What to do, what to do

Once upon a time I had a headache so I got into bed early and started watching Cake Boss. During that time I fell asleep. At 9 my mom came in, turned my computer off and turned off the lights. Well now it is 3:30 in the morning and I'm wide awake! See mom, this is why I stay up late.

The End

The Christmas Card

Once upon a time I decided to create my own christmas card. It's great. It has stuffed sock reindeer, great christmas sweaters, and two fantastic cars on it. I'm quite proud of it actually. And now it's time to write my letter and send them off to a very exclusive group (that group being 50 people because costco prints by the 50's (I don't even have 50 friends)).

The End

The cul-de-sac

When I was six months old, my family moved into the house that we currently live in. Through the years we've had some change in neighbors, but not many. Almost all of the houses in my cul-de-sac were parade of homes houses in the 70's and most have not been updated, so the tenants are a little old as well. Three houses in particular have always sparked my curiosity because until recently, I had never been inside them. Not only had I never been inside the houses, but I had no contact with the people living there (with some exceptions). But a few years ago, the people living in one of the houses (the one right next door) moved and a young couple with two little girls moved in. Since the wife was one of my young women's leaders, I was able to go inside and see what the house was like. It kind of blew my mind to be honest. One mystery was settled.

The other two houses, the Allen's house and the Hausen's house, I got to go in tonight at our annual cul-de-sac christmas party.

Now before I finish this tale (it's rather confusing, I know) let me explain a few things about our christmas parties. Before our polynesian neighbors moved in, we had a lovely family live next door named the Westons. Sister Weston would always host the christmas parties and they usually involved a lot of singing and yawning. When I turned 12, the Pili's moved in and the christmas party turned into more of a food thing. And for some reason it always seemed to be at our house. Well to end this side note, the party was always something to be avoided.

This year, Mrs. Hausen decided that we really needed a christmas party because the one last year got cancelled (keep in mind I had never even seen this woman in my life and she's been my neighbor for my whole life). So Sister Sanders, the Martha Stewart of the cul-de-sac, decided to make this night a progressive dinner type thing. Instead of an actually meal, we would travel to 5 different houses and eat appetizers.

The first house was Sister Sander's and true to her style, everything was very elegant and nice. The food was excellent and it was good to see everyone. And then I noticed something strange... Mr. and Mrs. Hausen were there. I only knew she was Mrs. Hausen because she was with him and I've seen him driving every now and then. Even more strange, she knew our names and was friendly and outgoing to everyone.

Then someone said the thing that took me for a loop... the next house we were going to was the Hausen's. What!? So we walked over there and I found myself speechless drinking egg nog out of a crystal glass. Someone outdid Sister Sanders this year. Every inch of that house was decorated in christmas decorations. The food was excellent and the egg nog even better. After years of imagining the most extreme scenarios, I was almost disappointed to discover that they were quite normal and their house was normal as well. Two mysteries down, one to go.

The next house we went to wasn't necessarily a mystery, but it had been years and years since I'd been there that I didn't know what to expect. This was the Allen's house. Growing up, I always thought Sister Allen was way cool because she was Austrian and had a thick accent. Brother Allen has very sick for most of my life, so I don't actually remember seeing him, so I naturally thought he was austrian too. Come to find out, he's not. Anyway, when we stepped in I was again surprised to see that another person had outdone sister Sanders. Not only were there several different dips, but there was also baklava!!!! Who spends that kind of effort for a neighborhood get together? The saddest part was the next house we went to was ours and all we had was rice pudding.

Well the point of this post is to say that I learned something very important tonight, my neighbors are quite impressive. In a 10 house cul-de-sac we have two Japanese families, one Irish family, one polynesian family, one Lebanese family (the Hausens), and one austrian family. Everyone has a different background and I only wish that we would have put more effort into inviting all of our neighbors for the past christmas parties. Maybe that would have made them less painful.

The End

Oh and I almost forgot! The Hausens are our good friends now. In fact, after new years we're going over there to make some Lebanese cookies!

Finals Week

Finals Week is quite a different experience when you live in a freshman ward. The kids in my building and the buildings around me started studying weeks ago. Because of the increase in studying, the stress levels have gone up and the friendliness has gone down. It was quite entertaining for me to watch actually because I didn't feel stress until Sunday night, and even then it was only stress for my 7 am comparative government final that took place the next morning. So while everyone's been studying and stressing, I've been watching plenty of good (and by good I mean horrifically cheesy) holiday movies. Sure, I study, but I only study right before I take my test and then the rest of the day is free time in my eyes. To be honest, I studied and stressed way more in Spain for my finals than I do here. And besides the horrible 3 hr. nightmarish comparative government final, I've been doing pretty well. Multiple choice finals are the best!

Well I guess it's about that time again to get down to studying. This time chemistry and then I'm done for three glorious weeks!

Birthday and Motivation

Once upon a time I turned 19 and I don't feel any different. I think when I turn 20 I might feel old, but as for 19, there's no change... except I got a car!!! Yep! Pretty ecstatic about that one! But my birthday went well. I went to church, a building meeting where the girls sang a horribly awkward happy birthday to me, and home for scones. I also got to play some phase ten with my grandma, my sister, and my mom and I won. Yep, pretty exciting and relaxing birthday.

Today started off bad though. I woke up at 6 to write my last paper for comparative government and it was definitely the hardest one of them all. Because of that I barely got to class on time which means I didn't look at the current events and because there was no reading for today, the quiz was entirely current events. Great. But that class is basically over!!! Then I found out I did horribly on the chemistry test I took before thanksgiving break. Oh and I fell asleep in astronomy within two minutes of sitting down. I didn't even make it to the prayer. That's just sad. So today wasn't the best, but I did see that sam kid that was on the 5000 day project in the HFAC today and I kind of freaked out. If I were more outgoing I would have talked to him, but instead I stared at him creepily.

So after a somewhat disappointing day I plugged my ipod in and turned We Shot the Moon on. Immediately the song Hope came on and man how my mood changed. It brought me back to two years ago around this time when two good friends of mine stayed on skype with me for over 2 hours and since they're boys and run out of things to talk about, they serenaded me. And you guessed it, the first song they sang was Hope. I've loved We Shot the Moon ever since. Oh and then the next song was Sway Your Head which you should definitely listen to because it's great for motivation.

"You gotta pull yourself back together,

give it one more shot it's now or never,

with a new day calling for you

You gotta believe.

You gotta pull yourself back in the water,

take in one deep breath,

you're getting closer

After all you've talked and seen,

you gotta believe."

So bring on the end of the semester! I'm ready. I've got all this motivation now.

The End

A Few Good Points

First off, I managed to escape that boy in my ward that always meets me after chemistry in the mornings only to meet him later that day at his work on accident.

I finished/started my paper this morning. Great!

I got three hours of sleep last night so there's been some pretty great conversations going on today.

I got to wear my christmas sweater to school for the first time today.

I got to run with a great sunset behind me. I managed to make it all the way up Sean's hill without stopping, well except a quick stop to say hi to connor.

I came home and discovered my dad on a conference call with solitaire opened up on the computer. Typical.

We played our last "name that band" game in spin today and the only one I knew was Justin Beiber. I'm ashamed. That christmas CD is just too tempting to listen to.

I bought real vegetables from the creamery on 9th. Yes! No more cucumbers from the wyview creamery for me!

I have another extreme paper due tomorrow along with a cleaning check and visiting teaching. Life's great. But if tomorrow goes like today, I think I'll survive with the 2 liters of Dr. Pepper sitting in my fridge.

Surprise Attack

I'm going to tell you one of the saddest stories I've ever been a part of, but hopefully with my style of writing it won't sound like I'm super depressed. So here it goes...

Once upon a time I made this friend and out of no where I began to like him. In fact, our whole relationship has been a surprise. Some days it's great and other days it's not. So I finally worked out a system with this kid... I would start my week off with being in the just friends stage. That would usually last until Fridayish and then something would happen that made me like him again. And I thought Thanksgiving break would solve all of my problems for good, but it definitely made things worse.

However, that aside, this was a start of a new week and this time instead of thinking I was in the just friends stage, I actually decided officially that there was going to be no more of this boy until a long enough space of time had passed and then we really would be just friends and I would focus on my schoolwork and ignore my other problems. I even told some people and even though they kind of laughed at this because they didn't believe me all the way, I was determined.

So it got to the point of the night where I needed to be alone and so I went outside. Apparently this kid saw me so when I texted him to ask about class for tomorrow he completely caught me off guard and asked if I was feeling ok because apparently I looked a little down. In my moment of stupidity I told him everything that was going through my head and he of course had to respond with something wonderful. The text itself was absolutely wonderful and if it was anyone else that had sent it I would be feeling great, but it was him. The exact kid I was supposed to have nothing to do with for at least three days. So, naturally, because I'm me and I ruin everything always, I straight up told him to not be so nice to me. The thing is, he already knew that I liked him, and I know that he likes a different girl, so this whole him being nice to me thing was really creating sick feelings inside of me.

Anyway, the kid had to continue to be unbelievably nice even though everything is my fault. Which made me even more depressed. And now it's 2:30, I have class at 8 and a 4 page paper that I basically haven't started due at 9:30. Great... Can I just drive home to my own bed, curl up and watch chick flicks for the rest of the week?

The End... kind of

Top 20 Country Music Videos

Once upon a time I was forced to go down to St. George for thanksgiving. The week has actually been excellent. I've already slept a ton, read two books, and watched many movies. However, I started to get sick of the usual activities tonight and so I turned on the TV and saw that GAC's top 20 country music videos countdown was on. My old favorite! And then I realized that it's been a long time since I've posted a music video. So to make up for that, here's two.

The first one is a song that I randomly bought off of Blake Shelton's CD before it came out on the radio (this often happens to me, call it a gift if you want). Anyway, it's a great song even if you're sick of hearing it on the radio by now. And the music video makes it less of a couple thing and more of a family thing which is a nice complement to the whole thanksgiving thing... ya I know, I'm stretching it a bit...

So it won't work but you can click here to watch it if you want.

The next song is another music video by Scotty McCreery. Oh goodness how I love him. The music video is a little bit cheesy, but that's the best kind. As I was watching the show tonight I was about to turn it off early and go to bed when "I love you this big" came on at number 2, so I stayed and watched. Immediately after that one ended, this song came on and I got really excited. I've been detached from the media lately and I'm ashamed to admit that I hadn't seen this music video before it came on as number 1 tonight. I guess I need to pay closer attention to what's going on in the world.

The End

Thanksgiving Miracles

Once upon a time I decided to take an astronomy class. Worst decision of my life, because it turns out that I don't even need the credit because I'll end up having to take physics anyway.

So every day I sleep and my grade shows that.

This week we had a test and I pushed taking it until the last possible day with a $5 late fee. Yes, I didn't know anything. I didn't even know the topic of the unit the test was supposed to test us on. So yesterday I filled out our homework packet and today I studied the slides and that packet for 2 hours. While taking the test, I guessed on more than half. Not an educated guess, a guess as in I have no idea what answer I can even attempt to eliminate so I'll just pick B. Turns out that my teacher must really love the letter B because I got a 94%! I think I stared at the screen with my ID card in hand for a total of 5 minutes with my mouth open wide and my eyes bulging. It really is a thanksgiving miracle.

The End

Thanks

Once upon a time I went through some hard times. And even at my most difficult times, I've had friends that have helped me through them. Today I've been thinking about all of the things I'm grateful for this year and I would have to say I'm thankful for my friends. Three friends in particular, though I love all of my you guys and I'm thankful for you all, three friends have been through a lot with me. They've listened to me go on for hours and hours and for that I'm very grateful.

First, Houston. Yes, if you're reading this I'm sure you're surprised. The truth is, I recognize that you have been a great friend for many years and I know sometimes I can be mean. What can I say? We do have that love hate relationship. But some of the moments I remember most: the broom war, the night I told Sean R. that I liked him, the hours you and Sean P. would spend on skype talking to me when I was in Spain, listening to the CD's you to Spain, and when you came over after my grandpa died. You really are a great friend and even though I haven't seen you in a while, just know that I'm going to repay the favor and you will be getting letters from me when you leave on your mission. Just maybe not quite as often because they do have a long way to travel.

Second, Alyssa. You'll probably read this too, so I'll talk directly to you. Yes it's cheesy to be writing this instead of just telling you, but it's on my mind right now and I'm not going to call you at 12:30. So here it goes, I can't tell you how much you've helped me. I remember first becoming friends with you in 9th grade. We used to do Sudoku together and I remember thinking, this girl can make me laugh so hard, why aren't we better friends? Then we began to listen to disney songs together and that was it. Friend made. I also want to thank you for the hours you would spend on skype with me. And for all of the emails you would send me. Every morning in Spain I would wake up and check my email. When there was an email from you, it would be a great day. You were there for me when my grandpa died as well and I'll never forget how you comforted me on their porch. I know I don't see you as often as I would like these days, but just know that if you ever need to talk, I'm there.

Lastly, Sean. And yes he's on his mission and will never see this, but the important thing is that it will be written. Sean Sean Sean. Where do I begin? I feel like I've known him my whole life, but we've only been friends since 9th grade. And it wasn't even until 10th grade that I started to hang out with him. But my relationship with Sean is such a strong friendship now that most people don't understand it. Our friends always joke that we're going to get married (that's really going to be Sean and Amanda), but they just don't understand our friendship. Sean has listened to me talk the most out of any one of my friends. Before I got a phone, I would call him and talk on the phone for hours at a time. Then, the summer before I left for Spain, I hung out with him almost every day. While in Spain, he would skype me with Houston as often as they could and they would serenade me to make me feel less lonely. I honestly feel like I'm more myself than I ever am when I'm with him. This past summer we had a rough patch, that was mostly my fault, but after a conversation we had to end the rough patch, I learned something huge about my friend: he has a huge heart and he cares more than I ever thought he did. So now I write him every week while he's going to do great things in New York. Am I missing him? Heck yes. But I'm more excited for him and know that when he gets back, he'll have had the most incredible experiences. He'll change lives and that's the most important thing and best thing he could be doing with his life right now.

Sorry this was so long, I don't really expect anyone to read this, but it's just what's going on through my head right now. And now I don't have to write in my journal for writing 150. So... friends are the best. I recommend you keep them.

The End

The Opposite of Success

Once upon a time I woke up early on a saturday, which is a sin, but I'll repent later. Anyway, I woke up to go to a chemistry review. I ended up going, staying the whole time (that never happens), and then staying to study for an extra two hours in the fishbowl. That's four hours of studying! Kind of crazy for me, especially when it was all in a row and on campus. Oh and then I took my test for two hours which brings the total chemistry time today up to 6 hours. And after all of that... I'm pretty sure I failed. After not knowing a single question on the first three pages of the exam, I wanted to cry. And then when it was finally over with, I felt sick. Really sick.

The rest of the day I spent watching movies. First, Breaking Dawn part 1 which was horrifically wonderful. I cried. I'll admit it. Tears of laughter. Definitely worth the six dollars I paid to see it. Second, Never Been Kissed. Thoroughly enjoyed that one too. Oh and then I watched Ever After. It was a night full of Drew Barrymore.

During all of this it felt like my insides were going to explode. And the physical pain of course brings the emotional breakdowns as well. And those emotional breakdowns landed me back home, and I mean home home. Back in my bed with my family. Ah, I'm ready for a good night's sleep after the unsuccessful day I've had.

The End

I Feel Useless

Once upon a time I became friends with this kid. The more I got to know him, the more I saw that he wasn't the fun free-spirited guy I thought he was, but he was still relatively fun to be around so I kept him as a friend. Well this kid has dealt with a lot of girl drama over the past couple of months. He got his mission call, and after he did all of these girls appeared in his life. After getting over some seriously complicated situation with his ex-girlfriend, he decided to change and I supported him in that. One night, after something really significant happened in my life, we had a serious conversation where he shared that he needed to get serious and drop all the girls and focus more on school and his mission. Great plan. Except it failed. That same week another girl showed up and it's been bad news ever since. He knows he's making wrong decisions, but he can't get himself to make right decisions. And the worst part is, he's treating it like a joke now. So have I helped the kid? Not at all. I feel useless.

The End

The U.S. Postal System

Once upon a time I wrote to my friend in the MTC on a thursday, like I always do. And for the past month, he has written me back and I receive his letter either on a Monday or a Tuesday. But this week I forgot something important. Friday was veteran's day and because I didn't put my letter in the mailbox until thursday night, my letter wasn't sent until Saturday. Although this doesn't seem like a big deal (and it really isn't) this one little holiday that we didn't even get school off for, ruined my whole system. Thanks mailmen!

Let me explain, this friend of mine leaves the MTC soon so because he wasn't able to write this week, I won't get a letter from him for a couple of weeks. And I can send another letter this week, but after that I have to wait until I know his new address to write. And a couple of weeks doesn't seem like a long time, but I've grown accustomed to his letters every week. He always gives me his worthless advice on trivial matters because he doesn't know the entire story, but that advice actually helps me because it makes me laugh and see the situation in a new light. Also, he writes to me in spanish and it's been fun to see how in only two months, his spanish has gotten a lot better. Needless to say, I miss him and I think it's going to be a long two weeks.

The End

Success

Once upon a time I successfully went to savers and found two of the best christmas sweaters I've seen in a long time.

Once upon a time I took a Book of Mormon test and got a 97%. Success.

Once upon a time I made mac and cheese for the first time here at college and I actually enjoyed eating it. Success.

Once upon a time Karli and I discovered a new and better way to cook cinnamon rolls. They were possibly the best things I've eaten, and so I made them again today with my little brother. Success.

Once upon a time I successfully stalked someone in my ward as he came home from a date. I would like to thank Sani and Liz for that.

Once upon a time I successfully made two wishes at 11:11 on 11/11/11. One in the morning and one at night. My wish hasn't come true yet, but considering the past week I've had, I expect them to be granted in the next week or so.

So to celebrate all of these successes here is the first music video I ever remember seeing. Classic. My favorite are the background dancers/ musicians. Really? Haha got to love the good old days.

Late Night Chats

Once upon a time I moved in to an apartment with Megan and Jessica. We often encourage each other to skip class and not do homework and sometimes it's not the best.

For example, today I asked Jessica to do my reading for me and she said she would and then give me a detailed summary if I made her a S'more Pocket. I almost took the offer. Sad Sad Sad.

We also encourage each other to eat poorly and then not feel guilty about it later because this somehow makes our own meals seem better.

For example, yesterday and today I ate pretty healthy meals (or the closest thing I've had to meals since being here) but then after coming home from the temple, I was starving so I cracked. I started eating directly out of my half gallon of ice cream. And then I still felt hungry so I made myself a S'more Pocket. And then I felt all gross and my kind roommate, Megan, told me that tomorrow was a new day. I then informed her that I was planning on going to Legends grill tomorrow. So she said, "Well then start eating healthy on Saturday, or Sunday, or forget that and just start fresh on Monday, you've already blown your chances this week." Thank you Megan. That gives me three days to eat the first thing that comes into my head. And then on Monday I will probably fail again and Megan will just say start the next Monday and so on.

My roommates are the best.

The End

University Parkway

Once upon a time it got cold and somewhat miserable in the mornings. I like it the rest of the day, but sometimes it would be nice to not freeze on my way to school. Anyway, this morning my gears decided to not work and so I had a heck of a time trying to get to school. Sometimes they would pop out in the middle of an intersection and I'd look like an idiot peddling and peddling just to try and get them back on. Ya.

Also, last night as I was jumping down from my bed (it's really high because I had to switch to the approved, "safer" bed risers), my knee slammed into the corner of my dresser. I silently screamed in pain on the floor of my room and then got up and finished getting ready for bed. When it was time to get back into bed, I felt my knee and realized I had grown another knee. So I went out to tell my roommate and indeed, she had heard the noise of me crashing into the dresser, but she didn't know I was in pain, because I, myself, made no noise. We kind of laughed about it though. It was funny up until biking this morning. My jeans get tight on my knees when I bike and boy did that hurt.

So with the combination of my gears, my knee, and my numbness, I was the idiot that got off my bike and pushed it the rest of the way up University Parkway this morning. I pretended that I had to push my bike because there was something wrong with it, but I think people caught on when I got back on after getting to the top. Am I thoroughly embarrassed? yes.

The End

I Found my Calling

Once upon a time I hated science. It was my lowest score on the ACT and despite my passing grade on the AP Biology test, I never did well in any of my classes. So when I decided that I wanted to go to dental school I was not looking forward to all of the chemistry classes that are the prerequisites.

In June I signed up for my classes and decided to take chemistry and treat it like a trial run for the rest of my life. I also decided to take a comparative government class, something I was actually interested in as something for fun. Well about a month into the semester I realized that I hate political science and love chemistry. That was lucky...

Anyway so about a week and a half ago I took a chemistry test and I was feeling kind of low because I didn't study as hard as I should have and I didn't feel like I did well on the test at well. Come to find out I got a 94%!!!! Actually the TA emailed us just barely and my 94 went to a 96%!!!! My second A on a college test! Needless to say, I'm pretty excited and now I can't finish my research paper that's due tomorrow. So instead I decided to do something productive and write on here so I wont have to write in my journal for writing tonight!

It's official...I've found my calling in life!

The End

Depressed

Once upon a time I wrote a post and acted like I didn't care anymore about this kid...but now every time I see this kid and this girl together I want to call up my friend Shams and ask for a favor...just kidding Shams. I've always wondered if you get mad at us that we joke about those things, but you haven't ever gotten mad at me for it so I'm going to keep rolling with it.

Anyway, so I've been a little depressed about the whole situation but then yesterday I listened to David Archuleta's the Other Side of Down and perked up a bit. That CD is actually fantastic and it makes me happy every time. So here's a song that describes my situation now...

The End

The White Flag is Up

Because I haven't had a picture in a long time

Once upon a time I liked this kid. We were friends for a long time before I actually started to like him. This was the beginning of this summer. Well no joke, about one day after I decided that I liked him, he met one of my friends and they formed this "magical" bond. The only problem was she wasn't going to be here in Utah for the entire summer, or for the fall for that matter. So I was a bit annoyed to say the least. Well I ended up telling this kid's cousin who's also my friend and he said, "Madi...just fight for it. Fight for it." Well long story short, I didn't really do a good job at "fighting for it." In fact, I don't really know how to fight for it. So that was a disaster that didn't end up well. Though me and the kid continued to be friends throughout the summer.

Well I'm in the same situation now. It's been three months since I've liked someone...ok more like 2 but I like to round up, and last week I decided that I had developed a baby crush (if you don't know that meaning of that term, just come and ask me). Well that baby crush grew despite the fact that I know the kid likes someone else. He likes a girl that is the essence of annoying. She flirts with any walking, breathing, living male in a ten-mile radius. So that's frustrating. But I ignored it and he hadn't mentioned her in a while. Oh until last night. After he left to go hang out with her the words of my friend came into my mind again, "fight for it Madi. Fight for it." Ya...not going to happen. It's not worth it. So the white flag is up. I'll just wait for that one boy to get off his mission....that's only 1.5 years...I can make it. So until then, my life will be filled with random dance parties in my apartment, and studying.

The End

My Waves of Laziness

Once upon a time I crashed. I promise, at one point I was a good student, but now I'm just sick of school and my classes this semester. Last week I slept in almost everyday and I ended up missing three classes because of it. And then this week I was late on Monday, Tuesday and today. Also Tuesday I missed an entire class and didn't get my 10 page research paper done. But before you get all upset mom, it was only a draft that was only worth 11 points and I got 6 out of 11.

Maybe this whole crashing thing has something to do with the fact that I don't go to bed anymore. And unlike before, I can't live off of 4 hours of sleep every night. The four hour nap that I took yesterday didn't even help me. Kind of pathetic actually. So as of tonight I'm going to get back into my groove and actually start taking notes again in class. This will be exciting. We'll see how long it lasts.

The End

Oh and because I missed last friday's music video friday here's one for today. Again, it's not a music video, but I like the song and it's not my fault that she chose to not release this one.

Chemistry Writing assignments

Once upon a time we were given a writing assignment for chemistry 105. We got the assignment tuesday but since I didn't get out of bed in time for my class tuesday, I didn't get the assignment until this morning at around 8:05. Everyone got a little white/clear bead and we were supposed to do experiments with it, figure out what makes it turn colors, and then write a paper about it. Dumb right? Anyway so we all got different beads depending on our last names. So naturally I attached mine to my keys and forgot about it.

Riding home in the subzero weather on my bike wasn't fun, but my 9:30 class got cancelled so there was no way I was going to stay on campus. When I finally got back to my apartment I locked my bike up and pulled out my keys. Hey the bead had changed colors! That was easy. So chemistry assignment check. Twelve page research paper on the other hand...haven't even started. Better get on that.

The End

The Ward

Once upon a time I decided to change. Become more outgoing. Try to be friendlier and dislike people less. Well it worked for a little while. Now my list of people I dislike in the ward is growing and I'm trying to stop it but I just can't help it. I participate in everything and try to talk to as many people as possible, but still no one knows who I am.

So tonight at ward prayer and all during church I kept thinking that this was my last week of being active. Next week I'm going back to my home ward and I'm going to stop going to all the ward activities. After ward prayer Karli, my roommate and I went to this boy's apartment where I went on and on and on about my dislikes of the ward and how I feel like a total outsider despite my attempts at being friendly. Right after my complaining, I got a phone call from one of the counselors...I now have to speak in church next sunday. So much for my inactive plan. Oh and I have to speak on family history. You would have to know that I put how much I love indexing on my information card like 5 times in order to get an indexing calling to think this was funny. So I didn't get the calling, but I have to speak on it. Great.

Also, today my roommate had to give the spiritual thought at ward prayer. She was kind of freaking out about it and in my attempts to make her feel better I told her that speaking in public isn't even that bad and I would gladly give a talk. Ha. Not so true now that I have to. I guess this means that the Lord really does know what all of us need and when we need it. I needed to feel included and here's my chance. This wasn't what I had in mind, but it works.

The End

Got to love Fridays

Once upon a time I was facebook stalking some kid that came up on the side as someone I might know. Boy do I know him. Anyway he's playing at a show tomorrow and so he was writing on the wall of the event and he posted this link and in context it was hilarious. I knew I always liked him. So enjoy this hilarious music video by the cardigans.

The End

Cleaning Checks

Once upon a time, after a period of two months we had our first cleaning check. It took hours to clean our apartment because you really have to clean everything! I didn't even know the hinges on doors got dirty, did you?

Once I finished I went to an interesting seminar for one of my classes on America's power in the world today. I the speaker may have been 110 years old and talked really slow, but I didn't fall asleep so I'm proud!

Now I'm sitting outside with Annie in the freezing cold because my cleaning check is going on and I don't want to be there during that because I'm terrified we'll fail. Oh and Annie just doesn't want to be in her apartment. Also, I'm sitting next to my building buddy, Bronte meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time. It's highly entertaining. But I should probably get some homework done so I can go to bed because did I stay in bed for an extra half hour debating whether or not I should go to school? Indeed I did. College is great.

The End

Sorry

So once upon a time I got sick. It was awful and I stayed on the couch all day and watched pysch. Then I got better, had an insane night with Karli in our footzies, then had an insane week. This week has been the death of me and it's not over yet. I've had 4 midterms and two papers due and so I've been going to review sessions and studying like crazy. I'm beat and I still have one more midterm today! So that's why I didn't post last week on music friday and I didn't post last night either. To make it up to you, I'm going to post two videos this week that describe my emotions.

The first is the one I should have posted last friday. It's a disney love compilation done by mine and Karli's favorite girl sunnybaby94 (at least we hope it's a girl and not some old man). Me and Karli first stumbled across this video in eighth grade and it touched our hearts in ways that could never be explained. Since then, we've seen it over 500 times. We watched it twice last friday night and boy did it get us hyper. So here it is. Enjoy.

The next video is Scotty McCreery's I love you this big. I know it's not the most exciting country music video but I love it nonetheless because I love him and I just got his first CD so it's been on my mind lately. So enjoy this video because this boy's going places

Now I'm off to study and then take my last midterm...yes!

The End

Chubasquero

Once upon a time I was in Spain. While I was there I made some friends from a city two hours north of where I was living. This city was Bilbao and it's one of the wettest cities in Spain, in fact, I'm pretty sure it is THE wettest city in Spain. Anyway, so I would go there quite frequently and I always checked the weather beforehand. Almost always it said that it was going to rain, so I would always bring my chubasquero (raincoat in Spain spanish). However, it only rained once while I was there. My friends made fun of my raincoat (it's not exactly stylish) all the time and they would always ask me to bring to places. I felt like a fool. Oh and on the day that it did rain, I didn't have my raincoat with me. That made Zuri and Noemi extremely happy.

The point of this story...I don't really know. Yesterday I wore my raincoat because it looked like it was going to rain, and it actually did during my first class, but then it got really hot and I ended up carrying it around the whole day. And then today I didn't bring it and now I'm cold, wet, miserable, and sick. I think my chubasquero is a cursed raincoat. It doesn't like me.

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Jane Austen's in the Air

So once upon a time I met some girls that live in my building and they love all things Jane Austen as well. So we got to talking about different movie versions of different books and I realized that I had never seen the BBC versions of Persuasion or Emma. So that's what I did this week and I fell in love. It also helped me realize just how great true gentlemen are. When my friends ask me what my "taste" in men are I tell them that I don't have a real taste, they just have to be chivalrous. Is it that too much to ask for? I don't know why boys find it so difficult to follow through on that...especially the boys that are so desperate for girls. Here's a brilliant idea, why don't you start being nice to them? That's all I ask.

So here's a music video by The Band Perry that I love. Really I don't ask for much.

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The Gardeners

Once upon a time my friend Alyssa was sitting down on a stairwell while I was right next to her, when a man came up with a leaf blower and completely blew all the dust and nasty things on the ground on her. Not only did he do this, but then in the next ten minutes he came back for some more fun.

Similarly, at wyview they are always doing yard work. It's my only dislike of wyview. From 9 to 3 there are always people out and it gets pretty loud, especially when you're trying to study outside.

Oh and then today as I was biking to my first class, which starts in 8 minutes, some lovely man was once again blowing leaves by the stadium and blew them into me as I desperately tried to get up that dang hill. My eyes burned and I was angry to say the least. I think the gardeners should be taught on manners. I don't particularly like them.

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Story of my Life

So I've always been a creep, but lately it's gotten really bad. I love to just walk around wyview and see what people are up to. Or when they leave their blinds open, I like to look in and see who's hanging out with who. It's entertaining to me and it shouldn't be. I feel like this is an excellent video for the week because my creepin' skills have really improved this week. I don't have anyone in particular that I'm creepin' on, but I feel like that's not necessary.

So I know that this Mindy Gledhill song isn't a music video, but to me it doesn't matter, so it shouldn't matter to you guys either. By the way, I heard this song from Karli just the other day...it fits right? Just kidding Karli, we're both creeps and I'm proud to admit it.

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Movie Night

Once upon a time Karli's apartment decided to watch The Scarlet Pimpernel. I absolutely love that movie, but because I have homework, and I've seen it multiple times before, I decided to leave early. As soon as I walked into my apartment what do I find? My roommate and a boy watching footloose in our living room. Why are there so many temptations?

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Sleep

Once upon a time I went to college and realized I actually want a social life. This leaves me with a problem: I get no sleep. How am I supposed to live off of three hours of sleep a day when there's no caffeine on campus? I can't do it. But as much as my eyes want to close right now, I just keep thinking in my head, today was so worth the exhaustion. Making all new friends is great. Laughing your head off in astronomy even though nothing's that funny is also pretty great. But most of all, college life is great.

The End

The letter

Once upon a time I received a letter. Not a good letter. This letter made me mad and sad, but I'm too tired to explain much right now. Just know that missionaries kind of stink right before they leave or right after they leave, while they're still at the MTC. They feel it's necessary to share everything on their mind to get it off their chest. It's not. In fact it's worse for the people staying home, so just keep it to yourselves. Or better yet, forget it and move on.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the two sad music videos for this week. The first one is Highway 20 Ride by Zac Brown Band (one of my favorites). The second is one of Taylor Swift's least known music videos, White Horse. I little dramatic and over the top, but the situation I'm dealing with right now reminds me of this a little bit. Not really, but there are similarities. So enjoy.

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Who doesn't love Josh Turner?

Once upon a time I was running the red rock all day friday so I was not able to post a music video friday. And then yesterday I was also running the red rock and driving so that wasn't really an option so sorry for the delay.

I've thought long and hard about this weeks music video and I've decided that this one's the one for this week. What are we doing with our lives? College? Who needs it? Why don't we just dance?

I realize that this song has nothing whatsoever to do with college, but in my sleep deprived mind right now, it's a good fit. So enjoy.

Plus, who doesn't love Josh Turner? He's country, he has a deep voice, he's attractive, and he can sing...

The End

Sandwich makers

Once upon a time I discovered the beauty of sandwich makers. I was awfully young so I can't give you a specific age, but let me tell you, it changed my life. Soon afterwards it became a family tradition to make all sorts of sandwiches for the superbowl every year. We've made pb&j, pb&j with pepper jack cheese, regular grilled cheese, grilled cheese with jalapeños, etc. Anyway, so before I moved out I told my mom that I needed a sandwich maker. So we went out and bought one and I was extremely happy.

But then it sat in it's box for two weeks.

I haven't really had to cook at all because I keep getting invited to these dinners that my friends make. It's great. Tonight I went to my friend Sharissa's apartment for french toast, eggs, bacon, and muffins. Living the dream right there. However, that was at 7, and I got a little hungry later on, so it finally came the time to take the sandwich maker out of the box. Karli came over and we made...wait for it...s'more pockets!

S'more Pockets:

2 slices of bread

1 T Marshmallow fluff

1 graham cracker

2 pieces of chocolate

Lay the two slices of bread out and smear the marshmallow fluff on both sides. Break the graham cracker up and put some on both slices. Then take the chocolate and without putting it too near the edge, put the pieces on one slice of bread. Put together and stick in sandwich maker. Makes enough for 4, apparently. Actually, makes enough for 1 because the next time I make those suckers, I'm getting one for myself. Yum.

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Journal Entries

Once upon a time I was in my writing 150H class and my professor told me that we would have to keep a 5 minute journal every day. She said that a blog would count and since I haven't written in my journal today, I figure this is a good place to get my assignment done.

The problem is...there's a lot going on in my life that I intended on writing about, but I never got around to it. And somehow I don't think I will tonight...sorry Whitney and Stuart. So what should I write about?

I guess what ever's on my mind right now.

So this weekend Sharissa and I went down to St. George for a college road trip. It's been fun. But last night, Sharissa told me something that made my stomach squeal a bit. It has something to do with mi amigo "especial", or so my friend, Zuriñe calls him. See, I've had this friend for a while, not since I was a child, but sometimes it feels like I've known him my whole life. Anyway, ever since we became friends people have been teasing us on our feelings for each other. However, both of us just laugh it off. He's the type of guy that has never liked a girl and I'm the type of girl that has liked practically every boy, so we're a good pair, friendship pair that is.

About a year ago our two friends, Houston and Jake, tried to get us to become true T-wolves together (a true T-wolf is like a true Aggie and every other true mascot there is). I of course refused and didn't accept the money. And I thought that was the end of the "trying to get us together" scheme. But in March they tried to convince me yet again that I was in love with this friend. Pretty sure I know my own feelings, but thanks anyways guys.

And then slowly it ended. And I spent less and less time with this boy. I got mad at him, we eventually became friends again, but everything's different now. Oh wait. But this whole idea that our friends have of us being in love hasn't changed. Great. I wish it was done with.

And that's the end of five minutes. Goodnight.

The End

Hey Juliet

So I've liked a lot of boys in my life....yes it's true. Anyway, one day my friends, Sean and Houston, decided to give all these boys code names by using the army's alphabet. They weren't really code names, but they did it to keep track of all these boys. Right now I'm on lima, it's fine. But mmmmhhhmmmm was juliet and that actually really fits him.

So tonight me and Sharissa drove to my house in St. George for a weekend get-away and on the way down we listened to this song. I didn't want to be Juliet's Romeo but I like this song and I think it's great for this friday.

Oh and I also really like Anastasia.

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A New Found Love

Once upon a time I had a terrible accident when I was six, and since then I haven't ridden a bike. Since May, that is.

At the beginning of the summer I decided that learning how to ride a bike was an essential. I would need it for college, and I had already signed up for an olympic distance triathlon. So there was no getting out of it. However, after the first couple of times on my brother's mountain bike, I fell in love. I rode that thing quite often, until my mom said it was time for me to learn how to ride a road bike.

I was more than terrified this time. A road bike has much skinnier tires, goes a lot faster, and you have to click your feet into the peddles. So one day at the end of June, my mom took me to the park by the cemetery and taught me how to ride a road bike. My love for biking only increased from that point on. I loved going up the canyon and feeling the breeze that you only get on your way down, because up is a beast. But it was worth it and I went quite frequently all the way up until the end of July. That's when I did my triathlon.

Now my road biking days are over until the summer hits again. Instead, I have my sister's bright orange beach cruiser, and let me tell you, that thing is amazing. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten compliments, and I always pretend that the bike is mine. It's a good conversation starter. Plus, I look cool now. On the mountain bike I had a helmet that didn't fit me, and on the road bike I looked like I didn't know what I was doing (which was partly true).

Anyway, the point to this story is I fell in love with biking because it is the best. And I'll miss it when the cold hits...oh nope. I have my spin class every tuesday and thursday so I'm good.

The End

I'm guessing based on the title that you thought I was going to write about a boy...you were wrong. But there is one...he looks like he's twelve but he wears a belt buckle, cowboy boots, and the same baseball cap every day. Oh and he also has an extremely thick southern accent...

Life at BYU

Once upon a time I signed up for new student orientation. It was pointless. I went for a few hours thursday morning, stayed for the free lunch, and then went off by myself to buy my textbooks. The rest of thursday I took a nap, then hung out with some friends. As I was on my way out to meet my friends, the bishop and about ten other guys ambushed me. They all introduced themselves at the same time, and then they invited me to the ward get together on saturday. I then got into my friends car where they were all laughing because apparently it was hilarious. One minute I'm walking freely to meet up with my friends and then the next minute I'm surrounded.

Friday morning I helped Karli move in across the hall. I then biked to campus with Annie and found my classes. After that I met my peer mentor (kind of ridiculous that we're all required to have one) and explored campus some more. Then, Alyssa, Sharissa, Karli, and I proceeded to Sharissa's for dinner, where we had french toast and drank all of Sharissa's milk. After that we went to Shaundra and Mallory's apartment. And then we went to see Tangled at the Helaman Field, again only for the free ice cream.

Saturday I went to the ward party and had a blast (who knew?). Really though, I only went for the free lunch (I guess I just really like free things). Then I went to the grocery store with Annie to buy meat, and then Annie, Karli, Annie's roommate Jessica, Amanda, and I made lasagna and salad. While cooking, we saw some people playing volleyball so we went out there and met a ton of new people. I'm kind of excited about where I'm living. Anyway, lasagna was delicious and we inhaled it. That night, we went to the big freshman party at the wilk that was kind of ridiculous.

Sunday we had church at 9, but I only went to sacrament meeting, because I went to Kolton's farewell at 11 (kind of awkward, but that's another story). I then went home home, not my apartment, but to my parent's house, and took a nap. I was basically there all day and I loved it. At 6:15 Karli picked me up and we went to our RA meeting. I kind of hated that because we played a "get to know you" game. Funny, I don't remember one single girl's name...or anything about them. We then went to ward prayer. As we were standing there, I turned to karli and said, "I just want to avoid Sean." Not even 2 seconds later I found myself in a huge bear hug with none other than Sean. Great. For those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, Sean is a boy that grew up on my home ward and not even a month after his mission, he dated my sister. Awful. And then he broke up with her because she told him that she didn't want to get married anytime soon.

And then later on that day I got locked out while my roommates were at singing in the tunnel to I stayed up late and talked to Heather and Karli at Karli's apartment.

Today was the first day of class and I have to say, I love college already. My professors are all really cool and interesting and I only have 4 hour long classes. But, I'm sure after a week I'll hate life again. Just give it time.

The End

Music Friday

Once upon a time I came across this music video while watching GAC late at night. It's fantastic, in fact I've watched it quite frequently since I first saw it. My favorite part is the end, because it leaves you wondering if the dream is going to happen and the guy and the girl are going to end up together or not. Plus I think this guy is really quite good looking. Not at the beginning, but give it time. Trust me.

The End

Moved Out

Once upon a time, I'm not quite sure when, I grew up, and now I'm living on my own. Yikes!

Yesterday me and my family moved in to my first apartment. We moved in, unpacked my clothes and then went grocery shopping. By the time I got back, I had only met one of my roommates, Jessica, for about 2 minutes. I got back, went to Karli's apartment, went to Annie's apartment, and then came home and started to organize my things. By then it was 11:15 and my roommates were no where to be found. I began to wonder if they weren't real and the RA just put some stuff in their room to trick me. But no, at around 11:30 they came back from a party and we stayed up talking until 1:30. I think we're going to get along quite nicely.

Now it's breakfast time and I'm waiting to use the bathroom. Another yikes. I haven't had to share a bathroom in a long time. This might get interesting.

After that it's new student orientation. I doubt I'll go to the whole thing. Wish me luck!

The End

Oh Steamer

Once upon a time I was two and my mother told me I was going to have a little brother. A little while later he was born and he's been ruining my life since. Actually, I'm going to miss him, but it's hard not to be resentful to the child responsible for sending me to three years of pre-school. Anyway this is a tribute to him only because I want to be able to look at these pictures whenever I want to.

We were basically adorable at one point

Weston always had to ride in front of dad

so I got stuck with the back

Christmas in Mexico

He hated having to listen to me read, but my mom

was tired of it, so he was the lucky one

At the zoo with the Jessicas

The zip line in Mexico

Playing in the fountains in Salt Lake

Strawberry Lake

Feeding baby sheep in New Zealand

Ward christmas party

Brazil ironman. I won.

China

Sophomore Prom

Lagoon day with the family

Before he grew

Saying goodbye in Spain

At a rugby game this year

Glacier

Yes, I'm going to miss this kid. Especially all the peanuts comics he puts in my room that remind him of me (he thinks I'm Lucy). But I'll see him on Sundays, well most Sundays so we're good. What I'm most excited for is not seeing his friends anymore! They insist that they are going to visit me, but no, not if I can help it.

The End