Gratitude

I'm grateful for people that follow promptings from the spirit.  I'm grateful for parents who take time out to come and visit me in San Francisco for the weekend.  I'm grateful for my job and my bosses.  I'm grateful for a God who knows me and what I need.  I'm grateful for opportunities to climb mountains.

Difference

If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to be different from the world.- Elaine Dalton.

I have so many homes.  This weekend, my parents are coming into town from Boston.  I bought my tickets to fly home to utah/idaho to see my favorite souls there in July.  And this past weekend, I was able to go down to Anaheim to see my favorite souls of my mission.  And now San Jose is starting to feel like home.  I think people make the home.  And as people touch my life, they become part of my home.

I explained to a guy I was dating once about my philosophy of favorite souls.  I have several favorite souls in my life.  Rather than best friends, I have favorite souls.  And what is a favorite soul you ask?  Just that.  Someone who has become one of my favorite people in world to be friends with, to hang with, to play with, serve with, talk with.  Someone who I know would do ANYTHING for me, and I would do anything for them.  Anything to help them be happy.  I hurt when they hurt.

And how does one become a favorite soul?  As I have looked at my list of favorite souls, they're people who have helped me through hard things in my life.  People who see me for me.  Who know I have weaknesses, and help me to become better.  They call me out when I'm being dumb, and guide me towards being the best person I can be.

So thank you.  Thank you to my favorite souls.  People who have made a difference in my world and home.  Much appreciated.  Love each and every one of you.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Favorite scripture of all time:  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

A conversation

Today.  I had an interesting conversation with my institute teacher before class.  He asked me how dating was going since coming to California and if I was "dating" anyone.  I told him I was going on dates.  And we had a discussion about dating here, cause he's gonna teach a marriage prep class this summer.  And it caused me to look back on my dating life and come to some realizations.

I have dated lots.  Not as an exaggeration, but really.  I have dated and gone on dates with all sorts.  Jocks, nerds, geeks, etc.  Recently returned missionaries, guys who have been home a long time, guys who haven't been on missions, guys who aren't members.  White guys, black guys, latinos, polys, asians.  Up to 8 years older, and 3 years younger.  Guys with goals, guys without goals.  Guys who treat me like crap, and guys who treat me like a queen.  All sorts really.  Real serious relationships, to not relationships at all.

Guys ask me often what I expect.  It's funny cause I used to hate that question.  Why does it matter what I expect?  Well here you go.  Here is what I expect and I am stealing some of these from a dear friend's blog cause she worded some of it better than I:

1)  Ask for my phone number :)  simple right?  apparently not.  i can't count the number of guys who have given me their numbers, who have got my number from facebook, who have gotten my number from friends.  yes.  congrats on getting my number.  and thanks for using it.  but just ask me for it really.  i give it out normally.  unless you're a creeper.  haha

2)  Ask me out.  another simple one right?  apparently not.  i have developed the art of sidestepping the ask out.  I can most always read when a guy is going to ask me out, when he's leading up to it, and I do pretty good at sidestepping a lot of them.  Mean, right?  Sorry if you think that.  But I just know what I want.  I can't tell you how impressive it is to me for a guy to avoid my sidestepping and still find a way to ask me out.  I say yes if they get there.

3)  Are you asking ME out?  me??  or your friends?  please.  if you're asking me out.  please be with me.  be my date.  i promise i'll try and be a good date in return.  don't take me out with all your friends cause you had to find a date.  don't invite all your friends cause you're scared to be awkward around me.  You're old enough to man up.  Please do.

4)  Plan a date!  Nothing scares me/is a turn off to me more than a null plan plus a guy who doesn't know how to be spontaneous.  It's cool if you don't have it all planned out, but have ideas please!

5)  Sometimes in life to you have to take a leap of faith.  That's what dating is.  Going on a date is a leap of faith.  It is scary.  And very few people that I know in my life like dating.  But it's gotta be done.  Stop avoiding it.  Stop freaking out and saying you're intimidated.

6)  Don't be scared.  I am awesome.  I have a head on my shoulders.  I have goals.  I have a strong testimony.  I work out.  I've traveled a bit of the world.  I've graduated school.  I served a mission.  I date a bit.  I have a full-time job.  I'm secure about who I am.  I want to get married.  I live on my own.  I'm super nice and friendly.  So what?  Get over it.  My mom says the right guys won't be intimidated by that.  So work to be the right guy.  I don't bite :)

7)  Yes, I have a list.  And maybe one day i'll let you see it if you ask real nicely.  Started in young women's, continued through life and added to by my mission president.



And all together.  My students think i'm 15, and while I am a fair bit older than that, I'm not stressing about getting married.  People ask the question.  Alll the days.  And guys think that if we go on a date that I'm desperate enough to think that we're going to get married.  Yes, the very act of dating is a precursor to marriage.  But in no way shape or form does one date mean that I have fallen head over heels for you!  chill my friends.  take a breath.  No need to rush nothing.  No need to freak out.

God's gotta plan.  He knows what's up.  Just do the right things and it'll work out.  Sorry for the rant.  Just lots of thoughts in my head.  And to finish, a grand answer from my dear friend as to why she is not married, and my favorite song of the moment:

i explained to her that i have worked really hard to create a fabulously, uplifting life for myself in the present.

one full of love and friendship and genuine happiness.

and until i find someone who is going to add to those things,
this single lady is keepin' her hand up.

because i'm not settling.

i refuse to regress.

that doesn't mean i refuse to compromise for the right feeling.

it just hasn't happened yet.

and i don't believe anything is wrong with me, 

instead for the first time in my life i feel right.

right where i belong.

right with what is yet to come.

Moms.

I figure it fitting to add to my blog today a little tiny bit about why my mom is the best out there.  Here are 10 reasons why I love my mom.

1)  She laughs at everything.  And her laugh is loud.  And funny.  Which I love.

2)  She has ALWAYS supported me.  No matter my decisions.  Gymnastics, other sports, events, callings, missions, boys, moving to the other side of the country, etc.

3)  She gets me.  She gives the best advice cause she knows me.

4)  I can tell her anything.  Which some people think is weird.  But I like to keep her updated on my life.

5)  She serves all the time.  She taught by example how to visit teach, she's taught seminary, worked in young women's, baked and cooked for ward members/neighbors, served and helped with my gymnastics (in addition to helping with my brother's sports/extracurriculars too!)

6)  She's fun!  Oh the stories.  Many a girl can tell stories of pranks of hers from girl's camps.

7)  She's a go getter.  She sets goals.  She makes lists.  Something I like to hope I have learned from her.

8)  She pushes me to be better.  My mom wants the absolute best for me and she's always got advice as to what I can do to be better.  I still remember the week long road trip with her before my mission where we talked about my life goals and she helped me to understand a lot about life.

9)  She put our family as number one.  Dinners worked around our schedules so we could all have dinner together, family prayer/scripture study alarms so we would all break what we were doing to come together, playing games together, family vacations together, etc.  I loved that our home was a place that our family wanted to hang out together.  And we all felt comfortable bringing friends over all the time.  My mom made our home a home.

10)  She loves me unconditionally.  Even through my life when I have made mistakes.  Or when I live across the country.  I still know she loves me.

Happy Mother's Day.

Stickers.

Little kids love stickers.  And stamps.  And as part of our ending ritual for classes at gymnastics, we give stamps.  one on each foot and one on each hand.  The kids LOVE them.  Even more beloved than the stamps, are the stickers.  And those are for special occasions, when the kids are good listeners, or when it's a special theme week or something of the like.

So my work schedule is changing a bit, and I'm now going to be coaching more of a variety of classes, rather than all preschool all day every day.  But along with that, I am losing some of my preschool classes, including my all-time favorite Thursday 4:30 Tumble Tots class.  Ever since my first week here, this class has been my favorite (I know I know, you're not supposed to have favorites, but I do and I'm not going to pretend like I don't).

Anyways, so this class has seven 4-5 year olds who are extremely gifted and they know it.  I get to push them every week and it's a blast and a half.  And as I said before, my schedule is changing so today was my last class with them :(

Now for the cute story of the day:  I told them at the end of the class as I was handing out stickers for their being so awesome that I wasn't going to be their coach anymore.  I got huge hugs from them.  And I might have started to tear up cause it was just so dang cute!  And then one of the girls, takes her coveted sticker from off her shirt and she sticks it on mine and goes thanks coach annie!  this is for you for being the best coach!

Kids are grand.  My job is the best.  Love it.  Love life :)

Let's give them something to talk about....

I tell yah.  People spend too much time gossiping.  I mean, I'll admit, I do my own fair share of matchmaking gossip, who is dating who, who likes who, who I think would look cute together.  But when it comes to, did you hear what stupid thing they did, or about how so and so are fighting.  My work seems to breed gossip sometimes.  And it's just stupid things.  Like, who cares if so and so coaches this way?  It works for them.  Kids like it.  Parents like it.  Take a chill pill.

People get too stressed about little things.  And rumors and gossip spreads, and it all get's blown outta proportion.  Take a deep breath.  Think about the things that matter.  And go on with life!  People make good decisions.  And bad decisions.  I think I figured out why it bugs me so much at work, and why this gossip bugs me more than who likes who or whatever.  I think gossip turns bad, when you're talking and judging those decisions, when those decisions have NOTHING to do with you!  It doesn't affect your classes, or your students, or your parents, or the company as a whole.  Then, why do you feel the need to groan and complain about it?

That's my two cent rant for the day.  Life is wonderful.  Why complain about it?