Fabulous February Festivities

(enough with the alliterations, already)
Working 20 hours a week + taking 15 credits + life = BUSY.  So you can imagine that I sort of really enjoy my weekends and try to make the best out of my spare time.  And February has been full of at least 4 good weekends (plus some pretty memorable weekdays, I suppose).

{Oregon lovelies and I went out for dinner at Red Robins}

Night skiing with Hayley <3

Took the plunge and got some bangs! (best decision yet this year ha)

Planning activities for our FHE group and then shooting people with our marshmallow guns, instead.

{favorite part of Valentine's Day=making yummy treats with Liz}

{the only cure for Jimmerfever is going to the BYU vs. Utah game}

two words: Lazer Assault.

Wednesday night "study" sessions (a little tradition started with Seth and Ali where we say we have lots to do, but then decide to watch Glee, make cookies and play Scrabble, instead)

P90X

{St. George for President's Day weekend}

lots of food, movies, and sleeping

{me + Kalyn at the red rocks overlooking St. George}

first men's volleyball game=new favorite college sport to watch second to bball ;)

girls' nights with Ali and Anna complete with redbox, fingernail polish and chocolate

blue shirt days + awkward family pictures at work

{gelatoooo}

{dual ward activity~ice skating}

Oregon dinner + some

I'd say that I'm doing a bang-up job beating out those winter blues :)

the nail on the coffin of my perpetually single life

And I'm famous!
ok, well, not really, but I was quoted in the Daily Universe yesterday.
One of my good friends from Freshman year put up as her status one day that she needed people who dislike Valentine's Day to interview. Obviously, I was the perfect candidate for the job, seeing how much I dislike this holiday. She's in the Journalism program here at BYU and for one her classes she needed to write an article that may or may not be chosen for the Daily Universe.  She called me later, saying that her professor wanted her to double-check if it's ok for me to be quoted.  I responded, "Yeah, sure I don't care!" La di da di da.
Yesterday, I ran into a friend on my way to studying in the library who said that he picked up the 411 (DU's Friday edition) for the Jimmer article and spotted my name in the paper. I sat down at a computer and started to study for the test that I had in 45 minutes, but I couldn't focus and finally read the article.  I kind of chuckled to myself the whole time (mind you, the library is pretty quiet) but was also a bit mortified that someone had actually read it.  But how many people will read the articles that follow a Jimmer story?, I wondered to myself. 
I went and took my test, not really thinking about it, but I didn't have to wonder for much longer because when I came out I had a text from another boy that said that he had spotted me. Then another girl friend. Then a comment on FB.  Oh.
Then last night I went to the guys' apartment for an anti-Valentine's Day party and the article was taped on their door.  Later that night, they made me sign it.  I have officially become the face of all single people out there on Valentine's Day.  You know what?  I was a little embarrassed at first about it, but now it has actually made it a bit better for me this year. Add a little spice to life by not hiding the single-ness this time.
My friend Anna texted me: "Maybe some guy will read it, and decide that he wants to prove you wrong :)"
The truth is, I have been trying to avoid this topic, with S.A.D. around the corner and everything. But I can't avoid it now that it's in print. I am single.  And I have always had harsh feelings towards Valentine's Day.  I literally dread it.  Probably because I have always been single around this time of year and I'm a hopeless romantic.  Bad combination.  I seriously have had only one or two really good Valentine's Days during the 21 years of my existence.  And I hope someday that a guy will prove me wrong.

Funnest FHE idea EVERR

Meet the Tuff Fluff.  It's my marshmallow gun that I made with my FHE bros and Kelly last night.  After a couple of practice rounds in their living room, we took it to the streets.  Actually, we took it to the neighbors.  Knock, open, ATTACK, RUNNN!!!, repeat. 

Love my FHE fam.

Why I Love Being an English Major, Part 2

This is what I do:

I explicate poems. That means I look so in depth into a poem that it ends up looking like this. Search for themes, hidden stories, patterns, literary elements. And then I write a paper about it.  LOVE IT!
I was thinking the other day about the fact that maybe these posts might come off a bit prideful, but I think that finding my niche is nothing to be ashamed of. 
Today in class, one of my fellow English buddies was complaining about the weather.  I turned to her and said: "You are being so dramatic! In a way an English major would! Go...write a poem or something!" 
So don't hate. When we feel extreme emotion, we usually create something awesome. Like Keats' "To Autumn", when he loved the weather.  Like Jane Austen's "Persuasion", when she wanted to say something about the social classes of her day.  Like Martin Luther King, Jr. when he wanted to take a stand. (shout out to Black History Month!)  We feel, and therefore we create.  And that is why today I love being an English major.

The Best of the 90s

So I really like my job.  Especially the people I work with.  These people are so cool, that they helped me compile the best of our fav 90s songs. Guys, I hope you love this as much as we did.  Lots of reminiscing and laughs.  So here it is.  What we think is the best of the 90s.  Enjoy!

-Two Princes, Spin Doctors
-Del Amtri
-Hansen Bros
-Britney Spears

{when she was still mildly innocent}

-Sugar Ray ("Someday")
-Jimmy Eat World ("The Middle")
-Matchbox Twenty ("Unwell", "3 A.M.")
-MC Hammer ("Can't Touch This")

{I mean, those pants.}

-Macarena
-Destiny's Child (Jumpin' Jumpin', Say My Name)
-Tag Team (Whoop (There It Is))
-69 Boyz (Tootsie Roll)
-Angel ft. Rayvon (Angel)
-Ricky Martin (Livin' La Vida Loca)
-Mambo Numba 5 (by Lou Bega)
-Alanis Morisette ("Ironic", "Head Over Feet")
-Dave Matthew's Band
-Mariah Carey
-B-52s
-Smash Mouth
-Bee Gees
-Sheryl Crow
-Shania Twain (Come On Over album)
-Deep Blue Something (Breakfast at Tiffany's)
-Faith Hill
-Jumba Rumba
-Savage Garden
-J.Lo
-98 Degrees
-BSB
-N*Sync

{before JT brought sexy back}

-New Kids on the Block
-Red Hot Chili Peppers
-BNL (One Week)
-"Unbreak My Heart"
-Third Eye Blind
-Jewel
-Green Day (Good Riddance)
-REM (Losing My Religion)
-Ace of Base (The Sign)
-All-4-One (I Can Love You Like That, I Swear)
-Spice Girls

sassy hur

I done got me a hurcut.

BEFORE

AFTER

Why I Love Being An English Major, Part I

What I learned in Music 202 this week:
Charles Dickens: "What is in store for the poor people on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, what happy delusions they are labouring under now, on what miserable blindness their eyes may be opened then, I do not pretend to say. But I went on board their ship to bear testimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully believed they would; to my great astonishment, they did not deserve it; and my predispositions and tendencies must not affect me as an honest witness, I went over the Amazon's side, feeling it impossible to deny that, so far, some remarkable influence had produced a remarkable result, which better-known influences have often missed." -Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens went to shore to make judgments about the incoming members of the LDS faith that he was sure would be negative judgments.  But after speaking with the captain, who said that they were the most peaceable and friendly people he had had on board, and after associating with them, he found that they were good people.  I feel like this can happen in a majority of the accusations against the Church.  People hear things out of context or that are just wrong and they misunderstand our mission and beliefs as a Church.  If they took the time to hear and learn, I think they'd be pleasantly surprised about what they'll find out about us.
Also, however quirky and, um, interesting Benjamin Franklin could be, I had some newly found respect for him when I read his Autobiography this week.
Benjamin Franklin, from his 13 Virtues: "13. Humilty.  Imitate Jesus and Socrates."
I love being an English major because of the academically stimulating reading that we're introduced to as well as the uplifting literature that proves that it's still out there.

{Ben's the man}

Happy Groundhog's Day!

I wonder...if it's sunny, but the groundhog doesn't come out because it feels like it's -14 degrees outside, does that mean that winter's never going to end?
I certainly hope not.  I think it's pretty safe to say that I've never ever been so cold.