Ozark YSA Conference!!

So this weekend was the Ozark YSA Conference and it was SO much fun!!!
Friday:
Got to the building at 9am and more than half the people were already there! (Huge shock, because no one is ever on time!) We're on the road by 10! We are officially the very fun van and talk and laugh and joke all the way there! We had lunch at McDonald's/ gas station around 11:50. We strolled into Springdale around 3:40 and since we were there SO early, we had dinner at Cracker Barrel - yum! We got back to the Stake Center around 5:30 and got registered and signed in. We then were taught some fancy schmancy swing dance steps, which I was horrible at, but the whole idea was fun! The dance then was underway! Two words to describe the whole thing: Hot and FUN!! I have never danced so much at a dance - ever! I danced with abandon and just had the best time doing it!! There were these giant fans that our branch camped out in front of, which was super smart because it was a sweat-box!! After the dance we were assigned our host homes and thank heavens for Brett's GPS or we never would have made it there!! Allison Johnson, Erin Soutar, Steph Held, & I stayed with the Wall family and they are awesome!! I went to bed SO exhausted that night!!
Saturday: Woke up in the morning feelin' like P'Diddy- --- Oh wait... LOL!! Woke up still super tired, but ready to go! Got dressed and ate some tasty instant oatmeal cereal and discovered our host home had CHICKENS in the back yard!! We then picked up Jackie and Lisa from their host home, also in Rogers, AR and went to the University of Arkansas for the day's activities! We started out with work shops. I attended "Leadership in the Church" which was all about being a better leader by becoming a better person! "Surviving Family Life" which was so solid on how to avoid conflict and - duh- survive family life! and "Becoming and Finding an Eternal Companion" which was put on by the Osmand's (Donny Osmand's son Don & his wife Jessie - super cute couple only married 10 months!) which was great about the love languages! Then we had lunch, which was tasty sammiches! During lunch the Osmands put on a 70's Dating Game, which was fun, but it was WAY too hot to stay and watch it all. The activities then moved over to the HPER building on campus (which was like this five minute complete downhill walk - totally crazy!! There we played "Never Have I Ever" then "Minute to Win It" and then we went and played Volleyball! It was also very fun! We did that until about 4:30, then we went and took pictures of UofA's awesome greek ampitheatre!! Steinagel then took us back up to the Stake Center where we had a decent bbq dinner, a service project slide show, and a devotional by the Osmands. After that was all over we had Another dance!! I was so wiped out from the one before that I did not dance nearly as much, but I still did dance!! Scott is a fabulous swing dance partner and slow dancer too, as is Nate. After the dance, our awesome host home YSA Calissa introduced Stephanie and I to the BEST frozen custard around - Andy's! OMGoodness!! It was so smooth and delicious! I would go to AR again, just for that!! We then crashed asleep hard!
Sunday:
Woke up super early (6am) because we had to be at the building at 8 for the choir rehearsal - I was not a part of it because they already had tons of people, but Jackie and Lisa were. We had a testimony meeting, which was really nice and then a devotional by some of my favorite people, whom I was so glad to see there, I just lit up and was so excited when I saw them, THE SOUTHWARDS!! That is right, the Temple President and Matron! I love them!! It was really really good! After they were done we closed out the meeting and the conference provided sack lunches for us to take on the road home with us (BRILLIANTLY simple and satisfying!) We got on the road about 12:30 and had a goal of being home before 6 so that our stalwart priesthood holders could attend their priesthood meeting- and we made it!! We were right there at six, but they got there!! Hooray for awesome guys!! I was able to drive some of the way back because Nate was so tired! He just passed out in the passenger seat and all the girls took pictures of him sleeping :) So cute! We dropped them off, took the girls up to the 13th street building to get their stuff out of the other van and go home. We then went and cleaned out the Hills' van and drove it back down to the Stake Center to deliver to Nate.
I finally got home around 9, craving a shower and food. I was able to eat some delicious hamburgers! Yum! But alas, I need to do laundry before I can get a shower :( So that is in the works at the moment. I really need to get to bed soon because I have work in the morning! I hope that my candidate has not regressed over this weekend!
Anyway, hooray for awesome times and just being happy and having fun!!!

Odd Man Out.....

Being the only girl amongst my siblings, I often find myself either grouped in with the boys, treated as some other species, or forgotten about. I'm not sure I really prefer any of their methods of "categorizing" me. I am not some object that needs to be put in a place and identified. I am Taylor. I started a sentence and just erased it because it was so cliche it scared even me. But, there is some truth to it, so why not. I am a sister, a daughter, a friend, a school bus driver, a Relief Society sister & President, a member of the Institute Council (for now anyway), a "Mormon"... I can't really think of anything else right now, but I am sure there is more... I sure hope there is. I want to be so much more; a wife, a mother, an aunt, a grandmother, a missionary's mother, a missionary... and so many other things.
But right now, it just seems I am the odd man out - probably because I am not a man. I don't want to "hang with the boys" and talk about, let alone listen to them talk about, all their suggestively dirty jokes and rumors. I just want to do the work that I am assigned to do, have a good time doing it, and actually learn stuff. I hope tomorrow is going to be better on that front. I can handle Charles and Chris alone because those two together are not the buddy-chummy-let's talk like guys- types. But put Jason and Charles together and I'm all alone because then it's a boys club.
Well, I better get to bed or my goal of six and a half hours sleep is going to fade rapidly down to less than six!
Goodnight self. Dream well. Live better!

Retraction & Smoke

So, I totally need to apologize for all the things I said about Kristin's planning of Scott's birthday. She is a good person and I was just being jealous. It was a blast and done for all the right reasons! This past week has been such a blast! Monday was FHE, and it was annoying, but I'm not going to dwell on it. Tuesday was Institute and after a great lesson I was able to unload my cares on Pres. Beeson - marvelous man - who gave me a blessing and I've felt so much better since. After institute a small party of us went over to Dayna's to watch a movie (The Italian Job) and decorate a door banner for Scott. Mayra, Dayna, Anna, Nate, and Myself then went and put balloons all over his floor and taped the banner over his door! It was awesome! Wednesday we met at Old Chicago for some good dinner and then went to Northrock for some Bowling! After that we went over to Dayna's again and watched Tangled! Thursday afternoon I went with some peoples to a Derby Twins' baseball game, which was cancelled due to the weather (tornado weather)! So our group went to Buffalo Wild Wings where we enjoyed some delicious food stuffs and drinks and then we all went over to the house of the Hills Family :) They are an amazing family and what I want my future family to be like. So awesome! Friday, Jacob and I went mini golfing at riverfest with Scott, Josh, and Kenny - which was super fun! I got a hole in one!!! and I tied Scott for the win!! That night we met up at Village Inn for dessert! yummy pie! Saturday morning the brothers and I went disc golfing at a new little park up in Valley Center - cute 9 hold course. At the end we played three rounds of disc golf putting horse! So much fun - I even have video! That night I was supposed to go to the final concert of Riverfest, but decided I'd spent enough time with those guys and not enough with my family (6/7 days that week I'd seen Scott!). So Jacob and Aaron and I went swimming at Joe & Sarah's apartment - very fun, but cold! Yep, so that was my week. Super busy because I was usually up way too late and waking up really early due to work.
Today we had a little adventure at church - during Sunday school there came a smell of smoke and so Bishop Guthomson decided to evacuate the building and call the fire department. I'm sure we'll find out what it was that happened sooner or later! Met a new sister at church today - Jamie Peregine - very excited! She's an ObGyn @ Wesley for the next 4 years of her residency! Very exciting!! So now just an afternoon of laundry, room organization, and family dinner!

Annoyed, for no reason....

Isn't one boyfriend enough? Seriously, she should not be planning Scott's surprise birthday party. It annoys me because anything and almost everything she is involved with ends up being about her in the end and she, like others I know, myself included, gets upset and pouty when things don't go her way. But seriously, I wanted to plan something with his other friends, like Brett and Mayra, she shouldn't be doing this - she didn't even ask if others wanted to help, just said - this is what it is. It is kind of rude to assume you can plan something like that without anyone else.
But I'm just being petty because I didn't get to plan it. It will probably be better this way anyway. I'm still going to do his door with Mayra and Brett - unless she hijacks that too :( I'll have to see if Brett knows if she plans too - in that case, I'll just let her be polygamous and wash my hands of it. Yep, bitter, bitter, bitter.... guess that makes me a bitty :P

Circle Time!

So, I dropped the ball in RS today and did not have a lesson planned. With Katie out of town I know nothing about lessons. Anyway - what we ended up doing was putting our chairs around in a circle. First we went around and said our names and Jenna, being the keen cookie she is, fired a question at each person - random fun things! That was nice. I then opened it up to the sisters to ask what they wanted to talk about - seems cliche, but marriage was the topic of choice.
We all said the first word that popped into our minds when we thought of marriage (love, family, kids, hard, awkward, want!, eternal, temples, ect.) Then we heard from our experts - sisters Hairr & Beeson- about their experiences a little bit. We talked about some of the fears and questions we have about marriage - what do we do when our spouse dies young, how do I know it's the right guy and I'm not making a mistake? Good solid questions.
It was really nice to see the sisters all talking to each other and being involved! It was unorthodox, but it worked today! Yay!

Pay it Forward?

So, I think that because I was recently exposed to a loss in my own family, of my dear Nana, that all the comfort and knowledge I was given to help cope, is now being given me as an opportunity to share it with others in the same situation. Brett's grandpa passed away tonight. I was with her at the hospital for like an hour and a half and then she calls me half an hour later because he's gone. Wow. I am so grateful for all that I was able to have said to me and I pray that even half of what I said to her and talked with her about is helpful. I just want her to be comforted. I know I was.