They Loved Us!

Who is they? The men. What men? The men at the fireside I went to tonight. Who is we? My friend and I. So, there was a mid-single’s fireside in Layton featuring Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band. It seemed like it would be a well attended event and a good opportunity to see this popular LDS group for free, so I finally decided to make the drive and see what this group was all about. I recruited a friend of course because everyone needs a wing man at these types of gatherings right? Almost immediately upon entering the building…no wait, before we even entered the building, we could feel scoping eyes looking us up and down. It was awkward to say the least.

We went in, took our seats, and tried not to notice the noticeably different atmosphere from our little single’s ward where no one dates each other, to this not so subtle meat market with its over abundance of elevator eyes. Being a mid-single’s group, my friend and I were definitely the younger of the bunch. I’m not saying the bunch was bad, just that they were quite obviously appraising the meat for long term storing. But anyway, we will get back to that shortly.

The fireside itself was GREAT! These musicians are talented and had some insightful words of wisdom to impart to this attentive audience. Good times seemed to be had by all and if I’m being honest…their current drummer is HOT! He seems pretty young but hey, I like that. So yeah, I did a little scoping myself but tried not to exceed the limit to reach creepy. Because really…he wasn’t the one checkin me out. He was probably horrified to be at an older single’s event, being single himself. Seriously though, he was REALLY good looking and super talented...

At the conclusion of the fireside, refreshments and a mingle were announced to follow. Yay…another mingle! I was slightly curious so my friend and I stuck around for a bit. It wasn’t long before we were approached by what appeared to be our new best friend. This guy was very friendly and nice to chat with for like a minute. The minutes dragged on however and I finally found myself devising schemes in my head to get rid of him. When the subtle walking away from him didn’t work I had to resort to greater and more obvious tactics but let’s back up again for a minute and talk about why this was necessary.

Our conversation with our new best friend seemed to center around the fact that I am a very busy person. He told me that I’m not married so what could I possibly be so busy with! Are you serious? Only married people are busy? What do they do all day? Don’t answer that…I wish I were too but really, why can’t I be busy and single? Also, he asked me if I ever hang out with friends or date…since I am so busy. I told him that I do…on Tuesdays and Fridays. He obviously wanted my number, or my friend’s, but never asked. He just kept telling us that we need to come out to the institute class that he goes to. Nice. Is that all you have? I know I am sounding a bit petty now but he kept throwing his age at us like we cared. He kept letting us know basically (without ever really saying it) that he was 30. Like we care…we are the same age! It was just an interesting conversation that was essentially leading nowhere, hence the need to leave.

Leave we did. I said to my friend, “hey, did you want to go meet the band?” She agreed that she did and he finally let us be. As we were approaching the band, we were stopped by what appeared to be a relative of Kramer, with a moustache. Or maybe it was a goatee. I don’t really remember but the conversation was awkward and his oogle could not have been any more apparent. He was definitely somewhere in the 40’s yet still unpolished in his communication skills. This was apparent when he asked us if we had been married or had any children. Or maybe that's just the norm in this age group. Seems to be kind of. Anyway, he obviously wanted to talk to us but didn’t have much to say…other than that we should all hook up on facebook. Oh yeah!! This is the new way I guess. Only guys add you and then never talk to you. So, we are gonna hook up on facebook. Yay! (This is completely sarcastic of course…the guy was seriously a creeper!).

After this encounter, my friend and I decided to make a quick escape. We hurried out the door, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. I did however pass mr. hottie percussionist on the way to our car and told him that he had some sweet skills. And that was that. I’m glad we went. We laughed about it on the way home so all in all, I think it was a successful night. Moral of the story: Men need to be men and ask for girl’s numbers if they want ‘em and then they need to use those numbers and ask them out. Then there might not be any more mid-single events because there would be far less mid-singles to go to them. The end.

Ps...Happy 100th post!!!!

Mr. Boring #10

Let’s start at the end. You know how I’m over 30 but my mom still tells me what to do sometimes? Today she said, “Make sure that no matter what, you try to go out with him again.” So, at the end of the date when Mr. Boring said, “Would you mind if I called you again sometime?” I replied, “yes, that would be great.” Everybody has rules and everyone knows how dating and marriage are done and apparently I don’t follow those rules because I am not married. I read the books, I tried on the advice, I met a lot of men, dated a few, and mostly...all I can say for it, is that I am sick of everyone’s rules! This is why I decided to go on a break from this project. Of course once I put that up, I had four people lining me up, two of which actually called me. Amazing I know.

So, today was the first set up of the four. Here’s how it went down. My mom has been training this lady at work. She is apparently a very nice lady and knows a single man in his 30’s. Well, he is single, my mom has a single daughter…why not?? So, I gave the okay to the mother and she passed my number along. Sunday night, just as I was about to go to bed early, the phone rang. Mr. not so interesting was on the line. Right away he gave me an out, as if I hadn’t given the okay to pass my number along in the first place. I professed to enjoy meeting new people and told him I would love to go out sometime. So, we set up a dinner appointment for Tuesday evening.

Today is Tuesday. Tuesday’s are the loooongest day in history at work! Even so, I finally made it through my work day and took a half an hour to get pretty and try to smell less like kid. I thought things turned out pretty well. I decided to sport the ever so popular skinny jeans and now firmly believe that despite what you or I may think of such apparel, they are magic. Men love skinny jeans…that’s all there is to it. So anyway, we met up in the parking lot, drove together in his truck (which wasn’t really all that impressive for a truck but hey…it was a truck!) for a whole block. I seriously thought we were going to walk and really would have preferred that method but I followed his lead and entered the truck.

We had some fine Italian food at the good old staple, Johnny Carino’s. I was really eyeing this chicken/shrimp pasta dish that looked so, so delightful. I thought it was quite expensive though. He ordered it however, so I went ahead and ordered myself up a plate as well. It was spicy and delish! Our conversation was somewhat broken and awkward at times. I was a little tired from a long day at work and honestly just not feeling it. Whoaaa…back up a second. Before I left, inside my head, I was screaming, “I don’t want to go…I don’t want to go. Don’t make me do it!” Yes I know, it strongly resembled something from the mouth of a two year old. It’s just that I am soooo tired of meeting guys. Seriously, I am bored of the same conversation, over and over and over and over again! This particular conversation (no thanks to me) did not prove any better. Oh well, what can you do.

I’m sure that I could have been a little more flirty. Okay, maybe I could have been somewhat flirty. I looked hot, I was totally polite and friendly, thanking him for his gentlemanly ways, etc. At the same time, I also felt like I had a little bit of a negative vibe going on. A vibe like, “hmmm, I’m not really interested but I’ll be polite because we are here.” So then, why….does he want to hang out with me again?? Sure I call him Mr. Boring but honestly, he could have said the same about me. I was not in any way my usually jolly and delightful self. Nope…I was miss boring pants! Oh well, I told him (because it’s apparently the right and acceptable thing to do) that I would love for him to call me again sometime. So, maybe next time we will both be less boring and I will by some miracle, suddenly become attracted to him! Yay, we are so getting married!! Well, that is if next Tuesday’s date doesn’t trump this one. He doesn’t drive…he rides his bike everywhere. So, I asked him if I could have a ride on his handle bars. But…I am getting ahead of myself and will save all of those details for next week. Can you believe it…I’ve just about made it to eleven?! October shmoctober!

The More You Dance...

The dizzier you become. Boys like to make you spin. And spin, and spin, and spin. After awhile, you get so dizzy that even when you are standing still, the world continues to move around you in circles, and all over the place. Last time I went dancing, a couple of weeks ago, I felt this. I couldn’t dance after a certain period of time because I was just tripping all over the dance floor. Life itself has seemed much like this lately as well. I’m a little sad that I haven’t had time for my blog but I’m happy to be here now. Things are settling down a little and slowly starting to turn at a normal pace again!

So, I have been working a lot lately, but I have also played hard enough as well. One of the last times I went Country dancing was a packed full day. I had a short day at work so I went hiking with #7. We went up to Dog Lake and it was gorgeous!!! Have you seen the leaves lately? I love the feeling in the air during Fall, and I love, love, love the leaves!! They reflected beautifully in the lonely lake while we sat quietly by watching the blue jays and enjoying the peaceful stillness. It was wonderful!

After the hike, I went straight to teach a music lesson, then straight to dinner with some great friends that used to be my roommates back in the day. Good times! Then I went home and quickly got ready for a fun filled night of dancing! Lots of guys asked me to dance because…I was wearing my skinny jeans!! Yes, that is the secret I decided. Ah men, you are so predictable! Oh well, I received a fair share of practice and had a ton of fun with my young friend who just left me for a life in New Jersey. Well, currently she is enjoying new friendship and a whole lot less dancing down in Provo where she learns Spanish and wears dresses and nylons all day every day. Poor girl! Love her though…and totally miss her! She was so good for my social life. She will make a great missionary though, because she has a fun personality and a great testimony!

Okay, so other than hanging out with that friend and working, I’ve been playing in a local symphony (not the one I want to play in but another), walking at 5am, trying to put together an entire relief society from scratch, forgetting about boys, and reading a few books (where in my schedule I don’t know…but had to squeeze in the Mocking Jay). Life is good! I feel a lot less stressed not worrying about boys, although a little bit guilty. At the same time, I currently have four men out there with my number. These are all set ups so I really can’t do anything about whether or not they call. If they do, they do. And I will let you know all about it. One has a lot of potential for a very “interesting” date story so seriously, read up friends! He doesn’t drive, he bikes all over the place, so I’m going to see if maybe I can ride on his handle bars…oh yeah!!! Do you think that would be too forward of me? Haha…it’s gonna happen anyway. More soon!

Let it Be

I know it's been a little while so I'm not sure if you are even still with me. Even now I should be in bed but I can't sleep so I finally decided to update! I need to share my recent thoughts. First of all, starting work again has been tough, on top of being called as Relief Society president in a new ward and keeping up with everything else I need to do. Basically, I am TIRED! I'm exhausted! I can't keep up with anything and it's getting me super down. I'm trying to stay up though. So, in an effort to stay on the up side....I really can't do this anymore. Well, I do mean to continue my blog, but I cannot worry about dating 40 guys right now. I stress about it way too much. I obsess over every little thing that might be wrong with me and frankly, I just want a man...a decent man that I could be interested in...to like me for who I am! I want a man to feel like I am worthy of chasing...that I am worth a little work. I am so, so tired of doing all the work! I have backed off a lot. Don't think I am giving up altogether though. If someone wants to ask me out (which would seriously be a miracle because I haven't really seen that happen in my entire 31 years) then I will not turn them away. If people want to set me up, then I will go. But I CANNOT seek them out and initiate anything in any way right now. I do not have the energy or time. I'm sorry if I am a disappointment to you because I really don't want to be, but I want to focus on my other goals off to the left there, and hopefully as I do, I will still become more datable and mostly just a better person. I want to focus on improving me for me. I do hope to get married and I will eventually date 40 men...probably just not this year. I can't anymore.

On that note, I will tell you a funny story and tell you that I do still have a couple of guys on the supposed "hook up" list so I will be updating about them. I will also try harder to post more often but you are gonna have to just hear about my life's adventure's minus dates for awhile cause I am not doing the asking! Okay, funny story. Today I went to church. Church was great! I enjoyed the lessons and talking with my friends. I wore a cute skirt that I recently picked up at Shade Clothing...one of my favs! Anyway, it's kinda short and full. When I went to church, the air was still. When I came out of church, it was so windy! I walked by three of my guy friends on the way to my car. One asked me where I was going and I asked him where I should go. That started a whole fun conversation with those boys. I enjoyed talking to them but really, I was fighting my skirt against the wind and it was a little awkward. As I was leaning over to keep the skirt down, I was also trying to keep my shirt up. Wow, I was really trying to avoid the peep show that I'm sure the boys got anyway. At one point, I may have been a little late in catching my skirt and I'm not sure if they saw anything, but judging from the huge smiles on their faces, it couldn't have been good! So I said, "ummm, I think I better leave now." They laughed and agreed and off I went. Darn that wind!! It was prob funny to watch me fighting with the clothes though...

Fail

So, I've once again been assessing things and all I can think lately is that I have failed. Failed at EVERYTHING! I have all these goals and I feel like I am not meeting any of them right now! So, I had to decide what the problem was and what I was going to do about it. Not achieving my main goal has really gotten me down lately. I've been super down on myself for quite some time as you know and I decided this is the root of all my problems! Seriously, I have got to rid my life of all of the negativity! So, instead of looking at all the ways I have failed, I started thinking of all of my successes. For one, I have lost at least 20 pounds since beginning this journey. I've also almost made it through Genesis (okay, I am totally gonna have a New Testament read-a-thon one of these days...are ya with me??). I currently am so much more "in the know" about sports than I ever have been, and participating in them whenever I get the chance. Last week I played softball. A couple of weeks before, it was volleyball and I've added in Ultimate Frisbee a couple of times as well. Tonight I even watched part of a Red Sox game while working out...they were totally kickin trash! Finally, I have been on 9 more dates than last year, and have met tons more guys and been out in the world living life for all it's worth!

The dreaded day has come and gone. Last Friday was my birthday. It was hard. But in lite of my new outlook on life, I decided not to be so depressed about getting older, but to be grateful for the full life I've had so far. I wouldn't trade my experiences and knowledge for anything. It's been a good 31 years and I plan to add several more very fulfilled years to that!

Since starting work again a few weeks ago, I have been nothing but tired and stressed! This is also not helping things! I've had zero time for working out or having fun, or keeping up with anything that needs done. Yesterday, my dog died. We have had him for over 13 years and honestly, I was pretty sad about it. I still am. So, through all of this, I am still just trying to take deep breaths, slow down, and squeeze in the super important stuff, along with a little bit of recreation when possible. I've started getting up earlier in the morning so I can exercises, and I read on my small breaks from work, or try to accomplish a thing or two. Somehow amidst all of this, I am going to start meeting men again and getting some more dates to write about, but that's where I am at for now.

As an update however, guess who I got an email from the other day?? Remember the guy I met in my hiking group? I totally haven't heard from him since and he just decided to drop me a little message the other day. Nice! I also received a birthday wish from the guy I met a few weeks ago from my hometown. Happy day! Now, if they would just ask me out!! Still haven't heard from the 42 year old set up either....not keeping my fingers crossed....okay, maybe just a little! Oh, and one more thing, I totally saw this hot guy at work today and I'm pretty sure he was single...but it just didn't happen. Let's hope I run into him again soon!! Thanks for stickin with me...let's make this happen!

Better Days

Sorry about Friday. We all go through those moments though, right? I know I frequently do, but things are weird right now. There has been so much transition in my life lately and so much anticipation of transition, that it becomes overwhelming and I get discouraged. Let’s talk about that later though. For now, let’s focus on better days, like yesterday! What a fabulously fun day it was! So, I got up bright and early because I had plans to go shoot the tube! I met a couple of my guy friends and went off to meet the one I planned it with. He had texted me early in the morning to see if it was still a go and of course I responded with an enthusiastic, “yes!” He never responded however. My three other friends and I waited for him for quite some time. By this time I had texted my missing friend (who was actually experienced at shooting the tube) several times with no response. Finally, we decided to take matters into our own hands and go without him….and his raft.

(On the left is the tunnel wher eyou come out)

We eventually found our way to Tanner Park, near the mouth of Parley’s Canyon. From there, we followed a trail that eventually led us to the end of the aqua duct from which we would soon be spewing forth. There were about three or four fellow tube shooters already there. As it turns out, we had to walk through the tunnel/aqua duct, to the other end to begin. I let the boys go ahead while I finished putting on my swimming gear. By the time I was ready, they had already made it to the other end, leaving me to find my way through the dark tunnel on my own. I was scared! I wished I had a nice brave man to lead the way for me. I didn’t however, so I finally took a deep breath and began my journey up the tunnel. I could see the other end but it is pretty long and I was walking through about a foot of water in flip flops. I was scared I was going to fall and be swept back down the tube before reaching the other end. Thankfully I did not, but instead safely made it to my friends who were hard at work making a dam to slow the flow of water into the tube.

Before leaving the house, my dad made me take my life jacket. I decided to take it with me because I figured if I didn’t, something stupid would happen and my dad would be mad and I would regret it, etc. So, despite being the only one, I took it with me. While waiting for the dam to fill up and break, I was grateful for the life jacket. Since our other friend with the raft didn’t come, we were left with nothing to go down on, which is fin,e but I sat on my life jacket which was much better than nothing! As I stood there in anticipation I was about to pee my pants with nervous excitement!

The dam became so full that eventually someone had to break it. There were several of us lined up in the tunnel, just waiting to be swept down with the force of the water when it hit us. They broke the dam and the water hit us with such a powerful force and swept us down the tube (which is about the length of a football field I hear). It was sooo fun!! We laughed and screamed and at the end, I saw a huge white wall of water just as it swept over me, forcing me to swallow my daily allotment and take quite a bit up the nose as well! The tunnel was like a huge creature, just spewing us out into this little pond where people were letting their dogs play. For a second I thought I was going to drown, but no worries, it wasn’t that deep and I was out of the water in no time, gasping for air. I’m not sure if it was the water intake or the fact that it was like ice that left me breathless but it took me some time to recover my normal breathing!

(Imagine this full of rushing water throwing humans out of it!)

After having made it down, we were all elated! We laughed with excitement, shared our tales of adventure and decided to give it one more shot. The second time was even better. There were more people then and we all somehow connected as the water forced us together in a huge train. It was delightful though, and this time, I was prepared for the white wall of water and plugged my nose just before it hit! We survived again and headed home! That was the best free fun around for sure!!!

(The pond at the bottom...when it's calm cause no one is flying into it.)

As for the rest of the day, I had a great time helping my friend shop for missionary clothes, swimming with my family, working out at the gym, and then going to a party at my other friend’s house. Of course, he is really young and again, I sometimes feel really out of place at these events. Seriously, I looked around awhile and realized that since I used to teach high school, all of these people could have been my students because they really didn’t graduate all that long ago. Yikes! Anyway, it turned out to be really fun and I got to know a girl in my new ward a lot better so it worked out. But sadly, no dating prospects….I’m not weird like that. I do like younger guys but I draw a limit on when I started teaching. If they did not graduate before that, they are out!!

On that note however, I realized yesterday that I haven’t been putting as much into this project as I used to and that is probably the reason for my lack of success. I know what I need to do….I’m grateful for the slight focus change for awhile because I needed it and have honestly become quite a different person the last few months…but I’m ready to move on again, I think! More fun date stories soon!

Caught in the Middle

Where is all the time going, seriously? Can we just slow this down a little more? More importantly, how about I just make it a goal to date ten guys this year! It’s still way better than last year!! Why did I think 40 was achievable again?? Or why did I think that guys would want to date me? Okay, I know…this is not okay! But sometimes when you are sitting at home on a Friday night, you wonder these things. Yes, you are right; I shouldn’t be sitting at home! Well, I went out last night and I’m going out in the morning so it’s not a complete waste, right? Besides, you’ve been dying for a blog update, haven’t you? I feel like a slacker in every way right now!! It’s time to repent…I’m on that. Maybe in awhile I will go up to Ogden to see my new friend perform in an improve competition. He has invited me the last 3 weeks and I haven’t gone. Everyone else I know is busy or doesn’t care to hang out with me so, I guess I will maybe…attempt this one on my own. Who knows what may happen!


While we are on the subject of self pity, let’s talk a little more about this whole age thing. So, I went to play Frisbee last night and then went country dancing. The friend that I hang out with to do these activities is almost ten years younger than I am. It’s totally fine, she is super fun and keeps me young and energetic, and most importantly, out there. Still, I can’t help but feel a little out of place at times around her other friends and boyfriend, when to them, I am super old. I try not to bring up my age but at times it comes up and this awkward silence immediately follows. Geez, I don’t have a plague or anything and you were totally cool with me like 5 seconds ago!

Okay, she is so not like that but I just feel out of place a lot of times with the younger crowd now. I feel this more and more lately. I don’t want to be old but there is just something about the experiences you have in life over just a few years that change you! I’m grateful for those changes! I don’t want to give them up! I feel like I know who I am because of my experiences. The problem is relating to people who have not yet had such opportunities. They are not any less of a person, and neither am I…we are just different. Sometimes, more often than not though, I DO feel like less of a person, just because of my age! Shouldn’t that make me more of a person though? Hmmmm. Maybe the fact that my birthday still looms over me on a daily basis is the contributing factor to these long, self-absorbed paragraphs of self-pity, I don’t know. One more week though. One more week and we can just move on from it and try to forget it ever happened I guess.

While we are on the subject of self pity, let’s just get everything out and then we can move on again. Sometimes, when you are hanging out on a Friday night with nothing to do, you have these little sessions, even though it’s nice to hang out by yourself sometimes. It’s definitely been one of those weeks though, ya know? I really hate to admit it because I’m sure there are people who will take joy in my self pity, but oh well. I love the good times and have plenty of them…it’s just been a long week. So…what else? Besides the younger crowd, I also feel out of place in the older crowd as I have mentioned. I am not divorced, am too young, and don’t have any children!

Ah, that brings me to another point. This man, a police officer in Kanab area was killed yesterday. That’s my old place of residence so I have heard a lot about it. Everyone has been talking about how it is so sad and that he left behind a wife and two kids. It is so sad!! I am sad for my friend that this happened to a few years ago! I am sad for anyone that has to go through this. It has made me consider though, what if I died? Would it be less sad because I don’t leave anyone behind?? It sort of makes you feel a little worthless sometimes…like I am not contributing properly to the world so what am I good for? Okay, I know…stupid comment! I just wanted to throw it out there though.

So, this post is sooo not okay. I know that and you know that. Now I HAVE to go out to my friend’s show tonight! I am tired though. I stayed out way too late last night country dancing. It was okay. I danced with all the strange guys and did not meet my goal to give out my number. Eh, I didn’t want to give them my number anyway! I better get myself ready to go. More on tonight’s FUN adventures (promise) later!!