triple-a monday. (a day late.)

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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.

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

c'est la vie.

Pure torture: waiting through 2 hours of library study, 3 hours of work, and 8 hours of classes, all the time knowing that my call has arrived.

Ultimate happiness: driving up to the Provo Temple with my family while it's snowing, opening the big white envelope and reading these words-->

"Dear Sister Searle,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the France Paris Mission."

That's life! Experiencing highs and lows, ups and downs. Sometimes in the same day. ;) But you just have to hold on and smile. And right now I'm grinning from ear to ear. 

Seriously? Paris, France?! I was shocked to read those words. I never thought of going to France; I've never spoken a word of French in my life. But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's the perfect call for me.

How did I not see it coming? Here are some weird connections I have to France. Coincidence? I think not!

Visiting France with my Uncle and cousins two summers ago and falling in love with the beautiful city of Paris. 

That's me on the Eiffel Tower. Yes, my hair was super short.

Loving impressionistic art, and the paintings of French artists Corot, Delacroix, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, van Gogh, Seurat, and Matisse.

source.

Having crepe night every Friday during freshman year. I still think a crepe with straight-up nutella is genius and the best.

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Eating treats from Leslie's French Pastries in Holladay ever since we lived there. Oh, and my mom brought some French pastries down in the car to celebrate. Without knowing, of course, that I was going to France. That, my friends, was awesome!

So, if I start posting a ton of French-related stuff over the next few months, you'll know why. :)

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!

See it in eye-popping 3D!

source. 

I've never been a fan of 3D movies.

I don't like the idea of the movie

popping out at me. 

I am the viewer,

you are the movie.

Stay in your space, and I'll stay in mine.

Also,

I feel like 3D has become this cop-out 

for movies today.

Hey, we may have a crappy plot,

and terrible actors,

but guess what?

It's in 3D!!! Awesome, right?!

Nope.

Not to mention, the tickets almost double in price.

Why would I spend more money

to see the exact same movie

just with annoying glasses I have to

re-adjust every 5 minutes?

I guess I'm still

a big fan of the 

dollar theater.

(Unless of course HP or LOTR or something of that caliber is coming out. 

Then it's the midnight showing, no questions asked.)

Anyway,

Last night I went with my roomies to see 

Beauty and the Beast...in 3D. 

(You saw it coming, didn't you?)

I wasn't particularly excited...

(don't get me wrong, I love Beauty and the Beast, but

cartoon?

already seen it?

3D?)

...but turns out it was awesome!

And it wasn't because the movie was in 3D. So the above rant still is true. :)

I just loved sitting in a movie theater and watching a movie

from my childhood. 

It has everything you could want:

mystery, romance, adventure, and humor.

I may or may not have gotten chills during this part of the movie: 

source.

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere,

I want it more than I can tell.

And for once it might be grand,

To have someone understand,

I want so much more than they've got planned. 

I love discovering lyrics that apply directly to you.

I also loved being in a theater with a bunch of college kids

that all laughed when I did.

Remember this little gem?

source.

Lefou, I'm afraid I've been thinking...

A dangerous pastime?

I know. 

Seriously, such a good movie. 

In summary: fun night, happy movie, great roomies.

Life is good. 

Who are you? Excuse me, I think the question is, who are *you!*

I went home this weekend. And it was awesome.

Here are some highlights from my two (or too) short days in Holladay -->

Eating thai food from Pawit's. Seriously, it was time for something besides Mexican, Chinese, and Italian. Did I tell you I'm in love with curry?

Sitting around the kitchen table at dinner, while my mom read to us from Where Will You Be 5 Years from Today? It's a book that's supposed to inspire us to plan our future and live our dreams or something. The following conversation ensued: 

Mom: Ok, here are some questions the book asks that can help you identify your top values. I'm going to ask you the questions and then you can respond. First question, "What are the three things I like most and least about myself?"

Peter, James, Charlotte (responding individually): blah, blah, blah. blah, blah, blah.

Dad: blah........blah.......blah. Did I tell you about that one time?.... oh, yeah, blah......blah.....blah.

Mom: Great. Ok, here's the next question, "Who am I?"

James: Who am I? Excuse me, I think the question is, who are you!!! We're in a war, man! There's no time for stupid questions!

Dad, Peter, Charlotte: [break out into hysterical laughter] hahahahahaha

Mom: [shortly joins laughter] haha

James: [looks smug :) ]

And that, people, is why I love my family. Oh, I've trained my brother well in the art of quoting movies. ;)

Watching The Help and denying that I cried during it. Although I might have during the very end. "You is kind, you is smart, you is important." The movie made me realize that it's not very often I go to a movie nowadays where I leave feeling good and inspired and uplifted. I've decided there's something wrong with that. (Speaking of good movies, you should watch We Bought A Zoo. Soooo good. Plus Matt Damon's in it. That is all.)

Playing with Ginger in the freshly fallen snow. (Yes, it actually snowed!) I'm convinced she's a polar bear or something. We'll just send her outside to do her business and she never comes back! She loves to bound through the snow and eat icicles. Peter, James, and I spent 30 minutes making snowballs and then having her chase after them. Once she gets to the snowball she proceeds to destroy it with her whole face. 

Hearing this conversation:

Dad: Peter, I'm going to keep you home from school until you finish that online health class.

Peter: sa-weeeeet.

And this one:

Dad: Ginger, it's a good thing you're cute, or we'd have sold you a long time ago. 

*we're still training the dog, and it's a long road...

And *almost* getting my mission papers in. I just meet with the stake president on Tuesday and then they are sent off to church headquarters. Ahhhhh! I have a feeling it will be pretty hard to focus these next couple weeks waiting for the call. :)

I'll just be sitting, waiting, wishing...

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. :)

screaming babies and ryan reynolds.

It all started in the airport. Typical. Where else do you take people from all ages/ cultures/ locations and cram them into a tiny space for x number of hours? I'm convinced something interesting is bound to happen to you in an airport. My experiences range from when my dad and I saw Stevie Wonder in the Las Vegas airport to the one time I was stuck between the extremely chatty gun-man from Colorado and the elusive, British dude who drank one too many shots on my ride to New York.

This last airport trip was no exception. First, I was seated in the emergency exit row, and the pilot came by and asked us if we would be willing to open the exit during the emergency. I nodded "yes", but in my head I was like, "I'm not quite sure I would be that sane and alert as our plane was careening in a nose-dive towards certain destruction to remember, oh yes! I must now lift this thingy-mabob and open this window and help each passenger out onto this wing. Hi, my name's Charlotte. What's yours? Oh, I love your shirt! Right this way to the wing, please." Anyway, if your wondering why to sit in the emergency seat, the bonus is you get more leg room. Hooray! However, if you're me, and like to sleep by resting your head on the tray table, you'll soon discover that the seat in front of you is too far forward to make this possible. Also, there was a draft coming from the exit window and the thin, Delta blanket didn't quite cut it. And I thought it was cold in Utah. I was feeling around for the draft and I put my hand right over the emergency exit lifter-thingy right when a flight attendant walked by and she said, "I wouldn't open that if I were you." Right, since I was planning on opening that anyway. But, hey, if you love ample feet space and don't mind wearing thermal underwear, the emergency exit seat is for you!

Getting back to my story, I spent the last 30 minutes of the flight listening to a screaming baby. And it wasn't on and off crying, it was non-stop, fog-horn loud, ear-piercing screaming. The mom and child were having some constant silent struggle back there. It was sups intense. But I was pretty impressed with all the surrounding seated people, because no one complained or shot them nasty looks. For the first 15 minutes I felt bad for the mom, for the last I vowed never to have a child that acted that bad on a plane (knock-on wood).

When I finally got off the plane (hallelujah), I was exhausted and tired and slightly grumpy. I stumbled out of the jetway, walked past the check-in desk and this guy, did a double take, turned around and looked straight at Ryan Reynolds. What the!? We both looked at each other for a couple seconds. He seemed to be saying, "you don't know me!" I was saying (in my head of course), "what are you doing in Utah?!" However, I was pretty impressed with myself because I didn't freak out or scream or run over for his autograph. I just looked and then walked away. It all happened super fast. I hurriedly told my family and their response was either, "who care's?" or "who's Ryan Reynolds?" But I thought it was pretty awesome. It's not every day you get to see a famous (and attractive) movie star.

And, in case you were wondering why I was in an airport, my parents surprised us with a trip to Orlando, Florida! It was a great way to spend the last days of Christmas Break. We went to Island's of Adventure and saw the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter (HP forever!) and then spent our remaining days in Disney World, visiting EPCOT, Universal Studies, and the Magic Kingdom. On New Year's Eve, we found ourselves with thousands of others in the Magic Kingdom. We were all smashed together in front of the brilliantly-lit castle, watching an awesome fireworks show, and dancing to music. It was the ultimate party. All the rides were open till 3 AM, so we went on Splash and Thunder Mountain while waiting for midnight. When it was all over it took us 3 hours to get out of the park...and then we had to leave for the airport at 4 AM. So basically I slept 1 hour that morning before leaving for a 7 AM departure. We were all pretty wasted, but it was worth it!

Here are some pictures, because you probably just saw all that text, gasped, and scrolled down looking for pictures. I did not disappoint. :)

Excuse me sir, can you tell me where I might find Platform 9 3/4?

Welcome to Hogwarts!

In front of the entrance for the Harry Potter ride.

Entrance to Hogsmeade.

It looked so real! And the butter-beer was brilliant.

Just 2 muggles chilling in Hogsmeade. 

James and his pygmy puff.

Check it out! Extendable ears really do exist. :)

At the entrance of EPCOT.

We love Splash Mountain!

The castle, all lit up, right before midnight. 

On Main Street, USA. Happy New Year 2012!