Hey Jude

Check out my friend Becky's blog for the cutest video of an asian baby singing The Beatles. WATCH IT!

It's under Becky II

Fortified

Instead of doing my French homework, I decided to blog. 

Sunday after church we decided that our living room was too clean. As if. But that's hardly the point. We built a fort! It took over the entire living room. It was cozy and VERY warm. We set up the computer and watched Casper the Friendly Ghost while we ate a variety of snacks that included, rice with peanut sauce, apples, ice cream, candy corn, caramels, chips and salsa, crackers with either peanut butter or honey, juice, cookie dough and much more. We decided to christen our fort with the moniker Den of Gluttony. It was true to it's name. After Casper we watched The Office and several episodes of How I Met Your Mother. I finished crocheting a hat for Becky. It's not my best work, but it's pretty cute. We all felt quite sick by the time we crawled forth from our fort, having pushed our stomaches and flattened out bums to the limit. Worth it, I think. We built a fort! 

Also, I cut Paige's hair. It turned out pretty nicely. 

Sqaw Peak

Up Rock Canyon you can hike four and a half miles to Squaw Peak. It's the actual peak for which the Squaw Peak Lookout/Makeout place. It's not the same. Anyway, it's a nine mile round trip hike. It's moderately difficult and absolutely beautiful. The two above pictures are the view of Timp from the top of Squaw Peak. Last Friday Hilary, Paige and I hiked it. It was my third time hiking it. I love this hike. This past time we didn't start until after 5 so by the time we reached the summit it was dark and very cold. Also, a cloud settled in and we descended through a cloud for the first half hour. It was just cold and wet. We made it home by 930 and I was thoroughly chilled. It was a wonderful hike, just as it always is, plus I feel so accomplished when I hike that. I see Squaw Peak every day and think "Yup. Been There, Done That." Here are photos from the three times I have hiked it. 

Hike 1: Dalton and Me. Early June.

Hike 2: Patrick and Me. Late September

Hike 3: Hilary, Paige and Me. Early October.

Why Try?

I'm what you might call a Jack-of-all-Trades. I can do almost anything I set my mind to, but just barely adequately. I can knit, crochet, sew, sing, dance(ballet), play piano, cello, guitar, ride horses, play tennis, cook, write, paint, draw, etc. But I'm mediocre in all these areas. I used to fancy myself a good student. Straight A's. Even in advanced classes. I got into a fairly good school on grades alone. And here I am, a mediocre university student. My mom tells me I'm smart, and I know that comparatively, I am, but I am so tired of being mediocre. I do not excel in anything. I used to use my excellence in school as a comfort for my mediocrity in all other areas. Now I can't even have that. And I know that I don't try as hard as I possibly could, but I never had to before and I'm not used to it. And in keeping with tradition I do moderately well, I don't exert myself and I get pretty good grades. They aren't usually up to my standards but I have learned to deal with that. This semester I am taking a history class. I absolutely love it. I never miss a day. I read the assigned material and take notes, which is a big step since I never take notes in class. Today was the midterm. I studied. I went to the review session. I studied more. I never study! Ever! And I studied. I learned the material. I know it. I can talk for hours about all the things that I have learned. I was very, very prepared. The test was easy. I knew almost all the answers. There was only one question that I didn't know. There were only four that I was unsure of. I never feel so confident in tests. I finished the 100 question test in 40 minutes and I was almost skipping out of the testing center. Then I saw the Scoring Board. 86% Somehow I missed 14 questions! How did this happen?! I was much too prepared for this test. I was much too confident in my performance for this to be true. I did that well on my french test which was much more difficult. How could I do so poorly?

When I try I'm mediocre. When I don't try I'm mediocre.  Why should I try then? I'm sick of being mediocre.

Plus, I can't get my skin to clear up to save my life. 

Le Week-end

Boy was this week end crazy busy, and yet it seemed so long. Wonderfully long. Let's start with Friday.

Friday: I had early morning class and then a french speaking lab and then french class. But at 1 I was finally done! I ate lunch and changed my clothes and went outside to spray paint my bike. It was the first time I had ever used spray paint. I painted it from a tacky pink color to a lovely dark green. It took forever, but it was the first really nice autumny day so I didn't mind. 

 

Friday Night Becky and I hung out with her friend Macord. I made a very delicious cake and went to Peruvian food with Hilary and Paige, and stayed up way too late knitting. Haha. I sure know how to party.

Saturday: I slept in and it was lovely. I had to work two shifts today, but it was raining and I was so happy for the cool weather. My shifts weren't bad and I was fed. But BEFORE I left for work, like immediately before, one of our bathrooms was flooded by at least 3 inches of water from the toilet. Oh goodness. We called emergency maintenance and they said they couldn't be here until maybe monday. What kind of emergency hotline is that?! So I had to leave for work and let my roommates clean up the "Poop Water" without me. Oh how sad I was to miss out on that. We also intensely cleaned the apartment and now it looks wonderful. I did homework when that was done and I went to bed early. 

Sunday: The big day. I woke up early and watched conference on my computer mostly by myself. I noticed that knitting while watching conference really helps me focus on what is said. How sad that I can't focus if I'm not multitasking. If I try, my brain wanders as I "listen." I did some homework when the first session was over and then Lauren asked me to wax her legs. Poor thing. She was in so much pain. But the end result makes it so worth it, and I know she agrees, since now she asks us to feel her legs every 15 minutes. Right after that I was going to leave to go to Rock Canyon and pick some leaves for my center in Preschool this week. We're making Autumn Masks. :) But as I got into my car I noticed something was amiss. Tell me what you think:

Pretty bad. Apparently my front end was WAY more out of alignment than I realized. Oh man. Luckily, Becky had a wonderful friend who came to our rescue and helped remove this tire. In the process a bolt snapped in two. I need new tires.

It was a tough job. And definitely not a clean one. 

When that was finally over we did end up going to Rock Canyon. The foliage was incredible. Almost indescribable, and the camera in no way did it justice. I have nothing more to say. The pictures will attempt to convey what we experienced. Heavenly Father, who can compare to thine masterful paintbrush?

After this, which was so beautiful that it was almost too much to bear, we went to the Rock Castle behind the Mental Hospital. It was so lovely I was near tears. On our way back we saw an apple orchard, we stopped to steal some. They were delicious. Provo looked so beautiful today. BYU looked lovely in the sunlight.

After all this Paige made us a delicious dinner. Then we settled down to watch my favorite Halloween movie of all time Hocus Pocus. I knitted away and after a few months of intermittent work, I FINALLY finished the scarf I was knitting for Lauren's birthday, which was on September 27th. Happy Birthday. Wonderfully long weekend. And now, another very busy week to follow.