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?

school's out...

Finals are over for me this semester. I don't like handwritten finals as much as I like Scantron exams. With Scantrons, you get your results right away. With handwritten, you have to wait for days or weeks to get your score back. It's particularly frustrating when you're pretty sure that you didn't do very well. I just want to see the grade and get on with my life, rather than sitting here biting my nails and cursing the fact that I missed a very important point that would have strengthened my argument quite nicely.

Well. At least it's done with now. No more Interdisciplanary Humanities 261 ever again. Unless I, you know, fail the class. C's get degrees!!!

I can't believe I just wrote that. I never want to get a C. EVER. The end.
One week from tomorrow I start Spring semester. Tuition is paid for, books are ordered, and I have almost no spring/summer clothes to wear. No, really. I was looking through my closet to find things I can start boxing up for the season, and I realized that more than half of my wardrobe falls in these categories:

• sweaters
• turtle necks
• cardigans
• coats
• sweat shirts/pants

Not sure what I'm going to wear this spring...maybe it will stay chilly so I won't have to worry about melting in the sunshine. So far I've stayed cold most of the time. If you ever need to find me on campus, look for the girl wearing jeans and a black peacoat in the middle of a crowd of capris, cap sleeved blouses, knee length plaid shorts, and American Eagle tees.

Speaking of clothes. Have you ever worn an outfit that when you looked at it in the mirror, you thought it was super cute and fun and were excited to wear it? Then when you go out into the world, you start to notice people looking at you funny -- like double takes and stuff. And not in the "oh, look, I like her [insert item here]" sort of way but in the "oh wow" with a raised eyebrow sort of way.

Maybe I was imagining it.
Or maybe it was the white tights?

gratitude...

I am grateful for my dad who makes sure I have a ride to my performances and who buys me a hamburger for dinner, and who comes to the theater to watch my show.

I am grateful for Cody who gave me three big hugs today, even though he probably doesn't know how much I needed hugs.

I am grateful for Ann who always makes me smile and laugh and is absolutely wonderful, and for the warm coat she gave me.

I am grateful for Brandon who told me he would pray for me just before we went onstage to perform tonight because I was nervous about my solo and speaking lines.

I am grateful for Santa Claus who told me that my solo was "angelic".

I am grateful for little dogs who are always excited to see me when I come home.

I am grateful for Chelsie who is absolutely hilarious.

I am grateful for people who start the conversation.

I am grateful for my space heater. Super grateful.

I am grateful for Amy and her kind, gentle, loving friendship.

I am grateful for Alyssa and her help finding my phone that I lost at work when it fell out of my pocket and decided to hide between several pieces of merchandise.

I am grateful for Linnea who is always happy to see me.

I am grateful for Tracy and how she always makes sure I know that my work is appreciated and that I'm doing a good job.

I am grateful for Julia and her amazing organizational skills that have allowed this LDC Christmas show to be so much farther ahead than things were last year.

I am grateful for Skyler and how he always asks me how my day is going, and how if I ever seem sad he tries to help cheer me up.

I am grateful that I don't have to walk far in the cold weather.

I am grateful for men who open the door for me.

I am grateful for people who work hard for the good of the group.

I am grateful for good music.

I am grateful for Sister Terry and for her gift to know just what to say right when it needs to be said, and for her sense of humor and example of continual faith for the future.

I am grateful that my grant money came through and I'll be able to pay for school this next semester.

I am grateful for jump drives...they make my life easier.