Scars

Scars by Papa Roach

So, I came across this quote when I was watching an episode of Everwood online the other day. And I really liked it.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same. I'm not sure who the first person was who said that. Probably Shakespeare. Or maybe Sting. But at the moment, it's the sentence that best explains my tragic flaw: my inability to change.
I don't think I'm alone in this. The more I get to know other people, the more I realize it's kind of everyone's flaw. Staying exactly the same for as long as possible, standing perfectly still... It feels better somehow. And if you are suffering, at least the pain is familiar. Because if you took that leap of faith, went outside the box, did something unexpected... Who knows what other pain might be waiting out there. Chances are it could be even worse.
So you maintain the status quo. Choose the road already traveled and it doesn't seem that bad. Not as far as flaws go. You're not a drug addict. You're not killing anyone... Except maybe yourself a little. When we finally do change, I don't think it happens like an earthquake or an explosion, where all of a sudden we're like this different person. I think it's smaller than that. The kind of thing most people wouldn't even notice unless they looked at us really, really close. Which, thank God, they never do.
But you notice it. Inside you that change feels like a world of difference. And you hope this is it. This is the person you get to be forever... that you'll never have to change again." -Ephraim Brown, Everwood
Well, I think I know what my tragic flaw is.. I'm not going to proclaim it to cyber-world. But I'm all for sharing good quotes and/or thoughts. So here you go.

Always Love

Always Love by Nada Surf (I am a HUGE fan of this song.)

I am now officially graduated! Yay!! No more school for me! It was a small little ceremony and a nice dinner. There were 5 total graduates, yours truly of course being one of them. I sent in my application to take my licensing test. It's a little of an intimidating thought..being completely done with school. I mean, right now it just feels like summer..but the thought of not having to go back at all is a little weird.
And, my sister is going to have a baby. She's about 3 months pregnant. Little baby-more affectionately known as Muppet (by me), should be here at the beginning of December.
On a different note...Do Not, under Any circumstances let something fall on your toe and smash it. It hurts Real bad. Saturday, I opened the freezer and before I knew it something had catapulted out of the freezer and careened down making an abrupt halt right on top of my right fourth toe. Instantly swelling up and turning a lovely mixture of black and blue. At first I thought it was broken. I couldn't walk on it, I couldn't move it...any contact with anything hurt it. Now I can walk almost normal. And the bruise has gone from black and blue to purple and red and just a little blue. And! It's in the shape of a rainbow. (color bands and all, just not all the colors of a rainbow.)
Plus, I'm improving my room. I really like it so far. I'm probably going to be at my parents house for a bit longer because I have to pay off my student loan, AND I'll soon have a new car. Which is probably a good thing because I've been afraid to drive mine for about two weeks, and haven't driven it since last Tuesday. I was worried it might explode..and the gas pedal doesn't always work as it should...for graduation, my parents said they'd either help get a lesser expensive one, or put a down payment on a nicer one. Yay!

The Mixed Tape

The Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin
When I was up in Logan, We had a quote wall. It was fantastic. Here's most of the quotes from it.

"Charlie Brown is a cartoon character who's never gotten action in his life." -Tim Kerns

“What would Jesus do? Jesus would answer the phone.” –Stacy Lynch

“I substitute eating for never sleeping.” –Mike, the waiter at the Ogden IHOP

“That’s why men need women.” –Ashlee Underwood Nielsen

“Hookers can fall in love.” –Stacy (while watching Pretty Woman.)

“And with our forces combined, anyone can beat us!” –Eric Jeffs

“Why did you make an ashtray in sacrament meeting?” –Ross Nelson

“Tony LOLed me..” –Stacy
“Ew..” –Jacki Thompson

“Jake, you’re rubbing my leg.” –Jason Reese
"JAKE! You're Rubbing My Leg!!!" -Jason, five minutes later.

“Happiest place on earth… only ‘cause there’s meth in the air.” –Tim (talking about Disneyland)

“We should go so they can get to their boys.” –Stacy’s dad
“Maybe their boys don’t want to get with them tonight.” –Stacy’s mom

“I can see why college students resort to fornication. There’s nothing else to do!” –Jon Miller

“Can we please watch Titanic?” –Chris LeCates

“Oh baby stop!” -Jacki
“Pretty sure if that was a sexual reference it wouldn’t be stop.” –Ashlee

“Could you guys please stop laughing? It’s distracting.” –Ross

“This is a really cool picture, huh? –James Ford
“Yeah. If you’re Satan.” –Ian Binks

“Wroth- that’s like 'Ross' with a lisp!” –Stacy

“You should come bounce on my bed sometime.” –Jacki

“You look like one hot Mama!” –Jordan Monroe

“… and I’d wrestle a wild boar!” –Jason
“What about wild whores?” –Eric

“We’re like a jukebox!” –Kelly Christianson

“I think the weather has A.D.D.” –Stacy

“I hopped off IHOP… twice.” –Mike, the waiter

“Everyone in my apartment is crazy! Tim cooks sausage. Jon reads about sex.” –Brian Pincock (Jon was reading his psychology book.)

“We. Have. Foo-duh.” –Jacki and Stacy

“Something can be awkward without being sexual.” –Moe Smith
“It’s just very rare.” –James

“You know how much cooler I would be… if I was from Brooklyn?” –Brian

“Heidi’s world is becoming upset. Her raspberries are ovaries and her peas are fruit.” –Kelly

“Hit me.” –Jacki

“Jacki, you are going to Hell.” –Eric

“I have a prescription to popular science magazine.” –Jaron Newman

“I like to feel my phalanges.” –Moe

“You’re one of those friendly Elmo-type menaces.” –Ben

“My cuticles are numb.” –Stacy

“Hop the boarder and run to Vegas.” –Josh Marchant

“You good? You stable?” –Tim
“No.” –Ashlee
“Ok.” –Tim

“You’re like a freaking boy scout.” –Stacy

“I’d rather not be your bra.” –Jacki
“That’s a little awkward.” –Courtney Twitchell

“Have you seen my monkey?” –Jacki
“It is a valid question.” –Ben

“The quote wall hates me.” –Moe

“To dry unwashed hair… why would you need to do that? It’s already dry.” –Josh

“I need to study for life. I’m failing!” –Kelly

“Wow! Those are some big…. boots.” –James (while watching Phantom of the Opera.)

“I love you too, baby. I love you too.” –Brian to Tim

“Blue is generally not a healthy color for a human. –Stacy

“Ew! Yuck! What is she wearing?” –Courtney
“A dead snow leopard.” –Stacy

“I think that would suck giving birth to a unicorn.” –Stacy

“That was gorgeful.” –Brother Hopkins

“I’d rather share pants with Jacki than have a cat in my pants.” –Josh

“Run Forrest.” –Moe
“Shut up, jerk!” –Tim

“Our friends are retarded.” –Lindsay

“He sounded out of breath when I called him.” –James
“He had to come up for air.” –Jaron

“I swear- the world is turning the boys retarded.” –Stacy

(Knock Knock) “Come in! Ha ha.. They can’t.” –Stacy

“Jacki! You just had a Morgan moment!” –Stacy

“You are deficient!” –Brian

“Whoa! Jane exploded!” –Stacy

“I am possibly the most brilliant person I have ever met. You know why? Because I am an idiot!” –Brian

“Well, what other way is there to cook a microwave?” –Ian

“The demons were trying to get into my… nevermind.” –Tim

“Do you guys mind if we change to ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader’? I want to see how dumb I am today.” –Kelly

“No one goes to school in Mexico.” –Ross

“It’s like a big, clear noodle.” –Moe

“I can’t see your stunning features.” –Jaron

“I’m laying between three guys.” –Jacki
“Dang, you’re lucky!” –Moe
“Wanna switch spots?” –Jacki

“Nothing’s wrong with me except my knees are made of liquid dookie.” –Shane Earl

“Tim, you hold hands weird.” –James (while holding hands with Tim, playing a game)

“If you weren’t getting married we wouldn’t have dirty minds.” –Stacy
“Yeah right.” –Jacki

“What was that?”-Stacy
“That was a gleeful chuckle.” –Jacki

“We’re feeling a little alto-ish today.” – A Tenor
“Not sure if we want to go there..” –Brother Hopkins

“I’m going to give up on Jessie tonight.” –Ashlee
“Oh. I thought you were going to say something about Bon Jovi.” –Stacy

“Coo-Coo-Ka-Chew!... That means pass..” –Landon Frost

"Ask me if I just tripped up the stairs?"- Ross
"Did you just trip up the stairs?" -Stacy & Jacki
"Yes I did. Now ask me how I felt about it." -Ross
"How did you feel about it?" Stacy & Jacki
"Like an Idiot!" -Ross

(Holding a plastic pumpkin) "I kind of want to stick my head in this..." -Tim
"You can't, your head's too big." -Stacy

"You say sorry too much." -Eric
"I'm sor-" -Stacy

World Spins Madly On

From now on, I'm going to have all the titles of my entries from song titles/lines. This one being World Spins Madly On by The Weepies. Which just happens to be the song I'm listening to right now. No specific reason-although it is a fantastic song. I liked the title for this entry too.

Well Well...here I am. The past while has been quite interesting. I've done a lot. Re-connected with old friends whom I have missed like India misses Gandhi. I've strengthened relationships with friends who are my true friends. I've let people go out of my life because they were clearly not friends and I was just too blind to see it. Sucks, yes. But oh well, I'm much better off for it. I'm done with clinic for school, but I'm still getting requests and appointments. I'm heading into finals for my last two weeks of school. Ever. That is unless I decide to go back to school after graduation for something else..who knows. I had an adventure to Santa Barbara, a much needed getaway.
Mostly I'm posting now to put up pictures from Santa Barbara. My dad had a business meeting and my mom and I flew to California with him. While there, we met my dads high school foreign exchange student (from Sweden), Per, his fiancee, Kirsten, and his soon-t0-be-step-son, Jens, who is going to a semester of college in Santa Barbara. It was really cool meeting them, incredibly nice people. So here's some pictures from my trip (sorry there aren't any pics of us with the Swedes).


The Beach


Starfish
A huge boot. I got bored, and tried to see if maybe I could get inside it..I couldn't...it was too tall.
Fantastic, No? Oh Man..
I found Captain Jack Sparrow.
Turtle!

Water Lilly

I really liked these flowers.

Not so haunted looking haunted house. The guy said it was really haunted! Doesn't look it..I was kind of disappointed. This professor guy used to live in it, and he slipped in the bathroom and hit his head and drowned in the bathtub and died. And he's still there.
Solvang. A Dutch town, windmills, Danish food, totally authentic place. Pretty cool.

Meh.

Not too much going on the past couple weeks, my birthday was last Sunday. It was pretty good, my roommate Jacki came and spent some time with me. It was snowing and she didn't want to drive Sardine Canyon in the snow at night (it's scary) so she stayed at my house. It was so good to see her again. I'm going to get a weekend where I can go up to Logan and hang out with my cousin, and with Jacki. I miss Logan a lot. Hopefully maybe this weekend.
I got a massage chair, so now I can do chair massages. It's a very comfortable chair. I also got new Hardshoes..they're pretty. Breaking them in is going to suck and my feet are going to die, but it's gonna be fun.
School is good, 7 weeks until graduation.
Here's a random sidenote: Don't you just love it when you wash some laundry (in this case it was my massage sheets), and when you go to fold them you notice they smell really familiar...and then you realize- That smells like an ex-boyfriend! He must have used the same laundry detergent..so whenever you go to use whatever you washed (in my case it was my sheets..) all you can smell is the scent of an ex's clothing..so during my clinic today I was smelling the scent of one of my ex-boyfriends.
Well, there's all the superficial stuff of things I don't care if the world knows for this update.

Fun times

St. Patrick's Day is over, and so are all the festivities that come with it. It was awesome. I had such a great past couple weeks (after I got done being sick). Parades, performances, parties, playing. The St. Patrick's day parade seemed longer this year. The Siamsa was fun. The Jazz Game half-time was Awesome! It looked way good, if you missed it and want to see it-you can find it on my Facebook. This is a birds-eye view of us at the parade.

I have a new favorite band. The Script, from Dublin Ireland. They're wonderful, they released their debut album in the U.S. on Tuesday. Since I was busy all day with St. Patrick's Day things, I went out and bought it yesterday. I love them. Danny, Mark and Glen.

This week I started 4th quarter, I have Lymphatic Massage, Visceral, Muscle Interaction, Segmented Massage, Hot Rock, Advanced Cranial. Plus ongoing clinic and study for big big tests.

Fantastic..

So, with all the stuff that I've got coming up starting today through the next who knows how long--I've been and will continue to be pretty dang busy.
Last night I went over to Alys house and we practiced the a Capella part of the double reel (hardshoe). Broke parts down, repeated over and over, then stitched all the parts together and did those over and over. Two hours and I wake up today and my left knee is really stressing. Stairs are not my friend. Walking isn't really my friend either. Will I back off and take it easy? Nope. I've got too much to do.
Performance today, two performances tomorrow, practice Sunday, Monday, Tuesday with a performance Tuesday night, class on Wednesday..So I've got to do those-THEN I can back off, take it easy and nurse my knee..even then I still can't go too soft on it. Haha.
So The Salt Lake parade is supposed to start around 10am, the Siamsa at noon, we'll be dancing underneath the white tents. Tuesday we're performing at half-time for the Jazz game. So, I've got a lot ahead of me. I hope you come out to see me if you can, it'd be great to see people.
Later.

Getting better.

Okay, well I'm at about 90% better. I still cough, but not near as much as I was. My nose is a little congested but it's almost nothing.
I went to the dance performance on Saturday night, it was fun. Because I don't have a wig yet, I bought at 5/8" curling iron- the smallest on made, and sat for an hour and a half while my ponytail got curled. It looked way good, and it stayed way curly through all the bouncing. I loved it. Dancing did set me back a little in the healing process because Sunday my cough was back, and I felt worse than I did the day before. But it was so worth it.
Finals are all going really good. I had 4 last week, and I have 7 this week for a total of 11 finals.
This Saturday is the Salt Lake City St. Patrick's Day parade at 9am at the Gateway mall, we'll be dancing down the street of the mall. Then at the Greek Orthodox Church at 12 noon is the Siamsa. It's gonna rock.

Ugh...

So I've been sick for over a week. And it's driving me nuts. It started with just an irritated throat. You know-that scratchy dry spot and no matter how many times you swallow it's still there. Then it progressed to make my voice work half the time and I cough and cough and cough and cough until I gag and can't breathe and sometimes throw up a little. And couldn't swallow all the way. And then my sinuses decided to play. I've missed a dance performance this week as well as my dance class. Unfortunately, no school has been missed due to it being the first of my two weeks of finals. But fortunately- my teachers either let me sleep or leave early when I'm done and I sit in the corner of the room away from everyone else so they don't get sick. So I sleep-wake up go to school and take finals (practically in my sleep-and still manage to get 100 or close to it) and come home and sleep some more. I can sleep just fine during the day, it's night sleeping that's causing frustration. I can't tell you how many time's I've woken up to massive coughing attacks. NOT Fun! But-health is on the horizon and I'd better be well by Saturday for a dance performance or I'm gonna be mega-ticked.
BUT I am reading a new book series- the House of Night novels by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast. I'm just on book one but I really like it. It's a vampyre book (that's how they spell it in the book: "Vampyre") Here's just a paragraph from the first chapter, I thought it was funny:
"Do vampyres play chess? Were there vampyre dorks? How about Barbie-like vampyre cheerleaders? Did any vampyres play in the band? Were there vampyre Emos with their guy-wearing-girl's-pants weirdness and those awful bangs that cover half their faces? Or were they all those freaky Goth kids who didn't like to bathe much? Was I going to turn into a Goth kid? Or worse, an Emo? I didn't particularly like wearing black, at least not exclusively, and I wasn't feeling a sudden and unfortunate aversion to soap and water, not did I have an obsessive desire to change my hairstyle and wear too much eyeliner."

V-Day Comic

Yesterday was Valentines Day, whoopdeedoo. I'll spare you my thoughts on the lamest of all holidays. I did however, find this on Josh Groban's blog and thought it was pretty funny.

My Busy Life

The past couple weeks have been incredibly busy and stressful and frustrating- and amongst it all, I have to admit that I enjoyed most of it. I have been incredibly productive and accomplishing so much in many areas. Plus, getting caught up in the rushed chaos that has been my life is both exhausting and satisfying. My life has been consumed of bouncing straight from school, to work, to clinic, to dance (at the studio-or in my basement), then crashing on my bed only to wake up shortly after to continue the hectic cycle all over again. Happily.
My moments of peace and relaxation take place on Wednesdays (possibly my busiest day of every week) when after dance my dance girls and I would go get hot chocolate (which usually never fully consists of hot chocolate) and talk about the most random of subjects, laughing at said random subjects, and I really just enjoy their company for many reasons. For one: they're not drama like some of my friends have been. For two: we can be candidly explicit with each other. For three: there's no judgment that takes place in our little group. And, they're just awesome to be around. I could go on about why I love dance, and the wonderful friends I've made in class..but I won't. I'm sure they'll appreciate this little spiel about them. :)
Another fabulous thing that has happened to me, I was finally reunited with my first ever best friend for the first time in 11 years. She moved to Washington right after 3rd grade and we kept in touch through letters, rare phone calls, and lately- emails and text messages. She moved back to Utah recently and we were able to see each other again on Tuesday. It was so refreshing to see her and to hang out again. I'm still amazed that after 11 years of being apart, we have kept in touch and have stayed close. And we vowed not to wait 11 years until we're 31 to see each other again.
Clinic is going great. I have worked on a wide variety of ages, occupations, etc. From 17 to 82, from student, to teacher, to waitress, to flight attendant, to chef, to a football linebacker. It's really fun and I've learned a lot so far.

I'm in Love

Alright, Last night I went to see Lord of the Dance at Kingsbury Hall. I for one, Loved it. The mens ensemble was stronger than the womens, and the women softshoe solos seemed pretty simple. The taps were pre-recorded, which was kind of a let down but made sense because the music would have drowned out the sound of the hardshoes. I got over it pretty fast.
When the Dark Lord came out with his warriors, I knew I was going to fall in love. And I did. That dance was one of my two favorite parts of the whole show.

I love that dance. And the Dark Lord was amazing. I loved him (maybe even more than the Lord of the Dance.)
My other favorite part was when the Lord of the Dance danced without music with his warlords.

I am so glad I was able to go see it. I saw Spirit of the Dance in Branson, MO for my 17th birthday. Which was way cool, it incorporated other styles of dance (Salsa, Ballroom, Tap, Jazz, even Hip-Hop) but it centered around Irish Dance. Lord of the Dance was great and it was a wonderful close to some very stressful and crazy-busy weeks. I'm hoping I can relax now..

We create it...

So, I've been thinking. Which can be dangerous and get me way too stressed out, but this time it's been kind of an eye-opener. Bringing to light things that I've been hearing throughout my entire schooling but never really understood the magnitude of what my teachers have been saying; I've don't think I've ever fully grasped, understood, and started to apply said knowledge until just these past couple weeks. So with all these thoughts going in my head, I figured I'd jot them down for you to read. Hopefully it makes sense. I'm just gonna type and post.
We create our own conditions. We sustain our circumstances. On some level, we've brought upon ourselves the experiences and positions we find ourselves in every day. Whether you believe it or not, it's true. Granted- there are things that are out of our control. I could not stop that guy from abusing me just like you could not stop that car from crashing. But I can choose to either take abuse and blame it on myself, and act like a victim; or rise above it and overcome what happened to me. You can set your intent on how you heal from and auto crash. You can hold onto whatever injuries you may have acquired and play the victim card and pull for attention and/or pity from others, or you can realize that there is health and a full recovery. It's all how you perceive it.
Each of us, every human being, has the ability to heal ourselves. If something happens and you don't truly want to recover from it, then you won't. But if you have the drive, and determination to recover and triumph over it, your body and spirit will account for that and you will. People that claim to be stuck with something, or constantly "holding onto" something will get just that.
There are instances of course where one can't do it on their own. That is where a healer comes into play. A healer is someone who can listen to your body, and assist in the healing process. I'm not just saying this because it makes for a good topic. I truly believe it and have had personal experiences to back me up.
I've been through of some pretty rotten situations, and they have truly left me somewhat inhibited. Starting last week, I have realized how powerful I am in healing myself and releasing the traumas of my life. Truly allowing myself to literally rise above it and be able to move on. It's quite liberating.
Also, I've watched my cousin as he went through what I believe to be a quite damaging form of Hell. He was in an extremely serious car crash and is a living miracle. I watched as his determination to live pulled him towards health. I witnessed his positive attitude and will to get better. I stood by him in awe at his recovery which was far faster than anyone ever expected. For him to be alive today is truly a witness to me. He was ready to move on as soon as he came out of his coma. He was determined not to let it hold him back. He wanted everything to go back to normal and worked hard to make it happen. If anyone had the right to pull the card, he did. But he didn't. He's made the best of everything, and he's my hero.
So if you tell me that you're "stuck with" something, or play a victim card for a prolonged period of time; pardon me if I don't believe you.

Awesome

So, last week was absolutely fabulous and this weekend was amazing.
I started my clinic so I am now working on "the public". With appointments and clients and all that jazz, I must say- I love it. I am so fired up and in love with it all over again, I have the ability to truly help people still; even though I'm not going into Social Work anymore (But may go back too). Being able to help people and help heal them and help them feel good is great. Although I find that not eating all day and doing massages, I am hungry at the end of the day. haha.
My classes for this quarter are awesome. Study of the Spine, Shiatsu, Trigger Point, SER (Somato Emotional Release), Spinal Touch, Tuina, Clinic, and Sports Massage. Sweet!
I went to Arizona this weekend, my uncle got baptized-it was spectacular and a seriously great weekend. My cousin, Michael (16, almost 17) was able to baptize him. He torqued his back lifting weights a few days beforehand, luckily I happened to bring massage cream with me (because I'm a nerd like that) and I worked on him for a while, and he was able to move and not have pain in his back and shoulders. That was cool to be able to work on him and see immediate relief and benefits.
.This is us in front of the London Bridge.
This is me and my Devaney.
Devaney, Me, CJ, Nicole, Mom and Alyssa.

Jarmo, Coley, Tony, Allison, CJ, Alyssa, Michael, Me, Devaney, Gladys, Grandma and Mom and Dad outside the church in Havisu.

New Year

Happy New Year!!
Last night was a great night. I had three friends over- some of the best girls ever. And we just had a fun night!

We played Dance Dance Revolution, Super Mario 3, Drank some bubbly at midnight (Sparkling Burgundy, provided by Lindsay Rigby), Watched some Jeff Dunham and The Dark Knight. It really was a great night. I totally loved it.

So, 2009 came in quite nicely, I'm very interested in what's going to happen this year. I've got a couple boys coming home from missions this year, I'll graduate and be licensed in Massage Therapy and have a career, continue on and progress with dance. To name a few. I'm excited, nervous, kind of scared, and hoping it'll be a great year.

Idioms

So, here are some idioms, and here is what I think about them. Do I agree? or do I disagree? (I was kind of bored at work, so that's how this came about.)
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.=True, it's best not to rely on one thing. Have options.
When life deals you lemons, make lemonade.=True, make the best of what you've got.
The grass is always greener on the other side.=Traulse. It depends, usually true-but some people don't know how good they've got it and when they look at someone else they think the other person has it better.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.=True. Don't count on something because you don't know what you're gonna get.
All's fair in love and war.=FALSE! There are things you just don't do! End of story.
Ignorance is bliss.=True. If you don't know something, it can't hurt you.
Easy come, easy go.=True. Anything that comes easy to you can likely be taken away just as easy.
Don't bit the hand that feeds you. =True. You don't hurt someone that helps you.
Actions speak louder than words.=So true. A similar one is: What you're doing is so loud, I can't hear what you say.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.=Traulse. It really depends on the situation.
Every cloud has a silver lining.=True. There's pretty much always an upside to every situation. One that goes along with this could be: Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
It takes two to tango.=True.
Let bygones be bygones.=True. Just forget about disagreements or arguments and move on.
Variety is the spice of life.=True. The more experiences you have, the more exciting your life can be.
You can't judge a book by its cover.=True! Get to know someone/something "read the book" if you will, before you pass judgment. You may miss out on something great.

NeWs

Well, Christmas is over. All in all it was a great Christmas this year- despite that my brother and his wife weren't around to celebrate with the whole family. I think that's why it didn't feel like Christmas until we were all in Ogden doing the tradition thing-but they still weren't there. There was a hole, at least for me anyways.
On the gift front-I received and unexpected package from my Joseph in Switzerland. I got a massage table, some clothes, DVD's and some jewelery.
My sister and Jarmo are leaving tomorrow to go back to Houston.
My uncle, Tony, announced that he's getting baptized! It's way exciting and we're all congregating down in Lake Havisu City, Arizona on January 10 and my cousin Michael is going to baptize him.
My Heidi was in a car crash on Saturday, she and her mom actually. They're alright- it could have been a lot worse than it was. Heidi's mom has a wicked sprained and bruised ankle-not broken. Heidi has a concussion. She was actually speaking a lot better than I expected cause when I had my concussion I was not speaking near as good as Heidi. They both have bruises, and burns from the chemicals with the air bags. I was with Heids for a couple hours Saturday night and by the time I left, she was looking a lot better than when I got there.
And, I have officially danced a hole in the bottom of my hardshoes...now I need duct tape.

Happy Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and I'm still confused on how it got here so fast. It's still not feeling a lot like Christmas for me, but tonight I'm sure will change that. I'm going to my aunts in Ogden for our Christmas Eve traditions which will be awesome.
My sister Nicole and her husband Jarmo (Jason) flew in from Houston late last night. It's been a while since we've all seen each other so that's cool.
Nothing too much to say though, just happy wishes to all.

Someone Said...

So, I stole this idea from Lindsay's blog. It's a list of my favorite quotes-in no particular order. Some of them don't have an author, but they're still good nonetheless.

• "Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despite to forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that in a years time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings. To great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings." -Andre Maurois, Writer
• "Those who bring light and sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."-J.M. Barrie, writer
• I am a dancer. I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living.... In each it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes in some area an athlete of God. ~Martha Graham, c.1953
• "Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are." -St. Augustine
• "I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing." -Agatha Christie, writer
• "The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next."-Mignon McLaughlin
• "There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them."-Vicki Baum
• "Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there."-Josh Billings
• "Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
• "All you really need is that one person to trust. That one person you know will always tell you, "Everything will be alright..." and somehow, for some reason, you always believe them."
• "Her favorite song will tell you more about her than her mouth ever will."
• "A dancer dances until it hurts, a real dancer dances through the pain."
• "Behind my smile is everything you'll never understand."
• "Next time you're mad, try dancing out your anger."-Sweetpea Tyler

Well, there you go. Just some of my many favorites, who knows-there may be a part 2 of this in the future.

Hair, Finals and Boxes.

So, I dyed my hair. I love it. Tim says I dye my hair more than he waxes his eyebrows...I hope that's true...haha. I loved having the way blond highlights in my hair-surprisingly-so we tried to do the whole thing that color; it didn't look right. My hair color almost looked confused and dull (to me anyways). So on Saturday-we did this! The box said "chesnut". As you can see, it's a dark red. I am definitely a fan of it.
It's December! Yay!..... It's finals weeks! Yuck! I am half way through them though, so far I'm doing pretty well I think. Anatomy on Monday is going to be a royal pain. Keep your fingers crossed for me! After this next week, I will officially be half way done!!!
My parents surprised me with a real Christmas tree! It's so pretty! I was very delighted when I saw it. This is my second real Christmas tree (my first, given to me by Joseph). It's beautiful.
I sent off boxes to my missionaries. (well, 4 of them.) Yes, maybe I didn't need to. Yes, I put a lot of money into the contents of said boxes. Yes, I put a lot of money into sending said boxes. But honestly- I don't care. They're out there, away from home. Who knows what they're getting this holiday season. I don't want them to feel sad, neglected or anything like that. My brother said that Christmas on missions suck, and if that's the case for these boys-I hope my box will bring them some cheer and comfort to know that I love them and I am keeping them in mind this Christmas. (They're pretty amazing boxes, I'm not gonna lie. I'd love me if I sent me a box like that...haha. I almost feel like Santa Claus to these boys. I love them.) So I think about what these boxes will do for them, and nothing else matters. It makes it all worth it.