That's better.

Click on this LINK.

Maybe I just need to move to the UK.

Notice that Meyer woman at #23. JKR is #1. Yep.

And notice JRR Tolkien. #25. Still at the top after all these years. Shakespeare, Dickens, and Dr. Seuss are on there too.

This website places Harry on the list, and NOT Twilight. I like them.

This one includes HBP (Half-Blood Prince), and not ONE of the Twilight books. It is a list of best books of the last 20 years, and they were voted on by ACADEMICS.

Sorry I suddenly got so fierce about this. That's all.

ATROCITY.

So mad right now. Are they serious? Twilight before Harry Potter??!?! I can't even speak.

I just don't understand.

There is not a single person in the world that can claim that Twilight is better literature than Harry Potter. THERE ARE FREAKING TYPOS IN THAT MEYER WOMAN'S BOOKS!! (and I don't use that word!)

Click on the link above if you are confused. And then scroll down to the list of "top 10 books of the 2000s."

And I know that some of my readers with laugh at this. But let me make myself clear: THIS IS NOT FUNNY.

I'm officially excited.

Yes, Audrey P., you have me hooked. Everybody, you should read these books, and then you can go to the movie:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Coolest series since Harry Potter (obviously not nearly AS COOL, but still very fun).

I couldn't pick which trailer I like the best, so I embedded #2 and #3.





Coming 12 February 2010.

As a side note, I am officially enjoying the Christmas season through Elvis Presley music.

An Ode to Max, Dennis, and the gang.

I love BYU football, and I love that we totally creamed Oregon State tonight. A perfect finish to a kind of messy season.

But remember at the very beginning of the season WHEN WE BEAT OKLAHOMA? That was incredible. I feel like a lot of people forget that happened. But I sure didn't. And remember how we celebrated in the streets in massive, but very controlled riots? Remember meeting the team at the airport and yelling our guts out and feeling like fainting? Yeah, I remember that. (And did I mention that OU has a TOTALLY HOT quarterback who was injured and stood at the side of the field without his helmet the whole game? Could it have gotten any better?)

And then we lost a couple games, and won a couple games, and it was all very peachy and normal and fun.

AND THEN, we beat UTAH a couple weeks ago, and I was happier that I had been since Andrew's wedding. It was a fantastic game. And I sat in the front row, and I rushed the field, and the players wore the old royal blue uniforms. Beautiful.

It was a good season. And even though I kind of complain that I'm not graduating for another year, I'm actually just really glad that I get to be around for another football season. All-Sports Pass HERE I COME!

Now I'm just excited to see how the new quarterback will perform. And who will it be? I'm betting on Riley Nelson.

Anyway, see ya.

I love Shopping on Amazon

First, to recap, finals week was last week, and it was horrendous-- except for the fact that we ate out four nights in a row. Like at real restaurants (Carrabbas, Zupas, IHOP, and Pizza Factory). Yeah, I don't really know how that happened, because I promise that it was amidst massive amounts of studying, stress, and chaos.

But somehow, I made it through, and I have been able to enjoy three days of Christmas break so far. AND, I got to meet Jenny's baby today, who, by the way, is just so precious and perfect!

Second, I promise that Michael Jackson ISN'T the only thing that I ever think about. I know that my posts are in regards to that man a lot, but that's only because I listen to him when I'm on my computer a lot, and then I'm thinking about him, and then I usually have something to say about it.

The same thing happened tonight, except I was actually listening to Rihanna, and not Michael. Steph and I just decided, for some reason, to look up Michael Jackson memorabilia on Amazon. Best idea I had all day. We looked in the apparel and accessories section, and found some gems. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

1. Michael Jackson wigs (whoever thought this was a good idea?) AND WHY DID THEY KEEP USING THIS AWESOME/TERRIFYING MODEL?
So funny Stephanie and I almost cried.
2. Please buy this for my first born child, boy or girl. NOT.
3. Excuse me, I actually really want this.
The piano shirt from the Beat It video. Too cool for words.
4. Michael Jackson+A little bit of David Bowie+Adam Lambert's 80's comeback style=Total awesomeness. Am I right?
5. Why ANYONE would wear these on their ears I have no idea.
6. And last, two T-shirts that would serve very well for pajamas and wall decorations. Pajamas because I would never wear them in public, and wall decorations because of their double layeredness and intensity.

Is this too much? I just think it is hilarious. And can I just say, I am LOVING the Michael mania that has followed his death. Do you realize that before June 25, 2009, there was hardly ANY MJ memorabilia online? There is a ridiculous amount now. A ridiculous amount of lots of ridiculous stuff. And did you know that a person could not find a copy of his autobiography, "Moonwalk" anywhere? Well, now... a person... can. YAY.

Love you guys.

One Word:

FINALS.

Oh, Happiness.

OMGosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My little sister just alerted me to the fact that MICHAEL BUBLE is coming to SALT LAKE CITY on MARCH 21st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tickets go on sale on December 11th.

I guess now I know what to ask for for Christmas.

Vancouver

I realized something today.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS IN THE WHOLE WORLD IS COMING UP!

So, who else is like, A MAJOR FAN of the OLYMPICS? PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME! (My arm is waving very frantically in the arm, very Hermione-ish.)

Okay, so I love the Summer games the MOST, but winter games are also really really awesome, and they are going to start on February 12, 2010. That means we only have 65 DAYS!

I searched for a promotional video to get everyone all excited about this, but unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of the commercials that the Vancouver team has set up. Maybe the better ones are coming. BUT, here is a video with the Olympic song. It will get you right into the Olympic spirit. It sure got me all boosted up. I think I'm actually going to make it through finals now! There is nothing like listening to the Olympic song to get motivated!

The Jacksons.

December 13, 2009.

Yes.

Snow.

I live in constant fear of slipping and falling and either:

a) Smacking my tailbone and bruising it again (remember the painful tailbone incident at Classic Skating last winter?),
b) Twisting my already slowly-healing sprained ankle again and living for another 2 months in excruciating pain,
c) Dropping my laptop (which doesn't fit in my backpack), watching it splat on the ice, opening it to see a shattered screen and a damaged hard drive, and consequently, losing my most valuable (for monetary and sanity reasons) possession,
d) Sliding down any stairs on campus (whether it be in the library, down to the JFSB, or down the hill from the Maesar building) and breaking every bone in my body, probably including my skull.
e) and/or landing face first on the icy sidewalk, resulting in a broken nose and removal of all my lovely, pearly white, straight teeth.

The only valuable part of my appearance that is not in danger of being damaged by falling is my hair. Thank goodness for that. OMG! UNLESS I slip, and my hair sticks to a pole or something (like on A Christmas Story), and when I continue falling, it keeps sticking to the pole and RIPS OFF MY HEAD. Oh my, I'm going to avoid poles. And other forms of frozen-sticky metal. Aye, aye, aye.

This is what I think about as I walk around campus in the snow. And I thought that Finals were going to be stressful. Sheesh.

Now let's talk about my fear of driving in the snow. I literally CANNOT drive anywhere in snowy weather without having at least one incident in which I slide into a curb, through a stop sign, around a corner, or into large snowbanks that I need to be towed out of. Yes, all of those things have happened to me. And yes, I swear I was driving carefully. Obviously. I'm terrified.


P.S. Audrey P.: you have no idea how lucky you are that you are in Arizona. When I look outside, the only color I see is white, and there is absolutely no sign of life.

Today.

What went through my head today while walking around campus and sitting in class:

1. I have come to terms with the fact that I think boots are ugly. That doesn't mean that when people wear boots I think that person is ugly, or that they are dressed ugly. But seriously, I just don't like them. I don't want to wear boots because I kind of think they are just plain ugly. That's all. (The exception to this rule are rainboots. Love 'em.)

2. 90% of the people I have ever talked to do not know the difference (or cannot remember the difference) between OHIO and IOWA. To most westerners (and easterners) the two states are the same thing. I am here to tell the world that they are very different. And for the record, I lived in IOWA for three years, not Ohio.

3. Blue jeans are a miracle. On any given day, 95% of the people I see are wearing jeans. I doubt that the person who first invented jean EVER imagined the affect that they would have on society--- on the WORLD. Everyone underestimates the power of the blue jean. Seriously.

4. Being a teacher is actually sounding a little bit fun to me again. Phew.

5. I am obsessed with babies. I had a dream the other night that I had a baby. And when I woke up, there was no baby, and I was actually really sad. You know when someone in a dream does something mean to you, and you wake up mad at them? Or you dream about someone, and then like the whole next day you are like super attracted to them? Well, same sort of thing.

6. Confession: I would do my reading for class if my teachers let me read from the textbook instead of some stupid article on course reserve! I hate those articles. They are boring and lame, I hate reading on the computer screen, it costs money to print out a 30 page article, and seriously, why can't we read from the textbook that the professor required us to buy AND PAY GOOD MONEY FOR?!

7. Quote from my grammar textbook today: "Success is intrinsically motivating." Totally agree. Why would you EVER try if you keep failing, over and over? WHY?

8. Tights/Nylons are fantastically comfortable and warm.

9. I finished ALL THREE sudoku from the newspaper this morning in ONE CLASS PERIOD. That proves three things: I am getting really pretty good at Sudoku, I don't pay that much attention in Utah History, and my class is JUST THAT BORING.

10. So I really highly dislike my U.S. Women's History class (we're bordering on "kinda hate" here), but today, I really, really enjoyed it. Well, the first five minutes anyway. This video clip is why:

Don't ask. Just love.

11. Also, in class today we were talking about the modern feminist liberation movement. In 1968 a whole ton of women stormed New York City and Atlantic City protesting the Miss America Pageant. It was a big deal. They threw away all their girdles, bras, beauty products, curling irons, hair dryers, etc. to symbolically free themselves of the bonds of femininity and womanhood and whatever. Makes no sense, right? Well, a bunch of men that were standing around and watching the spectacle of apparently bra-less women were like, "They're just mad because they're too ugly to be in the pageant." There is actually record of men saying this to the protesters faces. That story just made me happy. It was probably true.

So that was my day.

LOTR.

Dani and I have a new obsession.

It all started like three weeks ago because Dani and I wanted to watch a movie. For some reason, for the first time in her life, she was interested in the prospect of watching Lord of the Rings. I jumped at the opportunity, and after she swore that she remembered what happened in the first movie, we plopped in the second.

She was hooked from like the first note of that amazing, Oscar winning original score. And as I explained the deeper details of the characters and plot she got more and more intrigued. And so, up to this point, over a period of a couple weeks (and Thanksgiving break was included in there), we have watched the second and third movies, and started over with the first one yesterday.

This is how we like to watch them. We get all cozy and settled in Dani's room. She has two beds in there- they are parallel to each other. We sit on her bed, with our backs against the wall and feet hanging off the end, and put my computer on the other bed with her speakers hooked up to it. We turn off all the lights, and I use my handy dandy little remote to adjust volume and to pause it if we have to text someone, answer our phones, run out for a cookie break, or discuss recent happenings. Those discussions usually include yours truly trying to explain some concept that I barely remember but can't really put into words very well. I generally try to use as mush Lord of the Rings lingo as possible so Dani thinks that I know what I am talking about. But seriously, I've only ever read those books once. How much could I possibly remember for real?

I've trained her up pretty good too. She really likes using names like "Uruk Hai," "Sting," "Isildur," and "Nazgul." And she was ridiculously excited when we were watching Return of the King and she realized the Aragorn WAS the king who would return. Why it took her until half-way into the third movie to realize that, I will never know. But her joy was contagious. :) AND, I'm pretty sure she's dying to read the books now. I brought my copy back to Provo with me from Thanksgiving, and when I told her about all the awesome appendices at the back, she got SUPER excited. That's the kind of enthusiasm I like to see, especially from a former LOTR hater.

Experiencing Dani's conversion to the wonderful world created by J.R.R. Tolkien has reminded me very fondly of my own conversion to the wonders of life in Middle Earth. I was fifteen years old. I mere sophomore in high school. I had two really good friends, Moe and Jenn (notice the two "n's" Jenny-- I think that's the first time I've ever done that), who realized that my life was lacking, and decided to subject me to an all-time LOTR party. This was, of course, before Return of the King came out into theaters. So, on the appointed night, the three of us went to Harmons and picked up the appropriate snacks: caramel treasures, mint oreos, peacheos, and sour patch kids. (an assortment of chocolatey, sweet, and salty) Oh, and we got a "hot and ready pizza please" at Little Caesars. We watched the movies down in Jenny's room on a little TV that she usually kept close for nights such as these. We set up our beds and bags of food, and watched the extended versions of movies 1 and 2. We paused them VERY OFTEN, because I was frequently very confused, and I think that the two of them were super annoyed at me because I kept not waiting for the movie to answer my questions. But, we had a grand all time as a result of the wonderful movies, splendid company, yummy treats, and let's not forget-- the talented Paul Handy. By around 3am, I was fully converted, and NEEDED to see the third movie.

We went to movie 3 on New Years' Eve, just as 2003 ended, and we welcomed in 2004. Yes, my first moments in the year 2004 were spent in the Stadium 8 movie theater with Moe and Jenn. And I kind of think I brought my teddy bear (he was recently adopted from build-a-bear, okay?). But watched the movie, and it was fantastic, and I loved it. And we got home around 4 in the morning, and didn't get to bed until 6. Let's just say that to this day, it is still my favorite New Years' Eve ever. And do you know why? Because I love Moe and Jenn, I generally hate New Years' Eve, and LOTR IS AWESOME.

After that I read the books, bought the movies, and have watched them several more times. And I even own a One Ring. Creepy. Oh, and I made a pinata of the Ring for my Spanish class assignment. And mean Mr. Robinson gave me a bad grade, even though my ring was WAY AWESOMER than his silent son's basketball pinata. I mean, come on! That pinata almost gave me my first A-. But it was a pretty sweet pinata, and I hung it above my bed like a halo for the next several years.

Plus, Aragorn is just too handsome and rugged and chiseled and great.

Good times. LOTR.

Sweet Victory

Yesterday I drove back up to Provo- two days early- to go to the BYU-Utah football game-- arguably and most important game on the BYU schedule. Other games may matter more when it comes to stats and rankings, but the Utah game means the most to BYU fans. It is a BIG DEAL.

So... I had a front row ticket. My wonderful all-sports pass randomly placed me in the front row, south side, right in the middle of the endzone behind the goal posts. I could literally touch the net when it came up for an extra point kick or field goal. I have a picture of the football flying at my face when it was kicked. I actually made eye contact with one of the Utah players. I made kind of a mean face. I say "kind of" because my face can't really get that mean, even when I try.

I went to the game with my friend Brittanie. Love that girl. She was all excited about it with me, and we got BYU tattoos to put on our faces. And we bought Cougar Dogs, which are the best hot dogs ever, and she screamed and screamed with me.

The minute the team ran onto the field, I knew we were going to win. And you wanna know why? They were wearing the beautiful royal blue (aka Dixie blue) uniforms worn by successful cougars in the past-- a memorial to the 1984 National Championship team. And I LOVED the Dixie blue uniforms. They looked so good! Or maybe I just love that color of blue. I would be very happy if BYU went back to the traditional royal blue color ALL THE TIME. They would have my affirmative vote if there was ever a poll.

The game was super intense. I let out involuntary screams several times. My throat hurt. It made me cough. But it was so great. The lead we had until Utah caught up in the 4th quarter was insane. And both teams gave an amazing showing on defense. It really was a battle of defenses.

And boy was I nervous. I had a very sick, hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as that last field goal flew up (right towards my face) and went in, tying the game, forcing overtime. Unluckily for Brittanie and I, they chose to play the overtime on the opposite end of the field from where we were sitting, so it was very hard, and sometime impossible, to see what was going on. That last pass to Andrew George that won the game for us was totally invisible to me. We just heard the cheering, and joined the jubilation and merry-making. I saw many replays later, though. Don't worry.

When they started the overtime, though, policemen came down and lined the field. They put the net up to keep fans from spilling out onto the field and tearing down the goal posts. Brittanie and I had been really nervous about the end of the game (if we won), because we thought there was a high probability that we would get trampled, us being slow, frightened girls stuck in the front row and all. But it turned out all right. We ended up jumping down from the stands and running under the net and around the policemen to join the celebration on the other end of the field. It was pretty awesome. I mean, I've rushed the field and/or court for high school games, but rushing for a college game was a whole new experience, especially considering the much, much larger scale. We cheered and wandered around the masses of excited fans, running into football players every once in a while. They are like celebrities.

They had a little presentation ceremony for the seniors, and then everyone dispersed. As Brittanie and I were walked away, an events staff person stopped us to clear the way for the people behind him. Those people just happened to include PRESIDENT CECIL O. SAMUELSON. As one of Cecil's biggest fans, I was seriously starstruck when I saw that man. No joke, he was a foot away from me, and I didn't know what to do. I accidentally oggled at him. He looked at me, nodded, and said, "hi." Yes, President Samuelson said hi to me. Icing on the cake.

After he walked away, Brittanie and I just looked at each other with open, silently screaming mouths. No words.

We walked up to the Victory Bell at the Marriott Center, where people were gathering for the traditional ringing of the bell. Two players came up to ring it, and then they let other people ring the bell. Together, Brittanie and I rang in the victory! Last time I rang the bell was after the BYU-Utah basketball game (remember the tent post from last winter?). Pretty great.

We like beating the University of Utah around here. It makes us cougars super duper happy.

And as for what Max Hall said about the game, whatever. I don't care if he thinks that or feels that, because honestly, I'm sure that he gets crap from Utah fans everywhere he goes. He is probably very much abused everytime he sets foot in Salt Lake City, and man, that would be tough. So, I think that his feelings are probably justified. He probably has good reason to hate Utah, their program, their fans, everything.

(Quoted: Max Hall: "I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything. I think the whole university, their fans and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose.")

BUT.

He did not have to say all of that on national television. So not cool, and it makes him look like a sore winner.

BUT.

He probably knew exactly what he was doing, and made that choice. I wouldn't be surprised if he had that speech planned. He obviously had a lot to say, and it was probably all stuff that he had been wanting to say for a long time.

So, I don't blame him. But it still makes me a little disappointed.

BUT.

I'm still a fan of the guy. Go Max.

In conclusion, I think that was the most fun I have ever had at a football game. It totally rocked my socks off, and did not disappoint in the slightest. I loved every minute of it, and it will be hard for next years' football games to top this one.

Why do people feel the need to take their friends on tours of the periodicals in the HBLL and push the buttons to make the shelves move? It's not that cool, or that entertaining.

L-O-V-E. Love.

I just noticed a line in a Michael Jackson song that I had never noticed before. It's in the song, "Childhood." The song is supposedly his most autobiographical song. In fact, I heard it from his own mouth in a interview. It says:

"Before you judge me, try hard to love me."

It just breaks my heart.

My little buddy's baptism.

I drove to Huntsville last weekend to see my favorite little cousin, Daxton, get baptized. He is such a sweet little boy (even if he is a little crazy), and we have always been best friends.

A couple years ago he used to call me and just talk. Like every day. It was very sweet, but when it got excessive, his mother hid my phone number from him. He found it though, and proceeded to call me while hidden under his parent's bed so his mom didn't know. By the time she discovered this, he had already memorized my phone number. :)

Daxton is one of my favorite things about visiting my relatives. At our last family party, the best part was when Dax and I went into the basement to play dominos- just him and me. And we used to jump on the tramp at his house all the time, and he was so little that he would just fly around like Captain Smallet on Muppet Treasure Island, and I would fall down laughing at him, and he would be like, "what?? What's so funny??" while he kept flopping around. I spent so much time with this little boy that when I would go home to St. George (his family lives in Huntsville, Utah), I would miss him like crazy. I used to stay at his family's house and sleep in the extra bed in his room, but when we went to sleep, he would crawl in bed with me, and even though we slept on different sides of the bed, he would curl his little hand around my neck to sleep. It was so incredibly sweet.

I love this little guy, and I had the honor of speaking at his baptism. I told him how important the gospel was to me, and all about baptismal covenants. I hope he remembers.

But anyway, It was awesome to be able to see him get baptized. This is just another reason why I'm glad that I decided to stay home from a mission for the time being-- to see Dax and to speak at his baptism.

Rays of Sunshine: A Pocket Book of Pep

I love my job at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections in the HBLL. I love it love it love it.

And I love it because I get to look at cool old stuff all day, organize it, and tell other people about it!! What could possibly be greater?

So, today I found several gems. You see, I'm going through a collection of papers and junk that was owned/collected by Nellie Gubler, a long-time St. George/Santa Clara resident. She did a lot of family history and St. George history work, plus kept and used everything that she ever came in contact with. It is my job to sort through all her stuff and make sense of it. And all of this purely for historical reasons, of course.

But anyway, today I went through a ton of family history stuff, WHICH I LOVED. It was fascinating. But, I won't get in to all of that. The noteworthy stuff of the day came in the afternoon when I looked through several binders of Nellie's that contained pages and pages of inspirational stories and craps that you get at church and at activities like enrichment night, and recipes, songs, poems, etc. Just lots of junk that most people don't keep. I am sure glad this lady kept all of it, though, because it can be highly entertaining. I found some pretty great stuff today, which is as follows:

1. The title of this post was actually the title of a pamphlet found in one of the binders. Like it was a real thing.
2. "Remember that 'American' ends with, 'I can.'" I'm just trying to figure out why Obama didn't think of this. It would have worked perfectly with his campaign.
3. "Is the carpet in your bedroom worn most in front of your bed where you pray, or in front of your mirror where you primp?"
4. In a random quiz that denies its taker of any point or purpose, there was a question that read:

How would you describe your hair?
a. Pretty.
b. Long.
c. Fluffy.
d. My crowning glory.

hahahahahah. Crowing glory. kay, that's funny anyway, but that is ACTUALLY how Stephanie describes her hair. Why, I don't know. But those words have actually come out her mouth in reference to her golden locks of hair. Her crowning glory.

5. "People do not plan to be poor, they just do not plan." So maybe if you plan to be poor, you won't be, because you have a plan.

6. Dr. Whitt N. Schulyz gives us: How to Get an Extra Hour out of Every Day:
(which is something that I have been complaining about and desperately need. So, when I saw this, I exclaimed in joy, and proceeded to read, hoping to glean some useful information for my life. Unfortunately, people several decades ago think a little differently than we do today.):

1. Make up and follow a detailed, daily schedule (duh, I already do this)
2. Get up earlier (this is not worth the extra time it will give you. What if the extra time you need is for sleeping?!?)
3. Avoid allowing other to waste your time (yeah, since it's our fault, and we can prevent it, when other people waste our time).
4. Make creative use of lunch time (I already do that too.)
5. If you commute to work, use the time to study or plan (This is actually a good one)
6. Eliminate activities which make little contribution to the best results of your life. (Are we saying that no fun is allowed?)
7. Skip desserts (yep, no fun is allowed).
8. Lay out your clothes the night before (FINALLY! something that will actually help me!)
9. Relax. Ready yourself for the important jobs in life. (I thought that we were trying to save time! How can relaxing possibly do that?)
10. Learn to do other "unnecessary things" while watching TV or listening to the radio. (Isn't that already what TV and radio are for?? Making multi-tasking possible?)
11. Learn to read more rapidly (If only that were easy and possible...)
12. Avoid interruptions (because interruptions are purposeful and easy to avoid).
13. Work to your top capacity (ALL THE TIME?!?!?!)
14. Nap an hour after dinner. Then take a shower. Begin the evening hours relaxed and refreshed. (Oh wow. This one is my favorite. It really defeats the purpose of having that extra hour, if you are going to use it for a nap and extra daily shower.)
15. Call on specialists to accomplish work you cannot do efficiently. (Yes, let's pay everyone to do all the things that we can't do fast enough ourselves. We'll learn really well that way.) :)

Dear Dr. Shulyz: I'm sorry, but I don't think your advice is very meaningful or useful in a modern context. But it is very entertaining. Love, Audrey

7. In one of the binders is this old St. George song. I found it positively delightful:

Oh, what a dreary place this was when first they Mormons found it,
They said no white man here could live; and Indians prowled around it.
They said the land it was no good, and the water was no gooder,
And the bare idea of living here was enough to make men shudder.

Chorus
Mesquite! Soap-root! Prickly-pears and briars!
St. George ere long will be a place that everyone admires!

Now green lucerne is verdant spots redeems our thriving city,
Whilst vines and fruit trees grace our lots with flowers sweet and pretty,
Where once the grass in single blades grew a mile apart in distance,
And it kept the crickets on the o[p to pick up their subsistence.

The sun it is so scorching hot, it makes the water sizz, sir,
And the reason that it is so hot is just because it is, sir.
The wind with fury here doth blow, that went we plat or sow, sir,
We place one foot upon the seeds and hold them till they grow, sir.

:)

So you see, sorting through old stuff all day really is entertaining. There are all sorts of treasures to be found. And that is why working in the Special Collections really is a blast from the past.

Audrey and the Two Scaries.

I was little red riding hood for Halloween, Dani was a very scary Thriller-inspired zombie, Lene was the wicked witch from Norway, and Rachelle was... a vampire (to make fun of that one book series. You know the one I mean). Why is it that people feel the need to be scary on Halloween? I refuse to dress up as anything that makes me look ugly. My personal philosophy is that Halloween is no excuse to be purposefully unattractive. So... I could NOT figure out why these girls that are cute and I love SO much wanted to be scary for Halloween. It will always be a mystery.

On Halloween, we went to a stake party that was CRAZY, and then to a free haunted house that was NOT scary. Okay, maybe a little scary.

The end.

A return to normalcy (hopefully)

I am not a full-time weirdo, I promise. The weirdness is reserved for things like Harry Potter and Michael Jackson.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I want to talk about Homecoming.

SO.... I was very busy with school all week (and I mean VERY busy), so I didn't have time to enjoy homecoming festivities throughout the week. My enjoyment of this year's homecoming came on Saturday, the day of that horribly horrible horror of a game.

BUT, Rachelle and I went to the parade that morning, and it was a B.L.A.S.T. At BYU's homecoming parade they like to give everyone lots of candy, flyers, and best of all, blue chocolate chip pancakes. We, here at BYU, are very school spirity and Bluey. It's lovely.

Rachelle got very excited about the parade. When Cecil O. Samuelson (aka president, or headmaster, of BYU) rode by in a cool old car, Rachelle accidentally yelled "CECIL!!!" And he looked and waved. And she said, "I LOVE YOU!!!!" First of all, one is not supposed to call their superiors (aka headmasters) by their first name. It's like if Harry accidentally called Dumbledore, "Albus," or if I met the president and said, "Well, hey Barack!" It just doesn't work. Second, she told him she loved him, which is entirely inappropriate and probably frightened both he and his wife into hiding to avoid stalker girl who attended the parade in her gym clothes.
I love Rachelle and the fact that she attended the parade with me despite her need to sleep and do homework.

Also, there was an amazing Captain Jack Sparrow look-a-like on the Pirate Island Pizza float. I really this it was Johnny Depp. The look-a-like man is featured below:

AND, the George Q. Cannon opened the parade. Love that thing:

After the parade, I took a nap, went shopping with Audrey P. and her adorable little baby and bought SOME NEW JEANS!! Yay ME!!!

Then, we went to the game, and had a lovely time after we bought some Cougar Dogs and decided to stop caring about winning or losing or the reputation of our school. Fun was to be had all around, and it was a joyful experience. I think.

The End. Homecoming this year was good, could of been better (if we had won and I could have participated in some super awesome during-the-week activities), but it was good. :)

I'm a lover, not a fighter.

(Foreword: So... I wrote this the moment I got home from the movie. I saw it the first showing, the first night. I bought my tickets over a month ago, the moment they went on sale. And the following post was my reaction. Yes, I know it sounds crazy. And it has taken me 4 days to decide to post it because of that craziness. But, I think that you all will get a kick out of my eccentricities. Also, I wore a shirt that says, "lover not a fighter" and a black silky MJish jacket. All you Michael fans out there would recognize that in "The Girl is Mine," from the Thriller album, which is a duet with Paul McCartney, Michael says, "I think I told you, I'm a lover, not a fighter!" And that was sort of a theme of his life. So, I bought the shirt and wore it to his movie. The end. Love, Audrey)
I just got back from Michael Jackson's "This is it."

I am speechless.

I am not trying to be dramatic. I

am being totally serious. And you can laugh if you want. But really, it was...powerful.

In the words of Stephanie, my lovely sister and fellow MJ enthusiast, "Let's start a charity that raises money to make sure that everyone in the world can see that movie because it will make their lives so much better!!!!"

I replied, "SERIOUSLY!! That was the best thing I have EVER SEEN!"

And she said, "That was the best thing that has EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!"

And I don't know why. I can't explain it. It was just IT. But so much more than that. I just don't even know what to say.

The odd thing about that little texting conversation is that I know we were both being serious. Stephanie may have exaggerated a little bit, but I know she meant it.

And the whole time, while I was freaking out inside and wanted to yell or scream or faint or something, I was thinking, "WHAT IF WE COULD HAVE SEEN THIS FOR REAL?!?!!?" What if it wasn't just a rehearsal? What if we could actually attend the show, LIVE? I can suddenly understand why and how the people who went to his concerts scream and cry and faint (there are several YouTube videos showing this) when he is performing. I could barely contain myself in a dark theater, watching footage of a mere rehearsal of the real thing. It was incredible. Somehow, Michael had this ability to draw emotion. He had nearly perfected it. I just don't understand. I am still reeling, and the movie ended about 40 minutes ago. And yes, I am already blogging about it. But that is because I don't know what else to do. I just want to tell the world. And I can't sleep. I'm too excited. And mystified.

And then it just makes me sad. He had so much more in him. The talent was not gone. He was not decrepit in the slightest. He actually seemed very much like a normal person-- or as normal as you can get when you're Michael Jackson. But what if the world could have seen those concerts? What if we could have heard more music? Even though I was sad before, his death wasn't something that affected me too much. I wrote about this in the "In Memoriam" post, but he had already seemed dead to me, so it didn't seem like that much of a loss. But after seeing this movie, I can see the loss. It's HUGE. And painful.

For real, the movie started with complete silence, a black screen, and scrolling white letters, introducing the movie. Steph and I clung to each other's arms, and were both kind of hyperventilating. I ALMOST burst. I was FREAKING OUT. Finally, right before the segment ended, Stephanie couldn't take it anymore, and a medium-sized scream burst out. And then I could let mine go.

And throughout the movie Steph kept saying things like,"What is happening? Is this real?" And "look at him. That's Michael Jackson." And when they were rehearsing for "They Don't Care About Us," we were both like, "He's just teaching those dancers the choreography! He just walks in, shakes his head, and shows them how to do it." And once, when it showed one of his particularly crazy outfits, she said, "whoever designed that had lots of good ideas." I agreed.

He was a master. A genius. All the people kept saying, "Michael just really knows his music." And he did. He told them exactly how he wanted everything played, really, exactly how he wanted it. And everyone just followed his cues the whole time. He practically conducted the show, while he was performing. He started and stopped everything. And he had a vision. He used emotions and feeling to know how to do a song. He would pause and everyone would be like, "What's going on?" And he would say, "I'm just sizzling," like that was a totally normal, everyday activity. And for him, it probably is.

Michael Jackson could move a crowd. And somehow, that ability extended through a theater screen in Provo, Utah, and hit me: right smack dab in the heart.

My Best Brother's Wedding

Warning: This is a long one, and there is no reason that you should have to read the whole thing,

I love Andrew and Mallory. I love them together, I love them separate. I am very happy about them being married. And I know that I have made a really big deal of it all, but I feel so much better about the whole idea of him being married that it's insane. I love it. The moment I saw them walk out of the temple together, I loved it. Maybe it's because I was no longer anxious-- there was nothing to be nervous about once they got married. It was already over. And done. And so perfect, I tell you.

So here is the timeline-- a listing of events, from beginning to end.

I drove home the Wednesday before the wedding- October 14- with Elise and Stephanie. After a good night's sleep, all the craziness began. I had a list of approximately a gajillion things to do that day, all in preparation for the wedding. We were all quite overwhelmed and to say the least--cranky. At least I was. I was stressed. Emotionally stressed.

The day before the wedding, Thursday, I got up around 8, showered, then left for Pebbles to work on the sign-in book. Later, Mom and everyone picked me up and we went to Wal-Mart for some necessaries. After running through Wal-Mart because we were low on time, we rushed to Corri Theobald's house to try on our dresses (that she made for us!) one last time and pick them up. On the way, the van started acting crazy. My mom pulled over, we prayed like crazy, and somehow got it going again. We got to Corri's, did our thing, then went back to the car... that wouldn't run. It was totally dead. SO, we called Dad for a ride and a tow truck to get the van. At this point, stress levels were high and we were all not so nice to each other.

We had about an hour to drive to Target (to get a sweater for Elise to wear at the temple and luncheon), Roberts (to find letters for the front of the sign-in book), and Costco (to get the flowers for the luncheon). It was probably the shortest hour I have ever been awake for. We rushed around like crazy people (after getting the car that I had left at Pebbles and leaving dad with his car to figure out what was going on with the van), and somehow, some way, we made it back home only a little but late. It's amazing what can be done when pressed for time.

Andrew met us at home-- I finally got to see him--- and it was the day before the wedding!! He helped my dad get the tables for the luncheon while we started the clean-up and everything at the Stake Center (the luncheon was at the stake center on the corner of that one street and North Bluff-- you know, right by where you turn to go to my house). We had to iron all the table cloths, wash all the dishes (enough for 150 people!), set up tables, arrange flowers, make the place settings, etc. It took HOURS. I hung around until about 5:00pm, when I realized that I still needed to finish the sign-in book. Stress overwhelmed my again, and I ran out the door to Pebbles. I finished the book fairly quickly, picked up the dresses that were altered in the last few hours, and ran back to the Stake Center. We spent another hour or so to finish setting up, and finally got home around 8. But THEN, me, Elise, Stephanie, and Moriah, had to go back to Wal-Mart because we still needed to buy the presents we were supposed to give Andrew and Mallory at the luncheon. By the time we got home from that, it was about 10pm. We were all exhausted and wanted to go to bed soon, but then Andrew got there, and we had to celebrate Stephanie's birthday still. She opened her presents, and we all sat around and talked for a couple of hours. And we did our nails. That was important. Before we all went to bed, we coordinated when everyone was going to get up, where they were going to take a shower, where they were going to get ready, which curling irons they should use, etc.

Andrew stayed the night at our house. I thought that was appropriate--- it was sweet that the night before he got married, he stayed in his home with his family, even though he doesn't live there anymore. I loved having him in our home-- all of us together.

The next morning was actually NOT CRAZY. Surprising? YES. Very. My family members are a bunch of stress-balls, but somehow, we all got up early, got ready, and things went smoothly. My mother had even prepared a breakfast quiche and made cinnamon rolls the night before, and just stuck them in the oven that morning. We were all pleasantly surprised at my mother's initiative- that breakfast was usually reserved for one morning a year- Christmas. We all were like, "I didn't know that Andrew's wedding was Christmas! Andrew! You should get married more often!!" So, we all had breakfast, semi-together, and then had family prayer. It was perfectly lovely, and I was ready super early. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am NEVER early.

Andrew and Dad left for the temple earlier than everyone else, and then I drove up with my Mom, Moriah, and Grandma Colleen about 15 minutes later. Stephanie, Elise, and Celina met us there at around 10:30-- the sealing started at 10:40.

We sat around back, waiting very anxiously and watching all the kids (Dustin kept stamping on the bushes!), until FINALLY, everyone that was in the sealing gathered around and Andrew and Mallory came out to lots of cheering, excitement, and merriment.

After taking some pictures on the front steps of the temple, we rushed to the stake center to get everything set up for the luncheon. And it went just swimmingly. The food arrived on time, and we were ready to go when everyone started showing up. Well, everyone but Mallory and Andrew, that is. They were about 25 minutes late to their own luncheon. But it wasn't their fault, I swear. The photographer was still taking pictures of them at the temple.

We had Pasta Factory cater, and it was DELICIOUS. The best news is that we had LOADS of extra alfredo sauce, and I love that stuff. I still have a container of it in my fridge. :) And then for dessert, we had Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Andrew insisted on it. He said there was nothing else that he would want, and if he couldn't have ice cream cake, he didn't want desert at all. But he said it in a nice way, promise. He just really likes ice cream cake.

After we ate, my dad said a few words, and the show began! All the siblings of the newlyweds gave either Andrew or Mallory, or both, presents! We all talked a little bit and told funny memories, advice, or warnings about the craziness of the other person. I gave them a DVD of "Sandlot" and a Clue game. BECAUSE, I think that both of the presents are very representative of me and Andrew's relationship. We have always played catch and pickle, and street hockey, and basketball, and football (with my dad as all-time quarterback), and every other kind of neighborhood/family game there is. We were a team. That's what "Sandlot" was for. And the Clue game was because Andrew and I used to play it and Monopoly all the time, and he used to make up rules that made him win EVERY TIME. So fun, but so ridiculous. So, I warned Mallory about letting Andrew add his own rules. Seriously, is it really fair to be paid from the bank when you land on your own property? Not a good rule. And we always played Clue-- with only 2 people--- which doesn't really work--- and Andrew was always Mr. Green and I was always Mrs. White. And he always won.

Oh, and because it was Stephanie's birthday in addition to it being Andrew's wedding day, my mom had a cake made for Stephanie, and Andrew gave it to her at the luncheon. We all sang for her. :)

So anyway, the luncheon was lovely. And somehow my mom got all the young women from our ward to serve the dessert, fill water glasss, and do the dishes. They were a MAJOR blessing. I had thought that WE were going to have to do the dishes. But thank goodness we didn't have to, because we only had about an hour between the luncheon and the time that we needed to be at the reception for pictures. It was crazy busy....
SO.... skip to pictures and the reception. It was beautiful. I. loved. it. It was in the Morby's front yard. They had lots of tables set up, all with green tablecloths, and there were lights in the bushes and trees all around the yard. Not just Christmas lights, though, whole chandeliers. They were awesome. There were pictures of Andrew and Mallory all over the place looking amazing and...so... I don't really want to describe the whole thing. But it was great, promise. And so fun. And there were SO MANY PEOPLE! Tons and tons throughout the whole night. Like, they prepared food for 600 people, and they ran out. And I just walked around talking to people, eating delicious food, taking pictures in the photo booth (which was totally awesome), watching the slideshow and video of Andrew and Mallory, taking pictures, laughing at my mom and dad because they had to stand in line for so long, chasing little cousins around, limping through the grass with my painful heels, etc, etc, etc. It actually was a lot of fun, especially because I got to spend so much time with family AND because I was all dressed up like was part of the cast and on display a little bit. I love that.

After the reception, and Andrew and Mallory drove away, we helped clean up a little bit, then drove home. Me and the sisters watched "Labyrinth" a bit before we all fell asleep (I have rarely been so tired).

The next day was devoted to family (the extended kind that we hardly ever see) and opening presents. Both Andrew and Mallory forgot their birth certificates- a necessary when one is going on a cruise- so they came back to the Morby's house that afternoon, and we all watched/helped them open presents. I've never had the privilege of doing that before-- it was a lot of fun. I really can't wait to open my own wedding presents and tally up the earnings... Please ya'll, just give me cash. Thanks.

It was a lovely day, and a lovely weekend. I love weddings. And I love that Andrew and Mallory are married and that she is part of my family forever.

<3.

A Sneak Peek!

The healthiest place to be

health.usnews.com reports that the Provo-Orem, Utah area is ranked number 1 as most sober and most smoke free in the United States. It is ranked #2, after Boulder, Colorado, as "The most fit." More than 64% of citizens in the Provo and Orem exercise regularly.

I think I live in the healthiest place in the United States.

On the flip side, Washington, D.C. ranks #1 in "smartest state," and #2 in most literate. I'm pretty sure that's the place to be if you want to be smart.

Both of my favorite places (besides St. George, of course), BYU and Washington, are amazingly ranked as places in the United States to live. I think I have some sort of innate wisdom to love these places. Or maybe that's why I like them. Because they are the best.

Here is a link to the webites with all the stats.

That's all.

Sleepy McSleeperson Sleepovers.

This weekend.... I had two last chance ever sleepovers. I am so lucky!

I went home to St. George on Friday afternoon for several events of the weekend:

1) Mallory's family bridal shower. YIP! I loved her family. They are fantastic. And I really love her. It was kind of odd, though, being there. I've never been on the groom's side of things before. They made a movie of the groom answering questions, and whatta ya know, it was MY BROTHER. Odd. But they are adorable, and I'm fully excited for the wedding.

Yeah, sorry, Mom. Your eyes are closed. Eek.

2)Part of that excitement, however, it due to our awesome shiny green groomsmaid (cause that's what we are, I think) dresses. We went to the second fitting on Saturday morning, and I fell in love with the lovely thing. YAY.

3) We made a quilt. My mother likes to make her life WAY more stressful that it actually needs to be. I think I used to have that trait, but in recent years the habits of lazier, happier roommates have rubbed off on me, and I am much more relaxed about over-achieving. So my mom decided that while we were home, we would actually QUILT (not tie) a blanket for Andrew and Mallory. It was very nice thing to do, but not necessary. This would not have been that big of a deal had my mother already had the quilt on the frames and ready to go when we got there. She didn't. She had cut out the squares, only to find out that they needed to be re-cut. I did that while she sewed all them together and grandma ironed the strips, and THEN, we put it on the frames and quilted to our hearts' content (while we watched GC of course) We got about half of it quilted by the time conference got over, so my poor mother darling will have to finish it herself. :( Well, Sugar Doll can help her, I guess. But, it really was a blast. I love quilting with my sisters and mother and grandma. It's a bonding experience. And, by the way, the quilt is gorgeous. I'm secretly like VERY jealous that it's not for me. Mother, I want one.
4) General Conference. Love it. I especially love the idea of casually waking up on Sunday morning with no place to go, and only something to watch and enjoy. It's such a good break (especially when my Sundays have been JAM PACKED with relief society craziness).

5) Sleepover #1. Me and my darling siblings, Stephanie, Andrew, Elise, and Moriah, AND our kind of cousin Celina, had a sleepover in the family room on Friday night. We pulled all the mattresses off our beds and pushed them together in one giant bed, then told each other stories until we fell asleep. It was a last chance sleepover, because, well, Andrew is getting married VERY soon, and although I'm happy about it, I'm still very much freaking out about the whole idea/concept. Marriage is just so BINDING. :) I mean, once it's done, it's done. There's no going back.

6) Sleepover #2. On Saturday night, I had a sleepover with Moe and Jen, my favorite all-time and forever besties in the world. I mean, I have a lot of other besties, but they have been my besties the LONGEST, so that gives them more devotion and laugh points. They are very funny girls, and we had a fabulous time together. This was a very rare opportunity because they are both involved in that one binding marriage thing... And Jenny is going to have a baby, remember? SO, we were only able to have this fiesta because both of their charming and handsome husbands were out of town hunting or camping or something else that boys do. Lucky me, right? I know. We talked forever, went to Dairy Queen (our classic get-a-away. We love that place more than the average ice cream loving group of girls), played games, reminisced about secret high school memories, and giggled until the wee hours of the morning. This is a last chance sleepover because it will only get harder to do this kind of thing 53 days from today when Jenny has her baby.

This weekend I was really lucky to have been able to spend so much time with lots of people I love. It was amazing. And I'm not going to pretend that the warm weather didn't contribute greatly to my happiness.

Please do not note that I am only even wearing makeup in one of these four pictures. I guess it was a good weekend for not getting ready and looking gross too. Love that.

Also, real fast, I have a new initiative in my life. I need to become re-devoted to my schoolwork. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I used to be THE. MODEL. STUDENT. I did. Promise. And somehow, I've forgotten that drive. I've lost that motivation. So now, I am making a commitment to work harder and do better. THE END.

September 27: Ticket Day

I bought my tickets. One for me, one for Stephanie.

The first showing- 10:00 PM, October 27, 2009.

This Is It.

I am True Blue

TRUE BLUE BYU.

My first year at BYU I did not have genuine school spirit. I SO do now, and I would argue that I am a bigger fan than you (that excludes you, Dani). I like to like things more than other people like them. It's kind of my theme in life (aka Harry Potter obsession. Please do not tell me that you like Harry Potter more than I do. It gives me great stress. Unfortunately.).

So, here is the story of my BYU school spirit so far this year....

1. The Oklahoma game. Final score: 14-13. Dani and I watched the first half at Kaitlin's house and the second half at Legend's Grill among dozens of other screaming fans. It was a blast and a half, and after the enormous victory, we partied in the streets. I swear, joyful riots broke out all over student neighborhoods, and all down University Avenue. Dani and I parked at the stadium and joined the crowd there. BUT, we didn't stay for long, because THEN, we went to a bonfire in the canyon. YIP. And THEN, at 1:30 in the morning, we drove to the Provo airport to GREET THE TEAM!! There were hundreds of students there, all lined up, waiting for the team to fly. There was much happiness and rejoicing. BTW, winning this game brought us to #9 in the rankings.

2. The Tulane game. Final score: One million to hardly anything. It was a BLOWOUT. Which is SO FUN. I went to the Smith Fieldhouse to watch it on a giant screen with Paul. The student activities people gave out free food. That night, once again, we went to MEET THE TEAM at the airport and join in the celebration of sweet victory. Dani was very excited because she actually touched Max Hall's hand. She tried to pull him in, but he pulled his hand away. I have to remind her, almost daily, that he's married. Bronco gave a little speech thanking us all for being there to meet the team. There were a lot less people than the week before and he said, "You guys are the true fans," because we showed up even when it wasn't the biggest victory of the last 10 years. After this game, we were #7 in the rankings (that's even better than our best ranking at the peak of last year!!!)

3. The pep rally. It was the Thursday before the first home game. Dani and I got sweet seats at the front. The cheerleaders did their thing (which, we really enjoyed because the boy cheerleaders are totally awesome when they dance/sing to the fight song. Seriously, watch them next time you have the chance. It's pretty great.), and then the football team came out and introduced each other. They were funny. And we saw Cosmo. And Dani said, "I love that CAT!"

Please excuse my non-BYU apparel. I had had a very, very busy day. Namely: school, work, Presidency meeting, group project on campus, then straight to the rally.

4. The Florida State game. We don't like to talk about it much because we lost. But Dani and I had a jolly good time anyway because our row was randomly selected, out of every row in that ginormous LaVell Edwards Stadium, to win free pizzas from Papa Johns! Cosmo came and hung out with us for like half an hour, and we were put on the big screen with the pizzas that we won! That night we celebrated our free pizza winning and cheered ourselves up over the loss with Cafe Rio. A perfect celebration/mourning mix. Unfortunately, after this game, BYU went down to #19 in the rankings. :(

5. TRUE BLUE FOOTBALL. What can I possibly say?!?!?! LOVE IT. I have an uncommon love for wrestling around in foreign substances, namely, jello, pudding, mashed potatoes, and now, BLUE FOAM. It's a habit I learned in high school. We did that sort of stuff all the time. BUT SO, I went to True Blue football with Dani, two of our BFFs from our new ward, Kevin and Ted, and then Brad and Andrew met us there. There were masses of people there and masses of blue foam. Someday I'll figure out how to produce such a large amount of foam and host foam parties in my backyard for the neighborhood kids. And we'll have a giant slip 'n slide and everything. Best moment at true blue football: when I smashed a bunch of foam in Dani's face and she started choking and coughing, and THEN, Hannah didn't notice that Dani was already convulsing because of what I did, and SHE DID IT AGAIN with ANOTHER load of blue, soapy foam. Dani, I think, kind of almost died. It was very sad that she was choking, and we all stood there awkwardly while she coughed on the ground, but seriously, IT WAS HILARIOUS. It was also pretty great when we stuffed the foam under our shirts and in our pants and looked like giant, blubber foam smurf people. I crashed into people, splattering foam all over them. It was fantastic.

In case you can't see people through the blueness, from left it goes: Stephen, Dani, Hannah, Andrew, me, and Brad.

6. The Colorado State Game. A lazy win, a predictable game. But it was super great anyway. I sat with Dani at first (but then she went home because she wasn't feeling good), then with Kaitlin, Spencer, and Kyle. Kaitlin was my football buddy for the last couple years, so it was just peachy to be with her. I miss my old girls. (Meg, come back to me!!!!) I don't care if a game is exciting (I mean, an exciting game is preferable, but not required), because I just love to sit in the sun, be in a football stadium, and be matching with everyone I see. (I LOVE it when things/people match. Some people don't like to match. I LOVE IT. That's why I love weddings so much. Because everything matches.)

In conclusion, I am true blue and proud. School spirit is one of my favorite inventions.

To sum up last Saturday, there are two other events I must mention.

1) The rope swing. I went with our ward BFFs, Kevin, Ted, and Josh, and our FHE mom, Jessica, to a rope swing in Mona. The weather was perfectly warm, but the water was FREEZING cold. But it was really pretty, and the rope swing was awesome. There were platforms built up in trees like treehouses to jump from. It was quite elaborate. I want to go back.

2) I went to "Up" with Cameron and his gang on Saturday night. LOVE THAT MOVIE. It's just precious. Dug, Kevin, Russell, and Mr. Frederickson: you rock.