confessions of me

2011-10-30T20:12:00.002-06:00

Comment made by Nathan tonight....

"Then I would kick you so high you would cry like a stupid Chihuahua."

2011-09-03T18:18:00.000-06:00

Okay. I suck at this.

Long and short.

Here goes.

I moved home to KC.

I was offered a job teaching in the Headstart class in Independence.

I had been homeless for almost three weeks.

I loved Indiana.

I love the people I met and got to know there.

I love the things I learned.

But I also love being home.

I love being a productive grown-up member of society.

I love the knowledge that I have a retirement account.

And that I can move out on my own in the next few months.

Leaving and coming back were the two best decisions I could have made for myself.

ode to vacuums

2011-07-18T21:49:00.000-06:00

I was attacked by a monster today.

The vacuum blossomed at just the right moment.

My hand lost.

The shelf survived.

As did the vacuum.

(No bones were broken during the making of this piece of poetry. And it's really crappy poetry. My apologies.)

this is what happens when you move and you have no concrete plans for your life.

2011-06-29T11:51:00.000-06:00

I'm currently battling with myself. Not that it's a big surprise.

I was told this week that I need to start acting like the adult that I am. At first I was slightly shocked. And then appalled when I realized how true of a statement it was.

I was then informed by the same person that I have some serious self-confidence issues. My reaction was the same as with the previous statement.

Last night I asked whose lack of self-confidence was worse. Mine or Exhibit A? I was told that while the issues themselves spawned from two different sources, the differences ended there. No better or worse choice could be made.

I just spent thirty minutes on the phone with a grad school I recently applied to, arguing about why I think it's stupid to have one of the "extra resources" also be a requirement. I think it's stupid to have to talk on the phone with a teacher once a week. What's the point in that if I already know and understand the material for the course and I have no questions. And if I do have questions, that's what email is for.

IUPUI is looking better and better as time goes on. If only it wasn't at the cost of out-of-state tuition....

2011-06-26T07:10:00.002-06:00

Clearly I suck at this whole updating thing....

2011-05-30T04:44:00.000-06:00

I just had the most ridiculous dream of all time...
I went to a diving meet with Kristy, which really isn't all that strange as she's the diving coach. The strange part was I was there was a coach as well. My grandparents were there as was one of my Aunts.
I was slightly confused when I woke up.

2011-05-23T19:43:00.000-06:00

One day down. 28563910397539018374020182638209182094392380938333224444 to go.

a new chapter

2011-05-21T12:58:00.000-06:00

I finally did it. After years of saying that I was going to move to Indiana, I did it. I loaded everything up (well, not really even everything) in my car and started driving.

The first four hours of driving weren't bad at all. It was just like going to the temple. But the drive across Illinois. It was brutal. Even though it only took a couple of hours, it felt like it was about ten. There's nothing in southern Illinois. The most entertaining part about all of it was the town names. Places like St. Elmo and Effingham and Pocahontas.

I start working on Monday. The Kohl's here is way smaller than the one I've been at. Its pre-remodel. I can already tell its going to be different from what I'm used to.

In between my 16 hours at Kohl's next week and trying to get all settled in here I get to start the job search all over again. Hopefully before too long I will be able to find something amazing.

books

2011-05-09T11:48:00.000-06:00

In all the chaos of my life at the moment (Read. My brother's wedding. Buying a car, trying to at least. Moving next week, assuming I can buy a car. Nathan getting suspended from school for two days. Subbing nearly every day. Kindergarteners making me cry. Working at Kohl's. You know. Chaos.), I forgot to do my monthly update on my 100 book challenge. At last count I was up to 37 books. Sadly the last couple of books I got from the library haven't held my attention long enough for me to actually get into reading them. So I busted out books I've already read. Its been nice.

one for the record books

2011-05-04T19:28:00.000-06:00

I've had my fair share of interesting experiences subbing. Don't believe me? Read this. Or this. Or this. And I thought I had seen most everything.

Last Friday I knew going into my Kindergarten class that it was going to be a rough day. I knew it was the worst of the Kindergarten classes in this school. B the time lunch came around, I was ready to give up. Nothing I had done had worked. I was out of tricks to try. The Assistant Principal came in and read books at the end of the day. It was a bad day.

Well. Yesterday was worse.

I was close to tears by morning recess, which we didn't go out for. They sat at their desks with their heads down and their voices off. Roughly 20 minutes after that I sent a girl out to find the Assistant Principal and bring her back. Sandy walked in and I was SO upset. I had no idea what to do anymore. I had already tried everything and it was only 11:30. She took a student out at that time and left me with a walkie, with instructions to call her if I needed her. Less than 20 minutes after that she was back in the classroom where she escorted an additional THREE students out for the rest of the day. I was in tears at this point. Over the course of the day I had NINE students leave the classroom and not come back. The student teacher in a first grade class came in after lunch and we tagged teamed the rest of the day. There were only 12 students who were able to go to Art. A grand total of THREE students had no issues. I left the building in tears. And then even after taking a muscle relaxer last night, I had nightmares all night long.

When I walked into the school this morning everyone who saw me was shocked that I had come back. Sandy continually reminded me that it wasn't my fault the students were hellions and to take it as a learning experience.

Thankfully I was in a different classroom today. And it was much better than yesterday.
Lisa was livid with her kids though. They weren't allowed to speak to anyone until after noon today. They sat silently in their chairs doing worksheets. And at recess, they walked laps around the playground.

Right as I was getting ready to take my kids to lunch Lisa came to the classroom with her kids in tow. They had written me a letter and wanted to give it to me:

Miss Perry,

We are sorry for making you sad, shouting out, talking back, and not following directions. We love you! Please forgive us.

And they all signed it. I totally teared up when Lisa handed it to me.

I do forgive them. I do. But I'm still really upset. I'm taking the next couple of days off. And then next week when I'm back in that school I'm going to go in and talk to them, let them know that I forgive them. But that it had better not EVER happen again. To me or to anyone else.

home alone. take two.

2011-04-25T12:58:00.000-06:00

Remember when my parents went to San Diego and Nathan almost burned the house down? And then remember how I told them they aren't allowed to leave him home like that ever again and I was totally serious. Well they actually believed me.
Spencer is getting married in Portland on Friday. Yes, my little brother is getting married before I. Your point? Anyways, I'm not going. Neither are BriAnne or Benson. None of us can afford to. Benson's IB test is the next week and BriAnne and I are seriously strapped for cash. Besides that, I'm the only one of the three of us who can drive.
But Mom and Dad are taking Nathan. I'm pretty sure they want him to live through it, otherwise they might have considered leaving him with us.
They chose wisely...

open letters to the world

2011-04-12T21:53:00.000-06:00

Dear Kohls.
Thank you for sending Joanie back to us. She was sorely missed. And tonight was much more stress-free with her there. Please never take her away again.
Everyone at 472.

Dear back. And neck.
You really must stop hurting. A girl can only take so much Advil before it stops to work and I fear I may be approaching that limit. I'd like to be able to function at some point in the near future.
The girl who finds it painful to do most things.

Dear Korte Elementary.
I have absolutely loved working there. And by working, I mean nearly every day. Did you know that more than 80% of the subbing jobs I have taken since Christmas have been for you? Its true. Sadly, this relationship can only last for another month. But I love you enough that I have acquired school shirts. Please don't ever change.
Your favorite substitute.

Dear public library.
I would be lost without you.
Bookworm.

my two cents

2011-04-09T20:20:00.000-06:00

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have never once, in my entire life, thought this was different in any way. Just like today, I never once thought it out of the ordinary to drive 3 1/2 hours to St. Louis to spend two hours in the temple before turning around and driving home. But it was brought to my attention this morning that this is definitely out of the ordinary. You know what though. I wouldn't change it for the world.

This past week when I was explaining General Conference to someone, she told me that she just couldn't do it, it would be too hard. Its funny though, because I've never thought of it as a hardship. Its always been something I've looked forward to. I love having to opportunity to listen to the prophet and hearing what the Lord wants us to know now.

It truly is the best two weekends of the entire year!

priorities

2011-03-31T12:09:00.000-06:00

And another month is over. So as another another update on the 100 book challenge, I just finished book number 27 on the year. Does anyone else find it disturbing that I read as much as I do? I mean, I've read more books in the past three weeks than most people read in a year. And its not like I'm pushing myself to read so much. Its what I do, I'm just keeping track of it this year. I also happen to find it amazing that I read as much as I do when I find so little time to sleep. I guess its good to know where my priorities are.

strange dreams

2011-03-27T21:13:00.000-06:00

I've been having a series of strange dreams lately. Like seriously strange. Strange in a way that no one really quite believes.

For example...

One night I had a dream that I was a nurse, which in itself is completely bizarre. But this father came to me and wanted me to make his son's cough go away. So I went off to get whatever it was I needed to get to make the cough go away and I ended up working at Kohl's. I was in the jewelry department and Mary told me she was going to leave but there were eight people waiting to be helped. Only instead of waiting outside the bay, they were inside the bay in a line and I couldn't find the keys to open the displays. I finally found the keys in a garbage pail and when I pulled them out I was suddenly transported to a car I was driving and I was trying to get back to Kohl's. I made a left-hand turn and was driving past these apartment buildings when I realized I was no longer in the car, but I was walking along railroad tracks with a fence on the other side of me. There was a train carrying coal in tanker cars on the tracks. when the train came to a stop I saw a fence in the distance with two holes in it; one for the train and one for the path that ran along side the tracks. I knew Kohl's was on the other side. As I got closer to the fence the holes started to shrink like in "Alice in Wonderland" so that by the time I got to it there was no way I was going to be able to fit through either one of them. I figured I would just climb the fence and started looking for a good place to start when I found myself in a tire yard surrounded by stacks of tires. Some of my cousins were there with me and we were playing around on the stacks of tires when an alarm started to go off and we KNEW that if we kept touching the tires we would all die. So we all started scrambling to get away from them and the alarm stopped. At this point I found a Kermit the Frog puppet on top of a stack of tires. And then I woke up.

A couple of days later I had another dream. This time I was with Jen and Sarah and her two kids and I was running for my life from something or someone, I'm not really sure. And its possible that one of them was doing the running and I was aiding and abetting them. But we all piled into a car. I was the one driving and I came to a stop sign and wanted to make a left-hand turn but realized part way into the intersection that I didn't have enough space so I stopped short and turned a really tight circle so that I ended up back at the stop sign. Only this time I was on a bicycle by myself. And instead of being a flat road, I was now turning onto a hill. So I make the turn but I can't get up the hill so I'm pushing with my feet, as in Fred Flinstone. I finally get to the point where I can ride the bicycle the right way and I'm racing through people's back-yards when out of nowhere the bike disappears and I'm running super fast until Sarah flags me down and I go around the back of the house with her (let's not forget about the fact that I was in the back-yard to begin with) and then I woke up.

Earlier this week I had a dream that scared the crap out of me. I was lying in bed and there were scorpions in my bedroom. Little tiny black scorpions. Only they weren't normal and they had the ability to fly, kind of like flying squirrels. I'm pretty sure I screamed as I woke up when one of them jumped on top of me.

I have no idea what it all means....

school shirts

2011-03-27T18:03:00.000-06:00

After spending two solid months as the substitute in the same Early Childhood class, I wasn't sure how many subbing jobs I would get. I hadn't been getting all that many before and I was pretty sure that trned was going to continue. Thankfully that hasn't been the case. I've worked nearly every day since then. The best part though, is that I've spent more time at this Elementary school than any other place. So much time in fact, that I ordered a school shirt and sweatshirt this week. I'm totally excited to get them!

2011-03-21T20:39:00.000-06:00

I am now one-quarter of the way to my goal of reading 100 books this year. Basically, I rock.

2011-03-14T19:40:00.001-06:00

I've decided there's nothing I hate more in the world than walking into a classroom for a subbing assignment and not having any lesson plans...

down by 20

2011-03-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

I read another eight books in February. That puts me well on my way to 100. Cited here and here and here.

The top three:

The Help

Three Little Words

Paper Towns

an ending

2011-02-24T20:34:00.002-07:00

Well. We all knew this day would eventually come. And its tomorrow. Friday is my last day in the preschool class that I have been in for the past two months. Wednesday was the first indication that it was ever going to happen. Jen received an email from Dr. Mallums, which had been sent to him by someone in the district office stating that the new girl's fingerprints had come back and that she might start on Monday. Neither Jen nor myself put much stock into it. I mean, it had been eight weeks. Who waits that long? And no one had heard anything from her this entire time. So when I got to the school this morning, one look at Jen was all it took. I knew. The new girl still wants this job and this is my last week. I've held myself together fairly well. I haven't cried yet. (But I'm pretty sure I dreamed about it last night.) Tomorrow is going to be another story. There will be tears. I can't believe I have to say goodbye to all these amazing kids. I can't believe I won't be sharing my quriky stories with Jen anymore. I almost feel like a part of me is dying.
EDIT
Right after posting this, I received the news that school is canceled tomorrow because of the weather. The things with the early childhood centers is that they're still open on snow days, but they don't need me as a sub because they will be combining with another school. Jen and I just decided that I am going to go in anyways. To visit. I wasn't expecting to cry until morning....

note to self

2011-02-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Next time you notice the mischievous wart from during high school has come back, make ZERO attempt to dig it out of your toe with tweezers. While it may not hurt right away, pain and infection will ultimately set in. Looks like I'm wearing flip flops to church tomorrow....

2011-02-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

For most of high school I had this big ugly wart on the end of my big toe. Not even joking, it probably covered half of my toe. I had to keep my toenail trimmed down around it to keep me from wanting to cut my toe off. At some point the doctor prescribed some sort of cream something or the other to get rid of it, which it did, after a couple of years. So this week when I noticed this particular wart had come back, I was pissed. Now I get to figure out how to get rid of this stupid wart. Side note: did you know that warts are caused by HPV?

2011-02-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

BriAnne came downstairs this morning after walking into the bathroom and had the following conversation with Nathan:

B: Nathan, why is the plunger in the sink?

N: Well. I was trying to attach the plunger to the mirror, like LarryBoy. And then I sat on it. And it fell in the sink.

B: Oh . . .

and then there were 88

2011-01-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

At some point in the past month, I decided that I was going to read and read and read. Erm, actually, that's normal. But one day I decided to keep track of it all. About a week ago I realized that I could conceivably read THIRTEEN or more books in January. The only problem was the thirteenth book I picked up was The Count of Monte Cristo, and that kind of threw my plan out the window. (If the book wasn't so dang long, I would have finished it several days ago, but its almost 1300 pages long!) All the same, twelve books in one month is more than my entire family read combined. I have to say my favorites include The Camel Club and How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack. Ooh. And American Fuji and Dragon House. And Peter Pan and Marrying Mozart. You know, I've always had a hard time choosing favorites...

2011-01-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

I love being in this preschool class. I really do. But today I almost lost it. We all did. In fact, I commented to someone that if I were a person who drank on a regular basis, I would go get wasted tonight. But since I don't, I consoled myself with some mandarin chicken from Panda Express. And tomorrow I'll probably go get some frozen yogurt. Oh yeah, today. Well today we expelled a 3 year old from the preschool program. Now I know you're asking yourself, "how do you expel a 3 year old?" Let me tell you. The same way you would expel anyone else from school. We also had another kid start biting. And a mother go totally ballistic. And in spite of all of it, I've agreed to go back on Monday. I must be some kind of crazy...

best. roommates. ever.

2011-01-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Three years ago while in Provo, I returned home from a late night study session at the library with Carol and Duckie. In our absence Heidi had made me this:

You see. I was in a rather difficult Civil War History class and my first test of the semester was coming up. And I was stressed out about it.

Instead of brownies that night, we feasted on the Civil War Cake. The next day, I rocked that test.

Best. Roommates. Ever.

every once in a while I get a hankering to watch "What Not to Wear" in the middle of the day

2011-01-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I put a book on hold at the library entitled How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack. I'm super stoked to read it.

I'm not so stoked about the number of snow days we've had already this year. Four. Count them. F-O-U-R. That takes me from twelve guaranteed days of subbing for the month to eight. That's a huge chunk. And I'm irritated about it. And just to add salt to my already festering wound, its supposed to snow 6-10 inches tomorrow starting at noon.

I received official notification today about my student loans. They come out of deferment February 23. I've already used all three I'm allowed to use. I am so all sorts of screwed. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm considering prostituting my blood again. (Read: DONATING PLASMA).

And just to stew a little bit more. When did Nick leave What Not to Wear?

2011-01-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

Remember how seven months ago I started a new job at Quintiles?

And then remember how three weeks later I was once again, unemployed?

Well, at the time I applied to substitute teach. In two school districts. Independence and Blue Springs.

Four months ago I started subbing in Independence.

This past week I heard from Blue Springs for the first time. They have processed my application, but their applicant pool is sufficient and they will not be contacting me to substitute.

Yeah, I kind of gathered that when I never heard anything.

Fail Blue Springs. Fail.

the day my parents flew to San Diego, leaving me in charge and my brother almost destroyed the house

2011-01-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today started out normal enough. It was yet ANOTHER snow day and we were all starting to go a little crazy. Nathan insisted on pizza for lunch, so Dad took him and Benson to Pizza Street. Mom went to school anyway. BriAnne went on a hike. And I read most of the day. Nothing extremely out of the ordinary was expected.

I took Mom and Dad to the airport prior to my going to work at Kohl's. This put them there SEVERAL hours early, but really, they didn't have much of a choice. We left BriAnne in charge at home with Benson in charge of making dinner. And we basically expected Nathan to be a handful, like always.
So when I called home during my break to make sure they hadn't killed each other, I was just expecting to have to tell Nathan to put his pajamas on and remind BriAnne that he absolutely had to be in bed at 9. No biggie right.

Instead, this is what I heard come out of Nathan's mouth:

"Did you hear that I started a fire in the bathroom, Candice?"

"Oh! How did that happen?"

"Well the toilet paper flew out of my hand when I was trying to drop it in the toilet and it flew across the room and landed in the candle."

"Wow. Why were you playing with matches?"

"I wasn't. It was an accident."

"Well, try to be more careful next time."

"I will."

"Let me talk to BriAnne again."

..........

"HE ALMOST BURNED THE HOUSE DOWN?!"

"Yeah. Kind of. But he didn't."

This has the potential to be the longest week of my life....

same story. two separate ways to tell it.

2011-01-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

I like to laugh. A lot. So when I logged onto my google reader today I was expecting to laugh, at least a little. I was not expecting to laugh as hard as I did though.

You see, two people I know (who happen to be mother and daughter) posted about the same exact thing. And it was hilarious.

First, I give you Rachel's interpretation.

And then you should read it from her mother's point of view.

100 book update

2011-01-09T20:58:00.002-07:00

I did some math today. In order to read 100 books in a year, I only have to read 8 1/3 books a month.

2011-01-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

I came across something today. A challenge to read 100 books this year. I'm going to go for it. I already know I read an inordinate amount of books. This will just give me verification of that. So over on the left I am going to be listing the books I read this year.

2011-01-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

I happen to know for a fact that my phone works. I'm using it right now.

So why, am I not getting any sub calls? I know there were quite a few available this morning.

I'm really growing to detest this mockery I call a job...

oh the irony...

2011-01-03T15:55:00.002-07:00

Today I was named the alternate emergency contact for my sister's dog's microchip while she is out of town. I don't even like dogs!

year end

2010-12-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

At the end of another year I find myself thinking. About those things I have accomplished. Those things I wished I had accomplished. And those things that I plain just don't care about anymore. I find myself still living at home, although I have come to realize its not really that big of a deal. I still don't have a job I particularly want. I'm actually kind of irked by that fact. But I have started to take steps to get to where I want to be. I APPLIED FOR GRAD SCHOOL this year! For the program I want. In the field I really, really, REALLY want to be in. I do wish I had applied earlier. I could be starting Summer term, but I waited too long and can't start until Fall. Oh well. I may not have the job I want right now, but I have a job. I have two jobs in fact. That's such a blessing. There are so many people who don't have jobs, and I am able to say that I have two. And by having these jobs I have come to the conclusion that I really have no desire to teach school. I kept going back and forth on that question and I never could come to any conclusion. After having started substituting, I can honestly say that teaching is not for me. I still have no car to call my own. Some of the time my mode of transportation is my own two feet. I discovered this year that I have no issues with that. I walked a lot in Provo. How is that any different than walking in Kansas City? Really, its not. And when I really need it, I have access to a vehicle. I'm content with that for now. I finally made it to Indiana to visit. It was such a short visit. I wish I could have stayed later. With time I hope to be able to get there more permanently. In all, it has been a good year. I can't really complain all that much.

2010-12-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am such a bum. I came downstairs just now to put away my laundry that just came out of the dryer. But what am I doing instead? Sitting on my bed, jamming to my Classical Classical station on Pandora and eating chocolate covered cinnamon bears. (Because Santa Clause really does love me and knows that I'm a sucker for BYU chocolate covered cinnamon bears.) Maybe I'll work on my puzzle instead of finishing my laundry....

long lost friends

2010-12-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while I was at work I took a break - shocker. When I pulled my phone out of my locker I had a missed call from one of my roommates from my last year at BYU. Several years ago her parents moved from Florida to Jamesport, Missouri. (Think Gallatin/Adam-Ondi-Ahman area.) When I asked her about a month ago when she was going to come home for Christmas she told me that she actually wasn't going to. I was kind of bummed, but I figured things were working the way they were supposed to. So imagine my surprise when I listen to her voicemail and she tells me that she not only did come home, but that she's leaving that night to go to Oregon. I called her back almost immediately and we talked for a few minutes. It worked out perfectly that she had a few hours between when I got off work and when she had to be at the airport for her flight. So what do you think I did? I canceled all my plans for that afternoon, some of which had already been canceled for one reason or another multiple times, and drove to Liberty to meet her. We had the best time just chatting and catching up.

how to know you're addicted to facebook

2010-12-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, mostly out of nowhere, I decided I was going to be through with facebook; at least for a little while. So I post a status saying that in 24 hours I will be deactivating my account temporarily. Sure enough, I received several messages asking why. I didn't really have an answer for them so I mostly just ignored it. Monday morning I woke up and exactly 24 hours after my initial post, I deactivated my account.

I realized I had an addiction problem less than 6 hours later when I checked my email for and realized I had nothing else to do online after that. No quirky status update to write. No pictures to look through. No one to facebook stalk in order to see what they're up to.

At some point I'm sure it will get to the point where its not really even that bad.

In the mean time, there are things I need to be working on.

If I'm going to apply for IU, I'm going to have to get letters of recommendation pulled off. And in order to do that, I'll need to revise several papers and send them to previous professors so they can possibly remember me from when I was in their class six semesters ago.

I'll have more time to read, which we already know is one of my great loves. (I took 16 books back to the library today.)

I'll be able to spend more time with Nathan. Heaven knows he could use the attention.

And I'll be able to have actual relationships and conversations with people instead of trying to conform to the digital era.

Watch out world! Candice is on her way. With plans!

2010-12-21T07:59:00.002-07:00

nothing says good morning like waking up at 4:30 with the worst migraine in the history of migraines. it was so bad that I canceled my subbing job for today.

2010-12-20T17:33:00.001-07:00

Anytime people find out that I'm a substitute teacher, the first question out of their mouth is, "What grade?" Followed immediately by, "Do you like it?"

Some days I'm not so sure that I do like it, but since the vast majority of the time I do, I usually answer "Yes."

But the strangest conversation I have about subbing is when I tell them that last week I was at the Alternative High School and that it happens to be my favorite school I've been in all year. The reasons are varied. But at the top of the list is the fact that the students are actually respectful of the teachers. Its a fact. And there's an explanation for it. These kids know that if they mess up just one time, they're done, they'll get kicked out and have no other options for finishing school. So they do what they can to ensure it won't happen.

So HUGE kudos to Independence Academy! Because of you I decided not to hand my sub badge in.

you should read

2010-12-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

get this book from the library this week. and read it. with caution.

super, super good.

very gritty.

2010-12-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

A week after first applying to Grad school I get an email in my inbox from simply "admissions." My heart skips a beat and I scream in my head, "I GOT IN!" Alas, I am fully aware that a week is so far from enough time to process my application and its mostly just wishful thinking on my end. The email WAS from admissions at San Jose State; it contained instructions on how to activate my student account so that I can check the status of my application online....

brain dump

2010-12-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Would any one like to guess as to the number of times I had to explain at church yesterday why the "non"aforementioned relationship was over? I suppose the only bright side to it all was I told Sis. K. and not Prez. It is nice to know they care so much. Its almost like having three additional sets of grandparents.

I found out last night one of my very best friends is engaged. I can't believe he didn't tell me himself. No really, I can't. I might have even punched him the shoulder to show my distaste. Twice. For which I apologized. Many, many congratulations to Josh and Tracy! (Neither of which have any idea that I even have this blog.)

I find myself subbing less and less as time goes on. Its not that I don't like it. Well, maybe. After some seriously crappy experiences in schools, I'm not entirely sure that I want to do it anymore. I'm still not sure that I wanted to do it in the first place. But I knew it was the thing for me to do, so I did it. I did end up in a school library last week, if only briefly, and I remembered how much I love being in libraries. So that part is good. This week I have two days lined up for the alternative high school. I'm actually nervous. They tend to be some seriously messed up kids.

I'm anxiously awaiting to hear back from San Jose State. I keep checking on the status of my application, even though I know they haven't really even had time to get my transcripts in the mail, let alone go over everything and make a decision. The deadline isn't even until the end of March, so I suppose I have a pretty good chance of getting in.

I haven't really even started my Christmas shopping. No one in the house has. I guess that's what happens when funds are stretched as tight as possible in the first place.

I was so cold yesterday that I wore two shirts and a big sweater. Plus leggings under my pants. I felt almost like an Eskimo. But I was warm! Er, warmer?

I've put another six books on hold at the library since Sunday. I just can't help myself. I love books. My sister asked me the other day what my favorite book was. I practically laughed out loud. How does she really expect me to choose just one? I mean, I've easily read 100 books in the past six months. Granted, some of them have been sub par. But still.

Is it any wonder that I want to be a librarian?

2010-12-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I have this thing about subbing. I tend to get the world's worst classes. There are my mom's classes, which are essentially just a dumping ground for students they don't know what else to do with. Then there was the math teacher across the hall who has an entire class of upperclassmen who were repeating the class for the second or third time. May I also remind you of the self proclaimed "fourth grade class from hell." And let's not forget the class where a student put a cardboard box on his head and proceeded to walk around the classroom. Or the class just last week where I almost got punched in the face. So today when I walked into the elementary school where I was going to be subbing and the secretary says to me, "this class is tough," I didn't think anything of it. I mean, I get the tough classes all the freaking time. But with the exception of last week where I was almost physically harmed, this class today totally shot all the rest of the "tough" classes out of the water. I asked myself all day long, "why am I a substitute teacher?" It got to the point by the end of the day where I just wanted THREE seconds of silence before I dismissed them to their buses. Would you believe it took them almost five minutes to stop talking for THREE seconds. They almost didn't make it to the buses on time...

leap of faith

2010-12-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

I did something yesterday I've been saying I was going to do for a long time.

Something had been stopping me.

Fear? Complacency? Lack of motivation?

Whatever it was, I decided I had had enough of it.

So I just did it.

I flipped open my laptop first thing in the morning.

And I applied for...

GRAD SCHOOL!

the endless list

2010-11-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

There are so many things I am thankful for this year. It would be impossible to list them all. I'm not really even going to try. But there are a few things that are worth mentioning...

The love of my Heavenly Father. I know that no matter what I do or how I act, He is one person that will always be there for me. No matter what. I can go to Him with all manner of issues and concerns and the answers and comfort I am seeking will be there. There is no greater feeling than that.
My incredible family. My parents never batted an eye when I moved home after graduating from college. They didn't say anything when I continually said I was going to move to Indiana and then never did. For those six months I was unemployed, they did so much to help me even though they were struggling to make ends meet themselves. And most recently when I returned from a trip and told them I was indeed moving to Indiana within the next six months and that I was pretty dang confident I had met the man I was going to marry, there was nothing but happiness being exuded from them.
I currently have not one, but two jobs. There are times when its exhausting, but the rewards are so worth it in the end. And there are so many people who have zero jobs at the moment. I'm so incredibly blessed to have two.
My friends are the best friends in the entire world. There are times when I do something really stupid and yet they have never once thought about turning their backs on me. I know that no matter where I go, these friends will always be there for me. It truly is a great feeling to know I am loved by so many amazing people.

Let us all take the time to remember those things we are most thankful for and return our thanks to the one person who receives so little credit. For without God, we wouldn't have any of it.

actual conversation I had with BriAnne this week

2010-11-17T16:02:00.002-07:00

C: I really should go pack, but I want to paint my toenails.

B: How about this. As a reward for packing you can paint your toenails.

C: How about I just go paint my toenails....

HUGE news!

2010-11-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

I got a text from my little brother Saturday night. This is in no way out of the ordinary. We have a texting relationship. I mean, we have a real relationship, but we also text. Quite a bit. But this text didn't say anything, it was just a picture. Of a ring. An engagement ring. The ring he bought for his then girlfriend. My little brother is getting married! Before me, but I'm not bitter.

i concur...

2010-11-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

with all of this....

http://or-so-i-feel.blogspot.com/2010/11/just-thought-id-share.html

I currently want to belt Destiny's Child lyrics...

2010-11-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today I owned Middle School.

In other words, I survived.

Not much more than that.

But survival happened.

:(

2010-11-07T07:04:00.002-07:00

The most horrible thing happened yesterday. Dad made me mow the lawn.....

2010-10-31T07:25:00.000-06:00

Today might possibly be my favorite day in History. Before you get too far ahead of yourself, its not because of the candy. Although, that it is a benefit. But no, its because of this.

On Halloween in 1517, Martin Luther, finally having had enough of the sale of indulgences in Germany, posted his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, accusing the Roman Catholic church of heresy upon heresy. Before long, Luther’s 95 Theses of Contention had been copied and published all over Europe. Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church before the end of 3 years. He was also marked as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor and he lived in exile for the rest of his life.

So why is something so depressing so exciting to me?

Luther, without a doubt, was influential in the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Without which, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would not be in existence today. He was a friend of one William Tyndale, who translated the Bible in English and who was influential in the rise of Protestantism in England.

Martin Luther is one of my heroes. And he should be one of yours too.

2010-10-28T21:48:00.001-06:00

I've talked to a lot of people this week about "the issue".

Everyone has said the same thing basically.

Its okay that I feel the way I do.

Dwelling on it will probably help you deal with it.

One person even gave me permission to be a jerk.

But tonight I received the best piece of advice on the matter.

From my little sister's best friend.

Who knew that a girl five years younger than me would impact me more than anyone else.
But the thing that did the most god right now was playing the piano, loudly, for over an hour. And they were hard songs. Songs that required a lot of attention.

stream of consciousness

2010-10-26T15:50:00.000-06:00

How in the world did it get to be already the end of October?

My shoebox of life got kicked around a little bit again.

It is what it is. I can't change it. Just accept it and move on.

I'm no longer barreling through three books a week from the library.

Its slightly depressing.

I played the piano for kicks for the first time in a long time today.

I wish I had the money to get it repaired.

Or at least tuned.

Someday.

I've subbed eight days this month.

That's two days a week.

Once was in a French class.

I don't know a single word of French.

I think my mom has some of the worst kids in the school in her classes.

2010-10-21T09:43:00.001-06:00

You remember that fourth grade class from Hell last week? Well yesterday morning I received a phone call from the school secretary asking if I was available to sub for that same class on two specific dates.

Apparently whatever I did, worked.

oh the irony...

2010-10-19T20:45:00.000-06:00

I subbed for my mom today. It was an adventure. Let's just say that I fully understand where all of her stories come from now.

But that's not the point of this point. Here it comes.

I have had this phone for several years. I have loved it. There aren't many things that I could come up with to complain about it. In fact, I can't think of a single one.

But today that all changed.

I had just, and I mean just, purchased a plane ticket with all my remedial cash when my phone decided to bug out. We're talking its on and working and I'm in the middle of sending a text when the entire phone just goes blank. It doesn't even turn off. It just stops working. I tried the "take the battery out" game and that didn't do a thing.

I'm practically freaking out at this point because I depend on my phone for SO much. Its my alarm clock. Its my calender. Its what I get my sub calls on. Its basically my anchor to civilization. (That might be a little on the extreme side, but you get the point.)

I'm up for an upgrade anyway so Dad and I head to the Sprint store.

Where I pick up this beauty.

It was automatic love.

First off, its pink! Secondly, it has a full keyboard. The joys! Finally, its a touch screen. I feel so cool!

Now if only I hadn't lost every single phone number....

2010-10-14T22:43:00.000-06:00

You know its going to be an interesting day of subbing when first thing in the morning the principal informs the one fourth grade class in the school they had better be on their best behavior or they would answer to her and the fifth grade teacher says, "Good luck. You're going to need it."

just call me ROCKSTAR

2010-10-09T20:29:00.000-06:00

Two years ago the Independence School District acquired a slew of schools from the failing Kansas City School District. One of those schools was a high school. In the past two years VanHorn has made leaps and bounds of improvement, the most notable being that they no longer have metal detectors. Don't get me wrong, this is still very much an inner-city school, but it has lost quite a bit of its hard edge.

On Friday I accepted a subbing job at VanHorn for a science class. Several things I didn't know until I got there.

This was a purely Freshman class.
It was Spirit Week for Homecoming.
There was a Pep Assembly at the end of the day.
There were no visible lesson plans left by the teacher.

I am happy to report that I survived my day in VanHorn High School. I'm pretty sure that I can now accept any job offered in any school in the district.

2010-10-06T08:01:00.001-06:00

I got home from work at Kohl's last night at 11:45.

I didn't fall asleep until after 1.

I woke up at 5:15.

Couldn't fall back asleep.

I'm subbing this afternoon.

I work at Kohl's again tonight.

It's going to be a long night.

full circle

2010-09-16T21:32:00.000-06:00

I was at work today and I ran into this crazy lady:

I haven't seen her since we graduated from High School. Who knew that we were both going to finish college and end up living with our parents again....

musings

2010-09-12T20:50:00.003-06:00

I miss my confidence. I miss my independence. I miss my ability to get a full nights sleep. I miss doing something that I truly love. I miss the late night conversations. But mostly, I miss my friend.

summation

2010-09-12T20:49:00.001-06:00

I had an interesting conversation with my parents tonight in which they were more spot-on then I would have previously given them credit for. I'm not sure why I was so surprised by their summation of me, but they were 100% correct.

I wear a mask; everyone wears masks, but I really only have one as opposed to many. And I wear it all the time.

Right now I feel as if that mask is about to be ripped off my face and there's nothing I can do to stop it...

mockingjay

2010-09-06T08:46:00.000-06:00

I finally read this book:

I was enraptured. I couldn't put it down. I loved it.

There had been people tell me it didn't resolve itself enough. But I thought it resolved perfectly.

food for thought

2010-08-30T19:42:00.002-06:00

BriAnne: Wal-mart would shave your back if you asked them to. But that doesn't mean you should.

2010-08-28T22:14:00.000-06:00

I live in the basement. I rather like it.

But I'm also a rather messy person. Not messy per se, but very lazy. So when I do my laundry I tend to leave it in piles on the floor. They're very organized piles though. And I try not to let the sit there for too long.

I just smashed a spider that was scurrying across my floor.

Something has to change.

The room must be deep cleaned. Meaning swept and mopped, because yes, there is not carpet on my floor, just the concrete.

And then I'm thinking I shall spray for bugs. Because I just cannot handle them.

World's of Fun highlights

2010-08-19T21:23:00.000-06:00

We rode the Detonator FOUR times!

The Mamba. Over 200 feet high. A nearly vertical drop. More than 75 mph. It was love at first ride.


We even "drove" the taxis.

I rode a camel.

The Prowler. SOOOO much better than the Timberwolf.

After seven straight hours in the sun. We were exhausted. But still managed to car dance on the way home.

the world may have just ended

2010-08-15T21:57:00.000-06:00

Its ture. The world may have just ended. I did something that I swore I would never, ever do. I signed up for ldssingles.com . . .

2010-08-15T18:46:00.000-06:00

I was informed today by my younger brother that the reason I didn't date at BYU was because I expected too much from boys.

10 days

2010-08-11T16:54:00.000-06:00

10 days. That's how long its been since it rained. (Or possibly a little more than that.) Normally this wouldn't be so abnormal. But this year has been so very abnormal. That's the longest we've gone without rain all summer long. And it was starting to get a little dismal. So when the sky opened up and started raining this evening, I went outside. I couldn't help myself. I stood at the end of the driveway and just soaked the rain in. I jumped in the puddle at the corner. I loved it.

we had a party!

2010-08-03T09:07:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time there was a girl who decided to serve a mission.

This girl just happened to be called to serve in the Missouri Independence Mission, which just happens to be the mission that I live in. Several months passed and this girl just happened to be transferred into my parent's ward, where my dad just happens to be the ward mission leader. This happened to be the state of things when her birthday rolled around. A visit to the house was made during that week, and I deemed a celebration necessary.

Nathan went with me to the store to get "presents" for Sister Hafen and he didn't want Sister Finlayson to feel left out, so we got something for her as well. :) I'm positive this was just the first of many birthday celebrations this week, cause the ward is like that. Purely awesome!

new obsession

2010-08-02T17:43:00.000-06:00

I recently discovered this....

I love it.

End of story.

oh no...

2010-07-28T21:07:00.000-06:00

The absolute worst thing that could ever happen happened today. Our air conditioner broke. Like just completely quit working. Dad is livid. Nathan is miserable. Mom and I are just trying to not die or heat exhaustion. I sacrificed my box fan to the parentals since I'm already in the basement where its not quite as hot. Nathan is sleeping on the couch in his underwear with an oscillating fan pointed straight at him.

When I say I like midwest summers, I really mean I like being inside where there's air conditioning during midwest summers....

I feel like I've taken a giant leap backwards

2010-07-26T20:07:00.002-06:00

Things were going so well. I have a job that I really enjoyed, even if I didn't appreciate the mammoth drive I made every day, and I was beginning to make plans to move to San Diego in January. I felt like things were headed in the right direction for the first time in a long time. But as soon as I got comfortable with things, my shoebox was picked up and shaken. And now that I'm starting to get my bearings again and picking things up, I realizing that maybe the places I had things were wrong to begin with. This could actually end up being a really good thing. Its just the getting to the good part that I'm struggling with at the moment...

....

2010-07-24T14:12:00.002-06:00

I'm no longer employed. I don't know why. I don't want to talk about it. End of story.

SnakeBite OooHahHah!

2010-07-22T13:04:00.002-06:00

I was sitting at work Monday morning when I got a text from Mom. All it said was BriAnne had been bitten by a copperhead snake and they were at the hospital. After they admitted her I left work in Overland Park and drove back to Lee's Summit. This was the scene when I walked into her room. (Not really.)

I told her her hand looks like Thing from "Fantastic Four." Later I said it resembled a fat-man's hand. Both are fairly accurate descriptions. :]

She was on an anti-venom cocktail because the doctor's weren't really sure what the snake was. But since my sister is genius, she self-identified it as a copperhead. (It didn't help that no one at the hospital had ever seen a snake bite before. Not even the paramedics who got to her first. And then her second night there they had another snake bite victim come in.)

Finally after a day and a half in the hospital she was able to start moving her fingers again. We might have thrown a party. :D

200 - not 300

2010-07-15T16:25:00.001-06:00

I've been waiting to decide what to make as my 200th post. I've wanted it to be super good. I came across this today and laughed hysterically. Definitely blog material...

confessionals

2010-06-26T17:41:00.002-06:00

Last night I discovered the truth of something that I have suspected for over a year. And as much as I acted like it didn't bother me anymore, it still hurt. There may have even been tears shed. I gave SO many years of my life to the "cause" and to be betrayed like that, even just the suspicion, was pure hell. And having gotten to the point where the "cause" is no longer even a thought in my mind, I had envisioned that knowing the truth would be nothing more than simply knowing a fact. But that knowledge, which a year ago could have crippled me, cause a dull pain in my chest. Its entirely possible that the "cause" will never fully be erased from my heart. And that scares me more than anything.

open ended correspondences

2010-06-23T21:36:00.005-06:00

Dear Rain
As much as I like you, please go away. I'm starting to get really tired of there always being water on my bedroom floor. And it really makes doing my hair a pain.

Dear Laundry
I really wish that you would put yourself away. Continually moving the pile is all I can bring myself to do at this point.

Dear Part-time Minimum Wage Retail Job
I only have two more shifts with you. I can't explain my happiness over this fact. You were a good rope to hang onto but I think I've finally managed to grab hold of the ladder. Thank you for (almost) everything.

Dear Best Friend
Please come home from Hawaii. I miss you.

Dear Goodwill
Thank you for presenting me with the most gorgeous porcelain doll I have seen in a while. I had forgotten that I have a collection of them and I was so excited to purchase it and bring it home to add to my shelves. Too bad I don't actually have shelves at the moment. But someday. Someday they will all be displayed again.

Dear Contacts
I know I have been wearing you for too long and you wish for nothing more than to be disposed of. But you're going to have to wait a while longer. Just as soon as the funds are available you will be replaced. I promise.

Dear Library
You are my favorite place right now. But my average spot in the holds queue is 82. Is there any way that you could hurry it along a little bit? I'd like to be able to read my selections before I die.

Dear Allergy Medicine
Why do I have to be allergic to you? Its kind of counter-productive.

Dear Man who broke my heart and then my friend's heart
You are the scum of the earth. I laughed when I heard you had been hit by a truck. And then I felt bad for laughing because I know God doesn't look kindly on that kind of behavior. But I still think you deserved it. Please make your self useful and disappear, as you have caused so much heart-ache. I'd like to not be awakened by a distress call early in the morning again.

2010-06-22T21:53:00.003-06:00

I went to the library before going to work today and picked up two more books. One of them I had had on hold and the other was just one that caught my eye. I'm more than half way through one of them. What is it about hot summer months that causes me to read like my life depends on it?

in the past week and a half I have read these books

2010-06-21T16:45:00.002-06:00

(I didn't realize when I picked this one up off the shelf at the library that it was the THIRD one in a series. In fact, I didn't realized that until I was more than half way done with it. I decided to finish it and then find the first and second ones.)
(Unfortunately for me the library only had the second one. I read it. And now I'm not so patiently waiting for the first one to come from another library.)

I also have approximately 13 books on hold at the library. The only catch is my average position is 78. I could be waiting for a while.

I'm starting to show my age

2010-06-16T08:11:00.003-06:00

I don't know if all college graduates do this, but I like, no, love to listen to NPR. Maybe I'm just getting old-er. I enjoy the shows the best; "Wait, Wait..Don't Tell Me," "This American Life," and "Science Friday" to name a few.
My favorite thing of the past two weeks about this is that I discovered that you can subscribe to these podcasts on iTunes for FREE.
So I can download them and listen to them while I get ready in the morning.
:D

let the mountains shout for JOY!

2010-06-15T18:34:00.003-06:00

Remember this? And how I was SO happy to finally have a job again. Well. I am pleased to announce that I have submitted official paperwork to quit my job at Eddie Bauer. Because after next week I will begin keeping regular adult work hours. Yes friends. I have a real job. Monday through Friday, from nine to five.

Oh. My. Word.

2010-06-12T07:38:00.001-06:00

this is what my room looks like...

2010-06-10T20:59:00.002-06:00

Is it any wonder that I dread going to bed?

new news!

2010-06-10T12:03:00.002-06:00

My friends Jeff and Becca had their baby this week!Welcome Paige Brianne!

lovely frisbee

2010-06-08T11:53:00.003-06:00

As a branch, we broke the mold last night. Instead of playing volleyball, which is always the fall-back, we played ultimate frisbee. I absolutely love frisbee and have not played a single game since moving home and I was more than stoked for it. And even though my team lost (horribly) I had so much fun. After the game we were just playing around and tossing the frisbee. Someone on the other side of the circle threw it to me and I backed up to catch it but it was still too high so I jumped. I missed the frisbee. And then I missed my landing and I fell backward. But I had so much momentum from backing up that I flipped over my head and landed on my stomach. It was epic. I wish there were pictures to prove that it happened....

dinner conversations, revisited

2010-05-28T20:40:00.001-06:00

Benson - "Thank you, for grounding me."

Birthday Week

2010-05-19T21:23:00.006-06:00

I turned 25 this year. I'm a quarter of a century old. Its a new experience. I decided that since its such a big deal that I was going to celebrate all week long. And that's exactly what I did.

We started off the week by feeding the Sister Missionaries. Its still somewhat weird to see Sister Hafen on a semi-regular basis, but we're starting to get used to it.

I decided to try something a little different with my hair and flipped it out instead of fighting it to go under. I think I like it. (The only problem was that my flat iron died, quite literally, on Saturday and then the new one that I got sucked. So I went about four days with a crappy flat iron and no real way to do my hair. But in this picture it still looked good.)

Nathan wanted to give me a present. This was the result. Pieces of his "Little People Noah's Ark" set. I got Noah. And a Lion. And a bird. Pretty much amazing.

On my actual birthday my (favorite) manager got me a cake and a bag of peanut butter MM's. (The day before I had bought a bag at Target with the express purpose of having them for the plane later that week. So now I had two bags. Even better!)

Then I went out to dinner with a bunch of people from the branch. While we were sitting there waiting for our food, most of them each pulled out a bag of peanut butter MM's. Now I had five bags. Its ture. I'm obsessed with them. But I think after this I might have to swear them off for a while.

Thursday morning, early, I flew to Utah. This was my lovely rental car, which got great gas mileage. Something around 42. I was in heaven.

My first stop upon reaching Utah was the BYU library. I worked there for two years and still keep in touch with everyone. Cause we're hardcore like that. Oh, how I miss Becca. And I still can't believe that she's 7 months pregnant. Not that you can tell at all.

See. I loved working at the library. I also love that there are still origami pieces on the cabinet behind us.

First thing Friday morning I went to the Salt Lake Temple. Simply amazing.

Okay. The real reason that I went to Utah was for a wedding. For a friend that I hadn't seen in something like 12 years. Seriously. The last time we saw each other was right before my family moved to Missouri. (People had a really hard time accepting the fact that I went so far to be there for this. But let me tell you, if it had been the other way around and I were the one getting married, Tambri would have been there in a heartbeat.) Here's Ky and Tambri coming out of the temple.

After pictures I met David for a (very) late lunch. I ate so much that I pretty much didn't eat anything until lunch the next day. Loved it. But as we walked out of the restaurant it was POURING rain. And we had a couple of blocks (large Salt Lake blocks) to go to get back to David's office. So I took off my shoes and we ran. We were drenched by the time we got back. And my hair went flat...

Look at us. Best friends reunited after 12 years. (No, I'm really not that much taller than she is, I'm in heels and she's in flats.) I think we could be mistaken for sisters. Don't you?

I was staying at my grandma's in Ogden and Saturday morning she told me that my cousin Kaitlyn had a dance recital. I told her that I would be interested in going. During the first number a bunch of the dancers left the stage and took people up with them. Kaitlyn's first choice was her sister, but she was holding baby Maddie. And her mom was occupied with Gavin and Lucas and Elana. So I figured that she was going to pull Grandma up. No such luck. I was the (un)lucky participant. She tried to teach me the dance on the spot. I did little more than make a fool of myself. But I did have fun in the process.

From the dance recital I drove to Provo to spend time with family down there. But the first thing I noticed was that there was a TON of snow on Timp. I couldn't believe it. There were times when I was living in Provo that people would hike Timp in the middle of May. The only way anyone would attempt that this year would be if they were seriously missing a screws in their head. That's a lot of snow.

On Sunday I got to go visit my (step)grandpa in the care center. He's almost 92 and is in the early stages of Dementia. And he's quite possibly my favorite family member. He thought I was Stephanie for a good portion of our visit, but that's okay. At least he recognized me and knew that I was family.

I realized Sunday evening/night that I really don't like Provo. It could even be said that I hate Provo. And I have no desire to ever live there again. I also have a strong distaste for the Denver airport but I have never been so happy to reach Denver because it meant that I was halfway home.
I did love seeing people. I loved visiting. But I loved coming home more.
All in all, my birthday week was amazingly fantastic!

all those times when you think it can't happen to you and then it does

2010-05-11T19:52:00.003-06:00

It finally happened. After almost 9 months of being pretty sure that it was never going to happen, it happened. Caitlin (AKA Sister Hafen) was transferred into my parent's ward. One of my good friends is a missionary in my parent's ward.(And I look possessed in this picture...)

Kansas City Temple

2010-05-09T14:54:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was truly an historic day. For reals.

Yesterday was the groundbreaking for the Kansas City Temple.
And I got to be there!

The wind was FREEZING. But being there was totally worth it!
Hopefully the next two years will soar by.

Woot. New camera.

2010-05-05T13:28:00.002-06:00

twilight

2010-04-24T15:03:00.002-06:00

Okay. I'll admit it. I like "Twilight." And "New Moon." And "Eclipse." And "Breaking Dawn." Now, I'm not saying that I think they are the absolute greatest books on the face of the planet, cause I don't. But once in a while I like to read ridiculous books that have pretty much nothing in them. This is how about feel about all things "Twilight." On that note, I'm pretty excited for the new movie to come out. It is one that I am planning on seeing. So I can make fun of it.

books, books, books, and more books

2010-04-22T11:20:00.002-06:00

here are the books that i have read in the past 10 days. several of them i read in one sitting. more than one of them i had the hardest time putting down. and some of them i had to force myself to keep reading to the end. because i'm like that. i have to finish it once i start, even if its a sub-par book. in between reading i have somehow found time to sleep, eat and work. no doubt its a miracle that i'm still functional...

2010-04-22T06:44:00.003-06:00

The other day I was eating something and I bit my tongue so hard that it started bleeding. Not only that but you could visibly see the puncture marks in the end of my tongue. Two days later any my tongue is still pretty much numb....

alien life forms

2010-04-13T13:11:00.003-06:00

It pretty much sucks when you're house/puppy sitting for someone for two weeks and during those two weeks your mode of transportation is the aforementioned someone's car and when you go to drive to work that first day and the car won't start the first thing you think is that somehow the security settings managed to kick you out but then the next day when it still won't start you begin to wonder if maybe its the battery that's dead but then you realize after you've lifted up the hood that you can't even find the battery around the engine so you start to think that perhaps the car is really truly and alien and it's beginning to plan its return to its alien nation so its shut all major functions down thus eliminating all thoughts of providing transportation for anyone or anything.

PS - That was the longest run-on sentence in the history of run-on sentences. I'm pretty sure that not one of my college professors would have appreciated seeing the likes of that in a paper.

new hair

2010-04-12T08:04:00.001-06:00

The new hair.

animals

2010-04-11T18:31:00.003-06:00

I don't like animals. Just in general. I never really have. I don't know what it is that makes this the case. Possibly because they smell and they cause everything else around them to smell. Maybe I just had a bad experience at some point.
So I'm not quite sure how I keep ending up house/dog sitting for people. Someone asked me to do it for the weekend once. And then they passed the word on. That's generally how it happens. Like when people in the ward would fight about me babysitting for them. Apparently I'm a hot commodity.
All that being said. I'm just starting a two week stretch of house/puppy sitting for someone that I've known for 12 years. And the really crazy part is that I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I think it has something to do with the fact that I've been in desperate need of a break from being at home. Maybe its that I don't dislike dogs quite like I used to. I'm not entirely sure. But I'm beginning to think that I could live on my own and have a dog...

admittance is the first step to recovery

2010-04-06T15:05:00.002-06:00

I have an addiction. And I'm not afraid to admit it. I LOVE peanut butter m&m's. I have successfully eaten three entire bags by myself in less than two weeks. Now, one might ask how I can continue to feed this addiction at these rates and still be loosing weight to the tune of a size six-ish. And the answer is that I have absolutely. no. idea.

hopes and wishes

2010-03-29T09:17:00.002-06:00

Today I woke up and got ready and left the house before 9 am. Of my own volition.
I wore jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. And I wasn't cold. Its a glorious feeling.
Then I came home and washed a mountain of dishes but I'm still trying to get up the nerve to tackle the mountain of clothes known as my laundry.
Maybe one day I'll feel like I have control of my sleep schedule again...

at 3 am this would make more sense than it does at 10 am

2010-03-28T08:54:00.004-06:00

I think, if my camera hadn't decided to break that I might actually post more pictures. Even the pictures from Nathan's birthday I "borrowed" from my sister.

Yesterday was a momentous day. A bunch of us from the branch went out to lunch at On The Border cause Kristin and I are IN LOVE with the salsa. And because her birthday is on Monday. But really we went for the salsa. Rachel happened to "casually" mention that we were there for a birthday and the server (who happened to be help us the last time we were there) got really excited. After we were done eating he came out with a bunch of people who work there, had her stand up on top of her chair and they sang to her. It was great. It was one of those times that I wish my camera weren't broken.

I bought a plane ticket this past week. To go to a wedding of a friend that I haven't seen in almost 12 years. For a while I debated my reasoning for going. I mean, I could have signed up for the GRE twice with the money that I paid for it. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I really need to be there. Sure, its been a long time since we saw each other. But I've been meaning to take the GRE for a year now, I'm pretty sure that a couple more months is not going to matter that much. I for sure have to figure out my camera situation before this wedding. It most definitely needs to be documented.

Kristin and I decided to play the Wii last night. So we unhooked it from her parents TV upstairs and took it downstairs. She's going to see how long she can manage to keep it. We played until 1 am. Super not very smart because by then I was much too tired to drive home. Good thing I have a bed to call my own there.

Mom and Dad went to a wedding last night. I got a text from Dad (which is still really weird) saying that Mom borrowed my clothes and my earrings. Slightly random in a not so random sort of way. I love that we're the same size and we can trade back and forth. Plus I have an earring fetish.

I'm not sure what to wear to church today. I look at the dress that Mom wore last night and think that it would be way cute, and I haven't worn it for a while myself. And then I see the dress I got a couple of months ago that I have yet to wear and think that maybe today would be a good day for that. But then I remember that it was kind of cold when I came home this morning and do I really want to wear that one. Maybe the problem is that I have too many clothes.

Mom told me yesterday that I ought to stop losing weight. And how do you propose that I do that? Its not like I'm trying to lose weight. Its just sort of happening. But I am starting to run into the problem where absolutely none of my clothes fit. So perhaps I should work on leveling my weight loss for a while. Which would mean that I have to start eating regularly again, meaning three actual meals a day.

Maybe I should take up running again. That's about as likely to happen as me getting out of bed before 8:30. But maybe if I was running again I would want to get up earlier.

Thus ends the post that reads like the messages I leave on people's phones...