Sounds Like Home

I cannot wait until Thanksgiving. Seriously, I am so psyched for it. This semester is killing me. I am deadbeat tired. In fact, last night (or today, technically) I was up until almost 7 AM writing a big huge research paper that was due today. Sick, I know. But life is definitely good, just way crazier than I’m used to. Work is going well, and BYU is the best.
See the pictures? Dating is good the last couple months. I have been dubbed a dating machine--which is not true, but a funny title.
We’re currently hosting a plethora of spiders in our warm little apartment, as Provo turns ice cold. I need to go to sleep. But also–President Hinckley spoke to us on Halloween at devotional, and President Monson spoke to us today. They are such amazing men, and they convey such genuine love when they speak. I feel my Savior’s love just radiating from them. It’s so awesome. Life is beautiful. (That’s a really good movie, by the way, if you have not yet seen it...) I am so excited for Thanksgiving, and even more excited for Christmas back home with my family. I just need to get through a few more weeks....time is flying. Carpe diem.

Word

Just wanted to announce that all is well. I would really like to spend a week sleeping and eating ice cream, no school, but that's not weird, is it?

Here are some pics of my roommates. They are beautiful girls, I love them.

Dude, so yesterday was one of the most amazing days of my life, just FYI. President Monson, Elder Wirthlin and Elder Eyring all spoke in one day, the first two at Regional Conference, and then Elder Eyring at a CES Fireside. It was amazing. I love BYU. Each talk was wonderful, and helped me so much.

My classes are all amazing. I get to write essays about as often as I breathe O2 this semester, but it'll be fun. And my brother is amazing, and my cousin Jason is awesome, and life is soooooo good. I would love to tell you all about why, but not right here.

Today marks 5 years since the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 didn't feel like it would play much of a role in my life when I first heard what happened 5 years ago. I was just a freshman in high school, though. What did I know? Everything that happens in this world touches every person's life somehow. This is an awareness all my comms classes are proving this semester. I know a lot of boys and girls over in the Middle East now, fighting. It's real, and it's scary. Life is so fragile. There's a balance every person has to find in his life, between safety and living. One of my favorite quotes is, "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." The seas of life are dangerous. It can be scary to think that today might be the last day I experience here. But it's even more scary to let fear dictate.

A random side note: Also in my comms classes we've talked about whether or not blogs are a form of journalism. And I just want to announce that heck no they are not! That's all...

Just One More Reason...

I am amazing, I know, I know.

Spin around in your highest heels...

I'm not tired, but I should be. So I think I'll ramble to myself here and put myself to sleep. I'm pretty good at doing that. So, Dashboard Confessional had a new CD come out a few weeks ago. I really like a couple of the songs, but overall I was disappointed. Sad day. Good thing I got a student discount when I bought it, so I don't feel like I lost a bunch of money. David and I are going laptop shopping tomorrow. Yay! I had a weird dream when I was sleeping earlier today...yes, I fell asleep after work. Why do you think I can't sleep now? Yup. So it was a funny dream. I vaguely remember running from Ginny Weasley and slapping Harry Potter so hard he got a handprint on his face and I had to go to jail for it. I think. (It's sehr vague.) Maybe there is a deeper meaning there...My boss is leaving us secretaries in-charge for the rest of the week. This is a little worrysome. You would be astonished if I told you how crazy helping run a private owned business owned by a bishop is. All I ate today was ice cream and other sweet types of food (ie chocolate milk, rice krispies treats, strawberries) so I am hungry for something really un-sweet now. But I'm not hungry. Lovely, isn't it? Karina and I went on a little run. She's so funny. My sisters are awesome. As are my brothers. And parents. I guess that explains my awesomeness, huh? You wouldn't believe the fun we had at FHE last night. We slid down the stairs in a mummy bag. SO FUN. At the branch FHE I went to before the family one we played red-rover and missionary tag. That was also really fun, but I got a HUGE bruise on the side of my knee from being the ultimate klutz. I was slipping and tripping all over. I even maganged to fall on some guys foot. So I'm a little sore from that. Pathetic, I know. Sore from red-rover? What does red-rover mean, anyway? It's an odd game. I'd never played before. Something else I did yesterday worthy of note: I drove all the way from work to my bosses house with the parking break on. I didn't realize it was on (it was his wife's van) and I just thought it was a difficult car. So I was like, cruising on the freeway with it on all la-dee-dah like. So embarrassing. How do I even show my face in public anymore with all these stories?

Another one bites the dust

I went to Salem today--and got lost, AGAIN. So pathetic. I even went to the same place as last time (the state capitol), but I still spent 2 hours being very lost. I don't care for Salem. I mean, it's GORGEOUS. Probably the prettiest city in Oregon. But not fun to drive in. The roads are insane. And one-way roads suck. Not to mention I'm not a good driver. But it was a fun little road trip anyway. And my mission was accomplished! The state government officials are probably using the little CD I delivered at this very moment. Aw yeah!

Annnnnnnnnnyway

I am incredible. I don't know how I'm even awake at this moment. I should be passed out and fast asleep. I am very very tired. But I need to wash my work clothes. I have way too much stuff. That's just the way life is for so many people here in the wealthy, ungrateful US of A. I mean...Zimbabwe, or wherever my profile says I'm from. *ahem* So. Annnnnnnyway. I am tired. And I feel like I should be hungry. I never eat lunch anymore, because my boss always leaves the office during lunch time and I forget about it by the time he's back until it's almost closing time anyway. Anyway anyway anyway, I need to stop saying anyway. I think I'll just shut up. Tomorrow--or today, depending on how you read this--is a very special day! It's Gramma P and my favorite Jordan's b-days! I need to buy some belated cards. Sweet beans. Is this ramble getting on your nerves?--because it's getting on mine. Anyway. Good-bye.

Babble on

I didn't eat anything today until like, 8 pm, because I just didn't have time. I spent the day cleaning the entire house, babysitting 3 cute kids who don't like each other, DTR-ing, mini-road tripping to Albany with Ema and Cole and chillin' with Mell, Matt, Kurt and Solomon at Old Navy, Cold Stones and Wal*Mart. At Wal*Mart we were followed by a security person the whole time, until we split up--Matt and I went one way and Mell and Monny went the other way. And the security dude followed Mell and Monny, which we concluded was possibly racist, but when we met up later and switched groups and I went with Monny and Mell and Matt went the other way he stopped stalking all of us. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. I bought glittery play-doh! And yellow sticky tack. I love sticky tack. And deodorant. I like that stuff as well. And socks. Socks are cool. I think I'm tired. Really tired. It's been a long day--I've been up since 6, and I am all tuckered out.

Soulmates

It is sooooooooo wet here. No, my bad: HUMID. Ugh. But it's a beautiful day. Except really cold. I hope somebody hires me soon, because I am so bored. Thus I am back to ramble more to...whoever you are. Hi!

My mom and my grandma got to talking about soulmates today. That was certainly interesting. Neither of them believe in such a thing. This, of course, horrified me, because, being a hopeless romantic and a big believer in something on the lines of soulmates, hearing such views from married, mature, older women scared the shnykies out of me. When I expressed my surprise, Mom said, "How do you define 'soulmate,' dear?" And so I pondered for a moment and spouted off something on the lines of "I think two people are soulmates when they both complete the other, and when they are both compelled to bring the other the most happiness possible. When one is without his 'soulmate' it leaves him feeling empty or incomplete. So a soulmate is a person who completes you." Grandma tutted at this, but Mom seemed to like my little definition, since she thought that under it she and Dad are soulmates. I think the idea of soulmates is a new one. The further back in history you go, the more absurd the idea is. If you go back to the days (or cultures) of arranged marriages there is little tolerance for such viewpoints.My grandmother doesn't believe in them. My mother might...and I do, to some extent. Soulmates are a big thing with Hollywood. This is probably a huge factor in why I believe in such "nonscence" as Grams calls it. But it's a nice idea, aye? Believing that somewhere out there, in this ginormous, chaotic world there's a person who is anxiously waiting to love you and complete your puzzle is a big motivator to keep going. So for once, I'm going to say Hollywood has a good thing going with this whole soulmate dealio.

Findings found by a crasi

I feel so alone. Kristie and Nathan, two of the greatest friends I've ever had, both left today. Kris is amazing. I can't imagine four months without her across the room from me, counseling and consoling me when times are a little tough, and giggling and goofing off like crasi-s when life is too serious to take seriously. I don't know if I'll ever see Nathan again, and even if I do, it won't be the same. I know I'll never enjoy the view from my room like I have this year. And while I was packing a few minutes ago, I stumbled across some notes I made to myself on random bits of paper, and it hit me how much I've learned this year. And then I began comparing last semester with this semester. The conclusion I came to is that though attitude isn't everything, it's pretty derned close. A good attitude invites so much more room for knowledge to expand and growth to occur. I feel very dislocated right now. I don't want to go home for a whole four months--120 days! But I am going crazy being here and feeling alone. So while I was cleaning, blasting Dashboard and wishing for a shoulder to lean my sleepy head on, I found these amazing papers. And as I mused over the findings I found, I made a resolution to be happy and focus on the good stuff coming at me, rather than dwelling on the sad stuff. As Kris/Ella would say: GRIN and bear it!

Happy Easter!

I love Easter Sunday! I love chocolate! I love Spring! I love sunshine-filled, windy, perdeeful days like today. I love the nice person who left an Easter treat on my door secretly. I love my fam. I love life!

I've been leafing through my "BYU Journal" today. It's so interesting! I've changed so much just in my journaling-style this year. People don't notice when they themselves change until they reflect. I didn't realize it until today. By golly I'm different. For example: I now say stupid things like "by golly," "oh my heck" and "it is true." I am no longer OCD about my closet and the way I hang up clothes. I have come to see people in a totally different way.

Have a grown up? I don't think so, but hey, maybe I have. I dunno. I feel almost less independent and responsible these days. And yet this is because I see how small I really am lately. But I feel so unable to take care of myself. Maybe that is what "growing up" really means--realizing that you can't do it all on your own. Or maybe I should stop wondering if I'm grown up, as I am still just 18 years old, with pretty much no experience in any fields of interest to anyone other than babysitting and procrastinating.

Looking back on my time here at BYU thus far, I think I've learned a lot, but I don't know if it has really changed who I am. I am still, to my daddy, "Liberal Lanette--the family democrat." (I am NOT a Democrat, just FYI.) And to my mom, I'm still "the outspoken, crazy kid who makes life much harder but much more fun." To David I'm still his overbearing twin sister who is way too touchy-feely and asks too many questions. To the people I've known and loved longest I'm still me, but different. Mom says I've grown up. David says I need to grow up. Dad says I need to do my homework. I don't know. It probably doesn't matter that much. Maybe I should take Dad's advice. My daddy is one of the smartest people I know. I suppose I shall.

Drowning in the depths of...depth

Can I please jump off a cliff now? Or just go home. Thank you.

Sprite and Saltines

It's getting to be crunch-time school-wise. I'll be honest--I am terrified about my grades. Really, freakishly terrified. So tonight let's discuss something non-scholastic, please. Hmmm...

Last night I made fudge with my friend Eric, and it is SO good. Apparently we didn't put enough sugar in, but I like it a lot. It's creamy and chocolatey and soft...mmm! I also made these things called "Altdeutsch Brotchen" last night. Old German Rolls is what the name translates to. They were for German class, of course. Anyhow, they turned out kinda weird. They were orange-y, cinnamon-y, almond-y, with chocolate covered raisins (come on, they were cheaper than normal raisins, and it's CHOCOLATE! I thought it would be good...it wasn't). So the class devoured them. I had just enough. When I offered the last one to the teacher, she looked at it closely and pulled a long stand of blonde hair from the frosting. I about died. Obviously it wasn't me, nor was it any of the Young Hall boys, but still...so embarrassing! She ate it anyhow. People are so nice!

So I said I'm quitting Dashboard Confessional, right? Welp, that was a lie. My favorite song of the month seems to be "Vindicated." Or maybe "The Brilliant Dance." Oh well, maybe next month. Old habits die hard. And being emo and relationship-hungry comes easily when the campus you live on is infected with spring fever. Ick. It doesn't help that I have a presentation in English 251 about gender roles in dating. Yes, I chose the topic. I'm an idiot. Speaking of dating, I am a little worried about going home, to be honest. Back home there are very few single guys whom I share a mutual respect for. And people don't really date like Utah-ans in Oregon. We more hang-out, I guess. But I'm already missing dates with fun boys, and I'm not even there yet!

My mom had me make a film for the young women back home in our stake. Thus tonight Glo and Paul and I meandered around Young Hall, S Hall and R Hall, interviewing people (mostly guys) about modesty in dress. It got me thinking about a lot of stuff. For starters, I am so incredibly lucky to be here at BYU. The guys here are so great; it's overwhelming really. Back home I probably could have gotten two or three interviews from guys within a 50-mile radius about modestly that positively enforce church standards. I got so many here it was incredible. There is a plethora of righteous, good-hearted, handsome men here. It is really neat, but also really revealing--I realize that I have so much room for improvement when I'm around them. I don't think I saw that back home. Maybe that's one of the reasons I wound up here--the point of mortality is to progress and perfect. And being surrounded by so many awesome people is really getting to me. In a good way. I have a lot of work to do.

The Half-Blood Prince; revised edition

Rain, rain, go away. Come again when I'm away. If you don't, I'll feel grey. Rain, rain, go away.

But the rain is so pretty at night, glittering under the city lights and making the streets slick and glossy.

So my best friend Carolyn is here in Provo! She flew in yesterday morning from Portland, and it's pretty awesome. Too bad we don't have Spring Break at BYU, thus making it hard to have fun with her and be a good student. Oh well. Fun is more fun.

So Carolyn is a dork. I am a dork too, so it all works. But we are such nerd-faces. Even my own brother pretends to not know us when we're together.

We are both the types of nerds who love to waste time writing silly things...like random, pointless, hilarious stories. We will be rich one day from our amazing writing skills. Really. Ever since we met in eight grade, we've been composing stories.

We are currently reading an old story we began writing in July 2003 (about when this pic on the right was taken!), during the most boring summer school class in the history of the universe. I am such a nerd. I wrote about 4/5 of the story, and it is so stupid. This story is insane. Here is a small clip from our 672-page (and growing! STILL!) masterpiece:

"Have you noticed Brett and Ben acting weird lately?" Carolyn inquired one day. Lanette frowned. "You mean weirder than usual?" Carolyn nodded. "Erm..." Lanette looked thoughtful. "Nope." Just then, the two young men appeared and sat across from the two young ladies in the Great Hall. "Morning Carolina; morning Lanette," Brett said, nodding at each. "Isn't this lovely? Early morning, breakfast--eggs and ham and toast--mmm! Lovely. Life is just so lovely, would you not agree?" Lanette looked at Carolyn, bewildered. "See?" Carolyn said, exasperated. "I told you!" "Um, Brett?" Lanette said. "It's dinner time, and we're eating fried rice and green beans." Brett's smile didn't falter, and Ben rolled his eyes merrily. "Trying to trick us, Jonesy?" he laughed. "We aren't idiots! Ahh, I love scrambled eggs!" And Ben began piling rice onto his plate. "How'd you do on the Charms test today?" Carolyn asked Brett cleverly, trying to trap him and make him confess that he was not really crazy. "I got really bad--105%! I usually get 112%!" Brett said mournfully. "Ah-ha!" Lanette said, as pleased as punch. "You admit you took the Charms test--therefore, you confess that it is dinner, and we are eating rice and beans!" Carolyn cheered. Brett and Ben did not look crestfallen. They just laughed, and Ben patted Carolyn on the head while Brett shook his head amusedly. "You girls are sooooooooo silly!" Ben chucked. "Indeed. Let us depart, Benny," Brett said, and the two lads departed.

Wow. We're nerds. Listening to Hilary Duff, eating ice cream for dinner and writing a proposterous story while the world does world stuff. Word.

Yay for Fridays!

Hello!!! So pretty much one of my favorite ways to waste time is by writing blogs. Probably not the best use of my life. Oh well. I've been keeping a myspace blog since last June, but I finally decided to try something new. I don't know if I'll like this more, but we shall see.

Anyway, it is a beautiful day. I want to be outside. Kris and I were just outside playing with playdough on a picnic blanket. And we took pictures. This is because Kristie and Lanette are the coolest chicks you've ever met.

But now she is at work and I am bored. Maybe I'll do my homework outside. Or maybe I'll just go outside and bask in the lovely sunshine. Mmm, it feels like spring!