mac 'n' cheese

Step one to feeling awesome again?

Let your sister paint your nails Mac 'n' Cheese Orange while you both watch MK&A. :)

a surprising, punctuated weekend

Friday afternoon I was sitting at my desk when Emily hollers to me from my front door saying that Mom sent us some homemade bread (score). I went out into the living room, and Emily opens my front door further to reveal Rachelle! Rachelle decided to surprise me by flying out for the weekend! It was a most excellent surprise :)

Here's a recap of our weekend:

Emily and Brooke threw me a belated birthday party, punctuation themed of course.


We played Punctuation Bingo


and Pin the Comma on the Sentence.


We also played Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase.


Saturday Emily and I gave Rachelle a thorough tour of BYU campus.


We went to the physics department and showed her the tasteful decorations


and, of course, Nan's giraffe office.


We stopped by the bookstore, where Rachelle indulged her inner Cougar.


We went to the library, followed by a trip to the Sugar 'n' Spice for Creamery ice cream.


We went to Brick Oven, a classic Provo experience, and then watched two movies at Emily's.


Sunday, we slept in a bit and went to church.

Now she's back in Colorado. . . . But even though her visit was short, I loved having a respite from the norm, especially given my unexpected Provo transitional issues.

Thanks for coming out, pal :) And thanks to Emily and Brooke for a ShamStellar birthday party. And thanks to Dan for driving us to the airport to take Shel back. (Now this is getting Academy-Award-esque.) But yeah, it was a good weekend :)

Happy birthday, Number One!

Emily just turned nineteen on Monday. (Back in February, I wrote a tribute to my number one--you can read it here, if you want.) Here are nineteen things about her. She's pretty much amazing. I love her.

1. When we were little and played "The Little Mermaid," I was always Ariel and made her be "the blue one." I think she's recovered from that injustice :)

2. She loves to clean and cleans our house all the time. She even coined the term "Mopping Mondays."

3. She's drawn to domesticity.

4. She has and wears an "I Heart Mom" t-shirt.

5. She introduced me to the wondrous world of Big Gulps.

6. She is the most service-oriented person I know. Regardless of how tired she is or how much she has to do, she will always take time to dust and vacuum, unload the dishwasher, or pick the kids up from school.

7. She has an infectious laugh.

8. She has an unnatural fascination with the ShamWow and all infomercials in general.

9. She's going to be Vince Shlomi, the ShamWow promoter, for Halloween this year.

10. She has a quick and clever wit.

11. She comes up with the funniest poses and has since she was little.

12. She loves Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana, Sonny with a Chance, and Jonas.


13. She's an incredible pianist.

14. She often thinks she's gangsta. Good grief.

15. She's a peacemaker.

16. She loves big sunglasses.

17. She makes funny faces in the mirror. Her signature face is the Paula Abdul face.

18. She talks in her sleep.

19. She can play most Guitar Hero songs on hard and some on expert.

Emily, you have always been such an example to me of spirituality and obedience. You're an amazing young woman with infinite potential. I love you.

You're my number one.

Emily the Sleep Talker

Since we moved into our new house (about five years ago), Emily and I have shared a room, and not just a room, but a queen sized bed. While not my preferred arrangement, the bed is super comfortable, and if Emily's feet come close to mine, I just kick them. One of the perks of this particular arrangement, however, is the incredible conversations I have with my sister . . . when she's sleeping.

She's always been a sleep talker, and when we shared a room before, she'd fight with me in her sleep. And she still sleep talks. Ha.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to bed about an hour after Em, and when I started clearing off the bed, she started chatting it up. She sat up, with her eyes opened (yeah, kind of creepy), and asked me, "Hey is it your turn yet?"

I paused; I smiled; I answered, "Yeah, I just went."

"What number are you?"

"Oh, I'm number 7."

"What number am I?"

"12."

"Oh, did I miss a turn?"

"Yeah, you had to go to the bathroom."

Then she heard John fiddling around on his guitar in the next room (don't ask me why John was playing his guitar at midnight).

"What's that noise?"

"Oh that's the timer. It's Cheyne's turn now."

Then she went back to sleep. Hahahaha.

I love sleep-talker Emily. . . . Except when she shakes me in the middle of the night to warn me about the snake, like last night. I didn't like that so much.

lovely Easter

I have so much to catch up on, so I'll just start at Easter. Maybe I'll rewind, maybe I'll fast forward. Hold on for Charlotte's blogging ride. Man, school has been eating me alive. But I'm still alive. Pretty much. Last day of class was today--ShamWow.

And my Easter . . .

was stellar.

Emily and I exchanged Easter baskets on Saturday night (followed by a Brooke date to dinner at Red Robin and "Bedtime Stories" at the dollar theater)

My basket was awesome, complete with Coke Zero, dish towels, Burt's Bees, a Borders gift card, and more.

Oh yeah, and the creepy clip art.

I gave Emily a couple cute Target plates and glasses, and among other things a super creepy miniature lawn gnome found in the dollar (which has recently been more like the $2.50) section.


Anneli asked me to play my violin in Relief Society, and I had a pretty arrangement of "Beautiful Savior" prepared. I took out my violin to practice the piece a couple more times until I had to go to church, and much to my dismay, my D-string snapped. (Please, please, don't read that wrong. Ha.) So, no musical number in RS. I'm scheduled to play next week.

The best part of the day was going over to Michelle's. We ate dinner, talked, and played Cities and Knights of Catan with Max and Lucas. Lucas is quite the competitor--he completely betrayed Emily at one point in the game. He's ruthless.

The most important part of the day, however, was the opportunities I had to reflect on the Atonement and the Savior. What I love about Easter is that we have the chance to simply rejoice; it's important--essential even--to understand how we can and need to use the Atonement, how to take advantage of its all-compensating power; however, sometimes we need to take a moment and simply offer gratitude and praise for that miraculous power. That's what Easter is--a celebration.

It was a good Easter :)

Conference recap

So school has been so incredibly busy that I haven't gotten a chance to blog about my awesome weekend!

Michelle invited Emily and me over, and we ended up spending the whole weekend with her and her family. Watching Conference is just so much more enriching for me when I watch it with my family; and despite my immediate family living five hundred miles away, I feel such a closeness and solidarity knowing that they are watching the exact thing I am at the exact same time. Testimonies are so unifying.

Saturday night, my grandparents from Canada took Emily and me out to dinner. We didn't know they were planning on coming into town until we got a call from them on Thursday night--what an amazing surprise! It was so great to see them; because they live in Canada, we're never quite sure when we'll next get to spend time with them. Much to my blogger dismay, I didn't a get picture :( It was definitely a highlight of my weekend, though.

Another major highlight was doughnut night on Saturday!! It was Michelle's first foray into doughnut making, and I will testify that she is a born doughnut maker!! Delicious :) We all watched Conference on Sunday and then had Sunday dinner. We played games and just relaxed and had fun together. I had such a great time, and I left wondering why Emily and I don't come over more. And now next semester, Michelle and her family will be in Paris. Blast. (For us, not them :) )

I wish I had more time to thoroughly document all aspects of my weekend, but alas, the clock is telling me that I need to get back to writing my essay exam. (I have been thoroughly unproductive in the school department today.) So here are some quick highlights from my Conference experience:

• Live providently--in such times as these, we need to learn to live within our means, and we'll be okay.
• We need to become acquainted with the voice of the Holy Ghost.
• Obedience gives us greater control over our lives.
• Covenants produce the faith necessary to persevere.
• Our opportunity to face adversity manifests God's infinite love for us.
• If we do all we can to be worthy of the Lord's help, we will have no need to fear.
• Learning lessons from the past helps us build our testimonies.
• Doubt is not a principle of the gospel.
• Prayer will fortify us against temptation
• We should enhance our prayers with song and fasting.
• Nothing but the gospel of Christ gives us a permanent solution.
• We are endowed with the spirit of fire
• Discipleship is a journey--we demonstrate to ourselves the extent of our own faith and endurance.
• We must remember who we are and what we have.
• To those who are alone, feel alone, or are abandoned, remember that Christ experienced true and absolute loneliness so that we would never be truly alone. We are never left alone or unaided, even when we feel that way.
• May we always stand by Jesus Christ, for that is how he stands by us.
• Let's take our thoughts away from our troubles and instead focus on our blessings as members of the Church of Christ.
• If we stay with Christ, there will be nothing that can defeat us.
• Satan desires to make us common, while Christ desires to make us precious and unique.
• Temple preparation should be the focus of all we do.
• Member-oriented missionary work is what will bring success. Our full-time missionaries are trained to teach--let's give them those opportunities by finding them people to teach.
• If we haven't already, we need to make an active decision of whom we will serve.
• We need to nourish our testimonies--they will protect us.

Okay, so those are a lot of highlights--it was just a great conference!!

I'll blog more about my life when I have a minute to breathe.

PS--What's up with Michelle, Emily, and me not getting a SP?!?

Surprise!!

Emily and I orchestrated one of the most stellar birthday present surprises we've ever done. Over five weeks ago we purchased plane tickets for Denver and didn't tell our family, or anyone at home for that matter. We kept it a secret for over a month, practically going insane because we couldn't say anything. It paid off, however, when we arrived at the airport and sent a picture of the departure gate via text/photo message to Mom and Dad.

Mom freaked out, Dad jokingly said we were crazy, we were excitedly laughing in the airport as we waited to board our 9:15 flight. Rachelle picked us up (she was the only one who knew we were coming out), and we pulled up to our house around 11:30 p.m.

It was a marvelous weekend. Most of the pictures from the weekend are on Mom's camera, so check out her blog for a more detailed account of the weekend.

ShamWow, Em and I are good at surprises.

one of the greatest desires of my heart

Yesterday I got a Sunday afternoon. And in my college experience, a Sunday afternoon is almost completely unheard of. I had stake conference yesterday, and so by 12:00 noon I was cruising down Center Street on my way home and not getting ready to jet up to campus as I would usually be doing on a Sunday at noon. I got home, ate peanut butter toast for lunch, and sat down and enjoyed several chapters of Alma.


I napped for a half hour or so, and then Emily and Brooke came over. We made dinner (Parmesan chicken and white rice) to inaugurate my new $3-a-piece Target plates.


While we ate dinner, we watched High School Musical 3--ShamWow.


After HSM3, we made brownies. Below is a picture of Brooke and Emily licking the bowl.


And Emily got a hold of my camera and graced me with this lovely image.


Ah how I love a Sunday afternoon.

my number one

Let me kick this post off with a recent anecdote: Yesterday was a rough day. That intense abdominal pain I had back over break returned, though thankfully not as bad as it was last time. But nevertheless, my stomach was hurting so bad I walked with a slight hunch. To try and mitigate the pain, I subconsciously tensed up my entire back, which made my back ache because it was so tight. By the time I was ready to leave campus, my stomach was hurting even more. Plus my book bag was way heavier than usual because of my computer. Plus it had started snowing. Plus I wasn't wearing comfortable shoes. Plus my umbrella was broken. The thought of walking all the way home--all the way across campus plus the four-ish blocks down 7th--filled me with absolute dread.

Then a thought came into my head--and I know it was the Spirit giving me a solution--that said, "Hey Charlotte, what about the physics van?" Sure I don't work in the physics department anymore, but I know people who do work there, and Emily was still there. So I called, and Emily answered, and I finally started to cry. She was able to drive me home. And then she picked up stuff for me and kept me company for a few minutes that night while I stayed curled up on the couch.

Emily is my number one pal. Without her here, I know this school year would not have been as good as it has been. We see each other a few times a week, and even if I'm not in such a hot mood, she doesn't care, because she'll spend time with me even when I'm not in a great socializing mood. If I'm blue, she understands; if she's blue, I understand; if we're both blue, at least we're blue together.



She's my best and all-time number one friend. I can't tell you how much it meant for me to have Emily drop everything and take me home from campus. She takes me out to lunch on her meal plan every Friday, and if a Friday doesn't work, she finds a way to reschedule. Her acute sense of fashion and style motivate me to make even the most casual of outfits trendy. She's interested in what I do and listens to my grammar tangents. She loves me for me and accepts every part of me. She is such a great example of service, love, and kindness. She makes Provo so much more of a home for me, when my real home is far away.

I love her. She's my number one.

glimpse of a Thursday

Here's a quick glimpse of a Thursday. . . .

• I bought the books I need for my contemporary criticism class. Grand total for today: $109.50. For books for one class. One class. Thankfully I won't have to cough up any more money for books this semester.
• I went with Katie to turn in her graduate school application.
• I grabbed some donut gems and some one percent milk from the vending machines for breakfast before my literature and film class.
• I got to leave literature and film early because we just had to figure some stuff out for a group project; after we figured things out, we left!
• I read more of War and Peace for my Tolstoy class; we're reading War and Peace for the first two months of the semester! I'm looking forward to adding that read to my list of literary accomplishments.
• I hopped on over to the physics department to say hi to Emily and to borrow her meal plan: lunch from the Scoreboard Grill, courtesy of Dining-Plus-generous Emily.
• I went to my magazine editing class. We pretty much decided on a title for our magazine: Whisk. (We're making a cooking magazine--this ShamWow topic must wait for its own post, though.)
• I went to work where I proofread the typeset pages for the next issue of The FARMS Review. Check out this last issue of the Review:
  
  See any particularly awesome name in the acknowledgments? :)
  
  

In about an hour, I'll be headed back up to campus for orchestra, and then I'm going to the gym. This isn't a too exciting post; however, it is a part of the minutiae of my life, so there you have it.

last day of class

Thursday was my last day of class for the semester--YAY!!!! Here was my day:


Instant oatmeal, hot chocolate and scripture study.

Cleaning my computer from a campus-wide USB-transmitted virus.


Hideous editing at work.

Laundry--I hate laundry.

Emily's concert! She was awesome!

It was a good day :) Now I just have to get through finals, and I'll be home free. . . .

a third orchestra concert

Tuesday was my third orchestra concert I've been in at the Y. I love it!! I love playing!! I love being in a fun, non-diva orchestra where my stand partner is one of my really good friends and the conductor is a Ukrainian who resembles a hobbit. It's only one credit hour, and we meet once a week for a couple of hours. So far, I've been in the University Orchestra, which is the full orchestra (not only strings, but also brass, percussion, and winds). Full orchestras are my favorite to play in, but next semester, Erica and I will be in the string orchestra because of scheduling conflicts. I'm still excited though--I love having the opportunity to play even though I'm not majoring in violin performance.

The concert on Tuesday went really well. My orchestra played a Pomp and Circumstance march, a piece by Verdi, one of the Reformation movements by Mendelssohn, the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies and the Dance of the Flowers of the Nutcracker Suite, and the Radentzky March. My favorite was most definitely the Nutcracker selections.

My very first concert (a year ago), Brooke and Alexis came--it made my night! The last concert, my roommates, the guy I was dating, and a couple other friends came. Tuesday night, though, I think I had the largest turnout of Charlotte supporters: Brooke, Anneli, Matt (Anneli's boyfriend), Katie, one of my visiting teachers, Blake, first-date Luke, and my favorite person who came, Emily.

I was SO excited that Emily could come and see my concert: she is my only family member to have seen me play in my BYU orchestral experience, and it really meant so much to me that she was there. She even gave me a big bag of holiday M&Ms that she gave me license to hoard. It's always a bummer that my family can't come and see me perform, but having Emily there made me so connected to the rest of my family. I was reminded once again of how much I LOVE having her out here.

Alas, I didn't get any pictures, but I know Emily took some, so maybe she can get those to me.

I'm glad that orchestra finished up before finals are underway, and I love playing. I love being able to play my violin simply because I love it. I love it that my parents indulged my fourth grade desire and went on to pay for my exquisite instrument and my private lessons. I love it that my family and friends have always encouraged me in my playing. I love every aspect of playing music.

last Sunday's project

Complete with pumpkin bread and Gilmore Girls.


10 days until we're home :)

along the trail to fame and glory

This week was Homecoming Week!! The Homecoming Opening Ceremonies were on Tuesday, and activities took place on campus all the rest of the week. And then . . . the football game on Saturday!! We played New Mexico and totally won. I don't have season tickets, but my friend was able to get me one for Saturday's game.


Um, it was pretty dang freezing. But way fun! The game itself wasn't too exciting, but we did win and kept up our undefeated winning streak. Woohoo! And the best part: I got a picture with me and Cosmo. That's right. My second picture with Cosmo at my time here at BYU.


The other perk to Homecoming Week was the free t-shirts. I donated blood on Thursday and got a free t-shirt, and then on Friday during the lunch hour, Emily and I played a "respect game," told the workers what we learned about "respect," and got a free t-shirt. Score on all homecoming counts.