Homesick

This summer David and I moved to Colorado for his internship. We moved in with our parents and family in a 3 bedroom apartment. It has been a very close-knit summer, but I feel a void inside. Yesterday as I walked outside in the hot sun, I tried to treasure the warmth, because pretty soon we will be back in Idaho and there will be no generous heat. Last night I realized that when David and I go back to Idaho for his last two semesters, I'll have lived in Rexburg for five years! I never thought I would be there for that long, but the best part is, I don't mind it. I actually wouldn't mind living in Idaho a few more years.

There's a couple things that I miss about Idaho right now.
1. The bright stars in the crisp, cool air each night.
2. Midnight runs to Winco.
3. Running up and around the beautiful Rexburg temple.
4. Playing pick-up soccer games on Saturday mornings.
5. Sneaking in Taco Bell into the dollar movie theater.
6. Biking to the snow shack to get a Tiger Blood snow cone.
7. Visiting all of our friends that are our age and having family so close by.
8. Eating at the taco bus.
9. Renting a movie from the local gas station, Horkleys, and buying a 50 cent huge 80 ounce or so drink.
10. Playing golf for $6.00.
11. Saturday shopping trips to Idaho Falls.
12. Social work opportunities left and right.
13. Hitting up the last hour of Latin dances on Friday nights.
14. Slow to no traffic on the highway.
15. Relaxed, slow pace of life with beautiful nature all around.

I'm not annoyed of my family, but I am feeling crowded. I can't wait to get into our own apartment. I am homesick. So when we get back from Colombia in August, our next step will be unpacking our 10 by 10 and enjoying our space in Rexburg, Idaho - the place where dreams come true!!

10 by 10

It's been a little over a month now living in my parent's apartment in Colorado. A lot has happened. Some big events: My dad got a job. My sister had her first baby (Lauren Brea). My friend had her first baby (Jadyn Lynn). My husband landed two internships and a landscaping job. I am officially a licensed social worker. Next step - find a social work job!

Some other fun things: I tried to go clubbing for the first time out on a girl's night and I was the only girl without her I.D. I've been golfing three times now. I've been cooking every Sunday--so far there have been two disasters and two successes. Cooking is harder than Ratatouille makes it seem. And I have learned that even though the title sounds delicious (i.e. Asparagus, Shrimp Dill Fettuccine), dill weed is disgusting! After mixing everything together and smelling the dill weed, I threw my experiment away and my loving sister and mom ran to the store to buy two cans of good ol' alfredo sauce. I also made orange chicken; however, it did not turn out like Panda Express'.

It's been so fun living with my family. We play a game we love called rummy at least twice a week. My husband and I are squeezed in a room in the apartment. I am grateful for a bed and overwhelmed with all of the things we have. We brought only the essentials to Colorado for the summer and I still feel like we could have left some stuff at home. I stressed way too much trying to fit all our belongings in a 10 by 10 in Rexburg and somehow we still had room.

I would love to simplify my life and only own one sweater, one pair of jeans, and five shirts. But it's so hard when I go shopping and see all the cute outfits, especially when they are on sale. There's something beautiful in living a simple life. I do not really miss all our things in that 10 by 10 because I'm enjoying the time with friends and family.

How's Thomas?

A few nights ago, David and I were driving home from playing racquetball and I heard him whisper, "How's Thomas?" There are a few things that I love about David, and this is one of them. David likes to talk to himself or to his "imaginary friends" as I'd like to call them. When he faintly asked, "How's Thomas?" I was taken aback. A few times I've caught him talking to someone. Quietly and softly I randomly hear him talk to himself while he is alone. I think it is cute and kind of funny. But a few nights ago, I replied, "Who's Thomas?!?" The story pretty much ends there. I think we all talk to ourselves, but when I witness David do it, it becomes unreal.

There are a few more qualities that I love about David.

Quality #1: His willingness to follow rules.

Example #1: We have a few rules in our marriage. For example, last one out of the bed has to make it. This is motivation to get up early and start your day. He usually follows this rule, but somehow I conclude that it's better for both of us if I just make it. But it's his effort that counts.

Quality #2: His sense of humor.

Example #2: Another rule in our house is - Last one to finish a roll of toilet paper must replace it with a new one. He has a hard time with this one. One day I went to the bathroom to find an empty roll. I hollered for David to come in immediately and replace it with a new one, even though I could reach it. I told him it's all about the principle. So after this lesson on principles, I go to the bathroom another day and sit down to see this:

Quality #3: His love for life.

Example #3: David has a warm heart. He loves me so much, I know it. He loves his family, my family, and his friends. He loves to work, to relax, and to play. He loves nature. He loves.

Overall, I love David whether he talks to mysterious people, "makes" the bed, or makes me get my own toilet paper. He is my Colombian lover!

Plan B

On average, I sell three Plan B's at work a week. If you are not familiar with Plan B, it is also referred to as the morning after pill or the generic version is called Next Choice. It's always exciting when someone comes in to buy one. The girls are almost always the same. They have this scared, anxious look in their eyes that scream, "Hurry, get me the pill! I don't want to have a baby!"

Today a girl came in and said, "Can I get like that Plan B thing?" I laughed inside. Did she really just ask for it like that? She wants to lay low, although I think that deep inside she is praying that this Plan B thing will do the trick.

I always want to ask after they pay the $54.88, "Well, was it worth it?" Seems like a punch in the stomach to have to fork out that money for just one night of fun. Without control, images play through my mind. Did they use a condom? Did it break? Has it been fourteen days since her period? Is she ovulating? Has it been more than 72 hours since you've had sex? Is he paying half? Somehow I find myself praying with them: I hope it works for you too.

However, it's the younger ones that I don't pray for as hard. Especially the ones that come through the drive through. If you're old enough to have sex (which some of them are barely 17), then you should be old enough to walk your little hiney in the store and buy that like Plan B thing. I have this animosity towards the younger girls. I feel like if they are going to play with fire than maybe they deserve to get pregnant. Yet, $54.88 is not much in the big picture. It's a lot cheaper than having a baby which the delivery alone is $10,000 (or so I've heard). It's also better to prevent a teenage mother from having a baby that she doesn't even want and that she won't even care for. And hopefully after sacrificing sixty bucks, they'll learn their lesson or at least get on birth control.

On the bright side, I've never sold the pill to the same girl twice, so maybe it works. Nor have I seen a girl who I've sold the pill to come in with a baby nine months later. After handing the girls the receipt, I always wish to humorously say, "Let me know if it worked!" Of course I bite my tongue because I have to have good customer service, but I add it to just one of the fun events in the pharmacy.

Macy Lugo Social Worker!!

It's been two months since I've graduated. I've done a few monumental things since then:

1. I've made homemade bread: White, cinnamon raisin, and oatmeal bread

2. Started 2 books . . . emphasis on started

3. Found several offers for free stuff in the mail

4. Thumbed through my Shape magazines

5. Developed a passion for my home work-out video that saves me a trip out in the freezing cold

6. Caught up on 3 and 1/2 years of missing sleep

Now that I've had a good winter's nap literally and figuratively, I feel like it's time to move on with my life. It's been so nice not to have homework or tests. I've got a chance to really relax. But I can only fart around for so long before I reach a point where it's time to find something else in my life.

So many of my goals are not quite happening. I don't know why, but it's so hard to study my Spanish textbook when I don't have any assignments. Or, it's hard to read a book, when I'd rather take a nap. I've had a short 2 month time-out in my life and it's time to start progression and working towards something.

My next goal is to become a licensed social worker. Today I almost reached my boiling point in the pharmacy. Too many people came in with problems that I just didn't care about. I realized today that I want to get a move on with my life and actually put my $20,000 degree to use. If I pass the four hour long test, then I have a few careers in mind:

1. School social work

2. Substance abuse prevention and treatment

3. Juvenile Correction Center (with the youth)

4. Child Protections Services

5. Mental Health

So there are my top 5 choices. Hopefully in two months from now I can officially be "Macy Lugo . . . SOCIAL WORKER!"

Macy the Emaciated Dog

Emaciate:

(Verb) - To make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh, especially as a result of starvation.

Synonyms - Thin, wasted, puny, gaunt, haggard, scrawny.

One of my best friends in high school used to call me emaciated. I used to just laugh with her because I thought it was just a big word that sounded like my name. Emaciated sounded to me like emancipated. To emancipate means to free from restraint or to free (a slave) from bondage. Little did my 17 year old mind know, these two sound alike words were actually completely different. The whole time she was calling me emaciated, I was thinking of the definition of emancipated. I thought she was relating me to a free person-someone with little to no worries-a vagabond perhaps. I felt that maybe I was freeing her from some kind of unconscious restraint.

Now that I know the actual definition of the word, I don't know whether to laugh even harder or to be offended. I am a tall, fairly thin figure. I can see where she would match up part of that definition with me. But I am not so thin that my flesh is wasting away. I wish the flesh off of my love handles would waste away, but believe me they are there whether I starve myself or not. The synonyms to this lovely word further my point: Thin, wasted, puny, gaunt, haggard, and scrawny. These synonyms don't exactly have a positive connotation to them. Was my best friend calling me a puny haggard all these years?

Education is bliss. Now that I know what emaciated means, I can laugh even harder. Until at work the past month I've met one dog and heard about two others with my name. The laughing has ceased for a moment.

David and I watched four kids for a week as the parents went to Mexico on their anniversary. It was a big week of responsibilities and also a "self-note" to postpone kids for a year or two. We clearly are not ready for that yet. The family had two dogs. One dog was an outside dog. I actually don't remember her name. It was scrappy, sadie, or something else that I cannot remember. It had to stay out in the cold garage all week long. Meanwhile, their other dog was an inside dog. Her name was Macy and she was so cute and spoiled as she ran inside the warm home. Then a pharmacist I work with returned from the holidays to tell me that he got a new dog whose name happened to be Macy. He got the dog from a family who was just trying to get rid of her. She was unwanted. Hearing about two dogs with my name was not a big deal, but then on Tuesday another pharmacist told me that his friend's dog is named Macy and that he always calls her emaciated because of how scrawny it is.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. After that encounter, I dramatically said to myself, "I have a freak ing dog's name!" I have calmed down since then and realized that this is a bit of an overreaction. Coincidentally I have encountered three dogs with my name in the past month. Fortunately, I have learned what emaciated means. Miraculously, I a m laughing now. Although there are quite a few dogs out there with my name, there are also quite a few people with my name too. I am not a dog, nor am I emaciated. Those are just coincidences and nicknames. I have to remind myself that I love my name and to laugh about all this other stuff.

Salud, Dinero, Amor!

In English when someone sneezes, you are supposed to say, "Bless you!" In Spanish when someone sneezes it is a little different. The first time someone sneezes, you are supposed to say, "Salud," which means health. If they sneeze a second time, you are supposed to say, "Dinero," which means money. If they sneeze a third time, you say, "Amor!" When I sneeze only twice, David (Daveed) gets a little disappointed, but he loves when I sneeze three times so that he can shout "Amor!" This is a neat tradition in the Spanish culture. Why health comes before money and money comes before love - who knows - but this is one expression I love. This is a new year and as such I have a few new year's resolutions. I have just graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Social Work and now I am expecting to have more free time. Here are some of my goals I have set for the new year with my free time:

One of my goals is to start a blog and to write in it regularly. Another is to start cooking real food for my husband and fatten him up a little bit, but not so much that we can't still play racquetball. Third is to not only work out three to four times a week, but to develop a love for exercising so that I'm not dragging my feet to the gym. Fourth is to play more piano. That is a vague, unmeasurable goal, but it makes sense to me. I want to practice not only for my new calling which is the primary pianist, but as an outlet for myself. Fifth, is to read lots and lots of books that I've been waiting to read once I graduated. I can't wait to go to the library to roam each aisle in search for a new novel. Sixth, I want to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish within 6 months. I plan to study Spanish this way and also by going back to my Spanish textbook which I miraculously found in the dumpster!

I hope that all these goals will enhance the health, wealth, and love in the life of David and me. I'm not wishing to be wealthy in the sense of having loads of money, but wealthy in the sense of having loads of laughter and memorable experiences. David and I have hit the one year mark of our marriage and I can't wait for more years to go throughout eternity. I hope that this blog will be an expression of the many experiences that lie ahead. I hope this new year will find everyone sneezing three times so that we can all be blessed with "Salud, Dinero, y Amor!"