fotoshoot

roommates, man. this summer I was pretty reluctant to return to a life of singledom in provo but I felt that I was supposed to get my masters of social work at byu. so I began apartment hunting and I had one requirement: my own room. no way was I going to do that "roommate" thing again. until one day I got a call that there was an opening with my long-time roommate/bosom friend/bff audrey. I was sold, obviously. so I once again moved into an apartment with four girls, one of whom I knew and two of whom I didn't.

but these girls, quite entertaining! am I right or am I right? it's pretty clear that we are friends and such. the thing about roommates is that you can never force friendship. sure, you live together and you would hope that you could be friends-but since when was everyone friends with their roommates? but this time, once again, I just ammmm friends with them and even if I don't see them every day we can still talk for hours when we finally wake up on saturday. because we are in college and that is how we do.

so it's good times and they try and scare me and I get scared so...symbiotic relationship!

ps these pictures were taken by the one and only paxton gray, and they are the besttttt. use him for all of your photographic needs, if you have any of those.

Bearbearbear Lake 2012

Watch this video. (I would recommend actually going to this place to watch it, better quality you know).

It was pretty awesome, but more on that to come.

January 2012

Existing below is a list, a few lists, of things, a few things, 

I saw and experienced during the month of January 2012. 

My England-obsessed family took a trip to SLC to visit an English shoppe (obv that's how they spell it in England) where I picked up some Bueno bars and wished that crumpets tasted better. If they did, I might have stayed for tea.

Phrase of the month: "Don't tell me what to do." "Legen-wait for it-dary." Also, just about to make a comeback is, "Brilliant."

Once, there was this great deal you could get a manicure/pedicure/facial/full body massage/hair cut/color/eyebrow waxing/etc. deal for just $25 dollars! I'm lying, but there was a deal for a new salon and my roommates and I were sold and so I got my hair cut in a cute little house in Orem. Now that house is the Chocolate where I enjoyed this hot choc. It tasted slightly of Barbercide. Just kidding...

Things watched: Gambit, Footloose (fail), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (best), Alcatraz, Bachelor, 30 Rock (triumphant return!)

Welcome to my life, colored cords. Clearly I quickly became obsessed as I owned 0 pairs at the beginning of one week and by the end of that same week I had 3 pairs. That kind of thing happens for a reason.

Best app download: 16 different flashlight/reading light apps in an attempt to find one that didn't blind me (fail).
2nd best app download: 4 different resolution trackers which I used for approx. 30 seconds each (fail).

This is what I did with the largest percentage of my time in January, I watched little people as they sat in chairs, slept on mats and ran around museums.

Cutest thing a child said: As a favorite child left he said, "I love you to the bottom of the ocean and then up up up into space and then back to earth again." As another favorite child left I asked him if I was his favorite teacher and he mumbled and didn't respond but just before he left for good he came up and said, "yes" to me. Also, a kid wanted to have a "meow" on Old McDonald's farm.
Meanest thing I did: Took away every toy from the playroom for a few days.

"I am sorry miss Tori because I kept hitting you with my head and smacking you in the face." As I helped ...someone... write 10 of these notes he commented, "Wow, I hit a lot of people today didn't I?" Yep kid, that was the problem.

Books read: Gilead, Paris Wife, Meg Cabot books (okay...don't judge), The Millenarian World of Early Mormons (it was definitely for class), Shiver.

Sometimes as we eat our froyo (as we do semi-frequently) we take pictures of ourselves in a window.

Inches cut off of my hair: Way too many.
Biggest regret: Cutting my hair to the awkward length where it gets crimped by your neck position and/or any collars on your shirt and/or jacket.

Samantha. and Peter. Had birthdays. We ate food. To celebrate. At Tucanos. Which was party central. And I didn't eat. As we celebrated. At Sushi Ya.

Hours kept: work and school about 11 hours a day, unless I was slacking (did that daily), sleep about 8 hours a day, unless I was reading.

I may be the only person to think so, but this sky seemed pretty cool. So cool that I pulled my car over, stopped it (see how I pulled over first, not after I stopped-that's smart) jumped out and iphone-ly immortalized it for myself. Well done, Jessica.

Number of tweets: 63, I had no idea I was tweetang that much.
Information conveyed in those tweets: my favorite swear word (cuss. ntm*. ftabiigtbb**.), my broom hockey skills, the Norwegian butter shortage crisis and bachelor quotes.

I made a sandwich for one of my kids at work. No joke, it is his favorite and it is Ham and Cheese AND Peanut Butter and Jelly. Who wants two separate sandwiches when you can have one that has the best of both worlds?

Most shocking things learned: There was (is?) a butter shortage in Norway and for some reason they can't just call another country and get butter. Also, that dancing was discouraged in early Mormon times (thanks for changing that rule church leaders).

Crepes with ice-cream=PDG***, especially when you are really cool and go with your roommate on a Friday night which is date night for the entire world (except us).

 New calling for the new semester: Compassionate service leader, yaaaaa service!

A drive up Provo Canyon was ended early as we passed 3 accidents because of the (basically) first (real) snowfall of the year.

Restaurants visited: Spoon it up, Tucanos, Gurus, Roll Up Crepes, Cafe Rio, Bandit Grill, Firehouse burger (so good-on Springville/Provo border, try it) and Cafe Zupas.

This picture has many aspects which I want to explore. We will call them a. b. and c. We will start with b. and then move to a. then to c. So, b. is all about my coat. Isn't it great? It is knee length, Indian print, black and grey and cheap-o from Forevskies. a. is prominently spotlighting my Hunter boots which are green and which are finally in my posession. c. points you to the huge puddle my boots (see b.) are protecting me from which is in the middle of my parking lot, which should be fixed.

# of times I left Provo: tons, because I go to Springville and Orem a lot. Also, there were trips to Park City (Sundance) and Salt Lake.
Activities participated in: broom hockey, Just Dance, lots of card games, ward progressive dinner, Sundance Film Festival, dinner with JABS, shopping, reading.

These are my friends from high school. [insert snarky remark about how we never grew up here.]

Fast of the month: Netflix. Abstaining from it has been easier than expected.

I visited the new Springville Public Library. Gosh it looks good, but still has many of the books I want to read checked out. I still managed to find about 10 to check out though. 

Color of the month: Grey. I have literally (nts****) worn two different shades of gray in one outfit at least thrice a week. Additionally, I have worn three or four different shades of grey in one outfit probably thrice this month. Again I say, grey is literally the color of the month.

Sidenote: grey is the strangest word ever.

So my Instax is awesome and it takes pictures of those who lived in Chatsworth N1 when it was covered in wallpaper, had a microwave from 1985 and two gross couches. That means it took a picture of Brittany, Annie, Jocelyn and myself. Good Instax.

Price of gas: approximately $3.20, this tidbit guarantees me a spot in the history books as they cite me as a reference for the price of gas. It also guarantees that when my grandchildren interview me and ask me the price of bread and gas I will say, gas was $3.20 but nobody bought bread, we just bought Cafe Rio pork salads with black beans and no guacamole for $8.75 (approximately).

On one of the best weekends ever where I had the whole house to myself I read three books and Perry the Puma joined me, and I let him because it made me feel even more intellectual when I was reading with a cat on me.

People met: a few many lots couple good amount
Celebrities seen: zip, zilch, nada

Once upon a time, CandaceJordynPeasantKylieNikkiTabbyJessica went to Sundance with high hopes. They were fulfilled, but not in the way expected. Rather they were fulfilled in free parking, a special free taxi, not free (but good) food, free book browsing and free street walking. FTW.

Progress on new years resolutions: Achieved all of them because I only created them this week. Thus, by default I was acing them as you can't fail at what doesn't exist.

*ntm: name that movie
**ftabiigtbb: figure that acronym...when I originally created the acronym I knew what it meant, but now I don't remember...
***pdg: pretty darn good
****nts: name that show

My summer consists of fireworks.

and people. it also consists of people on the roof of the dev.

and watching the sandlot at the capital.

and a day surfing behind the boat.

and carnivals.

and more fireworks of the sparkling kind.

huzzah to summer. 

did I already say that once before?

Saturday at the Pond

Audrey, Jenny, Myself, Brent

        On Saturday we rope swang/swung/swinged in Mona (a small town far south of the current homeland). There is lovely clear water that is only kind of murky and only semi smells like fish. I affirmed the long held belief that I struggle with rope swings as I let go as soon as I was deep enough not to suffer a head injury. I cannot, apparently, wait for the peak. I think it stems from my fear of being on the swing and just wanting to be in the water a.s.a.p. Maybe I'm a fish, not a bird? Let's consider that in great depth. (no pun intended)

I love all these people so check out my shoulder tan lines!

        After swanging/swunging/swinging we stopped by BIG BURGER right on Main St. in Mona. We let the man that drove his John Deere tractor cut us in line, as he was just wanting a fruit punch. It was a perfect summer burger as a result of me being able to carve my name on the table before I ate, and the small town taste that accompanied it.

Let's all raise our fruit punches to summer, and Mona.