Two of Us Riding Nowhere, Spending Someone's Hard-Earned Pay...

Saturday was easily one of my top 5 days ever. Why is that, you ask? Well, sit back and keep a tight hold on your pantaloons, because I am about to answer your question! One of the best days ever starts like this: waking up at 4 AM. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? So after 3 hours of sleep, I dressed, packed up some stuff for a 25-mile bike ride and drove out to South Jordan to meet my fellow biker cronies. We left around 5:20 (much later than we wanted), but wound up at the U's institute just in time.

Joe and I bailed on the others and rushed to the starting line literally less than a minute before it started, but as we crossed the street near some Trax tracks (haha, tracks-tracks?), the tandem's front tire caught the track and we fell over. I almost took some lady down with me, it was very amusing. Anywho, once we shook off the scrapes and bruises, we made it to the line and started the ride. The most entertaining part was that it was raining - everyone had this wet streak up their backs from the back tire that looked like babies when they... well, ya know.

Anyway, not long after passing the 8 mile mark, I heard a pop. Not feeling anything, I asked, "Was that us?" It was. So we pulled over and started taking the tire off. I found the tear in the tube, and it was pretty impressive. Joe called his dad. We had a repair kit on the tandem, but there was no way to patch that thing up. So we told his siblings to ride on, and we just waited for Kevin. We finally called him after a while to find out that he thought he was behind us when he was actually ahead, so he'd been riding in the wrong direction. In the meantime though, we fell back on our usual form of entertainment while we wait for things. The goat ladder video.

Eventually, Joe's dad got there, we pumped up a new tube, fiddled with the off-center brake for a bit, then took the bike out into the road. It was easy, since the rest of the bikers were long gone. The second I sat down, I heard an all too familiar popping sound. I stood up, felt the back tire and yelled out, "THAT just happened!" At that point it crossed the funny mark and became just downright hilarious. So we felt ALL over the rim and tire for anything tearing the tubes and found nothing. We took the risk and pumped up a third tube, but this time it was inside the tire and on the rim before we pumped. As it inflated, the tube pushed out through a rip in the tire. Yep, that had to be causing it. I was so glad to find out that I hadn't gained 1,000 pounds since I woke up!

Joe's dad rode back to the van and we waited for him to come back. In the meantime, we sat on the curb and watched the marathon runners. One of them sneezed, I yelled "bless you!" and some lady threw us a shirt and told us to throw it away (Uh, yuck?). Some guy was wearing Kiss make-up and an 80's rocker wig, another guy dressed like a flower, one was in a shirt and tie... it was good fun, haha. Oh, and there were many mean jokes about Ethiopians as the ones who were dominating the race ran by - mostly inspired by Billy Crystal's joke in When Harry Met Sally. Anyway, after maybe an hour, Kevin came back and took the above picture for us.

Since the bike tour failed, there was really only one obvious solution: spontaneous zoo trip. But first we stopped at a grocery store and bought bagels, cream cheese, and strawberry milk. We ate that in the zoo parking lot, then headed in for the first time in a very long time for both of us. We got mooned by a gorilla! I'd never seen an ocelot before, so I cooed over that for a while, and kept squealing "KITTY!" like Boo in Monster's Inc. Joe's response? A playfully condescending "Okay, let's go get a drink out of the giant lion head." Hehe. Love to!

Anyway, the zoo's the zoo, and the zoo is awesome. After all that, obviously it was nap and shower time, so I drove home and did just that. After an hour and a half (what's wrong with me?), I got dressed and we went for a real bike ride on the Jordan River parkway, sans killer tandem. After a long, relaxing ride and some dinner at The Pie that felt like swallowing a delicious brick, we went to Nick and Weenie's to play for a bit. Weenie, Nick, Joe, Jake and I walked over to Macey's, grabbed some movie food and, for some reason, more cereal than any human could consume in a lifetime, and headed back to watch 1408. That about concludes the day. Partying it up with friends and eating the Western Family version of Samoas, which I nicknamed Tongas.

Yep. That answer your question?

Geez, Banana! Shut Your Freakin' Gob, Okay?

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:27

Lately I've been feeling that I need to be a better friend. I tend to repel people, but I couldn't quite figure out how I was doing it. I know I can sometimes make myself unapproachable, but the trick is figuring out just how I do it.

On Sunday, I read a few articles in the Ensign. One was a small snippet from a woman who felt inadequate somehow, but couldn't figure out how. Referring to the scripture in Ether 12 that I quoted above, she prayed for Heavenly Father to reveal her weakness, and it was something totally unrelated to how she was feeling (she'd been impatient with her kids). I decided to do the same thing. Sunday night, I prayed to know what I could do to be a better friend.

My best ideas and answers to prayers usually come right when I wake up. They come in those final dreams that are short, yet vivid, then in the pondering as I lay in bed that first 5 or 10 minutes of the day, my mind unaffected by surroundings. This time, I had a dream about a friend I had in several classes at the U. I always admired her, wondering how she was able to get along with so many people. She took initiative, and I always felt like if I tried that I'd scare people off. She's just likable. In this dream, I sat in the back of a classroom, right in front of three girls who gossiped to each other. They said something mean about the girl I mentioned, and I turned around to tell them that I knew her. "Yeah, the one with long, blond hair?" one asked doubtfully, testing me. "No, it's short and brown." I was proud of myself and felt happy to be a part of the group.

Then the girl they had just talked about walked in with chocolate-covered pretzels that she brought to share with everyone. She also brought some random pudding or something she'd made with Slim Fast (it's a dream, something weird and random had to show up somewhere), since it was just after New Years and some people might want to avoid the straight chocolate. I woke up, knowing which of these people I wanted to be friends with.

This girl (her name is Emily) reached out to everyone. She showed kindness and thoughtfulness (completely blind to the clique) and expected nothing. Her only motive was to make others happy and brighten the day. Ultimately, she is the better friend. This is the kind of person I want to be. I feel that this was the answer to my prayer. To be a better friend, I need to reach out to everyone. As hard as it is for me, I need to talk to people - without considering whether they even want to be my friend or talk to me. I need to show kindness just to make people's day brighter and not even worry about what they think, do or say. All that matters is what I think, do and say.

You know, Catholicism. We believed in the teachings of Cathol and everything it stood for.

These last two weeks have been pretty dang eventful, considering I haven't done a thing really! How does that work? Oh, well, have a seat, get some popcorn, and I'll tell ya. I paid off my car last Monday (and I received the title in the mail 2 days ago). Yeah, I officially own The Black Mamba... but wait, IS she black? I'm very convinced that she's actually gray... but then again, I only wash her in the summer. Hm.

On Wednesday, I came home from work and immediately went to the kitchen to make dinner, 'cause I was starving when Buster said, "There's a surprise for you downstairs." I was very confused, so I went down there, and I have a brand new cedar chest. I instantly knew who it was, because my mom's been talking about getting me one since I graduated from high school. I called her up and thanked her, but she insisted it was all Dick's doing, 100%. A few days before, he had texted to ask our address. I was suspicious, but I didn't connect these two immediately. I can't believe he does these things for me - he's so thoughtful!

On Monday, I got to play with my best friend for the first time in what felt like forever (though it's only been a couple weeks). We went to Zupa's and watched an episode of the Gilmore Girls. Such good times! I've been missing all that - I'm pretty sure I've been craving Zupa's for 6 months, I've been needing friend time badly, and then there's the Gilmore Girls withdrawals... I think I might just pull through now.

See? Like I said, it's been eventful, but at the same time... think about it, all but the playing is over in an instant - and even then, the playing sure feels like an instant. I hope everyone had as good a week as I did and has an even better one this week! Hopefully in the next couple days I'll finish some sewing projects I've been working on and have some pictures to share. :)

PS (can you PSify a blog?) check out this song! No More Hotdogs
Buster came home with a copy of this CD, and we've literally been laughing for 3 days straight at this song.

Mr. Cellophane

I feel like I need to update this more often, so here I be, wondering what on earth can I write about... so I'll go with what's going on in my life right now. So what's going on my life? Work! And... well, yeah, that's about it, unless you count driving to work as well. Or I suppose I could do a narration of my reading entirely too much over the weekends, but I'm sure I'll be forgiven for not, hehe. I took these pictures the other day and thought I'd share a little of the new experiences with everyone. This first picture is the view from my desk out the door. I can actually see a window... amazing, right?! HUGE change from the windowless Costco! Oh, and it's also very clear that I need some posters or something. :)


This next picture is obviously what I face most of the day... this is my computer. Well, no, actually, the computer is underneath the desk. These are my monitors (Yeah, that's right, we get double monitors. It's actually kinda rough, because when I get home my one monitor on my laptop is just not enough. So inconvenient! Not gonna lie... there have been a couple times that I really wanted a third monitor. Can you say "spoiled"?).



I wanted a better shot of the very few ways that I personalized my office. It's still bare, and I still get comments on that. But hey, I made an effort. Those are a few pictures, an awesome bowling score, a Colonel Sanders bobble head, Bill Goldberg and referee action figures... oh, and a rubber chicken. Yeah, I know, I'm awesome. Just to prove it further: any guess what's holding the chicken's noose up? Go ahead, take a guess. Yeah, it's a Samus bobble head on the shelf above. I think I've said enough, feel free to admire me, I won't stop ya.


This last picture is my favorite of the bunch. This is a sign that somebody posted on the wall next to the tech side printer. I saw it on my first day, and it hasn't changed at all, except that last week someone crossed out the '4' and wrote in '5.' It makes me laugh every time. My coworkers are pretty fun. I just wish I knew which one did this so I could team up and make a space invader out of post-it notes on the wall in someone's office (I don't even care who, I just love the idea!). I definitely need a prank accomplice if I'm going to do stuff like that.

Anyway, yes, that's my life right now. There is stress, hurt and frustration, of course, but I just try to work through those, and for the most part... life is awesome. Always.

Obviously You're Not a Golfer

To copy my good pal Elise, I'm dedicating a post to 2010. I hadn't planned on doing this until I woke up this morning and realized how drastically my life changed last year.

January:

I started off my new year hanging out with these clowns. This picture was taken after running out in the street barefoot (there was a ton of snow and ice out there), screaming to the neighbors and causing quite a stir. While I have no picture documentation, they also were company to my first attempt at snowboarding this month. I still suck at it, but hey! I'll get there.

February:

Wow, some very huge changes came very close together and very quickly this month. On the 10th, I moved. Yes, it's true. I, Jane E., the girl who spent 22 years, 4 months, and 29 days living in the exact same house finally moved. The picture on the left is my old room, my last time in there before hauling the last load. The picture on the right is my new room, all set up.

For some reason I can't find any pictures, but my mom was married on February 25th this year. We all spend that weekend in Wendover (my first time there) where I did and did not gamble. I didn't use one cent of my own money, but I did play craps in Dick's stead when they left the table to go get dinner.

March:
I spent March adjusting to my new home. What does that entail? Chasing this up-to-no good kitty around the house. You know, coaxing him out of drawers, the drier, blinds, etc...

April:
April was pretty eventful... one of my very best friends and cousins was married to a good friend of mine. And Weenie asked me to be a bridesmaid - that was so much fun! The picture on the right is our surprise for them when they were on their honeymoon. We painted their bedroom.

Oh, and I also ran my very first half marathon at the end of this month.

May:
I enjoyed a 2-week break from school and then started what I thought was a 10-credit semester. And then I discovered something about how summer Spanish classes work and came to the conclusion that I could graduate in December rather than next April. Long story short, I started a 17-credit semester this month.

June:
Despite all the time spent in school, I managed to find time for other things. For instance, I went to my first concert in June - it was my favorite band, Cake! They put on an excellent show too. We also adopted this little kitten that Ludo is scoping out. We named him Archie after a character in the movie Rocknrolla.

July:
I played entirely too much this month! On July 5th, I once again set off to hike Mount Olympus alone (this time it wasn't snowy though). I also hiked Timpanogos (that's the jumping picture there). I also went to Bridger Lake for a week, a tradition of my family's. Those are two of my nephews chilling in my camping chair after we caught a few frogs.

My brother, sister-in-law and I also took a Wednesday we all had off to go explore. We wound up driving in the Jeep, top down, to a canyon waaaay out in the middle of nowhere. There we discovered a teeny, tiny, abandoned mining town. Ghost town hunt, whoot! It was pretty dang cool. I included a picture, but I think I accidentally deleted it and I'm too lazy to reupload it. Just trust me, it was rad.

August:

This is where I started my last semester. I also went on my favorite hike of the year, up Red Pine trail and to the top of the Pfeifferhorn. So much fun! It was freezing up there though. I also commenced my final semester at the end of the month.

September:

I turned 23. Still not sure how I feel about that...

October:

Pretty uneventful month. I think I spent most of it studying. By November I gave up and just prayed I'd just pass.

November:

I invested in a pair of snowshoes. Good purchase! The picture on the right here is from Donut Falls. Looks absolutely gorgeous in the winter, right? I also started a new job. By some miracle, I landed a job as a technical writer at a software company in Provo. I worked part time on Tuesday and Thursday start November 9th.

December:

Christmas! Oh, and I finished classes. yeah, I took my last final on December 17th. I also had some random illness during this week that made me so achy and feverish that my hand hurt like heck when I tried to write my exam essays... yuck. But I did pass everything and now I'm free! I also started working full time on December 20th. Looks like I don't have any major decisions or milestones to hit anytime in the near future, and I'm actually liking that. Maybe 2011 will be the year of remaining static.... except when I'm using my AWESOME new snowboarding gear I got for Christmas. check me out!

I Have a Glob of Gluten-Free Funeral Potatoes on My Foot

About 30 minutes ago I decided I wanted a snack. I removed the cold funeral potatoes from the fridge and dipped a piece of French bread in it. Before returning the potatoes to the shelf, I dropped a decent-sized glob on my foot. Rather than clean it up right away, I decided to wait for 30 seconds. I need to shower anyway. That in mind, I walked carefully down the stairs caught a glimpse of the bright, shiny screen of my laptop and decided to check my email quickly.

The only thing I had in my inbox was an email from Clearplay announcing that any reply to their blog would result in being entered to win a free Clearplay with a year's membership. Really, I just want the membership. 8 bucks a month? I could buy a DVD per month instead! Oh, the irony! I replied with my New Years resolution and realized, "you know what? I haven't updated my own blog in ages." So I decided to write up a quick post about how all of my grades were finally posted today.

Normally, that's nothing more than a sigh of relief. This time it's a sigh of disbelief that I didn't do worse than an A- in any class. It is also a shout of joy that I'm now officially DONE. Forever. I can't even comprehend it. I still don't know what to do with myself when I come home from work, but I suppose I'll get used to it and be able to slip into all kinds of awesomeness without guilt or thinking.

Before I'm distracted by something else that will allow this congealed blob of greasy starch to melt into the cracks between my toes, this well-read Bachelor of English is now going to hose off her potato-globbed foot of its sickeningly warm, cheesy essence. I know you think you understand the nastiness of this scenario, but I assure you... YOU DON'T KNOW!

It Tastes Like Goblin Piss

The new job is going very well. I still feel very out of place and strange, but the first couple weeks of any job are the "What have I done?" weeks. I'm easing in, however, and adjusting to the new environment. My day Thursday, for example, consisted of my going in a half hour early, turning on my computer, and converting some software documentation to HTML. I finished that quickly, so I browsed through the documentation that's already been done to make observations about the style. I noticed that images were presented in tables, so I changed all the images in my project. Then I noticed side notes were written differently, so I changed that... etc. Basically I was trying to make it identical in format, and I took notes so I could contribute to a style guide for our company's documentation.

After about 5 hours, my manager checked in for the first time and asked if I needed anything or had any questions. It's so strange not to be constantly watched at work, you know? Anyway, I showed him the operations section of the documentation and pointed out that it looked really ugly. After asking if there was another way he wanted to present the information, he took the controls and I watched. We created a table that would work pretty well, so I spent the remaining hours converting most of the operations to our table. I didn't quite finish.

As I was about a 15 minutes away from packing up and leaving, my coworker came in and started chatting about school. He has the same major as I do, only he's not at all happy with the way English degrees are done in Utah. I agreed with his argument, but added that while the required classes are useless, I have enjoyed them nonetheless, haha. We also talked about movies and stuff too for a while. All in all, I had about a 45-minute conversation with my new coworker. It was so nice! I'm still new and alone, but the environment there is super friendly, and I'm sure the newness feeling won't last too long. I love it. :)