Summer fun

One of my goals for this summer is to have a lot of fun!

Yea, it's kinda sad that I have to make that a goal. Sometimes it's really hard to get me out of normal routine to do something extraordinarily fun.

But I'm proud to say I'm off to a great start.

Some things I've already done:

Lagoon
Camping
SYTYCD Watching Parties
Hiking

Some things I intend to do:

Drive in movies
Visit Seattle
See a show in the Tuacahn Theatre
Seven Peaks
Shakespeare in the Park plays
Movies in the Park
Farmer's Markets
5K or 10K (If I can ever run again...I hurt my foot.)
Water fights
Biking...oh lots of biking I hope
Boating
Berry picking
BYU Education Week
plus more...and more...and more.... :)

Timeline DONE!

So I recently completed a big project at work. Seriously, I've been working on this since the end of 2011. It's been a while. This is a timeline of the history of our association. The process included a lot of research, contacting various organizations for info or to fact check, tracking down photos, organizing the content, designing the project....and of course adjusting and re-adjusting for edit after edit after edit. 

:)

You gotta love edits.

Anyways, there have been various hurdles that have delayed this project. So when my boss left last week for a national conference in Washington, D.C., he told me that if I was able to get the timeline display installed before he returned, I would be "very happy."  I replied that having the project complete, would be happiness enough.

I was successful in getting the project done, and today I received my incentive happiness.

1 Supersonic car wash, 2 premium Cinemark movie tickets, 1 Sizzler $25 gift certificate, and 2 $25 Visa gift cards.

Who's up for a night out on the town?!?! 

And of course, I have to share my timeline project. This display is 3 feet tall and 16 feet long and is now located in the hallway of my office.

(I also have to say that despite going into the printers not once, but twice for color proofs, they should up with two completely different colors. Unfortunately this isn't the first time a project with that company wasn't completely to my standards...but they quickly fixed it and installed a corrected version.)

Pillows

I used to think I was a pretty relaxed and laid back. Then, as I was folding laundry tonight, I realized that I really do operate better with organization and plans.

Then I started putting my pillowcases back on my pillows and realized/remembered that I color code them.

Yes, times have changed, and I have officially changed my mind.

Yep, I'm so brave

This past weekend, I broke from my normal routine for a little bit of fun. A few friends and I headed to Lagoon for what turned out to be an awesome day of fun.

I'm pretty sure this picture shows my seriousness as we got closer to starting! 

Now, if you know me at all, you might guess that roller coasters kinda terrify me. I usually have fun, but the process leading up to any ride fills me with nerves and anguish. I have moments of freak out followed by moments where I calm myself down....and then repeat that process over and over again.

The most terrifying part is often the anticipation. The moments where you on the the Rocket waiting for it to blast off or drop. OR the part where the roller coaster creaks up the initial hill. I hate that part! 

Anyways, you get the drift.

But here's the part of the story I'm most proud of. And yes, I mean proud.


First, there was the time I kept my eyes open for the entire ride. Then, on the white roller coaster (old and creaky with hills, nothing upside down or topsy turvy), my friends convinced me let go of my trusted handle and, whaaat, put my hands in the air—for the entire ride. 

Afterwards I maaay have started repeating, wow, I'm so brave. :P

Later, we headed to Colossus with its double loop and slow ascent leading to the first drop. Usually that slow ascent is when I have to hold on tight and shush the person sitting next to me because I can NOT handle any distractions at that moment.

But here we were in the last hour or so of our day, and as the ride began, I found that I was not actually freaking out. Hey, maybe I COULD actually respond to my friends around me and put my hands in the air...so I did. And kept them up for the entire ride.

The line was so short that we were able to run back around and repeat this experience 3 minutes later. And my darn brave self kept my hands up again.

So when we headed to Wicked for the fourth time and what would be our final ride of the night, I was feeling pretty good. But not put your hands in the air good...yet. Oh, did I mention that Wicked starts out by shooting you at 40 mph straight up 110 feet and straight down again. Yea....kinda terrifying. I was feeling pretty good, so I was thinking I MIIIIGHT try no hands for the second half of the ride, after the first braking section.

Anyways, it was a last minute decision. Like I'm strapped in and the ride is moving and two seconds before we blast into the air...and, I did it. Hands up. Eyes open. Screaming my little voice away. For the entire time.

And it rocked. Best ride of the day. I'm super brave. And that was super fun.

P.S. I reaallly must have been proud of myself because I even used my experience for my FHE lesson tonight. (One of my callings is an instructor for our ward FHE once a month.) How? Well, I compared how sometimes we have to let go of whatever things we hold on to (fears, doubt, inadequacies, comfort, etc) and embrace faith to really enjoy our lives and the challenges and experiences Heavenly Father offers us.  When I was at Lagoon, the ride I enjoyed the most was the one where I pushed my comfort zone, trusted my decisions and instincts, and really embraced the opportunity. In life, I find myself to be the most happy when I exercise faith not only in Heavenly Father but also in myself. I have to push myself and trust that I can do things and accomplish whatever I'm facing at the time. I have to let go of whatever is holding me back from truly experiencing my life and I need to jump in whole heartedly as accept the challenge and situations I'm blessed with. 

I also shared a portion of the "faith" section in the "True to the Faith" (one of my personal favorite gospel reference books).

"Faith is much more than passive belief. You express your faith through action—by the way you live. The Savior promised, “If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me” (Moroni 7:33). Faith in Jesus Christ can motivate you to follow His perfect example (see John 14:12). Your faith can lead you to do good works, obey the commandments, and repent of your sins (see James 2:18; 1 Nephi 3:7; Alma 34:17). Your faith can help you overcome temptation. Alma counseled his son Helaman, “Teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Alma 37:33).The Lord will work mighty miracles in your life according to your faith (see 2 Nephi 26:13). Faith in Jesus Christ helps you receive spiritual and physical healing through His Atonement (see3 Nephi 9:13–14). When times of trial come, faith can give you strength to press forward and face your hardships with courage. Even when the future seems uncertain, your faith in the Savior can give you peace (see Romans 5:1; Helaman 5:47)."

new beginnings

I'm feeling the need for a blog redesign or simply a new blog altogether. I'm going to start brainstorming....

Let's wait and see what happens.

I can't help it...

...I'm blogging about Pinterest again!

Bear with me, I just think it's funny which of my pins people repin.

Take for example, my pin to the song "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. 215 repins.  Why does this amuse me?

Well...


One of my favorite things about social media in general is finding your own uses for the program. As Pinterest increases in popularity, I find myself having conversations similar to those I had with people in my Twitter prime.

I just don't get Pinterest. 

I have an account but I don't get what you do.

Why do I want to "pin" things?

What is its purpose?

That doesn't really seem like my type of thing.

My response is usually something along the lines of, well, you can use it however you want. (I'm not going to even get started here on the marketing and branding power of the site. P.S. It's awesome.)

How do I use Pinterest? Basically as a image-based bookmarking tool. I mostly use it for ME. To save things that I know I'll reference often. To organize information into categories so I can find what I need, when I need it.

Examples?

Oh how about my "Work Cmas Card ... Ah" board. Or my "Timeline Display," Color Palettes," and "Stock Images" boards. These type of reference boards help me organize my creative process and give me one location to reference. As a whole, I don't think these are that interesting to many other people.

But there is one board that surprises me. My "Music I Want" board. Yes, this is the board "Call Me Maybe" was repinned from.

Here's a secret about me: I use a lot of music. Teaching Zumba has only enhanced that usage. Here's another secret about me: I am very cheap and try to spend as little on music as possible, while keeping it LEGAL! How do I do this? Well I use programs like eMusic, earn Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks, religiously follow musicians who regularly offer free downloads, jump to redeem Amazon.mp3 download codes (my sis and I have an agreement that I get to use her downloads), and am the first to find out about programs such as Free All Music which offers a free download every week. (Although they are currently in hiatus, arg!) I also pretty much avoid iTunes like the plague. Unless of course it is for the free download of the week.

Because I am so cheap about this, I don't just buy music when I know I want it. I wait for the right opportunity. I wait for my Swagbuck points to accrue enough to qualify for Amazon credit. I wait for a free try-us-again offer from eMusic. I wait for a new Amazon.mp3 offer code. I wait until I have a free download available.

I'm kinda a major dork, I realize. (Side note: A great gift for yours truly would be a music credit of some sort. Just saying.)

So MY purpose for my "Music I Want" board? To save the songs that I am not currently buying, but know I will buy as soon as I can. (There is nothing worse than having an offer for a free song mp3 and not remembering a song you want to download! Okay....there are actually a lot of things worse than that....) 

I update that board A LOT. I add pins. I delete pins when I don't need them anymore. I add notes about where the songs are available for free. I constantly refer to it when I'm "purchasing" music.

Do I see any purpose of pinning the album cover of "Call Me Maybe" just for the purpose of saying, "Oh hey, I like that song." No, I don't. But that's the great thing about Pinterest.

215 people have no idea why *I* created that pin. But they all have their own reasons. And that pinning popularity certainly reflects the increasing popularity of the song.

This is a rather long, boring post. (Hey, that's my style.) So if you've made it through, I think you should enjoy this video of Call Me Maybe featuring Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, and others.

Oh dear, oh my

This weekend I finally attempted to meet the request of filming some of my Zumba routines (just my own choreography, because we can't film original Zumba stuff).

I have to say...

Um, I give props to those people who keep coming to my classes.

I look ridiculous!

Ah!

We shall see if I actually post those videos.

play that funky music

Man,  I'm in a funk. (Yes, my post title was inspired by that word alone.) The last week, maybe two, has found me with not much motivation and sense of accomplishment. I think I've about found my drive again, but overall this has been a blaaah time and I'm sick of it!

(Pardon me for a minute as I play the role of a downer.) It doesn't help that I've randomly had allergies and must constantly blow my darn nose and have run out of tissues a million times. Or that I hurt my left achilles tendon and haven't been able to run and find myself needing to baby it during Zumba. Or that I started experiencing my random neck/nerve pinches/flashes of pain today in class. I've also increased my dislike of texting. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy quick conversations (i.e. making plans or asking quick questions) but I can't stand the assumptions, misinterpretations and overall inability to adequately communicate anything of substance that is often attempted through that medium. Texting can not be a replacement for in person conversation. Saying something through a text does not mean we don't also need to discuss it in person. In general I'm also tired of superficiality and relying on small talk or non important subjects instead of actually having conversations that matter.

Ok. Whew, I'm done. Sorry for the rant. I just needed to get that out for a minute.

On the positive note, I've been able to catch up with old friends quite a bit over the last couple weeks. I love that. I love the opportunity to hang out with people one on one and am thankful for those quality relationships to turn to. I've also loved cooking more and thoroughly enjoy many of the recipes I've added as regulars. Lately, it's not exactly a recipe but I've been LOVING my little sandwich with oven roasted turkey, turkey bacon, tomatoes, laughing cow cheese, avocado, and spinach in between a sandwich thin and "grilled" on my little George Foreman. It's delicious! I've also enjoyed adding a side of baked sweet potato fries. I'm also excited to add some fresh corn to my diet. Today's dinner included my first corn on the cob of the summer. YUM! I have pinned so many fresh summer salsa recipes that include corn, so that should be a fun treat in the coming weeks.

Speaking of food (I'll admit it now that I love it), I have seen SUCH a difference as I've focused on eating healthy. With my funk this past couple weeks, I haven't done as well as I'd like, but avoiding too many processed foods and sugars and adding more fruits, veggies, and water makes me feel SO much better. I have more energy and can definitely just *feel* the difference in life. I'm happier and healthier and need to continue making that a priority.