Burn the Bridge, Bet the Store

Right now I'm hanging out with Sarah while she's at work. She wanted to listen to Thoroughly Modern Millie. I had forgotten how much I love this show. Good times tapping in high school, pretending to be drunk...

Plus the music is so great. So fun. I can connect to it. And it makes me feel so happy--the emotion is quite wonderful. Jimmy, Forget About the Boy, Gimme Gimme, What Do I Need With Love, Not For the Life of Me . . . :)

If you don't know Thoroughly Modern Millie, I command you to go listen to one of the above songs right now. Preferably Jimmy or What Do I Need With Love.

Oh, the places I would like to show you
Although I hardly know you
I've a funny feeling we make a perfect pair
Famous sites I want to see you seeing
Then nights of you and me-ing
Me. You. We -
Wait a minute! Just a minute! No, no, no, no!

:)

Reasons to be Happy

1) Lots of big things I've been stressing out about lately--I don't have to stress about them for a while yet.
2) God. Okay, this is really number 1. He trusts me, He lets me choose, and you know, He's not going to let me go far without telling me what is right, what is good, what I should do, without guiding me with His gentle love.
3) School. I have a scholarship at one of the best universities in the nation. I learn about God and the world and life and literature and so many other wonderful things simultaneously. Even if it stresses me out and I think it's impossible, I really do enjoy what I'm doing, and there are days when I feel smart and actually do the impossible. And doing the impossible--it's kinda fun. :)
4) Friends. Talking with Jon and Juli before Writing today. Writing in general, and John Bennion. Syd and me trying to find ways around actually writing a real rough draft for 292 on Wed. Stephanie waiting for me outside of German, Jen saving my seat and completely goofing off with me after class every day and turning in her mission papers and giggling over that and her boyfriend visiting and the Mittwoch song. Sarah Lutz for keeping me sane, and insane, at the same time. Lindsey for randomly texting me inside jokes. My brother for saying he wants me to put off my mission a semester so that we can go to school together. Elder Garin saying he's worried that I don't actually have a social life and Elder Cowdell for always being so caring and positive. Elder Sterling James Mason and Elder Scott Savage for writing me letters that I can read over and over and over again. Katelyn for just being Katelyn and thinking about me, even if we don't have time to hang out all the time. And many others. Just because I didn't mention you doesn't mean you don't make me happy too!
5) Feeling really pretty for no particular reason.
6) The fact that after Wednesday my life should get much easier, and that this weekend I'm going home to eat Zucchini cake and make Halloween cookies with Leah and see my brother go to Sadies and maybe play a game of Settlers or two. And maybe some Rook and Clue. And play my grand piano. And do a lot of other things that I probably won't even have time to do, but am excited to be looking forward to, even if I don't get to actually do them.
And, last but not least, coming in at number 7...this photo, taken on one of the best nights of my life, stolen from Lori Fuller's Facebook:

Yum

Yesterday was an adventure. I thought I was going to spend it all doing homework--a noble goal, and with no home football game, perhaps a realistic one.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I SHOULD have done homework--actually, I needed to do what I ended up doing instead. I needed to know that I still have a social life and that I still do productive things with my life, even if they're not school productive and they're just relaxing, fun productive. Because those kind of things do exist. And I needed one. Not that I don't lounge around all the time. But that is called wasting time and it is neither relaxing nor productive. Having fun and being social and being happy when that is what you need to do is very relaxing and productive.

Instead. This is what I did (picture stolen from Miss Whitney Bush):


That is me and 10 England friends. On top of Squaw Peak. 3 miles up, 3 miles down. It was the first time I've really been hiking-hiking (because the boardwalks at Yellowstone don't really count) since England. And I've missed it, especially with those wonderful, wonderful people. Oh, and before that I had gotten up early to clean my room for cleaning checks so now it is clean and I am happy and hopefully it will stay that way although I doubt it because we all know how messy my room gets when I am stressed out.

Then Sarah L. (the beautiful girl who went to Saturday Conference with me last week and one of my best friends) came to visit me because I love her and am used to seeing her every day and I hadn't really seen her since Saturday. I had, but I hadn't. Then her, Lila, and I decided we were hungry and Lila said she'd pay for pizza, so we went to Pirate Island! Ah! I mean...ARRRRR! TWAS THE BEST, MATEY! Seriously, so awesome. And I had a balloon monkey on my shoulder the whole time. PLus the pizza wasn't bad and the company was some of the best. I don't have a picture of Pirate Island (Lila and Sarah took some on their phones, of me and the monkey outside with the Pirate Island sign, but I don't have those) so you get a picture of me and Sarah at Conference last weekend instead. Oh, Conference was such a plethora of good times too.


When I got home, I did have every intention of doing homework, but I started talking with Liz and Katelyn and Lyssa and we hardly ever see each other so it was roommate bonding. Then I watched the 2nd half of the football game, which was kind of boring at times, because we completely kicked trash. And now I have a lot a lot a lot of homework to do sometime between now and class at 11 on Monday. Yay. But yesterday was totally worth it.

@_@

Remember the days of a year and a half ago? When I was a little freshman and we'd all go goof off in the library instead of actually studying? And somehow, by some miracle, we managed to get everything done, get it done well to achieve good grades, and still have time for a late night adventure afterwards?

Yeah. Me too. Those days disappeared somewhere. Nowadays I'm not motivated to do school work at all, even though I enjoy all my classes. Nowadays, I'm lucky if I make it to the library (although I have also learned how to be productive at home). Nowadays, I can't stop thinking about the 30 hours of homework I need to do this weekend. My friends, midterms has come, and although I remember having just as much work to do freshman year, this homework seems to consume all my time and energy. I guess I'm just not as young as I used to be. ;)

haha, Anyway. I also feel like I'm the only one who ever does anything productive. In my D&C class, Bro. Fluhman asked what our plans for the weekend were. Everyone seemed shocked that I have so much work to do. One of my roommates is ALWAYS washing TV (she is also the one who always complains when things are messy and yet never does anything to clean it up...???). Where does she get the time to spend hours just sitting there on the couch?! I just don't understand.

Well, break time is up. It's time to get back to my To-do list. Still to go for tonight: Momo, by Michael Ende, the novel/screen play we're reading in Deutsch, journals on said Momo pages, and a paper proposal for my Engl 292 class. Luckily, I read the 50 pages of Tennyson for tomorrow earlier today. Holy poetry, Batman. I mean, I love Tennyson. LOVE. Especially In Memoriam. But 50 pages took A LONG TIME. But oh wow, twas good. I miss England. I'll dream of Tennyson Down tonight.

Mmmmm.

This is the day I've been waiting for. The beautiful fall day where it's chilly--cold, even--but not freezing. If you want, you could even walk around without a jacket. But it's fall. Cold enough to wear sweaters and jackets, but warm enough that it's not like I feel winter is right on my heels. Luckily. It was that way earlier, so I'm glad it's warmed up a tad.

Right now I'm sitting in Writing with John Bennion. Sammy's turn to be analyzed. She's writing her grandparent's memoirs for her family, right now writing about the start of her project, interviewing them instead of the actual memoirs. It's beautiful. And it makes me want to talk to my grandparents. I haven't seen Grandma Day in over a year. I miss her. We always have the funnest conversations--she is just the coolest old lady. And Grandma Ashby...I love talking to her about when she was at BYU, her college stories and how she'd go study with boys in the library (now the Testing Center) and Brimhall building because boys actually studied instead of being silly like girls, but we all tease her that she just wanted to flirt with them. I want to talk to my Grandpas. I wish I had gotten to know them better when they were still alive. I learned all the stories about my Grandpas through memoirs or stories from Grandma or their children. So. Talk to your grandparents before they're not there anymore because then you'll want to talk to them when you can't.

Blegh, an Ode to Bloody Asparagus Limbs

I'm having a rough day today. That, combined with the fact that many people who read my paper were wondering whether or not my bloody asparagus limbs were bloody-bloody or British-bloody, I present to you the painting that inspired it all. My favorite least-favorite painting ever: "Still Life with Asparagus, 1881" a reproduction of something painted by a Mr. Francois Bonvin. So yes. They are bloody limbs as in the asparagus looks like fingers that have been chopped off. At least to me. Apparently, you can get someone to paint a reproduction of your very own, starting at $180.79 here. Any takers?



Oh, p.s. If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about when I'm talking about the bloody asparagus limbs in my essay, you might want to read the essay it is in the first part of this post right here.

I want to be found 42 times.

Well, we'd better make it 44 just for luck. :)

Sometime very early this morning, my mind awoke to a clap a thunder. It was the kind of awakening where your eyes don't open but your thoughts are suddenly alive, and you slowly smile because your body is asleep but your mind is awake. I heard this thunder, calling me like a dinosaur. And I smiled. And then went back to sleep.

It's an England sort of day today. This morning when I looked out the window the first thing I thought of was England. Wastwater. Tintern Abbey (ok, that's Wales, but still). The way the mist enveloped the top half of the moutains, the rain came gently down, but not for very long. How is was chilly, but not too cold.

Talking to Syd before 292 today she asked how I was, slightly concerned, because I've been quieter than usual lately. I guess I have been. I've been kind of lonely, but not necessarily in a bad way. That doesn't make sense. But it is.

But I do want to be found. 44 times. haha. No one will get that. But still. Ready or not, here you come!