Nose To The Grindstone

So to speak. I'm not actually wearing my nose thin, but I'm definitely working hard on figuring out a solution. 'To what', you may ask? To this little game called spring semester registration. That's right folks, once again I'm getting back into the school scene.... hopefully. Everything depends on whether or not I can convince HR at SDL to verify a tuition reduction waiver AND get the University to accept it. Without this little piece of paper, I cannot go to school in the spring. Sad day! I want to be in school so badly and the idea of taking another semester off is hard for me to swallow. But even with all this uncertainty, I'm still doing my darndest to get into the classes I need for next semester. That includes putting some classes off because they are MWF instead of TR. If everything goes according to my ideal plan, I will teach skiing on mondays and wednesdays while going to school tuesday/ thursday and cater in the evenings and on fridays. Whoo, that's a lot to say. But that's the goal!! Now, all I need to do is study and pass my ski instructor class to get this <------> much closer to my plan.

Personal Progress- Adult Style

The women of the church have been allowed to get their personal progress recognition awards again. This is really exciting for me and my friends. I got mine in high school, but I feel like I didn't go out of my way to learn something new. My two friends didn't even earn theirs. Together, we're going to work on them and get them by next summer. As part of the Virtue value we had to learn about the importance of sexual purity and what it means to be chaste. Now, we're all 20 year old women, and have been dating for four years now so we should have had these rules a long time ago. However, being silly teenagers, we never did. After some bumps and bruises along the line, we finally figured some things out. These are the rules we girls decided were critical as we look for the men we want to marry.

Rules of Intimacy:

*Lots of short kisses are great, long kisses and making out are not allowed.

*Bedrooms are off limits always. No matter what or who.

*No laying down together. Spooning, on top of each other or any other forms are not allowed. Not even when engaged.

*No dark places alone.

*Stay in areas of safety where you can easily control your physical feelings.

*Dates get three kisses: when you first see each other, once during the date, and at the doorstep after the date.

*Set a curfew, especially for engaged couples.

*"Dating is our time, engagement is family time"- When engaged, make a point of spending more time with your families and less time alone.

*When someone says "I'm done", no questions asked. You stop what you're doing.

*Cuddling and kissing at the same time is out.

*No touching inappropriate places with or without clothes! Including the bum area. Garment areas are the guideline. Above pant line, below bra line (all on the back), front is off limits including the stomach. Legs above mid thigh is off limits. Both on boys and for us.

*Don't talk about sexual things with guys, even casually, before engagement. Even then, it should only be between fiancées and never with other guys. Talk gets people aroused, and that's not ok.

*Never ask "How far have you gone?" That's inappropriate and nobody needs to know besides you and Heavenly Father.

*No cars! Cars are VL and should be left that way.

*No necking or petting.

Now, these rules aren't all things we need to work on. Many of them are simply the way it is, and obvious reminders to never go there. We believe in being bold in our convictions and stating the obvious truths to prevent damage. These rules are subject to being added on. Times are getting bad, we need to do our best to prevent it from becoming worse for ourselves, and the other women we love.

All Better

Yay! I'm not sick anymore! What a glorious, happy, healthy, capable feeling this is. I'm not often sick, and it's been years since I had anything more than a stuffy head and runny nose. So when I got what I assume was bronchitis (no, I didn't see the doctor), I was taken aback. Then this past week I had a serious sore throat and vertigo. Yeah, still don't know what I had (again, I didn't see the doctor). All I know is that now I can walk without feeling like I'll fall over and I can actually eat! So happy day for being healthy, and I'm sorry to all you who are sick out there.

This Just In

The good news is: I am close to my ultimate weight goal. The bad news is: I'm sick, so I think the reason I'm so low is that I haven't been eating.

The good news is: I still really enjoy my job. The bad news is: I get to work at 5:45 tomorrow morning. The better news is: I think I have a really good chance of being hired as a ski instructor at the Beav this season.

The bad news is: I broke up with Jared so I don't have someone to hang out with all the time. The worse new is: I called him Jordan while breaking up with him. The good news is: It's fair to him that I'm not taking up his time anymore when I shouldn't have been in a relationship with him in the first place.

The good news is: My face was on TV this past Sunday during the CES Broadcast with Elder Ballard. The great news is: We were able to sing True To The Faith in 4 languages, and it was really powerful. We sang in Spanish, Portuguese, English and Korean!

The good news is: I get paid today. The ok news is: I get to pay back my many debts. The silver lining news is: I finally have an income again!

So basically, life is plugging along. I have two callings in my ward, I get to help in the IWA (Institute Women's Association) and I am really excited for Thanksgiving. Things are going well, and this Christmas season should be a particularly cold, but happy one.