Important Things I Learned on Reading Days

-While working on my math take-home test, I learned that it's super hard to count in my head while listening to "1, 2, 3, 4" by the Plain White T's.

-When I tell myself "I'm going to be at the library by 10 am" I really mean that I'm going to sleep 12 hours straight and arrive on campus at 3 pm. But I feel okay about it because I was REALLY tired. (And, you know, sleep helps with that.)

-A surprising amount of fun can be had with only pretzels and a webcam.


-DrawSomething is a GREAT finals diversion.

-Somehow I am not stressed about my five finals and everything seem very manageable. Probably because last semester I had SEVEN finals. (the scars have not yet healed...)

-Why do finals and moving out always have to be the same week? Those are like the suckiest things that college students have to do regularly. (No worries, I've already started packing a week early).

-Without fail, I always sit by a sniffler at the library. WITHOUT FAIL. Except yesterday when I sat next to a man who kept freaking out at his notebook and whisper-yelling to no one.

I'm pretty sure that being a serial killer in his future.

Hot Dogs.

I feel like everyone can agree that hot dogs are generally just gross. I mean, sure, we still eat them, but they are basically cheap meat scraps ground up and shoved into a casing. (sorry for that image... truth hurts)

We still eat them because 1.) they are delicious, and 2.) it's practically un-American not to.

Hot dogs taste especially good when:
-you are really, really hungry.
-you are camping and you roast them over a fire
-you are at a sports event
-you buy them from a street vendor
-one word: Costco.
-it is summertime and you just played outside and/or went swimming for two hours at a barbeque.

Conclusion: hot dogs taste best while outside and when very hungry.

So yeah, I'm a big hot dog supporter when it's an authentic hot dog experience: doughy bun, dripping in ketchup and mustard, hot dog straight off the grill, eating surrounded by family and friends. Fantastic!

It wasn't until I came to college (and then got a pinterest account) that I realized that some people go for an alternative hot dog experience. Some people cut up their hot dogs.... (shudder)

I think that cutting up hot dogs takes away every redeeming factor about hot dogs. No reminiscing about summer picnics. No joyous laughter as the ketchup drips from the bun down your arm.

I have a low tolerance for unique hot dog presentations. I think it has something to do with being exposed to the texture of the inside of a hot dog. Which is questionable. And nasty. And not really "meat" in the traditional sense of the word. Also, I gag easily.

And so today we will be going over the "ick factor" of different forms of hot dogs, borrowing from the US Homeland Security Terrorist Advisory System.


LOW:
The authentic hot dog experience. Ahh. Pleasant.


GUARDED:

Hot dog without a traditional bun. Suspicious, but likely still delicious.source

ELEVATED:
Cut up hot dogs in mac and cheese. Stomach is turning. This is becoming NOT OKAY.

source

HIGH:
Cut up octupus hot dog. I cannot look at this picture without gagging. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO A HOT DOG. So unnatural. The fact that the hot dog meat is now in the form of tentacles is too much for me....

source

SEVERE:
THERE IS SPAGHETTI PUNCTURING THE QUESTIONABLE HOT DOG MEAT. (I don't even know if you can call it meat.) How can anyone eat slimy spaghetti out of the carcass of a punctured hot dog!!!??? I need to lie down.

source

Now that I feel very woozy and almost certain that I offended at least some of you (i still love you if you are a big alternative hot dog fan), I will leave you with my favorite kind of hot dog, and call it good. Presenting, my hot dog named Candy:

not good for eating. but GREAT for cuddling.

Planner Preoccupation

Yesterday morning at 8 am, I arrived at my classroom, opened my backpack and reached around inside. Suddenly, my heart starting racing wildly, my palms began to sweat intensely, and I started to feel a little light headed. I wondered how I would even survive the day.

No, I didn't have a panic attack; I just realized that I left my planner at my apartment!! For the first time this entire semester! It was terrible.

I don't know how it happened, but over the last few busy months, my planner has become like air to me. I NEED IT TO BREATHE. I've always been a planner-nerd, but this semester has seriously killed some brain cells, because I cannot accomplish anything unless it is scheduled in my planner. I carry my planner with me every day to school, to church, even to the grocery store. IT'S STRAIGHT UP SAD.

It's gotten to the point where I think I would roam the streets of Provo with no purpose in life, eating garbage and drinking out of gutters with a perplexed look on my face if I ever lost it.

I hope I never lose it.

today I put eating breakfast on my to-do list. I would not have done it otherwise.

I am convinced that the greatest feeling in the world is checking off a box on your to-do list. The box just stares at you, menacingly blank inside those four, crisp lines, taunting your inability to get things done. But once you finally achieve a task, all your effort culminates into a neat little X. Proof that you are actually a productive human being. Ahhhh. Feels so good.

Confession: sometimes, when it gets to be bedtime, and there are more boxes unchecked than checked on my to-do list, I write in productive things I did and check them off. It makes me feel better about myself.

Shhh....

The Mini-Van Adventures.

Coming home has been quite a transition. I decided to come home to Las Vegas for spring term before returning to Provo in June to start summer term and find a job. I love being home and I love my family, but I also miss being up at BYU (A LOT) and I feel like almost all my friends are still in Utah. It's weird because when you first go to college, you spend so much time missing all your high school friends, but once you make college friends, you miss them even worse whenever you come home.

Its a terrible conundrum. Forget world peace, someone solve this situation for us college students!

I have found that being-at-home adventures are much, MUCH different than college adventures, specifically that they involve way less social interaction and much more sketchiness.

I have been home for exactly two weeks today, and so far, my summer adventures include:

• contracting bronchitis.
• watching Hulu in bed for days at a time.
• going to a doctor who was very confusing and told my mom that beating me vigorously on my back would help my cough.
• being beat on the back by said doctor. it. was. hilarious.
  
• getting lost on the way to the mall because they CHANGED THE ROADS while I was gone!! Who said that was allowed?
• watching the homeless man who spent the day sitting across the street from my house.
  
• beginning a running routine in the mornings! WOO!!!!!
• ending running routine 3 days later because I could not walk.
• deciding to ease into next running routine once my muscles heal/ allow me to be walk once again.
  
• sewing a baby blanket for my friend!
• running errands for my mom in her minivan!
• laying out in the hot desert sun with my little sister.
  And then getting a sunburn.
  
• cooking scrambled eggs for my dog every day. What??? I don't spoil her....
• attempting to make friends in the singles ward! And failing.

In conclusion, as I drive through the streets of Vegas in my mom's mini-van with the wind blowing through my locks.... I HAVE NEVER FELT COOLER. It's okay if you are jealous, I would be too.

And now I pose a question to my dear readers: What do you wish so badly you could do if only you had endless free time??

Because I do....

and I am totally going to steal your ideas.

:)

Happy to Oblige.

DB over at Free to Dance awarded me with a blog award, and invited me to share the following:

1. Three things I love about myself.
2. A picture that I love.

I'm not much for following directions for what I blog, but with this cute little award, I'll be happy to oblige. Thanks DB!


1. I think I generally see the good in people.
2. I love that I have kept a record of my whole life in journals... Its something I do and will always treasure.
3. I love my left nostril a LOT...

ok just kidding... 3. I love that I can be a spunky and fun person.

And I love this picture for obvious reasons.

my little sister and I two years ago at the Bellagio Fountains during an unfortunate wind gust.

Who Likes January Anyways?

I will tell you ahead of time that there is absolutely no point to this post, except to celebrate the fact that January is over and it is now February. I mean, what good is January? Its pretty much the worst month of the whole year.

Lets examine the facts:

1. It is like December, except there is no Christmas, no lights to make the snow seem festive, and no presents.
2.The earth becomes a frozen wasteland , and once again, with no redeeming factors like gingerbread houses or decorated houses to warm your soul.
3. There is nothing fun to have a party about in January.

Those are my unbiased, substantial reasons for why January sucks.

But then again, I don't want to make January feel too bad, so I decided to make a list of good things about this month:

1. Martin Luther King day.
2. The State of the Union Address? Always a highlight of everyone's year, right? No?
3. New Years Resolutions... that are probably broken by now...
4. It is National Bath Safety Month, National Oatmeal Month, and National Braille Literacy Month!! I hope you bathers weren't too reckless now, ya'hear??

No one should have to work that hard to find good things about a month.

Hurrah for February!! Month of Love, Valentines, Presidents Day, Becoming Closer to Warm Weather, and, most importantly, my birthday!!

On an unrelated note, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures on my blog as of late... I decided to use Google Images more sparingly... perhaps I will actually take pictures with my camera? Do people actually do that? Impressive.

The Facebook Friends We All Have

Facebook. We're all on more than we admit. And I feel like, no matter who we are, we all have friends who fill certain niches on our homepage. They are all special. We love them all. Some of them make us really happy when they post a status. Certain people force us to hide their posts. But what would Facebook be without them?

Obligatory Facebook image.

THE CONSTANT UPDATER: Do you really care what they ate for breakfast this morning? Do you need to know that they stubbed their toe? Do you want to know their thoughts minute by minute? No. You don't. But they're going to tell you, hour by hour, on their iPhones.


THE QUOTER: They're gonna inspire the heck out of you, like it or not! Thank you Facebook Ghandi!


THE THIRTEEN YEAR OLD/ PERSON WHO ACTS LIKE A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD: "Well I found my new crush today LOL!! He's suuuuppper cuuutee but I'm not tellin' anyone but my BFFS!! LOL LOL!!!" Every. Single. Status.


HE CONSISTENTLY FUNNY STATUS-WRITER: Joy leaps in your heart when you see their name on your homepage. Because you KNOW they are going to make your day. Hilarious anecdotes about their life. A joke you haven't heard before. An observation on life that cracks you up. These people keep us comin' back for more.



THE PERSON WHO POSTS LYRICS AS EVERY STATUS: These are great. I love lyrics. But I am terrible at remembering lyrics. This creates a lot of confusion for me when I'm not sure if my friend's status consists of lyrics, or the deep feelings of their soul. Thankfully, I have Google to help me out.



THE VOID: These people never update. EVER. They are just too cool for that. So you have to turn into a stalker and rely on pictures other people put up to learn anything about their life. It happens. Totally normal. Then you have the complete opposite:



THE T.M.I. CREW: This is definitely different from "the Constant Updater." These homies don't post 24/7, but when they do, it more than makes up for the lack of details throughout the day. Whether it's about their fragile emotional state, or personal details no one should know, you are embarrassed for them and intrigued all at once!



THE STICKY KEYBOARD: Forrrr soooommee reeeasssonnn, theeessseee peeeppps chhhoossee tooo tyyypppee eexxtraaa letterrs intoo evverryy sttatuuss. Itt willll probbabbly makkee youu verrryyy dizzzyyyy.



THE AMBIGUOUS EMOTIONAL STATEMENT ISSUER: You don't know what they're talking about. No one knows what they are talking about. But they post it anyway. Just don't ask them anything about it. Its "private." Its okay... that's what Facebook is for, right? Your personal therapy? Oh... its not?

"It’s like I am swimming in a sea of lies, biting at me like angry eels….”

THE UNFAILINGLY CHEERFUL PERSON: How are you so happy? I love you.


THE PERSON YOU REALIZE YOU DON'T EVEN REALLY KNOW: Maybe you had Chemistry together sophomore year of high school? Maybe they are just a friend of a friend? Most likely they are one of those folks who adds every single person they come in contact with. However it happened, you are now friends with this person and you can't remember ever actually talking to them. But lucky for you, you get to follow their life more in depth than you ever did in person!



THE DRUNKEN PARTY LUNATIC: We ALL have them. An old friend who's gone a little too crunk happy in college. Yay for pictures of all-night keggers, beer pong challenges and drunk friends using poor judgment! It brings us to reflect on our innocent childhood memories with these people. It also makes Facebook very entertaining at times.


Now its YOUR turn.... Who are your Facebook friends?

Happy Facebookin'!

Top Ten Reasons Why Las Vegas is Cooler than Your Hometown

I’m a Vegas girl and proud of it!

Today I am returning to Las Vegas after three months of being away at college, and so I am very excited!! I present to you my Top Ten Reasons Why Las Vegas is Cooler than Your Hometown!

1. Nothing ever closes. Do you want to go grocery shopping at 4 am? Go for it! Want a hamburger at 2 am? Heck yeah ! Want to do anything at any hour of the day? You’re in luck! In Las Vegas, almost everything is open 24 hours a day because so many people work graveyard shifts!

Growing up in Las Vegas, I just assumed everywhere was like this. Until my family would go out of town and things were closed at night and us kids were shocked. Like the time we flew to upstate New York and, with the time change, were hungry for dinner at 11 pm. And all the restaurants were CLOSED. We forgot we weren’t in Vegas. So we ate hot dogs from 7-11. Good times, good times.

2. There are so many random things in your life when you grow up in Las Vegas. Like the pirates from the Treasure Island show coming to your elementary school. And seeing Elvis impersonators in the car next to you at a red light. And spending your prom walking the Strip.

3. Unique job opportunities. Like how I worked at a wedding chapel on the Strip over the summer! Holller!

4. SUNSHINE. It is always sunny! And the weather is so nice all the time, even in the winter time. I am 100% solar-powered!!!! Please pray that I make it through another dark Utah winter this year.

5. Las Vegas is high class and old west all at once. We have high class shopping and fancy restaurants and elaborate hotels and night clubs and a huge gathering of celebrities any given day. But we also have lots of open desert land, horses, country music and cowboys galore too. And I love both vibes.

6. Locals Discounts on Awesome Shows. Las Vegas has AWESOME family friendly shows. And they almost all offer special locals discounts. This is how I have seen amazing shows like the Lion King, the Phantom of the Opera, the Blue Man Group, and Lance Burton, and other cool shows!

7. It just sounds cool. At college, everyone always asks where you are from. It’s okay if you say some small town that no one’s heard of. I will still like you.

But I feel pretty intense when I tell people I’m from VEGAS. And we have a cool sign. (And we are super defensive of our sign when people graffiti it.)

8. Best sunsets ever.



9. Our mayor never makes public appearances without showgirls. Not sure where I’m going with this, except that Las Vegas doesn’t take itself too seriously. Not that I am a supporter of the “sin” part of “Sin City” (because I’m not, sorry) but some other places you go feel really judge-y. Las Vegas people are the best in my opinion!! They take you for who you are and are friendlier than you’d think!

And no one from Vegas has ever tried to shank me, believe it or not.


10. Stay-cations. Most people don’t actually go to the Strip very often. In fact, unless they work there, most people avoid it because it’s where the tourists are. In the end, Las Vegas really is mostly a very normal town to grow up in. When I think of Las Vegas, I think of my house, my old schools, my church, the mountains, the palm trees, and the desert, not the Strip. But the Strip is a fun get-away for special occasions! You almost feel like you’re on vacation within your own town when you go out to eat or to a show down on the Strip!

Aaaand that is my top ten list. Feel free to agree/ disagree/ pass judgment/add to/ discuss any of these points in the comments!

Next stop: Vegas! AKA HOME.

PS "Oh my gosh it’s like Viva Las Vegas over there!" You know who you are and you better comment on my blog or I will hunt you down. Hugs!

Thoughts from the library

-I am reading my science book about deserts. Except not really because I am blogging.

-I love the desert. I think it’s even prettier than where it’s green.

-I don’t like being sappy or sentimental.

-Sometimes I look at other people’s blogs and they are so artistic and chic and I get jealous. Then again I am the one sticking pictures of pigeons and grizzly bears on my blog. But I think I like my blog how it is.

-I don’t like the color pink at all.

-I don’t understand over-dramatic people.

-I love the color blue so much that I have a hard time stopping myself from buying everything in that color. Right now within sight my computer is blue, my mouse is blue, my water bottle is blue, and my shirt is blue. Oh yeah, and this blog is blue.

- I need to work on the diversity of my wardrobe. Right now I don’t own a single green shirt. Or pink shirt. Or orange shirt. Maybe one yellow shirt.

-Last year I hated fall clothes. This year, I am really excited about all the trends in fall clothes and I want to go shopping to get some of them. Boots! Tights! Scarves! Dresses! Layers!

-But I am really, really, really happy that it is still warm. Being cold makes me cry.

-Maybe I should toughen up.

-I like going to lunch with Ashley. And when she breaks things in public and flees the scene. What a gangsta.

- I listen to Glee Pandora almost every day when I do homework in the library. Defying Gravity comes up way too often.

-I have this fear that I will be rocking out to music in the library and my ear-buds will slip out of my computer and I won’t notice.

- I love the Beatles. I listen to them every single day.

-Today is my friend’s birthday! She is twenty! I swear her last birthday was two weeks ago!

-I really don’t want to turn twenty!!! Guys, I am not ready to NOT be a teenager.

-Conclusion: I need to make a list of things to do in my last 4 months of being a teenager…. Make some suggestions in the comments! Ready GO!

Oh, and have a happy Friday! :)

T.G.I.F.

Things You Should NOT Follow:

-a kidnapper down a dark alley

-a garbage truck

-bad advice

-a funeral procession if you are not in it

-a bear cub when its momma is watching

Things You SHOULD Follow:

-the leader if you’re playing Follow the Leader

-your heart

-what is going on in the world

- the food pyramid

-THIS BLOG! Hey-oh!

Click “follow” up on the right hand side of my blog and become an official follower! Do it. It feels so good, I promise.

TGIF= Thank Goodness I'm Following (amy's blog)!!!!

And if you have been reading lately, leave me a comment; I’d love to read your blog too!

Things I Do Instead of Working On Accounting

My accounting class is pretty cool. I don’t have to go to a lecture every week because all the lessons are pre-recorded on a DVD. I just have to watch the lessons and take online quizzes.

It’s great for self-motivated people. Good job self-motivated people!

As for me, I usually open up the lesson on my computer in the library, put in my earbuds, watch for a few minutes, and then refer to the following list.

Things I Do Instead of Working On Accounting:

-crank up the Spice Girls and pull out my inner DIVA in my cubicle with little quiet mini-library dance moves

“Tell me what you want, what you really really want!

I'll tell you what I want what I really really want!”

-Think of things to write on my blog.

-Facebook.

-Gmail.

-Facebook again.

-Lay down and take the perfect library nap.

-Ask someone to watch my stuff while I walk to the bathroom, hoping that when I come back I’ll have a fresh vigor for Accounting.

-Nope.

-Look up fashion blogs and decide that starting tomorrow I am going to look really awesome.

-Read all the cooking blogs and become super hungry and swear that I am going to have all kinds of culinary adventures and cook every night like a master chef!

-Then remember that I never accomplish these things.

-The Spice Girls thing again.

-Read other people’s blogs.

-Wonder why Kesha is still not wearing pants.

-Tap my feet like I am a pretend under-the-desk-tap-dancer in training.

-Drink juice boxes. (Yes I am a college student. Yes I pack juice boxes in my backpack.)

-Repeat.

Oh and sometimes I take 100 webcam pics in the library just for kicks...

Accounting is coming along really great so far!!!

Running Is My Frenemy

Well, only if you say it like frENEMY..

Because it is so much more my enemy than my friend.

It is my friend because once in a long, long while, I go running and for a fleeting moment, it feels great.

But usually, I just die and wheeze my way back home.

If I was in this picture, I would be Ussain Bolt, but I wouldn't be winning the race, I would just be an entire lap behind everyone else....

Here is a list of people who are better runners than I am:

-the elderly

-chihuahuas

-snakes

-newborn babies

Today I think I am going to try to go on a run after classes, so I can feel cute and athletic and fit. Please think a little happy thought in your head for me. Something along the lines of my lungs not exploding.

Gratzi. You guys are the best. (But you’d be even better if you ever commented on my blog! HINT.)

My Life Plan

Ah, youth. A time when we wonder where life will lead us, who will come into our lives and how our decisions will affect our futures.

Well at least for other youth. I am very fortunate to know EXACTLY how my life will play out.

1. I will finish my bachelors in elementary education at BYU while having a great time and never sleeping and feeling wonderful all the time!

2. Then I will receive an offer to teach at an inner-city school in New York City. I will change those children’s lives and they will make a movie about me, AND I will be a city girl and live in a walk-up apartment and wear high heels and take taxis and they will make another movie about that.

3. Then I will attend a David Archuleta concert with my BFFs and David will see me in the crowd and send one of his security guards to get me after the concert after which we will talk into the early hours of the morning and fall deeply in love.

4. Then we will get married (Amy Archuleta? NICE! ) and he will sing to me at the reception with his sweet, soulful, exquisitely magical voice.

5. We will have a million children and live happily ever after.

SO glad that’s all figured out!! People who fret over life decisions are just silly.

Welcome to My Blogging Experiment!

So. Last night after checking what’s up on Facebook, reading my Gmail, looking to see if there were any cool shows on Hulu, clicking on Google News to find out what’s going on in the world, jamming to some tunes on Pandora, reading all the food blogs I could think of and making a list of recipes to try, looking up random clips on Youtube, and Googling references to things I’d heard during the day that I didn’t know about (Charlie St. Cloud is apparently a new movie coming out with Zac Efron in it… who knew?), and lots of doing productive things somewhere in there (promise)…. I lay in bed trying to sleep, but I kept tossing and turning. I couldn’t rid my mind of this one, burning question:

How can I find a way spend even MORE time on my computer????

And then, like a lightning bolt of inspiration, it came to me. I could start a blog. Because I am just THAT cool.

No but really I’m not, I just really like to write. So I want somewhere to write… things…..

But then I started thinking. 99% people with blogs have one of three things:

1. Adorable children with precious little pictures and stories of the hilarious things their little ones did.
2. Expensive cameras that take artistic pictures of their glamorous, hip lives at unique angles (usually in black and white) so they can put them on a fashionably chic blog layout covered with said pictures.
3. A really cool talent like cooking delicious food, making really cool crafts, or the ability to say really witty things.

Unfortunately, number 1 doesn’t work out because I have no children. I considered kidnapping some, but then I remembered that that’s a felony. I kid, I kid!

2. The only camera I have is a red Kodak Easy Share that I got two years ago before I went on a trip across the country. While I love it very much and have a very strong emotional bond with it, the pictures it takes ain’t nothin’ special. Sorry red Kodak Easy Share.

3. My only talents include: speaking double dutch, cracking every single joint in my body, sleeping through alarm clocks, and hooking my legs behind my head, and even that’s only on a really good day. In stretchy pants.

So I kept thinking on this. If I couldn’t have a REALLY cool blog, I at least wanted a reasonably OK one. I need a purpose!! So this is what I came up with:

My purpose is to not take life too seriously. When I think about it, hilarious, unexpected, awkward things happen to me like EVERYDAY. I AM AN AWKWARD MAGNET. Sometimes life gets stressful and I get too wrapped up in things to enjoy myself. So I am issuing a challenge to myself to find the humor in everyday life and laugh about it.

Why be happily ever after? I want to be happily ever NOW.

Now, I am not going into this overly optimistic. I fully realize that there is a very large chance that I will never follow through with this blog. I mean just look at this extensive list of things I intended to do and never finished:
-look presentable for class in college
-cook food that was remotely nutritious in college
-wake up early this summer
-this list…..

But then again, I have enough stories to write a book. I mean, in the past year alone, I’ve embarrassed myself so many times that I couldn’t even count.

Like I walked into CVS and asked if they had any old people. (I meant the magazine!)

I also got hit on by a boy who was farting as he hit on me.

One time, I even full on grabbed this boy’s thigh in the middle of a class in college. It was an accident, I swear. He was very startled.

Tune in for these stories and more, laterrrr……