Centipedes and Prayers

I wore Spencer's Ninja Turtle shirt to work today and two little boys came in with their mom. Upon seeing my shirt the first little boy said, "Um, I love ninja turtles." The second chimed in with, "I don't like ninja turtles. I just like angry birds and centipedes." 

You guys, I am so excited to have little boys. Or I guess boy, singular. But hopefully boys, plural. 

And on the topic of little boys, my sister shared this story about her 5-year-old on her blog and you need to hear it: 

Emily, next time you're in town I promise to make desserts if you will make us delicious food. With our combined forces we will be unstoppable. 

gadgiation

I'm not a big crier, but I cry at the end of things. I cry when best friends move, I cried when Jerusalem ended, I cry when I realize a phase of my life is over just as soon as it began. 

It's the nostalgia. I am its queen. I think about all of the people, places, and experiences that passed and I just can't help but cry. So many memories and I didn't even realize when they were happening. So many people come and gone and all of them changed me. So many classes, so many research papers, so much learned. So many roommates, so many laughs, so much bonding. 

And my major. My beautiful, life changing major. As Jennie said, we will always be able to use our major no matter where we end up because our major is about life. Our major is about people, families, and communities. Our major is about communication and learning how to be an influence for good. My major changed my life. 

There is no possible way to explain how much I have loved my college education. I love my campus, I love my people, I love my classes. I love remembering how hard it sometimes seemed, not just school but life in general. I remember nights where I honestly could not imagine how life was going to work itself out. I remember actually referring to my future as a black cloud and laughing at how cliche that sounded, but not knowing how else to communicate the totally unpredictable state of my life. 

I love being able to look back knowing that everything worked out. I love that I will always be able to look back at my college years and have good memories of people and places. I love the way my life has happened. I'm so excited for the next adventure.  

:)

Life is happy

• 1 • 

We went to a pet store in search of a fish and I left my heart with a canary. Canaries have always been close to my heart, my brother had them when I was growing up. The closest thing to a pet I've ever had. We ended up getting a beautiful beta, not pictured because I am in the process of making a cuter background for his aquarium. 

• 2 • 

This is how we baseball. We played in a home run derby with some people in our ward and after a while we realized that the balls weren't getting hit to our side of the field so Spence took to a lawn chair. Please note: I hit two home runs. Don't be shocked or anything I'm super athletic. 

• 3 •

We love all things caprese and these were no different. Spence loved them when the bread was baked, but I loved them when the bread was fresh. But the bottom line is that they were delicious. 

• 4 •

This semester I had a group research project. We decided to look at paternal hostility and warmth in prime time television. The process included coding 10 hours of TV, writing research papers, and presenting our findings via a poster and presentation at a conference on campus. 

• 5 • 

Thrifting, baby. Provo finally got a decent thrift store and it was Spencer's first time. We hit gold and plan to visit again and again. Encore thrift store my friends, somewhere west of university ave. on center street. Go indulge yourselves. 

• 6 •

We finally stalked down the waffle truck, it was worth everything. I got the red wonder and I'm never ever looking back. Those babies made us cry of joy with each bite. 

p.s.

We also saw Jurassic Park in 3D and died of happiness. No pictures were taken.

Bonding.

Sometimes you sit down to do homework, and you actually have a brief period of productivity. You get through half of your assignment, and you are feeling very happy with yourself.

But then your roommate comes in, and somehow pinterest ends up on your screen, and before you know it you and sitting on the couch laughing and bonding over wedding plans and dating schemes. 

My friends, sometimes bonding time is more important than homework. Life lessons. 

Though there have been many magic moments from the past hour which I could share with you, I am choosing this one.

This article was perfect. This article made us happy. I hope it can make you happy as well.

Click Here :)

These are happy days

I composed a blog post in the shower the other day. The issue is that I don't even remember the topic anymore. Shame. It was probably brilliant.

Like this one time I had a dream that I was writing a song and my actual self - not my dream self- was aware of how bomb the lyrics were, but they were gone when I woke up. I still remember they had something to do with Shakespeare, but I don't remember the full brilliance.

Usually periods of blogging absence like this mean that my life has lost its interest. It means that I am not doing anything worth writing about, that there are no events I think would interest the world.

This time it is different. This time my life has been filled with so many amazing people, places, and things that by the time my head hits the pillow at night I am out before I pull the covers up. I am learning so many things in my schooling that my mind is going one hundred miles per minute every minute of the day. The things they have been telling me for years are finally fitting together and my interest in my major has increased ten fold. I find myself devouring my readings, writing my papers mentally as I walk home, and sitting in one place for hours with only my notes for company.

The most beautiful thing is that there is always extra time after my studies. I always have a minute to laugh with my roommates and see all the people I love. I have found time to do the things I really want to do, and I love it. I am loving my life. 

In an attempt to give you some visual stimulation and mostly to record my life, here is a peak into the things I have been doing.

I sent my parents off to Africa where they will be living for the next year. What adventurers :)

After a 10% discount, I spent just shy of 1,000 dollars on textbooks.

I went down the Provo river on an inflatable mattress. More details to come on this one. It's a story worth knowing.

Pinterest food. I'm no food photographer, but trust me when I say this stuff was awesome

Football. Try not to have a heart attack when I tell you I've been to both games.

Jennie and I finally got our room put together and feeling like home

This has become my second home inside of my home.

This guy. I've been spending copious amounts of time with this guy.

Now go do something that makes you happy, and then tell me about it in the comments :)

I'm lame enough to be cool

Or at least, that's what this post is telling me.

You guys, Sierra is adorable and amazing and her writing is something else, so I would recommend clicking on that link. Now is the perfect time to become addicted to a new blog.

I have always found myself to be an awkward person, and as of late I've come to accept it is a part of me. I've been trying to justify it as a charming or even endearing trait, and the "lame-cool" list provided by Sierra helped me to do just that.

Now go see where you fall on the spectrum and be impressed by how perfectly she grouped celebrities.

Here is the link again. I'm adamant.  

Also, her internet-savvy husband just redesigned her blog and it is beautiful so probably leave a comment telling her how much you adore it.

That is all.

We could all use a reminder

I'll see you at the mechanics

I remember the first time I saw one of these babies:

via

It was in the Harmon's parking lot and I thought it looked like a glorified hearse. I still do. But after a few years of seeing these things roam the street I've come to associate them with something different entirely: money. 

You can't deny that those bad boys scream of fame and fortune. Starting with the nice little branding on the front, everything about these cars is sleek. They probably have bullet-proof windows and heated gas pedals. You know the upkeep is insane. Gas milage is probably close to zero, and I'm sure they only take gas from the core of the earth.

Each time I see one these babies making its way around town I feel totally intimidated, like I just found myself if the vast halls of Downton and realized that I'm Daisy, not Lady Mary. 

So the other day when I saw a creamy escalade pass me by, you know, the ones that look like they have crushed pearls in the paint? I couldn't help but smile as the light turned red and I heard the tremendous squeak put out by its breaks. 

It was a form of complete validation. Rich people have problems too. 

Friendship

I've been at BYU for a good three years now. Many friends have come and gone in these college years, but I can honestly say that Jennie has been here the entire time. In fact, she was there in my first college memory.

It was back in the days when freshman academy still existed. It was a good program, and I'm not sure why it was done away with. Basically you just signed up and then BYU would put you in a bunch of classes with a group of people who lived in your dorm and were studying similar things. It was an awesome way to make friends in and out of class, and it was the perfect introduction to study groups. 

Before the semester started my FA group got together to meet in person. There was a small presentation that I got pulled in to, and as I stood practicing beforehand on a little stage I remember looking out, seeing Jennie, and thinking "is she is my group? Do I recognize her from facebook? Could that be Jennie?"

So, so, so weird. Could that be Jennie? At the time that name meant little more than a few vague facebook pictures and the knowledge that she came form Alabama. If only I knew that that girl would end up being my soul mate! 

It's funny because our friendship never even had a start date. It just happened. We had all our classes together, we studied together, we gathered money for Haiti together. And then when the end of Freshman year came around, Jennie asked if she could live with me sophomore year. All things considered, it was a pretty random request. I mean, I loved Jennie, so of course I said YES!, but I hadn't expected it. She got along so well with her roommate and the girls on her hall, so I hadn't expected her to go on without them. 

But I am so glad she came with me. Jennie and I are both last-minute kind of people. We are so bad a plans. It just stresses us out to make plans more than 24 hours in advance. It's not the most ideal of attributes, but we share it nonetheless. And with this lack of commitment comes a serious hardship in keeping long-term relationships with people. Had Jennie moved with someone else, I'm pretty sure we would not be friends at all. 

So, so, so weird.

But like I said, we are last-minute people, and so we often dream up awesome things to do and then never get around to it unless it's something we can do right then. However, there are often times when we randomly find ourselves doing things on our "awesome things to do list."

Like today. I came home from work totally ready to take an awesome nap in all of my post-finals glory. Just as I had flopped down on the couch I learned that Jennie was heading off to drive Bronwyn to campus, and she suggested that I go with her so we could get bagels after.

I decided to go for it. Einstein's is a favorite of ours, and the realization that we actually had time to do something was freeing. 

But alas, when we got to the Einstein's store on Center street we were met with an empty lot and a sign on the door with their new location. 

We could have gotten back in the car and gone to the new place, but we are lazy, and we were already there, so we decided to look around and see what else was in the area.

Before we knew it we were exploring "downtown" Provo, something that has been on our list basically since the day we met. It was the perfect way to spend our first school-free day. Though I must admit my joy was a little tainted by the worry that I was forgetting to be stressed about something...

Smiling like a fool

In all honesty, I don't think I could be happier right now.

I feel like it's compensation for how crappy the past few months were. Cause seriously, last semester was rough. 

But life in general has been on a serious upward path lately, and the past few days have been especially amazing. 

Let's review:

1) Remember my gym? Everyday we have a workout of the day along with "prescribed" weights. If you are not able to lift as much as is prescribed, you can scale it down. But, if you are cool enough to do all of the prescribed weights and movements, you get the honor of writing "RX" next to your name and time on the board. It's like a rite of passage. 

Well, I have been going to this gym for quite sometime now, and yesterday I got my first RX! It was one of those awesome moments that totally validated all my hard work at the gym and my dedication to the whole 30. I was so pleased with myself, and when I got home this was on facebook:

So much happiness. And, just for the record, the whole 30 went amazingly. I have a whole lot to say about it so I will save it for another post.

2) I took a class this semester called History of Creativity 2. I took number one a few semesters ago so I knew what to expect: a horribly big project worth 200 points, which is more than the final. I was super stressed about it all semester, but luckily Spencer is a TA for a different teacher's HOC class so he helped me out with an idea. 

In the end I wrote my own version of A Modest Proposal. In case you are not familiar with the pamphlet, it was written by Jonathan Swift in the 1700s when Ireland was having economic troubles and children were too expensive to feed. Swift wrote a satire suggesting that parents eat their children as a solution to the problem. I went off of this, and took the issue of modesty on campus, specifically the debate over leggings as pants. I suggested that, to put an end to the debates, we cut off all the women students' legs. 

I wasn't sure I had done a very good job. If we're being honest, I didn't start it until the day before it was due, and I wrote it in a bit of a hurry. The semester-long project took me a total of about 2.5 hours, and I was afraid it would show. 

But no fear, the grades were posted today:

I am absolutely delighted! And so, so grateful.

3) In case you haven't already heard, our video went viral. Remember yesterday when I told you we had 4000 views? Well, check out the view count 24 hours later:

Yeah. Twenty-two thousand. 48 hours after the video went up. 4,000 to 22,000 in 24 hours. What?? My roommates, apartment 83 (the prankers), and I had an interview today with a news channel called Right This Minute which broadcasts to 50 major cities none of which are in Utah, unfortunately. It is seriously so crazy. Who would have thought?? It is just so awesome to know that so many people are getting the same joy out of this that we do. 

4) It is so much more than the things listed above, the rest of it just can't be defined as easily. I am so happy with my job, my Spring term class is going to be amazing, and everything just seems to be going right. I am completely content with my life. 

So, to all of you reading this, I hope that your life is currently treating you well, you deserve it. 

:)

one-zero-zero

Day 18: a drink

I will let you interpret the story for yourselves:

Dear readers, this was a drink of celebration. For today I reached 100 followers.

I love you all. 

I love you all so very much.

:)

Take a Chance

Day 16: something new

So this doesn't really fit the bill. I get that. 

The thing is that I haven't purchased anything new lately. 

 I have, however, been thinking new thoughts. 

I'm not exactly sure what's going on in my stars, but I can't help but notice my life offering me new opportunities lately. Not anything huge and/or life-changing, just things to alter my daily routine. I have come very close to turning all of these offers down simply because they fall outside of my comfort zone.  

And then I got an email:

"I know, from reading your blog, that you have your group of people you are comfortable with and it is hard for you to branch out but now would be an opportune moment to do so.  

One shouldn't be afraid to do anything, better to take a chance at something then to let it pass by. 

Take it from me, the true regrets in life are the choices that were never made, things that you let pass by.

You never know what can happen but at least you took a chance - if you let something pass by you won't even get a chance at what could be."

This email came from a blog reader. An inspired blog reader, to be more exact. I'm not sure how they knew, but I needed to hear that message today.

this is happiness

Why did I miss two days? Cause I was in vegas. 

Day 10: Self Portrait.

Um...I didn't actually take one. Moving on.

Day 11: Makes Me Happy:

Before we get to these pictures, you need some background. Unless this is your first time looking at my blog, you know that I am completely obsessed with my study abroad and the people I met there. 

During our third week there, on the bus ride to Egypt, one of my professors was saying that he could guarantee at least one couple from our group would get married. At the time I thought that was a little forward. I mean, we only had like 20 guys, what were the chances??

It turns out he was beyond correct, as we now have 1 married and 2 engaged couples. 

So, both the reason I was in Vegas and the thing that made me happy:

The Tueller Wedding!!

It was actually at the end of our Egypt trip on the top of Mt. Sinai that this couple had their first kiss. I know, right? Epic. 

I am seriously so happy for them. They are so amazing and I love both of them so much. They are going to have an amazing life. 

But don't worry, there were sooo many more 

things that made me happy yesterday: 

 Meet Stacey and Brock, another engaged couple from in Jerusalem.

Seeing my Jerusalem family just made me so happy. Every time I am with them I am reminded of how lucky I was to go when I did. We had an amazing group of people, and I will always believe we were the best. Every single one of us loved everyone. There were never any cliques, never any petty drama. And we are just plain awesome. We are fun and entertaining and there is never a dull moment.

Let's just throw in a picture of the Las Vegas temple. Awesome.

 More happiness: LANI!!!!

Where do I even start with this girl? Lani is basically my hero. She knows who she is and she is not afraid to be herself. I learned so much from her about just embracing myself and loving me for it. Unfortunately I had not seen Ms. Lani since we got home from J-ru and I didn't think I was going to see her until the Stacey/Brock wedding.

But then, in classic Lani style, she made the grandest of entrances. Which really only consisted of walking into the building and waiting until someone saw her, which took like .5 seconds. 

She straight up told us she wasn't coming, so when she appeared we were all sooo happy. 

Love me some Lani.

This whole day was just full of happiness. I wouldn't trade my Jerusalem family for the world.

90 minutes

I've been told that there are early birds and night owls, but in all honesty I'm not really much of either.

When I get tired at night I turn into a two year old. At first I get a burst of energy and want to talk to everyone, but my energy slowly turns against me. Soon I find myself whining and complaining and, despite my drooping eyelids, refusing to go to bed. I know the tiredness is bad when I start crying, but that only happens in extreme cases.

Morning is a completely different scene. If you talk to me, I will kill you. In fact, it's best just to not look at me. If I can hear my roommates getting ready I use it as an excuse to stay in bed longer as I hate morning interaction. I sit there willing myself to stay awake as I silently curse everything I can think of. My alarm, the moon, my dreams, the fact that I didn't go to bed earlier, and, most prominently, my job.

I mean, don't be confused, I basically adore my job. I love my boss, my coworkers, and my projects. The thing I do not adore is 7:45 in the morning. I tell myself it will be better in the summer when I'm not trudging through slush by starlight, but as of now I spend each morning feeling pretty bitter about it.

A few weeks ago I discussed this issue with my roommate. I told her of my morning routine, overusing words like bitter, tired, groggy, and hatred. She suggested that I started planning my sleep schedule so I woke up after a full REM cycle - which is 90 minutes, in case you were wondering.

I figured it wouldn't hurt, so I gave it a try.

I realize it's a pretty easy math problem, counting 90 minute increments from when you go to sleep, but hey, we're a generation of laziness, why not let the internet do it for you?

The first night I tried it I needed to wake up at 5:30. I died a little as I set my alarm, but it was that or be late for work, and I figured if I was going to try it I needed to go all out.

You guys, I was amazed. 5:30 rolled around and I honestly felt so awake! I literally hopped out of bed and almost fully enjoyed my morning. There was even time for breakfast and I wasn't falling asleep as I ate it!! This is a huge deal!

I have been using this site every night, and I'm starting to learn to adjust the time I go to bed so it's consistent.

It's basically awesome, and you should all try it and then tell me how happy you are.

:)

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