I never drink soda. The carbonation freaks me out.

When I saw this, I laughed out loud.  And kept doing so for the next five minutes or so.

Sometimes, I feel like this.  

Is that so wrong?  I don't usually think so.

Until I come across other people who think this about themselves.

People who shouldn't.

People I can't and won't name.  But desperately wish I could.  But I won't.

And the fact that they do drives me to madness.

...leaving me to wonder if I should really think so highly of myself...

But then I remember that I'm funny.

And a little bit quirky

And I don't care.

And one of my biggest weaknesses is making fun of people in my head.

(admittedly, sometimes it's out loud.  but in a low mumble.)

And probably other people have that weakness, too, and...

consequently...

the universe probably evens everything out in that they're making fun of me in their head at some point, right?

I might need you to validate me.  Or at least tell me how hysterical this poster is.

AND ALL I WANTED WAS A FRISBEE!

Yesterday, I was so tired after work, it hurt to put words together to form complete sentences. Logical thought was a serious struggle. I think I must be coming down with something. Probably some form of brain fever. This has been going on for about five days now. Goodbye, world. We haven't always got along, but - probably, on some level, we'll miss each other.

Then again, the other night, I saw someone on t.v. exhibiting similar symptoms, and I thought for sure I'd found my diagnosis. That is, until the person responding to them said, "That's called thinking. Go with it."

Ugh. dang it! So much for my easy out... :)

Clearly, something had to be done. I'd like to thank Aubs for her community awareness. If not for her knowledge of local goings-on, I probably would have spent the rest of the evening staring out the window, muttering meaningless phrases until the nice men in white coats came to take me away.

Commence story:

So there I was. Eating my free, but fairly small cup of strawberries and cream at Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days. Sitting on the grass with the roommates. (And one extra addition.) Listening to a random cover-band playing the Beatles. It's a little cool outside, but pretty perfect weather. I do have a jacket, after all.

Small children all around us keep throwing frisbees. Sometimes, they're throwing them at us. One little dude hit Aubs with one, and immediately hid behind a chair. We looked around to where he was so she could give his frisbee back to him, and as embarrassed as he was, he couldn't stop laughing. * snicker * Ah, man, I freaking love kids! hahaha! But that's only the beginning.

I found myself getting a little envious of all the frisbee kids. I'm looking around, searching for the free frisbee booth...because all these frisbees are stamped with a strawberry. Pleasant Grove must be rolling in the dough. Brigham City would never give out free strawberries & cream, let alone free frisbees. * sigh * I come from such humble circumstances. :)

Finally, one more little dude lands his frisbee right in front of us. He comes right over, picks it up, and that's when I decide to take matters into my own hands. Ever so nicely, I ask, "Hey, can I ask you where you got that frisbee?"

He stops, looks at us, looks at me, and says "These are just for little kids."

Oh, that's no problem. "We're kids..." I say.

He looks straight at me, and without a moment's hesitation (and a pretty stern kid look comin' my way) boldly says,

"NUH-UH! YOU GUYS ARE ALMOST PARENTS!"

Words cannot describe the immediate explosion of laughter that came from all of us. Small dude just rolls his eyes and walks away with his frisbee. Probably mumbling even more seemingly obvious bits of wisdom under his breath...he couldn't have been more than 6 years old.

Freaking heck! HAHAH! I'm so not almost a parent! And I'm not a kid, apparently. :) Pretty sure the teenage years have passed me by. (Proof prayers really are answered.) So...here I am. Desperately trying to grow up, but knowing deep down, all I really want is that frisbee.

At least I have the 6-year-olds of Pleasant Grove duped. :) And at this point, I'll take success in any form...

You can read the CliffsNotes if you want to, but...

Today's thoughts:

1. Report time. That whole studying in the mornings thing? BRILLIANT. I mean it! It has been absolutely worth the "extra" effort. I highly recommend it. There's a story about that. stay tuned.
2. I don't know if you know, or why you would know, but Navy posters from WWI are a good laugh. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
3. Also I'm in a very impatient mood today. I keep staring at that stupid chat window, willing something to happen over which I have no control. All that staring only leaves me to further conclude that I have no control, and it's happening. Nothing. Stupid nothing. Is that vague enough? That's the other frustrating part. It has to be. Also, I hate spreadsheets.
4. In other news, you should know that if you go to Krispy Kreme and get the "kids pack" you get a very cool, bright green, squiggly straw as a surprise. Boy, was I EVER!!! Yes I got milk, and yes I drank it with the squiggly straw. Now I just need a red wagon. And a jump rope.
5. And what exactly do guys hope to accomplish by whistling at a girl as they drive by her? And why is it always the slimy guys??? First of all, is this supposed to make me feel, like, (insert hair toss) awesome? Have I been missing something all my life? As in: should I have turned around and started chasing the car, yelling, "That's all you have to do! Take me now!" ???? Please. I'd like to rectify my past behavior, should it need aforementioned reconstruction.
   

If this response silence continues, I'll be forced to adhere to my long-standing philosophy that there IS no purpose in it. * "ooo...something shiny..." * Okay, then.

Now, enough about me and my SELF. :) It's time to talk about things from a different angle. If you really read all of this part, I applaud you.
I am fully aware most people don't read entire posts bigger than about 2 paragraphs. with pictures. and one-syllable words. CliffsNotes are available at the bottom for you people. :)

Story time.

So there I was, yesterday morning...

Sitting on the couch, doing my scripture study. Sunlight just starting to stream in through the windows... I'm reading, writing, thinking...

Well, trying to think. Mostly, I'd only been awake for about 15 minutes at this point. And I'm warning you now: DeeAura doesn't like to talk, smile, or be talked to (more than in about two word increments) until she's been awake for at least 20 minutes. At least. After that period of time, I remember how to be an awake human.

My roommate had left for work when I was only about 5 minutes into when I was studying. She's still looking for a job after just recently moving down here. I love her. To pieces. But I barely acknowledged her that morning. Remember the awake time rule? Okay, then.

About 10 minutes after she left (we're back to the 15 minutes point) my phone starting ringing, clear back in my room. Ugh. Who is calling me at this time of the morning?? I run back to answer the phone. It's my roommate. Whom I love. She missed the bus. (She doesn't have a car.) And if she waits until the next bus, she'll be late. She really can't be late. I know this. My normal response would have been "Okay, where are you? I'm coming right now!" but...it's only been 15 minutes of DeeAura awake this day. I think my response was something more akin to

"....you what?...oh. okay, uhm...(looking at the clock, trying to figure out what to cut out from my morning routine...it's very important to me at that moment, for some reason)...okay, just, um, okay, I'm putting on my shoes. I'm so totally not ready right now...(duh, DeeAura.)...but I'm coming...(what - out of the goodness of my heart???)

Then I hung up. Grabbed my keys. Manage to walk out the front door. I step outside, and wake up a little more, thanks to the cooler outside air. I walk a little faster, and suddenly wake up a little more to the thoughts in my head. Uh...pretty sure I shouldn't be so bugged about this... C'mon! Who even are you??? So I say a quick little prayer in my head "please help me not to be so bugged about this right now."

Now let's back up another ten minutes or so. That morning, I'd been studying Elder Bednar's talk on praying in faith from a few conferences ago. Excellent talk. And at one point, I was reading the part where he asks us if, when we pray, we are expecting Heavenly Father to do the work for us as we ask and pray for things.

Of course, my initial thought was, "I'm pretty sure I always try to do my part whenever I pray for something. So that part probably doesn't really apply to me..." Ahem. Then I backed up that thought for a second or two and wrote down some quick notes about it in my study journal. Commence studying.

Then comes phone call. Then comes time for DeeAura to really wake up. (Search, Analyze, Apply, anyone??? anyone??? haha...)

Now back up one more time. To last night, or possibly that morning as I was waking up. In one of those prayers, I recall saying something like "Please bless roommate to get to work safely and on time in the morning, and to find a good job soon."

Now back to me, outside, in my pajamas, flip-flops, with car keys in hand. All this comes flooding back to me as I say "please help me not to be such a stink right now" and the new thought comes,

"Well - you did pray she'd get to work on time and safely...didn't you?"

That's about when I burst out laughing, hand on car door handle. Hey. Clearly, I'm learning more about doing my part with my prayers....lesson learned. (I hope!)

The end.

Now, if you're like most of the people I email every day, and you see words as things to be skipped over, hoping for the summary at the end, (I pity the fool...) here it is:

1. Study in the mornings. Big difference-maker.
2. WWI Navy Posters. Hilarious.
   
3. I have no control and wish I did.
4. Squiggly straws. Kids packs. Krispy Kreme.
5. something shiny! ugh.
   
6. me. ogre. mornings. 20 minutes.
   
7. Answers to prayers require work.
   

See how you get less meat that way? We're done here. :)

The Dani & Dave chronicles

 

I know.  I've been a terrible blogger, and I'm ridiculously behind on the updates.  By September I'll have my life back.  So this summer, my updates will most likely be brief.  Brief, but worthwhile.  :)

THE WEDDING

They finally did it!  After a long and lengthy courtship, welcome to the Macfarlanes!  :)  I'm not sure I've seen two people who love each other more so early on, but maybe that's because I'm one of the lucky ones who got to watch them fall in love.  In all seriousness, I think their journey was incredible.  

AND - Dave finally got that wedding ring on his finger!  WOOHOO!!!  (That picture of him and his had was NOT posed.  He did that completely voluntarily.)  His exact words were "Look at what I got!!!"  That boy is a testament to patience and goodness.  Seriously.  

And Dani.  Dani, dear, you already know how much I love you. Or at least you'd better. 

 

:)  All the happiness, bosses!  :)