I've always wanted a kid I could name Atticus

And this my friends is why.

Love. This. Book.

On Repeat

Guys, lately I've really been going through a phase with this song

You should hear me screaming it out in the car, the shower, my office, wherever the mood strikes.  I hope you can appreciate it too.  Thanks to Val Pal for sharing it with me.

May the odds be ever in your favor...

Today the trailer for this movie came out

 and I must admit that I was filled with all kinds of excitement.  I feel kind of embarrassed because I'm not the kind of girl that follows a lot of hype, unless it's for the sake of being/appreciating the ridiculous, (High School Musical 3 midnight showing anyone?) but I can't help the way I feel.  I liked these books, they kept me sucked in and entertained the whole time and I think the movie looks like it has the potential to not be half bad?  Here's hoping.   

11-11-11

Happy Veteran's Day

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.  Elmer Davis

Emotionally Stunted

Today K Dunc shared this article with me and it made me all kinds of happy and thoughtful.  You see, I mentioned that I tend to get attached to TV shows, the same thing happens with books and movies, and it is really true.  I love throwing myself into the world of the characters and I feel for them and miss them when they're gone.  I'm crazy.  And possibly emotionally stunted.  The last thing is probably more true than anyone realizes, but at least I'm not so far gone that I have to climb out of a window to avoid something potentially emotional. *cough..cough..Logan..cough*  I have a hard time dealing with things in real life situations, and you will never see me cry about them, but put me in front of the right Grey's Anatomy episode and I'm a goner.  They are my emotional outlets and I'm alright with that.  So when Dunc reminded me of possibly my favorite TV show of all time I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.  It's like looking back on High School (or College now it seems, as I am getting old) and remembering good times and old friends.  I love Friday Night Lights.  Love it, I love the relationships, the Taylor's marriage, Matty Saracen, the way Coach Taylor inspires the kids, everything.  I just want to be the Taylor's when I grow up, is that too much to ask?

I figured it out

Guys.  I figured something out.  Remember that time I had that hole in my heart sealed up?  I'm talking literally here not figuratively.  Well, although the surgery did not fix my headaches like I wanted it to, it did fix another problem that I didn't even know I had.  All of a sudden the other day I realized something.  I was on a run, enjoying it, and thinking about when I became this person.  This person that enjoys running and hiking and has the energy to do all these things that I want to do, and I realized it has really been just the last year that I have been this way.  And it all clicked.  So thank you heart for bringing the rest of me around to the bright side of things, I would appreciate it if the aches in my head would chill out a little, but you know? I'll take what I can get. 

Tradition

As I previously mentioned, I LOVE Fall.  I also love traditions, and Fiddler on the Roof (Tradition...Tradition!) eh, anyways, so I especially look forward to a yearly tradition I have with a couple of my dear friends Jill and Micah where we drive around the Alpine Loop and check out the beauty of the mountains covered in the fall leaves.  I just love it.  We drive and soak it all in and talk about our lives, we get out at the exact same spot each year and take pictures and know that as long as we are all still around these parts we'll do the same thing next year.  It's fantastic.

And here's some proof in picture form:

2007

2008 (we had some visitors!)

2009

2010

And last but not least this year! (please note how good those sick closed mouth smiles are. I've been working on mine, but Jill's a natural)

Cool Runnings

Ok really this post has nothing to do with bobsledding, but can we all just take a minute to appreciate that movie?  It has been far too long since I have seen it and it is good. And inspirational. 

Best slow clap EVER folks.

Anyways, let's get on with it.  Remember that time that I ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon this summer?  Well, I just signed up to run it again next summer.  AND I'm running a Ragnar race in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks.  Who would have ever thought?  I used to HATE running, but secretly, now, I kind of love it.  I never thought that would happen to me.  I never thought that I would consider so many miles not such a big thing and start to understand the desire to run an actual marathon.  Uh...we'll see.  So what I'm saying is this, you should all come run the half marathon with me!!  You can sign up here, and if you do it by October 31st you get it for the least expensive price.  Do it! Doesn't it look fun?

 

Change in the Weather

As of today, it is officially Fall.  I can't even tell you how much I love this season.  The colors, the boots, the coats, the alpine loop, the crispness in the air, the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  All things good.  I'm so excited.

Old People Can Be So Cute

I found this recently and it just makes me smile.

Ridiculous

Ok so a long time ago on the other blog I mentioned that sometimes I like to go back and look at pictures of myself, facebook stalk myself really.  It's fun.  It brings back really funny memories and reminds me of people and times that I love/loved.  So today while I was waiting for some reports to process I was passing time doing just that, looking at all of my pictures.  So I'm happily looking through, reminiscing, when I come across a nice video I have been tagged in.  I didn't know that videos were categorized with pictures these days, so this was a pleasant surprise, and a fantastic reminder of how ridiculous I am, because the pictures of me in my homemade "I love BSB" t-shirt at the Backstreet boys concert weren't good enough.

Please. Watch and enjoy.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=22146933035&set=t.17805014&type=2&theater
 

TGIF

Randoms of the day:

1. When people send ALL of their emails with high importance (!) it makes me want to ignore them for a couple of days, just because. 
2. Today I am grateful for how my hair has been treating me lately.  It doesn't seem to get dirty (I'm not going to go into how long I can go without a hair wash these days cause I don't really want a semi-published record of that, but lets just say it is kind of nice) and it's been requiring little morning maintenance, not to say it couldn't use more, but it requires little.  This makes me a little bit happier when I wake up to those rough mornings because I HATE doing my hair.  Hate it.
3. A few of my favorites are leaving for good soon and that makes me really sad, that is, when I allow myself to actually think about it.
4. Today everyone in my office decided to bring treats.  We have had cake balls, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake and chocolate milk, all before 10:00 AM.  It is a chocolate kind of day.  My favorite kind.  
5. I had to use numbers in this post, because last time I made a list with bullets.  Maybe I should just stop making lists.
6. Remember TGIF guys?  Remember when we all used to stay home (was that just me?) on Friday nights to watch great shows like Full House, Step by Step and Boy Meets World?  And then you would wake up on Saturday and watch Saved by the Bell?  Ahh those were the days.

 

And just for fun...

Don't pretend like you don't know the words.

Almost There

Well kids another Education Week has come and is almost gone and honestly I can not wait.  Just two and a half more hours...I can hold out that long.  Anyways, while working here this week I have come upon a few thoughts that apparently I feel like sharing because I've got some down time here and if I sit still for longer than a minute or two I fall asleep.  Blogging seemed like a good alternative, but I'm not so sure, either way I am committed now.  So, please feel free to skip this, but here are my current thoughts:

• I love a walkie-talkie.  Love it.  Every time. You know what I'm talking about.  I want to buy all my friends walkie-talkies and force them to stay within about a mile range of me always so that we can use them all the time.  Does that not sound fun to anyone else?  (I realize that if I had a cooler phone I could just HeyTell people, but it just seems to loose a little bit of the magic that way) 
• I love vanilla in my Dr Pepper.  That delicious bit of heaven has pulled me through some long hours.
• BYU Catering stinks.
• The bathroom here has a small mother's room within a larger mother's room.  I think that's weird.  And unnecessary.  I wonder if it's to give the mothers some privacy from the students that are always in there taking naps on the couches (also weird to me).
• I like BYU and spending this much time on the main part of campus reminds me of the good times I had here.  And how old I am because I recognize no one around these parts anymore.
• Also making me realize how old I am is the fact that my body can no longer handle the little amounts of sleep that I provide for it like it used to.  It's so needy.  Annoying. 

That's all I got.  Have a fabulous weekend everybody! 

Move, Learn, Eat

Love these.


MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage=a trip of a lifetime.

I want to do it.

Rain or Shine

I may have mentioned before that I am not so much a morning person, but my friends, it is more true than probably any of you realize.  It's the getting myself out of bed that is really the hardest part.  My brain doesn't work rationally when I'm in that state.  So, in an effort to overcome my morning struggles I occasionally (and by occasionally I mean always) try to persuade myself into waking up by setting my alarm to a song that I love.  Obviously, I have to change the song often so that the novelty doesn't wear off and so that I don't start absolutely hating a song that I love because I start associating it with waking up.  I've lost a couple good ones that way.  Bad news, that.
Anyways, my song as of late has been Matthew Perryman Jones' Rain or Shine, which you can listen to right here:

I go through phases with this song every once and while.  I love it a little.  I've been waking up to it for a while now, and I wish that I could say that it helps me jump out of bed on time and bright eyed, but let's be serious, I will always struggle getting out of bed, but the fact that I feel like it puts me in a slightly better mood when I do, is still a success.

Broken Streak

Well kids, it's happened.  I got a speeding ticket.
I have only ever received one other ticket in my life, when I was just a speedy little 16 year old (well, and one other I don't count for rolling through a stop sign.  I went to traffic school people, it didn't even hit my record), however since then, I'm not going to lie to you guys, I have been pulled over, um, just a couple more times.  I had a nice little streak going, but now all is lost.  I will have to start over.  Or just start slowing down... 

Tough Life

Confession, sometimes while I'm working I watch episodes of TV shows.  It's just that I've been working here in this department for quite some time now and the job is sort of like second nature to me now and some of things I do are kind of repetitive so while I do those things I keep up on what TV has to offer.  Plus, I'm a really good multitasker.  

Anyway, due to the beauty that is Netflix I have a tendency to move rather speedily through things, but when I finish a show I'm left with a loss.  It's like finishing a good book.  I miss the characters and the world I was submerged in for that period of time.  Like when I finished the last HP book (or Gilmore Girls) and I knew that it was over and I could never fully jump back into that world again like I had before, sure you can re-read (or re-watch), but it's never quite the same.  Ah, life is just so hard sometimes.  That is until you find something else to dive into...

Also, just a little side note, I'm no longer watching TV at work so stop judging.  Or being jealous.  Or not caring (and by that I obviously mean please continue not caring).

Station 22

You all know how much I love going out to eat.  I really do.  There's nothing better than chilling with good people while eating good food.  Anyways, so late last night we decided to give Station 22 Cafe a try and let me tell you, it was not a mistake.  Everything was sooo tasty.

I had the Turkey Club.  So delish.

Plus it's just a cute little place.  And the customer service was fabulous.  Especially considering we got there right as they were about to close, but they were just so nice to us.  We will definitely be back.

Pictures from here

Qdoba still eludes me

Recently I took a rode trip with some friends to see these kids get married:

There was a lot of quality time spent with Joe Mauer, but all in all I would call it a success.  They were beautiful and happy and it was a good time.  

If you would like to see more about our trip check here to see Cindy's way mo better documentation.   

A few things...

#1 Last night was craft night.  You didn't know?  Well too bad you missed out, because I went to Katie's and she taught me how to make something like this:

From this tutorial

 I call it a success.

#2 Last night I realized that I could live by myself if I had/wanted to when I killed a spider.  All by myself.  Just call me Miss Independent.

#3 Sometimes I wish I could rap.

#4 Nordstrom's keeps sending me emails about fall fashion.  Stop rushing me through my summer Nordstrom.  As much as I love fall and the fashion that goes with it, I do not appreciate it.

#5 I want to become a cheek kisser.  Like a European.  

#6 Recently I've been watching Roswell, and then yesterday I went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon and consequently my dreams last night were action packed and full of aliens.  Super entertaining.

Black Toenails

On account of I ran/was training for a half marathon, that's 13.1 miles in case any of you didn't know (I just like saying that, that's all), I have sort of ugly toes now, and this is coming from a girl who grew up a ballerina. That says something. Anyways, so today Dusty sent me this artical:

Black Toenails: A Runner's Rite of Passage | Active.com

and after reading it, I've come to grips with the state of my black toenails and have decided to show them off proudly. Get ready.

So You Think You Can DANCE Dance dance

I don't normally do a lot of reality tv, but I love sytycd.  Love it.  They just have some seriously talented people.  I love watching talented people dance.  And all things Travis Wall. 

Uncomfortable

Country singers that try to rap make me feel weird.  I just can't get behind it.

FloRida

Just some more highlights from my recent trip to Florida (I am going through a collage phase.  Deal with it.):

 Kennedy Space Center

Cocoa Beach

All things Disney

And that about wraps things up.

Sweaty Mcsweaterson

Remember when I signed up for this race? Well after many weeks of blood, sweat, and tears (and sacrificing time that would better used going out to eat with the people) I finally did it.

This is me coming in.  They even said my name.  Correctly.

 
My rewards for the 13.1 miles. Chocolate milk and a creamy! Delicious.

They gave me a medal.  I'm in love.

And on this day, of Niko's birth, I dedicate my race to curing Alopecia.  Or at least Nick's Alopecia.  Happy Birthday!  You're welcome.

I feel like a total champion.

Washington, D.C.

According to my most recent trip.  In picture form.  Cause that's how I roll.

Some of my dearest friends and I recently headed over to the east coast to see this girl get married. 

 But before all that, we did a little sight seeing.  We had to take advantage.  You understand.

We spent time getting in touch with our inner selves,

and spending some quality time with our very first honorary nephew. 

 We got lost and almost missed the wedding...

 

but we made it!  And it was beautiful.

We spooned,

and thanks to Debbie got our very own treat bags for the drive to the reception, making the traffic barely noticeable.

 

The reception was at the James Madison house in Montpelier and it was blast and so so pretty.

It was so much fun.  Congratulations David and Rachel!

Funny

I got this text message from my dad yesterday:

"So mom and I just went to your great uncle Lyle's funeral and half of the pall-bearers were named Dedman"

Hahaha, get it?  Like dead man?  See what he did there?  Ah good one. 

Is funeral humor inappropriate?  Sorry if it is.  

HP

Yesterday we went to the Harry Potter park in Universal Orlando, where we spoke in British accents, drank butter beer and followed Harry through a quidditch game.  It was awesome.  I loved every second.

Greetings

from the Happiest Place on Earth!

Not going to lie.  I love me some Disney.  Have a great day everybody.

Artsy

This picture is super cool.  Mostly because it is a picture, and not a painting, which is what it looks like.  I'm in love with it. 

 

Picture from reddit.com