Lego people

Some people just don't fit.
Yeah, but those are Lego people.

Psych is back, people.

putting on my brave face

Lately I have been in major turmoil (no pun intended). I hate the beginning of the semester, mainly because 1) I am not used to a routine, and 2) the agony of switching classes trying to get the schedule I want and trying to figure out WHAT I want anyway.

I have been feeling lately that I need to drop my science class and add the last art class I need to apply for my major. That means I'd be taking all 3 pre-reqs this semester. That thought scares me to death. Also I am not the best at knowing what God wants me to do, I'm pretty sure this is what I'm supposed to do because, it sure wasn't my idea. Art classes scare me because frankly I haven't taken one since 7th grade. And that was before grades counted for anything and my art teacher gave everyone A's for "effort".

This is usually the point where I turn back on my crazy idea (applying for the graphic design program) and run far far away.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) I am currently out of shape, and can't run very far very fast. So I guess that means I'm deciding to be brave, which happens to be extremely terrifying.

Freshman Boys

Freshman boys are funny. They are also cute and tend to be either nice and helpful, or annoying and cocky.

They also might hit on you very awkwardly. Like today:
Sarah was sitting in the RA office, some freshman boys who had helped us out the day before came up and started talking to us.

Freshman Boy: (looked at Sarah's nametag) "My girlfriend's name is Sarah."
Sarah: "That's awkward."
Freshman Boy: "I've never met her."
Sarah: ...
Freshman Boy: "I mean I just met her."
Other Freshman Boy: "Man, you did it wrong."
Freshman Boy: "Nevermind." (walks away)

In case you were wondering, that WAS fun to watch.

don't get hung up on it, just soldier on with it.

working from 7 to midnight is not fun, also I hate visiting hours.

tired.

drifting.

zzz.

zz.

z.

It's like The Real World meets Boy Meets World meets Days Of Our Lives

I have had the most crazy busy week ever.

And I'm tired.

But here's some cool stuff I've done:

- Used a fire extinguisher.

- Worked at my first ever real job.

- Said goodbye to yet another almost missionary (tear).

- Made a million zillion new friends (ok, maybe not that many, but a lot.)
- Played ultimate frisbee and volleyball and mini golf. I'm really not as uncoordinated as I thought I was.

So here's to sophomore year, and hoping it's not this crazy all the time.

When you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born in, it's time to go.

Getting ready to go back to school.

I love pandora radio.

I hate packing.

I love Oregon as much as the next girl, but I'm ready for some new scenery.

...

Thats pretty much all I have to say about that.

I'd Like To Be Alice

My computer is being fixed. Not that it was broken. It just didn't have much life left to live. My poor little pink net book, my library companion, is getting a new battery (even though it's not supposed to be serviceable) compliments of my uncle. I just wasn't ready to give it up quite yet.

Anyways. I was checking my facebook, email, and the blogs I follow on the 100-year-old family computer (ok, maybe it's not THAT old, but it sure acts like it) and I wandered onto this. Which led me to this. Which contained this beautiful piece:

Date a Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico 

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by God, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

Although, it is highly unlikely that I will grow another 12 inches anytime soon.

Being the age that I am (and going to the school that I do) means most of my guy friends have/are soon to be leaving to serve the Lord for 2 years.

And I am just so so excited for them!

I know they are already so awesome (hence our friendship), but I know they will be so much more than they already are. They are going to be fantastic missionaries! They are going to bring the gospel to so many children of God all over the world.

My favorite part about going to school at BYU is the people. They are all amazing! The boys, specifically, are somewhat of a wonder. It was just an amazing experience being so far away from home, yet feeling so safe. Because I knew that I could call up my home teachers, or the elder's quorum president, or my FHE brothers and ask for a blessing, or help studying, or anything, and they would be there. Being able to depend on guys my own age like that is kind of a big deal. You guys are kind of a big deal. And I want to thank you for that.

"And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage (dependability, integrity), and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all- they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted." (Alma 53:20)

To my friends who are departing on missions:
I look up to you so much, I cannot even describe how much you have each helped me and changed my life. I know you are going to change many more lives, not just in the next 2 years, but for the rest of your lives. I know this because of the people you are and because of the people I know you will become. You are as the army of Helaman. I am working towards and hoping for the day when I can serve the way you are. Love you all, I am so happy for you, go change the world.

Worry

I worry about things. A lot. Especially people, especially when I don't know what else I can do for them. I've always thought of this as kind of a bad thing, my worrying. You must understand, it's a bit extreme, I worry about EVERYTHING. I have an overactive imagination, and that certainly doesn't help.

Yesterday I went to my great great aunt's funeral. She was a wonderful lady. She was so caring and thoughtful of others. Her grandson spoke at the funeral, he said if he had one word to describe his grandma it would be Worrier. He explained that she worried about everyone, which meant she cared about everyone, because why would you worry about something you don't care about?

It's like my cross country coach used to say.
He'd ask us, "Are you nervous?"
"Yes." we'd say.
"Good. That means you care." He never really had anything to say to people who weren't nervous, I'd guess he'd be thinking, "You should be" but he was much too tactful for that.

Anyways, back to my great great aunt. That was the first time I had EVER heard the term worrier be used as a compliment and it really made a lot of sense.

So, what I want to tell you is, the next time your mom, or dad, or husband, or wife, sister, brother, best friend, grandma, etc. worries about you. Calls you every 5 seconds just to make sure you're okay, or asks you intruding questions because they're concerned, or whatever form their worry appears in. Don't be annoyed. Be glad you have someone who loves you enough to worry about you.

Fact.

I was brainstorming facts that most people don't know about me for the next time I play that game, two truths and a lie. So if you happen to be there next time I play it, please pretend you don't know these things.

1. I have lived in every house on my street. And my street is named after me (and my brother and sister, but still).

2. I can fit in a tuba case.

3. I sleep-talk, sleep-sing, and sleep-walk.

4. I am Native American.

5. I like to sit in laundry baskets which are full of warm (clean) laundry. In other words, I'm a cat.

6. I have a birthmark shaped like a T on my face, and that's why my parents named me Trista instead of Emily.

7. Just kidding, it's not a birthmark, it's a scar and it has nothing to do with my name, but you believed me, huh?

8. In middle school I seriously wanted to be one these things when I grew up: wedding planner, lawyer, orthodontist, cake decorator.

9. I love eating lemons straight.

10. I am really accident prone, I have scars from weird items that seem completely safe to the untrained eye, such as: a Christmas bulb, a surfboard, a treadmill, a triscut (yes I am quite serious about that one, be wary).

11.Some people refer to me as T-Rex, that surprises people, so I figured I'd include it.

12. Also some people call me No Wrista-Trista, but somehow that's not as surprising.

13. I love sci fi movies, and sports movies. In fact my favorite movies include Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Remember the Titans... also That Thing You Do, and A Walk to Remember. But, you know, what did you expect?

14. I think guys with dreadlocks are attractive. Yeah...I don't get it either.

15. I own a lightsaber.

Fact.

This will make you smile. I promise.

Told you.

Singles Ward

Yes, I went to singles ward today (insert remark about how I look like I'm supposed to be a Mia Maid) and it made me want to watch the movie Singles Ward, imagine that. Anyways, I went, and you know what?

I liked it.

I figure it's the closest thing I'm going to get to that BYU feeling whilst I am away, except for one little thing:

In Sunday School we were talking about talents, 

"You have to practice to improve your talents, unless you're like, Michael Jordan."

"But, Michael Jordan isn't a real person."

Is it just me or should that comment have been about Jimmer?

Yeah, definitely not BYU, but close enough.

Also, they held Relief Society in the chapel, and Priesthood in the Relief Society room. It seems kind of silly, I mean, the room is labeled and everything.

Sometimes I just wish

That I had a little more faith, trust, and pixie dust.

That people could read my mind.

That static electricity didn't exist.

That I was capable of writing happy songs.

That I was a professional surfer.

That people didn't have to leave.

That I had the cannon center next door to me again (I know!)

That there was a big light up sign in the sky telling me "Yes, it is right, go ahead!" or "No, crazy! That's a bad idea" every time I have to make a choice.

That I could honestly say I believe in fairytales.

That my wrists were proportionate to my body (but, really, compared to what?)

That I lived in the 80's (or 90's, I can't decide).

That I was more decisive.

That legwarmers would come back in style, for real.

That I had the patience to write a novel.

That I wasn't such a little girl.

That I didn't have to grow up.

That the stars were just a little bit closer.

Sometimes I just wish that we didn't have to move so fast, but moving on is all we really know how to do.

People I've Had The Pleasure Of Calling My Best Friend

I'm the kind of person who believes you can have as many best friends as you want. Which is a really convenient thing because I have a lot of wonderful people in my life and I am highly indecisive. So here they are, in no particular order:

Shauna: My best friend from grade school, she got me through a lot. Although we didn't stay as close through high school Shauna was always there for me when I needed her most, at some of the hardest points in my life she would show up with a smile, a hug, her Washington DC sweatshirt, a sleepover, and a prayer, and it felt like nothing had ever changed. She always told me she was praying for me through my trials. That meant a lot to me.

Emily: Emily. My best friend through high school, and beyond. Funny thing, she hated me in Middle school- and even the first part of high school, I think she found me annoying, but she eventually came around and saw past my annoying quirks. We are complete opposites, and by that I truly mean COMPLETE opposites, which is funny. We made it through Steens, and Biology together (amongst other things). I loved having classes with her, we spent a lot of valuable class time passing notes and whispering secrets. Some of my favorite memories are our "scary" movie nights, in which we would watch silly disney movies from the 70's that were meant to be, but really weren't scary at all. Every once in a while we would throw in real scary movies (Signs, the Sixth Sense...low impact ones) and she'd tell me when to close my eyes. The best (and worst) thing about her is that she is really honest, which is what I really need most of the time.



Minhee: Sometimes I just decide to be best friends with someone, and it works out. Really, that's what happened. Minhee and I were roommates this year, we didn't know each other before. Before we got to school we emailed and decided to be best friends, and we were. Minnie knows pretty much everything about me, whether I wanted her to or not, that's kind of what happens when you live with someone in such close quarters (I believe my sleep talking also contributed a lot to that). We, too, are very opposite (she actually reminds me a lot of Emily- personality wise) but we get along extremely well. Going to college was one of the hardest transitions I have ever experienced, and I would not have made it out alive without Minnie. She's just...she's pretty much my sister.

Nik: Nik and I also became friends pretty fast. I believe he was the one with whom I coined the phrase BFFFFFFFFFFFF (best friend forever forever forever forever forever forever forever forever forever forever forever). Most people would not think we would have ever been such good friends, but here we are. He also once told me that my haircut made me look like a soccer mom, so yeah, true friend right there.





My little brother Matt: He could be considered my best friend (but I'd never tell him).

Cassie: Smashy Cassie is my cousin, so we have to be friends, but we'd be friends anyways (because I have a rhyming name too, Sista Trista, obviously we must be best friends, the universe demands it). I loved living within 15 minutes walking distance of her this year, now I know what I've been missing out on my whole life. Cassie is just about the most fun person around, and she makes the best margarine popcorn. Haha. No, really she makes fantastically tasty popcorn, and she's always up for an impromptu sleepover.



Alexis: Alexis and I met at Girl's Camp. I don't really know how it happened but we became insta-friends. I believe it had something to do with a dark night, a walk through the woods, a porta-potty, and a scary noise. Anyways it bonded us for life. Alexis understands me, and if she doesn't she does a really good job of pretending. I don't have to spend very much time explaining things to her, like why I feel a certain way, or why I did or said a certain thing. She just gets it. Now she lives far away, and we only overlap about 3-4 weeks in Oregon per year. I miss her. The universe is cruel. Thank goodness for skype.

Madi: I adore Madison. We have been in the same Sunday school class for years, and spent many summers having adventures together at EFY and Girl's Camp. My favorite thing is that Madi and I can just sit together, not say anything, and just be happy to be with each other. I also love to laugh with her, we can just laugh and laugh and laugh. I missed her a lot at college this year, and I wish she was going to the same school as me, but I understand that her life has a different course than mine. She is the sweetest person you will ever meet (but she also has a sneaky side and likes to start food fights) I have often also been jealous of how incredibly beautiful she is! I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.

Morgan: Anyone else noticed a lot of my best friends' names have started with M? Morgan also disliked me in the beginning, which you would never ever be able to tell now. She is the reason I survived most of high school. Morgan is the kind of friend you can call in the middle of the night, when you're crying and having a breakdown, and she will rush over to be with you. She is also the kind of friend who will skip class with you because you're crying uncontrollably and could not entertain the idea of going to band and being expected to play a trumpet in that state. She is highly perceptive and can ALWAYS tell when something's wrong (which can seem annoying at the time, but is actually a REALLY good thing). We laugh a lot about things that don't make sense to other people, or even to us, and we stay up till 3 in the morning, or until we are in tears laughing because we're so delirious and hyped up on sugar, whichever comes first.

My Mom: My mom and I are THE SAME PERSON. Not even kidding, it's kind of creepy. We look the same, talk the same, think the same. This goes way beyond people mistaking one of us for the other on the phone. Once I was walking next to someone talking to her on the phone and I was able to say exactly what she was going to say before she said it, not because I know her so well, but because that's what I would say, therefore that's what she would say. Like I said, freaky. But there's no one else I would rather be an exact replica of.

take a listen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Favorites

I took this quote from a friend's blog.
I never watched Everwood, but this makes me want to:


"The more things change, the more they stay the same, I'm not sure who was the first person was who said that, probably Shakespeare or maybe Sting, but at the moment that sentence that best explains my tragic flaw my inability to change. I don't think I'm wrong in this, the more I get to know other people, the more I realize it's kind of everyone's flaw. Staying exactly the same for as long as possible standing perfectly still, it feels better somehow, and if you are suffering, at least the pain is familiar, because if you took that leap of faith, went outside the box, did something unexpected, who knows what other pain might be waiting out there, chances are could be even worse. So you maintain the status quo, choose the road already traveled, and it doesn't seem that bad, not as far as flaws go, you're not a drug addict, not killing anyone, except maybe yourself, a little. When we finally do change, I don't think it happens like an earthquake, or an explosion, or all of a sudden you're like this different person. I think it's smaller than that, the kind of thing most people wouldn't even notice unless they look really really close. Which thank God they never do, but you notice it, inside you that change feels like a world of difference and you hope that it is, and that this is a person that you get to be forever, that you'll never have to change again."         - Everwood


Also my mom and I were on Netflix today and found a new show to obsess over. It's a really weird and gruesome mystery murder, blood-and-guts type, mini-series, but we can't stop watching it. At the end of one of the episodes the main girl is about to leave her home town again without saying goodbye (she had been gone for 7 years) and she turns and runs back to her high school sweetheart, and she asks him if he ever wondered what would have happened if she never left. And she's about to kiss him, and he steps back and says he's covered in fish guts (he's a fisherman, but trust me, he's soooo cute) and she doesn't care, and she kisses him anyways. And this song is playing. It's Death Cab For Cutie, which I knew right away, because I love them to pieces.

New Favorite.

seriously?

The other day I was in the store with my mom. She ran into a lady she knew and was talking to her. A ways into the conversation the lady said something to the effect of "oh, but you're not even in high school yet are you?" to which I replied, "actually I'm OUT of high school."

YES THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME. 


and YES THIS HAPPENS TO ME PRETTY MUCH EVERY TIME I MEET SOMEONE NEW. 


oh, and yes, it is quite bothersome. (if you couldn't tell)

I blame the media. I mean, yes, I do agree that I look young for my age, BUT the media makes kids out to look so much older than they should. I mean, watch any movie about high school. Do you know how old those actors really are? Yeah, they're like 25- that is not what a normal 17 year old looks like. So please, stop asking me if I'm 14. And please believe me when I tell you I'm not.

you wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.

(yes, that one.)

One thing I am definitely looking forward to about going home is I can finally wear my favorite dress again! And why can't you wear it at school? you may ask. Well, because Utah is a land plagued by static ALL YEAR ROUND. seriously. I like Utah just fine, but one thing that I can't stand is not being able to wear a dress without it sticking to me EVER. gah!


So I'm sure by now you're saying, wow, no wonder that dress is your favorite, it's adorable. Yes, it was actually my grandma's. Luckily for me she was the same size as me in her 20's and has saved a few of her dresses. I LOVE them. Not only are they adorable, but they're modest! I have worn this dress to many a formal just cause I hated shopping for a new dress that I would have to alter to wear.

That's my grandma and grandpa in 1959.

Something else I'm looking forward to when I get home: hitting up the mall with my grandma. Yes, that's right, my grandma. Because she's AWESOME. 

My grandma is so stylish. No ugly kitten sweaters for me. She once brought home a cute black dress that she just saw and bought for me. It was BEAUTIFUL and it fit me perfectly! Every time I wear it I get tons of compliments, you should see the looks I get when I tell them my grandma picked it out without me being there. Needless to say my grandma is my favorite shopping companion.

(I was going to post a video of me playing the song "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer, to go with the theme, but then I got sick, so it'll be here eventually!)

One more then we're done, with our run, in the sun, oh hun, what fun!

One week and I will be done with my first year of college. Wow. Now I just have to get through finals, but like a race, or an extremely hard track workout I just need to stride it out, and enjoy the feeling of the wind in my hair and the world blurring around me. The end is in sight.

Here are a few things I've learned as a freshman at BYU:

(some of these things I claimed to have learned in high school, apparently they needed some re-learning.)

You’re never doing as bad as you think you are. Yes, even when you average 50% on Psych exams- curve, baby, curve.

If you have to choose between going to calculus lecture and seeing MARK ZUCKERBERG. Go see Zuckerberg.

Do things that are fun. Even if you’re busy. Too much homework is an excuse that is WAY overused.

Care about your classes, and they will care about you.

Be social in your ward. Truth is they’re most likely AWESOME.

Never be afraid to ask for help (specifically, never be afraid to ask your home teachers for a Priesthood blessing, that’s what they’re there for).

People care about you more than you think.

(MOST) professors are really nice, and genuinely care about you. For the ones who aren’t, don’t let them get you down; they are the exception.

Live NOW, don’t get stuck in the past.

Don’t underestimate yourself. You may just end up scoring the winning point in ultimate frisbee. True story.

Never be too proud to drop a class if you can’t handle it.

TA’s are most definitely absolutely RADiculous

Dance like no one is watching, and sing at the top of your lungs- it's more fun that way.

Do things you've never done.

College is not as easy as you think it is.

College is not as hard as you think it is.

Love the life you live, and it will love you back.