tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47285205283812281302024-02-21T22:11:05.599-08:00The Real DealHolly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-50230980075688644642012-06-15T00:36:00.003-07:002012-06-15T00:36:55.721-07:00Till We Meet AgainI've been trying to think of a way to adequately explain what has happened over the last two weeks without going into more detail that is appropriate for a blog setting, so here goes nothing.<br />
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On Monday, June 4th, there was an "incident", as HELP International has chosen to call it. One of my nearest and dearest friends on the trip with me was attacked by 3 Fijian men while walking home alone from the internet cafe just a few minutes walk from our house. Although there are lots of little details associated with exactly how and what happened, I don't feel entirely comfortable sharing those. A fellow participant and their mother made the decision to go to abc news in Salt Lake, Utah, and talk to them about what happened. A few stories (although with some minor inaccuracies) were released, so I'll post the links to the first one that came about. If you'd care to hear more detail, feel free to check here:<br />
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http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story/Utah-volunteer-BYU-student-kidnapped-in-Fiji/sHiFXSorjk-U9N7sEZvfIQ.cspx<br />
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There are a few more articles on that website that should be easy to link to, as well as an article on the Deseret News and KSL. You should be able to find those via Google.<br />
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Well the next couple of days after the attack are a large blur, we moved houses (more to come about that situation) and tried to get back to our projects when we had the time between the move. My friend who was attacked returned home safely within the week. I miss her and love her so much.<br />
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We had to move out of our house the Tuesday following the attack, but did not have anywhere to move to. The bishop, his wife, and a few of the guys from our local ward at church showed up to help us move all of our belongings into the nursery of the church. That night we stayed at a local place called the SeaBreeze Hotel. Never in my life did I imagine that I would be so thrilled by a real mattress and air conditioning! I was legitimately excited to be in the hotel, even though it was so different than hotels that I'm used to. To sum it up without a picture, I've stayed in a Motel 6 that quite possibly outshines the good ole SeaBreeze.<br />
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The next morning, we woke up to the news that another one of the volunteers had fallen out of a tree earlier that morning while watching the sunrise. Not going to lie- none of us could even comprehend that one. We nervous laughed and looked confused while we heard that story. She is slowly but surely recovering and will be returning home soon.<br />
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The FBI arrived in Lautoka that day to investigate the case, so HELP International asked us to head to another part of the island for the day. We went to VoliVoli Beach Resort in RakiRaki, which I've blogged about a bit before. It was nice to take a day to relax a bit, as we were all quite shaken by the last couple of days. We slept there for the night, and the next day woke up and headed back to Lautoka. Perhaps not so surprisingly, we were still homeless that night. Guess where we slept? The church! The bishop and his wife were so incredibly kind to us. They showed up to the church to help us drag beds into the primary room that we'd call home for the night. We were able to set up shop there, and I was very grateful to have lots of time that day to speak with my parents and discuss the current situation. The following day we were able to find a house in Lautoka and move in immediately, once again with the incredible help of the bishop, his wife, and some of the men in the ward. I am certain that without the help and love of the bishop and other church members, we as a group would not have gotten through everything as well as we did.<br />
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The US Embassy and HELP International feel that it is safe for the volunteers to be in Fiji, however the BYU International Security office does not agree and asked their matriculated interns to return home. Because I was not an official intern, I was left to make my own decision in regards to staying or leaving. I spent more time in prayer during that last week than I had spent praying in a long time. Although it is sad to say that it was because of the situation I was in, it was such a great feeling to be closer to the spirit again. After very careful consideration of all of the facts, as well as my feelings and promptings, my parents and I agreed that it would be best for me to return home. I was and am heartbroken to have left Fiji, my projects, my friends, and the incredible life I was leading there. Through all of this, I keep praying that this is one of those situations where God closes a door, but opens a window. That being said, I am comfortable with my decision to have returned home and look forward to being able to continue my projects from the United States.<br />
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This is where you come in! As you know, I had been working with the Sunshine Special School in Lautoka, Fiji. They are lacking the materials that they need to teach their students how to read, and I would love to change that. I'll be working for the next couple of months to write letters to companies and libraries and hopefully find those who would be willing to donate supplies and books to this school. If you are someone, or know someone, or even someone who knows someone who knows someone who would be interested in helping, PLEASE let me know! I will be figuring out the exact details this next week in terms of what specifically I'd be looking for, and will let you know then.<br />
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Until that post comes, your thoughts and prayers for those who have suffered because of this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!<br />
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<br />Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-53169512175587549522012-06-01T01:48:00.002-07:002012-06-01T01:48:25.997-07:00C'est la Vie!Bula! So I think this week I'll organize things into my top 4 most interesting/exciting/heartbreaking/generally-noteworthy moments. I recognize that 4 is a weird number to choose.. I started with 10 but I wrote more than I was expecting to so I kept it at 4. Y'welcome.<br />
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1. I finally got started on my literacy project with the Sunshine Special School. On Monday I went with Candice to visit the school and gather more information to begin my project. They gave me a list of all of the students enrolled, with the name of their disability listed next to it. We were shocked to see the different reasons the children are considered "special." Probably the most shocking disability listed is ADHD... undiagnosed. Parents can pretty much decide that their children are too hyper for normal school, and sign them up for this school! After visiting a couple of the classrooms we noticed that one of the little boys is in the school because of juvenile arthritis. He does not struggle academically---he's 2 full grade levels above his class mates---but they still feel that he requires this attention. It was heartbreaking to see him surrounded by peers with more extreme learning disabilities.<br />
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I am really excited to get started on this project. The children at the school are so sweet and tender. They are so shy and excited to see us! One of my favorite part is the way they look down and blush and giggle when I say hi to them. I really cannot wait until they know my name and are more comfortable talking with me! I will be working with kids with 3 different issues: reading/comprehension, phonics, and blending. I'll be taking the kids in pairs, and sometimes individually, and workings with them in 30 minute blocks on whatever their struggle is. I've struggled a lot with feeling like I am qualified to work with these kids, but after talking with Shelley about it she said something that I've decided I need to make my mantra for the project. She said that the biggest thing to remember is to love the kids, because chances are they won't learn everything they could possibly need to know from me. So if the best I do is love them and make an ounce of improvement, it was a success! It was such a helpful thought to realize that although I may not sky rocket their reading abilities, I will make a change in their lives.<br />
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2. I organized the library at the Sunshine Special School! For the second half of this week I didn't have an excess of work, so I noticed after touring the school that the library could use some help. I spent Wednesday and Thursday going through the books and putting them where they belonged. It was nice to see the space become more clear and organized, and I had the best time reading some of my favorite books (special shout out to one of my favs- Boney Legs)! I couldn't help but think about my days at good ole Patton, and the fab library there. One of my favorite times at school was our bi-weekly library trip! I loved wandering a few rows over to the advanced books and imagining the day that I could pick any book in the whole dang place and read it. I never realized how lucky I was to be at a school with rows of books, and teachers who had the resources and time to help every child read. The Sunshine Special School library consists of one wall- 4 shelves divided into 3 sections. And each shelf is about 3/4 full. I'm hoping to start a book drive of some sort for their school so that these kids can have more books. It's an overwhelming idea when I think about how much work it will entail, but one wall of books just does not cut it for a school full of children---it's probably a great indicator of the literacy levels of the school.<br />
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3. They found the cord for the piano at church! They have an electronic piano, the same one that is in the Relief Society room at home, in their chapel, but they haven't been able to find the cord pretty much since they got it, which I'm pretty sure is around 5 years ago. Once they found out that I can play, they set out to find a cord to replace it... and stumbled across an old radio cord that fits. It officially plugs in and works, so, naturally, I was the ward pianist on Sunday! There is a great picture that one of the girls took of me when I was playing...there were kids all around me! They stood and stared and stared and stared up until the meeting started and the moms told them to sit down. And even then, during each hymn I had at least one munchkin getting as close as they could to stare. They had a good time flipping the page to any page in the book for my prelude and seeing if I could play it, and every single child requested I Am A Child of God at least once. One of the most tender moments happened when one of the older boys (around age 9... they're always the most embarrassed to be seen talking to the white girls) stood right next to me so that his whole body was pressing up against mine and was quietly singing the song I was playing at the time. I couldn't stop myself from tearing up listening to him almost breathe out the words to I Stand All Amazed. I'm so blessed to play the piano. I feel like I spend so much time at home complaining about having to play, but it was beautiful to get a chance to think about how wonderful music is, and how lucky I have been to take lessons and be able to play at the drop of a hat for anyone who needs it.<br />
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Just a quick little story about music at church on Sunday. Last week the Bishop asked if we would be willing to do the special number during Sacrament meeting this last Sunday that we just had and of course we said yes! We practiced on Saturday afternoon and evening to sing A Child's Prayer. It was simple and we didn't put too much time into it, but we were totally excited. The Bishop announced the program for the day and for the special number he announced the primary choir would be singing..... they forgot about us. Womp Womp. So we're singing next week. Also they asked me to speak... yikes.<br />
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4. I finally got a new mattress!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, that many exclamation points does not cover my excitement. Allow me to explain the bed situation here. The beds are all bunk beds. Pure wood, and the support for the actual mattress is wood slats. Of all different shapes and sizes. The mattress is foam. As in a 3 inch foam slab... nothing else. Just a little foam hunk. I'm guessing you can figure out how LUXURIOUS the beds are after pressing a 3 inch foam mat into wood slats every night. I feel like I can lay on my back and figure out every single bump and grain of the wood using my back skin through the foam, it's that uncomfortable. So... Nikki and I splurged on Thursday and got mattresses. Granted they're still foam slabs, but we sprung for the 5-ish inch pads that we stacked on top of the 3 inch ones, that will function as more of a filler for the spaces between the wood. I slept like a rock last night! Also, we went to this restaurant in town called BBQ Chicken before our mattress extravaganza... it was divine. I had chicken without bones in it for the first time since I got here! WOO! Oh, and one last note that I'll tack on as an addendum to number four... we're obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. We watch about 2 episodes a night... 3 if it leaves us on a really intense cliff hanger after 2 episodes. It's so fun to all sit down after dinner and chores and watch them!<br />
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I think if you had told me a few months ago that I would be living in Fiji, excited about foam mattresses and chicken without bones and spending my free moments pondering ways to bring more books into the library of a special education school, I would not have believed you. But alas, here I am. And I'm LOVING it. C'est la vie!<br />
<br />Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-5788314414076304042012-05-25T02:22:00.003-07:002012-05-25T02:22:51.051-07:00TimTam Slamming With the World Health OrganizationWell, I'm obviously not posting as much as I was originally planning to. I need to be much much better than that.<br />
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Saturday was a day of surprises! We took a boat out on a day trip to one of the islands off the coast of Fiji for some snorkeling and sun. We had been out on the water for about 20 minutes when we realized that the dark clouds overhead weren't going anywhere and we probably wouldn't be getting any sun... it's a good thing no one checked the weather forecast before we booked the trip! Also, I must have some sort of curse because at one point on the boat ride I turned to the left, and right in my face was the butt of one of the New Zealander's on the trip. Just a face full of tush, with a pretty excessive amount of crackage hanging out the top, too. Yum. After about 30 minutes on the island, it started to rain pretty heavily which was a little sad, but it's hard to care about the rain when you're snorkeling and enjoying the water so that's what we did to pass the time! The tour docked on the island for about 3 hours (even though the brochure promised 5), and then headed back to the main island. On the way back it poured for the second half of the boat ride, and I was cold for the first time since landing in Fiji! It was great.<br />
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On Sunday we went to church and relaxed at home for the afternoon, there isn't too much to say about that. I've been trying to track down Talen Tremea, who is serving his mission here. I asked the ward missionaries about him and they said if he was on this side of the island they would meet him that night--- I'm really excited to hear about it on Sunday and see what they know! I have to find him.<br />
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In other news, we did a training with the World Health Organization this week! Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on another part of the island called RakiRaki, which supposedly has some of the best snorkeling on the island. We had the opportunity to work with the different principals and teachers in the area to address specific problems that they are having and find ways to improve them. It was a pretty eye opening experience. Hilary and I were with three men and we were supposed to discuss the topic of alcohol abuse. Although the legal age for buying alcohol is 18 here, they were telling us that literally anyone can go into the store and buy it if they say it's for their parents or friends or whoever they want! They have issues with children aged 13 drinking.. unbelievable. And on top of that, the black market is a huge thing here! Apparently every single taxi driver knows where there are black market stations so that you can buy alcohol all the time. I realized how grateful I am to live in a place where although there are issues, there are usually people working hard to ensure the safety of the nation, especially the youth. It's heartbreaking to see these kids struggle with issues that they should still be ignorant of.<br />
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Wednesday night we decided to take advantage of being in RakiRaki and stayed at the VoliVoli Beach Resort. They had some backpacker rooms that were only $15 USD a night and fit 8 people in a room, so it was perfect! Wednesday was also Tacy's birthday so we had dinner at the resort and then had the staff make a cake by stacking TimTams. Obviously we sang happy birthday to her on loop while one of the waiters danced with her.... everyone was so casual about it so I'm guessing that Fijian birthday protocol. A few of the leaders from the World Health Organization were at dinner with us, so they joined in on the TimTam slamming for dessert, which was hilarious. I feel like very few people can say they did TimTam Slams with the Fiji Leaders of the WHO. After dinner we walked out to the ocean to enjoy the rest of the evening. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. I had a few minutes to myself and it was amazing to look out at the stars and the ocean and the incredible deep purples of the sunset and realize how happy I am, and not just a fleeting happiness, but a deep, to my core happiness. On Thursday we passed the time lounging by a gorgeous beach and pool and relaxing til our bus ride home. It was sooooooooooo nice.<br />
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Today we spent a lot more time working on project proposals and preparing for next week so that we can start getting involved with our specific projects. I'm anxious because one of my projects is helping improve the literacy at a local special education schools, but I feel very underprepared. I don't know how to teach kids to read, let alone those who require more attention than others. Hopefully I'll be able to find out more about it and follow the learning curve to figure things out! This might be a crazy week.<br />
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I am so grateful for the chance I have to be here. I was worried that it was going to be a long hard adjustment, but after the first week things are starting to be comfortable. We're always so proud of ourselves when we know where we are and where we're supposed to walk. Simple joys, right? I really have the feeling that I will be able to do something honestly life changing while I am here.<br />
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<br />Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-72043993224434565192012-05-17T21:54:00.004-07:002012-05-17T21:54:54.413-07:00Rotahomes, Lice, and Reggae: The Fijian Adventure Begins!Bula from Fiji! I know this post is a little late, so I'll try to sum up everything we've been doing without being too long winded. I put the pictures up on Facebook, but I'll try to put them on here too in a few days.<br />
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Day 1:<br />
On the first day we landed at 5:30 in the morning, so the whole day is kind of a blur for everyone. We moved into our house, went to the atm and walked around the market to get shampoo and other essentials, and then hung around the house. It was more or less the eternal day because we were so tired and it went on forever! Our house is really great. There are 3 rooms with 4 girls each in them, and then the only guy on the trip sleeps out on a bed in the living room so that we all have privacy. He handles being the only guy quite well. So we fit into the house perfectly right now, but in about a month we're supposed to have a total of 27 people living in the house!!! That's right, 27. We can't really figure out how that's going to work... but it'll be an adventure! We live in Lautoka, which has turned out to be a great location. We're in pretty close proximity to most of our partners that we'll be working with and the bus drives right by our house.<br />
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Days 2 and 3:<br />
For those days, we helped to build a house in a neighborhood called Koroipita, which is build in connection with the Rotahomes project. It was pretty slow moving because they only use nails and hammers to build. The only legitimate power tool they had was a saw for cutting all of the wood. It was eye opening to see exactly how much labor goes into each and every one of the homes.<br />
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This concept is seriously so amazing. This man named Peter Drysdale started this concept of building homes that would be resistant to the cyclones that come through Fiji and ruin all of the homes. They started to build them on a much larger scale, which eventually yielded to figuring out the social issues associated with this kind of neighborhood. For $1 a day, these people live in the cyclone resistant homes and also have electricity, water, classes, and school included. It's targeted for low income families, and the waiting list to live there is over 400 families! We went to a dinner with Peter and a few other Fijian big wigs and he told us all about the different social issues he's had, and how they've been able to keep this a very controlled society. It was incredible. For one of my projects I'll be going with a few other volunteers to teach computer classes and fitness classes to the people who live in Koroipita. I'm excited to be there more!<br />
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We had a few silly experiences while we were building the houses. But I'd say my absolute favorite is about one of the main builders, Sateen. In his time with the Rotahomes project he has built over 720 houses by hand! So Sateen is an Indo-Fijian, meaning he's of Indian descent. I'm not sure what the exact statistic is, but I'd say it's pretty close to a 50-50 split on the island between Fijians and Indo-Fijians. Sateen didn't really have much interest in helping us girls work on the house, so a lot of times we were assigned pretty basic tasks while he and his workers did the harder things. There I was just painting away on one of the frames when I look to my left and see Sateen's buns right in my face! He was bending over installing something and I was definitely in his way. But wait! As I'm looking at it, he lowers further and further until he is literally sitting on my shoulder. I was laughing so hard I was shaking. He continued to perch on my shoulder until he was done doing what he needed to do, and then he stood up and walked away. No recognition, no apology, no anything. We were laughing so hard.<br />
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The Rest of the Days:<br />
On Sunday we went to church at the local ward building. The meetings were a total of just over 4 hours long, followed by a full on meal in honor of ward conference. They really run on Fiji time in church, but it was one of the best meetings I have ever been to. The people are so sweet and kind, everyone wants to know where we are from, why we are here, how long we're staying, and where we are living. Those are probably the 4 most common questions we are asked on a daily basis. During sacrament meeting the kids were all over us! They all wanted to sit and draw and talk. There was a little girl on the seat next to me that moved over to Annie's seat next to me and was sitting on her lap during the beginning of the meeting. We looked at her at first glance and were pretty sure she had dandruff, but after a closer examination we noticed that they were moving, and she definitely had lice! We were relieved when she walked to go sit by her mom and we were able to sanitize. Luckily no one ended up with lice.. but it was a close call for sure.<br />
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On Monday and Tuesday we spent the days visiting with different partners trying to determine what the need is for us as volunteers, and where we could fit into their programs and be helpful. There are so many different options as to where we can work and what they'd like us to do! It's almost a little overwhelming to think about all of the different people who need our help.<br />
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On Wednesday morning we met with the Sunshine Special School, which is where I found my second project... a literacy campaign of sorts to help the students there improve their reading abilities. I'm really excited to get started on that! We've taken it from more of a smaller scale program in just helping those kids to possibly starting a new way to gauge reading skills and then implement better teaching strategies into the classrooms. More information to come on that one.<br />
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On Wednesday afternoon, our country directors Candice and Katherine surprised us and took us to a resort for the day! It was gorgeous. We all had a great time getting out of the house and relaxing by the pool while we had our meetings to discuss our possible projects and the directions we could take with them. We found the best caravan driver that took us to and from the hotel.. his name is Matt and he has hair that definitely belongs in some weird Bob Marley mashup with the 70's. It's a giant fro! And he plays the best music we've heard yet... he's probs going to be our chauffeur for most of what we do here. haha. The music here is absolutely hilarious. It's all the normal top 40 songs from home, but mixed with a super heavy reggae beat involving a ridiculous amount of bass. The other day on the bus they started to play a mix of The Lion King with Beyonce that I will stoked about, but the driver changed it. I'm still trying to find it and download it so I can hear the whole thing. We're also on the hunt for a CD version of the music that they play so we can bring it home with us because it's pretty awesome.<br />
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For the last couple of days we've been hanging around the house preparing our project proposals and getting ready to start working next week! We're going to go to RakiRaki to do a training with the World Health Organization that everyone is reeeeeally excited about. It'll be a fun few days!<br />
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I'm looking forward to this summer. The first few days were rough and I thought 12 weeks was going to drag by, but looking back it's already been more than a week here. I think things will really pick up once we're working every day on our projects and there's lots to get done.<br />
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<br />Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-27516988158576224652011-09-22T14:37:00.000-07:002011-09-22T14:37:25.596-07:00Everything You Could Ever Want to Know About DTS!!DTS. I'm sure you're wondering what this stands for. I guess I'll start out with a really awkward/embarrassing piece of information. I LOVE the TV show Jersey Shore. Trashy? Yes. Tacky? Yes. Entertaining beyond words? Abso. Last year I was getting ready to go on a date, and I said that I just hoped that my date was DTS. "DTS?" They asked. So broke it down. DTS- Down To Snuggle. Oh trust me, I know it's extremely ridiculous. But it was just a catchy little phrase I learned from the J-Shore and it's stuck with me ever since. After that, our group somehow adopted the name.<br />
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Other acronyms for DTS include but are not limited to: doomed to snuggled, destined to snuggle, determined to snuggle, desire to snuggle, designed to snuggle.<br />
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So, our apartment is named DTS. It always feels a little uncomfortable to tell guys what that means if they happen to overhear us referring to ourselves as that. Let me introduce you to the cast of DTS.<br />
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Starlee Marie Jacobs. Hands down the happiest person you will ever meet. She is just so silly. Oh, and she laughs at everything I ever say, which is always a big plus.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInrPzlbqN490ClUA8R39JyaAAqWnq1tGWF7mpyurRHdYVpZAPufdFUKTtiRxgOWmEHpNUMJMdSXbjcMDknHoAjsUzqwLpEPV38_Odj8NPENjcJQJW5HNREkQG4mnjNb0fV6-xb_eKuKdq/s1600/312697_2043579845450_1122980887_31822753_632856164_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInrPzlbqN490ClUA8R39JyaAAqWnq1tGWF7mpyurRHdYVpZAPufdFUKTtiRxgOWmEHpNUMJMdSXbjcMDknHoAjsUzqwLpEPV38_Odj8NPENjcJQJW5HNREkQG4mnjNb0fV6-xb_eKuKdq/s320/312697_2043579845450_1122980887_31822753_632856164_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Madi Mackey. (don't kill me for picking this picture, it just was too funny to pass up.) She is in INCREDIBLE baker! No joke. See that frosting? She just made up a recipe for it and it was delicious. She's a spanish whiz.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidL0enP5RHK7npU03EP3SbLzebFOqcyZ6Cp1MTtbrXgw1c8PW7MCs2kOaTz6qI_1WePQGU2rcUED9sRjXyRfLziu5D3rnkgAFZ4UZt9Ee_t77K2M-GilkEu8lgp99gEsPFSs5TNnNMZEjf/s1600/180449_10150140747266215_505001214_8637159_4959325_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidL0enP5RHK7npU03EP3SbLzebFOqcyZ6Cp1MTtbrXgw1c8PW7MCs2kOaTz6qI_1WePQGU2rcUED9sRjXyRfLziu5D3rnkgAFZ4UZt9Ee_t77K2M-GilkEu8lgp99gEsPFSs5TNnNMZEjf/s320/180449_10150140747266215_505001214_8637159_4959325_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Next up? Hollie Vasser (left) and Rachel Udall (middle). Becky Wagner is on the right.. she doesn't live with us. Hollie reps the name quite well. She's super silly and funny, and also heads up the group running efforts. Rachel is so dang sweet. She definitely helps us all calm down and make smart decisions. If I make it out of college without going to jail, Rachel will most likely be the reason for that.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_m7gxLYozgnKy3suPg2qYf_DFUKqjfm9OZO1nuufFR1I-kBCsZSxwojnEgzwFYpqUocmfYPoywr8BMTPZDq4HL0HUDqaFhh8aBiK-pWaVyhstdtNVPmRXFfgbTOdfxPx2fr_cnytulMuo/s1600/206114_10150259378082886_592747885_7809722_5442869_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_m7gxLYozgnKy3suPg2qYf_DFUKqjfm9OZO1nuufFR1I-kBCsZSxwojnEgzwFYpqUocmfYPoywr8BMTPZDq4HL0HUDqaFhh8aBiK-pWaVyhstdtNVPmRXFfgbTOdfxPx2fr_cnytulMuo/s320/206114_10150259378082886_592747885_7809722_5442869_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Last, but totes not least, Jasmyn Torres. The woman who has to deal with my slobbery and obnoxious antics on a regular basis. She is so hilarious. Cracks me up on the regular. Also, you might not know this, but she's a genius. True fact. Also, we always start our sentences with also when we talk to each other. Even if the thought before it has absolutely no relation, or we weren't even talking. She's the (wo)man.<br />
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So there you have it. DTS, all day every day. We have had such a great time together! We take turns cooking each night, and it's been great. Except for the small fact that we consistently ruin rice. It's either burned, squishy, or the consistency of oatmeal. Luckily, Jas bought a rice cooker of Amazon... here's to hoping we figure it out now! Here are a few pictures of the football game, night games, and what ever else I can scrounge up off of their facebooks.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEFof7v-SbCWbxi6Wg44DjA_SppMuhAVczz9lzcpR7poAcS8U8cfRYlBYcE8HfsUeaaGFX-IT-lGomwSgnImUrTeqtSrO1qtPU9N-jtuc1PE5iV-Tn8j7S-pDH1GZxiRqP-s818tdarJi/s1600/320249_2039818111409_1122980887_31819424_1700007410_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEFof7v-SbCWbxi6Wg44DjA_SppMuhAVczz9lzcpR7poAcS8U8cfRYlBYcE8HfsUeaaGFX-IT-lGomwSgnImUrTeqtSrO1qtPU9N-jtuc1PE5iV-Tn8j7S-pDH1GZxiRqP-s818tdarJi/s320/320249_2039818111409_1122980887_31819424_1700007410_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-13956544038140758862011-09-18T15:14:00.000-07:002011-09-18T15:14:12.470-07:00Happy Sunday, from DTS!Well hello! I know it's been a while since I blogged, but these last few weeks have just been so interesting that I can't not share what has been happening.<br />
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I've moved into my new apartment- it's in a complex called Liberty Square. I live with 5 of the greatest, most incredible girls that I know: Rachel, Hollie, Starlee, Madi, and Jasmyn. We have had such a wonderful time being together, and I am SO blessed to have girls like them in my life. More to follow about all of the crazy things we do. Now, I usually don't like when blogs get all churchy, or go on and on about spiritual experiences that they have, so I'll keep this thought short and simple.<br />
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The last few weeks have been a big struggle for me because a few situations I've landed myself in. Today I found myself laying in bed just thinking about everything, and what the best solutions would be, and a sweet feeling came to me. All I could think about was a line from a very very kind blessing that I got a few months ago from my brother in law, David. He had said, "The Lord recognizes how difficult things seem now, but He wants you to know that everything you face is in preparation for what is coming next. He will not force you to face anything that you cannot face." Today I've realized exactly how true that is. I know that sometimes my life can feel so overwhelming, but during that blessing and today I've felt so much peace realizing that I can do it! So, in honor of feeling so grateful, I've found the perfect video to express my feelings. Enjoy! (Sorry if that was too churchy for you, I promise it won't happen very often.)<br />
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVNYhcYEwIE&feature=relmfuHolly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-73207514975000149832011-06-25T14:43:00.000-07:002011-06-25T14:43:41.454-07:00It's Laundry Day in London! (Days 5 & 6)FRIDAY: Yesterday was a day of things that we were all really looking forward to!! Too bad the entire first half of the day was a dud. We woke up and headed over to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. From what we had read, it was a huge ceremony that was so interesting and enthralling to watch. We got there, and there were already people crowding all around the gates and standing all over the steps to get a closer watch. We finally escaped most of the crowd and found a great view on the stairs of a monument right across from the palace. We were next to a really nice couple from the nearby land of Chino, so mom buddied up with them pretty quick and got nice and chatty. Finally the guards from the other locations arrived, and the ceremony started. The seats that we were so proud of finding were suddenly less appealing once people of all ages got onto the shoulders of whoever they were with to see better. This is NOT an exaggeration!! There were full blown adults on their spouse's shoulders... including two kids that were riiight in our view of the Palace, thus ruining any possible chances at taking a quality picture. Mom was irked.<br />
After an hour and a half of useless music, lots of standing and staring and saluting and marching and yelling, the freaking ceremony ended. We walked down the mall (no, it's not somewhere you shop, It's much like the D.C. mall where it's a bunch of important buildings along a pretty street), and found the theater where Les Miserables was playing. The show started at 2:30, so we had about an hour to grab a quick bite to eat and get into the theater. There was a little pizza shop down the street from the theater that we had seen the day before at Leadenhall Market, so that's what we chose!<br />
The waitress served us our drinks and came back a little while later to take our order, then promptly decided to head into the kitchen and disappear for upwards of a half hour!! Soon it was 2:05, and we needed to leave to get into our seats in a few minutes, but alas, no pizza in sight! The pizza showed up on the counter, and still no one delivered it. The waitress was still cooking away in the little kitchen. My dad (who is generally more of a soft spoken man) went to another waiter who was standing right next to the steaming hot pizzas, and complained that we needed to leave and our pizzas still hadn't shown up. The man said he would help us, but walked the other direction and disappeared for another five or ten minutes. At that point it was 2:15, and we really needed to leave. We had middle row seats for the show, and something about climbing over 10 people to get to our seats didn't sound polite or appealing. Dad threw some money on the table for our drinks, and we left. A couple minutes later, Callie realized she forgot her jacket inside and had to run back to get it. AWKWARD!<br />
LES MIS WAS AWESOME!!! The costumes, the music, the actors, the rotating stage, I DIE! It was so much better than I even thought! There were lots of elements I didn't expect, but they weren't a disappointment at all! (Sorry for all the exclamation points, I just get so excited sometimes.) I'm not going to lie, I shed a few tears. But I wasn't sobbing or anything, so don't feel uncomfortable. To sum it up, I highly recommend it to anyone debating going to the show coming to L.A. We even had the understudy for Jean Valjean, but he was still absolutely fab. We booked it over to T.G.I.Fridays, seeing as we had only had peanut butter crackers and licorice since breakfast after the whole pizza ordeal, and downed a yummy meal. After that, we were supposed to head to Harrod's, but we found too many cute trinket shops and had a ball in M&M's World London! It was just a wonderful night.<br />
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SATURDAY: Today was my day for the hotel breakfast! Mm mm good. For the early part of the day, we went to the Portobello Market place, which is an eclectic swapmeet, London style. LOTS of antiques, but also a ton of super fun little jewelry stores. It was really crowded, seeing as it's only open on Saturdays, but it didn't seem very overbearing. It turned out to be a great thing that we got there as they were all setting up, because by the time we left it was swarming with people. All I can really say is that it is a good thing my dad hit the ATM this morning before we went! SO. MANY. CUTE. THINGS. Our prized find were these super awesome pendants and earrings called "mini-mosaics" which, as you might guess, are mosaic patterned pictures of flowers made out of the tiniest little pieces of tile. They are gorgeous! We saw them originally on a small picture frame, for the super low price of 235 pounds (about $375), but for some unknown reason, possibly concerning the price, we decided against it. A little later down the road we found them in a smaller (and cheaper) form, and just could not pass them up! They're from the early 1900's and are handmade in Italy. We were impressed with our find.<br />
After that, we headed on to the Winston Churchill War Rooms. We mainly chose this destination because the choices were that, or a huge museum full of things that none of us were too thrilled about. We're not cultural idiots, but after seven days of walking our feet to nubs, it's kind of easy to pass up anything that requires lots of walking. It turned out to be a GREAT decision. Basically what we saw were all of these underground rooms that were used during WW2 for the British leaders to hide and plan their defense/attacks. It was really informational, but not in the "boring stuff information in your face in a thick accent you can't understand" type of way. We had a great time seeing all of it! Besides the fact that Europeans seem to lack the concept of personal space or courtesy within a crowd. We've noticed that if you're in their way, they drop the shoulder and slam into you as hard as they can. I like to think of it as walking bumper-cars style. On the plus side, I don't need to go to the chiropractor because I'm pretty sure a thoughtful lady today readjusted my back for me.<br />
We went on to Westminster Abbey after that, the place that William and Katherine got married! It was such a lovely church, and we got to see an Evensong performance after that. A Spanish group of people behind us in line decided they wanted to just walk fast around everyone and skip the whole line, (my dad understood what they were saying), and it actually backfired because one of the couples got in a big fight over it and they ended up sitting right next to us where they would have been anyways. The choir was beautiful, and it was pleasant.<br />
Next was one of my personal favorite events, simply for the ghetto-ranking I'm sure it would get if you could measure that sort of thing. We did our laundry......... in the bathtub. Yes, you did read that correctly. My mom filled the tub with water, added laundry detergent, added the few articles of clothing (underwear, namely) that each person needed freshened up, and did her magic. We called the front desk and asked for extra towels, and stole some from the pool, and tried to towel dry it as much as we could. Now we look like some crack head floozy house, because there is underwear hanging from the light fixtures, tv, alarm clock, chairs, etc., so that it can dry. So ghetto fab.<br />
Soon it was 9 pm, and we hadn't had dinner. We ordered some pizza and had it delivered, and about 15 minutes after it was delivered, it had vanished. We wolfed it down like we hadn't seen food in two weeks! It was super fun to just relax, eat pizza, and watch The Parent Trap. It was a lovely night in.Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-89114689728979935962011-06-23T15:48:00.000-07:002011-06-23T15:48:43.914-07:00The Travesties of London!! (Days 3 & 4)2 CRAZY DAYS!! So much to say.<br />
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WEDNESDAY: Yesterday we woke up early and loaded up on a bus that was going to Oxford University, Stratford Upon Avon, and Warwick Castle. We were one of the last little families on the bus, so we were all divided up, but Callie ended up with a nice lady and I ended up with a pleasant computer engineer that lives with her parents, it was great!<br />
Oxford was BEAUTIFUL. Such gorgeous architecture. We got to see the dining hall that inspired the dining hall in Harry Potter, as well as the grand staircase that they used when the students arrive at the school. It started to pour after we were there for a little bit, but it was still great. When we went to get on the bus, everyone had shuffled seats.. primarily because of the little Asian group that was with us. They didn't speak a lick of English, which had to have made the tour a little difficult for them, and they decided they wanted to shuffle seats instead of just sticking with the same ones. No big deal for now, but that comes into play later.<br />
Next we headed to Stratford upon Avon, which was such a cute little town, I almost couldn't take it. There were adorable little stores and cafe's all down the street, and we went to Shakespeare's birth house. We were forced to watch some movies about him.. they were kind of awful. Also, one of the Asian ladies, which soon became fondly known as little green lady in our group, was HILARIOUS. She had no concept of anyone being around her, or personal space bubbles, for that matter. She used mom's shoulder to steady her hand to take a picture, dad's shoulder to give her a boost so she could see better, and a few times Callie and I looked over to see her standing so close it was shocking. Good laughs over that gem. After it was time to get back on the bus, the drama unfolded. Callie reclaimed her previously stolen seat, another group reclaimed their seats, and the Egyptian ladies freaked out that their seats were taken. They headed to the back where we had been sitting, and we were forced to take the last row where a Greek family was sitting (a rather rude Greek family, if I do say so myself.), and they pitched a fit when they got back on!! They demanded their seat back, thus leaving us seatless and even more dispersed throughout the bus than before! We finally got it all worked out, but not before Dad got cussed at in Egyptian by the crazy ladies.<br />
After a beautiful drive through the Cotswolds, we got to Warwick Castle. Fun!!! The grounds were beautiful, and there were peacocks everywhere that dad had a glorious little time feeding. Callie almost cried when dad made her feed one. We climbed all through the towers and dungeons, and it was very sweaty/fun. Beautiful weather that whole time, which was awesome. When it was time to get off the train, we went to grab our bag of sweatshirts and other paraphernalia, but alas!! It was gone!!!! The Greeks stole it!!!! We tracked them down using the information that they gave to the tour company, but they made us go to their hotel to pick it up, instead of being courteous and delivering it after they swooped it! We ended up going to a super cute italian restaurant, and had our first yummy meal in our stay at London!<br />
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THURSDAY: What. A. Day. We got to sleep in (8 am by mom's standards), and took our time getting out the door to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was so beautiful and, somehow, Mom convinced us to climb to the very top of the dome. 528 steps, if I'm not mistaken. It was SO exhausting! Our legs were shaking by the time we all lugged up to the top, but it was definitely worth the climb.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7gMMTOMcMrl4LE7B-kyl4BTVXAs_GXpEySX9Snu071WyVZH3RmZ0POmnYUFO5qpUHdnYYyxhmgp17kWZhxAsnARVh0LfMYXqtQ3JrFcEkn-MrAHlEHWN8CjqBr9HMglVkHQ8QReN9Qb3/s1600/St+Paul%25E2%2580%2599s+Cathedral%252C+London.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7gMMTOMcMrl4LE7B-kyl4BTVXAs_GXpEySX9Snu071WyVZH3RmZ0POmnYUFO5qpUHdnYYyxhmgp17kWZhxAsnARVh0LfMYXqtQ3JrFcEkn-MrAHlEHWN8CjqBr9HMglVkHQ8QReN9Qb3/s1600/St+Paul%25E2%2580%2599s+Cathedral%252C+London.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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</a>After that, Callie found the police hat she's been questing after. It looks a little something like this. No but really, that's what she looks like in it.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoumREBBPz-JJVI3o5cJ6ycNCQ54Gt4hFMnOLTo0tQUpAxTj714ORbvb4hznA4WAa-5vX4J6pO4DeB6qAmMsqZM6OYDjbziPHuH3GmpKG4uOgqLGnLmTu7CJ4md0H25uNeLVxgoRnX602/s1600/41556281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoumREBBPz-JJVI3o5cJ6ycNCQ54Gt4hFMnOLTo0tQUpAxTj714ORbvb4hznA4WAa-5vX4J6pO4DeB6qAmMsqZM6OYDjbziPHuH3GmpKG4uOgqLGnLmTu7CJ4md0H25uNeLVxgoRnX602/s1600/41556281.jpg" /></a></div>We took the tube (lingo for the subway, yo) to Leadenhall market, which is known for being used in the Harry Potter movies! It was used as Diagon Alley, and looks a little something like this. It was so fun because everyone was just hanging out for their lunch during work and there were lots of great food places! I'm dying to go back there again.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnqDwvK6IwwfcaCKZQI9nw3jPcmH9T9pY_SynYd18UC2UG0oYNot_PwEf1rJyX0j3pemKopSs0mmgHvVNEJeipKst6luk9B98T53wgsCqpO-g6mHdltUjzR36M0xx5uC4KRrWlItyXRO8/s1600/leadenhall_market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnqDwvK6IwwfcaCKZQI9nw3jPcmH9T9pY_SynYd18UC2UG0oYNot_PwEf1rJyX0j3pemKopSs0mmgHvVNEJeipKst6luk9B98T53wgsCqpO-g6mHdltUjzR36M0xx5uC4KRrWlItyXRO8/s320/leadenhall_market.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> After that, it was time to get to Wimbledon! We were trying to figure out exactly what track to take while we were in the tube station, and thought we had finally found the correct one, and had decided to get on. The train had been there for about a minute, so we knew we were cutting it close. (A little sidebar: once in New York we lost my mama on the subway when we all got on and she didn't. We had laughed about this the whole trip before this very event occurred.) We started to hustle onto the train, and Callie made it on, and then the gas releases made their noise and the door slid shut. Mom, in her moment of matronly protection, stuck her arm out into the doorway and stopped the door with her arm!!!! Okay actually another British guy inside stopped it with his foot, but Mom's arm was definitely in there getting some pressure. That's when this music started to play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiyKgeGWx0 ..skip to 1:50 to catch the full vision on this one. She was screaming at Callie to get off at the next stop and meet us, Callie was crying hysterically and pounding on the door, Dad was yelling at mom and trying to get her arm out of the door, and Grant and I were just standing there trying not to get in the way of anyone or anything. A guy inside the train was super super sweet, and apparently he pulled the emergency stop trigger and talked to the driver so that it wouldn't leave. It was crazy town! All of a sudden, out of the corner of my left eye, I see a black guy with 3 foot long dreads running down the track towards us (queue Chariot's of Fire music here). Turns out he was the driver. He unlocked the door, and lead us all onto the train, only to find out that we were on the wrong track and the whole ordeal could have been skipped in the first place if we had noticed what line was running. Rough times. End result: two crazy ladies (mom and Callie), and one mildly angry dad. From this, my dad coined the phrase, "Mind the gap, but more importantly, mind your mom's arm."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Finally, we made it to Wimbledon. We stood in the queue for a solid hour, but got in not too long after five, which was super nice. We made it to a girl's doubles game featuring the girl who is currently ranked number eight for singles! It was super fun. Then we snuck to the above railing to watch Isner play (he's ranked ten for men's singles), but soon it started to rain. They had to hurry and tarp the grass because it gets too slippery too quick, but the second they had it tarped, the rain stopped! They untarped it just in time for the rain to pick up again, so they had to recover it, then uncover it again! The play didn't start again for another thirty minutes once the rain started the first time. We ate delicious strawberries and cream, sat on Henmen Hill to catch the ended of Federer's game, and had a blast and a half! It was too much fun. We made it home without incident, and survived the day in one piece. Phew!</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-37407241957439702042011-06-21T15:06:00.000-07:002011-06-21T15:06:31.213-07:00The Tower of London! (and Wicked, woo!)Today was fantastic!! We woke up far too early for my likes.. seeing as I don't believe in single digit hours.. but I'm vacationing with my mom so I guess things like that are expected. My mom and I got yummy breakfast in the hotel, and forced my dad and the kids to mcdonalds (hehehehehehe) since we only had two complimentary breakfasts.<br />
<br />
We rode on the red bus for the last time for the week and got off by the Tower of London! For those of you who are history impaired (exhibit a: ME), the Tower of London is more or less a fortress/prison that was used during the 15th and 16th centuries. We took some really great tours about all of the different torture methods, the various people beheaded (including all of Henry VIII's wives), etc. It was so interesting! Until the vary end when we went on the tour of the main building.. which we probably should have done first.. because that baby was SO long! Every time we walked into a new room Callie would make a comment of sorts about how the building just kept popping out new rooms. The men that give the tours are called Beef Eaters, and they're technically guards and what not. We found out that they have to be in the Marine Corps or something else like that for 22 years before they can work there! Crazy. So lo and behold, while the guards are changing positions, an Indian kid decided that it would be hilarious to sneak behind the barrier and take a picture.. a Beef Eater was watching.. and in a voice that made the people who weren't even involved in the trespassing scared, he screamed at him to get away! Intense!!<br />
<br />
After that was all said and done, we tried to get back in time to go to Hard Rock London before we needed to leave for Wicked, but something about a 40 minute wait didn't fit into our time slot. We walked back to the hotel, and grabbed food on the way. Then it was time for WICKED!!! It was SO great! Due to the fact that I am the proud owner of the best dad EVER, we sat in the 9th row!! Such great seats for such a great show. It's been quite the day! And despite the fact that this morning I was about ready to shoot myself instead of waking up, I'm wide awake! Hopefully it doesn't make for a miserable morning tomorrow! Goodnight! :)Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-84310315863964592522011-06-20T13:05:00.000-07:002011-06-20T13:05:35.091-07:00London! (days one and two.)Well hello! I know it's been forever since I've posted anything, but I figured now is a good time to start since we'll be in Europe the next two weeks!!<br />
<br />
We left Sunday morning (4 a.m., ouch.) out of LAX, and we saw Justin Bieber in the line for security!! Good thing Callie has seen the JBiebz movie enough times to recognize his body guard. That's how she knew it was him. Then some 20 year old guy behind us in line who was clearly just as excited verified it for us before JB took off his hat and glasses. He has bad hat hair, by the way. The first flight was great.. but once we landed in Toronto and had to get on an eight hour flight to London.. NOT good! It was a red eye, and something about being in a little tiny square of space isn't really that conducive to good sleep.<br />
<br />
We got to our hotel at 8am, and by some small miracle they had our room ready! We got to crash and sleep for a few hours before we headed out to explore, which was quite a relief. We spent the rest of the day riding on a double decker bus getting an overview of the city.. and I am SO excited to get to see the rest of it!! There were adorable little kids dressed in blue school uniforms (they looked JUST like the kids in the Madeline books if you remember those!), and tons of gorgeous buildings. At about 4 in the afternoon it started to poor (hurray for the weather here!), so the city got pretty jammed up which made the rest of the tour not quite as pleasant. I'm not entirely sure what the plans are for the next few days, but I'll keep posting on here!!Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-25248860083509804012011-02-09T20:44:00.000-08:002011-02-09T20:44:32.167-08:00This Month in Pictures.Well, it would appear that I just have quit everything about blogging. It usually takes a comment of some sort from Kristi Sexton before I post again, but it is my goal to post at LEAST once a week for the rest of this semester!! I promise. For this post, I feel like using some of my more recent pictures to tell the story of what has been happening out here in the 801.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPT-hwtJi09aCBLwonrVWF57U90cuOVokdwwtqEvM7DJZzGK20Prr3f5K7DdBlTztVlxT35CiLPPT01yEXa5uFE8l6R8RSG-y0F3rYC26iQegdnKrq1bvM1h5tRl-f7C7sTZ1XrBWIOoow/s1600/164303_493489803027_800648027_5935595_16629_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPT-hwtJi09aCBLwonrVWF57U90cuOVokdwwtqEvM7DJZzGK20Prr3f5K7DdBlTztVlxT35CiLPPT01yEXa5uFE8l6R8RSG-y0F3rYC26iQegdnKrq1bvM1h5tRl-f7C7sTZ1XrBWIOoow/s320/164303_493489803027_800648027_5935595_16629_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We went apartment shopping! In the Fall of this year, I'm living with Starlee Jacobs, Rachel Udall, Hollie Vassar, Madi Mackey, and Jasmyn Torres! It is seriously going to be the most fun thing on the face of the earth. We got to The Branbury (which has had the BYU endorsement revoked many a times, definitely a good sign) and they had a marriage guarantee poster... which would be promising if I needed one. HAH. My friend bursted my bubble to tell me that a marriage guarantee is when they let you leave your contract if you get married... but I like to imagine it as a "Live Here and Leave Engaged!" type of deal.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJl8ioJKkAyXgFqIZZwrvUf_S4AoC4S7WSkpvrYUOkdTa9tDQgpyJNuyTrrgxBIhyphenhyphenwxBRlsBDhLsv143I5ofvKhzNmkG1katqBNhd_1eX2TTzsTk_BIC-V0yo5yl90NheSCjRq3GkJS8zI/s1600/172751_1587315519127_1122980887_31291697_4047086_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJl8ioJKkAyXgFqIZZwrvUf_S4AoC4S7WSkpvrYUOkdTa9tDQgpyJNuyTrrgxBIhyphenhyphenwxBRlsBDhLsv143I5ofvKhzNmkG1katqBNhd_1eX2TTzsTk_BIC-V0yo5yl90NheSCjRq3GkJS8zI/s320/172751_1587315519127_1122980887_31291697_4047086_o.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We turned into team mom's for Rachel and Hollie's intramural soccer team! There is another game tomorrow night.. we're hoping to bring sliced up oranges in bags for half time. We're also working with the team choreographer, Matt, to work out the half time show. More details to come.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhlLogWtS6zQWNHCdg7iW2Duyp3SZQPFmqiUmHNjtQ3uoGIzVQ8bFTjLFQ731mpXKkWw13IrFvC7Qrrv3oRnJrHGO5l5gq_C9LamHAJsv_pOkH_MrlRnaxncr5FY3vtQHekSOSvKnmvUZ/s1600/171756_10150399368590188_750745187_17309389_2464599_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhlLogWtS6zQWNHCdg7iW2Duyp3SZQPFmqiUmHNjtQ3uoGIzVQ8bFTjLFQ731mpXKkWw13IrFvC7Qrrv3oRnJrHGO5l5gq_C9LamHAJsv_pOkH_MrlRnaxncr5FY3vtQHekSOSvKnmvUZ/s320/171756_10150399368590188_750745187_17309389_2464599_o.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We went dancing quite a bit. Those are the good times for sure. I freaking love when we go dancing!! Also, Luke's face is just making this picture for me.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYL44V2batO2S8j3Pld5HxrzwUcHFfz4gPa8R_XUXEt7LE34Ic0yRsxvc0bZrSgjCfs7yZ_vfSoqFvL5CbRyCADMrgmh4vN94AoSveBSLku5rJuJA2NTq17XqibTN3q6wML-GSCzee7_g/s1600/169049_10150143132096233_590751232_8266567_1644310_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYL44V2batO2S8j3Pld5HxrzwUcHFfz4gPa8R_XUXEt7LE34Ic0yRsxvc0bZrSgjCfs7yZ_vfSoqFvL5CbRyCADMrgmh4vN94AoSveBSLku5rJuJA2NTq17XqibTN3q6wML-GSCzee7_g/s320/169049_10150143132096233_590751232_8266567_1644310_n.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We picked the apartment that we wanted to live in. It's called Liberty Square. Turns out it's mega popular.. so we camped out. You might be wondering why we're bundled up... so let me solve that puzzle for you. It was -3 degrees outside. DO NOT disregard the negative sign in front of that number!! We camped forever and more or less froze to death, but we got our apartment! It's such a great thing! But note to self... never ever ever ever ever camp out for something dumb like that. Just show up a few minutes before and cut the line.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56JQk-TniZQvekvFdUdtNGMcvLRMuMKcxVfCKLfEpXisv8l5ukYtj4ZqrqXonzP4RdH-cI0Cokwe0lELqJ8xc6GT3N2rACXmvo_UtT8UoG1VFTo-Kl4wQG9xux_gozfGCprr46YhsrNVk/s1600/167231_1587331999539_1122980887_31291760_3220120_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56JQk-TniZQvekvFdUdtNGMcvLRMuMKcxVfCKLfEpXisv8l5ukYtj4ZqrqXonzP4RdH-cI0Cokwe0lELqJ8xc6GT3N2rACXmvo_UtT8UoG1VFTo-Kl4wQG9xux_gozfGCprr46YhsrNVk/s320/167231_1587331999539_1122980887_31291760_3220120_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We helped build a house! More specifically... we sanded, spackled, and caulked the crud out of that place. Grandpa Regnier would be proud. It turned out to be super fun! It took us a few hours to find the house, but by the time we got there we had a blast. Good times. There's nothing I like more than getting in touch with my inner man.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-30456439849209743382011-01-17T15:38:00.000-08:002011-01-17T15:38:30.262-08:00Relief Society Flower Delivery Service.It has been so long since I've posted! This last month has been absolutely crazy. Let's recap some of the great things that happened! I'm going to avoid punctuating too much, or else everything will end up with an exclamation point because it's all so exciting.<br />
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-an awesome trip home for Christmas (includes lots of rain, lots of family, lots of awesome presents, delicious candy, fun with friends, and a new guest room that I wasn't allowed to sleep in.)<br />
-a new semester with much better classes... which I'm hoping leads to a much better GPA. Last semester of fun, but seeing the grades that resulted wasn't too thrilling.<br />
-a new phone! Droid 2, baby! I'm addicted to it.<br />
-a new baby sister on the way! My mom is pregnant!!! JUST KIDDING. That was a joke. She is absolutely not pregnant.<br />
<br />
So there is all of the exciting news of the last month. But today's story is about the time that we decided to take flowers to our Relief Society Specialist, Sister Honeycutt. She's been having a rough time lately, so all of the girls on our floor and the second floor got some cash together to send her some flower. They turned out absolutely adorable, thanks to Starlee's excellent flower taste. Here is the time schedule of our delivery.<br />
5:47- I text Rachel to tell her I'll be at her room in 3 minutes.<br />
5:51- I get to Rachel's room. Yes, it did take me 4 minutes. So sue me.<br />
5:54- Get into Rachel's car.. also keep in mind that it's about 32.1 degrees outside, which means that instead of raining, it's just slushing.<br />
6:00- get up to the Wilk to wait for Starlee to get off work.<br />
6:02- Starlee comes outside, and walks up to the car behind us.. about to get into it.<br />
6:03- Starlee realizes that is NOT our car, and gets in the car with us. Super funny.<br />
6:10- We finally find State Street.. and keep going on our way to their house.<br />
6:20- The directions say to make a slight left turn onto Canyon, so we keep on going down the street we were on.<br />
6:25- I look at a sign and realize that we were already on Canyon, and that we've clearly missed the street we were supposed to turn on.<br />
6:26- U-turn into a driveway and head back the other way.<br />
6:27- Drive for 2 minutes until we realize we're back on the original street.<br />
6:29- Turn into an elementary school for another U-turn, and get back onto the original street.<br />
6:30- Drive for a few seconds, until we realize that we're driving in a bike lane that is rapidly disappearing.<br />
6:31- Drive until it turns into Canyon again, and finally find the street we were supposed to turn on. It was 2 turns after where we turned around before. That's right, we missed it by 2 STREETS.<br />
6:34- Arrive at the Honeycutt's House.. no one is home. Also.. none of the houses on the street except for 2 of them. Creepy, indeed.<br />
6:35- Knock on their door... and stand there for 4 minutes while dogs inside bark like we're trying to rob the place.<br />
6:39- Realize we cannot leave the flowers outside their door.. or they will freeze and die before they get home.<br />
6:41- Look at the house two doors down.. which has something close to 4 jeeps in the driveway.. ridiculous. Decide to go leave the flowers without them.<br />
6:43- Knock on the door. It's answered by 2 guys, who are looking at us like we're complete aliens.<br />
<br />
Conversation goes as so:<br />
Me: So we're trying to deliver flowers to the Honeycutts.. but they're not home! Is there any way we can leave them here til they get home?<br />
Him: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................. What time do you want us to deliver them?<br />
(Starlee and I start laughing)<br />
Me: They'll come get it. No big deal.<br />
<br />
6:47- The guys shut the door.. but we realize we've left the card in the car.<br />
6:48- Go back to the car, get the note, return to the door and knock again.<br />
6:49- They do not answer the door. Afraid of us? I think so.<br />
6:50- Starlee shoves the note through a crack in the door, and we finally start to drive back to the dorms. Mission Accomplished.Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-85894950571302067042010-12-22T13:08:00.000-08:002010-12-22T13:08:42.483-08:00The Legend of the Jegging.So apparently the new fad is jeggings. And the second they came out, I was in adament protest against them, saying how ridiculous they were. Can you not decide between leggings or jeans? You have to have both at once? Isn't that a little selfish? Well just last weekend I bought the most adorable boots ever.. only to find that it is SO tough to try to tuck regular jeans into them.. talk about a pain in the butt. So who is a proud owner of 2 pairs of jeggings? Me. Super cheap at target, quite a great investment. It's totally hypocritical, I know.. I just can't express the comfort of having a mega stretchy pant. In honor of me owning jeggings, I thought I'd put in a video of one of my favorite people... Conan O'Brian. This cracks me up.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/bUjPMb_58As/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bUjPMb_58As&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bUjPMb_58As&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gotta love a man in jeggings.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br />
</b></span></span>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-49593766496105797702010-12-16T18:19:00.000-08:002010-12-16T18:19:44.284-08:00A Breath of Fresh Air!Well, in light of the recent events that have been going on lately, I thought I'd just share a little bit about our new suite mate, Kelly! I've been on a big list making kick lately, so I'm going to put top 10 reasons why Jasmyn and I love Kelly.<br />
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1. She is just so hilarious. I LOVE having her come in and tell us stories about what happened to her that day.<br />
2. She openly embraces her awkwardness. It makes for some really good times.<br />
3. She tells me she loves me and writes nice things on my facebook wall! (Selfish Holly really likes that one.)<br />
4. She cheers me on while I pack at night. Most people don't think I can fight a giant mountain of clothes into a tiny suitcase, but she truly believes in me.<br />
5. She is obsessed with weddings, very similar to moi. She's already got it all worked out in her mind, and I think it is so adorable.<br />
6. She is a nudey model. Okay just kidding, it's with a bathing suit on. But she's a figure model for the art department at BYU, and I just think it's a super cool thing.<br />
7. She expects me to kiss her goodbye when I leave on trips.<br />
8. She brings such a positive attitude into the dorm. It's fun knowing that she's got such nice things to say, and that she is so kind and thoughtful.<br />
9. She is so careful to not say bad things about people. I really respect that, and it helps with my goal to say nicer things about others.<br />
10. If these reasons weren't enough for you to like her already, I've got one picture that will sum it all up for you.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2n7MnrbDRVinRhNVx7dnU93I0kTXqjCNaDLXF6ttOQRoM-lR-RbYVldPdBHPy1nn4_LT1QBWgfSLZlVTefBkvbVlVpJQAwJyXnyZQmD_-Yi4VT-xkZ5XEyQQZHMoYwZRNYgLRiMYuy93e/s1600/67520_10150101628509466_762284465_7293483_3955256_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2n7MnrbDRVinRhNVx7dnU93I0kTXqjCNaDLXF6ttOQRoM-lR-RbYVldPdBHPy1nn4_LT1QBWgfSLZlVTefBkvbVlVpJQAwJyXnyZQmD_-Yi4VT-xkZ5XEyQQZHMoYwZRNYgLRiMYuy93e/s320/67520_10150101628509466_762284465_7293483_3955256_n.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
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So there you have it folks: The Best Suite Mate EVER. Kelly Danielle Rogers.Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-92189322769087215712010-12-10T17:46:00.000-08:002010-12-10T17:47:29.947-08:00Kittens Inspired by Kittens.So during my time away from Facebok, I found myself on YouTube quite a bit looking at hilarious videos. I came across so many different funny videos! So this post is about some of the cutest little kids on the internet. The first one is an adorable little girl dancing to the song "All About Your Heart" by Mindy Gledhill. You might recognize it from the video that was made about Stephanie Neilson. I think she is just so so sweet doing her little dance. I'm really bad at the computer.. so just click that little link and enjoy.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAgF364s2yI">All About Your Heart- Mindy Gledhill- ft. Fiona Brawley</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, sans-serif;">The next video is so cute to me. It's the sweetest little girl and she is SO excited about life. I reallly really enjoy it. And sometimes I watch it when I get a little down sometimes.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg">Jessica's Daily Affirmations</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, sans-serif;">And for our last video today, Kittens Inspired by Kittens. I think this is absolutely HILARIOUS. I've watched it about a billion times. It just cracks me up.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtX8nswnUKU">Kittens Inspired by Kittens</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-82327068011135233722010-12-05T14:50:00.000-08:002010-12-05T14:50:56.464-08:00FaceInHole: Christmas Edition!FaceInHole.com.. probably one of the most entertaining sites ever created. Earlier in the semester, the roommates and I would spend hours at a time on this site making the most ridiculous pictures. The premise is that there are pictures and you put a picture of yourself in the hole on the picture.. thus inserting yourself. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so the post today is going to be all of the pictures I did during my holiday fever today! Yes, I am aware that some of these don't even make any sense at all. I like to challenge myself to find the most ridiculous ones.. example: the one where I'm floating next to the tree.<div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Happy Holidays from FaceInHole.com!</div><div><br />
</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-59297371277908886322010-11-29T21:24:00.000-08:002010-11-29T21:24:02.113-08:00The Rules of Black FridayI know it's a few days after Black Friday, but I decided it was a better idea to post this after the actual day. That way, not everyone would know our incredible tricks to making the most of this excellent shopping holiday. I figure by the time next Black Friday rolls around, you will have forgotten about this, and we will dominate you in the shopping experience. So here we have it: the set of rules that my mom has taught me, and I will teach. I'm documenting these for posterity.<br />
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1. You HAVE to get there early. There is no thrill of shopping without knowing you spent time dedicated to waiting for it. It's rude to show up late and expect the same deals as those who froze their buns to the early morning cement for that $1.96 Bourne Identity movie.<br />
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2. Either eat before or after the shopping, not during it. Want to make a pitstop at Jamba Juice or Starbucks on the way? NO. It forces you to either take up a free hand that could be used for digging, or limits your ability to haphazardly throw things into the cart because you could spill your beverage. This year, we tried something new.. cadbury eggs in a ziplock bag, just incase you need a little sugar rush. But DO NOT give one person the bag to carry the whole day, it is best to divide them into little ziplocks for each individual. The chances of finding the designated bag holder are slim, and it takes their hands away too.<br />
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3. Plan your trips to the bathroom wisely. There is no worse feeling than knowing that you are missing out on the $3 toaster because you couldn't contain your number 2. My mom actually wore depends this year to help herself out on that one. JOKING. She didn't. But if you really really can't control yourself, it may not be that bad of an idea.<br />
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4. Prioritize! The ads the night before are crucial to know what stores you are going to, and to what doorbuster you would like to find first! (doorbuster: an incredible deal that is usually on the first few pages of the ad. you WILL have to fight someone to get these.) Which is more important- the $10 mixed pajama set? Or the $40 Disney Barbie set?! It might help to have other people there to help you. Which brings me to my next point.<br />
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5. Team Members. Black Friday shopping alone? Not as easy. Ever heard the term "divide and conquer"? Because it more or less is crucial for a strong shopping experience. My mom had kids for 2 reasons: chores and Black Friday. Where would she be without Callie to sprint to the men's section to grab some flannels? Or me to run with Kassie to find Toy Story 3? I'm thinking I'm going to make some jerseys for next year. Also, I want to start a website for people who must shop alone. They'll be able to rent team members for maximum deals.<br />
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6. Dress for Success. Picture this: it's 1:30 in the morning in Palm Springs.. somewhere in the 40's temperature wise. You have to wait outside Kohl's for an hour and a half, but you know once you get inside it will be mega warm due to running people and lack of personal space. Layering is key. Only wear jackets that you can easily remove without messing up the hair-do and you can tie around your waist. This goes back to the having free hands situation. Also, throwing it in the cart is a dangerous move. It might be tossed to the wayside to accommodate for slippers and Wii games. It might help you feel more powerful to hear some power music in the background. Such suggestions include 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes, Eye of the Tiger, and maybe some 50 Cent to get in touch with your inner thug while you shop. Might help you fight people if you need to.<br />
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7. Utilize maps. This year, Target put up maps of the store with keys to the doorbusters and what not. GENIUS. Why is this so important? We shopping in Palm Springs this year, which means we were unfamiliar with the store layout. Although we went the day before on a reconnaissance mission (that is not a joke), it's not easy to memorize a new Target. Maps are key.<br />
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Well there you have it! Happy deal shopping! Thanks to my mommy for properly instructing me in the ways of Black Friday shopping. Woohoo.Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-22978341020863053812010-11-24T22:28:00.000-08:002010-11-24T22:47:21.693-08:00Palm Espringys!Palm Springs! (aka Palm Espringys) This is how the day usually goes: Wake up (typically early thanks to my mom singing for us to wake up), eat some breakfast, head to the pool and sit in the 100 degree weather for as long as we can tolerate, come inside, shower and get dressed, head out to dinner, late night hot tub run. But this year, things are just different. The main difference is that it is about 60 degrees here during the day at 50 degrees at night. Pleasant?! I THINK NOT. So our little daily schedules have changed, usually involving hanging out inside and watching way too much DisneyChannel (thanks Cal). <div><br /></div><div>In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to pick some things that I was thankful for today. </div><div>1. Racist jokes. Yeah, I said it. I like that kind of humor. People like to giggle silently and act like they're secretly offended, but then when we lay in bed at night and review our day, we remember the racist joke and how funny it was. Well guess what. I laugh in the moment too. I love racist jokes. Tonight at Hibachi (yumm) our chef was cracking racist jokes all night. So so funny.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. Towels. My mom is a pool junkie, so she forces us out to the pool even when it's 60 degrees. She lured me with a smoothie, and at that point I didn't stand a chance. So i headed out. It was super cold, so I made a little cover for myself out of towel. 5 of them, to be more specific. At one point I wanted to roll over, so Kassafrass was kind enough to put the towels on me while I was laying on my stomach. Also, she touched my feet. EW.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. Christmas songs with my name in them. OH WAIT. I actually hate that. So let's scratch that off my list.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Actual 3. Just Dance 2! So fun. We've spent the whole night playing.. it's very funny. My goal for this game is to somehow convince my dad to do it. One day, maybe.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. Aveda Shampoo! Seriously the best smell ever. I'm all over it. I make everyone smell my hair. Except Callie thinks it smells bad, if you were wondering. I looooove it!</div><div><br /></div><div>5. Neon Sports Bras. Yes, I am thankful for them. They're SO cute! I'm not sure who decided they were so cute, but I'm excited for finding them.</div><div><br /></div><div>6. Facebook. I'm a facebook stalker, but I'm pretty open about it. Chances are I stalk you! It's just so fun to know what's going on with people, because I'm nosy about it. But I think it's socially acceptable (or at least MORE socially acceptable) if I am open about it.</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-82840866067095004832010-11-22T16:02:00.000-08:002010-11-22T16:19:38.638-08:00Home Is Where the Heart Is.I'm home!! This Thanksgiving, I'm giving thanks for Thanksgiving. That's right. Giving thanks for the actual holiday. Why? Because without it I wouldn't be sitting in the Starbucks at Beach and Chapman, waiting for my brother to finish his Kumon. (by the way: the smell of starbucks makes me SO happy.. downside: you literally smell like this for the rest of the day.) There are very few things that do it for me quite like California does.<div><br /></div><div>In other news, I got a job! Ever heard of the text company ChaCha? Well if you haven't: this is how it works. You send any question you have to 242-242. You can ask anything from movie times, to relationship advice, to what a turduckin is if you're not sure. (turduckin: a duck stuffed inside of a chicken, stuffed inside of a turkey. yum.) ChaCha has a couple thousand people looking up answers on their computers, and they text the response back to you. Well guess what! I'm officially a question-answerer! It's super fun! It's not the highest paying job, but the fact that I get to work from my computer whenever I want trumps that.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know when people always say that you are just like your mom? And it's not always the best thing? Well recently I've decided to start documenting all of the things that I do that are like my mom.. and while some people might be bothered by it, I found it to be a rather humorous list. So here we go:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. I plan my entire Christmas gift-giving list by mid November. It's on a spreadsheet on my computer- don't you dare try to look it up and find out what it says, though. One year I snuck onto my mom's computer and looked at the list- it wasn't a great idea. Mom found out, all hell broke loose, and ever since I don't open up ANYTHING on my mom's computer, assuming she lets me touch it.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. I get extremely excited when the bag I'm checking to fly only weighs 46 pounds, because then I know I can shop for up to 4 pounds of things and still make it on safely when I fly back.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. I was secretly excited to go with her to pick out a table display for the Christmas party at Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. After about 12 pm, everything gets about 10 times funnier. The only difference between me and my mom is, this happens to her sometime around 8 pm. Okay maybe 9, but definitely by 9 pm.</div><div><br /></div><div>5. I tell myself I'm just going to run into Target for a few minutes, and walk out an hour later with at least 2 things I didn't plan on buying.</div><div><br /></div><div>6. The other day I dropped the phrase "In your true heart of hearts." This one is the only one on the list that discourages me.. my mom likes to use that phrase, but I hate it with a firey burning passion. And now I'm casually saying it.</div><div><br /></div><div>7. I care just as much about how the present is wrapped as what is inside it. I want a bow that is flat on the bottom, and coordinates nicely with the mega cute wrapping paper.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well what can I say, I am my mother's daughter.</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-71271751324372234492010-11-17T19:47:00.001-08:002010-11-17T20:09:43.858-08:00The Language of Room 3111.A few days ago Jasmyn and I were laughing about all of the ridiculous things we say. She stopped for a second and then asked, "I wonder if people who had just learned English would be able to understand what we say. We talk so different from how we are supposed to!" (Deep, I know.) So then I thought.. I wonder if people who have spoken English their entire lives would be able to understand what we say! So today I'm going to write a little conversation so you can see how we talk.. and then you can try to decode it if you'd like. But I'll translate it for you a little below it. Here we go. Welcome to a day in the life:<div><br /></div><div>J: goodmorning!</div><div>H: holla hollaaa.</div><div>J: girl i just wanted to sleep in but i had to go to tops -_- we're going to go to bed early tonight. fo real.</div><div>H: that sucks.. i slept through stats... again. (fart) YUP. he he.</div><div>J: i was in a fight with Henry this morning.</div><div>H: fo real?!</div><div>J: yeah.. abso the worst.</div><div>H: totes bagotes.. we need a new one for sursies.</div><div>J: srsly. so will you be home tonight around 5?</div><div>H: probsies.. if not i'll put a magnet in.</div><div>J: coo. so what are you doing today?</div><div>H: idk.. probs just class and then the libs til dinner. and then i'll just head to the wilk and watch some of my high class tv til then. thug lyfe.</div><div>J: adorbs.. i'll probs just go to the libs and take some dry froo with me to eat. VAMPY DIARIES TONIGHT! do you know when the lala is?</div><div>H: the basketball game?</div><div>J: yup.</div><div>H: um... 7? 6? 8? i'm not fasho on that. so that's dumb.</div><div>J: you are really dumb. fo real. teeheee. just kidding just kidding just kidding.</div><div>H: k well imma go to geog.. deuces.</div><div>J: seeya beez!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And this is how the conversation would go with anyone else:</div><div>J: Goodmorning!</div><div>H: Oh, Good morning!</div><div>J: I really wanted to sleep in, but I had to go volunteer for American Heritage.</div><div>H: That sucks, I didn't go to class as usual. (flatulence) Excuse me!</div><div>J: The toilet wasn't working this morning.</div><div>H: Really?!</div><div>J: Yeah, absolutely the worst.</div><div>H: Totally.. we need a new one for sure.</div><div>J: Seriously. So will you be home tonight around 5? Because I haven't been able to find my keys in 2 weeks so I'm implying that I'll need you to be there to let me in.</div><div>H: Probably, if not I'll leave a magnet in the door or something. Or I'll forget and you'll just have to go through Hannah and Cora's.</div><div>J: Cool. So what are you doing today?</div><div>H: I'm not sure.. probably just class and then go to the library til dinner. And then I'll just head to the CougarEat and watch Bad Girls Club til I come back. I'm cool like that.</div><div>J: How cute. I'll probably just go to the library and take some dried fruit with me to eat. Vampire Diaries is on tonight! Do you know when the thing is?</div><div>H: The basketball game?</div><div>J: Yeah.</div><div>H: Um.. 7?6?8? I'm not really sure.. sorry.</div><div>J: You are really dumb. Fo real. (in reference to the video of the Lincoln Park Rapist). Teehee. Just kidding just kidding just kidding (in reference to SNL, must be said in a quiet voice at least 3 times).</div><div>H: Well I'm late for Geography. Peace.</div><div>J: Bye BFF! (beez can either mean b*tch or best friend.. the one being called the beez gets to decide. It's the rules.)</div><div><br /></div><div><div>So there you have it. The real way to hold conversation if you want to fit in with us. Just sayin, better start studying that language.</div></div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-85851966492319135792010-11-15T12:22:00.001-08:002010-11-15T12:34:39.567-08:00Poost.This post is dedicated to my hot mama and her "partner" (in crime, I hope) Laura Bro. That's because it's all about pranks related to bathroom item number 2. That's right, poop. Viewer discretion is advised.<div><br /></div><div>I used to follow a blog called Mormon Bachelor Pad. It is written by a few guys that live in Utah, and just goes over their ridiculous makeout escapades and what not, pretty funny. They served their missions in Ireland, and once there was an entire post about POOST. You might be asking yourself, what is poost?! Well let me explain. Excuse my not lady-like vocab here. You take a pringles can, take care of your fecal matter in the can, put an address on it, and send it to someone. Usually an enemy, or something along those lines. 2 business days later, they get a package and feel excited to open it, only to discover your lovely present to them. Mail in Ireland is called post. Post + Poop = Poost. The idea of doing this has always just cracked me up when it comes to mind, in fact as I typed that last little bit I was smiling in a way that I'm sure was weirding out some of the innocent library attendees. I told my roommates about the idea of poost.. immediately looking towards the pringles can on Jasmyn's shelf. Very funny. But there is no way you will ever receive poost from me, that's just yucky.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next item was discovered a few weeks ago when my mom and Laura were visiting my dorm while in town. Laura used the bathroom, and then we left for a movie. On the way there I got a call from Hannah, wondering why the heck there was poop on the floor and barf in the shower. I panicked for a minute, then remembered hearing Dane tell me about some fake poop that his mom had put in Ellis's bed one day. They had gotten us good! Needless to say, the poop has been a hit. We pass it back and forth, hiding it in random places until people find it and are grossed out. I'm pretty sure it's just hanging out on the bathroom sink right now... should be interesting to see how that goes over during the cleaning check on Tuesday!</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I think that's all I can share (in honor of preserving some sort of lady-like qualities). And if fake poop shows up around your house... blame my mother!! Happy poosting!</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-69279404651128447632010-11-13T13:07:00.000-08:002010-11-13T13:51:49.682-08:00Long Time No Post!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapS4oH_byPzSLVt5bjrxkOc13vI5m3Ee_nRRIelMAzUkFPfXjW5M9JgOkMDnHzQzXt6SPE_PulR_a7m8L94DSYM2rhh2buX8Mwae4AXLBsXyrgh5bBWEc4d9scrfgCgIwmJjAWAomDuvM/s1600/world-map.gif"></a>Well, I just kept telling myself I would post when I had some extra time, and before I realized it, Kristi Sexton was reminding me that I hadn't posted in almost a month! So it's time to catch up. I'm going to go with my top 10 favorite things I've done in the last month to make it so great :] There are in no specific order.. I'm just posting as it comes to me.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0vJKu5SBX3jmGFNisRA-wnMOT1RSLIH34ysvtJZraaVVH3kmuiWTneEUoK61HSTaF0Q6vA_TU8-Eoc4D4RB1fmZAukLNhd6J6wR91unmFDI1QEsRvYtKHS9PYiGsUz4N42nZQXlIn7vG/s320/disneyland6.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539151276296570514" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><div>1. Disneyland! I went home for Pedro's baptism, and I got to take a few hours on Friday afternoon to head to Disneyland with my mommy. It was SO fun! I just love it. The atmosphere and everything! The lines were incredibly short and we got to do all of the rides we wanted, which was awesome for such a beautiful day. Loved it! </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOCHb8bDLNWwNto_4xAy0_MMk6hQ66kImVFNn-vUU6MsrBeAz68Pep9XYdi9zDYhLMhUv-BT6vJiHsR5CTsSq6H0j2TUaCPvcv_pCp1peQCyrBCkmeln5EGlY7YXd74WoQyU7wm_i8gum/s320/Photo+on+2010-11-11+at+23.16.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539151547984692626" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">2. Decorating for Christmas! Why yes, it is November 13th. Why yes, our room IS decorated for Christmas :) We took a trip to Wal-Mart to get some cute little decorations, and put them up immediately! It is just so adorable and cheery in here now. We rationalized doing it right now because we won't be here for a week at the end of the month for Thanksgiving, and we won't be here for all of Christmas.. so we needed to see the decor for a month of time and this was the easiest way to do that. Now I just need to gather up my Christmas music selection!</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44VwkYlagcuCgzUVeiG2hAifCmK_k8xe-8UHZYg0UD6IvWsKBkqOD378D1_MUnNrNEbw6SAfnJHmQF5V_3J2lD8r7pLR2LucOUpsOg2TquWFDhbz_iqThUdnONbvJBflSpk0LxEpR8tUF/s320/Scan+103170000.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539152646837292882" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px; " /></span><div>3. Mail! This week was such a great week for mail. As you may recall, I don't get a whole lot of mail, and there are very few things that make me happier than getting letters. The first one came from my sweet cousin Adam (thanks Cherri, too!). It was the most adorable thing, I showed it to every girl I saw on the way to my dorm. He's written BYU on the paper in blue crayon, and it's absolutely adorable. And if things couldn't get any better, I got an awesome package from the ever thoughtful and sweet Dane Brodowski. I loved it! It was just so so sweet. I really appreciated it! Such a great mail week.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz_TGmBaT0-ggImO8UC2dWF4TcS_smqkf6j605DDU7vpR9XylHFXrZ6D8rN2uPxI1EQIqOZjtUvCBnA-4OKil8c2395UhrsFxs6oqOfSzdg2o1sik0yKVmf4De6auGo-wmWvByfyjVJMH/s320/Zebra-Scentsy-Warmer1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539152995548282082" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px; " /></span><div>4. This one goes out to my adorable zebra Scentsy. I didn't pack it when I came up for college the first time, so when I came back from going home, I made sure to bring it. It's the best! Our dorm smells phenomenal the vast majority of the time (except for a few times... teehee) and we get lots of compliments on it. Plus it's not going to light the place on fire when we forget to turn it off when we leave, which happens quite a bit.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9D2TfGorlHU6MFMi1ciVDkPMNTPoHUUM7WJym-KIbMHfJ9lALmPcSA59mIhjc5bbhUrEOHNFeV7Gz3L4wS3JA-rDPajFLqx5C-z7UAwMsdcebXww9LnCP_00wINcTKWRBAWoL1btaLvmk/s320/Photo+on+2010-11-12+at+17.37+%25232.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539153286253147666" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><div>5. BYU Basketball started! I'm so so happy! We went to the game last night, and it was super duper fun. They gave out free shirts to the first 1000 people (I think that was the number), but there weren't shirts on our seats. A guy that we went with ran down to the lower seats and grabbed a bunch, so we all got one! We smoked Fresno State (or Fre-snot as Starlee and I referred to it), and had a blast. Kind of an awkward moment- there were guys sitting behind us but I wanted to stand on the seat to be able to see better, so I turned around to ask him. I couldn't get it attention, so not thinking I more or less laid my hand on his stomach. He looked alarmed.. but I was able to stand on the seat so no bigs.</div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF5OOnhX8xIc2-TVSYJfhTJwEV1SfZB_x2BxsKz5La7IuyzoerxxxEGOF4_rnbFlLkO8brmMZyzpJXpqHovi4PJMX9Lw2m4dyqwzpWrGRp-T3ZaK_qB1FEn7xc2Cdboxbd0hOGJKb3B6L/s320/39947_1432984098330_1044728455_1082121_6441881_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539153866632909234" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span><div>6. Pedro got baptized! I didn't get to see him very much, which was a huge bummer, but I loved being there to see him get baptized. It was an awesome blessing. I had to bail out immediately to make my flight so I didn't get to talk to him (tear for sure), but it was great to go home and see everyone, along with seeing him make such a great decision. I am so glad that I was able to support him. I love you Pedro! (gfl's for sure.)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKiVqG4Z9_Iuqz7SZrbrLBh__8D3m9Iiu6HtKimVz3IV6uXpfGOW9wjDzkg9sYmtYWmMLuyQbCQwuFemFRjLJVC0mZHrP8qgvHdjm1YeXvYC-DDC_TqWwvCIt5-_MnfxjHOUPoWeBs1T9/s320/JRCB+Law+Building.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539154223602359058" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span><div>7. The Great Major Debate. This has commonly become known in our dorm as the "major of the day," due to the fact that I change what I decide that I want to major in on a daily basis. But I think I've finally found one that I feel so excited about- it seems to be sticking! I hope it'll last more than just these few days though.. haha. So what is the major? (My mom is so happy about this.) History Education.. and then heading on to Law School! I'm so excited for the challenge. I've just got to get to the department center to talk to the advisors and get it all declared. Excited? Yes.</div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfrzRSHfQOnwHT7n7gCkfwC5Arjh9yB5J_tBukD64A213zRZwX1rg5DlFbY3BbbPtxkGJ_NodXnH9p2sRSK6b8dgCglbymJnWBU_xGJ-qQhpzuJtIcIn6uhmF8WwSHbAof83lkGZiQ1u1/s320/148557_1408607706326_1566457886_30825229_1976692_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539154407184103090" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px; " /></span><div>8. The recent collection of old school pictures that have been shared on facebook. Kassie Sminn started the craze, and I have LOVED looking at all of the old pictures of us. I got a nice little collection of them from Dane in my package the other day, and they are just adorable. I wasn't always the cutest kid......... but the memories in them just make me smile so much. So cute!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ONm2-f0U0rYBmmPy-rdpCpcF6UINGUejbJiM1RRcjtcaGDvVSIVs5wbtYEp7jX7dL0bEHeLFqg1aIOtU5dS20a59_abGSbAPCHHePlcf94cAra38ekLgBjVUaVhByf9zBAHxfLxTYLzb/s400/rs_logo.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539154661887875506" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 144px; " /></span><div>9. The Relief Society meeting I got the privilege of going to at 8am on a Saturday morning. NOT. The meeting itself wasn't fun, but we had some good times at it I'd say. Played some MASH, learned the incredible skill of text bombing, and got a sweet back scratch courtesy of Ashley Andersen. The meeting really wasn't too beneficial.... not really applicable for us. But as bitter as I was the whole time (which Starlee and Ashley can no doubt attest to), it was not too shabby.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapS4oH_byPzSLVt5bjrxkOc13vI5m3Ee_nRRIelMAzUkFPfXjW5M9JgOkMDnHzQzXt6SPE_PulR_a7m8L94DSYM2rhh2buX8Mwae4AXLBsXyrgh5bBWEc4d9scrfgCgIwmJjAWAomDuvM/s320/world-map.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539154852099326722" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px; " /></span><div>10. My 2nd Geography Exam! I failed the first one (at least that's what I think 50% means....) and it really fired me up to do much better on the 2nd one. I worked really hard on everything between the 2 tests and went into the test with a C instead of the D I had earned. I studied so hard for weeks on end, and just took the test on Thursday. Result- total domination. I owned that test! I won't get my score for a few weeks because the TA's have to grade 300 entirely written tests before they release the scores.. but I feel so great about it. I can do it!</div><div><br /></div><div>So there we have it. An awesome month :) Also, I'm going to go back to writing this a lot more regularly. </div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-27597368732250574882010-10-19T14:00:00.001-07:002010-10-19T14:10:24.848-07:00It is my Pleasure to Introduce...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0v_q6shJiTGo2aMymfd79oLY4nBS3AYCJcWXKOu0ON_sA0Sd99KSsnKyFsJcXGhTFl6Nks4ejUgWet7uVYjImiF9yUno3jleKcALWzrp3YRHNYHrkNqo3kEAAUzck-hHBH1_0Y8Q3EOf8/s1600/Photo+on+2010-10-18+at+20.15.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0v_q6shJiTGo2aMymfd79oLY4nBS3AYCJcWXKOu0ON_sA0Sd99KSsnKyFsJcXGhTFl6Nks4ejUgWet7uVYjImiF9yUno3jleKcALWzrp3YRHNYHrkNqo3kEAAUzck-hHBH1_0Y8Q3EOf8/s400/Photo+on+2010-10-18+at+20.15.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529865424332099330" /></a><br />Anthony the Fridge! I think he felt kind of neglected after the post about Henry the Toilet, and that's why he's decided to act up to get some attention. You might be asking yourself, "What could a refrigerator possibly do to act up?!" Well let me show you. Why yes, those are half gallons of milk with the lid off. Why yes, we are holding them upside down without lids on. But why, then, are they not spilling? Because they are FROZEN. That's right. 2 half gallon solid containers of milk. All I wanted was some cereal, but now all I have are 2 huge milk popsicles. Which probably wouldn't taste as delicious as you might think it sounds. We turned down the temperature after that, but we just can't seem to find a happy temperature for it. Either our food doesn't freeze or everything that gets relatively close to it turns into a huge ice block.<div><br /></div><div>In other news, my mom isn't doing very well right now. She just found out she has Bell's Palsy, which more or less means that half of her face is paralyzed for a few weeks until the muscles stop freaking out. She's already requested that we minimize the pirate jokes, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Last night we decided to make a video for her to possibly ease the pain, featuring "Everything She Wants" by her all time favorite- Wham! A little blast from the past for you all. Feel better soon!</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw3OEeLldEcEzmR3FmHP9Y8oxBTaRT3rb-dJUMgkcgL2kzQzHo0B2XxVpv3FhTwp2f11P7SSKUG0TboPDgm2A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div><br /></div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-86395536497598159182010-10-17T15:35:00.000-07:002010-10-17T15:53:41.277-07:00The Sweet Smell of Sulfur.Last night was quite the adventure for me. I was all set for a lovely night of the gym and a paper (quite a rowdy Saturday night, I know), when Shelby tagged me in a post on facebook. And that's when I saw the link to the Hot Springs. About 10 minutes later, we were heading over to Budge to go get Will (we designated him the body guard). It took him about 4 trips up to his room to be ready.. in this order: First trip, needed a towel. Second trip, needed Advil and a jacket. Third trip, forgot his towel when he came back and needed to go get it. Fourth trip, forgot his pretzels. Next we stopped at a Texaco for some gas, since Chevron costs too much. Then onward to Wal-Mart to grab some flashlights, which turned out to be our best investment, but the line to check out was just short of 14 million people long.. so it ended up taking longer than we thought.<div><br /></div><div>Then we started on the drive to the hot springs. It was about a half hour drive, and we spent a little bit of it sure we were going the completely wrong way. We finally got to the turn off, and waved down some guys to make sure we were on the right road. I started freaking out about the fact that there were most likely 230 rapists hiding all over the place, just waiting for innocent college students to go on a late night hike so they could grab them. I voiced my opinions to everyone, and that's when Will decided to ease my worries with list after list of the ways that they could hide and trick us so that they could get us. It really made me feel safe about where we were. We got out of the car, and started following a big group of guys through the forest to the hot springs. It was an hour walk, which was super cold but it was pleasant. I'm pretty sure Will was shocked about our topics of conversation, but I decided it was best for him to really get to know us while we were in the middle of the woods when he couldn't really run away. We finally made it to the springs, and it was FREEZING standing in just a swimsuit while we got into the little pools. The first one we got in was luke warm, and that was a bust til we moved to a lower one which was muuch warmer. After we had done some lateral thinking puzzles (yeah, so maybe that does sound nerdy), we decided it was time to leave. I was the first one to get out and walk over to our things, and for some reason I thought one of the pools was flat ground.. probably because the color of it was a milky white which kind of looked like the ground.. and I full on fell into the pool. It was funny, til my foot hurt and when I got home my foot was cut and my sock was kinda bloody. Yuck. On the way back we were all starving, so we made a nice little pit stop at McD's for a late night snack. It was a super fun trip! It was much better than being productive and writing my paper like I was supposed to do. Looks like I'll just have more work to do today.. worth it!</div><div><br /></div><div>Church today was great, it was a good sacrament meeting. Cora spoke, and she did a great job! Then Sunday School, which was better than usual, and Relief Society. I love love love Relief Society. It's fun to just be with a bunch of girls.</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728520528381228130.post-71496024287668720912010-10-07T23:11:00.000-07:002010-10-07T23:19:44.312-07:00I eat the awkwardness.Thursday! And you know what that means? Tomorrow is Friday! Superior deductive reasoning, I know, I get that a lot. I'm so excited for my family to get here tomorrow night! I've missed Callie and Grantypoo. <div><br /></div><div>Today has been rather eventful. English class, reading, power nap. I had a review session for Geography, and I thought it was at 7 but apparently it was at 6. So I completely missed it, which is bad news for the test tomorrow. Perhaps I'll just beg skinny kid for his notes tomorrow.. seems to work out pretty well for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, I'm addicted to Desperate Housewives. If anyone has seasons 3, 4, and 5 on DVD, I am begging you to send them to me. I'll pay for the postage. They only have 1, 2, 6, and 7 on Hulu and that's a killer.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jasmyn and I had a pretty intense conversation about R.Patts tonight (Robert Pattinson) and whether he is hot or not. (correct answer: NOT.) But if you feel differently, feel free to voice the opinion. We also covered the merits of awkwardness, and how crucial and fun it is to have awkwardness in day-to-day life. To quote her: "I eat the awkwardness. I had it for breakfast this morning." It's basically my new favorite line. Also, we've decided to adopt snogging into our normal conversation. So join us in this cause. Thanks.</div>Holly!http://www.blogger.com/profile/07828746449952658227noreply@blogger.com1