It's a Blog!

Go out and vote!

2010-11-02T09:32:00.002-06:00

If you think political ads are bad now...

Delicious fall leaves

2010-09-24T09:32:00.001-06:00

I love fall. I love the leaves. I love looking up at the mountains and seeing the beautiful colors. I love when I go to my parents' house and I can crunch through all the leaves in their front yard. I love the smell of fall - it's kind of wet and woodsy and just... fallish.

I also (more recently) love Fake Science. So I really loved this recent post.

Mmm. Nothing like delicious fall leaves in the fall.

Funny shoe story

2010-08-22T22:29:00.000-06:00

So have I mentioned on this blog that I have really small feet? Because I do. I have REALLY small feet. I wear a size 4 shoe in women's, which is never available anywhere. Generally, I buy and wear kids' shoes. It's a pain, but I"m used to it now. Anyways, now you know the backstory.

Friday, my roommates and I went shoe shopping. And I found a pair of shoes!!! Amazing! The store was having a buy one get one half off sale, but I didn't find anything else I wanted, which is not uncommon. When you wear kid shoes at 28, your midset is often, "Do I get the shoes with the latest Disney princess on them or Hannah Montana?" So, I was pretty excited to find some nice black flats that actually looked like grown-up shoes. I went up to the register to get rung up, and the lovely lady working there asked me, "Would you like to get something for yourself today for half off?"

Well, I had to chuckle. I laughingly told her, "Actually, these are for me. I just have ridiculously small feet!" She looked surprised, but recovered pretty fast. And that is my story for the day.

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-04T21:33:00.001-06:00

And because I love the Muppets, here is this:

This song always reminds me of a couple years when I played this song in an institute show. And when I say "I", I mean me and three other people played it on two pianos. It was AWESOME! I had the piccolo part, which would be Beaker in this... rendition.

Anyways, Happy Independence Day!

Unexpected surprise

2010-06-30T14:35:00.001-06:00

This is my brand new niece Ellie. You can read all about her over at Brad and Teri's. She wasn't completely expected this morning, but we love her anyways!

Isn't she the cutest baby in the entire world? Speaking as a completely objective third party observer with absolutely no personal interest in the matter, I would say she is.

Welcome to the world, Ellie!

Is this some kind of April Fool's Day joke?

2010-04-01T19:52:00.001-06:00

This is an actual conversation I had today with a patient. Just imagine my voice getting increasingly louder as the conversation progresses.

Me: Terrace Pharmacy, technician speaking.

Patient: Hi, I have a prescription that was filled there, and I'm wondering who the doctor is. The prescription number is 123456.

Me: Okay, it looks like its for Medication X.

Patient: Who is the doctor on that?

Me: It's Doctor Biddulph.

Patient: Who? How do you spell that?

Me: B-I-D...

Patient: Wait, I can't hear you! So it's D.

Me: No, B as in boy.

Patient: Okay, B.

Me: Yes. B-I-D...

Patient: Okay D-I-D...

Me: No, B as in boy, I, D as in dog.

Patient: Okay, B-I-D. What's next?

Me: Okay, next is another D as in dog, then U...

Patient: Okay, zero?

Me: No, not zero, D again, as in dog.

Patient: Okay, so it's B-I-D-zero...

Me: No, there's no zero. It's B-I-D-then D again...

Patient: Okay B-I-D.

Me: Yes. Then D-U...

Patient: E?

Me: No, not E. U.

Patient: I'm sorry I can't hear you. There's a lot of static. (Note: I didn't hear any static.)

Me: Okay, so it's B-I-D-D-U

Patient: B-I-D-E. What's next?

Me (giving up): Okay. Next is L.

Patient: Dash?

Me in my head: What the heck? Dash?!?

Me out loud: No, there's no dash! It's L.

Patient: Okay, O.

Me (giving up again): Okay, then P as in Peter.

Patient: E?

Me: Now, P as in Peter, or Paul.

Patient: Okay, P.

Me: Yes. And last is H.

Patient: A?

Me: No, H as in happy or Henry.

Patient: 8?

Me (in my head): 8?!?! Who has an 8 in their name?

Me (out loud): No, not 8. H, as in Henry, or house, or hairy, or happy.

Patient: Oh, H.

Me: Yes.

Patient: Okay, so it's B-I-D-E-O-L-P-H.

Me (totally giving up): Yes.

Patient: Okay, thanks, bye!

Me (in my head): What the heck? Are you deaf? Did you not put in your hearing aid? Do you not listen at ALL?!?!?!?!?

Me (out loud): Bye!

March Madness

2010-03-17T19:45:00.000-06:00

I don't usually get into March Madness. Let's be perfectly honest: I'm not super interested in sports. We do a bracket at work, but I don't know what I'm doing when I make my picks. But this... this I can get into.

Muppet March Madness.

Muppets + March Madness = Awesome!!!!

Thanks to Mental_Floss for the post that lead me there.

And, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, this little video:

Mental Jukebox of... Oddness?

2010-03-13T11:50:00.001-07:00

Usually I will have four or five or seventy different songs in my head during the course of the day. One song will just stay there until something distracts me enough, makes me think of a new one, or I go mad. So, since it was pretty slow at work yesterday, I decided to write down all the songs that were in my head, with commentary! Here goes!

"I'm Going to Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon
This song always makes me think of one of the pharmacists that used to work here. One day it was playing on the radio and he was singing and dancing along. Unfortunately for him, a customer came in during his routine. It was pretty hilarious. We were talking about him this morning because the pharmacy he works at now got visited by the DEA or DOPL or something yesterday. And it was only his second day, poor guy.

"Fireflies" by Owl City
This makes me think of playing Tap-Tap with Nathan. "Tap tap, tap tap REVENGE!!!"

"Then You May Take Me to the Fair" from Camelot
I think I made a goal for the day when this popped in my head. There is a line in this song that goes "I do applaud your noble goals/ now let us see if you achieve them." And I did achieve my goal! In fact, I OVERACHIEVED my goal. Huzzah for me!

"It Really Was No Miracle" from The Wizard of Oz
I have no idea why this popped into my mind. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the part when Dorothy is in Munchkinland after Glinda sings, "Come out, come out, where ever you are..." You know, "The wind began to switch, the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to un-hinch..." Et cetera, et cetera, and so forth.

"Singing In the Rain" from Singing In the Rain
Again, I have no idea where this came from. It was sunny weather, and I wasn't singing. Bizarre-o.

"Ain't Got Rhythm" from Phineas and Ferb
I love this show. LOVE IT!!!! It is so funny and clever. If you have never seen this show, well, I'm sorry. Here is the song, just so you can get a taste. :)

"In Enterprise of Martial Kind" from The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan
I don't know what was going on in my brain yesterday.

"Code Monkey" by Jonathan Coulton
When I went to lunch, I saw one of the hospital IT guys walking by with a computer terminal, which made me think of my brother, the code monkey.

"Hey Julie" by Fountains of Wayne
Code monkeys made me think of "working all day at a dead end job." Don't ask me why.

"Windy" by Association
This song in my mind has forever been tainted by a 7-Up commercial. Also, Brad just happened to come into work right then.

"El Scorcho" by Weezer
Windy had been in there a while and I was sick of it, so I told Nathan to get a different song stuck in my head. This is what he chose. For some reason, a lot of Weezer songs get the earworms out. Nice.

"Stonecutter Song" from The Simpsons
Again, I don't know why I had this one in my mind, but I probably said or heard, "We do," at some point in time.

"A Glorious Dawn" by Carl Sagan, featuring Stephan Hawking (Symphony of Science)
Okay, this is one of the most awesome things ever. Just think: scientists + autotune = AWESOME!!! I like pretty much all of the Symphony of Science songs, but this song is probably my favorite. Brad and I were talking about this song and that's why it was in my head.

After about that point, we had a gazillion (rough estimate) customers come in and call at the same time, so my brain jukebox got turned off and never got turned back on again.

At least for that day...

I'm a horrible person. Also, a nerd.

2010-02-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was watching the opening ceromony for the Olympics last night when this came on.

I am a horrible person. Instead of thinking, "Oh that is wonderful! Raising money for the Haitians!" or "That is so sad about those people in Haiti. I'm going to donate!" when I saw it, I thought of this gem here.

Yet more proof that I am indeed a nerd.

I am such a nerd, Part 2

2010-01-20T20:59:00.002-07:00

So. Here is further proof that I am a nerd. The first time I saw this commercial, my thought wasn't about Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches.

My first thought was, "Wow! They got all the planets orbiting counterclockwise, like they should!" I also thought this (skip ahead to the 2:09 mark):

Yep. I'm a nerd.

Update: Unfortunately, the Bill Nye video was pulled for terms of use violation. Never fear! I will explain it for you. Picture something like this:

Don't you love my skills at MS Paint? Bill Nye is the middle of a table of trains, each one with a model of a planet on it. The trains are running counterclockwise. Everytime Bill says "counterclockwise," it goes to a shot of him saying "counterclockwise" while holding a clock that is running backwards. I will do the impression for you if you ask me. There you go. That is basically the clip I wanted to show, but no longer can.

A bonfire, a friendly cat, and a Spanish love song

2009-06-11T14:36:00.002-06:00

A continuation of "A date...?"

Thursday night was a lovely night for a bonfire. Although it looked like rain early in the afternoon, it cleared up by the evening. A was late picking me up. Points off for that: I was already nervous AND I had taken Excedrin earlier to stave off an impending migraine, which makes me jittery. However, he did open my car door, so points back for that. We doubled with his friend and a girl in my ward, so that was good (N and R, respectively).

We drove out to Taylor and chatted. A told me about his recent trip to Guatemala. I told him about mine to the Bahamas. Conversation = good = less awkward first date. Excellent! When we got out there, we met the boys' friend and his wife (Friend and Wife, since I can't remember their names. Oops.). We were having the bonfire on the Friend's family's property.

As we were unloading the car and setting up a table and chairs, Friend's grandmother's cat came walking by. It immediately decided to jump on everyone sitting down so that the lucky person it jumped on could shower all his or her affection upon it. I didn't mind this too much, but R and A are both pretty allergic to cats, so it was a pain for them. It really became a problem when we had food on the table and cat decided it wanted some. Cat-infested tomatoes anyone?

After the cat attacked our food, N had had about enough. So while Friend and Wife were checking on the hamburgers, he put the very friendly cat in the trunk of his car and shut it. Not all the way, mind you, but enough that the cat wouldn't get out and start bothering us again. Unfortunately, when Wife found out, she was pretty mad, so she let the cat out, took it down Friend's grandma's (on the other side of the field), gave it some meat, came back, went in the house, and didn't come out for the rest of the evening. Oops. Not too thrilled about that one, was she?

After eating and talking around the fire for a while, N and A pulled out their guitars and tuned up. Spanish love song time, baby! After playing a little to get warmed up, they started on the song. A was trying to do the cool mandolin-sounding thing on his guitar, but it wasn't working out. It still sounded really good. I must say, I loved my Spanish love song. It had one line: "Janel, mi amor de las montanas." Translated: "Janel, my love of the mountains." LOVE IT! The guys were disappointed it didn't turn out as well as they had practiced. As A said, "We'll have to record it and give you a copy." Suites me fine, but I thought it sounded great.

They played a couple more songs, just messing around. Ooh, and A played one of my favorite songs ever, and sang, and MAN he does not have a bad voice. He ought to serenade all his dates. Anyways, after putting out the fire and cleaning up, we were on our way home. Doorstep scene: not awkward. Bonus points!!

All in all, it was a very good, fun date. Do I anticipate going on any more with this guy? Not really, but it was still fun.

The End.

A date...?

2009-06-04T14:00:00.002-06:00

It's Tuesday night. I'm sitting at home watching Ghostbusters and my phone rings. It's number I don't recognize. I don't think anything of it though because I think it's a wrong number or for my brother Nathan. I've had a couple calls for him since he's come home since I have his old number. I answer my phone, and the male voice on the other end asks, "Is this Janel?" I reply in the affirmative, to which he tells me, "Hi, this is A from the ward." (To protect his privacy, I'll just use his initial.)

At this point in time, I try to figure out who the heck A is. I'm racking the pictures in my mind, searching, searching for his face. He continues, "I owe you a Spanish love song. I've been working on it and it's finally ready. Are you going to be around Thursday night around 7 to 10-ish?"

With the words "Spanish love song" I instantly know who A is. In March, my ward had a service auction for a FHE activity. Everyone thought of some kind of service they could do, and it was auctioned off by points you earned through taking a quiz and bringing in canned food. A auctioned off a Spanish love song that I just happened to win.

I tell A, "Yeah, I'll just be at home hanging around. Do you want to just call me before you come over?" He replies, "Sure. We're planning on a bonfire out in Taylor if you want to dress appropriately for that..." Wait, what? Bonfire? What's going on here?

A continues: "Is it all right if I come pick you up?" I dazedly reply, "Sure!" "Okay, I'll come over between 7 and 7:30." I come to my senses and realize he probably needs my address. I give it to him along with some directions, and after some departing remarks, I hang up the phone.

I then ask myself, "What just happened?"

To be continued...

Introducing...

2009-05-25T17:02:00.002-06:00

Or more like reintroducing...

Remember Nathan? You know, Nathan my brother on the mission in Argentina? The one with the really tall companion?

HE'S HOME!!!!!

Huzzah! He came home on Wednesday. It is so nice to have him back. He is his same old self, only 18 pounds thinner. And he makes this weird face sometimes when he's being sarcastic. But he's still the same old Nathan.

I am so so so so so glad to have him back.

What do these song titles have in common?

2009-05-01T16:23:00.000-06:00

Island in the Sun - Weezer

The Wild Sea - The Aquabats

Holiday - Weezer

The Ocean - Mae

The Sand - The Hippos

Pork and Beans - Weezer*

*This is a joke. Pork and beans are gross. Except the song is good.

What is up?

2009-04-16T15:54:00.006-06:00

If you have a Gmail account, you can go into the settings tab and pick a theme for your account. The one I chose, "Tree" is pretty cool. I've discovered that it displays the weather outside for you as your theme. So lately I've seen this:

I've also seen this:

But I didn't expect to see this one anymore:

I'm kind of sad you can't see the tree on this one. It's covered with snow.

What's up with the snow, eh?

It's my new favorite love song!

2009-02-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, in honor of Valentine's Day, here's my new favorite love song. Of sorts. It's by The Aquabats, and it's called "Look at Me (I'm a Winner)!" I don't know why I like it so, but I do. So there.

I've been pushed around like a jailbird
I've been left in a ditch
I never made the cut so to speak
I never even got to warm the bench
But with you I know, when that whistle blows
You keep me rockin', you keep me rockin' baby!
When I'm out on the job site
I'm thinkin' that we're gonna be alright
Be alright!

Four radios blastin' classic rock
And they're pointing at you
With your fist raised high
And a hitch in your step
You've got it all
I've got no reason to lie
Look at me look at me look at me I'm a winner
(You're a winner)
It's just as simple as that
Don't you agree don't you agree don't you agree that I'm a winner?
(You're a winner!)
You just can't argue with that

Someone once told me
You can't lose em' all
And that someone was you
But when I nail gunned my hand to the wall
I started to wonder if that could be true
But babe it's me you chose
And when the whistle blows
You keep me rockin', keep me rockin' baby
And when I'm out on the job site
I'm thinkin' we're gonna be alright
Be alright!

Four radios blastin' classic rock
And they're pointing at you
With your fist raised high
And a hitch in your step
You've got it all
I've got no reason to lie
Look at me look at me look at me I'm a winner
(You're a winner)
It's just as simple as that
Don't you agree don't you agree don't you agree that I'm a winner?
(You're a winner!)
You just can't argue with that

To the creepy guy in the lab...

2009-01-15T15:14:00.001-07:00

Just because you're listening to music, doesn't mean you should sing along, especially in the computer lab.

PS - I'm not dead, I just don't have a computer. Hence the dearth of posts. I hope everyone who reads this had a wonderful holiday season. I did. :)

P.P.S. 2/12: Dude, seriously. Stop singing in the lab.

Hey guess what guys!

2008-10-23T09:26:00.000-06:00

Prayer works! Wow! Isn't that amazing? If you read Annie's blog, you'll see why I say that. All I know is that I've paid my tithing and prayed and tried to be faithful. We truly are blessed as we strive to live the gospel.

And that's all I have to say right now.

A blast from the past

2008-10-11T16:32:00.000-06:00

I cannot deny it: I watched a ton of Sesame Street when I was growing up. Actually, I think I probably watched almost every day until I was in first grade. YouTube has become my best friend since then. Okay, not my best friend, but a really fun way to have a blast from the past. For example, I was able to find my favorite, the orange that sings Carmen. Anyways, there was this song that I loved, but I couldn't remember how it went. Today, I found it! Huzzah! Enjoy!

Bittersweet day

2008-10-08T15:52:00.001-06:00

Today was a difficult day in the life of Janel. My little brother left on his mission today. He'll be serving in the San Franscisco California Spanish-speaking mission. I am so happy and proud of him for making this decision. He will be an awesome missionary. I'm just sad that he has to leave to do it. That's all I'm going to write, because if I keep going, I'm going to start crying again. I've done enough of that today.

I'd just like to say...

2008-09-11T09:38:00.001-06:00

It's nice to feel needed.

Yet Another Excerpt from The Book of Janel

2008-08-30T14:20:00.002-06:00

Now in that day, my brother Derek did live in Salt Lake. And he had gone to the land of Mexico to preach the gospel, and had returned three years before I wrote this record.
And it came to pass that he did go unto Weber State and received a degree, yea even a degree in the science of computers. And he did also receive a job in the land of Salt Lake.
Wherefore my brother did move unto the land of Salt Lake. And his friend Steve did also move with him, and they did live together as roommates.
Nevertheless, my brother did not date, neither did he marry, for he found the women not pleasing in his sight.
And it came to pass in the summer months that Steve did go unto the land of Boston to install alarms of security. Wherefore my brother did lose his roommate, which grieved him for he had no one else to pay the rent.
Wherefore a friend of my brother moved in with him. Now this friend was engaged and was to be married in the fall, thus Steve could move back in when he returned from the land of Boston.
And it came to pass that the fiance of the friend had a former mission companion who lived in the land of Provo. And the name of this companion was BriAnn.
And the friend and fiance decided that my brother should date this companion. Wherefore, they did set up a date of blindness.And it came to pass that BriAnn was pleasing in the sight of my brother Derek, wherefore he dated her much.
And she went to the waters of Pineview with him, and he was injured and did think his arm was broken. Nevertheless, she did go up with him unto the hospital, yea and drove him home unto the land of Salt Lake, and also to the office of the doctor in the land of Salt Lake.
And behold, he did require surgery. But the it was found that the tendon was not torn, only the muscle therein. Wherefore, the doctor just cleaned everything out.
And it came to pass that because of her exceeding great goodness, my brother Derek asked BriAnn to marry him. And she accepted.
And they determined to be married in the house of the Lord in the land of Vernal, for that was the place where she was baptised. And they determined to married in the month of November.
And my family did rejoice in these good tidings for we also found BriAnn pleasing in our sight.

Postscript

And it came to pass that my brother and the fiance of my brother did change the location of their wedding. And they did change it to the house of the Lord in Salt Lake.
Wherefore these were pleasing unto them, and also to my family. And finish my record. Adieu.

Brother Simonisms Part 2!

2008-08-28T14:01:00.001-06:00

Aka Return of the Brother Simon!

So last year my brother-in-law was the bass section leader in Choralaires, and he was the one who originally started the list of Brother Simon quotes. He was kind enough to give me that list, so here it is!

About singing too low: We're gonna put a jack under your house and we're gonna raise it up and we're gonna pull that witch right out!

Stop choking off your sound... I could've thrown a rope over something and half of you would've died!

Men, I forbid you from dating any of these girls until they learn how to be women.

Referring to protesters at conference: If it were me I would raise my arm to the square and send them all to hell.

Maybe it's because you don't think like I think... I think genious!

Talking about spirits going to be born in the 1960s and getting to learn scientific theory: Oh great! I can sing, "I am a child of ape, and he hath protazoa-ed me here."

If guys were having babies there'd be one kid per family... If! If!

That's when parents should be allowed to shoot their kids or something.

Not Brother Simon, but about him.
What do you get when you cross a vampire with Brother Simon?
A little sucker about this big. Hand out to a short height

When the cat's away, the mice are dead!

Advice to folks who wish to bring their 3-year-old whiners to the Christmas Show: Get a sitter! Go on a date! Leave 'em at home!!!

So don't get on my damned list!

When I was a missionary, I was an authority on marriage. Then I got married, and I became an authority on having kids. Then I became a father, and I became an authority on being a grandparent... I'm currently an authority on death.

He was not only dumbfounded, but also found dumb.

You know... it's like spaghetti... you know, how do you decided the different parts when you mix all the meatballs and the sauce and the noodles, you know, 'cause, what if a bug flies in there or something, you know... and he gets all mixed up in there...

I realized, no wonder they don't want to look at me. You know, I felt bad for you guys... I mean, I didn't even want to look at me this morning.

I hate when I warn you and you still pooch it!

Give me a respectable range of retardation.

Some of you are so faithful, you followed even my idiotness.

Children of the corn, listen to the farmer.

They say that by the time you send off your fifth missionary it gets easier. That's a crock of manure.

About a letter members of the priesthood choir needed their bishops to sign: If you lost it, go to the office and then go to your bishop and tell him you're a turkey.

You do it fine when you do it alone, but when you get put together you become the wimp of eternity.

Brad: What would Jesus do?
Brother Simon: Jesus would refrain from smacking you, so I will too.

What do you think I am? Short and stupid?!

In reference to a guy in choir named Mikey: I apologize to his hat because it has to hang upon that which is not thinking.

Win one for the Gipper!

Don't look like your stupid self that is so often extenuated by dumbness! Look good!

I had hair Richard's color when I started directing choirs. BUT!! Because of people like you!

In reference to CPR: Well, Rex ain't getting anything from anyone in here... Die sucka!

Ha ha ha ha ha!

2008-08-13T13:16:00.000-06:00

Oh man, this is too good not to share. Enjoy!

Retraction and other things

2008-08-12T12:04:00.000-06:00

Apparently I lied when I said I wasn't going to be updating until September. Things happen, and I want to write about them. So, posts will probably still be infrequent, but I will post.

An Adventure
Starring: my parents, my sister and her husband, two of my brothers, my brother's girlfriend, and me.

Yesterday my sister called me at work and told me she and her husband were going boating. She realized I had to work and boating is not my favorite thing to do, but she said that my parents were going to come up later, and if I wanted to come I was invited. Then my mom called and told me that I was invited over for dinner, and then we'd go up to Pineview to meet the boating group. And I would get to meet my brother's girlfriend, who they all met on Friday. Sweet!

So after work I drove up to my parents' house. I was about ten minutes away from where they live when my mom called. "Where are you?" she asked. I told her. She then told me that my sister had just called to let her know that my brother Derek (they thought) had broken his arm, and he, his girlfriend, and my brother Lee were on their way to the hospital. If I wanted to still come over for dinner I could, but she and my dad were probably going up to the hospital after they ate. I was already more than halfway there, so I had dinner with my parents and then went to the hospital.

Luckily, Derek didn't break his arm. He didn't dislocate his shoulder or his elbow or anything either. He did, however, rip the tendon in his bicep. Derek, Derek, Derek. You don't know your own strength! Anyways he's doing okay, last I heard. And I got to meet the girlfriend, however briefly. That was the adventure.

Hiatus

2008-08-07T12:22:00.002-06:00

This is just to let all you readers out there that I'm going on hiatus for a little bit, at least until school starts. I don't have a computer anymore, and I only check my email a couple times a week. This is why there's been a dearth of posts and comments.

Anyhow, see ya'll in the fall!

Brother Simonisms

2008-07-24T13:00:00.000-06:00

My former choir director is Brother Simon. And he would say some of the craziest things. So here's a post of just some of the things he said this summer during choir.

I am not your track coach. I am your music guy.

About the dress code: Some of you will want to violate these rules. And you will go to hell.

Men, if you wear spandex, I will puke.

Girls, you're doing a little slip and slide, and that's great in the summertime when it's a big yellow piece of plastic with water... not in the choir!

That's why I'm a genius!

We're going to have the sopranos sing melody, and the tenors are going to dance with them!

The guy who uses a cell phone in a funeral, he should be in the casket.

About singing dotted sixteenth notes correctly: If you shake your head it gets better. Dat dah dah!

Staccato is like a machine gun! Marcato is like a sprinkler! And legato is smooth... like butter.

Your mother likes you to hear you sing. Go sing to her. But not in the shower.

I will pick a bass, and every time you do it wrong, I will slap him! ...I would really do that, but they've had that done to them their whole lives and well, look at them.

Carry squaaaaaah!

An annoying bass: I've got an idea!
Brother Simon: Me too. Let's sing.

You know, when the pioneers crossed the plains, they always gave up when the air conditioning went out.

Get a dog and walk your dog! Get a cat and walk your cat! Get three cats and walk them!

If you needed mouth to mouth, they wouldn't be able to get it in fast enough! I would walk away and say, "Die sucker!"

That "making life a bliss complete" wasn't.

Stop riding the llama, stop riding the elephant, and get working!

Andrea gets the star on the head for obedience, and I get the star on the bum for being dumb.

The first tenors should be on the alto part, and the second tenors should be on the tenor part, both of which were hmm... scantily clad?

That's not sneaking a breath. That's welcome to the high priests quorum!

Thank you. Helen Keller's very happy with that.

If you do it, you repent, the slate is clean! If you do it again, we kill you!

Try and talk like that when you're having a baby! You're going to be yelling, "Give me a shot!"

When someone was going off asking him what he taught in Junior High: What did I teach? Students?

Put "Each Life" away.

How were you elevated today? Oh well, my choir director planted a foot on my duff and I was elevated!

You'll die! You'll be ugly! Your children will be cursed to the fourth generation to be stupid! And you'll blame me! But's it's your own fault!

About the women not wearing white for the performance: Inasmuch as most of you are caucazoid... you would look like the Holy Ghost.

We could bury you under that rock and pretty flowers would probably grow out and they would look better than you!

Getting used to the idea

2008-07-22T12:36:00.000-06:00

I used to work at the public library, in the children's department. And I remember there was a book where a little girl's older sister was getting married. They went together with their mom to buy a dress, and she tried on a lot of dresses, and none of them looked right. The little girl was happy about this because she didn't want the sister to get married. Then the older sister came out in a certain dress and the little girl said something along the lines of, "She didn't look silly anymore. She looked like a bride."

When my sister was shopping for a wedding dress, I was there for the second half of the search. She had already gone to one place with my mom and found a dress she really liked, but I hadn't seen it yet. So when I joined the dress search, in every dress she tried on, she just looked my sister in a pretty white dress. Then we went back to the first place she had been and she tried on the dress again. And I had a moment like that little girl. She wasn't my little sister anymore. She was a bride. It took some getting used to.

I came back to my parents' house today and had a similar feeling. I don't live there anymore. It's not my house anymore. It's my parents'. I"m still getting used to the idea. I've only been moved out for two days, but I already feel like an interloper when I come home.

Strange isn't it?

Moved

2008-07-19T23:26:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling better now.

I never did find my keys, but I got some new ones made for me.

I'm excited! Yay!

Hmmm.

2008-07-18T21:55:00.000-06:00

Well, this is it. It's official. I'm moving tomorrow.

I'm sick of packing.

I'm sick of cleaning.

I lost my keys. Yes the keys to my car. And my parents' house. And our new place.

I feel like a fool.

This whole moving thing gives me the butterflies. I have never moved in my remembered life. I know we moved before I can remember, because I was born in another state. However, all the moves I ever made were done before I was two and a half, so I don't remember them.

Okay, back to the cleaning/packing/throwing away stuff/feeling nervous.

Mawage...

2008-07-12T17:19:00.002-06:00

My sister Teri got married today.

Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...

I wrote her a poem.

And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...

Here it is.

So tweasure your wuv.

Epithalamium

For Teri and Brad

Your wedding day is finally here

Teri Jo and Brad!

And so I wrote a little poem

(I hope you don't get mad)

It's all a about the two of you

You'll see, it's not too bad.

Although you first met in high school,

You two were meant to be.

Kristie and Aubrey planned it out

We had their guarantee.

They saw Teri on our piano,

"She's cute! Brad will agree!"

You were friends in chemistry class

You both took choir too.

Then Brad went to Costa Rica

And Teri had no clue

That soon she'd be his bride-to-be,

And that their love was true.

The day Brad asked for Teri's hand

He had things all in place

Yet it did not go as he'd planned

It blew up in his face

She still said "yes," proposed to in a barn...

I mean, romantic space!

And now you're married, happy day!

And wedding bells did chime.

I soon will stop this little poem

It will not take much time.

I'm sure you're getting sick of me

Teasing you in rhyme.

Yaaaaay!

2008-07-11T15:38:00.000-06:00

It finally came!!

My brother's mission call came today! And he's going to....

San Francisco, California, Spanish-speaking!

He leaves on October 8th.

I am soooo excited for him. Yay Lee!

Hang It Up - Keep It Up

2008-07-10T23:07:00.007-06:00

I listen to this podcast called The Sound of Young America, and occasionally they do a segment called Hang It Up - Keep It Up. Basically, it's a list of things that bug the host and a list of things the host likes. So here's my version of Hang It Up - Keep It Up. Minus the catchy theme music unfortunately.

Hang It Up
Hang it up engaged people! I found out today that someone else I know got engaged. What's the deal? I mean, I'm sure getting married is cool and all, but jeez. Enough is enough. Hang it up engaged people!

Hang it up no air conditioning! My car has no air conditioning. Here in Utah, summer is very hot. My hot + hot summer = not fun to drive. Hang it up no air conditioning!

Hang it up congestion! For some reason I always wake up with my nose entirely clogged. That's annoying. Hang it up congestion!

Hang it up Lee not getting his mission call! My brother's mission call was supposedly supposed to come this week. But hasn't yet. We're getting impatient. Hang it up Lee not getting his mission call!

So, to review, hang it up engaged people, hang it up no air conditioning, hang it up congestion, and hang it up Lee not getting his mission call!

Keep It Up
Keep it up awesome friends! My friends are awesome. I've mentioned that before, but it's true. Yay for you guys! Keep it up awesome friends!

Keep it up grilled cheese sandwiches! I love grilled cheese sandwiches. I made an awesome grilled cheese tonight. And I make a mean grilled cheese sandwich. Keep it up grilled cheese sandwiches!

Keep it up chocolate milk! We had chocolate milk at our house this week since my sister went to the temple on Wednesday. I haven't had chocolate milk for a while. Mmm it just sounds good. Chocolate milk... Keep it up chocoate milk!

Keep it up StoryCorps! StoryCorps is this awesome radio program that just tells normal people's stories. They're so fun. Keep it up StoryCorps!

In review, keep it up awesome friends, keep it up grilled cheese sandwiches, keep it up chocolate milk, keep it up StoryCorps!

That's it for Hang It Up - Keep It Up. Thanks for reading.

A short post

2008-07-09T23:32:00.000-06:00

I am really tired. This day has been long. Yesterday was long. Monday was long. This whole week has been long. This is all I have to share today. Just stay away from zombies, okay?

Making a difference?

2008-07-08T21:17:00.003-06:00

Today, because I had the day off, I played chauffeur. Ever since our van broke down when we went on vacation, my mom has been without a car. Well, technically she can drive my car and my brother's car, but they both are stick shifts. She doesn't do well with stick shifts, mostly because she doesn't ever drive with one, and partly because of some health issues that make it difficult to grip things, like a stick shift. So I drove her around our fair city to thirteen different places. It took a long time, and I was so tired of the whole thing by the time we got done. Well, except the ice cream. I did get free ice cream.

We had finally reached our last stop, the grocery store when something interesting happened. The gal who was bagging up our groceries took a look at me, and then kept looking. I couldn't figure out what the deal was, so I just smiled at her and said, "Thanks!" when we were done. Then she asked me if I had been to Fremont High School. I looked kind of confused, but told her yes, I had gone there, but it was a long time ago. She looked at me again, and said, "Didn't you do an assembly there?"

Suddenly it dawned on me. I was wearing my Ogden LDS Institute polo shirt. The choir got these to wear when we went out in the community to perform. Over Christmas break we went with the folk dance team to Fremont to sing and dance and share our testimonies. And we wore these shirts. She had recognized solely by my shirt.

When I finally realized what she meant, I told her, "Yes! We did an assembly at the seminary!" She smiled and said, "I was there. You guys did good." I thanked her, and my mom and I left.

I always wonder when we go to seminaries if it really makes any difference. Do these kids get anything out of it, or are we perceived as a bunch of weirdos who came the their school? I don't know if that girl really had any kind of a spiritual experience with us or not, but she remembered enough that when she saw me in my shirt, she recognized me. That made me feel a whole lot better about everything, especially the day.

So thanks, girl. I'm sorry I didn't see your name. Thanks for making my day better.

Floating on a Bubble Gum Cloud

2008-07-07T22:05:00.000-06:00

As I've mentioned before, I work in a pharmacy. One of the pharmacists makes these lozenges that we sell in our mail-order pharmacy. He has to add a flavor to those lozenges, and so he uses bubble gum flavoring. That part of the pharmacy always seems to have a distinctive bubble-gummy smell to it.

Well, tonight that scent has followed me home. My sister is getting married on Saturday, and for the table decorations at her reception she wanted suckers. My mom and I spent most of this evening making said suckers. We made pink, yellow, and blue ones, because those are her colors. We also added flavoring. And the flavor my mom chose?

Bubble gum.

So now my work and my home have meshed into a lovely bubble-gum scented mind meld. Ah, bubble gum smell. How did I ever live without it?

Pharmacy... or Soap Opera?

2008-07-06T15:34:00.003-06:00

First off, I must apologize for not posting for the past two days. I start a blogathon and then can't even keep up with it! What is up with that?! I don't exactly know. Anyways, there shall be restitution in the form of... two blogs on a later date! Huzzah! And now for our feature presentation...

I work in a pharmacy. While it might sound like not too much goes on, just counting pills and such, it is full of more drama than you know. I don't know how it came up, but someone the other day compared it to a soap opera. And then we started thinking of popular soap operas and changing the titles so that they were pharmacy related. Well, today as I was reading Dear Abbey, I noticed the soap opera update. It made me think of those funny pharmacy soap operas we made up. So, I thought of one for every single one, and I decided to share them with you, my adoring fans! (Ha ha, like I have adoring fans.) So here they are. I do have to give Annie some credit on these, as some of them are the ones we thought of the other day. Enjoy!

All My Children - All My Patients OR All My Patience*
As the World Turns - As the Pharmacy Turns*
The Bold and the Beautiful - The Old and the Wrinkled
Days of Our Lives - Drugs of Our Lives*
General Hospital - General Pharmacy*
Guiding Light - Buzzing Fluorescent Light
One Life to Live - One Life to Live Buying Drugs
Passions - Passions* OR Passions Controlled By Antipsychotics
The Young and the Restless - The Young and the Addicted*

*These ones are the ones Annie and I talked about at work.

I spent the day with my mom...

2008-07-03T23:12:00.001-06:00

My mom listens to a lot of KSL. A lot.

I really am not a fan of Sean Hennity.

I don't even know if that's how he spells his name, but I don't really care.

This post is lame.

:)

Blog Award

2008-07-02T12:00:00.002-06:00

Wow, thanks Tawni for awarding me with a blog award! This takes care of my post for the day! :) The winner of this award must follow a few rules:

Rules

You have to pick five blogs that you consider deserving of this award, whether for creativity, design, interesting material, and/or also contributes to the blogging community, no matter the language.

Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

Each winner has to show the award and put the name and link of the blogger who has given him or her the award.

The winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

The winner must show these rules.

So the following five are the winners I have chosen, in no particular order:

Heather - Heather is a dear dear friend and a wonderful musician. Her blog always makes you look at things in a different perspective. Thanks Heather!

Kristen - Kristen's posts usually so funny! I'm often laughing by the end of them because she is just good at writing a funny story, which is not always easy. Kristen also has a blog about being pregnant over here.

Rachel - Rachel is pretty new to the blogging world, but she's moving quick. Her blog is full of fun pictures she's taken. Yay Rachel!

Steve - Steve actually has two blogs, one here and one here. Steve has been in Taiwan for the past six or so months teaching English. I love reading about his adventures over there.

Squil - This blog is written by someone I don't even know. I stumbled upon it a couple years ago, and I just think he's funny. So thank you sir.

I read a bunch of other blogs that also deserve to be on this list but aren't. Thanks you guys too.

So basically, everyone who I just awarded this award to has to do the same thing I just did. Thanks for having blogs! It's so fun to read them!

"And [it] made me feel excited... well excited and scared."

2008-07-01T22:15:00.002-06:00

For the past couple months, three dear friends and I have been on the prowl for an apartment. Three of us had never lived away from home before, and one of us does, but the lease was up in August for her apartment, and she couldn't renew. So our search began. Most of the places we looked at would not suit: bad part of town, rent too high, mold in the house... and it goes on. We went to a place last weekend that we loved, that had a rent we could pay, and was in a nice area. The only problem was a lot of other people loved it too. We were really worried about our chances of getting it.

Today at about 7:30 my friend called to say we got the house! A couple of things have run through my mind since then. The first is, "YIPEEEEE!!! We got the house! I am so excited! YAY!" The next is, "Holy cow. Do I know what I'm doing? Am I prepared for this? AAAACK!!!"

This is going to be a new experience for me. And makes me feel excited.

Well, excited and scared.

PS: Points for whoever knows what the title of this post is from.

It's a Blaaaaahg!

2008-06-30T21:13:00.003-06:00

Lately I've felt my blog has been more of a blahg. I mean, pictures are fun and all, but it's time for a change. I haven't actually written anything in a while. It's long overdue. I think part of my writing lack is I am a wonderful avoidance coper, and writing a post for this blog lets me avoid doing homework. Now, since I'm don't have any classes this summer, I have nothing to avoid. Except... well, we won't go there. (See, I'm avoiding the subject! Ha!)

About six months ago, Major Bubbles started a blogathon wherein he made a post every day for two weeks. If by chance, he didn't post one day, he made up for it with two in one day. Well, I'm going to start a two-week blogathon of my own. I can't guarantee that any of the posts will be funny, or good, or even interesting, but I need to do something new.

So here goes. Goodbye, Blahg.

Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-changes!

2008-06-22T15:26:00.002-06:00

Please note that this is my head.

Northern California...

2008-06-16T20:21:00.002-06:00

I absolutely love Northern California. We went on vacation there a few years ago, and I loved it. I was really excited when I found out we were going there again this year. Despite being stuck in Wendover for eight hours when the van's engine died (luckily we had two cars), and having to spend the night in Winnemucca, the trip was lots of fun! Here are some highlights:

Wendover and Winnemucca

What? We're still in Nevada?I hate Wendover! And Nevada in general!Goodbye old van.There was a motorcycle rally in Winnemucca. The Run-A-Mucca. Bikes everywhere.Apparently Winnemucca has a Buckaroo Hall of Fame...?A lonely tree in the middle of Nevada.Teri and Brad grew tired of the drive.Oregon at last!

Crescent City

The house we stayed in was on top of the antiques store.The view from our deck. Yes, that is the ocean. We could walk to the beach.

Stout Grove

Oregon

Beaches

These were hanging up by the lighthouse The rock we watched for about 20 minutes thinking it was a whale.

Redwoods

Corkscrew TreeFrom inside the Corkscrew TreeTeri and Brad did their engagement pictures while we were here. This is not one of them. Aw.
There was a place off the road with Paul Bunyan and Babe. And Paul Bunyan talked!Banana slug!This tree is called Big Tree. Pretty original, huh?

Fern Canyon

Reno

My cousins live in Reno, and they took us to a Chocolate Bar, aka the hippest place I've ever been.

Home
We had a little Sunday School lesson in our car on the way back, and we had just finished as we were passing here. My sister yelled out, "There's a BM on the mountain!" It really is for Battle Mountain, but... BM on the mountain! Ha!

We're home!

Choir Tour! (A month later...)

2008-06-15T21:00:00.004-06:00

So... I believe I mentioned I would post about choir tour. Choir tour was awesome! Here is why:

We rode a bus

We went to the state capitol

The Summon Button!We went to Cabela's

Mary found a big man......and a little man!Andrea, Lisa, and Mary in a tent. It was intense.
We went to Juab County

We stayed on a farm (with a cute RM!)
We went to a lot of seminariesThe Millard eagle on a blue M&M (not really!)This was on the wall at Richfield seminary How true that is
And some nursing homes
We went golfing

And to the territorial capitol building

We went to the Manti Temple

We went to Cove Fort

We goofed off Andrea's hooked!

Lisa meets her prince!

Doggie pile on Brother Simon!

Andrea had a carrot that looked like a finger. Seriously.

Dan and Dave have some kind of weird street fight.

We all pretended we needed to go...

Oh yeah and we performed!

All and all, a really good tour, despite being totally grossly sick the week before, and developing a happy migraine Wednesday night. I'm kind of sad it's my last one. Oh well. Moving on to other things now.

Summer Homework

2008-06-14T22:40:00.002-06:00

When I was little, my mom always made us do summer homework. This, I imagine, was so we would stay caught up on what we learned the year before when school started in the fall. Or maybe it was so we could work on stuff we weren't so good at. I remember having to fill out sheets of timed math problems because I was always slow at that. But I got them right!

Thursday, after bringing my dad home from surgery (poor dad got his shoulder worked on three days before Father's Day... some fun), my mom told me we all had a summer homework assignment this weekend. And that assignment was to go to the Vietnam Memorial replica that's on display at the Newgate Mall. We could do it whenever we wanted, but it's leaving Sunday night at 6 so it had to be before then.

I decided to go this evening. I figured there would be fewer people there, and I knew it would be cooler. When your car has no air conditioning, that becomes important. When I got there, I was surprised by the number of people that were there. I figured there would be some, but not as many as there were.

As I walked into the area where the replica was set up, there was a display showing how the memorial came to be, and some of the things that people visiting the wall had left. As I read the different captions, I could help but choke up. These people had faced terrible things. Then I went over to where the wall was. Even though it is half the size of the actual monument, it was still pretty large. I didn't know anyone on the wall, so I walked around, read the notes others had left, and listened to the people around me.

I watched Boy Scouts retire some flags. I watched, with my hand on my heart, as some veterans took the flag down from the flagpole at sundown. I watched an older couple find the name of someone they knew. I listened as a father showed his son a name, and then told him, "If his name wasn't on this wall, you wouldn't be here."

I am so lucky. No one in my immediate family has had to serve in the military. I think I have to go clear back to my grandparents to find anyone that has. My dad didn't have to go to Vietnam, but I know a lot of people he knew did. Same with my mom. I don't know what I've done to be so blessed, to be safe, to know my family is safe. I remember when my neighbor was serving in Afghanistan and how the entire ward would pray every week for the military, but especially him and his family. He came back, safe and sound, thankfully.

I don't know where I was really going with this, but here's a summer homework assignment for you. If you have a chance, go see it. It's at the Newgate Mall, on the west side of Sears in the parking lot. It's open 24 hours a day until Sunday, when it closes at 6 PM. I don't think you'll be sorry you went.

An apology

2008-05-23T00:16:00.003-06:00

There was a post here, not too long ago, that was rather mean-spirited. So I took it off.

The end.

PS: Ha ha! I'm going to California!

They taste like... burning!

2008-05-01T21:22:00.003-06:00

I must apologize for the lack of posts as of late. To my defense, I've had a show, a huge paper, several projects, finals, and a massive head cold which have all in various ways prevented me from having much time to blog.

My massive head cold has made me appreciate something I never have before. This is pretty much the worst cold I've ever had. I've never been so congested in my entire life. With this lovely congestion, besides the coughing and the runny nose, I have clogged ears. I can't hear anything right, and my balance keeps getting messed up. Last night I was at a rehearsal playing the piano, and nothing sounded right, because I couldn't hear what I was playing. It was odd.

The worst part of the congestion is I can't smell anything. I never thought that would be such a big deal, but I can't taste anything either because I can't smell. Nothing tastes good. Yesterday I had some barbecue potato chips (my favorite) and I couldn't taste them. I could tell they were salty, but that was it. Today I had some chocolate/white marble cake, and I couldn't tell when it was chocolate. It was sweet, but nothing else. I miss flavors!

Granted, it hasn't been all bad. The other day my coworker went on an ant-killing frenzy and sprayed Raid everywhere. Apparently it was pretty strong, but I couldn't tell. Still, I wish I could smell things I like.

Today, some of my sense of smell is coming back finally, and I don't think I've ever been so glad to smell smoke before. So all I can say is.... appreciate your sense of smell. Because it's better than you think.

P.S. Happy birthday to me.

Thanks Simon and Garfunkel

2008-04-22T09:05:00.000-06:00

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I wont disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

Here's something awesome

2008-04-19T09:36:00.003-06:00

It's called This Is a Great Country. The choirs and folk dancers at the Ogden LDS Institute put on a show every Christmas and every April. This year's show actually started yesterday, but if you're bored and in the Ogden area at around 2 PM or 7 PM, feel free to stop by the Browning Center and come. It's awesome!

Tickets are really cheap.
$5 - Adults
$4 - Seniors
$3 - Children
$15 - Family (evening show)
$10 - Family for the matinée.

Members of the military get in free. Their families have reduced prices:
$3 - Adults
$2 - Seniors
$1 - Children
$10 - Family (both shows)

It really is an awesome show. And you can see fellow bloggers Annie, Major Bubbles, Heather~Marie, Jewelsp, Princess on the Prowl, The Life of... Me, and MissMolly. Good times, good times.

An end of an era

2008-04-08T22:34:00.002-06:00

Last Sunday evening marked the end of an era. You see, for the past nearly three months, two of my best friends and I would watch Masterpiece Theater on Sunday night. Specifically the Complete Works of Jane Austen. Sadly, last Sunday's installment of Sense and Sensibility marked the end of this special. How sad.

What a wonderful time the past few months have been. We loved Captain Wentworth's brooding and Henry Tilney's humor. We cringed at Fanny Price's teeth, and wanted to give Edmund a good slap upside the head. We were sorely disappointed that Mr. Knightley in the BBC version of Emma was not nearly as handsome as Mr. Knightely in the Gwyneth Paltrow adaption. We decided that shelves in the closet really are a happy thought indeed. We discovered we knew an Anne Steele. We hated Lucy Steele. And we fell in love with Willoughby, Colonel Brandon, and Edward Ferrars.

I think the part I will miss is everything that happened during and after the movie. The comments during the show. All the talking we did after. All the over-analyzing of our own love lives (or lack thereof). The singing. The inspiration for The Group Date. We laughed. We cried. We had a ball.

We need to do this more often. We still really ought to watch Pride and Prejudice all the way through, since we ended up singing through it that one day (and through the first proposal too!). Thoroughly Modern Millie is guaranteed to make you want to tap dance in elevators and do "The Tapioca." I have four hours of North and South I could watch again. Mr. Thornton is every bit as handsome and brooding as Mr. Darcy.

I miss my girls' night Masterpiece Theater.

Another excerpt from The Book of Janel

2008-04-01T00:00:00.006-06:00

Now, my father's children were thus: I, Janel, being the eldest, did have three brothers, namely, Derek, Nathan, and Lee; and one sister, Teri.
And my sister was a maiden of much loveliness, and of much kindness and goodness of heart, wherefore many did seek her company.
And many youths did woo her; nevertheless, she would not be wooed. For behold, none did please her.
And it came to pass that a youth from the land of Hooper, from the house of Winter came unto her. And he was called Brad. Now my sister and Brad did meet in the place of learning, yea, even high school; and they did date some in high school; nevertheless they did never become boyfriend and girlfriend.
And it came to pass that Brad did serve the Lord for the space of two years in the land of Costa Rica, and after his service he did return unto the land of Hooper.
And he did go unto my sister, and they did date much, insomuch that she did grow to love him, and he did grow to love her.
Wherefore, Brad went unto my father and asked for the hand of my sister. And my father agreed. And after he had done this, he went unto the store of jewelry and bought a ring.
And it came to pass that my sister did go unto his dwelling place. And behold he had made many plans for the evening, but was frustrated by the coldness and windiness of the weather and also by the desire of my sister to do homework of chemistry. Nevertheless, they did go unto his barn and sit by a fire. And behold, it was romantic.
And Brad did ask my sister Teri to marry him. And she did say yes.
And they did decide to be married in the house of the Lord in Ogden on the 19th day in the month of July.
Now this thing brought great joy to our house, and also to the house of Winter.
And many did say, "Is there anything more perfect than the marriage of Teri and Brad? We say nay, there is not."
And there was much rejoicing in the land.

We went to Disneyland!

2008-03-29T11:40:00.004-06:00

I said I would post about my trip to Disneyland. So here it is! Enjoy!

Disneyland Did Not Know What It Was In For

We Came Can you guess who's not excited about driving in LA?
We went to Disneyland Please don't make us ride Tower of Terror again!Just checking out the the Finding Nemo Submarines submarine drivers...
I mean checking out the Finding Nemo Submarines submarines.Warning: Contents of this cup are hot!We love Space Mountain!Getting stuck on Big Thunder Mountain. It was awesome!
And Medieval Times
And Wicked (and we looked good)

We shopped

We acted silly and took random pictures Annie did a little dance

We Left Really Early in the Morning All in all, it was a blast!!!!

P.S Thanks to Julie, Mary, and Annie for letting me kife some of your pictures. You're awesome!

I will blog no more forever...

2008-03-08T18:59:00.003-07:00

... or at least until next week. Know why? Because I'm going to Disneyland! And I just sang that to myself. Too bad you weren't here to hear it. :)

I am so excited to go, I just can't even describe it. It will be so nice to get a break from everything. School, work, boys..... ahhhh. I'm so glad. It's been a while since I had a vacation and I need it.

This morning, as I was in the shower, the words to a song I'm singing in choir popped into my head. And it took very little to tweak them to fit my present circumstances. So, dear readers, enjoy the fruits of my labors. These are the kinds of poems I usually write. Look here for more evidence.

In the spring, we'll leave Salt Lake
And our journey we will take.
We'll go and bid all school goodbye,
And in an airplane we will fly.
So on the way to California
In the spring we'll take our journey
Far beyond the Gateway's fountains,
Fly above the Rocky Mountains!

Hooray!!!

Stay tuned for awesome Disneyland adventures and pictures! Yahoo!

I am such a nerd

2008-03-07T08:45:00.003-07:00

Dear readers, I must say it. If you didn't know it before, I am a nerd. I mean, I'm minoring chemistry for the sake of Pete. I saw these today, and my nerdy heart leaped with joy. This link will take you to 10 amazing chemistry videos. I just had to post the PCR one because I think it's so funny. PCR is used to artificially replicate DNA. Just so the song makes sense. So enjoy! They're pretty cool, even if you aren't a nerdy chemistry nerd like me.

This blog's for you

2008-03-03T21:53:00.002-07:00

So, yes, that last post was rather angry. And yes, I was having a pretty horrible day. Yes, I was this close to tears most of the day, and yes, I did go home and cry for a while.

But I'm okay now. I'm not so frustrated anymore. Thanks to some wonderful friends, who gave me some much needed words of encouragement. You are the best! This blog's for you!

A Rant: Guys in general (sorry guys)

2008-03-01T00:09:00.007-07:00

So, I was listening to a song the other day that went, "Start a new fashion, wear your heart on your sleeve." And I thought, "Well, that's a very nice thought Carrie Underwood. The only problem with that is if you wear your heart on your sleeve, it's easier for someone to rip off, throw on the floor, and stomp on."

Then I realized that it's been my experience that I don't even have to have my heart on my sleeve to to get it ripped out and stomped on. It just happens with every guy I ever like. Which leads me to my feelings today: I am so sick of guys right now, it's not even funny. I have just kind of given up on them for the present. "That's kind of pessimistic, Janel," you may say. "Don't give up on them yet!" Sorry guys. It's official. You're hopeless.

This all started about a week and half ago when I asked that guy on a date. I was excited to ask him. I asked him because I think he's a great guy, and while I know him a little, I'd like to get to know him better. And then the date came and I had a really nice time, up until the awkward doorstep scene, wherein he made it very clear to me* that he was not interested in me. At all. Ouch.

After Saturday, I just decided, why bother? I am so sick and tired of liking a guy, being under the impression that he likes me, but then find out he has girlfriend. Or he is starting to date someone else. Or that he likes this other girl who I love to death, but who is prettier, or smarter, or something better than me. So here comes the really truly rant.

I'm tired listening to guys talk about girls they think are good-looking, or who's a good kisser, or whatever. In all honesty, I don't want to know. Because I don't really care about any other girl you think is cute or whatnot. By all means, ask her out. Just don't tell me about it. I don't want to know. Probably no other girl wants to know either, except maybe the one you're interested in.

I'm tired of being the girl that gets asked out when the guy can't find anyone else to go with. This has happened to me more than once. In fact, I would say the last three or four times a guy has asked me out it has been this situation. Although I've only had one guy outright tell me that he asked me because couldn't find anyone else. Yes, he told me that. That was pretty much the dumbest thing he's ever done.

I'm tired of only going on dates when I ask the guy. It has been nearly two years since the last time a guy asked me out, and that guy was Mr. I-Can't-Find-Anyone-Else-So-I'll-Go-With-You. Guys. A date is not an eternal commitment. It's a date. Honestly. I don't bite. Unless I'm really annoyed and frustrated like I am right now.

I think most of all I'm just tired of being ignored. I don't know what my problem is. Maybe I'm too nice. Or too loud, or quiet, or dumb, or smart, or outgoing, or shy, or pretty, or plain. Or maybe I'm too short. Maybe I'm forever Sweet Little Janel. And Sweet Little Janel doesn't like guys. Of course not. It's preposterous. It's ludicrous. It's a lie.

Don't think that I want a pity because I wrote this. I don't. Is it so wrong to want someone to ask you out because he's genuinely interested in you, and not because he couldn't find anyone else, or because he's sorry for you?

This post, I will admit, goes totally against my Jane Bennett/Elinor Dashwood grin-and-bear-it personality. But I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I am frustrated, and there's not really a lot I can do about it. So I'll vent here.

PS, to guys mostly: I know that most guys are not this dumb and are not jerks or whatever you may think when you read this. This is just the explosion of my frustrations right now. They're not directed to any specific guy. Except maybe Mr. I-Can't-Find-Anyone-Else-So-I'll-Go-With-You. Because that was truly lame.

*See "Three armed hug"

Date Update

2008-02-25T23:14:00.005-07:00

So, my date was on Saturday. I had a really nice time. He is a good guy, and I don't just go around calling every guy I meet a good guy. It was fun, and I was happy, despite a slightly strange doorstep scene.

I must say the most awkward part of the evening happened when I was going home. You see, my sister and her boyfriend went on a date Saturday night too. I was driving up my street and I was almost to my house when I saw my sister's boyfriend's car in the driveway. And then I saw them on the porch. Very close to each other. So I decided to drive around the block a couple times so they could... finish saying goodbye.

Awkward.

Apparently my sister saw me, because Sunday morning we were fixing our hair and she mentioned it. As did her boyfriend when I saw him Sunday evening.

I repeat: awkward.

Update to update as of 9:07 PM:
So I totally teased my sister's boyfriend today when I saw him. It was great fun, and he was completely embarrassed. Ha! I exact my revenge for awkwardness!

Horrifying scary danger!

2008-02-20T20:16:00.004-07:00

Yes, I faced horrifying scary danger this week. It caused much nervousness, sweaty palms, and shakiness. "What was it?" you may ask. I'll tell you.

I asked a guy on a date.

Now, you may think that asking a guy on a date is not horrifying scary danger. Well, for me it is. Here's why, in three parts.

Horrifying
This part was not so much horrifying for me as for the poor guy I asked out. Because yesterday I looked gross, quite frankly. I was:

exceedingly tired
having a bad hair day
not wearing any makeup
suffering stomach pains thanks to some ill-sitting Chinese food
dealing with a random sore knee
rebounding off a 3-day migraine weekend
nervous.

All of these combined to make me one horrifying package. He said yes anyways. What a great guy!

Scary
Asking guys out is scary. This is one reason among many why I generally don't do it. It scares me beyond belief. I really hate it. I get all nervous about it before I ask them, and then I get nervous before the date with them. And that's scary! This is one reason why I prefer guys to ask ME out. Then I only get scared once instead of twice. Of course, the poor guy probably has to go through the scariness of asking me out. Poor guy. I don't really have any pity for you SINCE YOU DON'T EXIST! (Guys as a rule do not ask me out on dates. Probably because I am so horrifying.)

Danger!
Okay this one is less of a threat really. The danger is, what I really like this guy, and I get all excited, and I get deluded into thinking he likes me back, and then he introduces me to his girlfriend? Then I get a broken heart. Or what if I go to pick him up and he stands me up? That would be sad. I had a dream once that that happened. It was not a good dream. Anyways, there is always danger involved when relationships are concerned.

Despite all this horrifying scary danger, I am really excited about this date on Saturday. It should be fun. I'll be with friends, which always makes it easier. And really, I'm sure this date will not be filled with horrifying scary danger. It will probably be filled with exciting happy fun!

The End.

PS If you know what show the line "Horrifying scary danger!" is from, you are officially cool in Janel's Book of Coolness.

What time is it? What time is it? It's Valentimes! It's Valentimes!

2008-02-15T19:07:00.003-07:00

So, since yesterday was Valentine's Day, I thought I would give you all... da da da DAAAH! Another list! Since I love lists. :) So here, in no particular order, are things I love:

My family
My friends
Annie (Better than just a friend, she's a best friend!)
Julie
Sleep
Food
Books
Music
Eric Whitacre
Listening to a really good choir sing Morten Lauritson's "O Magnum Misterium"
Chocolate
Cookies
Choir
The smell of new shoes or shoe stores in general
Fall
Spring
Tulips
Daisies
Roses
Violets
The way the sky is really clear the day after a snowstorm, and you can look out to the west and see the mountains.
The way trees look when the sun is setting, all black against the colorful sky.
Pianos
Lists
Grapes
Hanging out with my youngest brother
Teen Girl Squad
Mental_Floss
May
Weezer
Aerosmith
Beethoven
When you wake up after you've had a really deep restful sleep, and you're all snugly under the blankets.
Jane Austen
Funny conversation heart conversations, like this one:
Man: Why wait? Kiss me, very fine, foxy lady
Woman: Why not? Just once.
AWESOME MEGA KISS!!!!
Woman: Oh you! Slow down! Yes now! Too much!
Man: Yes dear. Only 4 you.

Conversation brought to you in part by Thursday lunch at the Institute having conversation hearts on the table.

Apologies and Excuses

2008-02-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I must apologize, dear readers. I set out on this blogathon fulling intending to write every day, and what do I do? I skip not one, but two days in a row! This is clearly unacceptable, except perhaps I have some very good excuses.

Excuse #1 - Friday
6:00ish AM I wake up and get ready for my day.
7:30ish AM I go to school.
8:00ish AM I arrive at school, immediately go to the computer lab, and finish a paper that's due at noon. NOTE: I do not get online.
9:00 AM I meet with my choir director.
9:50 AM Nick and I practice our half of the 8-handed, 2-pianoed, "Stars and Stripes Forever."
10:00 AM Amy, Annie, Nick, and I practice the whole shebang. We decide it is awesome.
10:45ish AM We stop so we ladies can change for pictures.
11:00 AM We get our picture taken and sing a little.
11:45 AM I change, put stuff in my car, grab my lunch, and go to class.
12:00 PM I go to my English class, where Club Sandwich Boy does nothing funny, at least while I'm there.
1:00 PM I go to work. We are exceedingly busy, so I don't have time to look at stuff on the Internet as I do occasionally.
6:00 PM Work finishes, and Annie and I go to a wedding reception.
7:00 PM We leave the wedding reception, change, and eat food.
8:15 PM We meet our friend Julie and go to a party.
12:00ish AM I go home.
12:30ish AM I arrive home, see my sister on the computer, decide to get ready for bed, decide I'm too tired to write tonight and will write two posts tomorrow, and go to bed.

Excuse #2 - Saturday
7:30 AM I wake up and get ready for my day.
8:40 AM I go to work. I notice my car is making funny noises.
9:00 AM I arrive at work, and get cracking.
1:00 PM I begin to drive home. My car is making funny noises, idling high, and the check engine light is coming on. I decide to stop by my mechanic, since it is on the way home. He tells me I can leave the car there, but they probably won't get to it until Monday. I call my mom to see if she will pick me up.
1:45ish PM My mom arrives. We go run some errands before we go home.
2:30ish PM We arrive home. I do homework.
5:00 PM I stop doing homework to wait for my friend to pick me up.
5:30 PM My friend arrives. We go to her apartment so she can change and pick up her roommate, and then go to Annie's house to get Annie and Julie.
7:00ish PM We go to a play. Julie receives a phone call from a guy who is answering a question raised while they played Celestial Pursuit. On a date. A WEEK AGO!! We are vastly amused.
7:30 PM The play begins. It is hilarious, and features a very attractive prince. I develop a migraine.
10:00ish PM The play ends. We decide to eat food. We flirt with our very attentive waiter. I eat a little, but not much, thanks to ye olde migraine.
11:30ish PM We leave and drop Annie and Julie off at Annie's house. Then we drop off the roommate. Then I go home. I feel immensely sick.
12:30ish PM I go inside, put my leftovers in the fridge, and go directly to bed to prevent throwing up. I do not write two blogs, I do not change into my jammies, I do not brush my teeth, I do not pass GO and collect $200.
2:30 AM I wake up and realize I'm still in my clothes. I change and go back to bed.

Are these good enough excuses? Probably not. But they're the best I have. So, in compensation, I have written three posts today. Enjoy.

Nicknames

2008-02-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

I think probably everyone has had some kind of nickname in their life. Among my many aliases, I have been called Nellie, Nell, Nells, Janellie, Janeli (say if as if you were speaking Spanish--the j makes the h sound--and sing it to "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof), Mighty Mouse, One Dimple, and countless other things that I don't remember. Some of these are from family, some from friends, but they all were things that I have been or are still called.

There's a certain strange thing my friends and I do. We make up nicknames for the people around us. These are typically only known by us, mainly so we can talk about the person whilst* they are standing right there, and they will have no idea. It's been interesting to see how we come up with the different names for the people we know.

Sometimes we just make up a name for someone. There is one person we call PMSE because, well, we were trying to avoid him, and those letters provided a perfect excuse. "You can't come with us." "Why?" "Because we're three girls who are PMSE." The letters do actually stand for something, but I'm not going to tell you what. That would defeat the purpose.

I have the tendency to give people names with "Boy" at the end of them. So that gives us people like Jason Campbell Look-Alike Boy (He really did look like a fatter Jason!), Weird Evolution Guy, Cute Quiet Zoology Boy, who is not the same as Cute Zoology Boy, and the list goes on. Recently added to the "Boy" list would be Club Sandwich Boy, who got his name for randomly talking to the guy behind me about club sandwiches one day in English.

Usually names come from some outside source. For example, we are acquainted with a young women whom we call The Ugly One. Now, this is no reflection on her looks; she is a very pretty girl. However, those of you who have every seen Teen Girl Squad! may know exactly why we would give her this name. If you're not acquainted with Teen Girl Squad, get to know them now.

Our biggest resource for names, however, is Jane Austen. Her characters are so real we can find people similar to them everywhere. We know a Miss Bates, who is extremely talkative on one major subject, although our Miss Bates's fixation is not the same as Emma's. We avoid our Mr. Collins whenever possible, for he creeps us out. We've disdainfully talked about our Mr. Wickham and his complete disregard for women's feelings. We've been seriously annoyed with our own Isabella Thorpe, who keeps a guy around for convenience until a better one comes along. Of course, they aren't all bad. We are acquainted with a Mr. Bingley, who is gentlemanly and kind. I'm sure in time we'll meet our Mr. Knightleys, Ferrars, Tilneys, and Colonel Brandons. There has to be at least one Mr. Darcy out there somewhere.

I've been wondering, though, about these nicknames. Is this a common occurrence, or just something we do? Do other girls out there do this? Do guys do this? The world may never know, unless you leave me a comment and tell me!

*I think whilst is such a cool word. :)

Happy Artificial Holiday with Strong Commercial Overtones

2008-02-10T18:38:00.001-07:00

A couple years ago, I took a poetry class. This was a huge step outside of my comfort zone, because, as I've mentioned before, I don't feel that I am that strong of a writer. Also, poetry is a much more difficult medium than many people think. You have to find just the right words, the right order, the right rhythm, the right form. Anything amiss makes the poem fall flat. At any rate, it was Valentine's Day, and we were writing sonnets. So, in the spirit of the season, I'll share mine with you.

Happy Artificial Holiday with
Strong Commercial Overtones

The silly hearts and flowers everywhere
The cupids, bears, the songs and sappy cards
Cologne and perfume make her want fresh air.
She tries to get away and disregards
The pain within her heart, her heart of stone
Although she says that she is "fine just fine"
She can't ignore she cannot be alone
She needs to find herself a valentine.
He left her heart and now she has to see
The happy couples walking two by two
Part of something that she used to be
Before he ran away for someone new.
So if you think she does not truly care,
Look into her eyes—it is lonely there.

Improv Everywhere

2008-02-07T23:29:00.001-07:00

Guys, I'm not going to lie: my blogs have been lame of late. This one will probably be no exception. My only excuse is my brother and I have just spend the past hour and a half watching videos made by Improv Everywhere.

Here's the basic idea of what this New York group does: they make scenes. Literally. They have an idea for some outrageous plan, get enough people to do it, and then do it. It's amazing!

Some of my favorites are:

Redheads Protest Wendy's

Slow-Mo Home Depot

Look Up More

Meet a Black Person

But the truly awesome one would have to be Frozen Grand Central. Enjoy.

And it came to pass that Janel did copy Annie

2008-02-06T18:32:00.001-07:00

The Book of Janel

I, Janel, being born of goodly parents, do commence this record. And I will tell you of the travails and joys of my day.
For I did arise early in the morning. And behold I did see that it was snowing. And this thing did astonish me, for much snow had fallen already. And while I knew that we did need this snow, nevertheless I did not wish for the snow, for it did make the roads treacherous and the sidewalks slippery.
Nevertheless, I did go out unto my car, and did go to the place wherein one refuels. And I did put gas into my car, and did not look at the price, for fear of weeping. And I did also put air in my tire, for it was low. And this did take some time, and my hands grew very cold, even that I could not feel them. And I did also go unto the moneychangers, and did retrieve $40, for I owed Nick five bucks.
And then I did go up unto the place of learning, even Weber State. And behold, the roads were slippery and treacherous because of the snow which lay upon them, and I did fear for my life. Nevertheless, I did arrive in safety.
And I did go unto the Institute. Now, this Institute was a place of learning, as was Weber State; but Weber State was a place of secular learning, while the Institute was a place of spiritual learning. And it was also of place of study, and a place of gathering. And much feasting did happen there, as well as much merrymaking.
And also, many people did go there to flirt, and this did bring them happiness. And now, this did confound me, for I was not mighty in flirting. And many did meet their eternal companion at the Institute, and this did bring them great joy.
And I went up into my class, and did learn from the New Testament. And I did feel the Spirit, which thing brought me joy. But there was announced a Valentine's Dance, and it was a dance wherein the women did ask the men, which did grieve me. For I did think the men should ask the women on dates, for they had been commanded to by an apostle of the Lord. Yea, and he did exhort them to hang out not, and to date and marry. Nevertheless, many men did not what the apostle commanded, and did continue in hanging out. And this did bring sorrow to many women.
And after the space of an hour, I went unto the lab of computers. And there I did write a paper, yea, even a paper on Internet pharmacies. And I did also fix a different paper, which paper was an abstract. And these things did worry me greatly, for I was not mighty in writing.
Then, I did go back unto the Institute, unto the place of singing. And behold, many did greet me with kindness and with embracing. And I did sing the songs of Zion, which did bring me great joy. And I did also laugh at director of the choir, yea, even Brother Simon. Now Brother Simon was not a man large in stature, but he was mighty in the gospel, and did lead the choir with much energy. And behold, I did love him like unto a father, for he did give me good counsel.
And after this joyous hour, I did go unto the building of social sciences, unto my class of English. And I did workshop five papers, which was many. And a youth, yea a silly youth, did discourse about club sandwiches, and did borrow my pen. And he was pleasing in my sight.
And after the space of an hour I did go unto my place of work. And behold I did eat my meal while I did work. And I did eat fiery Cheetos, which did cause my ears to burn. And there was much rejoicing at my place of work, for the trainee whose stink surpasseth all that stinketh was no longer there. And did not Annie testify of this? For there was truly much rejoicing.
And I did type many things into my computer. And behold I did grow weary of typing, nevertheless I did continue. And I did eat a brownie to give me energy, for it was delicious and minty.
And when the time of working was over, I did return to my dwelling place, and was glad to return. And thus ends my record.

Lame-o!

2008-02-05T23:04:00.001-07:00

Okay team, this blog is lame today. I'm not going to lie. But Ill be back tomorrow with something good.

I'm a lover of words, and here's one I had to share. So enjoy it. Use it in a sentence. Make it yours.

solipsistic (adj) Extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption; extreme egocentrism.

A Rant: Snow Removal

2008-02-04T20:08:00.001-07:00

I have discovered Weber State's theory of snow removal. Here it is in 5 easy steps!

Step 1:
Snow falls. If snow falls during the night or weekend and is more than 6 inches deep, snow will be removed. However, any snow that falls thereafter will follow the next steps.

Step 2:
Allow students to walk all over snow, forming a thick, slippery layer of ice.

Step 3:
Throw down enough ice melt to turn black shoes white.

Step 4:
Allow snow/ice mixture to melt.

Step 5:
Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until snow melts, or until next snowfall.

There you have it folks, Weber State's snow removal theory. Never mind that students fall flat on their faces or backs because of ice! Never mind that their shoes get ridden with holes because of ice melt! It's the only true way to get rid of snow! Shoveling would be too easy!

Interesting situation

2008-02-03T23:45:00.001-07:00

I've found myself in an interesting situation the past few months. I don't like any boys. I don't mean I don't enjoy the company of male friends. I'm just not forming any huge-o crushes as I typically do. It's been a new experience for me, not necessarily a bad one, but different.

Usually, I develop some major crush at least once a year. I could tell you who they all were too. Here they are, in no particular order (Except alphabetical. I did work in a library.): Chad, Cute Zoology Boy, Dan, Dan, Jesse, Jon, Jonathan (not Gross Jonathan), Rob, and Steve, Steve, and Steve. These crushes are without fail one-sided. And the one side is alway my side. I may be led to believe otherwise, but it always ends they same way. They get a girlfriend/married/dump me.

The past six or so months have been a little different. While I find several guys attractive, I don't really have any desire to go on dates with them. It's a strange feeling. I had a friend apologize to me recently because all of our conversations as of late have been one sided...all about her and her current crush. I don't have a problem with it.

It's kind of liberating to be free. Yes, I still want to date, and yes I still think I'm in the "Dating Black Hole," but I'm okay. I don't have some all-consuming passion with a guy. I don't have to try and figure out what every little thing he does means, when usually it means nothing. I don't have to deal with the heartbreak when he gets a girlfriend who is tall and blond and beautiful. It's great.

Young vs Young Single Adults

2008-02-02T23:50:00.001-07:00

Just a newsflash: I found some shoes! And they're not pink! Rejoice with me!

And now for something completely different...

I was thinking about different things as I drove home this evening. I thought about my sister and her boyfriend (yes, they are back together... Hooray!), and about my family, and about a bunch of different things that could be another post all in themselves. But one thing I started thinking about as reached home was the interesting way my church groups people.

When you are an infant, you generally stick with your parents. Once you reach 1 & 1/2 though, you go to Nursery until you are three. Then you are in Primary until you turn twelve. After Primary, depending on your sex, you either go to Young Men or Young Women's. Once you reach eighteen, however, you are thrown into that interesting mix called the Young Single Adults, at least until you get married or turn 30.

Now, Young Single Adults have no official divisions but in my observations, I have seen there are some unofficial, but truly real breaks, or at least there are if you are in Northern Utah. You see, there are Young Single Adults (YSA), and then there are Young Single Adults (ySA), Middling Young Single Adults (MYSA), and Old Young Single Adults (OYSO). YSAs are just that group of single people from ages 18 to 30. The ySAs on the other hand are young, usually those people from 18 to 22 or 23. These are by far the most common, at least in my area. The OYSOs range in age from 26 or 27 to 30. The MYSAs are usually between the ages of 22 to 26 or 27. It's kind of difficult, because it seems to me that the YSA activities, at least in my area, target the ySAs, which leaves us MYSAs and OYSAs no choice but to do one of three things:

Move
Join a singles ward
Get married

Getting married is the most difficult of the three because typically once you are a MYSA you fall into what my friend calls "The Dating Black Hole," wherein you don't date at all, mainly because you are too old for the ySA returned missionaries and too young for the Single Adults who are over 30. This is rather depressing indeed since I fall into this category. It's not a fun place to be.

Moving is not always an option, but if you do, usually joining a singles ward comes attached to this. I could do this, but I hate feeling like I am fresh meat, even if I am not really all that fresh of meat. Therefore, the only choice is to stay in my family ward for the time being, where I am not a young Single Adult and not a Single Adult. I've heard that elsewhere this is not the case, that it's normal if you are 25 and still single. But here in the Top 'O Utah, it seems that if you are 25 and still single, something is very wrong with you.

At any rate, dear readers, I'm sorry this is such a depressing post this evening. I was just thinking about it, and with it came all the frustration and annoyance of not being that old, and yet being perceived as old. I'm not really depressed about it, just frustrated. Anyways, rejoice, I have new shoes, and now I will have dry feet. (If you sing it to this hymn it sounds pretty good, if I say so myself.)

Girls' Night

2008-02-02T01:29:00.001-07:00

So technically, it's Saturday, but I'm going to count this as Friday's. So I had a girls' night of happiness this evening. As all girls know well, it is nice to have an evening to just get refreshed. There was much bad date rehashing, relationship discussing, laughter, chick flicks, and chocolate. Mmm the chocolate. Good times indeed.

I don't know if guys ever need that kind of thing. I mean, I'm sure they have their own male bonding type things, but girls' nights I'm sure are completely different than that. Girls need time to talk, to explain their frustrations. Since I'm not a guy, I don't know if they do this or not, but I have the feeling not. It's one of those fundamental ways that girls and guys are different. Girls just need to communicate like that every so often.

At any rate, it was quite enjoyable. And needed. Sometimes guys not allowed is good. And now, I need to go to bed so there will be some coherency at work tomorrow. Good night, children everywhere.

Cop out

2008-01-31T21:56:00.002-07:00

My friends, this is a cop out blog today. I am so tired, I am going to bed. Everyone have a good day, and hopefully tomorrow I will be more blogworthy.

When I was a little girl I watched Sesame Street. And I remember a singing orange. Well, here she is.

Exciting news!

2008-01-30T22:40:00.005-07:00

This just in!

My sister plays handbells with the the Bells on Temple Square, which is a sister group to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, much like the Orchestra on Temple Square. For the past two and a half years, she has been a substitute with the choir, only playing when someone couldn't perform because of pregnancies, work, etc. She's been on permanent substituting since Christmas, so she has practices in Salt Lake every Wednesday nights. Well, she called not ten minutes ago to tell us that Brother Waldron, their director, pulled her aside tonight and told her he wanted her to be a permanent member of the choir, and that as soon as there was an open spot, it was hers. Yay for my sister! She is so amazing. So, in her honor, I give you some bell songs.

Click here for a different video, which features my brother!

Yay Teri!

And now I must go to bed. Have a good day, all you that read this.

A Rant: Shoes

2008-01-29T22:05:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry that you have to read this today, but this has been fresh in my mind since Saturday.

Saturday I went on the Great and Terrible Shoe Quest. I've needed some new sneakers since last April, and the time had come to again do some searching. I went to several different stores, but to no avail. I was thwarted in my Shoe Quest, mainly because it has been decreed that if you wear anything less then a size 5, you are a little girl and love the color pink.

I like pink. I really do. It 's a nice color, one that I can wear and looks good on me. However, when your only choice of footwear is, and has been for the past 15 years, pink, it gets old fast. I just have one thing to say to all those shoemakers out there: Why? Why do you assume everyone with small feet is 9 years old? I'm 25 for the sake of Pete! I don't want pink shoes!

I actually did find a pair of shoes that I liked that weren't pink. Unfortunately for me, the store had them in size 2 and size 3, but not the happy medium, the only size that would fit me: the elusive 2 1/2. Alas. It's not to be.

End rant starting..... now.

Accepting a challenge

2008-01-28T23:46:00.001-07:00

Well, my friend Major Bubbles has laid out a challenge, and so I think I shall attempt it. I'm not going to say it will be easy, or that my blogs will be any good, but it shall be done!

I feel a little hesitant to write a blog. I truly do. In part it's because I read about 20 different blogs and I am always amazed at the writers' eloquence. I am not an eloquent writer. I'm not even an eloquent speaker. So, reading these people's wonderful thoughts that they express so well makes me feel somewhat inadequate to the task. Writing is not something that comes easy to me, or that I think I do particularly well. This challenge will force me to think of something to write, even if it is complete nonsense.

Another reason I feel a little hesitant is I have never been one to bear my soul to the world. I've never been one to bear my soul to my best friends, as Annie could probably attest to. (By the way, I do think I've told you more than I've told anyone else, so that is saying something.) This probably dates back to 8th grade. I was going to our spring dance, and I had a HUGE crush on this boy who I had English with. I wrote down my hopes for the evening in my journal: that maybe he would ask me to dance and it would be wonderful in every way. As I was in the bathroom, fixing my hair, my little sister came in and started teasing me about this boy. Of course, my mom overheard, and it wasn't long until the whole family knew and proceeded to tease me about it for the next 2 years. Now, granted my sister and I shared a room, and she was only ten at the time, but that was my journal and my private thoughts, and to have someone read them and share them with everyone made me feel violated. And ever since then I've been a little less likely to share, and a little more likely to keep it to myself, because who know what will happen.

I got over that 8th grade crush a long time ago, (I had an English class with him a couple years ago, which brought back some fun memories) but it's taken me longer to feel comfortable with sharing those deepest, darkest secrets with people, even if they aren't all that deep or dark. There are some I'm sure will never come to light. But here, maybe some of the lighter ones will come to the surface.

Merry Christmas... one day late

2007-12-26T20:47:00.001-07:00

Well, if anyone knows anything about me, it's that I love to make lists. So I would get used to seeing lists here on this blog. Because I really really like lists. Anyways, that's beside the point. At any rate, here, in no particular order, is a list of things I love about Christmas.

Lights
Christmas treeslights on Christmas treesdecorating Christmas treesmy mom's tradition of making a picture ornamentdecorationsadvent calendarsgiving presents
getting presents
surprises
family
family parties
bowling (we always go bowling for our family party)
missionary phone callsThe Christmas Sweater
(Every year for the past 5 or 6 years I have received a sweater of some sort for Christmas. Which is okay. I love sweaters.)
games
Temple Square
Christmas Village
Christmas programs [when I'm not in charge of them :)]
Christmas music
Christmas concerts
A Christmas Carol
A Muppet Christmas Carol
White Christmas
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(My favorite Christmas movie of all time!!)
snow
Luke 2
the Spirit
going to seminaries and singing
people saying, "Merry Christmas!"
bellsthose brave souls who sit outside of stores ringing bells
treats
neighbor gifts
homemade tree ornamentscalling hors d'oeuvres horse doovers
eating horse doovers on Christmas Eve
festive socks
getting to say festive
nativity scenesnutcrackersThe Nutcracker
The Messiah by Handel
Mannheim Steamroller
the Tabernacle Choir
Kurt Bestor
reading the oodles of Christmas stories we have
accumulated over the years
friends
parties
no school
excitement
the random nice things people do because it's Christmas
kindness
charity
love

My cute family

2007-12-20T20:54:00.001-07:00

Well, since I was sick of that last post, and because I can't think of anything of note to write about at this point in time thanks to a massive head cold, I will show the world my cute family. They are tremendously cute.

Here are the seven of us. Told ya they were tremendously cute.

Here is my dog Cyd. She's a cutie too.

This is my youngest brother Lee. He is a hilarious kid. We are really good friends, which is funny because he is the youngest and I am the oldest. But, hey, that's how it is. In this picture he in contemplating on what his talent should be in an upcoming assembly. He's been nominated to be Mr. Fremont, probably because of his incredible good looks.

This is the second to youngest brother Nathan. He is currently an LDS missionary in Argentina. I love this picture because he looks short in it, when in reality he is the tallest member of our family. His companion was 7 feet tall. He is also hilarious. I miss him.

Here is my cute sister. I saw her last night on national TV. That's right. National. It was the PBS broadcast of last year's Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with special guest Sissel. She was ringing bells because that is what she does. She is awesome.

Here is my brother Derek nerding away. I'm allowed to say that because he graduated in computer science. Plus, one day he told me how he and my neighbor (who is also a computer science major) nerded someone away. And he's a code monkey. Definitely a nerd. He is currently a tourist in Portugal.

And here I am acting silly as per usual.

Alas, I don't have any pictures of just my parents, but you can probably tell who they are in the first picture. If you can't, ask me and I will tell you.

It's a start

2007-12-09T20:21:00.001-07:00

Well, I decided to join the bandwagon and start a blog. I can't guarantee that it will be amusing, or even interesting, but oh well. It's my blog. So, if you feel so inclined, read it. Make a comment.

Or don't.