April 2011 - May 2011 update

Once again, because I am so woefully behind, here is a quick and dirty summary of what happened in April and May of 2011. Please pardon me if I have forgotten something significant to you and yours.

• In April we celebrated the birthdays of Wyatt, Alison, and Brooke. I can't believe that Wyatt, the first of our "triplets" is now five and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.
• On the second Sunday of April my entire ward was invited to a meeting that included all the single adults (ages 21-31) in Provo and Orem. They renamed all the wards, created single adult only stakes (3 were created,) and then explained that the boundaries and age limits were going to be pretty strict. They encouraged us not to ward hop (not really a problem for me) and that if we were over a certain age that we should go to a home ward or mid-singles ward. As a woman of that age, I've decided to go to a mid-singles ward in Provo as opposed to going to a home ward where there would be a lot less people my age. Our ward has at least 25 people over 30 who will need to find new wards by September 1st. It's been hard but I am sure that we will all eventually be better for it.
• After much deliberation amongst members of our Board of Directors at work, it was decided that our current CEO would step down and into the role of CTO. A new CEO was brought in on April 19th. It was a shock to most of the company. I now have 4 bosses: the CEO (or Boss R,) the President (or Boss M,) the CTO (or Boss D,) and VP of Strategy and Operations (or Boss L.) Luckily I had two admins assisting me (but more to come on that later.)
• In May we celebrated the birthdays of Caleb, Dad, and Britnie.
  
• My work had their big yearly conference where people from all over the country came to Provo. It was held at the Provo Marriott and I had a heck of a time keeping the schedules for all four of my bosses straight. It was 3 days of non-stop work but we managed to get through it. The event coordinator was 7 months pregnant so a few of us pitched in to do some leg work for her.
• The next weekend I received a Facebook invite for a friend of mine I hadn't seen in almost 10 years. We lost track of each other when she went on a mission and her parents moved away from Kaysville. Katie and I emailed back and forth and then ended up going to dinner. It was so much fun to catch up (even if we only got through about 5% of what had happened to us.) She, like me, is a biblioholic and loves music and art.
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• I went with a few friends to see Seussical the Musical at the Hale Center Theater. Our friend, Melissa Lindsey, was in the cast and did a wonderful job.
• Boss D went to Alaska for a week in May which cut down on my workload a little.
• May 21st was supposed to be the day of The Rapture according to Harold Camping. This American Christian radio broadcaster predicted that May 21st would be the day that Christ would return to the Earth, the righteous would fly up to Heaven, and the wicked would be left on Earth to suffer until October. Clearly this didn't happen. He is still living in his same house and now predicts the end of the world to be October 21, 2011. The saddest part of this whole thing is that many of his followers quit their jobs, sold their homes, and spent all their money in preparation for The Rapture and were pretty shocked on May 22nd when they had to continue on with their lives with no job, house, or money.
  
• On May 23rd the ward came over to my house to watch Pixar shorts and have treats. We projected the dvd onto the north wall of the living room and covered the windows with blankets and sheets. It had a movie theater feel to it. A lot of people showed up and several of us ended up downstairs talking instead of watching the dvd. It was a lot of fun.
• The Center Ward had a May 30th BBQ at Rob's house to celebrate Memorial Day. It was a lot of fun and Rob, Lindsey, Patrick and I ended up shooting hoops and talking.
• This May was the second wettest May in Provo in the past 30 years. The temperature never got above 81 degrees Fahrenheit.
  

A dream is a wish your heart makes....

I have a dream of having a home of my own one day. This home will include many bookshelves. A few days ago I saw this picture:

If I'm very good and send vibes out to the Universe, do you think I can have this one? Sigh.

Sub for Santa 2010

In November of 2010 I was called to be the co-chair of the Service Committee for my ward. It's a tradition in my singles ward to collect money from the members and then sponsor a family for Christmas. While half of our ward is still in school, we can usually gather a least $300-400 in about two weeks. This year we collected several hundred dollars and found a family to sponsor through The United Way. We were given a family that included a single mother who was out of work and her five children (ages 12-3.) For a Family Home Evening activity we split into groups and went shopping. Thankfully, The United Way provides the gender, age, pants and shirt size, favorite color, and a gift idea list for each child (provided by the parent.) While the groups shopped, I went and picked up a gift card to Smiths for the mother. The next night my co-chair and I delivered the gifts to our family. All the kids except the oldest were in bed and we ended up giving the bags of gifts to the babysitter. It was a great experience. The next day more people donated money to the cause even though the project was over. We had so much that I knew that we could sponsor another family if there were 3 kids or less.
I emailed The United Way and received the information for another family. This family consisted of a mother and father (who was out of work) and two daughters. The paper mentioned that no one in the family could speak English. Because of this I found someone in my company who speaks fluent Spanish to call the family and let them know that I would be dropping off the gifts that evening (as it was already December 22nd.) Due to the short notice I did the shopping by myself, looking carefully at the information provided. One daughter was listed as being 9 years old and the other daughter was almost 3. Both listed Barbie and Dora as their favorite toys, which I thought was odd. I bought clothes, shoes, and a coat for each as well as some toys and books. Because there were only two children in the family instead of the planned for 3, I was able to also buy a $100 gift card for the parents. As the delivery was not scheduled to take place until 8pm, I went out to dinner with some friends. I put all the gifts as well as the gift receipts and wrapping paper into large black plastic bags and put them in my truck. I then realized that it would be difficult for me to carry everything by myself. Realizing this, I recruited Sarah and Rob to go with me to deliver the gifts
We went into a very humble looking neighborhood in Provo and eventually found the house. It was a small trailer with a ramp up one side. We knocked on the front door and it opened. A man with a kind face answered and we were ushered into a cold, dark little home. There was one light on and it couldn't have been more than 55 degrees in the house. There was no Christmas tree; only a string a Christmas lights on one wall. The father expressed his thanks in broken English and the mother expressed her thanks in Spanish. As I entered I noticed a small wheelchair behind the couch. The paper I had received from The United Way had not mentioned any sort of handicap with either child.
The parents ushered us down the hall into a small bedroom. In one corner a physically handicapped girl lay on a bed. This nine year old girl was thin and appeared to have a severe case of cerebral palsy. She attempted to speak but could not. On the other side of the room was a big bed that the parents obviously shared. As they gestured to the girl and spoke with tears in their eyes, I felt so grateful for my own life and health. Rob was able to speak to them in his own broken Spanish. They thanked us profusely and the Mother pressed a thank you card into my hand as well left.
In the car Sarah, Rob, and I sat in stunned silence for a moment. Never had I imagined that I would encounter such poverty so close to where I live. I had only seen such a humble home on tv; never in person. I was proud of our ward for raising money to help this family.

The next day I was at work thinking about the situation. I told the story to my Director of HR, describing the house and its lack of decoration. He gave me money and with a little of my own, I drove to the nearest Christmas tree lot. I bought a medium size tree that I knew would fit into the corner of their front room as well as some basic decorations and a tree stand. I paid the tree lot worker (who told me they delivered trees when needed) to deliver the tree, the stand, and the decorations to their address (which had been provided to me by The United Way.) Once again I was grateful to be surrounded by such generous people (it turns out that two of my bosses had contributed to the cause along with my Director of HR.) It was the perfect way to spend the few days before Christmas. I can't wait to do another Sub for Santa project next year.

January 2011-March 2011 update

For those of you not in the know, it has been a while since I've posted on my blog. Here's a brief update of what happened in the beginning of 2011 (please excuse me if I forget anything important):

January 2011

• I managed to catch the flu and get an ear infection in January. I was very unhappy and couldn't hear out of one ear for a week
• January was my wards month to clean the church so my co-chair and I organized our ward to do two cleanings a week for the entire month. We were also in charge of snow removal.
• Work was not as busy in January although we did have a big Board of Directors meeting.
• Aaron had his birthday

February 2011

• Tanner had his birthday
• I started walking a dog for a friend of mine due to his crazy schedule (he's an accountant/auditor.) Although it was cold, I had a lot of fun and would continue to walk Bodie at least once a week until April.
• A few friends and I went to Porter's for dinner one night. At the end of our meal the power went out. As the building was old and we were upstairs, there were no windows or other source of light for us to get downstairs by. The food was good and the almost tumble down some stairs was interesting. The outage was city wide and was caused by an insanely large thunder storm.
• I went to the Springville and BYU museum with John, Jen, Lauren, Emily, Mom, and Dad. It was a lot of fun. In the bottom of the BYU museum was an interactive light exhibit that the girls had a lot of fun with. Check out the video I made of their reaction.
• I gave a talk in church on The Holy Ghost and revelation. I think it went well

March 2011

• One of my bosses went to China on a business trip.
  
• Brooke announced that she was pregnant and due at the end of August. We are all very excited. This already loved child will be the 11th grandchild. As there are already five boys (Caleb, Wyatt, Isaac, Tanner, Aaron) and five girls (Sidney, Lauren, Ava, Emily, and Clara) it will be interesting to see what side this newest child will tip the scales toward.
• There was a baby shower for my cousin Megan.
• I attended a Jon Bon Jovi concert at the Energy Solutions Center with Angie L and Sarah. It was a lot of fun. Angie bought our tickets in 2010 and then we paid her back.
  

I know, I know; it's been a long time

I'm not sure why I got out of the habit of posting on my blog. I think life and all its business just got away from me. As it will be too difficult to go back and post each event individually, here's a run down of the past 8 months (what a horrifyingly long time):

October 2010

• Worked on getting a Visa for one an employee of my company to move to Singapore for two years. It was a painful process and took me over a month.
• Had a Halloween party at my house (I dressed as a witch this year to balance the angel I dress as last year.)
  
• Celebrated Ava's birthday.

November 2010

• Saw The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Hale Center Theater. My good friend, Melissa, was a member of the cast. It was awesome.
• Was called to be a co-chair of the Service Committee in my ward.
• Helped organize my company's attendance at SuperComputing 2010. Two of my bosses attended.
• Attended the Sara Bareilles concert in Salt Lake with Matt and Emily Smith. It was amazing. Afterwards we ended up at Marie Callendars and had pie.
  
• Thanksgiving at my parent's new house. We were all able to eat in the same huge room. Grandma Roberts brought down some albums which I looked through and decided to scan photos from over the next few months.
• One of my bosses went on a trip to Angola which causes me a lot of heartburn (knowing that he could have been kidnapped or that he might have stepped on a landmine.)
• Celebrated Emily's birthday as well as my own
• Got a new driver's license (after a two hour ordeal at the DMV.)
  

December 2010

• Attended my ward Christmas, which included a white elephant gift exchange.
• Attended my company Christmas party, which all 3 of my bosses were late to. I ended up throwing my Christmas bonus (cash in $20 bills) in the trash and didn't realize it until I was on my way home. I returned immediately and was let in by one of the cleaning crew. The bonus was no where to be found but he let me search through bags of garbage that hadn't been taken to the dumpster. While searching I said a prayer that I would be able to find it. After a lot of searching it was found (although the envelope had quite a bit of food on it.) I decided to use the money for a good cause and spent it spreading Christmas cheer.
• Organized a Sub for Santa event for my ward where we raised a couple hundred dollars. We went shopping in groups for an FHE activity and then my Service Committee co-chair and I delivered the gifts to our family. Afterwards so many people gave us more money that we asked for another family (more about this later.)
• Christmas with the family. All the kids were so cute and we were all blessed with many presents. Two of note were a wonderful pillow that Alison made to match my quilt from Brooke and an amazing necklace from my parents.
• A New Years Eve party at my house

So there are the updates from 2010. I will soon post a few updates from the first 6 months of 2011. It's nice to be back in the world of blogging.