give me strength, reserve control.

Not getting sick once during the semester. Then getting sick during finals week. Now that's what you call ironic.

Sore throats and stuffy noses are lame.

To keep me going, I've been drinking lots of ice cold water, taking my medicine like a good girl, eating left over Easter candy, and cracking open my window to let in the Spring breeze. Not too shabby.

Oh, and also listening to the We Bought A Zoo soundtrack.

source.

You can listen to it here. For free. Seriously, listen to it.* It is beautiful and peaceful. It makes me happy. Also, it's mostly instrumental, so you can listen to it while studying.

I'd like to conduct an experiment to prove that listening to classical/ instrumental music while studying improves your test taking skills and your motivation to study in general. Someday.

Good luck fellow students with your finals. :)


*And, seriously, if you haven't seen the movie, go. You won't regret it.

Musings while at work.

*The following thoughts have been compiled over the course of this semester. Read at your own discretion, as many of them were written at early hours and when I was in a less-than-conscious state.*

Oh. my. goodness. I'm pretty sure I work in Antarctica. What's the forecast for today? 70 degrees, you say? Oh, cool. Let me grab my parka and some gloves and a pair of boots. And pray that I don't get frostbite. Seriously, though, why is it soooooo cold in this tiny office?

Office swivel chairs are THE BEST. Turning around in them when no one's in the office never gets old. Oh, and pushing myself from the computer to the desk drawer to get the stapler makes me feel so official.

Sooooo tired. Can't get out of bed. Who invented 7:30 AM work on Fridays?

Sometimes I spend four hours in that little office space sourcing or transcribing without talking to anyone. So I go down the hall to fill up my water bottle, just to make sure that people still do exist.

Did I mention I have a key to the office? As in, I have a key to a building on BYU campus. Such power. Such responsibility.

Once you drive up to work once, it's really, really hard to convince yourself to not drive up again. Those 12 minutes in bed can make all the difference.

I love researching books and articles with all the power of BYU faculty. You don't even have to go check out a book from the library. That's right. You just look it up online and select "request faculty delivery" and it shows up in your office. Awesome. (Thanks to the in-between people, students most likely, who search for it, find it, and cart it clear across campus.)

Sometimes I get to go to lunch on the secret sixth floor of the library with my boss. And eat lots of really good food. And chat with the head BYU librarian. It's chill.

**********

In other news,

6 days till the last day of classes.
15 days till the end of finals.
55 days till I leave.

Oh, and lots of partying in-between.

i won't grow up.

That's me, three from the left. (source.)

If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,

I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up!

Not me!

(Not I!)

Not me! 

So there. 

This Is The Place days. Climbing trees, feeding animals, trying to fish in the pond.  

I love this picture of Peter. 

Some days I wake up singing "I won't grow up" from the Peter Pan musical.
My roommate just laughs at me.
But I'm serious.

Some nights I go to midnight movies even though I have class the next day.
And I realize that my friend and I are possibly the oldest people in the theatre.
Holy overload of freshmen.
Wait, does this mean I'm too old to go?
Absolutely not.

 Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that I'm
21 YEARS OLD.
When did this happen?

Sometimes I eat ice cream for dinner.

Sometimes I read the Sunday morning comics.

Sometimes I wear different colored socks.

Sometimes I'm immature and laugh at dumb stuff.

Sometimes I want to play spy or cowboys and indians or go on adventures.

Sometimes I eat more cookie dough than I actually bake.

Actually, that last one should be always.

****

Tonight, I said goodbye to Faith, my dear friend who's leaving on a mission to Paraguay this Wednesday. And I had to face a little bit of "growing up." Bah.
I hate goodbyes.
I always just laugh and joke and pretend it's just a "see ya soon."
But this time "soon" translates to approximately 2 years.
Driving home, I realized how much I'm gonna miss that girl.
From the moment we ate pizza together in the airport to the last crepe party,
and all the moments in-between....
(Peru, freshman roomies, her silent laugh, California road trip, making dinners, awkward BYU dances, crepes, finding our true laughs, midnight movies, Thursday lunches)
...I knew we were meant to be great friends.
She is going to be an incredible missionary.

Good luck, Faith!

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! 

waiting for the midnight showing of HP!...I mean, HG.

Ever since I started college three years ago I have looked forward to the magical month of November (or July) when the next Harry Potter (HP!) movie comes to theaters. Wait, I take that back. Ever since I saw these three faces in the newspaper one morning in 2000 (wow, has it really been 12 years?) I've been stoked to see the movies. After all, my childhood is synonymous with several words, one of them being Harry Potter.

source. 

But watching the movies during college has held a special place in my heart. My friends and I, who love Harry Potter as much as me (thank goodness!), have gone to every midnight showing together. Dressed up, of course. Usually we have about a month's worth of anticipation because midnight showing tickets are sold a month in advance. And people, they are sold out lightning fast. Then there's watching the trailer and deciding what character to go as and the random squeals of HP! late at night. Suddenly, it's the day of the movie. And you get to stand in line with a bunch of Harrys and Dobys and Lunas and people who love Harry Potter as much as you. And my favorite part is the dynamic of the theatre right as the movie is about to start. The cheers and clapping and oohs and aahs and yes, sometimes even tears.

But this year was different. Because there were no more Harry Potter movies. Don't worry, I won't get started on that whole drama. (I've already discussed it here.) Anyway, I was pretty sad that I wouldn't be going to a midnight movie with my friends. But then I found out about The Hunger Games being made into a movie, and my world was righted once again. :) That's right everyone, I'm going to the midnight showing of HG in exactly one week! (HG just doesn't have the same ring as HP, though. Lame.)

I'll admit the books are not as good as Harry Potter. But the story line is still intense and the characters are well developed. And the book makes you think about a lot of interesting things like what life would be like after a destruction of North America or what you would do if you had the choice to kill and live or not kill and die. Also, the trailer looks impressive. So I'm excited. Yeah.

Also, my preparing for this movie has been slightly different then the Harry Potter's.  I read the book again, because it's been a while. Then I slowly realized that I've been preparing for the actual Hunger Games. By rationing my food. And running a lot. And practicing my bow and arrow skills. Ok, maybe not that last one. But still. It's good to be prepared, because you never know, right?

May the odds be ever in your favor.

source.

slow down, you crazy child.

This morning I woke up and it was still dark outside, thanks to daylight savings. Lying in bed, I sorta felt like the life had been sucked out of me. Picture that scene from the Princess Bride with Westley in the pit of despair and you get the general idea.

source. 

To be fair, I probably shouldn't blame my exhaustion solely on daylight savings. The past few weeks have been crazy busy. I feel like I'm a rat running on one of those little treadmills.

So, continuing the hectic pace of the past week, I raced up to campus to not be late for work. My mind was running through the endless list of things I had to do for the week. I got right up to the corner of the Clyde building when I heard the music. What the, I thought. But don't worry, I wasn't going crazy. It was the national anthem. I've just never been on campus early enough in the morning to hear it. As soon as it started, everyone stopped walking and faced the general direction of the flag. At first I was a little annoyed about stopping, but the longer the national anthem played, the more I realized how grateful I was for this little reminder to slow down and breathe. Into my mind started flooding all these things that make my life wonderful. It was warm outside. Birds were chirping in the trees. My backpack was lighter then usual. I had a lunch packed for my job. Hey, I actually had a job! And the anthem was playing the final chord and everyone was honoring the U.S. by standing so still and I wanted to shout out loud that I loved America! Ok, that's taking it a little too far. :)

The song ended, everyone started walking again, and my day was ten times better. It's amazing those little moments that can change your whole day for the better.

Coincidentally enough, the song Vienna by Billy Joel popped into my head shortly after this experience, and it's been there all day. I thought I'd share some of the lyrics because they describe my feelings perfectly right now.

Slow down, you crazy child 

you're so ambitious for a juvenile 

But then if you're so smart, tell me 

Why are you still so afraid? 

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? 

You'd better cool it off before you burn it out 

You've got so much to do and 

Only so many hours in a day 

But you know that when the truth is told.. 

That you can get what you want or you can just get old 

You're gonna kick off before you even 

Get halfway through 

When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? 

Slow down, you crazy child 

and take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile 

it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two 

When will you realize...Vienna waits for you? 

source.

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.  

~Lily Tomlin

sometimes i ration my food.

source.

This is my last 13-hour day on campus. [Insert wild cheers of excitement here, if I were awake enough to do so.] Every Wednesday this semester I have been on BYU campus from 8 AM to 9 PM. Over 12 hours people. I'm not quite sure how this lovely day developed, but it did. (I'm thinking I signed up for all the classes while I was in Jerusalem and just so happy about everything and not thinking about real life). Anyway, I have class from 8 to 11, work from 11 to 2, library time from 2 to 4, class from 4 to 7, and orchestra from 7 to 9. Phew.

But today was my last TELL 410 class, which means my incredibly long class from 4 to 7 is now over. Which means I can cut out my library time (sorry, Harold) and go home before orchestra and oh, I don't know, eat a normal dinner. Sounds superb!

I can't deny that I won't miss the rationing of food to last during these long days. I usually start with my pb&j around 11, fruit at 12, granola bars and random chocolate that I find in my bag from 2 to 4, cold drinking fountain water and my last granola bar around 6, and then imagining delicious dinners during orchestra.

Right now I have 50 minutes before orchestra and 8 cadburry eggs. So I figure I can have one egg every 7 minutes, approximately. I'm glad my math skills are paying off.

wait? you live here?!?

....I guess the above question is bound to come up when you've spent the past three weekends at home and not in your Provo apartment or ward. But I was still a little surprised while cooking dinner in my apartment tonight when some guy visiting my roommate asked if I lived there. Um, no. I just thought I'd walk into a random kitchen and start cooking my dinner. Seriously? The more appropriate question I should have asked is what are you doing here?!? But the mixed look of surprise and shock on his face when he found out that yes, I really did live here, was priceless.

a "monday" that really is tuesday, and kinda feels like a wednesday.

source.

Here at BYU, someone decided to change around the days of the week. So while the rest of the world was happily celebrating Tuesday, us students were experiencing our second Monday in a row. I'm not quite sure how the rest of you feel about having two Mondays in a row, but besides the fact that the crossword is really easy on Monday, I can't think of any other reason to inflict such torture. So I spent today (Tuesday) continually reminding myself that it was "Monday" and all the time it really felt like it was Wednesday. Well, I guess I'll also get to repeat Wednesday tomorrow. :)

In other news, I randomly stumbled across photo booth on my mac, a feature that I had all but forgotten existed. I was like a kid on Christmas morning. Just ask my roommate Jaci. Who knew taking pictures on your computer could be so much fun?

Have a happy [Monday] Tuesday!

triple-a monday. (a day late.)

source.

Sooo, walking on campus today I saw the last "a" encounter I needed for my triple-a Monday blog/post/thingy. And even though I'm a day late I thought, why not? (That phrase reminds me of an awesome movie you should see. Check out the trailer here. Impressively clean, inspiring message, excellent script, Matt Damon. What more could you want?)

Anyway...

Awkward:
Walking past a guy with skinny jeans skinnier than my skinny jeans. Uhhllll. Seriously, if boys need help with how to wear pants, I suggest they check out Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal.

Annoying:
Going to my favorite place in the library, only to find it overrun with a bunch of random people. Where did you all come from?!?! Now I have to, *shudder*, share a desk with another person. ;) And in case you were wondering about rules of the BYU library, here's an interesting one. Once you sit at a desk to study, the next available seat on that desk is the one in the opposite corner, as far away from you as possible. Once someone sits there the desk is full. No discussion. Unless the following exceptions occur:

• Couples. 2 seats are still used and then the table is full, but the seats are on the same side of the table. Positioned as close together as possible. Obviously.
• Groups. 2+ seats are used, and it doesn't matter where they sit, because they all know each other. But these people usually find a study room so they can be noisy. 
• Finals week. ALL 4 SEATS CAN BE OCCUPIED. I know. It's crazy. This strange phenomenon occurs because students start stressing about upcoming tests and race to the library to suddenly become an excellent studier. 

Awesome:
Spending the week with this girl. So. Much. Fun. It's like Jerusalem all over again. Only in Provo, with normal food, and normal clothes.
Also, adding avocado to my BLT. Brilliant idea. I thought about calling my sandwich a BLAT, but that just seemed to degrade the awesomeness of the sandwich. So, it will remain BLT + avocado. Try it.

source.

Hope you've found some ordinary little moments in your day that can thrill you, too!

triple-a monday.

Awkward:
Walking past a girl who's talking on her phone via bluetooth or some other contraption in her ear and thinking she's talking to herself.

Annoying:
Walking past Harold (the library) and getting flat-tired so bad by some random kid that my shoe comes off and I have to hop over to the nearest bench to put it back on. Ok, maybe this was also slightly awkward.

Awesome:
Walking home from school and following a girl with a tennis racket who proceeded to practice her tennis skills across campus. As in fast swinging, whooshing, and jabbing movements through the air. Hilarious.

Yes, all three of these encounters happened on the same day. Yes, I spend a lot of my time walking.

Looks like the week is off to a great start!

If you love me, leave a comment.

This is a lame post. Seriously.

I wouldn't be writing it, except for the fact that part of my grade depends on it. So, yeah.

For one of my classes, I have to facebook/ email/ blog about something from a particular website and read people's reactions to the post. I posted something on facebook, but the only thing is, I NEVER post things on facebook, so no one responded because A. they were probably super confused as to why I was posting and B. didn't really see the need to respond or C. didn't realize I was waiting with baited breath for some kind soul to write an awesome comment. Anyway, I got nothing. nada. zero. zilch. (ok, too far.)

Soooo, if you want to make me happy, will you please leave a comment about this. ------->

stuffwhitepeoplelike--camping

Actually, I think this website is quite entertaining, partly because a lot of it is true and the truth stings just a little. So it shouldn't be too torturous for you to read and respond. Think of it as another 5 minutes to procrastinate homework. You might even laugh. I did.

And I will also know who my awesome readers are! That is, if I have any. Who knows, maybe if I get a couple comments I'll post a really awesome blog next, about....something cool in my life in Provo. Get excited. :)