California vacay (cont. again)

This is really my last California post, I promise! But this one has the best part: GOOGLE.

I didn't plan to wear a shirt with the Google colors all up in it, but I definitely wasn't mad that it worked out like that. Their campus is in a super secret location, so I had to obscure the address when I posed with this sign. Okay, that's a dirty lie. I'm just curious if they'll see this and track me down or not...lolz.

So basically we followed cousin Caleb through a bunch of buildings that all required an employee card to get into, and we saw neat stuff therein. Here you can see Caleb pointing to a tree (jk I dunno what he's pointing to) and a passel of Google bikes. These are all over campus for people to use as transportation from one building to another. I hate biking, but I could get over that I guess.

"Free mode: make your choice" is, like, the motto there. We sampled free food because Google treats their employees really really well in an effort to get everyone to stick around and work more than they absolutely have to. And you know what? I'm pretty sure it would work on me, so it's not a bad idea. That egg salad was yum.

The Android building has a gang of little  larger-than-life dessert Androids out front. Each new operating system update is named after a dessert, which you must admit is more clever than "iOS 8." And if you don't think so, then just know that they also alphabetize them, so the last few have been "Ice cream sandwich," "Jellybean," and "KitKat," which is clever of them. Plus, look how cute the little aliens are! Hello, ice cream sandwich guy.

We sat to chat for a bit in one of the building lobbies. While we were there, some men walked in on their way to probably some very important business but they stopped to say hi and comment on how Emerson was learning foosball at an early age. It was all very pleasant and happy, and then after they passed Caleb asked, "Do you know who that was?" And we be all, "Nope..." And then he's all, "That was Vint Cerf! He's the father of the internet!" And I was like, wow my Google tour couldn't get any better. So that was neat.

Also, they put slides everywhere. Tradition or something. This particular slide came with burlap bags for efficient sliding. But we didn't try it out.

We ended our tour at the Google store. I bought me another Google shirt (Caleb and Joliene gifted me one last year and it's been my favorite ever since) and I am blissfully happy that I could make that purchase. Apparently you can't get Google apparel just anywhere! You gotta get it from them. And you gotta have an employee card to get into the store. So I'm not actually sure if they want to sell their stuff or not, but either way, I felt privileged to get me another shirt. It's as comf as last year's.

Oh, we also put Ensley in a Google bike basket and it was possibly the cutest thing that has ever happened:

On this same day, we also accepted motorcycle rides with uncle Cole (sadly, no pictures for me) and took a nice evening walk at a close park. 

We spent the next day driving and driving and driving, during which time I was mostly just dying to get home and be with Joseph. It was bittersweet to vacation without him: bitter because I wanted him to experience what I experienced and because I missed him oodles, but sweet because I was reminded every day in no uncertain terms how much I want to be with him always. It was good for me to remember that we are lucky to spend as much time together as we do! And I'm glad to be back to that norm. Next time I vacation, I'm bringing him with me! 

Also, I just haven't stuck this anywhere and I want to say it: I learned on this vacation that it is cheaper and often more fun to do what the locals do instead of what the tourists do. I mean, we had lots of fun last year when we walked the Golden Gate Bridge and hiked around Muir Woods and so on. But the brand of fun that we had this time made me feel both more at-home and more educated by the end, and all we changed was that we spent more time slowing down our tourism. Neat-o! Please remind me of this if I ever try to plan a grand trip across the US or something...

Fall 2014 semester run-down

Do I even need to explain that these are a thing every time I do them anymore? What am I possibly going to post about on this lil blog after I graduate from college? Must remember to look into graduate degrees...

Okay so here are my pre-judgments for all of this semester's classes. I want to preface this by saying that the only classes I actually had to take this semester were my math ed practicum class and a letters general ed credit. I'll mention which ones are filling these credits, and then everything else can be assumed to be superfluously wonderful (wonderfully superfluous? ...whatever). 

Math Teaching in Public Schools :: This is my practicum (read: REQUIRED) and it is the last class in the major. Ack! The end is near! And they make us go out with a bang apparently. During the course of the semester, we will be observing in schools and teaching our peers, all of which will lead up to a week of teaching in schools (see what I did there?) sometime in December. And they use scare tactics the whole way there! Every time one of us teaches, that person is chosen at random at the beginning of that class period, which means we get no advance notice. I might cry on my first round. Who knows.

World Religions :: Okay okay okay you all need to take this class immediately and you need to take it from Alonzo Gaskill. He is the most hilarious professor on this planet, plus his name is Alonzo. I cannot even describe his sense of humor in a way that will accurately convey the hilarity, but I can say that he reminds me often of Stephen Colbert, so. This class is also obviously fascinating on its own merit because of the subject matter, and can I just shout out to my home girl Joliene real quick? Cuz your posting through the last few years has given me a surprising amount of background knowledge to bring to my study. Cheers.

Literacy and Learning for Disciplines :: Or in my particular case, how to fit in as a real life mathematician. This class asks us to investigate how our individual disciplines require individual literacy skills for somebody to survive as a member of the discipline. Turns out that reading math proofs is far different from reading sewing patterns! So we study it. Also: there are only 5 students in this class, and the professor is not opposed to swears, so it's a lively, friendly time. Not sure if I'll love it as much as I expected, but I don't have to because it's my other REQUIRED class (letters credit), so who needs love?

Marriage Enhancement :: Now, I don't mean to sound pompous here, but I'm not sure I'll learn anything in this class this semester, which is a letdown. The title sounds like, "Have a great marriage? Come and make it even better!" but the class really is just, "Don't know how you'll ever stay married without counseling? Come and we'll help!" I'm not closed to the possibility that it may take a surprisingly helpful turn a ways down the road, but for now I'm mostly just going to class for attendance credit and thanking my lucky stars that my marriage with Joseph is a good one. And I'm hoping that the professor will someday drop his high degree of sexism so that I can enjoy his presence.

Family Finance :: This is an online section (the future is now, folks!) and I have done .01% of the work for the class. Mostly I'm hoping that I learn (1) how to someday buy a house, and (2) why credit even matters, so I'll be happy if I achieve these. I will also be happy if I can finish the course earlier than the end of the semester because the only rule is that you can't finish it in less than 6 weeks or something. Cha-ching (MONEY PUN). 

For fun and future reference (when I'm in my 40s and come back to audit every class I ever wanted to take but couldn't), these are classes I really wanted to take but could not fit into my schedule:

VASTU 330: Bookbinding cuz duh.
DIGHT 250: Web Publishing because I really really really want to learn HTML.
WS 222: Intro to Women's Studies because I can't decide how much of a feminist I am (or amn't).
SFL 160: Intro to Family Processes because I have heard from every SFL major ever that this class is the best, with an especial recommendation from close friend Brittany. 
PWS 103: Residential Landscape Design because Joe's dad is taking this class this semester and we bond often over our love of plants so it would be adorable. Also it would round out my current planty education nicely.

And there are other classes that weren't even possibilities this semester but have come up in other semesters and been missed! Waaahhh why do I have to be finishing college so soon? Can't I just student forever? Don't answer that.

This is how I've kept track of my classes since freshman year. I definitely didn't take the suggested classes in the suggested semesters, but who really does? Since it's been craziness and out of order, I have opened this lil screen capture in Paint at the end of every semester to update it. I did prematurely cross off this semester's required classes because I feel confident that I will pass. And now, all that is left is my student teaching semester. Wowzer.

Okay thanks, as always, for listening to my bloggy rambles. This semester will be fun and I really am looking forward to it! In the wise words of Mario, "Heeere we gooo!"

So long, summer + a manifesto wrap-up

Remember how I made a summer manifesto? Well guess what, folks. We pretty much did everything on there with just a few adjustments. Three cheers for a successful summer!


With Joseph, I planned to:
  + eat somewhere new, perhaps 180 Tacos or Black Sheep Cafe (we shared a Mountain West Burrito)
  + memorize a Toto album in preparation for their concert in August (Joseph memorized everything they've ever sung and I memorized their most popular ones)
  - hike hike hike, which implies hopefully at least three hikes (we traded this out for swim-swim-swim when we realized that our POAPs would last beyond July)
  + celebrate Independence Day like true Provoans (well, we didn't camp out on the parade route...)
  + go swimming? If it comes up. (see third item)

On my own, I planned to:
  - move out of my parents' house once and for all! So long, stuffed animals and sentimentality. (I'm about halfway through this one, but definitely not finished)
  + drink lots of water (yay!)
  + eat my 5-a-day, preferably with a 3-veggie/2-fruit combo on most days (yay!)
  + read books, including some from the library (I read a few books I owned but have never read, and I checked out some Charles Dickens from the library that I'm still working on)
  + write to missionaries (yay!)

And now I turn my attention to fall. I was asked the other day what my favorite season is. I responded that my favorite is always whichever one we're changing to. I get excited for each season when it's just around the corner. I get excited for fall when school is back in session. I get excited for winter when snow starts to fall. I get excited for spring when the weather starts to warm up. I get excited for summer when school gets out. And so on and so forth through every year of my life.

It's all very metaphorical. You understand.

But anyway, I of course need to tell you about my classes this semester in the near future (because I've got a couple that are a doozy), and I do have some fall semester goals that I might share, so expect to hear back from me soon! Especially since I no longer have a student teaching application or textbook returning stress to worry about this week. Aw yeah.

Two covers

As a general rule, I'm not a lover of covers. Song covers, that is (cuz goodness knows I love to cuddle up in a ton of blankets). I figure that once a song has been written and sung and recorded, that was how it was intended to be sung and recorded. Let it be, let it be. 

But every now and then, I do run into a cover that catches me by surprise. And I tell myself that it's okay to like this different version better than the original because remember that one time in That Thing You Do when Guy decides that it should be an up tempo number instead of a ballad? And that's basically why they become successful? 

So when someone highlights a crucial element of a song in a unique way, I can appreciate that. 

These two songs fall in that category of covers for me.





Did I ever for one second think about the seriously romantic implications of "I'm Gonna Be" until I heard this rendition? No, no I did not. Actually, I couldn't understand the majority of that song until this rendition. Highlighting the lyrics is good.

And I dunno what sucked me in to that Charlene Soraia version of "Wherever You Will Go," but I do know that I never liked the original version, so this is sexist but it probably just needed a woman to sing it. Or something. 

Journal entry: 7 September 2014

So this week was a doozy. It was the first week of school, which is always crazy, but mine was especially crazy cuz I hadn't decided my classes in advance. This has since settled, but I'm a little behind on homework cuz why do any homework if you might drop the class, am I right?

But on top of that, I also got my bubble ring stuck on my finger. Sometimes that joint gets swollen for no apparent reason, and it did that while my ring was on, and my whole right middle finger was super fat for like 5 days (and pretty hurty). So Dad cut my ring off with wire cutters tonight to avoid any gangrenous ER visits this week. I'm glad it's off my finger but I'm sad to lose that ring! And since everyone I've mentioned it to has asked if I tried using ________ to get it off, here's what I did try:
-water (cold)
-water (warm)
-hand soap
-dish soap
-body soap (Dove bar)
-PAM spray (twice)
-lotion
And the actual bone itself was too big for the ring cuz otherwise these were all really close. So don't think that I didn't try it all!!

Okay so that was crazy and worrisome, but then guess what happened last night? Some punk smashed our car window for no reason! And it's annoying cuz now I have to worry about rain and I have to file a police report and I have to tell my insurance people, and I already mentioned that I skipped all my homework last week, right? [Monday edit: it has indeed rained mucho in the last 24 hours and I have been stuck in it twice now trying to get my window covered sufficiently.]

But beyond that, it's also just really disconcerting. I have had to work at my feelings of safety in our neighborhood (I'm kind of a baby, but my fears are not unfounded), and now it's like I have to start back at square one. Cuz clearly it's not safe outside at night or my window would be fine, you know?

So I had me a lil pout and lil cry over all of that tonight. Cuz SHEESH EMOTIONS.

Oh- also, I decided in the last couple weeks that I just do not like my job. I like most of my coworkers, and I like my boss, but I don't like my actual job, as in what I actually do every day. I realized this when I noticed myself dragging my feet to get to work, dragging my feet at work, and running far and fast after work...every single day. So now I'm retraining myself to see my job as the blessing it really is but it's not been easy.

Hey, look at that- I have trials! I haven't had any of these for a while! But as per my usual with trials: when it rains, it pours [Monday edit: LITERALLY OKAY?]. It'll all be better soon, though. This I know to be true.

And I must mention while I'm here that Joseph is a saint. He took me on a dream date after a particularly awful work day. He surprised me by making dinner this week when I was stressed with school. He gave me a Priesthood blessing for my finger. And he's been so patient to listen to me be a bit whinier than usual. And he's been great at also reminding me that our life is still good. He lets me cry but encourages me not to wallow. Is that not perfection in husband form?? I love him.

So that's my life right now! I think I'm gonna go type this into a blog post...

California vacay (cont.)

Check out my beach sunburn on my forehead!

Joy, right? But anyway...On our next day in the Bay Area, Tae + Rye + I joined up with Yuki + Toshi + Rena for a walking tour of San Francisco. Our tour guide explained how these work: people who love the city with a deep and abiding love volunteer (through the library, I believe) to give free historical tours to tourists and natives. Isn't that awesome?? 

The tour lasted for about two hours and we walked about one mile of distance, stopping frequently to hear stories related to the sights we saw. Here's our tour guide Spencer telling a story about newspaper rivalries and a sight to go with it:

And I mostly took pictures of plants like fuchsia and overgrown succulents. Cuz California grows cool plants.

We wrapped up our own tour by walking ourselves back to the car so that we could drive to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream. However, although that day had been incredibly warm--our tour guide called it the one warm day that San Francisco gets each year--it cooled off early, and I was freezing by the time we arrived for our treat. Yuki was so kind to treat us to whatever we chose, so I chose me the best hot chocolate I have ever had. If you are ever cold in San Francisco (which is typical), get yo'self some sea salt caramel Ghirardelli hot chocolate. Mmmmmmm.

Moving right along now to Sunday, which was the whole reason we even went on this trip. Cousin Tanya got married!! And it was one of the most scenic weddings ever, probably. I mean, look:

Beautiful people, beautiful venue, beautiful weather, and especially beautiful bride. Everything was beautiful! Have I said it enough yet? We loved celebrating with Tanya and Ashton, and--I'mma be honest here--I could not have been happier to try my first taste of Bluebell ice cream. Truly a momentous day.

We returned to the hotel after the wedding celebrations pretty tired but also super excited because the next day would bring the wonder of Google. Did you hear me?? GOOGLE, guys, like google.com! I have a fetish with Google about which I have blogged before, and fortunately I also have a cool cousin Caleb (alliteration unintended but neat) who works there. It's probably fate.

But we actually started the day with a visit to the Academy of Sciences, which was also pretty awesome, so I'll share some pics from there first. They have lots of science-y displays and toys + a planetarium show + an aquarium + an indoor rain forest + happiness. So you can see why it's awesome. 

I kind of obsessed over the rain forest because I was in plant heaven (+ butterflies, everywhere). I mean, who wouldn't want that display growing on their wall?! I know what you're thinking--did you only go to California to look at plants?--and I'm afraid that the answer is closer to yes than we would all like to admit. But most indoor plants grow naturally in tropical climates, so rain forest plants = house plants. It makes sense when you consider that indoor temperatures vary much less than outdoor temperatures for most of the world, excluding where? Well the equator, of course! So tropical plants just feel right at home inside in places where they would shrivel and die outside. Anyway. Back to the Academy.

The aquarium was a hit with the kiddos:

Look at Emerson finding Nemo and Dory! Adorable. I also taught him to say "anemone" and if I can ever figure out a good way to get a vertical video from phone to blog, I'll let you hear how adorable that was. 

And we went to the planetarium show, where we basically experienced a watered down version of my astronomy class last semester. I was underwhelmed and others were overwhelmed so that's weird. But we also heard a great joke:

Why is a moon rock tastier than an Earth rock?
It's a little meteor. 

[Except to make the joke truly accurate, you have to mumble "oid" at the end. Meteors have to still be flying through the atmosphere to be meteors, since once they hit Earth they become meteoroids. OH THE THINGS YOU LEARN.]

Anyway. Clearly I'm a little distracted by the science facts that want need to be expressed here, so since I've rambled about the Academy longer than planned, I'm going to go ahead and give Google + anything else I want to add about this trip the love they deserve in an upcoming post. Just you wait!


To be continued...(again)...

ALS + Ogden temple open house + other stuff

I made the grossest dinner in the world tonight. 

Well, I mean, it probably wasn't the very grossest. But it was inedible in its original form. I took one bite and promptly dumped half of it in the trash, telling myself that those ingredients were cheap and that I wouldn't miss them. Note to self: Next time you accidentally quadruple the dijon mustard, start over.


In other news, I got tagged for the ALS ice bucket challenge and I think I'm gonna skip it. As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong here), I can either donate $100 to the ALS foundation to help fund research, or I can dump a bucket of cold water on my head to raise awareness. I can't donate $100 if I want to buy groceries in the month of September, and I feel like awareness is rather raised without my help because this challenge has gone viral. I'm thinking of a compromise wherein I donate less and call it good? 

And I'm also thinking of skipping it. I dunno, maybe I'm just a jerk. That's probably it. Guilted donations don't feel very charitable to me, though. Cuz I'm a jerk?


In other other news, I have no clue what classes I'll be taking this semester, and school starts next Tuesday. Intro to Women's Studies or Marriage Enhancement? Intro to Folklore or Literacy for Disciplines? World Religions or Web Publishing? The only thing that is certain is that I'll be taking Math Ed Practicum because it is the only credit of any in this paragraph which I actually need to be able to graduate. I guess I could take a 4 credit semester...but I'd never forgive myself.


In other other other news (this is getting out of hand), I got sucked into a common homeschooling hashtag on Instagram the other day and opted to follow some of its more popular users. Because the more I get involved with the public school system through my major, the more I want to keep my kids out of it. Yikes...


And now since everything I've written here has been a little cynical and grouchy (one of Alyssa's top 10 reasons to not blog late at night), I'm going to wrap up with something much more uplifting. We visited the Ogden temple today! I had my doubts as to whether this building actually existed in real life because it is so perfect that every picture I have seen thus far looked animated. Even the ones I took while we were there made it look too perfect to exist on this planet. I have no words.

And also, we went in the little display tent at the end and had this gem taken by the sister missionaries and a projector:

See? That one definitely looks animated. But it's not. It's just a picture within the picture. Maybe I'm the only one who sees this animation thing happening...

In any case, we loved our visit to the temple this morning. The doctrines and covenants that we study and learn about inside the temple are some of my favorite ones in the church. Families can be together forever! Our Heavenly Father has a plan for His children! We can return to live with him again through covenant-making and -keeping! What a blessing it is to have this knowledge. My life would not be as happy nor as hopeful without it. I love temples. If you have any chance to walk through this temple while it is open to the public, go! Go now! Go and see what it's all about!


This is a weird post. Oh well.


Now I feel hypocritical for being non-charitable with the ALS thing and then preaching about temples (where we learn about charity) in the same post. I'mma go donate something. You win, conscience.