Dirt is good.

In yet another attempt to avoid studying and give my brain some down-time, I recently discovered a commercial about kids. And dirt. And the fact that children have a right to a childhood.

WATCH here.

And I completely agree.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I am a terrible student.
I like learning, hate exams.
Like classes, hate grades.
Love college, hate the stress right now.
Love education, hate school.
And I have 3 exams in the next 5 days.
And it would be nice to have 4 more hours in my day.
But hey, at least it's Wednesday!
And fall is here, so things can't be that bad, right?

Anyways… back to the old grind of studying.

peachie-O!

Sometimes school gets overwhelming. Especially when I have to run like wildfire up 4328954 stairs to get to one class..... and then do it all over again an hour later after another class. Not so much fun.

Especially with one of these puppies on your foot hanging on for dear life like the anchor in the sand:

BUT these make any day better:

Good thing I have a pound of them sitting on the desk in front of me.
Soon to be NONE.

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. :)

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Today, at staff meeting, we discussed some business items and after we finished those, we were shown a powerpoint containing the following:

We were all challenged to make the most of the precious moments we have here on earth. We were also asked to take pictures of these moments - because you never realize the value of what you had until it's gone, whether it is a moment that becomes a memory or somebody that becomes your someone. So I guess I will be taking more pictures from here on out.... I am excited for what life can bring. Even though things are not exactly 'exciting' in my life - just the same old school, work and social stuff - I do want to remember them. And appreciate what I've got.

shout out.

dear little brother,
happy birthday! you are no longer a teenager. you are now the big 2-0. you are pretty awesome. but you are very far away. so maybe can you work on coming home soon? like maybe in a year or so? because i miss you.
love, your big sister

Sometimes my brain works like this:

Estoy agradecido por los ascensores
I am grateful for 我最好的朋友.
I am grato para pais amorosos.
我不喜欢 casts.
je serait aime voir ma maison encore
Je ne peux pas bend my foot right now.
Je serait aime to go running and not tienen un problema con él.
我感谢 sunshine today.
I really do not want to take my anatomy exam.
Knyom sraw-line ne-uh nah