Things that I'm currently quite fond of

My last two posts have been kind of complainy. So, since it's the month of Thanksgiving, and since I wanna make up for those last two, here is a list of things that I like and/or am thankful for :)

The Piano Man himself, Billy Joel. As always.

Pinterest.

My tattoo :)

My adorable little cousins.

Babies in general.

Warm clothes.

Cardigans.

Books.

My Kindle. Her name is Janie.

Jose.

Dani and David. (I don't have a picture of them together and I'm too lazy to upload both. You know what they look like :) )

My cleavage. I feel like this doesn't require a picture.

Among other things :)

I'm seriously thinking about switching up my future. I want one of those lives that people are jealous of. I don't want to be conventional anymore. I'm deciding between umpire school and bartending school. Or possibly both. Thoughts?

I've been thinking a lot lately about who I am. I know that sounds hokey and stupid. But I keep wondering about where the different quirks and personality traits come from, other than genetics. I'm a firm believer that everyone you meet changes you, even if it is minutely. So I've decided to kind of try to map it out. I'm gonna write my different friend groups and the changes and impacts they made on who I am. Starting probably around freshman year. Also, there's a few random people that don't really fit into any specific category, so I'll just mention them separately.

(Shaylie, Micah, Mystie, Kenzy, Cass, Cami, Marissa, Shelby, Jessey, Me, Sissy, Scott, Wes)

After that is when I really started broadening my friendship horizons. I really became good friends with my colorguard friends. Enter Kenzy, Shelby, Cassidi, Cami, Jessey, Sissy, Noelle, and Shaylie. All these girls were a big part of my support system. They cared for me and wanted me to be happy and safe. We got along well for the most part. :) I learned quite a bit from them, and I think my hard-working trait definitely got honed while I was in their presence.

(Me, Colton)

Shaylie, Jessey, and Sissy also had a big impact, as they introduced me to some of my other very good friends: Colton and James being the biggest two. From that group of friends I started realizing that it was okay to be yourself completely, even if sometimes yourself looked like a total idiot.

(Alexa, Me, Ashley)

And from Colton I met Alexa and Ashley, who I've written about on numerous occasions, and have also had a shaping hand in my life.

(Me, Justin, Dixon, Ben, Brendan)

Another extremely influential group was my debate friends. Brendan, Josh, Sam, Megan, Ben, Dixon, Justin, and most of the rest of the debate team. I learned A LOT from this group. It's okay to be smart, and to be knowledgeable about things. And also there's a limit about how much people want to know about how much you know. They were a big, welcoming group that I had so much fun with.

(Me, Cass, Charlie, Trissa)

(Cherisse, Moriah, Me)

(Jay and Laura)

Next is work friends. I truthfully think they've shaped me more than any other group. This includes Moriah, Cherisse, Jay, Laura, Paige, Bree, Trissa, etc. We're a weird bunch. A hella weird bunch. They helped me see that it's okay to live for myself. I think that's one of the most important lessons that I've learned. Some might take it another way and say that they "got me off the path of righteousness." But I can't think of a group of people I'm more indebted to. A lot of hard times have come from some of those choices, but they're times I wouldn't change for the world. They were so important and built my character. It was with them I realized I could still be a good person without being religious, and that it's okay to do things not according to tradition. This quote sums them up: "Life is short, when you're done, you're done. We're on this earth to have some fun." :) They're also a HUGE part in my sarcasm and sense of humor. Both of those were developed at good old Mickey D's.

(Me, Kadie, Aubrey, Katherine)

Next comes college roomies. My first year roommates didn't have a huge affect on me. Katherine, Aubrey, Kadie, Mandy, and Alli. They were kind and supportive and modeled the type of person I'd like to become, with some minor adjustments. I did get closer with Mandy and Alli, who I both can go to for advice at any time. They definitely changed me for the better :)

(Me, Karlee, Morgan, Dani, Brittany)

(Dani, Me, Celeste, Robyn)

My second year roommates, however, had AN ENORMOUS impact. I realized the type of person I DID NOT want to become, and the type of friend who will stick with you through everything. Dani and Robyn were excellent examples of the type of friend I want to be. Supportive, trustworthy, helpful. They taught me a lot, especially Dani. Dani and I developed our whole "positive thinking" mantra together, so that's also been very influential. I love those girls so much.

(Me and David)

And last but not least, David and Texas. They both loosely fit into a couple groups, but they're more on their own. I met David through church, strangely enough. I knew he didn't like going, and I knew I didn't like going. He had no idea that I was any different than the other people in our ward. Basically I approached him one day after school and offered him a ride home. We've been tight ever since. That car ride home is ingrained in my memory as the time David pretended to shoot seminary teachers out the window of my green van with my rifle. Good times :) He's wonderful. He can talk me down from anything, and our thought processes are extremely similar. We're so comfortable with each other. He is, hands down, my best friend.

(Texas and Me)

Texas is...a character :) I met her during softball, and the first words she ever said to me were: " I wish I was a little kid so I could play in the mud without anyone looking at me weird." Texas has taught me how to be carefree. She can also calm me down, and make me realize that things will work out in the end. She's extremely optimistic, and kind of childlike. She is responsible, but still knows how to have a good time, which I really admire. She fits so well into the dynamic that David and I have, and I know that the three of us are the kind of friends that will still be talking to each other regularly thirty years from now :)

(Me, David, Texas Cinco de Mayo)

(Me, David, Texas Senior Ball)

I think each group had a part in shaping me, whether it was minor or huge. It's definitely interesting for me to go back and look at things like that, and it's funny that I can pick different characteristics from different groups. I wouldn't change anything :)

Major Changes

Ha. Double meaning title.

I'm seriously considering changing my major. I was originally going to major in Psychology and minor in Spanish. Now I want to double major in English and Education and have Psychology and Spanish as my minors. The minor part won't be too hard to fulfill- I already have most of my credits done for those. But this is definitely going to set me back a ways.

Psych just hasn't been feeling right. I want to help people, but I'm not employable as a therapist in the field I want. I want to work in a drug rehabilitation center. But they generally only employ people who have been through some sort of treatment before and can empathize with the patient. I don't think I'm hard core enough for that.

So I've been thinking about teaching high school English. I know I'm good at English. I've got all the grammar rules down pat. But there's another part that's appealing to me. I wanted to be a therapist for a while. But if there's one thing I learned from high school, it's that it's a lot easier to talk to a trusted teacher than it is a therapist. I feel like I could still make a big difference in people's lives, and hopefully keep them away from needing any residential treatment.

So that's that.
I'm also moving to Virginia. I don't know when it will happen. But it's going to. I'm thinking after I graduate with my bachelor's degree. I'm hoping to move out there with Dano, work for a year, and then finish up school out there. I don't want to live in Utah anymore.

In other news, I got a house :) Colton, Carlie, David and I are all living together next semester, for the whopping price of 118 dollars a month. We got a screaming deal.

I've been kind of terrible about blogging, so this is just gonna be a catch-all post.

I went to the U2 concert in Minneapolis. It was seriously one of the most emotional and breathtaking experiences of my life. Absolutely fantastic. Here's a picture.

(L-R) Kristine, Me, Alyssa and Nicole.

It poured rain. Bono was wonderful. I sobbed like a hungry infant on multiple occasions. We wandered around downtown Minneapolis at 2 in the morning, so that was an interesting adventure. I tasted feta cheese. It was a nice night. :)

I've been working a ton lately. Raking in the big bucks :)

I only have 28 days left in Minnesota. I'm not really looking forward to going back to Utah. I want to see my friends, but I don't care so much about the rest of it.

Dani, Robyn and I have a weekend planned that I'm so stoked about! On the 22nd of September we're going to go to Ephraim and stay until the 25th, which is a Thursday through a Sunday. On Thursday we're going to stop in Provo and Dani and I are getting tattoos :) We're both getting a 22 on our ankle. 22 was the apartment number we met in. It's all-encompassing of our experiences there, good and bad, and our friendship. We're going to visit all of our old haunts and some old professors. It's going to be so friggin fun I can't even stand it!!

Well. That's my life lately. Oh. The other night it's possible that I got drunk and created a couple of blogs about people I hate. They've got a good review so far. Hit me up if you want an invitation to them. :)

Buck Delinski

Buck is a man I work with. The best word I can think of to describe him is "character." You can say he's ridiculous, or that he's weird, but none of those do him justice. He's a character. A real piece of work. I just don't ever wanna forget him, so I'm writing about him now :)

Buck tells people he took Sharon Stone to his high school prom, and that they dated steadily. He talks non-stop about this chair he's going to buy. It's a recliner with a built in fridge for beer that vibrates. He talks about getting this chair and never leaving his trailer again. Most of us believe that might actually happen.

He wears a black wool shirt unbuttoned to the top of his stomach. And hes not a skinny guy. He's huge, actually. He wears black super baggy sweat pats, and a bandana around both his neck and his forehead.

He spends 20 bucks a day on lottery tickets, and is absolutely convinced he will win one day.

He has a Golds Gym membership, but only uses it for the whirlpool after his night shifts are over.

He really is nice....but incredibly lazy. He spends most of his time looking for a chair, and very little of it working.

That's about it....the description doesn't do him justice.

Minneapolis!

So on the 4th and 5th of July I got to take the Audi and go on a little trip to Minneapolis! It's about an hour and a half south of here, and it was an absolute blast. I just went by myself, which I kind of prefer. That way you don't have to listen to the opinions of other people when you're deciding what to do, and can spend as long as you want wherever. So I drove down on the 4th. This was my first view of the city, and I was already in love :)

So my first stop was the ballpark for a Twins game. It was HOT. But so much fun. The Twins won, 7-0, so that's always good :) I had awesome seats, right along the first base line, but still in the shade. It was just perfect.

It was packed for fourth of July, and was so so much fun. I can't even get over it.

After that I went and checked into my hotel, which was super sketchy. I felt like I was gonna get murdered in it. It's one of those places where a serial killer stashes his bodies in horror movies. I checked in and went to the Mall of America, which was AWESOME. Enormous. I spent an embarrassing amount of money on underwear from Victoria's Secret, which I am currently in love with. I checked out quite a few stores, and then headed back to the hotel. I turned in for the night, and then in the morning went to the Minnesota Institute of Arts.

It was awesome inside. I could have spent days there, but I had to limit myself. I went back to the Mall of America after that, and then headed home. It was just a short trip, but it was so much fun.
Alyssa invited me to go to a u2 concert with her, so hopefully if i get work off i can go to that. we'd make a weekend of it and go to the sculpture gardens and the institute for a while longer, and then go to the concert the next day. It would be a ton of fun. I don't think I've blogged abut alyssa. She's so so nice. Holy cow. She is one of the only people who invited me to do anything, and was really genuine and nice.

This is her and her fiancee, Lance. They both are amazingly nice and smart and wonderful. She is a kidney specialist, and he is about to take the bar exam.

So that was my outing :)

I'm already almost halfway done with this little summer adventure of mine. The days are long but the weeks are short.

The past few days

So there's a bunch of random stories that have happened that I just want to get jotted down. The other day I thought was going to be awful. I started out by pulling ash at work. The boiler had been down and so the ash was really bad. Basically if the boiler is down then stuff doesn't burn well, and then the ash is really hot and clumpy and hard to pull. So it was like that, and as I was pulling it, it got clogged. Not a big deal, it happens a lot. So I was using this rake thing to unclog it. It got pulled up into the machine, wrapped around the clinker grinder, and got stuck. They tried to get it out with an electric jack, with a hammer by trying to bang it out the other way, and ended up having to cut it out with a welding torch. I felt like an idiot, but everyone said things like that happen all the time, so it wasn't a big deal.

The other day I signed up for extra work, so I didn't know what exactly I was going to do. They ended up having me move sand bags all day. It was the hottest day they'd had all month, and there was 95 percent humidity. It was crazy. I ruined my favorite Neil Diamond shirt :( Super upsetting. I ended up working 16 hours that day.

Tomorrow I get to go to Minneapolis. I'm stoked! I'm going to a Twins game, to the Minnesota Institute of Arts, the Mill Museum, the Aquarium, Legoland :), and the Mall of America for sure. I don't know quite what else I'm going to be doing. I guess just whatever strikes my fancy. :) But I'm really excited about it!