"we are all travelers in the wilderness of this world,
and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend."

-robert louis stevenson

hope.for.haiti.now.

i can't stop listening to this.

all day.

over and over.

the entire album.

it's incredible.

and provides such hope.

and makes me want to just cry.

all at the same time.

the power of music.

pendlum.

http://ps100.byu.edu/ps100%20online%20material/movies/8pendul1.mov

mamma cass and i found this genuinely and completely hilarious.

so claira and court joined the laughs.

it probably didn't help that i called this guy a stud at the beginning.

and defended him.

but still. come on. it's dang funny.

and he says pendulum, "pend-lum."

yep. i'm ashamed to say. it's true.

be concerned. be very concerned.

"i was thinking about girls that have black hair on their toes. they're like gorillas." --claira

"we was talkin' 'bout the energy."--mamma cass

"well, i smiled at a little girl..she looked a little bit creeped out.."--courtface

woooooow.

now’s the time to look ahead, and thank our heroes of the past.

i have to say,

[because i find it significant..]

i'm surprisingly interested in politics as of late.

which is kind of a big deal.

i'm not a politics sort of girl.

not at all.

let me tell you..i was in poly sci last semester.

my interest level? yeah..let's not talk about it.

but i loved american history.

and with the in-depth knowledge gained,

about government specifically,

i find recent and current events particularly interesting.

i don't know how to feel about it..

but that's ok.

just sayin'.

p.s. the power of the media and tactics politicians use are impressively powerful. watch this video. and the crafty advertising tactics. you, sly dogs, you. ohhhh, politicians...
[note--i am in no way supporting or opposing obama. i'm just noting the power of the media.]

i think i'm in love..

courtney and i passed notes in church today..sacrament meeting to be specific. [i know..i'll repent.]
and i want to save what they say forever, because it's just so ridiculous and funny.
and it explains all.. :)
and i'm dead serious.

emily--he has one of the most sweetly and gently beautiful voices i've ever heard in my entire life. dead. serious.
courtney--date him :)
emily--i think we'd look pretty dang cute together AND have beautiful children. :)
courtney--absolutely. do it. ha ha..how tall is he?
emily--taller than me i'm sure. and that's all that matters. :) bahaha. i think i'm in love...
courtney--i agree, he is most likely taller.  otherwise it would be obvious that he's short..maybe he'll be your home teacher. or in our fhe group...
emily--that's what i was thinking! hehe. :) for reals though...AND he has some excellent genetic traits that i find quite attractive. dark hair. rosy cheeks. olive skin. heck. to. the. YES.
courtney--total match. the question is...has he gone on a mission yet?
emily--he kind of looks like a no...dang it! but maybe he'll be a surprise 'older than he looks' type guy? hope so. :)
courtney--haha, he has a sense of humor too. he laughed when you did [during the talk]...and yes, sometimes guys surprise you.  they don't always look older after a mission. he's a borderline possibility RM.
emily--it's a definite possibility. and i think he was looking at me.♥ i could definitely see RM potential there AND adam&em sounds cute together
[moving into sunday school. i know. double repentance needed.]
courtney--ha ha, yeah that does sound good together...i'm kind of out of things to say. especially since he's not in here....have a good time :)
[emily called out to have her photo taken for the directory. adam, the love, was also called.]
courtney--how was it?...
emily--bahaha. he wasn't even out there... :( haha. she just got my number, picture, and that was it. haaaaa...
[new addition to the note-passing--claira]
claira--is he in here right now? where is he?
courtney--if we knew, we'd probably be in the same room...
claira--where live?
emily--no earthly idea.
claira--name?
emily--adam scissorhands* (the one who sang in sacrament meeting)
claira--here last semester?
emily--NO.
claira then assured emily that within the month he'd be at our apartment for dinner. and then we'd have gone on a date within the month. the thing is...she's dead serious. she has strange powers..which is what scares me. ;)


voice=sweetly beautiful. i wasn't lying. emily thinks she's in love.
she feels like she's five. and emily's maturity level? at an all time low.


[only at byu would any of this conversation ever take place...]
*name has been changed for security reasons.

no need to shout

i'm purely and completely convinced that

the morning after a fresh snow,

before it's been too tampered with,

is one of the most beautiful things in the world.

beauty indeed.

mine.

i'm so in love with my mountains.

but how can i help it??

they're just so beautiful all the time!

it kills me.

what a wonderful world.

point proven.

silly me

i forgot that no matter what, in the winter, it's always cold and freezing when you have to get out from under your blankets in the morning. particularly if the heat has been turned down. and it's just plain cold. who wants to get out of a warm bed when it's freezing? yeah, thought so.

maybe i'm just a really big dork,

but i think this is one of the most fascinating things in the world.

i could spend hours making new combinations.

of oddly beautiful melodies.

see for yourself.

real life

in

reality.

real life.

the real world.

some dreams will have to change.
there's no way around it.

eavesdropping, anyone?

sit in the hall on the third floor of the wilk for a little while,

and i promise you'll hear some pretty great things.

for example--

boy on phone: i got a chicken burrito. which i highly recommend. i mean, 3 tacos for $2.97? can't beat that!

the then the phone call was ending--

boy: bye mommy!

[i don't think i've ever heard a grown guy say mommy. hahaha.]

a little later, a few girls showed up down the hall--

girl 1: oh hey! it's so good to see you! i haven't seen you forever!

girl 2: oh you too!

girl 1: how are you?

girl 2: oh, i'm engaged.

[courtney argues that this is NOT an adequate response to the given question. clearly.]

oh, and there was a boy dancing in place for a few seconds. and then walked straight forward.

i love byu.

only at byu...

..do you sit in a hallway waiting for a class. and hear the sound of called to serve ring out from a nearby classroom. only at byu. :)

what?

what am i doing with my life?

great question.

i wish i knew.

whenever i think i know,

i change my mind.

i like happiness.

where does my yellow brick road lead?

....

i need some serious

music-listening,

praying,

pondering,

and reading time.

i hope i figure it out someday.

but i'm starting to doubt

the existence of that someday.

courtney.

so court and i were talking.

we do that a lot.

especially lately.

and she was 'blogstalking' me.

though her blogstalking is not really blogstalking.

she just looked through mine. ha.

and we were realizing. though we already knew.

we had some serious moments last semester.

some serious hate.

i really don't like that word.

it's awfully strong.

but i think court would agree,

we had our moments.

a glimpse of which has been posted before.

but guess what?

we've made it through a lot.

we don't hate each other anymore.

in fact, i love that girl.

she may not always think so,

but i think she's great.

even if she is a little quirky.

everyone's weird.

yes, we are oh, so different.

but what i've learned the most?

those things really don't matter.

the things i've learned through living with courtney:

about life.

about being different. and that's ok.

about getting through things. even when they are poopy.

about friendship. and what it really means.

about loving. and meaning it. sincerely.

we've made the rounds. and honestly.

love her, i do.

there's no one like her.

and we know each other oh, so well.

honestly, i know her better than a lot of my friends.

crazy how that works.

so courtney,

here's to you.

and the laughs we have.

and the love we share. <3

p.s. pretty sure we spend just as much time

in the same bedroom this semester as we did last,

even though we no longer share a room. i love that.

french. of the 321 sort.

i'm going to be honest.

i can already tell.

this class is going to kick my rear.

i basically need to make a full time commitment,

and drop everything else,

and solely focus on french.

if i'd like to succeed.
oh, and memorize the conjugations
of every verb ever.
including ones i've never heard in my life?

oh madame chantal thompson.
i love you, but you kill me.

i hopefully am going to learn a lot.

actually, i'm sure i will.

but ohhhh my gosh.

how are you not supposed to be intimidated

by r.m.'s on the prowl.

judging every move.

every word.

every phrase.

every conjugation.

they're judging. i'm sure of it.

a few are decently nice.

and right along with me

in the overwhelmed department.

but then there are the one's

that you can tell are annoyed by

the inferior knowledge of the girls.

give us a break!

some of us haven't been

speaking on the streets for 2 years.

[one guy has only been home for 8 days now. eight!]

with the added help of the fact

that they were on the mission.

seriously.

i need all the help i can get.

s'il te plaît, seigneur?

je t'en prie.

oyyyyyyyyyyyy.

here we go..!

pray for me?

p.s. "hot chocolate warms the soul." --courtney renee

she might have made my night in that moment.

and in the cookie deliveries.

she's on a roll.

hahahahahaha.

i love my court. :)

p.p.s. "we can't go on thursday. there's no sale on thursday." --claira
want to know a sale? she's reading through the ads. in detail.
oh, and 4, 6-inch subs at subway for $10 on weekends after 5.
do the math. yep. that's the same as 5 dollar footlongs.
which means it's not really a deal. they lie.
bahahahaha. she fits in well.

"Better to write for yourself and have no public,

than to write for the public and have no self."

-Cyril Connolly

photo.365

i've given in to peer pressure..

[dang sara and whitney! haha.]

but i really love the idea of a photo blog.

one a day. for an entire year.

forcing me to see the beauty all around.

and see the art that's everywhere.

the little moments, that too often go unnoticed.

not this time.

http://adailypieceofbeauty.blogspot.com/

intimidating, much?

so here's the thing.

i love my french class.

[again.]
of course i do..i SO would.

but i am seriously terrified.

out of my living mind.

quite literally.

so intimidating.

but oh, so funny.

oh my.
quite a journey is ahead..

p.s. it makes me giggle that all r.m.'s act the same.

seriously.

and there's alway that one r.m.

in a language class......bahahahahahahaha. ;)

january

ever since kindergarten,

january hasn't been on my list of favorites.

in fact, it made the cut

as least favorite month.

ever since a bleak january day.

january 1997.

i sat on the floor watching mrs. condie

do her colored water tricks.

they were my favorite. watching the colors mix together.

and it felt as though january would never end.

the longest month of my short life.

and since then, its position in my eyes hasn't changed much.

since that january day in 1997.

it's been an unlucky 13 years since then.

i sure hope this january isn't nearly as long.

sure do.

oh, january.

what an odd relationship you and i have.

excellent, indeed.

i stayed up until 2:47 am on new year's [last night]

watching the ball drop.

blogstalking.

playing mario kart on wii.

talking about:

the checklist.

calculus.

would it be awkward or not?

drinking milk.

i love my brothers.

it's going to be an excellent year.

yes, yes it is.