This is what I want:

"People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself." 

To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Just some topics.

There are three things on my mind these days, not including boys, work, or my family: 

1. Sugar cookies

2. Gilmore Girls (I'm only on season 3 and I have finally discovered the true conundrum that is Jess.) 

3. Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire."

I would really only like to address number three. It is basically the only song I've listened to this week, and I am determined to memorize it completely and sing it to perfection. Hint: THIS IS HARD. Have you ever tried? Just try. Try to sing it and not stumble on one word. I told a friend about this goal of mine, and she was like, "what an excellent party trick!" Yeah, because I'm going to go to parties now, put the song on, and announce to the group at large, "I CAN SING ALL THESE WORDS!" 

So, anyway, just thought I'd put that out there. And I was thinking, if anyone wants to join me in the agony of trying to memorize this song, let me know, and we can practice together. But just a clue: I'm about 95% good at it. So. 

http://youtu.be/eFTLKWw542g

Adventure Day 1: Golden Spike and the Spiral Jetty

Golden Spike National Monument AND the Spiral Jetty. In one day! Also, the foundation of the BLAH girls. 

Seriously the funnest. 

This is salt. I know because I tasted it.

I can't believe it either.

The water was pink, and yes I'm sure we were on this planet.

Just leaving our mark.

BLAH

One second before we were licking the ground. Just because we weren't sure it was ice or salt. It was definitely salt.

I stand by what I said before. This is SALT, not ice. I understand that it's shocking.

In the middle of the spiral

FOR LIKE EVER 2015

It was the ultimate.

We had glittery balloons and sugar cookies and cuddle applications and valentines. And lots of friends, and Amy is the best to throw parties with. <3 p="">

YOSEMITE THE GREAT.

"We got our sweatshirts. We got our sweatshirts on. Everybody's talking 'bout our sweatshirts. We got our sweatshirts on." I wish I had the music video we made for that lovely song.

THESE YOSEMITE SOCKS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE PART.

Not many words are needed to explain the wonder of Yosemite. It was amazing and wonderful and the whole time I couldn't decide what the best part was --the great gray stone cliffs of granite, the giant trees, the perfectly reflective lake, the waterfalls, or the PERFECT FOG.

And there was a lot of reflection in this park. I thought about how impromptu vacations are one of the things that really make life great. And why not? Life can just be one big vacation, because there are too many great things to do.

Laura and Liz, I should mention, were wonderful travel companions and the three of us daydream and text each other about this short heavenly trip on the daily. One day I'll go back and hike up to Tulomne Meadows lay in the grass and wildflowers and then I'll hike halfdome and feel like I'm standing on the top of the world!

Yosemite. Is the place. :)

#adventure2015

This year started out very interesting. I was dating a boy who was alternately very sweet and very aggravating. We dated for about 5 months and I almost broke up with him probably 30 times. Next time I'm dating someone and I want to break up with them every other day, I think I'll realize earlier on that I probably actually should just break up with him. So, my bad.

When the relationship did actually end in mid-January, I was very relieved.

But I was suddenly also very intolerant of everything around me. I felt impatient. I didn't want to go to work, talk to anyone I know, or be in Salt Lake at all. The only thing I really wanted to do (and you'll notice this from my previous post) was listen to Taylor Swift's 1989 and drive around in my car.

So.

I decided that in 2015, when adventure calls, I say yes.

The first adventure, then, was to Yosemite National Park. And, well, that place deserves its own thousand posts.

But, as this post is my long overdue 2015 preface post, I will save the luscious details of Yosemite for another day.

Conclusions drawn from my adventurous musings in the more-wonderful-than-words Yosemite National Park:

1. being single is AWESOME.

• I basically can do whatever I want.
• I can stay up late if I want, and no one cares, and I don't have to feel guilty. I don't even have to tell my dad. 
• I can spend my money on whatever I want.
• I can go out of town every weekend for a year and no one will even get mad at all! 
• I can get as many National Park stamps in my passport as I can possibly dream up. 

2. Why do I give myself so many RULES? For examples of what rules there aren't, see the list above.

There really are no rules. All the things in life don't even have to be planned out! Why have I not lived my whole life in spontaneity??

3. HEY PEOPLE OF WORLD! You have the right to live your life like you are on vacation ALL the time!

I feel like I suddenly have a thousand things to add to my bucket list and IT'S ALL POSSIBLE.

4. There is just so much time in a person's life. People do so many things in a lifetime. I've always been so stressed about growing up and losing time. I've felt the days pass and mourned over not ever getting them back. But, as I plan to live to be 100, I have plenty of time to do all the wonderful things there is to do. There is plenty of money to save and plenty of houses to buy and plenty of boys to date (and 1 to marry), and plenty of children to have, and plenty of vacations to blow my money on, and just plenty of time to do it all.

5. Vienna waits for you.

That is how I feel about life right now. I'm 27 years old, and I just now figured this out. Life is a vacation.

The other thing

#repentance.

I have something to say.

The new Taylor Swift album is great.

I was REALLY skeptical about the "pop" thing. And after I first heard "Shake It Off" and the rest of the album I was convinced that Taylor had lost her sparkle and was no longer special. I thought her music had lost it's relatable factor and was just a pile of mush.

You see, when Red came out, I was convinced that Taylor Swift was inspired and somehow knew how my life was going to go, wrote songs about it, and then released them only at the opportune moment for my life story. And then 1989 just made no sense to me.

Well. I think she is just becoming more clairvoyant. Events in my life this week have proven that Taylor Swift knows exactly what she is talking about, and she continues to write songs about my life and my feelings.

So, bravo pop Taylor. Thank you for helping me trace out the life plan of my emotions.

The only dreadful part is that it appears I will be in relationship turmoil until the next installment.

I, Audrey Spainhower, have become an uninteresting person.

And it has got to stop.

When I was 17 I learned from John Bytheway that interesting people were interested. Like interested in things.

So I was just thinking, when was the last time I was GENUINELY interested in something? Like, really excited?

It's been a long time. Like, since the advent of Ed Sheeran, probably.

So, in thinking about all the things that would be beneficial to be interested in, 2 solid things come to mind:

1. Cooking. I feel guilty on the DAILY that I am not a good enough cook. And so then I try to find the motivation to cook better and more often, but then I realize, again, that I don't really care that much. Like, people sometimes have a hard time understanding how or why I have the patience for scrapbooking. And I'm like, how do you have the patience to prepare a nice meal and then sit there and wait for it to cook when you are so hungry (because it is meal time and that roast is taking FOREVER)???

2. Working out. I mean, how COOL would it be if I was like, obsessed with working out? So cool. I am convinced that I have never actually learned how to work out right, or else I would probably see more results and like it more. I mean, I feel like I used to like going to the gym more, but now I just really have a hard time finding the time. So. Imagine you want to go in the morning, but you have to be to work by 8. Who in the world would ever want to wake up at 5am and go out into the freezing cold to get to the gym and work out? I don't know about everyone else, but I'm usually pretty tired and 5am.  So that's out. Okay, so say you want to go to the gym after work. You come home, you are tired, and STARVING for dinner. You eat dinner (and it's a healthy dinner... just not one that took long to prepare). Say dinner is over at 6:30. You have plans at 8. So you think, I could go to the gym for 45 minutes, and then have 45 minutes to shower and get ready. First of all, 45 minutes is literally not enough time at the gym, nor is it enough time to shower and get ready and BE somewhere besides your own house. You literally don't have time. Besides that, do you really want to wash your face an extra time? Do you want to have to do your hair and makeup for a second time that day? I mean, it's just exhausting, and drying out your skin is a real possibility.

So I've been reading this book about self-betrayal and the lies we tell ourselves to keep us from doing the actual right things. Like, say you need to visit your aunt at the hospital. You don't actually want to go there. In thinking about the visit, you somehow convince yourself of how awful it will be, because your aunt is awkward and you will have nothing to talk about. The next minute you start thinking about how your aunt is probably thinking the same thing and there is a high chance she actually doesn't want you to come. And now, you find yourself still sitting on a couch, and your aunt gets no visitors.

The descriptions above about cooking and exercising? Self-betrayal.

I could do all of those things if I really wanted to -- if I really decided they were important. And sometimes a person has to find motivation in the right things, not in the things that are most fascinating to them. I guarantee that both of those things would become more interesting to me if I applied myself. AND, then I could become a person who both cooks delicious food and is more fit and potentially a lot thinner.

(Although... I have doubts about any desire to be thinner. I would really prefer not to replace my wardrobe.)

Anyway, all I'm saying is that something has got to change. Most recently I feel like I've run out of time to be interested in things. Like, there are just TOO MANY things to do all the time. Life was so much simpler in the days of undergrad when the only thing there was to worry about is school assignments and if the gas in your car will last you another week until you get a paycheck.

And that is that, the end. No longer will my time disappear into a little black hole.

So, summer recap part 2 didn't happen.

What is my life?

Only full of all the things except blogging, I guess.

July and August were cool--- In August I went to St. George twice-- once for the Mojo's birthday, and once for the ED SHEERAN CONCERT.

That is most of the epicness that must be described.

The concert was at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and included an 8-hour wait in line (aka concert prison, aka we had no food, aka security escorts to the bathroom) and a long-ish concert complete with small children and camera-head-balancers in the crowd. It was, um, not actually as enjoyable as desired. Ed was just not into it that night, which was a crying shame, especially because the whole thing was kind of miserable. Last time I saw Ed it was pretty much the best concert of my life. I mean, he's a solid performer-- the show just lacked a little passion.

Anyway.

Since then I've seen Relient K and Bastille in concert. Both were very amazing. I don't know Relient K well, but my sisters and I went to support and party with Elise, and she was SO FUN to watch, just boppin around and sweating and having a great time.

Bastille was incredible. There are, like, moments frozen in time from that concert. Ah. I will see them again. I will.

And now, guess who's nominated for best new artist for the 2015 grammys??? Sam Smith AND Bastille. How does one pick a winner between two loved ones? I'm thinking Sam because I see him having more long term staying power.

This fall has been a whirlwind of drama and boy and family and fun and lotsa lotsa goings on, many of which is documented via instagram.

I'm enjoying my job more, so that's good. I scrapbook never, so that's bad.

And apparently I can only blog in random thoughts anymore. I feel like all the things I would want to tell about are too private for a blog post, which is sad.

And is it okay if that is the end of the 2014 recap and I can move on with my life??