Spring time at BYU

This week Utah is being it's normal Utah's self. Totally unpredictable weather wise. Maybe it's just a sigh of global warming, if that's the case, yay for global warming. Since this rare outburst of happy weather is probably going to be short lived I decided to spend my afternoon studying outside. I walked around to the back of my apartment building where I received quite the shock. Two young gentlemen very close to being nude, lying out on a blanket. Maybe it's because I've been so sheltered here at BYU, but I was not prepared to see that. I gasped (probably too loudly) then turned around and went to find another sunny spot. One part of me wanted to laugh at these absurd boys and the other part wanted to go join them and soak up all the sun I could.

The 37 REAL Reasons why I Love Miss Stack

Miss Stack is my best friend in the world, and the 37 reasons below, though all entirely true, only scratched the surface of her innumerable wonderful qualities. So here's a second tribute to my Austen sister:
1. I love that she hacked in to my blogger account to write a list of good things about herself.
2. When she's excited for someone to come over, she sits in her window sill to watch for them.
3. SABOTAGE!
4. She sleeps on the floor, or in a luggage compartment.
5. When she was brace face, she sported it like a champ.
6. She is such a good flirt that when she got pulled over in a car that wasn't registered, didn't have insurance, her seat belt was broken, and she didn't have her drivers license with her, the cop let her off on only a warning.
7. She even flirted her way out of a ticket after a car accident. Same cop.
8. Her idea of cliff jumping is a four foot drop into the water below.
9. She went to racist camp, and is now more racist than ever.
10. She is going to go to school at the U after Jamie gets back from his mission (please, Suzanne?!)
11. She is the biggest nerd I know.
12. She really appreciates people for their diversity. She loves those who question the world and don't follow the norm.
13. She is still VL :).
14. She tells excellent stories.
15. She makes great quesadillas. And burritos. Basically, she should open a (meat-free) mexican restaurant.
16. Her birthday is on the 16th, which is the best day to be born.
17. She will be married within the year.
18. If the ski lift she is on starts swinging, she squeals and clings to the pole like she is about to die.
19. She is independent and knows her own mind.
20. She never speaks ill of anyone, even when she's only talking to me and she know's I'll never tell a soul what she said.
21. She exaggerates like no other. Each of her stories is far more exciting on the fourth telling than on the first.
22. She throws awesome parties.
23. She wants to include everyone.
24. She puts the needs of her friends and family before her own.
25. She falls alseep on the bus and looks like a transient.
26. She once tried to hit on a guy by not recognizing what his iPhone was.
27. When she tries to fix things herself, she usually ends up breaking them.
28. She knows how to drive stick-shift in heels. That is real talent.
29. When she first met me, she thought I was annoying.
30. She rocks at DDR.
31. She's a mix between a Budhist and a Communist, and proud of it.
32. She swears under her breath. I guess this is probably not a good thing, but if I lived in Provo, I would too.
33. She laughs at everything.
34. She exemplifies goodness though her every deed.
35. She is beautiful.
36. She is far more vain than she will ever admit.
37. What is there to not love about her?

The 37 Reasons why I Love Miss Stack

Yesterday was my Austen Sister's birthday. She's such a big part of my life and I wanted everyone to know how amazing she is! So here are 37 reasons why I love Miss Stack:
1. She's little and cute
2. She could be cast as Hermione after just one look at her hair.
3. She has a beautiful smile.
4. I love that twinkle she gets in her eye when she's just told a lie and has gotten away with it.
5. She gets excited about the little things, like car washes and Butternut Squash soup
6. She cries when she's happy
7. She's incapable of picking up a book and putting it back down
8. She's studious to the obnoxious extreme
9. She's such a good cross-country skier that little kids like to call her Stop Sign
10. She doesn't quite understand the concept of not putting plastic near heat sources
11. Late at night she likes to sabotage people by throwing pillows in their faces
12. She's a Vegetarian, even though everyone makes fun of her and didn't think she could do it
13. She tries new things all the time (skiing, shuffleboard, the salsa, water aerobics, jumping off cliffs)
14. She gives the best prayers in German
15.She is incapable of sleeping in
16. She has an unhealthy obsession with Jane Austen
17. She drove a beat-up car in High School and instead of complaining, everything she got in her car she said it was an adventure
18. She loves writing letters
19. She has the best fashion sense.
20. She fell in love with a boy just because he rolled up his pants
21. Her true colors came out with she dressed up as a nerd for Halloween one year
22. She loves to make people feel special on their birthdays, that's why her calling in her ward is to be the Official Birthday Celebrator
23. She began the 37 fad
24. She is The 37
25. She loves making up stories
26. She's passionate about politics (even though I don't agree with her more than half of the time)
27. She has mad dancing skills
28. Usually just one look at her makes me laugh
29. Her favorite game is Upset the Fruit-basket
30. She kinda is a fruit-basket
31. She loves traveling and seeing the world
32. She loves being hardcore
33. She doesn't knock when she comes over to my house
34. She has been at BYU for almost two semesters and isn't married yet!
35. She loves to talk to herself
36. She loves life!
37. She's too great to be ignored!
Happy Birthday darling!
(Please add on if you have anything else you love about her!)

RIP 1451 Uintah Circle

I guess I never really knew that there were murderers living in my sweet innocent SLC neighborhood. But they are there... and they committed a massacre today. They murdered beauty, history, and nature. The home of my childhood was demolished in 4 hours. It took only 4 hours to destroy a significant link to my past. I was always planning on driving my kids and my grandchildren to Uintah Circle and saying, "Look over there, that's where I grew up. See that tree, I always parked my car under that tree. See that playhouse in the backyard? That's where my family would run to, in our swimsuits December 23rd every year. See that grape arbor? That's where me and my friend had a big black and white party. See that window on the second story? That was my room. I grew from a little girl to a college student in that room. That room was my world for so many years."
But now we'll drive by a tan stucco monstrosity, stuck in a gorgeous circle, with no trees. And I'll shudder and tell my descendants, "If you look to the right, you'll see a tragedy."

Love

Valentine's day used to be my favorite holiday. Weeks before February 14th, my dad and I would actively draw up plans for my Valentine's box. Hours of our lives were dedicated to this one-time-use masterpiece. My dad was a Valentine's day box genius. He would come up with the idea, and pretty much make the box, well I sat at the same table, writing valentine's to all of my classmates. But Valentine's day has evolved from that innocent day of fun (two days before my birthday!) to a dreaded, lonely, odious day.
Recently I've come to believe that Valentine's day solely exists to emphasize the fact that I'll be nineteen in a week, and I've never had a real boyfriend or kissed anyone. It's something that's hard to escape at a school where most people can't walk to class unless they have a hand to hold on to or where 90% of the people in my cooking class are married. Marriage and family and love are emphasized everyday. Professors joke about dating and marriage to try and relate to the students. I feel like every joke is a painful reminder that I participate in neither at this time.
Yesterday I read A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. It made me cry, and I vowed that I would live life to fullest. I saw that in order for the characters to live life to the fullest, they just wanted to be with those they love. Coincidentally on an episode of The Simpsons I watched that night while doing crunches with Natalie, Homer eats a poisonous sushi dish, that may or may not kill him in the next 24 hours. He makes a list of everything he wants to do before he dies, and ends up spending the day with people he loves. He ends up not dying and pronouncing to the world that he will live his life to the fullest. Ironically the next scene shows him sitting on the couch, watching tv, and eating popcorn.
So last night I was lying in bed, thinking about what living life to the fullest really means. From both of these stories, I found that you should spend time with people you love. I thought of my family and friends back in SLC and I thought, well how can I spend all my time with them and still go to school. Then it hit me. In order to live life to the fullest I need to spend all my time with people I love, so why not make the people that I'm with the people that I love?
So today begins a new journey for me. I'm going to try, to the best of my ability, to love the random kid who is sitting next to me in the library, and the girl who sits behind me in Book of Mormon, and the bagger at the grocery store.
It's not about being with your loved ones, it's about loving the ones you're with.
So Happy Valentine's Day! Don't forget to love!