I'm up all night to get lucky

You may have seen the Russian Police Choir sing "Get Lucky" to open the Olympics today. That was weird. I was reminded how much I love that song because
A) The song is freaking good
B) Daft Punk's album is the best we ever had
C) I played it all summer long and so now it reminds me of summer

Here you go, Daft Punk. Here's the 10 best nights of my favorite summer ever.

1. My first night in Santa Barbara. Coming out of the worst semester (see post: Anniversary from Hell), I wasn't too hopeful things would get better. But the first night I moved into my new apartment, a few guys were outside playing Four Square and convinced me to join. Remember that game? Hilarious. Even more hilarious when you add a "roadrunner" rule, where someone can run across making beautiful roadrunner noises to throw off the players. I felt so relieved after the first night. Win.

2. A few days later the same guys invited me to go disco roller skating and to In N Out. I hadn't laughed that hard in what seemed like forever.

3. That night I watched Psych with Caleb, Eric, and Canyon. Oh yeah, we were in LA. Oh yeah, we had just spent the day rock climbing at the beach and watching the sunset across Santa Monica Pier. By night, I was sunburned beyond reason (mah bad) and all of us were beyond exhausted. And beyond happy. 

4. Ben and I found out one of our favorite "bands" was coming to Utah. Turquoise Jeep, baby! These "thug rappers" are completely ridiculous and yet so catchy. Ben brought along his friend, Anne. It turned out that Anne and I were soul sisters and I love her dearly. We stopped at Chipotle and I was introduced to my favorite restaurant in Utah. Burritos for life. The concert was crazy. We were in the front row and I touched the sweaty sweaty sweaty arm of Flynt Flossy. We couldn't stop laughing. The rapper who opened for him was a little bonkers but gave the 3 of us a free CD since we were nice to him when everyone else was mean haha. Afterwards we got pictures with them and it was an excellent night. 

5. Ben and I were hanging out and decided to do SOMETHING WE WOULD NEVER DO. The problem was, everything we could think of, we had already done. But then I had a great idea. Something we would usually never do. We went to the fruity girl bar on Center Street- Sparks. Brady Parks and Sydney joined us for a couple of fake cocktails at the most unusual place in Provo. But the night just gets better from there. Afterwards, Ben, Caleb, and I decided to go take a dip in Utah Lake. The waves were excellent that night. I was worried that I was going to drown because body surfing kept pushing me underwater and I'd usually be out of air from laughing. Laughing is the best medicine? False. It kills. 

6. Empire of the Sun concert with Canyon, Dylan, and Dan. I've gone to many Twilight Concerts before, but this one was crazy. It wasn't a horrible crowd, most people were high (aka nice, not drunk and angry). EotS put on quite the show! Definitely the best concert I've been to. 

7. Sand Castle night. This was Ben's brilliant night. The gang went to our favorite spot at Utah Lake and built the biggggest sand castle. As Sam and Caleb loudly sang all the songs to The Prince of Egypt, we dug a mote around it. AND THEN. We filled it with gasoline. AND THEN. We lit it on FIRE. And then we did it again and again. One of the times, the gas tank lit on fire. Chris dropped it and everyone sprinted away from it screaming. Canyon stayed calm, walked over, clapped the fire out with his hands. No explosion, we were saved. At another point, we heard yelling behind us. Then ran Canyon and Caleb past us, um streaking. I guess they forgot the lake stays 2 feet deep for a few hundred yards- there was no escaping. Our party was eventually crashed by others. Ben thought it would be a good idea to go streaking for them. Let's just say things didn't go according to plan, and I thought I was going to pee my pants from laughing. 

8. Bryce & national parks & lunchables

9. Mona w sister wives

10. friend iverssary with canyon 24th of july

11. skinny dipping with boys

12. rsl game with boys 

13. san fran

14. hike timp

15. homeless period with dyl

16. talk w eric 

17. abandoned mine 

18. weiner provo 

Interview

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

I was 60 feet off the air, only attached to a hundred thin strings that were then attached to a parachute. My instructor yelled through the walkie-talkie, "Calm down! You have GOT to relax your arms!" Here's the thing with feeling nervous and anxious, having someone demand that you calm down doesn't really work. He was upset in my previous landing. Letting my fear of heights get the best of me, I hadn't quite relaxed my arms enough, which in turn, actually pulled the brakes, and my parachute came down. That was when I was only a few feet from the ground. The consequences were a bit more severe this time around. Thankfully, mind-over-matter won. I calmed down enough to relax my arms and have a smooth sailing ride.

That afternoon the email came: the invitation to interview at my #1 choice of occupational therapy school. I was elated for about 3 minutes. And then I was terrified. The next week was a hustle n' bustle to get ready.

The night before my flight, everything caught up to me. I was a hot mess. I felt extremely inadequate and unprepared. I lacked confidence in my interviewing skills, especially since I felt like I had recently failed my Teach for America interview (although...I later found out that I actually passed). My whole college experience ran through my mind:

*Even as a freshmen, I hardly went out on the weekends. Everyone would come back from their dates and I would be in the lobby using the whiteboard to practice drawing the processes of metabolism down to the chemical level.

*Walking to my anatomy lab at 7 am in the winter tundra, negative 10 degrees and still dark.

*The significance I felt when I stood in the secretary's office and signed my contract, accepting my offer into the dietetics program- something I knew would be one of the hardest majors for me at BYU, but also knowing that by pushing me farther, I would end up farther.

*Driving to American Fork every day to get my OT hours in.

*Waking up at 5:30am to go to my job that I did.not.like.

*Working 19 hour days at a different job that practically killed me.

*Spending one or two weekend nights in the library every single week.

*Getting diagnosed with mono on the first day of my program, and not missing a single class period because of it.

*The agony and struggle I felt as I tried to write my personal statement...over and over. And then starting over and over.

*Squeezing classes in nearly every term since Summer 2010.

* Enduring weeks like this: 8 projects due, a 90 minute clinical lecture to give- and enduring public speaking, 10 page paper due, computer crashes so I have to start over, coughing so much I was throwing up, family problems, roommate problems, boy problems, me problems, fulfilling program director duties, running leadership meeting for the PTOT club when everyone else was struggling to focus and follow through with assignments, heading a club meeting the next day, etc. At the end of my week from hell, I had little sleep, little strength, and little stamina. But I felt accomplished, especially since I was the only one in my class who managed to finish everything.

Anyway- those memories were coming back. Because I sacrificed a lot to get to this interview. Midwestern University is a highly ranked OT school and my chances of getting accepted were slim (they accept 30 students out of 900 applicants, cool). I felt the pressure of everything I had worked for in the last 4 years coming down on me. I wasn't ready for it.

The next day, I felt a little more peaceful. I took the FrontRunner to the airport. I was on the train with several missionaries leaving the MTC. I chuckled at their conversations. One hadn't been on an airplane before, and he was preparing for a 14 hour flight to Taiwan. Good luck, sir. I marveled at the work of the Lord- he chooses these kids right out of high school with little to no life experience, and puts them in a position to do the greatest work of mankind. Joseph Smith. Moses. The list goes on. Me. Not that I was about to do a great work, but with His help, I could do more than what logic tells me I can do.

Because I Basically Read the Whole Bible This Week

 To every thing there is a season, 
      and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 A time to be born, and a time to die; 
      a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;
     a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
     a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
    a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose
    a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;
    a time to to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;
    a time of war, and a time of peace. 

--Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Because of Him

Easter is my favorite holiday.  Today was my favorite Easter.

Leaving at 5:45am, my roommates & friends journeyed up to Squaw Peak to watch the sunrise. We laughed and laughed and laughed with a muffin in the left hand and a mason jar of apple juice in the right hand. The mountains are beautiful- there's no place I'd rather be.

The messages in church pierced my soul. I felt so strongly the power of the resurrection. I love the power of a rebirth, of change, of healing. I had such a renewed vigor to be a better person.

I took a nap outside in the beautiful weather with my roommates whom I love. The warm sunlight was almost as comforting as the peace of the Spirit.

I went to family dinner with my cousins. We laughed and joked. I felt so much love for my dear, sweet grandparents. I'm grateful I have them forever.

The sunset blazed purples and pinks throughout the sky while Rico, Rachel, and I played a made-up card game at the park. Draw Nine is surely one to play again. The rules are made up as you go. The day's over and I wish I could relive it. But not really, because Easter has to be kept as the most important day of the year.

Because of Him, I can be reunited with those who have passed on. I can repent. I can progress and become a better person. I can forgive. My broken heart can mend.

I love Easter.

23

Everyone's talking about the article "23 Things to Do Instead of Getting Engaged before You're 23". The article is so preposterous that I won't even waste my time replying to it. The one thing I did like was the general purpose- stop wasting your time in life. If you want to do something, do it. Sure there may be barriers in the way, but do the things that will overcome the barriers and cha-ching! You're living a fulfilling life. Getting engaged or staying single is irrelevant. It's all about becoming a Yes Person. So here's 23 things I want to do before I'm 23.

1. Get a passport
2. Send my nieces and nephews birthday cards
3. Visit 2 new temples
4. Get my bachelor's degree in dietetics...even if it kills me
5. Run a half marathon
6. Visit Seattle
7. Find 30 family names and get dem dunked
8. Participate in a White Coat Ceremony
9. Win a freaking intramural champion shirt- we were so, so close last semester
10. Build a fort, a good fort
11. Read the Bible, probably not all of it, but probably a good portion of it
12. Say yes to a date
13. Learn how to make curry
14. Eat at the MOA Cafe (so I can prove to everyone that Pen Court is better)
15. Hand off the baton in Scenic View, aka retire as program director smoothly. My baby.
16. Watch a Lord of the Rings movie
17. Take 3 steps to become more granola
18.  Do the research
19. Visit a national park I have never been to before
20. Go to a Vocal Point concert
21. Havasupai.
22. Do my laundry and fold it and put it away in the same day
23. Decide what I'm going to do with this crazy passion I have for sociology

Photo by: Emma Vidmar Photography [[http://smilemepretty.blogspot.com]]

Anniversary from Hell

Tonight commemorates the year anniversary of one of the worst nights of my life. Fortunately, I didn't realize that night was the catalyst that put me in-what I will remember for the rest of my life- as my semester in hell. Despite the horrible memories, I look back with profound gratitude for the people who helped me. Here are the people who served as a flotation device, thanks guys.

*Kamree, who listened to me sob my eyes out time after time
*Lauren, who let me stay at her house
*Larlee, for taking time out of studying- almost every time- to give me a pep talk
*Jordan, for being ridiculously encouraging and getting me out of my apt
*My bishop, for a beautiful blessing & real compassion, having had similar trials
*Chrissy, who let me stay at her house for weeks, listened to me almost every day, climbed a bajilion flights of stairs so we could deliver ads to apartment complexes to sell my contract, who was so compassionate and patient and non-judgmental. I'm pretty sure she even did my homework a time or two.
*Emma who wasn't freaking nuts like the others around us
*Paul, who played mediator time and time again, gave me updates, gave me advice, encouraged me to do better
*Elder Bednar, who gave the most powerful fireside on "not shrinking" when trials come
*Eric, who convinced me to let myself have fun once in a while, took me rock climbing & camping, invited me over every Wednesday night for our favorite TV show
*My professors, who were more compassionate, encouraging, and patient than I could have ever dreamed
*Tyler, who had the guts to finally be serious, look me in the eye, and say "Don't you ever say that again"
*Daren, I guess. Thanks for not being a douchebag whenever we ran into each other.
*Carmelle, who let me go to her house whenever I needed or wanted
*My other sisters who called me and chatted and made sure I was doing okay
*Casey, for hanging out and being a bff
*Steel, who was my only date of the semester that didn't make me want to sell my life to the nunnery
*The people on my club leadership committee-like Kirk- who asked if I was alright instead of saying, "Why aren't you doing more?"
*The most loving and compassionate Father in Heaven, who guided me every single day. I have never had such a time when I felt the most love and direction.

Wowza, I am blessed. These are the reasons I am alive. I know others have helped me, whom I failed to recognize at the time. One day I'll know.

This Week's Awards

Da da da! There are a lot of good things in my life. Rill good things in lyfe. Here are this week's finds. I do not apologize for the following goodness.

Documentaries. 
1. Miss Representation. This makes you feel empowered. It makes you feel motivated. (viewer discretion advised)


2. The House I Live In. This makes you feel like crap. It makes you cry.



Singer Friends.
1. The National Parks. My friends Brady & Sydney make a perfect duo in their video that was released this week.



2. Noteworthy. My friend Jen is the adorable 3rd soloist. These ladies are in a competition to open for Kelly Clarkson at this year's Stadium of Fire.



Songs. 
1. Call Me Maybe meets Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers. Lovely.



2. Sometime Around Midnight. The guys sang/screamed this 100 times on our way to Cali. It is my life.
Om-Noms.
1. Tomato Orecchiette Pasta

2. Paprika Chicken

Videos.
1. If We Could See Inside Other People's Hearts.



2. The Why and How of Effective Altruism.