Things I’ve learned in the last 7-8 months or so…

Lesson 1
Sometimes forgetting to turn your cell phone ringer to silent during a movie isn’t all that bad. A group of friends were gathered around to watch the Joseph Smith movie (great show). In the sad scene in which Joseph is locked up in Liberty Jail during bitterly cold winter months and is worried about the safety of his friends and family on the outside, just as he calls out to Heavenly Father, “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth they hiding place?” a song burst out of one of the boys pockets. Journey’s classic “Don’t stop believin’” erupted in the room. He was frantically trying to grab his phone to turn the ringer off, but it was too late, we all joined in with our support, “don’t stop believing Joseph!” What perfect timing.

Lesson 2
Souvenirs should remain in your car while you vacuum it out on vacation. While it seems like a long time ago now, my mom and I went on vacation to Oregon and then drove down the coast to Sacramento California. It is a BEAUTIFUL drive and every now and then we stopped to walk around on a beach and enjoy the ocean air. My mom was a fan of the beautiful driftwood and found some great looking little pieces to bring back as souvenirs of our trip. I love nature and the driftwood was cool, but what stuff did I find on the beach to bring back?, a small fishing buoy that washed up on shore and a big fish hook. I guess man-made artifacts are just something I’m naturally drawn towards. Anyway, we were driving away from the beach and into the forest of the great redwoods, so we thought we should vacuum out the piles of sand that had accumulated from our feet. We cleared the car of all our luggage and stuff and decontaminated our rental-mobile. This worked out wonderfully, other than the fact that we realized about 50 miles later that we had forgotten to put our sack of souvenirs back in the trunk after the process was over. What to do?!?! Luckily driftwood is a plentiful commodity on the Oregon Coast. We stopped at one more beach lookout and my mom found a few pieces that she liked even better than the first ones. Sad news – I will never be able to replace my authentic fishing memorabilia, but I packed away plenty of clam chowder in my stomach as a replacement souvenir of my own.


Lesson 3
Irregardless doesn’t make much sense, but I can still use it. It makes so little sense that I have to look it up in the dictionary somewhat regularly to make sure it’s still a word. It might be nonstandard, but it is still there in the dictionary every time I look. I’m not sure why anyone would use it… just say regardless for crying out loud. (This is me talking to myself)

Lesson 4
Bacon makes everything better. Split pea soup was never served in my house growing up. This is probably because my mom and dad didn’t want to have to eat it any more than the kids. I can only imagine what happens around the table in homes where it is set in front of a seven year old with a piece of bread for lunch. Yuck. A little while ago my work decided to go to lunch at a place called “Kitchen Soup” and I wasn’t sure what to get. One of my coworkers said, “Oh, they have the best split pea!” I thought this phrase seemed like an oxymoron, is it possible to make split pea soup that tastes good? My mind was incapable of processing this information, especially since I didn’t have any experience eating it. So, of course, I had to get it. Turns out my coworker was right. It was heavenly! It tasted like bean and bacon soup. Maybe the key to making split pea taste good resides in the important flavor of bacon, what doesn’t taste good with a little bit of bacon flavor? It was an eye opening experience.