More Merry Scary Christmas

Here is a local Christmas tradition that freaks me out. This is the University Mall Santa Claus.



I do not want to defame Santa Clause on the world wide web, but this guy is super creepy. I think it is because he wears a holiday shirt and suspenders instead of a Santa suit. It makes him look lazy, and very unlike Santa. I would not want to take my kids to see an old man who doesn't look like Santa. (Please read any uncomfortable thoughts into that last sentence, because that is how I feel.)

Goo, University Mall. Goo.

The Burberry Theif

I got a call from my credit card company last night. I didn't get the voice mail until 4 hours after they had called. All I heard was, "...account ending in 6***. Validate charges. $65.01. Charge described as, 'shoe store'". Shoes? I hadn't bought any shoes! I called the company and told them that I did not, in fact, recognize these charges. The lady started to read back the last few charges on my card.

Famous Footwear $65.01
Walmart $15.64
Burberry $161.72

Burberry?! Burberry?! I told her that I wished the Burberry charge was mine, but it was not. The Walmart charge was mine. Walmart. I felt ripped off and a great deal like a loser. Why wasn't I shopping at Burberry? Oh, yeah, becuase I can't afford it. This realization brought to mind another thought prokvoking realization. Apparently the person who stole my card didn't think I could afford it either. I think that it must be hard work to find something at Burberry that was only $161.72. So, I guess I appreciate that they didn't go hog wild with my card. A sensible purchase at Burberry and a sensible attempted purchase at Famous Footwear. ( P.S. How you would go from the one to the other is beyond me. If you are going to use my card, please use it with some class!) Anyway, my account is closed. Someone got a fancy present from Burberry and I got a new credit account, all will be well this Christmas. Chase is sending me another card that will get here tomorrow.

And, in the end, I am grateful for Walmart, even though it doesn't look like much when it is standing next to Burberry. It was my white elephant purchases made here at Walmart in Orem, UT, that tipped my credit card company off and we were able to stop the crazy Jennica's-money-shopping-spree in California.

Thanks Chase Bank, thanks Walmart and Merry Christmas to the Burberry Theif!

Happy Birthday Lou!

My baby sister is going to be 17 in just three short days. I decided to help her celebrate a bit early and got us tickets for the Ten Out of Tenn Christmas tour. Emily and I went to their concert in April and we loved them! Em's best friend Madi came along and so did Mom. The concert was at Kilby Court in SLC. We love the venue because it is VERY small and VERY intimate. It feels like a neighborhood garage band concert with your besties. Even though there were some sound problems, we had a great time and got to hear some awesome new music. Emily and I felt like we were seeing old friends. (We have now seen 2 of the artists from the crew 3 different times) On the way home we stopped by Hatch Family Chocolates and got some hot chocolates to share. If you have not had Hatch Family hot chocolate, you need to drop what ever you are doing this very instant and go get some. It tastes like melted candy bars, like the kind of hot chocolate they would serve on the Polar Express. It was a great night, and even though Lou is getting old, I am glad that she is not too old to hang out with her crazy older sister and her mom!

Merry Scary Christmas!

The grinch freaks me out. The old school, well beloved, holiday special. Like, I-can't-watch-the-silly-show-by-myself, freaks me out. I understand that to many people it is an annual tradition, a classic that helps families ring in the holiday with Christmas cheer, but to me, it is sheer terror. It is a frightening, chaotic, vomit-colored catastrophe. Every year, I try to stomach it. Every year, I try to believe that I am stronger and can enjoy this classic cartoon just like everyone else. Every year, I fail.

So, this year, I am just going to own it. I hate the grinch. I will not watch it on tv, I will not watch it, I decree! I do not like it, not the least. I do not like grinch or roast beast!

Coming to you from somewhere over Virginia...

Technology is a wonderful thing. Delta and Ebay have teamed up for the holidays to bring their customers free wi-fi. I salute them! Here I sit at 30,000 feet about the ground (a mere 100 feet about the summit height of Everest) and I am blogging! We are on our way home from a lovely couple of days in Washington D.C.

We went there for the National Conference on Student Leadership. Honestly, it was one of the best conferences that I have ever been to. Almost everything that I heard could be somehow applied to my job. I didn't even skip any sessions (I don't think I have ever been to a conference where I didn't skip at least one session).

Outside of the conference we had a blast! Because time was so short we crammed in as much as we could, as quickly as we could, We saw monuments, memorials, and museums, We went to Arlington Cemetery, the Library of Congress and even sang "I'm just a bill" while we were sitting on Capitol Hill.

My two favorite highlights were these:

On Sunday night I had dinner with my dear friend Erika. She was one of my very favorite mission companions and still one of my very favorite friends. Obviously (as she lives out here) we don't get to see each other much, so it was a great treat to be able to spend some time with her.

The other favorite moment was seeing A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater. The show was great, even though their Ghost of Christmas yet to Come was about the freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life. But after all was resolved, we left brimming with Christmas cheer. It was a perfect way to end the trip and kick off the holiday season!

Overall our trip was a wild success. The Three Musketeers ((or Charlie's Angels) or any other famous threesome you can think of) took on the town and had a wonderful time!

Miss Jennica Goes to Washington

In just two and a half days I am going to be on a plane bound for our nation's capital! Hali and I are heading up a new ambassador program at work and will therefore be attending the National Conference on Student Leadership. It is possible that Lindsay will be coming along for the ride as well. (Shh! Don't tell!) We are more than a little bit thrilled. The Three Musketeers will reunite! None of us have ever been to D.C. and I feeling especially stoked for this trip. D.C. is one of the places that has been on my list of things I didn't think I would ever actually see. (This list continues to get exponentially smaller) Anyway, if you have any suggestions of must sees or must dos, please let me know!

My baby sister is all grown up and married!

My sister is married! We had a wild weekend and by the end I was a DJ, photographer and cake decorator! Good times were had by all!

See pictures below...

Close to home...

Last Saturday night I got a phone call from my mom. She told me that my little sister's marching band had been coming home from Idaho when one of their buses rolled. Luckily, my sister was on the bus in front of the one that rolled, but there were still a lot of injuries and one fatality. Heather Christensen had been the woodwind instructor for the band. The driver of the bus had passed out and Heather got to the front to try to correct the bus before it went off the road. The bus still rolled, but the damage wasn't half of what it would have been if there had been no attempt made to keep the bus on the road. Heather was a hero that night and I am incredibly grateful for that.

Last night the band performed in honor of Heather at their competition. I am pretty sure that everyone in that stadium was in tears. Many of the other bands wore red and black ribbons to show their support. All in all, it was an incredible evening. The band swept the competition, winning 1st place and all of the "Outstanding" awards available in their division. Those students were great and it was amazing to see them come together and perform after such a tragedy.

You can read about it here.

Oh, Hi.

Ok, so it's been a while. A long while. But I have been busy. Very busy. So busy, in fact, that I am at home convalescing. I am 99.9% sure that I have been busy and stressed to the point that my body finally said. "If you do not slow down, I will slow you down." I didn't slow down.

I am taking the GRE in 12 days, my sister is getting married in 14 days, I am taking an Intro to Teaching Seminary class, and I have more to do at work than I have ever had before.

And to top it all off, I now have the cold to end all colds. Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but it feels like it is. Especially when there is so much to be done! I have slept so much in the last 4 days that I am starting to feel like Rip Van Winkle. I have also imbibed an amount of DayQuil that is most likely illegal in at least 7 states. I hope to be back on my feet soon. Until then I am going to go hit the DayQuil again and crawl into bed...

The Countdown Continues...

I leave for my cruise in t-minus 2 days. We will spend 2 lovely days in Seattle and then we will be ON A BOAT!

One Week!

The count down has begun. In one week, I will be on my way to Seattle. After two days in Seattle-town, I will board a cruise ship with three of my very-soon-to-be-best-friends and sail for Alaska. My hope and dream is to see a whale, preferably a lot of whales.



Please put good whale sighting thoughts out in the universe for me.

Thank you.

Update on the Purse Burglar

I completely forgot to follow up on my purse burglar post! Here is my reply to the ransom note:

Dear Purse Burglar(s),

First, I would like to thank you for your very polite ransom note. I always feel more inclined to respond when I am addressed as "Dear" Victim. However, I must admit that your terms are rather steep terms and I fear that as a lowly recruitment coordinator, there is no way that I will be able to live up to such exorbitant demands. Might I suggest a compromise?

1. Slurpees at Staff Meeting - A. Pina colada lemonade at the Outback Steakhouse
2.Raises for everyone - B. Raises that come in the form WORK! Effective August 26th, 2009 (approximately)
3.Paid vacation - C. One (1) all expenses paid trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
4.Oreo cookies - D. Layer cakes. Tomorrow.

Should these compromises be satisfactory, I will await the return of my currently secured valuables. I will be walking out of my office at precisely 3:45pm, giving any interested party the opportunity to return the stolen goods without compromising their identity.

Those are my terms.

Yours truly,

The Victim

After a bit of negation over my proposed terms, my purse was safely returned. The next day began the most amazing Ambassador Training Retreat that this school has ever seen. Here is why:



I have a pretty cool job. Even if my purse does get stolen every once in a while.

Handi-spots

There is a joke that goes around in the single world that men are like parking spaces - the good ones are taken and the rest are all handicapped. Personally, I have no problem with handicapped men. I have no problem with handicapped women, or even handicapped children. What I have a problem with is a serious excess of handicapped parking spaces in parking lots.

The recent renewal of frustration comes from the new employee lot that I have been attempting to park in since we moved into our new building. There are about 50 regular spots and 12 handi-spots. The regular spots fill quickly everyday and only 2 of the handi-spots are consistently used. Why must we have SO MANY spots that are reserved? Couldn't we have the two spots for the people that use them everyday and 4 more for others, instead of 10 perfectly usable spots lying unclaimed?

Because of the parking shortage I have been parking in a lot across campus after arriving each day to find my lot filled. I drive wistfully past those 10 empty spaces and then think about how the world could be different as I make the long trek over to my office. Here is what I propose after many mornings of thought. Since I have had this issue on my mind I have been seeing empty handi-spots everywhere, and I realized that if they were full, I wouldn't mind the inconvenience at all!

So, my point is this: I would like encourage all those with disabilities that require special parking to get out more! If you are out and about and enjoying the world and reaping the benefits of these reserved parking spots(that I sincerely believe you rightly deserve), I would be more than happy to park further away to accommodate you. So, for goodness sake, please stop teasing me with all of your empty spots.

Beware the Purse Burglar!

Today was Valerie's last day at work. I am a little unsure what life in the office is going to be like without her. She is the only other person in this office (excepting our director) who has been in the office since I got here almost 4 years ago. You will be missed Val!

And to let her know that she would be missed, we threw a little Fiesta today. The party was super classy and consisted of one present (earrings, fashion mags and flowers) and Lays Potato Chips and Krispy Kreme donuts.

Well, in all the excitement of the party I left my purse on the table and walked away for a bit. When I returned it was gone, with this note having been left in it's place:




Whatever shall I do?

DISNEYLAND!

So, this is coming a little late. I got home from California, had a four day work week, was in the Park City Parade, watched some fireworks and then flew off to Boston. So, in a desperate effort to catch up with my life, I will post a "highlights" list of my Cali trip and then move on to my current adventures:

Highlights of D-land

Our fancy pants hotel room that had a gorgeous view of Grizzly Peak

Spending 4 hours in Sephora for their early morning beauty basics class. The class was only a an hour and a half, but we stayed and played with the employees. We left with two new best friends

Father's Day lunch at the Blue Bayou. Sweet!

Early magic mornings when we covered all of Fantasyland in an hour

Aliea wet her pants on my brothers "girl-friend who isn't a girlfriend" that came along on the trip. I don't know why it was so funny, but I am laughing about it again as I am typing this.

Power walking through Disneyland California Adventure Park before it opened

Taking Aliea (and Dad and Wayne) to the Bibbidi Bobiddi Boutique and having them transformed into royalty

Walking through the Sleeping Beauty Walkthrough in the castle that had been closed for more than 10 years

Laying by the pool and sipping fruity drinks. I am still a little unsure as to why I came back...

The Happiest Place on Earth

Words to follow, as I am still on vacation...

I SURVIVED!

And I ran with Spiderman. How cool is that?!

Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a living...

My day began at 6:30am yesterday. I drove my little car over to UVU Fleet Services and traded it for a Toyota Prius for the next two and a half days. It took me a couple of minutes to figure the p thing out, but once I realized that this hybrid gave me a free pass to drive alone in the commuter lane, my heart was instantly lost forever. I cruised up I-15 feeling cool and green.


I pulled into Layton at about 9:13 and found my way to the UACRAO folder stuffing extravaganza. I am the recruitment track chair for this year's conference, and so it was my honor to be able to take an extra day off work to help prepare for the conference. Our project took about 2 and a half hours and then I was free to go. I had all of Layton at my fingertips and I was determined to enjoy it !
A great adventure to have when you are in exotic Layton is a movie adventure. This is because there is not much to do in Layton. After much deliberation, I decided that as long as I was going to take myself out to the movies, I should probably go and see a movie that I would end up seeing by myself anyway. (If you would prefer to think of me as a hip and cool person that is not actually a former geek, please skip this section.) I picked Star Trek. I used to come home everyday after school and watch Star Trek: Next Generation. I have probably seen every episode. I have also seen a good chunk of Deep Space Nine and enough of the original series and Star Trek movies to be super excited about this new flick. I think I have about zero friends that also super excited, so at 1:35pm I found myself in a theater with 12 other super geeks and we all had a wonderful time.
When the movie was over I was very responsible and went for a run. I may be in Layton, but there is a 5k coming up on Saturday that has my name written all over it. I am still crossing my fingers that I will live through this experience.

Dinner came next, and I had a date! Me, Bostons Restaurant and my love, Cormac McCarthy. I finished reading the The Road not very long ago, and I loved it. (I am not sure what I am saying about myself here, divulging my love of sci-fi and dark literature. Oh, well.) Anyway, I went out to dinner and brought No Country for Old Men. This is an intense book people! I sat at the restaurant for at least an hour. I am sure my waiter was entertained that I was buried in the book and had to come up for air every time he asked if I needed anything. It's all good. I left him a good tip.

After dinner, I stopped into the Sephora in Ogden. Sephora is a magical place. It is like a Toys R Us for big girls, or a Home Depot for women. There is only one Sephora in Utah, it is located in a JC Penny in Ogden. This means that it is actually a mini Sephora, but it will do until I make it to the full size one in Anaheim in a couple of weeks.

Well, by this point in the day it was getting dark outside. Some of this had to do with the fact that it was getting late and the huge storm that was rolling in might also have had something to do with it. I headed back to my cozy little hotel room and settled in for the night. I cozied up in my lovely Hampton bed (totally the best hotel bed) and popped in La Vie En Rose. I have wanted to watch this movie since I saw Marion Cotillard accept her Oscar for Best Actress. Her performance is PHENOMENAL. I don't know that I would say the same of the movie, it was disjointed, and long, but she was incredible. It would have been criminal had she not received an Oscar for this performance.



And so ended my long Layton day. I really, really, love my job.

Heather and Gunnar

My baby sister is all grown up and getting married! It is a little unbelievable, especially for those of us who still have a hard time seeing her any older than 16, but the countdown now stands at less then a month. June 12th is the date. It has all been a crazy whirlwind and I have a feeling that isl still going to be hard to believe once everything is said and done. Such is life. Little sisters are growing up all the time, and apparently that includes mine too.

Heather is marrying Gunnar Nelson. He is in the Navy and is stationed in Nevada. Heather moved out there a few months ago and is living with a very generous older couple in the area. They will be getting married here, and for that we are grateful. (Not that Reno isn't an extremely classy place) Anyway, Gunnar is a great kid. With him living in Nevada, I haven't been able to get to know him very well, but I did get to spend the better part of a Saturday with the happy couple a few weeks ago when we did their engagement photos. They are one very adorable and very goofy couple. We had a blast and the picture of them with the umbrella is my favorite one from the shoot.

Congratulations Heather and Gunnar!

Hello. My name is Jennica Dorsey. I am prepared to die.

So, I am not sure what I am thinking, but I have signed up for my very first 5k. Now, this might not seem like a big deal for you, but this is coming from the girl who has always been the "artsy" one and certainly never the "athletic" one.

My sister and I will be attempting to run the Pony Express 5k in Eagle Mountain on June 6th. It is the easiest 5k in the state. I am scared to death. If you have any advice I would love to hear it. If you don't have any advice, I would appreciate your prayers.

Viva Mexico!

I love Americans. Americans love Mexico. (Excepting the Swine Flu, of course.) But that is beside the point! The point is that today is CINCO DE MAYO! It is a day when both Mexicans and Americans have the option of celebration the Battle of Puebla. (Celebrating the holiday is, in fact, optional in Mexico.) I am all about a holiday that is good enough to exist, but not good enough to mandate state and federal closures. I can celebrate and still get my mail? Yes, please.

So, I opt in on this Cinco of Mayo, and I don't just want to celebrate Puebla. I want to celebrate all things Mexican! Or maybe just all the things that Americans love about Mexico. Or maybe just all of the things that Americans have taken from Mexico and made their own. Yes, I think that will do just fine.

We will start with La Quinta. It means "The Fifth". Or if you are La Quinta's marketing team, it means anything you like. i.e. :

La Quinta, Spanish for: Cheap hotel with wireless internet, helpful people, and an indoor pool that is always heated to 79.2 degrees that is sometimes a good option if the Hampton is not available.




Amigos, Spanish for: Close friends that really like to hang out with each other and make funny jokes and sing songs and dance dances and tell each other their deepest secrets and fondest dreams.



Taco, Spanish for: Well, Spanish for Spanish. If you don't know any Spanish you can just say, "Taco! Burrito! I don't understand-o! And that's it. You know Spanish.



Stretchy Pants, Spanish for: Deep in our hearts we all wish that we were Catholic Luchadores.



Speedy Gonzalez, Spanish for: Anything. Quick, Classic, clever, classy, cliche. If "taco" fails you, just say, "Andele, andele, arriba, arriba."



FELIZ CINCO DE MAYO!!

Post Burn Out Fun

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted for a while. And maybe you also noticed that my last little post was a sad cry of burn out.

It was a Tuesday night when the burn out climaxed. Work had invaded my life at a level that was way beyond acceptable. I decided that I had to take a stand and reclaim my life, so I went out every night for the rest of the week and partied like crazy. It is possible that this week included a 6:00am bedtime one morning. Hence, I was away from my blogging desk for a while. I return now. Here are the highlights of my time away:

The first night out had been planned for a while. I took my little sister to go see the Ten Out of Tenn concert. There were ten up and coming artist that performed who are all based out of Tennessee. We are big Erin McCarley fans and were mostly there to see her, but ended up loving everyone that we heard.

Listen to the music playing on my blog as you are reading this to get a taste of what we heard.



The show was at Kilby Court. It is a tiny venue in Salt Lake that basically simulates the garage band experience. Em and I were in the front row and we both felt like we were just chillin with ten of our very best and very talented friends. They all took turns singing and backing each other up. I wish that more concerts were like this.



After the show all of the artists came out and had s'mores with the concert-goers. Thanks to Kilby Court for having a fire pit in their courtyard.


The next day my friend Vanessa and I went to the free Ficiontist fan love concert. To show their fan love, the band had bought all the tickets for their show and let the fans in for free. Stellar. Fictionist used to be called Good Morning Maxfield, and Stuart Maxfield just happens to be one of my very favorite district leaders from my mission. If you are in the mood to be blown away by a band full of people who are basically too talented to be human, check them out at their website.

After two nights of crazy concerts, it was time to dance. Vanessa is friends with the entire world and, of course, that world happens to be inhabited by DJs who throw crazy dance parties. This was the night that we didn't get home until 6:00am. I don't think I have done that since I was 15. Pretty sure it threw me off for about 3 days. I am officially an old lady.

But, luckily enough, the next two days were conference. I just sat around and soaked in all of the General Conference goodness.



These weeks have been a blast. My little sister got engaged, I spent a blissful week alone in my apartment while my roommates were taking on the Windy City, I have had several mini-reunions with old friends, and a slightly larger reunion with my brother after an 6 month separation. And it doesn't stop there!

I got to go to the Brandi Carlile concert!

Anyone who knows me well knows that Brandi and I go a long way back. I have been waiting for a long time for here to come in concert and you had better believe that when she did I was first in line to go! Well, I was actually 3rd in line, but whatever. My dear roommate Lindsay also came and we were front row all the way!

It is possible that Lindsay fell just a teensy, tinsy bit in love with the cellist.






The concert was UNBELIEVABLE. It was pretty much everything I had hoped for. And they filmed it. If you ever got your hand a copy, I am the freak on the front row. And now, after all this fun, I am a new person. So, save me from more burn out and let's have fun. Yes?

Burn. Out.

The Madness Continues...

We got a new Assistant Director last week. And, of course, we welcomed him in true PSS style:






Welcome to the office Kirk!

Home Sweet Home

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday and we spent the weekend celebrating. After many years of renting, my mom recently bought a house. So, for her birthday this year, we decided to do something wild and crazy that we haven't been able to do in years. We painted her closet doors blue. I know, it is a little wild. What can I say? We are a wild bunch. The project took two days. Day 1 was Saturday and it involved removing hinges, deconstructing doorknobs and moving the dull, cream colored doors outside. Needless to say, we felt very handy.

In the midst of all of this hullabaloo we stopped for some birthday celebration. The niece and nephew made "pupcakes" with their mum for Grandma. Let me tell you that there is nothing like a good pupcake to celebrate a special occasion!



Day 2 came after 2 days of waiting for paint to dry. I headed home after work Monday evening. While I was getting things ready to be returned to their proper place, my little sister was finishing up the dishes. This brought one of my favorite moments of my entire life.

My Mom shops at Costco and buys everything in bulk. Well, as fate would have it, bulk dishwashing soap looks an awful lot like bulk dishwasher detergent. The dishwasher had been running about 3 minutes when my sister started shouting for help. I came in and there were bubbles EVERYWHERE. They were pouring out of every crack in the dishwasher. It was a lovely sight. I wish that I had thought to take a picture the moment it had happened, but for some strange reason, I helped to clean up instead. This picture was taken several minutes after the initial incident. It isn't too shabby though. I don't think she will ever live this one down. It was great.




After much adventure, celebration and incredible handy work, we finished our project. Happy Birthday Mom!