Public Restrooms

We've all been there . . . the dreaded public restroom. I don't say that because of germs, really, or because of smell. I mean that people are seriously stupid in there sometimes. And I drank waaaay too much water at work today, so I got to experience this 10 times today. Does this story sound familiar?

You walk in to the empty bathroom at work. The entire room is empty. You half-smile, and pick your favorite stall. Commence doing your business. Fifteen seconds into the business, someone else enters the bathroom. There are six empty stalls, but this person goes to the one stall that is CLOSED (yours) and tries to push it open.

You think, "Next stall, lady! The door is closed, the stall is taken!" But the person doesn't move. You watch their feet slightly shuffle under the stall door. They try again. "Seriously?" you think. "There are five other empty stalls!"

You look up, only to see an eye staring at you and your white thighs through the crack in the stall, and you quickly try to pull your jeans up and your shirt down.

"IT'S TAKEN!"

Finally, after getting a free peep-show, the person moves to the next stall. One of the five empty stalls with the doors hanging open!! Then, the whole time, you are trying not to do your business too loudly or awkwardly, because the lady clearly knows what you look like now, and you have to see her at the cubicle four down from you for the rest of your career.

So I know this is crazy, but for the sake of our society I have to say it. If the door is closed, there is a person with their pants down in there. Please use one of the many other open stalls, for the sake of everyone involved.

Kids Say the Darndest Things -- Weeks 2 & 3

Oh, you guys . . . Primary is awesome. I have to fight to keep a straight face EVERY SUNDAY. It is the best. This week my little sister was able to come to my class, and it was so fun to have her! I am so impressed by how confident and smart she is. It is a gift. Anyway, without further ado, here are our favorite funny quotes from our nine-year-olds these past two weeks!


Me: Sariah, do you have any food allergies?
Shayla: No she doesn't, but she is a vegetarian!"
*Sariah head nods*
Cooper: "Well I'm not a vegetarian. I have a hunger for meat!"

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(After completing and sharing his get-to-know-you sheet)

Hayes: "Things I don't like . . . ugh, . . . TOILETS."

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Me: "Why do you think it was important that Jesus created man last, after he created the earth and the animals?"
Shayla: "So that they could kill the ducks and use their feathers for bows and arrows."
Me: ". . . . Um, . . . yeah, . . . that could maybe be a part of it." (Continue trying to tie that in to the real reason.)

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(After my sister shared her get-to-know-you sheet)

Olivia: "Wait, did you say you are afraid of cuddly bears??"
Rylee: "No. I said spiders."
Olivia: "Ohhh."

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Cooper: "I am special because I like weapons."

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(In sharing time, Jeff was sitting by Camry, Olivia, and Hayes. All four of them were wearing glasses.)

I look down the row at Olivia, who passes me tiny, vibrant, lime green pipe-cleaner glasses to wear.

Olivia: "Cool people wear glasses."

(All four of them nod.)

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Me: "So because Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, they 'fell' from the presence of God." (The lesson was titled "The Fall of Adam and Eve".)

Camry *raising hand*: "They fell? Where did they fall from? Did they fall to Earth?"

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Riley S: "I am special because I'm beautiful."


Well, I think that about covers it! I couldn't help but laugh again as I wrote all of these down. Until next week!

Halloween 2013 - Mario Kart!

I know how bad this looks . . . it is January and I am posting pictures from Halloween in October. But it is better late than never!

This year my family decided to dress as characters from Mario Kart for our family's annual Halloween party. Everyone looked adorable! I will pretty much let the pictures speak for themselves instead of writing all about it.

Yoshi (mom), Toadette (Rylee), Wario (Andrew), Mario (Dallin), Luigi (Jeff), Princess Peach (Lindsey), Bowser (dad)

Miss Toadette :)

I love these three! Wario, Mario, and Luigi :)

Her hat thing kills me! So cute!

Bowser and Yoshi

My dad enjoyed his character way too much.

Somehow this was the only picture we got together all night!

My office also had a competition for the best carved/decorated pumpkins. So Jeff and I had a pumpkin carving night while we watched Ghostbuster! I ended up winning Scariest Pumpkin and Most Creative Pumpkin.


The beginning . . . Jeff carved out the eyes, nose, and cheeks.

The finished product!

 

Primary Quotes Week 1

Jeff and I were recently called to be primary teachers for the 9-year-olds in our ward. Yesterday was our first time teaching the lesson and, as you can imagine, we were not sure what to expect from seven adorable, but terrifying, 4th graders.

As it turns out, it was awesome! And seriously hilarious. I have a really fun 8-year-old sister, but who knew how fantastic they could be as a whole group?

We have five girls and two boys in the class. The girls are adorable and extremely well-behaved. Each has their own little personality, and we just want to squeeze each of them. The two boys are very different from each other. Hayes is very small and talkative and a little rambunctious, but he is fun to have in class. Cooper is really well-behaved and smart and gets annoyed by Hayes's behavior very easily.

Because these seven kids are so funny, Jeff and I decided that we would blog about our favorite quotes each week so we can remember and laugh about them in the future.


Hayes (after making multiple irrelevant comments up to this point): "This week I went to my friends house and we watched Awesomeness TV channel and . . ."
Cooper: "Ugh, does this have anything to do with the lesson??"
Hayes: "No." (Continues talking about the TV show.)
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The bishop came into our class and told the children that he would be setting us apart as their teachers in class that day.

Olivia (in a panicked voice): Wait, you're splitting them apart?!"
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While taking turns putting parts of the Plan of Salvation on the board with paper cutouts:

Hayes: "I have the Terr. . estr . .ial and I have no idea what the heck that is."
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We were passing out Hershey's kisses and mini-Reeses for participating. All of them thought it was hilarious when anyone told Jeff they wanted a "kiss" for their treat instead of the Reeses.

Hayes: "I want a Hersheys kiss."
Other kids: "Oooh, Hayes! You want a kiss!" *giggling"
Hayes: "I said HERSHEYS kiss!"

*more giggling*
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Until next week!

Breaking the Habit

Every year, my New Year’s resolutions are the same – to lose weight, eat healthy, pray daily, be on time . . . and although these are good things, these resolutions only scrape the surface of who I am. I have decided it is because it is incredibly difficult to consider your heart and your actions to determine what really needs to change. But this year I resolved to set a New Year’s resolution that would truly impact my life, more than simply losing the same five pounds over and over again.

This year I am going to stop talking about people.

Frankly, I am sick of myself. At home, at work, or in the car, I talk about people, whether good or bad things. I talk about who is getting married, who gained weight, who didn’t show up for work, who is frustrating me, who has incredible hair, who has cute children. And in all of this talk I don’t have time to think about things that really matter, or to talk about things that will uplift me and the person I speak to.

Enough is enough.

Perhaps you are like me, and we rationalize gossiping, talking, and even cynicism by saying we are participating in a “discussion”. It isn’t harmful to anyone if we are purely “discussing” someone’s actions and trying to “learn” from them.

Oh, please.

Every thought we say aloud or share with someone (for me it is usually to my poor husband) becomes internalized by both participants, and it can’t be forgotten. If we share some anger with a friend about a family member, that friend never hears about the resolution; all she remembers are the bad things we said and she continues to develop a poor opinion about the person. But even worse than creating a negative image of someone in a friend’s mind, is growing and feeding a poor opinion about someone in your own mind. The more we speak negatively about someone, the more negativity we see. If we allow ourselves to be bothered and annoyed by one thing, the easier it is to be annoyed by three things, then five things, until eventually all we see and feel is annoyance.

The world is such an incredible place that it is a real shame to miss it by being consumed in discussing the lives’ of other people.

The benefits of purging our lives from gossip are endless, and we hear them all the time. Things like gaining higher self-esteem, learning to listen, and developing better conversation skills are some of the many things we hear. But there is one benefit in particular that I really want to gain in my life – feeling compassion, love, and patience for others. If I talk about people’s imperfections, I cannot possibly see the good in the person and I continue to bring negativity to my life and the lives of those around me. And the person I think has an annoying quality probably has a dozen other qualities that I would absolutely love if I were able to open up my eyes and see it.

So this year I resolve to change. I resolve to see the good in people.  I resolve to change the way I talk, to change my attitude, and ultimately to change the way I see people and see the world.