The case of Suzanne and her accidental boyfriend

Once upon a time, in the faraway land of BYU, lived a young girl. She had just started her freshman year of college. She had managed to avoid all scary RMs and all church callings, she was living the dream. She was an easy-going girl and loved to have fun, so she hardly detected anything suspicious when her roommate asked her, innocently enough, to go to a Haunted House with her and her boyfriend. So she wholeheartedly agreed and bundled up in her warmest clothes. She got to the car, where Kyle joined them. Kyle was Suzanne's roommate's boyfriend's roommate. Suzanne, naively, thought oh fun, the more the merrier! She sat next to him in the backseat, silently rejoicing that she no longer had to third-wheel it. She thought Kyle was a very nice kid and liked him very much as a friend. Then things started to get weird. Once at the Haunted House, Kyle pulled out his wallet and payed for two tickets. He turned around and gave one to Suzanne. Suzanne stood there holding onto her ticket, in awe. She thought, wow this boy is so nice! He is such a good friend. They got into the attraction and it was dark. Kyle grabbed Suzanne's hand, she thought, to lead her through the dark. Again, she was amazed at the kindness of this young gentleman. After that Suzanne's roommate started inviting her to hang out with her and her boyfriend a lot more. They went to basketball games, watched movies, and played games. Kyle was always invited too. Suzanne was grateful for his presence because, well he was always nice to her and she had fun. Then the winter settled in and Suzanne didn't have a car, bike, or bus pass, so she had to brave the cold and walk to and from school every day. Kyle started giving her rides. He was such a good friend! One day he called her to see if she wanted to go get a bite to eat. Again, she was amazed that he was checking up on her, and it really blew her away that such a guy could exist. One who was so nice and took care of her, but wasn't in love with her. She told Kyle that she wasn't hungry and had a lot of papers to write that night, but she thanked him for thinking of her. She hung up the phone and her roommate asked her who and what the person on the other end of the phone wanted. She recounted the exchange and she sort of gasped. "You just rejected his date offer? Wow, that's harsh!" All of the sudden Suzanne's ignorant, inexperienced eyes were opened. "Wait, what?! Kyle was asking me on a date? Does Kyle like me?" Her roommate stared at her for a full two minutes, mouth hanging loose and all. Finally she responded "Duh, Kyle likes you! Aren't you two dating? Everyone thinks that you guys have been together this whole semester!" Kyle, who was just as inexperienced as Suzanne, had almost tricked Suzanne into being his girlfriend. He thought if he did it slowly and subtly Suzanne wouldn't notice. Suzanne learned her lesson and always questioned boys' friendly actions from that day on.

Here's to being a Freshman

My Freshman year in College ends in three days. This year has been full of learning and joy. Here's a few things that I'll never forget:
1) Spending a whole night making up a dance to Stand By Me
2) Spending another whole night performing it
3) Pancake parties at 3 am
4) Living on the bus
5) Having conversations in bushman
6) Dance parties to strobe lights
7) Dress up parties
8) Early morning runs
9) Adventures in the kitchen
10) Upset the fruitbasket
11) Slip and slide in the bathroom
12) Ditching building meetings
13) Football and basketball games
14) Obama trips
15) Dawson's Creek
16) Office parties
17) "Goodbye, I'll love you forever" (breakup text)
Now on to bigger and better things as sophomores!

Things I've learned from having a concussion

Due to partying too hard last Saturday, I sustained a head injury. Here are a few things I've observed
1) Concussions hinder my fashion sense
2) If you put pain killers into brownies, they cure you much faster and you get to say that you've had magic brownies
3)Ironically my addled brain has yielded higher test results
4)I'm more productive as in invalid
5)Class is much more interesting when you're not mentally sound
6)People do nice things for you
7)You get away with making errors, if people call you on it, you shrug, then just point to your head
8)Waking up alive every morning is actually a fun surprise

My Austen Sister

Last year Miss Garfield, accompanied by her father, traveled to the Alps to get in a few good days of skiing. The few times I entered her house while she was gone, it was complete and utter chaos. Without Gail no one knew where all the ski equipment was, or how to operate the computer, or how to fix simple things that had been broken. The people that know and love Gail know that without her the world simply doesn't work.
Miss Garfield entered my life 6 years ago. I observed her being very bossy one day in play practice. I pegged her as being stuck up and obnoxious. The next year, one day at swim team practice, I had just finished a warm-up lap and was waiting on the side of the pool. There Gail sat, adjusting her goggles and dangling her legs in the water. At first, I sighed and thought, "Great, she's on our swim team now." But then she looked down at me and said, "You have a beautiful freestyle stroke." Instantly her status increased infinitely in my mind. Although she still is a little bit bossy, she's completely changed my life. Once she is your friend, you are ensured that you'll be well looked after. She hardly ever wastes a thought on herself and does everything to help her friends and family. On top of that, she would never forgive herself if she didn't try to invite everyone to everything. Gail can plan or fix anything. Her car broke down while her dad was driving it down the canyon. Gail took one look at it and fixed it. If you need a party planned or a cute card, just call Gail. She worships Martha Steward, which is silly because in reality she is much more creative than her.
Miss Garfield holds my world together! Happy Birthday Gail!

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!)