Un-Do List

Things I did NOT accomplish today:
-writing the thank you notes I need to
-addressing fundraising letters for this little trip
-laundry
-applying for a few more scholarships for next year.

However, I was able to:
-make a dozen homemade bagels (they were delicious)
-make a pizza to use up some leftover pizza sauce
-spend some quality time with the roommates
-listen to the words of some inspired leaders at stake conference and at the CES fireside. (L. Tom Perry is my hero).
-meet some new people and laugh...a lot.

Oh well. There is always tomorrow.


ps: two of my favorite women in the whole wide world are coming to visit me this week. and I couldn't be more excited!

I officially have too many blogs

And apparently not enough to write about.

I apologize if you expected this to be inspiring or beautifully written or poetic.

Today is just a typical day, full of the ordinary.

But I'm completely okay with that.

Life is still busy.

And complicated.

And sometimes stressful.

And exhausting.

But it's still really good.

Anyway, I started another blog.

To tell you all about my adventures this summer in El Salvador.

So check it out, if you're curious what I'll be doing.

feeling the pressure

Literally

and

figuratively.

I always seem to get sick (and feel pretty awful) for about a day and a half. After which, I feel completely fine. But oh, that day and a half is a nightmare.

Especially when I have two media law papers due on Wednesday.*

And a short story to finish.

And a birthday present to buy/get/send to my little brother.

And finals coming up in less than 2 weeks.

All I want to do is take NyQuil and sleep for like 48 hours.

Mental explosion meets sinus pressure equals major fail at life.

*all day today I kept thinking it was Wednesday and it was stressing me out. majorly.

one fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl

Jack: Maybe you should let somebody help you out every once in a while.

Melanie: Definitely not. I've got all of these little balls up in the air. And if somebody else caught one for me, I'd drop them all.

-One Fine Day

Today I feel like I'm barely keeping all the little balls from crashing to the ground.

And I wish I knew how or who to ask for help.

I need a mental health day.

Or a good old fashioned Saturday.

A day to curl up in many many blankets (because our heat is not working right now), make a huge mug of hot cocoa, and watch a silly movie that will make me cry and laugh in the same hour and a half.*

*As my friend Clark pointed out, 90s chick flicks are the best. I agree. Am I old enough to say things like, "they just don't make them like they used to.."?

**On another note, I liked One Fine Day so much that I taped it when it was on TV and still have an old, worn out VHS copy with commercials. Maybe the plot is incredibly unrealistic, but I don't even care. Maybe it's not. Maybe you can meet someone on the worst day of your year and things could turn out alright. And this song is half of the reason I love the movie.

all we can do is keep breathing*

As I took a precious moment (or 20) to blogsurf this afternoon, I read this post from Zen Habits.

I love that blog.

So much of what they say just hits home.

After reading that post, I went to this website (because it was mentioned in the post).

And now I want to buy this book.*

I love books.

I wish I spent more time with them.

{I know this is in my control, and that I just need to prioritize better, and make time to read, because I do have a whole 16 or 17 hours while I'm awake each day.}

Anyway, I feel like I've been swimming through the past month. Like I'm still barely holding on to getting things done and not falling behind.

I don't feel behind.

I'm caught up.

But I'm just barely caught up.

I'm barely getting through each day without falling asleep in all of my classes or neglecting any major responsibilities.

So really, I'm fine.

But there are so many things I want to do.

I want to read AdAge every morning.

I want to skim through the pages of the New York Times and feel like I know what's going on in the world.

I want to have the time to write blog posts that are creative and stretch my verbal capabilities, instead of to do lists and posts about not having time.**

I want to do yoga, and go running (for once in my life, I actually want to go running).

I want to eat breakfast sitting down.

I want to have time to do my hair in the morning, instead of pretending I'm enough of a granola to let it air dry and have it look fabulous every day.

I want to not fall asleep reading my scriptures every night.

I want to take advantage of all the blessings and opportunities that surround me.

The funny part is, I'm not unhappy.

I love my life.

It is so full of wonderful, exciting things.

It's just that, sometimes, it's a little too full.

So, for tonight, I'm going to tidy up my room.

Eat my dinner slowly.

And remember to breathe.

image via weheartit

*Have I already bought myself too many birthday presents? {Landon Pigg "The Boy Who Never", Food Rules, and Let the Great World Spin.}

**Ironic???

***Ingrid. Yay. Love her. Also, she's coming to Utah on October 26th. Any takers?

Suitcase Heart

Loving these lyrics by the Weepies:

I held so many people in my suitcase heart

That I had to let the whole thing go

Sometimes I stretch myself too thin.

I try to be everything to everyone.

And end up losing myself and what I want.

Because sometimes it's okay to care about what I want.

And to sometimes put myself first.

Because if I don't take care of myself, how can I do anything for anybody else?

So out of the crazy, hectic, wonderful busy-ness of this semester, this is what I want:

-to create a decent start on my creative portfolio (and maybe compete in YoungGuns?)

-to get rid of a lot of stuff that I just keep lying around my house. Simplify.

-to make some good habits: eating less sugar and more vegetables, flossing, reading for fun

Anyway.

I love my life. I really do.

I am so blessed with so many opportunities.

But sometimes I think I need to relearn the lesson of Good, Better, Best. :

We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.

I think sometimes I have too many good things in my life, and I neglect a few of the "Best" things.

So this semester is going to be another semester of learning. Because that's what education is about.

Not just books.

Or tests.*

It's about life.

And learning how to do it right.

*like the one I need to be studying for right now.

manifesto for the school year

"Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength."

-August Wilson

There are some things I feel like I've slacked on this summer.

Not that this summer was a failure.

Not at all.

But I feel like I was just so busy and caught up in the many things I was doing (good things, mind you), that I lost a little bit of who I am.

Just a little bit.

I slacked off a little bit in some things that are important to me.

Just a little bit.

This is not me ragging on myself or moping about the past.

This is just me recommitting to a life I love.

A life that is full of passion and character and a few blue recycling bins.

A life of living the principle that less is more.

And that books and music and writing and good quality entertainment are not a waste of time.

That these books mean so much more when I'm not half-asleep.

That playing is just as important to my health as working.

And that learning is a privilege, not a burden.

So I'm going to unpack the boxes in my room, and figure out what to keep, what to get rid of and what to put away until I decide how important it is to me.

And recommit to loving the life God gave me. And remembering what is important.

image from this fabulous girl

I only wanna break break oh break break breakdown.

To do list for this week:

Stay alive.

Keep breathing.

Learn to juggle.

image via deviantart

The massive, annual, hopeful, probably too long, list of summer goals:

Books I want to read/finish (at least a few of them this summer...):

-Finish Zorro

-Finish Deep Economy

-Michael Pollan's Food Rules

-Let the Great World Spin

-Finish the Alchemist

-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Concerts I want to go to:

-Ryan Star...it's this Saturday, so...not likely, but it would be awesome

-Carbon Leaf..next Monday!

-Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (in September)

-Twilight Series (concerts, not vampires)? Beirut?

Movies I want to watch:

-Karate Kid

-He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (for like the 4th time...but oh well)

-Letters to Juliet

-Adam

-The September Issue

-Coco avant Chanel

And...

-make enough money to pay tuition in the fall (car wash? bake sale? garage sale?

-continue to work in the adlab

-go to the farmers market

-eat all the bing cherries I want

-make a batch of freezer jam

-make a loaf or two of semolina bread with basil butter

-really improve my rumba, so when gold latin auditions come around...

-eat less cheese

-learn a few more phrases in French or Italian (besides "Je ne comprends pas" or "Parlo un po' d'italiano")

I'm making a goal to read something every day. The newspaper, a book, Ad Age. Anything.

And you can hold me to it. In fact, please do.

image via vi.sualize.us


"what you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. it will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you. fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

- pedro arrupe

Much Ado

I found out from one of my favorite New Yorkers, Miss Meg Fee, that Provo is doing Much Ado About Nothing.

June 11th and 12th.

Outside.

FREE.

My favorite kind of theatre.

Who'll go with me?

three oh clock

thoughts and wisdom I have gained thus far this week:

six hours of sleep over the course of two days isn't enough.
it is possible, but not preferable, to write three papers in two days.
seriously considering skipping all my classes and sleeping in the war memorial room all day.


hope you aren't procrastinating everything in your life!

from this stage I can tell that she can't let go and she can't relax

January 15th*, here I come.

I'm getting ready.

I'm pooling my resources and drawing from what I've learned and letting my creativity incubate.

If I can't show you anything else,

let me tell you this:

I want it.

I really want it.

And I'm willing to fight for it.

*The deadline to turn in my Advertising application.

image via deviantart

Pretty Please

I'm in an Advertising class.
We're doing a project.

You can help: do this little survey, and I'll be forever grateful!

thanks a million :)

Love you all.

To Do:

-read 4 New York Times front pages and take a quiz before midnight tonight.
-Try not to stress about all that I have to do tonight/this week.
-finish watching "Doubt" with Katie.
-read many, many articles about early American Christianity and respond.
-FIND A JOB (preferably, that does not involve food unless tips are also involved)
-sleep, eventually.
-do my foxtrot critique for my dance class.
-keep practicing how to not stink at using computers.
-finish reading Ch. 5 and study for Advertising; Test #1: Thursday.
-practice the few chords I know on the guitar.
-eat food.
-go to many, many hours of review sessions/study groups/team meetings for Advertising BEFORE Thursday.


...and yes, I'm blogging. Oh boy. It's gonna be an interesting week.