Touched

I have a secret confession to share...

I may be slightly addicted to SYTYCD.  For those of you who are not fans of hashtags and acronyms and the last eight years, this is So You Think You Can Dance.

However, I am pretty selective in my SYTYCD viewing habits.  I never watch auditions.  I hate how many commercials there are and how you have to watch the awkward dancers as well as the good ones.  If there is a good audition, they will show it again, so I am not worried.  I also would much rather watch it once I have recorded it on my parents' DVR or on hulu as opposed to on tv...again, too many commercials (do you think we can start a letter writing campaign to fox about the horrid ratio on their station of commercial to tv viewing time?)

But I digress.  What I was really here to tell you is that I have a secret love affair with SYTYCD.  In fact, sometimes I watch that instead of doing my homework...and yes, tonight was one of those nights.  sssssh, don't tell my teachers...

This is one of my favorite dances from season 8.  I always LOVED watching Melanie dance, and this dance of hers happened I THINK on the top twenty episode, though if i am wrong, then you can let me know.

I was blown away.  Literally blown away when I saw it the first time.  It still touches me every time I watch it.

There is something so magical about dance.  About letting your soul speak to the audience through your movement.  This is hard to do when you are at a live performance, and I feel like it is even harder to catch if you are watching it on TV.  So for me, when I watch this piece, I am blown away not only by the fact that it moves me deeply, but by the fact that it DOES move me deeply.

I firmly believe that we, as human beings, are here to be touched.  To see the hand of God in all aspects of our life.  And when I can feel my Heavenly Father reaching out to me through something I see on TV that isn't made by the church, it is another evidence that we are all brothers and sisters and that we all have the light of Christ within us.

And so, I bring you "Turn to Stone" danced by Melanie and Marko.  Be touched.

A Day-Changing Song

Have you ever had one of those days that just...suck?  Where you just hate the world and everyone in it, yourself included?

I like to think that those days don't come along very often.  That generally we are a happy-go-lucky kind of people.  That I am a happy-go-lucky kind of person.

However, I know for a fact that those bad days do happen.  That I get down on myself and that I don't like the way that I look or that I feel or whatever.  That I hate how I reacted to someone at work or that I forgot to do my reading for class.

That's when I turn to music.  I feel like there are very few things that can instantly turn my day around, but there are certain songs that can.  This song is quickly becoming one of those day-changing songs.

It started when I had to drive to my brother's fiance's bridal shower last Saturday.  The weather was terrible, I was freaking out about sliding off the road, and then this song came on.  I had never heard it before, and honestly, I fell in love!

Then, I heard it again earlier this week when I was getting ready for the day as I was listening to the radio.  It was a great way to perk up my day and help me get excited about everything that I had to do.

Now, I listen to it over and over.  It seriously makes me feel so GOOD about myself!  I love it!!

I really hope that this Britt Nicole girl knows how awesome she is for making this song.

And now, I bring you "Gold" by Britt Nicole

A New Adventure

I know, guys, I know.  It has been far too long since we have been on an adventure together.

But now we are embarking on a new one together.  I am taking a Media Family something something class for my major here at the good old BYU (yeah, yeah, I'm still here, laugh it up as much as you want).

As part of that class, we are supposed to blog twice a week about something in the media that has influenced us in some way.

Soooo, that is what I will be doing here.  I may also be blessing you with short anectdotes about my life.  If you want my real life story, go here instead.  That's where all the deep thinking happens.

Today, I want you to ponder...The Gilmore Girls.  I will probably talk quite a lot about this show over the course of this adventure because of the monumental impact that it had on my life growing up.

This is one of my favorite moments from the show, hands down.

I have always loved the dynamic between Jess and Luke.  And this, to me, is THE BEST moment between them.  They struggle to communicate, they struggle to get along, and so, in desperation, Luke simply shoves Jess in a lake.

One day I will do this.

Uuunghrhhrhgh

Why yes, that is the sound of pain.  Why you may ask is it a blog title?  Because lately it is the theme of my life. Am I in pain tonight?  Yes I am...I decided to eat an amazingly delicious dinner...mmmm sooo good... but I have failed to learn the lesson that my body is trying to tell me.

What is this lesson?

Food=Pain.

Lately, it doesn't matter what I eat.  Food=Pain.

I miss the days when I could eat food and say, hey, I am lovin this moment here.  I was born to be a curvacious girl and I have loved it.  I love food.  If I could, I would marry the person who invented cheesecake.  And ice cream.  And blackened chicken pasta...man, I'd have a lot of husbands.

But now, food and I are waging one epic war.  Not a war like my dear friend Celeste, who is battling an epic battle against lymphoma.  No, she wins hands down.  I have no right to complain about my health woes...she wins.

I'm just sayin...I'm in a food fight quite literally.  Ask anyone, my stomach makes the WEIRDEST noises.

And so tonight, as I sit in my room and try to study, I mumble uuuunghrrhhhrhhrhrhghghghghghg  and listen to my intestines reply "gurglebubblebubblegurglemoaaaaaannnn."

It's a weird place to be my friends. weird.

Old Spice

I love the smell of Old Spice.  For serious.  It's like the smell of amazing and attractive man and happiness all wrapped up in one.  So what have I done about this love?  Bought myself Old Spice Deodorant (it's the Fresh scent in case you were curious) so that I can smell amazingattractivemanhappiness all the time.  Oh yeah.

Best part?  Here's what the back of my deoderant says: "Contains odor-fighting 'atomic robots' that 'shoot lasers' at your 'stench monsters' and replaces them with fresh, clean, masculine 'scent elves'." Find me a lady deodorant that can do that.

Pause

Sometimes I wish that life came with a pause button.  Like on the days when the weather is perfect and you just want to slow down and enjoy it instead of studying or working or doing whatever this crazy life of ours requires of us.  Or on the days when everything goes wrong and you just want to find a hole to crawl into, pull yourself back together, then face the day again.  Next time someone decided to create days, they should consult me as to how they should work.  Because a pause button on life would be fantastic.  Not to be sacrilegious or anything...just sayin.

Targ-et

I don't know what it is about Target, but I adore that store.  If a person could date and marry a store, I think I would pick Target.  I love all the shoes I ever buy there.  It was THE store we shopped at on my mission because you could get everything on your shopping list in one stop.

But tonight, Target and I almost had a falling out.  Target DIDN'T have what I needed.  A couple of the things that I needed.  I was disappointed.  I felt like Target was cheating on me in our fake-dating relationship.

Then I remembered it was a store and I went and checked out.

Don't worry Target, I'll be back.

Running Errands...

I learned something very important about myself today.  I should never be allowed into a store alone.  Because when such an event happens, I inevitably end up spending more money than I had set out to.  Take today for instance.  I left the house knowing that I had to pick up two prescriptions at two different stores.  I left home with these plans, knowing exactly where I would go first and what I was going to look for.  Then I walked inside store #1.  And later walked out with 1 prescription, chapstick, hairspray and some new lotion for my face.  Do I really need any of these things right now?  Maybe, if I talk to myself long enough about it.  

On to store #2!  I was DETERMINED to just walk in, go to the pharmacy, and walk out.  But I got inside and remembered that the zipper on my winter coat broke.  And so of course, I went off in search of a new coat.  And didn't LEAVE until I found a suitable coat, mind you.  Sigh...one day I'll be focused long enough to just buy what I set out to get.  Until that day...anyone need chapstick?

Handcart Experience

I had a handcart pioneer experience the other day.  I was making my now usual trek from Provo back home to So Jo and when I started I was feeling okay, tired after a long day at work, but okay.  But, as my drive went on, my stomach and I became engaged in a battle of epic proportions.  By the time I was on the freeway and northward bound, I was done for.  I wanted nothing more than to curl up right there in the drivers seat of my car and sob for the sorry condition that I was in, the pain that I was feeling and the awfulness of everything.  Enter traffic.  Sobbing continues.  Life as I knew it seemed to be ending.  And then I remembered the handcart pioneers.  If they could pull a handcart through the bitter cold, snow and deprivation, then I could drive my car through the senseless stop and go traffic up the freeway to my home.  So I did what they did.  I started picking landmarks.  "I can make it to that billboard, then I'll pull over and call my mom."  "I can make it to that big green sign then I'll stop and rest before driving some more."  "I can make it up this gigantic hill THEN I'll call my parents and ruin their date night.  I'm sure they'll understand."  "I can make it past Ikea, then I'll call someone to come get me and my car."  And somehow, folks, I did make it past all those billboards, and green signs, up that hill, past Ikea and to my home.  Granted, it took some effort to finally make it OUT of my car, but I did it.  And I think I'm stronger for it.  I'm sure some of those handcart pioneers were there in my car with me cheering me on for the effort I was making to make it home that night.  Could I have called my parents?  Sure.  SHOULD I have?  Maybe.  But I wouldn't have grown like I did.  So in a way, I'm glad I didn't...

Life Changes

This week I have:

Started a new job which is really my old job but still it is a new job

Driven to and from Provo like every single day

Registered my car so I could park it on campus

Gone shopping for my dear darling mother's birthday and christmas presents since my dad is now scared of all shopping ventures

And only had one melt down.

It's a good week.