First Week

~Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.
~George Halas

Alright, sorry I haven't blogged in almost a week... it's been crazy. Work is going well-but is SO exhausting. I get up at five, start work at six thirty, get off at three... and I've had several two hour naps-before going to bed at ten thirty. And, my upper back is killing me.

Let me start over, that didn't sound very positive. Haha, I actually think I'm getting better. I'm sewing elastic on and my biggest problem is getting it to lie flat when I'm done. Like, so the elastic isn't bunched up and wavy. But I'm starting to get used to the number thing on the side of my machine... if I want the length longer, the numbers go down... shorter, the numbers go up. Sorry if that doesn't make much sense.

Oh my, I'd have to say my biggest problem, my biggest mistake, was when I put the elastic on backwards. See, there is a side with ridges and one that's flat. The flat side is supposed to go toward me. We use big rolls of elastic and sometimes they are pieced together with red stitches or red tape. When those come through I have to make sure they don't get sown onto the material and that the elastic is still going the same way. Apparently, I didn't check one time.

I had to pick out a bundle and a half and resew them. It took about two and a half hours. A bundle is 40 pieces... that was not a fun afternoon :) But, I did pass both my quality checks. My trainer took three bundles and examined them and my auditor took three different bundles and examined them. And, based on Thursday, I am at 23% proficiency. Haha, that is really low! But I did half again as much on Friday!

Anyway, we are shut down for this next week. We covered the machines in plastic and they are going to clean the electrical stuff above us and what not. So, I'm up at Snowbird now! So excited to be able to stay the whole week! And, as much as I need to get paid, I think my back needs a break.

Oh, and, so, based on my task, I'm supposed to be able to do a bundle in 10 minutes and 29 seconds. The first couple took almost an hour each. I got down to about forty minutes and my fastest was in fifteen minutes! Then I did several in twenty. That was probably the best part of work this week-just seeing myself improve-it's exciting!

Air Conditioning

~Life's problems wouldn't be called "hurdles" if there wasn't a way to get over them.
~Unknown

Geez! I almost forgot to blog today! I'm not used to my night ending at 10 or 10:30... I just had a thought on my very warm ride home from work-well, I'll just explain. There are so many people with their windows down. Haha, I only notice because I had mine down some and am aware so I don't sing when other windows are open around me :)

Anyway, you don't open your window when you have the air on, right? So, are all of those people with their windows down missing air conditioning like I am?

Second day of work went well. I met my trainer and everyone in the department-about forty people I won't remember-besides the fact that it was kind of loud with all the sewing machines going. I got my machine and table and everything and spend a few hours learning to thread the machine, practicing, and timing myself. It wasn't too bad, kind of became a routine. Breaks were good but then I felt like I was supposed to be doing something :)

First Day at Work

~Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas.
~Paula Poundstone

Oh my, first day at work. Well, we didn't really work... but it was my first day there. It's at Beehive Clothing and I'll be sewing :) There are six of us new employees-and everyone seemed to know who we were. They did have a stand as they read our names at the devotional though...

I've had one other job before-and it was really informal. I worked at Custom Events. We put on carnivals with inflatables and rock walls and food and everything. I didn't need an interview. We had a meeting with parents and they told me where to meet for my first day. They kind of just stuck me on the job... not like it was hard to figure out though :)

This job is really different. I had the interview and test with a physical therapist. Today, and I think tomorrow, are, like, orientation days. We got cards and pictures taken for them. We watched a movie on working in the church. We went over a million forms that are so over my head. And then we went over insurance stuff... oh goodness!

I'm hired as a full time employee. But I'm doing it more as a summer job-that I started really late :) I'm leaving for France September 8th. They don't know that and I feel kind of bad about that. I can only work a month and a half... But I need the money and it's a job and they said in the forms I could quit whenever... :)

Oh, and we have a family vacation next week at Snowbird. For the last few weeks I've just planned on going up some afternoons and on the weekend... But apparently we get the whole week off! Well, I'm excited about going on vacation, but I really do need the money-and then I'll just work even less before I quit. But, next Friday IS a paid holiday :)

We also got to go on a tour-which was super cool. It's amazing how everything works! We got breakfast and lunch-only two hours apart though... and it felt a heck of a lot like middle school and high school. There wasn't much I wanted to eat and I wasn't particularly hungry. And though they gave us a paper with so much money we could spend-I used less than half that. I sat with the other new employees-but we were all really quiet. I never transferred schools or moved but I'd imagine it would feel a lot like that-besides having the group of other new people.

I'm kind of excited but also worried I won't be able to do it very well. And I've never had a full time job and eight and a half hours a day seems like a long time :)

Cookies!

~Don't wreck a sublime chocolate experience by feeling guilty.
~Lora Brody

(these are not my cookies :) they are from Google)

~Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
~Erma Bombeck

I'm making cookies! Goal this time: don't burn myself :) Well, that and actually bake them all the way through... Last time they were all runny and doughy inside.

Until last time, I've never really had problems making cookies. I'm never exactly sure when they're done, but they always turned out okay. And last time they looked good on the outside-all slightly browned and everything. But that was deceiving.

Actually, I just took the first pan out of the oven. I'm waiting for them to cool on the pan-maybe it'll help them cook all the way through-before I try to make more. See, this time, I made them smaller, hoping that would help. Again, they started to look brown and they're crispy on the outside. I'm worried though...

I know it's bad for me, but I absolutely love eating the cookie dough! Haha, lately it's the best part of making cookies... since the cookies don't really turn out :) It's like licking the spoon when mom makes toffee at Christmas time!

Alright, I broke open two of the cookies-gooey inside. Not good gooey... not cooked gooey. I guess I'll try another batch... maybe they'll be too brown. Yuck! The only good way to eat those kinds is dipping them in milk... which isn't so bad, but soft cookies are so much better...

New Job

~Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.
~Jonathan Swift

Ah! I heard some awesome thunder today! I was sitting out on the tramp reading cuz Bronwen tends to be where I am or sleeping... and it got all dark and grey! It was super pretty... and then it didn't storm. And two hours later, it didn't even look like there had been dark clouds. What the heck? Sad day :(

So, I had my "Post Offer Assessment" for work today. I was a little worried-okay, I always worry too much-because I didn't know exactly what I was going to have to do. I met with a physical therapist to make sure I could handle everything I would need to do on the job. Most of it was pretty easy but the hardest had to be lifting a 3 lb. weight.

Haha, no, 3 lbs isn't very much, it was lifting it with just my wrist as many times as I could in a minute that was difficult. Those were some long minutes! I think I hurt my left wrist in elementary school-but, of course, I've never been to a doctor about it and it only hurts when there's a storm or I lean on it for too long. But apparently I did as many with my left wrist as I did with my right...

We also went out to the sewing room and there were six tops lined up in pairs between machines. I had to fold each one with two folds and go down the row. They didn't have to be really neat and I had to do all six in under 30 seconds. Then I had to do it... 18 times, I think, in under 10 minutes. I was worried I wasn't going fast enough and the hardest part was unfolding them in order to fold them. He didn't tell me my time, but apparently I was fast enough :)

So, I start work on Monday. Well, I don't have to go in until 7:30 on Monday and I think the interviewer said I would be done early that day. Then I will find out if I work 6:15-2:45 or 6:30-3:00 :)

Summer Heat

~Nothing splendid was ever achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.
~Bruce Barton

Summer's going too fast! I leave for Paris two months from tomorrow... that's so crazy to think about. Haha, I really need to get on top of practicing French. I try to translate things I think sometimes-but I have no clue if I'm getting it right. Or I'll go through the house trying to remember what all the rooms are called or things around my room :) It worries me how little I know... but it would be totally awesome if I actually learned to speak really well while I'm there...

So, I'm sunburned. Yep, it hurts, but at least I'll get a tan from it :) I swear I put sunscreen on my shoulders and back... I just didn't think to put it on my face. I don't normally use sunscreen though-and it didn't seem to help enough to make it worth it :P

I also think I figured out why I don't particularly like the summer. The heat makes me sick. Really. Not just hot, but, like, I don't feel well. It's hard to explain but basically just not very much fun. I'd much rather wear a jacket and boots than try to stay cool everywhere I go in the summer. And I can always grab another blanket or jacket in the winter-you can only do so much in the summer unless you're swimming :)

Camping

~Camping: The art of getting closer to nature while getting farther away from the nearest cold beverage, hot shower, and flush toilet.
~Unknown

Alright, I'm back :) I've been kind of busy and haven't taken the time to write... and once I miss one day it's that much easier to justify missing another.

So, Mom's the ward girl's camp director this year. They leave tomorrow morning and get back Saturday afternoon. I knew a lot went into camps and other activities. I mean, I've helped with a number of preschool parties, open houses, papers, art projects, and homework packets. But mostly, it's made me think of how much I loved girl's camp.

I only went five times. See, with a summer birthday, I didn't get to go the year I turned 12. And then, come my third year, everyone in my grade was on their fourth. I skipped the third year to go on the fourth year trip. I was so not excited about that trip. Ya, Moab, water rafting, camping... fun fun. But I didn't know anyone. And, at the time, I was a little irritated that both my parents went to every camp I went to. Turns out it all worked out for the best though-that was the trip I met one of my good friends on :)

I didn't have very much experience with camping before girl's camp. After my first year it became something I really looked foreword to. Of course, it was dirty and hot. I didn't particularly like the hiking and I always took my own box of Wheat Thins and a can of Pringles cuz I didn't eat much of what the rest of camp did.

I'd have to say some of the best times I had a girl's camp were the late nights-staying up until three or four or five in the morning. We played every kind of card game I'd ever heard of and then some. We ate mountains of candy and screamed when we found spiders... one camp, by the end of one night, we had a pile of tissues full of squished bugs in the middle of the tent by the time we went to bed. We tried truth or dare once-there aren't many dares you can do when you can't leave the tent :) Sometimes we had spiritual times. We'd read the scriptures and talk about things and sing hymns...

There was one night we played Pit at about 2 in the morning... ya know, with the bell... pretty sure the leaders loved us that night. And, of course, there were hours worth of talking about boys. What was a camp-backpacking trip, girl's camp, youth conference, overnighter, or whatnot-without discussing boys. We talked about things we didn't normally discuss at mutual. And, of course, it was always fun to discuss which boys were the cutest in the ward-cuz then we all actually knew everyone being discussed :)

I loved being able to get into the camp songs and dance like an idiot :) Snipe hunts were the best! Though, they never really seemed long enough. And as much fun as it was when I was in on it, I'd have to say my first year was the best. We had long games of Apples to Apples and Phase 10. Face painting, skits, s'mores, roasting Starburst, Little Sally Walker, and testimony meetings. There were big games of capture the flag with glow sticks and pedicures after long hikes. And there was always one tent that didn't really zip up every time... and finding a tick in the tent because we couldn't zip it.

Watching girls get dumped out of sleeping bags and having leaders come down the zip line spraying water on us... shoving ten girls in one tent sneaking around camp to toilet paper the leader's tent. We tried to scare the boys at youth conference but we were more scared ourselves with the bears they said were in the forest. There were bathroom trips at four in the morning cuz the bathroom was heated. There were frustrating triangle games and totally awesome games of catch phrase-creating inside jokes :)

There were giggling fits at three in the morning and breakfasts in pajamas cuz we stayed up too late. We played generous games of Phase 10 on car rides when we made up our own secret sign language. Ice cream stops on the way back to civilization when we realized how dirty we really were and how much we stunk. There were gorgeous nights when the stars shown like pinpricks in the black card stock of the sky. And fun evenings trying to get the fire started with one match and plenty of bug spray.

I loved camping with the girls in my ward. I miss it, but then, I don't really feel like I fit in anymore. Good memories of camp-couldn't have asked for better experiences.

Thankful-ness

~I say, if your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.
~Bill Watterson

It's already July! Oh my goodness! I've been out of school more than two months! And, like my mom pointed out the other day, it's hard to believe kids are still in school... ah, elementary school.

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about how grateful I am that I've grown up in the church. Not just for the gospel, which I could go into for a few posts... but just the church. I'm seeing how everything I've done in church is helping me now. All the bishop's interviews helped with Sterling Scholar, Study Abroad, and my job interview. Conducting Young Women's and mutual every week and giving talks has helped with presentations in school.

Camping, boating, rafting, jeeping, shooting, hiking... obstacle courses, skits, camp songs... the games and singing in church and service and corn mazes and region dances and EFY... playing sports without pressure and making friends to play night games with and walk around the neighborhood preparing for trek. Trek in itself was a huge learning experience. Temple open houses and baptisms for the dead...

It's hard to explain in a blog post, all the ways these things have helped me. I don't know where I'd be without these experiences. Even just the social aspect of getting together with kids several ages older and younger than me twice a week... learning how to deal with any situation. Region dances got me ready for high school dances. Night games helped when I went to college and spent all night out with people I didn't know playing simple games. Singing in church... haha, helped me when my FHE family had to sing in church a few months ago :)

A lot of it is just helping me in church now... but without all the things that I've had to do in church, I'd have a harder time with a lot of things now. Helping plan activities in young women's helped me with my calling as FHE group leader-planning meetings and making calenders and having activities. I know there are a million other ways I can't list here-and tons a don't realize... but it's been interesting to see how I've been prepared for things as I go through life :)