The Waning of My Motivation

At the end of every semester I start to get really ansty. Usually it is the combination of being burnt out and getting excited to leave Provo...this semester is no exception. Right at this very moment I have about a billion things that I should be doing instead of updating my blog; for example I have a response due for my Southern Baroque class tomorrow and I just can't bring myself to write it. It doesn't take that long, it doesn't challenge my brain that much, I just plain don't want to do it. I finished a beastly twelve page research paper on Monday and I just haven't wanted to do anything since then! I think someone should find a cure for laziness. I would pay big money for it.
On another completely related but altogether unrelated note, someone asked me the other day why I did not like Provo. I could not articulate my answer and I found that flustering. I have always assumed that everyone just understood my disdain. Here's what I have discovered as my reasoning: (keep in mind that I am not insulting Utah as a geographical location, okay so maybe I am but I understand that it is a fantastic place for some people and I am grateful for the opportunities that are here. BYU is a good school and I have gotten a good education but Utah is not the place for me as I will soon dicuss...)
1. Intolerance. Provo has this knack for excluding anything that could be construed as uncomfortable. Example: There was an exhibit of Rodin's sculptures that came through. There is a beautiful sculpture called The Kiss. It shows a beautiful moment between a man and a woman. It is in no way explicit, pornographic, erotic, or any other negatively connotated word you would like to fill in...BYU would not show it. Intolerance.
2. Lack of museums. We all know that Springville is a gem for Utah but after you walk through a couple of times where else am I supposed to go?
3. It's cold. I know, whimpy reason but I really don't like the whole back and forth thing that the spring does, if you're going to be cold, be cold but if you are going to warm up one day and then the next day dump snow on me I will be upset, and hate you
4. Conformity. Everyone here follows trends. I suppose that is the nature of people my age but here it is even worse because they put a spiritual spin on it. Even the people who are trying not to conform are conforming in their inconformity. Please, just be your own person, do us all a favor.
5. The most illogical logic I have ever heard. Example: I heard about this couple who were going to get married in the temple. Their parents did not like either of the fiances so together they decided if they got pregnant their parents would have to be okay with it...yeah...
6. I feel a physical weight lifted when I leave Provo. I don't know how or why this I feel this way but you ask Brit or Anne and they will totally back me up on this one, it's the best feeling, it's like coming up for air.
7. Over-achievers. Oh man how they abound here. I went to the temple at 6:30 am. It shouldn't be busy right? Wrong! It was the most crowded I have ever seen. Too bad half the people there had already been to the gym too.
I will agree that I chose to come here knowing full well what I was getting myself into but man am I ready to scoot!

Man Cards, Scooping Poop, and Killing Babies

I am in the throws of the semester. It never ceases to amaze me just how incredibly busy I can become and then it amazes me even more to think of the things I make time for. I was recently discussing "man cards" with someone. I was not aware of their existence but apparently they do. I have decided and several have concurred that I am now the proud owner of at least one man card...why you may ask? Because I, little petite me, can drive a bus. Not only can I drive the bus, but I can parallel park it too.
As for things I have found time to do this semester scooping poop has become one of them...not literally. We define scooping poop as being able to hang out with someone without needed to have a specific purpose for hanging out. The story stems from 4H...apparently my friend had a pig and her friend called and wanted to hang out. She responded that she had to scoop the poop from her pigs pen and her friend was really excited to help...thus scooping poop.
I am in my advanced writing class this semester and it is my least favorite class. Apparently we all have sentences in our writing that we love...they are our babies. Somehow when we write them we fill intelligent and witty. Sometimes those sentences are just not necessary. Those babies have to be killed. I have carried this over into other aspects of my life; we all have babies and mine are being killed. Sometimes it is a slow and painful death but it has to be done. So in short you should get a man card so you can scoop some poop and kill your babies. No really.

A Celebration of the Birth Fame

This last week was my birthday and it was fantastic. It included Indian Food...so delicious, a sushi plate from Color Me Mine, giggles with my roommates, a trip to Grandma's, a DELICIOUS chocolate torte (as evidenced by the photos), a flash tribal dance party, breakfast with Vienna friends, lunch with my favorite friend, a happy birthday duet from my parents, and even a jog! All in all I would say it was a fantastic success!

Tender Mercies

1. The Priesthood, I know I said that one yesterday but today it was totally and completely applicable. My roommate was sick and needed a blessing and bam our home teachers were here within minutes.
2. My home teacher, he cleaned our kitchen last night and noticed we were out of soap so today he showed up with soap when he came to give my roommate a blessing.
3. Wit, I am so grateful for this classy humor.
4. Other Cultures, I love them
5. Chicken Rice Soup, makes any cold day and upset stomach better.

Gratitude...

I have been slacking...
1. The Priesthood, I cannot imagine a world without it and it truly is the power of God
2. My Stake President, I don't know him personally but since hearing him speak he is my hero. He is a dentist but he and his wife travel around doing dental work in third world countries...like I said, my hero
3. My Patriarchal Blessing, how many churches allow you to have your own personal scripture? While yes it is short I literally possess the Book of Camille, so cool
4. Hymns, in my mind they are the quickest and most efficient way to communicate things of the Spirit
5. The Temple, I am so blessed to have one so close and it has made me feel like a child at home in the Lord's house
1. Art, I love it, enough said
2. Books, how priviledged are we to know how to read and to have access to so many books?
3. Women, I know that men are son's of God and I love men too but there is something so divinely lovely about women
4. Animals, I totally have a soft spot for anything cuddly and covered in fur. I love them
5. Health, I have been feeling so much better these past couple months and it makes me so happy
1. Sunshine, It snowed yesterday and I was actually okay with it but there is nothing like the sun bursting through the clouds and warming up your face
2.BYU, I sometimes curse this place and have not particularly cared for it but I am grateful to be here and there really are opportunities that I would not get anywhere else
3. Chips and Salsa, weird I know but they are a snack I can eat and I do so frequently
4. My Divine Heritage, I love the truth of being a daughter of God...so amazing
5. Christmas, I cannot wait to be home with family and friends to celebrate all that is good in this world

I know you are all dying to hear about my life...

Ha ha. No really you should all be completely intrigued and fascinated by my amazing life. I cannot believe it is the middle of November already! Life this semester has flown by...I was thinking the other day about when I graduate (which is not until April 2011) I was thinking THAT IS SO FAR AWAY! Then I realized how fast this semester has gone and it provided some relief, it should be here before I know it.
Anyways, life update...School keeps me extremely busy, let me tell you I miss the pace of SVU, BYU is so incredibly fast and all consuming which I suppose is good for me on some level. I have started my own business and while it is not generating enough income yet, I really love it. I have been cleaning for some mothers around Provo and it is super fun to help them and get to know them. All of my clients thus far are delightful, I really enjoy them. Plus how cool is it that I am my own boss? I can say "oh, I own and run my own business..." I really only have 3 or 4 consistent clients but they don't have to know that right? I love my major. I totally picked the most classy and most amazing major EVER. I know that some of you might be thinking, my major is pretty cool but does your major have art history themed pumpkin carving parties? Do they get together and eat and watch movies because its cold outside? Do they go on field trips to Spiral Getty? Do they have classy exhibit openings with cheese platters and fancy drinks? Yeah, I know, we are awesome. I also love that our apartment is social; people actually stop by! This is the first time I have experienced this at BYU and it makes me so happy. I love it! I am getting to be a very proficient cook. We are eating some pretty delicious stuff, for example, on Tuesday we had wild rice stuffed acorn squash...delicious, and classy. Anyways my life is grand.
In honor of Thanksgiving I will be posting 5 things a day that I am grateful for. Here it goes...
1. My parents, they are so delightful and I love them dearly.
2. Brit and Jessica, two people in this world that are just my people, I know that maybe I should be more broad because there are a ton of people I love but these two are just so close to my heart and always in my thoughts
3. Beth, my sister is amazing, she is such a good example of everything a mother should be and her daughter is so super cute, and how many sisters do you know that pay attention to their sister who is ten years younger?
4. Vienna, there isn't a day that goes by that I do not think and dream about my experiences there. I truly love everyone that I met there and I loved that I could cross so many of the to dos off my list!
5. Vegans, soy butter, tofutti sour cream, hemp ice cream, soy pudding, almond milk...mmm delicious

My Orca Will Kick Your Orca's Trash

And by ORCA I do not mean the giant sea mammal also known as a killer whale. So every year here at BYU the Office of Research and Creative Activities offers research grants to undergrads. They are a BIG deal. No matter how you look at it getting one is a win win situation...you get MONEY, it looks AMAZING on a resume, and I get to work with my FAVORITE professor. I applied for one last year while in Vienna and was sorely disappointed when I did not receive it, traurig. Not to worry though, I applied again this year and pretty sure if I do not get it, the reader is smoking crack, and that is against the honor code. Here's a little tasty snippet of this fine piece of writing...I know it may be boring to you but trust me, it's awesome.
Importance of Project
This project will provide an interdisciplinary examination of religious texts for young children written during Germany’s colonial period. By examining the rhetorical and visual devices that conceal a politically charged agenda, this study will attempt to identify the implicit beliefs that shaped the cultural identity of a generation that would grow up to embrace the authoritarianism that fueled two world wars. It will answer the questions of how children’s literature shaped and fostered racial prejudices and it will explore the assumed cultural values that are implicit within a society that had uncritically accepted scientific notions of biological and racial determinism.

and this is the best paragraph...
Main Proposal Body
Numerous forms of media participate in upholding the ideas that shaped cultural and political movements in the colonial era: art, music, religion, literature and political discourses all play a significant role. Within these forms there may be contradictory voices, but we can nonetheless identify trends and prevailing themes that constitute a general cultural consensus that is readily apparent and explicitly stated. By carefully analyzing the various discourses, we can also identify more powerful, but less visible, forces shaping the cultural identity of entire nations—a set of implicit ideas, beliefs or assumptions that are so widespread and so universally accepted, that they inform all discourses in a given culture but are rarely, if ever, stated outright. Thus, all texts (in the broadest sense of the word), even those that seem to comprise a culture’s most politically innocuous genres, have the potential to be complicit in upholding paradigms of imperialist expansion and racial domination. This project proposes to offer one of the first explorations of colonial literature for children under the age of ten, by examining a series of religious picture books entitled Missionbilder mit Versen für Kinder (Images of the Missions with Rhymes for Children) published in Berlin in 1904, at the height of Germany’s colonial period. Coincidentally, 1904 also marked the beginning of the Herrero wars in the colony of German Southwest Africa where the German Colonial troops eventually exterminated over 60,000 African natives. Children’s literature, which fosters cultural norms and shapes a child’s national and racial identity, offers a glimpse into the implicit cultural mindset and pedagogical agenda of a nation on the verge of genocide.

Now I know that some of you are thinking...huh? But this is amazing stuff and so fun to talk with my professor about! Anyways, it consumed my life for a good week and I am pretty sure it was worth it. Look out Shamu...