Dance Lessons

Last night, for the Mingle, we had another round of dance instruction.

This time we really mixed things up. For the first fifty minutes we did foxtrot. Then we had a ten minute break to either drink water or practice dancing. Next, we spent fifty minutes on cha-cha, and then after a break, we did both waltz and swing. At the very end, the instructor taught me and my partner the basic steps of tango (which were much easier than I expected!).

I had a blast! The turnout wasn't as huge as it was for the swing dancing lessons we did a couple months ago, but we still had a decent amount of people. In February, I liked going in depth in swing, but this was fun too--getting a little taste of each kind of dance, learning a couple basic moves, and then moving on.

It makes me wish I'd taken advantage of all the great dancing classes at BYU while I was there. I'd love to really learn how to dance. I wonder how much it would cost to sign up for lessons around here... and do you have to bring a partner if you do that? Maybe that can go on my bucket list for the future sometime, when I actually have a dance partner to bring.

Do I Believe?

Tonight I had a tender mercy. While I was getting ready for institute, I decided to turn on my phone and listen to a General Conference talk. I listened to President Monson's talk, "Choices," and then it rolled to the next talk, "Do I Believe?" by Bonnie L. Oscarson. I only had time to listen to just the beginning of that one.

Well, so I got to Institute. Our usual teacher is in the Naval Reserves, and he's been deployed, so we've had a string of substitutes. We had an excellent substitute tonight named Brother Webb who asked Lori to take care of figuring out the opening stuff--opening prayer, opening hymn, a devotional thought... Thing is, our class usually doesn't have a devotional thought. Brother Palmer just opens it up to the class, "What are some things you learned in your scripture study this week?" and one or two people will answer.

With Lori in charge... guess who ended up giving an impromptu devotional? Haha. Fortunately I had that conference talk fresh on my mind.

In the beginning of Sister Oscarson's talk, she shares the story of a two year old boy who had to be life-flighted to Primary Children's Hospital. His condition was very severe, and his life was at risk. His mom went with him in the helicopter, and as they flew over the valley, she caught sight of three temples. The thought went through her mind, "Do you believe it or not?"

Here's the mom's own words: "I had learned about the blessings of the temple and [that] ‘families are forever’ in Primary and in Young Women. I shared the message on families to the good people of Mexico on my mission. I was sealed to my eternal companion for time and all eternity in the temple. I taught lessons about families as a Young Women leader, and I shared stories about forever families with my children in family home evening. I KNEW it, but did I BELIEVE it? My answer came as quickly as the question popped into my head: the Spirit confirmed to my heart and mind the answer I already knew—I DID believe it!

“At that moment I poured out my heart in prayer to my Heavenly Father, thanking Him for the knowledge and belief I had that families truly are forever. I thanked Him for His Son, Jesus Christ, who made it all possible. I thanked Him for my son, and I let my Heavenly Father know if He needed to bring my little Ethan to His heavenly home, it was OK. I trusted in my Heavenly Father completely, and I knew I would see Ethan again. I was so grateful that in a crisis moment, I had the knowledge AND the belief that the gospel was true. I had peace.”

I've never experienced a trial so severe in my life. This woman's example is so inspiring to me. She had the faith to face down an Abrahamic trial and still say, "Thy will be done. You can take my son if you need him."

Pretty much all of us in institute are still in our decade of decision. We're making big choices right now that will have ramifications for the rest of our lives. And part of growing up is realizing life doesn't go as planned. Each of us is facing unique trials in our lives that we didn't plan on when we were little kids dreaming of being grown-ups.

But we need to have faith as this mother did. We need to realize that no matter what happens, Heavenly Father is there with us, and He is in control. In the end, everything will be made right, and we will be stronger for the trials we have gone through. We need to trust Him no matter what and keep forging ahead.

Ham Life

It's been a couple weeks since I blogged about my hamster... Will you forgive me if I do again? Haha.

Usually Fuzz is asleep by the time I start my workday, but she was still awake for a long time this morning. I moved my work station so I could watch her. We're getting to be friends now! She'll let me reach in and pet her sometimes. Almost every morning, I'll open the cage and she'll walk out into my hand so we can hang out for a while. Today I put her in the bath tub (people say it's a good place to let them run around because they can't escape, as long as you keep the drain plugged) and let her run around for a while.

ANYWAY. Enough proud hamster mama talk, I just wanted to share a funny story from this morning.

I was on a work call near her cage, and she was running in her wheel, but it sounded so much louder than normal. So I took a good look.

She'd filled it up with food! Maybe because I cleaned out her cage yesterday and threw away all her secret food stashes. Over and over again she'd fill it with food, and then run in it... and the food would fly out in every possible direction around the cage. Then she'd stop, run around gathering it up again, fill up the wheel.... and run and knock it all over the place.

Wish I'd got it on camera, because it was funny to watch. :)

Ebbs and Flows

The last few months have been interesting ones.

February was wonderful, even though it was crazy busy. At work, our whole team pulled together to assemble an IRB application (basically, seeking approval to start our research project). As the only member of HRC's research team remaining, I got to take the lead. I felt more important and valued at work than I ever have before.

In my calling, we worked together to pull off our epic Roaring Twenties ball. We met every single Sunday to move things forward. It was crazy stressful, but also fun... and I discovered I have leadership abilities that I didn't know existed.

And in my social life... I got to go on lots of fun dates with lots of fun guys.

Things were looking pretty good.

And then... March hit. The ball came and went. We got our application in to the IRB... only to learn after a long month of waiting that it got lost in transit. We still haven't heard back the final decision on that, and until we do, there's not much on my plate at work. I went from feeling needed to feeling pretty superfluous.

My dating life slowed back down without anything sticking.

So... March and early April have been tough for me. A lot of pieces of my life flipped 180 degrees.

But... that humbling experience made me realize I need to re-prioritize and refocus my life. My life's meaning and purpose should come from the gospel, not things like my job or my love life, but eternal things that I can always count on. Like my identity as a daughter of God. Like God's love for me and the Savior's infinite atoning sacrifice. Things that I can always count on, things that are stable and do not ebb and flow.

So this is me picking myself up to try again.

Fuzz's cage has leveled up

So, there was an uber sale on hamster cages, and... this happened today.

Yep... Fuzz is one lucky hamster. Online it says dwarf hamsters need about this much space to be happy. I don't know if that's true, but she does seem really happy about it! She woke up the minute I connected the tube and ran over to explore her new cage. Every once in a while, she'll run back to the old one, like she's checking to see if it's still there. But mostly she's spent the last hour running in circles in her new cage, fluffing up the bedding as high as it will go. Making it more homey, I guess.

Wonder if this means she'll sleep late tonight... Get up at like 2 or 3 instead of 1? Oh well, at least that way I'll see her awake in the morning.

And by the way... I see I desperately need to post about something besides my hamster in here. Expect a more normal blog post soon. :)

Hamster Ball

#hamlife

A video posted by @coolshelece on Apr 10, 2016 at 11:27pm PDT

Day 3

I've sort of learned parts of Fuzz's schedule. In the morning, she goes to sleep around 8:30. During my lunch break, when I come to check on her, I find her getting a drink of water and eating some lunch, then she goes back to sleep. So far so good, except her water bottle hasn't been working very well. I think I've finally fixed it, though.

But, I can't figure out her schedule at night, and it keeps worrying me.

So, on day 1, Fuzz was awake by 10:30 pm. On day 2, she didn't wake up till after 11:15. I figured that might have been my fault... in the evening I kept going in to check on her, and turning the light on. Hamsters are nocturnal, so maybe that made her think it was still time to sleep. I made sure I left her alone for a solid half an hour in the dark, and when I came into the room, she was on her wheel.

Well, tonight was a YSA temple trip, so I didn't get home until after 11:30... pretty close to midnight. I expected Fuzz to be up and happily playing on her wheel. But she was still asleep!! Gah!! I mean, I'm not with her for most of the day. Maybe she is conscious more often than I think. But, it makes me a little nervous.

But, she is responsive. She always stirs a bit when I go into my room, especially if I turn on the light. Tonight I was worried she might be dehydrated, so I brought her a milk bottle lid filled with water and held it in her cage. She crawled out of her castle to come sniff it, and then she went back to bed. I hope that means she's not thirsty. A thirsty animal would go crazy for water, right? So then I tried to tempt her with a tiny piece of carrot. She came out to sniff it, and then she went back to sleep.

She's probably fine... She's just a baby. Babies sleep A LOT! Probably I'll hear her stir around while I'm sleeping tonight. But man, I wish I understood more about hamsters.

Update: She woke up at 12:30 and started running in her wheel. I let her test out her hamster ball tonight. She rolled around in it for just a minute or two before she switched her attention to trying to chew her way out. I let her out and just let her run around my bedroom floor for a couple minutes. Not sure if that is kosher or not for day 3 but she seemed to enjoy it. Although even after I let her out of her ball, her first goal was to keep gnawing on it.

Day 2 of Hamster Life

So... anyone know much about hamsters? Haha. How much do they sleep, usually?

Today was fairly uneventful. Last night Fuzz was super hyper, running in her wheel, climbing up the sides of the cage, basically going crazy. But around the time I got up this morning, she settled down, and by the time I started work she had created a nice little nest for herself and gone to sleep. She filled her whole little castle shelter with bedding and then burrowed into it.

And... she basically hasn't been awake since then, that I've seen. When I checked on her around noon, she was awake and drinking from her water bottle. Or trying to... I figured out there was a problem with it that I fixed. After that I was so worried that she needed water, I actually brought her a plastic spoon filled up to the brim. This confused the heck out of her. She scooped some up in her little paws and drank it. Then she gave me the most puzzled little face, like what the heck am I supposed to do with this? Maybe she's never actually seen a puddle of water before. After sniffing it cautiously and sticking one paw in it again, she jumped over the spoon and tried sniffing the handle. She ate a bit, and then back to bed.

Around 6 or so, I brought her a small lettuce leaf from my dinner.  I set it on top of one of the air holes in her castle. Right away she turned over in her sleep and her little nose poked out the air hole, sniffing. She tried to eat the lettuce through the air hole... It didn't work so well. I poked the lettuce in the opening of her castle, and she came right over to pull it in and eat it. She seemed happy.

Otherwise, she's been sleeping. I was starting to get really worried when she wasn't awake by 11. She's up now though, and sitting on top of her little castle house. Online it says you should leave the hamster alone for at least 3 days. But she has never seemed that scared of me. I think she may have been hand raised, because humans don't seem to phase her much. When I stick my hand in the tank, she comes right up to it to sniff it, and if I'm holding something, she'll take it. Hopefully I haven't made a mistake interacting with her a bit.

Anyway.... here's a few pics and even a video, as promised. :) (Cuz I know you've been dying to see. ;)

Introducing... Fuzz!

I did it! I got my hamster! :)

Hayley came with me as my emotional support. She was very patient with me while I paced around the hamster tanks and examined my options. I've been to Petco so often this week I knew all the little animals there, and I could see that they got a new shipment just today. :) That friendly little girl from last Saturday was gone, but there were 4 new tiny dwarf hamsters curled up together in their nest. I didn't go until after 8 pm in the hopes of catching them awake, but no such luck.

But, when I told the employees I was interested in purchasing a hamster, they opened up the tank and pulled off the igloo shelter. That woke all of them up and they scattered around. I stuck my hand in. One little girl ran up and tried to chew it. I scooped up a couple of the other ones. They are so unbelievably soft and fluffy. I found one that didn't nip and seemed somewhat content to be in my arms, so, that one went into a little cardboard box and I carted her home.

Fortunately I live near Petco. She was so terrified in that box! I could see it shaking. But man, I would be too, in her situation.

The box opened on the top. I set it inside the cage and opened it up. She was just huddled in this little terrified ball. I patted her head, and she looked up and realized the box was open. She came right up to the side and let me scoop her up and put her in the cage.

First thing she did was burrow underneath the wheel and go back to sleep. I hoped that meant she wasn't that terrified. Hayley and I hung out for a couple hours, and when I checked on her again, she was happily running on her little exercise wheel. I watched her for a while. She'd run into her little castle shelter, run on the wheel, hop into her food bowl and eat, and every now and then, run up to the front of the cage to look at me. She doesn't seem very scared of me, though definitely still a little shy. And she seems friendly.

For now, I'm calling her Fuzz. :) We'll see if that sticks. There will inevitably be many photos and even some videos probably in the near future! I took a couple but the cage bars make it hard to see, and online it says not to handle her very much for the first day or two as she adjusts to her new environment. I did reach in though and stroke her back with one finger while she was eating, and she didn't seem to mind. She let me do it and didn't run away. Hopefully soon we'll be best buds.

Here's a blurry little preview:

For now, you'll just have to take my word that she is adorable. :)

Almost There

Today I drove 20 minutes across town to pick up this little beauty:

A pink dwarf hamster cage!

And.... no hamster yet. Haha. When I came through the door with the giant box for this thing, my parents said, "Oh, did you get a pet?" Well... no. Online it says that you better have the cage setup before you bring your little guy home, so you can put her into it as soon as possible so she doesn't have to stay in her little cardboard take home box very long. That can be traumatizing.

So! If all goes well, tomorrow I will bring home a little friend. I am not so secretly hoping that the friendly hamster I met on Saturday will still be there. I went by Petco today to check around 5 or so, but all the hamsters were fast asleep in their little igloos. From what I could see, I thought I recognized her from her picture... but then, all Campbell's dwarf hamsters could look very similar. I don't know haha.

I'll keep you all posted. I know you're on the edge of your seats. ;)

Guys, I Want a Pet

I admit to wasting hours of my life lately researching different kinds of animals I could bring home. Dogs are still my favorite, of course, but Max lived to be 15 and a half. I just don't think I can make that kind of a commitment right now. Who knows where I'll be in 15 years? When I get a pet, I want to be able to keep it for its whole life.

So, I've been looking at small furry things... Gerbils and hamsters and the like. And watching the Humane Society page everyday. For a little while, there's been a rabbit on their page that is just the most adorable thing ever.

Meet Henry

Doesn't he just have the sweetest little face? And his description says he loves to be petted. Some rabbits don't like human contact, but this little guy does. The profile said he was currently at the Petsmart by Chapel Hills. Tonight, I decided I would go take a quick look for myself... See if he is as adorable in person (er... in rabbit?) as he looks online. See if he is friendly. I promised myself I could not take him home, no matter what.

So I went to Petsmart, and unfortunately I think I'm too late. I couldn't find him anywhere. I couldn't even find a rabbit display case anywhere. And of course I wasn't going to ask, because I knew that would put me on a very slippery slope that could lead to bringing home a bunny. Turns out, these guys live for up to 10 years. That's practically a dog's life span. I did laps around the store looking at every other animal. They probably thought I was casing the joint.

They had 3 adorable little guinea pigs, but unfortunately they don't seem to like each other. There's 3 of them and 2 igloos for them to hide in... so they were fighting over them, and there was this little white one with swirly fur that lost the fight and had to sleep out in the open. I felt so bad for that little guy... I almost took him home.

But I made it out of Petsmart without any furry little critters... and then I stopped by Petco because Petsmart was sold out of hamsters and gerbils, and I needed to see all my options, you know?

Usually when I walk by the hamster and gerbil displays, I am completely ignored. But this time, this adorable little girl looked straight at me... then she ran up to the glass and jumped up, reaching for me with her cute little paws. It was adorable. I started thinking maybe I'd found the one. Then I gave in to my instagram instincts and got out my camera... The sudden movement freaked her out and she ran back into her little igloo.

And then I wandered to the Gerbil cage, where I found this sweet little guy. He wasn't quite as friendly. He'd stand up on his hind legs and look at me, get nervous and run for cover, run back and look at me, and then run away again.

Yeah... I think at this point, it's only a matter of  time... I'll be taking one of these little guys home any day now!