Haha

Dear girl sitting next to me in the polka dot sweater,

You are dozing in class. Your nodding off and head bobbing is greatly amusing to me. Your ever so slightly noticeable snoring/heavy breathing is tolerable. However, you crossed the line when you put your head on my shoulder. I don't really make a good pillow. And, I don't even know you! But no worries. Your embarrassment at what you had done more than makes up for the uncomfortable weight you placed on my shoulder.
Thank you for the laugh. And, maybe go to bed a little earlier?

Haha,
Natalie

p.s. I even considered taking a picture of you to post on here, but I decided that would be too mean. My apologies for thinking about it.

- Posted from iPhone

Two quick things before I go bust out a ridiculously long review sheet.

1) I am done filing taxes! Booyah.

2) I got a 92 on my stats test.

Thank you Chili's for helping me celebrate that small, yet important victory on a normal Wednesday night. Now back to focusing (with some blog stalking mixed in).

Oh to know...

Hands down most valuable thing I've learned in my 4 years of college? That the more I learn, the more I realize I have yet to learn.

I guess we all really should be life-long learners.

And I also need to have better study habits. Like maybe actually taking notes in history instead of blogging. But Señor Brown is just oh so blah. No offense to him, of course. I just cannot pay attention today. So blogging it is.

- Posted from iPhone

two balls or three?

So this girl brought her son to class today. I think he is maybe 1? 1 and a half? Doesn't really matter, I guess. He is so stinkin' cute. And of course I can't pay attention now when he is sitting on the ground next to me making the funniest faces. It makes me want one of my own.

But then, he gets up and starts running around. And falls down. And starts crying. And I realize I really don't want one right now. Especially because I still have to go to classes and stuff. Poor girl. She's a saint for juggling classes and a baby. Literally. Juggling.

I can't juggle. I was never good at it.

celebrate!

Guess what I discovered last weekend?
I am this many classes away from graduating:

1

2
3

4

5

6

7

8.

Only EIGHT classes away from finishing my undergrad. And now I am feeling relieved/ excited/ nervous/ stoked/ enthusiastic/ hopeful/ determined/ scared/ comforted/ and astonished all at once. Is that even possible? Must be, I guess....

P.S. I have SENIORITIS like crazy.

hasta luego.

I'm disappearing for a week and a bit. I have 4 muy difficile exams and lots of stress. So much that I can't sleep at night because I worry too much. In order to eliminate mucho time wasting and procrastination, I'm not getting on the facey or on here until next week.

Farewell until then. I hope I make it back.

Please and Thank You.

Yes, the WEATHER was a chilly today. And yes, I was wearing shorts. AND sandals. The cool brisk 37 degrees of chill outside in the morning cannot deter me from avoiding the fact that the snow season is coming up. However, I dressed for the high temperature of this fantabulous October day. Not the morning one. So, now it is quite pleasant outside and sandals and shorts perfectly suit me and this balmy 54 degree weather. Please and thank you, I would like one, just one more day to have the opportunity to put both feet into sandals - not one in a sandal and one in a cast, thank you.

ALSO, I would like to formally apologize to the guy who sits next to me in math class. Yes, I have had a cast on my legs for almost 6 weeks. Yes, it is quite, quite hairy as it is next to impossible to shave it -trust me, I tried. It is probably more painful for me to look at than for you. Perhaps you dislike the fact that the amount of hair on my leg is competing with yours? Or the fact that you are so captivated by this phenomenon that you cannot focus on the chalkboard or what the professor is saying.

However, you Sir, may celebrate come class time on FRIDAY. I will be rid of this cantankerous thing. And then, you are free to stare at our moustached-and-portly-enough-to-resemble-Professor-Slughorn-from-Harry-Potter-professor and try to decrypt the mumbo-jumbo of scribblings on the board that by some MIRACLE translate to be the lecture for the day.

I, on the other hand, will celebrate by shaving off a piece of me. Or many pieces of me. And I will wear sandals one more time.

On my honor?

Do you remember the days when giving your word of honor actually meant something? When your word of honor was a BIG DEAL. When contracts were sealed with a handshakes and a promise was all it took? With no contracts, no lawyers, no signatures anywhere in sight. What happened to those days? Will we ever get them back? I wish.

Now that I am a "grown-up", apparently the hardest distinction to make in the professional world is the one that separates these two things. 1 - What we have the right to do. and 2 - What is the right thing to do? They are not always the same.

What happened to morals and a code of ethics? Maybe if we all had honor we wouldn't need a Board of Ethics to help us determine what is right. Apparently now we get to choose between 3 ethic 'approaches'.

1 - Focusing on the end result --- "what's going to happen if I do this?" or aiming to maximize good consequences instead of bad ones.
2 - "science of duty" --- doing what we feel we ought to do.
3 - Acting on the kind of person you want to be --- developing into a 'virtuous' person because of the actions you've already taken.

I'd like to thank Karl G. Maeser for having a word of honor, and keeping it. And saying this quote that makes everyone else want to keep their word of honor:

"I have been asked what I mean by my word of honor. I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls-- ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground - there is a possibility that in some way or another I will escape; but stand me on a floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of the Circle? No. Never! I would die first."

I don't want to close my eyes..... 'Cause I don't want to miss a THING.

I love college.

For lots of reasons.

But right now, I love it for this one:

Sometimes it is a good idea to take a break from studying.... and go stalk someone. And it is still as fun as playing cops and robbers or hide and seek back when we were in the third grade.

EVIDENCE of our success?Boom. Roasted.
Good thing Sadie is a cool cat and is totally fine with the fact that we just stalked her and Bryce. Even though she doesn't know us. AT ALL.

Also, the fact that there is a guy sitting behind me in linear algebra doing his homework in the back of the class with his ipod in. TURNED UP SO LOUD EVERYONE CAN TELL WHAT SONG IT IS. First up on the shuffle-di-duffle list, "I don't want to miss a thing" -- definitely got everyone's attention. A little Hilary/Haylie Duff combination came up next. Then some Enya. Now a little Micheal Buble.

I'm just waiting for him to start singing out loud!

But this is definitely making math go by faster than normal. Hallelujah.

I ♥ college.

I hate to brag, but this is like a 100% on a math test that gets put on the refrigerator...

So you know how in high school there were times when you didn't really have to try and you were still smart? (I'd like to thank my mother and father for passing on the smart genes!) And you just had a blast because classes were full of your friends and you played sports after school to stay entertained? Weekends were about fun and not finishing leftover homework? And the only really stressful part of the year came from finals and AP exams? Yeah, those were the glory days.

Then you get a bucket of ice cold water in your face which locals around here call COLLEGE. Imagine the one smart kid in all your high school classes who knew ALL the answers. Then think about 30,000 other kids who were the brains of their high schools. Put them all together and you get BYU.

Classes here are HARD. All of a sudden I feel really really stupid. You still have the same old smart kids who still know all the answers. And you look around and wonder if you are really where you should be. How did they get the email with the answers and you didn't?

EXCEPT, today I got to be one of them. I got to taste the elixir of fame and knowledge for about 8 seconds. And it was glorious. I got to be the smart kid who gets the gold star next to their name. 8 seconds of the "YEAH, that was me. The teacher listened to my answer and said, 'exactly.' Yes, that is the taste of grandeur right there." And then, only a simple fleeting 8 seconds later, it's gone.

And you are left with a big gaping hole of wondering if that moment will ever come again.
If I have anything to do with it, then it will.

I'm grateful for the ruckus this man caused. It got people to think.

We were discussing this in my ethics class the other day. This was the prayer given by Pastor Joe Wright at the opening of the Kansas state legislature in 1996.

Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. Lord, we know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our fore-fathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us oh God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

A lot of Democrats were offended and walked out of it. He later said, "I did not mean to be offensive, but I don't apologize for the truth. I thought I might get a call from an angry congressman or two, but I was talking to God, not them. The whole point was to say that we all have sins we need to repent - all of us... The problem, I guess is that you're not supposed to get too specific when you're talking about sin."

Type: Reptile - - - Diet: Carnivore

Did you know that the horned toad is not actually a toad? It is actually a "short horned lizard", but is often mistaken for a toad because of it's squat, flattened shape and a short, blunt snout.

To avoid being eaten, short-horned lizards can inflate their bodies up to twice their size, resembling a spiny balloon. And if this doesn't work, some species can even shoot blood from their eyes!

"The ominous squirting blood emanates from ducts in the corners of their eyes and can travel a distance of up to three feet. It's meant to confuse would-be predators, but also contains a chemical that is noxious to dogs, wolves and coyotes."(*courtesy of national geographic. i ♥ NG)

Destruction of their native habitat, efforts to eradicate ants - their staple food - and the pet trade have all contributed to a decline in their population.

.
.
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Yeah, I know. I totally just made your day by giving you random information that you will never need to know. :)

Why can't a skeleton lift weights? --- He's all bone and no muscle.

Question: how many bones are in the human body?
(my hand SHOOTS in the air! pick me pick me oh please pick me!)
Answer: TWO HUNDRED AND SIX. (if it's an adult. children, please add 100 to that number.)

And I've spent the past two weeks learning every nook and cranny of every single one of them.
How's that for AWESOME homework?

This is Cesaer. He and I have grown very close lately. In fact, I devoted two hours of my day yesterday to simply just staring at him. Not adoringly. More like loathingly. Although I love and appreciate how incredibly interesting he is, I would much rather NOT have an exam on him in two days. With every indistinguishable marking as a possible test question. I'd rather love and cherish him from afar - with no exam and no cramming and no tibial tuberosity or sustentaculum tali to worry about. (I will give you a dollar if you can tell me where the sustentaculum tali is without looking it up or asking anyone. *science majors not included.) But as soon as this is over, the peripheral nervous/upper extremity muscles begin.... woe is me.

Dear Cesaer,
As much as I absolutely ADORE you, I am pleased to announce that starting Thursday at 10:00 a.m. MST, we will no longer be together. I'd like to have my life back instead of slowly becoming a skeleton like you.
xoxox, Nat

"Do you like hip-hop? I got an album --- and I never shot nobody."

So sometimes I miss Hawaii. I miss the lazy, dream-filled nights. I miss the random connections we made with the people at the hostels. The people with whom our paths crossed for that miniscule moment in time. I miss hiking around mountains and being inches away from the edge of the cliff - hiking for hours until suddenly the waterfall appears and makes the 2 hours in the rain worth it. Conversations on hotel rooftops. Being in flip-flops and a bathing suit, no matter where or when it is. I miss not having to be somewhere at a specific time. Stretching out on the beach with a book that I don't actually have to think about reading. Hammocks made out of parachutes. Riding on the bus and not caring how long it takes to get there. I miss the friendly alohas and the breathtaking flowers. I miss the sound of the waves.

But then, I come back to Provo and realize how much I've missed the deadlines, and the pressure, and the stress. (I know, I'm crazy. But I secretly love having a semi-fast-paced life.) And the sense of pride. And my bed. And hot showers. And not having sand in every single crevice of my skin and on every article of clothing I own. I missed Grover and being able to drive (not that I'm able to drive now anyways......) I missed face-to-face conversations - somehow texting and phone calls don't make the cut after awhile.

However. I did not and do not and will not miss from both Hawaii AND Provo: grades, offices, big casts on my leg that make me walk 103293483920 times slower than normal, singles wards, creepy old men offering me a shack to stay in, creepy old men telling me about the 14 times he saw Jesus on Larry King, creepy old men telling me how he hates Christians, creepy old men telling me that I could be wife #5, drunk spaniards, $2 value menus, and linear algebra.

On a completely different note, I love BYU football.

♥ ♥ ♥

Today during molecular biology while my professor was discussing the benefits of shotgun cloning in bacterial plasmids and the possible complications of splicing the antibiotic resistant genes, (did you get lost there? I did.) I decided it was time for me to "fine-tune" the details of my life. And what better way to this than to use the wonderfully delicious 8th grade (and 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and college) game of MASH. So amazingly simple. The particulars of my life just fell into my lap.

I'm super excited to let the 4 of you who read this blog know the DETAILS! Just FYI: I just played the basic version - I don't want to know everything. What's the fun in knowing the complete specifics?! I just wanted the major outline. (I actually really did use real names and specific professions.... except that might creep a couple of people out, so I changed them - just to A, B and C and then generic professions. I'd be a bit freaked out if someone wrote about my future on a blog.) Anyways, here are my results:

I will be getting married to Mr. A (♥♥!!) in NY. Mr. A is planning on a future as a brilliant lawyer, who makes approximately $100K. (not bad, eh?) We're going to have a fabulous honeymoon in the dreamy country of Greece. When we finish all our schooling, we will be living in our decadent mansion in the capricious, volatile state of California with a toyota tundra and a honda pilot being our vehicles of choice. I will be working as temerarious race car driver making about $50K from my winnings (ok, and losings) until we decide to start our small family of about 6 children. When we get a little wistful for another child, we'll add to it by getting a dog.

Well, folks, there you have it! My deliciously grand future is now written down. That means it has to happen, right? Actually, I did this twice just to see what the difference was. I will admit, I definitely loved circling some options and was a little heartbroken to have to cross off others.

Most of all, I am so pleased to inform you that I am 98% sure that none of this is going to happen the way MASH told me it was. So in conclusion, splicing DNA will now be linked to a fanciful, fake future, which in reality will never happen. All in all, this was one of the most rewarding molecular biology lectures to which I never paid attention.