"Memories Light the Corners of My Mind"- Barbara Striesand

When I was teaching Relief Society in Rexburg, I taught a lesson about keeping a personal history of your life and meaningful experiences. I've never been super johnny on the spot with journal writing, but the lesson ingrained in me a greater appreciation for why that's important.

And thankfully prior to that I decided to start writing down some of my favorite stories through out the years, because I was starting to forget some of my favorites. So I didn't feel like a total hypocrite, telling the ladies how wonderful recording your life is and then not actually doing it myself.



This last week there's been a few times I've kicked up some stories and memories I haven't thought about in forever. . . . .stories I love because every time I tell them or think of them, they remind me that my life isn't as boring as I think.





For Example. . . . . . .



Last year around this time Angie and I road tripped to Reno to visit by friend John Walker. We wanted to hit up a Karaoke Bar, and the only one open the night we went was a Lesbian Bar called "The Patio" A Gathering Place. Angie and I where disappointed in the music selection, it was not what I expected from a place like Reno (apparently Lesbians AND gay men love show tunes!) Any who, I guess it was more disappointing that they didn't have our signature song "Shoop" by Salt and Peppa. We have been bringing down the house with that jam everywhere we go! And had great luck conquering the hearts of Vegas when we blew the roof off the Tropicana Karaoke lounge, but I digress. We had to settle for "Push It" by the same artist, but please believe we made some fans with our amazing rendition of "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me!". . . . . . . You can't tell me that's not funny! That's like comedy gold! What has two thumbs and sings Pussy Cat Dolls at Lesbian Bars. . . . .this Girl!


American Idol asked their contestants this week about there most embarrassing moments, and it reminded me of mine.

When I was in middle school, eighth grade to be exact. I was really excited about my Mom and Dad picking me up from school because Hey no Bus, right? Plus I thought my Mom had a pretty nice ride at the time. So I'm waiting outside with the rest of the school, getting kinda cocky. I look across the parking lot, and through the parked cars I see this vehicle full of garbage with a broken rake sticking straight up and flapping in the breeze like a big "White Trash Banner" and I literally thought to myself "Man that would be so embarrassing if that was my parents!". . . . . . . (Can you guess where this is going?) The vehicle pulls up to the pick up zone and I realize, "Oh My Gosh, that's my Dad's car!" My Parent's picked me up from school not in our nice new red Ford Taurus, but instead opted for an El Camino full of garbage! And the worst part was my Mom opens the door and exclaims "Emily! Get in the car we're going to the DUMP!" I mean can you believe that? A side note for those of you who aren't familiar with El Camino's, I'd say they fit two people comfortably. . . . . and My family and I aren't exactly small. So stuffing three chubby people in a two seater car wasn't exactly the best idea! I couldn't hide my face too well because I was stuffed up against the window! Is your heart bleeding yet?

Also another thing I get reminded of a lot (especially recently) is our YCL (Youth Camp Leader?) skit we did my last year of Girl's camp, the summer before I graduated. There was a lot of drama that year because they switched up some stuff, and because nobody likes change, we all kinda threw a fit. So any chance to rebel, was usually taken. We where supposed to do like a 10-15 minute skit introducing ourselves, and we made it into like an hour long production! We may have had some leaders upset with us, but it was kinda worth it! We did this beauty pageant spoof, that was nothing short of amazing if I do say so myself. Kacey Earl (Nielson now) rocked a "Spear Britney" shirt and slam danced to the punk version of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" Nicole Hansen (now Gartner) did a little spoof on the scene from Miss Congeniality when the dumb girl exclaims about red underwear being Satan's Panties. . . . . .and the Stake President was there. . . . .so awkward, but hilarious! I had this red Lycra bag that I'm pretty sure I stole from my best friend from elementary school. It's hard to explain, the bag is like a costume, and it's big enough to fit an averaged sized male, when it's on it kinda looks like a burca that Muslim women wear. I sported this, while I danced to Michael Jackson's "Thriller", mind you this was like six or seven years ago before that song was kinda played out, but I think it was a big hit, I think this because all the little girls I was a leader over at Girl's camp, keep coming to singles ward and reminding me of it! It was a good memory, I wish I remembered every detail because everyone made an amazing effort, and I just remember that night having such a euphoric feeling of job well done!

I was checking out my walls on Sunday, and I saw the picture of Dee and I all dressed up for the 80's dance we went to the summer we where roommates at BYUI. I think you where supposed to have dates, but Dee and I went stag. I can honestly say we had probably the best outfits there. . . . .I kid you not, well if we had to rank, Dee's was far more amazing then mine. She sported my tube top as a mini-skirt! Anyway we both where nominated for best outfit, but Dee got screwed over, and I ended up winning. It took some effort though, there was a guy booing at me in the front row, but I made sure he was aware my shirt said "Fat Chicks Rock!", and that seemed to shut him up. I won tickets to the enchanted ball they had a little later in the semester and got hooked up with a guy that served his mission in Moses Lake, but I don't think I ever met him then. In the two years I attended BYUI that was the only time I ever saw that guy I think his name was Alan, he was shorter then me and he had one of those chains clipped from his pants to his wallet, and he was rocking big skater pants (You know before they switched to skinny) that if I remember correctly where stapled on the bottom and pretty beat up Airwalks and then a white shirt and tie, he was a funny guy. What was also funny was when we went to take our picture the lady asked if we where dating and he said we just got engaged that night, and I was thinking they musta thought we where a funny pair what with me being obviously bigger then he was. But really that night was fun!

I think Pres. Monson was right when he said memories are like June in the December's of our lives, or something like that. But anyway I love recollecting and reminiscing about things I've done, and I appreciate your going along for the ride, for my sake!

Peace Out!