Rise and Shout! (takes on a whole new meaning now)

What a game...it was pretty crazy intense. Thanks to Andrea and Nate who had extra seats in the student section and little to no quams about breezing past the "security" asking for all sports passes, we had some amazing seats! So there were some pretty loud moments in the marriott center-one of which is linked above...seriously, i don't know what henderson was thinking would happen if he tried to pull that in the marriott-i mean...come on, you've just made thousands of enemies in one second. It was ridiculous how loud it got and how quickly-I began to see how mob mentality works, haha. Just pure rage in the student section. I hope he's a senior cause it will SUCK for him to come back in the Marriott center in the future-we're talking heckling up the wazoo.

Anywho, mom watched on tv and said that it was amazing how loud the crowd was at times-and to think if everyone came to every game they could all be that exciting...but never as enjoyable as beating utah 8)
The coach was driving us crazy-i think he was on the court more than some of his players-he just would not get off the court and the student section kept chanting "Give him a T" everytime he started to cry to the refs-argh, sooo theatrical, no wonder Henderson got all emotional and hot headed-look at their coach.

We came out victorious in the end and my voice is waaaay tired 8)

good times in the ol' library

one year older and wiser too...

Today was a good day. It's ridiculous how fast this week is going by and the end of it is just going to go by faster cause it's even more full than the first half with girls night out tomorrow night with marla and kassidy, racquetball with dad friday night, and the utah game saturday night.
I got an A on my sightsinging pace test which made me happy. It was funny, I was talking to the teacher-a masters student and she was asking about my major (humanities/music) and if they still offered it anymore- they don't and i explained that I'd already be done but I went on a mission etc. She asked about that etc. and when I got back and I told her a year ago (so weird!) and finally she asked me how old I was. I told her and she was all: whoa, you're older than me. This was weird to me too cause she just seems older-maybe cause she's my teacher and she looks older and is getting her masters already and is engaged (tho i know that is no indication of age in provo), but yea...a full year younger than me...weird. You know sometimes I'm tempted to feel like I havn't accomplished much with my life yet when I look at people like her- young, already doing masters, and soon to be married-and consequently going off to moscow for some music conference thing, but the feeling doesn't stay around too long. I'd never trade my life with anyone else's in a million years. Though it may seem small or imperceptible to others I have accomplished a lot so far and I'd never take back my mission to be further ahead in school etc. I wouldn't be me if I hadn't gone and the perspectives on life, experiences, and growth that I gained from my mission are priceless-I coudln't have gotten them another way.
anywho...just musings. I'm happy I'm me.

typo in the last entry- it's jillian's baby blessing-i'm just soo used to sabrina being the baby 8)

some pics and updates

And who said staying up insanely late mindlessly checking up on blogs is a waste of time?! I would have not seen some of these great pics from xmas break that mom had posted-I mean, we're talking days before I prolly would have seen them. I really need to get that sidebar thingy that lets you know which blogs are most recently updated....anyone know how to get that feature? I know you do cause half of you have that cool feature on ur blogs-I know, i've seen it.

So with no further ado some pics from our xmas break/sabrina's baby blessing 8)


o yea, quite the talkative ride to oklahoma, haha


BRAUMS!


I had dropped my fries and was sad...



This is when I had my snuggle session with the kids and learned that Breenie drools....a lot...

everyone except Eric


Just because I can 8)


still glowing over gilmore girls

Let the wild rumpus start

We went and saw this last night at the dollar theatre and....I liked it. I've heard negative reviews which is to be expected with movies that are more out there, but I really appreciated what the director was trying to portray. AND if you really wanna be picky-it was pretty loyal to the book in that the pictures were pretty connected to scenes not to mentiond direct quotes from the book as well. I mean, obviously the book is pretty surface level and all we know is he is sent to his room for being bad etc. and the movie took that string and ran with it. It was just really interesting the issues it raised with anger and the process we go through-when our tempers flare but it was interesting to see max at the end of it-being more of the adult in the group and realizing that he needed home and family despite how difficult it is etc.
anywho, if you didnt' like it-i strongly urge you to watch it again and look for the deeper issues it's dealing with/portraying. It was also cool to see the relationship with carol and EW and how it seemed like max's relationship with his sister etc.

Anywho, off the soap box now-tho, i understand if it's not someone's cup of tea-it is pretty wrenching at some parts-showing ugly sometimes uncomfortable truths/sides of ourselves etc.
off in a bit to a fireside...

Inside all of us is a Wild Thing

Hilarious! -thanks marls

10 Signs You Should Unfriend Someone on Facebook:


Ditching your B-list online pals has become such a huge pastime that the New Oxford American Dictionary officially named "unfriend" the "It" word of 2009. Here are some reasons to kick some so-called friends out of your social-networking life.

1. She's a firm believer that you can learn a lot about your health from your bathroom habits — and has the status updates to prove it.

2. You've only met him once but he "likes" everything you do on Facebook. Uh, stalk much?

3. You're pretty sure she doesn't wear her dress and veil everyday, but the girl can't stop posting pics from her wedding two years ago.

4. He changed his relationship status to single instead of breaking up with you in person.

5. One word: Farmville.

6. She might not be on The Biggest Loser but for some reason she wants the entire world to know what she had for lunch, how many miles she just ran, and when she is sweating it out at the gym.

7. She has a photo album of your days as a teen beauty pageant queen, a scanner, and a passion for tagging.

8. EVERY WORD HE WRITES IS IN CAPS AND USUALLY FOLLOWED BY TONS OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!

9. "So-and-So added you as a friend on Facebook" is the most you've heard from him in 10 years. Now that you've accepted the request you still haven't connected.

10. Offline you call her Mom.

The suck zone

Tonight was soo great! I was trying to think of how we could do a themed night with watching twister (one of my all time favs and inspirer of one of my many dreams as a kid-to become a storm chaser). But I couldn't think of anything...i mean, what dessert is connected with tornadoes etc...and then Nature stepped in and gave us a crazy wind storm- seriously, I knew our apartments weren't the best quality but this is ridiculous-i mean it sounds like someone is vaccuming/blow drying their hair constantly/high pitched whistling through our doors etc. It created the perfect mood to watch twister and gave our otherwise lil tv some cool surround sound.
I'm gonna go lay in bed now and listen to the wind howling outside
8)

i'm not gonna lie we're a good lookin' apartment 8)

kersplat

so crazy story...apparently it's hard to make a good landing when sky-diving...who knew. So Eric has been training to certify in sky-diving so he can join some secret team group thing that i know nothing about and today on his third jump he landed off and broke his lower leg-both bones. Yeah....yikes. So he goes in tomorrow around noon for surgery (and i thought i would be in pain for my dictation test, but i guess he gets the cake). So keep him in your prayers and hopefully he'll be able to recoup quickly and this won't terribly hinder his future plans-who knows if he'll be able to jump again with the weak leg.

Sufjan Stevens brings nostalgia

I'm in an interesting mood tonight and not in a bad way. I just find myself having this sweeping view of my life so far in my mind. It's kinda cool and I think it's the closest I'll come to the feeling of watching a movie based on my life. Not a bad feeling, reflective. That's why I like Sufjan Stevens. His music just puts me in this nostalgic yet content sort of space and yet I only discovered him after the mish....well ok, on the mish cause sister king had a christmas cd of his and I fell in love with one particular song and couldn't wait til p-day just to listen to it. Can you tell? The hardest part was the music restrictions for me on the mish-like life without color 8)
I'm excited for the future. I can't really explain it but...every now and then I'm blessed with these lil impressions that things are going to work out, life is going to be good, and it's gonna be one cool story. I don't mean that in an egotistical way-I think everyone's life can fit into that description-you just have to have the right perspective. I used to and sometimes still feel self-conscious about the validity of my major/future plans etc.
Just a lil while ago I was talking to mom saying: I'm capable, smart-ish, can do anything I put my mind to, so why couldn't I have wanted to be a doctor or something that has a very clear, obvious, career path?! Why is it that the one thing that truly fills me with passion and joy (humanities: art, music, etc.)is something very abstract and not obvious when it comes to making money from it etc. It would just be so much easier to pick a logical/safe profession (tho, what profession is safe these days). Not to belittle those majors that are more mainstream and lucrative-i mean, if that's what you enjoy all the power to you-consider yourself lucky.
Slowly over time though i'm coming to realize or at least feel that for whatever reason my path may be different than the majority and that's not something to begrudge or fear. I shouldn't feel insignificant when I get the blank or puzzled look when I tell my major to someone-and I know they're thinking...."and what will you do with that?" I'm not 100% sure yet but whatever it'll be it's going to be good. I'll be happy, and it will make a difference/be important. I'll look back and be so glad that I didn't listen to the masses and studied what I was passionate about.

Here's to tomorrow

So I'm excited for tomorrow-i enjoy looking forward to so many things of late.
Tomorrow is going to be great because I'm gonna get all my homework done which is exciting and always makes me feel good and then it's off to Ogden randomly. I haven't been there since....what...winter semester freshman year?? something like that-went with heather and i'm excited to see this place again:

What do all of these things have in common?

Only I know and I'm not tellin'
8)

Welcome to Memory Lane

Wow..........wow.........hm..........
one year. one full year has passed....and I thought time on the mish went by fast...soon the fact that i served a mission/or how long ago I got back will never come up in conversation because who talks about something that happened over a year ago??? at least not in initial convo.....sad day....

I'll never forget that last day/leaving...President talking to all of us sisters and telling us to give every guy at least one chance-haha, we laughed and thought to ourselves: i can think of situations where we shouldn't do that but whatever.
President driving us to the airport and seeing us through everything-having to a pay a BUT load of money for us to get our bags out-sure you can bring in anything to Russia but taking anything more than 25 pounds out you get nailed with charges-no way out of it. Then President stood at the security check point and shook each of our hands saying "I think we'll see you again sister Richards" and I handed my documents to the surly gaurd who i realized wasn't intimidating but just looked bored with life-that's when i realized how far i had come from the first day in russia-i wasn't afraid anymore.
It was so weird sitting there with Annie and Marla waiting for the plane in a big open room with everyone else. Moscow was insane as usual-dragging our bags and cramming into a bus to get to the other terminal with everyone highly frustrated with us but at this point we really didn't care. I remember feeling so heart broken that I wouldn't be immersed in this beautiful language again-it had become so normal and comforting to my ears (never mind the fact that I would never be able to speak it as beautifully as they did). We took off three times that day (from Rostov to Moscow, Moscow to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Houston) and I cried everytime. (granted, it was just a few silent tears but have you ever tried crying loud in an airplane? Awkward!) I def cried the hardest when we took off from Moscow-could really feel the full impact of leaving Russia, wondering if I'd ever get to go back... Randomly enough there was a steward(male worker) on the plane who reconized us and came over and started talking to us asking us where we served etc.-was a member so that was fun.
I love the Atlanta airport-it will always hold happy memories for me. The workers were sooo nice. I remember dealing with culture shock in an opposite way-being so taken aback when people would just smile at me for no reason.....who does that?! and they of course were all calling me darlin' and sweetheart cause it's the south and it was just really overwhelming to have so much love from everyone. The guy checking my passport was cool too- and said: "so you're headin' to H-town huh?" I was so excited and said; "Oh Yeah! Sugar Land" he had been there once and talked about how all the houses were the same-red brick land etc.
Of course Atlanta was hard too because that's when we had to split to our different gates to go home. That was so weird....I mean we had been together for so long and we had never been alone in 1.5 years (i mean, don't get me wrong i enjoy being alone it was just a shock at first). I remember all the people were lining up at the gate and we were all hugging goodbye and Annie started crying which set the rest of us off and they stood waiting for me to board the plane and everyone was looking at me out of the corner of their eyes prolly wondering what is with this girl-it's not like she's saying goodbye to her boyfriend or something.
After that it's all a blur-getting in to Houston and seeing the fam with their lil sign/balloons etc. Man it was so weird...glad I don't have to live through that transition again 8)
I'm not sure if i've accomplished everything that I wanted to in the first year but so many good things have happened to me that I prolly dont' deserve so I must have done something right. A great job that bulked up my savings over the summer, good grades in classes, healthy and happy family, great roommates, and Cody-a wonderful caring, hilarious, spaztic, thoughtful boyfriend. Let's see what this next year brings...

Rain Rain come on down-I won't complain I won't even frown

Every now and then again I need a good storm. I start to get restless if there's a long stint of similar (particularly dry) weather. It's like....the vibrancy of life seems to dry up along with the weather and I like my life lush, vibrant, and rich-not dried-up and....crispy....
I just need a huge down pour-the kind that hits your car so loud that it's hard to hear the music and you have to turn it up...the kind where you can't tell the difference between the rain coming down or the rain bouncing up from hitting the ground so hard. The kind where you have to turn on the headlights cause it's that cloudy. Yep, that's what I want. Those huge dark blue-ish green thunderheads rolling in and filling up the sky and the wind picks up and you know it's coming soon.
It's just such a good release and... cleansing....yea that's a good way of describing it. It's just so dramatic-but a good dramatic, a natural drama that is satisfying and some how I feel like my energies/emotions are tied up in the weather so it's a release for me too....like i'm storm from x-men.

Rain on my hopes
Rain on my soul
Rain on everything that I know

sigh.....

alas it's not meant to be in this dried-up valley and these pics will have to do:












I remember we were going on a long trip to utah back when we were in the station wagon. Back when kids wouldnt' wear seatbelts at night and make beds on the big back seats/on the floor depending on the pecking order. I remember we were somewhere in the midwest and it was late-just me and mike and dad were awake. I lay in the back seat in my bed of blankets and was looking out the window and then all of the sudden in the distance there were bright flashes as a lightening storm broke out. With every flash I could see the huge clouds in high relief that up until then had been completely invisible with the dark night. I remember being so fascinated watching this beautifully violent storm and yet it seemed so quiet and peaceful off on the horizon too....good memories...

some random musings

"...What is life? A frenzy. What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a fiction, and even the greatest good is small. The whole span of life is a dream, and dreams themselves are nothing more than dreams."
- Calderon "life is a dream"

I've been reading for my spanish baroque class and it's been interesing so far. We've talked about skepticism and the role it played in Spain in the 1600s and how we can see its affect on the arts etc. Skepticism is basically pointing out the fact that man knows nothing because all that we "know" is attained through our senses which do not always show or display reality as it really is and so we can't trust it. For example they always use the sun to illustrate this point: how the sun looks like a small sphere in the sky but we know that is not reality-that it's actually gigantic etc. Thus we can't trust our eyes to show us reality and if we don't know reality how can we gain knowledge etc. I even read about another movement that branched off of the skeptics that went as far as to point out that we can't even say that man knows nothing because that implies knowledge-us knowing that we know nothing. They later go on to point out that in order to receive any knowledge from our senses we have to apply reason to the things that we are sensing.
anywho, it's just interesting to think about.
Last night was the perfect night. GREAT dinner-carrabba's caeser salad, delicious jamba, watched pirates of penzance on a niiice system with my fav spaz, and some great conversation.
and it's on to tonight's activities which will be just as amazing- route 22, F6 (well not everyone but a lot of us), cody and some werewolves played as it should be played!

shown at the beginning of my film lab-absolutely hilarious!

77-73................................BOOYA!

Yes yes, take THAT you old unlv fans from the mountain conference finals back in 2007-yea you know what i'm talking about and it's been a long time coming!
(ok, only sara would know what i'm talking about but she knows). We were at the finals in vegas (byu vs. unlv) and there were two VERY loud VERY rude unlv fans behind us (not to mention they were like in their late 40's-50's i mean... come on)and finally now I get to watch the cougars beat the rebels-yes!

Needless to say it was great way to end the night....well ok, i can think of a few better ways ;) but still!

Well I'm not sure i'll get my reading done for film tomorrow but we'll see-it's sad too cause it's totally interesting and I wanna read it, just not enough hours in the day. A curse on the TA's head if he tries to do a pop quiz the first day of lab!

.....and on that cheery note 8)

ARGHH!!!!!!!!

Why am I SUCH a scatter brain-why?!
for the love....so monday i had my capstone humanities class on spanish baroque stuff and we needed to read a small book by today. Well my book hadn't come in yet from half.com and so I asked the teacher if I could find it in the library. he said that I prolly could-or could online as well and then offered an extra copy of a book that we would read from for friday's class. So I took him up on it and while he was giving me that he said, well if you can just read this small book tonight and get it back to me tomorrow I can loan it to you. I said sure, took it home and promptly read it and had it in my backpack all of today but today's classes were all jammed together so there wasn't really an opportune time to stop by his office and then after my last class I rushed home to meet cody at five and TOTALLY forgot to bring it back to my professor. I remembered at 6:30 and raced back on campus but of course he wasn't there and emailed him apologizing profusely and left it in his box but don't want to leave campus just yet cause I offered to bring it to him where ever he is if he needs it tonight and don't want to have to come back on campus to get it if that's the case....
DANG IT!
I mean....he's a really young seemingly chill teacher and I just looked it up online and you can easily read it online so it's not like he absolutely couldn't prepare for tomorrow's class but I feel so bad! I just hope he emails me back soon just so i know what to expect-so i can gauge if he's mad at me or if it's no big deal to him etc otherwise going to class tomorrow will be very awkward/uncomfortable. Man I do NOT need to make an enemy out of my capstone professor-he needs to like me dang it.

sigh....I hate it when people have a reason to be mad at me but I don't know if they are or not....
(other than this lil hiccup classes are great-have already been to them all and though it may be stressful at times I know I can get through them.)

20 hours in counting...

Leave it to me to have a REALLY productive last day of break. I bought most of my books online-I know i'm way behind with this concept but up until now i always got em' from the bookstore but MAN it's so much cheaper online-totally worth the wait. I can get by for a few days without my books. Then I applied for next year's scholarships-this past semester was prolly my best as far as grades go so hopefully I'll get my scholarship back (fingers crossed). Then it was off to the mall to get my hair done. The hair salon is always an interesting place. I sit waiting for my dye lady and listen to interesting and thought provoking conversations such as: "Ooo girl you have to try such-and-such drink- it's cranberry juice,vodka, and whatever else and man you will just dance all night long!"
snoooooooooore........
and then there's the pressure of talking a lot with your stylist-but generally they want conversations as seen above-not my cup of tea...er...vodka....so it generally goes like this:
so are you studying or working? (they're actually wondering if i've graduated high school yet)
um...i'm just home for the break-headin back tomorrow.
Oh, great-where are you studying?
BYU-have you heard of it?
no.
um...it's up in Utah.
how do you like it?
here's where i make some sort of witty joke about freezing/getting used to winter there. etc.


and there you have it.

off to finish a game of rook!