a favorite thing

i have many favorite things. maybe it's just my rose-colored optimism, but i've been slowly collecting a list of things that make me happy or bring the lulz. i was hanging out with friends today and was, for some unknown reason, reminded of the Lolcat Bible. back in high school, i was the QUEEN of lolcats (meaning i thought they were a hoot) and i'm still pretty well-versed in internet memes. i read a few chapters out loud to my friends and we cracked up. it's hard to read with a straight face, but give it a try if you can understand it, since lolcats have a language of their own.

The Lolcat Bible was a wiki, collaboratively edited by internet users, but was since published. find it here.

karma points.

do you ever feel like doing favors for other people for no reason? or just for the ambiguous "karma points" excuse? i know i do. case in point: today, i helped a friend move his stuff to store at my house, and helped another friend paint her apartment. both things were less of chores than i anticipated, actually, and were a good way to spend my time.

i really enjoy helping people move because you see them at their most frazzled. the friend who i helped move is incredibly fashionable and very well put together, but you had better believe he was dressed in basketball shorts and flop flops, all of the fancy shoes and ties packed away. we both stood laughing at how haphazardly we had packed his things into his car; golf clubs moved down to the low social ranks of movie posters and lamps until they can be unpacked sometime next week.

the same goes for painting. i admired my friend since i met her this past semester, as she always looks so well put together without effort (maybe the key is her Carey Mulligan-esque haircut). but even beautiful people have to clean their tubs every once in a while.

as far as karma points go, i feel like i cashed in recently, so i've gotta build them back up. my karma-point builders that i do on a regular basis include:

1. Over-tip. I consistently tip 20-30%, even if the service is just all right. An ex once said that I tip like I'm in love with my server. Maybe I am?

2. Let people borrow my stuff. Even if I know they won't give it back. This year, I lost my two pairs of scissors to my residents, and another friend has my favorite movie. DARJEELING LIMITED, COME BACK TO ME!

3. Ask the person who's serving me how their day is going. They're human too.

4. Edit papers for people. This one is for Colin, who will probably never read this.

5. Buy coffee for friends. If they tell me no, I ask three times before I give up trying. Usually they give in and let me buy.

these are just a few, but i think i focus on karma points (just realized "points" is kind of inaccurate as i haven't given a value to specific actions, but whatever! maybe credit is a better word, but that involves numbers too. ugh.) because it really makes a huge impact on me when a friend does something nice for me. a little action goes a long way in making someone's day better.

i'm exhausted, so it's bedtime. i'll post later today.

ok, wow.

guess who has two thumbs AND hasn't updated her blog in a year and half?

this guy!

so here's what i'm gonna do: update you on my life and explain what i'm going to be blogging about from now on.

1. School.
2. Boys.
3. Employment.

4. My mindset and motivation.

First of all, I'm studying Secondary Education-- English at Arizona State University. I'm entering my junior year this fall, and I'm terrified. I'm definitely exaggerating, but honestly, it makes me nervous to think I'm getting closer and closer to a career. I've wanted to be a teacher since I was a little kid, but lately, I've been thinking a lot about pursing other options that address social entrepreneurship and promoting young people to come up with solutions to problems within their communities. I'm also terribly indecisive, so it makes me anxious to think that if I choose teaching, I may regret my choice in the future or may have missed something better.
I was talking recently with the boyfriend (more on him later), and was trying to explain why I hate making decisions. For me, the worst part about having too many options is uncertainty. Not knowing what's on the horizon makes it difficult for me to be operative and objective, make plans, or feel secure. However, with this uncertainty, he pointed out that there is an incredible amount of potential for goodness. Planning and meticulously organizing my life seems like the most beneficial thing to do at surface level, but I feel like I need to invite the relaxed, easy-going part of me to be a little more vocal.

After a series of romantic flops this past semester, I somehow snagged the coolest guy I know. For privacy's sake, he's called Hobbes on the interwebz. We met through the Pat Tillman Scholars group on campus, and he is the smartest, most genuine, and least pretentious person I've ever met. His hair naturally grows two different colors. We like burritos.

So, talking about that social entrepreneurship inkling I've been feeling, I was offered an incredible opportunity I just couldn't pass up. This next year, I'm incredibly fortunate to be the Development Chair for the Changemaker Central on ASU's Tempe Campus. YAY! What is Changemaker, you say? Click http://community.asu.edu/exchange/2011/05/changemaker-central-a-new-hub-for-all-students-to-become-changemakers/ to take a look.

I'm also a Sr. Community Assistant this year, at ASU's Sonora Center. Expect rants about irresponsible freshmen.

The last semester was emotionally devastating for me. I lost so much strength, energy, and internal fire that it was hard to even get out of bed in the mornings. My studies, relationships, and personal interests just became failures, one after the other. Things started to turn around, though, and I feel like a weight was gradually lifted from my shoulders. My counselor was instrumental in helping me learn to care for myself and set boundaries. Endless thanks go out to her. So, here I am. I'm happier.

This blog is going to be a personal one, so I'll talk about my jobs, studies, and things that make me happy. I'm making an effort to blog daily. Let's see how this goes. :)

ordering books and spending time with friends.

last night i had a glee-watching night with my best friend and her mom. after her mom went to sleep we kept watching and ended up pausing the show to just talk. until 3:30 am. HAH. We ended up talking about marriage and future husbands. we talked about how we could sort of envision eachother's future husbands and we made a list for each of us four friends and Alison and I stayed up so late imagining.
i also came up with the idea of making a time capsule that the four of us can open in 5 years that includes pictures, letters, and trinkets. i love the idea that we can preserve some aspects of our lives at a certain point in time and be able to share it with each other. awesome!
i have to buy my textbooks now that i have some money. :/ but school and a fresh start is in two weeks!

love

i just returned from the baptism of one of my very best friends into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. it was really monumental in her life, and i was touched and very honored to be there. it was really beautiful to be in attendance and to witness it along with everyone else there. i am happy for her and glad that she made a decision in faith regardless of whether others approved of it. meagan, i love you and congratulations on your baptism!

dear couple at ASU Chipotle...

don't get me wrong: I love love. I love being in love. I don't care what it does to me. but when you practically make out in line and grab your man's pecs while you're smoochin' in front of me, i do not appreciate it. especially when i am hungry. because you guys making out is gross.

also, when it's 2 pm and someone tells you they get off work at nine, don't say, "at night?!?!" as if they were supposed to have left work 5 hours ago and never noticed. believe me, i know when i'm supposed to get off work and i'm ready to go when it's time for me to leave.

anyways, i had a salad from Chipotle and it was heavenly. yum yum yum. i think i'll get that from now on, actually, since if you use a Chipotle calorie counter, the whole burrito is always close to 1000 calories (without cheese or sour cream). i'm not always so vigilant about calories and whatnot, but DANG that is a crap ton. and the worst thing is that i have an insanely fast metabolism and i'm hungry three hours later. which is NOT good. at all.

long story short, one of my new years resolutions is to make a committment to myself to eat healthier and work out more. by eat healthier i mean: less meat, less salt, less fried foods, and less processed goods like crackers. carbs, i love you, but you suck. and by work out i mean: lose my fat butt. haha.
anyways! do you guys have new years resolutions? if so, what are they?
happy new year and may 2010 be a fruitful and abundant year!

holy moley.

hahahah moley asses. oh, how i love family jokes.
my first semester of college was.....lackluster. it's my own fault too.
also, i was writing my grocery list in cursive and i forgot how to wrote the letter "f". i need to go back to third grade. i had to write it five times. ridiculous. and then i wrote a "f" instead of a "t". isn't that so sad that people forget things like that over time? maybe that's why i suck at college.
i wish i were ambidextrous. also, i cannot find my cell phone in my house. i know it's in the car in the driveway, but i don't have the keys. boo.

i tend to leave tabs open on firefox for days and it is so annoying. i've had this tab open for days, and now i ordered something online and it now has a confirmation number. since i don't have a printer at home (damn me for leaving things in the dorms) i have to leave that crap open. maybe, though. i've never even needed to use those danged codes.

i went to the dentist today and i will just say i love my dental hygienist, Stacey. she is so cute and funny. we talk about how stupid some men are (the ones she dates). my appointment took fifteen minutes longer than my brother's because we were talking so much :)

i made christmas cookies this year, and whenever i make gingerbread, they always tend to dry out really fast and i'm left with thick, stale, and gingersnaps. cookies should be none of those things. also, i am super lame and want to buy a crap ton of cookbooks but never do because i am a broke, cheap college student. so, i went on AllRecipes.com and found the recipe where it was easiest to replace the eggs since i have food allergies.
That recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gingerbread-Men-Cookies/Detail.aspx
these cookies were awesome. five days later, they are still soft, and they are easy to bake and decorate. I just made some icing with powdered sugar and vanilla soy milk, and added Ener-G egg replacer (follow the directions on the box) to stiffen up half the icing to make it easy to frost these puppies. om om om. my friend told me he loved me because the cookies were so good. i'll consider that a success.
also, i tried this CRAZY coffee called civet coffee that is harvested from the feces of the civet cat. the cats eat the beans and don't digest them, and farmers go around picking these whole beans out of this cat poop. Mmm. Anyways, to describe the coffee, it was very very caffiene-charged. It was a straight BAM to the senses. I was wired off just half a teacup of the stuff. It tasted very acidic, but i liked it. Apparently, though, it costs about $2oo a pound. NOT WORTH IT. I took a trip to Fresh & Easy and bought myself some coffee for my dorm. I'm also going to buy myself a french press in about ten minutes on Amazon. i don't drink a lot of coffee, and when i do, it's with soy milk/coffeemate stuff. yum.

i have not posted in a very very very long time and i'm wondering if i should make blogging a habit. we shall see, bbs. i'm wondering if i should do a step-by-step cooking blog? i think that would be hecka fun.

i'm making a cake for one of my best friend's baptism. i'm very excited, and i've never been to a baptism before. even though i'm using a boxed mix and canned frosting (UGH-shame on me!), should i still do a step-by-step? the only reason i chose boxed mix is because it didn't have any milk in it, and i don't know how to hand make yellow cake. this should be a grand adventure!

anyways, this was a huge ramble. ttfn foxy readers!