date” could be anything from dinner and a movie to a walk in the park. The only important thing would be that it was with someone that I didn’t know ahead of time. Acquaintances would be fine. Just not guys I’ve dated before, other Board writers, other Board writers I’ve dated before, etc. Really, the plan would rely on people I already know being willing to set me up with people that I don't already know but might like.

The other thing is, while I’d love to give criteria about what I like and don’t like, it seems like to start, I’d have to be willing to compromise a bit. Hopefully the friends that were recommending people for me to date would know me well enough to not throw anyone at me I really wouldn’t like. And, if they did, oh well.

So, that’s the idea. I’ve already proposed the idea to Laser Jock and branflakes but, without giving you any hint of what they thought, what do you think? Would it work? Would it be fun? Or lame?

I mean, I'm still thinking this through, obviously. Like I said, it probably won’t even happen. Then again… it would be a challenge…

One of my gchat statuses...

2007-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

One of my gchat statuses today was:

Life Lessons: Small talk with criminals can be awkward but doesn't have to be.

My mom wanted examples. So we came up with some.

"So... Are you excited to go to prison?"
"Are you hoping for an orange jumpsuit or one of those ones with stripes?"
"Have you got your affairs in order?"
"Let's play a game: Chevy or Toyota? Red or Blue? Hanging or Firing Squad?"
"Think your victim is happy you're going to jail?"
"Too bad you have to go to jail when you're "not guilty", eh?"
"Are you looking forward to making license plates?"
"What will you miss the most while you're incarcerated?"*
"If you had to pick a last meal, what would it be?"
"Have you had much experience in the past with manual labor?"
"It'll be kinda nice, won't it? 3 square meals a day, cable tv..."
"At least you'll get to see some of your friends again, right?"
"So... Knowing what you know now, would you have done anything different?"

You know, sometimes my job is a lot of fun. Also, the criminal that encouraged my status actually talked to me about where I'm from. He probably will go to jail though.

(*Yellow: hah. I read that as "what will you miss most while you're incinerated?")

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-07-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Adventure #8: Crandall Historical Printing Museum

Date: 4 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: Stopped by the Crandall Museum. It was pretty neat. Not the most exciting moment of my life but interesting. The most exciting part was seeing the linograph machine. Larry showed it to me. I tried asking how much a machine like that would be worth today and how many are still in operation world wide but he didn’t seem to understand my questions. “Dear 100 Hour Board…” Would I go again? Meh.

Adventure #9: America’s Freedom Festival
Date: 4 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Curious Physics Minor

Review: And now. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Parade pictures! That’s right, CPM and I went to the parade. We even camped out for days to make sure we got the best spots. (That part is for sure a lie. I woke up at like 9:15 and we made it to the parade by like 10. Except, we watched from basically the end of the route.) My favorite parts were “the girls.” You know, like Miss Springville and Miss Pleasant Grove. I want to be a Miss...

Also, it should be noted that I did try some of those twisty tator things and the nitrogen ice cream. Both were neat. Another also, we saw D.C.’s booth and considered leaving a note from the Board but decided against it.

The only thing is, CPM and I were so tired by the end of things. Heat + lots of walking isn’t fun. But overall it was good. Would I go again? Next year.

(Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Springville City Royalty, Spanish Fork City Royalty, Payson City Royalty, Pleasant Grove City Royalty, Orem City Royalty, Provo City Royalty, Santaquin City Royalty, Utah Valley University Royalty, Little Miss Lindon, Castle Valley Royalty, and Lehi City Royalty. And I'll add a picture of the huge tortoise I got to pet.)

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-07-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

Adventure #6: BYU Bookstore
Date: 30 June 2007
Participants: Lavish, dimmi, Yellow

Review: I know this is semi-lame because who hasn’t already been to the BYU Bookstore? But, it was in the Passport, so we had to go. You know, I thought I’d been to the Bookstore. Little did I know, there’s so much more to it than I’d ever dreamed. See, when you go for a specific thing, you miss all of the wonderful other things the Bookstore has to offer. Thanks to the Passport, I was able to spend time browsing for nothing specific at the Bookstore and was able to really see all there is to see. It was great! Would I go again? You bet.

Adventure #7: UVSC
Date: 1 July 2007
Participants: Lavish and Yellow

Review: As part of the Freedom Festival, UVSC hosted a Patriotic Service featuring Elder Featherstone as the keynote speaker. Additionally, there was a men's choir that sang a bunch of songs, the Air Force ROTC presented the flag, and the winner of the Freedom Festival speech contest read her speech. Honestly, it wasn't anything fancy or high tech or anything. Just a lot of people that really wanted to be there and really love their country. Would I go again? Affirmative.

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-06-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Adventure #5: Seven Peaks
Date: 28 June 2007
Participants: Lavish, Yellow, Curious Physics Minor, dimmi

Review: Last night my stake had a Seven Peaks party so we took the opportunity to complete another adventure. It was pretty awesome. At first it was a little cold but the water was super warm so that was nice and once I found the slide that I liked best, I was set. You know, I still can't believe that in the three years I've lived in Utah, I'd never gone. I mean, obviously there's a bigger/better water park back home but for what it was, it was pretty fun. Would I go again? Yes. Actually, we're considering Season Tickets. Anyone interested?

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-06-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Adventure #4: Downtown Provo
Date: 26 June 2007
Participants: Lavish and Yellow

Review: Yellow and I went to Hickory Kist yesterday. That's in downtown Provo. We even walked down the street a bit, looking at the shops since that's what the sticker says to do. Would I go again? Not sure.

Dear You...

2007-06-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dear You,

You made me sad. More than anything right now I want you to come put your arms around me again, wipe my tears away, and tell me everything will be okay.

But we both know it won’t be. She was right.

- Me

...Happy now?

Isn't it interesting...

2007-06-19T19:44:00.001-07:00

Isn't it interesting how someone can say something behind your back, thinking you'll never even hear about it, but you do and somehow their stupid remark (that you weren't even supposed to hear about in the first place) ends up affecting you a lot?

Summer Special: Adventure Awaits!

2007-06-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Adventure #1: Scera Center

Date: 13 June 2007
Participants: Lavish and Yellow, Curious Physics Minor and friends

Review: Next time take more blankets and possibly even pillows because it’s a little cold (believe it or not) and you’re going to be laying on the ground for the next 2+ hours. Also, make sure not to sit in the back because you’ll be sitting next to all of the high school kids that think it’s necessary to talk during the whole thing. Would I go again? Absolutely.

Adventure #2: Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (Gift Shop)
Date: 16 June 2007
Participants: Lavish and dimmi

Review: If the gift shop was the adventure, it left something to be desired. Though the gift shop boasts BYU snow globes and I ♥ UTAH key chains, I’d be more inclined to send someone to the BYU Bookstore for Utah souvenirs than to send them to Utah Valley’s gift shop. Would I go again? Not likely.

Adventure #3: Alpine Loop (Scenic Drive)
Date: 17 June 2007
Participants: Lavish, dimmi, Curious Physics Minor, and D (from our ward)

Review: What scenery! This twenty mile drive was well worth it. I probably wouldn't wear heels next time (I didn't know we were going to go for a scenic walk too!) because of the steep incline down to the boardwalk but it turned out alright. Also, most of Alpine Loop is a really, really narrow road which is kind of scary. Still though, worth the drive. Would I go again? Certainly!

Photos:

Dear Everyone...

2007-06-16T10:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Everyone,

About a week ago you should have had a Utah Valley Adventure Passport delivered to your mailbox. You've probably already read it pretty extensively by now. Since several of us intend to do all of the adventures in the passport, we've decided to do as many of them together as possible and would like to invite you to join us. It'll be fun.

In order to participate, you will need your own Utah Valley Adventure Passport. If your roommate has already claimed the one that came to your mailbox, I think you can probably swing by the Utah Valley Visitor's Center "located in historic downtown Provo, across the street from the Provo LDS Tabernacle" and pick one up there. (Incidentally, if you visit the gift shop there too, you'll be able to put the stamp on page 53 of the Passport.) Please email me (lavishable at gmail dot com) and let me know asap if you plan to participate so that we can make sure to include you.

Adventure awaits!

- Lavish

I had a dating experience...

2007-06-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

I had a dating experience that’s worth sharing.

Last Sunday one of the guys in my ward leaned over after Sunday School and told me he'd like to take me out. I told him that I’m generally pretty busy and to call me later. (It, obviously, was also a half attempt to get him to never bring up the matter again.)

Instead of calling, he ended up coming by my house that night to make plans. It was eventually decided that he’d pick me up Friday at seven and then he proceeded to spend, I’m not kidding, like an hour and a half talking to me about what food I like. Seriously. I mean, I understand that you want your date to have a good time, etc. but like… most girls you can take anywhere and they’ll find something on the menu that they like. It’s really not a subject worth an hour and a half of my time.

The rest of the week isn’t all that noteworthy to the story so I’ll skip over that. Which brings us to Friday.

Friday at like four, he text me to confirm that I’d be ready at seven. I asked what we were doing. He told me that he’d thought of a few things (miniature golf, bowling, or pool). We texted back and forth a bit and eventually I ended up telling him (with the help of Yellow and dimmi) that I’d go but that I’d like to be back around nine.

Is it wrong to request that?

The thing is, guys always figure that because they can stay out until 1:30, they should stay out until 1:30. I’m sorry but, I just don’t feel comfortable spending that much time with a guy I barely know. And he didn’t have anything specifically planned anyway. See what I mean? Anyway, he told me it was fine.

Seven rolled around. He came. We left. And then the second we got out to his car he got started telling me that if I didn’t want to go, it was fine, his cousin was in town, and he could spend time with him. I told him it was his decision, I’d committed to going, and so I would but, if he’d rather spend time with his cousin, that was fine too. He decided we’d go.

And here’s where the story gets interesting.

We started driving and he started asking me about why I wanted to be home early. He kept saying that he was just trying to understand where I was coming from. He said that he’d asked me out for Friday night and if I’d committed to the night, I should keep my commitments. Feeling somewhat taken aback by his level of confrontation, I explained that I wanted to be at something with my friends later that night. The conversation continued. Finally I told him that if we were going to go, we needed to be nicer to each other or it wasn’t going to be any fun at all. He said (I kid you not), “We?” And then, “I’m just saying, you’ve known about [the event with your friends] for how long?” Yep. That’s what he said.

So I told him to take me home.

Sometimes Board writers are funny...

2007-06-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Board writers are funny. A few nights ago I was spending time with Yellow and he mentioned that he and Dragon Lady were engaged. Apparently, Dragon Lady (who most of you know is in Jerusalem) was looking for people to visit her and, much as he wanted to, he couldn’t fit the trip in his schedule (what with all the weeks he’s already planning to take off from work this summer). Still, he promised her that if she would marry him, he’d take her to Jerusalem on a honeymoon. Dragon Lady didn’t need anything else. With his promise, they declared their engagement.

This morning Dragon Lady’s gchat status reflected that they were still engaged so I figured it’d only be appropriate to offer my congratulations. The following is a combination of Dragon Lady and my conversation as well as the other conversations I was having on the side. (All real names have been edited out.) So although some of you might not get this, it seemed too funny not to share.

Lavish: Congratulations to you both!
Dragon Lady: haha!
I really should change that
:D
But it's funny to me
Lavish: No way.
Be proud, Dragon Lady.
He's a great guy.
Dragon Lady: Did he tell you about it?
Lavish: I think you two will be very happy.
:) Yeah, as he had his arm around me and I had my head laying on his chest.
Dragon Lady: Oh my
I think this may turn out to be the instigator of our first BIG fight
Lavish: It should be.
Dragon Lady: Well, I might consider forgiving him, then. But only maybe. And if I'm having a good day. ;)
Lavish: Oh but a fight would be more fun...
Dragon Lady: Oh. Don't worry. The fight will come first
Whether or not I forgive him also depends on how much he fights for me.
I can't let you do all the work in his receiving forgiveness
Lavish: We're talking about a honeymoon to Jerusalem. I think he will.
Dragon Lady: HAHA!
It's true... he did propose rather quickly
Lavish: But you have to consider that it might happen again...
Dragon Lady: Lavish, if this keeps up, you and I might have to have a little heart to heart
and I may need to find you another boy to cuddle with
but don't worry. I have another month or so before I come home. So you're good until then. ;)
Lavish: Oh. I'll probably be done by then anyway.
Dragon Lady: LOL!!!!
Lavish: :)
Dragon Lady: Hmmm... perhaps I should change my status so that if he signs in, he knows he's in trouble...
Lavish: Yes, yes!
It has to be... I dunno. If it's too forceful, he might be scared to talk to you about the problems you guys are having.
How about like... "Some fiance..."
Or like...
The Honeymoon Phase is over!
:)
Dragon Lady: "Prepping for our second fight."
Lavish: Did you have a first one?
Dragon Lady: yes
he chose work over me and ignored me for awhile
So we talked it out and I forgave him
And we were both glad that we made it through our first fight
Lavish: Oh wow.
That's a serious fight.
Dragon Lady: I know
Lavish: Good thing it's over.
Dragon Lady: We're getting a rough start.
Dragon Lady: what about "Dear fiance, please start prepping for our second fight."
Lavish: lol
Though I like "preparing" rather than "prepping."
Dragon Lady: Or "Dear fiance. I hope you have a good story... cuz you're in trouble."
There we go
I like that one best
and goodness. Why can't he just sign in? People are eating dinner without me

Lavish: I think I'm causing problems with Dragon Lady and her fiance.
Laser Jock: Really? How's that?
Lavish: Meh. Apparently it's a big deal that her fiance put his arm around me.[eye roll]
Laser Jock: Ooh. This happened since they got engaged?
Lavish: It's not like it's a big deal!How come everyone thinks it's a problem?
Laser Jock: All I know is, you may have just broken off an engagement.Happy?

Dragon Lady: haha! That's funny. Cuz he's trying to get me to break it off
he can't believe that I'm letting it go on this long
devil's advocate, that's who he is

[Dragon Lady leaves for dinner.]

Laser Jock: Don't believe a word she says.I mean, I don't know what you're talking about.
Lavish: I'm sure you don't.
How could you do this to me?
Laser Jock: You want to know why I was trying to get her to break it off?
I saw it coming all along.
I knew he wasn't faithful enough to her.
I don't blame you, though.
I'm not trying to get you in trouble.
Lavish: And you shouldn't. It was his arm around me.
Laser Jock: Exactly.
Lavish: Could it possibly be that you have hidden feelings for her?
I mean, I'm not trying to throw out wild accusations but like...
Laser Jock: Here you go, off on a tangent to try to deflect the conversation.
I have done nothing but be a kind, compassionate, understanding friend offering a little advice to a
heartbroken fellow Board writer.
Lavish: You're so... noble.
Laser Jock: Thanks for finally seeing things my way.
Lavish: Of course.
Laser Jock: I'm sure that when this is all over they'll thank us both.
Lavish: They should.
This will just make him prove his love.
Laser Jock: Well, it sounds as though he's very debonair over chat, so he should have no trouble explaining
things away.
Lavish: Think I should I warn Yellow?
Laser Jock: Careful. If you get too mixed up in this, people might misunderstand you.
They might think you're warning him because you are trying to get him to break it off.
Lavish: Hm...
Unless I had someone else.
[meaningful look in your direction]
Laser Jock: Lavish...I'm stunned. I had no idea of your feelings for me.
Unless you're just using me, of course.
Lavish: Huh. Is it okay if I'm still deciding whether I was secretly madly in love with you or if I am just using
you?
Laser Jock: Sure.
I would have to have some way to know you're sincere, though, if you decide you were secretly madly in
love with me.
Lavish: It's true.
Hm...
Well, I guess I'd better decide soon, don't you think?
Laser Jock: Definitely. It gives a girl a bad reputation if she looks like she's playing two guys.
Lavish: [sigh] I hate when this happens.
Meanwhile, I should warn Yellow.
Better to just come clean that Dragon Lady and I talked this morning.
Should I make him promise not to get mad?
Before I'll tell him?
Laser Jock: Ahh. Wise idea. That way she can't spring it on him with no warning.
Yes, I think so.
Otherwise, you know Yellow.
There's no telling how he'd react.
Lavish: Yeah.

Lavish: Listen, there's something I need to tell you about.
Yellow: Yeah?
Lavish: You have to promise not to get mad though.
Yellow: Okay.I promise.
Lavish: Here's the thing.I sort of talked to Dragon Lady this morning.
And I accidently mentioned that you might have had your arm around me the other night.
Needless to say, she wasn't too happy.
Before you say anything, I do want to say I'm not sorry.

Laser Jock: Hehe. I like it.

Yellow: A) I'm not mad. Like... not at all. B) I'm kinda surprised that it's a big deal.

Lavish: Dragon Lady's not going to be happy about that...

Olympus: I hear you're engaged and cheating already

Laser Jock: Wow, word gets around. :)

Yellow: So when was all this happening?
Lavish: This morning.
Yellow: While I was sleeping?
Lavish: Probably.
What time did you wake up?
Yellow: 9:00
Lavish: Then yes.
Yellow: Hmm. And now she's not online so I can't profess my undying regret and sorrow.
Tragic.
So how's work?
Lavish: Work is... busy.
Except that I don't feel like working.
Are you even at work yet?
Yellow: Yep
I have nothing to do
it's frustrating
Lavish: Come help me!
Yellow: Mmmm...
You ruined my engagement. Why would I want to help you?
Lavish: Hm.
Good point.
Yellow: I think I'll just wallow in my self-pity.

And from there Yellow wallowed and I went back to work.

Lately I've been thinking...

2007-06-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about change. Not the kind in your pocket or at the bottom of your purse. The kind that occurs within people… Friendships… Relationships. The kind that happens when you’re not really paying attention and then, one day you look back and realize that things are different.

I’ve been thinking about all of this for quite some time now. Trying to put all my thoughts in the right words, though even still I’m sure they won’t come out the way I want them to.

Sometimes I feel kind of overwhelmed by this time of my life. It’s the time when you really do a lot of the deciding who you are. And I feel like there’s a rush to do it, too. But this past year and a half or so though, I haven’t felt like I’ve been myself. I feel like I’ve tried to hide a lot of who I really am because I’ve been afraid that if people really knew me, they wouldn’t like me. I’ve tried to lose myself in things that aren’t me. In hindsight, it’s silly, really. But all along it has seemed like if I could only be who I was expected to be, I’d be happy. Accepted. I think sometimes though, we spend too much time overanalyzing who we think we should be and too little time being confident about who we actually are.

I also think that sometimes we don’t recognize how fragile self-esteem can be. In our confusing quest to discover and determine who we are, we’re slow to remember that are peers are doing the same thing. We’re quick to point out their flaws and imperfections. Maybe it’s an attempt to disguise our own inadequacies. It’s interesting where our quests for happiness, and sometimes perfection, takes us.

Also, I hate not knowing what comes next. Sometimes I wish I could see ten years into the future. Or even five, really. Just to know things turn out okay. I look at who I was five years ago and let me tell you. I was different. Which brings me back to where I started. Change. It’s confusing not always knowing where you’re going. But maybe sometimes it’s about taking a leap of faith. Not necessarily knowing where you’re going to end up, but jumping anyway.

Some of you may remember...

2007-05-29T17:03:00.001-07:00

Some of you may remember that my parents came to Utah last January. While they were here, my dad saw the whiteboard in my room and my “To Do” list that was written on it—in French. He made a very heartfelt effort to write me a note back and, as scratchy as some of the French may be, I’ve kept it on my whiteboard since then.

Today I’ve been working on organizing my room since it still hasn’t been 100% done since we moved. I just hung my whiteboard except for now it’s hanging vertically instead of horizontally. I love the note but now it’s facing the wrong way so I figure I’d better erase it.

Here’s what it said.

un message par Dad.
- tu est tres importante
- vous êtes l’etoile
- fait beaucoup de travail
- trouvez beaucoup d’argent
- sourire
- chanté
- dansé
- embrace la monde
- souvien ta famille, ta mer et ton pére

Translation?

A Message from Dad
- You are very important.
- You are the star.
- Do a lot of work.
- Find a lot of money.
- Smile.
- Sing.
- Dance.
- Embrace the world.
- You are incredible!
- Remember your family, your mother, and your father.

29 hours ago...

2007-05-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

29 hours ago I was a million miles away from Provo. From work. School. Relationships. In reality, I’d guess that I was only about, oh I don’t know, 90 miles from Provo but the point was that it felt like more—and that’s what I needed.

Lately I’ve been feeling kind of suffocated by Provo and everything thing I have going on here. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Board and honestly, it’s been kind of frustrating me. Sometimes I feel like there’s a very clear line between my Board friends and my non-Board friends. Succinctly put, my non-Board friends are way more “Lavish-y” than my Board friends and the groups really don’t mix. I tend to get caught up in things with Board friends because they’re more available but honestly, I love spending time with my non-Board friends. I feel like I’m more “me” around them. The only problem is, my four favorite friends are all married and like to spend most of their time with their husbands. It makes sense, really. But sometimes that doesn’t go along with what I want them to do. I know that they’re busy with their husbands so I try not to bug them and I end up not spending a ton of time with them. But I miss those friends. So getting away with those friends this weekend was perfect.

I guess the actual camping story begins Wednesday night. H&K’s daughter was turning one. Actually, she’d been turning one all day but her birthday party wasn’t until that night so that’s where the story is going to start. I mentioned to H that night how much I wanted to get away and we discussed various options. The planning is kind of boring so I’ll skip all the planning parts and get to the “in the end” part. In the end, we decided on camping up at Strawberry Reservoir. I hadn’t been camping in ages. H&K had been the weekend before.

H&K left Friday morning to make sure we got a spot for the weekend, everyone else drove up Friday night, and I, not wanting to miss my hair appointment Friday night, drove up Saturday morning. As I drove, I kept realizing how pretty everything was. The drive took me a lot long than it should have because I wanted to slow down or pull over to take pictures of everything.

Here’s the Strawberry sign.

This sign to our campground was like nine miles or something. The first four or so were mostly uneventful but once I realized I still had a way to go, I rolled down all my windows, turned my music up, and just took it all in. I didn’t even worry about my hair getting messed up in the wind. It didn’t matter.

I eventually got to our campground. Here’s the sign for that too.

Everyone was delighted to see me.

I’m getting super tired despite my nap this evening so we’ll skip all the little parts and get to the main events.

One of our major activities on this trip was fishing. K love, love, loves fishing so he has a little fishing boat and all of the gear stuff. I caught 10 fish which was like… more than anyone else.

I wanted to take one home to cook but didn’t for the following reasons:

1. I had borrowed A’s cooler and didn’t think she’d appreciate me bringing it back smelling like trout.
2. K made it pretty clear that he wouldn’t gut my fish for me.

Another thing I should tell about is our “Sunday drive.” Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Except that our “Sunday drive” was actually us offroading in a 4Runner. Here’s the best part.

We started driving through this section and got a little ways through before we realized how deep this mud actually was. That was about the same time our back wheel was about at the edge of the cliff. Not a good idea. Ka and I got out with the baby and H drove (slowly) while K pushed the 4Runner back on to the mountain. (This picture really doesn’t do the situation justice. Just so you know, on the right hand side was a big drop and in the back

of the picture, the mud covers the whole lane. This picture is taken a safe distance away.)

After they were a safe distance away Ka and I attempted to walk through the mud back to the 4Runner. I use the word “attempted” because the mud was slimy and part way across I, carrying the baby, started slipping. Rather than fall right away and drop the baby, I ended up basically doing the splits until the baby was close enough to the ground that I could safely put her down. Granted I was putting her down in the mud but at least I wasn’t dropping her in the mud. (Again, you probably can’t tell exactly how muddy we were.) Oh. And P.S., there were no showers.

And finally, here's a token landscape picture, particularly for Yellow’s benefit.

I know this post is semi-lame because I’m not in any of the pictures but so goes the life of a Board writer.

Now I’m going to bed.

Happy April Fool's Day.

2007-04-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fool's Day. Heheh.

Have you ever...

2007-03-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing at all that monumental happens but by the end of it you have no idea who you are anymore or what the hell you're doing with your life?... Do you ever have one of those days? (Robin, How I Met Your Mother)

Why I love my French class...

2007-03-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

Why I love my French class…

Today we did an activity in two groups where we wrote things that would help us have a happy life. One group was the angel and the other was the devil.

I wrote: Pour être heureux, il est bon que tu embrasses les enfants sur la tête. Il est aussi important que tu lises aux jeunes fils et filles—peut-être quelquechose comme «Madeline», «Des œufs et du jambon verts», et «Georges Curieux». (To be happy, it is good for you to kiss babies on the head. It is also important that you read to young boys and girls—maybe something like “Madeline,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” or “Curious George.”)

And a girl from the devil group wrote: Il est bon que tu prennes l’argent de votre frère et achètes du pornographique et donnes aux les orphelins pour les aider à lire. (It is good for you to take your brother’s money and buy pornography and give it to orphans to help them read.)

And for some reason, I loved her answer.

My project this afternoon...

2007-03-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

My project this afternoon was going through my work email account. I went from just over 2,000 emails down to the 6. Those are the ones that I still need to address before tomorrow. I didn’t read through everything but I did pull a few of my favorite quotes that I happened to see.

Fishing isn't girlish...it's outdoorsy, but not girlish

Republicans may not know how to party, but they still love to anyways ;)

I know that my confidence is often intermittent, and that I seem confident even when I feel consigned to certain doom. But that's the one thing about life. It's the uncertainty of everything that makes it interesting, intriguing, and (if you have the right attitude) fun. The hard thing is having expectations without letting them grow out of proportion.

By the way, what's his name? I am tired of calling him 'the guy.'

So....does your silence mean that you don't want to do something tonight? It's okay, I understand. You are a busy woman, and no doubt have another boy in your sights. Go get 'em, tiger!

It's up to you, and all of your girlish whims.

Why is it you just have to be so damn perfect?

I liked it until you called it "middle school." Which is probably true. And the search continues.

that doesn't count and you know it.

Oh that one was GOOD!!!! FIVE gold stars for you!!!!

You should find some way to make it fun. Like... decorate your desk with lollipops or something.

Being uplifted is so overrated. :)

You're always welcome to bring by a plate of cookies to my apartment whenever you'd like. Don't feel like you have to wait for an invitation.

--

Awww... Getting emails from friends while you're at work is the best.

Hm. Last day is tomorrow.

Lately...

2007-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been itching to go somewhere. I’m not saying that I think we should all pack up and go to New York City to stay in a five star hotel for a week or anything. I’m just suggesting a little college road trip. You know.

For example.

When I lived at home, I had the best group of friends ever. Once we drove to Salt Lake for conference and had two hotel rooms right next door to each other. One for the girls, one for the guys. I think we drove Thursday night – Friday morning and then had the hotel Friday night, Saturday night, and drove back Sunday. It was fantastic.

Then, another time, we all drove to the beach. Again we got two hotel rooms but just for Friday night to Saturday. Saturday we went to the beach all day for surfing, skim boarding, and sunbathing. (I fried. Literally fried.) And then, right at about sunset we went to a friend’s house for a BBQ. It was also fantastic. Plus, we were home for church on Sunday.

I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve never really done that with friends from here. I mean, I guess a bunch of my old roommates went to California for a weekend last year but… I had work. And in all fairness, one time I took a roommate and another time I took a boyfriend home with me for the weekend but that’s… home. It’s not the same.

How come we never have any fun here?

That said, I propose the following road trips.

Option 1: St. George
Friday night – Sunday night

Utah’s Dixie welcomes you! Enjoy a weekend surrounded by the stunning red rocks that put the “awe” in “awesome!” Spend the morning relaxed by the pool then take an afternoon hike through Zion’s National Park. At night, socialize with friends until you retire to a comfortable repose. You’ll love the beauty and convenience of a weekend trip to southern Utah!

Option 2: Camping
Friday night – Saturday afternoon/night

Enjoy spring the moment it starts! This one day, one night excursion provides a quick getaway on a student budget. Feel close to nature as you take a leisurely stroll along some unmarked path! Watch for animals that might eat you as you collect firewood! Sleep on the ground as you gaze up at the stars! If you like nature, this is the road trip for you!

Option 3: California (Los Angeles area)
Friday night – Sunday night

Put away your parka and pull out your pink, polka dot pwimsuit! Come soak up the sun while the waves crash just a few feet away. Once the sun sets, clean up and dress up for a night on the town! Enjoy a night of illusion and intrigue at Hollywood’s world famous Magic Castle! Don’t miss this experience of a lifetime!

Option 4: Something else

Imagine this as the Choose Your Own Adventure Road Trip! Maybe you’ve always wanted to mosey on down to Moab or you’ve been told that Denver is divine. Maybe you have connections in Cedar or a best friend going to Bear Lake. If you’re thinkin’ that San Francisco isn’t far or that Park City is paradise, let me know!*

Please email me your feedback as soon as possible and we’ll see what we can work out. (Reality is, I doubt anyone will actually email me. But I want to go…)

*The dinosaur museum in Vernal is just not an option. And that’s the end of that discussion.

I feel like Cinderella...

2007-03-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

I feel like Cinderella.

You know how Cinderella’s stepmother tells her she can go to the ball if she gets all of her work done first? And then the stepmother and stepsisters spend all day “creating” work for Cinderella so that she can never get done?

Now imagine that applied to my current job. As in, “You can take that new job and leave us here if you get all of your work here done first…”

That’s how I feel.

[sigh]

Our little girl's favorite things...

2007-03-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

Our little girl's favorite things...

Awww...

From my office...

2007-03-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

From my office…

There’s a guy in my office that’s always mooching off of us. If we have food, he wants it. Whatever it is. Take the following conversation between my boss and I...

Lavish: We should watch Making Fiends today.
Boss: “Don’t you know who I am?!”
K: Making what?
Lavish: Fiends.
K: What’s that? I want one.

[sigh] I'm gonna miss this office...

It's no fun...

2007-03-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's no fun being mad at someone that doesn't care you're mad... Hmph.

Lately I've been feeling...

2007-03-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been feeling a little... less than thrilled about certain aspects of my current job. I mean, I absolutely love the people I work with but I've just become burnt out on some of the main tasks included in my job description. Not good. There have been a couple times in the past that I've felt something similar to this but never quite to this extent and I've never gotten to the point of looking for something else.

This time was different somehow though. Without telling anyone, I started kind of looking for a new job. Not really looking but just kinda keeping an eye open for something I might want. I hadn't even interviewed for anything until this week. Let's begin our story there.

Somewhere in a business park in Provo lies a small office. This particular office has two main bosses, a man that works from their office, the wife of one of the bosses, and a secretary-of-sorts that is leaving. In the interest of keeping things afloat, these two bosses and the wife began interviewing applicants for the future vacancy of their leaving staff earlier this week. I was asked to come interview and, from what I'd seen so far of the company, decided I would.

To put it simply, I l-o-v-e loved it. And they seemed to like me.
As I left, they cautioned me that although they liked me, they did have quite a few applicants. The decision was to be made by the end of the week and it was anticipated that second interviews would be conducted for a select few applicants in the next day or so. If I hadn't received a call by Wednesday, they said, then they weren't interested.
[dramatic pause]

The next morning, they called and asked for me to come in for a second interview.

Long story short, I went back in Wednesday afternoon (after I'd finished working at my current job) and they asked me a few more questions. For the record, I don't like interview questions. Things like, "What do you think is your greatest weakness," and, "What three words describe you best," are harder to answer than you'd think. Still, by the end of the interview I couldn't help but acknowledge that I actually really wanted the job.

I came to find out that they had interviewed about fifteen applicants and eventually narrowed it down to the four they had liked best. Only those four had been asked in for second interviews. According to the bosses, all four were completely qualified and all four would be great but that didn't change the fact that they only needed one. They would discuss it that night and possibly more the next day and call whoever they'd chosen Thursday. They assured me that I had excellent credentials and if they didn't offer me the job, is wasn't at all because I wasn't qualified.

By the time I left their office, it was about 6:20. At about 6:40, my phone rang with their number. I answered and one of the bosses quickly explained that they'd had all the time they needed to discuss it and wanted to offer me the position. I accepted.

Over the next few minutes I proceeded to call/text everyone that knew I had applied for the job (= not many people) while getting ready for my class.

As excited as I was about the new position, it seemed really... surreal. I was vaguely aware of the fact that now I actually would need to tell my current job that I'd be leaving. I don't like giving notice in general and thankfully I haven't had to do it many times but I knew with this job it'd be particularly hard. At some point, it hit me just how hard it would be to talk to my boss the next day and I proceeded to stress about it the rest of the night, despite attempts by Yellow and Erin to reassure me. The thing is, I've been at my current job* for about three years. Three years. I've been here since my boss started his agency. And it's especially a big deal because it's hard to hire people because our company requires that all staff be licensed and most people can't pass their test. And like... we're a good agency. Even JD Power says so. And I really like working here. I love my boss. And of course, A. I love A.

(Funny story, at one point I told Yellow that I didn't want tomorrow to come. To which he replied, "But it's my birthday!")

Whether or not I wanted tomorrow to come, it did. I got to work at 9 (well, 9-ish) and it took me until 10:30 to work up the courage to go talk to my boss about things. I went back to his office, asked if he had a minute (he did, obviously), closed the door, and sat down. I explained the situation as best as I could knowing that in less than a minute, he'd hate me. After I finally stopped talking, he paused for a second and then proceeded to tell me that he knows that he owes everything we've done over the last three years to me. And that all the plaques on his wall are because of me. And that he was sad I was leaving, wished there was something he could do to get me to stay, and promised that if I ever wanted to come back, there'd always be a job here for me. Aww.

And then I had to tell A.

It went about like you might expect. Two hours of A quietly crying at her desk. Then at about 1:00 she decided she was going to be bitter instead. "It's not like you're going to be here much longer anyway, why do you care?" Oh gosh. I text Yellow something about how A being mean now and he texted me back saying, "Tell A I say to be nice." Her reply? "Bite me." I love A.

I think the best part of things was the following email.

-----Original Message-----
From: [A]
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 4:08 PM
To: [Lavish]
Subject: This is me grieving

· shock followed by initial denial - Bawling my eyes out at my desk for 2 hours
· denial replaced by anger, rage, envy, and resentment # [Lavish] you suck. How can you do this to me? How can you leave me here with these psychos?
· bargaining # [Lavish], can't you just work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?
· depression - I hate life. [Lavish] is gone :(
· ultimate acceptance - I guess I'll grow up and get over it :p

--
A went through the first four stages at least twice yesterday. Today she's back to stage one with my boss.

[sigh]

And that's the story.

* I guess that since I'm leaving this job I can now tell everyone that didn't know that I work(ed) for an insurance company.

I hate Lent.

2007-02-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

(I was going to include the following in a comment on Cathryn's blog. Instead, I decided it was time for me to actually blog on my blog.)

I hate Lent.

Yes, that's right. We're about five days into Lent and I think I hate it much as (or more than) Just Another Cassio. Optimistic. asked me at Laser Jock’s birthday thing how Lent was going and I told him it was fine. But really, it’s not.

If you haven't chosen something to give up for Lent yet, don't. If you absolutely insist on it, perhaps you should chose one from my list of silly suggestions. A word of advice though... Whatever you do, don't give up kissing. I'm serious. It may seem like a good idea now but let me assure you, it's not.

The thing is, I wasn't counting on having someone that I actually wanted to kiss. Especially not so close to the start of Lent. But I do. And I'm this close to calling it quits.

Since Wednesday, I've come up with a list of possible addendums to my Lent. I'll just share a few.

1. No kissing after 12:30 am.
2. No kissing any new people.
3. No kissing Monday - Saturday.
4. No kissing on the lips.
5. No kissing unless my homework is already done.
6. No kissing on days I haven't yet read my scriptures.
7. No kissing when it’s not your day (One day I can kiss him, the next day he can kiss me.)
8. No kissing for longer than x seconds.
9. No kissing except on his birthday.
10. No kissing and telling.

I'm also considering giving up on the no kissing and switching to, say, no text messaging or something. Or giving up my debit card would be smart. Can you imagine how much money I'd save if I had to pay for everything with cash? Suddenly the convenience of spending money would be gone and I’d be set. Really, there are plenty of things I could do instead… If, at all.

Two things...

2007-02-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

Two things...

1. I finally got an estimate for that little dent in my car... Any guesses as to how much it's gonna cost me?

2. Tonight there was something that I was extremely pleased about and wanted to share with someone. And yet, I couldn't think of anyone at all that I could call.

If you've ever...

2007-02-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

If you've ever been a member of a BYU singles ward, you're probably at least mildly aware of the existence of Nice Notes, Sunshine Notes, Honey Pot Notes, or whatever "cute name" your ward has come up with for the inter-ward notes that are written and distributed. Our ward is no exception. We have Nice Notes and let me just say, dimmi and I are Nice Note pros. In all fairness, credit for our note writing abilities must be extended to Optimistic.'s apartment. Their notes like, "You are a-maze-ing," (with a picture of a maze) have inspired our notes like, "We're glad you're in our ward" (with a picture of a hospital ward). These nice notes provide a seemingly endless amount of entertainment during church. We spend the majority of Relief Society drawing (and coloring) these notes.

Over the past few months, we've received quite a bit of praise for the notes we've written. Our recipients seem to enjoy them immensely and we try to send them to various people in the ward so that everyone can appreciate our talents. We do always make sure that we send one to each of our home teachers. They've been the biggest fans of our notes and have even sent us a couple of their own.

That's brings us to the most recent Nice Note we received from one of our home teachers. We sat just behind him in sacrament meeting last week and about part way through he turned around and handed me a note. This is what it said:

#90, #11 Reversed, #19 #39, #8, #92 #13, #53 #18, E #90, E #5, Reversed # 42, #5

If you have no idea what that says, don't worry. We didn't either-- at first. See, we have sacrament meeting in the Clyde Building and there's a huge Periodic Table on the wall of our "chapel." The numbers on his note are atomic numbers. Finding the atomic number = Finding the element -> Insert the letter into the message.

[pause] Isn't that awesome?!

dimmi and I were thrilled with his creativity. We immediately abandoned our other projects and spent the rest of sacrament meeting suspiciously focused on the Periodic Table.

Do you ever wonder about chance?

2007-02-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder about chance?

I’m not talking about horse races and poker. This is more about the everyday things in life. The things that aren’t planned or expected. You know… chance.

See, lately I’ve been on a mission to try all the different flavors of Jones Soda. Cream Soda has been my default favorite flavor for the last year since it was the only one I’d ever tried but, after an adventure last week that involved two grocery stores, nine bottles of Jones Soda, Optimistic., and dimmi, I decided it’d be worth my while to try the other flavors.

Aside from flavor, there are two important features of these soda bottles that must be noted. First, there’s the picture on the front. The bottle that I purchased today had a picture of a cat that looked distinctly like the cat I had growing up. I had to buy it. Second, each Jones Soda has a fortune under the bottle cap. Some are stupid, some could be good if you take them metaphorically, and some are really good. The fortune I got today is the motivation behind this post.

Honestly, I know that it wasn’t written specifically for me. Whoever approved it had no way of knowing anything about me or what I’d be thinking about today. And yet, at the same time, this fortune meant something to me. And I know. There are probably thousands, maybe even millions, of people that this fortune would have meant something to. But still. Today, I picked it.

The fortune?

“Your silence at this time is important.”

And so, our adventure begins...

2007-01-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

“And so, our adventure begins. We find our heroes and we uncover our fears. And sometimes, we triumph.” (YA)

I’m really excited about this one…

Friday... Saturday... Sunday...

2007-01-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Friday…

Friday night was my ward activity. It was, if I may say so myself, awesome. There were a couple complications throughout the night (namely we had 408 donuts when we left Krispy Kreme and only 406 when we got to the activity…) but overall it went well. Oh yeah, and, I may or may not have accidentally backed the corner my car into the brick wall at my house Friday night. Whoops...

Also, pretty much my entire Elders Quorum flirts with me. I’m serious.

My Favorite Quote of the Night

Boy in the Ward: [Lavish], where’s your man?
Me: Which one?
Boy: I just figured you look so cute tonight that you’d have a man with you.

Good one.

Saturday…

Saturday night, dimmi and I hosted an anti-party. See, all of our friends were doing things without us. So we did our own thing with just CPM and Erin and, frankly, it turned out better than I’d expected. So there.

You know, that’s something I do miss about home. At home there was a group of, eh, 10-ish of us that would always do stuff together. H was my best friend and she was dating K (they’re now married) and K and I would always do the planning and I loved it. People always did my ideas. And sometimes we’d just watch a movie and there’d only be 6 or so of us and sometimes we’d go bowling and there’d be 25 of us. And we all just enjoyed each other. And it was fun. And I miss that.

Sunday…

What can I say aside from that I’m loving my ward this semester. Yesterday I was at church for four and a half hours. And yet,… I don’t know. It was good.

And, I made chocolate covered strawberries yesterday. When life gives you strawberries, cover them in chocolate. These ones are covered in chocolate and plastic wrap since we took them to the nice boys in our ward that flirt with me.

Dear Duchess...

2007-01-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Duchess,

I, Lavish, am very sorry that I haven’t blogged all week even though I told you on Tuesday or whatever day it was that I would. It’s not because I’m on crack. It’s because I have been very, extremely busy this week but I know that work and school are not excuses and I intend to post something amazing as soon as possible. Please accept my sincerest apologies and eagerly await my next post.

- Lavish

Pictures!

2007-01-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

When life gives you apples...

2007-01-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

When life gives you apples, make apple pie...

Last weekend dimmi and I had an apple party. The party's theme was well-intended but to be honest, it wasn't quite the usual caliber of our parties. I'll admit it. Sorry to those that attended. We'll do better next time. In any event, after the party we had a bunch of unused apples. What better thing to do with them than make apple pie? And so my apple pie making adventure began.

Pictured above is one of the three delectable apple pies that I made. Dragon Lady, Laser Jock, JAC, Questioning, or anyone from Optimistic.'s apartment, can testify that "delectable" would be an appropriate adjective for my pies.

In the theatre industry...

2007-01-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

In the theatre industry, the week before a production opens is affectionately called “Hell Week” by the cast and crew. This is the week when last minute alterations are made to costumes, lighting is tested and retested, and everyone crosses their fingers that the paint on the set will be completely dry by Thursday. And, for the cast, Hell Week means late, late nights on stage all week.

Now allow me to explain my Wednesdays to you. I have begun to refer to them (also affectionately) as “Hell Days.” Take today, for example. Last night I got approximately six hours of sleep. I was up this morning at approximately 6:26 am (admittedly about 45 minutes later than I’d hoped) for my 7 am class. My day won’t finish until approximately 10 pm when my last class gets out. Why do I do it, you ask? Because, I’m an overachiever and I secretly love it. [sigh]

So.

2007-01-10T16:52:00.001-07:00

So. Let’s discuss my French class. Last semester I had a really small French class. There were, on average, about twelve of us in class. Needless to say, we got to know each other pretty well.

This semester our class is even smaller. There are about six of us from last semester and four new people. It’s funny though because last night our class was honestly divided. It was like the Olds vs. the News. The Olds had all these inside jokes and knew all the same information and the News obviously didn’t. When I brought cupcakes yesterday, one of the News actually asked us to explain why. And really, all of us from last semester are smarter than the News. The News kept asking questions. I believe I’ve mentioned before that I hate when people miss class and then keep asking questions about things that they missed. That’s kind of how it was last night except they missed a whole semester. And I know that it’s a class so it shouldn’t be cliquish but, it was.

Oh, and P.S., the News are weird. One girl was telling us about how she got married when she was sixteen and how she doesn’t eat any meat. She has never had a hamburger in her life. Great.

Need I say more?

2007-01-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Regarding my new English class...

2007-01-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Regarding my new English class...

15 guys, 4 girls? Yes, please! (Gotta love those 7 am classes.)

This morning my professor mentioned something about styles of writing. You know, like MLA, APA, Chicago,... (...Duchess...) No seriously. I honestly thought that.

Other notes:

- My parents left yesterday. Thanks again to those that came and met them. My mom especially loved it. ("You're Just Another Cassio?!")
- My co-chair and I are buddies again. Maybe because his fiancee is about eight time zones away?
- A and I have a new game at work. We sit right next to each other and used to email back and forth but we're worried it's too suspicious since we're always in Outlook. Now we've created a fictional account with our programs at work so that we can leave notes in it. One leaves one, the other reads it, responds, and then deletes the original one. It's great.
- Also, we've started this like... lunch thing at work. Monday is my day, Tuesday is K's day, and Wednesday is A's day. Last week K was out (she and her boyfriend broke up) so she missed her day and A forgot. My day got switched to Thursday since Monday was a holiday and I took chicken enchiladas and a salad. It was amazing. Anyway, today was my day again. I brought scalloped potatoes. Obviously they were also amazing. Pretty much, I'm going to be the best wife ever. And, they'd better bring their stuff tomorrow and Wednesday or I'm done bringing good food.

The end.

So. Let's start at the beginning...

2007-01-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

So. Let’s start at the beginning.

Normally my boss does anything out of the office. Occasionally, he’ll double book something and he’ll ask me to go to something for him. Last Wednesday was one of those days. He had a work something and a scuba diving lesson (seriously) at the same time. He had me go to the work thing, obviously.

I won’t go into details but the work thing was at the home of a person whose entire house absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. I was there for fifteen minutes and came out smelling like I was a chain smoker (I’m not, obviously). Not wanting to ruin my coat, I immediately took it to the dry cleaners by my work. I was a little annoyed at having to take it in to begin with but eh, it probably needed to be cleaned soon anyway. I dropped it off and the lady told me it’d be $5.64 and that I could pick it up Friday after 10 am. Great.

Now the thing about my dry cleaner is that they only take cash or checks. I rarely have cash on me and I hate writing checks that people don’t cash for a month so I specifically made sure I had $5.64 in cash when I went to pick it up. Smart, huh.

Not if they RAISE the price from $5.64 to TWELVE SEVENTY-FOUR. [glare] Supposedly my coat was “really dirty.” I’m sorry but I’m not some five year old boy that rolls in the dirt or anything. My coat just doesn’t get that dirty. Needless to say, I was not happen. And the thing is, it’s not the money that matters because technically, I would have needed it cleaned either way. But they more than doubled the price. You just don’t do that.

Well. Normally I’d get it taken care of. In fact, I’m semi-mad at myself that I didn’t tell the lady she was nuts while I was there. Instead though, I was rational and paid it (yes, I wrote a check that they won’t cash for like… a month) and went on my way. You should be extra proud too that I didn’t say anything since, in addition to doubling the price after the fact, the lady kept calling me the wrong name.

Since then, I’ve already chosen a new dry cleaner and called to find out where to direct my written (and very irate) complaint. Hmph.

Happy...

2007-01-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Happy First Anniversary of Becoming a Board Writer to Me! :)

Aww...

I hate when I run...

2007-01-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

I hate when I run out of things to do. Well. It’s not that I’m out of things to do, it’s just that I can’t do any more things right now. Well. I mean, things I want to do. I’m at work and I have plenty of work things to do but who wants to do that? (Besides. My boss is out scuba diving right now.)

I checked the Board and answered a couple questions. Checked Gmail (no new emails to reply to). Checked the Board again (nothing new). Glanced at my phone to see if I had any new text messages (no). Etc.

My parents are up for the weekend so they stopped in for a few minutes. They just left to go pick dimmi up from work though.

A and I decided to have lunch early today since… Well, just because.

Pretty much I think I need someone new to email or something.

L'amour...

2007-01-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
Que nul ne peut apprivoiser.
Et c'est bien on vain qu'on l'appelle
S'il lui convient de refuser.
(Carmen)

Translation:
Love is a wild bird
That no one can tame.
It's useless to chase it
If it won't play the game.

It has come to my attention...

2006-12-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention the dimmi and have had some awesome parties this year. If you haven't been invited, it's because we usually have an exclusive guest list for anything other than game nights and movie nights. If you think you should be invited (or invited more often), you should let me know.

Anyway, I was just going through a bunch of pictures on my camera and found some from dimmi and I's birthday party. We had it in October even though our birthdays are in April and August. See, it wasn't a party for our birthdays. It was General Conference weekend so we had a birthday party for the three apostles that have October and November birthdays. It was just like the birthday parties we used to go to-- Games like "Pin the Tie on the Prophet" (credit for this idea goes to Yellow's little sister), "Button, Button, Whose Got the Button," and the Thimble Game... Cake... Ice cream... And goody bags featuring paratroopers, Woolly Willy, and lots of candy. It was fun.

We also recently hosted a Christmas party. We watched a Christmas movie, ate about a million cookies dimmi and I made, and everyone got a "Christmas surprise." Also fun.

Plans for a "President's Day" party are underway.

Things That Lavish Doesn't Like

2006-12-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Things That Lavish Doesn't Like:

Flying.

Ok. Really, I normally like flying. But flying after Christmas on a packed flight when the weather isn't cooperating? No. Add to that a couple of other nearby passengers (yes, plural) throwing up and it makes for a very unpleasant flight.

(Clarification: I guess I didn't really start this post out very well. For those that don't already know, dimmi and I flew back to Provo last night. Well, I guess to be more precise we flew back to Salt Lake and drove back to Provo.)

You know what? I feel so lame saying so but I missed Provo. It honestly feels like home to me now. Sure, I'll always have some attachment to my parents' house because I have so many memories there but it's just not the same anymore. And in all fairness, the longer I'm there the more I settle back into things but really, at this point I prefer to be here. All of my friends are here. (dimmi and I have started a list on our whiteboard of when all of our friends get back. If any of you would like to come back sooner, we're ok with it.) As we were driving to the airport last night I kept thinking about whether or not two places could feel like home at the same time.

And now, how about a list of things I do like?

Things That Lavish Does Like:

The cute boy sitting across from dimmi and I at the airport. Even if we didn't talk.
Getting my kitty back!

One last thing. Last night our flight attendant's name was "Popcorn." That's how they introduced her and that's what her name tag said. So, please vote. Was that her real name? dimmi says yes, I say no.

(Wow. This post is all over the place. I'm tired.)

For those of you that haven't heard...

2006-12-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't heard, I want to be a First Lady when I "grow up."

Think about it. How many people do you know that want to be a First Lady? ...Exactly. There's not much competition. And yet, there's tons of opportunity. I mean, I don't have to be the President's wife. There's also the Vice President. Senators. Congressmen. Governors. Apostles. Mission Presidents. Generals...

So. If you know any single guys that seem to have Presidential Potential, send them my way.

(Last night I explained all of this to my father. He hates politics and was, quite obviously, not impressed. Come to think of it, I don't think my mother is either.)

Has anyone else ever considered...

2006-12-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else ever considered the fact that nobody makes knock-off cars? Seriously. My sisters and I were thinking about this yesterday. You see knock-off watches... purses... sunglasses... Why not cars?

Come on people, think about it. There could be a huge market for this on the streets of New York City or Tijuana. You could have like... a Nizzan, a BNW, or a Hunda for, say, 78% less than what you'd pay for the "real thing." And really, nobody would even notice. Can imagine, you go to New York and a guy walks up to you in a big, black trench coat. He opens his coat to reveal... keys. You'd select the far left one in the third row down. It's a BNW key chain with the blue and white switched. I wouldn't even notice.

Ok. And I understand the argument that Mazda is essentially the same as Ford and Lexus is essentially the same as Toyota, etc. but let's be serious. They're not knock-offs. You're still paying for the name. See what I mean?

So. What do you think? Want a Crysler Seabring? How about a Masda 8 or 9?

Quote of the Day

2006-12-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day

"You know [Lavish], sometimes I wish I would have known you in Australia and you weren't LDS. We would have had a lot of fun."

Great.

I'm a lucky girl...

2006-12-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

(Ok. So, honestly, this has been sitting in my blog drafts for like… two weeks. Long story. I wasn’t going to post it since it had been so long but, I dunno… Anyway, I just edited it a bit to make it make more up to date but other than that, I haven’t changed a thing.)

I'm a lucky girl. I've been going on quite a few "hot dates" lately. Can I tell about them? (Of course I can. It's my blog.) For the sake of time (both mine writing and your reading), I'll narrow it down to three.

First, I went to a concert with a friend and it was honestly one of my favorite dates I've ever been on for a few reasons.

1. We went to the Jon Schmidt concert.
To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much. I thought it'd be nice but I really wasn't prepared for it to be that good. The music was awesome, first of all. And second of all, Jon is just such a personable guy that it makes it that much better. I felt like by the end of the night I could have gone up to him and told him thanks and I'll see you at church on Sunday or something. He was just that nice.
2. I got to see his house and meet his family (except for one sister and one brother), dog, and cat.
Honestly, this guy has the cutest family ever. They were exactly what I would have expected. They were just so... welcoming. Especially considering that we showed up at 11:00pm.
3. It was comfortable.
I may have on occasion (after you twist my arm and threaten to turn on hours and hours of country music) mentioned that I hate, hate, hate awkward dating. Everything about it from the second the guy asks to the second the date ends bothers me. But this date was fantastic. We already knew each other so we didn't have to go over all of the "So, what's your major" stuff. Plus, we talked about other girls he liked/likes and why I can't find a guy that I actually like. And, neither one of us was expecting fireworks or proposals last night. We just (at least, in my opinion) had a good time. So. You know who you are. Good job.

Then there was the week before’s date.

I went out with a different someone the weekend before. A really, really nice someone. And let's be serious, that poor guy didn't stand a chance. I wasn't grumpy per say but I wasn't all that friendly either. He tried so hard to please me and in all fairness he did more than I admitted at the time but yeah, I don’t know what was wrong with me. I was just… off. Still, he deserves points and here’s why.

1. We went to the symphony which, I just l-o-v-e-d loved.
You know how I've been forcing myself to go to the opera? Well, it's not that I don't like the opera but sometimes they have ugly costumes and never end. But the symphony? It's fantastic. And aside from that, the first song was my favorite classical song. I know, who has a favorite classical song? Me.
2. We got to see the lights at Temple Square.
Nothing feels more Christmas-y than Temple Square, even when it feels like it's three degrees outside. You know how there's that hill on the east side of the Conference Center? Well all the trees on both sides are lit up and it's the most amazing tunnel of lights. I loved it.

Also, I'd like to mention that this guy also came over and made me waffles with strawberries and whipped cream one night a couple weeks ago. See, I was extremely stressed about my ward Christmas party. (Don't get me started about my engaged co-chair.) And really, I probably didn't give him enough credit. Those waffles were amazing. Even my kitty wanted them.

Now for the final date (if you could call it that). I went ice skating.

1. I love ice skating.
Especially when everyone else has to wait in a long line for skates and I have my own. That makes it that much better.
2. This guy and I have known each other for forever and dated for about, oh, forever before he went on his mission.
Whenever we're together it's fun because we have so many memories together. We're constantly reminding each other of things. "Remember when...?" It’s fun.

See how much fun I’ve been having?

And now I should tell you who was who so that everyone will know what great guys these are and all the girls can start flocking to them, right? Well, unless they want to comment, no such luck.

Dear Lavish...

2006-12-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Lavish,

It's time for another post.

- Yellow

Dear Yellow,

I think you're right.

- Lavish

The problem with neglecting a blog (aside from the obvious) is that when you finally get around to writing again anything you write is subject to the same scrutiny as your first post. Over the last few weeks I've thought several times about posting something but each time I decide whatever I was considering posting isn't worthy enough to be posted. After all, any faithful readers that have been waiting for me to post again, don't really want to read about something trivial. Fortunately, I have people like Yellow that kindly remind me that I'm a little overdue for another post. So. Here's my awkward first post after not posting in forever. Now we can move on.

If I were to...

2006-11-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

If I were to actually give this post a title, I think it would be called,

The Trouble With Roast Beef.

With a title like that, how could you not be drawn in? In fact, your first reaction to that title was probably one of alarm. How might one find fault with meat that can be eaten with mashed potatoes and gravy. It's true though, dear readers. Roast beef and its accessories are not as innocent as they once were. Times have changed since your brother(s), sister(s), and parents gathered around the dining room table for Sunday dinner.

The problem with roast beef is actually one that lies with any home cooked meal when you're away from home. Roast beef seemed the perfect example but let's not neglect that cheesy lasagna, warm enchiladas, or homemade chicken noodle soup.

It all begins with making too much.

Obviously cooking when you're living on your own is somewhat of a daunting experience. I mean really, who even has the time for throwing together a masterpiece like Mom's? And every night? Are you kidding? So say you do, every now and then, find/make the time. Perhaps you even enjoy cooking said meal. Herein lies the problem.

Inevitably, you're going to want to make a little extra so that you can have some tomorrow for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. It'll be a lot faster to warm it up tomorrow than it was to make it tonight, right? Right.

If you're like me though, making a“little extra”for tomorrow is easier said than done. I grew up in a big family and it's easier for me to make a lot of food than to only make a little. And what happens when you make a lot?

A. You eat what you've made, meal after meal, for the next two weeks until it's gone.
B. You neatly store the leftovers in the refrigerator fully intending to check on them tomorrow. Two or three weeks later, you remember your intentions. By then, what you once ate has started to look more like a science project than a meal and must immediately go in the garbage.
C. You invite people over to help consume the food that you've prepared.

Now, options A and B clearly have their flaws. Let's skip to C.

Seems innocent enough, doesn't it? Having people over for a nice meal? Well, you'd think so.

Let me assure you. It's not.

When you invite someone over, apparently there are certain implications one must be aware of. Serving anything other than cereal apparently indicates some pretty serious intentions. What once said,“I have extra food and don't to waste it,”now means something along the lines of,“I want you. Badly.”

You didn't know that? Neither did I. Apparently though, others do. That's why I now believe that in order to avoid making any social“faux pas,”you must exercise a certain amount of caution when extending invitations to home cooked meals. Likewise, when guys in your ward hear that you throw away leftovers and promise their assistance next time in consuming leftovers before they go bad, remember the message you are sending if you actually take them up on their“generous”offer. If you don't want them badly, you probably shouldn't call.

That's right, dear readers. Gone are the days when inviting someone over for dinner was merely a nice thing to do. This is the Big League now.

You'll accomplish more...

2006-10-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

"You'll accomplish more later if you take some time for yourself."

So I guess I should get a massage this weekend.

Anyone else interested?

Lately I've been thinking about wanting...

2006-10-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been thinking about wanting. Not really about the things I want but about wanting in general. The verb. Anyway, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are four kinds of wants. I’ll explain.

The first kind of wants are the reasonable wants. For example--

Reasonable Wants
Chocolate Teddy Grahams.

A new black cardigan.
A new cellphone.
More Pilot G-2 pens.
Jamba Juice.

Clearly these are the things you can actually have. A box of Teddy Grahams is what, like $3? No big deal. It’s just a matter of going to the store and getting them. Black cardigan? No problem. I’ll see if I can find time this weekend to swing by Nordstrom or something. Etc. These things are attainable.

Second level wants are your desires for your future. For example--

Future Wants
A house.
My education finished.
Marriage.
Children.

Well. I think you get the idea on that one. Future wants are things you'll get-- eventually. They're just things that take time. They're attainable (even if they are expensive) but take time.

The next kind of wants are the extravagant wants. They’re the things you want, know you can’t have, but still don’t mind dreaming about every now ant then. For example--

Extravagent Wants

This house.
A trip to Washington, D.C. (and it’d be nice to meet President and Mrs. Bush).
A trip to Paris.
An entirely new wardrobe.

See, these are the things you really do want but you’ve accepted the fact that it’s just not all that likely to happen right away, if at all. That doesn’t mean you no longer want it. It means you’ve come to terms with the fact that these things are (generally) out of your price range. If they are in your price range, obviously the opportunity cost is too great. That doesn’t mean you can’t dream about them though…

And for the last category of wants. The fourth category would probably be titled something long like, “Things You Want More Than Anything, But You Still Can’t Have.” You know exactly what things I’m talking about, don’t you. If you don’t, now would be the time to take a minute and think realllllly hard about it… Yeah. Like that… Anyway. I won’t go into detail as to what’s on that list of mine.

[sigh]

Among things I hate...

2006-10-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Among things I hate:

People that miss class one day and then monopolize half an hour of the next class asking basic questions about something they missed.

And yes. This might have happened to me tonight.

Our little Abby...

2006-10-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Our little Abby...

dimmi and I finally got our little kitty on Saturday. She's only about five weeks old and about the size of two hands put together. As you can see, we named her Abby (since she's a Tabby) and she's just the most darling little thing ever. Give her the chance and she'll charm the heck out of you. Yes, that's right, you too will love our little Abby. Don't take my word for it though. Come see for yourself.

For those back home...

2006-10-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

For those back home...

Amazing grace!* How sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
We have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we'd first begun.

- John Newton
(Revised by Harriet Beecher Stowe)

And especially, especially for my dear AMS...

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

- Katharina von Schlegel

*Not sure what this recording is from but it's beautiful. Just listen to it in the background and ignore the end.

$68.76

2006-10-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

$68.76.

That's what my signature was worth this morning... Mwahaha.

I have a five step program...

2006-10-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

I have a five step program that I want everyone to follow.

1. Listen.
2. Laugh.
3. Love.
4. Decide.
5. Declare.

It's the LLLDD program for short.

Here's what you do:

1. Listen to this.

2. Laugh at it.

3. Love it. (Really, how could you not?)

4. Decide when you'd like to go to the opera with me.

Saturday, October 14 -- 7:30 pm
Friday, October 20 -- 7:30 pm

The 21st really doesn't work for me because I have a wedding dinner/reception to attend the same night. Not mine. A friend's. Out of these two I'd prefer the 14th but either would work.

5. Declare your decision by emailing me at lavishable at gmail dot com and letting me know when we're going.

It'll be great. Even if you don't love the opera yet, that commercial should make you want to go. And, the bonus is that you'll be more cultured afterwards. It's worth it.

You always hear...

2006-10-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

You always hear about Board writers that share useless facts they’ve learned from their question answering. I seriously will randomly tell friends and other writers and, well, basically anyone that will listen the things that I’ve learned. I always conclude my lesson by matter of factly saying, “I answered a question about that.” Normally this is fine. In fact, sometimes it works out great and people think I’m smarter than I actually am. But what about the flipside?

Well.

This morning my professor asked my class a question he figured no one would know. In fact, he actually prefaced the question by saying that he didn’t think anyone would get it. But guess what. It was something I answered once as a Board question. And what happened? My thoughts absolutely raced but all I could do was think,

[frantically] OH, OH!... I know this!!!

Boy, was I upset. I am extremely competitive and it bothered me that although I knew I knew the answer, it wasn’t coming to me when I needed it. How… frustrating.

[sigh]

So there you have it. The Board provides fame and fortune (except that nobody really does know your name and you don’t get paid) and… well, sometimes misfortune. Guess you have to take the good with the bad, eh?