Oh yeah.. MOCKINGJAY!

So I finished Mockingjay a few days after I got it, but never did blog about it. It is definitely one of my top 5. I LOVED IT. The book was not only amazing, I couldn't stop reading it. On the way to the bus, on the bus, in class, eating dinner, it was so hard to put down. The best part I think was the ending. I'm not going to spoil it or say what happens but can I just say it ended perfectly? What needed to happen for the book to end realistically and perfectly, happened. I'm sure 90% of readers would disagree because it's surprising and... yeah, but I thought it was perfect lol. I would highly recommend it and plan on reading it again soon :)

October

So things have been kind of bleh. It seems like everything is up in the air and I'm being so lazy! I mean, I keep busy and have a lot to do, there are just so many things that I need to get done that I keep putting off. For instance, right now I practically have my Associate's Degree minus the fact I haven't picked up my paperwork and graduation packet. Who does that?? That and I'm so needing a job. Not that I'm struggling financially or anything but I hate living off what I've saved up (even if it was for this purpose). It just is driving me insane.

I'm very excited for this Friday! I'm visiting the Club and doing some Halloween programs. I cannot wait. I was a little bummed last time I visited because a lot of my kids that I worked with for two years don't really go anymore.. Anywho, I'm very excited and it will be fun.

Quick Update!

September is almost over! I'm so excited for fall and for Halloween! Although, the Halloween season won't be the same not working at the B&G Club. I miss it sooo much! But what can ya do. I'm thinking about going to the club on Fridays and doing my "Scary Story Club" that I did when I worked there every year.. Haven't decided yet!

Things are going well. Right now, life is so so so good. I've been home each week to visit my family and Pete, I miss them all TONS! But here in Logan, things aren't so bad. I'm kinda slacking in school, I think because I'm not working lol. Which doesn't seem like it'd make a ton of sense.. I think I just always need to be busy to be super productive. I've never had to just focus on school, I've always had work or soccer or something else and it's kept me busy and always going. Now that I just have school, I find myself saying "oh I'll do that later, I have plenty of time" kind of a lot! But what can ya do, just need to buckle down. P.S. right now I'm listening to the Disney channel on Pandora.com. Love, bahhahaha.

So I finally forked out the money and bought a new phone. Not that I needed it.. my previous phone was in decent condition, worked well, just was beat up and I've had it for like the past 2 years. And so, being the person I am, I wanted the newest phone out there. Cost... a ton... but I can't begin to say how much I love it. It's the new Samsung Vibrant, the top phone on the market right now. I'm loving all of the apps, the touchscreen, and so far the battery life has been pretty nice. I'm still needing to pick up a protective covering for it, so right now I'm treating it like my first born child. But yeah, it's fantastic and I love it.

Love my family. Love my man. Love school. Love technology (most of the time).

New Semester

So the new semester has started! I'm hating Logan, stupid traffic and no parking. Oh how I wish I could just live in Harry Potter land and apparate to all of my classes and destinations. That would be just great. I like my roommates, they're pretty nice. So glad I'm rooming with Mikenzie, she's a sweetie. Tis too bad she has to work all the time and I have to study.. But anywho. The family is doing well, McKenzie had her birthday yesterday so I went down and saw everyone. She's getting so old! I can't believe she's 15, at the high school, and soon to be getting her permit. Crazy girl.

I like all of my classes so far, I have a million things I've been wanting to blog about but I don't have the time now.. Just for a quick update! Woo woo USU!

Meh...and... AWESOME!!!

Okay so I've just finished the book "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm going to rate it a...5 out of 10? Not the greatest book, but still, it made you think. The story was told by a character named Kathy, who grew up attending a small school in England. The school isn't like every other school though, things are much different. Turns out, these kids are actually CLONES that were made for the sole purpose of eventually donating their body parts and then "completing" or dying. Pretty intense plot... but I feel like their was such emotional indifference from the narrator so it was hard to connect with any of the characters or what was going on in the story. I found it difficult to get through because I never really got into the book. I don't know that I'd recommend it... but like I said, the plot was very interesting and it really made you think about ethics, the future of medical technology, and things like this. I think there's supposed to be a movie made about it... I hope it's better than the book. It just needs some spice!

And nowwww for the awesome part. Today the book Mockingjay came out. It's the third book in the Hunger Games series and I am soooo friggin excited. I'm going to try to pace myself so I don't finish it all tonight.. although that may be hard to do. I'm sure it's going to be great but I'm also saddened that this is the last book in the series (I think... correct me if I'm wrong--please!). I'll be sure and blog about how the book is when I've finished, hopefully that won't be any time too soon, lol.

Loving the Kindle. I'm trying to think of a fantastic name for it.

woo woo

So I'm moving out in a week. I'm super excited. But sad, I'll miss Pete. Hopefully my car can make the drive back to Brigham every week.. eek! My car is a '96ish (not sure) Ford Contour. It ONLY has about 189,000 miles or so... Anywho, just wanted to blog about a few random things tonight..

First off, I'm loving the collaboration between Amazon and its services with, well, everything. It seems like everywhere I look products are adding apps and things from Amazon. Love. For instance, I was looking to get a new phone some time soon (can I afford it? no.) and was looking at T-Mobile's new Samsung Vibrant.. and guess what app comes with it? AMAZON KINDLE. So freaking sweet.. But if I do buy that, I'll feel like I spent $200 on my actual Kindle, and it'll be a waste..

I love/hate technology. Since I'm not much of a tech wiz, (yes, just made that term up) *Tech Wiz: someone who has vast knowledge of all things, products, services, that have to do with technology. Yes, so that's not me. But anywho, since it's not, I never know what's coming out or if I'm buying "the latest" of a purchase. For instance my Kindle. Brand new, newest version, good deal, etc. Buy it. Love it. Content with it and proud of my purchase. Then, like 2 months later, a newer and better version comes out. And that's how it is with EVERYTHING. Or the XBOX 360; bought it, loved it, and now I think they're coming out with some sort of newer version than that. L-A-M-E.

It's also hard to make any purchases when I have this lingering anxiety about the cost of school and books and how poor my family is lol. If only we were more financially...set. Things would be a little easier. But then I probably wouldn't think twice about my purchases or feel guilty when I wasted a few bucks. And then, just think of the horror, I wouldn't have anything to blog about on a hot Monday night in August.

Anywho, that's my rant for now. Excited for the week. Hope things go well and someone randomly enters my name into the lottery and I win.

Slow down.

So time is flying. It's August 18th already. Wait...what? What happened to the first 17 days of August? It's like everyone secretly changed my calendars and everything else that tells me what the date is so I would be confused. Very effective..

At work, we're moving into our new building. For the past 250 years there has been a building called "The Lincoln Center." Ok, so it's had many names, but that's its current title. I don't quite know the history of it, perhaps it was made by cavemen back in the dinosaur age but the building is old. When you work in the same building that your grandma and mom attended elementary school in and it was also called "old" way back then... you know it's kinda ancient. So we're moving. The Boys and Girls Club of Brigham City will soon be relocated to what was Bunderson Elementary. Some are happy about this change, some are angered by it. In my opinion, change is usually good. It'll be nice for things to be different at the Club. Although I won't be there during it's first year of use (TEAR!!!) I'll be back there hopefully next summer. I'm excited.

In other news, I'm moving next week. Super excited. But kinda........bleh about things. Every time I look at how much my books are gonna cost and I reminisce about all the money I've already flushed down the latrine called "school", I get a little light-headed. Hopefully I'll make it work, have enough money, and do okay with my 15 credits this year... We shall see!

But that's about all that's happening. I'm getting super sad about leaving all of my chillens at the Club.. I've seen them every single day (aside from weekends) for that last two years. I seriously LOVE them. Even though they can be little chits, hahaha. Hopefully most of them will still be here next summer, when I'm back again.

Another recent event, Pete made the WSU soccer team. I think I was more nervous than he for the few days he tried out. But alas, his billions of hours kicking the ball around and practicing cool moves with cool names I can't remember, have paid off. I'm very happy for him.

Ta-ta :)

The Dentist of Doooom

So I have this weird problem when I go to the dentist. Not only do I freak out and dread it as soon as the realization hits that I have an appointment soon... but I KEEP freaking out, until I walk through the door to LEAVE the dreadful place. The people that are cleaning and poking and scraping and drilling and searching for buried treasure with a miniature pick-ax in my mouth keep talking to me like I can answer, (which really drives me nuts) and act like things are just so hunky dory! No. My whole body is tense, I'm trying not to gag/throw up/scream out obscenities/pass out while they smile down at me, AND keep up on the same questions they asked me last time I was in there.

Okay okay, so I love the people who work at my dentist's office as well as my dentist himself, but I can only show so much love when I'm going through such high amounts of anxiety. I keep having these horrible thoughts that they're going to get lazy (because they do this millions of times every day) and a knife is going to slice through my lip, or the drill is going to slip and tear through my flesh, or a random sensation of horrible pain is going to make me freak out and jerk and cause all of the above to happen at the exact same time! I guess the dentist is bad for everyone, maybe even worse for some, but I do NOT like it.

So I have good teeth and oral hygiene. I've only had about 3 cavities in all my almost-21 years of life, which I think is good. But my mouth is VERY small and I guess I have something called "irregular enamel" which means I have to work extra hard to avoid cavities and things like that. The small mouth part mostly sucks because the things they stick in your mouth to take x-rays with kills, so therefore I move, and we have to do it 50 times. Another thing is they keep saying "open a little wider" thinking I can dislocate my jaw and open my mouth big enough for them to put their fists in. I'm sure that's frustrating for them... but I feel like it sucks more for me lol.

I kept thinking today while sitting in the chair, trying to keep my sanity with all the cleaning and too-rough flossing going on, how much it would suck to have to work in people's mouths every day. Well, for me at least. I can't imagine working in a clean and healthy mouth with people's spit and weird breath let alone the mouth of someone with some sort of disease or fungus or who-knows-what. Those are the people my hat goes off to. They're like the garbage people and the people who deal with sewage and that whole process that makes the world go round. And, I'm very thankful for the dentist for keeping my teeth nice and straight and clean and bright :) if only I could take some mild anesthesia during my visits...

Catching Fire=Awesomeness

So, as promised in my previous blog, I'm going to discuss my latest read, Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (sp?). I've only just finished it, and I absolutely loved it. I really enjoyed not only the action scenes and love story portions of the book, but also the horror and inspiring feelings that I felt while reading it. In the book, the characters are stuck in a world where their government has complete power over everything, and so the stars in this book rebel. I love how realistic it is in this world and how it calls to it's readers to not just sit back and let injustice take over but instead to rebel and fight for what is right. I'd give it another 4 1/2 stars, like the first book in the series, The Hunger Games. But not for lack of quality; only because I wanted more. When I could feel the book winding down to an end I was sad because I wanted more. I'm not sure if there's another book in this series but I'm going to go find out!

Some Recent Randoms

So a lot of things have been going on lately! (and when I say that, things are basically the same as they were last time I blogged.) But anywho, just wanted to talk about some awesome things, and some not so awesome things in my life right now.

Awesome thing #1. I've bought myself an Amazon Kindle. It's a reading device that you can take with you, store thousands of books on, and I can buy most books cheaper with the click of a button. It's great for obsessive readers like myself. So far I've read 1 book on it, and I'd give it 4 1/2 stars. If I were to make improvements myself, I would have the option of a lit screen (for reading in the dark or when you don't have a lot of light) and the real-life-looking page turner; which I guess is on some Kindles, but I'm not willing to pay $400 buckaroos for it. Mainly because I don't have $400 buckaroos. Mainly because I'm a student.

Not so awesome thing #1. Girls who hit on guys who are taken. Now, most of the time, I'm pretty content with myself, pretty confident. But not the other day, when I put on a bikini after about a year and a half and prepared myself to go swim with Pete. I've been asking him if we could go swimming, like, every day after I get off work for the past.. oh I dunno...5 weeks? And when he finally says yes, I'm the one with the issues. Anywho, like I said, I'm usually confident and don't worry too much about what other people think of me besides this particular day when we head down to the pool. So not only am I feeling like a fat cow with a total of 4 goofy suntan lines (majorly from soccer) but this day is also the day that every single skinny girl my age decides to go swimming as well! How nice :) Welp, to make a long story short, because I'm sick of blogging about this not so awesome thing already, I spent a lot of time being annoyed with people hitting on Peter that day at the pool, and hopefully now I can get my butt back into shape to enjoy the icy water and wonderful joy I feel when swimming. Ahhhhh. PS- don't hit on other people's sig. others and expect me to like you :) simple enough.

Awesome thing #1 b. Oh! The book I've just read, entitled "Hunger Games" was FANTASTIC. Took me two days, loved every second of it. There are some minor parts that I think could have been changed for the better (in my opinion) but for the most part, it's an awesome book and I definitely recommend it. I'll be reading the sequel next, I'll let ya'll know how that goes!

Awesome thing #2. Ooey gooey love. I'm not much for that kind of stuff but can I just mention how utterly happy and lovestruck I am? Not only have Peter and I been together for a year, we've been together for a year straight, not just off and on like it's always been before with me. When we fight, we talk, make up, and things are fine. That's a good relationship. A professor once told me the main cause of divorce is the avoidance of conflict, or problems or something... who listens to their professors anyway... Meaning that when one partner is annoyed or stressed or unhappy, they don't TALK about it to the other person (or they do and nothing is done to fix/solve the problem). Instead, they just cover it up, and pretend it's not there. So I'm very excited, we seem to be going in the right direction.. Now if only one of us would switch schools so we didn't go to school an hour away from each other.. bahhaha.

Not so awesome thing #2. Stress. Lately it seems to by piling on... Not only do I already have family issues going on (story of my life, I'm quite used to this actually) but summer seems to be flying by and I have to start making some big decisions again. I'm trying (well, trying indicates I've put effort into achieving the goal, which I have not, therefore I've been attempting-to-try) to get things straightened out this fall so that I can stay with my best friend Mikenzie up in Logan, and finish up my degree at Utah State. Unfortunately, we've put it off for about 4 billion years and now I fear we've not only missed out on housing (it's mostly full, if not completely) but I've also missed out on deadlines and financial aid crap that needs to be done. Hopefully that all goes over okay... matter of fact, I should probably get on that right now... Ta ta!

Recently, insomnia, vacuum

So--SURPRISE SURPRISE! I'm excited for work on Monday :) I'm usually excited to go to work because I work with some of the best kids IN THE ENTIRE WORLD; and also have some awesome coworkers. But this Monday we're switching to summer schedule, and I'm excited for a change. In the summer at BGC things are a little different. Instead of picking up kids from school, like in the fall, and bringing them to the club for a few hours they are dropped off, usually really early in the morning, and most are left there allll day! From like 7 am until 6 pm! It's pretty insane. I'm working mornings this summer.. and am dreading that part. Here's why.

For some reason, I have this odd belief that sleep is a waste of time. I figure I spend my day doing things that need to be done, whether I enjoy doing them or not. Then, at night, when I have time all to myself, I can actually do things I want to do! So, for example, right now it's 2:49 in the morning and I'm blogging. Not to say that I get extreme joy from blogging or anything but I usually am painting, drawing, reading, listening to fantastic music on Pandora...etc., and if I had gone to sleep earlier, I would have missed out on all these joyful things and would have "wasted" hours of potential fun time. Unfortunately, I get to pay for this the next day... But we don't think about this now lol.

Oooh, forgot to mention, I'm working with some of my favorite people in the morning summer shift :) today we spent the day deep-cleaning our rooms and getting them ready. I made some sweet posters and can't wait to hang them up. I'll try to get some pictures posted on here, but obviously, I suck at doing that.. So we made up a few jokes today while emptying out gunk from heaters and vaccumming with vaccumms that ROYALLY SUCK at their job.. 1st: every day my boss looks in his box to check over important documents and read any mail/memos that were put in there by important people. My coworkers and I have decided that every day we will put something completely random and weird in this box. If you have any good ideas... let me know. Right now we're leaning toward sheets of toilet paper, a seemingly-snotty looking kleenex, an old chocolate bar, and things like this. The other joke, which, actually also has to do with TP, is hiding a random role of toilet paper in each other's rooms. So today, I hid the role of TP in Stephanie's room, so we'll see how long it takes her to find it. Whoever has it in their room by the end of the summer will "lose." What this so-called loss means: who knows. But it will be fun :)

Funny story when we were cleaning today. I'm scrubbing a part of the "Library" at the club when I hear the vacumm turn on. A few MINUTES (haha okay, seconds) later I hear hysterical laughing. I look over to see Stephanie holding the hose of the vaccum; however, it's not ATTACHED to the vaccuum. I start cracking up (I was in the weirdest mood today) and she laughs at herself as well. She was wondering why it wasn't sucking up, and later described the tube as a snake because it was unattached. Bahahaha. Excited for a fun summer.

NOTE: vacuum I guess is the correct spelling. I decided to leave the mispelled ones in there so you can see how much I struggled when trying to figure out how to spell that effin word! Gah!

Capable

Today I wanted to blog about something that's both funny, and somewhat sad. Parents, living through their children: is it real or do they just want what's best for their little chillens?

I once watched a documentary on the human mind and what makes a person evil. The message I took from it was this: all of us, given certain situations and circumstances, are capable of evil. Going to my sister's soccer game tonight sort of cemented these beliefs into my mind.

As the game starts, most of the parents are calm, just settling down into their cheap folding chairs and saying hi to one-another with a warm and friendly smile. The scene is mildly stimulating and the girls have the butterflies that most people get when they are about to participate in a sporting event. As the whistle blows, they sit back and watch the show. Things are comfortable, and those on the sidelines don't really recognize the other team's fans or the ref, really. I thought it was always other team's fans that went crazy, not mine... I found tonight that I was seriously mistaken.

A girl from the other team runs into one of our girls; our girl falls to the ground the parents sit up a little in their seats when the expected sound of a whistle is failed to be heard. A couple parents mutter to each other about the incident, but we continue on with the game. A few more repeats of this happen and the parents begin to get anxious. They start to say things at the ref and fuel each other's flames with angry comments and quick hand gestures. The rest happens very quickly.

Parents begin to scream at the ref with each call, as if every word were a daggar being thrown at him.
"Are you kidding me? Open your eyes ref."
"How much are they paying you?"
"Oh go choke on your whistle!"
"Give me a *#(^@* break!!!"
I kid you not, these things were said, or rather screamed, at my 14 yr. old sister's soccer game this evening.

The veins in one man's head begin to become noticeable as they bulge out of his forehead and the spit flies from his mouth. The coach's constant screaming becomes inaudible and we start to tune him out. The fans from the other team are now noticeable and they become the secondary enemy. First, the ref.

The third enemy is of course the other team. Because at this particular game the girls are especially evil, throwing sneaky elbows at our players and making unfair trips and shoves. Are they trying to break our girls' ankles and put them in the hospital?

Of course, we are all so very BIASED, hahahaha. In fact, much of this isn't really happening at all; it's just what our little brains twist into reality.

These once-pleasant parents who greeted you at the beginning of the game and offered you dinosaur-shaped fruit snacks have now been transformed into savages. They are cheering when your team forcefully knocks their oponent to the ground. They hollar with laughter when a call goes in their favor whether it is fair or not. They're bloodthirsty animals who would do anything to see their daughter's team win.

The funny thing is, we're all capable of this insanity lol.

Summer/Recently

So it's almost summer. I can't wait. I don't exactly know what I'm excited for, just the fact that it's "summer" and everyone looks forward to "summer." There are a few things that I don't like about summer though..

First thing to mention is bugs. Most people don't really like bugs, but I on the other hand loathe them. I don't think I'd hate them so much if I didn't live next to a field of doom and had to murder at least 3 spiders and 10 earwigs every freakin day of my life once the temperature starts to increase and summer comes. For some reason, I have this theory that all the bugs in the field just sit over there, on the other side of the fence, and plot and scheme about ways to get into my house, majorly to crawl on my skin and make me freak out like a small child. Evil little things...

There are also the bees. I don't know if most people would consider bees as "bugs" but to me, they qualify. Creepy, crawly, fly-ey, bitey, nasty, pokey, shiny, ugly, etc. etc. The worst is when you're in your car, you've got your sweet tunes on and your windows down to feel the cool breeze that provides temporary relief to the insane heat. Just as your favorite song comes on and you stop for a stoplight, you see it. The wasp or bee starts speeding towards your car like it's being pulled by some magnetic force. You reach for the window roller-upper (hopefully you have an automatic one, otherwise you're screwed and you might as well not even try) to try to beat the bee and block it with the seemingly invisible force field. Sometimes you make it, the wasp slams into the window with a smack and you smugly smile to yourself at beating the small bug. You:1, Bug: 0. Sometimes though, you don't make it. And now it's your life on the line. When the light unfortunately turns green, you can continue driving and try not to get a stinger in your eyeball as you swerve across the road and into someone else's lane, or you can try "shooing" out the insect while looking like a crazy psycho to those around you. It's kind of a lose-lose situation.

Another thing I dislike about the summer is the fact that it's now swimsuit season. Sure, that'd be fine if I were a guy or a petite little chickadee but, alas, I am not. I'm an athletic-shaped girl who's gained a few pounds since high school. What's funny is you think you look horrible and everyone looks like a supermodel but really, it's a rare few who look that great or who even care what YOU yourself look like. Stupid women, we're kind of a helpless bunch when it comes to not worrying about what others think lol.

Done with summer discussion, although there are probably about a million other things I like/don't like about "summer." Perhaps I'll blog about them another time..

Now, on to more recent things. Last Sunday I got back from an awwwwesome trip with Pete and his family. We went to Capital (Capitol?) Reef down in Southern Utah. Needless to say, it was an adventure. I'd never heard of it.. but don't really know why. It was a vacation, but not typical for me. The family went on like 3 hikes every day, and hardly sat down to relax and be lazy (quite different from my family vacations, hahaha). But it was fun. Most of our time was, like I said, spent hiking and also hunting lizards. Yes that's right, they hunt lizards. Perhaps hunting isn't the appropriate word because they just catch them and let them go, but it's so friggin funny to watch. The landscapes were beautiful, the food was good, and the company was fantastic. If only I could shower everyday (although I'm told this is NOT camping) then the trip would have been near-perfect.

Relief

So I just thought I'd get on here and say how friggin nice it is to only worry about work. No more school for now! I've always taken classes in the summer until this summer; I'm taking a break. It's SO nice. I don't even know what to do with myself most of the time lol. Anywho, life is good, I'm a lucky girl :)

Besides that, things are going super well. Work is nice and the kids (and staff) are ready for SUMMER! It's nice to be able to take the kids outside to play so they're not stuck inside all day. Unfortunately, one day it's nice and sunny, I'm wearing flip-flops, and the next day it's snowing in the mountains and it's raining and snowing in town. Welcome to Utah.

Oh, another nice thing about no classes is reading, drawing, playing video games, and seeing my boo. I'm kind of a book worm and it's so nice to read a book rather than a text book for a change. I'm re-reading a few books first and then will start some new ones after that. I've been drawing and painting with some of my spare time, it's so nice! Too bad I haven't seen Pete as much as I'd like... he's working crazy hours and our schedules conflict. D.U.M.B.

Can't wait to SWIM, play soccer everyday, and have fun. I kinda like summer :)

AFD and the Pranks

Today was pretty eventful and hilarious. First off, I wake up to some weird text from Peter telling me to "just go along with it." I had no idea what he was talking about or why he woke me up so early (NOT a morning person) and he then explained that he was telling everyone on facebook that him and I were engaged. At first I thought it was funny and it'd be a silly joke considering it's April Fool's Day. However, as I thought about it more and about all the people who are on my facebook (mom, dad, EVERYONE I know) I started to think it wasn't such a good idea after all. Welp, he talked me into it and I changed my "relationship status" to "engaged to Peter Legua." Almost immediately I started receiving messages saying "Congrats!" "You guys are so cute!" etc. The guilt stabbed me in the heart and the more messages that came up the more deeper and deeper the guilt knife went. I logged off of facebook and decided although it was funny, it was definitely going to stir things up. Well to make a not so-long-story not-so-short, throughout the day I received many texts, a few phone calls, and messages on fb congratulating me on my "engagement." Super funny. As soon as I got home I wrote to everyone that it was a joke. I think a few people are a little upset at me, but it was fun :)

The next hilarious event that happened, which probably won't seem that hilarious because certain stories are only funny when you're there a part of them or there to witness them. This is most likely one of those stories, and when I'm finished, you'll probably be like.. "Riiiight... Hilarious Ky." But that's a-okay.

Sometimes you find very weird things under couches and sofas. Crackers, crums, wrappers, and sometimes money can be found when you accidentally drop the remote down below the cushions and you have to go on a meticulous hunt for it. In some cases, you find things you didn't know were even down there, and you receive so much joy from finding these long lost items that you temporarily forget why you were even digging around under there in the first place. Unfortunately, you can sometimes find gross or unknown substances down there as well. Like when you blindly search for the remote or the phone and to your dismay, when you bring up your hand for a much-needed hand breath, you realize you have something under your fingernails that wasn't there before. Pretty gross, but I'm sure most of us have experienced this sensation.

So anywho, as I was laying on the couch after work today, I set my phone under my arm so that I could feel it if it vibrated. My sister, being the very immature person she is (ha, I'm probably more immature than she) decided it would be fun to jump on my stomach and knock the air out of me. After this we rough housed for a bit and after I won this match (as always) I realized my phone had gone missing. The first thing to do when an emergency like this presents itself is to call it to listen for where it is. About 98% of the time this method of finding a missing cell phone is effective within about 30 seconds of making the call. Unfortunately, this time was very different. Not only could we not find the phone under a few blankets and cushions, we couldn't find it under or behind the couch; all the typical places for a mischievous phone to hide. We listened and felt for the device, and it seemed to be INSIDE the couch. The couch, seemingly innocent at face value, had eaten the cell phone and had no future plans to puke it up and give it back. I tried to reach down the back of the couch, where there is a small crevice for things like dust bunnies and the boogey monster to hide, but my arm was too large to fit into the small crack. I called on the next available retriever and it was my sister. She said "no" right off the bat for she knew about the gross and disgusting things that lived beneath the cushions and even worse, inside the crevice where not even the vacuum could reach.

I eventually innocently coerced (bullied) her into saying okay and preparing to reach her small arm into the crack for the very noble purpose of getting back my phone for me. After all, if we couldn't find it, I would most likely have to use hers; she definitely didn't want that! With a look of loathe and disgust on her face, she reached her arm into the small space and began to feel around. Of course, being the girly girl she is (as am I) she screamed at everything she felt; her mind imagining only the worst of things. It's like being blindfolded and reaching your arm into a jar filled with unfamiliar touches and sensations. It could be large monstrous spiders with hairy backs that could kill you with one bite; it could be the brains of a known cereal killer's latest victim; or it could be food that's been dropped beneath a cushion and left to sit and rot. Lucky for her, the couch was particularly clean thanks to our grandma who is basically OCD and has to keep everything clean and tidy, even beneath the cushions. As she reached her hand down, getting stuck only a couple of times, she realized it was no where to be found. The couch was hiding it somewhere, but alas, we were determined now. After losing the remote, laughing until we almost peed our pants, and dropping the couch upon her a couple of times, she finally found the beloved prize. Relief.

As for the next story, it is also about a cell phone; such a seemingly significant part of our young lives. So since we all know that teenagers are addicted to texting, pics, phone calls, and everything that has to do with modern technology, then we know how much mental distress these teens go through when their beloved cell phone is lost or stolen; you can imagine the distress my sister went through when she realized HER phone was now missing. Unfortunately for her, I was the culprit in this cellnapping case and she had no idea. I guess it's just because she's my sister, but for some reason I still played this prank on her even after she saved my phone from the dark abyss of the couch.

This time the setting is on a large bed where we were watching t.v. and taking turns hitting each other. Yes, I'm 20, yes I work with kids, yes, I still love to play like a little kid. And quite often. Towards the end of all of this she realized her phone was missing. I think there is some sort of alarm that goes off in our minds when something we use constantly all the time doesn't produce an expected response or signal. She realized she hadn't gotten a text for quite some time and began her search. Little did she know, when she searched the other room I came across the cell phone and gave into the little devil angel on my shoulder that told me to take it and hide it. I took the cell phone and placed it into the back pocket of my pants. She came back in and asked if I'd found it yet; I'd been calling it with my own newly found cell phone. Of course I put on the most innocent face I could produce and told her "no, keep looking." She searched frantically and I kept calling. As in the case of the missing phone beneath the couch, she could feel the bed vibrating but no matter how hard she searched she couldn't find it. She gave into desperation and started looking under the bed, beneath the covers, even though she knew she couldn't have lost it in any of those places. Luckily for me, she took my giggles and uncontrolled laughter as me finding humor in the situation, not because I was sitting on her phone. The more I laughed though, the more suspicious she became. This made it that much funnier. After about ten minutes of frantic search, she moved closer and closer until she knew I had to be sitting on the phone or holding it. She had me sit up, move around, but the vibrating continued and she became distressed. "Everywhere you go it seems like it follows you!" "I wonder why??? That's so weird" was how the conversation continued as I laughed harder and harder and she became more and more angry. Eventually, I gave her the phone and showed her where I'd hid it. Actually, it really went like this: I sat up, pulled the phone from my pocket, threw it at her, and ran. I ran into the bathroom and locked the door because I knew how angry she'd be. I sat in the bathroom, and laughed.

Sometimes it's good to grow down and have a little fun; to just be a kid again.

Resilient

I've noticed lately that people are very resilient. I always hear "it's rough all over" but you never really think that when you first look at people. I think whenever you meet someone new you automatically compare lives. See your differences and similarities. And you assume you've either had it worse or they've had an exceptionally hard life. But you never really know. You never really can pass judgement. It's interesting to me to find out about people's lives and the people they become and why they become who they are. If that makes any sense... I've taken a bunch of classes now on human development and have learned about heredity and environment; the whole nature vs. nurture controversy, and which one has the most impact on the person. When you are born, does your environment shape the person you will be? Does every experience you have kind of build you into the person you are? The social sciences are so complex. I feel like I've passed all my psych classes with flying colors for the sole fact that I realized something very important when I first dove into the science of Psychology. Every single person is different, there is never an always statement that is true, and you cannot predict anything when it comes to the human psyche. I love that though. Although our biology says we're all like 99.99% alike, we all seem to be so different. But really, this viewpoint I've shared changes from day to day. I feel like one day everyone is so different and complex and beautifully unique; the next I feel like everyone is the same, striving for the same things, having the same hopes and dreams. Who knows. If there was a question on one of my exams asking me to answer these questions I would say what I always say "every person is different and there really isn't a straightforward answer." And, as always, I would receive full credit for such a vague but true answer.

Procrastinationism

I'm pretty sure everyone who has ever blogged about anything in this world has mentioned at least once, the evil called Procrastination. Our differences lye not in the fact that some of us procrastinate and some of us do not, but in the varying degrees of procrastination. For instance, tonight I spent my evening studying for a history exam, taking that exam, and then doing an essay from start to finish. These things didn't take up my evening and make me miserable because my professor is so horrid though, but it is instead because I suffer from a very high degree of procrastination.

In my studies I love to learn about different mental disorders and dysfunctions. To me, it's very interesting that we all see the same things but in completely different ways. I think procrastination, in such a dysfunctionally high degree, should perhaps be considered one of these disorders. It does impair people's lives, cause tremendous stress at times, and can cause anxiety and depression. I think there is no real solution to this problem unless your whole perception is changed. If you consider that essay higher on your priority list then you will not procrastinate it. nless your me. Unfortunately for me, I consider hanging with my sweetie and playing games much funner and therefore much higher on my list of things to do.

Lists. I live by lists. Although I suffer from a severe degree of procrastinationism and it often causes me grief, I do provide a temporary catharisis to the insanity. Making lists. In my room, within my notebooks, upon my sticky notes, you will find one kind of thing. Lists and lists. Things to do today, tomorrow, next week, by the end of the year. Some of them get looked at a second time, they might get a few things crossed off of them, but most of them get tucked or thrown away, never to be seen again. I think I make these lists for a few different reasons. 1. They help me in a similar way as blogging does. I get things off my chest, stop stressing about them, and can finally get to sleep. 2. I love the feeling of crossing things off of these said lists. It is very rare that I will cross off everything, but oh the joy I feel when I cross of a majority of them :)

Isn't it funny.

So, had to blog about this; all of Kyler's friends are getting married. It's exceptionally weird. I can't see these immature people (not that I'm any more mature) 19 and 20 year olds getting married and having families. It's just mind-boggling. I'm just wondering though.. what IS the hurry? You get to spend the rest of your life with this person, can't you wait a few years and have a little fun first? I mean that in the best way possible. Spending time with your best friends, doing spontaneous things, going on trips to places you've always dreamed of going to. I don't know what the rush is. If anyone has any insight on this... feel free to comment lol.

Also, just uploaded this playlist. HAHAHA I found the first couple of songs that came to mind. Enjoy these oldies/goodies/weirdies that I hold dear to my heart :)

Feb 2010 and work that's not really work

First of all, a little update on my life: things are going well. When this semester first started I felt like I wanted to die every night. Not only was the homework load seemingly impossible but at work I was being given more and more responsibility. I honestly felt an anxiety attack creeping up behind me and chilling the hairs on the back of my neck quite often. Fortunately though, things are going much better. I devised a schedule that is working out quite well. M-F: Wake up, eat breakfast (98% of the time I eat poptarts, about 90% of the time if I can help it they are S'more flavored, so good), get ready, study like a fool, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and study some more. Saturdays are play/sleep days and Sundays = long hours of reading and studying. I often feel jealous and somewhat angry when people complain about how stressed out they are when they just have to deal with full-time school. Full-time school + full-time work = full-time stress for me! But it's all good :) I'm not ignorant to the fact that my life is great and could be much worse and full of many more extreme stressors. I'm definitely blessed and very thankful.


Anywho, with work, I don't think I've talked about how much I love it; about how I don't consider it work at all and often times I forget my paycheck until my boss reminds me to take it home. Right now, I work at the Boys and Girls Club of Brigham City and absolutely love it. When I first applied for the job I did so because I was being forced to finally grow up and start working. I decided I might as well do something that'd (hopefully) make a difference in someone's life. I applied there with extremely high hopes that I would be hired. Luckily, they had a spot. But to my dismay, it was just a desk job; I wouldn't even be working with the kids.

So I was hired and trained to work the desk; answering calls, checking kids in and out, doing tedious paperwork. AKA not for me! I was so happy to be informed though, upon my second day of working there, that a Fanz staff just quit and I would be taking over her position with the kids. What a "Fanz" staff was I had no idea... but I was undeniably thrilled.

That was about a year and half ago. I had planned on only working there for the summer, ended up staying for the fall, and then couldn't find it in myself to leave. I had become so attached to these little hellions and couldn't imagine saying goodbye and not seeing them everyday. The kids at the club are absolutely amazing. Yes, there are the bad days. I do sometimes get called every name in the book and have tiny schemers plotting to get me fired; but they are minimal. I'd say the ratio of good days to bad is about 20:1. Which is great. The good days are unforgettable. THe good days inspire and excite me about life. The fact that I get paid to hang out with kids every day, teach them things about life and about themselves and help them to have higher self-esteem and confidence means the world to me. I still can't believe I get a paycheck every other week, I guess that's why I always forget it.

Language

So lately I've been debating on whether to learn American Sign Language (ASL) or Spanish. Both are very interesting to me but I hardly have time for either. I love watching ASL and have always wanted to know how to sign but I think in the future, Spanish would be much more beneficial. I've never even met someone who is deaf and I don't know how much longer technology will allow us to have issues with hearing. I think eventually technology will allow us to fix all hearing problems and there won't be much need for sign language unless it's concerning babies, the elderly, and things like this. With Spanish, more and more Spanish-speaking people are moving to the United States and I'm working with more Spanish-speaking children who are learning English as a second language. Too bad it's super hard to learn a second language lol. If only I would have taken Spanish in school (rather than German) and took it seriously. Oh well! In the meantime, perhaps I'll try to study a little of both. It wouldn't hurt to know a little Spanish and I'd love to learn more sign language. If you ever get bored, get on youtube and watch the music videos of people signing, they're super fun to watch and try to replicate :)

Teachers that hate me

I've come to the realization that not all teachers love to teach. They may say they do, may think they do, but I've learned from experience that they in fact, do not. So far I've had two college professors that I don't have any idea WHY they decided to get their teaching degrees. I honestly think they love making people miserable. I think their teaching certificate was just a sneaky tool they decided to get their hands on for the sole purpose of making students, especially young and obnoxious college students, miserable. I never thought I'd have a professor like that... Anywho. They're very tricky, these evil teachers. They'd give a too-smilley-smile that made you uncomfortable.They'd coax you into thinking they're personable and linient on the first day, reading through the syllabus and telling you not to worry, everything will be fine as long as you work hard and do your best. WRONG-O. So far I've had two statistics classes. The content wasn't too horrid but the teachers were, well, part of the evil clan of teachers that were probably sent up from the devil to punish me for all my wrong choices... ha! I didn't do bad in the classes... Just didn't learn much. Funny story... one of these classes was "interactive broadcast." This is when the professor is in a different location and I, with the rest of my class, get to watch a T.V. screen and pipe in when I felt brave over the mic. The bad part of this is the small green button that says if your mic is on or off--you can barely see it. Sometimes you even bump the mic and it turns on, and you speak into the mic without even knowing it. Luckily, most of the time when this happens the other classes (and professor) can just hear static or a slight cough. They quickly inform you that your mic is on, you blush, mumble a quick sorry, and turn it off. You're now obsessed with not touching the mic button and making sure the small green light is off. Too bad for me... One day, while mocking one of my statistics teacher, my notebook decided to magically slide over to the mic, and turn it on at the worst possible moment. The professor stopped talking, and the class went quiet. I looked up at the T.V. screen to see what was going on, for I of course was paying absolutely no attenetion. "Your mic is on" my professor said, staring at me through the television screen, piercing my sole with her evil look. I slid my finger over to the button, shut it off, and stared at my notebook waiting for class to continue. Note to self: don't mock the evil teacher when there's a possibility that your mic might have turned on. I didn't get much sleep that night.

Work that's not really work, part 1

When you find something that you love to do, whether it has the title of "work" or "play" you realize time flies when you are doing it. So, if you fortunately come across a "job" that you enjoy doing, you might think of it as more of a hobby or an activity you do for fun; the bonus: you get paid. My first job consisted of cleaning tanning beds and sweeping floors. Not something someone wakes up every day excited about. Not something you go to sleep early so you can wake up to do it. Just a job that needs doing in a timely matter.

With this job, it had it's ups and downs. The downs: cleaning human body hair off the floor, fecal matter from porcelain, and being surrounded by small containers that yell "you're going to get cancer" or "don't drink Brigham City water, look at all the crap in it". Now, these probably don't make sense right now but let me explain. This place was called "The Wellness Center." People went there because they felt they either weren't well, or didn't want to become un-well. (Yes, the tanning beds were a very ironic installment to The Wellness Center that I loved to smirk about, often). This organization sold herbal supplements, vitamins, bottled water that sat next to a display of calcified metal (said to be from the drinking water in Brigham) and cheap tans. It wasn't too bad for my first job, at age 15.

The ups of working there consisted of somewhat easy labor, a list of things you needed to do that you could check off with a sigh of satisfaction, and kooky health-obsessed people to talk to. There were more ups though, such as laughing at the people from school (in my mind) that happened to be male, that happened to come in to use the tanning beds, that happened to choose the red heart-shaped stickers to see how much of a tan they were getting. These small things, were hilarious. I thought about them when I had to clean toilets. It was my own little way at getting back at the people. Yes, I have to clean your nasty toilets, and yes if I wanted, I could tell everyone about you're little tanning trips and heart-shaped stickers.

Blogging!

I've decided to put up a blog so that I can "vomit" all of the thoughts out of my mind and onto paper (or in this case...virtual paper). This action, thankfully, will get some thoughts out of my head so I can 1. get more sleep 2. focus on what I'm supposed to be doing, and 3. write about a few things I believe everyone should put some thought into.

For this blog, I will not be worrying about grammar, punctuation, or anything related to things like this; so don't bother correcting me. After all, during our cognitive processes, when we think about anything in particular, I don't think we care about spelling, grammar, or punctuation. We don't stop ourselves mid-thought and think "oh, I think I might have just used poor grammar when I insulted that idiot for running the stop sign." It's just free thought. Thought that spills out after you're inspired or worked up about something. You can't really stop it or slow it down, it just keeps coming whether you want it to or not; such as vomit.

And so here it is! My blog. Take it or leave it. A small peak into my life and the things I think about. I say small (although it's an understatement) because I don't think I could ever write about all the things that circulate through my mind. Welp, enjoy :)