Birthday Card lol moment

Each member of my family signed a birthday card for me. I have revisited this card a couple times since my bday because I knew it would crack me up. So I wanted to share some selections of this card and give you a lol moment if you don't mind.

"We love you. I have often wondered about that. -Ethan"
"Love you. Peace. -Daron"
"Hallie, You bring that light to your life that nobody else can see except Michelle (his wife). love, Khyl"
And without reading Khyl's comment, Michelle wrote: "Hallie- I am in love with you. Will you marry me? Wait...I guess Khyl is kind of like your twin. That's why I married him. Because he's male."

I don't need to stop to smell the roses, I can just drive my scooter near one

I like just driving my scooter and breathing in deeply through my nose as I pass anything blooming. Smells so good outside in many places.

Smell of the week: I specially love the smell of those hanging flowers, called wisteria. (my mom knew that...and now you and I do)

I'm three and twenty

And so far it's been splendid.

I woke up Saturday morning, when it was my bday, threw on some clothes and went to Mimi's with daddy and Gina.  

Then Gina and I went to Downeast and got some marked down designer jeans I tried on and fell in love with.  This doesn't happen very often when you have a body like mine.  Usually my parents give me money and I just use it to pay off my credit card but this year I decided to use my birthday money on something I wanted.  

Driving on the way to the farmer's market we stopped at a red light.  I saw that the stoplight would take a while so I turned up the music, got out of the car, and just danced around it.  It was my birthday and that is what I felt like doing.  So I did.  And the people in the cars around me looked at me like I was crazy.  Well I got news for you mr driver with sunglasses.  I am.

Walked around the farmer's market and tasted some honey from a wildflower region in the mountains.  it tasted so interesting and good.  

Then to the baseball game!  I met my dad, nephews, Daron, and Krystal there.  We had J-dawgs at this tailgate party.  I love J-dawgs so blasted much.

The game was fun.  Gina was on a group date so my dad and I did my best to embarrass her, yelling out stuff.

I got my hair died darker brown then trimmed.  My cousin does hair and I've wanted to see what she could do.  She was amazing.  It was fun to chat with her.  and I love getting my hair done.

Met some friends and family at Wingers.  My brother poured popcorn seeds into my kiwi sprite.

Then my birthday was over because I went to a couple parties, one was a bday party for my nz friend and the other was a tim tam slam/thai food party and no one knew it was my bday.  I liked that. It was my little secret.  And I had fun.  And the food was bomb.

Then I watched The Princess and the Frog which I have only heard bad things about.  But I really loved it.

My party could have been better if Katherine hadn't moved away and my mom wasn't in Hawaii with her sisters.  BUT I'M 23!  YAY!

I didn't get the job

but that doesn't mean anything. It just means I have endless possibilities and I'm not tied down to that one school anymore. I know there is a class out there that I am destined to teach! Can't wait till this is over. I am sooo done with my black pencil skirt, panty hose, and ironing shirts. Then getting all nervous for the interview. Then feeling really good about the interview. then waiting to hear back. That is almost worse than any other part. Finally hearing back and having them tell you everything you want to hear. But the fact that you didn't get the job. It'll be worth it when it finally works out though.

See, this is me and my future employer.

Hold on for one more day

This song is my favorite right now and I listen to it on repeat because it totally encompasses everything I am feeling today!
Because one more day, and I'll know.

here is a comment on the page of this video: "ive listened to this song 35 times in a row now. im hooked!! yes i am a man and NOT GAY!! HAHA this song has KEPT ME FROM KILLING MYSELF."

The power of this song can touch your life too.
Oh dang it!! It won't let me embed the original. So here's just the song while you look at random metal doors or windows or something:



It's crazy how many things hang on getting a job - this job.

• paying off my debt
• going to Belize this summer
• the quality of my relationships

jk about the last one but seriously the first two are pretty big deals.

Bye Katherine

This post is a kind of thick so don't read it if you feel awkward pretty easily.

Having your best friend move away is like getting a limb torn off.
I would know.

It's kind of annoying because last year I came back from New Zealand and she had her own group of friends so I found my own friends. But that didn't last very long, our separate lifestyles. Because we are just better when we have the other as part of our lives. So we see each other every day. Except not today. because she moved to San Diego today.



Now we are both left to make do with the other friends we have. Not that they aren't amazing and make us better, but that we will miss that reinforcing response when we do something crazy. We will feel silence in the moments where we are usually reassured.

The future is unknown; no fall semester to surely be back for. Only the hope that we will be lifetime friends, be it long or short distance. (we are both THE WORST at keeping in touch with old friends, so this may require a miracle.) And the hope of fulfilling the joking prediction to live as old ladies together with lots of cats; after our husbands have passed and our children have gone away.

upidy date

I interviewed for two positions yesterday and it went really well. There were 7 people in the conference room, staring me down and interrogating me! jk I was totally loving it and had a good time. I have a gift for interviewing. But that doesn't ensure ANYTHING because it's all about what they want, not how the interview went.

I will hear back in a week at the EARLIEST! dying here!

panic

The Mt. Timpanogos Temple Prayer Roll's mailbox is FULL!

WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO????

So you're telling me there's a chance

tomorrow at 2:30 will be the most important moment of my CAREER!
It's an interview for the two openings at the school I am an aide at.
I hear they are getting about 150 applicants a day for these openings.
And I am among the least experienced.
But we are just focusing on that small percentage that I will get it!
I totally got this.

I have applied

to 47 jobs within the past week.

I feel a storm comin.

Hopefully a storm that brings may flowers. Like teaching-job may flowers.

Even my nephew is looking out for me

I was driving my nephew home from swimming lessons today. His name is Seth and he is 6. Here is a conversation we had that I loved:

Hallie: "Look at that guy holding the flowers. Any guy with flowers is cute"
Seth: "You couldn't date that guy. You can't even see his face that well. You haven't even heard his voice."
Hallie: "That doesn't mean I can't date him"
Seth: "Not that guy. That guy's a weirdo."

The guy was on one of those leg wheeler things with a huge cast on his leg. So I guess I can see where Seth is coming from.

Then we continued our wet-willy war. We give each other wet-willies for fun. It's the best.

Oh look I found a recent photograph of the two of us:

Gina, Driving behind a jeep: "If I could have different cars for different things, one of the cars I'd have for one of those things would be a jeep"

June 30

half of me has goosebumps and the other half is laughing that I am nerdy enough to be into this.

Can't wait.

But I've only seen New Moon once, so I need to watch it again! Let's have a marathon! Anyone? Alyson? Deal?

Graduation

When I got my cap and gown from the Hinckley Center, I still had my hot roller-curlers in my hair. The employees helping me bet me $30 to go to commencement wearing the hot rollers. I told them the least I'd do it for would be $75. They couldn't get enough people to raise the money but the offer was still on the table. tempting, very tempting.


My grandpa shumway was able to come.



This is me as I was walking into the Marriot for commencement. I got a bloody nose during Elder Christofferson's talk so I had to walk over a row of graduates and climb up a hundred stairs to get to the bathroom. how embarrassing!


Lucky I had Kath to stand in line with and sit by! We thought of going to the same college to "walk" together...just as a joke. We didn't end up doing it.


New Zealand Graduates! We'll change the world, one school at a time.

Daisy

I recently found out that my dad hates our dog's name.

Every time he has a client come over for a meeting and Daisy barks at them coming in, my dad quickly excuses her as: "My wife's dog"

"You know you've been around a lot recently when Daisy doesn't bark at you when you come over" -A friend

Daisy doesn't usually bark at females

She spends most of her time upstairs on her folded up mattress pad my parents assembled for her. But once she hears someone's in the kitchen, you hear her come running. And she follows you around the kitchen. You're by the fridge, she's right there with you. Opening a can of tuna? Her favorite. She's right at your heels. We should have named her shadow.

I refuse to reinforce this "shadow" behavior, so I have taught her to lie down in the next room. And she will, no matter how I say it, she knows to leave me alone. If she is patient and I am no longer irritated by her breathing down my neck...er...ankle...then I award her with the empty can of tuna or whatevs before I leave the kitchen area.

I saw shitzu pups for sale at a local grocery store and thought of how my mom has ALWAYS wanted a shitzu. Instead we got Daisy. I guess we'll keep her.

She's 77 in dog years. that's 11 adult years.


lousy pics, I know. But I had to show a side shot to capture the essence of this dog's mass.
(Cute nephews, though, right? christmas 09.)

SPRING

I allowed my existence to be forgotten
as I sunk into the small bud I once was,
remembering the springtime of childhood.
Spent in the boughs of apple trees
with a friend.
That was our kingdom, where shoes were a disgrace
and clean knees sparing lines of green never lasted.
The smell of dirt, the sting of a scratch,
the taste of the milk-white ends of grass
accompanied our simple symphony of laughter

I'm Reading this book (no spoilers)

I decided to do this new thing. Where I will start reading a book without reading the summary on the back or the reviews or ANYTHING. It's so tempting but it gives me a nice clean slate so I don't expect or predict anything prematurely.



Funny how different this approach is from my mom's, who reads the LAST CHAPTER of the books she reads before she is even halfway through. It's like starting elementary school and deciding to go to college real quick to be sure it's worth the effort.

Ok now that I've used that analogy I guess it kind of makes sense but IT'S SUICIDE.

Shaking it up in Logan

This morning I was getting ready for work, planning to take the natural gas vehicle then drive straight to Logan from there for an interview. 15 minutes before I leave, my dad says he is coming with me.

Normally, I would not respond, dread every moment beforehand, and just "get through" anytime my dad drives me anywhere. Because he always has an ulterior motive. This time I was glad he wanted to come. I usually enjoy long drives by myself, but I welcomed the thought of having another human along for this trip. So we arranged a time and when I was back from work and he was ready to go.

His ulterior motives were: Pepperidge Farms and visiting his old friend. My dad loves to go to Pepperidge Farms in Logan and stock up on their cookies, available in bulk. "Dad, which would you say you came to Logan for mostly: to visit Tom or get cookies from Pepperidge Farms?"
"To visit Tom."



When he said this I was kind of sad he didn't say Pepperidge Farms because that would be awesome. But then I let what he said sink. My dad is a good person.

Seriously though. My dad is the best.

Why my dad is cooler than your dad:
1. He knows everything about the surrounding areas he's lived or frequently traveled.
for example, we were driving through this random canyon and I asked him what the name of the canyon was. "Sardine Canyon." Whaaa?
2. If you want to know a phone number to any local grocery store, neighbor, relative, or other location he may have called at least once in the past, he'll tell you the number.
3. He knows everything about our ancestors and their life stories. We drove through a town near Logan where my Great-great-grandpa first settled after he came to the SL Valley. He proceeded to tell me his life story and the stories of his descendants that stayed behind in Logan. (My great-great-grandpa is the reason you are alive. He built mills in cities where your ancestors probably lived, which fed them and therefore kept them alive and therefore allowed you to exist.)
4. He sticks with people. (I am the worst at this.) He has stayed in contact with a friend he's had since his freshman year in HS. He baptized him into the church when they were 18 but he turned atheist a few years later, which would be a heck of a reason to not want to be someone's friend anymore! Ew, right? But here they are, in their 50's, still friends. That is a big heart right there.
5. He lets me listen to songs like "Bleeding Love," "So Complicated," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Already Gone" on the radio and pretends to like them. "Who sings this?" is usually a good sign that he can handle it. Silence means change it.
6. He has me for a daughter!



and oh my HECK we felt an earthquake while we were up there! A 5.0 magnituder hit Randolph, which was like 50 miles east of us. We were sitting down at a restaurant and we felt like the ground under our chairs was moooving. it felt like this: Ssshhakkke shake ....shaakkkkee. "Did you feel that?" I asked my dad. "That must have been an earthquake" he responded, then told me about the last time he felt an earthquake, 35 years ago in Mexico.

Oh by the way. My interview went AWESOME. The guy I interviewed with is my mom's 2nd cousin. After realizing this connection I felt totally at ease, like I was talking to my cousin. and I was. We left Logan 4 hours after my interview ended because I decided to make my dad's ulterior motives my own ulterior motives too. And it was just what I needed in my life right now, something totally unseemly. Love you dad, even though you never read my blog and that is probably good because I mostly make fun of you. (each word is a different story. Just click one. Promise you'll laugh.)

You get away with so much more as an adult

than as a kid.

For example, I was browsing the books at the book fair with a 5th grade class when the most obnoxious and troubled 5th grader began to copycat me. He holds a dear place in my heart because back in the day, I was the most obnoxious and troubled 5th grader. So I let him copycat me. And I hate when people copycat me, I get very impatient and I explode. (Ask Katherine about the first time she echoed everything I said) Knowing where he was coming from and that this was the response he was seeking, I acted the opposite. He followed me around, touching everything I did, responding to the other students as I would. Then I began messing with my hair, slapping my face, and doing things that would make him stop. He finally decided it wasn't worth it and walked away. A few minutes later, I found myself by the fun toys and pens with a variety of squishy, slinky, and feathery tops. I started to play with them and in no time the o & t 5th grader was mimicking me again. I stopped and started to walk away when a lady working at the bookstore got mad at the boy.

Compare, side by side, the same person. One is an adult, and one is 12. The adult will get away with anything short of murder. The 12 year old will not get away with anything other than cookie-cutter, calm, collected behavior.

(OK I know I am totally exaggerating here, but you get my point)

I am so glad I'm an adult. Those younger years were a hard time for me. And maybe it is just being a student that requires quiet behavior? Yeah I am glad I'm the teacher now, seeing it from their point of view. fun.

Do you ever just want to die?

Well that is how it was for me this morning.

Then I walked into a classroom where 7 chicks just hatched. and they were all chirping and cuddling each other, looking like a big ol fluff ball of sunshine. Of the 7, 2 were black and they are my favorite. The kids named the first chick "omelet." clever kids. (Their teacher spelled it "omlet" and it drove me NUTS!)



Don't ask about what this chick left behind that still makes me cringe every time I look at my hand.