that's a first.

All I've had to eat today is a ripped off chunk of baguette. It's currently 3 PM. And I'm not really that hungry. That, people, is a first.

I'm not quite sure what's wrong with me...but I hear the French eat in small but rich quantities, so maybe it's just preparation for later.

Also, I've been taking a couple of French lessons from an awesome French tutor. Just so I'm not totally clueless in the MTC. It's good and bad thing. Helpful to get all the crazy sounds and pronunciations down, but mostly I just think "I've got to learn this language well enough to carry on a conversation with someone?" hahahahahahahahahahaha. It's gonna be great.

I know he's learning Spanish, but Michael's reaction at 10 seconds will be mine for the first nine-ish months. Guaranteed.

Another random thought:

Summer is simple. That's one of the reasons why I love it. I just put on the first thing I see in my closet and sometimes don't wear makeup. Judge me as you will. But I find it really satisfying when I can rub my eyes and not have to worry about smudging anything. Also, I haven't straightened my hair in over a month. And I really like it. I've finally become friends with my curly hair. That's another first. I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot of those in the next little while. And I'm excited for them.

i'm taking a mental picture of you now.

This weekend was brilliant. And I only have one picture to prove it.

Yes, those are Magnum Bars chilling (literally) in my freezer. 

Let's just say FHE last night was pretty sweet (no pun intended). 

Also, it reminded me of the $$$ I dropped on those little bars during my study abroad.

It's not that they are the best chocolate bar in the world. They're not.

It was just the taste of something remotely American on a hot and sticky bus ride that made me cave in and buy them.  

I can remember all the counter tops where I passed over my shekels and was handed in return 2 minutes of joy. 

But I digress. 

This weekend, Danielle came to visit. This translates into awesomeness. 

We ate Mexican food, 

visited the new shopping mall City Creek. Yeah for the Disney Store, :)

stayed up late talking,

watched funny youtube videos and ate pop-rocks chocolate (in memory of Jerusalem days),

and laughed. 

All without taking one single picture. Even when she brought the clicky camera. Sad. 

Oh, we also officially decided we are backpacking across Europe when we get back from our missions. I. Cannot. Wait. 

I'm thinking a reading of Rick Steve's Europe is in order. 

hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Reminiscing about Freshman Year. Yeah. This picture. Hilarious on so many levels. 

This weekend involved lots of laughing, which is always good. :) I was also practically tickled to death on Saturday, something that hasn't happened in years.

But this post's title is actually referring to the silent laughter that I held in ALL THE WAY across campus today while walking behind a kid singing the lyrics "always something there to remind me" in the lowest/deepest voice I've ever heard. I almost cracked up once, but I bit my lip and thought about being on fire. However, I couldn't help but curl my lips in a grin as I passed someone who gave the kid a look of pure disgust. Hey, I agree with you too, random BYU student. It was waaaay too early for someone to be happily singing. 

On second thought, maybe this blog title is referring to me going to all the trouble to get some shorts, capris, and sandals down to Provo, since the weather was in the 60s all last week, only to have it snow yesterday. Yeah, I can hear mother nature laughing at the irony of it all.

In all reality though, I think this post is referring to me hitting my alarm at 6:30 AM this morning, thinking that I would rather die then get up that early, and then realizing I'll be spending the next 18 months getting up even earlier then that. Every. Single. Day. What was I thinking?? Cue sarcastic laughing. Hahahahahaha. I can't wait. 

But seriously, I cannot wait. 

For this,

source. 

But ten million times more, for this.

source.

I was thinking about driving up to the MTC the other day and asking if they would take me early, but I decided that might not be the best idea. So here I sit. (72 more days!)

Happy Monday! 

I tots love to laugh.

Last summer when I came home from college, my brothers told me my laugh had changed. I didn't quite know what to make of their comment. I thought back to my roommates and wondered if some of their laughter could have rubbed off on mine. In the end, I decided I had simply acquired a new laugh. Because after all, don't we all have multiple laughs? A happy laugh. A silent laugh. A that's-not-really-that-funny laugh. A i'm-really-stressed-right-now-but-somehow-still-laughing laugh. A rolling-on-the-floor-dying-of-laughter laugh. Every time I laugh this hard, I remind myself of the exercise video I'm going to make based solely on laughing. It will be the best abs work out ever. Think of that part in Mary Poppins when that old guy can't stop laughing and he floats up to the ceiling and they sing that song "I love to laugh." That's the kind of laughter I'm talking about.

Anyway, this laugh story is really just background to the epiphany I had a couple of days ago. I feel like every time we change living situations, i.e. moving in to a new apartment with new roommates, we pick up the same mannerisms/ phrases/ rhetoric of the people we are constantly around. This explains my change in laugh a year ago. And here at the Jerusalem Center, surrounded by the same 90 or so people every day, it explains the phrases I have suddenly found in my rhetoric.

For example:

Tots. Sups. Probs. Awk. I have Danielle and Nicole to thank for these words. Basically, shortening words to the first syllable.
Clearly. I'm not sure where I picked this up, maybe my roommate Taylor.
What I am trying to say, my friends, is..., i.e., obviously, this is problematic, reductionist, and dangerous. These all come from my Islam teacher, Bashir Bashir. Yes, his first name is his last name. These are his classic phrases.

How long will these words continue in my language, post-Jerusalem? Probs until some of my peeps start giving me strange looks.