Things To Be Excited About...

The first thing that each and every one of you should be excited about is that I finally got my lazy fingers to post something on this here blog. That's exciting thing number one. Other things are as follows.

*dramatically clears throat*

Things I, Mallorie Anne Mecham, Am Currently Ridiculously Excited About:

(in no particular order...oh who am I kidding. They're SO in order)

1. Mother's Day is in 38 days. This means that I not only get to celebrate my saintly mother, but that I get to talk to this here missionary.

2. I'm leaving for a fancy pants trip to the Dominican Republic and NYC with some pretty freaking awesome people on May 17th. 10 days of sand, awesomeness and no international students sending me emails. If you are calculating correctly you will realize that this means I get to spend my birthday in New York...which leads us to...

3. I get to spend my birthday in NEW YORK CITY! With Charisse. And her awesome family. Three cheers for turning cough28cough and being an honorary Baxter.

4. Jalyanie and Lucas are coming for a WEEK in June to see me. Okay, it's not really to see me, it's for Lucas' sister's wedding, but I'm really important. And I finally get to meet the darling Janie!

5. It's spring. Spring means skirts. And heels. And cute clothes. And flowers. And sunshine. And all kinds of delightful loveliness prior to the death that is SUMMER where I will melt into an unrecognizable puddle.

6. Netflix and the TV gods conspired to give me the greatest birthday present that a magic-trick-loving-banana-eater could ask for. Behold!

7. ENDER'S GAME. People. This is big. My world will be forever changed on November 01, 2013.

8. While I'm on the movie kick: The Veronica Mars Movie. Oh yes, marshmallows. V. Mars is back to rock your world.

9. My hairs are finally growing out. Want proof? See below. (Sorry for the fuzziness. Dropping your iPhone, for some reason, makes it less effective. Who knew?)

9.2 I'm also digging this nail polish color.

10. Even though I can't get myself to Manchester, this is cause for great excitement for a theatre nerd such as m'self.

So dearest friends, what are YOU excited about these days? Fill me in.

I'm not in the mood...

for a Monday. I know that I'm acting like a petulant four year old. I know that, as an adult, I need to pull up my imaginary bootstraps that those of older generations are forever referencing and get over the fact that Mondays happen. At least once a week or four times a month, depending on how you look at it. But to be honest? I'd rather just skip the whole affair all together. I hate pulling myself out of bed to take a shower and get ready for work. (To be honest? I hate pulling myself out of bed every day, but I reserve a special kind of loathing for Monday mornings.) I hate trying to convince myself, on Sunday night, that I don't mind going back to my regular work week. I heartily dislike feeling like I'm clearing cobwebs from my brain all day long. This Sunday I'm especially not loving the idea of Monday rolling around to take its place at the beginning of my week. Over the last seven days I've spent a lot of time with my mom and my sisters. Well, yes, if you must know, my brothers and my dad were there too. I mean, I like them a whole big lot, but you can't take pictures like this with brothers:

The answer you're looking for is no, you can't. In my experience, little brothers don't take kindly to red lipstick. See for yourself:

Whit got him on the forehead before she took the picture. Poor kid. He's too nice to physically move his sisters away from him as forcefully as Max or Cam would have. It sufficeth me to say that I had a completely fantastical week last week. Can you see why I don't want Monday to come? It means that I have to leave a simply lovely week behind and start one that just entails a whole lot of being at work and waiting around for a phone call about that secret government job that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. So, I must ask that if you find yourself with any spare time this week, you throw up a few extra prayers or some good karma on my behalf so I can get this job, okay?

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.

Takin' It Easy...

...which is not a description of what I've been, or will be any time soon, doing. It's the title of an Eagles song. This particular song reminds me of my daddy. He has this talent of whistling through his teeth that no matter how hard I try to do this, I can't. Anyway, when I was younger I remember driving in the car with him, the windows rolled down and the Eagles, or The Doors, or YES!, or Supertramp (you get the idea) blaring as loudly as Daddy could get it without blowing out our eardrums. You see, my dad is a HUGE music guru. That's where I get it. Anyway, my dad wanted to pass on this incredible knowledge along to his oldest daughter so he would quiz me: "Which band is this?" "What's the name of the song?" "What  year did it come out?" "Name 3 other songs by this band." I distinctly remember one evening driving home with the padres and asking my mom if she would let me have a friend spend the night. She said that she was fine with it, but only if it was alright with the supreme ruler (i.e. my dad) as well. PAUSE. There's more that you need to understand about my padre. He's sarcastic. If you know me and you've ever wondered where I get my ability to keep a straight face while mocking you, I get it from my totally awesome father. PLAY. My dear father turns to me and says, "Squirt, I'll let you have a sleepover if you can tell me the name of the band singing the next three songs on the radio." I immediately start to whine. We were listening to Arrow 103.5 and I had not adequately prepared for this difficult test. My mom tried to talk some sense into my crazy, music obsessed father. "Steve. Give her a break. Come on. At least flip the radio channel or something." But my dear father was unrelenting. "Nope. She has to do it." Lucky for me, I'm fairly certain the playlist went something like this: The Doors: Hello, I Love You, Billy Joel: Piano Man, and last but not least (a personal favorite of mine) Styx: Renegade. Needless to say, I got my sleepover. And there's now an entire playlist on my iPod dedicated to my daddy's music. Blast from the Past here I come...

Sometimes...(Because Amera requested another post and this is what I'm best at...)

...when I'm working with my athletes at the tutoring center, I wonder if they're going to be famous. I sometimes wonder if I'm going to get to point to the screen one day and be like, "Yeah, I'm a big deal. I used to tutor (insert name of student here) in history."


...I check Facebook 800 times a day. No exaggeration. 


...(speaking of Facebook) I feel like mysteriously changing my relationship status to widowed or in an open relationship, just to see what people would say.


...when I'm on the train on the way to school, I make up stories about the people sitting around me.


...I do the same thing when I'm shopping.


...I quote TV shows and movies right along with the characters...while I'm watching. This sometimes (read: all the time) drives KMJ crazy.


...I feel like just hopping on a plane to anywhere and, Amazing Race style, trying to get myself back home.


...my family answers the phone in a bad Spanish accent when I call home. And I love it.


...my mom calls my dad Guido Sarducci. No joke. She also calls my friend's boyfriend Alfanzo because she can't remember his name. It makes me giggle every single time, without fail.


...my little brother Mckay quotes movies. If you go up to him and say, "Just one kiss?" He will immediately respond, "Unless you beg for more!" and lean in to kiss you.


...I loose my driver's license. I (might) have done this about 4 months ago and I (might) have neglected to get another..just maybe.


...when I talk to my brother Max, he says "To you." Which is part of a Beetles song that we sing to each other. Whit and I have our own song. Kylee and I have songs too.


...I wonder if people ever get tired of reading my random blog posts. Then I remember that if they didn't want to read, they wouldn't end up on my blog and then I feel better. 

Mallie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...

You heard it here first my friends. Today fit into the THNGVB (short for: terrible, horrible, no good, very bad) category. This particular category was created when I was about 7 and my mom read me a book with a very similar title. I adored it. After that, when I'd have 'one of those days', my mom would say something about it being terrible, horrible, no good and very bad. By the end she could always get me to giggle about it. Mostly just using all of those adjectives to describe one day makes me giggle. Anyway, let's fast forward about 17 years to today. I will not give you all the sordid details that contributed to my THNGVB day, but here's a few highlights: having to pay for parking, locking my keys in my car and being stuck in the rain, grouchy people, a 7ft tall basketball player that is positive that President Obama wants to nuke us all but has NO interest in actually learning what I'm being paid to teach him, wet feet, MATH. But see, this is the thing. At the end of my favorite bad day book a couple of good things happen, so I would be remiss if I didn't add those to my story as well: a room full of 4th graders and one overworked 4th grade teacher that were overjoyed to see me, 4 more hours a week at the tutoring center, Becky giving me a full bag of M&Ms after locking my keys in my car, the same overworked 4th grade teacher driving up to the stadium in the rain to bring me my spare key and coming home knowing that my homework was practically done so I could enjoy 30 Rock. I guess every gray cloud has a silver lining.

The Giving of the Thanks...

So friends, this is my first major holiday at home...I don't really count the 4th of July...by holiday I mean HOLIDAY. Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving...Those are holidays... Anyway... I am so excited to be home for Thanksgiving this year. I LOVE Thanksgiving. Getting the family together, eating at my Aunt Melissa's house, my mom begging my dad to let us listen to Christmas music already. I love that it's cold enough for me to wear a coat and to see my breath in the morning when I wake up. I love that my sisters and I got to have our traditional Thanksgiving Eve sleepover where we watch Gilmore Girls and drink Dr. Pepper while eating junk food. For some reason, this year especially, I feel like I have so much more to be grateful for than in other years. Maybe it's because I'm older and therefore I have a better concept of what I have in my life... But I just wanted to share with you all a few things that I feel like are blessings in my life:

* My family...They're crazy ,but they're mine.
* My testimony. I love that my faith in the Lord has grown since I've been home. I love the concept that we never stop growing. what an amazing gospel this is.
* My roommates. They're always there for me when I need someone, each of them is unique and special, but that's what makes things work.
*My glam job. Okay, so it's not so glam, but it means that I get to spend this weekend relaxing and hanging out with my family.
*The rain. Silly, but so me. I love rain and I feel like it was my own tender mercy that it rained tonight. :)
*My friends. I've been so lucky to find good friends and to have them around (if you have the address to my blog then you can consider yourself part of this... :))
*I know I already said my family, but I have to do a special shout out for my mom and my sisters. They're so special to me. I'd be lost without them, they really are my best friends.

So there you have it, just a few things I'm grateful to have... Since we all should be giving thanks...I mean at least we're not Indians who had our lands stolen...(name the Gilmore Girls episode...) HAPPY DAY OF GIVING THANKS!!