I have a problem and I'm willing to admit it. I actually think a lot of people know about it, at least people that I grew up with or roommates in college, but maybe not everyone I know. I am a slob. Well, that one everyone who has ever stepped into my house know that one, no surprise there. But I am majorly terrified of germs. I've decided to blog about it because I can never say it in person and I really hope I don't offend anyone who has ever done any of the things that I am about to say. It's not you, it's me, but at the time, it's you.
I think everyone knows that I am a germaphobe. I'm not sure to the extent of how bad it is. Here are some examples:
1. I wash my hands a ton. After each step when I am cooking, I wash my hands. If I touch someone, I can't touch anything else until I wash my hands. In fact, my hands are so dry that there is a visible line on my wrist where I stop scrubbing my hands. My mother-in-law even said it looks like I am always wearing pink gloves because my hands are just raw.
2. In college, I had 3 anxiety attacks within a week of each other. I was doing the dishes, but I just pictures the germs on the plates spreading around my kitchen. Luckily I talked to my psychologist brother who gave me a few tips and breathing exercises to help me get over it. I told the doctors that I saw that I must have been stressed from school which must have triggered it. It was really germs.
3. I hate public restrooms and I hate public people using my private restroom. There is a reason why I have an upstairs bathroom and a downstairs bathroom. Down is for guests, up is for me. The other day, I have a good friend come over, but the downstairs bathroom was out of TP (I don't go in it very often), so she went upstairs. I had to wait 5 hours until Olivia went to sleep so that my toilet could be bleached before I could go to the bathroom.
4. At church, I am the assistant Achievement Days leader which just means that a bunch of 8-11-year-old girls come to my house and do an activity. Yesterday they came over to do pedicures. They soaked their feet then exfoliated and painted their nails. Several of the girls asked if I would paint their toenails, but I just said "No, I'm not good at that". What I really should have said was, "no because I don't want your toe fungus germs to crawl up my arms, don't want to have to bleach my hands, and even worse, don't want to breath in dead skin cells." Even worse, their foot-soaked-water-bucket water was poured down my kitchen sink even though there were a few dishes in there. (I baked several cakes and watched 5 children all day yesterday). Then I couldn't use the kitchen at all until I bleached my sink.
Those are just a few examples. Embarrassing, yeah, probably. But, I guess this is my way to say don't use my bathroom please.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Facebook for Everyone!
It kinda bugs me when people refuse to "give into peer pressure" and get a facebook page. It has only been very recently that I just wished everyone I knew had a facebook page because it's actually can be more helpful than harmful. Yeah, it can get addicting sometime. I went through times like that. I think I blogged about this before. I'm having flashbacks, but here are some recent examples about how great facebook is.
1. I love to google stuff. Googling a question that I have then finding an answer makes me feel smart, but it also takes a lot of time because I have to read the same thing on 4 or 5 different websites before I believe that it's true. You know how much time that takes! Too long when ya got 2 kids under 2. When Jocelyn was first born, she was colicky. Posted it on facebook asking for advice, went to bed, then I woke up in the morning and had a billion different answers. It was pretty awesome.
2. Our pipes froze when the temps dropped in the middle of the night to the negative teens. Did I know what to do? No. Posted it on facebook and within 30 minutes, 4 people from my ward called to see if they could help, and my home teacher was already over fixing the problem! First of all, I have a great ward, and second, I was able to shower and brush my teeth by noon! Thanks facebook.
3. Someone in my ward just adopted a baby, but it was totally a surprise. She doesn't have any kids so she didn't have any kids stuff and I think by the time she found out that she was getting and actually having the baby didn't give her time to go out and buy stuff. Someone made a group on facebook to get this lady baby stuff and she got the baby shower stuff she needed without the baby shower. Just a few years ago, that would have taken many phone calls and obviously too much work and human to human communication for it to be successful.
I'm not one that posts a bunch of stuff unless I need to. But I do like to find out who is having children or getting married without actually talking to them. I wish we could utilize it a little better. For example, if my ward could have a facebook group, we could have all the activities posted and links to the lessons at church on Sunday. See. It's pretty awesome. Yeah, I agree that it pushes some people into reclusive activity, but you gotta get bored of facebook stalking people sometime. Right?
1. I love to google stuff. Googling a question that I have then finding an answer makes me feel smart, but it also takes a lot of time because I have to read the same thing on 4 or 5 different websites before I believe that it's true. You know how much time that takes! Too long when ya got 2 kids under 2. When Jocelyn was first born, she was colicky. Posted it on facebook asking for advice, went to bed, then I woke up in the morning and had a billion different answers. It was pretty awesome.
2. Our pipes froze when the temps dropped in the middle of the night to the negative teens. Did I know what to do? No. Posted it on facebook and within 30 minutes, 4 people from my ward called to see if they could help, and my home teacher was already over fixing the problem! First of all, I have a great ward, and second, I was able to shower and brush my teeth by noon! Thanks facebook.
3. Someone in my ward just adopted a baby, but it was totally a surprise. She doesn't have any kids so she didn't have any kids stuff and I think by the time she found out that she was getting and actually having the baby didn't give her time to go out and buy stuff. Someone made a group on facebook to get this lady baby stuff and she got the baby shower stuff she needed without the baby shower. Just a few years ago, that would have taken many phone calls and obviously too much work and human to human communication for it to be successful.
I'm not one that posts a bunch of stuff unless I need to. But I do like to find out who is having children or getting married without actually talking to them. I wish we could utilize it a little better. For example, if my ward could have a facebook group, we could have all the activities posted and links to the lessons at church on Sunday. See. It's pretty awesome. Yeah, I agree that it pushes some people into reclusive activity, but you gotta get bored of facebook stalking people sometime. Right?
Monday, March 4, 2013
To Do
I have a life list. It's my bucket list, but I don't like the phrase "bucket list" so I call it a life list. I think it's pretty obvious that it's just a list of things that I want to do before I die. I actually have a "to do" list and a "to go" list. I have to admit, I have some pretty awesome things that I want to do on there and I'm going to do all of them. Some are a little iffy like going to the moon that greatly depend on me being oober rich, but we'll see.
So I've always had this life list, but I actually just realized something today. I wasn't actually really pursuing the things on my list. They were just a list of things. Then today when I was casually cruising on facebook, I noticed my friend Michelle started a new blog called 30 before 30: 30 things she wants to do before she turns 30. Then I realized something. I need a goal when I do all the things that I want to do.
Today I was inspired to start my "to do" list for the year. They aren't goals because I think of goals as ways to improve and not necessarily things that I know that I can easily achieve. All the things on my list I know I can do. My goal is to just do them all.
The list isn't done yet, but here's what I have so far. And it's a little long, but I want to hear what you think about them. It's both my to do and to go list.
1. Make a crafty thing that I can display in the house that I didn't make at a Relief Society meeting.
2. Read 50 books.
3. Finish my inandaroundrexburg.blogspot.com blog with all the things that we've done since living here.
4. Go to the zoo.
5. Do a California Road Trip
6. Yellowstone
7. Tetons
8. Craters of the Moon
9. Craters of the Moon star gazing
10. Family campout
11. Watch sunrise on top of Cress Creek with the entire family
12. Make a quilt
13. Go on an overnight trip with John (thanks Amanda. You're watching me kids)
14. 100% visiting teaching March-December
15. Update a blog once a week (I have 4. It should be pretty easy)
16. Hit weight loss goal by December
17. Buy and wear a pair of non-maternity jeans (this might be the hardest on the list for me)
18. Palisades
19. Harriman State Park
20. One family/person taught in our home by the missionaries
21. One date per month
22. Temple every month while in Idaho
23. Run 5k Teton Dam
24. Study every Sunday School lesson
25. Study every Relief Society lesson
26. Go to Fairy Tale Town in CA
27. Take 10 family names to the temple
28. Index 1000 English names
29. Index 1000 Italian names
30. Start a profile on mormon.org
That's my list so far. I need to start planning now when I am going to accomplish everything. I am very confident that I can get everything done and I'm glad I set a plan for when I want to do everything. I'm sure once we move to Texas, I am going to add a lot of other "to go" things to the list. Tell me what you think. Should I add anything? Too much? Jealous?
So I've always had this life list, but I actually just realized something today. I wasn't actually really pursuing the things on my list. They were just a list of things. Then today when I was casually cruising on facebook, I noticed my friend Michelle started a new blog called 30 before 30: 30 things she wants to do before she turns 30. Then I realized something. I need a goal when I do all the things that I want to do.
Today I was inspired to start my "to do" list for the year. They aren't goals because I think of goals as ways to improve and not necessarily things that I know that I can easily achieve. All the things on my list I know I can do. My goal is to just do them all.
The list isn't done yet, but here's what I have so far. And it's a little long, but I want to hear what you think about them. It's both my to do and to go list.
1. Make a crafty thing that I can display in the house that I didn't make at a Relief Society meeting.
2. Read 50 books.
3. Finish my inandaroundrexburg.blogspot.com blog with all the things that we've done since living here.
4. Go to the zoo.
5. Do a California Road Trip
6. Yellowstone
7. Tetons
8. Craters of the Moon
9. Craters of the Moon star gazing
10. Family campout
11. Watch sunrise on top of Cress Creek with the entire family
12. Make a quilt
13. Go on an overnight trip with John (thanks Amanda. You're watching me kids)
14. 100% visiting teaching March-December
15. Update a blog once a week (I have 4. It should be pretty easy)
16. Hit weight loss goal by December
17. Buy and wear a pair of non-maternity jeans (this might be the hardest on the list for me)
18. Palisades
19. Harriman State Park
20. One family/person taught in our home by the missionaries
21. One date per month
22. Temple every month while in Idaho
23. Run 5k Teton Dam
24. Study every Sunday School lesson
25. Study every Relief Society lesson
26. Go to Fairy Tale Town in CA
27. Take 10 family names to the temple
28. Index 1000 English names
29. Index 1000 Italian names
30. Start a profile on mormon.org
That's my list so far. I need to start planning now when I am going to accomplish everything. I am very confident that I can get everything done and I'm glad I set a plan for when I want to do everything. I'm sure once we move to Texas, I am going to add a lot of other "to go" things to the list. Tell me what you think. Should I add anything? Too much? Jealous?
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
"I don't drink my calories Dad!"
Whoever can name that quote gets a prize.
A lot of my friends, actually only 3 that I can think of right now, were very overweight, but now they're super skinny and could be Target models. Every time I see a picture or talk to them, I just want to say, "you should have blogged your experience so I could learn from it." I don't know why I think that. Maybe because I love reading blogs of people I know and I'm trying to convince people to start one, or I need motivation in my own weight loss. Beats me. But just because I think they should blog about it, maybe I should blog about my weight loss journey.
I'm overweight. No way I could lie about that one. Now, if I threw a number out there, you may not think that sounds heavy, but for my body type, it is. I have a small frame. I mean, dude, I'm Asian. You don't see many big boned Asians out there. However, they do exist.
I was actually thinking the other day that I am over 30 pounds heavier than when I got home from my mission. Granted, I was 94 pounds when I came home and that was kinda grossly skinny. Dude. I said I wouldn't throw numbers out, but I did. But you know what, it was necessary. I'm not exactly a whale now, and I don't want to get down in the double digits, but this muffin top has got to go.
I know what you're asking yourself. How is Melinda going to accomplish her goal? Today wasn't a very good start. I've been really sick so I ate an entire bag of discounted V-day Hershey kisses. That was acceptable and I don't regret it, but I am getting back to my eating right.
If you want to follow what I eat, you can go on myfitnesspal and add me as a friend and watch me count my calories. That actually worked really well for me last year before I got pregnant with Jocelyn. So back on it I go. Exercise is a little harder this time around than I thought. Last year, I would just take Olivia out in the jogging stroller and run around the river and go to Zumba on Monday and Thursdays. Now it's a little harder with ice everywhere and no double jogging stroller.
You know what, I'm getting bored.
Who cares about how I'm going to do it. Just bug me and check in on my weight loss. Nah. Who even cares about the weight that I lose. Just constantly ask me if I still have my muffin top. Also, if you're worried that I'm only concerned about that, it's not true. I also want to tone up my bingo wings, not stretch my glasses out so much, and make sure that my wedding ring doesn't have skin hugging it from both sides.
All in all, I'll slowly update you on my progress. Maybe I should put a picture up, but with out a smart device, that's just too much work.
A lot of my friends, actually only 3 that I can think of right now, were very overweight, but now they're super skinny and could be Target models. Every time I see a picture or talk to them, I just want to say, "you should have blogged your experience so I could learn from it." I don't know why I think that. Maybe because I love reading blogs of people I know and I'm trying to convince people to start one, or I need motivation in my own weight loss. Beats me. But just because I think they should blog about it, maybe I should blog about my weight loss journey.
I'm overweight. No way I could lie about that one. Now, if I threw a number out there, you may not think that sounds heavy, but for my body type, it is. I have a small frame. I mean, dude, I'm Asian. You don't see many big boned Asians out there. However, they do exist.
I was actually thinking the other day that I am over 30 pounds heavier than when I got home from my mission. Granted, I was 94 pounds when I came home and that was kinda grossly skinny. Dude. I said I wouldn't throw numbers out, but I did. But you know what, it was necessary. I'm not exactly a whale now, and I don't want to get down in the double digits, but this muffin top has got to go.
I know what you're asking yourself. How is Melinda going to accomplish her goal? Today wasn't a very good start. I've been really sick so I ate an entire bag of discounted V-day Hershey kisses. That was acceptable and I don't regret it, but I am getting back to my eating right.
If you want to follow what I eat, you can go on myfitnesspal and add me as a friend and watch me count my calories. That actually worked really well for me last year before I got pregnant with Jocelyn. So back on it I go. Exercise is a little harder this time around than I thought. Last year, I would just take Olivia out in the jogging stroller and run around the river and go to Zumba on Monday and Thursdays. Now it's a little harder with ice everywhere and no double jogging stroller.
You know what, I'm getting bored.
Who cares about how I'm going to do it. Just bug me and check in on my weight loss. Nah. Who even cares about the weight that I lose. Just constantly ask me if I still have my muffin top. Also, if you're worried that I'm only concerned about that, it's not true. I also want to tone up my bingo wings, not stretch my glasses out so much, and make sure that my wedding ring doesn't have skin hugging it from both sides.
All in all, I'll slowly update you on my progress. Maybe I should put a picture up, but with out a smart device, that's just too much work.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A Birth Story: Jocelyn
Who doesn't like a good birth story every once and a while? This is a good one.
Okay, it's not that good. It's really short actually.
Jocelyn's due date was January 4th. I was really late with Olivia so I was really excited to have a baby born in January, and still have my Chinese Dragon baby. I did not want to have a baby in December. For some reason, when I was pregnant, I thought that all December babies were ugly and neglected. I'm not sure why I thought that. I blame the hormones.
On Christmas Eve, I knew the baby was going to come in December. I could just feel it. I thought she was going to just fall out any time. I did not want a Christmas baby. I thought to myself, if she can at least stay in there until after Christmas, I'll be okay.
The day after Christmas, I went to the doctor for my usual stress test and ultrasound. I first went to do my ultrasound and they told me the same thing that they've been telling me every week for 2 months: you have a really tiny baby. I knew that. Next I went to take my non-stress test. FYI: a baby's heart rate should be under 160 beats per minute. During this NST, the baby's heart rate was between 180 and 210. I was pretty sure by then that I was going to go to the hospital, but I was still in denial because I didn't want a December baby!
After 20 minutes, the nurse came in and said I needed to do another ultrasound to check the baby's breathing. That was fun. I just sat there and watched the baby breath. Then I was walked down to my doctor who stopped me in the hall and said, "I think we are going to take the baby early". My doctor knew about my December baby fear because he usually made fun of me for crazy pregnant lady thoughts. When he said that, I asked, "by early do you mean January 1st early?" He said, "I mean like today early". I was a little devastated, but a tiny bit excited at the same time.
Early that day, I talked to my sister and she told me to pack bags for the hospital. I knew that I should, but for some reason, I thought that if I didn't pack my bags, that meant that the baby wouldn't come. Well, FYI, babies in the womb don't know if you packed bags for not.
The doc told me to go home, get what I needed and meet him in the hospital in an hour. Olivia was already at my visiting teacher's house. I called John, he came home from work, and we grabbed a few things, dropped them off at my VT's house for Olivia, then went to the hospital.
I was already dilated for a 4 when I got to the hospital. I asked if I could have an epidural. The doc said he wanted me to feel some contractions first, but the nurse didn't know that when I first got there, she said sure and got me my epidural.
An hour into my epidural, I started feeling some contractions, but they weren't horrible. They checked my epidural, and it wasn't put in correctly. The medicine wasn't going into my back, so they took it out and re-did it.
Around 9 the doctor came in and said everything looked good. He had already seen 29 patients that day and preformed 3 surgeries. He said he was going to go home and take a quick nap then come back around 11 or 12 to break my water.
He didn't come back until 3. It was a long wait for me. He said he didn't go home to sleep, he just worked on paper work the whole time. I was thinking, great, now I have a super tired doc that is about to deliver my baby. He broke my water when I was dilated to a 6, then 10 minutes later, I knew I was ready to push. At 3:20 the nurses came in to switch shifts. I told them I felt like pooping and they checked me and said, "wow! You're ready". They ran and got the doc, finished preparing the room, then I started pushing at 3:28. The nurse said that she was going to count to 10, then I should take a breath, then push for another 10. She counted to 10, I took a breath, then pushed again. She counted to 3 then I heard the doctor and two of the nurses yell, "STOP!" They did a few things, then two more pushes and she was out! Jocelyn was born at 3:30 AM after 2 minutes of pushing. That was way better than the 3 hours of pushing I had to do for Olivia.
Best labor ever. Pushed for 2 minutes, never felt a contraction, and the best part about it: the next day, I felt completely better! I felt like I could run a marathon! Best recovery ever!
Jocelyn is a wonderful little baby and Olivia loves her!
Ready for my mystery hospital disease? I always manage to get some kind of infection from the hospital not matter how much I wash or wear shoes in the shower. After I gave birth to Olivia I got a MRSA infection and after Jocelyn, I got hand, foot, mouth disease. A few days after I got out of the hospital, my feet hurt so badly, I couldn't walk for almost a week. Luckily my mother-in-law was here to do everything I couldn't.
Gross. I hate infections.
But I love my little girls!
Okay, it's not that good. It's really short actually.
Jocelyn's due date was January 4th. I was really late with Olivia so I was really excited to have a baby born in January, and still have my Chinese Dragon baby. I did not want to have a baby in December. For some reason, when I was pregnant, I thought that all December babies were ugly and neglected. I'm not sure why I thought that. I blame the hormones.
On Christmas Eve, I knew the baby was going to come in December. I could just feel it. I thought she was going to just fall out any time. I did not want a Christmas baby. I thought to myself, if she can at least stay in there until after Christmas, I'll be okay.
The day after Christmas, I went to the doctor for my usual stress test and ultrasound. I first went to do my ultrasound and they told me the same thing that they've been telling me every week for 2 months: you have a really tiny baby. I knew that. Next I went to take my non-stress test. FYI: a baby's heart rate should be under 160 beats per minute. During this NST, the baby's heart rate was between 180 and 210. I was pretty sure by then that I was going to go to the hospital, but I was still in denial because I didn't want a December baby!
After 20 minutes, the nurse came in and said I needed to do another ultrasound to check the baby's breathing. That was fun. I just sat there and watched the baby breath. Then I was walked down to my doctor who stopped me in the hall and said, "I think we are going to take the baby early". My doctor knew about my December baby fear because he usually made fun of me for crazy pregnant lady thoughts. When he said that, I asked, "by early do you mean January 1st early?" He said, "I mean like today early". I was a little devastated, but a tiny bit excited at the same time.
Early that day, I talked to my sister and she told me to pack bags for the hospital. I knew that I should, but for some reason, I thought that if I didn't pack my bags, that meant that the baby wouldn't come. Well, FYI, babies in the womb don't know if you packed bags for not.
The doc told me to go home, get what I needed and meet him in the hospital in an hour. Olivia was already at my visiting teacher's house. I called John, he came home from work, and we grabbed a few things, dropped them off at my VT's house for Olivia, then went to the hospital.
I was already dilated for a 4 when I got to the hospital. I asked if I could have an epidural. The doc said he wanted me to feel some contractions first, but the nurse didn't know that when I first got there, she said sure and got me my epidural.
An hour into my epidural, I started feeling some contractions, but they weren't horrible. They checked my epidural, and it wasn't put in correctly. The medicine wasn't going into my back, so they took it out and re-did it.
Around 9 the doctor came in and said everything looked good. He had already seen 29 patients that day and preformed 3 surgeries. He said he was going to go home and take a quick nap then come back around 11 or 12 to break my water.
He didn't come back until 3. It was a long wait for me. He said he didn't go home to sleep, he just worked on paper work the whole time. I was thinking, great, now I have a super tired doc that is about to deliver my baby. He broke my water when I was dilated to a 6, then 10 minutes later, I knew I was ready to push. At 3:20 the nurses came in to switch shifts. I told them I felt like pooping and they checked me and said, "wow! You're ready". They ran and got the doc, finished preparing the room, then I started pushing at 3:28. The nurse said that she was going to count to 10, then I should take a breath, then push for another 10. She counted to 10, I took a breath, then pushed again. She counted to 3 then I heard the doctor and two of the nurses yell, "STOP!" They did a few things, then two more pushes and she was out! Jocelyn was born at 3:30 AM after 2 minutes of pushing. That was way better than the 3 hours of pushing I had to do for Olivia.
Best labor ever. Pushed for 2 minutes, never felt a contraction, and the best part about it: the next day, I felt completely better! I felt like I could run a marathon! Best recovery ever!
Jocelyn is a wonderful little baby and Olivia loves her!
Ready for my mystery hospital disease? I always manage to get some kind of infection from the hospital not matter how much I wash or wear shoes in the shower. After I gave birth to Olivia I got a MRSA infection and after Jocelyn, I got hand, foot, mouth disease. A few days after I got out of the hospital, my feet hurt so badly, I couldn't walk for almost a week. Luckily my mother-in-law was here to do everything I couldn't.
Gross. I hate infections.
But I love my little girls!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Anger, Devastation, and Non-rational Thinking
I get really really upset at the stupidest things. It really is a pregnancy thing. Man, I hate this whole hormone thing. Looking back at things that make me so mad just don't make sense anymore. Why was I so angry? Here's the latest example:
My husband is the Young Mens president in our ward. For a fundraiser for scout camp, they are doing a Christmas tree pickup. Now, when I was a youth, we did this same fundraiser and though I don't remember how much we made from it, I remember making bank. I remember one year, I think the young women only had to pay like 10 bucks for girls camp because we raised enough money to pay for most of girls camp and scout camp for everyone. It was neat.
So naturally, if it was successful for when I was a youth, we thought it would be pretty good to do here. We don't have to raise a ton of money, but we thought it would be more lucrative than last years fundraiser (going around and begging for money).
John had to work this morning, so I told him I would handle the gathering discussion stuff. All the young men were scheduled to meet at my house at 10 AM today to pass out fliers. Not to go into too many details, but only 4 young men showed up from 2 different families. We had to recruit more adults and even some sisters. Out of the 11 people total that handed out fliers, 4 were young men, 1 primary kid, 4 adults, and 2 girls. I was fine at first. Then I started thinking about it....
An hour later, I was so mad that these young men didn't come to hand out fliers! I was so mad I even called Morgan, an old mission buddy, also pregnant, to complain. As I was saying it out loud, I realized how stupid I was for being so mad. First of all, it is right before Christmas. There was no other weekend to do it, but there probably was a really good reason why only 4 youth showed up.
See. I'm crazy.
Then another thing that totally doesn't make sense: I can't have a child born in December. My child is due Jan 4. I asked the doc if he thinks she will stay in at least until Jan 1st because I can't have a kid born in December because I think they will be ugly, annoying, and not well behaved. I still stand firm to that. He laughed at me. Luckily his birthday isn't in December. Then I was thinking about everything that I know that was born in December and all I could think of was a good friend growing up: Michelle. She is NOTHING like what I think my December-born child will be. I just feel with Christmas, the child's birthday won't be special and she will be neglected. It makes sense in my head, but the doc probably thought I was crazy.
Sorry for the boring ramblings. This blogging thing is a way for me to vent to people who won't listen to me. Like I told my cotton-ball friend, it's like a wall that I need to talk to.
My husband is the Young Mens president in our ward. For a fundraiser for scout camp, they are doing a Christmas tree pickup. Now, when I was a youth, we did this same fundraiser and though I don't remember how much we made from it, I remember making bank. I remember one year, I think the young women only had to pay like 10 bucks for girls camp because we raised enough money to pay for most of girls camp and scout camp for everyone. It was neat.
So naturally, if it was successful for when I was a youth, we thought it would be pretty good to do here. We don't have to raise a ton of money, but we thought it would be more lucrative than last years fundraiser (going around and begging for money).
John had to work this morning, so I told him I would handle the gathering discussion stuff. All the young men were scheduled to meet at my house at 10 AM today to pass out fliers. Not to go into too many details, but only 4 young men showed up from 2 different families. We had to recruit more adults and even some sisters. Out of the 11 people total that handed out fliers, 4 were young men, 1 primary kid, 4 adults, and 2 girls. I was fine at first. Then I started thinking about it....
An hour later, I was so mad that these young men didn't come to hand out fliers! I was so mad I even called Morgan, an old mission buddy, also pregnant, to complain. As I was saying it out loud, I realized how stupid I was for being so mad. First of all, it is right before Christmas. There was no other weekend to do it, but there probably was a really good reason why only 4 youth showed up.
See. I'm crazy.
Then another thing that totally doesn't make sense: I can't have a child born in December. My child is due Jan 4. I asked the doc if he thinks she will stay in at least until Jan 1st because I can't have a kid born in December because I think they will be ugly, annoying, and not well behaved. I still stand firm to that. He laughed at me. Luckily his birthday isn't in December. Then I was thinking about everything that I know that was born in December and all I could think of was a good friend growing up: Michelle. She is NOTHING like what I think my December-born child will be. I just feel with Christmas, the child's birthday won't be special and she will be neglected. It makes sense in my head, but the doc probably thought I was crazy.
Sorry for the boring ramblings. This blogging thing is a way for me to vent to people who won't listen to me. Like I told my cotton-ball friend, it's like a wall that I need to talk to.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Wearing Pants and Loving It
I don't know if any of you heard about the "all Mormon women should wear pants to church on Sunday, Dec 16" thing, but I did. Here's some article that some girl posted about wearing pants.
See, let me just tell you the dealio. Here's my experience at church on Sunday and then my thoughts. I didn't wear pants to church on Sunday because I really don't like wearing pants and I didn't have any points that I needed to prove. I was surprised at how many women were outraged at the thought of women wearing pants to church. Do they know that there is nothing wrong with it? It's okay to wear pants to church. It is people that are outraged and make a big deal out of it that offend women into not coming to church because they are afraid of being judged.
When we were on vacation, we went to church in Montana. Of course I forgot to pack a skirt. You know what my first thought was? "Oh no! I forgot to bring something nice to wear to church. Maybe I shouldn't go." Wow. Thinking back on that, how stupid was I? I was more worried about what people thought if I wore jeans to church than going to church for the real reason: to learn about Jesus and take the Sacrament.
When I was a missionary in Taiwan, many women did not come to church because they did not own a dress or skirt. I told them it was okay to just wear pants, but they were too afraid to and probably couldn't even afford to buy a skirt. They let a $10 skirt stand in the way of their salvation. If I were not a missionary at that time, I would have said, "I'll wear pants too if you come!". The most important thing is that they came and felt comfortable being there. It's the message and the spirit that counts, not the fashion show.
I feel like when we go to church, we need to look our best. For some women, that may be slacks and a nice blouse. Before this whole deal, my sister wore pants to church. She looked good and respectful. She probably looked better with pants on than those ugly shirts that she owns. (No offense Amanda)
The only problem is, that the reason why this "wear pants to church day" started was because a group of "Mormon feminist" did it for equality in the church. That I don't understand. I, in no way, feel unequal to men in the church. I have more to say about it, but honestly, it's a testimony thing to understand our divine role as women. I DO NOT mean that the "Mormon feminist" do not have a testimony or true understanding about gospel teachings, but maybe I don't understand what their thoughts are behind what they feel is considered inequality in the church. Just because our roles are different does not mean that they are unequal.
See, let me just tell you the dealio. Here's my experience at church on Sunday and then my thoughts. I didn't wear pants to church on Sunday because I really don't like wearing pants and I didn't have any points that I needed to prove. I was surprised at how many women were outraged at the thought of women wearing pants to church. Do they know that there is nothing wrong with it? It's okay to wear pants to church. It is people that are outraged and make a big deal out of it that offend women into not coming to church because they are afraid of being judged.
When we were on vacation, we went to church in Montana. Of course I forgot to pack a skirt. You know what my first thought was? "Oh no! I forgot to bring something nice to wear to church. Maybe I shouldn't go." Wow. Thinking back on that, how stupid was I? I was more worried about what people thought if I wore jeans to church than going to church for the real reason: to learn about Jesus and take the Sacrament.
When I was a missionary in Taiwan, many women did not come to church because they did not own a dress or skirt. I told them it was okay to just wear pants, but they were too afraid to and probably couldn't even afford to buy a skirt. They let a $10 skirt stand in the way of their salvation. If I were not a missionary at that time, I would have said, "I'll wear pants too if you come!". The most important thing is that they came and felt comfortable being there. It's the message and the spirit that counts, not the fashion show.
I feel like when we go to church, we need to look our best. For some women, that may be slacks and a nice blouse. Before this whole deal, my sister wore pants to church. She looked good and respectful. She probably looked better with pants on than those ugly shirts that she owns. (No offense Amanda)
The only problem is, that the reason why this "wear pants to church day" started was because a group of "Mormon feminist" did it for equality in the church. That I don't understand. I, in no way, feel unequal to men in the church. I have more to say about it, but honestly, it's a testimony thing to understand our divine role as women. I DO NOT mean that the "Mormon feminist" do not have a testimony or true understanding about gospel teachings, but maybe I don't understand what their thoughts are behind what they feel is considered inequality in the church. Just because our roles are different does not mean that they are unequal.
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