Just need to find out how...

I would love to live in Europe. How do I just move there? Is that all there is to it? Just pack up and get an airplane ticket and stay at Populous' house in Italy? Ojala!!

I love the biblioteca.

I love my library. I go there all the time now. It has a really great cd and dvd collection. I just got Maverick with Mel Gibson, this great movie called Designing Woman with Gregory Peck and How To Marry A Millionaire with Marilyn Monroe.
They carry cds like Low, the Brunettes, Harry and the Potters, !!!, and the Carpenters Christmas. Today I went to the library to check out Como El Grinch Robo La Navidad! I am going to read it to my kids next week. When I showed up in the kid's department I saw all my kindergarteners to second graders there on a field trip. They were all so excited to see me and show me all the books they were checking out.
They helped me find the Spanish section of the library. It was so fun to hear them all yelling "Hola! Senora Van" across the aisles. shhhhh kids. C'est une bibliotheque!

ma préférée

Right now I am in love with this song. You would love it even more if you knew what it was saying and you were me. There's just those moments when a song hits you where it counts...

I was laughing when I should have been studying...c'est la vie.

So a while ago I found out that my French professor was a showgirl. She teaches a couple of different classes at the university and I never expected that. One of the guys in my class used to be in the show with her and he told me she had been in that show for 12 years and is pretty much the icon. So, let me introduce you to my professor, at least you will find the exposed back side of her hanging on the billboard at the Tropicana.
Then today after googling her name we found out that she was also on survivor! It was too much. I was laughing so hard as I was watching youtube clips of my professor. CRAZY. Here she is:
I asked her about it. She was in Micronesia. She was really left on an island "exiled" with nothing but water and a machete. She told me she couldn't fish so she ate like 45 coconuts! She invited me over to her house to drink French wine and watch it on dvd with her. I am gonna hang out with a tv-survivor-superstar!! awesome!!

amazing...

This Thanksgiving was great! We went to my sister's house in Arizona. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and the company was the best. Plus I taught my 7 year old niece how to play sudoku. She is amazing. Check out a 2nd graders completed sudoku. Now that's impressive!

sad news turned glad news.

Just on Thursday night I was heading to my room. I turned off all the living room lights and was walking in the dark, feeling my way. I decided to slide open my phone to get a little light for the pathway and it slid right out of my hand. I looked around for it in the dark and saw lit up numbers. I wondered in my head why I could only see the numbers and not the screen that is usually right above the numbers. Quickly I turned on the light and to my dismay I saw my 4 month old phone in two pieces!!
I wanted to cry. Just earlier in the evening I sold a bike on craig's list and was feeling pretty rich but knew I would have to spend that cash on a new phone. bummer.
The next day I went to T-mobile and thought for a second about lying to the guy to try and get the warranty to pay for it. "I mean I just slid it up to text and it just kept sliding...." But then realized, A). there was no good alibi and B). I am bad at lying. Luckily I found just the right phone and I am so happy!!!

It is just a phone. None of this music player/phone/day planner/life runner gadget for me. I am happy that it is simple. Anyway. It turned out better than I thought it would and didn't make me feel any poorer. I was still rich enough to go to the new H&M here in town the next night. WOOT!

for some reason this reminds me of school pictures...

Here's my school picture. My first year as a teacher. Don't worry, some of you will be getting a signed one in the mail.

This kind of makes me want to read "Crime and Punishment"...but not really.

love love love by The Mountain Goats

"Somethings you'll do for money, and some you'll do for fun, but the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one."

I guess this means I can only have 5 kids...

I want a conference bike!!!


SOOOOOO awesome!

2nd date?

I went on the worst first date ever last night. He asked me at FHE on Monday to go to this dinner that our Bishop was hosting for first dates. So I gave him a chance even though he creeped me out from the beginning. I made my friends find dates so I wouldn't have to be alone with him and then met him there to protect myself further.
All I have to say is I have never been out with a guy that was sooooo far from what I actually like before. If he asked me out again he would probably be considered medically insane because we have nothing in common and I tried to make it obvious that I was not interested, without being rude. I hate caves and have no celebrity crushes. We obviously wouldn't make it very far, just save your money creepy red-haired dude.

He introduced me to her...ironic

Saturday night I told my Latin lover that it would be better if he just didn't ever call me again. Before when we broke up we kept calling and so it didn't last...but this time I think it is for real. It was so sad when he just kept saying, "uhhh, ok, ok." And he was kind of surprised when I said we should just see each other in class. But it was inevitable. Breaking up is hard to do.

one new heart, coming right up...

YUM: I think I need a new heart by The Magnetic Fields

Time stands still
All I can feel is the time standing still

as you put down the keys
and say don't call me please
while the radio plays

"I Think I Need a New Heart" ohhh

"I Think I Need a New Heart" ohhh

You've lied too
but it's a sin that I
can't tell the truth
cause it all comes out wrong
unless I put it in a song
so the radio plays
"I Think I Need a New Heart"
just for you
"I Think I Need a New Heart"

cause I always say I love you
whenI mean turn out the light
and I say let's run away
when I just mean stay the night
but the words you want to hear
you will never hear from me

I'll never say "happy anniversary"
never stay to say "happy anniversary"

so I think I need a new heart ohhh
I think I need a new heart ohhh
I think I need a new heart ohhh
I think I need a new heart ohhh
Give me time

Cultural Presentations

My junior high kids did their cultural presentations today. They were so great! I was thoroughly impressed and loved the fact that I didn't have to write any lesson plans. Some of them studied a Spanish-speaking country and brought in memorabilia, some studied Spanish artists or historical figures, others brought in some food and told the history behind it. We ate salsa (who knew that it dates back to the Mayans?), gazpacho from Spain, flan and Mexican wedding cookies. Yum. What a great day! Being a Spanish teacher is so much fun!

I never really listened to the words before and wow.

Well I guess it would be nice
If I could touch your body
I know not everybody
Has got a body like you

But I've got to think twice
Before I give my heart away
And I know all the games you play
Because I play them too

Oh but I
Need some time off from that emotion
Time to pick my heart up off the floor
And when that love comes down
Without devotion
Well it takes a strong man baby
But I'm showing you the door

'Cause I gotta have faith...

Baby
I know you're asking me to stay
Say please, please, please, don't go away
You say I'm giving you the blues
Maybe
You mean every word you say
Can't help but think of yesterday
And another who tied me down to loverboy rules

Before this river
Becomes an ocean
Before you throw my heart back on the floor
Oh baby I reconsider
My foolish notion
Well I need someone to hold me
But I'll wait for something more

Yes I've gotta have faith...


I really like their cover of the 'Faith'

I went to Mexico last weekend...

You try doing the hand jive and jumping double dutch at the same time! sooooo fun. I had such a wonderful time playing with orphans and speaking Spanish. I wanted to bring one back with me. Then I remembered that I already have my very own Mexican to call my beau. He's just a little older and taller and he spoils me rotten. I love Mexico!

Finally, what I've been waiting for...

I had to edit this. just in case.

Friends, Romans, countrymen

Lend me your ears/eyes. This is the future and it looks bright. At least I'm into it! Click here to read an enlightening article!
Thanks Mike!

On my way home...

Roque and I played word games. I love those. First, we named all the words we could think of that ended with the letter 'f'. Then all the words that ended with 'tion'. Then we named all the words we could think of that were actually French words that we use frequently in English. Such as: rendezvous, fiance, ballet, chaise lounge, chalet, foyer, armoire, etc.
But we forgot one of my favorites. I didn't even realize it until I arrived home and used my bidet. I love bidets. Thank you France.

Truth: I love boring bands

These are my most recent favorites: Seabear
and Horse Feathers soooooooo good.

WOWZERS!

Being a teacher feels like this:
CRAZY!!!

Cryptonics

It seems there are some parts of me, my heart especially, that long for closure. They want to know that we have reached the end of the story. If there is no explicit "The End" my heart starts to play tricks on my mind. So what do I do? Is it better to let life run its course without ever knowing what could have happened or if you made the right choice? or lay your pondering heart on the table to hear the cold hard truth itself? Why do we always want closure? Why do we always want to know for sure, even though that knowledge throws away all hope and day-dreams. Do we really need that?

Sometimes I think that moving or running away is "The End" but I have been proved wrong. Its too bad it can't be that easy. So, I have recently come to the conclusion that I will not listen to my heart and let it tell me what to do. I don't think we always need closure, especially when our minds already have the answer.

I guess the hardest part is when our minds have to tell our hearts the truth. They just don't know how to break it to them. It seems mostly that my heart doesn't want to listen no matter how many times I tell it, "Listen up little heart, I know you feel that way, but this is the way it is..."
Thats just the way it is.

David has been helping me learn French:

I signed up for a French class at the community college. It was a toss up between that and graphic design. They were offering a free class to new students and French fit my schedule. Classes start in just one week and I am sooooo excited to learn French. Then next semester maybe I will take some classes in illustrator. Je suis très heureuse

I love to swim/bike/run, so why not???

CHECK THIS OUT. SOoOoOoo Great!.
Roque and I are signing up. Does anyone else want to be a triathlete?? Sign up!

favorite line:

love finds losers too. and marionettes.

I put myself to thinking...

being part of a community is really great. There is part of me that wants to go out and do amazing things, learning and traveling. I would love to experience different cultures first hand, struggle and serve. But most of me, right now, just wants to settle down in a house and get to know my neighbors, see them on bike rides and talk to them about the plants in their front yard.
I am moving this week to the guest house in my parents back yard. It is so great. I will have a big art studio upstairs in the loft with wood floors, a couch, a big table and a sink. I bought an easel last week and have been painting/collaging a lot lately.
So, for a while I reside in Nevada. I belong to the community here in Las Vegas. Come visit me if you want. I have two big couches and 2 queen beds for the sleeping.

so many things bottled up can make you a "post"oholic.

I want this card game. its like 'magic' magic. And lately, I love magic, the science, not the card game. But this video helps me see that I might like magic, the card game too.
wait, is magic a science???

this is true. I still love them and heres how it started...

This goes back to when I started to play the guitar. My sister came home from college after her first or second year there. We rode in the 12 passenger van to pick her up. She had her guitar and taught me some songs as we rode. First song I ever learned: "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles. She copied some of her music for me and soon I was playing "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel, "Take me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver and "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor. I started taking guitar lessons when I was 13. I had this amazing teacher, whose background was in classical guitar, so we sat with one foot on a stool and the guitar at a sharp angle dipping down between our knees. She would give me songs with the chords written in roman numerals so I could transpose them to any key, plus I practiced from a book of classical pieces where I learned all the notes on the guitar.
She would let me ask her any guitar questions I had and she would figure out songs for me. She even made me a mix tape of Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel. Then she taught me all those songs. She had great arrangements of "Homeward Bound" "April Come She Will" and "Scarborough Fair"
My senior year in highschool, for my AP English class, I wrote a research paper about the cleansing effects of rain, as demonstrated through literature. I read and analyzed hundreds of poems and prose about spring and rain. We had to record a cassette tape where we talked about the views we had expressed and I chose to start the tape with "Kathy's Song." This song, and "America" are my favorites, but I can't forget "Song For The Asking" or "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" or "The 59th Street Bridge Song," "Mrs. Robinson," "Bookends" etc!!! I love love love Simon and Garfunkel. Don't you??
The End.

yep, i was right

this is just as good as I thought it would be. check it out I love the one by the junior boys.

I just got a 'get out of jail free' card...

and it feels so good. I was suppose to go to court for 'criminal trespassing' on this next Thurs in Provo, but my friend's Dad, who is an attorney, talked with the prosecuting attorney and now...CASE DISMISSED! woo hoo. I am sad that I don't get to go to Provo and visit friends, but not so sad that I don't have to go to court and make a plea. Moral of the story: Just don't go up to the top of the Wells Fargo parking garage in downtown Provo. just don't.

+ time out +

can life just please time out while I figure out what is going to happen to harry potter???

I feel like I am always cutting my fingernails...

Have any of you read Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead? Whenever I think of fingernails I think of this scene:

Rosencrantz: Another curious scientific phenomenon is the fact that the fingernails grow after death, as does the beard.
Guildenstern: What?
Rosencrantz: Beard.
Guildenstern: But you're not dead.
Rosencrantz: I didn't say they only started to grow after death. The fingernails also grow before birth - though not the beard.
Guildenstern: What?
Rosencrantz: BEARD! What's the matter with you?
[pause]
Rosencrantz: The toenails, on the other hand, never grow at all.
Guildenstern: The toenails on the other FOOT never grow at all.
Rosencrantz: ...no.

I always wish that mine never grew at all too.

yes, I want.

I wrote a letter on a nothing day.
I asked somebody, “Could you send my letter away?”
“You are too young to put all of your hopes in just one envelope.”

I said goodbye to someone that I love.
It’s not just me, I tell you it’s the both of us.
And it was hard,
Like coming off the pills that you take to stay happy.

Someone above has seen me do alright.
Someone above is looking with a tender eye.
Upon your face, you may think you’re alone but you may think again.

If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.

And far away somebody read the letter.
He condescends to read the words I wrote about him.
And if he smiles, it’s no more than a genius deserves
For all your curious nerve and your passion.

I’m going deaf, you’re growing melancholy.
Things fall apart, I don’t know why we bother at all.
But life is good and it’s always worth living at least for a while.

If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.

If you think to yourself, “What should I do now?”
Than take the baton, and girl, you better run with it.
'Cause there is no point in standing in the past cause it’s over and done with.

I took a book and went into the forest.
I climbed the hill, I wanted to look down on you.
But all I saw was twenty miles of wilderness so I went home.

If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.
-belle & sebastian

luckily...

I found this.

PS: On February 15, 2007, it was announced Universal Pictures was developing a film based on the story of Milli Vanilli's rise-and-fall, including their loss of the Best New Artist Grammy. Catch Me If You Can screenwriter Jeff Nathanson will write and direct. Kim Marlowe, Morvan's longtime manager, will executive produce.

maybe i wanna grow up....

and buy myself a new car!!! which one should I get???

woot woot...festejemos por favor.

tengo trabajo fijo. No van a creerlo, pero hice una decision. Me quedo en Las Vegas. Voy a ser maestra de Espanol. Lo crees??? Hay una escuela privada que esta muy cerca de mi casa, solo dos cuadras. Ellos me van a emplear. que bien, no? Espero que pueda hacerlo. Voy a ensenar K-8. Y por eso, estoy practicando mi espanol. ayayaya las clases empiezan en Agosto. Espero ser preparada. Si tienen consejos, por favor dimelos. Aqui estoy:

neapolitan please...

you can't go wrong with three girls or la blogotheque...

heres what the month of May looked like...

Summer of Love 2007 in Provo. miss you.

Miss Mom

My sister and her husband went to Hawaii. So I am here in Vegas tending their children for the remaining days of their vacation. Being a mom is the craziest thing ever. I can't believe how hard it is!?!. I can't believe how so many people do this?!? You never get a rest, you never get a vacation. If you are tired it doesn't matter. They will poke you in the eye, put chapstick on your lips and forehead and hang beads from your nose.
Today, we had a lot of fun though. We went to the new DI that they just built up on the North side of town. I loved being able to buy them anything...because everything they picked up costed 50 cents. I felt like the best Aunt ever!! I bought Kenna a pink hat, a pink purse, a couple of toys and some red sparkley shoes, just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. She put them on this afternoon and then she couldn't stop looking down at her feet. It was adorable. I wish I could have a picture of her bent over checking out her shoes.
Hopefully I have won over some young impressionable minds to the ways of thrift store shopping. You can feel like a millionaire!!

summer 2007

I have been so busy summering it up here in Provo, that I haven't written anything. But here goes....I came up for graduation, but just might stay forever, or at least until it starts turning cold. This is so much fun. Provo is the perfect place to be in the summer. My roomate and I organize our activities every day to be able to maximize the fun we have. We bike, swim, play badminton or volleyball and hang out with friends non-stop. We meet new people every day and flirt with all the guys at the bike shop.
Last week was dedicated to Spiderman. We went and saw the 3rd one yesterday. This week is dedicated to Freaks and Geeks....keeping with the James Franco theme. LOVE IT!
I will have to post some pictures from all my adventures. It has been amazing! I have met tons of people and am loving life!! Thats what this is, loving life 2007!!!

audi-whatey?

I just saw a sign that said, "Private Cul-de-sac, residents and guests only." What a funny word. I wondered why we would use something that meant bottom of a sack to name this type of urban planning. Then I remember back to the cul-de-sac where I lived growing up. And how I used to think it was called a cultasack. Here it is. Ahhh, the good ol days. Lately, I am having a struggle with growing up. I just don't want to do it. I want to swim everyday this summer and play capture the flag at night with Katie, Ben, Teryn, Brittany, Jake, Travis, and Rob.

highly recommended...

I just found out my latitude and longitude. Now I can finally be happy. I really know where I am. I am located at: 36° 5' N 115° 10' W. You can look up your own here. soooo enlightening.

why oh why?

Why is it that every time I hear the name Procter & Gamble I picture this. Does anyone else do that? Well, now you will.

if I was good at hating, I'd hate you. If I was good at loving, I'd fall.

ATTENTION: I made a new life record this weekend. I was proposed to twice. Once on Friday and once on Sunday. Two different guys. Can you believe it? Two proposals in one weekend! Also, two refusals in one weekend. So, now, if I don't ever get married, the responsibility will rest on my shoulders. I mean, it's not like I didn't have the opportunity! oops. "If I was good at loving, I'd fall," says Tracy Ann and I concur.

this sounds good.

I am feeling like one hundred dollars today. I know this guy. He's great and this article confirms it. Read this. I agree. Magleby's Talk

Talk To Him

If you think no ones ever felt this way
You are probably wrong.
everyone feels the same things.
How many emotions are there in this world:
sadness
anger
loneliness
rage
frustration
anxiety
jealously
love
depression
happiness
disappointment
hatred
disgust
peace
etc.
not more than the amount of people: 6,586,322,455 as of today.
I am almost one-hundred percent pretty sure
that another individual has felt the same
Maybe it wasn't caused by the same situation
Maybe to you, yours seems more harsh
but guarenteed, someone's felt what you are feeling.

We need a location device, some type of communicator
to put us in contact with those who have been through this
But then if you think about it
those people might be right around you
Maybe its your:
mom
dad
uncle
sibling best friend
second cousin
brother in-law
girl best friend
first cousin once removed
etc.
It could be someone close: within 2.3 miles.
Maybe they're upstairs
Thats probably where they are.
upstairs.
You should just ask.
yeah, Talk To Him.

Robots 2007

So, don't worry. This weekend when my friends were in town we made sure to make it to the Robot Convention. It was more like a competition to see who could make the best robot. All these highschoools came from all over the country to the Thomas & Mack and brought with them the future...robots. We had a good time. Heres some photos and clips from the blessed event.


This robot was tired.


These are the crazy robots during game time!
The future looks bright ladies and gentlemen.
eeeeps...this looks a little scary actually:

teaching swim school=really fun

Its only my second day and I already got this note. who wouldn't love teaching little kids to swim??? Plus they think you look really great in a swim suit...see the realistic representation..."when you swim, a side-pony is the way to go,"says swim teacher rachel.

provo dont be so lame...

come on grow up. seriously, like there aren't better things to do then protest the visit of the Vice-President of the United States. That makes me so sick. One thing I learned when I left Provo was that, everything that matters there, doesn't even matter in the real world. Its all about the people and there are so many other things we can do with our time.
I personally respect the decisions made by the board to invite Cheney. I am sure that I can learn something from him, even if I don't agree with a lot of his politics. He prolly won't even talk politics!
Its all about respect and tolerance. I feel so ashamed that my fellow students would disrespect like that...whateves, Its a free country. talk about controversy

Oh how I wish I could photosynthesize!!

Now I see that this has a double meaning. If you have twenty-nine minutes and four seconds, listen to this: Look up 'Maxwell, Neal A.' Topic:Patience, Its the last one listed, entitled "PATIENCE" then download the free MP3. It will change your life

Arbor day is on the way...

I might be a tree hugger
I bought this shirt to commemorate arbor day. love it.

holla holla holla

I LOVE my friends. Way to go superstars!! Go vote for Ju and Emily after March 31st. This video is spectacular!!

I, wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day.

So basically I was on tour with Drew Danburry, but if you want to know the truth, Drew just needed a ride to UT and as incentive told me I could open. It was pretty amazing to be a rock star for a weekend, playing a show for a bunch of people I didn't know, standing behind the merch table and telling everyone about Drew and his music. Its been fun to have Drew in Vegas.
First off on the tour, he played a show in Provo with Micah and Camille and some other bands. It was so much fun to see Heather, Amy, Hillary, Stefan, Lauren, Shannon, and Aaron:



After the Provo show we went up to Logan to play a house party. We met a ton of cool people and the crowd was amazing. I've included a picture of Drew rocking the crowd up in Logan.



I think it is so hard to make music into a business, or anything you love for that matter, into a business. If you become a rock star you need to make money doing it, but at the same time I wished that I could have developed real relationships with all of those awesome people I met in Logan. We had a great time and if anyone wants to book us for future shows. Call Annelisa...she's the real girlfriend/booking agent.


That yellow bucket was the collection plate. We got it filled to the top. People just kept pulling out $20s and we eventually had to tell them, "We know you like our music, but you need to eat this week." or "We can't take your whole paycheck." and stuff like that.

And here, for your listening pleasure, Nate and I recorded this song back in January. "Sonny Listen"--Its our first single. Enjoy!
Sunny Listen

This must be why I am so west coast...

I'm just a snob, reviewing some album...

So, the Shins new album...not many people have given it outstanding reviews. But personally, there are quite a few reasons why I like it. Mostly, I make that statement because of one line in 'Girl Sailor,' "You've made it through the direst of straits alright, can you help it if plain love now seems less interesting?"
That in a nutshell describes how I feel lately. When you've been in love with someone who is completely crazy, strange, non-commital, needy and extremely emotionally unstable, liking a normal guy suddenly becomes really hard. Your mind can't understand someone sane. What? there's no games, no guessing?? All the sudden plain love just seems less interesting. woah, unbelievable.
So at least I finally pin pointed what it was. In the end, when its true, plain love will be enough. John Lennon was right, "All you need is love."

I could chew this all day long...

YUM YUM GIMME SUM!! so minty, so mojito-y, so exotic. you're gonna love it.

Birthday Supreme! Just like the pizza, but I am 25!

This is what $25,000 would look like if these were $1000 bills instead of ones. I had to pop the 25 balloons that my parents blew up for my birthday breakfast surprise to get all the cash out. It was a great day, commemorating my birth.


Bob at work bought me cheetos. Rene bought me a cookie. Amy bought me the 20 questions game-rock and roll version. Diana bought me a design book. Drew and Megan bought me chocolate cake.
I wish all of you could have come!!!
After dancing and trying to stump the 20 questions games with Bright Eyes, Gustav Mahler and Reba McIntire, we went hot-tubbing at a hotel downtown. LOVE it!!!

maps interest me.

I do market and sales research. Basically I make spreadsheets with info for sales reps. One thing I have enjoyed is seeing names of cities that I didn't know existed. There are some really great names, it makes me want to visit these places, or just say their names, or just tell people I am from there. Here are some of my favorites:
1.Itasca, IL
2.Boca Raton, FL
3. King of Prussia, PA
4. Piscataway, NJ
5. Celebration, FL
I love being able to assign a memory to a dot on a map. You never know what a place looks like until you go there. Each city is distinct. Sandra Cisneros expressed this idea in her book "Caramelo" when she talked about her family's annual trip to Mexico. I love it. She says, "Not like on the Triple A atlas from orange to pink, but at a stoplight in a rippled heat and a dizzy gasoline stink, the United States ends all at once, a tangled shove of red lights from cars and trucks waiting their turn to get past the bridge. Miles and miles."
This weekend I saw Logan and got to know it a little better. Now it is more than just a dot on the map. That is another blog in and of itself, don't worry, soon.

The problem is money comes and goes...

At the rate I am going I will never be able to save enough money for grad school by this coming August. So I have decided that the only solution is to start playing Megabucks. yes! it was divine providence that I moved to Las Vegas.

U R A 10!

Happy Valentines Day! I love you all!
Fax me! Email my heart! Text me! Blog me!
Tonight is our ward temple night...for sealings. What a great coincidence! Since my friend and I didn't sign up for the ward valentine date (every year they do a little match making and assign you a date for the 14th of Feb. You can even make requests) we decided to go do sealings. This should be the best valentines day ever!

Dear Salt Lake City, I am really sorry to hear about what happened Monday night...

Rest in peace Trolley Square.

prolly this is my favorite picture of 2007.

I found this: two of my friends from elementary school jumping on the tramp in my backyard with my brother.
I love aaron's clothes, his checkered vans with knee-high socks and crazy shorts with matching pocket on the shirt. Then check out the girl on the left's boots. Any girl would wish she could own those now. We used to play hide-and-seek in my neighborhood. The best place to hide was in the corn-rows. Yum, look at all that corn in the background. Sometimes I wish I was still a kid. Childhood is so care-free, making faces at the camera, doing some chores so you can go swimming, playing monopoly for days on end, riding bikes to 7-11 and then riding home with no-hands so you can drink the slurpee and open the candy you bought, making home movies, playing recreational soccer, cheating at go-fish, getting in trouble for saying "butt-face" "stupid" and "shut-up"
I think that is why I liked "13 going on 30" so much. She recognizes her innocence lost. I wish we could all be innocent again and also tell more knock-knock jokes.

Life is not what I thought it was 48 hours ago.

My office is being remodeled this week. My boss kept saying, "tomorrow it will be done." But finally on Wednesday at about 3pm I figured the week was already over and I should just ask for Thurs and Fri off to go visit San Diego State University and talk to professors there about the grad program. I applied there this year so I wanted to check it out and I already had work off, I just needed to get into the car and drive. So with basic plans set up, I left about an hour later, hoping I could find a place to sleep and also hoping the ceramics professors wouldn't be on sabbatical.
I stayed at my sisters on Wed night in Long Beach. Then early Thurs I went to San Diego. I wandered around campus and felt so happy that I couldn't stop smiling. This is hard to admit, but I do miss being a student. I scheduled an appointment with one of the profs, then the other one gave me a little tour of the studio. They both seemed extremely nice and easy going and also I talked to some grads and undergrads. The program is awesome, the facilities are amazing and San Diego is beautiful.
I really wanted to go to the temple the next day, so luckily I found a place to stay there in San Diego. (muchas gracias a estefan) Then I drove home. wow. vamos a ver que pasa.

THIS is heaven on earth!!

I feel like life is always a lot different from what I think. Sometimes it takes a year to look back and recognize our growth, sometimes just a couple of days. Those moments are two-edged swords because on the one hand I love seeing the enlightenments I have had, but on the other hand I always wonder what my current blindness is.
So, moral is: I can't change the past and worrying about the future only makes me nauseous...I guess I have to live in the present with all its little surprises keeping me on my toes. Its a funny process: becoming who we are.
So, goal is: Do something crazy spontaneous today! It vales the pena. Thats spanglish for its worth the pain.

Things I really like on roadtrips...not necessarily in this order

1. rolling the windows down
2. sunflower seeds
3. looking at maps while driving
4. dr. pepper
5. making u-turns
6. npr
7. feeling independent
8. really loud music, I'm talking REALLY loud!
9. rest stops, those are great.
10. living out of a suitcase

Museums should be more interactive...

This weekend I went to/by two different museums that I really enjoyed. Rob was in town and we went to the Neon Boneyard. It is at the Neon Museum downtown.


They only take groups by reservations so we just drove by and looked in above the fence. It was amazing. They have all the old signs from old imploded hotels and casinos. I have to get an appointment and organize a rendezvous with some friends. So if you want to go, contact me and we will get a reservation!!
Second museum that we experienced was the Pinball Hall of Fame.

It was so much fun! They have about 5 rows of superb pinball machines. Most of them have little tags talking about how they acquired the machine and how old it is and how famous/infamous it is. Heres a picture of the inside.

Basically, I have been thinking all day about the next time I can go. I am really excited to play the Pirates of the Carribean machine. There was this guy hogging it for a long time when we went, but it's pretty awesome if you can sink
the ship like Rob did.
Wouldn't that be great if we could play with all historical artifacts when we went to museums. History would be much more interactive and maybe I would appreciate it even more.

THIS IS A MUST!!!

My friend Kara just told me about clearification.com. It is really funny. Just go there with plenty of time to watch and plenty of breath to laugh! oh man, I could watch it for hours...

COWA'BANGS'A!!

I have always thought about going to hair school. It would be neat to actually know how to cut and dye hair, even though I do it without proper training. Here are some of my clients/friends. I am trying, one person at a time, to take over the world with bangs. Bangs will hopefully soon wield more influence in society.

"The Sidesweep" a classic show on Bryn

"The Rachel" shown on Lauren

"Bangalicious" shown on Julia


This one is called "Bangarang" shown on Rachel


And just a note, from one who was told they have very healthy gums by a friend who is in dental school today, remember to floss. Gingivitis is no one's friend.

Did you know??

Ben Folds turns 40 this year. And to think that all this time I thought he was our age, I guess I never really thought about it. But now, rethink all of his music as being sung by a 40-year old man. weird.

me di cuenta

We just need to help more people. Everyday I realize more and more how many people need help. 2007: year of selflessness. Go forth to serve!!

steve jobs, can you help us out???

So when I was little I loved to talk on the phone to my friends. We would always imagine how cool it would be to be able to pass things through the phone. I feel that technology has advanced far enough now to be able to figure that one out. I mean, come on, we are in 2007! Also I think we should invent the ability to download real things (like 3-D objects) to our computers/houses and if you want to google a scent, for example you want to know what patchouli smells like, you just click on some icon and patchouli sprays out of your computer. That would be better than those weird flavored jelly belly beans. I think that the future has great things in store for us. Apple will prolly be the first one to make these ideas reality, hopefully they will include click wheels, and lots of them. I want everything in my house to have a click wheel. Patchouli, patchouli, patchouli...thats really fun to say, thanks Julia!!!

Merriam-Webster sandwich on spelt bread

This has got to be healthy. Do you ever wish you could just eat a dictionary for lunch and then ingest all those words that you need to know for the GRE?? I do. ONLY TWO MORE DAYS LEFT TO STUDY!!!