Great Moment in History #2: What goes around comes around . . .

One of my companions in the mission field demolished a big wooden chair underneath her as she plopped down in it with her third plateful of pancakes one morning. Unfortunately for her this happened just as a couple of people arrived on our porch and looked through the large living room window before knocking on the door. I could not stop laughing.

A few years later, I was on the second row of a very quiet and very popular institute class FULL of guys, a few girls, my friends, and a “larger” version of me. I was sitting peacefully listening to the lesson when all of a sudden a loud crash broke the silence as me and my girth fell to the ground, crushing the chair below us. This, as you can imagine, caused quite a stir in the class. The teacher kindly checked to see if I was alright and asked someone to get me another chair. I climbed up from the floor, red-faced, into a chair close by. Alas, a few minutes later, I fell to the ground again having crushed the second poor chair beneath me. Yep – two chairs in one night.

I refused the offer for another victim and heroically sat on the floor the rest of the class. I could not bear the thought of breaking a 3rd chair. Two was so beyond humiliating.

A few days later I was telling of my shame to one of my friends who was a counselor in the bishopric of the ward where the institute class was held. He got a funny look on his face and asked which room the class was in. I told him. He asked if there were any chairs off to the side. I said nope, all the chairs were set up because the class was full – basically every seat taken – especially after I crushed two of them. He told me that a few days before the institute class, they had folded up two chairs and put them to the side because they were broken and had collapsed.

How lucky that we (me and my girth) found those two little honeys to sit in with a class full of boys looking on.

Sure hope they tell their kids and their kids’ kids for generations to come the story of the girl who broke two chairs. I'll be a legend.

I Ate My Spinach

I go to a spinning class twice a week and I absolutely love it. It’s a great workout – I’m always soaked afterwards, it’s fun, the teacher is awesome, and I can challenge myself to go faster and increase the tension and feel like I am making progress each week.

This week’s happy moment is about a funny thing that happened in my spinning class this morning . . .

About 50 minutes into the 60 minute class, I decided to increase the tension more than I typically would and pedal hard and fast. We were pedaling out of the saddle in a standing position. It had been a particularly hard ride, and my legs had just been cramping while we were doing sprints, but being the clever girl that I am, I decided to push myself anyway. All of a sudden, my legs buckled and I fell into the bike and almost right down to the floor. My feet were stuck in the pedal cages, and my crazy long legs were bent at the knees and folded right in half and jammed into the drink holder and center bar.

I couldn’t get myself out of this scrunched up position and I was afraid that any minute the teacher was going to see me and come help. Push as I might with my legs, I could not stand myself back up on the pedals. The girl next to me was looking at me wondering how she could help, but thankfully, my new beefy arms – I’ve been lifting weights lately – came to the rescue and I pulled my whole body up with those babies. Crisis averted. The girl next to me kept looking over every few seconds to see if I was ok for the remainder of the ride. I laughed at myself all the way home from the gym.

(In case the happy moment part is hard to see: my arms being able to lift my large frame back to a standing position with zero help from the lame legs was a big accomplishment for a girl who couldn’t do a push up a few months ago.)

Make a Wish Foundation

I have pretty cool parents. They do many kind and generous things for my siblings and me. This week’s happy moment is an example of their kindness & generosity: they took me and my niece on a weekend trip to Yellowstone.
I’ve always wanted to stay at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel . . .
. . . to eat in the restaurant there (it looked just like a scene out of "Somewhere in Time") . . . . . . and to sit in the solarium and look out through the bay windows at the scenery – trees, lake, wild flowers, etc., and just sit there.We’re usually in too much of a rush for a sit-down, haven’t made reservations for the restaurant, and haven’t booked rooms far enough in advance. Well this week, my mom and dad made possible this life-long wish of mine and I got to do all three.
We had a really great time. It was so fun to have my darling niece with us – can’t believe she is almost as tall as me. It was a nice, peaceful trip full of amazing scenery, delicious food, wonderful company, wildlife (bear, buffalo, elk, deer, swans, ducks, bald eagle), and great music. Thanks, Mom & Dad!!