That is Why I Owe My Him a Candy Bar

Last Friday in my Humanities class we discussed that we cannot always trust our senses to give us the right answer. The fact that our senses can deceive us and then we go on information that isn't accurate. Brother Gorton loves optical illusions and we spent the class looking at the pictures where you can see both the old woman and the young woman. One a side note, usually Brother Gorton is in a suit and tie, and looks very much like the Bishop that he is. Today he was wearing green pants, a green checked shirt, blue tie, and a black leather vest. I thought maybe his outfit was an optical illusion, and suddenly i would look at it and it suddenly be a decent outfit. Anyway, he got really excited when he showed everyone this youtube video.



I thought this was hilarious. I totally fell for it and was shocked when I watched the video again. Unfortunately now its ruined for me and I will always see our furry friend.

Then Brother Gorton got up and said, "Not everything is how it seems and we can't always trust our senses. For example, if you ask my wife and my daughter what color my pants are they would say green! Can you believe they would say that, when they are obviously brown."

An awkward pause filled the room and finally someone said, "Umm, Brother Gorton they are green." The rest of the class supported the student in the back, because they were after all, green.

"No, you're wrong, my pants are brown, and anyone who says other wise is crazy." There was one boy in the back who said, "I believe you Brother Gorton." but when furhter pressed, it turned out he just wanted an A.

"Fine," Brother Gorton said after a heated discussion about his pants, "if we go outside right now and ask the first person we meet what color my pants are and they say green, I will give everyone in here a candy bar. If they say brown then I will buy everyone a full sized candy bar. Deal"

Out loud we said "deal," but in our heads we were saying, "I wonder if we could get him up to a king sized bar."

Then in a flash he was out the door and dashing down the stairs to the door. I was sitting right next to the door so I was right behind him. As I tried to keep up I would glance at his pants, and they were absolutely green. He made it to the door before anyone, and we got outside just in time to hear the gardener say, "Yeah absolutely brown."

I stopped and stared in amazement. Brother Gorton was undeniably wearing brown pants. I was stunned, but I couldn't deny it.

It just goes to show you can't count on anything. Not even the color of your teachers pants.

p.s. Apparently it's against BYUI policy to bet with your students. I don't own him anything.

When You're Sitting in the Middle of Your Last Final and Find Yourself Daydreaming About Butterflies...You Know You Need A Vacation.

Last Thursday I found myself sitting in the testing center taking my last finale of the semester. I had already studied two hours, worked on my last piece of homework and taken another final, and it was only 10:30. In the middle of a long division problem I found myself thinking about a butterfly. It was Purple.

Then I saw a testing proctor staring suspiciously at me so I hurriedly returned to my test. Now that I think of it,its not like I had the answers written on the ceiling, but all the same I knew I needed a break. My brain simply could not hold anything more. There was simply no point trying to learn anything else because I had reached a capacity. My head actually felt top heavy. Is it possible for my brain to get heavier because I learned to much?

Luckily I spent a great weekend at Liz's house, and gave my brain time to process the overload that was this semester. It was a good semester, I really liked my classes. I can now tell you how to add number from different bases, the difference between shield cinder and composite volcanoes, and what a sister chromatid is. Mmmm, actually I got that question wrong.

Breakups... I get it.

It's officially been more than a month since I broke up with Shane. Although, with everything that happened after breaking up, it seems so long ago. I have learned a lot. I've learned more about myself, what I want in a husband, and I think, how to relate to people who have gone through similar experiences. When it first happened, in my head I knew that these were probably the lessons I would learn. But I didn't expect one lessons. I now understand break up songs.

Before, I always liked them. They were fun songs, but know I understand why when we drove past one of Deborah's ex's house, we would pup in the CD, and start singing, "I HATE THAT STUPID OLD PICK-UP TRUCK, YOU NEVER LET ME DRIVE!" I thought it was funny before, so I would play along. Now I understand the truth of these songs. People actually have these sorts of emotions. It's almost a shame that Shane doesn't have a pick-up truck. I like that song.

This is the song that when I was listening to I made the realization.



I would just like to say that I don't actually pray for him to get hit by a flower pot. But sometimes, well, I can relate to this song.

Snails are Stressful

The weeks have been stressful. I mean really stressful. Do you want tot know the most stressful part? Snails. Snails that don't breath!

A couple weeks of go, my science teacher gave everyone on the class a jar full of water plants and snails. Or mission was to determine which one of the two did photosynthesis, and which one breathed. I'll be honest, I thought I knew where the experiment was going to go.

I had a dye that would turn the water blue there was photosynthesis, yellow if there was breathing, and green if there was equal parts of photosynthesis and aerobic respiration.

Can I just say, my snails were defective. In the three days that I tested and tested those snails. the water never once turned yellow. Always BLUE! Sure the plants did what they were supposed to. They were photosynthesising even in the dark, but those snail....Nothing.

I'll be honest. In the weeks of stress and uncertainty that I've gone through, those snails have really put it over the top. The snails really stressed me out. I've got mutated snails that whatever I did, wouldn't ever breathe! Sometimes life is really hard. The only thing that consoled me was the fact that i got the same messed up results and everyone else in the class.

P.S. While the snails not breathing really confused my teacher, so did the plants, photosynthesising. Apparently when we left the plants were supposed to turn the water green. Indicating that the plants were breathing. Go figure.

I've Got a Really Great Family

For those of you who don't know, I got engaged on New Year's Eve. Again, for those of you who don't know, I broke it off on Saturday. Yep, those are the two big events in my life so now everyone is up to date.

I still feel a little dazed. I'm kind of thinking to myself, "Wow, what just happened?" I still feel like it was the right decision, and that we both are going to be okay. Everyday gets better and better, So I'm really excited about tomorrow.

Really the purpose of this post is to thank my family. This weekend I was surrounded by my family, which I'm so grateful for.

I'm so grateful for my sisters. They listened to me cry, and gave me advice when I felt like I had no idea what to do. They stayed up every night this weekend even though I know they were exhausted. I'm so grateful that they let me make my own decision, and made it clear that they would love me no matter what.

I'm really grateful for my grandpa. What can I say? He really is a very sweet man, and I know that he loves me.

I'm so grateful for my brother. Eldon, I really love you. Eldon really stepped it up, and when I knew there was something to be done, but really didn't want to do it myself, he volunteered with out being asked. He took over, when all I wanted to do was cry. He is pretty awesome, and I love him.

Finally I love the rest of my family, Eve your included in that to. I have really appreciated the concerned calls and emails. I really appreciated the love that was expressed and the support that was offered.

I love you guys. Thank you so much for everything you do.

p.s. don't worry, I'm feeling a lot better.

Compare and Contrast

I have now been a nanny for over a month and a half, with my new family. I work with an adorable 18 month little girl named Ashvini. I've started comparing my experience with Alex last year and with Ashvini this year.

Here are the similarities:

-Alex was an only child,and the first grandchild, Ashvini is an only child and the first grandchild, as a result they both received grandparent gifts pretty regularly.

-Alex didn't talk, and Ashvini doesn't talk yet.

-Alex screamed with joy when he saw a dog, and Ashvini won't take her eyes off it.

Here are the differences:

-Alex loved being tickled, Ashvini hates being tickled. When I tickle her she laughs then with a stern look tells me, "No, no no."

- When I let Alex climb up the stairs by himself, he was so happy. When I let Ashvini climb up the stairs, she looks at me as if saying, "Are you seriously going to make me do this? You know you can just carry me right?'

-Alex loved making messes, and Ashvini loves cleaning messes up. What an amazing child!

I love seeing these similarities, and differences. I love seeing different personalities come out and become more defined. There is one difference that I just can't account for.

When I was Alex's nanny I was often mistaken for his mother. I would constantly be told that he looked just like me. I started to say thank you and move on, it was so much easier then correcting them. One of my favorite examples, was when a woman told me I got my figure back so quickly. I walked away with a hop in my step. But this never seems to happen with Ashvini. People just instinctively know I'm the nanny.

Alex

Huh. I guess I just don't get it.

Ashvini

One More Weekend with the Girls

I spent this weekend with those three little girls while their parents went made a quick trip to Utah. It seemed to go by so quickly and, it was a lot of fun. This weekend I was much more prepared. I brought my camera.

Friday we headed out to Target to buy some chalk, and then go to the park. As we were about to head out the I remembered my mom telling me, "There are some battles worth fighting. If it isn't worth it, don't fight it." I decided this wasn't worth it.

(Please notice the the 3 year old's tutu, the 8 year old's two shirts that just weren't supposed to be worn together, and the 6 year old's two toys that she "just had to bring!" not to mention her hair).

Here is our fun at the park.

We had flowers and rainbows, and polka dot snakes. We played a mean game of hopscotch on till the 8 year old lost her lucky rock. We decided that one of the lost boys probably took it and then her gave it to Peter Pan. Secretly i blame the 3 year old.

We collected a bunch of rolly pollies and I sang "Little Black Things"

And then we took a couple beauty shots.

For the next to days we hung around the house, watched TV, and played a lot of Uno. Every now and then we broke out the camera again. This is the average photography inspiration.



One of the high lights that day was when the 8 year old decided to make us a snack. After hearing what she had in mind, namely making it up as she went along, I decided to supervise.

The recipe of our snack

1st Boil peanut butter in water, until it simmer down to a paste.

2nd Add crumbled butter crackers and chocolate teddy grahams.

3rd Decide it's to thick and add more water.
4th Add honey

Serve while hot, with popcorn. It is actually surprisingly good. The teddy grahams were soggy but once you get past that, I enjoyed it.

YUM!

After church we went to my mom's house to have dinner. Our main course was Hawaiian Haystacks. Of course, if my mom does something fun, it is always done with flair. As we came into the kitchen, ready to eat dinner, we saw a beautifully laid table and Haywain leis for the girls. They also found cute little post its shaped in the first letter of their name. It was so fun to see how much they loved it. Later that night, when their parents came home, that was the first thing that they started talking about.

It was a really fun weekend and I know that we all had fun together. It was also fun to see their reactions to when their parents came home. In a word, "Hurray."