Catching up

It's been a long time since I posted.  So instead of trying to make up by doing a ton of posts about all the things I've missed, I'm going to summarize everything.  Here we go...

1. Father's Day: I really dropped the ball on this one.  Even though I'm like a month late, I'd like to take a moment to write just how much I appreciate my Dad.  He's awesome.  He works hard, he laughs a lot, and he makes a great pine float.  He went up to girl's camp this week (more on that later) and "engineered" (ahaha) new and more effective/efficient ways of doing things.  For example, he concocted a plan to cut down a few trees and make the zip line long enough to get up to 60 mph.  That there should tell you just a little bit about how cool he is.

2. Wyoming: about a month ago, my family went to Martin's Cove in Wyoming.  We camped with aunts and uncles and cousins galore, and learned about some of the most difficult treks across the plains.  I loved this quote about the Martin Handcart Company, which my Uncle Steve shared in a devotional on the last night:


"Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes! But I was in that company and my wife was in it... We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities!

"I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up for I cannot pull the load through it. I have gone to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me! I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the Angels of God were there. Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No! Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company." 

 - Francis Webster


I know we didn't have to endure one millionth of what they had to.  The experience I had in Wyoming was very humbling and taught me a lot about what it means to be dedicated to God and to the Gospel.


Now for some more mundane details of the trip.  Following a breakdown in Nevada, during which we got to ride in the van on top of a tow truck, we pulled into our campsite at about 6 am, having driven for 24 hours.  We slept a few hours and then went on a hike and heard stories.  That night we went square-dancing with the rest of the campers.  My partner was my cousin Lincoln, who is about twelve.  We had a marvelous time, and everyone agreed that we had the fastest twirls (I'm pretty sure he got some air during some of them!).  I decided that, were I an X-man, my nickname would be Centrifuge, and I would spin things.  I would be useful to society by being a biological centrifuge, and I would be able to create tornadoes, whirlpools, etc.  I would also be a mean replacement for those silly braiding machines.  


At the end of the first day, Tess and I were sitting in our (brand new) tent while it stormed outside.  A REALLY strong wind blew, and the tent collapsed.  The roof was about six inches above our heads.  Needless to say, some of the tent poles broke, and the girls got to sleep for the rest of the trip in the van.  


On the second day, we took the big handcart hike.  It was great fun during the first half, and we all enjoyed taking off our shoes to hike through the wet parts, eating trail rations, and listening to the stories of missionaries who were posted along the way.  We did the women's pull, where the women had to pull the carts up a mile-long hill in silence, while the men went ahead and watched from the top (when the pioneers actually used this trail, the men were all so exhausted and sick by this point that the women had to pull the carts alone).  After that, things started getting worse.  It began raining.  The rain came from the side, so it was just about impossible to stay dry.  We used the built-up trail to ford the Sweetwater, so it wasn't that hard, but then a few of us got left behind without our shoes while the cousins pulling the handcarts pulled ahead.  We had to walk the three miles back to the trailhead without shoes.  This was obviously a more realistic experience, but it was very painful and by the time we got to the cars, with aching and lacerated feet, I wasn't very happy.  But we survived.


I don't remember the rest of the trip very well - it was soggy and cold.  When we left Wyoming, we went through driving snow.  Brr.  We stopped in Salt Lake and had dinner with Heidi (yay!) and Cory and Mack, two other cousins.  Then we decided to drive through the night, and arrived home early in the morning.  The next morning we got up and went to church as usual.  It was a great trip, and a fun experience to catch up with family members (although I didn't write much about them, because there are too many woderful people and I don't remember all of my experiences with them - oops!).


3. My jobs: I have briefly mentioned my lifeguarding job on this blog, but I think I'll go into a bit more detail on both of my jobs this summer.  


I lifeguard at Twain Harte Lake.  It is my fourth summer doing so, and I'm getting (understandably, I think) a little bored with it.  It is a cushy job and I'm glad I have it, but I wish that a) it required some sort of actual mental exertion, and b) I didn't feel like I'm the only one on the staff who cares about the bathrooms and guardhouse being actually CLEAN.  I've lately been having some problems with a few of the other lifeguards, but as this is a public forum I won't discuss that here...  I'm going to try really hard to find another job next summer, because I'm about done with this one.  I don't want to be one of the college graduates who still works at the lake, and has since age fifteen.  Anyways...  


Other than those things, I like the job.  I have to do a bit of cleaning, bore myself to death for up to four hours a day up on stand, and participate in the occasional rescue.  I get to read on most of my breaks (which account for the other four hours of work daily) and I love our weekly hour-long Saturday workouts.  This Saturday our head guards had me act as a spinal victim, which was very fun. 


This week (and last week) we are also having swim lessons.  I'm teaching level three, and my teaching buddy Matt and I have about twenty students.  It's exciting.  Have you ever tried to teach freestyle to twenty six-year-olds?  Odd coincidence: about seven of my students are members of the church.  Random, I know.




My other job, which I haven't mentioned at all yet on this blog, is doing In-Home Service for an older lady in our ward.  It is provided through the state, and I'm paid $8 an hour to clean, run errands, and chauffeur for Sandra, who is a delightfully entertaining person.  She tells me stories about her three divorced husbands (the last one only separated, because he is passive-aggressive and might have freaked out if she'd divorced him) and her three grown daughters.  She talks to me about her fibromyalgia and assorted other medical problems, and has recently introduced me to Whole Foods market.  I have a lot of fun, and this week I'm taking two days off of my lifeguarding job so I can get some time in on this job.




4. Running: about two weeks ago I started training for a 10K.  It's an eight-week training program, and I've already started getting off track.  I'm hoping that writing down my goals will motivate me to keep up with them.  So if you live in the same house with me, please remind me.  I really appreciate it :)


5. Reading: I finished Inferno, the first section of Dante's Divine Comedy, early this week.  I decided to stick with that for now.  Cowardly, I know, but I really needed to move on for a while.  The section that I read, which was about 150 pages in all, chronicles Dante's descent into hell.  It goes through the nine circles of hell, detailing the sins and punishments of the inhabitants of each circle.  It gets more and more gruesome; in the eighth circle, Dante uses an entire page to lovingly describe one soul's ravaged features, as he is slowly hacked to bits by a demon with a sword.  Yuck.  Ironically enough, considering more traditional views of hell, the ninth circle (holding traitors) is very cold.  In sections of it, people are frozen beneath ice, unable to move.  At the very center of hell, Dante and Virgil behold Lucifer, who is the source of the cold, with three mouths chewing on Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius (men who betrayed Julius Caesar).  


Inferno was very interesting.  I don't really understand what Dante is trying to say throughout it, though.  Hopefully the next two sections will reveal that a bit more.  I will get back to them soon...


I also crossed off number twelve on the reading list, Jane Eyre.  I'd actually read the book before, so I guess that's kind of cheating, but this is seriously one of my favorite books of all time.  I love it.  Charlotte Bronte brings real emotion to her characters.  Jane is humble, pragmatic, and analyzing.  I wish that people nowadays looked at each other and themselves as clearly as she does.  Rather than thinking of people as "nice" or "creepy," for example, why can't we see their generosity, magnanimity, contentment, cruelty, independence, and inquisitiveness?  Isn't it more important to notice that someone is untrustworthy as a snake, than that he is charming?  Anyways, it gave me a lot to think about.  Her descriptions of people even made me analyze myself more clearly.  However, that is something I'm not going to go into on this blog!  I would highly recommend Jane Eyre to anyone.  If you read it a long time ago, check it out of the library and enjoy it again. It's a classic.


This week I also read God of the Hive, by Laurie R. King.  It is the continuation of one of my favorite series, which starts with The Beekeeper's Apprentice.  It was a fun, interesting book which I rather enjoyed, although it is not quite as entertaining as the first nine books in the series.  This is my go-to series when people ask for book recommendations.  It is about Mary Russell, who in the first book becomes the apprentice of a retired Sherlock Holmes.  They are mystery novels, told from the point of view of Mary Russell, who is an unapologetic feminist with brains, backbone, and a sense of humor.  In other words, they are very entertaining.  


6. Cooking: recently I have made 
Tomato soup
Beet hummus
Zucchini and Ricotta Galette (with added mushrooms and rosemary, yum!)
Macaroni and cheese
Healthy carrot cake (YUCK - don't try this at home.  I fed this to the chickens)
Slow-scrambled eggs (you have to try this.  They are creamy and yummy.  I topped mine with guacamole, refried beans, tomatoes, and salsa, then put it on an english muffin and added a dollop of sour cream.  Delish.)
AND
Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes (Delicious.  Don't forget the almond extract, it may be the most important ingredient)
I know I've made some other good things lately, but this list will have to do for now.



7. How do you get to know a random guy at a single's ward?  Let's say I don't know him, I've never met him, and I don't even know his name, but I may or may not already have a huge crush on him.  Hypothetically, of course.  Any suggestions?


<3 the ever-enigmatic,
Eliza

P.S. I kinda like that nickname.  Alliteration and all.

P.P.S. Yes!  Amy, he totally is that Joel Richardson!  We seriously live in a small, small Mormon world.  Also, I love your blog.  It entertains me immensely.