So I have been grossly neglecting this blog. I promise I have had a good excuse. Between business trips, moving, and vacations, I just simply have not had time to update the blog.
Goods news is that life is starting to get back to normal. I promise I will be making time next week to give you a much needed update of what has been going on with us over the past few weeks...woops I mean months!
To be continued....
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Just Something I Wanted to Share
Our friends Bryan and BreAnna live in NYC and Jer goes to dental school with Bryan. They were recently able to go listen to Glenn Beck speak. (for those of you who do not know him...see this hyperlink)
BreAnna created this post about what she thought about it. I really liked what she had to say and some of the things Glenn Beck had to say. I hope you like it as well.
BreAnna created this post about what she thought about it. I really liked what she had to say and some of the things Glenn Beck had to say. I hope you like it as well.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Bored....So I thought I would write something
So this is not an original thought, a friend had a blog about things other people may not know about them, and I thought it was kind of an interesting topic so I thought I would share some things that people may not know about Ames and Jer.
This could be tough....Jer and I are pretty much open books.
1) I am a closet case Thespian. When I was younger, I really wanted to be an actress. But I learned early in life that it just wasn't my calling. Age-8, grade-4th, play-Tom Sawyer. Everybody had to be in the play so we all had to try out. They sent us home with lines to practice and a song to learn and boy did I practice...I thought there was no stopping me. When the try outs came I totally choked, I struggled a little through my lines, and my solo song was all shaky, but I still thought I did good enough to be one of the lead parts. Apparently Not! I got to be a funeral attendee...no lines...I just had to sing "Praise God Through Whom All Blessings Flow" and "Nearer My God To Thee" all while standing up and walking around the pews and sitting back down. The next experience was in the 7th grade, I tried out for yet another play. This time I really thought I nailed the audition. I had learned from my 4th grade experience that I wasn't lead material, but I thought I was good enough to at least play a wicked awesome supporting role. Nope, I didn't even get a call back. They did, however, offer me a position as a stage hand. The Diva in me said NO THANK YOU! Nowadays to appease the thespian within, I just remember movie and TV lines and quote them constantly, there is not an original thought in my noggin.
2) Jer has a tendency to be very obsessive. Jer actually admitted this to me today so I am sharing it with you. When there is something he really likes, it becomes difficult for him to focus on anything else. For example, Jer was my husband who didn't like to watch sports or play video games. It has been great, I never had to worry about "oh but the game is on and the Jazz are up 87-12" or "Halo 19 is coming out in 372 days and it's gonna be awesome!". Well that all changed a few weeks ago when our friend Corey introduced him to a game called God of War. Long story short, Jer ended up buying God of War 2 when he finished the first one. When I got home from my 2 week trip to Florida, as soon as we walked in the door he sat down and started playing his stupid video game. Seriously?!?! If he is reading a good book, he just has to read every second he has got (I am kinda the same here, but my obsessiveness is reading the book multiple times within a few days or weeks). And finally if there is some electronic gadget out there that he wants, he finds every opportunity to let me know that he wants it and he never lets it drop and I eventually give in.
3) Jer has only kissed 2 girls. I was number 2. Jer was such a good kid. He made up his mind early that he was not going to be a womanizer or "playa" if you will. And he wanted to wait until he was 18 to kiss a girl. His parents actually were offering 50 bucks to the first girl to kiss him. The first girl, Jessica White (now Jessica White-Savage, who we refer to as Jessica Black-Sabbath) didn't cash in....I totally would have!
4) I am a little afraid of the dark and the things that go bump in the night. I am going on year 5 of my rule to not see scary movies. Back in 2002, after I saw "The Ring", I decided that I mentally cannot handle scary movies. First of all, after seeing "The Sixth Sense", I couldn't get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night for like 3 months (this was hard for me, because I have the smallest bladder in the world and I get up every night for a potty break). Well after I saw "The Ring" (Jer and I were dating at this point), Jer would have to tuck me into bed, I would close my eyes, and he would turn out the lights and then he would have to lock up my mom's house as he left and I wouldn't open my eyes until morning. When we are at the movie theater, when that certain "this is going to be a scary movie" music starts I close my eyes and start humming in my head, so I neither see nor hear what is going on, and Jer tells me when it is over and I can open my eyes.
5) When I was little, I tried to run away from home several times. I don't want you to think that I had a horrible childhood, cause I didn't. I never actually had a good reason to run away, I was just being dramatic. So this is how it would happen...Before I went to bed, I would write the run away note and I would put it under my pillow with the intention of waiting until everybody was asleep and then I would leave it on my pillow and runaway. I always fell asleep and would wake up disappointed that I slept through running away. I never knew where I would go. When I was really little maybe 4-5ish, my mom made me mad cause she didn't take me to a mother daughter activity with her and my sister. After she left I told my dad that I was running away to my Grandma's house on my big wheel. My dad asked me if I wanted him to follow me in the car, but that was a definite no! I made it about half way around the block got tired and turned around and went home.
6) Jer crashed somebody else's car into a brick wall. This is a long story, but the short version is that his friend Ben let him try driving their souped up Miada and he took it too fast around a corner, the car fishtailed, he lost control, and crashed into the brick wall. Luckily there were no injuries and his friend's dad was really cool about the whole thing. Jer naturally got a ticket, but this was right before he went on his mission, so by the time he got back from his mission, his record was clear so his insurance did not have to go up.
This could be tough....Jer and I are pretty much open books.
1) I am a closet case Thespian. When I was younger, I really wanted to be an actress. But I learned early in life that it just wasn't my calling. Age-8, grade-4th, play-Tom Sawyer. Everybody had to be in the play so we all had to try out. They sent us home with lines to practice and a song to learn and boy did I practice...I thought there was no stopping me. When the try outs came I totally choked, I struggled a little through my lines, and my solo song was all shaky, but I still thought I did good enough to be one of the lead parts. Apparently Not! I got to be a funeral attendee...no lines...I just had to sing "Praise God Through Whom All Blessings Flow" and "Nearer My God To Thee" all while standing up and walking around the pews and sitting back down. The next experience was in the 7th grade, I tried out for yet another play. This time I really thought I nailed the audition. I had learned from my 4th grade experience that I wasn't lead material, but I thought I was good enough to at least play a wicked awesome supporting role. Nope, I didn't even get a call back. They did, however, offer me a position as a stage hand. The Diva in me said NO THANK YOU! Nowadays to appease the thespian within, I just remember movie and TV lines and quote them constantly, there is not an original thought in my noggin.
2) Jer has a tendency to be very obsessive. Jer actually admitted this to me today so I am sharing it with you. When there is something he really likes, it becomes difficult for him to focus on anything else. For example, Jer was my husband who didn't like to watch sports or play video games. It has been great, I never had to worry about "oh but the game is on and the Jazz are up 87-12" or "Halo 19 is coming out in 372 days and it's gonna be awesome!". Well that all changed a few weeks ago when our friend Corey introduced him to a game called God of War. Long story short, Jer ended up buying God of War 2 when he finished the first one. When I got home from my 2 week trip to Florida, as soon as we walked in the door he sat down and started playing his stupid video game. Seriously?!?! If he is reading a good book, he just has to read every second he has got (I am kinda the same here, but my obsessiveness is reading the book multiple times within a few days or weeks). And finally if there is some electronic gadget out there that he wants, he finds every opportunity to let me know that he wants it and he never lets it drop and I eventually give in.
3) Jer has only kissed 2 girls. I was number 2. Jer was such a good kid. He made up his mind early that he was not going to be a womanizer or "playa" if you will. And he wanted to wait until he was 18 to kiss a girl. His parents actually were offering 50 bucks to the first girl to kiss him. The first girl, Jessica White (now Jessica White-Savage, who we refer to as Jessica Black-Sabbath) didn't cash in....I totally would have!
4) I am a little afraid of the dark and the things that go bump in the night. I am going on year 5 of my rule to not see scary movies. Back in 2002, after I saw "The Ring", I decided that I mentally cannot handle scary movies. First of all, after seeing "The Sixth Sense", I couldn't get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night for like 3 months (this was hard for me, because I have the smallest bladder in the world and I get up every night for a potty break). Well after I saw "The Ring" (Jer and I were dating at this point), Jer would have to tuck me into bed, I would close my eyes, and he would turn out the lights and then he would have to lock up my mom's house as he left and I wouldn't open my eyes until morning. When we are at the movie theater, when that certain "this is going to be a scary movie" music starts I close my eyes and start humming in my head, so I neither see nor hear what is going on, and Jer tells me when it is over and I can open my eyes.
5) When I was little, I tried to run away from home several times. I don't want you to think that I had a horrible childhood, cause I didn't. I never actually had a good reason to run away, I was just being dramatic. So this is how it would happen...Before I went to bed, I would write the run away note and I would put it under my pillow with the intention of waiting until everybody was asleep and then I would leave it on my pillow and runaway. I always fell asleep and would wake up disappointed that I slept through running away. I never knew where I would go. When I was really little maybe 4-5ish, my mom made me mad cause she didn't take me to a mother daughter activity with her and my sister. After she left I told my dad that I was running away to my Grandma's house on my big wheel. My dad asked me if I wanted him to follow me in the car, but that was a definite no! I made it about half way around the block got tired and turned around and went home.
6) Jer crashed somebody else's car into a brick wall. This is a long story, but the short version is that his friend Ben let him try driving their souped up Miada and he took it too fast around a corner, the car fishtailed, he lost control, and crashed into the brick wall. Luckily there were no injuries and his friend's dad was really cool about the whole thing. Jer naturally got a ticket, but this was right before he went on his mission, so by the time he got back from his mission, his record was clear so his insurance did not have to go up.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Sunshine State Huh?
I am in Florida for work this week...well where I have been for the last week and a half. I decided that ratther than going home for the weekend I would stay and enjoy sunny Florida.
And.....ended up with rain...Is there a monsoon season in Florida?
Stupid rainy Florida.
Well I was expecting this....
And.....ended up with rain...Is there a monsoon season in Florida?
Stupid rainy Florida.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
So...I am a little sad :(
So....I just got released from my year and a half stint as the ward organist. To be perfectly honest with everyone, I am pretty broken hearted.
Funny how things change...back when I was first asked to take this calling, I was shell shocked. At the time we were teaching the Young Single Aduts Gospel Doctrine and had been doing that for about a year and I knew a change was coming because Jer had been called to be in the Elder's Quorom so I was teaching the class by myself. I never in a million years expected to be called to be the organist. I was horribly out of practice and had not really played for a few years; I had played for Relief Society a few times, but struggled through the hymns. Of course it is all Jer's fault for ratting me out to Justin Sheen that I knew how to play the piano.
I remember the day clearly. Jer had let it slip that he told Justin my hidden talent, and mentioned that they were looking for a new organist. So when Peter Christensen called Jer and me in and offered the calling to me, the first thing I did was turn to Jer and said "I told you!" I then began with a string of inadequacy comments such as "I am really not that good" "I don't think you are asking the right person, I haven't played for years" "I am really bad at playing when people are singing with me" and more importantly "I don't even know how to play the organ", etc. Then Peter pulled out this whole "stretch calling" nonsense (laying on the guilt trip...thank you Peter). Anywho, after trying unsuccessfully to convince Peter I was not the one, he asked me if I would like to think about it and get back to him in a few days....and I said "yes I would".
Well after fully convincing myself that I was going to say no, I spoke to my dad. He asked me "Well do you know how to play the hymns?"...yes. "Are you able to practice?"...yes. "So what's the problem?"....OH MAN! Sometimes I hate logical thinking!
Well I was going on a trip so I wouldn't be at church the next sunday, so when I was saying goodbye to Jer, I asked him to call Peter and tell him "K, Fine, Sure, Whatever, I'll Do It". So Jer called Peter and told him "K, Fine, Sure, Whatever, I'll Do It". And Peter proceeded to tell the Bishop "K, Fine, Sure, Whatever, I'll Do It".
Although I was nervous at first, I got over myself and fell in love with the calling. It springboarded me into being the choir pianist, the pianist for baptisms, sometimes primary pianist, relief society pianist and anything else someone needed a pianist for. There were some sundays that I played for every hour of church and then a baptism afterwards. Eventhough I ended up playing mostly church music all the time, I enjoyed that I had a reason to sit down and practice the piano most days. I love playing the piano so much now that it makes me wonder why I took it so much for granted when I was younger. I took lessons for years, but I was never really good at practicing. Sometimes I wonder how much better I would be now if I had practiced more....funny how hindsight is 20/20.
Well as Biship told me that I was being released, I am sure I was alternating between 2 looks. 1) shock that I was being released, and 2) a glare (which is my normal face unfortunately) because I was sad. And Bishop sensing that I was not too happy about the decision said something very wise...and I paraphrase..."when a person gets upset about being released I know that they put their heart into their calling and I like to see that".
Well now I am on to Primary, 9-11 year olds. I am excited to get back into teaching again. Being the teacher you get to learn so much as you prepare the lessons. I am excited to get in the scriptures again. The lessons for this age are much more than "I am thankful for my eyes".
So to all of my friends that laughed with me as I totally botched a hymn ("Called to Serve" anyone), our fun is at an end. This has been my absolute favorite calling to date. I can only hope that in the future I will be given this calling again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)