Eeeeeeeeeeeee: it's a thing, ok?

First, the following was spoken at my house tonight:

"Jon says you can tell whether someone is a good kisser by the way they eat an apple."

"Is that true?" 

"Well, I don't eat apples in front of Jon anymore."

Also, I noticed tonight that a lamp in our basement dims when someone uses the microwave upstairs and brightens when the microwave dings. True story.


But here's what I came to show you tonight. This happened today:

I tried to Swype the word "were" and these were my predictive text options. I guess it's possible that I use eeeeeeeeeeee! to convey excitement in texting. If I ever send this to you, you are to read it in the Liesl's scream from The Sound of Music after Rolf kisses her. You know, in that gazebo thing? 16 going on 17? I-III'll take ca-aaaaare of you?


*crickets*

Ok, if you don't know what I'm talking about, go here.
And then go watch that movie because, um, it's as classic as classic gets. I'll come watch it with you if you need a buddy.


Wow, there is a ridiculous amount of repeated vowels in this post. #sorrynotsorry

That is all. 
Good night.

Ode to Madi

Tomorrow, one of my best friends from ever in my entire life is going on a mission. 

These are some pictures of our friendship which I think the world needs to see:

[We've been friends longer than that one time we did NSO together, but my laptop is younger than our friendship and so these are some of the only pictures I have with me while I'm writing this. Madi, I think I gave us an equal amount of ugly and cute faces, but holler if you hate any of these because I'd hate for you to leave knowing that these are on the internet for everyone to see for the next year and half.]

I have debated over telling you all the history of our relationship, but I think that might not get to the point I want to make here. I'm not even sure what the point I want to make is, other than that I am going to miss that Madi a whole lot. 

One time she went to Spain for a year of school, and I thought it was bound to be the worst year of my entire life. Turns out that it was actually a blast to email back and forth and to Skype every now and then and to have a friend in SPAIN (hello, that's cool). But it stunk, too, because things changed, as things are simply wont to do. Thinking about Madi's mission is even scarier than Spain since things change way more and way faster now than they ever could or did in high school. It's all different from here on, guaranteed.

But! Madi is one of those excellent friends that you don't find just anywhere. She is as loyal as the day is long and she is the kind of honest everyone needs in a best friend. She's funny and she's brilliant and she's persistent (cue story of the KFC summer). I have no doubt that Madi will be my friend just as much during her mission and after her mission as she has been for these years before her mission. Even though life will be different, we'll work it out. 

I'm not very good at articulating these things, but Madi, I sure love you lots and I know you'll be an incredible missionary. I'm gonna be honest and say that I probably will cry for you, Argentina (please please tell me that you've heard that song or else that sentence is just weird). But I'll see you in a year and a half, and I promise I will keep you updated on all the local gossip until then! Cuz that's what friends are for.

Go get em, Sista!

Love you, 
--Lys.

True friends stalk each other on the testing center camera.

I have this friend. Tenery is her name. 
She once told me that she stalks her friends when she knows they are going to take a test. Because the testing center has this nifty website where you can check the line conditions before you go to take your test. Because, hello, the testing center lines are AWFUL sometimes.
So anyways, Tenery likes to use [and abuse] this website by stalking people she knows.

I told her a couple weeks ago that I was about to take a test.
She told me she would pull out her laptop immediately.
And then I got this email:

With the following attachments:

Do you see me?? I have the sock bun and the aviator jacket, so it shouldn't be tough...

But just in case, I made this lovely GIF for you:

Now do you see me? Ok good. 

So then, fast forward a few days, and it was Tenery's turn to take a test. 

She hollered at me. I stalked like a boss. 

Except my job was much easier because, well, she was the only one there:

Needless to say, I didn't really have any trouble finding her. 

If you're wondering what her sign says (like I was at the time), here you go:

Aww, it's cute because I say that particular hashtag in normal conversation all the time.

Anyways, there's really not much more to this story except that probably every BYU student should take up this hobby. I just feel like the testing center would be much more exciting if we all knew somebody was actually watching that little camera all the time.

Ok, I stepped over the creepy bounds with that last phrase. 

But I don't think I take it back.

You stalk me, I'll stalk you, and we'll all be better friends for it, yeah??

The end.

Parte uno.

Remember how I went to Mexico? 
Well you probably don't because I never proved it with pictures.
You know how people always yell "PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN" on Facebook? 
Ok, mostly that's just when people get engaged. 
But still. 
Pictures.

We stayed at the Iberostar Quetzal resort, which looked like this:

Forever right outside our room.

Just look at the decorations in the background. I'm in love with those ornaments.

My classic flamingo/bridge pose, minus the "bridge" part.

We ate lots and lots and lots of food. The best part about "all-inclusive" is that you can get food at literally any hour of the day or night. The worst part is that you come back to America with 7-10 extra pounds. [True story.] I took lots of food pictures, but they all look awful, so I'll just show you one. This next picture was my absolute favorite thing about our entire week in Mexico:

I don't know what the heck they put in this bread, and I know that goopy stuff looks suspicious, but it was so good. I would gladly live in Mexico if this bread was a guaranteed part of the deal. And I am totally craving it all of a sudden.


[Also, while we're speaking in absolutes, these were the single worst part of Mexico:

I'm not even kidding when I say that I am positive that Satan invented TOPES. They look harmless enough but these things are no fun to drive over. If Mexico has these everywhere, it's possible that even that bread couldn't get me to live there.]

Ok back on a more positive note, the other great thing about "all-inclusive" is the drinks. I got really really good at telling bartenders sin alcohol because according to my wristband color, I could have all the alcohol I wanted.

And since I chose this picture, will you please look at the sunburn on my collarbone? We couldn't fly with a huge container of sunscreen, so we brought little sunscreen sticks. They worked really well on any body parts where you were meticulous about covering every inch...and they left everywhere else with tiger stripes. It was pretty much hilarious when we all got back from our first beach day.

This is a flower:

And this is after Mariah and I tried the in-resort restaurant sushi because we felt rude just leaving it there. It was gross, and now I can say that I don't like sushi and yes, I have tried it and sotheretakethat!

So that's pretty much it as far as day-to-day/inside-resort stuff went in Mexico. I'll post about our outings and beach trips in a different post.

On Valentine's Day

Ok well I'm not posting this ON Valentine's Day (obviously). But I mean on the TOPIC of Valentine's Day.
I don't even know why I bothered to clarify that.
Anyways.

So Valentine's Day happened, right? And obviously this year I had no valentine (y'all would have known, I assure you). However, it was pretty much rockin' this year to be single.

:: Free chocolates from the Bookstore.
:: Free flowers from Men's Chorus.
:: Free socks from...my mom.
:: Free compliments from at least a couple guys on campus.
:: Fondue dinner and dessert with my family.
:: And, well, a really productive evening for homework. 

I feel like that's a pretty darn good day by anyone's standards. 
And if I'd had me a valentine, the only thing from that list which would have still happened would probably be the socks. Which is fine because I love socks, but let's just be honest here--chocolate always wins. 

Ok but really, all I'm really trying to say is that Valentine's Day doesn't have to stink even if you're single. I get really annoyed by people who get annoyed by Valentine's Day. You know the type who insist on celebrating Singles Awareness Day? They kind of get under my skin a little bit. Valentine's Day is not about making single people feel awful, and it's terribly selfish to see it that way. I vote that single people stop seeing V-Day as an excuse to be miserable and starting finding ways to get free stuff like I did :)

And I realize that this post helps no one for another 363 days, but whatever. I promised a Valentine's Day post, so a Valentine's Post you get!
(Mexico post coming tomorrow.) 





In other news, I just saw this Jimmy Fallon moment and died laughing:

Do what you love

I wrote this, like, a week and a half ago and but took forever to upload the video to YouTube, so now I'm finally posting:



This semester has been a crazy one so far, but not because of school work. I am feeling overwhelmed by other demands on my time and thoughts and energy, and frankly my school work has been secondary to, well, lots of stuff, so clearly, that part really is hardly stressful at all. It would be way easier if school was the greatest of my worries.

Few of the things which are weighing on me are quickly remedied or easily fixed, so I am rapidly adapting to carrying most of them with me most of the time. Which is fine, really. I'm really doing pretty durn good, ladies and gents, and I'm not here to complain.

But today I needed a respite from it all and I didn't quite know how to find that. 

Fortunately, I had a scheduled rehearsal with a girl from my ward to practice for a musical number on Sunday. While I was accompanying her for our one run-through, something in me remembered my years and years of long daily piano practice and suddenly that was all I wanted to do. 

So today I got me some free therapy from Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff. That Rachmaninoff bout was especially nice because it required both ultimate control and a full release of energy at different points in the piece. And on the Mendelssohn I just let my fingers fly. Nothing in the world could have felt better at that time than sitting at my piano with pieces I know and love and a solid routine for getting through them.

It was so therapeutic, I think I might make myself practice every day for a bit. 

(Update from today when I actually post this: I've been practicing a boatload since then. No joke.)




This is a video from my glory days:



Don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing. It's long and not awesome quality. But I wanted it here for me, so...there you have it. 

Anyway, the moral of the story is: DO WHAT YOU LOVE, and do it often.

Spiderman, Spiderman...

I was going to blog a great post (post a great blog?) tonight but I have a lot of homework and class at 8AM tomorrow morning, so...that's not gonna happen. 

Here's what gonna happen:

That picture seriously made me laugh out loud on campus the other day. 
And that was the moment I realized that the internet has seriously thwarted my sense of humor.
But I didn't want to do anything about it at that moment, so instead I just laughed at Spiderman.

Please tell me someone out there found this funny. 
Please.



Ok and now, just to make sure I actually come back and blog important things this week, I have the following planned:
:: a Valentine's Day post
:: a glory days post
:: and pictures from that trip to Mexico which was TWO MONTHS AGO [ugh.]

If you don't read at least those three posts this week, hold me accountable! Text me, call me, whatevskies. 
I must blog. 
K thanks, you're all great, loveyoubye.

Phil Collins is my soundtrack tonight.

I HAVE SO MANY DRAFTS OF BLOG POSTS AND I CAN'T POST ANY OF THEM.

I'm not even kidding, guys, it's like I am suffering from reverse writer's block. 
I have written a blog post with lovely but unfinished thoughts every night for the last week and half. So there are, like, 10 posts just waiting to be finished and published.

My life needs closure right now.
It's fine.


But I insist on posting something tonight, so here's some Phil Collins for you all.
(Because nothing is quality blog material quite like Phil.)
I was raised on Phil Collins and Celine Dion. True story.
I listen to other stuff nowadays, but I always always love these two particular songs whenever I hear them.
And I've heard them both recently, so naturally they've been on the brain.
("On the brain." Is that even a phrase? Do people say that?)
Anyways... enjoy.




In other news, Instagram.com is now a thing. 
So, like, I don't have to scroll on my phone because I can scroll on my computer too.
I don't know if this changes anything for people who don't have an Instagram account, but I was pretty happy about it.
If you've ever been curious, you can stalk my profile over there: @littlebitoflys.

I'm sorry that I speak primarily in parentheticals and hashtags.

Guys! I learned how to ice skate last week! And I climbed a snowy mountain in Park City! 
Basically, I'm enjoying winter activities for the first time in my life. 
It's kind of a big deal. 


On Monday, for ward FHE, we went ice skating and I was pretty much a wuss about it. I stayed either right by the wall or with a double escort at all times. Or off the ice completely. And it was way fun, but I was, like, 0% adventurous, despite having a rather large support team.

On Friday, I went on a date with my friend Kyle (from my major) to watch the aerial skiing World Cup something-or-other at Deer Valley Resort in Park City. It was really fun and although I have no pictures of the actual people on the date (fail on my part), I have pictures of Park City! 

Best aerial skiers in the world, right there. #nozoom

And fireworks in February! #doesnthappeninutah

Getting up that dang mountain was a bit of a struggle, but the whole time we hiked up I could only think of how scurred I'd be to come back down. Here's the good news: I decided to just suck it up and be brave and go for it, and we all slid down real fast and I managed to stay on my feet and everything! So it was a success story. And a greater success story than Monday had been because I did it of my own accord, so it was like 50% adventurous (because I was still scurred and I still had a look on my face of utter terror, probably).

Obviously, I was feeling very empowered (in a wintry sense, I mean) by the time Saturday rolled around, which was good because then Shaundra and I decided to go to the BYU hockey game. We had a lovely time watching the game but were surprised with how little fighting there was as well as by how much support the opposing team had in the stands (it was the alumni game, of course, which explains everything). 

Anyway, after the game there was the option to go "skate with the team!" and we had not planned on staying for that but were invited to by my friend Josh (from my ward), and by invited I mean he just told us how to get skate rental tickets, and so we did. And this time, I was downright profesh. And by profesh I mean that I managed a couple laps where I didn't even touch the wall or any other humans or anything, and that I attempted to skate backward, and that I kicked a puck around a bit without falling over. #skillz

I'd say this second round of skating was, like, 85% adventurous. Cuz sometimes I was still a baby about the fact that I was standing on tiny little blades on a really slick surface, but I pretended that I wasn't freaking out inside way better than I had at all earlier in the week. 

But hey! 85% adventure isn't too shabby! I had downright winter fun this week, and that has probably never happened quite like it just did. So woot woot, holler at your boy, and raise the roof cuz this girl ain't even antsy for summer anymore. 

#winning.