flying high

Hopefully the stewardesses on my flight this week will be like this!

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mcconaugHEY!

So since school has started so has Tiger Football! To be quite honest, I'm not the rabid fan I was my freshman and sophomore years but I still enjoy going to home games. The first home game was on September 12th against Vanderbilt. I passed up on tailgaiting to study but headed to the stadium about an hour and a half before kickoff to enjoy the pregame show. Guess who was there also enjoying the festivities? Mr. Matthew McConaughey himself! I am not really a fan of his but no one can deny his good looks and Southern charm, and it's always exciting to see famous people even if I tell myself if I ever met one again I would act like I'd never heard of him/her. It was kind of funny that when I was trying to spot him I instantly recognized his stance and then commenced to take a buttload of pictures. Enjoy (Becky and Leena, please stop drooling :P)!Matthew McConaughey and Ronald McDonald in the same shot!
And then LSU's own Shaquille O'Neal came and congratulated the men's basketball team for something. In this shot he is hugging their coach Trent Johnson and the baseball coach, Paul Manieri is looking on (in the gray jacket).
Shaq is one huge dude. Seriously he is massive and frightening and I would not want to meet him unless I was wearing Iron Man's suit.
The game itself wasn't too exciting and it rained almost the whole time. I thought was prepared with the yellow hand-me-down NorthFace rain jacket I brought, but I guess somewhere between passing from Ben to Tim and then from Tim to me it stopped working. So I got soaked anyways and would have been better off without it especially since all of my friends were teasing me about wearing a NorthFace jacket. I had to explain that it was originally my brother's who has actually CLIMBED mountains and therefore has every right to own such an article of clothing, as opposed to the group of people at LSU who wear NorthFace who have never seen snow and only wear it because everyone else in their fraternity/sorority does. But I digress. Despite the rain it was fun to be back in Death Valley surrounded by 92,000 of my closest friends (including Adam and Erica, who I haven't seen since their wedding in August...cough).

roller coaster

A month later, I'm sure you're all glad to finally see something besides me in an afro when you come to my blog. With school starting last week and a series of unfortunate events, I haven't had much time to post. Let's recount all of the crappy things that have happened to me recently:

1. School started on Monday, August 24th
2. I burned my wrist on the oven
3. I dropped my make-up bottle in the bathroom sink and it broke so now it's leaking in the cabinet because I don't plan on buying a new one anytime soon
4. My computer cord stopped working so now I can't use my computer until I buy a new one
5. I got in a minor bike wreck last Friday
6. In that bike wreck, the chain was messed up, I cut my leg with the pedal, and got blood on my brand new beautiful running shoes
7. While draining the water out of my mashed potatoes, they all fell into the kitchen sink
8. I ate most of them anyways
9. There is a boy at church who am not attracted to and never will be who will not leave me alone
10. This past Monday evening I started getting the chills and was achy and feverish
11. I had to stay at work until 1 am
12. On Tuesday I felt worse but had class ALL day and then Institute
13. While removing my bike from the bike rack the pedal hit me on my leg in the EXACT SAME SPOT where I was cut last week (and now I'll have an H-shaped scar)
14. I had to go to class with a bloody leg and achy fever
15. Wednesday I wasn't very achy anymore but now had a sore throat and still had to go to my jogging class
16. Thursday night I had to work because the other girl is sick so I didn't get to go 80's clothes shopping with my friends for the 80's dance tonight
17. Which I guess doesn't matter because I can't GO to the 80's dance tonight because the other girl is still sick so I have to work tonight, too
18. This morning an idiot in a minivan almost ran over me (on my bike)
19. This afternoon an idiot in a truck almost hit me (in my car)
20. And now my ears hurt and my stomach is upset
21. Everyone is teasing me about having swine flu
22. But I can't go to a doctor because I don't have one here in Baton Rouge and the Student Health Center is booked up until who knows when

So yeah. Sometimes life throws a lot onto you. But it hasn't been all bad.

1. I'm from the school of hard knocks so don't really plan on going to the doctor's regardless
2. I was able to get the blood off of my shoes with Oxy-Clean - thank you Billy Mays
3. Lauren let me do laundry at her house once again, saving me $10
4. Joriann and Lauren and I enjoyed warm brownies and 'The Wedding Singer' last Friday
5. Mom and Dad came bearing gifts last Saturday
6. I got my annual Father's blessing
7. I got to stay in a sweet hotel in New Orleans and got $100 to put 5 kids to bed and then sleep for 8 hours
8. The ward dinner I organized after church last Sunday was a huge success
9. I love making smoothies in the mornings
10. I finally have my Institute Council picked out and they are all awesome
11. I LOVE all of my classes
12. Yesterday I learned about nuclear warheads and according to my teacher I now know more about them than most members of Congress (though I'm convinced that's not too impressive)
13. In my music class we had to figure out the time signature and meter of some MUSE songs
14. Listening to the Tchaikovsky station on Pandora while I'm at work makes me happy
15. Picking up an extra evening of work was a blessing because I'm off for Labor Day so that makes up for it
16. I love biking to my classes and running every other day
17. I got my football tickets this week in my inbox
18. While teasing me about having swine flu my friend David recommended this website: http://www.doihaveswineflu.org/
19. Today I finally won a game of BallKnockers at Friday Lunch at the Institute
20. Tomorrow (if I don't feel too crappy) I'm going with Lauren to her dad's for a BBQ/pool party celebrating the first game of the season
21. Labor Day = no school or work
22. UPDATE: I got off of work at 10 so I was able to go to the last half of the 80s dance
23. Afterwards I went to IHOP with Lauren and the Baron boys/Doobie Brothers/Curly & Moe/D-Bear and J-Bear (it is so easy to come up with nicknames for these two) and John paid because he's awesome

So in the end, I guess the good really does outweigh all the bad.

time travel

Tonight at work the cycles were started two hours later than usual which means I'm going to be here for a good bit. So, to pass the time, I decided to travel back to 1950 and get my yearbook photo taken every two years until 2000. I had a blast!I think I looked my best in 1986, agreed?I even visited Mom when she was in high school and everyone thought we were twins!Once she started college, though, Dad came into her life and the two became inseparable! They did everything together, like playing basketball,and cheering for the Utes(they let me practice with them a few times),and did you know they were Homecoming King and Queen for two years in a row?!(I had the honor of driving them their second time around).They also enjoyed an occaisonal picnic in the park as well.

I really enjoyed all of my travels, but when the 80's hit and Dad starting rocking out on his guitar I decided it was time to come back to the present and get back to work.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

exclusive sneak peek continued

Here are some much awaited pictures of our dining room:Behind those blinds is the apartment complex where Ben used to live in the summer when he was here at LSU.
I found the table and chairs on craigslist and Mom and Dad helped me buy it, transport it, and fix its wobbly leg. It came with a leaf and the chairs are vinyl and comfy, not plastic.
Loren said she'll move her bike soon but I don't mind as it matches the rest of our decor.
And there's our cute little kitchen to the right.
So there's the dining room. Coming soon: the bathroom, the living room, and my room!

institute council summer party

On Thursday, July 9th we had our end of the semester Institute Council party at Pres. Riggs' house. He made us bbq ribs, beans, potato salad and some other good eats (and lots of ice cream for dessert). I have really enjoyed serving on the Council for the past year with with such close friends and an incredible Institute teacher who was recently called to be our new stake president. I love this man. He reminds me of a mix between Pres. Monson and Dad, with a little extra goofy thrown in.

The placemats reminded me of the barber quartet on The Music Man. So Pres. Riggs humored me and we sang a few numbers:

And here's a little video clip of his antics:

Here's a picture of the whole gang. Colleen (Stake YSA Rep), Jamie (LDSSA Pres), me (LDSSA and Institute Secretary), Erica (Insitute Pres), and then on the back row is Scott (Institute Vice Pres), Tim (Stake YSA Rep), and Pres. Riggs.

transformers: revenge of the sleep deprivation

Last night I went to the midnight showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. By now y'all should all know my feelings about midnight showings, so I won't go into that again. Originally a big group of church friends said they would go, but when push came to shove it came down to just Scott and me. Everyone else had all these lame excuses, like, "I have to work tomorrow" or "I have class at 7:30". Come on, people! Going to a midnight showing requires sacrifice! And boy, did I sacrifice. Monday night I was at work until 12:30 am, then I had to get up at 5:30 am to babysit at 6:30. I was there until 12:30 pm, then I came home and took a two-hour nap. I headed to Institute at 7:30, got home at 9, watched a bit of LSU's ball game and then got to the theater by 10:30. So it was just Scott and me, and I was hoping it wouldn't be awkward or date-like (we've been on a few 'dates' before but I consider him to be just a friend). Fortunately Loren and Jon decided to join us so everything was hunky dory.

So the movie gave me exactly what I wanted - lots of Shia LaBeouf, Bumblebee, and sweet special effects - so I enjoyed it for the most part. I didn't expect anything else, like a good script or above par acting, so I wasn't disappointed about that, but there is a reason this movie is rated PG-13. I think they went a little too far with some of the sexual innuendos, so there is no way I would let a kid under 15 at the youngest see this movie. In the words of Matthew Shuler (who desperately wants to see it), some of that stuff was just plain "em-appropriate" for the younger crowd (and I guess for everyone else, too). So Joseph, don't even think of sneaking him into the theater. I guess you could say it was pretty violent, too, but fighting robots don't really make my stomach churn. "Oh no! That Autobot got stabbed! The gore of torn metal! I think I'm gonna be sick!". Ok, I'll stop.

So I got home at 3 and went to bed immediately. Two hours and forty-five minutes later, I got up and put some Toaster Strudels in the toaster as I got ready to leave. One was strawberry and the other was the Scrambler kind, with bacon and eggs and cheese, and even though I specifically checked to see which was which, I started putting the frosting on the Scrambler one. After I realized what I'd done I tried to transfer frosting with a bit of success. Frosted pastries with bacon, eggs, and cheese - yum! I got to the V's at 6:30 and babysat until 11:30. Of course the kids were extra-wild today, and my patience was running thin on less than 3 hours of sleep, but I kept my cool. Then since I was on that side of town I went to Target to get Erica's bridal shower present, and ended up wandering aimlessly around the store for a good 45 minutes. I finally got home and laid down for a nap at about 1:30, thinking I'd sleep for about 3 hours before heading into work at 4:45. I woke up with a start and looked at my clock - 5:11. Oh crap! I rushed out the door and called my supervisor on my way to work to tell her I'd slept late. It really wasn't a big deal because I really don't have to be to work until 6 but since they say I can come at 5, I try to get there by then so I can make more money. So I'm still at work and it's about midnight, but fortunately my schedule is free tomorrow so I can sleep to my heart's content. What a crazy couple of days! But you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be at theater at midnight on July 15th, waiting for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to start!

they're baaaa-aaack!

So since I stopped watching Saturday Night Live a while ago I missed this when it first appeared. It's not as funny as the original but still gives a laugh or two.

exclusive sneak peek

So we've been in our new place for three weeks now and we're finally really starting to settle in. Today was Loren's day off so we went to Wal-Mart to get some more stuff and then got to work fixing up the kitchen and painting Loren's dresser. As of now, the kitchen is finished and finally presentable so I figured I'd put up a few pictures so you can see what it looks like. As for the rest of the house, I can guarantee it'll be a while before it's ready for your viewing pleasure, so enjoy this special sneak peek!The ads in our new neighborhood are catered to a different demographic than at our old place...

happy father's day!!

So I kind of set the bar a little high with my Mother's Day production. I certainly did not want to disappoint for Father's Day. I had plans for a 3D video with cameos from Mitt Romney, Coach K, Billy Joel, and Tom Cruise (pre-craziness), all wishing my dad a happy Father's Day, not to mention an exclusive never-before-seen clip from the upcoming Transformers movie. However, yesterday afternoon I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting today and then I was called in for some last minute babysitting. There went my plans for the greatest 4-minute-long clip of all time! So Dad, you'll just have to settle for a 'Happy Father's Day' from me, your baby girl.

Why I love my dad:

• Because of all of his cute little idiosyncrasies that most people may not notice, like how his sneeze sounds like no one else's I've ever heard, or how he can fall asleep just about anywhere around the house (like in front of the computer), or how he wears t-shirts maybe 3 times a year (usually during Advance), and then wears a plaid shirt every other day (except white on Sundays), or how he likes the hard burnt part of brownies, and can make the best breakfast foods (including fried Cheerios, French toast, pancakes, bacon, etc.) known to man. These are just a few of the things about my dad that make him my dad.
• Because I got his nose, the bottom half of his ears, his long toes, horrible vision, and his love of naps.
• Because he's quiet, but when he says something it's usually pretty funny. I like to think that I got a little bit of cleverness from him. Consider a conversation we had a few months ago:
  Dad: What was the deal with Lot's wife anyways? She should have been content with what the Lord alLOTted her. Me: Yeah, then she wouldn't have been ASSAULTED!
• Because he's always been a peacemaker, and can stop any fight by asking if it's snowing outside.
• Because I can count on one hand the times he's lost his temper or raised his voice.
• Because he always fulfills his calling, and is an excellent and reliable home teacher, and then he goes the extra mile and fills in where it's needed, like being the chorister for a few weeks or saying the closing prayer when the bishop forgot to ask someone.
• Because he's a great handyman, and has taught me a thing or two about fixing appliances, cars, painting, and yardwork. He even does this kind of stuff for others, like our elderly neighbors and people in the ward.
• Because he taught me how to tie my shoes - the special kinda knot - and to this day my shoes still never come untied on their own.
• Because when I was in high school he let me wear his new shoes because they were in style and we have the same size foot and I wanted to look cool and he's just that nice and no one would believe that I was wearing my dad's shoes so I was able to pull it off.
• Because he does the dishes, sweeps the floor, and takes out the trash every night.
  
• Because he has always been worthy to hold the priesthood. He blessed me and gave me a name as a baby, he baptized me, he gives me a father's blessing every year and we occasionally had PPIs throughout my youth.
• Because he has always loved and respected my mother.
• Because he has always provided for our family.
• Because every time I meet someone who had him as a teacher at the LA School, they always say, "You're Dr. Wood's daughter?! He was such an awesome teacher, tell him I said hey!".
• Because he kind of maybe a little bit spoiled me...like when he used to give me money for concessions or the book fair or let me get away with things that Mom would have a conniption if she knew about them. :) Or when I asked him to cut my hair like a boy's he did it, and kept going shorter when I asked him to, even thought I'm sure he thought it looked hideous (because it did). And then Mom took me to a beautician, who assumed that I'd gotten a hold of the scissors.

So yeah, that's just a short list of why I love my dad. As a child, I assumed that every dad was like mine, and I'm only beginning to realize as I go out into the world that I am extremely blessed to have someone like him as my father. I know he's not perfect but you can see that he really is trying to be. Now if only I could find someone else just like him, but forty years younger, I'd be set for life!

And now for some pictures. Of course, I couldn't find that many because this is usually what Dad is doing when it's picture time:See how cute he was as a baby? Anyways, here's a little collage of some of my favorites (click on it for a better view). Hope you enjoy. And Happy Father's Day, Dad. Love, your Poodle