A Sure Remedy for Doubt

With this torturous Fall semester over and done with, I can finally see the light at the end of my master's degree tunnel—the tunnel I've been in for the last two years. I can't believe it's been two years. It feels like it's been ten. Now that I can actually see the end nearing {Don't worry, by "end" I mean the end of working on my degree.}, I'm often left with a feeling of doubt. Doubt that I'll be able to know what do to and where to go after I'm finished with school. Doubt that I'll be able to pull off my master plan. And what in the world is my "master plan" anyway? Can someone please tell me so I can get on with my life?! Man, so much angst. I feel just like Angela Chase felt right after Jordan Catalano decided to cruelly ignore her at the Buffalo Tom concert. Oooh, by the way, I finally got to see Jordan Cat...uhh, I mean Jared Leto in person! Yes, it's true. I was no more than 10 feet away from him at one point during the 30 Seconds to Mars concert a couple weeks ago. Awesome. And he's just as beautiful in person as I've always imagined he would be. Anyway, back to my angst. Whenever I've been a bit overwhelmed with these feelings of doubt, I've found that referring to the long list of great things in my life immediately washes away my anxiety. Reference to said list is a sure remedy for doubt. Works every time for me. And here's just a swatch of the many things I am truly grateful for—just some of the great things that add so much to my so-called life {sorry, had to throw one more Angela Chase reference in here}.

I'm grateful for the homemade centaur costumes that Matt and Leesh donned this past Halloween.

I'm grateful for Dave Grohl.

I'm grateful for Grandma Fern and the fact that she has never failed to wish me a happy birthday.

I'm grateful for being able to live with Hughler for the past two years. Poor Hugh passed away last Friday. Hugh's one responsibility while on earth was to be a true and loyal friend to Phil, and he fulfilled that responsibility perfectly. I miss him.

I'm grateful for Elvis and recently found out that The King is still alive and well! J/K, J/K, that's Isaiah, wearing yet another incredible homemade Halloween costume. And for that, I'm very grateful.

I'm grateful for Phil and for all the ways he helps me figure things out.

I'm grateful for irreplaceable friends like Mandy who are always willing to hop into photo booths with me.

I'm grateful for my fashionable niece and how she has taught me that there are only two certainties in life: 1) Animal print never goes out of style and 2) A girl should NEVER leave her house without a purse.

I'm grateful for Ruth and how she manages to make life more cozy.

I'm also grateful for long sidewalks and how they're perfect places to go when you need to mull something over in your head. {I love this picture of little peestola}

There's so much more I'm grateful for, but I'll stop here for now. Thanks for reading my blog.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hands

Everybody in my family has different hands. My dad’s hands are thick and calloused, folded together, patiently waiting for the next question. Melinda’s hands are always moving, moving, moving—appearing out of nowhere to pinch you when you’re not paying attention. Matt’s hands are open and have nothing to hide—what you see is what you get. My hands are plain with neglected fingernails begging for a coat of paint. Maria’s hands are up in the air, dramatic and expressive when there’s something in need of explanation. And Melanie, my baby sister, has elegant hands—long and poised and ready for their next challenge.

But my mother’s hands, my mother’s hands, like soft meringue all featherweight and airy, so delicate you’re afraid you’ll hurt them if you hold them the wrong way, silky to the touch with pretty pink fingernails because she just came back from the manicurist, are the warm dinner waiting for you when you get home, are painfully curled into themselves but determined, constantly in motion, always marching toward a grand goal, working, sewing, producing, creating beauty in spite of their sickness, fragile yet so strong, ignoring their handicap while going about daily chores, can’t move like mine, can’t move like most but still manage to hold me in tighter, grab my face and somehow convince me of my own importance, hold me up higher than any other pair of hands have ever managed. Holding me in tighter, holding me up higher, my mother’s hands, like soft meringue.

Retro Photo of the Week

I'm not sure what year this was taken, but if our sweaty, tired faces are any indication, I'm pretty sure it must have been taken after we were done trick-or-treating for the night. Maria's face is priceless + she's already in her PJs. And I'm not sure why Melinda is not in costume. Those were the days.

The Lost Art of Flannel Shirting

I'm planning on going to the Pearl Jam show tomorrow night and the pre-show excitement has got me all nostalgic about the good 'ol days of flannel shirts and Jordan Catalano. Do you remember this? Isn't it so great when he grabs her hand? *sigh* I loved this show so much.

Musing in the Shower

An old friend tagged me on facebook recently. It was one of those tags that invite you to answer a bunch of questions about yourself and after answering you’re supposed to publish your answers for all of your facebook friends to see. Do I enjoy filling out these types of questionnaires? Yes, yes I actually do. Am I going to answer these questions and publish this information on facebook? No way. Am I going to answer these questions and publish this information on my blog? Hells yeah! Ha! For some reason I don’t feel comfortable burdening people’s “news feeds” with a bunch of trivia about myself. I do, however, feel completely comfortable posting this meaningless information about myself on my blog. I mean, that’s what a blog is for, right? I guess it depends on what blog we’re talking about. As for me, my blog’s purpose is simple, and there’s a reason behind me making this blog, my little piece of the world-wide-web, private. So for those of you who care to read my answers (found at the bottom of this post) to this facebook-initiated questionnaire, go right on ahead!

While in the shower this morning, I got to thinking about the process of getting to know people. I think all this silly facebook tagging got me thinking about the subject, and I came up with one main question: How do you really get to know someone for who they actually are? This friend of mine who tagged me on facebook said that she tagged me because she wanted to get to know me better. Now, I know the tag was only meant for fun, so no big deal. It is what it is. But the stated purpose of the tag is not going to be met…she’s not really going to get to know me through this series of silly questions nor is she going to get to know me on any kind of real level by simply being my “facebook friend.” Like I said before, this facebook stuff is all in good fun, no big deal. In addition, I realize that people don’t get on facebook in order to get to know people on a real level or to get a deeper meaning out of life in general (at least I hope nobody gets on that site with that aim), but the whole thing just got me to thinking.

So back to my question that came to me in the shower this morning: How do you really get to know someone for who they actually are?

One thing I know is that getting to know a person is usually not the easiest thing in the world and requires a lot of selflessness and sincerity. It is also something that can’t be measured in time. In other words, just because someone says they’ve known so-and-so for X number of years, doesn’t mean they know so-and-so all that well. As a case in point, someone who I would count as a good friend decided to set me up with some guy that she’s “known for years.” This friend of mine said that she thought I’d really like this guy because, and I quote, “Like you, Monica, he’s not too overwhelmingly Mormony.” First of all, I know she didn't mean any harm by telling me that. But go HERE to find out how I feel when people are shocked after finding out that I'm LDS or how I feel when people, who know that I'm LDS, describe me as not being very “Mormony.” Why do people feel this way about me? Is it because some of the best friends I have are not LDS? Is it because of my love of indie rock music and concerts? Is it because of my shoes? I don’t blame anyone who may feel this way about me, because it happens often enough that I know I must be doing something to help form this opinion of me. But I’ll have you know that THIS DAY happens to be the happiest of my entire life. Which I hope says a lot. Anyway, I’ll stop harping on this phenomenon for now since I’m in the middle of telling you this illustrative blind date story. So I end up going out more than a couple of times with this guy that my good friend set me up with and come to realize that he is one of the more faithful members of the church I’ve ever met. Go figure. And the friend who set us up said that she’s known this guy for years. It makes me wonder why she doesn’t realize how faithful he actually is. As a second case in point, another good of friend of mine decided to set me up with a guy who she said was a really, really nice guy. A real sweetheart and good member of the church she says. Well, this guy turned out to be anything but a good member of the church. In fact, he turned out to be a straight-up rogue. Any lessons learned from these experiences? Yes. One of the very important lessons being that labels don’t count for jack squat. I don’t ever want to be caught thinking that I know who someone is just because of a label someone else decides to put on that person. So when it comes to discovering things about somebody, it’s best to go directly to that person, the true source of information, rather than relying on what someone else decides to tell you. Sure, the guy who sat next to me in sacrament meeting today had a really, really bad haircut and a pretty bad lisp to boot. So what. Who am I to say that a really bad haircut makes someone less worthy of getting to know? The bad haircut and lisp shouldn’t stop me from trying to be this guy’s friend. Who knows, maybe this dude will turn out to be one of the best friends I’ll ever have. *NOTE TO SELF: Make sure to spark up a conversation with bad haircut/lisp dude next Sunday.* Life simply isn’t as exciting or full without good, true friends surrounding you. In short, I really believe that it pays off to take chances on people, regardless of what other people say about them, their religion of choice, or their bad haircut. I just wish it wasn’t so hard to take those chances…at least I know it’s hard for me. I think it seems hard, because half the time you don’t get back nearly as much as you put in. But it really pays off in the end if you’re able to gain a good friend out of the whole process. Have I managed to answer my question that sparked all this rambling? Nope, not really. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow morning’s shower. Maybe I’ll come up with a brilliant answer whilst shampooing my hair tomorrow. I’ll be sure to let you know when I come up with something brilliant. Until then, just know that I’m Monica, I’m LDS, I’m a pisces, I have brown eyes, and I love to go to rock concerts. If you’re interested to know anything beyond that, be sure to give me a call and we can setup a time to meet for a hot chocolate or something. It’s easiest to get to know me over a nice cup of hot chocolate.


FOODOLOGY

1. What is your salad dressing of choice?
Ranch

2. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
This is too difficult to answer. I love going out to eat way too much to choose just one.

3. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Homemade tortillas.

4. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pepperoni, black olives and mushrooms.

5. What do you like to put on your toast?
There’s this olive oil butter stuff that I really love.

TECHNOLOGY

1. How many televisions are in your house?
3

2.the color of your cell phone?
black

3. How long would it take you to look up who invented the Rubber Band?
Probably about 5 seconds since I’m on the computer right now and can google anything I want.

4. Have any idea how many Megahertz your computer has?
No.

BIOLOGY

1. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right

2. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Wisdom teeth is all.

3. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
My 1 year old nephew, Rocky. That kid weighs a ton.

4. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No, but I’ve passed out plenty of times.

BULLCRAPOLOGY

1. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No!

2. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I would call myself Stella. I’ve always loved that name.

3. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Right now, at this time in my life and non-career, yes. Very sad, but yes I would.

DUMBOLOGY

1. How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Let’s see, I think 3.

2. Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
What qualifies as a “run-in?” I would have to say it’s been more than four years ago…got pulled over for speeding down State Street in Salt Lake.

3. Last person you talked to?
Ruth.

4. Last person you hugged?
My niece, Maya.

FAVORITOLOGY

1. Season?
I used to always say Summer, but now that I’ve learned to love snowboarding, I might have to say Winter.

2. Holiday?
Labor Day. It comes at the perfect time.

3. Day of the week?
I like Thursdays the most.

4. Month?
March.

CURRENTOLOGY

1. Missing someone?
Yes.

2. Mood?
Apprehensive.


3. What are you listening to?
Are we talking, like, right now? Nothing. Silence. I just finished up reading Dracula and I can’t read or write with a lot of ambient noise.

4. Watching?
Again, if we’re talking about right now, I’m just watching my computer screen. But if we’re talking about general television watching, then I’ve been paying attention to the U.S. Open and if I have any spare time, I like to watch The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. Oh and once LOST starts back up again, you better believe I’ll be watching that.

RANDOMOLOGY

1. First place you went this morning?
Upstairs to get my daily dose of Honey Bunches of Oats.

2. What's the last movie you saw?
I watched part of this really strange movie on the plane to New York called Grey Gardens. Pretty depressing.

3. Do you smile often?
I’ve been told that I don’t smile enough.

4. Sleeping Alone Tonight?
Yes.

OTHER-OLOGY
1. Do you always answer your phone?
Not always. Thank goodness for caller id and voicemail.

2. Its four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
Either one of my three sisters or the shady kid who lives across the street from me…I made the mistake of giving him my number over a year ago. Mistake.

3. If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Violet.

4. Do you own a digital camera?
Yes!

5. Have you ever had a pet fish?
No. But I’ve had a pet rock.

6. Favorite Christmas song(s).
Silver Bells.


7. What's on your wish list for your birthday?
A new snowboard.

8. Can you do push ups?
Yes…and the real kind too, not the wussy girl kind.

9. Can you do a chin up?
Yes.

10. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
More excited than nervous.

11. Do you have any saved texts?
Yes.

12. Ever been in a car wreck?
Yes.

13. Do you have an accent?
More than once I’ve been asked if I’m from Florida. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. But yes, I do believe I have some sort of hybrid accent.

14. What is the last song to make you cry?
I’ve never cried because of a song.

15. Plans tonight?
Homework.

16. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Yes. I could even give you the exact date and time that I hit if you really wanted to know.

17. Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
Uh oh. I wish I could say that I didn’t buy anything, but I ended up at the Gateway somehow and ended up buying 1 blouse and 2 pairs of pants at Anthropology—all on sale of course!

18. Have you ever been given roses?
Yes, for a Valentine’s Day gift a very long time ago.

19. Current worry?
I’m really worried about finishing my action research/thesis project in time for my planned graduation in the Spring. I fear that will be my main worry until May arrives.

20. Current hate right now?
Hate is a strong word. I don’t hate anything right now. But I’m worried about a few things (see question 19 above for one of them).

21. Met someone who changed your life?
Yes.

22. How will you bring in the New Year?
Jubilantly. ☺

23. What song represents you?
Happy Kid by Nada Surf…At least that’s the first one that comes to mind right now.

24. Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
YES! I know, kinda sad, but YES I WOULD.

25. Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
Yes.

26. Do you have any tattoos/piercings?
Just the traditional single piercing in both ears is all.

27. Will you be in a relationship 4 months from now?
I guess we’re talking romantic relationship? Probably not. Living with Phil and Ruth while going to school and working on the WSU campus isn’t too conducive to the formation of new relationships. But I’m not complaining…Ruth is a fantastic cook.

28. Does anyone love you?
Yes.

29. Ever had someone sing to you?
Yes, but not in a serious way. Just for laughs.

30. When did you last cry?
Hmmm, oh yes, now I remember. ‘Bout 2 weeks ago.

31. Do you like to cuddle?
Not usually.

32. Have you held hands with anyone today?
No.

33. What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?
Whatever records or tapes Phil happened to be listening to at the time. So there was a lot of Beatles and Beach Boys going on.

34. Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Mostly old friends I’ve had for years and years. I’m lucky.

35. Do you like pulpy orange juice?
Well I can handle a little bit of pulp but not too much.

36. Do you believe angels walk among us?
Yes I do.

Retro Photo of the Week

Melanie and Mom at the beach in Panama. From the looks of Melanie, this must have been taken in 1989ish.

Ocean Water and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I very much enjoyed meeting my future husband this morning. I met him during the time in between wakefulness and deep sleep, the time in the early-morning when I seem to have my most vivid dreams. The dream seemed to begin at an airport. I had my luggage and was waiting to be picked up. When I saw him I had an overwhelming feeling of relief come over me. And I was happy that it was him picking me up and not someone else. I knew that he loved me when he gave me a hug. When he hugged me, I knew that it was not out of obligation or routine. It felt very real, and I loved him back. It’s funny how the feelings you have in a dream can seem so real when you’re in it, and they linger sometimes even after you wake up. After the hug, we were suddenly at our apartment. Yes, even in my dreams I don’t have my own house. Anyway, a couple of our friends were there to welcome me home. Our two friends were Kayla and Evan from that TV show So You Think You Can Dance. Kayla handed me a big box of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever seen. I thanked her and suddenly I was alone in the apartment with my husband. We were sitting together next to this huge window in our living room. Looking out the window, I could see nothing but ocean. My husband had me in his arms as he asked me about how my long trip went. I don’t remember our conversation, but I do remember that this guy seemed like a refuge for me. I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach like the movies say you’re supposed to have when you’re with someone you love. I wasn’t left breathless with weak knees and stars in my eyes. Nope, I just remember feeling completely comfortable and safe with him. If I had any sort of drawing talent I would try to sketch my husband for you now. I’m telling you, this dream was so vivid, I actually remember his face, sort of. He looked a bit like Javier Bardem but not quite as conventionally handsome. His teeth weren’t completely straight, but they weren’t too crooked to not be charming. He had very short, almost buzzed dark hair and olive skin, like mine. I knew that he was the love of my life when he asked me if I wanted to share a chocolate chip cookie with him. He had just taken my hand in his when I woke up. I almost started crying. He was gone. And I had to get up and get ready for church. So there you have it. If you didn't know before about what a hopeless romantic I am, you know it now for sure. Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless.

Retro Photo of the Week

I'm not quite sure when this was taken. Probably about a year ago, maybe more. Isaac's in front. How lucky am I to be an aunt? Too lucky. These silly boys always manage to breathe life into my sometimes drab existence.

San Antone

Melinda, Jason, and Isaiah were sealed together as a family in the San Antonio temple about a week ago. I am so lucky to have been able to be there to witness the sealing. The whole experience was very special, and I'm so happy to be a part of such a great family. I loved every minute I was down in Texas. The trip was fantastic.

Here we are at the temple after the sealing. We all wished Matt and Leesh were able to be there with us, but the long trip to San Antonio is a bit too much when you have four little ones to bring along with you.

Jason, Melinda, and Isaiah chillin' at the pool during the trip.

Melinda and her baby at the pool

Taking Photos in the Dark

Maya and the boys stayed over the other night. Maya's taken to sleeping in my bed whenever she happens to stay the night, but this time the sleepover got a little crowded. A few minutes after Maya settled into the bed, Isaac and Luke came into the room and asked if they could sleep in my room too...I couldn't say no...I didn't get much sleep that night. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for Maya's tendency to sleep diagonally.

I took the following pictures around 6am...the photo opp was too priceless to pass up...

Lukey

Isaac

Maya...I had no choice but to move to the foot of the bed and try to sleep because of Maya's diagonally ways.

I had the chance to go to the Spanish Fork Canyon hot pots this past weekend. I try and go every summer, and I'm glad a few good friends were willing to make the trek with me this year. As always, it was so much fun. I went on a long run earlier that morning so the hot water felt really, really good. Luckily it wasn't super crowded like it usually is, so we had our choice of natural hot tubs that night. I loved it!

waterfall

On our way out

Hiking out

And here's Isaiah in the dark during a recent trip to San Antonio...

I Feel Old Today

I'm getting crow's feet. Yes, it's true. They say that crow's feet are usually the first kind of wrinkles that show up for women. And they usually make their appearance around the age of thirty. Yes, it's true. I feel old today. Cross your fingers that the feeling will pass sooner than later. I'm sure it will. I mean, I act like a child 99% percent of the time, so it is inevitable that this "old lady" feeling I'm having will go away quickly. Please enjoy this poem that I just read out of my giant book of poetry. I've been reading my giant book for quite a while this afternoon while it's been raining outside...very "old lady" of me, don't you think? But you don't have to be an old lady to like this poem, so check it out.


Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Darest Thou Now O Soul

Darest thou now O soul,
walk out with me toward the unknown region,
where neither ground is for the feet
nor any path to follow?

No map there, nor guide,
nor voice sounding, nor touch of human hand,
nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips,
nor eyes, are in that land.

I know it not O soul,
nor dost thou, all is a blank before us,
all waits undreamed of in that region,
that inaccessible land.

Till when the ties loosen,
all but the ties eternal, Time and Space,
nor darkness, gravitation, sense,
nor any bounds bounding us.

Then we burst forth, we float,
in Time and Space O soul, prepared for them,
equal, equipped at last, (O joy! O fruit of all!)
them to fulfill O soul.

Relay For Life

The Relay for Life event finally took place earlier this month. It was a lot of fun to take part in this event with friends and family. Leesh did a great job with organizing and rallying everyone together for this cause and getting everything ready for the night of the relay. And Thanks to everyone who helped and supported us with donations. The weather wasn't the greatest for the overnighter...It was really windy and cold and rained around 2 in the AM. Thank goodness for Matt and Leesh's giant tent! It was no surprise to me that Travis and his wife Mandy (Travis is the inspiration behind all of this relay stuff) were the ones keeping everyone's spirits up through the rain and cold. This whole experience was such a good one, and I'm so grateful that there are strong people like Travis around to remind us how blessed we all are. Here are a few pictures from the relay.

Travis and Mandy

Travis, Matt, and Aleesha

We were the T-Minators...get it? Haha.

We made capes for everyone on the team. So cool.

Everyone had way too much candy that night...Take a look at Maya on the left...yeah, way too much candy.

Maya's pretty butterfly.

Maya and Isaiah.

Melanie and Luke

Rocks

Matt...wondering how in the H he got dragged into all this...

Melinda, weathering the cold at 3 in the morning.

So tired.

Will and Bear

My friend Emily tipped me off onto this hilarious episode of Man vs. Wild, one of my favorite tv shows. This episode has Will Ferrell in it. I had to watch the whole thing on youtube since I missed the original airing on Discovery. I bet they'll replay it on Discovery, but until then, check it out on youtube. Here's the first installment. So funny. I laughed the whole time watching it.

Zion National Park

I was able to go down to Zion National Park over Memorial Day weekend. It was a great time. The park is really very beautiful, and the weather was good all weekend. I've been to the park once before back when I was in high school, but this time around was much more fun since we got to explore a lot more. I went down with a few friends, and we did nothing but hike, hike, hike...We were dead every night, but the hiking was fantastic. I have to admit that we did get lost on the last hike we attempted and feared for our lives for a couple hours, but other than that, we all had a blast.

View from Angel's Landing. Beautiful.

Here I am messing around with Marette and Whitney...I really like this photo, because I'm actually taller than the other people in the shot.

May Sunday Photos

Here are the kiddies checking out Phil's beloved fish pond. The water's always kindof greenish and mucky, but don't tell Phil that, he'd get his feelings hurt. The fish were allowing Isaac and Luke to pet them today (really, they were), so that was funny. Notice Aleesha's hand in the right corner, making sure Baby Girl didn't jump into the pond. Aren't moms grand? I love moms and know that I'd be more than a little lost without mine. I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day and enjoyed the beautiful day out by a fish pond or something.


Oh wait, here's a Mother's Day photo of my nephew Isaiah, looking very dapper in his blue sweater vest and brown mocasins. Does it get any cuter than this? I think not.

Check Out the Relay for Life Link on Your Right!

I'm on a Relay for Life team, and we're trying to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Learn more about how you can help by clicking on the link on the right. Check it out!

Also, if you have anything you'd like to donate to the ACS fundraising garage sale my team is putting on next month, please email me, call me or leave a comment here so I can arrange a pickup. My team is trying to gather up all donated items by May 7th. Thanks!

Retro Photo of the Week

Here I am with Melinda in 1984. I'm only four years old in this photo, but I distinctly remember this trip to Monument Valley...I don't know if it was my awesome Mickey Mouse shirt or all the fun I had gathering rocks, but this is one of my earliest memories. I'm glad Phil captured this piece of the trip with his camera.

Jan Von Holleben

I was happy to find this cool photog website through another blog. The artist's name is Jan Von Holleben, and he created a photo series called Dreams of Flying. The series is really fantastic. Take a look, you won't be sorry.

"Well, it's your shoes..."

Some of you may know that I've been taking a linguistics course this semester. The course is officially named "The Roots of English Etymology," which is a very funny/redundant name if you stop and think about it. Anyway, I digress...Some of you also may know that this course is taught by a very handsome fellow that looks a lot like another handsome fellow called Pete Yorn. Needless to say, this linguistics class has been my favorite for the past few months, and I never really consider it a chore to attend each week. A funny thing happened in class a couple weeks ago that ended up leading to another funny thing that happened just this past week in class. Let me explain. A couple weeks ago, we were all sitting in class waiting for Pete Yorn (let's refer to my linguistics professor as Pete Yorn for the sake of simplicity) to set up a DVD player when one of my classmates decides to make a coffee run. Before he leaves, he turns to all of us (there are only 6 students in the class total) and asks if anyone else wants some coffee. After nobody accepts his kind offer, he proceeds to say, "Oh, oh, my bad, you guys must all be Mormon, right?" Nobody chooses to respond to his seemingly rhetorical question, so he then decides to quiz us each individually on our specific religious inclinations. Now, this kid, the "coffee run" kid, is a socially awkward albeit well-meaning guy who happens to be Muslim. I know that he's Muslim because he's been very vocal all semester about his religious beliefs along with many other things that pertain to his personal life. So this guy goes around the room, asking everyone what their religion is, and one by one each person answers, LDS. He finally gets around to me, and asks, "What about you? What's your religion?" I finish chewing and swallow the last little bit of my York peppermint patty, turn to him and answer, "Yep, I'm LDS." To which he responds, "You are? No way!"
Now, I'm fairly used to this response, because he's not the first person that has been surprised by the fact that I'm LDS whenever they learn about this for the first time. I've always been confused as to why they are so surprised by this, but I think I've finally figured it out, thanks to Pete Yorn...Which brings me to the aforementioned second funny incident.

**Fast forward to the very next class session; this past week's class...**

This past week I arrived early to class. I was the first one to arrive and started unpacking my things when Pete Yorn walked in. Here's the conversation that happened between the two of us:

PETE YORN: "Hi, Monica"

ME: "Hey, how are you?"

PETE YORN: "I've been better. I'm feeling a little sick actually."

ME: "Oh, sorry to hear that. Weren't you sick just a few weeks ago?"

PETE YORN: "Yeah. So you're Mormon?"

ME: "Ha. Yes. I am."

PETE YORN: "Hmm. Wow. That's fascinating."

ME: "Fascinating?"

PETE YORN: "Yeah, I mean, I'm sometimes surprised to find out who ends up being Mormon. I mean, you could walk out onto campus, throw a stone, and be assured that whoever it hits would be Mormon. It's amazing around here."

ME: "Were you surprised to find that I'm LDS?"

PETE YORN: "Yes. I was. I mean, for one, you have a Mediterranean look and attitude about you. You know, the Mediterraneans are known for their laid-back personalities and such.

ME: "Hmm. Okay. Actually, I often come across people who are surprised whenever they find out I'm LDS. I don't know why this is."

PETE YORN: "Well, it's your shoes."

ME: "What?"

PETE YORN: "Yeah, your shoes...they don't exactly scream 'Family Home Evening.'"

ME: "Ha!"

PETE YORN: "Yeah, they look like the shoes of someone who used to hang out with the skater punk crowd in high school."


Right after he made the skater punk comment, a couple of my classmates walked in, so I didn't get the chance to respond. Actually, I'm not sure how I would've responded to that comment. But at least now I know why some people are so surprised to find out that I'm LDS...It's because of my shoes. Too bad I only have a couple more class sessions with Pete..I'll miss him.

Time to Go to the Movies! Finally.

Has anyone else felt like there hasn't been anything good to see at the movie theatre for a very long time? I feel like it's been well over a year since I went to the theatre and watched something that I really got excited about. Well I think the wait is finally over! Here is a list of not one, not two, not three, but FOUR movies that look pretty rad and worthy of full ticket price!

Star Trek...Comes out next month I think.

Terminator...Also comes out in May.

The Time Traveler's Wife...A movie based on Audrey Niffenegger's book, which I love. I couldn't find an official trailer for this one, but it comes out in August. Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams! Yeah!

Sherlock Holmes...Couldn't find an official trailer for this one either...Comes out in December!

Retro Photo of the Week

Last week at Powder Mtn...Gosh, those were the days.

Shhhhh, the powder's sleeping...

The Class

I watched this movie last night, and it scared the crap out of me.

I Think I Swallowed a Bug

On my way back to the car after the color throwing...I should've taken a picture of my unabomber technique...it worked brilliantly for keeping my face and hair relatively clean...We went for sushi right after so I wanted to try to stay halfway presentable.

I've been to the Krishna temple down in Spanish Fork several times, but I didn't know what I was in for when I went down there yesterday for the Festival of Colors. I've never seen anything like it. There were thousands of people gathered at the temple for the festival. The highlight of the whole gathering is the "throwing of colors" which took place around 6:00 yesterday right after they lit this big bonfire in the middle of the crowd. Everyone buys these little bags of colorful chalky powdery stuff and then throws the stuff at each other at the designated time. There was such a gigantic crowd there yesterday that the air was just lousy with this chalky powdery stuff for a long while after everyone stopped throwing the colors (And yeah, I just used "lousy" in that sentence). It was so much fun. I'm definitely going again next year and am just wondering how in the world I lived in the Proves for 4 years without taking part in this thing before now.

Retro Photo of the Week

Me, Melinda, and Melanie...I can't remember what year we did this...I think maybe 2005 or 2006 during one of Melinda's visits...Melinda made us do it.