Ding Dong Ding Dong Christmas Bells are Ringing!

I cannot believe the holiday season is coming to a close yet again. It seemed in elementary school that december seemed to lag forever and the holiday could not come faster. I could not wait for my mother to put up the advent calendar on the side of our fridge, the symbol that meant it was time to start counting down to Christmas.
This year I feel old. The holidays flew by, I did not count one day on a calendar and I am still not sure what day of the week it is. I used to love being shocked by at least a dozen or so gifts under the tree and now.... I buy my own gifts and my mother tells me that I owe a year in car payments thus putting me about 1000 bucks in the hole.
Now I am not complaiing. Holidays in old age 20 have their perks. There is nothing more adoarable than a 3 year old opening her 18th dora the explorer gift.... i swear i saw 3 of the same things but no no... that dora was wearing a pink tutu this one is purple. I also love the smell of this season. Christmas at the Jensen home smells like homemade chicken-noodle soup w/ fresh made noodles, caramel popcorn, also homemade and the smell of snow. Our house looks like somthing out of pottery barn thanks to my fathers obsession with frank lloyd wright and pier one.
Im going through a list phase and until it ends you get anoter one. This one belongs to my 10 favorite things about christmas 2007 and my least favorites as well. Happy Holidays!

Favorites:
1. Making my mom cry from laughter. Just being with my mom who is my very best friend and greatest treasure.
2. Hadley my 3-year old niece. Gods greatest cration thus far. She has a thing for Indian Jones, playing her "atar"(guitar) and is identiy confused weather she is Dora or not.
3. The Nutcracker with my mom and older sister and the really nice place we ate and.... still smelling like garlic 14 days later
4. Chicken Noodle Soup and Caramel corn
5. Having time with my cousin who wont be able to have GNO (Girls Night Out) for much longer
6. Kissing under my first mistletoe
7. Getting nails done,shopping and just being with Whitney, my best friend even though we are on different paths and knowing that things will not change
8. The Kite Runner Movie... my favorite book now an excellent film as deleicious as the book
9. The wonderful people in my life who do so much for me
10. Jesus, because really its kind of His holiday and for that I am greatful to Him. Forever.

Least Favorite
1. Some really tough conversations and choices in 2008 looming
2. Learning that my 2 cousins will both be wed in 2008 leaving me feeling left out
3. Being sick the whole entire time, a record length in an almost absurd way
4. Missing my family on Christmas eve... but things worked out for the better
5. How nasty dirty my car is
6. 1000 in car payments
7. feeling old wondering where to magic went
8. Only working out once.... can you say new years resolution?
9. Hurting many feelings
10. being more confused about life than ever

When I am sick I....

A warning list for anyone who comes in contact with me when I am ill.
I am rarely sick (the first time in about 2 years) so when I am sick, it wipes me out for a good week. anyone willing or crazy enough to encounter me during this time should be warned: it is NOT a pretty sight.

When I am sick I:

1. Get even more mean and selfish than I already am. Known for my one-track mind, my less desireable ME-centered attributes shine forth unrestrained and in all their glory.

2. I to lay very very still with hoodie up over my ears, a down comforter and few fleece blankets for comfort. Yes this practice increases my fever and places in a state of mild comatose, but oh how lovely it is!

3. I love a good book.... normally a good sappy romance or somthing entirely outside of my current life to wisk me away while using the least amount of brain cells possible. (Suggestions: The Time Travelers Wife, Bridget Jones' Diary, A Thousand Splendid Suns).

4. A little trick I picked up from my dear roommate... the age old orange juice served WARM. Might sound sick but it soothes throat and congested chest while provided needed vitamin C.

5. A massage is always nice. When muscles ache from a cold, relaxation can be met with a fully body rub down. It may be hard to find someone willing (consider mom or a boyfriend). Tension from illness or your all-too-heavy backback can really make the wellness process slow down.

6. Need a huge box of PUFFs by Kleenex. I find it morally wrong to use the cheap stuff when I am ill.... in fact anyone that used say toilet paper to wipe their nose.... no friend of mine... unless its Charmin... but... no.

7. I do not want to go to classes that talk about things that are over my head. What constitutes "over my head"? To name a few... buddaim... buddaism as bases for poetry.... anyhting with numbers greater than 5....

In Short..... I am not a good sick person, so until I heal... leave me alone.

When People Lose It

So, I have been having one of the worst weeks of my entire life. I have been more busy than ever before (my own fault thanks to the fact that I am a workoholic) and I can't seem to catch a break! I want to teach everyone out there about a rare disorder that is not diagnosable until it has created a full-fledged epidemic and there is nothing you can do about it. This disorder is called "Who-Ate-my-Roommate- itus." (WARI)

What is WARI?

It is a disease where your roomates social skills, ability to communicate, and all sense of logic ceases to exist resulting in them hating you for arguments you never had.

How do I know If my roomate has WARI?

You don't. One day they just wake up and they hate you. Here are a few common signs:

1. They stop talking to you

2. They only respons in grunts

3. There day is always "horrible" and they have "10 million things to do, 5 tests, and a classmate with rabies"

4. They communicate only in written notes or through everyone BUT you, ABOUT you

5. They lose their ability to sense when they are no long whispering and you can hear everything they are saying

6. They usually have an accomplice who is equally as prone as them, if not worse, who will worship them

Is there a cure for WARI?

Probably not, but if anyone finds one, please let me know ASAP

What can I do if I know someone with WARI?

1. Pray to whatever God you so choose for help

2. Kill them with kindness. They will glare and grunt. You will live.

3. Live your life. It is your parade, they dont have to rain on it.

4. Be the happy they refuse to be

IACURH 2007- ASU

It has been too long! Well, in my absence I have been at Arizona State Universtiy attending a conference called IACURH. IACURH is a really long acronym for Intermountain Affiliate of College and Universtiy Residence Halls. In short, it is a conference for residents and employees of on-campus housing. They make a conference for that?! Why?!

As off the wall and entirely stupid as it sounds, these conferences bring people together with a common interest, where they live, and help them to develop leadership skills, programming ideas and all in all to have the best time of their lives.

Any school from Idaho to New Mexico can come to our conferences. Each school sending between 3 and 20 students. I used to come as a representivie for the Aggies, but last year I was elected to serve on the regional board of directors. I now oversee some amazing students, and even better, sit on a board with 9 of the most amazing people I have ever known.

We spend 5 days trying to make living on campus a fun, educational and most of all memorable expereince. We cheer loud, we dress the drag queens, pirates, army dudes, whatever we want, make new friends across the US, win awards for RA of the years etc. and we never ever sleep!

Check out the IACURH site for more details on our happenings!

www.nacurh.org/IACURH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvhpOBpNOk and cehck out our regional roll call from this past week... on youtube too... Im the far right... its a bad dance!

Dan in Real Life

I recently saw the movie "Dan, In Real Life" with the charismatic Steve Carrell (The Office). Being a semi-enthused fan of "The Office", I was curious to see Carrell in a role far different from that of Michael Scott. Not only did I love this movie, but I found Carrell to be hillarious, touching and downright charming. The humor in "Dan" does not compare to the "Office" but I still found myself laughing often. Overall I would rate this film a 4/5 (out of 5) and I will be buying it when it comes out on DVD!

Wisdom from Dan:
"Love is not a feeling, its an ability."

Steve Carrell can be cute when not playing Michael Scott

The second row of a movie theater is slightly uncomfortable

Big happy families thrive in lovely New England beach houses

Clowns with chainsaws and other fall fun!

This weekend was kind of aweseome for a few reasons. It was one of those weekends full of stereotypically fall goodness and fun. Friday night, as all good college kids do, we searched the coupon book for a cheap dinner. After that my beau and my best friend McKenzie decided to carve pumpkins. It has been a few years since I remember carving pumpkins and I really loved it. Its messy and smells so richly of the season, I had a blast. We learned that we are entirely unartistic and should never be trusted with large knives. we also learned that pumpkin seeds baked with a little salt are delicious!

Saturday I stayed in bed until noon just because I could. I went shopping with some roomies and we learned that denim jackets are really not in which is depressing as they are a staple of American fashion. Being the overly spoiled girlfriend that I am, Kevin bought me a dress and a, dare I say, hot pearl-button down shirt, black.

That night we hit La Beau's, one of my favorite burger joints in this neck of the woods, and a corn maze. There is somthing about corn and pumpkins at night, that just screams fall, october. Consequently, it was a haunted maze with chainsaws galore that scared my roomate JP so bad that she screamed at least 3 times. I must admit it was fun to be scared, minus the one time Kevin ditched me and left me to be attacked by a clown with an electric saw.... SCARY!

We learned that we have no sense of direction, that corn mazes are really truly mazes, and that running into the same spot 6 times is very depressing. Fun weekend!

Grown Up

I have this roommate, we shall call her Sue for confidentiality. Sue is the craziest person I have ever met. I spend 80% of my time with her wondering how in the heck she comes to the conclusions that she does or where she came up with the nonsense pouring from her mouth. I spend the other 20% of my time laughing. To say the least she is the most humorous person I know.

She is the prime example of what it is like to be entirely comfortable in your own skin. She has a way of being confident without being cocky, and proud of who she is without being vain. I find myself more comfortable with who I am as a result. Today she discovered what it means to be a true adult by using the Quicken program to monitor her money. Who knew that dividing expenses from income could offer such a defining sense of self!

I wonder if I will ever feel grown up. I wonder if I will ever make enough to actually need Quicken, instead of my fingers to do the math. I am in college and while it is socially acceptable to have less than ten bucks or less to call your own, I seem to barely make a car payment or fill up the tank of my car.
For Sue, Quicken has drawn the line between adolescence and adulthood. What is that line for me? Is it the day I stop eating s'mores cereal or laughing at Laffy Taffy jokes? Or is it when I get over the fact that my mom knows everything and I stop calling her every other day? Or is being an adult the day I trade in the old slip on vans for some leather loafers and my beloved USU hoodie for some Banana Republic pea coat? scratch that..... I will never get rid of the vans.

I almost forgot... we had homecoming last weekend and I just wanted to say that it pretty much was amazing! I conveniently have an adorable man friend to dance the night away with and I can't deny the fact that he looks kinda gorgeous all dressed up. The best thing about dances around these parts, is that there are several dance floors and a few live bands to fit any musical taste and offer a fun variety. I must admit that we preferred the big band/ Frank Sinatra sounding band. I have a thing for Frank.

The first day of the rest of my life

September 11, 2007

Welcome to blog one of perhaps a million that you will see from this desk in the coming months. In this cyber-savvy world that we live in, it seems that the every-man voice is getting more hard to hear, thus the creation of the blog. As far as I am concerned, I am a writer, born and bred with a story worth telling and you, you are an information-starved reader who has wisely chosen to spend some time seeing the world through someone Else's eyes. Mine.

So welcome, I hope you find not only what you are looking for but perhaps something more. I hope you find something that makes you think, makes you curious, makes you laugh out loud or hope for something more. I hope most of all, that by being exposed to my stories, that you own will become more valuable, more relevant and more true. After all, we are the storytellers and it is our job to capture the human experience the best we can. This is my attempt.

No one gives you instructions on how to properly blog. I think that that is the beauty of the whole thing. I find it easiest to relate to someone when I know a little about them so here goes....

I'm a student in my home state. I am vigorously in pursuit of a degree in Public Relations and English. I work hard for my school, it is in that work that I have found who I am and really who I have the potential to be.

I'm addicted to snowboarding and wake boarding, hiking, biking and really anything in the mountains I love so much! Of all the books I have read, the Kite Runner and a Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Houissini are by far the best. I love my family and a few close friends.

I believe in God. I believe in music and the divine creation that is the Ipod. I laugh more than is necessary and have a tendency to be sarcastic when provoked. I don't respond well before 9 a.m. and I can't live without Dr. Pepper. I work hard, I play hard. I'm happy... What more is there?