Wildest Dream

I love the Temple.

I love the little old ladies that work in the temple too.

Its been almost three years since I went through and received my endowment, and now I have been asked to serve in the Salt Lake Temple as a temple worker.

Back in October, I started the interview process because I felt strongly about working in the temple. I met with the Bishop and the Stake President, and was told to wait for the phone call.

November began, and Salt Lake got a new Temple Presidency. I was informed that there might be a delay in the process, but to keep on it. That said, I got got caught up in my newest class that started around the same time, and put the thought on the back-burner.

The Winter holidays rolled around, and a friend of mine asked about the Temple. When I had no update for her, she strongly encouraged me to call the Temple and touch base. So, right after New Years, I called and found out my paperwork had gotten hung-up in the Stake President's office. A few more phone calls, and the Stake President told me everything was taken care of.

Then the Temple closed for a few weeks :(

Right before they reopened, I received my phone call to meet with the Temple President.

Since my meeting was at 7pm, Sam and I went to the Family History Library for awhile and then had dinner at City Creek. He went to do initiatories while I had my meeting, and we met up afterward.

I start working Saturday mornings in March!

Maybe in 50 years I'll be one of those little old temple ladies :)

Valentines Weekend

My Valentine's weekend was just wonderful.

Sam and I went to City Creek on Friday night so that I could buy a new temple dress (I finally got an interview with the temple presidency to be a temple worker!) and a few other things (new garments, temple bag, etc). We had fun just roaming around for a little bit before we went to TCBY for some froyo.

On Saturday, I went to Rose Park to do my taxes, and then visited some of my neighborhood friends before heading back to Sugarhouse. As it got closer to dinnertime, I made two large stacks of waffles for our picnic dinner. One chocolate chip, and the other blueberry. I also sprung for some Martinelli's and we drank out of martini glasses.

Sam surprised me with the most beautiful gift ever:
a rose-gold watch from Fossil. 
I think it is absolutely perfect!

We also watched Beauty & the Beast :)

Bossy

This morning, a friend of mine from school posted this article on Facebook.

It went into detail about everyday sexism and prompted girls to ask guys the same kinds of questions that they are asked, using #questionsformen in their tweets.

I thought it was interesting, especially when I got to a tweet from @erinrileyau:

"If you take a leadership position, do you worry about being seen as bossy? Are you called bossy? #questions for men"

While I thought all of the other tweets fell into the category of casual sexism outright, this one threw me off a little bit. My boyfriend's roommate recently told me that I was bossy, and it bothered me. I felt insulted, and I wasn't really sure why.

Ever since I was three years old, I've been called bossy by everyone under the sun. At this point in my life, I know it's just part of my personality, but I also know that I have a successful talent of getting things done (both on-time and properly).

But back then, every time someone told me I was bossy, I would feel bad. Like, it wasn't okay to want to take charge and make things happen. It wasn't okay for a little girl to have such a strong desire to lead, or take every opportunity that she saw. 

Being bossy is bad.

Wanting to be in charge is bad.

Wanting more responsibility is bad.

Being a bossy little girl is bad.

How is that okay?

I don't remember hearing comments about little boys being bossy. But aside from that, why is it a bad thing to be productive and eager? Why is it bad to be vocal about those things as well?

Is it because I'm a girl? Would it still be like this if I were a boy?

Or is it because anyone who shows even the slightest interest in being a leader needs to fit a certain mold in order to be taken seriously?

WTF?

Thank goodness for Sheryl Sandberg.

I had no idea that I'd been experiencing this form of casual sexism my entire life, and it's time to put a stop to it.

To my Boyfriend's Roommate:

I'm not bossy. I'm smart, productive, and have a systematic and successful way of doing things. I exercise my ability to think for myself on a daily basis, and have been doing just fine for the last 25 years. Who are you to mock my strengths and label it with a word that belittles me? Why is it okay for you to be the same things and not be labeled like that? Well, it's not.

Find a better word, otherwise your future daughters might grow up feeling the same way. They deserve better.

Strong girls everywhere deserve better.

#banbossy

Latest Work

Ever since school started back up, I've been challenged in finding time to make art. I'm in the process of designing and painting work for the downstairs living-room because the walls are totally empty. Anyway, here are my two newest paintings:

Raining Lights

Multi-Color Inspiration

Fun Story:

As I worked on Inspiration yesterday, I kept listening to "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran on a loop for about an hour and a half. I think I'm beyond obsessed with this song, mostly because of how it makes me feel, and those feelings translate to canvas very well lately. Please see the lyrics below so that I may share the feels with you too!

When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?

Darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me—I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am

So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are

When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way
I know you will still love me the same

'Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen
And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand

But, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
Thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are

So, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh, darling, place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
Oh, baby, we found love right where we are
And we found love right where we are

Happenings

What is happening right now?

Well, at this exact moment, I should be writing my journal entry for MPC 656 and my nonprofit case study for MACL 602. I should be looking ahead to readings that I need to have finished by next week. I should also be configuring blocks of fitness time in my weekly schedule for February. I should be updating my Wellness Tracker and trying to figure out how many times I can go to the temple this month.

What am I doing instead?

I'm thinking about boys.

Two boys to be exact, I call one brother and the other boyfriend.

My brother Tyler is going to be home from his mission in less than a month! The anticipation is creating waves of excitement and bouts of anxious planning all wrapped up in a nice little package. I'm very much looking forward to giving him a bug hug at the airport, and then never letting him go. Max & Kate miss him too; they keep asking how long has he been gone. They were little when he left, four and six years old I think. They are excited that he will talk to them in Spanish, mostly because they've learned a few words in Spanish that they want to show him.

I'm anxious because of the actual homecoming talk and open-house our family needs to help arrange. So many people keep asking me about when he will speak in church, and as much as I wish I had an answer, I don't. This becomes a challenge when trying to make arrangements for the little party.

Oh well. I need to get over my urge to plan and just learn to go with it.

One of the reasons I'm so anxious is because Sam is planning on coming with me to the homecoming. He will have the chance to meet a whole bunch of my family members and a nice slew of my friends from the neighborhood. It's a bit nerve-racking.

We are still learning so much about each other, but I'm having fun along the way.

Fun story:

My coworker Debby (who is fantastically awesome, btw) was in my office earlier this week, and she looked at my little picture wall and saw the photo of me and Sam at Divine Comedy. Her eyes widened and she enthusiastically asked, "When did you meet Leonard?"

She was referring to Leonard from Big Bang Theory, a show that we both love, and thought for sure that I had met him at Comic-Con. The confused look on my face prompted her to point to the pic and say, "Who's that?"

"That's New Sam!" I exclaimed.

"Really? Good choice," she replied with a smile.