And So This is Christmas

This year I decided to focus a lot more on the Christmas spirit rather than gifts, which was actually not too hard, because I finished my Christmas shopping essentially the first week of November. So during the whole month of December, I was trying to think of ways that I could serve others better and get to know Christ better.

I don't know if I did this successfully, but I can say that this Christmas feels a little different than others in the past. I have spent a lot more time with my family, and I am really glad I have. I have some crazy awesome sisters and we have a lot of fun together.

I also made and sent out a lot of Christmas cards to my friends which was something new. Usually I make cards for those friends that are immediately accessible, but this time around, I'm so far away from most of my friends, and I wanted to let them know how much I care about them even though we haven't talked or seen each other in a while. It was really nice to be able to express that.

I have also been reading/studying my scriptures a lot better in the past month, and this week I have just been reading from the New Testament. It is really awesome...instead of reading one story or chapter at a time, reading big chunks of the Savior's life really helped me to see how much he really loved us...an unfathomable amount. The best part is, he forgives us continually and wants to reward us with everything in the world. I am so grateful for him.

I'm hoping over the next year to continue these kinds of habits, so constantly be finding ways to serve people better and get to know Christ better. It is amazing what a difference it makes in your life.

Jacob Lake

So we finally got fast enough and reliable enough Internet here at Jacob Lake so I can update my blog and let you all know what it's like! WHOO!!

In case you were unaware, I am working at Jacob Lake, 45 min north of the Grand Canyon in Arizona (also about 45 min south of the Utah/Arizona border). It is a small lodge on the side of the road on highway 89A. We have about 5 cabins, a motel, and a hotel (not sure what the point of differentiating the two is; I guess the motel is cheaper/smaller rooms?).

I work in the bakery, where I make either hundreds of cookies or lots of bread and rolls, depending on what day it is. My bakery partner, Heidi, and I switch off doing bread and cookies every other day. Let me just list for you the kind of cookies we make:
Chocolate Chip
Chocolate Chip with Walnuts
Peanutbutter
Peanutbutter with chocolate chips
Gingersnap
Chocolate Parfait (like chocolate chip but with MUCH richer dough and chocolate pieces the size of quarters)
Lemon Sugar
Lemon Zucchini (with pecans)
German Chocolate (with the nasty frosting)
Cookie in a Cloud (chocolate cookie with a marshmellow melted on top and chocolate frosting)
Oatmeal Raisin
Six Grain (I don't know what the grains are but it's one of my favorites)
and starting yesterday: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip (the best recipe I have ever tasted)
My favorites are the Six Grain and Gingersnap (thankfully the healthy ones). Chocolate Parfait sounds divine but is actually my least favorite. It's too rich, you can practically taste the 16 1/2 pounds of margarine, 42 eggs, and 30 3/4 pounds of flour. :P

I start work at either 6:30 or 7:30 every day (depending on whether I'm doing bread or cookies), have a 2 hour break, and get off between 4:30 and 5:30 (depending on when I get everything done). After work, I either watch movies, go to Kanab (the happening place for us, but still too small for a Walmart), or go watch the sunset (usually at the Grand Canyon; I think I've been 4-5 times now).

Once a week we get a day off, and everyone who has the day off together goes on some adventure, usually in Southern Utah. So far I've been to Kanarraville (outside Cedar City), Sand Hollow (around St. George), and Lake Powell. At Kanarraville, you hike through a river until you get to some natural waterslides, Sand Hollow is a reservoir with really beautiful sandstone, and Lake Powell is generally well known. I've had some really awesome adventures that I might expound on sometime. For now, I'm giving an overview.

It has been amazing. I should also later give you some character profiles of the incredible people I have met here. I feel very blessed to have these people in my life. In about 5 min, we are going to start Thursday night at the movies, so I am going to wrap this up really quick with some pictures:

My old roommate Laura stopped by on her way to New Mexico and we went stargazing at the G.C.

An off-trail adventure at Kanarraville with Sean Wright, Brianna Malone, and Lauren Jones.

My Little Mermaid pose at Sand Hollow.

Adventures in Kanab: going out for ice cream, Hunter posed this question to a couple of teenage boys.

At Lake Powell with Courtney Lopez.

Watching the sunset (can't remember the name of the place, it's not the G.C. though) wiht Laurel Greathouse.

YAY! I'll try to give more details later.

Defying Gravity

So anyone who knows me for more than a day should know that I am fascinated, if not completely enraptured, by gay guys. Many straight men have tried to figure out why, but I can't give them a straight answer (Puns?! Who AM I?!). Because of this fascination, clearly my favorite character on one of my newly favorite shows, Glee, is Kurt Hummel, who is both gay and of German descent. In one of the episodes, Kurt wants to sing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, but since it's a song traditionally sung by a woman, this of course causes some commotion. This episode is based on a real experience from the actor's (Chris Colfer) life.

I was slow to jump on the Wicked train, just as I was slow to jump on many trains, and it took quite a while for me to separate Idina Menzel's voice from her character, Maureen, in Rent, and Maureen clearly does not belong in Wicked. But it was this song, "Defying Gravity," that was the last leg-up onto that speeding Wicked train.

A combination of these two things has led me to listening to Chris Colfer's version of "Defying Gravity" probably 30 times in the past four days, about eight times in a row as I type this. Really listening to the lyrics has provided me with some insights. In the Glee episode, Kurt tries defying gravity by singing a song traditionally sung by a woman. In my life, it is also time for me to defy gravity.

Something has changed within, something is not the same. Through a couple of choice experiences in my last semester of college, I came to realize a lot of things about myself and about life. Many came from my Doctrines of the Gospel class, where I came to realize how utterly worthless I am, but with and through the Atonement of Christ and the Plan of Salvation, I can receive more light than a mortal body can hold. I, nor anyone else, cannot afford to miss a single opportunity to partake of that light. I also realized some of my personal philosophies on life that don't allow me to live in mediocrity.

I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Because a life ordinary isn't good enough for me, I can't just take what's given to me. I have to make my destiny for myself. I can pick and choose what parts of what I've been given to take with me and build upon, but ultimately, I will make my life out of my own self. I have to go out and take what I want out of life.

Too late for second guessing; too late to go back to sleep. I've graduated now, and I can't start over fresh. I have to figure out a way to mold what I've learned into what I want, even need, to become. The only way out is up.

It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap. Here I am, on the eve of moving to my first great adventure after graduating, moving to Arizona, a state in which I never felt a need to travel, much less live, to a place I've never been, with people I've yet to meet, at a job I've no real experience in, and if I surgically remove that part of me that slams on the brakes when it comes to change, my feet would leave the ground in ecstasy at the unlimited possibilities before me.

I'm through accepting limits, cause someone says they're so. Lately I've been pondering grad school, and everyone asks me if I just want to teach. Even if that is what I wanted to do, why is that "all?" Recently I have seriously missed the study of biology, but thankfully, I learned how to read in college, and that study doesn't have to be over. Why should I just read novels and write poetry for the rest of my life? Why can't I, in addition, buy biology and philosophy, and perhaps even some physics textbooks and study them? Who says I have to be in school for that? I am interested in essentially everything, and I'm going to learn about whatever I want for the rest of my life.

Some things I cannot change, but till I try, I'll never know. The only limitations I see ahead of my are within myself, and the simple way to overcome that is change. That's what life is for, anyway, to scrape the natural man off our divine souls. That is the great lifelong challenge that I am ready and willing to face head-on.

Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost. Well if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost. There has been only one regret in my life, and that concerns the choice not to pursue a certain relationship at a certain time in my life. Often I have reflected on how different my, and his, life would be if I had followed my heart and not my head in that case. Happily married? I wouldn't doubt it. But I've also just realized: limited. Half of who I am has happened in the past four years. How could I live with only being a fraction of what I should be? True love won't limit you. And in the past, I haven't been whole enough to sustain true love. Some people have to learn that through a different path, but I learned it through the loss, and I praise the Lord that this was the path provided for me, because now I know that better things are over the horizon for me. And by better, I mean unworldly better.


It's time to try defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity; kiss me good-bye I'm defying gravity, and you won't bring me down. In the wise, wise words of the screenwriter for Little Women: "You have so many extraordinary gifts, how can you expect to live an ordinary life?" I want to experience anything and irrevocably change people's lives by shifting, molding, or shattering their paradigms. How can I do this while staying on the ground? I can't.

Many people have asked me why I can't just stay in Utah; why I'm always leaving. Let me ask you this: Can you leave a peach in the same spot for 24 years and expect it to still be soft, tender, and juicy when you bite into it? I'm not willing to let myself rot.

I'm including this fantastic solo so everyone can ponder what ways they can defy gravity in their own lives. If you can't handle the fact that a man is singing this, please open another window so you won't have to look at his (gorgeous) face while listening. Come, fly with me.

The Bay Area is my Most Favorite Place in the United States!!

I just spent the last weekend in the San Fransisco Bay Area because my parents were awesome and gave me the happiest graduation present possible (maybe besides a trip to Germany, but San Fransisco is literally only an inch below Germany on the Most Amazing Places on Earth Scale).

My old roommate, Jessica Kenney (now Knudsen), got married in the Oakland temple on Saturday (July 31), so I flew out on the 29th and stayed with her and helped her set things up for the wedding the day before. The fabulous thing about this wedding is that Jessica and her mom handmade everything. All the decorations and the food for both the reception and the luncheon. It was amazazing.

Jessica hand made all the boxes (that look like cake slices) to fill with candy as the favors.

This is how the backyard was decorated. They bought the chair covers and ribbons and tablecloths, but hand steamed and ironed all of them. It paid off, it was beautiful!


The best part about the wedding was that out of the 7 of us who lived in that apartment with Jessica, only one was missing!! And the great thing about that is that this set of roommates was BY FAR the best set of roommates, the closest friend, and the most amazing women I had the privilege of living with. Sorry everyone else I've roommed with. I don't even know how to express how amazing this apartment was besides to say that we'd come home from classes, around 1-3 pm, and once everyone was home, we'd all sit in the living room attempting to do homework, but we'd end up talking until 2-4 am every single night. We went out to Craigo's (pizza) or steak about once a month, and had margarita nights about once a week, sometimes more. Anything we did, we did it all together. We were inseparable. Seriously. Best friends of my life.

From left to right in this picture: Emily Haycock Gatewood, Sandy Depew, Jessica Kenney Knudsen, Diana Hawkes Toronto, Tina Erndt Braegger, and me. Missing: Tara Cottle Martin

This is all of us plus Emileigh Norling, who is like an honorary roommate because she grew up with Diana, Tina, and Jessica in the Bay Area. Also plus Emily and Tina's babies, Hannah and Olivia, respectively.

So now 5/7 of us from that apartment are married. I'm the only one not yet endowed, as Sandy served a mission. The best part about all of this, is that all of us are still righteous, as we were together someone was bearing testimony of something about every five minutes. Alma 17:2 describes perfectly how I felt. It is SOO wonderful to have this sisterhood with people and to feel and know the support will always be there because your sisters are steadfast in the Gospel.

Now for some pictures of the wedding and the couple:

The Oakland temple is one of the most majestic I think. I almost wanted to make sure I marry someone from that area so I have a good excuse to get married there, but I think I'll stick with the Timpanogos temple.

So after the wedding was over, I stayed with Sandy at Diana's house and we went to church there (in the Los Altos ward) and on Monday we went with Diana's mom and sister, Melanie, to Chinatown. It was a blast! Who knew Chinatown would be so amazing? Sorry I didn't feel like verticalizing the picture, but you get the idea. This is the gate to Chinatown.

Sandy had a very old Chinese man try to kiss her at the fortune cookie factory. It was hilarious. :)

On Tuesday I spent the day with my Uncle Robert and his wife, Shon. We went to the Golden Gate Park where we visited the Japanese Tea Garden and the California Academy of Sciences Museum where they had a rainforest, aquarium, and an "extreme mammals" exhibit. We also went to the Golden Gate Bridge and Ghirardelli Square. Perhaps best of all, we met up with my favorite Clay Brown and ate at this hole-in-the-wall French/Southern place called Brenda's (on the corner of Eddy and Polk if you want to know) where "oral climax" (Clay's words, not mine) is achievable. It was pretty amazing, let's be honest.

Robert and Shon in the Japanese garden...again, too lazy to fix the picture.

View of the city from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Clay and I outside of Brenda's

To sum up, I LOVE San Fransisco because it is SO much like a European city, particularly a German one because of the weather. I'm seriously considering moving there. I love everything about it; there are nice suburbs as well as exciting city life, but it's not crazy or scary city life. I love it so much my heart is pretty much still bursting from being there for five days. :) :) :)

GRADUATED!!!!

So I'm finally getting around to writing about my graduation...maybe now that I don't have to be in classes and writing papers and doing projects, I will be better at blogging in general.

Elder Richard G. Hinckley came up to speak at our graduation, along with the General Commissioner of the Church Education System (can't remember his name). I actually don't remember much from the commencement ceremony besides a lot of standing, clapping, recognition of the professors, parents, and students. President Clark got really emotional, on the verge of tears, while he told us how much he loves us. One thing I really love about my alma mater.

My convocation (where we walk and they hand us our diploma covers) was combined with the College of Performing and Visual Arts (mine is the College of Language and Letters). Elder Hinckley and President Clark came to speak at our convocation; Elder Hinckley said he wanted to come to ours because he thinks there is a lack of people who appreciate beautiful and correct language and art, and that our skills and knowledge are extremely valuable in the world today. I think I can say that was the most gratifying moment of my entire college career. There is a purpose to what I've chosen to fill my life with (but not yet a job...).

It hasn't quite hit me that I'm done...that I don't have to go back to school if I don't want to (but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for an MFA in Creative Writing, or possibly a Masters in counseling and guidance). I think that'll be more definitive when I recieve my diploma in the mail.

As for now, I am grateful for the time I spent in Rexburg. For many many reasons I think that going to BYU-Idaho was probably the best decision I've made. I feel confident and prepared for whatever life hands me next.

America the Beautiful

So tonight with my roommate Laura, my fhe brothers Thomas and Travis, some girls in my Relief Society Karen, Rebecca, and Megan, and some other friends and I went stadium singing (we gather under the stadium and sing hymns for half an hour). It was beautiful to hear the Star Spangled Banner sung by about a hundred students. But it was "America the Beautiful" that really hit me.

I just want to point out some lines:

Crown thy good with brotherhood
Confirm thy soul in self-control
Till all success be nobleness

I just wish more Americans realized what these words meant.

I feel really grateful to live and have grown up in a country that is built on ideals of equality and tolerance. All I fear is that we are forgetting that.

Marriage Guarantee and the Value of Gay Friends

As much as I've loved my education here at BYU-Idaho, there is one thing I feel compelled to complain about. I am supposed to attend a graduating English majors' dinner on Monday, and every invitation I've received for it says: "Please make sure you bring your spouse or significant other."


You hear jokes in your classes about not being able to graduate from BYU-I without being married, but I'm not so sure they were jokes. My German professor's office is just down the hall from mine, and the other day he walked by and we had a little chat. He asked me if I was married, and I thought he was going to fall over when I said no. "What? A girl like you? I thought you'd be married by now." I couldn't help but agree with him. "Well, you have to throw yourself at guys. I know you're not that kind of girl, but you have to throw yourself at guys because they are too stupid to see how beautiful and smart you are on your own."

That's when I thought: wow. I'm kind of glad I'm not married then. First of all, why should I have to be something I'm not in order to secure a husband? Secondly, if he can't appreciate who I am on his own, why would I want to marry him? Thirdly, if guys are really that stupid, I can be satisfied with the Second Degree for the sake of my sanity. I'm not expecting Mr. Darcy, but I would like to believe that there is a guy out there who is intelligent, sensitive, and manly all at the same time. Well, I know there is. My dad is one. I'm just hoping there's one left in my generation.

Oddly, the older I get, the less I feel like I'm failing life because I've never had a healthy relationship. I'm realizing more and more that it's more about commitment than compatibilities, more about persistence than physicality, more about character than cute/corniness. Yes, I've been told that my whole life, and I knew it for a long time, but I didn't realize how deep it went. In light of a recent conversation with a friend who openly admits that his shallowness is preventing him from finding matrimonial bliss, I think I can say that physical appearance is probably #10 on my top 10 things I'm looking for. In a couple of years it might not even appear on the list.

As I was pondering on this "bring your spouse or significant other," I thought back to my high school days when I had a certain guy friend who would come with me to any such event and have no problem acting like we were dating. He pulled it off quite convincingly (probably because he actually did want to date me, come to find out). Where is that friend now? Married to someone else.

Here is how I should fix this problem: find a gay guy to be my best friend. This way he can act like my boyfriend/fiance whenever I need him to (My Best Friend's Wedding or The Wedding Date style, ironically both with the same actor), there won't be any of that awkward "Is she asking me to do this because she wishes we were dating" on his end or any "Is he agreeing to this because he wants it" on my end, and most likely he won't get married (depending on the state I guess) and even if he does it won't be to some crazy jealous chick who forbids him from talking to me. All problems solved. Unfortunately I'm not going to find a gay guy in Rexburg. Not because they don't exist, but because they keep it very quiet around here.

So to solve my current dillemma: go to the party alone and be happy about it. I'm single by choice, because I had a couple of opportunities to choose marital strife, or single life. And I chose the latter. And that was the right choice for me.

Family and Consumer Science Major

So during this, my last semester, I have been wondering why I chose the major that I chose. I've loved it...except I don't want to do it as a career. Now that I think about things that I wouldn't mind doing as a career, I'm convinced I should've stayed with Biotechnology (my original plan when I was in high school), which I would've gone to the U for. Instead I came up to BYU-I and did English, and while I'm sure I learned a lot, it doesn't really feel like it.

Anyway, I am taking a homemaking class this semester, and so far we have had our home decorating unit and our sewing unit, where I made a throw pillow cover and an apron out of my old jeans (yes, I almost had an annurism cutting up my Vanity jeans, even though I hadn't worn them in almost two years). Next week we will start our cooking unit off with orange juliuses.

As I finished up my apron today (I had to turn it in or else I'd have pictures up) I was thinking how I really could get good at sewing if I had the opportunity to practice more. Just in the four weeks of this unit I felt that I improved significantly from the sewing I attempted in high school (reference to my Murray High quilt that is an inch or more wider on one end). I would've made wedding dresses (and I would've done it right) if I had majored in family and consumer science (and I would've spouted off advice to the brides during the fittings). As it is, I am probably going to just make wedding invitations since I can write, edit, and design (yes, I am obsessed with weddings. I am just like the girl on 27 Dresses, and I've almost been a bridesmaid that many times, too).

Anyway, this got me to thinking about my friend's house in Martinez, CA (just outside of San Fransisco). His mother was a master interior decorator. Here are a few pictures (I photographed nearly the whole house because it was amazing):

Kitchen

This was the faucet in the bathroom

This was a canopy over their patio

And this was their dog. Who's surprised?

It's Been a While...

So I haven't posted in almost two months. This is because I have been crazy busy with school, I suppose. Even though I am taking three classes that don't really count for anything, two of which never have homework, I still am ridiculously busy. I am in class/at work from 9-5 every day, and then I go home and do homework from about 5:30-1 a.m. with a few breaks, usually do to my calling and eat. Awesome.

However, I do have pretty awesome roommates and phenomenal FHE brothers. Something about that apartment (I had other awesome FHE bros that lived in the same apartment) guarantees amazingness I think.

So my roommates and brothers like to do a lot of bonfires, play Rock Band, family dinner on Sundays, and "homework parties." It's very fun, casual, and a great way to take up my time when I can't stand doing homework any longer.

Other than that...I went to a concert by the Young Ambassadors from BYU a few weeks ago and it was pretty awesome. I went to a lot of show choir shows in high school and pretty much expected the same, but this was actually much better. Not only were the singers way more accomplished, of course, but the dance numbers were, for the most part, way less cheesy, which made the show entirely more enjoyable.

Also, I took a random road trip to San Francisco over May 1, because one of my friends was getting married in Oakland. I went with my roommate Kristen, and I was able to meet up with some long lost friends so it was pretty much the best weekend of my college career. I'll throw down some pictures:

The most adorable couple! Daniel and Elizabeth Perry

Kristen's friend Michelle, Kristen and I at the Oakland Temple

At Pier 39, Kristen, Me, Michelle, and Cory (old FHE bro; sorry it's sideways: I didn't feel like fixing it)

My most favorite friend ever, "Clay" Brown and I in front of the Bay Bridge

Muse. In Concert.

Jill and I getting very excited!

The intro.

Awesome lights during "New Born" (Also used in "Undisclosed Desires)

Big Brother's eyes fall from the ceiling during "Plug-In Baby"

Either "The United States of Eurasia" of "Exogenesis Symphony I"

"Knights of Cydonia"

This is how I feel about Muse.

The Muse concert was SO AMAZING!!!!!!! They opened with "Uprising" and then "Resistance." Then "Newborn" which was a total surprise (because it's one of their oldest songs). The lights and special effects were incredible. They had three skyscrapers on stage and they started playing and people started marching up the skycrapers and then they fell down and Muse was inside (just as I predicted). They flashed the words two several songs across the skyscrapers, and the platforms raised and fell...they were really all over the stage and several times Matthew Bellamy slid on his knees with his guitar, just like a true rockstar (because he is). My favorite was the green lasers used during "Newborn" and "Undisclosed Desires." What I think I loved the most about the concert is that no time was wasted chatting with the audience. It was non-stop rock. Everything was phenomenal. "Hysteria" sent me into a hysteria. During "Time is Running Out" I really wished Miriam had been there to sing at the top of her lungs with me. I'm pretty sure it was at that point when my voice left me cracking. The only moment of disappointment didn't come from Muse, it came from all the girlish squeals that erupted from the pseudo-fans at the beginninng of "Supermassive Black Hole." But the entire audience singing the chorus for both "Time is Running Out" and "Plug-In Baby" (a definitely less-well known song of Muse's) completely made up for that. During the encore they played Exogenesis, Stockholm Syndrome, and Knights of Cydonia, three of my favorites. They were all my favorites, of course. *sigh*

My life is complete. If I died now, I would die happy. Perhaps not fulfilled, but happy. And I wouldn't mind at all.

I want to wear my Muse shirt forever. I want to be buried in it.

This is all litotes to how I really feel. How I really feel is beyond my capacity to capture. My heart is on the verge of rupturing at the thought that I actually saw Muse live in concert. Never have I felt such deep joy.

To understand what I felt, you would've had to see me clutching my heart and screaming and singing every lyric with every millimeter of breath I possessed.

Songs they played (so far as I can remember):
Uprising
Resistance
Newborn
Map of the Problematique
Supermassive Black Hole
Time is Running Out
Interlude
Hysteria
The United States of Eurasia
Feeling Good
Undisclosed Desires
Starlight
Unnatural Selection
Plug-In Baby
Exogenesis
Stockholm Syndrome
Knights of Cydonia

Out of Business

The Hollywood Video in Rexburg is going out of business.
The Blockbuster went out of business a little over a year ago.

Actually, all around Rexburg there are empty buildings that have old, fading signs from their previous businesses peeling on them.

This I believe is because the community of Rexburg is too small to support so many businesses, and the other half of the population of Rexburg, the students, are too poor to support the businesses either.

However, we're not any more poor than college students in any other college town. So what I'm wondering is...why don't students in Rexburg ever spend money? Or what are they spending it on?

Granted, plain old groceries here are more expensive than they are in Utah at least, so that might be part of the problem. Another problem is gas is also more expensive here, and we tend to use it. We use it because there is one thing that students in Rexburg will spend money on: dates.

It is a common conception that if you want your date to be impressive or worthwhile, you have to drive half an hour to Idaho Falls and have your date there. Let's be honest, I enjoy the occasional date in Idaho Falls. I've ever heard of people who drive down to Salt Lake for dates (usually to propose :P).

What's funny about this is we have at least two concerts plus dances every week here, that are almost always less than $5/ticket. People complain that is too expensive, so instead they use that much in gas, (probably more) going to Idaho Falls, to the Texas Roadhouse then to the Idaho Museum of History (well, that at least would be my ideal date in Idaho Falls). Which costs probably $50 total. When a date in Rexburg would probably cost $20.

It must be the charm of escaping from Rexburg for one night...I'm not sure.

All I know is that I'm sick of passing empty buildings wherever I walk, and knowing that there is that many more unemployed people wandering around Rexburg competing with me for jobs.

The plus side is I will probably acquire a few more movies for very cheap today. :)

Jill's Fault

I've never done one of these on a blog before, so here it is.

4 TV Shows I like to watch:
1. The Office
2. The Olympics
3. American Idol
4. NCIS? Honestly don't watch anything but the Office.

4 things I'm passionate about:
1. Cheese
2. Muse
3. "unimportant things" as one friend told me
4. Being better, helping others be better

4 words or phrases I say often:
1. Seriously
2. Honestly
3. Ridiculously
4. Basically

4 things I have learned from the past:
1. one inch really is a mile
2. you don't have to keep everything you love with you to keep loving it
3. let it go...you don't need it
4. There is a purpose in suffering

4 places I would love to go:
1. New York
2. Germany
3. Sweden
4. Switzerland

4 things I did yesterday:
1. Went to class
2. applied for jobs
3. watched HP2
4. scrapbooked

4 things I am looking forward to this year:
1. NULC
2. Muse Concert
3. Graduating
4. Getting a real job, having a real life, maybe?

4 things I love about winter:
1. clean snow
2. sledding
3. being in Rexburg and knowing that I'm in pretty much the coldest place on earth
4. not being hot

4 things on my wish list: (AKA my Birthday is next week)
1. Lord of the Rings Extended DVDs (movies are always at the top...)
2. Anne of Green Gables on DVD
3. a career
4. to sell my screenplay!

4 people I tag:
1. Brynn
2. Stephanie
3. Alyssa
4. Camilla (I don't know who reads my blog, really)

I know I text, but I can still hate it.

I just want to say that this is officially my biggest pet peeve:
People who can only talk about their personal thoughts and feelings over texting (or Facebook messaging) and can't hold a conversation longer than three sentences in person.

A friend of mine who is on a mission really wanted me to get to know his best friend from home, so we started talking over Facebook and eventually started texting (I trusted the missionary that he wouldn't introduce me to a creeper, plus I'm also friends with the missionary's sister who is also very very close to this kid). This past weekend, he came to Rexburg to hang out with the sister and me.

He got here at about 9 a.m. on Saturday, but the sister is going to Paul Mitchell Hair Academy and has school from 9-5 on Saturdays. So I had to spend all that time with him, without ever having met him before.

I didn't think it was going to be a big deal; we had had interesting enough conversations already, what would be the difference?

I spent 8 hours talking to myself in his presence, minus the 90ish minutes I spent donating plasma while he ran some errands.

When we finally were able to hang out with the sister, he still never talked while I was present. If I left, then came back, he'd stop cold in the middle of their conversation.


However, the moment he left Rexburg, he began texting me as though we were close friends.


This is a social illness. And it is unacceptable.


The following are acceptable reasons to text:

• Clarifying meeting time/circumstances with someone
• Announcing a party/reminding of a party
• A quick check in with someone, hopefully accompanied by the promise of a future phone call/letter/visit
• Something reminded you of someone and you want to tell them before you forget
• You're not sure if a person is available to talk and you want to find out
• Asking a simple question that can be answered quickly

The following are unnacceptable reasons:

• Asking a complex, thought provoking question that will lead to a deep conversation
• Getting to know someone
• Expressing love and devotion (unless it is commonly expressed in other ways as well, then a text of this nature can just be a pleasant surprise)
• Figuring out details of a situation that are complicated and will require a lot of attention
• Any text conversation that lasts several hours
• Arguing
• Asking someone out
• Breaking up with someone

I think there are some circumstances when this can be bent, for example, if someone is at work and they are the only person you can talk to about a certain situation, but obviously they can't answer the phone. That's about the only exception (and is not an exception to the asking out or breaking up, or even arguing rules).

I like talking to people. Some of my most cherished memories involve having conversations with people until 6 a.m. Not texting conversations. If you text me after 2 a.m. and wake me up repeatedly, I will curse you to death.

Stadium Singing

Before I get to the point of this blog, I just want to point out my awkward moment of the night. My roommate and her fiance were just standing behind me saying goodnight and speaking Spanish to each other (they both served Spanish speaking missions). I'm pretty sure she was telling him not to kiss her so much cause I was there. Haha.

Ok anyway, I just wanted to say: Only at BYU-Idaho would you find hundreds of students gathered in negative degree weather, outside underneath the the bleachers at the football stadium, to sing hymns for half an hour.

I love my school.

THE PEKING ACROBATS!!!!!!!!!

Tonight I saw the Peking Acrobats perform.

Can I firstly just say I am so grateful to be going to a school where I get incredible opportunities like this.

Secondly, can I say that the show was literally and absolutely the most unbelieveable thing I've ever seen.

Where to start describing? How to try? Is it even worth trying?

The first ridiculously amazing thing was two girls lying on their backs with their feet in the air, spinning and flipping large porcelain vases with their feet. Then they switched to a table and an umbrella, spinning them with their toes.

Later, a girl stood on ballet point on top of another acrobat's head.

One girl balanced a pyramid of 26 filled cups on her nose and climbed up two ladders, one foot on each, that were on opposite ends of a teeter-toter.

And one man stacked 8 or 10 chairs on top of 4 wine bottles, then balanced on his hand on top of them. He was about 2 feet from the ceiling. Then he tipped the first chair on a diagonal and balanced on his hands again. Then he tipped it at a more dangerous angle and balanced on just one hand.

So you might be able to tell that I have no brain left because the acrobats blew it away. It is splattered on the back of my skull.

I seriously, seriously, strongly admonish everyone to seek out an opportunity to see the Peking Acrobats.

The Chemistry of Food

So today I had three interesting experiences with food.

1) I went to donate plasma today, and for the second time this week I was rejected due to a low hematocrit (iron) level. I'm anemic. The girl at the clinic said I should eat a tuna sandwich the day before every time I go to donate. I hate tuna. SO MUCH. So I will be researching other iron-rich foods.

2) This past Saturday an apartment in another girl's complex caught fire. They were making onion rings and some oil spilled on the burner. These girls clearly didn't learn about grease fires at girls' camp like I did. They used the fire extinguisher which made the fire instantly much bigger. Only their kitchen burned, but they can non longer live in their apartment. Today, my roommate was sauteing some onions and spilled some oil on the burner. Fortunately I write for the school newspaper and therefore actually read it, so I remembered the story of the other girls, and according to my availability heuristic, remembered what I learned at girls' camp: that you are supposed to toss baking soda on grease fires. So I did. And the fire instantly vanished.

3) I was reading in my social psych book tonight about self-control. Your brain uses glucose to exert self-control, and if your glucose store is depleted you will no longer be able to maintain control. This is why often if you are put in a stressful situation in which you must use self-control, later you find yourself losing control in another area, most likely eating junk food. So tonight I am supposed to go play soccer with my ward team...that my ex-boyfriend is on. Fortunately, my roommate just made orange cinnamon rolls. :)

My other Blog(s)

For my Eng 321 class (Technology for Professional Writers) I had to create a professional blog.

My blog is about the struggle to be a creative writer in the world of professional writers. In it I will be discovering things about journalism, editing, and writing in general.

You can access the other blog here.

By way of information, if anyone didn't know, I am writing on my university newspaper, The Scroll, and you can access my articles here, if you scroll down to the blog. I write for the Sports section, which I find mildly ironic.

As for other updates on my life...I'm still an English major. All I ever do is read and write. I am currently serving as the 1st Counselor in my Relief Society, which is honestly the most exciting part of my life right now. I really love it. Outside of that, I spend far too much time on campus. The end. :)

New Year!!

Ok, technically it's no longer January 1st. Sorry kids, I was highly distracted by cleaning and packing up as I have to leave back to Idaho in 14 hours.

I spent New Year's Eve with my best friend of 11 years, Alicia, her husband Derrick, our friend Marlon, and my sister Brynn and fiance Craig. We played Rock Band and an awesome game called "Things" (look it up, it's ridiculously fun). Perfect, small, intimate gathering, just the way I like it. It was only missing my favorite Austin, who is home in Arizona. And when I called him at midnight, for happy new year and happy birthday, he was asleep! He claims to have been sick.

During the day on New Year's Eve I watched Unbreakable with my best guy friend Mark (we LOVE M. Night!) and then went up to Farmington to see my best friend from college, Diana, with her husband Scott, who is from there. And then we ate Sushi. :)

So there are my celebrations to end the year. I have a lot of best friends, it seems.

But let's look over this year, shall we?

I am two semesters closer to graduating!! Two left!

I finally decided on a career: editing. I edited a book for my friend's dad, Jay Jarvie, this summer, and loved it (pivotalevent.com, it's a fascinating book). Also in two of my classes this past semester I had a lot of editing opportunities (for our school literary magazine and for a class magazine) and continued to love it. So I extended my graduation date for one more semester so I can take editing classes and hopefully do that full time for a while before I become a mom.

I worked at a movie theater...a very valuable experience. I feel like I talk about it a lot. The movies suck you into another world. A movie theater does the same. I breathed popcorn while there. But I learned a lot about human nature, even in myself. So it was unforgettable and invaluable.

Also worked at school as a figure model for the art department. Most rewarding job I've ever had. I learned a lot about my body and about art, and about the beauty of God's creations. Definitely increased my appreciation for nature.

Several of my sister missionaries came home from their missions this year. I love love love missionaries. I am running low on them; one more is coming home in the next week leaving me with only four to write to, which is the lowest number I've had in 5 years. In the past 6 years I've written to 43 missionaries, regularly. But it is awesome to have them come home and be with them again. I dearly dearly love my sisters (elders too, but most of them have been home for a long time :) ).

I had awesome roommates both semesters this past year. I love being a single woman, college student, living with roommates, and especially learning from them. Lots of good, new recipes. ;)

Now things to look forward to:

I already have 4 weddings lined up for 2010. January 29th, April 17th, May 1st, and June 1st.

I am graduating in July!!!!!!!!!!

More awesome experiences at BYU-Idaho!!

And who knows what else!!

I've been reading a lot in the paper how 2009 has been a really terrible year...maybe nationally it has, but individually, I can't say it's been easy, but I can say I came out on top. :)