music.

Here's a list of all my favorite artists--one for each letter of the alphabet.

Allred (but Augustana is a close second)
The Beatles
Coldplay (also check out The Continentals--a local band)
Death Cab For Cutie
The Early November
Franz Ferdinand
Graham Coxon
The Hoosiers
Ingrid Michaelson
Josh Garrels (also check out Josh Wilsher--another local)
The Killers
Love You Long Time
Mae (with Muse a close second)
The New Pornographers (with Noah and the Whale a close second)
OK Go
The Posies
Quietdrive (eh...)
Regina Spektor (I think it's a tie between her and The Raconteurs)
Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin (tied with Sherwood)
Third Eye Blind
(No U)
Valencia
We Are Scientists (with We Shot the Moon a close second)
(No Y)
(No Z)

ten things.

Ten things I want to do in 2010...



1. Go on a road trip. I just want to go anywhere! I want to take pictures of things, people, and places! Right now, it sounds like the most exciting thing to me.

2. Be an EFY counselor! The best times of my summers when I was a teenager was going to EFY, and being a counselor is 10x better! I just love it! I really hope I get the job.

3. Learn to be a better cook. I love cooking, and I can cook basic meals, but I want to be better!

4. Serve. When I was homeschooled, my mom would take me and my siblings to the DI and we'd help out there, putting together hygeine kits and whatnot. It was so much fun. She really taught me to love to serve.

5. Become who I want to be. There are some things I want to change about myself for the better. I just need to learn to be myself!

6. Throw a huge party! Well, maybe not huge, but awesome! I've been coming up with all these good ideas for themed parties, and I need to start using them!

7. Do fun things in the summer, like ride bikes, go swimming, and go on hikes. In the winter, I always daydream about doing those things, but when summer actually comes around, I never do them!

8. Become a better photographer. I love love LOVE taking pictures, and I want to be better!

9. Go to Brynn's wedding. I adore her and her fiance. They're perfect for each other.

10. Broaden my

school started.

I hereby dubs this post a short one, because I need to go to bed soon to wake up for my 9 o'clock class tomorrow. So here goes!
School has started already, and today was the 5th day into the Spring semester. Already I've partially rearranged my schedule before classes started, and then dropped my Trigonometry class after the 2nd day when I realized, "Hey, I don't have the SLIGHTEST idea of what my professor is teaching! And... I'm already finished with all the required math for my major." Goodbye, trig. Best decision ever.
I'm currently taking 13 credits--four classes. I really want to take one more class, but I haven't found one yet that is required for my major, which is Photography (oh, the lovely art of light writing). Let's see, there's my Sociology class (which I already LOVE), Spanish (I made a new freshman friend in that class), Latin Dance (I need to get my sexy on), and Art History (the professor reminds me of a wacky librarian who paints for a living). I'm also taking two Institute classes: The last half of the Book of Mormon, and Dating & Courtship. I enjoy all my classes so far, which is weird, because I've never had that happen to me.
We got a new roommate just over a week ago. Her name is Lisa, and she is AWESOME! She is the ideal roommate. I just adore her. So much fun!
Today was a good day. From watching FailBlog videos on the guy's laptop in front of me in my Art History class, to watching The Bad Girl's Club, and various MTV shows while laughing at them with my roommates, to going to the library only to find out that we couldn't get a library card just yet, and instead looking at old year books that we found on the library's book shelves, today put sunshine into my heart! And that's what I like.

new year.

Happy New Year! With a new year comes a new post, and it's about time, isn't it?

Last night was celebrated at Erin's and Autumn's apartment (just the next building over!), playing loud games, eating way too much food, and, when the clock struck 12 o'clock, banging on pots and pans with giant spoons and throwing snow balls into the cold night air.

After we danced for the first time in 2010, Autumn, Kelsey, Skot, Sam, Asian Dave and I went back to my apartment and played card games until 4 o'clock in the morning, but not before Kory from downstairs came over and told us of how he went streaking just moments before.

This morning I woke up to an energized roommate named Kelsey jumping on top of me. I vaguely remember this, but I think I might have tackled her in between the wall and my own body. When I finally got out of bed at noon, I walked out into the living room and was sucked into the movie Mean Girls. When the movie was finished, I got ready for the day! About an hour later, it started to get dark (what the heck?!). The semi-dark, cloudy sky was looking amazingly beautiful when I went out to get the mail, so I decided to put on my coat and boots, grab my camera, and venture out into the chili, January air and take some night-time pictures. My first photo shoot of the year!




These past few days as I've been focusing on my New Year's Resolutions, I've decided to take it seriously. Not that I haven't taken my new year's resolutions seriously in the past, but I've decided to put a lot of thought into my goals this year. Here are some of the things I would like to do at this year.

• Continue the goal of saying my prayers and reading my scriptures every night, plus say my prayers every morning, too.
• Serve at least one person at least once a day.
• Buy a new book each week (I want to have a library full of books when I'm older!).
• Take more pictures.
• Smile more often.
• Write in my journal once a week, if not more.
• Become comfortable OUT of my shell.
• Live to develop a greater love of and gain a greater relationship with Heavenly Father, and strive to gain a testimony of His love for me.

We are constantly changing, whether we want to think we are or not. The new year gives us an opportunity to take control of how we change, and decide who we want to become. It's a time for gaining things that are necessary for our future growth, and putting away the things that have taught us in the past, that we no longer need to carry around anymore. But we will always keep the memories, no matter how many new years we live to see. And that's one thing I like to think life is about.

Happy 2010 everyone!

goodbye, november.

December 2009 is only a few hours away, and I am beginning to become amazed at how fast this semester has flown by! It seems like just last week that I was moving into my apartment and starting school, wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts. Oh how I miss you, summer. Although it's not too chilly outside (I can walk outside with an unbuttoned coat and be just fine) and it hasn't snowed yet, but I still love the summer much more than the winter, and I'm already looking forward to next summer. I love the warm.
Finals are in two weeks, and I can't even believe it. I'm taking Math 1050, English 2010, Philosophy 2050, and Photography 1050. Oh, and we can't forget Institute! Thankfully, I don't have a final exam for my English class, and the other three finals are on three different days. That way I don't need to be stressed out about rushing to my next final. I am looking forward to this.
Thanksgiving break was awesome. I loved the time I got to spend with my family, and I loved stuffing my face with Thanksgiving dinner. Rachel and Dylan were telling us about how, at Dylan's aunt's house earlier that day, they had to go around the table and tell everyone what they were thankful for. I said, "That's a great idea! Daniel, we'll start with you." Daniel went on telling what he was thankful for. The reasoning behind my insisting that everyone say what they were thankful for was only to get Daniel to do it. I didn't expect everyone else to go along with it, but, surely enough, they did. If you know my family, you'll know that we don't do things like that. Ever. We are not the type of family who hugs each other and looks for the best in each other. We are rarely bottom-of-the-heart nice to each other. Instead, we got blessed with the sarcastic genes. Sarcasm times a million. Really. So for my family to be serious about something like saying what we're thankful for rarely turns out as something serious. We make it cheesy and awkward and hilarious. I'll let your mind do the wandering of what we said we were thankful for... I will add that Sara's was the best one.

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Here, I'll show you how excited I am. I will extrapolate to you in list-form.

• Festival of Trees (I'm hoping I can find time to go).
• Going to Temple Square (Seeing the lights is one of my oldest memories of the Chirstmas season).
• The Forgotten Carols (That play makes me cry everytime).
• First day of snow (Even though I hate the cold, I do love the snow. Just not the ice in the roads).
• Going to Las Vegas with my whole family (We do this every year. Even my sister from California goes with us).
• CHRISTMAS (I just love that day).
• New Year's Eve (Doesn't everyone love this holiday?).

It seems like the things I have to look forward to keep me going. Then, when those things run out, I find more things to look forward to. It's one big round. That's life, and I love it.

time.

My life as a college student is not as busy as I thought it would be. I'm taking 13 credits, and working on average about 14 hours a week. Minus about 7 hours of sleep each night, that leaves me with about 82 extra hours in the week to study, eat, clean, go to the store, and do stupid things that waste my time.
Here is a list of things I do when I'm bored that I'd like to think are productive, but really aren't productive at all. They just get you even more bored, which I hate.

• Facebook. My number one url I type into the search engine, and the biggest waste of my time.
• Reading blogs. Namely, my sister's blog. It's way too funny to give up entirely, but when I visit her blog, I find myself reading all her posts over and over again. You'll know what I mean when you read them.
• Watching The Office. I'm really not a TV-watching person. I rarely turn on the TV and start watching. This action usually only happens when someone else is watching TV, and I'm interested in what they're watching. My roommate is a big fan of The Office, and has a few seasons on DVD. This is probably not a good thing, but I love it.
• Checking the fridge. It's become a habit of mine to check to see what kind of food is in the fridge whenever I'm bored, although I rarely eat anything when I do. I'm not realizing how weird that really is.
• Pacing. If you find me walking aimlessly and redundantly around my apartment, you can know for certain that I am bored.
• Texting my friends. They probably get so annoyed that I text them with nothing to talk about. I should be considerate and stop.

As ashamed I am at this list, I am also proud to admit that I do things that are somewhat productive with my time, too. They are as follows.

• Writing in my journal. My only motivation for this is knowing that hopefully when I'm dead (or at least older), my kids will read it and get a feel for who I really am.
• Reading my scriptures/saying my prayers. I was raised and taught to do this every night, and so I try my hardest to do it every night. Out of everything I do in a day, I think this is the most beneficial.
• Homework. Believe it or not, I do do my homework! And as a result, I just got a 93% on my math test, which made my day. Homework, although boring and frustrating, is important to me.
• Spending time with friends. I've got to develop good, lasting relationships, right?!

Okay, so I need a longer list...

i stole this from brynn.

Where I am: In my apartment, in my bedroom, at my desk. It seems to be my favorite place lately. I don't mind! Sometimes I need some alone time where I can think to myself.

Where I am going after this: To the bathroom to get ready for bed! It;s past midnight, and I am tired from the Love You Long Time show I just came home from!

Currently reading: I'm always reading the scriptures! I really wanted to finish Press Forward With Faith (I think that's what it's called...) but I was just way too busy. I kind of gave up on it a few months ago, but I plan to start it up again when I have time.

Currently watching: Nothing! But my roommates are watching The Office in the front room. Love that show!

What I did yesterday: I was a horrible student and skipped my Photography class. Instead, I wrote a paper for my English class, and went out to lunch with my friends. My dad stopped by, too!

What I am doing tonight: I already did what I was going to do tonight! I went to Love You Long Time's 3rd to last show EVER! It was delightful, but now I'm sad.

What I am doing tomorrow: I am going to Math, hopefully getting my test score back, and going to a devotional. I'm planning on spending some [more] alone time with myself, and writing some letters to some lovely missionaries! I never realized how much I like to be alone sometimes until I moved out.

The background on my phone is: A picture of a tree I took at the park. Pretty artsy. What can I say? I'm a Photography major.

The background on my laptop is: a super cute picture of my two little sisters, Rachel and Sara. I love them!

Who I miss: My dear family! I can't wait until Thanksgiving break when I can spend three days with them!

How I feel right now: Tired, above anything else. Kind of bummed, but getting over it.

What I am thinking about: How someone could come up with something as funny as The Office. Really. Who thinks of those things?! I'm also thinking about what I'm going to do tomorrow. I've been wanting to do it for a couple of days now. Shhh! It's a secret!