And...break

Thanksgiving's with my dad's side of the family are enormous! They are always really fun and there are always tons of cousins to talk to and play with. When we were growing up there were probably like 80 people at this Girl Scout House in Torrance that we've gone to since I can remember, maybe even before. (I should probably point out that these holidays generally consist of the Van Wigg clan, my grandmom, her (8?) sisters, all of their children, grandchildren, and, in my grandmom's case, great-grandson, Lucas). So you can imagine my slight disappointment when everything I heard about being planned for Thanksgiving was just our family and the Whites (my greataunt, Marilyn, and her family). You can also imagine my great surprise and joy when I discovered that, in fact, Thanksgiving was to be at the Girl Scout House with about 40 people.

Since Wednesday wasn't that eventful and I didn't see Lucas, there really isn't much to update about, just that much family time was had...and In-N-Out.

So yah, Thanksgiving was a lot of people, mostly the cousins I talk to, too! I love catching up with everyone and my cousin Chris was there! We see him, like, once a year, if that, because he's working on his PhD at MIT, and it was good to see him. Lucas was cute as ever and the red-headed cousins (Ryan and Bradley), who are around Emily's age, liked playing with him a lot. There was tons of good food and lots of hugs to go around.

Friday was the best day ever!!! I drove the 1.5-2 hours home which was fun once my mom stopped criticizing my driving. Then, because Kaitlynn decided to go to Six Flags and be a 7th wheel, and Emily invited friends over to play wii I went to Erin's house to play with Lucas and spend time with Erin and Robert. Lucas is the cutest thing ever!!! He made me read like 10 books to him, 3 of them at least 4 times...so fun! Erin and I made this good apple crisp thing because we didn't want to waste apples that were about to go bad. Then they took me out to Black Angus (I'm salivating just remembering!). After that I went to see Australia with Sharon! Any movie where Hugh Jackman takes his shirt off is automatically a fantastic movie!

Saturday Kaitlynn, Ami, Ami's boyfriend and I went to this really good mexican restaurant on the 101, kind of pricey but Kait and I split something so it was OK. My mom and I went shopping after wards and I got some cute shoes and a couple cute sweaters. As a celebratory Becca's going away again, we went to Buca Di Bepop, ordered way too much food (like try 3 meals worth for the whole family), and met Kait's BF Nick who is really tall, skinny and we very much approve of. I was afraid cause his older sister had the complete opposite views of Kaitlynn (and our whole family) but he ended up having really similar views.

Then Sunday I came back to Provo...and started counting down till Christmas Break!

10 Things I'm Thankful for (in the order of whatever I think of first, not whatever I'm most grateful for):
1. Having parents who see me coming home for a few days around Thanksgiving as the only option.
2. Not having family in Utah. While this is sort of a thankful and not thankful for thing, it makes me going home for Thanksgiving more of a sure thing.
3. Lucas! Good job Erin and Robert
4. Knowing where I am (and everybody else is) going after this life. eg the Plan of Happiness/Atonement
5. My Christmases/Thanksgivings being warm and sunny, not white and cold.
6. My sisters. I know everyone says "Your poor dad" but I've never seen it that way. I don't know what we would do with a brother. I went with my mom to an ultrasound while she was pregnant with Emily and the Technician asked me what I wanted, and instead of wanting the obvious brother, I'm fairly certain I said I wanted a sister, even though I already had 2. I could have it mixed up, I was only 4 at the time, but I wouldn't trade any of my sisters for a brother. I do however, like brother-in-laws, well the one that I have.
7. Forever Families!!! :) <3 sort of goes with #4
8. Being at BYU. I know I got my acceptance letter almost 2 years ago, but sometimes I'm still baffled at how I managed to get in. It's just a testament to how I'm supposed to be here, meeting the people I've met/will meet, taking these uber hard classes and furthering my education of temporal and celestial things.
9. My really good friends, far and near, that I know I can count on no matter what. While I don't have as many as Emily, I could be (and have been) a lot worse off friends wise than I am now. Having friends who not only know what my standards are , but keep most (if not all) of them, too, is nice. Even my few friends that don't keep my standards, as long as they respect mine we're good.
10. Baking. While I might spend more time, calories and money on it than I should, it's a great release for me and I love developing my talent in it. I wouldn't want to do it for a living, but its a great, tasty hobby!

There are more...but it's late and thats good for now I think.

Sleep and I aren't friends

What is in the back seat of your car right now?
Probably trash, but since I haven't seen it in 3 months, who knows?

Name 3 people who you talked to today.
Nadin, Kabria, Michelle (in that order)

What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Sleeping too little may raise risk of heart disease

What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Watching "That 70's Show"

What is your favorite board game?
LIFE

Have you ever been to a strip club?
Does Vegas count? cause the whole thing is kind of a strip club

What is the last thing you yelled aloud?
"YES CAN WE PLEASE!!!" When Genevieve asked if we could hold hands during apartment prayer. She was joking. I wasn't.

What are you wearing right now?
My tree sweater, jeans, and a yellow shirt

What was the last thing you ate?
Club Crackers while catching up on my shows (90210, Privileged)

Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
Nope, the last clothes I bought were for my Halloween costume at the DI

What's the last sporting event you watched?
All the way through? probably a Lacrosse game my Junior year of High School when I liked a guy on the team.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
France, or New Zealand

Who is the last person you sent a message on facebook?
Mel about getting the girls from last year together

Ever go camping?
All the time when we lived an hour away from Yosemite!

Have you ever lost anything down a toilet?
No, but we would unceremoniously flush fish down the toilette when they died

Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
I wouldn't say a lot. But when it's appropriate, yes

Are you someone's best friend?
As far as I know

What are you doing tomorrow?
taking care of Genevieve while she recuperates from losing her wisdom

Where is your mom right now?
On a two week cruise to Hawaii with my dad.

Look to your right, what do you see?
My closet, my purse, some shoes, my hamper overflowing with love

What color is your watch?
I used to have this sweet zebra stripped one, but I lost it going through security at the SLC airport. So right now my watch is see through.

What do you think of when you think of Australia?
The Opera House

Do you have a dog?
No.

Last person you talked to on the phone?
My dad! Last night, before he left!

Have you met anyone famous?
Yes! Paige Davis from Trading Spaces, and Erin Chambers (she was in Don't Look Under The Bed and The Singles 2nd Ward.)

Any plans today?
Sleep.

Are you happy?
For the most part

What are you doing right now!?
Thinking about sleeping

Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
My rain boots! Or I would if it rained all the time

Are you jealous of anyone?
Anyone living/in a warmer climate than me

What time is it?
1:32 AM

Do any of your friends have children?
My older sister has a 2 and 1/2 year old!

What do you usually do during the day?
Avoid school like the plague, while trying to figure out why I'm not doing better

Do you hate anyone right now?
Nope

Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Absolutely

How many kids do you want to have?
Five at least! The average Utah family is 6. Good thing I won't live in Utah! We'll be above average!

How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
Two Decades

How did you get one of your scars?
You know how at some playgrounds they have giant tubes that hold up the set? They usually have caps on them, but one day my chin and the top of one with out a cap became buddies! I only started crying after I realized I was bleeding.

*AHEM*

FOOTBALL IS OVER

...OK, OK, I know the season isn't over, but all the home games are. Which means no more Saturdays taken over by a sporting event that I don't care about!!! Also, basketball season is starting, and while I might care about basketball less than football (kind of impossible I know!), at least when I work in the Marriot Center, it's warm...and way less stressful.

In Other News:
We went to see Wall-E on Saturday (it was playing on campus). Seeing it again reminds me of how much I LOVE that movie!!!

Also, this weekend, something happened that reaffirmed my belief that EVERYONE should wear a Claddagh (Irish Wedding ring). Especially at BYU. Because, sure you can tell (most of the time) when someone is married, but for the most part, unless it comes up in everyday conversation, or you facebook stalk them, there's really no way to tell if a boy is in a relationship or not!

For those of you who don't know what a claddagh looks like heres a picture (or you can just look at my right hand).

So you can fully understand the importance of this ring, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:

The way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer's romantic availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the design facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship. When worn on the right hand but with the design facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that "someone has captured their heart". A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward away from the body, generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When the ring is on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married.

"Hug Me! I'm A Tree"

That's what my sign says.



Right there ---->

Cause that's what I was for Halloween. A Tree. Once I find a REALLY good picture of me in my costume, I'll find a reason to post it on here. If I could claim this brilliant idea as my own, I would. But being a tree was originally my youngest sister, Emily's, idea. The sign was Genevieve's.

Actual Halloween was ho-hum, except for the seeing Sweeney Todd part (even that could have been better thanks to the rain). But the night before was really good, thanks to Kabria! Her ward had a dance with their neighbor ward. I got a bunch of hugs, met a couple cute boys, and Kabria actually DANCED! Which is really big news, cause she doesn't at these kinds of dances, meaning really any kind.

To the real reason I'm posting:
Today was a pretty darn good day!
- I made blueberry muffins for my breakfast (for this morning and the next week); and they turned out better than my cookies from last night (hallelujah).
- I got help on my econ homework from my TA who then told me I was perfect (too bad he's married) - oh and by perfect he was referring to my econ abilities.
- We watched part two of Colonel Chabert in my French class (which is becoming one of my favorite movies!).
- After reviewing the econ homework AGAIN with one of the guys from my study group (the single one nonetheless!) for 15 minutes, then waiting for the bus for half an hour, I checked the mail and found a package waiting for me in our mailbox!!!! I had no idea I was even getting a package! It was beautiful and full of candy, cute cards, and an adorable picture of my nephew! Also a box of crackers with pictures of Michael Phelps on it.
So I'm really happy and have A LOT to do

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!You wonder where I get it from...

Procrastination is...my life?

So there's really not much going on in my life currently...the first half of last week blew chunks, which is why I avoided updating my blog. Then the second half of the week was kind of fantastic (at least in regards to talking to boys, since that is the only thing that really matters)! I avoided posting about THAT since I highly believe if something is going freakishly well you don't voice how freakishly well it is going because other wise the cosmos remembers things aren't supposed to work like that and shoves a wrench in your beautifully working life. I was kind of hoping the freakishly well stuff would continue through Halloween or so, especially since I'm still trying to fix the mess that was the first half of last week. But, alas, alack, the universe hates me! And my really good ending to last week is not continuing. Instead, I am besieged with papers I have no interest in writing, and the loneliness that comes from living the life of a nun without actually agreeing to it. The papers are especially hard since they are for Bio 100. A class I thought was going to be cake and possibly the one science class I liked my entire college career...obviously both turned out to be false!

On top of all this, it seems like a lot of people around me are rethinking the whole college thing (being here, major, etc). This of course causes me to be uncertain about my decisions and accentuates the fact that I really don't want to take pl sc 200 (aka writeapapereveryweekandmakesureitsabsolutelyperfect) next semester. We'll just wait and see what happens later! *Oh how I wish for my knight in shining armor to come and sweep me off my feet so I can major in something fun like theater or unusable like family history!* but with my luck, I'll be single when I graduate in five years after my mish. (Genevieve I told you this would be mope-y!)

On the plus side we carved pumpkins Monday night!

Why a 94% feels like a C

Today, after a long weekend of doing anything but studying and homework, I realized I hadn't finished an assignment for one of my harder classes. Of course said assignment would be the hardest one from that class yet, and of course it would be the one assignment I didn't meet with my study group to go over. The TA lab was no help because there were like 20 students in there, and the one girl I tried to help didn't have the decency to answer my one question for her. Frustrated and upset I went to class to turn in an assignment that is probably 80% wrong. I figured the only way to save the day was to get a really good score on the midterm that was being handed back today. When my professor said the class average was a 94, I figured I had done slightly better than that because I had done the extra credit portion and felt fantastic leaving the testing center last Wednesday. At the end of the class, the TA (Sterling - pretty much the sweetest name ever) handed back our tests. Lo and behold, my grade was exactly 94%. Normally, I would be ecstatic (hello! A = party), but 94 = average. Therefore, me = average in Intermediate Price Theorem.
Moral of the story...knowing the class average is not helpful...unless its really low.

On a different note, this weekend re-affirmed my knowledge that in about a year and a half I'll be submitting my papers for a full time mission. Despite going to the bridal fair on Saturday and all the talk from the Stake Relief Society Presidency about their husbands on Sunday.

Favorite thing Lucas (my nephew) did this week (at least so I heard)~ on the way out of a restaurant he said to the waitress "bye honey"

Blog time!

So I thought I would jump on the band wagon of blogging, since so many people I know are doing it! Cause, ya know, I need another thing to keep on top of, what with homework, the studying I should be doing right now and the large amount of work I always seem to get myself into.

In recent news:
~It didn't snow on Saturday!!! I'm still really excited about that since working the football game would have been MISERABLE!
~FHE was cool. I'm a fan of our FHE group, even if Genevieve, Nadin, Grandma and I give the impression of insanity. They're just not used to our unusual closeness?
~My nephew, the cutest little boy in the world, was at my house on Saturday when I called. When the phone started ringing he demanded to talk to me before they even knew it was me on the phone. We were pretty much besties in the pre-existence.
~En le classe de francais, we sang "Mon Dieu, plus près de toi" which pretty much made my day!

Oh...P.S. seat belts:
So today on the way home from FHE we discovered something new. Someone who hails from a state with 'lax seat belt laws was totally breaking the law and not wearing her's. Needless to say, it was an interesting ride home as we forcibly instructed her on the proper use of seat belts.