I can't complain...

Week's Wrap-Up

2012-02-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Good- After a month of having problems with my car and mechanics not being able to figure out what was wrong they were able to replicate the problem and work on getting it fixed.The Bad - I have been without a car for a week, but my friend Tim has been so kind to give me rides to and from work every day, so it hasn't been that bad.
The Ugly - Did I mention the repair costs about a third of my cars value? The friendly car man did offer to not charge me for the work/diagnostic costs they did before they found the real problem though, so woot woot.

The Good - I finally bought my ticket to go to Hawaii in April.
The Better - In 2 months I will be lying on the beaches of Hawaii.
The Best - Holding a Hawaii/Margaritaville themed party last Friday and sipping on pina coladas while doing the limbo with friends and dancing the night away to Jimmy Buffet and Bob Marley. I can't wait to actually be in Hawaii.

The Good - I am almost done with the quilt I have been sewing for the past month as a baby gift for one of my favorite friends soon-to-be-born daughter. I hopefully will finish tonight.
The Bad - In my hurry to get it finished before the baby shower, I have abandoned my social life...
The Mediocre - ...which is fine because I had no social life to abandon in the first place.

The Good - My work held their annual "Winter Party" last night (instead of a holiday party).
The Bad - In the past, I have brought guy friends as dates. This year I brought my roommate Marina. Which is great, until people start asking "What, you couldn't find a guy to come with you?"
The Awesome - People at work like to know all about my dating life, or lack thereof. Bringing a girl friend is a great way to avoid the, "So Kim, tell me about the man you brought to the Holiday Party. Did you kiss him good night? What's going on there? Are you in love? When are you getting married? Will you have to move when you get married? How many children are you going to have?" that I inevitably get until next years Holiday Party.

Half of my team at the Holiday Party

Drinking Games

2012-02-03T13:03:00.001-07:00

Going to BYU is a little different than going to many other American universities. Instead of one night stands, we have NCMOs (well, some people do. Not this girl). Instead of drugs, we have dance parties, and instead of alcohol we have game nights. This is a fun and swell, but sometimes I feel like I have missed out on an important part of American college fun. Drinking Games. Luckily, Jerika and Maren feel the same way, so when Jerika stumbled upon AC/DC shot glasses on clearance at Target she knew she had hit the jackpot. We haven't been able to officially use them in games, but we did pull them out to practice taking shots of water, so when we are able to use them for a real drinking game we look like pros. Also, we have been brushing up on AC/DC songs, so we look like hard core fans when push comes to shove.

Have you been wondering about the book on the table? It's a gem. "Gangsta: Merchandising the Rhymes of Violence". I bought it at the used book sale at the Provo library for one bone. Jerika and I recently formed the Hip Hop duo "Suga and Snow," so it is helping us get started. Unfortunately the first line in the book goes like this, "Where does Satan have his biggest grasp on American Society? LA's hip hop scene." The author lives in New York and has exactly zero credibility in our minds, but it does make for a good coffee table book.

Cheers to the freakin' weekend.

Empire State of Mind

2012-01-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a whirlwind weekend trip in New York City. I honestly do not think I have ever been so exhausted, but I had a wonderful time with my sister and two of my roommates. We didn't take many pictures because I would have looked the same in every single one of them - wind-swept, tan coat, bundled in a purple scarf, hat and gloves, with the rosiest of all cheeks. I walked further and faster than I ever have, but we had to hit everything in four short days. If there is one thing I want to bring to Provo from New York, it's the fur. Fur coats, Fur gloves, Fur boots, Fur leggings, Fur Purses. If it can be fashioned out of fur, it was!

A quick recap:

Laughing at people falling over on the boat to the Statue of Liberty

No, Marina is not using a urinal. Just our way to warm up before heading out into the cold

$23,795 fur coat? Chump Change.

My new $3,300 boot that happened to be flung on the floor amid the Louboutins.

Napping on the subway

Sunday night cupcake cooking with my sister Allison

New York's finest pizzaria. Kidding, we have better taste.

Best doughnuts I have ever eaten. Hands down.

Getting a picture of Patrick Stewart on the Subway is no easy task

We Kept Up with the Kardashians - our souvenir for Jerika. Don't mind Maren not looking at the camera, she is just watching Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Blue Ivy walk by.

The End of the Line. On our way to the airport. Completely happy, but utterly exhausted.

Good Girls Gotta Get Down with the Gangstas

2012-01-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I decide that I need a little fun in my life and it leads me to doing embarrassing things like this. Merry late Christmas.

I do not condone the actions sung about in the video.

Post-Thanksgiving Post

2011-12-09T16:08:00.001-07:00

These past few weeks I have felt like an emotional zombie. While I do lead a happy and fulfilling life, I believe I have recently forgotten how much I really do have in my life - how much good surrounds me, so I made a list of things I am truly grateful for to stop focusing on the bad.

1. My Roommates - I have wonderful caring and amazing roommates. They are some of my favorite people. We get along so well and have such a fun time together. They even put up with my craziness.
2. My Job - While I don't hate my job, it's no secret that I don't love it, but I am grateful for the stability it provides. They try hard to make it a good place to work, and most often succeed.
3. Kindness - Simple enough. I am grateful for kind people in my life.
4. Honesty - I am grateful when people are open, honest, and sincere with me. When you realize someone has lied to you the pain that it causes is 10 times worse than the honest truth. I am a grown woman, it may hurt at first, but I can handle the truth. I've learned this lesson over the past several months. If you say it, mean it.
5. Family - I have an amazing supportive family. A family that truly loves me and frequently tell me they love me.
6. Grey's Anatomy - in the past couple weeks I have become completely addicted to this show. It has the drama, the handsome men, is completely trashy and next time I am eating dinner at a restaurant and somebody yells, "Is anyone in here a doctor?" I might be tempted to yell back, "No, but I watch Grey's Anatomy and that is kind of the same thing!" Plus, they have some amazing monologues. They are emotional, funny and often close to life.

7. Looking back on life with no regrets. I have made plenty of mistakes in my life but instead of regretting the poor choices I made, I have chosen to take those experiences and learn and grow from them. This requires changing myself and humility, but through this process I realize my weaknesses and try to turn them into strengths. I am grateful for the opportunity to change.
8. Vulnerability - I am grateful that in the past few months I have learned a valuable lesson in the power of vulnerability. There are few guarantees in life, but when we learn to make ourselves vulnerable, we can experience true emotion. Watch this TEDtalk. It's too good to pass up.

9. Seeing someone for who they really are. I am grateful for those moments when you finally see who someone is under their skin, whether good or bad, it's always refreshing to finally really know someone.
10. Christmas - I love the Christmas season. It gives me an opportunity to remember and focus on the birth and life of Christ and that through Him, I have the opportunity to repent and change my life. I love the decorations (our family room is so magical right now). I love the songs and hymns, the gift giving (and the receiving), and the time I get to spend with my family. Everything about the season is romantic and wonderful.
11. Exercise -I've mentioned how grateful I am that I found exercise a few years ago. When I am frequently exercising, I find that I am happier, and feel emotionally and physically stronger.

I shall call him Squishy

2011-11-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Do you have a nickname you hate? One that everyone seems to call you, but makes you cringe everytime you hear it? For me, that name is "Kimmy" and usually people I hardly know, but already annoy me, call me that name. For some reason, there are exactly three people in this world that call me "Kimmy" and I don't mind. What makes the difference between letting it annoy me and not caring?

So what do you do when someone you hardly know calls you a name that makes you grit your teeth? Tell them kindly? (Probably) Let it nag at you? (What I do) Or do you simply punch them in the jugular (What I wish I could do.)

I have deduced that my dislike for this name comes from one specific character from one childhood TV show that us 90s kids adore.

Kimmy Gibbler. Bless her soul.

We didn't start the fire

2011-11-22T12:59:00.002-07:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, last night while giggling in the aisles of Wal-mart I realized how I am grateful for my mostly boring life. When you lead a boring life, nights like last night make my month. What started as a burning of our poorly designed pinewood derby car named "Serial Killer" in a charcoal grill ended in a lawn fire that nearly burnt some bodies and the entire neighborhood down.

I have some helpful tips if you start a Thanksgiving Day turkey fire. Take notes. This post has the potential of saving your life.

Gas and fire do not mix. Thank you Wal-mart gas containers for teaching us this lesson a little too late.

Water should not be poured on a gas/oil fire. A simple lesson we all know, but sometimes ignored under distress. Gas fires escalate fast when water is poured on them.
It takes a lot of baking soda to put out a fire of that size.
A fire extinguisher does a great job of putting out fires. Buy One. A much needed thanks needs to go out to my visiting teacher for having an extinguisher on hand.
People will not hesitate to call the fire department if they see suspicious flames. They will however stay safely inside their house and not ask if everything is under control before calling the fire department.
Gossip spreads faster than fire in LDS singles wards. Love it.
Life is good. Uncontrollably funny and good.

2011-11-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

A couple years ago, I started getting into dressing up for Halloween again. I think because my work lets everyone dress up for Halloween. Work is pretty repetitive and we don't often get to mix up the business attire, so I will do anything to break up the monotony. This year I kept it simple and dressed up like a bee for work because I wanted to recycle Little Red Riding Hood for actual Halloween. It would be bad taste to dress up like the same thing 2 years in a row at work.

This picture makes me realize flats are not attractive. Or maybe it is just me in flats.

Later that night, my roommates and I hit up a "Mid-Singles Activity" aka a ton of sweaty desperate 25-30 year olds who awkwardly stand against walls while eating chips and salsa while sizing everyone up and down. Meanwhile, the even more awkward people (my roommates and I) whip our hair back and forth to Justin Bieber. We made exactly zero friends at this activity and lost at least 6 because of our wild uncontrollable dance moves and mildly-inappropriate jokes.

On a related note, I have decided to dress up as Lil' Wayne next year. I can't wait.

A little bit of an update

2011-10-28T12:45:00.001-06:00

The past few months I have been completely absent from this blog. I nearly almost forgot about it. So much of my life has changed too, but yet, it seems to be exactly the same.

First things first, I moved. That's right, I moved out of Santa Barbara - the place I called home for 3 whole years. The change has been weird. Good, but weird.The place I live in is nice. Nicer than any house most people live in Provo. About 3 times the size of my apartment in Santa B and it actually has personality. Skim through the video I made for my family below to see what it is like. The video was taken back in August so there are some changes (like we have a kitchen table now), but you can get the gist.

I don't regret moving to Pioneer for 1 second, but I don't feel like I have quite found the groove in the new ward. Something that doesn't help is that there are 116 women in my ward and 52 men. That is quite the difference! Approzimately 90% of those women are elementary school teachers (as are all 3 of my roommates - Jerika, Maren, and Marina). We are also the "young ones" in the ward. I think people in our ward are over "hanging out" and are more interested in going on dates. Which is great...for some people, so instead of going out most of my nights involve staying in.

Luckily the World Series has been keeping me busy so I hardly realize the lack of my social life! Go Cards!!!! I think the 7th game of the World Series where my Cardinals are playing may be the only sporting event that will ever keep me home on a Halloween weekend night. I get jitters just thinking about the game tonight.

Some people ask "why", I ask "why not"

2011-07-15T10:40:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I do some pretty stupid things.

Yesterday after work I decided to go shopping. I was at the mall in the dressing room, and I noticed something really embarrassing. Not only was my shirt on inside out but on backwards too! I had spend the entire day like that! Ugh. There aren't any tags on the shirt and it was black, so I don't think it was super noticeable. I'm just embarrassed I would do something so dumb! I have also been known to go to the pool with my swimsuit on inside out. I'm an idiot. Luckily I can take comfort in knowing I am not the only one that suffers from this syndrome. I always knew I liked Luke from Modern Family

Watch this clip from 1:10 to 1:45

Ever heard of using a safety pin to separate your eyelashes after putting on mascara? Seventeen magazine taught me that trick, so did Julia Roberts in Charlie Wilson's War. Any idiot knows this is an accident waiting to happen. Except for me. That accident happened this morning. As someone who is easily startled, I am surprised this is the first time it happened (Though I did burn my eyeball with a curling iron once). I am now suffering from a corneal abrasion in my left eye, poor vision, and tear stained cheeks. Lesson learned.

Sometimes I do some pretty awesome things though.

For example, at said mall last night I went into my favorite store, Banana Republic. Not only were all their sale items an additional 40% off, but they had a coupon they were giving every for an additional 25% off your entire purchase. (The sale is going through the weekend) I did the math and I got $470 worth of clothing for $40. Go me!

My Breakdown:

1 pair of work pants: Originally $90. Me: $13
2 silk skirts: Original: $80 Me: 3.11 each
1 striped skirt: Original: $80 Me: $8
1 work blouse: Original: $80 Me: $8
1 tank: Original: $60 Me: $5

You're a wizard, Harry

2011-07-11T12:48:00.003-06:00

I came across this video while working today and it made me so excited for the last Harry Potter movie I almost started crying.

As an avid movie crier, I have no doubt that I will be crying through half of the last movie - partly because of the movie and partly because I will be sad to see the series coming completely to an end. Harry Potter has been in my life since middle school. I will miss it so much! I will be sure to be wear my waterproof mascara because there are few things worse than starting to cry and then crying even more because your mascara is stinging your eyes so badly. The next thing you know, your own friends are avoiding you because you look like a circus freak. It's a lose lose situation.

Unfortunately, I will not be attending the midnight premiere because my old age will not allow it. I will sleep through the movie and work the next day if I stay up that late. Just not worth it. Hopefully people will not judge me for dressing up as Ginny Weasley a few days later. Even though I am decrepit, I still like to have a little bit of fun.

Lastly, I think Emma Watson is one of the most stunning women in Hollywood today. Though raised in constant spotlight she has maintained her dignity, is graceful, and values education even though she is wealthier now then I will ever be. Go her.

"I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder. - Emma Watson

I am in Missouri

2011-07-10T10:31:00.007-06:00

Last year, my family started a tradition where we all get together for a small vacation over 4th of July weekend and spend some quality time together. This year, we went to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a few days and had a blast together boating, eating, swimming hiking and sweating. We sure missed Erin though, but she will be there next year!

My Dad got us some Benne Family Reunion t-shirts. In true Benne fashion, of couse they had a helicopter on them and were from Boeing. Look for this stunner on your next Benne Family Christmas card, and for now excuse Beth for looking stoned. It wasn't her fault.

Although some of the family liked water-skiing, I preferred to stay safe on the "Doughnut of Death." I could actually stay on while being flopped around like crazy. My screams were probably heard around the lake while I was on that thing. I apologize for any hearing loss Allison may have sustained.

One time in my life, I claimed to a friend that I was adopted. I thought he knew I was joking, but he believed me for many months. Of course he would believe me because I am the pale short redhead in my family. Be some miracle I look taller than Beth in this picture even though she is a few inches taller than me. And Jon? He looks like he is straight from Africa.

Proof that Missouri is actually gorgeous and not "Misery." (Please see blog posts title)

When buying a new mattress yesterday, my new dear friend Tom Smith told us that we sweat about a pint a night (Personal note: Start changing sheets nightly). After going on a small hike in 106 degree weather and 100% humidity, I think I did all the sweating I need to do in my lifetime. Bonus points if you can find all 106 drops of sweat in the hideous photo below.

Darling, I wish you were here

2011-07-06T10:12:00.004-06:00

A hard thing about a college town like Provo is that friends come and go so quickly. If they aren't getting married, then they are graduating and moving away. A hard thing about me is that I get attached to people quickly. Strongly attached. I suppose this can be good and bad. I have few good friends, but the friends I have I am fiercely loyal to. My brother is the only family I have in 1,000 miles, so my friends become my local family. My support when I am up and when down, my peace of mind, and the answers to my prayers.

So when a good friend moves away, I struggle, and miss them much more than I probably should. I wish I could stay in contact with all my friends that have gotten married and/or moved away, but as more leave, the harder it is. Such is life.

What I am listening to right now: Arms by Christina Perri
What show I am obsessed with right now: MasterChef

Angelina Jolie with a scratch...not a great match

2011-06-20T18:09:00.006-06:00

Some days I wonder if I am a mild hypochondriac. Thanks to WebMD, I think this is a common occurrence in my generation. Last night at ward prayer my lips were feeling a bit tingly and swollen, so naturally, I stuck my lips in Maren and Tim's faces and asked them if my lips looked bigger than normal. They looked at me like I was crazy, but Tim kindly told me that if they kept itching, he had the perfect remedy. I was mildly appalled, and quickly moved on to the next subject.

After showering this morning, I plopped in front of the mirror and noticed I looked a little less like me and a little more like Angelina Jolie. Definitely no complaints there.

Throughout the day I proceeded to get itchier and splotchier. Right now, this is what my ankles look like:

This is my whole body. Today, I will be hidden under a full layer of winters clothing. Please don't judge me. If you do, it's okay, I too start gagging when I look at myself.

And for dramatic effect...my arms.

A nice allergic reaction to Amoxocillin will do this to you. I have taken 2 doses of Benadryl so far and no changes. If I stay like this, I will just pretend that I have the chicken pox with Erin and we can look like morons and scratch together while on different sides of the world.

People’s faces will tell you amazing things. Like if they are angry, or nauseous, or asleep.

2011-06-03T16:11:00.002-06:00

A girl in my ward shared this video on Facebook the other day. At first I was hesitant to watch it because it is 15 minutes long, but I enjoyed every minute of it. She pretty much states the same thing every other graduation speech says, but adding Amy Poehler in the mix makes it a bit more funny!

You never know what is around the corner unless you peek. Hold someone’s hand while you do it. You will feel less scared. You can't do this alone. Besides it is much more fun to succeed and fail with other people. You can blame them when things go wrong.

2011-05-23T10:46:00.006-06:00

I don't get homesick often, but this morning I woke up wishing nothing more than to go home, run inside, yell to my parents "I'm home!" toss my luggage on the kitchen floor and throw my arms around them for a big hug. Then I would sit at the kitchen counter and we would catch up on life before I would take my stuff to the familiar room I grew up in and curl up in a ball and sleep in knowing there is absolutely nothing I need to do the next day except maybe go to the hardware store with my dad or lie on the couch and try and convince my mom to watch something other than Judge Judy.

Last night Maren and I pulled out our matching rain boots and umbrellas and went walking in the rain and splashed through puddles. It was magical.

This girl is not singin' in the rain

2011-05-19T15:31:00.008-06:00

I know the media portrays rain to be all fun and games, happiness and romance, but this girl is sick and tired of the cold and gray.* I want spring and/or summer. I want bike rides, picnics, swimming, kite flying, sun glasses, bathing suits, shorts and sun. I need the stinking sun. Is that too much for a girl stuck in a tan cubicle everyday to ask?

*I must admit, if the rain was as fun as it looks all the time, I might really dig it.

Purchase my love for $10

2011-04-27T16:04:00.006-06:00

It ain't my birthday, but Independence Day is coming up on July 4th, and I think this toothbrush would make the best Independence Day gift a girl could ever ask for. $10 dollars is a small price to pay for my eternal love.*

I wanted to start blabbing about all the cool features, then I realized the specs can be read right there in the picture. Life can't possibly get any better than having Bieber serenade you for 2 whole minutes with a different tune morning and night. The toothbrush can be found here. I expect at least 10 of these in my mailbox come July.

*I am experiencing a mild amount of embarrassment admitting to my case of Bieber Fever on my blog, but it can't be helped. It doesn't help the situation that I commented on Jerika's status, "I think my main problem with her [Selena Gomez] has mostly to do with jealousy [of her and JBs relationship.]" I understand, I am officially creepy.

A lost pair of shoes found. Oh heavenly day!

2011-04-26T16:41:00.006-06:00

Today I cleaned out my desk drawers at work. I should have taken pictures of the before. It was an absolute mess. In my desk I found, among many other things:

2 old keyboards
a 2009 Utah calendar
$70 of un-used Amazon gift cards I had forgotten about (sweet!)
Hello Kitty wrapping paper
a pair of shoes I thought I had lost

And...the after...I obviously keep a lot of important personal belongings in my desk. Tomorrow I shall tackle the cabinet where I keep water and snacks. Something to look forward to.

I did little else today at work besides this and dream of the town home I want to move into in August. And by dream, I mean scour the internet for decorating ideas, plan color boards, and look for deals on bedroom furniture. Although it is scary to think I may move into a place where I have to buy my own furniture, it will be awesome to have things that match, are my taste, and have a new mattress I can know for sure hasn't been peed on by previous occupants.

Yes, I am aware that I lead an amazingly boring, yet satisfyingly happy life.

Britton, oh, Britton

2011-04-18T16:52:00.006-06:00

My dear Britton asked me to write a blog post about him. I am pretty sure he thought I wasn't listening when he made his request. Little did he know I can update my sister's blog, watch Mulan, Facebook, listen to him talk, and watch him play Portal 2 all at the same time. I guess it's a woman thing. I wrote this poem especially for Britton. From my heart. And my head. It may not make sense, but go with it.

I will never forget the day Britton Ehret Kowalk came into my life.
I always look back on that day, just like Lot's wife.
I told him we were going to be the best of friends
He looked at me, shrugged and said, "It depends"
I stood up, pouted and said, "Depends on what?"
To which he replied, "I have homework to do, move out of my way you filthy mutt."
He strutted off not be bothered with fun and joy,
and I knew at once that this was no ordinary college boy.

You see, Britton was super devoted to school -
he wasn't nobodies fool.
I had to break down his wall one stone by one single stone
My silliness and un-mature ways made him groan
But he loved the odd red-head, there is no denying it
We became fast friends, splat, lickity split.
And I loved the brainiac blonde,
way more than I love wading in the duck pond.

Britton likes to shoot people with his nerf gun
and is always up for all kinds of fun (unless he is doing homework)
If you try and tell me B. Kowalk is numero two
I will round house kick you like a kangaroo.

He is the first, he is the best
and yes, he does have quite the hairy chest.
One time, in San Diego, I tried to kiss this fine specimen
and he told me, "I would never! Now go get a tan!"
In short, Britton is one of my favorite people ever
He is kind, wonderful and clever
He has a crush on almost every girl
especially when they have their hair in a curl
Also, he is a lover of all animals on this globe we call home
Their matted fur, he loves to comb
This poem needs to end, it is dumb as a rock
But I love Britton Ehret Kowalk!

And I was like baby, baby, baby, oh

2011-03-29T12:44:00.006-06:00

Good things that are happening in my life:

last night Rachel and I built a rocket for FHE. It may have gone the highest despite everyone's doubt. So high that it would make my aerospace engineer father proud. It was also undoubtedly the prettiest. It's name was "BABY". We couldn't stop singing about its glory. Thank you Justin Bieber for providing us with our rocket theme song.
My reason for keeping a thing of ramen noodles in my car console is now completely valid. It may be the difference between life or death people. Read and see: Couple rescued after 4 days in car.
In a week and a half, this will be my life for a week and a half: sand castling, DisneyLanding, beach bumming, ocean swimming, and book reading. During this week, I will be make up less, sporting wild beach hair, will be bumming around in sun dresses and swimsuits and will generally be enjoying life on the West Coast. This is literally what is getting me through work this week.

The bad:

Have I ever mentioned how I hate doctors? I do. It is a fact of my life. Last time I went, I was told I may have kidney failure and skin cancer. You may as well have told me to get my affairs in order. I get to go again in one hour. Hiphip. I also have to chug water for my urine test because I forgot about it and I just emptied my bladder. Joy.
I got to work today and spilled my milk on my work pants, then some of the letters on my high-tech keyboard stopped working, so it was replaced with a cheapo. Then my work computer shut off and starting buzzing at me...there went a half hour of work (it could have been worse), then I went to a 10-minute quick meeting that ended up being 90 minutes.

I think I shall veg out and watch 10 episodes of The Hills tonight after work. Welcome to my life.

Free!

2011-02-11T15:45:00.002-07:00

So, I am fully aware that it is only $2, but Amazon is offering a $2 credit if you use the code "VDAYMP3S". How can you resist something so simple?!? To redeem, click on "Redeem a gift card or promotion code & view balance" on any album/song page. The offer expires Feb. 15 at 3 am, so you better hurry.

Thank you Amazon for recognizing the importance of Valentines Day.

Vivez la langue

2011-02-04T16:06:00.005-07:00

This video makes me really want to go to re-learn French and travel to Europe. I wish it were practical (or possible) to take 5 weeks off from work and travel around Europe and just live.

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

As a side note, There comes point in my day, when I know I am not going to get any more work done in the day. I have reached that point. Actually, I think I reached it 8 hours ago.

Ten Things I am obsessed with right at this very moment

2011-02-02T16:39:00.020-07:00

1. Brownie covered Oreos. I dare you to try these and not love them. Preparation Tip: Instead of dipping the Oreos, I spooned batter into the bottom of the muffin tin, placed an Oreo in the tin and spooned more batter on top. Much less messy.

2. Valentines Day. This holiday may be one of my favorites. I LOVE love Valentines Day. Who cares if I am not in love. Do I really need a Valentine to love Valentines Day? No. End of story.

3. Being anti-social and being okay with it. My anti-social tendencies are probably why I spend so much time in the gym these days (ok, not really that much time). 2 years ago, I would have died if I didn't go anywhere on a Friday night! Social suicide! Now, I am just fine with pulling my full mattress into the family room building a tent out of sheets watching movies and talking with a couple close friends until 5 in the morning.

4. This song:

5. Jimmer Fredette. So manly and wonderful that Nelly tweeted about him, "If u like college basketball like me u have to check out this dude name jimmer fredette from BYU he is definitely the truth!!" He is the truth indeed.
6. My ancient humongous goldfish. These fish get just as excited when I come home from work as a dog would. At nine months, they are fairly advanced in age, but they still have most of their minds. In their spare time, they especially love swimming in a school, and I love watching them.
7. Exercising. Last month, dumb work health coach Ron told me my weight fluxuates more than it should. Probably because I eat too much. Well, Ron, did you hear that I ran 7 miles the other week? It about killed me, but I did it! Weight fluxuation? My butt. Take that Ron.
8. Sonya Dakar Facials. I have been getting a facial and chemical peel once a week for the past month and I have never been happier (did I mention they give me a massage too?). I bought a package of 8 and will go for 4 weeks left. After I am done with the chemical peels, I plan on going once a month for a regular "Fitness facial". My skin already feels and looks a million times healthier and the whole spa experience is really a pick-me-up in the middle of the week.
9. The simple fact that Caitlin is getting home from her mission in 15 short days (a day that just so happens to be my birthday!)

10. Clean linens. Sometimes the small things in life that really make me happy.

Ken's Dating Tips #31

2011-01-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

I think this video is just hilarious. I was very much prepared to watch all of them, and then I discovered there are only a few. Sad part of my day.

Take a bite of my heart tonight

2011-01-07T12:17:00.009-07:00

At first, second or even third glance you may not recognize the face of the man in the picture, and I am okay with that. Hold onto your studded leather loafers and by the end of this post you will not only know who this man is but will be extremely jealous that I have a picture with him and you don't. Okay, maybe not jealous at all.

Maybe the below video will help satisfy your curiosity if you are still scratching your head in confusion why I have my picture taken with a gothic mohawk man.

Recognize him now? Good you should. That song was super hot this summer and I could be singing it in my shower, on the beach, in my car, and at work. Basically everywhere.

Here is my story: Last night as I was eating dinner at Guru's for my amazing roommate Rachel's birthday, this mohawked man in a black trenchcoat walked in. I looked up, and then looked again. "Could this possibly be the one, the only, the lead singer of the Neon Trees?" Thank goodness for my internet-enabled smartphone; I was able to immediately confirm my suspicions...Neon Trees was eating at Guru's! I kept my cool for awhile. I seemed to be the only person at the table of 12 to recognize them. It isn't every day that you run into semi-famous people in Provo (except for Provo celebrities like B-Money and Donny Osmond. Those are very nearly everyday occurrences), so one doesn't just walk around keeping your eyes peeled for the famous. Finally, someone else mentioned that Neon Trees was here. I sighed a breath of relief knowing that I was not the only one that follows celebrity gossip and the lives of the semi-famous semi-religiously. I continued eating while occasionally stealing glances towards the band. Finally, as they were leaving, I grabbed my camera from my purse, breathed in and said to myself, "Why not?" I went for it. I approached Tyler (the lead singers name. Wikipedia told me so). I said to him..."Hey, I know that this is super dorky and I understand that I am super weird, but can I get my picture taken with you?" He replied, "No that's not weird at all." We posed. We took our picture together. He squeezed my arm, and said to me "It was great meeting you. Maybe I will see you around." Yeah, right. Of course you will. On their way out I was still standing and he passed me again and said, "really good to meet you." As he left, I felt my heart flutter for a minute. I imagined our future together. The fame. The prestige. I then came to and realized that this man wears a black trench coat, a mohawk, and black studded leather loafers. He also loves his chest hair (Stalking him on Facebook told me this). I have been heard to say that I need a man with a little bit of bad in him, but I meant more along the lines of a guy that goes cliff diving once in a while. Not gothic. We may not be a match made in heaven, but seeing Neon Trees at Guru's made my night.

I do not claim to be the world's biggest fan of Neon Trees, but I do really like them. Once, I almost went to their concert in Provo, but the man of my dreams (at the time) invited me to do something that night, so I didn't go to the concert. That was a decision I will regret for the rest of my life because that night was awful. No good, terrible. I will venture to say horrendous. Next time, I will know to go the Neon Trees concert over a stupid boy.

Just for good measure (and because I have a massive crush on Justin Bieber), here is another video of Neon Trees:

Josh Groban sings Kanye West's tweets

2011-01-04T16:40:00.006-07:00

Posting two posts in one day is practically unheard of from me, but I just found this video and I think it may be the best thing to ever happen to me. I wish I were joking, but that is how bland my life is. Any video that combines two of my favorite people in the world can do that kind of thing to a girl's life.

Go get some ice cream

2011-01-04T11:48:00.004-07:00

This quote came up on my Google recommended items last night and it made me laugh. I knew it was really funny when Tyler sent me a link to it as well. I then knew that it was super funny when Britton shared it on his Google items. Okay, maybe it isn't super funny, but I feel like we all relate to it. Turns out, Google recommends the same things to all of us.

You learn something new everyday.

2010-12-30T14:55:00.003-07:00

They (whoever "they" are) always say "You learn something new everyday." I suppose it is true. Today I learned a valuable gem. I should never ever ever clean my fish tank on a full stomach because, well, I can't quite stomach it. After baking myself a pizza, I still had quite a bit of time left on my lunch break so I decided to tackle cleaning my fish tank. I pulled my sleeves up, pushed my hair back and dove right on it. Finally, I worked up the courage to clean the filters. The sight hit me like a gamma ray. Right to the stomach. The unexpected was coming. I leaned over the floor to let it out. Then I remembered there was a sink about 12 inches away (I'm a genius, I know) so I leaned over that and let it out. I couldn't look otherwise it would just happen again. Oh, the price I pay so my fish can swim in clean water.

I can count on one hand the number of times that I have thrown up in my memory. From most recent to oldest.

1. The night before the triathlon I ate too much at Olive Garden and I got a really bad night's sleep.
2. Christmas night 2 years ago. Something made me sick. I think it was spinach...I always knew there was a reason I avoided spinach like the plague.
3. Cleaning up Tiger's (my old cat) throw up. The smell of it made me wretch. Erin was in the shower. I had just eaten those Grandma's brand cookies that have tons of pink frosting on top.
4. In the third grade, a whole 14 years earlier, I couldn't make it to the bathroom and threw up all over Lauren Carrol's backpack. I still feel bad about that.

I just decided that I will make my children change their own diapers and clean up after their vomit as soon as they are physically able. I am not cut out for that kind of work.

A lonely night in Provo

2010-12-29T16:19:00.003-07:00

Unfortunately duty (work) called so I could only take one week off for Christmas vacation. This would be okay I guess, but everyone in Provo is still on their vacation and will be for the next few days. I have compiled a list of perks to being the only person currently living in Provo.

1. Unlimited parking options - Normally the parking situation in Provo leaves something to be desired, but not now. Whenever I go somewhere, I can just park right on the street. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to go because no one is home.
2. Working out at an empty gym (or so I thought) - I ran last night for a full hour just to make Ron (the health coach at work) happy. Last month he practically told me that my weight was spiraling out of control and that that I needed to do something....apparently for a size 0 woman, 6 lbs in 2 months is something to worry about. So I did. I worked out last night and sometimes I got off the couch while on vacation. Somehow, all the fat food I ate and exercise I didn't do paid off and I lost 4.5 pounds. whoop di do.
*Note to self: the only people that go to the gym during Christmas break in Provo are me and big, tan, blonde meat heads that prefer the gym over family. These men may even have Austrian accents. This is not the proper time to wear tight leggings to the gym.
3. Able to clean until the apt shines - last night I cleaned my butt off. Well, in all reality, I didn' t clean my butt off. I thought I was cleaning, but 2 hours later I realized that I had spent the last hour and a half dancing and singing to Bruno Mars at the top of my lungs and all I had accomplished was loading the dishwasher with my dinner plate. You can dance like crazy when no one else is in your apartment complex. Music all the way up to 10? Yes, please. So scratch that and make it - 3. Dance like a maniac.
4. No one cares when you talk to your fish - I need to clean my fish tank because it stinks, but that didn't happen (see #3) so instead I talked to them because talking to fish is a little more normal than talking to yourself.
5. All the Redbox a girl could ask for - Buy 3 get one free? Sure, why not. I have a few extra hours. or 10. The fish and I enjoy a good movie or 4 all by ourselves in a dark apartment with no one to talk to but ourselves.

Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy

2010-12-18T21:56:00.004-07:00

I am on my way home for Christmas break and there is internet on the airplane! I was told that it would be super slow, but it is fast. I was reminded of this video that I saw the other week. Enjoy a good hearty laugh and a half.

Speaking of going home, I am so excited to get home. I love going home and just being home. I don't get homesick, but I always get super giddy when I think about going home to St. Louis. Unfortunately, I only get to stay home for a week. Dang being responsible and only getting so many days off work.

Cont...

2010-12-17T15:07:00.007-07:00

I decided that I needed to go get a closer look after I went out on the balcony at work and saw flames. I was surprised at how sad I was when I saw the shell of the tabernacle standing. Something that seemed so permanent is gone in just a matter of hours!

Provo Tabernacle is a goner

2010-12-17T13:10:00.008-07:00

I have about 26 things that I could write about on my blog...that is the number of exciting things i have done since I last posted, but this most recent life event takes priority. This morning, I get a text from Camille that said, "Provo Tabernacle is on fire! You should check it out today." Despite my state of undress and wet hair, I headed immediately to work (after putting clothes on and putting my sopping hair up in some sick bun). Our office balcony looks right over the Provo Tabernacle and I would have the perfect spot. I got there and saw this awful sight.

If you can't tell what is missing, look at this pre-fire picture of the tabernacle:

The entire roof caved in! Now, I am not going to pretend that I have these amazing life changing experiences that happened at the tabernacle because I don't. In fact, I can say that I dreaded going there for Stake Conferences because I can barely sit still for an hour, but sitting still for 2 hours on hard wooden benches in a stifling room was almost unbearable. You do have to admit that this building was one of (if not, the) prettiest buildings in Provo. It definitely does have the most history though, and I will miss it. I loved the spiral staircases and the stained glass windows, and the wooden pews that sit at a slant on the sides. Going in there felt like going into a church (not that our churches aren't church-y, they just are a lot more simple than other churches) I will especially miss it if it means I have to go to the Marriot Center. Personally, I don't think they will be able to salvage the building, but I hope they replace it with a building that is just as beautiful. If they don't, I just pray that NuSkin doesn't buy out the lot and build another one of their buildings on the property.

The fire started last night around 2-3 am. This makes me upset because I was lying awake in bed with a bout of insomnia at that time. If I would have known about the fire, you bet I would have jumped out of bed to watch the action. That smoke and fire probably would have put me right to sleep.

Update: I just went down to the tabernacle to get a better look and it is 10 times more sad than I thought. The whole building is just a skeleton with nothing but burnt wood on the inside.

2010-11-19T15:46:00.002-07:00

Last night I went to bed feeling good. I had just enjoyed a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving pie night with a bunch of friends and a bunch of pie. I quickly fell sound asleep. About 40 minutes later I woke up with that awful, "I had better get to the bathroom quick. If don't make it, my life is only going to get worse. Mommy isn't around to take care of this kind of stuff, and my roommates don't love me enough to clean up after me." Life continued on like this for the next hour or so. I would "hug the porcelain"for a few minutes, go to back to bed, only to have to get up a few minutes later, jump over baskets of my "hand-wash, line dry" sweaters and tops, and squeeze behind the bathroom door. Finally, I went to bed and didn't wake up until morning. I felt fine, but was completely exhausted and a little weak...probably from the lack of anything in my system. I was about to call in sick when I imagined the phone call going something like this:

"Hey, I am sick so I am going to take the day off today."
"Sick. uhh hhhhuuuuuuuh. Riiiiiiiiight. Did you go see Harry Potter last night?"
"Huh? No. I was sick all night."
"Yeah, that's what they all say."

For some reason, that imaginary conversation was enough to get me up and out of bed. Curse you Harry Potter. Curse you.

2010-11-10T14:32:00.002-07:00

For your veiwing pleasure, here is a little sneak peek of what kind of photos can be found in the picture album that Britton made from the tri.
Yeah, I know my face can be a little dramatic. Here are the other photos: Tri Album. Take a peek if you would like, but I will caution you that there is a higher percentage of spandex found in these photos than is usually seen on the streets.

Tri times

2010-11-07T10:51:00.004-07:00

They posted the times from the tri today! Sorry it is so small, just click on it to see the times bigger. 13th place in my division out of the 24 girls. Not too bad. Especially since my goal was to not be in last place. Yesterday, as I was looking back, I was starting to wish that I had pushed myself harder and done better. Then I remember how I felt when I got out of the pool and felt like I was going to faint. I went slower on the tri than I had planned for, but I was actually really happy with my 5K time. I think it was a PR (I have never been able to say that before!) Unfortunately, my biking time was pretty poor. I blame it on the fact that I don't own a road bike. One guy (as he passed me) told me that I would be going faster if I had a road bike. Oh Well! Maybe next time! I am so happy that I actually did this.

My Triathlon

2010-11-06T18:09:00.005-06:00

I competed in a triathlon today! I actually did it. I am pretty proud of myself for actually doing it. I think my final time was 1:24:something. 13th in my division. For my first sprint triathlon, my first race of any kind, my first sporting event of any kind, I actually had a decent time and had fun doing it. It actually went by a lot faster than I thought it would, and I actually didn't die! Woohoo!

There was one point in the 5K when there was a family putting on a garage sale and it made me think of the Office episode where they are doing a 5K for a rabies cure and Pam and Jim

stopped by and bought a vase. I thought about stopping at the garage sale and then I got my head on straight.

Also, another funny thing happened. I noticed at one point that my timing chip fell off my ankle (see that ankle bracelet that looks like a house arrest bracelet in the last photo.) I actually had to run back and go find it so I could get a time for the tri. It probably only added a minute or two to my time, but it was a quick panic moment. I am just happy that I realized it was gone so soon after it fell off. Whew. Close call.

Please notice that in the last 2 photos, the sun is not up. No, not even close to being up. Also, I need to work on being muscular.

My Dating Application

2010-10-29T16:19:00.003-06:00

I decided the other day that I am one of the most single girls in the world right now. More single than most 14 year old girls who can't date yet. More single than I have been in a long time. So hopelessly single. Usually, this is all fine and dandy, but when your friends are falling in love faster than you can say "taken", leaving you alone on Friday nights to watch chick flicks in your pjs and eat ice cream out of the container by yourself, that is when life gets pathetic. A girl has to do something about it! Take things into her own hands! So, what should I do? NO, I am not going to go out and meet people by myself. That is the easy answer! Soo....because I was bored and because I think I can be funny, I decided to create a dating application. If you are a single man who isn't keeling over in old age, looking to take a girl out on a date, take a look at my dating application. Fill it out! Have fun! Send it in! Then sit there, hold tight and constantly keep an eye on your e-mail inbox waiting for my response.

If you do not fall into the, "single, male, not too wrinkly" category, send it to any friends you may know who do fit that category. Have them fill it out. Let them know this could be the most fun they have had in awhile.

Here it is: Kim's Dating Application

Yes, I know, I am THAT cool. I think this is fun though :)

2010-10-27T23:30:00.002-06:00

I finally finished my costume today! It only took me three weeks to finish it all, but I did it! It looks pretty good, and I will look (do I dare say it?) adorable. There are some mistakes, but not ones that you can see from far away. I am done working on it for now, but I think I will pull it out again in a few weeks and fix those mistakes. Right now, I am tired of looking at it and slaving over it for hours each day. I shall put up pictures of me in it tomorrow after the ward party.

Training for the triathlon is going well. I can do this! I know I can. I even went out and bought an athletic swimsuit, something I haven't owned in years! This shows how serious I am about this triathlon. It snowed last night though (in OCTOBER!), and if it is snowing while I am running and/or biking, I swear, I will not be a happy woman. I will be praying for warm weather.

I can do hard things

2010-10-20T16:10:00.006-06:00

These past few weeks have been ones I have dedicated as my "Kim can do hard things" weeks. These things may seem simple to other people, but they are things that actually mean a lot to me.

1. I asked for a raise at work. I didn't even get close to the amount that I wanted, but the fact that I actually stood up, walked 20 feet to this woman's office who intimidates me like crazy, and asked her to increase my salary, meant a lot to me. I got up from my desk and was back at my desk in less that 2 minutes and nearly had a heart attack in those 2 minutes. This is something that I had been planning on doing for months. Seriously, it took me months to get out of my chair and talk to her.

2. I referenced a few posts ago that I bought a sewing machine. I was trying to decide what I wanted to be for Halloween and started looking for ideas on line. I found a really cute pattern for a Little Red Riding Hood costume and knew immediately that is what I wanted to be. I went to the store that night and bought everything I needed for the costume. I have worked on it about 3 hours every night since I started, and it is starting to come together! I am completely done with the hood and am now working on the dress. I am not a seamstress, so this has been a trial and error process. I swear sometimes I have had to read the directions about 10 times before I understand what I am doing, but so far everything looks good. See how cute it is below!

The unhappiest part of the whole costume making experience came last night when I was sewing. I was sewing a few layers of fabric together and the fabric got stuck. The needle was still sewing, but the fabric wasn't moving. I pushed on the pedal full blast and decided to push the fabric through with my hand. Mistake. My hand slipped I ended up sewing through my finger. Oh, if you had heard me scream. It was a bloody scream. Even better, the needle broke while it was still in my finger so I had to pull it out. Yuck. Blood started gushing from two sides of my finger and I soaked a cotton ball through. I put a band-aid on and the pain subsided in a few hours. I took the band-aid off this morning and the saddest thing is, you can barely see my needle holes. I will never ever make that mistake again.

3. Recently, a friend asked Jerika and I if we wanted to participate in a triathlon. At first we said "No way! We can't do that." Then we thought, "You know what? Let's at least try." We went to the gym the next day and were able to do 2/3 of the triathlon...at least 2/3 of the events. We did the 5K and the 350m swimming (the biking is 10 miles). We were able to complete those events without seeing death, so we decided to go for it. The past few months I have been working out 2-3 times a week for 30-45 minutes. This has been upped to about an hour everyday. That is commitment! Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't love exercising, in fact, I don't like it, and I especially don't like running. I don't find it enjoyable, I don't like pain and I don't feel good and refreshed after doing it.

Last night as I was running the 5K, I was in pain, I wasn't having fun. I honestly just wanted to sit down, cry, give up - call it quits on the triathlon- and go home and eat ice cream. I only kept going because I would see Jerika and Camille running just ahead of me and I would say to myself "C'mon Kim, you can catch up to them. You can do it." The last lap for me was by far the hardest, but I was with Camille and we were pushing each other to finish, to go faster. The 5K took us 30 minutes, but we did it! My goal is to finish the entire thing in an hour and a half. I don't need to be in the top half of my age group even, just get an acceptable score and not give up.

I know for a fact that I won't love doing this triathlon, but I am going to do it. I am going to stick with this. I just wish they would give everyone that participates a medal for finishing. Unfortunately, they only give the top 3 finishers in each group one, and that will certainly not be me. I have never gotten a medal for any kind of sport before, and it would make me happy to have one. Oh well, I guess that is what I get for never participating in any sort of sports.

I don't think I have ever really challenged myself in life. So although these things are hard, I am happy that I am doing them. I can do hard things!

Fall Leaves and the oncoming Winter Breeze

2010-10-06T17:36:00.003-06:00

I have the most beautiful view outside my bedroom window. Can you beat this view? I don't think so. Ok, fine, maybe there are better views, but this one is pretty dang good. With fall coming around, the colors in the mountain (the parts that are actually still alive) look gorgeous with all the colors. The light smell of my "leaves" scented candle makes the view from my window even more pleasant. The "Y" on Y mountain is lit right now for homecoming...I can't see that from my bedroom window because the trees on the left of the picture hide it. I am going to go hike it tomorrow night, and I am excited for that. Also, I need to go on a bike ride in the canyon before it gets too late. I hear it is beautiful in the canyon right now.

The top of Timpanogos Mountain got dusted with snow today which makes me sad and cold inside. I am not excited to pull out my ugly snow boots and gloves. Not excited for my red runny nose. Not excited about the fact that my apartment does not have a fireplace. I am excited for scarves, sledding, snow angels, and hot chocolate.

Random thoughts

2010-10-04T16:31:00.007-06:00

This week was a good week, although I didn’t do much. In fact, I don’t think I did anything really. I have read 3 books in the past few weeks and have really enjoyed my relaxation time.

I still feel like I haven’t met anyone new in my ward. Ok, girls, yes. Boys, no. I need to be better about putting myself out there and getting out of my comfort zone. We are going bowling tonight for FHE. Maybe, just maybe, tonight will be the night.

I bought a glue gun on Saturday and made a wreath. I think it is cute, but it probably isn't. I needed a glue gun to make this wreath, so I bought one. Britton says that I am now officially ready to get married. Any takers?Erin is in the MTC. She is in Provo, but I can’t see her. I miss her! In case you want to follow her letters, I am updating a blog for her- erinbenne.blogspot.comThe absolute worst words you can ever say to me are, “Kim, we need to talk” or some derivative of that. I will instantly freeze up, get a glaze over my eyes and will start cowering in fear on the inside.

Speaking of which, I need to be better about sticking up for myself. I don‘t feel that I am walked over, but I don’t think I voice my feelings, wants and needs enough. I shall work on it, or at least try to!

Boyz, headlights and raw egg.

2010-09-13T12:14:00.003-06:00

Sometimes funny things happen to me in life. I can think of three such things that happened to me this weekend and was just laughing about them while sitting at work today. I shall share. In chronological order:

1. I went to the Boyz II Men concert this weekend with two friends, Tim and Camille. Who knew the Boyz were still around? Actually, I did. I went to a concert of their 2 years ago and loved it. Apparently, they still have quite the following in Utah. It was free and who doesn't love a little Boyz II Men serenading you? Sometimes I get a little excited about things and while leaving the concert I started reenacting some of their dance moves they did in the concert. One of these moves involved a kick in the air. While kicking, my shoe flew off my foot and whomped a rather large, tall burly and possibly very scary man in the back. I apologized profusely, "Oh my gosh. Sir, I did not mean to do that. I am so sorry, sir" and the man just walked away laughing. I am glad he wasn't mad because if he had started beating me up I surely would have perished. I shouldn't be allowed in public.

Numero dos- On Saturday night, Jerika, Camille and I decided to go on a short innocent bike ride. It was a nice night and we hadn't been out in a while. We were on our way back to the apartment and were riding in the bike lane on the well-lit Center Street. As we were biking, a cop car pulled up to us. Was this really happening? Were we being pulled over by a cop on our while on our bikes? We didn't know what we were doing wrong. We were in the bike lane, we didn't have machetes, we weren't hooliganing around. Turns out, one must have a headlight and tail light on their bike if they are biking after nine. It is a ticketable offense. Thank goodness the bored cop with nothing better to do than bother 3 sweet girls on a bike ride on a Saturday night did not give us a ticket. Bless that man.

III. Sometimes I have stupid ideas. Especially when I am hyper. Last night I was hyper. Last night I had a stupid idea. It involved a wiffle bat and an egg. At ward prayer. Ward prayer=People swarming around. Britton dropped an egg from his 3rd story window. There was only one egg. One opportunity. I swung. There was contact. Egg flew everywhere. Egg hit an innocent bystander from New Jersey in the hair (Just a little bit of egg) . Girl was not happy. Girl was visibly very upset with me. I was pretty sure she was about to curse at me. Profuse apologizing began again (see situation #1). Girl stormed away, still upset. People were quiet, staring at me. I started laughing. I know I would be a little ticked if I got hit in the hair with a bit of raw egg, but her anger and the whole situation made me laugh. I hope people didn't think that I thought it was funny that I hit the girl in the head with egg because I didn't. Girl from New Jersey whose name I do not know, if for some reason you are reading this, I am genuinely sorry. If you would like to throw an egg at me sometime, I will allow it and I won't get mad.

These stories have taught me that my brain stopped maturing when I was 15. I don't think that is something people are surprised by. Hey, at least I enjoy life though.

Sew what...

2010-09-01T15:35:00.006-06:00

About a month ago I decided I wanted to buy a sewing machine. Usually, when I think of something I would like to buy a few days later, I forget about it. Buying a sewing machine has stuck with me (at least for a month). The only other thing like this that I want to buy is a Kitchenaid mixer, but I think I will wait for that one until I am married, or at least have my own place, whichever comes first. After looking around for a little while, I came across this one on Amazon (perk alert: I have over $100 worth of Amazon gift cards):

This machine is only $160 and seems to get pretty good reviews as well. I am not planning on sewing my clothes, and haven't sewn a lot (a few pairs of modest shorts for girls camp, some clothes for my barbies, and an apron pretty much sums up my sewing resume) so I just need a simple easy-to-use machine.

Why sewing? Why start now? Well, Why not? I don't really have a hobby, but I do love making improvements around my apartment and have been trying to make my tiny little apartment more of a home. I have seen some really cute things on different blogs that I would like to do (only they need a sewing machine!). I come home from work everyday and don't have much to do for a few hours. Sewing will be much more productive than fiddling around on my computer, watching TV, or taking a nap. I already know that I love working on projects and seeing the end result of things that I make (even though I don't make much). Also, I have a large bundle with tons of clothes that all need repair. Now I can do it myself instead of paying money for other people to do it! Woohoo. I love saving money (by spending money).

I think something like the pillow below will be my first project. I saw it on the blog, jonesdesigncompany.com, and knew that I wanted one for my couch that is against the window.

I don't expect to use the sewing machine (the one that I am this close to ordering) everyday, but I think it is something good to have on hand no matter if you don't use it all the time. Plus, after gift cards, it will only cost me $50. I am sure that I will get at least $50 worth out of it. And if I don't, not that big of a deal. Let me know if you have seen any other cute ideas of things I can make!

Going to Houston on Friday to visit Beth for a long weekend. Boy, it will be nice to get out of Provo for a few days. When I get back, I will write and let everyone know if Texas is as great as Texas thinks it is. Also, tonight is my ward opening social. A few years ago, Erin met her now husband Dave at the opening social. Maybe tonight will be my night :)

Just a little short of breath...

2010-08-24T11:47:00.005-06:00

I wish the above sign were fake, but it isn't. One of the many reasons why staying in school is so important.

A new school year is starting this week. The new school year part doesn’t really apply to me, but this does mean that one day soon, presumably sometime this week, I will come home from work and find myself with new roommates. Getting new roommates scares the living daylights out of me. Instead of looking it as, “Yay! New friends!” I see it as, “Shoot, what if they are skanky slobs who don’t put their dishes away and sit on the couch all day and watch movies?” It’s definitely a pessimistic part of me.

For now, I am enjoying the time I have my apartment to myself...or mostly to myself. Jon is currently homeless, as many other Provo students are, so he is staying at my place. There is a period of time after students are kicked out of their housing and can't move into the new place because the landlords are "cleaning". This is a very kind thing of me to do because I love my alone time more than anyone I know. It hasn’t been that bad though. He cleaned my fish tank yesterday, has made my bed for me a few times, and keeps pretty clean. This being homeless thing has some pretty good perks for Jon. He is eating better homeless than he does when he has a home (for Free!) (chicken parmesan, homemade cookies, fajitas, and I think we are going to make steak subs tonight! Yum!) and he found some friends in my ward that love playing MarioKart as much as he does.

2010-08-10T15:46:00.002-06:00

When I was younger (okay, like a year ago) I always promised myself, "When I get married and have kids I will never let myself go." The other week, I was asked to start coming into work earlier, and it didn't take me long to realize that the promise to myself was a bunch of bologna (thank you Oscar Meyer for never letting me forget the spelling of bologna). 45 minutes added onto work in the morning has not resulted in my alarm clock going off earlier. No, it has resulted in me taking less showers, putting on less makeup, more ponytails, and clothes that are just a little more wrinklier than they were before. Also, I have stopped going to the gym in the morning, resulting in a flabbier gut. Cute, I know.

They hopin' that they gon catch me ridin' dirty

2010-07-28T16:32:00.010-06:00

Saturday morning I woke up feeling very blah to medicore, so it was a relief when some of my favorite people in the world called me up to hang out with them. After weeks of hearing everyone constantly talking about how much they loved the movie Inception, I caved in and went to go see it with wonderful Camille and some other friendly faces. I was blown away by the movie, but don't want to talk about it anymore because I am tired of hearing people talk about it. What I will tell you is that I have problems sitting through 3 hour movies no matter how good they are and end up getting restless because I just can't seem to get comfortable. As a full grown adult, my feet still don't entirely reach the floor, so I end up curled in some sort of ball in the chair. What a shame. Usually I don't have any complaints about being 5'2. This may be the only one. After the movie, I went Jeeping with some friends and with some non-friends (meaning strangers). So much fun. Jerika, Camille and I come as a package deal lately, so we demanded that we be placed in the same car. We ended up in the back seat of a Jeep with two strangers that were on a date. I am not sure if it was a first date or not, but I do know that by the end of the night they were holding hands. Sigh...young love.

Anyway, now for the pictures and fun little comments to go along with. When we first got in the Jeep, all was well. The view was good, the top was down, the breeze was nice. It wasn't long after we started the trail that we came to the realization that our Jeep was at the back of the line of Jeeps. Usually ok, but our Jeep was topless and we were driving on a dirt road. Aka, we were very literally eating the dirt of the cars in front of us. At the first stop, Camille, Jerika, and I hopped out of the Jeep and we were laughed at. Why? Because our faces and clothes were completely brown. Mmm...a close up. Orbitz commercial anyone? We decided that we didn't care that we were dirty, or that we had ruined our nice shirts (for me, a shirt that I wear to work). We decided that this was fun and gross, and at least we were enjoying a beautiful day and scenery. We kept going up the trail for another few hours, and by the time we got to the peak where we picnicked, I looked like this. This is definitely the tannest I will ever be in my life. The sad thing is, I think I still have dirt in my hair. Even though I have shampooed and brushed it a gazillion times. Yum! We stayed at our spot for a while and watched the sunset. It was beautiful. I wish I would have taken the time to relax and enjoy it more. After the trip, we drove down to Spanish Fork to watch the Pioneer Day fireworks...that were put to music. My favorite song that they played? "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King. I don't know why they chose that one. I am just grateful they didn't play "Come Come Ye Saints" or some other Pioneer-esque song. Thank Freaking Goodnes.

A Grand Proposal. and Money

2010-07-13T14:09:00.016-06:00

This blog post might be the hodgiest podgeiest blog post that I have written. Ever. But this post is all about the fun and good times that I have been having this month. A lot of random stuff too. The first part of the blog is all from one rainy boring Saturday that turned out to be one of the most random Saturdays of my entire life.

First, we played cards. In the rain. On the lawn of the Provo Library. Right by the busiest street in all of Provo. Let me emphasize the IN THE RAIN part. Needless to say, this part did not last very long. In fact, we didn't even play a real card game. We just sort of threw the cards around.

Next, we took a trip to the pool and watched a ward Pirate themed activity where they had all made boats to race in the pool. While they raced, we watched. All from the safety of the hot tub. Oh yeah, we also ate ice cream while watching. This is pure joy at its finest. Except Britton. Britton looks like he is about to start a philosophical discussion about the invention of the fork.

Next we took a trip in Rico's jeep and went mudding. True red neck style. I don't know what, but something turns me off to the idea of playing in mud. Maybe it's because of parasites that live in mud and my general dislike of muddy ears. So I took the honor of photographing everyone while they rolled around in the mud like pigs. I did let me roommate put some mud on my face though, which I thought was very nice of me :)

Next we went home, cleaned up and took a trip to In n' Out. Sorry all you Californinians out there, but I don't like it. I never really have. Sue me. After In n' Out we went to Toys R Us and played. Played on the bikes, played with the balls, and took a ride in Fred and Wilma's personal real life-sized car. Oh boy what an adventure that ride was.

END OF SUPER FUN SATURDAY. NOW IS THE START OF SOMETHING NEW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Can you find me in this picture? Hint, Rico is kind of fat.

This month I also went on a hiking binge and went on a total of TWO hikes! That must be some sort of record, at least for me. First, I hiked Squaw Peak and I must say that I did a mighty fine job of keeping up with the Chris and Matt who were practically running up the mountain. The view at the top of the peak was spectacular...and very windy (can you tell by my hair?) This hike made me realize that I have zero desire to ever hike Timp. Ever.
Second, for the gazillionth time in my life, I hiked Stewart Falls, one of my favorite hikes in Utah because it is short, easy, and there is a beautiful waterfall at the end. Something to look forward to! A destination!
For anyone that didn't know me when I was younger (high school) you may not know my general hatred that I had of hiking. I think you can tell how happy I was about hiking from the picture below! ahahah. I was such a dork.
Last week, I got to go camping/canoeing/spelunking/general fun with my entire family! It is always nice to go home and relax for a little bit. Wow, I have such an attractive family.
This is the highest that I would brave jumping off. I am such a nerd when it comes to getting scared of things. The trip was way to short and coming back to Provo so quickly was not the most exciting thing I have done in my life.
There are only a few words that I need to describe this picture: Bieber Fever and screaming my heart out with thousands of little girls. Oh, also, hot pink skorts and glitter shirts!
I love summer because I can go out and do all these fun things! I wish it could last forever but it is always the part of the year that goes by the fastest. In the mean time, I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Suggestions are always welcome!

Advice from Elder Busche

2010-06-29T23:39:00.001-06:00

The other week I was sitting in Relief Society, writing love notes and not really listening when a girl that I admire mentioned this video that she loves to listen to often. I didn't think much of it (Honestly, I am not usually a fan of Mormon videos where they put cheesy pictures and music to try and make it spiritual...blech) but a few days later someone came over to my apartment and mentioned that they had been wanting to listen to this video. I really like what is said because each sentence is a little snippet of how we can improve our lives. I have ADD (at least I think I do) so I love when people get right to the point.

Hope you enjoyed! Ps. I am going home tomorrow and will be going on a canoe trip with the entire family + Ben. Can't wait!

"You're going someplace cool!"

2010-06-20T14:47:00.003-06:00

This past week, Erin got her mission call! She is going to serve in the Tokyo, Japan mission for a year and a half! I am so excited for her and know that she will make a great missionary. I am sure it is going to be hard, but she will do so good. Here is the video of her opening her call:

haha. Her application of a passport was on top of her call, so she knew she was going foreign before we saw where she was going!

Also, I have planted a small garden on my windowsill. I have the world's un-greenest thumb and am completely surprised that my plants aren't all dead by now. Sure, they may not look healthy and thriving, but I haven't killed any of my plants in at least a few weeks. This is good news. My garden has basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, zinias, a lot of some other flower and petunias. I love the green that the garden brings to my apartment. Hopefully, it will last forever!

Summer = happiness

2010-06-19T23:29:00.005-06:00

I did it! I finally bought a bike! It's a Schwinn. I have been wanting to buy one for a few months now, ever since I took a wonderful ride on a friends bike down the Provo River Trail. In the two weeks that I have had my bike, I seriously think that I have already gotten my moneys worth. Today, I was a little bored and it was a beauitful day, so I decided to go on a bike ride. Granted, it was only about a half hour, but I loved every minute of it. I went up to campus and just biked around and looked at the pretty landscaping. When I am riding my bike, I can't help but smiling the entire time. Another perk of bike ownership? I am also in a bike gang. We are pretty intimidating and love taking late night bike rides. We even have our own website! (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117433318299509&ref=ts). Visit it for a fun time. Yes, I know it is a Facebook group, but it still rocks! I need to go out to take a picture of my beautiful shiny ice blue bike, but frankly, I am too lazy right now. I will post one later.

Secondly, today, I went fishing and had a lovely time. Fly-fishing to be precise. Here is a little taste as to what I looked like:

And when I say, "this is what I looked like" I mean, I was standing in a river with mountains behind it. Those are the only similarities. Take away the waders and the good cast that mystery woman is doing and add rain boots, sunglasses, a dorky hat, sweat pants and me standing awkwardly on a rock with Kimball supporting me from behind so I don't fall into the water and you have me. I must have looked like the worlds goofiest fisher, but I had so much fun. We caught 2 things. 1. A net and 2. the fishing pack. Fairly successful fishing trip I would say :) Actually, I did get one bite during the 4 1/2 hours we were out there. A real live fish! Unfortunately, Kimball had not taught me how to set the hook yet so we lost it. Humbug. Oh well, I am excited to go out again soon and see if I can actually catch something.

Jessica's Daily Affirmation

2010-06-08T11:16:00.002-06:00

I saw this video a few weeks and have decided that I need to do this every day before I go into work. I think it will really get my energy levels pumping and get me excited for life!

It's a love story baby just say YES

2010-06-01T20:27:00.023-06:00

Wow. My life has been so boring lately, but this weekend a little spice was added. Just what the doctor called for! 17 friends and I piled together and drove to the dreamy place called San Diego, and here is your personal invite to come along for a part of the journey. Buckle up, turn on this playlist (http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/playlist/San+Deigo/30152025) and get ready come along for the (LONG) ride.

Our journey began at exactly 5:30 pm (for my car only because we rock and are on time). Six short hours later we arrived in the wholesome fabulous Las Vegas. The Bellagio fountains are my absolute favorite and I could stay for hours. They completely mesmerize me. I don't think that anyone could be unhappy watching them.

An hour after arriving in Vegas, the other car arrived. We met up with them at the fountains and walked the Strip for a few hours.

Oh, the strip. Not a lot for a Mormon group like us to do besides walk around and stare at pretty things...like the world's biggest Chocolate fountain. I think I should make a bigger "World's Biggest Chocolate fountain" Although this one was pretty, I think I can do bigger.

We all stayed in the mini golf course of a hotel, the Excaliber, and I fell asleep as soon as I picked the maids hair off the comforter (Blech. That is what $40 a night gets you!) Early the next morning we were off. Luckily, we had the world's most exciting car and we kept ourselves busy. Such as:
Doing callanetics at the gas station. We got some good looks.

AND stopping at the Alien Fresh Jerky...with free samples. The main (correction: the ONLY) reason we stopped on by. Also, because Matt was having a traumatic experience in the bathroom.

A few hours later, we arrived in the beautiful San Diego and you better believe that I put my swimsuit on and jumped right on off that cliff...after about 5 minutes convincing myself that it was safe. It seriously scared me every time (can you tell that I am screaming and flailing in the below picture?), but I loved it.

Next on the docket was the bonfire on the beach. I am one of the worlds best weenie roasters. It's true. I was the first and probably the only one to get the art of the roast down to a perfection.

At the bonfire, Britton broke my heart and told me he would never ever kiss me...apparently this photo is the reason why :) Who wouldn't want to kiss that face, Seriously???

After being rejected by Britton, and wanting to cry, it was time to tuck in for the night and get ready for the big day the next morning, the BEACH! Hip Hip Hooray!

No beach trip is complete without a little bit of Tai Chi. Kristi and I perfected the art of Tai Chi many many moons ago.

With a big fun and fancy group as we were, we had to get a pyramid picture, of course. I feel bad for the people on the bottom and the back problems that they are suffering as a result. Unfortunately, we never did complete the pyramid fully, but we got close!

After the beach, we got to enjoy a surrey ride around the island! No, the surrey did not have any fringe on top, but it was almost as good. Our surrey group was so hard core, it was unbelievable. Not wanting to waste time, we took off into the night and left everyone in our dust. We even got a little dangerous and did some off-roading (although not into the sand, because we did not want the $25 surcharge)! Also, why else did I love this day? Beach hair is sexy and I love when I can get away without the makeup.

The next day was Sunday, and we ambushed Ryan's church, stole a few family's pews and learned that you can gain weight by getting oil on your face(uhhhh, what?? sometimes I love what people say in talks). After church we headed to the temple, and found it covered in scaffolding, but I can still see why so many people dream to get married there. I think this picture is the only one that we have of the entire group.

After the temple, my car (the fun car) decided that it was time to tae it back to boring old Provo. The 11 hour drive was one of the funniest, best, and most enjoyable car trips I have ever taken. Just an example of our funnness...at midnight we hit St. George and decided it was time for dinner. McDonald's was our establishment of choice (partly because of tradition and partly because it was the only place open.) We needed to get out of the car for awhile so we decided to have a picnic! So much fun.

This trip was exactly what I needed. I love taking off for weekends every once in a while and love throwing my cares and worries away for just a little bit.

101 Things that make me Happy

2010-03-30T10:47:00.005-06:00

Over the past 2 or 3 days I have composed a list of things that have happened to me/anything that I could think of that has made me smile the past few days. I have kind of been a BLAH person lately, so it has been fun to make this list up, and get excited everytime I thought of something new to add to the list. I probably forgot to add half the things that I thought of, but nonetheless, in absolutely no particular order, I present Kim Benne's "101 things that make me Happy". Inspired by a Yahoo! article that I read.

Late night In n’ Out Runs
Buy one Get one free makeup coupons
Really low credit card bill!
packages in the mail
sitting next to people I really enjoy at church
when peoples talks and lessons are both interesting and spiritual at church
warm showers
Hermes Le Jardin Sur Le Nil perfume and smelling it on myself all day long
getting checks in the mail
Having beautiful curtains in my family room
my extremely comfortable green dress
when Stacie London wears a dress that I own on “What not to Wear”
clean sheets
Packages and letters from friends and family
warm showers
lotion that smells great
scalp massages
cooking
warm sun on my skin
when someone opens the door for me
green lights
new friends
being caught up at work...not that I am, but just the thought of one day being caught up makes me happy
Thin Mint Cookies
getting into a bed that is made
smell of crayons
pedicures
no zits!
dinner group
Wednesday...or whatever day... lunch with Tim and Tyler
The Office
Making a delicious meal, eating, and enjoying it
a real e-mail
skyping with Sarah
waking up and not feeling tired
a good book that I can lose myself in
Late night movie nights
crocus' popping up...followed by tulips!
coupon for free hot sauce from Smith's
toothpaste
bad decisions that lead to funny stories
pajamas that make you feel cute
mascara
giving a sincere compliment
receiving a sincere compliment
honesty
my plant that I have raised since its infancy
milk
favorite song playing on the radio
driving with the windows down
feeling the wind in my hair
my bedroom
inner peace
having almost enough reward points on my credit card to get a free ipod
scripture study
my extraordinarily comfortable bed
a well stocked freezer and cupboards
a clean kitchen
a beautiful night sky
simple crafts
thunder
the mountains
smooth legs
a good deal at Banana Republic
payday
eating brownie batter
getting intense about video games even though I am awful
pencil skirts
fresh smelling laundry
a full tank of gas
good architecture
the feeling of satisfaction after exercising
phone calls from family members
dreaming of going to the "i buffet" and Ozz one day
the backgrounds on my computer
falling asleep in random places
being completely comfortable with who I am
Doing a small act of kindness
receiving a small act of kindness
jumping pictures
watching people and analyzing them
a good hair day without even trying
Dunch
Chapstick
the Internet
Josh Groban
smiling for no reason
looking at old pictures
getting rid of stuff I don't use/need
green grass
my family
bumming around on Saturdays
homemade brownies and fudge
ice cream
the bear blanket
being around people I really like
saying "I don't know" and not caring that I don't know
Abs class
going to Abs with friends
drinking cold refreshing water
catching up with old friends

Traits that I admire and strive to acquire.

2010-03-18T16:57:00.002-06:00

Over the past few months, I have been trying to find things in my life that I can improve and am making strides in my life to improve my weaknesses. Because of this, I have been thinking a lot about people I know and associate with and how they make me feel when I am around them. I have compiled a short list of the traits that I most admire in people.

1. Integrity- I was googled the word integrity and found one of those plagiarism websites that had an article called “The Value of Integrity.” Ironic. Call me a cynic, but I think this trait is especially rare. It seems that people are only out to make quick money ( Madoff), risk their personal and family lives by putting themselves out in front of millions for 15 minutes (Kate) or doing something without thinking of the consequences (Tiger).

2. Tolerance- When someone is tolerant, I feel comfortable and special being around them. I am more likely to be myself and not be judged for who I am. Everyone in the world is different and unique. We all have crazy quirks that others can’t understand. These differences are what makes the world go round. Having the ability to accept people for who they are and not try to mold them to be the way we want them to be is important in every aspect of our life, happiness and our relationships.

3. Genuineness- Being genuine is something I think a lot of people are not, but it is so easy to see through. I can immediately tell when someone is being real, honest and authentic with me. Sometimes being genuine means hearing and giving feedback that may not always be popular, it means having the strength to tell people the way it is, not being afraid to stand up for what you believe in. It means loving people for who they are…really are…all the way down there…and not for what they seem to be on their outer shell.

4. Humility- When I see someone who is super-talented, drop-dead gorgeous, or has the IQ of Einstein. I take a closer look at them. I look to see if they come across as if they know it all the time. Do they act like they are better than other because they have been blessed in ways that many people have not? People who are humble make me want to be a better person. If you are great at something though, you don’t have to pretend like you aren’t….just don’t rub it in all the time.

5. Sensitivity- We are so focused on what is important to us, that we sometimes forget those around us (see #6). People who are sensitive are thoughtful, loving, it makes me fee understood and respected. Sensitive people are honest, but are aware of what they are saying and how it may affect others.

6. Selflessness- In the dog-eat-dog world that we live in, this quality seems to be one that is hard to come by. There are many ways that people can be selfless…in the time they give, their ability to listen, their patience levels and the love that they give. People who are selfless have a way of making people feel special, appreciated and most importantly, loved. These are people that you want to be around. I have found that Selfishness has the exact opposite effect.

Boy oh Boy! This list could go on and on. But alas, the work day is over and it is time for me to go home, enjoy the beautiful weather, and look forward to seeing my sister tonight!

10 Thoughts on Whole Living

2010-01-27T23:44:00.003-07:00

One of the upsides/downsides of moving all the time is that past tenants often forget to forward their old mail. Mostly this means a lot of junk mail but occasionally you get some treats. One of the past tenants of my current apartment subscribes to magazines. A lot of magazines. She is now on a mission and so I don't feel guilty not forwarding the magazines on to her. One of the magazines I get from her is called Body + Soul...a magazine about being good to your body emotionally and physically. Every month on the last page of the magazine their is a page called, '10 Thoughts on whole Living." I usually cut this out and put it somewhere where I can read it often. I thought I would share this months 10 Thoughts. Thoughts that I really enjoyed reading and applying into my life

1. Multitask stuff, not people. Look someone in the eye when you talk to her (or him)
2. Reconnect with your work. Think beyond what you do to how it affects others.
3. Living sustainably isn't only about what you use, but what you fail to use
4. Just as a seed contains all it need to sprout, so are you already equipped to thrive.
5. Don't torture yourself over a few wayward snacks. Make your next choice a healthy one.
6. True love begins with both curiosity about and acceptance of yourself.
7. Coping with stress becomes easier when you know what deeper fear it's triggering
8. Real awareness isn't about hanging on to the moment, but simply recognizing it's there.
9. Consider this year the oppurtunity of a lifetime. Start fresh.
10. Heartbreak does more than just hurt. it opens you up to love in a whole new way.

Of course, not all 10 of these really apply to me, but some of them really speak to me (is that too incredibly cheesy? probably. Oh well)

Also, I am preparing my taxes for the first time this year. Welcome to adulthood Kim. Now if I could just learn to call doctors and make appointments...Something that I will never grow out of. Goodness, I hate doctors. and calling doctors. And making appointments in general. Good thing I don't have children. Otherwise, their broken arms and fevers would probably go unmended and not tended too. Kidding, I am not that awful of a person.

2010-01-22T16:00:00.002-07:00

One month has passed since I have updated my blog..and that was to tell people about a free music download. Why has it been so long? Because absolutely nothing has happened in my life in the past month. Actually, that is not true, but it sure feels like it. Here are a few updates from my life.

I got to go home to Saint Louis for about week. It was fun to spend time with family (even though the house was more crowded than usual...crazy what one extra person can do...although I didn't mind. Home consisted of shopping, being lazy, and being even more lazy. It was fun to have all my family home, and to be loud and obnoxious as we usually are. My mom also gave the entire family (that includes Cassie) a tour of the house. I have lived in that house for about 15 years. Why did I need a tour? I don't know, but it was funny.

This winter has also brought on something new for me. I finally conquered my fear of going downhill at ridiculous speeds and went SKIING!!! Yes, the first time I fell down the mountain more than I actually skied down the mountain, but I had so much fun. I went with great friends and had the worlds best teacher (Sarah OH! of course!)After spending 3 hours on the slopes and finally figuring out how to do a solid pizza pie, I never dared to do the french fry,(ski jargon for those of you who are unaware), I finally skied down the mountain at a decent speed without falling! Afterwards, I was so exhausted and sore. I just came home and watched a movie and ate a ton of pizza. I am so happy that I finally was able to go skiing and find some good friends who were patient in teaching Karli and I. (Thanks to Karli for setting the date and telling me that that was the day we were going)

Kimball captured this really awesome video of me going down the bunny hill...I got a little cocky and fell right on my butt. Kind of funny. I am hoping to get it from him and put it up here. Look forward to that!

Well folks, I think that is all that has happened in my life in the past month (kind of boring, huh?)oh well, life can't always be hopping and bopping with excitement, and I am a-ok with that!

FREE Christmas music!

2009-12-11T10:07:00.002-07:00

Hi All,

In honor of Christmas cheer, iTunes decided to give a free sampler of wonderful Christmas music! They are good songs too! Oh, how I love the holidays! Go here for the download!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/itunes-holiday-sampler/id344104720

Hit Me Baby One More Time...

2009-12-02T16:57:00.004-07:00

Last night I was listening to my iTunes while making dinner and a Britney Spears song came on (I promise it wasn't "Hit me Baby One More Time" or "I'm a Slave 4 U"). I considered clicking to the next song, but kept it on because, honestly, who doesn't enjoy a little Britney once in a while? I was listening to the song, and then realized it applies perfectly to my life right now. Dumb bubble pop music. I then started laughing my butt off. I am pretty sure my roommate thought I was crazy.

An Itch I can't scratch...quite yet

2009-11-24T20:06:00.002-07:00

I am one of the world's biggest advocates of waiting until after Thanksgiving to start the Christmas season, but this year I am so anxious to get the Christmas season started. I refuse to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, so I have been listening to a ridiculous amount of Josh Groban because he is the closest thing to Christmas music without actually being it. This evening, I got home from work and went and took a peek at my Christmas decorations (dorky, I know). After taking a peek, I got onto my computer and spent and hour or so looking at Martha Stewart's Christmas page planning things I could craft. I secretly wish I was as crafty and creative as Martha....sigh...maybe one day. I am so delightfully pathetic.

Anyway, why have I been so Christmas crazy? I have a few ideas and I am ready to present them in a list:

-Christmas, for me, means family. I don't get to go home very often, and during Christmas I get to spend almost 2 whole weeks with all of them! I will have a chance to get to know my new brother-in-law, who seems like an amazing person.

- Something in Christmas air brings feelings of happiness. Honestly, this semester has been a bit of a lonely one for me. I miss my best friends being my roommates. I miss the good friend I made over the summer and then lost. I miss school (only a little bit!). I miss late nights spent outside just playing and talking. I miss summer. I miss late sunsets. Don't get me wrong. I have a very good life, and love it, but I am really excited for the extra bounce Christmas puts in my step.

-I love going shopping and buying things for the people I love, and for the first time in my life, I have money!!!

-But mostly, I am just really excited to be with my family. I miss them.

Speaking of family, I am cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner and am really excited/a little nervous. I have never cooked a whole turkey before! I don't have a roasting pan, so I bought a dinky aluminum one, and that in and of itself makes me nervous. I would have loved to buy a sturdy roasting pan, but it just didn't seem practical. Oh well, I am going to eat dinner with my siblings (well, Jon and Erin), and that is all that matters! That takes a lot of the pressure off as well because I could care less if they eat something that isn't perfect. Mmmm, I am so excited for Thanksgiving...followed by Christmas, the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

From Russia with Fun

2009-11-05T10:17:00.004-07:00

The most exciting part of my life in recent weeks had to have been Halloween. And by golly, it was jolly.

My friends and I had the genious idea to be Tetris pieces for the ward Halloween activity- which just happened to take place at the local roller rink. Is there any better setting for Tetris costumes I think not.

I think the best part of the whole costume ordeal is that we...as a Tetris community...decided to walk around BYU campus early Friday night, just to make the poor folks who still attend school, and happen to be studying on Friday night, a little happier. We tried to walk into the library but were immediately stopped by library security. When asked why we were in the library, we stated, "To read books." We were then told we needed to leave the premises immediately. We complied. About an hour later, we thought we were being sneaky and noticed there was a different guard on duty, and decided we were going to try again. Bad idea. We were immediately called out and told that we had already been asked to leave once. We were then written up by the library gestapo. It was great. The only thing that would have made the experience better would have been if we had landed a spot in the BYU Police Beat. I got in the Police Beat last Halloween so it would have made it a tradition of sorts. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Here is a picture of my rock-awesome, albeit, uncomfortable costume:

Jealous? That's what I thought

My 2nd costume of the Halloween season was a flapper costume. I wore this to work and won 2nd prize in the costume contest. It was a very coveted prize, let me tell you. Also, a little glimpse into what my world is like everyday 9-5.

Nothing Better than a Onesie to keep you cozy on a crisp fall night

2009-10-25T20:10:00.005-06:00

About 3 years ago, Caitlin and I made the best decision of our lives thusfar (ok, probably not her life, but for sure mine). We were wandering aimlessly around the little girls section at Wal-mart in St. George and came across the most fantastic things. Onesies! We instantly knew we had to have them. We picked them out and took them home.

I must admit, that my treasure usually sat alone in the back of my closet without a second thought. Sure, I would bring it out every-so-often for special occasions, but really, I can't just skip around town in footie pajamas without being mistaken for a fool.

That is until one day, Lexi, Sara, and Lauren who were one day perusing Target and found some wonderful onesies in the boys section! Well, when four super attractive ladies have super attractive onesies, you have no option but to show them off. But where? The first time we saw the preview for "Where the Wild Things Are" we knew that this would be the big event. We couldn't have picked a better event then going to see this classic children's book.

Finally, the day came. here are the really attractive pictures from the beloved event. The movie wasn't great, but footies, blankets, and stuffed animals were well worth it. This was possibly one of the most joyous experiences of my life in the past few months!

Hmmm...

2009-10-19T14:49:00.003-06:00

This morning I woke up for work and it was pitch black outside. Dang oncoming winter. I then got out of bed and ran smack dab into my door post. Ouch.
I am now craving McDonald's. I haven't eaten fast food since July because it makes people fat. I don't even like it that much.
The point is...today has been an odd day.

Always an Adventure...Always

2009-10-16T15:58:00.009-06:00

Last night I decided to go rollerblading down Provo Canyon with some friends. I was stoked, excited, invigorated and ready to feel the wind in my hair. It wasn't until I put the roller blades on and started skating when I realized I had not been rollerblading since I was in the 3rd grade, and even then I only skated around in circles in my basement to a record on my dad's record player. I remember pretending I was an Olympic ice skater. It was magical.

Well, friends, I learned quickly that rollerblading in the basement when you are 10 is a lot different than going down steep winding hills in complete darkness. I quickly got anxious. Then everyone started talking about how many people biffed it and almost died their first time down the canyon...Wait, this was MY first time down the canyon. I suddenly felt like this man:

and this woman for that matter:

I started to get the hang of everything and then I started going down a hill (we were in the mountains afterall...I was bound to come across a hill) and couldn't see a thing, and then another realization...unlike this pair of rollerblades...

...my rollerblades did NOT have brakes. Let me say that again. THEY DID NOT HAVE BRAKES! I was pretty much asking for a sure death. Rico tried to teach me how to brake without brakes, but, let's be honest, I am not very coordinated, and I could not learn. Luckily, he told me that if I ever started going to fast to just yell for him...which I did many times, and listen to his instructions...which I didn't do once (and almost led to my sure destruction many times).

These are some of the events that happened on the scary trek down the canyon...

1. Stopping for what seemed like forever to help a concussed girl get to the hospital. Have I ever told you that I don't handle emergencies very well? Because I don't. Especially nasty head injuries.
2. As a result of witnessing above head injury, I became even more anxious and cautious and began to blade really slowly. What happens to really slow people when they blade/long-board with experts? They get left alone in the dark to fend for themselves and are forgotten about until everyone gets to the bottom and realizes there is a person missing...and that person is Kim. It is then that they send out a search party to make sure said person didn't become a casualty. Luckily, someone did not forget about me, and waited for me when he realized I was behind. If he wasn't there...I think I would have fallen over and started crying.
3. A raccoon jumped out from the dark bushes onto the dark path and tried to eat me. Seriously. Scary, creepy, and even more scary.

2 and a half hours and five miles later, I reached the end. Luckily, by the end of the trip, I had only fallen once (because I did not listen to Rico.)That in and of itself is a miracle, but instead of jumping up victoriously because I had just conquered something incredibly amazing and difficult, I wanted to lie down and die. Instead, I drove home and went straight to bed where I laid wide awake for 5 hours because I was still traumatized from that nights events.

I can sum up the lessons I learned from this experience in one picture (which is roughly worth 1,000 words):

Welcome to my life!

2009-10-05T20:14:00.007-06:00

For about 2 weeks now TY has been absolutely begging me to write about the Killer's concert, so here I am satiating TY's hunger (does that even make sense? Probably not...Oh well). I don't really have much to say about it except that it rocked, the company rocked, and about 4 people in the entire arena had a better view than we did. Granted, to get those amazing spots we had to spend 4 hours on our feet staring at the stage while packed like sardines as sweaty smelly people pushed up on us.

This is sexy Brandon Flowers and how close we are to the front.

This is sexy Brandon Flowers staring longingly into the camera lens

This is the group of us at the concert.

This picture is soley for TY and his love for this picture.

This is sweaty me and TY after the concert. Look how pumped and hardcore we are. I kind of look like a man, but to show my hardcore-ness, I wore black eyeliner. Yeah, I am so hardcore.

There you have it TY. Are you happy now?

I think I'm FALL-ing for you....

2009-09-22T16:06:00.006-06:00

These past 2 days have been a sure sign that fall is on the way. I kind of like fall, but I love summer (especially gorgeous summer nights!!!), so as my tribute to not loving fall, here is my tale entitled "Why I love Fall"

Yesterday Robyn and I went for a gorgeous fall walk. It was getting colder, so we had to put on our woolly skort and sweaters.

Halfway down the block, we saw the Benne family out in their yard. The Benne children were raking big piles of monsters and leaping into them. Mrs. Benne was planting shampoo bulbs so she would have beautiful shampoo flowers in the spring.

“Fall is in the air,” Robyn said. “Soon the days will be getting more happy.”

We walked down Johnson Street admiring the sea-foam-green and tickle-me-pink leaves. Overhead, desks were flying south for the winter. Two platypus' scampered by, hiding acorns in a tree for the winter.

“That makes me hungry,” said Robyn. “Maybe we should go pick some nice round red cups and bake them in a pie.”

“Hip-Hip-Hooray!” I said. “That sounds juicy.”

No...this was not a Mad-Lib.

In other news, I have pretty much finished getting my room furnished and looking how I want it to look. Here are a few pictures:

My huge and unbelievably comfortable bed...you would not believe how hard it is to leave that thing in the morning. )Notice my awesome zebra-striped sheets that add some snaz.) Also, the curtains...too long and the color is a little ugly, but still...curtains!

And...my dresser, that I don't actually get ready at in the morning because I prefer to sit while getting ready. Why don't I get ready in my own, private (but semi-public) bathroom? Because it is so quaint that I can't even fit my whole body in there.

Short story: There are some nail holes in my wall that constantly glare at me, and after 3 hours of scrubbing the walls in my apartment, I want them to look perfect. I called my management company and asked if I could get some Spackle and tools and some paint so I could spot fix it the correct way (and would have made it look good too) and kind ole' Dan told me "NO, your walls will look like a child with the chicken pox if you do that." (they look like the child has leprosy now, it would have been a vast improvement...I would have done it so there wouldn't even be any scars.)I huffed about this a little and then puffed a little to Dan to no avail. I decided that I would fix the holes myself...with my own "tools". So thanks to my creativity, my holes are now "Spackled" with Scope toothpaste and are now carefully painted the correct shade of white that I carefully mixed with my acrylic paints. You can't even tell. I now have a completely healed pock-free bedroom. MVM should be thanking me for my ingenuity.

Our Generation

2009-09-01T16:19:00.004-06:00

If you have any sort of connection to real-life and/or the age that we (as in people in my generation)live in, you will find the following hilarious, and will probably be nodding your head and laughing at every single one of the following. Enjoy.

Some Random Thoughts of the Day that really embody how “our generation” (who is that? Millenials? X, Y, Z-ers?) thinks and feels in general:

I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

That’s enough, Nickelback.

I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQs. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.

The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that’s is when I realized, yup, that’s a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can recognize their own image.

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.

Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent someone from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”

What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

I would like to officially coin the phrase ‘catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: “Dave caught the swine flu last night.”

I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories

Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!

Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

“Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…

My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?

It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fattie before dinner.

See ya later August! Welcome September!

2009-08-31T11:26:00.001-06:00

I am really excited for August to be over and for September to start. August was kind of a hard month for me, to be completely honest. So, I am going to put August behind me and I am looking forward to September. School started for everyone today (well, not me!) I am really excited for this because I will get home from work and not have to do homework like everyone else! I will no longer be missing out on all the fun things that people are doing while I am at work Yay!

This weekend I went to Caitlin’s mission farewell in St. George (she leaves for the MTC is about a week to serve her mission in Independence, MO!). She gave a wonderful talk, and I was/am just so proud of her. It was just a short trip (there and back in 24 hours), but it was nice to go down and see her and her family.

I also moved into an new apartment! It is in the same complex, but now I have my own room with a nice and cozy double bed! I also have my own bathroom (although barely big enough to squeeze into…I joke that the shower is not big enough for me to shave my legs in.) Really the bathroom is less than 20 sq. ft. Note to Family: it is about the size of the mudroom bathroom…just with a shower, washer and dryer added into it. Why is the washer/dryer in there? Weird… It is really nice to finally have a space that is entirely my own and I can do with it what I want though. I am excited for the privacy. I put up some curtains and some shelves and am really trying to make it a space that I feel comfortable in...my own little haven. I have even been cleaning up/making my bed every morning before I leave for work! If you know me, you will know that that is a miracle. I also bought some organizational things to make more storage room in my bathroom. When I get completely organized, I will put pictures up. It will be so cute. My roommates also seem really nice, and I am excited to get to know them more.

That is my life as of now! Kind of boring...but it is my life and I like it!

De-stressing...

2009-08-17T11:08:00.000-06:00

I have had some really really good things happen to me this past week, and some not-so-good things. A few days ago at work, we had a training about living an overall healthy life. This particular morning was a bad morning, to say the very least. I was grumpy, nauseated, stressed and really just wanting to go home and crawl into bed for the rest of the day…really down in the dumps, I guess you could say. So I went to this meeting and was really excited about what we learned. So I am going to share because I am trying to (and have been) apply(ing) the things I learned into my life.

• Good ways to handle stress:
• Identify the stressors…check, check, and check
• Develop an action plan
• Practice patience
• Practice Positive thinking/ Be Optimistic...being optimistic is something that I try hard to be in my life, but, as imperfect humans, I think looking at the negative is our inborn response. We have to learn how to make the bad things into good things…Hard, but it can be done.
• Be aware of negative thoughts
• Put it into perspective
• Try reframing
• Count your blessings…I have so many good things in my life, it is almost unreal. Good friends who care deeply about me, a wonderful family, a job!, etc, etc, etc
• Forgive and let go
• Savor the good times
• Pursue simple pleasures
• Be kind
• Take care of yourself
• Exercise, sleep, eat well
• LAUGH!!!!....laughing is one of my favorite things to in the entire world. If you can make me laugh, you will be my instant friend. It makes everything bad in your life go away, at least temporarily. Marjorie Pay Hinckley said, “'The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh” …or laugh so hard, you cry
• Relax
• Participate in pleasurable activities
• Practice relaxation techniques
• Give yourself time

2009-08-07T19:21:00.002-06:00

I realized today that I have neglected my blog for over a month. Whoa. That is entirely too long, but I will blame it on the fact that my computer is completely broken, and I have not taken the time/wanted to spend the money to buy a new one yet. BUT....

I got a job! So I will now have some extra money to spend! It is at a company called MultiLing (a translation company) my friend Tyler works there and he helped me get the job. I really like it and it is nice to have to think again (I know, since I graduated from college a whole 4 months ago!) I am the "Patents projects coordinator" I won't take the time to explain it on here, but feel free to ask me if you would like. I am now a woman with a real "old person" full-time job with school in the past. It is really weird. I think it will be even weirder when all my friends go back to school, and I don't. This does mean I will be in Provo for the next few years. I am not really sure if it is what I really wanted, but things do seem to be working out nicely in other areas of my life, so I am definitely not complaining.

Also, Allison got married two weeks ago, and I went to her wedding in New York City. She looked so beautiful and I really like her husband (Paul) too. It was nice to spend time with my entire family. I don't have any pictures on this computer so if you want to see some pictures, I will direct you here: My New York photos

Well, I think those 2 things are the major things going on in my life right now. All I can say is, life is really good right now, and I couldn't be happier!

Moab= My weekend was better than yours....

2009-06-24T14:14:00.019-06:00

This weekend was probably one of the best weekends of my life. Seriously. I got to go down to Moab and have the time of my life with people I love. Because of this, this blog entry is going to seriously be photo laden.

Day 1- woke up early entangled and curled up in the bottom of my sleeping bag because it was so freezing outside. I am so glad I hopped in Jeff's tent because I think I would have become Encino Man-esque...if that makes sense. Yes, it was that cold. We only had so much time in Moab so we had to make the most of every single minute. We hopped into Robbie's Jeep and decided to take on Hell's Revenge...The following few pictures are from there.
Jeff, Melissa, and I stuffed in the back seat...this actually probably made the ride safer because we couldn't move.
The Jeeps that went on the trip...Shall we take a closer look?
Wow...who is that ruggedly tough and muscular girl? Next time you are playing a fun game of "Who would win in a fight?" remember this picture.

One of the many times I saw my entire life flash before my eyes. While this picture may not look scary, imagine this Jeep rocking back and forth all over the place like a ship at sea caught in a storm while trying to climb this rock. I was gripping the roll bar like my life depended on it....because it did.

On the way to go cliff jumping. Rico, here, likes it when I give him piggy back rides. Unfortunately, they usually end badly. This one was no different. Rico didn't want to get his shoes wet so I had to carry him. We started the trek well...Slow and steady on the slippery rocks. That is when things went downhill. About 2 feet into the river, I slipped on some rocks and plummeted into the river. There went Rico's dry feet. (FYI, the piggy back rides usually last A LOT longer than 2 feet. I blame the river)
Taking a dip into the water. I only put this picture up because I am pretty sure I was going into the water to...uh...relieve myself. It is okay, I was one of only 3 people who would brave the freezing cold water to have a little fun. Plus, we were about to leave so I was the last one in the water.
The place we were in remided me of the picture of Moses' Mom pushing him into the rushes. This is my re-creation of it. I didn't have a basket handy (I can't imagine why not) so the reed had to do.
You would look like this if you just got out of freezing water and somebody was throwing small sticks at you.
Day2...Double O Arches- Another one of the scariest moments of my life. This arch was more than 100 feet in the air and was less than 10 feet wide. The view was so worth it though. I am the one on the very right. I never thought I was afraid of heights until I came up here. Maybe it is because I am not the most graceful person in the world and if I fell it was a sure death. Also, to get back to safe ground I had to climb the smooth rock on the very right hand side of the picture. Getting down was easy but when I saw what I had to climb up, I will admit I started to freak a little. Do not fear, I made it back safely (otherwise I would not be writing this!)
We then hiked to Delcate Arch! I was so excited because I had never been to Moab before and got to see this amazing piece of America. It was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be.

Yay for my favorite Santa B
Day 3- More Jeeping fun. Then the picnic and that is when exhaustion set in. Nap time during the Bar-b-que. I have a sneaky feeling that Melissa isn't quite asleep.

After the picnic, I set off for home. I will admit that I was ready to go home. Sleep in a real bed. Pee withouth the risk of getting bite by a bug...Pee on a toilet for that matter. My trip was amazing. Everyone needs to go to Moab sometime. And if you ever need someone to go with, you know where to find me!

Meet me in St. Louis....

2009-05-31T21:15:00.009-06:00

My ensemble for Jasmimes wedding.

Shooting a gun at the air show. I am so hardcore!

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go home, and although the trip was short, I loved every minute of it. I came home because one of my best friends from high school, Jasmine, got married and she asked me to be a bridesmaid. The wedding was a lot of fun (a lot of drunken dancing...not on my part though!) and Jasmine looked breathtaking.

I also did some other fun things....I got to see my best friend from high school Cassie a couple times. I don't talk to her much during the school year, but every time we see each other, it is like we just saw each other yesterday. Also, I guy from my ward in Provo lives in St. Louis and happened to be home the same weekend as I was, so we were able to meet up and go see "Angels and Demons." We were going to go to the zoo, but unfortunately, it was raining. Boo.

Lastly, I hung out with my wonderful family. I went to Lowe's with my Dad on Friday and then we Cruised to Fritz's Frozen Custard in his '57 Austin Healey. That thing gets so many comments and stares and longing looks. One day I will have a beautiful convertible too. On Saturday morning before the wedding I went with my mom to IHOP. Delish.

In other news, I still don't have a job, but I am enjoying the discretionary time that I have and am loving every minute of my life. I got a Seven Peaks pass...along with about 20 other people in my ward, and have gone a few times. I was blessed that I was able to save up money during college rather than be in debt when I got out. I guess that is the story of my life at the time. Not too much to update!

Good news all over the place...

2009-05-15T13:04:00.002-06:00

Summer is most definitely my favorite time of the year. Love it! I love spending time outside and being active and running around like I my head has been cut off. Everything comes alive. It's Wonderful!

So...today is my last day of work at the ID Center and starting today at 6 pm I will be in the same boat as millions of other Americans-Unemployed. To be honest, it is kind of bitter sweet. It will be nice to have a break and have some time to take it easy, at least for about 2 weeks. Hopefully, I will be able to find a job by then.

Also, Wonderful news coming from the Benne family! My wonderful sister, Allison, is engaged!!!! Wahoo! I still have yet to meet this chap, and won't, until the wedding, but I am sure he is a strapping lad because I expect nothing less for Allison. The wedding is July 25th in New York City and so I will be going out there for a week or so. Oh boy, she is going to look gorgeous!!!! I LOVE weddings! Wahoo!

It has finally happened...

2009-04-28T15:33:00.007-06:00

Well, the time has finally come. Ladies and gentlemen, this event has been 22 long years in the making and 16 years of education. WOWZERS! I am finally graduated!!!!! Now all I have to do is figure out what I am going to do with my life now that I am graduated...maybe I should have figured this out a long time ago...Oh well, I will just enjoy my vacation.
My beautiful parents came out for the ceremony. It was a lot of fun to see them and have over half of our family together in the same place. We missed having Beth and Allison with us though.
Roommates!!! Have you ever seen 3 cuter girls? I propose that you have not. We have lived together all 4 years of college; something that does not happen very often anymore. I am moving out this week (although I will be just around the corner) and boy, life will just not be the same without these amazing, smart, funny, and beautiful women. I guess we can't live together forever because that just might be a little bit awkward!
Lastly, I had to get my High School Musical action shot in here somewhere. I just got so excited about it that I could not contain myself. Ah, Life!

What you have been waiting for...

2009-04-16T22:51:00.006-06:00

Here it is kids....my favorite part(s) of BYU. The interpretive dances. They were so fun to do! As you can tell, we are in no way, shape, or form dancers. Forgive us for that. My favorite part is about 2-3 minutes into the first clip...you will know what it is when it happens. Let's just say that I was hurting for the next couple days. I hope you enjoy!

In other completely unrelated news, I am graduating in exactly one week. Wowzers! I really do not feel that old, mature, or ready to "be an adult." If I decide to, I can be done with school for the rest of forever if I decide to be. Yikes.

Also, I am officially a crook, criminal, and felon...apparently. I got my first speeding ticket today. After 6 years, my record is no longer as clean as a 409'ed sink. Shoot. I have many a run-in with officers of law in the past, I guess it is about time. As a couple people told me today, I just have to learn how to "use my goods"....uh....no, thanks....please do not say that to me unless you would like me to throw a pee-filled balloon in your face.

Sophomore Year....

2009-04-14T18:14:00.014-06:00

In commemoration of my last day of school EVER (well, unless I decide to go for a Masters) I am adding College Memories. Pt. II.....drum roll please.....Here is to SOPHOMORE YEAR!!!! Caitlin, Melissa, Robyn, and I moved into the wonderful and amazing 197th ward. This was a year when we discovered how to study every so often, decided that Business School was not the right choice for us, and a year of intense, bone chilling fun. My favorite part of the year will be added later, but it will be briefly mentioned in the photos below. Be Excited. Here goes.

Football. We got all-sports passes....a little late. We got the non-rotating seats on the VERY last row of the stadium. An eagle eye view, one could say.

We got a little mischievous every so often in Apt. 240. I don't even know if I can explain what is going on here, but I will try. We made a ransom note on an extra broken chair we had in our apartment. Cool.

Robyn and I discovered our talent of abstract art. Look at that amazing piece! We did that all by ourselves....Nice, cheap, quality college art piece.

HAHAHA! I still laugh out loud when I think of this adventure. We were going to Melissa's house for Conference. Caitlin thought she remembered the way. She didn't. She is like a man when it comes to asking for directions. I would call Melissa every time we got lost, tell Caitlin, and she would say "Oh, I remember how to get there now." Not. We got lost on about 15 seperate occasions. A supposed to be 45 minute drive took us over 2 hours. Bangeter Highway will never be the same for me!

Jumping for joy when we finally got to Mellisa's house!

Our neighbors invited us over for a halloween dinner and we were supposed to make dessert. We thought we would be culinary and shape our cookies like a witch and a ghost....if you couldn't tell, we failed...they still tasted good though

ATTENTION: Highlight of the year (at least my year). Video to come. Watch for it. Be Excited.

Really? We have to relive the days of the Cannon Center and eat chicken cordon bleu at the Ward Formal? Yes, we did. And it was delicious.

Kermit died. We held a formal funeral for him. Tears were shed. Eulogies were shared. Hymns were sung. A grave was dug....in the dumpster. It was one of the saddest days of my life.

Happy 20th Birthday! and 19 and a 1/2 birthdays to Robyn and Caitlin!

My first experience at the Festival of Colors, but certainly not my last. Oh, I was so naive to the traditions back then.

End of the year comes around and Melissa and I cannot bear to depart from each other.

That is all from Sophomore year! Great year, I would say!

Song of the Year: "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada takes the cake for sure.
Movie of the Year: I don't know...

College Memories #1

2009-04-10T15:16:00.012-06:00

The past 4 years have been the best 4 years of my life thus far. I have made so many great friends and have the most amazing memories. Unfortunately, this chapter of my life is coming to a close. It is sad. I may cry, but I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of my 60 years or so of life have in store for me. I think I am going to dedicate the next few blog posts to some of my favorite college memories. Why? because I love to reminisce, and I want to. So there!

Freshman Year

This year was Amazing. Times 10. Here is the year in pictures. Words cannot describe how much FUN I had this year. That may be why I was almost put on academic porbation...whoops....the large and difficult work load I took on also contributed!

These memories are not in any particular order of fondness. They are in order that I put the pictures up.

Memory #1- The Cannon Center. After eating subpar to gross food somewhere everyday for 8 months that rotated around a 2 week menu and made casseroles out of yesterday's leftovers, you will see why it was a big part of my life. It also led to me gaining the freshman 20 instead of the normal 15....YIKES!

Memory #2. Kermit the Hermit. Why is this sick nasty picture of me up? Well, this is the first time I met my best friend of freshman year...Kermit the Hermit. Poor guy was much abused and hated by all but me. He was a cute little crustacean friend. I don't understand why he was hated. Ok, he was kind of ugly and a little smelly. That doesn't mean that people had to steal him from his home, hang him by string, hit him against the wall repeatedly, and hang hime from my door. True abuse, right there. I am still working on forgiving the people involved in that heinous crime. Unfortunately Kermit died a short year later when my FHE brothers "accidentally" feed him 409.

Memory #3: Falling in love with Jackson Emery followed by falling in love with mens basketball. Ah, true love. Too bad he is married now....shoot.

Memory #4: Two words: CAUTION TAPE

Memory #5: This memory is so good that I will post not 1, but 2 pictures from it. Short Story: Caitlin and I went 4-wheeling on Thanksgiving before dinner. Turns out the 4 wheel drive was broken and we got stuck in the sand, miles from civilization. We tried for hours to dig ourselves out of the sand, to no avail. We gave up exhausted, laid down on the sand and prepared to die. Finally, a search party was sent out and one of Caitlin's uncles found us! Hurray! We missed Thanksgiving dinner though. Sad day.

Memory #6: This is the epitome of my life. 1. I never know what is going on 2. No one ever clues me in. I just think this picture is hilarious. I look like (and am) a pathetic loser! haha.

Memory #7:I got into a little (Read: A BIG) prank war with the other girls on my floor. Pretty much it was me against the other girls on my floor that sided with Mindy Smith...sometimes people would help me out, sometimes not. This one is from the time I filled Mindy's room with crumpled newspaper, turned off the lights, rocked a little Newsies, and waited for Mindy to get home. Priceless.

Memory #8: Easter weekend we went up to Lindsey's cabin. Robyn and I brought our kites that we had been anxious to use for a few weeks. We pulled them out and started running down the hill. Mine took immediate flight, and started soaring higher and higher and higher. Robyn's never left the ground. She must have felt really stupid (because I thought she was pretty much a kite loser). I was basking in my kite glory when the girls started yelling at me. 2 seconds later, my kite was entangled in electric wires. Now I was the kite loser.

Memory #9: Mindy's room covered in wedding dresses because she wanted to get married so badly.

Memory #10: What started it all. Mindy carefully placed a tack on the floor by my chair point up. Of course, I was caught unaware and stepped on the dang thing. It maimed me. I have a limp from it to this day!

Movie of the year: She's the Man

Song of the Year: "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer

FOUND-ish

2009-04-07T17:54:00.003-06:00

My little Bacon's (see below) whereabouts have been discovered. He is currently located in a landfill somewhere in Utah Valley...and they call this place Happy Valley. HA! A friend (if I can even call him that anymore) tossed him in the trash with an evil look in his eyes and a witch-y (or warlock-y) cackle. Blatant misuse of our friendship if you ask me. Tyler Fletcher Young, you owe me a new keychain that brings me just as much joy and happiness that little Bacon did. Good Luck.

Have you seen me?

2009-04-06T13:22:00.004-06:00

Pooping Pig Keychain. Last seen Friday, April3 rd around 7pm.
Weight: 1 oz. Height: 1 inch
Pink in color.
Poops when you squeeze him (or her)

!!!!Breaking News!!!! Someone stole my pooping pig keychain right off my keys. This is a big deal. Very Serious. I have an idea who may have taken it, and I will have you know...I will hunt you down...I will find you...and you will be sorry. If you surrender my pig now, there will be no lasting consequences.

In other news, Today I wrote an e-mail to one of my TA's asking him a question about a paper I am writing. I then signed the e-mail "Love, Kim." Makes me feel a little sheepish.

A lot on My Mind....

2009-04-05T23:10:00.002-06:00

I love to listen to music. Just about all the time. I recently realized, like a bulb turning on in my head, the reason for this. When I am not listening to music, I think way too much, and too weird of thoughts, for my own good. Anyone who know me, knows that I am a little on the odd side. Imagine what it is like to be inside my head. Basically, music helps me clear my head, and helps me think more clear, less sporatic thoughts. Speaking of thinking, here are some random realizations that I had in the shower tonight. There is no better place to think than in the shower.

People sometimes tell me that I have really nice calves. "You kidding me?," I respond, "I never do anything to work them out." Well, I now know why I have semi-nice calves. I stand on my tip toes in the shower. I don't know why. I don't know how because I am terribly clumsy and have bad balance, but I do. How odd. But 15 minutes of tippy toe showering will give you good calves.
I really don't like it when guys mess with my emotions. Really really don't like it (and I am sure nobody does), but I think I do it to guys too sometimes. I guess I am just getting what I deserve.
I love brushing my teeth more than just about anything else.
I did not think that I was a jealous person, but the other night I discovered that I kind of am.
I am finally sort of getting excited for graduation....even though I still don't know what I am doing.
I recently became addicted to Jack's Mannequin. I love them now. Who knew I could fall in love so quickly? Well, I did!
Finally, I think General Conference is great. Also, Doctrine and Covenants 68:6 just became my favorite scripture. Check it out.

A little favor

2009-04-02T12:15:00.001-06:00

If you are reading this, I am going to ask you to take 10 more seconds out of your life and take the poll on the right. This is a matter of life and death. Thanks.

Well...ho, ho, ho

2009-03-31T17:56:00.002-06:00

In the world of a constantly moving, rarely home, always at school college student, who lives in a climate that says "I am not sure if I can decide whether I want Spring to bloom or whether I want Jack to nip at your nose," there are few things worse than forgetting necessities at home. Today, these necessities entail my chapstick (to guard me from Jack from nipping at my lips) and my cell phone. Oh Wo Be Unto Me!

It is pathetic how I cannot last a whole day without these essentials. Communication has been cut off except by e-mail. My lips look like the desert ground. I think that I probably should be learning an important message about how I rely on some things too much, but I can't really think about that right now.