STATUS UPDATE...

STATUS UPDATE: I'm still in Utah and still unemployed. This fashion school graduate can't even get a job at the mall for the holidays... who'd have thought? I took the day off from job hunting. (How many hours in a week can I research job opportunities, refocus my resume, and write cover letters.) I'm feeling discouraged today- and I might as well admit- a little embarrassed that I can't get a job. Fortunately, I've been super disciplined with diet and exercise lately so that is one accomplishment I can hang my hat on. I made a long list of all the things I could accomplish within the next six months. Included in that list is to do 100 push-ups (consecutively, of course), hold plank for five minutes, and run a sub-6:00 mile. I have also stopped sleeping in and have a much better sleep schedule. Another great thing about being unemployed is my beautiful nails. Honestly, they are perfect and it's because I don't do anything. No chips; they're thick and longe; the paint stays on for a week.

Bucky and I have been spending lots of quality time together. I watched Marley and Me with Tim last weekend and ever since I've been so soft on Bucky. He even took a nap with me yesterday, all curled up next to me. When I'm reading in the morning in the big, soft armchair in the living room he jumps up and scootches inbetween the arm of the chair and myself and rests his head across my book so that I can't see. It's so endearing. When I first moved here, I took Bucky running with me almost every morning. It got to be really annoying because he loves to smell EVERYTHING and it's hard to keep him running! But now that it's cold, I've been working out down in the basement on the NordicTrack. Still, when I come downstairs in my workout clothes Bucky gets really excited and runs to the front door expectantly wagging his tail. He'll walk to me and then to the front door just waiting to go for a run. I don't know how he knows I'm about to workout. Does he recognize my change of clothes or is it the smell of spandex? He's a very smart dog (except I can't seem to teach him to fetch).

Life in the family ward is great and I continue to feel satisfied with my decision not to attend the Spanish Fork Singles Ward. However, I could do without moms in the ward stopping me to ask, "Are you single? ...I have this cousin ...I have a brother-in-law ...they're old and not married too." Isn't it amazing that knowing almost NOTHING about me people feel so confident that they have found a match for me? It really is strange but even my closest friends are guilty of setting me up with guys with whom I share NO commonalities. Michelle set me up with a guy in Texas (this was three years ago) and I remember before I moved down there she would go on and on about how perfect we would be together and he was such a great guy. Our first date was nothing short of torture and all Michelle could do was scratch her head. In any case, I appreciate everyone's honest concern for me. Michelle kindly texted me last night, "If you never get married, I'll still love you." That brought much relief because I was worried she was going to stop. Haha! Oh, the life of an older young single adult.

I can't wait 'til all of the struggle will be worth it. I can't wait 'til I find myself in a stable job that I love, pursuing what I've wanted my whole life. I can't wait until I'm kneeling across the alter dressed in white. I can't wait to hold my first baby. I can't wait to make cookies with my very own toddler. I can't wait to own a home someday. I'm just very much looking forward to this stage of my life to be over. But I'll enjoy it as much as I can while I'm here.