Pictures 3 and 4

It's that time of year again....

You may have noticed that the schedule looks a little different this semester. That's because I only have one, yes, one final this week, and it's on Tuesday. So I'm going home on Wednesday! I am very excited.

Picture 2

AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!

Today is the Day of Awesome.

Deathly Hallows high res trailer from MN Vids on Vimeo.

Picture 1

I've decided to try my own hand at a 365 project. So here is the picture from day 1:

Update?

I haven't blogged in a month, but not really anything has happened in that month. Just school. And Thanksgiving break, which was nice. But now it's back to school and I feel more busy than ever.

Things I've done since being back from Thanksgiving break:

• Had a cold.
• Unpacked.
• Spanish homework
• Woke up and couldn't speak
• Spanish Test
• Rescheduled Math final exam
• Math homework
• Ironing party for my choir dress (which takes about an hour for a good job)
• Choir/orchestra concert
• More math homework
• Woke up again and couldn't speak
• Took Spanish Oral Exam despite not being able to speak
• Finished CSIS 1000
• Turned in choir music
• Last Creative Writing class :(
• Started compiling artifacts for my creative writing portfolio

I'm pretty sure those are the main things... Still, only a few more days to go!! I'll be sure to make my customary Finals Week rainbow schedule and post a picture sometime this weekend.

I made it...

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AMAZING

Everything else

There isn't much introduction here. These are just all the other pictures I've taken lately that are cool.

This was probably the best moment of my life. It was at the High School Shakespeare Competition Awards Ceremony. They had a slideshow of the festival, and when the music started playing, nearly every student ran down onto the floor and had an impromptu dance party. The announcer said afterwards, "No matter what happens now, it was all worth it for that!" It was SO AWESOME. The energy in that room was palpable. Absolutely incredible.

This is an outlet that's about 8 or 9 feet up on the wall in my Creative Writing classroom. We have yet to figure out why it's there.

This is my lunch from today. It's cheesy scrambled eggs with ham and toast. Yum!

This is a hole in the ground. I didn't even know it was there, which was weird.

This is the inside. I felt this weird urge to go exploring, but it was very unprepared and I was lacking in the necessary items, like food and water.

This is a flag. Duh. They put them up for Columbus Day. (I have no idea who "they" were...)

This is Gwen being attacked by a giant sparkly spider.

Also me and Taylor. I chose the most realistic spider in the bin, because I wanted it to be realistic.

FAIL JUICE.

This is "the rock church." No, it doesn't belong to The Rock Church, it belongs to the LDS church.

This is a sweet-awesome sign in the Catholic thrift store downtown.

These were some weird potted fake flowers that we saw in a random parking lot.

We decorated...

... our house for Halloween. Yay!

Cobwebs on our bookshelf, along with a little black bird that belongs to Taylor. No, it isn't real. It's just awesome.

Cobwebs on our awesome clock.

My pirate flag covering up an ugly painting. This house is full of weird old-people stuff.

Tombstones on the other bookshelf.

"Beware," "Caution," and "Enter at your own risk" streamers in the hallway leading to our bedrooms.

First I shall blog about...

... Conference weekend, in no particular order.

We passed this old Olympic thing on our drive. It reminded me of this documentary I once saw about how cities will go to all these lengths to build great arenas for the Olympics that then fall into ruin and never see glory again.

This was a sweet awesome view that we happened upon.

More of the awesomeness...

This is Julia looking so cute with her apple in the car.

This is the tabernacle. I took this when me and Shannon were sitting on one of the benches in that park next to it with Colby and Dex.

Picture Post

So, this is just a bunch of pictures that I've taken lately that I haven't put on my blog yet. Here you go:

I did these during church, on my phone. Bad me, I know.

Saw these two hippie cars on the way home from school one day. It made my very happy.

This is my favorite view out of any window on campus.

My shoes. Converse are just so photogenic.

This is a very old penny that we found. It was paved into the street. It's from the 70's or something.

This is my healthy dinner. It's a baked potato with veggies and a little bit of cheese. It was tasty.

We went to the car wash. It was fun.

Went to Wal*Mart. Someone had put a bra on the cantaloupe. It was amusing.

My friend Karen lives in one of the old buildings that is now a bed and breakfast style apartment. VERY pretty and awesome. These books were on her shelf.

An apple.

Some of the apples I picked for mom...

... before I picked more...

... and then a zillion more. You'd better put these to good use, mom!

Found this...

...on a friend of a friend's facebook. AWESOME.

1. We believe in SUVs and minivans, as the form of transportation, and in knee length shorts, which are always nice, and in the multilevel marking.

2. We believe that church ball players should be punished for their own fouls, and not for unsportsmanlike aggression.

3. We believe that through bread crumbs, cheese, creamy soups, and rice all casseroles can be saved through obedience to ward cookbooks and creativity in the mixing bowl.

4. We believe that the first layers and ingredients of the Dip are: first, beans; second, cheese; third, chopped tomatoes; fourth, the gift of sour cream; fifth, olives; sixth, salsa; seventh, guacamole, that is, if you have it.

5. We believe that a Mormon should have a distinguished or a cute name, that it is appropriate to name a child after a church leader or a historical figure including an ancestor, that alternative spellings and French prefixes only add to a name, and that when referring to the names of General Authorities, middle initials should be a part thereof.

6. We believe in the same wall decor that exists in manyMormon homes, namely, framed family proclamations, vinyl lettering, inspirational word signs, family photos, pictures of temples and Jesus, and so forth.

7. We believe in the gift of the re-gift, church books, crafts, family photos, baked goods, emergency supply kits, and so forth.

8. We believe in sparkling grape juice so long as it is nonalcoholic; we also believe in bringing root beer and sprite to ward parties.

9. We believe in all that we have scrapbooked, all that we will now scrapbook, and we believe that we will yet scrapbook many great and important things pertaining to our family, friends, pets, and
vacations.

10. We believe in the literal mixing of ketchup and mayo and in the generous application
of ranch dressing; that CBAs (church-based acronyms) will be used to describe YM/YW, PEC, the Y, NCMO, and CTR; that Mitt Romney will get Mormons to vote for him any time he runs; and, that the Mormons will enjoy reading Twilight and The Work and the Glory.

11. We claim the privilege of trying to identify common acquaintances with any visitor at church, and allow all other people at church the same privilege, and let them name drop the names of Famous and general authorities how, where, or what they may.

12. We believe in being subject to scoutmasters, pampered chef hostesses, and the writers of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings for professional schools, and in obeying, honoring, and sustaining Glenn Beck.

13. We believe in being above average, good at crafts, optimistic, and being fifteen minutes late everywhere we go. Indeed, we may say that we follow BYU football. We believe rumors about famous people joining the church, we hope to meet the three Nephites, we have endured many pyramid schemes, and hope to be able to endure all pyramid schemes. If there is anything cheap, free, sold in
bulk, or given away when somebody is moving, we seek after these things.

Stars

You know those stars that were all in sync a few weeks ago?

Yeah, I think they just imploded.

Here it goes again...

So. I got an iPhone for my birthday, and it came in the mail on Wednesday!! I am so happy to have an iPhone again, they are so great.

To start off, I had to take a picture of my dinner. Plus, this dinner was practically a feast! I had fried potatoes with cheese and scrambled eggs, and it was delicious.

Last night we had Aaron over, and we played Apples to Apples. I took this picture. It's cool.

This huge storm was rolling in as I was walking home from school. Unfortunately, it rolled right over us, and now it's sunny again. Gah!

Today I spent some time in the library. This is probably my favorite room on campus. Doesn't it just look so awesome?!

Monica and Chandler got married!

Hahaha. I couldn't think of anything to title my post. We're watching Friends, so....

Anyways, I wrote this bllllllog entry this morning, just like I did last week.

Tuesday - 9:59 am

I'm really starting to love this free hour. It gives me the chance to write something for my blog, which I probably wouldn't do otherwise.

Update on classes:

Piano decided to get difficult all of a sudden. Weird and unexpected.

Spanish is good still. We had a very interesting lesson today, about the differences in culture in the U.S. from the rest of the world, pretty much. In Spanish-speaking countries, tuition for university is only a few hundred dollars or so each year. But you don't get to choose your major. It's an interesting trade-off. Profesora Godoy mentioned how our school system is STILL better here than in Spain, where she grew up. She also mentioned how, since Spain is part of the European Community, she gets free health care anywhere in the European Community. Except dentistry, because that's considered cosmetics. She said they see it as a need and a right, not a privilege or a want. I found it interesting that she mentioned it today, all things considered.

Math decided to get very boring. We've left the realm of interesting stuff that I didn't already know, and now we're doing very very boring Geometry and stuff. Gah. And proofs! Aarg!

Institute is AWESOME! I'm taking the Pearl of Great Price class. It's intense. My notes say "heavy" a lot, like Marty McFly from Back to the Future, haha. I'm tempted to take this same class again and again because it's just so cool.

Choir is getting MUCH better. I look forward to it now. I'm rediscovering my soprano skills. And it's refreshing to not be associated with our weaksauce Altos. Because they are weaksauce.

Creative Writing is... odd. I haven't really figured out how Dr. Petersen works yet, so it's a bit difficult. Plus, he makes us read very dull and confusing books. But they bring up this quote all the time. Two of our books have used it already, and we've only read two! I don't remember exactly what it is, but it's about driving at night and how it compares to writing: "You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole journey that way." It's a good metaphor for life too.

Yoga is still as awesome as ever. It's probably my favorite class. The other day, at the end of class while we were all relaxing, I dozed off and was dreaming about the Incredibles. It was funny.

Speaking of dreams, I've been having some very weird ones lately. I had one on Sunday afternoon about an awful thunderstorm. The electricity in the air was so thick, it was going between the fillings in peoples' teeth! So scary. Then, Sunday night, I had a dream that this guy Corbin (not Hansen) was a vampire and he was trying to kill me. Mary Stilson was with me, and so was Stephenie Meyer. Our only weapons were some giant colored pencils that we were using as spears. We stayed at the Stilson's house, and Todd got all mad because he didn't want our "spears" to leave marks on the floor. It was odd. Last night I dreamed that we were at Costco, and they had a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat going on. And there were Christmas decorations everywhere! I'm not sure why I've been having these dreams, as I haven't been watching LOST much, which usually leads to weird dreams.

Goal for the week: Only eat actual serving sizes of things, so they last longer. I did it for a while last year and it worked pretty well.

Oh, I also had two tests last week, one in English and one in Spanish. I got a 77% on the English one. I know that sounds awful, but Dr. P. puts a C at 50%. So I think 77% is a B, maybe even a B+ or something. In Spanish, I got 100%. That was nice. I have a math test on Thursday or Friday, though... Not looking forward to that. It's in the testing center. I don't even know how to use the testing center!!

My little song

This is from Aida. I like it.

It's knowing what they want of me that scares me
It's knowing having followed that I must lead
It's knowing that each person there compares me
To those in my past whom I now succeed
But how can whatever I do for them now
Be enough
Be enough

Aida! Aida!
All we ask of you
Is a lifetime of service, wisdom, courage
To ask more would be selfish
But nothing less will do
Aida! Aida!

Your robe should be golden, your robe should be perfect
Instead of this ragged concoction of thread
But may you be moved by its desperate beauty
To give us new life for we'd rather be dead
Than live in the squalor and shame of the slave
To the dance!
To the dance!

Aida! Aida!
All we ask of you

All we ask is a lifetime of
Service, wisdom, courage
To ask more would be selfish
But nothing less will do
Aida! Aida!

Aida! Aida!
Aida! Aida! Aida!

I know expectations are wild and almost
Beyond my fulfillment but they won't hear
A word of a doubt or see signs of weakness
My nigh on impossible duty is clear
If I can rekindle my ancestors' dreams
It's enough
It's enough

It's enough

Aida!

Aida! Aida!
Aida! Aida! Aida!

It's enough!

A Shift in the Stars

I wrote this last hour, now I'm posting it:

It's ten o'clock on a Tuesday, which means I don't have a math class today. So I'm going to do an update blog, since I haven't really written about school yet.

First of all, I'm rather proud of the fact that I've paid for mostly everything myself, including the microwave when ours broke down. Speaking of which, Keith now owes me $52. I should call him later to make sure he got my receipt and letter and is actually planning to do something about it. He's a slow landlord.

School... Well, I guess I'll just go down the list.

Piano is easy. My professor, Dr. Bohnenstengel, is very German. And very boyish. He just slouches around with this funny smile, and chews gum all the time. He's one of those people who make me happy just to see them walking down the street.

Spanish is pretty easy too. But trying to fix everything -- well, my horrible shyness -- is an odd process. I hadn't realized how shy I'd become until I looked back on my middle school Spanish classes, and how un-shy I was then. I'm trying though. Oh, and my professor is from Spain. Her name is Olga Godoy. She's funny.

Math -- It's weird. It's not math yet, so much as logic. But for whatever reason, I actually understand it (I think some stars may have shifted somewhere a zillion years ago, but more on that later). My professor's name is Sarah Brown. Isn't that the plainest, most ordinary name you've ever heard? She's in a wheelchair, a nifty little motorized thing. She can't use the chalkboard well, but she uses PowerPoints and this fancy little writing thing to do lectures. It's pretty awesome.

CSIS... It's a computer class. General Ed. stuff. Bah. It's teaching us how to use Microsoft Office 2007 on a Windows computer. That's all well and good, except I have a Mac with Office 2008. So how exactly is this helpful? I guess Dad said it well enough: I'm an English major, so I have to write a lot. I might as well learn the program as well as I can.

Choir. Ugh! Where do I start?! I was SUPPOSED to be in Concert Choir, like last year. But, due to a severely unbalanced ratio of women:men, and an excess of funding (never thought I'd complain about that), all the non-music major women have been shunted off into a very small woman's choir, with Professor Jackie Jackson (har har). But, she did resurrect my Soprano II status, so I'm going to reserve judgment on her for now. But I am really missing the tenors and basses. *sniffle*

Creative Writing. It's nice to finally be taking this class. I wanted to last semester, and my music major-ness prevented it. But NOW... Ha ha! My teacher is Dr. PetersEn (note the Danish and therefore more awesome spelling -- his words, not mine. Although I do agree). My only complaint is that the syllabus and everything, calendar, etc, are all online. Which in my opinion is a bit lazy on his part. But that might just be me. He says his students have loved it in the past.

Yoga. My instructor is awesome! I think that's a a requirement for being a yoga instructor. Either that, or it's an occupational hazard. Warning: By taking this job, you may become exponentially more AWESOME. Something like that. She reminds me a lot of Francine Miller. Big surprise, right? I love yoga. I love the -- everything. I love the concept of namaste and I love that we say it at the end of every class, just like you're supposed to do. Like Sir Didymous, from Labyrinth: "If that is the way it is done then that is the way you must do it."

K, the girls sitting behind me are talking about Gossip Girl. Seriously?? Get a life!! At least watch something that requires a little bit of brain power. Or, you know, something like LOST, which stretches your brain to the breaking point. It's kind of insane.

Oh, about my star theory. It feels like, a zillion years ago, some stars were shifted to reflect a more holy, peaceful, serene order. And now, a zillion years later, the repercussions of that event have reached me. It feels like a conflict has suddenly ended, but I didn't know there even was a conflict until it was over. It feels like something has fallen into place, but I didn't know it was out of place before. And I can't figure out exactly what it is, only that it's better now.

Now, it's 10:35, and I'm out of things to say. So, until next time, adios!

INTERNET

"And now I'd like to tell you the story of Eddie, and his adventures in the Great Wide Open."

So, sometime last week, I called around to several different internet providers until I found one that we could afford and that was only month-to-month, not a six-month, one-year, or two-year contract. We found Qwest. So we called them. And they said they'd send us the modem and activate our thing on Tuesday August 25, 2009 at 5:30 pm. That was yesterday. 5:30 came and went, and the UPS guy still hadn't come. Then, at 6:00, just as some of the girls were coming back from WalMart, the big brown UPS truck came driving up. The girls all cheered for him, and I came dancing out the front door to get the long-awaited Magic Internet Box. I opened it up, and began following the instructions on how to set it up. Then... it didn't work. So I called Tech Support. After I called my mom and yelled at her a little (sorry, mom). They said that sometimes it takes longer to work, so to try again in the morning. I did. It still didn't work. I tried again after school, because maybe they just needed MORE time to make it work. It didn't work. So I called Tech Support again. And he walked me through some different things to fix it up. And it didn't work. And then, right as we were done talking, it started to work!!!! So, now I have internet. Huzzah!!

Also, I bought a microwave yesterday. I'm feeling very grown up.

Tradition?

I woke up this morning, and was in the process of going about my usual boring morning routine, when I felt something warm and wet on my face. I went to wipe it away, and, to my combined surprise and displeasure, I realized it was blood. Fortunately this one was a little one and was gone in 10 minutes. But I really hope this isn't becoming a start-of-the-school-year tradition.

Here it goes...

Well, here we go with another school year.

Sunday: I packed up most of my stuff.

Monday: I bought some last-minute things and packed them up too. Then I played with Alicia a bit. Taylor came over and gave me a body pillow. Then for FHE we got the beginning-of-the-school-year blessings, and loaded up all my stuff into the car. Then we played a few rounds of Ghost In The Graveyard.

Tuesday: Got up, loaded the very last-minute things into the car, and we headed down to Cedarville. We unloaded, mom helped me get a few things organized, and then we said our goodbyes. I unpacked all my stuff and tried -- mostly with success-- to fit it all into this tiny space. Good thing I have no money, because I have no room for any more food anyways. Unless it goes in the fridge. After I unpacked, I was feeling ill. It was probably the nerves of being away from the family again, creeping up on me. So I lay on my bed for a while, and read my scriptures, and tried to get the internet to stop being dumb. Then I went with my friends to get free Mary Kay facials from the Mary Kay lady. That was fun. Then we came home and played a card game for a little bit before watching Moulin Rouge. I fell asleep, though.

Wednesday: Well, that's today isn't it. Today Gwen's parents are coming down to bring some stuff, so I asked my mom to send some stuff with them too, because I forgot my phone charger, and facewash. Two of the most essential things, and I forget them. Gah humbug.

Oh, I also made this thing:

Mirielle had them on her blog, so I decided to give it a go. It's pretty cool, although I probably wouldn't find any great uses for it.

Classes start on Monday. I'm hoping I can survive until then. In most ways, this is better than last year. But in a few ways, it is also worse. Because I don't have a planned schedule already mapped out for this weekend, so I'm going to be very non-busy. But we shall see. Maybe I can catch up on all the sleep I didn't get over the last month and a half. Oh, and of course, I can get looking for a job. Maybe I'll do that today.

Well, expect another post soon. Maybe tomorrow. Peace out, all.

PS: Lila, I'm not a freshman anymore, I'm a sophomore now. So my header needs to read "college sophomore" instead. Or you could just change it to "english major" because that has such a lovely ring to it.

Also...

I must someday own these shoes. Although I'd probably be more interested in having classic black with white laces... But you've got to admit, this does look awesome.