a little something

some of you may have already seen the following article.

its been floating all around the 'net.

if you haven't yet, read it.

its a little long, but i think its pretty amazing.

and really, we all {including myself} could use the message.

http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html

heres to the ones.

theres something enchanting to me about traveling.
i can't tell you how often i dream of the places i want to go-- ancient, sophisticated, colorful, and wild places on every side of the globe.

but as much as i long to visit, and even live in, other countries, there will never be any i love more than that which i currently inhabit.
"i'm proud to be an american" came on the radio as i was driving today, and i'm not at all embarrassed to say i blasted it and sung my little heart out.
america is special,
and so are the people who work and fight every day to keep it safe.
to them: thank you, thank you, thank you.
we cannot thank you enough.


happy veterans day.

just finished.

i had almost forgotten what it's like to read a good book.

i mean, a really good book:
the kind that allows you to become lost in another world and the hours to slip quietly away;
the kind that makes you sit with knees curled to chest and mind fully focused;
the kind that has a meaning beyond entertainment and forces thought after its closed;
the kind which you will come back to, over and over.

i've missed it.



also: if you know of any books which match this description, please text/email/message/comment immediately. thanks.

one down, five to go.

i had a week off of school.

so {of course} i traveled to the mecca of young mormons: provo.
it was a week well spent with friends and family brother.

highlights include:
-throwing mashed potatoes.
-getting way too into super mario brothers 3 (supernintendo style.)
-mocktails?
-jersey sunday, every sunday.
-80's night. 'nuff said.
-dancing in parking lots
-grocery shopping at 2 am (you gotta do what you gotta do.)
and obviously we partied hard. all week.
oh wait... except for the two days that i was throwing up. cool.

...but besides that, it was a superfantastic trip all around.
remind me why i left there?



errr... just ignore the ginormous fingers in this picture. some people don't know how to use a camera.
and the fact that i look nasty in both this pictures. whatever.



also, just fyi, i started a tumblr.
if you dont know what that is (cough cough parents), it's basically a blog of just pictures that you like.
hello tumblr, goodbye life.
anyway, check out my new alias and new obsession here.

epiphanies. work. & the world is doomed.

caution: this post is trying to explain things in my head. sooo chances are, it might get wordy. because let's be honest, it takes some serious explanation to understand my thoughts. luckily, (i, at least, think that) my thoughts are entertaining.

thought 1

obviously, i'm not old enough to write this post, because i'm about to say something terribly cliche.

but sometimes i like to break rules, so i'll say it anyway: the world is moving too fast.

it's okay that i said that though, because i mean it differently. the world literally spins too fast!

no, i kid. 

buttttttt. what i mean to say is that i miss human interaction. weird? yes. let me explain.

scenario 1: usually, when i go to the bank, i use the atm. it's fast and easy and whatnot. but, due to some unfortunate circumstances, i had to actually go inside the bank and talk to real people the other day. terrible, right? 

you would think so. but, you know what? i spent like 20 minutes exchanging life stories with some old guy while he helped me, and it was fun. and he said i was the "real deal" when i was left. cool, right? and i now have some inside jokes with the security guy at the bank. (not that he'd remember me, but let's just pretend.) it was pretty much the best-case-scenario for a crappy bank trip ever.

situation 2: alone in a parking garage. two guys walking. we obviously see each other. and we obviously ignore each other. they go down the ramp. one waves over the top of the ramp. (they are now out of sight, but know i can see their hand.) i yell "hi!" and we have a nice little i-cant-see-you-but-who-cares yelling/laughing conversation in an empty parking garage. sooo superfantastic. put a big ol' smile on my face.

moral of the story: people are generally nice. and funny. and not rapists. and we should all stop using atms instead of people and ignoring each other. and we should all start talking again, because it makes the world happier.

thought 2: 

so i work at f21. if you didn't already know. 

and you know what? people {aka: shoppers} can be oh so rude.

it's not a big deal really, but do you know how. much. easier. my life would be if people would just put things back?

meaning: put clothing back on the rack instead of throwing it on the ground? or even better: ditching the hanger, taking it across the store, and leaving it in a big old heap of other clothing on the ground?

granted: i too have done these things. and its not a big deal when only a couple people do these things. in fact, people doing these things gives me a job.

but seriously, seriously, things would just be so much easier if everyone would just do their little part. it is so, so, so much easier for the masses to avoid creating a mess than for the minority to clean it up.

.........then again, isn't this how everything in the world works?

i mean, think of environmentalists. how many times have you heard al gore and his croonies say:

"everyone do your part." "cleaning up is harder than prevention." 

......so what does this all mean? was this a life-changing epipany? am i going to become a tree hugger hippy now?

............nah. because you know what? the world is going to end soon(ish) anyway. really, if we only had to clean f21 every billion years or whatever, i couldn't care less what people did with their clothes. because the store would most likely go out of business before then anyway.

sorry, al. 

i'm still not with you. 

although i guess i understand you better now?
kinda.

anyway.

i digress from my ridiculous ranting and rhetorical questions and colons and choppy sentences. apparently thats how i think? 

i can form real sentences, if i try.

also, for future reference, i'm not really that bitter about my job. but i got off work at about 11:30 and i'm tired. so it's okay.
but i guess the moral is just try and be kind when you shop? i dont know. i make no sense.

hey guys, do us all a favor?

never again give me a large caffeinated drink, time to think, and a laptop to type on.

cool.

update:

hahahhahahaha. i just decided to look for a picture for this post. its too wordy, ya know? i found this:

there's never anything wrong with some good, old-fashioned irony.

a nighttime story.

NOTE: this was actually the second blog post I ever wrote, about a year ago... however, it never got posted.  i just saw it again, and had to post it for memories' sake.

"at least we know nate... because if we didn't, that would be straight awkward." (direct quote.)

and you can only imagine how awkward it was: when we walked in the front door, recognized no one, and asked where nate was... only to learn that we were talking to him.

recap: the real nate smith (who we actually know) thought it would be funny to mass text a forward about a different nate smith's (who we really dont didn't know) housewarming party... and we went.

we were trapped for about an hour-- cornered by stereotypical "byu types," who assured us that "it doesn't matter you don't know anyone here! you can meet new people!," and confessed to us that "i recognize you from facebook stalking you!," and literally forced us to play ping-pong and eat pizza.
finally, we escaped.

the best part? the icing on the cake?
the fake nate smith, whose house party we accidentally crashed, is now in our institute class (which started 2 days later.)




aren't super awkward things just the best?!
anyway. today (yesterday, technically) was this kids bday. miss him!

...thats all.

i've been to my fair share of concerts but...

{photo courtesy of anonymous friend's ipone. thanks!}

...but this one was awesome.
remember how my last post ended with me, desperately wanting to go to the neon trees concert?
well i went and it was sooo superfantastic.
{let me just rant for a minute here.}

first off- the music was incredible, the band was entertaining, and they played PYT (yes, the mj song.)
we were in the second row.
i was practically serenaded by the lead singer (he literally pointed me out, its cool.)
me and my friend (who, for a rather complicated reason, must remain anonymous at this time) both got setlists at the end of the show, and i got a drumstick!
and then, to top it off....
we went to in-n-out after the show, and 2 members of the band showed up!
then they sat right behind us. the conversation went kind of like this:

my anonymous friend: hey, great show tonight!
bass player (branden): thanks! you were there?!
                                     *looks at me*
                                      oh, wait... i recognize you! you were doing some insane dancing!!
me: ....uhh thanks?

hahahahahaha. i wasn't sure whether to be flattered or just reallllly embarrassed.  (i think i was/am much more of the latter.)
anyway. if you didn't know, they are mormon and from provo, so we ended up just talking to this guy (dont worry, he's totally married and not sketchy) for a while, and it was really cool! the lead singer may have ignored us a little, but "he was probably just having a bad day, right?"
hahaha.

but wait... there's more!
then, we even got invited to a "secret show"... not kidding!  i've always wanted to go to one.
although, he did say it was for "family & friends," so it might be a little awkward when we are rocking out with their siblings & parents & bffs from high school, but its fiiiiine.
so yeah, hopefully that works out and we can go!

moral of the story: it was a fantastic night and the world was good.

p.s. coolest fact ever: the drummer was valedictorian of her class at byu. and she missed graduation for a gig. tell me youre not jealous? i am.

restless-- in more ways than one.

blah blah blogging.
you know what?!
i feel slightly guilty when i don't blog... which is funny, because, while i like to tell myself that a precious few people do read this blog, i can also be honest, and say that i do it essentially for personal (and probably narcissistic) reasons.
anyway.


currently:
-so left out of the Y-club.. wahhhhh.
-awkward moments=the best moments or awkward moments=the worst moments.
-loved "the busiest time of my life."
-the curse of having a writer's mind. {2:06 am?!}
-PRETTY LITTLE LIARS!!
-handwritten letters with an old friend.
-longing for the simplicity of a big city.
-sometimes... q33zxcmjhiygtf74d5dxfgvbikomojhgv
-perfecting my doodling (and "tattooing") skills.
-craving intellectualism.
-incredibly sick of the radio...
-any suggestions for amazing, new music?
-a long day in a library, or a walk in the park-- either will do.
-does anyone have a mango i can eat?
-must. go. to. neon. trees. concert. saturday. {anyone wanna join?... no, seriously.}




(sorry for the annoyingly long list... see #4)

one month later...

"I need another story-- something to get off my chest.
My life gets kind of boring-- need something that I can confess..."

oh, onerepublic, why are you so wise?

my lack of blogging lately stems from the fact that my life is, actually, pretty boring at the moment.  i've got school&work&school&work&nopicturesofourbuddingscottsdalesociallife.

so, ya know. 

anyway, here's a few {updated} pics of our super cute fantastic dontyoudarecallitghettobecauseweloveit apartment!

{obviouslyimlovingruntogetherwordstoday. i hope someone else can read them besides me.}

{shout out to rachel&ang for these beauties ^}

we like to think we live on our own, but lets be honest:
75% of our groceries come from our parents houses, my mom just helped me finish hanging the artwork, our parents helped us move in and provided the furniture... you get the point.
props to them.
♥

facebook love?

sooo i was facebook stalking myself earlier.
((everyone does it))
and you know what i realized?
ilovemylife.
honestly. dont get me wrong, i've always known it.
but... seriously.

my life is just perfectly... me
and perfect for me, and perfect to me.

granted, it has its ups and downs, its what-ifs and whys. there are {a few} regrets and {many} imperfections, but i have those things too.

...all of it makes me wonder:
do you make your life?
or
does your life make you?
all of those stupid adventures, bouts of laughter, silly nights, pointless road trips, hilarious mishaps-- why did they happen to me, and why did they happen so perfectly?

whatever the reason, its worked out. ♥

(this ^ ones for you only, ang. bahahaha)