Burns, Ice, and the FORCE

This past month has basically been a blast. My ward is amazing. No but really. SO AMAZING. I have the greatest friends. I always seem to get lucky in that regard.

To begin, I had two firsts! 1.) I stepped foot in Idaho! Super exciting. For some reason I had this extreme desire to eat a potato the second we passed the state line. ...strange.

2.) We went to Bear Lake! It was North Beach, which may be one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to!

My first look at Bear Lake

Now, for those who know me, you know that while the water at the beach is pretty fun, there is nothing much that Kelene loves more than sand! Oh, what FUN!

 

Zach, Me, and Rachel

 Basically we are awesome. That's all.

So everyone got sunburned on that trip. EVERYONE. You could almost feel the pain emanating from the congregation at church the next day. Rule #1, If you think you should touch someone's shoulders, DON'T! 

And what's more fun than ice-skating with a sunburn? Because that's what we did for FHE that following Monday. 

And it was a blast! You were just reaaaalllllyyy careful and didn't fall down if you didn't want to feel the pain of a thousand suns.

 Me with a few friends:: Steve and Jenni

I also went thrift shopping again. I needed a plain white shirt for catering at work when all of the sudden...

PIRATE SHIRT!

I bought it. Because I love it. And I feel swanky. Come at me bro. I'm a pirate. 

Maybe I'll be a pirate zombie for HvZ this semester!

And, FINALLY after all these years I pulled through and watched Star Wars (the originals). 

ABOUT TIME! Why didn't someone force (haha) me to watch them LONG before this? What have I been missing in my life? Luke Skywalker? Han Solo? I am such an addict. I need to watch them all again. Just the originals. I have forsaken the prequels. I used to think they were good. NO LONGER! Hahahaa, I love this series, can you tell?

Anyway. Life is good. Like always. Thanks for reading. You are awesome ;)

Questions, Part XII

56. Your house is on fire. What five items do you grab before you leave?

           This would be super easy, considering all of my stuff fits in about a ten boxes.

1. Phone. It's important for contacting people and whatnot.

2. Wallet. It has my second most important things (like money and my recommend).

3. Computer. It's the most expensive thing I own. And nice for checking e-mail and blogging about hypothetical fires.

4. Scriptures/Scripture journal. Too much time and effort have gone into these bad boys to just give it all up to a bottomless hunger like fire.

5. My journal-journal. It's a great little thing. It makes me smile when I go back and read. Gets me through the hard times (like having everything else in my apartment burn).

57. If you could be/had to be the main character of any movie, who would you be?

              I could do a cop-out and say Doctor Who, but that's technically a TV show. Alright, fallback to a favorite of mine: Stardust. Stormhold is a pretty slick place.

58. Tell us why your name is your name. 

              *In a monotone-I've-said-this-a-thousand-times kind of voice* My dad's name is Ken, my mom's name is Falene. They took the first two letters of my dad's name and the last four of my mom's name KE-LENE.

*ta-da*

59. What is the greatest place you've ever traveled to?

           Toss up between San Carlos, Mexico and Chicago, Illinois, USA.Chicago just felt so real. I could see myself living there. I loved the public transit and walking for blocks and being able to observe the city as you passed it by. I love the pizza and the little shops and the whole atmosphere of aliveness that suffused the air.

           San Carlos was probably the complete opposite. It's so relaxed and beautiful. You could spend eternity there and you wouldn't eb able to tell that time was passing.

60. Are you a morning person or a night person?

            For realsies a morning person. If you read my journal this past semester you would think I'm a night person (thanks friends) but I much prefer to get everything done in the morning. I feel much more accomplished that way.

Although I must admit that Utah screws this all up. For goodness' sakes why does the sun rise at 7 and set at 9:30? Whose idea was this? I went to bed the other day at 9:30 or so and didn't feel a tad bit tired. Thanks Utah sun. I blame you for this terrible transition.

Everybody has a Story

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/54595435385/what-was-the-happiest-moment-of-your-life-when

Everybody has a story. It's something I'm trying to learn. And it is so profoundly difficult.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be like God. To see every single person, every worry, every triumph, and every passing moment of wonder and every mundane point in each life. I was reading in Moses and can you even imagine that feeling of seeing the whole history of the world at once? It was the briefest glimpse of what the Savior saw. He saw each of us. Every intricate detail of our lives. 

I can't even do that in my own life. If I could even do that for my own experience I would be able to change so much. It's hard to see the direction of the river when you see it from the perspective of the fish. 

A friend of mine posted a link to a blog, and I found this incredible story:

“Everyone has a story.”

I had a professor in college who tried to teach me that.

He constantly told our class of young wanna-be news reporters that everyone we met had a story.  It was our job to find the story within them.

He claimed that’s what the best reporters do.

Tonight I ate dinner at a small restaurant tucked deep in the rolling hills outside of Austin.

One of those at my table was an executive who shared something he did in a meeting with his mid-level managers last week.  During an offsite with these supervisors he asked them to share one of the greatest struggles they’ve had in their lives.

Wow.

What a question.

Great leaders ask questions like those.  We need more leaders in business who care.  About their people.

His employees each took their turn revealing challenges they’ve endured.

When it got to a fairly new hire she began by saying she was going to tell something few people knew about her.

She spoke of being an only child raised by parents who were only children.  There was no such thing as extended family.

When she got married she was thrilled to have found someone to journey with through life.  They had a child.  She was so excited to be a mom.

But then her husband became addicted to drugs.  She tried to convince him to stop.  He wouldn’t.  Instead he turned into a violent monster that started to destroy her life.

As the months wore on it finally got so bad one night that he tried to kill her.

He was armed and standing on the other side of the door desperately trying to get to her as she held their child against her chest.

She debated doing it but the fear was so intense she decided she had to dial 911 on the phone in her hand.  As the cops came he fled.

She decided she had to leave.  Quick.  And, for good.

She rushed to pick up each of her son’s toys.  And a few of her clothes.  She threw them into bags and headed to her car.  As she left she thought of all the things in their home she was leaving behind.

She had worked hard to earn the money to buy each item in that home.  And now she was giving them up.

She not only left that home.  She left that city.  And state.

She put the items she was able to grab into her car, loaded her son into his car seat, and drove to a new city far away.

She needed a new start.  A new life.

When she and her son got to her destination she immediately began looking for a job.  And was ultimately hired by this company.

As she finished telling her story this young mom looked around the room into the wet eyes of her coworkers and said, “This is more than a job to me.  Now you know why I must succeed here.”

And in an instant everyone saw someone in the room who wasn’t there minutes before.  This woman was suddenly no longer just another coworker.

I’m grateful for the reminder at dinner tonight that I need to talk less and more frequently ask others to tell me their story.

People look different when we know who they really are.

I realize now that professor wasn’t just teaching me how to be a good news reporter.  He was teaching me compassion.  We show it when we simply ask, “What’s your story?”

Can you imagine how the world would change if we cared about others' stories? An institute teacher of mine once told me that college is the hardest time in your life because in all actuality it is all about you. This is your future. And everything you do right now affects your entire future. So how can we focus on others? It's one of the most important obstacles to overcome.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. But I suppose it's a reminder to myself that other people exist. I'm just a background figure to essentially 100% of the world population. And it's good to remember that sometimes it's their turn to be the main character. 

Best of luck.

The Swing of Summer

Hello there, beautiful. Yes, I mean you. Nice to see you again. A bit has happened since my last post. The good, the bad, the ugly. Same old, same old :) I'm finally into the swing of summer, and if I had a picture of myself on a swing, that would be hilariously punny. Alas, I do not.

First off, I drove down to Salt Lake to cater at the Arts Festival and stayed with my wonderful great Uncle George. He is such a great man. I agree with my father--I want to grow up to be just like him. 

I brought Le Roi Bleu with me to keep me company on the long drive.

Speaking of which, I love long car drives. I shudder at the thought of driving in a city (especially Salt Lake City!) but put me at the wheel for hours on end? I love it. 3 hours is my favorite. It's such a great drive!

Anyway, this is the Arts Festival. I didn't get to walk around quite as much as I would have liked, but it's not like I have money anyway! I would love to go spend a day there next year however. 

In other news, my ward is incredible. I think they are making a real effort to get everyone excited for activities this summer. We had a cardboard boat race, and if they hadn't insisted on having two passengers, I think our boat would have fared wonderfully. ...Instead it collapsed within 20 seconds, same as everyone else's. So we raced to drag our boats across the river and back.

This river, in fact. If you can tell the difference between the brown-ish water and the teal water, the brown part is mud that is thigh deep that we had to walk through, then legitimate swimming in the teal area.

It was freezing. Probably no more than 45 degrees. BUT SO WORTH IT.

My whole team was amazing. Another group was beating us, but my team ran into the water and held them back so that me and my swimming partner, Cole (featured below), completely won.

I wish I could have snapped a picture of our boat, but she was dragged away before I could grab my camera. Long live Pope Hope I!

And, of course, Rachel and I are still chilling. My favorite it when we get fabulous coupons for A&W. ...Like $1 Rootbeer Floats!

Speaking of ice-cream, I am loving my job. My co-workers are just great and the light-hearted rivalry between my place of employment and Rachel's (Aggie Ice-cream) is fun to play off of.

Especially when a man like this comes in wearing an Aggie Ice-cream T-shirt and orders Cold Stone. I think we all know who the winner is!

And occasionally Logan graces me with a brilliant sunset. I wish a picture could capture the majesty of this evening. The clouds were awash with color and there was a slender rainbow curving ever so gently through the sky. It was beautiful.

And, of course, I had my monthly get-together with some of my favorite people. Ever. ....Eva. :D

 You've probably all heard of my bike accident. It wasn't too bad, but I have some psychedelic injuries. The best is this picture of my knee 4 days after the fact.

And, finally, I've been doing a TON of art. I took a short break from my commissions to paint some things for myself. There are a few others, but here is my newest acquisition:

I think I'd like to start doing this for a fun little business. Paint a pair of shoes, sell them, use profits to buy another pair to paint, sell those, etc. etc. What do you think a good price for a pair of these beauties should be? Would you be interested in buying a pair (not this design specifically, obviously).

I love you all. For reals. Never change.

:)

PS- I got into the Spanish Class I wanted! Next time I visit Uncle George, maybe I can say more than 'Hello' en español!

Diary of a Cold Stone Creamery Crew Member II

19 June 2013
I've been trying some new concoctions (of my own making!) lately. The first was Amaretto with cheesecake bites and cherries. FLIPPIN GOOD. Another was a mix of Banana and Oatmeal Cookie Batter with cinnamon, pecan, and chocolate shavings (basically banana bread). DELISH.

Today was also really funny because I worked with Brandon and Makell (probably my two favorite people to work with) and Brandon kept saying I smelled good and Makell was jealous of my hair, hahaha. I did absolutely nothing today to deserve those compliments, bahaha.

It was really fun! And I didn't mess up one order :)

3 July 2013
This will be my last post. I've finally gotten into the swing of things. And let me tell you, work is so great.

The quote that 'work is a spiritual necessity, if not an economic one' is absolutely true. I feel so right when I am working. I can leave anything and everything at the door and just do my job, serving people.  I don't think of my life at all when I am there. I just scoop ice-cream, chat with customers and mess around with my co-workers. I love it.

It's really interesting that I never knew what I was missing out on. Sure the hours are long, and your feet are sore at the end of a long shift, and it can get a little repetitive, but it is just so worth it. To know that you are earning your keep. That you are giving your best to work right.

Welcome to the working world, Kelene. Have a nice stay :)