Christmas Time!

I just want to mention a couple of my favorite things about Christmas Time.

First of all, the happiness. I love how the Spirit helps to make people so happy! I love seeing people walking around with a smile on their face because they've tried a little harder to keep their thoughts focused on the Savior and on helping others. I wish people would always stay so focused so that happiness could always be so thick in the air.

I love the lights. Christmas lights are so wonderful and beautiful. They help to remind me of the Savior, and that He is a light for us; that looking toward Him will help us to be happy and help us to see through the darkness.

The music. Songs about Jesus Christ that are sounded all across the nation, gladdening hearts everywhere and bringing the spirit into many lives. Music that can soften the heart and turn people to look selflessly outward.

People. People everywhere, with thoughts on their minds of giving instead of getting. People who are focused on others are so beautiful to see, to talk to, to watch, to hear. It is so wonderful to see people with a smile on their lips as they walk with a close friend or family member, eager to see their face when they unveil the wonderful surprise they have for them. People laughing, skipping, running, smiling, singing, holding hands, handing off presents, presenting surprises, surprising each other with acts of kindness. Adventuring. People who get that it doesn't matter where you go, what you do, what you gift, what you get, as long as you are focused on other people and the savior. People who would sing even if the Grinch took all their presents and fancy decorations because they can feel the Savior's love and they have each other.

Laughter. Hearing people laugh, seeing people smile. It just shows that people are happy, and it makes others happy as well! Laughing is literally a way to share your happiness!!

Food. Food is good. And candy. And Chocolate. Oh, and pie; we mustn't forget pie.

The cold. I'm not sure why, but around Christmas Time, I love the fact that it's cold outside! The chill in the air is so refreshing! And it helps people to be grateful for their warm cozy houses and their delicious hot chocolate. It gives one another reason to be close to loved ones. It helps one remember the humble circumstances of Christ's birth.

The stories. Stories are so beautiful. I love to hear touching tales of the lives of people; a time where somebody made another's Christmas though selfless service and charity. I love to hear reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. I love to get to know people better through tales of their lives.

The love. To see a general shift from people being grumpy to people being grateful. For people expressing their love for the Savior, for each other, for Christmas, for friends, for family, for food. I love hearing that people love stuff!!! It's far too easy to dislike something; and around Christmas Time, we realize that liking that very same thing leads to much happiness! It's too easy to say, "This song is dumb. It's cheesy, and it has nothing to do with what Christmas is really about." But it's far for enjoyable to let it make you smile, and to dance about to it, and say it's cute, and then remember what Christmas is about anyway!! Why would you let yourself be unhappy in such a time of love? People love things for a reason, and if you can figure out how to love the things they love, you come to love them more as well. That's what Christmas is about. Learning to love as Jesus loved.

Folks, I love Christmas.

Today is a good day to pie.

I'm going to give the super-quick version of this story.

So, I was walking through Brigham's square during my hour break, and I see a table set up in the middle, and atop the table were several pie tins filled with whipped cream, so I thinks to myself "that looks exciting." Naturally I go up to the person there and ask what this is for. She explains, it's just for fun. All I have to do is use my face to find the candy bar they buried within the cream before the other competitors, and I win! Of course, I could not turn down something so fun, so we waited for a couple more people to show up and then, we began.

Since I'm super pro at things like this I found the candy bar incredibly swiftly, and hence won the competition. Now, one of my competitors, who finished just after me, was disheartened by his defeat, and decided to get even. It was not difficult to see that my pie tin still had a lot of whipped cream in it, and was very much within his reach. Next thing that I knew, I had a face full of cream. I'm sure it was a rather hilarious image, and I was not at all angry, as you kind of have to expect this kind of thing when joining in a pie competition of any kind. In fact, I somewhat enjoyed the smell of whipped cream which lingered with me throughout the day, and I've come to the conclusion that whipped cream is probably good for your hair. Anyway, it was a good experience, and I can now say that I have been pied.

Also somehow I found this low resolution picture of the aftermath:

Mocktail Party = Classy

It's pretty late, so I'm going to keep this post short, but just know that everything tonight was at least fifteen and a half times as wonderful as I make it sound.

Basically Josh Brewer threw a Mormon Cocktail party this night, and it was absolutely splendid in every way. Everybody that came dressed up classily, so naturally we all looked super good and felt amazing. The food was outstanding; everybody who came contributed in some way, and there was delicious salad, soup, cucumber sandwiches, shrimp, cheese with crackers, and cocktails consisting of fruit juice and sprite. There was both live music, provided by John Wilson rocking out on the little electric piano, as well as some sweet jazzy music playing on Josh's speakers. Naturally we all danced, mingled, and had deep philosophical conversation. The venue was perfect, the night was crisp, and overall everything was exactly as it should have been. I love people.

Just To Clear Things Up

People don't understand what I mean when I tell them I'm a potato. 

And frankly...

A Great Acomplishment

I'm so proud of myself; I got my gallon of ice cream to last for four days!

Wyview Story Time #1

Yesterday Jordan, Seth, and myself decided to make muffins, and give some to the nice girls who baked us cookies the previous day. We did a wonderful job, but we ended up with over twice as many muffins as we had intended to bake, so we decided to give some to random people. Along with plates of these muffins we wrote some interestingly pretentious notes, because we were just in that mood.

One of the apartments that we visited didn't seem to appreciate our gift too much. In fact they seemed really weirded out.


The note we gave them read:

Happy Saturday, 
We hope that these muffins both find you and leave you in good health. We, John, Jordan, and Seth, have searched for days for the best bananas with which to make these muffins, and we hope you enjoy them. Glad to have you in the ward!!


From, The Muffin Men. Apt #352

P.S. Visit us anytime!


At any rate, they basically thought we were super weird, and it was an awkward moment.

Today, there came a knock at the door. When we opened it, we looked down, and lo and behold, there stood a note with a plate of muffins and... Fried Chicken. Upon closer examination, yes, those were 2 of our 3 muffins.

The note they gave to us read:

Happy Sunday, 
We hope that these muffins both find you and leave you in good health. We, Rachel, Eva, and Taylor, have searched for days for the best bananas with which to make these muffins, and we hope you enjoy them. Glad to have you in the ward!!

From, The Muffin Women. Apt # 327

P.S. Visit us anytime! 

Now, The first thing you need to know is that we never delivered any muffins to apartment # 327, we delivered them to number 358, which turns out was the very apartment that thought we were weirdos.

At first we thought the apartment we gave the muffins to had re-gifted them to the apartment across the hall, who had in turn given them back to us, but after inquiring about we discovered that Eva nor Taylor nor Rachel had ever seen said muffins or fried chicken.

All in all this entire exchange has been exceedingly strange, and a blow to our pride. We thought those muffins were really good. Getting food back just hurts.

Does anyone have any theories as to what exactly is going on here? Why did they not like our muffins? Why did they give us fried chicken? Why did they blame it on apartment 327? We may never know.

BYU LSH

Late Summer Honors has just been an absolutely incredible opportunity for me, and I am so very glad that I decided to do it. My class is absolutely wonderful, and I just love having real conversations about books with people who actually know what I'm talking about! Also people that give me good feedback on my writing.

What could be better than random firesides and presentations where the speaker can talk about Hermeneutics of the Bible, and then relate Exegesis and Eisegesis to our own scripture study, and tie in an awesome spiritual message, and the people in attendance don't grow bored or confused of it?!

It's so incredible to open meetings with songs and prayers, and especially be able to mention scriptures at any point in the conversations/lesson.

It is my favorite thing in the world to meet so many amazing people who share my love of learning and love of the gospel. I love being able to instantly connect with these people because they're so much like myself. People that make me smarter and better in only a few minutes of conversation with them.

Thank you, everybody. So very much.


I'd like to specifically mention:

Erin
Emma
Rachel
Eliza
Matt
Mark
Katherine
Alyson
Isaac
Ben
Sean
Vera
Sarah-Elizabeth
Elsa
Lindsey
Emily
Travis
Mary
Marli
Other Emily
Other Rachel
Ariel
Justin
Sarah
Amanda
Victoria
Rebecca
And everybody who played games with me or participated in activities with me or I met in any way.

And of course my friends from Timpview.


I've loved hearing everybody's stories, as they've had some incredible experiences, and I've really loved meeting people from other states and countries.


And anybody, feel free to come visit me any time that you want.

Wyview, Building 26, Apt 352.

When it rains, you put on a coat.

I'm am getting rather excited for BYU. Well that is an understatement, for I may appear calm on the outsite, but on the inside I am just jumping up and down like a five year old waiting for christmas. Lately I have taken to just going over to campus and wandering around the Wilk. Sometimes I read books in the BYU Bookstore, sometimes I buy candy from their magnificent candy supply, and a couple days ago I even watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs on the giant TV in the electronics section of the Bookstore. So yeah. I adventure sometimes. :)

What's Better than One Cookie?

You know the age-old question, "What is better than one cookie?" And the answer is obviously "Two cookies" or some variation thereupon. So, I have another question. What is better than teching Wizard of Oz once? Well clearly the truth lies somewhere between the two. Meaning teching the Wizard of Oz play at two different locations with two different casts of two different levels of preparation is much better than ending on a sour lemon. <-- That sentence originally ended with "sour note" but then I realized something: notes cannot be sour. Actually I just realized another something. Notes probably can be sour in some way or another, but I don't believe that that was one of the occasions. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I really like the cast for Wizard of Oz at the Scera (Disclaimer: I also really really like the cast for Wizard of Oz at Timpview, but the Scera's production is just a little more well done. Like when paranoid people cook steak. Only in a good way.)   Especially Dorothy, who is Jessica, who is really pretty, who also apparently does not have a Facebook account, so now I have to ask her for her number, and then ask her on a date, because she's very nice and also always brings back her microphone right away, and it's never broken. And also Acelynn, who is very nice and talks to me when I'm bored backstage. I can ask her on a date too, after I get her number. How do you ask a girl for her number? Normally they just end up in my phone somehow.
Also I want my friends back from California. Why did you leave me?!?!?!
And my other friends who did not leave me, I love you. Thank you for not leaving me. How come we never hang out? Call me.
Also I need marimbas. Like, now. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PRACTICE SINCE GRADUATION!!!!!!!!!!

Senior Ball (Aren't you proud that I did NOT put a pun in the title?)

I'd better talk about the marvelous events of last Friday.

Basically Senior Ball was a very good way to end high school date dances forever and ever. First off, the guys met at like 8:30 in the morning to finish our preparations, which included making sandwiches and throwing other food together in a way that looked semi-presentable. After that we picked up the girls and went rock climbing. Or at least that's what our plan was before the huge storm schwacked us even though there was a "0% chance of rain." So instead we played board games at Riley's house, and also had our picnic there, which I think was pretty great. The bit of sandwich that I made was most popular among the ladies; mostly because Riley and Michael both added mustard.
Oh, I should probably say who was with who. Michael was with Miriam, Riley was with Kat, and I had the best date ever, Kristen Blair.
And then we dropped off our dates and went home to get ready. Well, Michael took a nap and I had to take Riley to Timpview to interview potential drama council presidents.

Later that day...

We embarked on a further journey to collect our dates yet again. This time we were dressed up fancy. So, we showed up at Kat's house, and she was all ready to go and happy looking. And then we went to Miriam's house, but she was not ready so we went to Kristen's house, and there was nobody there except for a couple of the Blair's neighbors. So we had a party in the car. And then Sophie arrived, but she didn't know where anybody was, so we partied some more. (I have recently discovered that Sophie is probably the coolest middle schooler in existence, but that is a story I shall tell later.) Eventually, Kristen's wonderful father showed up and he interviewed me, which was quite enjoyable. Every Blair is perfect; I'm sure of it. Eventually Kristen arrived and we embarked off into the distance to take pictures.
Ellie Peak took pictures of us, and she is so skilled that she even managed to make my smile not look awkward! All these pictures are on Facebook, so I won't put them here. But they're amazing.

After those shenanigans we went to go eat food. We found Bombay House with no trouble at all (unless you count Riley and Michael, because they're nothin' but trouble when they backseat drive.) And Bombay House was sooooooooooo good! And I normally only put one "o" in "so." I really love drinking Lasses. Especially Mango and Rose and Mango Rose. Yummy. Also I am now a very huge fan of Chicken Tikki Masallah and those other delicious Indian foods that I got to eat. Believe me, Bombay House, I will be back!

After dinner, we drove to the dance. (This sentence was originally in German, but then I remembered that everybody doesn't speak German. Which is lame.)  I like very much to see all of the people at the dance looking all fancy and pretty! (Of course nobody was as pretty as my date, but still.) Also at the dance Kristen and I decided that the music was too loud (and rather unpleasant) so we went for a walk. We managed to get kicked off the gold course (apparently so did the other two couples in our group.) (I'm putting lots of stuff in parentheses.) But basically it was super wonderful to have such a great opportunity to actually talk with Kristen and catch up after her being gone for three months. She's quite the wonderful person. I'm pretty darn lucky to be able to know her.

After the dance, we went to MC's abode the chill, but that only lasted like 20 minutes because we were all so tired. Then we went home. The End. :)

It's 11:27 and I've got a lot to do, so I'll make this blog post short just for you.

Two plates of brownies, Two liters of soda, a pizza, an answer to senior ball, music, friends, happiness, and getting paid to do it.

You wonder why I like my job?

Just a Day, Just a Day, Just an Ordinary Day

All of my classes went well. Government was boring as always. During Journalism I played EDH with Michael and Henry, which brought back many memories of German tour, and the Libby’s Potted Meat Food Product, and the Toilet malfunctions, but it was fun anyway. They got in trouble though because they did not have their articles finished (I thought they did or I would not have played with them. Just sayin’.) During seminary today we had talent day, where we all played music or sang or did stuff like that. I played my marimba solo on a xylophone, which made it sound pretty terrible, but the people liked it anyway. After that Kat and Kate and I went to Kat’s house and made scones (well actually Kat made them while Kate read children’s books to us and I drank all of Kat’s chocolate milk [actually I really did help a little bit by cleaning of the counter and holding the cookbook.])

 After that fun we took scones to the Woodruffs and saw them for the last time before their mission. I’m not going to see them for almost four years, which is extremely disheartening. I am extremely excited for them and for the people that they get to serve though. I really can’t wait for my mission, and I just know that it will be a truly wonderful experience. Those two, I will definitely be writing to. They have been such a great and wonderful example to me, and I can remember distinctly the occasions on which I met each of them. I met Matt when he switched into percussion from beginning percussion, and I was really impressed with how hard he worked and with how much he loved not only percussion, but also all of the people in percussion. After that I had many marvelous frontline experiences with Matthew, and it was great to work with him. I remember how Ameri thought that he was a freshman for the entire Fall Marching Band season. I think that if Matt had started percussion as a freshman, he’d be better than all of us.

                I remember when Matthew introduced me to Andrew. I didn’t know Andrew very well for quite a while, but then I started running into him more and more often (mostly after he graduated, actually.) I grew to love Andrew’s eloquent way of speaking and grand natural tendency to include everybody just as much as I love Matthew’s huge personality in a short body. I’m not sure how I got lucky enough to land in the group that was regularly invited to attend events with the Woodruffs, but I sure am glad that it happened. Both of them have really been such role models, and I’d even say heroes in my life, and I really will never forget the kindness they have showed me and the lessons they have taught me. Brazil is a lucky country indeed to be receiving these two good men. 

Where Did This Come From? I Don't Know, But It's Great.

Everything has something to do with everything else in one way or another. Take for example Tomatoes and Automobiles. At first, one may think, “there is no correlation whatsoever between the sandwich ingredient and the transportation device,” but upon further investigation, we discover that one could not exist without the other. How can this be, you ask? It’s very simple, really. You see, there has always been confusion as to whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. To get to the root of the issue, scientists needed a way to get to the tomato plantations from their labs, and also to orchards in California to compare their findings to standard fruits, hence the automobile was invented.

Now, the flip side to the story is just a slight bit more confusing. You think that tomatoes could exist without cars? Well, you’re rather incorrect, and I’m afraid that I am going to have to make you look foolish now. After cars had been invented for a while, people who were jealous because they couldn’t afford cars began to spread nasty rumors that cars are bad for the environment. These rumors eventually escalated to the point where many believe that cars are straight up evil, and have also spawned the dreaded disaster that is emissions testing. You see, before people were terrified of carbon dioxide, nobody really cared about the environment, but since cars came along people have tried to compensate for the destruction that cars do to the world by trying to be more aware of their environments, and as a result have taken to taking better care of plants, and even planting their own gardens, which naturally grow tomatoes. If automobiles had never come along, nobody would care about plants, nobody would plant tomatoes, no tomatoes would survive, and tomatoes would swiftly become extinct.

Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you squish a bug, because just possibly there is an extremely vital correlation between you and the tiny insect that you have no idea exists. If you squish that bug, it may lead to your life support vanishing entirely and the world collapsing around you. Remember, if you change anything, anything could change you. Status Quo is the way to go. 

It's never too late to be the way you wish you would have been.

And don't forget it. You can always become better, and smarter, and it is the mistakes in life that make us stronger, but only if we push through them, fix them, stop making those same mistakes, and move on. Life is like music, really. In just about every way. I'm feeling very metaphorical right now, and I'm convinced that were it not so late I could basically pull up a metaphor for literally anything right now.

The band banquet was wonderful. And all the tech went perfectly, for the first time ever. Mine and Kate's collaborative slideshow actually turned out to be pretty good. So did the book, but only like two people looked at that. Anyway, I feel like I did more for the banquet than I actually did, so I should probably go to bed. Just remember, the people who really did everything are named Maren Christensen. And also like Nick Walton and such. I love my fellow band council members. Best of luck to the new band council! It'll be fantastic, even without DF.

Phone Pictures

 Sometimes I walk up to the temple at night. It's always pretty fantastic. 

 You know it's spring when there's green grass poking through the snow. 

 Shoes! 

 Bald Soprano. What a beautiful, beautiful play. I still quote it constantly. 

 Same color!

 A Nutella Oreo. It actually tasted pretty terrible. I wouldn't recommend it. Ever. It was like chocolate paste on cardboard. 

 Fish sticks and custard, on the other hand, really tasted pretty good. 

 My lovely little yarn snowman named Andrew. Too bad Kat ruthlessly unraveled him while he was still young. 

 Ummm...

 Gee, I wonder who wrote what.... Not. 

 I felt honored that there was a statue of me.

 A dragon for Kristen. 

 Despite the blurryness, I still think this picture is cute. Mostly because Kat's in it.

 I think these are my favorite people ever. 

 :)

 Boss it. 

 They're in a fight. 

 Sometimes I beat Joseph at checkers. Like always. 

 Bald Soprano Shoes!

 Flowers. I like flowers. Flowers are manly. I bet you could shoot roses out of a bow and arrow. 

 I love it when it rains ice. 

 This is that one time that I beat Riley at Blokus. 

 Run. Run for your life. 

 At Jacob Jespersen's Farewell. There were so many people there! I wish I knew half that many people! Jacob is a good guy. We'll all miss him, but he'll be a top-notch missionary. 

 My greatest chalking endeavor. I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

 This is Rebecca. She gave me a private concert, because I could not attend her senior recital. How is she so perfect? The world may never know, but will always be happy because of her. 

 Yes, I made this for Riley's birthday. Brownie chess cake = awesome. 

 That was a good ballroom concert. I liked it. 

 Our shoes are on a date. 

So are we. 

 I found Pinocchio. 

 Once upon a time I started walking, and I just kept walking until I found a little trail, and off that trail I found a path, with lead to a smaller deer trail, which I followed until I found deer, and then I climbed some stuff, and then it was getting dark so I scrambled back down the mountain. It was a good day. 

 Bushes with flowers growing out of the top are cooler than a polar bear on a windy day. 

 It's hard to see it in the picture, but the chalk board has an arrow pointing to Ree, and a label that says "Ree Lu." It's cool. 

 Fancy Hair. 

 Joseph in the ceiling? 

 We're cute in our dance co shirts. 

 So what's new?

 I love this Maren!

 It's not that way it's over here! 

 Oh, small children. 

Yes, I got a picture with Rick Riordan. Yes, I am the only one who got a picture with Rick Riordan. Yes, sometimes it is beneficial to be on tech. 

A Bit of Life

Today Dance Co gave the tech crew lots of chocolate. They're great. I'm glad I get to tech their concerts, because they always make thank you cards and give us food and candy and stuff. Five Million points to Timpview Dance Company.

Today I accomplished one of my goals. Sit in every single one of the 1460 chairs in the auditorium. It's much harder than it looks, too.

I also applied for academic letters today. I just really hope I get my Art one.

Today I ate a meal consisting of only Bread, Fruit, and Cheese, in honor of Robin Hood. Mostly just because I wanted Bread, Fruit, and Cheese though.

I am becoming less ill. Yay!

The Party of a Jacob Jespersen

It has come to pass that Jacob Jespersen has turned 19, and to celebrate this occasion, yesterday he threw quite the fine festival. First of, there were wonderful people in attendance. Some of my very favorite people in the world are them graduated people. To list but a few: Jesp, Woodruffs, Jeremy, Maren and Steph, Ryan, Johnny, Seth, Rosy, that's not everyone, but I'm too lazy to type in all the names. And of course there were also some more seniors like me. Anyway, it was wonderful. We headed up to Timpanogas park where we barbecued up some delicious Hamburgers, and then we played games such as frisbee and ninja destruction. After that we headed back to Jacob's house where we watched some animated movie about warrior owls, and ate cake and ice cream. It was prime. After that we visited Zoe at the Awful Waffle, and then went home. By this time it was like one in the morning. And then of course a few of us decided to wake up at 7 and play frisbee, which was good too, but now I need to sleep.

The point is, chilling with such wonderful people can be nothing but wonderful. 

Note: I really need to sleep now so I'm not going to spell check or edit this post. Not that I usually do, but I feel like I'm being more careless today about grammar usage than usual. 

Morp!!

On Friday I had the pleasure of going to Morp with Jane Cox, who is amazing, and it was super awesome. We had a cool Brittish murder mystery scenario, in which I turned out to be the Murderer. We also had an amazing fancy five course dinner at Jane's house as the plot progressed. The other people in the group were Maren Christensen, Nate Francis, Cami Bailey, Ree Lu, Catie Brown, And Eli Miller. We were very good at being Brittish, and we had an awesome time. Pictures to come!

Potatoes

You'd understand if you were a potato.

This is a Masterpiece

Alright, I'd say that this is even better than a creamery on ninth Cookies and Cream Shake.
Brace yourself. It's a Sonic Banana Caramel Shake. And it's absolutely delicious. I'm in a good mood now.