Back in C City

I sure haven't written anything for awhile.  I wish it's because I said I didn't have time.  I wish it's because I said I could have been volunteering with small children.  It's mostly just because I'm lazy and forget that I initially have this thing.

Point being, I'm back in Cedar City going back to another semester at the glorious institution that is SUU.  Instead of studying for my Microeconomics class like I'm pretending to do in the library, I'm reading other blogs and frequenting favorite websites.  I figured I might as well write something while I'm here.

Now you see, I grew to love Cedar City while living here last year.  First semester:  Wanted to die or move home.  Second semester:  Made friends and had decent teachers.  I feel as though now I'll be able to tough it out this year since I know how to have fun now.  But, as seeing there are some perks of living in Cedar (short commute, nice/clean weather, friendly people), there are definitely some downsides/things that irk me.  Kind of also a list of "Only in Cedar City" things.  Here you go:

1. Cowboy boots, cowboy hats, hunting caps, faded plaid shirts (or any t-shirt actually) tucked into overly tight jeans, and belt buckles.

Only in Cedar City will you find a group of 4 or more of these people in one place chatting it up.  Now, I don't know these people and judge them on their character or personality, but growing up in the "big city" (as some here have told me), I'm a little harsher when it comes to fashion.  Well, not even fashion, just dressing in general.  This is definitely something you'll only find in Cedar or any equally small or smaller town.  I personally can't do it.

2. Stupid freshman

Not all freshman are stupid.  Really, any student could be stupid, it's just the stupid freshman that annoy me the most.  Mostly kids who just don't get college in general.  When talking to a frehsie in some of my mixed lower classman classes, I hear interesting things.  Some of these also taken from conversations with friends who talked to little fresh children.  "Oh, so what's your favorite book? Fablehaven?" (*inserts mental note to never again talk to*).

Example of kids who don't get things in general: Accounting-balding-returned missionary-always-on-facebook-and-sports-sites-and-only-wearing-sports-jerseys-during-class-kid.  I don't shun the fact that laptops are useful devices, especially during a class where hand taking notes is hard.  When you use your time, though, looking up BYU's last practice video, or commenting on something your friend wrote 2 seconds before (yes kid, I'm watching how many times you write shit), you're annoying as hell.  Personally, I hope you fail the test kid.

3.Crazy Mormons

Living in Utah, it's impossible to avoid them.  The big hair, the many MANY layers, the floor skirts, and the t-shirts under strapless dresses.  Yes, you're being gay judged girls.  Crazy Mormons and  just Mormons in general are something I grew up with.  Upon talking to friends that went out of state, they're constantly asked if they're Mormon solely based on the fact they're from Utah.  Frustrating, I'm sure.  There are those general Mormons who take things too far though.

*Sidenote: I promise I don't hate Mormons, they're fun.  I can explain that more later, just clarifying here.*

The other day I was walking along campus heading to the library to get some studying in done at the end of the day.  Upon nearing the library, two girls were walking in my direction and I could hear music playing loudly from her bag.  Pretty normal, I thought.  Kids play music, nothing new to me.  Subconsciously of course, I listened to the words of the song as I passed by them.  After processing for a split second, I realized what I had just heard.  What I initially thought had just been some sort of rock song had indeed been the rocked out version of the LDS children's hymn, My Heavenly Father Loves Me.  Sick. People who insist that MoTab or any other church music, is the only wholesome music out there make me sad.  They're good for some things kiddos, but put some spice in your life.

(Story taken from my friend)
"It makes me feel uncomfortable to have any overnight guests in our apartment."  My friend is an RA (resident assistant).  She loves all her residents.  She also doesn't mind people, who aren't her suitemates, sleeping in her apartment.  I am not saying my friend is some kind of whore who likes different people over!  Just fun innocent sleepovers.  I for one love big sleepovers (pangea bed anyone?) and the late night conversations that ensue with tiredness and junk food.  Girls who are scared of boys after midnight haven't met me yet. *nudge nudge, wink wink* (joke).

The Returned Missionary (freshly picked and still gung-ho from their plot of mission land):
I like people in general.  I'm annoyed by people who are nice to me solely for the reason of trying to "save my soul."  I mean, good on them for trying, but I already have a nice plot of land in hell with my cats and other assorted devilries (yes, I think I made that word up, but you know what I mean).

Being the slightly sadistic person that I am, I once pretended to not know what the Doctrine & Covenants was to a new friend I had made in my Business class.  I had learned previously that he had only a few weeks before returned from India where he served a lengthy mission.  Making conversation, I asked what books he had read recently other than the horrible textbook for the class that we were in.  To my ears horror, he replied with,
 "I don't really like to read anything.  The only book I've ever read all the way is the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine & Covenants."
What? How had this kid succeeded in life up to this point?  This is about the time the devil in my head came and convinced me to lie.
 "D&C?" I said to him with a quizzical look on my face.
"Yeah, D&C," he replied to me without hesitation as if my question was absurd, "right now I'm on the part where they prophecy about the destruction of the great evil cities of the world-" Wait for it "such as New York, Vegas, Paris.  You know, those places."
By this point, I realized that this kid had obviously taken some words from the text and made his own interpretation that I deemed to be just a little insane.  Not wanting to be "taught" anymore, I just nodded and said "OK" and turned to listen to our new lesson.  I'm not saying I defend Vegas' sacredness, just that the book isn't specific.  I've read the book too, and from what I remember, revelation was never that blatant.

I feel like I've rambled a lot, but that's ok because I'm mostly doing this for my own entertainment and also to take up time.  Dang, looking back this is long.  Ah well.  I think the next thing I write will be about the things I love about my good ol' C City since this became really cynical by the end.  At least now it looks like I've been doing my accounting homework for the past hour.  Please just don't just me other kids in the library. (I have my pen out, notebook, and book out occasionally looking at my monitor as if I just discovered something new and I'm writing it down.) Actually, judge away, I'm probably having more fun than you.

Rediscovery

Within the past month or so, I've been finding myself looking back on my life.  Not a very serious soul searching journey, but mostly things that I enjoyed earlier on.  I've come across music, games, activities, just silly little things that give me a strange enjoyment.  

First, I'd have to say I've found some music recently that I hadn't listened to in a long time.  Mainly it's the artist that is Feist.  I'd say a good 3 years ago, I got the album The Reminder.  Mostly because I had liked the song 1,2,3,4 that I'm sure mostly everyone has heard.  If not I'll stick it in here since it's still a good song.  Well, after buying the album, I probably listened to it a couple of times, downloaded it onto my computer, and eventually forgot about it all together.  Now back to the present.  My brother recently returned from his mission, and as such went through our computer to find all of his old music that he wanted to listen to.  I was pretty surprised by how much old stuff was on the computer so it got me thinking about what I had missed out on.  So, searching the old iTunes library, I found the wonderful album that I had forgot about and not fully appreciated at the time.  Putting it on my iPod now, I listen to it multiple times a day and love it.  Mostly because I love her voice, her beautiful pure voice singing out.  It's the kind of album that just relaxes your body and soul and makes your day just a little bit brighter. In fact, I'm listening to it right now. I will definitely keep it around for a while now.

Now what could be better to start up again than something from my elementary school days (which my friends joke weren't that long ago) than one of my great childhood marvels.  Pokemon.  This will probably be a big geek out entry-nay, it is a geek out entry.  When I was younger, so much younger than today, I played Pokemon probably a good 4 or 5 days a week. What made me more of a nerd is that I played the video game for Gameboy and also the trading cards.  Yup, ultimate nerd right there.  When I wasn't trading cards with kids at school, I was catching wild Pokemon and battling gym leaders.  So, of course being bored when the summer began, I whipped my gameboy with my good old Pokemon.  It wasn't too hard to get back into the flow of the game and become a Pokemon master.  Then, about a week or so ago, my friend invited me to battle him with Pokemon cards.  To my surprise, my friends had turned out to be just as nerdy as I am.  Seeing the wonderful opportunity to geek out, I pulled out my old Pokemon cards (yes, still sitting in my closet with the nice cards in individual cases) and assembled a deck with which to do battle.  I realize at this point I sound a super nerd.  I'm also not sure if I can deny it either.  Part of my strange obsession might be the accompanying nostalgia that comes along with finding my old cards.  Part of it might also be that I simply just enjoy it.  It's just that weird crazy part of me.

What would my life be without books?  I assume that it would be very different, but one piece of literature, using literature lightly of course, would be Calvin and Hobbes.  After going through my bookshelf one day, I pulled out one of my old Calvin and Hobbes comic books.  If there is any kind of comic that can make me laugh, it's Calvin and Hobbes.  Calvin's adult-like intelligence, cynicism, and wild imagination make every joke wonderful to read.  Not to mention the wonderful renderings of each story.  Every small thing beautifully drawn and colored.  It's the type of comic that brings out the child in anyone and visit the imagination that slumbers inside of them.  

Of course, now I have to look to the future.  With my life being a whole lot of decisions lately, I should probably focus on what my decisions will be.  Never hurts enjoy some parts of life though.

What's been accomplished this year...

With the semester finally winding down, I began to think about what I had accomplished in this school year.  Had I learned a whole lot from the classes I've taken?  To be honest, it makes me laugh a little at how little I feel I've learned.  A few of my classes were useful, but a majority I already knew what was being presented or it was all so bland that I didn't take time to remember it.  Overall though, I decided to make a list of the things I did learn over this past year about myself.  Most are pretty silly and I thought I'd leave out school things (because despite what I said, I did learn quite a lot) because this is more fun.

What I've Learned/Learned About Myself During Fall 2010-Spring 2011 At Southern Utah University:

• 1:25 is the perfect time for a Hot Pocket to be cooked
• It takes me exactly 3 minutes to get from my dorm to the Business building
• Dryer number 6 DOES NOT WORK (after $4.00 of trying)
• Winter starts in October and ends in April
• Cereal tastes even better after midnight
• Risk brings out the worst in everyone and trust no one
• Occasionally, papers may be written 30 min. before class starts (high marks still received)
• Mornings go much better when air drying
• 7 o'clock classes are the worst things to ever be thought of
• Time can be found in every day to go to the gym
• Time can be found in every day to take a nap 
• I would rather miss a class than walk in late (unless it's necessary that I be there)
• I take off my clothes in my sleep when I'm too hot
• Korean food is delicious, but is so spicy it makes me cry
• The same goes for Thai food
• It's possible to wear shorts in the morning, a parka in the afternoon, then shorts again later
• Netflix and homework are sworn enemies
• Netflix and I are best friends
• Without music, I would go insane
• Pancakes at midnight are wonderful
• Hats can be worn to compensate for showering
• During finals, showers/shaving/eating properly/sleeping/getting dressed are all options
• Suspenders and sweater vests are beautiful things
• Going to Walmart is considered "going out"
• Telling myself that I'll read all the books I brought is a big fat lie
• I tell myself that eating before bed makes me have lucid dreams so I constantly do it
• Gaining a "Freshman 15" isn't always bad
• I save the most mundane things.  Ex: Notes scrawled to myself, old papers, receipts, empty boxes
• There is usually never a time I'm not thinking about eating
• Swimming in an empty pool is an excellent way to clear my head
• Sweats and a T-shirt may be worn to any class if it's too hard to actually get dressed

This is all I have so far but I'm sure there are plenty more and maybe I'll write down a few more later.  Mostly I did this to make myself laugh at how these past 9 months have been for me.  

Southern Utah - Round 2

I thought I should update a little more often so that I will be able to remember exactly what I did throughout my life.  By more often, I mean weekly since this is only the second post I'll ever have.  Props to me.
  
Anyways, life is good in the Southern Utah.  The skies are clear, the classes are intellectually stimulating without me hating them, and I'm getting by on a steady diet of everything I see.  Being back for the new semester though, I decided to change things up a little with the set-up of my room.  I know it's not going to make a huge difference in my life, but it still feels good.

Before getting bored

After the boredom has lifted.

So I basically did that today and almost broke the bed in half, but no worries, the goal was accomplished in the end and the bed and I are both in one piece.  Also notice the stuff on the floor that was not there before.  As you can tell, I shoved a lot of stuff under my bed and now I must find a practical place to put it.  Unfortunately for me, that means when I'm hungry in the night, I won't be able to reach down and grab a granola bar.

I also thought that I should show where I live.  It might give some people joy for some odd reason, so here ya go.  

So there you have it.  My messy bedroom, my messy kitchen, and my messy living room.  Quite charming, eh?  It is home though so I can't complain.  It's where I'm living for a while, so I might as well make the most of it.  

In case anyone was wondering, I'm not a Business Finance major.  Seriously, don't ask me how I ended up with that one since I'm not really sure how it happened either.  Music was one of the things that I loved in life, but I decided that it wasn't what I wanted to do with it.  Hopefully, everything will pan out for the better and I'll actually figure out what I want to do.

Also, I'm going to try and regularly update this blog with pictures of my weekly life if you feel like stalking me.

Where I Am...In Life

Where to begin...
Well, at this point in my life, I decided that it seemed like a good idea to start speaking my mind, just in case anyone wants to listen.  It's weird to think that I am now entering a completely different aspect of my life that will determine my destination to where I'll be in a few years.  How can I choose an activity that I would enjoy doing for the rest of my life, much less able to keep me financially alive?  It freaks me out a little.  


So, as to avoid all that serious stuff for a little bit, I thought it would be fun to explore life and see what it has in store for me.  Earlier today, I had a conversation with my friend Sierra about the life in between growing up and settling down with your career.  We talked about all the things you can do and then all the things that are cut off from you once you're settled into a new lifestyle.  For me, I don't think I want to have that anytime soon.  It scares some to think that lots of my friends around me are changing so young and possibly missing out on experiences that they won't ever be able to have.  The sheer independence that comes with living on your own is so enticing to me that I simply can't deny that I want to live that way for a small portion of my life.  Now, I don't look down on the people who settle down early, if that's what they think is right for them, then I wish them happiness in all their future endeavors.  For me though, I want to run headfirst into the chaos that is life.  The mystery of what will happen to me, good or bad, on my own.  


Unfortunately, I haven't come to that point yet.  I'm currently in the limbo of living in a small dorm room and surviving my first semester of school.  To some, it might seem like I'm on my own, independent, and free to do as I choose.  To me, I don't feel that way at all.  Adjusting to dorm life still almost feels like I'm taking a brief vacation from home to go to classes for some time, then return later.  Not to mention, I'm not financially independent, which is what I feel holds me back the most to be "on my own."  Now, I'm not unhappy.  In fact, I'm having the time of my life.  But, I know that this is a stepping stone to what I want to have.  This short dorm life will help me become more independent, develop my underdeveloped social skills, and figure out how to successfully go grocery shopping without forgetting something essential.  The time when I'm not tied down to a dorm and have a job of my own (while attending school), is the time when I feel I'll have reached the pivotal independence that I so crave for.  All I have to do now is succeed in defeating the semester in front of me. 


All in all, I want to be independent and have that stage of life where I can live the unexpected.  Mostly, I just want to be able to be me, whatever that turns out to be.