Flu season = Midterm season.

Why is that always the case? I have every typical symptom in the book... sinus headache, congestion, sore throat, cough --> sore muscles everywhere, that heavy feeling in your chest, and I can't seem to get warm except for my head. My head is really warm, but my body feels freezing. And I don't have any ibuprofen left because I used the last of it on my sore back. Which is still sore. Luckily, Andrea just called and was buying some antibiotics for Karalee Jo who has double ear infections (this is her 2nd one in 6 weeks, but the doctor won't put tubes in until she's had at least 4 ear infections (E.I.) within 6 months... poor little. Brooklyn had the same problem and hasn't had a single E.I. since they put the tubes in her ears.) and she said she'd pick up a new bottle of Ibuprofen for me. It is such a blessing to have Andrea as close as she is. I like to think that we're both a blessing to each other. Anyways, I had my semesterly interview scheduled with my boss today, plus a staff meeting, and then work, which luckily (again...) I was scheduled to be in the one gym that always has two supervisors. So I called the secretary and asked her to talk to my boss and see if it was ok that I didn't do any of those things. Call me a slacker, tell me to suck it up, but seriously, it hurts to move and I'm exhausted. And I don't have the time to be sick forever. I need to get better as soon as I possibly can. I have a Music 101 test to take tomorrow which I have yet to find the time to study for and a Book of Mormon quiz (ditto to the above). Add all the reading and assignments that I have and I'm basically done.

Done venting. Thanks for reading if you still are. I will say that I'm extremely grateful that I was healthy for my birthday. I prayed for that all last week and I got it, so thank Heavenly Father for that one. My next post will be less depressing, I promise, but for now, this is what you get.

real quick

I just noticed that in 25 days I will have occupied this blog for one year. I have posted 75 posts. If I blog once a day for the next 25 days, I will have 100 posts by my one year mark. I wonder if I could even do that? We'll see...

Happy Birthday to ME!

This was me one year ago yesterday! Note the balloons in the background...
And here was me yesterday! On my birthday!!


How did my wonderful day go? Wonderfully. I spent the night before at Andrea's house, went to bed at 1:30 ish, got a phone call from a good friend back home at 1:45 and then really went to bed at 2. Except for that my back was killing me again. Like the same way my back hurt in one of my very first posts... (remember Garrards? the whole "pregnant" issue...) Anyways, Andrea got me a hot water bottle to lay on and a couple Tylenol... I think I finally got to sleep midway between 2 and 3. I awoke to Brooklyn crawling all over me, ready to sing to me around 8. Exciting stuff. We watched an episode of TLC's What not to wear, tvo-ed of course. Then we got ready for the day and went to Magleby's for breakfast where I had a HUGE stack of the best french toast I've ever eaten with fresh berries and cream and honey syrup on the side. (it's endless too, so if you've got big eaters, they keep bringing them out) SOOO GOOD!!! If y'all are ever in the Provo/Orem area, you should DEFINATLY check it out. After breakfast, we went back to Andrea's house and played on the swing in a neighbor's backyard, which, apparently is a totally chill thing to do in Springville.
Me and Karalee Jo. She's a chub.



Here's me and Brooklyn. She was laughing... we had fun.
I went home mid-afternoon to a beautifully clean apartment and a lovely display for my birthday! And because it was my birthday, I got chocolate (lent-free holiday) and I'll tell you what, I got a lot of it. So, I showered and got ready for the evening, and then went with the roommates to dinner at Goodwood bbq. Not as highly recommended as Magleby's, but fairly decent. After dinner and a surprise dessert, we went to the dollar to see Enchanted. We laughed hysterically the whole time!! it was pretty cheesy, but cute. After the movie, we came back to the apartment to open presents and to eat Pizookies.

Note:Chocolate covered Cinnamon bears, Reese's Easter Eggs, Toblerones (my absolute favorite), you can't tell, but there's Oreo's in the green thing, and you can barely see the end of a Symphony (almonds and toffee) bar on the far left. Also, the picture of me in the red frame is my drivers license picture... bah haha
Checkin out the menu. Nice Candid shot by Jacey Lynn.

"FOR ME?!"

Compliments of Grandma C.

Because I'm always stealing Casey Jo's to do my make up in the front room. (it's a mirror)

"For your current and future home" -Casey Jo



Good times. It was SUCH a good day, and I didn't feel my back at all until after dessert when I could barely walk to my room to go to bed. I downed 4 ibuprofen and said a prayer and fell asleep pretty quickly. sigh. It was a lovely birthday.

another survey

What is your ideal wake-up time in the morning? 8:00 to have a productive morning
What are some of your favorite movies? Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice (masterpiece theater), You've Got Mail,
What is your favorite TV show? the office, What not to wear, Flip that House
What is your favorite breakfast? Chocolate Chip pancakes with Strawberries and cool-whip
What is your favorite cuisine? classic bbq
What foods do you dislike? sushi, mushrooms, peppers, coconut.

What are your top 5 favorite candy bars? Toblerone, Milky Way, 100 Grand, Hershey bar, Reeses
What is your favorite music group? Dashboard Confessional
Favorite sandwich? Grilled Cheese, tuna, and tomato on Sourdough
What do you wear most often? jeans, t-shirt, flip flops
If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? cruising anywhere warm. (I'm cold right now and sitting at my desk)
Favorite item of clothing? shoes, definitely
Where would you want to retire to? Probably California
Favorite time of day? Late night
Place you were born? Henderson, Nevada

Favorite Sports to watch? BYU Football, college volleyball
Person who will respond first to this blog? Beth. She usually is the first.
Are you a morning person or night owl? Definitely a night owl, unless I didn't sleep much the night before.
Favorite animal? I've only ever had a pet fish; Mr. Bingley is his name. He's kind of boring though.
Any news you'd like to share with everyone? I just drove to and from Vegas the whole way for the first time. Go me.
What did you want to be when you were little? A 3rd grade teacher. (post 3rd grade, obviously)
In regards to parenting, children are : Opposition or blessing? I'm not a parent?

What are some of your favorite things to do in your free time? take a nap, read, blog/facebook, write missionaries
Favorite flavor of ice cream? Ben & Jerry's Half Baked (heaven in a pint, I swear it)
If you could make one wish? To suddenly be able to understand everything I need to know to graduate from college successfully and then have amazing motivation to get strait a's.
Favorite baked good? oh man... chocolate caramel brownies
Favorite season? Fall, hands down (except for the fact that it brings school with it. But that won't be such a huge deal in a couple years. or maybe it will.)
Favorite cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory? Dulce de Leche
Ever done something you could've been arrested for? Uuumm, if I have it would have probably been with Kenny Harmer and/or Kirby Okuda...
Favorite color? green, black. But in a classy way. Not like all gothicy.
favorite sport/ activity to play? volleyball
Favorite flower? Gerber daisies
Favorite fast food restaurant? I really don't like much fast food; maybe panda express.
How many times did you take your drivers test? once. I'm a champion.
Favorite grocery store? Maceys, SO cheaper than Albertsons.
How many tattoos do you have? twenty seven (

Who sent this to you and what is something you love about them? Andrea Lemmon; My sister, she's pretty dang great. She motivates me to be more organized and productive and has never made me feel like she doesn't have time for me even when she's crazy busy ALL the time. She always has a couch for me to crash on.
What materialistic thing would you ask for if you had one wish to make? A full-tuition scholarship
pizza or hamburgers? pizza
Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley? Mr. Knightley
Snacking: sweet or salty? Sweet most definately
Who's worse: Stephen A. Smith or Charles Barkley (sports broadcasting)? I don't know about either. I'm so uncultured, I know.
Beverage of Choice? A&W rootbeer, Water
Favorite Disney Cartoon? Hercules
book you want to read? Lord of the Rings, Anything byC.S. Lewis; I've heard his books are amazing.
banana split or rootbeer float? rootbeer float; bananas only ever roll solo for me.

my valentines day

So, I awoke this morning to the doorbell at 8:03 am. Casey Jo was already up/showered/dressed, so she answered the door. I proceeded to make my bed. IN walks Casey Jo with yellow roses from my dad. He's pretty great. I love him lots.

Here is an example... He got a new camera for Christmas, I got a new Camera for Christmas.

I'm his favorite. I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. But seriously. I am.

Then, because it was a holiday, (and at the beginning of this lent thing we decided that we'd skip birthdays and holidays) I made CHOCOLATE CHIP pancakes for breakfast. I just about died they were so good. It's only been a week, but I haven't had any chocolate at all... While eating breakfast, my roommates and I watched Pride and Prejudice, in honor of the day. At about 11, I showered and got ready for the day, then did homework, then walked up to campus with Hannah for my 1:00 class. That was great and wonderful and whatnot... When I got home, Sarah was watching Return to me (with Minnie Driver, Bonnie Hunt, David Duchovny) so of course, I dropped right down on the couch to join her. Somewhere I fell asleep, woke up, went to my bed and set my alarm for an hour later. Ah, naps. I rarely get one. As in, even rarely on sundays... When I woke up, I made no bakes, because everyone wanted some, and then I got ready for work. At work, I was sure to wish the basketball teams a happy valentines day during pre-game, and they all seemed much more pleasant. I wish every day was a holiday so the teams would be nice. Some kid made some comment like, "aren't you glad you get to spend your V-day evening with 10 guys..." Smart. Also, during the 7:00 game, I felt the ramifications of a week without chocolate and then a day entirely comprised of ONLY chocolate. Headache for sure. Anyways, after work, I rushed over to the Provo Town center mall theater to meet my roommates. I was about 20 minutes late to the chickflick (of course, hello, what else are 4 single girls gonna do on v-day evening?) but I got the general gist of it and enjoyed it. When I got home, I ate a couple more no bakes, watched a video with songs and pictures of Casey Jo and her missionary, then came into my room to blog. Let me just say, after a day of eating nothing but Chocolate Chip pancakes and no bakes, I FEEL like I never want Chocolate again. Luckily, my head knows better and after I pick up lent for a few more days, I'll be set and ready for Casey Jo's birthday (feb. 21st).

Tomorrow, come rain, snow, hail, lightning, WHATEVER, I AM coming home! I haven't seen my baby yet (Ryan and Kacy's baby) and I want to! Really, the justification of the drive is that I have to renew my drivers license. So bring on the Dr. Pepper (caffeinated beverage of choice), cuz I'm in for a long drive that I have not yet made on my own. ugh! I'm ready for a snow-less town, it's been a while. K, well I have to get my sleep if I'm gonna drive for 6 hours, so for now, this is it.

Saturday is a special day.

At least, today was special. But 100% ordinary at the same time. hmm...
I woke up at 7:30, my favorite thing to do on Saturday morning, (oh wait, just kidding) showered and got ready for work. Work today was actually really good. I enjoyed all four hours of games, and the two officials I worked with, Kyle and Steven, were really fun to work with. I was laughing every time I talked to them. When I got home, I went to a bridal shower for Christina McLaws, a girl who lived across the hall from me in the dorms last year. When I came home, I ate some food, then went back to my room, put my ipod on shuffle and turned the volume up preeety loud. I looked out the window/slept/woke up and looked out the window again for about an hour. Then, I went back out to the front room and talked to Casey about her missionary for a bit. After eating some dinner, I decided I was bored and so I made cards. Like I have nothing better to do. Anyways, here are the evening's results.

I started with this black/white/silver theme going on, then I decided that those weren't very practical because I'm probably never going to use them. So I moved on to green and yellow.
Then, Sarah and Tate (her boyfriend) came back to the apartment and Tate said, "so, are you sending out black valentines?" I totally forgot about valentines day, so, I made more for V-day.
Anyways. I feel like it was a good day's work. I don't do scrapbook-y type stuff very often, but when I do, I really get into it. huh. I don't think I could have the patience to scrapbook my life. holy cow. That would take a lot of time. SERIOUS props to scrapbookers.

LENT!

It starts tomorrow you know. And before today, I never knew what Fat Tuesday was or that it had anything to do with Mardigras or Lent... Talk about cultured... I had originally decided to give up Chocolate, but then Jacey and Natalie told me they were giving up baked goods. So, I decided to add a poll for the next week or so, see what I can come up with. I needed more than two options so I added facebook up there, cuz I'm on that a lot. I think giving up Chocolate would be more beneficial, but at the same time, more difficult to accomplish. Baked goods would be good to give up too, but part of me is thinking, that's mostly chocolate anyways. Any opinions? Well, back to Fat Tuesday. Since I was going to be giving up Chocolate, I had to down my Cocoo Roos (cheap, non-brand-name Cocoa Puffs) and my Chocolate covered Cinnamon bears. When all of that got old and I started feeling sick, I gave them to my roommates, who downed them real quick.
I tell you what, my roommates are like vultures (in the best way possible) when it comes to good left over food. My mom was up here for the weekend and she took Andrea, Karalyn and I to Olive Garden and as soon as I got home, my roommates looked at me with that, "are you gonna eat that?" look on their faces. So of course, being the oh-so-generous person that I am, offered it to them, and they downed it faster than I could have imagined.
But I now know the meaning of Fat Tuesday. And why Lent is the next day. Well, I don't know all about it, I just know that you eat a lot of whatever you won't be able to eat because you're giving it up for Lent. Something like that. Maybe I'm not as cultured as I thought.