Self Portrait

Love and Memories Part I

There are some songs that no matter where you are or what time it is, when you hear them, your mind gets transported back to a time or place or just to a person.

Here are a few of those:


(Whitney Houston, Greatest Love of All)
This song takes me back to the house on Frank Street. My mom used to listen to Mix 107.7 and probably a few other stations, and I remember her making Amy and me pancakes and telling us that she was going to be on the radio because she had won some contest. We listened eagerly to hear her voice transmitted over the radio. I can't remember how much she won. There are a few other songs that came out in the early 90s that make me think of us driving around in the station wagon and such.

My best friend in elementary school, Jessica Hobbs, has a few songs that are dedicated to her.

(Ace of Base, The Sign)
We listened to this song while driving to the Miami County Fair. Her mom paid for me to go almost every year, which was SO nice of her, I wouldn't have gone if she hadn't. We went the night where you could buy the bracelets to get on as many rides as your stomach could handle. We rode the tilt-o-whirl until they literally wouldn't let us on anymore, and then Pam would buy us elephant ears or funnel cakes.





We used to listen to Will Smith or Sugar Ray while playing Paper Boy on the Nintendo while eating a cup of Oreos, filled and made soggy by milk, with a spoon.



This was one of the first songs where I learned all the lyrics to. I have a horrible memory, and couldn't remember the lyrics while my friends all sang at the top of their lungs. My memory had room for this song and Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. The two of these songs always take me back to Laura Wharton's house, where we watched Lifetime movies about bulimia and created a baby out of water balloons that we had for a really long time.



And then there was Hanson. Jessica, Heather Ridenour and I had the three boys divided between us, and we all thought they were so cute. I was a fan of Taylor.



To be continued.

Fan Club

Today during Relief Society, a member of the bishopric asked if he could set me apart for my calling. What, like I was going to say no? I never remember to get set apart for my callings, so if the bishopric forgets, then it usually doesn't happen. I didn't know if being Visiting Teaching Supervisor was a calling or an assignment, so I didn't worry about it. So I was set apart and then he gave me a quick blessing that I just felt, was really inspired. The wording that he used and the promises he gave were exactly the sort of thing I needed to hear, and what I need in my life. And it is just a testimony to me that the Lord knows us, our hearts, our desires, and our needs so personally.

Which went along with the theme of Sacrament meeting and the Relief Society lesson, which was on loving ourselves the way God loves us. After Brother Christensen shook my hand (after I had wiped my little tears, since I can't receive a priesthood blessing without crying, it seems), he told me that he wished there were 20 clones of me, thanked me for accepting the calling and being me and all these flowery, puffy things that while I think they are fairly ludicrous, I truly believe he is sincere when he is saying it. 

And then after Relief Society, two girls came up to me and asked me if I had been the one that made a certain comment in November. When I told them I was, they went on to tell me that they talk about me a lot (it can't be that much) whenever they talk about this ward. Mostly because they noticed that we all seem to make fun of the same things and whenever they looked up from laughing about one thing or the other, they would see that we (Melissa and me) were laughing about the same thing. They were telling me that I was funny, that they are still laughing at my jokes and that they thought I was cool. 

Puff puff.

How can I not love myself after such positive affirmations today? I feel unworthy, of course, but also very gratified, and.... it just makes me laugh! I love it.

This Friday Night

Sometimes I think it is really cool that I can say that I have friends all over the country -- all over the world, even. That is, it's cool until Friday night and I have nothing to do because all my friends are scattered throughout the world.

I'm just wondering what time is an acceptable bed time on a Friday night? 9:00 p.m.? 10:00 p.m.? I've already brushed my teeth and taken out my contacts...

History of Roommates

I was reading a blog earlier that mentioned that she had stopped counting the number of roommates she had had when she reached 65. SIXTY-FIVE roommates! That is a ridiculously large number, I thought, but then again, I have moved many times and I had no real idea of how many I've had and how many was a lot. After my calculations, 65 is still a LOT of roommates.

In the past seven and a half years, I have had 29 roommates. I'm counting my Aunt, Uncle and cousin in most of this because I lived with them for several months.

Out of these 29 people I have lived with, the stats are these:

• I am friends with 20 on Facebook
• I am related to 4 -- 1 being my sister
• Only 2 of them followed me (or I followed them) to a different apartment
• I've completely lost track of 4 of them
• 12 are married
• 4 are/were divorced
• 1 is engaged
• 1 absolutely still hates me
• 4 are over the age of 50
• 7 have children*
• 2 were from different countries (Venezuela and Russia)
• 7 are from California
• I was a bridesmaid for 1 of them
• I attended 5 weddings
• I attended 8 bridal showers, co-hosted 3 of them
• I've met the parents/siblings of 13 of them*
• Went home with 6 of them*
• Celebrated Thanksgiving with 4 of them*
• Walked in on / overheard a make-out session on 4 of them

*Not including my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin

There have been times when I didn't want to go home because of roommate situations, but over all, I have had pretty good roommates. Considering some of the other horror stories I have heard, mine are fairly tame. And there are some roommates who are now my very best friends and I can't imagine that ending any time soon. Hopefully, we'll be the kind of friends that get together every few years, no matter where we end up, and force our kids to be friends and we'll keep on making memories.