This past Saturday night, I was headed down to Springville for a night of girlie, silly fun with cousins Emily and Stephanie. On my way there, I stopped at Subway to get a sandwich and at the 7-Eleven to pick up some bottled water, gum, and - yes - a Slurpee. When I took my selections to the counter to pay, the cashier lady with an incredible deep smoker's voice had just gone around to the ATM to get some cash, and the other cashier (a guy) was at the other end of the counter behind the hot dogs, eating what I only assumed was his dinner. The following exchange took place:

Smoker Lady: Oh, I'm sorry hon! I thought you were still shopping! Give me just a sec to get my cash out of this ATM.
Me: No problem, I'll just wait, I don't mind.
Hot Dog Guy: Idbff hepfff yourfp buft Imsf stufmin fcpf. (Translation: I'd help you, but I'm stuffing my face.)
Me: (Laughing) Don't worry about it, I'm about to do the same thing.
SL: Good grief, this ATM is slow! Sorry about that Hon!
HDG: (Finishes chewing his food and comes to ring me up) I can help you now.
SL: (Walking up to me) Oh my goodness, LOOK at your hair! It looks so soft... ooohh, can I just... oh I want to touch it, can I? (Proceeds to pet my hair) It is SO soft! (Turns to Hot Dog Guy) Don't you wish YOU could feel it? It's so soft!
HDG: (Laughs) Yeah, but she might think I'm weird.
Me: (giggling nervously) Yeah, that might be a bit creepy!
SL: I can tell when people will let ME touch them, hon, and you just look like the type! As a matter of fact, you look like the type that would let me HUG you! (proceeds to give me a tight side-hug)
Me: Um, yeah, I like hugs! (I put my arm lightly around her and sort-of hug her back)
SL: See? (proceeds to hug me again)
HDG: (opens his mouth wide to laugh and exposes a giant stud in his tongue) HAHAHA!! Darlin', your Slurpee is on us! Have a good evening!
Me: Haha! Thanks guys, you too!

AWESOME. I love the 7-Eleven.

I Love to See the Temple...

I try to refrain from writing political or religious rants on my blog, but sometimes I give in, if it's something that I'm REALLY passionate about. I don't want to be offensive to any of my three blog readers (haha) - I want them to come back and visit Meloo!

Today, though I have to write just a few paragraphs about my gratitude for the temple. I feel so blessed (and spoiled!) to live in a valley where I can see THREE of them, driving South on I-15. People in other states and countries have to travel miles to get to one - they often have to save up all their money and take day-or-week-long trips to visit one. And I have the good fortune to be living in a place where I can get to any of SIX temples in anywhere from 10 minutes to 40 minutes from my home, spending only a few gallons of gas in my car.

I don't know why I don't attend more often. Life gets in the way, perhaps? I'm just lazy? I don't know. But now I have this incredible opportunity to actually work in the Draper Temple every Saturday morning. I have to be there by 5:00 a.m. to change, and then there's a prayer meeting at 5:15. I'm there until 11:00 a.m., and then I go home. After having done this for a month, I can honestly say I don't miss sleeping in on Saturdays! It IS an adjustment - my alarm goes off at 3:45 on Saturday morning, and being the night owl that I am, it's hard to get to bed at a decent and get enough sleep. But I'll get used to it - because I LOVE being in the temple every Saturday morning. I love the peace, the serenity, and the beauty of the temple.

Why, you ask? Why give up precious Saturdays and sleeping in? Well, why NOT? I don't have a reason NOT to do it. I'm not married, I don't have children, I don't have a weekend job, and I'm not in school - I have the time. Why not spend some of it serving in a peaceful place that makes me happy? I admit that I am one of very few younger people that work there; but since Grandma passed away almost 6 months ago, I've missed her so much - and now I have an opportunity to spend 6 hours with a few dozen grandmas on Saturday mornings! Fantastic.

I love the temple.

Easter Peeps

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! Mine was pretty busy, but I managed to find a little time for for spiritual reflection and focused on gratitude for our Savior and His life.

I also managed to find time for a little fun... I heard a couple of people at work talking about making a Peeps Cake for an Easter dessert. I had no idea what a "Peeps Cake" was or how to make one, but I was intrigued enough to try it out. This is what my mom and I came up with:

Fun, huh?

It ended up pretty tasty, too! It was my mom's chocolate cake with white frosting and coconut dyed green, for grass. Very festive.

Now, if only SPRING would stick around so we could see some REAL green grass...

Just DO it.

I've actually been making an effort to make exercise a priority lately. I don't have a spouse or children that make it hard to get to the gym regularly; plus there are two really obnoxious dogs at home that demand that I take them for a walk the minute I walk in the door after work, so that makes going for a 10-15 minute walk every day really easy. (Seriously, they demand a walk whether I've just been to the gym or church, have heels or running shoes on, or whether it's rain, snow, or shine.)

So I have a gym buddy that I go to the gym with two or three times a week, and I also try to get to one spin class a week, and try to jog a couple of miles on Saturdays too. I'm also kind-of re-vamping the way I eat, although I still like to go out once in a while and enjoy places like the Cheesecake Factory (YUM). So hopefully I will be more healthy, now that eating right and exercising isn't just about getting skinny; it's about actually taking care of my body. I just need to hang on to the self-control I begged the Lord to help me find, and believe that I can do this... I CAN.

P.S. - Getting back into running sucks when you've been out of the habit for over a year and a half. OUCH.

Thanks a LOT, Mother Nature

It's APRIL!!!!

Oh wait, we're in Utah. It's April.

This was my commute this morning (and yes, those are my gloves on the vents, drying off after getting soaked brushing snow off my car):

Great April Fool's joke, Mother Nature. I'm laughing really hard. Really.