Ruthann's Pretend Birthday

On July 8th, Ruthann will turn 24 years old! Because she will not be at GS on her birthday (she will be a counselor at EFY for two weeks) we decided to celebrate a little early.

We invited Janae to join the party! She brought Richard with her (and her baby).

Ruthann "holding" the baby.

Gretchen tends to be the one who takes all the pictures and so we don't have a lot of her, so I made sure to get one.

Ruthann worked on nametags for EFY!

"I'll go get a Screwdriver"

Today at GS our hand-sanitizer ran out! I quickly called 22 on the radio to report the incident. Sure enough, Shirley sent one of her students to come and replace it for us. Well, bless his soul, Weston was not exactly sure how to open the dispenser. He fiddled with it for a while trying to open it and then he said he'd be right back because he needed a screwdriver. That sounded a little strange to me, but I do not know anything about the hand-sanitizer dispenser and so I just accepted it. But Gretchie knew better because she used to be a custodian! She mumbled under her breath that he just needed to press the button under the dispenser and it would open right up. Well, Caroline told her to do it and she did (This is why Gretchen got to graduate from custodian). Then we waited for his return. When he saw the dispenser open he said "You guys opened it! Now I'm embarrassed! I feel so stupid!" haha. It was really funny. We told Shirley the story and she thought it was hilarious.

Today as always, Gretchen was a little silly. She began the morning trying on my glasses. She thought she looked like a librarian. She also spent the whole day making cloth napkins that she will use for a dinner party she is having later this month.

Water fight at GS

Kari just spilled her water bottle all over the desk and her skirt. I was laughing so she threw water at me. I was still laughing so she threw a handful of soggy napkins at my face. My hair is all wet and it got all over my shirt. At least I don't look like I had an "accident".

Surprise!!!

Kari had no idea I was going to take a picture. Surprise!!!

Jess, this picture is for you. Kari said you love the carrots the most.

Kari always asks Caroline to make chicken, cheesy potatoes, and the cashew carrots, and of course the toll house cake.

And it's always as good as we remember it.

Look who showed up. Six months pregnant Janae. She joined us for free food and stayed to chat for a while. She did confirm that they are naming their baby girl Caroline-Gretchen-Jessica-Kari-Ruthann. Right, Janae?

The usual picture for old time sake.

A few days later, I was talking to Caroline and Kari and I noticed one of the trees in the atrium start to sway and then it just fell over. Kari jumped at the chance to go fix it.

After years of working in this office and answering the missionaries questions about it, Kari finally fulfilled a life long dream and went inside the atrium.

Happy Birthday Kari Lin

Kari Lin Winert is turning 22!!! Shelly and her husband gave Kari this awesome painting. She loved it and couldn't wait to show it off at the office. She is amazing and funny and we LOVE having her around.

Have a happy birthday Kari Lin!

These guys say/sing it all.

Paper and Glue

Today was craft day at General Services. I had a project that I wanted to get done, and Kari joined in. This may become a weekly activity if we can think of new projects. Feel free to offer ideas.

This is me working on my animal print zoo invitations.

Kari really liked my ideas.

The final product.

We were playing with the self timer on my camera. I bet you can't tell, but we were trying to have a serious face. But you can't be too serious when you work at General Services.

Full Time

Kari and I spend a lot of quality time together.

Today I asked Caroline to take a picture for me with my camera. She hesitantly took the camera and said, "I don't know how to take a picture." Shirley was standing there and replied, "Point and shoot."

Grandma and Krabby (Some of the nicknames Jess was trying out for us.)

Haha. I don't think she wanted me to take any more pictures.

This is Kari taking a break from gchat so she could do some work. On Friday, Kari was excited about the PacMan game on google's home page. One of the times she was playing it she let out a yelp that rang through the halls. She clamped her hand over her mouth as Jennica and I laughed.

Kari and I have been studying for the GRE. I think it's almost time for me to start administering vocabulary drill every morning.

Let it Snow?

I'd like you to note the date. That's right, May 24th. It's basically summer. It's time for bonfires and camp outs, vacations and outings. But mother nature still has a few tricks up her sleeve. This morning I woke up to this:

Not too bad, you say? That's what I thought. It was inconvenient, but not too bad. Nothing we haven't seen before. I'm sure you all know that Utah has eight seasons. Winter, Sprinter, Spring, Sprummer, Summer, Fummer, Fall, and Finter.

After I cleaned off my windshield I paused to take this picture of the already accumulating snow. The snow was very wet and heavy. It took a little bit longer then usual to drive to the MTC, but I made it to the office just in time to open the window. Kari, on the other hand was late. I felt bad for her, and hoped she'd found a ride or something. At ten after Caroline and I started to worry. Kari usually called if she was going to be late. I'm not sure what we thought happened to her, but we were relieved when she finally walked through the door. She was covered in slush and soaked right through. It took her at least half the day to dry off. Well, it didn't take long before the radio started crackling with work orders about broken branches. The most notable was the tree by the mail room that had been completely uprooted.

This is a picture of it after they had cut some of the branches off.

This is the view from the entrance. It was a close call. Another few feet and it would have hit the building.

The poor flowers were looking so happy until this morning. Now they look downright depressed.

These are some branches from another tree by the mail room.

It pulled the grass up with the roots. All in all, it was pretty exciting.

A Witty Saying Proves Nothing

At GS we often find ourselves hearing and saying humorous things. Of course we did not want to forget the funny things we have said and so we created a "Quote Wall" which we taped to the side of our microwave. It was perfect, until we realized that missionaries kept reading our quotes! It gets pretty annoying to try and explain to them what our quotes mean. And so, I have taken it upon myself to remove the quote wall and put the quotes on the blog instead. I will try to offer explanations for as many quotes as I can. Keep in mind, I was not here for all of them and therefore do not know the story behind each one and some are just funny without an explanation.

Mean Volunteer: "Elders!! Where are you going?!" (She wanted to yell at them for being in 1M on New Missionary Day)
Elders: "Mexico!"

"I don't know you. Let me feel your earlobes" -Gretchen

"That's my pineapple! Step off!" -Julia (During Mission President's Seminar)

"I have a problem... I found a baby in my room" -Elder

Janae: "So.. How are you guys doing?"
Julia: "Not good."
Jessica: "I know! Me neither! I'm doing so bad."

"You're right. I don't know you. I got you mixed up with someone who is nice and has manners" -Crazy FB Stalker

Senior Sister: "Follow me, Dear"
Senior Elder: "I'll follow you all the way to the Celestial Kingdom"

Janae: "Guess what I'll be doing in 24 hours?!"
Julia: "...well... that's between you and him..." (The day before Janae got married)

Elder: "He likes you!"
Kari: "I like you too!"

"I had my wallet stolen by Satan. I don't know how he got in my room!" -Unfortunate Elder

Julia: "I like your hat!"
Brother Littleford: "Does it make me look sexy?"
Julia: "Sure does."
Brother Littleford: "I gotta get me another one then."

"Watch out Elders! She has the Swine Flu!" -Julia

"A stranger likes me" -Kari (I was trying to quote Tarzan "A stranger like me")

"My mama is a big woman" -Davey

"Don't watch World Trade Center. It's sad. I mean, I knew it would be, but still" -Kari

"My comp. wants to know if General Services covers hugs. Do you give hugs here?" -Elder (fyi-GS does NOT offer hugs)

"I've never cuddled with a hometeacher before..." -Gretchen

"I should get a Spanish Tutor... Maybe he'll be cute. Can you imagine?!" -Jess

"And the departure date is... 2 years" -Jess

"Do I need an identity to cash a check?" -Elder

"You get enough action. Your life is like a Soap Opera" -Caroline (to Julia)

"Don't even trip on it!" -Crazy student Janae TAed for

"Man, do you know who I'd marry if I was a girl? Michael Phelps!" -Elder

There you go. Those are some of the crazy things we have said. I'm sure there will be plenty more!! Here at GS nothing is taboo.

UPDATE!

Hello to all our loyal GS (General Services) fans,

This is Kari. And this is my first blog post EVER!!

Please forgive me if I make any blogging faux pas.

Alright, seeing as this blog has not been updated for over a year, I have decided to write a quick update of the last year.

1. Ruthann Beatrice Grawe: Worked at General Services before her Mission to New Jersey. After returning from her Mission Ruthann discovered that General Services was quite different. In fact, no one she had previously worked with still worked at GS.

2. Janae Elizabeth Card Stubbs: Married Richard Stubbs in July 2009. She was offered a Physics TA position at BYU and therefore decided that her time at GS was over. Her last day as a GSG (General Services Girl) was in December 2009.

3. Julia Itri: Received her Mission Call to Omaha, Nebraska. Her last day as a GSG was also in December 2009. In January, she returned to the MTC, this time trading in her white MTC Employee name tag for a black missionary tag.

4. Gretchen Anne Young: Returned to GS in January 2010 after a semester break.

5. Jennica Myra Faye Ostler: Joined the GS crew in January 2010.

Custodian Changes:

Because the 1M afternoon custodians come in each day to clean our office, we often become friends with them. There have been many custodian changes this past year.

1. September 2008-April 2009: Greg and Valerie.

2. April-August 2009: Davey and Melinda

3.August- December 2009: Valerie and Michael

4. January 2010-April 2010: Valerie and Stephan

5. Currently: Two guys that we haven't yet become friends with... and I can't remember their names...

Here are some random pictures from our time at General Services:

Jess & I with Greg & Valerie.

The Afternoon Crew

We had some great times!!

Julia doing her homework.

We are so lucky that we get our homework done while at work!

Gretch doing her homework.

GSG at Gretchen's House

August 2009

GSG with the Custodians Davey & Melinda

Sometimes GS can be exhausting!

It's a tough job at GS

Currently Gretchen, Jennica, and I are keeping the MTC up and running. Ruthann is vacationing (I mean... doing a study abroad) in Mexico. Jessica went "home" to Connecticut (Home, is really in Alpine, but her family has been living in Connecticut for the past two years. They will be returning to Utah this summer). Both Ruthie and Jess will be returning to GS in July. Jennica will then be leaving to work as a Nanny and will return in the Fall.

Well, there you have it folks, a quick summary of the past year. I hope you have enjoyed my first blog post. Please, look forward to more interesting and exciting posts from me and other GSG.

Ten-Four. Over and Out.