Studette of the Month - November 2008

Since today is Veterans' Day, and Amy is a Veteran, today is the day to actually write her blog entry.

Probably most of you reading this have never met her, and I assure you, you are missing out. In my second year of law school, on the first day of class I had the impression that I should move down a row to the empty seat in front of me. But I just couldn't get up the nerve to move. As it turns out, that empty seat was right next to Amy and Kristie, and by coincidence, I ended up sitting next to them in every other class I had that semester. I didn't really know them, so this wasn't at all planned. When I invited myself to their study group later that semester, we all became friends.

How was I to know that I would be discovering someone I would grow to greatly admire. There were SO many nights after class, when she would drive me to my car, and we would just sit and talk. I always walked away with such an admiration for her, for her maturity of perspective, depth of character, her good heart, and her giving nature.

Amy wears a gold-cross around her neck. Because of this, I always thought she was religious. As I got to know her better, I learned that according to Amy service "is my church." She doesn't belong to any organized religion, but she serves religiously. And her service is contagious. My last year of law school I found my self attending a plethora of charity events. I blame each of these squarely on Amy. While there, I noticed that the majority of the others there were also there because of Amy's influence. And that is just the beginning. She will literally drop everything to help anyone in need. On the occasions that I forgot to bring a lunch to school, Amy would literally split her PB & J sandwich in half and give it to me. And even with all of that, it still doesn't even begin to sum up all that she does.

It only follows, of course, that Amy is well loved. It may seem from this description that she is incredibly saintly but lacking in personality, which I assure you is not the case. I wouldn't call it wit, but I am not sure what I would call it, Amy just IS funny. I can't tell you how many times Kristie and I had to keep from laughing in class by some off-handed comment Amy said or something she did...the best part is that she has no idea she is funny.

She is hard working, but not one to shirk play either. She joins us for hockey whenever she gets a chance. She often persuaded Ashley and I to forget about the books for a while and play racket ball. She is not too bad at bowling either (actually, she is great at bowling...even has her own bowling ball).

She'll invite you over for dinner and it is always great. I have yet to study at her house without leaving with freshly backed cookies, brownies, cakes, you have it. She knits, crochets, sews, and plays the piano. She serves in the Air Force Reserves, keeps up with old friends, yada, yada, yada. But, since she doesn't read my blog, I can say this, her car is a disaster. Yup. Move the banana peels, I need a place to sit disaster. It is so endearing; quite possibly one of my favorite things about her. (Amy if you ever read this, I'll delete this part :)

In the mean time, to someone who is kind, full of integrity, and really made a world of difference in my life, and who gives of her time to serve in the military, I nominate Amy as Studette of the Month for November of 2008.

On Gratefulness

I was mindlessly waiting at the cashier's office in the county courthouse today when my eyes focused on the images stuck to the cashier's window. It was decorated with thanksgiving stickers, turkeys, etc. It clicked that Thanksgiving is only weeks away, indeed, we are in the month of Thanksgiving. I decided that this month will be a month of gratefulness on my blog.

A few years ago I picked up an old classic I hadn't read since junior high, How to Win Friends and Influence People. The first chapter which can be summed up by saying, the first virtue of being a good people person is to abstain from criticizing, condemning, and complaining ESPECIALLY criticizing, condemning or complaining of, to, or about people. At that point in my life, that chapter really resonated with me. I started to take a mental tally of how much I condemn things just in my own thought process. The outcome was alarmingly bad. I concluded that I criticized, condemned and/or complained nearly 80% of the time. Hummm. I set about to change that.

Today, by contrast, I took note of my appreciation. I noticed today that I spend a great deal of time appreciating people and things. Perhaps I both criticize and appreciate, but tend to notice what I am looking for.

Here is some of my appreciation du jour:
Today the weather was that PERFECT fall weather. Breathtaking. The street west of the botanical gardens was GORGEOUS. It was warm enough to go outside without a jacket. The bright blue skies were contrasted by yellow, orange and red leaves, which were crisp, but not yet off the trees. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, and then all the leaves will be gone, so I especially wanted to take it all in.

I had a moment of appreciation for the people I work with; all of them. Tom, the senior partner, has a heart of gold, as does his son. I also appreciate the office manager. I love that she is family oriented and how organized she is.

When I got home Debbie was over. I love it when she comes to visit. I appreciated that Holly called. She called right when I was leaving for the temple. Since being in St. Louis, we've had a tradition of talking while I am on the 20 minute drive to and from the temple. She didn't know I was going. How does she do that? I also had a great talk with Sara. Great conversations are SO amazing, and recharging and I LOVED it. I appreciated how great it is to have friends who draw me up and bring me to higher heights.

And that is only a VERY small portion of my appreciation today. I even appreciate having things to appreciate, because sometimes, let's be honest, life presents a dearth of things to be grateful for. Not so today, thankfully.

Under Water and In the Trees

When I left to visit Nebraska, I didn't envision that I would be watching sharks swim by.



gazing at jelly fish,



or watch the eyes and nose of alligators float slowly by.



I didn't expect to wander through a desert either.



or see jungle waterfalls,



or to walk across a jungle bridge,



see monkeys,



or see a jungle at all, for that matter. But I did.

However, I did expect to see this friend, and her fiancee...and it had been way too long.

Stud of the Month - October 2008; A Tribute to President

I had only been in Nice about two weeks when I attended my first Zone Conference under the direction of our mission president, President Wilcox. Each mission has a defined geographic area, and they are divided into smaller geographic areas called zones. In our mission, the zones were made up of a large city or two and all of the surrounding towns. Those portions of the mission meet together once a month in a meeting called a Zone Conference. In our mission, President was always in attendance. My trainer and I were stationed in Nice and the zone conference was in a nearby town. On the train ride to the zone conference in the wee hours of the morning, I wrote a letter to my friend Jake (prior SOTM) about how frustrated I was that I the language wasn't coming more quickly.

So there I was, as new as could be, sitting at my first zone conference, with my notebook dutifully opened. As I listened to the speakers, I took notes from the words of the speakers and made personal notes in the margins of my impressions. When President (as we called him) got up to speak, at one point he addressed me directly and said, 'Sister Methot, do you ever feel frustrated about the language?' I was shocked. How, amid all of the missionaries did he think to ask me? It was as if he could read my mind. As he went on to speak, I became even more shocked as he quoted several of the notes I had written in the margins of my notebook. I knew that he had no idea what I'd written in the margins, nor what I'd written Jake in my letter earlier that morning. That was when I came to realize what an inspired man under whose direction I would be serving for the next eighteen months.

This past weekend a friend from my mission came to visit. We talked well into the night about what an amazing person President Wilcox is. Story after story revealed his patience and love for us missionaries. He was so kind, so patient, so understanding, so forgiving time and time again. On the flip side, we were so young, so selfish, so immature, yet he saw the better side of us. He believed in us...I don't know how. I will say that both he and Sister Wilcox were amazing. Really, they taught by example how to be Christlike.

In a way, he was like the Bishop of Digne (reference to Les Miserables). His actions were in line with what he taught. In his younger years he had served a three-year mission in France, so he was ever compassionate and aware of what we were going through. He really sought to understand, and always reacted with compassion.

Even after the mission, he volunteered to write a recommendation for me for law school. Never mind the fact that he was insanely busy, traveling between Paris, New York, and Colorado at the time. He was also humble. Rumor has it that he is beyond brilliant, but you'd never even get a hint of it from him. His demeanor is unassuming and quiet.

I wish there were a way to express how lucky I was to have him as my mission president and how much appreciation I feel for the quality of person that he is. Even seven years after the fact, I still have an ever growing sense of respect for the quality of person that he is. And gossip never hurts his case. The hidden stories only further reveal what a great job he did as our mission president.

Swearing In Ceremony

P.S. - This means I passed the bar!

A Snapshot of New Hampshire

Fall 2008 in NH. Enough said.

High School Tag

Your High School's Name-Manchester High School West (i.e. West High)

High School Colors- Blue and White

High School Mascot- a knight

Did you date anyone from your school? Sure did, although I NEVER expected I would. My freshman and sophomore years guys didn't even know I existed, and if they did they weren't kind to me. Then, Fred started calling. He was my first date. The spring of junior year, Chris and I began to go out and were an item throughout the rest of high school.

What kind of car did you drive? I didn't have a car. But, the priceless days with Kristi and the blue flame made up for any memories of my own car I could have wanted.

It's Friday night where are you? Freshman and sophomore year I was at home with the fam. Junior and Senior year I was at parties, church dances, or hangin' out with Chris, Kristi, Ethan, and other friends.

Were you a party animal? Hardly. But really, the parties (of the non-drinking sort) we did have I loved. We had a great group of friends and there was a party every other weekend junior and senior year.

Were you considered a flirt? Definitely not. I was way too shy and way too loyal to be a flirt of the real kind. But, I did flirt with Chris since he was a huge flirt.

Were you in band, orchestra, choir, or any other group? I ran track, sort of. Ethan, my brother, and I were on the cross country ski team our senior year.

Were you in any clubs? Yeah, but I don't remember all of them. National Honor Society...etc.

Did you ever get suspended or expelled? Rrrriiiiiiggggghhhhtttt. I probably missed three days of high school total, if even that.

Can you still sing the fight song? I am pretty sure we didn't have one. If we did, I didn't know about it and would have been too cool in my own mind to learn it if we did have one.

Who were your favorite teachers? Hummm...Mr. Labore [English]. He was so funny and incredibly easy. I was very lazy in high school and strategically picked my teachers for how easily I could get the grades I wanted with as little work as possible. Mr. Tripotsis [Chemistry], however, didn't go along with this plan. He was my most challenging teacher. I enjoyed his intelligence, but hated how hard I had to work in his class. I loved making fun of Mr. Snapple [Math], (no, that wasn't his real name, that was just what I called him.)

Where did you sit during lunch? Depends on the year. Freshman and sophomore years I sat with whoever was kind enough to let me sit with them. I was hopelessly shy. I had a couple of years sitting with Mike, Trisha, Dan, Jamie and the ROTC crew. Mike, Trisha, Jamie, Dan, they were all brilliant and incredibly funny. They recently found me on facebook. They haven't changed a bit. Junior and senior year I sat with Genevieve and Alyssa and other friends.

Who did you go to Homecoming with? We didn't have homecoming. I did go to the harvest dance with Fred my junior year.

Who did you go to Prom with? Chris and Chris.

If you could go back and re-do high school would you? I echo Sandy. No way!!

What do you remember about Graduation? My favorite picture is the one of Ethan, Holly, Me, Chris, Kristi, and Alyssa. I can see the picture from where I am sitting to write this blog entry. We are all smiles with our caps and gowns on. Someone gave us flowers. I still had a sunburn from a day on the beach. It was a great time.

Do you plan on going to your 10 year reunion, or if you already went what was it like? I didn't go. I was in the middle of law school when it happened. It was in NH and I was in MO finishing up school. Besides, I didn't have many friends in high school and I still keep in contact with most of the people who mattered to me.

I tag Kristi for sure and anyone else who wants to do this.