Firesides, love, and rocks

I have heard the most amazing church talks recently. I had the privilege of attending the CES Fireside where the Prophet spoke on Sunday. I had the most amazing view of the back of his head :) It was fabulous! I loved being there. Watch it instead of read it if you have the option - Elder Holland spoke so powerfully, it made the hair stand up on my head.


On a different note, one of my best friends, adopted sister, and roommate got engaged last night! I am so happy for her! And I got to be part of the very elaborate proposal for part of it. It was awesome, and Devin's planning was impeccable. He is going to treat Ashley really well, and that makes me so happy! He also did a very good job on the ring. See her blog for more details about the proposal story, but I thought I would post some pictures of when they came home after the deed was done :) It was a girl squealing frenzy :) I love my roommates!!

Snow, Losing, and Classes

It has been snowing for two days straight! But I am covered because I have my very convenient rain boots. So I trudge through even the deepest snow banks and puddles of wetness with no fear. I even try to purposefully widen the paths on the sidewalks by walking where the snow is so deep for poor souls such as the girl I saw walking to campus today wearing flats and no socks. It was tragic!
I lost my wallet over Christmas break, but my dad found it today! Too bad that I just canceled my debit and credit cards today as well. Life goes on.
I have some excellent classes this semester that I am excited about. I am taking a singing class, in which the teacher is crazy in love with singing and is hilarious so I totally lucked out. I am also in modern architecture, Doctrine and Covenants with the famous Bro. Bott, and three business classes. Oh, and don't forget my online philosophy class! 19 credits in total. Plus work. Wish me luck because this might be the semester that kills me :)

Merry Christmas!

I am in St. George, three days in to my blissful Christmas break. I forgot my camera, although my lovely roomie Audrey is going to bring it to me, but until then, I can't post any pictures.... sorry y'all!
But there is snow on the ground in St. George which hasn't happened in ages! Its very exciting, but a little crusty and thin :) I love St. George!
I have done a lot of baking since I have been home; I have personally made at least 8 dozen cookies. We are done baking all the sugar cookies and are going to start the frosting process tomorrow.
To combat the fat that is trying to stick itself to my body, I worked out extra hard to day. . . and had to go to the chiropractor as a result. Yeah, he wants to see me back on Wedensday. I have no idea how I did this.
I am going to bed early tonight because I am getting up at 7:30 a.m. to get my hair colored. That is earlier than I have gotten up in like two weeks! The lengths girls go to for their hair! I mean to think that two sane women are waking up at that hour to smell chemicals and read gossip magazines for two hours is a little crazy. But that's what we do. I want these ugly britney spears wannabe roots gone before all the pictures are taken for Christmas! Seriously. I know my appointment is soon, but I still don't know what to do with my hair. To some people, this is a big decision. To others, they don't think about it because they do the same thing every single time. To me, I show up, tell Tami what is bothering me about my hair, and say "surprise me". I am leaning toward brown. Or red. Or anything that is less like my current straw yellow blonde.
Pictures to be posted later on with the results.
Peace out :D

Back in business baby!

I got my computer back on Monday of this week! I am very happy; I will no longer have to endure withdrawls. I got Microsoft Office from a friend and installed it last night, and downloaded skype firefox, and converters etc. so I am back in business baby! Woohoo!
The computer wizards on campus couldn't get anything off my hard drive, so all of the pictures that I've ever taken, and all the music I previously had on my computer is gone for sure. They gave me my old, broken hard drive back though, in this little plastic baggie, which was pretty funny because (a.) I don't want a souvenir because I am trying to forget this ever happened, and (b.) what am I supposed to do with it? Maybe I can be creative and use it in my next art project. I will let you all know.
But there are two morals to this story: (1) Buy an external hard drive and put everything important on it as a back up. Don't let this happen to you! (2) Send me any pictures that you have of me so that the past three years of my life don't fall into an undocumented black-hole. I need proof that I have been doing something with my life besides studying and working!

A List of the Positive

There is pretty much no way around the fact that I have had a pretty crappy week; I am not going to lie. And the light at the end of the tunnel (Thanksgiving break) is still a few days away, so in an effort to counter my current mood of frustration, I have decided to make a list of some things that have gone right this week.
1. I held a baby yesterday (courtesy of Maggie's sister)!
2. I went to a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for friends that was yummy and lots of fun.
3. Everyone liked the pumpkin dessert I made! The recipe is so simple it feels like cheating - here's the link http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=7918&Source=SearchResultPage&terms=pumpkin%20cake
4. I got an A- on a paper I thought I had totally messed up on.
5. My parents are awesome - they call me.
6. My cousin Glen is coming for Thanksgiving.
7. I am reading a book for extra credit in a class that is interesting and very applicable to life.
8. I have a job that allows me to "take a free" which means all I have to do is simply call them and tell them I'm not coming to work that day. I took a free on Saturday, and loved it! :)

Swings, Tag, and Soreness

So this past Sunday afternoon, some of my amazing friends and roommates went to a nearby park for a picnic and to play kickball. We never actually got around to kickball, because jungle gyms and swings apparently have still not lost their charm when you are 20-23. Discovering this fact made me extremely happy!

We spent 90% of our time either on the swings a jungle gym. Our main activity was ninja tag which we played on the jungle gym for over an hour. Ninja tag is a game in which the "it" person is blindfolded while trying to tag anyone they can find. All the players, except for the "it" person, are required to stay on the jungle gym at all times, while avoiding being caught. The game is fun because you have to be really creative with your super awesome ninja skills to avoid being tagged. Hanging off the sides of railings, and jumping from the fire pole to the slide without touching the ground are both excellent examples of the sweet skills necessary for winning (which means simply evading a blind person who runs into all the metal bars that the jungle gym is made of). The added bonus of the game is that you get to laugh at the poor blind "it" person as they walk around like a zombie with their hands in front of them. Taunting your blind friends is also extremely funny :) I also loved the fact that the parents that were there with their kids got a huge kick out of watching college students be so entertained by activities that their children do. One couple even expressed their disappointment when we finally left. hahaha

So the point is that I have several comments about this outing.
1. I love my friends for having so much fun being kid=like
2. I love the fact that the weather has been so awesome for so long this fall
3. Girls like to prove their sweet ninja skills too
4. I am sore from all the monkeying around, and I have no idea how kids do it
5. I am now going to develop an exercise program for moms based on tag and other games to be played on the jungle gym. If I don't make any money, at least I will be as in shape as a child. Which, apparently is saying a lot.

Dilbert is the best!

Dilbert is my favorite comic. Often times it is the only reason that I even pick up the Daily Universe (well, Dilbert and on Tues. the Police Beat - see Andrea and Adam's recent post of the best of the police beat). The sarcastic commentary on the workplace is awesome! And it always has just the right amount of truth behind it. If you ever happen to glance at the comics, just know that I am probably still chuckling from my daily dose of Dilbert.

Since this one is so hard to see, here is the link. http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-10-10/