Opinions, opinions...

So. I am looking at possible jobs that won't bore me out of  my mind when I join the ranks of the graduated in May and one of these is as a copywriter. They're looking for someone who not only has good grammar skills and likes to write, but one who is 'pithy' (their word, not mine). Along with a resume, they've asked for a writing sample. Most of the stuff that I've written for school doesn't exactly fall into this category so my mind immediately flew to this here blog space. This is where you, my dear readers, come into the picture.

  I need to know what your favorite posts have been. 

This could make or break me, since the whole ninja assassin thing doesn't look like it's going to work out (shame, I know) and I can't count on Teach for America (one more week of waiting left), I want to make sure my options are open. Please please don't let a girl down.

 Comment below and for heaven sakes, be honest.

The Daily Ten...

I'm the luckiest. No, really, I am. There are many reasons, but one of them is that I'm related to this darling girl  because my cousin was brilliant enough to marry her (scroll down to see pictures of her. She's seriously one of the cutest people ever). A while back she started doing this fun thing called The Daily Ten where she picked ten things every day that she was grateful for/happy about. Seeings at this is my last semester in school (5 weeks, baby!) and I feel like I'm literally dragging my feet through the days, I decided that it was time for a little Daily Ten in my life. Especially with this being the week after spring break and coming back to school has just about killed me, so ya'll get to hear 10 things that I'm grateful for. Be prepared for it to get silly pretty fast because that's just how I roll.

1) My sister-in-law to be. Jordan has to be one of the most amazing people that I know. She's kind and gracious to everyone. She always makes me feel like I'm important when I'm around her and I'd trade my brother for her in a heartbeat. I'm over the moon that she's going to be an honest to goodness sealed in part of our family in 3 weeks.

2) A new phone. That's right. I've finally joined the ranks of the cool. No, I'm not cool enough to have an iPhone (who wants to pay for the data plan?!) but I did get a new HTC Freestyle which is like an iPhone, but without the extra charge. Now if I could just learn how to use it, I'd be in business.

3) Bath and Body Works Wallflowers. I just got new scents and my whole house smells amazing. Smelling good is one of my all time favorite things. Hence I have about 13 kinds of perfume on my bathroom counter.

4) General Conference Weekend. 2 days. 8 hours. All sorts of awesomeness? Yes, please.

5) Theatre Tickets. I have tickets to see A Tale of Two Cities two more times before it closes. Right now I'm not focusing on the fact that my new favorite show is closing soon, but on the fact that I get to see it TWO more times. It'll bring my grand total up to coughninecough, but who's counting?

6) Amazon Prime.  Just this very morning, this miraculous invention allowed me to purchase three of my favorite books from my childhood: Rain Makes Applesauce, Tikki Tikki Tembo, and Caps for Sale. And the best part? Shipping is free and they'll be here Wednesday. I love my life.

7) Bright Red Nail Polish. I love love love to paint my nails and red is typically my color of choice because it's sassy and fun. Right now I'm having a hard time watching the computer screen instead of my awesome nails as I type.

8) New friends. I've met a lot of  amazing and incredible people lately, which has been lovely especially because I'm a little shy so meeting new people isn't always easy for me.

9) Massive shopping trips. I know I know. I shouldn't shop as much as I do, but I simply LOVE it! And my closet is SO happy when I'm done, even if my bank account isn't. Gap outlet just about broke me on Saturday.

10) Adele. I'm madly in love with her new CD. So much so that I actually bought the disc so that I could have it in my car, on my iPod and on my computer at home. Obsessed much? I think so.

What a difference a day makes...

So, friends of the blog world, can I please share with you that my weekend was full of craziness? I was literally surrounded by a sea of crazy for the better portion of it. It all began on Thursday morning when my sweet grandmother had an epic freak out session after I left for work which lead to my mother coming to the decision that it was time to move her down to Pleasant Grove for the duration. That meant that on Friday morning after class my mom, Kylee, Max and Cole all drove up to Sugarhouse to pack up 60 years worth of life in a house and haul it down to the padres' house. (A quick shout out to the darling Amanda who was a complete angel and worked all day for me so that I could run around like a chicken with my head cut off). What complicated this little plan was that Gram was sick when my mom got to the house. I had been in such a hurry get to get to class on time that I hadn't been paying especially close attention when I ran out the door, but my mom saw it as soon as she walked in (She's so observant that I swear she's psychic sometimes). So after lots of moving, lots of throwing things away and 4 huge bags of clothes for the DI, one trip to Pleasant Grove and back, Gram was off to her doctor's appointment while Squeegee and I did a little shopping. Now, dears, don't judge, but I was feeling weak willed and I let her talk me into purchasing a pair of skinny jeans. I told you not to judge! It's my blog! I'm the only one who gets to judge around here! And I look darling in them. AND they're a size smaller than the last time I purchased jeans, so take that! That's all we're going to say on the subject. Saturday brought a day full of cleaning (there was food in the cupboard that expired while I was on my MISSION) and work, followed by a long evening of cleaning my room and moving things upstairs with the help of Sara the Theatre Fairy. We decided to be spontaneous and get sweet potato Smashfries from SmashBurger AND shrimp tacos from Bajio for dinner. It was an odd combination, but throughly delightful all the same.

We're going to take a break from our regularly scheduled programing so I can tell you all how freaky sleeping in an old house all by yourself is: double dose of freaky. Trust me. I didn't sleep at all on Friday night because every tiny noise had me jolting out of my bed to investigate. It's first time since I was 16 and saw What Lies Beneath that I purposely slept with all of the lights on. Hence the move upstairs. It's much quieter than the basement and not as freaky. Sorry for the interruption. Back to my life.

My Sunday morning started with a phone call from my mother informing me that my grandma was throwing a grand fit about having been moved to the Good Ole PG and that they were seriously considering moving her back up to Salt Lake. My bleary and sleep filled mind had some serious problems digesting this information, and the first thing out of my mouth was, "But I already moved all my stuff." I'm so intelligent sometimes that I scare myself. After a few tears, lots of prayers and yet another trip down south, we came to the conclusion that Gram would stay put in Pleasant Grove. While I was down in PG, trying to help my dear mother calm my grandma down, I got to hold and snuggle my Peanut and play with Joshie a little. It was a fantastic little trip. Immediately following my return home, I took my first Sunday nap in 3 months and it was glorious. I was then lucky enough to be fed one of my favorite meals: pasta alla Sara. Right?! The awesomeness of this was compounded by the fact that I also watched Guys and Dolls  for the first time ever and can I please just tell you all that I have absolutely no clue how I lived 25.84 years of my life without seeing that movie? I'm addicted. And I want to marry Sky Masterson.

Lucky for me I now have spring break to nurse my new found obsession and reorganize the mess that is my house.

All the cookies...

I don't remember exactly when we started using the phrase, though I'm fairly certain that it had something to do with this lovely man:

 

Riiiiiight?

 Anyway, like I said. I'm pretty sure that Jourdan and I were referencing his sheer amazingness in August Rush or something akin to that when the idiom came into being. The exact conversation is immaterial. The important part is that the articulation super glued its self into my little head and I began to use it to describe those people that you almost want to hate because they're so close to perfect that it's ridiculous. 

All the coo-kies

[awl thuh kook-ees]

adjective

1. A phrase used to describe a person or group of people who are proficient at any and all tasks that they desire to accomplish

2. One who is exceptionally good looking, inside and out

3. A person who is "so good hearted that any normal chap would hate him".

Sample Sentence:

"Of course shaking his hand made you turn to jelly; he has all the cookies."

That should give you a more specific idea of what I'm rambling about. Anyway, this elucidation has now become part of my vernacular to the point that I use 'all the cookies' without thinking around people who have no clue what it  means and subsequently some of the incredibleness is lost on them. Which brings me to my point in this blog post: I've been lucky enough to meet a handful of people who embody the definition of this delightful expression and in my world, it is not thrown around the way that most people throw around the word 'good'. So if and when I tell you that you have all the cookies, please, take me seriously; even though the verbiage its self sounds a little silly.

So. Fill me in. Who do you know that has all the cookies?

Do you ever...

have those days where you feel like you just kind of suck at life? Where nothing you do is exactly right and you're always missing the mark? That's me today. No, honestly. Everything just feels off. I got in trouble at work (which NEVER happens) for not being nice to a couple of customers last week when I was dying of the plague and should have been home in bed. Usually I'd just let this roll off, but my boss was really condescending about it and just made me feel like an idiot, as though I have no clue how to do my job and that just made me feel even worse. 99.9% of the time, I'm perfectly nice to every customer who walks up to my desk, stupid questions or not. I know that I usually talk about how much I love my job, but right now I'm sick to death of it. I think that part of it has to do with the fact that last week, I realized that I'm so very not cut out to be someone's secretary. I want to do something real with my life, something that makes a difference in someone else's life. I watch all of my amazing friends do incredible and fulfilling things with their days like raise money for non-profit organizations and teach kids with special needs, and what do I do? 

Answer phone calls about sporting events and play on Facebook.
(And I know that I tutor and that my boys love me. This frustration has nothing to do with my tutoring job.)

And apparently I can't even get that right. 

Can I please just express to you all how frustrating it is not to feel like you're contributing to society on a regular basis?

It sucks.

Anyway, I'm so sorry for my gloomy mood. 

Blame it on the weather.

I promise to be back to my bright and sunny self again tomorrow. 

...

Do you, my darling readers, remember how I was supposed to be free from my retched tonsils next Thursday? I was counting down the days. Honest. I was ready to make myself one of those old school paper chains and everything. To finally be free from getting the plague on a VERY regular basis? Eat nothing but Popsicles and Jamba Juice for a week? Lay on my padres' down-filled couch and watch every BBC miniseries that I could get my hands on? Convince Max and Cole to rub my feets because I'm sick? Bliss. I mean, the whole excruciating pain thing is a minus, but what's a little pain in the grand scheme of keeping my voice? I'm glad to see that you share my perspective on this. Imagine my horror and devastation when I received a phone call last Friday afternoon informing me that I hadn't been on my insurance long enough to have the surgery. It turns out that NORMAL insurance companies require you to be covered for one year prior to any surgery. Reasonable, right? Well, my luck is not so great. Mine requires you to be covered for 18 months, and that won't happen until JUNE. Since it's my parents' insurance, I get kicked off when I turn 26, which happens in MAY.  See the conundrum? This is not my happy face. I made calls. My dad made calls. I begged. He pleaded. To no avail. These vestigial organs are staying firmly and infectiously inside my throat. I had some monies saved up so as to pay for my life while I was languishing on that lovely couch, so yesterday I made a decision. I was going to spend it. Now don't freak, not all of it. But I was mad and when I'm mad one of my favorite things to do is shop. Since I have a huge job interview tomorrow (all prayers are appreciated), new dress pants were definitely in order. I'm pretty sure that the only good thing that has come out of this whole mess are those pants. I won't lie to you; my butt has never looked better.

The Weekend Update, featuring your favorite Girl...

I know what you're all thinking. Two posts in two days, how did you all get so stinking lucky? Feel blessed because with the whirlwind that this next week is going to be, you're not going to be hearing..er, reading, my delightful and charming comments on life all that much. Blame the biggest job interview of my young life and a whole lot of homework, combined with the fact that my weekend was entirely unproductive in the classical sense of productivity though you'd never know if you asked me how long I slept, total, between Friday night and Sunday morning (9 hours, for the record). What was I doing with all that time, you wonder? Whelp, I'm about to tell you, so get super excited. Um, excuse me, those are not your super excited faces. I can see through the computer. It's another one of my sidekick powers.  Okay, that's better. Where was I? Oh yes, what I did with my weekend. Well, young (and not so young) grasshoppers, I spent my weekend here, watching this and dying a little at it's sheer and complete awesomeness. But that doesn't take up the other 63 hours of my weekend, now does it? On Friday a good portion of it was spent at work, which is much less fun to talk about so we'll just skip that, now won't we? After the show on Friday night (which was beyond epic, seriously. I'm not even joking or exaggerating for dramatic effect) I was lucky enough to get to meet some of the cast and Jill Santoriello, who wrote the script, music and lyrics to A Tale of Two Cities (squee!!) and have dessert with them at Applebee's. I KNOW, RIGHT? Oh wait. Most of you are not the die hard theater nerd that I am. Well, show me your excited faces anyway, please and thank you. It was incredibly neat to get to meet some of my favorite characters as real people and made me love the show all the more (I know what you're thinking: that is outside the realm of possibility, but I assure you, it is not). This little party lasted late into the night, which pretty much meant that I only slept for 3 hours on Friday (sheer excitement + whopping migraine + a Diet Coke + 2 Excedrine = completely wired version of Mal that was literally vibrating). Saturday held another viewing of the show and dinner with my Theatre Fairy Sara and then, (because we're complete nerds) we went to the talk back with Jill and the cast. Sigh. It was magical.
   There are a myriad of reasons why I love theater (and not all of them have to do with ridiculously darling boys), but one of the biggest and most profound is that I love how much detail matters to a good performer during a truly epic performance. I love that those little nuances and tiny elements can change a character and flavor of an overall performance. And while I will never have the talent or skill set to be on stage and create that kind of magic for an audience, I love that I get to be part of that world, even if it's just for a little while.

I loved every second of my Hale filled weekend.

Wherein I realize that I'm the sidekick...

Sometimes I have epic realizations. I know, right? You never would expect that coming from me. I do it just to keep you on your toes. When you think I'm going to zig, I'll zag and the next time I'll zig, just to mess you up for the time after that when I zag. I'm pretty great like that. Anyway, back to my epic realization. I came to the conclusion that I'm the sidekick in the classic and storied tradition of characters such as Morgan Grimes, Robin, Tinkerbell, Smee (who I actually danced in our jazz company's production of Peter Pan), Barney Rubble, Dr. Watson, Samwise Gamgee and Chewbacca.  Now don't try to argue with me. It's the truth. I am a truly fantastical sidekick because as you all know from years of watching cartoons, the sidekick is typically plays the court jester role. Trips over her own feet, says ridiculously silly things when she's trying desperately to be serious, has memorable catch phrases and shakes up the mood when the tension gets to be too much, like when the heroine is diffusing a bomb or hitting on a cute guy or something equally as life changing and world saving. These are all of the things that I'm best at. Ask my friends. I'll even give you examples for your reading pleasure (and to strengthen my case.)

Exhibit A:
 On New Year's Eve my friends and I went to Hale Centre Theatre to see Born Yesterday. Aside from the show itself being delightful, there was a particularly dashing young gentleman playing one of the main characters. Now before I finish this story, you all MUST understand something essential. This particular guy is insanely attractive, like make your legs turn to jelly good looking. Which is exactly what happened to me when I met him. I was wearing 3 inch heels and I ended up having to take them off because I had completely lost my ability to balance after he hugged me and then put his arm around me while we were talking. I was ready to liquefy. It provided endless entertainment for my friends; partly because I turned scarlet when anyone brought it up again and partly because my hands were shaking so badly that I couldn't hold my car keys.

Example Dos:
At what is quite possibly the most intense part of Star Wars Episode II (when Anakin and Padme are confessing their undying love for one another) I looked at the screen and said, "Don't worry, you'll make babies." This is one of my more tame examples of my mouth acquiring a mind of its own when I'm not actively paying attention. The rest...don't really need to be shared in a public forum.

Exhibit C-Eleventy:
Really? I need to give you an exhibit C? Fine.
Memorable catch phrases:
"Weeeeeelllll...."
"Don't judge."
"This is my insert emotion here face."
"I'm awesome."
"Look at you!"

The heroine usually has some task that she hates to do, so the responsibility to complete said task falls to the sidekick, i.e. Sara doesn't love to drive, and I do. Also, the sidekick is usually mini. I'm travel sized for your convenience.

The sidekick tends to talk a lot...I'm excellent at talking.

The sidekick is usually younger than the heroine; most of my friends (except KMJ) are older than me.

I rest my case.

The end of an era...

Alright. So. Every semester I make a soundtrack for my life. Each of the songs that appears on said soundtrack MUST have some sort of connection to how I feel about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (or as one of my students put it so eloquently last semester, "life, liberty and the right to chill.") Past versions have included everything from "Defying Gravity" from Wicked to "Waking Up in Vegas" by Katy Perry. What can I say? I like to be diverse. There's always one song in particular that's my theme song. Yes. I have a theme song. Yes, you might throw this into the delusions of grandeur category. G'head. Get the judging out of your system, I'll wait... I went and walked around my office just now. Was that enough judging time for you? I hope so. Anyway, for over a year my theme song didn't change, which was unusual. Typically, the theme song changes with the soundtrack, but this one stuck with me. I'll give you a little clip of it.

My favorite version isn't actually Barbara's, but I figured that I'd go for classic. I usually have the Lea Michele version on my soundtrack. Call me trendy if you must, but it has nothing to do with trend and everything to do with the fact that I'm madly in love with her voice; say what you will about Glee, you can't knock that girl's pipes. I could listen to this song just under a jillion times a day and not get sick of it (which is still true) but I've found a song that better describes how I feel about life right now.

Isn't it incredible? Aren't the lyrics fantastic? Trust me, the actual song is better. It's almost as good as listening to her sing it live. Now go, friends. Go and listen to this epicness over and over again. I promise you, it's that good.