Things

1. Planning a wedding kind of sucks. Maybe it's just not the fun part yet. But the part where you have to coordinate schedules and cram a lot of things into one day, and find a reception place what seems like months and months after everybody else has booked one? Yeah, that part kind of sucks.

2. Between my mom, Jason's mom, and Jason's sister Annie, though, life is going to be great. Yesterday I realized in a panic that we need to get a reception place pronto, and they all three jumped right on it and spent the day googling and making phone calls. I can't thank them enough.

3. When a slow-cooker recipe says "6-8 hours," it does not, in fact, mean, "this can be rounded up to 10-11 hours." And when you turn a slow-cooker on at 7:00am, and don't get back until 5:00pm, you have done your math very, very wrong if you think that is 6-8 hours. Because although the picture looks like this:

chances are extremely high that your chicken will be covered in a charred chunk of salsa, and that after three soakings and two scrubbings, the pot will still look like this:

I think it would be fair to say that I have quite a bit to learn in the cooking chicken department.

4. I wish I had something clever or creative or wonderful to write, but I do not. You can tell because I just spelled "write" "right" on accident.

good to know

clearly that was a list from jason, bless his heart.

i've learned a lot this week, mostly about creating webpages, writing mcom reports, and cramming for exams. but mainly i would like to share the three highlights.

1. stephen's limited edition pumpkin spice-flavored hot cocoa will not be returning in future years, because i can guarantee that nobody will buy a second jar of that shiz. seriously. imagine warm carrot juice. that's what it looks like. it's been four days since i drank it and i swear i can still taste it in my mouth. so. gross.

2. if you laugh at girls every morning for their skirts being all staticy and caught in their tights, like this (please note that that is her slip and not, in fact, a skirt):

don't wear tights and a skirt to school. karma, baby. i had a very, very long walk across campus this morning with a very slippery skirt..

3. having a roommate is kind of fun. bri's moved into my apartment for a few days so she can study for finals. and it's fantastic. who knew?! ps if anybody knows anybody who is looking for an apartment winter semester, lemmeeknow. this is approaching emergency status.

can it be christmas already?!
8 days til home. :))

state of the union

every time i start a new journal, the first page is a giant list of my loves and hates. this is not a new journal. clearly. but it just feels like time to make a list. also, i'm having a terrible day, and having already written a two-page email and multiple texts about it, it's quite frankly either a state of the union list or a ranty, whiny blog post continuing my complaining. so, count yo blessings, yo.

IN:

• the cocunuty deliciousness of almond joys
• sweaters
• uggs
• my sisters coming over on wednesdays
  
• mittens (pleasepleaseplease can it be cold enough for mittens yet?)
• getting my bangs cut
• watching people awkwardly flirt outside my office door
• studying in the extra office at work
• "you're his huckleberry whether you want to be or not."
  

OUT:

• accounting, especially bad debt expenses, and especially the test i need to take this week
  
• people being lame
• being homesick
• the mess that is my room
• the mess that is my desk at work
• not sleeping
• showering (oh wait..)
• fights with roommates
  
• biting the edges of my nails until they really really hurt and i have to put bandaids on
  
• hiring
• STOMACHACHES (can i be done yet?)
  
• gluten free bread
• pompous arrogant obnoxious students who come into the office
• not having enough time to get everything done
• not having enough time to get anything done
• art class
• wednesday, october 26, 2011
  

here's to happiness

ten things that make me terribly happy

( here )

10. that aubrey is home. :)

9. crepe bars at wedding receptions.

8. meeting lauren at said wedding reception.

7. getting a 91% on my isys test. (apparently i am incapable of getting anything except a 91 or 92 on any test this semester. weird.)

6. the new iphone operating system.

5. that my parents will be here in a month.

4. m.a.c. false lashes mascara

3. sushi.

2. costa vida, jersey shore, and soccer games.

1. heels and pencil skirts.

hitting all the important things..and then doing mah homework

a) i'm hot. like, literally. because i just woke up and last night the heat got set at 75 degrees and (surprise!) heat rises. so despite the fact that my window is open about two feet and every vent in my loft is closing, it is freaking hot. saaaavvveee mmmeeee.

b) i like football games and i'm happy there's one tonight.

c) yesterday brianna fed me at the cannon center not once, but twice. breakfast at that place is bomb.

d) the only thing better than getting a class cancelled is getting my once-a-week-four-hours-on-a-thursday-night class cancelled. because, let's be honest, four hours is way. too. long. especially when you suck at drawing. and i'd much rather experience ihop's pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes than sit in class.

e) last night zach and i went to real steel. was i a tiny bit skeptical? i was. but did i love it? i did. also, there was a six-year-old boy behind us who started the movie by telling his mom she was his "BFFF" over and over again, and provided commentary throughout the entire movie. some guy called a black guy "brother" in the movie and he goes, "he called him brother cause they're friends." so freaking cute.

f) aaaaand now a day of homework awaits me! plus it's 50% off at gap so that's probably gonna be happening too. and i desperately need a new pair of shoes because my vans give my blisters, my sperrys give my blisters, and nothing else is water-proof. great. i hate shoe shopping.

g) i'd really like to go make my to-do list now so that i can get everything done today. it would be really nice to have a day just to do nothing tomorrow.. so wish me luck.

h) jackets with thumb holes are the greatest invention ever.

i) also there's a parade outside. what's the parade for? i have no idea.

i just don't feel like putting pictures up

there are some things in my life that i'm really diggin right now. like, really, really diggin. (these things do not include: the rose thorn that sliced my right palm open two days ago and still hurts, the customer service system at wall street journal, the gash i put in the side of my car trying to park on wednesday, or the mind-numbingly boring statistics professor bri and i listen to for three hours a week.)

first and foremost, having a sister who is a freshman is the best. thing. ever. no exaggeration. not only because she feeds me lunch sometimes at the cannon center, but also because, when i have an hour break between my normal classes and my four hour (FOUR HOUR!) art class on thursdays, i can pop right over to her dorms and take a quickie nap. beauty.

second, accounting class is full of some w.e.i.r.d.o.s. (no offense to dan or zach, both of whom are cool enough to prove that accounting can, in fact, be a respectable major.) we're assigned a new seat every day in class, which certainly mixes things up, allowing me to meet some fun people (jason, elise) and some strangies (coughMATSONcough). it keeps things exciting. mostly i just love watching those more ..interesting.. people (a) flirt with girls, and (b) make conversation. magic.

third, pumpkin bread. i feel strongly about pumpkin bread. strongly positive. and i made two loaves this week. so i'm feeling strongly positive about life. (also can we talk for a second about bbq chicken sandwiches? FAVORITE.)

fourth, sleep. sleep is a beautiful thing. even more beautiful as of today, when i was getting the mail at work and found a request for 18-55 year old pre-menopausal women to perform a simple sleep study and receive $100. pretty sure i fit the description. pretty sure i'd like $100. pretty sure that's going to be happening.

fifth, i am such a fan of being busy that i cannot even explain it. work eight to twelve, class til three, appointments, art class, kickboxing, or homework til evening, something fun til bedtime, sleep. begin again. love it. way more than i should.

sixth and last, the rain at this moment. rain in the loft sounds freaking incredible. it's raining really hard. and i can hear the cars splashing in the puddles. so even though it's messing with my plans to get free jdawgs tonight, i'm liking it.

thank you and good-bye.

a few facts

1. i clean my room an average of twice a day.
2. not eating gluten isn't as hard slash bad as i thought it would be.
3. but my tummy still hurts, so me + gluten /= bad, i think. (that's supposed to be an equals sign with a slash through it, not a slash and then equals.)
4. speaking of equals signs, a tiny part of me is a tiny part excited to take my first math(ish) class(es) since ap calc. (accounting, statistics)
5. i actually read the aeneid yesterday, as opposed to sparknotesing it as i am prone to do. puhhhlease be proud.
6. making cookies with rice flour = utter fail. because a) it tastes weird, and b) baking soda is a no-no--hello gluten--and therefore so is cooking the cookies.
7. the one good part of that whole mess was that i only made 1/4 of a recipe.
8. aubski came home last night. hadn't seen that girl since tuesday, no joke. it was joyous.
9. cinnamon chex are the new love of my life.

odds & ends.

a) aubrey and i watched music and lyrics last night. i lovelovelove aubrey jean truman. she is the most hilarious, most fun, sweetest girl in the whole entire world and also she taught me about putting junior mints in the freezer which started me on a junior mint phase, frozen or not. YUM.

b) speaking of phases, i have eaten four tuna sandwiches in the last 36 hours. that translates into a tuna sandwich for dinner, a tuna sandwich for breakfast, a tuna sandwich for lunch, and a tuna sandwich for dinner. I LOVE TUNA SANDWICHES.

c) speaking of watching music and lyrics, i fell asleep during it. because it was two in the morning. so then i went to climb into my bed. where i proceeded to lay awake until 4:00 this morning. neat.

d) paige is my fuhhhhrrraaavvorite. our best days are the days when we take pictures of our lives. so awkward. so wonderful. like this gem, which my darling clementine captured at the tax place today. not really sure where she was. all i know is, the picture of her lap which she sent me was covered in tax papers.

no cell phones, no weapons. good to know.

e) my tummy hurts almost all the time. so i went to the doctor on monday. starting next tuesday, i'm supposed to start a gluten-free trial. i am crossing my fingers so hard that that isn't what's the matter with me.. pleasepleaseplease..

f) yesterday chels and i talked for the first time in three weeks. oh my gosh it was beautiful. i miss that girl every day of my life.

g) my favorite material possession in the entire world currently is my zebra striped blanket.

h) i'm guest posting over here today. on account of that paige's family just moved this week and she is now living at her ex-boyfriend's house and has no internet unless she uses her ex-boyfriend's computer to which she cannot find the charger.

clearly it's just better if she has a week of guest posts.

i) and most excitingly, my family is officially in utah!! this is what my weekend looks like: get off work, go home to pack, drive to salt lake, and then family reunionnnn. wooooo.

can we talk for a moment about some numbers?

sometimes i just like to be like aubs. actually, if we're being honest, always i like to be like aubs.

days until i'm twenty: 19
ounces of water i've drunk today: 52
times i've peed in the last two hours: 3
peanut butter banana chocolate chip sandwiches i've eaten today: 2
art projects i get to work on this weekend: 4
hours of work between today and next friday: 46
miles in the half marathon i'm running in october: 13.1
goals i really care about: 3
years until i graduate: 3 (unless i get my masters at byu. then plus one, babyy)
feet the candy jar is from me on my desk: 1.5
times i've opened it today: 0
hours of taylor swift i've listened to so far today: 7
advils i've taken in the past two days: 8
page number i opened my computer book to in order to pretend like i was reading it even though it's friday and i have no desire to learn anything: 120

and now my heart stumbles on things i don't know

(song of the week: awake my soul)

another nice part of being home is that my wallet can sit untouched on my nightstand for two weeks, and my bank account can stay unopened for even longer. today i bought something for the first time since i've been home. my purchase consisted mostly of new running shorts and i love them. i took my new shoes out for the first time today, since it's miraculously not snowing, raining, or windy for once in minnesota's history.

i'm obsessed. they're nike lunar elite 2, and i felt like i was running on air. some runs are just like that, and they remind me why i run. i listened mostly to chill music--noah and the whale, ingrid michaelson, regina spektor, mumford and sons--until i was tired, and then i switched to my usual running music--ke$ha, rihanna, kanye--to push through to the end. and when i was done, i stretched on my driveway and wanted to do it all over again.

other things i'm liking right now:

*this lion picture which paige made for me:

*people who say "what's wrong? talk to me :(" and actually want to listen.

*that chelsea found these puggles at the pet store and i get to play with them when i go to denver for memorial day weekend.

*mandarin orange salad and homemade rolls. i ate at least a gallon of salad for lunch. yuuummmm.

*finding a new blog that i can't get enough of, and reading every post ever written in the last three years.

*that all of my supposed-to-be wedding activities have passed, so i don't have to suddenly realize "i should be getting married right now," or "i should be at my minnesota reception right now."

*buds starting to speckle the trees. i love spring. i live for spring. and it is almost here. :)

this is what i love right now.

-having a child to distract me during church.

-having a child pee on me during church, allowing me to go home to change.

-writing missionaries. but mostly getting letters from missionaries. or letters from anyone, really.

-fast sunday.

-calling my sister in the next room to talk on the phone because i don't feel like getting up.

-learning html.

-doing my review job. (not even kidding.)

-pencil skirts and black heels.

-sophie kinsella books. i secretly love that awkward situation (that happens altogether too frequently) in which i am reading a book and cannot stop laughing out loud to myself.

-finally finally starting to get better.

-not forgetting to write my grandma my weekly sunday letter. :)

-the relief society sisters having a lively conversation about how to be honest when a) the color is nice but that dress does make your butt look big, and b) looking at the ugliest kid they have ever laid eyes on at the supermarket.

-just letting everything be okay in spite of (or perhaps because of) life.

statistics.

i love lists. so here's another one.

this semester i have:

flown 9392 miles,

driven 5378 miles,

spent 19 hours on an airplane

and 66 hours on roadtrips,

spent 7 weeks not in rexburg

and only 5 weekends in rexburg.

i discovered that i'm allergic to strawberry milkshakes,

watched 62 hours of gossip girl with chels and quincy,

had my wisdom tooth removed,

spent $911 on my car,

went to both the east and the west coast,

transferred to byu,

got two new jobs,

and used four boxes of bandaids.

puhhh-leaaasssee

things i hate

-when people hold hands at the gym while moving from machine to machine. or while walking around the track. really, people? could you please just do your own thing for, like, five seconds?

-making eye contact with people you used to know but now have zero social obligation to.. and then walking past them three more times and having to do it all over again.

-finding books at the library at byu-i. which is the single most confusing library i have ever set foot in.

-that my favorite jeans are getting a hole.

-when the dvd remote gets lost. which means we have to watch gossip girl on the computer. yayyy.

-chelsea: "i have a vitamin d deficiency." me: "what exactly does that mean?" chelsea: "it means my body doesn't have enough vitamin d." thaaaank youu chels.

-that girls start busting out the flip flops when the temperature hits forty.

-oreo pizza at craigo's. oh wait. just kidding. that stuff is heaven on a plate.