Frivolous*

There are plenty of more important things going on in my life right now, but I've deemed them inappropriate for this blog. But I knew you all wanted to hear about tomatoes today, because I'm intellectual like that, so here you go.

Tomatoes are officially both a fruit and a vegetable.

Don't believe me? Check out this article.

Personally, I've always stuck with the vegetable side, mostly for those occasions when people feel the need to pipe up: "GP hates vegetables," so then I could reply "PSYCH! I like tomatoes." Without fail, that brought on the fruit vs. veggie argument, so it wasn't really that great of a battle plan I guess, but whatev.

But now that argument has no foundation, so I propose we all go out and celebrate the dual categorization of the tomato! Even if you don't like them, go eat one!

Yay for transgender foods!

*PS: Welcome home Brittan!

The Home Crew*

Let's pretend it's Saturday

My home ward. Is. Awesome.
I've lived in it my entire life. Boundries have changed, people have moved out, people have moved in, but still it retains it's title of best ward ever.

We have a stellar group of young women, and I can honestly tell you that not one of them is that catty, vain, obnoxious type--they are ALL down to earth (with the exception of a few beehives, but who cares about them?). Our young men are pretty legit too.

About a month ago, I was called to be a leader for Trek and I was really not excited to go, but after we got back this past Friday I was so glad I went and my only issue was that it couldn't have lasted longer.

I don't know if you've ever been on Trek, but it was seriously a blast. See for yourself:

I loved dressing up like a pioneer (that was not sarcastic) and playing in the river and sleeping in a tent. I loved square dancing and eating dinner around the fire and messing around with the youth. I love that I got this last hoorah with my ward family before I have to go back to school, but I think it's gonna make me miss them even more.

Announcement*

I've reached page 100 on my story!!

Can you believe that?

I can. It's been exactly three YEARS yesterday in the making.

If I keep this pace up, it won't be done til like, 2020.

Nevertheless, I am quite proud of it.

Home*

On August 25th, 2010, I became a free woman. That was the day I moved away from home to experience life on my own. And boy did I experience life. I had so much fun and I couldn't believe that anyone would intentionally opt out and decide to stay home from college, for any reason.

But then I moved back. School was out, it was summer, all my other plans had fallen through, and everyone else was doing it--so I just kind of went with the flow. But I decided that I was justified in doing so, because there were things that needed to get done and things that I wanted to get done, to get done. So, I packed up my borrowed SUV with all of my belongings and took my life back to my little old house in my (not so) little old town.

And at first I was miserable; because people, life at home with the fam is just soooo boring compared with life abroad (yes, I considered myself abroad, okay?) with the roomies.

But I cheered myself up by saying to myself, "self, look on the bright side! You are going to get to completely revamp your room!"

And I did.
Isn't it so cute? I LOVE it.


And I said to myself, "self, you are going to get to babysit these adorable kids all summer long!"

And I did.


Aren't they so cute? I LOVE them.


And I said to myself, "self, you're going to go to California for two weeks for a wedding and various other adventures!"

And I did.

Aren't we so cute? I LOVE us.

I said I would paint pictures, and write to page 100 on my story, and get out the old bow and arrow and brush up on my archery, and learn new songs on the guitar, and read dozens of books, and see Harry Potter, and go to Costco, and lay out on my deck and get tan, and learn how to drive a stick shift, and take my sister running, and snuggle up and watch movies by myself in my awesome new room, and enjoy the sunsets from the view on my deck every evening...

And I did. I did, I did, I did, I did.


And I learned that sometimes, a summer back home is exactly what you need.

Changing the world, clearly*

What I've been eating lately:

{They're back!}

What I've been reading lately:

What I've been watching lately:

{Yum}

And of course...

Yep, lots of important things happening in my life right now.

36 Things I Learned: California Edition*

1. If Nor Cal=Northern California, then So Cal=Southern California. Duh.
2. Climbing to the top of a waterfall in flip-flops is doable, but only just.
3. Hollywood Boulevard is a tacky tourist trap.
4. Rodeo Drive is where it's at. Except our attempt at trying to pretend we weren't tourists was kind of a failure. You need designer shades and a Gucci hand bag to pull that off.
5. The little trees on top of the yellow hills in Northern Cali are so cute.
6. Some relatives of mine aren't who I thought they were, in a good way.
7. Some relatives of mine aren't who I thought they were, in a bad way.
8. If you want a sample of every language on the planet, visit Yosemite.
9. Sometimes, the good times are in the car rides.
10. I'm not a fan of excessive, successive, roller-coaster riding.
11. My wedding is going to be small.
12. Nobody really cares that you're in a bikini, but you. (Yep, I just said that)
13. It's okay to think your cousin's bf is attractive.
14. Running on the beach at 1 foot above sea level is waaay easier than running in Utah at 6 cajillion feet above sea level.
15. Demolition derbies are a lot more exciting than I would have guessed.
16. Elephants are a lot smaller than I thought.
17. Touring the little towns is just as good, if not better, than touring the big cities.
18. There is a little place in California called Twain Harte. Isn't that cute?
19. Sometimes it's not worth it to get your hair styled by a professional.
20. It doesn't matter if your bridesmaids toenails are bright blue.
21. It's really unfortunate we don't have an H & M in Utah.
22. So You Think You Can Dance is occasionally worth watching.
23. Slumdog Millionaire is an excellent movie.
24. Celebrities actually have body guards, even when they're just chillin' with their bf by a lamp post.
25. Beverly Hills homes are ridiculous.
26. Beverly Hills cars are ridiculous.
27. Every person in those BH cars is either a catty blonde woman primping in the rearview mirror or a movie producer in a suit. It's ridiculous.
28. My hair is untamable in the humidity.
29. Going sans-computer for a couple weeks does excellent things for one's character.
30. I do get sunburned, afterall.
31. It's a small world.
32. The HOLLYWOOD sign isn't really even visible in the LA smog. Lame.
33. I don't want a photographer at my wedding.
34. My late cat's daughter hates me. WTF?
35. I'm prone to eye infections due to contact lenses.
36. Tyra Banks likes the White Chocolate Raspberry flavor at Bennett's Icecream Shop.

Dear Jenna,

Long time no hear/read from you. Donde estas? Living? Working? Eating? Getting ready for the day?

Well, in honor of your last post and the fact that you don't like animals anymore, here's a pic of a dog on a roof:

And here's a pic of the love of my life, just in case you still like cowboys:

Peace out.

Recent self-discoveries*

• I don't like animals.



• I don't care about what I look like anymore. At all.

The first discovery, I'm sure you're astonished by, as I've always been the advocate of our little furry friends in this world. But something has happened, and now I can't stand it when a dog licks my hand or a cat brushes up against my leg. I can't stand the fur that I find EVERYWHERE in my house, the smell of dog-food, or the incessant barking anymore. I have even resolved to never own a dog when I'm older--they're just too much work for too little in return. Wow. I know you are shocked right now. I was when I finally realized this, but I got over it.

The second discovery I'm sure is only temporary, and most likely stems from transitioning from a place where run-ins with attractive dating prospects occur frequently to a place where I see so few boys my age that I've actually begun to size-up the deacons in my ward. Don't worry, I am not a pedophile. But seriously, I look gross. My wardrobe basically consists of dirty over-sized t-shirts (of which I am in no short supply due to my enrollment at a university that believes if it's going to charge an arm and a leg for tuition, it should at least make sure it's students are clothed--if not out of kindness than out of revery for the honor code) and boxer shorts. I don't wear makeup anymore, I don't brush my hair (you think I'm kidding? I'm not). My mother has stopped asking me if "I'm really going out in public like that" and I'm pretty sure I've been mistaken for a bum more than once.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!*

Well folks, guess what day it is?
That's right! It's the day that the dear author of this blog (not me. Remember this post?) was born, 19 long years ago.
Unfortunately, we've yet to agree upon a suitable pseudonym for her, so I'm just going to revert back to GB. Don't like it? Get over it.

Okay, GB, the rest of this post is addressed to YOU.

A few weeks ago, when I was going through all my stuff, getting ready to move from my old room to my current room (pictures to come when it's finished), I found a bunch of old junk, as you can imagine.
But in that pile of junk, there was a letter addressed to you that I'd been planning on giving you after graduation.

Well, obviously graduation was last year, and obviously you don't have the letter, because guess what? I have it. But because it's just too good to be thrown out and also because it's your birthday, I'm going to type it up, right here and now on this blog, just for you. It goes a little something like this:

First of all, congratulations on graduating. That's like, huge. Almost like winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Anyway, I figured that we should enter our new lives with a clean slate, so I've searched my soul and decided to forgive you for the grievous wrongs you've committed against me.

• I forgive you for making that hideous blue mark across the back of my yearbook Junior Year



• I forgive you for falling asleep during our LOTR marathon



• I forgive you for taking that hideous picture of me sleeping at EFY



• I forgive you for popping your zits in front of me



• I forgive you for saying that my Grandma is strange



• I forgive you for refusing to eat lunch with me Senior Year



• I forgive you for leaving me alone with Ms. Newby and her bf that one day when we stayed late working on baby ads



• I forgive you for shoving all your memorabilia of me in a box. Under your bed.



• I forgive you for throwing away the acorn I brought you all the way from Gettysburg



• I forgive you for not wearing purple eye shadow even though I tell you to all the time



• I forgive you for hating animals



• I forgive you for forgetting to wear deodorant



• I forgive you for laughing at me when I fell playing dodge ball at BBBS that one time



• I forgive you for wrecking my social life

Wow, what a list. But don't let that stress you out, because I believe thanks are also in order...

• Thank you for discovering the air conditioning in my car



• Thank you for driving me around when I was too afraid to drive myself around



• Thank you for picking me up all the way in Logan when I went to see another friend



• Thank you for participating in my social norms project in 11th grade



• Thank you for bringing me cupcakes and magazines when I botched my hair



• Thank you for doing all the work in Physics



• Thank you for introducing me to BLTs and the awesomeness of cemeteries and the wonder of that green hair gel



• Thank you for the stellar quilt you made me for Christmas



• Thank you for the word "stellar"



• Thank you for bringing me cookies AND milk when I was having a bad day



• Thank you for not being (too) mad at me when I said the plane ticket prices would go down and they went up



• Thank you for supporting my aspirations to join the Peace Corps and marry an African



• Thank you for being such a good influence, such a genuine person, and finally, thank you for being my best friend!

Aren't you so glad I didn't throw that away? Me too. Lots of great memories I bet you forgot about, and possibly still don't remember.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GB!
But how could you NOT have a happy birthday? You're in Mexico!

Oh, I know. Maybe because I'M not there!!

The Book*

Well, I don't know where I was in my epic up-and-coming novel last time I talked to you about it, but, having absolutely NOTHING to do all day long these days, I've been working like crazy on it, and I'm proud to announce that I am currently up to a whopping 41,428 words. That's 92 and a quarter pages, 12 point font, 1.5 spacing, normal word margins. Don't be fooled though. 92 and a quarter pages on the computer is prolly like, 200+ pages in an actual book.
In case you don't know, and I know for a fact that you don't, the acceptable word count for a novel is between 40,000 and 80,000, words, give or take a few thousand depending on the publishing company. And if you're a brand new baby author like me, you can absolutely not go over 100,000 words.
I know you're prob. thinking, "Well, that's lovely GP. But I don't really give a &$!#."

Guess what though? You should, because it's kind of a problem considering I'm not even half-way done with the story yet. I mean, I thought I was, but then I got to thinking about the massive amount of detail that needs to go into the latter part of the storyline, and I was like "Whoa. No waaay I can keep this under 100,000 words!"

Anyway, I just thought you should be aware of my writing woes since you were going to be my manager once, remember?

Position's still open.