Petty Pet Peeve

Confession: I have a pet peeve that a lot of other people probably wouldn't understand.

I hate the sound of people chewing. And when I say I hate it, I MEAN IT! I come from a family where I was taught to chew with my mouth closed. No one wants to be "distracted by the half-masticated cow rolling around in your wide-open trap." (I stole that quote from Miss Congeniality, if you didn't know.) No one wants to hear the sound of your food sloshing around in your mouth. No one wants to hear the sound of your gum and spit as you pop your gum during the middle of class or in the library (which is supposed to be a quiet place, people!). Seriously, I HATE IT!

You might ask why I'm venting about this. I don't know what it is, but people who feel the need to keep their mouths open while they chew seem to be attracted to my presence. I'm sitting next to someone in the JKB computer lab right now who is seriously adding to my displeasure over this issue.

If there is anything that I wish we would go back to the olden days of the 1800s for, it would be manners at the dinner table. Please people, is it so hard to keep your lips together when you chew?

Ok, I'm done now.

California Dreamin'

It's December. Sorry guys, I completely missed the month of November. But if I had written, it would have been about the same thing as the previous post. Sleep is still successfully evading me. I've said enough about that, though, because in two weeks I will be leaving BYU, Utah, and schoolwork behind for Christmas break and heading to the Golden State! In two weeks I will be in Concord, California!


Maybe we'll go into the city and see the sights. Or maybe we'll go to the Oakland Temple and see the Christmas lights.Or maybe we'll just stay home and spend hours and hours together as a family. Either way, I'll be happy :)

Good Grades, Social Life, Sleep. Pick Two. Welcome to College!

Anyone who has been through any amount of college knows what I am talking about.

The alarm goes off at 6. You pry yourself out of bed. You get ready. At 7:30 you step outside your apartment and stumble up the hill to campus, trying to keep your eyes open. You go to work (if you happen to have a morning job like me). You wash windows, take out trash bags, clean up people's messes, clean the fingerprints off stainless steal elevator doors, and open doors for teachers who forgot their keys (if you happen to have a custodial job like me). As soon as you clock out at noon, you head to another building on campus where your first class of the day begins. You take out your notebook and take notes on the history of United States and Latin American relations. After about an hour, you head upstairs to the next class of the day. Yawning, you take notes about the villages of Medieval England. You then head across campus to your next class where you discuss the book, Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer. You then drag your feet over to the HFAC where you sing in choir for an hour, hoping you don't faint into a dead heap while trying to keep your breaths supported and notes in tune. You then walk over to the Testing Center where you take a test you've been studying all night for. After about forty-five minutes you leave the Testing Center and walk home. You unlock the door of your apartment and collapse on the couch, relieved, but knowing that you are going to have to get up and start your homework. You start your homework. You cook yourself some dinner. You force yourself to go to FHE and try and be social. You come back to your apartment. If you have time, you go out running because you know exercise is important. If not, you keep doing homework and you do it until it's time for bed. You finally lay your head down on the pillow, knowing that you will be getting up in just 4 or 5 hours and starting the whole process over again.

Sound familiar? Like I said, this is the life of a typical college student and you've all been through it before. There are three things that occupy a college student's mind: good grades, a social life, and sleep. Unfortunately, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to do all three so you generally have to pick two and let one slide. Well, we all know I'm not the type that will abandon my school work. I've been told too many times in father's blessings and from other sources that I don't take enough time to have fun, so my social life this semester has picked up a little bit. So which one do I let slide? SLEEP. I don't think I truly know what the word means anymore.

Oh SLEEP! How wonderful that sounds! But it's Monday. I've got two papers due on Wednesday, two tests starting on Friday, two-hundred pages to read...

SLEEP: one day you and I will meet up again and it will be a glorious reunion.

I have the cutest nieces and nephews. Don't believe me? Take a gander.

Mariah Jordan

Logan Brown

Jack Jordan

Sydney Keogan

Bruce Christensen

Do not you agree?

Someday...

One of these days, I am going to go on a traveling adventure.

Someday I will walk the streets of Boston. I will stand in Independence Hall where the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. I will go to the Smithsonian and see the original Star-Spangled Banner "whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming."
I will go to Gettysburg and other sites and learn more about the price that was paid to keep the United States united.

I will cross oceans and experience other cultures.

I will walk the halls of castles where earthly kings walked and lived in ages past.

I will explore ancient ruins and imagine what they would have looked like in their heyday.

Someday...

From Summer to Fall

Summer break is over. It was great going home for the summer and doing all the things that summer entails: seeing movies in theaters (Karate Kid, Toy Story 3, Eclipse, Inception, etc.), reading books, relaxing, being with family, going to the beach. But time flies as it always does, and school is about to start.

I'm back in Provo to start up my final year as an undergraduate at BYU.

Thoughts running through my head:

• I'M GETTING OLD. I saw a bunch of Freshmen walking around campus yesterday and they look way too young to be in college.
• WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE? I'm graduating in History and minoring in English and Music...yeah, there isn't a whole ton you can do with those degrees. So I am planning on Grad School. I'm thinking about Public Administration but I don't feel that I've explored my options enough to make a decision. And I have to take that test. What is it? The GRE? ;)
• HOW AM I GOING TO PAY BACK STUDENT LOANS/PRIVATE LOANS? In this economy, I don't know if I'll be able to get a good enough job to get rid of those looming numbers and payments. I know I have 10 years or so to pay them off but it still scares me a little.

I'm a Senior! Where has the time gone? I never thought I'd get to that point where I actually have to grow up.

Funny Moments Are Worth Remembering

We had our 8th grade trip at some water park with long windy water slides that require you to sit on mats when you slide down them. I picked an older mat and Bailey picked a newer one. I went down first and waited at the end for Bailey to come down. As Bailey came to the end of the slide, the mat suddenly skidded to a halt. I guess that newer mat hadn't been quite broken in yet. The next few moments contained Bailey's frantic attempts to remove herself from the slide before our friend Kyla could slide down and shoot poor Bailey off the end. I'll never forget the look on Bailey's face.

I was opening a bottle of BBQ sauce once at our kitchen counter, standing across from my sister Shelley. The bottle was difficult to open as a lot of the sauce had congealed around the lid. With the help of a butter knife I was able to pry the lid loose but my efforts had also projected some of the sauce into the air. I looked up and saw that Shelley's face had been splattered with BBQ sauce.

Back when we were still in Young Women, we had a sleepover party at Sister Webster's house for all the Laurels in CV1. We were all crammed into the living room and just as were all about to fall asleep, Bailey shouts that memorable line from Mulan, "You men owe me a new pair of slippers!"

We were sitting at the lunch table in the Northgate High School cafeteria. My friend Liz was talking animatedly about her weekend. She held a grape between her thumb and her index finger. At a particularly dramatic part of her story, she accidentally squeezed the grape and the juice squirted right into my left eye. What are the odds?

We were performing a service activity around Christmas time for Young Men/Young Women. The goal was to drop off the little bag of goodies at the house, ring the doorbell, make it back to the car, and drive away before the door had even been opened. Well, Bailey and I went up to the door, left the goodies, rang the doorbell, and then ran. But running as fast as you can in the dark has its perils. As I ran, I hit a dip in the road, flew through the air, and landed in a pile of rocks. Well, needless to say, we didn't achieve our goal of driving away before the homeowners answered the door, but it did result in a car full of laughing girls and even in the composition of a song about my misfortunes. (Ask Hannah and Bailey for further details.)

My roommate Melissa and I walked out of the Tanner Building after we got out of our English 150 class. As we stood there waiting for the light to change so we could cross the street, we heard a poor, kind of desperate-sounding fellow say to his friend, "There are like 15,000 girls on this campus and all I want is one. Is that too much to ask?"

We decided one night to go roll down that grassy hill area next to the Harold B. Lee Library windows facing into the Periodicals Section. I'm pretty sure that hill has a sign next to it that specifically says, "Don't roll down this hill." My roommates, a few of our guy friends, and I rolled down this hill anyway and, for some reason, I stopped mid-roll. My roommate Melissa's boyfriend Paul was right behind me and rolled right over my poor helpless body. Well, I guess that's what you get for disobeying the rules.

My roommate Melissa, domestic goddess that she is, was making cookies one day. Shauntelle looked over the recipe and said (something to the effect), "It says here that you are supposed to refrigerate the dough for a few hours but I never do." Sandee blurts out, "That's why you're cookies taste like garbage." Jokingly, of course.

Hannah and I were sitting in a Biology 100 class in which the teacher was going off about how our planet is being destroyed, how the icebergs are melting, and how the forests are being razed to the ground. Hannah turned to me and, lovingly caressing her notepad, said, "I appreciate a nice forest but I love a fresh notebook."

The doorbell rang. My roommate Jennifer Jones went to answer it and found Scott Swindler, my roommate Alyssa's boyfriend, standing in our doorway. After a quick emotionless "Hi Scott," she slammed the door in his face. After a good amount of laughter had erupted from those of us sitting around the kitchen table, Jennifer opened the door again and let poor Scott in.

Independent Study

I spent four hours yesterday working on ten multiple choice questions for an assignment for my independent study class. Now before you judge me, let me share with you one of the questions:

Which of the following generalizations is not consistent with a description of some facet of the condition of American workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
a. Some workers improved their condition in the society.
b. Some workers exhibited class consciousness.
c. Many workers had a difficult time organizing and maintaining unions.
d. Some workers favored socialism.
e. All of the above are consistent with the condition of the workers.

Could a question be any more ambiguous? Let us examine the wording. The use of terms like SOME or MANY can be a tad confusing. Does SOME mean two, eight, fifty, two-hundred, one-thousand? And then they throw an "all of the above" option at you. EVERY SINGLE QUESTION IS LIKE THAT! AND THEY'RE ALL WORTH FIVE POINTS! I know it's college and it's supposed to be challenging, but MY GOODNESS! Is clarity too much to ask for? ;)

Spider Season

Dear Spiders,

I hate you. That's right, I said it. Is the outside world not big enough for you that you think you need to come inside our house and then congregate in my bedroom or, even better, the shower? Listen. I know it's hot outside. I know the sun probably beats down on your little exoskeletons and you just want to escape for a few hours into a nice, shady, air-conditioned space. But PLEASE, be considerate! I have feelings too. The way you kind of jerk as you walk across my ceiling frightens me. And I can't stand the way you jump right before I attempt to crush you. Seriously, my poor father is tired of hearing my screams. The next time I find one of you on my ceiling, or hiding in one of the folds of the shower curtain, or climbing up my bedroom wall...well, let's just say you've been warned.

With all the loathing I possess,

Celia

Since it's the Fourth of July, I was thinking today about a research paper I was able to write this past year in one of my history classes. The topic I chose was the impact of the God-is-on-our-side mentality on the outcome of the Revolutionary War. As I poured over numerous accounts from our founding fathers, Continental Army generals, and from the foot soldiers themselves, I was amazed to discover just how many references to God there were in all these documents. Members of the military and those who wrote our founding documents were convinced that God was there, playing an active role in their successes and failures. When a cloud hid the Continental Army's movements from the British, the event was attributed to God. When the war-beaten and exhausted American soldiers somehow made their way across the icy Delaware River, they believed that it was God who gave them the strength and the courage to accomplish such a feat. They had confidence that the Lord would deliver them just as He had delivered the Israelites from Egypt.Writing this paper opened my eyes to see more clearly the workings of the Lord in my own life. I always knew that God was there, that he loved and cared about me but I guess I never really thought of Him as playing an active role in my life. I think sometimes I forget that God isn't just this far-away being who simply watches the doings of man on earth. I think I forget that he has power, not just to know everything that I do but also to act on my behalf. As I have examined my own life more closely, I have seen and come to know, just as our founding fathers did, that we are not left alone. He is present in everything that we do. He helps fight our daily battles. He shelters us from our storms. He gives us the strength to carry on. We can see evidence of His hand throughout earth's history and He continues to show forth His hand today. The same god that delivered the Continental Army and the American colonies from destruction is fighting for you and me today. What have we to fear?

Happy 4th of July!

Stuck in the Middle

Ever have that feeling where you don't quite know what to do with yourself? Well, I've got it now. I've been home in California for about six days, and what have I accomplished? Not much. I've signed up for an independent study class that I can't start until the book comes. I tried my hand at watercolor paints yesterday, failed miserably, and am a little hesitant to try again. I've got several books sitting on my shelf that remain untouched. I knew this would happen. I have time to do all the things I wanted to do but didn't have time to do during the school year. Do I do them? No. Why is that when I have all the time in the world to do something I just don't feel like doing anything?

Another Great Movie Scene!

This is a scene from the movie My Best Friend's Wedding. Julia Robert's character, Julianne, realizes that she is in love with her best friend just when he says he is marrying another girl. She then tries to split the two of them up. This is one of the many times when her evil plan backfires.

Recent Events

So it was my birthday last week. I wasn't sure how my birthday was going to go this year because it was my first birthday away from home, but it turned out to be great! Not much happened on the day of my birthday. I had work and class from 8 AM to 6:30 PM, but when I got home, my old roommates Melissa and Sandee were there to greet me with popsicles and smiling faces. Members of the Relief Society had "candy-attacked" my door. Then a group of us went to the Cocoa Bean, a cupcake place in Provo, to get some desert. Yummy!

The next couple of days, I came home to birthday cards from Mom, Dad, and Grandma, flowers from Lisa, and a package from Brittany containing home made bread, a cute bag, and an excellent selection of candies.

Brigitte picked me up on Thursday night and took me out to dinner to Olive Garden. It was lots of fun and nice to hang out with family. We also headed over to Target to use the gift card Mom sent me. I bought this cute purse

and the movie Leap Year which I have added to my growing collection of movies!

And now for the ultimate birthday present: my nephew Bruce was born on May 16th and he's adorable!

Thanks everyone for making my first birthday away from home so wonderful! I'm 21 now!

My First Trip to Vegas

Over Christmas break, my old roommate Julie and her husband were sealed in the Las Vegas Temple. My roommate Caitlin, her sister Natalie, and I drove to Las Vegas to be a part of the wedding festivities. I had only ever driven through Las Vegas on the freeway before so it was a new and...interesting...experience for me.

Here's the hotel that we stayed at. I have to say that I found this hotel on my own and I got a great deal on it. Since I booked my own hotel, I think I'm officially an adult now ;)

Our hotel (Tuscany Suites and Casino) was just a couple blocks away from The Strip so we walked down there and saw the sites. Here's the ceiling in...some casino, I can't remember which.

They had some awesome Christmas decorations there.

We waited in front of the Belagio for the water show to start!

And it was pretty awesome!

Just before the sealing, we went to the M&M store.

Then we drove away from Sin City (we didn't participate in the sin, by the way :) and went to the Temple. I took some pictures of the bride and groom but they were just glowing so much after they were married, none of the pictures turned out ;)

Going to Las Vegas was definitely a new experience for me. I don't think there is anywhere else quite like it.

A Favorite Movie Scene

I've seen the movie 10 Things I Hate About You a few times but I still can't get over this scene. So great!

Spring is in the Air!

I finished my last final of winter semester today! It's one of the most wonderful feelings in the world when you can come home and say, "Maybe I'll watch a movie, or read a book I actually want to read, or take a nap, or scrapbook!" I have NO HOMEWORK until next week when spring semester starts! Going to work tomorrow morning doesn't even seem like a chore! (Of course, it probably will at 6:00 AM when my alarm goes off.) I'm free, I free!

Sorry, I just needed to express my excitement!

Wouldn't it be nice...

Found Poem

For Women's Chorus, Sister Applonie gave us a writing assignment. One of the options was to write a found poem drawing from the songs we sang in our last concert. (In case you don't know what a found poem is, a found poem is a compilation of lines from different literature. In this case, I took lines from several of our concert songs and put them together into a poem.) This isn't a fantastic example but it'll do.

Beside the dying fire,
darkness settles on the roofs and walls.
Hide me, Oh my Savior, hide.
'Till the storm of life is past.
Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham,
a shelter in the time of storm.
Let me to thy bosom fly
and slip the surly bonds of earth.
I'll take my heavenly flight,
on my way to those mansions fair.
Look, how the floor of heaven
is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.
I'll join the happy angel band,
there to sing God's praise and his glory share.
Shout, "Jubilate Deo!"
I'll put out my hand

and touch the face of God.

Oh, receive my soul at last.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

"You know what I like about the stars? You look at them, all of them up there, and you just know that there's gotta be something more than...life." - The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I remember the first time my Dad showed me the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. I was fascinated as we looked at picture after picture of far-away galaxies and star clusters. I never cease to be amazed at how majestic the universe is. Looking at the night sky makes me think about that one scripture in the Book of Mormon that says, "All things denote there is a God." It's really true.

We sang a song at our last Women's Chorus concert that I didn't really appreciate until today. Here are the lyrics:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flow'r that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky.
He made all things well.
He made all things well.
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

The audience members took a survey about our concert after it was over. When being asked what their favorite song was, the majority of them said that this was their favorite song and that their favorite part of it was when the music slowed down a little bit and we sang the words, "He made all things well." One survey said, "It was good to be reminded that I am also one of God's creations and that He made me well." I think sometimes we forget that we are God's creations. We get so hung up on all the pretty trees and snow-capped mountains that we forget that we are God's greatest creation. The most miraculous thing in the universe isn't the small pink flower outside our window. It isn't Mount Timpanogas. It isn't even the bright and shining star that you see every night in the sky. While they are all miracles in their own right, the real miracle in this universe is you.

Things That Make Me Happy

One of my old roommates blogged about some of the small things she has come across lately that have given her little moments of happiness. Sometimes it's hard for me to pick out those little moments of goodness (or tender mercies, you might say) when my life is so busy and jam-packed, so I decided it was time to put the stress aside and acknowledge them.

1. Partly cloudy days. In the middle of winter in Utah, it's so wonderful every once in a while to look out the window and see white puffy clouds with the sun shining through them.

2. Those rare moments when I can sit down, relax, and read a book of my choice.

3. The smell of freshly laundered clothes.

4. A (small) bag of Cadbury Eggs5. Letters in the mail.

6. Lyrics of the songs we sing in Women's Chorus.
"If I could I surely would stand on the rock where Moses stood." - Elijah Rock
"Look how the floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold." - How Sweet the Moonlight Sleeps
"Hide me, O my Savior, hide till the storm of life is passed." - Jesus, Lover of My Soul
"My God is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm." - My God is a Rock
"What a joyful thought that my Lord I'll see, just over in the Gloryland. And with kindred saved there forever be just over in the Gloryland." - Just Over in the Gloryland
"I've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand, and touched the face of God." - High Flight

7. The stupid debates we have in English Class about the short stories we're reading. They're dumb (in my opinion) but quite enjoyable.

8. Roommate Raisins/Get-togethers.
9. Pictures of my nieces and nephews (Here's my newest niece. Little Sydney is here!)
There are so many good things in life. Never get so busy that you forget to notice them.

Even Better!

Alright, so this one's even cooler!

Vintage Posters

Sorry, I'm sort of in a "collage-making" phase right now.

Collages!

I was doing homework today and needed a break. So I decided to do something artistic like...make collages!

My Favorite Things

American History

It was actually really fun to put these together. If you ever feel the urge to make a collage, type Picasa into Google and download the program. It's fun, it's free, and you get can even make them into desktop backgrounds. Cool, huh? Well, I think so.