PTOWN

you may or may not know that i'm a little obsessed with provo.

i feel like that's hard for people who haven't lived there to understand.

because byu & provo are the same, right?

but i feel like i have popped the dang bubble and i am in love!

(remember that all of my friends are there and i'm glorifying my youth, but still!)

i spent two afternoons in provo doing the one thing that allowed me to fully enjoy all of my people.

i ate all the food!

actually, i had quite an ambitious list of places i wanted to eat,

and i barely scratched the surface.

that's what this summer is for.

first stop: sammy's

sammy's is famous for their pie shakes. 

like they put a piece of pie and some soft serve in a cup and blend it up.

one time i had a pineapple cheesecake one that was pretty yum.

but generally it's just the novelty, so i usually just take a bite of hannah's.

cause sammy's is kind of our spot.

and she always has coupons.

i usually get the chicken poly style sandwich, which is amazing,

and i used to get the battered fries and die of happiness/clogged arteries, but then they got rid of them.

so now i just get me a sammy's sammy and one of the fancy sodas they have.

please appreciate how we are the same.

i love this girl.

she was telling me about some research that shows that after 7 years of friendship, people generally stick together.

and then we realized this is our 7th year!

happy almost anniversary sweet cheeks! we made it!

second stop (not pictured): guru's

whenever i needed time to myself, i would get a waldorf salad to go (blue cheese, not vinaigrette) and eat it in the parking lot across the street from the temple. sometimes i sat on the grass, but bugs/snow. 

anyway, obviously the waldorf salad is my fave, but sometimes i'll also order a cup of the mulligatawny cause it's incredible, and it helps to have a friend with you who orders a giant sweet potato fry to share.

pro tip: enliten bakery & cafe next door is a prime place to study/eat croissants/drink tea. you won't regret it.

third stop: saigon

this place is only a little scary, but one of the best kept secrets. $6 SPECIAL COMBINATIONS! i try to always get something different, because it's all delicious and all equally bad for you. you get soup, an egg roll, and your main and rice. comfort food at its finest.

also, free delivery on orders over $15.

they have one big party table that has a lazy susan on it, so we tried taking a panoramic.

it worked well...

usually they are super fast and we hang out forever,

but this time i was actually on my way out of town and in a bit of a hurry,

and it took two hours!

we sat there for 45 minutes before they even took our order.

but it worked out because i really just needed to be with these kids.

places i have to hit next time:

cubby's (still haven't been!)

slab pizza

jdawgs, duh

sodalicious

and more. but this is getting depressing.

I did it again.

when your roommate does hair...

one day I'll have a house to redecorate or a baby to dress up when I'm bored, right?

my abnormal drinking habits

I'm cafe hopping today because being in the library makes me ill, and I have a test to take tonight.

During my first leg I encountered the power couple of all power couples. 

She had the greatest shaved head, and he had the most legit stars&stripes skinny jeans.

They sat for a few minutes eating/drinking things I'm not cool enough for, 

when he suddenly looked up at her and said, 

"Wanna go on a road trip?"

AND THEN THEY LEFT. TO GO ON A ROAD TRIP.

I want that.

Then I left and got another drink, and I remembered this day:

(I carried all three of these around with me all day and people thought I was crazy. I am.)

If I had money, this would be every day. I love to drink things! And I love Sonic ice!
Also, I have a weird obsession with Mawka Moka's Chai Latte. So if you want to buy me something...

my true feelings about BYU sports do not apply to tennis

 Did you know I played tennis?

I did once. I think I took lessons for one season.

I'm not very good, but I love it.

Here at the Villa, I happen to have a friend who is very good, and is obsessed.

So, we watch tennis.

 

At the BYU Men's matches, you get free pizza. 

At Spencer and Daniel's intramural match, you bring your own pizza,

and wear shirts that say Team Dancer (or Spaniel).

Tips: 

bring a charged cell phone: you love tennis, but 5 hours is long, and you don't want to interrupt the Asian

whistling is a good alternative to cheering

men named Daniel might not like the attention, but don't let him blame you if they lose

pizza

WHAT UP

Yesterday was my birthday.
52 minutes ago was the first day of my 20th year and it was perfect.

I slept in (cramps. also, my birthday),
ate chocolate covered strawberries in bed,
was a superb grocery shopping companion for Cameron,
talked to all my favorite people,
and was thrown a great party with amazing cupcakes by my brand new roommate.

Seriously, she hasn't even known me a week, and she did so much for me today.
It was the best.

So please, head over to my instagram to see the ridiculous amount of photos I posted today.
It's worth it?

dirty thirty thursday

this new tradition was the perfect boost to a weird day.

thursdays are my new favorite.

thanks, wes!

(like, I seriously can't stop thinking about how great it was)

i live here

Our apartment is a little ghetto.  It looks like a motel, and I'm pretty sure the green carpet has been here since my sister lived here 20 years ago.  In college, you have to get a little creative to make your new home feel like home.  Because ours is a little ridiculous and a little adorable, I thought I'd share.

This is Justin.  Until today, he guarded our shelves of lady products.  Unfortunately, you can't see the swirling piano around his hips in this picture, but it is super classy.  One day we put a shaving cream mustache on him and it bleached a perfect little peach fuzzy line on his upper lip.

This is the gross stained wall beside my bed.  There's actually some grey paint in the closet that someone before us left behind, but who wants to take the time to do that?  Not me.  So, I printed off some favorite pictures from the summer and taped those suckers up.  Packing tape does not stick to walls very well, so if anyone has any better ideas, let me know.

I bought this linen calendar at my favorite Provo antiques store last year before it went out of business.  I love the thing so much.  The colors are amazing and coordinate with my quilt perfectly, so it hangs by my bed as well.  The problem is that no one else understands it.  I don't get why it's so hard. 

It's pretty!

Sometimes Taylor folds our toilet paper.  By sometimes, I mean once.  But it made me feel fancy.

This doesn't really count as decoration, but it was necessary.  We built a shelf!  Because we have ridiculous storage space in the kitchen!  That's one of my proudest moments right there.

At one point we had a lovely quote wall in the living room, showcased here by Taylor's killer shoes and Jess and Jill's wrestling match.  And the guitar.

Then our chair broke.

And we put the evidence on the wall.
And then the quote wall broke.

We gathered our favorite pinned quotes and stuck them above the couch with some decorative tape that also divides Jess and Jill's room in half.  I'm quite proud of this one.  Everybody (usually boys) asks if we made them ourselves and we just stare at them like they've never seen pinterest before ever!

I also made this adorable little taxidermy! tutorial here  It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, so we are thinking about making a colony (herd? pack?) to help him guard/head the dining room table.

And finally, my chalkboards!  I am proud of myself for actually completing a craft this summer and for actually using it.  The wood one is my favorite and it's in the entryway/kitchen.  The teapot is on mine and Taylor's door because we love tea and not wearing clothes.

my roomies are leaving me

To us, this is the funniest video in the world.  

Jess is so happy she doesn't have to go to the Provo MTC, and that she's not going to Norway.

Her family is freaking out (that's her mom screaming) because her mission president in Spain is their neighbor! Her mom served in Finland and they have lots of Norwegian heritage, so we had been teasing her for weeks that that's where she was going because she really didn't want to.

As Jill was opening hers, Jess joked that they were saving Norway for her.  And they did.

And then Jess is all over the place.

I seriously can't watch this without tearing up.  I am the most emotional roommate ever.

There's a reason I'm not posting any pictures of us. :)

ladies doing stuff, ep. 2

I should not be allowed to think I'm this funny.  

hey, internet

best friend hannah and i are starting a vlog!
we felt like we had things to say, and we like ourselves.

keep your eyes out for future embarrassment.

happy falls y'alls

Let it be known that I am the biggest whiner when it comes to the heat.  I cannot do it.
Unless I'm on a beach somewhere.

Because of that I am claiming to be fall's biggest fan ever.  October and November are my jam.

I left the library early tonight because I was starving 
(somebody help me remember to eat meals at normal times; dinner at 11 is getting old).
I have no food, so I made oatmeal.
And I ate that oatmeal in bed, with the window open,
and I wanted to cry because it finally felt a little bit like fall.
And because I'm so tired.  But mostly because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I am looking forward to pumpkin flavors and leaves and holidays,
but mostly I'm looking forward to less sweat dripping down my body all the times.

Here's to less sweat!  Cheers!

cjane is my bff

I don't even know what to say about this show.  Basically, y'all know I love Fictionist.

Did you know I love The New Electric Sound?  Me neither.

I mean, I knew I really liked them, but then all the sudden I was 50 feet away and I was in love.

We also saw and partook of the Waffle Love truck for the first time.

Yeah, also in love with that.  So good.  I'd even take a plain waffle.

I just don't even know what else to say, because I'm still in my post concert coma.

So please enjoy these songs that are currently always stuck in my head.

And if anybody asks, I want to marry them all.  

say what?

Jill kindly reminded me that I have been absent from this here jig.  She's in Alaska and I think she misses me.  This is us eating JDawgs during happier times (study break, right?):

To make Jill happy, I'm going to share the best quotes from our first year at the Y.  Are Mormon girls the only people that do this?  Quote walls?  No idea, but we ran into many in Ptown.

---

In sacrament: 

"My topic is Christ in college. Probably not this college because beards are frowned upon here."

PoliSci Prof:

"BYU grads have issues with ambiguity."

Ryan James Waite, the Great:

"The CIA installed a camera in my pants, ok?"

Jess:

"No, he was more than a cow!  He was a bull, or a horse..."

Jill (& Barney Stinson, right?):

"Year awesome.  Awesome is my favorite word."

"They say you are what you eat.  I don't remember eating a SEXY BEAST this morning."

Taylor:

"I feel like I just ate a small seal."

"What if he had a beard on his elbow?  Scar, beard, elbow all in one place!"

And, yours truly:

"Do not let your light so hide under a bushel."

"The mustache brings him special power."

"I'm exotic!  I'm like European or something!"

---

Notes:

I'm sorry that more people didn't witness our hilarity this year.  Cause we're dang funny.  And we obviously need to work harder on the quote wall.

Jill does like saying awesome.  She's awesome.

The mustache in question does not, in fact, belong to Ammon the RA.

I miss being weird and being accepted.  Fall '12 baby!

Okay, I'm done.

happy easter!

love, the girls in 318

p.s. Kylee said exactly what I wanted to say today.

our bishop also quoted elder wirthlin.  it was a beautiful meeting.

our sunday will come!  and it will be great.

audiofile, audiophile

the days are flying by.

in a week and a half, i will be done with classes.

so, that's exciting and terrifying.  ask me if I'm working as hard as I should.  actually, don't.

to make sure I actually left the house for something other than class this week,
i got tickets to go to a screening of BYUtv's new show Audio-Files.
it's basically a behind-the-scenes look at awesome people who do awesome things like raise goats and have a band name that's a secret anagram.  and play really cool music.

it was amazing.  they showed two episodes: Imagine Dragons & Joshua James.

mind blown.  the producers kept telling us how much they're trying to change their image at BYUtv.
as much as we love to listen to the men behind the pulpit, they want to show other talents as well.

we got a glimpse at "not your parent's BYUtv" and we are so excited.  they're featuring so many talented artists, and I feel lucky to have seen two of my favorite.  (ask me how much I love imagine dragons.)

(and we sat right behind joshua james!  and some other probably famous people with great hair and beards)







the show begins mid-April, so keep your eye out!  we can't wait to watch the rest.
we love evolution.

p.s.  another new show called the song that changed my life featured Fictionist!

recovery

Hey!  I'm alive.  I slept for about 72 hours straight, waking only to take all my drugs on schedule.  It was awesome.  I did bunches of catching up this weekend (a little much on the social end, not enough homework).

My favorite sushi: the caterpillar!

I took a test on Saturday and did awful.
We went to a baseball game!  I miss going to the fields so much.  I was craving sunflower seeds something major.

We went to a St. Patty's Day root beer kegger.  It was a party fo sho.  

Jill and I ventured to Cville for Dakota's farewell.  Where we didn't take a picture with him.  Oops.  Homecoming, maybe?  BUT, guess who I ran into at his church?!

Oh heyyy, McClane.  He pops up everywhere, I swear.  I love it.

Cheers to a crazy few weeks and going back on my no soda for Lent after a night full of Mormon beer.

if I woke up from a coma and Channing Tatum told me he was my husband, I wouldn't question it.

Now that most of the world has seen The Vow, I will review it for you.
For us, it started like this:

being a little cray cray because we were on a spontaneous midnight adventure.

covering the beard and the cleavage. 

our true feelings about what we were about to do.

Anyway, I loved it!  I laughed, I cried, I saw Channing Tatum's behind for way too long, and I felt it was different enough from all other similar movies that I would watch it again.

And I have to watch it again because I passed out with about 20 minutes left.  I had to pee really bad and when I got back I got super dizzy and I fainted onto the seat in front of me.  Taylor rubbed my back and I just hung out until I could stand up.  So, I was informed how it ended, but I have no recollection.  

College is great.

working girl

Last week, at a basketball game, Jill and I "won" a free seven day pass to Gold's Gym.  We planned on going in over the weekend, but on Wednesday a lady called and had us make an appointment to get us our pass or whatever.  Blah, blah, we go in, they have a $1 for the first month, $10 a month, no contract plan and we get sucked in.  And it turns out we went to the wrong one, anyway.

So, now we are proud members of Gold's Gym!  And we are way too excited about it.  So excited that I agreed to get up and go before 7 this morning.  I haven't gotten up that early to be productive in months!

On MWF I don't have class until noon, so I even got to take a quick nap when I got home and that was amazing.  And then I go to catch the shuttle (1 min early; I am so on top of things!) and realized that I'll be on campus until after the shuttle stops running, so I need to drive.  And then by the time I get to campus, I'm 8 minutes late to class and decide to study in the library instead.  Or do this.

But really, I even did my Russian homework yesterday afternoon instead of right before class.  And I'm finishing my reading for Government.  And I made dinner for someone last night.  Look at me go.

the funnies

I love college,
and I can't really imagine spending these first few years anywhere else.

That being said, there are so many times I roll my eyes at BYU.

So many times.

A plethora of times.

I won't bore you with the stereotypes, so here are some recent funnies:

Roommate Jill, Best Friend Hannah, and I went tunnel singing Sunday night.
We usually use my phone for the hymns, but sometimes it's a little small for a group to squint at.
A very nice boy came and squeezed himself in between us so we could share his hymn book.
Thank you, kind sir...
But then he got all fidgety and we couldn't read the words anyway (way to pick obscure hymns, people).
After a long few minutes he got a text and set his phone on top of the book so he could read it, obviously.
We could see it too, obviously, and it said "where are you?"
Harmless, right?

The kid promptly makes his way out of this girl sandwich, hands us the hymnbook, and walks away.
Didn't say a thing.
Of course we assume that he's going to find a friend and we can have a big shindig.

He never came back.

We didn't think anything until we realized we'd just sung three hymns using stranger boy's hymn book.

We stood in our spot for at 20 minutes just in case, but he never came back!

We moved by some friends and felt awesome about our inherited hymn book,
and then felt a wee bit bad when we found "best wishes" from some doting grandparents.

The Hymn Book* now proudly resides in apt. 318 and will until stranger boy himself comes to claim it.

*Name changed for privacy
---

I love hearing conversations on campus because half of them go like this:

"Hi!  How are you?"
"Great, thanks!"
"Oh good, I'll see you later [and we'll spend another 2 seconds catching up]!"
---

FHE background music has proved to be a mix of rap & Disney.
---

millions of gold from this page.

i'm obsessed

Something about General Conference, boys, and having your best friend on a mission will put things in perspective:

I need to move from hardly working to working hard.
I need to remember that college crushes will probably last just as long as high school ones for a while.
I need to stop idolizing people and remember that I am just as cool.
Checking the mailbox four times a day will not magically put anything in there.

Everyone should always listen to these guys all the time (yeah):

After just deciding a few weeks ago that "Ye Elders of Israel" is my favorite hymn, I fell in love with their version!  It's beautiful.  I bought it this morning and have already listened to it 15 times in the short time I've been at home.

Come and be obsessed and happy!