if i were Catholic, this is what i'd confess:

#1: I wanted to sue them. About 2 weeks ago I opened my little oatmeal packet to a lovely surprise... a huge infestation of bugs and larvae!!!! It was truly the grossest thing of my whole life. What if I had been oblivious as usual and just cooked them up and ate the whole thing??? Eughhh. *note: It was NOT Costco Organic with the bugs in them. It was an brand I will not mention here (cough... quaker...cough...) that I will no longer be eating for a while. My parents say this phenomenon of random bug appearances is normal. I say, I am NOT in Africa yet, and therefore will not tolerate bugs in my food!

#2: I bought a pair of designer jeans. Annalicia made me. But now that I have them, they were worth every penny (yup, all 10,000 of them). Citizens are officially my new favorite denims. And I wear them (almost) every day.

#3: I slept all the way there.

Leesh and I went home for Jacque and Erik's graduation (see facebook for more pictures...), and I literally slept the entire way there. In the car on the way to the airport, on the plane (thank you leesh for your lovely shoulder... and lap), and then again all the way from Seattle to Kennewick. Going home makes me miss my family, and miss us all being together all the time. Sometimes I wish we were all back in the California house just runnin around in the back yard with squirt guns, or cruisin for pajama rides in the Suburban. Growing up is weird.

#4: When my neice was born, I thought she was odd looking. But now she is adorable, so it's ok, right?

#5: I like hosting/attending/watching big parties. I just get this weird high from inviting lots of people over and then being surrounded by all of them. At this particular party (Jac and E-rock's grad party) I knew nobody but family, but just loved walking around and watching everybody. I'm such a stalker.

#6: Large crowds rejuvinate me.

I'd been feelin a bit down-and-out lately, but couldn't quite put my finger on whyyy. We decided to go to Orem SummerFest last weekend, and it was perfect. Being surrounded by thousands of strangers was just what I needed to perk up. There's just something about brushing arms with people you've never met, smiling at babies, and eating nasty fair-food that gets the endorphins pumpin.

#7: Thad is the cutest. And I am going to be a good Jesus-Mommy. I would consider staying in Provo a bit longer in the Fall just to see him every day. I think having him around will fulfill any baby-wanting urge I get over the next few years (not cuz he makes me not want to have a baby, but because having a Jesus-baby makes you forget you don't actually have one). *Note: I currently have no baby-wanting urges within my soul. The only reason I mention this is cuz I hear those start to surface around age 21 or 22. Is this a viscious rumor?

#8: Sometimes I actually think it's funny that he can nevvvvver keep a straight face for photographs. A normal smile? He truly just can't do it.

#9: I'm going to miss my sister bunches and bunches when I leave. In a mere 18 days. And wish her luck. On her Californian adventures.

#10: I am a peacock.

the end.

Ebay Madness

I know that none of this display-of-what-I-bought stuff is interesting to anyone else but probably me... but I'm just so excited about this new addiction that I can't help but show off the goods. So, I've never had an Mp3 player before- no Ipod, no generic version, no Zune, nothing. They've always seemed overpriced, and frankly a bit unnecessary. I never wanted to be one of them walking around with headphones comin out of my head all the time (no offense to those of you who tote around the ipods. really i'm just jealous). Sometimes I like to just celebrate the silence, ya know??

BUT I finally got curious, broke down and searched them out on ebay... which inevitably lead me to an entertaining full scale bid war with some stranger in cyber-space. And the good news is... I WON!!! I figured I'm going to want one for the mega trip to Uganda (umm yeahhh 40 hours in planes and airports. sweet), and it will also be handy to store up pictures and videos. I ended up getting a 30 gig Zune, sleek black, barely used, and coming my way in a short 3 days...

Oh, and thanks to Zune's new unlimited pass options, I'll be able to enjoy ALLLLLLL the music I want (as in any song, any time), at a mere $15 a month. Yay.

eager beaver

Hmm lucky pair #2. Retail: $105 Ebay: $36. Go team.

I almost felt stupid about the accidental 2nd pair.... but then realized that I can't exactly wear the SAME pair of sandals every day for 7 weeks, right?!? So really I just saved my feet and a whole lot of cash, because I got BOTH pairs for less than the price of just one. (yes, as we all know I am an expert justifier. let me be.)

Now let's just pray that they both fit...

the new frontier

I just made my very first Ebay purchase!!!! I have to put my Reef flips aside for a few weeks while I'm in Uganda (because they aren't the safest for Nile rafting and jungle hiking..) UT I need a pair of Teva's and/or Chaco's, which current volunteers say they wear alllllll the time. SO I dove into the online world, and got myself a pair of shiny Teva's.

Retail: $80. My price: $16

I can see how this could become a major addiction..........

(Side note: I also bid on a pair of ridiculously underpriced Chaco's right before, thinking I'd quickly be outdone, and then found these Teva's anyways. Few hours later, and I'm still the highest bidder. 2 more hours, and I might just have myself a pair of Chaco's as well. OOPS. But cut me a little slack, I'm still new at this thing....)

the grand top ten

Latest on the homefront

-Our new apartment is rad, despite the perpetual pile of cereal bowls in the kitchen sink

-Leesh and I live by ourselves (with no narker rooommates) and each have our own rooms... although we end up sleeping together the majority of the time

-We never see Aaron, and he never stays over (that's a lie... he's like our other half. if 3 halves can make a whole...)

-Work is the same. As in I literally do the exact same thing. All day long. Every day. And then talk about DVR's and HBO in my sleep. It's frightening.

-I leave for Africa in less than 5 weeks.

-Leesh and I are going home for Erik and Jacque's graduation this weekend. We leave THURSDAY MORNING!!!!!!!!! Oh how I miss my little hoodlums.

-The above statement is most exciting for the fact that I haven't been outside of Utah since school started in January. That's pathetic. I need OUT.

-Our new ward is intensely friendly. Also slightly judgmental. Weirdo combo, I know.

-Lately Leesh, Aaron, and I fall into these deep intellectual/spiritual/metaphysical conversations on a regular basis and it gets the brain wheels turnin. It's definitely a change from my normal shallow thinking of the past few months, but I like it.

-Obama officially has the Democratic nomination (well you know.. unofficially officially). HELL YEAH.

AFRICA BOUND

OFFICIALLY BOOKED.

I'm more excited than these Ugandan dancers themselves.

Departure: Tuesday July 8th 12:50pm from SLC

Land: Thursday July 10th 2:30pm in Entebbe, UGANDA

with stops in: Houston, United Arab Emirates (guess who's roamin the streets of Dubai for 12 hours?!?!), and Ethiopia.

My life is basically amazing.

Staying a grand total of 7 weeks, so I will return to grand ole America on Wed Aug 27th.

All further Africa-related updates can be found on my other blog, found here. And tomorrow I will make a real update, which may or may not be a cool one. For now I'm going to clock out, and celebrate.

the legend of the laceration

One lovely Friday evening, three friends decided they would go to the Hot Springs up the canyon. It had been a long and busy week, so lounging around in scorching water seemed like a wonderful idea (ok, in all honesty Chrissy realllly didnt want to go because she was struggling with stomach-ache-of-death, but she quickly caved after seeing the excitement on Annalicia and Aaron's faces) ***note, in saying I didnt want to go, I am in NO WAY shifting blame for the remainder of the evening onto any of the other party members.

So they hopped in the truck and drove on up to the Hot Springs in Midway. The picture below is not technically the ones we were at, but is merely a mile away. Therefore, the setting and visual are fairly accurate. They were having a wonderful time....... until terrible tragedy struck!!! Aaron stepped onto a jagged stick and cut his foot open!!! At first we thought it was merely a scrape, so Annalicia and Chrissy slowly made their way out of the water. By the time they emerged, they realized this was serious business. Not only was Aaron's face pale and voice panicked, but there was blood everywhere!!! So we jumped into the truck, and drove to the hospital. Unfortunately Chrissy barely knew how to drive stick, Annalicia had no idea where we were, and Aaron was slipping in and out of consciousness. All in all, NOT the best combination! But have no fear, the lovely 911 operators were very helpful, and Chrissy miraculously drove the truck to the hospital (in record speed) without stalling even once.

They sat around in the hospital for a while... and were all pretty proud to be sportin their scantily clad swimming get-ups. Hmmm nothin like hangin out in the emergency room in your swimsuit! Classy, eh?

What they thought would be a late night in the ER for a few stitches, quickly turned into a whole weekend (slash summer) affair. Apparently that stick was a mean one! It cut a 5 inch gash in the bottom of his foot, and through 90% of his big toe tendon. So the doctors sent them home for the night and scheduled Aaron for surgery at noon on Saturday.

As you can see, Aaron was well taken care of during his time at Utah Valley Medical Center, Room 488. (Sarah and Chrissy actually performed the surgery. If he limps for the rest of his life, it is NOT their fault...)

When Aaron is high, he has a weird fascination with ice. Not only does he like eating it, but also throwing it. Chrissy recieved a few ice chunks to the face, followed by Aaron laughing like a mad man.
All in all, it was a longggggg day at the hospital, and a pretty crazy 24 hours. They finished off the event with goodies from Applebee's, and a new set of crutches for Aaron.

And THAT is the legend of the laceration.