I was scared when I got into Blogger just now that it might've changed and I wouldn't know how to use it anymore since I haven't posted anything in such a long time. I got lucky... everything looks the same.
So. First week of school. First week of the last semester of required classes of my undergraduate career. In other words, I'm probably not graduating until April, but my last semester will probably be a little fluffy. Maybe I'll do an internship. Look for a job. We'll see...
My classes are good! My favorite so far is my religion class... Church History, Joseph Smith and the Restoration, with Susan Easton Black. I am mostly just looking forward to being in a Religion class again because it's been awhile, but I think she's going to be first class. She talked about patriarchal blessings, and different ways to "study" them, as opposed to just "reading." I liked the idea of looking for 3 things: blessings, commandments, and warnings. The commandments often have to do with your strengths-- the things you came here already good at. The warnings often have to do with inherent weaknesses you might have. It fits pretty well with mine.
I think my other classes are good too. I found out I'm in one of them with a great friend of mine, which is the coolest thing! We're going to have fun.
Other things from this week... Got to see lots of my Jerusalem buddies! I love them. Heather and Daniel from our group got married, and a ton of us went to their reception. Also, one of my Jeru teachers and another of my friends came in to Course Reserve this week and I helped them place some materials on reserve. It always makes my day to see them.
I made two batches of cinnamon rolls this week. My friend Lillie's birthday was Friday, so a batch for her and her husband Long, and then another batch for a Labor Day breakfast I'm going to. The first batch came out underdone, which was a bummer, but I think I did a lot better on the second one.
I bought Photoshop this week!! Actually, I bought Adobe's "Production Premium," which comes with Photoshop, Premiere, and a bunch of other stuff too. Premiere is their professional video editing software. I'm super excited. And... the student discount is amazing. I've been putting it off for a while, but BYU just put the leftovers from my Pell Grant in my bank account, and I figured it was a good time. :) I've been fixing red-eye like there's no tomorrow.
Two of my sisters, my brother-in-law, and I went to the Salt Lake Seven Peaks on Saturday. Go there, it's reallllly fun. I got pretty sunburned, but... like that's never happened before...
Last of all, I took an accidental 2-hour nap this afternoon. From 5 to 7. Which is why it's 11:40 PM and I'm wide awake. But... tomorrow's a holiday!!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
San Francisco!
A reminder that this is my journal. As such, it's very long.
So I went to San Francisco last weekend! The flight over was kind of an ordeal, but I'll tell about that another time. In short, my flight was delayed and I didn't get there until way after I was supposed to. Brooke came and picked me up anyway, and we got down to Newark/Fremont from Oakland pretty late. I was grateful because she had work the next morning, and she didn't even make me spend the night at the airport. :)
So yeah, Brooke had work in Fremont at 8:30 Friday morning, so I had to be ready by about 8:15. I had some cereal and got dressed and packed up and then we left. There was some traffic, so we were running a little behind. Brooke pulled into work and I walked over to the BART subway station just down the street. I was so excited! It was sunny and (almost) warm and nice outside. When I got there I tried to buy a train ticket with my credit card, but none of the three ghetto machines would read it. Finally I had to use cash, but that was ok. Anyway, so then I went up the stairs and my train into San Francisco was already waiting. I went ahead and got on, and just sat and waited to leave. From my seat I had a good view out the window, and it was beautiful. They have these beautiful green hills in Fremont that look almost like Ireland or something. Like I know what that looks like. :) Anyway, it was really pretty. We sat there for awhile and then took off. The train track is kind of set up above the ground level most of the time, so I got a grand tour of the East bay. It was fun just looking around and seeing the different kinds of people who got on the train on the way. Eventually it had to go underground, because we had to get across the bay and that's the only way. While we were underground, we got stuck before one of the stops. There was a train in front of us that had a person who was harassing other people, and they had to get the police involved, so it took about 15 minutes to get that taken care of. I was like, "Really?" Lots of waiting and delays on this trip so far. It wasn't too bad, though. The train didn't go above ground again, so when I got to the Powell St. station I just had to know to get off. When I went up the stairs, I was in the middle of Union Square on Market Street. There were a bunch of expensive mall stores and people everywhere, and the sun was bright. I went and bought an all-day bus pass there, and then went to figure out what to do first. I really wanted to ride a cable car while it was still morning and the sun was bright, so I went ahead and got in line for that. It was fun to watch how those work-- they have a big wooden circle platform at the end of the track, and the cable car just rolls onto that until it stops. Then, the conductors have to physically push the car around to make the platform turn, and then the car is faced back the other direction. Then they physically push it off the circle and back onto the normal track. It was cool. The line was long, but it only took me about 10 minutes to get on a car. There were no seats left, so I stood on the running board and held the pole. The conductor made me take off my backpack for some strange reason, so I had to hold my backpack, my huge umbrella that I was carrying around, and my ticket at the same time as holding that pole so I didn't fall off. It was an adventure. And believe me, I would have fallen off too if not for that pole. A lot of the streets are, like, at a 45 degree angle, sometimes up, sometimes down.
The wind was kind of cold, so that was a little unpleasant as we were riding. But it was still lots of fun. The end of the line is the Fisherman's Wharf, so I got off there and walked around a little bit. The main thing was, I just wanted to ride the cable car. I wasn't planning on really "being" at Fisherman's Wharf yet. There are two cable car lines, and I took the Mason St. line up, so I walked over to the Hyde St. line to ride back down. It's a few blocks away, so I saw a lot of the area on my way over. Again, it was kind of cold with the wind, especially in the shade. When I got to the turnaround thingy for the Hyde St. cable car, it was nice and sunny and I had another pleasant surprise: it was at a park where you could see the Golden Gate Bridge far in the distance. I loved it.
I took some pictures and then got in line. This line took longer than the first one I'd waited in. Not sure why; it seemed almost like they cared a lot more about the schedule at this station than they had at the Powell St. one. There, they just sent another car along as soon as one came back, but at this one there were 2 or three even waiting there, and they still had to sit and wait until it was "time" to send another one. Finally I ended up on a car, and instead of squeezing onto the first one I could fit on, I decided to wait to the side and be first onto the next one. So I got to sit down and have a good seat for taking pictures on the way back. That was a lot of fun, and there was even an empty seat next to me and the next lady over said I could put my backpack there. :) While I was sitting there for an extended period time waiting for the train to leave, I pulled out my iPod, and there happened to be WiFi service where I was. I called Mom and Dad on Facetime. It was fun for me to say hi and I hope fun for them to see me outside on a San Francisco cable car! Anyway, finally we pulled out. I took a bunch of pictures and a few videos on the way back down south. More super steep streets. I decided, rather than ride all the way back down to Market Street, I would get off along the way. So I jumped off at Chinatown, which is halfway down or so.
I wandered around Chinatown for a little bit. Lots and lots of Chinese people and restaurants!! And roasted geese and chicken.
It was a really fun area. I looked for a cheap restaurant to eat lunch at, and found a good one to come back to when I was hungry. I was at a little bit of a loss as to what to do for the next hour or so because I wasn't ready for lunch yet, but I didn't know what else there was to see right where I was. I decided to walk through the Financial district to the Embarcadero, which is the more "downtown" looking area of the city, with tall buildings and important-looking people. I saw the TransAmerica pyramid, which is that really tall, skinny pyramid-looking building you always see in SF pictures.
I was getting a runny nose and a bit of a headache from the cold, and it seemed like the sun was always blocked by the buildings. I was kind of uncomfortable from that, so I walked all the way to the water by a big mall, where there was a bench in the sun I could sit at.
That's where I was.
I stayed there for a few minutes, ate some nuts, and planned the next couple of hours of my day using Brooke's map. It was nice to sit in the sun; that made a huge difference. I decided to just go ahead and walk back to Chinatown, eat at that restaurant on Washington street, and then I'd see from there.
It didn't take me that long to find the restaurant again. It was almost literally a hole-in-the-wall. Basically, it was a door in the wall, and that was all the street space it took up.
You went in and then walked downstairs to get to the restaurant, but you could still see people down there from the street. I went down, and they seated me by myself at a table for 6. :) First of all, nobody spoke English as a first language, that's for sure. My Chinese waitress brought me a tall glass of steaming light-brown drink. I don't know what it was but I'm sure it was against the WoW, so I didn't drink it. I asked for just water and ordered sweet and sour pork.
Another family came in, and apparently it was a mistake to seat me at that table. I had to get up and move to a smaller table for 2, which was fine. There were some cute kids in that family that stole my spot.
My food was really good. I always love those sketchy Chinese places... they always look kinda bad, but the food is always sooo good. When I asked for my bill, they brought me a slip of paper with a bunch of chicken scratch on it that I couldn't read. I was pretty sure it had said $5.50 on the menu, so I just gave them $6 and it turned out that was ok.
OK fine, so that's probably a 6. I definitely had no clue at the time, though.
It was a good lunch and I was very very full. There were a lot of Chinese people in there too. :)
Well, when I walked out the door I was so full that I didn't really want to do anything. I had my amazing map, which had all the bus routes and everything on it, so I found a bus route over to the western part of the city. I wanted to go see the school from Princess Diaries. :) I had to wait for about 25 minutes for the bus, but I was full and so I got to sit down in the sun, plus Alison called while I was waiting so I got to talk to her for a little bit. I also had my day pass, so I didn't have to pay any extra for the bus. I rode it over to that street where the school is, which is actually a house, walked over, and took a picture. Several pictures, actually. I was standing on the street in front of it and was really grateful that there wasn't anyone around, because I was sort of embarrassed. When I finished taking all the pictures I wanted, I looked around and realized there had been a girl sitting in the passenger seat of a car right next to me the whole time... ha ha ha. Oops. But I got my good pictures.
Well, after that I had about 4 hours left until it was time to meet Brooke. I decided to ride the bus the rest of the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, which I had previously decided not to visit until the next day with Brooke and Jon. The bus dropped me off right at the parking lot there. I walked over to the bridge and walked all the way across it!! It was so much fun.
Interesting, right? Just in case...
It was 1.7 miles each way, so 3.4 total. I really wanted to say that I walked pi miles on the Golden Gate Bridge, and I almost just said that for reals, but just now I checked it on a calculator and it's actually 3.4, not 3.14. Dang it, that's not near as cool. And that's why I'm not a math major.
Anyway, I just thought it was fun to be on the bridge! It was SUPER windy and there were cars zooming right past me, even though there's a dedicated sidewalk for pedestrians and bikers. I loved it, though. And it was free, instead of having to pay to drive across! The only downside was actually a pretty huge downside, though. I LOST MY MAPPPPP!!! It was so sad. I had it in my back pocket, and the wind blew it out and away. I'm assuming. It happened once before, but I noticed and picked it up, and I figured there was no way I wouldn't notice if it happened again, so I put it back. Stupid. It happened again and I didn't notice, so good-bye map. It happened when I was like halfway to the other side, so I ALMOST turned around and went back looking for it, but then I decided it would be really stupid not to walk the rest of the way and back. So the whole way back I was looking at everyone's hands coming the other way to see if maybe they had it. Nobody did. :( Oh well, I did walk across the GG bridge!
Plus, to get back I pretty much knew where I was going. I had 2 and a half hours and still wanted to go to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream, so I rode the bus to Lombard street, which took me over. It was a SUPER steep street--ridiculously so---
but I really wanted to see the cool crookedy part and walk down that. It was worth the walk up. I loved that street and decided that when I'm a millionaire (billionaire?) I will buy a house on it.
Ghirardelli Square was awesome! I had a chocolate shake there, and that was my dinner. It was like 6 dollars, but it was so good!
By this time, I had an hour to get back to the Market and Powell BART station. I wanted to take the cable car again (which would have been another $5 without my pass) so I would feel like my pass was REALLY worth it. :) But like I said before, the line goes WAY slower up at Fisherman's Wharf and there was NO way I was going to make it back in time that way. Instead I just started walking, and looked up a bus route on my iPod to take me back. I had to pack in like a sardine with a bunch of Chinatown people, and one of the ladies kept getting mad at me because my backpack kept hitting her little son in the face, but I made it back with time to spare. I even had some time to look around and buy a highlighter yellow t-shirt on sale at Union Square. And to see this man.
Sometimes we need those little reminders.
Here's a video with highlights of my day on Friday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o--ErX3aqZw
The train got me across the bay and back to Oakland in plenty of time. Way plenty. I was super early, so I had time to walk around and see some of ghetto downtown Oakland! :) That was fun. Brooke came and picked me up as soon as she could get there, and we went to her and Jon's new apartment, which Jon is living in alone until they get married. I loved it!! Really fun and very fitting for them.
Finally, we went to the Oakland Temple. Jon's ward had a temple trip tonight, and so we all went there. Brooke thought it would be fun to take me and also I think she wanted to go another time before her wedding. I enjoyed it a lot, especially after my busy day. It's a pretty temple, too. I saw it on the train this morning. I met some of their friends, and it was just low-pressure. It was LATE when we got back to Newark to Brooke's house, though, and I was TIRED. So that was my first day. :)
Saturday was lots of fun too. It would be hard to say which day I liked more, because they were so different. Saturday, Brooke and Jon and I drove across the Bay Bridge from Oakland, and they took me to some places they like. I also wanted to go see the Full House house, which was what we did first. I took my picture there, obviously.
After that, we went to eat lunch. We ate at this delicious Italian restaurant across the street from a restaurant called "The Stinking Rose." It was a garlic restaurant. :) Anyway, I had a meatball sandwich and a salad, and it was really good. Jon even paid for me-- a great brother-in-law already! :) He also knows how to get around and park and stuff there too, and was lots of fun.
We really wanted to go to their favorite gelato place, but we were all so full that we decided to do a couple other things first. We walked up to Coit Tower, which is on top of a hill that has a great view of downtown. It was a steep hill to ascend. Brooke and Jon had some of their engagement pictures taken there. I took a bunch of pictures, including my favorite panorama.
I'm still learning...
Although it was WINDY again like yesterday, it was warm in the sun, and I just basked in it, knowing that in Provo they were getting snow and rain and cold. I was having fun spending time with Brooke and Jon too. Brooke was freezing from the wind, so she wrapped up in her coat.
We walked back down the hill to this gelato place. I think it was called Naia. They had LOTS of delicious flavors. There was a kiwi one that tasted just like they blended up a kiwi and made it into ice cream. You could sample all you wanted. I had probably 5-10 samples. I finally decided on a cup with both mint chocolate chip and dark chocolate. SOOO good, and we sat out in chairs on the sidewalk by the street and ate. It was wonderful.
We saw a few other things while were were there. I wanted to see the first Mission in San Francisco, which ended up being closed. We were all kind of tired after eating, so I don't think any of us minded much. Brooke took a nap in the car while me and Jon went and checked it out. When we got back, she was sound asleep, and even when she started talking i don't think she was quite awake. That provided some entertainment. :) We drove around, saw some cool houses,
drove down Balmy alley to see some awesome street murals,
and then went over to Fisherman's Wharf. Brooke and I wanted to go to the Musee Mechanique, which is sort of an arcade that has a whole bunch of really old games and machines. It took us awhile to find a place to park, but Jon dropped us off and went to look some more because he wasn't really interested in going to that place. Brooke and I had a lot of fun there! We weren't quite sure what to expect, but it ended up being really fun. That is, if you find this fun and not terrifying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1abi8ctJRA
Anyway, almost all the games only cost a quarter. How can you go wrong with that? Actually, you sort of can go wrong with that. A couple of them were broken and ate my quarters. And some of them were lame (sorry, you have to tilt your head for this one). The arm-wrestling one, made famous by Princess Diaries as well, put me and Brooke to shame but it was fun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8bYKruO5U). There were lots of "tell your fortune and your weight" machines. My personal favorites were the vibrating back massage chair and the foot massage machine. The foot massage one especially, actually. You stood on it and held on to these bars on the side, and it vibrated really intensely. It made my whole body feel all tingly. We even convinced Jon to come in, but he didn't love it. :)
Finally, we went back over to Ghirardelli Square again. Brooke wanted to go because she's never gotten anything there. I was more than willing to go the second day in a row. :) I got another shake and discovered something-- never get a to-go shake there if you can help it! You get way more if you eat in! We ate in when we went today, and it was lots of fun. We even found a table, if you can believe that. I love chocolate. We thought we were going to get to see them make some waffle cones too, but after standing there for a while and nobody showing up, we gave up on that.
On the way back to the car, we stopped by a cool store. It had a bunch of spy stuff-- tiny cameras, secret microphones, electrical sockets that pulled away and were actually safes, etc.
They also took me to a hotel they love by the Embarcadero, which was designed really cool on the inside. It randomly had giant Jelly Beans hanging from the ceiling everywhere (that's not what they love about it. It's cool otherwise).
We also went to the grocery store to get some stuff for Brooke's ward prayer the next day. By this point, I was pretty tired, but hungry again. We went to Lori's Diner, which was randomly in Union Square but really tasty. I had chicken-fried steak, which Brooke discovered even though it wasn't on the menu. So good. And Brooke paid this time! I was very well-taken-care-of and grateful for it.
On the way home, they drove me to Treasure Island in the middle of the bay where I got a couple good pictures of the city, and that was our night.
It was a great day.
Sunday was nice, but sort of sad that the trip was mostly over. We went to church in the morning. While Brooke had ward council, I stuck address labels on wedding announcements. After church, Brooke and I went to Palo Alto to meet Jon, and we went and saw Stanford. They also took me to the Facebook headquarters, which I was somewhat unimpressed with (the sign's not even blue!).
Finally, we went to Google and got some pictures.
It was fun to see those places.
Danielle and her family, who Brooke lives with, wanted to prepare a nice dinner for that evening. I felt honored. She made tilapia, which was delicious, and rice and asparagus and homegrown oranges and really good strawberries. It was a nice time. They're a great family with some really cute and nice kids.
Finally it was time to go to the airport. They sent me off with a ton of lemons from the tree in their front yard (their kids use them as toys) and Brooke drove me up. It was sad but she's coming back to Utah for the wedding in like a week, so no big deal. I was just really grateful that she made the sacrifice to have me over this weekend. I think she had fun but I also know it was a sacrifice. I had a blast, and it was just what I needed to get me through to the end of the semester. I'm glad I got to go.
As a closing note, I saw this at the airport. Does anything about this ad seem weird to you?
The end.
So I went to San Francisco last weekend! The flight over was kind of an ordeal, but I'll tell about that another time. In short, my flight was delayed and I didn't get there until way after I was supposed to. Brooke came and picked me up anyway, and we got down to Newark/Fremont from Oakland pretty late. I was grateful because she had work the next morning, and she didn't even make me spend the night at the airport. :)
So yeah, Brooke had work in Fremont at 8:30 Friday morning, so I had to be ready by about 8:15. I had some cereal and got dressed and packed up and then we left. There was some traffic, so we were running a little behind. Brooke pulled into work and I walked over to the BART subway station just down the street. I was so excited! It was sunny and (almost) warm and nice outside. When I got there I tried to buy a train ticket with my credit card, but none of the three ghetto machines would read it. Finally I had to use cash, but that was ok. Anyway, so then I went up the stairs and my train into San Francisco was already waiting. I went ahead and got on, and just sat and waited to leave. From my seat I had a good view out the window, and it was beautiful. They have these beautiful green hills in Fremont that look almost like Ireland or something. Like I know what that looks like. :) Anyway, it was really pretty. We sat there for awhile and then took off. The train track is kind of set up above the ground level most of the time, so I got a grand tour of the East bay. It was fun just looking around and seeing the different kinds of people who got on the train on the way. Eventually it had to go underground, because we had to get across the bay and that's the only way. While we were underground, we got stuck before one of the stops. There was a train in front of us that had a person who was harassing other people, and they had to get the police involved, so it took about 15 minutes to get that taken care of. I was like, "Really?" Lots of waiting and delays on this trip so far. It wasn't too bad, though. The train didn't go above ground again, so when I got to the Powell St. station I just had to know to get off. When I went up the stairs, I was in the middle of Union Square on Market Street. There were a bunch of expensive mall stores and people everywhere, and the sun was bright. I went and bought an all-day bus pass there, and then went to figure out what to do first. I really wanted to ride a cable car while it was still morning and the sun was bright, so I went ahead and got in line for that. It was fun to watch how those work-- they have a big wooden circle platform at the end of the track, and the cable car just rolls onto that until it stops. Then, the conductors have to physically push the car around to make the platform turn, and then the car is faced back the other direction. Then they physically push it off the circle and back onto the normal track. It was cool. The line was long, but it only took me about 10 minutes to get on a car. There were no seats left, so I stood on the running board and held the pole. The conductor made me take off my backpack for some strange reason, so I had to hold my backpack, my huge umbrella that I was carrying around, and my ticket at the same time as holding that pole so I didn't fall off. It was an adventure. And believe me, I would have fallen off too if not for that pole. A lot of the streets are, like, at a 45 degree angle, sometimes up, sometimes down.
The wind was kind of cold, so that was a little unpleasant as we were riding. But it was still lots of fun. The end of the line is the Fisherman's Wharf, so I got off there and walked around a little bit. The main thing was, I just wanted to ride the cable car. I wasn't planning on really "being" at Fisherman's Wharf yet. There are two cable car lines, and I took the Mason St. line up, so I walked over to the Hyde St. line to ride back down. It's a few blocks away, so I saw a lot of the area on my way over. Again, it was kind of cold with the wind, especially in the shade. When I got to the turnaround thingy for the Hyde St. cable car, it was nice and sunny and I had another pleasant surprise: it was at a park where you could see the Golden Gate Bridge far in the distance. I loved it.
I took some pictures and then got in line. This line took longer than the first one I'd waited in. Not sure why; it seemed almost like they cared a lot more about the schedule at this station than they had at the Powell St. one. There, they just sent another car along as soon as one came back, but at this one there were 2 or three even waiting there, and they still had to sit and wait until it was "time" to send another one. Finally I ended up on a car, and instead of squeezing onto the first one I could fit on, I decided to wait to the side and be first onto the next one. So I got to sit down and have a good seat for taking pictures on the way back. That was a lot of fun, and there was even an empty seat next to me and the next lady over said I could put my backpack there. :) While I was sitting there for an extended period time waiting for the train to leave, I pulled out my iPod, and there happened to be WiFi service where I was. I called Mom and Dad on Facetime. It was fun for me to say hi and I hope fun for them to see me outside on a San Francisco cable car! Anyway, finally we pulled out. I took a bunch of pictures and a few videos on the way back down south. More super steep streets. I decided, rather than ride all the way back down to Market Street, I would get off along the way. So I jumped off at Chinatown, which is halfway down or so.
I wandered around Chinatown for a little bit. Lots and lots of Chinese people and restaurants!! And roasted geese and chicken.
It was a really fun area. I looked for a cheap restaurant to eat lunch at, and found a good one to come back to when I was hungry. I was at a little bit of a loss as to what to do for the next hour or so because I wasn't ready for lunch yet, but I didn't know what else there was to see right where I was. I decided to walk through the Financial district to the Embarcadero, which is the more "downtown" looking area of the city, with tall buildings and important-looking people. I saw the TransAmerica pyramid, which is that really tall, skinny pyramid-looking building you always see in SF pictures.
I was getting a runny nose and a bit of a headache from the cold, and it seemed like the sun was always blocked by the buildings. I was kind of uncomfortable from that, so I walked all the way to the water by a big mall, where there was a bench in the sun I could sit at.
I stayed there for a few minutes, ate some nuts, and planned the next couple of hours of my day using Brooke's map. It was nice to sit in the sun; that made a huge difference. I decided to just go ahead and walk back to Chinatown, eat at that restaurant on Washington street, and then I'd see from there.
It didn't take me that long to find the restaurant again. It was almost literally a hole-in-the-wall. Basically, it was a door in the wall, and that was all the street space it took up.
You went in and then walked downstairs to get to the restaurant, but you could still see people down there from the street. I went down, and they seated me by myself at a table for 6. :) First of all, nobody spoke English as a first language, that's for sure. My Chinese waitress brought me a tall glass of steaming light-brown drink. I don't know what it was but I'm sure it was against the WoW, so I didn't drink it. I asked for just water and ordered sweet and sour pork.
Another family came in, and apparently it was a mistake to seat me at that table. I had to get up and move to a smaller table for 2, which was fine. There were some cute kids in that family that stole my spot.
My food was really good. I always love those sketchy Chinese places... they always look kinda bad, but the food is always sooo good. When I asked for my bill, they brought me a slip of paper with a bunch of chicken scratch on it that I couldn't read. I was pretty sure it had said $5.50 on the menu, so I just gave them $6 and it turned out that was ok.
It was a good lunch and I was very very full. There were a lot of Chinese people in there too. :)
Well, when I walked out the door I was so full that I didn't really want to do anything. I had my amazing map, which had all the bus routes and everything on it, so I found a bus route over to the western part of the city. I wanted to go see the school from Princess Diaries. :) I had to wait for about 25 minutes for the bus, but I was full and so I got to sit down in the sun, plus Alison called while I was waiting so I got to talk to her for a little bit. I also had my day pass, so I didn't have to pay any extra for the bus. I rode it over to that street where the school is, which is actually a house, walked over, and took a picture. Several pictures, actually. I was standing on the street in front of it and was really grateful that there wasn't anyone around, because I was sort of embarrassed. When I finished taking all the pictures I wanted, I looked around and realized there had been a girl sitting in the passenger seat of a car right next to me the whole time... ha ha ha. Oops. But I got my good pictures.
Well, after that I had about 4 hours left until it was time to meet Brooke. I decided to ride the bus the rest of the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, which I had previously decided not to visit until the next day with Brooke and Jon. The bus dropped me off right at the parking lot there. I walked over to the bridge and walked all the way across it!! It was so much fun.
It was 1.7 miles each way, so 3.4 total. I really wanted to say that I walked pi miles on the Golden Gate Bridge, and I almost just said that for reals, but just now I checked it on a calculator and it's actually 3.4, not 3.14. Dang it, that's not near as cool. And that's why I'm not a math major.
Anyway, I just thought it was fun to be on the bridge! It was SUPER windy and there were cars zooming right past me, even though there's a dedicated sidewalk for pedestrians and bikers. I loved it, though. And it was free, instead of having to pay to drive across! The only downside was actually a pretty huge downside, though. I LOST MY MAPPPPP!!! It was so sad. I had it in my back pocket, and the wind blew it out and away. I'm assuming. It happened once before, but I noticed and picked it up, and I figured there was no way I wouldn't notice if it happened again, so I put it back. Stupid. It happened again and I didn't notice, so good-bye map. It happened when I was like halfway to the other side, so I ALMOST turned around and went back looking for it, but then I decided it would be really stupid not to walk the rest of the way and back. So the whole way back I was looking at everyone's hands coming the other way to see if maybe they had it. Nobody did. :( Oh well, I did walk across the GG bridge!
Plus, to get back I pretty much knew where I was going. I had 2 and a half hours and still wanted to go to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream, so I rode the bus to Lombard street, which took me over. It was a SUPER steep street--ridiculously so---
but I really wanted to see the cool crookedy part and walk down that. It was worth the walk up. I loved that street and decided that when I'm a millionaire (billionaire?) I will buy a house on it.
Ghirardelli Square was awesome! I had a chocolate shake there, and that was my dinner. It was like 6 dollars, but it was so good!
By this time, I had an hour to get back to the Market and Powell BART station. I wanted to take the cable car again (which would have been another $5 without my pass) so I would feel like my pass was REALLY worth it. :) But like I said before, the line goes WAY slower up at Fisherman's Wharf and there was NO way I was going to make it back in time that way. Instead I just started walking, and looked up a bus route on my iPod to take me back. I had to pack in like a sardine with a bunch of Chinatown people, and one of the ladies kept getting mad at me because my backpack kept hitting her little son in the face, but I made it back with time to spare. I even had some time to look around and buy a highlighter yellow t-shirt on sale at Union Square. And to see this man.
Here's a video with highlights of my day on Friday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o--ErX3aqZw
The train got me across the bay and back to Oakland in plenty of time. Way plenty. I was super early, so I had time to walk around and see some of ghetto downtown Oakland! :) That was fun. Brooke came and picked me up as soon as she could get there, and we went to her and Jon's new apartment, which Jon is living in alone until they get married. I loved it!! Really fun and very fitting for them.
Finally, we went to the Oakland Temple. Jon's ward had a temple trip tonight, and so we all went there. Brooke thought it would be fun to take me and also I think she wanted to go another time before her wedding. I enjoyed it a lot, especially after my busy day. It's a pretty temple, too. I saw it on the train this morning. I met some of their friends, and it was just low-pressure. It was LATE when we got back to Newark to Brooke's house, though, and I was TIRED. So that was my first day. :)
Saturday was lots of fun too. It would be hard to say which day I liked more, because they were so different. Saturday, Brooke and Jon and I drove across the Bay Bridge from Oakland, and they took me to some places they like. I also wanted to go see the Full House house, which was what we did first. I took my picture there, obviously.
After that, we went to eat lunch. We ate at this delicious Italian restaurant across the street from a restaurant called "The Stinking Rose." It was a garlic restaurant. :) Anyway, I had a meatball sandwich and a salad, and it was really good. Jon even paid for me-- a great brother-in-law already! :) He also knows how to get around and park and stuff there too, and was lots of fun.
We really wanted to go to their favorite gelato place, but we were all so full that we decided to do a couple other things first. We walked up to Coit Tower, which is on top of a hill that has a great view of downtown. It was a steep hill to ascend. Brooke and Jon had some of their engagement pictures taken there. I took a bunch of pictures, including my favorite panorama.
Although it was WINDY again like yesterday, it was warm in the sun, and I just basked in it, knowing that in Provo they were getting snow and rain and cold. I was having fun spending time with Brooke and Jon too. Brooke was freezing from the wind, so she wrapped up in her coat.
We walked back down the hill to this gelato place. I think it was called Naia. They had LOTS of delicious flavors. There was a kiwi one that tasted just like they blended up a kiwi and made it into ice cream. You could sample all you wanted. I had probably 5-10 samples. I finally decided on a cup with both mint chocolate chip and dark chocolate. SOOO good, and we sat out in chairs on the sidewalk by the street and ate. It was wonderful.
We saw a few other things while were were there. I wanted to see the first Mission in San Francisco, which ended up being closed. We were all kind of tired after eating, so I don't think any of us minded much. Brooke took a nap in the car while me and Jon went and checked it out. When we got back, she was sound asleep, and even when she started talking i don't think she was quite awake. That provided some entertainment. :) We drove around, saw some cool houses,
drove down Balmy alley to see some awesome street murals,
and then went over to Fisherman's Wharf. Brooke and I wanted to go to the Musee Mechanique, which is sort of an arcade that has a whole bunch of really old games and machines. It took us awhile to find a place to park, but Jon dropped us off and went to look some more because he wasn't really interested in going to that place. Brooke and I had a lot of fun there! We weren't quite sure what to expect, but it ended up being really fun. That is, if you find this fun and not terrifying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1abi8ctJRA
Anyway, almost all the games only cost a quarter. How can you go wrong with that? Actually, you sort of can go wrong with that. A couple of them were broken and ate my quarters. And some of them were lame (sorry, you have to tilt your head for this one). The arm-wrestling one, made famous by Princess Diaries as well, put me and Brooke to shame but it was fun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8bYKruO5U). There were lots of "tell your fortune and your weight" machines. My personal favorites were the vibrating back massage chair and the foot massage machine. The foot massage one especially, actually. You stood on it and held on to these bars on the side, and it vibrated really intensely. It made my whole body feel all tingly. We even convinced Jon to come in, but he didn't love it. :)
Finally, we went back over to Ghirardelli Square again. Brooke wanted to go because she's never gotten anything there. I was more than willing to go the second day in a row. :) I got another shake and discovered something-- never get a to-go shake there if you can help it! You get way more if you eat in! We ate in when we went today, and it was lots of fun. We even found a table, if you can believe that. I love chocolate. We thought we were going to get to see them make some waffle cones too, but after standing there for a while and nobody showing up, we gave up on that.
On the way back to the car, we stopped by a cool store. It had a bunch of spy stuff-- tiny cameras, secret microphones, electrical sockets that pulled away and were actually safes, etc.
They also took me to a hotel they love by the Embarcadero, which was designed really cool on the inside. It randomly had giant Jelly Beans hanging from the ceiling everywhere (that's not what they love about it. It's cool otherwise).
We also went to the grocery store to get some stuff for Brooke's ward prayer the next day. By this point, I was pretty tired, but hungry again. We went to Lori's Diner, which was randomly in Union Square but really tasty. I had chicken-fried steak, which Brooke discovered even though it wasn't on the menu. So good. And Brooke paid this time! I was very well-taken-care-of and grateful for it.
On the way home, they drove me to Treasure Island in the middle of the bay where I got a couple good pictures of the city, and that was our night.
It was a great day.
Sunday was nice, but sort of sad that the trip was mostly over. We went to church in the morning. While Brooke had ward council, I stuck address labels on wedding announcements. After church, Brooke and I went to Palo Alto to meet Jon, and we went and saw Stanford. They also took me to the Facebook headquarters, which I was somewhat unimpressed with (the sign's not even blue!).
Finally, we went to Google and got some pictures.
It was fun to see those places.
Danielle and her family, who Brooke lives with, wanted to prepare a nice dinner for that evening. I felt honored. She made tilapia, which was delicious, and rice and asparagus and homegrown oranges and really good strawberries. It was a nice time. They're a great family with some really cute and nice kids.
Finally it was time to go to the airport. They sent me off with a ton of lemons from the tree in their front yard (their kids use them as toys) and Brooke drove me up. It was sad but she's coming back to Utah for the wedding in like a week, so no big deal. I was just really grateful that she made the sacrifice to have me over this weekend. I think she had fun but I also know it was a sacrifice. I had a blast, and it was just what I needed to get me through to the end of the semester. I'm glad I got to go.
As a closing note, I saw this at the airport. Does anything about this ad seem weird to you?
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Today was just a really good Sunday.
Daylight Savings Time began last night, which meant we lost an hour of sleep. The cool thing was, though, we had stake conference today and instead of having church at 10:20 (I know, I already have it pretty good), we didn't have to be there until 2! I slept in a little, and then just leisurely got ready for church. While I don't love having church that late in the day, I really enjoyed the extra time this once.Stake Conference was really good, too. I actually wasn't looking that much forward to it because it seems like all they ever talk about in those situations is dating. They did discuss dating and marriage today, that's for sure, BUT it wasn't the main topic like it often is. They talked a lot about missionary work and conversion. Counting yesterday's session of conference, they had 3 people from our stake share their conversion experiences. After going for such a long time without really being too involved with missionary work, it really did me a lot of good to hear those stories and think about missionary work again. Brooke and I and my roommates all sat together in the Smith Fieldhouse.
After church I made some homemade Thin Mints (Ritz crackers coated in chocolate mixed with peppermint extract-- they taste amazingly similar to TMs) to take to a dinner Brooke and I were going to later. Amy also stopped by to see us, which was unexpected and fun.
After that, I had Skype family home evening. Every month my family gets together from various places and has an FHE online. We use a website that enables multiple people to be in the same video chat. Rarely does it ever work flawlessly, but today it was pretty close. We all chatted for a while and then Dad gave a good lesson about how we should "take [less] thought" for seemingly important cares of the world that sometimes distract us from more important things. It's nice to get to SEE my family and talk to them. It's amazing what technology can do.
I went straight over to Brooke's after that, and we went together to dinner at our friend Lindsay's house. Lindsay was one of Brooke's Jerusalem roommates, and Brooke's other J roommates (Josett and Amanda) and their significant others (Scott and Jesse) came too. We had so much fun talking and laughing a lot and eating. It did me a lot of good to laugh that much. I am so grateful for good friends, and for my Jerusalem experience that brought so many of these people into my life. That alone was worth the ten grand.
Did I mention that it was, like, 60 degrees outside today?! And the SUN was out?! That was heavenly in and of itself.
So it was a good day. Plus, I had time to write in my blog! I would love to get back into that again. I'll be honest though, the main reason I'm doing it is because I don't want to go to bed and lay awake for an hour because my body thinks it's only 10:15. Using time wisely, that's me...
After church I made some homemade Thin Mints (Ritz crackers coated in chocolate mixed with peppermint extract-- they taste amazingly similar to TMs) to take to a dinner Brooke and I were going to later. Amy also stopped by to see us, which was unexpected and fun.
After that, I had Skype family home evening. Every month my family gets together from various places and has an FHE online. We use a website that enables multiple people to be in the same video chat. Rarely does it ever work flawlessly, but today it was pretty close. We all chatted for a while and then Dad gave a good lesson about how we should "take [less] thought" for seemingly important cares of the world that sometimes distract us from more important things. It's nice to get to SEE my family and talk to them. It's amazing what technology can do.
I went straight over to Brooke's after that, and we went together to dinner at our friend Lindsay's house. Lindsay was one of Brooke's Jerusalem roommates, and Brooke's other J roommates (Josett and Amanda) and their significant others (Scott and Jesse) came too. We had so much fun talking and laughing a lot and eating. It did me a lot of good to laugh that much. I am so grateful for good friends, and for my Jerusalem experience that brought so many of these people into my life. That alone was worth the ten grand.
Did I mention that it was, like, 60 degrees outside today?! And the SUN was out?! That was heavenly in and of itself.
So it was a good day. Plus, I had time to write in my blog! I would love to get back into that again. I'll be honest though, the main reason I'm doing it is because I don't want to go to bed and lay awake for an hour because my body thinks it's only 10:15. Using time wisely, that's me...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Success
Yesterday was a pretty good day. I felt productive. Since Elder Kikuchi came and gave the devotional a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about his recommendation to get up a little earlier and have a “morning devotional” every day. The last few days I’ve been getting up about 30 minutes earlier to read the Book of Mormon. I get up, get dressed and ready, eat breakfast and everything, and then I read once I’m awake. It’s awesome because it makes me feel good right away in the morning, plus it gives me a set time to read and I’m even awake while I’m doing it. Not bad.
It was frigid on the way to work. That wasn’t my favorite part of the day. Eating at the Cannon Center with Kelli and Alison and Kelli’s roommate was probably the best part of the day. It was AMAZING and I’d been looking forward to it for days. It was really just fun to hang out with them, because that doesn’t happen too often.
My classes today were really good. I was actually interested in the stuff we were learning. My Psychology of Religion teacher told us about an experience he had on his mission. They went to tour a concentration camp in Europe on one of their P-days or something. He talked about how shocked and afraid he felt that humans could commit atrocities like that, but at the same time he saw the love that many of the Jews were still able to show towards each other even in the midst of all that. He learned about the huge spectrum of attitude that humans are capable, and he said it was an experience that set him on a path for the rest of his life. That’s the kind of experience we all need to have at some point; feeling something so deeply that it changes us. I really like that class because it asks us to reevaluate our beliefs, why we hold them and what function they serve in our lives.
My clinical psychology readings and class were good too. Today we learned about rational-emotive-behavioral therapy, which is just one of the many, many branches of therapeutic practices available. It focuses, mainly, on the process that leads to emotional feelings and reactions. They use the A-B-Cs. Every emotional consequence ( C ) is preceded by an activating event ( A ). Most of the time, when we experience a negative emotion, we believe (either consciously or subconsciously) that it’s caused by an activating event (like something someone said to us, or a situation we’re in, or whatever). REBT therapy forces you to slow that process down and look at your belief ( B ) about that activating event. In other words, what are you telling yourself about what just happened? Say your friend just passed you without saying hello, and now you feel rejected or sad because of it. What are you telling yourself? Probably that they ignored you, or that they don’t care about you. And, most importantly, that being rejected by your friend is a terrible thing.
Another example: you have a job that you hate, and you feel anxious when you go to work. What are you telling yourself? Probably that you aren’t good at the job, or that you’re stuck there all day, and especially that because you have to be at that job, life is terrible, and life shouldn’t be that way. Well, if you can break this process up, and REALIZE what you’re telling yourself, and then challenge that belief, you can change the outcome or the consequence. Maybe your friend really did ignore or reject you, and didn’t want to talk to you. So what? Challenge the belief that being rejected is really that big of a deal. The idea behind this is that people have inherent worth simply because they’re human and because they exist, let alone because they’re children of God, and being rejected by someone else or being bad at a job or whatever really doesn’t affect your worth in the least. I think it’s cool because it’s empowering, and because it can be used in almost any situation when you’re feeling negative about something.
Me and Brooke B have been pretty busy this week with schoolwork, and we haven’t had much time to spend together. I had a couple of errands to run this afternoon, so I asked if she wanted to come. We went to get gas at Sam’s Club, and then I had to go to the post office. It was fun to just hang out, even though we weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary. We’re going to Tucano’s and also hiking this weekend because her dad’s going to be in town, which I’m pretty excited about, so “out of the ordinary” is coming up soon. J
Tonight after my class, Melissa A and Sam D and my roommates were home watching the end of our BYU basketball game against Wyoming (which we won, thank goodness). They had also made a lovely groundhog’s day dinner of meatloaf (shaped like groundhogs, and one was made out of Yak provided by Melissa). I was touched to be included, even though I hadn’t helped at all.
Finally, I spend about 2.5 hours doing some Accounting homework and studying that really should’ve been done days ago. I was happy with how fast it went, and I feel much more ready for the test I’ll be taking tomorrow. I’m going to finish studying today, hopefully.
Well, off to Brother Bott’s religion class that I’m not really enrolled in but I go to anyway.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Last night, I didn't sleep very well. First of all, I went to bed later than I should have. Then, though, was when it started to get fun. I think someone must have started a fire in my esophagus. Heartburn like crazy, and I don't even know why. I did have a bowl of Berry Colossal Crunch a little while before I went to bed... is Malt-o-Meal known to cause heartburn?? Anyway, I popped probably 5 Tums over the course of the next hour or so, and they did nothing. Nothing. Tums! They failed me!
I remembered that baking soda is a base, and thus counters acid, so I mixed some with some water and drank it, and although it tasted like eww and I almost threw up, I had faith that it would work. I sat there on my bed for about 5 minutes and then laid down, and the heartburn was gone just-like-that! So the moral of the story is, don't waste your time or your money on Tums.
Now a short rant, for lack of a better word.
I was at work today (at the library), and it became necessary to go fetch a few books from the stacks. That's one of my favorite things to do, because I enjoy people-watching. My journey took me to the 5th floor (PR call numbers to find, you know how that goes). The 5th floor is one of my fave places to go with my book cart, because it's my free pass through the "Do-Not-Enter-Unless-You-Shop-At-Hollister-and-Express-and-Banana Republic-and-J.Crew" Zone. For those of you who haven't experienced it, the 5th floor of the Harold B. Lee Library is not for studying. Everyone knows that. The 5th floor is for flirting, and it's only takes a few minutes to figure that out when you're there for the first time. As a matter of fact, it would be pretty close to impossible to study there. I'm referring mainly to the 5th floor's southernmost open table area. Books are optional there; the newest MacBook Pro, however, is a must. Make sure you spent at least an hour "getting ready," or forget it. Don't plan on maintaining your spot at a four-person table, and don't even dream of peace and quiet.
More than one icy stare shot my way as I weaved and rattled my way through the tables... I had the unmistakable feeling that I was disrupting the delicate Circle of Life characteristic of an unofficial speed dating session. It only took a moment to collect my two PRs, and I was out of there. It was a narrow escape, though; the cloud of Aeropostale cologne and Victoria's Secret body spray hovering over the scene nearly suffocated me. That's not even an exaggeration, for reals.
Finally...
My bike chain broke today. It's been a real fighter. Brought me through over half my mission, and almost every school day for 2.5 years since. Unfortunately, it also had to happen in the middle of a major intersection. Got to love that...
I thought it had just slipped off the gears, but when I got down to fix it, there was no fixing to be had. It stunk because I thought I was going to have to pay for a $15 new chain.
Later tonight, I was overjoyed to find that the Mad Dog bike store on 9th East was open till 7, giving me time to stop by. Turns out there's a little $3.19 piece that will replace a link of a bike chain, and although the salesman would have been much happier had I purchased a brand new chain ("yours is rather worn out..."), I was content to spend $3.19. A tender mercy, if I ever experienced one.
I remembered that baking soda is a base, and thus counters acid, so I mixed some with some water and drank it, and although it tasted like eww and I almost threw up, I had faith that it would work. I sat there on my bed for about 5 minutes and then laid down, and the heartburn was gone just-like-that! So the moral of the story is, don't waste your time or your money on Tums.
Now a short rant, for lack of a better word.
I was at work today (at the library), and it became necessary to go fetch a few books from the stacks. That's one of my favorite things to do, because I enjoy people-watching. My journey took me to the 5th floor (PR call numbers to find, you know how that goes). The 5th floor is one of my fave places to go with my book cart, because it's my free pass through the "Do-Not-Enter-Unless-You-Shop-At-Hollister-and-Express-and-Banana Republic-and-J.Crew" Zone. For those of you who haven't experienced it, the 5th floor of the Harold B. Lee Library is not for studying. Everyone knows that. The 5th floor is for flirting, and it's only takes a few minutes to figure that out when you're there for the first time. As a matter of fact, it would be pretty close to impossible to study there. I'm referring mainly to the 5th floor's southernmost open table area. Books are optional there; the newest MacBook Pro, however, is a must. Make sure you spent at least an hour "getting ready," or forget it. Don't plan on maintaining your spot at a four-person table, and don't even dream of peace and quiet.
More than one icy stare shot my way as I weaved and rattled my way through the tables... I had the unmistakable feeling that I was disrupting the delicate Circle of Life characteristic of an unofficial speed dating session. It only took a moment to collect my two PRs, and I was out of there. It was a narrow escape, though; the cloud of Aeropostale cologne and Victoria's Secret body spray hovering over the scene nearly suffocated me. That's not even an exaggeration, for reals.
Finally...
My bike chain broke today. It's been a real fighter. Brought me through over half my mission, and almost every school day for 2.5 years since. Unfortunately, it also had to happen in the middle of a major intersection. Got to love that...
I thought it had just slipped off the gears, but when I got down to fix it, there was no fixing to be had. It stunk because I thought I was going to have to pay for a $15 new chain.
Later tonight, I was overjoyed to find that the Mad Dog bike store on 9th East was open till 7, giving me time to stop by. Turns out there's a little $3.19 piece that will replace a link of a bike chain, and although the salesman would have been much happier had I purchased a brand new chain ("yours is rather worn out..."), I was content to spend $3.19. A tender mercy, if I ever experienced one.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thanksgiving break...
...was awesome.
-Spent time with family and friends
-Lots of free time
-Movies...including Christmas movies and Richie Rich
-...gasp....Christmas music!
-My Grandma getting over a heart attack in a flash
-Savior of the World in SLC
Ok, I should say something about this one. My parents paid for my sisters and I to go see "Savior of the World," which is sort of a musical production put on by the church in the Conference Center every year at Christmas time. It's about the Savior's birth and the circumstances surrounding it, as well as the Atonement. I've seen it before, but it's been several years. Anyway, I drove us up to SL (and forgot my coat, even though it was like negative 342 outside), and we met my Grandma and all went together. I really appreciated it. There's a part at the very beginning when Zacharias and Elisabeth are talking about how E can't have children, and how Z really wants to someday get to burn the incense at the temple but hasn't ever been chosen to do so (I think there was some artistic license going on). Anyway, they sing about how they give their lives to God and let him do what he sees is best with them. I liked that thought. The whole play was very good and thought-provoking.
Afterwards, Grandma took us to McDonald's because we were all hungry. It was sort of a rougher area of town, and there were several rougher people there. We went to a secluded corner to eat. When we sat down, my sister was like, "He's staring at us!" I didn't know who she was talking about, but then I turned and there was a homeless man sitting in the booth just across and down a little bit, and he was indeed staring. When I looked over, he called over, "How'd you get so many pretty girls?" or something like that. I was with my sisters and my grandma, and I said, "Well, they're my sisters!" He said something like, "What are you, like, Warren Jeffs? He was a polygamist, right?" We got up and moved. :)
Anyway, on with my list, not necessarily in order of occurrence...
-Snow this morning
-Campus closing for 2 days, making so I didn't have to go to work
-Visiting my good friend Brooke Sunday afternoon and staying to chat with her and her roommate for a lot longer than I planned
-Melissa and Karen sharing cherry pie with me
-Watching Harry Potter 1 until 2 AM Friday night
-Watching BYU vs. Utah, even though I almost cried at the end
-Getting a whole chapter of Econ 110 done, as well as a little of my hw due on Thursday
-My mind is going fuzzy, so I'm done.
It was a great break. Hope everyone else's was too! Good night.
-Spent time with family and friends
-Lots of free time
-Movies...including Christmas movies and Richie Rich
-...gasp....Christmas music!
-My Grandma getting over a heart attack in a flash
-Savior of the World in SLC
Ok, I should say something about this one. My parents paid for my sisters and I to go see "Savior of the World," which is sort of a musical production put on by the church in the Conference Center every year at Christmas time. It's about the Savior's birth and the circumstances surrounding it, as well as the Atonement. I've seen it before, but it's been several years. Anyway, I drove us up to SL (and forgot my coat, even though it was like negative 342 outside), and we met my Grandma and all went together. I really appreciated it. There's a part at the very beginning when Zacharias and Elisabeth are talking about how E can't have children, and how Z really wants to someday get to burn the incense at the temple but hasn't ever been chosen to do so (I think there was some artistic license going on). Anyway, they sing about how they give their lives to God and let him do what he sees is best with them. I liked that thought. The whole play was very good and thought-provoking.
Afterwards, Grandma took us to McDonald's because we were all hungry. It was sort of a rougher area of town, and there were several rougher people there. We went to a secluded corner to eat. When we sat down, my sister was like, "He's staring at us!" I didn't know who she was talking about, but then I turned and there was a homeless man sitting in the booth just across and down a little bit, and he was indeed staring. When I looked over, he called over, "How'd you get so many pretty girls?" or something like that. I was with my sisters and my grandma, and I said, "Well, they're my sisters!" He said something like, "What are you, like, Warren Jeffs? He was a polygamist, right?" We got up and moved. :)
Anyway, on with my list, not necessarily in order of occurrence...
-Snow this morning
-Campus closing for 2 days, making so I didn't have to go to work
-Visiting my good friend Brooke Sunday afternoon and staying to chat with her and her roommate for a lot longer than I planned
-Melissa and Karen sharing cherry pie with me
-Watching Harry Potter 1 until 2 AM Friday night
-Watching BYU vs. Utah, even though I almost cried at the end
-Getting a whole chapter of Econ 110 done, as well as a little of my hw due on Thursday
-My mind is going fuzzy, so I'm done.
It was a great break. Hope everyone else's was too! Good night.
Monday, November 8, 2010
A New Week
Today is Monday. Normally I don't love Mondays, but today wasn't so bad. It was kind of rainy and dull weather, but I didn't really mind it too much because it's been so nice for the last week or so. Here are some things that I enjoyed about today.
-I pretend I'm in a Harry Potter movie when it's rainy outside
-I had no class at noon like I usually do because we have a test in that class going on right now
-I reviewed for that test with a friend and we got a lot done
-I got to come home earlier than usual, and thus have more time to eat lunch than usual
-The theme of Paula Deen's show today was "Chocolicious" (you will be sorry if you don't click that link)
-I felt extra productive at my internship today
-I saw Christian and we quoted Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. (again, you'll be sorry if you don't click)
-I did my scripture study today with Preach My Gospel. It felt so good to read from that again! I felt spiritually fed and connected again with my mission. I have several friends in the MTC right now, and they're helping with that too. I need to write and tell them.
-This video I took on Friday. Don't make fun of my goofy camera angles... I never know when I might need them for a music video later. :)
-Getting a better grade on my Gender test than last time
-Jeramy's FHE lesson on Veterans' Day, reminding me that it's coming up this Thursday and I need to remember
Good night!
-I pretend I'm in a Harry Potter movie when it's rainy outside
-I had no class at noon like I usually do because we have a test in that class going on right now
-I reviewed for that test with a friend and we got a lot done
-I got to come home earlier than usual, and thus have more time to eat lunch than usual
-The theme of Paula Deen's show today was "Chocolicious" (you will be sorry if you don't click that link)
-I felt extra productive at my internship today
-I saw Christian and we quoted Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. (again, you'll be sorry if you don't click)
-I did my scripture study today with Preach My Gospel. It felt so good to read from that again! I felt spiritually fed and connected again with my mission. I have several friends in the MTC right now, and they're helping with that too. I need to write and tell them.
-This video I took on Friday. Don't make fun of my goofy camera angles... I never know when I might need them for a music video later. :)
-Jeramy's FHE lesson on Veterans' Day, reminding me that it's coming up this Thursday and I need to remember
Good night!
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