Out with the old and on with the new

We had funeral services for Cumby on Saturday. It was a beautiful ceremony. We tried to have a viking funeral, but the darn thing wouldn't catch on fire even though we drenched it in hair spray, so we ended up flushing him. Adam thought that maybe he was just faking it, like Nemo, to get back to the sea. In which case, its a good thing we flushed him. :) Here are some pictures from the most unfortunate of occasions:

We tried taking pictures of us being sad, but Emily kept making me laugh, so they didn't really come out real good. We wrote his eulogy that I read as he was *coughs* burning. It went a little something like this...

Two long years

have come and gone

Without you,

how can we possibly move on?

You fought through the hard times,

both freezing and freezing-er.

You were there for the good times

always bringing us together.

You side stepped the flip-flops, the flood and the fire

and through it all

you didn't even perspire.

We will miss your heart,

your face and your soul.

Enjoy fish heaven,

I hope it's in a bowl.

Yeah, awesome right? After the funeral, Emily and Brittney got all sneaky on me and they brought out a new beta fish for me. They are so nice and thoughtful. As I was thinking of what to name him, they suggested either Bruce Wayne or Jack Napier. Napier is the Joker's real name in Tim Burton's version of batman. Needless to say, I went with Jack. I don't know if its because of my seriously unexplainable fixation with the Joker or the fact that Heath Ledger plays him in the new movie and well...he's hott. haha. Not with all the make-up, mind you. Jack has a streak of red down his fins so it makes me think of the Joker anyway. We're going to have a fun relationship. Just the other day, Emily was being silly about a certain matter we were talking about, and I was feeding Jack and so I said, "Jack...ask Emily, 'why so serious?'" *said in the Joker's voice* She freaked out and it was great. Love you girl! Here's to you! haha. She's seriously been so great...especially these last few days. Things keep coming up and some days I'm an emotional wreck. I feel bad...I'm not as fun as I was at the end of last semester. I hope she's not rethinking her decision to live with me this year! hahah...I'm shaking out of it though, so I hope my lack of fun wont last much longer. Anyway, she's downstairs watching Smallville so I'm gonna go watch it with her. Who wouldn't you know? I'm a sucker for Superman...especially in the form of Tom Welling. With that said, peace out! :)

P.S. I'm starting to read Midnight Sun which is the first Twilight book but from Edwards point of view. I'm falling in love with him all over again. Its great. Read it. You'll love it. (although, be warned, its not finished, so it stops right before the meadow scene....) :)

R.I.P. Cumby the Fish

That's right, my dear fish has finally passed on to greater places. He was the first pet that I've had longer than a week. :) The last two years have definitely been great. I remember the day I first brought Cumby home with me. We had just moved into our new apartment in Sparks and thought a fish would liven things up a little. Cumby and I had some great times together. And so, my friend...here's a tribute to you, wherever fish heaven may be:

Memories of Cummerbund aka "Cumby" the Beta Fish:

-Whenever I was feeling playful, I would stick my finger in the bowl and mess with him. It was great times. He'd attack my finger or just swim away from it. But it was definitely fun. We bonded so many times.

-After many trial and error sessions of changing the water in his bowl, he learned to accept his fate and just let me scoop him up. It was almost like I had taught him to swim right into the measuring cup which served as his transportation from bowl to temporary pool, so many times. such an intelligent fish.

-When I first got Cumby, I bought these plastic, pink leafy things to put in his bowl. He started being less playful about a month later and I realized that it must have been because his bowl decorations were far too girly for the likes of a stud like him. So, I bought a cool rock thing. Much more manly and hardcore. After I made the switch, he was happy.

-He almost died two Christmas's ago. We had a hole in the wall of our kitchen during an extremely cold winter. His water was far too cold, but he was a tough fish and stuck through the hard times.

-Cumby put up with me transporting him everywhere. When I'd leave to go home for Christmas and he was babysat by others such as Zarah and Ashton or Drew, he was such a great sport. Water would splash and everything would be a total disarray, but he knew that I had his best interest at heart. What a great fish.

-He also put up with our rantings and ravings. When we'd watch Smallville or other intense TV shows, sometimes people would throw things like flip flops at the TV. Occasionally, they would miss and hit Cumby's bowl. He never complained once. A true gem, I'd say.

-He had a great attitude whenever we had a flood in our apartment...although, that makes sense.

-He even put up with our joking that he couldn't die even if we wanted him to (which we never WANTED him to, but you know)...we'd always joke that we'd have to save Pierre (my papasan chair) in the event of a fire, but if we left Cumby and Denzel (Emily and Jen's goldfish), they would be just fine because they were invisible. I guess we were wrong...

So there you have it...my fondest memories of Cumby. I admit, I teared up a little bit. We're holding funeral services tomorrow morning so as to avoid the stink. We're thinking either viking or traditional toilet flush. We're not sure yet. Please feel free to leave your condolences as comments. Cumby, I raise my glass to you...you were the best fish a girl could ever have and I'm glad I got to spend some of your last moments here, with you. You will be greatly missed.

Falling for It *shakes her head*

I feel like I should give everyone updates on the prank war...more happened after I wrote the blog. So, Sunday, you know how I said that Adam and Marcus brought over some mac n cheese and PB&J sandwiches for us as a temporary meal to get their chairs back until they had time to make us a real dinner? HA...well, what I failed to mention was that they dumped like 12000 pounds of salt, ranch and onion powder in the mac n cheese and loads of pepper in the sandwiches. As Emily and I were in the kitchen warming up our mac n cheese to eat during the devotional, she tasted a bite to see how hot it was and she looked at me with wide eyes and mouth open and we start laughing right...we weren't sure if they did it on purpose or if they were just really bad cooks. They're guys...you never know. And we sure didn't want to hurt their feelings and tell them that it tasted nasty! Especially after stealing their chairs. haha. Lesson learned: never underestimate anyone or give them the benefit of the doubt when in a prank war. I'm too nice...I would far rather suffer than make anyone else feel bad/awkward on my account. I've been told that this should change slightly, however, I'm not really sure how to be any other way, so I'm not sure exactly how that's gonna go. haha. I know from now on though...never trust anything that sparks 4 gives us! haha. Well, unless they taste it first. The funny part was, was that we ate it to be nice right? and both of them are sitting there watching us eat it. Adam covered his face with his pillow at times so as to not show his complete joy and Marcus kept the straightest face I've ever seen. Emily pretended to finish and just dumped the rest into the sink (she was caught, but they didn't say anything until after we confronted them about it). But guess who ate the ENTIRE bowl! Yeah, yours truly. Talk about real friendship. Jeez. I just figure that's preparation for whenever I have kids someday and they try to do something nice and make me breakfast in bed or something and its horrible...I know I can choke most anything down after that. haha. marcus was laughing because I was taking huge drinks after each bite. Ugh...I can't believe I fell for it. Anyway, we decided that we would take the sandwiches in our lunches the next day and I forgot mine in the fridge (luckily) and Emily calls me while I'm at work and was like...have you eaten your sandwich yet? I told her that I hadn't and she warned me to go home and throw it away. I think she still probably has the pepper taste in her mouth, two days later. haha. Good times for sure...sorta. hahaha. There really isn't a whole lot more going on, so I'll do one of those "of the week lists" again. It's been a while...

Song crush: What About Now by Daughtry

Work moment: Lynnette came back from her trip and told me that they will do whatever they can to keep me around Winter semester (unless I go home)...that felt good. Paul started freaking out at the thought of me not being here. I like to feel needed :)

Funny memory: aside from the above mentioned experience, I would say my favorite funny memory would be the other night when I was still up and Emily was going to bed...we were 'playful bantering' as to if the light should be turned off or not. I wanted it off so she could sleep and she wanted it on so I could still see n stuff for when I went to bed. I got up and turned the light off and sat back down at my computer and she told me she was reading (she really wasn't) so I should keep the light on...she then proceeded to quote one of the Harry Potter books. I don't know if it was really QUOTING it, but it sounded very legit and it wouldn't surprise me in the least since she's read them so many times. it was the funniest thing. She just kept going and getting louder and louder...probably trying to annoy me, so I'd cave. I dont think she realizes that when it comes to others and their well being, I don't cave. :) So, she kept going and going and naturally...I jumped on her. hahah good times, good times. Although, when I came up last night, she had left the light on...bring it girl, bring it!

Latest squeeze: pumpkin pie. I made two last night and I cant wait to eat it. I've been thinking about it all day. I have a feeling a wonderful obsession is coming...at least until I eat them anyway. :)

Brave moment: "revealing myself" hahah right Beth? Holy crap, I was terrified (and probably blazing red). I'm surprised I didn't wet my pants or scream or something. I sure wanted to.

Secret: I told Beth this, this morning and I figure it's about time I stop being ashamed...When my roommates aren't home (which doesn't happen a whole lot, but when it does...I pounce on the opportunity) I stick in my TMNT DVD of season 1 of the cartoon and I watch at least 1 episode. Its my guilty pleasure. But now that it's in the open, maybe I'll watch them freely. haha I used to watch them all the time when I lived with Jen, Zarah and Laura cuz let's face it...Jen had Gummi bears and duck tales too! :) My new search is for Animaniacs. i used to love that show...probably too much. :)

Memory: I was playing phase 10 with Emily and Brittany (which, I totally was winning, by the way) and Brittany randomly brought up the old TV show, 'Princess Guenevere and the Jewel Riders.' I used to LOVE that show. Kami and I would watch it before church each Sunday and we'd talk about it on our way to Primary. hahaha. Good times. I had completely forgotten all about that show. Wow...childhood was great. :)

The end. :)

Chillin' Like a Villain

This weekend was pretty relaxed and chill. Just the way I like it! A little adventure is fun, don't get me wrong, but there's nothin like a nice, laid back weekend! :) Now that I think of it though, it really was CHILL. For some reason, our swamp cooler works REALLY well all of a sudden and when we woke up, it was like 45 degrees (or lower) in our apartment. Its horrible. We lay around in our sweats if we're ever in our apartment. Its actually quite funny now that I think of it, but still...brrrrr! :) Friday night I had a date and then I came home and made cookies with my roommate, Brittany, and watched a movie with her and Adam. Good times with Enchanted, you know? No matter how many times I see that movie, I cant help but crack up a little. :)

Saturday morning, Emily and I went to our Pilates class which just about kills us every time. By the time we get to "the clam" I want to die. haha. Totally worth it though. Minus our inability to walk for about an hour or two afterwards. I tried walking up the stairs to go hop in the shower and I fell over. Good thing the wall was there to catch me. hahaha. Sadly, I'm not kidding! lol. After that, our managers put on a tailgate party for the football game since it was an away game. Can't beat free food and football. :) Then we left and took Brittany to see The Dark Knight. She hadn't seen it yet and Emily and I thought that was absurd. So, naturally, we had to fix that! :) Then, Emily and I went to hit up Marcus to play rock band for a little and then we high tailed it over to another apartment in our ward to watch a movie. The night ended with some mischievous planning and giddy laughter. ;)

Sunday was an AWESOME day. Our mischievousness was a result of planned shenanigans that were to take place early Sunday morning. However, the apartment in question locks their doors. Way to be safe guys, way to be safe. So, we went back to sleep for a little bit and dreamed of other ways to break in to their apartment. :) We had Regional Conference yesterday which was amazing. Pres Packer and Uchtdorf were both there and spoke to us, along with Elder Jensen and Sister.....blast, I can't think of her name. I want to say Kibbs, but I KNOW that's wrong. At any rate, she's President Monson's daughter. She talked about rolls and it made me yearn for some of mom's homemade goodness. We all know that bread is one of my many weaknesses. I think I drooled just a little bit. :) Ew, ew, ew! Anyway, once we got home, I made Emily, Kate and I some french toast so as to continue on my families' tradition of eating yummy breakfast food after church. I made myself a little visit over to Adam to deliver a much anticipated cookie and then came home and read a little bit and took a nap. I was awakened by my old roommate, Laura, as she climbed on top of my bed and plopped right on top of me. hahah. I miss those good ol days, girl. hahaha Can't say it didn't freak me out a little though! :) Heartcha!!!! XOXO Anyway, after I woke up, I snuck by Sparks 4 to see if there were still people downstairs. To my surprise, no one was there AND the door was open. *shakes head* I think they've learned their lesson. haha. Anyway, I ran back and got Emily and we went in and took all of their chairs and left a ransom note, demanding a yummy dinner in return for their chairs. After they came downstairs and realized what had happened, I was bombarded with text messages asking me if I had no soul for stealing the banana chairs as well and other things like how I could steal on a Sunday. hahaha. Silly boys. I think they're just mad that they got busted by some girls. Although, now its 2 against 6...its okay though. We've been doing this for a year now and they've just started. That gives us back our edge. Anyway, after all the text messages I started getting a little worried that maybe they were just really mad instead of just trying to make me feel bad. So i went over to see, but I was not enlightened either way. Adam just kept staring at me and shaking his head. *hides her face* haha...we did give them cookies as a peace offering. Mostly because we had a lot and I really did start to feel really badly about it. Our friend, Ian, lost a bet with Emily and I so he made us cookies, so it was good. Later on, Adam and Marcus came over to watch the CES Fireside as they didn't have any chairs to sit on to watch it in their apartment and it was AMAZING. Just what I needed. Elder Holland spoke about trials and tribulations and wow...talk about food for the soul! Shoot. It was so good. I felt really silly though cuz I started crying a little and I hate crying in front of people. It makes me feel vulnerable. haha. Afterwards, Emily and I talked to Jen on the webcam (our new Sunday tradition) and then we played Phase 10 with Brittany. Sorry I won y'all, but don't mess okay? hahah. Baseball Mike came over since we hadn't seen each other for a while, so that was fun. And really kind of a breakthrough experience for me. I've been randomly in love with him for like the last year almost (off and on) and every time I saw him it came back and completely sucked...but this time...nothin. It was great! I was so excited. lol That probably sounds weird, but I was pretty stoked about it. It may be because my attentions have turned else where, if you know what I mean ;) Anyway, we had ward prayer and Disney night as usual, so it was a great Sunday minus feeling bad about pranking the guys...but I'm over it now, so its okay. haha. I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well! Heartcha! XOXO

The Long Awaited Pictures

Okay, so I FINALLY buckled down and took pics of my hair and the apartment. Sorry it took so long, but lets face it, the suspense will make it that much more exciting right? hahah or not. But whatever :) And I'm warning you...I'm no genius at posting pictures, so this layout may just suck. haha. Anyway, so we'll go with apartment first...

This is our 'living room' and kitchen. Sadly, this is really as big as it is. haha Its been interesting getting used to the smaller everything that came with switching apartments, but I really love it here, so it's been worth it.

I have to show off the movie collection...there's no way to not be proud of that. And whoever can identify what I was watching at the time I was taking this picture will receive 5 gold stars. That's huge, you know. :)

This is where I repeatedly risk my life each day trying to get off and on the top bunk. Either way, it spices life up quite a bit! :)

Yeah that's right...I inherited my packing/condensing skills from my dad. I'm glad too, otherwise, we never would've gotten all of mine and Emily's stuff in our room. Sadly, most of this stuff is mine...Emily has her own closet. haha

This is my work corner: cluttered with pictures of Christ and family. Just the way I like it! :)

Let me explain before you judge me....the only reason the curtain is pink is because it was on sale. It wasn't my first choice. :)












So this is my hair. I usually don't leave it all down cuz I'm still trying to get used to it. I thought I would brave it today though, so I thought I'd take a snap shot of it for ya.

Anyway, there you have it. I hope you're all satisfied with my decorating tastes and the monstrosity that is my hair. :) On another quick note, I have recently had the option of going to get my masters come up in my array of decisions to be made for my future. I would get it in dance/movement therapy. There's actually a college in Boulder, CO that has a program that is most appealing to me because that's where Jen's parent's live and Zarah and Ashton might move there...I'm a baby. Go ahead and say it. Going somewhere where I don't know anyone scares the poop out of me. haha. So yeah, but I'm definitely not making any decisions based on that, it just sounds nice for the time being. I have a few options though. There are about 10 colleges that offer it on the East Coast and like 1 or 2 in Cali so who knows where I'll end up. The possibilities are endless. So there you have it, my day so far! P.S. Thanks to all of you for your support these last few days. Today has been a much brighter day than I've had in a long time! Heartcha! XOXO

Blessings in Disguise

Warning: This may not be the normal 'happy go lucky' post that y'all are used to. It will probably be more of a reflection post, so consider yourselves warned :) There have been a lot of things that have come up in my life lately that seem to have just down poured on me. Especially the last week. I was feeling really down about things and getting anxious and stressed. Quite honestly, I haven't really felt like myself for almost a week now. More so the last few days, but its been an interesting 'out of body' experience, if you will. I cant really describe it...the best way that almost conveys the feeling is that my heart feels heavy and I feel like I'm kinda in a funk or something...I'm not myself. This same kind of feeling happened last year when I first got my calling as Relief Society President and I was trying to figure out who my counselors should be and other things. Its a scary feeling...especially when you know that you have a stewardship over so many sisters and I don't feel strong enough to have that kind of responsibility right now. I'm not doing anything differently than normal...if anything, I'm praying, reading my scriptures and going to the temple more than normal, but I feel clouded and heavy. It went away eventually last year, but I have a feeling that it might last a little longer this time with recent events that have come up the last couple of days. I'm so glad I have such wonderful family members and friends who are kind of carrying me through this. I couldn't do it without each and every one of you. Sorry if I've been lame-o lately. I don't mean to be :)

Today was one of those days when I am honestly glad that I go to school at BYU. I know I huff and puff about it a lot and the pressures that come with it, but really, it's a wonderful place. I went to my first class today and we talked most of the class period about the Atonement and the Plan of Happiness. My teacher read the scripture in 2 Nephi that says, "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." We started talking about what it meant to feel joy in our lives and something he said really struck home. I mean, I've always known this subconsciously, but it was a good thing to bring to the forefront of my thoughts today. He said that in order to know joy, we have to know sorrow and pain. We talked about the story of Alma the Younger during his repentance process when he says that his soul hadn't known such pain and anguish, but after it was all over, he had never known so much joy in his life. As I was sitting there, I thought to myself that maybe, instead of trying my hardest to get rid of these feelings (as sucky as they can be) I need to acknowledge them and, not necessarily embrace them, but learn something more from them. When it's all over, the joy I will feel will be so much greater than if I just try going through these next few days and trying to push them away. Nothing helps me to feel better more than to serve others...maybe that's what I'll do! So, if you're around me at all for the next little while, give me something to do for you! hahaha. If anything though, I know the Lord will help me through this and that everything will be alright in the end. I'm not sure what 'alright' is just yet, but it will be. Anyway, I know this wasn't anything earth shattering or profound, I just thought I would share this little experience with everyone. I've also had a lot of people concerned that I haven't been myself for the last few days. I'm really trying hard to not show whats going on inside of me when I'm around others, but sometimes I slip up! So, to all of you, I'm gonna try to get back on my A game soon, just know that it might take some time. Thanks so much for all of your love and support. Y'all are awesome! I hope y'all have a GREAT day! XOXO

Oh, P.S. we started dancing in Irish today...its going to kick my butt. I'm so excited :)

BYU and all of its 'Splendor'

For all of you who have requested pictures of my hair and apartment, don't worry...they are coming. I honestly just forget to take pictures whenever I'm by my camera. And when I do remember, its on days like yesterday when I didn't really do my hair or I'm at work, as I am now. But I promise, one day, I'll remember and I'll take pictures :)

So here's the rundown of my last two days: Yesterday was Labor Day so I had work off as well as school which was really nice. Emily and I decided that we were going to get the most out of our last day of freedom, so we woke up early *coughs* at 9am...hahaha. That's actually sleeping in a lot for me, but it was good. Anyway, we went to the gym and worked out for a little bit and while we were walking home it started to downpour. Naturally, we decided to play in the rain until we froze. Utah brings cold rain...not warm, dirty rain like I'm used to, so I couldn't stay out too long without getting complete chills all over my body. It was definitely fun though. We were soaked. After we both showered and climbed into the most comfy set of sweats we owned, we went downstairs and decided to have a Harry Potter movie marathon. We fully intended to watch all 5 but after the first one, we realized there would be no way of watching all 5 movies without going completely crazy. So we decided on 1, 3 and 5. That way, we still got the good parts of the story. Adam came over for 3 and 5 which was way fun. He had his drawing book, I had my cross stitch stuff and Emily...slept. hahahaha. Good times, and definitely way fun. I haven't had such a lazy day in a long time. We got a pizza for lunch and were invited to a BBQ for dinner, so it was a great day, in all.

Today was my last, first day of school! YAHOO. I never thought this day would come *sheds a tear* As proof that BYU hasn't changed since last Winter, I will tell you the following story... It's my first class, 8am, and our teacher introduces himself as usual and then what is the first thing he asks us to do? We have to go around the room, stand up and say our name, where we're from, what our major is, if we've served a mission and *drum roll please* if we're single. Yeah, not kidding. haha. It was really great that over half of the class was married already and another 1/4 of it proclaimed that they were already seeing someone so they were off the market. I kinda felt like that loaf of bread on the back of the shelf whose expiration date is only a couple of days away...hahaha jk. But I thought it was a funny image. Anyway, I high tailed it off to Irish class afterwards and it was so much fun to see my two friends who were in my beginners class with me last year. We had a blast laughing about how horrible the final was because we pretty much failed from laughing so hard during it, but it was totally worth it. This will be a fun year. Today was my long school day...two classes. haha I have one tomorrow but I work for 5 hours instead of 2 like TTh. I hope my friends plan on keeping me busy this semester...I'm gonna go nuts with all of this free time. :) Anyway, I hope everyone had a GREAT Labor Day and I'll post pictures soon, I promise! XOXO