{Framed}

After that nasty last post, I figured I should write a pleasant one.

I found two framed cupcake related crafts that I'm going to do. I don't know when, but I will.  

Isn't it cute? You can find the instructions here.

I love etched glass. The look of it is so pretty and elegant. A Cricut was used to cut the letters out so this project will probably be done during Christmas break when I'm home and have access to one. Instructions for this project can be found here. This idea can be used to make other signs, like fresh cookies. You can make it say anything you want. That's one thing I love about crafts, you have so much freedom.

I'll be sure to post pictures of mine whenever I get around to doing them.

Ewww! (Post not for the faint of heart)

The peeling process started the other day. It's so gross! I feel like I look like I have skin disease, like leprosy or something. Just when I started feeling like I looked better and ready to hang out with people again. I'm really putting my faith in the saying that things get worse before they get better. On top of peeling off a ton of my skin, I had some tiny unexpected guest pop up on my legs.

Sorry if this grosses you out. It grosses me out too.
(Got this pic from Google)

Yeah, tiny little blisters on my legs that itch like crazy. They appeared last night. It's been a week since I got burned. They kind of make me want to cry because they are disgusting and so itchy and I can't do anything about them. They feel gross too. I joked before about a blind person being able to read braille off my skin, but now I think they really could. It also makes me think about teeny tiny bubble wrap, except you can't pop these bubbles. 

I got like 10 more bug bites last night and they are already kind of big. I didn't use bug spray since some place that are peeling are sensitive. I didn't want it to sting and I didn't want to take the chance of making my blisters worse. It actually probably wouldn't have done anything to them. Basically, I hate my body right now.

I'm kind of wishing I had gone to the doctor when I first got my burn since it was a pretty bad second degree burn. Maybe I would be a little better off right now. My roommate even mentioned I could use burn cream (burn victims use it and they sell a generic brand at the store), but I felt like using it would be like overreacting. I wish I would have used it. I feel so bad for actual burn victims. Not that what I'm going though even compares, but I can kind of imagine how they feel. 

Did I make anyone gag with this post? Or wince a lot? Goal accomplished.

Pretty Eyes

Today I was told by James that I have really pretty eyes. After institute we were talking about how I look so much better compared to the last time he (actually everyone) saw me, which was at church on Sunday. I've been very anti-social and just lying low trying to heal. Plus, today was the fist day I was actually wearing real clothes (besides Monday for dinner) instead of just shorts and a tank. Needless to say, everyone was happy to see me and glad that I was doing so much better. It's nice knowing people care about you. Anyway, mid sentence he told me I had really pretty eyes. He said they had every color you would want in an eye. It's called Hazel. I love getting compliments, especially random ones like this one that just come out of nowhere. It made my day.

Later this evening I was going into my apartment when James and Trevor were leaving theirs. James told Trevor to look at my eyes. It was kind of weird having him stare at me through the chastity gate (gate that separates girls side and boys side of the upstairs apartments). It had gotten darker so they didn't look as pretty. James tried to recreate the sun so with the light from his cell phone so Trevor could really see them, but it didn't work. Besides my eyes, they admired my lovely tan line from my wristband from Seven Peaks. My arms are nice and tan now and then bam! I have a white stripe on my wrist.

In other news, I went to the store today. I'm happy to have food again. Not that I was out , but I was starting to eat lots of cereal and rice. I haven't been in any condition to go grocery shopping lately so this trip felt better than usual. It was like a celebratory trip for my recovery. I was really to the price for peppers had dropped so much because I like making fajitas. A lot. It's easy, delicious and feeds me for a couple days. It's become like one of my staple meals. Basically, you know what my first real cooked meal will be after I go to the store. I also bought cherries again. Couldn't help it. Gotta get 'em while I can.

Oh yeah, and the mosquito bite count is currently at 12. I was up at 4am this morning using an ice pack to try and numb the itch away long enough for me to sleep. Mosquitoes suck! Literally. And my rant the other day was a little premature. Today I told my roommate how many bites I've accumulated over the last few days from having the door and window open. She immediately apologized and said she just thought doing that would be better than being too hot. Tonight she even read outside and let me close the door. She stayed cool and I prevented more minions from coming in. It was nice that all this happened without me having to really confront her about it.

 I wish there was a punch card or something for mosquito bites. Something like: Get 10 bites and we leave you alone till next year. Wouldn't that be nice?

Makes No Sense

It makes absolutely no sense to have to use insect repellent inside your own home. None. I'm getting a little annoyed that it's exactly what I'm doing. How many other people have to do that? Probably more than I realize, but I don't pity them unless they are as allergic as I am.

I'm trying to be understanding of my roommate who is trying to be comfortable because our swamp cooler isn't cutting it or it's cooler outside than inside. I don't mind having all the windows open because there are screens (except for the kitchen), but it's the door that bothers me. Having the door wide open does nothing to keep out Satan's little minions that want to eat me alive. I don't why she just doesn't take her dish chair outside so she can lounge comfortably without driving me towards insanity. That's where I'm heading right now. I think I'm even more frustrated about this because she knows how allergic I am and that anti-itch products don't work for me, but she's not trying to do anything to make it more comfortable for. Am I asking too much? Ugh, I want to say something, but at the same time I don't. I don't want to sound demanding or controlling and I hate confrontation. Any suggestions? Feel free to leave a comment.

Every night I've been going to war with the dang buggers, trying to murder them before the can get to me. I've been spraying myself down with repellent before bed, but it doesn't last through the night. Every morning I wake up and discover a couple new additions to my body. Not cool. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Okay, rant over.

Meaty Monday

Shawn and Aubrey visited Utah and wanted to get together while they were here. Because of Shawn's birthday, he had a coupon for a free meal at Tucanos. Adrianne and Blake picked me up and we met them there. Aubrey's sister and husband also joined us.

I haven't seen them since last year since I wasn't able to attend Adrianne's wedding. Both Bryson and Greg have gotten so big! They are seriously two of the most adorable kids. I ate so much! I pushed myself to keep eating until I was way passed the happy full point. That's what you do when you're at Tucanos. Eat until you feel like they have to roll you out of there. I ate a lot of my favorite garlic sirloin and they had this teriyaki brisket or something like that and it was also amazing. They also had like three different bacon wrapped meats. I was in heaven. And of course I had my fill of their grilled pineapple, which was to die for (as usual).

Afterwards, we went outside and the boys played around in the fountain. It was the cutest thing! Bryce really loves water so he just went for it and would stand right over the holes and wait for the water. Greg took his time getting we, but once he did he was loving it just as much. They were so cute when they were done and they got the shivers. We watched people at the indoor surfing place for little bit. The uncles were joking about coming back with score cards and giving 10's for the best biffs. That would be fun actually. That actually sounds like the makings of a fun date.

Now I'm home and back into my tank and shorts. I've been trying to wear the least amount of clothing possible because of the pain. I hate it. Tonight for dinner I was the best dressed because I wore a skirt so I wouldn't have anything rubbing against my legs. This sunburn is making me so lethargic. Laying down feels the best and I don't move around unless I have to. It's going to suck once I start peeling.

Rosi is so nice. She texted me asking how my burn was today and if I was home so she could come over. I told her I'm doing better than yesterday, but not by much and she could definitely come over. She asked if I needed anything for my burn, like ice cream. How sweet and cute is she? I didn't need the ice cream so she just came and hung out until I left for dinner.

Oh yeah, on top of burned body, I acquired four new mosquito bites last night, on one leg (three right next to each other). Christina has been opening the door and kitchen windows because of the heat and our swamp cooler can't decide whether it want to work or not. Before bed I saw a mosquito in my room so I sprayed myself down with bug spray. I don't know how I still managed to get bitten. They itch like crazy and I definitely can't scratch because of my burn. Ugh, I kind of hate my body right now.

Sun Kissed

I almost didn't go to church today because I was in so much pain and could hardly move. I think I now know how the elderly feel. I suffered through the three hours just reminding myself of the blessings that would come from my church attendance, although my poor attitude may affect said future blessings.

Anyways, I got a plethora of comments about how red I was, how much pain I must be in and concern about whether I had stuff to treat my burn. I was red. I was in pain (basically on the verge of tears). I have stuff. The best comments by far took place after Sunday School. While everyone kept saying I was so sunburned, James told me I was sun kissed. Nice way of putting it. Then Jane said it looks like I didn't just kiss the sun, I made out with it. Also a nice way of putting it. That was the highlight of my day. 

Burn Baby Burn!

I have never been so badly sunburned in my life! My whole front side is lobster red and my body is aching to the point I almost want to shed a few tears, but I won't because I'm a pretty tough girl...sometimes. I'm pretty sure I upped my chances for skin cancer by like a thousand percent today. How did I let myself get like this?

Today was our stake activity. I woke up at 7:15 A.M., one thing I haven't done in a while. Then we hiked the Y, also something I haven't done in a long time (like years). Oh my gosh did I feel way out shape and pathetic. I had little kids (not that surprising, since they are like little Energizer bunnies) and old people doing better than me. Even my bishop passed me up! How said is that? I was stopping at like every turn to rest (the trail is made up of like 13 switchbacks and 1.2 miles long, all uphill). The one thing that did make me feel better is that Janessa was doing the same thing I was, but she's in way better shape than I am. What made it hard was the altitude (not used to it) and it is just so steep. About halfway is when my breathing semi-stabilized and my didn't feel like it was going to explode anymore.

I can't believe people do that hike for fun. Janessa said she was never making her kids hike the Y and I agree. Oh, another thing that made me feel oh so great about myself was that a group of seven us drove to the trail head (in a four person Camero) while most people walked from the Seven Peaks parking lot. They walked further than us, but they were passing us up. One thing that made the hike a little more enjoyable was that there was this guy, with one arm in a sling, going up and down giving everyone (and I mean everyone, no person left behind) high fives and saying good morning. His enthusiasm gave me a little boost. It took about an hour to get to the top, where we heard a five minute message from a member of the stake presidency. I cut my ankle while climbing onto the Y. I bled. Rosi, Janessa and I sang a little Shanie Twain because it fit the moment. Looks like we made it. Look how far we've come my baby. We might have took the long way, but I knew we'd get there someday. And a little David Archuleta. So I put one foot in front of the other, no, no, no nothing's gonna break my stride. I keep climbing, gonna keep fighting until I make it to the other side of down. Or in this case the top of the Y.

The way down was easier, but you couldn't just walk. It's so steep that you kind of have to jog and pray you don't slip and fall. Walking is just so hard on your knees. Well, I managed to score a blister on each foot, in the same spot on each foot. Thin socks and running down hill caused my feet to slide around in my shoes a little and therefore gave me blisters. I'm just all about injuries and discomfort today. I'm not a masochist, I swear.

At the bottom got wrist bands that allowed us to spend the day at Seven Peaks for free, including tube rentals. We went home and changed into our swimsuits and then walked back over to Seven Peaks (it's like a five minute walk from my apartment). We were treated to a breakfast of french toast sticks and sausage. Yummy. Fried and greasy food...just what I want on an empty stomach (besides the granola bar they gave us for the hike) and after a killer hike.

Then we hit rides. They were fun! We did all the ones where where you ride a tube, we used double tubes because four of stuck together the whole time. After the rides we hit the wave pool, where we stayed for an hour and where most of my burn came from. Every other fifteen minutes there's ten minutes of waves. We stayed for a few cycles. The first time we were just swimming around and didn't have tubes so I was out in 5ft deep water trying to jump the waves so I wouldn't drown. I kept getting bombarded by people in their tubes which made it a little difficult to keep my head above water. The rest of time we were just floating around in our individual tubes. We grabbed on to each other's so we would stay together. after the second wave cycle we found three more people from our ward. It was so much fun. During the waves, the three guys would kind of swing our tubes around. I could tell I burning, but I didn't realize how bad it really was.

I'm pretty forgetful when it comes to putting on sunscreen and I've learned before that my skin is really sensitive and I can't just use any brand. Oh Disneyland trip of '09. I usually don't burn that bad in that amount of time so I thought I would be okay. Silly me, I forgot the air is thinner here. I burn faster in a shorter amount of time. I'm not used to it since this is my first time spending the summer in Utah and so far this summer I haven't spent a ton of time outside. Not like I would if I was home.

After we got out of the wave pool, the guys left and us girls decided to lay out and dry off. I really wanted to allow my back to get some sun to kind of even out. Hopefully I end up with a really nice tan. Who am I kidding, I'll probably be shedding all my skin like a snake. Gross.

When I got home, Christina (the EMT) told to take a long cold shower to stop the burn from deepening and getting worse. I forgot that you still burn for a while after you're out of the sun. A cold shower has never felt so good in my life! After I got out I lathered up with some aloe lotion. I ate a bowl of frosted mini spooners (frosted wheaties) and crashed. I took a four hour nap. I was so exhausted. I woke up because of the pain. Went to sleep feeling fine, woke up feeling like I wanted to die. Not really, I just wanted to be poetic and rhyme. But I did have a short wave of dizziness and nausea hit. Today has just been so wonderful. It really has, minus the injuries. I'm thinking maybe since tomorrow is Pioneer Day and I'm in Utah, all this was to give me a little taste of their suffering. Although I did do a pioneer trek once so this little lesson was unnecessary.

The next few days are just going to be great. I can tell.

Here are clips of most of the rides I went on in case you were curious.

The Cure

I've finally figured out a cure for my ever persistent itchiness. My mosquito bites have been healed for a while now, but the heat rash just doesn't want to go away. It's mostly because I keep scratching and it's causing it to spread and worsen. Also, I still cross my legs while it's really hot here and I guess it keeps agitating what I already have. As hard as I try, I just can't stop scratching! I've tried multiple anti-itch creams and they just don't work for me. I almost thought about seeing a doctor to try to get something stronger than what's available in stores.

Last night, after talking to my roommate Christina (she's an EMT), she told me to try icing it and also aloe vera. Low and behold the combo works! I've only been suffering for over a week. Hopefully the days of waking up every few hours to apply stuff and having a scratch attack on my legs is over. I'm currently embarrassed by my legs. Luckily it's the back so it's not as noticeable, but I still find it disgusting. I was joking the other day that it's so bad that a blind person could probably read it as braille. That may or may not be an exaggeration.

Hopefully this "cure" heals my legs pretty well by Saturday, because there is an awesome stake activity. We are hiking the Y in the morning, hearing a message at the top, getting a pancake breakfast back at the bottom and then getting bracelets that allow us to spend all day at Seven Peaks Water Park. I love having a member of the stake presidency who is a managing member. Yay for connections! I'm not too excited to hike first thing in the morning, but I'm pretty stoked to play all day in the water and work on my tan.

I'm also excited to wear my new swimsuit. I needed one. The heat here is killing me and I haven't been swimming because I don't like the suit I had. It's hard to find swimsuits that fit me right since I'm such an awkward size. A while ago, Ally told me about Lime Ricki because they have modest swimsuits. I prefer tankinis because I have a small torso so one pieces don't usually fit me. I like how Lime Ricki's tankinis are longer. I don't have to worry about it floating up or anything. I almost didn't buy it because of the price. It's not bad, but I'm used to the cheap ones at Target. But I think it's totally worth it since I love it and I'll be using it a lot. Not just here, but at home too. Now I don't have any reason not to take advantage of the fact that I have an indoor pool at home so I can swim anytime. My days of just sitting on the sidelines and watching are over! I'm so excited about this, you have no idea.

Stand Out!

Tonight was our ward talent show and FHE Lip Sync. My ward has some pretty talented people. Only two FHE groups participated in the lip syncing. Mine was one of them. We chose to do the song Stand Out from The Goofy Movie. It's a classic.

We picked this last Monday and talked about what we were going to do, but never met to practice it. Today some people couldn't come anymore and we still had not practiced. I volunteered to do the rapping part (well it was really just talking) since the original person couldn't anymore. I'm surprised at myself. I hate being on stage and in front of people. And I really don't like being the center of attention (unless I'm around people I'm REALLY comfortable with). As our turn got closer I really regretted it because I'm not confident in my dance skills (free-styling) and I couldn't remember the words, even though I really only had like two sentences.

My part: If I could make you stop and take a look at me instead of just walking by. There's nothing that I wouldn't do if it was getting you to notice I'm alive.

Nerves are ridiculous and I don't know what good they do. I'd be so much more fun and outgoing without them. Moving on, I had someone throw my hat (the OSU one from Talanoa) to me and then I did my thing. It didn't go exactly how I planned it in my head, but it turned out all right. I missed catching the hat (Cody's fault, he didn't throw hard enough), started laughing (which threw me off) and forgot some words. But I had fun and that's what's important.

A guy in my family who didn't participate recorded it so once I have the video I will let you see the fun chaotic mess that was our performance. I got lots of compliments for my excellent rapping and how I looked black tonight. I got in touch with my inner gangsta. I'm really proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone, I should do it more often. I just really need to not worry so much about what other people think of me and just have fun doin' my thang!

Note: While waiting for a ride with some guys in our family up to campus for the talent show, I had my OSU hat in my hand. One of them (recently moved in) noticed.
"Hey, that's a Beaver hat!"
"Yeah."
"Are you from Oregon?"
"Uh huh."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"No way, me too!"
"Awesome."
"What part?"
"Albany."
"I'm from Corvallis. It's nice to see someone from Albany who's a Beaver fan."
I guess he doesn't know many Albanians (Is that what we call ourselves? If not, what are we?) who are, which is weird because most people that I know are. Anyway, it's always nice to meet a fellow Oregonian, and one who know where Albany is too! He was like, "How are we in the same FHE family and didn't know this?" His roommate said, "Because you're always here (his apartment)." I don't know if he was joking or serious because they were laughing.

Life is a bowl of cherries.

One of my favorite things about summer is cherry season. I love cherries! Seriously, they are like my own version of sunflower seeds. I just sit with my bowl of cherries and have a cup to spit the pits into. This is pretty much the only time I spit. I'm a girl; we don't spit. Well, most of us don't. I think spitting is disgusting. Seeing other people spit or hearing them makes me want to gag.

Anyways, every time I eat cherries I get a little nostalgic of middle school. In 6th grade I had a friend named Emi (Emily Hordes). She did gymnastics and I thought she was just so amazing. We shared a deep love for cherries so whenever I had them in my lunch I would give her some in exchange for her showing me all her tricks. Ahh...the good 'ol days.

When I saw them at the store I just couldn't resist buying them, even though they were a tad expensive. They were worth it though, especially since I'm going to miss all the cherries at home. Three cherry trees (each a different variety) and I'm not going to get any of them. Sad.

Thanks Guys

Tonight we had a ward activity, but I think the title turned everyone off because only like 12 people showed up. It was Fear Factor.  Remember that show? 

Did you know this show is going to return bigger and better? After five years, Fear Factor is returning, probably in this fall. NBC has already planned for 10 episodes. Lets hope it sticks around longer than that because I used to watch this show religiously. I can't wait!

We were divided into four teams of three. I was the lucky person chosen to do the gross food portion. Thanks Guys. While I didn't have to drink maggot juice, it was still disgusting. What was this edible abhorrence I'm referring to? Baby food. Squash flavored baby food (one person from each team participated, two had squash and the others had garden vegetable that resembled something you might find in the toilet). Now, some of you may be scoffing at me because baby food seems like nothing, but it's not. The taste was hardly bearable and the texture most definitely was not. One bite and my gag reflex was quick to function. I couldn't swallow it all at once so I did little by little and each time I did, you can bet it was trying to come back up little by little. The whole time I was praying that I wouldn't be the one to throw up or spit it out. Luckily I didn't. Only one person finished their jar. Amber, I have no idea how you did it! The other two took a couple more bites than I did, but still didn't make it very far. 

Other people that heard about it after it was over, said that baby food isn't bad when it's fruit and that some people like it. Do they have a habit of eating baby food? I think I may have tried some peach flavored mush when my sister was little and didn't think it was that bad. It makes sense since fruit is sweeter and tastes better than vegetable to begin with. Anyway, I've decided that I'm not feeding my future children that atrocious goop. Maybe I'll make my own from fresh vegetables. I don't know. What I do know is that I am not going to feed my children something I wouldn't eat myself.

The title for this activity should really have been uncomfortable factor instead because the baby food was the only gross thing. Everything was really all about comfort. The other "event" I did was siting on a block of ice (in my clothes) with my feet in ice water. The limit was three minutes. I didn't even have to last one minute because the girl I was competing against only lasted ten seconds. Sitting on the ice was no problem, it was the ice water that hurt. We were the second group to go and I think the first group had an advantage. The ice water they used had been sitting there after being set up. Right before we went they dumped in a bunch of fresh ice. Not fair. But I can't really complain since I barely did it.

Another event was supposed to be treading water in the pool with a 20lb weight. That really didn't work out. Then those same people had to dive for quarters. The last event was the best. Four guys and four girls had to simultaneously lick Nutella off opposite sides of  a (clean) window. It was hilarious to watch! Some "couples" decided to take turns licking so it wasn't as disturbing. Can you imagine licking something off glass and having someone on the other side doing the same thing? The only thing separating your tongues from touching is that glass. I don't think I could have done it. Maybe with my eyes closed.

Tonight I also went to the store. While there, I had to buy tampons for that loveliness that occurs once a month. While was getting ready to put it in my cart, and old man walked by, looked at what I was holding and  laughed. He laughed! I was thinking, haven't you been married? Do you possibly have a daughter? What is so funny? As if buying that stuff isn't pleasant enough. Thank you old man for laughing at me.

While the other thank yous have been on the sarcastic side, this one is a genuine. Being as short as I am, sometimes I have to ask for help when reaching for things. I needed something on the top shelf and it was also back a little ways. No one was around so I decided to get everything else first and then come back. When I returned, I stood in the aisle waiting for someone to come because I really didn't want to bother the old man restocking the apples. Lucky for me I didn't have to wait too long. A cute guy walked past and I asked if he could help me out. He smiled and helped me get what I needed. He had a cute smile. Usually I'm not a fan of asking for help, but this time was quite enjoyable. So, thank you unnamed cute guy at Macey's! 

Ultimate Saturday

Today was a great day. It was 95 degrees (we went at five so it was probably even hotter earlier in the afternoon) so a group of us went ice blocking. It was fun and my butt stayed cool ;) Before we left, a few of us even had a contest to see who could stand barefoot the longest on the blocks of ice (my idea). I failed. I could only stay on for a few seconds before I would just slide right off.

After that, four of us went to play ultimate frisbee. More people were supposed to be there but they bailed. Eventually we got a couple more. I wasn't originally going to play because I can't really throw a frisbee and I din't know to play. I ended up playing and scoring half of my teams goals! It was more fun than I thought and my throwing did improve with everyone's constant tips on how to throw straight. And while I did get pretty exhausted by the second game, it was fun physical activity (something I lack because I don't like it when it's not fun). In between the games, I swear I drank my weight in water. I'm so glad the drinking fountain produced drinkable water that was cold. Hallelujah! It wasn't smart though because having a stomach full of water did not make running pleasant. I'm pretty sure I could feel it sloshing around.

When we got back to the apartments, Sparks was having a BBQ/ pool party with a DJ. There was a great turnout. I love free food. I ate the fattest hot dog ever. It was huge! The hot dogs were on a tray right by the grill and there were tongs to pick them up. I picked them up to grab my dog and they were greasy...so I dropped them. Sill me, I thought I could catch it with my foot. Like that would be any more sanitary than the ground. I would be the one to drop them.I felt bad and tad embarrassed. luckily not too many people saw and the guy grilling said he could just put them in the fire for a minute to re-sanitize.

The DJ was not that great. One guy said he could do better so that turned into a dance party in his apartment when the party was over. It didn't last that long because the apartment was too hot and close to 10:30 the manager told him to turn it down. I was tired from the day's activities so I probably wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. Today was an awesome day.

Oh yeah, and I've determined I have heat rash. I Googled it because I thought maybe that's what it was. You get it when you sweat and there isn't really anywhere for the sweat to go, like your pores are clogged. Well, I have it right above and below the back of my knee (along with a couple bites) from sitting and studying at my desk with my legs crossed. my room is hot because the air conditioner doesn't turn on in the bedrooms. I'm in shorts and the crossed legs lead to sweating, but it's skin on skin so there's nowhere for it to go or a way for it to dry off I guess. Ugh, this sounds kind of gross. Well, having a rash is gross. Anyway, crossed legs and sweat lead to heat rash, just so you know. And since I forgot to perfume up today, I acquired a few more bites. Lovely.

Never Let Me Go

Today I watched a movie called Never Let Me Go. It's based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's about these children that are clones (I didn't really pick this up in the movie, I got it from comments about the book) who were created for the sole purpose of having their organs harvested. It follows three friends as they grow up, fall in love and make their "donations". It was really interesting. I really want to read the book now. All the comments and reviews I read said the book is better. The movie features Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan, whom are both great actresses.

Don't let the R rating put you off. It could have been PG-13, no worse than what you see on t.v.

A lot of people wondered why they never ran away to avoid their impending death. Someone posted a link to a YouTube video of an interview with the author where he answered that question. He said the story was about love and friendship and how those relationships change when mortality is realized and you know you have little time. He didn't want to make it about slaves (that's basically what they are) being brave and escaping. I'm glad I watched the movie first because I can appreciate it instead of disliking it for not being as good as the book. I recommend it and I'll recommend the book too even though I have yet to read it. But from the look of it, no one has had anything negative to say about it. I'll let you know my thoughts when I get around to reading it.

Summer Scent

My brand of perfume for summer isn't Victoria's Secret or Bath & Body Works. It's Off, as in the insect the repellent. It's that time of year when I get eaten alive by Satan's little minions, mosquitoes (spiders fall into the minion category too, I hate them!). I don't know why I taste so good to those nasty little buggers, but I do.

I can feel myself contracting a disease just by looking at this

I already have some bites on my legs and one on my hand, which has finally stopped itching. The ones on my legs are right below the back of my knee, such an awful place to have them. Clothes rub against them and they itch when my legs are crossed and I cross my legs all the time. This constant itching leads to constant scratching and results in red and bigger bites. Not cool. I don't even know how I got most of them because I haven't spent that much time outside. I'm just glad none of them have gotten big like they usually do. I'm so allergic to bites that they get disgustingly huge. I hate when it happens and it makes me so self conscious when I have this mountainous bump (usually on my arm) on my body.

Seriously, why can't mosquitoes be useful and suck fat instead of blood? At least getting bitten would be worth it.

Wonderful Weekend

Happy Fourth of July! This weekend has been awesome. I've had so much fun with so many great people. Let me catch you up on what I've done.

Friday

Ally, Rosi and I were bored and wanted to do something. We came up with a few plans, but decided against them because we didn't really want to spend money. Ally really wanted to prank someone so we decided to do that. We had a hard time coming up with pranks. We took a trip to the Dollar Tree to see if we could find anything (and cheap) there that could be used for pranking. No luck. We then went to Walmart and bought 10 goldfish and three rubber ducks. One guy in the ward, Patty (Patrick- who is also my home teacher), really likes rubber ducks. The one bathroom in his apartment is decorated with rubber ducks (the apartments at Sparks are town house style with two bathrooms...oh Arcadia, why can't you have two bathrooms?) . We went to Phil's apartment (only one person was home) and used their cups and containers to put the fish all over their apartment. Downstairs anyway, since we can't go upstairs where the rooms are. My favorite part was that there was a bowl shaped like a toilet. We put a couple fish in it and stuck it in the bathroom. 

We then headed over to Patty's. We stood outside his door for a few minutes trying to come up with a way to leave the ducks without him realizing what we were doing. We decided to just knock on his door and go with the flow. We went in and hung out for a bit. Phil came in with fireworks. While we were heading out to watch the fireworks, Rosi asked to use the bathroom so she could place the ducks (that she had hidden in her purse) in the sink filled with water.

We went outside and set off over $100 dollars worth of fireworks in the parking lot across from the complexes. I guess no cost is too great when it come to boys and exploding things. I would never spend that much, but they were really good fireworks. The first one they set off did not exactly go the way it was supposed to. It had nine little tubes/cannons on it that shot out fireworks. After the first one shot straight up, all hell broke loose. Excuse the language, but I think that's the best way to describe it. They started shooting sideways. One almost hit some cars, one hit a building (and went the direction all of us girls were standing), and then they kept following us. It would come our way, we would run a further and a slightly different direction and we would almost be hit again. It was pure chaos. There was about seven or eight of us girls just running and screaming for our lives. We laughed when it was over and we didn't feel like we were going to die anymore. We all wished it was recorded so we could have seen it because the guys thought it was hilarious and I can only imagine what we looked like. We figure that's how it would feel to be shot at. It was fun night.

Saturday

I went to the Stadium of Fire!! It was pretty awesome. It was at the football stadium, hence the name. They had some guys parachute in and the last one to drop in had the American flag. All of the guys stuck their landings, except the guy with the flag. He fell and crashed into a guy. The military men that were on the field rushed over and grabbed grabbed the flag. Since it touched the ground, aren't they supposed to burn it now? Anyway, they had a ton of little girls from all different dance schools that made up the Stadium of Fire Dancers. They were so cute! There performances were awesome. 

For the National Anthem, they showed a clip of David Archuleta singing it for the first time in the stadium back in 2003 and then he came out and finished singing it. He was AMAZING!!!!! I still can't believe I got to see him. During "the rockets' red glare" they had red flares go off and during "the bombs bursting in air" they had loud booms go off. It was a nice touch. Oh yeah, Ally and I had great seats. The stage was in one end zone and we were in the other, so we had a perfect view. Not ideal for pictures, which was sad, but still great. We also saw Katelyn from our seats. David is so good at singing live! I love when people sound as good live as they do on their CD. It's not the case with everyone. 

David first sang A Little Too Not Over You. Then he sang, The Other Side of Down (the title track from his latest album), Stomping The Roses (also from the album), his first single Crush and ended with a patriotic medley. I love him! I love him! I LOVE HIM!! He is just so cute and an amazing singer. In between his songs he would talk a little bit. I guess he gets nervous when he talks because he got a little awkward, but it was so ADORKABLE! He can belt it like no other, but when he talks he gets so nervous. Funny how that works. I really wish he was the headliner instead of Brad Paisley, but I still enjoyed the concert.

Brad Paisley sang a bunch of songs and I only knew one of them. It's not that I don't like him, I'm just not a huge country fan. He had some interesting videos that played during his songs. Some were music videos that went with the songs and others were just weird animations and stuff.

Towards the end, they had the dancers perform again. They had traded their red, white and blue pom poms for lights or glow balls or something (similar to a glow stick). They danced to Katy Perry's Firework and that's when some fireworks went off. They used different colored lights to stand and form the head and torch of the Statue of Liberty. It was cool. 

The concert ended with probably the best firework display I have ever seen. It was big and long. It was awesome. They had some music playing and some of the fireworks really went with the music. I'm so glad I went to the Stadium of Fire with Ally! It was totally worth the $56. It was an amazing night.

Sunday

It was fast Sunday and we had Break the Fast with another ward. We had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner. It was good. I haven't had haystacks since girl's camp, so it's been a while. I made red, white and blue cupcakes and I was going to take them, but I was trying a new frosting recipe and it there were some hiccups. I wasn't completely happy with the appearance of the finished product so I decided not to take them. They tasted fine so some people came over afterwards to eat them. I layered the batter (red, white and blue) so they looked patriotic. 

While the wrapper looks like the colors stayed in their perfect
horizontal layers, they didn't quite bake that way.

See what I mean? But they still look cool.

After ward prayer, there is always a movie. Usually we are in an apartment, but this time we took it outside. Phil moved his t.v. and couches outside and there were blankets to lay on. We watched Mulan and no doubt we belted out the songs! I'm sure the neighborhood enjoyed our performance. When it was over, most of us weren't ready to go so we watched The Blindside too. I mean, it was a holiday weekend so we could stay up cause it's not there was school or work (for most) the next day. It was fun.

Today

The only thing I did today to celebrate the 4th was to eat hot dogs for dinner. No one really did anything around here to celebrate. Rosi invited me over to eat some of the giant cookie she made to look like the American Flag and it was good. I enjoyed (well, I still am enjoying) watching some fireworks from my bedroom window. I could even hear part of the parade this morning since I left my window open last night...I think that's what it sounded like. While I didn't go all out and celebrate today, I'm ok because I had a wonderful weekend. And my hot dogs were delicious!