I actually FOULED out

Basketball is kind of a silly sport for me to play. I still occasionally play it, although my skills do not match up with my height! When it should be viewed as a challenge to stop the other team from scoring (as in all sports) and then to pull out your best moves to overcome the challenging defense and score. So although it is this great physical and mental game (which I LOVE to watch), I usually feel like a fool playing it. I laugh too much, don't shove enough, give up rebounds too much, don't run enough-- AKA, not competitive enough! In church ball and Jr. Jazz leagues I had to work hard to get a foul. I don't think I ever got more than 2 fouls. Which sounds like a good thing, but it really was a lack of aggressiveness I think.

Nevertheless, I joined an intramural women's basketball team because it would be fun! Tonight was our first game. The other team was quite vertically challenged, but they ran us ragged! I felt like such a girl. I tried getting around the defense and they were like stone walls. I think the best words to describe them are scrappy, fast, smart, fierce...a good team. They were yelling things like "get your man" "watch the screen- switch your man/defense" "watch high post!" (Are they talking about me? as I'm running around the key trying to look cool and get open but to no avail). And I know what they are talking about, but I don't think about all that when I'm playing! And our team doesn't have the best ball handling skills. (This is what I'm thinking, "Hey person guarding me, could you back off a little bit? I need to look at my hand as a dribble! I can't think of dribbling and look for players to pass it to, and try to get past you. Yea, thanks, that'd be great!")

So we were getting worked and we only had 6 players, so substitutions were not really an option. But I was getting tired of short girls getting past me so I tried to be more aggresive. Actually, it came quite naturally. But because they are so much shorter if I reach for anything or move my arms towards them it hits them in the wrong ways like their hands- perfect for calling fouls. I like to think it's because they are short and I am tall, but it's probaly just because I'm playing sloppy. Anyways, at the half I had 3 fouls. Shortly after I had 4 fouls. My team was nervous because if I fouled out they would get no rest for the remainder of the game. Alas with 6 minutes left, I stepped in front of a drive and got a defensive foul. Typical! I have to remember that I can't try to stop a drive or run by putting my leg in front of them. Whoops. So I fouled out.

No biggy for me! But my poor team.

Anyways, it is kind of a momentous day in probably a bad way. I was trying not to smile at the sad fact that I was kind of proud that I fouled out. I don't think I have ever fouled out. So I am proud that I was trying to play and be aggressive! But they were probably pretty lousy fouls because I'm so out of practice.

Well, I guess the tides have turned and I will need to be more careful because I'm not Ms. Passive any more on the court. Or maybe I can blame it on the height theory...like everything else! Jk

Some Awesome Things!

2 things-

1-I have an awesome roommate named Cassidy. Cassidy and I are on opposite sides of the height spectrum. One night we discovered something awesome! For some reason she was standing close to me and noticed that she came up to the height of my armpit, and that my hips came up to her armpits. So we tried on each other's pants (which both fit! but only in the horizontal direction!:)
Here's a before (normal) picture:
And here's the after (with each other's pants on.)- Next time I need capris and she needs flippers, we'll just trade.

2- I went on a blind date because I was setting two friends up and they wanted to double, so they found me a date too. We went to the Museum of Peoples and Cultures on BYU campus, and one of the activities was painting a gourd. There was judging in the categories of Most Authentic, Most School Spirit (BYU), and Judges Choice. My date was a very clever person and was throwing out ideas of creativity like Al Gourd (Al Gore), etc. I'm not very witty, but finally he thought of...

...' Gourd'on B. Hinckley!

I thought it was very clever, and I think our painting wasn't that bad either!

General Conference and Family!

I decided to post something because I am tired of looking at that aweful picture of the ice cream dessert! And I wanted to mention what I great weekend I had too!

Becky and I watched the football game on Friday after putting the boys to bed and making omlets. It was pretty fun! Ok, we didn't really watch the football game until like the last 5 minutes. Go Cougs! Afterwards, I stopped by a little Rock Band happening at a ward member's house. It was suprisingly fun! I lived in the University Villa apartments five years ago and now they are in my ward again! So going over to their apartments brings back some great memories! Oh the villa! (Not to mention the females were quite outnumbered by the men!)

Saturday was great! Tessa and her roommates came down from Idaho so I joined them in going to the Conference Center for the Saturday Morning Session. I was very excited and a bit emotional to hear that Provo's tabernacle will be rebuilt as a temple! We are truely blessed. It was also interesting to be there, because President Monson didn't walk in to the session until it was half way through! I'm grateful we have prophets on the earth today that let us know Heavenly Father's commandments and will for us. It always amazing me how general, yet personal the messages are. I know I heard some timely advice for me.

Oh, and the grounds of Temple Square were magnificent as usual. I was able to think about the opportunities that I've had living so close to Salt Lake, and the people that I've been able to associate with doing cool things on Temple Square. I'm very grateful for those good people and the opportunities I've had.

The rest of the weekend, I mostly spent with my familia. That was really nice! I think that I can sometimes be a pain, but it is always nice for me to reconnect frequently with our entire family. (Shout out to Camille and Chris and James!). Playing Just Dance, eating sticky rolls and tootsie rolls, going on walks and pushing Grandma's catalac, and eating dinner in the backyard...yea. Needless to say, it was a good weekend!

This week will also be good...as long as I can get a full 8 hours of work in. My brain usually shuts down between 3:00-3:30. I think that working 6-7 hours a day would be ideal- just saying.

I just saw Cars 2 with a friend in the ward- good movie. Pixar is so clever. Last night we watched The Sing Off (as usual). That show blows me away every time- with out fail. BYU's Vocal Point has done really well. Ben Folds commented, "I will never again say that I could never enjoy Bieber sung by a bunch of Mormons. I will never say never..." after they performed Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never." Monday nights, 7-9 pm...or DVR it.

I'm going to keep the rest of my week plans to myself to see how they pan out. EXCEPT! If you read this and don't have anything to do Wednesday and you're in Provo, you should go to Color Me Mine. Grandfamilies (the organization I work for) will get $5 for every person who goes and paints on Wednesday. So hopefully that goes well!

Portland, OR- Orientation for a job I've been working at for 3 months!

I started a new position in May, and I finally went to a training for it in Portland, OR. My position is an AmeriCorps VISTA. VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America. The goal is to fight poverty in communities. I am placed with a non-profit organization in my community. I got placed with a program called Grandfamilies of Utah County. It is a support, education, intervention program for families that are caring for a relative's child (ie-grandparents caring for grandchildren, or aunts/uncles caring for nieces/nephews). They are usually in this situation because the biological parent can't or won't parent. (Majority of the time it is because of substance abuse). We provide weekly classes and support activities, along with crisis intervention (therapy) for these families.

The program is very new to Utah County, so my job is to help the program coordinator develop the program by doing marketing and advertisements, generating and training interns and volunteers, planning and carrying out monthly activities, writing grants, and doing social media. I've enjoyed it thus far, and it has been a challenge for me. But I feel lucky because I'm getting a lot of good experiences and networking opportunities. Resume, what!!!

Anyways, I had a training in Portland with AmeriCorps. We had a good time during the night though. We (us Utahn VISTAs) went to a rose garden that was beautiful! We also walked downtown and went to an expensive place for dessert ($8 for a piece of cake!). I've decided I don't have refined taste buds, because my dessert (a Baked Alaska) just tasted like good ice cream. But I couldn't even read half of the desserts on the menu because they had such fancy names. All well.

I got to know my co-workers better, which was fun. I really enjoyed getting to know my coworker Erin...I think she's setting me up on a blind date and we're hiking Arches. That will probably be the longest blind date ever, but should be fun. Anyways, pictures below.

I decided I want something like this at my reception when I get married. Very cute.

City view from Washington Park.

View from my hotel. The other direction was AWESOME, but I forgot to get a picture. Portland reminded me of Seattle. I missed Seattle. Wierd to think I lived there.

Lamb Chops Anybody?

Back to the good ol' days. I ran across this and a flood of memories came back. Here's the intro and ending to spark your memory. What shows do you remember watching when you were 5 years old?

See the Good in the World (Tessa's Graduation, Emily's Wedding)

BYU-TV has the motto "See the Good in the World". They feature this in commercials and try to base their shows on that theme. I believe it is another way of saying "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things" (Article of Faith 13). I've decided to make that a new theme of my blog. I don't feel like I have that many interesteing things to write about, so this way I can post pictures of the good things happening around me without having to do much writing or explanation. If someone is confused about what or why I posted something, they can just know that it is something "good in the world" and I'm sharing it. So sometimes pictures or words will just be for me or a few people-not everyone will understand what I mean. Hopefully this theme will motivate me to post more by giving me a reason to share what's going on in my life.

My pictures are usually blurry, but this captures Tate's great laugh and smile and Camille's silly side!

He was just squilling away during so-called important speeches. (He was a bit more interesting! Sorry Tessa...)

The Parentals!

Smiling at Uncle Tateroni

Can't even begin to explain what happened here. There are 2 people in that picture...can you see them? Hey- you only graduate from high school once!

Familia

Proud Sisters!

Emily's new husband jumping to work for her and potting flowers in his "civilian clothes"!

A little roommate reunion. The Hindman's backyard is beautiful! This porch off the back doesn't do the rest of it justice.

Wedding flowers=good in the world (especially home-made bouquets)

Classic Cut-offHaving fun with great friends=good in the world

Emily playing a cute song for her new husband ("When I Fall in Love")

Classic music=good in the world

Dancing at a reception. I'm seeing the good in the world here, and I can't wait for the opportunity I'll have to dance with my husband at receptions! Good!

Kelson was a welcome addition to our fellowship...or just to break-up the fellowship. I didn't have a problem with that seeing that him and Emily are perfecto for each other.

These women=Good in the world. Talk about awesome! We may be different in our own ways, but they've added a lot to my life the last 2 years.

A little J.B. lovin'= (some say that's good in the world...)

The cute Hindman House in Oregon! They graciously let us stay at their house for the weekend during the recepion. We really appreciated it!

Road Trippin'= good

City Celebrations after Fireworks

Driving 5 minutes from my house, hiking for 1.5 hours with new roommate, getting far enough into the canyon to feel like you could be camping, coming home just in time for evening sun and FHE= see the AMAZING in the world.

"Thought of You"

This video is such beautiful work done by Ryan J Woodward, an animation professor at BYU. I discovered it about 6 months ago and I just ran into it again tonight. I could (and do) watch it over and over. It combines the best of fine arts- dance, music, art- to form a real touching experience. I just love the emotion felt through all the art forms mentioned above. Sometimes I wish I could know what the artist wanted the audience to feel and what he wanted the story to be. I want to what the man's story is throughout the dance and why the woman always seems fleeting, but finally when she is tangible, available, and ready, he just walks away from it all. But sometimes I'm glad that I get to interpret something for myself and just have the ability to feel.

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

A little boy's dream

When I don't wake up to my alarm, I can always count on the construction outside my window to wake me up! A monstrosity is being built across the street from my apartment. Last year I quite enjoyed living next to an empty field because it was like a breath of fresh air from the crammed and frantic Provo buzz. All well, there is no stopping this block-large apartment complex. It's going to be like Liberty Square's twin.

Anyways, one day when I wasn't too pleased with the noise of the machines, I looked outside my window and thought, "Wow, any little boy would be so jealous of me right now!" I remember when I would babysit Tate, and if we got really bored we would go try to find some bulldozer or construction site. Tate loved to watch the machines! So if you are raising a little boy, please know that my apartment ould be a popular tourist site right now!

The continual silly post of basketball fans with too much wall space on their hands

The Daily Herald started printing full body posters of BYU Basketball players. They would print one sheet per day and you have to collect them over 3-4 days to get the full sized poster. As a joke, I got the first poster of Jimmer Fredette and put it under Emily and Nina's bunk bed so that when Nina got into her bed she looked up and saw a giant poster of Jimmer. It was a pretty funny joke and she kept there. So I secretly kept collecting the posters and putting them in random places around the apartment. The second attack was of Jackson Emery on our front door. It was Emily's half birthday and since we like to celebrate half birthdays I put a caption of him saying "Happy half birthday Emily!" and she thought it was pretty funny. She told her class of 7th graders that Jackson Emery had wished her a happy half birthday. Needless to say they were all jealous until she told them it was a joke. His caption was changed later to an inside joke...well an inside joke with myself.

Third attack was Jimmer Fredette again. Nina has the Jimmer Fever. The night before, Emily and Nina had seen the new Justin Bieber movie "Never Say Never" and they caught the "Bieber Fever".

Fourth, our dear little Kyle Collinsworth. Well, not so little, but he is the freshman!

Fifth and Sixth are Noah Hartsock and Stephen Rogers having a little conversation...quoting a funny mock cover song called "Teach Me How to Jimmer".

Finally, we had James Anderson. He went in our coat closet- oh the randomness! His face is cut out for a reason. I had a Pi Day party at which we ate pie and filled out March Madness brackets. To make it more exciting we had a little photo shoot. See below.

So it's been fun. We are so silly, but at what other time can you cover your wall with posters like these? TMI. It has made for a very fun apartment joke.