Random Weirdness

So I've been tagged by Pam who is my SIL to list 7 random, weird things about yourself. I didn't have to think long....okey dokey, here we go:

1. I love watching SUMO WRESTLING. Seriously, this CRACKS ME UP! It doesn't come on that often, so I don't get a chance to see it much, but if I find it while surfing, I CAN'T NOT WATCH!

2. I can type close to 100 words per minute. The reason why is a whole other story in and of itself. Has to do with an OCD.

3. I can wiggle my eyes at an incredibly fast rate. Please don't ask me to do it while driving!

4. I HATE watermelon. How many people do you know that doesn't like watermelon? Everybody tells me that if I have a really cold, really good one that I will like it. Haven't found it yet.

5. I have once put someone's entire hand in my mouth.

6. I have kissed Beau Bridges. Really. Is anyone out there even old enough to remember who he is? This might not be so impressive if people read this and think, Beau Who??? lol

7. I have been in Czechoslavakia when it was still considered behind the iron curtain as a communistic country. An experience I will never forget. God Bless America.

Okay, I could go on and on....this was WAY too easy! So everyone feel free to jump right in and share YOUR random weirdness with the rest of us. I'm on my way to your blog to learn more about you!!!

Trials again...Yes!!

How old do you need to be in order to be done with trials in your life? Maybe it's not a chronological age that qualifies you that you are done with challenges. Maybe it's if you have learned enough from your prior trials that will be your "golden ticket" for admission into "Charlie's No More Trials Factory".

If this is truly the case, then I have definitely NOT LEARNED MY LESSONS from my past challenges and the Lord is seeing fit to dish out some more so that I can learn them DANG WELL!

Two weeks ago, hubby lost his job. We thought that he had one pretty good iron the fire, but it looks like that fire might not be as hot as we thought.

We are trying to be optimistic and decided to look at this as an opportunity. Since hubby has to look for a job anyway, we decided to look in Utah and we would move out of California. Our "hot" opportunity would allow us to live in Utah, but now it may not pan out.

So it's been hard to blog while worrying. I definitely have already seen blessings though. While sharing together our concerns, worries and fears, I feel closer to him than normal. He is amazing and I am one lucky woman.

One lucky woman who will be learning more lessons.........

Education Week Really Really Cliff Notes

I haven't posted on my favorite class (S. Michael Wilcox - Pam I thought of you the WHOLE time!) that I attended just yet (it's coming Shaila!) It's probably going to be a long post and I haven't quite found the time yet, but here are some snippets from some of the other classes that I attended.

Mary Ellen Edmunds on Tackling Pride - Do I want to be right or do I want to be good? Do I want to be right or do I want to be kind? Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?

Humility is not thinking less OF ourselves but less ABOUT ourselves.

Mary Ellen on Contention - When Mary Ellen was littler and was upset about something, she said that her mother would always ask: "Mary Ellen, What would Jesus do?" And Mary Ellen said that she would think inside her feisty little mind "I don't care what Jesus would do....I want to know what Porter Rockwell would do!!"


Here's a quote from Neal A. Maxwell that I heard at Ed Week that I really liked:

"Sometimes the BEST people have the WORST experiences because they are the MOST ready to learn."

Neal A. Maxwell, remarks at Joseph S. Clark funeral, Feb. 22, 1996, quoted in Hafen, A Disciple’s Life, p. 20.

WOW.

I think that is the best explanation I have ever heard as to why bad things happen to good people.

And the last snippets come from S.Michael Wilcox on a class regarding marital relationships.

Section 121 in the D&C is great advice for husbands and Sec 25 is great advice for wives.

Delight in your husband and let him know that you delight in him.

Is the celestial kingdom a physical place or is it an environment, a person or a relationship? He then related a dream that he had where he was asked if he wanted to see the celestial kingdom. He was then showed a woman far away, dressed in white and as she got closer, he recognized that it was his wife. So...then he said....I just want you all to know that I had breakfast with the celestial kingdom this morning!!

And the best is yet to come........

Outhouse Humor

Yesterday while visiting Lisa's blog (you gotta check her out, she's pretty funny!) her post about stealing an ATM machine brought back a memory. Lisa lives Montana and my dad grew up in Montana.

As most dads do, my dad would tell stories about his childhood. One story that I loved the most was when he would tell us about stealing outhouses.



His buddies would gather in the back of a pick up truck and in the middle of the night, go around and steal outhouses and put them in the back of the truck. They then would deposit the outhouses on other people's lawns throughout their little town. Some people didn't think that was so funny. (LOL)


Here's something else that they would do with outhouses. He and his buddies would push the outhouse back and expose the hole. So that in the middle of the night, someone might fall into the hole on their way out to the outhouse. Some people didn't think that was too funny either.
(ROFLOL)

I am grateful for indoor plumbing and two ply TP.

And speaking of indoor plumbing, when it was invented and made available, my father's family was the first one in their little town in Montana to have it installed in their home. And the people in their town ostracized them for the longest time. What kind of filthy dirty people were they to actually go to the bathroom INSIDE THEIR HOUSE? Disgusting!

Education Week Cliff Notes

One of the classes that I went to at Ed. Week was given by Brent L. Top. I can't really remember what the title of his class was, but he talked about the difference between our public ministry and our personal ministry. Most have callings, some of us have jobs, some of us might sit on a board or a committee or a city council. All of the duties associated with these activities are considered to be part of our public ministry. But what are we doing with our personal ministry? He then related the following:

He told the story of when he was called to re-open the BYU Center in Jerusalem. While he was there, Elder Faust and his wife and Elder Holland and his wife came over for a visit. They had meetings, devotionals, firesides, talks to give etc.

While they were there, Brother Top's little 9 year old daughter asked her mother to help her bake some cookies and she took them over to the hotel where the Faust's and the Holland's were staying. She left the cookies in front of their door with an anonymous note that said "From the cookie monster". Way later that night after their daughter had gone to bed, there was a knock at the door. Brother Top was watching a movie in his pj's with his wife and thought that it was a student that was knocking so he just yelled "Come In!". In walked Elder Faust and Elder Holland with their wives. Brother Top said that he and his wife had been eating popcorn while they were watching their movie and probably had popcorn falling out of their mouths when they saw who it was. Elder Faust said that he was there to talk to the Cookie Monster!

Brother Top got his daughter out of bed so that she wouldn't miss this experience. Brother Top said that it was such a humbling experience. Here he knew that these two apostles had an extremely busy schedule with their public ministry and that they were probably exhausted after all that they had to do that day, but they made the time in their personal ministry to thank a little 9 year old girl for some cookies.

Time. My favorite excuse is TIME. I love to tell myself that my opportunities to do better in my personal ministry is because of a lack of time. I work 9 hours a day, my commute is 45 minutes each way so there is a total of 10 1/2 hours a day that I am not at home. But I also realize that it is an EXCUSE.

I think Pres. Monson is the ultimate example of realizing the importance of his personal ministry. When speaking at conference, he most always tells a story and it is usually an example of his personal ministry; visiting a widow, going to the hospital and giving a blessing, visiting a family.

So even though this isn't really a new thought, it's one that has stuck with me probably because I feel like I have a lot of improvement to make in this area.