watermelon in winter

Lyrics from the song I'm currently listening to, "Boot Scootin Boogie". Anyway, yesterday was a fantastic day!  Chris got home from his mission: It was awesome to be at the airport with his family and the Whatcotts for the excitement!  We went back to his house afterwards, and for a few hours, Chris just told us all about his mission.  I look forward to hanging out with one of my best buds over the next 33 days before I head out!  I get first date with him as an RM ;) Yesterday was also kind of a wake-up call.  Since I got my mission call, I've had lots of things happen that I knew would happen.  John came home.  I went to Utah.  Temple.  Thanksgiving.  birthday.  Tiff and Sky came for Christmas.  Everyone left for school.  Chris got home. Now...the next big thing, literally, is me leaving.  I realized just how fast this next month is going to fly by.  Chris is home; this is something I've been looking forw...

Every rock tells a story.  Sometimes it is obvious what that story is: Over time, sediment built up and created this huge sedimentary rock.  This is typical of basically all the rocks in the west.  Look at the Grand Canyon for example...that's a perfect picture of sedimentary rock eroded over time and through water and such. Sometimes the story is a little harder to find, and you have you dig deeper and know some background info about that rock or rock system: In the Rocky Mountains, specifically the Wasatch range,  the rocks started as sedimentary rocks.  Layers built up over time.  As faults formed and gave out, these layers were bent, twisted, uplifted, and changed.  The layers are not horizontal anymore, and some are twisted around like this one.  It takes more time to explain this than just looking at it and knowing which layer came first. Sometimes unless you know more about the type of rock, the climate, and erosion processes, you c...

Stanford Larsen:  One of my dearest friends.  Also one of the few people in this world who never let me down...ever.  Every time I think back to memories with him, i can't help but smile.  He has left a smile on my heart forever. Watermelon always makes me smile.  No other explanation needed. My cats make me smile.  They purr and are happy kitties. Snow of course.  Snow snow snow!  Snow angels, snowballs, snowmen, snow forts, snow fights, snow shoveling, snowfall, snow! My family.  They're all my best friends.  I couldn't ask for a better family...ever. Mater.  Cars.  The music in the movie.  Watching the movie over and over again, on rainy or sunny days.  Lots of memories that go with this movie, too. Country.  Country music.  Country dancing.  Country movies.  Nashville.  Country stars.  Cowboys.  One in particular.  All of these things make me smile like I'd...

I don't speak Portuguese.  I will be learning it starting in a month and a half.  Right now, I know essentially nothing.  When people who speak Portuguese find out I'm going to Brazil...they speak to me in Portuguese.  That's cool...except I don't understand a word of it.  Sure, I could be studying it, but I just don't have time.  I have BYU classes to finish within the next couple of weeks, and then I can focus more on my now nonexistant Portuguese skills.  But for now, it's just frustrating when people try to get me to understand a language I've never studied a word of, don't understand, and don't speak.  And then I feel like a fool for not understanding, even though language skills don't come when you slit the envelope of a mission call.  I'm not a fool, I just don't understand Portuguese.  Oh, and I never took Spanish, so that doesn't even help either. Okay?!  Okay.

Cancer . what a dark ugly word.

At work, because I'm a cashier and because I work at Hannaford, part of my job is to "host."  This is where I go out in front of the register when I don't have any customers, and "host..."  It's effective in a few ways.  First, I get to move around.  Definitely nicer than standing in one spot.  Second, I get to interact more with customers and other associates.  Third, there are more employees visible (if everyone is hosting as they should be) for customers to ask questions.  They ask me where stuff is.  I don't usually know, but sometimes I do. But sometimes some things about hosting get old.  Like standing there aimlessly.  Even though I'd be doing that anyway.  The worst though, are the lines I get.  You'll see in a moment.  These are phrases I'm sick and tired of hearing...because EVERYONE says them and they think they're funny and original: -"Are you waiting for me?"   Yes.  Of course.  Because the w...

One of my favorite scenes from Hamlet (which is probably my favorite of Shakespeare's plays) is right after Polonius is murdered. I love the literal yet sarcastic reply Hamlet gives to King Claudius at his inquiry to the location of Polonius. KING CLAUDIUS Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius? HAMLET At supper. KING CLAUDIUS At supper! where? HAMLET Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table: that's the end. KING CLAUDIUS Alas, alas! HAMLET A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and cat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. KING CLAUDIUS What dost you mean by this? HAMLET Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.

Some words I like that make me chuckle: Spigot Duck Irk Tweed Goggle Giggle Jiggle Wiggle (especially if you say the last 4 really fast, one after another) Piglet Doozy Muskox Platypus Philanthropy Buffoon Gadget Hooplah Jablibbit (family favorite) Hoytie Toytie Snout Beaver Poof Twinkle Plethora Thicket Tweak

Did you ever smile so long  your FACE hurt? That's me right now. Time to go do homework while I smile!

It's snowing today! And what a great day it's been...minus the fact that I haven't finished nearly as much as I should have by now. But I DID go outside and play in the snow...and that's important! The snow was fresh in the tree....so I did what any little kid would do, and licked it. It was snow AND ice...good thing my tongue didn't freeze to the tree in my front yard! I love tree branches in the snow. There's just something about the combination of brown and pure white that strikes my artistic bone. Part of the tree and part of my house. Looking up Pennichuck Street. So picturesque. Me in my getup...I borrowed Michael's boots because I don't have any in NH (except for my cowboy boots....), and he gave me his snowshoeing boots, because they each weight like 5 pounds, and he just wanted to see me try to walk in them. My sunglasses made a comeback! Well, that's today. I've got a couple papers to write for English 316, and a bunch of Bio to r...

Sometimes, like lately, I think about all the people I know and have known in my life. I think about the people i will probably never see again in this life, and about the people I will not see for a few years at least. I think about how hard goodbyes are, and how seeya laters are just a little bit better. I think about how sad I am sometimes when I realize how long it may be before I see someone I am close to. In this age of technology, I am blessed to have ways to communicate with people at the press of a button. I can text, call, email, facebook, IM, blog, or go back to old snail mail. I have options, and though I may never see some people again, I can still talk with them. And I also think about how blessed I am to have known every single person I have. Each and every person I have met has left an impact on my life, big or small. While it hurts that I know I may not see people for a long time, or until the next life, I know that they have blessed my life. I am so blessed t...

Recently I was listening to an old Rascal Flatts song..."God Bless the Broken Road." This used to be one of my favorite songs, and though I still love it, it has different meaning now. With this song come a lot of memories from high school and such. One time, I was running through the woods near Lake Winnepesaukee, NH, when I got a huge cut on my leg from a tree branch. It bled, scabbed over, and was still there for a couple weeks. It left an extremely visible scar. But it's okay, I like the story...especially because we were running to go see Mitt Romney's HUGE stables when it happened! A while ago, I noticed that I really can't see the scar anymore. Sad, because it was such a good one! But oh well. There will be more scars in the future to brag about. In a similar way, I was thinking about emotional scars. Time is often the best healer. As in my scar on my leg, time healed it enough to hide it from those who don't know about it, but I still k...