The Cringetastic 5

Sara's first blog was about a few of her favorite things, and I'll forgive her for not mentioning me, assuming that the oversight was due to me being a person and not a thing. As nice as her list is, I'm forced to make my post a little more pessimistic, just to keep this blog from being too cheerful, so instead I'm going to list a few of my least favorite things, here goes:

1. This lady, her name is Veronica, and she cut me off earlier today while she was cutting across 5 lanes of traffic to make her exit onto VA-28 off of I-66 today. I followed her to write down her license plate and take this picture, another mile down the road she started veering off onto the shoulder because she was text messaging her friend, probably something terribly urgent and illegible such as "omg do u c z hot guy ovr der"

Okay, I don't actually know this lady, I just stole the picture, but I'm so sick of cell phone users driving slow, veering off the road, and generally just driving like a moron. And that's before they start texting their friends. It makes me want to put a cell signal jammer in my car to produce a pocket of safe-driving around my precious cargo - me.

2. California Pizza Kitchen - I used to like this place till Sara and I went there about 8 months ago and both ordered something other than the BBQ Chicken pizza. I don't remember what we ordered, I think Sara went with the "Food Items That Should Never Be On A Pizza" pizza and I had the "Partially Digested Taco Bell Bile" pizza. They were so bad we didn't finish either of them. The naturally bad selection of toppings might have tasted better if the restaurant hadn't smelled like an outhouse that night, but I doubt it. And if you're thinking that one bad outing shouldn't land the place on this list, well they deserve to be here just for making other companies think that things like eggplant are good pizza toppings.

3. Crowded gyms - I enjoy the feeling of having just worked out, but pretty much every second from the time I decide I'm going to the gym right up until I'm done working out is annoying to me these days. Almost all of that annoyance has to do with people being too close to me at the gym, having to wait for equipment, and/or just having to look at other fat people like me trying to work out. I think that gyms should be forced to let you cancel your contract if you feel that it's become too crowded. They'll never do it though, so instead I'm forced to try to find the gym that is about to go out of business but still has nice equipment or join a gym that just opened and tell everyone that takes a tour that the place is a waste of money.

4. And speaking of contracts, I hate cell phone companies, all of them. After Sara and I got married we decided to be on the same cell phone network to share minutes, since most of my minutes are used talking to her anyway. Problem was, she was in a two-year contract and I was month-to-month, so ipso-facto, I'm now in a 2-year commitment with a company that is so demanding that they disable your phone's multimedia sharing features so you have to buy everything from them. I don't remember committing any crimes, so why have I been sentenced to two years with a cell phone provider I have no experience and/or confidence in? I want the 1 year commitments back, or how about the ability to sign up for a normal plan on a month-to-month basis like every other utility?

5. Hummus - I realize that many of you probably like this stuff, but I'm not particularly fond of it. Supposedly this stuff is made from chickpeas and other ingredients, but whatever it's made out of it all it reminds me of is cat vomit. Now, I'm sure everyone is going to tell me to just try it, it's delicious, but listen, I have tried it, and it wasn't delicious, it wasn't as bad as I imagine cat vomit to be, but it wasn't something I'd seek out at a... well anywhere. The other reason I don't trust hummus is that I can't figure out where this hummus phenomenon came from, it's like one night I went to bed and nobody had heard of it, and the next day everybody is offering it to me. I'm sure that it's some kind of cult, somehow tied into carpet cleaning or as soap-selling pyramid scheme, maybe both. Sure, laugh laugh at me now, but 6 years from now, when you're a hummus addict and find that you can't stop shampooing your carpets with your over-priced mail-order hummus soaps, you'll wish you heeded my warning.

"Stand a little taller. Rise a little higher. Be a little better."

President Gordon B. Hinckley
June 23, 1910 - January 27, 2008

When my mom called on Sunday evening to let us know that President Hinckley had passed away, I must admit I was a little surprised. I have been preparing myself for this day for years now and will be the first one to admit that I have thought several General Conference talks over the past few years have been his farewell addresses. However, when I attended General Conference in October, I didn't feel that way. I was so energized by his spirit and humor, invigorated by his inspiration, and moved by the magnitude of his presence as a modern day prophet, that I came away with the feeling that the world was not yet ready for him to move on to the next life.

But, my sight was once again proven limited and he has been called to another calling. I rejoice for his beautiful wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley, for whom I am sure this reunion has been joyous. I smile because I am sure President Hinckley has not skipped a beat and that his energy and passion for life have continued with him. While he has left his earthly post as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, his mission continues.

In DC, as we are preparing to have another President, of our country, leave his post, there has been much talk of what this President's legacy will be. The talk has not generally been positive, and, in the end, his legacy, and those that have held the office before him, cannot compare to the legacy that President Hinckley has left behind and will continue to inspire.

I believe that no legacy is more important to President Hinckley than the legacies inspired in individual's lives. For me, President Hinckley will always be the prophet who signed my mission call, the 90-something-year-old prophet with more energy than I could imagine having, and the prophet who encouraged us to: "Stand a little taller. Rise a little higher. Be a little better." He will also be an ambassador for the church to the world. His appearances on talk shows, at the White House, and across the world with various religious and political leaders have helped to shape a very important public view of our church. The temples he was inspired to have built are providing opportunities for millions of people to have the blessings not available elsewhere.

I know that President Hinckley was a prophet of God. I was blessed to be able to attend many sessions of General Conference where I was able to sense the seriousness of his calling, while enjoying his humor and kindness. My parents blessed me with a love for attending General Conference and I spent many nights on the sidewalk to wait in line to be in his presence. I was also blessed to be in Martin's Cove, Wyoming when he dedicated a sacred site where early pioneers in the LDS church suffered, including my great-great-great-great grandmother. I also was blessed to be able to help people in Russia gain a testimony of this man whose presence they could not stand in. Their faithful testimonies strengthened mine and were blessed when he visited Russia, the first President of the church to do so.

I hope that I can continue to live the life that he taught us to live. May we all strive to: "Stand a little taller. Rise a little higher. Be a little better."

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Blog Stalking

I have been a blog stalker for quite some time now. Definitely for the last year, maybe longer. I love following links from one blog to another and looking at peoples' blogs whom I don't know (or barely know). I love finding great pictures and funny stories. As for me, I have had a couple of blogs (my trip to Poland, I started a blog for my family), but have never kept a regular personal blog. This is my attempt to change that.

When I returned from a month off of work for my wedding in November, I was shocked to find that, of all things, blogspot had been blocked from our computers because it is a "social networking" site. I was pretty disappointed and had resorted to having Will save and send me all the cute pictures of Sam that Becca was posting. Perhaps because he didn't like being my conduit, Will introduced me to Google Reader. It gives me all the updates (and comments) to the blogs I love to read on one page. And, I can read them at work. I like to say that it has cut down my daily time devotion to blog stalking, but really it's just freed up some of that time to find new blogs to stalk.

And, speaking of Google, I have to give a shout-out to what I like to call Google Texting. It has revolutionized my way of finding things. Send a text to Google (466453) and, almost instantly, it gives me what I'm asking for. I use "Google Texting" to find restaurants, stores, addresses, to look up flights, scores, and the weather. It's amazing. And free (if you have free text messaging). To find out how, follow the link above. Let's just say that I'm using many more of my 250 allotted text message per month now. And for anyone text-a-phobic, or who doesn't have text messages to spare, try out 1-800-Goog-411, a free alternative to 411. I discovered it while in San Francisco for work in September and haven't payed $1.25 to get a number since.

Heat Seaters

Some of you may refer to the as seat heaters, but to me they will always be heat seaters, and they will ALWAYS be. I can't imagine a car without them. Seriously, the other morning it was 23 degrees and I got into my car, turned on the heat seater, and started driving. I was almost to work when I realized that I was super toasty, and that I hadn't turned the heat on. Heat seaters are great in the winter, but they're also great year round when your backs a little sore, when it's just a little cool, or when it's cool but you want to feel the fresh air so you drive with the windows down. I'm very grateful for heat seaters. I'm also very grateful that Will's car has heat seaters. Their absence may have jeopardized our relationship. Love them.

And, last but not least, for today....

Mangoes and Sticky Rice

Hands down, my favorite dessert. Tonight, we decided to order pizza and ordered from the pizza place (Lost Dog Cafe - yummy) next to my favorite Thai place (Thai Noy - yummier) so that we (Will) could pick up mangoes and sticky rice for dessert. If you haven't tried it, you should. And, as far as desserts go, it's pretty healthy.

Wow. Two posts in one day. And, back to stalking I go.