Today

Today I am sitting in the computer lab. The soft pitterpattering of keyboards all around me. It's comforting really, to know that there are atleast that many fingers feverishly typing. I check out pictures on facebook. Next next nextnextnextnext. Good wedding. Click Next next nextnextnext.... I drool over cooking blogs and committ myself to making Pomegranite Cheesecake for Christmas Day.
Its snowing outside. In a few hours I will have to scrape my car off again so I can drive. Third time today. The guy who was sitting here before me must have been awfully smelly. Or maybe its the guy next to me...Oh good. He's married. Someone loves him. Even if it could possibly end up that he is the one being smelly around here. Hmm... he's discussing life goals with his mother..... Moving on. I have a huge paper due Wednesday and grad school applications galore to get done. Thursday is the last day of school and finals start Monday. I just rocked a quiz.
But really, the only thing on my mind is going home for Christmas in 10 days!!!! Can I just hit fast forward??

Editing The List

Ladies and Gentlemen! Or rather Ladies and Ladies because I doubt that there are men out there reading this. I would like to announce that I have eliminated a few things from my list of things to do. No no, I am still sane and I haven't killed my roommates :) I have the privilege of sharing the wonderful news with you all that I have FINISHED my GRE! I scored 100 points above what I needed to qualify for the schools I'm interested in. This is also 100 points higher than the highest score I got on my practice exams! I feel like a million pounds have been lifted from my chest! I have been truly blessed and I know that Heavenly Father helped me through every question.

I have also reached the halfway point of losing my million pounds. Yes yes I have lost 500,000 pounds! Heh. That's slightly exaggerated. Slightly. But halfway point! Yeah!

Things still on my list? School, work, grad school applications, dishing out money in order to get accepted to further dish out money (approx $7,000 a semester! OUCH!), being nice, and staying sane. I've given up on dating and not eating cake :)

I leave for California in four sleeps and after Thanksgiving I have three weeks of school til the end of the semester. Life rocks.

Piece of Cake

List of things to do in my life:
1. School
2. Janitor job
3. Research Assistant job
4. Study for the GRE (NOVEMBER 19 is coming quick!)
5. Apply for Grad School
6. Claim some kind of residency somewhere
6.5. Pay hundreds of dollars simply to apply to grad school and take entrance exams. I love my parents.
7. Lose a million pounds
8. Do 10 miles of cardio every week
9. Be nice
10. Stay sane.

Oh wait. I left out reading scriptures, dating (?!), not killing roommates, studying for my classes, and attempting a semi-normal college social life. See? Piece of cake. Sadly, refer to #7 & 8. No cake for you. Except a piece of cake would really help me though all this right now!!! Thank goodness for fat free sugar free pudding with cool whip free. I may survive yet :)

Another Happy Place

I have been blessed to have the most fantastically fun summer with my parents. We even had a fantastic visit from Jessica, Ryan, and Emily. This whole summer has been one fun thing right after another and it has been surprisingly busy! This past week we had one last hurrah before I have to head back to school. We got to go camping at one of our favorite campsites up in Canada. Its called the Pinery. Its on Lake Huron and the grounds are a mixture of dunes, forest, wetlands, and beach. We had so much fun!!

We had one major set back for the whole trip. No it was not the lack of space in the car. No it was not the screw we got in our tire. It had to do with the fact that we were there during what must have been a MASSIVE Daddy Long Leg hatch. They. Were. EVERYWHERE. One night we counted over 80 on our tent. And that was on a lighter night. The first night we could harldy keep them off the door of the tent in order for us to get in! We would brush them off and more would come crawling off the top of the tent! The pictures of the tent show a lighter version of that first night. Anything that looks like dirt on the tent is in fact a daddy long leg (with a few real spiders thrown in for fun) It was enough to give me the heebie jeebies for the whole trip :) They were all over the coolers, the tent, the bikes, the ground, in the trees and underfoot. Upon further research though, we found that they are NOT spiders. But they still looked enough like a spider for me to mildly flail upon contact.



Aside from the plethora of long legs running this way and that, we really enjoyed working on our tans, swimming, canoeing, riding our bikes all over, eating smores, and more smores, and playing games with each other and the bugs :)

Never say never about people who don’t fit your mold of what you think you want

I have joined the ranks of Pioneer Woman Worshipers. I started reading her blog a week ago and have spent two FULL (like 4 am full) nights reading, laughing, crying, and feeling like an idiot for laughing out loud and crying about a stranger's life. The title of this blog is my latest favorite quote from her. She blogs about everything in her life. From cooking to remodeling and children to cows. Its all there!

She has written her whole falling-in-love story on her blog (along with EVERYTHING you could EVER want in a blog) and its brilliant. She is a hilarious writer and has a way of making you feel like you're right there. Right there amidst all the sweat and cows and muscly arms.

So if you have a few moments, or a few REALLY late nights, or maybe an extra week or two laying around, take a look. Its my new happy place.

Aprons!

Here are some pictures of the aprons that we have finished so far :) I think there will be more to come once my sister comes to visit!!!

Mommy for a Weekend

I have learned a VERY valuable lesson these past few days. I AM NOT READY TO BE A MOTHER OF THREE, A CAT, AND A DOG!!!! I got a short nanny job for the weekend while parents went house hunting in Mississippi. I didn't know this family but an old ward member gave my name to them and they were desperate. Since I don't have a job this summer I took it! I'll share some lessons learned- I'm sure most of you already know them but it was relatively new for me!

- bathing two kids at once is so much harder than one at a time! especially with squirt guns involved!

-three year old's poop REALLY smells.

-don't entrust potty training to a babysitter- IT DOESN'T WORK!!

-ANYTHING left out on the table/counter will be eaten by the dog the minute you leave the room!

-bath time seems to equal run around naked for 20 minutes around here

-won't eat??? bacon works every time!

-remember to let the dog out!!!

-a cat that hides from the kids all day becomes annoyingly lovey around 4am

-thank goodness for primary! You mean you want to take my kids for TWO HOURS?! GREAT!

-whoever invented in-car DVD players is a genius! I owe my sanity to them!

-"you wont eat again?" hmm.... too late for bacon..... "HOTDOG"!

-don't dangle your feet off the bed. The cat will get them. At 2am. ow.

-thank you liken the scriptures.... providing Sunday sanity to moms everywhere

-they don't care what episode of Spongebob it is... even if its the third time for that one in a day!

I cant even explain my thoughts when I turned the corner to see the little boy running across and around the couches in his underware and a mario hat with a pirate sword. He was fully dressed when I saw him not 3 minutes earlier!

Thank Goodness I don't have to be a full time Mommy yet! I for sure need more patience before that happens!!

Summer Update

This summer has proven to be different from my past summers. The past two summers I have worked two jobs and kept my cell phone glued to my ear. The lack of an other, significant or otherwise, has given me the opportunity to recover from my cell phone addiction. My ears are happy and recovering just fine :)

The other difference this summer is that I have moved to the land of unemployment. I have applied for probably 15 jobs and have been turned down for each one. It's not that I'm not qualified, or educated, but the last job I called in on was a substitute custodial position, I was informed that there had been over 200 applicants. There are just NOT enough jobs here!

I have come up with a list of things to keep me occupied while I am other-less and job-less. The first thing on my list is.... STUDY!!! I will be taking the GRE in October and a large part of my summer is going to be spent studying for the nasty beast. The test includes rigorous vocabulary testing, math testing, and a writing portion. I have 500 vocabulary words, word roots, antonyms, and basic math formulas to memorize. Fun Fun Fun!!!

Second on my list is to try atleast two new recipes a week. I have LOVED doing research on cooking blogs. My favorites are Annies Eats and My Kitchen Cafe. These women are fantastic!! Take a look for lots of yummy treats! My favorites are Benchiladas, Lemon Dreams, Cheesecake Brownies, and my parents LOVED the Magic in the Middle cookies.

Third on my list is a project I've had on my mind for a while. My mom and I will be making Aprons. The one we are doing is the one on the left. We spent hours in JoAnn's and picked out THE cutest fabrics and matching buttons. My first apron will have this fabric for the main and this for the accent. The backing on it will be the pretty blue color. I am so excited!

In between studying and sewing and cooking, Mom and I are working on making the outside of the house presentable. We will have 6 yards of dirt delivered to fill our newly dug gardens and all our empty pots! That will keep us tan and our backs tired!

My last plan also includes my Momma. We're pretty much buddies all the time now :) Our plan, after our aprons that is, is to design our own jewelry and make it ourselves. There is the coolest bead shop just a few miles from our house. We sure have a lot of work ahead of us!

Favorite Spring Sights

I was walking to church one morning and I saw the cutest thing ever! A happy bird was hopping around with an ENTIRE bill full of little sticks and weeds. So then he sets the whole bunch down and puffs up his chest and starts tweeting a happy tune. It was pretty much the cutest self advertising I've ever seen. He was all "look! I have stuff to build a home and I'm buff and I can sing!!! PICK MEEE!!!" It brightened my morning :)

Second, I saw the first two baby ducks at the duck pond. There's a fluffy yellow one and a fluffy brown and yellow one. Today they were both trying to sit on a rock. The fluffy brown one wanted to snuggle with the fluffy yellow one but the rock was slanted so he would sit really close and then gradually slide all the way down the rock and just before he hit the water he would scurry back up the rock to the fluffy one and repeat the process all over again. It was pretty darn cute.

Third. I love seeing the Daffodils and Hyacinths blooming in the sunshine. Daffodils are, in my opinion, the happiest looking flower. Hyacinths smell fantastic and are such a pretty little sturdy flower! For certain my faves.

Fourth. I couldn't make it through this post with out making some comment on my current location. Another favorite sight is the equal ratio of couples getting engaged, just barely dating, or breaking up for the summer. It is quite amusing. Couples mackin on benches, men on bended knee, and couples sitting at a fair distance in tears. This flurry of hormones makes my head hurt. But mostly it makes me laugh.

Favorite Spring sight is the count down chain that only has four links left. Four sleeps left til I get to see my family!!!!

Twitterpated... Twitterpation... Twitterpating....

So just in case anyone was curioso, I have a date this Saturday. YES!! Same boy from the last post, he called on Tuesday and asked me out for tomorrow. I don't know which is making me more twitterpated... the guy or the fact that I finally found someone who doesn't watch R rated movies!!! FINALLY!!! My faith in men is renewed! I must say I am happy with the whole situation.

Top This!

At this point in my life, I don't know if there is anything that can make me so ecstatically happy and excited as a good date. I'm just in from a FANTABULOUTASTIC date! I can't stop smiling. I know you are all married but remember these times... It will make you smile! If not, I'm smiling enough for all y'all. Just thought I'd let you know :)

Spring Break

As many of you know, BYU does not participate in the phenomenon of spring break. While I think this is to prevent the more rebellious part of the Provo population from loosing their goodness in Cancun, I have to admit that I would LOVE a week off! So I've been trying.

Two weeks ago I took a week off from school. Unfortunately I left my apartment only three times and used up two boxes of kleenex. Not my idea of spring break.

So this past weekend I took an extra day off and went up to Idaho to spend Conference weekend with some family. Loves! What a wonderful break! I got to spend time with some of my absolute favorite people in the world. I always feel regenerated after weekends like that. Unfortunately, yes this one has an unfortunately attached as well, I missed a quiz and another class so I have to play catch up this week.

I went to school yesterday to find out that there was only SIX days of school left. Really, it was quite a shock. Lesson learned. Don't try to take two spring breaks in a row. It really throws ya! So I have decided to buckle down and start getting ready for finals.... But I had to try for ONE LAST spring break. It was in the 70s today and I decided to lay on the grass and read my book. I think that this spring break pleased everyone. I got to read my new book. I got a sun burn. I DIDN'T miss any classes and I still got to talk to Grama and my Momma on the phone :)

While I think I prefer my Second attempt, I have a feeling the closer finals get, the Third attempt will be repeated many times. I love spring break!

Sweet Memories...

I have had a lot of time to think this past week since I didn't leave my bed until Thursday and then only momentarily. I have the most wonderful memory of my Daddy. When I was growing up having Daddy wake us up was a rare thing. He had work during the week and was most often working as or with the Bishop on Sundays, so moments with Daddy in the morning were rare. When Daddy did wake us up, it was a treat. Literally. Every time he would come in and put a piece of candy in my mouth and wake me up with that small moment of sharing candy together. It sounds cheesy I know, (and trying to put it into words certainly does NOT help the cheese factor) but now that I am grown up and waking up to crabby roommates I often think back to those moments. I would love to go back and just wake up to a piece of chocolate in my mouth and Daddy sitting on the edge of my bed.

They Call Me Lady Luck

Alright. This is not meant to draw sympathy. Although, if any of you happen to have any wonderful worthy single males in your community....this IS meant to draw those:)

I am Lady Luck. Starting all the way back from High School, I have dated and prepared many a young man for marriage. In total, I have rather seriously dated 6 guys. Of those 6, FIVE have ended up marrying the girl they met right after we broke up. Usually they meet within the week of the breakup. Really, I must be a great teacher because these guys sure are dropping like flies!

The latest event. The boyfriend from this summer is officially engaged. Ring and all. He started dating her around Thanksgiving. Now, I am not a huge fan of shotgun weddings.... but I guess the guys gotta do what he's gotta do. Plus I could list his whole list of his cons here but I'd like to remain at least semi positive about this situation. Let's just say it wasn't meant to be.... It hasn't been meant to be with anyone yet.... I'll give it a little more time.

So, as I am beginning my business of training males to become worthy mates, I am taking any and all suggestions for things you think would be helpful for the pre-marital male to hear, learn, and incorporate into their daily lives. Really, ANY little bit helps :)

A Hairy Situation

I consulted with my mother before telling all you about this. I figure since I don't have children to write about I would just make this a place where you can come and laugh and re-live the awkward days of singledom. Enjoy.

The deed went down early this morning yet I did not realize I should be racked with embarrassment until about 40 minutes ago. Here is the story.

I was walking across campus on my way to take a Doctrine and Covenants quiz in class when I saw a very attractive boy from my class volunteering for BYUSA. It's student elections this week so there are booths all over campus. I stopped and asked if he felt ready for the quiz. He said he hadn't had time to study and he was really worried about it. We have to know the key words for each section. So I told him I would help him, just as long as he didn't laugh at my silly mnemonic devices. So I go off telling him my devices for sections 98 -108.

Section 103 is Zion shall be saved by power. So my device is flexing your bicept at three different angles. It might be hard to imagine but in the end my arm ends up at a 90 degree angle with my body and my bicep is flexing in full womanly glory. All went well and we both aced the quiz.

Fast forward to this afternoon- it's a wonderfully beautiful day and I was sitting outside studying. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a blurry object. I tried to turn and it disappeared. I waited and as I stretched out I saw it again. A big hairy rabid animal was hiding in my armpit!!! Oh no. I quickly flashed back to the last time I took a shower (not too far back I promise) and realized that I had forgotten to get a tip for my razor so I skipped the whole shaving deal. Now I had a hairy animal in my possession! No, it wasn't that bad but bad enough to be seen.

*GASP!*

Bad enough to be seen by the very attractive boy that I had flexed my bicept infront of multiple times this morning!!!! Darn these fashion T's and their small armpit seams! I could have crawled under a rock and just died with my big hairy rabid animal or small pokey hairs... either way I wanted to be under a rock!

I saw him again this afternoon and we talked. He didn't say anything like referring to monkeys or un-hygenic european women so maybe he didn't see. Just maybe I can come out from under my rock (a.k.a. the basement of the SWKT). :) I guess I have to so I can make it to the testing center before choir. Good thing I have a jacket with me!

Love

Running Part 2

I did it! I actually ran on my own! I ran a mile today- pretty exciting.

Just in case you were wondering, things jiggled less :) Thank you pilates and step!!!

Ironic

I was noticing that my last entry was entitled Pink in the Cheeks. I found this very ironic because that night I slipped and fell on my way to FHE and I just happened to be wearing a skirt. yes. My cheeks were pink. All of them. And I was later informed that I had ripped a hole in the back of my skirt and had flaunted it in front of my whole FHE group. Pink in the Cheeks is just the theme of my week. I'm writing it in my journal :)

Pink in the Cheeks!

I am studying math in the computer lab in the Brimhall Building. It is a quaint little building filled with all the communications students at BYU. They are all trendy and working hard typing up reports and here I sit studying math 110 :)

I decide to take a break at catch up on reading everyone's blogs. I link onto my cousin Wendy's blog and all of a sudden Enrique Iglesias "Hero" starts playing on my computer. Reminder. I am sitting in a silent computer lab. There were so many links and apps on the side of the page that I couldn't find the one that was playing the music! Normally the computers here don't have their sound on but it seems I tried the only one that does. I fumbled around on this unfamililar computer and eventually just navigated away from the page. I frantically and tried to conceal my pink cheeks as every head in the lab was still facing me.

I love these days :) I hope they all enjoyed it. I rather like that song. Especially now.

My Favorite

I have started reading alot lately. I love it. I seem to have a talent for walking into the library and picking up a book and loving it. This time it happened, only I found that not only did I love it, It's my favorite. My most favorite ever.

What book is it that has captured my attention so? Well, it is 278 pages of page turning entertainment with a wonderful point of view that has totally shifted my paradigm. I have re-assessed my life and made major changes all because of this book. Again what book is it??

Anticipation!!!!

It is called the Autobiography of a One-Year-Old by Rohan Candappa. Absolutely, hands down, the most hilarious book I have ever read in my life. I mean, take reasoning such as this :

Mittens, what bright spark invented them? Mittens are straitjackets for the fingers, I stare at the things in disbelief. How am I supposed to pick up anything with them on? How am I supposed to grab hair in that firm but affectionate way that I have? And, indeed, how am I supposed to stick any one of my fingers up either one of my nostrils? Is it any wonder I'm always trying to get the blasted things off???
and
How come quack-quacks in books and in bathrooms are invariably yellow and quack-quacks down in the park never are?
and
A full and frank explanation as to why I sometimes blow snot bubbles with my nose : Because I can.

I have never recieved such great joy from reading a book. I laughed out loud EVERY time I opened the book. As you can tell it is written from the perspective of a one-year-old as he grows and learns lessons during this year of his life. He learns great things like the fact that cupboards bite you if you dont pay attention to them and that running around a coffee table naked is one of lifes greatest joys. I highly reccomend it. The book that is, not running around a coffee table naked :)

The NEW Super Cool

I have a little voice in my head that has been pestering me to start running lately. So this Saturday morning as I was laying in bed at 10 (yes. I can do that, I don't have children!) I decided to give in and get out there. I don't run in public. Wait, I barely run to begin with. Maybe put a big spider behind me and I would run. Maybe. Running down a sidewalk is something foreign to me unless it entailed finding something I lost along the way, in which case my panic nudged me into frantic flailing of the arms and legs, which I'm sure came off as running in some sort of form. Back to Saturday morning. I was determined to do it. I got all dressed up in what I thought looked like pretty cool running gear. I looked like a pro. I clipped my Ipod shuffle to my shirt, stretched and set out.

I have always thought that people who ran in the morning were super cool. They just seem to have such a grip on their lives and they seem so determined in their quest to improve their health. After two blocks of warm-up I was ready to look super cool. I started off at a slow jog. I have never felt so awkward in my life! I didn't know how fast to go or where to hold my hands as I was running and things kept bouncing and jiggling! I adjusted speed, stride, and posture for the next two blocks before I decided to give up and just walk.

I ended up at the apartment of my freshman year roommate. I told her my plight and she worked on little jogging demos for me in her room. Then, like the angel she always is, she went out jogging with me. With her little helpful comments, her motivational peptalks, and basically just her presence, I started to feel some of the super coolness that I had been craving.

I was super cool. It didn't matter that I felt awkward or that I didn't know what to do with my hands or EVEN that things were jiggly. I had a friend to stand by me and to run with me even if I looked like a dork. THAT was super cool.

Worms

This is really the reason my sister talked me into starting a blog. I feel slightly reluctant to share random thoughts like this but this thought has been especially persistent. I am not crazy though this may suggest otherwise. My issue is worms. I feel terrible for them! I love the rain but it just seems like rain is worm genocide. I love walking around in the rain and puddles are fabulous in my boots but it really bothers me to see all the dead worms all over. How can I enjoy the rain when there are dead worms all over?! Strange I know, but I also pray for the homeless kitties on cold nights. I may be just a tad bit too concerned. I may feel better now that I have shared this. I was going to add a picture but felt unusually nauseated when I google-searched images of worms.

The other random though for the week... no matter how good your finger smells don't lick it. I licked mine before I realized that the good smell was really my kuku-coconut deodorant.... Really. The feeling of having deodorant on your tongue is NOT pleasant:) gross.

JOY!!!

So. I feel quite terrible about tearing my room apart for two hours. But I find great great great joy in the fact I just found my keys in the front closet in the black coat I haven't worn since Sunday. I feel joy beyond expression. I am near tears. Yes. A happy ending to my day. I should have known that bad days don't last forever :)

Don't Worry 'Bout A Thing

Wow. What a day. Lets start with last night. I had dreams about a silly ex-boyfriend all night. Really upsetting dreams and I woke up to find that he had posted his wedding pictures online. ps. He didn't marry me! So that put a slight damper on my morning. The next thing in my morning I realized that I needed my stapler for a paper I had to turn in. Nope. Nowhere to be found. Okay, no big deal, I can use one on campus. As I am packing my bag for class (10 minutes before class) I realize that I had lost my keys. Absolutely nowhere to be found. So, late for class, stapler-less and key-less I head up to campus. The stapler that I found was broken and ripped a hole in my paper. I had hic ups four times (in class, in a computer lab, at the end of choir, and during aerobics) and had a pop quiz. So, I head home to look for my keys and tear my room apart for two hours. NOWHERE. I'm sure that eventually this will be funny but right now its so frustrating!!! So. Needless to say, I wish I had skipped today and just stayed in bed. I do have a theme song though!