February--Dancing and Flirting

For February, I decided to learn the art of flirting and learn a new dance (for my resolution of doing/learning something new every month). (I also continued this through March, as for why, you'll find out in a later post.) A friend of mine suggested that I read a very enlightening book that she loaned me to help me in my pursuit of learning how to flirt, which I will discuss a bit further down.

Another group of friends took me to a restaurant in Dallas called Gloria's that not only has delicious Mexican food, but on the weekends they have dancing. I learned to salsa dance, which I sort of already knew how to do, but this time I actually danced with someone. I had a blast! It was so much fun! I'm still not very good at salsa dancing, but, really, who cares? I forgot my camera, and although a friend took a few pictures, none of them were of me dancing. But, that's ok, hopefully I'll go again some time and I'll take pictures then.

As for flirting, a friend loaned me An LDS Girl's Guide to Getting a Date by Dr. Brent Barlow. It was a pretty fast read, and it indeed was very enlightening. I took notes and everything! It had lots of tips and techniques, all of which I plan to implement in the future. While I haven't actually practiced flirting, I did gather something meaninful from the book that I'll share with you.

In the book, he emphasized that you really have to love yourself before someone else can love you or before you can love someone else. As a way to increase your self-esteem and love for yourself, he suggests that you write a love letter to yourself. While this might sound rather arrogant, I do not mean the following letter to be. I'm writing things that I love about myself that hopefully someone else will love about me too. Here is my love letter:

"Dear Mattie, These are the reasons why I love you: You are funny and have a wonderful, albeit occasionally sarcastic, sense of humor. I love that you are the same person all the time. You aren't fake with people and are yourself. I love that you can be friends with almost anyone, and while there is always people who you don't like/become friends with, you can still get along with them. I love that you are outgoing and are willing to go out of your comfort zone to make a new friend or to include someone. I love that you can be truly, although sometimes brutally, honest with people. I love that you are smart and mature, and while there is still much for you to learn, you are willing to keep learning and are humble enough to realize that you do indeed need to learn more. You are a truly amazing and awesome person, and I love you for that. And someday, someone else will too. Love, You."

Quest to Replace Old Blue Part 3

When we last left our heroine, she had found a viable option but was berated by the salesman. Continuing on her journey to once again brave another dealership or two. We now take you back to her story:
With a renewed determination to narrow down which car I should buy, I again went back to the internet to research what other cars I could possibly want. I found that Toyota had just come out with the Venza.It's very similar to the Honda CR-V, so I decided I should test drive it. Right next to the Toyota dealership is the Nissan dealership. So, on the same day, I could test drive the Venza and the Nissan Rogueand Murano (it's a little bigger than the Rogue).So, again my dad and I, on a Saturday, drive over to the Toyota dealership. The salesguy is incredibly nice at first, and he offers all kinds of things. When we sit down and I try to tell him I want to test drive the Venza, he asks me questions like I'm going to buy it. Asking me what features I want, how I'd pay, etc. I emphasize that I just want to test drive, and apparently he didn't like that. He leaves and comes back saying that they are sold out and the one he has in the front has already been sold. He says sorry he can't help and we leave. He didn't give me a card, he didn't get my phone number, nothing. Fine. The Venza was too expensive for me anyway.

On to the next! Nissan. The guy was great; he was definitely new because he had to start over. It was funny. I definitely liked the Murano better than the Rogue, but both are more expensive and "luxurious" than I would like. The Nissan guy did call a few times after the test drive, but he wasn't as annoying as the Honda guy.

Well, it's been a while since my many test drives, so what is my problem? I feel like the Honda CR-V is my best bet, but I want to save up more money to put down so I have a smaller monthly payment. I don't know when I'll get it, but hopefully it's soon. When I have to juggle with my family for a car to go somewhere, I get more and more desirous for my own car. We'll see when it happens. Part 4 of my quest will come; I just don't know when. Stay tuned (and enjoy my other random happenings in the meantime.

More than Just Movies and Editing

I know that it might sound a little far-fetched, but there really is more to me than grammar and movies. What are you talking about, Mattie? Well, let me explain with two examples. My boss whenever he makes "small talk" with me asks me either about Utah (since I went to BYU) or if I'd seen any movies lately. Every time.

Second example: there's this one guy (same guy that noticed my haircut at the dance) that whenever he sees me and talks with me, he always asks me about grammar rules. Every time. I realize that movies and editing/grammar are very much a part of what I am, but I do have other interests and skills.

It's almost as if they don't want to get to know me more, so they stick with asking me about what they already know about me. Ok, fine you don't have to get to know me and we don't have to become best friends. But asking me the same questions every time you see me does not make me feel like answering you. The least you could do is ask me about something else. "What other things do you like?" "What are some of your hobbies?" How hard is that? Seriously? If you are going to ask me the same questions, when I know you don't really care about the answers, you might as well not even ask/talk to me.

But, if you are willing to know a little more about me than my opinions/knowledge of movies and grammar, please come talk to me. I'd love to share with you my knowledge/opinions on other things like books, TV shows, crafts, art, games, etc. I promise I am an interesting person. There is more to me than movie trivia and grammar. Really. All you have to do is ask.

Are guys really that oblivious?

A few months ago I got a haircut. It was a pretty drastic cut from what I had before, and I liked it. I went to a YSA dance (yeah the same one that had crappy music; I have alot of blog ideas for this one night) and wondered to myself who all would notice. I figured that most of my girlfriends would say something, but would any of the guys say anything? I kind of assumed none of the guys would notice; although, I did have one guy comment on my new "do."

This makes me wonder, why is it that guys don't seem to notice things like haircuts? I mean obviously it's not true for all of them because I did have one notice, which then makes me think, perhaps they do notice, but they don't want to say anything. They don't want to seem "womanly." So which is it? Are guys really that oblivious, or is it they don't want to seem like a girl?

It seems as if it is one of those eternal truths/well-known facts that guys are just not as observant as gals, but with every rule comes an exception. I think that most guys do in fact notice things like haircuts, new clothing, etc., but not all of them say something about it. Perhaps they don't think that it's that important to say something about it. Maybe they actually don't like this new thing, so to avoid getting asked, "What do you think?" or "Do you like it?" they just pretend they don't even notice something's different. Then there's what I thought earlier, because girls do tend to notice things more than guys, men fake obliviousness to remain manly.

I'm not sure I'll ever answer this question because I'm sure you all can tell me examples of when a guy really didn't notice something, or when he did notice and comment. But, feel free to tell me these examples anyway. Let's try to get somewhere with this "chicken or the egg" type question: Are guys really that oblivious?

Second Guessing Spontaneity

*Note: I apologize for not posting last week, I did have a post that I was writing, but I haven't finished it yet. Here's one in the meantime.

You know those people that can just on a whim fly to the Bahamas or New York and not go into debt? (I'm not sure how often this happens in the current economic state of the world, although maybe it happens more now because of the economy.) Yeah, I'm not one of those people, mainly because I can't afford it. I usually have a date and destination in mind, then I wait to see if there will be a discount on plane tickets before I actually go any where.

Recently, I had the first two taken care of. I was planning on going January 15th-ish to Utah for my friend's wedding (and to go to the Sundance Film Festival). With these basic elements, I waited for Travelocity to email me when the flights were cheaper. After a few months, I finally got the email, and I believe flights were about $120 or so. I was so excited, but because I was at work, I decided it might be best to wait till I got home in an hour. Not to mention that I was also thinking to myself that maybe I should save my money instead of going to Utah.

Well, by the time I got home and checked to buy the ticket, the prices had gone back up over $200! I was so mad at myself for missing such a great opportunity/bargain. So, I told myself that if there was a low price again on a flight to Utah, I was just going to buy it right then and there whether or not I had a date/reason in mind. Another one didn't come in time to go to my friend's wedding and the film festival, which was ok. But, another one did come, and since I made a promise to myself, I bought it.

I picked a date when I knew I had a Friday off (since I'd go over a weekend), when I knew my family hadn't planned anything, and when I knew it wouldn't conflict with my work. I was ready to proceed and receive my confirmation number. After everything was entered, they then told me that if I wanted to cancel, I could receive a full refund until Monday, which was in 3 days.

Well of course, I'm thinking, "Oh, maybe I shouldn't go." I was second-guessing my decision to be spontaneous. Perhaps, I should cancel and save my money. Maybe I should stay and work. I hate myself for over-thinking everything! I finally got tired of debating with myself (after all I had already bought the ticket), and thought, "Screw it; I'm going and that's that."

Best decision I've made. I'm so excited to go, see my friends, and just be on vacation. (I'll be in Utah April 30th-May 5th. If you're going to be too, tell me so we can meet up!) It'll be weird being in Utah as a non-student, but it's an experience I'm willing to have. Utah be ready... I'm coming back for more!

Why I Should be the DJ for the YSA Dances

You know how everyone hates "stake dances"? Throughout my youth, up through my college years at BYU, and now as a young single adult, people still place this stigma on the dances. I am not one of those; I love dancing. I'm ok with making a complete fool of myself while I get my groove on because I'm having fun, and I don't care what anyone else thinks. Lately, however, the musical selection at these YSA dances have been rather subpar. I can't boogie down to music that isn't familiar or doesn't have an interesting rhythm. I also like to have a variety of music. This variety hasn't quite happened in the last few dances. Now we don't really have a "DJ" per say; it's a laptop with iTunes that this one guy plays. All I have to say is, this guy doesn't know how to make a very good playlist.

Now, I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I like a wide variety of music and so can pick music that will appeal to everyone. I mean if I'd want to dance to it, it'll be on the playlist. The last dance had quite a bit of rap that you can really only dance one way to, and after 1 song, you're read to move on. They played the same kind of songs several in a row. Then the very few slow songs that there were, they were all country slow songs. While I'm not a huge fan of country, I can stand a few songs, but not every song.

I know that I would put a playlist together that would have a variety--a little bit of everything--a few more slow songs than normal, and the same kind of songs would not play back to back. My playlist of songs you could actually dance to, and there'd be something for everyone: country, pop, hip-hop, rap, swing, oldies, 80s, 90s, R&B, rock, etc.

Vote for me for the next YSA dance DJ!

Quest to Replace Old Blue--Part 2

When we last left our heroine, she was on a quest to find a new steed to take her in her travels. After a rather disappointing experience with her first test drive at the dealership, she still did not lose hope, and continued on to the next. And now back to her story...

I did some more research and decided to look into the Honda CR-V. A few weekends after the first test drive at the Suzuki dealership, my dad and I went over to the Honda dealership to try my hand at the CR-V.
Well unlike the rather dismal welcomage by the Suzuki dealership, we had a salesman outside jumping to help us inside. He offered us drinks and asked if we needed anything. It was overwhelming how nice he was... a little too nice.

He went over the features, the different versions etc. He asked me what color I'd like (and I'm thinking he might want to know in case I decide to buy), and I said, "Well, I'm just test driving, but I am somewhat partial to the blue. But, I'll take whatever, really." Then the guy says, ok, well let me go find a car so you can test drive it. Then he leaves. He's gone for a good 10, 12 minutes. He comes back into the dealership all out of breath saying that he's trying to find the color car that I want, but that there are other cars parked in front of it that he has to move. Wow, seriously? I just want to test drive it, there's one right there in the front.

So, after all of his hard work (that I felt really bad about) he let me test drive one. We drove around and he told me about the great things. You know what salesmen are supposed to tell you about. As we came back to the dealership, I decided that while I really liked the CR-V (and would most likely get it), I still didn't have as much money as I would like to put down, and I wanted to test drive a few other cars first. I told the salesman this, and he said ok and let me go.

It was a good experience, except for the fact that the salesman kept calling me, and calling me, and calling me over and over again. I would even tell him I'm still waiting, and he just didn't get it. He would wait like a week and then call me again. It was so annoying. I mean I loved his dedication, but I mean after the 10th time, I was tired of answering. He kept calling me all through October, November, December.

Then finally in January I told him (again) to stop calling, that I wasn't ready to buy right now, and when I was I would call him. He finally got the hint, and he hasn't called again. Thank goodness cause it was almost making me feel like I didn't want to buy a car from him while in the beginning I did cause he was so dedicated, but then it just got aggravating. So, by this point, the Honda CR-V (possibly from another dealer) is my top pick replacement. But, I found out about some other cars I wanted to test drive before I made my final decision, meaning I had to brave a few more dealerships again... stay tuned for Part 3 in the 4 part series...