I occasionally take my nephews on dates and we have a great time together. Last week Bryan (6 yrs) asked me when our next date would be, and I told him I was taking the day off work on Monday, so we could do it then. He told me he already had the plans and he would tell me when we got in the car. So for the next few days I knew I had a date w/ my nephews (Matthew is 3 yrs) on Monday and had no idea what we would be doing, or how much money it might require. :) But I didn't care! I just looked forward to spending time with them.
I'll take you step by step through our evening together. I kind of talked Bryan through the stages of a date (for when he is older):
Pick Up Your Date
(Well, Brittney drove them to my apartment, which worked out better for me.)
Go Out to Dinner
(The boys decided on Pirate Island ahead of time)
Do a Fun Activity!
(Gotta love the convenient little arcade inside the restaurant)
Side note: I went on a real date to Pirate Island a year ago. The guy and I played a bunch of games and got ourselves TONS of tickets. Then the guy suggested we give all our tickets to some little kid. It was the coolest thing ever. :)
Enjoy Some Dessert
(Only if you really want to spend more time with your date)
*My Choice: Baskin Robbins Ice Cream*
Hang Out at Someone's House...
(If it's not too late!)
*This is a video of Bryan doing a WiiFit Obstacle Course, and Matty following right along. So cute!*
I will be 31 in April. Do you know what that means in the world of an LDS single woman? It's a significant age, like when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints turn 8. Or 12. Or 16. Or 19 (or 21). Now 31. Yes... this means I am moving on from the Singles wards. Can you believe it?! I have been attending a singles ward for 12-13 years. Granted, a few years in between were spent at my home ward in PA and in home wards on my mission... but for the most part I've been doing the Singles Ward thing.
What does that mean, exactly? The Singles Ward thing. Well, it can mean anything really:
Cute boys
Weird boys
Best friends
Special people (you know what I mean)
Awesome adult friends
Leadership opportunities
Really fun activities
Really lame activities
Really cool activities that would've been cooler if more than 5 people showed up
Powerful testimony meetings
Awkward moments
Awkward people
Impressive lessons and speakers
Chitter chatter during lessons
Passing notes during lessons
Meetings before church
Visiting teaching
Home Teachers who never came
Home Teachers who actually did come
No crying babies
Family Home Evening with friends
Planning, Brainstorming, Praying, Seeking
Inspirational moments
Loving people for who they are
Seriously, today was probably one of my favorite days at church in a Singles Ward. It was filled with the Spirit, filled with emotion, and filled with love. The timing of my leaving is perfect because my existing ward will be dissolving soon and all new wards and stakes will be formed in Orem. Rather than having a bunch of smaller local wards, they will combine our groups with other UVU student wards and there will be a good number of large wards, large stakes, etc. I think it's going to be a great step forward in the world of Young Single Adults. I just happen to be too old to join the party! So today was kind of the last hoo-rah together as our ward. And it was precious.
I've learned so many things and grown and changed in so many ways, just in this Lakeridge 11th ward in Orem, UT. Amazing people here. I've attended BYU singles wards. I've tried out a huge singles ward in Holladay, UT. I attended a tiny little singles branch in Gettysburg, PA... bless its heart! I served in 2 singles wards in WA on my mission and loved them both. In all my experiences, I have a testimony of their purpose. No, it's not the crazy "meat market" stereotype that so many girls dread and avoid. It's the opportunity to serve among your peers and learn and experience things you wouldn't be able to do otherwise. It's like when little kids play "dress up" and they're pretending to be grown-ups and have pretend dinners together and what not. A singles ward allows "young kids" to be leaders; to make decisions; to teach; to love; to serve; to guide. Only it's not pretend... it's real life. Real people. Real friendship. Real love (for the lucky ones). Real testimonies. Real change.
And I've loved it. And today everything kind of sunk in... that all of this is coming to an end for me. Very soon. I love that when a girl turns 18 she can start attending a Singles Ward, join Relief Society, and have a whole new family to be a part of. Some of my favorite girls in the ward are 18 or 19. Like, I might as well be their Young Women leader! And they are precious. One of them said I am her hero; another told me she wants to be just like me. And I laughed and said, "For real... can you believe you weren't even born yet when I was a bee hive?" That's funny. :) But I love that about being "an adult"-- that age just doesn't matter anymore! (Except for the turning 31 rule). I love people for who they are. I can hang out with the wives of the bishopric members and have a blast. And I can hang out with the young newbies in the ward and welcome them with open arms. I've had a leadership calling in my ward for the past year and it's really helped me see the importance of loving people equally and avoiding judgment and gossip.
When I start going to my new ward, I wouldn't mind not having a calling for a while... or maybe just chillin' in a piano-playing calling of some sort. But eventually I would love to be a leader again... or serve in Young Women. But I'm not in any hurry for now. :)
So here's my ode to Singles Wards. Amen to all of it. :)
I had the most perfect and wonderful day this week-- it really seemed too good to be true! Like, I was expecting at any minute to twist my knee or fall on my head or something disastrous. Nope! I was just super lucky enough to take a day off from work to go snowboarding, and it just so happened to be the most beautiful day of my life! Let me tell you why it was so perfect:
Ingredients to perfection: 1) Clear, deep blue sky. 2) Jamba Juice Breakfast. 3) Snowboarding at Sundance. 4) Soft, perfect snow. 5) Hanging out by myself! 6) Clif Bar snack/meal. 7) BEAUTIFUL day!
1) So I woke up and peeked through the blinds-- I do that every day as soon as I wake up-- and saw a clear, deep blue sky at 9am. I hit my snooze button and snuggled back down in my bed. Then it clicked in my brain: Clear blue skies!!! Get out of the house! After that, it was easy to get up, get ready, and get out!
2) Breakfast! I was driving to the canyon so it only seemed perfect to drop by Jamba Juice (I am their biggest fan) to pick up a Cold Buster smoothie and a warm apple cinnamon soft pretzel.
(This isn't the Jamba Juice apple cinnamon pretzel, although this regular pretzel would've been delicious as well!)
I rolled down my windows, plugged my iPod into my car stereo and turned up the volume, and literally smiled the whole drive up to Sundance. The warm pretzel was perfect, and although the smoothie gave me a few brain freezes (I was so excited and drank it too fast)... I was totally content with how my day was already going. No time constraints, no real expectations-- just a fun day ahead of me to do whatever I wanted.
(Seriously. Look at that sky!!!)
3) FINALLY I had a day to go snowboarding! As much as I love this activity, I rarely have time to do it. The first time I went this year was in February with my Dad. We went to Brighton and the conditions were horrible, windy, blizzardy, and painful. But we had a fun time together! The second time I went boarding was a few weeks later with a friend in Colorado. But I had done a painful workout a few days earlier and couldn't even walk that day. I don't know how I managed to go snowboarding, but once again, we had a blast! That same weekend in Colorado I bought a snowboard at a 40% off sale and was totally in love with it! And every Saturday after that I was doing this ski program for the teens at work and couldn't use my snowboard. So I put my foot down and decided to take a vacation day and simply told my boss I needed to use my new snowboard before winter was over! :) Here are a few pictures of my snowboard:
(A view from the lift)
(I love the colors! The bottom has blended shades of orange, yellow, and pink.)
4) You wouldn't think the snow would be that great the last week of March, but I was delighted to discover the snow was perfect! It wasn't icy at all-- just perfect. There were even secret places I found that had big thick snow and even powder, and I was adventurous and more confident than I'd ever been before.
(A lot of the snow had been groomed and looked like this. I thought it would be hard and icy. Nope!)
(Chunkier snow but super soft and powdery)
5) I think it's a good sign when you can hang out by yourself and totally love it. I love friends and even enjoy snowboarding with other people... but sometimes it's just great to be completely solitary; it's therapeutic. This all started for me when I lived in PA and would go snowboarding at our small, local resort: Ski Roundtop. That's where I learned to snowboard, and with it only 15-20 minutes away, I would drive up in the morning, hang out for a few hours, then get back in time to go to work. I usually went by myself and really enjoyed that "me" time. So this week I chose this vacation day to be a "me" day. And it was perfect. I had so much fun hanging out with myself, I decided to take a video. HAHA. Enjoy...
(P.S. This video actually makes me look like I'm an idiot, but I had a fun time doing it.)
6) Snack time! I decided to skip a heavy lunch at the lodge and popped out a Clif bar on the lift. It was delicious and just what I needed to hold me over for a few hours. I really like those crazy little bars and feel outdoorsy and healthy when I eat them. :)
7) Everything about my snowboarding experience was perfect. The weather was ridiculously beautiful, and so warm! I'd take off my jacket every time I got on the lift and spread my arms out and just bask in the sunlight. I purposely took off my goggles on the lift so I wouldn't get stuck with the crazy "ski bum" look with the white raccoon eyes. Nope-- my face got plenty of sun! There weren't a lot of people at Sundance-- no waiting lines-- and I always got to sit on the lift by myself-- I actually LOVE that! As fun as it can be to make new friends and talk to random strangers on a ski lift, I'd much rather have those moments to myself. So I took lots of pictures and enjoyed the solitary peace.
Towards the end of the day I went to the backside of the mountain and got on another lift that goes to the top of the mountain. I think I forgot it went up that high, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done it if I had remembered. It kind of scared me! But this was the view once I got off the lift:
(GOOOOOOORGEOUS)
I decided it was worth the fear, and I made my way down the mountain like a champ... but didn't do it again. I'm not what you'd call a hardcore snowboarder. I don't fly down the mountain at insane fast speeds. I don't do crazy jumps or tricks or anything. I just love to have a nice smooth ride down the mountain, carving back and forth, occasionally riding over a bump and catching a few inches of air, and making it down alive. Snowboarding is actually a great source of leg strengthening and my calves and quads are burning by the end of the day.
You know what ELSE was burning by the end of the day? MY FACE. And NECK. And I didn't even think about sun screen until after I got home and noticed the intense sunburn. This is what I observed that night:
Maybe you can't tell just how red my skin is. But if I would've just pulled my collar to the side a little, you'd see my natural WHITE skin glowing along side the nice burning color. Aloe vera is now my friend.
But the sunburn didn't take away anything from my perfect day. I loved every minute of it and really just smiled and laughed to myself at how lucky I was to be snowboarding instead of working, and absolutely loving it. I'm taking another snow day on Monday... we'll see if I can have ANOTHER perfect day!
But I haven't always been this way. I remember when I was little I would get anxiety at night because I never wanted to be the last one awake. I don't know why it made me nervous. I just hated the thought of my parents being asleep if I was still laying in my bed, wide awake. Sometimes my mom would play the piano late at night and that was soothing and comforting. Kind of like a parent reading a bedtime story.
I also couldn't handle sleeping over at other people's houses. Like if I got a Birthday party invitation and at the bottom was that exciting line, "It's a sleepover! Bring a pillow and sleeping bag!"... my heart would sink and I'd feel sick to my stomach. I remember sleeping over at my best friend's house in 3rd grade and having to call my parents in the middle of the night because I wanted to come home. What a weirdo.
But somehow I got out of that phase! Now I LOVE staying up late, and I LOVE sleepovers! My roommate has told me many times, "I think you're the only 30 year old I know that still has sleepovers." Haha. But how fun is it to go visit a friend or have someone come into town, and you just hang out all evening and THEN get to have a sleepover too! That means extra snacks, more talking, more guitar playing, more time for movies, and often times a big feasty breakfast in the morning. I love the excitement of sleepovers.
(1998 logo, haha)
My college roommates will confirm the fact that I am a night person, not a morning person. My freshman year at BYU, I lived in the dorms and it was one big never-ending sleepover. I would recommend the dorms to anyone! Late night games of hide-n-seek, vending machine snacks at your finger tips, late night hours in the piano practice rooms, chatting with roommates and friends all piled on the mini dorm beds, running up and down the halls... oh yes. I loved it. My friend and I made "bed-time" charts once to try to help us get to bed earlier. Each night we put a shimmery star next to the time we went to bed, and if we made it a whole 2 weeks going to bed before mid-night, we got a prize. My average bedtime was 4:00am back then. Yikes!
When I was on my mission, my biggest weakness was... getting to bed on time! I just loved night time because it seemed like the only time I could just sit and relax, write in my journal, eat snacks, etc. I was constantly trying to jump into bed by 10:30pm... but coming from years of late night habits... 10:30 to me was like play time! On a brighter note, I woke up EVERY morning at 6:30am without fail. THAT was a miracle. I struggle to even wake up at 9:00am these days, so the mission mornings were amazing. :) And it was funny because most of my companions were just dead by the end of the day and could hardly open their eyes and communicate, and I'm sitting in the corner like, "la la la la... wanna snack?" But don't you worry-- I was a good missionary and really did strive to live by the rules. I just had my token weakness.
I have a work schedule that allows me to sleep in and exercise in the morning. But then I don't get home until after 8pm... so guess what that means? Late night play time! Dinner time is pushed back to 9pm, then I'm ready to play games or watch a movie or something by 10pm. And when mid-night rolls around, I want to stay up longer. Eat more snacks. Do mindless computer things. Watch another movie. Do a puzzle. Read. Play the guitar. Sometimes even clean the kitchen or do the dishes. Anything to keep the day from ending. It doesn't seem fair that most people get home from work/school by 5pm and have the whole evening to relax or do things they want to do. (Yes, I know, blah blah, I get to start later in the morning). My "evening" begins at 8 or 9pm and my night owl syndrome kicks in with power.
The good thing is I'm not a late night TV watcher. I'm actually a super NON-fan of just sitting and watching dumb shows. It's like I get irritable and restless and would much rather put in a movie or TV series on dvd. I can control my time much better that way, like when the movie ends... boom, I have to go to bed. Or, I'll just watch 2 episodes on the dvd and then I have to go to bed. It's better that way. :)
Right now I'm trying to find a balance between staying up late because I love it... and waking up early enough to go running like I'm supposed to. Sometimes I hit the snooze button too many times and miss my window of opportunity to exercise before work. And then I'm mad. That's when I say to myself, "Okay, tonight you're going to bed by midnight so you can wake up early!" And then suddenly it's after midnight again and I'm tired and I don't feel like waking up early.
Let me tell you why I love Comedy Sportz. It's guaranteed entertainment and you're bound to have a good laugh-- hopefully many good laughs. And it's an easy date. Better than a movie because you don't talk in a movie and that's a waste of 2 hours. Even Elder Scott said so in a recent CES Fireside. :) But Comedy Sportz is interactive, and you can hear each other laugh, and make comments and talk to each other about the funny things that occur. Then you can make small talk before it starts, during the 10 min intermission, and laugh about it as you walk out. There's lively music, random things all over the walls (easy conversation starters) and plenty of chitter chatter going on around you to take away from any possible awkward silences. And the best part is even if you and your date are totally not compatible and not feeling the vibes and you can tell this will probably be your first and last date with the person... you can still come away from the night with a smile on your face because you totally enjoyed Comedy Sportz.
I really love Comedy Sportz. I went there with friends as a portion of my 30th Birthday party this last year. It's always a gamble because you're never sure who's going to be doing the improv the night you go... but NOW I can cheat and find out the line-up on their Facebook page. How perfect is that? You have an open weekend... glance at the line-up for Friday or Saturday, and if your favorites are going to be there-- Boom. Buy a ticket. I'm kind of a huge fan. Cassity (my roommate) isn't a huge fan but she's a good sport and has gone with me several times anyway. She probably enjoys Comedy Sportz as much as I enjoy walking through a health food store.
Now for the details you've been waiting for: my date tonight! He's a nice guy. Friendly with Sadie, talkative with Cassity, and cheerful. Is anyone surprised that Sadie took off running outside when we walked out to the car? She was gone before I knew it, and she was running circles all over the place. My date tried to be helpful and crouched down to call Sadie over, but she was stubborn and rebellious. Luckily Cassity was home this time to help with the round-up, and my date and I were kind of crunched for time... so we left Sadie's fate up to Cassity. :) I just had to laugh and told him she must be going through a phase because she's never been like this before... until yesterday.
Maybe Sadie's totally against me going on dates. Or at least dates with these particular boys? Hmmm.
Anyway, the evening was fine and he's a nice guy. Even pretty cute. And Comedy Sportz was great and I loved it. I'm not sure how he felt or if he was really into it at all. Or interested in anything I had to say.
I hate the awkward in-between timing of the evening, when it's not necessarily "late" and you don't know if the evening is over or not. So do you suggest he comes in and you play games or something... or just assume it's done and go with it?
I also hate the end of the night door scene. It's the worst thing ever. If you don't like the guy, you just want to book it and get out of there ASAP. If you really like the guy, you're hopeful but don't want to be too hopeful and end up looking like a fool. You also don't want it to seem too rehearsed and try your best just be natural, to help the guy feel comfortable and not awkward. I never know if I should go in for a hug or even initiate it, or just let the guy make that decision and not do anything.
Tonight I didn't do anything and he didn't either. No hug. We didn't hate each other and it was a good date. But it was a weird end-of-the night conclusion. He did walk me to the door, which was nice, but maybe I'm just awkward and made it more awkward by trying not to be awkward. Oh well. A date is a date. And on those nights when I'm feeling lame because boys don't ask me out... I need to be grateful for the date experiences that come and go.
I usually come home feeling unsettled and then re-play several moments of the night and think, "Idiot. Why did you say that" or "Dang, I shouldn't have done that" or whatever. But really, there's nothing I can do to change what went on in the date.
I can't remember the last time I came home from a date feeling giddy. Well... maybe it was like a year ago, but it's all so fuzzy and seems like a foreign, unfamiliar feeling.
Shrug.
This is how life goes! All I know is Comedy Sportz is a tiny little place on Center Street in Provo and I really like it. That's all. :)
