General Conference Weekend and Polygamist Dating

Hey y'all!!! It's Conference Weekend!!! My favorite weekend of the year!! Now, I don't know if y'all know much about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but twice a year, the first weekend of April and October, we gather together and hear from the leaders of our church! It's AMAZING!! I feel like all of my worries and doubts are addressed when I listen to these great men and women who lead us! You can check it out HERE! If you are looking for peace in your life that seems to be out of your grasp. Or if you feel like everything is just not going your way, please check it out, m'kay? I promise you will feel something wonderful and peaceful!

In other news, I have been spending some time with that new guy I was telling you about, James. He's super cute, like in a friend way. He's from Seattle and is working on a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. He's really smart. He hasn't asked me out, and I'm kind of glad because I'm having fun just being friends with him. Plus, I feel like everything happened so fast with Hollander that it's nice to kind of just take things easy. Get to know him as a friend and then we'll see if anything happens later. But seriously, he's adorable. We went to get ice cream the other night and my friend Rachel came with us. James surprised us by paying for both of us and we went to sit together. It was funny watch people watch us. It was a Friday night and the ice cream shop was rather busy as we sat down and started talking between us. I noticed several couples kind of watching us with a curious glance. It dawned on me that they may have thought we were on a date. Like, a guy dating two girls kind of a date. Like, a polygamist date. And I guess it would have looked a little bit funny because I was sitting closer to James than Rachel was, but we were all engaged in the conversation. A couple left and I saw the girl shaking her head and I'm pretty sure she mouthed something like "disgusting" in our direction as she left. I turned to James and asked,

"Um, did you see that lady?"

"Did she just mouth 'disgusting' at us?" He asked.

"I think so! I think she thought we were both on a date with you." I told him.

"Why would people think we were on a date?" Rachel chimed in with.

"Because James bought our ice cream. Oh my gosh. I think people think we're on a polygamist date!" I answered. And then we all started laughing. Instead of being offended or getting upset, we decided to play it up. When we left James made it a point to say a little louder than he normally would,

"So, ladies, I got us tickets for the 7:15 show. We better hurry so we don't miss the previews" and then he took us each by the hand and we left together. It also didn't help that he had driven so we all climbed back into his car and we drove away trying not to die of laughter.

I think this is one of the things I love about Utah. People's assumptions get the best of them, which is remarkable because this place is unlike anywhere else in the world. There is a brightness to the people, a lot of friendliness and eagerness to know you. It's a melting pot of cultures because so many people travel great distances to attend BYU. Heck, I'm one of them! But it's almost like people are looking for the strangest of circumstances when there is often a completely reasonable explanation. Like how James was just being a nice person and not dating two girls at the same time. Because that would be a rather interesting situation.

So, y'all, when you see something you can't quite understand, how about you not go to the craziest explanation. And also, don't call people disgusting for eating ice cream with friends. Because it's not. And that would be weird.

Deets That May Be Helpful

So, I should probably tell y'all a little bit about living in Utah. I  LOVE it here!! I attend Brigham Young University (BYU) but Kyla, Jax and Shelly all go to Utah Valley University (UVU). It's different here than anywhere else, I promise.

 I'm going to try and explain things that someone who hasn't grown up around here might not understand. First of all, I'm a Mormon (the nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), and if this is a problem then I'd recommend you not continue with this blog because I am very happy with my religion and way of life. I won't dwell on this a lot, but it will come up from time to time given where I live and the culture here.
     As a member of the LDS faith, I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke or do drugs. I don't swear. I don't sleep around. I live by the guidelines outlined by my church and they can be found here!! I don't watch R rated movies. I do dance!! I LOVE to bake cupcakes!! I like to try my hand at crafty projects I find on Pinterest!!
     I am the oldest of four girls. I love my sisters!! They sometimes drive me crazy, but it's so much fun!! My younger sister Karlee just left for a mission!! She is serving in Long Beach, CA and I miss her so much!! Any ideas on great packages to send her are always appreciated!! Karlee is my best friend, we were going to room together this fall, but she went on a mission instead and I am so excited for her!! It's the opportunity of a lifetime!! I sometimes think about going, but I want to finish my degree first!! I am getting my Bachelor's degree in Family and Consumer Science and I can't wait to get married and be a mom and raise my kids one day!! I am currently searching for my very own Knight in Shining Armor to come along and sweep me off my feet. That's partly why I chose to stay here this summer instead of moving back home for a few months. I kind of wanted to see what it was like when most people aren't in school and stuff. I like it so far, I have great room mates!! My ward (or the congregation I meet with on Sundays) is AMAZING!!! There's a lot more guys than girls, which I am fine with!!