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!!

Staying Up Way Too Late

Okay so it's like 12:15 am and I should be in bed because A) I have class at 8:30, B) I have a lot to do tomorrow which = absolutely no time for a nap and C) I just need some sleep that's all.

But it's Wednesday night! (I guess it's now technically Thursday morning...) And Wednesday night equals Country Swing Dancing! Happiness!

I feel like every time I go there I find a new man to have a crush on.  Yes, it's true.  I just love good looking men who know how to dance well.  I can't help it! 

But I just have to say that I absolutely love Mumford and Sons' new song "I Will Wait."  It's super fantastic! And now that I have gotten my little bit of typing out that I guess I needed to do before I went to bed, I will now go get some good ol' sleepy time!  Hopefully I can stay awake tomorrow morning while sorting through rocks, fish bones, and charcoal....or sitting through my Plants and Civilization class...(that's the more likely class to fall asleep in...)!

*Good Movie: Swing Kids

Biology...

Biology...how I hate thee!

Why can't I understand biology?!  This is a question that I have asked myself every time I take one of those dumb classes! 

I'm taking a Plants and Civilization class (Biology 3040) this semester for my depth science requirements.  Yep, it's a real class!

I've been learning all kinds of interesting things...about how flowers get pollinated and fruit develops, how tomatoes and cucumbers are berries, and how peanuts are fruit. (True story!)  So to mix in with all this confusion (why have I been lied to my whole life?!  I thought peanuts were nuts!!), I have to remember the processes of meiosis and mitosis.  What?! I feel like they're kind of the same thing...or maybe that it's just that I don't understand either one!

I can pick apart the American Revolution and identify multiple political, economic, and cultural reasons why we shouldn't have won that war.  I can give you the details of what happened on a field in Gettysburg in the summer of 1863 and the significance of the battle of Antietam, but when you try to get me to remember the different parts of a plant...epic fail!

Why?!  Why why can I not remember these simple things?!

I took a test today...I'm pretty sure I failed it.  So many large words...polysaccharides (what?!), polymers, and endosperm.  Yep...no idea!  Hopefully I'm a good guesser...

I think I better stick with my time lines and old documents...just sayin!

*Good Song: "Ours" by Taylor Swift
*Good Book: "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo (I'm trying to read it amidst all my homework and work!  And I am loving it!!)

Why Men Don't Date Me!

Okay so here's the thing.  I don't get asked on dates...ever! Seriously, the last time I went on a date was like 3 months ago and that was a blind date.  The last time before that was like six months!  I find myself wondering why men don't consider me a dating option.  I mean, I have nice blue eyes, I'm fairly intelligent, I make great chocolate chip cookies, I love children, and I'm not high maintenance!  So in thinking critically about this issue I have come up with my top five reasons why men don't want to date me! Ready?!  Here we go!

1.  I don't know how to flirt!  My male friends tell me that flirting is key when attracting the male gender.  But when I practice on my guy friends, what happens?!  They laugh uncontrollably at my attempts.  Epic failure!  So I suck at the games of flirting and trying to show interest?! Strike one!

2.  I'm incredibly clumsy.  Running into doors, falling up stairs and hills (seriously! This one happened today...I was walking up the hill to school and I took a short cut, tripped on a step that was really a tree root and fell right on my face! Bahaha!), slipping on ice, and bruising my knees on any object that is at knee height!  No man wants to be constantly catching me or fixing up my scrapes and bruises!

3.  I'm great at awkwardly rejecting friendly male gestures.  Example:  So one day, our home teacher was bringing us brownies and Brittany and I were standing in their parking lot.  My hands were full with who-knows-what (history books perhaps?!), but I took the brownies graciously, smiled widely, and thanked him profusely.  I tried to show my appreciation by taking a piece to try it, but with my hands full and note reason #2, I dropped the plate of brownies right there in the parking lot...face down! 

4.  I'm incredibly nerdy and far too passionate about my favorite subject - history! No man wants to listen to how much I love learning about the American Civil War, the crazy quirks of Roman emperors, or how turquoise ended up in Central America.  And I like watching historical documentaries...I think that every male subconsciously knows that I would ruin their lives by having the TV on the History Channel instead of the football game!

5.  What was number 5? .....I'm sure I had a good one.  Oh yes!  I'm too funny...not in the "I'll-make-you-laugh-every-second" way, but I have far too many weird quirks that are crazy! Whether it's me tripping over my short tongue and saying something unintelligible, being way too tired to form cohesive thought, or not remembering what you said to me like five seconds before, there would be far too much funniness going on...that usually ends up in the form of me being made fun of!

So there you have it!  I'm expert at repelling males and their advances, so if you have any more reasons why they don't want to date me or how to fix my situation, leave me a comment! Or shoot me an email!  annamarie914@hotmail.com  :)

Remembering a Great Friend.

I have a music minor.  This music minor requires me to have four semesters of choir.  I finished three semesters of choir before my mission and now I have one more semester of choir to go.

Last Friday, I found myself walking through the halls of the familiar music building.  I have spent many hours there, learning music theory, playing the piano, and singing my little heart out.  I've also had the opportunity to make some incredible friends in that building.

Time came for choir to start and I was surprised at how incredibly hard it was for me to step back into that room as part of the women's choir.  I looked at the front row where I used to sit.  Then I looked to the seat next to mine where my dear friend Celeste used to sit.  Freshman year...an incredibly hard time of life...moving out, making new friends, being out on my own.  That's when Celeste and I first became friends.  She had an incredibly lovely smile and an infectious laugh.  I was super jealous of her hair, because it was thick and curly!

We were both second sopranos and we had the greatest time laughing at people and just enjoying music!  She moved into my ward the summer before I left on my mission, but I ended up moving home.  I went on my mission and when I got home and everything had settled down, I was devastated to learn that Celeste had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma about the same time I got home.  She had just barely graduated with her degree in Music Therapy the month before.

I kept close tabs on her progress by reading her blog.  I prayed and prayed for her recovery.  I got to see her when she came to Logan to attend a benefit concert that some of the music therapy students were putting on for her.  She was just as happy as ever and she played the piano so beautifully that night.  I was ecstatic when the update in January said that she was in remission!  She was so strong and I knew she was going to be okay!

A month later, she found out that the lymphoma had come back and that it was much worse than when they had first found it.  On April 9th of this year, she passed away at the age of 22.

Walking into the choir room this last week made me realize how much I missed her.  As I think about it, I'm reminded of how important it is to cherish every moment spent with the people you love.  Life happens so fast and you never know when somebody is going to be taken from you.

But I do know that when I make it to the other side, I will see Celeste again.  And she will have that beautiful hair of hers that I'm so jealous of!  And I am going to give her the biggest hug!  And we are going to sing some good songs!

*For more information on God's Plan of Happiness for us and what happens when we die, visit http://mormon.org/plan-of-happiness

Let It Begin!

It has begun...the school year...

Striving to stay awake in class, swallowing extreme dislike for students who raise their hands and make comments every 5 minutes (come on! The professor knows a lot more about his or her subject than you, so can you please just let him or her teach us what they know?! We don't care about your weird stories, endless questions, or your ignorant opinion!), studying for hours, losing myself in historical archives, and knowing that I will always have a mountain of more reading to do...even when I think I'm caught up!

I'm only taking thirteen credits this semester - which doesn't seem like a lot, but I am going to be BUSY!  Senior thesis (I'm actually really excited for this because I love historical research, but also extremely nervous because it's going to take up a lot of my time!), being an undergraduate teaching fellow for an American history class (which I'm also excited about!), working part-time, taking an archaeology lab, and trying to stay on top of my other classes!  Oh...and I'm looking at grad schools and getting ready to take the GRE soon!

I have also started a new job at the rec center here.  I will be working the front desk.  I'm happy about this job, but there's a lot to learn.  Sometimes I wonder if my brain can hold all of this information inside of it!  :)

So bring on the late night studies, the extreme fatigue, the endless stress, and the beautiful joy of learning!

*Good Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte