2/28/18

I’m actually learning some of the kids names, and remembering them! I’ve started caring about these guys so much and so fast. I’m gonna really miss them once I have to leave for my mission.

It’s so crazy to me that today is the last day of February. I feel like literally yesterday I was packing up my dorm room and saying bye to my girls. In another sense though, college seems kind of like it was a dream and if it weren’t for the fact that all my old roommates come running up to hug me every time I visit, I would probably not believe I actually attended fall semester.

2/27/18

ALL THE WOMEN IN BLACK PANTHER ARE SO STRONG AND NOT JUST PLOT DEVICES AND THEY ARE AMAZING I LOVE IT!!!!

Also: I officially have a plane ticket to see Pat in Massachusetts!!!

2/26/18

It… has been a day. I got to watch Mormon Pride and Prejudice though which makes up for the fact that I spent some of my day off cleaning and making dinner.

My mom spent all day rushing to get our house all set up for her friend Janice who flew in tonight to spend a few days with us before she stops by and visits her sister. So I went with my mom to pick her up and we left early to eat dinner (we went to Olive Garden, surprise surprise) and after dinner we found some new ties for Adam.

2/25/18

I took an unreasonably long nap today so 10:00 rolls around and I’m not tired at all. Naturally I finish up a painting, make a home made brush cleaner, clean all my make-up brushes, set my make-up brushes out to dry, make some whipped coconut sugar lip scrub and then clean up the hurricane of things I left strewn throughout the kitchen. I have clean make up brushes and a delicious lip scrub now, which makes me feel like my life is more put together than before!

2/24/18

I’m so so tired but I got to see Izzy and Meg and Liza and Mels and Kailey and Reno. If I think too much about it I start to miss them and BYU and our quote wall and our secret quote wall for the inappropriate quotes and our movie nights. Man oh man do I love them.

2/22/18

I'm recently obsessed with Holland Roden (she plays Lydia on Teen Wolf). Like she’s gorgeous and we both have red hair so obviously this was gonna happen. Literally anytime someone has red hair I feel like we must be kindred spirits.

2/21/18

My mom bought me five new dresses today and it is highly possible that it made me the happiest person alive for a little while there. (SOME OF THEM EVEN HAVE POCKETS YAYYYYY!!)

2/20/18

I’m nearly done grading all the Solar System tests for Thackers sixth grade class and I could not feel more accomplished.

Abbey’s District Science Fair was today and our whole family drove 23 minutes there to support her, stayed for about 15 minutes, and then drove back. I did see some of the sixth graders I know though, and they recognized me and I got to stop and talk with them for a minute! That was actually pretty cool.

2/19/18

Today was a holiday, thus also a three day weekend. We had waffles for breakfast and then went to lunch at JCW’s, then to Cabellas. It was actually pretty cool despite the vast amount of taxidermy surrounding you at all times. We got tokens for the shooting range thing they have there and I helped Megan with hers. Not to brag or anything, but I was semi good at it. Perhaps even above average. Once we got home Dad started playing the piano so I got out some of our song books and had him play a few while I sung along. It didn’t sound the greatest but it was pretty fun. After dinner we had a talent show for FHE, biasly judged by Meg. I tried to catch a bunch of goldfish in my mouth in a row but I was laughing so much that I couldn’t get past two. Adam and Abbey sang, Dad showed us his Dubsmash of Donald Trump, and Rach did this seven minute super random skit. Dad filmed all of them so that we can “cherish these moments forever.” It was a hectic day, that’s for sure, but a lot of good came out of it too.

2/15/18

I have developed a serious addiction to the television show ‘Teen Wolf’ (its a legitimate problem but we will focus on that later.) They recently introduced a new character named Kira and she honestly resonates with me so much. She’s adorable and awkward and doesn’t know how to act around guys. She’s pretty awesome. Plus she kicks butt, which is a huge bonus.

2/14/18

It was actually a pretty good Valentines Day and here is why:
• I spent it rotating through elementary school classrooms and got to attend multiple parties
• Bella (in the 4th Grade) brought me a box of nerds with my name on it and everything. Like it was the cutest thing I’ve ever experienced. As soon as I walked in she ran up to me and hugged me and said, “Hi Anna!” The best part is: she only just met me yesterday. This child is so pure and must be protected at all costs.
• It comes equipped with battle scars. (a.k.a. I burnt my finger on some hot glue while trying to stick two fluff balls together)
• I relived the glory days when everybody would make cool boxes and deliver candy.
• One teacher got me this massive lollipop as a thank you for grading her science tests for her. (It was delicious by the way!)
• I built a fort at the Curiosity Museum with Dustin.
• I also made myself a spider friend out of those fuzzy twisty stick thingies.
• I got a bag of kisses (so I could do that hilariously funny thing and give out kisses on Valentines Day) and wrote little letters to all my friends to give to them alongside the kisses.
• It ended with a “spontaneous adventure” Walmart trip with Matt. Turns out literally nothing he wanted was there/in stock. So he bought two different orange liquids and then made fun of me for drinking water.
•Also when I got home I was not locked out of my house which was glorious!

Some pictures:

 

2/13/18

I keep telling myself that I’m gonna excercise and eat healthy and have a regular sleeping schedule. At this point I think I’m saying it more as a joke cause I know it ain’t gonna happen.

2/11/18

I aspire to have a friendship like the one the internet assumes Obama and Biden have.

2/8/18

 I was a cruel ten year old and here is why: When Adam was about five or so I decided (for a reason unbeknownst to even myself) to tell him that ants were only dangerous in the night. If they could smell your feet they would all get together and eat each foot down to the bone. Boy oh boy this freaked the poor kid out. For the next three or four years he refused to go to bed without socks on (and was deathly afraid of ants). Finally my mom asked him why and he just looked at her incredulously and proceeded to explain that it was obviously so that the ants wouldn’t smell his feet and then eat them. My mom pretty much lost it. She asked him why in the world he would ever think that and he told her I had told him that. Needless to say, I got in pretty big trouble for managing to psychologically torture my little brother for four years straight with just one brief story.

2/6/18

Right now I’m the stage manager at Vista Heights for their musical “The Wiz.” I’m in charge of attendance and checking in with the parents when their kid doesn’t come. Today I sent the same exact message to everyone, just switched names. All the parents were kind and understanding except one. This one father felt the need to send me a long, angry text telling me I was rude for saying that too many absences would result in a child not being able to participate and how the schedule was a wreck and how I’m not considerate of parents having to alter their schedule. Dealing with anxiety and whatnot, it got me really worked up and I could feel my whole body start shaking and I had to leave the auditorium to calm down.

Essentially I just want to remind everyone how important it is to be kind. Even when you’re frustrated. There is never a good excuse to demean and insult someone. Especially a person who is just trying to do their job. (Which might as well be a volunteer position considering I’m only getting paid about $500 for months of working six plus hours a week.) My apologies that that was a little ranty, but you never know what other people are going through so just set kind as your default please.

2/5/18

I went to a gymnastics competition with Kennalou and her mom and sister. It was actually hecka cool to watch and they told us the heights of each player from U of U that competed and a good majority were short like me! Or shorter! And that made me wildly happy for some reason.

Sad news: Yesterday the Stake Secretary stopped by and turns out there was some stuff left blank on my medical form, some of it I never filled out and a portion that my physician was supposed to fill out. Luckily I already have an appointment set up for today but I’m still super bummed that it’s taken another week longer than it should have. I just want them in already, I can’t wait to get a call and now I have to wait even longer.

Happy news: I have a package coming in the mail today! I love expecting packages, the anticipation of getting to open something you ordered online is a weirdly awesome feeling.

2/2/18

This morning I got hired at Thunder Ridge Elementary to be an aide. So I set up a finger printing appointment and got finger printed for the second time this week. Definitely can't hide from the government now.

I drove to Provo and went out to dinner with Izzy (whom I missed unbearably) and I got to see my other roommates too! Then I went to the temple where they let me get fifteen names done and then they let me stamp them once they were recorded. After that I got to hang out with Rachael and we went to Penguin Brothers (which I now know is one of the coolest little ice cream sandwich places to ever exist, they have polaroids all over and classic pictures with ice cream sandwiches photo shopped into them.) They had a sign saying that if you bought one of their dad hats you could also get the number of the employee of your choosing. Underneath in parentheses: (all employees are 10/10 and their lips taste like ice cream.)

2/1/18

Have I mentioned how great my parents are? Gah, they’re so great. Beyond amazing! They’re letting me use some of our frequent flier miles to visit my best friend Pat in Cambridge, Massachusetts before I leave on my mission!!

BEST. SURPRISE. EVER.