"Fame." --David Bowie

Hey friends! Check out this movie trailer for Minnie Driver's new movie "Take"! It looks like an interesting little film, but the main reason I posted it is because Playmill alumnus and long-time friend of the Merrill family RYAN SIMMONS is starring in the film! I have not yet had the privilege of working with him, but I've seen him perform and he's brilliant, and I did meet him once. At the time, I was in West Yellowstone, getting into Heidi's car so that she could drive me to the emergency room for re-hydration after a nasty flu. So I don't remember much from that brief meeting. But Ryan, if you stumble across this 'umble blog, I look forward to meeting you again someday!

Oh, in the trailer, Ryan is the clerk at the convenience store that is being held up for $2000 dollars...the handsome-ish fellow in the shirt and tie that looks up about a minute into the film.

Even though I can't claim to know this fellow very well, it's surreal and thrilling to see someone you've met or know through friends in a movie trailer with Minnie Driver.

"The bloom had been brushed from one little maiden dream. Would the painful process go on until everything became prosaic and hum-drum?" -Anne Shirley

So, this summer will go down in history as one of my bizarrest, personally. It's a summer of wedding bells, or lack thereof! Not only is this the summer when I was planning on getting married myself a few months ago, but this is the summer that my first boyfriend WILL be getting married.

I just got the news that Jared Doshier will be getting married to someone named Autumn this June. I can't even begin to express how I feel about that. I don't even know myself how I feel about that. It's very surreal, I know that much.

We were eachother's first kiss, eachother's first serious relationship, and we dated for 9 months or so before he went on his mission. I had liked him for YEARS before that, and every single one of our mutual friends take credit for setting us up, it seems. He'll have been back from his mission for a year this month. In the four years since we were together, I've certainly had my own share of romantic adventures, from dating someone for a week and a half to planning my own wedding for July 7th, from being cheated on to liking boys that are already in a relationship themselves.

It's not that I want to be the one marrying Jared in June, it's just that I wish I were marrying SOMEONE sometime soon. All these friends getting married...it gives one a very...left behind feeling.

I think I may be giving the impression that I'm angry at Jared, or bitter, or hurt, but really I'm not! I'm so so happy for him and I wish him and his new wife every blessing. I hope he'll be very happy, and I can't wait to meet this girl of his. I just feel like the bridesmaid who's never a bride. (Even though I've only been a bridesmaid twice, and both times were for my parents' respective re-marriages.)

I hope I haven't terribly shocked my family when I say that I was planning my wedding for July. It wasn't completely official yet, so I didn't want to say anything until it was. Vaughn and I had a ring designed, and announcements designed, and a date picked out, but it turns out that we're not the best people for eachother. I think I'm going to throw a party on July 7th. Just because I can't simply let the day I was going to be MARRIED pass right by without being acknowledged. July 7th is also, ironically, the day that Jared and I got together, way back in 2003.

I'm having trouble expressing myself this afternoon. I feel like I'm a snowglobe that's been shaken up, and everything is flying around inside of me. I just have to wait for everything to settle down again before I can see quite clearly. So it's not necessarily a BAD feeling I have in reaction to this news about Jared, just a CHAOTIC feeling. Feelings.

I guess I should call Jared. I also suppose I should try and make it to the wedding...find an understudy or something. I wonder if Autumn is a crazy dancer?

"TAKE LUCK!"

Welp, kids, its official! I am no longer an employee of Taco Bell! Tonight was my last shift, and it was a good one to close my employment with. I suppose it was a good experience...I always vowed I'd never work in fast food, but now that I have, I have a greater appreciation for those who do. On behalf of those who are still in the industry, I feel the need to share a little knowledge I've gained. Most of the time, I worked the drive-thru, so a lot of these are related to that aspect of fast food.
Things I've learned as an employee in the fast food industry:

1. Do not give exact change at the drive-thru window. Unless you have it ready the second you pull up. It's irritating to stand there at the window and wait for people to count out their money. It's actually much faster and easier for the person working the window to give YOU change. I don't care if you want to get rid of your coins. Don't do it at the drive-thru window.

2. A lot more things are deep-fried than you might think.

3. If you have a diesel engine, TURN IT OFF at the drive-thru menu. It's really hard to hear over, not to mention the fact that it blasts the eardrums out of whoever's trying to take your order.

4. Drinks are a rip-off at most places. Cups cost about 30 cents, and soda, about 5 cents per cup, so really you should be charged less than a dollar, no matter what size drink you get. If you ask for a water cup, and then put soda in it, you are completely justified. Even if the manager yells at you.

5. Please, for the love of Pete, speak up when you're ordering!

But now that is all in the past! I am so ready to be at Playmill. I'm heading up to West Yellowstone tomorrow. I feel like its Christmas Eve, and I want to go to sleep and have morning come sooner, but I'm too excited to sleep. Technically the season doesn't start until the beginning of May, but I'm going up early to work and clean and organize and get ready for the season. Not to mention to make a little money, which is always nice.

It's strange...I feel so ready to get out of here. But all of a sudden, it just occurred to me that leaving for West Yellowstone also means saying good-bye to a lot of people that I love. I also love all the people I'm going to be spending my summer with, but I hate good-byes. Its my least favorite part of semester endings. I'll miss everyone.

I can't really think of much else to blog about. I'll keep you posted on everything, as per usual. I love you all.

Oh, and that picture at the top? I just thought it was funny. I hope this kid isn't scarred or anything, because I really want to do things like this to my children. Correction...WITH my children? Anyway, the infant seems to be okay, so I figure, why not?