"I'm headin' back home to the west coast"

I've had this stuck in my head all day because it's TRUE!!
Coconut Records, "West Coast"


I got a text from Momma yesterday that said: "Sooo I was thinking you get on a flight, we go to the coast, fly to London, and frequent some pubs..."
And I thought that was just about the best thing one could do to be totally happy.

the HP fun never stops.

Who cried during the part with Snape and the pensive?  Fess up.
And, yes, I've seen it twice, already.  Wizard love.

Happy Christmas, Harry!!

Ok so yesterday's blog post...a bit on the depressing side.  It was one of those times when I was at a computer, not feeling super awesome, and so I decided to blog about it.  Clarification: I'm not depressed, I promise.  I actually feel much better, now that I've written about it.  Writing is my therapy.

To make this blog a little bit more chipper, here are some youtube videos that have helped gotten me pumped for the Harry Potter movie tomorrow. Enjoy!





http://youtu.be/gH2P0jbpx8A

healing period

Ahem, please excuse the mess that is my life right now.

Being a college student these last 3 years of my life have proven to be the most rewarding as well as the most difficult years that I've experienced.  I've had the privilege of travelling and learning more than I ever expected.  I've felt the most extreme joys (London) and the extreme lows (this week).  I've had to do grown-up things that I was excited to do, like pick a major, and that I've been not so excited to do, like re-evaluate my priorities in life.  I have made some self-discoveries here in Provo, Utah, USA, that has made me take a long, hard look inward and outward.  

I'm coming out of this stronger.

These are the things that are getting me through this:
1. My family. See them in ONE WEEK!!!

2. I almost don't believe that I'll be back here in TWO WEEKS!!

 3. ...and in THREE WEEKS, I'll be back here:

4. Oh, and I can't forget the Pre-Premier of Harry Potter on Thursday!!

{HPATDH, Part 1}

{just heading off to Hogwarts, NBD}

Life has handed me lemons, but God has placed wonderful people in my life to make sure I don't turn sour.

a little somethin somethin

This made me smile (courtesy of: http://or-so-i-feel.blogspot.com/)

Date a Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by God, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

a weekend trip worth blogging about

Remember how I went to Oregon for the first time since Christmas the weekend of May 20th? And it was awesome?  Well, I got to do it, again a few weeks ago.  It's been awhile, but I've been busy.  Forgive me.
thursday
So that I could enjoy my weeekend with my family and be ready for finals week, I pushed myself to finish a lot before I left for Portland.  So, naturally, I passed out the minute I sat on the plane and woke up the minute we plane started decending into Portland. 
My brother had his Court of Honor with Austin Porter and they had a slideshow with pictures from the boys' lives.  A few of them were of my brother and I and I suddenly got emotional seeing us growing up together.

{the whole gang}

friday
Momma and I hit Club Sport to zumba.  If I could do only one form of exercise for the rest of my life, zumba would win.  I love to dance.  And I love loud music that gets you moving.  And I love to have fun when I work out so that I can forget that I'm working out.
Spence and the other grads in the ward had a party that night. And apparently it was a wild one because I can't remember what we did afterwards.

{uhhh we love Cold Stone a little bit}

saturday
The girls went to OMSI to see the IMAX movie, "Born to Be Wild." Super duper cute movie.  Baby orangutans and elephants on a large screen. Just think about it.
Then we visited the OMSI exhibit about Narnia.  They had costumes and props from the movies, plus some of C.S. Lewis' belongings, which was AWESOME for a bibliophila like me.
For lunch, the ladies headed over to Lady Di's Tea Shop in Lake O. It's owned by British ladies and so it's pretty authentic.  My momma's momma is still a British citizen and so she liked making believe that we were in the motherland.

{oh william}

{'ello guvnah!}

{traditional british breakfast w/ tea}

Then we all (minus Spencer) went to Russ's BBQ on Russell Street in Portland, a family favorite. I have the best story to tell about this place. I was waiting in line to go to the bathroom and the last girl before me had just gone in when suddenly this guy pops up out of nowhere. He shocked me because I don't know where he appeared from and then he started to talk in a voice an octave higher than mine. He opens with some witty comment, that I can't remember, then procedes to have this semi-one-soded conversation with me:


High voice man: "So I wasn't expecting to meet you in front of these bathrooms, but here we are."

Me: "heh heh, yeah, kind of a weird place..."

HVM: "So I can't figure this out, I'm trying to figure this out: Did you match your skirt with your eyes or is it your clear blue eyes that matches your skirt?"

Me: (thinking: is this really happening? I thought this only happened in romantic comedies with awkward cousins and middle-aged men with Erkle pants? And my eyes are definitely green...) "heh heh. I don't know"

HVM: "So what, are you here with your boyfriend?"

Me: (thinking: should I lie? No, he probably saw me in the middle of the room at a loud, large table with my family) "No, I'm visiting from out of town, just having dinner with my family. I actually go to school in Utah." (thinking: yeah, that'll do it. Prove that I'm at least 6 years younger than him and that I'm unattainable in a different state)

HVM: "Oh, so you're Mormon, then?"

[The girl in the bathroom before me was leaving and I started inching towards the door.]

Me: "Yep!"

HVM: "Darn, that loses all my chances of luring you in."

Me: "heh heh. Wellitwasnicetomeetyouseeyoulater!"

I shut and lock the door. I take about 4 minutes longer, listening for his footsteps or conversation to check if he has left. And I run to my dad's side as we walk out the door.

Me: "Dad, we gotta hurry up and leave."

Dad: "What, did you stink up the bathroom?"

Me: "Nooooo, some guy just hit on me."

Dad: "Oh."

{my lovely grandparents}

Graduation was boring, but Mr. Murray, our wacky physics teacher, spoke and he's so funny.

sunday
I went to my home ward.  They're great.
That night, I made Chinese food for my family (all 10 of us). 

Then back to Provo for--gasp!--finals!!!
I can't wait to head back to Tualatin. Again.