Road Check

For this post I'd like to travel back a little bit, to a time when I was much much younger and not so well versed in the ways of the world, or in other words I'd like to go back to last September, 9 months ago when Mom was taking me down to college. 

As we were driving along the highway at 6 in the morning, a car full of young men drove by us and we were quite amused to notice them noticing us. By this I mean, they were very obviously checking us out. After laughing and giggling, as girls are want to do, we realized we had no term in our vocabulary to describe such an experience, and thus the phrase "road check" was born. 

On that trip, we experienced a range of such road checking, sometimes the recipients and sometimes the perpetrators. We also learned that sometimes road checking can have painfully awkward consequences. One time I made the mistake of performing a roadcheck on the car right beside us seconds before we entered stand still traffic. You can imagine my embarrassment as I tried to avoid eye contact while the car crawled by us at an agonizingly slow pace. 

This embarrassment pales in comparison though to what I experienced today. Let me tell you my story.

I suppose I must blame it all on my piano student. I could go as far as to blame my previous music teachers and by extent my mother, for if I wasn't musically trained I would never have had a piano student over the summer and this whole thing never would have happened! But that feels a bit extreme, so I shall merely blame it on my student. 

It all started last week when I was leaving my piano student's house and her mother came up and began talking to me. She commented that she had seen my father ride along Clear Creek Road (the road I had to take to get to there house and back) quite often and remarked that he must do it during his lunch breaks. I obviously don't know exactly what my dad does when he's on lunch but he has recently begun riding his bike to work and becoming more interested in exercise, so it seemed like a perfectly logical statement. Anyway, the week passed and I completely forgot about this conversation until today when I was driving back home from teaching piano lessons and I saw a bike rider along Clear Creek Road. 

This biker was coming toward me, riding on the opposite side of the road with his head bent to the wind, pedaling furiously on his sleek black bike. He looked incredibly familiar, like someone I knew very well. And then it dawned on me: This must be my Dad on one of his lunchtime excursions! Just as this thought entered my head, my car passed the biker and I was unable to get a clear view of him. I determined then to turn around and drive up alongside him to see if it truly was my father. So I took a left, used some random persons driveway for a 3 point turn and began my pursuit of that biker. As I came up behind him I became increasingly certain that he was in fact my father. He had the same bike, same helmet, same profile and same build. So I slowed my car, rolled down my window and hollered out these fated words: 

"Hey Handsome!"

To this, the biker turned his head and replied with a hardy"Hey there!" all the while flashing his pearly whites!

I could feel my cheeks growing hot and my stomach sinking. That face, that physique, that profile and that biker looked a whole lot different at a closer proximity, but it was too late for me. There was no way I could recall my statement and save myself from the impending embarrassment of a roadcheck gone wrong. So I did what any girl in a car would do: I fled the scene! 

Keep in mind, I had turned around to come back to hit on that biker, and there was nothing in the world that would induce me to turn round again and pass him a third time. The humiliation would be too much to bear! So I took the long way home, driving 10 minutes to the next town before I could hop on a freeway and turn around. 

So let this be a lesson to you all! If you want to save yourself from humiliation, awkwardness and wasted gas money, be wary in your road checking..... or just abstain from it...it's overrated anyway! :) 

I got home, told my family and we all had a good laugh, so I guess these experiences are good for something! :) 

Beware of Bikers!! :)

Oh and, 

~Keep Smiling!~ :) 

Child Labor Laws

I think I've told you a bit about my little two year old brother Matthew. Here's a picture of him

Isn't he Cute? 

Anyway, since I've started my job at Subway, he has noticed that when I wear certain clothes that I am off to work. When he sees my subway shirt he always comments "Nina going to work?" and then he usually asks about his employment status: "Matthew work?" to which I say "No, Matthew stay home, Alina is going to work."

So the other day, Natalie was bugging him about something, trying to get him to clean up his toys or something and Matthew turned to her and said: "NO! Natalie! I go to work!!" 

Dude, you're two! :) I think there's something like child labor laws that make your employment at any store or company illegal. Also, just because I go to work doesn't mean I get to slack off on picking up the legos :) 

I love my Matthew! :) 

~Keep Smiling!~ :)

Condiments and Compliments

For those of you who don't know, I am spending my summer working at Subway and Hallmark to save up money for school and the mission! :)

Here's me in my cute subway outfit:

It's way fun being employed! I totally am lovin it! I think the main reason I have so much fun working (besides the paycheck, because let's be honest: Who doesn't like seeing the profits of their labor?!) is the opportunity I have to interact with sooo many different people.

This last weekend, I was working a morning shift at Subway, making lots of breakfast sandwiches and toasting lots of tuna sandwiches, because that's our six dollar sub of the month (Personally I think tuna toasted is just disgusting! I mean tuna by itself is nasty but then you go and toast it?!!?  No offense to any tuna toasters out there or anything, but there are sooooo many other sandwiches that are soooo much better and are even cheaper!!! That's my two cents on the matter, I'm done now! :) Anyway, I was making a sandwich for this older gentleman, he looked about 60 something, and when I got to the register to ring him up he stopped, looked at me and said:

"You are so beautiful!"

I was taken aback! I wasn't feeling particularly beautiful that day, especially since I'd been sick for three days, had my hair up in a sloppy bun and wasn't wearing any make up.

"Thanks!" I said smiling :)

"I'm sure you get that a lot!"He laughed. "Doesn't your boyfriend tell you that all the time?"

"Oh I don't have a boyfriend sir." I chuckled as I handed him his change.

"Well shame on him then!" The man declared, "If I were younger, I'd ask you out myself! But I'm old enough to be your father!"

That man was old enough to be my grandpa, not just my father! But I didn't say that! Instead I merely waved as he walked out the door and then turned around to go make more sandwiches. :)

Can you see why I like working? Sometimes people are just soooo funny!!! :) I LOVE people!!! :)

~Keep Smiling!~ :)

Miss You Much!

Last night after work I got a call from our Sister Missionaries, Sister Hardy and Sister Thomson and they told me transfers where happenin this week. Sister Hardy, my lovely friend, is getting transferred! :( I'm going to miss going out and teaching with her and learning from her, but I know she's not that far and we can keep in touch! 

I love the sister missionaries! Sister Thomson and Sister Hardy have been like loving older sisters and friends to me. In the last couple of months, I have learned so much from them and felt so loved by them! I am so grateful for sister missionaries and for the beautiful impact they can have, not just on their investigators, but on the ward members they serve as well. I truly have a testimony of missionary work and it has been strengthened as I have associated with these two wonderful women! 

There is something so beautiful and divine about the relationships you form while doing the Lord's work. Because you are focused outward instead of inward, you are happier and your ability to love is not impeded by petty worldly things. I also feel like we are given the opportunity to develop these very special relationships and that they are gifts from God! My friendship with Sister Hardy is a blessing and I am so very grateful for it! Missionary work is AMAZING and it changes lives. It's changed my life and I'm not even on my mission yet.

Thank you Sister Hardy for your love and for your example! 

You are amazing! You have taught me so much and I will be forever grateful for the time I had to get to know you.

I will miss you much! 

Love

Alina

The Work of an Artist

So apparently this is what happens when I leave my camera out:

Surprised Seflie

 The Sassy Selfie

The "cut half my face off" Seflie

 We've got an up close and personal look at her lovely incisors

yes, her father is a dentist

yes, he would be proud

 Concerned Selfie

The "I just smelled something awful" selfie

 This one cracks me up. It's her high and mighty "I'm way better then you but I'm too polite to say it"look. 

 Does the hair look better pulled back? 

 Her best side 

 And then we move from self portraits to still life. Notice the artistic placement of the ponytail holders and how the yellow and white stands out against the tan counter. 

 Another still life. Beautiful! Notice how the boots compliment the earth tone hues of the carpet and couch. It's a perfect contrast to the teal wall in the background. She has a keen eye for balance, juxtaposing the shadows of the couch in the foreground with the natural light in the background. What an acute sense of detail and artistic style! 

Ladies and Gentleman I give you Elizabeth's first portfolio of artistic achievement. This budding artist shows incredible potential and talent for one so young. 

~Keep Smiling!~ :) 

Sacrifice Brings Forth The Blessings of Heaven

This is such a beautiful line from the song "Praise to the Man" and I absolutely LOVE how simple and how true it is!! :) I have especially seen the effects of this in my life in the last couple of weeks. 

First, I had an experience just yesterday that I would like to share. 

I work two jobs, one at Hallmark and one at Subway. At both of my jobs I have told my managers right  off the bat that I can't work Sundays because I consider it to be a sacred day. They both told me that this was fine and that they would not schedule anything for Sunday. 

But then, two days ago, one of my managers came up to me and told me that there was one short meeting on a Sunday and that it was really important that I attend. She told me that it wasn't fair to the other employees if I skipped and that it was the only time she'd ask me to work on a Sunday. I told her that I was most likely going to be unable to attend and that I really didn't think I would feel good about it but she told me to go home and think about it. 

I went home and prayed and got the answer I was expecting: No, it was not okay to work on a Sunday and that I had already made a personal commitment not to. So, I went back to work the next day, expecting to have a slightly unpleasant discussion with my manager. I really hate disappointing people, but I really REALLY hate disappointing the Lord. I was ready to sacrifice the approval of my manager or my job for Heavenly Father. I said a prayer and then went in to talk to her. 

As soon as I mentioned the Sunday meeting, she stopped me and said "You know what don't even worry about it. I thought about the situation and decided that we can make it work without you there. I am impressed by your conviction and I don't want to take that away from you." 

I was almost in tears, that's how grateful I was. I didn't even have to say anything, and the whole problem vanished right before my eyes. My manager is a lovely woman and I am thankful for her and the opportunity she has given me to have this job. I am also grateful for how understanding she is and how sensitive she was to my needs and concerns. 

I am most grateful for a Heavenly Father who really does give us the blessings of heaven if we are willing to sacrifice. He loves us SO much!!! :) I know without a doubt that because I kept true to my promises and the decision to keep the sabbath day holy, I was blessed and Heavenly Father took care of me. We will be blessed if we choose the right and everything will work out! 

Also, random tangent, but today my friend and I accidentally ended up matching at church today! We were standing talking in the foyer and then a girl came up and pointed out our amazing color coordination, so of course we had to take a picture! 

Happy Sunday! 

~Keep Smiling!~ :)