WHAT IS IT WITH UTAH AND WEIRD NAMES!!!???


someone PLEASE explain to me, why people from utah feel the need to name their children the WEIRDEST and MOST UNIQUE names on the planet! i'm begging you!

i teach children's theater and i have a few gigs out here in the land of milk, honey and big hair. this week, i met my new groups of 1st and 3rd graders who are taking my "boy's world" and "theater from around the world" classes. they are adorable... i can tell we are really going to have a fun time.

we started things off like i usually do- with a name game. it's actually quite simple. the child picks an action and does it whilst saying their name... then we all copy it. boy oh boy, i'm telling you, it took all i had in me to not laugh out loud at some of the names i encountered!!! here are a few examples... please, let me know if you think i am being too harsh here:

Jerix
Derix (yes i promise you that they are both in the same class and that they are both spelled with and X)
Daxon
Damynee (i got really freaked out that i was going to pronounce this wrong and say a swear)
Dakota (it's a boy and although i have heard this one before, it still made me sad for him)
Darion (also a boy... sigh)
(what's with all the names that start with D??)
Chetton

wha? huh? why?

what ever happened to naming a child after a family member or a certain name because of it's meaning?

how about:

Elisabeth: God's Promise
Matthew: Gift of the Lord
Ruth: Friend/Companion
Emily: Eager

is it really that important to name your child something so unique that there is no way in God's green earth that anyone else is going to have it?

sigh, this is just one more idiosyncratic thing about utah that's probably more annoying than it ought to be. my problem, not theirs. BUT SERIOUSLY!

(obvious yet funny side note: the spell checker didn't recognize a single name on that list!)

SHIPWRECKED


i have been so homesick over the past 3 months. the first two months in utah were a complete whirl-wind. then it all came to an abrupt and jarring halt. it's like i've been sitting, listening to the clock tick for too long- stir-crazy wouldn't even come close to describing it.

so there i am sad and depressed, sitting on the pew after the sacrament meeting
enter bishop cook.
he sits.
he looks.
he asks the worst question possible-- "how are you doing?"
then come the tears.

with a few flicks of his magic wand, i find myself sitting across from him in his office spilling my guts about the sadness in my heart and the conflict that seems like my new best friend these days. i knew it was right to move away, but my heart wants nothing more than to take myself right back to that "dirty water" and live in peace and happiness til i die.

"this reminds me of a story peggy" my bishop says with an tone of understanding. "it's actually a story in the bible. you're familiar with the story of peter, when he walked out onto the water to meet the savior, right?"

"{sniff}," i reply

"well, have you ever wondered why peter never just turned around and reached for the boat?"

"hmm, i guess i never thought about it like that."

"and have you ever wondered what the boat represents?"

as i am busy thinking to myself that i have never once thought about it like that, my bishop answers his own question.

"you know, sometimes i think the boat represents weakness, possibly sins that we are comfortable with that when life gets hard we fall back on. but other times i feel like it just represents things that are comfortable or easy to us. in your case, boston is comfortable for you. it's easy to be there. and i know it's really tempting to want to turn around and just grab a hold of the boat, to climb back in and feel safe. but maybe, just maybe, the Lord is asking you to stay calm, call on his name and ask him to help."

i was stunned into silence. i had never heard of this analogy before and it was resonating through my head like a gong.

so what would happen if i just stayed the course i am on, went to Heavenly Father in patience and peace and waited to see what happens next? could it be possible that he has something more amazing in mind than what boston could offer? could it be that maybe he needs me to be other places right now, to learn and grow and build on the lessons he's already been teaching me and then i get to go back to boston... but because of all the growth it won't be the same boat anymore?

so with a very deep breath and a dab of the tissue in my hand, i resolved to be a little more patient. to wait out this period of trial to see what is on the other side. in the meantime, all of these trips back to boston, that i get to take for work, will be like a small little light in the haze. the peace i feel in the arms of those i call my boston family is just as real and reassuring as the arms that i grew up in. and i am happy to know that i can have both!

SCHMER, SCHMER


i really like mixing flavors of mike and ikes. pink and green is my favorite combo

i have been doing a TON of work lately... it makes me happy to be busy.

some of the BEST people on this very planet are people that i call FRIEND

one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone doesn't replace the toilet paper roll. how hard is it to take an extra 2 minutes to change it?!?

when i was 5 my dad bought me the book, The 5 Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop... he used to read it to me and use cool voices and everything. to this day, it's still my most favorite book.

i know we will probably fight about this, but i really do have THE cutest nieces and nephews EVER.


this semi-interesting blog post was brought to you today from the high i'm currently on from all the clorox i used to clean my sisters bathroom.

LITTLE PEGGY: the first edition

i was sitting in my room this evening reminiscing, which isn't uncommon... and i decided that i will implement a new theme to my posting... at random i will post what other people call flashback fridays... but instead of limiting myself to just fridays, i will just call it: LITTLE PEGGY.

i start today's post off with quite the memory...

the year was 1990, which made me 11 and i got, for my birthday, the most coveted item of any child in the late 80's- early 90's... THE WALKMAN! holla! i was ecstatic and busied myself for days, sitting by the radio, aching for my favorite songs to be played on the "fisher and todd" show, so that i could hit record and do my best to edit out the talking/commercial parts and get just the song!

yes boys and girls... this is what we had to do pre-CD/iPOD!

when my tape was fully loaded i threw on my white roller skates- yes i said roller SKATES-- and set out to get lost in the summer sun and my tunes!

side note: the neighborhood of my childhood was one of the most perfect neighborhoods to grow up in... i guess every kid feels this way about where they grew up, but i am claiming this one... sorry dudes. not only were there a ton of kids to play with at random and wide open feilds and a big creek to play in... but the P shape of the neighborhood meant that i could get on my bike or, in this case, my skates and ride around and around to my heart's content and not worry about the "fast" traffic that 1300 west was! so one could find me, quite often in fact, doing just this.

this day was no different. armed with my self-made play-list that was clipped to the front of my acid-wash jean shorts, i took off.

i can still feel the light breeze on my face that was created by my momentum. i can see the dilliar's red trees that lined their yard and looked forward to hitting the shade they created every time i passed by... but best of all... i can still hear this tune in my head. it was brand new to the radio and i had never heard it before. i LOVED it and would stop to rewind and rewind over and over again. what an energizing song! what a great way to spend a long summer day!