Clouds

I like clouds. Like, seriously, they're awesome. Just the other day I freaked out because I saw this really pretty cloud that was all lit up by the sunset so it was all pink and orange and just crazy gorgeous. Kinda like this...

I've lived in several states, and all of them have different kinds of beautiful clouds. In Idaho, they have flat but bubbly clouds that go on forever and get lit up by the sun in all different colors. Kinda like this...

Then there's Texas, where the sky is so huge and the clouds are tall and fluffy and shapely. My sister recently had her wisdom teeth removed and asked me why the clouds were so fluffy and why they didn't look like sheep. I used to lay out on the grass and try and figure out what the clouds looked like. Here's what they look like...

The last thing I think about when I think clouds is this song written by Zach Sobiech, a teenage with a terminal disease. I encourage you to watch this video. It is incredible and so inspiring. You may want to keep some tissues nearby. Here is his story.



So go outside, look at the clouds for a little while, and enjoy this pulchritudinous earth that God created for us.

All the Single Ladies

Between me and my siblings, there have been a total of 0 serious relationships. Don't ask me why, I have contemplated that many times and have never figured it out. What I want to talk about today is the joys of being single.

Now, I have been single for all 21 and a half years of my life. At times, I'm not gonna lie to you, it sucked. But, the last year has given me a new perspective on being single.

You know that one girl that everyone knows, she's super independent, but always seems to have a boyfriend. I've decided that these girls are kind of pathetic. No offense to you if you are one of them, even though you probably don't realize it. These girls come off as powerful and feminist to the max. They could do anything and be perfectly happy alone. But, they're not. Usually, they are just overcompensating for major insecurities they have with themselves. They pretend to be Miss Independent, but really, they just need to feel respected and loved, which is why they always seems to have a boyfriend. I have known several of this type of girl throughout my life, all of which were very sweet, but super pathetic. I mean, come on! Get some self-esteem! Take some time off to get acquainted with yourself! Then maybe you wouldn't be so insecure about yourself!

Anyways, I digress. What I really want to talk about is how much fun it is to be a single person in today's world. For one, it gives you some perspective about yourself. Two, you can get to know people without the pressure of a relationship in the future. And three, you can flirt with anybody and everybody.

1. Perspective is important. Getting to know yourself is important. A lot of people really don't know themselves. Exhibit A would be the girls aforementioned. Knowing yourself should be your first priority. If you are always dependent upon someone else to tell you who you are and what to be, you really can't know who you truly are deep down. Knowing yourself requires some independence and time off from relationships. Get over it.

2. Getting to know other people before you jump into a relationship is probably a good idea. You know that couple that met like a week ago and they are saying they're in love and time doesn't matter, they feel like they've known each other forever? Well, that relationship is going to go down the drain in a very painful manner, guaranteed. The advantage of getting to know someone BEFORE you are stuck with each other forever is that there are little to no surprises later on. This is a good thing. You really don't want to find out in a year or two that your significant other has a temper problem and you end up in the hospital or something. These are important things to know. I realize that I'm no expert on relationships, considering that I have never been in one, but I am a very observant person who learns from the mistakes of others. You can take my advice or not, I couldn't care less.

3. You get to flirt without reservation! How much fun is flirting! You can talk to anybody and everybody and nobody gets jealous because you are "talking" to that guy over there! There is this book out there called A Southern Woman's Guide to Flirting. I haven't actually read it all the way through, but my sister read it, and I trust her judgement. A southern woman flirts with everybody and their dog. The only difference between her and a normal person is that she has different kinds of flirting. Sometimes she is flirting to be attractive, sometimes she is just being polite, and sometimes she just doesn't want to crush somebody's tiny little ego. But make no mistake about it, if you wrong a southern woman, there will be hell to pay. Forget daddy with the shotgun, you better worry about that pretty southern bell with her .38 special. So treat us right, for your own good.

Now that I have sufficiently bored you to death, I thank you for putting up with my ramblings. The little thing I want to emphasize today is being single. People think being single means you can't find anybody to occupy your time with. What it really means is that you have high standards that can not be lowered otherwise the world will become a very dark place for everyone. If you're single, like me, I salute you and say to you, forget about relationships for now. The right person will come in due time. Just enjoy yourself in the meantime.

Late Night Volleyball

So I'm just going to come out and say it... I'm a Mormon. Since I'm a Mormon, and single, and between the ages of 18 and 30, I attend a specific ward for people that fall into that category, like me... Okay, enough of the ellipses. I go to a Single's ward, where most young adults are sent to attain their marriage license. We do a lot of activities, usually two-three per week. One of those activities is every Monday night. We all go to our church building and have an activity that was usually planned about 5 minutes beforehand. Afterwards, some of us stay and play either volleyball or basketball. I always play volleyball.

I used to live in California, and in my ward there, volleyball after Family Home Evening (our Monday night activity) was a regular and sometimes "mandatory" occurrence. Every week we would end up playing until at least midnight, sometimes one in the morning. At the time, I had a full time job, so I would often have to be up early the next morning. But nonetheless, I still went to volleyball. You wanna know why? Because it was fun. Simple as that. It didn't matter who was there (usually the same every week), we were usually tired enough to let our inhibitions down and just loosen up and have a good time.

Now I live in my "hometown" (this can mean something different for everybody, for me, it just means wherever my parents are living at the time. I have had so many "hometowns" that I really don't know what to say when people ask where I'm from.) of Denton, Texas. The singles ward here used to be super lame and cliquey. But over the past summer, there was a sudden turnover in the population of the ward. That doesn't happen very often around here. This time, it was a very good thing that this happened, because it made the entire ward look around and realize "who are all these people?" This, in turn, made everyone feel like "the new kid." And for a singles ward, it's a good thing to be "the new kid." Everyone wants to know who you are, they want to know why you're there, what you're doing with your life, are you single, do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend from out of town, what do you like to do, where are you going to school, whats your favorite color, social security number, credit card numbers, etc. They just want to know EVERYTHING. That is, until the learn something about you that they don't like, and then you may never talk to that person ever again.

Anyways, I digress. The singles ward here almost never played volleyball after FHE (Family Home Evening, our Monday night activity). Most of them went home, some (mostly guys looking to get sweaty) would play basketball. Recently though, I made a change. I bought myself an indoor volleyball and started keeping it in my car. Since then, we have started to play volleyball at least twice a week. Every time we play it gets later and later before we decide to go home. There's just something about volleyball that makes everyone feel equal. Most of us suck, so we don't feel bad that everyone else sucks too. There are a handful that are pretty good, and with some practice, I might be able to join their ranks someday soon.

What I enjoy most about playing volleyball late at night is that everyone is on the same level. Whether that level be skill or tiredness, or a lack of skill because of tiredness. We all just let loose and let our guard down and just laugh. We enjoy each others company, we laugh at each others mistakes and oddities and lack of skill, we yell at each other, we scream about our own stupidity, the crazy side comes out of some, the quiet side comes out of others, and we all just relax. Volleyball is a stress relief. You get to hit a ball as hard as you want and nobody yells at you for hitting the ceiling because it's hilarious. You can hit someone in the face with a ball and they don't scream at you because they are laughing to hard to care. You can completely miss the ball and nobody cares because it's too funny.

Late night volleyball. It's a little thing that may seem ridiculous to some, and awesome to others. But for me, it's one of the little things that keeps me happy.