May the fourth be with you.

how is that everything comes down to one week and a few exams?


how is that despite the impending doom of my four remaining finals, i'm looking up pictures of the haircuts i might want to try?


how it that i had a cheeseburger for breakfast and a couple of spoonfuls of cookie dough and a diet coke for dinner?


how is that my favorite sweater has been in the dirty clothes pile for nearly three months, yet today, of all days, i "find time" to do four giant barrels of laundry?



how is that, hmmm?

ReflectionsnoitcelfeR

Well you know about change,
it always seems to stay the same.
It tears us apart
and labels us with a brand new name.
It strips away reason
and leaves us in shame.
Oh and this changin'
it's all that remains...

--Kelly VO, Broken

Kelly definitely got that right: change is constant.
Life is a continual discovery of our own changes.
You have them; I have them.
So guess what...

I paint sometimes. With watercolor.
I <3 Nacho Libre.
Go-To Snack: pita with hummus
These days, outfits feel incomplete without boots.
Apparently, I love scary movies.
Also, I've been putting mayonnaise on my sandwiches lately...



Things I didn't used to particularly care for (or once loathed entirely), but now I find myself choosing:

Diet Coke
Swiss cheese
hummus
tomatoes
mushrooms (only raw)

I think one of my favorite things to do each year, is to look back and find things that I did last year for the first time. Some things will never happen again, and some will hopefully become a part of who I am for many years to come.

2010 Firsts:
-finished the BOM
-bridesmaid
-worked as a certified health care professional
-visited Yosemite & Sequoia National Parks
-Freebirds
-straight A's in college
-drove to [and from] UT all by myself
-made a dress (so cute)
-made two blankets and pair of pajama pants
-ate Turkish delight
-5-hour energy

Just some more Reflections...

Current favorites
item of clothing: blanket pants
soda: Coke Zero
tv show: Criminal Minds

Things that are overrated:
red velvet cake
snow
Mountain Dew
the Utah Jazz (this one might get me in trouble..)





What I should be doing: house-hunting, acing my first Advanced Physiology midterm
What I'm listening to: Kelly (obviously), Owl City, T-Swizzle

[Placeholder]

Because I strive everyday to be more like Tina...


I will now grace you with a little Calvin and Hobbes (courtesy of GoComics.com).
I'm sorry they're too big. Just click on them to see the full thing.




I wish, on probably a daily basis, that I had been more like Calvin as a child.













Well Mom, you're welcome I was such a boring child.
Just know that if I had another chance...






What I should be doing: vanquishing the burgeoning agglomeration of accoutrement currently inundating my escritoire, or researching chromosomal abnormalities for my colloquium on the psychological development over the course of a human life-span
What I'm listening to: Ben Lee, The Script, Something Corporate, and a little Phil Collins

Happy Halloween from Apt 18!!!

So none of the videos had an option for 6 faces, so I decided to make this as a welcome home gift for Kat (who is on a cruise in Mexico, poor baby) with the rest of us in it.

Hope you all enjoy!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

That's not Jess slurping her cereal really loud- That's the rain.

I feel like my last post was kind of a downer.
But don't worry; some good things have happened too.


There was an awesome thunder and lightning storm the other day- with hail and wind and dark clouds and everything. That night, when I was driving home from Salt Lake, the clouds broke and as I looked out over the city, she took my breath away. I wish I could find a picture that even compared to the beauty I saw there. With the moon shining through the white clouds against the dark sky over the city lights... *love it* This one is pretty close to what I saw as I rolled into Salt Lake that morning (minus the snow on the mountains).


And I'm making progress with that "new and improved" thing.
So far, I have

made an apple pie from scratch (I'm legit)

fixed the toilet

painted a picture:

visited my godnephew

become a bit of a Hermoine Granger in my classes

and made friends with Debbie,
an older woman who lives around the corner.

Also, I have some really great roommates. It's nice to feel so comfortable so quickly around the people with whom you live. It makes it feel more like home. Plus, it's fun =]

I wish Kat was in this picture though =(





Love you girls!










What I should be doing: Spanish practice test, clearing off my desk, looking for a job...
What I'm listening to: trying to drown out the BYU marching band across the street with some Katie Herzig and a little Parlor Hawk

My [not so glorious] Second Coming

After some quick decisions, last-minute paperwork and a couple of panic attacks, I have moved into the next phase of my life. I have left the parents' house once again to pursue the remainder of my education. It's an attempt to grow up I guess, but where did I end up?


Well, like all single Mormons, I find myself back in Provo.

It's the thing to do, you know.

And like most of my peers have discovered, I'm sure: it's not what I expected.


It's weird to be back.
I kind of feel like I just got back from a mission (how do you RMs do it?).
Things look different and feel different.
People are different.
And I still feel like I'm visiting.


I knew it wouldn't be the same as before. I knew that. I'm not dumb.
But it's hard to anticipate what the differences will be.


I find myself second-guessing my own knowledge of Provo's layout.

Is this really the way to get to Smiths?
Wait, where does Parkway meet Freedom?

And I keep hearing references to various apartment complexes/restaurants/etc that sound vaguely familiar, yet I cannot conjure up a mental image or actual memory. It's like I'm remembering them from another life, which I guess I am.

My Provo life was on pause while everyone else's continued to move forward.


I wander around the BYU campus in the hopes of finding a familiar face- one that's excited at the unexpected (yet simply delightful) experience of running into me. Yet each face that passes is just as unfamiliar as the last.


I have had the chance to get together with some old friends, but generally our conversations are more like those between strangers. Either they have to hear the whole story, or the watered-down-for-people-I-just-met version, and I'll give you a hint: the shorter one always wins out. I mean, how else can you explain the past year and half to somebody you haven't seen in 18-36 months?
This makes my relationships feel shallow and inadequate.

Sorry I'm boring.
Guess we'll never hang out again...

So I don't yet feel that I've accomplished the gloriously triumphant return I had anticipated.
But perhaps I'll wait a little more before I put that dream aside.
I'll hold out a little longer and see how things go.

I've still got my first round of exams,
and my hunt for employment,
and some friends to see,
and some unpacking to do.

So there are lots of opportunities for improvement.





What I should be doing: watching those videos for microbiology
What I'm listening to: the bed intruder song