I know you have them...

Okay, friends and family (well, mostly friends because my family has already been informed of this), here's the deal:

We're looking for Family Home Evening Experiences for the Church Magazines. Your most memorable experience. We're running out and I've been recruited to collect as many as I can. Just send them to me at my e-mail--if you don't know my e-mail leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you. Your favorite Family Home Evening. The writing doesn't have to be perfect, just send it over and if we like it (and we're not perfect), we will probably purchase it from you. Yay!

So, send them on over. They should be short--250 words maximum.

Thank you!

June is Bustin' Out All Over!

You can see it in the trees
You can smell it in the breeze
Look around! Look around! Look around!
June is bustin' out all over
All over the meadow and the hill!

~From Carousel

I can't believe that June is already disappearing into the sunset! That's crazy!

Well, June has brought some exciting times. I started volunteering at the Salt Lake City Public Library every other Saturday for four hours. It's not terribly exciting. I just shelf books and make sure they look straight and clean up the magazines--but it's an opportunity to grow and learn. And if it gets me a good recommendation for grad school, then it's worth it.

I also got to tour the brand new Church History Library. It's amazing and made me totally jealous that I don't work there. I also got to meet one of the women in charge of one of the areas in the library and she's willing to let me come over and be a volunteer there after work. I probably won't start that until later in July or even August.

Last weekend my friend, Annie, and her sister, Carla, called me to go see Hello Dolly! at the Hale Centre Theatre on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. We watched people singing and dancing. It was definitely worth seeing the show. Plus, it was the first time in a long time that I had seen a play without knowing the songs or the storyline.

This past week (in keeping with the theme of musicals), my friends invited me to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the local theater. One of my friend's boyfriend was in the play in the part of Simeon. We went out to dinner before at a Chinese restaurant:

Then went to the play. Here's us with the sign we made for Steve. I hope he liked it.

And to start July off right, I'll be going home to San Diego for a 5-day vacation (only taking 2 days off of work!). Halleujah! I hope to enjoy that vacation. I feel like I need it already. And then two weeks after that, I will be off to the family reunion.

Cheers!

Time to Grow Up

So, I have a problem. I hope you can help.

I started volunteering at the library. I work in YA fiction and regular fiction. They want me to come up with a "top-ten favorite" list of adult fiction that I've read. Problem is--I don't like to read adult fiction.

That sounds horrible that I won't read it but that's only because I love Young Adult fiction. Easy reads. Really fun. Don't have to worry about skipping a bunch of pages.

I currently have two: The Thirteenth Tale and The Eyre Affair.

I'm begging for some suggestions for good "grown-up" fiction that I can start reading and maybe enjoy.

Any suggestions will be noted and I promise to read. Thanks!

This is what greets me every morning at 6 AM

Well, only on the days that I don't run. They love to quack right next to my bedroom window. Definitely not better than an alarm.

Sleeping in a Dream

My friend, Annie, recently bought a bedroom set. She can afford to do that. She's living in her parents' house. So, with all of her talk about her new bedroom and all of that jazz, it's kind of made me start perusing sites trying to find something that says "Laurel". Not that I can afford/need a bedroom set.

But the other day, I found it. The PERFECT bedroom set for me. Unfortunately, it is A) definitely out of price range and B) much too big for my apartment. I would have to downsize on a lot of things in order to get it.

But I want it. That's the sad part. Wouldn't you want this too? Or maybe just this entire bedroom....

A Yes means... a Yes?

A week ago, I went speed dating.

No laughing. I'm dead serious.

I decided to try it and see what would happen. The worst that could happen is that I would have a lot of funny stories to tell.

It actually was fine. I met a couple of nice guys and a lot of jerks.

You have 3 minutes with each "date" and you write down their name on a piece of paper and then after your "date" you mark a Y for Yes, and a N for No. At the end of the night, the people who organized the party collect all of the papers, which has your name, phone number, and e-mail address.

Later, the organizers e-mail you the contact info of any one who put down a "Y" for as well as you put a "Y" for them. So automatically that e-mail should signal: Hey! She is at least interested in talking for more than 3 minutes. Maybe we should get together for lunch.

I got an e-mail. There were two guys out of the three I said "Y" to who also "Y"d me.

I still haven't heard from them.

Have some courage, men! A yes, in my book, means yes! You don't have to be afraid. Unless you're really not all that interested. Then maybe you should've put "N". I would've accepted that better.

Friends

I must admit that I love Real Simple magazine. It's the only one that I have a subscription to (although I might have to reconsider and start getting the Library Journal in preparation for my career).

They have online blogs and over the weekend they posted on that I really enjoyed. Maybe it's because as I get older, I'm finding it more difficult to make new friends and strengthen my friendships with others. But here's the link: Six strategies for Keeping Friendships Strong

1. Remember birthdays; it guarantees that you get in touch at least once a year.

2. Join or start a group. It's a lot easier to stay close to people when you have standing dates to get together--whether a baseball game every Fourth of July, a monthly brunch, a book group.

3. Keep a friend's needs in mind -- by passing along useful information, setting up a blind date, making a business introduction. Do good, feel good!

4. If you can pull it off, have a big party (brunch, BBQ) every once in a while.

5. Sent out a holiday card to everyone you know.

6. Show up: to a wedding, a birthday party, a funeral, to see a friend's new baby.

I'm not perfect at all of these, but it's a nice reminder that as I move around, or my friends move around--there are still some ways we can keep in touch. I've found a couple of ways that have helped me.

1. Facebook. I hate to admit it, but Facebook is an easy way for me to keep track of my friends who have moved away, and hopefully a way to let them be updated about me.

2. Blogs. I love reading other people's blogs and I hope you feel updated with my blog. I should try to be better.

3. Phones. I call a couple of my friends at least monthly to talk and catch up. It's really nice and convenient. I wish that I could do more than that--but at least a phone call is always nice.

What are some ways that you have found to keep in touch with friends, or strengthen your friendships?

Take Me Out....

It's officially summer! Sunny days! Tans! And...

Baseball games!

My friend, Annie, got some tickets to the Salt Lake Bees game. It's nothing like going to a Padres Game. It's somewhere in between watching Little League games and college baseball.

Me and Anthony reading the the back of our tickets. We were laughing about the liability that we took upon ourselves--such as something being shot at us and injuring us.
Me and Annie.
Fireworks!!This was last weekend, but it was a lot of fun.

As Requested

Derry wanted more pictures. So, here you go!

This is the entrance road to FDR's house. FDR (for those who need a history lesson) was the President during The Great Depression and the beginnings of World War II. What is cool about this road is that after he contracted polio (or what they thought was polio and recently been discussed as another disease), he made it his goal to walk from the house to the main entrance. He had to use a cane in one hand and a son on his other and basically he moved his whole upper body and dragged his legs along with him. And eventually he was able to "walk" there. And after that, he decided if he could do that, he could do anything.

Me in front of the Empire State Building.

At Coney Island. The only day when I got a sunburn. Although it's a nice tan now. But Tuesday at work, plenty of people felt compelled to say something about my rather reddened complexion.

That's all. I'm sorry! I don't take tons of pictures.... especially of myself!