A Penny for Your Thoughts?

2010 Year In Review

2011-02-12T23:05:00.000-08:00

Ok... so I know it's already February, but we'll just let that slide.

2010 was a fast year. Every year is a fast year--at least in retrospect. Some of the things I'll remember most about 2010 (in semi-chronological order):

A new roommate: In the beginning of the year, my roommate, Jill, got a cat, and so I had my first experiences of living with a feline and being the "cool aunt." Mrs. Kittles is a pretty great cat. I'm not gonna lie, kitty litter is not too amazing, nor were her early morning wake-up calls, but Mrs. K definitely keeps us entertained with her inquisitive, playful nature, her love of the laser pointer, and her sweet disposition.

(She loves resting on my bed)

Weddings: I had the opportunity to attend several weddings this year. Can I just say that I love weddings? I know that's pretty cliche for a woman to say, but oh well :) What's not to love about watching two people declare their love, celebrating with them and getting fed delicious food? The weddings were in Los Angeles, Athens, GA, Las Vegas, Boston and Salt Lake City. It was great to spend time with old friends (3 of the weddings were friends from high school), make new friends (I didn't know anyone at one of the weddings, so I made a lot of friends that weekend in Georgia), and family. Here are a couple of pics:

(In the photo booth at Jan's wedding in LA in February. We had the best time in the photo booth! I look a little crazy in that last pic, but I think I was halfway between open eyes and blinking.)

Marci (my cousin) and Shane's wedding Las Vegas in July. They got married at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, under a pretty pavilion with a waterfall in the background (which seriously helped keep us cool since it misted us with water during the ceremony).

First half marathon: In the first half of the year, I had the chance to train for and run my first half marathon. The whole thing was a great experience. It's pretty cool to start from being able to run 3 miles to slowly adding more and more. It was nice to have such a tangible, time-sensitive goal. The actual race was really fun, too. You're with all of these people who have been training for the same thing--you have lots of people cheering you on, handing you water, etc. And then, at the end, you get a bunch of free stuff, lots of people congratulating you, a medal... few times in life we get such treatment! Then again, you pay for this experience (who pays to run 13.1 miles? :)) My goal was to finish and to run (without walking) the entire time, which I was able to do. My time was not incredible, at all, but I finished and I'll definitely have something to try to beat for next time. If you're thinking of doing a half, I definitely recommend it! No immediate plans for the next one, but we'll see... maybe sometime in 2011.
(About halfway through the race--by the end I was looking more grim)
(Afterwards with the best "Pit Crew" ever--Aunt Joan, Jill and Mom)

Church Tour Milwaukee 2010: This was something my friend Steven and I did during the summer. Steve gave me the idea. "We ask people to come to our church, but I haven't really gone much to other people's churches," he said. "I think attending a church in an area gives you a feel for the city." I really liked the idea, so we decided that along with going to our local LDS singles ward in the afternoon on Sundays, we'd also attend different churches in the Milwaukee area in the mornings. We only went 3 different times, but each time was a great experience. We attended a United Methodist Church, a predominantly African-American Christian church, and St. Sava, a Serbian Orthodox Church. Each was unique, and I gained/appreciated different things from each experience. And people were welcoming to us. "We hope you'll come back again soon," said one nice older lady at the United Methodist Church. There are a lot of good people in Milwaukee, and in the world, for that matter.

(Steven in front of St. Sava. The mosaics and stained glass inside were beautiful)

Church activities: I had the opportunity to plan a lot of activities for my singles ward at church throughout the whole year. Dances, camping trips... I've had many great memories over the years from my time in Milwaukee. I was released from this calling towards the end of the year, but I still help out with activities and I'm sure there will be many more fun times to come in 2011.

(Nate at our Door County camping trip in September)

Goodbye to Wilderness Court: In the fall, my parents sold their house in Mequon, WI... meaning that they were officially no longer residents of Wisconsin. I'm the lone Major in Wisconsin now! Hard to believe, but it was a blessing that they were able to sell the house in such a tough housing market. I lived in that house from the end of seventh grade through high school and for a few years at different points after high school. Lots of great memories, of course, making it a sentimental experience to help Mom and Dad prep the house for the sell.

Mom especially did a lot to get the house ready... all day, everyday, for a month, she cleaned, packed, ran errands, etc. By the end, she was exhausted, but we had some great times together in the house before we left it to the new owners. Bye, house!

A niece! In December I went to Utah to see my family for Christmas. It was the longest vacation I've had since starting my job at Kohl's Corporate... and it was great to relax and spend time with the family. And... the most exciting part of the trip was to meet my niece, Cate Major! Cate came into the world on Dec. 22. I met her for the first time on Christmas Eve--her first day home from the hospital. She's the first grandkid on both sides of her family, and she didn't disappoint her adoring fans. Congrats, Sam and Nancy! She's certainly a doll and we're all pretty smitten. I'm excited to work on being a "cool aunt" for this sweet girl...

('Proud Aunt' picture)

Thanks, 2010!

Library Saturday

2010-11-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Nothing like spending a Saturday afternoon at the library. I've spent a lot of time in libraries this last year, due to my lack of internet at my apartment. Yes, I know. How do I live like that? You wouldn't survive long without internet, yes I know. :) Can you tell I've answered that question a lot? Surprisingly, living without the internet isn't as bad as it sounds. I've spent a lot more time in libraries, coffee shops (lots of hot chocolate :)), and McDonald's (free wi-fi there) than I might have otherwise, and yes, it's annoying not to be able to research or look up things right away, but it's been sort of liberating to be free from the constant presence of facebook, google, etc. I kind of enjoy just thinking, or picking up a book. The experiment is soon coming to a close, however. I've realized that despite my new-found freedom from technology, it's probably more work in the long-run to have to go to coffee shops and libraries all the time when I just need to "look something up." But, I hope that I can take some of the things I learned during this time with me as I step back into the land of 24/7 internet access and retain some of that quiet time.

But I digress.

This post was really supposed to be about how much I love the library. Right now I'm in the Milwaukee Public Library, and the building is pretty impressive in and of itself. But no matter the place, libraries just have some pretty great things in common.

1. Random, interesting books that I never would have thought to write or read, but now I want to. I love finding books on anything and everything. And I love how the librarians seems to know exactly which books to display that I'll want to browse through. A book on green jobs? Surfboards? Why not?

2. Interesting people. There seems to be a nice cross-section of humanity in a library, and I enjoy seeing everyone here, whatever their reasons. I like being with the people.

3. Quiet. I love that it's some sort of unspoken rule to keep quiet in the library. A guy walked by a few minutes ago, loudly talking on his cell, but generally, it's pretty darn quiet in here. I love it. A place you can read and think and just be.

4. The way time seems to stand still. I'm not sure what it is about a library or a museum, but when I'm in them, it seems as if I've stepped into some sort of timeless place, where I'm free to ponder the world, my life, ideas, places . . . without interruption. I don't seem to notice the hours go by—I could spend a whole day in a library and not really tire. Yet, after about an hour doing just about anything else, I'm totally ready to move on to something different. Strange.

I used to think it was pretty nerdy to love libraries, and it still might be, but I can't help it. Go to the library :)

Victorious!

2010-10-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yay! The $18 Parmesan cheese paid off. I won the "Veggie" dip category, and here's a pic of me with my "trophy" (a bucket filled with fake plastic veggies). There were a lot of delicious dips (20-30) and 4 categories... Tailgate, Veggie, TBD (To Be Determined... a mix of random dips), and Sweet. I didn't have time to prepare the entire dip that morning, so I brought my supplies to work, and I had to get out a cutting board and chop some artichoke hearts at my desk.

I can't take too much credit--this recipe was one that my aunt Catherine made at our house once several years ago, and I used a modification of the following recipe for the contest:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quick_and_easy_artichoke_dip/

I add a clove of crushed garlic, too. Yum... so simple, but very tasty. Thanks Aunt Cate for your inspiration!

Also, I might post the other dip winners, stay tuned.

Parmesan on my mind...

2010-10-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight I ventured to the east side of Milwaukee and made a stop at Whole Foods. And I was out of groceries. And I happened to be hungry. A dangerous combination. I grabbed a plate of hot food from their carry-out area and ate a tasty meal (I even tried a cube of tofu--not my favorite, I discovered) and set out to get some groceries. I walked up and down aisle after beautiful aisle, admiring the sparkling floors and neatly stocked shelves and eyeing all of the delicious food options. I did pretty well--in terms of holding myself back--mostly buying produce and some lactose-free milk (I think I might be lactose intolerant, but that's another story).

But, I made one ridiculous splurge. $18 for a wedge of aged Parmesan. The reason? Well, for one, it looked beautiful. I didn't know Parmesan could look beautiful until I saw this table stocked with Parmesan the last time I was in the store. Imported from Italy, aged for over 24 months, a warm, pale yellow... I knew it was just what I needed.

You see, this week is the "Dip-Off" at work. We're each submitting our best dip recipe for the masses to sample and then deem the winner. I signed up with determination, with last February's chili cook-off in mind. It had been a disaster. I tried to make a white chicken chili, but I didn't have a recipe--I just winged it, and it was much more like soup than chili. I was the only one I know of who received no votes. Sad. I knew that I hadn't put my best effort into the chili cook-off, and feeling humbled, I knew next time I'd have to bring my A-game.

And thus, the $18 Parmesan. This time, I'm making an artichoke dip, and I'm determined to prove myself to my co-workers. I even invested in a crock pot (a good excuse to buy one anyway) and best yet, I'm actually following a tried-and-true recipe (with a little bit of modifying, of course). All I have to say is that this Parmesan better be good.

I'll keep you posted.

Day Off

2010-03-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Today I am taking a much-needed day off of work. I have so much I've been meaning to catch up on... you know, those things that have to get done but you're always too tired to do when you get home from work? I'm going to marathon-it for the next day and try to get my life as much in order as possible. And, at some point during the day, I will give you guys a decent post. My blog, unfortunately, has been one of the neglected parts of my life. Not that ya'll are waiting on pins and needles anyway :-) Ha, there are plenty of other things to do than read my random thoughts and life experiences. But, for those I don't see much, and just for fun, I do want to get back in the habit again. Have a great Monday, everyone!

BLT Redefined

2009-11-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

I'm sad that my digital camera is broken--this picture from my phone doesn't do this delicious sandwich justice. I'm not reinventing the wheel here, but tonight I made what I thought was a fun and slightly healthier update to the traditional BLT.

I call it... The Open Face TBST (Turkey Bacon, Spinach & Tomato) Sandwich.

And here's the recipe in case you'd like to replicate it!

Ingredients:

2 slices of a multi-grain baguette (I got mine from Trader Joe's--very good!)
Several leaves of raw spinach, washed and dried
Several slices of fresh tomato
1 string cheese (that's all I had in the house, but slices of fresh mozzarella would be best)
3-4 slices of turkey bacon
Olive oil (optional)
Balsamic vinegar
A dash of pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare the turkey bacon according to the package. I just cooked it on the stove at medium heat in a skillet (slightly greased with oil). (Even healthier would be to use a nonstick skillet.)
2. Turn on the oven to broiler mode.
3. Place the bread (inside facing up) on a cookie sheet. Pull the string cheese apart into several strings and place on the bread (or, place slices of mozzarella on the bread).
4. Place the cookie sheet with bread and cheese in the oven and watch like a hawk (seriously, otherwise it'll burn if you're not careful) until the edges of the bread are toasted and the cheese begins to bubble and brown.
5. Remove the bread from the oven and layer the turkey bacon, raw spinach and tomatoes on the bread.
6. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil (optional) and balsamic vinegar on top of the sandwich. Add black pepper (cracked would be best :-)) to taste.
7. Enjoy!

I can't believe I'm recommending a sandwich that contains two ingredients I avoided as a kid: spinach and tomatoes. But, I realized a few years back that raw spinach tastes pretty much like lettuce... I'm just not as much of a fan of cooked spinach (unless it's mixed in with something else that's tasty). Plus, spinach has more nutrients than regular lettuce, so take the plunge and try it!

As for tomatoes, I think my tastes have finally grown up a bit. My recommendation is to splurge for the really good tomatoes. Otherwise, they're tasteless and kind of gross. I love grape tomatoes, plum tomatoes... the really red, smaller varieties that are packed with deliciousness. So, if you've not liked tomatoes in the past, perhaps you've just had the large, tasteless variety that they slap onto your burger at a fast food joint. Try them again!

Turkey bacon is also key. 20 calories a slice... not bad! I'm sure any form of bacon is slightly less healthy than fresh sliced turkey, but for that bacon taste, I'm a fan of the turkey bacon (which tastes a lot like regular bacon, by the way).

Enjoy!

I love Sunday.

2009-11-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

It's been a great Sunday. I've just been feeling very grateful today for all of the blessings in my life! One thing I'm grateful for is the fact that God still calls apostles and prophets in our day. I went to the CES fireside for young adults tonight and Elder Uchtdorf spoke. It's incredible to think that anyone around the world could watch an apostle of Jesus Christ speak (via satellite or the Internet). I realize this is nothing new... satellites and internet streaming have been available for a while. But still, when I think of how much has changed in the last 150 years for members of the Church, I am very grateful for all of the resources that we have to study the gospel.

Elder Uchtdorf gave a great talk. I realized, they're all great talks! Seriously, if we're in the right frame of mind, we can gain something from any gospel talk.

And, speaking of gospel talks, I'm also grateful for the Mormon Messages on YouTube. I think it's awesome that the Church takes advantage of new technologies to reach out to people across the world. These messages are short, sweet, and full of truth.

Click here to watch "Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ."

I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. It has expanded my heart with joy that I have found in no other form. I know that it cannot be found in any other form. It cleanses us of our impurities, expands our capacity and our abilities, increases our love, and gives us hope. I still have a lot to learn, but that's what life is for, and I can't wait to see what the future brings.

God bless and goodnight, everyone! Have a great week.

24 Hours in Door County

2009-10-18T19:00:00.001-07:00

So yeah, I have a lot to catch up on, including Sam and Nancy's wedding! But, that post will require a little more time, so for now, how about a quick peek into Mom and my 24-hour Door County trip?

I've never been to Door County, WI this time of year, and I was excited to be there in the fall with all of the leaves. And pretty they were! Mom and I didn't get up to Jacksonport until about 6 P.M. last night, and we saw that our hotel was doing a fish boil. Fish boils are a Door County tradition, or, as our cook called them, a tourist trap. :-) Our group consisted of mostly out-of-towners (or so it seemed) from Illinois and other parts of Wisconsin (from my analysis of parking-lot state license plates as we drove in). Even if it is a tourist trap, it's a fun tradition and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We started with hor d'oeuvres, and then, right before the cooks took the fish, potatoes and onions out of the pot, they ushered us outside to watch and to hear the history of the fish boil.

To be honest, Mom and I were a little wary of trying the fish boil. Let's be honest, boiled fish doesn't really sound incredibly appetizing. But, we decided we wanted the full Door County experience, and actually, it was much better than we expected!

In order to get the pot to boil over, they threw some kerosene on the fire, and below is the result. Whoa!

Afterwards, as they took the giant pot back into the kitchen to serve the fish, we headed back inside. The dish came with Lake Michigan whitefish, baby red potatoes, onions (my favorite part! very tender and sweet), and steamed vegetables. For dessert, we had some Door County cherry pie a la mode. Definitely worth trying!

Today, we drove through Peninsula State Park, which winds around the coast of Lake Michigan. Mom and I decided to do a little photo shoot.

My mom is so pretty!

Doesn't this look like a nice place to read a book? :-)

We took some classic "throwing leaves" pictures. It might be cuter if we were two years old, but it was fun anyway!

On the way out of the park, we saw this gorgeous tree. I think bright red-orangy leaves are my favorite.

Happy fall, everyone!

Swiftly goes the summer...

2009-08-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

To my small blog readership, I must do better. It just seems that I've struggled with the motivation to sit down and write. Perhaps, I'm still adjusting to this whole 8-5 work-all-day-come-home-and-feel-tired thing. Plus, I share a computer with my parents, which means I'm on it less. But, excuses are always available to those who seek them. I simply need to get back in the habit!

I've been enjoying the summer here in Wisconsin, brief as it is, working hard (it's our busy season right now), planning lots of church activities (that's my new calling here in WI), running, and getting ready for my brother's wedding. The summer has gone by quickly.

My parents just moved to Utah, which is pretty crazy to think about, since they've been here for 30ish years. Dad got a surgery job out there (he's coming out of retirement for a little longer) and then they'll stay out there for a big chunk of the year once he's fully retired. It'll be nice to visit at Thanksgiving, since the weather will be warmer and desert-y out there, just as it's getting chilly here!

Ok, that's all I got right now. But, I'll talk to ya'll soon!

I AM alive...

2009-05-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, I dropped off the face of the blogging earth for a while there... ok, 6 months. Wow, time goes fast. And I'm sorry for neglecting my poor blog for so long. Last time I wrote, I was searching for a permanent job and I had just moved back to Wisconsin. Here's a brief update to bring you up to speed...

I began a job in January as a writer for Kohl's Department Stores. I write product descriptions for clothing and other items on their website. It's fun to have a job that puts my English-major skills to work. Basically, I look at samples of products (or images) and then write up the basic information. I'm learning a lot--especially since I come from a non-business-major background. And I like that it's my job to be creative with words (I get to think of word puns a lot!). Two fun things about working at Kohl's... getting random free stuff (they treat their employees well) and cookie day (4 hot, fresh-baked cookies for $1 at the cafeteria every Thursday at 2:15 PM). Yum! Oh yeah, employee discount days at the stores are pretty nice too :-)

For a sample of one of the more interesting product descriptions I've written... go to kohls.com and in the search box, type "Black Red & White On Grey." That's a painting that I got to write about.

For a couple of other writing samples... you can type in the search box "Jirra" (for a stuffed animal kagaroo that I wrote about), or "Wonder Woman Pajama Separates." I write several a day... and I've gotten to write about a variety of products, which is fun.

Other things that are new in my life... my brother is getting married this summer! Yay! I'm super excited for him and for me, since I also get to have a sister-in-law. And she's great. More info forthcoming :-)

Also, I'm training for a half marathon in August--my first, so that should be fun. Basically, I just needed a reason to motivate myself to work out again. I've never run more than about 3.5 miles at a time before, so this should be interesting! I'll keep you posted.

Goodnight, everyone! I'll write again soon with more updates.

Life and Temp Work

2008-11-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've been called by the temp agency a little lately, and for the past week I worked at a law firm in downtown Milwaukee. It was pretty fun, actually. For one week, I felt semi-important as I drove up to the valet parking service at a parking structure in downtown Milwaukee, strolled into the tall office building with my dress shoes delightfully clicking against the marble floor, and worked in my own large office (with a great view of the riverwalk). Granted, I was just a "temp," but it was still fun to imagine myself as some high-powered executive.

Actually, what I really did most of the day was answer phones, make copies, prepare documents to be mailed or faxed, typed up dictations, and when there wasn't any of that to do, read a book. Nothing terribly exciting, but I must say, it felt great to finally be doing some work. I enjoyed getting to know the two lawyers who owned the firm. The firm consisted of a man and a woman--both middle-aged--and both incredibly nice. They practice family law, which unfortunately, often means doing divorces. Although my experience was brief, it was interesting to watch a little of the "behind-the-scenes" work of a divorce, and I will say, it reaffirmed to me that I never want to go through one of those. I would have liked to have asked the lawyers more about their perspective of divorce, since they have been witnesses to so many of them, but I never had the chance. By the end of the week, I was almost a little sad to say goodbye to the small office--I was starting to really enjoy working there.

I also started up at my seasonal work at Kohl's Department Store this past week. My first real day of work (after the training) was a little intense--I came in for someone who was sick, and this person was in charge of the entire Junior's department for 8 hours. I hadn't yet worked in the department at all, so I was dropped into the deep end on the first day, but I managed (with some help from some very nice co-workers) to figure things out. It wasn't too stressful really, just busy, but it took a while to figure out where the clothes went when I was supposed to return them from the dressing room.

I think Kohl's will be a fun place to work. The co-workers are really friendly... several middle-aged women, so it's kind of like working with a bunch of your friends' moms :-) Seriously, they made me feel very comfortable right away. And... I get to look at clothes for several hours at a time, so I'm definitely making mental notes of things I might get. My discount will come in handy I believe, but of course, I'm pretty broke right now, so I won't be buying much. I do think I'll have to be careful though not to get too distracted looking at cute outfits to try on and just do my job :-)

Anyway, I'm glad to have some work going on to help me bring in some money and to keep me busy while I do my long-term job search. I definitely need to make a good push on that, because the work at Kohl's will end by New Year's, and I really want to have a long term job figured out by then. I got a little distracted for a while from the long-term job search as I settled into being back in Milwaukee and did the short-term job search, so now it's time to get crack-a-lackin' again. Keep me in your prayers friends that I can put something together!

Post-Election Thoughts...

2008-11-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

I didn't blog about the election--I'm fairly politically moderate and not the most politically outspoken. But, that doesn't mean that I don't care about politics and their effect on our government and society. I do care. I'm not exactly sure why I abstain from the political fights that I see all around me. Then again, that last sentence alone might explain it--I'm not the fighting type. However, I do think expressing opinions, even on the ever-sensitive topic of politics, has an important place, and sharing a strong opinion does not necessarily constitute an attempt to bash. Which is why, in the future, I will try to get some of those opinions out in the venue of the blog.

I have many other thoughts and reflections on politics rushing through my head at this point, but they aren't formulated enough that I want to express them right now. Instead, I thought I'd post some interesting pictures I took around my neighborhood on and shortly after election day.

Ok, this has no relation to the election, but here's just a peek at why I'm glad to have the opportunity to be in Wisconsin for the fall. I love leaves.

My mom and I were out for a walk in the neighborhood near ours and saw this. It made me sort of sad. The signs of support waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck.

McCain signs down the road from our house. The majority of the county definitely supported McCain over Obama (one of the few counties in the state to do so), but I was surprised to see several Obama signs around the neighborhood, too.

I was struck by this, because it seemed very deliberate that there was an American flag hanging near the Obama sign, as if the family wanted to say, "Obama supporters are patriotic." The neighbors next door also had an Obama sign with a small flag next to it.

My vote was for McCain, but that doesn't mean I didn't consider Obama and that I don't like the guy. I wrote my final paper for my English capstone course on his book, "Dreams from My Father." He is an excellent writer and I'm impressed with his life. It'll definitely be interesting to see how things play out in the next 4 years.

Halloween in Wisconsin!

2008-11-01T11:53:00.001-07:00

Although I've always enjoyed Halloween, I never seem to find the time to prepare an amazing costume for it. I'm not sure why, but my preparations for this holiday are often neglected until the last minute. :-( Maybe that's what happens when you get too old to go trick-or-treating? I didn't even carve a pumpkin this year! I've realized from this experience that I may have to make my own efforts to get excited for holidays like Halloween--cause I've noticed that holidays can be pretty fun if you just put a little effort into it!

Anyway, I digress. My ward at church had a fun night, with a fright hike at Lapham Peak State Park and then a bonfire/costume party at a member of the bishopric's house. The fright hike wasn't very frightful--staffed mostly by middle and high school-aged kids, but it was still pretty fun and I did get startled a few times. Walking through the woods on Halloween is always a good time.

Here are some of the pictures from the costume party/contest!

Carmen is wearing the same costume she wore at age 2. "I got a lot of candy wearing this costume!" she said about the costume's original debut.

Jared and Megan were Happy and Snow White. I voted for them for best costumes and they tied for first in the group category!

I also LOVED Jeannette's costume. Seriously, isn't she the cutest can of Spam ever?

Nicole tied for first in the individual category. This hair is AMAZING, isn't it?

Paco was Patch Adams and I was a nerd. I like this one. Especially cause it gives you a nice view of Paco's amazing pants! He bought them in Israel.

It was a great night and I'm so glad that fall holiday season has begun! I am a little shocked though that I heard CHRISTMAS MUSIC already on Halloween on two different Milwaukee radio stations! Wow--early start this year, huh?

Gone hunting...job-hunting.

2008-10-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ok--another post on job-hunting. I promise this will be the last one for a while. However, with this being my main endeavor right now, it's just on the brain a bit. As I interview, fill out application after application, take surveys, etc., I'm learning a lot about the hiring process.

First, I've learned that it's nice not to have a criminal background. That question is certainly on every application I've filled out. Being hired as a ex-convict would be a big challenge. Not to mention it would require a lot of explaining on all of these applications.

Second, most applications (especially for retail positions... I'm applying for holiday retail jobs, among others) are insufficient to really capture a job candidate's personality and history. The employers attempt, through surveys and questionnaires, to get a feel for these things, but it's pretty easy to see through the questions. I can imagine many people fall prey to what social psychologists call "social desirability bias." This means that you answer questions based on what you think is the socially-acceptable answer. I really don't think these surveys are effective in sorting out anything but grossly under-qualified candidates. In terms of job history, there is sometimes no space or little space to explain things like why you left a job, how you got paid (if it wasn't hourly), etc. These things make filling out applications frustrating!

Third, are these extensive applications really necessary for SEASONAL positions? Kohl's and Barnes and Noble did the best job of having a short-and-sweet application. Kudos to you, Kohl's and B&N, for keeping my life a little simpler.

I almost wanted to outline my suggestions and send them to the HR departments to help them design a better application. Maybe there's a future career for me? :-) I do like the idea of improving and streamlining this tiring and somewhat frustrating process.

Ok, hopefully that wasn't a downer. It's not all bad--not even close. I realize the stores need to keep out workers who would steal, not show up, or otherwise not be able to complete the job. But, can't I just walk in and say, "Look. I'm not trying to be rude or pretentious, but I'm a college grad who just needs a holiday job for a couple of months. I know I am capable for this job. Can you hire me, please?" That'd be a lot easier :-)

And, I do have two interviews tomorrow (with Kohl's and Target). The payoff is finally coming through! Once I find a seasonal job, though, I need to stay focused on the long-term job hunt. Alas, it's not over for a while. But all of this will sure make me better appreciate having a job! :-)

I can't keep up, sometimes.

2008-10-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

There are times when you feel that you are running along smoothly. You go running each morning. You get your work done. You check your email and respond quickly. You even have time to fit in side projects, like reorganizing your book collection into alphabetical order.

This is not one of those times. Ever since I decided to leave for Wisconsin, life has been quite busy, even though I'm still not working yet. Packing (yet again... sigh...only after being unpacked in my new place for a month), moving across the country, unpacking, job interview/s, church, seeing people, and such has left me exhausted and trying to get into a normal routine again.

Can I just mention that I sort of hate looking for jobs? Each time I go through this process it gets a little more annoying. Ha, I'm sorry--I'm not trying to complain. It's just that repeatedly printing off /updating my resume, filling out my address and name and job history for the fifteenth time, etc. is a little tiring. The good thing is that I just interviewed at a temp agency here in Milwaukee and chances are good that I'll be hired. I was also offered an interview at Rogers Memorial Hospital for a residential counselor position. No guarantees on anything yet, but its nice to at least see something coming of my efforts.

I've realized from all of this that I need to work on being more patient. I will find a job (at least something for a while) and my life will settle down. Decisions will be made. Life will go on. And maybe, just maybe, I'll find time to finish knitting that scarf I started 3 years ago. Or something.

Moving to Wisconsin.

2008-10-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting at Starbuck's (with a large hot chocolate next to me, yum) inside the Barnes & Noble at Gateway Mall as I type this. It's a beautiful, cloudy fall day in Utah. I met two of my old roommates for lunch in SLC and I'm meeting my brother for dinner up here... so I had some time to kill.

And so, since I do have some time, I'll fill you guys in on life. I'm moving to Wisconsin in less than a week! This decision came somewhat unexpectedly--but I'll explain.

After graduation, I spent three weeks at home in Milwaukee. After going to school year-round for three years, I was in need of some time to just rest. The three week trip was great. Then, I came back to Utah in early September and moved into my new apartment. I have three roommates from California (they all went to HS together) and they are nice girls--welcomed me right in. I liked my apartment and my new ward and I planned to use Utah as a home-base while I applied for jobs. I figured I'd get some kind of temporary job for the fall or for 6 months at the most while I figured out where to go next.

Well, the job market in Utah isn't ideal. I got offered a part-time/on-call position at an eating disorder treatment facility, which would have been great, but they wanted at least a year commitment, and I wouldn't be able to work there full-time for probably at least the first few months. As soon as they said "one-year commitment," it sunk it to me that I did not want to still be in Provo for another year. As soon as I came back from Wisconsin, I felt pretty restless. Being in a college town and not being in school (or not having a job for that matter) can do that to you, and I also just realized that I was ready to try out life in a new place. Provo has been great, but I think it has served its purpose for me, and it's time to keep moving forward.

Once I realized I didn't want to stay here too long, I decided that I could either get a temp job here in Utah and apply out of town for permanent positions or I could do that from Wisconsin (where my family is) . It seemed a bit counterintuitive to leave right after I had come back for the fall, but the more I thought about it, the more I saw the benefits of moving home for a couple of months.

Some benefits include saving my family some money (my parents are helping me out during this transition period), living one last time in my family's home before my parents sell it (they'll be retiring out in St. George for most of the year starting in the near future and so they're going to sell our house), among other reasons.

I prayed about it and it felt like a good decision, and so, I'll be off in about a week! I have some mixed feelings about leaving. I certainly feel it's probably time to move on from college life and that scene, and yet, I'll really miss this town that has become my home away from home. I'll miss the good times I've had and the good friends I've made out here. I'll especially miss it since this move is permanent. It's hard to cut off this part of my life. But, I'm excited for the road ahead, whatever it brings. Going to NYC last weekend made me realize all of the fun possibilities I have in life in terms of jobs and where I could live (more on the NYC trip soon).

If any of you Provo/SLC kids are reading this, I'd love to see you before I road trip it to Wisconsin next week (Tuesday or Wednesday). Let me know and we'll get together. The short-term plan is to spend the next couple of months in Wisconsin at a temp job, while I look and apply for more permanent work, and then to re-evaluate at the end of the year where I want to go. There's a possibility I'll stay in Wisconsin, and I'm also looking at jobs in some other bigs cities (especially DC and Boston). Whatever happens, I know God is guiding me in these decisions and I'm grateful to have some time with my family and friends in Wisconsin. If you'll be in WI, give me a call!

Provo--I bid thee farewell. You've been a kind friend and you will be missed.

Life starts when the pain stops?

2008-09-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through channels on TV yesterday and saw an ad for Intermountain Vein Center. The ad seemed pretty similar to other ads for similar types of clinics, except for the company slogan:

"Life starts when the pain stops."

I am not usually taken-aback by ads... unfortunately, we become so used to being bombarded by them that we hardly notice their constant presence, but I was definitely surprised by this slogan.

Seriously? You think life starts when the pain stops? Ha, well good luck chasin' that rainbow, my friend. I can definitely tell you that life doesn't start when the pain stops--it's in those moments that you're really experiencing the realities of life.

There's some truth to it--the aspects of life that we'd like to enjoy are certainly muted when we are experiencing some kind of pain or anguish. But, I believe those moments build us into the kind of people who know what living is all about. Living is taking what life gives you and trying to make the best of it. Of course, it's natural and commendable to eliminate pain when possible, but we must be careful to not separate pain from life. A life focused solely on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain has a name--hedonism.

I'm sure the people of Intermountain Vein Center are well-intentioned, so this is not a direct blow at them, really--just an example of why we cannot accept the messages our culture sends us without thinking about them and the philosophies that underlie them.

Utah State Fair

2008-09-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, three us us Provo-ites went up to the Utah State Fair for some good times! Fairs are always pretty great... you go on rickety rides, eat unhealthy and delicious food, hang out with barn animals...

It's hard to see summer winding down, but this was a good summer-sendoff celebration.

Emily and I with the cow! He's a little stoic.

Nothing says "fair" like a funnel cake. Yum :-)

Megan and Emily were pretty scared when we rode on "Moby Dick." We had fun though and screamed quite a bit.

Emily enjoyed bonding with her goat friends. She grew up on a goat farm in Washington, and she felt right at home petting this little guy!

Job-Hunting.

2008-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

I am officially unemployed. That's such an unflattering term but it's true. The word seems to suggest that I am not whole or complete without a job. I suppose that's true to some extent--but I'm trying to suppress the anxiety that comes from feeling like an unproductive member of society. I'm trying to find one, kids! My ticket out is not yet here, so until then, I am trying to see the temporary advantages of this extra time.

I just completed my undergraduate degree, and the reality of post-grad life has quickly settled in. There is no easy path laid out for us graduates, and that is both reassuring and disconcerting. I'm glad that it's up to me, and yet, I wish someone would just sweep in and answer the quandary I find myself in: What kind of job should I seek/take? Is this job good enough, or should I wait for a better one? Should I focus more on place or job? Should I take the first job that I'm offered that's half-way decent?

I'm rolling around all of these thoughts in my head, and hopefully, they're helping me to make a decision. I don't want to jump onto the fear train and get a low-skilled, low-paying job, just because something hasn't been offered in the first week. And also I don't want to turn down multiple job offers because they aren't fitting my abstract definition of the "perfect" first job.

I know there probably isn't a perfect first job (for the majority of us out there). And let's face it, most of us will change jobs several times during our careers. So, how do we wade through these uncertain waters? Prayer is definitely helping, but I also know that I need to put forth my full efforts to make the best possible job opportunity happen.

In the meantime, as I do this, I find myself with a little (or a lot of) extra time. There's more time to blog, to take a walk in nature, to browse at Barnes and Noble, and to think about where I want my life to go. I'm trying to enjoy this time without falling into a trap of complacency. I'm grateful for it though, since I've felt the lack of free time that came during the last part of college. This last summer, I had a part-time custodial job, a part-time writing internship, and a full load of summer classes. I'm glad to be temporarily rid of the constant, looming cloud of schoolwork.

We'll see how this lasts. I might get a temp job if this process takes longer than a couple of more weeks so that I don't go crazy with the boredom (and so I don't end up living in a box. Unfortunately, I'm not independently wealthy, so a job is also a necessity). Until then, I'll enjoy the quiet moments I've been given. You might see a few more blog posts than normal, and my room might look abnormally clean. :-)

24 Hours in Door County

2008-09-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of my 3-week trip to Wisconsin was a short trip to Door County, WI, with my parents. Door County is the "thumb" part of Wisconsin on the map. (They say Wisconsin looks like a hand...) It's so beautiful up there! I hadn't gone since early high school, so I was glad to have the chance to hang out up there for a day/night. During the summer, this part of the state is very busy with tourists, but we went 2 days after Labor Day, so it was very quiet! Perfect.

The view of Lake Michigan from outside of the Square Rigger Lodge in Jacksonport, WI.

There were butterflies fluttering all along the shore. I tried to get a picture of one in flight but it didn't work out--they're too fast! I kept following this particular one and he kept flying away from me. I think he was getting pretty annoyed. :-) After this shot, I let him be. Sorry little guy!

Going for a walk along the beach.

We ate dinner here--at Al Johnson's. It's a Swedish restaurant that's been around for 59 years, and it's very popular! The goats grazing on the roof is definitely one unique reason why everyone comes here.

The three of us at dinner!

Mmm... Swedish meatballs!

A peek at the Swedish-themed gift shop that's attached to the restaurant.

Mom and I gave the little gnome/troll a kiss on the way out!

The harbor was really pretty... it was fun reading all the names of the boats (one was called "Uff Da," hehe.), watching the sunset, and just enjoying the beautiful weather!

After dinner, we hit up the drive-in and saw "Hancock." The drive-in felt very fifties-ish, complete with Elvis music playing in the background before the show!

Mom and I had fun on the swings while we waited for the sun to set--that's when the show started.

The next morning the sky looked stormier, but I think it looked beautiful! I'm glad the day before was nice weather though, so we could enjoy being outside!

All in all, it was a success and I hope it's not another 10 years before I go back to Door County!

Airport Sushi? And other oddities...

2008-08-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hello all! It's been a while. This month has been quite busy and full of change... mainly because, I officially graduated! Yay! The first couple of weeks of August, I finished up my final classes and my editing internship as well as my summer custodial job on campus. I came back to WI on the 20th for a few weeks of respite and job-hunting. It's been great to be home!

The first week back wasn't too restful, since I was still finishing up work for my internship. I spent a few days in the Mequon-Thiensville library and was able to get er' done. It's amazing... no matter how long I've been away from Mequon, I always run into people I know. As I was sitting at a table in the library, I saw an old high school friend and another high school friend's mom.

Week #1 at Home Catch Phrase (Mom came up with this one.)-- "Personal Pride." Ha, that was to motivate me to finish up my internship work.
Week #2 at Home Catch Phrase (Mom also coined this one.)--"Bask in the Glory." It's all done! I'm resting this week.
Week #3 at Home Catch Phrase (I picked this one.)--"Get a job." Shucks.

Anyhow, I don't have many pictures to share yet, but these few are from my phone. Each depicts something I found odd/interesting.

#1: High-End Vending Machines

This vending machine was in a row of similar vending machines in the Minneapolis Airport. This one sold Elizabeth Arden products. I call this vending machine the "I better buy that last-minute, expensive perfume for my girlfriend" machine. There was at least one more machine next to it (can't exactly remember) that sold electronics. Is this the shopping wave of the future? We'll see.

#2: Airport Sushi.

My dad always taught me to be careful where I ate sushi, since it's raw and since "the farther you are inland, the less likely it'll be fresh." This California roll (from the Minneapolis Airport) had no real seafood in it (only imitation crab), so I gave it a go, since it looked decently fresh. It was ok--not the best sushi--but I just was surprised that sushi has become "airport food." Times are a-changin'!

#3: Civil War News?

I didn't think there still was any news to tell about the Civil War. Apparently, I'm wrong! I saw this during a break at the library in Thiensville.

The BYU 11th Ward Mixed Doubles Tennis Tournament

2008-08-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

Back in June, my friend Jordan and I participated in a BYU intramural mixed doubles tournament. We got out pretty much right away (I'm really no good at tennis), but it was surprisingly a lot of fun! I say surprisingly because traditionally, I have not been particularly drawn to tennis. However, since I took a tennis class at BYU last summer, I have started to see how this sport has become so popular. It's something you can play when you're older, it's social, it's fun, and you don't need a huge team to play.

Anyhow, after the intramural tournament, Jordan and I decided to organize a mixed doubles tournament among our friends. It was so much fun! It went on for about three weeks, and I think we had 12 pairs of players participate. Last Friday, we had our championship game and preppy outfit contest. We didn't get a huge crowd, but those who came had a great time and overall, the tournament was a success.

This is a picture of those of us who dressed up preppy. Matt, the third from the left, was definitely our winner, with the pink polo, braided belt, khaki shorts, blue vest, gelled hair, and Izod sweater draped over his shoulders.

The final match!

This is from our promotional flier. :-) I was trying to replicate the pictures on the ads of retirement communities, which always seem to have a couple with linked arms, laughing, holding a tennis racquet.

Relief Society Camp Out

2008-07-23T20:16:00.001-07:00

On July 11-12, the Relief Societies in our ward headed up to Blackhawk campground up near Payson Lake (about 50 minutes from Provo). It was so gorgeous up there... it was green and high up in the mountains and there were barely any bugs! (That's one thing I love about Utah camping... there are SO many bugs in Wisconsin.) It was just for one night, but it was a great turnout and honestly, sometimes I like short camping trips better than longer ones. We had a nice campfire, slept in tents (I had a rock or something under my back though... um, not so comfortable, haha), went on a nature walk (we got a little lost though!) and then headed back to P-town. Here are some pictures. Thanks to Sister Richards for taking them... my camera is dead :-(

A picture from my phone of the wildflowers. They were everywhere!

Cooking some hotdogs over the fire!

This is one of my favorite pictures. Kelly, I love you! S'mores are delicious!

Going on a nature walk in the morning. (Notice the Provo High sweatshirt!) :-)

All of us! Our bishop and his wife came, as well as the 1st counselor in the bishopric and his wife. And in the front is Stella, the Richards' black lab :-) I kept thinking about that movie "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" when I'd hear people call Stella. I've never seen it, but for some reason that title has always been a memorable one for me and it kept popping in my head. Haha.

The mysterious appeal of "The British Guy"

2008-07-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Lately, I suppose it's not just lately, I have seen several friends get engaged. Yay for love! It's pretty incredible if you think about it... finding someone that you love enough to spend your life with. I think deep down, we all want that companionship and love. It's hard to imagine, though, the realization of that quest and the end of the search that began, albeit informally, for most when they were kids and they dreamed of their dream guy/girl.

As I have not yet settled on/found that one fellow who I will spend my life with, I suppose I am still content to occasionally think about "my dream guy." Who is he, you ask? The fun thing is, he surfaces in many different guys. The older I get, the more I realize I could probably be happy with many a different type of man, as long as he has certain key qualities. Who has captured that title for me? Well, I could spout off some of my childhood/early adult crushes, but that might bore you. Or a list of movie stars, but that's not too unique either.

But, I've come to realize that there's one sort of fellow who is incredibly attractive to me, and I will most likely never have:

The witty, handsome, overall dashing British man.

What is it about this fellow that is so attractive? Well, the accent, for one. I remember a conversation with someone in which we agreed that if two identical twins were raised separately in England and the US, the English one would automatically be more attractive. Sorry American guys, it's just the truth.

Perhaps it's the innate "gentlemanly" quality that the British seem to possess, at least in the the movies. A sense of chivalry and duty.

Sigh. I'm not exactly sure myself.

How do I solve this dilemma?

1. Make a permanent move to England and start dating like crazy. (unlikely)
2. Stop watching sappy English period dramas. (also unlikely)
3. Get an American boyfriend and get over it (probably the best option).

Anyone out there share my sentiments?

Retro Commercials

2008-07-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Since last August, I have been TV-less. It's been a good thing for the most part--I'm surprised how normal it feels now. However, I can't deny that cutting out TV time has probably increased time I've spent watching DVDs and surfing the Internet. Sometimes, you just need something on in the background when you're doing something mundane. Yes? With summer, this has decreased, since I'm trying to spend as much time as possible outside! Seriously, Utah summers are great, especially the evenings, when the air is a little cooler.

Anyway, one of my TV-substitute activities is finding interesting videos on YouTube. One of the best things I've found to keep myself entertained is RETRO COMMERCIALS. For me, the most interesting ones to watch are the ones from when I was a kid. And most of them are on there! The Micromachine man, My Buddy, Barbies, Tootsie Roll Pops, etc.

Here are a few that I remember. Enjoy! Do you remember any of these? Let's hear from you. Which commercials do you most remember from being a kid?

California--A Land of Contrasts

2008-06-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles

The coast near San Francisco

Lately, the topic of "California" has emerged in my thoughts and in my conversations with friends and family. This state seems to invoke within my acquaintances both great pride and great annoyance. Beautiful coastlines. Technology. Bad LA traffic. The pulse of pop culture and Hollywood. Lots of people. A laid-back lifestyle (at least in Southern California). Surfing. Crime. A governator. Expensive cost of living. A wide range of incomes and lifestyles. A greater emphasis on materialism. A mix of cultures. And, one of the places I've been looking at jobs.

I have limited experience with the state. I've been to Disneyland with my family (in 5th grade). I went to San Diego with my high school orchestra. I went to Murrieta two summers ago for my best friend's wedding. Last summer, I drove through CA on the way to Mexico and spent a night camping in Barstow. But really, I haven't gotten to know the state very well.

My parents were married in the Berkeley area and spent their honeymoon traveling up the California coast. I have a great uncle in San Diego. I have many friends there as well. In fact, some of you blog readers have lived or currently live there.

So, here comes my question. What do you think of California? It's pretty impossible to paint a one dimensional picture of this massive state. There are definitely things I like about it: good weather, the ocean, lots of job opportunities, a decent young single LDS population, the diversity, etc. However, the masses of people, the high cost of living, the complaints that there is a large emphasis on materialism, and complaints I've heard that some Californians have a California-is-the-center-of-the-world complex, make me a bit wary.

I've always been a bit drawn to this state. Perhaps it's my love of the ocean, inspired by a family trip to Mexico in 4th grade. Or, it might originate in the many movies or tv shows (think "Saved by the Bell") that I watched as a kid. It just seemed like a more interesting place than Wisconsin.

I wonder, however, if real acquaintance would draw me in or turn me off? It's hard to say. The older I get, the more I've come to appreciate my Midwestern roots. Bad weather, good people. But, there's something real and humbling about growing up in a place that isn't everyone's destination. Vagabonds, hippies, and crooners never sang, "I left my heart in Milwaukee..." But in a way, I have. I really do think Wisconsin is a beautiful place. It definitely has drawbacks, but I'm glad I grew up there.

Despite my hesitations, I've realized in my travels that good people are everywhere. Culture may be regional, and I'm not sure how to categorize California culture, but you can find good people all over. I know Wisconsin, I know Utah, and I sort of know Spain, but California is still a mystery to me. What draws so many people there? Or me?

Anyhow, I'd love to know your thoughts/opinions. I'm looking at jobs in a lot of places, and I'm looking especially at DC, but California does have a lot of jobs, so it's on my list of options as well. What do you like about this state? What do you not like? Is there much truth in the stereotypes? Do happy cows really come from California? (I still think they come from Wisconsin) :-)

My Life in 5's

2008-06-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

Maybe you'll find this interesting. Maybe not. Either way, it was sort of fun :-)

5 years ago: I was just finishing my sophomore year of college and had moved home to do an internship. Little did I know I'd end up working for two years before I started school again!

5 months ago: I was getting ready for my cousin's wedding and was starting up my last winter semester at BYU. I also went to the Sundance Film Festival around this time.

5 days ago: I was busy finishing up spring term and getting ready for finals.

5 hours ago: I was at a ward fireside about family history.

5 minutes ago: I finished off some delicious tomato soup.

In 5 minutes: I will probably put on my pajamas!

In 5 hours: I will be sleeping :-)

In 5 days: I will be hopefully starting a new summer job and will be done with the first week of summer classes (my last two at BYU!)

In 5 months: I will be graduated from BYU and will be working at a yet-to-be-determined job in a yet-to-be-determined location.

In 5 years: I hope to be enjoying life, whatever it brings. Would be pretty satisfied if that includes being married to an incredible guy and starting my own little family, and if all goes well, finished with a graduate program!

Murder Mystery Dinner

2008-06-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

So, you want to see something funny on the BYU Weekly news clip?

Go here, and under "Additional Resources," click on "Week of 06/07/2008." Then, under the "Week in Review" section, watch the video. If you go about half-way through, you'll see a clip from a murder mystery dinner that I went to a few weeks ago. It was hosted by the Museum of Peoples and Cultures at BYU. We each had a character, and mine was a bitter and nerdy volunteer. I definitely tried to look the part, and as you can see, I might have gone overboard :-) Anyhow, you'll see them interviewing my date for the night, Nate Woodward. It was a lot of fun!

Indiana Jones... the long-awaited sequel!

2008-05-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

You may not want to read this if you haven't seen the movie yet! Just a warning. :-)

I saw "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" on Wednesday at the midnight showing. It was pretty fun going to the first possible showing... the Wynnsong Theater in Provo had three midnight showings! My roommate Christie hadn't seen any of the previous Indiana Jones movies, so I think she thought the whole scene was pretty amusing. Mostly, it was college kids, mixed with a few older and younger people. Also, to my delight, there were a few Indiana Jones hats being worn by the fans :-)

I don't think I've ever been quite this excited for a sequel before... as fun as it has been to see the Harry Potter movies or Narnia or others, it didn't compare. Maybe it's the nearly 20 years that has passed since the last one or the nostalgia associated with growing up on these movies?

Despite my excitement, I had my reservations. "The Last Crusade" is one of my favorite movies, and I was pretty sure trying to come back after that would be like Michael Jordon coming back out of retirement from the NBA. As soon as I heard that they were attempting another movie, I thought, "Stop while you're ahead!" Despite these feelings, however, I was still excited.

Well, I wasn't very impressed, I'm sad to say. Not that I should have been surprised, but I was more disappointed than I hoped I'd be. I've actually been watching "The Last Crusade" as I've been writing this (I got it tonight at Target for $10!) and it's pretty apparent that the "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" doesn't even come close.

The special effects and action sequences were over-the-top. Also, I didn't like the whole "alien" story very much. There didn't seem to be much a clear moral to the story, at least not in the way that "The Last Crusade" had one. Also, It just didn't flow that well... some parts were really slow and too obvious and others I wished had been more developed. Shia LaBeouf did a great job as Indiana's sidekick, though; I was surprised how much I liked him. And, it was pretty cute that Indiana got back together with his original love from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

So, I'm glad I saw it, of course, and I'm sure I'll watch it again sometime, but surely I won't be watching it as much as the others. It did get me interested in the other movies again, though, and I can't deny... part of my really wants one of those Indiana Jones hats :-)

Go see it and let me know what you thought--I'm curious!

A few reasons why I love spring...

2008-05-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

BYU Graduation

2008-05-19T18:44:00.001-07:00

At the end of April, I walked in the graduation ceremony! I am officially graduating in August, but I decided to walk in April since both of my roommates and many of my friends in my major/minor were walking at the time. I'm glad I did!

Mom, Dad, and Sam all flew in for the weekend, and we partied it up! We also got together with my aunts and cousins and ate at PF Chang's together (yum--lettuce wraps!) and then they came to my convocation.

It was a bit anti-climatic to go back to class the next week, but I'm realizing more than ever that I'm almost (finally!) at the end of undergrad. It's been 5 years of school and 7 years total (since I worked for two years). It's exciting to finally see the end in sight.

Mom and I!

With my empty diploma cover! Ha, won't be getting the real thing for a little while still :-)

My roommates--Diana and Kara--also graduated! Diana got her masters and bachelors degree in Accounting and Kara got her bachelors in Public Health. Yay for us!

Dinner with my brother and parents at Ottavio's.

Riding the cougar!

I will be graduating with a B.A. in English Literature and minors in Editing and Psychology. What will I do? Well, I'm hoping to eventually go to grad school in counseling or some sort of human service field. So, I'm planning on working for a year or two while I figure out what type of program to apply to and in order to get more experience and better credentials. I'd like to work either as a research assistant (at a university, preferably) or as an assistant in some sort of clinic (a residential treatment center, perhaps).

So, I'm looking ahead and beginning to see jobs that I'd like to apply to. As for where I'll be, that's pretty up in the air still. I'm looking heavily at Washington DC. Other possibilities are possibly Utah (there are lots of treatment centers here!), Wisconsin, Arizona, Seattle, Boston, or California. So, basically, I have no idea! But, right now, DC is looking pretty appealing, since I really like the area, my brother is out there, and I have some friends there.

Anyhow, I will keep you posted! In the meantime, I'll be enjoying one last summer as a student at BYU! :-)

War wounds...

2008-05-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

Warning: Content below may be disturbing to the weak of stomach.

So, I'm not new to injuries--I've played sports for a long time. But, I haven't had a skinned knee quite like this, perhaps, ever. Our ward has a co-ed intramural soccer team, which I eagerly joined. We play on BYU's turf fields, which for turf, are quite good. But... you CAN'T slide or this (see below) will happen. The bruise on the right knee was already there from playing soccer last Saturday, but the one of the left was all today.

Notice how the kneecap on the left is about twice the size of the one on the right! Ouch. I was able to finish the game, which was good (although we tied, sad). Anyhow, I think I've learned my lesson--no sliding!

I got some nice comments from the teammates/people watching us though--"Wow, that's sacrifice" or also "Wow, look at your knee! Does that hurt?"

My response should have been, "As Jack Black says, No you're not hardcore, unless you live hardcore." Haha. I'm not really that hardcore, but I can pretend, right? Too bad living hardcore means having weird-looking knees for a while!

(P.S. Once I cleaned it up, I didn't have a big bandage, so I applied a web of about 10 smaller bandages to cover it. It looked pretty crazy.)

Perhaps this is more than you ever wanted to know. If that is the case, I apologize for grossing you out! :-)

Where I've been

2008-05-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last post... mainly because my life has been just about the craziest it's ever been! The last month has been a whirlwind of end-of-the-semester stress, graduation ceremonies, family get-togethers, church activities, roommate dates, and other fun things. Both of my roommates and I walked in the April graduation ceremony at BYU! It was all kinds of fun, and I'll have to have a separate post for that with some pictures. Here, though, is a sampling of what I've been up to!

So, my roommates made me a delicious tropical breakfast for a holiday they made up called "Lauren Appreciation Day." Seriously, they are so sweet and fun! I was really stressed there at the end of the semester, and they knew just what would cheer me up/fuel me up in the midst of it all!

Some friends and I went to the Festival of Colors... a yearly spring festival held at the Hari Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, UT. To celebrate spring, people throw colored powder and it was quite the experience! Hard to breath for a bit, since we were in the midst of a shower of powder, so that was a bit scary, but it was also really cool to see tons of people covered in colors.

Kara and I are jumping for joy over graduation! I don't officially graduate till August, and I'm taking classes this spring and summer, but I decided to walk in the ceremony this spring and it was great! I'm almost done with undergrad, finally!

BYU sponsored a "Senior Celebration" night and we benefited with free pizza and ice cream, free bowling, games, a raffle, etc. It was a lot of fun, as you can see :-)

Anyhow, that's a little peek into what I've been doing. I'm starting spring term and I'm taking 2 classes: my final editing class (yahoo!) and The Bible as Literature (my last English class). So far, so good. I'll keep you posted!

Campus Mysteries

2008-04-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

The world may never know...

How did this balloon from the "Choose to Give" campaign get here?

What happened in the library girls' bathroom? This looks fishy.

Good thing I have a camera phone to capture these moments! :-)

The "academic study" of pop culture

2008-03-24T11:02:00.002-07:00

Right now I'm taking English 495, which is the senior capstone course for English majors. My professor, Dr. Dennis Cutchins, is hilarious and we have some crazy interesting discussions in that class--one of the perks of discussing books!

Anyhow, Dr. Cutchins recently took part in the National PCA/ACA (Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association) Conference in San Francisco last week. Basically, it's a conference for people who do academic studies relating to pop culture.... and the conference sounded pretty hilarious/entertaining/amazing.

I guess I've kind of thought of myself as "above" pop culture to a certain degree and have taken pride in this, but in reading the topics for the papers that were presented at the conference, I realized that I'm as much a sucker (maybe) as the next guy... even if I don't listen to Kiss FM or watch E!. There's something about pop culture that just draws you in, but more than a little makes me sick... it's like overdosing on cotton candy or something.

I realized, though, that there is a lot more to "culture" than stuff you see in Seventeen magazine or in movies. Popular culture encapsulates trends, societal attitudes, literature, film, and tons more... all of stuff that most of us find interesting. But, there is definitely still a lot of fluff. The cool thing about looking at pop culture from an academic standpoint, though, is that you can enjoy examining the trends and still feel smart, ha. Or at least that's what seems to be the draw to me.

I'm not sure if I could find sustained fulfillment in "studying" pop culture (I don't think many people actually dedicate their entire careers to it) but I must say, I think attending this conference would be REALLY interesting! Take a look at some of the paper topics and you'll see why. (Scroll down to about page 65)...

Where else could you sit in on discussions/presentations like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Hidden Agenda? Roundtable Discussion" or “Small Dog, Big Class: Toy Dogs as Cultural Capital” or “The Death of Captain America: Mythic Revisionism, Marvel’s ‘Civil War,’ and the War on Terror” or “Dressed to Kilt: The Shrek Tartan and the Discourse of Highlandism”? And the scarier question: would you even want to sit in on these? (Probably most of us would like to, if just for a chuckle.)

Haha. Obviously, I picked some of the more random examples, but seriously, who wouldn't love listening to someone with a PhD talk about this stuff? I think it'd be pretty interesting. It's like the educated version of E!News :-)

I'm thinking perhaps someday I might need to go, just for the experience. Who knows, maybe I can whip up a paper on "Existentialist Themes in 'The Office'" or something! Anyone want to come? :-)

Out of the time capsule

2008-03-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

By request I'm posting a poem that I wrote in first grade. Keep in mind, these were the days when rhyming was the only thing I knew to do in poetry. My friends Abby and Leslie memorized the poem in high school and would occasionally recite it (with lots of laughter) at lunch :-) I remember writing this poem in pencil on the pink paper of my Lisa Simpson diary. Ahem:

The ground is frozen, the grass is cold.

The cheese I am holding is covered with mold.

I hate the word "sick" and I hate the word "ill."

The words "sick" and "ill" just give me the chill!

Do you like the words "sick" and "ill"?

Do they, do they, give you the chill?

My heart is beating very slow,

I see it, Do you see it?

Do you see the snow?

To this day, I have no idea what it means. I think I must have read some Dr. Seuss before I wrote this one :-)

I am a work in progress.

2008-03-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

I realized after coming home from the grocery store tonight that my life is full of contradictions. Example: I relearned that going to the grocery store at midnight when you're hungry for junk food is a bad idea. I came home with some sugary cereal (sorry Mom, but don't worry, my goal is to only use it to supplement the boring unsugary cereal, not replace it!), buffalo chicken strips (do I really need those?), and toaster strudels (they were on sale and I've never tried them... I had one when I got home and was disappointed at their processed-ness), among other things (a few "healthier" items in the mix). I could sense my guilt as I swiped the items through the self-check out at Smith's. I almost put some of it back, but I was too tired by that point.

I know that junk food is bad. I like to think that I am stronger than junk food. Often, I am. My sophomore year of college, my roommate Emily and I went without sugar (junk food sugar, that is) for 6 weeks. I remember that to celebrate our victory, we decided to go out for dessert. We both felt sick afterwards, haha. I guess our bodies had adjusted to the no-sugar thing. We had beat the craving!

Anyhow, I think this applies as a larger principle. We have ideals, but how fully do we always live them? Hopefully, we live the ones most important to us as best as we possibly can. I think of the gospel--that is one thing that I want to consistently place first in my life. But I'm still not perfect, and I know that placing my priorities will need to be a daily decision.

Another thing I think about is recycling. As a third grader, I remember writing about the importance of recycling in an essay as if I were Al Gore. But now, despite my good intentions, I still often use plastic bags at the grocery store (instead of paper or cloth bags) and I don't always recycle everything. I have a long way to go.

Of course there are a million other things I could mention... these are just two small examples. It's hard sometimes to realize that our actions do not always match our intentions. But, I think life is all about bringing those two together in steady improvement. I'm trying to focus on the possibilities of being better tomorrow without dwelling too much on the failings of yesterday. Reflection is important though in this process. I guess that's why I like thinking (I could spend a LOT of time daydreaming if I wanted to), talking with friends, writing in my journal, praying, blogging. It helps me recognize where I'm at. Eventually, I will be a better recycler if I make it a priority. I will eat healthier if I stay committed and avoid the grocery store at midnight :-) We're all a work in progress. It's humbling to be reminded of that.

A little poetry

2008-02-25T09:11:00.000-08:00

Reverse Haiku--Relections on the Duck Pond on the South Side of Campus

The ducks, they are a'quacking,
I'm here thought-snacking,
My very own Walden Pond.

:-)

Any haikus/reverse haikus you want to share? Let's see what you've got.

The first Major cousin to get married...

2008-02-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess we can't all be kids forever. The first grandkid/cousin of my dad's side (Amy) got married on Feb. 14! I imagine that the rest of us won't be far behind... I mean realistically, we're all in our 20's and 30's!

The whole family (almost) was able to make it out to the wedding in Salt Lake. Here are a few pictures!

Clint and Amy at the rehearsal dinner on Feb. 13th at the Lion House.

Marci and I (at the rehearsal dinner).

The happy couple's first dance together.

A rare shot of my parents dancing! (happens mostly only at occasions like this or once in a while in the kitchen on holidays) They look cute together!

Anyhow, we're all very happy for Amy and Clint and the start of a new generation of the Majors!

Groundhog Day!

2008-02-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

This was my first year officially celebrating Groundhog Day. It was great! Kara (whose 2nd favorite holiday of the year is Feb. 2) organized the party, which included a delicious dinner, an amazing cake, and a viewing of ... "Groundhog Day"!

My roomies getting the bread ready for dinner!

Here's the cake! Isn't it great?!

I have to admit, I think Groundhog Day is officially one of my favorite movies. Seriously, Bill Murray is great. A few of my favorite lines:

"Gosh, you're an upbeat lady!"
"Hey, are any of you up for adoption?"
"That's my favorite drink!" "Mine, too. It reminds my of Rome, the way the light falls on the buildings."
"Believe it or not, I studied 17th century French poetry." "What a waste of time! (Pause) I mean, for anyone else, it would be an incredible waste of time. It's so bold of you to choose that. You must be such a strong person."

I'm thinking celebrating the groundhog's weather-predicting abilities might have to become a yearly tradition! :-)

Sundance Film Festival

2008-01-27T23:43:00.000-08:00

The Egyptian, where we saw the film.

A random dressed-up moose that we saw as we were walking on Main St.

Waiting for the film to start.

The Q&A with the film crew after the screening.

So, I finally made it to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City! That was one of my things-to-do-before-I-graduate-and-possibly-leave-Utah list. We didn't see any movie stars, sadly, although we did look at every passing limo or Escalade to see if someone famous would pop out.

It was FREEZING as we walked up and down Main St., stopping in shops and in an art gallery. One of the coolest parts was watching a group of guys play the violin and guitar... they played Irish jigs and were REALLY good.

The film was interesting... um, very "colorful" language (for that reason, I don't think I'd see it again), but a great human interest story. It was a documentary about a heavy metal band called Anvil that was once sort of famous but never really took off. The film followed the lives of two of the band members who have performed ever since... despite their lack of fame. It was actually a touching story in a lot of ways... these middle-aged rockers were rough around the edges, but you knew that they were softies at heart and not as tough as their music would suggest.

It was cool to listen to the Q&A with the film crew afterwards-the film was directed by a guy who was a roadie with the band back in the 80's. One of the best things he said, "After seeing this movie, we had couples in their sixties coming to buy Anvil cds, just to support the guys." Imagining a couple in their sixties buy a heavy metal cd makes me smile, hehe.

To sum up: It was fun... definitely a little pricey of an experience (I think the movie ticket was $18 and with parking and gas from the hour-ish drive... it added up), but I think if I went again someday I would buy tickets as far in advance as possible and research the movies really well to make sure it would be interesting/good/worth the money. I'm glad that I had a chance to do this while I'm still in Utah!

Dan in Real Life

2008-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

I recently saw "Dan in Real Life" at the dollar theater here in Provo. It's rare that I see movies that really strike me, but this one did. Although there were a few innuendos that I could have done without, it was overall clean, human, hopeful, and funny. I really enjoyed Steve Carrel's role, because I think he is hilarious, but sometimes he's so obnoxious on "The Office" that it's hard to see him as a real person. For the record, I think "The Office" is quite funny, it was just a nice change to see him in a different role.

I really like seeing comedians in "real life" roles, because I think we get the chance to see them as regular people. For example, I really liked seeing Will Ferrell in "Stranger Than Fiction." Although I think it got mediocre reviews, I thought he did a nice job.

Back to "Dan in Real Life" though. Dane Cook was also great, as were Dan's parents, played by John Mahoney (the dad from "Frasier") and Dianne Wiest (I remember her from "Little Man Tate" and "Edward Scissorhands"). The parents just nailed it on the head.

Finally, the music was awesome. It was mostly done by Sondre Lerche, who I had never heard of. Kind of folky, reminded me of Damien Rice, Kings of Convenience, Mason Jennings, if any of them are familiar. I downloaded the album (I don't frequently buy whole albums anymore) from Itunes cause I liked it so much.

Anyhow, that's my plug for the movie. It's just nice to see decent movies out there that still portray good people who care about their families and want to find love. The love story was believable, partly because, as Dan's mom tells him, "Love is messy." It doesn't seem to happen the way we imagine, but it can be better than we imagined. Well, at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Let's be honest, I think that describes the majority of us out there. :-)

It's 2008

2008-01-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

Wow. I remember 1989 like it was yesterday. Seriously. Life goes quickly. I remember talking with Granddad back in the 1990's sometime and saying that he should live till the year 2000. It seemed SO far away at the time.

2007 was a year of transition. I got back from Spain and came back out to BYU to finish the last leg of undergrad. I lived in 3 different apartments and 2 different wards, made a lot of new friends, and had some adventures. Just to recap, here were a few of the big adventures:

-Climbing Mt. Timpanogos in August and camping overnight at the glacial lake near the top. It was one of the most miserable but memorable nights of my life because it was so cold I couldn't sleep! (in the low 30s) But, we finished the climb (on my birthday!), saw some amazing views, could barely walk for a day after we came home, and those of us who went will be forever bonded by our toiling adventure. It was worth it.

-Driving to Baja, Mexico with 10 of us and camping down there. We drove A LOT, waited in an insanely long line at the border, walked around a couple of scary parts of Tijuana (good thing we had guys with us and spoke Spanish!), went surfing, ate some delicious tacos, met some of the nicest people ever at church in Ensenada, and once again, had some major bonding moments. I learned a lot about the benefits (never a dull moment, safety in numbers, splitting costs) and challenges (personality differences, figuring out the money between 10 people--yikes, etc.) about traveling in large groups .

-Driving with 3 friends (Emily, Camilla, and Diane) to Las Vegas for one night. We stayed in an extremely sketchy hotel (good thing the door had a lock and there were four of us!), wandered around the strip and marveled at the hotels, ate at a huge buffet, and left feeling glad that we are LDS (the Vegas lifestyle would get old fast I think). We left at about 3 PM on a Friday and got home at 6 PM on Saturday, which means that we spent about 12 hours of that driving. Ha, I think next time we'll plan that one better.

-attending Llama Fest at the Hari Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, UT. Llama races, touring the temple, good weather, petting llamas... it was a fun time.

There are plenty more things that happened, but those are a few of the more unique experiences. Not everything about 2007 was peachy--there were some hard lessons to learn too, especially some wakeup calls about school, responsibility, and growing up. But, I'm getting there, and I look forward to the new year!

2008 will be a big year with lots of change: I will be graduating from college (FINALLY!) and getting a "real world" job. My long term future plans aren't totally settled, but I'm working hard to look at my options and things are slowly, but surely, becoming clearer. I'll keep you posted, and please do the same!

I've started a new Christmas tradition...

2007-12-22T16:20:00.001-08:00

So, for the second year in a row, on my way home for Christmas I have gotten a free flight out of it. Last year, on my way home from Madrid, they were overbooked and offered me 800 Euro, a free night at a hotel, and free food. Um, yeah! Needless to say, that was a good investment.

This year, I traveled through Phoenix on my way home to Milwaukee. After I got on the flight (from Phoenix to Milwaukee) they announced that they were looking for volunteers (because they were overbooked). Anyone who volunteered would get a free upgrade to first class on a later flight today and would receive a voucher for a free flight anywhere in the continental US and a meal voucher for some food. I'm a sucker for deals I guess--I took it! I guess the idea of a free flight ANYWHERE in the continental US was too good to pass up (I'm a student with limited funds--remember), plus, I love first class (especially on long flights... Phoenix to Milwaukee is nearly 4 hours). I'm not sure where I'll use it yet, but there are plenty of people I could visit!

So, I've been spending the day in the Phoenix airport. The bummer was that my flight was supposed to leave Phoenix at 10 AM and my new flight leaves at 8 PM! So, that's one long day in the airport. Since I haven't gotten much sleep in the past few days with finals and such, I slept basically the whole day here and there on those airport couches, which are surprisingly comfortable! Maybe it's because I'm sleep-deprived.

Other funny things that have happened... a little girl peed on her seat on my first flight this morning (I'm sorry, it was hilarious as she announced to the people in the row in front of us "I peed on myself" and they offered their condolences. I felt bad for the dad though).

Also, I saw a guy from my high school on the second flight (the one I boarded and then immediately got off of... since I took the upgrade). He graduated a year before me and I didn't know him too well, but he remembered me and was so nice! It was a fun, random coincidence.

My brother is also stuck in transit to Milwaukee... his connecting flight got canceled and he's spending the night in Cincinnati. Hopefully we'll make it home!

Merry early Christmas!

P.S. Any ideas on where I should use my free ticket? I can use it anywhere except Hawaii and Alaska. :-)

Finals are upon us...

2007-12-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Finals. I love 'em and hate 'em.

Things I love about finals... no class, late-night bonding with people in the library, going out to breakfast with my roommates, getting ready to be DONE with the semester (always a relief)...

Things I hate about finals... well, this is obvious. Late nights, incredible pressure to get things done, feeling like I have no time to do anything but study (even eating, working out, cleaning get pushed aside), arg.

Two tests, one oral presentation, several internship hours, a giant editing project, and several assignments/papers to go before I can breathe easy. Although it sounds crazy, I actually feel like I'm in a groove... I'm in that mode where I will spend whatever time necessary to get it all done... which means several sleep-deprived nights. But, it's worth it in the end when I can look back and say, "I'm DONE!'

I love college (usually).

'Tis the Season to Eat Sugar...

2007-12-03T13:38:00.001-08:00

So, it's that time of year again! Ahh, yes, I love it. Anyhow, Diana (my roommate) came up with the idea of having a little cinnamon roll/hot chocolate gathering! It was great... we played some Christmas music and the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and we ate cinnamon rolls, drank hot chocolate, and decorated gingerbread cookies! We must have had at least 75 people filter in and out throughout the night... as you can see, they were enjoying it:

Below are some cookies that Eurah decorated... my favorite is the gingerbread man with the red heart.

Two girls from my ward came wearing matching Christmas pajamas!

Anyhow, it was a huge success and a great way to start off the month before we all get super stressed with finals... this is my last set of "fall" finals ever! I am graduating in August, so don't worry, I still will have the lovely opportunity to take more finals. Anyhow, I'll pretty much be living in the library for the next 2.5 weeks, and then home for 2 weeks! I am looking forward to someday being able to enjoy the Christmas season a little more without the stresses of school during all of December (I don't fly home till right before Christmas) but I'll squeeze in what fun I can!

The Short List of Things I Am Thankful For

2007-11-29T21:06:00.000-08:00

Well, Thanksgiving came and went quickly, as it always does (I mean, it's only one day!) It was a step up from last year... last year at this time I was in Madrid and some friends and I went to TGIFriday's for a Thanksgiving meal. Although they did offer an actual turkey platter, I was just in the mood for anything "American" so I think I got nachos or something.

This year, I spent Thanksgiving with my friend Tiffani's family up in Fruit Heights, UT (north of Salt Lake). It was a lot of fun! We had a huge traditional meal with lots of Tiffani's extended family and lots of pies :-) That evening, we went and saw "Enchanted," which is pretty adorable, in case you wondered. I think the boys in the family even liked it!

The only bummer was that I got a flat tire while I was up at the Stevenson's, but thankfully it was a slow leak and Tiffani's dad was kind enough to fill the tire up and give me a coupon for a local tire store, so I got it patched up in no time before I headed back to Provo on Friday.

To top it off, the Stevenson's shared one of their BYU football tickets with me for the Utah vs. BYU game, which was possibly one of the best football games I've ever been to! We scored a touchdown with about 30 seconds left to win the game.

Anyhow, I thought I'd share the short list of things I'm thankful for this year (in no significant order):

-the discovery of homemade oreos (seriously.... amazing)
-my family (seriously, the older I get, the more I love 'em!)
-having a washer and dryer in my apartment (makes life a lot easier than having to go to the laundromat!)
-being in college (I'm savoring my last few months of undergrad and looking forward to the prospects ahead)
-the Stevensons (seriously, they have been SO good to me since I've met them! They really made me feel like a part of their family for the holidays... and always, for that matter!); thanks Tiffani for letting me come hang out with you guys! :-)
-friends old and new (I love how the circle ever-expands and the appreciation for the old and new friends grows over time)
-facebook (ha, it's just fun and it makes keeing in touch SO much easier)
-dinner group (Because I'm in a rotating dinner group where we take turns cooking meals, I save money and eat much better!)
-my health
-the gospel
-my calling as a gospel doctrine teacher (I've learned a lot and it's fun!)
-adventures (I've had a lot of fun ones in the last year)
-the fact that you can play Oregon Trail online at www.virtualapple.com (flashback to elementary school!)
-Cougar Video's edited movies
-my favorite fleece blanket (well worth the minimal investment)
-discovering new music (there is a forrest of great music out there waiting to be explored!)... pandora.com has helped me discover some great new stuff
-musicals (I like to sing out loud and they make me happy... I don't care if this sounds corny)

Well, that's just a few of the good things I have to be thankful for!! Hope everyone also had a great holiday. I love this time of year :-)

Sampling vs. Savoring

2007-11-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

I was one of those kids who wanted to do EVERYTHING. I went through a phase when I wanted to play every sport. Growing up, I tried soccer, basketball, tennis, swimming, baseball, track, gymnastics, volleyball, and powder puff football. I wanted to learn instruments; I took violin and piano lessons and since college I have really enjoyed singing and learning the guitar. I loved art. I wanted to be the president when I was in fourth grade (and I really convinced myself for a couple months that I would be the first female president of the United States). I wanted to be an Olympic athlete, and I thought about doing this via figure skating, gymnastics, bobsledding (I seriously looked into it after the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake), and the skeleton. I've gone through MANY different ideas of what I would be when I grew up - marine biologist, fiction author, doctor, psychologist, English teacher, college professor, journalist, corporate trainer... I've always thought it would be neat to spend my life learning languages. So far, I've only gotten anywhere with Spanish, but I still dream about it. I loved to be involved in clubs: SOS (Students Offering Service), Student Council, Honors Student Advisory Council (at BYU), the English Society, tutoring, etc.

Now, I don't share all of this to win your praise. I look at it and it is almost overwhelming sometimes all of the things I've tried or want to try. Since college, I have had to learn some hard lessons about time management and the reality that we can't do EVERYTHING. I've fought this for a long time, but more recently, it has become apparent that in life, we must pick and choose between different and equally good options.

Does this mean I'm giving up on my dreams? I certainly hope not. I still want to try new hobbies, learn languages, play different sports, do interesting things in a career, be involved in the community, and enjoy all that life has to offer. Variety will forever be the spice of my life. But, I'm realizing the simple truth that life is about the quality of our experiences.

As much as I want to be a Renaissance woman, I also want to be able to be able to say that I actually focused on a few things and accomplished something. I want to actually be good at one or two things. As I've grown up, I've realized that people who accomplish great things often had to sacrifice many other good things in order to achieve goals like becoming Olympic athletes or world-famous scholars. Passion and pure talent usually aren't enough; work is required to reach such potential.

Anyhow, I've found the process of widdling down my interests a challenge. Picking a career, for example, is not easy, because no one career has EVERYTHING that I want. But, refusing to make a choice will never result in satisfaction, only in the empty hopes of a possibility. Growing up means making choices, and I hope that I'm finally learning how to pick and choose the best of what's available to me, and I'm blessed to have a more-than-plentiful basket of choices.

I guess I'm cursed in a way with an interest in everything. I always thought it was a good thing to love everything, and I still think it is, but lately, I've been more envious of people who have been able to make solid decisions and stick with them, even when tempting alternatives present themselves. Open-mindedness is important, but so is focus. In the end, I don't want to just say that I sampled everything, but that I actually savored a few things.

Any thoughts on this? Is one mode of living better than the other? What have you done that's helped you to achieve this balance?

The BYU Fight Song

2007-11-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I learned at New Student Orientation my freshman year at BYU was the Cougar fight song. Being able to sing it like a pro was one of our first rites of passage as BYU students. Now, I can't deny, I think "On Wisconsin" will always be my favorite, but the Cougar fight song is pretty fun (despite way too many "ra ra ra"s) and definitely part of the BYU football experience.

My roommates and I went to the BYU football game today against Colorado State. We definitely got a lot of chances to sing the fight song (we sing it after every touchdown). Here's a clip of us singing it for your enjoyment (don't hate us if we're off-key). Go Cougars! :-)

FHE at BYU

2007-10-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

So, I just had to tell you about one of our FHE group activities. So, at BYU, each single student in a student congregation gets assigned to a "Family Home Evening" or FHE group, since we don't have our regular families with us to do FHE with. Anyhow, my roommate is one of our group leaders, and we've had fun so far this semester. Each FHE begins with a short spiritual thought, and then we have an activity and a treat. Last week we played spoons with glow-in-the-dark cards. So fun!

Anyhow, so two weeks ago I think it was we planned a service FHE. We decided to make cookies and hand them out to students as they were leaving the testing center on campus. I think Diana came up with the idea and we all agreed it was brilliant. I'm pretty sure that I was given candy once as I left the testing center - so this is not a totally unique idea, but we decided it would be fun. Anyhow, it was awesome! Diana printed off some Calvin and Hobbes comics about school and we handed out those with our cookies. As people came out of the doors, we began cheering. "Yeah! You're done with your test!" Ok, it sounds a little corny, but it was so fun! All the test takers were pretty surprised but happy with our presents. One girl walked by looking pretty stressed... maybe her test didn't go so well :-( One guy even gave us hugs! Anyhow, it was definitely a success. What's better than leaving the testing center and getting fresh baked cookies? Not a bad way to lift the cloud of stress. :-)

Update on "Letters to the Editor"

2007-10-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, they printed my "Misquoted" letter in today's opinion section. Yeah! :-)

Letters to the Editor

2007-10-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got a letter to the editor published in BYU's student newspaper, "The Daily Universe." I was quite excited that my letter was published, until I realized that I was misquoted! They edited one of my sentences, significantly altering the meaning. I was annoyed, because I feel like they assumed what I meant without asking me. Arg.

First, I'll print the original letter that I sent them for you guys:

"I applaud Amnesty International for trying to raise awareness of the situation in Burma. I was disappointed with the low turnout at Wednesday's peace rally. I was even more disappointed to hear students say things like, "What's the point? Are they really going to change the situation by protesting?" The other day, as I walked by the Amnesty International banner, I saw this quote: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." There are a lot of 'good people' at BYU 'doing nothing' to be aware of the evils going on in this world. Yes, perhaps a small rally at BYU won't change a dictatorship. But raising awareness and educating people on social justice issues are important. How are we as students ever going to be able to "Go forth to serve" if we do not take time to "Enter to learn" about the problems in our world? Most of us cannot even fathom living under the kind of oppression facing the Burmese monks. But does that mean that we should ignore the fact that such things go on in this world? I'm with Martin Luther King Jr., who said: " Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." As future leaders, we must use our education to promote truth and justice everywhere, not just where it directly affects us."

So... here is the letter I sent them, which I asked them to print in the next "Letters to the Editor" section. You'll see how they changed it.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear "Letters to the Editor,"

Please print this in your "letters to the editor section." This is in regards to my letter "Doing nothing," published on 10/22/07.

I'm grateful that you printed my letter to the editor, but when you did your editing, you changed the meaning of my intended message. I did not not mean that BYU students are completely aware of the evils of the world and are "doing nothing," but that they are not taking the proper time to get educated about social justice issues in the first place. Yes, some know about the Burma situation and don't seem to care too much. But many don't even really know about it in the first place and walk by demonstrations on campus such as the Burma rally without learning about their purpose. I feel that the way you changed my letter misrepresents what I intended to say. Please be aware that subtle editing changes can have a great effect in the intended meaning of the author. I applaud BYU students for all the good that they do; I just think that we could do more to actively learn about and stand up for political and social justice issues all over the world.

Thank you,

Lauren Major
Mequon, Wis.

The original sentence:There are a lot of 'good people' at BYU 'doing nothing' to be aware of the evils going on in this world."

The edited sentence: "There are a lot of "good people" at BYU "doing nothing," but are aware of the evils going on in this world.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Anyhow, I know it was simply a mistake, but it taught me a great lesson. Editing matters. Misquoting people misrepresents them. Maybe some will say that it's not that big of a deal. But I think it is. Things that are in print are there for everyone to see, and it made me realize that I should not take that responsibility lightly.

The Odyssey Years

2007-10-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to an article that I find very interesting.

This is from a recent opinion column in The New York Times by David Brooks called "The Odyssey Years." According to Times, this article can be summed up as follows: "The decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood is a sensible response to modern conditions."

I'm not sure how I feel about this phase of life as the simple result of "modern conditions," nor will I simply say that I am a product of my generation, but I do think that many young people my age can relate to Brooks' description of life for the twenty-something right now. I definitely do. Although I'm probably more tied to tradition than some who are my age, I still can relate to the feeling of having to find my way in an uncertain world. For a young person who has grown out of immense opportunities and who faces a world full of more opportunity and uncertainty than she anticipated, "odyssey" is a good description.

Life is different for us than it was for our parents at our age, but we still ultimately want the same things--love, health, happiness, and a better world. I guess the road to getting those things will always be different in different periods of history, but I guess that's why I'm so grateful for my faith in the gospel; it gives me stability in a changing society. Thankfully, the essence of life is constant, and if we remember that, I don't think we need to simply be defined by our generation.

Yikes! My hair is short!

2007-10-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I got a haircut for the first time since April. I'm not really that in to making sure I look perfectly fashionable all the time or anything (although I like to look nice of course), but I went online and found some hair styles that I liked with sweeping bangs. I showed her a picture of Nicole Richie. Now, let me state for the record, I am not a Nicole Richie fan, but she does have nice hair! Anyhow, the cut ended up being a shorter than I expected, and I came home feeling a little freaked out. I played around a bit with it since I really don't know how to style short hair, and this is my June Cleaver flipped-out look that I came up with, hehe. I'm still deciding whether I want to go and get it fixed a little somewhere else to add some layers (when it's not flipped... I'm not a huge fan, it feels like too much of a blunt cut)... but we'll see. Any advice? And be honest! Thank goodness that hair grows :-) (Also, if you know of a good hair stylist in Provo, let me know!)

First BYU football game in 5 years!

2007-09-28T15:27:00.001-07:00

This last weekend, I got to sit in the front row at a BYU football game for the first time. It was also my first football game since my sophomore year at BYU in the fall of 2002. Oddly enough, I didn't even get student season tickets this year because they sold out really early. I was really sad, but my friend Eden came through and offered a couple front row tickets to my friend Emily and I for the homecoming game, since she couldn't go. Yeah!

It was rainy and chilly (and Emily and I were shivering in our BYU t-shirts), but it was so much fun to be up that close. We beat the Air Force 31-6, which made it that much better. At the end, we enjoyed the tradition where the team comes around the first row and gives everyone high fives. Emily and I were in the front and tons of people were trying to reach their hands over, it was almost a little scary... little Emily thought she was going to flip over on to the field! Haha, we went home, had some hot chocolate, and called it a day.

Can't we all just study quietly?

2007-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm in the library right now, working on some assignments before my Elang 410 class (it's for the editing minor). A couple was sitting next to me in the adjoining computer, and it inspired me to write this post.

It is a common sight, all over BYU campus, to see dating/engaged/married couples, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. I have nothing against this, truly. I am so happy for my friends who have fallen in love... I mean that's what we all hope for in life! But. . . what works on my patience is the constant cuddling, gazing, sighing, giggling, kissing, lovey-dovey talk that surrounds me, even in places like the library. It's not love that I'm annoyed with, it's people's disregard for the others around them. I've talked to engaged couples, and it seems that the common theme is "we so in love that we just don't notice anyone else" or, more honestly, there's an underlying sentiment of "we sometimes just don't care if everyone else watches us." Ah! Being engaged does not give you the right to annoy others... most couples assume that there are so many couples like this around that people should be used to it. Yes, there's some truth to that, but I don't think that's an excuse to ignore the feelings of others, whether they be friends or strangers. Call me old-fashioned or sensitive, but I don't think I'm asking too much.

I don't mean to ban all forms of affection or anything. Hand-holding, arm around, the occasional kiss, etc. is fine. Let's just remember that others are around you when you're in public.

And yes, you can hold me to that standard if/when I get engaged/married someday. :-) And for the record, I do love BYU, even with it's cultural quirks. But, that doesn't mean I can't offer some constructive criticism!

Just for fun

2007-09-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

So, I've been tagged! If someone tags you, you write up 8 random facts about yourself and then tag a couple people to do the same on their blogs. So, just for fun...

1. I used to have a stuffed bunny named Phil that I pretended was my husband. Phil was the largest stuffed animal we had, and therefore was deemed to be my husband when I played dolls and stuff. I even used to draw family pictures with me, the kids, and a man with a bunny head wearing a suit. Ha.

2. I've used the same laptop since the beginning of freshman year. For a computer, that's a pretty long life (over 6 years)! I've had to add in extra memory and I installed Windows XP, but the little guy is still truckin' along nicely. We'll see how long he lasts.

3. I once put 28 grapes in my mouth. My friend and I were bored and we decided to have a contest, and after 28 they started spilling all over the place.

4. I played on a boy's baseball team for 4 years in elementary/middle school. And oddly, it didn't really phase me that I was one of the only girls. I was just really competitive I guess. Ha.

5. I sang "Someone to Watch Over Me" at a piano bar in Madrid to a group of older Madrilenos. Not sure if that's something to brag about, ha, but it was definitely funny!

6. I have a secret love for reruns of "Full House" and "Saved by the Bell." Nostalgia I guess.

7. I used to have a HUGE crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas from "Home Improvement." I even wrote him a letter telling him about how we have so much in common and should be friends. I received a mass response letter with his autograph. Oh well.

8. I once had a class at Marquette that had about 15 people in it, and about 5 of us were named Lauren. Weird, I had never met so many Laurens in one place in my life!

Ok, not sure if that really tells you much about me, but hopefully you learned something new and had a chuckle or two. I tag.... Vickie and Tiffani. You're it!

So much to do, so little time.

2007-08-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, this month has flown by. After summer term finals ended, I went to two wedding receptions and a bridal shower that following weekend. Then, I spent a week in Wisconsin, which was rainy but relaxing. My mom and I watched 3 Hallmark movies, if that gives you an idea of the pace of the week... but that's just what I needed. Now, I'm back here in Provo, helping out with freshman orientation, moving into a new apartment, and getting ready for classes! I'm in-between apartments... with most of my stuff in the new one, but I still have to go back to the old one to clean it, eek.

Freshman orientation is so much fun! It seems like yesterday I was moving into the dorms and starting college. It's fun to see the freshmen, wandering around, trying to look nonchalant (even though you can tell they're lost and a little nervous about everything) and getting excited to start classes. We've all been there. It's weird to be on the other end, but it's also nice to pass the college wisdom down to the next generation. I really had fun taking them on a campus tour, pointing out all the buildings and telling stories about my experiences and experiences of my friends. Going to the orientation leader training and listening to the BYU President address the freshman today was a nice way to start my last year of college, reminding me of what BYU is all about and what I want to accomplish before I leave this school. I remember all the anticipation of starting college, and I want this last year to really be memorable and to wrap up my college years full-circle.

With that said, there's lots to do before school starts next week. Yikes! I'll keep you posted and hopefully get some pictures up here soon!

Summer school is over!

2007-08-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

I call it "Cramming for a British Lit. final."

Total Eclipse of the Day

2007-08-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

It's funny how a day can turn from bad to good in such a short time. Monday was one of those days. Being the last day of the summer term, I had a LOT to finish for my classes. In one day (on 2 hours of sleep and under intense pressure) I managed to finish a course project for my American English Usage Class, finish my research paper for British Lit, take a tennis test in the Testing Center, play several games of tennis (last day of class and I had to play a certain amount of games for the class), attend 4 hours of class... needless to say, I was exhausted when I came home from school at 8 P.M., over 12 hours since I left the house.

After a shower and some food, I went and accompanied Emily Reynolds at an acoustic guitar show (I played back-up on my violin) and given my rough day... it wasn't my best performance. I thought I would go home after that and sleep for the next week... but somehow, Emily and her brother Seth, who was in town visiting, convinced me to go see "Evan Almighty" at the dollar theater.

On the way there, as I was sitting in the backseat (between two car seats... because Seth borrowed his older sister's car) we listened to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and sang our hearts out. In that moment, something changed in me as the stress just released. "Evan Almighty" was great too, I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Anyhow, I came home after the movie around midnight... exhausted still, but happy. I love days like that.

Climbing Mount Timpanogos

2007-08-06T22:58:00.001-07:00

This weekend, 5 friends and I climbed Mount Timpanogos. Of all of us (Amanda, Bryce, Tiffani, Anthony, Emily, and I), only Tiffani had done the climb before. It was an intense, but awesome experience! We left on Friday night at 8 P.M. from Aspen Grove, up Provo Canyon. After 4 hours, we reached Emerald Lake, which is like the "base camp" for the hike. Emerald Lake is a lake made from the melted glacier above it. It was FREEZING up there that night! I had no idea how cold we would be! Emily and I shared a tent, and we had to cuddle to stay warm... it was in the thirties! We barely slept about 2 or 3 hours.

Then, at 6ish on Saturday morning, we woke up and did the final climb to the summit. Wow, it was intense. We kept thinking we were close, and then we'd see another peak that we had to climb! There were a lot of people climbing the peak too... it is a popular hike. We saw kids, teenagers, college students, tourists, even dogs! Anyhow, we then had to go back down... and by the end, we were extremely thirsty, sore, and tired. Needless to say, we slept REALLY well that night!

Saturday also happened to be my 25th birthday! It was an interesting way to spend my birthday, and it will definitely be a great memory! We went to Chili's later that night and then ate cake and watched "Clue" in Emily's backyard on a projector. It was a great birthday and a great way to start my next year!

Here are some pictures from the trip:

These flowers are called "Indian Paintbrushes." Aren't they gorgeous? There were so many different wildflowers... it was beautiful!

Here are Anthony and Tiffani, enjoying the cold water at the waterfall near the end of the hike... we were so tired by this point!

Emily, Amanda, me, and Tiffani at a waterfall near the beginning of the hike.
The sun coming up near Emerald Lake on Saturday morning.

The glacier above Emerald Lake. This is a popular way to descend from the summit, by sliding down the glacier! Unfortunately, the glacier wasn't very large this year, so it was extra dangerous to go down it. So, we decided to climb back down the way we came.

This is a view near the top of Mount Timpanogos. Doesn't it look incredibly high?! It looks like the view from an airplane!

Amanda and Bryce... hiking on the way back down.

Anyhow, I've had a lot of fun enjoying all of the fun outdoor things in Utah this summer. I'm not sure that I'll be climbing Timp again in the near future, but I'm really glad I did it and I hope to do it again someday. Climbing Timp is sort of a BYU rite of passage... it seems that most of my friends have climbed it at least once. And, this weekend, a group of 6 twenty-four-year-olds (one turning twenty-five on the trip) joined the ranks of those who have climbed before :-)

Sam came to town!

2007-07-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sam is on his much-needed, month-long summer vacation from culinary school. He came to Provo to visit me a little over a week ago... and it was, of course, a great time. I hadn't seen Sam since Christmas, and sadly, this might be the only time I see him until next Christmas (or at least in the fall sometime), since we live on opposite sides of the country and are both in school!

Anyhow, he was able to catch up with some of his friends who are still in Utah... old mission buddies, old roommates and ward friends, etc. Also, I had a chance to introduce him to some of my friends, too. We got to go to my friend Tiffani's house in Fruit Heights, UT and her family was full of questions for Sam about his experiences in culinary school and his future plans. With a little prodding, he even baked us an impromptu cake, which was awesome! Tiffani's mom tried to get us to come over again to let Sam wow us with more cooking, but alas, there just wasn't enough time!

Another highlight of the trip was floating the Provo River. Although originally we were going to try to invite some friends to join us in floating down the river, in Provo Canyon, on inner tubes, it ended up being Sam and I, which was a lot of fun since we had some good brother/sister bonding time. Although the water was a bit cold (the small rapids definitely surprised us a few times) and I got a couple of scratches from branches, it was well worth it! The view from the river, with the mountains on both sides of us, was amazing.

The final interesting highlight was that Sam got to stay with some friends of mine in, yes, his old house in Provo! Although he was staying on the top floor instead of the basement apartment (affectionately called "the pipes"), he got to relive his BYU 162nd Ward memories a bit. I live in some apartments that are a part of his old ward... and weirdly enough, he said he home-taught some girls who lived in my current apartment! Small world.

Unfortunately, I don't have any more pictures (what was I thinking?!) but we both agreed that the trip went too fast! Hopefully I can make it out to NY before he packs up and leaves the CIA in February!

Llama Fest

2007-07-18T11:23:00.001-07:00

So, one of the unique Provo summer experiences... Llamafest. At the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, they had the annual Lllamafest. Emily asked me to go, and although at first I was skeptical as to whether it would be worth it, we quickly discovered that this would be memorable.

The Hare Krishna temple is beautiful. Very unique amidst the Utah landscape... we went inside and listened to a member of the temple answer questions about the faith and the meaning of different things. Very interesting! I still don't know a ton about this religion, but I'd like to read more to be more informed.

And, the llamas! There was a fenced-in area full of wandering llamas... and you could buy food to feed them. Emily and I just walked around and pet them. This one llama seemed to like me! He seemed to always be looking my way and walking towards me. I took a picture with the little guy/girl.

Anyhow, there were also llama races, an obstacle course for the llamas, dancing, music, food... and good times. Definitely a fun experience!

Maybe tennis class in the Utah summer wasn't the best idea...

2007-07-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

So, I'm currently taking my last PE credit... beginning tennis. My tennis days were short-lived... I took tennis lessons for 1 or 2 years in elementary school, which is no surprise since I pretty much played every sport at some point in my childhood. However, my tennis career came to an abrupt end when I broke my arm at tennis camp one summer. We were doing some sort of drill, and I was running backwards on the court, and then I fell right on my wrist. Ow. The only good thing that came out of that was my cool pink cast that my Dad made for my arm.

Anyhow, I've once again decided to pick up the tennis racket. I knew that summers in Utah were hot, and man, I haven't been disappointed! Seriously, I'm not used to avoiding the outdoors in summer, but I really can't be outside in the middle of the day except for walking from one place to another. Anyhow, I figured that I should take my tennis class in the late afternoon, since 8 AM sounded pretty early and I figured that the temperature would cool down by then. Not really. The sun stays out longer and brighter here than in WI, and basically, it's still blazing hot at 5:15-7.

At Monday's class, I tried to move minimally when I didn't need to, but I think I must have been dehydrated, because I began to feel nauseated. That's happened a few times when I've been at soccer try-outs or somewhere where I've been working out really hard... but considering we're not really doing much running in this class, I think it must have been more of a heat-related thing. Anyhow, I felt pretty pathetic for feeling so sick... I almost had to sit down, and we were just doing some simple drills and games! I felt like one of those people crawling in the Saharan Desert. We all were pretty lifeless by the end of class. I better bust out the giant Nalgene water bottle next time.

4th of July in Utah!

2007-07-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

Emily and I got some pecan and apple pie at the Freedom Festival days in Provo. Nothing like apple pie on the 4th of July!

I loved this sign! Basically, it says that if you eat three giant sandwiches in less than 25 minutes, you get them for free! They were huge sandwiches...

Hanging out with some people before the fireworks.

After the big fireworks, we went to Emily's house and had a campfire and lit sparklers! I hadn't done that in a long time... to be honest I once got a little burned from one when I was little and ever since, I had always been a little wary of them. But, as you can see, Camilla, Susan and I were having plenty of fun sparkler times!

This is one of the first times that I haven't been in Milwaukee for the fourth. It was a different experience... they seem to be much more into the 4th here in Utah... and I think they are more openly patriotic... much more festival stuff going on. But, it's been fun to celebrate in a different part of the country... I love the U.S.!

Bloody Foot Syndrome Returns

2007-07-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

So, way back when, I wrote on the blog about how I walked around Madrid in my new shoes and got really bloody feet. I had to go to a pharmacy and buy a bunch of band-aids and sit on a curb and wipe my feet down in front of crowds of people. Then, to avoid further damage, I had to wear white running socks under my dress shoes for the rest of the night.

I had a relapse last weekend.

I went to meet up with an old roommate, Sarah, and her boyfriend, friends from church in Milwaukee, up in Salt Lake City. We ate lunch in The Garden Room, this good restaurant on the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Afterwards, we walked around Temple Square a bit and then went to get a tour of the Beehive House, Brigham Young's House. As we walked in to start the tour, done by two friendly sister missionaries, I bumped my foot against a wooden pew. It looked like it would be ok, although it had sliced my toe a bit. Ten minutes later, my toe was bleeding profusely, creating a pool of blood on my flip-flop. I tried to ignore it, but I was afraid of getting blood on the historic carpet! I didn't want to have to explain that one to the prophet someday. Anyhow, I had to interrupt the tour and one of the sister missionaries took me to get some tissue paper to wipe my foot down. As I walked out, the fellow tour participants gave me sympathetic smiles and comments, "Wow, those benches must have been hard!" Um, slightly embarrassing. Anyhow, I hope I don't have any more incidents! :-)

The Road Trip to Baja

2007-06-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Well, Emily and I finally decided to do the road trip we've been talking about for a long time... going to Baja, Mexico and camping on the beach! So, this last weekend, we loaded up 10 of us (4 girls, 6 boys) into 3 cars and road-tripped it down to Mexico. We knew it would be an adventure, and we were not disappointed!

After careful planning (getting Mexican driving insurance, finding a campsite, etc.) we left on Thursday afternoon after finals for spring term and got home about 6 A.M. on Monday morning.

Thursday night we slept at Shady Lane RV/Campground in Barstow, CA... about an hour and a half south of Las Vegas. Not exactly paradise, but at 11:30 PM, we just wanted a place to crash. The next day, we crossed the border near San Diego and stopped in Tijuana for a bit, and then headed down to Playa Saldamando, our campsite near Ensenada (a little over an hour south of Tijuana). On Sunday, we went to church in Ensenada and then trekked it back to Provo...

Here are some pictures from the trip!

Here I am on the last day of the trip... after 3 days of no showering. Nice. I had gone swimming though. I bought these flowers from a guy in Ensenada.

My new friend Robert and I horseback riding on the beach in Ensenada!

Checking out the beach on the first day in Mexico... we're finally here!

Our campsite - Playa Saldamando

A shop in Tijuana.

Here are a few of the most interesting things about the trip:

-camping on semi-hard ground for three nights (my hips started to complain by the last day)
-eating amazing tacos (seriously, there's no comparison...sorry Taco Bell)
-good times with good people (and many of us didn't know everyone... so yeah for new friends!)
-speaking Spanish again (so fun!)
-getting lost in random parts of Tijuana and Ensenada (the signs are seriously lacking)
-horseback riding on the beach with my horse Juana (she started galloping at the end of my ride, yikes!)
-campfires and sleeping in front of a beautiful ocean view (hearing the waves as you sleep is very soothing), and we had dolphins that swam by every day!
-the serious challenge of renting a surfboard, but then the excitement of actually getting one and then watching everyone try it out... lots of wiping out!
-the interesting walk around Tijuana (hmm...)
-driving straight through the border into Mexico and then waiting 3 hours in line to come back to the US on the way home
-the stresses of figuring out money and how to split stuff between 10 people
-going to church in Ensenada (loved it! We went to the "Azteca Ward")
-driving up 1-5 in California between San Diego and LA as the sun was setting...so pretty.

Anyhow, this is a taste of our trip. There were stressful moments, which I guess comes with traveling with a large group and with going into a foreign country, but overall, it was great. I came back with some sun on my face, some hand-crafted leather sandals (only $7!) and a beautiful green stone necklace (only $4!) and in serious need of sleep and a shower. After two days, I finally feel unpacked, clean, and rested. Mexico, I hope to see you again soon!

Adventures in Golf

2007-06-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

So, when my parents were in town over Memorial Day Weekend... Dad and I had a chance to go golfing twice! The first time was in Cedar City, which was fun since that's where Dad used to golf back when he started. He said the course was pretty much the same from when he started playing there. And... there was a new addition. Prairie dogs! I guess there's a new rule in Utah that you can't kill them (they're endangered?) but they were EVERYWHERE on the course. Each hole had about 20 prairie dog holes on it with the little guys sticking their heads out and running around. I thought I was going to hit them!

Go Dad! This was at Cascade in Orem, Ut.

Here I am at Cascade too. Ooh, I need to work on my swing.

Two of my golf class friends came with us to golf at Cascade... Chelsa and Sofia. Chelsa is a fellow Wisconsinite, and it was her first time golfing, which was fun. Sofia is from Mexico, and she was on the BYU tennis team, and given her athletic background, she picked up golf FAST. She's really good! (She's the one who taught me all the cool Spanish golf phrases...)

Dad and I after 9 holes. I didn't play amazingly, but it was fun and hopefully I'll get better over the summer!

2007-06-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone. My internet has been down at my apartment on and off for the last month, so I haven't been able to have much computer time... which is a nice change, in a way. However, I do have lots of pictures and stories to share, so I'll try to get some of that up here soon.

Life has been busy, as it always is during school. My classes this term are going well, and I especially like my publishing class. I've learned how to use InDesign, Photoshop... and let me say, Photoshop is pretty awesome. It's incredible what you can do to pictures! Kind of scary too... check out www.campaignforrealbeauty.com. There's this film you can watch (the "evolution" film) that shows you the Photoshop process used to create a model's picture. Kind of creepy! But... I can't deny, it's cool to know you can wipe out blemishes, red eyes, and lots of other things that can be distracting in pictures. Not to anything near that extreme though... no wonder we all have warped views of beauty.

Anyhow, it snowed here in Utah yesterday, rained down by me, but the mountains have a new coat of snow! Crazy, it's June!

Later!

Springtime Pictures

2007-05-24T23:53:00.001-07:00

Well, here are some pictures of some of the fun things I've been up to lately.

My roommate Stacy, who was in my dorm freshman year at BYU and then was my sophomore roommate at Park Place, got married in early May! In the picture are four of the six of those original Park Place roommates... it was a great reception and Stacy looked great!

A friend invited us to spend a night at Spring Haven, this lodge owned by BYU that is in the mountains. Beautiful! Here is a view from the pond.

Making some s'mores...

It was like summer camp at Spring Haven... gotta love the bunk beds!

Kevin and I playing in the slide at Spring Haven... fun!

Fore!

2007-05-19T14:55:00.001-07:00

So... I'm once again attempting to learn to golf, for the first time (for real) since about age 7. Back in the day, I had a cute set of golf clubs and a pink golf bag and I was a member of the "Zero holers" golf group at the local golf club in Mequon. I was a little Tigerette Woods in training.... ha. However, at my young age, golf didn't seem as interesting as soccer, baseball, swimming, and all of the other summer activities I was into. Thus, I somehow got off the golf train. Anyhow, it didn't bother me much to not be a golfer until the end of high school, when I realized that golf was actually a pretty cool sport, and I had no skills.

So, I signed up this spring term for golf. Four times a week, (and I only get 0.5 credits for this class), I go to the small putting green and practice area near the tennis courts at BYU and practice with my fellow novice golfers. It's been a lot of fun! My teacher, Garrett, is really cool, and I've definitely made some friends in the class. It's funny, I'm hearing a similar background story... "I wanted to be able to play with my dad/husband/friends...." and here we all are, excited, maybe for the first time, and despite our earlier lack of interest in the sport, about golf!

I'm finally taking up one of those "adult" sports... you know, the ones in the class with tennis, jogging, lawn bowling, fishing... the sports that you can do without developing large bruises and without needing a team of 10 to play with. I used to find those sports boring, but now I'm realizing that it's not easy to gather 10 people to play soccer with, and sometimes, I'm not in the mood to come home bruised and exhausted (even though I love soccer/basketball/etc.). And... I think that whole aspect of enjoying the walking and being outside part of golf is more appealing, since you can talk with people while you play and enjoy the outside without running around all the time.

Anyway, we went for the first time to play the executive course with members of the class at The Reserve at East Bay. It's one of those courses where you play 9 holes and all of them are par 3 or 4. I got a 56 on 9 holes, haha, not exactly impressive. But, the girls I golfed with and I had fun! One of them was a girl who was actually an RA when I was a freshman in Taylor Hall, and we haven't run into each other in at least 3 or 4 years, but we both happen to still be at BYU and are in the same class. The other girl is from Mexico and she's on the tennis team at BYU. She definitely kicked our trash, since her tennis skills totally help her in golf. She also had the cutest ways of expressing her golf "anger"... instead of American sounding moans or "Shoot!" or whatever someone would say, she said "Aye!" and "No manches!" (which means "no way") and "A huevo!" (meaning literally, "To the egg!" but it translates to a cheer or expression like "yeah!"). We definitely enjoyed picking up on new ways to show our frustration or excitement with some new slang.

So, that's a little on my golf adventures. Next weekend, Dad and Mom are coming into town, and Dad and I will be going golfing, where I'll really get to test my new skills with a more experienced golfer. A huevo!

Spring Term = Great

2007-05-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

A quick facebook update... turns out the boy I thought was engaged ISN'T engaged. A novice facebook user, he accidently clicked "Engaged" and didn't realize it. Phew, I don't know why I'm relieved, but for some reason, I am. Another glory of facebook, misinformation. Some people put a false relationship status as a joke and others do that on accident. Once again, better to find out from the actual person! Haha.

Anyhow, it's SPRING term at BYU. I LOVE spring term. It lasts from the beginning of May to late June. Here are a few reasons why it's so great:

-the weather is perfect (not too hot as it gets in summer, but definitely be outside weather... which means studying outside instead of in the library!)
-the campus is less crowded (even though that means some of my friends aren't around... it also means that there are smaller lines, more parking spaces, which isn't too shabby!)
-you take fewer classes (although it's usually about the same amount of credits per time... since the term is half as long as a semester... it's nice to have only 2 or 3 classes to worry about instead of 4 or 5... and 7 weeks doesn't allow you to procrastinate or get behind... you just have to keep up!)
-there's a more social atmosphere (with a summer-y feel in the air, it's just more relaxing, and a lot of people are just working around here in the summer, which means more spontaneous and fun summer stuff going on... camping, swimming, bonfires, movies, etc.)

The fun goes on. Ahhh.... I love it.

Facebook as the Source of Knowledge

2007-05-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who aren't facebook users, I'll give a brief explanation. www.facebook.com is pretty much the most popular social networking website for college-age people. It's pretty awesome in many ways. You create a "profile" and then you add "friends" from finding other people you know on the site. Then, you can post information about your life, pictures, videos, write comments to each other... it's so convenient, cause it's like having all of your friends in one place. And, you can set up your profile so that no one but your own approved friends can see your profile, which takes away that whole creepy internet stalker thing.

So, anyway, most college students, who have facebook, check it pretty frequently to see if their friends have updated their profiles, if they've gotten any emails, etc. Why would we care to look at other peoples' profiles? Because when you don't have time to individually call all of your spread-out friends across the world, facebook becomes your fountain of information about your friends' lives.

Let me demonstrate: Today, I found out that a good friend (who I dated a little while I was in Spain) is ENGAGED! Whoa! Definitely a surprise. I've found out about many a friend's relationship through facebook. Steve and Tanya from high school are getting married. Awesome! Thanks facebook! Even my own friends found out I was dating someone out here through facebook, and when I posted it on my profile, I got a flurry of messages on my "wall" ("Congrats!" "In a relationship? Oooh!" etc.) Now, for those who don't like this sort of attention, they keep their facebook profiles sparse. You don't have to post anything you don't want other people to see, including your picture. But, it's pretty fun to read other people's profiles and to look at their pictures. It was especially fun when I was in Spain and could see photos from all of our trips. It was an easy way to stay connected with people that I met and don't see on a regular basis.

I still love facebook, and I wish all of my friends had it (hint hint). It's just so convenient and a nice way to let people know what you're up to in your life (your job, pictures of good times, etc.), especially those you don't see often (like high school friends who live across the country). And it's really not creepy, unlike some websites. But, after finding out from facebook that a boy I dated (not too long ago) is ENGAGED, and I have no idea with whom, it made me realize how crazy it is sometimes that our source of finding these things out is the internet! Wow. The modes of communication are changing, folks.

That is all. :-)

One day more...

2007-04-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

Another day, another destiny... as they say in Les Miserables, so it is in my life :-) One day left of finals week, and I am currently trying to defy the laws of time by accomplishing a pretty insane amount of work in that time. But it will all get in. Even if I don't go to bed tonight. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from finishing all that is required for a course or for several courses and handing it in and saying, "I'm done, now." I look forward to that feeling in roughly 24 hours. Till then, adieu my friends!

Thought Salad

2007-04-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

It's odd how my thoughts can be in such a whirl.

I turned on the TV today and was shocked and saddened by the Virginia Tech shootings. Once again, humanity has left me speechless. I am deeply sad for those killed. I also truly pity the person who felt so desperate that he felt he needed to kill as many people as possible to numb his own pain. It's hard to understand.

I am in the library writing a 12-15 page research paper on Henry Green's novel, Concluding. Finals are upon me, but it's the papers that are really stressful this semester. However, in a week and a half, life will once again calm down, and I will once again wonder how I managed to finish it all. And after a long weekend, a new round of classes will begin. I really do enjoy the life cycle of college (even with the not-so-fun finals week).

I have my graduation plan to figure out, and many large decisions ahead as I face the last 6 months of college. I'm trying to look ahead at jobs and figure out what classes will most help me before I graduate.

Also, there's the day to day fun of life that is always there, woven into the daily stresses and decisions. Watching the new Rocky movie, learning new songs on the guitar, planning a Wisconsin party for all the BYU-ers, meeting and getting to know new people...there's a lot of cool stuff going on.

So my head is a swirling of all of the above (and many others) as I head through my finals week. Hopefully, they will strike a good place in my mind and I'll be able to wade through it all to the end. So much going on, I'm just trying to keep swimming through it all :-)

Amazing Weekend

2007-04-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I should be asleep, but I had to share what a great weekend I had. Seriously, Easter weekend couldn't have been better.

Some of the highlights:

-going to the wedding reception of my friends TJ and Megan, who met last spring in... WI! (They introduced me to their parents as "the Wisconsinite," which I thought was pretty funny)
-attending the BYU Easter Conference, sponsored by the Religion Department... basically, it was like adult EFY (a church camp for teenagers) and all the classes were taught mainly by religion professors and all related to Easter... a unique and awesome way to set the mood for the holiday
-playing kickball with some kids from my ward (flashback to middle school!)... although for some reason I could never catch the ball, ha
-going to my best friend's little sister's bridal shower (we're growing up fast!)
-cooking hotdogs and smores over a fire in Emily's backyard and then watching a movie on a projector outside... basically, it was a drive-in theater in her backyard! Sadly... it started sprinkling on us at the end, so we had to cut it short... but lying outside in nice weather and watching a movie... so great.
-going to church today and listening to the incredible Easter musical numbers
-dying Easter eggs with some friends for the first time in at least 5 years
-making Easter dinner with Rissie, all homemade, all ourselves! (we were proud of our Martha Stewart skills)
-feeding the horses down the road our leftover carrots after dinner tonight (they loved 'em!)

Basically, it was awesome weather, good, relaxing fun, and a very nice Easter. More pictures to come, but here's one of Rissie feeding the horses :-)

Now... it's CRUNCH time! Back to reality, sigh. I'm going to bed so I can get up early to STUDY!!

"It's the most...stressful...time of the year"

2007-04-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is it... the time of the semester in which school becomes my constant companion. The papers, the projects, finals, etc. etc. become my life, and all else, including sleep, becomes a mere dream. There are three weeks left, and I guarantee, this semester is in the running for craziest yet. Although my classes are ones applicable to my major and minor, and therefore, I enjoy them all, they all still require a TON of work before it's all done. Hang on kids, it'll be a fun ride. Till then, if you don't hear from me much, don't worry. I'm alive, somewhere in the Harold B. Lee Library, piled under my books :-)

Enjoyable Lyrics

2007-03-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

So, great lyrics make great music, in many cases. Sometimes, I'm just blown away by how a songwriter can articulate a feeling that I didn't know how to express myself... whether or not I have necessarily gone through that particular experience. I see this in literature all the time... of course, there are also the lyrics that are just so cliche that you can't help but roll your eyes :-)

I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorites... some are sad, some are funny, some perhaps profound... but I enjoy them all:

"How come no one told me, all throughout history, the loneliest people, were the ones who always spoke the truth? The ones who made a difference, by withstanding the indifference... I guess it's up to me now... Should I take that risk or just smile?" -Misread, Kings of Convenience

"Hush now child, and don't you cry... Your folks might understand you, by and by" -Move on Up, Curtis Mayfield

"How dare they say, that a love like ours won't last? God made no mistakes, when He sheltered me with your heart... There's no safer place than to be in love, And here I will stand" -Can't Let Go, Anthony Hamilton

"I'd rather dance than talk with you... The music's too loud, and the noise from the crowd, increases the chance of misinterpretation" -I'd Rather Dance With You, Kings of Convenience

"High up above or down below... When you're too in love to let it go... But if you never try you'll never know... Just what you're worth. Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you" -Fix You, Coldplay

"Everybody's talking at me... I don't hear a word they're saying... Only the echoes of my mind... I'm going where the sun keeps shining, Thru' the pouring rain" - Everybody's Talkin', Harry Nilsson

"What's wrong with the world, mama? People livin' like they ain't got no mamas... I think the whole world addicted to the drama, Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma" -Where's the Love?, Black Eyed Peas

"But just in case, It's my place, To impart... One day some girl's gonna break your heart, And ooh ain't no pain like from the opposite sex, Gonna hurt bad, but don't take it out on the next, son. Throughout life people will make you mad, Disrespect you and treat you bad, Let God deal with the things they do, Cause hate in your heart will consume you too" -Just the Two of Us, Will Smith

"Ok, so your heart's broke. You sit around moping, crying, crying...you say you're even thinking about dying? Well, before you do anything rash, Dig this... Everybody plays the fool sometime; There's no exception to the rule. Listen, baby, it may be factual, may be cruel, I ain't lying, everybody plays the fool." -Everybody Plays the Fool, The Main Ingredient

"You've got to get yourself together, You've got stuck in a moment, And now you can't get out of it. Don't say that later will be better, Now you're stuck in a moment, And you can't get out of it" -Stuck in a Moment, U2

"It takes a thought to make a word, And it takes some words to make an action, And it takes some work to make it work, It takes some good to make it hurt, It takes some bad for satisfaction... It takes a night to make it dawn, And it takes a day to make you yawn brother, And it takes some old to make you young, It takes some cold to know the sun, It takes the one to have the other. And it takes no time to fall in love, But it takes you years to know what love is, And it takes some fears to make you trust, It takes those tears to make it rust, It takes the dust to have it polished" -Life is Wonderful, Jason Mraz

"I want more than just ok, more than just ok. When I’m up with the sunrise, I want more than just blue skies. I want more than just ok, more than just ok. I’m not giving up, giving up, not giving up now. I’m not giving up, giving up, not backing down. More than fine, more than bent on getting by" -More Than Fine, Switchfoot

"There ain't no rust on the happiness bus" -Keepin' It Real, Mason Jennings

Have a great week!

Cereal Dreams Come True

2007-03-20T00:15:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I love college... bargain shopping. The stores around here know how to lure in poor college students with deals. Smith's, my favorite grocery store, recently had an 8/$8 deal on General Mills cereal. So, I had to take advantage :-) Unfortunately, Cheerios was the only "healthy" cereal option. But... I do enjoy a bowl of sugar cereal now and then, so basically, I have enough cereal for a LONG time :-) You'd think I was shopping for a family of 10! :-) And yes, I put my cereal into a pyramid and took a picture... hey, you've got to remember these moments as they come.

We're growing up fast...

2007-03-09T00:47:00.000-08:00

So... I finally had a chance to see Abby and meet her adorable baby Ellee! Man, what a cutie. Hard to believe some of my best friends are moms now... sure enough, life comes quickly. So, here are some of the pictures:

Ellee loved eating my cardboard photo folder thing. Yum!

This girl smiles on command... Abby has trained her well :-)

What a cute pair!!

Aww... she looks like she's cheering!

The three of us. This is my favorite one! Although Ellee must have been tired of smiling by this time :-)

Well, I look forward to seeing this one grow up and it makes me excited to see where life takes all of my friends and their families. It's a pretty exciting time!

Fun Times

2007-03-06T01:17:00.000-08:00

Some recent pictures...
Mom came to Provo to visit me!

Andrea, Rissie, Kevin, and I eating at Smart Cookie... this place is new since the last time I lived in Provo, and it is GOOD.

Andrea and I on the lift at Alta... it was a GREAT day, and the first time I had gone skiing in a long time. Andrea has been staying with me while she does a clinical rotation for her PT grad program, and it's been a lot of fun hanging out and showing my hometown friend around UT.

The 80s are alive and well... some friends in our ward hosted an 80s prom party, and I was lucky enough to get ahold of this awesome dress... and I found a friend who almost matched me! I don't think this era would have been too flattering on me, hehe.

My friend McKenzie hosted a dinner party at her house... it's always fun to have an excuse to dress up and pretend to be sophisticated. I met her in Spain at Institute, and now, we are both in Provo, which is fun!

So, that's a little update... yeah, it's been a while since I've written anything - school and life have been quite busy, but I'm enjoying it and trying to keep all the juggling balls in the air. Spring is coming soon, which means nice weather and being outside, and I am excited!

Well, I guess that's all for today. :-)

No Man is An Island

2007-02-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

We need people. Basically, it comes down to that. I think I've been reminded of that lately... although we sometimes need to experience and learn things on our own, our lives are not meant to be lived in isolation. We naturally feel a need for affiliation, for friendship, companionship, love, etc. It's just a part of who we are. Some of us seem to need it to greater degrees than others. We may need this human interaction more at certain stages or times in our lives than in others. But we need it.

Think about the reasons why... We could not survive without each other, life would cease to exist (just think about all that parents do to raise a new generation). Often we receive answers to prayers through other people. We find true love in a relationship with another person. Even prayer is a communication between ourselves and God, another being, in whose image we are created.

Why do we love watching movies or reading books? Usually, it's because we feel some connection to the characters and their experiences. We flinch when someone is shot in a movie because it feels like it's almost real. We might go "Aww" during a romantic comedy because we see the truth in someone's love, even if the story is completely fake. Movies remind us of the importance of making real relationships with others.

When we're in need of help, emotional or physical, it is often through other people that we start to move forward again. Sometimes people can help us see things in ourselves that we may not see. If we all lived completely separated from anyone else, life would be pretty meaningless, and I guarantee our happiness would dwindle.

Remember those who are forgotten by most people, and let yourself do something good for them. And let people do something good for you.

Being open to people, I think, demonstrates an openness to life itself. Sure, we will all get hurt once in a while. Maybe even a lot. Use these experiences as a reminder of the extent of one's impact on others... but don't shut people out. No one is perfect, including any of us. Forgive people when they mess up. Trust me, if you don't, when you're older, you will probably not be glad that you kept out the world - you'll be lonely.

Let people in, and you'll let life in.

Thanks to the people who have reminded me of this.

Heart-Shaped Pizzas Make Valentine's Day Great

2007-02-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Dare I comment on Valentine's Day? Well, why not, it's already over anyhow :-) My advice for a Happy Valentine's Day is to just enjoy it. It doesn't need to be a big pressure holiday... just enjoy the loves in your life, in whatever form they come, and eat some yummy candy and write a few cards. Valentine's day was the best in my elementary school years, when every kid had a brown paper bag hanging up in the classroom, and everyone got a valentine. That's what it's all about! Anyhow, here's a picture of the heart-shaped pizza some friends and I ate. Yum!

Some things change for the better.

2007-02-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

So, the BYU library closes at midnight, and at 11:45 P.M., they begin to play "exit" music. For my first two years at BYU, it was always the same song: Oh When the Saints Go Marching In.... and then that song from the "Beef: It's What's For Dinner" commercials. I found the Oh When the Saints a bit obnoxious, probably because often I was dozing when it suddenly would come blasting over the loud speakers.

Upon coming back to BYU this semester, I guess I assumed the same music would be playing at 11:45. However, it's changed. And... both times I was in the library at 11:45, there were DIFFERENT songs playing! Oh boy! They're mixing it up in the library! I'm wondering if perhaps the workers were starting to have nervous breakdowns due to the monotony of it all.

Anyhow, I'm enjoying the new variety of library exit music... it's always instrumental, but I'm pretty sure they played the "Star Wars" theme one of the recent times I was there. I'd much rather be woken up to that. Or better yet, I might try not having to stay in the library till midnight at all!

Anyhow, it's nice to know that there is some stability in my BYU experience... library music, lovey-dovey couples walking around (I didn't necessarily miss that though), those really good wraps in the Cougareat, ward prayer on Sunday nights...

Oh, and one other improvement! The Varsity Theater has begun to show regular movies again. Basically, they show stuff that is in the dollar theaters... The Prestige, Happy Feet, etc. But, before they only showed international films, so I'm glad that I can enjoy a nice movie now and then at my leisure.

Well, I'm off to class. School is CRAZY busy right now!

I can't open my locker...

2007-01-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

Some random post-Christmas pictures:

Hanging out the night before I left for Utah with my St. Francis Bank buddy Vickie! Notice that awesome retro chair... seriously, can I inherit that in your will Vickie? j/k

Eating a "Runza." Runzas are a Nebraska favorite... basically it's like a yummy roll filled with this hamburger/onion mixture. YUM. This was on the road trip out to BYU.

Hanging with the cousins in SLC... I love these girls!

Snowshoeing up at Sundance with Rissie (fellow Wisconsinite) and her friend Matt. It was a perfect day. And the lady who rented our snowshoes was named "Spike," well that' s what her nametag said. Hmm...

On the trail.

Well, life is just rolling along speedily... school is in full swing and it's INTENSE! My psychology research methods class is becoming my new best friend, or it should be, seeing as we'll be spending A LOT of time together :-) We have to design a research study with our assigned group, carry it out, and analyze the results. Basically, that's the class. However, there are a million things to learn before you can jump out there and start doing experiments, so sometimes I'm a little overwhelmed, but our prof. tells us that we'll be glad we took it if we're at all serious about graduate school.

Also, I'm officially regressing back to high school. Today I got a school locker. All the lockers in the union building and the library were sold out, so I got one in the engineering building. Um, yeah, I feel a bit out of place just being in there, with all that over-my-head math and science knowledge wafting through the air. Anyhow, I found my locker and like a 6th grader on the first day of school, I couldn't figure out the lock. It's ok, you can chuckle. I tried it about 7 times before some random guy called from down the hall, "Lock trouble?" He came over and got it on the first try.... hehe. Anyhow, I was't turning it completely the right way. Thanks random stranger guy!

Well, time to get back to studying, which is what I should be doing. Have a good weekend!

2007-01-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a little sad to notice that perhaps my blogs are not quite as exciting as when I was in Spain... but I've decided that the trick to having a blog is being able to make anything interesting, and life itself is blog-worthy. Plus, since this is one of many ways I keep in touch with my widespread circle of friends, I must press on.... not to forget, it's fun to write random stuff on here.

Actually, what am I talking about? Being back at BYU is plenty interesting ... I'll try to think of some good stuff to share with ya'll. Stay tuned.

Flashback to Freshman Year

2007-01-18T13:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I had to add this, given that I was just writing about how I keep running into people I still know at BYU. Today, I had another chance meeting. I was sitting in the Grant Building (the beloved "Testing Center"), and my freshman writing professor passed me in the hall. He stopped, looked for a second, and said, "Hi Lauren. How are you doing?" I couldn't believe that he remembered my name! Seriously, it's been going on 5.5 years since I took that class, during my first semester at BYU. I have probably run into him once since I took the class, and even though, yes, it was a small class, I am so impressed that he still knew my name on the drop of a hat. Wow! I guess I underestimate professors' abilities to remember students or something... I mean, they have so many students, I guess I'm just impressed that he would remember after that long. Anyhow, that made my day. Back when I had him as a professor, I told a couple of the students in our class that Brother Taggart looked like my Uncle Bob. I even took a picture with him on the last day of class so that I could show my family my "uncle-look-a-like" professor. He still looks like him. All I have to say is ... I love this school.

2007-01-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

So, it's pretty incredible how many people I still know at this school, considering I've been away for 3.5 years. I've run into Milwaukee people, friends from when I went here before... I think my favorite has been running into "Mo," my great friend (Maria is her real name) from the dorms who I lost touch with after freshman year. I heard she went on a mission to the Philippines and that was the last thing I knew. Then, last week, as I was walking into the Grant building, there she was! I saw her from the side but immediately recognized my long lost friend (I think I last saw her at least 4 years ago). We had a nice little reunion before we both ran off to class again.

I guess between missions, graduate school, getting married, changing majors, and all the other things that might delay, interrupt, or prolong college, there are still quite a few friends around!

Already, too, I've met some great people, who will be fun people to get to know and hang out with. It's nice to be reminded that there are good people everywhere, and there are always opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It's a bit cliche, but it's true.

"Wax on... Wax off"

2007-01-13T13:58:00.001-08:00

So, last night a bunch of us watched the Karate Kid Part I at my apartment. I bought the DVD in a truck stop in Iowa on the drive out to BYU. Already, it has proven much worth the $10 I paid for the "Special Edition" DVD. I watched it on my laptop in the car-ride and narrated to my parents in the front as we drove through Wyoming. Then, last night, after watching BYU Men's volleyball crush UCLA (ranked #3), we were talking at Denny's about our favorite movies. Naturally, this led to our watching of the 80's classic at my house.

It was pretty funny... a random group of BYUer's, who didn't all know each other, all brought together by Mr. Miyagi. We watched and cheered, even though we all knew exactly what would happen. Seriously, how can you not love a movie about a scrawny underdog with limited karate skills kicking the trash out of a jerky apprentice of a scary Sensei?

A few of our favorite moments:

"Hey, it's the 80's!" This is when Daniel lets Alli drive his new car that Mr. Miyagi gave him on his 16th birthday. When Alli is surprised that Daniel wants her to drive, he offers this classic line.

"Get him a body bag!" This line is shouted out by one of the Cobras when Jonny strikes Daniel in the leg, an illegal move that practically takes him out. The look on the Cobra kid's face is pretty awful acting, but it is a hilarious line.

"This is karate, not a knitting class. You don't come in to my dojo and drop a challenge and leave, Old Man." This is the mean sensei talking to Mr. Miyagi when Miyagi tries to get the Cobras to leave Daniel alone and not resort to fighting. Mean Sensei is just plain scary.

"Wax on...wax off." Only Mr. Miyagi is able to combine chores with karate lessons. He is a multi-tasker.

Well, watching old classics is never dull, and if you ever have a bad day, just bust out the Karate Kid, and you'll finish with "You're the best around" inspiring you to face the Jonnys of the world.

Back at BYU

2007-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am! I'm back in Provo to finish college at BYU. My parents and I drove out last week, stopping half-way in Grand Island, Nebraska, and after some slight delays from snow and ice in Wyoming, we rolled into Provo on Thursday evening.

I moved in to my new apartment Friday, and I was excited to see that this was easily going to be the best apartment I've ever lived in (in terms of quality). My roommate hasn't come back from winter break yet, but she left me a note and some candy, so that's a good sign! My friend Chelsa said my roommate Amanda is really excited to have a roommate, since her old roommate moved out. Hopefully we'll have fun together... I noticed she had snowboarding and rock-climbing gear, so that made me excited too... perhaps I've found a snowboarding buddy!

My parents and I had fun just chilling in Utah a little and we got to have dinner with some relatives up in SLC. I dropped my parents off at the airport today, and I must admit, when they left, I was feeling some tinges of nervousness to be back out here, since my parents were now gone and I realized "I'm really here!" I guess I've gotten use to having my parents around going to school in Milwaukee for a year! But, at least we can talk more on the phone than we could in Spain... so that's cool :-)

My ward at church seems great... my bishop said that it's a slightly older singles' ward, which is fine with me since I'm 24 and so I'm not sure but I'm guessing I'm in the average age of the ward. Funny enough, I came late to church today and slipped into sacrament meeting. Since it was fast and testimony Sunday, I thought, why not get up? After bearing my testimony to a bunch of strangers and introducing myself as a new member of the ward from Wisconsin, I found out after the meeting end that it wasn't my ward! Haha... my ward met UPSTAIRS. Anyhow, another girl had done the same thing, so we laughed about it later.

Well, I start school tomorrow, crazy! It still hasn't totally set in that I go to BYU again. I haven't had too much of a hard time adjusting so far... overall I'm just really excited to get to finish college at the school where I started and spend some time here in Provo! There is snow up on the mountains, so I will have to make some time to do a little snowboarding too :-)

Well, a 2 day car trip in a Pontiac vibe, packed to the gills with my stuff, an Agatha Christie book-on-tape, some good convos with my parents, and crossing 5 states, and I'm here! I'll let you know how school goes! And Happy 2007 to everyone! I still have yet to do resolutions... this week, this week.

Back in Wisco

2007-01-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

Rochelle at her bridal shower... with her two matching teapots! Oops, I guess bridal registries can't always prevent duplicates. Hehe. The family on Christmas! Awww... I love Christmas at home.
3 generations... all enjoying Christmas together after opening a few presents. Aunt Ruth (96) is cheering for the gifts she got :-)
Today, Jared and Rissie, two friends from church, and I went to the kite festival on the Lake Michigan lakefront. A little chilly, but definitely fun! My kite was rebellious, it kept diving and it seriously almost took Rissie's head off like 3 times. Yikes!

Polar Bear on Milwaukee lakefront! Every year on January 1st, at noon, Milwaukeeans jump into Lake Michigan... yes, it is freezing! I didn't do it this time, but I'm planning on doing it at least one time in my life - it was definitely fun to watch though. This group is from church...
The crazy Polar Bears!
We had to put our dog Mocha to sleep. Here's a picture of the little gal on her last day... it was SAD! I had a teary moment right after she left for the vet. She has been really sick this year and wasn't getting better, and so we had to put her down a few days after Christmas. I miss having a dog! Don't think the family will get another one, at least not right now, but I guess I'll just have to get a dog someday! I will miss this one!
Here are Rochelle, Ami and I at Rochelle's wedding reception a few days after Christmas. My former roommate is all grown-up! And isn't her dress pretty??

Well, I made it home and it's been a great Christmas break! After a 8.5 hour flight from Madrid to Chicago, with a tall basketball player behind me (who wouldn't really let me lean my chair back since his legs were so long.... that got a little uncomfortable trying to sleep straight up, I'm not gonna lie) and a long line in customs, I came out of O'hare to see my parents waiting for me with flowers! What a great welcome! Since then, it's been crazy and fun as I've enjoyed Christmas and New Years at home in Milwaukee. I gave a bridal shower and went to a wedding reception for my former roommate Rochelle, saw a few of the high school and church friends, and had lots of good family time with my brother home. Sam had to head back to NY today, and now I'm getting ready to go to Provo on Wednesday... school starts up again next week already! I'm a little nervous and a little sad to be leaving Milwaukee, but I'm also really excited to head back to finish up at BYU, where I started college. It'll be interesting to see how things have changed since I've been there, and also to see who is still actually there that I know! So far, it seems that there are a good number of people there that I know... some from when I was at BYU, others from church in WI... so I'll have a good base of people to come back to. I will graduate in a year from now at the most, so it's the last stretch of college for me! Hard to believe... I gotta start that whole "What do I do now?" planning soon... I'll keep you posted!

Hasta luego, Spain!

2006-12-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Here's Claudine, the French lady who I visited all semester. She's great! She's lived in France, Spain, Germany, the U.S... and she can go back and forth between languages so quickly! I had to say goodbye the other day, which was sad, but I'm glad I got a picture to remember her by! Plus, with Skype, I'm hoping to call her to see how she's doing!

Here I am, with my luggage, about to leave Spain! Actually, I didn't leave. Intense fog in London caused me to be rerouted to a direct flight to Chicago through Iberia (even better... a direct flight!). However, that flight got overbooked, so Iberia offered me 600 Euros in cash, a 4 star hotel for the night, another direct flight to Chicago, and food... wow! I decided to take them up on it, and I must say, it was pretty cool to see the customer service lady bust out the 200 Euro bill. I didn't know those existed! A nice way to get a little money back after all the spending that comes with a semester abroad! I'm writing this blog from my hotel...luckily I had my laptop bag (my luggage stayed at the airport) so I could take advantage of the free wireless internet.

I stayed with Heidi, a fellow American study-abroader, for my last few days. My last night (well, my original last night), we walked around and did one last walking tour of Madrid! It was QUITE chilly, but the Christmas lights were beautiful and it was a great way to end the day. We stopped at Starbuck's for some hot chocolate (ok, not very Spanish-like, but it was SO cold...we needed something to warm up with!).

Here is the Puerta del Toledo, which looked especially cool with the lights they put on it! I will miss the monuments in the city... this was built I think as an "entrance" into Madrid by one of the kings.

Madrid, I'll miss you! Hopefully, I'll make it back before I'm 80, but until I can make it back, I'm glad I took lots of pictures my last few days! :-) See you soon!

Sometimes, Viajar-ing is Intense

2006-12-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

Wow. Today was INTENSE. It was one of those days when you realize that traveling is not always a piece of cake. I started the day by going to Immanuel Baptist Church to see my SLU friend Amanda sing in the choir. Then, I had to duck out early to meet Chey, another SLU friend. Chey and I decided to grab one last churro and then I went to help see her off at the airport!

Let's just say we got a workout. Chey lived in a building where Cervantes lived! Yes, this was where he wrote Don Quixote, and Chey was lucky enough to be placed with a lady who lives here! After she bid goodbye to her family, we lugged her HEAVY suitcase down the ancient wooden stairs. Then, we walked to a metro, went up and down stairs with the luggage, switched at two stations... then, when we finally got to Barajas Airport, we had to catch a bus to the other terminal! The handle broke on the suitcase... it was that heavy! Then, when Chey checked in, they said her luggage was too heavy. I must say, I don't understand why the weight limits are so incredibly strict. They told us you can have two checked bags with up to 32 kilos each. Chey had one bag that was 44 kilos, and one that was 12. But, no, you have to have each one under 32... arg. We spent about 45 minutes re-arranging her luggage and she ended up having to check a third bag, which costs extra of course :-( Sheesh, we were so exhausted and sweaty by the end of it! Later today, I packed my suitcases too, and they are HEAVY! I will probably need to throw more out, or I'll have to deal with the same situation as Chey did...

Chey saying goodbye to her house! That's a plaque above the door signifying that Cervantes lived here.

Here I am with the broken handle from the suitcase. I decided we could use it for an antennae. The British Airways guy was a little confused as to what it was I was holding...

Here are Chey and I, completely exhausted after all of it! I'm just glad she didn't have to go through that all by herself, that would have been a nightmare. So, I sent her off and came home and took a nap!!

So, today, I have taken 4 Metro rides, 2 bus rides, and 1 taxi, and I'm taking a taxi in about 15 minutes to go to my friend Heidi's house with all my stuff! This is it, I'm leaving Alicia's house today and spending the last couple days with Heidi in her piso in Madrid.

Anyhow, just had to share my crazy day with you all! Hopefully, mine will go smoothly on Wednesday when I fly home. Don't know if I'll get on here before then, so next time I write, it'll probably be from home!!

A Night in Saudi Arabia

2006-12-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

So, Doa and Fawwaz, two SLU-Madrid permanent students from Saudi Arabia, invited all of us from the Interfaith Retreat to come over to their house for dinner! They live about 45 minutes from Madrid. It was AWESOME. They were incredibly hospitable, constantly bringing us drinks, appetizers, tea, food, dessert, etc.!

Here are some pictures:

Jen and I toasting to the last night in Madrid! (Jen left today... I'm still here for a few days, but most of my friends went home on the group flight) This is some kind of cherry juice...

Doa and I! I am going to miss this girl! She is the nicest girl EVER.

Anna and I, the two tall, white, Midwesterners. Ok, we could never pass for Saudi Arabians, but we had fun dressing like them!! Anna didn't want to take off the outfit, it was so comfortable!

Doa and Fawwaz helping one of the guys put on the traditional male outfit.

Dancing with Alex... Alex is an amazing dancer! Here I am wearing the traditional Saudi Arabian dress. I love the colors...

Doa with the feast they prepared for us!! It was definitely one of the best meals I've ever had...

It was really fun to get all the Interfaith Retreat people together again one more time. It was pretty incredible to spend a night enjoying all of the food, music, dancing, and clothing and hanging out with Doa and Fawwaz's family. We had people from the U.S., Germany, the Phillipines, and Zimbabwe there... imagine this group all eating, dancing (in several different styles), teaching each other phrases from our languages, and just enjoying a great time. None of us wanted to leave, but by 1 a.m. or so, we finally piled back into the van to head back to Madrid. On the way back, Fawwaz translated a bunch of the Arabian songs we were listening to for me... which was cool... and it was funny, because every time I asked, "What is this one about?"... it was always about love! Seems to be what 90% of all songs are about anywhere, right?

Well, I have 4 more days in Madrid. Finals are done, and my roommates left early this morning! Sad... I am enjoying a few more days just seeing some of the things I haven't seen yet and not wanting to leave...

Time is running out...

2006-12-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from the last week or so... time is running out, but I'm trying to make the most of it!

Here's Sara packing... it was weird to take the suitcases that had been sitting on top of our closet all semester and begin packing! We had fun trying to take them off down... it got a little wobbly for a moment and both I and the ceiling lamp almost got into trouble!

This is a house nearby the school... the leaves are pretty and are falling now, which seems a little late to me, but that's ok, I don't mind that winter isn't quite as intense here! :-)

The Christmas lights in Madrid are AWESOME! They really know how to decorate. This is from El Corte Ingles, the big department store chain in Madrid.

We went one last time to watch my host-lady sing at Luchana! We also got Amanda to sing "Close Your Eyes," and she was awesome! From right to left: Amanda, Fabian, me, and Jen.

So, for a belated Sara's-birthday-present, I got her the chocolate version of Scrabble (yes, the pieces are made of chocolate! yum)... haha, it was in Spanish, so we made it into Spanglish Scrabble. We busted it out today in the snack bar with some people to take a break from finals. And interestingly enough, we found out that Christine's parents (Christine is the one on the right) met at a Scrabble tournament!

As you can see, it's been an ecclectic last while here... we're all taking finals, trying to enjoy Madrid for a few more days with everyone, and getting ready to go home! It's crazy... I think we're all feeling the mix of emotions that come with finishing up the study abroad experience... I think everyone, of course, will be glad to have finals over with, though. I've taken 3, and I have 2 left on Friday. Then... it's one last night hanging out before the majority of people fly home. We have to move out of our housing by Saturday, so most people left by then. I'll be staying for the last few days with a friend from church, Heidi. Then, it's back home by December 20th! Wow. Ok, time to get back to studying and sleep. Hasta luego!

It's finals week!

2006-12-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well, they've finally arrived... final exams. Hard to believe the end of the semester is really here! We're all in a hurry to study and still take advantage of our last few days here in Spain! I'll be back in WI on December 20th... so luckily, I'll have a bit of time to enjoy Spain after finals end. This week should be pretty intense - I'll let you know how it goes! I'm off to sleep so I can wake up early tomorrow and do school work. The joys of college life! :-) (There is something semi-thrilling about finals though... it's like a race against time to get the best score possible.)

My Beef with Post-Modernism...

2006-12-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

So... since we're just about done with the semester, in lots of my classes we're reading/discussing more recent literature/cultural stuff. You know how in American History class in high school, you start with Plymouth Rock and then end with a quick overview of the 90s? Well, that's where I'm at in my British Drama, Spanish Literature, and Spanish Culture and Civilization Classes. All of them are survey classes, so they cover a wide range of time, and now, of course, we are at the most contemporary stuff. Therefore, we're talking a lot about "post-modern" ideas.

I've learned a lot about the whole post-modern era. First of all, I think the name "post-modern" is an intellectually pretentious term. Haha, but that's besides the point. Basically, in a nutshell, post-modernism refers to an era in art, literature, philosophy, etc. (beginning in the late 1950s, maybe?) in which things are broken apart... things aren't looked at in traditional ways. A black spot on a canvas is no longer a black spot on a canvas... the order of things is turned around... traditional form/order/thought no longer applies, or is highly questioned. Ok, that's a somewhat vague description, but maybe that's why you can understand why I get a little tired of trying to study it.

Basically, I just don't get it. Ok, yeah, I understand the concept of analyzing things and seeing them in a new light. But as we talked about in my Spanish Culture and Civ. class... breaking things apart and criticizing gets old. I guess I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the ideas of "post-modernism" and appreciating them the way I appreciate earlier periods in literature/art... overall, I just don't like it.

I'm glad people are trying to be innovative, but art now seems to be so much more than just artistic ability. That has both positive and negative consequences... cause a guy who can paint amazing landscapes, but who doesn't expell some incredible meaning behind each color and line, has less of a chance of making it as an artist nowadays. Something just seems a little odd about that to me. At the same time, I think it's interesting that art is now more than just a painting, it has a more complex meaning. That is kind of interesting in its own rite, I guess.

Some of the stuff I've read/watched for my classes from this era has been WEIRD... I guess that's what's kept me thinking about it.

Any thoughts?

Salamanca y Otras Cosas

2006-12-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Plaza Mayor in Salamanca - the view from our hostal!

A picture of one of the buildings from the University of Salamanca.

Amanda took a picture from the Plaza Mayor of Jen and I on our balcony at the hostal. It was an amazing view!

So, I tried to go to bed at 9 tonight, since I have to get up EARLY to write a paper and prepare for a presentation. I woke up about 10:30 and realized, my body is confused by my attempts to mess up the sleep schedule... so, I thought I'd say hello. Tomorrow is the last day of 3 of my classes, and Thursday is the last day of class for my other two classes. WOW! I can't believe how fast this semester has gone... there is so much I need to do before I leave in 2.5 weeks!

School has been very busy lately... ever since the beginning of November, school has been just going non-stop. I am a little nervous for finals... it will be a challenge to balance studying for them and wrapping up everything else here. Luckily, I have about 5 days after finals before I fly home, so I'll have a chance to enjoy Spain stress-free after I finish all my tests!

My paper that I'm writing is on the play Man and Superman, by Bernard Shaw. Very interesting... I love/hate it at the same time. It's very witty and makes a lot of interesting commentary on society, and at the same time, it's really wordy and I don't agree with all of Shaw's philosophical views... sometimes I've been thinking as I read it, "Shaw, stop thinking so hard." Anyone read it?

I'm giving a talk next Sunday in my ward at church, in Spanish! I'm a bit nervous, since it'll take definite preparation to speak in Spanish, but I'm also kind of excited to have the chance to do it. Learning "church" vocabulary in Spanish is sometimes a new branch of Spanish for me, since the words aren't ones I learn in classes. However, it's been cool to learn how to understand the scriptures and talk about the gospel in another language.

It's been rainy here the past few days... and it's finally getting chilly and winter-like! (The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, and in Madrid apparently!) :-) Actually though, it's pretty dry here... they're talking a lot about how they need to save water...

I went to Salamanca on Friday night. The Plaza Mayor all lit up at night was gorgeous!! I wish I could have spent more time there... unfortunately, the university was closed, since we were trying to tour it on Saturday, and it's closed on weekends. The University of Salamanca is like the "Harvard" of Spain, it's OLD and beautiful. It made me think of Harry Potter... cause it seemed like the kind of place where students would wear robes and carry candles in the dark hallways...

Our hostal was awesome - only 15 Euro a night per person, with a balcony onto the Plaza Mayor! We lucked out for sure... we had a great time just walking around the city and looking at everything all lit up at night. Since it is a university town, we tried to see what students were up to on a Friday night, which we finally figured out after wandering the streets alone for a long time, haha. Amanda, because of her blonde hair we think, was attracting all types of cat calls from men... sort of funny!

Ok, well, I think I'm going to try to sleep again soon. P.S. I finally figured out that I had to "moderate" my blog comments... so if you've tried to comment and it never showed up, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I had to "approve" them... I changed that now so you should be able to comment freely. I was beginning to wonder if anyone ever read this! Hehe, so anyhow, sorry about that. Have a great week everyone! I'll write again soon :-)

If I could create classes at SLU-Madrid...

2006-11-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

Classes I would like to see SLU-Madrid offer next semester:

El Corte Ingles 201: Course Description - A class covering the history and set-up of the famous Spanish department store. Material includes learning the 7 floors and their departments, memorizing the store locations within Madrid and Spain, and learning how to best navigate within the store.

The Mysteries of the Tobacco Stand 101: Course Description - A class offering the student information on the many offerings of the tobacco store (other than tobacco), the cultural evolution behind buying metro passes at a tobacco store, and how to ask for international stamps.

Churros Con Chocolate 389: Course Description - A course for the advanced churros con chocolate eater, including the history of the dessert, where and when to buy it in Madrid, with a final project culminating in a student collage of pictures of the student eating churros on several different occasions. Class also includes a creative writing contest with pieces inspired by the dessert.

McDonald's in Spain 220: Course Description - A class that answers the following questions: Where did McCafe come from? How do McDonald's Playlands differ between the U.S. and Spain? Why is McDonald's helado en cono (ice cream cone) so good?

Student Trip Planning 399: Course Description - A class offering students information on how to fit in everything they want to see in one semester... the class includes several class field trips in various parts of Spain and Europe, a power-point presentation comparing the wide range of student hostels, and a research paper on unforgettable/interesting/weird/amazing travel experiences.

Hmm... maybe I should pitch my curriculum ideas to the dean? What do you think? :-)

Strasbourg!

2006-11-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

I went to Strasbourg, France this weekend to visit my cousin, Andrew. We had great weather and I got to see a LOT in 2.5 days! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Here are Andrew and I at the top of this observation tower in Kehl, Germany. Kehl and Strasbourg are neighbor cities on the Reine River... which is the border between France and Germany. The view was amazing...

Of course, being from Milwaukee, we had to eat bratwurst in Kehl! It was GOOD... and I'm not always a huge bratwurst fan.

Here is a view of the Reine from the observation tower. To the left is Strasbourg (France), and to the right is Kehl (Germany). To the far right (farther than the picture shows) is the Black Forrest.

Strasbourg is known for their Christmas markets... they are in the town squares, and they consist of lots of booths and tents like this filled with vendors of candles, Christmas ornaments, chocolate, jewelry, etc.! It was so fun to walk around there, especially at night... there were LOTS of people.

I thought this was funny... in the Euroairport in Basel, Switzerland... you can enter either France, Germany, or Switzerland... from the airport! Crazy, huh? Here's the France/Germany exit.

The Christmas lights were everywhere... and it really made the city look like a Christmas fairy-tale. In the backround is the Strasbourg Cathedral.

Here's the Switzerland exit!!

It was a fast, but great weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to Strasbourg earlier in the semester when I could have stayed longer due to high flight prices... but it turned out well to come this weekend, and it was especially fun to see all the Christmas stuff!

Basically, I spent the weekend hanging out and catching up with Andrew, one of my Milwaukee cousins who is studying at the University in Strasbourg. I got to see the campus, meet some of his school friends, bike over to Germany (it's only about a 20 minute bike ride, hehe), check out the city, and relax. It was fun to stay with Andrew and see his apartment there... and I got to watch movies for the first time this semester on his computer! I finally can say I've seen "What About Bob?" and it was hilarious. It was probably the most laid-back of my trips this semester, and that was great...

A few things I will remember about Strasbourg: eating amazing pastries and food in general(baguette flambee, apple streusel tart, banana/nutella crepe...), walking around at sunset with the Christmas lights and the roasted chestnut vendors, biking to Germany, and just spending hours talking about anything and everything with my cousin!

Only about 3 weeks left in Europe! I can't believe it. I am already sad to think of leaving...