"I'm disappointed with the geek section on Pinterest."

"There's a sexy picture of Catwoman. What, it's geeky because it's from Batman? Come on. Oh, and here are some shoes that look like cats. Those aren't geeky, they're weird. Every once in a while a LEGO person comes up. This is pathetic."

Don't hate me for posting this picture.

She hates nail polish and shopping. Instead of a cell phone, she carries her DS with her everywhere. She loves stories about dragons and mages and lots of words that I don't know the exact meaning of, but usually have something to do with fantasy and magic. She geeks out over Age of Empires with me - loves it almost as much as I do. She knows every Legend of Zelda song on piano. I promise she will beat you in Mario Kart, and you can bet that she created a cast for The Hunger Games before it came out. And she already picked out every flaw in the actual cast.

Together, Tierney and Colin make up this power geek force to be freakin' reckoned with. The more I spend time with them over break, the more I realize I have no idea what they are talking about 80% of the time. They are kind enough to fill me in on some stuff, most of it is just way beyond my level of understanding. But I was thinking about it, and I'm glad my siblings aren't "cool." First of all, if they were, they wouldn't want to hang out with me, because I am definitely not "cool." And second of all, they just wouldn't be as interesting. I am never bored when I am with these guys.

THEY'RE JUST SO FUNNY. Writing about them is doing them no justice because you have to be around my family and firsthand experience their awesomeness. No, they're beyawesomeness! You're never going to understand... aaah. They're so funny. What the heck. "Oh good for you, now you're gonna have probably get a bellyache. That's why you shouldn't eat so much candy."

Oh, and you should know, that my 9-year-old sister Fiona is just as much a champion at video games as they are.

While driving up to my grandparents' house, the kids of the family reenacted Les Miserables. I was Fantine, Tierney was Cosette, Fiona was young Cosette, Claire was Eponine, and Colin and Eric were every male part.

My family quotes Megamind and Fantastic Mr. Fox more than anything. Actually, we probably just quote everything. When someone says something funny, everyone questions its originality. I can be funny too, people. Just give me a chance!

Aw, presh. Make your own assumptions about why the heart is there.

La la la, break should never end!

"I feel like I... learned something..."

Yesterday, I did everything in my power to avoid studying for finals.
Don't believe me? I...
- did 2 loads of laundry
- started packing for home
- organized my wardrobe into multiple groups:
1. Things I'm giving to Tierney
2. Things I'm giving to D.I.
3. Things I want but don't need because Utah is freezing
4. Things I need but don't want because Utah is freezing
5. Things to fold and put back in my drawers
- went to an Anberlin concert with Jennie!
- cut up an old t-shirt and made a headband
- cleaned the kitchen
- bought and listened to Mat Kearney's album, Young Love
- organized my jewelry, getting rid of everything I don't love
- ate. A lot.

The list goes on. One might wonder how I got to such a deep level of not caring. I have pinpointed four main reasons for the demise of my motivation.
I realized that even if I failed my Humanities final, I would still end up with an A in the class.
I realized that even if I failed my History final, I would still end up with a C in the class.
I realized that the amount I studied for my previous History tests was inversely proportional to how well I did on the test.
I am so over this semester. You don't even know. (This reason is kind of a cop out. Sorry about that.)

But none of this even matters any more because I AM DONNNNNEEEE!
And despite the amount of attention I did not pay in History, despite the many times I ditched Humanities, I do feel like I learned something.
Now if only I could figure out what that is exactly...

I'll be home tomorrow!
I can't wait to see these beautiful people:

Lovelovelovelovelove them.

How many blogs have you blogged?

I've been thinking a lot ever since I started my blog about how inconsistent of a blogger I am. How infrequent I am. How lame I am. How I have to practically force myself to try, Bronwyn, try and write something interesting today, but whenever something interesting happens, I a) forget about it, or b) have no desire to blog about it. With all these thoughts running around and bumpin' into each other in my brain, but never forming themselves into coherent, substantial ideas or answers to my problem, I somehow reached a conclusion: I hate blogging.
What? Let me try again.
I somehow reached a conclusion: I hate writing in general.
Not even close to true.
I somehow reached a conclusion: I hate writing about myself, therefore I hate blogging.
Aye, there's the rub.

So this is a problem for me. I love writing. I actually would love to be a writer or an editor (or a high school English teacher, but... that's kinda on the DL. I don't know yet). However, I've got a long way to go before I'm good enough to be any of those things. And I'm not just referring to the fact that I still have at least 3 years left of undergrad work, I mean my writing skills are subpar. I need to practice. But what better way to practice writing than to write about seemingly mundane things an in interesting fashion on my blog? Yep. Time to pull up my bootstraps and do this thing. You may now expect... Actually, I'm not gonna make any promises. Just know that I will be making a conscious effort to blog more and blog better.

Goodbye.

P.S. Also, this:

Guess-

-where am I going to be in approximately 4 1/2 months? (Why does that feel like such a long time?)

:)

I got into the London Study Abroad program.

:)

Yay.

On a different note, Zooey Deschanel is my girl crush.  I kind of want to be her.

Heck yeah.

Also, I have never felt more like an LDS girl stereotype than when I showed Adam, David, and Nate my wedding board on Pinterest. -____- Remind me that if I want that board to become a reality, I need to not show boys things like that. Yuck.

I didn't get the job.

Disappointment.

A best day

This video is your background information. Watch it, smile, and then understanding what I'm talking about.

We watched this video last semester in my English class. My teacher had a way of inspiring us and making class so much more than just learning about English... We learned about life. He wanted to stress how you don't have to be good at something to love it -- and it's true. I don't know anyone who would say that Matt Harding is a talented dancer, but there is something so special about him and what he has done. He brought so many together and shared with them the gift of dance. After we watched and discussed this video, a girl in my class raised her hand and said some life changing words: "He's going to be at Waimea this Saturday."

So that Saturday, my best friend and I journeyed down to Waimea Bay. My favorite beach by far.

Gorgeous, right? Okay, I know you can't really tell how pretty it is because... Well, I'm just not a very good photographer and I don't know how to do the right angles or whatever. Anyway.

We spent the day together on the beach, and then Matt came. Suddenly, all these people came together - all these happy people. Everyone was so glad to be there! We danced awkwardly in the ocean while Matt's camera person filmed. There was so much laughter, so many smiles. A bunch of strangers, yet in that moment, we were all friends and nothing else mattered. Matt brought us together, and for about an hour we were all united with a common love for dance and for life. It is undoubtedly one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of.

After we did his dance, Matt stayed to talk with all the people that had come. While we were talking with him, I commented something like: "You are so happy and nice!" to which he replied, "You'd be really happy too if you had my job." Oh man, I can't even imagine. He gets sponsored to travel all over the world and make videos of himself dancing with other people. He really just does what he loves. I learned to much from him. I want so badly to be able to travel to a fourth, nay, a tenth of the places he's been to.

(Oh, and just so y'all know, Nat has a dance. So since we did Matt's dance, we asked him to do ours! As you can tell, no one really knew when to stop... We just kinda kept going.)

Sigh. Everything about this day was perfect. I didn't have to be there, and it's not like I got paid to be in his video, but I prefer it that way. It was one of the best days of my life. And the greatest part? I got to share it.

Too many things I haven't done yet

I want to expound upon the title, but I mean... what else is there to say?
"I can't waste the days wishing they'd slow down... You would've thought by now I'd learn something."

(Awkward transition)

If part of your body was dead, wouldn't you cut it off?
Example: Frostbite --> amputation. Yeah?
Maybe not? I don't know anything about things like that.

So you can't possibly blame me for this.

(That is debatably the most attractive face I've ever made.)

I'm not depressed, I just never know what to do with my face when it has to be in a picture.
Anyway! 4 inches later, I feel like a new person.
Not really, but 'tis a fun change nonetheless.
P.S. This hair cut was FREEEE


In other news, I'm a terribly inconsistent blogger.

My eyes have been tag-team twitching for a week.

Yesterday, 4 people asked me if I was dating anyone. four. people. Thank you so much for bringing my solitude back to my attention, I had almost pushed it to the very back of my mind. Wouldn't want that, now would we.

The guy (straight, I might add) who cut my hair was so...real. It was quite refreshing to talk with him.

I want to fall asleep in an elevator somewhere and see what people do... Social experiment. Oh yeah.

I didn't do a very good job this past week. I shall do better this week!

Can you tell that I just learned how to change the font size? I'm having so much fun with this.


Weeeeeeelllll... there was a time in my life when I had interesting things to say. Apparently it ended a while ago. Goodbye.

I am not that awesome.

I'm having a bit of a problem, one that I'm willing to bet many of you have run into in your lifetime. It's starting to create some major conflict in my brain. I'm applying for quite a few things and I really need to overcome this issue I've got with myself; I just need to do it! I can't put this off any longer. I've been staring at Microsoft Word for the last hour and have nothing to show for it. It's not that I can't think of things to write; I just can't think of impressive things to write. Everything I type looks stuffy and stupid and stale. If I say anything that actually portrays what I want, it'll look conceited -- I have to look excellent while appearing humble. This is the hardest thing in the world right now. I need this to be good. I want this job so bad! I need to make it look like they have no choice but to hire me. But alas, what the heck am I supposed to say?? "I'm actually really awesome. I get along with everyone great. I love meeting new people and I can become friends with just about anyone. Also, I'm an amazing writer and basically have flawless grammar. Some of my friends pay me to edit their papers. Booyah. So hire me."?!
I love writing. Why is this so difficult?

asdfghjkl;I HATE WRITING ABOUT MYSELF.


P.S. For those who want to know what I'm rambling about, I'm applying for Writing Fellows.
I'm also going to apply for the London Study Abroad program.
And then to be an EFY counselor.
Wish me luck.
Blah.

P.P.S. Yeah... the 5 minutes that I had to wait for Natalie's baked potato to cook in the microwave before resuming watching Sleepless in Seattle was such a long five minutes. Gah.

Real People Food

Today, I achieved the extraordinary (for me).

I made myself some real food :)
Yes it's true! I did! And it was sooooo good. It makes me a little sad to think that tomorrow I will probably go right back to mac & cheese, out of sheer laziness and maybe lack of funds.
Okay not really. This was super cheap and so great because I love to cut things. I bet you didn't know that. I love chopping vegetables and slicing bagels and bread and cutting fruit... I don't know why! Anyway, so in preparation for this meal I got to cut a lot of things, which made me really happy.
I'm probably making my dinner sound a lot more grand than it actually was. All I did was make some garden pasta (it's like, green and orange, instead of normal colored pasta...not sure what the difference is). I then chopped (woo!) a tomato, an onion, and a bell pepper, and tossed it in. I added sauce and then spinach at the last second so it wouldn't get all soggy.

Voila!

Sometimes I really impress myself. (You don't have to be impressed.)

...And then I ate a ton of marshmallows.


While I was eating and listening to Speechwriters LLC, I found myself wishing that I could slow things down a little, wishing I could "just sit back down and take my mind off everything I think I should do."
College life is a bit too busy for my liking.

THIS IS THE COLDEST GRASS I'VE EVER FELT IN MY LIFE

Wooooooooo I love my FHE family SO SO SO much!

"Why is everyone Indian?"

"I'm perfect to go right through the windshield!"

"Haven't you ever seen on that TV? No, you haven't. Because nobody actually does that."

"How did you guys sneak past us?"

"No. It's German. Like he just said."

"We have the best seats in the house!"

"Yeah, we're definitely going to the temple in our leggings and skater jackets."

"I thought for sure I grabbed her waist!"

"That felt like climbing up Mount Doom it was so hard!"

"Remember that time you gave me a prolonged kiss on the cheek?"

I know. I know you hated reading those because you have no idea what I am talking about. And they're not going to be funny to you, and I'm not going to explain why they're funny because they will still not be funny to you. I just want to say that my FHE family is the greatest. Why did it take me half a semester to realize this!? Ahh.

I've never had so much fun riding in the trunk of a car, even though I sustained a few injuries because of Zach's maniacal driving.

Cold.

"You are comin' home, Leo."

Two nights ago, Allison and I journeyed up to Salt Lake City to see this beautiful musical.

Mind officially blown.

Parade ripped my heart out. Specifically, the actors that played Leo and Lucille Frank ripped my heart out. They were astounding. And they're only students! AH. I can't believe how much talent exists in the world. They were so good! I felt like I was a part of it, not just an audience member. I feared, hurt, and cried (a lot) with them. (Okay, so I probably cried way more than any of the actors.) This is easily the most moving musical I've ever seen. Jason Robert Brown, you have done it again.

Also. Remember how I said the actor who played Leo was SO talented? Turns out he's also cute, charming, funny, kinda goofy. Yeah guess who got his number? This girl ;)

Shoot. Why am I not a vocal performance major anymore? Well, I know why. But I miss it so so much. I sang in church today and afterward a girl asked me if I am a voice major, which makes the third person to ask me that this weekend. I need to start auditioning for things, maybe that would fill the void...

Anyway. Last night, 3 of my roommates and I got lost in (and then found our way out of) a corn maze!

"It smells like a campfire, and Fall, and happiness." - Taylor Teeples

(I think I'll marry the first man to make me a grilled cheese. Mm mmm.)

Not to be sappy, or anything. I hate being sappy.

I have two best friends.

I miss Natalie more than anyone. I only met her last year, but I know that one of the main reasons I was meant to go to Hawaii was to meet this girl. (Don't call her girly, though.) There was kind of a Nor Cal vs. So Cal battle between us. It lasted for the longest time, but I gave up. I'm not even ashamed to say she won, because after spending a day at her house over Winter break and a week at her house during the Summer, I can proudly say that Nor Cal may indeed be better than So Cal. I'm sorry, I have betrayed you all. Also... I sometimes say "hecka" now. I understand if you never want to speak to me again. But she's worth it! I've always loved beat up trucks and camping and horseback riding, but she's made me realize how much of a country girl I really want to be. Seriously. See how cute I look in that flannel?! It's perfect!

Years ago, my mom, went to BYU. Yeah! She was on the ballroom dance team. She became friends with this awesome girl named Maylene Burns. Well, my mom eventually married my dad, and Maylene eventually married this guy named Eric White. (Sorry this is so vague; I don't actually know all the details. I wasn't there.) So they were married friends. How precious. Long story short, after college they stayed really good friends. Eric and Maylene had four kids, my parents had five. About once a year, our families go to Disneyland together.
I don't know why I'm being so formal about this story. Basically, I want to thank whoever that these two couples met and were friends -- if it weren't for them... Well, I don't want to think about my life without this family. The White's second son, Matt, is 19 days older than me. (He never lets me forget this.) He kissed my older sister once. (I never let him forget this.)

He is the best person I know.

Try a little harder to be a little better.

"And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:30)

While studying this in my New Testament class, I couldn't shake the feeling that I need to rid myself of facebook! It's great, sure. It enables old friends to reconnect and for everyone else to stalk you constantly and find out a little too much about your life. I've abused it and become addicted. I can't even open my computer without checking it; therefore, I'm cutting it off. It's not worth it.

Sayonara, facebook. This feels so weird. Nevertheless, I know it's something I need to do. Maybe one day I'll reactivate it, but for now, there's no way.

In other news, Sunrise Tangerine Strawberry Crystal Light is a-may-za-zing.

It's cold!

I'm listening to Dreamstreet.

I went grocery shopping! (I LOVE grocery shopping.)

Alex, Caitlin, Kaleb, and Laura introduced me to a weirdly fun ninja video game.

Snow. The first week of October? Really?

I'm going to Divine Comedy!

I still have yet to go on a date. Freakin' Provo.

Nate can play Such Great Heights on guitar! I'm adding that quality to my future-husband-requirements list.

My blossoming-English-major-roommate Taylor got accepted into the London study abroad program! She's brilliant! I am SO PROUD of her. (She's also a freshman. Canya believe it?!) I can't lie, I'm gonna miss her so much when she's gone. But everyone's been telling her not to go; I think she should take advantage of this awesome opportunity. I don't want her to be 5 weeks into winter semester at Provo and think, 'Wow, I could be in London right now.' She'd regret it. But I seriously doubt that while in London, she'll think, 'I so wish I was in Provo right now.' I mean, sure, she'll miss some people, but it'll be so worth it! I'm so jealous -- she might run into Matt!! (For those unawares, Matt White, one of my besties, is currently serving in the England Manchester mission.) I feel like there are so many opportunities that I'm not taking because I'm more concerned about my bank account than my personal well-being. I worry all the time about being poor. It's silly. But then again, I'm pretty much a professional when it comes to worrying about silly things.
...In fact, I was so impressed by the initiative that Taylor took -- not worrying about not getting in and just going for it -- that I've started looking at some study abroad programs myself! Wales study abroad, English Language in Britain, or London Theatre. Thoughts? I could also potentially go to Kenya to teach Sign Language this summer. There is much to think about...

I'm trying harder to be a little better. I hope there will be some noticeable improvement :) At the very least, I hope to become more productive with my time and maybe even go to my History class for once in my life.

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers."

Oh, Gordon.

:)

No man will ever love you unless your eyes look like they're outlined in Sharpie.

Cake face (noun): One who wears so much make up that when she hugs someone else, part of her face is left on the other person's shirt. A cake face covers her face because she thinks she is too ugly to show her normal face.

^ This terminology was brought to my attention by the insightful and dashing boys of apartment 89. Over the past 5 days, those boys have been the fountain from which our entertainment flows! Hahaha. They're just great.

Last night was great and today was stupid. (There must be opposition in all things...) Last night I hiked the Y! First. Time. Ever. I am such a wimp. I forced them to stop at almost every switchback because I am a lazy, out of shape person. (The real reason was that on the first switchback, instead of going sideways up the mountain like a normal person, I decided to climb straight up the 160 degree or whatever incline. It wore the heck out of me. I'm just happy I didn't fall down and die... It was a likely possibility.)

Mitchell (our 7th roommate; he is always at our apartment because he loves my roommate Natalie :)) introduced a crazy concept to me: hang upside down from the top of the Y. Oh, okay Mitch!

I promise you it was way steeper than it looks. It was terrifying getting into that position, but as soon as my head was all the way back I was just awestruck at how beautiful Provo looks upside down! It is amazing. Anyone who lives in Provo, you have to try this. :)

Yeah, so today didn't go very well, but it was made better by some very generous people in my life. For example, my friend James bought me ice cream! Mitchell started teaching me how to drive stick! And Taylor saved some waffles for me. (It's Waffle Wednesday, babay.) My roommates are sooo wonderful; we have so much fun. I love them SO MUCH. I just feel lame whenever I'm not with them and I can't wait to get home to spend time with them! Aaaaaah.

Left to right: Natalie, Taylor, Bronwyn, Sadie, Jennie, Allison

This is actually the only picture I have of almost all of us (Mitch wasn't there). It was the day after BYU got slaughtered by the U (something I witnessed firsthand and will never fully recover from). We all wore black to church in mourning. Sad, sad day (despite how happy we look in the picture). But seriously, can I accurately express how much I love them?! The answer is that I cannot. Le sigh. Hopefully you understand what I'm tryin' to say. I lucked out.

A lunch break interrupts a whole work day.

Titled with love by my charming roommate, Allison.

So, I guess I should warn you. I'm a spaz when I write, (and I guess all the times I'm not writing, too) and I promise right now that this is not going to have any kind of organization so don't even try to make sense of things.

Things about Utah that I'm surprised are different from the stereotype I imagined inside my head:
1. I haven't come across a single person that owns horses! Where are all the cowboys? All I want is for a strapping young man to literally sweep me off my feet onto his horse and ride off into the sunset together. Is that too much to ask?

...

HA. All cynicism aside though, it's not that bad. The only thing that really bugs me is that the rain is freezing and people don't look at each other. Yeah, I found out the hard way that Utah rain is very unlike the wonderful, warm rain storms of Hawai'i. It's cold. Just like my heart. I cannot count the amount of times daily that I look at someone, smile, wave, or say hi, and he looks away. It's gotten to the point that when someone looks away, I just have to laugh because it is so ridiculous. Then I'm walking to class, seemingly laughing at nothing, and getting weird looks from the people I'm about to say hi to. So when I say hi, it's even weirder, which makes me laugh even harder! "It's a vicious chocolate and vanilla swirl."
"...Circle."
"Is that gonna be on the test? I hate geology."
"That's geometry, and this is history."
"...Bee-ee-ee-ees..."
Sorry about that little tangent. (Please tell me someone got the reference. Wait, what someone? Nobody reads this, Bronwyn. Unless Sadie does. Or my mom. All right this is a really long parenthetical... How awkward.) Hey, that's geometry too! Whaaat. I need to go to sleep. I JUST WANT TO GO CAMPING YOU GUYS I WANT TO GO CAMPING SO SO BAD.

Kay bye.