Christmas

After reading Holly's posts I'm always so inspired to write my aspirations, hopes, dreams, and other inspirational things, but then I just end up giving a summary of my life. I'll make the summary short (hopefully) and the aspirations deep. Maybe not long, but deep.

Home has been a whirlwind adventure of shopping, playing, sleeping, and an all around ruckus time. Judith and family were here, and those boys can crack me up non-stop. Justin in a hunk-o-chunk, Nathan is starting to warm up faster, and Aaron... well... he's a little boy. We went to Knott's yesterday, and I discovered my liking for roller coasters. We went on the Silver Bullet last, and I liked it so much that we went on it again. My marbles were mixed up, but it was still fun. I don't think mom really knows what she's talking about when she explains the marbles thing, so I wish she would stop spreading false knowledge. It's true there are things in your inner ears that help keep you balanced, but there are not little balls in your head that roll around and make you feel dizzy. Somewhere in the apex there, if I remember correctly...

Anyways, we had a fantastic time and it was totally chill. We came home and watched meet the Robinsons, and it was a cute move, very inspirational, makes me want to adopt. Today, church was good. It's kind of lame to be sick, if only because I can't sing the Christmas hymns properly. I wrote a letter to Tim today, and sent along some pictures. I hope he's doing well. I am so lame, because I haven't written Ben a single letter, and he's my cousin! MY cousin, not anyone else's. Oh, well, it's never too late to begin. One last thing, Christmas was official when I heard the melodious tunes of the Jackson 5 and All 4 One.

Well, not as short as I'd hoped, but not bad.

Aspirations (and the like):

Better fulfill my Sunday School calling. I think I'm doing all right, but I can always be better.

Get school affairs in order: pay tuition, get all the classes I need, apply for my major, strive with my classes, etc.

Get interpersonal issues settled. You know...

Go to the temple more often. You know... just kidding. But really, I didn't go nearly enough last semester, and I want to make that better.

Build up my food stalk. I guess I should start eating again. I think I've gained like five pounds since I've been home.

Be a better friend. I feel like I've neglected the people who I consider my real friends, and who have been so good to me. I just don't know how to become a better friend. It's brainstorming time.

Become a more considerate roommate. I want all of us to be comfortable in our home, and so I'm willing to do my part. Whereas before I was throwing trash under the couches, leaving a pile of nasty dishes throughout the house, letting the noxious fumes seep from my moldy towel, you know, normal stuff...

Get more sleep. My 8 o'clock will not be pleasant.

And an overall spiritual reboot. I'll be stronger, faster, spit farther, jump higher, read deeper, and actually concentrate in Relief Society!

I guess they're not really aspirations, just goals. But I must say, they're pretty sweet goals. Maybe I'll succeed in my endeavors next post.

My First Flight!!!

My first flying experience was pretty good. The whole thing went very smoothly, and it turns out I'm not terrified of it. Leesa drove me to the airport, and I thought she was going to walk me in and help me get started, but she just dropped me off. I went into the wrong terminal at first, and I walked around for a few minutes getting ready to freak out. But then when I got to the right terminal, I went up to these kiosks that people were waiting in line for and got my ticket, then checked my bag, and the lady told me where to go. The security check went well, and no police officers tackled me. While I was waiting to board the plane, I talked to Shelley for a while, then when I hung up, I decided to crochet a little. The second I pulled it out, I found myself surrounded by old ladies... literally. On either side of me there sat two old ladies at least 80 years old, both talking to me about their knitting adventures. It was kind of funny. So when we finally got on the plane, I got a little nervous about the flight, but when we finally took off, it was totally fun. I had this big grin on my face, and I was practically leaning out the window. I'm sure the guy sitting next to me thought that I was some kind of dufus. Anyways, I crocheted for a while, but I slept for most of the time. The landing was kind of cool. When we finally got off the plane, I had no idea where to go, so I kind of just followed people. It was weird being the one coming down the stairs, having people waiting for me. Usually I'm the one at the bottom of stairs waiting for someone way more exciting than me to come down. Now I'm home, and I slept forever, and it was fantastic!!! I like Carlie and Kellie and Daddy and Mommy!

Divine Comedy Date

Last night Jaren and I went on a totally awesome date! I thought back to when he'd invited me to see Divine Comedy, but I was previously occupied. So I invited him to go to this month's show, and it was totally hilarious!!! It was the highlights from all the shows of the year, so it had the Marriott School Musical, and the parade on Les Mis, and a ton of other completely random hilarious things. They did a whole music video set the the music of Sexy Back, but they changed it to Sexy Stach, and there were three guys walking all around campus with these fake mustaches, acting all "cool" and Jaren could not stop laughing. They did an interpretive dance to colors of the wind, and I could have been in some stuck-in-your-pants kind of trouble, because I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. So, all in all, incredible show. And he and I got glow bracelets and necklaces. Sweet! After that we went to Costa Vita's and had some tasty Mexican food. I felt so bad because he got way more food than I did, and still finished first. Oh, well, I guess it comes with the territory of being a girl. Afterwards we went back to his house, and talked for a while. He is so funny. When Jordan and Joel came home, they'd bought a fancy poster that Jordan had been wanting all semester, so they had a hanging party, making it all even and hanging their records around it. I sat there forever it feels like and watched them. Then Leesa came over and we all talked and laughed and had a good time. It was a very good night.

Oh, also, I taught the Sunday School lesson today and it went well. I was very intimidated, partly because peers are just intimidating, but also because I was teaching for Hannah and Jaren's class, so they were there, and it was scary a little. Also the new bishop sat in, but it was nice to have him there, because he just has a peaceful aura. We also had a meeting after church, and the stake Sunday School guys were there, and it was a great meeting. I love feeling on top of everything for my calling, and having the information at my fingertips.

I'm scared for finals. 'Nuff said.

This is a shout out to my Hollikins. Thanks for letting me steal Zoolander, because it was to cause of a very good evening.

summary of my life thusfar

I'm worried that I'm not going to get all the Christmas/birthday shopping done in time. I was going to send Tim a Christmas package, but that idea didn't seem to fly. School is picking up, and the stress is beginning. That stress is being dissipated with the help of some good running, good friends, and a cute boy. One of the most exciting things to happen to me today was that the pathway from Helamen to Campus is finally finished, so it doesn't have to bottle-neck any more. Also, one the indoor track, I saw so many people I know, a couple of which being Andrew Walker and Caleb Miskin, Myscan, MeescAn. It was pretty fun. Now I must go to bed. A wonderful day of rest/productivity/fun-ness/LAUNDRY awaits me. Horray!!!

I feel like such a sillikins sometimes. I got my test back today from Shakespeare, and it was one of those where you get a scan tron, but you also have to write on the actual test for essays and things. I'd forgotten about the scan tron part, and I saw that I hadn't circled an answer for many of the questions. I started freaking out, wondering why I hadn't answered so many of the questions. Lots of the m were the easy ones, too. When I finally realized the reality of it, I started laughing out loud. I don't know if professor Shakespeare appreciated that... or even heard it. Oh well, I like that class... efre nit! In a pumpkin!

My Country Dancing Boy

So yesterday I had absolutely no plans, and that felt pretty nice. I slept in, went to the temple. (shout out to Shelley. I walked all the way there, and right as I went through the doors, I realized I'd forgotten my recommend. I didn't really feel like making the hour round trip to get it, so I called Shell and she drove me. That was super awesome, so Thank you!!!) Anyways, it was really nice in there. It was a long wait, and I ended up staying there until about 1:15. And considering I left my house at about 10:30, it was a nice long break from home, and roommates, and homework, and life in general. It was just a really cool thing to sit there and think about life, and read the scriptures and whatnot. So when I went home and showered, I wrote my New Testament paper. It was pretty good (but I feel like a sillykins, because I sent my "draft" to our group. It was actually my Machiavelli paper for Music 201. One of the girls was nice enough to write me back telling me it was the wrong one, so I did eventually send out the right one). While I was taking a lunch break, the boy that I met country dancing called me. He gets extra points for actually using my number. Anyways, he asked me on a date, and it was actually a really fun night. We went to Fat Cats, and I had a resounding win: 74 to 50! Oh, man we were bad, but it was still pretty fun. Then we came back to the Riv and played a little ping pong. He stunk pretty bad, which deducted some points from him. Then we went back to our apartment, and Juliet, Bubba, and Dan were sitting there eating Chinese food and watching Divince Comedy. We did that for a while, then Bubba put in the Book of Mormon movie. I laughed the whole time, just because it is ridiculously bad. Then Jaren, Jordan, and Joel came over to borrow a movie, and ended up staying. Mike (country dancing boy) must have felt a little crowded, because he then asked me if I wanted to go on a walk. We did, and we ended up sitting on some of the rocks by the little duck pond next to the bell tower. We talked about a ton of stuff, and he's a music major, so we sang together, Coldplay, Lifehouse, Jason Mraz. It was totally fun. Then he sang me a song in Portuguese, so I sang him one in French, and it was cool. Then when we were walking back, he gave me his coat because he saw that I was freezing. Also, something that won him major points was, he asked me the question, "Do you like the book Frankenstein?" You've got to be kidding me! I'm reading that right now, thanks to Holly! Yeah, it was a fun date, and he invited me to hike the Y with him and his roommate and another girl next Saturday. It will be pretty cool if I go on two dates in one day, because next Saturday night will be the fateful night (hopefully) of my date with Ryker. And Roxy will get to meet my hot Shakespeare boy, Andrew. It will be totally awesome!

Country Dancing...

So I decided to be a little spontaneous tonight, and actually went with Leesa when she invited me country dancing. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was all right. A couple of boys asked me to dance, and one named Mike asked for my number. Crazy, no? I did a few of the line dances, and most of them were really hard, so I couldn't get them by the end of the dance. Leesa is so good at them, though. I didn't have enough fun to actually ever go again. Also, I just kept looking at all the people there and couldn't stop feeling like they were all totally lame. Maybe I shouldn't go again to prevent myself from judging. But, now I can say that I've gone country dancing, and Leesa can't use the line, "you'll have fun!" because I now know the truth of what I will have... not fun.
Also, I did not see Ryker today. Ryker day is a special day, but when you don't actually see Ryker, what is the point of Ryker day? No point. When I realized I wasn't going to see him, I should have just jumped back in bed. I saw a couple guys who looked like Ryker at country dancing, but then I knew it wasn't him, because Ryker is not lame. But he would still look hot in flannel.

Shout out to Cari: I am taking Shakespeare from The Shakespeare... not THE Shakespeare... But yes, I like his class.

I just ordered a shirt from Woot Shirt, and it should be here by next Wednesday at the latest. Maybe I should stop checking it in the middle of the night so I'm not so easily swayed.

I totally got an 85% on my stats test, and that may not sound like much, but I am totally excited!!! It might even go up a little because of an extra question and the written portion.

When I was walking to work from the testing center, I was talking to Mom on the phone, (which was really fun by the way), and I saw Aaron. I pretended like I didn't see him, and I'll bet he did the same to me. It still geeked me out a little.

I've resolved to ask Ryker on a date. Roxy and I are doubling on the 17th, and that sounds like the perfect opportunity. But I have an anxiety attack every time I merely think about doing it. So Shelley, be prepared to take some extreme life-saving measures after class on me. I will most likely need it.

I'm going to an elementary school tomorrow to present a minilesson to some kids on the water cycle. I hope it goes well. I'm sad though, because it will cause me to miss music 201, and most likely all of Marriage and Family. Which reminds me... I need to email my friends to send me some notes. I shall do that now.

PS: the picture is from Leesa's party. Nelson, Leesa, Bubba, and I are enjoying the nun-chucks that the boys gave her. It's name is Heratio.

So you know how I stalked that boy from 125 a while ago? I saw him again today when I was walking back from class. This time he was standing waiting for the cross walk, so I went and stood by him so I could get a good look at his face. At that point I decided stalking him wasn't really worth it. Plus it turns out that everyone is on team Griffin. (by the way, his last name is not Christmas. It's Weaver. But maybe I can hold out for the middle name) I sent an invite to him on Facebook to Leesa's birthday party. If he shows, you will all hear about it.
I took a bag of candy to Jaren last night and talked to him for a few minutes. He is so the cutest.
I also went running last night with a friend, and it was so amazing. I love running, and we were going at a good pace for about 30-40 minutes. I really need to go running more often. It's good for my body, but it's really good for my brain.
Now I must study for my Shakespeare midterm that I am going to take in about three hours. Here is the sonnet I had to memorize for it:

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of Heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair that thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eye can see,
So long live this, and this give life to thee.

Boomshadow! Punctuation and all. And I totally only started memorizing today.

Halloween Fun

Today was a pretty fun day. Doing my hair up in a Mohawk again was a good desision, I think. It was wierd, though, having people look at me. Everyone in my classes asked me how I did it, and by the last class of the day I had my answer down to, "Lots of hairspray, ratting, and bobbie pins..." That seemed to work for most. I should have timed myself, too, because the amount of time it took me was a FAQ too. My Ryker adventure wasn't so exciting today. I kind of just handed him the bag of Halloween candy with a huge grin on my face and said, "Happy Halloween!" He just kind of looked back at me with some surprise and said thank you. But it was pretty funny what happened after that. I was starting my notes off with the date, and I jokingly asked Shelley what the date was, and she jokingly said she didn't know. Ryker, just trying to be helpful, turns to me and with a completely straight face says, "the thrity first." I just look at him with another huge smile, but this one had some question behind it, and I didn't know what to do accept laugh a little and say thank you. The girl sitting behind hime laughed, and when he realized that we were just joking, he blushed. It was really cute.
But the best part of my day (so far) was when I was sitting in the courtyard of the JFSB. I was sitting on the fountain talking to Carlie on the phone, and while I was sitting there a boy kind of sat by me. I didn't even realize he was there until I had to suddenly hang up the phone and he started commenting on my hair. I thanked him, and he kept asking me questions about myself, and he was being really nice. Then we got talking about concerts in Salt Lake, and I said I'd never been to one, so he asked me if I wanted to go sometime. Later on he mentioned that he lived in Alta apartments right by me, and I said I lived in the Riv. Turns out two of his roommates are dating two of my next-door neighbors. He invited me to hang out at his apartment and throw water balloons, then I invited him to my apartment since he already knew where it was. Right before he left, he asked me for my digits, so we switched phone numbers and he was off. The best part of the story is: his name is GRIFFIN! Oh, my goodness...
So when he was out of ear shot, I called Carlie back, and told her this exciting story, and I about keeled over. It was cool.
Work was fun, but no one else dressed up for it, so I felt a little silly. Walking home, I went through the 88th ward territory, and there was a bunch of guys who had pulled their couches out from their apartment and were chilling out on the sidewalk. When I walked past, they called out to me as Mohawk girl, and I came over. I sat and talked with them for a few minutes, and one of the boys knew Scottie. It was pretty awesome. Now I'm waiting here for my Internet to stop being slow so I can listen to my stats lessons. Let's see if it will work...

Mohawk!

This is me and the other Juli, or downstairs Juli as she is sometimes referred to. Last night before the Stake Halloween dance, a bunch of us met down in 94 and hung out for a while. It was totally fun. But I must admit, I haven't been that sweaty in a really long time. Hey, I just realized that this was my first single adult dance! Cool... And I totally had a Mohawk for it. Tomorrow is Ryker day. Hopefully it will work out this time. Also, it is Shakespeare day, where we are performing our scene. I'm real nervous, because I'm not very memorized, so I hope it works out too.

Last night was another hard night I've had because of Tim. It's crazy, on Saturday it will have been six months since I've seen him, and I'm still having hard nights. Juliet's boyfriend just broke up with her, so I was laying in bed thinking about when Tim left, and all the feelings that I'd had came flooding back all too vividly. It took me about a half an hour to get myself thinking about something else, enough so at least that I could fall asleep. I think that it's good for me to have these times to realize how real feelings and stuff can be. I felt kind of bad, though, because Claudia was asleep, and I was trying to be as quiet as I could, but after a while I kind of couldn't hold it together. Oh, well, tonight's a new night, and I have plenty of school stresses to keep my mind busy. Thank heavens for papers and midterms and Shakespeare scenes and rock finals. Leesa and I are going to have a fun night on Friday. I think we're going to invite over a couple of boys, order take out, and watch a scary movie (for one of Leesa's classes she has to watch a bunch of movies. I figure as long as she has to watch them, she might as well have some friends to keep her company, and a cute boy to hold on to). Then Saturday is a Halloween dance for the ward, but I still don't know what I'm going to be. I'm thinking punk rocker again, because that was really fun last year, but maybe I need something new. Anyways, lets see if I can finally do my stats. Stupid Internet.

If I were ever to send in a post secret, it would be, "I wish that my blog posts could sound as intellectual as my oldest sister's." Well, I guess it wouldn't really be because it's not a secret. Every time I read Holly's blogs I feel literarily uplifted and enriched, whereas mine are just, "this boy talked to me today and I'm totally in love with him ::sigh::" Oh, well, our differences are what make them fun to read.

Anyways, Today was a good day. I actually got stuff done, AND had fun. I got to sleep in, then shower and shave my legs (albeit I totally missed some spots...) I studied for, took, and got an 89% on my Marriage and Family test, which I was pretty excited for. But when I walked to the testing center, it was windy and drizzly and freezing, and I was only wearing Capris. But obviously I survived. Then I came home and took care of some more business, like my stats lessons and quiz, which I also did well on. I also ate some good warm food, so don't worry, I'm not anorexic. And I kept it down, which means I'm not bolimic either. =) Then, one of the highlights of my day, I took a very refreshing nap, and I think I dreamed about Carlie during most of it. When I woke up, Shelley broke the news to me that Holly and Grandma weren't coming, which was so sad. I think they would have reeeeeeeally enjoyed it, because I sure did. (By the way, thank you so much for organizing the opera excursion, Shelley, because it was amazing. Now I need to pay you back, through moneys, or something equally as awesome, like a puppy) Anyways, Shelley told me I could invite someone, so I called Juliet's boyfriend's roommate, Jaren, and asked him if he wanted to go. He came along, and it was really fun, although we missed the signiture "Figaro" song. But that's OK, we already know what it sounds like. And it was Jaren's first opera experience, so it was fun to try and explain what was going on. We went over to his apartment and hung out with Jordan, Juliet, and Joal. So it was Julie, Juliet, Jordan, Joal, and Jaren. Then Taylor had to come home and ruin it. We stayed for a while, then Juliet and I decided to leave, and we walked outside, and as the door was closing behind us, Juliet yelled, "wait... Why didn't Jaren give you a goodbye hug?!" So he came out and gave me a nice hug and he said he liked it, then for some reason, Juliet ran back inside, so he walked me home, and it was nice, despite the fact that it was snowing. I moaned and sobbed when I saw it. A few minutes after he had left, and I was inside, Juliet and Jordan came back, and they started talking to me about how great Jaren is, and all his amazing qualities and stuff. It was really funny. Then Jordan went home, and I finished making my scarf! Altogether it was a really good day.

Here's another "boys are great" paragraph. It's just for my own record, so no one really has to read it, but if you're into girl talk, here you go. Last night at work I was feeling yucky, and I even left a few minutes early. I was just going to come home, study some Marriage and Family and New Testament and go to bed. But when I stopped to visit with Leesa, who was going to go out, she told me that Jaren had been over looking for me, and that he'd looked pretty nice. Juliet was already over at their apartment, so me, Leesa, and downstairs Juli who is totally amazing went over there and just hung out. Leesa and Juli left after a while, but I stayed. There were three couples there, so we all kind of sat around and talked, then we watched this ridiculously funny TV show called Stella for a while. Then came the fun/terrifying part when Jordan put in "When a Stranger Calls." Jordan Juliet Jaren and I were sitting on the couch, so it was pretty snug. The last whole hour of the movie, I was practically in Jaren's lap, because I was getting more and more into the fetal position, and screaming, and generally freaking out. He was really nice about it and put his hand on my shoulder to protect me. Yeah, it was a fun night.

The Shout Outs

Roxy had a shout out to one of the Spandex Girls, so I thought I'd give some well deserved shout outs. Not everyone who I will list actually reads my blog, but that's OK.

Mom-You're awesome! I am one of the five luckiest girls in the world. You are an amazing woman, and I am so thankful to have you as my mommy! I love you!
Dad-Goes to Church! =) Shelley and I were in our Marriage and Family class, and he was talking about what dads can do to be better daddys, and Shelley and I looked at each other with huge smiles because you do all those things. The one we thought of the most was how you used to give us baths. Anyways, you are an amazing daddy, and I'm so thankful to have you! I love you!
Holly- Hip Hip Horray! It has been so awesome having you up here at school. I know I can count on you to do things with/for me. It's always a party at your house, and that is a relief that is greatly needed sometimes. Plus, who else has such awesome Office Parties? I love you!
Shelley-You Rock! It has been a great blessing to have you up here, too. It's nice to just sit and talk about everything with you. I love having a class with you, so that you can save me a seat, and be a witness of Ryker's glory. =) Thanks for your sweetness, and friendship we have, even though we're sisters. I love you!
Carlie- Hoopla! First of all, can I just say that you are so beautiful?! I was looking at some pictures, and there was one where you are sitting on the fire car at Disney Land, making a classic Carlie face, and I just fell in love with you all over again. I am so glad to have such a wacky fun hot loving sister. I can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving! I love you!
Kellie- Lovebug! I think you are amazing! You are so talented in tons of stuff that I would never have a hope in doing. Plus you have a big old soft heart. I'm just glad I have you to show me how to be hecka popular!=) I love you!
Brothers-in-law- OH Yeah! Thank you guys for being awesome. It's nice to know that I have you guys there for me when I'm in need of anything. And thanks for letting me play with your wives! I love you!
Roxy- Boomshadow Eternal! I can't believe how lucky I was to have YOU as a roommate. You are so different than me, and yet so much the same that we have all too much fun together. I'm so happy that I can talk to you about anything. Thanks for putting up with me, and all my craxyness. I really can't tell you how much you mean to me, and how much I treasure our friendship. I love you!

Hard Day

Yesterday I was having a hard day. There were lots of things working against me. I was tired to start out with. I had five hours of classes. I had to study and take a Physical Science test, on which I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I had twenty minutes to be home and eat. I had to work for 4 hours. On the way home, I was thinking about my boy troubles, then I looked up at the stars and thought about how Tim and I used to lie on DT field and look at them, and it got me missing him a lot. I cried the whole way home. Then when I got home, I snuck into my room to compose myself. When I came into the kitchen, Leesa ran to me and gave me a great big hug, and it got me crying again. Then Hannah and Juliet joined in the hug, and Leesa's friend Patrick asked me what was wrong, and was real sweet to me. My roommates tried to cheer me up by having a dance break to the tunes of Hairspray, then Leesa made me sit on her bed and study with her while I ate. I love them all.
OK, here was another contribution to my poopy day. I hung out with Aaron on Sunday night, and after being with him, I'd made the decision to break it off. So I was thinking about that all day. At about 11 last night I started writing him a rejection email, and my roommates helped. I felt so terrible for doing it, but at the same time it's kind of a relief that I've finally done it. So I went to bed last night exhausted, feeling sad, and I didn't get any homework done because I wasn't home at all. Although I'm getting my blood drawn later, hopefully today will be better.

Stalkerism and the double whammy

I began my life as a stalker today. I was walking home from class, and I saw a boy who looked pretty hot, so I thought I'd follow him to see where he lived. I was glad to find that he lives in the Riv, but he didn't go straight to his apartment. He went to the front desk, so I went in through the other door to the lounge, and puttered around for a bit until he left the office. So then I followed him some more, and come to find he lives by me kind of. I watched what apartment he went into (125) and ran to my ward directory at home. Turns out that our ward boundaries end at 124. Curses!!! So I'll just have to continue my life as a stalker. I hope it's worth it. =)
Anyways, the double whammy: Bill invited me to watch the Office at his sister's house last night, so naturally I said yes. But when we got there, it hadn't recorded properly, so we only got to see the last few minutes, which were hilarious, by the way. Anyways, Bill had to turn in early because he had to study for a test. But he is so cute, as he was walking me to my door, I thanked him for inviting me, and he said, "I like doing things with you." In my mind I did the aaaawwwww, but out loud I just said I like doing things with him too. But when I got to my apartment, I got bored because it was only about 10 o'clock, so I called Aaron, and we went for a walk. It was the freakingest long walk ever, but it was fun.
Here's the punchline: I saw both my boys, and got awkward porch scenes from both of them. Well, at least I have my new boy to stalk.

Dreams?

So I had some crazy dreams last night. In one of them, I was with Kellie, and my little baby piglet, and we were between some portables somewhere, maybe Cope. Anyways, Daddy calls me and says he needs some help. There is a cat that is going to have kittens, and he needed it to come inside his classroom so that it could be out of the rain, but it wouldn't come. So Kellie and I get into the car, and we see a "pelican" which was really a HUGE goose. I'm talking, bigger and taller than me. Kellie and I sit there and wonder at its beauty for a few seconds. (here's what was going through my mind. You know how in real life, Daddy has a great appreciation for bees, and is sad when they're lost when it's cloudy or something? Well, in my dreams, he apparently had this same appreciation for "pelicans," so Kellie and I honored him by watching it) So we see the bird fly off into the stormy sky, and we start driving to Daddy's school. My piglet was in my lap, and when I looked down, it looked really sick and wasn't moving. By the time we got out of the car, it was dead. I was so sad, and I just stood there holding my limp little piglet. That's when I woke up (it was about 3:30) and I was crying. I had to calm myself down for a few minutes, and I don't know why it made me so sad, but it did, and it still does. Moral of the story, don't get me a piglet unless you know it's going to live.
But there's a happy ending: I did my first successful french braid to my hair today, and it looks really cute.

So I guess I should write a new post since some pretty fun stuff has happened this week. First of all, Bill asked me on Tuesday if I wanted to do something with him on Saturday. Of course I said yes, so I guess we're going hiking tomorrow. My plan is to ask him up to my apartment afterwards to watch a movie. I hope it works.
On Wednesday, I got called into an interview with one of the members of the bishopric, and I totally got a calling! Sunday school Secretary! I have no idea as to what I'm going to be doing, but I think they'll give me an idea. I'll figure it out. I'm just so excited because it's my first honest to goodness calling.
Last night Leesa and I went on the porch to eat some beans, and Juliet and a boy named David came and joined us. Then the guitars came out and people started singing, and the sidewalk chalk came to play. It was fantastic!
Today (or some day soon) is Mexican Independence day, so Claudia has invited us all to go to a big fiesta where there will be salsa dancing, and salsa eating, and Jorge! Maybe I got the spelling wrong, but he is still rock awesome.
This week I've gotten two letters from Tim, one containing some fun pictures! I got one of him and Monson Elder in front of the Provo temple, and another of them doing a Matrix shot. It looks pretty cool.
I'm super stoked for Sunday dinner at Grandma's house. I hope my rolls last that long. They've been doing pretty good all week, but I don't know. Bread can be fickle.
My classes are all going wonderfully. I have about 1 Billion online quizzes every week, and this week I did really well on all of them. I hope I can keep up the tradition. In Shakespeare, there is an extra credit opportunity where we can perform a scene from the play we're studying. Right now we're doing As You Like It, and I've volunteered. I am really excited. Yesterday, Leesa and this boy were practicing a scene for their drama class, and the inner-director came out of me. I feel a little bad for interrupting, and I know I should have let them do it on their own, but when I see a possible improvement, I have to say it. After the boy left, Leesa wanted some help, so I got to run though the scene with her a few times and it was totally fun.
Oh, today in my stats lab, we were going around introducing ourselves and saying something interesting about ourselves. When my turn came around, I said that I loved to play ping pong. This guy across the room whipped his head around and said, "are you good?" I had to give him the honest truth and say, "yeah, I'm pretty good." Then he got to talking about setting up a ping pong club at school and I could be the co president. Then when it was finally his turn, his interesting thing was that he had been the ping pong champion at the school where he did his undergrad. When he was saying it, he was looking right at me. The whole thing was pretty funny, and I hope I get a ping pong game out of it.
Holly, did you know that Bill is 6'2? Wowsers.

First of all, I apologize to everyone who has written Hecht Elder, and not received a letter from him yet. I thought for sure he would write back. Maybe there was some freak accident and all your letters got lost. I dunno.
So Brittany and I just went to the temple to do the family names, and it was a really great experience. It was fun seeing my cousin again, but walking to the temple in high heels was not a great idea. When we got to the temple, Brittany was to do the family names, and so she got baptized and confirmed at the waters edge. I was watching from the area behind the glass with the pews, and I noticed that she was doing four names instead of three. I thought they'd just given her an extra name from the temple, so I thought nothing of it and did some confirmations. Then when I went to the fount, they asked if I was going to do the other family names, and I told them that my cousin had done them. Tuns out, Brittany did another family's names. Oops! But that's OK because I got to do our family names and get confirmed for them. Altogether it was great.
So I am really excited for my classes. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have at least one friend in each class, so I won't be so lonely. Juliet and I are in the same Physical Science class, so it will be nice to have a study Buddy and someone to keep me awake. I'm excited that Shelley and I are sharing a class, and it turns out that Roxy and I are in the same New Testament class!! When I saw her walking past me in the hall, I grabbed her, then we went to the same class. What a welcome surprise!!! Stats is scary, but I'm gonna get help and do well in it. All my other classes seem pretty cool.
And Holly, I'm gonna ask Bill on a date tonight. Don't worry!

I've finally moved into my apartment! My kitchen stuff all has a home. The stray bags found a place under my bed, although I'll need to lower the elevation in the near future. I don't want to be queen of the room. Also, it was a little scary getting out of bed.
I got to do the family names in the temple today. I went and got baptized for the two girl names, then they confirmed me at the waters edge. After that they asked me if I wanted to do a few more names, and of course I did. Right after I got out of the font, a guy got baptized for the guy name. From the time I walked into the temple from the time I walked out was about 15 minutes. It was a really nice experience. But I felt a little silly when I walked out, because I didn't bring a brush or anything so I had the dripping crazy hair. Turns out a bride and groom had just come out. Someday, a couple will be watching their wedding video and see me dripping wet in the background.
I went running this morning at 7:30 and it was really great. I didn't even feel like throwing up. But it is really hard running in Utah because there is no air here. Oh, well. I'll get used to it.
Oh, also, I reeeeeeeeeeally need to write my missionaries. It's been a week since I've gotten their letters, so I really need to write them with my new address.

Horray for 98!

I just moved most of my stuff into my new apartment, and I am totally excited. For once in my college life, I feel organized. I know where everything is, and my room already looks cute. I decorated and everything. Turns out I love those little plastic hooks with the stickies on the back more than ever! My only question is, how did I acquire so many winter clothes? Seriously, I have like a million sweaters, jackets, coats, and an endless supply of thick socks and scarves. Where did they all come from? I'll be glad to have them in a couple of months, but for now they are all sitting on a shelf in a closet. All I have left to do to be completely moved it is find places for all my kitchen stuff, raise up my bed, and stick the random leftover stuff under it. I can't wait!

Miscellaneous

I was just reading Sister Flanagan's blog, and she said remember who you are at the end. This made me think of something my Book of Mormon teacher once said while everyone was filing out of the classroom after the bell: Remember who you are... and don't let it get you down! I loved Brother Swift, the hippie/convert teacher. I don't know, it's just a good story.
Mom and I went on a long walk this morning, and it was totally fun. It was also nice not to have slept in until 10 or 11. Holly Mom and I saw Hairspray today, and it is a really great, upbeat movie. I especially liked Seaweed, but that's a different story.
BJ and I went on a date last night. We went to this really nice Thai food restaurant kind of by ESRI, and we were going to go mini golfing afterwards, but we had to take Brother Laurence on some errands. So, we postponed the after dinner fun for today. We're going to sneak into the Johnson's backyard and play ping pong. You can tell who got to plan it. =)
The closer it gets to me leaving Redlands, the sadder I get about leaving. I'm also nervous about going back up to Provo and having to go to all my hard classes, and having to meet new people in my ward and classes and apartment. I don't have any idea as to who I'm going to be living with, so I hope they're nice. I am TOTALLY excited to see Roxy again. I've been thinking about her a ton lately, and telling Roxy stories and stuff. When we get up to Provo, I'm going to see if we can find her. Maybe I'll have to stalker-net her. Whatever it takes...

Last night was fun, because I got to make Mom a blog. It turns out that blogs are so much easier to get now then they were way back when I got mine. I tried to find the place to add links to her blog, but it took me a while because it's different than mine... and way easier. She is so funny though, because I was typing what she was saying, and she called me Boom Shadow instead of Julie, because she doesn't want someone to take her children. I said that it is nearly impossible for someone to steal your identity if you don't write all your personal information. But no, she is concerned about someone coming to our house and stealing her children away. She is silly.
So I am feeling 100% finally. My throat looks amazing, but I honestly think I'm going to have a scar on one of my tonsils. I'm not tired. Mom and I went on a long intense walk this morning, and it felt great. Kirk and I have gone running a couple of times. I have an appetite again, and I can eat more than two bites of food before getting full. I haven't gained my weight back yet, but I think a big part of that was that I lost a lot of muscle. So now that I'm active again, hopefully I'll be getting some of it back, and therefore, the weight back.
Yesterday I got to spend the day with Kirk and his friends. First we went and got sushi with the incomparable Kenny Brown. He is more dreamy than ever! It was pretty funny to hear Kenny talk about when Kirk was telling him about this "Julie Chatfield" person, and he said that he knew me. Good times. So then Kirk and I went back to his house, and we started making this Italian dish that sounded really good. I've never chopped so intensely in my life! But I did learn eggplant is really fun to cube. I got to watch Kirk and his brother give their dad a healing blessing, and it made me respect Kirk that much more. Anyways, his friend Diego joined us, and he brought over his Wii. This dude is really funny and chill, and he was very understanding when I was having difficulties with the Wii. I had to go home before I could taste the dish that Kirk and I were making, but that's OK. It was fun to help make. All in all, I'm really glad I have a hang out friend. I'm feel bad that I have to take a car to do it, since he lives in Yucipa, but I'll only be around for a week and a half more, so I've got to cherish this time we have together, before he goes off to...Prague... or wherever he gets called.

Getting Better

So I've seen three different doctors in the past two weeks. The last one was to get a prescription that the previous one had given me, but we lost it. You know it's got to be really bad for me to ask to go to the doctors. So we went, and she gave me the medicine. I got it at lunch, and by the end of the day I was already feeling better. It turns out, I love steroids!!! This is the end of the second day of my being on them, and I already feel soooo much better. My throat doesn't hurt when I swallow, and the puss pockets have shrunk a ton. I know that sounds gross, but I've had them for three weeks. It was getting old, and more and more painful. So thank you steroids! My rash is gone, by the way. I'm not as tired as I used to be. I've been sick for a while, and it feels great that I'm finally feeling better.

Horray for Wisdom Teeth

I went to the teeth doctor's office this morning and they took out my packing and stitches. For some reason the dissolvable kind never dissolve in my mouth. Anyways, I feel free! When the lady was cutting out the stitches, she said, "Don't mind me..." She was really funny and nice. So all I have to do is wait for the holes to fill in, and I'm good.
I'm going to the regular doctor's office this afternoon about my throat. Its been feeling kind of soar, and I've been feeling kind of tired. On Sunday, I started taking a nap at 1, and didn't wake up until 7. Then I went to bed at 10, and didn't wake up the next morning until 11. I think that helped, all that sleep, but I'm still going to the doctor's anyways.
We played ping pong at Daddy's school last night for family home evening, and it was soooooo much fun. I reminisced about the good old days when Tim and I would play, or when Roxy and I would play, or when Andrea and I would play, or when... you get the picture. I spent a lot of my life at that ping pong table in Q Hall.

My Exciting Adventures

Yesterday I had my bottom two wisdom teeth out. I was worried that they weren't going to touch me because I'd had headaches for the past couple days, and I found a white sore on my throat. But they looked at it and said I was fine. Mom made me take a jacket and a new era, because she thought I would be cold and bored. I wasn't either. Oh, well. Mom was just being a good mom. So we get there and we're in the waiting room, me reading my New Era, and Dad reading Harry Potter 7. I noticed that the lady next to me was reading a Harry Potter too. I had assumed that is was the 7th one, but then all of a sudden she looks up at Dad, and says, "You have the 7th Harry Potter?!!!" Then she goes on a silly rant about how she had ordered her copy from Barns & Nobel, but it hasn't gotten to her yet, and she almost bought it at Costco, but now she's just stuck here reading the 6th one because her copy hasn't gotten to her yet. She was really funny. You could tell she was a Harry Potter nut, though. Anyways, they called me into the back and the minute I sat in the chair, the lady started hooking me up to all there wires. She even put a thing on my ankle. Then she put one of those bibs on me, accept it was huge, and a hairnet. Then she was like, "we'll be right back, so you can read a magazine. How about Hanna Montana, 'I luuve my daddy!'" She was really funny. All the nurses were really funny. Anyways, I had finished the magazine when my doctor came in, and he asked me if I learned anything. He is funny. He was wearing cowboy boots, but the fancy kind. Anyways, after a bit, he and his army of nurses decided it was time for my IV, so then poked me in my right arm, but I'm tough on the outside, he said, so they tried my left arm. That was a no-go too. Then the smacked my left hand for a while to try and make something happen, but then they went to the right side again, and tried a different spot. This time it finally worked. And I'm happy to say, I never passed out once! I warned them about that, and they gave me a great tip to flex my leg muscles. It helped a lot. Anyways, when it was finally in, I said, "Now the hard part is over... for me." And the nurses laughed a little. Then I said, "my vision is kind of crazy." The doctor said, "yeah, getting a little weird?" Then I was out. It's odd that they didn't tell me to count or anything. So a second later I was sitting in a recliner with a blanket of, and a full mouth. I thought I was super swollen, but then a nurse came and changed the gauze that was in there. It was a relief. Anyways, I woke up really well, I got a frosty on the drive home, and I read Harry Potter for the majority of the day. My jaw was completely numb until the late night, so I felt ridiculous when trying to drink out of a cup or something. Anyways, I'm fine now, not even on any pain killers. I'm not noticeably swollen or bruised (yet), and I feel good. Can't really walk around that much, and I have no apatite, but I feel good.
So Harry Potter. I liked it, but I prolly would have liked it better had I not been completely lost about stuff I'd forgotten, and if I wasn't drugged up, but I liked it. I think that was the first time I finished a Harry Potter in daylight. I thought the epilogue was a little cheesy, because it was the happily ever after deal, but I like happily ever afters. I was tres confused at some parts, because I didn't see how they connected, but Carlie helped me out a ton.
Carlie and Kellie are very nice girls. All of yesterday they would help me with whatever I needed, and were very sweet. Last night, I was laying on the couch, and my head was throbbing because of my headache, and Carlie came and sat by my head and we held hands and talked about Harry Potter. That made me feel a lot better. Then when Kellie said the family prayer, she asked to make me feel better soon. But more importantly, I think, was that she blessed Carlie in her work. Carlie is worried because they only scheduled her for one day next week. And anyone who's talked to Kellie about Carlie, or in other words let Kellie rant about Carlie, knows that that was a big deal. Anyways, they are so great. And that is what I say, being in sound mind and judgement.
Oh, I forgot to say this. Once the feeling came back in my tongue, I felt around where my teeth used to be, and the stitches are so long. It feels like they didn't cut off the ends after sewing. That is kind of annoying. Oh, well, they'll go away soon!

Back in Redlands

Being back in Redlands has been nice, because I am able to do what I want and not have as many responsibilities. I've gotten to see some of my friends that I've been missing, like Bryson, Charlie, BJ, Adam, Courtney, Brandi, and I want to see more of them. I got to go to Shelley's and Ricks house for a few days, and it was totally fun. I got to be with Shelley and do fun things, and I didn't have to paint anything. Indeed, Grey's Anatomy is very addicting, and it kind of threw off my sleep schedule, because I would watch it until all hours of the night, but still stay up more to read my scriptures and all that. Being able to read my scriptures every night consistently has been really nice. Being able to eat different foods every day has been nice too. I must admit that I like sleeping in the same bed with Kellie, (I've bedded with Carlie once too) I don't exactly know why, but it's fun to be close to them.
So it has been a week and a half since Tim and I stopped emailing each other. It has been two days since Tim has gone into the MTC. It has been about a day since I wrote my first letter to Tim. It's all kind of weird. I really can't wait to start writing all my missionaries. I counted, and I think I'm going to have about 11. Talmage Blaine David Romney Tim Charlie RHBen Ben Kirk Wayne BJ Daniel. A very lovely bunch. My fast Sunday's will be busy. Dad came home from a meeting last night, and told me that a boy from my seminary class, Christian Carlson, is going on the Hungary Budapest mission. He is going into the MTC just as Tim is leaving, but I would not be surprised if they are companions some day.
So I am missing being in Provo, mostly for the social aspect. My Fall semester back at BYU is going to be crap-tastic. A crapulous mass, even. I'm taking Shakespeare, Music 201, Stats 221, Physical Science 110B, 2nd half of the New Testament, and LDS Marriage and Family. I can't afford to do badly in any of these courses, so I'm not going to have much of a social life. To anyone who is reading this, I will need all the help I can get with staying on task, so tell me to do my work when it starts coming. Boy, I'm nervous for next semester. I hope I'm still able to go on dates and stuff. Well, I'd better get back to painting the house.

I can't wait to go home, just because I'll be able to eat real food more than once a week. I think I will really miss my friends, and not having to work very hard to hang out with them. I won't have many people in Redlands, though. Most of my church friends will be leaving, because it just so happens that they are boys. Xinyi is staying in Provo. My BYU friends don't really live in Redlands. Tim will be going to the MTC, so I won't be able to email him. Roxy doesn't even have email, and when she does go online she won't even write on my wall. Oh, funny story. Mike came over last night, and was like "check out my way cool new shoes!" and when I look down, all I can do is laugh, because they are Roxy's sneekers. The green and silver ones. It was weird seeing them all new... and on a boy.
So Mikes friend Aaron, who is now my friend too, is totally awesome. We somehow started this joke that we are engaged, so whenever we see each other, we call each other pet names like honey and sweety and dear and stuff. It's pretty fun. I was sitting on the couch between them, and Aaron put his arm around me and everything. Right in front of Mike. I thought it was hilarious. Now, Aaron has taken to stealing a kiss whenever he says goodbye to me. He is so crazy. And he's really good at ping pong.
I am very not excited for finals, and everything that goes along with them. I just hope I will survive. As long as I know how to love I know I will survive. I got all my life to live, and I got all my love to give etc. etc.
So, I'm in the library right now, and there are two guys sitting across from me practicing their Russian together. It's pretty fun. Oh, I got to talk to Carlie the other day in french for about a half an hour. It was fun trying to remember my conversational french. n'est-ce pas?
Moral of the story: I'm glad it's the weekend, but I'm not glad that it is going to be occupied with homework, writing papers, and studying. The end.

Wasting time

So, I'm sitting here in the Wilk computer lab trying to take up time until I have to go to work. I was just in stats, and I slept for the first hour, but the second hour was ok. Today was cleaning checks, and I had to do the living room and dinning area, and my part of the room. They have you do sooo many things, and it was totally disgusting. I swear the living room hadn't been dusted in at least 100 years...maybe a trillion. But that's Ok because now I have a sense of accomplishment. And I thought that it would take me the whole time in between my classes, but it didn't, so I got to eat lunch, and I wasn't late for class. So last night at about 11:15, I was in my bed studying the New Testiment, and Mike texted me, asking if I wanted to go running. Then he called me and asked me, and I said yes, so we left at about 11:30, and drove up to the residential places up past the temple. It was fun, but it was really cold, and my blisters were not enjoying the run. Also, my guts hurt, not from running necessarily, but I'm sure that didn't help them. So after we were done running up this monster hill, all I wanted to do was go home and try to make my guts feel better, but he dorve like 20 MPH the whole way back. I was dying! Then when we were walking back to my place, he read the back of my shirt and got very confused by the Julikins across it. Then he tried to get me to stay out with him on the porch or something, but I kind of ditched him. It was already like 12:30. Don't worry, Shelley, I did take my phone, and Melissa knew where I was. We're having a dance party on Friday at 9, and everyone is invited! Wayne will hopefully be there, and pull out his dancing magic. Every other song will have to be Geek in the Pink, for Andrea. I kind of promised.
Well Caleb, I hope you're glad that I finally posted!

The exciting adventures of a Wednesday

Today has been an emotional rollercoaster:
7:30 AM: Happy. I got right out of bed, and got ready very quickly, so that I had extra time to study for Music 202

9 AM: Feeling like a crapulous mass: The Music 202 test. However, there was some humor on the side when our teacher practically gave us the answer, and some stupid kid didn't get it. Classic.

12:40 PM: Relaxed. We got to take a ten minute nap, or just lay there with out eyes closed and listen to soothing music. It was fabulous.

1 PM: Humor. American Heritage, Dr. Holland, and a little girl with a cake and a knife. What can I say more?

2 PM: Fear. The American Heritage test. Not as bad as I thought, but still not great.

Aproximatly 2:20 PM: Surprise. As I was sitting in the testing center, trying to concentrate, who should sit down by me but Tim, taking the same test. So we shared answers, and then had a make out session afterwards. Just kidding. He didn't even see me there, but his presence really distracted me.

3:20 PM: Joy. Tim called me after he got out of the testing center, and we talked for a while. Happiness...

Midterms are making me sad. They are scary and mean, and I have so many of them this week that there will be little to no time for other fun things... like ping pong. I have Book of Mormon, Geography, American Heritage, and Music 202. All very intimidating. But all these tests combined aren't as intimidating as James Madison. ::shudder::

That's what she said

The past couple of days have been really fun, but a little stressful. Stressful because James Madison has been breathing down my neck, but fun because I've gotten to see my friends a lot. Tuesday night, Roxy and I went to play ping pong with Tim, and when he and Joe walked us home at midnight, we ended up standing outside until 2:00. Then last night, I went and played ping pong with Tim for an hour, then we got icecream, then we played pool with Roxy and Andrea. I got lots of Valentines, and a great package from Mom. It was a pretty nice Valentine's Day. That's what she said.

oh, hip hop

Today in aerobic dance, we did some hip hop, and I learned that I am totally white, no matter how hard I try to do it. I can't even do it right for Phillip. But that's OK, because it was ssoo intertaining to watch phillip be totally gangsta. Its awesome how good he looks doing it, and how natural it looks. He made us gangsta walk for like ten minutes. It was intense. Tutoring wasn't bad today. The kids were making those hearts that you weave together, so I got to help them with that. Those kids are so funny. I have the activity tonight, and I am really excited, because we are going to do a variation of whoonu. I told Blaine that we were going to play a kind of get to know you game, and he was like, but we already know each other really well. That's true, but this is going to be sooooo fun. I have to read a book on James Madison by Friday morning, so maybe I should start doing that instead of this. Anyways, I love you!

Feeling good

It is a beautiful day today, much like the winters in Redlands. The cool air and the fluffy clouds make my inward sides smile. As I was walking to class, I saw Caleb Miscin (someone help me with the spelling please), and he said my name to get my attention, and said hello to me. It was great! I didn't know he even knew my name. That was a great start to my day. Then I saw Charlie Lambert, and he said I looked beautiful. I like that Charlie Lambert. I'm glad that I can come out of the funk I've been in for a while. Maybe it's because the wheather is changing, or things are just going better. I've gotten to see my friends way more than usual this week. I am rested. I'm not too stressed out about school or anything, and it's great! I got fun pictures developed, and there are some from Thanksgiving! I laughed out loud when I saw them, and I'm sure the people walking around me thought I was weird, but I don't even care, 'cause friendship is rare. Hand me that shotgun and that chaaaair.

Family home evening adventures

Tonight was fun. For our activity, RHBen had us play a game called signs. It was so craxy. Talmage and I were sitting next to each other, and we kept talking to each other, and he couldn't pay attention to see if his sign was being said, so then he kept blaming me for missing it. It was really funny. This game ended in an attempt to tell a fictitious story, then a game of honor code spin the bottle, where we hugged instead of kissed. It was me, Talmage, Wayne, Tim, this guy named Joe, Elizabeth, Roxy, Andrea, and this awesome guy named Dan(the same one who danced at me). Anyways, we played for a while, and it was great hugging. It got my endorphins pumping! Then we sort of migrated into the cougar cove. We talked about lots of stuff, then we started playing truth or truth. After some awesome questions, Tim asked me who I would make my valintine in our FHE family, including Andrea and Orson Scott Card. I said everyone, then someone said I couldn't say everyone, so I got the option of top three, so I said the only guys from our family, Tim Talmage and RHBen. Then Roxy made me do the Throw off a cliff make out and Marry. So in code I said my answers, then Joe was like "what? You're going to throw tim off a cliff, marry Ben, and make out with Talmage?" Really loud and it was... interesting. Then Tim started doing the fake crying, and I said there would be a big pillow down there, and Talmage said it would be made of humming bird feathers, which started a whole new conversation. Then we stayed there for many hours, and ended up leaving at midnight. This was a record for loitering after family home eavining time. All in all, it was a fantastically fun night. Horray!

Fun Dance

Last night was the stake dance, and let me just say I haven't had that much fun at a dance in a VERY long time, possibly even ever. We did a bunch of line dances that we lerned for family home evening, and I felt truly mormon. It was so great to wear pants instead of a skirt, because you can dance so much more freely. This kid Dan who is really awesome came up and danced sort of at me, and it was really fun. I have never been asked to dance by other people before. I danced with Blane, RHBen, Talmage, Morgan, Thane, and Kevin. They were all really fun. When Ben and I were dancing, we were really close, so it was wierd to look at him. I would talk to him facing left or right, but eventually I got comfortable with it. During one of the swing songs, Talmage taught me this cool step that you do side by side with someone, and I discovered that it is very dangerous to dance next to him. He kicked like ten people just in that one song. He was also wearing his all white gangsa outfit with a dew rag and hat. He is so wierd. Anyways, it was always fun to be in different circles of people, because there was always a different kind of energy. Wayne was the... most intertaining person to watch. Tim was there, and I guess he isn't much of a dancer, because it didn't look like he was having much fun, and he left sometime through. After the dance, we all loitered around and talked, and I mentioned that I was so hot that I wanted to roll around in the snow, so RHBen was like, OK, and he started pulling me towards the door. Then on our way we saw some other people from our family, and he started convincing them to go with us. We stood there for a while, and I decided to go without him, or else I was going to cool down too much to do it. So Roxy and I went outside and ran around in the snow without any shoes on. I never knew people were serious when they said its like being stabbed in the foot when walking through snow, but it really does feel like that. Anyways, we all went over to T Hall and hung out till 1:30. That was really nice and fun and relaxing. Then when the boys were kicked out, Roxy and I went upstairs and watched the extras of Talladega Nights until 2:00. Thus concluded our very fun day.

Planetarium, Pizza, and more

My FHE dad, Blane, asked me on a date for Friday night, where we all went to the Brick Oven, then to the planetarium show in the ESC. who was there you say? In couple order: Blane and I, Roxy and Talmage, RHB and this girl Racheal, David Romney and this girl Ginny. We had sooo much fun. The pizza we had was so incredibly tasty! The stars being projected onto the dome ceiling were so beautiful, and the guy presenting also gave us a slideshow on the life of a star. It was so interesting and fun. Then afterwards we played with all the scientific toys that are in the ESC. We were in there for like, two hours. Then we went back to the Morris Center, and the group whittled down until it ended up being me, Roxy, Talmage, and Ben. We stayed in there, laying on the floor until about 1:30. It was so fun, and it was the first BYU date that the boy asked me on, which was a welcome change.
On Saterday, Roxy bought the game Cooties. We invited Tim to play with us at about 4, and he ended up staying with us for the rest of the day. We went to Caleb and Holly's house to play Mario, and Tim wasn't too bad. Then he came to Rick and Shelley's and had dinner and watched about 1,000 episodes of the Office with us.
Today has been fun, but it isn't over, so I guess I'll write about it later.

Home is great!

I like being home. It's really nice and fun and really warm. I like the fact that I can walk outside and not have to put on a coat (sorry Roxy, I mean hooded sweatshirt). I got lots of great things for Christmas, like a digital camera, new jammies and slippers, my DVD collection doubled. Surpridingly, one of my favorite things was an antique piece of music from the 20's with notes in it, and it is just the most fun song with the whole 20's style called "She's Got 'It.'" It's been really great to be with my family, and to see all my old Redlands friends. It is a really new experience coming back and and having things be the same, but different at the same time. I got to see my fifth grade teacher and mother of one of my long time friends get baptized tonight. It was really beautiful and very exciting. I also saw my most favorite person Sister Haimson. She is just so fabulous, and makes me feel so fabulous. I really like chilling with my family, but I do miss BYU and Roxy and all my friends.

OK, lets get down to the nitty gritty

So, in my last post, I said what do I need to do to make a boy ask me out. I say this because other people get asked out, but I always end up having to ask out the boy if I want to go out. Not one boy has asked me out this school year, so what do I need to do? This is an open question for all to answer to. Maybe I just need to go on an elbow touching spree.

so many things

I just took my 30 question super easy healthy living test and I got an A. And on the screen, it said "Fantastic" next to it. It made me feel good even though it was totally easy. Finals are sort of intimidating, like someone is kicking my shoe, and yet I'm not as scared as I should be. If I were more scared I would be studying harder, but I think I'll do fine. It will be so fun to go home and have all of us together. It's crazy that school gets out so close to Christmas, but that's the way it goes. Hey, all you married people who read this... what do I need to do to get a boy to ask me out?

"Don't worry... her heart's just imploding"

So the ward temple square trip is on Saterday, and I am so totally stoked!!!!!!!!! I really want all my favorites and I to stick together for the day, so that we can have a rockin' good time. My favorites include: Talmage, Tim, RHB, Andrea, Ashley (pink and blue), Danica, Jamie...really its my whole family home evening group. We shall laugh, play, eat, and go sight-seeing. Can I wait? Of course not, why are you even asking???!!!! I don't know, I thought you were joking. Well, I wasn't.

Home Adventures

We got home late Monday night, or should I say very early Tuesday morning... about 2 AM California time. Anyways the highlights of the break were:
Tuesday- sleeping in, seeing, my family, seeing Adam Cook, going shoping with Mom and getting SUPER cute stuff.
Wednesday- going on a walk... without a jacket. just shorts and a t-shirt. and getting food assignments. Mine were drinks, green bean casserol, and pumpkin pie. Judith and the kids came over too, and it was super fun. baby Justin has blond hair now, instead of black thicknesses.
Thursday- Thanksgiving. tasty everything, and so much derbey pie! Thanksgiving nap, and another walk. we then rented Nany McFee and Big. We watched them both, along with a little Spider Man II that happened to be on TV. I love Toby Mguire!!!
Friday- this was a nice day. I taught Kellie and Carlie a lesson for my Book of Mormon class. We hung out with Megan a little bit, then we went to the hill park! We played a craxy game where me, Mom, and Kellie were throwing two frisbees, then Dad came in the mix, along with a football. That was really fun. Then Kellie and I threw around a baseball. My pitching arm is still alive. We had leftovers for dinner, followed by Eloise at Christmas. Then Mommy and I went shopping a little, and now here I am.

Somthing that is weird about being home is that I miss BYU. I miss all my friends, because they are the closest friends I've ever had. I haven't said Boom Shadow nearly as much as I should. Or craxy. I love both places, so... I don't know. I'm glad I got to come home, and I'll be glad to be back at school.

life is going nice

So, I've looked at myself, and realized that I love being up here in college, with all this crazy weather, and all these amazing people who I love, and the fun things I get to learn and do. Although I am so glad I get to be here, I am way excited to go and visit Redlands. I want to wear shorts, see the mountains, go on a walk, teach the family "cricket owl," eat delicious home made food for days in a row, see fun people like all the young women, Adam Cook, and Kate Hill. I need some fresh stories about her. I'm excited to be able to drive places, and maybe even rollerblade a bit. The ride will be interesting to say the least, just because it will be very full in that car for those 9+ hours. But it will be fun. I hope we sing (charlie will sing with me).
So, I have come to adore Monday nights, just because I get to play with about 15 of my favorite friends. And usually I linger with a few others for a few hours afterwards. It's like a crazy tradition that has been since the beginning of the family: Tizight like unto a dish. It will be sad how the dynamics will change when my brothers start going on missions.
I had my first head-cuddle with my brother Tim yesterday. Blaine and Roxy don't love me enough to head-cuddle with me, but that's OK, because Tim's hair felt funny on my hair. Oh, last night, everyone went around and said something they like about me because I was spotlighted. There were some nice things, like I have a pretty smile, I dress nice, or I'm funny. Then there were some wierd ones, like I have a great imagination because I can build a fort(Tim), or I'm craxy (Ben), or I have duck lips sometimes (Talmage). Roxy said she likes the wierd sayings I make up, and Wayne said he likes all my nicknames, like Jules or Julikins.
This week is going to be crazy homework filled, if I could only get off the computer. I get to go observe children this week. I'm really excited about that.

There's a penny in our butter!

Oh....mymymymymymy....

Preference was so amazingly fun. I can't tell you how much fun we all had. Ice skating is a really good excuse to hold hands... especially Roxy's. I only fell once, and took out Talmage with me. But Ben was right there to help me up. It was great. Lots of other funny things happened, and some awkward things happened, like the combined efforts of Ben and I to almost kill a girl. oh, I felt so bad. Anyways, we had a blast. They had the comedy sportz team there, and we watched some of it. The ref was the bishop from Sons of Provo. He is real funny. On the ice, my hands started to freeze, so Ben let me use his gloves. H tried to teach me how to do that stop thing, but I was a failure. That's OK though, beause he held my hand to make sure I didn't die. Lots of other stuff happened. Thanks to the best brother in law, we got home some time before midnight. Talmage and Roxy and Ben and I stayed outside and talked (and did other random things) until about 1:45. It was really fun. I got lots of good pictures, and I can't wait to get them developed! I am soo obese! =)

waiting for tonight

I can't do it, I can't wait for tonight. I am way totally stoaked for preference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ice skating with my three favorite people will be so magical. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHYLA!!!

Yay for writing until my eyes fall out

I really like writing my novel. I'm writing about my dreams, and so its kind of a flow of consciousness. I kind of just write and write, and I know a lot of poo is coming out, but I think some good stuff is coming.

My crew got off work early tonight, and Wednesdays are visiting hours. I usually get home when boys are not aloud anymore, so when I was walking to my room, I heard man voices and I was disturbed for a few seconds... then I realized I am stupid. Anyways, Roxy and I were sitting here writing our novels, when we get a knock at the door, and guess who it was? Red Head Ben! He came in the last like two minutes of visiting time, just to visit! I felt so special! Can you tell how excited I am by the amount of !!!!s Anyways, I cannot wait for Preferecne!!!!!!!!!!!!

the final answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So lets get started. It was a fun evening at Shelley's house. Once we got home, Roxy started listening to her ten messages. We listened to a few of RHB old ones because they are just too humorous. But it turns out, there's a new message. In it he tells me to call him, even if it's one o'clock, because he says "it's going to be pretty cool." So it's 12:30 and I call him. I'm like, " Hi, it's Julie." and he's like, " Hi, what's up?" and I go " I don't know, what is up?" and he contemplates his wording for a moment. Then he says, "Will you meet me in your lobby?" and i say "Yeah." So I go down there and he kind of sneaks up on me. Then he gives me a plate of snicker-doodles and says, "Julie will you marry me?" and I said, " No you fool! You haven't even been on a mission yet. You pretty much can't go to preference with me anymore, so therefore, the other option of Talmy is now open." Just Kidding, he said, "I wasn't quite sure about my answer." So at first I'm thinking he can't go with me anymore, so now he's giving me these consolation snicker-doodles. But then he's like, "I think you need to look a little closer." So I start moving the cookies, and lo and behold there is a note card on the bottom that says YES! I was sooooooooo happeeeeee. Then we stood outside and talked for a while about my failed plan and his feeling dumb by just saying yes over the phone. We talked about life and about what dance we want to go to. In the middle of it all he sang a song from The Lion King. Pretty much I am totally stoaked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Preference madness

So You all know that I was asking RHB to preferecne, but my plan went horribly wrong. I went to five balloonst o his roommate to give to him, but he didn't show up. Luckily, Charlie came by, so he took them up to his room for me. But then we missed his call, because we gave him a mysterious phone number to call at a certain time, so we could read him a mission impossible thing. So he left a message that was so cute. He was like...Hey, this is ...Ben, I'm not sure what this is exactly, but I think this is the right number...so sorry I was not home I guess. So I'll talk to you later, or something.
Then he called again the next day and said...This is agent Fisher trying to report for duty. Sorry I keep missing you and I'll keep trying. Bye.
So I called him today, and I was like "hi Ben, this is Julie. You know those mysterious balloons and that mysterious phone number? That was me." and under his breath I could hear him go, Yesssss. It was so awesome!!!! so he said yes, and I dont know what dance we're going to, but I think we're going to have a lot of fun. Now if only Roxy would ask a certain someone...

The Preference Fiasco!

So, you all know that I was asking RHB to Preference, but my plan went horribly wrong. I went to give balloons to his roommate to give to him, but he didn't show up. Luckily, Charlie came by, so he took them up to his room for me. But then we misses his call, because we gave him a mysterious phone number to call at a certain time, so we could read him a mission impossible thing. So he left a message that was so cute. He was like... I dont know who this is, but I guess I was supposed to call, so...yea. then the next day he called again, then Roxy called a few times, but it was no use. So I'm just going to call him and put that old plan to rest. Too bad it didn't work, but he got some awesome balloons out of it.

SNOWWWWWWWWWW

I can't believe it snowed today! It was my first snowfall of Provo, and Roxy doesn't think so, but I think she is craxy. The snow was so beautiful, and I called my mommy and my daddy an my Carlie and told them... I hope the news reaches my Kellie. Anyways I really like Back to the Future. Michael J Fox is a studmuffin, but I also really like the George guy. He is just really awkward and cute. While we were watching one of his awkward parts, Roxy said, "Hi, this is Wayne... Wayne Robison..." and I couldn't stop laughing until, like, sixteen minutes ago. I am very excited for mom to come to Provo, and to get slaughtered at racquetball. Quiet, YOU!

Preferance!

I have been trying to decide for a few days now which guy I want to ask to preferance, and this morning I finally decided. RHB!!! But how shall I do it? That is the real question...

Good Grades feel good

I got a 55/60 on my MFHD paper that I turned in a few weeks ago! That was a great consolation after the traumatic experience of writing and turning in my other paper today. But everything worked out in the end. And Roxy took my phone to music 101, so maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get a new picture of him, and yet another shapeshifty.

PICTURES

I just got the piectures that I had developed! They are great, and everyone should go look at them on the facebook.

Horray! Horray!!

I finally figured out how to make a links list on the blog! now I can read all of yours with ease!!!!!!!!!!! I just took a sign language test, and I only missed two! I felt very smart.

I love fun dates!

Today... was a good day. It was super awesome, way chill, and there were lots of awesome people there to share it with. Roxy Xinyi Blaine Red Head Ben and Talmage and I went on a date today. First we hiked the Y, which was amazingly beautiful, and it was so fun. Then we went to a sushi place and had some great Japanese food, then we ran over to Ream's to look over the selection of root beer. I took lots of pictures, and captured many timeless moments, like all the boys standing on top of the trail markers. I am in LOVE with Ben... well, you know what I mean. He is so awesome and gentlemanly. He picked me a flower, and did lots of fun things like that. When I was holding Xinyi's hand and walking down the Y, I slipped and fell on my kazinkis, and when Ben saw he ran up to where I was. Then when Xinyi told him that I need a hug, he gave me a great hug that was longer than I expected it would be, then he grabbed my hand and said, "why do we fall?" and I said "so we can get back up. " It was so funny. Oh, and every time we got out of the back of Blaine's truck, he would jump out really fast so that he could help eveyone out. Then he would open all the doors for us, and he went out an got my debit card with me when we were at the restaurant. Oh, and as we were hiking up to the Y, I had brought a backpack with water and a jacket and my camera, and as we were like 100 feet away from the Y, he looks at me and says, why are you holding that backpack? and I said, because no one took it from me, then he was like, hand it over, and he carried it for the rest of the time. Then when we were by the bottom of the Y, he and Blaine started picking up the trash that people had let roll down the Y, like waterbottles mostly. While we were there, we saw big horned sheep. It was pretty cool. Then on the way down, Talmage found a piece of grass that had some flowers growing off it, and he looked at is and said these are pretty. And when I saw them I started freaking out, and I told them that they were colombines, and that they were my favorite flower. Then Talmage asked if he could put the whole big thing in my hair, and Ben was like, why don't you pick them off, and then he did, then Talmage was like, hey you're stealing my thunder, then Ben gave them back to Talmage, who then gave it to me. I felt special. Laying down in the bed of the truck was an awesome experience. Blaine was really paranoid about the police giving him a ticket for people riding in the back of the truck, so he made us lay down, which was not great becasue everyone kept hitting their heads on the metal everywhere. But we sort of had to lay on top of each other, and I didn't mind that so much. When all the activities were done, we all got out at DT, and the three boys walked Roxy and I home. Chivalry is not dead at BYU. When Roxy and I got in the elevator, I almost died because I was so happy. I haven't had that much fun with a boy in a long time.

horray for halloween!

I can't wait for Halloween. There is a dance on Friday, and Roxy is going as a beauty queen, and I am going as a flapper. We are going to wear each other's dresses, and it is going to be fabulous. Last night, at like 11, I decided I wanted to play around and put on flapper makeup, whatever that is (it ended up being about 5 punds), then of course I had to put on the dress. And since I was putting on Roxy's dress, she had to put on my dress. Then we had to go look at ourelves in the full length mirror in the hallway and take pictures. Then Roxy let me talk her into letting me do her makeup and hair, and I must say, she looked even more beautiful than she normally does. It was a kind of a "if you give a mouse a cookie" ordeal. Maybe we shouldn't have done it becasue it was so late, and we were almost late to out 8 o'clock classes today, but I don't care. We had a rockin' good time, and now we know how fab we are going to look on Friday. It will be sososososososossosososoosososo fun! What are you going as?

The Many Affairs of Family Home Evening

Last night was a magical night. I love all the people in mya family, but especially Talmage, but even more especially Red-Head Ben. He is so awesome! He ran a marathon in Saterday, and that is so... awesomely impressive. We had a fun time in FHE, and afterwards, I thought that me and Roxy were just going to go home because I thought I didn't feel like doing nything, but then we just got to talking, then we started throwing around a vollyball, and that got really fun. But when Danica had to leave with her vollyball, Ben went up and got his soccer ball, and we played a soccer version of haccy sack. It was fun, even though I stink at it, and I got injured. The injury part was actually good, because I got free hugs from boys out of it. Ben and Blaine to be exact. There was one time last night where somehow me and Ben got into a staring contest. It was kind of wierd, but kind of cool. It was funny, as me and Roxy and Ben and Blaine were playing with the soccerball a kid was walking though and he was like, "What a lame date!" Then Blaine said "well, at least we're doing what the stake president told us to... to go on a date every week. But we have been slacking." Then I was like, well here we are, motioning to me and Roxy. Then, somehow we came to the consensus that we are all going to hike the Y on Saterday. So it will be mine and Roxy's first double date together, and with two really awesome guys. It will be sososososososos much fun, I think. After Blaine left, Ben was such a genleman and walked us home. It was great!

You know what...

I was thinking a lot about stuff today. Yesterday was a great day because I just love going to church, and our FHE family was so righteous, and there was ward choir practice, then we went to Gradma's and had a rocking time, then Roxy and Ben and James and I got to sing "I Believe in Christ" and it was beautiful and inspirational, then we got to play at Holly's and Caleb's, then Cari and Ben and Roxy and I had a fun walk home. Don't you love runon scentences? Anyways, after we got home and had a chance to settle down, Roxy started doing her homework, so I was quietly fiddling around on my computer, and I started to be sad, and I couldn't figure out pourquoi. After a while we went to bed, and I was just laying there trying to figure out why I felt this way. I had crazy dreams last night. I wonder if it had to do anything with anything. Anyways, today I had an hour to kill between classes, so I walked around on the trails aroud by the duck pond. I really liked all the nature, and just the crisp air and everything. It made me feel better. When I settled down on a bench by the duck pond, I watched a mommy and a cute little girl feed the duckies. That made me real happy.
When I was walking between classes, I caught a glimps of some far off mountains, and they looked like the kind you could see from Redlands, and it made me feel kind of funny. Then I thought about Everyone there and... I didn't get homesick, but I just thought about home. Later today, I saw a guy who looked like BJ Laurence, and I felt sad that he is a little older than me, but he can't go to college yet, then I thought about what if I had to stay, and that through out any trace of homesickness. I love it here. I wonder what it's going to be like when I go back for the summer.
Speaking of going home, Thanksgiving is coming, not soon, but it's coming all the same.
I need to go on more dates, and I need to hike the Y. It would be cool if the two could mix.

My date with talmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it all started at the early hour of ten o'clock. when i left my roommate was still in bed. shelley and rick were a little late, but that gave me and talmage a little bonding time before he met the family. the minute we all stepped outside, was the minute that changed my life forever. jk. talmage couldn't stop talking!!(about the weather) he said it smelled like thanksgiving, but i think that thanksgiving smells like delicious food. so we got to bowling, and straight away talmy went for the fourteen pounder. he said he was feeling extra masculine today. i was not feeling to masculine so i went for the eleven pounder. crazy bowling was, interesting blah! but we were all great at it. i think talmage put perhaps too much thought into it, maybe that's why he came in last. on the other hand, maybe it was a way of showing how much he loved the date. all in all i won, and that's all that mattered. we came back to the lobby, and roxy the roommate joined us for a rousing game of curses. i must say that it put a laugh spell on all of us. really, the only jewel that came out of it, was ricks fwench piwate. once shelley and richard parted our path, that's when it became interesting. roxy, talmy, and i went to lnt and got delicious sustinance. afterwards, we indulged in a cone of ice cream at sugar and spice, making the total amount of ice cream for the day two pounds. we took a very lovely stroll past the duck pond, then through an extremely scenic route. it reminded me of the good old days at oakglen. we then proceeded to the maeser building, where we picked up penelope with an accent. she is a lovely specimen of ten dollar bikeage. it's a love love relationship between talmy and penelope. on the way we parled much about hiking. the beautifl snow and weather was also a topic that drew out everyone's opinion. today, was a good day. roxy the roommate (the real boomshadow writer) thought so also. the end of episode 1. join us next week as we write about red head ben!!!