I'm Still Here

Just so you know, even when I don't blog for real, I definitely blog in my head. I think of exactly what stories I need to tell on here. Unfortunately for you, I haven't actually been writing these imaginary blog posts down so I have forgotten 99% of the things I meant to blog about...oops.

Lucky for you, I did write down something funny Dr. I said the other day. We were talking about stocks and how you just have to hold on through the hard times even when your stock isn't doing so hot. But it is still worth it sometimes because the stock will come back up and make you money. He said, "Would you hang out with a short person who throws up on you? YES! Yes, you would. It's called your child." Hahahaha, oh Dr. I. Then in the same class period he talked about Martha Stewart's imprisonment, "Remember Martha Stewart? She spent some time in Connecticut wearing an orange jumper. I'm sure she painted and improved it."

School has been busy, thus the lack of blogging. But life is good. I went on a blind date last night. The guy was really nice, but he looked a lot like my brother so that was kind of weird. When I got home, I went to the men's soccer game with Megan, Greta, and Steven. My early bedtime plan was unsuccessful due to a late night banana bread adventure. Of course I had to stay up until it was finished (at midnight!) so that I could get a piece. And it's a good thing that I did because it was all gone this morning when I left for work (at 5:45 in the morning). Oh early shifts at work...it's a love hate relationship. I hate waking up so early on Saturday, but I love being done with work - especially when it's ADVENTURE TIME. Today is hereby dubbed adventure day. I'll blog all about it later. It's going to be epic.

Cooking for One

It's no secret that I cannot wait to get married and have a zillion babies. As I was thinking about that today on the way to class, I thought about how one day I will probably look back on my single college days and wish I could live them all over again (I mean, my life is pretty spectacular). This thought probably spurred from the fact that I was walking past a young family with a screaming child, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, when I came home tonight from a long day of school and work I was so hungry. I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, and that's when it happened: I made a terrible decision. I love experimenting in the kitchen and making up recipes as I go, but I should not do that when I am starving. I made some pretty terrible pasta. Okay, it wasn't terrible, but every time I took a bite I thought about Megan's theory that every bite you take that you don't enjoy decreases your satisfaction. Well, that pasta ended up in the trash after only a few bites. And now I'm sitting here eating Lucky Charms.

At first, I was disappointed by my dinner fail tonight. And then I realized how lucky I am that I was only cooking for myself! Because no one else was counting on me cooking a delicious dinner, I could just default to cereal instead of whipping up something else. Lucky Charms have never tasted so good.

LOOK AT ME!

In the recent weeks, I have heard multiple people comment on BYU students' lack of eye contact with one another on campus. "No one will look at you." "They just avert their eyes." "If you look at someone, they will purposely look away so they don't have to make eye contact." You know what I say to that? BOLOGNA. I have never noticed people avoiding eye contact on campus. Sure, if someone is zoning out or preoccupied they might not make eye contact, but geeze give 'em a break.

Or maybe I just wasn't being observant. Maybe the reason I never noticed people avoiding eye contact is because I'm the worst offender! Could it be? I wanted to know. So, I decided to perform my own little experiment. This week I have made a special effort to make eye contact with as many people as possible. Granted it has been a beautiful week so people are probably in better moods than they were when it was -3487238473 degrees, I have had no problem getting people to look at me and smile. Old, young, male, female - they all make eye contact and smile. Now I can say with complete confidence, BOLOGNA.

And now for an embarrassing video to further prove the friendliness of the students on BYU campus.

My Name Really IS Lisa

A completely random guy brought me bubble wrap to play with at work.  This unexpected surprise was greatly entertaining. Unfortunately, he will never know the happiness the bubble wrap brought me. I inadvertently put on one of my co-worker's name tags instead of my own this morning. When bubble wrap boy asked my name and I said, "Lisa" he looked at the name tag I was wearing and said, "Cool, give me a fake name". Then he just walked off. I was really confused until I noticed I was wearing Nicole's name tag. My bad...

Amen

Because I love my friend Hannah's most recent blog post so very much, I've decided to post a link to it here. I love everything about it. I'm mostly posting this link for my own selfish reasons. I know I'm going to want to read it again one day, and it will be a lot easier to find now that the link is forever saved on my blog. But you should take advantage of my selfishness and read it. It's worth it. Trust me.

Sunday Stroll to Ice Adventure

Today was warm (relatively...it was in the 40s), so I decided to take a walk after dinner. When Chloe heard that I wanted to take a walk, she suggested that we drive over to Utah Lake and walk around. I was in a pretty adventurous mood, so I readily agreed. Next thing I knew, 5 of the 6 roommates were piled into the car and headed to the lake.

The lake was beautiful and freezing. Remember how I had originally planned on a leisurely stroll in the nice sunshiney warmish weather? Yeah, well that's what I was dressed for. We're talking a skirt and flip flops. Oh, and the lake? FROZEN. Literally frozen. Megan, Becca, and Chloe even ventured out onto the ice. Greta and I, ever the cautious ones of the bunch, stayed ashore to call 9-1-1 if needed.

Although by the end of our adventure I had lost all feeling in my toes, it was totally worth it to be able to take in the breathtaking scenery around us. I am constantly amazed at the beauty of this world.

According to Chloe

Last Sunday Chloe made a little fact sheet about each of the four of us (Megan, Greta, Chloe and me). So, meet "us" according to Chloe:

**DISCLAIMER** above "fact" sheets may or may not be factual

Feminisim: I'm Doing It All Wrong

Amy came home today and informed me that it is International Women's Day. In celebration of womanhood, I cleaned, baked, sewed, ironed, went shopping, and had girl talk. I'm pretty sure International Women's Day is a feminist holiday. And I am very thankful for some of the feminist movements that have led to many freedoms that I take for granted most of the time (like wearing pants!). But, I am a woman. And I enjoy doing a lot of things that the world is trying to get women to rebel against. Well, I'm rebelling against the world by being feminine and proud of it.

Give Me Your Eyes

Do you ever listen to a song on repeat because it says something better than you ever could? That happens to me. A lot. In fact, it has happened so much recently that I made a playlist of all the songs that get stuck in my head. When a song is stuck in my head, I just wish everyone knew what song I was singing in my mind. I feel like everyone would know me so much better if they always knew what music was playing in my head. Music can reveal so much about what a person is thinking and feeling. It can work the other way too. Music can make us think or feel a certain way. That's why we're cautioned so much about choosing wholesome, uplifting music. But anyway, since I am avoiding doing my schoolwork I figured I'd let you in on my current song obsession:

I have always been a master stalker. I love people watching. I love imagining what other peoples' lives are like. Strangers intrigue me. But sometimes I have trouble remembering that the people I see on campus might really be having a hard day and they might need me to smile at them. And sometimes that new mom with the screaming baby in class needs me to tell her how cute her little munchkin is as I walk out of the classroom. Maybe that person I had a class with last semester needs me to say hi to them when we pass by so they know someone remembers their name when they've been feeling forgotten. I don't know everyone's story, but I know someone who does. If I can see them through His eyes for just one second, I can be His hands, His smile, His hug.

Chlozell's Birthweekend

I absolutely love celebrating my roommates' birthdays. I think I have just as much fun (or more!) than they do. I would rank this birthweekend up there with my all time favorite birthday celebrations ever.

We started the celebration on Friday night. Chloe, Greta, Megan and I headed out to dinner at Cafe Rio. SO delicious. After we stuffed ourselves silly, we stopped by Cocoa Bean (a cupcake cafe) and picked up an assortment of gourmet cakes to eat at midnight to ring in Chloe's actual day o' birth. Then, we headed over the The Wall.

The Wall is this new hangout spot on campus. They have live bands, food, and italian sodas. We were (obviously) too full to eat, but we grabbed a table up front to watch the band. We felt like a bunch of old farts because the band was wayyyyy too loud for us. There are a couple of touch-screen game tables in the back, so we moved back there and played for a little while. I think The Wall will eventually evolve into a cool little place. Next time we go back we plan on sending a boy across the room a drink. Just like in the movies. I chickened out this time, but next time I'M DOING IT.

On the way home we rolled down the windows and blared "Kiss the Girl". We spread the love all around Provo. A few couples even kissed! ....but most just looked at us crazy. We were just trying to help them have a moment...but some didn't seem to appreciate it. Particularly the two girls. We thought one was a boy because she day a hat on, but when we got closer we saw they were both girls. Oops! Luckily they didn't follow the words of the song and "kiss the girl".

When we got home, Amy still had friends over. We didn't want to be rude eating our cupcakes in front of them so we smuggled them back into Chloe and Greta's room. Chloe also brought a gallon of milk. Greta had a water bottle. I had a glass of water. We had a good ole time eating and cracking up. Chloe made a joke that Greta must not have seen coming because she had just taken a sip of water. Greta proceeded to spew the water out in uproarious laughter ALL. OVER. CHLOE. And the bed. And the floor. But mostly Chloe. It looked like Chloe had just visited Niagara Falls. It was hilarious.

When we finally calmed ourselves down, we had a roommate sing-along. Sing-alongs are becoming a frequent occurrence in B38. Finally, at 12:45 am (when Chloe was born) I peaced-out and went to sleep.

I had to work on Chloe's birthday, but we started celebrating again almost immediately after I got home. Chloe's mom had sent her a birthday box which got here perfectly on time. Inside were party decorations, so we had a very festive apartment. Then, we threw a frisbee around outside since it was such a beautiful day. Greta made a fabulous chocolate cake from scratch while Chloe and I ran to the store to get food for break-the-fast and pick up dinner: Slab pizza!

Just as we finished eating our pizza, our party guests began to arrive. We had quite the crowd. It was a blast! We sat around talking and laughing. Then we ate yummy cake and ice cream. Then we talked and laughed some more. Eventually we moved the party to B21 to watch a movie on their projector. By the end of the night, I was exhausted. Celebrating can wear a girl out.

I am so glad Chloe was born.