Those Pale Green Pants...

As of Saturday I had to be completely moved out of my apartment. I had boxes galore neatly packed and stacked in their respective piles, just waiting to be loaded up and transported from point A to point B. Didn't think it could be done, yet here we are. I'm still in the process of settling in, but as was the case a few weeks ago with my laundry, I can motivate myself to do little else than sit here and watch the third X-Men, buy music, blog, and dink around on Pinterest. 

So I watched Becoming Jane with my mom and my sister last week. Neither of them had seen it and I've been on a James McAvoy kick since seeing X-Men: First Class a couple weekends ago. In fact, he's now my boyfriend. So the three of us watched the movie (twice) and I wept profusely and it was great fun. Then we watched Atonement. Another painful viewing experience, but whatever. It's a beautiful movie, even if it is rather heartbreaking and graphic AND has Keira Knightley.

While we're on the topic of my new boyfriend, you wanna hear something spooky? As I was preparing for the move I packed up all my DVDs in a large box. My sister bewailed and bemoaned the fact that I didn't remove Penelope before sealing it up. I reassured her, letting her know it would be unpacked with the rest of the DVDs once the move was over. Later that same evening as I was putting things away in my bedroom, I glanced down and saw Penelope randomly sitting on my desk. Apparently it wasn't with the other movies... What a fortunate turn of events!

Sigh...

I really do have so much I still need to do. My laundry, for one. I'm running out of outfits. I've resorted to wearing an interesting assortment of clothing to work... from leggings with casual jersey dresses to your standard jeans and a t-shirt with flip-flops. The dirty pile in my bedroom just keeps climbing and climbing. I have a few pairs of jeans that will probably beg for mercy if I try to wear them again. Hehe, I can see it now... Me trying to corner a pair of pants as they try to run away... Like in this story by Dr. Seuss...

What Was I Afraid Of? by Dr. Seuss... "Those pale green pants with nobody inside them."

Except in this story it was the pants that did the cornering. And with great effect - look at that bear-person's face. Oh, will the pants and I ever be friends again??? Will I ever do my laundry??

If there's anything we can learn from Seuss's story, it's this...

The pants and the people CAN be friends again. But 'til then, I will continue to be creative with my outfit choices. Or just wear PJs to work. Or buy more clothes. Or not go to work at all.

My Mom

Disneyland 2009

singer - professional seamstress -  knitting - Monk - deck - crocheting - peanut butter - birds - A River Runs Through It - lilacs - Mormon Youth Symphony - friend - home - Robert Redford - Judy Garland - red - popcorn -   vegetarian - funny - jetblue - porch swing - laugh - Dan Fogelberg - The Carpenters - geraniums - Speed Scrabble - cabin - Romance by Calvin Klein - camping - Meet Me In St. Louis - Billy Joel - Elton John - teeth - accepting - leader - charitable - supportive - calligraphy - cross-stitch - The Bishop's Wife - gift wrapping - bedroom - alto - music - protective - The Closer - germaphobe - bike rides - "Do you have any chocolate?" - giving - Harmony Circle - great reader - combinations of pink and green - Disneyland - beaches - young at heart - Bird Girls - walks - always cold - Jessica McClintock perfume - Diet Cherry Pepsi - Halloween costumer - proud of her kids - puzzles - intelligent - beautiful...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Confined

I am... ?

Sometimes Salt Lake City feels so very small. Actually, I think small may be the wrong word. I was recently on vacation in what one would call a small town, but it didn't feel small. It felt strangely liberating to leave this smoggy, crowded valley and disappear behind rolling green hills and high mountain peaks. Driving up that canyon I realized that the more distance I put between myself and everything back home, the less aware I became of my anxieties. But that's the point of a vacation, right? "A vacation from my PROBLEMS." Likewise, as I came down from those green hills, I felt the frustrations of the real world slowly creeping back into my psyche. Every mile brought me closer to the drudgery...

So if small won't work, a better word might be confining... Salt Lake City feels so very confining. And I'm not just talking buildings...

Lately I've felt confined by my single status as a member of the Church. Being single has not been a terrible experience for me, let me just throw that out there right now. It's had its highs and lows, but I haven't let it define me. However, there are individuals out there who think you should suffer for being single. Individuals who see the growing trend of singles in the Church as the scourge of our generation.

When I attend my church meetings on Sunday, I want to be edified by the teachings of the Gospel and strengthen my testimony. I want to be taught important principles that I can later apply to other aspects of my life. I want to learn more about my Savior and His Atonement. I don't want lectures about how I should be dating. I don't want to hear in a testimony meeting how your biggest trial was the prospect of being 21 and unmarried. Lastly, I don't want feel like a failure or a second-class citizen simply because I am single. I would like to feel that as a person, as a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father, that I am enough. That if the big marriage thing doesn't happen for me, that I will be okay and that there will be some place for me.

In a New York Times article (be warned, it's lengthy) they discuss a study's recent findings on a new period of development called Emerging Adulthood, affecting those between the age of 18 and the late 20s. "It’s happening all over, in all sorts of families, not just young people moving back home but also young people taking longer to reach adulthood overall." It's really a wonderful article and it might provide some insight as to why this generation is taking longer to reach certain milestones of adulthood, including marriage. As I was reading, I realized how much I identified with the kind of young adults they were talking about. It felt reassuring to know my plight of unrealized self-discovery was shared by others.

I wish members of the Church could have a little more faith in us as singles. That they could better understand that sometimes having a hope for marriage and family will not always lead to an immediate or desired result. I wish they could realize some of us are struggling with issues bigger than dating and that they only exacerbate the situation when they chastise us - whether good-naturedly or no. Where they try to encourage, sometimes we answer with discouragement and hurt feelings. There will always be those who will have great success finding a companion and starting a family at an early age. But they shouldn't set the standard for the rest of us. We're not all moving at the same speed. As singles, some of us aren't being selfish, some of us are just trying to discover who we are, what we want, and find our way.

So be patient - I'm working on it.

Airing Out My Laundry... So To Speak

Check this blog HERE.

I have a mountainous pile of clean laundry sitting on my bed. My darks, lights, and whites are all shamelessly mixed together. Here is my dilemma... I'm really sleepy and would love nothing more than to hop into bed, but I'm currently outnumbered by this lovely pile of socks, towels, blouses, and other unmentionables. Either I put everything away or just sit here and blog. OR I push the pile off the bed and ignore it for another day or so. WHIMPER. We all know I can't do that. Is there such thing as a Laundry Fairy? If I shove everything under my pillow will I wake up to find it all neatly folded and hanging in my closet? Or will I find two shiny quarters and not a stitch of clothing in sight? The smell of Gain detergent is intoxicating... I could just snuggle up and call it a night. 

Well, it appears I've made up my mind because I'm still here. I was writing in my journal the other night and in my entry I apologized for not writing much of anything during the last few weeks. I've been cheating on my journal with my blog. In this same entry I basically wrote, "Yeah, I blog too much... yadda yadda yadda... Nothing interesting to write... yadda yadda yadda... Going to bed." I'm about 10 pages from finishing this journal, too. You'd think I'd just want to finish it up. It's like everything else in my life... "someday." I've actually done more journal writing in the last year than any other time in my life. It's been a very introspective time for me, even more so than usual. Many of my entries were written under emotional and spiritual duress... Just plain ol' frustration with myself and with others, though there were lighter moments as well. Mostly, looking back, I can see how helpful writing has been. So whether I'm here or in my journal, I'm happy to be writing.

And not folding laundry. 

Lazy Days... or Not So Lazy

Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer.

- Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine

carlos & harley's mexican restaurant - pine view reservoir - meteor shower - sketching - hiking... lots of hiking - waterfalls - exploring fields - indoor swimming pool - pabloma sauce - cabin - settlers of catan - homestyle texas BBQ - tour utah...we watched the cyclists from the roadside - valley market - petting farm... llamas, ponies, dogs, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, horses, donkeys, sheep, cows, roosters, pigs, geese, goats, chickens, kittens, aaaaand... a micro mini pig, oh my! - murder by death - pig pile - tijuana toss-up - jet skiing... my favorite - eden - more hiking - farmer's market - earwigs... shudder - huntsville - boating - soul surfer - water volley ball - reading, reading, reading - cousins - sore muscles - butterflies - corrina, corrina - floating out on the lake in my raft - more BBQ - josh's telescope - in-n-out burger - texas sheetcake - softball - swimming - puzzle - MASSAGE CHAIR - sunburn - bike ride to monastery - maverick - little brother's mission call to independence, missouri...

Waters/Wade/Sumner Family Vacation 2011

Hip to be Square?

You know what kinda bugs me? "Lauren, is there anything that DOESN'T bug you?" Well... yes. I know it seems like I only get on here to snark and rant about my latest irrational  irritation, but it makes life more interesting for me. And then you, dear reader, can rest assured in the knowledge that I am a horrible person, thereby making yourselves feel better in comparison. So really I'm doing you a favor. 

Where was I? Ah, yes... The latest "thing" to bug me. I've noticed something that's been running rampant in our society lately - a wave sweeping through our ever-changing culture. I call this recent wave "Nerd Chic." If you are part of this movement, you have undoubtedly boasted to someone about how nerdy you think you are. I have participated in conversations with individuals about books/movies/tv shows/music/politics where the dialogue inevitably concluded with, "...I know, I'm such a nerd." Bah! Are you really? When did nerdiness become so in vogue? Did it start with Napoleon Dynamite? When did we suddenly feel the need to broadcast how nerdy we think we are when really, there's a big difference from being a nerd and having an  interest in something? It's become a sort of bragging right. I happen to enjoy period romances by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, but that does not necessarily make me a nerd. It makes me well-read and awesome (haha... kidding), but I'm not about to dub myself Lady Nerd because I think it's super cool or that it sets me apart from your average meat-head or ditz. 

The term itself always carried a negative connotation, right? Think back to your 80s high school flicks. They usually followed the same formula - Athlete, Brain, Princess, etc... If you were the Brain, you were despised... Your life was made miserable by anyone who caught a whiff of your nerdiness... If you were ever called a nerd by someone else, you probably hated it. So why, in the words of Hewey Lewis, is it now "hip to be a square?" Perhaps we've just learned to embrace it, emerging from the nerd underworld and letting our freak flags fly. After years of oppression and isolation we can proudly stand together and hold our heads high! The rights of the nerd have been heard!  "My name is Lauren Donna Waters, and I... am a NERD."

But what is a nerd? According to Wikipedia...

Nerd is a term that refers to an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit. Nerds are generally considered to be awkward, shy and/or unattractive by most. Thus, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by others, or will tend to associate with a small group of like-minded people.

Soooo... It's cool to be nonsocial, single-minded, awkward, unattractive, shy, AND a loner? Look at the latest fashion trends... From large frame glasses to oxfords, it's chic to be a geek. Know what? I think if you are a true nerd, you just do what you do. You march to the beat of your own out-of-rhythm drum... You are content in the oblivion of your dorkiness... You don't have some inborn need to draw attention to yourself or your intelligence. If the above is true, you actually probably prefer to remain somewhat anonymous in your brainy endeavors. Not to offend you self-proclaimed nerds out there, but I think the most endearing nerd is the one who has no idea of how much of a nerd they are. Any proclamation of "...I know, I'm such a nerd" seems like an effort to align ourselves with a trend and to impress others. Nowadays nerd equals hip, but by its very definition a nerd is the culmination of everything NON-hip and NON-cool. Otherwise you cease to be a nerd! Oh, the irony!

So the next time you think you're a nerd purely because you enjoy such television shows as The Big Bang Theory or because you tried reading a difficult book once and "really liked it" OR because you went out of your way to look nerdy or intellectual, think again. Because chances are, you are not. Or maybe you are. Am I a nerd? Well, I don't know. Like anyone, I likes what I likes! 

Yup, nerd is the new black. We all want to be one and THAT is the ultimate revenge of the nerds.