Good Things, Christmas Break Edition.

There are so many good things in life to enjoy! Here's just a few I've been enjoying recently . . .

-Red Robin Guacamole Bacon Burger and sweet potato fries.
-goofing off with Mom and Jen
-a new pair of slippers
-listening once more to John Mackey's Hymn to a Blue Hour
-getting a new nephew! Welcome to the family, Ethan Michael Steele!
-Eggnog. Mmm. Love that stuff!
-borrowing some of Heidi's cute clothes
-2 phone calls from Heidi within 2 weeks. Not bad at all. =)
-running. Well, it's more like jogging. But I'm enjoying it so far.
-beautiful weather
-rewatching The Help. Yup, it still makes me cry.
-reread of The Hunger Games (Thanks, Kerri, for letting me borrow them!)
-temple trip with Hannah.
-cheesy movies with the fam
-sleeping in. Mmm. And for that matter, staying up late.
-time to practice.
-the random video chats with my niece Sarah. What a doll!
-upcoming trip to the Bowl Game in Texas! (Yahoo!)
-free reign of the (soon to be in-tune) piano
-and of course, daily phone calls with Jacob! That's probably up on the "absolutely-fantastic-just-about-makes-my-day" list.

If 2012 is full of things like this .. ..well then, bring it on! =)

More in Store

Remember when I talked about my feelings about Wind Symphony in a previous post? Well, I've realized another reason why the Lord placed me in Wind Symphony this year, and it's not just the opportunity to play with an incredible band or tour Europe.

It's because He knew I needed to meet Jacob.

I think the Lord is rewarding me for the desires I left unexpressed in those countless hours of practicing and praying. It's like my life is like a box of chocolates . . .only it's double layered when I thought it was only one. =)

Christmas Cheer

Check out what I've been doing lately to get ready for the Christmas season!

First Time, Delilah

A few years ago when I got a new Lifehouse album, the CD came with an internet code for a free ringtone of their song "First Time". Of course, I jumped on it because I didn't have any cool ringtones on my phone. Plus also, I really like that band.And since it was my favorite ringtone, I set it for boy in my contact list that I was most interested in at the time. (Sometimes, it was 2 or 3 people, but mostly just one). That way, when he'd call (which c'mon here. NEVER. happened.), I'd get a double hit of happiness.

Then I went on a mission and I got a new phone when I came home. And I tell you what, with this new phone, there are NO good ringtones. Everyone else in the Blake family can attest to that .. .we all have the same phone. Heidi's phone was a different model, so somehow she still had a couple of past ringtones that had been sent to her. So using her phone, I sent a couple of them to me. (I don't even think she knew I did that). Now my best ringtone is Plain White T's "Hey There, Delilah." Eh, not my favorite song, but it's way better than the default Verizon tune, no matter how jazzed up it is. (My friend later sent me a Mario ringtone, which is pretty cool, but I overused it by setting it on my default. So, it's not special anymore.)

Now that I had a special ringtone, I had to set it! I definitely had it set for one contact over the summer. I almost set it for another guy, too, but when he heard my Mario ringtone, he thought that was way cool. So I left that one for him . ..and every other default person that called me.

Then, you know, summer ended. And I changed all my ringtones back to default. Nothin' there guys. Of all the male contacts in my phone, there just wasn't one special one worth changing my ringtone for.

Then, you know, the semester's ending. And I changed just one rigntone to not be default. Somethin' there in a guy. Of all the male contacts in my phone, I've found the special one worth changing my ringtone for.

So, if you think you're it, call me when you're with me and listen for Delilah. =)

Baths

Before you think I actually take baths, well . . . I don't. For several reasons.

1) college apartment tub. DIS-GUST-ING!! How many naked people have used that tub? Ew, gross, right? Never ever ever will I take a bath in a college apartment, no matter how sore my muscles are.
2) The idea of soaking in water that turns lukewarm rather quickly? Ew. And how would you wash your hair?
3)Time. Like I ever have that.
4)The soap scum and hair that'll line the bottom of the tub. Bleck. I want to puke just imagining it.

Needless to say, my favorite alternative to taking baths is just not doing anything. OK, well, I do shower . . .when I remember.

Anyway, that's not what this post is about. This post is about Christmas shopping. How, you ask? Well, I was thinking of buying one of those old-fashioned claw-foot metal tubs . ..
Nope.

I was going to buy some nice bath or after-bath accessories, like body lotion and yummy smelling body wash or soap. Can't you just smell the scrumptious scents of Bath and Body Works? It's like a party in your nasal cavity!

Hmm.
Lovely holiday scents. Delicious.
Clean-smelling goodness. Delightful.

(It won't make up for the grossness of taking a bath in a college apartment, though).

So, I cruised on over to Bath and Body Works tonight to buy some. Not really for me, though. (It's Christmas; don't ask questions!). There was a car backing out right near the door, so I totally scored his awesome parking spot. And then I walked in and realized . . .

I had walked into Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
And I didn't even want to buy anything there.
Doh.
I must be a pretty amateur Christmas shopper.
But I bet there was at least one holiday shopper who saw me parking in that spot. And I bet by the time he had parked significantly farther away and walked up to the door of the store, he would've realized that my parking spot was now empty.

Alas, I still don't have my lovely lotions and smelly soaps.

Hey!

Hey is a good word. It has lots of wonderful usages.

The ever-repetitive cheer in The Hey Song. (pretty dumb song anyway).

The universal "greet and nod" word used when you encounter people you sort of know.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

your roommate's friends that you don't know very well
a previous crush that you've definitely been over for a while
someone you know you know from class, work, your previous or current ward, or your mission
someone from your home stake who you've never seen since living in that stake
relatives that you should know better, but you don't
and all sorts of other random people you've met once upon a time.

The first word of Hey, Baby! Also the first word of Hey, Soul Sister. Both of which are very good songs.

It's a rill good attention getter. It's a catchy word.

A great word to say on road trips when you see hay bales in the fields to the side of the road. People fall for it all the time. (Think it through peeps).

An incredibly professional greeting for when you meet the president of your school. At least I thought so, when I so blatantly blurted it out upon meeting Pres. Samuelson last Saturday. Oh well.

Lockers

I have three lockers at school. My bass clarinet locker is a new locker from when the instrument lockers were redesigned this summer. The new lockers don't have a latch or anything; after you get to the last number, you just turn it a little more to the right and it clicks open. It should be easy, right?

Ha. It's not. It usually takes me about three times before I can open it.

Because of the redesign of the instrument lockers, smaller instruments are no longer provided with lockers in that area of the HFAC. So I have a locker for my clarinet in the photography wing of the HFAC (10 pts to any HFAC dweller who can tell me where that is!). It's a regular locker, but for some reason, it took me a least a dozen spins of the dial to get it to open correctly today. I felt rill ding-dang-dong stupid. And since it's on the bottom, I normally just squat to open it and quickly grab my instrument. But no, today, I had to literally kneel down on the ground, put my stuff in my arms on the ground, spin the dial with one hand and hit the locker with the other. Did it open? Good golly, not yet! It just needed a good kick. Ok, great. Now I have my instrument. Fast forward a couple of hours, and I have to open the locker again to put my instrument away. Yet again, another ding-dang-dong stupid feeling moment. Normally the traffic in that hall of lockers is very limited. But no, today the girl who has the locker two away from mine came to her locker at the same time. "Oh great, she'll think I don't know how to work the locker combination." I wasn't wanting another lesson on "Spin clockwise to the first number, spin counter-clockwise for the next number, passing it once, spin clockwise to the third number and lift latch." Yeah, the spinning part is great, it's the latch part that's the catch (play on words, get it?). Another kick, another slam, another sigh of frustration, and FINALLY, I could open my locker! And it was shortly after that other girl came, too, so she didn't see me looking like a fool talking to an inanimate object in frustration. Yay.

Oh, but then, I get to the stadium for marching band. I have another locker there for my marching clarinet and music. Normally I have no problems whatsoever with the lock or locker. But when I get to the stadium today, I realize that I hadn't properly closed it the last time, so it was still wide open.

Yeah. I remember in fourth grade when we first started using lockers at Parker Elementary, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Definitely not anymore.

Opposites

So I was talking to my roommates the other night about boys. It's a common conversation topic among us girls. What's not so common is that the four of us are ever home to have these types of conversations (and actually, the night I'm thinking of, there were only three of us). And to be honest, since school started, I don't think about boys nearly as much as I did over the summer. Mostly 'cause I'm busy with other stuff. Like school, work, band, my calling (which doesn't really involve many guys), etc. But occasionally, I cast a thought in the direction of the opposite gender.

Here's a recent discovery I made.

A few months ago I had a big crush on a guy in my ward (who will remain nameless for the sake of my anonymous blog audience here). He was very attractive, he's very smart and friendly, and he's a hard worker, and he was a good listener. Which, if you know me at all, you know I like to talk. Bonus points, right? As I got to know him more, I realized that we didn't really have a lot in common. Our interests were about as opposite as night and day. I'm pretty sure he had never set foot in the HFAC, and he probably had no idea what a clarinet even looked like. Yeah, it was that bad. And his sense of humor . .. .okay, his lack of humor, really .. .was so not like mine. I had to remember not to tell corny jokes or puns around him because he never got them, and then I would just feel ridiculous trying to explain why the pencil joke had no point. Sigh. Sad, eh? Yet, I still liked him quite a bit. I felt all giddy and excited around him-sometimes to the point where I didn't know what to say or how to act. And of course, I always tried to sit next to him at church and find excuses to talk to him .. . you know, the normal signs. But then he moved, and I got over him (unlike Ernie and his childhood fish). On the plus side, it's nice to be able to get over a crush quickly, especially when I didn't even have a rebound!

Fast forward to fall semester. New friends, new stuff, new ward, lots of new things. And I'm discovering the exact opposite of what happened to me this summer!! Here's how. So, I'm starting to be pretty good friends with some new people, and one guy in particular is very much like me. He's not crazy enough to study music like me, but he enjoys it. Quite a bit, actually. Not only does he enjoy my lame sense of humor, but he has a pretty lame humor himself. He's so easy to talk to, and I always feel comfortable around him. Not only does he let me talk and listen to me, but he always contributes, too, so I don't feel dumb for dominating the conversation. I feel good when I'm around him, and he always makes me smile. Here's the catch. I just don't feel attracted to him!! I should, right? He fits everything on my "future husband" list that I rewrote and revised about a dozen times over the last several years of my life. I feel good when I'm around him, yet I don't have that excited "Hey-I-really-like-you" feeling around him, and I'm not constantly trying to be aware of him. (You know what I'm talking about, right?). That spark just isn't there no matter how much I wish it could be there.

So, maybe by the next time my roommate conversation about boys comes up again, I'll finally have it right! I'll actually feel excited AND comfortable around a boy I like! I'll keep you updated.

Corned Beef

A random title for a random post. But it's all true.
For being canned meat (doesn't that just give you a gross image?), corned beef isn't bad. And it's rill good in a casserole dish . ..you know, with white sauce, cheese and bread. Yummy! And it's prolly pretty tasty fried, but I've never tried it that way. But I think I've figured out a few reasons why it's not a staple in the American diet:
1. It's dang expensive. $5+ for one can. Just think: you can buy another can that has the letters "C-o-r-n" for as low as $.69. . . . Hmm.
2. What is it made out of anyway? How is it made? Who really knows? And what makes it corned? And how is "corn" a verb? I don't get it.
3. Well, have you looked at it raw? Gross. Especially the off-white fatty chunks molded into it.
4. "And I'd like one of those meat cans you have to open with a key" (10 pts for anyone who really knows what I'm quoting). Seriously. A key?! Keys are usually used to open cool things, like your apartment or car door, the mailbox, a safe deposit box .. .but food? (That makes it sound like food is not cool, but it often is). Why do you need a key to open food? It's like a finger obstacle course for a fat guy. You probably burn brain calories trying to figure out how to open it. Either that or you injure yourself. Or you accidentally break off the tab thing, and you're left with a key and nowhere to insert it. Great. An unopenable can of gross looking expensive meat. But if by some miracle, you master the key thing, how do you get it to come out of the can? Yeah, you got half an inch stickin' out, but how do you get the rest of it out? Then comes the awkward downward thrusts of the can to oblige the fatty meat to slide on outta there. But usually, besides not helping the meat come out, it just makes you wonder once again why you even bought that expensive, mysterious, seclusive chunk of meat in a can.

Baby Steps

For those of you who haven't heard yet, my wonderful brother, Spencer, and his equally wonderful wife, Whitney, have been approved to adopt!! Theirs has been and will continue to be a long and emotional journey to find their baby, but anyone who knows them can't help but love them. As I follow their story, I can't help but love them more and more. And I know that somebody out there will come across their profile and love them as much as we do. Someone out there will love and trust them enough to place their baby in their loving home.
Whitney and Spencer are two of the most beautiful people you will ever meet. Seriously. Besides looking beautiful (all the time), they act beautifully in everything that they do. Spencer will always bring a smile to your face. It may be his zumba moves on the local news station, his funny sayings or nicknames, or just his general ability to make you feel comfortable and inspired. Whitney creates beauty in everything she does. Be it scrapbooking, sculpting, making cards, taking pictures or just making masterpieces out of everyday stuff . ..she is amazing.
I've always felt that beauty is an expression of love. So I kid you not when I tell you that Whitney and Spencer have the greatest love to offer.
Help them find their baby!
Here is a link to their adoption profile, and you can follow their blog here.
Like them on facebook, follow them online. Spread the word to those you know. The more people who check out their profile, the more likely they will find their baby.
I promise it won't take you a long time to fall in love with them like we have.

Diligence Pays Off

I tend to put lots of details in my stories. Here's one just like that.

So once upon a time, I didn't think I'd still play in concert bands after my mission. The old ElEd program prevented me from taking classes during rehearsal times, so I just assumed that the year before my mission would be my last year in Wind Symphony. Which was way cool, because we ended with a bang with our tour to Korea and Japan.

But then, I got home and things changed. I missed playing in band soo much. When I first got back, I learned that my major program changed a little bit, requiring an additional minor and yet another semester of school. At first I was a little bummed. But then, I realized that with those changes . ..I could still be in band! And then I realized that the Wind Symphony was touring. Again. International tour. Again. I thought of it as "Wow, that would be really cool, but I don't know how I can do it and still be on track to graduate . . ." But it just kept creeping back into my thoughts.

And then the clincher for me was one class of Institute. Yeah, surprisingly I got something out of Institute over the summer. That particular day, we discussed Elder Oaks' talk about desire. It was sitting in that room when I realized I had a desire. And I needed to work to achieve that desire.

For me the tour hype isn't so much as traveling to another part of the world. To me, the tour experience is a missionary experience. We share something that is so much a part of who we are, and it literally does invite people to come unto Christ. I remember having those same feelings right before our Asia tour as well. So, I started praying rill hard to have the opportunity to tour again.

But as I learned in Institute, desires or faith without action do no good. So I started practicing. Thanks to good home teachers who inspired me to work on a personal goal for the month, I made a personal goal to practice more often. I even set a goal to not read a pleasure book (one of my favorite summer pasttimes) until I had practiced. I admit, I hadn't practiced much (or hardly at all really) since before my mission. But I started it up again. Scales and etudes have always been tough for me because technicality just isn't my thing, but I started with those anyway. Luckily, I few days after I started practicing, I received the specific audition materials! That got me really working. I'd spend an hour or so a day, just working on those 6 short orchestra excerpts, often times later in the evening. I even scheduled a lesson with Dr. Hinckley who gave me lots of help. I tried to remember to pray every time I started practicing, and that helped my practice sessions a whole lot. I even found time to practice during band camp week. Who knew there was extra time in that week? It felt so good to notice improvement in myself, and I seemed to be making a lot of life connections from practicing to other aspects of life. Meanwhile, I just kept working and praying.

Fast forward to the first day of school. Audition time for pretty much every studio in the School of Music. Clarinet studio auditions are blind auditions, and mine went pretty well, I suppose. I honestly don't remember at all how I played. All I remember is feeling so calm. About everything. I wasn't nervous, I wasn't over-confident, I wasn't in tears, I wasn't angry. I was just calm. It's like that feeling you get in the temple I suppose.

I received the results today. Not only did I make the Wind Symphony, but I placed second. That's the highest I've ever placed in the Wind Symphony since even before my mission!! And I was assigned to play in an orchestra this year, too! (I still have mixed feelings about that one because I'm assigned to play bass clarinet which I've never ever played before in my life).
I think the main feeling I have right now is .. .well, definitely an element of surprise for how well I did, but mostly it's just gratitude. And an even greater knowledge that the Lord knows what He's doing. He knows who needs to be in that touring band, and He made it possible for those people to be in it. I'm not meaning to praise my playing ability by any means when I say that, but I have an even greater testimony now of how the Lord rewards our righteous desires and diligent efforts. I haven't even had our first rehearsal yet, and I'm already super excited for the touring year. =)

In My Element

Well, folks, I've finished another successful week of Band Camp with the BYU Cougar Marching Band. In just a few days, I have:

-memorized and passed off several tunes
-made lots of new friends
-had a good time with lots of old friends who are still in band
-got fitted for my uniform
-drank lots and lots of water
-sweat lots and lots
-got several shades redder . .. well, just darker, really.

With my section I have:
-had a pre-band camp party
-dressed up as a dementor to help us win the spirit stick on Harry Potter day
-made too many lame jokes. They already know me for that.
-helped section members learn and pass off music

With the entire band, I have:
-enjoyed the Band Social and lasagna dinner on Wednesday night
-been filmed by a BYU news team (we might be famous!)
-played at the New Student Orientation presentation thing in the stadium
-learned/played over 40 tunes. Oh yeah, you better believe it.
-come up with some cool new visuals for our stand cheers.
-learned the entire Pregame show
-learned the opener for Show A (I can't give away any secrets, but I am going to say that it'll be pretty awesome)
-learned half of our opener for the Rocky Mountain show.

And then there's just the random things from band camp, like giving rides to section members, going out to eat with random baritone players, and eating lunch with fellow Nauvoo Band members (from the original 2008 family). And then there's the things that make me laugh, like Bro. Mac's great quotes (Don't be a musical chicken!), the sexy sax man theme, the way we all try to cram in the shade of the Rameumptum during water breaks because there is literally no other shade on the hot asphalt. Oh, and then there was a day that was supposed to be super hot, and there ended up being a nice cloud cover and a sprinkling of rain.

My friend Lisa said it well when she said that what makes band kids unique is that we're so comfortable around each other. And I would have to agree. Band puts me in my element. With band buddies, I feel the most like myself. And there's nothing comparable to the feeling you get when you nail a drill or hit that awesome set or totally tear through that tough lick. So even though I'm still in awe that the week has ended so quickly, it was probably one of the greatest weeks I've had all summer. What can I say. I LOVE BAND!

Random Ramblings #7

75. I thought about posting about the temple tonight. But I already chose my music playlist for the evening, and it's just not the right music to write about the temple. So that will be an upcoming post, I'm sure.
76. I am really suffering for good food over the last several days. Dinner without dinner group is just a weird concept for me. Plus also, when do I have time to go shopping anyway?
77. I've recently started to like the song "If I Die Young" by the Band Perry. Interestingly enough, I don't like any of Katie Perry's music, and Christina Perry is hit and miss on the goodness of her music. What is it with music artists named Perry anyway?
78. It's laundry time. I have to wash all my shorts so I can wear shorts every day next week at band camp. And I'm finally washing my sheets because it's been too long.
79. Speaking of band camp, I got to climb the "Rameumptum"! Really, it's just the new fancy band tower we have. Contrary to what the song says, there really is room for 2 or 3 (upwards of 8 people! . .haha .. upwards, get it?!), and it's awesome.
80. I have a strong urging to buy a book right now. There's a few reasons why I don't buy many pleasure books. a)I'm a transient student and books take up a lot of room. b)I'm a student . ..two good libraries within walking distance provide me with all the access to books that I really want. c) I'm a student . .. do I have much time to read? d) As much as I like to read, some books are only worth checking out of the library for free instead of actually buying them and hanging on to them forever.
80.1. So what I really want to buy is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I read it earlier this summer, and I loved it! Yesterday Lisa and I went to see the movie . ..soo good! I laughed, I cheered, I cried . .. it was intense-like camping! We sat there after the movie . ..still on the very front row (great seats, right?) just in speechless awe and the greatness of the emotional journey we had just been on. It was awesome. And now I want to read it again! It will probably be my lazy-mood-but-don't-know-what-to-do-mood. Lazy won't come around often enough during Fall semester, but if it's a book that I've already read and already loved . . .it'll be worth buying it, right?
81. Somehow this week I was privileged to join a group of guys as they talked about girls. For being the only female in the group, I got a small glimpse into how guys talk about girls. It was very interesting.
82. I'm currently listening to the song "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. (See how I can't really write about the temple with that playing?) Anyway, it reminds me of a couple of summer friends in particular. Sigh. Dearest summer, I will miss you.
83. But I am SOO ready for fall! Football games, pumpkin pie, crunchy leaves, new friends, busy schedule . . .man, I am soo ready! Intimidated a little, perhaps. But my roommate Rebecca gave me a new insight; for how busy and overwhelmed my activities may seem .. .it's the people that make it worth it all. Instead of eating that giant elephant one bite at a time, the goodness of the people make it like eating a very large pie. You can't finish it all at once, but every bite of it sure tastes rill good. Especially that pumpkin kind, ya know.
84. Wanna know a secret? I'm not the only person that can touch my tongue to my nose! Kevin can too!

85. There are so many more things I'd like to write about tonight . ..like my most recent date, my transient roommates, band camp, my awesome new job, and my new calling. But why overload it all on my blog, right? I gotta spread it out otherwise it'll be overkill. For me and for my readers.
86. So folks, thanks for reading my random ramblings tonight. May all your wildest dreams come true. Which reminds me . .I dreamed that I was on a cruise ship with my clarinet professor and some other friends. We looked out the window and we saw the letters "EFY" painted on the mountainside. Weird.

Happy Halloween!

Pre-story: Our bishop wants the ward people to be dating. So, the Relief Society organized a date auction activity . ..etc, etc .. . .long story short: Brett got to carve watermelons with me! (There really is a pre-pre story to that if you're really interested, but for the protection of the innocent, I'll leave out all the details). Now here's the real story!
Cutting and gutting. The watermelon, of course. Not each other, silly . . .

Notice the lovely aprons. Brett was a good sport to put one on, even though we didn't splatter nearly as much as I thought we would.

2. Cutting the face. Thanks to Todd's pumpkin carving tool, we made a pretty wicked cool face. Check it out:


But then, we created the mood, and here's what it REALLY looked like:

Oooh! Scary! But pretty cool, if I do say so myself. We can look just as scary . .. well, we tried anyway.

But you know, carved watermelons in the middle of August just put you in a Halloween mood, don't you think? It did for us! Here's what we did next . . .

We dressed up and went trick-or-treating!!!
My costume was pre-made (thanks to my ol' high school days), but we did have fun putting together Brett's mummy costume. Sadly, it didn't really last very long . ..he kept trailing toilet paper everywhere we went. I'd say we looked pretty scary. At least scary enough to get a lot of food! Either that, or people were just a bit weirded out to see two costumed people with a carved watermelon on their front doorstep asking for treats. What can I say-people LOVED us!! We totally made bank! Mostly from our ward friends who actually know us when we're not dressed up and knocking on their doors at random hours on a Friday night. Here's a picture of the spoils:

We inherited the pumpkin basket from Jessica's apartment . .. the very last apartment we went to. After coming home and taking inventory of our booty, we promptly ate the cake we got from N3, half of the cookies from N6, the fruit snacks from somebody in South. Likewise, we promptly threw away the mysterious packaged donut from Shalista (name has been changed to protect the innocent), the cough drops (yeah, because whoever gave them to us was probably sick anyway), and the half empty salsa jar from the Taj. (Really, from the Taj? I'm not sure if anything can be trusted!!) We divided up the rest of the booty.
As much fun as these pictures are, there were just some things that can't be pictured. Like the surprised looks on people's faces when they opened the door. Or the snowcones that a random stranger in the Elms gave us. Yes, my friends. Snowcones!! Best. Treat. Ever!! .. .at least for a midnight trick-or-treat run. Nor can I show our scary voices as we told people to "Open the door!!" And although I can't show a picture, if I were to tell you that I had random fits of giggles at the silliness of what we were doing . ..I bet you can imagine that, too. And if you know me at all, you can probably imagine how much fun I had on my Halloween date with Brett. Happy Halloween everyone!

A Very Fulfilling Day

Today's checklist:

• sell back textbooks. $24
  
• have fun at work. Make an awesome design for the Band CD jacket label. Oh, and did I mention that I LOVE my job?! =)
  
• eat free food with Catering/Morris Center crew. Pizza.
  
• study with a friend, Dre. I almost asked him for his number so we can be friends outside of class . . .oops, botched that one!
  
• take a final. Earn an A. That definitely was the easiest term of classes I've ever taken!!
  
• prep Relief Society things. Schedule a presidency meeting.
  
• practice my clarinet
• volunteer at the MTC. Oh, hey, they changed the TRC policy! Now we go as ourselves instead of acting as investigators, less actives or recent converts. And they are definitely teaching the lessons based on the 8 doctrinal points that the Church has come out with over the last year or so. It's especially cool volunteering there now.
  
• go to dinner group. Watch Robert fail at trying to eat 6 saltines in 1 minute. You try it . ..it looks a little tough.
• Watch about 20 minutes of TV.
• Eat about half a dozen cookies that Rebecca made. (Not all at once, of course . . .)
• Stop by the library to see if there are any good movies to check out. There weren't.
• Dodge the sprinklers in front of Chatsworth that were turned on ALL day.
• Play headers with Katy and Lauren with her awesome 99-cent Macey's ball.
• Go for a run with Brett.
• Hang out with the boys in S5. That's definitely a guys' apartment. We talked about cars, guitars, and guns.
  
• Watch part of a freaky movie with my roommates.
• Schedule an appointment online through the DMV to get my Utah Drivers' License.
• Make this blog post.
• And phew! Finally go to bed!

Blog post search and find: Where do the following fit into the context? (I'll reward cookies to the person who finds the most!)
the name of my summer crush
cumin
a free fun size KitKat
the Church Handbook of Instructions
my social security number
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New Friends

Like I promised, my next post is on NEW FRIENDS! But by now, they really seem like old friends because I feel like I've known them for a long time. It's only just been this summer! Sadly, I haven't been taking very many pictures either, but let it be known that I have really great friends. Let's play who's who . . .Try to identify who fits which description in the pictures.
Who in this picture will be my new roommate in the fall? (Hint: Her name is Kerri)
Who in this picture is a photographer for the Daily Universe? (Clue: Her name is Stephanie.)

Who in this picture has a brand new nephew (his first one, actually)? (Look for someone named Jordan)
Who speaks with a nice Southern accent? (We call him Keith)
Who has been on a helicopter ride in the last year? (Miss Duvall, aka Beth)
Who has the best Chaco tan line I've ever seen? (Hint: His name is Matt)
Who is the coolest roommate? (I'd be sad if you don't get this one)
Which two people talked about linguistics during the entire descent from this hike (that's what the picture's from anyway . . .)? (The only other ones left in the picture.)

Comments are very much welcome on this blogpost. =) Until the next one . . .over and out.

Old Friends

Remember that old song?
Make new friends, but keep the old . .one is silver and the other gold . . .
Well, I've never figured out which ones are the silver ones because to me, they're all golden friends! Since coming home from my mission, I've had the opportunity to catch up with several of my dear old friends. Here's just a sampling . . .
This is Lisa, Sarah, and Tara . ..good old friends from the BYU Clarinet Studio. Well, I guess Lisa's a trumpet player, but we still consider her an adopted member of the Clarinet Studio. This was at Sarah's recital, and yes .. .Tara always makes faces like that! =)
Here's a somewhat okay picture of a group of us from the 2008 Nauvoo Brass Band. Marie, Sis. Blackinton, Shanda, LIsa, Dr. Blackinton, Sophie, me, and Jordan. We hadn't seen each other in a while 'cause we all went on missions !=)




Friends from my Elementary Music Education classes. The first picture is Jessica and me at Rachel's wedding, then it's a picture of Jessica, Evan and me at 31-cent ice cream night at Baskin Robins. Then it's Jessica and me again with Christina. The five of us all started out together in the classes, yet we've all taken different routes. Jessica graduated in the program, Rachel's doing ElEd after serving a mission, Evan's doing a BA in Music, and Christina (a single mom of 5 and one of my personal heroes!) is studying Music Therapy at Utah State. Where will I end up? =)
My MTC teacher and companions (Jessica, Lisa, and Rachel) at Lisa's wedding. Now it's a race to see who will be next! Haha.. . .NOT me!
Friends from Midland: McKenna Stevens Nordin (a sister missionary who lived with us) and her parents, and our recent convert friend Steve Corder. We all went to the temple together.

My dear Music Ed Major friend Lily Ferguson. With the passing of time, we see each other less and less, but we love each other more and more. From May 2008-January 2011, we overlapped serving missions, so it had been a while since we had seen each other. And the amazing thing is . ..we wrote to each other during that whole time!

Here's Christina and Jessie and me. We were friends in the clarinet section in Marching Band and Wind Symphony Tour during the 2006-2007 year. Jessie's graduated and working, Christina is a mommy, and I'm still finishing out school. Both of them married boys that they met on the 2007 tour. Maybe I ought to go on tour with the Wind Symphony again-third time's the charm, right? ;)
Next post . ..new friends! =)

Relationships

Today I decided to try out the new Institute class that our stake is offering. It's called "Relationships," but really it means Marriage Prep. I guilt-tripped Heidi into going with me because I certainly didn't want to go by myself! It was an alright lesson, I suppose . . .I really liked what we talked about eternal perspective.
And so then I tried applying it. By asking a guy out on a date. Oh my goodness . . .I was an awful wreck beforehand! It's a double date with my cousin Jonathan, and the tickets for the event are already bought for Saturday, so . . .he's guilt-tripping me into going. I tell you what, I went crazy before I got up enough courage to call a guy on the phone to ask him. I spent about 8 minutes on the phone, and at least about 3 times that amount of time trying out my words on Heidi and Jonathan. Do I ask if he's free that night first? I have to be a big girl and use the word "double date." How do I respond if he can't? What small talk can I make before hand? I have to make sure he knows that my cousin is a he and not a she . . .etc etc. This was just like the role-playing that you do with your investigators so they can tell their anti-Mormon family or employer that they're getting baptized. Heidi will be a good missionary; she gives good feedback on that role-play thing!
I am ridiculous I tell you.
I guess that's what happens when I really like this boy.
But Heidi listened in on my side of the conversation to give me feedback. I did okay I think.
But . . .he can't go.
Which means . .. I have to do it all over again . . ..
Shut up.
I should really work on this eternal perspective thing . . ..

What I want to do Saturday at 6 pm

C'Mon .. . .who doesn't get tired some days?!

Random Ramblings #6

65. There's a friend from my mission who's headed down to Peru to visit. I asked him if I could send some letters down with him so that he could deliver them. Cool, huh? Free postage to however many people I want to write!! Yeah, but it ended up that I wrote about 50 letters. Oh boy, that was a lot! I only typed a few, and since I was too lazy to put the accents in as I was typing, I handwrote them in later. I don't much mind if I never hear back from some of these people, but mostly I just want them to know that I love them and that I miss them.
66. I finished reading another book today. I started it last night, and I finished it this morning. It was about extreme child abuse, so it probably wasn't the best choice to read right before going to bed.
67. I went for a run this morning, and the weather was absolutely beautiful! The thermometer at the bank said 43 degrees, but I think it was a little warmer. The sky was just enough overcast that I only sneezed twice when I was outside.
68. I think soy milk ice cream tastes funny. It's all crystally tasting.
69. One of my favorite scenes from Harry Potter is from the 4th book. Harry has the golden egg, and he's wandering around the castle under his Invisibility Cloak. He gets stuck in a hole in a staircase outside of Snape's storeroom, but then Mad-Eye Moody joins the scene. And with Mad-Eye's mad eye, he can totally see Harry Potter. I don't know why, but I really like that scene . . ..
70. My home teacher changed the oil on our car, and inspected it for free. What a great guy!
71. Between chili one night and burritos the next (dinner group!), I sure have been farting/pooping alot.
72. Oh, and I went on a date last night. And it was the first date that I can remember (in quite a long time) where the guy actually asked me out! What a deal, eh? =) I had a great time.
73. A few months ago one of my best friends gave me a hand-decorated journal because she knew I liked to write so much. I now type my journal, but I still wanted to put that notebook to good use. So I started using it as a boy journal. I like to write many things in it . ...first impressions of some guys, what I like about some guys, what frustrates me about boys, dating experiences, etc. It's a fun little journal. I update it occasionally.
74. I don't know what else to write about right now . ..but I think I'll add a random picture instead. It's from when we dyed eggs at Mom's house for Easter. Later we took another picture; notice the candy! It matches our shirts. We are sooo cool!

Peruvian Post

I was invited to a mission get-together several weeks ago, but I didn't go. I don't really remember why. One of the guys asked me why I didn't go, and I told him . ..and I committed to going to the next one.

So that's what I did tonight! We went to a Peruvian Restaurant in Orem called La Carreta. It was my first time eating there, and it was actually quite yummy. (Nope, still haven't been brave enough to try ceviche!). I was a little worried about getting there and not knowing a bunch of the guys. You know, as sister missionaries, we all know each other, but there's probably fewer elders that we know. And I've always been awkward around guys . ..that's a known fact. And I've only been home for a few months, so . . .I'm still a newbie in the returned sense. So now you know why I was a little nervous as I was driving over there. My friend Lisa said that it was normal . .. I mean, seeing each other as civilians for the first time . ..it's okay to be a little weirded out, right? I borrowed Heidi's Michal Buble CD to listen to in the car to not get nervous. I totally cranked up "Haven't Met You Yet" (how appropriate for those elders I don't know, eh? =) and listened to it about 3 times before getting out of the car.

But guess what. I HAD SO MUCH FUN!! I knew almost every single person there! Of all the people that were there, I had only seen one of them since coming home, so it was fun to catch up. There were two guys that brought significant others, so I tried talking to them a bit more (knowing that they don't have any Peru stuff in common). And besides the fact that some of the guys and long-ish hair (totally normal, right?), I learned that they are still the same cool guys I knew. We're just doing different things in our lives now.

Funny things: the tres leches dessert was really just a fruit/shortcake thing. The waitress thought the guy next to me and I were on the same ticket (heck, all the other guy/girl couples were on the same ticket!).

Other good things: saltado mixto. So good. Especially the shrimp. I finally gave Hna. Jewkes the picture CD I was supposed to give her since being home. There were two other guys that came home from the mission with me, so I wasn't the only recent one. A random lady came up to our table and just gushed over us because we had gone to Peru. All to Trujillo. And she thought it was a coincidence that we had all gone to the same mission.

Peru things: talking about people/areas we've had in common. Mixing up Spanish and English like none other. Mixing up Ud. and Tu like none other.

Feel-good things: Laughing. Joking. Eating. Sharing the news of other mission people that we know. (aka, what we've gleaned from facebook).

Awkward things: The only regret is that our table was long and narrow, so I hardly said a word to the guys on the other end of the table. And I only got one or two awkward side hugs from a couple of the guys. (p.s. I hate those! haha)

Will I go next time?! Most definitely yes! =). And I won't have to listen to Michael Buble to not feel nervous either!

Winter vs. Spring

We all love winter, right? The smell of Christmas, making snow angels, and being freezing cold, etc. Right . .. but I love springtime even more! Rain, flowers, blossoms that fall from the wind in the trees, shorts, flipflops and pools. But this spring is different. For several reasons.

1. I'm not the only new person in the ward.
2. I'm not the only one that's not in classes.
3. I actually have a job.
4. I don't feel so bad being lazy all the time because other people are lazy, too.
5. I can actually go outside more often instead of being stuck inside all day.
6. I'm back to my normal post-mission self . .. I think, anyway.
7. I get to play .. .even more!

So you see, springtime is my favorite. This springtime . ..man, it's even better!Plus also, tulips are my favorite flower.

Reflections on the Resurrection

Easter is coming up. The other day I was thinking of a very nice lady I met on my mission named Rebeca. She was one of the very few Rebecas I met in Peru, and for that I felt something special for her. We found her when we visited her neighbors who were a part-member/less active family. Down their street somebody had died, and they had the viewing canopy in front of the house of the mourning family. We went back a few days later and visited that elderly sister. She was pretty old, and she just kept saying that she was so glad we came to visit her . ..that we had remembered her. I remember we sang the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," and by the end she had tears in her eyes. I don't really remember what else we said, and I know that the words which we said gave her a sense of hope for the resurrection.
I thought of her the other day during the Sacrament. How is she doing? We only ever visited her once. Obviously, I never got to see the full fruits of her accepting and fully believing the Gospel and eventually being baptized, but I hope that someday she will.
I love the Resurrection. President Monson stated the beautiful doctrine so simply and wonderfully in a recent Conference Address. Here's just a snippet of it. I am so grateful for the Resurrection. It's the most wonderful miracle of all, and it extends to each one of us. Without overcoming the physical death as such, it would be impossible to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. So, to all those dear elderly widows named Rebeca, or even for the troubled sister in Chimbote whose father passed away, or for the cousin who struggles over the declining health of his parents, or whoever you may be. Know that He lives. And because He lives, we will live.

"Ye Must Pray Always and Not Faint"

Today I woke up, and I rolled out of bed on my knees to pray. As usual. What wasn't usual was that as I said my prayer, I felt rill light-headed. I don't even remember if I finished my prayer or not. I thought maybe I was gonna throw up, so I crawled on over to the bathroom to hover over the toilet. But I didn't throw up.


I fainted.

And I have no idea why.
Weird. Plus also, it's always a little scary when you come to.
But hey! At least I still pray always . . . .

A New View on Relationships . . .

"I asked them to tell me the things they most wanted. Some of the answers were commonplace enough. . . .Marjory White, aged ten, wanted to be a widow. Questioned why, she gravely said that if you weren't married people called you an old maid, and if you were your husband bossed you; but if you were a widow there'd be no danger of either. The most remarkable wish was Sally Bell's. She wanted a "honeymoon." I asked her if she knew what it was and she thought it was an extra nice kind of bicycle because her cousin in Montreal went on a honeymoon when he was married and he had always had the very latest in bicycles."
-wisdom from Avonlea's own, Anne Shirley and her students

A Very Happy Day

Today was a very happy day. For many reasons. I spent the majority of the day with my friend, Lisa Christensen. Oh boy, she makes me laugh. A lot. We went to a Nauvoo Mission Reunion together. We played in the band, and we made a whole bunch of old former senior missionaries rill happy. We laughed, mingled, ate, and overall just felt way too happy and excited to see all of our wonderful older friends again. Like the Blackintons, Hylands, Westwoods, Clarks, Moffits, Ebmeyers, Wards, Cranneys, Maxfields, Randalls, Sis. Stratford, Sis. Mills, the Dawsons, the Dukes, the Mitchells, and so many wonderful others. We ate, chatted, and relished the dear fond memories of old Nauvoo. It is so amazingly difficult to feel unhappy in that heavenly place, and as such, you feel happy all the time while you're there. Plus also, you have the added spirit of the pioneers, the added love of 50+ sets of adopted grandparents, and the added enjoyment of music and entertainment. It doesn't get much better than that. And remembering it . ..it's just as wonderful. It was a very very happy reunion. I imagine the Celestial Kingdom will feel just a bit like that.
Later today, I went to the Salt Lake temple with some of my young missionary friends. Another wonderful experience.
Even later, I went to my dear friend, Tara Hill's clarinet recital. She played some great pieces, and did a wonderful job. I was once again reminded how wholesomely wonderful my music friends really are.
Today was a very very happy day.

Sister Chronicles #4

In honor of my love for sisterhood, I'd like to present a very dear sister and friend of mine.
Maria Belen Chipana

She made me laugh every single day. We talked like parrots. We imitated some of our "special" investigators. We made faces to each other at meal times. We wrote to some missionaries in Mom's mission, and we sent them a really foul picture of us. We took care of each other when we were sick. Like when she had a fever. And when I threw up. You know that good feeling you get at baptisms? She would say, "It's like we're totally in love!!" And then every night when we went to bed, she told me to dream with my dream boy. . . .whoever he was! We'd wear matching goofy earrings. We made a gag gift for our district leader's birthday which included a painted t-shirt, a Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible study book, and a maxi pad. I'm pretty sure we laughed so hard that we wet our pants. We'd sing songs from The Sound of Music. There was a lady who passed our window at lunch every day, and we'd say her name out the window in a very creepy sort of way . .. YOLANDA!! Needless to say, we avoided the street corner where she sold pudding . . .haha.

But besides all the funny stuff, she worked hard. She was honest and direct with everyone we taught. She was a very diligent student of the Gospel. She was very realistic, but she also has tons of faith. She's obedient to what she puts her mind to, which is quite a lot. She was very self-confident and very loyal. She wrote me a nice note every week after we weren't companions because she promised she'd to it. We wrote so regularly in our journals and we worked on our Personal Progress. She always prayed for her mom, who to this day knows the Gospel is true but can't give up smoking. She's an excellent missionary; she's trained 4 new missionaries.


Why am I writing this blog post? 'Cause I miss that girl!! And she doesn't come home until June. Guess I gotta wait s'more . . .
p.s. I didn't find one normal picture of the two of us. But we laughed so hard together, these type of pictures became normal!

A Taste of the Wild

Sister Crews came out of the bathroom, and said, "Wow, I've just seen a taste of the wild in the bathroom. Check out the Moose Faucets!"

What?!

So we all went into the bathroom (which sounds funny in itself, knowing it's a one-person bathroom) and saw what she had seen.

Moose Faucets.

You Are Not Me

Dear Reader:
You may think you know me. But you don't.
Maybe I'm not be the best writer.
Maybe I don't write about how people in other countries do their food storage. Maybe I don't write what you want to read. Maybe you'll want to read something else. Maybe I'm not sorry for that either. Maybe I just want to make people happy, but I don't like to brag about myself when I do it. Maybe I love people, but maybe I hate their sarcasm. Taz vez solo quiero pensar en espanol para que nadie me entienda. Maybe I hate boys and the concept that one day I'll have to marry one of them. Maybe I hate cooking for myself because everything ends in a disaster. Maybe I just want to cry right now because I'm so frustrated with the world. Maybe I'm bored but I can't decide if I like it or dislike it. Maybe I'd like to meet new people, but I prefer just holing down here in the basement with my computer typing my heart out. Maybe I hate people really. Maybe I despise change. Maybe I fear that people don't like me. Maybe I really am a happy person, but right now I'm just mad. Maybe I'm mad because I think those who are closest to me don't really care about the things I care about. Maybe I'm blocking myself out. Maybe I really don't like myself right now. Maybe I'm good at some things, but I don't know what, so I just keep doing what I've always done, hoping that someday I'll be good at something, when really I'm not good at anything.
So maybe I'm not the best writer.
Maybe I just don't care because I know if I wrote what you wanted to read, it wouldn't be me.
You wouldn't understand. Not even Maybe.
You wouldn't understand. Ever.
Because you are not me.

I Love Water

The Love of Water
Water is like love.
We all need it.
Sometimes it's hot and passionate.
Sometimes it leaks out a bit at a time.
With it, we clean ourselves,
our dishes, our clothes, and cars.
Sometimes we crave it.
Sometimes we have to pay more to use it.
Life stinks (literally) without it.
It's very refreshing.
And delicious to partake.
Plus also, it's always fun to surprise your friends
with a little spurt of it every now and then.

Tribute to Trees

William Goldman in his novel The Princess Bride mentions how the supposedly original author of the tale, S. Morgenstern, loved trees. Apparently, Goldman revised (ok, excluded is the better word choice here) several pages of Morgenstern's literary tribute to trees. In action-packed part of the novel (ok, well this is actually from Buttercup's Baby, the revised sequel, included in the 30th anniversary edition of Princess Bride), Goldman comments that he cut out a huge chunk of a literary tribute to trees that Morgenstern had originally included. He (Morgenstern) figured that the only way people would read his environmentalist plug, would be to include in the most action-packed part of the book.
That's why I found it so funny when I watched the movie again today. As Westley and Buttercup bravely enter the Fire Swamp, the grandpa narrates: "Great trees block the sun." And later Westley comments, "It's not that bad. I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."
Lovely trees . . .oh yes! =)

Couch Potato

So, the next few weeks for me will be relatively .. .unbusy. In honor of my couch potato status, I would like to share a few favorite experiences of sleeping on the couch.
1. In our house in Texas. I had an era in my childhood when I was scared to sleep in my bed. Why . ..who knows. Maybe Heidi smelled bad. Or maybe my bed was uncomfortable. Or maybe I overheard Dad snoring. Dunno, really. But sometimes, I'd sneak out and sleep on the living room couch facing the front door. My only fear: that a robber would break in the front door during the night.
I was a brilliant child.
2. In my current apartment, Thanksgiving 2008. Mom came to visit, but I convinced her to stay the night here since all my roommates were out of town. We slept on the couches. I had the little one, and although it was comfy, it was way too small. My body was all crinkled when I woke up.
3. In Mom's missionary apartment. The air mattress was just too cold. Plus also, Mom had left her scriptures there after reading them. And I was too lazy to inflate the air.
4. In the Hansen's home. Only they don't believe in heaters, so I was pretty cold. But I used Emily's fake-animal print blankets.
5. At my friend Hannah's apartment. We started watching a movie, and I fell asleep in the opening credits. I woke up at 3 am, and then drove home, picking up some of Hannah's stuff that she left at my apartment to take it back to her.
I'm sure there are many other occasions, like the I-was-reading-a-book-and-it-put-me-to-sleep. Futons? Well, that's another story . . .But, I must admit . . .some couches are pretty comfortable. =)

Top Ten List of "Why I'm posting on my blog"

1. I've been away for 18 months.
2. I know that Jon, Spencer, Heidi, and prolly the others of my family are anxiously waiting to see a new blog post.
3. Like every recently returned missionary, I feel a little bored with a lack of things to do.
4. I'm checking on the internet on my newly set up computer. Yup, it works.
5. I was reading my last blog posts and they were pretty funny. I'll have to write some more funny stuff.
6. I'm practicing my english, although the whole writing thing ain't rilly a pro'lem.
7. I know you've missed me.
8. I've missed ya'll peeps too.
9. I got distracted down here in the basement in my process of moving my junk.
10. And simply .. . I want you to know that I love you!