15 Minutes of Fame?

Some of you have probably seen those "I'm a Mormon" videos floating around. They feature Mormons in their natural habitat, to show the world we are actually normal people (actually, some of us are really cool people!), not horned monsters like some believe.

I've always said that I would never, ever be picked for something like that because I'm not cool enough. My life is pretty low key. I don't surf, mountain climb, or ride motorcycles. I don't have any deeply resonating life stories like some of the people share (I'm the mother of two disabled children... I survived cancer... I served in the military...)

Well, before you get too excited... no, I'm not going to be in a "I'm a Mormon" ad. :)

But a month or so back, I agreed to be filmed for a short piece on the work that I do. The School of Family Life at BYU is putting up some videos of alumni working at their jobs, just to give the undergrads an idea of possible career paths. Today I got an email explaining what it will be like. The guy says it will be along the lines of an "I'm a Mormon" video. "The video is expected to be brief yet tantalizing and stimulating. "

OY!

First of all, I didn't realize a short video clip involved so much filming. It sounds like I will be interviewed for an hour, and then they want to film 1-2 hours of me working to include in the final cut.

Except... I telecommute. My work day consists of sitting in front of a computer doing stuff. I love it, but... how the heck are they going to capture that on camera in an interesting way? It seems like the video will rely on me describing what I do, since there isn't much to show (unless they want to film my computer...)

The email said if I had any ideas on how to share my career in an interesting way, I should let him know. I'm afraid I'm coming up with a complete blank. I'm not a media person... I don't even like being in the spotlight usually! Cameras make me nervous.

Well... we'll get through this. This guy is in the media department, so he's had at least some training on how to make these things interesting. We'll pull it off somehow!

Got a manicure!

Some of you may have noticed my original goal was to get a pedicure... But I wimped out. Didn't really like the idea of people touching my feet.

But, a manicure I can handle! I went to the BYU salon and got shellac nails. It was really relaxing... I might have to go back!

Time Changes

Today I stopped by my old grad lab to say hi to some friends. I almost never visit there anymore... It was weird going back.

For two years, that place was my WHOLE LIFE, and it's only been a little over a year since I left it. Going back there feels a bit like going home... but going back there also highlights for me everything that has changed since then.

I ran into one of my friends I haven't seen much since my grad school days. When we started our master's program, she didn't have any children. She had a baby in our second year. Today I found out she is pregnant with her second child... and when he's born, her daughter will be two years old.

That BLEW my mind! Where did all that time go?

It's interesting how our roles change as we get older. I still remember my grad student days clearly... but I'm not the same person anymore. I've grown and changed. It's a good thing, but for some reason it feels weird at the same time.

Life is always moving and changing. Mostly it's an exciting thing, but sometimes it makes me nervous. I guess I don't like not knowing what's coming next. The other day I caught myself wishing to be a kid again because back then, life made sense! My plans for the future weren't super concrete, but they didn't need to be. My only real concern was getting into BYU for college. I remember when I got here I was a little bit like, now what? It was scary realizing I hadn't planned much for my life past college. So I made plans for grad school, and for getting a job, and now here I am... but I understand now that most of your adult life can't be planned. There isn't any way of knowing what comes next. All you can do is trust God to lead you and just keep moving forward.

My motto for today

"If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." --David Viscott

I need to get going on my novel! Camp NaNoWriMo starts in 5 days!!!

My own version of Ironman 3

Last night I had a dream about Ironman, of all things. My own version of Ironman 3.

Somehow in the Avengers movie, he'd developed the ability to time travel. It was really hard to do and took a lot of energy. I assume also that he'd age faster if he kept time traveling. He didn't like to do it.

But, he felt like he had to, to save lives. He was working with a military team assigned to him. He sent them in to explore an alien spacecraft, which he had scanned and was pretty sure was safe. It wasn't safe. It blew up and killed all 4 soldiers.

He felt awful. He hated to time travel... He felt like he couldn't keep going back in time over and over again, at some point he had to just live his life... but how could he not go back and save them? It was his fault they had died--he'd sent them on to that ship.

So, he goes back and saves them. But he's feeling depressed and overwhelmed with his responsibilities. (Side note: There was no Pepper in this dream... She'd been replaced with an attractive young redhead soldier, who Ironman insisted on calling "Popcorn". "That's not my name!")

His mom comes to visit. She was alive in this dream, and some kind of weird supernatural or alien being. Anyway, they get to talking about his dad... and all of a sudden, Tony hatches a plan to go back in time and prevent himself from being born so he can stop stressing about time traveling all the time.

And... that's when I woke up. It's amazing the kind of stories our brains can cook up while we sleep, yeah?

I think part of why I dreamed this is last night I was going through GoodReads trying to find something new to read, and I read some reviews on the Time Traveler's Wife a little before I went to bed...

Black Forest Fire

Close to a year ago, my family and I watched in horror as part of our hometown burned to the ground.

The fire was within city limits, in a neighborhood called Mountain Shadows in the foothills. Over 350 homes burned and 2 people were killed.

It was a terrifying calamity that lasted for days. The community still hasn't recovered from it.

Yesterday, another fire started within city limits--this time in an area called the Black Forest, right in my family's back yard!! Here was their view from the back porch today at 1:20:

While last year's fire was devastating and I felt for all those in the burned area, this one is literally closer to home. Right now the fire is about 3 miles away from my family, but they are within half a mile of the evacuation zone. My grandmother was just evacuated from her home... Due in part to a mistake, a pre-evac area got the reverse 911 call and was told it was a mandatory evacuation. Now that's been cleared up, but my family's still getting her out of there, just in case. One of my best friends lives only a mile away from the evacuation zone. Lots of my friends lived in the Black Forest growing up... I'm not sure how many have been evacuated, but the number is climbing.

My dad is currently serving as the Bishop of his ward (in other words, he's the leader of my family's church congregation), and several families from the ward have been evacuated. He's busy coordinating efforts to care for all of them.

I can't believe this is happening again! Please say a prayer for my hometown. So far Colorado Springs has been blessed in that no one has died. I hope that continues to be true.

It's hard to be far away when this is happening!

Hiked the Y--check!

Thanks to Melissa for coming along on my adventures today! :)

Here is some photographic evidence that I hiked to the top of the Y.

Salt Lake Temple--check!

Today my friend Melissa and I headed up to do an endowment session at the Salt Lake temple. It was really cool being inside and seeing the endowment rooms for real--I've seen pictures before and I've seen the temple model in the visitors' center, so in some ways it seemed familiar.

But the pictures don't capture all the intricate details of the decor. The pioneers built this temple from 1853-1893 (yes, it took them forty years!!!) and they made it as beautiful as they could. Even the doorknobs have beautiful hand carvings.

I definitely want to go back again sometime!

Work on My Novel: Progressing...

Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? National novel writing month? It happens every November. Writers are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in only 30 days! I've tried lots of times, but never finished.

Well, now NaNo isn't just for November! I got an email a couple days back inviting me to Camp NaNoWriMo, "an idyllic writer's retreat smack-dab in the middle of of your crazy life." Apparently it happens in July. It's like NaNo, but more laid back. You set your own goal of how many words you want to write in a month. It doesn't have to be a novel. And, if you want, you can sign up to be in a cabin. You are randomly assigned 4-6 cabin mates to help cheer you on (or, if you have friends doing it too, you can request them as cabin mates).

This seems like a perfect way to help me achieve my goal! My BFF Hayley is signing up for it too. Anyone else want in? Let me know your username and we can be cabin mates. :) (Mine is maskedangel.... I made it up back in high school, don't judge!)

Rent a Puppy: Completed :)

Her name is Hanna. She is a cocker spaniel mix. :) Isn't she adorable? She was super hyper, always running around and wanting to play. She had the cutest way of running--she'd hop around like a bunny! Her walk was adorable too. She wouldn't just walk, she'd pick her feet up and prance. Very ladylike.