Break Room Cleaning

Maybe I'm the only one who will think this is funny, but I get such a kick out of the emails my co-workers send on Fridays to announce that they're about the clean the break room, that I just had to share them. (keep reading, the last one is the best)

From the office fashionista:
Subject: Final Sale!! Everything must go!!
In approximately 30 minutes, Randy and I will be conducting a FINAL CLEARANCE on our Break Room! Get your goods, or they’ll be GONE!
Happy (Clean) New Year!

From the Finance Department:
Once again, the finance department will be conducting an audit of the Break Room at precisely 4:30 pm MST. Any items not properly labeled and dated will be disposed of or re-gifted to annoying neighbors.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

From a politically like-minded individual:
We made a start on cleaning the house and senate. Now it’s time to move the Tea Party into the break room.
At 4 p.m., anything in the fridge that smells corrupt, or that lacks a valid conservative endorsement, will be retired to the scrapheap of history.

And this one is my favorite (hope you can speak conversational computer programming). From the IT Department:

FOREACH item IN refrigerator
IF ( item.label == false ) OR ( item.color == unsual ) OR ( item.odor < item =" garbage">

This must be in my mind today because I barely made it upstairs to save my oatmeal. When I add fruit jam to it, the results are very yummy, but I think we can all agree that to the unknowing eye, it definitely looks like something that should be thrown out. (mostly I just added this because I know posts with photos are more popular)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last week, I turned 31. It wasn't entirely unexpected. Something like this usually happens to me around December 18th.

I'll start this story the day before my birthday which was Friday. I woke up with a strangely terrifying thought in my head: "What if someone at work tries to do something for my birthday?!!" I then wondered if I'd always been so stupidly and unrealistically concerned about people going out of their way for me, or if it was a new thing. I have decided yet, but since I recognized that it was stupid, I went on with my life.

I was pleased with the receptionist (AKA Amy-who-knows-all-my-business) brought me some potted herbs. It was super sweet that she remembered my life dream to have an indoor herb garden AND she almost froze to death hand-painting the pots for me.
Oh wait, the first thing that happened for my birthday was that my sister Heather and her husband came down on Monday night to help me install my dream closet. I rented a drill that went through cement like a hot knife through butter. It was pretty awesome. I don't mind telling you that I feel like Barbie when I look at my closet. Plus it was nice to see a married couple working together on a project like a well-oiled and perfectly synchronized machine.
On my actual birthday morning I woke up at 4:30 to take my roommate to the airport. I figured it was good karma, plus the airport is half way to Tooele which is where I was spending the day anyway. I safely navigated a snow storm and arrived at Tooele at 6 o'clock. I stopped by my favorite donut store (they hand-fill the donuts after you order them and have a dozen fillings to chose from yum!!) and made it to my sisters house and went back to sleep in their newly finished luxury guest accommodations. I was awakened about two hours later by a niece who wanted to play with my iPhone. It was a good way to start the day.

I played Mr. Potato Head. You would not believe the stuff those potato head people are coming up with these days. This one was my favorite. (please notice the peg leg, parrot on shoulder and hook hand).

Even with all the hullabaloo, I managed to get a nap before 1. I was awaken from this nap by a very excited four-year old, very anxious for me to put on my party hat. As you are probably aware, preschoolers get VERY excited when party hats are produced.

Then Heather and family arrived and the real celebrating began. Heather brought a chocolate Costco cake because, as she said, "to know Holly is to know her love of Costco cake." She also brought approximately 20 pounds of baked good left over from the Christmas cookie plates she made for the neighbors. There was no shortage of edible goods.

Ellie somehow got the idea that I needed to break through a ribbon (similar to the end of a race) for me to arrive at the party. The nieces put one up and guarded the dining room vigilantly so that I didn't run through the ceremonial ribbon early. The adults decided breaking through the ribbon was symbolic of me breaking through my year of various heartaches and entering into my best year yet. In this picture, you can also see my favorite new sweater that I bought at Target for $4.

After the eating and singing, the sisters and I decided to celebrate by going out on the town. We went and partook of everything Tooele has to offer-- Walmart, DI, and even the Dollar Tree. Although the idea of being out of the house sans 3 or 4-year olds was not as novel for me as for my sisters, it was still nice to be out with them. And at the Dollar Tree, following the age-old tradition of the Bluemlein family, they bought me gifts! A spray bottle (for removing wallpaper) and index cards (to use as recipe cards). Just what I wanted!

Upon returning home, I engaged in some tickle wrestling with two of the nieces.The third niece was on to me (and apparently doesn't enjoy tickling as much as the others), so she wouldn't come downstairs. But she did saddle up and come as the cavalry in an attempt to rescue the other two. The evening was spent mining for diamonds. Ann and Josh had bought a bag of dirt from a famous diamond mine when they were in Arkansas a few years ago and had been waiting for the right occasion to bring it out. We figured no time like a single lady's 31st birthday to hunt for diamonds.
That night I went to sleep and had a dream that Mel Gibson was madly in love with me and determined to marry me. Very interesting on many levels for a amateur Freudian analysts such as myself.

I arrived home and found my annual package from my friend Jamie (goodness, I haven't reported on her big fat Greek wedding yet. I need to do that.....) which included a brand new Ronald Reagan mug! So now I have a matching set, which is good because there have been arguments in the past over who gets the Ronald Reagan mug. It is much better to have two of such things.

My mom sent me money to put towards my dream closet (see above) or to spend on a CD player. Decisions decisions!

I got sick two days after my birthday, which is totally weird for me because I NEVER get sick. My sister Heather pointed out that it could be because I haven't been my usual self lately. And that could certainly be-- I am probably not being protected from illness by my usual cloud of joy, cheer, and endless optimism. My mom said it makes sense that I would get sick since I've such an emotional rollercoaster of a year, but that once I was feeling better I would probably be healed not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Now that I'm on the other side of it, I believe she was absolutely right. The last few days, I have been feeling a profound and inexplicable sense of joy and calm. I've also been feeling very close to the Savior, which is wonderful. I know for sure that wonderful things are coming to me. This year and for the rest of my life. I know God will help me stay the course so that with His help, I can welcome every good thing into my life. I am excited to be alive and a disciple of Jesus Christ.

NOT overly personal

Well, since the break-up, a general sense of malaise has settled over my life. I know it's for the best and I'm confident (most of the time) that I made the right decision, but I'm just sad. It's probably especially potent because of the switch from floating on a happy cloud of love, straight to sad.

Anyways, I have been learning a lot and I think I've figured some good stuff out. I realize I'd subconsciously made the decision not to process any of my thoughts on my blog out of respect for Tyler. (I realize now that I was able to vent and process on my blog after Michael because by the time it was over I didn't have much respect for him anymore. Also because I knew he wasn't emotionally invested enough to care. The fink.)


So I'm trying to work on my house, but am having a hard time with it due to all the other demands on my time. I will tell you the updates on each room as I finish it. The bedroom is coming close! We've (meaning I've) run into a bit of a problem with the living room-- I've decided it needs to be refinished ("finished" would probably be a better word since there is currently no finishing on it as far as I can tell). So everything else has been postponed until that gets done. Well, not everything, but the living room for sure. And I've decided to give up on the kitchen until everythign else is done. However, I am doing the pantry-- wall at least the walls, but not the floor (even though they desperately need some attention).


So that's my life right now. Rather unexciting, mostly because I'm still in mourning and thus not creating much excitement for myself. But, I'm planning for future fun adventures and excitement to do once I'm feeling more like myself.


Oh wait! I have been having adventures: for example, I went to the Swedish Christmas Smorgasborg at Ikea. As I told a co-worker, "This is the thing I'm most excited about for this month. Christmas is this month-- I don't care. My birthday is this month-- I don't care. I am most excited about the Swedish Smorgasborg at Ikea." And it did not disappoint! Here's a pictures of little children on parade in their traditionally Swedish garb. St. Lucia even made an appearance and sang. Also, the food was really fun and extraordinarily plentiful. I totally felt Swedish.
Also, here's a picture of the sorting of my food storage going on as prep for the pantry re-model

And a pic of the beginning of the painting of my bedroom. (Why doesn't my new carpet have any protection on it?!!!). You can't tell from this picture, but I'm actually painting over some other blue paint that I didn't like.
So, as you can see, my house, like my life, is a work in process. And I'm beginning to think that my house, like my life, might not be finished until I'm dead =)

No Use Avoiding This Any Longer

Well, I might as well just say it: Tyler and I broke up.

It's quite tragic really. A lot of people have expressed surprise because just a week ago right here on my very own blog, I was going on and on about how wonderful he is. Well, all of the stuff I said about him is still true, so you can imagine how sad the break-up is. But we were just too different. We didn't have much in common, including whether or not it mattered that we don't have anything in common. Even more than that, I think we were just on different wave lengths. He is a phenomenol man, but (much to my chagrin) it just was not a good fit. I wanted it to be a good fit, and we could have made it work, but I think marriage is hard enough without starting it with such very different people (even if they love and respect each other very much). I like to sum it up with the classic phrase "You can't fit a round peg in a square hole." (someone told me that sounds dirty, but there's just no other platitude that says that it so succinctly.)

So I'm just trying to carry on with my life. I'm allowing myself some time to be sad about it. I mean, it is kind of crazy-- a month ago I really honestly truly and sincerely thought I would end up marrying him and moving to DC. So this is a very different place to be in mentally and emotionally.

I decided to throw myself into getting my house decorated. I've been in re-painting chaos for about a month and of course that throws off a person's groove. I've set the very lofty goal of having my bedroom, living room, kitchen, and pantry painted and organized before my birthday. That will keep me busy and give me something to think about. Hopefully I'll even be posting updates on the blog.

So, that is what has been taking up most of my emotional energy for the week. It has also sent me on philosophical quests, such as the one I posted here yesterday. I have been learning and experiencing a lot lately, so that is good. I think by next year, I probably will have figured out everything about life =)

You Gotta Want It

I have other more important, life-information posts that I need to write, but this is on my mind very strongly today, so I want to share these thoughts now.

This morning (not that I was surfing the internet at work), I came across a series entitled "Best Holiday Gift Freak Outs." I'd recommend it to anyone. This was my favorite (WARNING: there is swearing involved)



While I consider myself a more than unusually happy, joyful and enthusiastic person, the level of excitement shown in these video clips surpassed anything I can remember experiencing. But I think I would like it! Thinking about it made me realize: perhaps there is joy in really wanting something. Is there anything I want this much? What on earth could make me this excited? I mean, I'm not sure I'd have that sort of reaction when/if St. Peter lets me in the pearly gates.

I wonder if part of being this excited is getting something with no strings attached. For example, I'm sure that I will be super duper uber excited when I get married, but there's some nervousness involved too because marriage (as wonderful as it is) is scary and a big risk too. Would that stop me from being this excited?

I also think of the line from "Pride and Prejudice" where the sister says she wishes there were another such man so her sister could be as happy as she is. And Elizabeth replies that even if there were a hundred such men, she couldn't be as happy because "until I have your goodness, I can never have your happiness." It seems like the most of the really joyful things in life are spiritual in nature and it takes a good amount of spirituality to appreciate them. I know for sure that the Spirit does intensify feelings of joy, excitement, and gratitutude. (Not that this applies to the Play Station example above, but it's still an interesting thought.)

I also wonder-- is part of the joy and excitement of getting something you want the fact that it's unexpected? Maybe I don't get so excited about things because I usually just expect that things will work out for me so I'm not surprised when they do. But I like to think that I don't take things for granted when they do work out. And I think I'm still grateful and happy when they do.

Also, I think there's not really a lot of things that I want. I don't have anything on my birthday or Christmas list. After some pressure from my mom on this point, it did occur to me that I'd like a CD player. (That's right I do not own a CD player, or even a computer. I'm sort of backwards that way.)

But maybe I should say there aren't a lot of material things that I want because there are lots of other things I do want. I want to get my house looking all cute and organized. I want to go jogging before work every day. I want to put in the time, effort, and energy to look cute every day. I want the people around me to feel loved and valued. I want God's light to shine through me. I want to be a source for good in the world. I want to have adventures and experience new things. I want to be surrounded by things that are beautiful.

The interesting thing about all of the above is the only thing stopping me from having each of them is myself. It's my own laziness that prevents me from doing and having anything I want. So I think I want these things, but so often I short-sightedly think I want to sit in bed and do nothing more. I am the only thing preventing me from having them.

I wonder, is there something (material or not) that I want as much as that man wanted his Play Station? I hope so! I hope I want eternal life that much. I hope I want to build the Kingdom that much. I hope I want to have joy in my life that much. And if I want them that much, what is keeping me from them? I heard a speaker at church recently who said the only currency we have with God is our desires-- if we desire righteousness, if we desire to serve him, etc. There is nothing else we can really give him. And if our desires are strong enough we will act in such a way to get the things we desire. Are my desires strong enough to motivate me to go and get the things I want? Is that keeping me from having all the joy I could?

I wonder also, how much that man would have gone through to get himself a Play Station. Surely he could have gotten an extra job or budgeted his money in such a way that he could have gotten one for himself. Was he so excited because someone loved him enough to get it for him? Would it have meant more or less to him if he had worked for it and gotten it for himself? I have a hard time accepting things from other people-- maybe I am depriving myself of joy in that way?

Whatever the reason, I want to have more full-hearted excitement and gratitude like this man did. I will put myself on a personal quest to find my own personal play station 3 and to have that level of joy in my life.

It does occur to me thought, if I lost my iPhone and was without it for a few days, I would probably be this happy when I get it back. So there is hope that this sort of emotion could be elicted in me. =)

Why God Is My Favorite Person

Last night after work I spent (by actual count) five hours on the phone with four different people resolving issues with everything from selling used food to analyzing the new (completely horrible) FDA legislation that was just passed. While talking on the phone, I was also making two loaves of homemade wheat bread (to mail to my sweetie) and three dozen chocolate chocolate chip cookies for a co-worker's birthday.

My night of tele-a-thon telephoning ended around 11pm when I finished a call with friend who needed advice and support about not being able to pay her rent. I was pretty tired, practically comatose in bed wanting to just fall to sleep.

BUT! I have just recently resolved to be more diligent in my daily scripture study and, alas, I hadn't done my 30 minutes yet. I was thinking it over in my mind-- while I really wanted to take the time to have some formal sit-down time with God, I was really super duper tired and I was justifying not getting up because I was still feeling warm fuzzies from helping people via phone and thought that might be enough for the day (excuses, excuses). I was toying with the idea of praying for strength to do the right thing, but, you know, once you ask for help, you have to be willing to do something about it (ie, get up), so I was avoiding the idea.

Then I remembered that my freshly baked cookies were still sitting out. I knew that if I left them out all night, they would not be quite so yummy in the morning. I really wanted to have something nice to give my wonderful co-worker, so I decided to muster my strength and get out of bed. The irony of being more dedicated to pleasing my co-worker than pleasing God was not lost on me.

I got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Then, I remembered that I had already put the cookies away. As soon as I realized it, I received this prompting from God: "Gotcha!"

I laughed and laughed and then went to my desk and read scripture for 30 minutes.

I just love how God is willing to work with us and help us for our good, even using non-traditional methods. When we are striving to be closer to Him, He will help us in any way we are willing to receive. And I'm thankful for that.

I've been keeping things from you. Big things.

But not on purpose. I hadn't intended on keeping any important life information from you, my faithful blog readers. It's just that I put it on facebook and thought it was pretty much a done deal. Plus, I don't need to tell you how horribly I've been neglecting my blog lately.

Let me start at the beginning, about a month ago. I was in a man tsunami. Men who wanted to date me were literally falling out of the woodwork. I couldn't figure out where they were all coming from, but they were around in abundance. It turns out being a dater is a lot of hard work! But, I was enjoying myself and it is always great to see how many great men there are out there.

One day I went to friend's wedding (met a nice boy there, we went out) and afterwards I got a text from a neat guy I'd been out with a few times telling me that since my other plans had finished I should come join him and his friends at his house. Since this guy was moving across the country the next day and it was my last chance to see him, I decided to go.

After watching a video, all of his friends left but I stuck around to chat for a while. Unexpectedly, he told me that although he was leaving for a new job on the other side of the continent in 14 hours, he was planning to win me over from Washington DC. Well, I was pretty shocked by that. In hindsight, I shouldn't have been, since he had taken me out four times that week-- he was obviously in it to win it. So, even though I wasn't sure how I felt about the idea of being swept off my feet from 2000 miles away, we stayed up late into the night talking and kissing.

He left the next day for his three day cross-country drive. He called me all along the way and I was smitten by the time he arrived at his destination. He is pretty much the best man ever. So passionate, thoughtful, giving, caring, loving. He's also smart, interesting, driven, and a very good kisser. He plans awesome dates. He is dedicated to making me happy. He even buys me things! When problems come up, we talk through them-- he loves communicating. If we argue, he calls afterwards to make sure I'm okay. He loves his neices and nephew. He loves his job and is planning big things for his life. He loves the gospel and wants the Spirit in his life. Five minutes into our first conversation, he had hatched a plan to make me his. He thinks I'm unbelievably beautiful. He knows (and pays attention to) my voice tones and can tell how I feel based on them. For obvious reasons, I decided to snatch him up and agreed to became exclusive 8 days after he left. That was about a month ago.

Last weekend, he bought me a plane ticket to go visit him in his exciting new northern Virginia life.

We sat around looking all starry-eyed at each other, went out to eat, watched football, went to a movie (and got popcorn-- I'd never had popcorn at a movie in my entire life until I started dating Tyler [oh yeah, his name is Tyler] and it turns out having popcorn at a movie is TOTALLY AWESOME), and of course we went and saw the sights Our trip to the Lincoln Memorial elicited a rather vigorous debate on Lincoln's presidency, states' rights and the causes of the Civil War. These debates are not at all unusual in our relationship. (Don't even get us started on TSA screenings or children in BYU apparel.) But, these things keep our relationship interesting.

More info on Tyler: he just finished his coursework for a PhD in Communications and is working on his dissertation. He's 2.5 years older than me. He served his mission in Italy and consequently thinks he's Italian. He cooks yummy Italian food and is very picky with his cheese. He sounds sexy when he speaks Italian. He attended the University of Oklahoma and lived in Oklahoma City for four years-- three of my siblings also live in OKC, but they didn't know each other. Although, I think it's cool that he taught at the college my brother attends. He got his bachelor's degree on a debate scholarship and later coached a debate team that placed 2nd at Nationals. Oh yeah, we met at a ward date night. He wasn't in the ward, but was a fill-in to improve the ratios. He drove down from visiting his brother in Logan to attend the ward date night as a favor for a friend-- see how it pays to do nice things for people? Also, he makes me want to be a better person. AND he sends extraordinarily beautiful flowers "just because."

He is what I like to call "a keeper."

Did I ever tell you about the time I was mistaken as a prostitute?

Subtitle: Happy Halloween!

I got to wear my Halloween costume to work today, which I have never done before and it is fun. This is the third Halloween in a row I've dressed as a Catholic school girl. Why? Because it's the third Halloween in a row that I've lived in a new city, so I don't have to bother coming up with a new idea. Plus, I already have all of the stuff.

My first year in this costume was my last Halloween in Manhattan.

Whenever I put on my costume I remember this story and it makes me smile.

I was walking down Broadway on my way home from a Halloween party when a passing car honked and waved at me. Figuring it must be a friend who had also just left the party (it was late enough that there weren't many cars on the street), I waved back. The car pulled over, so I went to see who it was. He unrolled the passenger window (just like on the movies) and I went to talk to him but quickly discovered it was not someone I knew. His English wasn't very good, so I couldn't exactly tell what he was getting at, but it was obvious he wanted me to get in his car. That wasn't going to happen, so I just walked off. The next day I realized what had happened. I was walking down the street in a school girl outfit the day after Halloween and he thought I was turning tricks. I want to clarify that I was dressed 100% totally modestly. The whole thing is very amusing to me, and I don't mind telling you I count being mistaken as a sex worker among my life achievements.

Now, here's a picture of some of my totally awesome co-workers.

This Post Brought to You By the Home Depot

You've probably been wondering what it will take to get me out of my blogging funk. Honestly, I've been wondering too. And quite frankly, a lot of totally great, exciting, blog-worthy things have been happening the last 6 weeks. So what has touched my heart and mind enough to inspire me to actually put pen to paper, as it were? This is what I will say: In my life, I have stood atop some of the tallest structures built by man. I have toured the underbelly of Hoover Dam. I have seen the mechanical workings of a giant green lazer that shoots into all levels of the atmosphere. But never in my life have I been so overcome by the genius of man's mechanical workings as I was last night when using, and consequently studying, a relatively common household item. I am referring, of course, to the wall anchor: What could I say about this amazing device that has not already been said by men and women far more eloquent than I? To think that millenia of scientific advancement has led humanity to this simple, yet profound invention that just......works. Truly, we stand on the shoulders of giants. I am speechless.

I remember my first ever exposure to wall anchors. The year was 2007. The city was New York, where so many paradigm-shaking discoveries like this are made. Although, like most things, I didn't actually appreciate the wonder of the wall anchor until I used it for myself the first time. Wall anchors were first explained to me by Luke Stay (who, PS, is smart at everything). He used them to attach a mirror to a cinderblock wall in my bedroom. Once I realized the project was a bigger ordeal than I expected I told him to forget it and I'd find a different wall for the mirror, but it was too late-- he was trying to impress a girl (my roommate) so he was determined to successfully complete what he had started. In addition to using the wall anchors, he also explained the concept to me. I'll admit that while I understood the mechanics, I didn't fully comprehend the reasons it was needed.


Now, as a homeowner, I am starting to get it. See the lovely closet I installed all by myself several weeks ago, even using a drill for the first time ever:

Well, I knew I should have used anchors, but I didn't have any, so I didn't. I knew it wouldn't stay on for five years, but I thought it would stay on for a while. But, nope, not so much. It fell off once ten things were put on it.

So, back to the drawing board, by which I mean Home Depot. Having never purchased anchors before, I was surprised by the vast quanitity of options available. But, in my experience, a busty blonde girl normally doesn't want for help at the Home Depot so I figured I would find some nice young man to assist me with my selection. But, such was not the case yesterday, so I used my other assets (by which I mean my wits) to solve the problem. I chose my anchors (the red, plastic kind-- I hope that was right!) and headed back to work.

My hammer was missing, but I managed to get the job done with the drill and a can of tomato sauce. For some inexplicable reason, the top left anchor didn't take, so I had to pull the bottom anchor out (no easy feat!), move the holes over three inches and start again. (Luckily, the design of the closet allowed for wiggle room on the location of the poles) My intense admiration of the wall anchor began when I had to try to remove the anchor from the screw in the bottom hole. It. Was. A-MAZing. The way the plastic and steel just sort of merged towards the bottom of the screw. The way the plastic expanded, fanning out to secure a stable base. The impossibility of getting it out once it had been set. I mean, a razor blade and some elbow grease finally got the job done, but it was no easy task.

Yes, my mind has been blown. Enough so to inspire me to blog again. And now that the floodgates have been opened, hopefully I'll have some more to share with you before too long.

Thank you for listening to my ramblings. I'm just really impressed by the wall anchor.

The Year in Review

Happy September 1st! Exactly one year ago today, I ended my multi-week cross-country roadtrip extravaganza and moved into my place in Sugarhouse to officially began my new life in Utah.

When I first realized I was coming up on a year I was disappointed, thinking that I hadn't done much or had many adventures, but as I thought it over some more, it turns out I've actually been pretty busy. Here's some of what I'm been up to (not in chronological order):

Went to Las Vegas twice.

Drove to Michigan and back twice (not counting the drive out).

Drove to Seattle and had a lovely vacation there, seeing six old friends in three different states.

Vacationed in DC and escorted a friend/protegee for her first visit to the temple.

Vacationed in Rexburg, Idaho four times.

Cried once because I didn't get to go to Rexburg.

Got a job.

Got a promotion.

Fell in love.

Got a broken heart.

Got over it.

Understand everything about life better now.

Was asked on three dates by three different guys in just one week.

Attended my first political rally.

Paid a utility bill for the first time in my life.

Moved THREE times:
once into a shared house in Salt Lake
once into a darling little cottage in Draper
once (just yesterday) into a charming huge, old farmhouse in Draper which I own.


That's right. I bought a house. It's a long story that I will tell you later.

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty awesome year.