This post has no theme.

My Sidekick is watching Fast Five. You know, that car movie. Not that one, the other one.

What? You think they're all the same? Me too.

I am not so much watching as glancing at Fast Five. And, trying not to eat the last chocolate chip cookie in our kitchen. So in an effort to keep my hands busy doing something other than picking up the cookie, I decided to check in with the blogging world.

Our exciting Friday night is brought to you by Redbox and the fact that we had to pay two rents this month. We moved from Midvale to Taylorsville last weekend. Why? We just heard what a happening scene it was.

Ha! Couldn't even type that with a straight face. We moved to a place with the same amount of room and more storage for $200 less a month. Sidekick is going back to school in the fall. And, we will be welcoming a little critter into our family in November. So, hearing that school costs money and that kiddos should wear diapers, we thought it wouldn't hurt to save a little bit of moolah.

I'm sneaking up (shh) on a year of marriage. It suits me. He suits me.

He's nice to the critter when I'm not. When I start cussing the critter for making me feel sick and useless, he always talks in the general direction of my uterus and says "She doesn't mean it. She loves you. We both do."

I have a feeling he's going to be Good Cop. Though the critter is growing on me (and growing IN me. Ha!)

My work keeps me busier than I'd like, but busy doing something I like. Cancer is a jerk, and I get to help people fight it and celebrate their courage. I've met some really great people with gigantic hearts.

Except for in Draper. Draper is devoid of people with hearts. ...I don't want to talk about it anymore.

 I will also be retaining my calling of Stake Girls Camp Director until after camp is over. Why didn't I use the move as an excuse to escape when I had the chance? Because I have too much of my father in me.

So girls camp + a summer-heavy job + critter inside = some interesting times ahead. The Sidekick helps me not lose it, and makes (at times feeble) attempts to cheer me up when I do lose it. I'm real glad he's here.

My blog posts are far less introspective than they used to be. Somehow, things are a lot more simple to me now. I don't stew... I feel more, I think less. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not.

But you know what IS good? Pickles. Especially lately. Maybe that will help me stop craving the cookie.

It's 11:00pm.

The sidekick and I attempted to go to bed about an hour ago. He successfully fell asleep within a matter of minutes. I, on the other hand, tossed and turned and eventually decided to blog until I'm sleepy.

So, this may be one of those brain-emptying posts.

I have a job with the American Cancer Society. It's challenging, and I love it. I love that my comfort zone gets stretched every single day. If you've never been a part of a Relay For Life, you should try it once. No matter how close you are to the cause of fighting cancer, you'll be touched, and you'll have fun. And you'll raise money that does measurable good.

I haven't told many people this story... As I grew up I certainly had people in my life affected by cancer, but no one so close as to really get me too emotional about it. That is, until I met Elder Jeremy Pritchett.

Elder Pritchett was one of my first district leaders on my mission. He was of average height, less than average build, glasses, from a small town in Idaho. Kind of on the geeky side. In fact, he reminded me of George McFly on Back to the Future. Loved techno music... I don't remember what conversation led me to learn that, but it was among the things I learned about him that stuck. Also, he was sincere about his desire to do what is right.

Elder Pritchett and I got along very well in a kid-brother-older-sister kind of way. I would watch him try and exercise his authority over a few elders who were naturally significantly more outgoing than he is, with varying success. He would listen to my frustrations about my own companionship, and he would try and offer suggestions. He didn't really know what to do with the other sisters in our district (There were 6 of us, and consequently Elder Pritchett was sometimes referred to as Relief Society President.)

Near the end of his time as my district leader, Elder Pritchett started to suffer from some really bad headaches... so bad that on occasion he'd be missing from meetings he was supposed to be leading. A couple weeks later he got transferred to a different area. I remember the last time I saw him we were exchanging information so that we could stay in touch post-mission. He looked pretty weak, but was cheerful while we were talking.

Then, about two weeks later, we were informed that Elder Pritchett had fallen off his bike mid-ride because he lost feeling in one side. They took him in to the hospital, and there is where they found his brain tumor.

They sent him home to operate. We had been told that the operation was successful, and that he was home recovering. I wrote him a letter of encouragement (and joking around to cheer him up), and a few weeks later he responded with a letter. Telling me his spirits were up, but that he just wouldn't be able to do things the same as he used to.

A couple months later I wrote him another letter. Then, at our next zone conference, President announced that Elder Pritchett had passed away a month or so ago. I was in a more remote part of the mission now and we didn't get mission updates as often or as clearly, so when Elder Pritchett's parents had received my letter, they called to make sure that everyone was clearly informed.

I felt like I had been sucker-punched. I especially felt miserably for his parents, having to receive a letter for a son they had just lost while in the midst of their grieving process. They actually ended up writing me a letter thanking me for my friendship and support, but it didn't make me feel much better about the pain I must have caused them.

Also, it didn't compute in my head for a long time that someone so young could die of cancer. Cancer was something older people dealt with. Elder Pritchett wasn't doing anything bad... in fact, he was doing something really good by serving a mission. He certainly didn't deserve to have his life end so quickly.

This experience has never left me. Elder Pritchett and I were only friends for a few months, but he is the reason that I feel so good about where I work. The more research is done, the more cancers become a treatable condition and not a death sentence. The more fundraising I help make possible, the more research gets funded. And, the more people get to spend a night remembering their own Elder Pritchetts.

There. That's my shameless plug about Relay For Life. And now I'm tired, so this post has served its purpose. Goodnight. :)

Remember how I got married?

Yeah, I barely do. We still don't have our pictures back. But since it was family who took them, we patiently wait instead of throw a fit. Though if I don't see them by our 6 month anniversary, the fit throwing may have to commence.

It was a beautiful day surrounded by friends, family, and pinwheels. It was full of smiles, gifts, and swords full of meat. But in the grand scheme of things, it was just a day. The days since have been way more fun.

Like this!:



Sidekick (as he will be referred to henceforth in the bloggy world) has done wonders for my psychological wellness. (Not that I was too unwell to begin with. Right? RIGHT? **forceful stare**) I have found that my extreme independence has been softened to be in the moderate-to-strong category... because at the end of the day, no matter how many world problems I've solved or lives I've saved or people I've lifted, it's awfully nice to have a toasty warm sidekick to snuggle up to at night.

I have also regained a healthy respect for the concept of wasting time. In the later years of my single life I found myself going from one thing to another and filling my day with as much as possible, because being idle for whatever reason didn't sit well with me. And while I still like to be productive, I've rediscovered how effective playing a video game can be at helping a busy girl unwind at the end of the day. I've had a few people mention that I've "mellowed out" a little... meaning that the wild look in my eye that comes with always having to feel productive is gone, replaced with a look of contentedness. Not complacency, but contentedness.

While the next steps toward building our lives together float around in our consciousnesses without having landed on a time line quite yet, in the meantime I'm very much enjoying the simple apartment we live in and the simple number of two.

One other note... my employment at the food bank has ended.

About 9 months ago I had been promoted to the role of Office Coordinator. While it taught me new things and gave me more money, it removed me from the hands-on experience of working with the public that I had grown to love so much. So a month or two ago I started passively looking for a new place to work that would allow me to work with the public again.

About a month ago found an opening with the American Cancer Society. I applied, they interviewed me, offered me the job, and I took it. I started this week. I'm looking forward to the new opportunities it will give me to learn and grow and work with people to help raise money for cancer research.

So. Though my life seems far less adventurous since having "settled down", I'm hoping I'll still find adventures to blog about, and hopefully more often than every three months.

Thanks for reading. It's nice to write again.

June 1st....err... 8th

Friends, Romans, Countrymen... I hardly deserve the honor of your attention any longer due to the complete and utter lack of attention I've paid this blog (and by extension you, my faithful followers) in the last little while.

But I would be remiss if I were to go without mentioning this year's June 1st activity.

Now part of the challenge of June 1st is trying to do something of significance (ish) that I've never done before on that very day. Though in the past I've been tempted to fudge it and do it a day before or after to better accommodate my schedule (or someone else's), I've stuck to my guns and made it happen on June 1st.

This year I had to throw my guns out the window... but Groupon is to blame, not me.

On June 1st I opened my gmail to discover a Groupon deal for half-off at a sushi restaurant in Draper called Wasabi . This was fortuitous, because I hadn't decided what my June 1st activity was going to be yet and I had never yet eaten sushi. So I purchased the Groupon and texted my sidekick to let him know that dinner that night was on me. He was overjoyed, being quite the fan of sushi himself.

But then... THEN... I read the fine print on the Groupon that said I couldn't use it for 24 hours after I've purchased it. With this little stipulation, my June 1st dreams were gone.

So I said to myself, Now you've had a busy last couple of months. Planning a wedding and sharing a life is hard work and time consuming. Surely they will understand if you decide to use this coupon next week instead and still count it as your June 1st activity.

To which I countered, Hey, remember how there is no "they" and the only "they" who is keeping track at all is in fact YOU?

So a week later we went and had sushi, and the June 1st gods in my head have still been satiated.

Now the idea of sushi had never really sounded all that good to me to begin with, but I'd had so many people tell me how wrong I was and how delicious it could be that I was optimistic that I'd end up enjoying it.

Well, you should note that the above picture with the big smile on my face was taken before I ate my first bite, because I didn't like sushi at all. Not even the deep-fried, least fishy rolls that they had to offer. I'm not a fan of shrimp, crab, or lobster, and most rolls have some form or another of one of those meats inside. So while the taste of the deep fried tempura on the roll was yummy, it wasn't enough to overcome the crabby aftertaste.

Thankfully, this guy was around to make up for what I didn't eat... and happily so.


In fact, have I mentioned what a fan I am of that guy? Here's another fun picture if you'll indulge me...


The umbrellas in my mouth were once in our shaved ices. The red sticker on my cup was once on my shirt from having given blood. Who gives blood and then rewards themselves by driving all the way to Sugarhouse to get the best shaved ice in the valley? We do.

I'm not counting down the days till I get sealed to this sucker, but if I were there'd be twelve.

First comes love...

... then comes marriage.

July 15th, friends. Mark your calendars. Hide your kids, hide your wife. It's happening.

Email me with a mailing address if you'd like an invitation sent your way, even if you won't be able to make it to the reception.

(Note the flip flops contrasted against the blanket in this picture. He is brave to marry such a complicated gal.)

Okay okay, I give.

Sorry team. That was quite the little hiatus I took. I didn't mean to, but you see...


...Life got busy.

To cover your basic questions, his name is Brandon. I met him in my ward. We have the same calling, so we've gotten to know each other through ward missionary stuff, and in late January we started dating. He's from Montpelier Idaho. He works for a company called Industrial Container in their customer service department. He likes to fish, likes to hunt, likes soccer, likes to spend time with his family, and likes me. And I certainly like him. Things are going well.

That's all I've got for you, kids. Hope that will satisfy your curiosity at least for now.

2010 was fun.

Sometimes the generally high quality of my life makes it such that my brain gets overloaded when trying to remember specific accomplishments or events. This post is an effort to remember what 2010 was about for me. (Inspired by my dear friend Lindsay's recent year-in-review post.)

This year I...

...Defeated a certain notorious villain and rescued a certain helpless damsel. Again.
...Recommitted to becoming healthier, bought a gym membership, and have certainly used it.
...Re-focused my journaling efforts by recording more thoughts and fewer events.
...Facilitated countless opportunities for people to serve.
...Was humbled. Big time.
...Ran a 10K with a chest cold in 40 degree weather. (I don't recommend it.)
...Played outside. A LOT.



Goal for 2011: Continue to seek opportunities for growth. Preferably outside.