EFY

Katherine told me the other day that I wouldn't make a good EFY counselor because I wasn't energetic or peppy enough and that I would hate the kids. I was a little taken back by this. (Don't worry I'm not actually going to be an EFY counselor). I think I would be great with teenagers...I'm fun and exciting, easy to talk to and pretty cool...and the list goes on and on. I do well with all types of people-I'm a psychologist all we do is deal with people and listen to their problems all day long. I'm pretty sure thats what being an EFY counselor is. I would be perfect for the job.

Just look at my picture on my blog. If that isn't energetic and peppy then I don't know what is!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving Stephen had swim practice so we were not able to travel back to Virginia. This was fine with me because frankly, I have my very own space here with my own bedroom and bathroom and wonderful house that I live in and at my parents house I am shuffled around from room to room depending on where there is space for me. Plus its hard to travel for a whole day both going and coming back only to have two or three days with my family. Sooooo....this year my mom flew out to Provo instead.

It was a lovely Thanksgiving filled with lots of activities. The following is a list of all the activities in no particular order. We went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the Museum of Art (which was fabulous), Harry Potter, shopping in Park City, searched for shoes at DSW, visited the Sandy City Cemetery, ate at Maria Bonitas (which is a must do if you're in the mood for Mexican or just want to be called a Princesita or Champion by non other than Maria herself), spent a night in Salt Lake and went to the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast. All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

It was certainly a different Thanksgiving than I had ever had before. The only problem about having Thanksgiving here was that we missed out on all of our family. I don't get to go home much but when I do all the kids seems to have grown a ton, I've missed out on people's major life events and people's lives continue on even though I'm not there. I feel like so much just passes me by sometimes. Thats why I am really looking forward to Christmas and being with my entire family. I've been so lucky to have a family that is close and that we get along so well that its hard when I'm not around them.

Holiday Cheer at BYU

Who schedules a test the week of Thanksgiving when most people are already on their way home to be with family? I have great disdain for my professor who decided to torture us all with having to be in class on the Monday night before a holiday. I understand that you have nothing else better to do but it would be nice to not be a jerk all the time.

Great News

I was on CNN.com just now and I ran across and article saying that the prescription drug I use on occasion has been pulled from the market due to the possibility of fatal heart rhythms.

Great.

A Lesson Not Learned

Someday I will learn my lesson.

That someday was not today.

Lunch Dates

Today a certain boy made my day. We went to lunch together and he wanted to sit right by me. He couldn't even take his eyes off me...even though there were 6 other girls at lunch with us. He and I had great conversation he told me all about school and what he was doing with his life; I had the time of my life. If only he was 25 instead of just 5.

Ahhh such is life. I still enjoyed my lunch with him.

(along with Kim, Amber and Chelsea...I enjoyed your company too).

Please come back soon.

Super Senioritis

It hit me.

I officially have Senioritis, and unlike high school where I was already accepted into a college and nothing that I did was really going to change anything, the classes that I am taking now are some of my most important classes for grad schools. I'm sitting in the library and I literally cannot stay still. I've gotten up to go to the bathroom, filled my water bottle, thought about going to get something to eat when in reality all I should be doing is studying for a test that I have at 5:30 this evening. I do care about the grade that I get in this class but that doesn't seem to be much of a motivation at this point. I would like to be on the beach somewhere, preferably where its not snowing (it has snowed the past 2 days here) and just relaxing reading a good book.

Fortunately, this semester is my last semester of classes. Although I'm signed up for 3 classes winter semester, I don't have to take them if I don't want to. I'm definitely ready for a break from school and one cannot come fast enough.

The worst part about it is that I am a super senior (a senior + 1 year) so I'm pretty sure its twice as bad as it would be if I were just a regular senior. I really do hope that I can get through these next couple of weeks. I wouldn't be opposed to getting nice letters or calls or even care packages with words of encouragement and fun goodies. They would be much appreciated.

There are 2 things that I am really looking forward to though. First is that my friends Kim and Amber are coming out for a visit and I cannot wait to see them. They are truly the best and it will be nice to catch up and just hang out. Then second, my mom is coming out for Thanksgiving! Although I don't get to go home this year, its going to be a lot of fun having her here with me and my siblings for a quiet relaxing holiday without all the hustle and bustle that the holiday usually brings. The best part about it is that I will get to help make a lot of the dinner. I love to cook, and love to cook for other people even more. Every Sunday I cook for my brother and sister and nothing could make me happier. After Thanksgiving I have minimal amounts of work and a lot of studying and then on to my last semester as an undergrad. Its been a long time in the making!

The Absent Blogger

I finally got my computer back about a week ago after it being at Best Buy for a month (no fault of Best Buy). My old laptop crashed mid July after sticking with me for years on end. I got the computer towards the end of my senior year and lets just say it and I have been through a lot. To make a long story short...maybe...Stephen got a new computer for graduation from my parents and then won a really nice macbook pro at his all night graduation party and so his graduation present became my shouldn't you have graduated present. Only a few short days into actually having the laptop in my hands it also crashed. Technology hates me. Luckily we had a super fantastic warranty through Best Buy and they were going to fix it, new hard drive no problem. The only thing we had to do was get the recovery disks from SONY. We called SONY and to our bemusement their parts and accessories department was closed so that they could update and upgrade their system. What international business closes an entire department for over 2 weeks!?!?!?!?!?! After the 2 weeks....and then some, and then some more, SONY finally opened and then charged me for ridiculous things like oh um 27 cents for packaging. Really SONY???? You can't pay the 27 cents yourself???? I was so mad but desperately wanted my computer fixed so I payed up and then gave their service a horrendous review. It was much deserved.

I'm back in action now and have a lot of updates.

Not Your Grandma's Water Aerobics

This semester I signed up to take the water aerobics class on campus. I had taken a class while I was in school at Idaho and really loved it so I decided to give it another shot. The instructor is the freakishly tall girl maybe over 6 feet and is maybe about 120 lbs...but she is BUFF! She told us that she loved teaching water aerobics but this wasn't going to be your grandma's water aerobics class. The first day that we were in the water we did a 500 yard run in the water for time and I did fairly well. I came in second and the only person to beat me was a guy so I didn't feel too bad. It was much harder than I expected though. I run on a consistent basis (at least a mile often more) and I was winded by the end. Today was the first day that we actually did a full workout and I'm already feeling it. My legs are sore, my arms are sore, even my abs are sore and I am exhausted! Water aerobics is a really great workout where you control the amount of resistance you have. I figured though, if I'm going to take this class and get wet in the middle of the day, that I'm really going to work at it.

I have a 1 hour break between water aerobics and my next class so I was going to take a shower at the pool and then get dressed and go do homework at the library for the remainder of the hour. I brought my shampoo, conditioner, hair product, deodorant, a change of clothes and a brush. I thought I was all set to go until I came back into the locker room and realized that I had forgotten a few of the essentials. In all of my planning ahead and picking out my outfit, I had forgotten a towel as well and underwear and a bra. I would have been ok if I had just had one or the other but I had to forget both. I went up to the equipment room in the locker room and asked for a towel and they asked me if I had a locker rental which I did not. They then asked me if I had my student ID card (I was standing there in nothing but my bathing suit...where would I have put my student ID). Obviously I didn't have my student ID. So they told me that I could walk outside of the locker room to the end of the hall where they could give me a wrist band and then they could give me a towel. Why in the world would I walk down a crowded hall on campus dripping and soaking wet in a small bathing suit just to get a towel? I said so you can't just take my name down give me a towel and I will bring it back in 5 minutes? Of course because my school is stupid about those minute policy issues and no one will make exceptions because they think the world will end if they do break the rules, I could not get a towel. I had to put back on my dress, walk through the freshman dorm parking lot looking like a peed myself, get in my car and drive back home all so that I could put on some underwear.

Great Day.

Home Again

I'm back in Utah after a 2 week vacation with my family. It was an event packed 2 weeks and I really enjoyed every minute of it. I flew into D.C. and my dad picked me up and we went straight to meet my brother and sister at the Nationals game. Little did I know that my cousin Russel and his fabulous wife Lauren would be there so it was nice to get to hang out with them a little. The Nationals won...which is always a treat (and sometimes few and far between) and it was so nice to be able to relax and not have to worry about doing school work or studying for tests so I really enjoyed myself.

The very next day my family and I headed to the beach which truly is my second home. We have been going since before I was born and there are only a handful of years that I can remember that we have not made at least one beach trip. I love it there. Its so peaceful and you don't have to do anything if you don't want to. The weather was so perfect and wonderful for laying out by the pool and down on the beach. We even got to see dolphins playing in the surf one day.

One of my favorite things though is getting to spend time with my family. My older brother got to fly in and spend a few days with us and then 2 of my cousins David and Emily came down as well. Now David and Emily do not swim...at all. They don't enjoy the water like my brothers and sisters but this trip they did something that no one ever thought would happen. They got in the ocean, like full on up to their chests and riding the waves. I was holding Emily's hand when all of a rather large waves came and Emily wanted to try to go over the wave instead of going under. Her plan backfired because instead of going under the wave we only got about half over it and it knocked us both over. I was still holding onto her but couldn't get footing to pull her up for a few seconds. Finally we got her back up and we continued to ride the waves. About 20 minutes later my sister comes out and asks me where my sunglasses were. I felt my face and my head and they were not there. I started to frantically look in the water for these sunglasses knowing full well that I wasn't going to find them after 20 minutes of not realizing that they were gone but they were my favorite pair of sunglasses. I bought them when I was I think about 14 when I first made a little money coaching. I loved these sunglasses. I took them everywhere and was always very careful to take good care of them and then they were floating around in the ocean somewhere. It was worth losing them though to save Emily. Now there is probably some very fashionable dolphin sporting Gucci tortoise shell sunglasses in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Such is life. If that is my biggest problem I am severely blessed.

This week it was back to school. I only have 3 classes left and an internship and then I am DONE!!! It seems like I have been in college for forever but at the same time, it has just flown by. So much has happened and I have changed and grown so much but it seems like just yesterday that I was moving into my freshman dorm and meeting tons of new people and making lots of new friends.

What is different now is that both my sister and my brother are at school with me which should make life very interesting, and utterly more enjoyable. You are never really happy unless you have someone to share that happiness with and I am so glad that I get to share it with them this year before I move on from this place.

Going Mental

I'm in an abnormal psychology class and as a class requirement I have to volunteer at the Utah State Mental Hospital. At first I was really apprehensive and uncomfortable with the assignment but after the first day all the nervousness and apprehension went away. I volunteer in the library and help patients pick out books, movies, music. I have a favorite patient in particular and she actually gets to work in the library with me. Whenever I go she makes me laugh and smile and we get to talk about a lot of different kinds of things. She really does make my day and I will be sad when my hours are done and I don't get to see her anymore.

Bribes

I have been putting off and putting off going into the psychology department to officially change my major because...well I'm not sure why but I just haven't so this week my mom bribed me. Apparently bribes still work on 22 year olds. I had called her to tell her that the Vera Bradley large backpack style was retiring and that they were on sale for $40. She then proceeded to tell me that she would purchase the backpack and she would give me the backpack only if I went in to change my major by the end of the week. If I did not change my major then someone else would be getting mybackpack. Well tomorrow is Friday and I don't have any class or tests or other obligations (other than sitting in my pool) so I have set my alarm and I am off to see my counselor first thing tomorrow morning. Am I excited? No...but I think it will be nice to not have to think about it anymore.

Animals

In all reality I'm not a huge fan of animals and I really do not like dead animals. Unfortunately dead animals seem to like me. A few weeks ago I went outside to sweep my back patio and there was a dead bird just waiting there for me. Then this morning I went outside to check on the pool when all of a sudden I look down and there is a dead mouse that decided to expire in the exact spot that I lay out and read my school books every day. Apparently my back yard is the Bermuda Triangle for all wild animals. So gross. I got my shovel scooped up the mouse and threw it far back into the bushes. I then got my Lysol and began to decontaminate the grass. Now I know that Lysol says that it works on 99% of all surfaces but is grass one of those? I certainly hope so.

Guilty Pleasure

This summer my guilty pleasure has to be the show Big Brother. I know what you are thinking...its an awful show. I agree. It is however, utterly entertaining and filled with interesting characters. The season premier was just this past Thursday but I already have a favorite cast member. His name is Ragan, he is the epitome of gay and I love him. He is quite honestly the funniest man I have ever seen on television. I could watch him for hours on end. Other cast members that I wouldn't mind watching for hours are Brendon (ironically a swim coach) and Hayden. Tan, toned and torrid. That's all I have to say about them. Episodes air on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday on CBS and I will not be offended if anyone else joins in on this guilty pleasure.

Things I Thought I'd Never Say (Take 2)

I wish I lived closer to my parents.

Things I Thought I'd Never Say

I enjoy being in school.

Beating the Heat

It got really hot this week and my 55 year old house has no air conditioning so I did what any logical thinking person would do. I purchased a pool. It was the best $52 I have ever spent and well worth the trip to Walmart. I didn't get to go home for the summer and I wont have the chance to sit by the pool all day so I decided that I would just need one of my own. Its just 8 ft in diameter and about 3 feet deep but its perfect for sitting in and getting some sun. It was a pain to get all set up but its working and its my perfect little piece of back yard paradise. I expect to spend most afternoons and maybe even a few late nights in this wonderful new addition.

Sick Day

I took a sick day today...although I'm not sure what I took a sick day from. I didn't have class or really anything that I had to do but I was really sick. It always seems to happen that when I go home, someone in my family gets me sick. I woke up super late this morning and felt like I was run over by a bus. I was so sick that when I went to go buy more medicine at the store I tried to put the car in reverse without turning on the car. I was so confused as to why the gear wouldn't shift and only then did I realize that I was still holding the keys and that the car was not on. I put away the groceries that I did get in all the wrong places...including putting a box of instant soup in the refrigerator and then had the hardest time trying to find everything again. I didn't get anything done today that I wanted to and now I'm off to bed to try and get some more rest.
I hate being sick.

Traveling Nightmares

This weekend I got to fly home for Stephen's high school graduation. I knew going into the weekend that it would be super busy filled with parties and events to attend but I never imagined that it would turn out like it did.

I finished up spring term on Wednesday by pulling that all nigher Tuesday night and taking my final and turning in my paper on Wednesday morning. After that I rushed home packed and drove to the airport. My flight was supposed to leave around 2:30 so I was there with about an hour to spare before my flight.

Everything was running on schedule and we boarded the plane on time and were taxiing out onto the the runway. We were literally the next plane to take off when all of a sudden the pilot comes on the speaker and says that our crew has exceeded their time limit (whatever that means) and we have to turn back to the gate. Unfortunately there was no gate to go back to, it had been taken by another flight and we were told that we would have to wait on the runway for 45 minutes while another flight boarded and took off. I quickly called my dad and he got on the phone with United and tried to change my flight. He successfully got me a later flight out of Denver where I was supposed to fly into so that I could make the connection and fly into BWI just a little later than expected. No big deal. It was when we had to get off the plane that they told us that the airline would have to fly us in a new crew and that they wouldn't be there until 8:00PM that things took a turn for the worse. The later flight that my dad had made me was out of Denver at 7:00PM and that was the latest flight that they had but I wasn't going to be able to leave Salt Lake until 8:00.

I immediately called my dad again and he told me to run out through security to the main United desk to book another flight that would get me home before the next day. Apparently this posed quite an issue for the airline because when I finally got up to the counter, after about 15 minutes of listening to one of the employees take a personal call and the other fiddle around with some man's luggage, there was no way that I could get from Salt Lake City to any airport anywhere near D.C. that night. The man finally booked me on an 8:45PM flight to Los Angeles where I would then take the Red-eye to Dulles.

To bide my time in Salt Lake I went to the other terminal and ate at Squatters Pub where I was sitting next to my whole entire flight crew just laughing away and having a great time. I on the other hand was not having a great time knowing that I had already been at the airport for 6 hours and still had 2 more to go.

I was SO happy when I the flight to LA took off and I thought to myself...I'm actually going to make it to DC in time for the graduation. I was thrilled. That was until we sat on the runway for 40 minutes after landing in LA waiting for a gate. I was livid at this point. I could see our gate and I could see the gate that I was supposed to catch my flight to DC. I could see that flight to DC already starting to board and I could see that I was still on the other plane.
We finally pulled into the gate and I grabbed my stuff and ran. Thankfully I made it to my plane with a minute or two to spare but it was close. I sat next to a pleasant French-Canadian man who was very interesting but by this point I had already been up since Tuesday morning and I was ready to get some sleep. I even took a Benadryl to make sure that I feel asleep but the boy in the aisle next to me had different plans. He talked the whole night...even when I turned my head away he still kept talking. I was so glad when I walked off of that plane and my dad was there to pick me up. I felt like he had saved me.

It was already 6:30AM when I got home and Stephen's graduation was at 11:00 so there was really no way that I could get any sleep. I got something to eat and ironed Stephen's graduation gown and pants and then took a shower and headed off downtown to the graduation.

The graduation was great and Stephen was so happy. Justice Scalia was the speaker and had a lot of interesting things to say so sitting through the ceremony was not too bad. After we went to lunch I then helped Katherine coach at Highlands. By the time I got home from that it was time to help my mom with All Night Grad Party. She was doing bag check the whole night and I had already been up 72 hours so what was another 8. The whole night was fun for the kids and they had so much energy so it was not difficult for me to stay up. At the end of the night they had the grand prize raffle where Stephen won a new Macbook!!! He was already happy that he won $50 to Coldstone and this was just the icing on the cake. He is still smiling from ear to ear about this new toy of his.

Friday morning was the first time that I got to sleep since Monday night so I got a good 4 hours and was on to my next assignment. I really don't remember anything that happened on Friday other than I know I was busy and later that night I went out with my friends Kim and Steve and saw Karate Kid at 10 and didn't get home until 1:30AM.

Saturday was an early morning because the swim team had their time trials. I went to that and helped input some of the times until it was time for my friend Kaitlin's baby shower. After that I got right to work helping my mom with the Turtle Silent Auction she was in charge of that night at the swim team social. I ended up falling asleep for about 2 hours in the middle of helping, but by then I had really hit a wall. I could not function at all. My brain was just so slow and my body just ached. I ended up going to the Turtle Auction where I bid on this wonderful pink turtle sash (used as a belt) and won. I got to see a lot of old friends and parents of friends that I had not seen in a while.

Sunday I went to church and came home and fell asleep. My family had gotten me sick not sleeping for 5 days didn't help that much. We had a great Father's Day dinner and as soon as I was done eating I fell back asleep.

In my original plans I was supposed to go back to Utah very early Sunday morning but because of everything that happened I got my flight switched to Monday. On our way to the airport on Monday my mom and I were driving on the airport road when all of a sudden we ran over a very large rock and our tire went completely flat. We called my dad to come get us and take us but he was a little ways away so we tried to call Stephen and Katherine at the house. We called and called and called and no one would pick up any phone. We tried the house phone, we tried their cell phones but nothing. By this point my mom was super frustrated and we were losing hope that I would make my flight back to Utah.

At the very last minute, my dad came speeding down the road and we drove...very fast...to the airport. With a toss of my hair and a batting of my eyelashes I convinced security to let me bypass the line and made it through security in record time. As I ran to my gate they were doing a final call for my flight and I literally ran to my seat on the plane. I squished my Vera Bradley Weekender bag into an already filled overhead compartment, buckled my seat belt and we were off.

When I got into Salt Lake, I planned it so that I would go from the airport to my class at the Salt Lake Center, the auxiliary campus downtown. I got there with a little time to spare so I got my new ID card and waited outside the classroom. The rest of my class showed up...all 4 people...and we all sat in the seemingly over sized classroom. We got to know everyone a little and soon enough it was 20 after and the professor had yet to show up. Just then a man came into our classroom and informed us that the professor thought that the class started on Wednesday and that we were free to go back home. In any other circumstance I would be glad to have class canceled but this rubbed me the wrong way. The rest of the class had driven 45 minutes to get there and now had to drive 45 minutes back in traffic with nothing to show for it.

Today I slept all day. I woke up early made myself some cereal and went right back to bed. I think I need a vacation from my vacation.
Vegas anyone?

Day and Night

I am officially pulling my first All-Nighter. Its 4am and I am up psychoanalyzing myself and writing a paper on none other than me. You would think that it would be easy for me to write about me but surprisingly it is not. This paper is for my personality class and its killing me. I am a good writer...I even got an A in Advanced Writing in the Social Sciences last semester! We had to turn in the first 3rd of the paper a while ago and to my dismay, my graduate student teacher ripped my paper to shreds. He basically called it a terrible paper without those specific words. It was not a great paper but it certainly was not the worst thing I had ever written and now I am terrified that he is going to hate the rest of it. He even marked up stylistic things on my paper. I was angry. I am not a traditional writer and I certainly do not write like I am in 8th grade which I think he is looking for. I have to write for example or a good example of this would be every time I want to give an example. By graduate school you should know that it is an example! If you cannot tell I'm frustrated and just want to go to sleep. Blogging probably isn't going to get my work done any faster but hopefully it will make me feel better. I think it has.

Speeches

Last night I had a dream that my older brother was supposed to give some speech at a charity event and that at the last minute (like as we were sitting at our table) he couldn't come and I had to fill in for him. From what I can remember I was supposed to speak about all of my volunteer work in the community. When I woke up I was brainstorming things to write about in my speech, and I think I came up with some really good ones. For about 2 hours after I woke up, I was still thinking about ideas for this dreamed up speech. I even thought about just actually writing the speech because I could not get it out of my mind. I even came up with the first sentence. I guess if I have to give an impromptu speech I will be ready.

Life

I don't exactly know what I want to do with my life. At 22, I think that is ok.

Wogging

I would certainly not consider myself a runner. I HATE running. Last month however we acquired a treadmill and I am trying to take full advantage of it; we even turned the spare room into a workout room. We have the treadmill, weights, exercise bands and a tv. Everyday...ok most days I go in there put in my ipod and wog away. I say wog because its more a combination walk/jog with a little bit of full out running in there too. I have worked my way up to about an hour and last night (after eating too much Thai food) I put in a movie and decided to not stop until the movie was over. 111 minutes later I felt really good and super energized.

Decorations

After living in my house for over a year now, I decided to hang up all my pictures and decorations. I think because I actually live in a house that it feels more like home and I have not felt the need to add all of my personal touches to make it feel like my own. It is my own. Tonight I was a little bored...maybe its because I'm not at the hospital or baking bread but I thought why not break out my room stuff. I hung a large mirror and 3 other things. I'm not sure if I like everything where it is but its a start.

Back in Black

Me and Chelsea before heading out to "assassinate"our people

I have found myself wearing all black and sneaking around various places a lot lately. Since spring has sprung, and the weather is getting warmer...even at night, there have been a lot of outdoor activities. Usually I would not be into this kind of stuff but I have really been enjoying myself.

Last month right before finals, a group of friends decided to start a marshmallow assassination game. The gist of the game is that you pick a name out of a hat and then you try to "assassinate" them with a marshmallow gun. Once you get the person that was on your slip of paper, you take over that person's target. The game got kind of crazy. There were people sneaking around our house, watching our every move, and there were even people up on the roof of our house. My roommate Chelsea and I would go out dressed in all black from head to toe and try to get our people. It was a lot of fun. We even caught one girl while she was on her porch making out with her boyfriend.

Tonight a friend of mine from a LONG time ago (I had not seen him since I was 17) put on a massive Capture the Flag game on campus. There were about 100 people there in 3 teams and we divided campus into 3 parts. Everyone had a glow stick that had your team color and the flag was a glow in the dark water balloon. Again, I got in decked out in my black and ran all over campus. I really impressed myself at how well I did. I can run pretty fast for a while if I need to. I think the fact that I have been running most every day has helped a bunch. Our team lost in the end but it was a lot of fun to get out and have fun on campus. It was a nice change from going to class and the library. Apparently they are going to play again tomorrow so we will see if I go or not.

Tomorrow night is also book club. Haha...yes I am in a book club and this month we are reading The Great Gatsby. I love this book and I'm glad that we are reading it because I had not read it since sophomore year of high school. Its a pretty quick read and I enjoy the story too. I will be spending most of tomorrow reading and I think being sore from my 2 mile run this morning in addition to this evening's activities.

Tools and Toys

Is it strange that I really would like to have one of these? Its an automatic hammer!

Sisters

Its my sister's 20th birthday today and I cannot believe that she is no longer a teenager. She is the best sister and the best friend in the world. I could not have asked for anyone better.
Have a wonderful day Katherine!

Happy Birthday my J.C. Daddy

Lost and Found

Today I was getting ready for class and I could not find my keys. I looked all around my room...went into the living room, searched through the kitchen...my bathroom and then I even looked outside in the yard. I couldn't find them anywhere. It was 5 minutes before my class started and I was frantic. It was the first day of this class and I couldn't be late. I quickly called Katherine and asked her to pick me up and take me to class. She drove over as fast as she could and when she dropped me off she asked when she should pick me up. As I told her I reached into the side pocket of my backpack and was utterly embarrassed to feel my car key. I felt so bad. Thanks to Katerine though for saving the day and getting me to class at a reasonable time.

To Do

These are the things that I should be doing.

My 15 page English paper on Veterans with PTDS
Studying for my Psych Testing final
Studying for my Physical Science final
Cleaning my room
Cleaning my kitchen
Cleaning the living room & spare bedroom (we're putting in an exercise room!)
Doing the yard work...I'm actually excited to break out the lawn mower
Taking a shower

Am I doing any of these things. No. I'm sitting in my bed drinking a Ginger Ale.

Daddy's Girl

I'm a Daddy's Girl...I always have been and I always will be.
Don't make me mad or you will have to deal with this.

Oops

Sometimes I do stupid things.

Pizza Pies

I just tried to order a pizza from the Domino's in Springville, Utah. Do I live in Springville...No. It wasn't until an hour after I had placed my order when I realized that they were not bringing me my pizza and wanted me to drive to Springville to pick it up! This was at 10:57 and they closed at 11:00. I had to have my roommate call and cancel the order because I was so embarrassed. Needless to say I will not be eating pizza tonight.

Weird Weather

Five hours ago it was 58 and perfectly sunny outside. Now it is 28 and a blizzard. This temperature swing poses a problem in getting dressed for the day.

All Dressed Up With Somewhere To Go

I got a phone call yesterday from the volunteer office at the hospital inviting me to the hospital's annual NICU fundraiser gala this Friday. It was a little surprising to me that I would be invited because its $150 a plate and who is going to spend that on little old...or in this case, really young me? The volunteer office apparently purchases 2 tables and then invites the staff and then a few of their VIP volunteers. Never in a million years did I imagine that they would pick me for one of the spots so of course I could not turn them down. I quickly went to my closet to find a dress appropriate to wear to an extremely formal event and then quickly realized that nothing I had would do. So I rushed over to Nordstroms, told the girl what I needed, she put me in a fitting room and brought me about 25 different dresses to try on. I picked a black cocktail length dress with a lace bodice and called it good. I will have pictures and an recap of the evening on Saturday. I can't wait to put on that dress again.

Week 3

The doctor told me on Friday that I would have to wear my orthopedic shoe for another week. I will be happy when I finally get to wear 2 shoes again, and I'll be even happier when they let me wear high heels.

Bright Sunshiny Day

These past few days have been beautiful. Its been sunny and a warm 47-54 degrees. Any day that it is not snowing and in the 30s is an exciting day. I'm crossing my fingers that it lasts.

I Love to See the Temple

You Complete Me

Happy Friday!

The Last of the Cakes

I had my last cake class this week and I am really wondering where the time has gone. It was only once a week throughout the month of February and I don't know where February went. Anyway, we finished learning how to do roses and so I made a cake of roses. Each one is individually done and it takes a few minutes to complete one. It took forever...ok like an hour but I am now looking for a place where I can showcase my cake talents. Anyone have any ideas? Who needs a cake? If you come to my house I will gladly make you one.

Monday...Monday...Wednesday...Thursday

Because we have 2 Mondays off this month, BYU decided that they would make up for a lost Monday by moving Monday classes to Tuesday effectively making Tuesday a Monday. I don't know who thinks that they can just switch days of the week, but it is not right. The unwelcome switching of days was made even worse by the fact that I have ALL my classes on Monday and none on Tuesday. Then I had to go to all of my classes 2 days in a row. I was not happy.

X is for X-Ray

This is not my foot but looking up foot x-rays, I have learned people have really ugly feet.

After days of just letting my foot try and heal itself, I went in and saw the doctor today. Katherine picked me up and drove me (she has been taking care of me all weekend) and then I made her come into the appointment with me. I was talking with the doctor and the most likely culprit of my pain is a stress fracture so he gave me this lovely looking orthopedic shoe, its heinous actually, and sent me for an x-ray.

At the hospital, I had to register with the hospital but I did it all through the phone. I couldn't just fill out a form and then have them enter the information, I had to dictate to this elderly woman my insurance information,which is basically all of my dad's information, an emergency contact person and then all of my information. Throughout the whole thing she kept trying to make conversation with me. Did she not realize that I just wanted to get my x-ray and go home and sleep? The strangest thing was when she was taking my information, noticing that neither me nor my sister were registered in the system she said so you and your sister must be new to the area. I thought to myself no we are just not sick or injured enough to come to the hospital. Odd.
When I finally got into get my x-ray they kept asking me to bend my foot in impossible ways. Not only was it awkward, but it was severely painful moving all over the place to get the right angles for the picture. They better turn out really great.
To end this great day Katherine and I went to Walgreens to fill my prescription and the pharmacist at the counter was asking me all of my information to input into the database. I really didn't want to tell another person anything about me but I gave him all my information and when we got to my phone number he said wait that's a Va number. Where are you from? I told him where I was from and he told me that he used to work at the Giant there. He has probably been filling my prescriptions for years now.
The whole day was out of control but I'm glad that I'm getting everything taken care of. If the x-ray doesn't bring up anything and I'm still having pain in a few days, I will be back to the hospital to have a bone scan. I am really hoping that that doesn't happen.

London

I'm thinking about spending my summer in London. Anyone have any thoughts about that?

Shooting Myself in the Foot

Unfortunately at 22 I am falling apart. I don't know whats wrong with me but I have somehow injured my foot...I have no idea how I did it but its all swollen and I cannot walk on it. Because of this new development I have spent the day inside in my pajamas doing absolutely nothing. Hopefully tomorrow brings something better so I do not have to wear summer sandals to church because I cannot get my foot into a proper shoe. Its going to be interesting.

Happy Birthday....to me?

So after 2 cake decorating classes, this is what I came up with. Today we learned the star tip and writing as well as piping gel transfers. Happy Birthday to me.

Unsleeping Beauty

For the past week I have not been able to sleep through the night and it has really not been an enjoyable experience. Its not just that I wake up once and am able to fall back asleep but I wake up several times and am awake for hours at. If anyone needs their sleep it is me. I do not do well without sufficient sleep. I am tired and irritable and generally quite unpleasant when I don't sleep enough. It might be time to break out the Nyquil.

Dear John...

I went and saw Dear John this evening. Two weekends ago my sister told me that I HAD to read the book before we went and saw the movie so I took off all of Saturday and read the entire book. I loved it. I really felt like I could relate to Savannah even though my boyfriend at the time wasn't going off to war, he was still leaving and going into the Army. I wrote those letters once...not knowing when I was going to get one back...not knowing what he was doing or what he was really going through. I know how it feels to have just weeks, days, even hours with someone before they leave for months at a time. I understand. I stood at the airport when he left me and then ran to him when we were reunited just to have to leave each other once again. It wasn't fun but I will always have fond memories of those times.

If you see the movie, do yourself a favor and read the book as well. It is definitely worth a day of reading and make sure you have a tissue or two handy. You may need it.

Wilton Cakes

I went to my first cake decorating class and I loved it. I wish it were more in depth and I thought we would be learning a lot more but I think I will need some time on the basics. This week we learned how to make the perfect cake and icing and then how to properly ice the cake. I think that this is going to be a lot of fun. Next week I will have pictures of my own cake...not just the picture of the work book. I am already looking into signing up for course 2.

Let Them Eat Cake

I am taking a cake decorating class this month and I couldn't be more excited. My friend Lacey and I singed up WAYYYY in advance for the class because it fills up so fast. We actually got our names on the list in early November and February was the first class to have an opening. I hope that by the time I am finished with the class I can decorate cakes like this one. I highly doubt it, but it would be nice.

Winter Cleaning

Today I cleaned my bathroom. It was a productive day.

Quakes

This is a picture of Sharks Cove and we were staying right on the other side of the street.

With all the talk of natural disasters and such, I was just remembering my cousin Erika's wedding that shook the whole island of Oahu, Hawaii. My cousins and I were staying at a house just across the street from Sharks Cove in a house that was up on stilts.

It was such a nice wedding but we were so tired from the previous days festivities that none of us really got up early that morning. Just a bit before 9am I was laying in my bed, Tiffany was in the bathroom and Russel was I think out in the living room when all of a sudden the bed started shaking back and forth. I distinctly remember the shaking. It was not side to side but it shook long ways..from the top to the bottom and then up and down. The bed probably shook like that 8 or 9 times. I had no clue what was happening so I got out of bed and went out into the living room and then out on to the deck. As I was talking outside I thought to myself...was that an earthquake? It has to be an earthquake right...I didn't just make that up? As soon as I stepped out onto the deck and was overlooking Sharks Cove, it happened again. It was then that I knew for sure it was an earthquake. There were subsequently maybe 2 or 3 smaller aftershocks but I couldn't believe that I had just been in an earthquake.

All the power was out and the airport was shut down for days. It turns out that it had been a 6.6 earthquake and was one of the more interesting experiences that has happened in my life. Unfortunately due to the airport closure I couldn't return to Idaho when I was supposed to and I had to stay a few extra days in Hawaii.

My Friend Dana

My friend Dana and her husband just recently moved to Germany because her husband is an Army Ranger (hot yes I know). I have tried to have her set me up with one but being across the world its not so easy. Anyway, she has taught me all sorts of things about the German culture and customs this past week through her blog posts and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all about her new adventures. Here is one of my favorites:

The word for "exit" off of the autobahn is "Ausfahrt."

I laughed at this one for about 10 minutes.

I also learned about a thing called a shelf toilet. I had no idea and Dana, I am so sorry. Be cautious if you google this. It isn't very appealing.

Results

200 Back Prelims:
Time-1:52.63
Stephen was seeded 28th and came in 17th. He will swim again tonight in the consolation finals. Just to put things into perspective, the top 2 times were put up by Olympians.

He will not be swimming the 500 Free.

200 Back Finals
Time- 1:51.14
Stephen got his best time ever and came in 14th place!

More results to come on Monday.

My dad just called to tell me that Stephen is sitting in the stands with Markus Rogan and Matt Grevers laughing and carrying on with them. They are the two Olympians that placed first and second ahead of Stephen in the 200 Back. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Hopefully he will be their teammates in this upcoming summer Olympics.

100 Breast Final
Came in 15th place with the World Record Holder coming in first and another Olympian coming in second.

200 IM Final
Stephen finished 11th Olympians occupied the first through forth places.

California Dreamin...of Michael Phelps

Stephen is headed off to swim at the Southern California Grand Prix this weekend. I always love to watch him swim but unfortunately I will not get to see him in person this time. At this meet it is likely that Stephen will be swimming against MICHAEL PHELPS! It is not every day that your little brother competes with world record holders and amazing talented superstars. Good luck this weekend Little Boy!

To watch Stephen's races, there will be a live webcast of the meet at Swimnetwork.com. The meet is called the Southern California Grand Prix and there is a link to the live webcast on their home page.

Stephen will be swimming:
all times are PST and are approximate

Saturday Jan 16:
11:20am
200 Back- seeded 28th
Olympian Matt Grevers & Markus Rogan will also swim

12:30pm
500 Free-seeed 65th
Probably not the most exciting race to watch but Michael Phelps will swim
This race will alternate women's and men's heats from fastest to slowest.

Monday Jan 18:

10:00am
100 Back-seeded 34th
This will be a great race and be sure to watch for Matt Grevers and Michael Phelps

11:00am
100 Breast-seeded 15th
Stephen's best event where he will likely swim in the same heat as Michael Phelps. Kosuke Kitajima, who broke the world record in the 100 Meter Breast during the Olympics in Bejing will also be swimming in this event.

11:50am
200 IM- seeded 23rd
Also swimming: Matt Grevers, Alex Vanderkaay and Markus Rogan

Check back soon and start cheering Stephen on!

Just Haven't Met You Yet

If it were just as easy as going to the grocery store and have some handsomely goofy guy singing a cute song to you.

I Might Have To Wait

I'll Never Give Up
I Guess It's Half Timing
And The Other Half's Luck
Wherever You Are
Whenever It's Right
You Come Out Of Nowhere And Into My Life

And Someday I Know That It Will All Turn Out
And I'll Work To Work It Out
Promise You Kid I'll Give More Than I Get
I Just Haven't Met You Yet

Boredom

I love being by myself. I have no problem with it because I can usually entertain myself. Today this is not the case. I am absolutely bored. Tuesdays I have no classes and I have no homework other than some reading that I have already done. I have already run errands, attended a conference for hospital volunteers, made dinner and taken a VERY long bath. There is plenty that I should be doing...cleaning my house, doing my laundry ect. but those things just don't seem utterly fascinating at this very moment. I would love for someone to call me up and want to do something....anything. It really doesn't matter at this point. Save me from myself.

Global Warming?

I was watching CBS Evening News the other night and Katie Couric reported that the temperature in Sioux Falls, South Dekota plummeted to -18 degrees 10 degrees in Austin, Texas, -8 in Des Moines and bone killing -31 degrees in Aburdeen, South Dekota. Reports say that these temperatures are going to stick around for a weeks to come. The United Kingdom is enduring its longest cold spell in over 3 DECADES! Could these be the results of global warming? How could they not be?!