back to the 'burg

Saturday was the big move-in day. Mom and Dad brought me up to Rexburg and helped me move in. I'm still trying to get completely settled. This week has felt like two weeks...and it's only Wednesday. I have been walking too much, probably close to four or five miles a day, between walking to and from and all around campus. Next week I start golf, which mean adding another seven or eight miles each week. Every night passes far too quickly. I don't have enough time to finish my homework and get a decent night's sleep. Usually I decide that if I can't have both, I'll choose neither, thus resulting in a night of laughing and talking until midnight. So far I have been fortunate enough to sleep in on Monday and Wednesday morning, but that won't last for long. Adjusting to a regular schedule has been difficult so far, but I have to remind myself that I haven't even been here six days. For now I am enjoying my classes: golf on Mondays and Wednesdays, and family foundations and young adult literature on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Next week I start work in the Reading Center, and the following week I'll start tutoring in the Reading Center. I am so grateful for the dear Sister Engstrom, the patient and loving woman in charge of the Reading Center. She has been a true answer to prayer, providing me with a job while still being understanding, patient, and supportive enough to allow me to work as little or as much as I want.

Living with Andra has also been a great blessing so far. Already I'm wondering how I ever lived without her. I have missed her so much while she was on her mission. We lived together at Colonial House during my first two years of school. She is like another sister to me...my favorite person ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever in the world. (She told me to put that, but I'm not going to lie. It's true). She is also the T.A. for my young adult lit class, which means she will be grading my assignments...I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

adventures with talbi & ani part II

After another few--very busy--days in Texas, and I have officially decided that I could live here only if every month were April and I could sit under a try all day! The weather has been gorgeous and hot; nevertheless, a wonderful breeze has helped me get through the heat. I think at last I am becoming exhausted, dehydrated...probably both. But still we keep going every day.

Monday morning we drove to Corpus Christi, which is near the Gulf of Mexico. It was a very appropriate activity, I thought, to do on the day so famous to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 6th. It was a long drive, but I was happy to pass the time away talking to Brandon as she drove. When we got there we checked into our hotel, the Radisson, and then went on a few tours of the U.S.S. Lexington, the only WWII aircraft carrier left. It was featured in the movie Pearl Harbor. The ship was huge, and had steep stairs. We all got a great calf workout for sure. While we were walking around, I remember hearing a little pop and my ankle started hurting a bit. I didn't think much of it and continued to walk on it. When I woke up on Tuesday morning my ankle was throbbing and I had to wrap it in an ace bandage. It still hurts a little, but not as bad as before. The hotel was right on the water. It was absolutely beautful. Corpus Christi is actually in an inlet or bay of the Gulf, so while Talbi and Ani went with their parents to our next destination on Tuesday, the rest of us drove to Port Aransas (pronounced "air-AN-sis,") to stick out feet in the Gulf. We rode a small ferry to the island of Port Aransas. The weather was absolutely perfect--because we got there in the early afternoon, the sun was almost directly over us, but we still had a nice breeze. The sand was much finer than the beach in Corpus Christi, and the water was warmer as well.

After an hour or so in Port Aransas, We drove up to Gruene (pronounced "green") to stay in a time-share. Dad turned on Betty, his GPS, which took us on the "scenic route" to Gruene. On Wednesday morning we spent in Gruene, which is a little German town. We went into little shops, which reminded me a lot of Leavenworth, Washington. My favorite store was a large antique shop. I could have spent hours in there if we had the time. While there I bought a book from 1924 called Essentials in Journalism. Inside I found an old English assignment and some notes. I had forgotten how much I love old books, especially ones that have to do with English.

Next we had a Subway picnic at Landa Park, which is close to Gruene. I sat in the shade the whole time. Again, the weather was perfect in the shade where the breeze was warm but still cool enough to keep me from getting hot. Some friendly squirrels found me, and we all had fun giving them peanut M&M's, which they ate quickly. A few of the squirrels burried the M&M's. I wonder if they'll still have their candy coating and chocolate after rain. We then drove back to San Antonio and went to Build-a-Bear. Steph made "Troy Bearton," a High School Musical bear. Talbi created "Fluffy," a puppy that he turned into Spiderman. Ani picked a pink monkey that she put a swimsuit and goggles on and call "Charly." Mom and Dad took a bunch of pictures and filled the memory card on their camera. We went to Rudy's for dinner, a barbecue place, and then we rented Bedtime Stories and watched that after Talbi and Ani went to bed. Such a good movie!

Today has been a low-key day. We've been playing Wii. Aaron has some games that we don't have, so we've been having fun playing Wii Dodge ball. Talbi amazes me with his crazy mad Wii skills. I am glad to rest my ankle before tomorrow's trip to Sea World. My sleeping pills knock me out for several hours, so any time I can get extra sleep is good--like this morning when I slept in until about 11:00. How good that felt!

adventures with talbi & ani part I

Day two in San Antonio. It's hot here. And humid. I stay indoors because I'm terrified of becoming burnt chicken. I've given in to the inevitable frizzy hair and mousse and diffuse it--better to start with and end with the curls and save the frustration of partially straight hair. We watch General Conference. We watch Marley and Me. Marley and Me reminds me of Scrat. I feel a little homesick. I have my first taste of Blue Bell ice cream. I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to pass the time until I sleep. I text Ben. I text Elisabeth. I text President Moyes. I text anyone who will give me a little taste of normalcy. I eat curry for the second time in my life. I like this curry better than before. I take endless quizzes on Facebook. I play several rounds of Text Twist. I check my email fifty times. I check my Facebook fifty times. I discover online Jumble--a newspaper classic. I solve many Jumbles. I love work games. I try to sleep. I fall asleep on the floor. I wake up with imprints from my computer keyboard on my cheek. I wake up shortly after Conference has started, but in time to hear the first speaker. I listen to Conference. I shower. I eat lunch. I begin typing, and find what little I've actually done.

A bleak paragraph, I know. But as I type and Ani sits next to me, watching me pound out the words on my keyboard and looking adoringly up at me with her beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous dimples, I realize why I'm here. Tomorrow we head for Corpus Christi and are going to spend some time lying on the beach. I am so glad that I get to spend more time with these kids. Talbi is so smart. He plays the piano like you wouldn't believe. And Ani dances like a pro. The life, the learning, the Spirit in this home...it's amazing. So far my adventures in Texas have not been all that exciting, but they've been simple, which in many ways is so much better.

pray for your own dam rain

Anyone who has ever lived in Rexburg or who is closely associated with Rexburg knows that the best thing about living in Rexburg is the plentiful supply of dam jokes. I love them. It's like when the opportunity arises to read a scripture in Sunday School that has a "bad word," and everyone volunteers because it's an opportunity to say a "naughty word" in church.

I was thinking about how every year there's a "water shortage." We're always in a drought. But one of the very few things I learned in my three attempts at my geography class is that drought + rain = flooding. And then everyone complains because they have to travel to work in a life raft, they have to sleep in life jackets, their carpets are ruined, yada, yada, yada...whine, whine, whine.

I love rain. It's my favorite kind of weather. Don't get me wrong. But this whole, "Everyone needs to pray for rain" mentality...I'm not so sure about it. "Let's pray for rain, but then when it starts raining, quickly switch to praying for sun."

In The Other Side of Heaven, I am deeply moved by one of the lines that says, "We are praying for a south wind. Others may be praying for a north wind. Perhaps we should be praying for a good wind." And so, as we move into the drier months of the year, perhaps we should be praying for "good weather," not for sun or rain or (for the mentally unstable) snow.

If you want to pray for rain, pray for your own dam rain.

where i've fallen

Somewhere in my incredibly busy life (to be said with incredible sarcasm) I found time to clean my room. Who knew that I had a floor! All this time I thought that if I were to remove the clothes and papers and books and empty orange G2 bottles (by the way, my FAVORITE drink, besides Barq's of course), I would fall right through what should have been the floor and land in the downstairs bathroom. I forget how big my room really is--it's really not big, but when the floor is clear, it seems a lot bigger. Instead of falling through my floor and into the bathroom, my life has taken some interesting turns, and I've fallen in some unexpected territories.

As most of you know, last week I made a quick trip to Washington. It was definitely too quick. I had so much fun playing with Sierra, Sophie, Rochelle, and LaMar. I also forget how much I miss Sarah, Brian, Justin, and Jessica. I had just as much fun with them as I did with their kids. I also forget how much I miss Grammy and Pa. I went to their house one night and had such a good time watching Dancing with the Stars with Grammy, our favorite past time when I was living there. And--SURPRISE!--I went on a date when I was there! The first one since Senior Ball. No, not a big deal, though, so don't get your hopes up. I went to Jamba Juice with Nathan, a friend that I've known since third or fourth grade. We had a great time talking until we were kicked out at closing time. I've never been kicked out of somewhere before. What an experience! We had a lot of fun, though.

In less than two weeks I'm going to San Antonio. I'm SOOO excited to see Aaron's family. I haven't seen them in a while. I have been rotating through pictures of my nieces and nephews on my desktop. Here are the featured pictures so far, starting with the first I put on, down to the one I have on their now:

No matter how many times people ask me, I cannot pick a favorite niece or nephew. I love them all equally. So these pictures are in no particular order. In a few weeks I will put this picture up of Sierra, and then I'll start all over:

I am putting a new feature on my sidebar--on the desktop. That's where I'll put my current desktop background.

For those of you who haven't heard yet, I'm officially changing my major this next semester. I have been a creative writing English major since I first started at BYU-Idaho. Not much is changing though. I'm just going into English education with a focus on creative writing. You all know how much I love writing and reading, so I've decided to share that love with other people. This way I'll be able to have a steady job, and I can spend my summers writing. I think it's a good arrangement. Now the issue stands with what language I'm going to learn. In high school I studied Japanese, but BYU-Idaho doesn't have a Japanese program. So, look to the sidebar poll and vote on which language you think I should study!

I am going back to school in a few weeks. It's coming up fast! I can't believe how the time has gone, but I'm glad. I'm ready to dive back into school. I can actually say now that I will miss Utah. I have become very active in the Singles' Branch, and I will miss that. But I'm also excited to be a student again.

Until next time...

the impostor

I am the biggest faker. I like to pretend that I am more important than I am. I like to pretend like everyone likes me. I like to pretend to agree with everyone, except when I'm feeling disagreeable, when I like to pretend like I don't agree with anyone. I like to pretend like I really care about things. I like to pretend I am funny. I like to pretend I'm serious. I like to pretend I'm sick when I'm healthy and I'm healthy when I'm sick. I like to pretend I have a ton of friends, even though I really don't. I like to pretend I'm a lot smarter than I am. I like to pretend I'm weak. I like to pretend I'm quiet and meek. I like to pretend like I'm a loving and caring person, but I also like to pretend that I hate the world and everyone and everything in it. The truth: I don't know what the heck I am!

the infamous

Those who have seen The Three Amigos know that the word "infamous" means "more than famous." Naturally, this word describes me perfectly. Why else would I be pogm (Potential Olympic Gold Medalist)? I was one of the most popular girls at Ballou Junior High when, at the end of my seventh grade year, I completely smoked a Rubik's cube contest against my teacher, the very person who taught me how to "do the cube." I was a hero. And even though I was so timid, shy, and anti-social, yes, I was deemed the "Party Goddess" of the Kay family when I held monthly Murder Parties with a guest list of over 20 frequent fliers. How awesome is that? Once I got to college, I decided to live a quiet life, but that vanished as soon as my incredible Hokey Six talent was discovered. Rumor has it I also started writing more in college, but let's not gossip. Maybe someday you will see that you can be as infamous as me!