So there weren't many of them, but I actually have a couple friends that I made before I was in high school. I was kind of an awkward and picked on kid for much my Elementary years. I was LITERALLY the kid who got picked last (if at all) in basketball. I got pushed around. I was pretty dorky looking. I was smart, but had next to no ability to really communicate how I felt and would find myself talking about things that other people didn't care about. So kind of like today, only with the reassurance that at worst, I'll always have my one vote for man of the year, from my adorable wife. She's great.
This post isn't about her though. She and I didn't meet until I was a senior in High School. Nope. This goes back before my wife was even born (Ok, maybe not, but at least before my Big Little Brother was born). This goes back to 4th grade. I met this girl in 3rd grade, and had a huge crush on her. I thought she was the absolute sunshine of the world. Pretty. Smart. Occasionally really nice to me, but definitely too cool for me. I knew it. Her friends knew it. She knew it. But I still liked her.
We'd been in the same third grade class with the best teacher EVER, Miss Ochinario. In 4th grade we had a couple crusty old women for our teachers, Mrs. Howerton and Mrs. Ross (who, to this day scares me.) We had big open class rooms with walls that were probably made out of the highest quality cardboard. There were doors leading to the glorious outside where I would play football or basketball every recess, but no doors in the back of our classes. During this year, at least most of it, I sat in the very back of my class, and this darling of my 4th grade heart sat in the very back of HER class. Each day, I looked forward to the moments when the following incident would occur.
My teacher would turn around and start writing on the board, or telling stories about something I didn't care about. Casually I'd lean really far back in my chair. As I did. I would glance over my shoulder to see if this pretty girl was looking at me. When she wouldn't. I could find myself staring for a decent amount of time. She was really cute after all, and my 4th grade had no greater aspirations than to make eye contact with this girl.
Later I would twist pretending to pop my back or neck or something. To stretch. As I would glance back, it would happen.
This pretty girl would look at me. Right in the eyes. Right through my big bug-eye glasses. She'd be smiling. So I'd do the only natural thing.
I'd turn right back around as fast as I could. Mustering courage, I'd do it again. And again. And again. And the process would repeat. We'd both pretend we weren't looking back. But we both knew.
It's that kind of fourth grade affection that was my cherished memory to share today.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Is it Thursday yet?
So, I'm a bit behind schedule on some of these posts, and I still haven't gotten to "Too Hot!" part II, so my apologies, but this post has been sitting in my mind for a long time.
I think everyone, particularly those of us who don't completely trust our own judgement, needs one of those friends that you can always bounce things off of, and who you know is going to give you the response you need. You know like the friend who laughs at you for your faults instead of encouraging you to be better, or egging you on to be worse. You know, like the friend who listens to every story and gives feedback like she was right there. Like she knows all the people you're talking about, when, you know, she doesn't. Like the friend who occasionally pays for you even though you asked them to hang out with you. Like the friend who isn't afraid to yell at you when you race them on the road, and it's THEIR car that kills. Like the friend who listens to your dreams without laughing. That friend. That friend whose mom loves you dearly, and secretly hopes you'll marry one of her two daughters near your age. That friend who will tell you the right thing, even when they know you won't listen. That's the friend we all need.
I have one. And I call her my twin sister. We both have lazy eyes, and most weeks, we would celebrate our togetherness with half-priced milkshakes at cold stone.
I don't remember how the tradition started, but I know High School wouldn't have been the same without it. Cold Stone Creamery (where I worked for three months, and LOVED) has a deal where every Thursday, you get milkshakes for half the cost between certain hours. It got to the point that the girl behind the counter knew what we were there for each week and would get out a couple blenders as soon as we walked in.
I kissed more girls in High School than I care to talk about to most people. At the time, I thought this was really cool. Now I think that it was cool for the time, but I realize I hurt a lot feelings that way. But, the one constant was that each time I got tangled again, my twin sister would be right there listening to my stories. For a couple years we did this. I knew about her first kiss, and the crappy guy he turned out to be. I knew about her second kiss and the crappy guy HE turned out to be. I knew about her third kiss, and the fact that he was the one. Each time was another milkshake. Sometimes we got adventurous and got fruit smoothies. We'd always tip and try to convince the Cold Stone workers to sing the Banana Song. (If your local cold stone doesn't sing for tips, boycott them until they do. You don't know what you're missing.) But those days were always the best.
Now she's married, and going to school, and working, just like I am, and her spouse, and my spouse. We live in different states. It wouldn't be right to go out just the two of us, and we haven't really seen eachother much since I left on my mission and came home. But those days were some of the best. We all need a sound board. We all need someone to street race in our crappy cars (my MPV and her truck, or her car Mrs. Baretta). We all need someone to laugh and say, "OH my gosh, don't even tell me." when we start dumb stories. We all need someone who gets offended but not in an angry way when we're teasing them. And we all need someone who shows us that our weird physical quirks (lazy eyes?) aren't unique to just us. My twin sister was that, and, even though I never get to talk to her, I'll bet she still is.
I think everyone, particularly those of us who don't completely trust our own judgement, needs one of those friends that you can always bounce things off of, and who you know is going to give you the response you need. You know like the friend who laughs at you for your faults instead of encouraging you to be better, or egging you on to be worse. You know, like the friend who listens to every story and gives feedback like she was right there. Like she knows all the people you're talking about, when, you know, she doesn't. Like the friend who occasionally pays for you even though you asked them to hang out with you. Like the friend who isn't afraid to yell at you when you race them on the road, and it's THEIR car that kills. Like the friend who listens to your dreams without laughing. That friend. That friend whose mom loves you dearly, and secretly hopes you'll marry one of her two daughters near your age. That friend who will tell you the right thing, even when they know you won't listen. That's the friend we all need.
I have one. And I call her my twin sister. We both have lazy eyes, and most weeks, we would celebrate our togetherness with half-priced milkshakes at cold stone.
I don't remember how the tradition started, but I know High School wouldn't have been the same without it. Cold Stone Creamery (where I worked for three months, and LOVED) has a deal where every Thursday, you get milkshakes for half the cost between certain hours. It got to the point that the girl behind the counter knew what we were there for each week and would get out a couple blenders as soon as we walked in.
I kissed more girls in High School than I care to talk about to most people. At the time, I thought this was really cool. Now I think that it was cool for the time, but I realize I hurt a lot feelings that way. But, the one constant was that each time I got tangled again, my twin sister would be right there listening to my stories. For a couple years we did this. I knew about her first kiss, and the crappy guy he turned out to be. I knew about her second kiss and the crappy guy HE turned out to be. I knew about her third kiss, and the fact that he was the one. Each time was another milkshake. Sometimes we got adventurous and got fruit smoothies. We'd always tip and try to convince the Cold Stone workers to sing the Banana Song. (If your local cold stone doesn't sing for tips, boycott them until they do. You don't know what you're missing.) But those days were always the best.
Now she's married, and going to school, and working, just like I am, and her spouse, and my spouse. We live in different states. It wouldn't be right to go out just the two of us, and we haven't really seen eachother much since I left on my mission and came home. But those days were some of the best. We all need a sound board. We all need someone to street race in our crappy cars (my MPV and her truck, or her car Mrs. Baretta). We all need someone to laugh and say, "OH my gosh, don't even tell me." when we start dumb stories. We all need someone who gets offended but not in an angry way when we're teasing them. And we all need someone who shows us that our weird physical quirks (lazy eyes?) aren't unique to just us. My twin sister was that, and, even though I never get to talk to her, I'll bet she still is.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Cheating and Mormonism!
Hi Again! So, I know you're probably expecting part II of "Too Hot, Too Hot!". That's just not happening tonight. Or at least not yet. I might go on a tear so I don't fall asleep on the clock. Instead I'm going to make my faithful follower happy by cheating! Yay Cheating!
I'm LDS. A Latter-Day Saint. A Mormon. A Latter-Day Christian. A Believer of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. An Elder, Priest, Teacher and Deacon of my faith. And guess what! I have a handful of friends that are, too. My church has a cool website directed towards those who don't know much about our faith. It's www.mormon.org. On this website, there are plenty of people who share their stories of their faith with others. Why they're LDS, or what they like about it, or things of that nature. They answer questions that people commonly have about our faith. Whether you're Mormon or not, it's cool.
So you're a smart person. Put two and two together. I'm cheating by posting without writing anything. Here are links to their pages. Mine first.
Me! -- http://mormon.org/me/2B1W/
Heidi -- http://mormon.org/me/95P4/
Scotty-- http://mormon.org/me/4NWM/
Katie -- http://mormon.org/me/1yqs/
Joshua -- http://mormon.org/me/43RF/#
Julie -- http://mormon.org/me/18RV/JulieAnnLee/
AJ -- http://mormon.org/me/7MBZ/AJ/
Ginelle -- http://mormon.org/me/4ZPZ/Ginelle/
Kirk -- http://mormon.org/me/4623/Kirk/
Beau -- http://mormon.org/me/7RYY/Beau/
Brittany -- http://mormon.org/me/33SP/Brittany/
Paul -- http://mormon.org/me/33SP/Brittany/
Cara-- http://mormon.org/me/39BP/Cara/
Liz -- http://mormon.org/me/3JHR/
Cassy -- http://www.mormon.org/me/bnsr
This will continue to grow. If you have one, please let me know. :)
I'm LDS. A Latter-Day Saint. A Mormon. A Latter-Day Christian. A Believer of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. An Elder, Priest, Teacher and Deacon of my faith. And guess what! I have a handful of friends that are, too. My church has a cool website directed towards those who don't know much about our faith. It's www.mormon.org. On this website, there are plenty of people who share their stories of their faith with others. Why they're LDS, or what they like about it, or things of that nature. They answer questions that people commonly have about our faith. Whether you're Mormon or not, it's cool.
So you're a smart person. Put two and two together. I'm cheating by posting without writing anything. Here are links to their pages. Mine first.
Me! -- http://mormon.org/me/2B1W/
Heidi -- http://mormon.org/me/95P4/
Scotty-- http://mormon.org/me/4NWM/
Katie -- http://mormon.org/me/1yqs/
Joshua -- http://mormon.org/me/43RF/#
Julie -- http://mormon.org/me/18RV/JulieAnnLee/
AJ -- http://mormon.org/me/7MBZ/AJ/
Ginelle -- http://mormon.org/me/4ZPZ/Ginelle/
Kirk -- http://mormon.org/me/4623/Kirk/
Beau -- http://mormon.org/me/7RYY/Beau/
Brittany -- http://mormon.org/me/33SP/Brittany/
Paul -- http://mormon.org/me/33SP/Brittany/
Cara-- http://mormon.org/me/39BP/Cara/
Liz -- http://mormon.org/me/3JHR/
Cassy -- http://www.mormon.org/me/bnsr
This will continue to grow. If you have one, please let me know. :)
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