Life is crazy, but I think we all know I prefer humans to dolphins. FACT: I hate dolphins.

       I feel so congested with conflicting emotions that I don't know how to release them! It's like they are bloating in my chest and I'm about to pop! I'm stressed out about a lot of things, and yet I can see the many things I have to be grateful for.
       I have to go to small claims court because someone thinks they can solve their problems by taking money from me. The only problem is- they've got nothing and really they're going to hurt themselves having to pay court fees. I've had nightmares about this since I received the summons at the beginning of December! Nightmares about an old friend! Nightmares during Thanksgiving and Christmas! My father almost died and I was having nightmares about some midget-dramatic person! I'm trying to take four masters classes and get a job, and all I can think about is thursday Thursday THURSDAY! It's all so ridiculous and I wish I could shout to the world what injustice has been laid upon me...but I can't. I've prayed through this process since the beginning of November and I can't go to their level. I have to be strong and be the best I can be.
        I'm having the worst time getting back into a healthy academic schedule. Since my first week of classes was so thrown off I've not been doing so well with the studying...I've tried to study and all I end up doing is re-watching Excess Baggage, Roswell episodes, online TV; reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and now Shabanu- anything to escape my reality, even if I'm escaping to an abandoned island (actually that sounds fantastic) or a barren desert with enraged male camels attacking me. I stay up until two, wake up around 10...the only thing I succeeding at is eating healthy and making an amazing Dolly Parton cake.

       I have so much to be grateful for. I moved into a great new house. I love my roommates (one of which plays the mandolin and guitar and I love to hear her practice, and it also renews my desire to get a banjo!) and landlord. I’m actually not hating the snow and cold. I can walk to class. I like my classes and teachers. My new singles ward is lovely and full of lovely people. I have an art desk! I bought Star Wars Valentines. SEE! I have so much to be grateful for!!!
         Random thought trail: I mentioned that I’ve just read Island of the Blue Dolphins. It’s funny because I dream of that solitude. An island where no one can sue me. An island where the animals, storms, ocean, survival and beauty are my only companions. Here’s the funny part, I dream of that peaceful solitude without PEOPLE, and yet one of my biggest stresses is solitude. I’m alone most of the time. I miss my friends in S. Utah, Virginia, Delaware and everywhere else. I miss being packed into a room with three crazy girls. So which do I want? The island with no companions? Or the desert with nasty older men forcing me to wed and bed (Shabanu)? Haha.
         I feel like this has been too negative. The reality beyond my own self pitying is that I have a loving family. I’m in a great education program. I love the snow. I love my roommates, house, landlord, glow in the dark ceiling stars and life. I love my friends near and far. I will survive court and it will give me experience and knowledge. I will pass my classes and get into a good homework schedule. I will get a lovely job working with kids who are autistic, special education or general ED. I get to walk to class! I have a hiking class waiting for me in March. I have Star Wars valentines. One of my best friends lives only 1 ½ hours away! I’m getting a new niece in April. I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR!

 

Classic cars and classic guys.

       So I was driving through campus and this guy pulled in front on me. His car was AMAZing. It was some sort of classic with an awful paint job- HOT HOT HOT.

       And from the back he looked good too. I was like, “nice- a guy who isn’t driving a normal modern sedan or a beefy truck. A guy who gets that retro is hot.”

       But as we all know… things that are too good to be true hardly ever are true. He puffed a cloud of smoke out of his window and tapped his cigarette out the window.

        Okay I guess I should give a heads up about this blog- I’m talking about dreams here. Unrealistic ideals. Remember in Practical Magic when Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s child-characters make a spell for the perfect man- so perfect that it could never happen? It’s like that in a way.



      Considering that this is a public blog I will most certainly NOT be listing all of my impossible dream guy attributes…but here are two things I wish for.

       I wish for a man who is a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It’s not that I dislike people who are not of my faith, it’s just that to really be connected with someone I would want them to share something that is a part of everything I am. Late nights when I’m lying awake pondering the eternities, I want my husband to be a part of my pondering. I don’t want to mocked, criticized or made fun of for something that makes up my being. My faith is so important to me; shouldn’t it also be important to him? If I loved raising parakeets and that was my life, would I marry a man who completely hated parakeets? No.

          I wish for a man who looks classic. Like the guy in the classic car, I find a classic sense of style over all (including clothes, cars, and hair etc.) is EXTREMELY attractive. I wear dresses and skirts all the time, is it too much to ask for a guy who dresses like Frank Sinatra or James Dean every once in a while. I own plenty of casual clothing, and it’s often that I go through 90’s grunge phases, but I dress like an adult with personality most of the time. Personality, I guess that’s the key. My dream man wouldn’t wear a polo t shirt he got at Hollister with a pair of cargo khaki shorts every day. He would wear a slick and retro suit, a plaid shirt, a Jerry Lee Lewis t-shirt, or something he picked up from a thrift store. He might dress like Joseph-Gordon Levitt in 500 Days of Summer or Christina Bale in Newsies.

          

            
The dilemma: Notice something in common with James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Bob Dylan? They all smoke. They all drink. Not exactly Peter priesthoods. So here’s the point: WHERE ARE ALL OF THE RETRO, CLASSIC, GREASER, non-American Eagle polo shirt wearing, SINGLE LDS MEN? Are they on the east coast? Am I missing something? I can’t seem to find them. Any tips? Do I have to hang out at coffee shops? But I hate the smell of coffee and half of those guys are smoking and drinking! That is the dilemma. There appear to be no retro clad, LDS gents looking for my love. I feel like Jimmy Dean’s nemesis, about to drive off a cliff and explode. Haha, just kidding.


See now, you think I’m a snob. I’ve liked all sorts of guys. Tall, short, fat, skinny, brown hair, red hair, blonde hair, black hair, tan, pale, polo shirts, t-shirts…I’m not too picky, but hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?

 
I can dream of a Benecio DEL Toro in Excess Baggage, driving a classic car and wearing James Dean jackets with big hair combed back and falling in his face…minus being a car thief.

Good things I have been eating lately.

So basically I just ate this sandwich that was so tasty I felt the need, nay, the obligation to blog about all the tasty things I've been eating lately.

Dinner tonight consisted of hummus- which was nasty! It was my first time making hummus from scratch and I added too much coriander. Yuckasaurus.

Now that the yucky part is over- on to the YUMMY!

I had the best garlic bread ever.

First ingredient: Granny's Delight Sprout Wheat bread! Love it! And it's good for you too!

Next ingredient: grape seed oil. Olive oil or whatever oil you like will work just fine- I just happen to love grape seed oil and it's super good for you!

Next: Fresh crushed garlic

Finally sprinkle on some lavender and pepper!

http://www.terraverdefarms.com/products.html#SpicesRubs

VOILA! Perfect garlic bread!!!

Okay now I'm just going to mention some other things I've been eating that I love!

Lemonaise is basically organic mayonnaise made with lemons...I don't know but it tasted really good on the tomato, cucumber, olive, mustard, lettuce and sandwich oil sandwich I had! It was heavenly!

The jar on the right is tahini. This tahini is slightly shady. I bought it at a Thai store in Layton and when I got home I realized it wasn't sealed or anything and it leaked a little bit...I ate some anyway and it seemed fine...Oh by the way, tahini is sesame seed paste.

Annie's organic Bunny Grahams (chocolate) are delightful! I feel like a kid when I eat them, but I feel like a very healthy sort of whole grain kid so it's okay.

I'm often in class during dinner time throughout the week so I bring snacks. Luna bars are divine. Gotta love those Quaker granola bars-even though they aren't so healthy...and I also like to snack on sesame whole wheat treats and flaxseed treats.

This one is new to me and I haven't even tried it yet! Amy's Vegetable Lasagna. It looks good and I have high hopes!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Amy's organic Palak Paneer. It's great when I don't want to cook every once in a while! I love palak paneer in general and knowing that it's organic makes me feel better!

Last but not least- the cake cupboard! I'm making a cake for the Dolly Parton Cake contest and so I bought all sorts of fun supplies soon! No worries, I'm getting a job asap! Making cakes is fun and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Dolly Parton!

Feeling Good, Feeling Alive!

Squeakers with Sulley and Minnie in Becky's bed- he gets around...

So life has been crazy! A little over a week ago (Saturday, January 2) I drove 5 hours from St. George to Ogden, Utah for the spring semester at Weber. The following morning (Sunday) I woke up in my new apartment, and after getting dressed and going to church at the wrong time I called my mom. Bad news. My mother woke up to find my father unconscious on the floor in his man-cave. Now, as strange as it may seem to all of you, I wasn't too concerned at this point...you see, my dad has a lot of health problems and he frequents the hospital. In fact, some of his doctors call him the energizer bunny because when it seems like his battery is done, he re-energizes and poufs back!



So I just told my mom to keep me updated...then more bad news. My dad pretty much went into a coma and it didn't seem like he was going to "re-energize." After a few hours of things seeming to get worse I couldn't take waiting around in Ogden, and with the suggestions of my mother I drove back 5 hours to southern Utah (the day before classes started!).


When I got to St. George my father was still in a comatose state and remained so for the most part until the next day. We were all very scared and worried, praying for the best, but fearing what seemed eminent...


Drum roll, the energizer bunny energized once again (that would have been awful if I had drum rolled my father's death...fear not, I'm not that twisted)!

My family on Christmas Eve, including the new addition Squeakers McGee (pure bred shi tzu)

Though my father has made a great recovery so far, from what turned out to be bi-lateral pneumonia (no one knows why he passed out, or why he stayed passed out), I wasn't served the luck he was. Monday morning I woke up with a ridiculous cold and due to my head-cold-fuzzy-brain, I was stranded in St. George and missed my first week of spring semester classes in Ogden! No good.


When Friday rolled in and I finally felt good enough to safely drive back to Ogden, I figured it was the weekend, and I mind as well stay in St. Geezy to hang out with friends and go to my buddy Crystal Turners mission farewell on Sunday. (That was a crap sentence, but I'm too tired to fix it...)


Friday night was fun, I went bowling with Rouchelle, Casey and some of their friends.


Saturday night was even more fun. I learned how to play poker with Alex, Rouchelley and some of their Madonna-boob-swimming pool friends! We played with candy, which made me very hyper, and I did pretty well! Poker anyone?


On Sunday I dragged myself out of bed to go to Crystal's 9 am farewell and I couldn't find the church! I drove around for an hour looking for it! I went into one chapel and thought it was the right one- I sat down for about 15 minutes and took the sacrament before I realized it was the wrong chapel. Then I tried another- wrong again...after an hour I figured I missed most of it anyway and gave up :(

After a brief visit with my dad in the hospital and a goodbye to some family I headed back to Ogden. The drive was lovely (I LOVE long drives alone)! Oh wait...the drive was lovely, but I got my first ever speeding ticket!!! Ah! $90!!!! However, I still feel happy and did so after I got my ticket. I figure I deserved it...I was going 89 in a 75 zone and i ALWAYS speed. I mean, I'm almost 24 years old and I've never gotten a ticket! Later that night, thanks to my buddy Dan, I got my comfy bed delivered and all was well.

I have high hopes for this semester. I have a good feeling. I love my room. My roommates seem wicked sweet so far and my apartment/house is super! I live super close to campus and did I mention that my room is painted blue! So far my classes seem like they're going to be amazing and I even get to write a children's book! Love it! Things are good!

KNOCK ON WOOD.

Art corner

Movies

Sleeping corner

Clothes corner

Vanity corner

"They were the best of times, they were the worst of times" -Charles Dickens

Here are two dolls that I started last summer I think...I finally finshed them! It's Howl and Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle. Howl's got a green and blue heart and his bird coat is removable. Both sophie and Howl have rings like in the movie, Howl's is blue and Sophie's red. Sophie has silver stitching in her hair so it resembles starlight.

Here are some rings that I bought all of the supplies for last summer and just now made...haha! After I test the strength of the glue I will out some on Etsy. Any requests?

A lumpling of minnie blogs clustered together.

So I was thinking that I could just write a bunch of little blogs separately and then perhaps my readers (all 3 1/2 of you) would be more likely to actually read them...but instead I'm going to put all the tinies on one blog, and hope you read them anyway.

Speaking of tinies, have you ever read Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies? It's amazing! Love it. Own it. Read it!  http://www.wickedsunshine.com/GoodVibes/TheGashlycrumbTinies.html

Topic one: I feel like a stalker, sort of...

I'm on the emailing list of my favorite artists ever, Brian Kershisnik. For December they sent a link to Brian's wife's blog, http://peoplerunningpeoplewalking.blogspot.com/

I finally got around to reading her Christmas blog and it led me to the Kershisnik children's blogs (...I feel creepy...I will talk about my dislike for caring about stranger's lives in my next topic section). Anywho, creepy/stalker factor aside- not only do I think Brian Kershisnik's art is fantastic, but his kids are rockin' too! His son is this adorable LDS missionary in Hong Kong (jealous!) who seems to have great fashion sense and tastes in costume choices!  http://eldernoah.blogspot.com/

The eldest Kershisnik daughter has an equally entertaining blog: http://asyouhappentoseeitwillhappentobe.blogspot.com/

We apparently have all sorts of common interests, including crafts, Asians and good music. I feel so creepy...that's enough of that...

The point is that Brian Kershisnik creates amazing art and his family seems whickadee whack cool too!

http://www.kershisnik.com/

Topic #2:

Yesterday I took my dad to a doctor's appointment. While I was sitting in the waiting room I read through an entire issue of People magazine. Afterwards I felt icky, poor and stupid and reported my feelings via twitter to Kelsie. Kelsie asked why I felt this way and after thinking about it a moment I realized I was feeling the opposite of what I feel when I read good literature. When I read well written literature like The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis or Paradise Lost by John Milton I feel good. Not only do they have uplifting messages, but the words are arranged so well that they roll off my tongue like minty spit bubbles and wrap around my brain noodles like a kitten in a bed of daisies! As good as reading something that is well written makes me feel, literature that is poorly written makes me feel...bad. As far as feeling stupid, I think I felt stupid because I actually spent time out of my life caring about celebrities...I mean; I am a BIG movie fan. I love movies and I feel that a good movie can have the same effect that a good book can, but caring about a complete strangers life- who cares!? I don' t mean to say that biographies are wastes of time, but knowing that Nicole Kidman walks her dog just like a normal person doesn't really matter to me...and I could care less if Selena Gomez used to date Taylor Lautner, aka Shark Boy. Why did I feel poor? Because I am poor.

Topic number 3: Roswell and other fantastic Teen tantalizers,

or in other words, a bit of a contradiction to topic #2

I've finally reached the vacation part of my Christmas vacation. For the first two weeks of my Christmas holiday in St. George I was booked solid, helping my mom with her first grade classroom and doing this and that for the family. This week, though I am watching my little brother and wiping up puppy pittles all day long, for the most part I've been able to sit around and watch Roswell episodes for hours and hours! It has been glorious! I adore teen dramadies like Roswell, The OC, and the Vampire Diaries etc. Maybe it's because they're nothing like my old teen life...maybe it's the perfectly hot 30 year olds pretending to be 17...the "bad boys" like Chuck Bass and Michael Guerin. Why do I like these unrealistic, hormone pumped fantasy lands? Becasue they are unrealstic, hormone pumped fantasies.

Topic #4: What I got for Christmas

I was abundantly blessed this year with temporal treats. Not only did I get the new water proof and drop proof up to 10 feet camera I wanted (and it's a beautiful blue color!), but I also got a slew of other delightful doo-dads! I got a fantastic dress from Eshakti that Khiah is sure to be a little jealous of ;)...

 a Guess Who game (in Spanish!), some cool earrings, penguin plates, a zebra mug, tights, beads, bug jewelry, a book celebrating man hair (chest, face etc.), a little bee/fairy box, Meet Me in St. Louis on DVD, War of the Buttons on VHS and more that I can't think of right now. Intense! I didn't have anything specific in mind that I wanted and that made the getting all the more fun! It's nice to not expect anything in particular and just be able to be pleasantly surprised and happy with all of my gifts this year!

As a bonus my sister got an external hard drive loaded with music and I was able to put a huge load of new music!

What else...

Goal for this Spring semester in Ogden: Make friends, do things.

Random wish list

See what I mean about blog binges...

Here are some things I want. I probably wont get any of them, and I'm not asking my blog readers to get them for me, I'm really not! But I feel like my blogging about them makes them mine in a way, so it's like I have them now...

Okay this first one would require that I get a baby first...I'll have to work on that ;)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/starwars/b38b/

This next one is probably what I want the most of all the things I'm going to list on this blog:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/starwars/bb2e/?cpg=113HB

Sleeping man not necessary, but I wouldn't mind it- especially if he came in a Luke Skywalker outfit.

This nest item isn't a necessity, but it would be fun to have!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/starwars/b322/

I want this phone for four reasons:

a. it looks cool

b. it would be easier to talk on my cell phone without my hands because it's bigger, so it fits better between my shoulder and ear

c. I've always wanted a classic phone like it but I have a cell phone, so there's not much need for a real phone

d. it's ridiculous and mocks bluetooth people, which I like

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/retro/8928/

This last wish item is just MAGIC. It's so funny and classic from the movie.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/bags/817c/

I hope you enjoyed my random wish list of mostly Star Wars items!

ps.

THANK YOU VETRANS! I LOVE AMERICA!

Essay death

Why am I doing a program that has required me to write about 56 pages of essay in the first semster, when I hate HATE HATE writing essays? I wish I could just paint or something all the time. Maybe next semster will be better? I'm going to be teaching little children. Little children don't care if I can write properly in APA or if I understand the nature of science. I'm okay...I just hate essay writing.