The RS RETREAT

We llike to party.... especially in the Lehi 4th RS. It was retreat time. I decided to drive myself because I hate being stuck with people for too long. Also, I brought the kayak incase it rained really hard and the creeks began to flow, or I found a lake and some kayaking men to help me practice my eskimo roll. Anyways, the highlights of the campout were the bishop's fireside, short and sweet, and finding out Matt and Courtney are engaged. All I gotta say is that girl is in for a good life. Matt is a fantastic man. It is a little interesting that they only dated for 6 weeks before she had the ring, but who am I to judge. My heart has made me do crazy things too. Another highlight was deciding to sleep outside, everyone else slept in the cabin, except Susan Miles. Bishop let us use this old dingy carpet from the back of his truck,, to be a pad or something. Anyways, I guess it rained 3 times during the night, I slept right through it all. I also slept though the girls talking to the bishop about dating, and how to get the ward guys interested (thank heavens I slept throught that) . I woke up with my sleeping bag and pillow soaked. There were some interesting characters who spiced up the whole retreat, including a mentally challenged girl who kept singing songs. Sometimes the songs had the original words, sometimes she free-styled. Nothing is better than a little "she'll be coming around the mountain, with new versus on a Saturday Night. I guess one step at a time, I am spending more and more time with the saints.

And you all thought I was inactive....shoot.

Saigon Kick - Love is on the way!

Ward Talent Show

So, my night was filled with very few surprises, except for this little gem. The three guys in it have been my friends for quite sometime. The one with the black curly hair is my home teacher. My favorite one is James, he is the guy who smiles a bit and is walking on asu campus in this video. Enjoy it...

Tonight.....anything can happen, yeah right!

Tonight, I will begin living my thirty something dreams. In other words, I am the mc at the Singles Ward Talent Show. Hot Dog! So far this is the best decade of my life. I think they picked me to MC for a number of reasons. First, I am funny, I don't care who you are. Also, I have my own DJ equipment and mike, that I am bringing. But, I think the clincher is that last ward activity, the Price is Right, the guy they picked to say the "come on downs" and explain the prizes, couldn't read that good (I know the differences between good readers and bad readers, I get paid to know as a Junior High Language Arts Educator). And the whole night lasted about 29 minutes longer than it should,because this kid was stuttering, and fumbling up the words and more or less, just pissing us all off. So they choose me, because I can read.

Now, on the way home from work today, I was speaking with my friend Mitch. We were remembering "back in the day",when our highschool weekend meant maybe, just maybe something cool would happen. It was like you would go to the football game, and then somehow get caught up with the wrong crowd, and spend a good half-hour in the SOMETHING BERTO's parking lot, waiting for someone to get off work, then you might take a detour to Mill Avenue, and end up in someone's basement you don't know, making out with a kid from Spanish Class who had a tattoo, or someone who had just graduated and was back from EA. Or a college weekend, where you might start out at the Sand Dunes on a weird group date, then run into some locals camping, go on a sand rail ride, kiss that fool, and somehow end up hitchhiking into Idaho Falls, because some obscure ska band is playing. All the while paying for it with your plasma donation money, cause that is all you got. The point is you started out with a plan of going one place and ended up somewhere totally random, totally different. And there was always this feeling like, "anything can happen". I really miss that feeling.

So back to tonight. I am going to the Ward Talent Show...and I suppose anything can happen in theory, yet it has been quite awhile since i have been surprised by where the weekend night took me. I will let you know if tonight brings surprises.

Twenty-Ten. Oh who am I fooling....I just turned 30.

It happend. Even though I never thought it would. I mean I never really thought I would be thirty. Thirty is something that happend to other woman, woman with kids and husbands or super hot sex lives. Thirty couldn't happen to me. I still go to the inter-stake center for Thanksgiving Night Singles Party. I still ignore my crush at Thursday night Institute, just like I used to at Kino Jr. High. I still run on the same track that I did in Highschool. I am still trying to loose those 15 pounds. However now I do "thirty year old lady things" I spend great sums of my teacher monies on eye syrum to hopefully slow down th signs of aging and I pay my condo mortgage and hoa (i didn't even know what an hoa was at 20). And I say teacher things(nothing screams I left my twenties), like, "you guys need to be preparing for High School, Highschool teachers won't let you get away with late work". Also, I act shocked if one off colored thing is said in my classroom. So Thirty happend, and it didn't kill me.

Actually it was an awesome day. The kids decorated my room with balloons, streamers, and banners. They also brought cake, ice cream, soda and a huge homeade card for me. Yet, during our birthday party. Some of the 14 year old boys, would take the balloons and stick them down their shirt( like boobs). I obviously had to deter this behavior, I after all, am thirty. I can't allow fake balloon boobs at my birthday party. All the girls wanted to know if I was going to the club. I said, "no, they dance all dirty in the club", they responded, that was the fun of it. Maybe I am too mature to think dancing dirty in the club is fun, (maybe just too mormon) In the evening I went to Joe's Barbeque. Amy had bought me a head band that was very obnoxious. It had th numbers '30' on it. I wore it all night. Maybe just another step in fighting my "Fear of Aging Demons". It was a great time.

I am definately grateful to all those who showed for a very intense night. I love my possee. We used to get all gussied up to go out, now they are getting baby sitters, bringing their eight year olds, with their cub scout shirts on, stressing about their lazer eye follow-up surgery, and saying at 10:15 they have not been out so late in over 2 years. By 10:30 the party was over. However, the air was a buzz as the boys talked about Halo3, the girls laughed just like we did at college. My gifts consisted of Peanut Butter M and M's, movie passes, and thirty one dollar bills. One my friends who I used to drive bus with, just lost her grown up job at a mortgage company. Now she wants to drive bus again, because it was more fun and she misses that. I know we are getting older, but sometimes it feels and I feel, 22 or 17. I don't know, my mom turns 60 in March. She says, "Jodi sometimes i feel 17". So I don't know what Thirty means. I don't know why I and so many twenty something woman dread it. It's not that scarry. Yet.

The Half

We packed up the civic, headed to the white mountains, and checked into the local Best Western. I shared a bed with Ruth, the R.S. president from University 3rd Ward. Jeff and Steve slept on a cot and on the floor. The other bed was shared by Bridget (my old U3 R.S. Pres) and a girl who's name I forgot. Anyways, we ran the half marathon in Eager AZ.

I have only ran a half marathon once before. It was when I signed up for the Whiskey Row Marathon out and back. Turns out I couldn't do the full, so I turned around at the half. The only problem in that, was that the half Whiskey started an hour later. Everyone thought I was the fastest halfer. I was really the slowest full marathoner, who couldn't complete the race. I remember I got so many high fives, and thumbs ups and cheers I felt like a fraud.

Anyways, back to Eager. I was excited to race. Then I saw the bright yellow school busses which would be transporting us 13+ miles out, and got even more excited (i love the school bus). After the ride, we got dropped off at the Baptist Church of Nutrioso. I immediately found the slide in the back of the church and used it as my own personal stretching machine. I made up some stretches, all aided by the slide. I have a feeling the other racers thought I was taking limberness to a new level. The race started 10 minutes too late because every one had my idea, wait till the race was almost ready to begin and then run into the port-a-potty to take care of business (great minds think alike). Yet, we didn't realize we all had to walk 3/4 mile to get to the starting line (as to be exactly 13.1) miles away from the finish. On the walk I met Alan, a tall, black, lawyer. He was training for the Chicago Marathon. I told him I was a teacher, he said he always wanted to be a teacher. I think people who make a lot of money, like to say that to teachers. I don't know why. Anyways I ran with Alan for a few minutes, then I had to break free and haul it.

I ran really fast sometimes. Especially on the down hills. But sometimes, I ran super slow and walked a bit. That was on the uphills. Anyways, one time I googled my boyfriends ex-wifes name. It turned out, I could only find it once. She had run a half-marathon in 2 hours and nine minutes. I hadn't remembered that until I saw the clock, as it blinked 2:08:43 when I crossed the finish. Even though Bridget finished 23 minutes ahead of me, and that boyfriend is long gone, I still beat his ex-wife's time. Sometimes when you don't win the race per se, you still beat someone's ex wife's time. I ate alot of fruit at the finisher's table. I met the winner of the men's run. He ran the half in 1 hour and 19 minutes. That guy was a teacher too. My next race is in Camp Verde....you know I want the age group hardware. Now that I have just moved up an age group (30-34) yikes.