My summer adventures

Ready for picture overload? I have finally gotten around to putting pictures on my computer of my summer adventures. A few weeks ago, I took a trip to an amusement park.

This is a ride called The Rocket. You slowly rise to the top (which is insanely high) and then you drop. And you scream. And it is terrifyingly awesome.

I'm the one covering my head with a white looking thing. This is Rattlesnake Rapids. You get wet.

My small hometown does fireworks every August. We have the best fireworks, just saying. We were so close to the fireworks as well. You could see the fireworks being shot into the air, leaving bright orange gold cinders falling to the ground. We even got hit by ash and small pieces of firework. How much closer can you get?

And finally, my favorite pictures. My friend, Emily, is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She will be serving for a year and a half in Russia! I am so proud of her! Before our missionaries leave, we have farewells. They talk in one of our church meetings and after church, we usually eat food and gather together as friends and family to support them. 

These are my wonderful friends! Our soon-to-be missionary is in the middle, wearing the purple dress. 

Me and Emily! 

My summer adventures are coming to a close. Fall semester begins in two weeks from today. I move into my apartment next Wednesday (and I now know who my roommates are...well, I at least know their names) and the days are slowly beginning to be shorter. Who knows what this next year will bring?

You have no new messages

I have decided I'm not very good at waiting.

If I'm waiting for a phone call, I can't leave my phone anywhere and it becomes an obsession.

If I'm waiting for someone to come, I pace around the front windows and open the door once or twice.

But today, I'm waiting for an email.

Since the end of July I've been waiting for an email, and yesterday, I got one. This email told me the real email I'm waiting for will come today. 

This email will tell me the time I can get my key to my apartment on August 22. It will also tell me who my roommates are. 

I am so nervous to find out who these girls are, nervously excited. 

But until I get this email, I will be nervously waiting until my email account says, "You have one new message."

Retail

Working in retail is both enjoyable and horrible. It depends on the day.

The people can also be enjoyable and absolutely horrible. It depends on the day.

Now that it is August, back to school shopping is in full swing and there is never a quiet moment in the children's department. You can basically forget about trying to keep clothes looking tidy. The moment you have your back turned after straightening a stack, it has turned into a mountain of mess.

Oh and count on people dumping piles of clothes wherever they feel like it:  the floor, the swim suit section, shoes, on top of racks, even in other departments (such as the home department, women's, or dresses). 

But here is my question. What do you do when you witness something completely horrible and wrong? Or at least hear it? You see, today, while I was cleaning out the boy's dressing rooms, there was a mother and her son school shopping. Her boy was in a fitting room when he said, "Mommy I need help. I can't get it on." The mother went back to the room and I assumed she was going to help him. I assumed wrong. I heard her yell, "You know how to get it on! Just do it!" Then I hear what sounded like the boy getting spanked very hard and he starts sobbing. I felt sick to my stomach and didn't know what to do. Soon, they both walked out and the little boy had tears running down his cheeks. He reached for his mother's hand and she said, "You don't need to hold my hand!" And she yanked her hand away. 

I felt sick inside and I wanted to cry. What are you supposed to do in that situation? Did I do wrong by not doing anything?

But could I have made it worse to say something? Could I have gotten into huge trouble by doing something that wouldn't even fix the problem? 

To end this post on a happy note, I'll tell you about the bracelets. For back to school, we're handing out free bracelets to the kids. They're those simple jelly kind that come in multiple colors. I love giving these to them, especially if they are very young (still toddlers). They get the biggest smiles on their faces and in their cute toddler voices, they say thank you as if I've given them a million dollars. It is very sweet and I wished we were able to hand out bracelets all the time.