Storm's a'Brewin'

So my cute famiglia is in Maryland, Dorothying it up with Sandy as I type. I've gotten emails from Amazon, Wells Fargo, and School's Out about it. And of course, there have been the countless Facebook statuses regarding the Frankenstorm. Apparently it's a big deal? (Please read that in a Despicable Me voice.)

People have been really sympathetic and concerned about it. They keep asking if my family got evacuated, if we still have power, if we're okay, etc. It's nice to know that so many people are concerned, but where I come from, rain is a good thing.

Rain means lightning, rain boots, and sitting with the lights off and staring out the window with my siblings. Rain means bright green grass, a happy garden, puddles and vapor rising from the ground. Rain means a slightly paranoid dad backing up all his computers and running around with a flashlight, just in case the power goes out. Really bad rain means no school and an excuse to sleep in. When it rains, we party.

In the old house, two houses down from the new house, we had a big window in the kitchen, with a sliding glass door and a railing so no one could fall out. There was a big thunderstorm, and even though it was past bedtime, there were three little girls sitting by that window. We each had on one of Dad's big t-shirts, and we sat with our knees tucked up in our shirts, looking out at the storm.

This isn't a picture from that storm, but this would be what we looked like.

We watched the swings on our swing-set sway back and forth, knocking into each other in the wind. Our turtle kiddie pool filled up with water, and we wondered if the giant tree would fall on us, but it never did.

I'm sure I wouldn't be writing this blog post if the tree had fallen on us. I'd be writing one called "Dear Sandy, I hate you and every other storm like you." Instead, I'm writing one called "Storm's a'Brewin'."

Enjoy Sandy, Murrlanders! And Virginians and Jersites and errbody else. I hope you like Easy Mac, good book, Blind Man Bluff kinda days as much as I do. May your laundry finish before the power goes out, and may your greatest trial continue to be the fear that you may not be able to access Facebook for a stint :)

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.

Planes, Trains, and Cassidy Janes

This weekend, I rode in a plane.

Like this one.

Kelly and I took off like celebrities from the Provo airport. See how the people are just walking on from the tarmac? That's what we did. It was exhilarating. We arrived in Denver, Colorado, just in time to sit and enjoy a leisurely breakfast of Panda Express before heading to our shuttle.

This was the train part of our journey.

The train took us to a little neighborhood in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It dropped us off across the street from this little girl:

Kelly and I went right up to her and started taking pictures.

Eventually, this little girl's dad showed up and told me I could take her back to Utah with me! So that was pretty sweet.

After a quick trip to the hospital, where we held a baby who was barely 12 hours old, we set off down the road.

 

Which we stayed on for almost 9 hours. In that 9 hours, I discovered Carbaby's full name: Cassidy Jane Carbaby. She is a doll, you guys. I love her.

In that 9 hours, I also got a lot of planning done, thanks to Kelly writing down everything in my planbook as I came up with it. I tell you what, life just isn't fair, when you think about it. Because some people have a monopoly on all the best sisters :)

Schule

I just had the following phone conversation with my little baby sister:

Me: Have you started school yet?

Her: Not yet, we start on the 27th.

Me: Oh wow! Are you excited?

Her: YES!.....sort of......no, not really.

I feel you, girl.

Although every time I see this sign, I get a little bit more excited :)

Swearing After Midnight

So, I love my family. Soooo so so much. I think they are the best family in the entire world.

But this last weekend, I hung out with my pretend family here in Utah, who I told you about before, and it was very different than when I hang out with my Connor family in Maryland.

For example: my Connor brothers tackle me about 50% of the times that I try to tackle them. My Utah brothers tackle me whenever they walk past me. My Connor dad likes to go to bed before 11, 12 at the latest. For Uncle Wayne, the party is just getting started at 11 pm.

Here's a summary of the weekend, in dialogue form:

Me: So what's this game called?
Steve: This is Screw Your Neighbor.
Grandma: I think we should call it, Trick Your Neighbor, or Cheat Your Neighbor. Those sound nicer.
Uncle Wayne: What, Grandma, you don't want to screw your neighbor?
Grandma: You mean my grandson? No.
Valen: Kill your neighbor?
Me: Bum-squeeze your neighbor!

"Now we've gotta sit here and watch him play with them all night...." -a very unhappy Grandpa while Caden was shuffling the cards

"Oooh, sorry. You didn't hear that, right? Sorry....I swear after midnight." -Uncle Wayne

Uncle Wayne: Hey, put those away! I got those for breakfast tomorrow.
Grandma: Tomorrow's Fast Sunday....
*Everyone pounces on the donuts. Someone gets out milk. And chips. And another bag of chips as well.*
Steve: *pushing the chips towards me* Eat some NOW! Didn't you hear? Tomorrow's Fast Sunday!

"Be nice to your SISTER!" - any of the boys when one of their brothers punched, poked, tickled, squeezed, and harassed me in any way

Brad: Girls don't fart, they whisper in their panties.
Caden: Grandma, do you whisper in your panties?
Grandma: No, I scream.
Uncle Wayne --> Grandpa: She's your wife....

"You should know they're just doing this because you're here. So they all have to flex their hormones." -Grandpa

Valen: I'm flirting with her! We're txting and flirting right now!
Steve: Yeah, maybe you can shut up about it and take your turn....
Valen: Shut up, just because you don't have a girlfriend!
Steve: You're not gonna have one either when she comes over and sees how wild you are....
Me: Steve doesn't have a girlfriend because he's waiting to take my sister on a date in the fall!

"Next you'll be saying you yodel in your panties. Here come the yodelers! Boy, that'll ruin girls for you. I never would've wanted to get married if I had heard about this before." -Uncle Wayne

Steve: Noo-no!
Me: Noo-no? You mean Uno?
Steve: Noo-no what I meant!

And here is a list of the nicknames I earned, names I don't recall ever having been called by my own family:

- Woman
- Mama
- Sugar
- Toots
- Steering Wheel
- Four-wheeler

...............................don't ask. 

Sister Sleepovers: A Tutorial

Sarah, Julie, and I love having sister sleepovers whenever I'm home. Usually this means all of us crowding into Julie's queen-sized bed, fighting over the body pillow, whispering and elbowing each other until we finally fall asleep in odd positions that are entirely different than the ones we wake up in.

But last night, "sister sleepover" meant something entirely different. And now, for our tutorial:

How to have a Successful Sister Sleepover without getting the Usual Bruises

1. Have your brother go on a scout camp-out. When he gets home, have him air out his tent in the living room.

2. Get really excited when you see said tent in the living room.

3. Make s'mores! If you can't find any plain chocolate, special dark chocolate nuggets with almonds from your dad's secret stash in his office will do just as well. You just have to cut out the almonds.

4. Pose excitedly while preparing these s'mores. 

5. Pre-heat the oven to 400* while cutting the almonds out of the chocolates. When you are ready to put the s'mores in the oven, turn it from "Bake" to "Broil." 

6. If your s'mores look like the picture above, then they are perfect. Top them with another graham cracker. 

7. Eat them in your tent. Pose for more pictures!

8. Have a lovely night in the tent!

The charmed life

sometimes involves.....

- waking up, going outside, picking raspberries and blackberries, and eating them with your cereal.

- breaking world records in all Track and Field events after 2 hours of playing Kinect Sports with your sister.

- tackling your siblings in a concerted effort to get stronger.

- becoming addicted to the Big Bang Theory, simply because there is so much time around here.

- eating all the caramel in the world. Literally. ALL THE CARAMEL.

- saying, "Julie! / Joseph! / Jacob! / Sarah! How come.....you're so cute?" every time I see one of those cute people.

- becoming a pro at shooting a basketball backwards.

- narrowly avoiding vicious scams by people who don't live charmed lives like stupid Patricia J. Hall.

- listening to this song on a loop:

  

- following up every family prayer with 12 push-ups and 21 crunches (or however old you are).

- trying to tackle your brother only to bang your head on the wall.

- wondering, "but why is the jam gone?"

- laughing hysterically because Pluto isn't technically a planet.

- blasting this song every time it is on the radio and singing along with Baby Sister:

 

- going to Rita's whenever I feel like it, because it is just like 5 minutes away instead of 2000 miles away like it is when I'm in Utah....

- having friends over who cover your brother's eyes when an inappropriate part comes on in the movie you're watching.

- having brothers who cover your friend's eyes when an inappropriate part comes on in the movie you're watching.

- phrases like "Screw you, Tower of Babel!" coming up in scripture study.

- spending a morning watching Steve Irwin videos on YouTube with Baby Sister.

- stacking up significant fines on your library card and feeling really embarrassed about that since they just waived $18.40 in fines from the last time you checked something out (February of 2011).

- lunching with the Padre.

- hacking into my grandma's Facebook. getting nice posts on Facebook clearly written by my grandma who loves me.

There Goes the Farter

Once upon a time, some fellas who call themselves the Gym Class Heroes made up a beautiful song called "The Fighter." They invited a guy named Ryan Tedder to sing with them. They inspired at least 3,190,981 people.

 

And then, a nice little family in Maryland ruined it. They were standing around, eating ice cream one night after one (baby) sister had been particularly flatulent, and one of them started playing this song. Except, they sang it like this:

"Until the referee rings the bell
Until both your butt cheeks start to swell
Until the crowd goes home
What we gonna do ya'll?

Give em smell, turn their heads
Gonna live life til we're dead.
Give me scars, give me pain
Then they'll say of me, say of me, say of me
There goes the farter, (oooh-oooh-oooh!)
There goes the farter (oooh-oooh-oooh!)
Here comes the farter (oooh-oooh-oooh!)
That's what they'll say of me, say of me, say of me,
This one's a farter."


And that's not even all. This irreverent family made up a dance to go along with it. And then one of them blogged about it. 


Oh, that was me. Sorry this is the second post in a row that deals with farting. I'll try to be more mature. 

Cookies and Karma

I've heard that when you come back home after an extended absence, no matter what you learned while you were living by yourself, you fall back into the same habits you were in at the time that you first left home.

For example, if you always slept in, and expected your mom to wake you up, you might start doing that again. Even if you had a 6:00 AM custodial job while you were gone. If you used to bicker constantly with your siblings, you might find yourself getting frustrated by everything they do. Etc.

Now, I've never been someone who bickers constantly with my siblings, but I have to admit that I have felt my maturity sliding backwards ever since coming home. Also, I am perfectly capable of feeding myself while at college, but for some reason, when I come home, it is so hard to get up and get myself a snack. I usually just get one of my siblings to do it for me.

Just yesterday, I was working on a school project that was due in a matter of hours. One of my sisters was looking at facebook and tumblr and YouTube, "prepping" herself for the crushing disappointment she had come to associate with job-hunting before she jumped back into the fray of online applications. My tomach rumbled. I made a little plea for some food. Sister refused to help. This cycle repeated itself several times.

......An hour later, I got up and got myself some food.

A few hours after that, Sister and I had both relocated to her room upstairs. By this time, my project was due in 45 minutes. Sister was hanging up clothes. There was a knock on the door. Sister and I both ignored it, hoping the other would get it. The knocker continued knocking insistently.

"Sister??" I asked incredulously, as if my supremely granted right to lounge about at all times somehow took precedence over hers.

"It's probably a salesman anyway," she said.

The knocking was way too quick and little-fisted to be a salesman. She knew it as well as I did.

"Sister! That is obviously not a salesman! Why are you being such a brat!" I stomped out of the room and ran down the stairs, where someone was still knocking. Sister slammed the bedroom door after me.

It was not a salesman who was knocking (thank goodness, since I still hadn't put on my makeup). It was a little boy from across the street who had borrowed a cup of sugar from us earlier to make cookies. Now he stood on our porch, holding a plate of cookies.

"Neighbor!" I greeted him. "Did you make these?" He nodded. He looked a little confused. I think he didn't recognize me, since I'm usually at college, and he was worried he had gotten the wrong house. But then I called him by name and he got even more confused.

"They look great!" I said. He handed me the plate, nodding. I noticed the marshmallows and chunks of Hershey's chocolate on top of the cookies. "Are they s'mores cookies?" I asked. He nodded, eyes wide. "You did a good job," I said, smiling. He nodded. "I can't wait to taste them!"

He nodded. "Okay, well.....see ya later!" I said. He nodded and continued standing there. "Alright thanks!" I said, and backed up a little. He started to turn around so I slowly closed the door and brought the cookies to the kitchen.

"Karmaaaa!" sang a little voice in my head. "I am getting what I deserve," I told myself smugly. "Sister doesn't get a cookie because she was too lazy to answer the door."

I took a cookie and bit into it. I danced around the kitchen a little. "I'm going to finish this here," I decided, "and when Sister asks who was at the door, I'm going to tell her. And she'll have to come downstairs and get her own cookie."

I had barely taken my third bite when my feet started carrying me to the stairs. A better plan was forming. I would take my cookie up there and eat it in front of her. And then I would probably get some crumbs in her bed, and everyone hates crumbs in their bed.

Wouldn't you know it, I tripped on the first step. My cookie landed on the stair, marshmallow-side-up.

"Karmaaaaa!" sang a little voice in my head. "I am getting what I deserve," I thought sadly.

So Sister got a cookie, too. And no one got crumbs in anyone else's bed. And I turned my project in on time. And I'm pretty sure Sister is going to get an awesome amazing job, so it looks like everything works out in the end, all pettiness aside.

New Coat

There was once a time when I was the youngest in my family. I know....weird, right? So that phase didn't last long. It ended officially with the birth of a red-haired, wide-eyed, explosion of a person named Nicole, on June 9th, 1992....twenty years ago. 

I say "explosion of a person" because Nicole is one of those people who is just exploding with personality and awesomeness.

Obviously, Kelly and I were happy to have her.  

 

Mostly, when I remember Nicole as a baby, I remember her with a shocked expression and hair standing straight up. I remember her blowing bubbles in the bathtub. I remember playing Barbies with her for hours on end, and then playing with our matching horses for the rest of the day. 

One time, we were all cleaning the pond behind our house during Spring Break. At one point, Nicole got some pond water on herself and left to change her clothes. When she came back, she was too nervous to get back in the pond, so instead, she stood on top of a storm drain and made up a song to encourage us. For some reason, it didn't exactly encourage us, and we encouraged her to get down. We still tease her about that!

Nicole is super-social, and she makes some really good friends. Her best friend Gina is a favorite of our family. 

Nicole and I have an interesting history with stuffed animals. One time, Nicole was annoyed at me about something, and I didn't realize that she was. She came into my room, where I was calmly sitting on my bed, reading a book. She was tenderly holding a stuffed animal of mine, a penguin named Shuffle. Smiling broadly, she said: "Heather, do you like this penguin?"

I looked up. "Oh, sure," I said, and went back to reading. 

"Well that's nice," she said, and then proceeded to beat the penguin on the floor repeatedly. 

It's okay though, because I got back at her. Nicole has this Blues Clues-esque stuffed animal gender-confused dog called BenKetty. I don't know why, but for some reason, I hate it. I think it annoyed me for real one night and then after that it was just so fun hating it that I couldn't stop. 

One time I sent Nicole a picture on her phone of Benketty hanging from the fan. 

Another time, I sent her a picture of Benketty about to fall in the toilet. 

In response, she sent me a picture of Benketty holding my purse one night before I went on a date. The txt said, "Look who's coming with you on your daaaate!" She also took a picture of Benketty in my suitcase when I was about to go back to Utah with the caption, "You will never escape!" 

Would you end such a glorious back-and-forth? Neither would I. 

Nicole is very generous. She always gives me zzzz's so I can be more bootylicious. Also, one time she sent me a care package that was literally THE BEST THING OF MY LIFE. It was so great that sometimes I get a little teary thinking about it. Nicole just is so good at thinking of others. 

One of my favorite things about Nicole is how hilarious she is. She's funny when she's just waking up and she trudges downstairs with her hair all piled on her head for dinnertime. She's funny when she's singing at the dinner table, or when she's explaining politics to me. She's funny when she's talking to the birds or imitating them. She's funny when she's giving a talk or when she's gushing about Dream Street or Steve Johnson or Winnie. She's just funny all the times!

Nicole's unofficial motto for life is WWFRD: What Would Flo Rida Do? She is a great rapper. And she finds really great music and shares it with me, which I appreciate. 

Nicole is a princess, and she loves princess things. In fact, her blog is called "Life as a Princess" and should be read by everyone and their dog because it is so entertaining and great. In high school, everyone called her a princess, and when this one really adorable boy asked her to prom, he gave her a tiara and did it really cutely. Nicole deserves things like that to happen to her, and she looked absolutely gorgeous when she went to Prom with her princess self. 

Nicole is super-photogenic. Just see above for proof: ^

Misery loves company, and when I am miserable, I often choose Nicole as my company. She is sympathetic and hilarious. When I complain to her, I feel better. She makes me laugh. She is great.

Nicole has come to visit me in Utah many times, and we always do such fun things when she does! The first time, we went to the Bean Museum and took funny pictures. We went ice-skating and to Bridal Veil Falls. It was wonderful having her there :)

Now that she is at BYU-Idaho and I am in Provo, she comes to visit more often. I always try to plan fun things when she visits because I want her to think I am cool, like her! Nicole is always fun to do stuff with because she is so funny and always makes me laugh. Besides which, she loves my friends, and they love her, so we all get along great. 



Nicole is someone who is dependable. I love her because if she says she is going to do something, then she does it! She is also really nice to have on road trips and at movie nights because she is comfortable to lean on, and she is nice about it.

 

Nicole has style! In high school, she would often wear pajama pants to school. It stressed my dad out a lot. He would sometimes work himself into fits as he imagined his daughter going to college without knowing how to dress herself. But he needn't have worried, because Nicole gracefully rose to the occasion. She now dresses SO cutely and so stylishly. She has about 30 cardigans. She wears cute boots and scarves. She is cool.

Nicole is who she is, no matter who she is interacting with. I love this about her, and I'm pretty sure that's one of the big reasons why she has so many friends. She's not trying to impress anyone by being someone else, and people love who she is, so there's no need to, anyway.  

I love doing photo shoots with Nicole because she always makes them so funny! This picture (above) is from this last Christmas. My mom wanted pictures of all of us with our baptism quilts. I think it was cold outside and that's why we were all doing those faces? Maybe? Anyway, Nicole's makes me laugh every time I see this picture :)

Troy Toy was one of our favorites of the pest control boys from summer 2009. I mention him because it was funny to me how Nicole interacted with those boys. She would sit with them in the living room, making friendship bracelets and talking about all her boy problems. They loved her, and Troy wore that friendship bracelet for a long time after leaving us. 

Nicole is a great travel buddy. She is so good at directions, first of all, so that is super-handy. She just kind of has an innate sense of direction. Sometimes it fails her....like when we tried to go to New Jersey and ended up nearly in New York at 5 in the morning, searching for a hotel we hadn't planned on needing. But that wasn't her fault, and I loved having her in the car with me, because she was so fun, and she stayed awake with me. 

I don't know if you are aware, but Nicole is a superhero. She even gave a speech at her graduation about it. 

Nicole loves DC. She was a nanny here last year, and she got to know the city pretty well. She integrated herself into the "Moms' Club." She figured out the Metro. And then, at the end of her term as nanny, she brought all of us to DC and took us on a "Tour d' Nicole," where she showed us all of her favorite places. We loved it!

I can't even really get over how great Nicole is. She keeps getting better and better! I love being her sister :)