I'm so excited!! I'm so excited!!! I'm so... scared...

Not really. Just REALLY excited. Because Shawn bought me THIS yesterday (after telling me that he only really got me a gift note. Not a gift to go with it. Har de har har):AAAAAAAAACK! I CAN'T HANDLE IT!!! I've been lusting after one of these for YEARS! And my day has finally come! Well in 5-9 days. But whatever.

Is it so wrong?

Is it so wrong that even though I would've voted for McCain, I'm kinda glad Obama won? On the world stage I think it will make other countries happier with America, and even though that shouldn't be the end all priority to such a decision, it is kind of a big deal. And I think it's healthy that the presidency exchanges parties every several years. While I don't agree with the vast majority of Democratic Liberal ideals, I don't think it's healthy to always stay on one side of things. Does that make sense? I think part of checks and balances inherent in the country's government system is the exchange of power and party every 4-8 years. While I don't agree with most of Obama's politics, I did feel a strange emotion when I learned that he had won--hope. I think he might be able to do some good in this country. I guess we'll see!

Is it wrong that even though I'm for Prop 8, I kind of wish it hadn't passed just because I was so disgusted with the reaction of some of my classmates? It's comments like, "Let's ship them off to an island, they'll die out after a generation anyway," that doesn't do our side or religion any favors, my friends. I had friends back at home who are homosexual. I recognize their sincere desire to be happy, and that they are genuinely good people. While I don't agree with their lifestyle, I can't force my views on them (or vice versa!) and measure them up to the same beliefs I hold as far as the morality of homosexuality goes. I believe the institution of marriage is strictly between a man and woman (and I don't think comparing the worse of marriages to the best of homosexual relationships is the way to go, either. I wouldn't want my worst moments to be solely used to represent who I am as a person. It's the intention and purpose of what marriage is, not always the reality that is at stake here). I think intolerance is a lot messier than people would like to believe. It's wrong to call someone intolerant just for having religious beliefs that don't gel with your own. It's also wrong to be hateful towards those who don't share your religious beliefs. That IS intolerant. Prop 8 prevailed by the people's vote. But that didn't come without a price. Let's hope we're willing to pay that price with understanding and love. Not by spewing hateful intolerant epithets. Sometimes it's when we win that our true natures are revealed.

And now for something completely different: Go to www.Failblog.org. It's freaking hilarious.

These are a few of my favorite things!!!!

Okay, so I guess I should be a little more positive for this next blog. And you did give me the idea, Jessica, but all I saw was the rant against V-necks on guys (which I wholeheartedly agree with. *shudders*), nothing else. After having a dream of Shawn dying of cancer and another dream where we were both called again to serve a mission (but in different countries--I think I was called back to England!), I've learned to treasure Shawn that much more. Until I told him about that first dream and he told me he really IS dying of cancer. Har de har de har.

Online coupons!!! I found one that actually worked, and got twenty bucks off my ultimate Kari shoes!!! That's right, ugly cute plain penny loafers: (except I got mine in kind of a dark tan). These shoes will be the third pair of the same exact style I've gone through thus far. The last pair I owned though was in high school, so I've been pining after these shoes for over six years now. Sigh. And now my day has come. They're so comfortable (at least after you break them in a bit) that I feel like I'm in a little bit of heaven every time I slip them on. Who cares if my dad probably has the same pair of shoes. It's just a mark of his good taste :).


ARGYLE!!! If I could wear argyle everyday, I might get sick of it, but I doubt it. My ultimate dream in regarding this semi-nerdy pattern is to have a dark brown knitted sweater vest with a light pink argyle pattern going across it. This picture is the closest I could find to what I'm looking for. Oh, and I don't care what Demitri Martin has to say on the subject. Sweater vests on guys are ridiculously hot. But with a shallow scoop neck and a button up underneath.

Corduroy. I live for corduroy. I can't help it. I also have a dream pair of dark brown corduroy trousers just waiting for me somewhere out there. Like the song. Some day! It's so worth the annoying SWISHing sound they create when you walk. They are THAT cute.

Chocolate chip cookie dough. And raw brownie mix. I don't care what anyone says, In over 20 years of eating this stuff, I have never gotten sick off it. I may or may not make cookies or brownies just so I can eat the dough.

Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell. These guys kick a-word at art. I'd give anything to be that good.

The rain. It's just so sunny here ALL THE TIME. So depressing! We do get some crazy weather here, OCCASIONALLY, but I miss my rain. And it snows too much here. But the point is, rain is great. It also makes it so I don't have to water my garden everyday. Which I do most of the time. Because it never rains.

My garden. It is SO MUCH FUN using my own garden for cooking!

My mom's vacuum. Sigh. If anyone ever feels inclined to buy me a Dyson, I'll give you my address to send it to.

Crappy crime and scifi shows. Poor Shawn. Just when I finished watching a season of 24, I find out about Eureka. When I finish a season of that I discover Murder One. When I finished that I discovered Fringe and Sanctuary and Life and Burn Notice and the Mentalist (which is a total Psych ripoff, but a good enough one that I still like watching it). I don't know why I bother watching Life. I don't like it--I really like Damien Lewis as an actor, but everyone is so contrived and forced in this show, it's just annoying. Except for the dude that lives OVER the garage in his house. He's okay. Hulu--gotta love it! You can even watch old episodes of Dragnet on it! Yay fun cool!

You gotta read the one about the vampires, too!

http://thisistheonlylieiwillevertell.blogspot.com/2008/09/killer-seals.html

I don't care if you don't think this is funny, Shawn! I don't! I promise!

I hate so much... about the things... you choose to be...

Well not exactly. These are just a list of things I hate that I've been thinking about lately. As IF you don't do the same!!!

Pointy shoes. I don't get the appeal. Sorry people. They look like witch shoes that make your feet seem about three inches longer than they really are. I prefer the rounded toe ones, because they make my feet look tiny and sweet, and they're a butt-load more comfortable. I prefer flats, too, although heeled shoes do have a certain allure to them. But not enough to make me wear them more than 10% of the time.



Those Bolero shrug jacket things. I can't explain it. They just wax ugly to me. Even though successful in adding modesty, they just look painfully awkward. They just add yuck.



Cowboy boots-unless they're on my favorite chunky two year old in my nursery class, cowboy boots don't look good, sorry!--the more traditional, the worse it gets. Sick--heels on guys? It just doesn't work. And GOSH, the red boots Ariel wears in Footloose to rebel against her dad? I threw up a little in my mouth. Choose your battles, Ariel! This is not one you can win by, um, winning! One of my old roommates loved to go country-dancing, and would always wear her boots. Every Saturday, I died a little inside.


THESE slip-on shoes. On boys or girls. I don't care what designs are on them. If they're plain, striped or polka dotted. I don't like shoes with nothing going on around the toe, and where all the action is more near your ankle. Ugly ugly ugly. when I wear jeans, I like to be able to see more than just a smooth (even if painted!) surface when I look at my feet. I've never liked shoes like these. I guess over the years I have been warming up to them A LITTLE, but not much.


Pseudo-intellectualism--smug patting oneself on the back doesn't win you any favors with me. In my 2D art class, my teacher was going off on an anti-elitist/academic rampage, and while I agreed with most of what he said, I didn't appreciate his smug tone, especially as he coddled everyone who vocally agreed with him in class (classmate: you're totally right! I hate crappy art! I hate art critics that canonize artists one moment and utterly reject them the next! teacher: oh, you think *smug smile*). Yes, craftsmanship and skill in art are downplayed and negated a lot more in the 20th Century than in the past--message/shock value over talent (think crucifix in a cup of urine. Or GOSH, that print of the Mona Lisa with scribbles and graffiti all over her face)--but you're not doing yourself any favors by your holier-than-your coworkers/field attitude. Being a snob against the snobs instantly defeats your purpose.

If you look at the history of art, it basically follows (not starting from the very beginning, sorry!): traditional (renaissance)/objection to the traditional(impressionism)/return to the traditional(realism)/defiance of the traditional(pop-art)/retro-traditional & a variety of everything all at the same time. It's a freaking cycle, people. Many of these "changes" were in response to war and other movements of the time period. Understandable, but not necessarily valid. At least to me!

And it's annoying when people think they're being fresh and new when they're just part of that system, and are actually supporting the system with their so-called rebellion or contempt. This being the case more in the last fifty years than any time period previous.

Yes, I do think most, if not all art is extremely over-priced and over-valued. I think many artists do play the system with contrived messages designed to shock and make money while putting little to no actual talent or time into their work. I love and hate the fact that several decades ago, a man turned a toilet on its side and called it art, and it was shown at a museum as such, while in fact he did this to essentially poke fun at the art establishment for taking itself and even its own irony too seriously. How productive was this exercise, though? It brought more attention to the intellectuals who consciously produced crap over those who tirelessly worked to create beauty and depth in the strokes of their paintbrushes or in the curves of their sculptures. Just because it wasn't new and shocking didn't invalidate it any more than the fact that something that was new and did shock did make it valid.

There seems to be more value over the finished work than the time one took to make it. I love art that demonstrates talent and time. I love art that supports a message rather than conveys a message (think illustrations--like the ones in the HFAC--over a lot of the art in the moa right now. Really? a huge canvas with a bunch of painted diagonals?) I don't appreciate being told to value something that may have a message but obviously took no time to make or that anybody could have made it. And then being told I'm unintelligent or I obviously "don't get it," if I derail or question its intrinsic worth. I refuse to assign worth to something where there is no worth to be found. Often crusades in the art field are destined to go nowhere. Except perhaps back to the beginning where it ultimately attacks itself.

A lot of students whined about our digital tech class where we drew houses on the computer and watched the teacher do a bunch of technical tricks on the big screen. While he might not be teaching us the most effective way possible to use Adobe Photoshop or Illustration, I resented the idea that doing dumb projects to learn these skills is ineffective. Get over yourselves, students! I didn't consider altering a picture of Steve Martin to be busy work, because I was feeling my way through the program with trial and error. Until we finally received the assignment to make a book cover of any book we've read, 2D was my least favorite class because I viewed it ALL as busy work designed to fill up my weekends with nothing but repetitive sludge (I have to make FIVE boxes as an exercise in design and value? And this accomplishes...?). At least THAT much has changed. For now.

I hate how I resent people who share the same tastes/hobbies/interests as me, and resent people who don't. You just can't win with me!!

I hate being judged by my clothes and appearance, and how I judge others by theirs. I don't like it when people in different fields have to look the part. Why does an artist have to LOOK like an artist? Doesn't that kind of do the work for other people? I like making people work to get to know me. None of this instant dismissal based on my dyed hair or black clothes. Besides, black looks TERRIBLE on me. Maybe I wasn't meant to pursue art.

I hate the term "artist." I refuse upon graduation telling people, "I'm an artist." *shudders* I guess this is for the same reason why I hesitate to call anything art right away. It's a bit presumptuous!

I hate it when people buy clothes with the company or designer's name written blatantly across it. No, I will not pay money to solicit a company for them. They should be paying ME. My only exemptions are for the bands I like. Yes, I will support you in your musical endeavors as long as your music pleases me. That's about it.

Not-being-self-conscious (can't think of a better term for it!)--do you REALLY not get how you come across? Are you even LISTENING to yourself? Thankfully most, if not all of my closest friends and family are painfully self-conscious. And that's how I like it.

I hate most knitting patterns--no, I do not, in fact, want to wear a shapeless knitted box.

Glitter--it took getting out of junior high to make me understand why glitter DOES, in fact, make you look like a whore. I nearly corked a gut when I went to EFY at 16 and saw girls in skimpy clothes slather their chests with glitter. Really?! Is this your way of trying to be taken seriously?

Profanity-MOST of the time--exceptions include: my boss--a RELIEF SOCIETY PRESIDENT, cussing up a storm over a student or situation, or the former clinical psych director doing the same over anything and everything. They swear worse than sailors, and it's amazing how much more manageable work becomes when they let off a few. On the other hand, I've seen movies and plays where they sprinkle the f-word like gravy on brussel sprouts (trust me, you need a LOT to make those little guys taste good). If you can't get the idea across sans profanity, it must not be a very decent message to begin with. Even if it is, chances are I won't notice it throughout all the cursings. The F word ruined the play, "Proof" for me. Which would've been awesome without it.

Skinny pants--unless they're on girls, and the bottoms are folded up while they wear sandals. I wish I could pull off that look, but I can't. I also hate super baggy pants on guys (and girls!). Dudes, contrary to popular belief, I do not like crack. Of any kind. So belt it or change!

People who laugh at their own joke. Or expect you wholeheartedly to laugh at theirs. GOSH!

Text-messaging or Instant messaging or even speaking using acronyms/initials. Ever since I read 1984 in junior high, any attempts at shortening words or phrases gives me the creeps and freaks me out. Or just sounds dumb. Lol, imho... it hurts, it hurts! Doubleplusungood, indeed.

I've read books on almost all sides of the political spectrum: Liberal, Independent, Libertarian, Conservative. I do get a kick out of Michael Moore while simultaneously rejecting most of his views or claims. The same with Ann Coulter, although I do agree with a lot of what she has to say, just definitely NOT how she says it. Same with Bill O'Reilly, John Stossel, and Sean Hannity. It's when they stop yelling that you can get a better feel of what they truly think about the issues. Hence me really liking to read their books. Downsize This! is genius, although Moore seems to have major issues drawing the line between propaganda and truth (I'm suspicious over "An Inconvenient Truth" for the same reasons. While the world can do LOADS better to protect the earth, I do think there is some exaggeration over how much influence we've had and have concerning global warming. Infiltrating children's animated movies does more to hurt your cause than help it, at least for me, O liberal hollywoodians. It was the only reason why I was a little resentful of Wall-E. And Ferngully for that matter). ANYWAY, Michael Moore much prefers (mis)representation of ideas over the cold hard facts. Although, admittedly I would watch, "TV Nation" every week when it was on TV. Seeing a chunky sloppily dressed guy approach top CEOs to verbally attack their policies will never get old. The one person I truly categorically trust and admire is Thomas Sowell, an African-American economist (although I DO have a major crush on George F. Will. When I can understand him. Talk about verbose! Plus he wears a bow-tie, and pulls it off. Dang!). Sowell is one of the few people that can argue his ideas nonargumentatively. As in he doesn't rely on insults or the volume of his voice (but see, it goes up to eleven!) to get his ideas across. He uses logic and examples and analogies to explain his ideas. He's one of the few people that doesn't make me go "grrrerrrmmm..." every two seconds. He doesn't even rely on sarcasm! Irony, just a little bit.

Talking of politics, these are my opinions thus far. I really like both Obama and McCain as people. Being an elitist-intellectual (counter to my earlier arguments, I KNOW! But political elitism does differ SLIGHTLY from artistic elitism) shouldn't be a bad word in the political arena. Biden seems decent, and I've got very mixed feelings about Palin. I think McCain has the experience, Obama has the drive, Biden the experience, and Palin has... well... besides being female, I'm not getting it. She's not experienced, and in her interviews she doesn't strike me as being incredibly intellectual either. She seems like a cute multi-tasking soccer mom that happens to be interested in politics. She may be motivated, but wanting something really badly won't get my vote alone. It feels like McCain chose her for all the wrong reasons--it seems like a political kneejerk reaction--if Obama is vying to be the first African American President, then we need the first female Veep, too as a counterattack. While it's good that Palin is much more conservative than McCain, it scares me to think that she's one step away from being President if they're voted in. I'm not sure that's a risk I'm willing to take. I definitely do not think she's ready for it, regardless of how cute I think she looks! And how annoying Katie Couric was when she interviewed her. It was sooooo obvious how Couric felt towards Obama versus her feelings towards Palin. Unbiased my left cheek. It's funny, I think of all the candidates, Hillary Clinton was probably the smartest, or at least near the top. She just happened to be a bit smarmy, too. I didn't trust her. Smirking while the President talks doesn't get my vote, either, Hillary!! If it were up to me, posturing would be on its way out. Maybe during the next presidential race... Hey, one could hope!

I hate how these senators/governors/candidates are held responsible for decisions and votes they made sometimes over 20 years ago. If I were expected to hold the same opinions as I did even five years ago, we'd all be in a world of hurt. It should be a LACK of change that should be a concern, not the evidence of maturing. Flip-flopping is one thing, growth is completely different. I don't appreciate pandering, politic stunts or finger-pointing. There should be a greater emphasis on what one could do to help, not what the other person is doing wrong. Humorous in execution or not (I still think it's fantastic that Obama rejected Lindsay's offer to help with his candidacy. Ouch!).

Although a bit of humor never hurt anybody! Did anybody besides Shawn read the Superman article? Wasn't it great! Nobody even cares if Shawn didn't appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I realize my arguments and ideas have been very generalized. This post is aimed to express my feelings, not necessarily to defend and back them up. So I don't care to hear your reasonings behind why the bolero shrug is an acceptable piece of clothing. You will never convince me. No, it's not a challenge, so don't try! STOP!!!!!!!

http://thisistheonlylieiwillevertell.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-bad-day-for-man-of-steel.html

I can't even help it if things like this crack me up!! And I'm not even ashamed to say that I found this website through Wil Wheaton's. Who knew Ensign Wesley Crusher was so cool? And that he did one of the voices on The Secret of NIMH?

In the year 2525...

So I'm 25 now. Spent it not sleeping in because of the baby (that boy's got lungs!), and pretty annoyed with everybody else. I had a hard time getting to sleep the night before because my twin decided to spend the night, too, in the same room on the floor. And played on his little PSP. Click click click click click. And GOSH I couldn't find my regular deodorant so I had to use this back-up stuff and its scent was so strong that it gave me a headache and I couldn't sleep with my arms even remotely up (raised?). And since I normally like to sleep with my hands tucked under my pillow, I was very frustrated. And definitely Unsure. Don't use that Secret Platinum stuff. WOW. But that's just the night before.

I mean it was a pretty good day, I was just in a foul mood for most of it. Some extended family visited, but that just made me more annoyed. Especially when one referred to my little nephew as a "tabernacle." Really? Serious? Normally she just refers to their... um... *cough* as a tabernacle, so this was a new development. I got loads of cash from family and family in law (thanks Shawn's family!), which was also VERY nice and timely since school is starting in a couple of weeks. I also got a few phone calls and text messages and a buttload of posts on my facebook profile. Yay me!

I also didn't take a bath until about 7:00 pm. Which was LUSH. My mom has this jetted bathtub that has a slant on one side so you don't kill your back trying to find a comfortable position. I just read Voyage to Venus (which is actually Perelandra now I guess. By C.S. Lewis. I had found an old copy [before they updated the title] at a used bookstore several years ago) until the water got too cold, and then added some more hot water. And then until Kyle knocked on the door and told me it was time to go. Blech.

I got to talk to Rachel for about a half an hour, which was great. I miss you Rachel!

I only got to talk to Shawn for a few minutes.

I did get to talk to Amber Brueseke (we were best friends since kindergarten, basically), and she's in town! So I get to see her and a couple of other good friends from high school tonight! I haven't seen her since before my mission, I think. Yay fun cool!

The suckiest part of my birthday I guess was the part where he wasn't here for it. And I finally got up the guts to sleep ALONE in the bed, instead of out on the futon, but only because I brought in my laptop and watched old X-Files episodes until I fell asleep (BAD IDEA when there were a lot of kidnapped-from-the-bed-in-the-middle-of-the-night stories in it). So yeah, it took about three or four episodes to get me to go to sleep. The last episode had Krycek! But before he was Krycek. Just a small role. I'm embarrassed that I knew how to spell his name correctly (I may have double checked on IMDB).

Maybe I'll have that great birthday next year. The closest thing to a really good birthday I've had in years was last year when Shawn proposed, although that was actually on the day before. When I was trying really hard not to vomit from food poisoning from the day before THAT. Love and miss you Shawn! I wouldn't be my father's daughter if I didn't make every effort to inadvertently sabotage my own birthday.

Something SICK--this morning I took a shower to get ready for work. There weren't any towels hanging up so I grabbed a slightly used one from the floor just outside the bathroom. I went to wrap it around me when I saw something black. I stopped in time, and spread out the towel to get a closer look. YEAH. There was an enormous black beetle on it, and some other bugs I couldn't readily identify. Luckily, there were fresh towels in the dryer. Even if I had wrapped myself in the towel, at least I wouldn't have died ON my birthday. So there's that.

Ooh, also, Shawn got me the best presents! He got me little tags for the clothes I've made and will make--you know, the little "Made By: {insert name here}." SHUT UP!
Also, he got me the three Threadless shirts I wanted (which I may have accidentally spoiled the surprise because I was looking at our finances and went to his bank account and saw the payment he made to Threadless. Poor Shawn. He even hid the package so I couldn't find it when we got it [I was there when it came in the mail] ). Anyway, here they are:

"Let's Go Parasoling"

"Training" (I think this one is my favorite)

"Refrigerator Running"

Why does it have to hurt?

Now I know...

...how Sandra Bullock's character felt in The Net. Or Ben Affleck's character in... shoot. Paycheck? Some crap movie. Bless his heart, he can't even swear convincingly in his movies. But anyway, the past three years of my life have been erased. Ish. My folks discontinued their comcast account, from which my itrysohard email came. So yeah. Everything is gone. Including my missionary emails (about half of them. The rest were deleted long ago--including all the hilarious ones from Shawn on his mission and the weird stalker ones from William's old missionary companion--because I didn't forward them from my mission email account in time and the church discontinued it *fist shakeage*). No more reminiscing for yours truly. I still have all the WRITTEN letters, but it's just not the same. I emailed comcast to see if there is any recovery possible and I've yet to hear back from them, but I'm not holding my breath.

Also, anybody who's anybody is going to be MIA for my birthday. Shawn leaves the morning of, my dad leaves either the day before or the morning of, and Jessica is going to be gone. Rachel's probably going to be gone, TOO, JUST to spite me! Janay's been long gone now. So no BFF's forever for yours truly. The only thing that can REMOTELY make up for this complete and utter lack of support is this:

(make sure you have your volume on)

The Saturday before, my mom is taking my sister and I out for facials and lunch, but methinks that's more for her benefit ;-) but that's why we love my mom. Any excuse to get her face rubbed.

My BAAABY!!!

Just a few more days...

Sincerity is the New Irony

Or: Why I should never be allowed to leave the house (and how I would welcome such a policy)

The other day I was filing stuff into the clinic psych student folders (very top secret! so of course I'm privy to all of it. Bwa hah ah aaa just kidding?) and my boss came in to ask if I would watch the printer for her since she was printing stuff out from her computer and wouldn't be able to make it in time to the printer to watch it. Confused, I just nodded at her. Sensing said confusion, she paused and repeated herself two more times. I kept nodding and so she went back to her office computer and printed out the stuff. THEY WERE LABELS. SHE WAS PRINTING ONTO A LABEL SHEET. She just wasn't sure she was doing it right, hence the need for me to watch the printer. I didn't know this, so I just stood there dumbly filing away top secret confidential juicy papers as the labels across the room printed incorrectly, and continued to just stand there filing as she jetted past me to find out for herself that they were done wrong. As she pulled out the badly printed labels, suddenly I had taken on a refreshing mint flavor... I mean I suddenly felt like a complete idiot. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh IIIIII GEEEEETTTTT ITTT. *slaps self*

I don't just need things spelled out for me, I need them demonstrated as well. This one time in my seventh grade math class, I needed to get into a file cabinet. But it wouldn't just pull open. I thought it was locked and told my teacher, who told me I needed to squeeze one of the notches in order to open the drawer. I squeezed and squeezed and it didn't work. Frustrated and embarrassed I asked her again. She ultimately had to show me--you push the notch to the SIDE! THE SIDE! That familiar feeling of being a complete idiot manifested itself once again.

So imagine someone like me being unleashed upon the unsuspecting innocents of England. *shudders* But that's another story for another day.

Anyone who purports to know me would KNOW why I would welcome not having to leave the house, at least not very often. I KNOW how to work the drawers at home.

Garfield Minus Garfield

www.garfieldminusgarfield.net

So much funnier, and so much more true it cuts me to the core. This one is probably my favorite.

AWESOME!!!

So.... yeeeeeahhh....

I got into the Drawing/Painting program! The Visual Arts Department sent me an e-mail stating they're accepting a few extra students and would like me to be one of them. Um... what?!?! But I spent so much money already on English Independent Study classes, and on Italian books! I'm thinking of minoring in English so it doesn't go to waste (and I do really like English!), but we'll see. I'm done with generals, so that's good, too. AAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!! I feel so disoriented and bewildered! And beFUDDLED! Not too much that last one, but you get the idea.

I'd like to thank the academy, my darling husband, my family and friends that believed in me...


I mostly want to know if they didn't initially accept me because my GRADES weren't up to par, or my artwork.

Either way, I guess it doesn't matter because I'M IN THE DRAWING/PAINTING MAJOR!!!! And get to take classes like OIL PAINTING and BOOK BINDING! Can you GET any cooler than that?! Gosh, it's going to be hard, but this is something I'm excited to, you know, try at.

Why don't you take a picture--it'll last longer!

So I love photographs, but lately I find myself being hypercritical/cynical of them. As I walk through museums, etc. and look at a vast array of them, they just scream CONTRIVED! POSED!! TRITE!! PRETENTIOUS! But mostly contrived. I get the Seattle Times online--just the local news, and then movies on the weekends, and came across this--a selection of photos taken by just normal locals in Seattle. I just thought I'd scan over it really quickly and lose interest after a couple of pictures. BUT WOW! The vast majority of these just seem so serendipitous--the photographer was just in the right place at the right time, and captured the beauty of an instant. I ended up taking my time looking through each of them, tickled at the descriptions of how gleeful these people were. They were so excited! And so was I to see their work. The images were so natural and genuine. Nothing was posed or arranged. Now that's what I CALL a composition.

And best of all, they're all pictures taken in Washington. CAN YOU SEE why I pang for it everyday?!

I am...the blood thinner BWA HAH AH AH A

Actually quite the opposite. I tested positive for it, so my blood apparently coagulates a little TOO much, so I'm at a 5-13% increase compared to the normal population of having a blood clot. Good times! This means I'm off my b.c. which I have mixed feelings about. Work 8-5 everyday now, except for Thursdays when I get off at noon. Yay for Thursdays! Boooooo for every other day. Kyle and I have started running every other dayish together. We'll see how that goes. I'm knitting a cute navy blue sweater. The link of the pattern can be found HERE (but I had to make some alterations to the pattern--I swear their math is wrong. Or maybe I just undid my sweater several times just for fun.). Anyway, if you want to make it, ask me about it, and I'll tell you what you need to do differently. I'm making it longer (curse my parents for me being long-waisted!), with tighter sleeves. I'm also in the middle of reading Walker Percy's "Love in the Ruins: The adventures of a bad catholic at a time near the end of the world." The writing style/story reminds me vaguely of Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite writers. I've read this book before in high school and wanted to read it again to see if I still liked it. I honestly didn't remember there being such an abundance of derogatory terms! Ignoring that (can't tell if Percy is a racist, if it's just an indication of his time period, or if it's to serve a direct purpose in the story. If you know, fill me in!) I'm really enjoying it. Wouldn't mind a spin on the lapsometer, although I'd like to get happy through the normal avenues, not through being read by a machine and given a sodium solution. Unless I get desperate.

Some pictures from the garden (except the pizza)

Our pizza from scratch that we made together for our anniversary



Most of our herbs are here (with aloe vera, a squash and tomato thrown in) AND YES, that IS chocolate mint in the middle!


Our zucchini is taking over the garden!!



the two front ones in the middle are cilantro and spinach that we grew from seed. Aren't they cute?! I can't handle this garden!



The zucchini squash up close. Isn't it cute!!!!

I got things to do, but I'm kinda lazy...

So, I've been obsessed with knitting for the past few months. It's a real problem. As in I don't get much else done because of it. Everyday that I DON'T work in the mornings (instead I work 12-5), I wrap a blanket around me, curl up on my tacky lumpy futon in the front room, put on Bones or Criminal Minds, and just knit. I even measure time in how many episodes of these shows I can watch. Isn't that pathetic? I mean, I knit the entire time, so I'm not exactly wasting it, but I'm not using that time exactly productively, either. But it's so hard. I make all of these amazing plans to completely scrub down the house, but when I wake up in the mornings I'm exhausted, and when I get home from a *grueling* day at work I'm worn out. Yes, sitting at a desk for nine hours can be tiring!!! My back certainly suffers. But it's been suffering since I was eighteen, so that's nothing new.

On the plus side I've been bleeding profusely, so my doctor put me on a stronger birth control. Hopefully that'll... dry me up.

Speaking of blood, apparently my family has a genetic condition called, "prothrombin gene mutation." It has something to do with coagulation (my uncle and mom both tested positive for it. I'm not sure if any of the other relatives have been tested for it. I'm the first of the kids to get tested for it), and I read somewhere that it can affect fertility. But more research is needed, as well as my results! I just got like seven vials of blood drained from me today. Hopefully I'll hear back soon.

Here's a link to the wikipedia page about it. I'm not TOO worried about the pregnancy thing since my mom had four kids, and even though it took five years, my sister has a child now, too. But we'll see.

Kyle, Shawn and I saw the Incredible Hulk last night. There were a few cheesy parts, but what can you do with a cranky oversized green guy? Hulk... SMASH!! A little silly. But overall I enjoyed it. It made me want to watch the original just to see how bad it really was to initiate a remake just a few years later.

We saw Kung Fu Panda this past weekend--the three of us, with Gabe. It was pretty hilarious. It was also interesting to see the different levels of jokes--there were parts where we were busting up laughing that the little kids barely acknowledged, and other parts where THEY couldn't stop laughing, and we just rolled our eyes.

My family is officially moving to Springville in early August. They're nuts! I saw the house last week, and it's BEAUTIFUL, it's just HUGE. But that's what they wanted. The garden is great, too. Shawn and I called dibs on it until my dad moves here.

Yeah. My dad is staying behind in Seattle until he can quit his job. Which will probably be about two years. Isn't that sad? Poor dad tries to move closer to his family, only to be the one left behind. He gets paid butt loads for staying on longer like that though, which is the only reason he is remaining in Seattle. I hope he does okay.

Anyway, the only things these days getting me out of the house is work (for which I'm chronically five-ten minutes late) and my garden in the backyard. I LOVE IT! A bunch of our seeds just sprouted, so we have plants at different levels--the herbs we use intermittently, the tomatoes are flowering, the zucchini squash is taking over the entire garden (my fault) and the carrots and spinach, etc. just started sprouting. And they're just growing up so fast *tear*. We harvested one of our heads of lettuce before it was officially a HEAD, but it still tasted great with tacos :). Here's a picture of the STYLE we're doing it in, but not of the actual garden. That's another thing on the list of things I need to do, but probably won't any time soon--take a picture of the little sprouts. Well, wish me luck in getting more motivated. Hopefully my impending blood death won't get in the way too much. I like excuses a lot more than I should to get out of stuff. It's a real problem.

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

• You have low extroversion.
• You are quiet and reserved in most social situations.
• A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you.
• You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people.

Conscientiousness:

• You have medium conscientiousness.
• You're generally good at balancing work and play.
• When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
• But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

• You have high agreeableness.
• You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.
• Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.
• You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism:

• You have medium neuroticism.
• You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic.
• Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy.
• Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of.

Openness to experience:

• Your openness to new experiences is medium.
• You are generally broad minded when it come to new things.
• But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it.
• You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

oooooooooooooooooh!

So I'm basically the same as when I took this the last time--at a bishop's fireside when I was about sixteen. Here are my results for my color code personality profile test:
White, blue secondary. Although it looked like I had a lot of red as well, but no yellow. Oops!

WHITES (Motive: PEACE)

WHITES are motivated by PEACE. They seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. To them, feeling good is more important than being good. They are typically quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, WHITES are the best listeners. They respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

WHITES need their "alone time" and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent others demanding much of them. WHITES are much stronger than people think, but are not often seen for their strength because they don't easily reveal their feelings. WHITES are even-tempered, diplomatic, and the voice of reason; but can also be indecisive, unexpressive, and silently stubborn. When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept and support their individuality, and look for non-verbal clues to understand their feelings.

your personality profile indicates that you have significant portions of other colors in your overall makeup that help shape your unique personality style.

I had a sword?

Soooo... I haven't really been up to much lately. Just working a lot, which takes up the better part of my day, which sucks. I have the most energy in the morning and early afternoon, and by the time work gets over I'm a zombie dragging myself home. Even though I'm a secretary and I spend 5-9 hours a day just staring at my computer screen. It's exhausting contriving different ways each day to look busy! I did sign up for a couple of independent study classes so I had something to work on during work, but GOSH I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT MOST OF THE TIME! Even though I woke up just fine this morning, the idea of coming into work for a full nine hour work day may have been so unappealing that I MAY have called in to be a couple of hours late. When not at work, I usually find myself yet again in the front of the TV, knitting like crazy while watching dumb shows borrowed from Kyle's vast collection of dumb shows. I did start a garden last week! It's really cute, utilizing Mel Bartholomew's square foot gardening technique, although not followed to the T--I started it BEFORE his book came in the mail, so my dirt isn't Mel's mix--it's actually what he recommended NOT doing--using the dirt already there, although I did add a bunch of top soil to it, on my dad's recommendation. We'll see if my little plant guys makes it.
Speaking of dumb Kyle shows, Shawn and I started watching Heroes from Season One. It's TERRIBLE! The characters are pretty one dimensional/boring/too serious minus a few. The writing is bad, the acting is hammy, and yet I can't stop watching it. Curse the last couple of minutes leading to a cliffhanger! The only characters I REALLY care about is Hiro, his friend, and that diner girl he tried to save--WHY THE CRAP did they get rid of HER?! She was adorable! And wasn't too serious which made her a breath of fresh air! I do like Sylar's character just being he's so innocent and nice looking. You wouldn't think he would cut people's heads open with just the point of his finger. I do like the cheerleader, Claire, more than I thought I would--her relationship with Zack is way cute. Peter Petrelli is way too hammy, along with that girl he's in love with. The artist is growing on me, especially since he's clean now. I like D.L.'s character more and more, but Nikki's is kinda getting old. And I want to smack their kid. He knows better! Anyway, so yeah. That's my life these days. Shawn has been leaving on Monday and returning Friday for the past week or two, so that's dumb. Hopefully he'll be able to return on Thursday this week, and this'll be the last week where he's gone for more than a day. I hope I hope! Anyway, besides that life has just been good/boring. Good times.