For example, just last week was a very exercise-y week. There was a group of people that got together and did yoga, taught by one of our staff members that knew how to teach! And then the next day I went with a group of girls to the pool and we totally did water aerobics. I just love it how even though I'm all the way out here in the mountains, far away from any yoga studio or gym or anything like that, that it's still possible and fun to exercise! Plus I get to do it with all of my friends, which is better than exercising alone.
Let's see. Oh yeah! Even though it can be a little slow and boring sometimes, I'm really loving working in the store up here. I kind of like that I've trained myself to be an attentive store worker- what I mean is, when I walk around the store, I automatically see things that need to be done, whether it's restocking or cleaning or whatever. It's like a second nature and I love knowing how everything operates and finally feeling like I'm out of that phase where I'm still not sure what goes where and what I should do if this or that happens. If anything, I'm the one who does know what to do when crises arise. I feel like I'm getting some really good skills with dealing with stress under pressure, or dealing with hectic situations. I totally love it!
I have to say though, that one of the downsides of being at a BYU/Mormon-ish camp is the serious lack of caffeine. I mean, if I was working somewhere else, it wouldn't be a problem, cause I'd just go to the store and get some when I needed it. But since I'm all the way up here in the mountains, car-less, no less- I'm stuck without it. Fortunately, there are some generous people who are willing to share when I am in desperate need. It's not like I'm addicted and I have to have my caffeine, but sometimes the late nights add up and I just need the extra boost to get me through the day. (PS, thanks Scott for the Dr. Pepper... I knew you'd give in eventually.)
The lack of caffeinated beverages aside, I have to say that I absolutely love my job. I really do. This last weekend, our managers totally set up an activity for us to go ice skating at Seven Peaks and paid for us and everything! It was soo nice of them, and it was lots of fun skating with all my friends. I hadn't been ice skating in a while, so I fell a couple times.. but just a couple. Now I have a real big nifty bruise on my knee, but I think it was worth it. :)
After we went ice skating, one of my friends up here, Becca, had a birthday party at her house, which was also great fun. I got into a pretty serious game of Curses, and afterwards my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much. Don't you just love nights like those? Where you literally are in physical pain because you were having so much fun laughing and smiling, or whatever you were doing? I've only played Curses a couple times, but I think it's quickly becoming a favorite, because it is SO much fun. Basically, you do "challenges" (give a beauty pageant acceptance speech, place someone under arrest, tell why dogs are better than cats, etc.) Once you've completed the challenge, then you draw a curse card, which you can then place on any player. Examples of curses: Every time you laugh, you must follow by saying, with a serious face, "That is not funny." Or, every time someone touches you, you have to say, "You're always after me lucky charms!" with an Irish accent. Or, every time someone rings the bell, profess your eternal love and devotion to them. Basically, you ring the bell when you catch someone not doing their curse. As the game goes on and people get more and more curses put on them, it gets funnier and funnier. It's seriously an awesome game.
I also went and saw Toy Story 3 this last weekend! I LOVED it! I think that it was everything a Toy Story movie should be, and yes, I definitely cried at the end of it. There are a couple other movies coming out or that are already out that I still want to see.. Letters to Juliet, Despicable Me.. those both look super good.
Okay, also- I can't remember if I've blogged about this before or not so I'm just going to talk about it anyways. At the end of May, Aspen Grove brought in this professional who does personality assessments. All of the staff had to take the personality assessment online and then bring our results to the seminar and he taught us about them. It was seriously so cool, and it totally opened my eyes to a lot of different perspectives. It was super interesting because most of the stuff was super dead on for my personality. Basically, it's broken down into four different categories: Dominant, Expressive, Amiable and Analytical. Everyone has their first prominent trait, and then a second one that's your second most prominent. So you could be Dominant/Analytical or Analytical/Expressive. Usually it's two different things. For me, I was Expressive/Expressive, which honestly, wasn't a huge surprise. Basically, Expressives are the ones that talk with their hands, who feel their emotions deeply, who need to talk out their problems. They mostly care about relationships with others and they need to see the big picture in situations. Basically, it's me, completely. Anyways, it really helped me understand myself better and now I totally recognize my "expressive" tendencies. Here's a brief overview of the other ones: Analyticals: they're the thinkers- they like processes and they usually wait to think a little longer before answering a question because they don't want to give an answer that isn't right. Amiables: they avoid conflict at all cost, and they like keeping people happy. They're usually quieter and are more at ease when you're on the same level with them, talking in a softer tone. Dominants: these are the ones that would be labeled "Type A" personality- the ones that just want to get the job done. They don't hold grudges; once something's resolved, they move on. They see things in black and white and they don't tiptoe around people's feelings. I learned SO much from the seminar thing and I use what I learned every day. Here's the blog that can tell you more about it: http://persogenics.blogspot.com. On that page you'll find the link to take the free assessment. It's a little frustrating at times because you have to pick what you're most and least like, and sometimes it's hard to pick just one. But just do it and it'll give you a full, detailed explanation about how you see yourself, how others see you, and how you are at work. It's really cool!
Oh, on a more disgusting note, we found a dead mouse under the couch today! There was a horrible smell in our lobby and we couldn't find or figure out what it was. So we moved some furniture, and there he was, Mr. Dead Mouse. We ended up vacuuming and air-freshening and what not. It was super gross, but at least the smell is gone!
Like I said, I just keep thinking about the little things that I love up here. The simple things that make life so great. They just keep popping into my head! Like how there's always some kind of activity going on. We have a white dry- erase board hanging up in our lobby and it's always full to the brim with announcements about FHE or some sports tournament or a movie night or a game night or some hike that someone is planning. It's so great. I think a friend of mine and I are going to try to have a swing dance night sometime soon, which I think would be awesome. I haven't been swing dancing in a while, and I wouldn't mind learning a few new lifts!
Also, I think I'm a part of an unofficial late-nighters club. Lately I've been staying up late, and there are usually the same 3 or 4 people that stay up as late as I do. Sometimes we talk to each other, sometimes we just do our own thing. But we're usually up as late as 12- 2:30. Unfortunately, I'm very much starting to feel the negative effects of this. So I've decided that I'm making it a personal goal to go to bed early this week- and by early I mean by 11 or 11:30. It's hard to go to bed earlier than that because of the way the dorms are set up- it's just too noisy and you hear everyone talking because it's an open ceiling and a curtain for a door.
Speaking of goals, I've recently had a renewal in my determination to see through my goals that I set at the beginning of the summer. So far (and by so far, I mean in the last week and a half-ish) I've been doing pretty well! Here are my goals:
- Read more! In particular, the Work and the Glory series. (I've read it before, but I want to read it again after taking LDS history last semester.) Right now I'm in the middle of like 5 different books, and only one of them is Work in the Glory.
- Get tan! (What's great about this one is that I can tan and read at the same time, knock two birds out with one stone!)
- Exercise- well, I'm working on it. :)
- Write more. I'll be honest, I haven't done this one at all, besides blogging. I really need to do some poetry and short stories, cause I really haven't in a while.
- Sing more! This one I'm definitely doing. There's the down time in the store which I use to sing, not to mention singing in choir and the random solos that I'll do in church and at firesides. (That happened last night, I sang How Great is the Miracle by Sally DeFord with one of my friends- go to defordmusic.com and check it out: it's got some serious gorgeous harmonies in there.)
And the best part is that after the summer is over, we're still going to be living in the same city, going to the same school as each other. I love that it doesn't have to be over after this summer.
OH! Okay I promise this is my last little thing. I just love the firesides up here. We have a fireside every week, with different speakers and different topics. I just really love being so spiritually enlightened and to be able to learn so much. I feel like I'm really learning things that are important to my life, and I'm more open to receiving answers to my prayers . AND I love my choir that I conduct up here. We have fun together and they sound amazing.
Anyways. Basically, nothing's changed. I still love it here, and I still am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity that I have to be in this beautiful place with these beautiful people. :)
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