get your legs flexin and your arms t-rexin and do the creep

LESSON 12: DON'T GIVE YOUR DATE A CONCUSSION

Apparently tonight was flashback night. First, while at work, the brother of an old..ish ex came in, and started telling me what beautiful eyes I had. Then he realized who I was, got his yogurt, asked how my night was, told me his brother was gay (not really gay) and left.

Afterwards, I went over to see some new friends, and at their apartment, I run into an ex of one of my close friends from home, whom I have not seen since...March? So also, a little weird. (Probably not weird to any of you who don't know the story, which is most of you, but it was definitely unexpected for me.)

Then, since apparently I can't go to bed before 2:00 am now, I started doing some creeping on a boy I had dated just before moving to Utah, we'll call him Pursuit. Sometimes I'm just a creep. (Like all of you aren't!)

I also take pictures of interesting strangers I encounter daily:

On my most recent trip to California, I encountered the One True Ruler of Middle Earth. Nbd.

Anyways. So I was just curious about Pursuit's life, so I'm just going through pictures and whatnot, when I remember a story. It's too bad things didn't work out because this would have been classic to tell our kids.

MY FIRST DATE WITH PURSUIT

Part of the reason I didn't go out on many dates before leaving home was the fact that I lived 40 minutes from any town. However, one night in my Institute class, I meet this nice boy, and he tells me he would like to take me on a date. Graciously I accept, and that weekend, he drives from town, picks me up, and takes me back into town for our date. That ends up being 160 minutes for him by the time he arrives home. Like I said, nicest kid. So, as the main portion of this date, he takes me to this country dancing night. Now, those of you that know me know how lethal that is. Not only am I completely and utterly uncoordinated, but I am also incredibly accident prone. I have 2 broken noses to prove it. I try to warn him, but he is so excited, and regardless of the fact that I shouldn't, I still and have always loved dancing, so I complied with whatever he wanted to try. That is, until everyone decided it was "tall, strong boy backflip over your weeny clumsy lady partner" time. I was supposed to do some fancy spin or other, then bend over and link our arms so he can back flip over me. Terrible explanation? I know. But it's the best I can do. End result: I must support him as he flips over me. Now, to be fair, I pleaded with him not to try it. I said over and over that I would fall over and I would drop him. Poor naive Pursuit thought I was being humble/silly/whateverIdon'tknowwhyhewouldn'tbelievemeIdidtheaterforsevenyearsdangit!
He would not listen, and wanting to be a good date and make him happy, I bent down and prayed that somehow, somewhere deep inside I would find the strength to hold up this 6'4" lifeguard, swim coach guy. Unfortunatly these hopes were folly, and the moment he put all of his weight on me, I collapsed like Lindsay Lohan under the pressures of drugs and fame. He managed to fall away from me, so I was fine, but Pursuit was not so much. Landing on his head, he ended up getting a concussion.

I  g a v e  a  b o y  a  c o n c u s s i o n  o n  o u r  f i r s t  d a t e.

Somehow though, we ended up dating for a little bit afterwards. Maybe I need to go dancing with boys more often?

Moral of the story: if a girl says she can't support you, SHE CAN'T SUPPORT YOU.

Perhaps things would have been different had I danced like this:
http://youtu.be/tLPZmPaHme0

remember who you are

LESSON 11: DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE A DAMSEL

I always have the most interesting people come in and talk to me at work. This week was no exception. So as I am sitting there, making parfaits, a guy comes in and strikes up a conversation with me. He begins telling me about a boy that he had observed come in, that so obviously liked me, under the authority that he is trying to write a book about dating and relationships. I however did not agree, because although that boy likes to talk to me a lot at work and whatnot, he hasn't asked me out. I have said it a million times and I'll say it again: if a boy likes a girl, he will ask her out. Period.

Then he offered this perspective: he said, take a look at the media today. Family Guy, American Dad, Simpsons, etc. the father figure in all of these shows is a lazy, bumbling idiot. He said, he feels that in society today, the man is portrayed as a couch potato type, sitting around waiting to be rescued by his wife. Roles of men and women have been reversed, and men no longer feel that women need them. Women have become so strong and independent, that they are not "damsels in distress" but rather the heroine that if she has time, will look for a man as her sidekick. The movie Brave. Case and point. He said its very intimidating to try to take on a role that has become out dated and seemingly unnecessary, particularly when it's mens' instinct to be the protector, to "wear the pants," to be the knight in shining armor, to feel needed. Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave an amazing talk about this in the last priesthood session of General Conference. Whether the reason for this change in "gender roles" be because men got lazy and women have stepped up, or because women became selfish and were not able to recognize that being a wife and a mother is the single most important position they will ever hold, or both, society reflects that such is the case.

So all I ask, is that those of us ladies that know what is right and important, that are still damsels waiting for our knight, let men know how important and needed they are. Say yes to dates. Be kind, and gentle, men's hearts are often more fragile than you know. And guys, take heart that there are still girls that dream of fairy tale love and are waiting for you. So be men, and ask girls out. Reclaim your territory dangit!

I thank the Lord for tender mercies

Story time. I spent the last week in Colorado with my family for Thanksgiving (which was beyond wonderful, by the way.) Then, sadly, Sunday comes around and it's time to drive back to Provo. dragging our feet, begrudgingly we packed up our stuff and hugged our family goodbye. Two hours into the 6 hour drive, the car starts shaking and dies in the middle of an intersection in po-dunk Monticello, Utah. Let's be real for a hot second: the only redeeming thing about Monticello is the temple there. And down part of one road it has some really cute street lamps. That's pretty much it.

So the car is dead, and my sister Angela and I get out and push the car to the shoulder as my sister Rachel steers. (I really thought pushing a car would be harder. I knew all those years (not) of working out would pay off one day!) Side note: those who know me know I rarely wear shoes unless I need to. bad day to choose to pack all your boots in the suitcase. Anyways, we all get in the car, Rachel is calling our dad, trying to come up with any solution, not even knowing what was wrong with the car, when a large white suburban pulls up in front of us. An older man in a suit (he was just getting back from a stake presidency meeting) gets out and asks if we need any help. He then precedes to check out the car, trying to see what the issue is. When he discovers the transmission had blown(?), he goes home, changes, brings back a truck with a trailer on the back, and tows our car to a lot he owns, where he says we can keep it until we come back down for Christmas. As if that wasn't enough, then that kind man offers to A. drive us back to Cortez to meet my parents (a little town about an hour from my house), 2. drive us to Moab or Green River, (21-2 hours closer to Provo) to meet up with someone who could take us the rest of the way, and D. let us drive his suburban the rest of the way to Provo. (+ 10 points to whoever understands my movie reference.) When he saw my sister's uncertainty about driving his vehicle, he assured her that it is just a thing and that we are treasured daughters of God and we are what's important, not his car. My eyes tear up just typing this. Sweetest man in the entire world! So after conferring with my father, we decided to take the man's car, so his wife brings it over, full of gas, and they tell us they will just come pick it up later this week on their way to Idaho. Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles. My heart is so full with gratitude for this man and his family and their kindness.

As we are driving back, Rachel is discussing how the cost of fixing the car ought to be a minimum of $2,000 dollars (so said the man) and how stressed that made her, because obviously she needs a car. Then today, she tells me the man had his mechanic friend look over it and it was only in fact going to cost $200 dollars. He is driving it up to switch with his car this week. The most Christ-like people can be found in even the most remote places. I am so incredibly thankful for his compassion. Let us all keep in mind what's important. Things come and go. They break and often eventually stop working. But the impression you can make on a person's life can last forever. I know God is watching over all of us, and I know that He sends us miracles when we need them.