there must be something in the water...

Today I did something that I've never done before, something that I've wanted to do for a very very long time. I went tubin' down the river. Not just any river, THE river. If you live in the valley of Arizona, you know how crazy it is for me to be going for my first time at the age of 20. It was definitely an experience and I was basically wrong in every aspect of what I thought it would be like.

Most notably, I have to say that I'm really disappointed at how close THE river is to me. I always thought it was some special far away place that required a road trip involving snacks for the road and stops to the gas station on the way. And considering we met up at a QT before we left, I don't think it was very wrong of me to think this. Luckily I wasn't in the mood for snacks and I didn't have time to get a cold one at QT, so I was able to keep these ideas to myself and I didn't feel like an idiot. Anyway, so that's misconception number one, and it turns out it's only like a 20 minute drive to get there, which is basically like a drive to ASU.

Misconception number two: I thought I would have to drive on a long and bumpy road to get there. But nope. The road to get there is AMAZING! On my gosh. Smooth riding, dips, and curves gallore. I kinda wanna go back just so I can drive on that road again.

Misconception number three: I thought everyone had to park in some dirt lot that basically had a sign that said "Break Into Cars Here -->" and that a tiny little run down bus transports you to the starting spot. Needless to say, I was very happy when I found out that I got to park in my very own paved, marked parking space next to lots of more desireable (to burglars) cars. And the bus really wasn't bad.

Misconception number four: I thought tubing down the river was going to be more like white water rafting...but with tubes. I had images of me gripping the tube for dear life as I went careening down fast-paced currents, watching out for jagged rocks and making sure I didn't capsize. Wrong again. A lot of the time I had to paddle myself to really get moving, and when there were currents the only thing I had to worry about was making sure my boo-tay didn't run into any of the rocks on the ground. Actually, I take that back. I did have to make sure I didn't crash into the trees or rocks because when river would curve, the water wouldn't, so we'd go straight towards the edge of the river. It was pretty scary at times

One thing I was not wrong about: basically everyone that goes is drunk or gets drunk while there. We even passed some pot smokers. There were sirens in the distance & someone said "Shoot! It's the cops!" So there are some lovely people to meet while there.

In the end, my experience of tubin' down the river for the first time was a success. I had a lot of fun and I didn't even get sunburnt. Actually, that fact is a mystery in and of itself because out of all of us, I was the one with glow in the dark skin and I was the only one not to get burnt. As the day went on you could see skin colors slowly turn red (or purple in some cases), but mine stayed the same. This isn't because I'm immune to sunburns or that I put more sunscreen on than everyone else, so I guess my skin just likes to absorb the light and become whiter. Yay for no skin cancer.

I'll have to try to go back one day before I leave...so if you're in the valley hit me up & let's go ASAP. I'll drive, you pay :) Just kidding.

three weeks

Until I hop on a plane & leave for New York. I'm very excited, yet kinda overwhelmed at all I have to do before I leave. Not only do I have to pack & figure out what I'm going to take (not to mention how it's gonna get there), I have a lot of organizing & cleaning to do. There are a few junk rooms that have been on my to-do list for awhile now & it's my goal to get them done before I leave.

Also, every day I keep finding out more things that I'm gonna miss out on while I'm gone. Here's the list so far:

-Breaking Dawn release (I wanted to get it at midnight. Insert sad face here)
-The Dark Knight premiere (Again, another midnight thing)
-Many birthdays including my sister's, mom's, Bayleigh's, and my friend Virginia's
-So You Think You Can Dance. Only one of the best shows ever
-Our family 4th of July BBQ. At least I'm assuming. Holiday BBQ's are always the best
-Lots of blogging & using of the internet. This will probably be a good thing though
-Texting. My phone won't get service there

Ok, so the list is shorter than I thought. But some of those things are pretty big deals!

However, on the flip side I'll also be enjoying things that (hopefully) trump what I'm missing out on. So...ya that's all I have to say. I never know how to end my posts.

quote of the day

"Is a brain considered a vegetable?"
-Cassie Jorgensen

Wow.

Ok, so this is how the quote came to be. My sister Cassie was playing 20 questions with one of these:

I don't know if any of you have seen or used this, but it's supposedly able to guess anything you can think of. You're supposed to think of an object and it asks questions like is it bigger than a breadbox, is it an animal, is it colorful, etc, and you answer with the little buttons. Well, cassie decided she was going to think of a brain as her object. One of the questions the ball asked was "Is it a vegetable?" And from there you get the quote. Ya. Explaining it really doesn't make it seem less ridiculous. But there you have it.

well, I survived

You know, I used to think that those people on TV who were about to get some surgery were little babies for being afraid, but I was wrong. I was wrong. And a baby too. But my first time going under wasn't too bad! I didn't even have time to worry about what could go wrong because basically as soon as I sat down I was done. I didn't even go to sleep when I got home, and by four I was ready to go places and do stuff. I was gonna go to Indiana Jones but then decided not to, since I'm really not even a fan. Today is actually much more painful though. My jaw hurts like no other & I can't really eat anything. I sure hope it heals soon so I can eat solid food. Cuz I really want pizza.

(sidenote: Holy cow it's raining!!)

Anyway, so I'm still alive & I need your opinion. I found three super cute swimsuits that I want and I don't know which one to get. And of course they're all only available online (ugh). So here they are:

#1.

#2.

#3.

Let me know what you think!!

oh gosh

Pray for me.

I'm about to have four gaping holes in my mouth in about 9 hours. Oh man saying that makes me even more scared. I don't wanna do it. Everyone keeps feeling the need to tell me all of their horror stories about when they got their wisdom teeth pulled & now I'm going to have nightmares. I don't wanna have a permanently numb jaw. Or tons of bleeding. Or worsened TMJ disorder. Or a recovery that lasts a week.

I guess I won't find out til tomorrow what lies ahead of me. Oh, & I'm really not completely scared. I'm so excited to get knocked out!! I've never done that before & I've always wanted to know what it's like.

Here's to hoping for a quick & easy procedure with a fast recovery!

(If you're about to get your wisdom teeth pulled & you're nervous about it, don't google "wisdom teeth" when looking for a picture. It'll just make things worse)

busy busy busy

I'm school-less and jobless, yet I'm busier than I was when I had both. (Oh ya, for those of you who knew about the call center job: I quit it. I knew it would be a horrible job, but I didn't know it'd be to that extreme.)

Anyway, my life has been filled with eye exams, picking out glasses, dentist appointments, doctor visits, blood tests, cleaning, exercising, and working at my mom's classroom. The doctor visits & blood tests were for paperwork that I had to send to Camp Pontiac. It was a major pain, especially when the blood test basically was pointless. I already knew I was going to be anemic again.

The reason I was working at my mom's classroom is because she's basically paperwork impaired and I'm pretty good at it, so I helped save the day. Plus she paid me and I need money.

I finally decided to get new glasses & contacts too. I figured that having one eye with a contact from an old prescription & another eye with a contact from an even older prescription isn't a good idea. I also decided it was time to get glasses, since the last time I had gotten new ones was in 8th grade. I forgot how much of a pain it is to pick out new ones. And since this is the first time I've actually been able to see what I look like when I try them on (because I have contacts now), it makes me so much more indecisive.

The dentist visit is because I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled Wednesday. Yay me. I was excited until they made me sign all of the papers telling about all of the things that go wrong. I'm worried now.

Anyway, those are the happenings in my life as of now. I'm broke as a......goat? I don't remember what animal is supposed to be said there. But whatever it is, I'm broke as it now because of all of these things.

Life is much too expensive. I don't like it.

dear universe,

Would you please give me one of these?



My little hand mixer just doesn't get the job done. Also, I'd really like one of these:



I don't want to rush you, but I'm going to need it by Thursday. My awesome video relies on it. And while you're at it, I never did get one of these:



I'm not asking for the best, just better than my Kodak $80 one.

And while we're on a roll here, I could really use these:



And these:



My one little 9 inch pan just won't cut it. And since I have big plans, I'm going to need these asap.

Oh, and they can't be complete without these:



Yes, I will need all of them. I gotta be prepared!

(I wouldn't say no to a little boost in my checking account either. I'm just saying)

Please and thank you!

my latest obsession

I often go through creative fads.

What happens is I suddenly get super inspired to do a certain creative project and it becomes all that I think about. I have grand illusions of all of the things that I will accomplish and I get extremely excited. This has happened with sewing, scrapbooking, latch-hooking, ceramic painting, quilting, jewelry making, interior decorating, song writing, and I'm sure even more that I can't think of right now. Some of these fads have had much success and have lasted for awhile, while others never got past the excitement stage. With all of them I get to the point where I realize how extremely limited I am in the creative genius department, so I get frustrated and lose the desire. But I'm hoping my latest one will be more than just a fad and will last forever. It's called: cooking.

It all started with homemade pizza. I was at a friend's house & they were having it for dinner, and when I tried some I was shocked at how much I liked it. Right then I knew I would have to try making it on my own. So the day came when I was ready to try it out, but we didn't have all of the ingredients. Then I figured that if I was gonna go to the store then I might as well get ingredients for the rest of the week, but I didn't have recipes. And then on and on down the slippery slope I went. I made other delicious things such as bread, cheese crisps with homemade tortillas, a chicken rice bake casserole, and rolls (oh, the pizza turned out fabulously-super tasty).

Then I realized the world of possibilites that was at my fingertips: cookies, cakes, breads, pies, casseroles - all waiting to be made by me. I wanted to learn everything that I could. Then today I watched the food network for about, oh, a million hours. One show was a competition to make a candy & chocolate castle, and it led me to my next creative desire: cake decorating. This isn't completely new because I've had the desire in the back of my mind for awhile, but I haven't been prepared until now to try and learn how to do it. It's a lot more complicated than I realized, but I really want to become a pro. I made it my semi-realistic goal to make my own wedding cake. Don't laugh. I'm sure I'll have several years to perfect my skills. Here are the cakes that I want to make, ASAP:

(it's the cake in the corner, obviously)

I realize that this may be wishful thinking, but if I don't aim high then how will I ever accomplish my dreams??

Wish me luck in my new endeavors. I sure hope this one lasts.

two posts in one day

I sure didn't know the blessings I'd receive when I signed up to get quotes in my inbox awhile back, but yet again LDS Gems has come through. Today & yesterday I've been feeling really bla, and it seems as if all of my anxious tendencies have been in full gear. My worries about starting my temporary call center job (I hate talking on the phone, with good reason), starting my New York job, plus a million more about life & all of the bad things that can happen have been getting the best of me. I took a nap today & as I was falling asleep I thought, "I really, really don't wanna wake up until all of these feelings have gone away." Of course that didn't happen. Sleep always sounds like such a great way to escape problems until you wake up again & the problems are still there. Well, being obsessive me, I decided to check to see if my grades have finally been posted so I logged into my asu account & saw that I had messages. I checked them, and found this quote:

"Fear not, I am with thee;
Oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God
and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and
cause thee to stand, . . .
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent
hand."

This isn't anything new to me & I'm very familiar with the song it comes from, but it applies so perfectly to me right now. It's moments like these that make life pretty awesome.

Anyway, I'm just feelin the love right now & had to share!

in honor of mother's day

Here is a video for your viewing entertainment

Enjoy.

worst. final. ever.

Today was my last day of finals. I should be celebrating, right? I would, but I just don't feel very celebratory. Today was my math final & it was the worst out of all of them, for several reasons. It left me with a bla feeling. The reasons are as follows.

1. The room was extremely cramped & I had a teeny little desk to write on. Because the desks were pushed together so tightly, when I leaned forward to write my head was basically an inch from the back of the person in front of me.

2. My math professor is completely insane. When I'm working on something that needs a lot of concentration, I don't want interruptions. I kid you not, my professor interrupted with completely pointless & repetitive announcements at least 15 times. He said things like, "first go through and do the easy ones, then go back to the hard ones." Somewhat useful, but if we're in college then I'm pretty sure we all know that little trick already. & it doesn't need to be repeated 3 more times throughout the rest of the test taking time. Also, and this is the kicker, there was a misprint on one of the pages and instead of just telling us what it was, he went through one by one and corrected each of our papers. While we were working on the test. And for each person he said in a not very quiet voice "turn to page 10 please, yes, that's squared, & squared, so 16". For every person. In a tight little cramped room that magifies noise. And, once he was done correcting every paper, he said, "I'll write it on the board". And he wrote the same correction on the board, with very noisy chalk. I was ready to pull my hair out & slap someone in the face.

3. My mind blanked. A lot. Math isn't something I can really study for because when I'm remembering how to do certain problems it makes sense & I can do it, but then when it's combined with a bunch of other stuff I mix things up & get confused. I usually am ok though because my past math professors have been kind & told me what sections to study so I don't waste my time filling my head up with useless information, but not Mr. Fulman. (It might be Dr. Fulman but I really don't care). He said that we're supposed to know all of it, even though it all wouldn't be on the test. So of course the things I really needed to know I hadn't spent much time on, and the useless things I did.

I know these things are nothing in comparison to worthwhile problems, but it still irked me very much.

Ok, now that I'm done complaining I can celebrate.

Woooooo finals are over!! No more school for 3 months!!

recent discoveries

• energy drinks give me migraines
• not being stressed during finals season makes life really quite enjoyable
• $1 nail polish can be pretty dang amazing
• Pam & I both need to get a new pair of glasses. Ours are pretty outdated
• I really like driving. Lately anyway
• I hate the process of exercise. I hate how time consuming it is, I hate getting all sweaty, I hate having to get dressed to go to the gym, I hate the feeling of running, I hate having to take a shower even though I already took one that day, I hate being painfully sore, & I hate how it takes about 345224 trips to see real results. And to think I wondered all this time why I can never get myself to stick it out
• even though I hate exercising, I love the feeling I have when I'm all done & showered. I feel accomplished
• having freshly shaved legs makes me feel skinnier. Sorry if that sounds weird. I'm a weird person
• summer always comes at the perfect time
• nachos from Taco Bell are extremely delicious
• heartburn is my new arch nemises
• Disney sends emails promoting SoapNet. It's true, I got an email from them about it just now

finals tomorrow

But my brain's already on summer vacay.

This is not good.

I'm one who stresses out majorly about tests, especially cumulative ones, and I'm sooo not stressing right now.

Usually that would be a good thing, but it's my stressing that's gotten me the good grades I have now, so I dunno how tomorrow's gonna go.

We'll see.



On a sidenote, who can guess what I typed into google to get this image?? 5 dollars to whoever can guess it correctly. (disclaimer: prize subject to $5 shipping fee)