Super Sunday... a respite from finals

Brent and I went to Grantsville today to see his family... it was awesome... his family gave a gospel lesson (like a family home evening type thing) and it really was super touching. But, we took the backroads up to Grantsville, and the view was stunning. Golden white fields and misty mountains. 

My roommate Heather made this Chicken Soup recipe a few weeks ago, and it was oh so delicious! I want to make it for the family for Christmas holiday.

scary. beyond belief.

I have 4 finals this week, and I am way scared  y'all. Please cross your fingers. I don't want to say too much more about it... or I may cry.

Just kidding.

.... semi- kidding.

This morning

I had to work at 7am this morning, and accidentally fell asleep without turning on my alarm. I think it was a tender mercy that I woke up at 4am and remembered.

Also, everything at work was good this morning, but at 9:15am it felt like lunch time. So.. I was a bit spontaneous and ordered Dominoes. Oops.

I have tons of homework to do, naturally. But only 17 days, and I'll be back Carolina, I am literally so pumped. And I'm pretty excited for everyone to meet Brent.

I was looking at this blog today, The Daybook, oh man I just cried. The lady is talking about the birth of her first baby, and it is literally so beautiful. If you want, you should take a look.

Here is my news story from yesterday. Its on the ElevenNews website. It has some lighting issues... but its alright.

Fall Play

the news

you can watch it here if you're bored and have nothing better to do... :)

I made a blooper today... see if you can catch it at the end. I also do this weird nodding thing at the end... it makes me want to hurl. :) but seriously. But I was liking the story though.

Family, if you're reading this, I did receive the check today. You guys are the wind beneath my wings.

Pumped for Thanksgiving

The view from our porch...

This Thanksgiving is going to be lovely. Fingers crossed. I've got a break from school (though not from work... no surprise there...) and a little fun time on a road trip to Burley, ID with Brent and friends. A road trip has been a long time coming.. I'm quite excited to turn up some jams on the trip there and to have deep conversations with my friends.

I'm swamped with work and school at the moment (again, no surprise) and just keep on going cause lets be honest... that's all I can do :)

I've been listening to this Beatles song and this one on repeat whenever I'm on my computer for the last couple days... the Beatles. They are genius, they are.

a little room mate time. Kelsey, left,  and Heather, middle.

wanderlust....

Tuscany

Orem City Gets a New Mayor

Orem, Provo's neighboring city, swore in their new mayor last Tuesday. Aaannnddd here's the video.

He giveth. and He taketh away.

I had the absolute worst day.
I dropped my new iphone in the toilet, and now it won't turn on.
It is like losing a child. I know its just a hunk of metal.... but it hurts.
In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the
I-didn't-buy-insurance-so-I'm-out-of-luck fund.

Thank you.

a little woozy

Y'all,

I went to donate blood today... which I've done before, no issues whatsoever. But today, I got up from the reclining chair (a serious recliner, I was so far back!) to go to the snack section after they took the needle out. My vision was going all black, all I could hear was a hum of noise in the background, and I had the feeling of being in an airplane that's going down way too fast. Oh man! it was one of the worst things I've ever felt! I thought for sure I was gonna black out at any second. One of the nice girls working the snack station was like, "Get a juice! Get a juice! Get a juice!" Haha so I did. And I went and laid down on the recliner again... and then I was back to regular in about 10min. 

Yikes! Then I loaded up on the free snacks (took advantage of the fact that all the snack girls were feeling bad for me:) and went to a group project meeting. 

oh, the news.

Provo City Council elections are coming up on Nov 8th. A local neighborhood was hosting a get-to-know-the-candidates meeting so there was my story. Unfortunately with meetings.... the video is a bit boring so just ignore that part.

The whole video is on elevennews.byu.edu. I felt like a jerk though because I interviewed a random audience member in the meeting and I couldn't use him in my video. And it wouldn't be bad.. except for the sweet guy asked for the news station and the website... and then he doesn't even have a cameo appearance in the story. Sincere apologies, dude. Really.

    This is for you, Grandma... and for you Thelma. :)

Alcohol sales in Provo

The council meeting I went to to get this story was fascinating. The meeting was where the city council would decide to overturn Provo's ban on Sunday alcohol sales. There was quite a lot of comment. One guy got up and was like, "You guys know me well as I've run for city council five times."

Yikes! At first, I thought, is that embarrassing or admirable that he's kept running for 5 times? That you've lost five times... but when he commented, I realized embarrassing was the correct choice. He was crazy intense and a tidge irrational. Not quite what you want on the city council. But he actually wanted to comment several times, but the city council speaker shut him down right quick- saying he was not afraid to remove the 5-time-runner guy from the meeting if necessary! It was like a drama. Loved it.

Also, a reporter and his cameraman (us BYU students have to be both! but the real deal's have a separate camera guy) from ABC 4 were there... and they asked me what I was doing for the meeting's audio! I felt so honored. I told them the plug was right over there in the corner. The week before, I was interviewing someone at city council, and this lady from The Salt Lake Tribune was right there behind me waiting to interview him after me. That's right. I led her to the scoop. I'm flattering myself... :)

The little video story is from the eleven news website.

Also, I've been so wishing I was back across the pond.... or at least in Carolina so I could see all my peeps.

Venice. And Deanna looking so fly.

I also want to see this lovely lady and thank her for her sweet gift in the mail. Sure miss you Thelma

last week...

Click right here to see the video and online text from the story last week that I did for ElevenNews. As you can see... I didn't talk at all but I did do all the video and the text (kind of lame I know! But the news director has the final say and he is the big cahuna.) So my piece was simply citizen's reaction to the resignation of a councilman from Provo Municipal Council. He had been charged criminally and ethically was going to face a vote from the city council on his dismissal. Turns out, he just resigned last moment, which came as a big surprise.

A little FYI though... the last guy interviewed was the uncle of Steve Turley's (the resigned councilman) wife. I couldn't put that in the video, but it was kind of interesting to hear that he thought the planned vote to dismiss Turley was fair, but he did feel for the effects all the dismissal/resignation drama was having on the family.

Late Poster

Lookin so classy with that beard, Dad. 

These photos of dad are A+. Excellent work... I know where I get my good looks from :) 

I must admit, I have been going crazy at school. I'm struggling to stay afloat in my classes but I am having a blast (minus the stress from aforesaid struggling). Last Wednesday on the news, I didn't complete my video before deadline which was a blow to my ego- and the video wasn't even all that great. I have a quiz in 3 hours that I haven't quite prepared for, and I still need to plan an activity for Saturday for church. 

Doing rough over here, but doing it with a smile. God, does that count for something? 

Love to all, xoxo

The News

Yikes, there I am... that blazer looks rough... :)

Go here to look at the news show yesterday that aired at noon on Provo channel 11.
Go here to watch the video...
My part comes in at like minute 2:30, and boy was it crazy exciting! I'm live at first to introduce my story about iProvo (a program started by Provo to provide fiber optic internet to all residents and businesses, but now costs the city $3.2 million annually in debt- and residents are paying it through a utility bill hike) Then after I introduce the news story, you see it come on and its nuts because all the video, editing, and voice was done by yours truly! Oh man, I need to improve a lot... but it sure was fast paced and exhilarating!

I found out at the beginning of the day that I was doing that live intro and ending to my story and I caught my breath, this was my first day on the news and they had me going on live! Dang I didn't know whether to be way happy or to puke!

I clip on the microphone to practice, and I had my button down blue shirt on only that you can see in the photo... and the News Director was like, "You look unprofessional." I was like, whaaaa? Its a button down. haha. I borrowed the anchor's blazer, and that took care of it. 

SchoolTime

I started my classes on Monday, and boy was it a whirlwind! My professors seem preeetty top notch though! Here are a few examples:

1. Communications Management, Comms 360 (about how to manage a news corporation taught by redhead Prof Walton, who used to head the Public Relations team at Harley Davidson, yes that's right, and was also in PR for Dow Chemical Co. which is a Fortune 500 company she mentioned... classy.)

Anyhow, she is very business and down to earth but in a super endearing way. She asked those in our class to raise their hands if they had a class from her before... and about 9 kids raised em up. Then, she said sweetly, "Now, I'm going to leave the room for 5 min so these students can tell you the honest truth about me as a teacher. I want you to get the real scoop about me before you waste a semester with someone you don't like."

How cool is that?!

2. Comparative Politics, PL SC 150 

On the syllabus, Prof Jacoby put the grading scale, which of course is on all syllabi. I'm looking through it and read:

     Daily quizzes 20%

     Attending Constitutional Convention (and do paper) 10%

     Three short papers 30%

     Final exam 30%

     Class participation 5%

     Responses to lectures given outside class 5% 

     Having done well in high school  0%

Pay close attention to that last little one! haha, it is true, we think we have a sense of entitlement if we did alright in high school! We're playin' with the big boys now.

The new house!

I got the key to move into my house yesterday. It may not have a dishwasher, and it may only have 1 bathroom for four girls (can anyone say disaster?), and the fridge MAY have stunk to the heavens when I first moved in, but here it is in all its glory. 

The ladies that lived here before had that couch on the porch! It's a bit of an
eyesore, but how does one exactly throw away a sofa? Perhaps to Goodwill....
but how to get there?

And yes, that is a fireplace you see. Will we use it? That is questionable. Lets say "to be determined" (meaning if we can figure out how to work it!) But it sure does feel like home already, which is surprising I think.

The kitchen is way nice, with the glass-in-the-door cabinets and a white stove. I do love the house and I'm so excited to see what it will look like when we have everything in! And my room mate will be new too! I'm excited for a new best friend.

oh work...

I know I've been griping about work a lot lately. But, I sure have been having difficulties maintaining desire to keep going! I feel like I just want to quit after every shift! What is this?

Do most people feel this way after working 40 hours at one thing? How normal is this?

And granny, Whitney adored your comment on her blog and says a sweet thank you :)

But, on a happier note, I can think of 5 friends that got engaged in the last 2 weeks! Cupid must be flying around working double time, and not having any issues at all working his job...

Kelly and Andrew... looks like from a movie :)

Mormons and Sharks around the Web

I cannot believe that 2 presidential candidates are Mormons! I have to say, I do like Mitt Romney better myself, in my personal (and could be more knowledgeable) opinion.

Romney and Huntsman's mugs

This little funny news video (at this website) by Stephen Colbert is a hoot! He talks about Mitt and Jon Huntsman and how allegedly the Obama campaign is trying to make Mormons (and therefore competitor Mitt!) look "weird." I'm not sure if that's really true, but it is kind of refreshing to hear a supportive take on a Mormon president.

ALSO, I cannot BELIEVE this photo!

It kinda gives me the shivers! Here's the story about it: 

"A family were on holiday in Australia for a week and a half when husband, wife and their 15 year old son decided to go scuba diving. The husband is in the navy and has had some scuba experience.  His son wanted a picture of his mum and dad in all their gear so he got the under water camera ready to go. When it came to taking the picture the dad realized that the son looked like he was panicking as he took it and gave the ‘OK’ hand sign to see if he was all right."


"The son took the picture and swam to the surface and back to the boat as quick as he could so the mum and dad followed to see if he was OK.  When they got back to him he was scrambling onto the boat and absolutely panicking. When the parents asked why, he said ‘there was a shark behind you.’ The dad thought he was joking but the skipper of the boat said it was true but they wouldn’t believe him."

"As soon as they got back to the hotel they loaded the picture onto there laptop and that was what they saw."

I got the story from this cool blog.

A little guy

My friend Katie found this little birdie on her doorstep, so naturally she took him in. However, Katie had the landlord coming around today, and unfortunately we can't have animals! So I birdsat little guy for a while. What a cutie! He would get cold and just start chirping and chirping! Then, when you held him or put him in the sun he would just stretch up on his big feet and get real tall and close his little eyes. He would make my heart melt (not that I even know its a he... kinda hard to tell with all the feathers:)

Excuse the sideways photos... for whatever reason I would save the photo as vertical, but yet when I put it on my blog it would do its own little thing. 

Maybe I was a little obsessed. But he was just so fluffy! and cute! But I took this little video of him cause he had been following me around earlier. Ha, but in the video, he got so caught up in the warmth of the sunlight that he forgot about following me for a while. But then he starts scurrying, and he is just the little fluff scooting around!

After birdwatching and packing up the kitchen to move this Saturday, I worked all day. What we do for the money, right? Thanks for your comment last time Phoebe, always makes me feel better :)

Oh, work.

It brings in the cash... but what else does it do??

Hitched!

Ms. Kelly Stapleton Nielsen was married on Saturday- and what a sweet little wedding it was! I was to pick up the bouquet (below!) the morning of and bring it to her in Logan, and I was kinda nervous they would wilt in the sun on the 2 hour drive there! Can you imagine, wishing Kelly happy nuptials with a bouquet of deads... I would die! The florist instructed me to keep it cool. And I thought, excellent, I'll keep it in the fridge. But the next words out of her mouth: "But not in the fridge, fruits and vegetables will wilt the flowers." Ha, unfortunately I don't have a cooler or nothin, so I dampened a paper towel and put it over :) Worked like a charm.

I just love this photo above. Kelly looks so happy! With her parents Sue and Steve.

Kelly just looked perfect. She wasn't loud and crazy excited, but just so solidly happy and graceful... like Kate Middleton now that I think of it. But I have to be honest, that bouquet was like my pride and joy. Every time I saw it against her dress, it was so stunning! The purples were so rich and just matched perfectly with the bridal party's deep purple dresses. That bouquet was under my watch and care, and it did me proud!

I did unfortunately, ball like a baby when Andrew and Kelly came out of the Logan temple looking so sweet and holding hands. Neither Kelsey or Whitney could be at the wedding, so I'm pretty sure I cried for all three of us. No sweat.

A bit of a Funk

Sometimes, I feel a bit of a funk! When I'm not working, it sometimes feels like I'm not sure what to do, and for whatever reason that makes me feel like a slob mc-slob. Even though, my rational self tells me that having a little breather at the end of summer is just fine... sometimes I can't get over the wierdee feeling!

This cheered me up a bit:

Stunner, right? I think the northern lights are on my bucket list. And you know, this photo of St. Peter's was a little pick-me-up too.

Provo Canyon

I took the bike up the Provo Canyon today, about a 30 min ride from mi casa. I did get stuck in the rain for a time... but it was so pretty! Conveniently, there was a bike path in the canyon so I didn't have to be nervous for my life riding on the road (the cars always go so fast, whippin around those canyon corners!). Though I was a bit nervous about the big snake I saw on the bike path! Haha yikes.

The 600 ft. water fall that Provo Canyon is known for, Bridal Falls. Took this with Kelly's camera, the little champ! Turned out pretty good.

The view from behind the handles.

This photo is from right up in the canyon. The mist around the mountains was so dreamy! I had just gotten caught in the rain storm, which was a bit of a bummer, but it created this romantic little landscape so I couldn't complain.

A little trippy right? The mountains were reflected just stunningly in this little pool. See if you can guess which way it goes :)

New Happenings

I wanted to give a little shout off to my best friend, sister, and soon-to-be ex room mate. She is getting hitched in just a few days on Aug. 6 and I am just brimming with happiness for her, giving her all my sweet dreams for her life with ol Andrew!

They are getting married in this pretty place, the Mormon temple in Logan, Utah. I actually drove by it a week or two ago, and I know this is cheesy cheese, but it made me catch my breath it was so pretty.

Their engagement photo, absolute studs right? 

For a 80's skating party, lookin A+ per usual :)