I would not make a good vampire

So this has been the longest day of my life!!!! I couldn't go for my run because it was simply way too cold and wet. I could have dealt with the cold if I didn't also have to worry about the rain. This left me home, at 11am, with nothing to do!!!! Also, my weekly trip to walmart had to be canciled due to weather because there is no covered area at the bus stop. (as it turns out, the rain pretty much stayed away all afternoon, but how was I supposed to know that and you all know that if I had decided to go out, it would have been pouring and thundering all day long)

I did my reading for American Heritage...which was much reading and lead to a short nap.

I then woke up with some goldfish and did my reading for Book of Mormon, which was very extensive, more so than American Heritage.

At this point, I considered taking another short nap, but I didn't. I did my reading for Current Social Issues. The problem with taking those reading tests online is that they are 10 questions, open book and we have a half an hour to take them. Meaning that if I just skim through the chapter and know where to find things, I can get a 100% without putting much time into it.

I EVEN FINISHED AN ASSIGNMENT FOR MY ONLINE CLASS!!!! I rarely work on that class, especially since these are the chapters about gravity and stuff...you know F=GmM/d^2 and the likes which I was never really good at because they always bring proportions into it.

All throughout this endless afternoon, I checked facebook, twitter, email and other random things just to see if anyone else was doing interesting things that I could comment on (which nobody was, you all fail as friends).

In about two hours I have a folk dance rec. night. Which should be loads of fun and I plan on staying for the maximum amount of time and even staying to help clean up because that will keep me away from this dorm room!!

The point of all this ranting is to say this. I would not make it as an immortal. I would go crazy with boredom. However, if I were an immortal, I would probably be wealthy, or at least I would have a car to take me on errands so I can buy orange nail polish to support my HS. Also, I would most likely have some kind of a mate or be living with my family which is always more interesting than an afternoon alone. And, I would have a much better mind, meaning I would be smarter and could therefore get through college without much effort, leading to a fabulous life in a career that I love because I would have forever to find the perfect fit for me. Also, were I immortal I wouldn't ever have to be concerned when I miss a day of exercise and eat a lot of boredom food. In fact, I could just go for a beautiful, lovely stroll through the majestic mountains right outside my door. I guess there are pros and cons to having all the time in the world. (ps, I am taking all my vampire qualities from Meyer, though I understand that there are other takes on the matter)



(this is his 'thirsty' face...)

Sometimes, you just need to read

Well about two days ago, I felt the need to read. I was kind of searching through the books that I have looking for something because I didn't/couldn't buy any more books (I had just bought Going Bovine by Libba Bray so my book budget was gone). I started another Bray book because I thought maybe that would be it. I thought maybe some Maureen Johnson cuz she always makes me happy, but I really don't want to get sick of her books and I feel like I just re-read them.

Then I remembered that Forest Born had just come out and I had yet to borrow it from my roomate.

This is the latest book in a series by Shannon Hale, The Books of Bayern. The series is a YA series, though I think that even younger children would be fine reading it. Hale is such a fabulous author. I love that she can write for both adults, with books like Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife and still write these amazing YA books. Like I was seriously laughing out loud reading this book. It has just enough action and romance and plot-twists to keep you interested, but not overwhelm you and make the book challenging to read. That being said, I never feel like she is talking down to me. I never feel like I'm reading one of those books from the children's section at Borders. She keeps up her vocab but I don't need a dictionary.

Mostly, I love the way her books make me feel. Whenever I finish a Hale masterpiece, I feel like I have just spent a very satisfying few hours coloring or fingerpainting or wandering through the heather. I feel so peaceful and just generally happy, like a little kid, but without the being a little kid part. I feel edified in a way. I feel as though I have just learned something new about myself.

I would highly suggest some Hale for those of you looking for books to read. Princess Academy and Book of 1000 Days were not my favorites, but I still enjoyed them. Oh, I just feel so happy I could burst! I love the Books of Bayern!!!! I love reading!!!!

A new perspective on life

Well friends, I have decided to change some of my ways. I am going to actually start running. I first went after class on Monday and I found a nice little route that takes about a half an hour to run/walk (I walk the up parts). It is in the residential area right across the street from my dorm, so I don't have to be all self-consious running on the big streets. My plan is to do this little run on MWF and Sat and then up the time a bit each week. Once I get to crazy times, I'll alternate short and long run/walks.

On top of that, I am eating healthier. The creamery doesn't believe in low-fat foods, it is all lard-y and I can't stand that, but really, why should I be eating things from a can/box anyway? I can cook up some chicken and veggies for barely any more money than eating the crap-from-a-box. Each week I go to the Wal-Mart grocery store and buy the food there that I don't want to get from the creamery. Like getting an apple at walmart could be like 35 cents/lbs and a buck fifty/lbs at the creamery and its worse quality, but getting chicken from the creamery really isn't any different. Also, my Walmart trips give me something to do.

So far so good. Today is my third straight day of running because I went yesterday for some odd reason and that was probably a bad idea cuz I don't think run/walking for three straight days is a good idea, but I need to get back on schedual, so it's going to happen. I feel awsome. It gives me something to do other than sitting at my computer or reading or studying. Also, I just feel better. I'm happier cuz I don't feel fat.

Thank you parents!

Well, I've just spent a good two hours cleaning our small kitchen and I'm waiting for Sadee to get out of the shower before I attempt to tackle the bathroom. I give much thanks that my parents taught me how to clean and who cleaned up after me for so many years, I now understand your pains.

I know I was never the cleanest person at home. Many times I left a trail of destruction in my path, but I still know how to care for a living space. I know that you need to go through the food in the fridge every once in a while to make sure that there arent any three week old grapes oozing on the bottom of the fruit drawer. I know that each person in a family doesn't need to buy their own sour cream (there are four in our fridge right now). I know that the easiest way to keep the kitchen clean is to have everyone put their dishes right into the washer, and if its clean, then you empty it and the put your dirty dish into the washer. It is rude to just plop it in the sink without even rinsing it and wait for someone else to do it.

A Happy Gift

Well now, I just went out to get the mail and there was a happy envelope for me. It was from Paul. He has drawn me the most happy picture ever. It is an "Instant Dance Partner". Holy cow, this makes me sooo happy!!! He even gave me a tiara and did my hair exactly like I did it for Kelli's party and gave me my gloves. Now, I have a happy picture of the perfect man to look up at all the time. Hahahaha, he can be like Edward and watch me sleep.

Things to Say

Oh, there are so many things to say and I have no idea how to make them connect. We shall see how well this goes.

I made lasagna for my roomates and me last night and it was honestly the best lasagna I've ever had. My momma taught me well in the lasagna making department. After which Sadee took us to this health food store which kind of reminded me of Trader Joes, but it wasn't that cool. Speaking of health foods...

Emily sent me a package and there was a multitude of things in it! I was very excited to get a package especially considering the fact that it had Pirates Booty in it which I have yet to see in Utah, even at the health food store! Also in this box was...

... a few drawings Emily had made! One of them was another family portrait, but this one includes Smith and Stewart (the band director and our AP gov teacher respectively). The other one was a picture of a volcano erupting. Along the bottom it said "A picture of Mt. Vesuvius in erection". There is a story that goes along with it, don't worry, she wasn't sending me dirty pictures. See, in "How to Succeed..." there is a line that Finch says when he is pitching his idea to the board. The line is "A picture of Mt. Vesuvius in eruption." However, during one of the rehersals, Michael said the wrong thing, I think you can guess what it was. We all laughed and now its a big joke, but the thing is, I can't exactly put this picture up in my dorm room because it's technically innapropriate. Even though the picture is really just a volcano and you can barely tell thats what it says, I can't put it up. And I respect that, I understand why I can't, but I just wish that I could. I'm commenting on how sometimes things that seem innapropriate on the outside aren't actually, though I suppose the innapropriatness of the word and the awkwardness it provided is part of the funny. Which brings me too...

...the campus atmosphere. I was thinking as I was walking around today how much I really do love BYU. We got something special today and I'm going to tell you about it. Every Tuesday, we have a devotional at 11. Someone speaks to us about some gospel principle and they are usually really good speakers and its fun to go to these devotionals. Today, the devotional was amazing. The President of the Church spoke to us. Think of it like the Pope, for those of you that don't understand the magnitude of the situation. When he first began to speak, he mentioned a bit about this wonderful school and I realized that this is the place for me and that no matter how homesick I get, this is the right place and I need to remember that. It gets hard sometimes, being away, and coming home seems like a fantastic idea, but I know that I'll be rewarded by sticking. (I'm not bashing on you Ashley S. I promise, I'm just saying that this is the right thing for me just like going home was the right thing for you, I hope you don't take offense cuz none was intended).

Now, because I go to a Church school, the Church is involved, big surprise. They want to keep us happy and not homesick, but really...how many friggin activities do we need!!!! We had church on Sunday, then there was a random devotional that night and then we had ward prayer. Then on Monday we were supposed to have FHE but (see the next point of info). Its like, do we never get a break? I think that they are so conserned with people not feeling loved and welcome that they throw activities at us because they can't have anyone leaving the Church on their watch. Honestly, you are just getting everyone more frusterated with a mindset like that.

Family Home Evening (FHE). Every Monday we are supposed to have a little activity, around an hour long, with our assigned group. Usually they are something really cheap and very fun. Over the summer we did things like going to the dollar theater and having a tin boat race. So our group talked briefly on Sunday and the girl in charge, the mother, if you will, suggested we go to this concert that started at 7:30, but the band they wanted to see wouldn't be on until later, so it would be a longer activity, and it cost $10 to get in. We were all like "yeah, sure" but when we got back, we were very frusterated. The day before our activity you tell us its going to be long and cost money? We probably all could have gone, but we didn't because none of us were planning on spending all night or $10 on a concert that really only two of the girls wanted to see. (Oh, our group consists of two girls dorms and a guys dorm, so the girls were from the other girls dorm).

I appologize for the length of this post, but deal with it.

Yet another book finished.

Well, I have finished the three books that are out of the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini. Here is the thing with these books, you have to get used to reading them and blocking out the useless information. Paolini really knows his world and thats great, because then you can become immersed in this world too. But its also awful. There is a lot of useless information that generally requires skipping. He needs to tell the story and not show it. That being said, I did enjoy reading them. They were YA books, but they had a more expanded vocab than Twilight (which isn't much of an accompishment when you consider Twilight) and a complex plot with a lot of intrequing ideas and characters. I am actually really excited for the last book to come out which, because of the length of the books, probably won't be for a while. As hard as it was to get through all the descriptions, it was totally worth it. So, I suggest going after these books only if you are willing to accept the winded descriptions. By the third book, they really aren't that bad and gets a little clever with the dialogue, which is fun.

Also, they made a movie out of the first one, and I've heard that there is a reason that they only did one, it was awful, so don't do that.