Funny you should ask...

To recap my last few months...
I've been steadily working away at the NMC.
I went to Colorado for my 99 Class reunion. Suprisingly, I really enjoyed myself at the reunion. I knew I'd love seeing my old friends and hanging out in the gorgeous mountains that make up the Rocky range. But to actually go the reunion, I was a little skeptical. I really enjoyed seeing people that I haven't seen in a while. I shook hands with people who I didn't think knew me in high school, but knew my name and were actually excited to see me. We toured our high school and saw a lot of great new additions and changes to it's structure! I really wish I could have seen a few of the teachers, but it was still so much fun. I loved hanging out with some of my close friends while traveling through the great state of Colorado! It sincerely was such a great trip.
Before my trip, my new roommate Michael and I found a great place to live. I was the only one to scope it out before the actual agreement was made; I was a little concerned with all that pressure. But it turns out to be a great place indeed! My old roommate/landlord wanted me out by the end of July, but I was in CO during that time. He and my new roommate were kind enough to move all of my stuff to the new apartment for me! It was such a relief to come home and find everything already moved!
I settled in for a few days and then another great friend of mine came down for a week. I took off another week and we did things that frightened fish! We went to Avery Island; the Laura, Shadows on the Teche and San Francisco plantation homes; and then toured New Orleans. It was great to catch up with Stephanie; we haven't seen each other since before my mission, about 8 years ago...eek! We both have changed but for the better, we decided. We've matured and it was really neat to see someone who knew me when I was a "kid" and to now see me as more of an adult and notice the difference.
Right before Stephanie got here, I developed a crappy cough. I took some meds/herbals/vitamins and I still have an annoyance version of it, but nothing too serious. It's so much better, except for when I "honk" in the middle of sacrament meeting.

"Hey, whatcha' doin?" "Runnin!"

A movie quote as the title of my blog, from one of my favorites. Can anyone guess it?

So, my 10 year class reunion is coming up soon; 2.5 weeks. I definitely look different than I did when I went to school. I never really thought, though, that I'd do much about it when it came down to it. I'm sure I'm at least 40 lbs heavier than when I graduated and I know I won't lose it in time. However, I looked in the mirror a couple of days ago and seriously frowned. So, I started running. It'll at least help me feel better by the time I go. PLUS, I'll have better lung capacity for when I travel to a place 3,000 feet higher than here. I actually like running. I like the way it helps my body feel better and definitely eases tension. It also helps me to keep myself limber. I'm so afraid I won't be able to play with my kids, whenever I have them. Honestly, I need to find a dance partner to go dancing with.

Ok, enough random thoughts for tonight.

Visually impaired

I'm still fairly new to the whole contact scene. I know Ouizer has been a pro at contacts for years but my eyesight has been good for my whole life; until about 2 years ago. I've had contacts, now, for about 3 mos. I can put them in without getting frustrated with myself or dropping the contact in the sink or down my shirt or shouting at myself in the mirror "You can do this, now c'mon." Well, I've been trying to build up a tolerance for using the contacts longer than they are prescribed for. Everyone else says they wear theirs longer than they are told to.

This week was somewhere in the 3-4 weeks range for this certain pair of contacts. I was at work-in front of a computer and I had this headache and I knew it was from the contacts. So I went to the bathroom to take them out. I took the left one out like normal and then reached over to take the right one out with my left hand. After doing so, I noticed that my left eye contact was gone and I must have dropped it. I looked around but couldn't find it. I threw my right contact away, shrugged my shoulders and went back to work.

The rest of the day, though, things were weird with my vision. Everything was so blurry out of my left eye. My right eye was a little blurry too but not too much out of the ordinary. The next morning, I woke up and the problem was still there. I got really worried. I went all that day and afternoon wondering what was wrong with my left eye. As I was sitting that evening, in my institute class, I was rubbing my right eye because it was sore. Wouldn't ya' know it, my contact popped out. As I played my internal tape back, my left contact must have slid into my right eye when I extracted the right one. EUREKA! I even slept with it in and didn't even notice. INSANE! I was so happy. Ok, so, I'm simple and cute, but this was amazing and I'm happy that I'm not going blind as quickly as I thought.

The Last Task

I attend a class on Tuesday nights called Institute. It's a scripture based study program for young adults. This semester we are studying the parables of Christ from the New Testament. One of our assignments this semester was to write a parable. I've written mine and posted it below. Enjoy!

The Last Task

by Timothy Garner

After the end of a long day, an aged woman came to her final task. The new job she acquired left one room to be cleaned in this home of extravagant size. With her grayed hair matted and plastered to her head with sweat and grime, she wiped her brow and rolled her stained sleeves past her elbows. As her wise eyes surveyed the room, she thought this would be the quickest of all the rooms she’s cleaned thus far and her day would end shortly.

She filled her trusty metal bucket with warm water mixed with cleaning solution. She placed her moistened rag to the mirror and wiped the stained, spotted glass. As she scrubbed, the room began to appear brighter as the light from above reflected. A pair of lips creased into a smile and met the gaze of its owner. She spoke a sigh of completion. She next moved to the counter, the sink, under the soap dish, around the stainless steel faucet. As her rag became dirtier with every wipe she realized this dirt had been here for a while and it took a little more effort to release it from its resting place. She moved to the tub.

She drew back the curtain and realized her quick thought job would be much longer. She knelt down; scrubbed, polished and made things shine like before; clean. Her task was almost complete. She swept the floor and then removed the rug from its place. As she did, she realized that the floor use to be pristine white but now was an off color. Her shoulders dropped. She was tired. Sweat poured into her eyes but she pressed on. As she ran down the bristles of her brush upon the tiled floor, she knew it would never be as white as it originally was. She was so worried that it wouldn’t be clean. Her long job was not yet complete and how could she call her work complete. On a stroke forward, her brush slipped through the suds on the floor and her body collapsed on the wet soapy floor. She began to pick herself up when she heard footsteps in the hall. The owner of the house was returned.

Before she could think, he entered the bathroom. He bent down and grabbed her elbow and helped the woman to her sore feet. By now, she was crying. He wiped the tears from her worn eyes and asked, “Why are you crying?” She looked at him and did not know where to start. But without thought, she said, “ This floor will not be any cleaner than it is now and I’m very worried that you would not have me in your house any longer. I have done all I can.” His smile made her heart stop and then he replied, “Please, leave this floor for me. I will replace every tile. The floor will be white again and made new.” Her worn eyes sparkled as he guided her out of her last task.

Many manly lessons learned

Almost 2 weeks ago, I pulled into the institute parking lot and my car sputtered a bit. I thought it was strange, but then again, I'm not a mechanic(please remember this fact as you continue reading this post). As I departed my meetings, my car wouldn't start. Now, I've had car problems before. Luckily, my father and uncle's knowledge of vehicle maintenance far surpasses my own. But this car calamity could not have occurred at a less than opportune time! I was in the midst of planning a huge she-bang for the Young Single Adults for my church. I needed a vehicle all day Friday to run errands and it wasn't looking good. However, my father took his day off and drove from Ville Platte to help fix it. About 4 hours, a good $200, some choice words, and 4 middle aged men later, my vehicle was up and running. My uncle said that my fuel filter needs to be changed out at least every other oil change. My oil needed to be changed that day, but I waited. The problem existed because my fuel filter was clogged and it over-worked my fuel pump and it died. Needless to say, I'll replace the $10 fuel filer as apposed to the $120 fuel pump.

This past weekend, I went to my parent's house for Easter. We enjoyed ourselves. My main reason for going out there was the shoot guns. I own two rifles, a .22 and a .270. I've shot the both a few times, but not in the past 10 years or so. I really wanted to feel comfortable with them since they are mine. I'm not an NRA member, but I definitely feel it's my responsibility if I ever have to provide for my future family, how to shoot. So, we drove out to a gorgeous park by the Atchfalya River where a shooting range is. We shot my .22 and my dad's 9mm. It was enjoyable. I felt a little scared at first, but more confident as I learned how they worked. After we returned home, my dad showed me how to clean them. Not only did it make me feel better about myself, but it also was a nice bonding moment with my dad!

Now, back to my car. I changed my oil Saturday. This is the second time I've done it by myself-remember, not a mechanic!! But I did so and asked my dad to change my fuel filter and show me how. He did so. On my way back home today, I glanced down at my gas gauge and noticed it was decreasing quite rapidly. In a matter of 3 miles, I lost about a 1/4 tank of gas. I pulled into a gas station, put my car in park got out to notice that gas was spilling out of my the location where my fuel filter is. I immedeately turned off my car and said a prayer. I've learned praying is a lot more effective than cussing, try it! I put my car in neutral and rolled it forward so I didn't have to lay in gasoline. I looked under where the filter was and notice that a clip was not tight around the filter. I tried to fix it myself, but later down the road, realized it wasn't completely fixed. I called my dad to help out. He walked me through the steps. Even though I was smart the first time, frustration took over the second and I laid in a small pool of gas. After several minutes of playing with it, I heard the magical "click". It was in place. As I drove the rest of the way home, my eyes were glued to the gas gauge. I thanked my father in heaven that something more serious didn't happen and I was able to replace it.

Prayer works, my friends. And thanksgiving must follow!

Until he's fine'

"The time has come, for one and all..." I have now read two series of books. I've read more books in the last year than I've read in my whole lifetime. I just finished the Harry Potter series about an hour ago. I think it took me about 9 months, can anyone else correct me on that? I can't quite remember when I started them, but it's done.

Since the Deathly Hallows is fresh on my mind, I will discuss it. If you have yet to read them and wish to still be surprised, stop reading now! STop it! STOP!!!

Ok. The book was packed till the very end. There were some slow spots during the forest camping scenes, but all together the book moved quickly. Hermione cried a lot. Harry was completely arrogant and much too iconic-like. I loved the fact at the end where he called him Riddle. However, Riddle's death left something more. I completely see the reason why he died the way he did. I see the simplistic symbolism that he died by his own hand and by the same spell that wounded him in the beginning. Also, that Harry didn't need to kill him. But it left me wanting more.

The epilogue was enjoyable and made me smile. I loved the fact that Harry named his children after his parents and Albus Severus. And please know, I NEVER gave up on Severus. He was my sad little boy who never got picked throughout the whole series. I rooted for him.

The series is recommended! If you haven't read them back to back, I suggest it!

Well done J.K. I would love to meet you one day!

The saga continues

So, my contacts. I'm not completely sure the contact in my right eye is the correct Rx. The left one feels just fine, except for when it's in all day. But the right one needs to help, I'm sure.

As far as Harry Potter goes, he's just seen his Aunt and Uncle for the last time and realized that Dudley actually thanks him for saving his life. GO FIGURE. If you're a HP fan, you'll know which book I'm on.

So, I watch Oliver tonight for the first time. I really enjoyed it. It's got a great story even though Nancy is an absolute twit and, well, you'll have to watch it.

I see that it's needful for me to obtain another place of residence. If you can tell me where that quote is from, I'll love you forever. My roommate is getting married and I am no longer welcome in his home. Well, that sounds dramatic, doesn't it?! So, I'm looking on Craig's list for a new room to call my own for my life has been altered and once it can change again. (if you can name that quote, I'll give you a huge hug-no cheating!!) I have found a few places, here's a laugh for ya. Bytheway, these are only a few places I've considered.

For one place, the owner of the home asked me e-mail him a picture of myself. Yeah, I know.

Another place, one of the roommates was discussing his hip surgery and how he's on disability. The other one said he was just laid off-but oh, it get's better. The first roommate had his shirt off and I noticed his huge scar. I mentioned it and he preceded to pull his pants down to show me three more scars on his butt. Yeah, I know!

Needless to say, I'm still looking. I mean, who pulls their pants down on the first visit?

It was so nice to meet you...SO nice!