Take A Hint!

Alright… I hate being mean… especially when it comes to guys. I will almost always go on at least one date with a guy who asks me out, and sometimes a second. But if there is no interest on one or both parties, the guy can usually pick up that the girl is in fact, not interested. But, that doesn’t always stop them. Some are very persistent little buggers and there is no nice way to break the news to them! Such is the case with Joe (I changed the name). I don’t even know when or where we first met. We’re in the same ward, so probably at church or some ward function. And actually, when we met I was dating someone else so I didn’t even think I had to worry about that. But either he never knew that, or it just didn’t stop him.

A few weeks later, he asked me out, and I had since broken up with the guy I was dating, so I figured “why not?” Like I said, always give the guy a chance. I don’t remember what happened, but something very legitimate came up and I -- oh, I finally got some work and I had to take it.

Anyway, so we rescheduled and did something the next week instead, but I just wasn’t feeling it. He however, must have thought differently. He called me up a few days later and asked for that coming Saturday. I told him I wasn’t sure if I’d be in town or not, because there was a very likely possibility that I’d be in California that weekend (for Jackie’s baptism). He said, “well let’s just tentatively set it and then if you do end up going, give me a call.” Well, the next day things worked out for my trip to California so I called him up to cancel and he randomly happened to on my front porch, trying to get a hold of another roommate of mine. So I went upstairs and let him in and while he waited for my other roommate, I cancelled.

He said, “Oh that’s okay – we can do it next weekend!” I said, “Oh, but it’s Conference weekend.” (I have various plans that whole weekend with friends in town, etc). He said “Oh that’s right – okay we can do it the weekend after that.” That was the point where I’m sure my face said more than my words because in my head I thought “Are you kidding me?” because who makes plans 3 weeks in advance? Shoot, I don’t even know what my schedule 3 days from now is let alone 3 weeks! So then he said, “oh are you working that weekend?” I told him that I might be (which is true, because it was 3 weeks away) and so he finally relinquished and said that we’d figure something out after I got back from California. (Oh I forgot to mention that the day I was driving to California, he also invited me for ice cream somewhere, but again, I couldn’t go – I was sort of driving through Vegas at that time.)

WELL… I am currently at my grandparents’ house for a few days and got this voicemail tonight. It was from Joe and I had missed the call (there isn’t very good service up here, so most calls just go straight to voicemail). So I listened to it and about fell over. He was calling to make sure we were still on for this Friday! …seriously? When was that discussed and where was I when those plans were made? I can’t call out here, so I’ll have to wait until I get back to talk to him (he doesn’t use facebook or anything; and thus doesn’t know about my blog either, thank goodness), but you’ve got to be kidding me! I already said that Conference weekend was out! And now all of a sudden we have a date planned?? Is he trying to be sneaky or something? Sorry buddy, but I have an excellent memory (and a VERY accurate journal) and I sure as heck would have remembered agreeing to that. I am just getting more and more frustrated with this guy and don’t know how to break it to him gently that I am clearly not interested!

Why is it always that the ones you’re interested in are never into you, and the ones you are clearly not into are the ones who won’t leave you alone!? Bah!

The Energizer Bunny

Wow, so I was home for a grand total of about 9 hours before I was on the road again. Paul and I went to the L.A. 1st Ward yesterday, ate some food at break-the-fast, and then got on the road. We didn't leave L.A. until about 6:15pm. Thus, we got into Provo at 4:30 or 5am. I got my stuff inside, got ready for bed, and got into bed around 5:30 or 6, got up around noon, did a few essential things and then left just after 2pm for my grandparents' house. There must be something wrong with me... because I LOVE having that busy of a schedule! I somehow thrive on it, where it seems to kill most people. Yet somehow I gain more energy with weeks like this. Strange, huh?

Anyway, it's always fun to visit my grandparents. I got there around 6 and we had dinner chatted, watched a bit of TV, and then my grandma and I chatted until nearly midnight! I was surprised, because my grandparents usually go to sleep relatively early (my grandpa went to sleep around 10 tonight). But it was so much fun talking to my grandma!

Another fun thing about "going to grandma's" is the food. Admit it, you are all thinking the same thing. What better place to go for good food than to your grandma's house? I always leave their place plenty filled! And because they live so far up in the mountains, it is always awesome to look at the stars! They're so bright and vivid! Okay, so tonight they weren't... the moon was too dang bright to be able to see them as well as normal, but you could still see them better than in Provo or any "city." There is just something about stars that fascinate me and I could look at them all night... one of these days I want to literally go "camping underneath the stars" and just look up into the sky for hours. Wouldn't that be fun?? :P

Baptism!

Jackie got baptized yesterday! It was awesome!!! I was telling her on Friday that she's the first really close friend of mine to get baptized and that seemed to make her even more excited. It sure as heck made me excited! We got up yesterday morning, got ready, fed her friend's dogs, and then headed to the church. Oh and before we left her house, we had to take pictures of course. :P

We got there a bit early, but had time to chat with those who were coming in. I also disappeared for a few minutes so I could go and put her gift together, so it would be ready once the baptismal service as over. It started with a couple of really awesome talks from friends of hers, and then... she got baptized! Yay!!! Oh, but before that there was this amazing musical number that her friend and a friend of his put together and it was beautiful. It was their own impromptu version of "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus" and I'm pretty sure it made Jackie's mom cry (she isn't a member).


After the baptism, a bunch of us went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. Jackie, Jackie's mom, Jackie's friend Alice (but said like "uh-leese"), as well as her friend Jeanette and her boyfriend, Adam Johnson and a friend of his, the missionaries, and I all went. We had a blast and were there for quite some time. And while it was great fun, the thing I was most impressed about was Jackie's mother.

Her mom is born-and-raised Catholic and oftentimes when people join the church, it seems to tear families apart, though I still can't understand why. Anyway, I was just absolutely blown away by her mom's support. She wasn't exactly happy about it, but she was happy for Jackie and very supportive of her decision. She bought her a gift, as well as a 'Congratulations!' card and even came to church with us today. She is an absolutely fabulous mother. I wish more mothers acted like that when their child makes the decision to be baptized. She may not agree with church doctrine, but she does recognize that Jackie not only believes it, but that it has made her a better person. I can't say enough about her mother. She was awesome.

I am so excited for Jackie! And I am SO happy I was able to make it down to L.A.!! Baptisms are awesome!!!

Strangers are Just Friends Waiting To Happen

Everyone has those few friends with whom you can share absolutely everything. They usually come far and few between, but when you find a friend like that, it's awesome. I've had 2 or 3 friends like that for quite some time now, but I've recently gained another. And it's funny because Alyssa and I have only known each other since May! But yet it's as if we have been the closest of friends for ages - and I love it!

Anyway, I went to Alyssa's last night just so we could catch up and whatnot, because it had been about a week and a half (she still lives in Sparks, and I'm about 2 miles away now). We ended up talking for almost FOUR hours! We definitely never run out of things to say to one another! And it was just one of those really good conversations, ya know? We talked about everything. And I just love it when you come across friends with whom you can tell anything to and know that it will be okay. Alyssa, you're great! :)

In other news, I leave for California today! Unfortunately, I'm not leaving until 5 or 6 tonight, so it's going to be a looong drive. But Paul (the guy I'm driving down with) doesn't get out of classes until 4 I think, and he's driving down from Salt Lake. Bummer. I know the "polite" thing is to stay awake the entire drive - for the driver's sake... but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that. I'm like 99% back to normal (from the whole wisdom teeth thing), but the only thing that isn't 100% normal is my sleeping habits. I feel like a little kid who needs a nap every 2 or 3 hours! So I very well may conk out for a few hours here and there!

But I'm so excited to go. Hopefully this time next year I'll be back in California - permanently. Well, maybe not permanently, because I don't want to live there forever... but for a good many years at least. And to go along with the post title... I have met Paul once... and he was dressed as a pirate. ha! So I've never seen him dressed normal, and I've never actually talked to him for more than 5 seconds, so it will definitely be an interesting - but fun - drive. He seems like a cool guy though, so I have a feeling there will be some good conversation that will come. Here's to California!

She'd Be California

So... I have gone back and forth about 20 times as to whether or not I would be making a trip out to CA this weekend. Jackie, an awesome girl I met this summer, is getting baptized! We met at a party the first month I was in CA and randomly happened to be working on the same film short the following week and have kept in touch ever since. I really wanted to go, but I had a double dilemma: (1) money, and (2) work. I was scheduled to work this event Friday night so I would have had to fly, and I couldn’t find anything for less than $200. So after much deliberation, I decided late last night that I wouldn’t be able to make it.

However, I got a call this afternoon from the guy who crews me for the sports events and he began to explain the gruesome details of the event on Friday. He said “let me preface this with the fact that I love having you on my crews and if you still choose to work this event, I will gladly take you… but I just thought I should let you know what exactly is going down…” It’s this bloody bare knuckles cage fighting event that is being filmed in Wyoming because pretty much everywhere else it would be illegal. And it is supposedly planned to be so gruesome that it is only going to be broadcast via internet. I will spare you the rest of the details, but after talking with him, I decided that it may be best to pass on this one.

Suddenly, my Friday was free again and I was excited because I was actually going to go to this dancing thing with Karie that I really wanted to go to anyway. But then I called Jackie to wish her a happy birthday and found out that her friend Paul, who moved to SLC, is driving out for her baptism! I told her that my work thing had just been ‘canceled’ and that driving out was once again an option! So she gave me Paul’s number and I called him up and he’s going to pick me up on his way down and we’re going to road trip it to California tomorrow! I love the spontaneity of my life. :P

Now, the only thing that I feel bad about is that I did have tentative plans for Saturday. The YA tech crew does a reunion about once a year and they’re actually really fun. It’s this Saturday morning and I was definitely planning on being there, but alas… I guess I won’t. And I also had a date this Saturday, but luckily when it was scheduled, he already knew it was tentative so at least the idea of me canceling was already a possibility.

It’s funny, because I just realized that I haven’t even been gone a full month, yet it feels like I have been gone forever. I guess I fell in love with California more than I thought! Anyway, I’m excited to go back – even if it is only for a few days!! :)

Post title: song by Rascal Flatts

I'll Be Out In A Jiffy!

Well, as you probably would suspect, I wasn't really up to writing in here yesterday! But I will let you know that all went well and I feel that I am recovering rather quickly. The quick run-down of what happened yesterday:

Zarah got here around 10 and we drove up to SLC. We got there around 10:50, I filled out some paperwork, went back to get my x-rays and then had to wait til about 11:45 before they finally called me back. I then had to wait another 10 minutes or so for the dentist to come back. He had already looked at my x-ray and said "well, it looks pretty clean cut. We'll be done in about 15 minutes!" I was slightly confused because I had heard that impacted teeth were more difficult and could cause more complications, so I asked him about that. He said "Yes, the bottom two are technically impacted; however they have partially surfaced, which makes them much easier to get out, so it'll be a breeze."

The anesthesiologist had come in right around then and began explaining to me what he was going to do/stick me with, and how it would affect me. He tied this elastic around the upper part of my right arm and told me to make a fist. He distracted me while he stuck me with something, and then informed me that next he'd be putting in the medication that would knock me out. He said it would take about 30 seconds for it to take effect. I remember beginning to say "I think it's working," but I'm pretty sure it sounded more like "I think... it's......." haha.

Next thing I knew, it was over and I was awake. Well, sort of. I was still pretty out of it. The nurse went over everything with myself and Zarah and I was definitely grateful for Zarah because I sure as heck didn't remember a thing the nurse was saying! Once we got back to my place, Zarah told me everything that I had said, and admitted that she was slightly disappointed that I hadn't said crazy things. She said "you were definitely out of it, but you were asking really intelligent questions! You kept asking the nurse about things that you could or couldn't eat, and you asked if you could have a milkshake. You asked about the prescriptions a couple of times, too." And I apparently asked Zarah 3 times from that point to the time we got home if she had called my mom. (My mom told me Thursday morning before I went in that she wanted Zarah to call her afterward so she would know that all was well).

We stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home so we could fill my prescriptions. I'm not entirely sure why, but I have FOUR. One is just a massive dosage of ibuprofen (800mg each). Another is some sort of antibiotic that I'm supposed to take breakfast, lunch, dinner, and right before bed. Then I had "Lortab/Percoset" and I'm not sure if that is combined in one or if it is two separate ones. But with the Lortab, I know I do take a smaller pill as well. So maybe that's the percoset? Or maybe that's the other antibiotic of sorts. I really have no idea. All I know though, is that whatever I'm taking... it's working!

I was worried that I would barely be coherent for the following days, but I have done pretty well yesterday and today! Granted, after I take one of the sets of meds, I usually conk out for a few hours afterward, other than that I am great! I think the Lortab/Pecoset stuff is what knocks me out more. I took that at 3 this afternoon and suddenly it became very difficult to stay awake. I was out by 4, and don't remember a thing again until about 6!!

My cheeks are kiiing of swollen, but not really. A few friends came over tonight and watched a movie, and they said I hardly looked swollen at all - and that I "definitely didn't look like someoneo who had just gotten their wisdom teeth taken out." So that's good! I have been following all of "doctor's orders" to a T. I have been 'rinsing' my mouth with saltwater multiple times a day, taking the meds every 3 hours as recommended (alternating between the Lortab set and ibuprofen set), eating with each dosage, icing as frequently as possible...

What I'm still scared about is dry sockets. I'm told that those usually appear on the 3rd day, and tomorrow will technically be Day 3... and I'll be working all day tomorrow up in Weber. I just hope that I'll be coherent enough to work and function and be able to operate a hard camera for an entire football game...! We'll see what happens! When everyone else goes for lunch, I will probably just find a place to crash and take a nap. :P

But there you have it. My first experience "going under" and so far, I am one of those "good experience" stories. I just hope it stays that way and continues to be smooth sailing from here on out!! :)

Going Under

Alright, I know I have already written a post on this, but seeing as the appointment is tomorrow, it is sort of largely on my mind: I get my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow. I have never had mouth work, never had a needle or an IV stuck into me, and never had any sort of anesthesia/been "knocked out." Granted, I have no idea the procedure for wisdom teeth... I have no idea how they go about 'knocking me out' or what will happen afterward. I doubt IVs will be involved, since it is supposedly such a short procedure - they'll probably just gas me or something, but who knows! But then, what if I'm the 1-in-100 where whatever they give me to knock me out doesn't last long enough and I wake up in the middle?!

I have heard both really good and incredibly bad stories of friends who have already gotten theirs out. One friend said that they didn't even put him under, and he was fine by the end of the day. Another said he was out for days afterward. A roommate of mine two years ago had hers out while we lived together, and she was out for quite a few days, too. One was coherent pretty soon after, but in constant pain. I have another friend who said and did the strangest things once he got home - the drugs they gave him did weird stuff to him. So, I am also slightly worried about the weird things that I may say or do after, and the level of pain and coherency that will exist as well.

Maybe I'm sounding like a wuss about this, but it's really freaking me out! I guess it wouldn't be AS bad if I knew I had nowhere I needed to be for the next few days and could just be 'dead to the world' for a bit... but I have work on Saturday! I *have* to be back to normal by then! *sigh*
I'm just praying that it is a NORMAL procedure and nothing goes awry and that I will heal quickly.... wish me luck!

Real-Life Sitcom

My mom tells me my life could be a sitcom. She loves my morning calls because I fill her in on the 'excitement' of the night before. And let me tell you, it is SO much easier to be incredibly social in Provo than in L.A.! I always hesitate how much or how little to include on here, so I guess we'll see what happens...

Last night, Karie and I went to our combined ward FHE barbecue. I decided about a week ago that I was going to be as social as possible and hang out with a different group of friends each day, if possible. I did a pretty good job of that Sunday-Thursday of last week, but then I had to go to Pocatello Fri-Sun so that temporarily killed it. But not to worry - I picked up right where I left off and Sunday was a combination of old and new friends (at Sparks). I guess you could say that last night was also a combination of "old and new" friends... but this time around, it wasn't at the same time.

Karie and I were in line to get food and we started talking with these two guys in front of us, and we all ended up sitting together, too. I never caught what Braden does, but JB said "I'm a police officer." I don't know why, but just the way he said it sounded sarcastic and he seemed to have the personality that would joke about something like that; so I actually didn't believe him at first. But he really is - I saw his gun and badge later on. I've never been friends with a cop before so I suddenly found myself being extra careful of the things I said and did around him, even though it probably wouldn't matter at all, because I really have nothing to hide. Well, except maybe, my knife. I'm like 99% sure that it's a fully legal knife to carry around, but I've never actually measured the length of the blade, so I can't say for *sure* whether or not it's legal, and I don't have a concealed weapons permit yet either. Luckily, last night was the 1-in-10 that I didn't have my knife on me.

No one was expecting it to have rained ALL day, so the barbecue was *supposed* to be this warm and dry day... and JB had brought a football to throw around, but no one wanted to throw it because it was so wet outside and still raining a bit. But I'm a sucker for football and will throw anytime anyplace. So we threw back and forth for 15 minutes or so - until it got too slippery and too dark. I then went back and chatted with Karie and this guy Nate, and JB disappeared. A few minutes later he came back and invited me and Karie to his place to watch a movie. A friend of mine and I had joked a bit last night about doing something tonight, but I hadn't heard back from him, so I figured it wasn't actually going to happen... so Karie and I went to JB's for a movie.

Well... about 10 minutes before the end of the movie, the same friend who joked about doing something tonight suddenly texts me (it's about 10:15). Turns out, he's still planning on stopping by... but Karie and I are still at JB's. Luckily, the movie is almost over. The movie ends, he walks us back to our place, we say 'thanks for the movie', unlock our door, walk inside, begin walking towards the kitchen, and literally about 5 seconds later there was a knock at our door. It was my friend Aaron. I guess I can see how my mom thinks my life could be a sitcom!

Party in the U.S.A.

Oh my goodness, talk about sore! I was planning on about a 16-hour day, and that is almost exactly what it was. We got to ISU (from the hotel) at 8:30am and didn't leave until 12:30am! Oh my goodness it was a long day - but totally worth it for the paycheck I'll get! :P Now I just really wish someone would give me an amazing massage because I sure need it! Running camera for 12 hours will take a toll on ya! I had to do handheld for one of the games, too and wow... that thing is like a brick! Running up and down a football field for 2-3 hours with that brick on your shoulder ... no thanks! Anyway, the day as a whole wasn't that bad. I'd done this "Rocky Mountain Rumble" thing before, so at least I knew what to expect/what I was getting myself into.

Since we didn't finish until 12:30, everyone stayed at the hotels again for one more night (it was already paid for, so why not?) and left early this morning. We got back around 11:30 or 12 and I showered, got dressed, and went to my friend Adam's ward. I had written on my facebook status "hmmm... what ward (in Provo) starts sometime after 12 tomorrow... since I won't get back from Idaho until about then! Any suggestions? :P " Adam was the only one who wrote back before I went to sleep, so I went with him. Plus, it was the other Sparks ward and I had a few friends in that ward and thought it would be fun, since I still seem to be at Sparks 3+ times a week!

After church, I came home and chatted with Karie for a while before taking a glorious nap. There was a CES fireside tonight, so she and I watched that and then chatted a bit more until it was time for ward prayer. However, I headed to Sparks for the weekly multi-language hymn singing! I think every ward should do that. It's so awesome. This week we added Japanese to the mix! And my friend had a Russian hymn book, so I took a stab at singing in Russian. Depending on the song, I could read it in time... but when we sang the more upbeat ones... yeah, I was lost! I can read it, but I can't read it fast yet! So on those ones, I would revert to my Spanish hymn book.

Also, there are randomly a LOT of people in the ward this year from random parts of my life! Last week I could have sworn I saw someone I knew from VA, but I wasn't 100% sure so I never went up to him. But this week I was certain, so before ward prayer I pointed at him with an "I know you!" face and he looked and pointed at me too. Kevin Gonzales is in my old ward! He was in one of the Centreville wards back in high school. Small world! Also, my friend Mike (different Mike) from freshman year is randomly in this ward too! AND... one of those people you KNOW you know but for the life of you can't figure out how you know each other. His name is Jake and we spent half the evening trying to figure out how we know each other. He's an animation major; I was sound recording. I never really did any projects or anything with animation people, so that can't be it. But he has been in a lot of choirs/music groups. But he was in Singers, and I definitely never was! He looked like someone from Vocal Point, so I asked if he had been in that and he had... but it could not possibly have been from that, because he was in it 03-04 and I wasn't even at BYU yet! We never did figure it out! Bah. Oh well. Eventually, right?

The rest of the evening was spent bouncing between apartments in Sparks. After hymn-singing and ward prayer, I ended up at 8 for quite some time... which, was slightly weird since that was where I lived last year! Management totally fixed up the place after I left and now it looks amazing! AND... 8 has apparently turned into the "party apartment" and everyone is always over at 8. Boo! I guess having a very PDA/engaged roommate last fall as well as two roommates who hardly spoke English kind of took our apartment out of the running for "most fun apartment to be in."

We all played Nerts at Apt 8, and Jason was there (a friend from the ward last year) and last time I played "partner Nerts" (because there were so many people) Jason and I smoked everyone! So we partnered again. And let me tell you... it is SO hard to lose on purpose! Most everyone was learning, and whenever I play with people who are just learning, I go extra slow and lose on purpose. I told Jason that we couldn't smoke everyone in the first round, so we went as slow as possible... and still won, dangit! We played slow again the 2nd round and finally cranked it up 3rd round. I usually hate playing partner Nerts, but Jason and I have a system down and it works beautifully!

After that ended, I went to Jake's apartment (different Jake than the animation one) and played games with people in his ward. It was some weird karate-ish game that actually was a lot of fun! Everyone gets into some sort of karate position and then each person takes turn trying to slap one of their neighbors' hands and if they succeed, that person is out. Minus the whole BYU-housing and 6-people-to-an-apartment thing, I almost want to live in Sparks again!

The Beauty of Freelance

I am currently sitting in an absolutely beautiful hotel room, on a king-size bed. In front of me is a couch, a coffee table, another smaller couch, a full-sized table, a 32" flat screen TV, a full fridge, microwave, dishwasher, and stove; and don't forget the cabinets full of dishes. The cost: nothing! Ahh the beauties of freelancing. :D Twice a year XXL Sports covers this huge thing up in Pocatello, Idaho. In the fall, it's the "Rocky Mountain Rumble" where 8 high school teams come up here and compete... 4 back-to-back football games. In February - at least last year - it was the Simplot Games. All I know is that I quite look forward to these two gigs each year for its myriad of perks.

Anyway, so the event is so long that we have to come a day before to set everything up. It's called a "set-day." We got here around noon, set everything up until about 6, and then had the rest of the evening to do whatever. If I actually knew people in Pocatello, I might have done something... but it actually has been kind of nice having this massive room all to myself with time to just relax and think and whatnot. :) Conveniently, one of my absolute favorite movies (The Holiday) was on TV, so I ended up watching most of it. I think I'm glad I don't have a count of how many times I have seen that movie, because it would probably be embarrassing. :P

Today also marks the first day since I have moved back to Utah that I am actually up-to-date on my blog again! It has been rather hit or miss the last few weeks due to my lack of internet, but I finally got things sorted out with that and I have internet again! I will try to continue to actively post on here for those of you who keep up with it. But no guarantees as to the level of excitement... I don't have many upcoming gigs to write about! And Olivia, thanks so much for all of the comments. :)

The Wisdom of Teeth

Okay, first things first: it's 09-09-09! I don't know why, but I love these days! I remember my senior year we were all excited because we were going to have senior skip day on 04-04-04... until we found out that it was on a Sunday. Boo! Haha or when I was about 14, I decided that I wanted to get married on 07-07-07 or 08-08-08, etc. Hey, at the time, 21+ was "so old" and it seemed like such a plausible idea! Maybe something like 04-08-12 will better suit me. :P Shoot, that's on a Sunday too! Nevermind.

In other news... I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out. I almost got them taken out when I was 20 - when the whole mission thing was going to happen - but then plans changed, a mission didn't feel right anymore, and thus the teeth never came out. They hurt from time to time, but never like today. The pain was so unbearable that I couldn't even finish my bowl of cereal! I called my mom in tears because I didn't know what to do. She told me to call a few places, find a good price, set up an appointment, and we'd worry about the rest later. In the meantime, I was to take 4 ibuprofen immediately.

I promptly obeyed my mother, downed the ibuprofen, and once I could actually move my mouth without pain again, I started making calls. I found a seemingly reputable place that only charges $950 for all 4 teeth + the anesthesia (others were estimating about $1500). I could have done it as soon as tomorrow, but I'm working in Pocatello all day Friday and Saturday and you are usually out at least a full day after the teeth are removed, so I decided not to risk it. Unfortunately, this dentist only does extractions on Thursdays (in SLC) and Fridays (in Provo). But I'm working next Saturday as well (filming the Weber State game), so I decided to go up to SLC to do it and give myself Friday as a cushion to be back to normal by Saturday.

Honestly, I am quite freaked out! I have never had any sort of mouth work done or anesthesia given to me. I've never had a cavity, never given blood or had a needle stuck into me, never been admitted to a hospital, nothing. So the idea of going to a place where they will actually knock me out and yank these teeth out kind of scares me! I just really hope that I'm not one of those horror stories...

Oh Internet, How I Miss Thee

Well, I have been without internet for nearly two weeks now! Because of that, my blogging has gone down severely. However, I am going to backdate a bunch of entries, so be on the lookout for those. As of right now, I still have no solid work - just a few sports broadcast gigs in the near future (this weekend and the weekend after next). I decided to try my hand at Avon and so later on this week I will start selling Avon. Anyone interested? :P

Before I moved back to Utah, I decided to try and include at least one picture with each of my posts, but to save time I am just going to give quick snippet updates of what has happened since I've been back. Once I get real internet in my place, my posts will go back to normal.

My new ward is a much older ward and I haven't yet decided if I like it or not. I mean, I would much rather be on the younger end of the ward, but this ward seems like the median age is about 27 or 28, with a few 23ish around as well. Also, it's about 3:1 girl/guy ratio. No thanks.

I decided that maybe I should have just lived off of 450 N again this year because I seem to spend half my time at one of the complexes on or near that street! I have quite a few friends in Belmont this year, surprisingly; and I am still good friends with a lot of people in my old ward at Sparks and Arcadia, as well as the other Sparks ward from this past summer; I have quite a few friends from previous wards in Roman Gardens and Centennial II (also on 450 N) and so in the past week, I think I spent more time at one or more of those complexes than at my own place! However, not living in BYU housing is worth it for me to live 2 miles away. I can't tell you how much I LOVE not living in BYU housing!!

I still feel like I made the right choice in moving back to Provo, so we'll see what happens in the coming months. As strange as it seems, it's actually good to be back. I forgot how many really good friends I have out here and how much I missed them all! This is definitely going to be a fun year. :)

(PS, Alyssa Johnson and I went to Seven Peaks tonight for the dual stake activity. Oh my goodness it was so much fun! There were SO many people there and the best part was that everything was free!!! Afterwards, I ran into Verdon and Klark and the three of us ended up having a 2+ hour long conversation about various things. Let me just say... it was quite entertaining!!)

Here's to the Night

Oh my goodness today was so much fun!!! It consisted pretty much of a full day of catching up with old friends! First, I went to lunch with James. We did Fuente Ovejuna (a play) together back in '05, he got me through some pretty rough times the year of crappy roommates, and was one of my best guy friends til he left for his mission. It was so fun to see him, because I hadn't seen him since he'd gotten back!!

Next, I went to Beau's and chatted with him for an hour or so and then we went and washed his car! It may not sound like it was that exciting, but I actually had never gone to one of those "wash it yourself" places and it was really fun! Afterward, we went back to his place and watched part of a movie before I headed out.

I ate a quick dinner and then headed to Jake's... and got there for the last 5 minutes of their FHE. haha hey, it's always good to make new friends! :P Afterward, we caught up on our summers and the latest events in our lives and then went to a friend's apartment and watched the FSU/Miami game. Yes, I am a strange girl and actually enjoy watching football. I found it amusing at one point, when I noticed that there were 10 people in the room watching the game, and I was the only girl. This is exactly why all of my friends are usually guys! I would SO much rather watch a football game than something like "America's Next Top Model." And I'd rather go throw a football than paint my nails!

Anyway, a friend of mine needed to drop a CD off to me, so I just had him drop it at Sparks, since that's where I was, and on my way to the front of Sparks, I ran into Verdon, Ian, and all the guys in Apt 10. They were about to start a movie, so after I picked up my CD, I went back to 10 and watched a movie with them. After the movie, everyone disappeared except for Verdon and their new roommate Patrick. The three of us chatted for a long time, and at some point Patrick happened to mention that his mom is a massage therapist and thus learned how to give really good backrubs. I jokingly-but-seriously said "Hmm... now I'm curious to see how good..." So I got one, and he is actually very good!!

I told him I had a sister about his age (he's only 19; Rachel is 17) and he quickly asked "does she live here??" Haha. The funny thing though, is that to me, he totally seems like the type my sister would go for. I told her about him and she said "Can I come live with you??" However, she should probably finish high school first. ;)

Anyway, all in all it is good to be back in Provo. I found it somewhat difficult to be social in L.A. because most of the friends I met weren't LDS and always wanted to go to bars for social outings. I like the cliche - but fun - pool parties, bonfires, game nights, and regular 'ol movie nights. There's always something to do!! :D And everyone is within a 2-mile radius of one another! I love it!

Songs of the Sabbath

One of my best friends and I have this tradition - each time we see each other, we sing hymns together - a cappella. She takes soprano, I take alto, and each verse we switch. It has just been something really fun and relaxing to do each time we get together. However, this friend (I love you Mary!) has gotten married and moved across the country and I never see her anymore! :( Sunday night I was with another good friend, Mimi, and she sings as well. I told her about this tradition Mary and I had and she got super excited and said "Let's do it!!!" So she jumped up, grabbed her hymn book, brought it over, opened it up and said "Alright, how about this one?" And so it began.
We only sang 3 or 4 songs, but it was awesome. I missed so much doing that with Mary! Mimi seemed to love it too, so maybe I found a new hymn-singing friend! :P

Speaking of hymn-singing... my old ward (in Sparks) also has a tradition. Every Sunday night at 8:30 everyone gathers together, bringing hymn books of all languages and we all sing together in the language of our choice! Oh my goodness it is so much fun. I really wanted to go last week (my first Sunday back) but had other plans so I missed it! Tonight we had English (of course), Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Dutch, Norwegian, and possibly one or two others. That is definitely one thing that is so cool about Provo - 70% of the population is bilingual or multilingual! I love it!!!

I am sure that I just classified myself as a super music nerd, but oh well! What can I say... I am! What is cooler than combining music with languages! Music is the same in every language! How awesome is that! Yay for music. :D

Promontory Summit, Bear Lake, and Wakeboarding, Oh My!

This weekend consisted of a lot of 'firsts.' It was my first time to Promontory Summit, which is commonly mistaken to be Promontory Point. We however were corrected upon arrival that we were actually at Promontory Summit. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's where the first Transcontinental Railroad of the U.S. was officially completed (1869). Again, I have no pictures from that - they're on Mike's camera and I haven't gotten a copy of them yet... so those will be forthcoming. It was really fun, though! They have exact replicas of the 2 trains and we took a ton of pictures as close to them as possible (we couldn't actually get on either of them because they are both fully functioning trains). It was about an hour (round trip) detour so we figured, why not? We spent maybe 45 minutes to an hour there and then headed to Bear Lake.

That is another first: Bear Lake! I had never been there before. I feel like I have quite a few friends whose families have cabins up there, but I've just never managed to make it out there! We stayed with the Johnson's at their cabin - Mike's family and the Johnsons are very close friends. They're from Agoura as well, and I had actually met most of the family this summer while living with the Womacks. It was fun to see them again! We got there around 5ish and shortly thereafter, everyone went to this local pizza place for dinner. Afterwards was just chilling and/or playing games for the evening.

Saturday morning we all got suited up and went to the actual lake for some wakeboarding! Keep in mind, this was my first time ever trying to wakeboard! Minus the fact that I never fully got up, it was really fun! I got SO close! But my hands were too raw to keep going until I got all the way up. Oh well. There's always next time! :) It took Keri a few times to get up, but she finally got it; Ben has done it who knows how many times and had no problem at all. Next was Mike and he got up once or twice, and then was Brother Johnson and he has definitely done it a lot as well! Oh yeah - there were 9 of us, so we split up onto 2 boats, and Casey, his wife Erin, the other Mike, and Juliet were on the other boat. (Sister Johnson stayed at the cabin because her parents were coming into town within the hour).

We got back and had some AMAZING home cooked food and then watched an AWESOME football game! #20 BYU played #3 Oklahoma, and WE WON! Woohoo!! It was such a great game. If you didn't see it, you really missed out! 14-13 was the final score and this is going to shoot us so far up in the rankings! This is going to be a good year for football...!

Early Winter

We finally got to see the kittens again today! Well, the ones that were left. Mike's cousin has already found homes for 4 of the 7 that we rescued! (we found a 7th one the day after we found the 6 - the 7th was a big larger but only a week or two older, so we rescued that one as well). The only ones left were two of the orange ones and the black one. But my favorite orange one was still there. I wish I could keep it!! They are all so cute. And they were a LOT more active than that first day we found them! The black one was crawling up me and almost behind my neck and up my hair! And one of the orange ones kept batting at my finger. I want a kitten!!

Afterwards, we went back to Mike's and since Mimi lives a minute away, I went and chatted with her for a while. I always forget how much fun I have with Mimi! We definitely need to hang out more often. She brings out the crazy in me. :P I got back to Mike's place about an hour later and then we went to my place and ate dinner and watched part of a movie. Around 9:45 we met up with some of his friends and drove up to Sundance and rode the ski lift. It may sound weird or random, and I had definitely never heard of just riding the ski lift, but it was actually really fun! And it is apparently a very popular thing to do before ski season starts up, because there were a ton of people there! I would post pictures, but all the pictures we took are on Mike's camera, so once I get a copy of them, I'll try to remember to include them on here.

Post title: song title by Gwen Stefani

Come Dance With Me

Okay, a sum up of the last few days, because nothing exciting enough has happened to deserve a separate post. On Monday I went to campus to use the internet and ended up meeting up with Mike for a bit in between his classes. Seeing everyone on campus really made me want to take more classes... crazy, huh? Anyway, later on that day Karie and I finally started up our old work-out routine that we did last summer. We did arms and it definitely had been a while! We both had to use smaller weights and had a harder time with the repetitions too. But it felt good to finally start that back up!

Yesterday Mike and I ran a bunch of errands, did a small amount of job hunting, and I helped him with part of his calling - typing up all of the ward member information sheets each person fills out at the beginning of the year. I offered to help because I could tell that it was going to take him a long time, and I type 115 wpm so he was ecstatic that I offered to help. We did a ton yesterday, finished the rest today and then went to institute.

I honestly can't even remember the last time I'd been to institute. I feel like each time I have gone in the past, it has lasted nearly 2 hours, and I just can't sit still that long! This one was hardly like that though - the teacher didn't even show up! So this guy basically babbled about random meaningless stuff for 40 minutes, waiting for the food to come (apparently BYU wards have full meals after institute now). It was crazy how many people I actually knew in Mike's stake! I already knew about Jamie Lang (a girl I met in my CA ward this summer), and Mimi and stuff, but Chris Crabb (Martin's old roommate) lives in that stake now, as well as Ty Trejo (we had music classes together) and a few others. Random! But then again, at BYU, it's always a small world!

I was very productive today! I got everything finally situated and set up in my new place, found a 3-person couch that will actually fit downstairs ($20!), found some awesome friends to help me transport it (thanks Dave and Jacob!), bought a birthday card for my little sister and sent it out, got some groceries, did some laundry, and finished off the night by going swing dancing again! Oh my goodness it was so much fun!

I hadn't even been there a full minute before I got asked to dance! And the moment that song was done, I was asked for the next, and the next. Three in a row and I definitely needed a break! But I decided at that point, that it would be fun to create a crazy goal - get asked to dance 10 times within the hour. I was at 9 and literally had less than a minute left before it had been I reached that hour mark... and then with the clock ticking, I got #10 in the nick of time! I didn't stay much longer because I had been dancing for nearly an hour straight at that point (minus the 4 stupid line dance songs), and one of the guys I'd already danced with started to ask for 2nd dances, and I definitely didn't come looking for potentials or future dates. I just wanted to dance to dance! So I left shortly after, but I definitely got my exercise for the evening!

Post title: song by Frank Sinatra