I am

1. I am a bipolar hair-doer. Somedays its "let's just throw this wad of wet hair up on top of my head" and others it's "I just can't get this bouffant to look perfecttt."Not much in between, though. Here is a picture of a bouffant. If you were wondering.

2. I am a loud-laugher.

3. I am my biggest critic. Derek always has to help me through that one with some sweet words of affirmation.

4. I am able to see the big picture (most of the time). I am not one for frivolous spending on cruises (because I know one day we will end up in a cellar-of-an-apartment eating only flour and water if we go beserk with $$$) or starting a fight with a roommate the week before a semester ends (because we probably won't see each other again anyways if they've been bugging me for that long).

5. I am a procrastinator. Is there a procrastinators anonymous? Cuz I need to go. Later. (hah.)

6. I am a big sister. Over the years I have learned to take that role more seriously and am more conscious of the example I set and am very protective.

7. I am a firm believer in alone time. And bubble bear ice cream from Thor's. And watching Pride and Prejudice an embarrassing number of times.

8. I am conditionally sensitive. Most things people say don't bother me, but every once in a while a little tiny thing will sting pretty bad.

9. I am a non-destructive addict. Nooohoo thanks to alcohol or drugs. Sour Twizzlers, however- is my poison. It changes after I fully feed that addiction for a month or so. I get sick of it and move on to something else. Like sushi. And then Pringles. And then garlic fries.

10. I am an ugly crier. And I try not to cry too much, but when I do, oh heavens! It's like I've kept in all these things I've wanted to cry about for years and I'm just like "Well, I'm here anyways!" I will cry about how I failed a spelling test in 4th grade, and how the mom dies in 'Bambi', and how I got made fun of in elementary school for wearing a 'Barney and friends' hairbow. It's a big scene.

11. I am a big fan of road trips with my hubby.

12. I am interested in the dumbest careers that I know will never happen for me. Like a roller coaster tester, ice cream flavor inventor, or member of Cirque Du Soleil.

13. I am a celebrator of small victories. Like that one time I got 100 on my math homework quiz today :). Or that time I didn't get the most expensive pencils and got the cheap ones instead. Or that time I didn't forget to shave my legs before church.

14. I am a temple-lover. It's the best part of my day.

15. I am a puppy-coveter. I want one. Like so so bad. Ugh. I just can't.

16. I am a huge planner. Like I need to know if all the lights are going to be green on my trip across the country before I even leave the house (metaphorically speaking). I need to know when my kids will arrive, what their favorite foods are, and what their struggles will be, so I can be already prepared to help. I need to know where we will live in a year from now (!!!) and what my job will be. I need to know how many grandchildren I will have so I know how many quilts to start making. It's quite exhausting.

17. I am a person with a very strong conscience. Like that one time when I was 5 and I told the babysitter I liked her cookies when I really didn't and cried myself to sleep because I am a wretched person for lying. That kind of conscience.

18. I am semi-motivated. One day I will be like "yeah! I'm gonna get my splits back and write in my journal and call grandma and color coordinate my closet and do indexing!" And 24 hours (or less) later, I will barely be able to get out of my pj's. I 'm trying to change that.

19. I am indecisive. If I can't even pick out what color socks I want to wear for the day, how the heck am I supposed to someday pick names for my children!

20. I am optimistic. For the most part. When my toast lands on the floor butter-side down, I remember that "heck, I don't even like butter."And proceed on my merry way :)

Lately 'round Here

Did you know that hitting 'shift-command-4' takes a screenshot of your computer? Well, I didn't. Even after having my computer for almost 4 years. Yeah. I'm dumb.

Sorry folks, finals come before blogging. Thus, the long wait between blog posts. Hopefully my grades will be good enough to make up for the lackage of blogage that's been occurring. Hopefully.

Things the end of semester 7 has taught me:

:: I cannot find my school-spirited water bottle anywhere! I keep that purple thing glued to my hand or backpack in order for optimum hydration throughout the day and I never leave it anywhere. At least, I don't think I do. But it's playing an extended game of hide-and-seek with me. And I'm losing. I pretty much gave up. And I checked on the new ones at the bookstore...twenty-freaking-smackeroos. No
-ho thanks. So I'm sipping water out of a teacup right now. Aren't I classy!

:: This video made me almost pee my pants. Those General Authorities are so awesome, and just as much so when they are talking about Reeses. The guy doing the voices should seriously audition for an animated movie.

:: I want this camera reallllly bad. Or any SLR camera. But we don't have that kind of money to spare currently. Or even ever. Hah. Heck, we almost didn't have enough quarters to finish our laundry last night. (Isn't it crazy to think that someday we will have a home that we don't have to pay to do laundry and ONLY our clothes will use it?! Whoa. Talk about luxury.)

:: Speaking of moneys, we are trying not to go to the grocery store anymore cuz there are only 2 weeks left in the semester. So what's the point in buying a gallon of milk thats just gonna get thrown out when we leave for home? None. So we are surviving on the trans-fatty goodness of Pringles and frozen chicken nugs. The best.

:: You know who else likes our Pringles? Ants. Nasty, gross, creepy-crawly, tiny ants. They just decided to arrive uninvited under our stove. And now I have to do a bare-foot awkward cha-cha to avoid stepping on one every time I want to get to the bedroom or the living room. Cuz who likes dead ant bits on their toes? Not me. Don't worry, I got a little 'Raid happy' the other day. So now it looks like an ant apocalyse aftermath on the floor. Until all the uncles come along for revenge. (hah. ants? uncles? get it? That joke always warrants an eye-roll from Derek.)

:: AC is overrated. Me n the hubs are chuggin' along jusss fine with our rotating tiny-breath-of-a-fan while 95% of the neighbors are livin' large with their noisy window AC units. Eh, who needs 'em. We can go to Olive Garden 3 more times than them with that saved moola. So hah. Better to have yummy noodles than cold air, in my opinion.

:: Now I understand why more people don't workout. It's rough sometimes. Especially when you don't see any results riiight NOW. (Yes, I am still continuing my semester-long workout regiment, thanks to a wonderful bestie, Mckenzie) But sometimes, I just don't wanna! I still go 99% of the time, but this week is finals time and school always comes first. I maybe kinda sorta enjoy the break from sit ups and squats. What? errr. I mean- I miss being in that hot sweaty gym with all the other meatheads!

:: Derek has gotten me excited about Dobermans. I think it would be so cute to have a guard dog for myself and my babies when the time comes. It would be a new experience, considering my guard dog at home would just lick people to death. But a fluffy white ball of stupid cuteness isn't very intimidating in the first place.

:: Speaking of little fuzzies, me and Derek found a kitten under the cardboard recycling bin at Wal-mart as we were taking out our cardboard. Thank goodness we recycle! Long story short, the police came, probably thought we were the sappiest, stupidest couple (me, mostly), the Wal-mart manager was a cat whisperer fluent in several dialects of cat, some flat-billed hat strangers helped us use a car jack to lift the bin to get the kitten out, it peed on me, and it went home with a trusted friend. I wanted to keep it sooooo bad. Now, the only reason I go with Derek to the recycling bin is to see if there are any more baby animals in there.

:: Pepperjack mac n cheese. It's a flop. Especially when it calls for cooking the noodles in extremely salted water, adding sour cream, and adding chicken broth. Salty nastiness. I didn't even eat more than 2 noodles. Derek was a champ as usual and had a bowl despite my attempts to stop him. We both had huge bowls of ice cream to wash it down with. Cooking. Sheesh. Who needs it.

:: I'm mad at the Bachelorette. They showed us clips from 'next week's episode' last week and it was super dramatic and led us on a bunch. This week, none of the clips were in it, none of the quotes from people were in it, and it left us hanging on what the heck they were talking about when they meant 'next week'. Dumb reality t.v.

:: If you want your fill of cigarette-smoking moms squawking at their kids with tri-colored hair and 14-year olds with playboy bunny tramp stamps, then Rigby lake is theee place to go! However, the water was refreshing and cool in the 97 degree weather and me n' Kenz had a grand time trying not to step on anything gross and squishy at the bottom of the lake and chatting about people's swimsuit choices and temple marriage. It was grand :)

:: Thor's ice cream is my happy place. Quality ice cream for cheap price. (Their gummy bears in the ice cream are NOT even frozen hard! How do they do that?! Derek and I are convinced they put antifreeze in there.) My kind of business. I make up excuses to go there:
 "I did such a good job on my test today, I deserve some ice cream" 
"I did so bad on my test today I need some ice cream to cheer me up." 
"I didn't get Ben n' Jerry's at the store today. Let's get some ice cream to celebrate." 


Are we going there tonight for the 58th time in a row because it's just amazing? Maaaayybbeeee

:: Utah has stolen my heart. Derek and I went on a mini-vacay for the 4th of July and it was magical. Loved: seeing family, going to Seven Peaks, being in the food Mecca of the west (Chili's was right next to Olive Garden, which was right next to In-n-Out burgers, which was next to Panda Express, which was next to Golden Corral, which was next to....), watching fireworks, going on a hike, hustlin' my husband by faking a lack of air hockey skills, watching movies, having girl time at Target and finding various items on sale ($1 sunglasses? SOLD!), getting sno cones, and just bein' carefree! And the mountains so close are gorgeous. I told Derek I want to live in Utah or a place just like it with mountains towering above you right in front of your face (unlike in Idaho, "see them mout'ns waay over thar?"). Plus, they have Chipotle. Which pretty much could make me move to Djbouti if they had them there.

:: I miss my sisters. Raegan is such a 10-year-old hoot. She is so full of energy and sass. I hope it never changes. And Maddie, hah. Oh Maddie. She has a funny sense of humor that makes you laugh your ugly laugh (you know the one) and you don't even care. (or maybe that's just me) And it's fun to see her entering her boy-interaction phase and be all awkward talking about it. I love it. Then there's Taylor-my other half! I swear we were meant to be twins (we look it sometimes) but I am just stubborn so I most likely pushed my way to the front of the family lineup in the pre-existence. Whoops. But I love asking and giving advice with her, talking about stupid things only we are think are funny, and reminiscing about our time-outs together and matching pink jelly sandals from childhood. Plus, she's a beaut. Which gives me hope for myself because we share some of the same genes. She's the smokin'-est person working the donut machine at Krispy Kreme. (Sorry boys, she's taken.) I can't wait to have her back at school with me! And Sophie, my other hairy sister. I love her to death too.

xo peace and blessin's

p.s. Sophie is a dog.