Dazzling Aspirations

JRu 14: Gobble, Gobble

2011-10-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

So, remember that one time when I am a blogging slacker? Oh, wait, that was now. Anyway, to continue the updates...

Sunday, September 18th

I spent all of Saturday working on my paper (besides going to church) because today we left for TURKEY!!!! I got up did some last minute packing and at about 11:00 am we left for the airport. It takes about an hour to drive to Tel Aviv and then they figured it would take a while for all 90ish of us to get through security, so....We were there SUPER early. The funny thing was that Danielle and I got through security and passport control (by the way, Israeli security is way more intense for leaving the country than any other country I have been in.) and we went and checked the flight board. Our gate had changed, so we headed to our new gate and we were literally the only ones there for an hour or more. It was kind of eerie.

Everyone got there eventually and we waited to board our flight on Turkish Air. And then we waited some more. And then we waited a little more. For some reason our flight was delayed but they never made any announcement about it. Finally we boarded and had a fantastic flight to turkey. They served us a delicious meal and their seats were covered in a nice teal fabric.

When we landed we spent some quality time in the airport waiting for luggage before heading to our hotel to drop our luggage. We walked to dinner at a restaurant. We left my sister and a bunch of other students at the hotel on accident. Luckily, we found them and all headed to bed.

JRu 13: Sometimes I really want to be Jewish.

2011-10-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 15th

As a group we went to the Garden Tomb this morning. This was the third time I have taken a tour at the Garden Tomb. In fact this was the second time I had our tour guide, Tim. I like the tour but it was just one time too many. After the tour we had a little devotional and talked about Jesus as our Savoir. And then we sang. That is my favorite part of being a pilgrim here in Jerusalem is all the singing. We sang a lot of hymns and the spirit was so strong. I love that other people in the garden enjoyed our music as well.

We walked home through the city and bought some snacks (Israeli goldfish, Pringles and candy bars) for Turkey before heading back for the best lunch of our lives. We had Bell Peppers stuffed with rice and seasonings, and latkas. It made me really want to be Jewish. It's starting to be a real issue that I want to be Jewish all the time. Then back to my study doom.

Friday, September 16th

After classes, we went into the city. We stopped at the Pool of Bethesda first. They let us in for free and we went down into the pool. After we went into the Church of St. Anne. After looking through it, we were the only ones there, so Eliza, Lottie, my sister and I sang a few hymns. The acoustics were fantastic! Then we went to the church of Flagellation which we had been to before. It is one of the stations of the cross, so while we were there, the weekly procession of the stations of the cross. So, we joined the massive crowds and followed the stations of the cross through the city.

After reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we left and headed to the Jewish quarter to find some Challah bread. Challah bread is the Jewish bread that they make and eat for Shabbat. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the Jewish quarter it was too close to sundown and all the bread was gone. We took some pictures at the western wall before heading home.

(Oh, and we saw a guy packing heat at the western wall. It reminded us of the Secret Agent Man, Sam, that we had in Egypt.)

I spent the rest of the night working on my Ephesus paper.

JRu 12: What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

2011-09-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 14st

When classes start I become a JC prisoner. Seriously, I don't leave the JC except on weekends because I have so much homework and so many things scheduled in my day. That's how Tuesday and today were.

We had an under center tour today. The JC is super cool because it is built on Pylons (I don't really know what that means, except it means that there is space under the center.) And you can walk underneath all the levels which is great for upkeep of the building. Because it is unfinished and a slightly dangerous, they take us on a tour to satisfy our curiosity. We got to wear hard hats and write our names on the walls there. It was really cool.

The interesting thing about Wednesday is that we have a forum address where someone from the local community comes in to address us about the current situation in the middle east. Last week it was an Israeli.

This week, it was a Palestinian named Dr. Bernard Sabella. Personality wise, he was a huge contrast to the last speaker. He was more informal and had a very different message for us. His dream for the future involved both groups of people to build a state together. They would not have walls and all this division but would live together in harmony.

The likelihood of that happening is fairly small since neither political entity wants to even consider that option. Personally, I feel this would be the best option because right now no one is getting what they want. The last speaker metioned each side needing to compromise and this solution would be the greatest compromise of all. However, it is pride and fear holding everyone back.

I do understand the fear that Israelis have especially after all the fighting that has happened. But the current situation is not a solution to this problem. One of my favorite quotes is by Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." I feel like this is a problem with most people around the world. It takes a lot of faith to not sacrifice our liberty for safety.

JRu 11: Joshua fit the battle...

2011-09-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 12th

Today we went to Jericho. Yep, that historic site where Joshua and the children of Israel blew their trumpets and clapped and those walls came a tumbling down. Well, Joshua did a good job because it is pretty much just a pile of dirt now. Actually, it's a tel. For those who don't know, a tel (or tell) is an historic site where many cities were built, one on top of another. Archaeologists have excavated parts of it which we were able to see, but not a lot.

Jericho

We also saw the spring of Elisha, Herod the Great's winter palace and the Judean wilderness. Bonus points for whoever can comment with the story of Elisha and the spring.

Me at the spring of Elisha

It was really fun and SUPER hot. Especially the Judean wilderness. Let me paint a picture for

you. Close your eyes and picture a desert, sand as far as you can reach. Now imagine that all this sand forms 150-200 foot high mountains. Now add the sun beating down on you and no food or water. Yeah, you wouldn't want to get lost in the Judean wilderness. It amazes me that anyone could survive fasting for 40 days in that weather. Obviously, only the Son of God would be able to do that.

The Judean wilderness and I

It was fun. At the end of our field trip I bought Sycamore nuts. YUM. Seriously, I could eat my way through any country.

JRu 10: If everybody had an ocean....

2011-09-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 10th

It is Sabbath again. It always throws me a little off guard because having church on saturday, a day after classes is not normal. It was district conference today!!! There are three branches in Israel: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Galilee. Since it was District conference, we all met together for church. The Auditorium was so full!!! Plus, all the students were here, so it was especially full.

I attended branch choir in the morning and JC (Jerusalem center) choir in the evening. Being here and singing in all these different venues has reminded me how much I love to sing. My relationship with singing has changed over time and due to some situations in High school, I stopped singing for a while. However, on my mission and here in Israel I have come to realize how important music is to me and how much I love to sing.

Sunday, September 11th

WELCOME TO TEL AVIV!!! A few days ago, we heard that there was a group going to Tel Aviv on Sunday. We heard they were going to the beach and we were not really interested in going to the beach and we were planning on just staying in Jerusalem. However, one of our friends, Lottie, convinced us to go to because she didn't want to hang out at the beach the whole time and wanted to explore the city. So, we signed up to go.

We left at 10 am, gear and sack lunch in hand. After we arrived in Tel Aviv, we wanted to explore the city before we went and got wet and sandy. Everyone else wanted to go to the beach. We headed down to the beach to eat our lunch and we were starting to be really disappointed because no one wanted to go into the city anymore. Finally, my sister and I decided to go without everyone else. Kelly decided to come with us and we began our trek.

First we walked down the beach. Then we walked up the beach. Then we

walked into the city. We weren't finding Jaffa, which is the historic part of the city. After eating some really expensive ice cream, we walked back the way we came and met up with some of the guys in our group. They had just found a market and they gave us directions. It was the a authentic market. There was everything from fruit to VERY fresh fish to souvenirs. We bought a few things before heading back to the beach.

We went swimming and played in the sand a little bit. The beach was fantastic. White sand and warm blue water. I was glad I came to the beach and I really enjoyed my time in the water and in the sand. Half the group, including us, headed back to the JC at about 5 and got dinner there.

It was a GREAT day!

JRu 9: Shabbat Shalom

2011-09-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 8th

Not much to say.

Had classes.

Did homework.

Passes cleaning checks and got a candy bar.

Friday, September 9th

Today was great. We had old testament in the morning and then a group of ten of us left for the Israel Museum. We had already been there so we were mostly going back to get more information on what to write about for one of our assignments and to explore some other wings. We hung out with Jeff most of the time. We saw the kid's section and learned how to tango and we saw the modern art section which had a cool display with sand. They set up people like they were at a Jewish wedding and then they threw red sand everywhere after they carefully removed everyone, so you can see the foot prints of what happened. We also toured the gardens.

We were hungry after the museum so we walked into the city (western Jerusalem). We found a few bakeries and bought bread before going to a nearby park to eat and wait for our taxi. We got back with enough time to work on a little homework before going to our western wall orientation.

Tonight was exciting because we got to be at the western wall as shabbat started. There was lots of singing and dancing and praying which we got to participate in. It was a very unique experience and every time I participate in something like that it makes me want to be Jewish. They sang one song that we learned in our hebrew class so we were able to sing along. It was a great night!

JRu 8: Welcome to the Circus!

2011-09-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 7th

After classes today, a group of us (Jeff, Shalyn, Annaleah, my sister and I) went into the old city. We didn't really have plans so we just walked around. We entered through the lions gate which is on the east side of the city. We stumbled onto this quaint little church called the church of condemnation. It has this tiny little chapel with 14 pews about three people wide. The pastor was singing and we just sat there for a few minutes. I have come to appreciate the spirit that is felt in other churches. I know that God respects all who worship him with true purpose of heart.

After that we ended up in front of the Austrian Hospice. It was there we decided that we wanted to try to go visit the Dome of the Rock. So, we took a left and headed for the Jewish Quarter. We came to the Western Wall and looked at it for a few minutes. There were a ton of soldiers there and we weren't sure what was going on. We left to head to the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. Well, we were denied. It was closed. So, then we thought we might visit the archaeological gardens that are right there. After trying to get in, we decided it cost too much.

Finally, we just walked around the Jewish quarter. We had some gelato, which was really good. Then we found some cool ruins. Then we started to head back. Just as we were going back, we discovered that something was happening by the western wall. There was some military procession going on. We happened to be in a higher part of the city and there was a great overlook where we watched the procession for a while. We learned that there are three of these programs that happen during training and one of them happens here. It was really cool.

Then we walked back and we decided to exit out of the Damascus gate. Good choice. Actually, BEST choice. As we exited the gate, we were surprised to see that all the shop booths were gone. Instead we found some people dressed up and setting up some circus equipment. They started performing and it was SO cool! These acrobats did all these cool tricks inside and outside the wheel while it was rolling. (Picture of the wheel not of what we saw.)

We hurried back for dinner and then we had a forum. Every Wednesday night they invite someone to come speak to us about the current political situation in Israel. Today it was Paul Hirscherson who is an Israeli. I am very easily swayed and he brought up some really good points about how The Israeli government doesn't know if they can trust the Palestinian government. He also mentioned how both states were not going to get everything they want, so they will have to learn to compromise. It was a very interesting discussion and a lot to thing about.

JRu 7: Why you Trippin'?

2011-09-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 5th

We had our first fieldtrip today. We went to different spots around Jerusalem that we could orient ourselves and have a better understanding of where all these Biblical events took place. Sadly, my sister and I are not in the same old testament class, so we won't be on field trips together. This will probably be a good thing because that means we will make new friends and get to experience things on our own.

One of the cool places we stopped was by the Mar Elyas Monestary. We hiked up a little behind the monestary and we were on the hills of Judea between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, looking out over the city of Belthlehem. Bethlehem is part of the West Bank, which is part of the Palistinian teritory. Because of the current political situation, there is a wall separating Belthlehem from Jerusalem. It is kind of sad that there is this separation and it was a very visual reminder of the conflict going on.

The amazing thing about my Old Testament Teacher is that he has been a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for the past few years (eight, I think) and he loves to sing. After talking to us a little about the geography of the land and what we were seeing, we sand a few hymns. It is so powerful to be in these historic places and to sing about them. It brings the spirit of God so quickly.

After our field trip, we returned to the center, had lunch and then started our classes. We had an hour of Old Testament and an hour and a half of Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Since I have not been in school for over two years, I am super excited to start school again. I was really excited about these classes and for the many things I will learn this semseter.

Tuesday, September 6th

More classes!!! Today we had the rest of our classes The classes I am taking this semester are:

Old Testament (for the first part of the semester) - Brother Huntsman (He is a professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. He sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He and his wife have one daughter and one son who will live here in the center for a year.)

New Testament (second part of the semester) - Brother Harper (He is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU. He has two daughters, three sons and his wife. They live with us at the center and will be here for a year.)

Ancient Near Eastern Studies – Brother Ludlow (He is a professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. He was my New Testament Teacher when I was at BYU. He and his wife have three sons and two daughters here with them for a year. One of their sons is participating in the program with us and should be leaving on a mission soon after the semester ends.) Ancient near eastern studies is a history class about this region of the world.

Modern Near Eastern Studies: Judaism, Israel and Zionism - Ophir Yarden (He is Israeli and a practicing Jew. He is married with kids. We think he teaches at Hebrew University)

Modern Near Eastern Studies: Islam and Palestine - Bashir Bashir (He is a Palestinian living here in Jerusalem. We suspect he was raised Muslim but he simply told us he was not religious.)

Basic Hebrew - Judy Goldman (She was raised in Sacramento, California but married an Israeli who was living there. She is Jewish, has four kids and has been teaching here for a long time.)

Field Trips - nuff said.

These first few days were mostly orientation, but we got all our text books and it is going to be a LOT of reading. That is a big adjustment for me since I don't really have reading assignments as a physics major. Plus, I haven't been in school for over two years.

JRu 6: Saturday is Sunday?

2011-09-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 3rd

It's our first sunday, and by that I mean sabbath. Yep, because the state of Israel is a Jewish state, the sabbath begins on Friday night at sundown until Saturday night at sundown. That means that we have church on Saturday.

Our little branch has very few members. The BYU students make up the majority but there are American families as well as some local members who joined the church elsewhere. We have this beautiful auditorium with the stage at the end of the room toward the old city. Behind the stage there are huge glass windows, so all during sacrament meeting we are looking out over the old city. I can't think of a better place to take the sacrament.

Before church we had choir practice. It was really fun to sing again but it was way to early for me and my voice was not warmed up yet. The choir was pretty big considering all 80 of us weren't here yet. I can't imagine how big it will be when we are all here.

The rest of the day we realaxed. My sister was sick and so we took it easy. I did some school stuff and blogged and emailed. Our big group went to the garden of gethsemane. We decided not to go since it was fast sunday and I was afraid I would pass out.

The last thing we did was have a musical exploration. We all got together and shared with our branch president/music director our musical talents. People played their instraments and sang. It was amazing how talented everyone was.

Sunday, September 4th

Yeah, so it is kind of weird that Sunday is our saturday. Which means today was a free day! My sister was still feeling sick so I mostly just did my homework all day. It was super boring but it was nice down time. I know, I am in the most historical city in the world and the holiest city in the world and I stayed in my room and read for class. BORING. But hey, I will be here for 4 months. It is better to take it easy and not lose people with our rush to see everything.

JRu 5: Wandering the Old City

2011-09-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm way (a week) behind. I will try to do some extra updating in this post. I am supposed to be writing a paper but blogging is way more fun. My last update was for Thursday of last week. On to Friday.

Friday, September 2nd (Happy Birthday, Mom!)

Because half of our group had not yet arrived, they cancelled classes and created a mini-field trip for us. We went to the Israel Museum in the morning. We had about two and a half hours to wander the museum. They have a huge archaeological wing and we have an assignment to complete a museum checklist. We had to find a bunch of items in the museum and then we have to pick four items that we want to write a paper about. We just barely made it through the checklist before we had to leave. Here are some of the highlights we saw:

Really old churn
A cartouche on a sea shell (In the Egyptian section)
hanging loom
Canaanite and Israelite artifacts
"Sword of Laban" (the type of sword he would have had)
The dead sea scrolls (there is actually quite a controversy about that.)

We had a little picnic with our sack lunches out in front of the museum before we headed off to the garden tomb. The garden tomb is owned and run by a christian group based out of London. A few of the council members have some issues in the church, so we comply with their rule to not bring any restoration scripture (BOM, D&C or Pearl of Great Price) into the garden, which means I can't bring my scriptures at all since I have a quad.

We got to the garden tomb a little early, so we waited outside for them to open the gates. They close between noon and two to eat and pray. While we waited, we sang a few hymns. When they opened the gates, one of the gentlemen came out and said, "You must be mormons!" We will be singing a lot on this journey.

We went in and had a tour, spent some time at the tomb and then we all met again in a little canopied area. We had a short biblical devotional and then we sang "I Believe in Christ" and "I know that my Redeemer lives." Considering we have never practiced or sang together, we did really well. We even had some other people who were in the garden come and listen to us. The spirit felt so strong as we sang and it was so nice to be in a place where there was peace and we could feel close to the Lord.

They gave us the option to explore the city or go back to the center. We decided to explore the city. My sister, our new friend Elyse, and I wandered through the city. We went in Damascus gate and then wandered over to the Church of the Holy Seplecher. Then we decided to try to find the Jewish Quarter and the western wall. We were really lucky because we ended up there before leaving out the Dung gate and wandering back to the center. It was super fun and super exhausting.

{Okay, this took me a really long time to write, so I am going to post it and then work on a new post.}

JRu 4: I am the Beibs (part 2)

2011-09-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Our flights were thankfully not eventful, well besides the cute little jewish family that sat in font of us on the way from JFK to Tel Aviv. They were a little crazy. Oh, and we had some crazy medical emergency on our flight from Atlanta to JFK. Yeah, they had to ask for medical specialists and everything. Luckily, everything was okay and we made it here in one piece, luggage and all.

That was the good news for the 30 of us flying Delta. The sad news was that the rest of the group was flying US Airways and they were stranded in Phoenix. Yeah. It sucks. Their flight to Philly got canceled, so they missed their flight to Tel Aviv. We hate US Airways. My family and I flew US Airways this summer and 4 of our 5 flights were delayed and one was canceled. My sister and I were so glad we were flying Delta and we had good reason to be glad.

We arrived at the center and that evening and the following day were orientation. We had our pictures taken, learned the rules, talked about the new schedule they were changing because of the late arrivals. Originally they thought that the other students wouldn't be getting her for a week. But things keep changing.

The reason I bring up the Beibs is that we feel famous. First, I took a class from one of my professors. Now he is my professor again. Plus, we are getting a lot of attention because we are sisters. We have been nicknamed the sisters Quist. Also, we were in Israel for two days about a month ago and our tour guide, Gio, is best friends with one of the directors here at the center.

When we went to go take pictures for our security cards, the security guard heard my sister's name and asked if she had been here for a month. She said no. I then explained that we had been here about a month ago. He said, "yeah, with Gio, right?" We confirmed that, but we felt so famous.

It has just been a lot of famous this week.

JRu 3: Urban Camping

2011-09-05T02:42:00.000-07:00

The rest of the weekend was not quite as eventful. We stayed with some family friends our second night. Our third night we stayed with a good friend of mine. She and her two roommates just moved into a house that is HUGE. It is only zoned to have three single people live there, so they have tons of extra space. So, they were letting friend stay there. My sister and I were staying there so we got to participate in "Urban Camping."

"What is Urban Camping?" you ask. Well, they had 5 extra girls staying with them, so they didn't have exactly enough beds. So, my sister and I made beds on the floor using couch cushions, pillows and blankets. I actually slept well considering the random conglomeration that I was sleeping on.

We had orientation in Provo for the program. The point of the orientation is to scare us into submission. I was going in prepared and it still scared me enough to keep me from sleeping that night. They talked about getting assaulted and getting pick pocketed. I was just in Jerusalem and it wasn't a problem.

We spent the night in Salt Lake. It wasn't much of a night because we had to get up at 3:30 to be at the airport at 4:30. Yes, AM, 4:30 AM. And I didn't sleep, so our cross continent travel started off with a bang.

JRu 2: Marry a Football Player?

2011-09-04T02:42:00.000-07:00

To continue my saga. My last weekend in the US was a crazy whirlwind of adventure. After Temple Square we headed down to Orem to stay at my Aunt's house. My cousin, B, returned from her mission a few weeks ago and we wanted to see each other before I left the country, again.

The crazy part was that B was going to start school on Monday at Utah State University. Therefore we were going with her up to Logan on Saturday. We had a really good time catching up before we took the perilous journey north. Okay, it wasn't so perilous but it was adventurous. We stopped at two Best Buys to find a computer for B and we stopped at Hires Big H to have a family lunch. It was preshically awkward. I don't really know how I am related to all these people sometimes. It was good though to be reunied after so long.

Now the most hilarious part of this whole story happened in Logan. After dropping B's stuff off in her new appartment, we all went and got ice cream at the USU creamery. As we are getting ice cream, I notice that one of the girls working there looks really familiar. I am pretty sure she served her mission with me, but I couldn't remember her name. I looked at her nametag and it said, ", English." I knew that I didn't serve with a Sister English, so I brushed it off. Especially since I thought she had seen me, so she didn't act like she recognized me.

Just as I was about to order, she looks at me and says, "I know you." I then asked if she served in my mission, she said yes. Then I told her my name and she told me her last name, Irish. I explained that I had seen her nametag. She laughed. The second part is not the last name, but the major of the student working there. No wonder it wasn't familiar. Man, I'm back to being the Beibs again...

We ate our ice cream outside on a bench. My sister, my aunt, my younger cousin, my grandma, B, and I were sitting in a row and my grandpa stood in front of us. This college boy walked behind our row looking at all of us and then stopped right in front of me. Then he looked down. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was a ring check. I looked up at him and he said "Hi." The following conversation is what really happened.

Me: Hi.

Him: (with reference to my BYU-Idaho shirt) Oh, you go to BYU-Idaho and are just down here hanging out?

Me: Actually, my cousin goes here and we are helping her move in. (gesturing to B)

Him: But you go to BYU-Idaho? (as he sits down next to me)

Me: No, I got to BYU.

Him: Provo? (Sidenote: I HATE it when the call it BYU-Provo, it's just BYU. If you have to distinguish, it would be BYU-Utah)

Me: Yep.

Him: So, are you really good friends with some football players?

Me: Actually, I just got back from a mission, so I don't really know anyone there anymore.

Him: But you want to be friends with football players like ?

Me: Actually, I am not really into football.

Him: But you want to marry a football player?

Me: um....

My Grandpa: Was that a proposal?

Him: I'm not a football player. (runs away)

No joke.

What is my life coming to?

Although, he did present a good question; do I want to marry a football player?

JRu 1: I feel like the Beibs

2011-09-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

As I promised here starts my log of my time in Jerusalem. We got on our flight the morning of Tuesday, August 30, 2011, however, my journey was prefaced by a short jaunt in Utah. My sister and I left California the friday before (August 26^th). Upon arrival, we took a shuttle to Temple Square. Right now at Temple Square, it is about 50/50 of sisters that I know vs. sisters I don't know, which if you do the math, is about one sister in each companionship.

Of course, that mean that I was stopped by almost every companionship to talk to them before I could walk another few yards. The problem with this was that I was trying to meet two of my companions for lunch, so the constant stopping was not really helping. However, there were a lot of sisters I wanted to see and it was great that I got to see them.

I finally met up with my two companions and we headed off to lunch. We went to a nearby food court to eat. Almost as soon as I walked in I was greeted by a missionary I was with in the MTC. She served in a different mission, but we were really close in the MTC and we wrote to each other. I was so excited to see her but rather surprised by the miracle of running into her.

Later, as I was leaving the food court, I ran into another missionary I served with. We chatted for a few minutes before I headed back to Temple Square. I was a little overwhelmed by all the people I was seeing. I am not used to getting so much attention.

As we walked around the Square, I found more sisters I knew. The best reaction came from one of my favorite sisters. I lived with her my last transfer of my mission and she was in her second transfer. As I walked into the south visitor's center, she looked at me like I had returned from the dead. She gave me a hug and touched my hair. She acted so shocked.

It was then that my sister and her friend decided that I was the Biebs (aka celebrity status like Justin Beiber). This continued as we walked around the square. I felt a little bad that they were my little possy. Sometimes it is really hard to be the Beibs.

Emails...

2011-05-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

As I was cleaning out my inbox of emails, I found this and thought this was funny. I don't have children. I'm not even married. But I always joke with my friends that I will have all sons because I don't know what to do with little boys. After reading this, I don't want sons. And after reading 25, I'm not sure I want a husband either....

Enjoy!

And you also find out interesting things when you have sons, like...

A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. Ft. House 4 inches deep.
If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with Roller blades, they can ignite.
A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a Crowded restaurant.
If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not Strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and A Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint Can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a Few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a Long way.
The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a Baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's Already too late.
Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even Though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-Year old Boy.
Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same Sentence.
Super glue is forever.
No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you Still can't walk on water.
Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
VCR's do not eject "PB &J" sandwiches even though TV Commercials show they do.
Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys Do not like ovens.
The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response Time.
The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make Earthworms dizzy.
It will, however, make cats dizzy.
Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their Friends, with or without kids.
80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Welcome Back?

2011-03-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I'm back from my long absence. I was on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 18 months. I was serving as a missionary in Salt Lake City at Temple Square, a historic site and visitor's Center. It was loads of fun and an amazing experience. I am so glad I was able to serve and share my love with those I met from all over the world.

Because of the focus we need as missionaries, we give up a lot of "normal" things. One of which was blogging for me. Which is why there was such an absence of posts. Sorry. I am back now and I think I will start posting stories from my time away. I am excited to share the many things I learned about myself and the world.

Anyway, I mention this because I had changed the settings of my blog so that I would moderate the comments. Well, I finally logged in to my blog and guess what? Yes, I have 55 unmoderated comments, which is not much considering how long I was gone, however, the majority of them were spam comments. I was appalled! Why would someone desecrate my writing space. I guess it is a good thing I moderate these comments!

Anyway, look for more updates here.

My life would suck without you.

2009-07-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

I usually don't listen to podcasts. However, I have recently come across a website that has caught my attention. The website is called What You Ought to Know. They do these little video segments where they talk about a specific topic. The topics range from Duct tape to the war in Iraq. The best part is that it is informative as well as funny.

everyone should check it out!

Apologies

2009-07-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that I have been slacking as a bloger. I know Elisa, I will try to make it up to you. It has also come to my attention that I can write posts and then set the time I want them to be published (aka in the future). This means that I can write lots of posts one day and spread the pubishing out for a few. That is the best thing since sliced bread. (okay, maybe that is not true).

I feel like right now a lot of people are having a hard time determining the purpose of their blog. I'm finding that I am having a hard time with that right now. One of my friends does lists of why she loves someone or something. I really like that but I don't want to steal that from her.

Recently, my blog has been more about my life but I get a little nervous about posting so much information about myself on the internet just open to anyone. Plus, I'm not really a writer. I'm a physics major for heaven's sake! We aren't really known for our writing abilities. That is part of the reason I wanted to start writing a blog. I figure if I practice writing even in an informal way, I will become a better writer. I'm not sure if this is successful.

I do have a lot of stories to tell. Maybe I should work on telling them. That was what my blog was sort of becoming a little while ago. I will keep pondering the reasons I am writing and maybe I will have an epiphany.

I'm back!

2009-06-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a while and I was really hoping that I would update a lot this summer because after that I will be gone for a very long time and my blog will probably sit pretty idle. That makes me super sad. How long will my blog be saved if I am not using it? That's a sad thought. Hopefully a while.

So, I am reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskill. I am LOVING it. I am still trying to figure out why I like books of that period so much. Especially since the way that the couples "fall in love" is so superficial. However, watching the BBC version of this book is super yummy. I saw Richard Armitage in Robin Hood and he looks even better in North and South.

Anyway, I should stop with my long list of yummy men who are in movies. Nothing really exciting is happening here except I am now being trained to be a server at Rok. We'll see how I do at serving.

I'm not sure what else I should write about except I am supposed to finish telling about my trip to New York. Hmmm.... Maybe I should get on that.

mmm...food.

2009-06-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

So, I feel like I should write a post centered on food. I love food. I am curently working at a restaurant and I eat so I am around food a good portion of my day. Although, my attitudes about the food I am around are constantly changing.

It's actually really bad that I love it so much because sometimes I have a hard time balancing my caloric intake. However, I am trying to redifine my relationship to food which I think is important. I believe that the American people have a very bad attitude toward food and that is one of the BIG reasons that we are an obease, unhappy, unhealthy nation. This is also why the diet industry is huge.

The first thing I realized is that I don't listen to my body enough when I am preparing to eat. My body knows what it is lacking and I should satisfy that need. If I don't, I end up eating lots of calories trying to fill the void but end up constantly disappointed and hundreads of calories over what I need.

I also realized that we have a terrible obsession with meat. We are producing more greenhouse gasses by eating so much meat than we do from cars. The Word of Wisdom says we are supposed to eat meat sparingly. Eating meat at every meal is NOT sparingly. I also know people who are becoming vegetarians or vegans. It's not good to do that either. We need meat for certain nutrients that can't be replaced by other foods.

Also, one of the biggest problems is over eating. We have huge portions of food and we eat the whole thing. We are trained to think that we need to eat all the food in front of us. That is VERY unhealthy. It is bad to be wasteful but we don't have to overendulge to not be wasteful. I just wish we were better about food.

There's only 1 way 2 say 3 words...

2009-06-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

By request, I am going to tell a little about my trip to New York. This will probably be a few posts of an update. I went to my cousin's wedding in New York but my family went for a whole week since we have never gone to New England as a family.

We got there Saturday night and drove from JFK to Scranton, Pennsylvania. We spent the night there. We did not go to Dunder Mifflin but we did go to church there. It was kind of a weird sacrament meeting and it was SUPER hot in the chapel. We also got lost on the way to the church, which was kind of a reoccurring theme of our trip. The rest of that Sunday we spend driving to Palmyra, New York and looking at the sites there.

We first went to the Grandin Building and saw how The Book of Mormon was published originally. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. Then we drove to the Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove. It was really cool to be in the places where the church was restored. The Sacred Grove was beautiful and very quiet when my siblings weren't being loud and whiney.

These are some of the pictures I took of the Sacred Grove.

We then called it a day and grabbed some dinner and then some ice cream at a place called Brad and Dad's. The ice cream was delicious and some of the best ice cream I have ever had.

To be continued...

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears...

2009-06-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow is my birthday and as far as I know, it is going to be the same old, same old lameness. I have gotten to a point in my life where I usually don't end up in tears on my birthday espeically now that I go to BYU and I am usually home for the summer when my birthday occurs (aka, friendless). Plus, two of my friends are leaving tomorrow. (well, one of my friends is leaving Chicago to go to France, so she wasn't really close by anyway, but still...)

I don't mean to sound whiny or complainy or heartless. Mostly, I don't really get the big deal with birthdays. Yay, it's a day to celebrate ourselves! That seems a little self centered to me. And it is a time for people to show how much they appreciate you. Well, I generally find that people show how much they love you spontenously and in ways that mean more than the obligation of a gift on your birthday.

I feel this same way about Valentines day. Why on earth should I celebrate the love I have for someone on a day dictated by "the world?" The nicest things people have done for me or said to me have not happened on my birthday or valentines day, they happen randomly.

Who doesn't like a little random?

Oh, and I think I am getting sick. But I had fun at my cousin's wedding which I will update about a little later.

Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?

2009-05-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

So, I have come to a realization. This may not be something that surprised most of the people who know me but it was something that I had never realized about myself. It appears that I am very expressive even when I don't know that I am being expressive. I have had people tell me that I look scared when I didn't realize that I was scared.

I know that I have a very expressive face because of what people have told me as I have grown up but I guess I always thought that I could hide how I feel fairly well. I guess not. I guess I am more of an open book than I realized. And apparently I am very scared of a lot of things. Actually, that was something I already knew about myself.

I think the most fascinating things is to know what other people think of me. I'm not talking about what my friends and family think because they see me for the person I am. I wonder what people automatically assume about me when they first look at me. Am I pretty? Do I look friendly? Do I look snobby? Do I look like I am smart? Do I look like I am scared? Do I look stupid? The problem is that once I am close enough to someone to ask them what they thought about me, I usually don't remember what I thought and neither do they.

oh, well...

If I could make all the mountains, spell your name...

2009-05-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

I really love this YouTube video. I think it is because right now, this song is sort of the theme song of my life and I absolutely ADORE this movie. There is something about North and South and Pride and Prejudice that gets me everytime.

Speaking of Pride and Prejudice, I have been thinking a lot about why the general male population does not like Pride and Prejudice. I am trying to figure out what makes me like it so much, but it is hard to quantify my reasoning. I think part of it is that I identify with Elizabeth. Also, I like to talk a lot and I think I feel the tention of the words.

I was talking to my friend and he said he didn't like Austen's books because he felt like nothing happened. Maybe they appeal to me because I can build things up on my own. I don't need things to happen to feel suspense, I can get that from reading the words.

Any ideas why many girls love the book but a lot of guys hate it?

I wanted to write you a verse....

2009-05-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

I love to read. I espeically love the summer because I get to read more than I usually do during the year. I decided to write a post listing all the books I want to read this summer because I do better when I have a list I can add to and check things off with.

Also, devoted readers, I LOVE reading suggestions. So, if you know of books you think I should read, let me know and I will submit them to the reading council ;)

Books to read this summer (in no particular order):

Book of Mormon (maybe in Icelandic as well)
North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Mansfeild Park by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Book Theif by Markus Zusak
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Notre-Dame of Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) by Victor Hugo
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Books read: 0

Books to read: 22

Most of these books are from the challenge I took last year and I never got around to reading. Let's see if that is different this year. I would REALLY love suggestions though.

Suddenly I see, this is what I want to be!

2009-05-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in a few days. I was doing so well. I have had a tab with an empty post open for quite a few days but I haven't thought of anything good to say.

When i grabbed my scriptures today, all the stuff in them fell out. As I was putting all the little inserts and handouts back in my scriptures, I realized that I have a lot of stuff from YW that has to do with going to the temple. I saw this stuff and realized the goal of going to the temple was soon going to be a reality. I have been super excited about this milestone in my life but it was weird to think about how long I have been "preparing" myself to achieve this goal.

Anyway, I have a part time job working at my parent's restaurant but I won't start working there until after I return from New York. I am TOTALLY excited for this trip. I am nostly excited to have tons of new pictures to choose from for my new profile picture on facebook. Yeah, I know, I'm a dork. Oh, and my cousin is getting married. WHOOHOO!!!

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone.

2009-05-11T22:56:00.001-07:00

I have been whining on my blog a lot about how much I miss my friends in Provo. Well, things are looking up for you my dedicated readers. Today, I spent about ten hours with a friend of mine. It was really nice to catch up and talk about all the things we have never talked about.

We also went and saw the Star Trek movie. It was REALLY good. I totally recommend it to anyone. It is not just a movie for those who are Star Trek lovers. Everyone will enjoy this film. I found that it was suspenseful and full of surprises without being too dirty or crude.

On a totally unrealated note, I was thinking about how hard it was for me to come home this year from school and it gave me more perspective on how hard it is for missionaries to return home. That doesn't make me very excited to come home from the mission I'm not even on. WEIRD!

White and nerdy

2009-05-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am such a nerd. I really want to go see star trek the new movie. It looks really good and it has gotten really good ratings. So, hopefully I will get to see it soon.

Spurred by the desire to see the Star Trek movie, I started learning about the Star Trek series. I am now in the process of watching the first Star Trek series. Yeah, I know, I am such a nerd. Well, I guess it is more surprising that I am not a closet trekie. My dad watched star trek and my dad and I watched Stargate and Dr Who together. I guess this was inevitable.

Well, if anyone cares, you can watch all of Star Trek: the original series on CBS. I think they are remastered or something. Anyway, I am not sure how I feel about them yet. I mean, they are no Stargate (hee hee hee). Actually, they are really fun to watch because it is "in the future" but the tools are archaic looking compared to the tools of sci-fi movies and tv shows today. I know it is to be expected but I still think it is funny.

I am not sure if I will be converted to a trekie but I think it is to late for me as far as becoming a nerd. Oh well, I like being nerdy. It means I can say things that are really nerdy and not feel weird about it.

All of the people start to rush, start to rush by...

2009-05-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

I really don't have the energy to think of something and write about it today, so I am going to do this "survey." Sorry if you don't care. It is more for me to see what cool stuff I have done. I've bolded all the things that I have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I don't think our roommate band counts)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/DisneyWorld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept overnight on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dippin
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden a gondola in Switzerland
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (I've been to Sweeden, I'm counting that)
35. Seen Amish country
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. One cavity or less

What a to do to die today at a minute or two to two.

2009-05-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

I was going to write my passing out (in light of my apparent medical theme) story on here today, but it is going to be a SUPER long post and I don't really want to right now. Instead, I will write a whole lot of nonsense today.

Right now, I am looking for good Bollywood movies. I really want to find this one movie that I saw pieces of at my friend's apartment. I can't find it. I don't remember the name all I know is that there was a guy who went to a school for boys and he fell in love with the schoolmaster's daughter. Something happens and she dies. He leaves but comes back later and tricks the schoolmaster into letting him teach at the school. The teacher starts to stir things up.

That's as far as I got. I REALLY want to know the title so I can find it. If anyone has any idea, let me know.

I really don't want to get a job. No, I really don't want to keep looking for a job. Finding a job is hard and since I haven't had the greatest jobs the past few summers, it is really hard for me to find the motivation to go and find a job. Oh, well...

My poor little head...

2009-05-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

I am a pretty healthy person, but I have had quite a few strange medical experiences. Last night, I was talking with my family and one of my stories came up and I thought I would share it.

It was Thanksgiving quite a few years ago. We were having a big Thanksgiving dinner at our house and I think we were having a dutch oven thanksgiving dinner. All the kids were playing outside (it's November in California so of course we were playing outside).

My friend, Megan, and I were fighting with my sister for some reason. We went out to the front yard and my sister locked us out. We knew we could get back into the house if we simply hopped the fence. I was a lot shorter then and hoping fences is not really my strongest suit.

So, we went over to the side of the house by the fence and obviously noticed that I wasn't going to be able to get over the fence without some sort of step to help me up. I noticed some bricks around the base of the little palm tree in our yard and decided that I would use the bricks to get up.

BAD idea. It turns out, the palm tree had grown around the bricks and from what I can tell, the tree had actually incorporated the brick into itself. So, I was sitting there trying to detach the brick from the tree and I leaned in to get better leverage and the tree decided to attack. One of the palm leaves decided it would be fun to stick itself into my head, so it did.

My head started bleeding (it really was a minor injury) but since I freak out when I see blood, I started freaking out. I ran to the door and started banging trying to get someone to let me in. According to my sister, she was inside and my mom asked her who was at the door. She replied that i was at the door and then my mom asked if I was okay. My sister said yes and walked away.

Eventually, my mom answered my door banging and I was bandaged up. I was fine and I don't even think that I have a scar from it. However, how many people can say they have been stabbed by a palm tree? (okay, maybe a lot more than I think)

I guess the moral of this story is that I am smart enough to get myself in trouble.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!

2009-05-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

I don't date much and I have never had a boyfriend. It's not a big deal to me but it is to some of the people in my life.

I have this really good friend with whom I went to high school. She has also never had a boyfriend. We would friend-fight about it all the time. So, we made a bet. We bet that the other person would get a boyfriend first. The loser had to get ice cream for the winner.

Well, I WON!!! I got my ice cream last night and got to meet my friend's boyfriend. It was delicious. The best part of the whole deal is that my friend told her boyfriend that she had this bet going and that she wasn't sure if she wanted to be his girlfriend. He said, "well, I'll pay for her ice cream." That's how he won her :)

The thing is, I am not sure if I really got the better deal....

Girls are so silly

2009-05-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I am sure this is not news to anyone but I thought I would state it again. Here's a little back story. I like to read. I read most anything. There is only one book that I absolutely hated and didn't finish and I think I should go back and read it again.

Anyway, the books of choice right now in my household are cheesy LDS romance novels. Since I am lazy and we have two shelves full of them I end up reading a few when I am home. Plus, they are so easy to read I get through them in no time.

I was reading one of these books today and I started going crazy because the main girl is so silly and because these books are so unrealistic. Maybe I am just as silly as other girls are and I am trying to pretend like I am not, however, I get frustrated when these girls assume things and get themselves all worked into a tizzy when nothing is wrong in the first place.

Secondly, these books are what single girls run to because they are full of romance and love but that is so not real life. There is no guy out there who always brings chocolates to a girl every time he sees her. As great as that would be, I would feel really silly if a guy gave me presents all the time and i just acted like a silly girl and freaked out about everything.

I hope this post doesn't sound bitter. I just think that a lot of what is wrong about relationships and marriage comes from unrealistic expectations. It kills me a little that people get divorced after only being married a few years over silly things. Just a reminder to everyone, marriage is NOT a solution and it is NOT easy.

If marriage were easy it would not have such great rewards. It is the greatest challenge in this life which is why it has the greatest reward in the life to come. Doesn't that make sense?

Why haven't I done these?

2009-05-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

I found this in my email. I don't know why I haven't done this before. I am a little sad I didn't remember about this email because I think my roommates this year would have been good participants this semester. My favorite are the last three. Hmmm...where can I get traffic signs?

How to Confuse your Roommate.

1. Every time you enter the room, sit in a chair, lean back too far, and fall over backwards. Laugh hysterically for about ten minutes. Then, one day, repeat the falling-over exercise, but instead of laughing, get up, look at the chair sternly, and say, "It's not funny anymore."

2. Get a surfboard. Put it on your bed. Stand on it, and pretend to surf for about fifteen minutes. Then, pretend to "wipe out," and fall off the bed onto the floor. Pretend you are drowning until your roommate comes over to "rescue" you.

3. Make toast for breakfast every morning, but don't plug the toaster in. Eat the plain bread, looking at the toaster angrily, and complain that the toaster doesn't know what it's doing. If your roommate suggests plugging it in, go on a tangent about fire-safety hazards.

4. Pack up all of your things and tell your roommate that you're going away to "find yourself." Leave, and come back in about ten minutes. If your roommate asks, explain that you're not a hard man to find.

5. Never speak to your roommate directly. If you need to ask or tell him/her something, go to another room and call him/her on the phone.

6. Every time your roommate falls asleep, wait ten minutes, and then wake him/her up and say, "It's time to go to bed now."

7. Recite "Dr. Seuss" books, all the time. Eventually, think up melodies for the words and sing them, loudly, directly to your roommate. If he/she tells you to stop, act offended and spend the day in bed.

8. Put up traffic signs around the room. If your roommate doesn't obey them, give him/her tickets. Confiscate something your roommate owns until he/she pays the tickets.

9. Walk, talk, and dress like a cowboy at all times. If your roommate inquires, tell him/her, "Don't worry little buckaroo. You'll be safe with me."

10. Dress like a military officer. Insist that your roommate salute you upon sight. If he/she refuses, insist that he/she do 100 push-ups. Keep saying things like, "Your momma isn't here to take care of you any more." Ü

Just keep swimming...

2009-05-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

I was watching the amazing race a few nights ago and one of the challenges was a choice between swimming a 400 relay with your teammate (aka a 200 each) or doing synchronized diving. What surprised me the most about this episode was how afraid of the water one of the participants was. That is so bizarre to me.

I have grown up loving to swim. When I was little we lived near my great uncle and every night during the summer we would swim in his pool and sometimes eat over there. I love the water! In fact, for most of my life I have secretly wanted to be a mermaid.

That love never died which is why I played water polo in high school. Even today, my favorite form of exercise is to swim. I can't wait for it to be warm enough for me be able to swim in my parent's pool this summer.

I have also decided what I should have been doing all my life. I want to learn how to do synchronized swimming. It involved my two vary favorite things, water and theatre/dance. How much more perfect could that be?

Now I just need to find a team....

The rain in spain...

2009-05-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

It's raining here. What is that? It's raining? Isn't it supposed to be warm in California? This weather is really killing me.

I can't wait for it to be hot enough to go swimming in our pool and sit outside and eat dinner. We have a beautiful backyard and I want to enjoy it but it is a little hard when it is raining outside.

And now for something different.

I'm kind of having a hard time at home. I miss having my own space. I don't really have a room or a bed anymore since we moved to a new house. I don't really know where to put my stuff.

The other thing is that I don't really have friends here. I miss having my friends so close by like when I was at school. I guess I am just in kind of a bad place at the current moment so maybe I shouldn't be blogging. Well, my blogging audience, I'm sorry. It's all this blasted rain!

The everlasting job hunt

2009-04-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

I feel like it is so hard to find a job. I am at the point again where I need to find a job but I know what it is like to have a terrible job and I really want a job that I actually like.

I have actually made some good progress today but I think I am dragging my feet because I really don't want to work for the summer. No, that's not true. I don't want to have a job I don't want to do for the summer.

Oh well, I guess we all have to suck it up and take one for the team.

It might as well be spring.

2009-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

I'm healing and as each day passes, I feel a little bit better. I am very excited because I have lots of things to do once I feel well again. I have two possible job opportunities which I am trying to pursue.

However, the thing that gets me the most excited is that my mom and I are going to start a garden. I am not sure how successful we will be as gardeners but we are going to try.

The thought of home grown tomatoes, carrots and peas is so very enticing! I really hope that it works out and we actually garden well. Here's to hoping for delicious tomatoes, carrots, and peas!

2009-04-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from blogging for a while which is sad because I was doing so well at updating daily. To be fair though, I have a legitimate excuse. I had my gall bladder out on Friday so I am healing and bumming around and stuff.

However, I will give you a little taste of what happened at the hospital. First, my surgery was scheduled for 7:30am so they wanted us to be at the hospital at 5:30. I flew into the San Jose Airport at 10:10pm the night before and didn't get to bed until after midnight, so the 5:30 wake up call was not so happily anticipated.

We got to the hospital and got to sit there for most of the 2 hours and do nothing. (okay, I changed into a hospital gown and booties, they took my vitals and I got my I.V. installed). Then, they wheeled me into the OR and they put me on the table. The anesthesiologist leaned over my head and said, "time for the good stuff." It was over. I don't remember anything else. WEIRD!!!

I woke up about an hour later in the post-op room and slowly came to terms with my surroundings. Shortly after coming to and talking to the nurse for a while, I was wheeled to a different room for a few hours until I accomplished my leaving tasks and then I was allowed to leave. My leaving tasks were:

- go to the bathroom
- keep down some crackers and water
- walk around
- not be in too much pain or nauseated

I accomplished the list in about 2 hours and then I went home to continue to be bored because there is not much you can do when you just had surgery.

So, to end this post, I thought I would write down a few first of this experience.
It was the first time I had:

- anesthesia
- oxygen mask
- heart monitor
- breathing tube
- these circulation booties (they went from my knee to my ankle and they tightened and release helping circulation so i don't get blood clots)
- surgery
- been in an operating room
- been wheeled around in a gurney
- been in a hospital gown and booties

Oh, I also got a souvenir water bottle! Whoohoo!!!

cuz everytime we touch I get this feeling...

2009-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

So, before my story of the day, I would like to bring something up that is related to the story. People don't touch me often. I don't have a problem with people touching me (obviously if it is not inappropriate) but most people don't and I am not sure why. I assumed it was because people are generally pretty conservative when it comes to touching others no i wonder if it has something to do with me.

The reason I bring this up is that I have been visiting my friends apartment and two of the guys who live there are fairly touchy. Since it is not common for guys to put their arm around me or for them to put their hand on my knee. It was just a little surprising.

So, for the story. This is my little Icelandic Saga:

I'm in an Icelandic class this semester and I have two classmates. Yep, that's right, just two. One of them is my former roommate and the other is in my ward. I am really good friends with both of them. Since there are only three of us, class is a little different than it is in most other classes.

One day, the guy in my ward, we'll call him B-dawg, forgot his book for class. So, he scooted his desk next to mine and shared my book with me. I was in the middle of reading a sentence from the book when I felt him stroke my thigh. I immediately started to laugh and then had to refocus on the book to finish my sentence.

I finished and gave him a puzzled look. He looked back at me innocently. Our teacher and the rest of the class (aka my friend) were siting there a little confused. I looked at our teacher and I wasn't sure if i was supposed to continue reading. It turns out it was B-dawg's turn.

I tried to confront him about and he brushed me off. The next day in class he forgot his book again (okay, every time I tell this story whoever I am telling it to says, "oh, he 'forgot his book again.' I get it." with a wink. No, really, he forgot his book. We had the schedule mixed up for class, so he brought the wrong books to class that day).

Anyway, we were sharing a book and he did it again! This time, I was determined not to give a reaction and I didn't. After class, we were packing up and talking I asked him about it. He didn't really answer but then he said, "you didn't give a reaction. You liked it!" Then, he turned to our teacher and said, "Nicole's coming on to me in class."

My poor teacher didn't know what to do with himself. i laughed it off and let it go. It has happened a few times since then but it has mostly died off. I guess the moral of the story is my thighs are great for stroking ;)

I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream...

2009-04-21T12:47:00.001-07:00

In high school I had lots of friends but I never dated anyone. This really was not an issue. I liked having friends and it seemed really irrelevant to try and date any of my friends (I did have a few crushes; I'm not devoid of feeling).

Also, I spent a lot of time in high school (and this continues in college) wondering if guys were even remotely interested in me. Well, I found out one bright summer day.

I park my car on a side street by the school. I didn't think that many people knew where my car was or what my car looked like. It turns out my "secret admirer" did. I walked to my car like usual after school one day and saw something weird on my windshield.

Well, it turns out, that there was a zip-lock bag about 1/3 filled with mini marshmallows and a note. The note read:

Nicole,
I have been watching you from afar. Your sweet spirit warms my heart.
Your secret admirer

I didn't believe it was actually from a guy. I thought it was from one of my friends playing a prank on me. I asked all my friends and none of them said they did it. I still to this day don't know who has been "watching me from afar." CREEPY!!!

School's out for the summer

2009-04-20T18:04:00.001-07:00

Actually, school is not out for the summer but my roommate got that song stuck in my head. It's killing me!

However, that is not what I want to blog about today. I can't decide what I want to blog about. I don't think I want to talk about going away or all the sadness and I am pretty sure I don't want to talk about the little breakdown I had just recently. Hmm...

I have contemplated doing a lot of things with my blog. I am never quite sure what direction I should go in. I would never make it my "journal/diary" because there are somethings that I just don't want the whole world to know. I have thought about writing book reviews and movie reviews but I am not sure I have super defined opinions about books and movies. I am also not politically active to write political commentaries. Maybe I should start writing about all the funny stories that happen in my life. After all, I am a story girl.

Family Story #1

Okay, first story. My little sister will turn 8 this year but when she was littler, she noticed that people used air quotes. Well, she was to young to realize the true use of air quotes but she also appears to have not noticed the correct way to air quote.

So, she would use air quotes but she would use her first three fingers instead of just her first two. She would use them in sentences like "I'm going to the "'store.'"" Well, she was actually going to the store so the air quotes don't make that much sense.

She then evolved to using her middle two fingers (aka middle finger and ring finger) for her quotes, which is really awkward to do. She continued to use them improperly. It then evolved to the first three fingers on one hand and the first two fingers on the other. How that happened, I don't know. Eventually, she grew out of it (probably because she couldn't understand what they were actually used for).

Well, this week, I was hanging out and Elisa's house and I was talking with one of her roommates. I told her this story about my little sister's air quotes. Now Elisa's roommate uses awkward air quotes (either three or the two middle ones). It is pretty awesome.

Well, I think I am going to "'stop'" writing in my blog now.

I curious incident...

2009-04-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Something has come to my attention recently. I realized that the majority of the conversations that I have at BYU are about dating. It doesn't matter who I am talking to, we are always talking about dating. It is kind of insane. I just don't get it. I don't know what I talked about with people before I came to BYU. What has happened to me?

I think the funniest part of these last few days was that my friend told me that he finds himself talking to girls about gossipy stuff. He also mentioned that there were very few people he would really open up to. He mentioned that I was one of them. However, the majority of the time we talk about dating. It may be different but it still seems gossipy.

I have also noticed a change in myself. I am obsessed with boys. It may not be over the top and very apparent but I am. I feel like I have lost who I am because I am so obsessed with dating and getting married. I know it is important but I feel like it's all I think about and talk about. I really love going home because I feel like I become sane again. I'm coming home to sanity!

Suddenly I see...

2009-04-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

So, girls are usually pretty self conscious; that is why we like compliments. Each girl is different and it depending on the girl, it depends how self conscious she is. I am mostly bringing this up because being a girl, I am also self conscious. Now usually, I don't think about it that much. I have a pretty good self esteem, I don't care what I look like which is why I don't usually wear make-up (although my roommates are taking me over to the dark side....)

So, I think I usually act like I don't care what people think of me but I actually think about it more than I would like. Sometimes, I am a really mean person and it makes me kind of sad when I realize that I am being mean or have been mean. So, sometimes I don't know how many people actually like me.

Last night I had a really good time over at a friend's house. We played Guitar Hero and socialized for a while. I realized that people actually like me. It is really nice knowing people actually like you, you know?

On a semi related note, I sometimes wonder how people perceive me. I am sure I don't know what people think of me because I am biased. I actually know why I make all my decisions but how does that come across when I am with other people? I love personality analysis, so sometimes I want to ask people what they really think of me.

Anyway, enough about me. Last night at my friend's house I made some really good friends and now I am kicking myself that I didn't become friends with them earlier and actually spent time doing fun things together. Oh, well. There isn't much I can do about it now except move on. *Sigh*

If we hold on together...

2009-04-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

I know my last blog post was about how I am leaving all my friends behind but it is still something that is really weighing me down right now. Two of my friends came to visit me tonight and we had a really good time chatting for almost three hours. They also brought me peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. It really reminded me of how strong of a support group I have and how blessed I am.

I am also going to severely miss my roommates, especially the roommate I actually share a room with. We have become very close this year and I am going to miss the way she reacts to me and all of my ridiculousness. I think we have really grown a lot and learned a lot from each other. It is going to be hard to not see her for a while.

I also realized that I am really glad my roommate from last year and I are still so close. As much as I whined a lot about how I didn't have much of a social life last year, I am glad I spent so much time with my roommate instead. I don't think we would have ever become as good of friends if we hadn't talked for hours practically every night. Because of how different we are, I am pretty sure we would not have become friends without being forced to be together so much.

I was walking home with my ex-roommate and I realized that I don't really have a friend who brings out the same side in me. I am infinitely grateful that we are still friends and that we still spend time together. I think a lot of that is because we still have Icelandic that keeps us connected.

I know that after I get back from my mission, I will still have these friends even if they are not as easily accessible. I also know that I will make new friends and I will still be able to have a strong and loving support system. It is just a sort of bittersweet parting.

We're going to rock this town...

2009-04-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

As the semester wraps up, I realize that I am really going to miss a lot of things while I am on my mission. I have known it was going to be hard to be away from my family for so long. I am going to miss them a lot. But I know my family will still be there when I get back.

I didn't realize how many people will be gone for good when I get back. The majority of my friends will graduate in a year and they will all move on while I am serving the Lord. I know this is a good thing and I want them moving on to fulfill their dreams it is just weird. It is kind of hard to take it all in.

I think the thing that makes me the most sad is that I am not investing very much time in seeing people because I am broken. I am just waiting until I can go home and have my surgery.

On a completely unrelated note, I have been watching these silent films with my roommate from last year called Judex. They are REALLY good. I think my favorite thing about silent films is that I can talk during them and I don't feel bad because I am not missing anything. They are awesome.

Guess this means you're sorry...

2009-04-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

I remember in high school how everyone was involved in so much drama. I never really had that problem until this year. Seriously, I feel like I tried to cram all the drama I didn't have in high school into this one year of college.

First, there has been a lot of roommate drama bubbling under the surface of serenity. Some of it is just that people don't get a long. Other things are just miss communications. Some of it stems from that fact that people are non-confrontational. We have a lot of fun together but it can also be pretty bad. I guess that just comes with the territory of being a girl.

Secondly, I have a friend who was in my ward back home. We have had a...complicated relationship. It finally got to a point where I stopped talking to him. We are now in the process of rebuilding our friendship, I hope....

Thirdly, I realized that I really like this one guy a lot more than I realized. It's actually really bitey. There is only a week left in school, and then I am going home and then going on a mission. The worst part is that I could have actually done something about me liking him if I had only realized it sooner.

Oh well, I guess that's just life.

On a happy note, I got to see my really good friend today. I have missed her like crazy because we are both always so busy and she is married (aka she went to the dark side. JK Staice :) So, it was great being able to just talk to her for a while. We were always really good at just being able to talk. I'm going to miss not getting to see her for a long time.

One day more

2009-04-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

So, I love people. I mean, I love specific people but I also love people as that collection of wonderfully different individuals who change my life with the brief moments that we talk, share and show that we love.

I bring this up because of an experience I had on the airplane yesterday. I usually don't talk much to the people I sit next to on airplanes for various reasons some of which are my fault. Yesterday I was flying to Utah from California. I sat next to this very nice man who was returning from a business trip.

We talked for the full 2 hours while we were on the flight. We talked about everything from his new grandson to missions to having general authorities in his ward. We had a great conversation and I am glad I got to spend my time learning from him. Sometimes i wonder why I don't learn more about the people around me. If I am going to be a missionary, I should learn how to start talking to people, right?

And my eyes were opened

2009-04-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

It is curious how blind I can be sometimes. I walk through life thinking I know what is going on. Thinking I know what is right. I am glad that I go to church, listen to conference, read my scriptures and pray. Today my eyes were opened twice. I was able to see my life with new perspective.

The first was conference. It was wonderful listening to the prophets and apostles talk about the things we need to here. It reminded me of something I discovered earlier this semester. I realized that nothing gospel related will ever be addictive. It is part of our agency and no matter what, we will always have to make a conscious choice to choose the right whether that is choosing to go to the temple on a regular basis or choosing to read the scriptures daily. It will never be an "addiction."

Addictions of any kind are part of Satan's "plan." I realized that I have addictions that are getting in my way. I am not addicted to pornography or drugs but I am addicted to small things that are not bad things of themselves but they are pulling me away from the good things I could be doing. I need to remember that I can choose to be addicted or to do the things I should be doing.

The other thing I realized today was that I have been thinking about the temple in the wrong way. I am trying to prepare myself for my mission and for entering the temple so I have been spending more time studying about those things. I realized today, through study and talking to a friend of mine, that I have had the wrong perspective about the temple. The temple is a place I should want to go, which I do, but it is also a place where I will make serious covenants and I need to understand the gravity of what I am doing. I am grateful that with the Lord's help I can be ready to enter the temple when the time comes.

All at once

2009-03-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

I have been contemplating how my grades will turn out this semester. It is unfortunate but I don't believe I will do very well in a few of my classes. I feel a little hopeless because I feel trapped. I want to do well. I want to meet my commitments but I just don't have the will power to do it.

I have a cold now. It is just one thing in a long line of things wrong with my body. I want to go into hibernation and let my body heal but I just don't have the leisure. I guess I feel like I am drowning and I don't know how to save myself.

Help!

If music be the food of love

2009-03-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

I was in choir when I was in high school. It is one of the things I miss most about high school. I suppose I could join a choir at the Y but it wouldn't be the same. We weren't just a choir, we were family. The friends I have from choir are some of the best friends I have and today I miss them horribly.

I was looking through my music today and I found some of the recordings of the songs I sang in choir. We weren't fabulous but we were pretty dang good. As I listen to the music I realized that it has be a really long time since I have invested that much emotion into music.

It hurts terribly sometimes that high school is over. It is not that I don't love college but it is good in a different way. I will never develop the same kind of relationships with people in the same ways I did in high school. I will never have that same kind of experiences and that kills me.

I think what hurts the most is that I am a different person when I am at the Y and i don't know if that is a good thing. Why can't I be that ridiculous girl I used to be? Why do I let the stupid pressures of BYU get to me? I have lost my focus and I haven't even realized it. I want to be myself again!

And I want these words to make things right but it's the wrongs that make the words come to life.

2009-03-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

I spent last night at a friend's house. We hadn't seen each other in a while, so it was nice to catch up. We ate Chinese food and went to Sunflower market, which is one of my favorite stores ever.

At one point that night, we began talking about self image. It is curious, because the one thing that I am not quite sure of is whether or not guys actually care about how girls look. See, it would make sense that if girls were being conditioned to want to be thin and wear make-up and specific types of clothes, that guys would also be conditioned to look for girls who follow those "rules."

However, I have also been told that guys are mostly attracted to confidence. If this is true, it would make sense that girls who follow the "rules," would be more confidant than girls who don't because they think they are looking the way guys want them to look and that confidence attracts men so the stigma is enforced.

I guess what I am really wondering is how much does appearance affect how much a guy likes you and how much of it is the confidence in who you are?

'Cuz we belong together.

2009-03-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

I get in a really weird mood when I listen to music that is just right for the moment. This happened today. I really want to go dance right now. Or go swing on swings or something crazy and fun. It's driving me CRAZY!

Sometimes I wonder why I am not a dancer. Then I remember that I don't actually like being told how to move to music. I do think I want to take more dance classes though. I figure if i learn how to control my body better I will have more fun dancing when I am just dancing for fun.

I realized that I will always not-so-secretly hope that I will become a famous singer. I don't think I can ever give up the fact I love to act, sing and dance. There is something so magical about the creation of something expressive. I really miss that in my life. I think I need to get more involved in something....

Anyway, not that I have written a rather scattered post. I am off to dream...

But you gotta have the faith, the faith, the faith

2009-02-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

I hate making choices. I know it is part of the whole, agency thing but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I am at a point in my life where I have SO many choices. I don't think there was ever or will ever be a time when I will have more choices than i do now. And the problem is, they are all good things.

I guess the biggest issue is a mission. I feel like I should go but I am totally scared out of my mind. Plus other things keep coming up like a study abroad to Iceland or the possibility of staying in school. I feel like I will miss out on so many things if I decide to go. I hate making choices!

Physics, friends and a math major.

2009-02-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

It really has been a long time since I updated this. Not much is new. I have made some new friends who I hang out with a lot. I am still totally swamped with physics homework. Actually just homework in general. I am considering doing a double major in math and physics but I have to really think about that one.

I guess the thing that has been bothering me the most lately is the fact that I am being accosted on every side for not dating. The most frustrating thing about the whole dating thing is that all of the guys in my life are telling me this. Hello, instead of telling me to date, they could ask me out!

I guess I should work on that....

Love, save the empty

2009-01-18T21:59:00.001-08:00

So, today while I was wasting time, my roommate and I found out that Peta is trying to rename fish and call them sea kittens. That's right, sea kittens. Bahahahaha! Anyway, on their petition site you can make your own sea kitten so I did. Here is princess.
You can make your own here

my love language :)

2009-01-14T11:57:00.001-08:00

I feel loved when...

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Physical Touch

My Detailed Results:
Physical Touch:	11
Quality Time:	9
Acts of Service:	6
Words of Affirmation:	3
Receiving Gifts:	1

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Tag 3 people so they can find out what their love language is.

Take the Quiz!
Check out the Book

Minn besti vinnur

2009-01-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

I am trying to work on living a balanced life. This semester I am going to do all the things that I want to do. I will be proactive and stick to a schedule. We'll see how this goes but I really need to be more discipline especially since I am planning on going on a mission in august.

Besides my obvious lack of balance in my life right now, things are going well. I am super excited for most of my classes. I am already swamped with the work i have to do for my classes but I love being excited to learn.

I am so happy about my Icelandic class this semester. I think it is going to be great and I am going to learn TONS. I have already learned a lot. Plus, we just have so much fun. Well, how could we not have fun, there is three of us in the class and our teacher and we all have such a great sense of humor about the language that is trying to kick our but.

I want to update my blog more but I always get stuck on an empty blog post not knowing what exactly I should write about. Anyone have a preference?

The time has come the walrus said....

2008-12-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

I suppose I should update. It's been a while. I have a hard time knowing what to update on my blog but I felt I needed to update anyway. I considered writing about this blog I found today that has got me thinking quite a bit. However, I don't think I want to write about that today.

I have been thinking recently about all the things I want to do well. I have discovered that this is a rather long list. It makes me sad that I don't feel like I am making a lot of progress. I have so many high hopes for my self but I am just not motivated to get anything done. It is really frustrating.

So, goal for the rest of my life. Nicole, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!!

B Y Who?

2008-12-09T20:46:00.001-08:00

How BYU are you?

77 questions.

[_] You have been kissed at lease once
[_] Your first kiss was on campus
[_] You’ve had a boyfriend/girlfriend
[X] You lived in the dorms your freshman year
[_] You went to Homecoming or Preference
[_] You hiked the Y
[_] You’ve taken a social dance class
[_] You regularly attended FHE for at least a semester
[_] You’ve participated in Choose to Give
[_] You’ve been to Liberty Square for a party at least once
[_] You’ve driven around south of campus for at least 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot
[_] You know the cougar fight song
[X] You’ve crossed the crosswalk without using the flags or biked through a red light
[_] You’ve been to Friday Night Live
[_] You’ve performed or witnessed an act that made it onto Police Beat
[_] You’ve been on a “date” to the bell tower or duck pond
[_] You’ve been to the Bean Museum for FHE
[X] You’ve been to Divine Comedy
[X] You’ve been to International Cinema
[_] You are engaged
[_] You are married
[_] …in the temple
[_] You were previously engaged/married
[_] You have kids or are expecting kids
[X] Your birth parents are still married
[X] …in the temple
[X] You have at least three siblings
[_] You’ve taken a marriage prep or relations class
[X] You’ve taken at least one religion class that is not based on the scriptures
[_] You have slept on a couch in a restroom
[X] You have been to the BYU Creamery
[X] You have been in one of the BYU choirs
[_] You’ve been on a date to Fat Cats
[X] You have read Twilight
[X] …book 2
[_] …book 3
[_] …book 4
[_] …seen the movie
[_] …more than once
[_] You’ve waited in line at the Bookstore for the Harry Potter or Twilight book premiere
[X] You have seen The Singles Ward or Sons of Provo
[_] You have walked out of a movie you found morally reprehensible
[X] You know where the “chastity line” is
[X] You can finish the phrase “Nothing good happens after ______”
[_] You read the Daily Universe at least 3x a week
[_] …and it’s the only newspaper you read
[X] You’ve personally known someone who was reported to the Honor Code Office
[_] You’ve participated in or watched a Mr. BYU contest
[_] You’ve received personal revelation that he/she is “the one” (or been told this)
[_] …and told him/her about your revelation (or been told this)
[_] …and then they rejected you (or rejected them)
[_] You’ve been to the Nickelcade
[_] You’ve been to Classic Skating
[X] You’ve ignored your parents’ phone calls for at least 3 days
[_] …and then they called the University Police
[_] You’ve been pulled over by the University Police
[X] You watch The Office religiously
[X] You mostly wear jeans and t-shirts or plain fitted shirts
[_] You own at least 3 things from American Eagle or Hollister
[_] Your sacrament meeting is a fashion show/scam session
[_] You’ve been on a date to the Provo River

You’ve kissed in a…
[_] …campus parking lot
[_] …Provo Canyon or Squaw Peak
[_] …on temple grounds
[_] …on a couch as soon as your roommates left the room
[_] You think UVU is not a real university
[_] You hate U of U with a passion

FOR GIRLS (don’t answer if you’re a guy)
[X] You own knee-length shorts
[X] You regularly wear camisoles/undershirts for modesty reasons
[_] You are a MFHD, RMYL, Elementary Education, or Exercise Science Major
[_] Your major crush ended up dating a MFHD, RMYL, Elementary Education, or Exercise Science major
[_] You have had at least one roommate who is in hair or dental school
[_] You own The Italian Job or The Princess Bride
[_] You wear makeup at least 3x a week
[_] You do something with your hair (other than brush it/ponytail) at least 3x a week
[X] You went or plan on going on a mission
[_] …because you couldn’t get married

FOR GUYS (don’t answer if you’re a girl)
[_] You shave every (or almost every) morning
[_] You know when your hair is “too long”
[_] You know what the “divide by 2 and add 7″ dating rule is
[_] …and you follow it
[_] You’ve dated freshmen girls as a RM
[_] …when you already knew better
[_] You’ve used the phrase “On my mission…” to a girl
[_] At least 3 girls have baked cookies or meals for you
[_] You went or plan on going on a mission
[_] …because you wanted to get married

Total: 22

A: 68-77
B: 60-67
C: 53-66
D: 45-52
F: 44 or below

I am a failure. Well, at least I know I am not like everyone else...

I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know....

2008-12-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Alright, I know I talk about Iceland a lot, but here it is again. I don't know why I am so obsessive but I just am. I have this passion for this culture that I can't understand or explain. I was telling this to my friend who is also in the class with me. She said, "because there are so few people learning the language, we have to make up for it by being obsessive." Maybe that is it. I don't know.

What I do know is that there is a part of me that longs so badly to be engulfed in that culture. I want to live there. I want to speak the language. I want to name my future children Icelandic names. I want my children to speak the language. I want to be connected to this incredible country.

Sometimes I wonder why I have this passion for other countries and cultures. Sometimes I ponder at the possiblity that growing up in the US has made me feel cultureless. Or maybe, I don't identify with the culture here in the US. I feel like there are so many things with politics and social attitudes that I don't agree with.

One of my favorite things about Iceland is that they have such a rich history and a strong tradition of literacy. They are so strongly proud of their heritage. They just make me really happy!

Christmas: a counterpoint

2008-11-19T19:23:00.000-08:00

My roommate, Marcie, wrote a blog about why she loves Christmas and why she wants to celebrate Christmas all year round. Christmas is wonderful in how it livens the snowy, cold winter and it is fun to celebrate but I don't agree that Christmas is the epitome and seed for joy, hope, and love.

I have mixed feelings about Christmas. I think it is wonderful that we have chosen to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. I think that the kindness, joy and charity that people show throughout the season are beautiful expressions of the love and humanity found in those around us. Christmas is a joyous season but sometimes I feel that people forget that part of Christmas.

I hear all the time that Christmas is a consumer driven holiday and as true or not true as that may be, Christmas makes me a little sad. I feel like although people choose to be charitable and kind during that season but not always for the right reasons. Plus, it seems like people forget why we celebrate this holiday. Christ is a key figure in our eternal happiness. Isn't if funny that even on the celebration of his birth we are more concerned about the number of presents we get or the dinner we are eating or the little family quarrels that drive us apart? No, it's not. It's sad.

I think the thing that makes me the most sad about Christmas is simply the fact that people can't remember or can't be nice, kind, charitable people if it is not Christmas. Is there something special about stockings, presents, lights and a tree that make people remember that life is wonderful and that kindness heals all wounds? Why don't we all just want to be good people all the time?

I don't think we should extend a holiday throughout the year to find love, charity and kindness. Instead, we should look deep into our hearts and find the pieces of us that care. Service and kindness are the sweetest when they are needed.

Happy Holidays!

And you're the perfect thing to say...

2008-11-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

Life is incredible. It is always nice to have one of those moments that makes you want to jump up and down and giggle. I had one of those moments last night.

I found a old friend on facebook last night. Not only did I find her but it turns out that during the time I "lost" her, she has joined the church. It sounds dumb, but I am completely giddy. I am so excited that she has found the gospel. I am so happy for her!

I truly know that this gospel is the gospel of happiness. It brings joy to my life and to those around me. As I tried to fall asleep last night, I realized that the gospel is all about love. Service is love. Obedience is love. Charity is love. The Atonement is love. It doesn't matter what we look at in the church, it is all based upon love.

That is really what is missing from the world. Love. I firmly believe that if we taught people to raise healthy families that much of the hate and hurt that happens in this world would go away. If we all really loved one another, there wouldn't be wars. Love heals wounds.

Last night, I felt the love of many of my friends and relatives and I realized that there is not reason for me to ever feel lonely. Besides my family and friends, there is always my Heavenly Father and Christ. They know me better than i know myself. I just need to remember to put my faith and trust in them. They will lead me down the paths I need to go.

I guess the point is that faith and love change lives and make the world go round.

Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.

2008-11-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

So this post is dedicated to lists of things i want to remember.

First, a list of all the things I have never done that I have done this year:
-I went to a fair. My cousins and i went to the Utah county fair and it was SUPER fun
-I went to my first football game ever.
-I went to my first Rock concert (Sigur Rós is amazing)
-I baked bread for the first time
-Dressed up as a group for Halloween.
-Performed in the open on campus
-Soldered
-Voted
-Set up my own computer
-Worked on a book challenge
-Rode a mechanical bull

That's all i can think of right now. Life should be a celebration, so I am trying to celebrate the little things.

Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words!

2008-11-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

Why do interpersonal relationships have to be so hard? Especially boy-girl relationships?

Anyway, I am obsessed with Iceland if everyone hasn't gotten the memo. So, funny story, in my Icelandic class on Wednesday a family from Iceland came to our class and talked to us in Icelandic for a while. Anyway, one of the sons is 28 and beautiful.

So, I went home and told my roommates about him. We also have this joke about how I want Icelandic babies (mostly because children speaking Icelandic is probably the cutest thing ever). After I told my roommates, they said, "you just really want Icelandic babies." I adamantly told them that my children WILL speak Icelandic. I then pounded my hand into the couch for emphasis. Well, our couches in my apartment look a LOT softer than they are. So, when I pounded my fist into the couch I hurt my hand.

Moral of the story, Icelandic babies are not worth it.

Tell me how am I supposed to breath with no air?

2008-10-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things make my heart hurt like it is hard to breath. I don't know if it hurts just because it is so sad or if feels so crushing because I don't know what to do about it. I have felt this most acutely about Proposition 8.

I know that since I have grown up in California, I am seen by many people in Utah as liberal or feminist. I don't feel that I am liberal or conservative. I feel like I am middle ground. It has been a little bit of a journey to get to where I am today on many issues and prop 8 is the same in this regard. I am now in a place where when i think about it not being passed it is hard to breathe.

As I think about how this world is changing, how we are losing sight of morals and starting to destroy ourselves, it makes me sick. I think about the struggles of raising a child now and in the future. Will I be able to do it? How do you teach morals in and amoral world?

I don't know how people can make choices that obviously don't make them happy and will never be able to make them happy? It makes me sick to think about people who hate themselves so much that they will hurt themselves. I want to cry when i think of girls who feel like they aren't important if they don't have a man to fulfill them. I don't know what to do with myself when I see people who are so unhappy that they turn to drugs or alcohol to make them better.

We all can be happy. The savior will take our pain away, we just have to let him. There is a life of happiness and joy that is available to everyone if we simply partake. Why is that so hard?

Hopes and dreams are shattering apart and crashing to the ground.

2008-10-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

Today I was watching Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog again. I really enjoy this movie and it is one of the very first movies that I have watched and wanted to own it. There are so many reasons that I want to own it. I really like the fact that it is a musical and that it is comical. I think my favorite part is the fact that it gives me lots of things to think about.

This is the first weekend in a long time where I am feeling pretty good about the homework status. I have loads to do this week but I am confident I will get it all done. And the best part about this week is that it ends with Halloween!!! Yay!!

I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried.

2008-10-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about life and people is those moments in life when someone says something nice to you and it sort of sticks with you. I truly believe that it is important to compliment people when you think the compliment and that it shouldn't matter how well you know this person as long as it is true.

I have found that on those occasions when people say something nice to me out of the blue, I appreciate it more. For instance, this week a friend of my roommate who I have met before was over at our house and I came home and we were chatting for a minute when she said, "I like you." It is a simple comment but it was a reminder that I have worth and that I have talents that other people value.

I personally value honesty. So, why do i feel like as a society we build up barriers between ourselves and those around us? Why is it so hard to be honest?

I guess the point is this, I am an honest person and I am pretty blunt about it. So, if I hurt your feelings I am sorry, most likely it was unintentional. I would hope for your forgiveness but it is yours to give. I hope someday that we will be able to communicate openly and freely with each other.

How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?

2008-10-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Since it is close to the election there is a frenzy of political banter. I have friends who are passionate in both directions and I identify with certain parts of both sides. I don't really want to write about how I stand or really about politics at all.

I was thinking about all the things that have been happening recently: how the US government is being run, how the economy is collapsing, how Iceland is broke, how people are starving and why the world is not getting better.

I can't stand watching the world dissolve around me as I sit here writing a silly blog post. It makes me so sad to think that I have power to make other people's lives better and I choose not to.

Sometimes I think about what it would be like to have a world where everyone realized that the best way to be happy is to make other people happy. What if we all shared what we had? What if we cared about what happened to not just our friends but also our enemies? What if we were Christians? What if we truly followed Christ? What would that world look like? Would there be peace? Would there be love? Would there be as much suffering?

I truly believe that I have the power to change things. Whether or not that means I change the world or if I just give a little love to the people needing love. I believe everyone can change the world if they decide they want to.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love....

Essentially Random Comments on Life

2008-10-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

I find that epiphanies about life happen to me when I least expect them. There are a few things I have learned about myself this week.

1) I know that I am in my right major. I have been doing poorly on my tests recently but I realized that I know I am learning in all of my classes even if my grades aren't reflecting that. I love the people I know and the classes I am taking. I am so happy where I am.

2) I have a lot of work to make up and I have been handling it without too much stress. My roommate is stressed out and she mentioned to me that i should be way more stressed out about life than she is. As soon as she said that I have become way more stressed. That makes me very unhappy.

3) I have come to the realization that i want to be better and that comes from setting goals and a schedule to get it all done. I need to work on that.

I am so happy that Wednesday is over and I only have a few more days until the weekend. I am super excited to have time off and get to relax a little.

Have a great week and weekend!

Bags!!

2008-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Most people know this about me but I am a huge bag junkie. Well, they are giving away free bags so if you want one, click here.

Have a great day!

Open the gates and seize the day!

2008-10-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

I love my roommates. A lot. The best part about living with my roommates is that most of the time I don't feel like i am judged on who I am by what I do. I feel very safe at home. That is a good thing.

I also love my roommates because they are super crazy. Just to illustrate, a few examples:

1) We decided to decorate our family room. Originally it was going to be Surviver themed with Tiki torches and stuff but when we moved in a picture of the Arc de Triomphe. So we realized that lots of us have foreign things. So, the theme of our appartment is Around the World. Our room is crazy full of stuff. It is pretty intense.

2) Like any normal apartment, we have a quote board. Except it is more like a quote wall. We took 40 pieces of paper and made a giant multicolored patchwork wall where we now post all the funny things we say on it. We will definatly fill the wall by the time we are done with the 8 months we are living here. that's kind of crazy.

3) We are planning the most amazing Halloween costumes ever. I don't think i will talk about it now but I am sure i will talk about it later.

I am so glad I am living with these girls. They make me smile :)

heldumst í hendur

2008-10-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

I know I talk about Icelandic all the time and very few people understand my obsession, but this weekend I had an Icelandic overdose and I am over the moon about Iceland and Icelandic. This weekend i went to the Sigur Rós concert. I was standing there with my ex-roommate who takes Icelandic with me and our former Icelandic teacher and we listened to these songs that are Iceland.

To be honest, I could write and write about the concert and i will never be able to express the joy that filled my soul as i sat there and listened to this music that has changed my life. Just watch Heima and know that I felt like i was one of the people in that movie.

One thing that did come of it was i know that I want my children to speak icelandic. It would be easier if i married someone who was Icelandic or spoke Icelandic, but I won't be that picky. I really want my children to call my parents amma and afi and to say things in Icelandic, so, they will. The End.

Oh, but becuse I want my children to speak icelandic, my friends have a joke about me wanting lots of Icelandic Babies. Who doesn't?

The Circius of my life continues...

2008-09-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

It is funny how life doesn't turn out how you planned. I found this to be very true this weekend.

My weekend goes something like this.

Friday (after my classes are over which is 5:30):
-My roommate from last year and I went to Bombay house and had dinner together
-We chatted at her house for a little bit and then I went home because of my headache
-I watched a movie then went to bed even though i planned on doing my homework.

Saturday:
-I got up and went to the Eyring to finish a lab with one of my amazing new physics friends.
-As soon as I got back to my apartment I got a call from my friend Pike and she offered me a ticket to the football game and I took it.

*I went to my very first football game EVER. Yep, that's right I went to my first football game, and It was super fun and good.

-After Pike and I went to the game, we decided that we needed to go to the sporting goods store to buy caps and goggles for our new swimming regime.
-We were hungry so we went to the mall to get my favorite food (okay, one of my favorite foods) Chick-fil-a!!! And we stopped by the used movie/cd store right by the food court and a bought a few movies. It is now my favorite store EVER!!!
-Then Pike said hey, let's go drive up the canyon. So we did and it was super pretty it is not quite fall yet, so the not all the leaves had changed color, but it was still really pretty.
-Then we went to Pudding on the Rice, best place ever! I think that is all I need to say about that.
-I finally went home and when I got there one of my friends from last year was at my apartment and she was watching Mighty Ducks 3 with my roommates, so I watched that with them.

It was futile at this point to try and do homework, so I went to bed.

Sunday:
-Church, which was good
-We got our apartment ready for game night by making cookies and things (and by making cookies I mean my roommate mostly did it...) and straightening up our apartment.
-We had a super fun time with our new friends in the ward and old friends.

I really got no homework done. It was SUPER bad. I have been playing catch up this whole week. New rule, GET HOMEWORK DONE!!!

All the pick-up lines I know...

2008-09-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

I was on facebook the other day and my friend started chatting with me and asked me for all the pick up lines I knew. Here is my list, with some help from my old ward directory of course. So, this post is dedicated to all the guys who need a cheesy pick-up line and Ben from my old ward because he is hilariously funny and came up with some of these.

Fizzie: hey enigmatic, do you have any good pick up lines?

Enigmatic: why?

Fizzie: i'm doing a skit and we need pick up lines...

Enigmatic: okay, hold the phone. are you ready?

Fizzie: yup

Enigmatic:

Is your dad an astronaut? because someone took the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes.

you must be tired because you've been running though my dreams all night

do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?

pardon me miss, I seem to have lost my phone number, could I borrow yours

I hope you know CPR because you take my breath away

Were you in Boy Scouts? Because you sure have tied my heart in a knot.

What does it feel like to be the most beautiful girl in the room

you are the reason men fall in love.

When I saw you from across the room, I passed out could and hit my head on the floor, so I'm going to need your name and number for insurance reasons.

Do you have a map? I keep getting lost in your eyes.

Excuse me, but I think I dropped something, my jaw.

Hello. I'm a thief, and I have come to steal your heart.

If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U&I together.

If I followed you home, would you keep me?

Hello, cupid called, he said he needs my heart back.

If you were a laser, you'd be set on "stunning"

You remind me a bit of a magnet, because you sure are attracting me over here.

Excuse me, do you have any raisins? No, how about a date?

Hello, are you taking any applications for a boyfriend?

Is it hot in here or is it just you?

If you were a burger at McDonalds, you'd be a McGorgeous

You're so sweet I think I'm getting cavities.

Hi, I'm incredibly rich

You must be a parking ticket because you have fine written all over you.

I lost my teddy bear. Can I cuddle with you instead?

um, you have really beautiful...uh...eyes, yea. you are pretty. What I mean is... you have a nice forehead, er ah...Do you believe in when I walk by...(to himself) Oh man, STUPID STUPID STUPID!

I have an owie on my lip, will you kiss it and make it better?

How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice. Hi, my name is__

You better stop, drop and roll right now cause you're on fire

Can I borrow a quarter? I want to call my mom and tell her I just met the girl of my dreams?

Do you believe in the hereafter?...Well, then I guess you know what I'm here after.

I'm new in town. Could I have directions to your house?

There's this movie I wanted to see and my mom said I couldn't go by myself...

Please don't be alarmed if a big man wearing a red suit picks you up and throws you into a bag... I asked for you for Christmas.

Is your name David? I want to be Goliath and fall for you.

I'm sorry, were you talking to me? No? Well then, please start

excuse me, but would you like to hold the priesthood?

Well, here I am. What were your other two wishes?

Wouldn't we look cute on a wedding cake together?

Excuse me, I think you have something in your eye. oh... nope, it's just a sparkle.

You know we have actually met before. Remember the dream you had of the perfect guy?

What time do you have to be back in heaven?

my lips are skittles, wanna taste the rainbow?

That's all I've got. Is that enough?

Suddenly I see this is what I want to be.

2008-09-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

My dating habits are of concern to many of my friends and by dating habits I mean my lack of dating. It is funny how right now I have tons of friends who keep telling me I need to date more. This is defiantly something I need to work on; I think I am just too scared.

I am so ridiculous in the things I am scared about. I am afraid of getting my heart broken and of breaking someone else's heart. I know I limit myself by letting my fears control my life but I just won't let myself break free of those fears that hold me back. I know it is something I can change, so why don't I? Why?

Maybe I'm broken. Yep, I am sure that's it. I better get a cat...

The way you look tonight

2008-09-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

I find people really interesting. I invest a lot of my time and energy on people. I gather information on them and I have a habit of knowing lots of information on the people I am close to. My roommate Marcindra and I joke that I know everything about her because I pay attention to her stories and remember them.

I especially love watching and listening to people I don't know. I discover lots of insight about a person by the conversations they have with those around them and the way they move and act. Sometimes I wish I spent more time watching the world around me instead of being busy with all the things that fill my life.

I was thinking about how my deep interest in people makes me feel like a stalker sometimes. I spend lots of time reading blogs because I find them so fascinating. It shows me what the blogger thinks is important enough to write about and I can glean a lot about a person from what they do, how they say things and the choices they make. I guess blogging to me is like reading a novel that is in real time. I get hooked instantaneously and I just can't stop.

So, point of this blog entry is don't be freaked out by me because you think I am a stalker because I am not. People rock so be proud you are one.

The Name Game

2008-09-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

I have been toying with the idea of using my real name for my blog. I originally didn't use my real name because a) I didn't want internet creepers to know who I really was because you could get a lot of information from my blog and b) I was considering being a writer for the 100 hour board and I wanted to practice, I think.

The first reason still holds up some, but there really aren't that many people that visit my blog, so I am not that worried about it. I could also make my blog private and let the people I know read it.

The second reason died awhile ago. I have long wanted to be a writer of the board, but I have gotten too busy for it and I realized that I mostly wanted to join so that I could be friends with the amazing people that write for the board and I am already working on that.

I guess the real reason why I feel I should us my real name is because I feel a little detached from what I write. It is not that I don't feel responsibility for what I write, I feel like it is less connected to me as a person because I am anonymous.

So, I guess I am writing this because I am curious what those who read my blog think. Any comments, suggestions?

Also, could you leave a comment if you read my blog regularly and plan on continuing. I would like to know in case I decide to make private, I would need to know how to contact everyone.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

I may have stolen this from someone...

2008-09-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not.

( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been lost
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
( ) Made prank phone calls
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you cared about
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Been skinny dipping outdoors
( ) Gone to the movies by yourself

So, it looks like I have a few things to get done in my life... I will add these to my goals for the semester. Man, I really want to color now...

I thought this was appropriate for my life right now...

2008-08-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

Confusion never stops; closing walls and ticking clocks

2008-08-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Mouse over text: "We need a special holiday to honor the countless kind souls with unsecured networks named 'linksys'."

I have been dying without internet. It has been a while, but I now have wireless internet in my room, which is why I will actually finish this post. For some reason, I have conditioned myself to only like using computers when I am sitting on a couch/bed/comfy chair. Which is why I can now finish this post as I am sitting on my bed at this time.

It has been an interesting week. I am learning a lot and deciding to try lots of new things this semester. I feel like moving to a new apartment has made me more courageous than I have been before. I am going to try out for Noteworthy next week and I am going to the Women's Rugby Club meeting. I am also sort of looking for jobs, so it looks like it will be a busy year for me.

I am super excited for school to start! I especially can't wait to see my new roommate who has been up at Aspen Grove all week... I get to see her tomorrow! On Saturday she will be done with Aspen and will be all mine!

Wow, I'm a catch!

2008-08-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

So, I saw this on a friends blog and I wanted to see how I ranked. Apparently, I am the quintessential 1930s wife. Man, I'm quite a catch, or not...

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

0-24 - Very Poor (Failure)
25-41 - Poor
42-58 - Average
59-75 - Superior
76+ - Very Superior

I think it is super funny especially because lots of the questions have to do with having a husband and I don't have one so, I don't know that this is really right, but if it is, I guess I was born in the wrong time. I have suspected that i was born in the wrong time for a while, but I guess this is proof.

You took my hand you showed me how...

2008-08-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

So, this post is mostly for me. I am just trying to figure out how/where I am going to get the books i am reading for the book challenge. If you have any of these books that you want to let me borrow, let me know. ESPECIALLY the ones i have to "buy." Ciao!

Project Gutenberg:
- Mansfield Park
- Northanger Abbey
- Emma
- Sanditon
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

BYU Lib:
- The elements of style by William Strunk Jr.
- The Rivan Codex
- Polgara the Sorceress
- Belgarath the Sorcerer
- The Seeress of Kell
- Sorceress of Darshiva
- Demon Lord of Karanda
- Guardians of the West
- The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- An Acceptable Time
- A Wind in the Door
- A Swiftly Tilting Planet
- Many Waters
- The Arm of the Starfish
- A house like a Lotus
- Dragons in the Water
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman
- The Jane Austin Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
- Chocolat by Joanne Harris
- The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Provo Lib:
- American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent
- The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
- King of the Murgos
- The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Brothers Grimm

Buy:
- The Self-Healing Personality by Dr. Howard S. Freidmam
- Mimzy Were the Borogroves by Lewis Padgett

Music's In My Soul

2008-08-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not hugely into politics. What I mean by that is that I have gotten to a point in my life where I realize that as much as we want to believe in a political system that will provide everyone with wonderful lives, it just won't ever happen. I get frustrated with where the American government is today. When I think of the things that are wrong with politics in this world, I yearn for change. I come to a conclusion. Politics just can't do it all.

I find that in general people are unhappy with their lives and feel like they need to blame someone else. I feel like we have reached a point where we don't know how to blame ourselves for mistakes. I mean, why should a woman who is driving her car and accidentally spills McDonald's coffee on herself be able to sue McDonald's? It was not their fault that she spilled on herself.

I feel like people want the government to be the savior/scape goat for all the problems that are things we can fix. It is not the government's responsibility for making sure we have a good life. We make choices that ensure a good life. We are trying to give the government a role it will never be able to fulfill. That will never happen. People are too different. Our needs are filled on an individual level by other people. It is the way we are made.

So, please, stop forcing the government into a position it cannot fill. It will never work.

Remeber when we were such fools and so convinced and just too cool?

2008-08-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

BAH HA HA HA HA HA... Nature's dominoes. I want a few nature's dominoes, they would be so fun to play with! I really love Dinosaur Comics, but who doesn't? (don't answer that, if there is someone who doesn't like them, I don't want to know.) This is pretty much what I get paid to do; read dinosaur comics. I think I am actually getting paid to wait around until my boss finds something he wants me to do, and then do it. My life is thrilling, you have no idea.

Speaking of comics, my roommate is hilarious. She writes all these comics while she is at work and posts them on her blog. My favorite so far is when she is asking Utah for advice. Who is Utah's mom? I think that is the question we would all like to know the answer to.

So, on to my life...

I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is, I am leaving for Chicago in 11 DAYS!!! I am SO excited! I have never been to Chicago, or anywhere close. Then it is back to school! I can't wait for school. Not only will I get to live with incredible roommates but I also get to start taking classes for my new major! All this exciting stuff is coming up, but I still have TONS to do before I can leave. I have to pack up my old room, pack for BYU and pack for Chicago. I also have lots of projects i am trying to finish before I leave for school again.

The bad news is that my computer is DEAD. Well, not really dead just severely handicapped. The part on the computer that you plug the cord into is broken which means I have a really hard time getting my computer to charge. Since it is the part inside the computer instead of the cord, it is a non serviceable part which means to fix it I simply have to replace the mother board. Yeah, that totally sucks. Since replacing the mother board costs only a little less then buying a new computer, it looks like I will be buying a new computer. I am pretty excited to get a new computer, but it is quite a bit of a hassle. Although, since I am no longer a Computer engineering major, I don't think I will want a Linux/Windows dual boot, so I won't have to worry about getting that set-up.

I did have fun a few nights ago taking apart my computer. I knew which part had to be fixed, and it could have been a simple soldering problem. Since I have friends who have soldering guns, this COULD have been a quick solution to my problem. So, I found the instructions online, and a few friends and I took apart my laptop. It was crazy! The most exciting part was that we got it all back together and it still works (ish. It works besides it's charging handicap.)

Now, that I have fully exposed my nerd capabilities, I think I will go read some more dinosaur comics. Tune in next time when I discuss the pros and cons of different Rubik's cube solutions. (Actually, I don't think I could hold that discussion, I only know how to solve it one way.)

For me, Choice and Accountability will always be RED!

2008-07-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today my cousins and I went to the beach. It was perfect weather: not too hot and not too cold. We spent a few good hours at this quaint little beach we found. We played a few games, got a in the frigid water a little and took lots of pictures.

Since it was mostly overcast, so we skimped on the sunscreen. Super BAD idea. We are all dying on the couch because we are so red. Tonight we are nursing our wounds and going to bed.

Good Night!

2008-07-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

On Monday my cousins and I went to the Winchester Mystery House. I had forgotten how much I love that house. It is so fun. I have wanted to go on the midnight tour for a while now, but I won't be able to go until next year. Hopefully I will get to go next year.

We had a really awesome tour guide. He agreed with me in thinking that there needed to be a few slides on the tour and the showed us some "ghosts." We then played around in the garden. We took WAY too many pictures, but I am glad we have them all.

We are off to the beach tomorrow; I am super excited!

Love is like home cooking: good and wholesome, but all men need some mutton on the outside now and then.

2008-07-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have been musing over writing a blog post for a few days now. I created this title and then left it as an empty draft for a while. I feel like I need to write in my blog more. In reality, I think I simply want my friends to write in their blogs and so I am trying to use blog karma to get everyone else to write. I understand why many of my friends don't write more, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Last night this woman in my ward hosted a dinner for all the girls in college. We helped her cook and then we tried everything we cooked and got all the recipes. I enjoyed myself. I really enjoy cooking and want to be a good cook; I simply don't know enough about it yet. I am now really ready to start cooking.

I really feel like my summer is getting super exciting. Tonight I am going with my good friend, WaterGirl, to a San Fransisco Giants game. Last time I went to a game, it was with her, and we had tons of fun. It was a good game. I am pretty sure that Bonds hit the winning run. I obviously don't pay that much attention to baseball games, but I do know how I ate. I can't believe the sickening array of food I consumed. It started with a large Sprite followed by peanuts, kettle corn, cotton candy, a slice of cheese pizza—which was my dinner—and for dessert, a Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream sundae and caramel corn. I am a little surprised I lived through that experience. Needless to say, I have learned from that experience, and I am excited for the opportunity to go to a game again.

On Saturday my two cousins are coming into town. They are staying for a whole week. I am flippin' excited to see them. I took all of next week off of work so that I could go do fun touristy stuff with them. Last year when they came out, a job fell into my lap and I had to work the whole week they were here. It was a total bummer. This time around, I get to party the whole week long. I am not sure about all the stuff we are going to do, but I am pretty sure that it will include San Francisco, lots of swimming in our pool, laser tag and very little sleep. Sounds like a great week!

Lastly—although, I am just as excited about this as the rest, it comes last chronologically—I am pretty sure I am going out to Chicago at the end of the summer to hang with my roommate from this past year. Not only do I get to hang with her sweet family, who I have heard so much about, but I get to go to Chicago for the first time! Since I am visiting a native, she is going to show me all the sites. I am pretty psyched! Actually, I am giddy with anticipation. Seriously, there is a Cupcake bar. What could be better?

Man, this has been/will be the best summer ever! I just need to spend some more time with the friends that are here and this will be a golden age. It is funny how time with good friends can really change a summer. Maybe that is why last summer was so boring...

Happy Summer Everyone!!!!

I kissed a girl

2008-07-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

This week I have been working with my family to move into a new house. It is a little bizarre moving all the stuff from the house I have spent a good majority of my life into this random new house. This is the longest we have ever stayed in a house. It is a strange to have "home" be somewhere new.

Today I finished Wuthering Heights. I have been working on this book for a while. I had to force myself to read a little bit everyday so that I would actually finish instead of abandoning it which is what I do with most books I don't like. It wasn't really that the book was terrible, I just found it hard to read about people who were hoplessly determined to be unhappy. I just can't handle books like that. My soul dies a little when I try.

The last part of this post is about this ridiculous song. I really don't like the song "I kissed a girl" and yet, I can't get it out of my head. Why are the most annoying songs always the ones that are the most catchy?

Fun, Fun, Fun!

2008-07-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

CPM tagged me to do this, so here it goes!

List the things you love about summer for each of the five senses and tag five people at the end. Simple!

Taste: Watermelon, pineapple, corn on the cob, cotton candy and snow cones

Touch: grass between my toes, water in a swimming pool and sitting in a hammock

Sight: sunlight

Smell: barbecue, sprinklers and a breeze

Auditory: laughter, campfire, and kids playing

Now, to tag people. Pamplemousse, Stacie Lou Whoo, Marcindra, CC and Katie

I don't know this could break my heart or save me...

2008-07-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

So, while I was "working" today, I was looking at some puzzle websites. One thing led to another and I ended up looking at rings with my birthstone. So, I was born in June so my birthstones are pearl, moonstone and Alexandrite. Mostly, I was looking for moonstone jewelry because I had never heard that moonstone was a June birthstone. As I was looking, I stumbled on the most beautiful ring ever.
Significant for a few reasons. I don't usually get obsessed with jewelry, but there is something about this ring that just completes me. Long story short, it is a vintage ring and it is already sold. My heart is a little broken inside, but I will get over it.

The way your make-up stains my pillowcase, like I'll never be the same.

2008-07-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

So, I do have things going on in my life, and I will update soon. Partially I haven't updated because I have something really exciting coming up and I want to wait until later to talk about it. So, in the mean time, I will do this book thing.

Here’s how it works:
The Big Read says that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read (I am going to make them Black)
2) Italicize those you intend to read. (I am going to make these Red)
3) Make the ones you loved obnoxiously large (I am not going to do this.)
4) Reprint this list so we can try and track down these people who’ve read only 6 or less and make them read.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now….. THE BIG READ TOP 100

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. The Harry Potter Series JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh .
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry .
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Read : 16
Want to read: 8 (well, I have italicized 8. I would love to read a lot more, but I haven't specifically thought about it.)

Surfin' Safari

2008-07-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't go surfing today, but it was really fun today. We decided that since we have visitors, we would go "see" California.

We decided we wanted to go to San Francisco and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Shortly after we started driving up there, we decided that we were going to drive the scenic route and stop by the beach for lunch. We stopped a little north of Half Moon Bay and we had lunch. Then we walked down to the beach and played around for a while.

It was silly to walk down to the beach with little kids and not bring a change of clothes. The majority of the people got wet. I was really fun to play there and I really enjoy the beach. I want to go there more often.

We then finished our drive up to San Francisco. We then walked across the golden gate bridge. It was super foggy. We could see part of the bridge when we were walking from the parking lot onto the bridge. Once we got to the first tower, we were completely shrouded in fog. It was really cool to be on the bridge like that. I had a ton of fun taking pictures. I think a lot of them turned out well.

I am sunburned, tired, full and very happy. Tomorrow's the 4th and we're having a party. Yippee!!!

This is what work (or lack thereof) has driven me too...

2008-07-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars (Every year that I went to girls camp.)
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper (I am the oldest of 5. It wasn't a choice)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (Paris is Yummy!)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort (Um... this is probably the best story ever. Ask me if you want to know.)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun (Everyday. Okay, not everyday, but a lot. I am a thespian...)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India (I want to SO SO SO SO SO SO badly)
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain (sadly, no. Someday maybe...)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (I live here, so not a big deal. I walked it multiple times.)
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph (I haven't driven one, but my dad does this all the time in his new bmw)
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands (it didn't live... )
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse (I even got sneezed on by a horse. How many people can say that?)
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone (it is a great paying gig)
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (in mini-golf)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube (And Rubik's Revenge. Yes, I am a nerd)
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

People Marching to the drums, everybody's having fun to the sound of love.

2008-06-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today was so much fun. I cut my hand when i was opening a nunchuk for our wii. I really hate how many electronics are in the really tight plastic packages that are almost impossible to open. Maybe it is a test to make sure that the user is worthy. I guess I am and I get an awesome battle scar ;)

We also have 15 people staying at our house besides our family. That means there will be 22 people sharing 4 rooms and 5 beds plus some air mattresses and sleeping bags. It is going to be an interesting 8 days.

In order to prepare for this exciting week, I spent the day cleaning. It feels good to see the efforts of my labor, but all the stress in all the members of my family was not worth it. I am pretty sure everyone in my family cried at least once today except my dad. That is pretty pathetic.

I love cleanliness. Sometimes I don't like to clean, but I love having clean space. There is something so freeing about clean open space. So, it was nice, but now I have to give all my clean space to our visitors, not that it is bad, I just miss my space.

I also got an email from my roommate for next year. I am super excited! We are going to have so much fun. We are going to make aprons and door signs; we are going to throw tons of parties. It is going to be crazy. Next semester will be incredible!

I am now going to nurse my wound and go to bed now. After I convince my dad to stop watching Doctor Who with little kids in the room. Goodnight!

And I would answer all your wishes if you asked me too...

2008-06-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

First things first, I was given a great present for my birthday. I was given knowledge. My friend told me about this fantastic English band called McFly. I have been listening to them nonstop for the past few days. That is how I am with music. If I like it, I listen to it until I know all the words to it and it gets sickeningly old. Then I move on. It is kind of like I have to really learn it and then I don't want it. Oh, how fickle I am!

So, right now I am still in the passionately enthralled phase with them. The reason I bring this up is my blog title comes from one of their songs. I am working on trying to figure their music out. It is still a bit of an enigma to me. I keep trying to place their music into a category, but depending on the song, they remind me of someone else. Oh well.

This post part 2:

(I didn't want to think of a good segue. So I didn't. Sorry for people who like to read things that are well thought through and take time. I am not that kind of girl. so you are stuck with "this post part 2:" Now, on to part 2!)

As part of the 888 challenge and my life reading challenge, I am reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. (SIDENOTE: I have come to a discovery that not all nonfiction books are boring. who knew?) I was reading about how some people are more emotionally receptive and others are more emotionally emanative. I don't know were I fall on the spectrum, but I it got me thinking about how our mood affects the moods of those around us. And how I can have an impact on people by changing my attitude.

I have decide that I need to smile more. I realize that I don't smile as much as I could/should. Research has shown a correlation between mimicking facial expressions and having those emotions effect your emotional state. For instance, if you smile you will start to feel happy. Even if this doesn't rub off on others, like I hope it will, at least i will be happy. So, in order to promote a happy lifestyle, I will start to smile. Wish me luck :)

I love the way she glows in ultraviolet light

2008-06-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone thinks I am a dork, but I love Icelandic. I am infatuated with everything Icelandic. I don't know what it is, the language or the culture or what, but I want to be Icelandic. I want to go there and look at it's fjords and eat Icelandic candy while listening to Icelandic music. I can pass on traditional Icelandic food ;)

I am totally excited because I am taking an Icelandic class next semester and I can't wait! I have a dream that one day I will be able to write and speak fluently. I spent a lot of time today writing to my friends in Icelandic and it got me all excited because it reminded me that I only have a few more months before I will be doing all the time for class.

Anyway, I am super excited, that's all.

P.S. I am thinking of getting an Icelandic BOM. Am I ridiculous?

The 888 challenge

2008-06-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to do the 888 challenge. These are my categories:

Jane Austins I haven't read:

~~Persuasion~~
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey
Emma
~~Lady Susan~~
~~The Watsons~~
Sanditon
~~Love and Friendship~~

Non Fiction:

~~Blink by Malcolm Gladwell~~
~~The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell~~
~~Nerds by David Anderegg~~
~~Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss~~
The elements of style by William Strunk Jr.
American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
The Self-Healing Personality by Dr. Howard S. Freidman

David/Leigh Eddings:

Guardians of the West
King of the Murgos
Demon Lord of Karanda
Sorceress of Darshiva
The Seeress of Kell
Belgarath the Sorcerer
Polgara the Sorceress
The Rivan Codex

Recomended to me:

~~The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi~~
~~Blink by Malcolm Gladwell~~
~~Angels and Demons by Dan Brown~~
~~The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas~~
~~Princess Academy by Shannon Hale~~
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
~~Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse~~

Madeline L'Engle

~~A Wrinkle in Time~~
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Many Waters
The Arm of the Starfish
Dragons in the Water
A house like a Lotus
An Acceptable Time

Banned books:

~~The Giver by Lois Lowery~~
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
~~A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle~~
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Brothers Grimm
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Classics

~~The Legend of Sleepy Hollow~~ ~~by Washington Irving~~
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
~~Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte~~
Notre-Dame of Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) by Victor Hugo
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Movie Books

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
~~Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones~~
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
~~The Scarlet Pimpernel~~ ~~by Baroness Emmuska Orczy~~
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
~~Mimzy Were the Borogroves by Lewis Padgett~~

Books Read: 20
Left to Read: 42

Some Hearts

2008-06-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about anti-intellectualism recently. I am reading a book called Nerds by David Anderegg. I was expecting it to be about anti-intellectualism in America. I discovered that David Anderegg is a child psychologist and book is more about the nerd stereotype and how it is affecting our children and how that is changing America.

I find that many of the points he brings up I can't identify with. I think that mainly has to do with a few things about my life that are uncommon. First, he talked about how the many girls don't pursue a career in math or science because of social pressure that tells them it is unattractive to be more intelligent than boys. He brought up the point that many schools feel that girls and boys should be educated separately than boys in math and science to reduce this pressure. For middle school, I went to a Private Girls School which heavily emphasized math and science. Because of this school, I excelled in math and science and took very advanced classes in High School. I believe part of the main reason why I went there was because my parents felt this is an issue and then wanted to prevent that. Since I haven't felt the pressure myself to dumb myself down for boys, I can't really identify with this societal problem.

Next, Anderegg talks about the portrayal of nerds and how that affects a child's behavior. Since the concept of a nerd is difficult to understand, most young children believe a nerd is a suck-up, someone who pleases the adults around him. The problem that occurs with that is children that hear their parents make jokes about nerds logically believe that if they are to be liked by their parents, then they shouldn't be nerdy. This is also an idea that is foreign to me. My dad is a huge nerd but he defies the traditional stereotype of a nerd. Since I have grown up with my dad as a norm, I never really had the need to rebel. Even now, I don't really feel the negative connotation that most people associate with the term nerd. It is my secret aspiration.

The other day, before I started reading this book, I was talking with my mom.I told here that the two things that bug me the most seem like opposites. The first thing is I hate people underestimating my intelligence. This actually happens a lot. I am blond and I sometime a bit slow and sometime I do dumb things. However, I am not stupid. So, when people see me and try to dumb things down for me, it makes me really angry. The second thing is when people think I am smart. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. Before I changed my major, back when I was still an electrical engineering major, when they asked, I would tell them my major. One of the most common responses was "Oh, you must be smart." Well, my problem with that statement is to them it is not a good thing. They have just classified me as one of those "smart people" that they can't associate with because I am too smart. Now, that usually doesn't happen, but it just as insulting as if it were true.

Why do Americans look down on those who are smart? Has our success as a country pushed us so far that we believe we don't intelligence and a good work ethic? Is this why our national leadership has suffered? America, it is time to step up and reevaluate who we are and what we want.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-06-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

So, today is my birthday! I am now a full two decades old. I have always had rather disappointing birthdays but this year there is nothing to be disappointed about. Yesterday I helped my mom cook my birthday dinner. Sometime this week, we will go out to Indian food as a family. I think that the best part of my birthday were all the people who wished me happy birthday. I am feeling like this is a good birthday even though I still had to go to my crappy job :)

Anyway, Here is an update on my job. I work in an office. It is a really cushy job. I make really good money. And I don't have anything to do. Now, I know what you are thinking. A job where you can do what you want and get paid for it? That is not as fun as it sounds.

My cousin had a job last summer where she was basically in the same boat I was. I thought that sounded great. Boy, was I wrong. I feel guilty doing things I want to do while I sit there, so I pretend like I am working while i covertly check my email or read webcomics (they are a disease. Don't start, they will haunt you...) At least I will have money.

Well, I am going to add music to my MP3 player, work a little and then call it a night.

'night everyone :)