Sick day

Attention: post written yesterday, on Valentine's Day.

What does Audrey do when she takes the day off because she doesn't feel good?

1. She talks to herself A LOT. I've lost my voice. So it's really funny to hear myself talk. And do you want to know what instinctively comes out when I want to test my voice?? Either the phrase, "can I talk??" or that slightly creepy "Hello, Hello" song you sing in Primary when there's a new kid. Why do I start singing that song???

2. I watch old Cary Grant movies. "I Was A Male War Bride" was briliant and hilarious. I laughed my funny no-voice-laugh a million times. It starts out as your classic "we hate each other" movie and then they decide to get married. She was a Lieutenant in the US Army and he a Captain in the French. So he has to get a visa. It's all legal and everything, but then they won't let him on the ship because his papers say he is a Mrs. You can understand the problem. So they DRESS CARY GRANT UP LIKE A WOMAN. I was rolling. Watch it. Available instantly on Netflix. Made in 1949 and based on a true story.

and..... here's a taste.

3. I watch music videos. Today it was exploration of UK artists. Because I can't deny them attention. so behold. the new British invasion:

Rizzle Kicks. These are the dudes that opened for Ed. And you can totally see Ed in the background of this vid.



The Saturdays. the new Spice Girls.


One Direction. obviously.


Ed Sheeran. obviously.


Olly Murs. this dude opened for 1D and he was rad. Also check out "Troublemaker." Probably my favorite song of his.


Cher Lloyd. infectious.


Adele. doesn't really fit in this category. she is above and beyond. but still.


And the list goes on.

4. I talk to my brother on the phone. That brother of mine was like, "HOLLER IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!!" In the middle of our conversation. And I was like, "HOLLEEEERRRRRRRRR" in my almost-no-voice-that-disappears-when-it-gets-too-high-pitched. And then conversation continued like normal.

5. And then I try to get up the motivation to get out of bed and maybe do the dishes or something. But what is a sick day good for if you still have to do the dishes??

and that's about it. I keep thinking I should read a book or something... but somehow it never happens. All I want to do is go shopping, but I have told myself not to buy any more clothes until Spring is legitimately in the air.

Tonight I'm going to eat dinner with my girl Lauren and then we're going to "Safe Haven" (not my pick) with our fave home teacher, Chris. Seriously one of my favorite people in my ward. Maybe he'll be my Valentine. Attention Rachelle: he looks like a mix between (speaking in code now) that one boy you dated who got engaged on campus while his fiance was wearing her backpack and that other boy you only KIND OF dated who has the same first name as that other boy that you actually did date but then everything blew up bad. Get the picture?

And now I present to you a small sample of textual interactions of the sick day (any other social happening was limited, don't judge):

1. This text from my favorite boy, who I kind of wish was my Valentine: "...being in DC reminds me of you and then a Queen song came on in my head which made me think again. Happy Valentine's day to you!"

2. And then this convo with the one and only Mike Poulson.

Mike: Audrey....
Me: Yeah?
Mike: nothing. I just wanted to text your name with an angry inflection.
Me: Too bad I didn't read it that way. But why angry?
Mike: It was a sudden impulse. No explanations. But now that we're talking, how are you today?
Me: home sick. in bed.
Mike: homesick or at home, sick?
Me: At home, sick. I am going to St. George tonight, though.
Mike: both things sound unfortunate.

I don't know why I still talk to him.

3. Nathan: did you stay at home?
Me: yep. unfortunately.
Nathan: That sounds like it's no fun...except you have a 30 day weekend.  (it's really 5 days)
Me: yeah, but I'd rather have the days spread out.
Nathan: but sick days aren't worth anything if you don't use them.
Me: exactly why I'm still in bed.
Nathan: lol, dork

hey, now. That was uncalled for. not really sure why I still talk to him, either.

4. Elise: I got asked out today by a 32 year old neuro-surgeon from LA for dinner tonight. On Valentine's day. Omg...
Me: So did you say yes? How was dinner?

no response. so rude.

And I guess that's about it. The lame day of a lame Audrey.

hahahahahahah get it? get the pun??

True story.

This conversation took place with my coworkers today. I want to say that names have been changed, but they haven't. This is because the story is mostly about me.

Some background: John hates Valentine's Day. He think it feels contrived and that his wife already knows that he loves her. And he doesn't need a special day to show it. Liz hates Valentine's jewelry commercials and their stupid tag lines. I'm unsure of the reason for this.

And so the conversation went as follows:

John: I hate Valentine's day.
Liz: I hate jewelry commercials.
Jason: But then you can't go to Jared!
Me: (yelled over the cubicles--- I couldn't actually see these people) Yeah, every kiss begins with Kay!!
Me: (to Brooke, who I could see) Oh Em Gee, I'm so glad that every kiss DOESN'T begin with Kay.
Brooke: What?
Me: There would be a whole lot less kisses in the world.
John: Yeah that would be bad.
Brooke: every jewelry store would have to start with "K."

.......pause......

Me: (still processing. and then, in my best explanatory and exclamatory voice:) OH MY GOSH EVERY KISS DOES BEGIN WITH "K"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(John bursts out from behind the cubicle wall, on his wheeled desk chair)
John: What did you just say??????

Extreme laughter from all parties at the expense of Audrey.

I can't believe I never understood that before.

This is like the day when I realized why "The Biggest Loser" is called "The Biggest Loser."

And just for the record, I love Valentine's Day and everything about it. Because why wouldn't I want an extra reason to remind everyone that I love them?

Also just for the record,

THIS:


I feel like this song, WAY MORE than "Suit and Tie," is what we were all waiting for. It's like a hint of classic JT but with some new swag flavor.

And this:


And also this:

Phillip Phillips is coming to Orem in March. And guess who is going to be there? This girl.

Kiss You

Harry Styles. In the snow pants. Kills me every time.

This just came out a couple hours ago, ps.

HOWWwwwwww?

How do I forget about blogging so much these days? It used to be like my favorite thing in the universe.

And so begins another blog post in which I don't really have anything to say:

1. ONE DIRECTION. The new album is bomb and I haven't stopped listening to it for 3 weeks. You read that right. Peep this video for a small taste. And if you find yourself suffering from a small crush on one of these darling boys, don't worry, they are all over age. haha.


2. I went ice skating with my roommates last week, and I have NEVER loved ice skating so much. I want to go back like once a week. Because it was such a blast. The skates didn't hurt my ankles, and I didn't even fall down ONE TIME! It was nothing short of a miracle. Look out Gallivan Center--- I'm coming back.

3. My heart is still a little bit stuck in Provo... but I'm slowly transitioning to Salt Lake. I go to Provo a heck of a lot less. That saves me lotsa money on gas. And I'm making more friends in Salt Lake....but still....most of my favorite people are in the land of BYU. And I'm really starting to see Salt Lake City as a place where I could be for a long time. I really do love the city. There is SO MUCH to do around here. So many cool things to be involved in. I'm really starting to see the sort of opportunities that living in a big city can offer. And I've actually made a list of things that I want to have as hobbies someday. Since moving to Salt Lake I've been evaluating my life and my whole person and starting to see exactly who and what I want to be. I have so much to learn and so much to discover! So many people to meet and so many places to see. And so much to grow from in this one place. Utah is such an amazing place. It really is. What else do I actually need? Since my first semester in DC I've had all these ambitions about working at all sorts of cool places and living in famous cities and being this awesome person that people talk about, like, "I know this girl who is so awesome and beautiful and smart and she lives in Boston and works at the Kennedy Presidential Library," because how cool would that be???? But you know what is cooler? Being close to family and the people who love you. And working at a place and doing work that is so important. I had a sort of epiphany about my job last Sunday-- I was kind of struck by how important it is to keep a record of the church. If you think about it, the Book of Mormon was compiled by Mormon, right? And he got all this information from all the historical and spiritual records that had been kept by his people. And who knows how many thousands of volumes and chunks of gold plates he went through to get all the information he needed for this one book. The Nephites kept a record so that one day we would have their history and see the hand of God in their lives. And that is what I do at my job. I make sure that the records are kept and preserved. I keep things organized. And isn't that so amazing. I am forever grateful for a job that I love AND have a testimony of.

4. I had a conversation with a boy at work today which was prompted by him asking the following question: "What is it like at BYU?" This boy went to the U. I don't think he realized what he was getting himself into by bringing up like my #3 favorite topic in the world (numbers 1 and 2 being HP and MJ, respectively). I am a person who likes to talk. And I like to talk about the things that I like, especially when whoever I am talking to doesn't know much about what I'm about to say and/or they are acting very interested. I told him all about what a dreamland BYU is and how the wards work and what it's like to walk around campus and see everyone you know. And all about the HBLL and what kinds of people study on which floors. And I told him about finals week and how I could eat like 3 meals a day on campus and I would just leave my stuff sitting out in the library to go grab food really fast (b/c why would you want to pack everything up when there are people at the table who are perfectly willing to "watch" your stuff??) I told him about how heavenly the summers are and how everyone is involved in Church stuff and how everyone is best friends in the summer. I was about to launch into the story of Epic Summer 2010, but I ran out of time (and that story would have included Slickgangin and the Wink at the Stranger Initiative! the boy missed out). But I guess that the summary of all of this is that I am so grateful that I was able to have the college experience that I did. I met SO MANY amazing people who have changed my life--and will continue to impact me for the rest of my existence. That's what good friends do for you. They change your life--make you see things in new ways and teach you things. I am a much better person for having gone to BYU and for having been involved in BYU wards and with BYU students.

5. And what else is going on in my life? Thanksgiving was rad. 2 days off work with holiday pay!

6. I wish I could go to Disneyland....like tomorrow.

7. I miss all my friends that live far away.

8. My siblings are hilarious.

9. I just read Lois Lowry's "Gathering Blue." I liked it. But it wasn't life-changing like "The Giver" is. Oh well. But it made me want to read "Messenger" despite having been warned against that one. Thoughts?

10. Why can't I keep my room clean? It's a disaster so much of the time. I just don't like to put my clothes away.

11. Also I hate doing the dishes. I would like a dishwasher for Christmas, thank you very much.

12. And a washer and dryer would be very nice.

13. What else? We have a next door neighbor who we thought was really nice but recently he started getting super snooty about other people parking in front of his house. We have 4 cars that are all leaving at different times of night and morning, so, naturally, one of our cars is usually parked in one of the spots in front of his house. Just like the corner of his house, really. Our car is mostly just in front of his side yard. For realz though. So anyway, the last couple of days he started parking his own car in that side-house-extra-spot instead of his own driveway (which is now empty, btw), just so we can't park there. For real, dude??? You don't own the street.

Anyway, that is all.

24

Tomorrow I will celebrate my 24th birthday. It will be full of laughter and merriment... although I will be woeful about my increasing age.

But tomorrow I will also celebrate something else... that is even more glorious and wonderful and supremely delicious. And do you know what that is? The one year anniversary of my last day of student teaching. I can commemorate the end of all sadness and stress in my life. The past year has been blissful, comparatively. I have a great job outside of the teaching profession. I have great friends. And great possibilities for my future. And I never have to set my eyes on that school again. I still have nightmares about it, honestly. It tortures me. But at least in real life, I don't have to go there. ever. And that is simply the best thought I could have, on my birthday, every year for the rest of my life.

ALSO. Tomorrow pre-sale begins for the epic US concert tour of the one and only One Direction. July 25, 2013, I will be there. And I will buy my tickets tomorrow.

And a random thought:

So I love it when people allow the post on facebook that says they got a new high score on angry birds. I'm like, "CONGRATULATIONS! What a load of time you are wasting on facebook....and angry birds! Your life must be so cool!" and then I remember that I was probably on facebook for the same amount of time... I was just looking at other people's pictures... and then I realize that trying to beat a high score on a dumb game is probably higher than photo stalking on the productive scale. But only just barely.

Who Says

1. raise your hand if you think JLo should stop recording music. I see that everyone's hands are raised. (I bow).

2. I am not ashamed to admit that I listen to "Boyfriend" on repeat daily. I haven't synced my ipod to my itunes in a couple of days, but the play count just in itunes is 36. The song is 4 minutes long. that's a lot of bieber time.

3. One direction. Have taken over and consumed my life, in a really great way. I never thought the boy band would be super cool again (at least for a really long time), but I was very wrong. One Direction has it all. And I am in love. with their whole album. and their cute little 18 year old faces. love them. Go to vevo.com, type in "one direction," and watch all of their videos. You will not even be able to hear the music "over their gorgeousness" (glozell).

4. See future post for my weekend in St. George--- a couple weeks ago. I have realized that my stg weekends are the most eventful recently... I hope that means it's just getting close to finals and all my friends who are students are occupied and that once summer starts my social life will start to get fun agan. I hope i hope i hope i hope. Because I miss my friends.

5. I just finished reading Mockingjay again. And it is so beautiful. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time-- I mean, I still have my complaints. But that's because the book is about a war. It's not going to end neatly and perfectly, exactly the way you want it. It's about pain and struggle and suffering, and somehow, it feels very real. Suzanne Collins gave the world a gift. And I hope people realize what she is trying to teach us. I love the way she paints life, imperfections of humanity, painful hope for the future, and how overwhelmingly, there is always something to live for-- even in the most desperate of situations. People go on living. They survive. And it's beautiful. It's colorful and dramatic and anxious and real.

6. When I read those books I have dreams about them all night--- for days. And it's not pleasant, but I like it. I feel like, if I have dreams about something, it means it has really left an impression in my brain. And that's cool. I want to be able to do that for people one day. Teach what I want them to know--- so that they think about it hard enough that it pervades their mind in sleep. But how do I do that? That, my friends, is the lifelong pursuit. Finding a way to make an impact on people. Teach them what I know. And I'm not talking about brainwashing, obviously. I'm talking about inciting crucial critical thinking.