You can never have too much Thanksgiving

I had two Thanksgivings. I went down to St. George with Dave and we had Thanksgiving with his family. It was a lot of food and laziness and fun. We saw two movies Twilight (I know embarrassing, right? Dave wanted to see it, I promise) and Tell No One- that movie is so so good. It's a french, who done it film and I loved it. I don't think it is playing in Salt Lake yet, but if you get the chance to see it, please do. Don't let my like of Twilight keep you from trusting my movie opinion, I normally have excellent taste.

We then drove back up to Salt Lake City and had thanksgiving with my family. Also a lot of food, laziness and fun. My family love their pre dinner finger foods like shrimp cocktail, deviled eggs, cheese balls and crackers- that by the time you eat, you're already stuffed. But everything was delicious. Especially my sister-in-law's sweet potatoes. Wow, they are so good. I should get the recipe.

My mom, true to form, was hilarious as always. Telling her funny stories and making me and Dave sit through her fast forwarding through three hours of the American Music Awards she DVR'd - stopping on every act she thought was good, not limited to the New Kids on the Block reunion medley (she kept saying "aren't they so talented?" and Dave's commentary left me in stitches)- only to finally play the song she intended to show me from the beginning. It was Coolrays performance (AKA Coldplay). Never a dull moment when Sonja is around.

All in all it was a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am grateful for a good family and for good people in my life. I have so much to be grateful for.

Guess what? I really don't care what you think.

I really liked today for so many reasons and I may be mocked for those reasons, but I don't care. First of all, I went to the movies with some of my girlfriends, my mom and a couple of guys. Yes, we saw Twilight, and yes, I liked it. It was totally cheesy and some parts were even a little cringe worthy- but I liked it. I won't go wearing any "I love Edward Cullen" t-shirts- but I nerded out a bit when they kissed. It made me and all the fourteen year old girls get weak in the knees and I am not afraid to admit it.

Secondly, I went and saw Coldplay at the Energy Solutions Arena. I really hate that venue, but tonight it wasn't so bad. In fact, I fell in love with Chris Martin just like I did at Coachella in 2005. His voice is beautiful and he dances like a total weirdo and I love it. Every douche bag and clean cut BYU boy was there- with only one hipster that I could see (who seemed so out of place, his skinny jeans and mustache just made him look like a child molester), but I was right there with them swaying and singing my heart out. At one point the band even disappeared from the stage and went to the back of the arena and sang an acoustic version of The Scientist right in a row of lucky people. There was confetti and lasers and pianos and banjos and harmonicas and my heart skipping a beat more than once. I even loved the songs on the new album- the very same album I have listened to ten times and just couldn't get in to. When they played Fix You I wanted to cry because I missed my friend Mark so much- and Amy laughed when I said that the song always reminds me of the atonement (oh just humor me). Even though we were in the nose bleed section, even though the couple in front of us looked like they were from the early 90's and couldn't keep their hands off each other and even though Chris Martin named his children Apple and Moses- I still love loved it. And for those of you that think I am lame, I will just have to quote Amy -"eff them".

Check out Chris Martin on Extras. Hilarious.



In conclusion- my day has left me wanting. Wanting what you ask? To be frenched by a pale skinny brit, that's what.

I love the fall

I walk to school every Thursday and Friday. I have loved fall this year. For one, it has lasted so so long and the leaves have been especially gorgeous. They were gorgeous on the trees and now they are gorgeous on the ground. I think this mainly because it is not my responsibility to rake them up. Most likely, if it were, I would rake them into piles and jump in them- which totally defeats the purpose. Normally, by this time in Utah, it is frigid and snow is on the ground. It makes me so happy that walking to school is still enjoyable and not treacherous and miserable.

However, there is one downfall in all this turning to fall and eventually winter business. My room is FREEZING. We have an older house and I live in the attic. In the summer it's boiling and it the winter it's an ice box. I have my wonderful electric blanket that keeps me warm and so getting out of bed is almost impossible. I have a space heater, but my room is large and it just doesn't do the trick. If only there were a way to have a vent of some sort that pumped hot air into my room so that the whole room felt warm when I got out of bed in the morning. Will someone work on inventing that? Thanks.

. . .

My heart has been very tender over the past couple of weeks. I have talked to many friends and family members about the way I have been feeling and have struggled to really put into words my exact thoughts and feelings. I do want to say that I know God loves all of his children. Since I do struggle to put into words exactly what I wish to communicate, I would encourage you to go to my friend Spencer's blog and read his words HERE. I really appreciate his words and I agree, it is our responsibility to mourn with those that mourn.

Clean and sober

Since grad school began I have pretty much sucked at posting on my blog. I always think about things I could write about, but just can't find the time or energy to actually put it in writing. As you can see from my previous post, I have been sick for about a week. Today is the first day that I actually feel normal and can breathe through my nose without any pharmacological help. Just in time for another week of craziness. It's not so bad, in fact I really like school. I'm broke and I keep living like I have a steady income- but other than that, I really do love my life.

If you have read my blog for a while now, you may know that I have suffered from insomnia for years. Some nights were good, most were bad. I even had a few mishaps in trying to find the right pill that would help me sleep. That was embarrassing. Well, who would have thought that a little self discipline was all I needed? If I knew, I was in serious denial. Let me explain. I am taking a substance abuse class this semester, I really like it. As part of the class we needed to give something up for 30 days. I thought about giving up making out, or sugar or something like that- but in the end I decided on caffeine. I LOVE diet coke, especially with lime. I drank it every day- sometimes three and four times a day. But I didn't think it would be that hard to give up.

Sometime in late August I stopped drinking caffeine. And it was so hard. I relapsed a week into the challenge. Maren and I were at the movies and I just couldn't resist. After two days of binge drinking diet coke I recommitted on September 7. Today I am 70 days without caffeine. It was so hard the first 30 days. I had horrible migraines and all I wanted was a coke to make it feel better. The amazing thing? Now I don't want it, I haven't had a headache in weeks and I sleep!!! I do. Not perfectly, every night, but compared to just a year ago- I sleep.

Oh and my teacher has given me a 30 day and 60 day clean and sober chip that I keep on my car keys. I am sure people will think I'm a recovering alcoholic, but I don't mind. 90 days is just around the corner.



If only I could find my car keys.

Just breathe

But I can't!!!! I have a stuffed up nose and would just sleep all the time if I could. Ugh. When will it end? I need one of these . . .

WE VOTED!!!!

Despite the rain and the crazy wind. We even walked to vote- we are so green.

Halloween!

I like to dress up for Halloween, but I just wasn't into it this year. I wasn't sure what I wanted to be- I didn't go to any haunted houses, I didn't carve a pumpkin. I did, however watch a scary movie with some friends- if you haven't seen 1979's The Changling, please watch it. It's so scary!

I knew that if I didn't dress up I would regret it. I thought about a roller derby girl- but I really didn't want to wear roller skates all night. A friend of mine said that all girls dress up as something sexy, like a sexy witch or sexy butterfly- that someone should dress up as sexy Abraham Lincoln. I thought it was hilarious and decided to do it! The word used to describe me most often was "creepy"- the beard I wore was human hair after all. I seriously question what kind of human hair.




I think Aliah looked awesome as Erykah Badu.