Party at a rich kid's house

Okay well I decided to post pictures of the Halloween Party right now, not later.

So this was my first work party, and wowww they are fun. Nothing like kickin it with people you see 20-40 hours a week. Haha. Just kiddingggg

This is R.J. I'm not sure what he was....actually I'm not sure what a lot of these costumes were. But he's a cute lil' guy anyway. I mean, yeah he's five years older than me. So what. He's still little.

I guess this was the best expression I could come up with. Jessica didn't even try. Palm is always ready though. Always ready.


Kiki!! One of my Asian followers. I didn't really ever figure out what she was, but I'm assuming she's from Alice in Wonderland. I think that seemed appropriate. I was Ke$ha, in case you couldn't figure it out.


Ana was part of the group dressed as seven deadly sins. She was either greed or anger...or lust...can't remember which.



This is my cheering face. My team lost. I wonder what the correlation was.


David came dressed as a pregnant lady. It was undoubtedly the scandal of the year.



These are my Asian sidekicks.


The party itself was pretty uninteresting. We played some relay races, ate some cold pizza, and danced like retards on the stage. Not a bad night, overall. Happy Halloween.


[Title from Party at Rich Kid's House by Ke$ha]

This blue sky's never gonna rain down on me

The past week and a half has been crazy. I guess I should start with the California trip. I went to California! I had to preview Disneyland before my family went.



Of course, it included some pretty epic action shots:





And 3D glasses...



And being models. Funny story-- we were in this box having someone take a picture for us and then this Asian group walks up and they all started taking pictures of us. It's hard being so attractive.


Of course we went to the beach while we were there, and we saw Steve Martin surfing! By the way, I'm not a fan of California beaches. I don't know if it was the day or the place we went to, but the sand's not pretty and the water's neither clear nor warm. I'll stick to Floridian/Hawaiian beaches from now on.

On the way home from California I met Hollie and her kids Savvy and Alex and Stevie. They came and played with me at the PCC and it was the best day I've had in a while. It felt like having my family here. I'm pretty sure Hollie thinks I'm a creeper because I'm a college kid who would rather hang out with 11 year olds than other college kids, but oh well!


Sunday was a Filipino Gospel Forum, which is a fancy way of saying fireside+filipino refreshments.



Yes, I was the only white chick there and no, no one noticed...


In other news. The temple is open! Well, for the open houses anyway. I had the wonderful opportunity of cleaning toilets, doing yardwork, and scrubbing the walls of the fountains in preparation for the opening. Alyssa and I went inside today and it is So beautiful. Not that I expected any different.




Alyssa and I have been having fun despite hours of studying and working. We've terrorized lap swimmers in the pool, written piano/flute/violin duets, wrestling, having contests to see who can talk with a Jersey accent longer, you know. Good stuff. We went to the beach on Saturday and got burned watched people make out I buried her in the sand. Doesn't she look nice??


We also wrote a rap for our Relief Society talent show. It was about the Disney Princess and we actually managed to make it through the entire performance without breaking out in hysteria. What whaaaaaat??!





Work has been hectic lately because of Haunted Lagoon. Oh right, HAUNTED LAGOON!




I went to Haunted Lagoon with some friends and it was excellent! I was really scared, and I don't get scared easily (maybe my parents will disagree...). The ride is on a canoe through the lagoon at PCC and it takes you through different scenes of a ghost story. But it's acted out with real people, and the people (wearing masks and costumes, of course) get up in your face and sometimes get in the canoe with you. It's pretty creepy. But the creepiest part was that I knew the people working there, but I didn't know who they were. So they'd jump up on the canoe (I was sitting on the end) and they'd say BRIIIIIIIDIIIIANNNNNN and I screamed. For real. Loudly.

Then the next night was Food Fest. Delicioussssssss!!! Every club in the school sets up their own booth and sells plates of food. There was so much food from so many different countries. The best food was either the kebabs from Latino club



Or acai bowls from Triathalon Club



It was an excellent night.




Yesterday the weather changed. It's become overcast and cloudy, and I love it!! The best part is the wind. It's always pretty breezy around campus, given the proximity of the beach. But for the past two days the wind has reminded me of hurricanes. It's SO windy here, and it's a pretty strong wind. I love it. It's good weather for staying inside and reading, which has made it a lot easier to study.

I still have some pictures from the Halloween party, but...I'll save that for later.

[Title from As If by Sara Evans]

When I die, then I die loving you

Well it's time for my weekly I-should-be-doing-History-homework blog entry. Except this week I'm actually done with everything. Weird!

So this song makes me happy/sad. To quote Alyssa, "it's sort of a bitter thing. But sweet too. Like..bittersweet." And listening to it while I did a project on letters sent during World War I was an interesting thing. I think I would have loved to live back in those days and write letters to people fighting in the war. But lest I get sentimental...



Anyway. I've got some killer posts to put up about the exciting adventures in my life. I can't put them up til the 27th, so check back then for some more stalkin' !

[Title from Dear Bobbie by Yellowcard]

I am the greatest thundercat of them all

I am also a pretty fantastic procrastinator. Not only because it is Wednesday which means my history is due at midnight and I am choosing to blog instead. Also because I never do things I plan on doing. I was reading about someone who had something she was going to do for five years and she only just accomplished it. It wasn't a big task, but perhaps that was part of the problem. For example: I have a white sundress that I love wearing to the beach. Last summer I got punch on it. Red punch, nonetheless. Obviously it didn't come clean, so I need to bleach it. I've had it written on my to-do list since moving here. Come to think of it, I remember it being red when I packed it back in December to move to Utah. Now bleaching my dress isn't a hard task. It doesn't take much time or effort. So I don't know why I haven't done it. I just haven't. Just like I haven't finished my homework....

Ever since I was young I couldn't wait to move into my own place that I could decorate however I want and arrange however I want. I was determined to make it cute/chic/fancy (it changed with the week). Well I didn't realize that when I went to college I'd be living in a dorm that is about as big as my bathroom. So I've had to get pretty creative with the furniture arranging. I've rearranged my furniture at least twice a month since being here and yesterday was the most recent and currently my favorite. The room is always pretty crowded, but I was able to open up a corner and decorate it with stuff I've acquired since being here.



So this is my favorite part of the room (and by favorite I may mean the only part I actually like...) It's the corner by the door and since the door is always open (because it brings in the ocean breeze) it makes the room a lot more open. Complete with a string of stolen sunglasses, Chinese lanterns, and pictures of my family.



This is my nightstand. Noteworthy things would be the jewelry stand I made myself out of a clementine box and my dad's leftover wood and screws. Then there's the coconut candle (which is not coconut-scented, by the way) which I light illegally...with a stolen lighter. Yeah I'm pretty sketch these days. And then there's the piggy bank made by my best friend. It was a birthday present that I got before school one morning. I stuck it in my soccer bag, forgot about it, and then threw the bag on the floor shattering the porcelain pig. Luckily most of the pieces were able to be salvaged and glued back together. The only part that wasn't found was covered with band-aids, giving the pig character.



And then there's my wall with my multiple personalities drawing, German summerfest poster, and creeper Steven Gamson banners.

In other news, I'm officially a good Hula-er.

And I believe that's enough time wasted for tonight.

[Title from Lion-O by Relient k]

Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

Today at work I decided that I wanted to document some of the process. And of course, all I had was my camera phone. One day I'll go in with a real camera and take really cool pictures. For now.

So we go in at 4 and we start with a meeting. It's partially a formality and a way to bore us to death with announcements, but it's mostly a way to stall until the truck gets here for us to unload.


After we unload the truck then we have to go do our assigned jobs. My job today was to uncover the imu. [The imu, for those of you who've never lived in Hawaii, is an underground oven used to cook delicious pua'as !]So I go over the bridge to get to the imu and this is what I see. I wish the picture were better, but yeah this is another perk to working in paradise!

So this is the imu, after I've taken off the huge trash bag covering it. It still has the carpet-like layers, as well as layers of burlap bags.

My job is to take off all of the heavy layers and drag them into this tunnel. Seriously, they weigh a TON! And they're really really hot since their purpose is to trap in the heat of the rocks. My hand always burns and smells like campfire when I'm done. Anyway, into the creepy tunnel we go.

Once inside the tunnel I promptly drop the stuff anywhere I can and get the heck out of there. I'm telling you, it is CREEPY!

The creepiest part is this freakin' boiler room. It has the lights on here, which is a rare occasion. Usually it's dark which makes it more creepy. Especially when haunted lagoon is on and they store the creepy statues in it.

When the imu is finally uncovered this is what the pua'a looks like. Yummmm.


Also today was convocation. So we got to see all the faculty decked out in their show-offy doctorates decorum. In other words, Halloween came early! Yay!


Probably my favorite part of this was when it was over and everyone was leaving the CAC and some clueless blonde freshman chick walked out of the hales and said to her equally clueless friend "Woah. Is there like, graduation?" Unfortunately I restrained myself and did not say "Yes darling. Four weeks into Fall Semester. It's only for the REALLY smart people."

However, I did not use restraint when I walked past the showers and heard someone singing "Everywhere you look I'm...standing SPOTLIGHT". I took the opportunity to yell out "NOT YET!"

Anyone who catches that reference wins all of my love, admiration, and respect. That is the only way you will find it as funny as I did.


[Title from Vanilla Twilight by Owl City]

A flower and a hand

I went to Utah. Cross that off the list of things to do.

After missed flights, made flights, red eyes, miscommunications, and no sleep, i was rescued from the airport. As we were taking this picture, someone drove by and yelled "PUT SOME PANTS ON". Apparently spandex don't count as bottoms in Utah.




Marilyn and Deb were in the backyard cracking walnuts. This is my second favorite rendition of summer. The first, of course, being the Hawaiian beaches.





These each represent one of my personalities.




I thought I'd be cool and take pictures while lying in the grass. I will wear this til it falls off.



I love Deb being happy.




I do love this grass.


Then the punk showed up. I love that he reminds me of Jace. But it made me sad Jace wasn't there.


He brought his school pictures. Ha!





ANTM? Lady Gaga?
"I hate her." -Deb
"She is my idol." -Me
"What IS she?" -Marilyn







Sophie, right after the debacle with the hammock, screaming "LEAVE ME ALONE!" (At the hammock, not me. She pretended I wasn't there.) I miss her walking around saying "I'm just a raggedy old princess". Way to teach your kids self worth, Deb ;)





Alright, Utah in the summer is not miserable. I would even go so far as to say it's....nice.


How on earth I ended up at a mission reunion I'll never know. But I took the opportunity to do some good non-old-fashioned stalking. The only one that is acceptable to show to the public is this one. He's currently Alyssa's mission president! Too bad we can't text her picture messages anymore =(


Second mother. Top ten best people on Earth.


Fraction of the family taking a typically uncoordinated picture after a session of conference.


This is love:



My mom is an artistic photographer, no doubt.


I'm certain she was tiny once.


And what would Temple Square be without Lion House Rolls??



It was after this that we saw Jared and shared the wealth. No Tyler though. His fault. A shout-out though, as they make up 50% of my readers.

We went home and Aria scampered up a tree (?)


We helped Deb and T move into a new house. I can't imagine them living in a non-quirky house. Red carpet room, for the win.


I really liked this door. Don't ask.


It was neither exciting nor restful.


A-Team.



They had a little courtyard leading up to the front door. A nice combination of European style home design and caging children in like zoo animals.


The door again. Last time, I promise.


We needed to get groceries for dinner. Oh, real food. How I've missed you. I waited in the car and let Marilyn do the shopping. Conference plays on the radio? Only in Utah.


Then came the puking. First one, then two, then four. Waking up every half hour through the night to clean, sanitize, and rehydrate. This was as far as I ever got in my endeavors. This was 'round 4am.


I was lonely the next day. Literally everyone in the house was sick except me. Except I'm afraid I may have looked sick.


So I called in some company.

We had a miniature photographer.


Reunited. Not a moment too soon.


We made cookies and gave them to a boy. We forced a car to climb a mountain and we did not die nor did we let the soccer ball roll away.


We drove around and around listening to music and talking about answers to questions. We visited Carl and Peggy, and I remembered why they should have been the first people I saw. We went to wal-mart and secret places that we had to hike to. We swapped clothes and I didn't kill the car this time. I figured some things out. Red Robin is an official tradition. The trip was a success. Gurrrrlll....

love.

The departure was depressing. The flight home was miserable. It is literally impossible to sleep in a coach seat. There are points of the flight where I literally felt like dying would physically be a relief. There was a small Asian boy named Dobby. I got back for October. Haunted Lagoon, Cultural Celebration, Temple Rededication. October is going to be good.

In other exciting news, Netflix just got the streaming rights for all the seasons of Monk AND Psych. So that's pretty much what I've been doing.

And, just for fun, some memories from past lives:

-Playing Hawaiian charades. You pick a word and have to write it out with your butt. Humiliating, hilarious, you know, all good qualities for a game. Mary had to write a word with X in it, and we never did figure it out.

- Running around the track and Falcon Cove warming up for the best soccer game of my life. I miss that rush of adrenaline.

[Title from Dear Jamie by Hellogodbye]