Skype is still a "thing" right?

I wanted to do a Facebook dump of all these pictures I took skyping the fam tonight but I like the idea of only a couple people looking at them instead of the whole world.

I told him I was never coming home... just kidding. But he does cry a lot and then be just fine 3 seconds later

Come on Guys!

I know you are all out there, still reading all my ramblings. Let me know how you feel about me.

I was playing around with google maps tonight seeing all the different routes I can take home and just seeing how long it will take to do different stops and things... I decided to put my route of leaving Falls Church and head straight to Burley, but by walking. A big yellow box popped up saying: Use Caution! This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths. Also it wants me to take a ferry across the great lakes. Totaling in a 29 day trip. I think I will just drive instead.

What if?

What if we were all raised in a culture that believed in spider preservation? What if we were taught at a  young age that spiders are special and they deserve to be honored in a way. Instead of killing the little creatures, what if we played with them and studied them? As I was splashing water all over my bathroom floor (with nothing else handy) trying to drown a huge spider I saw, I thought these questions to myself. My spider swiftly went down the bathtub drain and then I ran water for awhile to make sure it really went down. I find it interesting that such a little guy can instill such a panic in me. I immediately felt my heart rate rise and panic start to settle in wondering if he would find his way out of the bathroom, into my bedroom, and crawl into bed with me. It wouldn't be the first time because one of his relatives already found my leg and left a pretty sizely scar.

Just so this post wont be all about spiders, I will tell you about the frog I found in the back patio of the pool deck today. Back story: My boss decided to not tell us that the pool was open holiday hours at 9 instead of regular hours, so me and another guy show up at 7:30 as scheduled. We were told to do some yard work out back to make our sun deck pretty, so we both go to work. He got to weed while I leaf blowed off the patio. I came to this corner by the moveable basketball hoop and smelled something super gross. I look down and see half pinned under the hoop some frog legs. I knew no more investigation was needed and I called Josh over and told him to bring gloves. He pushed the hoop back and pulled out a medium sized little guy that had been stuck under there for who knows how long just rotting and dead. His tongue was stuck all the way out (maybe thats how they die) but besides that he was perfectly intact. I wanted to die. Josh of course thought it was awesome and probably played with it for a second before I made him throw it away. Standing a distance away from him of course. Boys are gross. Then when we weeded, we accidentally unearthed a whole entire colony of previously undisturbed carpenter ants. That was a bad idea. Those guys can get really angry really fast. We both ran away and returned with chemicals and a new desire to kill all the wildlife outside. And there is your nature rundown.

The Final Countdown

It's been awhile. I have been doing nothing except for working day in and day out. I accomplished some pretty good 37 hour weeks at the pool (because heaven forbid if we go over 40 hours...our boss is really strict that we do not do that) and I have not been doing much else besides that.

 I had this whole week off preschool because parent teacher conferences are mostly over and the need for substitutes was lessened. I work tomorrow and then on the 8th and those are my very last days working there. I can't believe the actual countdown to leaving is coming up so soon! I have mixed emotions still. Sad to leave my good job with good pay, but really happy to see my family again.

 I have been enlisting my mom to help me find a job when I get back and I think I am pretty much set there. Of course I will go back to the pool because I have no other skills than to do CPR, and swim really fast. I don't think I can get rescue skills to leave my brain even if I tried.

 I think it will be a little bit of a culture shock you could say to go back to Idaho. I find myself adapting to living here in every aspect of my life. Whether it be sneaking around back roads to avoid traffic, teaching almost every person I come in contact with what a Mormon is, being able to go to almost any store at night without it being closed ridiculously early, or working really hard every day (and I really do mean every day...how do some people just work Monday through Sunday with no problem?) I hope it won't be like re-adapting when I get back to Burley. I really hope people remember who I am and I still have some form of Seniority at the pool. I am really tired of starting from the bottom and fighting my way to the top. They finally stopped giving me all the "new girl" jobs and I start getting a little bit of responsibility every night. We have some new guards that have come to work there and I finally don't feel like I'm at the bottom of the totem pole anymore. (that is a saying, right?)

In short, I guess I just have been doing a lot of the same thing, just kind of ready for a new chapter in my life. Can't wait to get those mission papers in and see where I'll be spending the next 18 months of my life!!  If any one is looking for something to do in June, I know I sure am not looking forward to a 3 day trip back west driving by myself! I'll provide some good company and maybe some car snacks if you wanna come help me drive :)

Polar Bear Plunge

I did it! We took the first swim of the year. Olivia and I went on a little sunset run tonight and we did pretty good considering we both haven't ran for way too long of a time. We chose an uphill both ways path (seriously it felt like we were always climbing some sort of hill) and when we got home we threw on our suits and literally fell into the pool without another thought. It was freeeeezing at first but we got used to it pretty quickly and we ended up turning on the pool lights and swimming until it got pretty dark out. I love that it is finally warm enough to do that. My time here is shortening and I am trying to get in every last activity I can before I go back to the west. I am so excited to go home, and a little sad to be leaving. I find with any place that you live you get to know people and you make bonds with them that are a little heartbreaking to break. I keep having to remind myself that better things are coming (a mission to be exact) and I will have to meet a whole entire state or country's worth of people and then trust that when I leave, everything will be ok. It's ok to be sad because that means that my time here was actually worth something. And before this turns into a saga, I'm going to bed. :)

Spring has Sprung

Hey guys! It feels like forever since I've blogged and in reality it really wasn't that long ago. I am working around 12-14 hour days every day (including Saturdays) so I feel a  little overworked and under payed. I say that because I still haven't received a single paycheck and I've almost been working for a full month now. Something about my paperwork going through to the government and pay week is only every 2 weeks and I missed the first week and blah blah blah. But when I finally do get one my life will be so happy because I have been working 60 hour weeks.

I have also planned a surprise visit home! Well, its not actually a surprise because everyone knows I am coming, but it is definitely earlier than planned.  In exactly one month from tomorrow I will be making the trek back across the country and to my home! I will have completed my 5 months in Virginia and done everything I ever hoped to do.

I'm still trying to get my mission papers unlocked so I can turn them in, and that is turning out to be more of a process than I'm sure actually completing them will be. All the people I work with ask me why I am leaving back to Idaho and not coming back and trying to explain to them that I'm leaving for a year and a half is hard. They immediately ask where, and then that's another 5 minute conversation on why I don't know yet. I guess to a real person it doesn't really make a lot of sense to move 18 states away from home and only live there for a second, but I guess it wasn't really all about working for me. I have done a lot more here than just go to work and try to make money.  I have had so many missionary opportunities already and I think that living in a place that is predominately non LDS has helped me a lot. I have had a lot of questions answered for me personally about what I want to do next with my life, and I have tried to help people get rid of the super ridiculous misconceptions some people have about being Mormon... I think they might as well consider my first 2 months of service completed already (just kidding)

And on another plus side, I now get to go to the family vacation on the Oregon coast! Be jealous of that. My mom rented a really big house on the beach and we are reunioning there with some of the cousins I haven't seen forever. We do weird stuff like travel to states where no one lives and gather there. I am not looking forward to packing my little baby car though. I don't know why the me in February decided I would need all this stuff, but I guess that is the price you pay for being a nervous worrier. Well, since today is my only afternoon off, I guess I better get myself over to the pool and swim some laps so I can count it for my in service! <only 10 more degrees until we can swim in our pool here!!>

The Diary of A Wimpy Kid

I've never known myself to blog so much in my life. I have a lot to say, and once I write it down I feel like I can let it out of my brain and save some room for more important things.. Something to that effect. Well I haven't self imploded yet, and all of my jobs are in full swing now. I have my favorite moments at work, and I have the not so great hours where I don't really understand where the parents of my associates went wrong in raising them...

My top 2 favorite moments from the theater (and I only have 2 favorite moments so far) is when one of the guests told me as I handed him his drink that in around 10 months that he's been coming to the movies, I am the nicest employee at the concession stand that he has ever dealt with. He said that it was the most enjoyable time he's had buying something. He also threw in a couple of "darlings" in his speech as he was telling me he would be contacting my manager. Aw, I love to be loved. My other moment is more of a story. I was throwing away some trash and closing up the concession stand for the night with one of the nicer guys that I work with. I threw a bag away and suddenly a medium sized black mouse ran right out in front of my feet. I whipped around and I guess my face said it all because he said "oh, did you see that mouse too?" with a big smile on his face. I told him that I really, really don't like mice and it scared me a lot and he said, "don't worry, I hate them too. Lets just leave quickly." Haha it was really assuring to know even the males at work are wimps like me. :)

I assure you that the moment our pool is above 75 degrees I will be jumping in. I felt like I was swimming as I walked inside tonight. What is the deal with the humidity? I like hot, but I don't like to drink my air. I am sure I will be doing a lot more complaining in the heat related department because it is a high of 88 with a 92% humidity this week. Also, that took me forever to find. weather.com went and got all fancy and complicated on me. That's all.