There are only two things I hate...

...heights and jumping from them. Does anyone know what from movie that line is from*? I decided that I wholeheartedly agree with that line. One of the stupidest I ever did on my mission was give in the peer pressure of the Elders. My zone was all doing service together at an unfinished home. I can't remember what we were doing exactly, but I do remember that outside the door of the house there was a huge pile of gravel rocks. Some of the Elders were jumping from the roof of the house into the pile of rocks and they were trying to get the whole zone to participate. I think (sadly) that I caved before my companion and climbed to the roof (which in my defense actually was a fairly short one-story roof) and jumped off into the pile of rocks. The disastrous consequences were that I landed wrong and somehow gave myself whiplash. I could not move my head for the next three days and it was pretty painful.

This semester, I have been taking a swimming class. (A side kind of funny story is at the beginning of the year the teacher was calling roll and after he called my name, one of the other students said to me, "Neeley? Are you related to a statistics professor Neeley?" I responded, "I am a statistics professor." To which she replied, "Oh, I'm in your statistics class. You look different in your bathing suit." Awkward.) A few weeks ago our teacher "made" us jump of the 15 foot platform. I'm sure if I would have just plain refused, it would have been fine, but as we know from the previous story, I don't resist peer pressure well. So I took the leap, and it was again with painful results. It's not as easy as you might think to keep your body straight and so I hit the water at a rather painful angle. Furthermore, water rushed into my sinuses and my ears hurt very badly for the next several hours, so badly that I thought I might have broken my ear drums. I swear it took me 2 days to fully recover. The lesson that I've come away with is I do not like jumping from heights.

*The line is from the movie "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and it is said by Rizzo the Rat.

A Memorable Quote

"Signals are like nuts: mixed is better. Who wants all the same kind, right?"

-Olive Snook (from Pushing Daisies)

Moving Club

Not only am I in the "Trip of the Month Club," I am also in a club called "Let's move at least once a year!" I have been a member of this club since 2000, (earlier if you count my mission) though, I did not pay my membership dues in 2005. Here is a list of my participation, counting my mission (I just checked with the club president and he said it is okay to count my mission):

Jun 1998 - Aug 1998: MTC
Aug 1998: California for two weeks
Aug 1998 - Jan 1999: Babahoyo, Ecuador
Jan 1999 - Mar 1999: Portoviejo, Ecuador
Mar 1999 - Sep 1999: Ancon, Ecuador
Sep 1999 - Dec 1999: Manta, Ecuador
Jan 2000 - Apr 2000: Stadium Terrace
May 2000 - Aug 2000: Cleveland (I lived in two apartments this in these 3 months so I got bonus points here)
Aug 2000 - Apr 2001: Stadium Terrace
Apr 2001 - Aug 2001: Cleveland
Aug 2001 - Apr 2001: Foxwood House
Apr 2002 - April 2003: Condo on 3rd West
Apr 2003 - Aug 2003: The Sienna
Aug 2003 - May 2004: I can't remember the name of the apartment complex but I lived there with Jacqueline
May 2004 - May 2006: Park Lakes (I made it TWO whole years here!!)
May 2006 - May 2007: Archstone
May 2007 - Jun 2008: Condos on Holly Hall
Jun 2008 - Jul 2008: with Heather Jones
Jul 2008 - Jul 2009: By Provo Cemetery

Even though I missed 2005, there are 19 places on that list! 19 places in 10 1/2 years more than qualifies me for the club.

And now, like a faithful club member, I am moving again. I am moving this time up to the Riverwoods part of town in Provo. I'm excited about this move. Although my apartment will be smaller, it fixed everything I don't like about my current place including: no good place to run, only one full bathroom, cheap covered parking, no outside storage. Still moving is a pain, and this is certainly a club I hope to get out of very soon.

A Surprising Definition

So, I'm having trouble sleeping tonight, so I thought I'd finally add to my pathetic blog, as I promised Kristin I would. Here's an experience I had at a conference in Portland a couple of weeks ago:

On the first day of the conference, I saw a girl, a graduate student, from BYU also attending the conference. I went to up to talk to her and we had been chatting for a while when one of the meeting rooms let out and a few of my friends from Rice exited. They saw me, and so came over to chat with us. I introduced the student to my friends. Somehow, we started talking about BYU, and the student said to the group, "I always tell people that even though I go to BYU, I'm not a 'Utah Mormon.'" My Rice friends, of course, had no idea what she meant by that and said so. "They don't know what that means." And so when she was asked what she meant, she stammered out something about drinking caffeine. She had no qualms about drinking caffeine, even though it's not sold on campus, and therefore not a Utah Mormon.

Later I thought about it, and I decided that, unfortunately, just by the way she spoke in that conversation, she most definitely was a "Utah Mormon" (if you will, though I don't really like that term). To me, being a "Utah Mormon" has nothing to do with drinking caffeine or watching R rated movies, or even jogging on Sunday. It means that you have absolutely no idea what it is like to live outside of Utah. Don't you know that outside of Utah, those who are not members of our church, don't really know what a Mormon is? They don't know what we believe, they only have some vague idea that we might have multiple wives or don't smoke. Many people have never met a Mormon. And certainly, they have no idea what it means to be a "Utah Mormon." I think that some one who believes that everyone is familiar with the term "Utah Mormon" is one, by the very definition, no matter what he or she will or will not drink.

For the record, I later asked this student where she was from. Kayesville. That did not surprise me at all.

Remember?

Do you remember back in high school? There was that shy, kind of homely girl in the band who had a crush on Jared. She confided in me and I felt sad for her. She was nice , but I knew that there was no way he would ever think of her that way. Why does that always happen to the nice girls? I'm with Anne, I'd much rather be pretty than smart.

Thanks

This was recently told to me by someone trying to make me feel better: "You are reasonably pretty. If we put you in a nice dress and give you a $500 haircut, you'd be a 9." I don't think I'll be going to that person for help anymore.

On My Own

I love living by myself. No really, I love it. This is the first time in my life that I have ever lived in anywhere by myself and it is wonderful. Sometime I wonder if this glorious feeling I have every time I realize I'm on my own isn't due the fact that the pain is over. Like when you have a really bad toothache and finally it is fixed, the feeling of no pain is one of the most remarkable feelings ever to be felt. I don't want to be mean to anyone, but I've had roommates like that toothache. Now that the pain is healed, well, gone at least, it just feels marvelous.

To celebrate, I've compiled a list of things that make me happy. Just me. Things that make me happy when I am all alone.

1. Reading. I love reading. I love becoming a part of another story and I love reading out loud and sharing the stories I love with others. I love all kinds of books. And I love libraries and bookstores.

2. Music. I love learning about new artists and I love music with beautiful lyrics or unique sounds. I just started a notebook of lyrics that I find particularly nice. I love going to concerts and hearing live the songs that I love. I think one of the greatest experiences of my life was the Loreena McKennitt Concert. I never wanted it to end. I guess music lyrics can be listed under this category.

3. Baseball. I love watching baseball. and football actually. I like watching sports and I love watching sport teams from Ohio. Especially the Cleveland Indians. Go Tribe!

4. Traveling. I love to travel and visit new places. To see new things.

5. Art. I love going to art museums. Especially museums that are predominantly paintings. Beautiful things just fill my heart. Another favorite experience is when Alan and I went to New York and went to the MOMA. What a beautiful museum.

6. Crafts. Necklaces, origami, stamping, making cards. I love it! There is just something about being crafty.

7. Playing games (of course). But only with people who also like playing games. Since this is a list of things I like alone, I must admit I enjoy playing games alone too. Some video games, solitare, against imaginary opponents. I love it. (Though admittedly I enjoy games with people more).

8. Running and playing tennis. Although I forget this a lot. Something in me resists exercise at times, but I do love to run. I guess I can add to this list roller blading and biking. But I've never been one who likes to really pushing myself to hurt. I am more a slow and steady kind of athlete.

9. Swimming and going to the beach. I love the ocean and water. There is something wonderful about being submerged in water.

10. Hiking. Oh yes, the walker that I am, I love walking in nature.

11. Finding funny things. My most recent favorite is Kristin's Demitri Martin quotes and the PhD comics: www.phdcomics.com. I love laughing. (Again I love laughing with people more than alone, but alone is better than not laughing). The other night I was reading a few of those PhD comics and I was literally crying I was laughing so hard at some of them. I guess getting the PhD is not a complete waste if it gives me new things to laugh at.

12. Planning and making lists. I am a dork. I even like balancing my checkbook. Adding, listing, planning, I find these things strangely satisfying.

13. Cooking and Baking. I am in love with this new cookbook that Krystl told me about: Eating Well Serves Two. It has quick and simple recipes in small portions. Even without the cookbook, I get a lot of pleasure out of the time I spend in the kitchen.

That's the list for now. I am an independent woman and I love it.