I enjoy being a girl...

"I enjoy being a girl"
Ok, so a week ago, I was thinking pretty much the opposite and how complicated being female can be sometimes.  I mean, take hair removal for instance.  A hairy girl isn't considered socially acceptable (generally).  I feel confident saying this because I have personal experience on the matter.  Allow me to shed some light on the matter through an embarrassing experience.  Ahem. 

When I was in 7th grade, gym class was torture.  I mean, beyond the i'm-SO-not-coordinated-slash-athletic-at-all-and always-the-last-to-get-picked-on-teams kind of awkward awfulness.  One big reason why I hated gym class was because my mom wouldn't "let me" shave my hairy legs.  Maybe she just didn't want to admit to herself that her little girl was growing up....I honestly don't know, but to this day I wonder how I somehow managed to endure junior high and maintain some dignity by the end of it.  Having hairy legs was quite embarrassing.  I suppose I was lucky that no one actually ever said anything to my face, but I guarantee those boys and girls in my class noticed.  I withdrew myself from groups whenever possible, counting down the minutes until the bell saved me from the humiliation and I could pull my jeans back on to conceal the faux pas.

One day I couldn't take it anymore and found one of my dad's razor blades and went nuts.  It was just the blade, no handle, so it was rather tricky, and silly me I did it dry..so yeah, I ended up with a pretty deep, messy cut on my leg.  Perhaps that was the true reason why my mom wouldn't let me...because it was dangerous....?  Eventually my mom and I had a little chat and she suggested using a depilatory.  So I hopped off to the store and got me some Nair!  (Nair wears short shorts!)  That worked a few times and then my skin broke out in an itchy rash.  (Which I was kind of grateful for because the Nair was messy and stinky!)

Eventually I learned to shave properly, and a few times did some waxing.  The point is, that for a girl to be hairy is eye-brow raising sometimes and maybe even a little "gross".  For guys however, not such a big deal.  Ok, there are sometimes EXTREME situations where the guy is overly hairy, but for the most part, they don't have to worry about shaving if they're gonna get in a swimsuit! 

Another thing that is sometimes frustrating about being a girl is the whole "monthly".  Surely I can spare details here.  ;)

Well, today at church I went to make an announcement in the Elder's Quorum and I walked out feeling grateful to be of the female species.  Curious, I know, but it was just one of those funny little inspiring moments.

First of all, it was me in a room full of men so they were nearly all in dark pants and white shirts.  There was some variety in their ties, but from my vantage point in the back row, this was not obvious to me.  I thought "Wow, we have WAY more interesting outfits".  I also noticed this went I went clothes and shoe shopping with my bf.  Us girls have much more variety (which can also be a bad thing because there's SO MUCH that it can be overwhelming!)  but we can get away with ruffles, lace, and a greater variety of colors and fabrics, which is pretty sweet!

Then, the overall feeling was different.  Not in a bad way, but I just felt like it wasn't as friendly of an environment.

I was eager to get back to Relief Society where there were lots of cute outfits, friendly faces and warm feeling.  Being fast and testimony meeting, it was nice to hear testimonies and be uplifted and buoyed spirirtually. I love Sundays!

Well that's mostly it.  Of course I appreciate both genders and we each have our unique qualities and roles that make life interesting and fulfilling when we get together, but I really enjoy being a girl.

That's all. :)

It was so bad that it's good!

"It was so bad that it's good!"

This is a phrase that has wandered into my mind recently.

In reference to one really bad relationship in particular, I've realized just how much appreciate the fact that it was SO bad it's actually GOOD!  Thanks to those "bad" experiences, I can now enjoy the good so much more!

All that stress, anxiety, worry, heartache, lameness, confusion, miscommunication, misunderstanding, frustration as well as a few tears and a bunch of terrible  blind dates (that felt like a huge waste of time)....All worth it.  Kinda reminds me of that book by Sheri Dew: "If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard".  Well duh....

More than once during some of those most troubling times in life I've been guilty of wishing I could have all the answers right then and there.  Just when I felt as if I'd explode from the seemingly unbearable uncertainty, knowing the Whys, Hows, What-ifs what have been just the ticket.  We can be such pansies sometimes, thinking to ourselves things like:

"It hurts!" 

"Take it away!"

"This is too hard!"

"If I could just know everything at that very moment the pain would go away, right?"

Honestly, I'm glad things don't work that way.  SO glad!  It's a wonderful feeling to look back and see how all those experiences have added up to make me into who I am today (and hopefully that is a better person).  How would we learn anything otherwise? To me it's yet another reminder of how aware God is of His children, and how everything is for our good and ultimately our happiness.

:)

School Bum

"School Bum" could mean a few things.

• The ever increasing size of my bum because between sittin' at work, sittin' in school, sittin' during the commute to and from either of those, and sittin' doing homework, there's not much time left in the day to move around as much as I'd like.
• A term used to describe someone who hangs out at school a lot (doesn't fit me though)
• A term to describe someone who doesn't know what it's like to NOT be in school (well fine, I had a few breaks here and there...but that doesn't really count!

Well let's see...according to my rough calculations, I've been in the formal educational system for about 23 years!  And like the Energizer bunny, seems like I just keep going and going and going.... Not necessarily because I LOVE school (although don't get me wrong, I thoroughly LOVE to learn).  I wish I had made some goals sooner and stuck to them, but despite those times of aimless wandering through the college abyss, I can honestly say I've had some good, fun experiences along the way, met some great people, and learned a whole lot about myself.

Right now I'm in the process of getting my spring semester figured out.
The other day I met with my academic advisor, I declared my major and minor, and he helped me plan out the rest of my undergrad courses (yes!), projecting my graduation in spring or summer of 2012!  I'm excited to have that goal to work toward.  If I can manage a bigger load (which is tough sometimes having to work a certain amount of hours to keep my benefits like health insurance and tuition reduction), then I might be able to finish a couple semesters sooner.  I'll be plowing through these next two summers and I pray I won't burn out!  I just need to get done because the goal is grad school....another 2 years of that at least.  So I'm going to be like 30 something when I'm finally done!

So I'm looking at the courses and I have to take a class that fulfills an "International Requirement" (IR).  There's a World Music class which sounds like tons of fun (but it really has nothing to do with my major).  Another one I'm looking into is an International Children's Literature course which is totally up my alley since I LOVE children's books!  Again, not related to my major.  At all.  Sigh.  I keep looking and find a class that fulfills both an IR AND Quantitative something-or-other....JACKPOT!!!  It doesn't sound too bad.  It's called Population and Society .  Oh...and I just came across Language and Culture, a linguistics course.  Shoot, that sounds cool too.....There are just too many classes that sound enriching!  It's gonna be tough to make up my mind!