Utah in the Springtime

Editor's note: these pics are for real. like, fo sho f'realz.


This is the hill south of campus as I was walking to class yesterday at 11 am.




This is the hill south of campus (from the other side) as I was walking home from class at 1:45 pm.

That's less than 3 hours for those of you who failed math.

HOLY WEATHER WHIPLASH.

A few hours later, it was sunny one minute and literally snowing the next while the sun was still shining (!!!!). Utah, you will be the death of me.

A Handshake I'll Always Remember.

On Thursday, Kirsi and I drove to Salt Lake City to do baptisms for the dead in the Salt Lake temple (my first time inside!) and afterwards we walked around the Joseph Smith building next door.

We went up to the second floor to look at the beautiful architecture, and then Kirsi pointed down into the lobby and said "Look!" I looked, and saw Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder L. Tom Perry walking below! We were excited. Man, we were lucky to see a real live apostle so close, we thought.

We walked around the corner of the second floor, and I was taking a picture of chandeliers (above) when one of the large doors opened and a man came through it. He said, "these doors are heavy!" and then "hello sisters!"

He looked really familiar. It took me about 3 entire seconds. One mississippi--two mississippi--three mississippi. It was Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles.

Kirsi and I said nothing. Literally, we just stood there and said nothing. He reached out and shook both of our hands and smiled at us and said "nice to meet you!" and then rushed off to the elevator.

We both turned bright red and started laughing and had to cover our mouths with our hands until he had walked out of ear shot because we were so startled and excited. We met an apostle!! He shook our hand!! It's borderline embarrassing that we were so shocked, but hey, I didn't expect to go from photographing a chandelier to standing face- to-face with an apostle in 2 seconds flat.

It was the best ever. I recorded the whole experience thoroughly in my journal so I can tell my children about it.

If you are not understanding what an apostle is or why this is a big deal to me, no worries, I will explain! I believe in modern-day revelation; I believe that Heavenly Father still speaks to his children through personal revelation and through prophets. In the LDS church, we have a prophet and apostles. There are twelve apostles, just like Jesus had twelve apostles when he was ministering to people long ago. We believe they are called by God to lead our church. That's why I was so excited to meet one of the 12 apostles who leads our church today. I believe that he was called by God.

This weekend, the prophet and apostles and other church leaders are speaking to us. I invite everyone to listen, no matter who you are or what you believe. I promise that their messages are full of peace and hope.

On Being Really Cold.

This morning when I was walking to class at 7:45 am, I checked my phone and it said it was 8 degrees.

Then I cried. (JK. I would have but the tears would have frozen anyway.)

I was wearing 3 shirts, a thick sweatshirt, my warmest parka, a thick knit hat pulled down low, gloves, and two pairs of thick socks with my insulated snow boots. So overall, I was doing okay warmth wise, I would say, other than the sensation that someone was repeatedly slapping me across the face.

Except that they don't really make any winter gear for your tongue, which truly is a shame. I don't recall ever having this experience, but I literally thought my tongue was freezing inside my mouth as I walked. When the cold air came into contact with my tongue, it felt like it was going to turn into an icicle. So that was fun.

via pinterest

I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE COLD. Just putting that out there. It truly baffles me to this day. When I'm cold, my entire face turns red, and not "cute rosy cheeks" kind of red, but like, "straight up skin disease" red. And my nose instantly runs like crazy and then my eyes water so much that it looks like I walk around campus sobbing, and when I see friends they seem concerned, but I can't assure them that I'm fine, because sometimes my lips get really numb and its hard for me to talk normally.

UGHHHH.

But I really am getting better. My first year living in Utah, I was really miserable when the earth turned into a frozen wasteland. I think it's because being really, really cold was such a foreign feeling to me that my instinct was to panic and assume that I was going to die.

But now that I know that cold air won't kill me, I think I'm okay. I am even trying to have a positive attitude about it. I think it even lasted about 10 minutes, up until I thought my tongue was frozen over.

Someone please knit a tongue mitten for me. I will love you.

How We Do Football Games...

BYU football games are an explosion of Cougar pride, time-honored tradition, and blue face paint. The atmosphere in Lavell Edwards Stadium consists of cheers and applause, laughter and despair, booing, chanting and singing. There is an electricity in the air when we win; a cloud of gloom sets in when we lose. If you are a Cougar fan, football games are the place to be.

Saturday night I sat with Sarah and Kirsi at the Utah State game. We sat and chatted about boys, school, friends, funny stories, our weeks. Then we turned to the field and cheered for a brief moment.

we took this awkwardly adorable picture in our matching shirts... holla!

We went to concessions and Sar and I got hot dogs, and we ate them and talked some more. Then we watched the half-time show. The game started up again and we sang to the marching band when they sang "Ohhh ohhh ohh baby!" or whatever that song is called. We cheered a little. Kirs and I started creating our own dance moves to the band and jamming on our own. We talked some more about random things, like nicknames and ice cream. Kirsi found a little football for her car antenna under her seat and it was really exciting. We talked some more about life and laughed a lot.

so. freakin. psyched.

Then we turned and watched the game for the last 5 minutes because it was finally exciting. We stood on our benches and concentrated on each play. We jumped up and down and screamed and crossed our fingers and screamed some more. And then our quarterback came through and one of our receivers caught an awesome pass in the end zone and we won and a bunch of hooligans rushed the field.

carry on, hooligans.

90 percent chat sesh.
10 percent football watching.

And that's how I do football games.

A Story that Needs to Be Told.

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. I just started the elementary ed program, and..... phew. Also, I didn't have internet in my new apartment for a week, and the internet company did everything in their power to keep it that way. But, after hours on the phone and a 30 minute drive to talk to someone in person, I prevailed. Boo ya, internet company, boo ya.

But great news! I am guest posting over at a fabulous blog called Stress Case today! It's kinda like a recap of some of my awkward moments. You should all check that out and leave a nice comment. (wink).

Back in this neck of the woods, I have a special treasure of a story for you. It's one that I've often told my friends, but never thought to write.... until NOW. (dun dun dunnnnn).

Have you ever heard the phrase "stranger than fiction"? Yeah. That's my life. I couldn't come up with this stuff.

Two years ago, my wonderful sister Jess and I decided to treat ourselves to manicures on a frosty Provo night, so we headed down to one of the local beauty schools for some shiny fresh nails on the chi-zeap.

oh yeah.

We sat down at their cute little nail stations and began the small talk with our beauty school students. It began well. It really did. We talked about school, the weather, the weather some more....

But then the polite conversation train, not only hit a few rough patches, but de-railed and then exploded into a fiery mass of devastation, not unlike that scene from Anastasia. (But unfortunately hottie Dmitri wasn't there to rescue me)

You should know something about me. I have half thumbnails. Don't freak out. Its okay, I promise. I was born with only half a nail on both of my thumbs. The other side of each nail bed is just skin. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't bother me, and no I'm not an alien. 'sssssallllgoood.

My cute little nail technician was mortified.

"Oh my gosh! Does it hurt??? (No) How did it happen?? (I was born with it) How do you cope?? (normal explanation to normal questions ensue.)"

Then she got pretty creative.

"Do you have phantom pains? Like when someone has to have their leg amputated, they can still feel tinglings where their leg used to be???"

Welp, I can't say I'd heard that one before. (PS, the answer was no... no phantom fingernail pains...)

And then I found out that she was a philosopher too.

"That SUCKS. But at least you were born with it, right?"

"I.... guess so?"

"So then you didn't have to wake up one morning and be all like, 'Gahhhh! I have half-fingernails! I'm so retarded!"

Thanks, beauty school student, for the insight. I would have been mad if I wasn't so focused on biting my lip from exploding from laughter.

It turned out, my cheap manicure kinda sucked. But I'd say it was definitely worth it, because the insights and memories I gained on that special night will live on forevahhh.

Cousin's Play to Wedding Day!

I am definitely a fan of people getting married, especially when I am invited to the festivities. And especially when there are beautiful decorations to ogle over. And triply especially when delicious food is involved.

Earlier this week, my cousin Melissa tied the knot with her main-man Bryan at the Salt Lake Temple. (to learn more about temples, go here.)

Melissa grew up in Salt Lake. I grew up in Las Vegas. Therefore, we didn't get to hang out a lot. But I remember being pen pals with her for a while when we were little and getting letters from her. When I went to visit Utah, we would play ping pong in Grandma's basement and dress up in old clothes from the 40's.

And once, we went to a pioneer village and Melissa provoked an angry chicken and then we had to run from it. It made the day memorable.

Mel and I circa 1999. On a horse. In heavy shade.
Big HOLLA to Jess for finding this picture for me! :)

And now, years later, Melissa is a married woman! A funny one at that. A while after she came out of the temple, she said, "I hope you write about this on your blog!!"

Anything for you girl. I mean, we survived that angry chicken together. After we lived through that,I feel like we have to be there for each other.

M + B

Sarah, Jess and I basking in the wedded bliss of the day.

I loved her beautiful, vintage-y dress, and I loved her classy dinner. She has a unique style of her own and I admire that she planned everything to reflect her own tastes.


Isn't it fun to appreciate the different styles and ideas from different weddings? I love it. This is coming from a girl who just spent her Friday night at home watching Say Yes to the Dress and eating chips and salsa. (Shut up, I'm cool...)

Congrats Melissa and Bryan! May your married life together be full of love and happiness, and not too many angry chickens. Although with spunky Mel, you never know.

;)

Amy's Riveting "Bandaid" Metaphor.

The rumors are true. I'm back in Utah. The long-awaited for day arrived, a week ago, to move back to my beloved Provo. But it meant moving away from my even-more-beloved Las Vegas.

The day after I arrived, I was talking to one of my best friends on the phone and we agreed: one of the hardest things about college is transition. You never want to leave where you are. You don't want to leave college life when its time to go home for a while. And then you don't want to leave home when its time to go to college for a while. But it's so good for you to go through that. You learn to make home wherever you are. You learn to make your friends your family when you don't get to see your family anymore.

And then I came up with the metaphor: leaving home is like ripping off a bandaid. (Sorry is that gross? Too bad, its my blog baha) You have to do it sometime. Its healthy for you to take off (otherwise your skin gets all pruny... yuck). There comes a time when it has to happen. You know its gonna sting a little, and it does, but then you are okay. And then you are totes glad you ripped off the bandaid!

And on your first ever solo six hour drive to Provo, you see a guy hitchhiking right next to a "Prison Nearby, Don't Pick Up Hitchhikers" sign. And then you see a lady walking a pig on a leash by the side of the freeway. A PIG!!!! And you jam to some awesome mix CDs that your friends made you. And you move into your apartment with only the few belongings that you packed into your little sedan. (okay, not that few...)

ready to hit the road... wearing a Jimmer shirt, duh!
I Jimmered that drive.

And then you accidentally drop your phone down a staircase on Father's day and it smashes. And you cry. And then you get an even better phone. And you start your classes and you freakin' LOVE them. And then you really don't feel well for an entire week... so you cry. But you realize that you have friends here and you love all the opportunities before you. And you are comfortable in your home away from home, and you love it. And you're happy you ripped off that bandaid.

That metaphor got a little out of control there. I apologize.

But for the record, I really did see a lady walking a pig on a leash.

And that is all I have to say.

Robert Frost is my homeboy.

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

-Robert Frost

Robert Frost is totally my homeboy. I know hes being figurative, but sometimes I feel like my world is ending when it looks like this outside:





Don't call me a drama queen. My hair froze into icicles this morning and I'm not okay with it.

A Cruel JK

Just kidding.

The world still hates me.

We didn't even get into the David Archuleta/ Motab concert last night. Along with hundreds of other people. It was over-ticketed. Too many tickets given out for too few seats. Talk about a crummy week.

David was very heartbroken that I wasn't there. Also, that's a broken heart, not something eating his neck.

There is one last chance... one remaining hope.... for me to cheer up and get out of this slump of grumpiness....

I AM GOING HOME TODAY!!!!!

As long as we don't get stuck in another blizzard/ the world is attacked by aliens before we get there.

PLEASE WORLD.

PUH-LEEEEEEESEEE give me this one.

Or else I will become permanently emo. And these people don't come here to read emo. They come here to read funny. They come here to read about Kesha and me getting shanked in laundry rooms.

I promise to recycle more often if that helps.

Thanks world.

Love, Amy

Tonight's Gonna be a Good, Good Night!

Confession: I had a rotten week.

For reals guys, I am so glad this week is over. Usually finals don't phase me, but this week they slapped me in the face, and then kicked me in the butt and then pulled my hair and then drop-kicked me. And they won. I readily admit it. It was not pretty. But at least now they are just over!!!!

***cue hallelujah chorus****

And now instead of wallowing in my failure in life, its on to better days! Can I get a HOLLERRR???

Starting with today. Today is going to be a fantastic day because:

a. I am done with my finals!
b. My little sister is flying in tonight!
c. Tonight I am once again going to be in the presence of my future-hubby David Archuleta!!!

This picture is just too good to only be used once on this blog. So I treat you with it again. If it HAD been photo-shopped I'd have to give credit to my sister Jess. But that's totally hypothetical.

Thats right peeps, I'm chillin' with David tonight. Hopefully he will remember me from when I met him over the summer.

Oh heyyyyyy David!!

And when I say "chillin' with David", I really mean "being in the same room as David and 21,000 other people at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert..." But really that's a small detail to me.

Is there a better way to end a rotten week on a high note than:

Sister love + David Archuleta hotness + Motab + Christmas cheer?

I submit that there is not!

Intensity

The past few days, I have totally been livin' on the edge like you guys wouldn't believe. No one better tell me my life isn't full of adventure because it TOTALLY is now.

First of all, my mom and I caught a matinee of Harry Potter the other day. And when the concessions girl asked if we wanted to upgrade to a large popcorn for just 50 cents more.... We... said.... YES.

Then my family went to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert thinking it would be a great way to usher in the holiday spirit. It turned out to be more heavy-metal head banging than Christmas spirit. We couldn't hear for a while afterward. Totally rock and roll. Super intense.

On Sunday my sister and I started driving back up to Provo and we hit major snow 10 miles from Cedar City. It took an hour to travel those 10 miles to Cedar and then we got stuck in the snow. And who got out and helped a kind man push our car out of the snow? This girl! Totally didn't succeed though but I am proud nonetheless.

We stayed the night in Cedar because the road conditions were just too bad and it was getting dark. We ate at a Sizzler that had food poisoning written all over it. Don't tell us we're not dangerous, we totally are.

Our lovely monochromatic meal. We ate all of it drenched in ketchup. Including the soggy toast.

We ate our sketchy chicken doused in an ocean of ketchup (definitely helped, couldn't even tell it was chicken) and then turned in at a motel.

Early Monday we braved the Utah roads again. It was so cold the windshield wiper fluid kept freezing. This was a problem. The upside is that we got to see almost every gas station from Cedar to Provo! And who would want to miss that?

I got back to Provo in the afternoon and then went to the library and wrote a paper for 8 straight hours.

So yeah. Intensity is my middle name. Watch out. I even step on all the sidewalk cracks.

I'm also pretty exhausted so if you need me I'll be in my bed hibernating until winter is over!! Byeee!

I trust little old ladies.

Yesterday I was leaving the temple when a nice little old lady started talking to me. She said she liked my shoes, so obviously she had excellent fashion sense for an eighty year old woman. She asked how far I was walking and I said just over a mile and a half… and then she offered me a RIDE!!! In her heated car!! I was super happy because my hair was wet and it was 40 degrees outside, and also I love talking to old grandmas with life experience!! Old people are da bomb!

Well she was a pretty cool grandma, until she asked where I was from and I told her Las Vegas. Then she gave me that “Ohhhh” response that is really annoying and said “Well I’m just so glad you could make it to Utah so you can be around good people!” Ohhh-kaayyy.

Well anyways, I was still pretty psyched that I got a ride home from a nice old lady, so I put it on Facebook thinking everyone would be so happy for me and we’d all feel warm and fuzzy inside and sing songs about rainbows and how there was still good in the world.

But did this happen? NO.

Everyone was freaking out about me getting in a car with a stranger! She was a little grandma people. Like, less than five feet tall, shuffles her feet, drives an old white car, old lady. If I can’t trust the little grandmas in this world, who can I trust??

On a related note, earlier today I went down to my apartment’s creepy basement laundry room and no one even shanked me.

See? My trust in the world is growing DAILY.

Once Upon a Weekend...

Once upon a time, a young college girl hadn't seen her family in over two months and she really missed them. So one weekend, her family embarked on a journey to the land of Provo to visit her and her sister! And Brooke came too because we like to pretend she is part of the ol' fam.

They wandered into the depths of the HBLL to uncover precious treasures in the periodicals....

Seventeen magazines all the way from the 1960s!? Oh heck yeah!

Oh, just brushing up on the latest fashions!

The girls explored the wonder that is BYU campus, and even got to go on a fantastic golf cart adventure! Then they climbed to great heights to see campus from the sky. (aka the JFSB balcony!)

The little adventurers expanded their minds by trying out scientific experiments like vortexes and whisper phones.


Then they ended up, somehow, stumbling their way into special collections and getting special permission to see ancient relics and historical treasures. Don't ask us how, it just happened.

first edition Book of Mormon baby.
read about the book of mormon here.

Oh, is that a real life OSCAR that we saw with our own eyes? Why yes it is!

Among many other things, we also saw a cuneiform tablet from 2000 BC. Yes. FOUR THOUSAND years ago. And also a Bible that was hand-written by monks. And many other super tight things.

Moral of the story: Even with ZERO connections, you can do cool stuff at BYU. If you just ask. Or if you get lost in the library and then start talking to the special collections secretary and she calls up her boss. Score.


ALSO: Turns out baby hands is the way to go to attract the boys. I take these two high school girls to a college dance and they get all the attention! Way to go ladies, way to go.

straight up hotties. actually I think the baby hands just freaked people out. but attention is attention riiiight? (mothers everywhere are frowning upon this statement)

oh hey thar.

do we look alike? Yes or no?

We went to temple square. It is always a beautiful place to be. Brooke liked it. She had never been before, probably because she just got baptized (yay!)... It was very exciting.

please stop growing up. thanks.

Brooke is excited about life!

And they ate delicious food, and played games of Apples to Apples, and laughed themselves silly and then lived...

HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Especially since Thanksgiving break is only three weeks away! Huzzzahhh!

This morning I put two contacts in the same eye....

And it took me like ten minutes to figure out why it was so blurry. Seriously. Ten entire minutes.

I think this is pretty representative of my entire week. Wandering through my busy life in a daze of confusion. Thank you to the people who love me in spite of my lack of sanity.

Good thing my mom, my sis, and her bff are arriving to visit in, oh I don't know...

TEN MINUTES!!!!!!!

So psyched for this weekend. Its gonna be so much fun!!!!

As long as I can figure out how to put in my dang contacts next time...

No I do not love autumn because I am a jerk like that.

Everyone loves the fall season so much. All I hear these days is "The air is so crisp and cool!" and "Don't you just love the leaves changing colors?"

No. No I do not. Because fall in Utah is a strange phenomenon that I never experienced before last year and I refuse to like it. Mostly because I want it to be summer ALL YEAR LONG. Who needs sweaters when you have shorts? Who needs cute boots when you have flip flops?

PLUS, do you people realize what comes right after fall? Do you?!!! DO YOU!!!!???????

winter.


( SHUDDER. )

But I am starting to face a problem. The truth is, cool air IS pretty nice. And I really like cute fall clothes. And the leaves are pretty.

But thank goodness I am stubborn enough to convince myself that I don't like autumn even though I do!

I do not think this is beautiful at all. Nope. Not at all.

Comforting each other as we mourn the onset of autumn

This is me flailing for help from all of the terrible colored leaves behind me...

Jumping out of pure misery.

Looking at the tree in pure disgust.
(PS: Seven inches of that hair is now gone..)

Sundance in the fall is totally not even breath-taking at ALL!!

So basically...

I am living in denial. Yay me!

I am Officially In Utah

Billboard outside of Provo:

"Is your mouth a disaster?

There is hope smiling brightly before you!"

Oh Utah, please be gentle...