Happenings

Here are the happenings of my winter break in a close approximation of chronological order:

I missed my math final, which resulted in an emotional breakdown at work, but miraculously I passed with a C.

I worked and worked and worked and had lots of fun with my coworkers.

My cousins Sophia and Olivia came into my work and I got to hug them and see their cute faces for the first time in a long time.

I watched a lot of Friends (which was a constant throughout the break).

I read one of the best books ever- A Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Such epic high fantasy books are rare- it made me cry. It was such a great read.

I went home on Christmas Eve and I got to see Malori and the rest of my family. I was the happiest I've been in a long long time.

Cora had George Washington hair.

I was hated by children in church on Christmas.

Malori gave me a mini bottle of apple cider and it was the sweetest thing in the world.

Gretchen got a cell phone and cried.

I saw my whole Bullock and Smith families for the first time in forever and held my new baby cousin Avery.

I went to a family party and had so much fun playing basketball. Brian fouled me big time. It was such a fun game- I made a shot!

I saw Sherlock Holmes 2- it was really really good. I delayed at Old Navy to get on-sale sweaters, so we ended up on the fourth row. Cora just about killed me, but the sweaters were worth it.

I played Just Dance 3 with my sisters.

I watched the Smurfs with Malori- "I kissed a smurf and I liked it!"

Gretchen and Malori recorded so many videos of themselves being weird on my iPod Touch. Now I have something to remember them by.

I went to a Christmas party and saw my old friends and got the most awesome/ messed up watering can ever (which I will post a picture of in a later post because I am too lazy to take one at the moment). Also Evan and I had the same sweater on- it was really cute.

I went to get my fish from my grandma's, and Olivia and Phin were a little obsessed with them. It was adorable. Olivia kept on asking if she could eat the pebbles in the bottom of the glass, and saying "can't we eat that fish?"

I made a total mess of my house. Then I sat in the midst of the mess and watched Friends.

I beat my friend Mackay at Lord of the Rings Risk. Really I was just happy to find someone to play with.

I almost killed our fish Cathy Jane Bennet when transferring her back into her bowl. Luckily my heart is full of love and I was able to control my gag reflex enough to grab her out of the drain and drop her back into her bowl.

I went and had a fabulous New Years at my BRF's (best roommate forever) Brittany's house in Ogden. I made coconut chex and played just dance (and laughed hysterically at Mackay dancing) and quizzed each other with Harry Potter Trivia cards and watched funny videos on youtube, and I got to hang out with her and her family all the next day too. It was just such a great stay- I had the best time.

When I finally started to clean my house I turned on the garbage disposal and a popcorn kernel flew out and lodged itself in my nostril. I laughed for several minutes after I got over the shock.

A bug's shadow was reflected onto my ceiling at six in the morning, and it was a very, very creepy dust mite spider bug. I was robbed of comfort and peace of mind. I'm still itchy.

I almost died from the bleach fumes when I tried to clean my bathroom.

I got my hair cut, and I got bangs (little wispy side bangs). We'll see how it grows on me (haha, get it? ).

I went to Kneaders with my Grandma- I have missed the turkey bacon avacado sandwich so much.

While reflecting I have remembered/ realized that I am so very very lucky to have the friends, family, and sisters that I do. I wish I could always spend as much time with my family as I have this month- I miss them very much and I love them even more. Have I mentioned how awesome and funny they all are?

Also, tomorrow I am spending the day with some of my Owens family and I am really excited. 

Here are some of the very few pictures (and by very few I mean twenty nine) I took over the break. I put them all in one lump, as per not usual, because they are basically of Christmas Eve/ Christmas and have nothing to do with most of my chronological events.

I want to walk with Frodo.

This was my book find of the day. I thought it was hilarious. On the back it says "Do you love Lord of the Rings? Can you not get enough? Do you want more?"

Basically it's a devotional book for teens that takes you through the Lord of the Rings with Frodo (duh) and talks about the religious symbolism J.R.R. Tolkien uses.

I had no idea such a book existed. It made me very happy.

These are a few of my favorite things.

My favorite book is the Book of Mormon, because if I had to choose one book to read forever that would be it. I love it. But, I also have many many other favorite books. The books that tie for second are the Harry Potter series and The Wheel of Time series. I love them both and could never choose one.

My favorite color is purple.

My favorite things to do by myself is to read and to bake.

My favorite things to do with other people are to watch movies/ funny T.V. shows, to talk, and to cook (but I have to be the boss when we cook for it to be my favorite).

My favorite things to go do are to go see a movie and to go to a really nice bookstore and find a treasure. These are my realistic answers anyways- of course I want to go to Disneyland/ Harry Potter World/ San Diego/ Europe/ Middle Earth/ Diagon Alley and that would be my favorite. But usually that doesn't happen and I am content to go buy a book for fun most Saturday nights.

My favorite cartoon is Avatar: The Last Airbender. I would bend fire.

My favorite animal is an owl. My second and third favorites follow, respectively.

My favorite Princesses are Belle and Rapunzel. They tie, just like Beauty and the Beast and Tangled tie for my favorite Disney movies.

My favorite T.V. show is hands down The Office- it is completely my sense of humor.

My favorite character from The Office is Jim Halpert. Hands down. Love him. The Jim-Dwight relationship is my favorite part about The Office. I also love the Jim-Dwight-Michael love/hate triangle.

My favorite Harry Potter character is and always has been Hermione. I have always identified with her and liked her a lot. For good or bad, we do have a lot in common. My second favorite character is Dobby. I think we should all be a little more like him.

My favorite movie is The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Yes, the trilogy counts as one movie. No, I will not pick one.

My favorite Lord of the Rings character is Samwise. He is just so good and so loyal. My second favorite character from that series is Aragorn. I think he and Sam share many great qualities.

My favorite song EVER is Starlight by Muse. I love it. I can listen to it when I'm sad and when I'm happy and it always makes me feel better. I don't think I can get sick of it- once I listened to and sang along to it over and over from Ogden to Logan and was perfectly happy the entire time. If it comes on in my car the volume always goes up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgum6OT_VH8.

Ridiculous Book Feature

The cover art isn't great and the title is ridiculous.

Dear Vampire Trend,

You were never good, and now you're old. I am sick of you.

Water for Elephants

Book:

• Awkward/ inappropriate scenes that were long and not at all vital to the plot.
• Engaging and interesting concept.
• The plot had an appropriate amount of twists and unpredictability.
• The main characters weren't extremely lovable, only the elephant was.
• Interesting narration that kept the pages turning.
• Bad language.

Movie:

• Inappropriate scenes cut out or only hinted at.
• Kept true to the plot with only a few necessary changes. It kept the twists and unpredictability.
• The characters were engaging and personable and extremely well cast- even down to the relatively minor characters. Even the age gaps were exactly as I had imagined.
• A lame last line/ ending which stayed true to the book but lacked ingenuity and good acting. It could have been a lot better.

This is one of the few times I would not recommend the book and suggest you rent the movie- it kept the good and largely eliminated the bad.

Ridiculous Book Feature

Make sure you read the little captions. They add a lot. Also, kudos on the themed titles Ms. Dare.

Ridiculous Book Feature

His butterfly tattoo is super attractive. I also like the line below the title- "He is ultimate darkness... and all consuming desire...."

Ridiculous Book Feature

I believe this title may actually be more ridiculous than the cover art. That is quite an accomplishment.

The Name of the Wind

I recently read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. It was recommended to me by my uncle and I loved it. It is a fantasy series, and may be my third favorite of all time (after Wheel of Time and Harry Potter). There are three books total and the third one hasn't come out yet. I am halfway through the second one so we will see if it holds up, but so far I am loving it. It is told by a point of view that doesn't allow for down time so the whole story is continuously moving and never slow. The main character is very full of himself, but he is awesome so he has a right to be. The girl is a complete moron and I kind of hate her, however that is pretty common for fantasy series and there are other cool girls that make up for it. Also, the books are made out of different paper than normal and the pages are really smooth so holding it for long periods of time doesn't dry your hands out! I was really excited.

All in all a very good read that I recommend; I have it for anyone to borrow (unless you are stupid and have a Kindle).

Ridiculous Book Feature

It pains me to put this book in conjunction with this post title. The Wheel of Time is my favorite series and is very epic, but the artist for the covers manages to make them look like really bad romance novels. Mr. Sweet is actually highly regarded in the world of fantasy so someone must like his covers (probably his mom), but I do not care for them. So here it is: a mediocre title made a hundred times worse by ridiculous cover art.

Because I am very biased towards the Wheel of Time I felt the need to make up for the ridiculous cover above. Here are some covers (from the eBooks) that match how amazing the books really are. Not to be dramatic and nerdy, but these are quite possibly the coolest pictures you will ever see. Just looking at them makes me fantasize about living in Wheel of Time novels.