You're talking like a girl again

It was a big news day today, my word. My CNN news ticker was changing all day today. Insane. India and the middle east are without internet for a while. I'm not sure how their banks or stock exchanges are coping. The UNHCR have had to pull out of some of the Darfur refugee camps because of carjackings and other attacks. The U.S. senate passed their version of the stimulus plan. I'm kind of more partial to the house version, but either way, I hope one of them gets passed soon. Britney's back in the hospital (these stories as top headlines actually really annoy me, but whatever). And the governator has officially decided to back McCain.

Craziness.

I must say though, it kept me from being completely bored at work. Well that and my crocheting. I finished another square and have started on another. It's going pretty well. I feel like I'm getting better at it.

So, Godiva has put together a room made almost completely out of chocolate. Apparently anyone who buys a box of Godiva chocolate could possibly win a weekend get away to a replica of this room to be reconstructed in Manhattan in May. It's too bad I'm not much of a Godiva person, because that would be almost as good as staying in an ice castle.

I'm still on a bit of a Sarah Blasko kick, but tonight I've changed it up and have been listening to A Weather. It's nice and mellow and lovely. It makes me feel all twinkly and sleepy and happy. I can't wait for their full length to come out next week. (p.s. if you watch the video on their page, I was at that show hehe. They opened for Bright Eyes at the Showbox last... oh my word... February? March? It was almost a year ago now. Weird. Also, Aaron is really nice. I slept at his house in Portland last May.)

I have been told I should try to find my gateway cheese. i.e. the cheese that will really get me interested in the cheese world so that my eyes won't glaze over when people start naming off cheeses they love. So that I will be genuinely interested in the cheeses they care so much about because not only will I love cheese, but I will constantly be on the search for the best cheese known to man. I need to begin somewhere and let my cheese passion grow to match those of the cheese lovers I know and find so dear. So, my gateway. I need one. Any suggestions?

Well I think I'll go crochet some more. Go Warm Up America!

Central Coast Cali, here I come! (Please don't rain on me) countdown: 16 days. It's so soooon! Yaaay!

One red paper clip

I would like to trade one red paper clip for a house. Hah.

Hey, if Kyle MacDonald can do it, so can I!

I think it's completely nuts but also really cool. We should all trade paper clips for houses. Maybe it would save our economy? (kidding)

Crocheted squares completed for Warm Up America: 2.5

Central Coast Cali, here I come! (Please don't rain on me) countdown: 17 days

Things are good.

I think the weirdness is back...

Watch this show. (You can stream each episode from both seasons). I promise, you won't be disappointed. Especially if you've ever been to a high school. Not even necessarily your own high school. Just any high school. The characters are hilarious. In each episode a new "weird" factor hits the town. Such as all the people on public service signs coming to life, or anyone who has a cold aging between 15-50 years every time they cough or sneeze. My favorite episodes are probably Clones, Bubbleheads and Remotes. I have been laughing for hours.

I bought Brandon's birthday present today. I'm mildly obsessed with this website called Threadless. People submit their graphic art to be made into tshirts and members of the website vote on the new designs. If enough people like it, it gets made into a tshirt and sold on Threadless.com. This is the one I bought Brandon. It's called "I'm Sure I Used To fit." I love that they've got the jaws of life out haha

The past few nights Brandon and I have been discussing lucid dreaming. I'm going to try for the next few nights to make myself lucid dream. I'm really hoping to revisit England or Australia. We watched this movie not too long ago called Waking Life. It's all in rotoscope, which is really cool if you've ever seen good rotoscope animation. I learned a lot about lucid dreaming from that movie. It was really interesting. I definitely recommend it.

So to track my crocheting progress, I am happy to note that I figured out what I was doing wrong on my square, which was shrinking in width as it got longer. My mom couldn't remember how to do the ends of each row (such as how many chains each type of stitch needs at the beginning of the next row). But I have got it all down now thanks to a helpful book, and I will be knocking out scads of crocheted squares for Warm Up America in no time at all!

Lastly, my Central Coast Cali, here I come! (Please don't rain on me) countdown is officially at 18 days. Yay! One less than yesterday!

Blacking out the friction

What is going on?? Southern California has been flooding and much of it is without power. This is just months after their huge wild fires. China has evacuated 850,000 people from blizzards. Pouring rain caused a bunch of car accidents in Argentina. A volcano erupted in Colombia last Thursday. A few weeks ago a volcano erupted in Chile. There have been tornadoes in Arkansas. Unexpected snow in the southeast.

When I start reading about the death tolls and the amount of damage done by these natural disasters, my heart just breaks for the families stuck in the middle of all this. And it just seems like lately there have been a lot of freak weather changes. So weird.

I woke up to a couple of inches of snow today. Nothing disastrous. Yet. It's supposed to get worse tonight. Particularly because it's a bit warmer with the cloud coverage, which means some of the snow melts, then when the sun goes down it all freezes over and is impossible to drive on. Fun times. Sigh.

So I'm reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's an easy read. I can't decide yet if the instability in voice is intentional or not. I find that when the narrator is recalling childhood memories, the story has a soft fluidity about it, but as soon as the narrator brings it back to her present or recent past, the voice is clunky and I come out of my reading reverie. I guess I'll have to finish it to decide.

Oh! My coat came this weekend! I love it! I'll have to put some pictures up later, but it's better than I'd hoped for! Yay!

I felt like I was back in high school the other day when I found out Death Cab for Cutie are releasing a new album this May. Hah. I remember just being so excited I could barely breathe when I found out Plans was coming out. It didn't quite hit that peak this time, but I am still really excited. I don't listen to them that often anymore (Plans honestly wasn't that great), but I obsessed over them for so long in high school and early college that I just can't help myself. It's that same giddy feeling I got when Ben Gibbard came on the stage last spring. I couldn't keep from grinning and just loving the music.

And also on the topic of things I'm excited about, I cannot wait for 19 days from now. Central Coast Cali, here I come! (Please don't rain on me).

President Hinckley

Oh my. I just got word President Hinckley has passed away. It was about an hour ago. He was an amazing man and he's finally back with his wonderful wife. He'll be greatly missed.

Fo-tah-graf-ee

Well, the crocheting has begun! My Relief Society is doing a service project where we knit or crochet 9"x 7" squares that will be sewn into blankets for "Warming up America" or something like that. So my mom taught me tonight how to crochet. I'm pretty excited. I think I'll do an afghan after we've got enough squares done. I'm surprised at how easy it is! I got this swatch done in about two hours (I started off very slow). I'm quite enjoying myself!

It has thankfully warmed up a bit here. But sadly that is at the expense of the sun. It was very rainy today. I could barely see to the other side of the lake. I kind of loved it though hah.

Someone recently told a story about giving their young child (or maybe their parents had given them as a young child) a camera. Mentioning how neat it is to see what children take pictures of and what things look like from their perspective.

So when Brock wanted to play with my camera the other night, I decided to just let him do it. At first he just liked that pushing the button made the flash go, but he soon figured out that if he pointed it at something, a picture of that thing would show up on the screen in the back. Then he figured out that if he went up to something and pointed the camera at that thing, then pressed the button, the thing he wanted to take the picture of would show up on the back of the camera. Hah!

I left the room for a few minutes and came back in and he was walking up to the curtains and taking pics, to the tv, to the lamps.

Kids are just so smart. I mean he's not even 2 and he's figured out how to take pictures. He even tried to take pictures of my mom, of Tod, he got a couple of me. I love watching children learn and grow, it's just an amazing thing! Being an older sister is really fun sometimes!

Frozen things

Poor Brocky is not happy. I'm babysitting tonight. We brushed his teeth, said prayers and when I put him to bed, he went right down. Then as I closed the door I realized I'd forgotten to turn his fan on, so I ran back in to turn it on and of course that upset him. After about ten minutes of crying I realized I'd also forgotten to put his footy pajamas on over his regular ones. Sigh. So I went back in just as he was settling down finally and put those on so he wouldn't freeze to death all night. He cried a bit more but thankfully he's settled down now. It makes me so sad when they cry like that.

Today was... cold. Very cold. When I got to work the office was that temperature that makes your skin hurt it's so cold. It's been very sunny, which I absolutely love, but the lack of cloud coverage also means it hovers right around freezing all day. I had my little space heater on, which for the most part kept my legs warm as long as they were in it's direct path, but my fingers were burning cold all day (you Utah people know what I mean). I had to take breaks from typing to thaw them out under the desk.

I've been getting the most random application invitations on Facebook today. Earlier it was "What Disney Princess are you?" and then "What Disney song best describes you?" and now it's "What Beatles song best describes your life right now?" I haven't subscribed to any of them, so I sadly can't definitively say what princess, Disney song or Beatles song I am at the moment. I know you were waiting on pins and needles to find out, so I'm sorry to disappoint. Maybe next time.

Also in the vein of random questions, when editing my blogspot profile, there's an option at the bottom of the page that says "give me a new question." If I check the selection box, then press save, it gives me a new random question. One of my most recent ones was "You can punch a hole in an apple with a straw. How do you suppose that makes your milkshake feel?" All I can think of in answer is, "taken advantage of."

What's your answer?

Lost in that good feeling

Well my vote for top 3 in Project Runway is obviously out. I'm just glad Christian and Jillian are still in. And Christian's outfit this week was fierce! He totally should have won! The fact that Ricky is still on is a joke. I mean his clothes up till now have just been so blaaaah.

I listened to Sarah Blasko in the car today. It's been ages since I listened to her. It brought back great memories of Australia. Her voice is so delicate, which matches her features. Seeing her in Brisbane was a definite highlight. So lovely.

I'm sitting here staring at the screen trying to think of something interesting to write, but honestly, I don't have much. I'm happy. Things are good and they're getting better. That's a bit boring, but I'm ok with boring.

One small thing of note: someone I trust said to me today "the opposite of love is indifference." I thought that was interesting and true.

I've been wondering how my cousin Carolyn is doing in the MTC. Maybe I'll track down her address and send her a letter.

I know I'll be safe in these arms

Aaaaaagh! Sometimes! I love Brandon so much! That I want to run around screaming it for hours on end! haha

He is seriously perfect. I don't even understand how I got so lucky. Man.

Ok, sorry, that was really mushy, I know, but I just had to get it out.

Anyway, Urban Outfitters shipped my coat today. Finally. I am so excited. I've been wearing the same purple plaid coat (as seen in my profile pic) for over two years now, and it was time for an upgrade. So I bought this pretty little thing online for about 30% of the original price. The yellow so completely matches nothing that it actually kind of goes with everything. I love it!

Also on the topic of shopping, if you live in the SLC area, I have a new blog you should check out: www.yourheartout.com. I read it semi religiously, taking notes for when I move back down there. They've got tips on the cutest clothes shops, restaurants, furniture stores, and other miscellany in the Utah Valley and surrounding area. It's great if you're looking for one of those hidden treasure kind of places, or if you want a knick knack that's truly original. I highly recommend checking them out.

Well, it's mon pere's birthday, so I'm off to celebrate old age hah. Wishing you all the best of evenings!

Jumping ship

Seriously, if I have to deal with any more death this year, I'm going to build a cabin in the woods somewhere, never to be seen or heard from again.

Heath Ledger died today of a possible drug overdose. None of us knew him personally (that I know of), but it adds to the tragedy that has been recurrent this month. About three weeks ago, my coworker's mother was found dead in her home. They still don't know the cause of death - though they suspect drug overdose - which has been hard for their family in the grieving process. It would be hard to move on with unknowns like that.

Last Wednesday I attended the memorial service of a friend of mine who was slain by her husband a little over two weeks ago. It's been hard dealing with this death because I know her family very well (I dated her younger brother in high school and grew up in the same ward as them) and knowing they were now missing a beloved sister, daughter, and mother compounded my own grief over her loss. Kristy was intelligent, beautiful, happy, and knew how to bring out the best in other people. She was one of the first people I visited when I moved to BYU after high school. I looked up to her and really hoped to be as good, outgoing, and happy as her some day.

One of the comforts I've had in this, and that I know her family has had as well as they deal with this trial, is that if any person could be spiritually prepared for something like this to happen, Kristy was.

I pray for her family daily, especially her two little boys, who are now without a mother or a father. It's heartbreaking, but she lived a good life and I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who have been touched by Kristy's presence in their lives.

It's been hard to understand the why's in these situations, particularly because they've all been such unnatural deaths, and there have been others, though more distanced from myself, but I've also learned a lot about the grieving process and what happens to us when we die. At Kristy's memorial, the focus was on living an exemplary life, like the one Kristy lived, and knowing that our life is not over when we die. We simply exit one room and enter another, equally or more full of loved ones and friends than the one we just left.

I'm so thankful for the Gospel and the knowledge I've been given in this life. I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation and the guides and examples we've been given to find our way back to our Heavenly Father. It's hard to lose a loved one, but it's comforting to know we will see them again. I'm so thankful for that.

I'm sick, you're tired, let's dance

oooof. I have a headache.

Sometimes co-workers are frustrating.

In other news, I've found that Metric holds a certain spring feeling for me. I generally listen to them when it's sunny out. They remind me of high school summers when all I did was read, hang out with my friends and count down the days until school started again.

Alright, can someone please tell me what the point is in having a super slim notebook computer if it requires you to carry around a separate external cd-rom drive? I admit the MacBook Air's optional solid state hard drive is pretty awesome, but I don't understand why someone would go for something super slim if it's slimness meant you have to carry around extra accessories.

Sigh, just my opinion.

In any case, my head is about to split down the middle, so I think it's bed time. Good night!

Religiosity

I have the weirdest family. Well, ok. I'm sure many people say that. But my grandma, her sister and her sister's daughters all claim to be able to talk to angels and get revelation for other people. And for money.

This disturbs me.

And they all came over for dinner tonight. Fun.

Anyway, in Sunday school today Brother Young's son, who is a professional organ player (as in he went to school to be an Organ player. And has at least a masters in it. And is a concert organist for a living) played the opening hymn, and Sister Freitas, who wears a hat every Sunday and today was sporting a leopard print brimmed cap, conducted. Let me just say, it was the rockinest opening hymn I've ever heard at an LDS church. I loved it!

Oh, and I learned that the middle eastern peoples mostly are of the lineage of Ishmael. I had no idea!

I love going to church.

Diamonds with a different sort of blood history

Well, in an otherwise uneventful day, one thing of definite note happened: I talked to my mom today about the wedding ring my dad gave her. I knew the diamond used in it was the same diamond my Grandpa Mitchell gave to my grandma, and that after they divorced, my grandma gave it to my mom for her engagement ring. My mom and dad divorced and my mom had the diamond put into another ring when I was 9 or 10. She wore it for a while, but these days the only ring she wears is her wedding ring to Tod.

So when I asked her about the diamond this morning, she immediately asked if I wanted it, which is exactly what I was planning on hinting at hah.

I gladly accepted and I think that's probably the diamond I'll use in my ring. It's half a carat, incredibly clear and very sparkly. Plus it's exactly the type of cut I wanted: the table and diameter are a bit wider with the pavilion depth a bit shorter. This makes it look bigger and also means it won't stick out quite so far from my finger.

I told Avery about it and she immediately said, "that diamond sounds cursed," which is something my mom said long ago, but let's put it this way: I'm not marrying Brandon for money (my grandmother's mistake) or because my parents have said I'm probably not ever going to be asked again so I may as well just get married (my mother's mistake), so I don't think a twice divorced diamond is going to do much to help or hinder my marriage.

In any case, I'm excited. I'd been thinking maybe I'd just go without a diamond because they're really expensive and I see them as such a waste of money. But if I'm getting one for free, then bring on the bezels, prongs and side-stones! Woohoo!

As for other wedding plans, I've finally picked colors (something most girls do at about age 12) and Brandon seems to like them. I'm thinking dark blue (almost navy) with a medium green and just a splash of pale pink - mostly in the flowers. And I think I've come up with the perfect wedding favor. But we'll see if it pans out.

Alright, enough wedding talk. I think it's time for bed. Goodnight dahlings!

I'll say sorry, but I'm not taking off my glasses

So, a FEW things today.

Firstly, this morning sucked hardcore. Mainly because sometimes being a girl sucks hardcore. But then miraculously to brighten the otherwise dreary morning, there was Corey Delaney in all his glasses awesomeness. I laughed for hours over this. And then got my mom laughing over it as well. This makes me miss Australia a wee bit more. See for yourself:



I think I need this tshirt:



haha, I love it!

Alright, secondly, just for all of you who may be bloggers or avid blog readers, I know I'm behind the times, but I've found out about this thing that makes my blog reading faaantastic. It's called Google reader. If you have a Google account you can use it to have all your friends' blog updates in one convenient little place. If you need or just want a Gmail account, let me know. I still have 98 invitations left.

Today I've been listening almost non stop to Land of Talk. You can stream some of their music off their site. They've just really been hitting the spot today for some reason. Helped me get a lot of work done.

Ok, so lastly, before I go watch some 30 Rock - which, by the way, is the funniest show on TV right now, and one of the only things I watch regularly - I had a flashback discussion with Brandon last night. We recapped all the best Nickelodeon shows that were on when we were kids. I don't know how many of you remember this show, but man, I'd like to see some Rocko's Modern Life right about now. Or maybe some old school Doug. TV was so great when we were kids! What happened?

Alright, enough rambling for tonight.

Sweet dreams my syrupy little canned peaches.

Crafty little things

I've been on a bit of a Project Runway binge the past couple days. I go through phases with this show. I'll forget it's started, and suddenly catch a rerun marathon and not be able to stop watching. I'm rooting for Christian. I love his overly-sculpted hair and think he's got the most vision. I'm hoping it comes down to Christian, Jillian and Victorya.

For some reason I've had a thing for Peter Bjorn and John this week. They're wonderfully dancy! I don't think Brandon quite understands my love of poppy music yet. I try to explain it to him, but it's going to take a while to catch on I think. I pretend to be a music snob, but honestly, if it's bright and happy, I'll probably love it! And I mean lyrics don't get much better than "She's stepping on my shoes, and I couldn't want it more. That way I always know she's close." Adorable.

Sooo, when I started this blog, I didn't think anyone was going to read it. I mean that. I put up links to it on my Facebook and Myspace, but honestly, I didn't think anyone paid attention to my profiles on either of those sites. But hey! I'm glad to have you all here! Most of my ramblings are just that: ramblings. So pay no mind if I got off on some crazy random tangent. It's bound to happen. And has. That and I'm going to try to keep writing as if no one will be reading it. It keeps me more honest.

Now then, back to business. I want to make a list of things I'd like to do in the near future. So here they are:

1) Put all Australia pics into tangible photo album with written out stories and everything
2) Learn to crochet and (2b) crochet an afghan
3) Knit something cute and more delicate than the chunky scarves I've made in the past
4) Organize my apartment (my room specifically)

I think I'll go from there. I've been skimming some knitting blogs lately and I just really love the things some of these people make. They're delicate, crafty, original. Basically, I'm inspired. That and Project Runway seriously brings out the craft in me.

I'll try to take pictures of my endeavors. And I think I'll start on that organizing project now as a matter of fact.

So, until tomorrow, adieu!

Plans I never made as a little girl

Firstly, let me make the disclaimer that I am not engaged. Brandon and I have been talking seriously about marriage and things are certainly going in that direction - I think we both just sort of knew the moment we saw each other, and I love him more every day - but we're trying to be rational and give ourselves time to make sure we're comfortable.

With that being said, I think I've narrowed down my dress search dramatically. In the past month, I have probably seen about 2,000 dresses. I've felt mediocre at best about all of them. They've all been either too skimpy, too traditional, too Mormony or just plain ugly. But out of sheer luck I happened across a website last night that has a line of classy but different temple ready wedding gowns. I love them! I've narrowed it down to two I think:




I think they're gorgeous and they aren't your typical Mormon wedding gown since, let's be honest, I'm not your typical Mormon.

I've also been looking into the ring department of course. Brandon and I have discussed our options and I think we're both looking for something untraditional. We've considered wooden rings. He likes that idea a lot. We've also talked about making our own rings. I think that's my favorite so far. I'm going to see if we could possibly make our own rings and have his inlaid with wood. He's not big into rings (neither am I really) so he wants something that isn't gaudy, and that leans more toward the natural side. I love the idea of each of us making the other's ring though. And it's a 5-6 hour experience, with a real jeweler walking us through the process. We could have them engraved or add stones if we'd like.

My mom and I have been discussing today what in the world to do about a reception building when the time comes. I've always abhorred the idea of having a reception on a basketball court, but honestly, with the number of people from just my side who would be coming, anything else would get incredibly expensive. So I think what we'll end up doing is finding one of the less basketball-ish cultural halls in our stake and hanging tulle or some other sheer fabric from the ceiling in tent-like fashion. Because seriously, I have four parents. Each with a huge family. Not to mention two rather large sized wards I've grown up in. There's a good possibility for the guest list becoming ridiculously huge.

I'm starting to realize that 1) weddings are a lot of money. I had no idea. And 2) I have no experience whatsoever with planning or even going to weddings. I've been to maybe 4 or 5, most of which were when I was very young. So this is going to be a new thing. My mom and I are going to see if we can find some Mormon receptions to crash in the next few months just for ideas.

So, here's to engagement hopes and wedding ideas.

A move forward and a glance back

2007 was a rocky year. There were a lot of ups and downs. But it ended on a pretty high note and I have high hopes for 2008, though I suspect it will be more of an interim year than a dynamic one. I suppose one never knows for certain though until the thing itself actually happens.

I'm applying for BYU for either Spring or Summer term. I'm really hoping I get in. I'd like to get back into school. If I don't, I've decided it won't be devastating. I'll just take online classes, continue working, and reapply for Winter 2009.

I'm currently working for my parents, with whom I also live. Saying this makes me feel like a slacker, but honestly, I love it. I love my family. I have an adorable adopted baby brother who I'm still getting to know and having time to be around him and the rest of my family is really uplifting.

I'm learning a lot about the Gospel these days. About what it means to be a member of the church and how we can have an effect on other people. I have some goals for the coming year, some of them abstract, some of them concrete, but I feel like they will all help me to become a better person, and hopefully they will strengthen my testimony.

I'm thinking I'll document my personal changes on here. But I'd also really like to document any projects I do this year. For the most part I let my creativity go to waste the past twelve months, but I'd like to change that. So crochet how to books, here I come!

Anyway, I hope if you're reading this, you'll come along on the journey. I can't promise it will always be interesting, but hopefully it will have it's moments.