Awkwards and Awesomes

I've always liked reading the Awkward and Awesome posts that other bloggers have done in the past, but I've never really jumped on that bandwagon. Until now. My life has been so great/bizarre/scary/uplifting/confusing that I have to share. Drumroll please.

Awkward:

- Catching two people you know make out in their car. In the parking lot. In broad daylight. No dears, don't stop to wave to me. As you were.

- Walking past a couple breaking up in the library. THE LIBRARY? Honey, if he's going to break up with you in the BYU library, where everyone can see you, you don't want to be with him anyway. Although in his defense maybe he decided to do it there so she wouldn't cause a scene.

- Falling asleep in my Linguistics class (after a night of 8 hours of sleep, mind you), only to wake up because my leg twitched and kicked the seat in front of me. Hard.

- Learning how to walk again after removing my medical boot FOR GOOD. I walk like a duck now.

- Making a phone call at work to a person named "Charles Sheen" and wanting really badly to ask if he was winning.

- Having a girl from my home ward come up to me on campus and calling me "Whitney," who is my sister. I didn't correct her and pretended, in fact, to be Whitney. Guess that's more awkward for her than for me.

- Rocking out to Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" in my car at a stoplight, only to realize that a group of guys in the car next to me were pointing and laughing.

- Speaking in Sacrament Meeting with my Relief Society presidency, all of us with the same topic. And then realizing my entire talk was given before I even got up to speak. I don't do well making things up as I go.

Awesome:

- Going to a Stake Relief Society fireside only to be told exactly what I need to hear. Life is good!

- Discovering WinCo and all the money it saves me.

- Getting the afore-mentioned medical boot off FOR GOOD!

- Costa Vida dinners with my friend Kaitlin. And opening up a Costa Vida points card because we all know I keep them in business.

- Knowing that my mom and little brother are coming to visit me this weekend. Hooray! I need my mom.

- Finding the best place to buy clothes. Maybe if you're nice I'll share my secret.

- The Fall leaves in Provo Canyon. I don't think I've ever seen anything as beautiful.

- Halloween is 11 days away! What are YOU going to be?

There you have it. My life is awkward and awesome. I would say about 60% awkward and 40% awesome.

Gimp.

Two weeks ago, I went and got myself injured. And how did I do it? Tripping and falling while running around outside. Guys, it's not even a good story! And because I'm really bad at taking care of myself (I'd like to think it's because I'm busy taking care of other people), I waited a whole week to see a doctor. Walking on it was a pain, but I convinced myself that it wasn't that bad, and that seeing a doctor would be a waste of time and money. Wrong. After looking like an idiot walking around campus with a severe limp, and after much convincing from my mama, I got my first ever X-ray. And here is what we found:

First off, no, this is not my foot. I googled "fractured third metatarsal bone" and I found this picture. But it's identical. Can you believe doctors are apparently too high tech now to send you home with an image of your X-ray? Now they just look at them on their computers. I was so excited to hang mine on my fridge with a big gold star stuck to it. But nope. I have to search for pictures that look like what's going on inside my foot.

So I got one of these beauties:

This, ladies and gents, is called a Cam walker. It's a sexy little boot that goes with everything. And lucky me, I get to accessorize everything I wear with it for at least 3 WEEKS, maybe longer. Let's not mention that, every time I tear the velcro straps off to remove the thing, I can hear dogs howl because it's so loud.

I also got a nice pair of crutches, courtesy of the BYU Health Center. Raise your hand if you've ever had to use crutches. Raise your hand if you've ever had to use them on campus. Raise your hand if you experienced intense sweat sessions hobbling from class to class, as well as weird bruising and soreness under your armpits and on the palms of your hands. Also, raise your hand if people have shushed you while you walked through the library because your crutches were loud. Raise your hand if you used your crutch as a weapon against the shusher because they obviously deserved a whack in the leg for not being considerate to a gimp. Crutches may be convenient (especially as a weapon), but it took me about 5 minutes of using them to learn that they are of the devil. I kind of want one of these cool contraptions:

I always see students zipping around on campus with these! Or maybe I'll get a Jazzy. Or a Razor scooter.

I know I'm complaining. But I promise that there are benefits to being injured, like this:

No, I will not cheat and use it until it expires. The minute I'm healed it's going away. But until I'm no longer a gimp, this is the greatest thing ever! Take me with you and I can even bring it in your car. Maybe I'm just asking myself to be used...Also, guys on campus are oh so great when it comes to opening doors for me. Thanks boys! And yes, my injury is a great conversation-starter. Props to those who have taken advantage of that.

Also, did you know that BYU has this elite crutch/gimp club? I didn't until now. You know how motorcyclists all have that side wave they do when passing another motorcycle? (I know this after years of riding with my dad) Well, there's something similar on campus. You see someone else with crutches and you do the head nod (obviously the wave wouldn't work as our hands are too busy having uncomfortable pressure put on them as we attempt to walk). The nod says it all: "Yes, you look miserable. Yes, I know I do, too. We get what each other is going through." It's taken me four and a half years at BYU, but now I feel like I've arrived with this exclusive little club.

Anyway, that's the end of it. I have been called a gimp a total of 57 times in the last two weeks, and I'm starting to forget my real name. Someone please remind me once I'm healed, mmkay?

Well this is the story all about how...

This might be the best video I've ever seen. I love you, Jimmy.

The Best Day

It rained again today. And when I say "rained" I mean "poured."

Jenni, Audrey, and I decided to take a rainy day trip to Barnes and Noble. We got our hot chocolate and did some browsing. I could spend all day here if I could!

Who wants to buy me a Christmas gift?

Genius.

I still don't know if this book is serious.

My favorite childhood book

So Audrey. It's called "Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons"

Now onto the rain. On our way home, we got caught in a flash flood. So of course we drove through puddles as fast as we could. Sorry if you're the runner or biker we drenched on our way...

This is what the Santa Barbara parking lot looked like. So naturally I played in it. I love rainy days and bookstores.

Sheeee's Baaaaack! This could be good or bad.

All right people, maybe you didn't notice (and you probably didn't), but I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus. And I know that's pathetic of me, but it's true. May was a bit of an up and down month. Great things followed by not so great things followed by happy things followed by disappointing things. And I'll admit there were a few times that I looked up at the sky and quoted my favorite little man, "The clouds opened up and God said, 'I hate you, Alfalfa!'"

But I woke up a few days ago and decided to pick up whatever pieces had fallen out of my life's little puzzle and put them back. (This would be a fantastic time for some "Yay Alexa!" applause. But don't feel obligated. But really, you should.)

Anyway, here are some of my favorite quotes I've found that got me through these couple of off weeks. Find them here.

My favorite. And so true.

My sister Whitney would love this.

This one is too small to read, but it says, "You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter." And I don't know why these are all underlined but it's kind of annoying me.

This is the hardest one for me to learn. We all know Alexa is not patient.

FAVORITE

This is why I try to laugh as much as possible.

Yep!

Taylor Swift. Genius.

So anyway, I'm hoping maybe one of these helped you too. Life is good. It just has its ups and downs every little while.

Today, I am 22.

Happy birthday to me! Today I'm 22 years old. And BYU plays tonight against Florida and Jimmer, you better give me a good birthday gift. That's all I'm going to say about that. But, just because I want to, we're going to take a trip down memory lane and you can see me in various ages in all my glory. Just one request: please don't laugh. I know I look silly. Thanks for having me 22 years ago, Mom!

We love our daddy.

9th or 10th birthday? We didn't bother using forks.

Christmas sunday 1994

I was a Cougar fan from Day 1.

Christmas luncheon with Mom.

I Let the Love Fern Die

Um. I may or may not have listened to and/or belted out Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" in my car today. And when I say may or may not, I mean did.

But...said singing that spawned at a fantastic girl's night this weekend was what got me going. Don't believe me that it was fantastic? Look below.

I count at least 30 bottles of nail polish. For 10 of us. Trés successful.

Also, my roommate Ashley and I are so proud of ourselves. On Saturday we ate all of our meals out, but got them for free. Ready? Okay. Free samples at Costco (ssh. I went back for seconds), Great Harvest Bread Co. samples (actually, they gave us half a loaf each), and Café Rio for dinner provided by our lovely ward Relief Society. All in all, pretty darn good. My daddy would be so proud of me.

Check out THAT sample.

Two more things. First, I saw both of these magazine covers sitting next to each other at the grocery store. Take a look. They both claim to be Jimmer, but are they really? Does anyone else see it?

Don't see it? I'll give it away. Guy on left: photoshopped Jimmer. I promise. I've seen him close up and personal. That is not the same dude.

Also, I think this next little experiment of mine proves that I'm a mediocre poor college student gardner. These are supposed to be daisies or something. This is what they looked like on day one.

This is today. Poor little blue boy doesn't want to grow. Unless he really is a boy and he's just going to mature and shoot up WAY after little girl does. Do plants follow social norms? I don't even know if it's dead or not.

How was YOUR weekend?

It Happened.

Today I wore my favorite wedge heels on campus for the first time. I thought I was all cool and everything and I was totally strutting my stuff like the model that sometimes I pretend I am. And then it happened. The front of my shoe hit a crack on the pavement in front of the JFSB and down I went. Like the kind of falling you see in a movie. SLLLLLOOOOWWWW motion. It was great. I hit the pavement, jumped back up, looked around, and started laughing. And then I continued to make my way home. It was once I walked into my apartment that I noticed my left knee was killing me. I rolled my pants up and saw blood streaming down my leg. Guess I fell harder than I thought I did!

Also, I love this blog. I don't know this girl, but I discovered her last night, and I am obsessed with her clothes. Today I even put a spin on one of her outfits.

And, to finish off, enjoy this little gem that I discovered yesterday.

Also, I read online yesterday that Salt Lake City is the 3rd most vain city in the country. I knew it! We just won't mention that my favorite city in the world, San Francisco, came in number 2.

Honor Code

One more thought for the day, I promise.

Today in my Rhetoric in Law class we discussed BYU's Honor Code and whether some of its requirements can stand without debate. This naturally led to the discussion of why mustaches are allowed for men but beards are not. We came to this conclusion:

Mustaches help us keep the law of chastity. Seriously, folks. Would you rather kiss this good-lookin' bearded face...

Or this?

Forget the fact that it's Ryan Gosling. It just proves my point that no one can pull off the 'stache.

The ladies over at My Life is Not a Jane Austen Novel agree. Check them out.

Mama Quit Her Yob! Yay!!!

*10 points to Gryffindor if you can name the movie my title came from.

I found out yesterday that I'm one step closer in the process of getting my dream job (well, at least dream internship). And I'm so happy! I'm pretty sure that when I got off the phone yesterday with the lady who told me I'm getting an interview, I think I did a dance that resembles this little red-headed boy's.

And then my little sister showed me this video. If only I could have the confidence of this little girl.

In the Words of J. Biebs, "I Need Somebody to Love"

Happy Valentine's Day! Let me give you my count.

Approximate number of giggling girls I saw on campus with flowers:

23 (I was on campus today for ONE hour)

Approximate number of guys I saw carrying flowers for said girls:

17

Approximate number of people I saw at Smith's buying some sort of V-Day treat:

Lost count

Number of love songs my Pilates instructor played at the gym today:

One whole hour's worth

But I'm not complaining. Maybe next year I'll be a recipient of those flowers. But I won't be all giggly. That's not my style.

BUT...I had an epic weekend with great people in Las Vegas. I'll spare the details for now, but I'll just give a sneak peek. Our theme was James Bond. And we looked HOT.

And That's the Way I Like It

Warning: This is a rant. Please don't judge my normalcy based on this post. Resume writing is tough business. Especially when it has to be really good. Can't my cover letter just say, "Dear Church Magazine people, I really want to intern for you this year. I promise I know how to write and I like to edit. Please hire me."? No? Okay. This is the big leagues apparently. Tonight as I've been staring at my computer racking my brain for the best way to describe my editing experience, I started to feel like this dude. Do you think they would notice?

But, the upside about the whole resume-writing business is that I now have my future planned...I think. August graduation has been declared, my second minor has been declared, and internships are being applied for. I love that I know what I want to do with my future, or at least for the interim. Feeling like a grown-up is kind of fun, when it's not scaring me out of my mind.

Here is my last thought for the day. Last night, as I was sitting doing homework, NOT watching the amazing BYU/SDSU basketball game (FYI, "jimmered" is now a verb, basically meaning "to be crushed by all that is BYU basketball") because I didn't want to wait in line to get tickets (that's another story. I detest lines.) and because we don't get the CBS Sports channel, I decided to peruse Netflix. That was a horribly long-winded sentence. Anyway, I found "The Last Song," and unfortunately, I watched it. Miley, I wanted to gouge my eyes out and burst my ear drums. How did you get Liam Hemsworth??? Don't get me wrong, it's a sweet movie. Everyone else can act except Miley. Her acting felt like nails on a chalkboard. Is that harsh? Usually I really like Nicholas Sparks' characters (with the exception of a certain Noah in "The Notebook"). But I think I started to dislike Miley more and more as the movie went on. Someone just needed to do her hair! Sadly, Youtube doesn't have a whole lot of videos showcasing her awkwardness, so you'll just have to believe me.

Anyway, before I say something really stupid, back to resume writing. Also, is it healthy for a 5 foot 8, 120-something pound girl to drink a whole gallon of milk in two days by herself? Because I did. What? Ovaltine is good.

Tina Tina Made These Doorbells...

Okay okay, one more post of the year. My brother and I have been catching up on our SNL and this might be my favorite clip ever. Enjoy!

Adventures

I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus this month. I'm not sure why. Maybe school has a lot to do with it, maybe I'm just lazy. Yesterday I got back to Provo after a great week at home in California with my family. Getting there was a bit of a hassle, because I flew out the night of a blizzard, and this is what the airport looked like:

And then when I finally arrived in Sacramento at 12:35 am, I found out Delta had left my luggage back in Salt Lake. Awesome! It felt like a scene out of "Meet the Parents!" But being home was so great. We had a delicious turkey dinner, watched the parade as a family, and played PS3. Who knew my dad liked a video game? I'm so excited to go back in 3 weeks. Hopefully it isn't the adventure I went through to get there last week. As fun as it was, sitting in the airport for 8 and a half hours isn't my exact idea of a great way to spend a day!

Life right now is kind of feeling like a Carrie Underwood song. I'm not sure what I'm really doing and I'm not sure of the direction in my life right now, but I'm just going with it to see what happens.

"Play On"

Whatcha gonna do when the show is over?
Whatcha gonna sing when the song ends, yeah?
How you gonna cope when there is no closure?
Where you gonna reach when the goal gets higher?
How you gonna make it through when you think you lost your chance?

Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Even when the floodgates swing wide open
Never let current take you down, no
Even when you're not sure where you're going
Swimming through a mess and you can't get out
Just going through the motions and trying not to drown

Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice

Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Even through a storm on the darkest night
Don't you ever give up the fight
Even when you feel you're all alone
Play on, play on

Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Play on
Ooh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na

Things I'm Lovin'

Here's a list of things I'm loving on right now, in no particular order.

Favorite thing about this week: it's over

Favorite thing about today: Good hair. No, GREAT hair.

Saying "like a G6" at the end of every sentence.

Favorite new song: Phoenix's 1901. So what, I'm behind the times.

My Halloween costume options. Endless!

Favorite happy thought: I'm going to California in a month.

Favorite not-so-happy thought: I have to plan my future. I think I'm going to get in my car the day I graduate and just drive. East? South? Want to come?

Happiest time of my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: English 451 and ELANG 325. For obvious reasons which will only remain obvious to me.

Favorite new discovery: I can have curly hair in Utah. And I can rock it.

Worst new discovery: I can't function on 4 hours of sleep each night. Also, I have the worst case of senioritis ever.

Discovery of the week: "The 6th Sense" is not scary. I've been lied to for so long.

Sweater of the week: Stripey gray cardigan.

Food of the week: Frosted Mini Wheats. I'm such a college student.

Happy song: "Speak Now" by Taylor Swift. Her new CD comes out in THREE DAYS!!!

Goal of the week: Don't get discouraged with people. Some of them just aren't worth my time.

Yes, No, Maybe So

If I had control over everything, I would play matchmaker. Since I don't, here are some pairings that are great, shouldn't exist, and should happen soon.

Good

Monica and Chandler: Yes. Yes yes and yes. Love her, love him, love them together. Love that they were best friends first. Whoever wrote this into the show was a complete genius!

Beatrice and Benedick: Beatrice: "I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you." Benedick: "What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?" Fantastic. Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare play, mainly because of these two. The couple that mocks each other stays together.

Jim and Pam: Who in their right mind can deny this? Yes I get jealous of Pam because she gets to snuggle up to beautiful Jim Halpert, but she’s one of those girls that, because they’re so nice, you just can’t hate them, no matter how hard you try. And I'll just get my Jim fix in my Journalism class, because my professor looks just like him. But not the snuggling part. Just looking.

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley (book versions only): Ginny is just the best. Who else would do the things she did for Harry? Well maybe I would.

Bad

Ross and Rachel: I love them both. Someday I will be Rachel Green. But Ross and Rachel together? No. The U2 song “With or Without You” fits them too well. Ross, love you, but you’re too whiny. Rachel, LOVE you, but you can’t make up your mind. Good idea in theory though.

Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansen: Ryan, you know I love you. But because I love you I have to tell you this: Your wife is trash. You’re too good for her and can do so much better. Can you tell I’m bitter?

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley (movies only): Awkward train wreck waiting to happen. Horrible acting, horrible chemistry. “Open up, you.”

Allie and Noah from The Notebook: I don’t like them together. Never have. This volatile relationship is a ticking time bomb. The only time they aren’t fighting is when they are old and she can’t remember who he is.

Maple bars with bacon: I had one. Once. Who thought of this?

Should be

Joey and Phoebe: No, they would never work. But can you imagine the hilarious things that would be said to each other in their own NYC apartment? I would love to be a fly on that wall.

Ryan Reynolds and me: Perfect relationship. Our amazingly good looks (well, his at least) and fantastically sarcastic and comedic timing would make this a relationship for the books.

Allie and Lon from The Notebook: I love him. Not only is he much better looking than Noah, but I think he treats Allie better. And he’s wealthy (not that that’s important to me but… :) ). This is a romance that should have happened.

Royal Freak Out

So this morning I had a royal freak out over this stupid little insignificant thing that doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of the whole universe (or at least in the grand scheme of my life, not trying to sound like a drama queen here), and do you know what made it better? Peanut butter M&Ms brought to me by a good friend and the promise made by the same friend of 5 Guys for dinner. Is it pathetic that my freak out ended because candy and the motivation of the best burger ever, fries, and a cherry Coke were put in front of me? I sure don't think so. Food will do that to me. Freak out is now a distant memory.

Life as I Know It

100th post!! To celebrate, I am giving you the next 20 seconds to dance around the room. Ready...Go! 20...19...18...17...16...15...14...13...12...11...10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... Satisfied? I am. Nothing beats a sporadic dance party. And pardon my hyperness. A Coke at 10:30am will do that to me.

But anyway, let's discuss Senior year. I am, and will be for the next 8 months, a college Senior. Crazy? Yes. Do I feel ready for it? No. Do I have a choice? No. Well, I guess I do, but...I made it this far, and I'm making it to the end! Here's a kickback of my life since school started a week and a half ago. First, roommates are wonderful. Ashley and Kelsey, who knows if you read this, but you two are great. I'm looking forward to getting to know you both better! My own room? The best. Washer and dryer in the apartment? Trust me folks, once you get one, you never want to go back. Ward? HUGE! Yes, the ratio of girls to guys isn't exactly in my favor, but it's still great nonetheless. I've met lots of friendly people.

The week has been filled with delicious BBQs, movies, bonfires that ended up not being bonfires, football games, fun dates, old friends, new friends, in-between friends, and ice cream pie. Oh yeah, and school. How could I forget? I can tell that it's going to be a high-stress semester. Hours of my days are filled reading about Plato's theory of mimetic criticism, recognizing the difference between primal auxiliary verbs and modal auxiliary verbs, and giggling over Shakespeare's comedies. But I'm not going to stress. Well, that's a lie, but I'm not going to let myself do it right now. That'll come later when I sink back into the habit of having class every day and not just work.

Which brings me to the best part of the end of summer: this little guy. To my sadness, GoPhone and ancient iPod Nano broke in the same week and neither could be fixed. Coincidence? Who knows. Maybe. But because I needed music and a phone and a planner and a camera, I caved. And I love it. I've been made fun of from time to time because I love my paper planners, which I still do and always will, but I have to admit using iCal on this guy is kind of the best thing ever. I like having my life organized when I have a zillion things going on, and this sure does it for me. Steve Jobs and the guys at Apple are geniuses. But because of this little guy, no more shopping for a while.

So that's life as I know it right now. Kind of fun, kind of hard, but generally good. Isn't it great how, even when you think nothing is ever going to work out in your favor, eventually it starts to?

Swan Dive!

Yet another one. Who is this guy? I very much want to meet him. Oh and P.S. The Octopus Oracle was right. Viva Espana!

Look at Your Man

I am obsessed with this commercial!

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