Life's little lessons

If anything from this past finals week was permanently inscribed in my brain, it's this:

CHECK THE CARTON BEFORE DRINKING.

I buy my own gallon of milk every week, and yes, I drink it all.  I will admit that I drink straight from the carton, because, well it's just easier and more convenient than drinking out of a cup (which 1- you have to find, and 2- you have to wash).  I also don't have to share it with anyone else, so no one cares. Win-win!

Well, here's where I run into problems.

I go home.

I open fridge.

I see the half-gallon of egg-nog.

I, out of habit, chug.

I return egg-nog to fridge.

I realize that it, in fact, did not taste like egg-nog.

I pull the carton back out.

I read the label: "Egg whites"

I gag.

Lets just say that I won't be drinking out of the carton for a while.

Thanksgiving Extravaganza

Something incredible happened tonight.


It wasn't anything I expected, or even hoped would happen.  In fact, it stressed me out and brought me to tears for a while.  Yet I am so extremely grateful I experienced it.


The nice old man named Richard was my angel tonight, and he taught me a valuable lesson on gratitude.  There could not be a better week to reflect on my blessings than Thanksgiving.


Here's what happened...


The big storm everyone's been freaking out about (you know, the one that “will far surpass anything that we've seen, probably for the last several years." according to BYU and the weather channel) was well on its way to Provo tonight when I finally got back to my apartment from practice.  It was then I realized I had a flat tire.   I was planning on leaving tomorrow morning for home because I have a lot to get done before the break, but was convinced otherwise by my panicked mother, and Kristen and I decided it would be best to race to Alpine before the storm hit.  Since I am CLUELESS when it comes to cars, some sweet boys in our ward changed the tire for me (thing #1 to be grateful for)! Kristen and I threw a few clothes into bags and were ready to leave within 10 minutes after changing the tire.  Time was key; the faster we could leave, the safer it would be.  I decided to drive home slowly on the spare.  I called my mom, happily telling her that Kristen and I were finally on our way and we'd be in Alpine soon.


No more than 10 MINUTES LATER, my spare tired popped.  I pulled into the Burgers Supreme parking lot on University Parkway and burst into tears...  The storm was getting closer and I seriously could not believe everything that was happening. Kristen turned around to come get me and I ran into the restaurant to ask the manager if it would be ok to park my car there overnight, with the storm coming and my tire situation.  He was on his way out, also trying to beat the storm, but what he did for me is something I will never forget.


Instead of just saying I could leave my car there, he ran out in the cold to look at my flat spare tire.  After looking at it for a few minutes, he grabbed the real tire out of my trunk.  He practically ordered Kristen and I to go inside the restaurant and get warm.  He then drove to Big-O-Tires, had the tire patched and fixed for me, and put the good tire on my car.  All of this in the freezing, snowy, windy weather.


This stranger wouldn't accept any money, nor would he tell me his last name.  All he could say was that if I wanted to be really nice, I could bake some cookies and take them to Steve over at Big-O-Tires for fixing my tire.  When I thanked him over and over, he just said, "If you were my daughter, I would want someone to take care of you when you needed help.  I know you're somebody's daughter."

Richard was late coming home to his family on a night when it probably wasn't convenient, with the storm coming and all.  I hope his wife knows that she married an incredible man. 

Never have I been struck so hard by the Christ-like acts of a stranger.  It really made me think of how blessed I am, and that I have SO MUCH to be grateful for.  It made me think about how often I thank my Heavenly Father for everything He gives me on a daily basis, and I definitely don't thank Him enough.  


It also made me think about how I want to be somebody's angel.  We are all sent here to earth to struggle together, and to lift each other up in time of need.  I want to be like Richard, selfless and charitable.  I want to be an instrument in the Lord's hand.  I want to think outside myself more often.


What started as a stressful night has turned into the best night I've had in a long time.  A chill, relaxed evening in the apartment with Kristen and lots of time to think about the things I'm grateful for!  I love that our Heavenly Father blesses us with these experiences.  I hope all of you sit down and take the time to thank Him for all that you have, especially this week, and have a happy Thanksgiving! :)

Happy Halloween!

What do you all do for Halloween?

Every single year since I can remember, I've gone trick-or-treating. Yes, every year in junior high, high school, and embarrassingly enough, my freshman year of college (it was kind of a joke though, and only for like... 5 minutes. I promise :)  This year I finally put away my pumpkin candy basket and decided that it was time to grow up.  I looked around, got invited to some dance parties and some scary movie parties (neither of which I have much interest in.  Skanky, sweaty dances...ugh! And scary movies SCARE ME!) SOOOOO after seeing my cute little brothers at the swim meet, I decided that I would drive home and spend Halloween with my family!  My first year not trick-or-treating, and what did I do? I took my brothers trick-or-treating of course!  I guess I just can't let go of that part of my childhood.

On a tangent, YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHAT I FOUND IN MY OATMEAL THIS MORNING.  You know those personal oatmeal packets that come in boxes?  I poured one into a bowl this morning and saw something MOVING in it.  So naturally, I dug around and put whatever it was on the counter...only to see a LIVE, SQUIRMING MAGGOT!  The hairy, nasty little thing had been in that sealed packet for a LONG TIME, and it had PLENTY of food to keep it alive. Moral of the story? Stay away from Kroger oatmeal packets. (fyi the next packet I opened was safe. But I'm still gonna have to check my oatmeal before eating from now on.)

Another random story! Drewby "stole" a piece of candy from a story today after my mom said he couldn't have it.  He put it in his pocket and forgot about it until I was wrestling with him and felt it-- I pulled it out of his pocket and my mom's mouth dropped.  We asked him where he had gotten it, and he said he "found it under the couch."  Then my dad asked him if Tanner had taken it, and he told us that "Tanner took it!"  When we kept asking him how it got in his pocket (because we had a hunch he was lying ;) he then told us "it was magic!" 

Me: How did it get in your pocket?

Drew: I don't know...I don't know.

Me: Did someone put it there or was it magic?

Drew: It was magic!

FYI- this video was filmed AFTER he told us it was magic. I just wanted to get him to say it again :)

Funny boy!

The swim meet today was against Denver and we destroyed them! I'm so grateful I've had the opportunity to be apart of this team, and I can't wait to keep going!  Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth it...getting up early to work out, going to school, working out again, and going to bed early. Then repeating it every day for 6 days.  My social life is lacking!  But it's days like today that I realize just how much I love the sport and the people in it, and it makes it all worth it.

We finally got the pictures from the photo shoot Aleesha, Rachel, and Kelsey and I did a few weeks ago! They are RAD! Here's a few:

Freestyle

Breaststroke

And that's my GOOOOD lookin' team!

Well, if 1 out of the 3 people who read this blog get this far, I'll be happy :) KUDOS TO YOU!

Off to celebrate Halloween some more with Tanner and Drewby! That's right, call me party girl! Love you all :)

The Good Things in Life :)

First off, HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!
Wednesdays have GOT to be the best day of the week.  I love my Wednesdays!  And I love the 20 hours-a-week limit the NCAA enforces that give me my wonderful Wednesdays. That being said, I am taking a gigantic nap later today after class! WOOT!

It's been raining a lil bit the last day or two, and seriously I love the rain, but it kept me from going to any class on Monday :) (tee hee?)  Am I just super lazy or is walking to the other end of campus after practice in the POURING (I repeat, POURING) rain a legitimate reason to ditch class?

On the bright side, I got a free car wash--2 days in a row!! Thank you, mother nature!

Anyways! Homework time! So I can take my nap later :)