A Very Merry Monday

Oh my goodness, guys. Today has been hilarious!! Need a laugh?? :) Get ready! I'm laughing about it :)

        I woke up this morning, (in a REALLY good mood, I might add) at 4:20am to get ready for work. Got ready and left. Nothing special, except for my especially good mood. Worked from 5am-8am like usual but I had a new area. This one had more work to do so I was excited! I was cleaning classrooms instead of offices! :) I cleaned the 5 class rooms (Random, but I found a BYU sweat shirt that I wanted and SCHWEET Monsters University pin that I DEFINITELY wanted, but I put them both in lost and found...don't worry.) and a few small cubicles and was still done about 15 minutes early. I found my boss and she asked me to help another girl clean the windows. I went to grab the glass cleaner & she stopped me. "We don't use glass cleaner for the windows, that's only for the tables and drinking fountains. We use vinegar and water to clean the windows," she told me. Now, for my feelings on vinegar:

       So you can guess how happy I was about that. But, I woke up in a REALLY good mood, so I actually wasn't too mad. In fact, I just shrugged and said "Okey dokey! Sounds good to me!" and starting cleaning the windows. I merrily welcomed everyone to school, Disney pointed to the bathrooms, and held the door open for people. I got off at 8, smelling to HIGH heavens like vinegar, and it was POURING rain. And not just any rain, FREEZING cold rain! And, of course, I didn't have a jacket or umbrella with me, so I just walked home. Oh, and I found out there's a hole in my shoe! Thanks freezing cold rain for pointing that out to me :) Appreciate it :)

      I got home, re-realized that it's "Missionary Monday" (when missionaries are allowed to email their friends and family) and I never emailed 2 of my friends back so I typed up 2 quick emails, sent them off, then got in the shower. I had class at 10 and it was now about 8:40. In the shower, I remembered that I had a personal narrative due in my Writing class at 10. Luckily, I had already hand-written most of it, I just needed to type it. So I got out of the shower, ate a quick breakfast, and typed like crazy. I needed to leave my apartment by 9:45 to get to class on time and it was 9:37. I had 2 or 3 sentences left to type, then my computer went:

and shut down before I could do anything. So I set my computer in the motion of restarting as I ran upstairs, threw my hair in a ponytail and put on a little bit of makeup. I came back down and my computer was happy again. I pulled up Microsoft Word and went to "Recovered Unsaved Documents" and what was there?! NOT my essay, that's what! :) Not one, single solitary word was saved. Not even my name at the top of the page. *Thank you, Word. Thank you.* -__- So I laughed it off, texted my boyfriend about it, and decided I was just gonna miss class so I could type it up again then I'd go give it to my professor at 11, when class ended.

         I typed up my narrative AGAIN, with a much more sarcastic tone this time, and it was 10:35 when I got done. Class ended at 11? NOPE! Class ended at 10:50, good thing I remembered that at 10:35! It's a 15 minute walk! So I printed my essay, and sprinted out the door! I ran to the JKB, found my professor, apologized for missing class, and gave her my essay. She thanked me for bringing it in, caught me up on what they had talked about, and we parted friends. I then booked it to my Psychology class in the JFSB.

      

       I walked into the classroom and noticed my friend (whatever her name is) wasn't there so I just sat somewhere else, thinking I had finally scared her off. The powerpoint said "Renaissance and Revolution" and I thought "Huh...that's kind of random, but I guess those tie into Psychology." I also didn't recognize the teacher, but I remembered that my professor said he'd out of town this week, so CLEARLY, this was the TA that he had talked about taking over. Class started and he didn't introduce himself. Weird. He just went right in and started talking about iClickers.............we don't use iClickers. Silly, TA. You're crazy. "Don't forget--the test closes this Friday. So take it before then!" Silly, TA. The test closes TODAY! You just misled about 150 people. Wait...he looks pretty serious. Wait. What day is it? It IS Monday, right? Ya. All day. Even though it rained. I pulled out my phone and checked my schedule:

          HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! It's 11am on Monday--I'm not supposed to be in Psych! I'm supposed to be in Humanities!!!! Silly Erika....Psych is on Tuesdays & Thursdays! Welp, it was 11:10 & I sure as heck wasn't about to start climbing over people & making a fool of myself, so I decided to stay :) This class was probably a LOT more interesting than Humanities anyways, right?! :) I took notes on the Renaissance and Revolution, led a group discussion on what "Renaissance" means and even pulled out my iClicker from last year to pretend to participate. :)

       During this lovely class, I also studied for my Psychology test that I was taking this afternoon. My book hadn't shown up yet, so I was just gonna depend on what notes I had taken in class and what I could remember. I THEN remembered I had Book of Mormon after "Renaissance and Revolution" and I never finished my homework, so I busted out my scripture app on my phone and did my Book of Mormon homework right then and there. Class ended, I said my goodbyes to the nice girls I sat by, and went to Book of Mormon. *Finally, the right class.* But, get this, the door was locked!!! Hahaha some silly custodian (aka ME!) forgot to unlock that door this morning...teehee...But luckily I had remembered to unlock the OTHER door, so classes could still resume. :) That class went on without a hitch, then it was time to take my Psychology test.

         I went to the testing center, gave the nice guy my ID, and told him I was there to take Dr. Reber's Psychology 111 test. He looked through the drawers of tests and looked VERY confused. Finally, he stood up and asked the other girl working there, "Hey, uh...are we still giving out the Psychology tests? I don't see them in the drawer..."

The girl didn't even look back, she just asked, "Did you look under P?"

Him: "P?"

Her: "P....for Psychology."

Him: "P......?? OH RIGHT!"

*Face Palm*

Poor guy. The English language is so hard. Hahaha!!!!

          Anywho, I took my test and did pretty well for having never read the book! :) (Got 11 right out of 15, in case you were wondering.)  So I skipped merrily home, laughing at myself and my day--just high on life :) I told my room-mates my story then one left about 5 minutes later to go to class. She walked outside, then walked back in. In her hand, she held a package. In that package was none other than:

My Psychology Book!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! *Thank you, Mail Man.* Fashionably late, as always!

Morals of today's story:

1) ALWAYS save your essays. Always. Can't stress that enough.

2) Vinegar and water is a DUMB idea.

3) Always carry extra socks with you wherever you go!

4) Always quadruple check to make sure you're in the right class. If not, be prepared to learn something random.

5) Wait for your Psych book before taking a Psych test. It'll probably help you.

6) Smile. Because life is happy!

7) Laugh at yourself and encourage others to laugh too. Don't take life too seriously. No one makes it out alive anyways :)

8) Maybe stay away from caffeine..... :)

Have a Merry Monday! :)

A Really Great Day!! :)

So today, Sunday, June 30th, has been just a really great day!! :) Don't know why, but I was just in a REALLY good mood!!! :) I went from this kind of happy:

To this kind of [PSYCHO] happy:

I have witnesses. And here's the story behind it all:

Sorry, it's kind of a LONG story...and may be kinda gross at times. I apologize. Tune out whenever. Haha. But the best way to tell this will be in chronological order. So please take special note of the times...

3:15--I walk into the Cast Service Building* and see my friend Francis. He's currently training to be a coordinator and was supposed to get off at 2:30, so I was happily surprised to see him! Our conversation went as such:

         Erika--"What are you still doing here??"

         Francis--"Well, I'd like to say I waited for ya, buuuut...I was cleaning up an incident instead and JUST got done. There was mess in Classic Hall.** In your bathroom... Louna (the lady who worked in that area during the morning) called right at the end of my shift and asked us to come out there for an 'emergency'..."

E--"Oh? What happened??"

F--"Well, the first toilet, right as you walk in, was COVERED in poo. Like, the bowl, the walls, the floor. Everything. COVERED. And, get this, to make it worse...there were SPOONS stuck in it too!!!"

E--"WHAT?!?! NO WAY! NO! Are you serious!!!"

F--"Ya. It was bad! We felt bad about leaving you with the mess, so we got it all pretty much cleaned up. Louna and Nadia are finishing up right now."

*Cast Service Building: Where we custodians clock in & out, get our radios, keys, & pargos (golf carts), and where all the manager/coordinator offices are.

**Classic Hall refers to the main lobby at my resort. It was my area for the day. I was in charge of the female guest bathrooms and the bathrooms/break area behind front desk.

3:20-3:25--We talked a few more minutes about it, Fran, being a fellow pin trader, showed me some of his cool pins, then left so I could finish getting ready to go out to my area. I gave him a hug as he left and another guy, Patrick, walked in right then.

Patrick--"It was my birthday the other day, where's my hug??"

Erika--"What?! It was your birthday?! How come you didn't tell me?!" *gave him a hug*

We were still talking about birthdays and happy things when Louna, in her broken English, told me what to expect. All I could understand was "messy bathroom," "Nadia's cleaning it," "Haven't checked front desk in long time," "Check it soon." Thinking all she told me was old news since I talked to Francis, I just nodded, said "Okay, thank you!" and left. I got my radio and keys, then headed out to Classic Hall.

3:40-- I put my trash barrel and backpack in my closet, grab my pan and broom, then go into the bathroom*. It smells TERRIBLE. Like poo. And lots of it. So I go to the first stall that had just been cleaned to see that there is, in fact, still poo all over the partition. And toilet paper dispensers. And sanitary bag holder. O_O

*"the bathroom" or "my bathroom" refer to the Classic Hall Female Guest Restroom

3:45-3:55---I get my gloves on, grab some rags, grab some chemicals, and go to work scrubbing off all the left over poo. I get done, check the rest of stalls, and am just getting ready to walk out when my coordinator calls me over the radio. (We JUST got new radios and so far, they...are TERRIBLE. They don't get reception when you're inside the building. Ha.) To save SOME time, I'll summarize, I pulled a pride rock moment while I ran through the lobby trying to get reception...then I ended up outside. She told me that someone just reported an over-flowed toilet in my bathroom. She didn't know which one and wanted me to check it out. Thinking she meant the poop filled one, I assured her all the toilets were now fine and I took care of everything.

4:00--I get done with the bathroom, put everything back in my closet, and check the bathroom sheets.* Louna had only been in the front desk bathrooms ONCE. And it was at 8:15AM. So I run behind front desk to check the damage. Sure enough, there was NO toilet paper in either bathroom (male or female), the trashes in the break room were over flowing, and since the front desk had made popcorn for all their cast members, there was popcorn EVERYWHERE.

*Bathroom sheets are what we use to record when we're in the bathroom, what we do while we're in there, what we re-stock, etc.

4:05--I go back to my closet to get supplies, but as I'm opening the closet, a lady walks out of the bathroom and says "Excuse me, buuuuut...the first stall in the girls bathroom...well. There's something all over the back of the door. I HOPE it's chocolate...but I don't think it is..."

4:05-4:20--Horrified, I thank her then run into the bathroom. I go in the stall, close the door, and sure enough--there is MORE poo smeared all over the back of the door. With a nice big chunk sitting on the lock. (But really, WHO DOES THIS!?! And HOW do you calmly walk out of a bathroom after doing this?!??!) So I get more chemicals, rags, and gloves and go to work. Some of it wouldn't come off just by rubbing, so I started scraping it with my thumbnail. Right then, my glove snapped. And I got a good ol' hand full of poo. -__- So I wash the crap outta my hands, (literally....haha) put some new gloves on, and start working again. I finally get it all taken care of and go back to closet. I turn on my phone so I can text Fran and say "WHAT THE HECK!? WHO CLEANED THIS!?!?!" But said something else...It was a lot nicer, for sure. Because I was just busting a gut laughing so hard by this point. Seriously, not even a poop smeared door could bring me down! Haha! As I was texting him though, I got a text from Isabella (who was working at Computer Pool--THE furthest pool from Classic Hall) saying she had locked herself out of her closet. So I dropped everything and ran out there to unlock her door. :) We talked for a little bit, then I got back to my area. I had a LOT to do!

4:40-5:00--I get back to the front desk, clean those bathrooms, restock all the toilet paper and paper towels, take out ALL the trash, and sweep up a TON o' popcorn! I saw my friend Steph back there, talked for a few minutes, then went to dump my trash bin because it was ALREADY FULL! And it smelled terrible...ha.

5:00--On Sundays, we usually have a little custodial meeting in the break-room at 5 to get us all on the same page and everything so I went to check if we were having it. We weren't, but I ran into my friend Mason, who was on break. We talked for a bit and I started to tell him about my events of the day so far. Right then, my friends Racheal and Joe walk in. And Racheal does NOT look like she feels well. Very pale, very sad/sick looking :( She over-hears my story and immediately gets REALLY sick.

5:25-6:20--I call the coordinator but she was busy, so I drove Racheal back to Cast Services to see if a manager would let her go home. They approved it! So I drove back to our resort, picked up her stuff, drove BACK to Cast Services, gave her her stuff, told her to get better, grabbed some more rags (Heavens knew we'd need 'em!), then went BACK to the resort. I put the new rags in my closet and checked my bathroom again.

6:40-7:15-- I go into my bathroom and it is a MESS. Toilet paper everywhere, paper towels falling out of the trash, etc. So I clean EVERYTHING up. Re-stock TP & PT, clean ALL the toilets, pull ALL the sanitary bags, etc. etc. etc.

7:30--I walk out of my bathroom, update the bathroom sheets, fill in Patrick on the day's events so far, then start sweeping the main lobby area. My friend Mike (who was working at the Concierge Desk) called me over to him because he had printed me a schedule of the special Fourth of July fireworks at Magic Kingdom! *so nice!* Right then, a guest walks up and says, "Excuse me, I'd like to report something...the second to last stall in the girls' bathroom has uuuuhhhh overflowed. And there's water everywhere. And my daughter slipped..." I apologize profusely and run BACK to the bathroom! (Did you note the time?? Only 15 minutes after I left the bathroom!!)

7:30-7:50--Sure enough, there is water EVERYWHERE. (Well, spanning across 4 stalls worth of floor space.) And it's literally about an inch deep. What the?! My radio doesn't work inside. And my phone's in the closet. So I clean it all up on my own. I close off the back half of the bathroom, mop up all the water, and close up the stall.

8:00-9:00--BREAK TIME!! :) I see all my lovely friends, we have lots of lovely conversations, I tell them of the day's events so far and can't even get it out without DYING of laughter!! Oh man. I was hysterical!! Haha :P Seriously. Ask ANY of them. Hahaha

9:15--I walk back into my bathroom to see that not only had that toilet re-overflowed, but ANOTHER one had over flowed as well. *Double the water!!!* We had a small lake. No joke. This time, I wanted help. I got my radio to work for second, called the coordinator. Then it didn't work. So I ran out in the hall, saw Mason, had HIM call the coordinator for me. Isabella heard him over the radio and immediately came to help me. Our coordinator eventually showed up, gave us more supplies, called engineering about the toilets, then asked if I would stay till 1am (instead of midnight) so I could keep tabs on the pool and check the female restroom out there. I agreed and she left. Isabella and I mopped for a good 45 minutes and finally got it all taken care of :)

10:10--I walk out to the pool area, straighten some chairs, talk to Joe and Isabella, then check the girls' bathroom. It needs to be mopped and a few TPs replaced, but I was NOT feeling like mopping right then and TP was back in the hall closet. I slowly walk back to the closet, stopped to take a few pictures for a family, then finally go to get TP. By the time I got back to the pool bathroom, the door had locked for the night and I didn't have the right key. And those who DID have the right key had already left...so I left it. *Whoops!*

10:50-11:15--I go back in my bathroom to find that there is yet ANOTHER HUGE puddle!!! (Small lake!) The 2nd to last toilet had overflowed again. Luckily the other one had not (it ALMOST had but luckily it didn't because it was filled with....stuff....). So I got my trusty wusty mop buddy back out and mopped the floor. Again. *Woo hoo!* How did this happen?? Ya. I forgot to re-lock the stall doors last time. So people didn't know they were broken....I caused this last mopping. Hahaha! I just lost it! Busted up laughing, started singing, dancing around with my mop. Gave the ladies coming into the restroom quite the show! Haha!

11:20-11:40--I swept the main lobby and, while doing so, ran into a cute little family--a mom, young son, and even younger daughter. The son's birthday was tomorrow and he was turning 7! They were all here to celebrate and it was their first time to Disney ever! So I took a few minutes, got them some special "Happy Birthday" and "I'm Celebrating!" buttons, told them of all the adventures waiting for them in the Magic Kingdom, and saw the spark of Disney magic light up in their eyes! It was SUCH a happy thing :) Dad came back from checking them in and luckily I had gotten buttons for them because front desk did not :( (I guess they just didn't ask...) I bid they have a "groovy night!" then peaced out.

11:40-Midnight--Cleaned the whole front desk area again, took out all the trash, etc. etc. etc.

Midnight-12:20--I talked to my dear, sweet friend Megan, from Utah, who told me the story of how she and her best friend (and also one of my good friends from Utah, Jake!) are now ENGAGED as of this past Friday!!! :) I am so So SO happy for them!! :) So that was good to talk to her and get the details :)

The rest of the night, everything else went smoothly. I cleaned everything up, closed up the bathrooms, and clocked out on time. Twas a crazy day, but I'm still smiling!! :) It's all about attitude, my friends! Smile and things will be happier :)

To add a more spiritual aspect, I believe it may because I finally paid off all my tithing today...I was pretty far behind. But now I'm caught up! Maybe even ahead of myself :) Tithing=blessings, Blessings=happiness!

My Life is Hilarious! Hahaha

So my life is hilarious. I am always just laughing to myself about all the things that happen. Here's what's been happening this week:

On Wednesday, I was flying back to Orlando from Phoenix. In the Phoenix airport, I was thinking over my trip & how much fun it was to see everyone when I saw my friend Dillon...on an advertisement...for a tech institute. What???? It was random, fo sho. *NEXT* While sitting, waiting to board the plane, an older man came up to me & my first thought was "Clearly, this man has a rough life..." (his clothes were dirty, he smelled kinda bad, and he just looked kinda homeless) In fact, he looked a little like this:

 But this guy asked if I was going home or going on vacation & we made small talk for a bit. He was older, and I'm terrible at guessing ages but I assume at least 55 or 60..., had 2 grown sons, one of which committed suicide a few years ago, and this man LOVED yoga. And I mean LOVED. I have never met anyone with such a passion for ANYTHING ever before! So he told me how he came allllll the way from Virginia to Sedona, AZ to do yoga and get in touch with his 6th sense, feel inner peace, and tap into the mental resources not usually reached by the human mind...It was hilarious. But then I boarded the plane (his # hadn't been called yet) and we parted ways....until we got to Charlotte, NC, where we were each catching our connecting flight. I got off the plane & BEHOLD! there he was. In his disheveled glory. Waiting for me. Since I was in a hurry to catch my next flight, I just said "Hi, sorry I can't talk. Good to meet ya!" and literally ran away. Haha

Wednesday night, I get to Orlando and had planned on taking a shuttle to my apartment since I couldn't find anyone to pick me up. My flight landed at 11:30, I got to the shuttle desk at 11:45 and their was a sign saying the desk closed at 11. Haha! Of course! So a long line, awkward cab ride, and $55 later, I got home at 1am :)

Thursday, after my Marketing Class, I was waiting for the C bus to take me back to my apartment complex. I saw the C bus down the street, at the drop off stop (it drops off in one place, picks up in another), and continued to text somebody back. Well, the bus pulls up, I quickly glance at the screen that says what bus it is and get on. Well, it keeps driving....and driving....and driving....and DRIVING! (It's only like a 10 min bus ride, but it was now closer to 25.) Finally, it pulls up at the Florida Mall. WHAT THE?! I look at my bus schedule and it says this bus won't leave the mall till 11:30 & won't get to my apartment till 12:15. *Awesome!* It's 11:05 right now. I ask the driver if I can just stay on the bus & he says "No, I need everyone off the bus." -__- "Perfect! I'll just go buy some lunch from the food court!" I think to myself. So I wander all the way to the food court, to realize: I left my wallet at home. -__- *Go me!* Already long story short, I wasted the nest 15 minutes, then got on the bus & went home. With now no nap time before work.

Friday, (today) I was supposed to shadow a guy from the Disney Special Events team today. But he never...told...me...where...to...go...? So I asked all around and the most common answer I heard was "The special events HQ is at Epcot. Behind the Convention Center." Though the Disney Hub said it was on Lake Buena Vista and this guy's profile said it was in Celebration, FL. *VERY different areas* So I get up at 7 today, get ready, and go to Epcot. After wandering for about 25 minutes and asking 5 different cast members if they knew where I was supposed to be, I found a guy who's shirt said "Disney Special Event Operations." I asked him & he was able to call the guy I came to see. Turns out, his office IS in Celebration, FL. And I had no way to get there today. Haha! So we rescheduled for next week and I went home. I was SUPER excited to take a nap! But I went and got a few groceries first, came home, ate some breakfast (didn't have time this morning), and had JUST finished when someone knocked on the door. I opened it and there stood 2 little Hispanic gentlemen who said, in broken English, "We come to do new carpets." -__- No nap time for Erika. So here I sit. At my kitchen table, watching now 4 guys put in new carpet. And get this--the carpet is HIDEOUS! Brown with gold and black stripes. Hahahahahaha. I'm dying here! Seriously, my life just keeps getting more & more hilarious!

Anyways, "There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow! Shining at the end of every day!" --The Carousel of Progress

All my friends are Missionaries

Since the announcement in the October 2012 General Conference, lowering the missionary age to 18 for men and 19 for women, there has been an incredible amount of people turning in their papers. ALL my friends included. It was a really tough decision for me, but after much prayer and scripture study and personal reflections, I decided that serving a mission wasn't in my cards. I needed to continue with the plans I had already made. However, like I said, pretty much ALL my friends that fell into this age group decided to serve. Including my very best friend, Kaitlyn.

I met Kaitlyn over the summer of 2009 at Girls' Camp. I went with her stake because I would be attending Mesa High in the fall and wanted to meet some people before I went there. I knew 2 of the girls in her ward from elementary school so I hung out with them mostly, but got to know her as well. Since then, we've become much better friends and know each other a little too well. :) We've been through a LOT together...lots of bad times, bad friends, bad grades, dumb boys, etc, but also a lot of good times--good grades, big accomplishments, fun times, good friends, and happy experiences. No matter what, she's always been there for me. Even if it was only a text message or phone call. When she told me she wanted to serve a mission, I knew it was the right thing for her to do. She'll be GREAT! She got her call in March and will be serving in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As soon as she opened her call, I bough a plane ticket the next day & was able to come home for a week to spend some time with her and see her farewell.

I rarely cry anymore, but I have been a mess yesterday & today--I'm gonna miss her like CRAZY and it finally sunk in....But 18 months isn't that long. She'll be home before we know it! And we'll still write back & forth. And her cousin's going to keep a blog for her. Hakuna matata. But until then, I say, "Good luck out there, keep the faith, return with honor, & Carry On! See ya in 18 months, Sis. Crockett!" :)

(Pictures to come later...ha)

"Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." --from the Broadway Show "Wicked"

Dreams DO Come True!

Oh my goodness, it has been WAY too long since I posted... To update: I now live in Orlando, Florida and work as a Custodial Cast Member at Disney's Pop Century Resort in Walt Disney World! {Dreams DO come true!}

I have the best room-mate ever--Bri! (Below is a picture of her & I meeting Goofy!)

I have a lot of super great friends!

(And these aren't even all my friends, they're just the only ones I have pictures of...I need to be better about that. Ha.)
On my days off, I go to Disney World! (Who else can say that?? Haha) My favorite park is still Magic Kingdom, but Hollywood Studios is the next best!

I enjoy eating Disney food, it is some of THE most delicious food ever! My two favorite treats are coconut patties and pineapple dole whips (as shown below) :)

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to represent this, but since I've been here, I have encountered a LOT of awkward situations. They're great. They keep me laughing every day. Haha. From stalking our friends to Wendy's, planning "Creep Fests," making friends with people only to realize they're not who you expected them to be, having to avoid certain people, to forgetting I'm not in costume & being super extra friendly to the kids in the parks...yep. Awkward. Haha.

All in all, I am SO incredibly blessed and still can't really believe I'm HERE! I'm working at DISNEY WORLD!!!! Dreams DO come true! Next step: figure out how to stay here forever! I completely LOVE it here and thoroughly enjoy doing what I do. I get PAID to be a Disney geek EVERYDAY! And on the days I'm not working, I get to spend time at DISNEY WORLD, rejuvenating my love for Mickey Mouse and all things Disney. Life could not be any better! (Actually, joke, it would be better if I were a bit closer to home...I'd love to see my family every so often & have more visitors...)

Before I end this, I will add: many of my friends back home are working on their papers or in the process of leaving on their missions. I am SO proud of them! When the announcement came saying women could serve missions at age 19, I was torn. I still am. But coming to Disney seems to be the right choice for me so far. I have had SEVERAL missionary opportunities since I've been here! And my testimony has grown by leaps and bounds. I am in a WHOLE new world here, there's not as many active members of the church as I'm used to...But all the "hypothetical situations" from primary and young women's now all make sense. Ha. Anywho, the church is true! I now know that more than ever!

Happy [Disney] thoughts for now:

"All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you." --Walt Disney

"For every to, there is a fro, for every stop there is a go and that’s what makes the world go round." – The Sword and the Stone

"Keep moving forward!" --Meet the Robinsons {originally, Walt Disney}

My Birthday Thought Process

So, my birthday's coming up. Like, SOON. And I'm not one of those people who gets all dressed up & expects everyone to fall at their feet on their birthday, but I tend to get excited about my birthday, making it sound like a big/commercial/national holiday that people need to prepare for. Haha. Obviously, I'm totally kidding. In fact, I'm NOT a fan of birthday parties. Or presents. Or any of the cliche birthday woop-de-doos. I just like to think back on the year like, "What have I done since I turned [whatever age I currently am]? What will I do after I turn [however old I'm about to turn]?" But this year has produced a new, funnier thought process. This is pretty much it:

"Today is January 5th. January. I like January. My birthday's in January. OH HEY! My birthday's in January. That's like SOON. Only {start a mental count of the days left} 21 days until I turn 19!! 19. Wow. Can't believe I'm going to be that old. Ha. Mom got married when she was 19... Ha. That is NOT happening this year. Because first, you have to go on dates. Then you have to date someone repeatedly. Then you have to have a boyfriend. Then he has to propose to you. THEN you get married. And I haven't been on a date in several months. And I planned the last one. Bummer, yo. But the last one was fun...it was with [name with-held! Haha]. He's a cool guy. I'm glad I got to know him in Beauty & the Beast. Ah, Beauty & the Beast...that was a fun show. Let's see. Today is the 5th...HEY! We had our 4th rehearsal this day, a year ago! That was fun. I remember we started doing fittings for costumes, we saw a paper display of the set, & started talking about the special effects of the ending. Haha! And [ANOTHER NAME that's been with-held] asked me on a date in his best impression of a British accent! THAT was a fun date! Wow. That was a year ago... That was even before I turned 18. Ah, my 18th birthday. Dad brought a cake to rehearsal. My friends attempted to throw me a surprise party...[think of all the people that came to that] Wow, my friends-group has changed a lot since then. I should throw a party this year. HEY! My birthday's coming up! And it's on a Saturday!!! I can finally have a party ON my birthday!!! Oh wait. I'll be in Florida. All alone. I have 12 days to make friends so I don't feel completely alone...maybe someone will skype me? Or call me? That would be nice....my 19th birthday. I'm getting old. I could get married this year..." [and the thing continues]

Smile!

Ha. I know myself too well. Remember how I said in my first post that I'd post every week? .....that didn't happen. Whoops! Here's the low-down:

I tried to post a "30 Days of Gratitude" at the end of November but my computer/internet kept shutting down when I'd get about half way through, so I finally gave up after 3 or 4 tries. Then midterms happened. Then finals happened. And my internet was completely down for the last 2 weeks of me being in Provo. So now, I'm back in AZ. Living at home, hanging out with my family, not doing much, working from home, and...ya. Had a good Christmas, am counting the days till I leave for Florida, etc. etc. etc. nothing exciting. Ha.

Honestly, had kind of an off day. I'd write about it, but this is a happy blog! So I did an experiment instead :) I posted a status on Facebook asking my friends to tell me the best thing that happened to them today. I feel like people just need to share their good news with someone else sometimes. While reading through my friends' happy thoughts, it reminded me of some of the tender mercies I've experienced today. My day is better because of them. Moral of this story: if you're ever having an off day, think of the little things that were good. If you can't think of them, ask to hear someone else's. They'll more than likely inspire you to think of yours. So, go. And be happy. :)

Happy Quote of the Day:

"Smile, it looks good on you!"