I promise it's not you.

There are three self-imposed guidelines that I try to follow on this blog:


1) Do not vent/complain.
2) Do not be vague.
3) Include pictures.


And I'm about to ignore all three in one fell swoop.

::

There's a human in this world whom I am beginning to dislike strongly.

(The end.)

Week of Thanks

Thanksgiving this year was absolutely wonderful. We went north for some quality time with cousins and aunts and uncles. So much family, so much fun. And the best news of all is that I had a camera the whole time! That means you get a total picture overload. Get ready.

Here's a little taste of our family's Thanksgiving (if you'll excuse the pun).

We  had plenty of indoor time. 

Took this while playing. Tricky? I thought so.

Bear-dog = Kenai. Love.

SO adorbs. They sat like this for a while of their own accord.

My best friend Lydia. (But like for reals.)

Rye's "horror film face." Cracks me up.

I match Mom by outfit, and I match Emily by personality. It's cute, ok?

However, the real fun was to be had in the great outdoors.

Welcome to the annual turkey shoot:

Rockin' those boots

I've never been very good at scenery photos...

25 points, somehow.

The "I just shot a clay pigeon on my second shot ever!" face, of course.

Wow. Overload indeed. Sorry. 

Also, I'm sorry that there is not a single picture of food here.

But it was more about family anyway, and seriously, we all had a great time! Not to be sappy, but I love my family and I'm thankful for the week I had with them. Nothing allows me to feel rested and ready to carry on like a week spent with family, no matter how great my friends may be. Here's to hoping this Thanksgiving becomes a tradition in the future!

(Jus' rill quick)

This is what we did for Thanksgiving. 

It was a bit of a culture shock for our family of 5 girls. We loved it.

More to come. 

Picture List

Well not to complain terribly or anything, but today sure stunk. 

Now that that's out of the way...  How bout a little Pinterest?

Today's about colors.

Thinking about a blog redo. Maybe, someday, in the future?

Or like maybe never. It's a lot of work. I'll just redo my room instead.

Anyway, colors: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

To another best sister in the world:

Well it's that time again, and we've got a birthday to celebrate! Whose turn is it today?

Lil sister Mariah, of course!

10 things you should know: 


1) She has a hilarious sense of humor, and she pulls the best faces (see examples above). 
2) She does a mean imitation of "E'ryday I'm shufflin"
3) She's probably the most compassionate person I've ever known. Mother Theresa status.
4) She's amazing with kids. It's a gift I envy.
5) She's taller than me.
6) She's incredibly generous with her time, effort, money, everything, etc.
7) She plays the guitar, which rocks.
8) She's a great student and a hard worker.
9) She's very tolerant and always willing to serve.
10) She's my role model.


Love you little sister! Happy birfday!

Gross=3AM

What I'd really like to be doing right now:

What has prevented me from doing just that: 

Ugh.

Biology is just not my favorite. 

It'll be so ironic when I get the flu from staying up so late working on my research paper about the flu.

Like I said, 3AM is just plain gross.

The good news is this: I get to sleep now. Good night world. May you never catch the flu.

Tidings of Great Joy

I have some excellent news, folks! 

See that black thing? That lil guy means I no longer have to steal Mom's camera every time I want a picture on this lil blog. Hooray!!

Also, feel free to note how long my hair is getting (even though it's not entirely presentable).

I am loving it.

Have a lovely Tuesday, amigos!

So, funny story...

A couple weeks ago, my family and I went to Tucanos with a few birthday coupons and intentions to celebrate. However, I had a concert at BYU with a call time 30 minutes away, so I needed to quickly eat and go. My mother explained this to the waiter, and he very kindly took an interest in making my meal at Tucanos the best one I'd ever had. 

It really was very sweet of him. Unfortunately, the entire family noticed. 

We ate lots of meat and even more pineapple, drank Brazilian lemonade, and had a grand ol' time. Mr. Super-Nice-Waiter checked up on us a few times, but not excessively. At one point, the quote from Madeline was used in reference to his talent to converse: "He's got charisma!" (I'll admit it was true.) When I stood up to put on my coat and head out, he beelined it to our table.

It was very thoughtful of him. Unfortunately, the whole family noticed.

Him: "Are you leaving already?"


Me: "Well, yes, remember? I have to get to a concert. I'm already late for call time, actually, so I need to bolt."


Him: "Well if you're late as it is, why not be more late? Just stay and celebrate!"


Me: "I really should go..."


Him: "Oh fine. But you're my favorite!"


Me (a little thrown off): " ... Thanks, I'm flattered. And thanks for your great service today! And goodbye." 

It really was just so kind of him. Too bad the whole family noticed...

I didn't think much of it during or after the concert. In fact, I wouldn't have thought much of it probably ever if I hadn't learned the following: 


When I left, my father got talking to this waiter. They chatted about his mission, his family, his life in general. Dad thought he seemed pretty cool. Then, since the whole point of Tucanos was to celebrate birthdays, my family ordered brownies for dessert. Mr. Super-Nice-Waiter bragged that they had the best brownies in the world. Dad disagreed. He claimed that his daughter, "the one that had to leave, remember?", made the best brownies in the world. You can see where this is going, right? 


After some debate, my dad ended up with the waiter's number, and the waiter ended up with an invite to brownies on a Tuesday or Sunday evening in the future. Which means I need to make the best brownies in the world, and soon! Yikes.


Nothing has come of it yet, and we're now a solid two weeks past that day, but Dad brings it up whenever he and I are talking. I'll keep y'all posted if there are developments, but don't get too excited. 

Moral of the story: Never perfect your brownie-making skills, or your father just might set you up on a blind date based off of them. 

Two videos to make your day.

My mother showed me this today, and witnessing it for myself landed promptly on my bucket list: 

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Seriously, though, isn't that the most amazing thing??
If I see a murmuration of starlings and the Northern lights sometime in my life, I'll die happy.
(Learn a little more in depth here.)

And this is simply for the sake of all things adorable:

In my family, we believe in cheap thrills and really cute giggles.

Best moment at about 0:48, in case you don't have a full 1:39 to spare.

Hope your day's as brightened as mine was!

Something less frivolous than usual.

Today, because of the time change, I walked to my car during sunset.
I remembered watching really beautiful sunsets that one summer.
I remembered how it was simply assumed that we would watch, even if it only had potential to be a good one. 
I remembered how I'd comment on its beauty, and he'd agree, but then he'd say, "Except it can't compare to you."
It was all very cheesy. I know that now and I knew it then. But it was nice anyway. 


When the sky finished flaming, I drove myself to our cute city library, where I met a friend.
We discussed life as it currently is: school, family, boys, missionaries, and singles' wards.
We discussed life as it was in the past: high school, movie quotes, and family deaths. 
We delved into our interests: the common one of educating others someday, her's in ASL, mine in math.
We secretly creeped a little bit on that one lady from the news.
We laughed a little too loudly for a library setting, but it's ok because we were in the children's section by the stained glass window.
It was good times all around.


My family came. We watched a play called The Hundred Dresses.
It made me laugh. 
It made me criticize, but in a positive fashion.
It made me reflect. 
It made me cry.
It made me resolve to never ever judge another human ever again.
It was a very strong message for a supposed "children's play." I like that.


I knew there was a letter waiting for me when I got home. 
I devoured it. Actually, them. 
I devoured them: the online one to the family and the three in an envelope to me.


He wrote in Spanish, which is nearly impossible to decipher at times. 
He suggested a few songs, which I never saw coming.
He answered all my questions...from September. (I'll hear about last month's questions come December.)
He promised to accept pancake-duty for the rest of eternity if need be, for which I was very grateful. I cannot make pancakes.
He kind of, sort of, maybe made my day.
He bore testimony, therefore strengthening mine.
It was needed and appreciated.


Yesterday was a not-fun Sunday despite my efforts to make it a good one, and that was disappointing. However, today was much better, and with only a few small changes. 
I really enjoy when that happens. 


I'm grateful for the directions my thoughts were taken today. 
I'm grateful for late-night blog posts where I don't care how this might sound when I read it tomorrow. (Don't judge me.)
I'm grateful for time to ponder. For introspection.
I'm grateful for the things that I have, tangible and otherwise.
I'm grateful for the life that I live, because it honestly couldn't be better. 


Happy November, everyone. :)

Get Your Craft On

Tonight I went Christmas-card-crazy. 11 cards, 3 hours. It was for a good cause.

(All of these were made with patterned paper, stamps, and ribbon, for anyone who's wondering.)

They'll all go into a package with testimonies from various friends and family members to go to Mexico in the near future. That one missionary will get 25 cards total: one for every day of December up to Christmas. I'm in love with this idea! But I definitely can't take credit. Kudos to his mother for her excellent planning.

Please enjoy an impressive photo-bomb job by little sister Mariah:

Also, if anyone wants to get in on this little project, just holler! I believe I speak the truth when I say he'd love to hear from anyone. In the true spirit of Christmas, let's just say "the more the merrier!"

Today's Rambles

Apparently, I feel the need on holidays to list all the reasons I enjoyed that holiday. Just in case current trends continue, I apologize in advance for the upcoming holiday-season-list-posts.


Today I got to listen to a prophet speak, from the front row, and I made approximately 4 new friends in the process. Welcome to BYU, I suppose. It's a good place.


Someday I will be crafty, yea, even like unto my little sisters (and all the bloggers in all the world).


I'm going through music withdrawals lately because the only time I listen to music is in my car from home to BYU and back. Mind you, that's a solid 40 minutes of music...but I don't get to choose any of it. So I think I'm listening to music, but really I'm just falling prey to radio garble. It's a vicious cycle.


Some very dedicated leaf clung to my car window for the entire day, including my trip to and from BYU. Its stem flapped in the wind, and it was really quite adorable. 


This list would be a heck of a lot better with pictures and links and the like, but my lack of camera is still really, really cramping my style. 


I rememorized the Gettysburg Address tonight, just for fun. Wanna hear it? "Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent..."

Who wants to go make these with me?

We'll just need some spring weather and creativity.