Random Ramblings

There have been a few random thoughts floating around my head lately and I thought I'd get them out today:

Driving with your Headlights
I just wanted to write a quick memo and let all the drivers out there know that it's OK to turn your headlights on even if YOU can see okay. Just because you can see okay, doesn't mean that others can see you. I've noticed this a lot lately, mainly because it's been unusually rainy and overcast. I can see just fine and I don't need my lights on to see what is going on. But I still turn them on. I've noticed that the cars that don't have their headlights on start to blend in to the road and it's very difficult to see them. So...spread the word. At dusk and dawn and rainy conditions, TURN YOUR LIGHTS ON! Even if you can see just fine. You might as well be safe and make sure that everyone can see YOU just fine.

Life Lessons
Have you ever noticed that when life lessons are being shared, either at church or work or socially, the person who needs the life lesson the most doesn't get a thing from it and just identifies others who need it? And everyone around thinks, "Man, that was intended for them", but they're totally oblivious!? I noticed this at church on Sunday (kinda). We were having a great lesson in RS and I was thinking, "Man, Suzie Q over there needs to pay attention!" And then I realized, everyone always does that. And then nobody gets the lesson for themselves and they always try to make it about someone else. So I decided to start applying these lessons to me. After all, if we really truly start listening to others we would be so much better off.

Church
The last week or two I've been thinking about the reason behind going to church every week. I know, it sounds silly, but I actually think about these things. It all started with a comment I heard about someone in my ward and how they're like every other Mormon. They go to church every Sunday, but they live far from the gospel principles throughout the week. That kind of perturbed me. I know it's easy to judge others and think that they're not as good as they're trying to portray, but really, what is the purpose of church? Is it for a bunch of perfect people to sit around and preach to each other? Definitely not. I think it's a place we can get support from friends to inspire us to become better. If we hear a particularly moving lesson or talk and we feel the spirit and are motivated to better our behavior, then church has accomplished its purpose. So then that got me thinking about those who have been offended by someone at church and no longer go. And for the first time I actually understood that concept. If we go to church and feel contention and judging and hear people talking negatively about us, we're not accomplishing anything by going. At times in my life I have felt this and have had a difficult time attending. Luckily I didn't totally drop out and I got over it and now things are great. But it made me realize how each person at church is individual in their feelings and testimony and how fragile people can be. We can't treat everyone the same. I know, DUH! I knew that. I guess I just didn't realize how many different things people could be going through and you never know if the person you're walking right by without saying hi to HATES coming to church because nobody ever talks to her. You just don't know. I don't even know where I'm going with this. Just something I've been thinking about and know that I need to work on.

Expansion

There are a few of my bloggy peeps who aren't on Facebook...so I'll share the fabulous news with the couple of you that may not have heard otherwise:

After a bazillion years (I swear it feels like it) and multiple fertility treatments Rhett and I are finally expecting our first in June! We're crazy excited and thrilled that we finally get to embark on this wild adventure. Crazy thing is that none of the fertility treatments worked. Once we gave up and started talking about adoption we got pregnant on our own! Strange how it seems to work that way. That's what happened the last time we got pregnant. Maybe next time we'll just head straight for the adoption line!

Crazy Eights

I've been tagged...

Eight things I did today (yesterday):
1. Drove in to town for work to attend a prep meeting for training that ended up getting cancelled.
2. Went to the doctor
3. Had my blood drawn
4. Visited my mom at work
5. Got frustrated with a loved one
6. Stopped by Baja Fresh on my way home so I wouldn't have to fix dinner
7. Called a good friend I hadn't talked to in awhile
8. Had thoughts of killing a neighbors pet (don't judge me! If you're woken up each day at 3:30 from a dead sleep because your neighbor insists on keeping a rooster you'd be cranky about it as well!)

Eight things I'm looking forward to:
1. The day I'll have kids of my own
2. Thanksgiving
3. Christmas
4. The birth of my nephew
5. Hosting Bunco in a couple of weeks
6. Seeing my cousin on Saturday (Thanks Laura, for hooking us up with tickets)
7. Having three PAID days off this month!
8. Eating a yummy Trader Joe's dinner tonight

Eight of my Favorite T.V. Shows
1. Fringe
2. Project Runway
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Ace of Cakes
5. Most anything on HGTV
6. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
7. What Not to Wear
8. Nitro Circus

Eight of my Favorite Restaurants
1. Cheesecake Factory (mmmmm)
2. Olive Garden
3. Memphis BBQ
4. Cafe Rio
5. Benihanas
6. Outback Steakhouse (big fan of their lobster)
7. Panda Express
8. Las Lupes

Chicago

Last week I had a conference in Chicago and had the opportunity to stay a couple of extra days to see the sights. Of course the first day was pouring rain and the second day was a high of 40 degrees with 50 mph winds. I could have done without the weather, but I still saw as much as I could see in such a short time period. One great thing was that it gave me practice time on my camera. I've had it for a few months, but it still feels new to me. Mainly because I don't know how to use it. So I decided to not take a single picture in "auto" and push myself to learn about the aperature, shutter speed, and ISO. I'm so glad I did this. Because I was alone on this trip, I didn't feel rushed to get it figured out. I took my time and stood in one place, taking the same picture multiple times until I finally got it right. Not that there really is a "right" or "wrong", but you know what I mean. When a picture comes out completely white or black...it's probably "wrong".

Because of the wicked weather, I spent quite a few hours inside the Shedd's Aquarium. That was a great place to test out my photog skills. It's not easy getting the right amount of light and trying to capture moving objects at the same time. I still don't have it down perfectly, but it was fun trying out different things.

I could have stared all day at this octopus. He was SO active...moving constantly. And he was HUGE. He had me captivated.

A cute little clown fish

This was a pretty cool eel that was quite active as well. He was swimming all over the tank.

As much as I love and respect the octopus, I literally could stare for the rest of my life at the jellyfish aquarium. Oh how I love to watch these animals. They're like a living lava lamp.

Shout out to the turtles

And a great school of fish.

This is Chicago. Looks beautiful, especially with the leaves turning colors and the ominous clouds. Don't let it fool you people! It's not called the windy city for nothing. It was October and 40 degrees and FREEZING with the winds.

The famous "jelly bean". Everyone calls it that, but technically I think it's called Cloud Gate, or something like that. I never heard anyone refer to it by its proper name, though. So it's the bean to me.

This was a picture I took from the third floor of the cultural center. You can see a bit of a reflection from the windows, but I thought it looked pretty neat.

That concludes our tour of Chicago...hope you enjoyed your tour.

Halloween Party

I haven't dressed up for Halloween in years! But when we were invited to the Rodger's Halloween party, we were excited to throw on some wicked cool clothes, do our hair just right and make a night of it.

The lovely hosts for the evening, Tracy and Ken Rodgers:

Our cute little family:

We've thought about becoming polygamists for years, so why not try it out for a night to see how it goes? After a few hours we decided it wasn't for us. It takes WAY too long and WAY too much hair spray to get my hair to do that. O'well. I guess it'll just be Rhett and me after all.

Bryn's Baby Shower

Thursday after work I headed up to Utah to hang out with friends and family and to go to Bryn's baby shower on Saturday. It was great to see so many of my friends that I don't get to see all too often. The shower went very well and I was also able to check off another one of my 101 goals: Design and sew a baby quilt. Thanks Laura and Ryan for letting me stay with you guys, you're the best!

Bryn, her mom Jan, and her sister Ashley

The baby quilt I made for Bryn.

Bryn's having a little baby girl!

Lake Powell Take II

We finally got a boat that could handle Lake Powell, so we had to take it out before the season ended. The weather was perfect, but the water was a bit chilly. Since this boat has a cabin (with a bed) we were able to sleep on the boat. It was nice to not have to spend extra money on a hotel room and take the boat out each day and put it back in each morning. It was a great trip.