Bygone Blogging - Exclamation Points and Training Bras

Here are the last few scans from my first journal... my favorite is the full-page description of my cowgirl outfit. Other points to notice: the ambiguous and creepy ending of the first page, my love for baseball even though I had no idea what it was, mnemonic devices for remembering names, sloth-like smiley faces, showing off some skin, and fulfilling my vain desires by mentioning how much my (dad's) hat cost. Enjoy!


6-21-94
This morning I had to go to piano lessons. YUCK! I HATE piano lessons. I'm playing Appregios. I don't know how to spell it. I don't even know if that's the word! In Beyer, my goal is to finish Beyer by the end of summer. I'm playing Sonata KR5 or somthing like that. I'm also playing "A Child's Prayer." that's a primary song. Well, I'm really happy. I'm out of school!!!!! Out of fourth grade!!!!! Horray!!!!! Horray!!!!! I miss my teacher though. her name is Cindy Jaramillo. Do 'ya think that's hard to remember? It's not! Just remember Caramillo, the candy bar. I'm going into fifth grade!!!!! I can't wait!!!!! All though I get the most mean, strict, I don't like her, Mrs. Foster. We played night games today. Or should I say tonight?

6-22-94
I have these one summer Scera tickets. They go to some movies that i've already seen. Well, some of them. They're movie tickets. I go sometimes with my friend, Millie. If I don't, then she's on a trip. The tickets are good only on Wednesdays, at ten o'clock, A.M. We've already seen, Dennis the Menace, Once Apon a Forest, Free Willy, and today we saw the Sandlot. I love that show! And that taller, greatest baseball player on the team, Benny, is so dang CUTE!!!!!!!!!! Base ball is my favorite sport, you know. Even though I'm not that good at it. Oh, by the way, I made it into BYU Children's chior. But, they pushed too hard. So, I quit. And then, a couple days ago, I saw that they were going to all these places in the world. The're going to sing in one of the biggest parades in the world! The're going to perform with the great Hong Kong choir. The're becoming more famous, and the're moving up to better things! But, hey, My mom wouldn't let me quit piano, and I loved Sunshine Generation. I just had too many things to do. We played night games today. All we played was 52 Bonkers. Then, every body had to go in. Except, Spencer and I. Well, it's 11:40. I'm so TIRED!!!!!!!!!! So that's a rap! G'bye!!

6-23-94
Today, I didn't get dressed 'til' 2:30pm. I wore a jean skirt' with ruffles. I wore a white leather belt. I wore tight shorts under my skirt that were pretty long. So, I just rolled them up. I wore a white t-shirt. It was pretty see-through, so I had to wear a bra. I wore a jean vest that I got for Christmas. It is supposed to have flowers sewn on to it. But, unfortunately, most of them fell off. Sorry that this isn't a to interesting subject, but it's all that I could think of. It has a big, round white butten. It has a white trim. I wore a dark grey, big, cute, 200.00 hat. It was a cowboy hat. It has a black band around it. It's really nice. We're going camping tomorrow so I'm not going to be able to write in this. So, I'll miss a day or two. Bye!

P.S. I didn't write again for months and months. Certainly I could have shared more outfits with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So sad we missed out on that.

Bygone Blogging - Timp Cave

If you want to see an actual picture of me at this age, check the last post! I like my attempts at metaphors, drawings, and flirt-dodging in this next entry!


6-20-94

It's been a long time scince I've wroten in my journal. I've always been to tired. If that wasn't the case then I probbably didn't remember to. If that wasn't the case I probbably just didn't feel up to it. Or I probbably didn't want to. But, here I go. I am so tired! I did so many tiring things today! First, my dad, my mom, Evan, Heather, and I went hiking up to timp cave. But, we knew that Heather wouldn't be able to reach it. It is an hour long hike, you know. Second of all, I had sing and dance today. Boy, was it tiring! I had to work, work, WORK!!! When I came home, I was very tired. Third of all, I had to go UP to the park with Heather and Bones. Bones is my families dalmation. -->
(Continuing)
Sorry that that Mt. Tipanogas cave didn't make sense. Here's the rest. All of us were sweating like race horses. But, we made it half-way! Then we came back down. I got an ice cream cone and Heather got a root beer when we were back down. We were going to go camping tonight. But,
NO!!
:(
BOO HOO!

Bones drove me NUTS at the park. There was a kid there who drove me nuts too. All he did was TALK to me!

Bygone Blogging

Welcome to the start of a new series, "Bygone Blogging" - which should be a fun treat for myself, even if nobody else likes it.

Since blogging had not been introduced to the world until I was older, I decided to scan and post some old journal entries from when I was a kid. Journaling on paper is how we used to do it, kids! Crazy! So, for my (and hopefully your) enjoyment, here is the first post of the series:

1-10-94 The Very First Entry of my Very First Journal

I had lot's of fun today. In school, we have a new system. It's in lunch. Instead of using a ticket, all you have to do is to type in your number and say your name. It's really fun. In singing and dancing lessons, we are learning some new songs for our new performance. My mom, Eva Maria Andersen, signed me up for the BYU Children's chior. I'm going to an appointment on Wednesday, January 12, 1994. I'm really excited. This will be a good experience for me. I might even meet some new friends! I have a crush on a boy named Zach. He is so cute. Last night, I was on my balcony singing with my cousin, Lisa. Zach lives across from me and saw me and my cousin. I saw him. I waved at him. He was in his room. He waved back.

(Age 9)


1-11-94

Today, when I went to school, I had a ponytail in my hair. I could not stand it. I took it out. I had piano lessons today. It really went good. I was doing the wrong thing in Beyer. Beyer is the name of one of my piano books. I have Hanon, Beyer, and pieces on just plain paper. My mom and I went shopping today. I also showed her some tricks on some bars when we went to my school playground. Something BAD is happening at school. We have Mr. McCardy for a subsitute in social studies. Every body in the school hates him. All he talks about is trust. Trust, trust, trust, trust is all he can say it seems like. I am still really excited about BYU. I have an appointment tomorrow for an audition.

Quarter of a Century

I. Am. Twenty-five.

25 things I love/hate about being 25:

1. Feeling like I can wear a French Twist and look classy, not strange.
2. Being single.
3. I still get to live with my parents.
4. I live with my parents.
5. I drive a stylish Malibu.
6. At my age, and with a college degree, shouldn't I be driving a Porsche? Actually... at my age... maybe a Cadillac is more appropriate.
7. I am not in school.
8. I have to work.
9. I can rent a car while traveling now.
10. Being past the dating age in some boys' eyes.
11. I still rock out to Miley Cyrus.
12. I don't have an excuse to be silly anymore.
13. I am still silly and giggly and sarcastic.
14. My Prince Charming seems more and more distant.
15. I am aware, from seeing my friends' relationships, that I deserve a Prince Charming - just like in He's Just Not That Into You.
16. I probably won't be able to have as many kids as I've always wanted to - unless the Lord decides to give me twins or something - we'll see. Let's be honest here. The biological clock ticks, my friends!
17. As opposed to those who get married young, I will have tons of already-endowed friends at my wedding.
18. That doesn't really matter because I'm already 25, so I probably will never ever get married. I missed the mark. Time to buy lots of cats. *shudder*
19. I still hate cats.
20. I can't afford a dog.
21. I can afford a blog.
22. I admit that I feel pretty old.
23. I still have my figure. (what?)
24. I feel like a bit of a failure sometimes, which I know is completely stupid. Believe it or not, I do have some self esteem....
    

AND.... LAST BUT NOT LEAST....
25. I GOT TO GO TO THE MT. TIMPANOGOS TEMPLE ON SATURDAY AND COMPLETELY CHANGE MY LIFE. It was wonderful. The more I think about it, the more I feel at ease about it, though I was pretty overwhelmed. I cannot wait to go back soon. I am adjusting to clothing changes. Many of my close friends and family members were there with me. My brother Ryan flew in from Boston... Heather Beck from Vegas... and many others came for my special pseudo-wedding day. I love all of you! Thanks for making it a happy birthday!!
P.S. Very fitting to turning 25 - I have lost 25 pounds in the past 6 weeks. Don't tell anyone.

The Ransom Note

UPDATE:

You were all incorrect. It was a secretary, playing a prank... with a guy coworker.

I believe my first words after I found out were, "Amber, you're fired."

She's not really - just might get the silent treatment for a while or something. We'll see. Muwahahaha!
Today is sad. My precious baby has been swiped.
I set up a poll for who you think would take it from my desk.
Please vote. This will help in my detective work.
Thank you,
Lindsey

Painfully.... awkward???

Hola, my peeps! Here is a quick update on how fun, painful, and awkward the past few weeks have been for me.

Camping Trip to Redfish Lake, Idaho for my dad's bday! (Happy Birthday, Dad!)
It was absolutely fantastic and such a load of fun. We went to Craters of the Moon before making it to our campground. While there, I officially became a spelunker! We crawled inside Boy Scout Cave and had a great time there.... It was also the first injury site. With one flashlight and five people crawling around inside, we were mostly stepping in the dark. I stepped down with my right foot, got caught between two rocks, twisted my body around, and fell. I always fall. This is nothing new. This time, however, my shin landed on the sharp edge of a boulder. I politely screamed in pain and then yelled at my dad for about five minutes to not try to pick me up, and just let me sit there while the pain subsides. Happy Birthday, Dad. The bruise/edema is mostly yellow right now. Mmmm. It's a nice goose egg with glassy tight skin over it.


The next day, we went to the lake! Carli, Heather, Poli and I started out on the paddle boat, then switched to the motorboat 1/2-way through our time. I was extremely brilliant and aware of how sensitive my skin is, so I brought plenty of Neutrogena Helioplex spf 70 sunscreen and sprayed it all over. No burns for me!
That plot was so rudely foiled when, in front of the entire Saturday crowd at the dock, I stepped onto the paddle boat, Carli let go of the rope, I let out a polite scream, and fell into the water. Totally submerged. It was four feet deep. I was in the only bra I had brought on the trip. I was not planning on swimming in that cold water, so why change into my swimsuit? So, knowing that I needed to dry off if I wanted to be comfortable the rest of the trip, and seeing others in their tanktops, I took off my pink shirt and became a slut for two hours in my camisole.
You can see my skanktrash bra straps in this photo, as well as my white back which was covered by a shirt while applying sunscreen. Oops. Also, spellcheck did not even underline "skanktrash" on here. Weird.
I was in pain after this day, but not much. I didn't want it to keep burning, so I bought some aloe vera at the local market and had Heather rub it on. Didn't even hurt when she rubbed it. Awesome. That night, it got to hurting really bad. Carli reached over when we woke up the next morning and vigorously scratched my back to say good morning. I screamed, "CARLI! SUNBURN!" and she remembered and felt terrible. That was probably the least painful of the people-touching-my-back experiences. This was what I woke up to Monday morning:I got out of bed, took off my pajama shirt, and felt sudden dripping all down my back and onto the floor. What the? So I looked in the mirror and BOOM! You can see the ooze coming out the bottoms of the blisters. Aren't those ridiculously HUGE? I have never seen anything like them! So, I couldn't put a shirt back on... I had to literally call into work and tell them I could only work from home that day. So I sat, on my bed, in a towel, alllllllllll day. Sleeping was nonexistent that night. There are NO comfortable positions when you are that burned and still dripping.

Tuesday morning, I woke up to this:


Yeah. They dripped all night and crusted over. I couldn't scrub it off because I couldn't touch my back. Mmmm fun. I put on a shirt and headed to work. I was embarrassed to miss two days of work because of blisters. BAD DECISION. ABORT!
Ben Clore, our great facilities manager, came over to my office with HR to give out awards. They presented me with two awards, which I was sooo grateful for, but then they wanted a picture. We got Kim and Amber to stand up with me, and I joked, "Don't touch my back!" HR asked what was up, and we told them what had happened. They were all making the sucking-in-air-and-cringing face. Then I walked by Ben, and he yelled a great big friendly, "Hey!" and SLAPPED me on the back. I politely screamed and started sobbing. For an hour. Apparently, he was on the phone when I was telling the story, even though he was right there. HR kept asking him what he was thinking. Then, we showed him the picture above, and he almost passed out. He still feels really really really really bad about this. I was laughing so hard and in so much pain, I literally could not stop the tears for a good hour and had to go home again. So embarrassing. So funny. So painful.

The next day, we had a company-wide meeting. Ben avoided me like the plague, but one of our owners, Ethan, walked by me and slapped my back. I only cried for about 60 seconds that time.

Then, I blew off Blanch for two activities this week because all I could do was sit at home and be in pain. Well, Thursday night was a night he wanted to watch a movie. I said I couldn't, but I really should have. Why? Because of what ensued later that night at my house when I could have been GONE.

A knock came at the door. I recognized it as a ward and choir member who has talked to me awkwardly before... and I knew what was happening. "Heather, you got that?" "Sure."
J: Hey, uh, is your sister here?
H: Yeah. Linz!! Door for you!
L: Oh hi, what can I do for you?
J: I haven't been to church in a while because of swine flu, and I am completely out of the loop. Are there any ward activities coming up?
L: (I am not associated with the activities committee, so I know this isn't really why he's here) Oh yeah, there's the ward campout, the temple dedication, etc.
J: Oh cool. So, uhh... I actually came here to ask you out. I don't know if you're free on Saturday...
L: (remembering the Pennsylvania massacre from the day before) Sure.
J: Cool. You aren't planning on getting a boyfriend in the next two days, are you?
L: Um, no...
J: K.
L: What's going on?
J: Oh, it's my 10-yr high school reunion.

And that's where it started. I had already said yes. Contrary to popular belief, I am not his wife. I am not even a girlfriend. I'm his choir director.

THANKFULLY, it is also Spencer's class! I started looking forward to it, despite the fact that I really should have told him I was not interested. I was scared and sad that he came all the way to my house to ask me.

A couple hours before the date, J called me to literally ask if I would cut his hair. I told him no.

He came to get me at 5pm. The party started at about 6. We were the first ones there besides the person putting the party together.

We OF COURSE drove by Blanch. J yelled out the window, "{Blanch!}" and he looked over, to see the girl who blew him off twice that week on a date with someone he knows she would never date. Blanch, luckily, was just as embarrassed, since he was in workout shorts, a helmet, and on a bicycle.

I had a freaking blast.

I connected with a bunch of old friends who I knew through work or Spencer. It was so great. J felt bad that he kept talking to people and leaving me out of it, but I could not have been more grateful. I told him not to worry about me and to go reconnect with old friends.

Friends: Hey J!
J: Hey!
Friends: Oh, is this your wife?
J: No...
Friends: Girlfriend?
J: Well...
Lindsey: Um, FIRST DATE. Hi, I'm Lindsey.

Yes, that conversation actually took place.

Then, we went and saw Channing Tatum on the big screen. Oh what a great night! Oh, I guess the movie was something like G.I. Joe something or other. I only cared about Channing.

J did a few more awkward things that night (taking me to Borders to see what books I like, finding it hard to be with me when I mentioned I don't enjoy fiction, we saw my ex-flame Darth Vader there, and he strained to find something we had in common {no I don't watch the extended LOTR DVDs when I'm bored}) but mostly was just a nice guy who will find a nice girl some day. I am not that girl. But she's out there.

He came early to choir practice the next day, tried to talk to me, and I hid in my laundry room and ate lunch until more people arrived. Sigh.

Boy Fast.

I have been on a boy fast for about four months. Why, you ask?

"Lindsey, are you giving up?"
No.
"Lindsey, are you switching sides?"
No.
"Is this Lindsey?"
Yes.

My reasons are as follows:

• I base too much of my self esteem on boys
• I think too much about them
• They are dumb most of the time
• If you are not happy with yourself single, you won't be happy with yourself married
• I seem to think that "Oh just hung out with my family and watched movies" comes second to everyone else's reports of what they did the night before - "Oh Jonny called me and then Bernie took me out to ice cream and can you believe that Stu brought me chocolates, and then I made out with Mickey."

SOOOOoooo.... logically, if I stop thinking about boys all the time and caring what they think about me or say, then I will be able to focus on being the best Lindsey I can be and preparing for going through the Temple in September! WOOT! What's wrong with hanging out with family? What's wrong with watching movies and having a quiet night in with absolutely no drama?

"Is this Lindsey?"
Yes! Stop asking! I'm still me!

My rules were as follows:

• Do not text or call a boy without a reason.
• Do not think about boys. Get them OUT OF YOUR HEAD.
  
• Do not be aggressive. If they ask you out, go, and have a good time. They can date you if they want. You are not going to be the pursuer.
  
• Find the good in having self-time and not having to decide between a million boys at once.
• Be excited to tell people that you hung out with girls, your sister, your parents, whatever. You have fun with them. So, why not start acting like it?
• Learn to love yourself.
  
• Work on your relationship with God.

OKAY, SO................
That should have done the trick, right? Sure. I have improved so much. I can really see the difference.

BUTT (yes, two t's, because that's what boys can be)
TWO boys are RUINING MY FAST! We shall refer to them as DDS and Blanch. Most of you should know who I mean. DDS sat with me in church again and wrote me a note, asking to write a poem with him to pass the time. He wrote the first line, I wrote the next, etc. This is what we came up with on the spot:
DDS: There once was a gypsy named Ari,
L: She danced like flames, but her legs were hairy.
DDS: Her dance made men hot, while her legs were just not,
L: Quasimodo just screamed, "Sanctuary!"

L: Said the farmer to his wife one day...
DDS: Maybelline, make me a feast! Don't delay!
L: In spite she snapped back, "You must be on crack!"

DDS: Choose your own ending:
And now that poor farmer is gay
Then shoot me up, and I'll be on my way!
So don't by (his spelling error, not mine) your wife on e-bay!

I chose the gay one. With good reason.

It was pretty tough to keep him out of my mind the rest of the day. I know nothing will EVER happen, but he just makes me smile and he is just gorgeous.

BLANCH, on the other hand, is making me mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He still is not leaving me alone, even though he is pretty much dating this 19-year old. So then, he throws a bomb at me.

"Have you seen my sketches of you?"

no, Blanch. NO.
I look 60 years old in the bottom left two. I look 14 in the top one, but he said he was trying to picture us in the 80s, in grade school. I have a Hello Kitty purse. HELLO? KITTY?

Why are you drawing me?!

L: The big ring is perfect! I love big rings!
Blanch: I've noticed.

Go ..... draw a hole and climb in it, Blanch!

Okay, and to add to everything else, we have this lovely clip that HBeck sent me today. This is enough to send me into an ETERNAL boy fast.

I added the Dwight Bobblehead image because blogger only lets you upload videos and pictures, not mp3s. So, I made a movie. Yes, I am my father's daughter. Enjoy.