Dangers of Work

I would have never thought that a Library would be a dangerous place to work but after Friday I am not so sure that is true. We have these awesome spatula-looking things that remove stickers for us and they are my best friend. The problem is that they are deceiving in how they look because they don’t look very sharp but after I slipped and took off a HUGE chunk in my pointer finger I am here to attest that they are in fact very sharp. We are looking forward to my finger healing and there not being a divot anymore. Thankfully it has stopped being super sensitive to touch because for awhile there it was almost completely useless!

Killing the Gopher

On our way to take Mikkel back home, our trip started out with a tragedy. We weren’t more than 10 miles from the house when I ran over a gopher. The silly thing ran out in front of the car and there was no time to miss him. I am hoping he died instantly as the car ran right over him and he at least didn’t suffer. This is the biggest thing I have killed so far and every time I kill something it really messes with me emotionally. I hate the idea that I just killed it and try to figure out what I could have done differently. I called Marc to get the love and empathy that I needed and we pulled up to a stop light. While sitting at the stop light Mikkel notices that there are gophers popping out of the ground on the corner. Now I sit at this stoplight every day on my way to work and I have NEVER seen a gopher but that day Mikkel sees three pop out of the ground. I start to freak out that they are haunting me because I killed their friend and Marc is trying to convince me that they are cheering me on because none of them could stand that gopher. But I figured I should warn everyone else that regardless of the reasoning, if you kill one gopher more will follow you. You have now been warned.

Sexy Last Names

So when Mikkel was up visiting we decided to go see the newest Pirates movie. We enjoyed sneaking in our cheap candy and had fun watching it together. By the time the movie was over it was late and I was tired and this can lead to a dangerous combination. As we watched the credits role I decided that I was going to find a sexier last name for Marc and myself. I tried to get Marc into but he insisted that he would keep his current last name and kept reminding me how much I hated the process of changing my name in the first place. Regardless, I have picked out some sexier names for us and here are some of my top choices.

Chrissy Vasconcellos
Marc Margson
Chrissy O’shaunessey
Marc Montemayor
Chrissy Skotchdopole

Which one do you like?

Saving the Shumate

Sadly in my job, one of the things I get to see a lot is bad parenting. We have a lot of parents who come in to use the computer and forget that their children even exist. I help children find their “missing” mommy all the time and even have moms ignore us as we walk around looking for them because their computer time isn’t up yet. It really is such a sad, sad thing. On a side note we do have good parents in our library too.

One day at work I was putting away the new magazines that had just come in. I was walking towards the children’s area and heard a little one having quite the meltdown. I went over to see what was going on and realized that we had a missing mom. This little one was so upset that some other moms were coming over to see if everything was okay or if one of their children had hurt her in any way. I assured everyone that she was just fine and that all would taken care of. This little one also had a sister nearby that was as carefree as could be and this was upsetting the little one because not only was her mom missing but her sister didn’t care! She kept insisting that she needed to see if the car was there. I took her hand and started to walk her to a window that she could look out of. We almost got to the window when the little sister decided she would rather play in the kid’s area then go on our little walk and so she quickly turned around and walked back. The little one again start to freak out and started running after and calling for her little sister. It was at this point that I realized who this little girl was and who the missing mom was as well.

As I had been checking in the magazines I had sworn that I had seen my old Achievement Day leader from my hometown and had confirmed this by finding her two oldest kids in the library. I had only ever known her two oldest children but did know that she had several others. As the little girl was crying out for her little sister she called her a very unique name and the only person I had ever heard of with this name belonged to my Achievement Day leader’s daughter. I ran up to the little one and asked her if she was her daughter and she told me that she was. Luckily at this point I could tell the little one that all was okay and Mom hadn’t left but was out in the car feeding the newborn baby. This calmed the little one down and after getting some coloring pages and showing her the other two children were still in the library she started to relax.

What amazed me about this story was all of the little pieces. If I hadn’t seen the mom walk out with the baby, I wouldn’t have ever been able to place this child. Or if she hadn’t called out to her sister, I wouldn’t have been able to place this child. Or if the Spirit had helped me solve the puzzle and find a way to comfort her, I wouldn’t have been able to place this child. Or if another staff member had found this little girl, they wouldn’t have been able to place this child. This scenario, once again, confirmed to me that our Heavenly Father knows us personally and loves and takes care of us. He was aware of this little child in her time of distress and sent someone to her that could comfort her in her time of need. How grateful I am for that knowledge and for a loving Heavenly Father. I was so grateful that I could be in the right place at the right time and was able to be an instrument in his hands.

Mikkel's Visit

Marc and I were so lucky to have Mikkel come and visit us for a few days. We love having Mikkel around and thankfully he doesn’t mind putting up with us…. too much at least. Mikkel got to come to work with me and see me in action, hang out with Marc at home, go see the newest Pirates movie with us, help us set up a tent in our living room, and so much more. Mikkel is always such a help and is such a huge help when ever he is around. I love how thoughtful and considerate he is of everyone around him. He seemed to enjoy his time here and I know we really enjoyed our time with him. We can’t wait until he gets to come back after their big trip over seas and is able to come visit us again. We love having him around!!!

Marc's Hair

Marc and I have had a deal since before we were married, if I cut his hair then he wouldn’t go get it buzzed but if I sent him to a barber then he would come back with super short hair. I am not the biggest fan of super short hair and so I grudgingly agreed. After the last 15+ months of marriage I have learned how to cut his hair and have faithfully done it.

So one night I made Marc a deal, he would help me dye my hair and I would cut his for him. He agreed and my hair dyeing began. I then started to cut his hair but we half broke the clippers last time. Marc got the clippers back together and handed them to me. I started them up again but it wasn’t cutting his hair. I told Marc that they weren’t working and I should just cut it with scissors. Marc doesn’t like it when I cut it with scissors because the scissors are a little dull and it ends up pulling his hair rather than cutting his hair. So he was working with the clippers again. At this point Marc takes the guard off of the clippers and I don’t notice. I ask for the clippers back again and he hands them to me. I try to cut his hair again and this time the clippers work. To my horror, I have just buzzed a nice long strip on the back of Marc’s hair. Marc bursts into laughter and thinks that this is a grand thing because now he gets short hair and things it is so funny. I am so embarrassed and furious that the tears start. I leave because it is time to wash the dye out and go cry in the bathroom. Marc continues to buzz his hair. I come back and help him out because he has missed some spots on the back of his head and the tears still continue to fall. Marc assures me that it is fine and is a good thing and it’s not a big deal. How grateful I am that I have a husband that can find the positive in anything and is so loving when his wife totally butchers his hair cut! So now we both will have short hair for a while. Check out the new look:

Gardening Class

Our Relief Society put on a gardening class a couple of weeks ago and I decided to go attend. First of all, I hadn’t realized how many people in the ward knew who I was…. I was a little amazed. But second of all, I realized that I will never be a very good gardener. The lady who was teaching the class works nine hours a day and then spends 3-4 in her garden as well. I am definitely not that dedicated! I also found out that our area is not so bueno for growing but it was an awesome class and I did learn lots of new things for our future garden. Marc and I are hoping to be able to start a garden next year and I want to start small and Marc wants to start big. I guess only time will tell who is in charge of the garden and its size!

Program at Work

One of my favorite parts of working at a Library is working with the kids. Adults are great and definitely have their place but nothing lights up my day more than the children. As such, I quickly volunteered to run a Summer Reading Program Program for some kids this summer. We are exploring different countries and languages. The kids are learning to say a few words, learn a little bit about them, sing songs, play games, and do a craft. We have already survived two weeks and only tortured one little boy…. no make that two little boys and have five more weeks to go. This summer we will explore American Sign Language, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Japanese, and Dutch. I am so excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to see what other programs and kids I will get to work with in the future.

Working Out

Before I got married one of my biggest concerns was not being able to find a man that loved me for me but loved me for the physical side of me. I solved this problem by always being a little overweight and never being at my physical best. In fact looking back Marc probably saw me in my comfy clothes while dating more than any other clothes. Well I guess we can all safely say that he loves me for me. After being married then I knew that I needed to get to a point with my body that I was comfortable with me because I knew that no matter what my weight that if I didn’t like me at one weight I wouldn’t like me at twenty pounds lighter. I have worked really hard over the last year to get to this point and ladies and gentlemen… the workouts have begun. I have done Zumba, gone one runs, and have just tried to be more active. Marc and I have also been saving up for a long time and finally have enough for a Wii. We have named it our gym and have only bought working out type games for it. Marc can now be seen sword fighting and boxing and playing basketball in our living room. There is no earth shattering amount of weight that has been lost but I feel good about myself and am enjoying this new phase in my life.

New Calling

So after Bishop came to visit, we got a call saying that one of the Bishopric Members would like to come visit us. We all guessed it would be a calling, but for who? I kept hoping that they had called Marc to Scouts or something and he guessed the calling would be for me. Our friends up here bet that I was being called as the Primary Pianist since the current pianist is leaving and I can play the piano. The bets were placed and after having to reschedule, because people were over for dinner again, we finally were going to know who the calling was for and what the calling was.

Well to no one’s surprise, but my own, I was called as the Primary Pianist. I have decided that this is a good calling for me as I will be involved with the children but I don’t have to be in charge at all. I have also thought about the fact that playing for Primary is infinitely different from playing in Relief Society, my previous calling. In Relief Society there are three songs, at max, and you know what they are at least a week in advance. In Primary there are the set songs for the year but then they sing Father’s Day songs and Mother’s Day songs and Welcome songs and Birthday songs and I was definitely not prepared my first week. We had birthdays and visitors and I hadn’t planned on either of those happening! But I am excited for my calling and looking forward to being able to serve the Lord in the capacity. Wish me luck and don’t judge when it is just the top hand for a little bit :)

Kiara and Carmel Update

In case I forgot to mention it, we have a new cat! His name is Carmel and he is a rescue like Kiara but it just happens that my parents rescued him. We decided as a family that it would be best if Carmel came and lived with us here. The cats were doing really well at getting along and we were starting the process to have him declawed when everything went downhill. We are going to be starting the introducing process again so that hopefully this time, it will have a better outcome. Wish me luck! I wish I had a picture of him but he is such a turbo that he never holds still. One day we will catch him holding still and get a picture of him so that I could post it.

Cutting My Hair

It is official that my hair is FINALLY long enough to chop off and donate. I have been waiting to cut my hair for what seems like an eternity. I knew that I would have to chop off at least six inches before I would be happy with my hair again and I figured at that point I should cut off the extra few inches so that I could donate it.

So Memorial Day weekend I called up my friend and asked her who she would recommend to cut my hair. She quickly gave me the name and number of the ONLY person she trusts with her hair and I quickly had an appointment. I waited anxiously for her to be able to chop it all off. When it was all said and done I couldn't have been more pleased. I have loved having long hair but I am loving having short hair too. I always find myself in a catch 22 with getting bangs though. I always love the idea of bangs and find them super cute on other people and then I get them and they drive me crazy! This is why they are pinned back in the pictures. Enjoy!

Having Bishop Over

That night that we burned the cookies was especially comical as it ended up that we had another couple over and then Bishop over to meet both us and the other couple. It was such a “Mormon” night as we were both called that afternoon to schedule a meeting with the Bishop. Not wanting to lose dinner with this other couple I asked if we could meet any earlier than 8, especially since I knew the other couple was meeting him at either 7 or 7:30. It was then decided that he could meet both of us at our house. It was a fun night and I am so grateful that we got to have the members of the Bishopric in our home and got a chance to get to know them better. Bishop did throw me for a curve ball when he asked what calling I wanted. I had never been asked that before…. Hmmmm what calling do I want?