So Busy up in Here

I don't know why I apparently have more time to blog when I am on-track than when I am off, but apparently I do. And now I have 5 minutes before I have to leave to go to Idawhat, but here's a blog on what I have been doing instead of blogging:

1. Sleeping in.

2. Napping.

3. Going to my friends' classes.

4. Grading and planning some stuff. I have to write that small because I really haven't been doing all that much of that. 

5. Convincing other people that they don't need to do their homework / study / go to bed early because playing with and / or feeding me is much more important. I am the worst. 

6. Going to Cornbelly's. What's that, you say? Wellllll just my [fourth] favorite place on Earth! After, you know, like Disney World, and the temple, and my house.....Pictures coming soon!

7. Going to a Halloween party all dressed up with the roommates!

Left to right: Minnie Mouse, Pocahontas, Tangled, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White

As you can see, the Jew joined us! She came to town this weekend and pretty soon, I will be venturing over to her hood for even more fun times :)

8. Eating at the Cannon Center with some studly biceps.

9. Consorting with famous authors. NBD (aka, VBD) but I shook hands with him and rode in a car with him and chatted with him and just, you know, spilled the Starbucks that I got just for hanging out with him on my new blue pants about it, but whatever. #famouspeoplepantsfail

10. Ate my heart out for the annual birthday lunch at Tucano's!

11. Re-discovered the Fall Waffle at the Awful Waffle.....why is this list almost entirely about food.....

12. Spent the night in Snowbird in this swanky little place that I'm obsessed with, with some roommates, a hot tub, some romantic music, and about 40 cookies.

13. Watched House at the End of the Street again. For the record, it is at least as scary in the drive-in as it is in the real people theater.

14. Watched Casper for the first time! Watching movies has just become my favorite thing recently.....totally not sure why, but yep. That's just what happens when you go off-track, kids.

15. Carved a punkin! You have to say it like that: punkin. Or else you basically hate Halloween.

16. Made about 5069 punkin seeds. And they are the most bomb-amazing punkin seeds you have ever tasted, ever.

Recipe:

1. Get all your seeds rinsed off.
2. Boil seeds in salt water (2 cups water for every 1/2 cup seeds, 1/2 tsp salt for every cup water).
3. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Drain.
6. Put olive oil on a cookie sheet. Spread it around. Put the seeds on top.
7. Sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning and onion seasoning. And some more salt if you don't care about your cholesterol.
8. Bake at 400* for about 10 minutes. When you hear popping, they are getting close!
9. Show off your talents to all your friends who previously hated punkin seeds. Like me, until I was converted with this very recipe!

Peace out, Provo! Don't worry, I'll be back in time to fit in 2 more Halloween parties. Which is convenient, since I have 5 more costumes for this year that I haven't worn yet.

Christine

Once upon a time, life was pretty good at Wyview Park. Everyone was making friends with everyone else. We felt so comfortable and content.

And then, we heard that a new girl was moving in. We wondered about her. We facebook-stalked her. We caught glimpses of her. And one day, just before Halloween, we met her.

One of my friends txtd me: "The new girl is here!" I grabbed my bowl of food and ran to her apartment.

"Oh hey, guys!" I said. Very casually. "How's everyone's day going?" Obviously no one would suspect that I was just there to meet the new girl and form an opinion of her. Especially not when she came out into the living room and I practically barked, "HI! Are you the new roommate? I'm Heather."

She kindly pretended like I was normal and said hi back and introduced herself. Her name was Christine.

She looked like this:

We loved her immediately. 

Freshman year was only made better by Christine moving into Wyview. One time, she organized an activity where we made caramel apples. And I'm not sure how, but somehow, this picture came out of it. And I'm so happy it did. For obvious reasons.

Christine is a super-fun friend to have because she is always up for a fun activity! The fall semester activity our freshman year was themed something princessy or knighty or royal in some way, so a bunch of us dressed up as princesses. Amazingly, Christine made her Sleeping Beauty costume. She is so talented and stuff!

Another time, we went to whiteout night at Studio 600 in Salt Lake. It was so much fun! Oh, even though half of us didn't get in because all we had for ID's were out student ID's. It was still fun dressing up for it!

Christine and I weren't roommates when we were freshmen, even though we might as well have been. (I think I slept in my own bed.....maybe 3 nights a week. The rest of my nights were spent on either Winnie's couch or Christine's.) But we repented of that and lived together our sophomore year! I remember flying back to Utah, walking into my room, and finding little post-it notes all over. They said things like, "All of this shelf space is yours" and "You can switch sides if you want, I don't mind either way :)" and "I missed you! Welcome home!"

Another point I feel like I should make: Christine is stylish and photogenic. Sometimes when she was my roommate she would have me pick her outfit for Sunday and it was always kind of like a grand privilege because she has such cute and classy dresses!

Christine is awesome because she is spontaneous. We did a ton of random fun things together, from dancing in the rain to Leggers on the couch to hitting up the Lehi Rodeo. And they were all so. fun. 

I am so happy that Christine went with me to Florida to work at Disney. We had an amazing time together! We danced with some Moroccans, went to Universal Studios, laid out at the pool to listen to general conference, struggled with the crappy internet, and got wonderfully tan. Christine was a lifeguard, so obviously she got the most tan. And the boys loved her. One beautiful Australian boy even took her to Universal Studios!

We were in Florida for Valentines Day, and when I got back to my apartment after work, I found a pink heart-shaped lollipop and a handwritten card on my bed from Christine. It was such a sweet card and you better believe I still have it! 

When we were in Florida, we weren't going to school. I love Christine as a student, too, but when she doesn't have school to worry about, she is only just fun. All the time.

I love these pictures because, look! Christine is always willing to make a face or do a silly pose for a picture with me. She doesn't act embarrassed or always offer to take the picture so she doesn't have to be in it. Which is valuable!

Tan tan, can you do the tan tan?

 Christine is wonderful because all of my other friends like her too! When Caitlin, Christine and I went to the Lehi Roundup, we all had so much fun together. When Nicole came out to visit a few weeks ago and Christine practiced how she could approach a random hot stranger on the beach, Nicole couldn't stop talking about how hilarious Christine was. When Christine met two of my guy friends, they thought she was hot. Obviously. 

Christine is inclusive and diplomatic. I love how she plans things and invites me to them! I also love how she is thoughtful of other people's feelings. One time, my friends were teasing me about how bad I am at directions. Just to put it out there, I am terrible at directions, and I didn't really mind the teasing. But then Christine piped up and said, "Actually! Heather really impressed me in Florida, she was good at driving there." It was just a simple thing to say, and even though I wasn't on the verge of tears or anything, it made me feel so good to get that little bit of credit!

Christine is always there for important events. She is super-busy with work and school, but she has come every year to Tucano's for my birthday. When we plan something, she is there. I love that I can count on her :)

Christine is cool because she is lots of different things. She is fun to go dancing with! She is easy to have deep conversations with. We have great conversations and boys and kissing! Then we sit next to each in church and be reverent. She is a great mom at amusement parks! She also takes the best pictures on the teacups. She looks great with blonde hair! She looks fabulous with dark hair! She can't be stopped!

Christine is an example to me in so many ways. One way is her selflessness! Check out this recent blog post of hers for proof of that. And then follow her blog, because it is greatly entertaining. 

 New girls don't always become lifelong friends, but with Christine, I would say we all got incredibly lucky. Next year, we will both be graduating, and I can't wait to take a million more fun pictures together in our caps and gowns! Especially because I'm sure they won't be the last pictures we take :) Happy birthday Christine! You are awesome!

Aimees

One day, I was sitting in my apartment at Raintree, just hanging out, doing homework maybe. The door opened. Chelsea bounced in, and behind her, a person with poofy hair followed.

"Hi!" the poofy-headed person said. She flashed a huge smile at me. "I'm Aimee!"

"Heather!" Chelsea said, also smiling hugely. "This is Aimee! She's my friend!"

"Hi!" I said. Their smiles were contagious. "I'm Heather -"

"I'm so happy to meet you!" Aimee said. (I believed her. She was practically giddy about it.)

For a few weeks, I just knew Aimee as Chelsea's friend. But then, she moved into our apartment, and she became my roommate, and then my friend too, and then one of my very best friends. And now, she is one of my very best friends.....who is one year older!

Aimee is one of the funniest people I know. She is constantly making me laugh, and something else that is great about her is that she also laughs a lot. So sometimes I feel like I'm really funny when we are hanging out.

When we were roommates in Raintree, we had a lot of fun together. One time, we had a girls night with Chelsea, and we all went to see Dear John at the dolla theater. The movie sucked. The company did not. So we tried again, another time, with New Moon. This time, we all wore our respective boyfriend's clothes. Both times, it was worth the dollar, because we at least had fun hanging out with each other :)

Aimee is always supportive of my ideas. I don't know why, because a lot of the time, they are not that great. Like this one time when I really wanted to check the mail, but it was raining, so I couldn't go by myself! Aimee pulled on mismatching boots and a jacket and off we went. She is so accommodating.

Another time, I wanted to do the Bikini Body workout for our Girls Night. Aimee did it with me. I loved it. She hated it. She only just complained a little bit, but she did it with me!

We also took super-fierce pictures together. She loves America's Next Top Model, and I like it, so usually when she is around, I get hooked on it again. The results are, obviously, worth the time spent on it.

Yep.

Aimee is super-sharing. She is so domestic - she can make anything, tortillas or chicken dumplings or parmesan broccoli or syrup or lemon raspberry cupcakes or cake cookies. And she doesn't just make delicious food. She shares it, too! She always took care of me when we were roommates. She still takes care of me when we are not roommates, by giving me rides to work or bringing me yummy foods she made or sending me encouraging txts (or having her husband txt me funny things) or putting candy all over my bed after I fall asleep on a particularly bad night.

Aimee is a life guard sometimes and also a swim teacher. Therefore, she gets suuuuper-tan and super-blonde in the summertime. And I spend lots of time being jealous of her. I've never seen her teach swimming, but I know she is great at it. Aimee has awesome management skills and I'm so happy that she switched her major to Elementary Education. She is going to be such an amazing elementary school teacher! We are going to share lessons with each other all the time.

Aimee is always happy for me when something good happens to me. She is also such a good listener. She's just good at talking to people and getting them to talk about themselves (and especially their farts). Sometimes, I go into our conversations thinking, "Okay. This time, we're going to talk about Aimee." And then the conversation goes something like this:

me: Tell me about bla! How did it go?

her: It was fun! How did this go?

me: It was great!

her: Did this happen?

me: Yeah! (elaborate)

her: Oh awesome! What about this?

me: Oh! (elaborate more). How was this for you?

her: It was okay. Hey, did this ever happen?

me: No...(elaborate).

Do you see what I mean? I don't know how, but somehow she always turns the conversation back to me. She is selfless and encouraging and kind. She is smart and hardworking and hilarious. She got the hottest bridals taken I have ever seen. I love her! And I think she deserves everything good in the world :)

Twenty-One

I know last year I turned 19, but somewhere between then and now, I turned 20. And this year on October 9, I turned 21.

My birthday this year included:

1. Lunch at Tucano's (obviously, we couldn't break the tradition!) with Winnie, Aimee, Christine, Kristen, and Jacob. Very different group than last year's, but I loved it just as much :)

2. a delicious dinner at Mimi's Cafe with Jacob. Sooo good!

3. a movie in the Water Gardens theater with Jacob.

4. a surprise waiting for me when I got home! Complete with cake, ice cream, friends, streamers, and handmade surprise signs. I have the best friends!

5. pancake breakfast made by Jacob on Sunday morning, my actual birthday.

6. church in my own ward.....weirdly, since I haven't been there since the first Sunday of the semester. Still, it was a lovely day at church and Kelly and Dahl came, too.

7. presents :)

8. dinner at the Salmons, which was delicious as always.

9. phone calls from my Grandma Connor, my siblings, and my mom.

10. a birthday package from my family! Nice-os :)

It was a wonderful birthday and I hope next year's is just as good!

Best. Birthday. Ever.

I was not looking forward to my birthday this year. I realized about a month ago that I was going to be turning 20 when October 9th rolled around and I was not thrilled about that. I mean, my mom got married when she was 20 years old! I think turning 20 is like, basically, the final step you take before becoming an adult. And that is a little scary.

So I decided I was going to turn 19 again this year. I mean, who needs all the stress of being 20, when you just want to stay 19? I certainly don't. It looked like I would be turning 19 once again. I would be able to have a birthday without adding another year onto my age -- what a perfect solution!

The week leading up to my birthday was fantastic. It was Winnie's birthday on October 6th, just like every year, except this year, she was turning 21, and that has never happened before! Christine lined up 21 guys to kiss her and give her roses, and we had a surprise birthday party for her at Lauren's house. It was so fun! We danced, ate yummy food, and laughed at all the guys as they kissed her. (There were actually 23, because Winnie is just that pretty and that awesome.)

On Friday, Caitlin and I went to the BYU men's soccer game. It was my first real soccer game, besides a women's game that I went to 5 minutes of at the start of my freshman year that was a disaster (not because of how they played). It was super fun! Caitlin has played soccer for forever so she explained everything to me as it happened. The refs were terrible.....they weren't calling anything but practically every time they did decide to make a call, they also issued a card. Since nothing was getting called, the boys started to get pretty aggressive, but it was fun to watch. We decided we are going to go to way more soccer games now.

After the soccer game, Christine, Caitlin and I went to a bonfire with C.L. Afterwards, I went back to Winnie's apartment to sleep over and Caitlin went home, since she had work in the morning. Saturday morning came, and as I woke up, I had no idea that one of the best days of my entire life had just begun. It was the perfect day.

Every year on my birthday, Tucano's gives me a free meal, so of course that is where I have gone every October since I got to Utah. Tucano's is a Brazilian grill where the waiters bring different meats around and give you one piece at a time until you decide you're full. There is also a delicious salad bar, grilled pineapple, and like 6 different kinds of Brazilian lemonade. Going there is almost like going to heaven.

This year, I even learned a cool new trick that lets you eat more! I guess Polynesians do this thing where they kind of wiggle their stomachs and the food gets all stirred around and settles down so they have more space to put more food! I was too nervous to use it, because a birthday is a day where you want to celebrate your birth, not the birth of a food baby, but it still sounds like a good idea for future reference.

Some of my favorite people in the world were able to come. There was Kelly, Christine, Winnie, Danielle, Lizzie (Christine's roommate from over the summer), C.L., Ryan Berlin (my home teacher slash friends with C.L. slash gave me a ride to school last week when I was having a real emergency), and Danny, Ty, and Jake (all really good friends with C.L. originally). Some of my other favorites were not able to come this year :( aka Caitlin, Kelsey, Larissa, Chelsea, Aimee, and Dahl. So that was a little sad, but a fun lunch nonetheless.

Every year, we have to take a picture by the fountain. Above is this year's picture. Below, C.L. and Ty decided to play "Put Heather on Top of Stuff" and put me on top of the fountain. It was a very wobbly rock and I really thought I was going to break it or die, so I was a little bit paralyzed with fright.

Luckily they got me down and I was able to go home all in one piece. When I got home, there was a plate of delicious snackarolls sitting on the island with a bowl of peach sauce next to them! If you have never had a snackaroll, you are not alone. My home teacher, Tanner, invented them, so I was the first to try one, ever. It is basically a cinnamon roll with a peachy kind of topping and it is amazing. Thanks Tanner!!

I didn't get an all-sports pass this year, but Winnie had to work, so she gave me her ticket for the game. I think God knew it was my birthday, because the weather was absolutely perfect, and on top of that, the Cougars pulled out a win. Their defense looked so much better this game than it has been, so that was good. I wasn't able to stay the whole time, because I had to go to work, but I did see a good two hours of the game.

As I walked back to my apartment to get ready for work, I called my mom to talk about the day I was born. This is one of my favorite traditions every year! When I was younger, my mom would pull out her journal and read to me what she had written about the day I was born. I know the story pretty well by now, but hearing my mom tell it is something I like the very best about my birthday.

She tells me everything from when she first started getting contractions to when the receptionist condescendingly told her she wasn't in labor, to how beautiful the weather was, to Dr. Gheary coming in, not quite believing that my mom was in labor either (because she was still smiling) and then saying, "Lord love a duck, this baby is coming soon!"

I was 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and about 4 weeks early, but apparently I was really a nice baby, and when I cried you could hardly even hear it. My parents knew they liked the name Christine, but weren't sure what to pair it with, so the nurse came up with the idea of Heather when she picked me up and said, "Oh, she's light as a feather! How about Heather?"

I think it's a little narcissistic but I really love hearing this story every year.

Most people prefer not to work on their birthday, but I didn't mind too much. Besides, I had gotten the past two Saturdays off, so I felt like three in a row would be a little excessive. A bunch of people came to visit me and at one point, Kylie started singing Happy Birthday and everyone else in the store joined in and then cheered for me. I thought that was so nice!

Jackie came in at about ten and said that she had some uniforms at her house that she had to drop off here, but there was a lot of boxes, so she needed to steal one of the employees. Then she said, "Oh, hey! I'm really glad you're working, because I can just take you. Do you want to come?" Of course I did, so I told my friends that I would be right back. Then I left the store with Jackie.

When we walked in Jackie's house, all the lights were off. "Ok, the uniforms are just up in my room -- why is it so dark in here?" she said, and reached for the light switch. Suddenly the room exploded in a collective cheer of "Surprise!" and I felt all panicked and screamed and backed into the wall, and then I realized that there was no emergency and I laughed and hyperventilated and sat on the ground. I had not even had an inkling of suspecting and I was so thrilled and felt so happy to have such the best friends ever that I kind of wanted to cry, but I was too happy to, so I just laughed a lot instead.

The surprise wasn't a party, per say, but an adventure at the Haunted Forest. Interestingly enough, I went last year on my birthday as well. It was fun, but I hadn't expected to make it a tradition.

This year was even funner than last year! There were more boys than girls and I needed lots of protection, so I had at least two boys to throw in front of me at all times, should trouble arise. C.L. loves haunted houses slash forests and he was like a little kid in there. One of his favorite things to do was to walk ahead of me telling the scary people my name and that it was my birthday. I did not really appreciate it because they kept coming back and asking, "Are you Heather?" all up in my face, but in retrospect, it was pretty funny.

After going through Psycho Manor and the Haunted Forest, we went back to Jackie's apartment for cake and calming down. By this point everyone was pretty tired, so Caitlin and I went back home pretty soon.

All throughout the day, I just kept thinking how perfect of a day it was. Everything about it was so wonderful that I couldn't believe that it could get better. And then, something else would happen that woulddd make it even better! I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world. I still feel so happy from such a great day.

I guess I'd better admit it. I am 20 years old.

At least I started off my third decade of life with a perfect day :)

One Year Older

Yesterday, I turned 19 years old. It was a wonderful occasion :) Here is what I did for my birthday.

1. Went to class. On Friday I only have two classes, my stats lecture in the morning and then my stats lab after an hour break. I am randomly in this class with a girl who was in my ice-skating class winter semester and it is so fun!

2. Went out to Tucanos for lunch! When my lab was over, Kelly and I took the bus back to Raintree and then Christine, Winnie, Kelly, Kelsey and I went to Tucanos. I've never been before and it was amazing! The waiters just kept coming with more meats and grilled pineapple and it was all sooo good! The only thing I didn't like was this wasabi? maybe? It's in the Princess Diaires II movie and it is nottt, in fact, guacamole. So don't be deceived. It's actually this really strong something that cleanses your pallet. Other than that, the food was all delicious and I was glad we went.

3. Gave blood! After Tucanos, Winnie dropped Kelsey and me off at the Wilk and Kelly, Winnie and Christine went to run some errands. While Kelsey went off to be productive and do homework or something, I went up to my favorite bathroom on the 3rd floor, turned the lights off, and made myself comfortable on the couch, ready for a nice, pulse-slowing nap. (I tried to give blood on Wednesday (which also happened to be the worst day of my life) but then my heart rate was randomly too high. Still not really sure why, but the guy who took it was really cute so I'm going to blame him. Anyway I was determined to not let a little thing like heart rate ruin my blood-giving experience and cost three people their lives, so I was taking a nap to try and slow down my heart rate.) Over the next hour, I answered four phone calls and turned the lights back off twice after someone came in to actually use the bathroom and turned them one. So my nap wasn't everything I had hoped for and more, but I went down to the East Lounge an hour later to try to give blood again.

For those who don't understand the significance of me giving blood, I'm going to try to explain it now. I first was inspired to give blood by a poster in the hallways of my high school, encouraging people to sign up for the NHS blood drive that would be coming in December. The poster gave three cases in which your blood might be used to save a life. I was amazed! I was thrilled! If I gave blood, I could save three lives! My blood would be in someone else's body and they would be alive because of me! I was fascinated by the idea that I could be standing next to someone on the metro, or behind someone in line at the grocery store, who had my blood flowing through their veins. (Not to mention I would get out of class, eat lots of snacks, and maybe even get a free t-shirt.) This was the best idea anyone had ever had! Then I discovered that there is also a weight limit. I'm sorry, whattt? Yes. You have to weigh 110 lbs to donate blood, as it turns out. I was crushed. I resigned myself to the fact that I would never reach 110 by the December blood drive. Instead, I signed up to help with refreshments. All day, I ran water bottles, pretzels, sodas, granola bars, and juice boxes to the fainting donors and harried phlebotomists and wistfully thought about the day that I would finally be eligible to donate.

That day came last February, when I went to my first-ever blood drive in the Wyview central building. I prepared for this blood drive for months and then, finally, I felt ready. The week before the blood drive I dedicated to eating food with lots of iron and protein. The day of the blood drive, I made sure I ate a very substantial breakfast and lunch. I convinced Jake to give blood, too, and we signed in and completed all the paperwork and the interview. I sat in the chair, chatted with the phlebotomists, and then watched as my blood trickled into the blood bag. 5 minutes and 31 seconds later, my bag was filled and I was standing up, feeling a huge sense of accomplishment and not an ounce of dizziness. I ate my snacks, drank my drink, and waltzed out of the central building, proudly bearing my hot pink bandage about my arm. It was a wonderful experience, so I was excited to be doing it again on my birthday!

Anyway, giving blood today wasn't quite as positive of an experience. When I got my pulse taken the first time, my heart rate was the exact same that it had been before. A little bit frustrated, I asked if I could try one more time in ten minutes. The girl said that would be fine and I sat down and tried to think calming thoughts. I imagined my heart pulsing. In my head, I watched it move. I imagined a knob next to my heart that controlled the speed of my heart. I imagined myself turning it down. I breathed deep, long breaths. Ten minutes later, my heart rate had gone down 9 points. Just from me thinking about it :) I was eligible to give blood! I was once again fine when I sat in the chair and watched the blood drip into the bag. This time it took 8 minutes. Which was kind of annoying, since I had wanted to beat my time from February, but it didn't happen.

Today when I got up out of the chair, I got three different kinds of cookies, two juices, and one extra-large shirt. (It was all they had left.) I felt a little bit dizzy and very thirsty, which I hadn't been expecting, so I was a little annoyed. About five minutes after I was done giving blood, Kelly and I were running across the street to catch the 832 back to Raintree and I was feeling very dizzy. Regardless, I was still happy to have given blood.

4. Did homework. I sometimes don't like college as much as I say I do at other times.

5. Went to the Haunted Forest! It was great. It was just a big group of girls and boys. Waiting in line was even fun because they had an awesomeee actor performing a skit as Jack Sparrow and I was totally enraptured. The Haunted Forest itself was okay but I think I built it up so much so I wasn't really scared as I went through it, maybe because there were so many people?

6. Watched the Proposal. I had to leave the Haunted Forest before everyone else because I had to turn in some homework and I walked into my apartment to find Crystal and her friends Alex and Connor, getting ready to go to the Dollar Theater. They invited me to join them and we went off to watch The Proposal for my third time.

All in all, it was a wonderful birthday!