little sure shot...

ACTUALLY I'm not talking about me. That name has been taken by Brianna. Holy smoke, kids, that girl is handy with a pistol. I do not recommend meeting her in a dark alley if you have funny business in mind.

As you noticed, I went to the Summerfest carnival with Brianna and Matt on Friday night. It was so much fun -- some people don't like going to it very much, because it's loud and you get some interesting characters there. I for one love it! The people that you see, the lights on the rides, the sounds of laughter and music, the smells of cotton candy and scones, the whole thing is absolutely enjoyable. It's something I look forward to every year. Later in the evening, after taking copious pictures of the ferris wheel, the merry-go-round (love), and the lovebirds, we headed off to Sonic for chili cheese tater tots (strangest and surprisingly good combination of food), mozarella sticks, cherry limeade, and brownie bite-cookie dough shakes (genius).

Now the first paragraph will tie in. After that wonderful start of the weekend, Brianna and Matt took me shooting with them. Up until Saturday morning I had never shot a gun in my life, let alone held one. Matt taught me how to load and fire a couple of pistols (the first is Brianna's gun, a smaller pistol and the second is Matt's, a self-defense pistol that was terrifying), a .22, and his 30.06 (aka a really big rifle built in 1940 that was recomissioned for sporting by the NRA).

Guess what my favorite gun to shoot was? If you guessed the little pistol, guess again. If you guessed the big pistol, well, I hinted above that I didn't like it (seriously, so scary). The .22 was fun, but...the 30.06?

LOVE at first sight (because it had a scope on it -- you know, for sighting -- get it?). The first time I shot that thing, it nearly knocked me over! Once I was able to adjust to the kick, dang. That gun is a total blast! I finally figured out how to use the scope, and I exploded a couple of soda cans (because both Matt and Brianna don't like Diet Dr. Pepper so we used cans as targets) and did fairly well with the other targets, too. It was just so much fun! The 30.06 is a bolt action, so after each bullet you pull back the bolt and the shell ejects, then slide it back into place to fire again. I felt so cool! I think part of the reason why I liked it so much was because of that particular feature (I'll admit it, I kept imagining the scene in Captain America where Bucky takes out the Nazi whose got his sights on Steve). That and the sheer power of the gun -- wow. Absolutely thrilling. I haven't had that much fun in a long time! Kids, you got yourself a convert here. I like guns! And the giant bruises on my shoulder and arm are totally worth it because they also make me feel cool, unlike the bruises I get from falling when I go ice skating -- those just make me feel clumsy.

The rest of the weekend was just as grand. I was able to walk in the parade with some of my LDC friends, and afterwards I got to watch the fireworks with Brianna's family (because my family decided they didn't want to go). Sunday followed up with a fun Primary lesson, a nap, four papers, and Peaceful Warrior, which really is incredibly inspiring. I've been trying out some of the things that the main character learns in the movie, and they work! It'll take practice though (as will rifle shooting -- really, though, it was so fun).

Monday has been pretty grand as well, what with practicing new ways of thinking and spending time with my dad. I drove him to the airport again so that he could go on another business trip, and we got lunch at Zupas and talked for a little while. On the way home I stopped at Gardner Village and picked up a couple of things at Anastasia's Attic. If you haven't been there, GO. It's the cutest, sweetest, blingy-est, beautiful store. All of Gardner Village is great! And the candy sticks at Sweet Afton's are the best. Sweet Afton's Candy Shop is the Honeydukes for Muggles. Seriously, Gardner Village is like Utah's  Hogsmeade or something. So much fun.

A most excellent weekend, my friends. Most excellent.

weird day...

Strangest Friday of my life. Nothing went as planned, and a lot of things turned out odd in a good way. Others, not so much.

1. Finished the exam within ten minutes of the time limit. 2 hours and 50 minutes of all short answer essays and essay questions, 32 questions total. Uuuuuuuuuuuuugh. It is OVER.
2. Missed getting soaked by a sudden cloudburst by about 30 seconds.
3. Getting to Walmart took half an hour. Blergh.
4. When I returned to my car after dropping off photos at Walmart, a lady sitting in the van next to me asked me if I would watch her sleeping children for a few minutes while she ran into the store to grab something. I said sure. While she was gone, I began imagining horrible reasons for why she had left the kids with me (she'd killed them and left their bodies in the car, leaving me to deal with the crime and be a suspect as well; she'd left the kids asleep and taken off for good; they weren't really her kids at all and she was a kidnapper who'd chickened out). After poking my head through the open window and making sure the children were alive, I felt a little better. Anyway, the mother returned and paid me in king size Kit Kat, Whatchamacallit (Whatchamaspellit), and Almond Hershey bars and a bag of pistachios, plus the change from her purchases. Definitely the most interesting babysitting experience I've ever had (except for the time Ian pulled a gun on me...)
5. After examining the sink full of dishes and the stack next to them, I realized something: three of the dishes from the entire week were mine. I don't eat at home very much these days. I also realized that no one had done dishes at all the whole week. SICK. And so I did them, starting with the three I had used. I hate doing dishes.
6. Went back to Walmart to pick up photos and found white canvas sneakers for only $5. I bought two pairs because I wear those things out so fast. AND I found a Captain America t-shirt for under $10. Yes, it's a guy's shirt and yes, it's made for someone shaped like a rectangle, but whatever. I can't find a Captain America shirt in a girl's tee, and all of the plain white t-shirts were sold out so I can't make one yet. This will just have to do!
7. There is construction everywhere. It took me 45 minutes to get from my house to Spanish Fork -- although I think that the majority of the time was spent trying to get out of the gas station lot.
8. Got to see Kayla, Tayler, Kenna, Maddy, Ben, and Steven tonight, plus make some new friends. It's been FOREVER since I've seen those kids. Steven's reaction to my haircut was the best (I didn't tell any of them about it). He freaked out. It's good to know that I am first and foremost his first and favorite "wife." Good times.
9. Tonight was the first time I've stubbed my toe on cement in almost a decade. That's because about ten years ago I stopped going barefoot. Well, tonight I went barefoot and you know that feeling of skin meeting concrete? OUCH!!! My toe is gashed wide open...if it wasn't a toe, it wouldn't hurt so badly. Lots of little nerves in there. Yowza.
10. What I saw of X-Men: First Class was dumb. There were so many unnecessary parts -- we skipped more than half of the first half of the movie. I didn't get to see the end, but I didn't like the beginning, so I'm okay with it. I have issues with heroes who aren't good people. Like Magneto? Um...he's a bad person. Yes, he has a VERY troubled past, but seriously? Bad guy. I won't ramble on about it.
11. Got to the airport exactly 60 minutes from the time I left Taylor's house. I don't really know how that happened.
12. Dad's home! His flight was delayed, so I ended up waiting at the airport in the parking lot for about an hour and a half. The guys in the car next to me were weird. Just sayin'.

K, now I'm freezing and I'm going to go to bed okay?