Ugly Sweater Contest !!!

Tomorrow at work we're having an ugly sweater contest. Pretty sure I have a chance at winning this thing, because that vest thing is beastly ugly and the mustard colored tee is perfect! We'll just have to see. I'm cringing at how these pictures clash with my blog, but oh well.

(Forgive my face in this last picture, no idea what happened there.)

Sunk Costs

The economic term for payment, time, effort, or any other cost that has already been spent and can't be taken back. The point is that 'sunk costs are irrelevant'. Finals? Done. Semester one? Completed. Result? We'll see. I just need to remember that sunk costs can't determine my decisions. The feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think of two specific tests won't change how it really will turn out. Not going to cry over spilled milk. I'm thinking about the positive, three of my tests that I totally aced, amazing nice people that I call friends, and Christmas break!

So life has felt like this:

This is what the next two weeks will be:

Plans for the break are as follows:

• Cleaning my room because it has been neglected forever
• A growing To-Do list of odd projects
• A growing list of good movies and chick flicks to watch with Jill and Caitlyn 
• (We're up to 26 movies. Wow.)
• Hanging out with the siblings

and most importantly

• SLEEP
  

A Day in the Life of Me

Sleep.

It shouldn't define my day, but it does. Although sometimes whether or not I'm tired has no correlation with the amount of sleep I get. I swear it's weird. Last night for example, I fell asleep at 1:30 a.m. and awoke at 6:30 and then snatched another 20 minutes. I feel great!

Food.

Today was horribly unhealthy, but delicious. Leftover Cafe Rio, raspberry fruit salad, vanilla cocoa, dinner rolls, and free chips from Phil. No real meals, just snacks.

Babysitting.

Almost everyday includes a little bit of my nephews. My mom is also watching a neighbor girl when the girl's not at kindergarten. I love my mom, but she always volunteers to help and then one of us kids pitches in. Steph is my witness to this. Steph told me that she could tell who did the real babysitting because Benjamin said mine and Becca's and Andrea's names long before he ever mastered 'Gramma'. Good thing the kids are adorable.

Studying.

What else is new.

Work.

Yay for money, awesome co-workers, coloring contests, and the chance to do homework. Oh and don't worry, while I'm there I do register and confirm people for conferences too. After all, I do get paid for it.

The Testing Center.

So excited for this one.

Study Group.

Studying groups that start at 10:30 p.m. aren't that productive, but scheduling is near impossible at any other time.

Now I'm clocking out. Goodbye.

19 Years Old, to the day

Or at least it was a girl 19 years ago at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Yup, that's right. One more year and I'll be a fifth of a century.

To celebrate, last night I went with Corry, his twin friends, Melissa, Melissa's guy, Megan, Caitlyn, and Sarah to Salt Lake to see the lights, then we saw part of the Motab's concert that was broadcast in the tabernacle. We had an adventure on Trax. We got on, we rode, and then the door wouldn't open to let us off. There we were, all intelligent college students and we couldn't get off, even though we rode Trax earlier. Wow. Next was yummy food at Applebee's. I love that they have a weight watcher's menu! It makes tallying it up so much easier, and it's guilt-free!

Today has been great, especially because of the awesome people I work with that remembered my birthday. People are so thoughtful!

Well tonight will be the family dinner and I'm sure it will be delicious. At our house, whoever has the birthday chooses the food, so it's the one time a year when the veggies won't be drowned in butter and salt, and the home-bottled grape juice won't have added sugar. I also have been wanting to try a diet soda cake that cuts the calories in half! I hear it's really moist and delicious. My mom suggested going out to eat. Either she doesn't want to cook or the family doesn't want to eat food that is good for you. Oh well. We'll see.

G-Rat and B-Man

Benjamin and Garrett.

The trouble-maker and the chewing monster, and of course I mean that affectionately.

 

Garrett's walker makes him mobile, which is a scary thought.

Within a 5 minute span of time he chewed on:

• The hand towel hung on the oven door
• The tablecloth (which almost pulled Benjamin's lunch down)
• The little lighted Christmas tree (yikes!)
  
• The phone cord (which almost pulled the phone onto his head)
• My pant leg as I fixed the phone cord

Benjamin has also discovered the use of Garrett's walker as a sort of scooter.

With one foot on the walker and one on the ground, he propels around the house.

Can I Just Say Wow?!

Yes, I posted yesterday, but this is blog worthy. Last night I was in my pj's listening to music, when my friend called to see if I wanted to use her extra ticket to go to New Moon with her for the midnight showing.  Was I planning on going? No. Did I suddenly get excited? Yes. Was the movie worth getting 3 hrs. of sleep? Yes.

Can I just say props to Chris Weitz, the director?! That movie was so well done. The awkward characters from the first movie actually got to develop a little! But the style was still similar to the first movie, so the two still go together. I'm not even super into Twilight and I loved it. It made me want to read Breaking Dawn, even though I promised myself I wouldn't. It was that good. There were ridiculous parts of course, but they were really just hilarious.

For a better review of the movie see BusyBeeLauren's blog.

Thursday is the New Friday

On Thursday, once my weekly Econ homework and essay is turned in, the world is so much brighter! Also nothing is ever due on Fridays, for me at least. So no late night cramming! Yaya! And I get 2 whole hours between school and work! It's like I get to turn Thursday into Friday, so I can actually enjoy myself on Fridays. I'm liking this.

Triskaidekaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia definition. (simply the fear of 13)

Why are people afraid of 13, especially on a Friday? I don't know. Regardless of the date today, my day was amazing!

-It's a Friday!

-I learned 2 of my finals won't overlap!

-I had amazing classes today!

-I left my jacket in the history TA office, froze on the way to music class, realized I left it, went back later, found it still there, and consequently ran into someone in the TA office who absolutely made my day!

I would call that good luck!

Not a Fan of Cold Weather

I get depressed every winter. No long sunny days. Lack of vegetation. So here's to the memories of warmer and greener days...

 

Halloween Was

Visiting the Burnett Grandparents, which is now a tradition

Accompanying Becca the pumpkin, Andrea the fairy, and Melissa the chicken in the pursuit of candy.

Partying with Wendy, Peter, and Tiger Lilly

 

Meeting Jack Sparrow at a pirate party. (I didn't get a picture with him-boohoo) But it was the coolest; I'm sure if we washed his make-up off, we would have found Johnny Depp.

Today I'm Loving...

Ward parties, when everyone shows up in ridiculous costumes

Tums, which I am popping like candy, thanks to a stress-induced ulcer

Warm gloves in the day

Heater blankets at night

Good friends that know you and still love you

And... leaving the testing center after getting a compliment from the score monitor

Made My Day

Benjamin's morning chatter..."Heavver, some teerios?"

The gorgeous mountains on the way to school.

Taking the scenic route to class.

Fall leaves everywhere!

 

C is for Challange

Some people work well under pressure. I'm not one of those people. My sanity is a delicate balance between enough activity to prevent bored depression and enough down time, think time, and cathartic entertainment to prevent stress overload. As I was just laying on my bed, waiting for sleep to come but relishing the chance to meditate on stuff, I was scanning the pictures in my room and saw the mvp plaque from lacrosse. I remember all the times that I stressed about dying at conditioning practices, the frustrations of first learning to function with a lacrosse stick, and trying to work homework in around practice. I remember junior year, making first cuts for varsity, then having my hopes dashed in the final selection. I remember deciding to try playing goalie, the sheer terror of standing in front of that speeding little rubber ball. I remember practice after practice, fighting my natural reaction instincts in order to improve my goalie skills. I remember counting 18 total bruises at one time (big, black, and blue). I remember the elation and pressure of making it onto varsity as a goalie. I never felt like I was as good as everyone else, I never felt like I deserved my spot on varsity. Senior year, Coach Kristen thought that I belonged there; she named me most valuable player.

I don't feel like I belong at BYU. My schedule is just too hard. Everyone seems so much smarter. And yet Dr. Kearl, the professor of my dreaded Econ class, had me stand up for applause for a killer good essay.  Yup, so confused. If I could become mvp on the field, (which is so not me) then maybe I can do it in the classroom too. Maybe.

B is for Becca

What kind of jerk sister mentions one little sister and not the other? Well not me...Rebecca and I had a fun night tonight. I took her along with me to visit some friends to watch the football game. It was great, great fun!

A is for Andrea

You have all probably heard the saying "Sleep, social life, and good grades, pick 2 and welcome to college."

When my older siblings hit that point, I always just adjusted to them  never being home. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, I regret some of the things I am missing out on: like my little sister Andrea.

Once upon a time, 5-ish years ago, Andrea's best friend was gone for a whole summer so I decided to entertain her and keep her busy by teaching her how to read. Ever since that summer, we have made a habit of spending time together, even when I tell her to go away. Since I am gone/busy for 12 hours a day, we never really see each other. And I miss it. I even miss helping her with her homework and battling the "I'm bored" syndrome. I miss her and I haven't even moved away yet.

Scariest Thing on Campus

Need I say more?

Actually, yes I do.

Which is scarier, the fact that they are needed or that they need to be posted every 10 feet on the south end of campus? What's worse is that the sign itself is in an unofficial-looking (creepy) font and that half of the signs end in "..." Dot dot dot? Do they want my imagination to run wild? Aaah!

My Economic Crisis

No, I'm not struggling financially, but I hit a new low today on my Econ 110 test. The result? D. I don't do D's. Ever. I am so confused, not confused about the material, but my score! I had the usual jitters, but I knew the material. Go ahead, ask me about opportunity cost, property rights, non-coincident wants, profit maximization, elasticity of demand, long run vs. short run decisions, and all about supply and demand. I could tell you all about it, but somehow that didn't convert to a good, or even decent, score. WHY DID I TAKE ECON FROM KEARL?! I heard he has a reputation for being hard, but I didn't understand just how hard. Now I know. My mom's advice? "Don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault." Thanks. If it isn't my fault, than whose is it? Maybe it's bad luck. Haha. Maybe that killer storm that shook the house and lit up my room late last night was a bad omen and there was nothing I could do about it. Hmmm...

Making Connections

You know everyone seems to be blogging. Maybe I should be too. I finally decided to start because I had an amazing day at work. Between calls I read from my family's and friends' blogs and it felt like I got to catch up with them a little, even if we didn't talk. I'm thinking that I'll give it a go.