Saturday, January 31, 2009

Friday Night Fun!

So last Friday night, Shaina went Latin Dancing on campus and had a great time. Jill and I stayed home because it really wasn't our thing. After hearing Shaina talk about it, we decided that we'd give it a try this week, just to see how it was. Well, long story short, we're hooked! I was on campus yesterday from about 7:15 am to 5:30 pm. Yeah, it was a long day, thanks for asking. I was pooped by the time I got home, and wasn't too sure I still wanted to go dancing, but I'd already told Shaina that I'd go with her. So while they went to dinner, I laid down on my bed and played around on my computer (I would have gone, but I was broke). When they got home, I went into the bathroom to get ready. Normally it doesn't take me too long to get ready to go dancing, but I woke up late yesterday and didn't do my hair or makeup. Yikes! So I had to completely get ready for the day. I pulled out my curling iron and went to work. I did my hair in ringlets and looked somewhat like Shirley Temple... but not quite as cute. I pulled it back and did my makeup, and looked pretty darn amazing, if I do say so myself. I still wasn't too sure that I wanted to go, but I didn't want to sit home on Friday night again either. But it was so fun! I danced with 4 different guys. 4 guys in 2 hours! So much better than country dancing where I'm lucky to get one dance. One of those was with my FHE brother, Kyle, who is one of the instructors. He knew that I'd never been dancing (well, that's not entirely true. I did go a couple times last year with my roommates but didn't enjoy it at all, probably because they tried to force me to dance with their friends but that's another story for another day) so he taught me a few things. But no one else they just go out there and start dancing. It was great! It was also crazy. I was dancing with this guy named Matt and when I told him that I'm from IF he said that he had a random question. I was like, "Okay, shoot." He asked me if I know Dallin Boardman. Actually, this time I was able to answer yes to that question. I went to high school with him. Turns out, they were companions on the mission. Then he was like, "Okay, I've got another one. Do you know... I can't remember his first name... Peterson? He's tall and blonde?" "Jordan? Yeah, I graduated with him!" They were in the same mission too. Small world, no? And the last guy I danced with. This was funny! I was standing there, or rather dancing, (yes, all you who knew me in high school and made fun of me for being so stiff, I can dance now, and I'm not stiff anymore, or at least not as stiff. I can move and not look retarded) by myself and this black guy looked straight at me and motioned with his finger to come here. I pointed to myself "Me?" He nodded yes and started pulling me in. So he leads me out to the middle of the dance floor and said "I could tell you wanted to dance" His name is G.W. (or at least that's what he said) and he's from Ghana. Anyway, we were dancing and he could tell that I was new at the whole Latin Dancing thing. So he taught me a couple things. But he still didn't like the way that my hips were moving, so he puts his hands on my hips and says, "Like this" and proceeds to help me move my hips right. That's right, a complete stranger. I was kinda shocked, but didn't totally freak out like I would have not too long ago. Anyway, like I said, I had a great time, and completely plan on going again next week! Yay for a social life!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

It's All in the Attitude!

So I went country dancing tonight, as I do most Wednesday nights. I didn't go last week, mainly 'cause it was Jill's birthday so we were doing things to celebrate, but partly because the week before was horrible! I was only there for maybe an hour, and the longer I stood there, the angrier I got. You're probably asking, "But Kira, isn't country dancing supposed to be fun? Why were you angry?" Yes, country dancing is supposed to be fun. But the point of going dancing is to meet boys, and quite frankly the boys don't exactly ask girls to dance. Well, let me rephrase that. The boys don't ask me to dance. Oh, plenty of guys ask girls to dance. Just never me. I don't get it. Why is that? So yes, I was angry standing there because the boys weren't asking me to dance. They'd look at me and walk right on past. Okay, okay. That could be partly attributed to the fact that I likely had a very sour look on my face, almost like I wanted to punch someone in the nose... 'cause I did. But I tried to look happy. I tried really hard. To be honest, from what I remember something happened that day that put me in a bad mood anyway. I don't have a clue what it was. But I wasn't super happy with life. I went dancing hoping that it would cheer me up. Ha! Quite the contrary. I came home wanting to punch someone in the nose and I'm pretty sure that I cried myself to sleep that night. Anywho, I went dancing tonight and I had a pretty good time. It wasn't super excellent, but it wasn't bad. I danced once, and there were lots of line dances. I like those. But I also went tonight with a good attitude. I went in thinking that I was going to have a good time, no matter what. Yeah, I would have been disappointed if no one had asked me to dance at all, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world. And to be honest, I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't asked more. But I'll survive. There's still two months of dancing left this semester. And I'm confident that if I go in with a good attitude, telling myself that I'll have a good time no matter what, I'll actually start having a good time. At least that sounds good, right?

Friday, January 23, 2009

First Post

So I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon trying to avoid my homework, because let's face it, it's Friday afternoon. I could watch TV, but I don't really like TV. I could do homework, but I've got all weekend to do that (and I already said that I'm trying to avoid that for the time being). I could work on my lesson for Gospel Doctrine on Sunday, but I usually do that on Saturday night. It's too cold to go anywhere and my only roommate who's home is watching TV, which I don't want to do. I've got a few friends on missions who I could write to, but I'm not really in the mood to do that either. I got thinking and figured that I've got friends and family who are going to want to know how I'm doing, especially after I leave on my mission (I'll have my family post my letters weekly so you can all know where I am and how I'm doing), so I figured that I might as well start a blog now while I've got "nothing" to do.

For those of you who see this and don't know, I have decided to go on a mission. It wasn't exactly something I was planning on doing. I was going to finish up school this coming fall, student teach next winter, and graduate in April. Obviously the Lord has other plans for me. One Saturday afternoon in November while I was preparing my lesson for Sunday, I had an overwhelming impression that I need to serve a mission. I can't even describe it. If you ask my roommates what I was like that weekend, they'll tell you that I was a wreck. Of course, they didn't know what was going on until late Sunday night. All they knew is that I was being really quiet, and not being very social. I spent a lot of time in my room thinking. When I did tell my roommates what was going on, they kinda just stared at me like they didn't know how to react. And I don't blame them. I didn't know how to react. For those first few days I was way not myself. And I couldn't focus on anything. I went to class because I'm not the type of person to skip class, but I'm pretty sure that nothing sank in. I spent a lot of time thinking, reading my scriptures, and praying. The more I've thought about it, the better it feels. And believe me, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. I'll be able to start on my papers in just a few weeks now. That is almost unreal to me. I'm taking Mission Prep this semester and that has been an amazing class! It's only two hours a week, but those two hours are probably my favorite two hours of the week. And despite my busy schedule I try to sit down as soon as I get home from class every day and study my scriptures and Preach My Gospel for an hour. Sitting down and really taking time to study has opened my eyes and I have learned things that I hadn't known before. I truly believe that this will be a great blessing in my life.