_____

Moved

2011-09-30T12:56:00.000-06:00

www.andrewnkelli.blogspot.com

10 good things

2011-07-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

After a recent request from my father to make another blog post, I realized it was about time to update this old blog of mine.

The past three weeks have been filled with a lot of Skypetime with Andrew, but we all know that endless Skype sessions will never be enough.
Wedding plans are finally all coming together, and I am very happy about that. And I'm actually excited about everything now that it's not just an idea and something to get done!
My dress is DONE, and I will be picking it up next week.
I'm going home for the weekend tomorrow, for a bridal shower with my mother-in-law's friends and another bridal shower with my mother's friends.
I also get to see Andrew on Saturday night, have dinner with our families on Sunday night, and go ring shopping (for him) in San Francisco on Monday morning :)
On Tuesday I'll fly out to New York to meet the Bonin clan in Lake George. We'll have a week full of fun on the lake, as well as an action-packed day with just Andrew and I galavanting around New York City.
Then I'll fly back to Provo and finish up my final classes ever at BYU.
I'll also pack up my room and move everything into our new married apartment (yes, we found one! woo hoo!), and maybe, hopefully, find a job.
I'll fly home on August 12th for a week of pre-wedding madness, and finally...
It will all end on August 20th, and it will all be worth it.

And then newlywed-bliss-life will end and Andrew will go back to school and I will start a new real-life job (hopefully) or start looking seriously for a job (and hopefully find one quickly). I'm thinking a job at BYU would be nice, so you know, I can be there in case Andrew forgets his lunch.

The next month will be the craziest/happiest/emotion-filled/best days of my life. Or as Andrew said last night, "It will be like a month-long vacation with the best day of my life in the middle of all of it." And we are oh so ready for it.

new favorite snack

2011-05-18T13:01:00.000-06:00

fresh fruit with honey. everyone should try it. mmmm mmmm mmmmmmm!

Favorite things about being engaged so far:

2011-04-14T09:56:00.000-06:00

1. More excuses to hang around with this guy a lot more (obviously #1)

2. My new favorite ring (obviously #2)

3. When you introduce your "boyfriend" to someone, they aren't too interested, but when you introduce your "fiancee" to someone, suddenly they care a whole lot more.

4. I like how everyone asks, "So, when's the big day?" Why does it have to be "the big day?" And why does everyone have to use the same phrase?

5. Already having Andrew do "man jobs" around the house (fixing the burnt out lightbulb, grilling the chicken for dinner, etc.) and how he doesn't complain one bit.

Yep, I'm lucky.

this is cool.

2011-04-13T13:23:00.002-06:00

SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

but listen to it with this song instead.

twenty two

2011-03-30T22:30:00.000-06:00

My dad picked out this cool shirt from Fentons for my 22nd birthday. He's a pretty good dad. And I've got a pretty good family. And a pretty good group of friends! Thanks guys.

(The more I look at this picture the more awkward it looks. Let me explain. I'm sitting on my bed, and what you're seeing is my back, not my front. So yes, I turned around to face the camera and show the number on the back of the t-shirt!)

Currently in the library

2011-03-29T12:40:00.000-06:00

on a Tuesday afternoon for the first time in probably 2 years.

But, I might be making this a habit! My long lost favored past-time has resurfaced into my life. Looking through other people's iTunes.

So far I've looked through 3 boys' iTunes who have a full collection of Aly & A.J., Ashlee Simpson, Avril Lavigne and of course, various MoTab albums. Too much fun.

This guy.

2011-02-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

Andrew is 22 years old today. Here's a few reasons why I like him.

1. He makes me laugh. All the time. Every day.

2. He drove all but one hour of our 12-hour drive home together. Whatta guy.

3. He always helps me do the dishes, even the dishes that WE didn't dirty.

4. He leaves me notes at random times so that I never expect them.

5. He gives me flowers on any occasion (a date, picking me up from the airport, or just any random time when he's thinking of me).

6. No matter how annoying he can get with his constant tickle fights, I still like him.

7. He is a return missionary and he honors his Priesthood at all times.

8. He is an excellent public speaker.

9. He loves his family.

10. He is SMART (and motivated). Really. Ask him any question and he most likely knows the answer. And if he doesn't, he'll figure it out.

Happy birthday APB.

I feel like maybe I should update this blog...

2011-02-14T01:28:00.000-07:00

...since the last post is kinda grossing me out every time I look at it.

A week or two ago I went to Paul Mitchell to get a trim to keep my hair healthy, and I asked for my bangs to be trimmed as well, but I guess she took that too literally because she chopped them and now I have straight across bangs again.

Also, I am trying to dress more girly like I used to when I actually looked cute - hence the new flowery shirt.

Along with the girly-ness comes taking hair and nail growth vitamins which means that my hair is growing faster and my nails as well. Ladies and gentlemen, this is probably the longest my nails have ever been in my life, thankyouverymuch.
(Ignore my dirty fingers, I just cleaned the stove and it wouldn't come off!)

Today Andrew and I drove to Utah Lake to go for a walk but then we quickly realized that there was nothing green anywhere and the lake was COMPLETELY FROZEN OVER.

It was 50 degrees in Provo today which is the warmest it's been for a while, hence the shorts.

A few weeks ago we decided to burn Christmas trees and apparently mine was really dry because the second Andrew stuck it into the flames it lit up... like a Christmas tree. (You can compare the height of the flames by looking at me and Andrew in the background.)

Also it's kinda cool because I'm done with school in AUGUST but I'm walking in APRIL and that's pretty good news, I'd say.

what i've eaten today

2010-10-20T16:22:00.000-06:00

breakfast:

lunch:

free snack from work:

can you tell i recently went to the grocery store (while craving donuts)?

funny thing is, this morning in class we watched a movie on eating disorders.

i think it's safe to say i don't have one.

today today today

2010-10-05T23:57:00.011-06:00

tuesdays are the best days because i have no classes and my only meeting is at 6pm.

i woke up at 10am - after my body woke me up at 8:30am i told myself to fall back asleep. i got to the temple by 10:30 after a nice bowl of honey nut cheerios. tuesdays between 9:30 and 12 are theeee best days at the temple because no one is there except for people like me with no other pressing obligations. so no one is stressed out about leaving on time for classes and pushing to go first into the bapistry.

also, there are lots of cute old people there. my favorites from today were the old man that walked past me while i was walking in and said, "brrrr, where's your coat?" it wasn't that cold. and the old man that was confirming me asked me about my life and i told him about my future with nonprofit work and he said, "i was in that line of work for a while back," and i said, "really? so you owned a nonprofit?" he said, "nope, i worked and my wife spent all my money, so i didn't make a profit!

i came home and decided not to go to campus until i had to, so instead i took my time showering and getting ready. then i ate hummus and pita chips and 3 brownies for lunch and watched an episode of glee and decided i don't like that show.

i had to be in the tanner building at 2:25 to do a research study for extra credit. i signed up for this certain one because it had the promise of free food. sometimes my life is motivated by food. sad, i know. what's even more sad is the fact that the "free food" was just a lousy bag of nacho cheese doritos. i didn't even want to eaaat it.

after feeling sick from eating nacho cheese doritos i went to work for a few hours and played with mikey and jen. life's hard sometimes. me and mikey switched clothes and changed our parts. but don't worry i actually DID do some work today. it involved a girl not remembering her password, and everyone that forgets their password is obviously not very bright, because they never even realize that there is a "forgot username/password?" button right on the front page.

then i attended my meeting at 6pm and came up with a brilliant idea for my internship that everyone loved. it's good to be me.

on my walk home i had multiple intense cravings for random things. courtney thinks i'm pregnant. what did i crave, you ask? in-n-out burger, spring rolls, j-dawgs (i don't even like j-dawgs), red velvet frozen yogurt with caramel and white chocolate chips on top.

i came home and looked at our kitchen and knew that something had to be done. so i went to smith's and bought dishwasher detergent and stopped at the chinese place inside smith's to satisfy one of my said cravings. they wouldn't let me use spring rolls as one of my entrees so i had to add them on for an extra dollar. i came home to eat my food and ate the spring rolls and the fried shrimp with sweet and sour sauce and didn't even eat the fried rice, chow mein, and orange chicken. so much for buying the whole meal.

then it was off to the library with andrew. and yes i actually DID do homework and yes i actually HAVE been to the library this semester, but really only for projects or because andrew lives in the library.

and now it is time for bed.

songs i can't stop listening to lately

2010-09-22T11:53:00.001-06:00

1. Every Night by Paul McCartney

2. 4 Minute Warning by Radiohead

3. Is This Love by Bob Marley

4. Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan

5. Ain't Too Proud To Beg by The Temptations

6. Don't Stop the Music by Jamie Cullum

7. Heretics by Andrew Bird

Liz Lemon

2010-08-20T19:37:00.004-06:00

Stuck in the SLC airport yet again, why not do some blogging?

A few weeks ago I decided to try out a free month long trial of Netflix, and boy did it treat me well. I used it solely for the purpose of the instant player, and I watched all 3 seasons of 30 Rock comfortably on my own laptop in my own bed.

I thought it was hilarious when Liz Lemon showed up on screen in one episode wearing THE EXACT SAME SHIRT THAT I OWN.

At this point I would say that we should play the "Who Wears It Better?" game, but I think that answer is obvious.

i like this

2010-08-16T14:13:00.000-06:00

What I miss most about summer 2009

2010-07-31T02:40:00.005-06:00

These people and these times.

Poems and Conference Talks

2010-07-20T10:35:00.003-06:00

I came upon this poem, randomly, while I was on a run one day a few months ago. I had never heard of it before, but I really needed the poem at that time. You may be wondering how I came across such a random inspiring poem while on a run, of all things. Well I was only on the run because I had some thinking to do (which inspires going for a run for me sometimes) and near the end of my run I came to an apartment complex that had a metal electrical box type thing outside of it. Pasted on the box was a poster with this poem on it, and a drawing of a boy lying on a hill and looking up at the stars. Normally I wouldn't have stopped to read graffiti or a torn poster pasted on the street, but this poster was intriguing enough for me to stop. The words of the poem stuck in my head for the rest of the run. The words that stuck out most to me (and the words the I remembered well enough to Google search the poem to find the author) were the last three lines, which I have bolded in my own Photoshop creation of the poster.

You are marvelous
The gods wait to delight
In you

This morning I was listening to conference talks and Mormon Messages on Youtube while getting ready for the day instead of listening to the usual iTunes playlist. I came across a talk by Elder Uchtdorf (thanks to NieNie) where he says, "You are glorious and eternal," and I was reminded of this poem.
I think I'll listen to conference talks in the morning more often.

2010-07-08T01:47:00.003-06:00

Today I went to University Car Wash - to wash my car of course. What I didn't know about University Car Wash was that it is a lot more fun to wash the car yourself instead of going through the automatic one. Especially because of the fun pink foamy brush, and especially when it's 90 degrees and sunny and you take off your shoes and blast "Sugar Town" by Nancy Sinatra.

2010-06-07T21:44:00.011-06:00

The other day I found myself thinking something I thought I would never think as a freshman at BYU. (Confusing? Sorry.)

"I love Provo."

Even though, just a couple weeks ago as the snow/slush pounded the ground as I wiped off my car in my sopping wet purple hoodie at the end of MAY I thought to myself, "I hate Provo."

But honestly, I really do love it. I have grown and learned so much here, of course it is always going to be special to me. Due to the recent downpour of rain, the mountains have become a beautiful green color, which is a magnificent backdrop to the blue skies and billowing white clouds.

Who wouldn't love that? Another thing that comes along with the rain is the summer thunderstorms, which are great. Last night my friends and I enjoyed watching the sky light up in the distance with the mountains, pink sunset, and gray clouds.

The other day I was walking out from work to my car, and I was so happy to see that the sun was still shining and there was a warm breeze outside.

My camera phone of course doesn't do it justice, but it was a beautiful sight to see. By the way, see that lady in the bottom corner of the picture? She asked me to direct her to the library shortly after the picture was taken. She was a very chatty lady, talking about how David O. McKay was here favorite prophet, and commenting on the beautiful weather as I guided her to a path that would lead her to the library. I suddenly felt so old. Just three years ago I started school here at BYU, and I could never have directed someone to a certain building with the ease that I directed this kind lady. As I drove home I looked around at all the buildings that I had come to know so well, and thought about the time as a freshman when I was so nervous about my first test in the testing center, and I wandered around looking for it, too embarrassed to ask someone for help. I remembered going on a group date with my sisters, where we wandered up the back side of campus and I had no idea where I was in accordance with Helaman Halls.

But anyway, back to the kind library lady. Later that night I was at a birthday party when I received a text from a friend asking me to visit him in the library. Of course I felt the need to rescue him from the library on a summer night, so I drove up with goodies such as Otter Pops in my hands so as to tempt him outside. When I walked into the library and into the Periodicals, I saw my kind library lady friend walking towards me. I was surprisingly excited to see her once again, proud to know that I had given her good enough directions to have found her way into the Periodicals. We passed each other and smiled, asking how each other was, like we were old friends. Then I thought to myself, "I bet I'll see that lady in heaven, and she will thank me for being so nice and directing her to the library, and I will thank her for making me feel like a BYU veteran."

Repeat

2010-05-14T14:21:00.009-06:00

Do you have those songs that you hear once and you put them on repeat for the rest of the day?

Here are some of mine.
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What are yours?

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T13:26:00.021-06:00

to a wonderful mother, who is my most faithful blog reader.

These are some of my favorite things about her, with pictures. I had to dig these pictures up and I know she won't appreciate me putting some of them up here for the whole blogosphere to see, but oh well.

1. She loves her husband, and she shows it.

Aren't they just the cutest?

2. She is a good cook. (And is willing to try new recipes that Brooke and I make her try)

3. She can be silly sometimes!

4. She is always ready and willing to be the chauffeur.

5. She loves her Macey pup.

But seriously.

6. She is beautiful!

7. She is always so good to me on my birthday. And every day, of course. But birthdays especially, of course.

8. She is the best stay at performing motherly duties such as doing dishes, waking up early to make us breakfast and send us off to seminary, watching us intently and cheering us on in our sports events/piano recitals, texting the college kids daily, telling us that she loves us, gathering the family for scripture and prayer, organizing family vacations, being the super cool Young Women's leader for so many years that I can't count, and lots of other things I don't have pictures for.

9. She comes from a good, strong family that she loves and she passes that love on to her own family.

10. She puts up with 5 girls with 5 very different personalities!

11. She is supportive in all that we do, and motivates us to become better.

12. She has always told me that she loves me, even when I am being difficult and was in those "tough teenage girl years."

And there are many more admirable qualities about her of course, but we'll save that for later.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday with the family. I wish Brooke and I could be there! I love you!

Highlights of my day

2010-05-05T00:27:00.001-06:00

1. Getting flowers at work from a friend due to the fact that he is in a floral arrangement class

2. My speakers magically started working again, after not working for 3 months.

Food blog

2010-04-27T22:48:00.013-06:00

Sometimes I like to pretend that I have a food blog. I will take pictures while I'm cooking, just because it looks pretty. This time I thought I would show you what I made instead of keeping it all to myself.

My friend Spencer had a birthday on Sunday, so I thought I would make him something to bring him back to his missionary days in Australia. All I did was google, "Australian desserts" and, after much research of finding the most recurring desserts from different websites, picked one out that looked good. It's called Pavlova. And it is my new favorite dessert.

Eggs are a big part of this dessert, and I really love the way that brown eggs look, so I splurged and spent an extra 20 cents on these.

Use 4 eggs and separate them, putting only the whites into a mixing bowl.

Mix the whites together on high speed until it looks white and frothy.

Next, gently mix in 1 cup of powder sugar, one teaspoon at a time. If you don't mix it in slowly, it will not work!! Make sure you do it slowly, mixing while putting it in. In the end, it should look glossy and white like this.

These ingredients were ones I found most interesting. But, it works! One teaspoon of white vinegar and 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch. (Ignore my generic brand ingredients) Gently fold these ingredients in, and then gently fold in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Your Pavlova should then look like this, and it's ready to go into a round cake pan and into the oven! 275 degrees for about an hour, more or less, depending on the altitude. Being in Utah, mine only took about 45 minutes.

I checked on it often though, and took it out when it had that pretty seashell color.

While it was baking, I cut up all of my fruit into pieces. I got strawberries, bananas, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwis, and mangoes.

I also made the whipped topping while it was baking. The recipe that was on the website tasted weird to me, so I kindof made up my own. It looked a lot like the uncooked meringue. I just used about 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, and about 3 cups of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and the juice from one whole fresh lemon.

When the meringue finishes baking, it should look like this. It will rise a lot in the oven, but just leave the meringue in the oven, turn off the oven and open the door a bit to let it cool, and it will turn out like this.

Then all you have to do is spoon the whipped topping onto the meringue, and arrange your choice of fruits on top!

Procrastination.

2010-04-13T00:31:00.005-06:00

Have you ever really noticed the "last played" counter on your iTunes? I've always known it was there but have not discovered it's true joy until tonight when I started exploring my iTunes after having been writing this 8 page paper for the past 6 hours. (Pardon my English if it's not working properly. It's been a long day.) Here are some fun ones for ya.

On Christmas day, 2008, I listened to "Someone to Call My Lover" by Janet Jackson once at 7:17PM. And I remember exactly why. My dad had finally put the finishing touches on our summer cruise slideshow, and he had put "Ventura Highway" by America on it. Being the hip youngsters we are, all the girls thought at first that the song was Janet Jackson's song. But no, our father had put America into his slideshow, not Janet Jackson. What a mistake we made.

On April 17, 2009 around 10PM I listened to the Newsies soundtrack multiple times. Why, you ask? Well, my roommate Jenna had an obsession with the Newsies and we would find her itching to listen to/watch the Newsies every once in a while. April 17th is her birthday, so apparently we treated her well that night (we bought her the DVD too).

Apparently the first song I listened to in 2010 (on my computer) was "Mushaboom (Feist Cover)" by Bright Eyes on January 2nd. I don't really recall this memory too clearly, but I do remember listening to that song over that winter break, so it makes sense.

My top played song ever on my iTunes was played 97 times - "Naked As We Came" by Iron and Wine, followed closely by "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes, 84 times.

And yes, I do realize that the last 5 posts have dealt mostly with music. But there you have it. Have fun with your iTunes, everyone.

21 and invincible

2010-03-31T01:05:00.003-06:00

This song ran through my head all day. I remember when 21 seemed so far away, and Andrew McMahon was the greatest musician. And Something Corporate still lived. Jack's Mannequin was my first concert, when I was a senior in high school. October 2006. I remember it like it was yesterday. When my mom finally caved and let me go to a concert. What a great day. And now I'm finally a "real" adult. I don't need to ask my mother if I am allowed to attend a concert or not. Oh, the freedom.

Sooo good seeing all my friends in the same room at once, indulging in my favorite cupcakes. Thanks to everyone for making my 21 years great.

Tell me...

2010-03-22T23:56:00.005-06:00

if you were training for a half marathon, what songs would you want on your iPod playlist while running?

Here are some of my favorites:

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Leave a comment with your top choices. Ready... go.

Follow the links and you won't be disappointed

2010-03-12T00:57:00.005-07:00

25 free songs

Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer

Broken Bells

(James Mercer of the Shins and "Danger Mouse" of Gnarls Barkley)

2010-02-09T11:52:00.012-07:00

I'm getting a little too excited for warm summer sunshine, swimming in bodies of water, bright colors, and these songs and more as my summer 2010 playlist (I haven't gotten enough of some of them from summer 2009 playlist) - as well as Arcade Fire's new album coming out in May.

Iceland would be a cool place to live

2010-02-01T21:55:00.011-07:00

Since I'm not at Muse watching Heima, I figured watching some of Sigur Ros' music videos would suffice. And boy did it suffice. I had never watched any of their videos before for some reason (besides Heima) and I was very pleasantly surprised. Well done Sigur Ros, well done. These two are my favorites. Icelandic children are beautiful. Unless those aren't real Icelandic children. Then I guess they just did a really good casting job. I'm also lovin' the theme of the Hoppipolla video. I hope I'm that cool when I'm old. Beautiful cinematography, beautiful scenery, beautiful people, beautiful music. What more could you ask for? Makes me want to live in Iceland. Or somewhere not here.

French Navy

2010-01-22T13:05:00.005-07:00

For my short 48 hour stay in Paris this past summer, my favorite thing to eat was most definitely the pain au chocolat (pictured above). I ate at least 6 during the short stay and I have craved it ever since. Luckily I was able to find one at the local farmer's market a few weeks after my return home, but I was highly disappointed by the texture, the staleness, and the overall experience of the pastry. Which was expected. But nevertheless I was still upset.

However, this past week I was able to go to Target, thanks to a great roommate, and lo and behold, I found some wonderful pastries from Archer Farms, almost identical to a pain au chocolat pastry. The experience of eating one right off the conveyor belt was much more enjoyable than eating one walking around during a summer's day at the farmer's market, surprisingly. The flakiness was flaky, the chocolate was chocolatey, the pastry was pastried. I was pretty upset about the greasy feeling of it, though. The French would never make a greasy feeling pastry. But I was very happy with the overall feeling I had as I devoured the pastry.

This morning I grabbed one before walking to school so that I could eat breakfast for once in my life. I thoroughly enjoyed walking to school and using an over-active imagination, pretending that I was living in Europe in a summer of 1930 and I had just bought a lovely little pastry fresh from the shop on the corner, enjoying the green grass and sunshine, wearing a stylish dress and sandals that the Sartorialist would take a photo of, and waving and smiling to kind passersby. Sadly none of those were true, and instead I walked to school looking up at the bleak and gray sky, the cold weather, the dead brown grass, and listening to my iPod while I avoided eye contact with strangers.

I really like...

2010-01-13T12:21:00.010-07:00

...these photos and this song today.

Thanks to the ample amount of blog surfing time at work.

Smoky Red Boots

2010-01-08T13:56:00.007-07:00

I've become quite the online shopper this school year (probably not a good thing) and recently I purchased a pair of red rain boots from Target. I was inspired to buy them mostly because of how cute they look on Lisa Mitchell in her wonderful "Clean White Love" music video, which you can view at the bottom of this post.

When the package arrived, I opened up the box and removed the boots from the plastic bag to find that they had a very distinct smell to them. Some may say it was a smoky smell, others may say it was just a rubbery new boot smell, but let's be honest, this was not a good smell.

I was anxious to wear the boots the next day since I had been waiting for the boots for a few days, so I decided to forget about the terrible smell and wear them anyway. Well, my first class was at 9:30AM and I was worried that my classmates who were sitting very close to me would notice the smell. Luckily, no one said anything about it. But when I got to work, Dane noticed the smell and pointed it out to me. It was only then that I became self-conscious about my smelly boots and realized it may have been a bad idea to wear them. Then that night I had a class at 4PM with my childhood friend Courtney Newby, whom I had been in a class with that morning as well. Immediately when I sat down, she asked me, "Are those boots new?" I quickly replied. "Yes, and they smell terrible." She seemed quite relieved that the smell that she had smelled in class earlier that morning was, in fact, NOT coming from a new hair product she had tried. She had been self-conscious that morning too, thinking that the smelly boot smell was coming from her hair. But we laughed it off when I told her that it was my boots and continued to laugh about childhood memories such as making Eminem music videos and finding what we thought was a haunted board game (quite like Jumanji) when we first moved into our neighboring houses.

This experience reminded me of an experience from a few years back, when I purchased some bright blue tennis shoes at Urban Outfitters. The shoe smell descriptions I received varied from a smell of camp fire to a smell of barbeque sauce. Macey dog would go crazy whenever those shoes were around, whether they were on my feet or not. And of course I got plenty of comments about the shoes whenever I would wear them. And no matter how hard I tried, the smell would not go away.

So, moral of the story is: If you buy a brand new pair of smelly shoes, whether they come from Target online or Urban Outfitters in the mall, make sure you can take the criticism and suffer in the name of fashion.

P.S. Can I just say that I love everything about this music video? First of all the song, the red rain boots, the umbrellas across the bridge, the guy filming with a vintage camera, the red lipstick, friends at a bonfire during a weekend getaway, the sparklers, the hard boiled eggs for breakfast scene, the greenery, the use of Super 8 film near the end, the picnic, the bubbles... I could go on. But I'll just let you watch it.

Lovin' the holidays.

2009-11-20T02:09:00.013-07:00

So, next week is Thanksgiving. And we all know that immediately after Thanksgiving it turns into Christmas. Actually, according to BYU, immediately after Halloween turns into Christmas. Just skip Thanksgiving and being grateful, Christmas is way more important.

And yes, I am awake at 2AM and blogging about this. So what?

I started listening to Christmas music an hour ago when I got home and I got too excited. I looked through all the old pictures on Facebook from last year's Thanksgiving and Christmas, and found some old goodies from waaay back in the day as well. So I thought I'd share some memories.

First of all, who doesn't love a good ol' 90's Christmas card picture.

Second of all, I was such an weird, awkward middle schooler. Why did my parents let this happen? I don't know. I won't tell you which one is me. But that's beside the point. The point is, homemade pajamas on Christmas Eve is the best tradition ever. Mother Brown better start learning how to sew because I need to keep up the tradition for my kids.

And of course, the Christmas morning lineup. I remember how great we thought it was that we could stay up late, listening for Santa Claus and being too excited to sleep, all 11 grandkids in the same room at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Then me and Tanner waking up at 4AM before anyone else just so we could be the first ones up and start watching A Christmas Story on TV while we shivered in the living room, waiting for Grandpa or any of the adults to wake up to at least start the fire, if not wake everyone else up so we could open our presents.

And the dinner on Christmas Eve... mmmm. I remember Grandpa turning on the "old fashioned" Christmas music that we all loved, and he would start doing his little dance and we would all run around the hallways and go into the closet to get out his old crutches and the old cowboy boots to play with. But first we'd check his jacket pockets for Werther's hard caramels.

And the nativity scene and talent show... oh boy. I remember being so bored as a kid when we had to do it. The most exciting thing was taking half an hour to sort through the old bag of "nativity clothes" which was mostly just a bunch of cloth and old towels, with a random pair of donkey and sheep ears tossed in. It always took forever to decide who was Mary, who was Joseph, who would be the donkey or the angel or the three wise men. Usually it ended up being me and Tanner as Mary and Joseph, Cory as the donkey, Brooke or Heather as the angel, Paige, Hayley, and whoever as the three wise men, and the youngest as the donkeys and sheep. And for the talent show, always always, the youngest will sing "Once there was a snowman". We've joked about how Bailey and McKenzie will be doing it for the rest of their lives. And of course there's always David Lanz "Joy To the World" thrown in there by someone. Oh, and shout out to Courtney and Cayson, your names didn't get thrown in the but you're just as special.

Aside from all that nostalgia, the new (and some old) traditions I'm excited for:
--> Daddy's legendary pies.

--> Thanksgiving shopping in San Francisco (followed by Cheesecake Factory of course)

--> Christmas caroling to the Fitts and to Ollie.
--> Fenton's

--> Homemade Tamales from the neighbors
--> Eating at Salsa

--> And of course, decorating the tree with the fam.

Well, that post took long enough (and is long enough to read), I think it's time for bed now. I hope I got you excited for Christmas.

P.S. Watch this. It will put you in a good mood, undoubtedly.

2009-11-13T11:33:00.003-07:00

Please give your ears some enjoyment and listen to/watch this:

I've been listening to this on repeat for the past 2 days. I know it's old but I just rediscovered it and I think it's wonderful. The harmonies, the sounds bouncing off the walls, the haunting/beautiful voices... it's all just great. Make sure you listen to the end as well, when they end up back in the hallway in the dark and are just doing the melodies. Simple beautiful.

Also, don't ever buy this on accident when you are trying to buy chili:

And then eat if for dinner 2 weeks later because you can't find anything else to eat. Tamales in a can? Seriously? What a terrible idea. I don't know who would buy this for real. Oh wait, this woman would. Case closed.

Stream of consciousness

2009-11-07T01:56:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I wish that I could do all the things I want to do to change the world. I want to go back to Kenya and see all the people that I saw this summer and see the changes that they are making and see if they remember my face. I want to see their sweet faces and remember the love that they showed to me and see the light in their eyes. Why can’t I be more like them? I take out my Burt’s Bees to apply it to my dry lips and pop a piece of gum into my mouth and I think, “Wait, why did I just do that?” Do I really need it? The people in Kenya would never DREAM of doing that. And to me, it’s just another routine. I think we should all take a step back and think about what we REALLY need, or if it’s just a want. I wish everyone could have the chance to go to a country like Kenya and see how the people live there. It really does change the way you think – about everything. I’ll admit though, sometimes I DO forget about it, and I DO become very selfish and somewhat worldly. Like when I HAVE to have those shoes, or when I can't live without that cupcake at the bookstore. If I would just think back to being in Kenya at moments like that, I probably wouldn’t waste so much money.

And then I could put that money into doing better things, such as giving out loans to people in other countries through kiva.org. I haven’t done it yet but I think it’s going to be my new obsession. I talked to a friend about it the other day (the friend that inspired me to attend the International Development Club) and he said “Yeah, I gave $25 to a man named Jeff in Uganda and I’m just waiting to get my final installment of payments back.” I forgot the actual name of the man and the country, but, how cool would that be to “befriend” someone in a different country by loaning them some money, and then seeing their business grow and their life change, all because of a measly 25 dollars? Sure, it’s not much for some of us in the U.S., but in Uganda, it’s a fortune.

Sometimes I think that I took pictures of something that I didn’t really take pictures of, just because the memory is so vivid in my head. Do you ever feel that way? Then when I realize I didn’t really take pictures of it, I just wish that I had. Like that time this summer that I was thinking about how hot it was… which led me to think about the time when it was THE HOTTEST I have ever felt in my life. Summer of 2006 (or maybe 2005?) in the bay. Also the summer of the infamous rolling blackouts. Which is a pretty inconvenient time for blackouts, ya know? Those were the nights when we would sleep together as a family on the living room floor with no blankets, because it was too hot to sleep upstairs. And when I was a lifeguard at the waterpark and one day the blackout hit the park and all the slides shut off so we had to close down the park and give everyone free passes for another day, but that was okay because all the lifeguards got to have a party and go swimming and eat popsicles and get paid for it. I had gone to a stake dance with Paige and Hayley one Saturday night, and we ended up sleeping over at Grandpa’s house on the way home from the dance. We decided to stay for church so that we could hear Christian give his talk. Tanner decided to come up to hear Christian’s talk as well, for some reason. After spending the day at church with Grandpa, then picking fruit in his neighbor’s backyard, we headed home to eat dinner. Tanner and Hayley rode in their nicely air-conditioned white Jeep, while Paige and I rode in our terrible un-air-conditioned Chevy Prizm. That day was probably the hottest day of the summer. About 125 degrees, if I remember correctly. During the 30 minute drive home, we probably sweated out enough sweat to last us a lifetime. We ended up stripping down to our tank-top undershirts and rolling up our skirts, while wiping our faces with the shirts we had once been wearing. When we arrived at the Renshaw’s for dinner, we were red in the face and dying of thirst. But we survived. 3 years later I remember that moment, and I texted Paige asking if she had the pictures from it. She informed me that we had never taken pictures of it. However, I do have pictures from earlier that day, which I treasure greatly.

Which leads me to the train of thought of movies from our childhood. You know how you think that a certain movie is “soooo awesome” when you are little? And then you grow up and you don’t see that movie for 10 years? And then you watch that movie to bring back the memories, and the movie is terrible? That’s happened to me a lot lately. Maybe we should just keep those childhood memories stored in that vault, so that we can look back on them with fondness, instead of having a new idea of what the movie really is.

But then there are those movies that you watch when you’re kid and they totally make more sense when you’re older. You understand the humor and appreciate it much more. And then you realize how inappropriate some parts are and wonder why you ever watched it at such a young age. I was never allowed to see “Titanic” in my youth. I have still never seen it, to this day. I have seen a few parts of it on TV though.

This song has been stuck in my head all week:

Sleep Deprivation

2009-11-04T16:48:00.002-07:00

Sometimes people suffer from sleep deprivation.

I am glad I'm not one of those people.

If I ever get this tired, I probably would not come to a class where it isn't very useful to attend the lecture anyway.

No offense Brother Skinner. Joke time is my favorite.

Mikey and I had a great time watching this kid in class though.

So thanks, Sleepyhead, for providing us with 50 minutes of entertainment.

I hope you aren't suffering from whiplash.

Testing Center.

2009-10-29T19:38:00.003-06:00

Everyone needs to have their blogging vent about the BYU testing center, so here is mine.

I hate the testing center. With a passion. I don't think I've ever gotten 100% on any of my tests in there. Maybe no one has, actually. But definitely not me.

I study pretty well before taking a test, but unfortunately I do not study the correct things for the test. Professors will trick you into thinking you know exactly what is on the test by giving you a study guide, but no, in actuality, NOTHING on the study guide is really on the test. Maybe a few questions contain something dealing with the subject, but really, your professor is laughing to him/herself while creating their conniving little package of tricks. You fool yourself into thinking that you are going to ace the test. You walk into the testing center with a courageous stride and think to yourself, "I got this!", then you receive your bubble sheet before entering the dreaded kingdom of doom, and come down the stairs to see that you got a 51 when you thought the whole time during the test that you could actually be getting an 83.

Most of the time I go upstairs to the music room, which sometimes can be a good luck charm. It's quite relaxing to hear Man From Snowy River soundtrack while taking a Geology test, but when you hear Beethoven's 5th Symphony, it's not quite the same effect.

So, for all you BYU professors out there, come on, cut us a break. Let us know what we're in for. And don't make the tests so dang hard. Thank you.

On a happier note, enjoy watching this happy music video. It has cheered me up since taking my test.

Tetris.

2009-10-06T12:32:00.004-06:00

I figured it's about time I blogged about my Tetris addiction, especially since so many people are becoming aware of it, and many are joining my addiction. It brings joy to my soul to see other people's happiness as they play Quinn on my computer and then download it for themselves to play into the wee hours of the night.

Sometimes... I hate Tetris. When I am up at 2AM in the darkness of my bedroom and can't stop playing because I have to beat someone's high score, I hate Tetris. When I am in a room with my friends and I see my laptop sitting there and taunting me to open it up and start playing, I hate Tetris. When I am trying to finish a 6-page essay before midnight so that I can get some good sleep before class at 9:30 the next morning, I hate Tetris.

But admitting that you have an addiction is the first step to recovery, so here I am.

I know I already blogged today, buuuuut....

2009-09-21T22:06:00.005-06:00

Please watch this Youtube video. Natalie and I laughed until we cried/our abs hurt while watching it. And you should too.

CAUTION: FALLING CABINET

2009-09-20T00:43:00.010-06:00

Kitchen cabinets are not supposed to fall on top of you. Nor is anything else in your apartment. However, for some reason the ENTIRE kitchen cabinet decided to fall on my head and cause me to hold up the large structure with my entire body as my life flashed before my eyes and visions of ambulances and stretchers filled my head. Has anyone ever heard of someone's kitchen cabinet threatening their life? Seriously, if you have heard of it, please tell me. And then I can meet my fellow falling-kitchen-cabinet-phobic friend and we can talk about our fears together.

I realized soon after the traumatizing experience that I happen to be very lucky. Not everyone gets out of a freak accident with just a small scratch on their right thumb. As I saw the dishes and knives crashing to my feet I pictured a lot more injuries, but luckily, I was safe. Thanks to Natalie for holding up the cupboard with her right hand while still holding the freshly cleaned silverware in her left. And thanks to Davey for watching in shock as he slowly turned around to realize that it was not just a dish crashing to the ground, but an entire CABINET falling onto my head.

(On a side note: I had to proof read this entry about fifteen times. There were lots of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes and I am blaming the cabinet and the Colony for causing possible brain damage. I apologize if there are still mistakes that I missed.)

(Also, the above picture simply is a re-creation of the horrific event, obviously.)

Flashback.

2009-09-13T16:31:00.006-06:00

On this fine Sunday afternoon, I got home from church and wanted to take a nap (as usual). My roommate Natalie insisted that she would make some pancakes while I napped, and then she would bring me breakfast in bed. How could I turn down an offer like that? I couldn't. So I slept and dreamt of Kenya while the smell of Bisquick wafted down the stairs into my room. I awoke when Natalie came in with the pancakes and we both enjoyed eating our pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup (mmmmm) and a tall glass of milk. After finishing our pancakes we were talking about sayings that our parents/grandparents would say to us, and both of ours had sung us the song "A Bushel and a Peck". So I immediately Youtubed it and of course that ended up with countless hours of fun on Youtube.

First of all, how CUTE is THIS?! And she's so artistic by putting the toenail holder thing over the camera lens. Then we happened upon this one, which made us remember the good times of having our dad's pull our teeth out. What great memories. We then continued on to watch hours upon end of Full House clips and a little bit of Ferris Bueller, The Happiest Millionaire, and other such things. I happened upon this gem later on, even though I've never seen the movie I think it's a great clip.

We came to the conclusion that television, music, and films these days just aren't as good as they used to be.

Ice Cream

2009-09-08T14:11:00.008-06:00

Lately, I have been thinking of different names to call this summer. Every summer of mine kind of has a name for it. Last summer was "the summer of Liberty Square." The summer before that was "the summer of BYU (first semester)." The summer before that was "the summer of being a lifeguard (gross)." And the summer before that was "the summer full of Temple Pageant, EFY, and other such church activities." This summer would most likely be called "the summer of traveling the world", but when I wasn't traveling, it could be called "the summer of ice cream".

Not that every summer isn't filled with ice cream. But this summer, it really was filled with ice cream. I'm pretty sure I got a soft serve ice cream cone or ice cream of some sort at least once a day this summer when I was in Provo. Most of the time it was Macey's ice cream cones. Only 51 cents for a delectable, smooth and cool ice cream cone. If it wasn't Macey's (because Tyson wasn't there to tell us that the machine was broken, or that the deli was closed) then it was McDonald's (which wasn't as good as the McDonald's cone I had in Amsterdam airport, or that one at midnight in Oceanside). If it wasn't McDonald's then there was the occasion that we would attend dinner or lunch at Jason's Deli and receive an endless supply of soft serve cones. And of course there was the times that we couldn't think of anywhere else to get a cone so we would go to Sonic and were highly disappointed in the texture and size of the cones. There was one time when we ventured out to Bountiful and of course I made the request to stop at Nielsen's to get some frozen custard. If there isn't anything I love more than a frozen soft serve from Macey's, it would be frozen custard at Nielsen's. Yummie's frozen custard was alright, but not as good as Nielson's.

Oh, and there was that one time that I went home, but first my flight got delayed until the next morning, but my mom and I still hit up Fenton's at 10AM to get some delicious breakfast and a healthy portion of Toasted Almond with a side of cold caramel. There was also that time in Kenya when we worked really hard that day (it was a verrry long day) so Jenna stopped in at a supermarket in Kakamega and got 3 cartons of ice cream (one for each van) and we all devoured it in minutes as the Kenyan bus drivers politely declined. "Americans love ice cream, but Kenyans do not," they said to us. I'm glad they declined because they would have gotten a horrible idea of what ice cream really was. No wonder they hate ice cream in Kenya. Although it was good, it was not as good as the stuff we have.

Moral of the story: Be grateful, fellow Americans for all of the opportunities we have to walk out our front doors and enjoy the simple pleasure of ice cream. Thank you to all those ice cream/soft serve/frozen custard places in Utah County (and other places) that provided me with an endless supply of my fill of that sweet, frozen goodness.

I always thought water balloons were all fun and games...

2009-09-02T11:26:00.007-06:00

That was up until last week. As you can see from this photo, water balloons are NOT all fun and games. Sometimes, water balloons might shatter brand new bedroom windows because a certain boy might be very angry at a certain girl for hitting him with a water balloon by surprise. Sometimes they will cause you to be chased by police officers who may or may not have gotten hit by a water balloon by an innocent R.M. Sometimes, they may cause a certain someone coming out of a movie to be caught off guard while holding his cell phone in his hand. Let's just say that sometimes, water balloons may cause some damage, so I think a few certain people are probably done playing with them for a while.

P.S. Don't worry, the window is now fixed and paid for.

Take me away from that empty apartment

2009-08-13T00:03:00.004-06:00

I'm sitting in my room in my empty apartment (empty as in there is nothing in my closets/drawers/cabinets/etc) and so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to write a blog post. Especially since I am desperately trying to ignore the fact that my roommates are in the front room being super loud and annoying and having a boy over past curfew, which is pretty much what happens every night. And especially since the boy has the most annoying laugh I have heard in a long time. I think I'll be ready to move out on Friday, considering I've been waiting to move out since the day I moved in. Especially since there have been about 3 of my DVDs, my blow dryer, and various other things that have just "disappeared" over the months. And since my roommate broke my kitchen scissors. And clogs up the shower drain with her hair every morning. And this morning I was awoken to a "snake" in my shower. Seriously. My roommate put a rubber snake in the shower to scare me I guess. Also, it is so dang hot in here I can hardly sleep. Yeah, I'd say I'm ready to move out now.

Yesterday I went and saw 500 Days of Summer and I think I have listened to this song at least 100 times since then. I had heard it before but I never liked it as much as I do now. Maybe it's just the scenes that it was in during the movie that made me like it so much, but I keep listening to it over and over and I haven't gotten sick of it yet. I think this was my favorite scene in the movie, I was laughing the whole time. This was a pretty good movie, but I saw it with 2 boys who said it made them feel crappy, but I would probably feel crappy too if I were a boy seeing that movie. It was a pretty real feeling movie, which is probably why they felt that way afterwards.

I feel like this summer has gone by too fast. But yet, it has been a wonderful summer. Today I was just soaking it all in, enjoying the sun and the sounds of summer. I was packing up my whole room instead of going to work, and I found lots of old things that I had been missing, and I also found lots of old things that I ended up throwing away. I feel like I have a lot of stuff that I'm just holding onto for the memories and I should probably just throw it away because I'll end up doing it eventually anyway. I went to a place called Yummies Frozen Custard with my sister on the way back from our grandparents house, which I have seen every time I have gone to my grandparents house and I have always wanted to stop and eat there. So told my sister I wanted to go and she gladly agreed. It was quite good. We sat outside on the picnic tables and soaked up some sun and listened to the British family talking at the table nearby.I'm going to miss summer sounds and memories. Swinging on the hammock in the dark with the crickets chirping in the background and the cars driving past sounding like the ocean, summer soundtracks, water splashing, victory yells at the tops of mountains, jumping into the lake spontaneously after dancing around at sunset, going to KENYA and FRANCE, hearing the Kenyan children singing (especially as I fell asleep every night), riding bikes everywhere, stargazing on the mats and watching movies in the park, road trips, hikes, sunsets, camping, taking too many pictures/videos to count and making slideshows out of them, and laughing.

Oh my. I'm tired. Good night blog world.

Thanks, Salt Lake City Airport.

2009-08-06T21:31:00.004-06:00

I'm stuck.

In the airport.

I guess I deserve it though, because it's never happened to me before. Everyone should have it happen to them once, right?

The only thing I'm regretting right now is neglecting to bring my phone charger with me on my little weekend trip home. "I'll just use my mom's" I thought to myself as I happily packed my little carry-on. But little did I know that I would find myself sitting in the airport while my plane flies over to Boise for a little detour to get some more fuel, and to avoid the "swift winds" in Salt Lake.

Thanks, little Tongan boy, for hopping around on the seats right next to me. It's not like I didn't already have a headache or anything.

Also, there is a wildfire blowing across a part of the freeway and was closed down, or so I overhead from the wanksta man with the goatee and the silver chain necklace. Ryan, did you make it home safely? I wish I could text/call you, buuuuut... my phone is dead. Dangit.

Thanks, giggly white girls that look like you are on a high school swim team, for laughing your heads off at a Youtube video on your iPod touch. You make me laugh.

So, my plane is delayed until 11PM tonight. And here it is, 9:37PM. Not too bad I guess. It could be worse. My life has been going too greatly lately (haha, rhymes) to NOT have something go wrong.

Thanks, Salt Lake Airport people, for the kind gesture of offering the "patient people of flight 784" some free snacks and sodas. You are so kind.

The flight has been delayed again, now we will leave at 11:20. That is, IF the plane ever leaves Boise and is able to land in Salt Lake, due to this freaky weather that we're having at the moment.

Thanks, little Tongan girl, for running over my foot with your stroller. Oh gosh. Too much, too much.

It's interesting to see how all the different people deal with their delayed flight. The Tongan family sitting across from me with 4 young children are terrorizing me as we speak, as you have learned from the previous sentences above. The couple over to my right are tuned out to each other, and have turned to their own laptops and iPods to keep themselves company. I wonder if they have marriage problems. The swim team girls are still on their iPods, but they are no longer laughing. Neither am I. The businessmen are on their Bluetooths, and all the single ladies are over by their lonesome, readin' their books or gossiping on their phones.

Thanks, other little Tongan girl, for sitting 1 inch away from me and looking over my shoulder, and almost touching my escape button, on purpose.

I'm gonna go complain to some airport workers now and see if I can get some free stuff.

Behind.

2009-08-05T13:34:00.000-06:00

I don't know how I'm ever going to keep up with my summer picture taking adventures, but hopefully I will be able to soon. In the meantime, you should read Mikey's blog, since I made my first guest appearance on it (hopefully of many) the other day. It was a good time. And here is a sneak peek of what is to come. (I know there has been way too many sneak peeks lately, but hey, it's summer, I'm always out having fun instead of sitting on the computer and blogging)

Fun in Bryce Canyon

Fun at Gualala

Fun in da bay
Fun in the great Salt Lake

Scenes from Gualala.

2009-07-29T01:45:00.000-06:00

I still can't get over how beautiful it is there.

Thoughts on a summer night in California.

2009-07-28T03:21:00.003-06:00

# Just got home from the annual summer Brown/Renshaw family/friends Gualala camping trip, and I've been catching up on the blog world. The trip was great, by the way. Been going for about 10 years now. Maybe more.

# Surfing through some random blogs of random students/new wives made me excited for life. Excited for the upcoming fall and winter semester, fun road trips ahead, spontaneity, new friends, new roommates, new classes, new apartment, new projects, new everything. And then it made me excited for the future: for the processes of being engaged and newly married and having the first children and then raising a family and having all of those fun memories and photographs and decorations on the walls and new recipes to create.

# I don't know what lies ahead for me in the near future or when certain things will happen, but I am excited for them. I used to worry about what my future would hold, but these days I have been getting more and more excited for the here and now, and for the future to come. I'm ready for it. I'm ready for the new adventures that life has waiting for me.

# Also, I'm very behind on uploading pictures to my blog and such. And photoshopping them to make them look even cooler than they already are.

# It's hot in Antioch. 100 degrees. But it's cold in the redwoods along the northern California coast. 60 degrees.

# I like balloons. I need to do more photoshoots with them.

# I need to do more photoshoots, period. Hire me, please? I'm doing an engagement session in Napa tomorrow evening. I'm very excited. I love that I get paid to do what I love.

# Blogging takes too long.

# It's 2:24AM, Provo time. I could be out at the park with my friends right now, laying under the stars and trying to finish watching the Lion King that we started forever ago. I miss Provo.

# Is anyone out there, reading this? I feel like I'm talking to no one sometimes when I blog, although I know I DO have lots of followers on my photography blog. This one, I'm not too sure. Leave some comments if you do read, and I will follow your blog if I don't already do.

# What would I do without photographs? Seriously. I love them.

# I'm tired.

# I love summer. And my life. And being inspired.

# Thank you, random bloggers who inspire me. I need to blog more. As for now, good night, and enjoy these very few sneak peak pictures from my wonderful Bryce Canyon trip. (No, that picture of me with my arms outstretched is not in Bryce Canyon. Just on top of a cute little hill at a gas station on the way there.) Sorry they're super random pictures and not that cool.

# Oh okay, and a couple from the Gualala trip. I couldn't resist. Yes, this place is real and yes, I do go there every summer. I was just looking through the pictures and I am VERY satisfied with the images that I created while I was there. Captured the trip perfectly. These images will forever fill my soul with joy.

(And yes, I know I said I would post pictures from Africa on here, but I posted enough on my photography blog, so check that out instead.)

(And yes I realize that this post is very random and weird and long and maybe boring, but, that's okay)

Kenya.

2009-07-07T22:18:00.002-06:00

So I got back from Kenya on Sunday night, and I still have yet to post any pictures for the online world to see. I am sorry for my slacking. But it's really hard to go through 2,000 pictures and videos and pick which ones you think that everyone would like to see. Very hard.

Be expecting multiple posts to come, as well as posts on my photography blog.

Gone

2009-06-14T00:28:00.002-06:00

I will be going on my very first real-life on-my-own (with friends) adventure to Kenya to do humanitarian service work. I'll be stopping in Paris for a day or two first, and then I'll be in Kenya for two and a half weeks. So, in total, I'll be traveling for about 3 weeks. I've never been this far away from home, my family, the United States, a useable shower, my computer, accessible internet, etc. So I'm supposed to feel weird, right? I just feel... very, very strange. I'm not sure how to explain it. Maybe it's the fact that I'm going to Africa where they have nothing, and here I am, sitting in my apartment in Utah on my Macbook and typing up this blog here for you. I keep spacing out as I'm typing this... that's how weird I feel right now. Oh boy. This will be an adventure. An eyes wide open adventure. I'm excited.

Where it's at

2009-06-09T01:23:00.026-06:00

I'm too excited not to post about this. This was one of the greatest Saturdays I've had in a while. Just some good old fashioned fun, on a little 3 hour road trip to Northern Utah, having fun with friends and listening to music and enjoying one another's company. I loved it. Being on the salt flats at the Spiral Jetty was an unreal experience. It was like a different planet, as you will notice from the pictures. We (I) had a blast driving through dirt roads and potholes full of muddy water in order to get there. The back seat people were not too happy about all the bouncing around, but yet, they were still laughing. Listening to "My Girls" by Animal Collective and driving back through the puddles was probably my favorite part. Full of joy and laughter. I wish I could have gotten pictures of the drive on the way back, with the endless blue skies, white clouds, green grass, and brown dirt. Seeing these things made me grateful "for the beauty of the earth". Not that I'm not usually grateful, but this time, I was very grateful.

It was a beautiful sight.

I am home.

2009-05-23T15:38:00.015-06:00

You know what that means...
Yeah, it means I am eating lots of food. This trip I have eaten more food than usual, though. I feel like I am constantly eating or creating some delicious food that I have either treasured for years or have found a new love for. Why am I doing this, you may ask? Well, if you know me, like, know me know me, you would know that I had a little health scare this past week. I woke up last Thursday with an excruciating pain in my stomach, and it didn't go away all day, or the day after that, or the day after that. It hurt too bad if I tried to eat anything, so I mostly only ate popsicles. I was really bummed that I wouldn't be able to eat anything when I got home, because, well, vacations are for eating, we all know that.Luckily, the night I got home my parents and I were online looking up my symptoms and trying to guess what it could be, before I went to see my doctor the next morning. We finally discovered that it was most likely just a side-effect to these pills that I had been taking. I guess I was supposed to drink a full glass of water after I swallowed the pills, because sometimes they would get stuck in there and eat up my esophagus. Gross. So we went to the doctor in the morning and, lo and behold, he told us that we were probably right. He gave me tons of medication and told me to stop taking the pills and it should go away soon. So I'm back, I'm healthy, I'm eating again. I had lost 4 pounds in that one week of my popsicle diet, but I bet I've gained it all back, plus a few extra. It's good to be eating again.
Seriously, there were days when I couldn't even get down some soup broth... and it was miserable. I was always SO hungry (I LOVE eating) but I just couldn't eat. I would look at people eating and be overcome with jealousy. I said to myself, "They don't know how lucky they are, to just pop a french fry in their mouth and have it slide down easily. They don't even know." I vowed that I would never take eating for granted again. Now that I'm home and on medication and off those death pills, I am almost back to normal again. I can eat without feeling like I'm going to curl up and die. And I have been taking advantage of it. I have been eating up a storm, and I love it.
So, people of the blog world, I just want you to know that you should never, ever take eating for granted. All you anorexic people, you should be ashamed. Food is wonderful. And that is all I have to say.