Sorry, groupies.

I have not blogged since August 31, and before that, there were only like 2 posts since the beginning of summer. That is very sad. Mostly because I did, like, a whole ton of really fun stuff. But I also had a lot of hard things happen. And when there are a lot things that you care about that you don't want to publish for the world to see, it's hard to come up with anything else. BUT, I will grant a list of highlights with some pics (mostly pictures that are not already on instagram).

And so I present my life from June to December, 2013.

1. I would like to kick it off with my fairy tale trip to Dallas, Texas to see one of my favorite people in the known world. The trip included hurricane harbor (an epic water park), a ranger's game, a rodeo and lots of cattle, a late night skyline ice cream-eating event, a stroll around a glittering lake, giant slushies, the JFK assassination site (had to get my historic site in), and the company of these fabulous people:

we all got a little excited for the RODEO.

This may or may not be my favorite picture from the whole trip.

2. I woke up one morning and looked like this. So I snapchatted Elise.

3. Spanish Fork Fiesta Days really rocked. I ate a navajo taco and lounged on a carousel.

4. Pioneer Day was really a blast until I was an unsteady wimp and I slipped on those rocks and scraped up my shin. But the day also included the Days of '47 parade and fireworks and festival at Liberty Park.

you can't really tell, but that little red spot is about to bleed in this pic. I have a gouge scar.

5. Rachelle and Avery came for a visit on my hammock. We also made a trip to Trader Joe's that morning for some speculoos, aka my favorite food.

I'm a little too lazy to figure out how to rotate this.

6. I found my favorite alter-ego puppet pal. I didn't buy her, but I named her Audrey.

as you can probably guess, she is much more into philosophy than I am.

7. I hung out with my cousin-nephew Koa for a while on that hammock. It was during one of the more awkward kid birthday parties I've ever been to. But only because I don't think I was actually invited.

8. Drake Christopher Cottman got married in early August, so I drove out to Loomis, CA with my favorites, Mike and Ben. See below. They should be circus clowns.

9. The weekend after the wedding in CA I went to Bear Lake with my ward. And it was this heavenly place that I couldn't stop talking about for weeks. If I could live there, I would. Heck, maybe I can. Or else, maybe, when I've made my fortune I can have a cabin up there. But anyway, it was a perfect heaven and I couldn't believe how beautiful the water was. The little weekend getaway included a sleepover on a massive pile of blankets (literally me and Lauren brought probably 16 blankets), some spelunking, and some intense tubing that resulted in my shoulder pretty much rolling out of socket and back in. It still hurts.

paradise.

deliriously happy and tired after a day of caving and boating.

10. And in the fall, I got to see my Mojo play tennis, a lot. She actually won MVP on her team. :) Cutest little tennis girl I have ever, ever seen.

11. A birthday party for the Koa Bear.

My pretty cousin Nicole has such a cutie family. :)

12. I had a rogue squirrel in my backyard. One day, while peacefully lounging on the hammock, the squirrel started yelling at me and then threw that pear at me and it hit me right in the stomach. I was rightfully terrified. And did I mention he ate the hammock? Yes, our hammock days are over because of that squirrel.

if you look close you can see the chunks taken out of the pear. 

13. I saw 1D in 3D. twice. the original release and then the fan cut. And guess what? The fan cut comes out on DVD, like, tomorrow. So I'm pretty sure I will be having a 1D party and putting together the poster-size 1D puzzle I got from the coworkers. #whenyouarereadycomeandgetit

14. I saw OneRepublic and Ryan Tedder in all their epic-ness. We were all MIND BLOWN. That man can WAIL. And....as of today I am seeing them again next June. Tickets have been purchased. And The Script is opening for them. I don't think it could get any better unless Ed made a guest appearance.

Lauren, Candace, Age, Me.

Ryan Tedder let us all sing sometimes.

15. ComicCon was UNREAL. The panels were by far the coolest part, the costumes were great, William Shatner was lame, there were lots of stinky people and corsets, and we had to run through the pouring rain to get back to our car afterward. I actually had a whole post planned out in my head to describe the wonder that is comiccon, but I forgot it.

Pepper Potts and Tony Stark aka Rachelle and Brad

Iron Man, the Goblin King, and Power Rangers.

this is a picture of william shatner being lame. On the right is my buddy Aaron who dressed up at Doctor Who.

16. Little Celina got married. And just over Thanksgiving she had a little baby. :)

17. I was on the committee for an exhibit we did over General Conference at the Church History Library. It was about the presidents of the church. And if you missed it, you are mad you did.

18. I visited Moe and Ashley in Logan one day in September. And seriously, Logan is a great place.

little Rory peeking in the back. She be like, "what is going on???"

19. Jenn made a surprise visit to Salt Lake with her babies. We had a delightful dinner at Sugarhouse BBQ, and then she whisked away again back to St. George.


20. I hung out with Aunt Judy.

21. I started practicing yoga. Seriously, changed my life. It makes you feel so good about your body! Like you can actually move. And like you have control over your life. TRY IT.

partner poses are my fave.

22. Cornbellys was a blast, particularly because the haunted section was SO RAD. and terrifying. And we brought our friend Rob, who is one of the more entertaining people I have ever met, and he was literally cornered by a girl in a straightjacket. And he just closed his eyes and started banging on the wall, he was so scared. I am surprised that I did not pee my pants, I was laughing so hard.

we were trying to make faces that would look like kittens. You know, in a basket.

23. The giant pumpkin race was EPIC, and if I have one goal in my life besides to write an autobiography, it will be to grow and then race a giant pumpkin.

f is for friends who do stuff together.

24. Dawna got married. :)

25. I halloweened a lot.

I must dash. carved this one with the odd Rob Staples.

So Clueless.

hot air balloon dreams

26. my first silent film: 1925 Phantom of the Opera. And old man in a tux played the organ and it was the coolest!!

27. My Grandma Janice got her wood badge award and we all drove down to Santaquin to see it!

28. I found out that Elise loves to use those long stick things that help you reach the really high stuff in stores.

29. WE WENT TO THE BEATLES. Okay, it was the Fab Four, and they are a tribute band. But we met them, and the guy who played George said he really tried to throw me the shirt, it just didn't make it.

the groupies.

Paul, George, Ringo, and John

They were like, "look at all the girls!!!!"

30. We had a Thanksgiving birthday party for my new roommate, Candace. We made everyone be Pilgrims and Indians and then pitted them against each other in relay games and pie eating contests.

31. I discovered this great new website-- what-would-i-say.com -- and it connects to your Facebook and generates statuses for you based on everything you have ever said on Facebook. Hours and hours of fun.

32. I flew to South Bend, Indiana, to watch BYU lose to Notre Dame. It was totally worth the 21 degrees/9 degrees with windchill. ND is the coolest school besides BYU, and they had the most diehard fans I have ever heard of. It snowed the whole game, but the place was PACKED. Amazing.

this is my cold face.

seriously the coolest place.

33. My dad and I drove back to Utah from South Bend, and it took a good 30 hours. BLAH. But, we stopped in the lovely town of Davenport, Iowa, where I spent three horrendous years of middle school. I have to admit that after these past 11 years, I didn't think that Iowa was real place, and only a thing of nightmares.

34. We went black thursday shopping at target and mapped out our routes and everything. It was strategic and successful-- we were in and out in like half an hour. I think.

35. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE PRETTY MUCH CHANGED ME. It was altogether a classy affair and I just kept saying, "I LOVE THIS SONG TOOOOOO!" The next day, when Steph told my mom about the concert she was like, "when Audrey is at a concert, she thinks she is performing too. Like she is in the show." I, like, never thought about it that way. Concerts are fun because you kind of lose yourself in the moment, but you remember everything. The best part of the show was probably Mirrors. And Until The End Of Time.

strawberry bubblegum

lookin' fly.

post concert pic. We were both a little woozy. as you can tell.

this girl was cool.

36. And then December started and it has included fetching our Christmas tree in a red wagon, a sleigh ride, a trip to temple square to see the lights, volunteering as a host at the festival of trees, live nativities, baking lots of cookies, Christmas shopping for myself, A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theater, etc. Loads and loads of fun.

post-sleigh ride santa pic.

yeah, this trip failed. The tree shop was closed when we got there.

And now it's December 19 and you guys are so glad this post is over.

Except that I have a little treat for you. My Christmas list this year includes this Ted Sheeran: http://edsheeran.com/store/products,ted-sheeran-the-festive-edition_225.htm

And so will follow a summer recap

Because I am a lame head and totally abandoned my blog all summer.

and it makes me sad, because when I don't write about things, I lose them.

Slipping Away

IT IS JULY 2. What the heck.

When did summer start??? I feel like I was waiting for the weather to get warm for SO LONG, and now it finally is, but I have been so busy that I haven't had time to enjoy it yet. I've only been to 7 peaks TWO TIMES. Okay, maybe 3. but still. It's JULY.

July is my favorite month. Project "Wear only red, white, and blue" for the whole month is currently under way (does it count that I wore the same shirt yesterday AND today?)

And the 4th is coming. SUPES STOKED about that. Hot air balloon festivals and parades and fireworks and sun and (hopefully) sailboats: a perfect combination of all my favorite things in this world besides Harry Potter.

And something changed my life two weeks ago: I got an iphone. Seriously, people. I knew it would be rad, but even boring, ages-old texting is more fun. Everyone: please text me. I want to write back to you, because it is SO FUN.

My life consists of work and relief society, roommates, provo friends, summer adventures, and other sorts of church activities. My ward, for example, has a softball game and bbq tonight, which is going to be rad.

And then there is the Bachelorette. Which I am obsessed with. Does anyone else see a resemblance between Drew (the hotty hottest one) and my dear, darling brother of the same name? I would just start telling people it was my brother, but my Andrew is married, so that would be weird.

And also. I have had TWO Jef with one F sightings since moving to Sugarhouse. One day he did crunches next to me at 24-hour fitness. And then he was present at the Apple Store the day I bought my iPhone. I told the male Apple rep standing next to me:
me: "that's Jef with one f!!!"
apple rep: who?
me: you know, on the bachelorette?
apple rep: no.
me: he, like, WON. but then they broke up.
apple rep: NO. WAY. It's really him??? So he's like famous??

That Apple dude got really excited. I told him to hurry up and program my phone so that Jef with one F could be my first iPhone instagram. He was also excited about that... but then I pretended I was kidding because I didn't want to annoy Jef with one F, and I didn't take the picture.

Have I told you about my book club? I'm obsessed. It is a lovely collection of girls--who I did not know before-- but they are awesome. And I seriously look forward to our meeting every month. I have to pick the book we read next. I'm thinking either The Chocolate War, A Separate Peace, or John Adams. Yeah, I kind of want them to read that massive David McCullough masterpiece. Good idea? Bad idea? It would increase patriotism, and probably force my club members to either love or hate history. But honestly, this is my argument for the book: It's different than anything else we've read. Totally different genre. And it's so interesting. It's so patriotic, and I feel like I appreciated the 4th of July before, but now I'm looking at our Independence Day on a whole new level, and it's really cool. I think there's a lot that we could talk about, too. There are many historical figures in that book that are portrayed a little bit differently than we imagine them to be. So that would be interesting to discuss. Calista, I'm calling out to you --will people even have time to read it? Would it be torture for some people?

I'm ranting. And just so you know, I've got a great post up my sleeve. About my Dallas trip last weekend.... which is the real reason that summer has gotten away from me. I feel like I was waiting for my vacation for so long that I forgot summer was already here. Which is a crying shame. But now I will fully enjoy the rest of it----

including JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE IN LESS THAN A MONTH.

over and out.

My birthday party: a comedy of errors.

After getting to bed around 3:30am the night before, the morning of April 13-- party day-- came a little too early.

There was just too many things to do, I couldn't sleep in at all.

First of all, party preparation consisted of like a solid month before the party. I had a schedule all written out for when things needed to get done, where to buy certain things, who to borrow from, etc. I had to make the pinatas, build the photo booth, do all the shopping, decorate, figure out that blasted confetti situation, etc.

The first order of business that day was the bounce house. The handy Joshua Small drove me to Kaysville in his very handy truck. The bouncy house company, as it turns out, was in this guy's backyard. He had a garage full of blow up toys. What a career, right? Sign me up. I handed him cash and we drove away with the bouncy house in tow.

It was extremely easy to set up. Seriously, I recommend bouncy houses to everyone and all. Life cannot be that much more fun than it is when you have a bouncy house in your front yard.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

hilarious happening #1: We didn't do up the zipper in the back of the bounce house. But the velcro was attached. So when we blew up it, it blew up big. And then we bounced and had a grand old time...until Dawna and Lauren were bouncing together and POOF the whole thing exploded and Lauren and Dawna found themselves smacking into the ground. Luckily Smalls was still around to solve the problem, and we had the bounce back in that house in a jiffy.

And so the afternoon commenced with what I like to call a slight case of Audrey Party Panic Syndrome. Really, I was pretty calm, considering. I'm usually a basket case. The real panic started around 6pm when I realized that it WASN'T going to stop raining and warm up.

hilarious happening #2: IT WOULDN'T STOP RAINING. The bounce house was soaked-- there were bubbles blowing out of all the seams because the air was coming out and pushing through all the wet. I wasn't able to set up anything outside.The projector and screen. The twinkly lights. The Pinata. The glow-in-the-dark bubbles. This has just given me another GIANT reason to dislike/borderline hate rain.

To accommodate for inclement weather, we moved the Michael Jackson music video viewing to the basement. My kind roommates helped me set up the lights and everything down there. And it did look good. Meanwhile, my Mom made the best cake of all time while my sisters (Elise and Steph) napped. Elise and Mom eventually made a trip to the party store for me while I ran around with my arms flailing and my head cut off (party panic was now in full swing), and then people started to arrive.

Laura Thomas, bless her soul, was first on the scene.

hilarious happening #3: The glow-in-the-dark bubbles didn't work despite several trial runs and a number of tests to find the optimum ratio of glow to bubble liquid that left my downstairs storage room covered in glow soap. It's because I used the itty bitty bottles of bubbles that they use at weddings in the final product (so more than 2 individuals could participate at one time), and those little bubbles must just be very crappy. But so I set everything up anyway, hoping that someone would get it to work. And just a hint: adding the glow (highlighter guts) makes the bubbles heavy and very pop-prone. They will not float along and then pop on your arm, leaving a glowing circle as imagined.

And then they started coming in droves. I was overwhelmed by all my friends! The party began and my attention was demanded everywhere--just exactly the way I like it. I kept sneaking away to have real conversations with people, though, and then I would get in trouble because more guests would arrive and want to see me! I felt so special. But...I guess that's what happens when you have a birthday party and all the people that are invited are your friends. But this aspect of the party was splendid. I loved seeing everyone, and every time someone new came in, I got so excited! I was especially excited to see any of my Provo friends-- for many of them, it was the first time they had come to visit me in Salt Lake.

I was saddened, however, by the lack of certain people. A fair few promised they were coming...and then didn't show up. And then there are just so many people who I love and don't live in Utah anymore.You know who you are.

The following is a small selection of photo booth photos. My favorite part: The white board messages.

do you see this awesome backdrop??? I decided not to care that it ended up looking like maize from the first Thanksgiving.

Elise :)

Provo YSA 6th Ward 

My bff Chris and the b-day present he brought me-- Harry Styles

My Salt Lake besties

this was not expected. 

Fan Club

nathan+me+his roommate...Josh?

The photo booth was a hit, especially at the beginning. Once a lot of people started to arrive, though, it got too crowded for photo snapping. Which leads to:

hilarious happening #4: I borrowed a camera from a friend for the photobooth-- he insisted. It was a digital polaroid camera, which meant that we could print out pictures for everyone but still keep a copy on the memory card. Which is super cool and adorable, right? Well, the printer jammed. About 3 pictures in. So then Elise, who was assigned to the photobooth, spend most of the evening trying to un-jam the camera instead of taking pictures. Makes me so happy when I think about it.

Once a sufficient crowd had gathered, I decided it was pinata time.

hilarious happening #5: The first pinata broke on the first hit by the first person. The second pinata, (and I had no desire to participate) was broken by yours truly after an embarrassing, dizzying foray into the crowd where I almost hit someone and then proceeded to smack the metal railings and the porch with the bat. I was told later that Andrea, who controlled the ups and downs of the pinata, kept it out of my reach for a large part of the time I was dangerously swinging that bat. I should have controlled the pinata. That way I might not have been forced the be spun around, blind folded. Awkward name chants get you every time. You would think that a person's wishes would be respected at their own party. That they threw for themselves. And you know what the worst part is? Elise and Dawna were assigned to take pictures. I gave Elise my camera (because the other was broken, obvi). Is there one picture of the pinata adventure? no. none at all.

So after the pinata was a dud, we went back to partying. And I was having a grand time, despite previous embarrassments. So far the only part of my party plan that had not let me down was the cereal bar. And holy cow, so many people brought cookies! I had cookies coming out of my ears! Man, I love cereal and cookies. So, great success on that point.

As the night wore on, and more people kept coming, I decided it was time for the confetti. After much pained and stressful deliberation I decided that we should blast off the confetti in the park behind my house. The confetti I had was biodegradable, so I wasn't worried about littering (that had been a significant concern a couple days and weeks earlier), but I didn't want to get little paper craps in my neighbors' yards. I figured they wouldn't be too happy with me.

So I made the whole party come outside and we walked down the street to the park. And everyone was shivering and complaining about how cold it was.

hilarious happening #6: Somehow I failed to think about how we were going to LOAD the cannon (compliments of BFF Nick Weaver, btw). And so everyone is shivering and I'm trying to smash the confetti into the cannon and it is flying all over of the place, and it's taking forever and then I finally get it ready to go and we light it and shoot off the blast and....we couldn't see anything. It went too high or it was too dark or the confetti was too small or something, but we couldn't even see the confetti, and the beautiful rain of colors that I had been anticipating for months was not something I experienced. EPIC FAIL. And you know what? I did trial runs. We tested out the cannon with water and with flour, and it totally worked, and we got flour and water all over the place. But on the night before my birth, it was not so.

trying to jam that confetti in there

Can you see the blast? no. Also, this picture is deceiving. You can't see all the people. They are standing in the  darkness.

And so then everyone marched back to my house and a lot of people decided it was time to go, which was fine. I was getting a little bit sick of things going wrong. Shout out to my pals at the Church History Library, though. They stayed the longest and were some of the first to arrive. They spent a lot of time with Michael Jackson, in the basement.

So the house cleared out around 11:30. Which, really, is just what I wanted. My roommates went to bed, and I started cleaning up, but not before I sunk down on the couch and started pondering about the meaning of life. This is what we call Post-Party Depression. You sit there and you wonder if all your work was worth it and then you question whether or not you have any meaningful relationships, because you had just witnessed an entire evening of half-finished surface-level conversations with many, many people. And then you look at the mess and think, where is the cleaning lady??? Who forgot to hire her?

I stayed up until about 2am loading the few pictures that were taken onto my computer and then trying to un-jam that stupid camera (I don't even talk to that boy anymore, anyway.) I eventually had to write to Polaroid for help and they sent me some instructions for this software update and stuff that helped the paper spit itself out. So no harm done.

I have to emphasize, again, how happy I was to see everyone. It really was just so fun to have so many of my friends packed into my house all at the same time. There were a lot of people who showed up that I wasn't expecting, and I was delighted. And I think that people had fun. So, despite all the disappointments and all the things that failed, the party, I think, was a whopping success. And I got to keep the bouncy house until Monday!

And I will definitely remember this party for a long, long time. :)

And we out.

Man on the Moon

(This post was started and meant to be posted at the end of March. That's how bad I've been about blogging. So it's much more lame than anticipated. Sorry about that.)

This week was a bit of a crazy one. And I have a feeling that all ya'll would love it if I chronicled it for you.

just a note: One Dani Everton told me that I needed more pictures on my blog.

good news: I took some pictures this week.

And so the week began with a quick lunch trip to Cafe Rio in which I have finally filled another card. Yes, I get a free meal next time I show up at Cafe Rio for the most delicious burrito in the world. Nathan and I were rush rush rushing because we really don't have enough time to drive somewhere, eat, and come back in 45 minutes. But we totally made it---like 7 minutes early. I was going to miss a meeting.

Monday evening was BYU time. Second round NIT game at the Marriott Center. And we creamed that team. by like 20. I got an extra ticket from Nathan and got to sit by the lovely Seth and Amelia---and at half time hung out with Dani and Amy and THE BABY!!!!!!!! That baby is probably the sweetest thing I have experienced in 2013. Not probably. Certainly.

We stopped at the Sev on 5th and University Ave on the way home and I got a slurpie. It felt like I was actually back in the Provo life. Sigh.

Tuesday was a rush of getting ready for the Relief Society birthday dinner (which was on Wednseday--see below for why I could not attend) in time for the boy's basketball stake tournament. Our boys played in the final four and then the championship game. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Relief Society dinner decorations and preparations. We combined with the family ward in our building. And they were in charge of most everything, we were just supposed to help set up and serve food and take down and everything. I was on set up duty, and I made my roommates come too (again, for the issue of time. I didn't want to miss too much of those sweaty boys playing basketball). And let's put it this way: there is a massive difference between a family ward RS activity and a YSA ward RS activity. We YSA's are all about preparing quickly and then socializing. We don't get into the fancy stuff. We don't have time for that. There is too much socializing to be done. A bare minimum of decorations and a potluck with a program will work for us. BUT those family ward ladies REALLY get into it. I experienced the stereotypical relief society activity. It was all about decorations and fancy dinner and center pieces and literally 10 different kinds of cake. I mean, it was lovely. And everything looked delicious (again, I didn't partake), but really???? Who has time for that? Wives whose children are all in school or have left the house, that's who. Omg can't wait for those days in my life. :)

But so basketball. The ward provided pizza and delicious treats for the spectators and we basically just yelled for a long time. I had made a habit of bringing orange slices and capri sun for our boys, but the bishopric covered that this time. :) We KILLED in the semi-finals (won by like 30, which is incredible for a low-scoring church basketball deal), but then lost in the championship, mostly because two of our best players had to leave between games for a city league game they had. But we still made it to regionals! That means the season isn't over yet, thank goodness.

I have decided that one of my special skills is being a fan. A supporter. I will come and support you in a play or concert or athletic event or whatever. I may not be able to play basketball myself, but I sure love to cheer for the people who can.

Wednesday was PHILLIP PHILLIPS. Not quite an Ed Sheeran status event. Really. But I do love Phillip and it was a great concert. Part of the greatness was that I got to hang out with my Audrey Baer! And Phillip was so adorable and charming...except he said that he was kind of sick and so think he was  little high on cold medicine because he kept saying weird things. And there was this one girl by us who kept getting SO EXCITED and she was like bouncing all over the place and running into people and her boy just stood there and watched. It was quite hilarious.

hey there Phil.

we, we, we. we so excited.

And did I say that a band called Churchill opened for Phil? They were awesome. And Audrey couldn't stop talking about how perfect the girl was. We wanted to be her. The lead singer guy was like all into coming out into the crowd but I'm so glad he didn't come right by us because he was muy sweaty. He looked kind of like a dirtier and hairier Mika.

A little Mika-ish, right? Maybe I'm crazy.

Churchill. the perfect girl is on the right.

But Phillip played all of our favorite songs plus a bunch that were covers and not even on his album (that was mildly irritating), but we sang every word and my throat hurt a bit because I was so thirsty.

I love concerts.

Thursday was a waffle party and visiting teaching and I have NO IDEA what happened on Friday. Probably I just slept because I was so tired from all the other events of the week.

But Saturday was the color festival at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork!!!! But I had to help clean the church in the morning, and then I went to the gym, and THEN I drove to Provo to meet Audrey and Stacia and Brandon and whatshisname. And we played with the colors and had a grand time jumping and chanting and dancing until this one girl who was crowd surfing landed on me and Brandon and it hurt. Why are the colors so fun? Because how hilarious is it when you have purple snot for like a week? And I was still finding pink in my ear after showering and cleaning out my ears on the 5th consecutive day. So hilarious. It really is just a blast.

So we went to Sonic after the festival because we were all dying of thirst and if you just drink water it tastes like all the chalk in your mouth. nasty. So we needed delicious sonic limeraspberryricki flavor.

I rushed back to Salt Lake and showered and then Steph came and picked me up for a party and sleepover over at Grandma Colleen's. We ate Easter dinner and then watched "Glass Bottom Boat" (my fave Doris Day flick) while I did Gma's nails. I squared the tips of her nails for the first time in her life. And I filed and buffed and polished and they looked lovely. :) We left after breakfast on Easter morning so Steph and I could get back to Provo and Salt Lake (respectively) for church.

And that is the story the last week in March. Way more information than anyone ever needed to know. but you better have enjoyed the pictures, because that is literally the only reason that I finished this post.

And here's a little note from Ed, you know, to make your day better.

April Fools

A day which will live in infamy:

The top 3 worst April Fools jokes of all time:

1. When a friend from high school posted an obituary-like status update on facebook. I literally cried. Don't ever try this one. It is not funny at all.

2. When Mugglenet pretended that a marriage between founder Emerson Spartz and the founder of the Leaky Cauldron website, Melissa Anelli, would create a marriage between the two sites. It was called "LeakyMug" and I nearly cried. All the good content was gone! There was a reason why I was not a Leaky Cauldron fan, but a Mugglenet fan!! It is a better website! And the editorial section that I was so enthralled with had been compromised as a result of the marriage. I was devastated...until April 2nd.

3. LENE BOTOLFSEN PRETENDED THAT SHE WAS COMING BACK TO BYU. That happened today. And I didn't believe her and I am still sad. She got me to imagine what it would be like and I was starting to get excited and hopeful and.....then I crashed.

Some other things:

I am IN LOVE with the new OneRepublic album, Native. Listen to it. On repeat. Oh how I love that Ryan Tedder. Some of my favorite songs: "Counting Stars," "Preacher," "Life in Color," "I Lived," and "Can't Stop." And literally I could just name all of them. Because I love them all. Totally worth the wait and the mystery and the suspense.

Also, Party plans for my birthday are in full swing. I have already booked the bounce house.

And that's it.

Stay tuned for a post WITH PICTURES.