Procrastination

I'm supposed to be studying for the GRE right now. Naturally, I'm putting it off and posting on my blog about what I'm supposed to be doing instead of actually doing it.

Good news is that I have been studying on and off for a good part of the afternoon, so it hasn't been a completely wasted day. I've been focusing more on the math than on verbal or writing. I've taken a couple of verbal practice tests and that score has gone up as I've taken them, which is nice. My math (or quantitative) score goes up and down. It seems that sometimes I just get lucky, and other times I don't. The second-to-last test that I took for math I got a 640. If I get that on the actual test, I'll be in really good shape. Then I took it again and got a 410. Sheesh.

So, I guess I know what I need to focus on.

Well, I guess I'd better get back to doing what I should be doing.

Update on Stalker Fred - he requested me as a friend on Facebook for the 3rd time yesterday. What the devil...

Merry Christmas, and Training the Battery...

It has been a wonderful Christmas. It was so much fun to see my niece and nephew (ages 3 and 1) with their gifts. Iris got really excited over a lot of her gifts and would run over to show me different things that she opened up, and even had me help her open one or two of them. Jimmy warmed up to his gifts fairly quickly, but then started focusing on a one-handed monkey with a maraca that does back flips - something that he's seen multiple times before. But they were both adorable and very cute to watch.

Some extended family came by and it was fun to see all of them. I went down and exercised with Jen for 15 minutes. She was on the stationary bike and I was on the elliptical. It wasn't a ton of exercising, but I think we both felt better after all the food that had previously been consumed.

The day is still not over. Mom is on the phone with Adam, Harper is on the phone with Bethany, and Dad, Graydon and I are waiting (all of us on our laptops) for the two of them to get off the phone so we can start a Christmas-gift movie - Next. Never seen it. I'm excited.

Again, it's been a great day. Tons of snow - a great white Christmas, and a warm fire. I've loved every second of it.

I hope you all had an equally wonderful Christmas. Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

Now for the Battery -

All right. I've continued following the drain-the-battery-completely-before-you-charge-it-again instructions. It may be working. It has been unplugged for over 12 hours, and I've only lost one bar of power. Now, to a lot of you, that may sound fast. If you'd been the owner of this phone, however, you would find reason to rejoice in the loss of only one bar - such as I have done. I had an almost ten minute phone call ('sup, Bess) and have received and sent a couple of texts to people. So, not a ton of use, but it hasn't just been sitting there either.

Anyway, I consider that good news. I actually did go to a Verizon store yesterday to just get a new phone but it was an independently owned store and they couldn't do it for me there. I decided that with Christmas and crazy day-after Christmas stuff, the earliest I would get there is Saturday. With things changing this way, I may wait for a bit longer before I go (if I go). If things keep looking up, then yay for that!

He's Baaaack...

this picture isn't really stalker fred, but i typed in "stalker [his real name]" in google and this image came up

I once heard that blog courtesy requires a 6-month waiting period after the said event happened - regarding situations of a dating/relationship nature. This story is one that can loosely be tied to that category, but not in a good way. And please note that I never did go on a date with him. I did dance with him once and that's because I had never said no to anyone before. I had always thought, "If he has enough guts to ask, the least I can do..." It was after that instance that I decided I didn't always have to say yes.

Anyway...

I finally decided that Stalker... - we'll call him Stalker Fred - warrants a post on here. I met him during the short time I lived in CA - over two years ago. He became creepy while I was there, and that was one good thing that came from my moving back to UT.

Since moving, he has emailed me through the BYU website, tried to add me as a friend on facebook - twice (he's the first - and I think, still the only - person that I have "rejected" on facebook - twice), and just last night sent me messages through another connection-type website. This morning I saw another message through that site from someone else, and I have no idea who that person is. Because it came in so close to his other messages, I'm wondering if he created another profile... yuck.

The content of his messages -
"Intriguing information - it leaves me wanting more." (regarding my very scarce info on the page)
"Merry almost Christmas old friend."
and the one from the unknown individual:
"Hey there... how's it going?"

I'm disturbed - especially at the prospect of his creating a different profile to "trick" me. I'm not worried that he'll be coming to UT anytime soon to find me, but I'm still disturbed. Pretty, very disturbed. But, as a co-worker pointed out, that's the kind of thing that can happen when you put yourself on the internet... Blast it.

May I also add that while living in California, I had three lovely friends who knew exactly what was going on and took it upon themselves to set up an "Honor Guard"...

around me whenever he was in the vicinity. Alanna, Bobby, and Rafa, I will be forever grateful!

A Strange Crush...

I recently admitted to my roommate that I have a strange type of crush on Hugh Laurie (a.k.a. Dr. Gregory House). I'm not sure what it is, but I love the show and I kind of love him.


I'm not really sure why. He's not the most attractive person. I think any of these guys easily top him in the looks department (although, I must say that I found a mighty attractive picture of him - that's the one above. He just doesn't always look like that).

First we have Mr. Cam Gigandet (it's French). You may recognize him in his latest roll as James in Twilight. I haven't read the books, and have no desire to see the movie - at least not until it gets to the dollar theater, and even then...

We can't leave out the most recently reigning "sexiest man in the world." Hugh Jackman looks fabulous, as always.

And now, Colin Firth - I think this is a fantastic picture of him. Wow.

In the show Hugh Laurie is not a very nice person. That's one reason I'm quick to admit that it's a strange type of crush.

Speaking of things I love...

icicles. i love icicles. these have formed on my apartment building.

this is a bad picture of icicles formed outside of my bedroom window.

i love the movie White Christmas. it started at 7 tonight which is the same time House starts. i had a hard time with the flipping of channels. this is one of the scenes i was able to catch with perfect timing during one of House's commercial breaks. i love it when breaks are well timed!

i also love dreyer's peppermint ice cream. it's a seasonal thing. buy it. love it.

and lastly, comfy sweaters. this isn't the exact one (i couldn't find the exact one on the website) but my dear friend got me a similar one for Christmas.


i swapped it for the sweater i had been wearing at work then went downstairs to show her. i told her i felt like i was wearing a blanket - which was fabulous! when i pulled up the fur-lined hood i told her it felt like i was wearing a bear rug - still fabulous! i absolutely love it! she was with me when i saw it at the store. i pulled it on then walked around the store with it. i tried to make myself take it off quickly enough so no one would become suspicious of my motives...

Now, on the flip side, talking about things I haven't been too fond of recently...



My new phone. The Samsung Sway. The battery life is driving me crazy. Fully-charged, and it doesn't last for 24 hours. I'm not a huge phone user. I have occasional phone calls, and some text messaging, but I really don't use it a ton. Even with more use, less than 24 hours is ridiculous, right? Back me up here. I took it in on Saturday and explained the problem so they gave me a new phone. I did it completely right this time. I had it off and let it charge with no action over night. My brother told me that he heard that a good thing to do with new electronics was to charge it then let the battery completely drain out until it shuts itself off before you charge it again. So I did. I did everything I was supposed to, and still... it's ridiculous. I'm considering buying the extended life battery, and I'm considering just trading it in for a new phone.

Last night I was lying in bed reading when I heard the little chime sound that it was almost out of battery power. I picked it up and saw that it was half full still. I heard it a few more times before I finally realized that it was my old phone that hadn't been charged in a little over a week. It was just barely running out of battery. I couldn't believe it. That was kind of salt in the wound and reminded me what a good phone that had been (I only got the new one last Monday, so you'd think I wouldn't have forgotten already). I only had to charge that one once every 3 or 4 days - so nice! Maybe I should take that one back in and get it reactivated.

Any suggestions?

perhaps I should also mention that I do love everything else about this phone. it's display settings are pretty sweet. I'm completely satisfied with everything except the battery!!!

I Love Nice People!

I do. I really do. I'm talking about the nice people who do nice things for no apparent reason. It's just because they're nice.

Yesterday work ended early. A little before two, campus sent out an email advising offices to close because of the snow storm that had been going on for the majority of the day (I think we ended up getting more than 6 inches). I've never heard of that happening, but I don't look gift horses in the mouth. (in case you don't know what that phrase means, click here) So, I walked out to my car around 2:30 or so. I was mentally prepping for the need to scrape off the foot (slight exaggeration) of snow that I knew would be on my car. I stuck my key in the lock, opened the door, and realized that instead of this,

I was seeing this.

Okay, so my car really isn't that nice, and actually my car was completely uncovered. I just chose this picture because I think it's a pretty car.

And yes, in case you didn't pick up on it, I had the door wide open before I realized that there was no snow on my car. Once it clicked, I stepped back, took a look at the car to check that it was mine, then looked around at all the other cars to see what their snow situation was. It just wasn't clicking that my car would be uncovered when none of the others around me weren't.

As I was driving away I called my friend Sharla who also works in my building and mentioned the super-kind act that I had been the recipient of. I had an inkling of who it may have been, turns out I was right. She texted me later and confirmed that John, her boyfriend, had taken the time to dig out my car. So nice!

I had to scrape off my car this morning (took about 20 minutes to finish it) and was reminded of how grateful I was to have had someone do the deed for me the day before.

Really, Yay for nice people!

There's So Much to Be Grateful For...!

I've been meaning to write a Thanksgiving post since... Thanksgiving! Haven't gotten around to it. Since I really don't like the idea of having to catch up on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I figured I could get this done before the other needs to happen. If you followed that thought, then 2 stars for you!

I really do love Thanksgiving. I love the time spent with family, and the meaning behind the holiday. I don't care if the story they gave us in elementary school isn't exactly the way it started. I like the thought of dedicating a holiday to being grateful.

This past Thanksgiving was wonderful. Almost everyone was able to gather at my parents house (Faith and her three boys celebrated the holiday in Tulsa and were definitely missed). It was so nice to have (almost) everyone all together again. I love the big family gatherings. I love the kids running around playing with their cousins, I love the interaction with my siblings (interesting to think how much the dynamic changes as everyone gets older), I loved playing NCAA football on the playstation (I think that's what it's played on...) and re-learning how to play Super Smash Brothers with my brother-in-law (and actually getting "good" enough that he didn't feel like he had to go easy on me anymore - or at least as easy). I loved it all.

This is one of the first things I saw early Thanksgiving morning:

In case you can't tell what it is, it's my dog (Dingo) curled up on my bedroom floor with a couple of stuffed animals. He's got a pig by his head, and a bear between his paws. I thought it was adorable.

This year my sister, sister-in-law, and I started what I hope becomes our new Thanksgiving tradition. We ran a 5k the morning of Thanksgiving. Dingo got up when he heard me moving around and started following me around the house. He was acting really anxious so I thought he needed to go outside. I opened the door for him twice with no response. I thought maybe he needed food and water, so he followed me as I checked his bowls. Nothing. I went downstairs to make sure Bethany and Jen were up. He followed me downstairs too - normally he'll wait at the door upstairs for me. I couldn't figure out why he was so intent on staying with me, then it hit me. He wanted to go running with me. I used to take him running quite often while I lived at home and later when I was just visiting. He loved it. Somehow he knew what I was planning to do, and didn't want to miss out on it. It was really sad to have to leave him at the door. Before the weekend was out, I did take him for a walk - which he loved.

It was raining a bit when we left, so we were planning on being cold, but I didn't think it was really too bad. I met up with a friend who had also signed up, and we ran it together. I had my phone in my pocket (I always have it with me when I run in case of death or dismemberment or something) and was going to take a picture of us running, but we decided we'd probably turn out better if we waited until after the race. Unfortunately, I forgot to take one after, but I think we looked something like this -

- except we had more clothes on and were wearing lower heels. Other than that I think the similarity is quite shocking (what do you think Heather?).

At the end of the race, I raced a motorcycle.


And yes, it was moving as I was racing it. As we were rounding the last corner, a cop on a motorcycle that had been following the route came up behind us. I called out, "Can I just jump on the back and you zip me around to the finish?" He said, "Oh, you're almost there, and it's only a one-seater." I told him that I didn't mind driving. He replied, "Tell you what, I'll race you to the end, whoever wins, gets to drive." I accepted, looked over at Heather, then took off running. He started revving his engine and was staying right behind me. People could see what was going on and they started yelling, "Yeah, you got him!" and "Way to go!" I totally won. I think. I don't know, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to end the race.

While we were running, the guys in the family went up to Rice-Eccles Stadium for the Turkey Bowl. How'd they get in? - "They know a guy." They had a lot of fun playing, and there weren't any injuries to report.

After the race there was a lot of cooking (tons of food) and lots of great time with the family. It really was a wonderful day and weekend.

Now, in the true spirit of Thanksgiving - I'm thankful for my family. I'm grateful that we're all friends. I'm grateful for wonderful in-laws who are a great addition to the family. I'm grateful for my knowledge of God's plan for us and for help that we get in doing the things required. I'm grateful for the gospel. I'm grateful for wonderful people that God has put in my life at specific times to help me become a better person.

Funny. Funny, funny.

Make sure the volume is up.

(Katie, I know you'll enjoy this!)



Update: the title of the video is: Shopping in Texas.

E-U-C-A-L-Y-P-T-U-S

Christian the Lion - Amazing!

I had heard about the story, but hadn't seen the video. My brother just sent it to me. (thanks Harper!) It's pretty incredible. Enjoy!

Update: Check out this link for more of the story.