My Last Will and Testement.

This is the last week of my excruciating and dismal semester. Schedule: Monday 11-2: Mineralogy, Tuesday 7-10pm: Calculus 2, Wednesday 11-2: Geologic communications, and Wednesday night: Doctrine and Covenants. Three days. Three days and then I'll be done. I just wish that my hardest tests were not the first two days. I have hardly studied for them, and am scared to death to take them since, specially my mineralogy grade is riding on their finals. But I've come to realization that if I must retake the class then I will do so next year (only offered in the Fall). I don't deserve a good grade in Mineralogy, I now know I could have done more and studied harder during the semester, but my attention came too late to save my grade. And now I will pay the price for my stupidity.
On a good note, both my Home Teachers and Visiting teachers are going to bring me cheer-me-up sweets this week. I asked for brownies tomorrow night since that will be my most depressed night. My visiting teachie, doesn't go to school, but she is having a rough time right now, and so she said that her favorite sweet treat was something chocolate from Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe. It's costly for such a small cupcake, but the Mexican Chocolate (shown Left) looks simply delightful.
Another delightfully sweet thing in my life right now, is a man named Austin. Before you get too excited, he is not my boyfriend. Far from that actually. He happens to be my co-worker for TA'ing Doctrine and Covenants and Marriage Prep classes. I promised him that I would put him a favorable light so let's see if I can be nice for once. He's introduced me some things like Brandon Flowers which now happens to be one of my favorite musical artists. And apparently, up in Salt Lake City, you can take curling lessons for nine dollars a person. It's fun or so I've been told. He and a few friends threw a "Roktoberfest" at the end of October, sadly I did not go, but the next day I heard and saw all about it. I was bummed out since it sounded like a ton of fun. They had chicken catching, and flip cup contests. I was too cowardly to go by myself, and because of that, I missed out on a night to remember. Oh well. And so, I felt that today I would write about him since he has helped get through my hum drum life and put a smile on my face more than once this semester. Thanks. This is a picture of him from Thanksgiving this year. He came down the stairs with his Mexi-stach where his Mother promptly told him to go back upstairs or else he will give his grandmother a heart attack if she saw him like that. Or at least that is what I thought he said. Was that nice enough?

Yo. Wass up?

Let's visualize this scenario.

Two people, who are acquaintances or somewhat friends, are walking from two different directions and will intersect at some point. At this point they recognize each other and know that they must say something. Each says "Hi. How are you?" and then they are both on their merry ways and didn't even hear the response to their greeting.

I don't understand this new cultural greeting. If you didn't want to hear how I was, then why did you ask me? My bishop today was going around and I noticed that he really wasn't building off the question just merry saying hello with some extra baggage. So when he came to me he said the exact same thing that he said to everyone else, I didn't answer him. And what did he do? just moved on to my roommate not even missing a beat. My roommate then leaned over afterwards and asked why I didn't answer him. We then had a conversation in hushed tones about polite social greetings and why we say what we say. I'm pretty sure that fifty years ago, where people were polite and life moved more slowly, that they didn't ask anything that they didn't want to hear the answer to. People actually stopped and listened to how your life was going instead of just ignoring you and walking past.

Today, it may be cultural, but so is eating 27 hot dogs in 3 minutes, eating disorders, and an odd fetish with duct tape. We are a waning population that uses niceties. What happened to geniality in our lives? When you find it, please tell me where it is.

Daddy's Little Girl

I just talk with a boy that asked if I was a Daddies Girl. I replied somewhat defensively as since I believed him to be teasing me. This was my reply (it was a text) "Yes, my dad took time out of his busy life to do things with me. Like teaching me how to work, train hunting, going to DQ when all the other kids were at mutual and scouts. And probably when I get married he will cry. So Yes, I am my daddy's little girl. And I love him." He replied that he figured since the way that I act and talk would imply that I am. This thoroughly confused me since I didn't know I had a neon sign above my head telling the world that I'm well cared for by my parents.
I have lived a sheltered life, i've realized. Both my parent's loved me and didn't abuse me in anyway. They gave me a clean, safe, and healthy home to hide in when my teenage years were depressing and insulting. I have no idea how people, who don't have these blessings, survived the rough sea of middle/high school. I hated those years, but because of my parent's love, I did not take the wrong path which I would later regret. I am now here, in Mormonville, where I assume everyone has had the sheltered childhood like me when growing up.

This boy whom I was talking to, however did not. He was angry at his father for always looking down on him, and his mother had very strict controlling rules. As since then, he patched up his relationship with his mother, who he calls by her first name, but his father's relationship is still a mess. I feel for this poor fellow. It's not that his parent's weren't bad, he just didn't receive what I had the blessing to receive. Honestly, I don't know how he got out of his low-mormon community without a tattoo, drug or alcohol use. Maybe he did, and I just don't know it, but obviously he has since repented because he is now attending BYU and has a temple recommend (I think). He must have a very strong spirit. I'm impressed.

So Thank you Dad (And mom) for waking me up early on Saturdays to go work at the church farm, to weed gardens, to plant corn, or to mow lawns. To taking me out late at night to chase trains. And to open up your busy work and church schedule to do some dirty business with me when I was all alone while growing up (everyone else had scouts/mutual/etc.). Letting me snuggle with you while watching sports or John Wayne marathons on the tv. Taking me with you to your agriculture classes at the Aravaipa Campus. And for making me learn the proper way to collect pecan samples even when trying to beat the Shakers. Thank you Dad. You have taught me what to look for in a husband. I want my kids to have the same opportunity to have a loving and protective father like I had.

I love you Dad.

Just Say Hi Today

Today has not been the best day of my life.
It all started last night, when I was a little low on life because of internal conflict. Usually when I get some sleep I'm much better in the morning. Apparently this did not happen. I woke up to go running with Kayla, to find her on the couch just barely waking up (there was a big moth in her room last night at about 1:30, and she couldn't sleep with it in there with her). So no running(9th day straight). I debated to go running by myself but thought against it since it was dark and we girls are encouraged to not go out by ourselves. So I slept in till 7:30.
Even waking up the second time I wasn't my normal perky self. As I was getting ready, I was mad at myself because I put some homework off till the morning thinking it would be small. It wasn't. After finishing it I now only had 40 minutes to get out the door. As I was rushing I needed to make my lunch. The issue mentioned in my previous post had occurred again, and I had some very choice words in my head as I stared at the mess in the sink. It's a good thing that no one was in the kitchen... So I grabbed one of my plastic disposable knifes, made my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and mumbled under my breath the entire time. It's not that hard to wash a stupid knife after you use it. Seriously.
So I rushed to school (entirely my fault). Got to class with a minute or two to spare. Afterwards, I went outside to find a place to read my scriptures for class and sat in the sun. Thirty minutes later, I was boiling and decided to go sit in the shade. As I sat down, I noticed how cold the granite seat was. I put my hand down next to me and felt something cold and wet. Yes, I sat in a puddle. I laughed sarcastically to myself, since this is just adding to my lovely day.
As I got to my Calculus class, it was hard to keep my mouth shut as some stupid kids were making retarded comments throughout the entire pop quiz (I got 4 out of 5 because a stupid mistake. Like usual). Half way through the class, they were still making their comments and I muttered some sarcastic comment and the kid next to me chuckled under his breath, and i had to apologize for my rudeness. No one deserves to be the rebound of my frustration with life, no matter how moronic they are.
Then for some reason I couldn't even keep my eyes open in my Doctrine and Covenants class. I felt so sorry for the teacher since I was sitting in the front row and he was my previous Bishop. I then went home since I didn't want to stay up on campus anymore. I decided to get out the of the house so I went in search of some nurseries for bulbs and fertilizer. Couldn't find any of the stores till they were closed except for Homedepot which doesn't even have steer manure, just turkey. I drove away empty handed, and just drove slowly home. And now I'm here venting.
All I need is a friend to stop by for me and give me a hug. That is all I ask for.
I have institute tonight, since I promised Kayla I would go. I will try to keep my mouth zipped shut and my eyes still so as not to roll them at ridiculous people. I think I need a dose of spirituality.

Potential Happiness.

First off, I would like to say how random some of my blogs are. And when I say random, I mean within one post. Let me demonstrate.

There has been a new pet peeve of mine that has surfaced it's nasty head. Dishes. Growing up I never did dishes, which is a bad habit and feel for sorry for my mother who put up with it. Now, I've seen the error of my ways and do my dishes almost right after they are used. Mom, you would be proud of me. But my resolve was heightened when during our meeting, the other girls wanted everyone to do their dishes since the ones in the sink that are there for two or three days were disgusting to them (either Kayla or I would just wash them if they got too high). Well, two weeks later, Kayla and I do our dishes after every use, and this is our sink now.

There are no silverware (even after I wash one from the sink, I come home and it has been used and now partying with it's homies back on the bottom of our sink...) In this picture the scenario is as follows. One of the bottom floor girls finally washed their cups, bowls, and other big items, but left the entire collection of silverware in the sink. Why? I have no idea. It's not like it would have taken too much longer to jut wash them too. (I refuse to wash their dishes since they are the ones having dish issues.) But I leave on Friday morning with just the silverware in the sink. And when I get home, behold our sink(above). How can four girls make that much mess in twelve hours. Twelve hours that they are supposedly not home for. Did the dirty dish fairy come and give us a present? Maybe. For now, I will think it's the fairy so as not to write forceful reminders to my fellow house-mates. But Something has to be done.

And on the flip side, I was home last night after my somewhat good test (86% on the multiple choice part of my Calc 2 test. Thank you. Thank you.) But Kayla was out with her boy-toy, and all my other friends were out doing something already. So what does a single, good looking, college girl do? I went grocery shopping. As I was at Maceys there are three different types of people who come in on a Friday night. The singles with no social lives (me), the married young couples who want to rub their livelihood in the faces of the single adults, and the older couples that have finished their date nights and are now bring home food to their quiet abode since all their children have grown up and moved out. I witnessed an older couple having some fun with a Da Vinci pasta display. As I was walking past them, the husband started giggling and grabbed two packages of pasta and put them in the cart. And then the wife started to giggle and grabbed one and placed it directly into the basket. This continued for a couple more turns and they were laughing the entire time. This is what I want in a marriage. A marriage where we are still young and giddy even though grey hair may populate our hair and wrinkles dominate our faces.

Why must I be so dang difficult?

I just moved into a new singles ward. What this means is that I must fill out a new membership sheet and get my picture taken for the "Date Book".
If you have never filled one this type of paperwork, let me enlighten you. They ask all the basic information like Date of Birth, gender, address, etc... And then you get half way down the paper. There are questions followed by empty lines, which means they want you to use all those up, right? One question is what callings you've held. Well, how far back do you want to go? I was the Beehives President, and the Youth Activities Chair back in Young Womens. So I wrote down every calling I've had since I got out of High School. Sunday School teacher and Institute activities chair and Ward institute rep. Great. This means I'll be called to do something in Relief Society, where I will have to love the girls that seem superficial. Fabulous. Even Jesus loves them, so I guess I will have to too (if that is my ward calling...). The final question is describe yourself so that we may more fully get to know you. 5 lines. Well...this just opened my sarcastic can of worms. I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but something along these lines. "I don't believe the church is true. Not everyone gets salvation. I hate puppies and kittens. And the end of the world is coming. Oh and some people tell me that I am a tad sarcastic."
I showed this answer to my lovely best friend Kayla, and we snickered half way through Relief Society. We are both quite morbid in our sense of humors. Her comment was that our knew bishopric will think that I have issues and will be called in right away so straighten me out. Three weeks later, I have yet to meet the Bishop.
The final act is the mug shot. Growing up as the youngest of six, I believe this is the reason why I must do things the more creative, and most often, the hardest way. So to get my personality in a picture nut shell, I gave them my "Home Alone" scream face. This way, when potential Date-ies flip through all the pretty faces for their victim and glance at my disturbing face, they would double take and know something is wrong with that girl and stay away. (I don't have time this semester). So three weeks ago, I got this picture taken, and thought I got away with murder until today when I was asking to see who I talk to about changing our house name. (the "Green House" is just not colorful enough; it's now known as the 'Tree House") Turns out the same person who takes the stalker file pictures has the power to change our name. So after much philosophical comments about being known by the works of my hands versus the works of my face, we agreed in an exchange. I would take a nice picture for the renaming of our house. This was a hard apple to swallow, it took two pictures to have me look somewhat not in agony (It's not my real smile). They stole my individuality from me. Now, I'll just be one of those pathetic girls that only smile because it makes them look cute so they will get some guy action. Disgusting.
And on that note, Kayla has someone else in her life. This morning, she left with that someone to go up to Logan to meet his sister and extended family. As I watched those two walk to his car, my heart dropped because Kayla wasn't mine anymore. I am so excited and happy for her I love it when people I know start dating boys, but at the same time, I was depressed for me. So I walked up to church by myself today...At least I'll have school to fill this void in my life.
P.S. This does not mean I need to be set up on dates. Thank you.

I Spy...

I am one of those people that hates being woken up by a loud extremely annoying alarm, because I am able to wake up by the smallest sounds (usually). I believe I have my father to acknowledge for this gift since every Saturday morning, he would come by our door and loudy say "It's time to get up! Day lights a wastin!". And I hated it. Even worse is my brother, who for the likes of him, cannot get up unless an airhorn is used. My dad frequently has to go and use the above saying every ten minutes. And to put it into perspective, my room is just down a 5 foot hall from my brother's room and even if both our doors are shut, I can still hear his alarm go off every morning. He doesn't wake up to it, but I do. If he doesn't shut it off quickly, I jump out of bed and wake him up.

So instead of using an alarm clock, I use my phone, because I can fluctuate the sound limit. It is located right next to my pillow, and I have not once had a problem of loosing it during the night, till last night.

I set my alarm, and placed it in it's usual spot and fell asleep. There were three alarms, one for 5, 5:30, and 6:15. It's not unusual for me to not remember the first two, since I only need to go running at that time. However, my mental clock, still wakes me up at 6:30-6:45 most mornings, thankfully. But today I woke up at 6:14 and glanced at where my phone should have been. But it was gone. I checked my bed to make sure it didn't slide under my pillow or blanket. But to no ado. So I waited until 6:30 which was when Kayla woke up and we both searched under my bed, which means we lifted the bed and looked in every nook and cranny. But still no cell phone. Well, it was getting late and I needed to take a shower.

What doesn't belong?

I'm about to go in when Kayla opens the fridge to get breakfast and she tells me that she found it. Some how and for some reason, my cell phone was in the fridge. It's been a long time since I slept walked, but last night, I guess I did it again. It was so strange, and we both laughed at where it was found.

What a great way to start off your day.

Not Another Prank War...

Oh yes, this mischievous Provo girl has found a kindred spirit and has put that to work. You may ask what have I been doing these past two months. And I'd answer easily, nothing except for failing my first class, working, and finding joy in drawing "grotesque" clowns that disturb Glen Haven 3 aka "the gentlemen" (though I believe this title to be incorrect).
I'll start from the beginning since that is where most people like to start. Some Saturday in May (can't remember the exact date, I think Kayla does though) it was late that night, and I had the idea to draw a clown... and put it up by the gentlemen's window so when they awoke the next morning they would be scared silly. Well, Kayla layed down and let me trace her womanly outline on to some butcher paper. Let me tell you, she is one ticklish person. My pencil had to keep a one inch buffer from her body to keep her from jumping. We then proceeded to color it...with crayons. This is a major accomplishment since it was 11 pm and it was human sized...It took F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to color. Around 3 am we went and put it up by the gentlemen's door since it needed to be propped up. At church that day, we barely talked about it, but as payment, A., one of the gentlemen, gave me the opportunity to give the opening prayer for saying hi to him that day...I believe there was another underlining reason.
Kayla and I, the Dolly Did-its, waited on pins and needles till one Saturday morning a week later, Kayla ran back into our room and woke me up at 6 am and said "they finally did it!" So we ran to the door and looked through the peep hole (since that became our daily routine as a precaution). One of the gentlemen, B., is a mechanical engineer, so they rigged our clown "Shawn" to hang from the balcony above us and had a string tied to our doorknob with the other end tied to a potato. Sadly enough, the prank malfunctioned and the clown was already down. Supposedly the clown would be knocked off the balcony by the potato-on-a-string and would then swing and surprise us. Too bad, but we enjoyed it none-the-less.
And so it was the Dolly Did-its turn. We knew that their front window can't close, so getting into the apartment was no problem. So the next Saturday, I went and bought 5 ten pound bags of Idaho potatoes from Smiths. Needless to say, the check-out man was suspicious. We bent the truth and said they were for our roommate that loved to eat potatoes. I had to look down the entire time because I was smiling. I'm a horrible liar. We kept them in my trunk till Monday night. Our plan was to wait till two of the gentlemen went to FHE like good little boys, and then we would enter and dispose of the starchy roots all over their floors and steal all their spoons; measuring, regular, serving, wooden, even slotted were stolen. Everything went well, until we found out that we missed 2 spoons, and they even had the Ward's Activity supply of plastic spoons. Oh well, it was in the thought. So we hung the spoons from our ceiling, which turned into bombs during the first two days because the tape wasn't strong enough. We still had enough spoons that I also made a homemade wind chime, which I'm rather proud of, perfectly balanced and everything, but sadly enough, there are no pictures, just our memories. So one of the gentlemen, S., forced his way in and took all of their spoons, since Kayla almost cracked and wanted to return them with no charge...wimp.
Now it was our turn to wait... and we did... and even beyond...An entire month lapsed until one night after our FHE we found some potatoes on our door step, but nothing else..."Well that was lame." were both our thoughts. But we expected worse to come. and it did. That Wednesday, we saw S. in our courtyard, which never happens, so we knew something was going to happen that night, but we couldn't do anything about it because we were going to Institute, like good little Mormon girls. Whatever happens, happens, right?
Apparently during the middle of Institute, one of the gentlemen, B., got up and left for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, he said he needed to go print something off for us, so we waited. Which turned out to be "The Ultimatum". A legal document that we, the Dolly Did-its must sign or else this war is going to get worse. It outlined all that we have done and the list of things we must do to stop from the escalation of pranks. Basically, we refused but laughed our heads off amid our fellow institute-goers. We drove home, quickly, but of course safely, to check out the damage. But sadly enough, one of our roommates got home before us, and had put the house back to order somewhat. But this is the list of "damages":
-kitchen table upside down
-poppers (the kind you pull the string and out comes streamers) booby-trapped to our drawers in our kitchen and bed room and the to the fridge
-all the lights were twisted off, even our fluorescent kitchen lights.
-three clocks hidden in our bedroom set to go off at 1 am, 2:45 am, and 4:30 am (luckily we found the last one, which was in a vent)
-our bedroom door off it's hinges, and they hid our pins somewhere in the kitchen
-switched our cold and hot water for our kitchen sink
AND -stole one shoe from every pair that we own (luckily, we had a good pair for work the next day, since neither of us can wear open toed shoes)
Basically, both of us stayed up late, laughing over all that they did. We were content by their prank. The only problem, How did they get in to our apartment? they say no one else can get in by their way and they did not enter through a window...I am at a loss.
Everything was put into order, except for our shoes, but Kayla's some important ones were in the front room so they survived the raid, and I could live without mine, but it's nice to have them back. So on Thursday, I baked cookies, and bribed every apartment that had our shoes, a total of 9 apartments, so I wouldn't have to say the magical words "All hail Glen Haven 3"which is a lie and I am not a liar. And I didn't, not once. Which means, bribery works...
Now the balls in our court and we are plotting up a doozy. I can't wait.
By the way, if you want a more detailed account of the pranks, Kayla was very particular on her blog which is blazedagenda.blogspot.com. She even has pictures, which I am sorry about the full text. But it's been a long time since I blogged last.

Dead Duck

I love Provo. There are two types of people here. Those that patiently check both ways before crossing the street, and those that just stride across without considering vehicles. I am one of those people that will wait patiently until cars stop. This does not mean I am shy and lurk in the shadows waiting until no one is coming. I stand on the side of the road, some feet from the lane, and demand people to stop. Sometimes cars stop instantly, others just keep driving, ignoring my plea to cross.
As I was walking home today, I came upon 8th N by the Duck Pond stairs. These stairs are probably the most centrally located stairs along the BYU southern border, that has a parking lot at the bottom, basically there is a ton of foot traffic. As I stopped by the edge of the road, my usual length away from on coming traffic, I politely waited for the cars to pass. I was planning on which break in the cars that I would use to get to the other side, when this girl (I don't know if she had earphones in or not), just strutted pass me and made a car break suddenly just so they wouldn't hit this dense person. I see this quite often, and I'm always pro-pedestrian, but walking dumbly into traffic, demanding cars to stop with that technique, is really stupid. And if this girl had been hit by that on coming car, I probably would have laughed...and then called 911. But she would have deserved it. There is no way, her 5'7" build could stop an SUV made of fiberglass and metal from running into her. It's not like Provo has the safest drivers either. It's a shmorgishborg of every states worst drivers in one city... chaos. And to top it off it was starting to rain. wet roads+splotchy windshield+retarded pedestrians=someones gonna get hurt.

At the Beginning Again...

Life is like a circle. There really is no end or beginning, because it is all the same.
Today, was my first day of Calculus 2 (aka math 113). We ate cake. It was a presentation on how one can "cut" up strange shapes and find the volume of it. Good cake. Boring class. I know this for sure. It's going to be hard to stay awake for this two hour class.

This past weekend was a b-u-s-y one. You might think yours was, but you didn't live mine. Let me enlighten you. Friday night, I moved some of my stuff to my new apartment, and then stayed up till 2 am cleaning and packing more stuff. Then Saturday morning I woke up at 6 am, moved Becca's, mine, and a little bit of Tanis' stuff down till 8ish. Cleaned the entire apartment (tossing unwanted food from the "fridger", scrubbing the oven inside and out, and swept the floor.) Luckily Tanis did most of her cleaning (The bathroom) before she left for her wedding, and Kayla came up after her apartment and swept my floor. God sends. Then from 8:40 to 9:15 I took a shower, got dressed and was out the door, (forgetting to brush my teeth and even eating breakfast) driving with Kayla to Tanis' wedding up at the Mount Timpanogas Temple. (We made it in about 15 minutes, thank goodness there were no po-pos.) made it just intime to wait with the wedding party for the new couple to come out. Stayed and took pictures until 10:40 and then drove home, dropped Kayla off and then went to work from 11am-6:30pm. Came home, had dinner, went grocery shopping, and then unpacked my stuff till about 10:20 and then crashed and watched half of Pride and Prejudice the pink version. Went to bed by 11:30, just to get up at 7:30 so I could make lunch for the bishopric and scan my lesson for that day.
And that was my Saturday...


pictures will come later...

Fini

Finally, after 4 r-e-a-l-l-y long months I'm officially done with school. I just finished my last final, and let me tell ya, it feels grand. Now I have a huge list of things to do, like laundry and packing. Not to mention sleep and socialize before all my friends move out of the ward. My 4th roommate will be getting married here on Saturday, and my 5th next saturday up in Alberta, Canada. I sure do go through them quite fast, don't I? my job search is going, still looking though for a decent priced, interesting job. The bookstore is just too boring for the money I'm making, not worth it.
I'll be moving down to apartment 16 this saturday, with Kayla and Kim (Too bad my name wasn't Kellie like how mom was planning on it...KKK). I'm way excited, because Kayla is just the smarter version of me. Same sarcasm and everything (Well, she has her quirks and I have mine).
Calculus 113 will start in one week exactly, and then I'll be working in the morning for 3 hours, math class for 2, and then dates with heroic math nerds the rest of the day...sounds kinda quaint. I guess some form of social life on the side...eh ;)
Well, I'm off to finish my Geology project(alright, I guess I'm not completely finished with Winter 2010 semester, but I will be!)

Hopeless

I write this post about 30 minutes after my last test this semester (not including finals). And looking back over this semester, I believe I have failed every test. After my New Testament let down, I ran for 9 miles, to make me feel nothing (But I sure felt something...). I would love to go for another run, maybe run all the way home to my mommy and be a couch potato, sitting on my 16th backbone and eating chocolate bon-bons and wasting away my life, but I can't; which depresses me more. Instead, I have to put on a good face and by activally social when all I want to do is hide my face. Everyone here claims that they get "A's" on tests and when they get a B(gasp!), Heaven forbid! gee, I feel lower than the scum of the earth when I see my grades flash on the testing center screen...almost like a dagger to the heart, a plummiting of my stomach. I'm to the point where there is no hope to getting good grades on tests. To me, it's impossible. Sure, everyone tells me it's my first year, and that's normal. They also told me that last semester, about the first semester at a university...so if that is the story, then next year are people going to say that it's my second year, it's okay to not do well because the classes are hard?
Maybe I just need to get married, drop out of school, and become a baby maker so they won't kick me out of school because my grades are just too crappy. Afterall, I am probably in the highest marriage rate city in the world (not counting Vegas), it should be easy (obviously I can't handle hard).
I'm not writing to get sympathy or "I'm so sorry"s. I need to rant, and this is my soapbox, my soggy soapbox. I'm pretty sure that I will have to retake classes, which is a depressing thought, but that's life I suppose, full of disappointment.

Humpty Dumpty

Easter, there are many traditions that are practiced during this season. Growing up we always dyed eggs, had baskets full of chocolate and toys, ate ham and jello eggs. Since this is my first Easter away from home, I am missing all the little things that were usually expected. However, I am trying to coupe. Yesterday, I went and bought 4 dozen eggs, and after today's afternoon General Conference, I and my roommates will be dyeing them all.
However, last night after watching Fantastic Mr. Fox, I needed to boil them all since I was going to be busy all morning. It was late and after I got through 3 dozen of them, I started putting the last dozen in, when physics took hold and two, sadly did not make it through the night. I, however, did not take this superb picture, but my friend, Ben got down on the floor to take them. He is a man of hidden talents. Just like earlier that night when I was getting out a bigger pot, they were stacked pretty strangely and as since I am not an octopus and don't have eight arms, it was a little difficult to manage all the pots. Ben offered to help and as he was lifting out the desired pot, the three glass lids shifted, and two fell. I caught one between my forearm and the shelving unit, and with my superior soccer skills tried to catch the other with my foot, to lessen the blow when it hit the ground. No such luck. with a huge clang the lid hit the floor. Luckily, it did not break nor wake up the sleeping bears(my roommates), but it seems to me that last night I was at the top of my graceful game.
I really am too dainty.

Cloudy with a chance of Dippin' Dots...

Today, it snowed. WELCOME TO UTAH! April first and it snowed. As Kayla and I were walking home from house hunting, it started to "snow", but it looked more like Dippin Dots as Kayla said. And it was so true. After the walk, I craved these twenty-first ice cream sensations, but I was a bit too cold to pay 4 bucks for a small size.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!! This is the real reason for this post. On wednesday, I had a meeting for my Geology 210 class. A Field study class...yes, this means funness that a stuffy, horribly lighted classroom can not achieve. Brace yourself, you will eat your heart out...

For the two weeks leading up to school, I will be backpacking all over Utah. This is the itinerary.
August 16: Meet at 7 am and depart to Albion Basin Campground in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta, UT). For the next four days (Tuesday-Friday) I will be hiking all around that canyon, creating cross section of the Pre-Cambrian(?) rocks that are exposed. I will have to provide my own food, and all the other good stuff. (I AM SO EXCITED!!!!) We then drive back on Friday night, to calm our weary feet and restock our food for the following trip. All that week, Thunderstorms are most likely to pop up, and if you didn't know this, Thunderstorms are my true love. We are supposed to pack for both warm and cold (snow) weather, because at 10,000 feet, anything can happen. (I AM SO EXCITED!!!!). I hope it rains, no the entire time, but at least once.

August 23: We just spend it up on Campus, but then on Tuesday we meet at 7 am and travel to Zion National Park and camp there for the night. Leave Wednesday for Bryce Canyon Park and spend the night there. Then on Thursday we leave for Capitol Reef National Park and stay till Saturday morning (the 28th). Hiking is throughout the entire week, and even while we are driving we will be stopping and checking out mountains and peaks. (I AM SO EXCITED!!!!). We get back Saturday afternoon, just in time for school to start either that monday or tuesday... Perfect timing.

Not to mention that if Kayla and I do find a house then she will sadly be moving all my junk as well as hers since move-in is usually the 25 or 27th. And I'll have the darkest most funny tan that anyone can have just in time to meet my new ward. Fabulous first impressions. Got to love them. ( I AM SO EXCITED!!!!)

And if anyone (mostly the women and Craig) care, this field study will have about a 3 to 1 boy ratio to girl participents. And judging from the meeting some of them are pretty good looking... Two secluded weeks... where no girlfriend can go... free evenings... You can fill in the empty pieces. (I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!) besides, we are suppost to have a buddy system, and no offence to the girls in the class, but I would like to be paired with someone that has The Priesthood, just in case something does happen when we are away from Base Camp. Just a pre-caution. That and guys are just more fun to be around, girls I've notice, tend to wear on my nerves much faster than their counterparts. Oh well.

And if anyone really knows me, I am not a patient person. So waiting for August to come will be painful, I will most likely be packed a month in advance, or at least know what I want to take with me. And I will google all the info about the places were we are going and seeing. Uh. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I will probably be the most boring person to talk to until this is done, because I will have a one track mind.

(The pictures are as follows: Alta, UT; Zion N.P; Bryce Canyon N.P.; Capitol Reef N.P. expect better pictures come September)

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

The Shoe Date Part 4

Saturday night finally came and I was pacing waiting for my mystery man to show up. I'm sure my roommate was laughing at me because I was so anxious. at 6:01, which was too late for my taste, there was a knock and low and behold it was Dustin the Canadian. He's a sweet kid, but I knew that my date would be because of the service he provided. (One of his talents is jump roping. He can even do it on his butt and while laying down. Pretty cool huh!) After a couple minutes of small talk we went down to Kayla's and Kim's apartment to eat dinner. Easton and Aaron had those two girls so it was pretty well matched. Earlier that week Kayla showed all of us a youtube clip of "Man verses Food" were he puts strawberry jelly on a toasted hot dog bun. then "grills"/steams the hot dog in chicken broth and then puts Swiss cheese on the dog. Finally you put the hot dog on the jellied bun and enjoy. You may knock it, but you just haven't tried it. It's the best thing ever since sliced bread...okay maybe not that great but it's definitely one of my favorites now.

We then met up with my roommate and her date and drove to Color Me Mine. Originally, this was not our plan, however because my two roommates that have fiances dropped out, my roommate was left by herself at last minute, so we jumped in. I swear it took about 15-20 minutes to decide the pottery that I was going to paint. It was just so cramped and had too many choices. Luckily, Dustin wasn't too fast at choosing either. I wanted to do a cookie jar, but those things costed 30-50 bucks! What? Do I look like I'm made of money!? So I settled on a square plate that's on pedestals...which turns out to be a sushi plate. No, I will not use mine for sushi. We finally sat down at 7:50 and talked and laughed for another 3 hours till closing time which is when almost everyone was finished with their art work. I was rather pleased with my creation. I just prayed that it would turn out as well as I hoped.

We then brought them back for some dirt and worms, which I had just enough to cover all eight of us. We talked and laughed and joked till it was curfew, where we then shooed them out the door.

Over all, it was a really fun date. But apparently the men in my car prefer holding the reins on dates rather than sitting in the sidecar. And I'm okay with that. I like not having the responsibly of making fun ideas and making sure that the other side is enjoying it too...well to some degree.

Thursday rolled around, and we girls drove over and picked up our creations. I think mine turned out really well. It's like having a piece of home here in Utah. Though, I should have put more Creosote bushes or teddy bear cholla in it. Oh well. I still love it. And I need to get a picture of Kayla's it's sweet!

The Shoe Date part 3

Every Saturday morning I wake up around 7 to go running for that day. Two of my roommates were already up because they either had work or had to study for tests and such. I'm about to leave, but then my roommate opens the door and starts screaming (in a good way. That's how she shows excitement). Of course I knew it was me because her shoe date already gave her, her three. I walk to the door and find these pictures on my door with the note "Dear Dana, Forecasting a chance of Anything! Sincerely, Your Friendly Neighborhood Weather-Man" This, I gotta admit was definitely my favorite out of all the services. I Just love weather so much! Becca I'm sure told him that though she denies it, just like how I like squirrels, and this is what is on our doormat that becca kicked this morning. He's kinda creepy looking, I've got to admit. I don't know of any squirrels that have orange eyes, unless they have rabies...But this was definately a surprise. And I loved it.

Did you know that I LOVE weather? Because I do. Just wanted to clarify any doubts.

The Shoe Date part 2

Tonight, I was kicked out of my apartment, and told not to come back for twenty minutes. So I called my mommy and walked to Center street. I got back to find this note on my door. I was hesitant to walk in but when I did I found chocolate kisses trailing to our bathroom. And this sign was hanging on our shower. It says "Dear Dana. Now that I've kissed the ground you walk on, and showered you with flowers, if you look on the counter There's a promise that I do intend to keep. Something else is yet to come. Something very special... Sincerly Your Shoe Date". Finally a pocket watch was on our counter with the time that our date is at tomorrow. Over all, it was really sweet, but my question is this: How was this a service to me? It seemed to be more of a way to ask me out rather than to give service...

But it was a nice thing to come home to.

The Shoe Date part 1

Our ward last year did a service activity, where the men put in ties and a card that said a time and place. Then the girls came and picked out a tie without knowing the owner. Before the date night we had to do three services. Well it's now this semester and the roles switched, girls put in a shoe and time, and the men get to do the services. Now, some of you might know this, but I can't stand surprises. And not knowing who has my shoe is pretty brutal, however, that is why I put the date this Saturday so I wouldn't be held in suspense. Smart right? Well Monday came (after they chose them on Sunday night) and then Tuesday came with nothing. I come home Wednesday afternoon to find a full plate of no-bake cookies with a note waiting just for me. Apparently, they ding-dong ditched them, but my roommate who was coming back from a walk saw who it was...
But I'm not pressuring her...yet.

I'm really excited about who my shoe man is because Beauty and the Beast is the best Disney movie, and they made lyrics up for my favorite song in the movie. They've got my vote!

Bare With Me

Okay, so as a busy college student (yeah right) I haven't found the time to blog (basically I was wasting my time doing other things). So over this past month a couple note worthy items that should be mentioned.
First up was my birthday. This was one of the best ones I've had, which it should be. I mean, you only turn 20 once a life time, and it's actually a legit change. I feel different because I'm not a lowly immature teenager anymore. Now I'm an immature 20 year old! (actually, I don't think I am even immature...which is slightly sad, because I'm not my exuberant self anymore, I'm more mellow and quiet...) Anyway, my birthday was filled with wonderful surprises and unfinished homework (of course). At work, I received a card from all my co-workers, which was about how "that day was the best, just don't pee my pants"...Yup I love them all. While at work, my neighbors came and delivered pink balloons and The best cupcake ever made. The company actually pride themselves in finding the right chemically balanced recipe or something like that. Another delivery came but this time it was flowers... From "Someone who loves you". Well as since I hope there is more than one person who loves me, I have no clue who sent them to me. (If anyone wants to tell come clean about that scandal, I'll pretend I'm like priest and seal my lips...) That night I threw myself an ice cream party for basically everyone in the ward and for my coworkers, though people couldn't believe that I'd throw myself a birthday party, I don't see why that's a problem though. We went through 2 gallons of ice cream and 2 1/2 hours of fun and laughter.

The upper one was from last year (19th), during which we were remodeling our kitchen so no homemade food(hence the match candle). Granted the picture the lower one is from today, I still think it counts for my birthday picture though.

Secondly, I would just like everyone to know that I hate dirty clothes. And living here where the small washer and crappy dryer cost more money than I want to spend, my dirty clothes slowly build up. A couple Saturdays back, I was through with that mess, I went to the bank and got 20 dollars worth of quarters. I meant serious business. After 4 hours of washing and hauling(it's cheaper to wash at Alpine Court and dry at the Wash Hut just down the road) loads up and down the street, ALL my laundry was clean.

I never knew wet clothes were so heavy...

Third item, I love it when I come home from school and this is what I see. It's a new technique of Theft Provention Camouflage that the Postal Service is trying. It still has a few kinks in the execution I think.


Finally, I learned a very deep lesson yesterday, never microwave syrup for 3 minutes...it ends in disaster. This is my plausible reasoning. This was homemade syrup that has been in the fridge for about three-four weeks, so of course it's practically fully sugarized. But if you heat it up, then all the sugar melts right? Well, I did this a week earlier and it turned out alright, but it still had some chunks of sugar on the bottom. So I thought to myself, why not put it in for longer? All it needs is a little bit more time to melt. So I added a minute...Well...after three minutes, I check on the plastic container in the microwave. It was leaning to one side, and the syrup was making this strange fizzing sound. Come to find out, the syrup was so hot that it not only melted the plastic, but all the moisture left the liquid and all that was left was sugar something. I tried to stir it, but it all stuck to the fork and I couldn't get it off. Well this is the picture of my lesson. Who knew?

Make-Up

Yesterday, I went running with K----, and it was the usual route that took us by the tennis courts and through the Fieldhouse. Turning a corner, I saw ice on the ground, and thought I should say something, but it was a big section (about 3 feet) so how could my partner miss it. Well we cross and mid-ice patch, I see her legs go one way and her arms and torso go the other way. And of course me being unsympathetic start laughing. Hard. No, I didn't ask her if she was okay(I mean I knew she wasn't, she slipped hard on ice), I didn't ask her if I could help her up, I just laughed. I'm a terrible friend. Or maybe it's more like I felt empathy for her, and in her situation I would just be lying on the cold cement laughing my head off, even if I was in terrible pain. What a pair we make, her slipping daintily on ice, and me tripping gracefully on air. I can't wait for short weather, so we can show off our beautiful black and purple legs.
Later that run, we started imagining what her leg was going to look like. See, my outlook on life is if there is a story behind the cut/bruise, then it deserves to be shown off (especially to men, to show how tough we are, that and they really appreciate the grotesqueness of it all). But by the time shorts come into season, our bruises will be gone. So why not use every resource within our grasps and use make-up!? I mean, can't you just see it, girls putting black and purple eyeshadow (nonglittery of course) on their legs and arms. And why stop there, why not use crutches and tourniquets? My dad used a dead Cottonwood branch to catch my moms attention, then I'll just use make-up bruises to catch mine(as long as I don't whine, but that will be easy since they'll be fake). Besides men like to feel like the knight in shining armour, so I'll just give them the option of being mine and opening my door.

Bungee Boy

The return of Bungee Boy (sounds like a good sequel to me...) If you recall, I earlier wrote about the cutest man I have seen come through work. Well guess what, he came back today. About thirty minutes into my shift I notice someone waiting at the information desk. Surprise surprise it was that handsome devil, just as striking as I remembered him. Today, he wanted to know when Organic Chemistry models were going to be in. I replied in about a week. He asked if he could order it to get it here faster than the expected arrival of a week. I didn't know for sure, because it is an item that we buy specially for BYU and if it's not found in our Mr. Magoriam Wonder-Emporium magical book then it's sketchy about special ordering it. So I go ask my Supervisors, and they tell me that it's pointless since the order will be in on Friday, supposedly. So I give him the option of leaving his name and number so we could contact him when they do come in. If you were wondering yes, I did get his name and number (though I question the validity of his specs, he said them in an odd way). His name is Anthony Bastian, and I don't remember his number. Sorry. And that entails the second episode with Bungee Boy. (No I will not call him by his real name.)
Oh, and I'm sure if I wasn't thinking about it, I would have started drooling while talking to him.

Awkwardness Squared

Apparently I have some interesting Auras. Like this one that I thought I hid pretty well, but I guess I don't. It's were I don't really say what I'm thinking. I give one word replies but the receiver knows I'm thinking much more but I'm not enlightening them. This is important to know for this story.
It just so happens that this Oliver kid is also in my FHE group. I know, I get all the luck. So Becca and I go to his apartment (that's where they always are), we were one minute late but the first ones there. They have three couches: a two seater, a three seater, and a love sack. I followed Becca to the three seater,but she didn't immediately sit down, so I sat in the middle to leave her room. Bradford (Oliver's roommate) sat on the other side of me, and I was okay with that. But he got up without my noticing, and Oliver took his seat. Becca then went and sat on the two seater with one of my "sisters" and this other girl sat to the right of me. Very slowly, and without detection (I hoped) I moved to sit closer to the girl. By the end of the lesson, Oliver was taking up one and a half of the three cushions and I was in the protection mode with my arms and legs crossed. I barely talked to him, but I really didn't talk to anyone there.

When Becca and I got home, she gave me her observation on that whole show. Her first sentence, " You really made Oliver uncomfortable tonight". I asked how I did this, because as I've already wrote, I'm dense and oblivious to people's attitudes. Apparently, I never looked at him, I didn't talk to him, and I guess there was even a look I gave, but I don't remember that, oh and my body language did a ton of talking. And here are my rebuttals. He was sitting right next to me so it would be kinda weird to stare at him. So I just didn't bother looking his way. The talking wasn't just my fault it's not like he tried to start a conversation with me... and the look I guess was from me to Becca, and he intercepted because Becca smirked, but once again I don't remember this "look". The body language I have no excuse, that one is pretty true. Over all, I guess he's trying because I'm rejecting him. Sorta like a challenge. (It's official, I've got several accounts that men like challenges. That's why Spencer, the most recent boy that was interested in me, liked me. It's because I didn't fall for him immediately. I was a challenge. Lame, but I'm glad I didn't go for him). Anyway, I'm sure there will be more posts on this issue, but hopefully not too soon.

Queen of Awkwardness.

Yes that's me. I have a dousy of one that happened today before sacrament meeting.

This morning, none of my roommates had to attend any meetings, which is very abnormal. So most of us walked up together, except for Becca because she slept in and we left early. Usually, I am the one that saves seats because my calling does not require meetings. I sit on one side halfway down the "pew" and put my jacket and purse on the other side of the boundaries. Lately, my saved seats have been taken because people who I do not plan for come and want to join, and I can't refuse (examples are other lonely roommates or engaged couple member.)and the rest of the chairs that were outside my perimeter are already taken. So last Sunday, Kayla couldn't sit with us and Becca had to sit next to Scott's (Falisha's fiance, she's my newest roommate) new roommate Porter and the "border". Today Tanis said that it felt like Becca was cut off from us because she was sitting on the wrong side of Porter.
Alright, back to my story. So today, it was Tanis, Falisha, Scott and I who walked up together to church (talking about wedding registration the entire time...) I went into the "pew" first followed by Tanis then the couple. As we sat down I told Tanis to tell Scott to save two seats for Kayla and Becca on the other side of our group next to him, because I'm just used to sitting on a border and everyone to the right of me. Tanis, "why don't you just save the seats next to you?" Me, "uh... um... because... okay." So I put my purse and scriptures on the two seats, and started to re-examine my lesson that I was giving. People slowly started to arrive, and I see someone walk towards me. His name is Oliver, and I do. not. like. him. even as a friend. I have no reason or explanation, I just don't. He's the one on the right and then the left.

This is roughly our conversation:

Oliver: "Dana! I wanted to sit next to you."

Dana: "Oh. sorry, they're saved."

Tanis: "Dana, you could just move over."

Dana:"---(thinking of an excuse, because I really didn't want to sit next to him)--- uh...but--- okay"

I lean down to pick up my jacket "wait what?" (I'm staring at the saved seats trying to figure it out. I guess I'm really dense because I couldn't understand what she was suggesting)

Tanis: "Just move over"

Dana: -----I was thinking like, stay there and just move Kayla and Becca over one seat so he could sit next to me or I move over one and still sit next to Kayla/Becca and have Oliver sit in between Tanis and I. Like I said, my mind was not working very well.

Oliver: sits down on the other side of saved seats, and leans over to read my scripture cover, ie the name. "who are they saved for?"

Dana: still sitting in my first seat with my jacket in hand " Um, Kayla and Becca"
Oliver: nods

--------------------awkward silence----------------

Dana: I return to my lesson after putting my jacket under my chair again. I didn't move.

After a minute Oliver gets up and goes and sits next to a different girl in the ward, which happened to be the row right behind us, and sits right behind me.

I take a breath, I don't feel too bad, but I'm sure my face was red. More people start to come in and I see Porter and Spencer (engaged but his other half is not in our ward) sit next to Scott. So the lineup right now is saved-saved-Me-Tanis-Falisha-Scott-Spencer-Porter. A minute later I see Kayla and Kim (her roommate) come and sit on the other side of our row (close to Porter). I say to myself, "Alright, no Kayla" and removed my purse. Then an apartment of men come and sit next to Becca's saved seat. and then they have to go sit and pass the sacrament, but they will be back. a minute later Becca comes toward my side and sees her spot and tells me and Tanis, " But I always sit over on the right side!" and then went and sat on the last seat near Porter/Kayla/ Kim and some other random people. (talk about being cut off from us!). Dana: "Fine. No Becca." and I remove my scriptures. I was just sitting there wondering what it must look like to Oliver to see all this happening. I don't know why, but it hurt that not one of the people who I saved a seat for sat there...

So church started and the Sacrament was over, and the faithful priesthood holders came and sat down. Well Becca's rejected seat was inhabited by Stevo(real name Stephen, but we have like 3 of those), another man that I do not have a drop of likeness in me, though I prefer him to Oliver. Once again I wonder what Oliver must be thinking right now...

This story might not seem too awkward because I really don't remember the entire conversation, but trust me it was.

Gods Gift to Women

Today started with another klutzy moment. Last night, I thought, I don't have class until ten, why not curl my hair!? It was a splendid idea, so then next week for my birthday it wouldn't be a tragic difference if I curled my hair. Well, I was almost done but that last curl didn't curl the end, stupid strand... Usually I just wrap it around the barrel, but I just needed the end curled so I put in the rod and sticky thing (what is that even called, the part that can lift up?) and just in case the laws of Newton weren't working I had to double check. What I mean is that as I let the clippy thing close with a snap, the force caused that stupid barrel to hit my forehead... right between the eyebrows. Good thing it was the last piece or else it could have been totally worse. I immediately put cold water on it and then neosporin. I grabbed an ice cube and towel and for the next 20 minutes I held them to my forehead. The last thing I wanted was to have a scab on my forhead, I mean I have sympathy for people with unibrows, but I really don't want to have empathy. Especially since I'm teaching this sunday, playing soccer tomorrow, and my birthday is Wednesday... you can't blame me for being concerned, specially since I don't have a husband who will take me when I'm ugly and beautiful. The burn is shown below. This was taken about thirty minutes after it happened. I don't think it's going to be too bad...

The second part of my day was better. It seems that there always has to be a bad thing to balance the great thing. Once that embarrassing accident happened, I hoped I could get through the day with out being noticed. However, my work doesn't allow that to happen. Luckily, today seemed more dead than usual. With only 45 minutes left of work, I was anxious to escape the public eye. But little did I know that the most gorgeous man I will ever see came into the school supplies section in the bookstore. I'm not sure, but he would have diserved a double take look, that's how cute he was.

His description:

probably 5'11"-6'0" tall; medium athletic build (neither skinny nor large, and he was wearing athletic clothes, ie shoes, nike jacket); fair angular (not chizzled) face; amber eyes (I could get lost in them without even trying); redish-brown hair that was perfectly tousled (I usually don't care for the just-woke-up style, but he worked it); and most importantly...I did not notice a ring on the left hand...

I think I'm drooling... That's not good for my computer. If the above doesn't help form a mental picture, then my co-worker summed up his apperience. She said that he was how Edward Cullen should've looked like. Pity I never have that kind of luck to get a catch like that, besides he probably has a girlfriend, figures... But now my standard has risen because I Know there is species of Handsomeness out there. If a dream is what my heart makes, I want to dream about him. ;)

Face Up in the Gutter

At least three times a week I try to go running with Kayla at six in the morning. Today was no different. However, I did have an accident while leaving the Smithfield House. We were just minding our business when this sneaky little one centimeter ledge between a dirt plot and the sidewalk tripped me. And I know I look light as a feather, but I crashed hard. I ended up in the gutter, as the line from "Bells are Ringing" about how Dean Martin is going to end up laying face down in the gutter because his life was going down the drain fast, was running through my head. Though I only scraped up my palms and my knee, I finished the run. I can't wait until Saturday where I'll be playing soccer and my knee will be showing. It's the new technique to scare the opponents. It shows how fearsome I am (they don't need to know how I got it...).

My second news are not so bad, on the contrary it's fabulous! It was my first batch. I hope to perfect the oven so the bottoms won't be that burnt. Silly gas stove. Aren't they beautiful?

Manna

Several people noticed I wasn't my chipper self last sunday (the 10th of January), so I got a couple things dropped by. A note (not shown), a plate of delicious cookies, and some homemade bread (this was not left but picked up on monday). The cookies are nummy. With a funny note.

And the Honey Bread made by one beautiful angel, Kayla. This, I was very selfish and didn't share it with any of my roommates. And I loved every last crumb. I ate it for breakfast on tuesday and then my dinner that night as I was jetting out the door to make our 7:50 flight.

Now. This my new baby. I'm really excited for it and on Thursday we'll see how she does.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh(heavenly choir)

It's my Granddad's Sourdough starter for those that couldn't tell. It's heaven in a Biscuit.

Alternative Energy

I have found the new idea to save America and the world! We, Jeff, Mel and I, were driving up to the SLC airport. Along the freeway right by the Point of the Mountain are a few wind turbines. As I was looking at them and wondering why people think they are ugly (they are quite magnificent), I saw there was no building or transfer station. Or whatever, the building that turns the raw power into usable energy. So my mind flipped through possible scenarios, ending with a wire that ran underground.
From there it gets even stranger. I don't even know how my mind skipped. I had an epiphany for our energy woes. America could run on STATIC ELECTRICITY. It's brilliant. It's a source that doesn't have to cost much, just the supply of carpet and socks. All the unemployed American's would finally have an income which would boost the economy and make it so politicians could focus on more important matters like the cost of paper back text books. There would be this giant building with the best carpet (scientific research would tell us which one would give off the most charge.) and have the non-freeloaders "Party" Shuffle around. Now this is where some engineering would come in handy. Of course we can't just have the workers just touching big metal pillars, the Unions would eat us alive for burnt nerves. But maybe a hand held jar that would collect the charge and could then be connected to something... Yeah, I'm not an engineer nor a technician, so someone else will have to figure that out.
So if you have any beneficial advice to my world changing epiphany, feel free to share and get a cut in the new market. There's plenty of shares to go around.

Leoma Cheek Gibson

A wonderful and brilliant child of God, and my name sake.

Many family calls have come across my phone, and mostly since thursday. For a year, her sickness took over her life. And those are the memories that I mostly have of her. Both Jeff and Kristy called me today to see how I am doing (since I'm the only one that doesn't have a shoulder to cry on). And truthfully, I haven't shed a tear. I'm the second youngest grandchild, so I did not really know Grandma when she was young and spry. I find this as a blessing or a relief. But if I didn't have the Gospel in my life, maybe I would be bawling and wailing. To think that this is the only life. It's too full of ugliness and tragedies to be the only one. And I'm grateful that I know there is "heaven". We are told that after we die, we will have a perfect body. This morning, I wondered what Grandma's perfect body looks like. And I knew she was happy.

Thanks Janessa. I stole this picture from your blog. I don't have pictures of Grandma. My only regret, is that I might not be able to make it home for the funeral. And I dislike how people say that's okay...

The joy of a hexigonal patterned ball

Last night, we played our first intramural (intra or inter? I don't know) indoor soccer game. And let me tell you, I ABSOLUTLY LOVE SOCCER! I don't know how I survived almost 2 years without it. The thill of an opponent, the precision of the kicking, and when you are within shot, the adrenilin that is created to keep your head when it's just you and the goalie. Wow. I missed it. However, you might be thinking that I scored. I didn't. But I did have one shot on goal, but I hit that pesky left post... Darn that post. I think it should of pulled a Robin Hood move and jumped (to the left) so I could have scored. But it didn't and frustratingly enough, we tied. They deserved to tie, we let our guard down the last five minutes, and they got in three more scores...It was rather annoying. But not to boast or anything...they did not score while I was playing ;).
Alright this is the section that I'm going to rant. I don't want to do it in front of the other players, but I believe I'm better than average at playing soccer. So I am a starting player, along with several if not most of the better players on the team. This is how we got our five points, during the first 10 minutes of every half. (each half was 20 minutes long, so over al 40 minutes long. Not long enough...) So at roughly ten minutes into the half the second wave would switch us. The defence is not as strong so more unfriendlys would make it through for a kill shot. And I'm on the sideline jumping up and down wanting, no dieing to go back in, but being denied. I know this is intra(ter)mural, and everyone wants to play and deserve to play, but I want to be selfish and play all 40 minutes. In high school, I was used to 40 minute halfs and playing most if not all those 80 minutes. So this is killing me! And this is why I'm venting through typing and not through virbal ways. I don't want to hurt anyones feelings. and everyone wants to play. So I'll put my selfish side to the side(haha) and be glad for the time that I get.
The final score was 5-5. But I think the wronged us. One of the opposing girls took a shot on our fabulous goalie, and he easily blocked it, but then the goal box was kinda crowded and our boy defender tried to kick it out, but instead of going foward, it went backward and into the goal. And you know what they recorded it as? 2 points because the girl kicked it at Moroni first... Now that, is really annoying. So I think we won with 5-4. I don't care what that stupid scoreboard said.

"Doom on you." (well me)

My first week, and I already know I'll be a social recluse this semester. If I wasn't doing homework for my 4 classes, I was in classes. And if I wasn't in class, then I was working. And if I wasn't doing those, then I was either sleeping, running, or eating (in that order of importance). I've made a commitment with Kris to run a half marathon, and that is why I wake up at 5:38 every morning, to go running with Kayla, Zach, and some times Tanis. then two hours to do some homework and get ready for the day. Then three hours of classes, three plus hours of work, and then six plus hours of homework,and finally and hopefully in bed by 10 to start my next day. Welcome to the REAL College Life. So I pose this question, how do people have time to meet someone, date, and get married? It seems impossible. Simply blows my mind. But then of course, I've come to find out that I'm not very bright. I can not have deep intellectual conversations with people, and in my RM Book of Mormon class I feel lost, the entire discussion just seems to roll off my brain without being absorbed. So maybe it's a good thing I'm not being social in my stupid state.

Last night I was over at Kayla's to use some super glue for my finger (I purposely put super glue on my hand this time!) and Kim, her room room-mate, told me to open my hands face up. "You're pinkies are weird!" apparently my poor pinkies are deformed. I'll let you be the judge though.

And to prove that I'm not so good at baking, this is my first potato cake. After calling Mom about three or four times, it was just tolerable. The cake it self was a tad dry, but the icing made up for that. I think I spent about 30 minutes just scooping the icing off the plate so it wouldn't over flow. After a day or two, it finally hardened, thankfully. The area was a mess too. You can just barely understand the amount of disoray that occured during this eventful incident. But with some milk (melk), I think it was delicious(ish).