I Keep My Promises.

Remember when I said that I would live in Washington D.C. someday? If you don't, read blog post #2 from back in September. I had no idea at the time that my dearest wish would come true so soon! But it will! I am going to live in Washington D.C. for three months this summer. I am going with BYU's Washington Seminar program, and I am currently working on getting hired for a sweet internship. The top 10 things that I am MOST excited for:
1) Living just off Pennsylvania Ave.
2) Actually getting to tour the white house.
3) Eating breakfast at the Eastern Market on many Saturdays.
4) Being able to tell people that I'm a local, even though I kind of won't be.
5) Walking around the mall whenever I want.
6) Actually getting to spend significant time in the Smithsonians.
7) Our excursion trip to Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and Valley Forge. Muy Exciting.
8) Going to the gym and library at George Washington University.
9) Riding the metro everywhere, except to Georgetown. It doesn't go that far.
10) Having a real-live reader's pass for the Library of Congress and pretending to do research for something important.

Doesn't this sound like it is going to be like the best summer of anyone's life, EVER?? I am more excited than I can stand, but I am also very nervous. I am going to have a real job, in an actual professional setting. Weird, right? But it will be the bomb.com.

And remember, I still need to complete the promise to take over Washington. I'll let everyone know when that happens. If it's not already obvious. :)

I love the Beach Boys too!!

I was recently reminded just how great the Beach Boys are. They represent my entrance into the music world- beginning when I was very tiny, and obsessively carried around a walkman and headphones with the Beach Boys' "Endless Summer" album playing inside. My first CD was even a Beach Boys greatest hits CD. And I have enjoyed several others since. And I promise, I can sing all of the songs, and every word to all of the songs. Ask Rachelle. I demonstrated this ability in the car the other day.

As far as their amazingness, according to Billboard, in terms of singles and album sales, The Beach Boys are the No. 1 selling American band of all time. Cool, right? And they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988- The year I was born! What fate!

My Top 15 Favorite Beach Boys songs:
1) Darlin'- My all-time fave. I promise, I will play this song at my wedding.
2) Shutdown
3) Little Deuce Coupe
4) I Can Hear Music
5) Dance, Dance, Dance
6) Do You Wanna Dance?
7) Good Vibrations
8) Barbara Ann
9) Surfin' USA
10) California Girls
11) Wouldn't It be Nice
12)Don't Worry Baby
13) Little Old Lady from Pasadena
14) Do It Again
15) Getcha Back

Yay for the Beach Boys! To all of you who haven't experienced their awesomeness, I suggest that you do!!!! I can burn you a CD if you would like. Because as far as music goes, the Beach Boys were HANDS DOWN my first love.

Oh, and PS, I got to go to a Beach Boys concert when I was in high school. It was muy excellente. Although I have to admit that there is something odd about hearing old men sing about California Girls and surfing and stuff. But still. It was cool.

I am officially in love with Hamlet. Not the character, but the play.

I had to read Hamlet for my Shakespeare class. Prior to this recent reading, I thought that the play was very boring and very dumb. But seriously, it's awesome. SO GOOD. And, I'm in love with Zeferelli's film version. It was made in 1990, and Mel Gibson plays Hamlet. He played the character very well, I thought. He seemed a little bit insane, but was also very depressed and brooding. It turned out to be an excellent combination. And Helena Bonham Carter is a BRILLIANT Ophelia. Just the right amount of creepiness when she goes crazy. Altogether, I'm a little to excited about it. I watched the movie last night and finished it this morning, and I'm still haunted by it. You know how some movies just stay with you a while, and you keep thinking about them? Well, Zeferelli's Hamlet did that to me. I would recommend it.

As you can see from reading my post about Octavian and now this one about Hamlet, I am enjoying my studies at BYU, and I have apparently picked the right field. I am altogether TOO enthusiastic about what I learn at school. But that's a good thing, right?

Octavian

Ok, so I'm currently kind of obsessed with the Roman general/dictator/consul/holy one/emperor/political genius/PR master/really really super hot, Octavian. He was the heir to Julius Caesar, as written in Caesar's will. Oddly enough, Octavian isn't even Caesar's son, he is his adopted son. Caesar's only known son just so happens to have a mother named CLEOPATRA, and his name was Caesarion. He was running around in Egypt doing who knows what, so Octavian got the inheritance. Sweet. He was way cooler anyway. By the way, he was supposedly very good looking with piercing blue eyes.

So, Octavian beat out Marc Antony for supreme power in the Roman World by the time he was NINETEEN!!! The Romans loved him so much, they just kept giving him more and more power, and soon enough, through no fault of Octavian's, there was no more Roman Republic, because he was the sole ruler! And everyone loved it! Odd how that works out. The senate even gave him the name "Augustus," meaning, Holy One. So ya, we're talking about Caesar Augustus here. He pretty much made the world peaceful and happy, and there was a lot of art and sculpture and literature and prosperity and games and pretty architecture and poetry, and all the wonderful things in the world. All because of Octavian. Or so the Romans claim. Even if it wasn't all because of him, and it kind of was, it's still really cool to think that because of this peace, it made it ten times more possible for Christ to do his work on earth and for the apostles to travel and be missionaries. So props to Octavian/Augustus.

PS, I swear, that if for some odd reason I have an 8th child, and it's a boy, his name will FOR SURE be Octavian. And he will grow up knowing that he was named after the coolest guy ever!

A Tribute To My Missionaries

Yes, I have two missionaries now. Two at a time! And they inspire me. I love my Vanessa and Kennedy, and I'm going to miss them like crazy. But I'm so proud of them! They are just such amazing girls! They are doing such a scary thing, but if they can do it, then I can too! That's the plan: Washington this summer, and then a mission in the fall. It's weird to think that I won't be going back to school this year, and I'm not sure that I'll get over it. I mean, school IS MY LIFE! It will be very odd, that's for sure.

Anyway, aren't my missionaries gorgeous? They are. Vanessa is the one in the top picture, and I must admit, it's odd for her to be wearing glasses. She never did before. Apparently her eyes are no longer superior to me and Braidy's. Kennedy is the one in the second picture. She just got Lasik, so now she doesn't have to wear glasses!

Kennedy is going to the San Pablo Philippines mission- she left yesterday.
Vanessa is going to Malaga Spain, and she left last Wednesday.
Soon we'll be able to say that I'm going somewhere cool. Oh please let it be cool! And historic! I do love history.

And PS, I went shopping with Kennedy for missionary clothes, and we went to the Sister Missionary Mall. There is only one word to describe the clothes at that store: UGLY.
The end.

I reiterate: I need a boyfriend to protect me from weird boys at BYU!

More Halloween...

The New SCLUB3

The Window Dancers. This one was taken at Jake's party.The old Lexie girls+Lauren, the fake Rachelle for the weekend.

Yes, Ann's face is very scary.

Our ward party. I was very horrible at eating donuts on a string.

Our list of Halloween Parties:
1) The party in Alpine.
2) The ward party.
3) The party in Smith Fieldhouse.
4) The party in the RB (in the new wing).
5) The party at Jake's house.
6) The Hollywood House party that was kind of scandalous.
7) The party at the Blue Door House.

So much fun! Halloween was crazy, crazy, crazy, but so much fun! We had a blast in our costumes, except that sometimes I was really grumpy because my toga was SO ANNOYING! And my hair got very very deflated when it rained... but that turned out okay because a boy told me it looked like Princess Buttercup, which is ALWAYS a compliment.

Yay for bringing loved ones together!

The one holiday that brings loved ones together

Or so they tell us on the "Witchcraft for Dumb-Dumbs" episode of Boy Meets World in which Jack falls for Millie from apartment 3B, and is nearly sacrificed, along with Shawn, to satan. Luckily, Eric comes in, and because he has baby powder on his butt, he saves everyone from the lightening bolt that satan sends through the window to destroy the Hunter Clan. Eric famously turns to Millie (the witch that brings this all about) and says, "yes, satan?" and "well, I heard you talking to satan." Boy Meets World is THE best show ever. And this episode is hilarious!

My own story of Halloween: seven different parties over the course of a week, 5 gorgeous Greek goddesses, a very annoying toga, and pretty make-up done by my Stephanie at Nordstrom.

Now for the pictures! These pictures, however, are only from the first party. The rest will be forthcoming!

Meghan, Paul, Kaitlin, and Me. The four of us at home. I'm not sure what that pose what supposed to be. Note Ann's sprig of greenery.

We actually look like our normal selves in this picture! My classic Audrey face, and you can even see my gum!

Um, creepy Arab in the background...