Reception

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I had a dream last night that I got married (I don’t think I even knew who to in the dream, but that isn’t important) and my wedding reception was Sylvia Belt’s (same place, samw decorations…I was even working with the refreshments like I was at Sylvia’s, but of course wearing a wedding dress) and at the part when it was time to sing (Sylvia and Montana sang a duet at their reception) I sang Take Me Out To The Ball Game to my husband. Which makes it official: Take Me Out To The Ball Game has overrun my life. I don’t know why it’s been stuck in my head for the last week, but it’s always there and I’ll never be free. But I haven’t really been that tired of it, it’s just always there. And when we were caroling Christmastime about 79045 times: “Andrea! Take Me Out To The Ball Game is NOT a Christmas song!!”

Delirium

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I've been quite sick these last few days. Rotating sickness, if you know what I mean...like I'll feel normal except a bit of a sore throat for a couple hours, but then I'll be completely dead for the next few hours. And then I'll be fine again. And then I'll be like...delirious. Which is kind of fun...but not especially. And I only have the vaguest recollection of writing the last entry...hmmm.

take me out to the ball game

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Is it a bad thing if I’ve been on eight first dates in my life and one second?

The only thing the once mighty England does is sit around in the North Atlantic and occasionally spew out a really good band. Which is enough to not nuke them.

I'm Hungry

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

For some reason it took me until today to realize that my TAs for 201 and 221 are both named Nate and are in fact, separate people. And that would explain why I got conflicting emails from “Nate”. I’ve been confused all week, really. Because I remembered him sending me a message saying it was too late to turn in our book critiques when I asked him where we should turn them in. And I was so frustrated because I thought they were due today. And then I get a message from him saying to make sure we get our critiques in by 2pm today. And I figured Dr. Walker had changed his mind, or Nate had been confused or something, but I was still somewhat puzzled. And finally, re-looking through things, I realize I emailed the wrong Nate about the book critique and of course it was too late to turn in my 201 one and…man, way too save me from lots of grief that discovery.

According to Wikipedia, Warner Bros is releasing Anamaniacs on DVD summer of '06, but we can't find anywhere else that says that, meaning, they've lied to us all. But please just let it be true. Oh Animaniacs, how I love thee.

My trusty Jansport that I’ve had for the last six years of my life, is starting to go on me. One of the straps is half-detached (or half-attached…for those optimists out there). It’ll probably still last through this next semester or so, but it’ll go soon, and I’ll be sad to see it go. We’ve been through a lot together. Let’s just remember me in 8th grade when I got it. I was a totally different person back then. Well, I was still obviously brilliant and pretty and hilarious, but still…

It’s Christmas treat day at work. today. Not to be confused with part-timer appreciation Christmas party. (Yes, I know I’m tremendously spoiled at work…best job ever, really). And there’s talk about busting out the chocolate fountains again. Which means more white chocolate-covered broccoli for me. Stop judging…it’s good, I promise.

Sorry, Laura, but it had to be said

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I was going to quote one of my favorite haiku poets, because I thought this was genius, and also oh so pertaining to life:

That which rules my life
is aim instant messenger.
How tragic this is

But then I realized it has a fundamental flaw. An unforgivable flaw really: acronym redundancy. Let’s just recall that the “im” of aim stands for instant messenger. And I don’t want to hear any arguments that the need for syllables makes this acceptable. It’s like when people say HIV virus…that one really irks me. The V stands for virus, okay, people??

Oh the bitterness

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Ahh...sibling rivalry..

Me: Listen...your ACT score may be a point higher than mine, but that doesn't mean anything. I mean, let's look at who got a John Phillip Sousa Award and who didn't in this family.

Jared: Hey...all I have to do is kill off Greg Bergeman and I totally have a chance at one myself, don't be so quick to judge. And let's recall who went to Mathcounts and who was just an alternate.

Me: Ohhh...low blow. I knew I should've killed Tony Viet when I had the chance.

Jared: Well, as long as we're killing people, maybe I'll just kill off several people and be valedictorian this year. You could never beat that.

Me: Well...I probably would've had to kill off less people than you to become valedictorian...take that!

Jared: No fair! West Side was a smaller school!

Me: You know what, I'm sick and tired of this insubordination. I'm older, which means I'm better. End of story. Plus, I'm going to punch your lights out once I get home.

My roommates: I've never heard Andrea so violent before.

Me: Hey, this all started with him saying Mr. Conaway liked him better than me. We all know that's a false, cruel lie. He deserves whatever's coming to him.

Ready to March...Hi Ho Silver!

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Emilee had an orchestra concert last night. Of course the best piece was titled something like “Christmas Extravaganza Festival Overture Spectacular” and involved audience sing-a-long to popular Christmas tunes. And one point where everyone in the orchestra shouts “Merry Christmas!” and you know that they all hate it and realize it’s the lamest thing ever, but still conductors insist on those stupid yell out things occasionally. I don’t know why. The best one I’ve ever heard of was someone’s high school orchestra (I don’t remember who…Melanie’s maybe?), they had to yell “Hi ho Silver!” during the grand pause in William Tell Overture. Such a bad idea.

And they played the Adagietto movement from Mahler’s 5th Symphony. I’d never heard it before, but am now a huge fan. I don’t know if I was just emotional last night or what, but I was crying during the whole thing. And thinking about all the happiest moments in my life, or at least trying to think of them, but I could only think of two. But it was just a really pretty piece, okay?

And of course I spent a lot of time in envy of the people in the orchestra. And I’ve decided I’m trying out for marching band next year. I really am. Who says I can’t be involved in extracurricular activities in college? Just because I haven’t been before, that doesn’t mean anything. And I’m totally excited for it. I wish I could also do real band or orchestra, but there are a ton of flute-playing music majors and they get priority in auditions, meaning I couldn’t get in. Except to the University Band, which is audition-less and everyone gets in…meaning that it sucks. But marching band, mmm, it’ll feel good to do that again.

There's a Place For Us...A Time (get it? time! bahaha) and Place For Us

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Melanie: I had a dream last night that my program director's daughter was dating the time 2:30.

The rest of the planet: Whaaaat??!!

Melanie: Hey, they were pretty serious. I think you should stop judging people that are in love and maybe watch West Side Story, you Capulet.

The Electronics Field in Utah: A Seminar

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So according to Dr. Cannon, Utah invented the internet. And we all thought it was Al Gore. And apparently Microsoft = why Utah isn't the richest state in the union. Though the majority of the lecture was actually about Dr. Cannon being bitter that he was advised to learn WordStar ("They told me it was the wave of the future.") instead of WordPerfect (which was, I'm happy to say, invented in Utah) when he was in college.

Beeftink

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So we were processing applications yesterday and my coworker comes across a seminary recommendation for Elizabeth Smart. At first we were like "Wouldn't that be creepy to have your name be Elizabeth Smart?" and then looked through the form and realized it was THE Elizabeth Smart. Oh man, and her teacher actually wrote next to the place where you check how many years they've completed "would have completed four years if she hadn't have been kidnapped her freshman year". But anyway, there's no way we're denying her, is my guess. Even if she...well, perhaps I shouldn't just post her ACT score on the internet, I'm pretty sure that would break some sort of confidentiality law.

So that's probably the most exciting application I've seen go through our office. Though obviously some of those last names I see are also worth a mention. Poor Mr. Beeftink and Miss Tittlefitz. I can't believe those are real names.

dance it up

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I'm in desperate times grocery-wise. I think worse I've ever been in. All I have is some frozen green beans and Wheaties and some cheese. And then various odds and ends type things that you have to have something with it: peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, salt, etc. That's really it. And I'm somehow expected to survive until Saturday afternoon. We'll see what happens. Probably a lot of stealing roommate's food. Oh well.

I used to be so against hip hop and rap. But nowadays, it's a bit of a different story. There's just some really great dance stuff. I'm not going to lie...I actually really have enjoyed the massive amounts of Black Eyed Peas we've had going on here. And I've said it a million times, but I'm so jealous of Emilee and Melanie's hip hop class. They have some totally sweet moves nowadays.

Though obviously, I'm already an amazing dancer. It's all that practice with roommate dance parties and family dance parties (where it's perfectly okay to make a fool of yourself)...oh man, such good times. Though I haven't been to a real dance for about a year now, not since the days of Gates. Well, unless you count country dancing, but I don't, it's totally different. Hmm, probably our stake will have a dance for New Year's Eve, but who knows if that'll be any good. Last time I attended it was fun, but let's recall that was 10th grade and I spent the majority of the time flirting with Brandon MacGregor, so...things have changed a little since those days. But if my siblings go, it should be fun.

I love being old enough that you don't fight with your siblings anymore and you all are smart/mature enough to have decent conversations. Jared and Nate and Melissa and Marsha are honestly my very favorite people to hang out with (don't tell my roommates...and they are obviously a close second). Though it's always sad for poor Jenny, who thinks she's cool enough to hang out with the older kids but isn't. And that sounded really harsh...for the record, I love Jenny to pieces.

blahblahblah....again

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

• Country dancing...could be fun, could be a disaster. I guess we'll see.
• I accidentally slept through my evening class today. I think I'm going to have to make a rule for myself: no naps on Wednesday and Tuesday afternoons.
• Sons of Provo...when does that come out on video? And I'm not going to lie, there are three different posters/pictures of those guys in this bedroom. Though, it's really the soundtrack that's worth the movie. I still die of laughter like everytime. Favorite: "Diddly Wack-Mack Mormon Daddy" ("all my peeps will be conformin' cause it's cool to be a Mormon. I'm a black jack say no to crack daddio..."). Though a close second is "Love Me, But Don't Show Me" ("these two weeks together have been the sweetest of my life, my heart's prayer was answered when you agreed to be my wife" "after each date with you I fight with all my might, to treat you like a gentleman and shake your hand goodnight"). If you're confused, meaning you don't live in Utah...it's a mockumentary on a Mormon boy band, and the funniest movie since "Single's Ward." Though I also am a huge fan of "The R.M." I realize these movies are the epitome of stupid. But, I mean, what's funnier than Mormons?
• I went shopping this weekend. The goal was dark brown dress shoes. So, naturally, I came home with two new sweaters and three new tanks and no shoes.

Shine the Light, Don't Hide the Light...

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

The light in our bathroom has been burned out for at least half the semester. At first we were to lazy to call matainence to get it fixed, but now we don't even think about it. We tell ourselves it'll help keep our utilities bills down, but really, it's not like the one light is going to make much of a difference. The best is when we were at Melanie's house and Emilee goes into the bathroom, leaving the door open enough to let light in. "Oh man, I almost forgot that normal people turn on the lights to their bathroom."

How I Spent My Thanksgiving Vacation

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Well, back in Provo now, after a little fling in St. George.

The best thing was obviously hanging out with my family for a couple days. Followed by pecan pie.

We ate Thanksgiving dinner at my second cousin’s brand new multimillion dollar house. It was amazing. We spent all sorts of time poking around in rooms we weren’t supposed to be in (“What’s in here?” “Oh..it’s just a coat closet...I was thinking maybe like a concert hall or ballroom or something.”), because it was just a cool house. Like a theater room...with a layered floor and HUGE screen. And the playhouse built in underneath the stairs. And the master bathroom with all of the polished granite...it was a house to die for. And a 5-hole mini golf course in the backyard. And we of course invented a great game we call gockey. Because it’s hockey and golf. You each have a hole that’s yours and a club and you wack at the ball and each other and try to get it into your hole. It was glorious. And I think I’ll have lasting bruises from that one.

On my mother’s side, I’m the oldest unmarried cousin that’s not off on a mission. And that means I’m suddenly the one suffering the wrath of teasing. And lots of questions if I have any sort of “special friend” and all of that. It’s great. And by great I mean irritating. I mean, it’d be okay if I had something to answer with, but I have nothing. Or at least not anything that I’d like to share with my relatives, I suppose.

And I really need to do some homework. But that doesn’t stop the expected plan for the evening from being: lie around, maybe do some e-mailing, watch You’ve Got Mail with Emily and finish eating that pizza...

Turkey Time...I mean, I'm excited to see my family...

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Well...I'm off! Have a Happy Thanksgiving all!

Beach Boys, etc.

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

"Whoever invented the back of the math book was a genius."

"Where'd you put my wand? Down your shirt?" "No, but I bet Fleur keeps her wand in her cleavage, she's a little sleazebag like that."

"Listenning to Beach Boys makes you just love everyone. I think that should be our new strategy in Iraq...big vans with speakers driving around and playing 'Help Me Rhonda'."

Though personally I think "Help Me Rhonda" is a bad idea. It's a happy sounding song, but for those that knew English...the lyrics kind of upset me. Because who wants to be the girl that's just being used to get the other girl out of his mind? Not flattering at all. So maybe more like "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Kokomo". Except Kokomo...I totally think of Kokomo, Indiana. Hmmm, that's where dreamy Tyler Marler was from. Good ol' Tyler...last crush that I had in the pre-James-dominated era of my life, now that I think about it.

Best Job Ever

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

It is way too easy to use the power I have at work for evil. But we do have fun. A cute boy comes to the window, and after he leaves we’ll look up his major and where he’s from and his GPA, how old he is, what sports he did in high school, etc. Morgan and I should not be allowed to have this much access to information.

“Oh, never mind then, I could never be with someone from Texas.”

“Are you kidding me? Art History? He’s never getting married.”

“Yes! Pre-Med…I knew he’d be something good. Look up his schedule so I can stalk him.”

the big 1-9

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Happy Birthday to me!

Though all it really means is that I get lots of new postings on my facebook wall. Which is better than nothing.

vampires beware

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I ate an entire clove of garlic straight last night playing a fear factor type game. And it's still haunting me. You think the taste is gone and then it comes back up...sick, huh?

What makes the red man red?

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

There’s some sort of Native American something going on in front of the wilk today. They were selling Navajo tacos, which were so tempting, but let’s recall that my birthday is in a few days and I’ll get Navajo tacos then (because they are my favorite food and I have nice roommates). Must hold on…okay, so if they’re still out there when I get off work, I’m totally buying one.

And they had a hoop dancer, which makes me laugh my face off, just because my dad used to hoop dance. And still thinks that he can. And tries to show off whenever we have like hula hoops around (though it’s a huge disaster, he says because they are too big, we say because he doesn’t know what he’s doing which just makes him try harder and it’s just one glorious fiasco).

Also, it reminded me of the scavenger hunt we had last year when one of the teams got really into it and painted themselves as well as their team banner. And at one point went galloping through the wilk with war paint on and yelling and the dean of students himself came up to them: “You are being sooo disrespectful” Turns out there was a Native American convention going on there that day…

Calendar...or, Why I Haven't Gotten Any Homework Done Recently

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So major life goal right now is to finish the calendar. There is a picture of Emilee, Melanie and me from glamour shot night (I'm pretty sure Emilee put it in her facebook album...you can check that out if you want to witness the glory that is us)that we've been having way too much fun with. So Taylor (who may be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but in this instance is enough of a genius to forgive him of everything ever) came up with this brilliant idea after seeing the picture to cut us out the living room background and put in the jungle. Which is a great idea. And then Melanie continues the genius, yes...get ready for this...we're totally making a calendar of that picture. Like the jungle will be for May. But then for December there's the picture but in the snow-covered woods with Santa's sleigh flying overhead. And for January, there's the picture of us in the crowd of people watching Martin Luther King Jr. give his "I Have a Dream" speech (Martin Luther King Day, hello..). And for June it's us on the beach. August, in the ocean. September, in front of the Taj Mahal. And so on and so forth. And it's the best waste of time ever.

Bad

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Today is not a good day on like every single level...

Lyrics

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I've eaten at least a million bowls of Berry Colossal Crunch since buying it yesterday afternoon. And it really does make life better.

And I've spent the last few hours discussing lyrics. And thinking about how all the cheesy stupid love songs always seem like, "I know exactly how they feel," sometimes and like, "Nobody feels like that," other times. And how sad so many songs are, and it seems like a lot of those are "I know exactly how I feel" lately.

"'Strumming my pain with his fingers'...that line just speaks to me." "You know what line speaks to me, 'Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor.'"

Brittany aka Gran

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

"There are only two things I've seen Brittany get passionate about, one is the mouse, two is The Sandlot."

"It's doctrine, even our New Testament proffessor has said that a 25 year-old could be a grandma."

"I need more Johnny Cash and more Sephora!!!" "I'm pretty sure nobody but Brittany has ever spoken that sentence before."

Nice Dream

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

"So I had this dream that his apartment was all sleeping over and all of us were in the living room in a bunch of sleeping bags and he came over to me and climbed into my sleeping bag with me and lifted up my shirt and STARTED POPPING ALL THE ZITS ON MY BACK! I was like 'Noooo! This was supposed to be a good sex dream!'"

Goood ol' roommates.

Okay, Seriously, Wookies, Chocolate, November

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

When you ask someone how they are and they say "okay" it generally means not okay.

I hate those rare moments when I take school seriously and realize how much work I have to do. So then I just go into the kitchen and make a snack and maybe watch Style Network for half-an-hour.

Watched the last half of Return of the Jedi with Melanie last night, on a whim. There's always more to discuss with Star Wars, and it's nice watching with someone who also has the movie memorized, so you can just talk over it the entire time. But does Leia have a hairdresser that comes along with them onto Endor? Because nobody could do the braids with the stuff woven into it and everything on their own and change it everyday. But I'm pretty sure Leia's hair was not a primary Rebel concern when selecting a small team to complete the mission. The best theory we came up with is that R2 has a hair-braiding function, which makes sense, because let's face it, he has everything else. And would you rather be an ewok or a wookie? And then fierce debating about whether baby wookies are cute or not ("You could probably find someone's picture of what one looks like on the internet." "But I want to know what they REALLY look like, not just some artists rendition.")

So Halloween was good. Though I was missing my siblings and the old days of trick-or-treating and then coming home and the trade market opens and we were all glad that Jared didn't like chocolate, though he'd pretend like he did so that he'd get better trades for it. And making live bar graphs of our candy stretching across the living room. Ahhh, the nerdiness of my family warms my soul like nothing else does.

But it's November!!! Where did this year go? But I'm excited, because November means my birthday and leaves and the first snow and the beginning of the holidays and Thanksgiving. One of my favorite months, really.

The Good Life

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

In fifteen years, if neither Emilee nor I are married, we have this great life plan worked out. We're going to live in a shack in the Appalachians. And in our shack is nothing but two cots, a tv that only gets Style Network (because let's be honest, who wants to live without How Do I Look?), a microwave and a lifetime supply of instant oatmeal. And we're going to wear those dresses that button all the way down the front, but of course about five sizes to big. Occasionally, we'll wear wife beaters and shortalls instead. And when we're doing dishes or tending the garden, we'll wear doo rags. And we'll grow our hair out insanely long and it'll be all nasty because we never brush it or wash it. And every month we go into town to buy supplies on our mule-drawn buggy with hydraulics. And also in town, we'll advertise for our monthly hip hop dance party (we keep the sound system and strobe light and disco ball in the outhouse). And in the morning we eat oatmeal and later in the day we eat BLT's. We grow the tomato and lettuce in our garden and every month we buy a pig to slaughter. And the bread we make by grinding up the contents of the regular flavored oatmeal packets, because who eats the regular anyway?

So basically, now I'm really hoping that I don't get married, and I'll also try to keep Emilee from doing it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...meaning pumpkin flavored ice cream

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Yay! We're seeing all sorts of egg nog and pumpkin-flavored treats in the store and it's definitely something to get excited about.

Football

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

You know, beginning of this football season I said to myself: "Probably BYU will suck again, but at least I'll have Purdue to root for." Well, the good ol' boilers have not pulled through for me. 2-5? Even BYU's at 3-4...And do we remember at the beginning of the season when Purdue was ranked like 12ish to 18ish? I don't think I'm watching either game today...last few weekends both teams lose and it just puts a damper on your spirits.

HarryHarryHarry

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So I'm going up to Salt Lake November 18th and seeing a midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie. And it doesn't feel that nerdy. Instead I'm just jealous that Emilee owns a Harry Potter cloak and Melanie has a Harry Potter wand and I don't have anything.

There's a dumbledoreisnotdead.com, but I think those poor people are deluding themselves and just setting themselves up for disappointment. However, if there was a snapeisstillgood.com, I'd totally join, so there you have it.

I've always loved Harry Potter, but living with Melanie and Emilee turns you into a fanatic.

Glamour

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So biggest event of the weekend (oh...except the one that I don't want to think about) was doing glamour shots Saturday night. It was so much fun doing each other's hair and make-up extravagantly and coming up with poses and such. Oh man...so ridiculous and one of my favorite this year roommate memories thus far.

"Well this is progressing...as they would say in the..um, Progressive Era of the United States."

"Have you ever noticed that the right side of you lips is fuller than the left side?" "No, but thanks for pointing out something that's going to make me self-concious for the rest of my life."

“Just make love to the camera.” “I can’t make love when there’s a male in the room!”

“My hair is the most useless thing on the planet.” “Have you never heard of Lil’ Bow Wow?”

Sweeping the Kitchen

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

"Why is there more rice than there is in China on our kitchen floor?" "Because this is Taiwan." "What? Also, Taiwan is China." "I think you should go tell them that."

"Umm, you guys have free reign on my fishsticks, I don't know why I decided to buy a lifetime supply. It was the day my mom called and told me Mittens died and I just thought that meant I needed fishsticks."

"You can never have enough cheese in your fridge." "Amen and hallejuia!"

Okay, so it didn't last long

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Just for you...

New look

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Hahahaha, this is truly hideous. I'm a fan, indeed.

So time to studystudyworkworkwork, then I can party all weekend. I don't have any tests next week, and it's going to be glorious. Oh wait, I have a paper due, that's just as bad...good ol' school. Oh well, it's not like I have a pesky social life to conflict with things.

"Man, if only I had a Harry Potter ringtone. I would have so many friends."

humor, cleaner and china

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

The only thing funnier than making fun of other races is making fun of Helen Keller. I’m sorry if it’s offensive, she’s just a great staple of humor.

So this morning I got half-way through the normal dusting and wiping of tables before I realized that the cleaner I was using was not the nuetral cleaner that I always use at all and instead it was Tough Duty. And suddenly it made sense why the tables had seemed so much dirtier than normal today, because that stuff will take off anything and so there was tons of dirt on my rag. It’s probably good that the tables get some tough cleaning once in a while..but now I’m worried someone will rest their head on their desk today and find that their face comes off, because it really is powerful cleaner.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing how the Holocaust was the most catastrophic event of human history. 6 million people? That’s nothing. Everything the Chinese do is HUGE. Except their houses…very tiny.” –Dr. Murdock

Pizza

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

How come nobody ever told me that Gorbachev did Pizza Hut commercials? And why is that the funniest thing that's ever happenned in the history of civilization?

I'm starting to get ill; oh this lovely time of year.

I'm not going to lie, sometimes it's just really refreshing to listen to my eighth grade music. You know what I'm talking about: boy bands. But a lot of the fast songs are good dance music, and a lot of the slow songs are...okay sappy beyond reason. But that doesn't stop me from sitting there thinking "this is the story of my life" because let's face it, I'm a sentimental sapsucker myself.

On the high school version of facebook they can have photo albums, and I'm slightly jealous.

I'm talking with the man in the mirror

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Some days I just look in the mirror and think, "Oh man, I'm pretty sure no one could love that thing; how is it that I even have friends?" And other days it's more like, "Oh man, I'm like the hottest thing alive; how is it that not every guy on the planet is madly in love with me?" And it's funny, because I look essentially the same every day and it's the same bathroom mirror. I guess it has to do with what I look at that day. Like...am I focused on the giant zit on my chin or the way my hair falls against my shoulders in soft waves...hahaha, or something like that?

So something possessed me to take my Utah history test last night instead of waiting until today or tommorrow. I thought that I wanted to just get it out of the way, but...oh man, three hours of essay test on zero sleep? What was I thinking? I did okay, I'm pretty sure, but it was a killer three hours.

So Sunday night was actually the first time I've ever stayed up all night before. Kind of crazy. But I'm glad it didn't end earlier or you may have had a very depressed Andrea on your hands. Or a wildly excited liberated Andrea. Okay, so not.

garden

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

I’ve been eating at L&T too much. I’m pretty much addicted. Nothing else even seems like an appealing lunch anymore. It’s just so yummy. It’s pretty healthy too, (hooray vegetables!), so it’s the money that means I can’t eat there every day of my life. Because as wonderful as “pickofthegardenontomatotogo” (I’ve gotten so good at saying this, I challenge any of you to a “pick of the garden on tomato to go” duel, and I promise I’ll win) is….it is much cheaper to just go with a packed peanut butter and jelly sandwich and yogurt. Oh man….peanut butter… mmmmmhehehehe (if you don’t get it, the comment’s not for you and don’t ask).

long set of randomness again

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

• I had one of those illuminating realization of differentiation moments yesterday. The Aryans are totally a different group of people than the Arians. It’s one of those things that I’d never really caught before and suddenly everything makes sense. It feels like that moment a couple of years ago when I realized that the Balkans and the Baltic nations are totally different parts of Europe. My favorite story about non-realization of differentiation is how Nate spent most of his life not realizing the difference between Norway and Normandy. “I spent so much time thinking, ‘How does invading Norway help them get to France?’ And when I finally figured it out, WWII replayed itself in my mind and made sense for the fist time ever.”And you just sit there for a second with your mouth half-open (even though I actually hate that phrase; I mean, you’re either open or closed, right? No halves about it.). And your mind registers nothing but a long “Ohhhhhhhh.”’
• I don’t care if you’re a musician or whatever your excuse is, males should not wear makeup. Or at least not noticeable-in-the-slightest makeup. I guess I’ll let you do a little bit of stage makeup or something, but only on those rare occasions that actually call for it.
• One of the many perks of working custodial is that you get to trash dig. That new purse I have? I’m not going to lie, it totally came out of one of the secretaries trash cans. It’s a fine purse, though, just a little tear that nobody would notice unless they’d just found the purse in the trash and had been examining it closely for defects. I haven’t used it yet, but Emilee has and enjoyed it and came home saying it’s “the perfect size for anything”, which doesn’t make sense, but, oh well. Also, I get Time magazine out of the trash every week. It’s like subscribing except I don’t have to pay and it comes a week late. But still, it’s a good deal.
• Man, I’m such a sporadic eater and sleeper. No set schedule at all. I know it’s not healthy, but, just recognizing that apparently isn’t changing things.
• I desperately need to go shoe shopping before it gets any colder. All I have right now in the closed-toe department is a pair of tennis shoes that are falling apart and three pairs of heels. For, as any girl will tell you, even though the ratio of days she wears dress shoes to days she doesn’t is around 1:11, the ratio of normal shoes she owns to dress shoes is around 1:23848590. Dress shoes are just so cute and fun to shop for. They’re impossible to resist.
• “That’s how I always fix things; just hit them until they start working again. It works for my kids, shy shouldn’t it work for a computer?” – Dr. Hamblin
• It sucks getting older and seeing people you knew in more innocent years drinking themselves silly, sleeping with whoever comes around, coming out of closets, doing drugs, mutilating themselves, getting addicted to gambling, etc. etc. etc. And all I can do is sit here and sigh up a storm. (Whoa, wouldn’t that be awesome if I literally could sigh up a storm? I’d have at least twenty more friends).
• My Tuesday evenings at 8 are reserved so that I can watch Supernatural with Emily. Not that I especially care for the show, but she’s too scared to watch by herself and I’m the sucker that she’s roped into joining her every time. I’ve never religiously followed a show, but I think I’ll probably end up watching every episode of this one this season. It’s not that great of a show, though.
• I spent my time in class coming up with a playlist for if I’m in charge of music for Prom day next year at day camp. Megan did the music last year and it was horrible. It was mostly good music, but not right for the setting at all. First of all, you need to do stuff that’s easy to dance to, because the whole point is for the kids to dance. Second, you need to play music that the kids know. People like what they’re are familiar with, music-wise. Especially kids. Which means that it’s perfectly okay to play Hillary Duff, etc. Just get over it and play what the kids want, the camp is for them. Also, stuff like the Macarena and the Chicken Dance with set dances to them are a very good idea, because then the kids all know what to do and even the less-confident ones dance. And I obviously threw in a couple of songs that I know line dances to, so I could teach the kids/show off how cool I am. This is all very typical of the random tasks that I come up with for myself in class.
• Nerd^nth? That’s why we are friends.
• I never went through the horse-obsession phase that many girls did in elementary school. I was busy checking out all the books in the library on cats and occasionally books on various marine mammals. But who needs horses? They aren’t nearly as cute as cats or dolphins.

All-American

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Why is Brittany's house straight out of a movie? It's so cool. This huge farmhouse on a chunk of land with their orchard and grass and fire pit and chicken coop off and around. And all very all-American decorated. And her big family in which all the kids have red hair and look exactly alike.

We went out there and made apple cider (and may I assure you, fresh tastes infinitely better than store-bought) and talked around the fire and had dinner of Navajo tacos (but of course on like the whole wheat fry bread that I'm sure her mother ground the flour for herself). It was so good.

And her little sister Paige (6-ish) is about the cutest thing on the face of the planet. And it was so funny to watch all the boys talking to her.

Zack: So Paige, I hear you have a boyfriend.
Brett: WHAT??!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And Emilee and I are definitely planning on stealing Paige one of these days. Also, Boots (Paige's cat), who is equally as cute.

Christopher Reeve and Hanging Chads

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

"Don't give up. If you fall off a horse...you just have to get back on and keep riding." "Tell that to Christopher Reeve."

Why are my roommates so cool?

Me and Melanie and Emilee and Christa have started a superhero team officially now. It's called the "Hanging Chad", just because. And when we like change into our costumes and then fly out in awesome poses (well, everyone else gets awesome poses and I of course stand there with my hands in my pockets), the tranformation obviously occurs while doing the dance move, the "Hanging Chad", which I wish there was someway of demonstrating here, because it's great. Melanie is "The Marmot" and has super strength and "Marmy sense". Emilee is "Toeniqua" and can shoot fire, lightning, water, ice, toothpaste, you name it...out of her toes. Christa doesn't have a name yet, she's a recent addition. But her power is communication stuff...she can understand and speak in any language including those of the animals. Also, she has super-persuasive powers. And I actually do get a power, but it's that I can morph into school supplies, so still something ridiculously lame. But hey, if you ever need a three-ring binder, I'm there. And my superhero name is "Andrea Wonnacott" so there you go. And my superhero outfit is just a polo and jeans. I still transform...but it's just from one school outfit to another. But it's all great.

But I guess roommates are a problem occasionally, like the ones that are poachers. Or the ones that make faces at you when you're just trying to have a good bazillion-hour-long Sunday evening phone conversation yet again.

Party Weekend

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

1am used to be so routine and not a big deal at all. Nowadays, I'm sitting there thinking, "This is WAY too late to be up still."

Camping extravaganza Friday night. Best part was obviously Brett's baby deer impression. And I ate more food than really should be consumed in a week.

Partied hard last night. Meaning Poor Man's Cranium for several hours. Plus some well-done cookies.

cold and \"road features\"

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

How is it possible that it's colder in Provo than in Anchorage at this moment? At least there's pretty snow on our mountains after last night. But still brrrrrr.

Though it's time to break out the winter attire, which is always one of the best parts of the year. I love sweaters.

Operation "Road Feature" is on track at the moment, though we're going to have to do some tricky manuevering this weekend. I would go into detail, but you really can't trust anyone in this kind of situation. It's precarious. But, I get to be the president and Emilee is the director of the CIA and we had some major debriefing last night. And it's fun because she has to refer to me as "Miss President" at least once per sentence.

Yet another tale of me naked swimming

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So a bird pooped on Melanie's head to the way to class yesterday.

But it was still the best day of hers and all of our lives. Because she got accepted into the London study abroad program. And the obvious way to celebrate that is from me and her and Emilee to go skinny dipping in Utah Lake in frigid temeratures. It was so cold. But totally fun. Though Marco Polo was slightly awkward.

"My nipples could shatter glass." Yeah, it was cold.

Thinking

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Okay, so General Conference and 6 hours on the phone with a certain someone. So a very...thought-provoking weekend. Also, "Iron Rod" to the tune of "Jupiter" is the best idea the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has had in a long time. Except obviously those light blue dresses they were wearing yesterday. Oh man, who is their stylist?

-

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Since all of my classes this semester fit under the groups of history and religion, there's lots of overlap. And I love it.

It's really cool to talk about the same things but with all these different perspectives depending on the emphasis of the class.

In World Religion we'll be talking about Confucianism next week (though, I don't know if I really classify Confucianism as a religion), and it'll be all of the same stuff we talked about in China class at the beginning of the year with traditional Chinese society, except an emphasis on the spiritual rather than the political and cultural.

In New Testament, we're talking about the history behind the times of Christ, so lots of stuff on Rome, which is what we're discussing in World Civilizations, except the emphasis on the Jewish society as opposed to the more global perspective.

And I could find a common topic between basically every single one of my classes, but I won't bore you any more with it.

It's nice, because history is so effected by religion (religion's all we talk about in Utah history, the Indian cultures, then the Spanish Catholic explorers, then the Mormon migration...) and religion is so effected by history. And I'm learning so much and it's all intertwined. And I LOVE SCHOOL!!! It's all so fascinating.

Well, my Post-Reconstrucation US history isn't incredibly fascinating, but that's because my proffessor is essentially Proffessor Binns from Harry Potter. Meaning dull beyond reason. But, the topics are still interesting. And totally have to do with my other classes...Protestant effects on American politics, and American participation in the Boxer rebellion in China, and the effects that railroads had on developing the west is basically the exact same lecture we got in Utah history on the effects of railroads developing Utah, and...anyway, I could go on forever. Because it's all sooo cool!

A little lesson for those unfortunate enough not to know

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

BYU acronyms that really should be incorporated into mainstream speech, because they are oh so useful:

• NCMO (pronouced "nicmo")--"Non-Commital Make-Out", as in: "I don't want a boyfriend, I just want a ncmo buddy."
• DTR--"Define The Relationship", as in: "Listen you've been 'kind of dating' for a month now, you just need to DTR with him."
• VL--"Virgin Lips", as in: "Well, you don't want to just lose VL status to anyone." "No, you don't understand, I'm probably the only 22 year-old who has never been kissed in the nation."

So next time I say, "I was talking to him and it got kind of DTR-ish" or "Well, it's not like she's VL" or whatever, I don't want any question marks, okay?

It happens, okay?

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

"So you guys are like...long distance friends with benefits? Does that even work?"

Tomatoes

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

Melanie: Okay girls, we all have a hot date tonight with our apartment that really needs some heavy-duty cleaning.

Emily: What!!???

Melanie: Tonight we're all staying in and having a cleaning party. So hot date with the apartment. Time to put on your sex music and get out the sponges...

Emily: Dang, I though you said we were going to have hot dates who were going to clean our apartment.

Melanie: That's something nice to fantasize about isn't it? But remember how we live in real life?

Ahh, but our apartment is really clean now. I was in charge of the fridge..horray for organizing!!! Also, horray for not having rotten tomatoes in the back of our fridge stinking everything up!

We were supposed to go to a Gates dance party afterwards, but Emilee and Melanie both decided they didn't want to go, so that was that. I was disappointed. Because that meant I had nothing to do with my evening but go to bed early and that meant I wasn't too tired and that meant I spent way to long just staring into the dark and thinking and that meant way depressing, since...gah, why do I put myself in these emotionally painful situations?

Yikes, going to a movie and clothes shopping today...someone stop me from spending money!!

prank calls/excitment

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com)

So I got a call from my visiting teaching supervisor last night, harrassing me about getting mine done. But then it turned out to be my grandma prank-calling me. No joke.

I'm excited for fall to come. The trees up high in the mountains (gaahhh...the word is forever tainted, thanks a lot James/Shakira) are all turning reds and yellows and you can see it slowly moving down. And then I can play in the leaves. And then pick bits of leaves out of my hair for months to come, but it's worth it.

And I'm excited for Christmas to come. Only three months and 4 days left!!! At work today there was a CD player going (it must've been going all night) in one of the Army officers offices and it was playing jazz combo versions of Christmas songs. I don't exactly get it, but I was glad to hear it. I love Christmas music. And please don't tell me any of you are the kind of people that don't light up with child-like wonder at the mention of Christmas. I hate apathy about things that are clearly awesome. I am, however, not excited to go to Utah history tonight. We have a quiz, which means I should probably do my reading for once.

randomrandomrandom...so sue me

(originally posted at eclaircie.diaryland.com) I didn't think I'd ever live to see the day when Donald Trump would wear overalls and sing the Green Acres theme song, but I'm oh so glad I did. ------------------------------- Andrea's guilty pleasure numero uno: bad 80's love songs. I just like them okay? ------------------------------- For some reason, I'm really just missing pep band right now. Probably because it's basically the best thing that's ever happened to me. ------------------------------- Okay, so we're watching Aladdin, in sing-along mode projected on a sheet hanging from the 203 boy's balcony and eating carmel popcorn. Yes, be jealous. Adam: Oh, and bring blankets...cuddling is encouraged. Emilee: That means you and me, Andrea. ------------------------------- Another boy just called for McKenzi...I don't know where they all come from. Or what in the world her secret is. ------------------------------- "Well, yeah...because what bond can be greater than that of a girl and her sister's college roommate?"