Nothing changes until it changes...

I found this a little while ago on someone's blog and I LOVED it. Hence, I share it with you..

Munch and Mingle

So, I am the fellowshipping co-chair in my ward. (Yes, it is a real calling) Our job is too be nice to people and feed them once a month at our ward's munch and mingle. We knew that this month would be a small one (as it fell on the holiday weekend) so we decided to push for some more mingling with our munching. In honor of Valentines and maybe as a throw-back to elementary school, we decorated sugar cookies, lots and lots of sugar cookies. Between Amber and myself, I am pretty sure that there were over 200 cookies baked for this event. And Amber couldn't even come. This post is dedicated to her. It was an epic success. There was munching, mingling, and lots of fancy cookies....

In which Geoff made a happy couple. By the way, this is my second favorite face that Geoff has ever made.

Matching cookies. Green frosting and chocolate chips was a big hit today.

Two of the loveliest girls I know with some of the loveliest cookies I have ever seen.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

It is very possible that I held a cookie decorating contest in honor of me. We had unbiased judges that were randomly pulled from the crowd. They gave prizes to everyone.

Gotta love the singles ward.

Byt the way, in case you didn't notice in the picture above, Nathan and Oliver wore matching outfits today. I am pretty sure they said that it was so they could get the attention of all of the ladies.

Overall, I think it went pretty well. And I still have lots of cookies, so let me know if you think you can help me out with that...

New clothes! I am a runner for real...ish!

I got new running clothes! I feel so official. People who see me run will think I am so official! I will have the world fooled! On a tip from my good friend, The Blur, I got some CW-X running tights. I may or may not have crappy knees and these tights are pretty much scientifically designed to make sure you run like a rock star. I got them online and as long as I was ordering things I got a new shirt too (the perils of shopping online). Outdoor running has been a little chilly lately, I needed it, really, I did. Well, everything came today and I suited up the second I opened the package. I was so excited to try everything out that I ended up running 4.5 miles just for kicks. I seriously just meant to go for a mile. What have I become?

Cupcake Cubies

This is my cozy space where I study everyday. Today that cozy space included a surprise cupcake from a very dear friend. Between my cupcake and my new "Sunny Day in the Cubies" playlist, nothing can go wrong.

Happy Tuesday!

Highlights from Sunny Day in the Cubies

Adele - Someone Like You
(um, ps this song comes HIGHLY recommended. Adele did a tiny desk concert this week and it was AWESOME)
Amos Lee - Give It Up
Sara Bareilles - Bluebird
Ivan and Alyosha - I Was Born to Love Her
The Format- On Your Porch
Black Dub - Silverado
Gregory Alan Isakov - Unwritable Girl
Stars - Fixed

Yup, altogether this is not a bad day. Not at all.

Tender Mercies

So, believe it or not yesterday was another...um...rough day. "Another?!" You may ask. "Well, yes." I will reply. That is just how things go right now.

*Not all the time, mind you, I did just get back from a rockin' trip to Seattle (post will follow shortly)and I went bowling Saturday night. Bowling!*

But somehow I am coming up against these days much more frequently than I used to. I think that it may have something to do with having quit a job that I was very good at and making an about face that put me toe to toe with all of my weaknesses in this new arena that is grad school. Whatever.

Anyway, this is an INCREDIBLE growing experience that is totally throwing me for a loop. Yesterday, was another loop. The funny thing is, that, as much as this isn't necessarily the easiest time of my life, my testimony is growing exponentially.

Last night's ward prayer topic? Growing through trials. This week's study topic? Trust. The first thing I read this morning? A talk by Elder Nelson that told me, again, exactly what I needed to hear:

"...That experience...taught us another important lesson. It pertains to our ultimate priorities and highest destinies as mortal beings. We learned that a doctor’s ultimate destination is not in the hospital. For a lawyer, it is not in the courtroom. For a jet pilot, it is not in the cockpit of a Boeing 747. Each person’s chosen occupation is only a means to an end; it is not an end in itself.

The end for which each of you should strive is to be the person that you can become—the person who God wants you to be....Much more important than what you do for a living is what kind of person you become. When you leave this frail existence, what you have become will matter most. Attributes such as “faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, [and] diligence” (D&C 4:6)will all be weighed in the Lord’s balance."

This may sound excessively colloquial, but it is good to know that the Lord has my back. I am grateful that he is aware of me and that I can trust that even if I have no idea at all what I am doing, He knows what this is all about. Did I say that I am grateful? Cause I am :)

6.5

I went home last Friday night. My mom lives about 20 minutes away and somehow I just don't see my family as much as I wish I did. I had a slumby with my mum and spent the morning chatting with my sister and her bff. We talked and laughed and I told LOTS of stories because I may have been wishing that the sun would come out. I had a 6 mile run scheduled and the weather was not looking friendly. However, things brightened up a bit and I headed out to pound the pavement. I will tell you here that I have never run 6 miles before. This was to be a big day. It was good that I was at home, because the idea of new scenery definitely made the miles seem a bit more possible. I decided to turn my run into a nostalgia tour and so I headed up toward Highland.

First stop: Mount Timpanogos Temple

Yup this is actually better weather than the 2 hours before when I had been planning to run

When the temple was being built we lived up the street, maybe a mile and a half. It seemed like a million miles away when we would walk down to the site. Being a grown up is funny because things get a lot smaller and time goes by a lot faster. I love this temple. I helped lay the sod, took a tour of the building when the Celestial Room was just a big cement room, and volunteered during the open house. I attended the dedication and got to sit in a sealing room for it. I went to early morning temple trips with my young womens group and I went through the temple for the first time here. I love this temple.

Second Stop: Lone Peak High School

Lone Peak: A World Class High School

This high school was built for me. I was part of the first class to go all the way through high school in this building. By the time I got to the school I had gone about 3 miles and was ready for a drink. I walked inside and noticed that my old theater teacher's door was open. Janky and all I couldn't resist going into see him. I may have looked ridiculous, but it was " I am doing incredible things will my life ridiculous", and I was ok with that. Grad school? Why yes! Athlete in training? Of course! I missed my ten year because I was in China, so I guess this was my one chance to go back to high school and let someone know that I was out in the world doing great things. Pathetic? Maybe. Satisfying? Oh, yeah.

Last stop: My Old Neighborhood

Yup, my old home is now a rest home

We first moved to Utah in 1993. We moved into a big squarish house that had seafoam green trim. It wasn't very pretty, but it was home. We had a huge yard and spend most of our time outside. We played in the irrigation water, climbed the trees, and had picnics on the roof. This neighborhood isn't far from where my mom lives now, but I cant remember the last time that I walked through there. We moved away from Highland just before I turned 16. 3 miles and 12 years away. I can still name almost every family that lived in each house in the area, where my friends lived, and who I babysat for.

By the time I was on my way back the sun had come out and the weather was divine. I felt like I could have gone on forever, but I had a very important mac and cheese appointment to keep with my baby sister who isn't really a baby anymore. Altogether it was a great day and an awesome run.

Not Amos Lee...ME!

Last night was to be Amos Lee! Amos Lee! In anticipation of the great event we left Salt Lake at about 4:15. Perfect. We would miss rush hour traffic, have time to eat, and then jump in line to stand front and center and take in all of the goodness that is Amos Lee. Everything went as planned until the part where we jumped in line. We left at 4:15, ate at good ol' Costa Vida and killed some time in the Union Pacific building as it was much too freezing to wait outside.

Waiting for the ticket counter to open. Trying to buy a ticket to Albuquerque. Where is isn't so blasted cold.

When we went over to The Depot around 6:30, walked right past the big "sold out" signs in the window with our tickets in hand and found out that they were letting people form a line inside - where it was warm! There were only about 6 people there. The front would be ours! We handed our tickets to the lady at the door and that is where the night and our perfect plans took separate roads.

"Amos is sick. He waited until the last minute to cancel, he even came for soundcheck, but he just couldn't make it through the songs. But the opener will still play, and the band will play. Free concert tonight, folks."

We sat for a bit, maybe wanting to avoid going out in the cold more than anything else, or perhaps just wallowing in denial about having come 2 hours early for a Not Amos Lee concert.

These were our sad faces

Anyway, we decided to stick around long enough to check out the venue, and so we sat and watched the ever more eclectic crowd that was growing. (Apparently Amos Lee is big with middle aged cowboy/granola types) About 5 minutes before the doors opened, the manager of The Depot came and told us that Amos had a great idea about what to do with the evening. Amos Lee karaoke. They would let audience members sign up for a chance to sing with the band - with Amos Lee's band. Then they would pick 5 people from the list to come up and sing.

The night just got a whole lot more interesting. Should I sign up? Did I really know Amos' songs well enough to sing one of them with his band? Would they really follow through with this? Would I even get picked? Should I really try to sing? Can I really sing?

While all of these questions were running through my head Jamen said something to the effect of, "You are going to sing, and you are going to be great."

The questions stopped.

Ok.

Why not?

So I signed up.

The opening act sang. The band started to sing. It felt like the night was stretching on to forever. I was getting more and more nervous, and more and more excited. Shauna calls it the "pee pee hide-n-go-seek feeling". Scared, and excited, and nervous altogether. Was this really happening?

They didn't announce who would be singing until it was time for them to get on stage. The first person called was a girl named Rachel. But she wasn't there. So, technically, the first person called was me...

"Jennica Dorsey from Provo, Utah! We are going to do "Colors"." It was like I never thought it was going to happen and knew that, of course, it was going to happen all in the same moment. I wanted to take a second, collect myself, prepare, something - but there was no time. "Where is Jennica?" I raised my hand. I walked forward to the front of the venue and up the stairs that led to backstage. When I got back stage there were several people there to guide me right onto stage. Crowd to stage time? Maybe 30 seconds. So much for preparation.

Really? You are really ok with me doing this?

I may or may not have told the audience that they had to cheer really loud for me whether I did a good job or not. I am still not really sure if it was a good job or not. I couldn't hear myself at all, but there I was. I had background singers and a band, and the audience was singing along. They did cheer really loud, by the way, and they made me feel like a rock star.

(About halfway through the night Jamen went to go see how long the list was getting. Apparently he put in several good words for me while he was there. Who knows if it helped, but thank you!)

After I sang, I shook hands with the band. They were super cool. Most of them just wanted to hug me. I was ok with that. I also asked the drummer for a drumstick. Jamen has a rather extensive collection of drumsticks from famous people that he makes friends with - this seemed like the ideal time to add to that collection. The drummer looked at me like I was a little crazy, but was more than happy to hook me up with a drumstick.
Overall it was completely surreal - and completely awesome. To be honest, I am still feeling a little shocked and speechless about the whole thing. I mean, in all reality, it was just glorified karaoke. But it was glorified karaoke with Amos Lee's band. In front of a rather large audience. At a major music venue.

These things aren't supposed to happen.

But it did.

Wow.

The Noble MPA

What is an MPA, you may ask yourself. Most people have no idea. When I tell people that I am going to school for an MPA, the say, "MBA?" "No," I reply "P, PA". Masters of Public Administration - nonprofit, local government. We are out to save the world! To serve our communities! To make a difference! We are noble, we are honest, we are true! No offense to the MBAs out there, but they call us "The MBA with a heart." Isn't that precious? I think it is because we pay the same tuition as the MBAs, but will probably end up making only half of their salary. And because we are such nice, sacrificing, community-minded folks.

With this background, I hope that what I am about to say will strike you as amusing. I think it is just more funny if you know. After HR today one of the girls on my team said, "Well, I guess we are going to have to go find some other place to study, they blocked off two aisles of the cubicles this morning." What? How did anyone expect me to live (be productive) without the quiet haven of the cubies?

I decided to scope it out anyway. I had to walk from Africa this morning because there was no parking, maybe the cubie gods would have mercy on me. As I turned the corner, I saw the caution tape, and then I saw people. People behind the caution tape. 9 of the 12 cubicles that had been blocked off were filled with fellow MPA students that had hopped over the caution tape and into study heaven. I didn't take more than a split second for me to decide to join my friends. I hopped over the tape and felt at home, and maybe just a little bit rebellious.

We are noble, we are honest, we are true! Out of the way BYU! No caution tape is ever going to keep us back. We have a world to save!