amber date

I'm posting this close to the day it happened, just to space out the timeline of my posts a little bit although i'm actually documenting this much later than it really happened. i do that sometimes.

But June 29th, 2013, is a day that will live among my wild young-adult life days of infamy.
This day went from "I don't want to go by myself; i'll come pick you up," to an incredibly awesome, gloriously magnificent, highly memorable -- AMBER DATE.

8 am - amber picks me up and we arrive first in line to the chapel. are we early? where is everyone? did they already leave? this will be lame.

The redrock singles ward apparently aren't very punctual. shoot, my singles ward is not only punctual for lake trip days, but leaves at 5:30 in the morning, not 8:30.

Finally! people!

We carpooled with a couple friendly fellows named john and jorian. We rocked it up at the lake, yes we did. and even got to try this:

 

Sumo tubing! it really wasn't as fun to do as it was to watch, and definitely not as exciting or easy as the really happy man in the picture. people who did it well (not me) were not only skidding across the water, but spinning too. it was hard for my weak arms to hold on in such an awkward position with water splashing in overwhelming quantities in my face. but hey, had to give it a try didn't I? regular tubing is way easier.

 

Then we had fat hot dogs, grilled. we were hungry. and partied in and out of the water until about 2:30.

 

We got tan-ner. that part's cool. then stopped at a gas station, jorian bought us water. then went home.

 

Amber was coming right back for me though because our amber date was only just beginning! we still had a birthday party to go to for a gal in the ward. it was her golden birthday, how could we not? we sat, we ate, everyone else swam. I thought i'd be all swimmed out by then so I didn't go prepared for that, although turns out I should've known better. so I ate and talked and played with an empty water bottle, my feet in the pool. and went home with my bro after.

 

SURPRISE, AMBER! matthew (my bro) has four free tickets to le reve tonight! wanna go with me? she called me crazy, said she was tired, then said yes. :D

 

I called two more party animals who were looking for something to do tonight -- perfect. and we went and enjoyed an amazing show. AND STAYED AWAKE. we were tired, but it was <that> good. the stage was water for landsakes! acrobatics, synchronized swimmers, fire, water, acting --

 

 

 

I'm glad rainier abandoned you for a day so we could have such a great date!!! : )



there i go a'meddlin

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a giant fist go aviating into your face?

Then, as if you were jackie chan or some other action-movie super fighting figure, everything suddenly turns slow-mo and you dodge the punch just as it nicks the air behind you.

I have.

This week i got to experience it first-hand.

On 2-south, there is a bunch of confused, mental health patients there. the patient i was working with was in the bathroom. i waited outside the door for him.

THE ROOMMATE:

"i need to use the phone!! i need to make a phone call now!!!"

THE ROVER (person who roams the hallway):

"have a seat. okay okay. go sit down and you can in a minute."

ROOMMATE:

"i need the phone!!"

*climbs over the rails out of the bed. face is very scrunched up and red. yelling. very profane.*

What was i thinking when i casually strolled over to his side of the room to try to calm him down..?!
It's because people say that i can have a very calming voice! & i've experienced that affect over other patients who were aggravated in the past. [sidenote: never try reasoning with an angry person]

It was working at first....then i said one word, "her". and it triggered the beast to come out of the man. apparently his wife is not a her. he let me know.

POOOOOW! ...except he wasn't very intimidating since i'm slightly stronger & quicker than he is. so i dodged. the rover yelled for help. other manly help arrived. they pushed the patient back into bed.

-------------
I should have been scared. but instead i brushed off the fluster and humiliation. then i had to try not to laugh. why did i think that was funny? it really isn't funny to be punched at.

Maybe because for that split moment, i felt like spiderman in the first movie. the whole scene where the school bully takes a swing -- slow motion -- yeah. that was totally me.

Wha-cha!!!

______________________________________________________________________________
Oh, can't forget the after-story. obviously, i still had to hang out in the room until my patient came out.

*ignore the man i did*

However, he was quick to apologize. i offered a slightly cold "apology accepted" response. i then got into a conversation with another person in the room about cars.

THE ROOMMATE

"Do you like cars? i'll buy you a car!"

ME

"You would buy me a car?"

THE ROOMMATE

"Yeah, what kind would you like?"

ME

"what kind is good?"

THE ROOMMATE

"I'll buy you a lexis. they're really expensive, but i'll buy it for you!"

"i'm sorry i got mad"

Needless to say, i'm taking him up on that offer. it's probably just a convenient phone call away....

thoughts in my head

0. it'd be nice to have


a boy









1. i love


getting bruises

2. my favorite bagels


cinnamon with blueberry shmear





3. i'm thinking

honda escape













4. i'd be okay with

a pet dwarf hamster






5. i'm itching to

travel







6. i'd be neat to speak

italian, spanish, english....









7. i'm learning to accept

forehead wrinkles








8. despite what aesa said

cottage cheese + yogurt
does not taste like ice cream








9. i feel hot

playing my flute again.









10. i look so....

every time i run.

"I'm just a black hole for stuff. No one should ever hand me anything, because I get so easily distracted. I'll be like, 'Oh, look, something shiny!'"

Florence Welch 

mission thorns

"Missions are like thorn bushes," paulo said. "The entire mission you are walking through thorns, but every once in a while you'll find a rose among them. When missionaries walk out of the bush and look back, all they see are the roses." 

The roses are what returned missionaries talk about. but what about the thorns? those little thorns they had to face every single day, every single moment of the journey. are they forgotten? or just compensated by the occasional rose that comes along?

My interest is in finding out about the thorns. what are the thorns of the mission? that's what i want to know.

little oriental man

Yesterday i was in the women's restroom washing my hands at the sink. in walks this little oriental man in blue scrubs.

"Hello" he said as he walked past me into one of the stalls.

"Hi" i responded in a little-too-squeaky voice.

Then i'm pretty sure something next to my heart did a somersault as i did one of those delayed double-takes. i had a decision to make. in a matter of milliseconds, i either had to tell this man that he was in the wrong place, or i had to stifle any awkward sounds of shock trying to escape my vocal cords & just let it be.

I ended up drying my hands eye-widened & mouth-gaped, & briskly leaving behind the oriental man to complete his purposes in the privacy of the women's bathroom.

Awwwkwarrrrd.