Coming Back Around...

Along with several other millions of Americans, I heard the news this morning that Senator Edward Kennedy died. This is not extremely surprising news. Senator Kennedy has been sick for a very long time and we all knew this day was going to come. I personally wouldn't say this is very tragic either. But then again, I'm not a Democrat.

I found it very interesting when I read about his death this morning to learn that a special election would be held to find his replacement. Unlike most states, Massachusetts apparently has some law that requires a special election to be held, rather than just having the Governor appoint someone to take his place. But what I found especially fascinating about this law is that it only came about in 2004 by Democrats wanting to make sure that the then Governor, Mitt Romney, wouldn't be able to appoint a fellow Republican to office when Senator John Kerry became a presidential candidate.

And it seems that days before his death, Senator Kennedy was asking for that law to be reversed so the now Governor, Deval Patrick, could appoint a fellow Democrat to office to give an added voice in support of Barak Obama. But it turns out the special election will go forward as required.

So, it looks as if their once ingenius plan is now coming back around to bite them in the butt. I'm secretly hoping that the people of Massachusetts will elect a republican to office, just to show the democrats that they can't simply change the law everytime they are in jeopardy of losing their power.

Introducing....

Kyler Ivan

Born August 20, 2009
Weight: 7 lbs. 10 oz.
Length: 20 inches>

It Has Arrived!

I'm not talking about my sister's baby, though he should be arriving tomorrow and another post will be coming to discuss that arrival in more detail. Right now, however, I am talking about my beautiful new TV. After a week of waiting patiently for it, my dad finally called me this morning and said, "Your TV is here. Can you please come get it out of my front room?"

I guess the delivery man took it out of the box, plugged it in, put the batteries in the remote and tested the TV right there in the front room...just to make sure it was working before he drove away. Pretty awesome service if you ask me. But now my dad's front room is strewn with a giant box and all it's innards, not to mention the TV itself.

So that means I am off to get my TV and haul it to my place! YAY!

Play Time at Hale...

Intrigue + Deception + Romance = my favorite book of all time! Now I get to see the play!

September 24th can't come soon enough!

Making It Easier for Jesus...

My niece called my mom and dad yesterday with some very big and very important news! It turns out she is going to have a little sister!

We are all very excited about this, but she is especially. See, she is currently one of five children and her four siblings are all boys! A little while ago she told her mom that if the baby was a boy she was going to pray for Jesus to come down and "use the force" to switch the boy into a girl.

Luckily for Jesus, that will not be necessary. But perhaps He just decided to make it easier by granting her prayer in the first place. :)

We are all very excited to welcome this new little girl into our family come December!

I Gave In...

One and a half weeks ago, I went with my sister to buy her a new TV. We went to look at a specific TV and ended up falling in love with a different one. As we were at the store I said to her "Maybe I'll buy me one too!" As it turned out, they only had one left in stock so I took it as a sign that I didn't really need a new TV.

Everyday since then I have been thinking about this TV non-stop. I've tried so hard to convince myself that I didn't need it (I really don't need it) but oh how I wanted it!! Here were some of my arguments against buying it:

"You hardly watch TV anyway, why spend the money on something you rarely use?" (remember how I used to be addicted? Not so much anymore!)

"The TV you have works perfectly fine, as does your roommates"

"It's a lot of money that could be spent paying off your car which you only have four months left to pay on. Use the money to pay it off now!"*

Back and forth I went on this issue. Last night I nearly hit the "place your order" button online but I said to myself,

"I'm leaving town this weekend. I'll think it over some more and make my decision when I come back"

And then this morning when I got to work I just couldn't take it anymore. The voice in my head kept saying, "Just do it! You won't stop thinking about it until you do!"

And so I did. And now I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

*I still plan on paying off my car. The house I was saving up for will just have to wait a little longer. :)

Quote of the Day:

If a girl is going to catch the right chap she's got to have the right face to do it with. And if you haven't got one of your own, paint it on!

Calling Campaign...

Apparently at the U there is this thing called the Calling Campaign. I had no idea it even existed until about two weeks ago. But what happens is people on campus (usually the Student Affairs staff) will divvy up a list of current students who have not yet registered for the upcoming semester and will then call each of them to remind them that fall semester is a few weeks away and if they plan on coming back they should register soon. Well, my office somehow got assigned this task this year and so for the past week I've been taking my turn at calling these students.

The calls have been relatively easy so far. People will give their explanations as to why they haven't registered, we'll have a little chat, they'll thank me for calling and I'll hang up. Big deal, right?

Well, apparently it was a big deal to Mary*. I called her up this morning and this is how our conversation went:

Me: Hi, may I please speak to Mary?

{Mary gets on the phone} Hello?

Me: Hi Mary. My name is Camille and I am calling from the U.

Mary: Yes?

Me: Fall semester is approaching and we noticed you have not registered for classes yet. I just wanted to remind you that....

Mary: Don't you think that if I wanted to register for classes I would?

Me: I'm sorry?

Mary: Do you call everyone who hasn't registered for classes?

Me: Yes, we do. We just want to remind....

Mary: I find that completely obtrusive! Seriously, don't you think I would have done it if I wanted to? I don't need you to tell me I haven't done it yet!**

I wanted to say so many things right then but all of them would have been completely unprofessional. So instead I simply took a deep breath, apologized for taking up her time and hung up. Then I wrote her name and number down on the "angry students" sheet so that she'll be sure to get another phone call.

Sometimes I really love my job.

*Mary is her real name. I felt no need to try and protect her identity.

**For the record, I completely agree with her. She doesn't need me to tell her that she hasn't registered for classes. But I don't need her to yell at me either. And that's where she went wrong. So I hope she enjoys that call from the VP's office.

Making Changes...

I can't even remember how many times in the past 2-3 years I have exclaimed "I am DONE!" when it comes to attending a single's ward. For years I would become frustrated with the entire scene and then swear to everyone around me that I was through. It was time for me to move my life in another direction. But then I never would.

When I turned 31 I all of a sudden found myself faced with the hard reality that I no longer had a choice. I HAD to move on. And for some reason, I no longer wanted to. For me, it's so much easier to make that decision in my own time rather than having someone make it for me. And because of that I became stubborn and had a, "You can't tell me when to leave!" type of attitude. I did talk to my Bishop when I hit the ripe old age of 31 and he was kind enough to give me six more months in the ward. That would have put me out this past March.

And still I stayed. I'm glad I did because it was only the beginning of this year when I met some amazing people and ended up with awesome friends. That never would have happened if I left in October or March like I should have.

But recently - the past month to be exact - something inside me changed. It happened fast and was completely unexpected. I once again had that "I am done" feeling. But this time it was different. It wasn't because I was angry or frustrated with the single scene. Instead it was one of losing a sense of belonging. I love my ward. I love the people in my ward, I love my Bishopric. But for some reason I just no longer feel I belong there. The time has come for me to move on.

So today I went to my family ward. I loved it. Don't get me wrong, it's not without it's quirks. The people were interesting, testimony meeting was pretty bad, and some young mother even shed her blouse and breastfed her baby right there in sacrament meeting (though she did cover herself with a blanket). But as I sat there I pondered the question, "Is this right for me?" Am I honestly ready to give up the comfort of my single's ward and go to this bizarre family ward?

The answer was yes. Why? Because it feels right. There are several other single women my age in the ward, a lot of young newlyweds, young families, middle aged families and grandparents. It's the perfect blend of life. I loved the openness, the friendliness, the diversity the ward had to offer. Everybody was their own person. Nobody was trying to impress anyone else, or compete for another persons attention. There were no nasty glares from jealous girls, or awkward stares from psycho boys. It actually felt like church to me instead of social hour.

And so, in the next few weeks, I plan on making the transition from singles ward to family ward. I can't say it doesn't scare me or that I don't have some concerns about it. But it's the right thing for me to do and it's the right time for me to do it. All I can do now is trust that Heavenly Father will take care of me.