New Addictions!

I have some new addictions!

Number 1: The TV show "Once Upon A Time."  I know, I know, the acting isn't always that great and the special effects leave much to be desired.

But I just can't help it!  Maybe it's the little girl in me that still loves fairy tales and happy endings.

Or maybe it's just the incredibly attractive men.

Or maybe it's the idea that we are much more than we think we are...

That we're capable of great things even when we have a hard time believing in ourselves.

Either way, I just finished the 1st season on Netflix and

I have no idea how I'm going to get caught up on the 2nd season!  Bah!

Number 2: Pumpkin pie.  Okay, this one's not really that new...in fact, it's not new at all!

I just rediscover it every year during the holiday season!

Number 3: Smoothies!  I can't get away from these guys!  My roommate Lindsey showed me how easy they are to make!  

I've always heard that they were easy, but for some reason,

I had convinced myself that I didn't have time!

Well, let me tell you I love those things! They are delicious!

I throw in some frozen fruit, a banana, some spinach, some milk and orange juice

and Wa La!  Delicious nutritious breakfast!

Or lunch...

Or dinner!  Whate'er floats your boat!

Number 4:  Researching for my senior thesis.
Maybe this isn't so much addiction, but necessity.
Because I know that the second I stop thinking about it, it's going to be due!
And I'll still have heaps of it to finish!
But for the most part, I'm really enjoying what I'm learning.
I have a feeling that I will probably go crazy over Christmas Break when I don't have anything to do!
Withdrawals...I will be experiencing you very soon!

Number 5: Sleeping.  It's just a pity that I don't have time to feed this addiction.
Because I have a feeling that this is my favorite one right now.

So there you have it!  If you want to win me over, bring a good fairy tale, pumpkin pie, a fruit smoothie, and/or letters written by African American soldiers during the Civil War!
 We will be friends for life!  :)

Making Life Decisions!

I had a little bit of an emotional weekend!

Don't worry...it wasn't anything too dramatic.  Well, for me it was a little bit, but it has a happy ending!

Today was registration for Spring semester day!  I was all excited this last week, looking at which classes to take for my last semester of undergraduate work.  But then I discovered something that could change my fate forever!  (Okay, well change the next year of my life anyway).  I need a Quantitative Intensive class to graduate.  In looking at the course descriptions, I realized that all of them have Math 1050 as a prerequisite.

I've taken Math 1050!  What's the problem?!

I took Math 1050 over 6 years ago...that's the problem!  And for some reason, schools like to have you all caught up on your math classes and make sure that you took them like last year.  Why?!  I don't know!  I feel like there are other classes that are more important to be caught up on than math classes.

So I've been freaking out all weekend thinking that I wouldn't be able to graduate.  On top of that, I would have to take the Math Placement Exam which would not go very well.  Did you see that number for how many years it's been?!  Six...yeah six!  So that means I don't remember anything!  Which probably means that they would put me back in like Math 990 or something...This whole situation was just beginning to look worse and worse by the second!

But no fear, my friends!  I stayed up til midnight last night to register for classes and guess what?!  I got registered for a QI class!  That's right!  I'm taking it and I am graduating in May!  Bam!  Who needs math anyway?!

On the other hand, I'm starting to consider teaching seminary as a career option.  (In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have a seminary program for youth in high school to take religion classes in conjunction with their high school classes).  That would be pretty fun right?  Maybe...?  :)

Faulty Sinks

I go to one of the best engineering schools in the country.

So my question is, why do I get doused in water every time I wash my hands in the women's restroom?! 

Yes, it's true...the sinks are the sensory ones.  You know the ones - where you put your hands under there and the water just comes on.  But the sinks in the library...this is what happens:  I slowly put my hands under the faucet and cringe waiting for the blast of water to come. 

Nothing...nothing...WHAM!  Water spraying everywhere!!  It comes out so fast and with so much pressure that I feel like it doesn't even get on my hands!  It just bounces right off and gets all over the sink, the mirror, my arms, and my shirt!  Everywhere!!  What?!  Isn't there some way to turn down the water pressure?!  I feel super bad for the custodians!  I bet they're mopping up water in that place like every 15 minutes!

On another note, today is the presidential election.  I'm kind of nervous for this one.  But I haven't gotten as caught up on my politics as I should be.  I used to be all about politics - knowing what was going on, arguing over controversial issues, and reading all kinds of politicalness!  I still have a very strong opinion on what's going on...I'm just not as informed as I used to be!

All I know is that I am very glad that I live in the United States of America!  I love this place!!  And many people have given up a lot for us to be able to vote and to enjoy the freedoms that we do!  More than a lot of people realize...

*Good Book: Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David W Blight  (this one's for all those people who like to read historical study books...because that's what this is! But it's good if you're a nerd like me!!)

Old Records

I know that I've made it blatantly apparent that I have a passion for history.

So here's another post about how much I love the past!  And people!

We were having an indexing party last night for home evening, complete with pizza, great friends, and delicious treats.  (For those of you who don't know, indexing is digitizing old records to be used in genealogical research and such!) 

I just get so excited at looking at images of original records!  There is just something about looking at a record that was written by a person over a hundred years ago! They're not here anymore, but that record is!  And it gives us a little peek into their lives!

Some of the records I was working on were old pension records for retired United States soldiers.  I got so excited at one point because one of the records I was doing was a pension record for somebody who had served in the Colored Infantry.  Since I'm doing my research on Colored Infantry, it made me really excited!  (Sorry I keep using the word excited - but that's just how I feel!)

I love being able to help make that information more available for people to use!  I just wish that I could help digitize a lot more records - like diaries and letters and such!  How incredible would that be?!  When you look into other peoples' lives by what they leave behind, you learn more about how incredible human beings really are!!

*Good Song: What the Water Gave Me by Florence + the Machine
*Good Movie:  Tangled  (Love it!!)

Changes, Fall, and Life!

Yesterday I was driving around Logan trying to find me a good pair of snow boots.  While I was driving, I was loving the sight of fall leaves - some on the ground, still plenty on the trees.  I feel like fall is such a beautiful time of year!

But then I realized that every time of the year is beautiful!

There's summer when everything is sunny and bright and happy!  The trees have their green leaves on them lookin' all pretty and such.  Then comes fall - the colors change, but it's even more beautiful.  Then those beautiful leaves are gone and the trees are barren for awhile.  They don't look very pretty at times.  Then the cold winter comes.  And even though it's cold, there's still an incredible beauty in bald trees lined with crystal snow.  And finally, after months of bitter cold and empty limbs, new life starts!  Little shoots of green start to appear and the green leaves look even more beautiful than they did the last time we saw them!

Here comes more of my thinking...  :)  I feel like sometimes I'm in a beautiful stage of life - I love everything about it and I'm so happy!!  But then it starts to change, I start to lose some of those beautiful things (or people depending on the situation).  It's like the leaves falling to the ground and I feel bare, and alone, and sometimes not all that attractive!  :)  I go through a bitter winter of sorts - but there is still beauty in the pain!  Just like those ugly bare trees become beautiful through the snow, even in the times of trial there are beautiful things!!  How can I appreciate the new green leaves in the spring if I don't experience the beauty of the winter?!  Sometimes the winter is longer than I want it to be and spring doesn't come as quickly as I want it, but it does come.  It always comes!  

So that is what I need to remind myself of when I start to focus on the baldness of the trees instead of the beautiful glistening snow!  Appreciate every stage of life...even when it's hard!  Or maybe - especially when it's hard!!

*Good Movie:  Glory
*Good Song: I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons

Spielberg's Lincoln!!!

I cannot wait for November 16th!

What is so special about this specific date you might ask?

Well, I will tell you.  It is the day that the movie "Lincoln" (directed by Steven Spielberg!) comes out in theaters.  Why am I so excited for this movie?

Because I love love love historical films...when they're done well.  And Abraham Lincoln happens to be my favorite U.S. President!  The trailer gives a peak into the movie and I see African American soldiers in there.  And since I'm writing my senior thesis paper on African American soldiers in the Civil War, I'm excited to see them get some attention on the big screen (even if they're not the main focus of the movie).  The cinematography looks amazing!  So if this movie ends up being a dud, I will be devastated!

Until then, I will be counting down the days until I can see the movie!!

Adventures of Being Clumsy!

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned on here before how clumsy I am.  Well, do I have a story for you!

It was Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012 approximately 8:12 am.  I was running a little late for my archaeology lab class.  I also had to return four history books to the library.  A heavy backpack + my little legs moving too quickly + my clumsiness....it's just a recipe for disaster!

There's this apple tree just east of my apartment next to the sidewalk.  And this sidewalk is pretty crazy!  So now that I've set the scene, let's continue.

There I am with my stubby little legs working their fastest, the weight of my backpack propelling me forward when all of a sudden my foot hits the edge of this crazy sidewalk that's all uneven and whatnot.  I feel myself falling forward and my backpack swings to the right and with all my speed my right knee goes skidding on the sidewalk.

What's the first thing you do when you're in this situation?! Yep!  Look around and make sure that nobody saw you fall!  So that's what I did.  Then I feel this stinging sensation in my knee.  So I look down and at first, I think to myself, "Oh, it's fine!"  But then it starts bleeding!!  "Oh great!" I thought.  "Now what?!"

My thoughts turn to my faithful sidekick and best friend Brittany!  So I call her up and ask her if she'll give me a ride to class and bring me some Band Aids!  And she does.  I didn't even take time to clean my wound...because I was late for class k?!  I just slap three Band Aids on there and I'm good to go!  Bad idea...

The next day, the plasma (I finally found out what it was!) was leaking through my Band Aid so I decided it was time to change my wound dressings.  :)

It took me 30 minutes to get those dang Band Aids off!! I was running my knee under water, but those Band Aids were so stuck to my scrape!  And it hurt to just rip them off! (I'm such a baby, it's true...but I really hate pain!)  So what did I do?!  I grabbed my ninja star knife that I'd gotten for my birthday and I cut those stupid Band Aids off!  Okay, so I only cut one off...the middle one because it was stuck the worst!  (I realize that sentence structure was terrible, but you know what I'm sayin?!)

But the worst part of the whole situation is that this wound scraped off my favorite scar!  What?! A scar that I'd gotten from another tripping incident (but that one I tripped on my shoe lace when I was like 9 or something).  If I'm going to get scar inducing wounds like this one, why couldn't it have happened on my other knee?!  Then I would have scars on both knees!

Now I'll just have one big one on my right knee...where my favorite scar used to be...  :/

But don't worry, I made it to class on time!!