Laura's Random Rants

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happiness

I am very happy today! I had this little anti-social/not very happy funk for the past few days (more like the past few weeks)! It's been really weird--cause normally I don't think I'm like that! But in the past few days, I've felt happy again! Thanks to everyone (especially my Heavenly Father) who helped me be happy again!

A thought for today from Sister Hinckley: "We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to content with what we are."

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

What We Say Matters

Sometimes, the news makes me so sad! I read it (periodically) to stay informed but it just makes me dislike the world I live in (or I guess more like how people act in life)! :( Like today... this was one of the top stories... way sad considering they are talking about middle school aged girls! It totally makes me nervous for what our world is going to look like when I start my own family or when I'm teaching children like this! However, stories like this makes me see how blessed I am. I am SO grateful for the LDS Church and the insight our leaders have! Like in this talk by Elder Holland that my roommate shared with me! I really think we need to remember his words... especially when he says, "Some things we say can be destructive, even venomous.... Today, I speak against verbal and emotional abuse of anyone against anyone."

Thursday, February 16, 2012

More Random Things About Life

I am beating my record... last time, it was like a month! This time, I am just under a month from when I last posted (well, I was just under a month when I started this post but now...)! Well, let's see, what happened in the past month? I don't even know!

Well, we've been going to lots of games (especially basketball) so we have a few good pictures (but not very many)! We have this new thing that when the players score over 80 points, we go get frozen yogurt at Yogurtland (because it is free) after FHE on Mondays. I think I've consumed more frozen yogurt in the past like month than I have ever before (not that I'm complaining).

Amber, Me, Katelyn, & Eric

Please notice the awesome girl behind us...
she made me so happy! :)

And Kevin introduced us to the tumbling gym! I've always wanted to go (b/c everyone tells me how awesome it is) but I never had! We went one night and it was a ton of fun! It felt even more cool than a bouncy house (which, let's be honest, is one of my favorites)! And there were giant pits of foam--what more could I ask for in my life!

I think that's Addison?

Katelyn (we jumped slow to get good pictures)

Ambs! :)

Me :)

Swinging into a big pit (it was pretty fun)

Amber, Katelyn, & Me being awesome!

Kevin, Amber, & Addison on the trampoline running thing

And then there was T-Street's birthday! We went to dinner at Olive Garden (her favorite) and then to the mall (her other favorite). And you know--I didn't even die at the mall (although it came close). It was probably because I had Amy for entertainment (she even left Weston for a night) and as a people watching partner! :) When we came home, T-Street opened presents.

And for her birthday, Katelyn and I made a freaking awesome cake! We saw it on pintrest! And it was pretty easy (and delicious and stomach-ache worthy). When we were making the cake, though, the batter was WAY runny! I was like, "Katelyn, there has GOT to be something wrong with this... this just doesn't look right." (basically, it looked like the consistency of water). So I started reading the ingredients to her and when I got to the milk, she was like, "Opps... there was only suppose to be 1 cup of milk?" Whoops... it was pretty funny though cause Amber had just been complaining about wasting things! Bahahaha... we said we would never repeat that story but I feel like this is basically my journal about daily happenings so I had to (it's cool though cause I don't think Amber will make it this far :P)

I got her Monopoly Deal cause it is super fun! :)

Cake... story later!

Our freaking AWESOME apartment! (Amy, Me, Amber,
Kirsten, T-Street, & Katelyn)

Above is my awesome King Cake! It was my first attempt and it didn't turn out too shabby if I do say so myself! We had some friends over and had Louisiana food (a few days before Mardi Gras but that's all good). Basically, I was pretty stupid when I did this! I had a presentation for my cooking class on Louisiana and I had to make Cajun food so to practice, I was like I'll invite a big group of people over so I'll be forced to cook. So I did (it would be about 15 people including my roomies).

And the day of reckoning came. I was sitting at work thinking how I still wasn't sure what I was going to cook (besides Jumbalaya and King Cake) but I deluded myself and was like, "It'll be fine." So I sat in a little daze. When I got home, it was about 3:00 and I was like, "I have time..." so I proceeded to procrastinate (which I am a professional at). At a little before 4, I was like, "Crap, people are coming in like 3 hours and the king cake is a rising dough and I'm still not completely sure what I'm planning on making!" So panic ensued. I quickly got the king cake dough going (which apparently, it is suppose to be sticky but I had a mini panic attack and called Sister Easley just to make sure) and started other food. Then I googled side dishes (it ended up being cornbread & green beans). In the end, it all turned out greatly (well, maybe not greatly but at least it was edible)! We had fun just hanging out together and I practiced for my presentation (which went pretty well). And that's the end of that... probably no more king cake till next year because it gave me a stomach-ache both times!

And this... this... is our distraction pumpkin we've had since
October. He finally molded and so Amber and I
ceremoniously dissected him and then gave him a proper
burial in the dumpster behind our apartments.

We thought about eating him but decided it would
be disrespectful to his memory (yes, I have
no idea what was going on with my face
at this point...probably intense pain at the thought
of him really being gone)

And Valentines day (or "Creepers Awareness Day" or "Singles Awareness Day"... take your pick)! This year, improvement--I got no creepy V-day gifts (ever since I was about 12, I have got some kind of gift from some guy that I do not like/might be creepy so needless to say, I am weary of V-day). But this year, we had a pretty fun time. Katelyn is absolutely sweet (and a cheater) and made us all little heart shaped pizzas and got us a flower (we agreed not to exchange gifts but she didn't adhere/I felt like a jerk and bad she didn't get something). It was way sweet though! :)

That night, we went out to a canyon and had a bondfire (or a sort of bondfire). We figured out (or we think) that the wood David bought was wet because after like an hour or so, it still hadn't caught. But it was fun any ways. We got to see the stars really well, play in the snow (or like freeze in the snow), and hang out with some good friends! Overall, it wasn't the worst V-day experience! :)

Our mini-pizzas & flowers courtesy of Katleyn

Bond Fire Pit--we (and by we I mean Addison & David)
shoveled all the snow off so it would start (ha)

Shoveling off the picnic bench

Some of our group which included David, John (David's
brother), Addison, Amber, Katelyn, Me, T-Street, & Kirsten)

Trying to start the fire

And the misc. things of my life still include procrastination (which I have become very efficient at lately) in the form of games! One night, I actually took pictures while playing games (but we actually probably hang out/play games like 3 or 4 nights a week)!

Weston & Amy

Amber & Eric

Also, I feel the need to record a weird/awesome story/event thing! So I was at a park playing and some guy starts creeping (and by creeping, I mean walking but since it was like 1 in the morning, it was sort of like creeping cause he was by himself) in the field. So we (and by we, I mean Addison) was a little sketched out but we stayed (cause I was swinging so I really didn't want to leave)! As we were watching the guy, he suddenly pulled out something and lo and behold--it was a lightsaber (yes, like the legit ones that make noise and light up)! He started to practice with it (yes... it was like legit practice) and as we looked closer, we realized he was wearing a cape! After about like half an hour of practicing by himself, another caped man showed up and they started to fight (it was pretty wonderful)! They only fought for a few minutes (we climbed the playground equipment to get a good view but as soon as we got up there, they left). It was pretty dang wonderful though! I wish I had gotten pictures because it was that wonderful (although they might have been offended if I had taken pictures... idk though). Anyways, basically, I think one of my new goals is going to be go back and find lightsaber guy one night (eventually)!

Other misc. things include that I stopped working with Mrs. Porter's first grade readers (which I sorely miss) and started with Mrs. Callis's 2nd grade art class (which is freaking hilarious). I absolutely LOVE kids (bahahahaha)... but seriously, it is so fun! But working with them has really taught me how much I want to teach AND how weird Utah really is... like seriously, it is weird! The kids were all talking about their missions (one was like, "I'll just go to Orem because that's far enough from my mom and dad but not so far that I'd have to ride in a plane). It was so adorable! The kids are really fun to talk to (seriously, I think kids are way more fun to talk to than any adults except maybe some of the old people @ Orchard because they are like funny/slightly senile).

School is going okay this semester--I am in the weirdest music class I've ever had the displeasure of taking (which is sad because I thought the music class would be way fun). Me and this other guy in my class have formed this "We hate this class" group at the back corner (so if you're in my music class, join us)! It seriously is the worse. My professor is like Mr. Rogers but a woman with a voice like Snow White's. It makes me cringe--literally. I have given myself one more skip day for the semester (I have to have something to look forward to) but seriously... dumbest class EVER! We sing stupid songs, do stupid project, and seriously waste a couple hours each week!

But overall, life is going okay! I am a bit stressed (sort of) and need to decide my summer plans (which are looking up in the air at this point) but for the most part, I am WAY blessed! I am so grateful to be at BYU & have freaking awesome friends/family who support me and listen to me ramble about my life! Oh and btw, if you made it to the end of this post, I am way surprised... it was a long one and didn't talk about much... but that's okay... this is mostly just for my own thoughts (and so my family knows I'm not dead)! :) Well, anyways, I actually have two stacks of papers to grade that I've been procrastinating (hence the blog update) so I'm off to do that (or find something else to procrastinate with... whichever comes first)!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Life Keeps Coming

So I've failed at blogging (again). It's been over a month (so if you look at the last post, it says January 4th but it's a lie... it was written forever ago and I never posted it until just now but I made it say January 4th because it seemed like a date I should have blogged but didn't). I feel as if I only blog if I have things I should be doing (such as finals or work) rather than things I wanna do (like hanging out with my friends). So, as you can guess, I'm currently sitting in a class (work & school at the same time) procrastinating listening (I know-people totally wonder why I don't fail out... just luck I guess)! :P

But since I'm not dead yet, I decided to update people (okay, myself) on life! Wellll... firstly, I (and my roomies) survived finals! It was a slight miracle considering the amount of procrastination and grumpiness I had during finals. And--I didn't do too shabby on my grades (like, I didn't flunk out). Actually, I've adopted this new philosophy:

I think it will work out well and I'll be less/semi-unstressed!

Wellll... after the semester ended, I went home for Christmas! Not that home isn't wonderful but... it was slightly a lot a time to be at home with nothing to do! So... needless to say, I found things to do! I painted Mattie's room (interruption time... so I was at Home Depot and picking up paint for another room and I saw this shelf of "Opps Paint" with a gallon of paint/primer that we like... and it was this slightly, possibly ugly blue color but it was $5 so I bought it in hopes that it would cover Matt's walls AND not look ugly! Guess what... it did both!)... that was pretty fun but I remember why I'm not a big fan of painting especially rooms with chair molding! So this is the finish product... not too shabby if I do say so myself!

After that project was finished, I cleaned and organized like I do. I packed Lisa's box o' crap--and trust me, the picture doesn't do it justice. In reality, she owned a lot more stuff than this but I took this after I worked consolidating it for a few, you know... hours! My grandpa picked up all her stuff from Florida and brought it back to us. My family is going to bring it to Matt in a few weeks but there was no way it could all fit into his truck or our van in this state. So... I repacked and threw out a lot of stuff! The good thing about going through her stuff is that I got to keep stuff (hahaha... just kidding... mostly... although I did take a couple pairs of jeans and shirts).

So this is the before picture... where I couldn't fit all the stuff into the picture. It looks a lot better now. This took a dayish but hopefully Matt can get all their stuff back to California now! Oh and a quick update on them! Lisa still in CA and Matt just finished Core Men School (don't know what its really called) in Texas! He graduated high in his class and got to pick to go back to CA-which is good for both of them! He'll be headed back (with all this crap) in just a few weeks and should be stationed there for the next 5(?) years!

I also got my wisdom teeth out but I have no pictures (you're welcome)! It really wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be but the dentist took FOREVER making me anticipate it like horribly! I didn't even cry. Speaking of health, I forgot to mention how I got my finger pricked at the doctor AND didn't pass out... can you say improvement!

AND... Christmas happened! It was super fun and decently small (compared to normal Christmases)! Not nearly as much family came in town and my madre was off! We talked to Lisa and I found out I'm going to have a niece in May (if you didn't figure it out... it's a GIRL)! Sooo... pictures of stuff below!

David with his maracas

Andrew, Matt, & Chris

Me & a snow globe I got (yeah, no one else
in our family takes pictures)

Mattie with a Jujitsu hoodie

Oh another funny story! So my dad dressed up as Santa this year for David (my five year old cousin). So I distracted David with a gingerbread house (yes, that's our house... don't judge) while Santa came to the door. He knocked, David answered, and freaked out (this is actually the first year David wasn't completely scared of Santa). David and Santa talked about what David wanted, if Chris/Andrew/Matt were naughty/what they wanted, and so on. Finally, David asked if Uncle Brent (my uncle he's afraid of) was naughty. Santa assured David that Uncle B was on the naughty list and would be getting coal (which he explained as a big rock). So finally, Santa left (he dropped his hat in the front yard though so David had to give it back next year). When my dad finally got out of the "bathroom," David was telling him all about Santa's visit. When talking about Uncle B, David said, "Oh... he's naughty... but don't worry-Santa's gonna drop a rock on him." We all basically died laughing! And apparently, I just realized how long winded I really am... but if you made it this far... either you're really bored or really procrastinating! So here are pictures of David & Santa!

So I can't turn it but here is David answering
our door for Santa (he thought Santa couldn't find
him this year cause he's at our house...)

Here's Santa & David

Here's David & I working on our gingerbread house

And here... is our master creation. We decided
to make the wise man and the foolish man rendition...
mostly, I just squirted icing everywhere, David licked his
fingers, ate some, and stuck a little candy on it. It was pretty
legit! So yes, be jealous! :P

A shot of it with semi-better lighting (but not much)

Now, I am back in Provo (happy) at school (sad)! My classes seem like they'll be interesting and my life seems like it'll stay busy! As for work, still love it! My co-workers are freaking awesome as is my job! I can't wait to see what this semester has in store for me!

Oh one more thing... I feel as if I should keep myself updated on my bucket list so here are things I did since I last posted about it:

Smashing Pumpkins (accomplished with my lovely roomies-Kirsten & Amy-see picture above because I couldn't figure out how to move it down and gave up trying)
Had a mental breakdown in the testing center (during my stats test... people stared...)
Break the law (I watched some random lady's bag in the airport... she didn't speak English... probably not the best decision I made in my life considering she disappeared for like 20 minutes but hey, not dead!)
Find Jeffery's long lost brother (his name is Steve...he is a ninja & trained assassin! Gnomes are so violent but hey... at least Jeffery has a friend! Thanks Amy Lynn!

See the lights @ temple square (look at this post)
Not fail stats (yah! I won! But I haven't burned my book yet... it's coming though)
Picture with Cosmo

Things I added to my list...

Keep Steve in my house for-like-ever
Get the thrown away Krispy Kreams with Rachel (if we can both put our germiness aside)
Become a hobo (for at least a day or so... if my backup plan doesn't get inacted of course)
Go to Santa School... yeah, it exists
And other stuff I can't think of at the moment/didn't write down so this is all I'll share!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Family

I freaking LOVE my family! You know, ~~sometimes~~ most of the time, they are embarrassing, tacky, and talk nonsense but you know what-I realized tonight how well I fit in with them! Like currently (when I actually wrote this), I'm suppose to be listening to my dad read the night before Christmas cajun style (yes, he uses an accent and the book is different... it looks like this)! And our tree--well, it's pre-lit but all the lights went out. Our family, being too cheap to buy a new tree, decided to just string random lights in... doesn't look too bad until you get up close (then you realize that there are random lights not working)! And we were def that tacky house on the street this year which had a random string of lights out on our roof in the middle... it was great so nobody changed it cause it just made us laugh! So here are some pictures of my family! They are freaking wonderful!

Lisa & Matt with our future niece Riley Paige

My whole family

Becca, Me, & Aunt Beth

Below are pictures from our family past! I didn't put very many because it took FOREVER to upload! But basically, moral of the story... my family is freaking awesome!