Mormons and Sex

Based on the title... this isn't the blog you think it's going to be, so don't even complain or say I haven't warned you. I just wanted to say that last weekend when I was in Provo, UT 84604 I went to chill at the BYU Bookstore while my friend studied at the library. As I was perusing the shelves looking for some good reading, I read the titles of each book section. "Baby and Family"... no, nothing for me there. "Biography"... while intriguing I didn't want to put myself to sleep. And then there it was... "Sex Ed" on the shelves simultaneously with "Special Needs." What does this say about Mormons and their sexual activities that BYU would willingly choose to place these two subjects side by side on the same shelf? I'll let you draw your own conclusions to what I have posted, but it's just some food for thought. :)

Philo T. Farnsworth is the Inventor of Television and other stories

Oh my gosh! Today is one of the best days of my life! Right now I'm currently listening to 311's "Who's Got the Herb?" and there really couldn't be a more perfect thing to listen to right now. This song just puts an INSTANT smile on my face. So funny. Moving on...

The greatness all started out after Ashley and I got back from a daily trip to Horkley's and then to visit our friends in the Sled Shed. When we returned from "town," we just sat in the car dreading walking back into our apartment. Ash suggested we drive to Idaho Falls to find something to do instead of kicking it at our apartment before our friends call us. We headed south on Highway 20. As we were passing Rigby, I noticed the sign that advertised Rigby as the "Birthplace of Television" as Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of TV, grew up there and came up with the idea of TV while plowing potato fields. SO FUNNY! Ash and I have a list of activities and places we want to see and do before we graduate. The Television Museum happens to be one of them. I suggested to Ash that we stop because today is as good of a day as any to stop and see what this museum has to offer.

Forgetting cameras, we quickly stopped at a gas station so I could spend $13.64 on a crappy disposable camera. I guess that's what you get for wanting to record your memories on film!

As Ashley and I walked into the museum, we weren't quite sure if we were in the right place. Immediately the smell of old lady, mothballs, and antiques assaulted our noses. If that wasn't enough, two OLD ladies greeted us sitting on metal folding chairs looking as decayed as the rusty, broken down chairs they were sitting on. I was trying my hardest not to laugh! I mean... small town Idaho provides SO MUCH laughter! As I signed my name into the guestbook, my body was convulsing trying to hold in the laughter and joy I felt inside. Only those of you who have been priviledged enough to go to the said museum will know why. The ladies told us that this large room was the museum and we could walk around to the different rooms (this was once a hotel apparently) and see each communities' different antiques essentially. The lady pointed out this dollhouse to us as if it was something unique and special. Instead it ended up just being kind of creepy because she said that it was given to a sick, little girl who died after receiving it. On top of that, it had newer toys in it and was held together by green, florists' tape. Awesome!

As we proceeded to the first room attached to the main room, we tried opening the door and it was locked. We realized then and there that this museum was even worse than we thought. All you can do is stare in a window at old dolls and china that look worse than anything you'd ever find in an antique store. Apparently they're "special" because they were used in Idaho. The first room was really the funniest because it had an Indian tepee and two adult, life-like Indian statues. However, in the little leather baby carrier resided a cabbage patch doll. Did they think that we wouldn't notice? Because you can bet your bottom dollar that we did... oh we noticed and took two pictures! There were many similar sights (perhaps more aptly named "faux paus") to behold in this small museum. Eventually we made it to the room where we saw artifacts from the inventor of Television. BORING! We even got to go back to the front of the room and watch a film on Mr. Farnsworth. I think that newscasters on the film no longer have jobs as newscasters.

The really could have spiced up the museum, but that's small town Idaho for you: Little museums of something inherently famous to the area that really aren't worth going to. Nevertheless, it was awesome. Definitely a good memory. We headed back to Rexburg to go to the flood museum, but had to go on a road detour on our way there and found... you'll never guess... a carousel! In REXBURG! Oh my gosh... we were freaking out. So, we went on a carousel ride to top off our afternoon. As if the TV museum wasn't enough, we got to go on a 15 minute carousel ride with three little girls. made me SO happy. I want to buy a season pass to the carousel in Rexburg. That's all I have to say for now...

Why Testimony BINGO Was Invented

So, I feel another blog coming on... I just read Darcy's blog about church being amazing and having testimony meetings and was just about to comment on it when all of a sudden I just started laughing. Today, I went to two different single's wards for church. I first attended all three meetings in Provo, UT and then traveled up to Salt Lake for another sacrament meeting experience with my friends up there. I think it's just my mood right now... perhaps I'm feeling cynical or something but reflecting back on the day and two different, separate, YET THE SAME, sacrament meetings makes me think of two things: A, it makes me grateful that our church is so unified that I can go anywhere and hear the same thing and feel the same spirit; B, it makes me laugh because I realized that testimony BINGO was created for a reason. Honestly... sitting through TWO sacrament meetings that went over normal time when I hadn't really slept last night was a little much! I mean, as if three hours of church for one Sunday wasn't enough, I had to go another hour and a half just to get my fill apparently. As I sat there hearing people say things like "beyond a shadow of a doubt" and "with every fibre of my being" and "I'm SO grateful for my roommates," as I simultaneously felt the spirit and laughed... I recalled back on my early years of college. Things were simpler then and sacrament meetings were funny. I think initially I just did it to impress this boy I liked, but we used to play testimony BINGO to keep ourselves entertained during sacrament meetings. Not that I didn't get up every Sunday and bear my testimony (AND MEAN IT) and probably cry a little every now and then too... but, really playing testimony BINGO just helps you see how much our church is unified in a language of its own! I mean, seriously... you can count on at least one person to say they're thankful for their bishop, their family, their roommates, their mission, or even all of them! That's why our church is great... it's unchanging and stable. Gotta love mormons! Gotta love testimony BINGO on lazy, cynical Sundays when you can still feel the spirit, but you also need a little laugh and a game to keep you focused on the meeting. :)

Rexburg Fame... it can only get you so far!

Okay, so I just wrote this fantastic blog about my hour and a half excursion to the T-Mobile store and then it just got erased when I went to post it. Remind next time to write my blogs in word before I put them in here!
So, here goes again... yesterday my roommate (and best friend), Ashley, asked me to accompany her to the T-Mobile store in Rexburg. Thinking this would be a simple jaunt, I acquiesced. No sooner had we set foot in the store than a T-Mobile associate came bounding up to us asking what he could help us with. (You know how sales people are.) Let me provide a little preface to this next part: I started up at this school nearly FIVE YEARS AGO and consequently have met a lot of people in this town over the past half decade. Chances are, almost EVERY SINGLE TIME when I'm meeting new people, at least one of them will say the "you look familiar" line and then we figure out how we know each other. I almost want to feel special being able to say that, but as we all know Rexburg fame can only get you so far. Well, this T-Mobile associate was no different. He said he remembered meeting me five years prior and he even remembered my name! Unfortunately, my roommate took this and our chatty reacquainting to mean that we are supposed to get married (ah, mormons... gotta LOVE how they jump the gun on stuff like that) and as we sat down at his desk, wrote on a post-it note things like "he's SO into you" or "I can't believe he remembered your name" and passed it to me. To my dismay, she didn't realize that there was some crucial information on the said note, which the T-Mobile associate needed. So, when he asked for the piece of paper, I turned a deep shade of red. Although Ashley had folded over the note to reveal only the information he needed, I'm pretty sure he could still see bits and pieces of Ashley's thoughts about the situation. I was SO embarassed! I felt like I was in high school again when your crush finds out you like them and then you feel as if you can never speak to that person again. Thank goodness, I felt that way for only seconds before just laughing it off realizing there wasn't really anything I could do. In the end, I guess there wasn't too much damage done all in all because the kid asked for my phone number as we were leaving. This, however, does not deter me from the message I gain from this: do NOT let your friends write notes, mouths words, or anything related about someone in the same room with you. Murphy's law (or whatever it is) says that if you do... the person will read it or see you. Don't let it happen to you!

Canada... it really is a foreign country

Canadians... gotta love them!

Up until high school graduation, I lived in the greater Seattle area... thus, I lived within about two hours south of the Canadian border. I've never really had a problem with Canadians. I go over there and go shopping and they come over and... well, I'm not sure what, but I'm sure they do something when they come to visit our country (even if their dollar is worth LESS over here).

Well, last summer term I happened to have a roommate from Canada. She wasn't from the friendly BC, like I've been used to, but rather Alberta. I'm not sure about those Albertans after my run in with her and her family. The weekend preceding Father's Day rolls around and all of a sudden I come home to an apartment full of odd-looking strangers. (This is going to be mean, but ONLY for humor's sake...) There was this woman who was about as wide as her husband was tall, some Mexican kid who looked out of place because everyone else in the room (excepting the wife and the French foreign exchange student) was pasty white with red hair. I had NO idea who these people were and WHAT they were doing in my apartment. I said a quick "hello" before sprinting to the back to make sure I was in the right apartment. Come to find out, my roommate, Amy, had invited her family down from Canada (without informing her roommates) and let them run amuck in our apartment. Why she brought some Mexican kid and a foreign exchange student with her already odd family is beyond me? I guess these people like to travel in packs.

So, two days of these people in our apartment, sweating on our couch, and eating our food is enough for me. Father's Day rolls around and coming home from church, our entire apartment smells like fried fish and dog poop. Go figure. I guess that's how they cook in Alberta. (Actually, I think it's just Amy's family.) As Ashley and I walk back to our room, Amy's dad is in her room and shouts out something about how Amy is "entertaining a man in her room." Yeah, that's a little creepy when it's a dad talking about his daughter. Ashley and I quickly decided that we MUST make a trip to the park in St. Anthony to rid ourselves of the smell and the oddity of the situation. While walking out the front door, Amy's mother stops us and starts talking about World War II for about forty-five minutes. Apparently she REALLY likes talking about WWII.

FINALLY we made it out of the apartment and thank goodness when we returned, Amy's family was not to be found, sans the French foreign exchange student, whom it seemed Amy was doomed to ignore. We see the bored French girl loitering in the parking lot wearing all black in 95 degree heat. She literally just sat there on the curb for hours because every time she came in, Amy was ignoring her. The next morning, Flor (the French girl), had a terrible sunburn to the point of her skin being almost purple. So, instead of going outside... Amy let her clean our apartment. Yeah, I walked into the apartment to witness the French foreign exchange student moving our couches in order to vacuum under them. In what country is it okay to allow an exchange student to clean up a mess they didn't make? NOT America, and hopefully not Canada, for that matter. My roommate laughed SO hard at this as it reminded her of the movie "Better Off Dead" or some old Molly Ringwald movie where they made the foreign exchange student clean their house. I stopped Flor from finishing cleaning up and gave her some movies to watch instead. What is this world coming to?