Family Ties!

It felt so good to see some family this weekend and to be out of the cold of Utah (although everyone else aside from me and my sisters would say that 40-50 degree weather is not warm...it is when you are in the teens and twenties). I wish I had pictures. I wish we had more time, but obviously Britt and I have to work and we (my family) have things to do. I am indifferent about being home at the moment. Aside from our trip to Washington, I have slept a lot and done some shopping. Other than that, I have lounged around the house trying to figure out what to do (there are only two cars to share between five people. My dad takes the company car, so none of us kids are allowed to drive it unless it is for business purposes for my dad). I am waiting for my work schedule so that I can plan my break accordingly.

Short blog, but I am tired.

3 Days and Counting!!!

First, I must say that I am on my blog all the time, I just don't always have the time to write. That will change soon for a little bit! I have one last thing to turn in today and then I am done with school for about three weeks (my break starts tomorrow and ends on Wednesday, January 2nd)! I am taking my computer home. I will mostly likely have some time to write in my journal!

Just a few more days I will be in Washington with the family (for the record, my immediate family live in Oregon). We are spending Britt's birthday up there and apparently, I am going to be celebrating my birthday up there too! That's right...my birthday is in a little over a week (on the 22nd)! I will finally be out of my teen years! Sweet! Twenty years old just seems so far away and kind of unrealistic to me. Don't ask me why.

Short entry. Must be going to bed!

Heckticness of life

It is snowing today. It has been snowing non-stop for the past two days and will not stop until Tuesday. Even the freeway is dangerous. The snow plows would come through the main freeways and an hour later, there was more snow than before they plowed. We are up to about 10 inches. Going to church will not be fun, especially when the snow is ankle deep. We get two days of a snow break on Wednesday and Thursday, then the snow comes back on Friday. I like the snow, but I hate driving in it. I just hope we make it to the airport on Saturday in one piece (the storm coming in on Friday is supposed to last until next Monday).

I go home on Saturday...kind of. Jamie, Britt and I fly into Portland on Saturday, then Mom and Dad are picking us up and taking us straight to Washington to visit family!!! We are going to celebrate Britt's birthday up there (her birthday is Saturday, mine is exactly one week after that). Apparently, we are celebrating my birthday up there too. I just want finals to be over please!

Mild Winter?

It has finally happened. On December 1st, 2007 it has snowed and stuck in Utah County! It snowed by in September, but forty degrees does not mean it will stick. I label the current snowing situation as moderate. The snow has mixed sizes of chunks. Some are big and some are little. At time it is just a "light dusting" of sorts, but at the moment, the poor guy clearing the sidewalk has to go around every few minutes. I have counting him doing his third walk around. I like snow. I think it is pretty, but when I have to go to the store. The roads are terrible, so I think I will bundle up extra warm and walk there. It is easier and probably faster and safer to do that anyways. My sister said it is brutal out there. The weather people are saying that the snow will stick around until Monday then come back on Friday. However, weatherunderground.com is saying that we have a snow storm advisory until 2pm this afternoon and then we will have snow tonight and by the time we wake up tomorrow, it will be too warm to snow. The thermometer is reading at about twenty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. I can see it go up past freezing for a bit. I hope it snows all month long. I just don't want single and negative digits like last year. That was just insane. Let's just say..."It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" Now we just have to put our Christmas tree up and it will be more festive around here with the exception of finals looming.

So, these next few month are going to probably drive me insane. This month is finals and Christmas. I like Christmas, I just know from experience that I will come home and be frantically searching stores to find Christmas presents for everyone and a birthday present for Britt, my little sister. Then in January, I find out if I made a drum corp. I am hoping for Blue Devils although I don't see that happening this year. If not Blue Devils, then Bluecoats or Phantom Regiment would be just as amazing! Even Blue Knights as long as I am marching with someone I know! For those of you who have no idea what Drum Corp (pronounced core) is thinking Marching Band on steriods without the woodwinds. It is quite intense. I would be doing colorguard spending the whole summer spinning, performing, getting tan and just doing what I love. If you want more information about the awesomeness that I call Drum Corp go to www.dci.org. It has all kinds of goodies and information on the different corps! I would recommend you go see it.

Anyways, I have homeowrk to do, a birthday (December 22nd!) and Christmas list to write up and give to Mom, a room to clean, some letters to write and so much more to do! My love to all! Stay warm (I know I will be trying to)!

Something I Wrote in Another Journal!

So, much has happened in this last semester of school. I am amazed I have come out alive although not necessarily all together. But this weekend does even come close to anything else that has happened within the past few months. This weekend, a lot of good and a lot of bad happened. In the past spirit of Thanksgiving, I must say that I was and still am extremely grateful for four very important things I have good for me in my life.

First and foremost, I am very grateful that God is in my life. I have had a lot happen to me that I would have never gotten through if it wasn't for Him. I am a proud Christian (and yes, I believe Mormons are Christians when they are being nice to other people) and have tried very hard to live the life God has wanted me to live. I know exactly where I would be without Him and I do not want to be there.

Now, the second...dance. This weekend a crisis (for me) occurred in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of Blue Devils auditions. One of best friend's life currently hangs in the balance. In a single second I could get a phone call saying this person did not make it (for classified reasons I am not allowed to say anything other than that my best friend has been close to death all weekend long). When I went to dance block the next day, everything I was worried about left me for those few hours. Today, when I was scared to face the world and the possibility of a world without my best friend, dance gave me relief. My teacher said she noticed something was wrong the moment she saw me (I have not slept well or had a decent meal since the news). She pulled me aside and asked what was wrong. I replied "I can't say much except that my one of my best friends in the whole world is literally on their deathbed. She told me to dance (she knows me well). I did and in a matter of minutes my mind was again thinking about alignment and placement and found an hour of relief from the fear!

My third importance in my life...colorguard (dance and colorguard go hand in hand). This weekend I met some amazing people. People with my same interest, the same passion, the same goal...to spin! For me, when I am spinning, everything in life makes sense. Colorguard is my life and it will be for a long time.

Last and most definitely not least, are the friends I have who stick with me through think and thin. This weekend, I had some amazing people care about me and what was happening to me when they did not have too. They sat next to me and held me and comforted me when I desperately needed it the most. They were completely patient and caring when they could have told me to just let it go. Even the few people who came and stayed for just a few hours cared about my well being! Cory, Bailey and Toni all said something that made everything seem better when I thought I was going to be alone. At one point all of them said that when your are in a colorguard you are a family because sometimes your family will not understand or not come to that one important show, but the people you perform with will be the family you rely on. That is very true for me! They all gave me advice and sat with me when I thought I was going to lose my best friend and even now they care about me. They want updates and want me to stay healthy. I love having friends like Jessica who may get a little mad when I spend an entire audition not talking to her, but will let me cry on her shoulder during the long nights when I can't stop thinking about that one boy or can't seem to convince my parents to let me spend Spring Break in Texas or go to a California audition even if it means not talking to her for the whole three days!

As you can see this weekend has opened my eyes to bigger things and even though I am in the middle of a personal struggle, I have the assurance of these four things that allow me to wake up every morning and say I can make it another day!

Went to California and Brought Home a Bug...

No, not a real life bug. The "I have a cold and am a little sick" bug. California was super fun though! Auditions were great. I don't think I made it. There are very few spots open and a lot of good people. I think I have a fighting chance on the waiting list and almost everyone on the waiting list gets a spot in the show! We'll have to wait and see. I am determined to do drum corp this summer (Drum Corp is like marching band on steroids!) I will most likely send in a video audition for Bluecoats, Blue Knights, Santa Clara Vanguard, and maybe Phantom Regiment, but I hope Blue Devils see something n me and offer me a spot.

Okay, I really need to go to bed.

What Moving and Cleaning Look Like...

Sorry for the delay in entries. Life seems to be keeping me busy all the time. Funny how that works. Anyways, I decided to post an entry about moving and cleaning. Our apartment had cleaning checks on Monday and needless to say it was an adventure in and of itself. But I must start from the beginning. I will start with moving and how everything happened. Now, I am hoping the appropriate images will upload correctly so that everyone can see what I mean. Plus, I love it when I get to visually see everything (I am kind of a visual person). So, let's cross our fingers and hope this works.

I must start way back in August when I was in my last two weeks at work and preparing for Utah! I was living at home in Oregon the whole summer. This move to Utah was going to be completely different. This time my parents were taking three kids to college (Jamie, my oldest sister flew down for her two week summer break to help me, Mom, Dad and Brittany, my younger sister get back to Utah and to take Britt and I to the Oregon Start Party at Indian Head Trail Springs in Priveville, Oregon, about 4.5 hours away from our house). My entire summer was spent working forty hour shifts and cleaning my room (except when Harry Potter hit the bookstores, then I would spend my break and lunch hour at work ready as much as I could. I was behind everyone else, but is a story for another entry). August was the pinnacle point for moving and cleaning my room.
















The picture on the left (yeah! They work!) is an image of Michele's room with some of the stuff that went with me to Utah (Michele is my other older sister...I will post a blog about my family soon). The one on the right is the same picture without a flash. Amazingly, I was able to fit everything into my car with room for the driver, and two passengers. My car is a 4-door Toyota Camry, so not necessarily a big car in terms of a jeep or a van. Although the passenger in the back seat was just a little squished, but only a little! The picture below is the final result of what Michele's room looked like.I know...it seems like a lot, but most of that stuff I had with me my previous year in college. I tried not to add too many more items. I was just way excited to live in an apartment with a private room. Now, once I got to Utah, I just "dumped" everything there and went back to my aunt's house (she lives up the street from me). I never really truly unpacked everything as shown in the pictures below...






Left: The area around my dresser. Right: My desk and my bookshelf in the background.


Left: My bed (the quilt was made so lovingly by my grandmother as a graduation gift!










Basically, it has been messing until this weekend when I actually cleaned it. I am having technical difficulties posting a picture of my room clean

Miscellanious Projects

I have decided that it is time to share some of my project ideas, many of which I am constantly attempting to complete.

First, I am in the process of creating a few web pages. I have a goal to have one completely by January 2008, and have at least the skeleton of another completed by December 2007. I have a few others that I want to do, but these two are the ones at the top of my to do list.

Next, I want to finally have my room the way I want it (my bedroom in my apartment in Utah). It has not been clean since I moved in (when I moved in it was empty with the exception of the bed and the desk). Cleaning check are on November 12th. By that time, I hope to have my room nearly spotless. Then about a week or two after that, I will finally move everything around to where I want it. I can figure out how much space I have and I can finally get things in order. I can figure out what I still need to make my room complete.

This next project is what I call "Project Regular Temperature." I know it's a weird name, but that really is what it is. Let me explain. My apartment there are four bedrooms (one for each person living here). Two of the four rooms (one of which is mine) do not have consistent temperature readings in each season. For example, in the summer, my room is one of the hottest rooms in the apartment. In the winter, it is one of the coldest rooms. Now, you may be thinking, why not just through on the heat in the winter and turn up the air conditioning in the summer. Because we can not afford to have an electric and gas bill be that high. So instead, I am attempting to find ways to keep my room warm ing the winter and cold in summer. My first idea is to check the vent. Every once in a while, the Carriage Cove management puts on everyones heater (they only do this only when the temperature outside hits the teens or single digits). They have had to do this twice and I think my vent has something blocking it. My next idea is to get lots of candles! We are aloud to have candles in the apartment as long as our other roommates know when they are lit and we stay in the room the lit candles are in. I have two that are currently going and they have warmed up the room a little bit. I also have a desk light that radiates heat on. I have plans to possibly by a portable heat (the cost to run those are a lot less that the heating bill). I will probably throw some curtains over the windows. Occasionally, when it is snowing and windy outside, some of the cold air seeps in little by little making the room colder and the hottest months in Utah are July August and September. November, December and January prove to be the coldest months in Utah. I should also probably get my weather guard on the windows repaired. The weather guard keeps the wind out of my room.

I think the last project I am going to attempt to encounter (for now) is the "picking a major" project. Yes, I am a sophomore in college and still do not have a major. My college freshman sister has a major, but I am the oddball and still don't have one. There are way too many things that I like and I promised myself I would bring it up with God before officially deciding anything.

Now, I must go do homework and clean my room. I sometimes wish I could borrow time.

Totally and Completely Random Facts...

Here are a few complete random facts about me. Hopefully, this will help people to understand me better:

• I am not a neat freak, but I can not stand messes. For example, if my room is a mess, it ends up being an "organized mess" (as I like to call it). Basically, my room has everything in piles and I know where everything is, but none of it is in the right place or put away.
• I have only two sleeping positions. The first is the fetal position and the second is having my body be completely and totally straight. Any other position is just too awkward for me.
• Whenever I read a book, I sometimes have to act out the suspenseful moments just to get a feel of what the character feels.
• At night, when I sleep, I have to have the blinds to my window open just a little bit - enough to make out what is across from my window in order to sleep well at night.
• If I wash my hair everyday, chucks of my hair will come out. I have to wash it every other day.
• I have more guys friends than girl friends. Of my three best friends, two of them are guys.
• I absolutely love art of almost any form. I am a dancer and a pianist. I frequently enjoy visiting art museums, dance and music concerts and plays. I would love to tour and potentially perform in a Broadway show.
  
• I have a weird fascination with cemeteries. If I ever walk or drive by one, I have to slow down or stop so that I can look at all the headstones. Sometimes, I walk through cemeteries just for fun.
• I am very independent. If you give me a task or an assignment and I don't know how to do it or understand, I will ask several questions regarding the assignment as opposed to actually asking for help.
• When giving me directions, about 85-90% of the time, you have to physically show me where it is. If you just give me directions I can get lost easily. Although I am getting better about this.
• I admit, I sleep with at least one stuffed animal and at least three blankets (even in the summer). It is a sense of security for me.

I think that is all you will find out about me for now. Besides, I am tired.

The Beginning?

Could this be the beginning of another online blog (one of the many I currently have)? Quite possibly. I have only one that is private to the public and one that is semi-private (only a select few people know of it). I figured that I really should start from the beginning!

I am a soon-to-be in my twenties young woman in college. Everyday is a new adventure for me. Something interesting, weird or embarrassing ends up happing to me on a daily basis. I am mormon, LDS, whichever you want to call it, however that does not mean I am voting for Mitt Romney (contrary to popular belief). I have not decided whether or not I am voting for him yet. I am not going to vote for him just because he is mormon. I write down the list of candidates from both the Republican and Democratic party and research every person and their policies on my own time. Whichever one is able to satisfy my beliefs as to how to run a country and can talk about issues I care about, then that is who I will vote for. In case you are wondering, I am consider myself as the Independent party or more of a Liberal Republican and therein lies my dilemma when it comes to voting). I aside from my religious and political beliefs I am an avid dancer (sometimes to my parent's dismay -- long story which will be told at a later date...I promise) and I am addicted to colorguard. I love watching marching band shows and hope to land a job as a colorguard instructor or technician before I get married. I am very ambitious. I currently have an ongoing list of things I want to do or accomplish in life (it gets bigger everyday). I love to learn. If I had it my way and had all the money in the world, I would go to school as much as possible.

Also, I think I may be an insomniac. I not not have a consistent, regular sleeping pattern and every night I wonder about my sleep for that night (or morning depending on what time it is. To sum it up, some nights I am awake all night and others, I fall asleep easily, but end up waking at odd hours of the night with no explanation or knowledge of why I have awaken. So, I may end up having a blog post at 1:00am, 4:30am, 9:30pm, 2:43pm...whenever I can. I never intend to be awake and I really do try hard to fall asleep again. This time in my life is an inconvenient time to have an irregular or non-existent sleeping pattern. School is my number one priority and I can not afford to miss any class.

Well, enough ranting for now. G'Night to all!

Kristen