Love, love, love

I spent six of the last seven years of my life serving in my ward's YW organization. I was a Beehive Adviser, 2nd Counselor, President and Secretary. I'm in Primary now and it's a good thing. It's nice to do something different, to work with fun, new people and to just have a break from all that goes into serving with the youth of our church.

Tonight I attended our stake's Seminary graduation. As I was walking in, a woman in my ward said "I would think that not having kids would give you a free pass tonight." It didn't come out mean - just a little incredulous that I would choose to be there. But five of the graduates were girls I first met as they turned twelve and became Beehives. I also was their leader for three of the six years they attended YW Camp. I looked at them standing up in the front and remembered them as little twelve year old girls -- nervous and excited about everything. Now they're graduating, all going to Rexburg or Provo next year and then who knows what else life has in store for them.

One YW in particular just impresses me to no end. She had four years of perfect attendance in early morning seminary and got her seminary pin for all four years as well. Oh and by the way, she didn't even get baptized until partway through her first year of seminary. Just amazing!

Today in Sacrament meeting, one of my former Laurels spoke as she prepares to leave on a mission this week. Again, more feelings of pride and a few tears as she bore a powerful and eloquent testimony of the Gospel. She is going to be a fantastic missionary.

I'm incredibly grateful to have these almost-daughters who have blessed my life way more than I could ever bless theirs. They all hold such a special place in my heart and will forever.

No rain!

It was cold but we stayed dry. Wahoo! The activity turned out perfectly. We had a good turnout, plenty of drivers and plenty of pizza. A rip-roaring success!

Heavenly Father really does hear and answer our prayers. I know he wanted these Primary children to develop a testimony of prayer and of the temple and we would have been miserable in the rain. So grateful!!

Jasmine & I did have a moment of self-satisfaction when the big boys in our car told us that this year's temple activity was way better than last year's (when there were others in charge.) PRIDEFUL! We are bad. ;)

Now I'm out of my skirt & heels, in my sweats, and I think I just might read a book. Yes, I should be doing other things but I think I'm getting a blankie and heading for the couch.

Happy Saturday!

The week that was -- more bad than good, I'm afraid.

• Not nearly enough sleep this week - up until at least 11:30 PM and later Tues-Thurs.
• Cold and rainy outside which just bugs. It's JUNE! Our mountains are supposed to get snow this weekend. I'm beyond sick of it.
• Primary, Primary and more Primary - we're having our visit to the temple in the rain tomorrow. Praying hard for clear skies while we're there to keep us all dry & warm. Taking the cheaters way out and making frozen Otis cookies instead of from scratch. Lame, I know. And wasteful on little kids considering they're pricey (but oh so yummy.) And it's a good feeling to know that our next Primary activity won't be until October!
• Camp, Camp, Camp, Camp and even more Camp. There is just so much to do.
• Panera & See's with Kim this week = perfection! Love the dark chocolate coconut creams these days. Still loving the dark chocolate buttercreams though...sigh. I used to only like the milk chocolate caramels or nutty ones - now I'm all about the dark chocolate with cream centers. Weird how your tastes change.
• Worrying a little about the stock market. Feeling like this is not the time to look at an internal transfer at work and should maybe stay put where it's safe and sound.
• Loved SYTYCD on Thursday (thanks for the recommendation, Lindsey & Jill!) Sad that the cute red-haired Utah girl didn't make it though.
• Top Chef! I can't decide if I want Richard or Stephanie to win. The most annoying part? Lisa at the end whining about how R & S didn't congratulate her when they were sitting there stunned that Antonia was eliminated. Um, Lisa? Self-absorbed much???????
• Sore throat tonight - can't decide if it's allergies or I'm getting sick. LOVELY! :)

It's my baby sister's birthday!

My youngest sister, Jenilee, is 27 today. She is a darling and wonderful sister so I thought I'd share my top ten favorite things about her. And if you want to read her funny blog, go here.

1. She leaves the best voicemails using all sorts of different, crazy accents. I've saved a bunch of them just to listen to when I want to laugh.


2. She's great at karaoke - she brought the house down at a ward party with her Shania Twain impression. My personal favorite karaoke memory was when she and I sang "Superfreak" to help our other sister's very white father-in-law who was having trouble singing it. Of course, WE can pull off Rick James.


3. She's an incredible mother to four beautiful kids. Her kids are fun, sweet and remarkably well-behaved.
   
   
4. She totally kills at Guitar Hero and has from the minute she picked up the guitar. Seriously. The girl is gifted.


5. She learns from her mistakes -- she struggled as a teenager but has risen above everything she went through and is stronger because of it.


6. She is still madly in love with her husband after 11 years together. They have one of the best marriages out there and would rather be together than with anyone else in the world.
   
   
7. She has totally taken to island life, living in Hawaii for the past two years. I think she is going to hate it when they eventually have to move.


8. She's famous. She was briefly on one of those MTV "True Life" documentaries about being a military wife (another girl in her FRG or whatever it's called was featured because the girl was kind of sleazy and messing around while her husband was deployed. That girl's life made good TV. A nice LDS wife who takes her kids to school, Activity Days and soccer does not, apparently. Jen and the kids went with the girl to the pool one day so they were just in the background. If you want to watch, click the link and you can see Jen at the 6:47 mark on section one - Jen's the blonde and you can see my nieces Natalie & McKenzie too.) Jen also stood in line to meet Dog the Bounty Hunter when his book came out (and before his big scandal.)
   
   
9. She is one of my most favorite people to go to the temple with.
   
   

10. She stays in touch with everyone in our family -- the immediate family as well as the far extended members. I never have to call and check on anyone. I can just ask Jen how they're doing and she always knows everybody's business. I love that!

Happy birthday, Benner Bee! I love you, my BFFAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAE!

My TiVo: Summertime Edition

First of all, a big thank you to Tyler (aka TBA) for being my guest blogger this weekend. If you haven't commented yet on his Sunday Conversation post, what are you waiting for??

We're getting into the summer TV season and I thought I'd share what I'm going to record on my TiVo. A special thanks to this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly - couldn't have done it without you. A slight disclaimer to start, my TV tastes are not the same as yours. Okay? Good. Just keeping us on the same page.

So here is what I'm watching in my loads of spare time this summer or when it's gross and rainy outside. This list is subject to change, naturally and all times are Pacific.

Mondays, 8 PM, ABC: The Bachelorette

I haven't watched this week's episode yet - I fell asleep at 7:00 last night!!

Mondays, 9 PM, TNT: The Closer

This is truly the best cop show on TV. Kyra Sedgwick plays the lead perfectly & the supporting cast is fantastic. I believe it starts up again in July and I cannot wait.

Mondays, 10 PM, MTV: Legally Blonde the Musical – The Search for Elle Woods
If you missed this last night, I’m sure you can catch a replay or find it on MTV's website. I saw “Legally Blonde the Musical” on MTV last fall and still have it saved on my TiVo. The musical is really fun and I thought it would be entertaining watching them try to replace Laura Bell Bundy, who makes a perfect singing version of Elle. Plus it gives Haylie Duff something to do. I really hope it's a good show.

Thursdays, 9 PM, Bravo: Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List
I love Kathy Griffin. She swears way too much though.

Sundays, 10 PM, Lifetime: Army Wives

This is a really entertaining nighttime “soap.” The new season starts this Sunday -- I can’t wait to see who died after last season’s slightly cheesy cliff hanger!

Other shows I will also probably watch at least once are Wipeout (the commercials crack me up) and High School Musical: Get in the Picture. Project Runway returns in July so that will be a must-see for me.

Shows I will not watch: the Denise Richards reality show, Celebrity Circus and Swingtown (I'm not sure what is worse -- the premise or the horrible mustache on Grant Show.)

There you have it -- let me know if you have any summer TV shows you are looking forward to watching.

Sunday Conversation

Hello everyone, Tyler Allen here :). I am happy and honored to be a Guest Blogger on Jeanelle's Random Ramblings. I have a few questions I would like to share with the group as well as a few comments on blogging. Thanks for humoring me here.

I was sitting in PEC meeting this morning at church (Munich 4th Ward, Munich, Germany) and I noticed that our Bishop was chewing gum. Since it is fast sunday today - and he was chewing gum - I immediately thought of Jeanelle's question a few weeks back about whether it is "illegal" to chew gum while fasting. I laughed to myself - and was entertained for a few minutes thinking about it. Anyway, while sitting in sacrament meeting today I had a few questions I thought would be most appropriate for this blog. Here they go:

1) What do you think about singing the "additional" verses of hymns in Sacrament Meeting?
You know, like How Firm A Foundation verses 5 &6 (Hymn # 85); If you Could Hie to Kolob verses 4 & 5 (Hymn # 284); or Behold the Great Redeemer Die verses 5 & 6 (Hymn # 191).

2) What do you think about the Sacrament Meeting Chorister singing so loud you can hear her above everyone else?

3) What do you think if the Sacrament Meeting Chorister mentioned in #2 above is singing the Alto part instead of the melody?

4) Is it OK to mark in someone else's scriptures? I loaned my scriptures to someone who had forgotten theirs and they made some marks in them - underlining a few verses that the class read in the lesson. Can you believe this?

My thoughts on the 4 questions above:
1) It depends. A few years ago I would have said, Yes, sing them all. But with three small children, a chapel that is 100 degrees, and church nearly running overtime - I would have to say no thank you on the extra, "optional" verses. Plus, how cool is it when church ends early!!! My wife thinks that maybe the writer would feel bad if we didn't sing them all. Should we ask Orrin what his opinion is? Kim can you help us here? :) (no disrespect meant here by calling him by his first name)

2)This one is obvious to me. Tone it down a bit Sister this isn't a special musical number here.

3)I'm not sure what all the Altos out there think, but my opinion is that if they are going to sing loud enough to be heard (and not just mouthing the words) they should sing the melody - to "lead" all of those in the congregation who are musically challenged.

4)NEVER mark in other people's scriptures! My scripture marking is like artwork and now it is ruined! Guess I"ll have to start over with a new set.

Would love to hear what Jeanelle's followers have to say about these items - and forgive me if my responses seem mean...I didn't intend them to be.

Last of all, I think Blogging is awesome - I especially love to hear about Jeanelle's ramblings since we no longer can get together after chuch and sit on the overflow couch and discuss these things. My wife let me know tonight that we have been keeping our family blog going for over 3 years now! I can't believe it - time really flies. If you want to see the latest on our European experience - check it out at http://allenworld.spaces.live.com

Killing time on Fast Sunday

1. I finally watched "Transformers." Good but not great. And Shia LeBeouf does nothing for me.
2. Kim & I played Guitar Hero on Saturday night. I don't think I've played in nearly a month. I'm so out of practice!
3. I got asked to teach a workshop at Youth Conference later in June. I'm going to decline. I have way too much on my plate right now. I hate saying no, truly, but I know my other stuff will suffer if I do it. I've also done youth conference workshops twice in the last four years and I think there are other people out there who would love to be asked.
4. Tillamook Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream is pure heaven. If you don't live in the PNW, you are so missing out. My mom is addicted to the current feature flavor: Bubble Gum.
5. My home teachers came over this week and during the visit, the one who is the big cheese told me about a mid-single adult conference that was held over Memorial Day weekend. (This was for 30-45 year olds.) I didn't attend. Anyway, he said this was very well-attended with over 400 people there. I asked "what was the ratio of women to men?" He said, "well, about 3 or 4 to 1." I told you! There are no single LDS men out there. He also said they had to kick out some 50+ year olds who tried to crash. My home teacher - the bouncer! For those of you who know him, you should be laughing right now. But this was the first time they tried a mid-singles conference and he said they had to tell the old guys that the 30 year old women were not interested in being asked to dance by 50+ year old men. The truth hurts...
6. My mom was waiting in the car with my sister's kids while my sister was in the store. Four year old Makenna (who calls my mom Mimi or Meem instead of Grandma) saw an elderly woman walking by and said "there's an old grandma." My mom, who will be 70 this fall and doesn't look it, answered "yep, an old grandma just like me." Makenna said "no, Meem, you're not old, you're new!" Cute.
7. I'm breaking in my new crock pot today. Excited! Hope it turns out.
8. This woman is so incredibly organized. If I were a mom, I'd try some of her ideas.
9. My friend B. is here from Chicago. We had dinner Friday night with my boss and his wife and we closed down the restaurant. It was so fun catching up. Why do friends have to move so far away?
10. Fun mail this week: graduation announcements galore and a letter with pictures from one of my favorite missionaries. I've gotta get cracking on my graduation cards!!

Hope you're not too thirsty today! :)