25 Things:

Hey, hey guys, remember that time? on Facebook? when everyone posted 25 thing about themselves? Well I'm gonna do it.

1. I've had five best friends over the course of my life- two that I would consider my best, best friends.

2. I used to be deathly afraid of spiders, now I'm only afraid of spiders if they're in someone else's house. I don't know why.

3. I used to be a high school theater critic.

4. My hair is 22 inches long.

5. When I was born I had 2 inches of jet black hair, then I was a blonde until the age of 6.

6. I have the entire "Ice, Ice Baby" rap memorized.

7. I once drove for 11 hours straight across the country.

8. The worst physical pain I've ever experienced was the ear infection I had in high school. To this day, if I think about the pain, I shudder.

9. If you poke me in the ribs, I will spaz out for probably the next 10 minutes. It's ridiculous, and embarrassing, and I wish I didn't do it, but there it is.

10. The first music video I remember seeing was The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" on Pop Up Video.

11. My favorite food is bananas. are bananas? is the banana?

12. My eyes change from blue to grey to green.

13. I once had a dream that a man challenged me to a duel, then shot me in the leg. When I went home to tell my mom about the duel, my backyard was a safari and I caught my mom making out with Beetlejuice.

14. Once I met David Sedaris. He said I "bedazzled" him.

15. The one thing that never, ever fails to make me laugh is seeing people trip and fall down.

16. I got a black eye in the 8th grade that chipped a piece of bone off of my cheekbone.

17. I sold my first piece of artwork in the 4th grade.

18. I love to make people laugh. I don't mean that in the sense that that makes me a good person or something. It's like an addiction.

19. Much like my addiction to carbonated beverages.

20. I'm most happiest when I'm writing, drawing, driving, walking, or running.

21. I have five siblings. I love all of them, and I miss all of them very much.

22. I love collarbones.

23. I'm a sucker for scruff, a sense of humor, creativity, and intelligence. Have any of those, and I probably already have a crush on you.

24. I can't go a day without talking in an accent.

25. I've never had a fast food hamburger. I'm allowed to have my first one on my honeymoon.

There it is.

Weekonedone.

It's officially the end of the first of the last.

Week one of my last semester is done.

First off, I'm in love with my classes so far. They're all English classes, two of them with teachers that I've had before, and really like. I'm taking three literature classes (Major Authors, Victorian and Modern Lit, and Romanticism) and a creative writing class with an emphasis on poetry. I'm also working at the reading center and TAing for three different teachers. It's a beautiful thing.

I don't know how I feel about this being my last semester, but it's off to a good start with the exception of splitting my forehead open. It's not as bad as I make that sound, but it hurt, and it bled, and there's a mark. Aside from that, though, I'm in love with this semester. I'm taking twelve credits of English, two of those classes are with professors that I've had before, and love. I'm taking creative writing (poetry) from Brother Cameron, and three literature classes (Romanticism; Cather, Steinbeck, and Faulkner; and Victorian to Modern British Literature). I'm excited for all of them. Other than that, I'm TAing for three different teachers, and working at the reading center. On top of all that, it's summer, and I've never had a bad summer in Idaho.

It is kind of bittersweet, though, knowing this will be my last semester. There are at least twenty instances every day where I'll be doing something or looking at something, thinking that it'll be gone in two and a half months. Part of me is excited to be out of college, doing what I want to do, whenever I want to do it, but the other part of me is really going to miss being a part of an academic atmosphere.

Some highlights of the week:

-Arriving in Rexburg on Monday, the night before classes.

-First day of creative writing: The Annalee Sine Compliment Hour

-First prank using The Fort: the FHE brothers scare the crap out of Caitie.

-Night of cookies #1: Jeff matches everything in our apartment, I find out five of Dirk's weaknesses. It's gonna be a good semester.

-Night of cookies #2: Cookies and Rear Window.

Also last night, I got to talk to my mom for about 45 minutes. I love phone calls with my mom. She's one of the best listeners I know, and there is literally nothing I can't tell her. She never tries to shove advice in my face, or tell me whether I'm wrong or right, she listens and gives her two cents, and she's almost always right. Anyways, she said something last night, one sentence, that shocked me. I won't say what it was, but it had to deal with something that's been on my mind for a long, long, long time now. Almost 10 months. Actually, on my mind is an understatement. This things has driven me nuts for the past 10 months. Anyways, it was one of those sentences that I'll look back on three years from now and either think she was the smartest woman in the world, or that we were both just two big idiots. Hopefully it's the former. Hopefully.

And now, a different kind of update:

It was around the middle of last semester that I became sick of all my music. There were maybe 30 songs on my 1,000 song-holding iPod that I wouldn't skip over, just because I listened to it so often. Even my 6,000 song iTunes library was driving me nuts. So I started the search for some new tunes. I call it the great iPod shuffle of April, 2010.

Some of the highlights of the shuffle:

-The National. I'd heard a few of their songs before, but I've become fully immersed in them since March.

Favorite: "You Were a Kindness"

-Asteroid Galaxy Tour: I first heard their song on a Heineken commercial. I proceeded to have that song on repeat for about two weeks. It's not Earth-shatteringly great music, but it's got spunk.

Favorite: "Golden Age" and "Push the Envelope"

-Pink: I used to be addicted to her back in middle school, then she fell off my radar for a while when she got super pop-py and political. But I've started listening to some of her stuff again, and I forgot how much I love her voice.

Favorite: "Glitter in the Air" partially because the MTV Awards performance

Bell X1: Just good stuff. Eclectic, punky, smooth, craggy, lovely.

Favorite: "West of Her Spine"

Otis Redding: I'll always have a huge place in my heart for blues/soul music. I used to listen to it a lot more than I do now, but this man's roped me back in.

Favorite: "These Arms of Mine" and "Pain in my Heart"

Mavis Staples: Another soul sister. I want to know her. This woman's voice is mind-blowing. Her album was produced by Jeff Twiddy, which makes it even better, I think.

Favorite: "Belong to the Band" and "Creep Along, Moses."

The Strokes: Another old favorite. This is the band that made me want to be in a band. The first time I heard Room on Fire, I listened to nothing else for about 6 months. I don't care what people say about them, I'll always love them.

Favorite: "What Ever Happened?" "You Talk Way too Much," and "The Modern Age"

Paul Simon: YET another old favorite, but I now have his entire discography.

Favorite: "Love" --- just the way the man says "love" is genius. I first heard this song back in Virginia just after I'd run 7 miles and I was walking my bike up a hill towards my house right as the sun was setting. Not to sound too heavy or stupid, but it's one of the most perfect moments I've ever experienced. You'll know what I'm talking about when you hear the song.

Battleschool: They came to Sammy's a while back. To be honest, if I hadn't seen them live, I don't know that I would like them as much. Anyways, they're new.

Favorite: "I Was a String"

So that's all the new stuff.

I want to write more. I'm in a big 'list' mood. BUT, I have homework and running to get done, so I'm gonna stoppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppnow.

Loss Ann-Jealous, Cal if or knee ya

So this past week we (Me, Caitie Metts, Eva Douglas, and Jeff White) all took a roadtrip from Rexburg, Idaho, to Los Angeles, California. It was one of the best roadtrips I've ever taken. I don't know if it was because it was to California or the fact that I was with three of my favorite people in the world, but it was just what I needed before this new semester started. I won't go into too much detail about it, but here are some of the highlights:

-The drive: There was a lot of talking, a lot of music, a lot of podcasting, and a lot of sleeping. The drive down and the drive back were pretty long. I don't know how Jeff didn't fall asleep or go crazy. The man has stamina. I also forgot how beautiful it is, particularly down in the deserts and canyons near California and Arizona. Being able to see the sky for miles is something I'll never get tired of after living on the east coast for so long.

-Glendora: I didn't think places like Glendora existed; it's pretty perfect. I was actually kind of jealous of Jeff's childhood. It's small, but you don't feel like you're in a small town, and it's got the perfect balance of nature and culture. Jeff had stories about pretty much every part of it, some about pranks he and Lars played, some about its history. Cool stuff.

-Los Angeles: We went to Los Angeles to hang out with Leanne and stay at her place. I forgot how massive and confusing Los Angeles is. It always feels the same as the first time I went there- intimidating and exciting at the same time. We walked around the Grove for a bit, got Brazilian barbecue for dinner, saw Limitless, saw a mag-nificent mural in Abercrombie and Fitch, etc. After all that we went to Leanne's to sleep. Leanne and I caught up on everything in our lives, which took until 3 am. It really felt like we were back in high school having a sleepover.

-Santa Monica: Sunburned. Pier. Freak show. Sun. That's all I got.

-Venice Beach: Pot. Pizza. Sunset.Walking. Bookstore.

-Huntington Beach: Bonfire. Veggie hotdogs. "WHAT?". Pazookie.

Other than that, there are just random 'adventures:'

-24 hour Donut Man

-In n' Out

-Meeting the White family- Get Your Lardon, Dr. Who

-Baking- 3 cakes, 1 pan of brownies, 1 batch of cookies. Jeff's whipped creams would be nothing without my cakes.

-Disneyland- I'll never get tired of Disneyland. We got in for free thanks to Jeff's friend Andrea (thank you, thank you, thank you). We ate good food, went on tons of rides ("MA'AM?"), Jeff ripped my pinky up, Fantasmic, searching for funnel cake, princess Coronation ceremony.

-Vegas- I saw Ashley! After almost a year, we were reunited at Chipotle

-Caleb White- So we adopted Caleb, Jeff's brother, into our little group. I love that kid.

-Reading in the park

-Good Will. Sooo much.

-Angel's game.

-Wal Mart

-Jeff's grandma's house: Aquanet and mattresses.

-Forgetting things: my laptop, Jeff's suitcase, me...

-Pasadena- I got to see where I used to hang out while I was nannying forever ago. It was like one big deja vu. I love that place. I can't wait to live near it.

-La Torteca

-So much pizza.

-Mama Cozza's!

-Night stuff in Glendora

-Overnight in Salt Lake at grandma's

-Morning runs and fresh made orange juice in Glendora

-Babe and Thai food.

That's all the big stuff I can think of.

Anyways, it was a great trip. Perfect way to start my last semester. SPEAKING OF WHICH, it's my last semester. How bout that.

Later.

Winter 2011

I haven't updated this thing in forever. I've been terrible about recording my life on things other than napkins and receipts.

Anyways, I want to give a quick run-down of the semester, even if it's just for my own memory.

So here it goes, things I liked, loved, and mildly disliked about this semester:

Like: Northgate Apartments.

After living in Snowed Inn for a semester, and being mildly depressed the whole time, Northgate is like heaven on Earth. I love everything about it: the room, the fact that Caitie and I pushed our beds together, our laundry room, our three couches in the living room, the stairs (where we've had at least 32 DTRs), the gym (which is about 200 feet from our apartment door), the theater. And that's not even going into the roommates or the ward.

Love: Last Poet Standing

I had my doubts about this competition. I thought it was going to be a group of 30 English majors listening to weird poetry in a classroom every week. I wasn't even going to enter until Matt Montoya told me to. After reading my poem the first week, I was addicted. Having people respond to stuff I'd written really meant a lot, and I met so many incredibly cool, talented people. Easily the best thing I did all semester.

Dislike: History 120

A class taught entirely by students reading powerpoints. I once counted how many words my teacher spoke in a class period: 134. No exaggeration.

Like: Books.

By far my favorite book this semester was Just Kids by Patti Smith. It's a memoir chronicling her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe before he died of AIDS. I'd only ever heard Patti Smith's name in reference to the birth of punk music; I had no idea she wrote, or wrote well. There's nothing particularly fantastic about the story, but she's so genuine in her writing. Her relationship with Robert is really captivating. There's definitely a lot there. Reading it made me want to move to New York and listen to old records all day. I definitely want to read more of her stuff.

"When we got to the part where we had to improvise an argument in a poetic language, I got cold feet. "I can't do this," I said. "I don't know what to say."
"Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise."
"What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?"
"You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another."
In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life."

Right now I'm reading Salvador by Joan Didion. I'm about 36 pages into it and it's already pretty intense. Joan Didion's always been one of my favorite authors; everything I've read by her has such a different feel to it, and this one's no exception.

Love: People

I've made a lot of friends this semester, which I wasn't expecting. I was pretty content with my current circle of friends at the beginning of the semester. But, I've felt myself come out of my shell this semester. I don't know what did it exactly, but I've become much more comfortable with reaching out of my comfort zone. I've become friends with so many insane, talented, insanely talented people, and solidified friendships I'd already had. Some of these people I won't see again for a long, long time, so here's my two cents for each of you 'leaving' kids:

-Jill Fleming: I can't believe we'd never hung out before now. You are the sister of my soul, and I'll miss you terribly.

-Mallorie Lamb: The first time I saw you, I thought you were way too cool for me...and that's still pretty true. You're one of the sweetest people I know, and I know you'll make an amazing missionary.

-Garrett Sherwood: You're one crazy S.O.B

-Jeannette Snyder: Ever since I heard you read "If I Did Ecstasy," I knew I had to meet you. You didn't disappoint.

-Amada Hatton: Where the heck did you come from?! I love your poetry and I love you. Rhyme Schemers forever.

Dislike: Being sick.

About three weeks into the semester, I got super sick with the flu. I haven't been that sick since high school. This one is a cross between like and dislike, actually. I really like the feeling of being sick sometimes; there's something about knowing that your body is doing something, even if it's trying to recover from being sick. I spent three days wrapped in blankets, sweating, shivering, sleeping, sometimes crying, and another two days in a light-headed daze. Funny story, actually, I went to see Tron with my friends, Jeff and Tom, on a day when I thought I was completely better. Halfway through the movie, I started feeling really light-headed and nauseous. I walked out of the movie feeling like I was high, and I'm sure that I was acting like a weirdo the entire time. The cool part, though, was finding out how nice my friends are. Beside the people that treated me like I had the friggin plague, there were some really nice people looking out for me.

Like: NULC

Lots of good stories from this trip. First of all, it was cool just to be accepted. I got to read a story I hadn't even touched since about January. It's a story that's sort of become my baby, so it was nice to let it see some daylight again. Other than that, getting to walk around Ogden was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was absolutely gorgeous the entire time. We got to shop for old books, eat awesome pizza, meet interesting (sometimes drunk) people, listen to interesting writing, and sleep in the most comfortable beds in the world. Getting to hang out with everyone from BYU-Idaho was great too. I don't think we cold've had a better group.

Love: Deep Love

One of the coolest things I've ever seen; everything about it was absolutely incredible. It's come a long way from when I saw it at Sammy's last year. It was such a good night in general. The show was awesome, Lars Lindstrom came up from California (which was awesome), the after-party at Millhollow was awesome, annnnnd the show was awesome. Again.

Dislike:

Decisions. I've been kind of stupid when it comes to making those this semester, especially when it comes to relationships and such. Just thinking about it makes me feel like a stupid little girl. Anyways, I've had a hard time letting go of some things. BUT, it's gotten much better in the past couple of weeks. So, this is another mix between like and dislike, but in the beginning of the semester it was definitely a dislike.

Like: Growing up.

That sounds stupid, but it's true. I think I've done a lot of that this semester. There haven't been any humongous changes, but I'm starting to be less obviously stupid and immature about some things. I've done a lot of prioritizing, and I think I've figured out the direction I want my life to go in, at least for the time being. Knowing that I'll be out of college and working in the next five months is so crazy. I never thought I would actually graduate from college. I could picture myself as a thirty, forty year old women easily, but I never actually picture myself as a college graduate. Does that make sense? Anyways, whether or not I want it to happen, it will, so I might as well be excited about it. Am I right? AM I RIGHT?

Those are some of the bigger highlights. The rest are stashed in a journal somewhere.

It's been a good semester. Top notch. If this semester had a facebook page, I would probably like it.

Stuff to look forward to next semester:

-Three classes. I only have to take three classes. All of them are classes I want to take.

-TAing. I get to be a TA for Brother Griffin, Brother Lawrence, and Brother Gentry.

-Summer!

-Graduation. This one's a tough one. I used to hate the idea of graduating and leaving everyone/thing, but after seeing convocation last night, and seeing some of my friends graduate, I'm excited. I'm going straight from Idaho to California and TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM.

I don't want to write anymore, so I'm gonna stop.

Update: complete.