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1. In the wise words of Lauren Conrad on The Hills, "they'll send you a text because they know that you just stopped thinking about them. It's like a radar."

2. I found the perfect description for Salt Lake boys. The Mormon Bachelor Pad blog. Remember when that was a thing in like 2010? Well, it's real life. I remembered about that blog yesterday, so I spent some productive time today on a refresher course. I now feel more fully equipped to handle man situations in Salt Lake. Because, seriously. I have never been so repeatedly confused.

Some sample textual messages:
Exhibit A:
(after a bunch of annoying texts where our plans for the next day were cancelled and he could tell I was getting frustrated with his annoyingness.)
boy: (around midnight) just been a rough night lol
me: (the next day) why rough?
boy: (the NEXT day) Cuz I didn't hang out with you lol haha
me: oh boy. what a line. :)

ARE YOU FOR SERIOUS???

same boy, but several days earlier:
me: on a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome would it be if I got a bounce house for my birthday party?
boy: Hmmm 3. I've seen them - they are ok, but they quickly become boring - or maybe 9 since you are going to be in it.

REALLY????
He then proceeded to suggest a mechanical bull. yeah, because those don't quickly become boring.

And by the way, here is the correct answer, as was provided by one favorite boy: "PERFECT 10 FOR 10."

Exhibit B: (my commentary in italics)
boy: would you say that you are on the naughty or nice list? (this one actually happened just before Christmas. And also, who asks questions like this????)
me: What??? nice. obviously.
boy: except you haven't been nice with me because you never want to hang. (I don't even know how to begin to form a response to this one. After several minutes deliberation, I decide to play nice.)
me: haha you have never asked me to hang out!
boy: hahahaa you are a feisty one! (frustration is mounting. "Feisty" is a word I generally use for small, annoying dogs. I am not happy about this. And I'm still trying to figure out what was feisty about that response. There is only one safe thing to say...)
me: :)
boy: well we need to hang (ooooh. maybe this means something will actually happen. I must be encouraging).
me: for sure! give me a day and I'll check my schedule. (because seriously, I have a lot going on all the time, somehow. And looking back, I probably should have just suggested a day or two that worked. But I'm used to BYU boys, and those boys ASK YOU ON DATES.)
boy: We have a busy woman on our hands! (and from this I read, "you are making this too hard for me, I don't want to hang out with you that bad." And then my reply would be, "your loss, dude.")

We ended up hanging out once. And it was one of the more confusing afternoons of my life. I will spare the details.

I don't even know what this is all supposed to mean. It really just means that I have run into a large number of boys that like to play and don't even commit to asking a girl on a date. But why are they so attractive??? It's like, they can get away with all this crap because girls have always allowed it. But seriously, I am not going to play games with you. If you want to get to know me better, invite me to something. Ask me out. I will more than oblige, I will reciprocate, and I will be totally straight up with you. Because seriously, I will not have annoying and cryptic text conversations where I KNOW that you are playing games.

3. The weather was nice today (a balmy 45 degrees), so we went roller blading. I have waited for 5 years to finally live with another person who owns roller blades. Why those things ever went out of style, I will never know. 

So anyway, we went for a ride. Andrea rode a bike and me and Lauren bladed. And we went around our neighborhood and visited our friends. And so begins the 2013 Wheel Gang. Official name and Constitution is forthcoming. It is a "wheel" gang so as not to discriminate against those who don't have bikes or blades. We welcome scooters and boarders and the like. One individual who is currently on the initiation list is planning to bring one of those things that you just wiggle on and it goes back and forth. He assured me that he could keep up. Another gentleman will be bringing his jeep... I might actually discriminate against that.

4. I tried to switch my iTunes to the UK version the other day. It totally works for browsing purposes...but then disappointment reaches an apex when you find out you can't buy anything because your credit card belongs to a US bank. Why don't they let us poor Americans purchase music from across the pond???? I thought that America was the land of freedom. Free to buy whatever music you want. But it is not so. 

Maybe I just need to stop loving UK pop/rap so much. Maybe I need to re-embrace American artists.

But what is happening in American music these days? Only the P!nk and Matt Ruess song. That is the only thing. Even JB is Canadian.

5. This weekend was too fast. Friday I gathered some of my favorite Salt Lake people-- my roommates, Chris, Curtis, and Mark-- to see Oz: The Great and Powerful. It was such a lovely movie. So stylistically cheesy and awesome and I loved it. When trying to convince Curtis to come to the movie I employed the following 5 reasons: 1. James Franco. 2. Mila Kunis. 3. It's both black/white and color. 4. hot air balloon. 5. Aren't you just so curious??? don't you want to know what happens???? His response: "He becomes the wizard and eventually Dorothy shows up to kill both the wicked witches. Sorry to spoil the ending." What a grinch. But he came anyway. After the movie we had a nightcap of orange juice in pretty glasses and told jokes for a while.

Saturday I went shopping for the first time since Christmas!!!! I went a little crazy. I bought a hot air balloon necklace in memory of both "Oz" and my love of hot air balloons. And then we had a birthday party for cool boy Nick. The party consisted of root beer floats, jokes, and lots of cuddles. We were supposed to play sardines at the church but the key wouldn't work after 10pm....and we found that out the hard way.

In closing, let's just say that if certain young men find this blog, I will probably be in a lot of trouble.