A week without Jeff

One week ago was by former boss' last day of work. No one could blame Jeff for leaving after he told us of the new salary, benefits, and opportunities at his new job. We had eight days after we found out about it to prepare. So last Wednesday, we had a goodbye party with some excellent food and we gave him a gift certificate to Harley Davidson. He has driven a Harley for years and we wanted him to get something he really wanted. Erin, a member of HR, also made him a book with all of our pictures in it. This week has been pretty crazy. Susan has stepped up into Jeff's role. The day before Jeff left, we found out that Joee was leaving. Since then, the rest of the HR team has had to pull together and fill in. As of tonight, Wednesday, I have worked 31 hours this week. It is a lot of work but I feel like I am getting a lot accomplished. I thought I would include some pictures from the goodbye party for Jeff.

The roommates

Aren't we cute? This was take up Provo Canyon this last Sunday.

Snow in the mountains

On my arrival to work last week, I took a moment to look around. I noticed that there was snow on the mountains to the northeast of my building. I love nature, even though I don't often get the chance to go up into the mountains. It was so lovely that I probably spent five full minutes enjoying the view before I went into my office building.

Shopping with Lauren

On Saturday night, while Dad was at the Priesthood session of General Conference, Mom, Lauren, Jen, and I went for a car ride and went shopping. At Bowmans, there are some very cute children's shopping carts. I had to take some pictures. She was so funny; occasionally stopping to try to take something off the shelf and put it in her cart.

Conference Weekend

This past weekend was the General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For those of you who don't live in Utah, General Conference is held twice a year and is where members hear from the church leaders. After watching the Saturday morning session with Sarah and Happy, I went to work for a little while. I then went home and was greeted by Jen, Lauren, Mom, and Dad. We had a great dinner and it was great to see them. We went grocery shopping and Lauren had a great time pushing a little cart around. I stayed up way too late. When I awoke, Sidney, Jeremy, Wyatt, Britnie, Josh, Brooke, and Tanner had arrived. It was great to see everyone and I got some good pictures. I was really tired and wasn't very exciting on Sunday afternoon. After such a long week of work, I think my body and mind just crashed. I got home by 9pm and mentally prepared myself for another new hire orientation on Monday.

General Relief Society Session

I attended the General Relief Society Session on Saturday night. Granted, most people wouldn't find it the coolest way to spend a Saturday night, but I thought it was great. Sister Beck, the President, spoke first. She discussed being strong in our faith, our family, and providing relief to others. After a song, the 2nd counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency spoke about the two reasons the Relief Society was founded: to relieve the poor and to save souls. One way we can do this is through visiting teaching. I must admit that I do not always do my visiting teaching, but I am recommitting to 100% for October. Barbara Thompson, the 2nd counselor, was especially helpful for me. As a single woman in the church, Sister Thompson discussed how we can support families despite not having children of our own. The final speaker of the night was Pres. Thomas S. Monson. He honored the women of the church and discussed three goals: studying diligently, praying earnestly, and serving willingly. One thing that Pres. Monson said that really stuck with me is this: "pray for the abilities equal to your tasks instead of tasks that are equal to your abilities."
After the session, our stake provided a light dinner and we walked around looking at the art. A few weeks before the session, the Stake RS presidency asked for us to bring art to share. Sarah took some paintings and I took two skirts, a book I had made, and a box I had painted. I love Sarah's paintings. She decided to take her swirly painting, her brown, green, and white striped painting, and her streaked painting. One of the coolest pieces of art there was made by a member of my singles ward. Amy Pectol had drawn a wonderful picture of Mary and Christ. I have included a picture of it in this blog entry.

(False) Labor Day

On Tuesday morning I arrived at work as usual. A little after 9am, my 30-week pregnant coworker, lets call her "J," lay her head down on her desk. I asked her if she was ok, and she said yes. A few minutes later she said she was hot and she started to breath shallowly. I again asked if she was ok; she said she wasn't sure. She started to wring her hands and mentioned that her hands were going numb. I asked "J" if she wanted me to take her to the doctor's office or hospital and she said no. As she leaned over to retrieve her phone from her purse, she fell off her chair. This understandably alarmed me and I quickly got down on the floor with her to assess the situation. She got her doctor on the phone, who told her to go to the hospital. She then called her husband and told him to meet her there. As soon as she got off the phone, I took control. I told her that I would be driving her. I then instructed two other of our co-workers to help her up and get her downstairs to the front door. I then ran out the back entrance of the building and got my car. When I pulled up front, my co-workers put her in my car and buckled her in. At this point, she mentioned that the numbness was spreading up her arms and I could see that she was shivering. I quickly made my way to Utah Valley Hospital. I parked in a red zone and took her inside, where there was no one at the information desk. I ran around until I found someone and said that I had a woman possibly in pre-term labor. They directed us to the 5th floor. As we got out of the elevator and approached the desk, "J's" hands, arms, and face were numb. She gave her name and doctor's name and they gave her some paperwork to fill out. We were taken to a room and she was told to change into a gown. I answered her cell phone and gave directions to her husband as to what room we were in. I started to fill in her paperwork, as best I could, and then helped her onto the bed. After we were done, I took her paperwork to the nurses station and encouraged them to hurry and help her. By that time her husband had arrived and I realized that she had appointments that were going to show up at work. I asked if there was anything I can do, ask her husband to call us with news, and went back to work.
After I returned to work, I had to go down to IT to ask them if they could let me look at her calender so I would know what her appointments were. I covered for her all day and did my best to get as much of her work done as possible. I stayed until 6:30pm, then decided it was time to go home.
On the way home, I stopped at the library, where I received a phone call from Scotty. He was reminding me that I had agreed to go to a new member discussion at 7pm. He picked me up at the library and, when finding out that I hadn't had dinner, went through the Subway drive-through and got me dinner. We were late to the new member discussion but I think it went well. Afterwards, Scotty was driving me home when we realized that my car was still at the library. He quickly changed his route and then asked if I was going to the goodbye party for Dori, a girl in our ward. I said yes and that I would meet him there. I went to the goodbye party and had some ice cream. I then talked to Dave and Angie about Camille. Dave, Camille's boyfriend, is struggling with Camille's death and it was good to talk some things over.
I arrived home after 10pm, exhausted and ready for bed. What a day. The next morning I made sure I was in by 8:30 so I would be ready for "J's" first appointment. As I rounded the corner, there she was. I asked how she was and she replied "fine." I asked how her baby was and she replied "fine."

Funny Onion Article

For those of you who have never read an article from "The Onion," now is the time to start. I thought this article was very funny.

DNA Evidence Frees Man From Zoo

Idaho Falls and home again

After the 280 mile drive to Idaho Falls from Boise, Sarah and I were both pretty tired. We made it by 5pm and the graveside service wasn't until 6pm. We stopped by the house of Sarah's Aunt. We used their computer to make sure that we knew where Fielding Memorial Cemetery was. Since my best girl friend Sarah lives in Idaho Falls, we called and arranged to meet her after the service for dinner. I think that graveside service was harder than the funeral. Everyone was gathered around her coffin and all the flowers that had been sent for Camille. Seeing her casket on the ground made it all too real. Her sister read the life sketch, her brother performed a viola solo, and her father dedicated the grave. Tears were shed and we said goodbye. Afterwards, Sarah and I pulled it together to have dinner at Applebees with Jen Evans and her boyfriend, Dan. They were so cute together and it was nice to see her. At 9:30pm, we left Idaho Falls for Pocatello, ID, and Grandma's house. When we got there, Sarah and I were so emotionally and physically tired that we went to bed. One funny moment happened when I was brushing my teeth. I took my toothbrush out of my bag of bathroom stuff, put on toothpaste, and started to brush. It tasted funny. I rinsed my mouth a lot. Then I reached in for my hairbrush and found it sticky. It turns out that my shampoo had leaked and had gotten over everything, including my toothbrush. Yuck. I rinsed everything off and Grandma gave me a new bag. I threw the broken shampoo bottle away. When we awoke, Grandma made us pancakes, gave us vegetables, and sent us on our way. We drove 208 miles home, with a stop at Mom and Dad's house for a wonderful lunch. We even got to take home leftovers. After we got home, Happy came over, as well as Jason and Joe. It was nice to sit and talk. All in all, Sarah and I drove 870 miles this weekend. It was emotionally, mentally, and physically draining but it was nice to be able to say goodbye to Camille.

In Boise for Camille's funeral

After finding out that Camille had passed away, we wanted to know when the funeral would be. There was never really any question of us going to Idaho for the funeral. We both wanted closure and a chance to support her family through this horrible time. After being told it was in Boise on Saturday morning, I got online and booked a hotel for Sarah and I. We left Friday afternoon, a little after 1pm. I had printed the directions to the hotel from Mapquest, along with directions to the funeral. Sarah and I stopped by Smith's on our way out for treats. We agreed that we needed chocolate, fruit-flavored candy, and something salty. After a few hours of driving, and me reading the TV Guide magazine out loud to Sarah, we decided to stop in Twin Falls for dinner. Sadly, we made the wrong decision. At the Johnny Carinos in Twin Falls we had bad food and bad service. I don't recommend it. So after a total of 380 miles, we finally reached Boise and our hotel. Our hotel was close to shopping and restaurants. We ended up eating a late dinner at TGI Fridays that was less than a block away. I bought a new purse at Target and Sarah bought a new shirt. Without being too boastful, I have to say that I chose well for our hotel room. It was very nice and we slept pretty well. I recommend the Amerisuites Boise Town Square Mall on Milwaukee Street. The only bad part of it was the free continental breakfast. It wasn't very good at all. We left our hotel at about 10:20 in order to arrive at the viewing at 10:30am. Since Mapquest said that the funeral was less than 4 miles from our hotel, we thought it would be a breeze. Sadly, it was not. Unlike Utah roads, the roads in Boise do not generally have numbers. They all have names such as Maple Grove, Victory, Emerald, etc. When you miss a road in Boise, you don't know how far you have gone past since they aren't numbered. After a long detour, we arrived at the church house at 10:50am. It was a nice funeral; if a funeral can be nice. The bishop did a wonderful time talking about eternal families. Camille's brother, Rich, and another relative, performed a wonderful viola and piano duet. Her sister discussed Camille's life and what she was like growing up. Afterwards, Sarah and I decided that we should go and eat before driving the 280 miles to Idaho Falls, where Camille would be buried. We saw Dave, Camille's boyfriend, and exchanged hugs. Sarah and I ate at a Mexican Restaurant, where I didn't like my meal. That's right; 0 for 3 in the meal department in Boise. Sarah and I hit the road by 1:30pm for Idaho Falls.

Camille

On Sunday afternoon, I went home to visit my family. After the horrible week of people searching for Camille, I needed a break. About 20 minutes after I arrived home, Aunt Diane called Mom. Camille's body had been found at the bottom of some cliffs by Bridal Veil Falls in Provo. I couldn't help but burst into tears. I was holding Tanner at the time but eventually gave him over to his slightly worried mother. I immediately went outside to call Sarah. She had heard the news and was heading to our apartment, with Jeff, Heather, and Amy joining her. Despite being saddened by the discovery of Camille's death, I have to be grateful that she is no longer missing. Her family and friends no longer have to imagine her being tortured by a horrible man or laying hurt somewhere. For closures sake, it was good that Camille's body was found, but is still hard to know that she's gone. She was a good person who didn't deserve to be taken from this earth so early. I can only wish peace for her family, her boyfriend, and all of us that are mourning her. The shock has passed and I have moved on anger. I hope that I can move onto acceptance soon. Sarah and I are going up to her funeral, which is being held in Boise this Saturday. For a link to her obituary, click here.

Camille Update

The past week has been a hard one. I've been too sick to be much help with the search for Camille. With my cold, my lungs haven't been in very good shape to go on long walks or hikes. Sarah and Happy have gone out most nights to pass out fliers. Earlier in the week, the Provo police were searching a car wash. We weren't sure what for, but I don't think it turned up much. On Thursday night, Sarah called me while I was driving back from Brittany's birthday party. It seems that a couple had found a bike up by Bridal Veil Falls on Sunday. They decided to take it. On Wednesday, they realized that the bike they had stolen matched the description of Camille's bike and decided to go to the police. When Sarah told me, I admit that I said a bad word. Had they left it there, the searchers would have found it on Monday and could have focused on that area sooner. I guess I have to give them props for coming forward at all. There are probably a lot of people who are just an angry as I am. Anyway, since it was announced on Thursday, the police have focused more intently in on the Bridal Veil Falls area. They have searched the river and fanned out through the woods. Hopefully there will be a discovery of substance soon. For more information read the story on KSL's website.

Horrible, horrible weekend

It's been a long time since I have had this horrible of a weekend. Friday was ok, although I didn't go out because I was so tired from work. Saturday morning I slept in and cleaned after I got up. On Saturday night Dave S. came over. My former roommate, Camille, is missing. Dave and Camille started dating while she was still living with Sarah and I in June. The last time anyone has seen Camille was late Thursday morning. This means, as of today, Camille has been missing for 4 days. When Dave came over to tell Sarah and I, we immediately went to the Relief Society presidents house. We called or text'd everyone in the ward so that we could have a ward fast for Sunday. Dave looked horrible and we were all in shock. I didn't get to sleep until 4 am because I couldn't turn my mind off. All the possibilities kept running through my head.
Camille was last seen late Thursday morning by one of her new roommates. Her bike, a silver and purple Schwinn mountain bike, is missing. When she lived with Sarah and I, she went on bike rides at least twice a week (when she had a working bike.) She loves the outdoors. She didn't have her cell phone, since she had left it at her parents house the weekend before, when she and Dave went up to visit her family. They were mailing her phone back to her this week. I just looked on the KSL news website and the update mentioned that her debit card was used at a convenience store on Friday morning, but it is unknown whether or not it was Camille who used it. Sarah and I, along with many members of our singles ward, put fliers up and went door to door on Sunday afternoon. By Sunday night, I was hit with a full-blown cold and was out of commission for most of the day on Monday. Today I am feeling better, but was only able to stay at work until 2pm. I came home and rested. Even though I am currently exhausted, unable to breath, and have a cough, I still can't seem to truly rest. I am worried about Camille. Please keep your eyes open for her. If you happen to see an abandoned purple and silver mountain bike or see Camille, please call the Provo Police Department.
On another note, I would like to thank all those people who have shown support to Sarah and myself through this ordeal. I have moved from the crying stage to the frustrated and angry stage. Sarah is taking this harder since she has known Camille much longer than I. I feel like I am in some sort of horrible movie that should have ended by now. I can only hope we get some concrete news soon. For more info, there are several websites that you can visit: KSL news, ABC 4 news, and a myspace page that has been set up for her.

Another new skirt

This is the skirt I have been working on for the past few days. I'm not quite done, but I think it's getting close. The border at the bottom took the longest.

Two fun nights

On Friday night, Sarah and I, only with other ward members, went to an OWLZ game at UVSC. It was a lot of fun. I went a little late to the tailgate party because of work, but I managed to make the game. It was slow to begin with and the score remained 0-0 for eight innings. In the end of the ninth inning, the OWLZ scored and we won! It was a lot of fun. I like going to baseball games. On Saturday I slept in, then did some cleaning while Sarah went golfing. In the afternoon, I took a shower in preparation for the night. At 5pm, I met Sarah over at Tahitian Noni for her work party. It was a lot of fun. They had great food, and great entertainment. Eight employees participated in Tahitian Noni Idol, half of which were excellent. Everyone did a pretty good job though. There were huge blow-up toys for the kids and some other games. We met up with Aunt Diane and Uncle Larry for a little while and saw Taylor and Easton. After dinner, the entertainment was the Dueling Pianos. For any of you who have never seen these two gentlemen, and I suspect many of you have not, they are worth looking into. They usually work at the Tavernacle, which is a non-smoking bar in Salt Lake. These two guys know a lot of songs, and one of them also knows how to play the guitar. They take requests and make funny comments as they sing the songs. By 10pm, the night was over. Thanks for inviting me Sarah! I had a lot of fun.

Jen's birthday

On Sunday we celebrated Jen's birthday at my parents house. I had a lot of fun, despite the cursed drive. I got Jen a book and Mom made a wonderful meal. The best part about Sunday was seeing my nieces and nephews. All the kids were so funny. Sidney had fun running around and putting grass on Josh's and John's heads and playing catch with me. Wyatt had fun giving flowers to people and playing with the balls. Isaac seemed slightly obsessed with the toy car. He even tried to get in the wrong side. Lauren enjoyed walking around while Tanner enjoyed his time on the grass with his parents. (Oh, and the adults had fun too.) Happy Birthday Jen! I hoped you enjoyed it.

Clubbing (or not)

These days it seems that I don't get around to writing about my weekend until the next one is almost upon me. I suppose that is the life of a busy adult. On Saturday, I went to the birthday celebration of a new friend. Happy works with a woman by the name of Mandy. Mandy is from South Africa, and for her birthday, she wanted to go clubbing in Salt Lake. For those of you who don't know me well, I don't particularly like to go clubbing. The music is usually so loud that you can't talk to people, the club usually has cigarette smoke in it, and half the people have had an alcoholic drink or two. The last time I went clubbing, which was two years ago, a strange man started kissing my neck while I was dancing. It freaked me out and I haven't been since. The only thing Mandy wanted for her birthday was to go clubbing. After much cajoling by Mandy and by Happy, I said yes. I did put time limits on it though. I didn't want to stay out too late since I had church and a family party the next day. Happy drove the two of us to Mandy's house and we waited for some of Mandy's other friends to join us. We left for Salt Lake at 10pm and proceeded to go to a club called Bliss. After waiting in line for a half an hour, we got up to the front. That was when Mandy realized that she didn't have her ID. Since clubs serve alcoholic drinks, you can't get in unless you have a picture ID. We went to several other clubs to see if they would let her in and they all said no. I must admit that I was relieved. I didn't have to go into a club and I got to walk around Salt Lake with some friends. Brandon, Happy, and I left at 12:30am and had an interesting discussion about marriage on the way home. I had fun, even though I don't know that Mandy did.

This past weekend

This weekend was a crazy, tiring one. I worked late on Friday and spent the night catching up on all the stuff I put off until the weekend. On Saturday I got up and cleaned the house, ran errands, took a shower, worked for a little while, and hung out with Sarah. My reward for all this hard work was a chance to see family on Sunday. After a excellent group of church meetings and some visiting teaching, I headed off the Shannon and Michael's house. It was nice to see both of them. Jordan, Alison, and Isaac showed up and we all played games while Isaac toddled around looking at things and playing with toys. I am amazed how well he is walking these days. I didn't stay too late because I was tired from staying up until 4:30 am reading. (I know; I'm a book addict :) I also needed some rest for new hire orientation the next day.

Man's Search for Meaning

A few days ago, I lent my copy of Man's Search for Meaning to Sarah. It is a book that I read a few years ago and then bought a copy of so that I could reread it and make notations in the margins. It is the Nazi death camp experiences of Viktor Frankl. A Jewish Austrian psychiatrist, Frankl spent time in four death camps during World War II. Along the way his parents and his pregnant wife were killed. In Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. These ideas became the basis of logotherapy, for which he has become famous for. I would recommend this book to anyone. The first part of the book are the actual experiences of Viktor as he labors in the death camps and tries to stop several suicides. The second part of the book is a more technical explanation of the therapy and how it can be applied. I have yet to be able to make it through the second part of the book. Anyway, I thought I would recommend this book to those you are looking for a serious, non-fiction read that has a touch of spirituality.

My chair

I saw a picture of this chair on a website for book lovers. It is made by a company in Italy and costs a bundle. I still found it intriguing, as it is able to hold many books and looks like a lot of fun. It comes with a similar ottoman. I will admit that I do wonder if it would be comfortable for me to sit in. When I read, I prefer to have my legs tucked up next to me.