A Day of Mourning

That is right, my friends...I cut my hair yesterday and I am mourning the loss of my hair. I feel like a part of me has gone. Which is technically true...you should've seen all the hair that was on the floor when I got up to leave. :) However, this hair cutting experience was unlike any other and I'll tell you why. It started out like any other hair cut: the shampoo and conditioner (best part, in my opinion), the combing, the cutting...and usually some snide comment about how thick my hair is and how much of it I have. 'Yes,' I think to myself...this I know. Try taming it every morning :) Anyway, I'm sitting in the chair and it feels like I've been there for a while. Maybe I was just bored or something...or starting to get hungry, so the time was seeming to go by slowly. Nope...when I got out to my car, I realized that an hour and 45 minutes had gone by. What took her so long, you ask? Aside from her cutting really slowly, there were a number of things really...

1) She kept cutting herself. Call me crazy, but if you're about to graduate in two months, I would think that cutting yourself three times in almost 2 hours wouldn't be something I would have to worry about. :) The 'best' part was (I'm using that term loosely) that whenever she'd cut herself, she'd just keep right on going. After a couple of minutes, she would stop and dab her fingers with a paper towel and this could continue for about 5 minutes until she realized that it was necessary for her to get a bandaid. Like I said, this happened a grand total of 3 times during the hair cut. The funny part was, was that when she dropped the comb on the floor, she sterilized it. I find it strange that she thought it necessary to sterilize the comb after it had been on the floor, on top of my own hair, for 2 seconds and all the blood didn't bother her one bit. Who knows how much of that was on her scissors....ew ew ew. To add to the experience, at one point, she started just snipping at the hair around my neck but she wasn't holding my hair. She was just going at it with her scissors. Maybe its just me, but when you've just told your client that you're not on your 'A game' that day and she has seen the casualties, I wouldn't press my luck with an innocent bystander. Espeically one that will be tipping you (or not) afterwards...My jugular has never felt more exposed and in danger. I wonder if that's what Bella ever felt like....no, probably not. There's a huge difference between bloody scissors and a hot vampire. I'll take the vampire.

2) After she finished the haircut, she decided that she wanted to give me bangs. Apparently, the kind I had given myself were less than adequate. Probably true though...I'm no hair stylist. Anyway, she gave me the side kind that are thick and over to one side. However, she gave me so many that it looked retarded and very uneven, now that I think of it. She wanted to use me in her portfolio (that must mean my hair was NASTY before) haha....and so she took before and after pictures, and it was sad that as I was looking at the pictures, I was yearning for my old hair. After I styled it this morning though, and changed a few things, I think it wont take me as long to get used to as I thought. I'm still not quite there yet though. She also decided that it would be a good idea to thin my hair. Not anything new...I'm used to them taking chunks of my hair out, but this time, she did it the normal way of just snipping random places and then combing the hair out, but she also lifted up some hair and snipped some chunks out right at my scalp. Yeah, WOAH. If those hairs grow back spiky...well, to tell you the truth, I'll probably laugh, but still. I've never heard of anyone thinning my hair that way. It was a scary experience. (if any of you are noticing, I have a hard time with change...)

3) After she blow dried it and got it approved (silly me, I thought we were done), she was like, okay, now we'll flat iron and style it. By this time, my butt had thoroughly fallen asleep and my phone had gone off about 6 times and I was growing curious as to who was trying to so desperately get a hold of me. But, I decided to be patient. I figure, its better for her to take her time than to go quickly and mess it up. So anyway, she flat irons it and what do you know...she pulls out the comb and the hairspray. For those of you who aren't aware of a term called the 'Mormon pooch,' count yourselves lucky. Its the process of ratting the top layer of hair and then spraying it with hairspray so its huge. Its just the sort of thing that I have felt necessary to avoid during my time here in Happy Valley. I've been lenient...I've gotten on board with the layering shirts and you know...yeah that's about it. But seriously, giving me the Mormon pooch was going too far. It was kinda funny though, I'm not going to lie.

So there you have it...my experience of the week. Hopefully, I'll get used to my hair soon...its a lot shorter than I was expecting, and some of the layers are boy short almost...but I'm sure its not as bad as I think it is :) XOXO

Love of my Life

Don't worry...I didn't start dating someone and not tell everyone, or anything...the 'love of my life' is not a dude, although, someday, I hope it will be. :) So what is it, you ask? Most might think it could be something such as ice cream, Disney movies or breakfast food, however, it isn't any of those. Sorry to disappoint. I have recently discovered just how much of a sucker I am for Sydney (my niece). I've always known that I had a huge soft spot for her, but yesterday opened my eyes to new heights of love! hahah mushy, I know, but whatever...I don't even care. If Syd was your niece, you'd understand! :) Anyway, I called Ben and Meredith yesterday to chat it up like usual and I hear Syd in the background and she starts talking to me, right? Nothing out of the ordinary. We always have cute little conversations about her new 'big girl shower' or how she does her dances that I taught her everyday and still remembers them. (love that by the way!) Anyway, I think we were talking about Nursery and all of a sudden she goes, "Auntie, do you love me?" I quickly responded with, 'of course I do! I love you the mostest!" To which, she replied, 'I miss you, Auntie...you come home for Christmas! I want to play with you in the snow. And Santa will come and we'll open presents!" *melts* I asked Meredith if she was feeding her these lines...telling her to tell me that she misses me. I didn't think Meredith would be that mean to me, but I wouldn't put it past Ben. Everyone knows just how much it breaks my heart every time she says stuff like that to me and I know I can't come see her. Ben uses it as tactics to get me to come home more often, I think. :) Although, in all fairness to him, I did go home last President's Day weekend. I couldn't resist her and her cute little voice when she says, "I love you, Auntie!" Ugh...if she said it to you, you'd be a basket case too. I promise! :) So, I guess it works! haha. Meredith told me that ever since about a couple of weeks ago when she first asked me why I didn't come over to play more often and I told her I was coming to see her at Christmas time, she's been asking if its Christmas yet or how much longer there is until Christmas comes. So cute. I just love that girl! Having my little appendage whenever I go home, makes it that much more fun. Its those times when I'm at home with my family with the little one all lovin up on me that I know that there is at least one place where I'll always belong and be loved. No matter what happens or where I go, I'll always have my family. I'm so grateful for them and all the good times (and bad) that we've had together. I'm so glad we get to be together forever. I can't wait! Speaking of cant wait...I can't wait until Mallory (my other niece) starts talking and we can be all buddy buddy like me n Syd. Things with Malla should be fun since she's my xerox twin. :) Gotta love that. Anyway, here's to you Syd! You make my life a lot more brighter! Its weird trying to remember life without her. Life was great, don't get me wrong. It was just different. Its funny to go back and think of what Meredith and I did all day whenever I'd go over there. That part hasn't changed much...but now we're surrounded by the two cutest girls ever and its so wonderful! Thanks for having such great kiddos, Meredith! You rock my socks. Its quite handy that my best friend has great kids...its like I cant go wrong whenever I'm over there! :) Love y'all bad...but for now, I should probably get back to work. Heartcha! XOXO

Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

Today is the day! Emily comes back! She said she'd be here anywhere between noon and 3pm. Needless to say, I will make sure that my bladder is quite empty around that time span. There is no telling how excitedly my body will react to seeing her. Its been far too long. And while wetting my pants is always funny, I wasn't planning on doing laundry for at least another week.

I went 'back to school' shopping the other day. It was my last time to do it officially as I will be graduating this semester. You know what that means...no holding back. I really should've exercised more restraint, but when its your last time to do something, you've gotta go out with a bang, right? In all fairness, I only spent a little over $100 bucks. I know girls who spend that once a month to go shopping and I don't really shop THAT much...:) In all fairness though, I'm sure I'll probably use the 'back to school' shopping excuse even when I'm not in school anymore. Someone should probably stop me. Or better yet, join me in my adventure of braving the crazed shoppers, searching for the best sales, and avoiding those annoying Verizon guys who always ask me,'if they can ask me a question.' I tell you what...if their question was something along the lines of, 'would you like us to give you $100 bucks, no strings attached?' then I'd be all for talking to them. However, I'm guessing that's not what they were planning on asking me. :)

While I was shopping, I passed this booth in the center of the mall that was dedicated to Twilight. I melted, but I resisted. Besides, there were two dudes there looking at stuff which made me laugh. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and just say that they were trying to flirt it up with the girl who was working there, but you never know. I've learned that many a gentleman have grown to appreciate the Twlight series. I respect them for running the risk of being discovered and their man cards ripped away. Although, Mike told me at work yesterday that he no longer has a man card so he really doesn't care much anymore. I have recently learned that another of his favorite books (and movies) is Pride and Prejudice. I brought it to work yesterday to do a little reading when I had some down time, and I didn't get any comments from the female persuasion, but a lot of the guys that I work with looked at it and said things like, "ohhhh great book!" Funny times.

Well, my friends...its Saturday morning and I've got some cleaning, crafts, and exercising to do before Emily gets here, so I'm gonna jet! Love y'all bad! XOXO

Dancing by the Light of the Moon

I've decided that I am determined to have the best last year of college that I can. Not only am I taking classes like bowling and Irish Dance, but I have enrolled at a dance studio in Springville that offers Adult classes. They have hip hop, modern and tap and all that jazz but I'm most excited about the jazz/contemporary class. I don't think I'll go to the other ones, but the jazz is once a week for an hour on Wednesday nights. Not too demanding, time wise, and 5 bucks a class. You cant beat that. Last night was my first class and it was soooo much fun. I had forgotten how much fun I have when I dance (especially when I don't have to worry about how I'm being graded for it). I haven't been in a studio setting since my Sophomore year of high school. Ever since then, I've been involved in Drill Team or dance classes at the Y, so it definitely brought back a lot of fun memories for me. It's no Hurst Dance Company, but still definitely fun! :) Its hard to tell just how much I'll learn from these classes. We just started on the dance and usually the beginning is kinda slower and involves easier movements, but I'm almost glad that its all very easy for me. This way, I can focus on really putting all of my energy into the movements and doing them full out every time instead of having to focus so much on the new elements that I'm not sure about yet. Don't get me wrong...I really hope that I learn new things, which I'm sure I will...its just really nice to let go and dance my heart out and really enjoy it ya know? Its been a while! :) I think I've been pushing myself so hard to learn more advanced things that I've forgotten how much fun it can be to just let loose! *teethy grin*

Beth showed me this website (goodreads.com) where you can rate books you've read and add books you want to read to a list. You can look at how other people rated the books you want to read and see what other people are reading for good suggestions...I'm completely addicted. Its sad though...in just the last day(ish), I've already got like 35+ books on my 'to read' list...I didn't realize how far behind I was. But of course, I cant help but love the website...it helps me organize all the books I want to read into a list :) So yeah, I like it...go figure :)

I've decided I'm going to start making my "favorites of the week" lists. Mostly because I'm still bored at work and I need blogging to take more time than it does :)

• Song crushes: Crush by David Archuleta, Our Song by Taylor Swift and If My Heart Had Wings by Faith Hill.
• Biggest work project: Faxing some papers two days ago (haha sad but true)
• Website: goodreads.com (obviously)
• TV excitement: Watching Johnathan Horton on the high bar....amazing!
• Memory: Seeing Michael after he had his jaw surgery...he looks so different!
• Funny moment: peeking over my bed to see if Erin was done praying yet and she was peeking under my bed to see if I was done at the same time and we both screamed. hahaha good times girl, good times.
• Looking forward to: this year! Getting to know my new roommates this week has been great. They are the greatest girls and we already have so much fun together. It feels like we've been friends for years!
• Dessert of choice: hot brownie with vanilla marble/fudge ice cream...yum! (I've definitely ate some every day this week...hahaha)

So there you have it...nothing too exciting, but its been a good week despite having absolutely nothing to do at work! :) I hope y'all have a great Thursday! XOXO

A Love/Hate Relationship

Erin is staying with me for the next few days because BYU Housing is retarded and they make you move out much earlier than you're allowed to move in to your new apartment, so unless you stay in the same apartment complex, you're pretty much homeless for around a week, give or take, depending on the complex. I'm very glad that I'm not in a room by myself anymore. I've had enough of that, all summer long. I've always loved sharing a room though. Ask Meredith...I would have much rather slept in her room, than mine, growing up. Which, for a couple years, I did! :) Anyway, as I was waiting up for Erin to get to my apartment, I was looking for something to do. Jen texted me and asked if I could bring the 3rd Twilight book to work so she could start reading it, so I pulled it off my shelf to make sure I didn't forget it. Naturally, I just started reading it to pass the time. I dont know if that's why I had such an incredible dream last night, or what, but let me tell you...waking up this morning was not fun. haha. Well, it was great until I realized that it was only a dream. Having Edward dreams are just so good. Well, it wasn't really an Edward dream, but it definitely involved someone who behaved as cutely as the said vampire and it made me happy. Sometimes I wonder which is better...to dream something so good and then wake up only to realize that it wasn't real, or to have just normal dreams that you don't really care about. haha. Good dreams are really therapeutic for me though, so I guess I'll take it even though real life doesn't seem as glorious as it did during the wee hours of the morning today. :)

I went over to Steve's for our dinner group last night and he's still in the process of moving in and his kitchen was a complete mess...food & pots and pans everywhere! Naturally, I couldn't resist the opportunity to embrace one of my weirdest hobbies... I asked him if he needed help moving or unpacking so as not to sound too crazy and desperate, but he knows me well enough to know exactly what I was getting at. He replied with, "yes, you can organize my food into those cupboards...and believe me, if it weren't against the honor code, you could go upstairs and unpack the rest of my stuff for me too!" hahaha. I'm glad I have friends who take advantage of my weirdness instead of shun me for it. :) I'm officially wacko, but maybe it's a just a phase...I should embrace it while I still have it...right?

In more exciting news, I decided that after I graduate, I wanted to treat myself to a trip to Ireland. I've always wanted to go and I can't remember the last time I actually went on a vacation. I mean, I go home twice a year, but that's not the same thing as vacation ya know? And the short trips that I've taken to Vegas and Colorado and Seattle have been only a couple of days to where I don't really see it as VACATION...not to mention that the last few trips I've taken have been for weddings, which yeah...definitely doesn't qualify for vacation status. lol. So I figure, its about time I do something that I really wanna do right? Anyway, I floated the idea past my mom because I obviously don't want to face Ireland alone. Not that facing it with my mom would be much better...I think she's worse in new areas than I am, but I would feel better being there with someone. Not to mention that it would be much more fun. Anyway, I asked her what she thought about it and she seems to be on board to come with me. I was looking at tourist groups and stuff earlier today and it looks like with a flight, 7 nights in a hotel (and one in a cool castle...yeah. awesome!) and the rest of the tourist group package (food, passes to different places, etc) that it would be around $1,200 for each of us. I figure that's great since I didn't have to end up buying a new computer. That's about what it would've been, so that made me happy that it pretty much equalled out. I'm still not completely sure if we're going to go, but I think it would be SOOOOOO much fun and it makes me happy. :) I might as well have one last adventure before I have to face the real world and be quasi-responsible! *giggles* So, those are the new additions to my life lately. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but hopefully, soon, that will not be the case! XOXO

Weekend of Melly

Heya! So, its been a crazy last few days, so we'll start from the beginning...

Friday: Since I had to be completely checked out of #9 by Saturday morning, I had to start cleaning as soon as I got home from work. Luckily, Mellissa offered to come over to help me move things over and to clean. I didn't realize how much stuff I had until it was all piled in my room and in the front room of my new apartment. Crazy...who'da thunk that after living in a place for 4 years, you'd accumulate so much stuff. When I came out here, everything fit in my moms 4-runner with my dad and I seated, comfortably. I don't want to know how many it would take now...anyway, Melly was great. She came over and hefted boxes and cleaned with me. She even brought over some food to make for dinner. Its a good thing too...I dunno if I woulda had time to make something. That's when good ol' Little Caesar's comes in handy :) I'll take Chinese food any day for sure! :) Anyway, we ended up getting done around 12:15 or so that morning...in all fairness, we did stop and get ice cream around 9, but still...I don't want to know how much longer I woulda been up if she didn't come over and help. Thanks girl! I owe you big time! :)

Saturday: I woke up and finished some last minute packing and moving the rest of my essentials over into 7 and then waited around for the people to come and check me out. After that happened, I switched out my keys and as I was walking in to my new apartment, I noticed that there were people in there! My new roommates moved in early! They seem really nice and I'm getting really excited for this year. We've gotten along really well so far. One of my favorite things was that, as I was pulling out my Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo, one of my roommates, Brittany, says...'no way!' and busts out an original Nintendo with the duck hunt gun! haha. It was a tender moment. lol. They're really awesome girls for sure though. Anyway, after a lot of moving in and stuff, Melly and I went to a couple of wedding receptions. The first one was supposed to go from 3-8. I didn't think that it would actually last that long, but we took a shot. However, when we got there, the bride and groom had already left. haha. Not that I can blame them, but still....lol. Anyway, so Melly and I had to stop at Albertson's and get a card for the other reception we were going to and we spotted the donut section on our way in...it was hard to resist, so we didn't...We gave right in! :) After that, we decided we should have real food, so we hit up Wendy's and then drove off to Camille's reception. It was so much fun to see her. She looked so happy! Good times, good times. I also ran into a couple of friends from Freshman year there too because they were in her ward last year, so that was fun! After that was over, we went home and I decided to call Adam to see how Jake and Becca's (friends from our ward here in Provo) reception was. We talked for a while, and I dunno why...but apparently, I thought it necessary to try climbing up to the top bunk while I was talking on the phone. Not smart, I know. I got up there just fine, but when I decided I'd had enough fun being up high, I tried getting off without the use of one of my hands. Yeah, I definitely couldn't find the ladder with my feet, so I just kept sliding...and sliding. hahaha. It was kinda funny. Quite terrifying until I finally just found the floor, but still. This should be a funny year. I've never slept on a bunk bed without falling off before. I don't move around nearly as much as I used to when I sleep though, so maybe I'll be okay. We'll see how it goes when I stop freaking out about it and actually sleep normally. haha.

Sunday: We had church earlier because we were combined with a different ward and then I high tailed it off to West Jordan to see the Breinholt's. Kami's birthday was last week, so I wanted to see her and they were so nice to let me keep some extra stuff that I couldn't fit in my apartment at their house. The best part was, that one of those things was my super huge TV and Kami and I decided to try and carry it downstairs to put in the storage room...lets just say we shoulda video taped it. Her parents just kept listening to us and laughing their heads off because it was so funny, apparently. Then we went up to SLC for their monthly family FHE, so that was fun. The day ended with the traditional Disney Night, so in all, it was an awesome weekend. Tiring, but awesome. I hope everyone else had just as good a time as I did! XOXO

Celebrate good times, come on!

Okay, this is going to be incredibly short, but I just had to celebrate somehow and they don't like it when I shout at work :) My boss asked me, late Tuesday afternoon, if I would transcribe this manual for this prominent Dr. in Psychology. It was one of those things that he's wanted to do for a while but never gets around to it because, lets face it, when you're a prominent author in the Psychology world, you don't have much time for lame projects. :) Anyway, Paul (my boss) met him at this conference they went to in DC a couple of weeks ago and randomly volunteered me for the job. lol. So yeah, it was kinda cool though because I got to talk to Dr. Merrell on the phone. *laughs* I'm so lame. I was pretty excited though. Next step...a phone conversation with Zachary Levi! Hey, it can happen. hahaha. Anyway, so I started it on Wednesday morning and I just finished it. Almost 21 hours of typing. My fingers hurt but I can't really feel them since I'm so happy that I'm done! WAHOOO. *jumps for joy* Here's the final count: 62 pages in word and a 30, 803 word count. Wooo. Yeah. That was a beast. I told my boss that I would be able to have it done by Friday and he didn't believe me. He came up to me today and was like, so do you REALLY think you'll be able to get it done today? And I looked at him and smiled and turned the page and what do you know...all I had left were the references! It was sucha sweet moment. hahaha. Booyah! Typing 92ish words per minute pays off, suckers! :) Anyway, I'm gonna turn on my latest music crushes and sing for a while...they don't mind when I do that! :) *dances off into the horizon*