Feed The Hungry

At work the other day I received an email from a co-worker telling about a website where you can increase your vocabulary and feed the hungry at the same time. It's called freerice.com. For every word that you correctly identify The World Food Program donates ten grains of rice. It really adds up and it builds your vocabulary. in the past 6 weeks, which is how long it has been running the WFP has donated over 3 BILLION grains of rice. It has been checked out by snopes.com and is actually legitimate. So help feed the hungry and play the game.

It's Fantastic!!

I have been neglecting my blog lately and I have now sat down to update all on my life and what I have been up to for the last month.
I finally recieved my Cosmetology License in the mail, YAY! But it had the wrong house number on it. I looked and I wrote the correct address not once, not twice, not three times but four diffrent times on my application and paperwork for the license. I would think that they might get it right. One would think that it doesn't matter but the laws state that it must have a correct address to be valid so I called the license office and requested a new license. They were really good about it and sent a new one that arrived within a week. During the time that I was waiting I started putting my name in to various Salon databases hoping for a call. I put it into Great Clips, Coles, and Fantastic Sam's. I got called the very next day for many diffrent Great Clips locations but not for the one that my friend was trying to get me to work at, she works there. I also got a call from Fantastic Sam's. I went for an interview on Monday the 24th of September. The manager wanted me to come on Wednesday the 26th for a technical interview to see how I was with hair. I brought my friend's younger sister and gave her a cute bob. The Manager offered my a position as soon as I was done. I had an interview with Great Clips on that Friday so I told her that I would let her know on the 1st of October what I had decided. I went on Friday the 28th for the interview with Great Clips and as soon as I walked in the door I wanted to walk out again. I didn't feel like it was the right place for me. I went through the interview and was basically offered the job with out the lady actually offering it. So I knew that I wanted to go with Fantastic Sam's because they did so much more than cuts. They have Cuts, Color, Perms, Updos and waxing. On Saturday the 29th I went to Duluth and got to hang out with some friends before I accepted the position.
On Monday the First of October I called the Manager and accepted the position at Fantastic Sam's. I started the next day and I love it. I have been there for 3 weeks today and I have improved in my cuts so much from when I started. I really like the girls that I work with and I am so excited to go to work each evening.
I told them that I absolutely could not work Sunday so I could go to church. I also requested Monday's so that I could go to the single's FHE. I have been working Tuesday-Thursday 4:00-8:00 Fridays 4:00-7:00 and Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm. I have had so much fun. I love it. I am so glad that I decided to go into cosmetology!

My Unlucky Finger

Well I don't know what it is about my middle finger on my left hand but it has been very unlucky. It started with a haircut that I was giving the art teacher and I snipped my knuckle with my very sharp shears, then I was giving a haircut to my friends sister and I cut the tip of my middle finger, (I was glad to have health insurance again because I was thinking it might need stitches, it didn't). Then today while opening a cheese package I accidently jabbed the same finger with the knife. Ouch. So hopefully that will be the end of all the bad luck.

Tests

Well for the past two weeks I have been studying for the Minnesota State Cosmetology Theory and Laws tests so that I could take them on the 15th of September. I went today on the 15th to take the two tests and guess what... I PASSED!!! I am so stinking excited to be done studying and preparing for the tests. I just have a few more pieces of paperwork and some money to pay before I have my offical license. YAY!!!

Singles Conference

This weekend was the Singles Conference that was hosted by the Uptown ward. I had a very fun time. I met a few new people and got the hang out with a bunch of old friends. Friday night we had Elder Stephen W. Hansen one of the Area Seventy Authority speak to us and that was followed by Comedy Sportz which is super funny. Saturday we had some classes and a service project. I went to a charity that gives furniture to people who don't have any and who are unable to buy it for themselves we got to build furniture so that it could be delivered to the place it needed to go. That was followed by dinner and a river boat cruise. There was not going to be a dance but the boat had speakers and a bunch of people who wanted to dance so we moved all the tables to one side and we hooked an ipod up to the speakers and we danced. It was a great time and I am glad that I was able to go.

Graduation

I finally did it. I graduated from college. I am so excited to be able to say that. Last Friday, the 31 of August I finished school. I got home and hanging on the front porch was a sign that said congratulations. In the front hall was a balloon that sang when you tapped it and upstairs was a book and 2 dozen gorgeous yellow and orange roses. I am so lucky to have a great mom who did those things for me. My plan now is to study for the tests that I have to take and then take the tests in 1 1/2 weeks or so. I will see what I am ready for.

6 Days

I was sitting here thinking back on the last two years of my life and thinking about how much has changed. I have a beautiful new(ish)car. I moved out and then back in. My best friend forever served a mission in Russia. I made another best friend. I got a job in the school district. My sister had her first baby. I changed from the St. Croix Singles Branch to the Dinkytown Singles ward and I have put myself (with the help of my parents) through Cosmetology school. I have 6 days left of school before I can licence and get a job in a salon. I never thought in a million years that I would actually be a cosmetologist. Don't get me wrong. I love it and I secretly wanted to do it but wasn't brave enough to try it and I could never see myself doing it. I wasn't girly enough although that has changed in the past two years too. I remember my first day of school thinking that 1550 hours of schooling was so far away and now I am just a mere 48 hours until I am done. I also thought that all the quotas that we had to meet would never be met but I have just a few things to do and then I will have filled those requirements too. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I can't wait until I can say that I am a cosmetologist and not a cosmetology student. I have a definite direction in my life and I am excited for that. I guess that in 8 days I will be more of an adult. An adult with a career.
Scary.

Rain Rain... we need you really bad

To start with we had a "violent" storm last night. It started about 3:30ish? Not sure on the exact time as I was asleep. I woke up and with all the rain pouring down I realized that I needed to use the facilities. I went upstairs and stopped at the window and look out to see that the rain was blowing side ways and the tree in the front yard was whipping around and it was blowing like crazy. I went back to bed and when I got up it was sunny and HOT!!! I heard a report that it felt like 110 with the humidity. I am not sure if that is right but it felt like it. Later in the day I went to a softball game for my singles ward and I was commenting to my friend Josh that it was a really nice evening especially after the heat we had during the day, I think I spoke to soon as the lightning lit up the sky. Well soon after that it started raining and we were all quickly soaked to the skin. The teams decided to keep playing and it was really fun to see every one running and playing during the rain. It lasted about 32 minutes (no I was not timing it but that sounds about right) and then the rest of the game there were a little sprinkles but nothing to bad. Since we are going through a drought I was glad for the rain but not glad that I was soaked. Bradley and Joe invited people to watch a movie at their apartment up the road, I watched my first Rocky movie. It was the most recent one made. I think I might have to watch the rest of the Rocky movies as I was a bit lost on the back stories that went on in the movie. I wasn't too lost on the rest of the story and I enjoyed the movie.

Camp out

This past weekend I went camping with the Dinkytown ward. It was so much fun, we went to Taylors Falls which is about an hour north of the cities. We got to the campsite about 7:30 and started setting up. We got the fire going and we got the tents up then Bradley started up a game of frisbee death which we played until it was too dark to see. We all went back to the campsite and sat around the fire roasting marshmallows and listening to the music that Joe provided from his i-pod (ahhh technology). Around 1:30 everyone had drifted off to bed and I went to bed also. Tacy had left the rain flap off the tent and it was like sleeping under the stars. It was so nice. I woke up around 5:45 and rolled out of my tent. There were a few people up and the ones that were decided to go rock climbing. I went with and we were one of two groups in the park. The other group said that the wall right next to them was a great climb so Ben set up his stuff and everyone tried it out. Josh, another one in the group, was hungry so he and I went to the bakery and got muffins and juice for everyone. After everyone had a chance to climb we headed back and went canoeing with the whole group. There were groups of three so Josh, Jana and I all went in one canoe. We made good time and we kept going until we got to a sand bar island and beached where we went swimming with the group. We swam around and then the guys started launching people into the water. The little 7 year old that was with us loved it. He got about 15 feet of air and was spinning and flipping. Jana gave us a synchronized swimming demostration and Jay Paul even tried it out. Josh and I were content to watch. After about 30 minutes we got back into the canoe and started out again. After a while we got to a shallow part, about 6 inches deep and got out and swam again. There was a drop off into about 4 feet of water so it was more like floating. While we were playing in the water Josh felt something hit his leg, he reached into the water and pulled out his sunglasses. He was a little confused as he had just left them on the seat of the canoe. He thought it was cool that he had not lost them and that they had traveled the 20 feet to hit his leg. When we went back to the canoe he found his glasses still on the seat. They were the exact match to the ones that he had found. We finished the canoe trip with no swamping (Hurray Mormon Three!!) We got back had a sandwich and jumped onto the shuttle bus that took us back to the cars. After that we left for home in the cities and a shower. It was a great weekend.

My Car

I have my car back!! I got a call from the repair shop today and they said that my car was ready to pick up. I was so excited. I have had to drive a Ford Fusion for the past week and a half and I was not thrilled with it. It was completely gutless. I am so happy to have my little car back. Now tomorrow I will take Emily to Baldwin Wisconsin so that she can meet up with a friend and head out to Nauvoo this weekend.

Como Park Conservatory

It was taking to long adding pictures to the post about the trip I took to the zoo with the amazing Tacy so I put all the pictures of the flowers into a blog and I will follow up with a slide show of the animals and a post about what we did. Enjoy.

Allison, Nathan and Sofie come for a visit

For the last week and a few days we were luck enough to have Allison and her family come visit. It was so much fun to see them and to play with Sofie. Here are some pictures of her while she was here.

FHE at Minnehaha Falls Park

Today was Family Home Evening with the singles ward. The Dinkytown ward and the Uptown ward had a combined FHE. It was loads of fun. We had a barbeque and played games. I played Boccee ball with a few people and I lost. That's okay it was fun. Later we all walked up to the falls and and headed up the trail to wade farther up stream. For those of you who have never been there this is easier then it seems because there are stairs that lead down to the stream level and the trails are really well groomed. Anna and Iwaded around the stream before we walked back up to the picnic area. I saw cute Kristin S. who had just gotten back from her mission to Costa Rica. I got to sit with her and chat for about half an hour, she is so cute. After we chatted I decided that it was time to go home so that Nancy the Meter Man didn't have a reason to give me a ticket. It was so fun and I love that I got to spend time at Minnehaha Falls which is probably one of my favorite local spots.

Poor Car

Last week I was driving home from school when I was rear ended by another car. GRRR!! I was heading home on a busy stretch of road, the light up a head had turned red so I put on the breaks and the guy was not paying attention and rammed into me. The damage looked superficial, my bumper was loose. I was thinking that it wouldn't be a big deal. Today I took it in to get an estimate and the guy starts looking at my car. Yep, bumper needs to be fixed. Along with all the things that make a bumper work. Open the trunk.
"Have you been in the trunk since the accident?"
"No."
So why is the cover for the spare sticking up? Let me tell you. The rear body panel of the car has been compacted. Now they have to literally pull my car back into shape.
I then try to brush a bug off the non-damaged tail lights. But oh wait it's inside the light. Guess that's probably cracked to.
What about the exhaust, it's possibly compacted maybe, maybe not.
Is the bumper possible sitting on the exhaust pipe causeing a rattling noise occasionally?
Not only is it sitting on the exhaust pipe, it's also melting the bumper, and by the way if the bumper falls off in traffic it's now my fault.
These are only a few of the things that the really nice Walser man told me.
So now I have to deal with all the paper work and bothersome stuff that goes into getting my car fixed.
And oh wait the falling bumper problem was fixed with a couple of zip ties. That should hold.
More later on how the fix is going.

Dinkytown Ward

I finally did it. I transfered my records to the Dinkytown ward. It was exciting and scary at the same time. I have been attending the Dinkytown ward for about the last 3 months and I finally made it official. I have met a lot of new people and I am really enjoying myself now. I know that this will be my last transfer with in the Twin Cities Area. I have been a member of all three area singles wards and I won't change unless I move or I "age out" of the singles ward. Now I just have to wait for my records to make it to the new ward and have it made official, in the mean time I am going to have a lot of fun and make tons of new friends at the activities that are always going on.

1, 2, 3...TREE!!!

I finally planted the three Arrowwood trees that I got on Arbor Day from my work. I planted them in a smaller planter about 2 weeks ago. A few days ago my Dad brought home 2 5 gallon buckets and told me that we would drill holes in them and then plant the trees so that there would be room for them to grow. Last night I drilled the holes and filled the bottom of the buckets with some rocks. Home Depot was closed so I went online and look for some soil that would be the best for growing them. I found soil that was formulated for trees and shrubs. Today I went and picked it up and started planting the trees. It was great getting them into larger containers. I learned that the root ball at the base of the tree should not be covered or when the tree gets bigger it will strangle it's self and die, I hope that I didn't cover it. The trees, which are more like sticks with some leaves, are really small and so it was kind of hard to see if I put the root ball under the soil. I am hoping that they will thrive as they are very pretty when they are fully grown.I decided that they needed names, or atleast a way to readily identify them so I spray painted numbers on the two buckets. (Although I think that I really just wanted to spray paint something.) So now they have large red numbers on the side of the buckets and I have three trees that have lots of room to spread out and grow.

Local WildLife

A few days ago when I was planting my small trees I saw that the large plastic container where my dad keeps the bird and squirrel food was chewed on the corner. I asked my mother about it and she said that it was the squirrels were trying to get to the food. Last night I was up at the computer reading blogs when I heard a noise on the deck. I turned on the light to see if it was the squirrel when to my suprise I saw a raccoon. Yes that's right a raccoon here in the suburbs. I was flabbergasted to say the least. I finally was able to close my mouth as my jaw had dropped. Looking closer I saw that it was a larger adult with 2-3 juveniles, not tiny but not as large as the biggest. I was stunned and then I began look for a camera. Thankfully Laura had left her's on the dining room table and I was able to grab it and start snapping pictures. The first one was terrible as I tried taking it through the glass even though I knew that it would have a terrible glare. I then decided that open the door might scare them away but I wouldn't loose anything. The sound of the door alerted them to my presence. I slowly opened it hoping that they would stay and I would be able to get pictures. Well they did stay and one of the little ones walked along the railing and sniffed around the squirrel feeder. I am not sure if it took anything. The whole time the larger one was making a noise. I thought that if it ran at me that I would be able to close the door. Thankfully that did not happen and a short time later they started to climb back down the stairs. One of them slid down the spindles to the stairs and the other slid down the bannister, that one was obviously a juvenile. I took the pictures and I was able to use a photo editer to clean them up and make them viewable as the originals were very dark even with the flash on. Hopefully they will not come calling again although I think that with the food out there that they will join us again.

Haircuts and Testimonies

Well I am in my last few weeks of clinics before I can test and become a licensed cosmetologist. I am so shocked that the last few years have gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that I decided to do this program. I think back and I remember wanting to do this as a child but not having the courage to do it. I prayed for guidance from Heavenly Father and I feel as though I was guided to make the right choice. Every time I hit an obstacle during my schooling I prayed again and each time I got the impression that this was the thing that I should be doing. It has been such a testimony builder to me that if I am making the right choice that Heavenly Father will sustain me and bless me.
On Tuesday I had a woman come in for a haircut. It was awesome, last semester when I cut someones hair I wanted to have Ann, the teacher, standing right next to me to make sure that I didn't make a mistake and mess up the hair. On Tuesday I started right away and I was able plan what I was going to do and take all the steps to get there with absolutely zero help from the teachers. I was so pumped, and the cut was just what the client wanted. Then today I had a man come in for a cut. On this I was a little nervous as I have not had as much practice on men. My teacher and I discussed what I was going to do and I did it. She checked the cut and said that it was excellent. I am really enjoying the things that I am learning.
I checked over my state required quotas for services and I am happy to report that I am very close to being done. I calculated that I have to wrap 2 perms, do 4 shampoos, 1 haircut, 1 manicure or pedicure, 6 hairstyles per day and I will finish the quotas this summer. I am so ready to be done and working in a salon. Hopefully this will be soon.

Life

Well I thought that I really didn't have any thing to post about but I was thinking about it and I have done a lot of things. I started hanging out with my old friend Anna who I have known for about 2 or 3 years. She is in the Dinkytown singles ward and she started inviting me to activities that are put on by the Dinkytown ward. I have been having a lot of fun and I am thinking about transfering my records and officially being in the Dinkytown ward. I have recieved such a warm welcome from all the people there. It has been very nice.

And in the Box was...

Okay so I finally found out what was in the box. Here's how it went.
Today after work I had to go to see the taxman to sign the papers so I could file my taxes(yes I realize it's May and that they are due in April). I am finished with school for the sememster so rather than go to school I went to Old Navy to replace yet another shirt that is old and wearing out. I was in the store and I got a call from my Mom asking me to help pick up some food for a party for my Sister Laura's Lacrosse team. So I buy my shirt and hurry home. I was standing at the top of the stairs talking with my Mom and there is a knock on the door.My first thought when I heard the knock was that it was Apex sellers that knock the doors in the summer selling security systems. I go to open it and I see two people. One is squatting down with a camera and the other is standing facing away from me. I was thinking what the heck is going on. I then realized that it was Laura with the camera and I assumed that it was one of her friends standing with her. I went to shut the door and the second person turns around. For a split second I didn't register who it was until I realized that it was my Sister Emily who had been living in Utah and Colorado for the last 10 months. I was so happy that I threw my purse and clothing bag on the floor and gave her a huge hug. I was so happy. So that is the answer to what was in the box. Emily's clothes. So while my sister didn't send herself in a box she did the next best thing and flew out here. YAY!!!!