Ballet-ing :) I loved it.

Okay, the day after Halloween, Bonnie and I took some dudes (Rich and Brett from work) to Ballet West's Dracula. Both of their first ballet experience and they did really well. :) The second act introduced the lead dancer and they put him in purple tights to stand out from the villagers who wore brown. The best line from the night...when the lead came on stage, Rich subtly comments, "Oh boy."And Brett just looked seriously concerned. Bonnie and I were in stitches trying to cover up our laughs during the performance.

Then at intermission when the guy gets the girl, Brett turns to us..."I think she chose him because of his pants. The other guys didn't stand a chance."

"But Brett, you looked so concerned when he came out."

"Well...did he know that he forgot his pants?"

Needless to say, the entertainment on and off the stage was phenomenal. Thanks for being such good sports about the Ballet guys! :)

p.s. the Ballet was GREAT...loved the costumes, the dancing, choreography, sets, loved it all. Of course...my first true love is Classical Ballet...I am kind of a sucker for it!
This is how much we loved the show! :)
And what Rich thought about it. :)
One of our spontaneous celebratory events at work this week was our "1st Year Anniversary of being in this building" party. We moved from American Fork to Lehi 1 year ago and we LOVE our new building...and we love to celebrate. So Heidi and I put a little something together, including an orange wedding cake...that had a little accident on the way from the bakery to the office. A little traffic and some brakeage...and shoot. the cake went into the seat.

We salvaged it, and it was yummy. No big deal. It added to the party. :)

Friday was my roomie Leah's birthday...26!! We decorated and greeted her with happy birthdays in the morning, then we went out on the town with a couple of her mission companions for the evening. Mama Chus for dinner...she got toquitos, her favorite.
And here is the groupie for dinner...mmm, it was yummy.
Then after dropping off her cute friend who was feeling sick...aka vomiting out the car door at every stop light from Provo to Orem. She got out of the car and we all agreed that this story will be great when we're all best friends. Ha ha.

Anyway, Coldstone for dessert...mmm. Bonnie and I shared Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream with graham cracker crust and caramel. MMM.
And they loved their ice cream despite the eek faces...they weren't sure how they felt about the picture taking.
Saturday night I volunteered at the Ballet West GALA at The Grand America Hotel...LOVE that building. Oh my. I simply directed traffic and smiled at the guests. And then guided them to their tables in the ballroom. The event was AMAZING, and so fun!

And you can't see my earrings, but they were FANTASTIC...and my earlobes were down to my sides by the end of the night. But I looked great! :)

Catching up with High School friends and Momma

This week was good, caught up with some significant people and worked a lot. Tuesday night I went to the temple and there were about 6 people receiving their endowment for the first time, so the session was a little extra tender and made me think of my first time...

After the session I felt like I needed to go visit my parents and indeed I did. My dad cooked us up some midnight scrambled eggs with zucchini, then went to bed and mom and I stayed up til 1:30 am just chatting and catching up. I learned some things that I never knew about my mom. She told me the story of when she was in 1st grade and she and her sisters were singing on television at 3:30 pm and school got out at 3:20 pm. Her sister Annette came to pick her up from her class to hurry off to sing, but even though my mom's row was sitting with their arms folded and quiet, they were not being excused by the teacher. My mom was anxious and needed to go, but was not being excused and did not want to disobey. Well, it came down to the wire and she just had to go...she was singing on television...so she finally got up and left without the teacher's permission. The next day she was kept in from recess and punished for it...such an injustice.

Anyway, fun stories like that came out of the woodwork and we caught up on everyone and everything inbetween. Love my momma.

I was of course dead at work the next day and ate my way through the work day with chocolate...not friendly to the waistline.

Then Wednesday night I met up with my best friend from High School, Tishna Campbell. We met up at Magleby's and had a great dinner and caught up for 3 hours. It was SO good and SO fun. I was pleasantly surprised at how real our conversation was. It was so refreshing. We have been doing our own things for the past couple of years with just a facebook message or birthday wish here and there, so it was fantastic to get in and see how she is really doing and she is doing fantastic! Here we are after a night of yummy food and conversation. Love this girl!

Thursday night I stayed late at work supervising the installation of a wall graphic for a "Core Value" that we were launching at work on Friday. I went to the gym to unravel and read another chapter in "Leading Through Conflict". I love what I do at work so much that sometimes I just want to keep working, but taking a break is really good in those moments. This was one of those. Anyway, I felt really good about the Core Value launch on Friday, I was in charge of setting everything up and I was pleased with how it went. I am getting better at the details!

Friday night I met up with Wayne, my high school crush, for dinner before we met up with Tish and other friends for hot chocolate. It was great to catch up with Wayne, his life and his family and the latest from the past 2 years. Then we met up with Tish, Dave and Allison for hot chocolate at Denny's rather than frozen yogurt because it was freezing out side. Did winter come overnight...pretty sure it did.

Anyway, Wayne and I got the last 2 hot chocolates they had. So I came in cold and left cold. But the conversation and get together made up for it. It was fun to catch up with everyone, but on the whole I wish we were a bit more real with each other. We brushed off and joked about our single station in life and I am the only one graduated out of the group, so they laughed about their still being in school. But...who cares. I am interested in knowing what's going on in their life, but I couldn't get past the jokes. I am much better one on one, but a little disappointed that i couldn't steer the conversation to be more meaningful.

I crave deep conversation...have you met me?...but my family and roommate are always telling me to just chill and go with the flow. Sigh. I know it doesn't have to be deep and intimate every second, but come on, just a little bit? It's been forever. I obviously have to work harder at surface conversation...still not my forte, but I am working on it. :)

On the whole it was fantastic to see these people. Still the same great individuals. I think it was only yesterday that we were going on Marching Band tours and giving high fives in the halls.

I think Dave was attempting the Thunderbird hand motion...no idea. We had to remind him what to do in pictures.

Here it is...The Thunderbird in all it's glory. :)

Dave was sporting the crocheted beanie...ha ha. His style choices sometimes crack me up because he is so not stylishly stuffy, he's just Dave.

He was practicing his romantic moves the whole night...of course all of them were accompanied by this kind of face or roaring laughter. He kept the whole evening light.

Then Tish and I crashed at my place with The Proposal and laughed like old times. We of course analyzed the dinner and talked through our thoughts. So fun.

Saturday I didn't get up til 11:30...so nice. Then I stayed in bed most of the day preparing my sunday school lesson, journaling, planning, pondering, and just being creative. Ah, I love those moments. I had all the time in the world to do what I love most and it was absolutely juicy.

I finally got up and hit the gym and then ran some errands.

I found some dynamite shoes for Rosey's wedding. Magenta/purple peep toe booties! Slightly more purple than magenta, but I think they will work fabulously. All I have left is deciding on accessories...you know, earrings, necklace, hair pin...I must decide what to wear. :)

Today I taught Sunday school for the first time as part of my calling and it went well. I procrastinated a little long, so I didn't get into knowing the scriptures as much as I would have liked. It was on Paul's epistle to the Hebrews and I got kind of jumbled when I was reading it. Anyway, the gist was that Paul was moving the church members from practicing the Law of Moses...to...the new and higher law of Faith on Jesus Christ. Part of my lesson was outlining the story of our faith...since Jesus is the "author and finisher of our faith". How our faith goes from belief....to...testing, hoping, trusting...to...knowing. Anyway, I could have involved more discussion, but I was so focused on setting the stage. Always learning about how to teach better.

And now I am looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the Sunday and reading more in this fantastic Leading Through Conflict book....I am really loving it!

Catching Up...

Wow, it's been a while. I have just been so busy dating that my blogging has taken a back seat. ;) That's right. Dating. Who knew I would actually enjoy this and bump it up on the priority scale. :)

Anyway, a brief update on what's been going on...

Work: Still love my job at One on One. I feel that I am moving and growing to the next level, I have been zeroing in on my relationship with my boss, adding in a little more personal touch to the business talk so that it is enjoyable for both of us. I know, weird that I would struggle with bringing warmth and personality to a relationship, but I am hypersensitive to making efficient use of his time and our conversations...almost too much as I see, so I am coming back into better balance. I am currently planning our Christmas Party, preparing presentations and meeting agendas, and leading out on most of our giving back initiatives, we just finished a 7 day food drive and gathered 5086 lbs. of food, so great! Anyway, needless to say, I am learning a lot and growing tons which is my number one that is nonnegotiable in my work.

Love: My dating/social life has exploded and it's actually really fun. I have had a few girly get togethers with sisters in my ward and it has made the biggest difference in feeling that I am part of a ward family. My singles ward lacks a cohesion that I am so used to and it has been a big disappointment to be part of...and yet a blaring opportunity for me to create some, I know that's why I am in this ward and am working on stepping up to the plate in that regard.

I just got called to Sunday School Teaching (Hooray!) and released from VT supervisor, so I am excited to create some unity through that vein as well as continue my VT efforts, attend activities, and create some of my own to bring people together. I am a people person and Heavenly Father knows that. Shoot. It's time to step up. :)

Okay, so the juice on the dating scene. I have been working the online dating scene (eHarmony and Match.com) and thanks to my brilliant roommate Bonnie, who is a PRO at online dating, I have had a lot of success with meeting and going out with lots of different guys. It feels very much like kissing frogs at times, but on the whole, it has been a lot of fun. And I learn ALOT about who I am and who I am looking for. It's GREAT practice and it feels very much like a 'Dating Lab"...haven't found the ideal partner, but plenty that are willing to do a little experimenting ;)...to be continued...

Home Life: Still love my roommate Bonnie and we got another roommate, Leah, from Tennessee with no accent because as a vocal performance major, she worked with a diction coach to change it. She does still say "Y'all", so we can believe her that she is indeed from the South.

But life is good. Bonnie is the best roommate I could have ever asked for, one of the greatest blessings for me in my life right now. Not only has she shown me the ropes for online dating ;), but she is a great confidant and coach on professional performance, wardrobe, and other critical questions...:) Love this girl.

Church: I know I touched on my callings, but I just wanted to include an interesting experience. I finally found (well, her dad called our Bishop with her correct contact information) a sister that has been on my VT list since January. I stopped by and finally after a few months caught the current residents home with their dogs and they had no idea who I was looking for. It was like having a lost lamb and not knowing the first place to go look. It was frustrating and very cool at the same time to feel the stewardship and connection to this sister. I admit that I semi gave up until further notice. Then this past month I was handed my VT assignment and an updated phone and address was next to her name. Unbelievable joy and excitement rushed over me. I saw her that night and learned her story...and alls well that ends well. She is coming back to church after 3 years and expressed that "it's like Christmas!" Wow! Going to Sacrament Meeting is definitely not like Christmas for me every week...but talking with her freshened up my perspective for sure.

And that same day that I saw this sister coming back, I met with another sister who is leaving. No hard feelings, just pursuing another path with God right now. Super interesting to talk with her...and a great experience for me. Thank you Heavenly Father.

I am looking forward to Rosey's wedding at the end of this month to celebrate with everyone. Weddings are one of my favorite things in the world because it means time with the fam, and dancing the night away...what else is there? Honestly.

My Beard?

In the middle of a conversation...I don't even remember what we were talking about...Bonnie tells me...

"Meredith, don't play with your beard while you're talking to me." I was touching (okay maybe pulling at) the peach fuzz on my neck. (see picture for reference)

Bah HA HA!! Tears from laughing so hard. It was one of those moments.

My response through the bursts of laughter...

"I think that's the most disgusting thing you've ever said to me"

P.S. Bonnie eventually apologized after we both recovered. She originally came in to tell me great job on the fabulous Burger Supreme lunch today...she really is a nice roommate. I promise.

Ezra's blessing and the start of Togetherness!

Sunday was Ezra Carlton Clark's blessing and kind of the kick off event for our family togetherness for the 4th of July. Rose and I drove down from the cabin to make a 9 am sacrament meeting...so tired. Up til 2 am 2 nights in a row is not my typical schedule.

We walked in and sat down during the opening hymn and it was probably the most distracting/distracted hour...we were all so excited to be together that we are waving and making faces at each other through the whole meeting. Whoops. So happy to see everyone, couldn't help it.

Afterwards we met for pictures, then lunch at the Clarks.

Which way is the camera? Who knows, they are all looking in different directions.

Regardless...darling family, congratulations on #4 Jules and Carl!

Happy Mommy! Very proud aunties! He loves us!
BABIES!! All of...well most of the babies born in the last year. It was the year of the boys.

Our Curty. Love him.A noogie, really?

The Fab Five.

Crazy Cabining

Rose and bunch of her friends, and friends of the friends, all went up to a cabin for the weekend and I went with her. It was a pretty hilarious weekend. After dinner on Friday, we played telephone pictionary. This one below won. hands down. The evolution...

Oh No! I have been buried alive...

Death on Turtle Mountain...

Pirates use turtles to climb the mountain...

I lost my eye while riding my pet turtle to top of Everest!

And this is was our weekend entertainment...BH!

We played Mumble Murder, a type of telephone charade game that is out of this world. To play, the group sends 3 people out of the room and picks a

person

place

method of death

then players act out each one and invite others to act out what they acted out and it just gets funnier as it is passed on.

The best one's though were Rachel's suggested place...

Sleeping Beauty's EYE... that's right, her eye.
And BH's suggested person...

VELOCORAPTOR TRAINER....

What? Hysterical.

So of course he was the one to act it out...he totally had this up his sleeve, rehearsed and all.

HA! Many weepy faces during his performance, we laughed so hard!

Here he is giving a demo of how to do the Velocoraptor snort...oh my.

Saturday morning we went on a hike behind the cabin. SO beautiful...and straight uphill. burning calves.

This is Andy Fitzell, one of the coolest guys there. His dad? Totally on West Side Story and a Broadway hit! What? Rose and I about died.

His dad was totally the model for Cinderella's prince, and that is what Andy looks like as well.

We each did our best GQ on the mountain.

Totally Gorge.
"...The hills are alive..."

All the ladies

Tai Chi on the mountain...what?

"I'm Assistant Buyer!..."

That night after our hike, we went in to Park City and rode the Alpine Slide.

No bar on the ski lift, I could have died...except being on the lift with 4 guys was not too shabby.

A little nervous, but excited to finally check this off my list...I have been wanting to ride the Alpine Slide for a while.

My friend Blake in my ward randomly showed up with his roommate on Saturday...a fun surprise!

Nothing was better than hanging out with my Rose.

Our group at dinner.

BBQ Pork and Steak for dinner at Bandit's...and entertainment with our straws while we waited!

Fun. Fun weekend.

Camille Neilsen is FINALLY expecting a baby!

My friend Camille, who I danced with at UVU, is finally expecting baby #1, baby boy Canon. She has been wanting a baby for years and has tried everything under the sun. So happy for her!

Entrepreneur of the Year and Bonnie's 29th!

Our boss was a finalist at Ernst and Young's Entrepreneuer of the Year 2011 and the awards ceremony is a black tie gala at the Salt Palace, aka a fantastic fancy event...needless to say, all of us girls going could talk of nothing else for that whole week...

What are you going to wear? What does your dress look like? How are you going to wear your hair?...You know, the typical girl talk around events like these. So fun!

Thank goodness for the multiple bathrooms at work, we slipped out a bit early, went upstairs and started the primping fest!

Yes Bonnie is putting on fake eyelashes, no big deal...that's what we do.

So much fun.. And we are ready. Watch out SLC...here we come!
Yes Bonnie is painting her toenails in the car on the way to the Salt Palace. She was wearing open toed shoes and her nails have got to look their best! :) "Just tell me when you start to put on the gas" she says.

Some of our team... Ow ow..

Super classy...best part about it...the dress got returned the following day. :)

More of our team and the table settings. They ddecorated with white calla lilies...super classy!

awww...we're so great.

The stage with 2 HUGE pots full of the white calla lilies on either side...love.

The ladies of the night

and we're HAPPY to be here!

I love how they got all the lilies to all bend perfectly towards center aisle.

...the party's over...it's time to call it a night....except...Bonnie's birthday was the day after next and she was going to be out of town, so I secretly had Rose and her friend Mel decorate our condo to surprise Bonnie when we arrived home...SURPRISE, Happy Birthday Bonnie! 29 great ones!

29 Reasons I love Bonnie...#25: She has a personal relationship with every cooking and food show on this planet.

#29: She is the perfect blend of everything WONDERFUL in this world and the Best Roommate EVER!

We celebrated in style with Cherry Cheesecake (Bonnie's Favorite), Martinelli's, and of course a Princess Pin! :)

29, Wow! 2 Questions...

Best of last year:

1. Became myself again

2. I found the best roommate EVER! (aww...she had to say that:))

3. LOTS of Growth

Looking forward to this year:
1. Running first marathon (October in DC...you go girl, I will be cheering at the finish line!)
2. Growing up

3. Learning to trust

Happy Birthday my dear Bonnie! You really are the best thing that has happened to me this year! Love you SO much!
And of course, the biggest thanks to Rose and Mel for blowing up balloons and hanging streamers at 10 pm at night...you are the best!

So happy to see my Rose...I get her for this whole week with the 4th of July and all the celebratory hoopla that comes with it...so excited!

Friday morning we treated Bonnie to Kneaders French Toast...mmm.

Actually Swathi treated both of us for breakfast. We love carpooling with Swathi. We actually just love Swathi all together.