I really should be doing homework. . .

*I was thinking about becoming a vegetarian, but then I remembered how much I love my mom's green chilli burros(and those amazing pork salads from Costa Vida), and I decided against it.

*I absolutely love my new polka-dotted sheets from Target - they were only $5.98 and make me smile every time I slide in between them.

*The new director of the Russian choir says "ready. . . .go" whenever he wants us to sing. It's quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever had to witness multiple times every Thursday.

*Last night I quite literally fell asleep into a textbook. It's definitely in my top ten list of most pathetic moments as a college student.

*My new roommates think I'm completely nuts because I constantly practice Russian under my breath and literally squealed with joy when I opened a box to discover that my "Big Silver Book of Russian Verbs"(yes, that is the actual title) had arrived from amazon.com.

*I miss my brother the most when I'm making omelets.

*Next weekend will be filled with general conference, visiting Kalia, pajamas, bran muffins, macaroni salad, and jigsaw puzzles. It will be glorious, and I can hardly wait.

*The other day my roommate was filling out some dumb survey thing that asked what kind of an animal she would be. After literally a half hour of debating, she said, "Oh! Maybe I'll put dolphin. Wait. . . a dolphin is an animal, right?" She was totally serious. People, I can't make this stuff up.

So it's been like five months since I posted, and all I've got is this lame post about some shirts I got for a steal. . .

My friend Camille over at Archives of our Lives has been doing a "Saturday Steals" feature on her blog recently and I decided to participate this week(you should too, I'm sure she would love to have you).

Anyway, so earlier this week I ran into Old Navy to pick up a new white shirt for work. I have to wear white, and I'm working like a bajillion and two hours this week, and I desperately needed a new white shirt. Not the point.

Anyway, I went into Old Navy and lo and behold, they were having a sale in which all of their clearance items were fifty percent off. It was glorious. It was also thoroughly picked over(it's a college town, these things happen).

Of course, there was not a white shirt to be found amongst the clearance racks, but I managed to find one for $10- originally $14.50. Not exactly a steal, but this story gets better, I promise.

I then found a cute purple sweater with huge brown buttons for $3.49. I kid you not, $3.49. The buttons alone are probably worth that.

I also purchased three simple, but cute t-shirts. One was $2.98, and the others cost me $1.98 a piece. That's almost cheaper than fifty percent off day at Goodwill!

Grand total: five shirts, $21.83 - I realize this would be far more impressive had I not needed the ten dollar white shirt, so if you take that out, that is four shirts for $11. 83, and that is a steal indeed.


PS, sorry for the crappy, last minute cell phone picture.
PPS, I am three finals and one nasty work week away from a much needed break in sunny AZ! [insert hallelujah chorus here]

Well, it finally happened

It's snowing. . .

hard.

And sticking.

Crap.

I hate winter.


About a half an hour ago I was lying in my bed staring out my window and talking to my brother on the phone(he's in Arizona). We were chatting about nonsense when it started snowing, so I said, "oh my gosh! I'm looking out my window and it just started snowing!" I was hoping for some sympathy or something, but instead he went, "cool. . . .oh my gosh! I just looked out my window, saw how hot it was, and started sweating. Weird."
My brother makes me laugh.

Where did that come from?

This morning I was walking across campus and this song(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bC07e7PReM) popped into my head from out of nowhere. How's that for random? I was probably six years old the last time I watched that.
It's completely stuck now though. I keep catching myself humming it. That could be awkward to try to explain.

Random Thoughts and Things I'm Happy About

* I work at the Marriott center as an usher and it's basically boring. But I was working last night for homecoming spectacular and there were like a billion and twelve people there. So I was standing in my portal passing out programs and directing people to their seats and there was a few minutes where I was surrounded by like a bajillion old people wanting me to help them find their seat and give them a program. I was starting to feel frazzled and a little annoyed but was still all smiley and trying to be cheerful and helpful even though I was tired and stressed about how much homework I had sitting at home waiting for me, when the crowd began to clear and people started moving out of the doorway to find their seats. During this momentary lull, an old gentleman touched my arm to get my attention and then said simply, "you are beautiful." He turned away and went to find his seat. He can have no idea what an impact those three words had on my night. I'm so grateful that he took the time to pay a compliment to a stranger.

* It is officially fall and the colors here are so beautiful. The weather has warmed up a bit this last week or so and I absolutely love spending time outside. I should take some pictures. or rather, I should find my camera. . .

* Since I came to BYU I have been looking for my favorite study spot on campus. There are plenty of options, and I've tried a bunch of them, and found some that I liked and will frequent, but I had yet to find the perfect spot. Until Wednesday. On the fourth floor of one of the buildings there is a deck area with tables and chairs and potted plants and the most beautiful view of campus and the mountains. It is truly a perfect place to read during my long breaks between classes, and I'm only sad that it will soon be too cold to sit out there and I didn't find it sooner.

* So, I love to bake, right? This is pretty much common knowledge, but my very favorite baking of all time is fall baking. I love it when it's cold outside and my house smells like pumpkin and spices. Is there anything better than that? I think not. So a couple of weeks ago I made a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and it was divine. Then this week I made pumpkin cookies and used my leftover frosting and also made some with mini chocolate chips. They were so yummy. I'm trying to decide what it will be this week . . . maybe a pumpkin roll? Pumpkin pie? Pumpkin bars? Pumpkin bread? Are you seeing a theme here? I love baking with pumpkin. But maybe I'll branch out and try a spice cake or something. Hmm, any suggestions?

* Is anyone else out there obsessed with glee? It's pretty much my new favorite show. I really don't watch tv very much at all, but every once in a while a show comes along that catches my attention. And now that pushing daisies is cancelled and I've watched every episode on dvd enough times to be ridiculous, I'm happy to have a new show.

* Speaking of tv, Hillary, I'm sorry I made fun of you for watching Phineas and Ferb. My roommate and I have caught it a couple of times and it is surprisingly entertaining. You were right, it's hilarious.

* As of Tuesday I will finally be done with midterms. I just have to finish my take-home New Testament exam this weekend and then take my killer Russian midterm on Tuesday. Whose idea was it to take Russian, anyway? I'm telling you, this class is intense.

* I am literally counting down the days until Thanksgiving. I have to work, so I can't go home this year, but Cassie is coming to visit me again and I am seriously so excited. It cannot come fast enough. And then in December, my old roommate Kaila is coming to visit me and then a couple weeks later I get to go home for Christmas. I'm so excited, these thoughts are seriously getting me through my classes right now.

* I wish there were good movies out right now, I'm dying to go to the movies. Anyone seen anything good lately?

* So, I just read back over this and I asked like six hundred questions and the train of thought makes absolutely no logical sense. Oh well, I warned you it would be random.

* Happy Friday.

It's still September for crying out loud!

For those of you who may not know: I hate winter. More specifically, I hate the snow. I know, I know, people always tell me: "it's beautiful, it's clean, it's pure, blah, blah, blah." Really though? Winter means snow - snow means ice - ice plus my complete lack of stability/balance means that I fall down a lot. Seriously, I have trouble walking across carpet. Barefooted. No, really. I run into walls - often. Not to mention the other stumbling around and general slamming into things that is a daily occurrence. Put me in shoes and on ice and tell me I have to walk a half mile uphill to school everyday, and all I see lurking on my sinister horizon is ultimate disaster and humiliation, not to mention the bruises.

Now, not to be a total Bitter Betty(that's for you, Kaila), there are some things I kind of like about winter. Namely, scarves, fires, cute coats and hats, electric blankets, hot cocoa and tea, etc. Basically, I like the idea of winter, I just hate actually having to be outside so much when its freezing.

That being said, for the past few months, I have been living in a blissful world where winter doesn't exist. Anytime anyone mentions snow, ice, or winter, I usually ignore them and remind myself that there is no such thing as winter. You see, if I were to let myself dwell on the fact that Provo will soon be covered in treacherous snow, I would probably be curled up sobbing somewhere. Therefore, I'm much happier living in complete denial.

Last night, my roommate informed me that the news reported that it would be colder this week. I made a snarky comment and quickly pushed the thought from my mind. This morning, I got up late, threw on my usual capris, t-shirt and flip-flops and headed out the door to school with my hair still wet and pushed up into a mass of curls at the back of my head. It was fifty-five degrees out. Fifty-five. In Arizona weather, that's like negative twenty. But did I go back for a sweater? Of course not, sheer stubbornness forbade it. I practically jogged to school to keep from freezing and arrived unable to feel my fingers. It is now nearly noon and according to weather.com, it is a sunny fifty-seven degrees with an expected high of sixty-four. The sun is out and shining, but the traitor is creating no warmth, no pleasing rays, nothing but light. I'm freezing.

I think I may have to face the facts that winter is indeed coming, and actually dress for it tomorrow. It's still September, I should be able to wear capris and a t-shirt. Heck, in Arizona, I'd still be sweating in this outfit. I thought I would at least have until mid-October before I began freezing, but sadly it isn't looking like it.

Point being, if I catch pneumonia and die from dressing like this when its in the fifties, I want it to be known that the cause of death was not stupidity, but rather, sheer undiluted stubbornness. Also, the fact that my blood is 100% Arizonan.

I officially survived my first week back at school

It went something like this:

• Minor panic attack Sunday night about going back to school - overcome by making an amazing dinner for my friend Chase
  
• Survived day one of classes
  
• Made a fool of myself by begging a teacher to add me into her Lit. class and then promptly dropping it after one day
• Started driving to my old apartment instead of the new, not once, but three times
  
• Wrote my first paper of the semester
  
• Paid $124- for one textbook
• Did about three hours of Russian homework a night
• Called and complained to my landlord because nothing in my new apartment had been even remotely cleaned
• Slowly but surely began cleaning and organizing apartment
  
• Re-arranged the furniture in my living room twenty times before finally getting it right
• Was at school for eight hours on Tuesday, came home and did four hours of homework and fell asleep on the couch watching "You've Got Mail"
• Amidst the stress of moving and a new semester, consumed an entire package of oreos by myself, in one week
• Started diet
• Had dinner and watched "Sense and Sensibility" with my old roommates
• Went grocery shopping at twelve-thirty at night due to the full moon and lack of anything else to do
• Discovered that it is a bad idea to buy groceries in the middle of the night due to the random assortment that seemed logical at the time, but was actually sort of humorous this morning
• Am now celebrating the fact that week one is over and there is no school on Monday. Maybe I will finally have time to finish unpacking, cleaning and organizing. Maybe.
  

Happy Weekend!

Let's talk movies, shall we?

**Warning: this post was written incredibly early in the morning after being awake for nearly 24 hours. It may contain severe rambling and broken thoughts. You have been warned. **

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is 4:30 in the morning. Why, you may ask, am I blogging? Well, why not? I'm certainly not sleeping. . .I have insomnia. Have I mentioned this? No? Well, I do. And it's lame.

I have been lying in bed for literally hours attempting to achieve peaceful slumber but instead, achieving nothing. Which is why I decided I may as well get up and find something to pass the time for awhile. So let's talk about movies. I L-O-V-E movies. I love going to movies, I love watching movies, I love basically everything about movies. I also love basically any kind of movie. Action, adventure, drama, romance, musical, comedy. The only kind of movie I really don't like are scary ones. Seriously. I am a total baby when it comes to scary movies. I can literally count on one hand the number of scary movies I have actually sat all the way through. I just can't handle them. Okay, now that I think about that a little more, that's not entirely true because I think Alfred Hitchcock is brilliant and I love his films, but other than that, I hate scary movies.

In spite of this absolute loathing of anything resembling a scary movie and the fact that I gett be way more terrified than I ought to be, tonight I watched a scary movie. All alone. In the dark.
Why? There are two basic reasons:

Reason number one: It was one in the morning, I was very awake and bored, and I discovered that the entire movie was on you tube (love that, by the way).

Reason number two: It had this kid in it:
Um, so confession: I love Shia Lebeouf. He makes me laugh, he's totally cute, he's great in everything I've ever seen him in, and I think that Even Stevens was one of the greatest shows on Disney, judge me if you will.

Point being, I watched Disturbia tonight.
Did you guys see that movie? It was basically creepy beyond all reason. No, really. It scared me. I had to watch something happy after I finished it because I was still creeped out. Which, by the way, is one of my pet peeves about scary movies. You spend two hours being totally scared and watching these characters you have come to like be chased by some crazy, deranged, psychotic murderer, and them bam - crisis averted, murderer/stalker/total creeper is dead. After forever of being totally tense, they give you like a maximum of two minutes of seeing the main characters happy and expect you to believe that the world really is good and safe and that they live happily ever after, and I can just turn out the light and go to sleep now. I think not.

That being said, as far as creepy movies go, I actually kind of liked this one. Sure, it had all the usual cliches, middle of the night chase, lightning storm, power outage, creepy music, dead bodies, etc. But it was still scary, but not so much so that it's going to keep me up at nights (though like it would really matter, I'll probably be up anyway). I think I would actually watch it again though. Someday. Preferably with the lights on. Also preferably watching it on my couch, holding the hand of some cute guy, rather than watching it on my laptop alone in my dark room trying not to wake my sleeping roommate.

Overall thoughts: pretty good, and if you like creepy movies, I definitely recommend it.

Hmmm, what other movies have I seen lately that I can ramble on about?

Julie and Julia



Last week my friend Kaila took me to see this, and I loved it. I thought it was adorable, though I have to admit that there were a couple of things that bothered me. For one, everyone constantly eating in the movie was kind of disgusting. Especially Amy Adams characters husband. It was pretty nasty, seriously. I have no problem watching people eat, it was just the ravenous way in which the characters were constantly consuming food in this film that was a little disturbing at times. And while Amy Adams was borderline creepy stalker at times and her haircut was pretty bad, I thought she was adorable, as always, and her clothes were amazing. Meryl Streep, on the other hand, was fantastic. If I hadn't known any better I would have thought that it was actually Julia Child, she seriously became her. It was unbelievable.

Overall thoughts: I loved it and I highly recommend it.


500 Days of Summer
Words cannot describe how much I loved this movie. It is cute, it is charming, it made me laugh out loud, it made me cry, it ended perfectly, Zooey Deschanel is fantastic and her clothes are adorable, the music all the way through is so great(gotta love The Smiths), it could very well be the perfect movie. . .except for one thing. Sad to say, there is quite a bit of smut in it. Much more than necessary, in fact. It definitely deserves its PG-13 rating, let's put it that way.

Overall thoughts: I totally loved it, but am unsure of how heartily I can recommend it.


Star Trek
I know this one has been out for awhile, but have you guys seen this?
Confessions of Alicia: I am totally a closet star trek fan. I know, right? Maybe I should be ashamed that my geeky side is showing? Oh well, it is 4:30 in the morning, who really cares? Up until this point in my life though, my theory on star trek has been that it is "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or nothing. I used to love that show, but had never had anything to do with star trek besides that until this movie came out.
That being said, I totally loved this movie. Seriously, I thought it was great. I may or may not have even seen it more than once. I liked it that much. What else can I tell you? It has action, adventure, romance, comedy, and is intense at times. And, despite what my mother may say on the matter, I think Spock is surprisingly handsome. I know, one minute I confess that I like star trek, the next I'm telling you a vulcan is handsome. Severe lack of sleep people, it does this to you. But seriously? Zachary Quinto, c'mon mom.
Maybe without the terrible haircut and creepy eyebrows?


Where was I going with this? Somehow lost my train of thought. . .

Overall thoughts: see it, its basically awesome.

Well, its after five now, I think I will try to sleep again. Wish me luck!

Coming up with a clever title: not as easy as you might think. . .

I'm back in the blogging world, and I've decided to change things up a bit.

For starters and a little update on my life, here are some of the random things my summer has consisted of:

• Finished up the semester and decided to not do summer school, but just work instead, not realizing how difficult that would prove to be.
  
• Moved out of the scary spider infested duplex into a beautiful condo around the corner.
  
• Looked for a job.
• Found a job doing custodial on campus.
• Passed out in front of the entire crew on my second day of said job.
• Scraped up my face, took an ambulance to the hospital.
• Was told it was a combination of stress, dehydration, and exhaustion. Awesome.
• Went home to reassure my mother that I really was fine.
  
• Bummed around with my family and friends for a week.
• Came back to Provo and played for the weekend with my sister Cassie who drove back with me.
  
• Looked for a new job after quiting the custodial job due to the total humiliation.
• Went to California for a fun-filled weekend, ended up doing nothing in California all weekend(it's a long story, you really don't want to know).
• Worked at the Stadium of Fire for July 4th (sadly, only a one day job).
• Continued looking for a job.
• Met up with my dear friend Kayley (one of the girls I went to Russia with and have not seen in years) and her husband Paul.
• Planned on meeting for lunch, ended up spending twelve hours together.
  
• Went home to AZ for three weeks:
• Nearly died from the heat,
• Chatted with my mom,
• Played with Linds and Chels,
• Was surprised with tickets to see Beauty and the Beast (thanks girls!),
  
• Held sweet little newborn Ruthie,
• Laughed with my brother,
• Played in the game room with my dad,
• Saw Wicked at Gammage,
  
• Went swimming,
• Bummed around with my sisters,
• Had my nails done by Annie about a million times,
• Visited with extended family at LJ's Pizza (my favorite),
• Turned 24 and was given Pushing Daisies season 2 and tickets to see Chicago (the band, not the play).
  
• Watched about a billion movies and relaxed.
• Nearly sang myself hoarse as I made the eleven hour drive back to Provo, looked for a job.
• Was visited by Hillary and James:
• Stayed up way too late every night talking and laughing,
• Went shopping all over Utah,
  
• Realized how much I have missed those two - love you guys!
• Looked for a job.
• Sat in absolute horror and tried my hardest not to giggle through the worst concert I have ever attended, but couldn't just leave because there were only like twenty people total there.
• Narrowly escaped being puked on by a poodle the size of a great dane. Still a little traumatized.
  
• Spent a few hours lying in a meadow in a sleeping bag up the canyon watching a meteor shower.
• Had the sprinklers come on and discovered how difficult it is to get out of a zipped up sleeping bag while trying to find your shoes, cell phone and keys, at the same time scrambling up a hill and attempting to avoid the jets of icy cold water while laughing and freezing.
  
• Continued looking for a job.
• Watched numerous lightning storms from my stoop, and was reminded of how much I love monsoon season.
• Registered for classes for the fall.
  
• Started packing to move(again).

That's all I can think of for now. The only other thing that comes to mind are the numerous drives up the canyon, movies, and excursions to my favorite Thai restaurant. Pretty boring, I know.

Speaking of drives up the canyon though, I took this picture this afternoon somewhere along one of my stops up the Provo canyon. I took it on my cell phone, so the quality is pretty bad, but it was a beautiful day and I was reminded of how much I love summers in Utah.


PS, while looking for the above picture on my phone, I came across this little beauty and thought I would share. This was taken while driving back this afternoon:




I know it's hard to see, but those are sheep. In the back of a truck. Cruising down the highway. Why? The world may never know. . .

Some days you're the bug; other days you're the windshield

Today I am definitely the bug.



Enough said.

I'm not dead, I'm just the worst blogger on the planet

No, really. I haven't frozen to death, I actually survived finals("wonder of wonders, miracle, a miracle" name that musical, anyone?) , I have lived through numerous snowstorms, I made it through Christmas and New Years with my crazy family and managed to get (somewhat reluctantly) back onto the plane to return to my own personal ice world, I survived my car window getting stuck down(*cough*again*cough*), I lived through the first four weeks of a new semester, and I drove through Orem in a snowstorm with a windshield wiper that wouldn't move. Not pleasant. But, I survived.

Point being? I know its been ages, and I really am sorry, but life has been insane and living without a computer is lame. Thanks for all of your emails, texts, phone calls, and concern. Just know that I am still here, still alive, still crazy, and still happy.
Also? I really have no stories worth sharing. All I ever do is go to school and do homework and occasionally sleep. Repeat those three things over and over, and you've got my life. Oh. My. Boring. I am still looking for a job, and still freezing nigh unto death, but other than that, life is pretty good. Boring, but good.

I will admit that I have recently discovered a passion for Russian literature. I highly recommend Pushkin's Eugene Onegin or Gogol's Dead Souls for anyone looking for a good read. Read it, and then call me, k? Russian Lit is fantastic, who knew? Also, I have officially decided to Minor in editing. It will put me here for at least one extra semester, which is ironic considering how much I loathe all things school related, but I am(surprisingly) really enjoying my basic editing class and think it will really help me when/if I ever actually graduate.

Anyway, I have put off homework long enough and am off to a study group for a big test I have next week. Wish me luck! Love you all!

If Finals Don't Kill Me, This Wretched Snow Will!

This morning I woke up and got ready for school same as usual.

When I looked out the window, much to my dismay, there was a freaking blizzard. I'm not kidding, it was SNOWING. Hard. *Sigh*

I put on three more layers of clothes(not an exaggeration), a scarf, my cheap jacket from AZ, and determined that today I was going to buy a real coat and actual shoes because ballet flats just don't cut it in the snow.

I grabbed my trusty polka-dot umbrella and set off for an adventure. I only got about a foot from my front door before deciding that snow is absolutely wretched.


By the end of my driveway, my socks had slipped down to the toes of my shoes due to the slippery nylons I was wearing under them. Not like I could really stop and take off my shoes to fix it because it was still coming down. Also, my cute little flats were so full of snow that I could hardly tell the socks from the piles of ice. Wretched.

Determined to actually make it past my street, I continued on. Note: while the umbrella did help to keep my head dry, and the snow out of my eyes for the most part, the wind started to pick up about this point, and I was covered with snow.

I was trudging along at a terribly slow pace, trying to convince myself that it wasn't all that bad, but knowing at the same time that I was a terrible liar, when all of a sudden my little flat failed to grip and I went down. Hard. In the middle of a street I was crossing. *Sigh* I picked myself up and heard someone yell: "Are you hurt?" To which I replied: "Just my pride, thanks!"

I brushed myself off and continued on. After all, I was almost a tenth of the way to campus. Wretched. Freaking. Day.

I then began wondering just how many times I was going to fall before actually making it to campus. And then I pictured the eighteen stairs I would have to climb, and the ginormous hill I have difficulty with when its nice out. Those stairs and that hill covered with snow and ice? Kill me now. The only emotion present was dread. Pure and simple dread. This was going to be humiliating, but it was too late to turn back and I had two papers to write, a study group to meet, and a final to take and both(yes, both) of my computers decided to die on me within the last two days. Once again: Wretched day.

It was about this point that I began questioning the reason I even moved here. Why was I willingly subjecting myself to this torture?

Then it began snowing harder.

I now could barely see a few feet in front of me, which didn't really matter because I was staring at my frozen feet attempting not to fall again. Almost two tenths of the way to campus.

It was at this moment that I heard: "Do you want a ride?" I peeked out from under my polka-dot umbrella, and there in a car pulled to the side of the road was a man I have never seen before in my life. With no hesitation I replied:"Yes please." I trudged off the sidewalk and climbed into this strangers car and promptly filled it with the snow I was covered with.

The man told me his name was Camon and I told him that I was from Arizona and that this was my first real snow. He tried not to laugh at me and almost succeeded.

He took me to campus and I thanked him profusely. He really can have no idea of just how grateful I am for that.

The moral of the story is: there are angels among us and those angels drive old beat up red Toyotas and rescue strangers from fates worse than death.

Thanks Camon.

I'll be Home for Christmas...

do, do do, do doooo. (Uh, that was the next line of the song, of course!)
Anyway, it's true! My wonderful parents have lovingly bought their pathetically poor college student/daughter a plane ticket to go home for a whole week! Yay! Thanks Mom & Dad!

So, in celebration of that fact, and in order to totally avoid my life, stress, and homework, I decided to do a random Christmas post just for kicks. Feelin' Christmassy? Join me!

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, totally. Way more fun than gift bags.

2. Real tree or artificial? All my life we've had an artificial tree and I think this is the first year ever that I haven't helped put it up. (Just kidding. Now that I think about it, I didn't help the year I was in Russia for obvious reasons.)

3. When do you put up the tree? Day after Thanksgiving. Right after shopping and a nap.

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime soon after New Years usually?

5. Do you like eggnog? Only the Meadow Gold kind, which I can't find in the grocery stores here. The Shamrock kind is way nasty though and tastes like that bubble gum flavored junk the dentist used to use on me when I was little. I hated that stuff.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My adorable Cabbage Patch baby doll. Her name is Marianne, and yes I still have her. (In a box at my parents house - not like I still cuddle up with it at night or anything, sickos.)

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a really cute one that is also in a box at my parents house. Huh.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Cassie. Love ya Sis, but you know its true.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Not sure, probably Annie and Lynnsi.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Probably nylons. That would actually be an okay gift now knowing how annoyingly expensive they are and considering the fact that I can only wear them once before ripping them, but I was like 15 at the time, so it was just kind of strange(love ya mom!)

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Christmas cards? What?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf. Miracle on 34th Street. Muppet Christmas Carol. The Grinch(both the cartoon & Jim Carrey versions). White Christmas. It's a Wonderful Life. Okay, okay, so I can't choose, and apparently I LOVE Christmas movies way more than I realized!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Well, considering I haven't started yet, your guess is as good as mine.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember(or would admit to if I could).

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cap'n Crunch, Ham and potato casserole, and my Grandma's(or whoever actually makes them) caramels. Mmm!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? We always used to have colored lights, but now our tree has clear lights already on it which is so fantastic. If I'm doing a pretty theme tree then I like clear, but if we are doing the random conglomeration of ornaments from all over, then I like colored.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Like I could ever choose. I must say though that I seriously LOVE Josh Groban's Christmas album. If you don't have it, get it. If you don't want to get it and don't mind my gushing over my Joshy-boy and singing along, then you can just come over and we will listen together. I pretty much listen to it year round.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? It all depends. The last couple of years my family has headed off to California or a cozy cabin, but this year I am going home and I can hardly wait!

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Yes, but not without singing.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We always had a star until a couple of years ago when I convinced my Mom we needed an angel. We discovered that it was kind of difficult to find a non-scary looking angel, but did eventually succeed and she adorned our tree for a couple of years until we found the most adorable star topper ever at Joanns! Oh, my red and cream elf and star tree is my favorite!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning for sure!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The commercialism. Although I must say, living in Utah and freezing basically all of the time is pretty annoying as well.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Everything! I seriously love it all! The baking, the music, finding the perfect gift for someone, how happy and generous people feel, singing Christmas hymns in church, visiting friends and family, going home for a whole week, the Arizona weather, everything!

My computer is LAME

Okay, okay.

Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I'm still having crazy adventures. And yes, I have tons of stories for you all.

But...

my computer is SO dumb! I worked for like forever and a day on this really great post, and it wouldn't let me post it! I've tried like six times and it freaks out every time! It's so frustrating. So then I abandoned that wicked awesome post and attempted to post this really great Thanksgiving message complete with totally awesome picture, and I couldn't do that either. Grrr.

Point of the story is: this computer is lame.
Also? My life is going to be crazy stressful for the next three weeks until school is over and all I wanted was to do one more happy post before my life became a living hell during finals week, and instead all you get is this lame post of me complaining. Sorry bout that.



**Okay, I cannot believe that it let me post this. I seriously have tried so many times to post that other stuff and it wouldn't do anything. So why this? Why now? Boo.

A Few Things I've Learned Since Moving to Utah:

• Arizona sweaters and "jackets" don't cut it in places that actually get cold.

• Scraping ice off your car every morning gets really annoying.

• Trying to buy an ice scraper for your car when you've never even seen one, can be difficult.

• You can buy food storage supplies ANYWHERE in Utah, including grocery stores and gas stations.

• College kids really can survive on nothing but ramen noodles. And ice cream.
  

• Leaves that have fallen onto the sidewalk can be slippery when stepped on wrong.

• The BYU testing center is purgatory.

• People like to sometimes do odd things while walking to school such as listen to music, talk on the phone, read, study, eat, and shave. (I actually saw a guy shaving with an electric razor on his way to class last week. Took every ounce of self control I had not to laugh out loud.)

• Spiders can grow to horrific sizes, pop up when you least expect them, and fake their own deaths to trick you into a false sense of security.

• English professors can, and do, talk about church-y topics in class, and some have opening prayer every class period and assign scripture readings as homework.

• Huffing and puffing the 3/4 of a mile up the ginormous hill to school every day makes those jeans that were a getting a little snug two months ago a little more comfortable.
  

• College professors who occasionally sing during class lectures do not get a lot of respect.
  

• Fall is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

• Windows that have been stuck down for two weeks without budging, then magically decide to smoothly roll up the moment the mechanic lays a finger on the button, can be quite embarrassing.
  

• Giggling like a crazy person in front of said mechanic who failed to see the irony in the situation, can also be quite humiliating.

• When having a panic attack at eleven o'clock at night, there is nothing better than a roommate who takes you out for pizza, ice cream, and girl talk.
  

• Having one entrance to your street closed off for a month and a half can be really annoying, especially when you never once remember to turn before you get to it and have to go all the way up and around to get to your house.
  

• Not cutting or dying your previously dyed hair for two months straight has some pretty scary results.
  

• Having neighbors who own movies like What's Up Doc? and North and South, and who have parties on "National Talk Like a Pirate Day" where they watch Pirates of the Carribean and eat Chips Ahoy cookies, means instant friendship.
  

• Singles Wards will use ANY excuse to get everyone together, such as "ward prayer."

• Life as a full-time student, part time employee, Relief Society music coordinator, roommate, and friend means always having adventures of some kind or another!
  

Kill me now!

Want to know what the last two days of my life have been like?

Here, let me show you:

(That's an electric blanket controller, in case you were confused)

(And those are textbooks, because reading for pleasure has become a dream of the past)

I hate being sick.

Sucks to be me.

THE END








PS- this:


is the best soup ever. I think I've had this soup every time I've gotten sick since...birth, probably. It's great stuff. Try it. I promise it helps.
Just don't get the kind with chicken, its way nasty. And I wouldn't recommend the "extra noodle" variety, unless you are some kind of noodle fanatic. I myself, am a regular amount of noodles kind of girl.

*All pictures taken from here

Greatest Invention EVER!

I have discovered the most amazing thing ever!

I really don't think I could survive here without it.

Someday I really hope I get to shake the hand of the person who invented.....

the electric blanket.

Not kidding. Best investment of my life. I turn it on while I get ready for bed, and let it get all nice and toasty, and when I climb in, its like heaven on earth. It doesn't even matter any more that the heater in my house isn't working, or that the water bottle sitting on my desk is partly frozen, or that I'll have to scrape ice off of my car in the morning, or that every time I move my bed makes terrible squeaking sounds, or that I've barely been functioning all day because I'm too cold to move, because for the first time all day, I am actually warm. It is fantastic.

Therefore, I dedicate this post to the inventor of the electric blanket, the person who has saved me numerous times from freezing to death. Thank you, whoever you may be.

I'm still here!

I know, I know, its been forever.

My excuse is that I haven't had internet at my house, which is.....completely.....wretched.
But, good news: I actually have internet now!!! Yay! (Insert rejoicing choir music here)

I am officially a part of the online world again, and it is fabulous!

I have a confession to make: I love Utah, I love Provo, I love my gorgeous view of the mountains, I love my roommates, I love my ward, and my calling, and occasionally my classes, and I even like my job, but the truth is:
I am F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!

Pathetic, I know.

Seriously though? I feel like I should be listening to Christmas music if its this cold outside. Maybe I'll just start listening to it now even though its only October. Last year I started towards the middle or end of October sometime(don't tell my mom. Her rule is that if we listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, we don't get any turkey. She hasn't caught me yet, but better safe than sorry.[Mom? You didn't see anything])

Last night I finished my homework, put on my sweatpants, hoodie with the hood up, and socks and climbed under my four blankets to go to sleep, and still shivered half of the night. And frankly, I'm scared. Its only October people! How am I going to survive the winter? Although, I must say, the fall colors are amazing. I live in a place with seasons, actual seasons, I'm talking spring, summer, winter, and fall, not just somewhat pleasant sweater weather, hot, hotter, and freaking hot, actual seasons! Its amazing.

There is supposed to be another storm this weekend though, and I heard a rumor that if it gets cold enough, it might snow. Snow. Do you realize what that means??? I'll tell you exactly what that means: Snow=cold, cold=ice, and ice=bad news for me. I have difficulty walking on completely flat surfaces and often trip over nothing and run into things, so ice? And walking a mile to school? Yikes. Plenty of opportunities for humiliation.

Let's talk about something else, this is getting upsetting.

Here we go: The things I miss about Arizona(in no particular order):

• My awesome and totally crazy family

• My amazing friends

• My adorable cousins

• My incredibly comfortable bed

• Arizona Mountains

• Mattas
• My moms cooking

• LJ's

• Actually knowing my way around town

Wow. That's sad, can you tell I'm starving right now?I feel like I'm forgetting a ton, but that's good for now.
Also, Provo is seriously lacking in amazing places to get Mexican food and Pizza, it's very sad. But, to it's credit, there is the most ginormous DI I have ever seen in my life. It's basically amazing. I bought these great shoes there that looked brand new, and they are so comfortable, I wear them practically every day. I've gotten into this really bad habit though, whenever anyone compliments me on anything, before I can stop myself, I tell them what a great deal I got on it at DI. It's so sad, I should totally get paid for how often I advertise that store. Someone says, "cute shoes," and my instant response is: "thanks, I got them for three dollars at DI. It was pretty much the best day ever!"

I think I've avoided my homework long enough, but the point is, besides missing Arizona and everyone, and totally freezing and being terrified for winter to come, and hardly ever sleeping, life is good. I'm unspeakably happy up here. Love you all! Mmwah!

Hello from Utah!

Hello Everyone!

I feel like its been forever since I've seen all my AZ friends and fam.

This is just a quick post to let you know that I am officially a resident of Provo, Utah. It's true. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I live here, but I do. After an adventure filled week seeing the sights with my family, I have been left here on my own to suffer in Mormon-ville. Alone. (Kidding, kind of)

I have ridiculous stories and pictures and tons of randomness to post soon, but just want to quickly remind you all that I do still own a cell phone(with the same number), I have unlimited access to a computer and email, and I am jobless, friendless, and life-less for the next few weeks until school starts.

If that hinting wasn't enough, let me be more blunt: I am not dead--I moved to Utah!!! I realize this may seem like death to some of you(especially my family, all week most of what I've heard is "this is the last time you'll ever...{fill in the blank with anything}), but I assure you I am still here and as lame as ever.

I miss you all already and expect to hear from you often!

Catching Up

So I'm basically a failure at this whole blogging thing. Its been forever since my last post.
So what, you may ask, have I been doing in all this time that I have been neglecting my blog? Not a lot to be perfectly honest. Mostly I've been avoiding packing, cleaning, or anything else even remotely associated with my moving in three weeks. I prefer the avoid-at-all-costs-until-its-absolutely-necessary-and-I'm-having-
a-panic-attack approach.
That being said, in order to fully avoid, I have:

*seen a lot of plays:

• The Wedding Singer (with my mom)
• My Fair Lady (with Lindsay)
• Aida (with Chelsie)
• Children of Eden (with Cassie)
• High School Musical (with my little sisters-there is no way to describe in words the sound of literally thousands of little girls screaming their lungs out when Troy Bolton walked on stage)

*Watched a lot of movies: To make a list would take all day, so we're not going to go there.

*Gone to see a lot of movies: Even if there was nothing new out, I would just see something I had already seen.

*Hung out with my fam at the Diamondbacks game at the Gardner family reunion:

Our view of the field

I have super shaky hands, so my pictures are always blurry :(

My parents

Doug & Stacey

My adorable cousin Emma



Around the 6th inning, with the score 0:0, boredom set in:

At this point, my lame-o camera died, and i took no further pictures of the remaining few days of the reunion. Anyways, on with my list:


*Chelsie came home from her mission in Brazil

* Kalia got her mission call to England

* I bummed around with my cousins and played games at Geronimo

*Read some amazing books: Right now I'm reading Twilight and getting ready for Breaking Dawn to come out. Only 13 days!!! The thought of actually having it in my hands makes me want to squeal like a little girl who just met the Jonas brothers.



*Went to a couple of card classes with my cousin Hillary and made some adorable cards. And in the continuing style of the cruel irony that is my life, during the Christmas in July class, my ticket was drawn and I won the $20.00 August class free. Too bad I am moving to Utah the week before the class. It worked out good though, cause at least Hill will get the free class and I can steal the card ideas later.

*Never missed an episode of So You Think You Can Dance or Project Runway

So that's basically the story of my life, or at least the last couple months of my life. Other than that, I'm still working(only five more days to go{insert rejoicing choir music here}), spending time with family & friends but not actually thinking about leaving them, trying to figure out how I'm going to fit my entire life and my 1,000+ books into my little Cavalier(j/k,actually trying to decide which books to take, and which to leave-which is no easy task, mind you as they are all my dear friends), hanging out with my cute Mia Maids, and bummin around livin the good life.