500

Aaand here it is! Can you believe this is my 500th post? It's been over two years since I started blogging. So, to celebrate and commemorate, I give you this post of 500 things.

 

Liz suggested that I figure out where I was 500 days ago, and where I hope to be 500 days from now. I will do that first. 

500 days ago was the beginning of January 2008--I was in Provo, Utah, living at Belmont Apartments with Megan, Jennie, Marci, Lili, and Whitney. I was taking a few editing classes and working at BYU Studies on campus as an editor. I had been engaged for about two weeks and was starting to plan the wedding. 

500 days from now will be the beginning of October 2010--I will probably be in Sachse, Texas (where we are moving in exactly fourteen days). I hope to be having a baby by then, have Mike in school, still be watching Hannah and maybe have some freelance editing work. I would love to be taking a few classes myself just for fun, but we'll see how that goes (especially if the baby has happened!).

To try and make things more interesting I thought I would do months as well as days. However, if you think about this for a minute you will realize what I did soon after starting my calculations: that 500 months is approximately 41 years, and I was not in fact alive 41 years ago. (In case you're interested, though, 500 months from now I will be 65 years old. How's that for exciting?) 

And now, because I could not possibly make a list of anything that would include 500 things, I have put together lists of multiples of 500, starting with two lists of 50 things each. I had many other lists, and I was going to try and have enough smaller ones to make them add up to 500, but that was getting really boring. These were the most interesting ones, so I decided to keep them. 

50 places I want to visit...

(in no particular order)  

Austria Germany   Prague   France   Italy   Greece   Cyprus   India   New Zealand   Australia   Hawaii   New York City   Washington D.C.   Israel   England   Scotland   Wales   Ireland   Romania   Russia   Hungary   Chicago   Seattle   Los Angeles   San Fransisco   San Diego     Mexico   Portugal   Spain   Canada   China   Denmark   Sweden   Switzerland   Syria   Lebanon   Egypt   Brazil   Thailand   these libraries   New Orleans   Atlantic City   the East Coast   South   Carolina   Disneyland   Ivy League campuses   Madagascar   Hungary   Fiji   Mesa, Arizona

50 people I'd like to meet...

(also in no particular order)

Lucille Ball   Cary Grant   Jimmy Stewart   Eleanor of Aquitaine   Katharine Hepburn   King Richard   President Obama   John F. Kennedy   Henry Fonda   Joseph Smith   Hyrum Smith   Carrie Fisher   Audrey Hepburn   Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)  Dick Van Dyke   Brian Regan   Jerry Seinfeld   Remus Lupin (hey, no one said they had to be real people)   Amy Tan   John Cusack   Dustin Hoffman   Oskar Schindler   Robin Hood   Julie Andrews   Muse   Louise Rennison   Chaim Potok   Oscar Wilde   Rupert Everett   Renee Zellweger   Lynne Truss (technically I have, but she's still on the list!)   Lauren Graham   Stacy London   Clinton Kelly   Nick Arrojo   P.L. Travers   C.S. Lewis   Elizabeth Bennett   Anne Shirley   Ewan McGregor   Nicole Kidman   Debra Messing   Cassandra Mortmain   Albus Dumbledore   Ludwig van Beethoven   William Randolph Hearst   Golda Meir   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   my great-grandmother Kayla   Mark Twain

50 things I want to do in my life

work for a magazine   work for a newspaper   learn to snowboard   travel every place I've ever wanted to see   live in a foreign country   read every book on my standing list   have a lot of kids   speak Hebrew   speak German   speak Russian   speak Italian   learn to play the guitar   visit all 50 U.S. states   read a book in another language   learn to dance   learn to ice skate   publish a book   become a gourmet cook   learn to knit   learn to do makeup and hair   lose 30 pounds   live close to family   go to the Grand Canyon   visit the pyramids   go to the temple   take my kids on trips around the world   learn to exercise   have a dog for a pet   be a teacher   see the Northern Lights   buy my kids baby Chucks   find the perfect house with the perfect backyard   have a library with bookshelves on every wall   learn to like seafood   be part of a musical group again    get to know my family members   work at a library   actually take up yoga   see a play at the Globe   see an opera at the Met  see a total eclipse   float in the Dead Sea   study international politics   get laser eye surgery   learn Arabic   own real pearls (my birthstone)   go to a live show of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me   ride in a helicopter   learn to surf

Todd.

Every Soul a Star, by Wendy Mass--8/10

Loved this book. I was picking Alex up from the day care and saw it on display at the book fair they have going on there, and we were already on our way to the library after that so while we were there I looked it up and they had it. I've read one other book by Wendy Mass, A Mango-Shaped Space, and I really liked it, so I was excited to check this one out. It's about three kids and how they're brought together by their families to watch a total eclipse of the sun, and they all have very different situations but end up becoming really good friends and changing their lives in huge, huge ways (not all of them voluntary). The characters were really interesting and it was easy to get involved with them, and the eclipse stuff was really interesting too! It kinda made me really want to see one sometime. This is a pretty different book, and I think most people would like it just because of how fresh it is. You should check it out.

Maniac, Fudge, and Ramona (Again)

Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli--8/10. This book is fabulous. I'd never read it before, although I'm pretty sure I remember starting it once years ago. I can't think of many boy characters who have been as lovable as Maniac is; he's just one of the kindest-hearted, most straightforward characters ever.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing/Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, by Judy Blume--5/10. I remember reading this in elementary school and wanted to try it out again. The first one was fun, but the second one was about Sheila and she is pretty irritating, so it wasn't as nice to read about her. I have a lot more fun reading Ramona.

Ramona the Brave, by Beverly Cleary--7/10. I just love that little girl! I've been reading the Judy Blume books because I know she's basically one of the pillars of juvenile/adolescent lit, but so far they just don't stick for me the way Ramona does. I feel like I really can understand what a little kid is thinking when I read it, it's so fun.

Today is rough! I'm feeling really emotional.

I woke up this morning from a dream that I'd gone to Westmore looking for Mia and Kennedy to say goodbye to them, and when I found them I was sitting in the middle of the stairs hugging them and sobbing. (Actually, I think I was only holding Kennedy, and I was waiting for Mia to come up the stairs to me.) I woke up feeling really sad, but at least I wasn't crying like the last time I dreamt about them. I couldn't go back to sleep though, so I wrote about the dream in my journal, and then I did start crying.

I was fine once I got to work, and up until now I've been great even though I was looking through pictures of the girls trying to find some for my giant journal. But then I decided to look through my blog list, and Anna's blog made me start feeling really sad again. Then I went to Dafni's blog and saw a picture of her pregnant (she's getting bigger every week!) and was sad/jealous. And then I went to Jennie's blog and saw pictures of her wedding, which was at the Salt Lake Temple, and seeing pictures of Utah made me sad. And then Nathalie sent me a picture of Anna graduating and it also made me feel sad.

S0 now I can't stop thinking about things that I miss about Utah. Most of them are related to Mike's family--hanging out at Dan and Candice's especially, playing with the girls and Cillian, Sunday dinners at Mike's parents' house, everyone hanging out in the living room after dinner and playing games or just talking and watching the girls play with a crapload of toys in the middle of the floor, going to Westmore for the girls' programs, going to Target and randomly bumping into various family members there (Anna, Dan and Candice, Nathalie) all the time, walking/riding our bikes/driving to Toys R Us, FYE, and Barnes & Noble, going to Borders, walking back and forth from UVU, living in our apartment at LaGrande, walking in Rock Canyon or the parks up Provo Canyon.

P.S.

Any more ideas for commemorative type things? This is my 497th post, so I only have two more before I have to post the big one! I already got some from Liz that were helpful, but it turns out 500 is a hard one to do because it's WAY too big to do lists, and I need more stuff to make it worth of the big 5-0-0.

Also...

Poor Mike sucks at not buying things that are shipping from Hong Kong. :(

Raise your hand if you hate Satan!

(I wrote the post before I wrote the title and then it just seemed to fit! :P)

I had to pick one of these for a quiz I was doing on Facebook, and it was a little difficult because... well, really? Aren't most of these things everyone hates? I had the hardest time deciding between the bolded ones.

What is something you hate?

	Not being able to figure out something
	Not being on top and being the one who makes the choices
	Jealous people
	Being used
	Injustice
	Traitors
	Impatience and rude people
	Stupid people
	Being shunned or mistreated
	Conformity
	Having someone beat you at something
	Being taken for granted or negative people
	Seeing others in danger
	Fake people
	Being judged

If only it were this easy...

Is it just me, or do you sometimes wish you could smack people in the face and say "That's it! You're done. Kindergarten is over, now knock it off and grow up." 

North Korea acts like the bully on the playground

"Religion" is secret code for "excuse to slaughter innocent people"

Some people are ignorant pigs

Iran makes North Korea look like the teacher's pet

Don't you love the news?

Birthday

Well, my 24th birthday is coming up soon and I thought I would make things very easy for my family this year. If you are planning on getting me a present, these are the things I want, in order of how much I want them:

Lord of the Rings Risk

Ticket to Ride, Europe and/or USA

Settlers of Catan

That's it, the end. Mike and I have been dying to own these games for forever but they're kind of expensive. That said, if you want to go in with someone else so you can afford them, don't feel like you have to get me something else that will be just from you, or anything silly like that. If all I get is these games I will be 100% thrilled. :)

Just in case: If for some reason you really don't want to get one of these games, I also want an edited copy of Love Actually, which you can get here, and Dear Frankie.

Fiddler on the Roof

I did something really amazing last night!

Miki texted us early in the afternoon and told us that Fiddler on the Roof was playing in Dallas that night, with Chaim Topol--the original Tevya from the movie! We told her absolutely to buy us tickets, and we couldn't believe how close we'd come to missing it! This is his farewell tour,and his last two shows are today.

Of course we couldn't take pictures, which was very difficult for me, because it was such an incredible experience and you know how I love to document things. But it was really a once in a lifetime kind of thing. The pit orchestra was fantastic and it was so amazing to hear the music so loud. Topol's voice sounds exactly the same, which is pretty impressive considering that he is 75 years old! A few things about the play had to be modified because of his age, and of course there were also screen-to-stage changes, but all the adaptations were excellent and the feel of the play was exactly the same as the movie. He is still so amazing after all these years, and he had such a great rapport with the audience! We were laughing and/or cheering every few minutes through most of the play. 

The other characters were done really well, also. Golda wasn't my absolute favorite, but she's a hard role to play and I think the actress did her well. The graveyard scene was fantastic, and so was the Russian dance scene--my very favorite scene in the whole show. "If I Were a Rich Man" was wonderful, and some of the energy he was saving up from other scenes must have been meant for that one because he did do the arm-waving dance (there you go, Megan) and it was absolutely beautiful! Anyway, we were clapping for so long after it ended that my arms were killing me, but I couldn't stop because of how excited I was.

We were dying to meet him after, so we and a large group of people hung out (read: lurked) outside the stage entrance for probably about half an hour before a stage manager came out to tell us that Topol was very sorry but he was exhausted and couldn't come out. Mike and my dad tried for probably fifteen minutes to tear us away before we finally gave up.

Frindle, by Andrew Clements--6.5

My goodness, I can't believe I'd never read this book before. In fact, I can't believe it's not required reading in college language classes! The whole story is about something we discussed in several of my classes, and it was really fun to see it in a kids' book instead of a textbook--a boy, Nick, learns in his English class about how words mean what they mean because people choose to have them mean that, and so he decides to start calling pens "frindles" instead, to see if he really can change what the word means. I loved the main character and I loved his teacher, Mrs. Granger, who reminded me of my sixth-grade English teacher Mrs. Smith. Also I didn't even mean to but I read the entire book in the time it took Mike to run to Jack in the Box and Walmart, which is to say that it is a very short book and goes quickly. Anyway, loved the book, and I recommend it for anyone.

Oh How I Love the Library

I thought it was funny, so I took a picture... these are all the books we have checked out from the library right now. We return 1-4 every time we go, and we usually leave with at least 2 more.

I keep finding other books and things I'd forgotten to include in the picture, and there are so many now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just take another one. I probably won't though, so here's a list. 

• Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli
• Mary Poppins, by P.L. Travers
• City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare
• There and Back Again, by Sean Astin (what Joseph read for book club last month)
• Love, Lucy, by Lucille Ball (what Talia read for book club last month)
• two Hank the Cowdog books (my dad's choice for book club this month)
• a dvd of Marley & Me

And so, the final tally is this: 30 items checked out from the Wylie library, 4 from the Allen library, 0 from the Richardson library (the other one we frequent).

Give me a BREAK.

I despise this commercial. It's been on every single commercial break for the last half hour or hour or however long it's been, I don't even know. But I mute it every time because I hate such blatant manipulation.

This is what State Farm says about it: "The anthem is a tribute to the power of human connection. Its people being there for people, unwavering in their loyalty and support. Finding strength in the smallest of gestures, like clasped hands that wont let go. Vulnerability in the largest of events, such as a soldier coming home to her child."

Give me a break, that is not what this commercial is about. It's about appealing to people's sentimental, patriotic, and emotional sides so that they will feel good about State Farm and BUY YOUR INSURANCE.

Gross.

P.S. Mike and I saw a coyote in the backyard last night! It was so cool. I just wish I could've gotten a picture. 

Ramona and Margaret

Ramona Quimby, Age 8, by Beverly Cleary--7/10. Our book club genre this month is children's books, so I picked this up at the library. Oh, how I love Ramona. She is so cute! The book is about her starting third grade and all the things she struggles with: Her family trying to make ends meet while her dad goes back to school, a teacher who thinks she's a nuisance, having to play with Willa Jean when she really wants to do her Sustained Silent Reading... It's a very difficult time for her. This is actually the first chapter book that my elementary school class read (not the first chapter book read, but the first one I read for school), so it was kind of nostalgic for me. 

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume--7/10. I had never read this book, so as long as we were on children's books this month I thought I would. I really liked it. It was kind of nice to remember what it was like to be an eleven year old girl, and it definitely made me laugh more than once. The religion angle was really interesting, although it made it difficult for me to really like any of her family members. I loved her teacher, though, and I loved Margaret herself.

Check It Out...

A cool website I stumbled across. I wonder where they got their name--"aleph" and "bet" are the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Star Trek

It has to be said: This was a freakin' fantastic movie. I was dreading seeing it, actually, because the previews made it look like there was going to be more sex than there actually was. Also I've never been a Trekkie. But it was really the first reason that made me not want to see it because I am in no way opposed to Star Trek, and knew that they would have done some really cool things with it. They did. Pretty much the general buzz about this movie is that "even people who don't like Star Trek loved it," and I can now attest to that. I liked it even better than X-Men Origins. Also, this too has to be said: the young Captain Kirk is hot. (Don't worry, I've already told Mike. He agrees.) This is a really, really cool movie. I insist that you go see it. The end.

Mary Poppins Opens the Door, by P.L. Travers--7/10

I got a couple of these books in high school and really loved them, so when I came across them at the library I couldn't resist picking up the ones I hadn't read yet. They're quite different from the movie that was based on them (which I also LOVE), but they're just as much fun in their own way. There are tons of adventures in the books that couldn't make it into the movie, and all of them are fantastic and fun.

The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg--7/10

I'd kind of always meant to read this, but never got around to it until the other day when I happened across it at the library and decided to go for it. I wasn't sure how much I was going to like it for the first few chapters; they were mildly interesting, but weren't quite capturing my interest. But a little while in, after the chapters stopped introducing each of the main characters and got to the part where their stories all meet, it got really good. The book is about an academic competition, and I loved reading about it because I did something similar in high school and really loved doing it. The characters are clever and lovable and quirky, and the writing is deep and thoughtful, particularly for a children's book. I definitely recommend it, and also anything else by E.L. Konigsburg (who is a genius). 

Bloodline/Bloodline: Reckoning, by Kate Cary

Joseph (my youngest brother) pestered me for a long time to read this book, and I figured I should since I am always telling him to read things. It's about Count Dracula's descendants and while it wasn't the best book I've ever read, I guess I have to admit that it wasn't the absolute worst either. The writing is cheesy though--it takes place in 1916, and maybe I'm just spoiled by classic literature but I have a really hard time accepting most people's idea of what people sounded like back then. It's all "oh, Mother!" and "my dear beloved sister" and "dearest Mother and Father, I have never heard of anyone addressing their diary to their dead parents but that is what I shall do because you were so dear to me and because I am a spineless sentimental sap."

Pardon my tangent. Back to my review then? Yes, let's.

The moral of the story is, I wouldn't really recommend it; but hey, vampire books aren't really my thing anyway, so if they are for you then maybe you'll like it better than I did. Knock yourself out. I give 'em a 3.

We got an apartment!

We're moving into Woodbridge Villas on June 15! We knew that the credit check had already come back good, which was the only thing that could have prevented our getting it, but we found out officially today that we were approved. We've already given them a deposit, so we just have to get the electric set up and give them the rent for June when we move in. Yay! Unfortunately their website is crap and doesn't have any good pictures of the apartment, but I will put some up as soon as I can get them myself.

If I see ONE more commercial for stupid "Survival of the Half-Ton Teen," I may scream.

Hannah Jo

Some pictures I took of Hannah! She is so cute! I have about a million more, but I just picked the best ones.

That last one was totally an accident... I didn't notice that it had focused on the grass in front of me instead of Hannah, but it ended up really cool!

Here's a couple older ones:

Look how much younger she looks! I didn't realize how much she's changed in just a couple months!

I have more pictures of her in a Facebook album. It's a private album so only my friends can see it, so you might have to log in.

Call for Submissions...

I am about twenty-five posts away from my 500th post! What should I do to commemorate it? I need lots of ideas!

You Win Eleven Elephants!

So. I just found out that Sesame Street was apparently running all the way until 2008 (assuming IMDB has the most current information), and is still on tv. And I'm afraid I'm not a huge fan of the new show. First of all, check this out: 

Yuck! This is actually the episode that's on right now--I just did a search for the new Bert and Ernie and it happened to be the second result that popped up. But do you see this? Claymation Bert and Ernie? I kind of hate it. Also there is a rapping monster named Murray... and he has a little lamb... Yeah, Murray has a little lamb. Flashbacks to my childhood, anyone?

And by the way, check this out--Jeff Foxworthy as a muppet.

How do they make it look so much like him?? :) Anyway. It is just very weird to see how Sesame Street has changed. It is great, however, to see that they have had some really cool guests on the show, like Amy Tan, Michelle Obama, Tina Fey (playing the pirate captain of the Bookaneers!), Jack Black (1. what kids' show is he not on lately? and 2. the episode is called "The Golden Triangle of Destiny."), David Beckham, Sandra Oh, and Molly Shannon.

Catch-Up Book Reviews

I think I might read too many books... or at least read them too fast! I've outpaced myself on my book review writing.

Hate That Cat, by Sharon Creech--7/10. I love this book! And, to quote someone (I thought it was Janssen but don't see it on her blog, so maybe it was someone else), possibly even better than Love That Dog. Took a little longer to read--maybe half an hour instead of twenty minutes--but totally worth it. 

The Dark Side of Camelot, by Seymour Hersh--5/10. Finally done! And by done I mean finished with attempts to read it, not actually finished with the book. The story is fascinating--it's about the Kennedys and how they were basically awful people behind the charisma and charm that made everyone fall in love with them. They worked with the mobs (which is how Kennedy got elected president), plotted to kill other world leaders (Patrice Lumumba, for example), were involved in bootlegging during Prohibition... and the men slept with probably hundreds of women in their lifetimes, and their wives knew about it. Here's an interesting fact for you: probably the reason that John F. Kennedy was killed was that he was wearing a brace that prevented him from ducking after the first shot, which was not fatal. And why was he wearing the brace? Because he had a torn groin muscle from having sex with one of the many, many women he slept with. It's that lovely?

Anyway, like I said, the story itself is fascinating, but the way it is written is not. It jumps all over the place, going back and forth between JFK, his father, his grandfather, and his brother with no rhyme or reason. This final time around I got close to halfway through, and decided that would count in my book. The book, not the story, is a 5. 

Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones, by Brandon Sanderson--6/10. These books are a lot of fun. I read the first one a while ago, and I may have liked this one even better. They're not deep and they're not thrilling, but they are entertaining. Sometimes I fear Brandon tries a little too hard (and I feel that the fact that Mike and I once attended a very small lecture by him and sat in the front row entitles me to first-name privileges) to be a little too witty, but the characters are likable and the story is clever. Recommend for sure, if nothing else because it's fun to read something by someone who graduated from and now teaches at BYU, and is also writing the final epic book in the Wheel of Time series. 

Impossible, by Nancy Werlin--6/10

This is yet another book I got from Janssen's blog, and I read it in under 24 hours--not because it was that good that it sucked me in, but just because it was easy to read in huge chunks. I started it last night and was more than halfway through when I went to bed, and then I finished it this morning. It has an interesting plot--it's about a girl, Lucy, who finds out that the women in her family are cursed to get pregnant and have a baby when they're 18, then go insane after the baby is born if they haven't been able to complete the three impossible tasks talked about in an old version of the song "Scarborough Fair." They have to make a seamless shirt without using needles, find an acre of land that is between the sea strand (shore) and the salt water, and plow it with one grain of corn using a goat's horn. None of the women before Lucy have been able to do it, so they've all gone crazy, but Lucy gets a head start by finding her (now insane) mother's diary and learning about what she has to do. It's a good book--not one of my most favorite books I've ever read, but I enjoyed it and I'd recommend it.

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Well, I was hoping it'd be better when I finished it, but I was kind of disappointed in the book. It got a lot better in the last half, but even so it wasn't as good as I'd expected it to be. In the first place, I called almost every significant plot point long before it happened. Then there was what I said before about the writing sounding like it was trying too hard to be witty, and overall I think it could've been better. There are two more and I might read them in the future, but they're definitely not on the list yet. This one's a 5.

Happy Mothers' Day!

Something awesome. Watch it.

A Moment of Frustration

I'm reading City of Bones and so far I'm not impressed with the writing. It's the kind that makes me cringe at the rate of about once a page--it sounds kinda like it was written by one of the script writers for Saved by the Bell or something, you know? Cheesy, trying too hard to be witty, really unrealistic sounding. But on the other hand, the story is really intriguing and I want to see where it goes. Cross your fingers that I'll get used to the style so I don't grind my teeth to dust halfway through the book. :)

Because I Know You Were Wondering...

Here's what my day consists of. If you don't watch any of the videos I posted, at least click the first link and watch those. They've been in my head for three days solid.

The JumpArounds

Yo Gabba Gabba

Lindsey, I know only you can truly understand.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--9/10

This is a really fantastic book, and I was thrilled when I got to the end and saw the words "end of book one." I'd had no idea it was part of a series! Normally this would make me roll my eyes a bit, since I like to make fun of the growing inability of writers to write stand-alone books, but this book really should be a series. There was just too much for her to finish in one book (without making it the size of one of the Wheel of Time books, and I have to respect that choice).

So. The book takes place in "Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America," where the dictatorial leadership has created something called the Hunger Games to punish its subjects for a rebellion some years before. All teenagers from twelve to eighteen have their names put in a drawing, and each year one boy and one girl are chosen from each of the twelve districts to participate in the Hunger Games--a giant competition where they all fight to the death until only one is left. It's a lot like the gladiators in the Coliseum, actually--highly publicized, hugely popular in the Capitol, sadistic and totally mandatory.

Anyway, the writing is well done and the story is really excellent. I actually can't think of anyone who wouldn't like this book--it's violent without being gory, which I was afraid of; there's a love story, but it's about as un-sappy as you can get; there's politics and ethics and philosophy and rebellion, and basically it's got something for everyone. 100% recommend.

3 Things I'm Pretty Excited About:

And they all come from the library. :)

1. The Hunger Games. I started it today and it's fantastic so far, I'm really interested in it.
2. City of Bones. There are 24 holds on this at the Allen library and I've had it on hold at the Wylie library for weeks, so I'd almost forgotten about ever getting to actually read it--but today we took Alex to the library and when Mike went to check out our books, he came back with that one! I was totally surprised and can't wait to start it as soon as I finish The Hunger Games.
3. Alcatraz versus the Scrivener's Bones, which I didn't know existed until I randomly saw it in the library today, and Hate that Cat, which I'm looking forward to after having read Love that Dog in about twenty minutes. I picked up both of these books today.
4. Our room is TOTALLY clean--meaning that not only is the room itself clean, but there aren't any baskets of clean laundry sitting around waiting to be put away. Yay! I'm telling you, it gets out of control.
5. I bought a new giant journal, and it's the first one I've gotten from Michael's! I'm really excited about it though. This is my third. Also it cost about seven dollars less than I was expecting to, so that is very happy. :)

I added a couple more, since I was on the subject, and they don't even come from the library! Ha! Oh, more happy things keep coming to my head.

• I found some purses that I'd forgotten I had, and in one of those purses I found a small bottle of perfume that I'd also forgotten I had!
• We are getting an apartment next month! We thought we'd have to wait until July but it looks like we might be able to make it out earlier than that. I cannot even express to you how much we need to get back into an apartment right now. We are. So. Excited.
• We finally bought Mamma Mia! a couple weeks ago, and I am probably going to watch it tomorrow and giant journal during Hannah's naptime.
• I am in love with the library. We go at least once a week, usually more like two or three. We currently have 28 loans from the Wylie library and three from the Allen library. Did I mention I love libraries?
• This Sunday is Mothers' Day, which means another phone call from Daniel! We are all very excited. He's in Cyprus now.
• Mike and I just celebrated our one year anniversary! And, I am finally getting a wedding ring! He is getting a really good deal through the company he works for (owned by guys in our ward), so we're able to get one a lot sooner than we'd thought.

I could really probably keep going, because the more I sit here the more I keep remembering things that are awesome, and it's just so much fun to write about great things! But I have to stop now, because it's already about an hour past when I REALLY should've been asleep, and I am going to be regretting this in the morning.

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

I won't say much about this book besides telling you that it's incredibly hard to read. But if you've ever even thought about envying an anorexic girl because you thought "at least she's not fat"--and I know girls do this, because I know I have done it--well, this book will give you a little bit of perspective. Incredibly well written, insightful, and more than a little bit painful. Hard to rate, too, but I give it a 5.

AND A LITTLE BIT SOFTER NOW

I have one question today...

= ?

Why is this guy always yelling??!

Grr.

Cell phones are stupid, stupid, and annoying. And so is the internet, while I'm thinking about it. Why, if the internet is so intregal to life now, are businesses incapable of using it? You can shop for something online, but the prices aren't necessarily the same in the store, even if they have the same product (which they don't always). You can do your banking online, but you better not depend on what you see on the website, because it's probably not accurate or up to date. You can change your cell phone plan online, and get texts from Tmobile saying that the services have been changed and all that, but then you can get on the next day and nothing has changed, and you can call Tmobile and have them tell you that basically everything you thought you did with your phone is invalid and you have to start all over, paying a lot more than what the website originally said (which is, of course, because the website didn't have the current information). We have the technology, people. We've had it for years. So why isn't it working for us yet?

Inspired by Megan...

A list of movies and books I'm looking forward to this summer. My list of books is longer than my list of movies... mostly because I just don't even know what's coming out most of the time anymore. But we saw X-Men Origins yesterday and there were some pretty good trailers on it, so now I have some idea.

Movies:

Up

Harry Potter 6

Angels and Demons (believe it or not...)

The Proposal

The Brothers Bloom

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Public Enemies (if only it weren't probably going to be rated R)

Oh I hate to say it, but the previews for Terminator: Salvation look really good


Books:

London Fields--Martin Amis

The Three Musketeers--Alexander Dumas

Through the Shadowlands--Brian Sibley

Anthem--Ayn Rand

Slaughterhouse-Five--Kurt Vonnegut

The Shipping News--E Annie Proulx

The Chicago Way--Michael Harvey

Treasure Island--Robert Louis Stevenson

Perfect Chemistry--Simone Elkeles

If I Stay--Gayle Forman

City of Bones--Cassandra Clare

Revenge of the Witch--Joseph Delaney

The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation--M.T. Anderson

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?--Louise Rennison (although I have a feeling the US version will have a different title...)

Silly Internet.

Apparently I am finished with Firefox. I uninstalled and reinstalled it to see if that would fix my problem, but alas it did not. I started switching my bookmarks over to Internet Explorer, was thinking about how it's ugly and I don't like it, and then remembered how much I liked Safari when I used it before. I'm still trying to remember why I decided not to use it before, but since it logs me in when I tell it to and looks much prettier, I am already inclined to keep it. Regardless of which browser I end up sticking with now, though, I am eschewing Firefox with a firm hand, unless and until it sees fit to stop being stupid.