Magic is in the Air

Once upon a time. I was reeeaaaalllyy bad at blogging. I think Cafe Rio may just be out now. Oops. My heart is sad.


Today was splendid. S-p-l-e-n-d-i-d. I actually got to sleep in!! For the first time this semester. Wow. It felt great. Guess how long I slept in? Until 11:00. Best thing that happened to me since I tried Costa Vida's nachos.  I then got to go to a baseball game and burned by the sun. B-u-r-n-e-d. Probably the strangest looking burn I have gotten. Except for that one time when I looked like Phantom of the Opera. But that is another story. 


But do you want to know what the best part of today was? The fact that we are ONE DAY CLOSER! To what you may ask?? Why Disneyland of course. Disneyland is the place where dreams come true. It is the place where magic happens. And I get to go. For three whole entire days. With my best friend Quinci Erin Whatcott. I must be the luckiest girl alive or something.


Here is your Disneyland Did You Know fact: In the ballroom of the Haunted Mansion, the pipe organ (without the pipes) is the movie prop Captain Nemo played in the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 


I'm coming Mickey!

Master's Degree? What?

I think I may like this whole no-daytime-class thing. A lot. I don’t start work until 11:00 am. What does this mean? That I sleep in until 9:00 am. Actually, this is a false statement. I am going to be arising in the morning at 7:00 am to go run almost every morning. Why? Because I am taking a Personal Health and Wellness class and I have to. Punch.

Work was uneventful. Except for this one conversation with an attractive man that came into our office:

Attractive Man: “So what are you studying?”

Me: “I am studying Early Childhood and Special Education. But after that, I plan on getting my Master’s Degree and becoming a Speech Pathologist or a School Counselor.”

Attractive Man: *With a look of true disbelief* “Wait… you are planning on getting a Master’s Degree?”

Me: “Yes…”

Attractive Man: *With a look of incomprehension* “So are you married?”

Me: “No.”

Attractive Man: “Are you engaged or have a ‘man’”?

Me: “Nope.”

Attractive Man: “So are you just planning on never getting married?”

Me: “What do you mean? That isn’t something that you exactly plan.”

Attractive Man: *Shaking his head as though as he had never heard of something so stupid.*

Punch. I couldn’t believe that it was that hard for him to comprehend that a girl like me could have goals and plans for the future. It was like he thought that women just don’t plan beyond BYU-I. Because obviously it is our mission and duty to get married before we graduate. Obviously.

After work was a wonderful devotional given by President Clark and “The First Lady.” Seriously. That is what they called Sister Clark in the Scroll. Kinda weird but whatever.

Then I went with Ashley to a Jane Austin class to see if I could add because the class was full. I was hoping inside that I could be added but the first thing the professor said was that he wasn’t adding anyone to his class. I wanted to kick him. But I don’t think that would have gone over well. 

So I left and went up to the Education and Human Development ADC. I was going to try and change my major to Early Childhood and Special Education. But I knew I was going to have to petition because I am over 60 credits. I sat down and started pulling out the paperwork that I had started but she told me I wasn’t going to have to petition. As long as my final credit count doesn’t go over 140, she said they could just change it. Ummmm…. Pretty sure that I was supposed to petition. I don’t really know if she knew what she was talking about. But I didn’t argue with her. Haha. Later, I went over and counted my credits and saw that my final credit count is 145. So I REALLY needed to petition. But since she already changed my major, I didn’t feel the need to point that out to her…

Then I went to my two night classes: Personal Health and Wellness and New Testament. They are both going to be great classes. Except for the fact that it is going to be four hours straight of classes every Tuesday. Hooray.

My bishopbric came over and we all had a lovely chat. I really do love them. Especially Brother Seamons. Because he split his head open by saving a ladybug. Who else would do that? Then... (brace yourself)... I went to I-Night!!! Woohoo! I just love hanging out with brand new freshman. I stood at a booth in the freezing cold trying to get people to sign up for talent. I feel like I deserve a gold star or something. Really.

Munch On This Moment: Your wedding night is not that great. Thanks Brittany for explaining to me why that is.

Six Dollars in Change

I’m really not doing a very good job at this whole blogging thing. Opps. Luckily I get a few free-bees. Whew. Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I woke up and made my 10:00 am flight to Salt Lake. From Salt Lake I took the shuttle to Rexburg. Luckily, I ran into Sally in the airport so we just sat and watched Avatar the whole way down. Nothing to make the trip go faster than by watching a three hour movie.

My roommates all seem pretty great. I’m the baby of my apartment. Which isn’t a bad thing… right?

Today we had a work meeting at 6:45. When my alarm went off at 5:30, the first thought that went through my head was “really Brother Tippetts? Really?” I think my boss thinks he is pretty funny for scheduling a meeting in the wee hours of the morning. Especially when I was up until midnight the night before counting how much money we had in our Disneyland fund. Six dollars in change. Not bad. That could pay for a churro. Or Mickey Mouse sticker.

The rest of the day was great. I went to work for a gazillion hours. I then went to WinCo again (remember: Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon) with Ashley and Matt and Matt’s old roommates. It was great fun. I ran into Sam which was nice because I haven’t seen him in a while.

Munch On This Moment: When a girl gets married, family and friends fly in from all over to attend the wedding. Right? Well the next event in her life where people will gather for her is her funeral. Munch on that. 

Nice Hair Cut

Don’t even worry. After Tyler saw what an amazing job I did cutting Jared’s hair yesterday, he asked be to cut his hair. So put a chair in the middle of the kitchen and had Tyler sit down. I took out the scissors and snipped away. It looks pretty good if I say so myself. Too bad the only hair cut I know how to do is a buzz. So if you want me to cut your hair, I certainly can. If you don’t mind the “no hair” look.

Today was a great day. Especially after having coffee/hot chocolate with a Speech Pathologist. I wanted to find out more about what she does and she provided lots of good information. I have been struggling to figure out what I want to do with my life, so I have been meeting lots of people with different professions to find out what is out there. But what I think I have decided is to change my major to Early Childhood/Special Education. Then I’ll get my masters in something useful. But no matter what happens, I’ll be able to teach.

I went to the middle school to eat lunch with Sarah. It reminded me why I left that school in the first place. Oh those three years are memories that I have deleted from my mind. Heaven forbid. Thank goodness I am done with public school.

Tomorrow morning my father will be boarding the plane to go to Massachusetts. On Monday, he will be running the Boston Marathon for the second time. I am so proud of him.

Just One Post Closer...

This week has been a wonderful week. Why you may ask? Probably because I am in Oregon with the greatest family ever. Here are my adventures:

Friday: I woke up to a snowy day in Rexburg. (I know right??) Because of this unexpected weather change, I had to switch my shuttle to the 11:30 one instead of 2:00. I arrived at the Salt Lake airport at 3:30 and waited around until my flight left at 7:30. You want to know what I did? The thing I am great at: people watching. I watched someone gallop down the entire airport because he was going to miss his flight. I watched as a little two year old girl burst into tears and yelled “daddy!” when she got off the plane and saw her dad for the first time. I watched an old lady sloppily eat her sandwich.  I watched an attractive man work on his computer… until I realized he was married. But the best part of the day was when I arrived home in rainy Portland and my family was there to pick me up. It feels great to be hugged by six people at the same time. It also feels great to sleep in your real bed.

Saturday: I went with my mom to Winco (let me enlighten those of you who may be from Utah and do not know what Winco is. Winco is a store that sells food. This food is bought in bulk. This store comes in handy when you have a family of seven people and two teenage boys. It stands for Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon. For more information, please go to www.winco.com). I then went and got my hair chopped off. Yes. Chopped. Probably about three to four inches of hair are now missing from my head. My head feels much lighter. I went to my friend Tayler’s wedding reception and ate some pretty good food. But no cake. Then my family came back and we had a family movie night watching A Beautiful Mind. If you have not seen this movie, you must see it. It is probably my favorite movie. I LOVVE it. It made my mother cry. It made me cry. It did not make my father cry. But men aren’t supposed to cry right?

Sunday: What a beautiful Easter day! The sun was shining. I got to play with a baby for an entire hour while her mom and dad sang in the choir during sacrament. I listened to my mom give a wonderful lesson about the atonement during church. We ate yummy food (including ham, yams, a green salad, a fruit salad, rolls, a jello cake and ice cream.) It was quite delicious. My cousin Polly and her husband Abe came over and we had lots of fun. Then Tyler and I went on a walk around Sherwood and talked about our hopes and dreams.

Monday: My mom woke me up early exclaiming that she wanted to watch A Beautiful Mind again as soon as we got the kids off to school. So we did. It made me cry. It made my mom cry. It is probably because we are girls. Then I went down to Archer Glen Elementary school and met with the school Child Development specialist. I was able to job shadow her and visit with her. It was very informative. Then I called HP about my computer. It was still in Idaho Falls. They had not shipped it yet. I (very kindly I might add) told them they better fix the situation or I was setting my dad loose on them.

Tuesday: After we got the kids off to school, my mom and I watched Sarah’s Key. Holy Cow. If you want a movie that will put you in a depressing mood all day, be sure to watch this one. Have you ever heard of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup? I hadn’t until I watched this movie. Did you know that during WWII and the holocaust, the French rounded up all the Jews and sent them first to a detention camp in squalid conditions and then sent them to Auschwitz? Well it was a true event in history. I’m going to read the book now. The rest of the day we basically spent on the phone with the HP and FedEx men. I’m pretty sure I was giving myself an ulcer. The problem was that the man I was speaking to couldn’t speak American English. I’m not sure what he was speaking but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t English. But then I went to a pinewood derby that the Young Women did for mutual with their dads. My sister’s pinewood car was shaped like a pencil. It was basically the greatest thing ever and was pretty dang fast. The Denton’s never lose.

Wednesday: Yep… my mother and I watched another movie (can you see a pattern occurring here?) We watched the new Jane Eyre. It was wonderful and makes me want to read the book again. And then… (drum roll please…) we got a massage. Ohhhhhhhh. It was much needed. You see, my father had gotten us both a massage gift certificate for Christmas, but neither of us had used it yet. I’m pretty sure I had to peel myself off of that table. Whoever thought of a massage deserves a gold star. Then I went to Jared and Tyler’s track meet. We watched them run around the track a few times. Tyler did the triple jump but I accidently got him disqualified. How? Well, trying to be a supportive sister, I bellowed out “go Tyler go! Don’t stop! Go!” Tyler stopped and looked at me in disbelief. Everyone on his team looked at me. His coach looked at me. Tyler was not a happy camper. But how was I supposed to know that you aren’t supposed to make a sound while they are winding up and running towards their jump? They should make a rule book for the spectators or something.

Thursday: I went to the Portland Oregon Temple with my mother. Oh what a beautiful temple it is too. There is a new visitor’s center right next to it so we went inside and looked around. It was full of people and missionaries. The church always goes above and beyond with these things. Then we went to Deseret Book and I got a new piano songbook. Woohoo!! But then I came home and saw a note from FedEx saying that my package was here in Lake Oswego. I zoomed down to the FedEx office and almost cried when they handed me my computer. It doesn’t make a buzzing sound anymore and they replaced the entire screen. It is like it is brand new! But the best part of the day was going to Jordan’s 3^rd grade music concert. Don’t even worry. I sang along with all of the songs… because I learned them when I was in 3^rd grade. The music teacher Mr. Greiner looks exactly the same. I’m sure that he is one of those humans that just never ages.

So now after this lengthy blog post, Quinci can’t complain. I’m closer to getting Café Rio baby.

People Watching

You know what the best pastime  ever is? People watching. In the Library. The girl on my left has been totally eyeing the guy across from her for the past hour. Every time he looks her direction, she quickly looks away and does that little flirty smile thing that apparently woos men. The guy and girl in the row in front of me don’t really know each other very well and she is not interested at all. Do you know how I know this? She is awkwardly sitting with her arms and legs crossed, and he is leaning forward looking at her computer screen while she kind of cringes away. The man in a pink shirt front of me keeps making awkward eye contact with me. The guy behind me is super attractive. I almost want to ask him if I can get a picture with him. The girl diagonal to me keeps giggling every five seconds and it is driving me crazy.

But do you know what is even better than people watching? Composing letters. More specifically to Quinci’s date. Here it is:

Dear Mike,

                If you touch her I will kill you.

Love,

Quinci’s Husband (Rachel)

And it Came to Pass That We Ate People

And it came to pass that we ate people.

That is why I do not 100% believe that every story in 17 Miracles is a true fact. We have no scriptural proof that these events actually did occur. Our prophet has not claimed that these stories are true. The movie wasn’t even made by the church. The movie makers could have told a story about how the pioneers got so hungry that they ate each other like wolves and we would believe them… oh wait. They did.

So… I am a Child Development major and am now working on getting my Professional Preschool Education Associates degree. As a result of being around young humans most of my life, one of the questions that I get asked most frequently is why. Why? Why? WHY? So now it is my turn to explore the world through whys:

·         Why does it always snow a blizzard on Devotional days when I have to wear a skirt?

·         Why is it green jello? Why can’t it be chocolate pudding?

·         Why can’t I live closer to Disneyland?

·         Why do some people stare at me for a long period of time like I have something on my face?

·         Why can’t I meet Joseph Smith?

·         Why is it that the Titanic soundtrack makes me so sad every time I listen to it?

·         Why are the chairs in the Crossroad RED?

·         Why did they build a second BYU in Rexburg? Why not Sacramento California?

·         Why does my dad feel the need to run 50 miles on his 50^th birthday?

·         Why is Nauvoo already full for Spring semester?

·         Why isn’t the internet working?

·         Why do I expect people to do or say things that I would never do or say?

·         Why don’t I have the will power to go on a facebook fast?

·         Why can’t I use chopsticks?

·         Why does my hair take so long to dry?

·         Why do all the new freshman look so young? I didn’t look like that did I?

·         Why don’t I digest my iron supplement very well?

·         Why do I wish it was Christmastime?

·         Why do I care so much about what other people think?

·         Why do I love ice cream so much?

·         Why are Ashley and Kiah already married? We are still babies.

·         Why is two years such a long time to wait?

·         Why have I never broken a bone?

·         Why is curfew at 12:00 pm? Why can’t it be at 8:00 pm so that everyone will go to bed earlier?

·         Why don’t we have a Costco here in Rexburg?

·         Why do my home teachers decide to come at 11:30 at night?

·         Why do I drink so much water up here?

·         Why isn’t google working?

·         Why has my light bulb already burned out?

·         Why don’t I have the guts to chop all of my hair off?

·         Why are the walls of my room so white? And why can’t I paint them?

·         Why won’t Quinci go to the doctor?

·         Why is it so hard to find a ride up to Portland?

·         Why am I addicted to pintrest?

·         Why did Anne just roll her eyes when we told her that our stove top doesn’t work?

·         Why do I listen to the soundtrack from Disneyland? It just makes me want to go back.

·         Why do I love BYU-I so much?

·         Why is it getting dark so early?

·         Why am I in LOVE with Mormon Messages?

·         Why did my nine-year-old brother get front row seats to a Blazer game and I didn’t?

·         Why isn’t it April yet?

·         Why do I own so many movies that I never even watch?

·         Why do I feel like I am about to give birth to a camel?

·         Why don’t we have a deadbolt lock?

·         Why did I get so lucky to have the family that I do?

·         Why do I wake up not feeling rested at all?

·         Why don’t we have an ironing board?

·         Why do people get so mad when I don’t text back?

·         Why aren’t my boots waterproof?

·         Why do I crave chocolate all the time?

·         Why am I so bad at remembering to blog?

·         Why is it that my FHE brother didn’t know my name until last night? Oh yeah. Because he is engaged and doesn’t care.

·         Why am I SO baby hungry? This can’t be normal.

·         Why am I in an Educational Psychology class if I’m not even studying Education?

·         Why does my brother want to join the Marines? Why can’t he want to join an art club or something?

·         Why do I still have a high credit restriction on my account?

·         Why are our carpets green? It is the WORST color.

·         Why do I still have trouble coloring in the lines? It is a good thing I’m not studying Elementary Education anymore.

·         Why does my house still smell like deep-fried something?

·         Why can’t I actually impress the people I want to impress when I can woo the pants off of those people I have no interest in?

·         Why did Heidi and Matt decide to come to FHE 20 minutes after he had proposed?

·         Why do I say yes to do things when I know full well I don’t have the time?

·         Why don’t I know how to change the oil in my car or do anything related to that contraption we call a car for that matter?

·         Why does my ipod speaker not work?

·         Why is there more than one button on a blender?

·         Why are my nails so brittle?

·         Why does it have to snow and be windy at the same time?

·         Why is my favorite color yellow?

·         Why can’t I force myself to not eat desserts?

·         Why can’t I stop talking when I am nervous?

·         Why am I so quick to judge?

·         Why is that I have almost my entire wedding planned but am still missing the guy?

·         Why do I ask men if they get hot in bed?

·         Why don’t I just become a wedding planner?

·         Why did I pick the song I did for my wedding video? Everyone thinks I’m crazy?

·         Why do bad things happen to good people?

·         Why does Pandora always play the same songs over and over at work?

·         Why does the stapler not staple? Isn’t that its job?

·         Why do I cry every time I see someone else crying?

·         Why do Americans consume so much mayonnaise?

·         Why does God allow such attractive men to walk the face of this planet?

·         Why didn’t I take that Disneyworld internship?

·         Why do my hands turn purple every time I go outside?

·         Why can’t I sew on a button well enough for it to stay on?

Why am I asking so many question you may ask? Well... that is what life is about.

Caramelized Bacon

Once upon a time I was really bad at writing in my blog.  I’m not sure what happened to the writing every day thing. I did say that I was going to try. So. Today.

Today was a good day. I woke up. Did homework. Took a nap. Did homework. Made pancakes. Then my sweet FHE brothers made all of us a Valentines dinner that consisted of ravioli and garlic bread and a delicious salad with caramelized bacon. Did you know there was such a thing? I didn’t. But it was good.  Then we went to Comic Frenzy. The talent here at BYU-Idaho never ceases to amaze me. There is no way I could be that witty on the spot. But some people can. Then we went back to their apartment and make oreo balls. Delicious? I think yes. And now we are watching The Princess and the Frog. This movie reminds me of Elder Dowdle. Probably because we would always watch it together.

But now my body is telling me I need to sleep. So now I am going to listen. Because when your body feels like it is over 80 years old, you need to listen to it. Or gets angry.

Goodnight.

Hello? Are you there?

This could perhaps be the first time I have written in this blog since September. September 4^th to be precise. Hmmmmm…. Could this be a problem? No, not really. Probably because there has been nothing very exciting to share about my life. Although I was thinking about blogs the other day and how great they are. And here is why:

When I am an old lady with 44 wrinkles on my face, I am going to be so excited to read about my day-to-day college experiences. AND when I have a daughter who is going through a rough time, I can say “hey, I think I wrote a blog about that” and I will whip it out and read it to her. And I will basically be the coolest mom ever. SO. Here is the decision. I am going to try to write in my blog every day. Every single day. Did you read the part that said try? Good. Because I think that is kind of a key word.

So since last September, here is what has happened in the Fall 2011 Semester:

1.       I moved to Autumn Winds.

2.       I had great roommates named Allysa, Emily and Kendal.

3.       Ashley Middleton got engaged to Matthew Davis.

4.       Ashley and I went on a talent retreat and sang “Good Morning BYU” for the talent show… totally won… just sayin.

5.       Quinci, Stephanie and I all went with Kiah to shop for bridesmaids dresses all day…

6.       I became the coordinator for talent and ran about three shows.

7.       I went on some with nice men.

8.       I played miniature golf in the Snow Building and almost knocked out my date multiple times with the golf ball.

9.       I was going to go whitewater rafting but I didn’t. Probably because I had a meeting.

10.   I met and became good friends with Hillary.

11.   I went wedding dress shopping with Ashley.

12.   I spent a few days with Quinci’s family in American Fork Utah.

13.   I tried Café Rio for the first time.

14.   I went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights for the first time.

15.   I attended Kiah Griffith’s wedding on December 20^th 2011 to Ramon Tangiora.

Over Christmas Break:

1.       I spent time with my family.

2.       I went down to Eugene for Christmas day to spend time with my extended family.

3.       I read the entire book “The Help.”

4.       I watched “The Help” for the first time.

5.       I got a new Cannon camera for Christmas. And a massage.

And now THIS semester:

1.       I started my new job at the Language and Letters Academic Discovery Center as a secretary.

2.       I decided that I am staying up here for the Spring semester.

3.       I got the calling to be a Relief Society teacher.

4.       That’s it.

Okay. That is my life in about a page for the past five months. Oh! And here is some exciting news: Elder Jonathan Kiser and Elder Kyle Dowdle have both been serving their missions in Brazil for SIX MONTHS now!! This means that they are already ¼ of the way through their missions. Hip hip hooray!!!!!

Now for today:

It was a B-E-A-utiful  day. The it looked like Spring… almost. Well… it was trying. Church was great. Except I kind of have a hunch that a good portion of our ward didn’t come because it is Super Bowl Sunday. Indeed it is. After a church we attended a Break the Fast with my ward and had deli sandwiches, veggie trays, chips and cookies. And water. Delicious. Especially when you have been fasting all day.

After church I called my family and talked to my little brother Jordan who announced that our pinewood derby car didn’t win for the first time in almost ten years. Someone else must have cheated. Obviously. The Dentons are champions when it comes to the pinewood derby. Everyone knows this.

Then our apartment friend came over. We discussed marriage, rings, married housing, rings, his mission, rings, his mission, his mission, his mission. Yes. I think I may have indeed have finally met someone who is just as excited to get married as I was my first semester. I’m not sure how I feel about this. He got home from his mission in Peru last October. He just broke up with his girlfriend on Thursday. And now he is asking my roommate out on a date. He is back in the game ladies and gentleman.