My manager Beth enlisted my help to do something fun for our teammates for Easter. Her idea was to put together a one-clue scavenger hunt and hide the treats somewhere different for each person. Since the team is so fond of chocolate, I bought mini-Cadbury cream eggs, regular-sized orange cream eggs, tiny hollow bunnies and chicks, and peanut butter eggs. What I forgot, however, was something to put all the
chocolate in! I did have colored construction paper for the clues, so I ended up folding a page into a cone and drawing a rabbit face on it. Beth even found some rope we could use as whiskers. The resulting bunnies were a little scary, but pretty cute (if I do say so myself). Unfortunately, if we tried to lay the cone on its side all the candy spilled out. So, we grabbed styrofoam cups, drew pictures on them, and placed the construction-paper bunnies inside so that just the ears stuck out. Truely, we were working with what we had. 
Beth and I were the lasts ones in the office Thursday night, so we were able to hide the bunnies without fear of being caught. Friday morning I miraculously arrived first anyway, so I got to hear how excited the others were when they discovered the clues and then the bunnies. It was fun! (And I get to eat the leftover candy. Thankfully, there isn't much...) Everyone ooh'd and aah'd over the bunnies. I may have missed my calling as a Kindergarten teacher; you don't grow up around my creative mom without learning a few skills!On Sunday, I forgot it was Easter until just as I was leaving my apartment. I suppose I'm the only one who felt I looked conspicuous in my non-pastel, non-floral dress (I wore a black dress with red hearts on it), but I still felt disappointed. I had been late to church and didn't had time to change. For some reason, I had thought Easter was the next Sunday. I really couldn't tell you why!
During Relief Society, the teacher recounted the last week in Christ's life. I admit, I was distracted and endeared by the teacher's pronunciation of words, such as "crucification" instead of "crucifixion". I think she was just nervous, but she was darling! It reminded me of Galinda in the musical Wicked because she does the same thing with her words. However, I think Galinda does it because she's either that spacey or she just likes the way the words sound... who knows?
In Sacrament meeting there was a baby blessing...in my Singles' ward. Never fear, it was for the Bishopric 2nd Counselor's grandson (whose parents are married), but it was a little odd hearing the cooing during the meeting. Cute baby, though. His family was on my row so I glanced over at him. To my surprise, there was a slightly older infant nearby. I wanted so much to go over and squish their pudgy little legs -- my nieces can't come soon enough!
I hadn't seen my family in two weeks because of my trip, so I was excited to see them
for dinner. I even dressed up, sort of. Turns out that was a good thing, because we had guests! My mom's mom, my sister-in-law's brother Russell, and his girlfriend Angela all joined the rest of us for dinner and frivolity. I played with Gunner for a bit and it turns out I'm a pretty neat Catwoman, and not nearly as good as he when it comes to hiding Easter eggs. Then Gunner and Peter and David all tried to get a really cool dragon kite in the air. I didn't watch so I'm not sure if they succeeded. It didn't seem to be a terribly windy day, but anything's possible.At one point, all of the girls got together to talk about baby things. When Lindsey said she was excited to dress the girls in frilly things for Easter, my mom and I both cheered "Yay!" (I think our outburst scared everyone else in the group.) My mom used to sew my dresses and make headbands and clips for my hair --that's half the reason I am now so girly. Now we'll have not one but two little girls to play dress up with! Thank goodness Mom kept many of my costumes growing up...
Thanks again, Mom, for not making up Easter baskets this year. I snacked on the available candy quite enough; it was nice not to take any home.
You might think that my Easter fun ended with Sunday, wouldn't you? Ha! The FHE Committee decided that for the activity tonight we should do something having to do with the holiday. As I recall, I was the one who came up with the super-cool idea to play "Egg-cellent" games, i.e. games revolving around eggs. There was egg dying (and
an opportunity to destroy), an egg hunt, and 7-11. I ended up playing 7-11 the whole time and winning big! Who knew I was so lucky at dice? By the end, there were three guys and three ladies at the table, and I rolled 7 and 11 enough to end up with the Twix at the end. It took forever, though. We came up with a rule that rolling snake eyes warranted Truth or Dare (well, just truth) but none of us was brave enough to actually answer. There was plenty of candy so everyone got something. When we finished, the six of us confessed our movie-star crushes in an effort to get to know each other a little better, which was pretty interesting. Seriously, good times.One of my personal goals was reinforced this week. During Sunday School, the teacher managed to bring the discussion around to the Atonement (it was a lesson on family history). She asked us to take a minute to find our favorite scripture on the Atonement. It was then I realized I don't have a favorite scripture about the Atonement. But as I navigated through the Book of Mormon to 3 Nephi, a verse in chapter 9 caught my eye:
19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.
20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.
I was reminded that I need to be better than I am. In order for me to benefit from Jesus Christ's sacrifice, I need to give my whole heart. Most days I feel like I go through the motions instead of really grabbing the opportunities given me. I read the scriptures regularly, but I only go to FHE once every couple of months. I have a goal to go to Institute at least once a month, but I don't talk to anyone there unless I already know them. My Savior hoped for more than that from me, and wanted me to gain the blessings. He not only atoned for my sins, He taught how I can utilize the Atonement to become perfect and live with Him again. Eternal Salvation is very do-able, but it takes constant focus and effort. I must do better; I will do better. I am thankful for the Atonement. I am thankful that the Western world celebrates that magnificent event, and that I know what it means. I just wish it lasted longer.
Does anyone else find it interesting that we have two months of Christmas music, decorations, and service, but on Easter we only have the one day and three hymns? Just something to think about.
Anyway, that was my single-gal Easter weekend. Was it all you expected?
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