An introduction I'll never forget . .

Jamie sure knows how to make someone feel like a million bucks. I arrived a little late to the Best Buddies talent show yesterday and, he being the great emcee that he is, introduced me as I walked in. His enthusiasm was overcoming - I have never felt more welcomed.

I met Jamie in the Center for Service and Learning at BYU where he volunteers over 900 hours each year. Before coming to the Center almost four years ago, Jamie served at the Orem City Library and has completed church service missions at the Bean Museum and Museum of Art at BYU.

Jamie’s hard work to help student volunteers certainly does not go unnoticed. He is the data analyst; a task that requires hours of work with financial forms that he makes sure are accurate. I must admit that I have purposely neglected to sign forms just so he would call and leave a message informing me of my error. Jamie leaves the best messages.

Last school year as I was serving as the Center’s event director, Jamie was an answer to my prayers. I was really sick with the flu the night before an event I was planning for more than one hundred of our community partners. At nearly 10:00 p.m. as I laid on the sofa thinking about how I could possibly get everything done in my condition, I said a silent prayer that somehow I could prepare for the event the next morning. Within minutes, I received a call from Jamie Taylor asking if he could take the early bus to arrive early the next day and help me get ready for the Community Partner Luncheon.

Jamie will always serve others more than we can serve him.

We’re horse people, promise . .

This past weekend we had to put Fiddle down. We were all sad to lose another horse and I sincerely think my dad was deep in mourning. He lost several thousand dollars, but more than anything, he lost a dear friend.

My friend, Casey, wrote this poem in memory of Fiddle.

“You have lost a dear friend,
In Fiddle your horse, his life did end.
He followed the path of other horses
on the Christofferson Place,
And now he’s in a deep hole with
dirt covering his face.
No longer can the family jump onto
his back and fly.
For Fiddle is now chasing
white calves in the sky!”

*Note: Fiddle was a girl. And I’ll explain the white calf thing sometime.

After conference on Sunday we sat around and talked about all of our horse memories – the good and the bad.

This is a list of the horses that have passed away under our care.

Disclaimer: I just want you to know that we didn’t name any of them ourselves.

• The horse that lost an eye (none of us could remember his name, sad but true).

• Chips

• Buzz Saw

• Trail Buster

• Rosy

• Two Bay

• Funny

• Annie

• Buck

• Cody

• And most recently, Fiddle.

We enjoyed basking in the memories of our long lost friends, but after the list was made my dad sighed and said, “Next time I’m getting a mountain bike.”

A much appreciated compliment . .

I love a good compliment. I love giving them, and I love receiving them.

Today in BYU’s travel office my agent helper person, Julie Ann, told me that I have beautiful teeth. I couldn’t stop smiling; and not because I wanted to show them off, but because I appreciated her comment so much.

That said, I know it’s important to give ourselves recognition; because if we wait for it to come from others, it’s easy to be resentful when the compliments don’t come or we don’t accept them when they do come. When we compliment ourselves, the glow sticks.

Giving ourselves praise when we deserve it is important, but Julie Ann's compliment still has me smiling.

Meatloaf is worth a try . .

Last night I dined with three friends.

I learned the following from that St. Patrick’s Day dinner party.

• I love meatloaf despite its lunchroom menu stereotype.

• Pistachio pudding has a turquoise ocean color that you’d see in a magazine (didn’t see that coming).

• I’m not as good at making Brazilian lemonade as I was last summer.

• I want to watch American Idol more often (we kept it on mute until the good parts).

• I am a connector, my best friend is a maven, and the other two, well, they’re good people but they’re certainly not salesmen.

• Professor Harold Hill (the Music Man) is my alter ego.

So glad I dined with three friends last night.

Secret Carrier . .

Sometimes I think we are little too obsessed with saving money because a lot of the time we're not really saving.

I recently came up with the "Secret Carrier Philosophy." On Kayak.com, sometimes there is a flight option given to you that says "Secret Carrier." Details on the flight are very sparse and will often say, "Departure: 4-6pm, Arrival: 12-2pm." Not very promising. In the case I was looking at, this particular flight was only $13 cheaper than the others listed. The philosophy is such that there are those who will save a few dollars to be inconvenienced substantially and have many unknowns that cause stress.

We all know someone who has scheduled a flight at 6am rather than 9am just to save 5 dollars, or completely overlooks flight details because of the price and ends up with a super long layover somewhere just to save a buck. Whether you're rich or not, you still have your intelligence. Let's not be the "Secret Carrier" type.

A Sweet Free Valentine's Day Party . .

No sweets. Shrimp, bread sticks, ham, red peppers and tomatoes will occupy the menu.

Come.

The RSVP . .

I've been talking about this for years. The RSVP is so important.

R.S.V.P. stands for the French phrase, "répondez, s'il vous plaît," which means please reply or respond, please. People just don't get it. Which is tragic because it's the antidote to creating a successful event.

It doesn't matter what language it's in, it means to be considerate by letting the host know if you'll be there. There are only two possible responses - no or yes, and a maybe means no.

Most people will give you several days or even weeks to respond, not me, I just say "R.S.V.P. Immediately." It saves us all from a little stress and the possibility of forgetting.

So the next time you get the chance to R.S.V.P. - do it immediately, and remember that maybe means no.