And finally, I'm thankful for:

#15 - being way ahead/actually enjoying writing

#16 - squash

#17 - passing tests

#18 - ANTM

#19 - my wonderful ward

#20 - Japanese and Elder Yamashita and still understanding and firesides

#21 - bagels, thankful lists

#22 - bowling

#23 - H & M

#24 - dumplings/learning to cook

#25 - geocaching

#26 - spur of the moment craft supply trips

#27 - support

#28 - success and the return of old friends who you wished had never left

#29 - reading again

#30 - songs that really hit the spot

I'm still thankful, did you know?

#9 - wonderful restaurants like The Bayou

#10 - Costco truffles

#11 - Epic wishes.

#12 - Art museums

#13 - airports and plasma physicists

#14 - being a champion

Thankfulness, continued

#4 - I'm thankful for concerts. Live music is music at its best.

#5 - I'm thankful for Just Dance 3. 

#6 - I'm thankful for DI finds.

#7 - I'm thankful for tea. 

#8 - I'm thankful for the Dollar Tree. And the fact that they sell My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic merchandise. :D

Come ye thanfkul peeps

I'm seeing all these people posting things they are thankful for since it's November. Like one for each day and such. So I decided to join in, even though I'm already writing enough words a day to fill a bucket.

Three today since I'm starting late:

#1 - I'm thankful for my lovely lappy, without which I would be writing my NaNoWriMo novel by hand. I can get much higher word counts if I'm typing. :) My lappy also lets me watch adorably hilarious cat videos. Like this one.

#2 - I'm thankful for sheep because a) they are adorable and b) they are actually pretty fascinating. Did you know a sheep has such good peripheral vision that they can see behind them when facing forward? And they also have super sharp senses to better run away from all those predators.

#3 - I'm thankful for claw machines. A friend has recently taken me into his tutelage and taught me the ways of the machine. You might not realize how much science and thought goes into the well-played claw drop, but really, it's art. And I've come to appreciate it. But mostly, I really enjoy the thrill that comes when you win something. My sensei says it's not about the toys, it's about beating the system. And I have to agree with him. The toys are crap.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

My pirate name is:

Captain Mary Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

NEW YORK CITY, CONTINUED

I'm enjoying all caps-ing these titles. I'm just THAT excited about New York!

Thursday:

We went to Coney Island and did all kinds of exciting things. Then we saw Follies. It was awesome, I've decided.

Friday:

We scrambled to do all of the last things we wanted to do, ended up caught in a rain storm, and enjoyed a non-traditional comedy-ish show. 

Today, without Colette (she's off to Hawaii :P), I adventured through Greenwich Village, explored the Metropolitan Museum of Art, had lunch with a friend at The Counter, and saw Wicked (!!). Now I'm sitting in JFK, and it is a sad day. I'm ready to go home and finally get some rest, but I'm sad to leave the city. It really is super. 

Expect a "what we have learned" vlog soon. Well, as soon as Colette comes within my near vicinity. Might be a week or so. 

YAY BLOGGING!

SOME MORE NEW YORK CITY

Wednesday highlights:

• tkts is a wonderful place to get cheap tickets.
• The Empire State Building is very tall.
• Street cart food is delicious.
• Billy Elliott: the Musical is just as fun as they say it is.
• Parks in New York can actually be relaxing.
• Daniel Radcliffe is an amazing Broadway actor.
• NY cheesecake is worth all the hype.

NEW YORK CITY

We're here. It's awesome. I love it. And hate it. But I think that's how a lot of people feel about it.

Here is what we have done:

Sunday:

• chilled at the airport for hours, waiting for our delayed plane
• got into our sweet hotel, staying the 12th floor with a Manhattan view

Monday:

• spent 5 delicious hours exploring the Museum of Modern Art
• checked out Grand Central Station, the New York library, and Times Square
• watched Brian Havig (previously of Divine Comedy) perform stand-up
• enjoyed some real new york pizza with the previously mentioned Brian

Tuesday (that's today!):

• rode the Staten Island Ferry to see Lady Liberty
• ate wonderful lunch in Chinatown, followed by cones at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory (SO GOOD)
• relaxed in Central Park
• saw Catch Me If You Can, the musical
• savored scrumptious burgers from The Counter and hung out with Colette's brother Mike

Expect more updates we go on more adventures!

Talent Show

I performed in a tri-ward talent show last night. Here's some video. It's hard to hear my guitar, so you'll need to blast it. :)

The song is "Bad Day" by Darwin Deez. I messed up on some words. Don't worry about it.

Don't keep calm and carry on.

I'm done with my challenge, but already back blogging. Goodness.

Just had to share this:

http://flic.kr/p/68q1i9

It's overrrrrrr

Thrice weekly post 15 of 15

I made it. Three posts weekly for an entire month.

I want to do a lot of things these days:

• start learning bookbinding
• finish my library books
• climb lots of rocks
• finish reading Psalms
• edit photos (haha, not really. I hate editing)
• make new photo projects
• adventure for adventure's sake
• shoot off lots of fireworks
• make delicious jam
• yell from the mountaintops
• figure out what I'm doing with my life
  

But first things first, this room needs to be cleaned.

Let him roar again, let him roar again

Thrice weekly blog post 14 of 15

Please check out my new favorite song of the moment here. Amazing stuff.

I had the chance to attend a performance by The Grassroots Shakespeare Company on Monday evening. It was a triple header, but I was only able to attend the last two plays, and I quickly regretted that I had missed the first.

The aim of the company is to re-create Shakespeare as Shakespeare meant it to be. They work without a director and secure props and costumes on their own. Many actors play multiple parts. When actors aren't on stage, they're providing the music for the scenes. At performances, they encourage the audience to booo and ahhhh and yell if they feel like it. There were several great ad lib moments prompted by the audience, and everyone was really able to get involved with the story.

The acting was stellar. It was amazing to see the actors switch from role to role, bringing something completely different each time. I felt engaged with the plays and really enjoyed the experience.

The first play we saw was a pretty common one - A Midsummer Night's Dream. But unlike other performances of the play, this one had an all-male cast. It added a whole new dimension that was originally in Shakespeare's plays, but we usually miss out as a modern audience. A huge highlight for me was one modern reference they included: a comparison of Puck to Link. Other anachronistic items were great surprises: dream catchers to represent the fairies and an umbrella to represent invisibility (that one had me laughing for a while).

Next was Romeo and Juliet. Whenever I see Romeo and Juliet, I always say that I will never see it again - it's just a story of stupidity, in my opinion. But I really enjoyed what they did with it. The first half had me laughing and the second had me close to tears. It was cathartic to yell at the characters as they made their stupid mistakes. Overall, another great performance.

Unfortunately, the company has finished their touring season for this year, but I would definitely recommend them in the future. Whether you're a fan of Shakespeare or not, you'll enjoy the high-paced energy of The Grassroots Shakespeare Company's shows.

Fireworrrrrrrrrrrrrks!

Thrice weekly blog post 13 of 15

I cannot forget to blog tomorrow or Thursday or I will fail this entire challenge. Oh my. I had hoped to have a cushion, but I forgot on Sunday and Monday both. Daaaaaaang.


Here is some wonderful news: aerial fireworks are legal in Utah this year! Yay-uh! So you'll be seeing a lot of bigger ones. If you're interested in shooting your own, you might have to ask about them at the store. They aren't allowed to leave them available for the customers to just grab. This is serious business.

ALSO! Fireworks are legal for an entire month. From June 26th to July 26th. This is awesome, but also bad. Last year they were allowed for three days before and after the 4th and the 24th. I'm already pretty sure I'm going to spend at least double what I spent last year. And last year I spent $100. On just those 12 days.

On a related note, my complex doesn't let me shoot off fireworks, so if anyone wants to let me set them off at their domicile or perhaps knows of a good abandoned lot, I'd be much obliged. Though it does seem some parks in Provo are legal. And one right by my house! Yesssssssssssss.

But I'm super excited. I love fireworks. Like love love them. I hope my friends in the Black Cat tent will come back. They had wonderful things.  I will buy lots, guys, so please, just come baaaaaack!

ALSO ALSO! Sparklers + extended exposure = AWESOME photos. Just you wait, guys. I'll post some winners.

So, enjoy your fourth celebrations, and be safe with your 'works.

Everything is mine

Thrice weekly blog post 12 of 15

Welp, guys, I took the leap.

I've envied others for too long - it was time to join the ranks of the elite.

I now carry the internet in my pocket; the world is my vade mecum.

That's right. I am now a proud iPhone owner.

And oh, it is wonderful.

What time is it? Blogging time!

Thrice weekly blog post 11 of 15

So. My 101 project. As seen in detail on this post.

Here are some updates. I've now completed 20 of the 101 goals. Another 20 or so are currently in progress.

Picking up from my previous update post, here's what's been going down:

Completed:

6. Visit a new country - My workplace graciously paid for me to visit Jamaica in May. I stayed in Kingston for a week and it was...interesting.

18. No fast food for a month - I did this the month of September. It was awesome. No life changes - I'm still eating out - but I feel like I make better choices now.

23. See 3 bands on my 'need-to-see' list - I saw Ben Folds (with the Utah Symphony) last July, fun. in October, and lady danville in February. Good times.

32. Send a secret to PostSecret - Done. It wouldn't be a secret if I told you about it. :P

34. Facebook fast for one week - This is my most recently completed one. I did last Monday to this Monday. SO HARD! I knew I got on a lot, but I didn't realize just how much I did. At work, it's just second nature to check in the down times, and I usually start my day with everyone's updates. Here is my conclusion: it's great to keep up with everyone, but I don't need to spend as much time as I do there. There are much better things I could be doing with my time.

40. Attend a photography class or workshop - I attended a two-day workshop at Provocreative and it was a blast, kids. I am now adept with even the peskiest buttons on my camera. :)

41. Attend a midnight premiere in costume - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, as Nymphadora Tonks, complete with pink hair.

45. Get a mani/pedi - Colette and I went on our day off and had a lovely time. I got blue sparkles on my fingers and toes and it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I highly recommend the experience!

48. Try 20 new restaurants - I finished this one only 8 months into the challenge. I should have done more. Either way, this has been the most delicious goal yet. Highlights include Five Guys, Ripple's (the drive-in from The Phone Call), and The Bayou (CAJUN!).

53. Grow a plant from a seed - I grew cilantro. On our windowsill. And ate it. It was great.

56. For one month, pay for everything in cash and save all the change - I did this in July and August and I ended up with a total of $28.14. Which I converted to an Amazon gift card at the Coinstar. Yesssssss.

64. Buy and eat a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store - I think this one was inspired by Amelie. I did it. Not all in one sitting, but over a few days.

85. See 50 movies off my 'to-see' list - Another one where the number should have been higher. My favorites were: How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Son of Rambow, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Tangled, Whip It, and Megamind. Good times.

96. Buy crazy eyeshadows - They are the craziest.

97. Visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Another trip that was assisted by work. I did a seminar on Saturday and visited the park on Sunday. I'll refer you to the previous vlog post for more details, but all in all, a great thing.

Like I mentioned, a great deal more are in progress. I'm also thinking of editing/changing some of them completely. I'm a year in, and I feel like I have that right. If I genuinely do not care about something anymore, I don't feel like I should do it. Opinions?

Anyway, I'm off for adventures!

Road trip super tips

Thrice weekly blogpost 10 of 15

As summer is now officially upon us, I'm sure many of you readers will be traveling. Road trips are infamous for being boring and horrible. But here is what I think: if your road trips are horrible and boring, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

Road trips can not only be bearable, they can be downright fun. Here are some tips to help you enjoy your time on the road:

• listen to good music
• Custom road trip mixes allow you to harness your anticipatory feelings and have great tunes for the drive.
• Nothing beats driving down the freeway and singing at the top of your lungs.
• play games
• Hey Cow: When you pass a field of cows, roll down your window. Yell "HEY COW!" at the top of your lungs and then see how many turn and look at you. That's your score for the field. Avoid yelling when farmers are in the field, or when passing cops. The game can be adjusted to include other animals.
• Marry, NCMO, Kill: Come up with three people. Have everyone else choose between them, who they would marry, who they would Non-Commitally Make Out with, and who they would kill. You can get hours of entertainment from this one game alone. For everyone's mental health, please don't include Jar Jar Binks or Jabba the Hutt.
• eat food
• In-car snacks are vital - you'll want things that are clean and easy to eat in the car. Avoid things that are messy or may require refrigeration. Good ideas: nuts, chips, cookies, jerky. Bad ideas: spaghetti, ice cream bars, sloppy joes.
• Plan your trip so that you can stop at all the best places. For example, an ideal trip from Provo to Oceanside for me, would include stops in Beaver for ice cream and cheese, St. George for Mongolian BBQ, Yermo for diner food and dinosaurs, and Barstow for fake train station food (those last two count for roadside attractions, as well). 
• talk
• Being stuck in a car with someone allows you to ask those questions you've always wanted to. They've nowhere to run! On a side note, I'm a full supporter of four seasons and a road trip.
• roadside attractions
• Whether it's stopping to see a giant thermometer or visiting a petting zoo next to the gas station, take advantage of the opportunities as they come. 
• document
• I personally enjoy journalling on trips. I'll make a heading with how many miles are left to go whenever I see a sign, and it's a fun way to keep track of the distance.
• Photos are, of course, a great way to record all the fun you'll be having. Bonus: after the trip is over, you can relive all of the excitement.

There you have it folks, Sara's super tips for great road trips. Hopefully these can help you in your summer adventures.

Now tell me, how do YOU make your road trips awesome? Leave a comment! Go!

My own musical involvement

Thrice weekly blog post 9 of 15 (only two weeks to go!)

So it turns out that blogger counts drafts as posts. I went through and deleted the ones that never amounted to things, and now this is only the 43rd post on my blog. Sad face.
Oh well. 50 deserved a more proper celebration, anyway.

First things first. This makes me happy.

Second things second. So today I thought I would wrap up unofficial music week on the blog by talking about my involvement with the thing itself.

Growing up, I liked to sing. The parental units made me take piano lessons. I was resistant. I don't like practicing.

In elementary school, I did chorus, which was fun. I played an Arabian dancer in the Nutcracker and an elf in Santa's Holiday Hoedown. We did all-county chorus. Exciting stuff.

Middle school brought band. We had a trombone, since my brother had played it, so my decision was kind of made for me. Not that that was a bad thing, though. Trombones are the best! I was first chair pretty much all through middle school. Got to play with the 8th grade band when I was in 7th grade since they needed a little more bass. I'm cool.

In high school I continued with band, but we added the new task of playing while marching. It threw me for a loop, guys. But I adjusted and greatly enjoyed it. Concert band continued, as well, and I made several honor bands. I did solos and ensembles and jazz band and was generally awesome.

When I moved to MASMC, I got to be a part of the college marching band, which was AWESOME. We were learning new shows every 2 weeks or so, and we played some epic stuff. I greatly enjoyed our Styx show, where we marched as a giant robot and also when we played Rockin Robin and became a rocking chair that rocked back and forth. Good times. We did concert band there, as well. It was odd being a high schooler with a bunch of college kids, but they welcomed me in. The trombones were especially tight - we had green wigs.

At BYU, I did concert band one semester and decided it was not for me. They had way too many people, so I couldn't even play the part that I wanted. They had me on bass trombone. I don't play the bass trombone. Meh. I did sudoku in class and was very glad when the concert was over. I later took the beginning guitar and piano classes, which I enjoyed greatly.

Nowadays, I can't say I've even touched my trombone lately. I should probably fix that, huh? Any ska bands out there looking for a trombonist? I'm still working on guitar and piano, trying hard not to lose everything and to keep improving. Make me play you a song sometime, huh? I had hopes of starting a wizard rock band, but it kind of fell apart. Let me know if you want to start a lame band, huh?

I do have desires to keep learning. I really want to acquire the following: a keytar, an accordion, a tambourine, some egg shakers, a trumpet. My band director in high school told me I have trumpet lips.

So there you go.

Music. I love it. I make it. I live it.

50th post! or my musical habits

Thrice weekly blog post 8 of 15.

This is my 50th post on the blog. Hooray? Yes. This is a thing for celebrating.

So, yesterday I talked about the musical influences I've had in my life.  Today I think I'll talk more about my listening habits. This is all very interesting to me. I do hope I'm not boring you all.

I listen to music A LOT.

Like, a lot a lot. My last.fm has me at an average of 66 tracks a day. If songs are an average of 4 minutes long, that puts me at 264 minutes, or 4.4 hours. I'd def say that's an underestimate, though. I work 8 hours a day, and a good majority of that time is spent with headphones on, and then when I get home, I usually always have something playing.

I would say my top 5 bands are as follows (in no particular order. please don't ask me to rank them):

• Relient K
• They Might Be Giants
• Ben Folds 
• lady danville
• fun.

That was quite hard to pick, guys. 

Here's some more information:

• Ultimate angry song: "Goodnight Goodnight" by Hot Hot Heat (seriously, this one gets blasted a lot)
• Dance Party favorites: "Your Love Is My Drug" by Ke$ha and "Paper Planes" by MIA
• Favorite Sunday music: The Lower Lights: A Hymn Revival
• When I need to chill the heck out: Death Cab for Cutie, The Weepies
• Sound like country but are a billion times better than country: The Avett Brothers and Nickel Creek
• Best recent discovery: Freelance Whales
• I love J-pop: Greeeen, Arashi, Ikimonogakari, Tegomass
• For energy and happiness: MIKA
• Superb Soundtrack: Amelie by Yann Tiersen
• When I'm feeling down: "Philosophy" by Ben Folds, "Curl Up and Die" by Relient K, "Hovering Sombrero" by They Might Be Giants
• Sometimes I play this while riding my scooter: "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP
• Best accidental discoveries: Maia Hirasawa, "Velcro" by Single File
• I love to sing these songs really loud: "Effington" by Ben Folds, "At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)" by fun., "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" by The Darkness, "Inches and Falling" by The Format
• This reminds me of high school: "Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry" by Relient K
• Wizard Rock is the best: Ministry of Magic, The Butterbeer Experience, Harry and the Potters
• I need to listen to more of: The Decemberists
• Best road trip songs (it's a tie): "Stick Shifts and Safety Belts" by Cake and "Highway 40" by Brak feat. Freddie Prinze Jr.
• For cleaning: "The Final Countdown" by Europe
• I want to learn all the words to: "The Consequence of Sounds" by Regina Spektor
• Oh, and I love musicals: Into the Woods, Urinetown, Memphis, Hairspray, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Wicked
• I wish this song was my life: "President of Antarctica" by Death By Ninjas
• Airport song (especially ATL): "Terminals" by Relient K
• Some boy needs to sing these to me some day: "You'll Always Be My Best Friend" by Relient K, "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds, "More Bad Times" by The Presidents of the United States of America
• If I meet a man boy named Zak, I will instantly propose marriage because of this song: "Zak and Sara" by Ben Folds

I seem to have a lot of songs that are my "go-to" songs. You know? You're feeling a certain way, and you just NEED to hear that song. 

Sometimes I'll just listen to the same song (or a few) on repeat for a while. I remember freshman year at BYU I got the new Relient K single "Must Have Done Something Right." I seriously listened to it for at least a week on repeat. Not sure how my roommate managed to live with me...

So look me up, kids! I'm emmisary on grooveshark and last.fm. I'd love to see what you're listening to! And please, if you have any recommendations or any "go-to" songs you want to share, leave me a comment!

The development of my musical taste.

Thrice weekly blog post 7 of 15.

If you know me, you know I like music.


A lot of it came from my mother, I think. She listens to good stuff. I grew up with oldies rocking on the radio whenever we drove. She'd always change the station when "House of the Rising Sun" came on, though. 

Also, my stepdad. Well, former stepdad. Van is a stellar guitar player. In his youth he recorded some stuff, and he continues to play to this day. I was "forced" to go to bluegrass barns with him and Mom - out in Alabama and Georgia - where he and Mom would perform. I didn't really enjoy it at the time, but looking back, it was actually pretty cool.


My brothers had a pretty big influence, as well. Mostly Russell, my oldest brother. Because of him, I listen to They Might Be Giants to this day. He also took me to my first legit concert, sparking a love for the live that burns on. Oh, and I'll always remember another brother, Tadd, conveniently coughing over the bad words in Sublime songs. 


I spent middle school in the slum of trendy pop music. But didn't we all?

High school and college brought with them good friends and with them, good music. I owe a lot to those kids: Relient K, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, The Format, etc., etc., etc.

And I'm continuing to discover. Pandora's a great tool. I love last.fm. Grooveshark holds my very heart in its toothsome grip. 


I love it, guys. I can't live without it. Give me music, or give me death.

So, apparently I'm a shape-shifting alien.

Thrice weekly blog post 6 of 15 (2 weeks down, 3 to go!)

This morning I went to a waffle party. It was delicious.

Then I ventured to SLC to go to the Salt Lake Art Center with friendlies. Unfortunately, it was closed for installation of a new exhibit. One that I thought was going to be on view for the first day today. One that all the signs say starts today. So we found other things to do. I wore my new Vibram Five Fingers Treksports to get used to them more, and I am greatly enjoying them. I can't wait to go hiking in them!

This evening we did a "How to Host a Teen Mystery" and it was quite a good one. I've done a few in my day, and this one was quite hilarious. I ended being the culprit. Whoops!

And now we are going to blue my hair again. It has been, and will continue to be, an eventful day.

I have a celebrity copycat.

Thrice weekly post 5 of 15.

So guess who went and got the same hair as me?
.
.
.
Lady Gaga.

I'm enraged. I can't believe she would have the nerve to jack my swag.

http://gossip.whyfame.com/

The Gaga.

                                                                  The Sara.














I guess it's flattering that the Fashion Icon for 2011 has the same hair as me, but I think it's good I'm doing another bluing this weekend.

A post before midnight

Thrice weekly blog post 4 of 15

Today I went climbing outside for the first time. It was frightening. Mostly because we climbed up the side to set the rope and the first thing we did on the rope was to rappel down the face. Oh my. The hardest part was just leaning back and letting the rope take your weight. After that it got easier, and I actually did pretty well on the climb. Though climbing outside and at the gym are completely different, I'm feeling good.

Oh, and my hair is officially blue. Well, more like bluish-green. 4 people have said it makes them think of mermaids. Though I don't know what mermaids they're thinking of. The only mermaids I know have long red hair. My hair is short. And blue.

I found out today I get a week off this month, so that's pretty exciting. I might go home. Or maybe I'll just chill here and make it project week. I have A LOT I want to do these days, and I feel like I'm not accomplishing much. It might be nice just to take a week and focus on me. We'll see, though.

So there you go. I'm working on more interesting posts, I promise.

Miscellany

Thrice weekly blog post 3 of 15 (one week down, just 4 more to go)

I had a fun time this morning with friends doing something I never thought I would do: role-playing. But it was quite fun. I think it will get even better as I actually understand what's going on.

I have this odd sense of failure these days. But that is just a statement. This is not a pity post.

I'm currently listening to Hanson's Middle of Nowhere. Oh, the elementary school memories. Middle of Nowhere is the first album I ever bought.

Oh, and it's been one year today since I started my 101 Project. Huh. Expect a detailed update soon.

Welp, that was productive.

I'm out.

On the way to blue

Thrice weekly post 2 of 15

If I don't post now, it won't happen.

So I'm in the process of getting to blue hair. GIANT SCARY FLY, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!

I bleached it on Monday, and it just ended up golden:

So we bleached it again on Tuesday:

THANK YOU FOR LEAVING, GIANT SCARY FLY.

Now, I'm waiting for the blisters on my scalp to heal a bit, and then we'll be bluing it. Though, it might come in a bit green, since my hair is still kinda yellow. We'll see!

#78, Take Two

Trying this again. I need to blog thrice each week during one calendar month.
This will be post 1 of 15.

Now. My life has been interesting of late.

When you leave for a week and a half, a lot happens. I'm doing my best to catch up on everything, but man, it is difficult.

Jake broke his finger playing frisbee tonight. Whoops.

Colette and I went out for dinner and I bought sweet things at Borders. (Double Daring Book for Girls, anyone?)

I am thinking about going to a concert on Friday...? I'm not sure. I'm really not.

I'm not really sure about anything.

Except for this: I know that everything will be ok.

Vloggin' like a vlogger

Dear everyone,

This post is video-heavy. It's my first venture into vlogging! Since no one could come with me to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I brought it to you. :)

First view:

First walkthrough:

First ride:

Talking:

Thoughts about butterbeer, part 1: 

More thoughts about butterbeer:

Final thoughts:

K, enjoy guys!

My new philosophy

1. Me time.
2. Roll with it.
3. Selective effing.

Don't worry, guys. I'm awesome.

It's okay, just try again

Welp, I definitely failed now. I'mma blame Blogger being down for that one. And this just means I get to try again next month! Exciting.

I played some penultimate frisbee tonight, and it was great. I also flew a kite really high. I miss the beach, though - it's my favorite place to fly kites.

Tomorrow I will climb, go to work, and then I will watch the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. This is the first finale I'll actually see in real time, so I hope it's not too huge of a cliffhanger since I'll actually have to wait to see the resolution. Oh well, Dr. Mario will take my mind off of it, I'm sure.

In other news, I highly recommend egg creams. Super delicious, and I currently have all the ingredients, so if you're interested, come be my friend.

Alrighty, blarg world. It's been real.

P.S. vlogging. Opinions, please.

Thrice weekly blog post 5 of 12

Well, thanks to blogger being down for some days, I'm going to have to post twice on Saturday.
Does this still count? Should I start over next month? I'll say this one counts because, though it's technically Saturday, it's still Friday to me since I haven't gone to bed yet. Opinions, please.

So, my boss keeps bees.
Thursday at work he needed to check and see if his hives had accepted their queens, so he enlisted my help to do so. I got to wear big gloves and a netted hat and it felt very Pushing Daisies.
While the prospects were frightening, it actually wasn't too bad once we got out there. Honeybees are really very gentle, and they attack only as a last resort. My job was to spray them with sugar water so that they would be even more docile and to use a bee brush to move bees off of the frames and things that we were trying to get to. We found that both queens had been accepted, and after removing some comb that they had built in the wrong place (aka in the way of the frames and feeder), we were done.
I was honestly surprised I didn't freak out more, and now I am actually considering keeping bees at some point in the future...
So, yeah. Bees!

Thrice weekly blog post 4 of 12

1/3 of the way there, guys! Yeah! Thanks for reading my blorg!

It was requested that I share my wonderfully epic summer plans. So. Here they are.

SUMMER TRIPS:

• May 20 - 22: Orlando, FL for work (including a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter)
• May 23 - 28: Kingston, Jamaica for work
• May 28 - 31: Vegas for Memorial Day with my dear old ward friends
• June 17 - 19: Boise weekend to help Annelise shoot a wedding/possible trip to Colorado for a concert
• Hopefully sometime in July: Cedar Point trip - Sandusky, OH
• Hopefully sometime in August: NYC trip
• things in Utah: museums, Hogle Zoo, Logan factories, Zion National Park
• And probably a journey home to Cali

SUMMER CONCERTS:

• June: CAKE, possibly lady danville and Steel Train
• July: Owl City, Ben Folds, the Kansas
• August: Death Cab for Cutie, Josh Groban, Warped Tour (RELIENT K!), 

AWESOME MISCELLANEOUS THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN THIS SUMMER:

• MY EPIC BIRTHDAY PARTY THIS WEEKEND
• lots of ultimate frisbee
• outdoor rock climbing
• parties (Bacon Party. It's coming.)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender marathon
• Harry Potter 7: Part 2
• 5K with glowsticks in SLC
• Perhaps another lavender 5k
• more 101 goals
• reading and media digesting
• geocaching
• adventuring
• photographing
• jamming/busking
• dying my hair
• kayaking
• Just Dancing like there's no tomorrow
• hiking Timp

So there you go. My summer's going to ROCK.

Thrice weekly blog post 3 of 12

I dreamt that I dyed my hair blue, but then I realized I wasn't allowed to dye it yet. So I bleached it. Some adult was standing by disapprovingly, threatening to disown me or something.

Can I tell you how much I love Costco? It's a lot.
I now have extremely large quantities of:

• baby carrots
• snow peas
• frozen shrimp
• V8 juice
• broccolis
• green grapes
• aaaaaaand ginger lemon creme cookies

Can you tell that I'm scrounging for blog material? It's hard to think of something interesting thrice a week. If you want me to blohg about something, leave it in the comments! Otherwise you'll have to live with mundane things like what I bought at Costco. Hah!

Peace out.

Thrice weekly blog post 2 of 12

Happy birthday to me!
I am now officially 23.

I have 111 birthday posts on my facebook wall as of now, and I've gotten lots of texts and calls. :)

Here is what I walked out of my door to (which I later learned was thanks to Jake):

I might have littered a bit when the balloons fell off on my way to work...

I got a blog shoutout (Porsche, you are a dear).

My boss bought Magleby's cake and got me a gift certificate to buy blue hair dye. In case you didn't catch that, my boss is paying for me to dye my hair bright blue (I can do it in June when I'm done with recruiting seminars :D ).

I got free dinner at E Cafe and enjoyed an evening at Provo Beach Resort with a few friends.

I'm planning an epic party for next weekend and lots have already RSVP'd.

Thank you everyone for a great birthday!

I am loved. :)

Thrice weekly blog post 1 of 12

First things first, go watch this video. 7 seconds of your life VERY well spent.

Next order of business, a birthday shoutout to my main girl, Annelise. We've been best friends since we were 16, and I miss her dearly today (and everyday). I wish I could drive to Idaho and take her 10 lbs. of potato wedges. I guess this video will have to do. Also, Chris Brett.

Now, as you may have noticed from this post's title, I'm going to attempt to make May my blog thrice weekly month, but this may or may not be complicated by the fact that I'll be in Jamaica for one of those weeks. That's right, I'm going to Jamaica. For a week. For work. YES.
Anyway, I will accept all forms of encouragement.

I'm off to DI!

Hello blorg world.

With almost a full year since my last real post, I figured it was time for a return.

Can I just say that this past year has been the one of the strangest in my life so far? Why was it so strange, you might ask. Well, I will tell you. In a conveniently bulleted list:

• I graduated from BYU, but I'm still living in Provo - this means that all my friends are students, and have restrictions on their time. I've been doing a lot more on my own. Also, PROVO? I always thought I would get the heck out of here as soon as I graduated...but here I am.
• I'm no longer attending school, something I've been doing for the past 16 years of my life - I have so much free time it's not even funny. Luckily, I have my 101 list to keep me on track, and I've picked up a new hobby (more about that later).
• I'm becoming more independent - it's finally like my life is my own. I truly feel like I can do what I want, when I want. And it's nice to finally have money. No more tuition payments!
• Some things in my life I thought were sure have failed me - it's hard when you think you believe something, only to find that maybe it wasn't right all along.
• Boys have been dumb and confusing - dated one, went on dates with many others. I suppose this is one constant in my strange life - boys will never make sense.
• I applied for the JET Program, and didn't even pass the initial screening - JET has kind of been my plan for the past few years. I never dreamed that I wouldn't make it in. Everything that I've been doing up til now was leading towards that.
• Work is getting more serious and I find myself at a crossroads - my boss offered me a full-time position, which I accepted for now. I was planning on leaving this summer for JET, but that's not happening, so I'm not sure what I'm doing. My boss is fine with me leaving in the summer still, but he would also be glad to keep me around for another year. It's exciting to have options, but at the same time, it's intimidating. Part of me just wants to give everything up, take my savings and trek across the world with a backpack. The other part of me is happy to be secure and finally have benefits and a salary.
• I've begun a hobby that is a physical activity. Voluntarily. I've never been big into sports or exercise, but a girl in the ward was looking for a rock climbing partner, and I was like, "I could do that." And so I did. We got memberships at an indoor gym, and we were going twice a week or so until she got a car accident and fractured her ankle. Hah. Except it's not funny. I've found a new friend to go with, and I'm loving it. I'm not too great so far, but I'm climbing 5.10's, if that means anything to you.
• The recent disaster in Japan - This is really just blowing my mind. If other things had worked out, I could very well have been in Japan for it all. Part of me wants to be there, helping out somehow, but the other part of me is very glad to be on the other side of the world.

Here's hoping the next year is not so muddled.

Until next time ( and hopefully a much sooner next time this time),

Sara