the post-vacation week

I know everyone says it, but really, I need a few more vacation days after the vacation. We flew in Monday morning, and I haven't been ready to jump back into the thick of it yet. Post-vacation week is always full of rounds of the this-time-last-week game, which is thoroughly masochistic and, for me, inevitable.

This week I've tried to capitalize on motivation spurts so that I can do laundry, make dinner, and even exercise a little. I know. Post-vacation week is kind of weird sometimes. (Side note: I signed up for a Daily Burn trial, which any Hulu watcher will be familiar with. I almost enjoy the workouts. Almost.) I bought several more cuts of fabric on my trip (obviously) and have committed myself to some spring cleaning before I can dive into some spring sewing. My life is sometimes all about incentive.

Tomorrow and Sunday I'll be tuned in to the LDS General Conference, and I can't wait. For an entire weekend I get to listen to great speakers and feel rejuvenated and inspired in facing the daily grind. If you get a chance, you should listen for a bit. It's pretty great. You can find streaming options here. (We stream the conference onto our Roku so we can view all those older guys in high-def. It's the best.)

Before I sign off for the weekend, I'll leave you with a few tips for post-vacation week:

:: have a friend who will provide you with a 32-ounce soda when she picks you up from the airport
:: keep a few episodes of your current binge show to watch when you're feeling blue
:: when you feel a motivation burst, do the laundry
:: make frosted sugar cookie bars
:: text with your mom and sisters about this time last week and feel sad when you need to

I now give you permission to start an early weekend and eat pizza for dinner. Obviously.

instead of packing

I should be packing. Obviously. But I'd much rather be eating Target-brand honey nut cheerios and blogging instead. Again, obviously.

Last night contained the first moment that I saw visible packing progress. You know, that moment when all the boxes full of stuff look like they're actually emptying your home, just as you intended all along. I took down all the wall ornaments, and isn't it fascinating how doing just that one thing can make giant strides in transforming your home into just almost-vacant space?

I've had several podcasts to keep me company while packing, my new favorite being NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. For a TV junkie like me, this podcast is audio delight. I'll often turn on Friday Night Lights while I pack, and isn't Tim Riggins just so frustratingly lovable? Then there's Harry Potter audio, obviously, and when I really a boost, *NSYNC Greatest Hits.

Asher was playing with the dresser drawers this morning and pinched his fingers several times. Every time was oh so sad, and it didn't take me long to realize that he wouldn't stop playing with the drawers any time soon. So I made a snap decision and put him down for a nap about half an hour earlier than usual. And speaking of the babe, I'm overdue for his 10-month post and I haven't even taken the pictures for it. Month 10 has been a big one, folks: we're talking bona fide crawling.

My cereal bowl has been empty for some time now, which probably means I need to get to work and accomplish something before Asher inevitably wakes up earlier than I want. Thanks, blog, for providing such a wonderful distraction.

letting go

The babe and I are jetting to Utah the day after tomorrow, and my lists are miles long (or perhaps it's the laundry that's mountains high?). So tonight I realized that I had to let some things go, like that leopard-print cardigan I so very much wanted to start and finish before the plane takes off at 10:35 Wednesday morning.

Asher's two-and-a-half-hour nap this afternoon helped me immensely, but he'd probably have to sleep all day for me to swing that cardigan, and if he slept all day, then what would my night hold? So, leopard-print cardigan, you'll have to wait until after we return, because I'm slowly learning that willingly letting go is so much better than having it torn from my clutching, over-tired fingers.

Tomorrow I'll pack up my sewing station for a few days and feel 100-percent OK with it. Then maybe I'll have a better chance at actually folding all that laundry.

relationship status: it's complicated

For a few days in December, I thought that I had reconciled myself with January.

But I haven't. Not really. Perhaps our relationship is better than it was five years ago, but it still needs lots of work. I tackled today with a lengthy to-do list, a list that included specifics like "load dishwasher," "run dishwasher," and "unload dishwasher" all on separate lines to inflate my sense of productivity.

I spent the majority of my day in sequin slippers and spent lots of time on the floor with Asher trying to get him to replicate his rolling over feat of the night previous.

Go easy on me, January. If our relationship is ever to move to an enjoyable place, you must allow me some quality Downton Abbey time in the middle of the afternoon. Thanks.

memorial days

I kind of crashed into my weekend. Friday was a frustrating day full of tedious, time-intensive projects and really bad holiday traffic. The only awesome part of that day was that Josh came up to Portland to meet me for lunch because he had the day off. When I got home Friday night I promptly put on stretchy pants, mixed up chocolate cookie dough, and ate the dough by the spoonful as I watched several episodes of Gilmore Girls.

The rest of my weekend was completely delightful. It was full of things like movies at the theater, exotic food, and finding the perfect orange bicycle.

It was full of things like lemon crinkle cookies with our eight- and nine-year-old Primary kids and crepes with the in-laws and Sunday-night visits with these wonderful people.

It was full of things like cinnamon rolls, reading on the couch, phone calls with the mom and sister, an Office marathon, Mod-Podging, leftover meatball sandwiches, pretty fabric, fun knitting, a wooden tank model, naps, Diet Pepsi, and extra doses of snuggling.

If I had to crash into a weekend, this weekend would certainly be the one.

Now, who seconds my motion for the perpetual long weekend?

taking it easy

You may think that the last two weeks of December were all about taking it easy. And they were. I left work early, took work off, allowed housework to fall by the wayside, and indulged in Christmas gift–fawning (and this year may be one of my favorite gift -giving and -receiving years--but that's pretty much every year). I slept in, took naps, and mindlessly ate Reese's Minis. I watched movies, TV shows, and home videos. So wouldn't it be time for me to stop taking it easy?

But here's the thing. I'm giving myself permission to ease into real life again. Yes, I'm going to work full-time again and waking up early every day, but perhaps this time around I won't let the messy apartment get me irritable. I'll clean the bathroom, but it just doesn't have to be tonight. I'll do laundry, but maybe not all of it all at once.

{Note: This quiet refusal to take a decent self-portrait is not too uncommon. As one of the only pictures of the two of us I managed to get during the Christmas season, this less than ideal SP is what I have to work with.}

In addition to cooking and cleaning and bill paying, I'm going to make time for knitting, sewing, reading, and spending time with Josh. Just because I have to return to real life doesn't mean that I can't ease the transition a little with some of those things I so enjoyed doing on vacation.

Good intentions. . . .

Yesterday, this was my to-do list:

• Personal finance "Wealth of Great Health" assignment
• Daily internet task for personal finance
• read through Howl's Moving Castle chapter 10
• Finish The Millionaire Next Door
  
• Read my scriptures first :)
• Get through half of History of the Book review sheet
• Get through three days of personal finance notes and eleven Millionaire Next Door review points
• Go to Target
• Clean my sheets and towels

Note that this list was titled "What I HAVE to get done today." How much did I cross off?? Three things: reading my scriptures, going to Target, and doing my laundry. I worked on a couple of the other things but only was able to cross off three things. Oi vey.

my apologies

Dear readers, I apologize for my seemingly long (to me) absence from the blogosphere. I've been in a serious funk. I've felt averse to blogging and reading blogs. Weird, no? Today I had almost fifty unread posts in my GoogleReader. I've whittled it down to ten. And if I haven't commented on your blog posts yet, I'll try to. This past week has just been weird. Really weird. And, at times, not too much fun. I'm working on it, though. I'm working on refocusing my priorities and such. Don't get me wrong, I've had good moments and almost completely good days, but I've been having to work harder at it than usual.

I've been thinking of this line from a Hilary Weeks song: "Well, I should not have found it strange that growing causes growing pains, 'cause the more we learn the more we know we don't know anything." That's me right now: growing up and sometimes having a hard time with it. I'm a college senior and am realizing more and more that I don't know as much as I thought.

back to life

I went to Utah this week. And loved it. Now I'm back. Still no job. Lame.

Give Me Mountains Anyday

I live in the most beautiful state in the United States, the most beautiful place in the world, in my admittedly biased opinion. Vail was incredible. It was one of the most relaxing vacations I've ever had. Seriously.


I safely reached Vail a little before 7 and enjoyed a casual dinner of quesadillas. In the five days we spent in the breathtakingly beautiful mountains, we took several walks throughout the hilly neighborhoods.

We went to the park (where several years back Emily and I had a frightening encounter with a wolf-ish dog) and played on the swings.

I caught a photo of Sarah and John in true form: John is pushing Sarah off the twisting balance thing. Even in Vail we can't escape the match-and-kerosene combo that is Sarah and John.

And of course there were several cameras snapping shots of everything all weekend long.

I spent quality time with Max, Lucas (pictured below), Eva, and Miles (all first-cousins-once-removed). In addition to seeing Michelle & Co., I also got to see my cousin (Michelle's brother) Ryan for the first time in probably ten years.

We made several good meals, but we didn't cook so much that we were overwhelmed. One night we had homemade pizza followed by Diet Delight (a sugar-free pudding and Lite Cool Whip concoction that is absolutely incredible)--delicious!

There were extra puddings afterwards--I might have dipped into the surplus.

I can't forget to mention the games we played! I played a game or two of Killer Bunnies (the others played more), and before you think Killer Bunnies is weird, give it a chance. It's weird, but awesome, though granted a little cultish.

The best game of the trip (and perhaps the best game ever): Bananagrams. (Check out Mom's post a while back about the game.) One round, my brain shut down, and all I could come up with is shown below. Ha. However, I had a few stellar rounds: phonetic and brattiest made their way into a couple of my spreads.

We also caroused Vail Village one day. Half the shops were closed because of the off-season, but we managed to find a few thrilling finds, including a boutique called Roxy and a cosmetics store called the CosBar. I'm such a sucker for makeup.

I tried several times to capture a good SP with four-year-old Eva; however I didn't have much success. This picture accurately portrays my frustrated attempts.

Vail earned itself a bump up the coolness scale when I noticed in the grocery store that the express-lane signs said "15 Items or Fewer" instead of "15 Items or Less." Thanks for adhering to proper usage, Vail Safeway. (I don't know if other Safeways have this; probably, but Vail is where I noticed it.)

We watched movies (including both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea), I cross-stitched, and we watched the 24 season finale and the American Idol performance final (YAY for Kris!!!!!!). I didn't feel guilty about watching three movies in a day or drinking more than one soda in an afternoon. I napped; I slept in; I even went to bed early a couple nights.

I wasn't quite ready to come back, but I am grateful to have fully utilized this vacation for optimal relaxation. And I'm back. I'll get used to life again.


It was a beautiful weekend in a beautiful place in a beautiful home with the most beautiful people I know. If someone offered my family and me a week at the beach or a week in the mountains, I'd choose the mountains, hands down. Mountains are magical--that's just the truth of it. Nothing can beat this.

I know, I know

Yeah, I moved back home two weeks ago . . . and just finished unpacking today. I know, I know. It just took a surprising amount of energy and discipline to unpack my clothes; everything else just had to wait two weeks. This was what my room exploded to this morning:


And after a couple of hours, the moving of a bookshelf from John's room, and a bit of dusting, I had this:




A room functional for summer. It only took me two weeks to do it. Don't judge.

how about I just quit life?

I wish I had Moosey here to be my buddy.

It's cloudy and rainy outside, I have a cold creeping up me, and I have no motivation. Solution? Let's just quit life, okay? By quit life, I don't mean actually terminating my life, but rather I just want to not address any of my responsibilities today. I wish that I could have just left work early, not gone to class, and spent the rest of the day watching Gilmore Girls in my pajamas.

But I went to work and went to class but am at least putting off homework until I finish this one episode of GG. Here's to an afternoon/evening/night full of researching, reading, and editing with a Frosty run thrown in there.

So I'm sickish, motivationless, unusually tired and can't quit life. I state again, I wish I had Moosey here to be my buddy.

ultimate daddy-daughter date

Dad and Sarah coming out to Utah for the weekend was just what I needed. They came in Friday night (Emily and I ran out to meet them, and I actually cried when I got to hug Dad), and while Dad crashed at the hotel, Emily, Sarah, and I watched the Mary-Kate-and-Ashley movie "Billboard Dad" (the ones when MK&A are younger aren't nearly as mockable as the movies where MK&A are older, e.g. "The Holiday" and "Winning London").


Saturday I met Dad for breakfast at Einstein's Bagels (Sarah spent the night in Emily's dorm, and they ate breakfast at the Cannon Center), and then we all headed up to Thanksgiving Point for the clogging competition. Her competition took place in the "Show Barn," and Emily headed up the entourage by helping Sarah change from one costume to another. (Sarah gets pretty focused when she's nervous for competition. . . .)


Sarah's team performed two numbers, and before the team numbers, there were all of these solo numbers (the free style and the all-around solos). For both of the solo sections, they played the same obnoxious music for about half an hour. Sample below :

s

We were at the Show Barn until about 4:00 or 4:30 (Katelyn joined us for the first little bit), and we were definitely ready to leave. You can take only so much of the Show Barn.

After we left the competition, we went out to dinner at the Brick Oven, and we wanted to go to the basketball game (the last of the season), but all the tickets were sold. So we ended up going back to Dad's hotel room and watching the game there. We ate Oreos, cheered the Cougars, and played a game of electronic Life. (And while we played Life, we watched "Sky High" on the Disney Channel.)


It was an incredible Saturday. I got to spend time with my family, completely escape the daily grind, and recharge for the almost-last push of the semester. It was a Saturday with both my sisters and my dad: the ultimate daddy-daughter date. I can't believe I didn't get a SP of all four of us, but in the picture below, know that Sarah was off practicing her clogging, and that's why she's not in the picture. For artistry's sake, she present by not being present. . . . Ha.

Now that I'm semi-recharged, it's back to real life, in which I know that I can find daily joys and miracles. Just because most of my family aren't around most of the time doesn't mean that I can't be happy where I am. Sometimes I forget that, and I'm glad that spending time with my family helps remind me that I can always find joy through the gospel and Jesus Christ--what a blessing to have a family (both immediate and extended) that draws me closer to Christ.

mirror of my life?

I've watched so much Gilmore Girls that sometimes I feel it is the mirror for my life (except for the slutty parts). That sounds shallow, and I don't really believe that--but kind of. Here's where I'm coming from:

So over my solitary weekend, I finished Gilmore Girls (yes, I have seen it all before--this was not the first time). At the end of season 7, Rory graduates from Yale and enters the "real world." As I've been figuring out housing for this next year, I've realized that next fall will mark my last year of college. Seriously, it doesn't seem so long ago that I came to BYU as a bright-eyed little freshman. Where did it all go?! (Ha, oh yeah: into over 90 credit hours of school.)

So watching the last episode of GG ever and seeing Rory head off into her unknown and sudden future (as a reporter on the Obama campaign--funny this aired a couple years before the election) induced a slight freak-out in me. The end of my student days is in sight. Sure it's still a little over a year off, but still. Sure I've pursued internships and seriously thought about my career path; I've felt great about my major and minor and have fortunately never had that directional life crisis. But thinking about my education and potential career plan in a practical way puts a whole new spin on life.

I was talking to Dad tonight and expressed some of my incredulity about being a real person, and he kindly softened my fear a bit by saying, "Well, you won't be quite a real person. You'll be a quasi–real person." Good to know that I can ease my way in a little.

Ha and my adult way of dealing with impending adulthood? Just don't think about it.

the wonders of twenty-first–century technology

I had to get a crown today at the dentist's. A few weeks ago one of my molars was hurting me really bad, and so I went to a local dentist's office. I was told that one of my fillings was wearing away and that I had two fracture lines on the same molar; thus, I needed to get a crown. (Too bad crown doesn't mean something with diamonds. . . .)

Today was the day. I didn't bring my camera with me on purpose, because I did not want to document a Novocaine mouth. My appointment took about two hours from start to finish, and it went over without much of a hitch. Sure modern dentistry is top notch--I can't imagine not having such fixing procedures; however, today I was most grateful for another piece of twenty-first-century technology:


my iPod.

After the Novocaine settled into my mouth, I put in the ear phones in, turned up my Josh Kelley playlist, and tried not to focus on the various instruments being shoved into my mouth while the dentist drilled away.

I would turn down the music a bit when he wasn't drilling, because I didn't want to not hear anything he might try to tell me about my mouth; however, when the drill whined, I pumped up the volume and tried to drown out the scary sound of that drill. (I also closed my eyes the whole time so I wouldn't have to see anything that was being used to crown my tooth--ignorance is bliss when it comes to dental procedures.) Thank you Josh Kelley for distracting me from what was going on behind the Novocaine.

Acknowledging my gratitude for modern dentistry and mP3 players, I'm even more grateful that experience is OVER!

back to Hogwarts

Technically I'm going back to BYU, but given the fact that I will be listening to HP for at least the next week, I think it's safe to say that Hogwarts is my real destination.

Hello 2009!

The welcome of a new year always enters with anticipation, excitement, waves of nostalgia, and a bit of post-holiday reluctance. I'm trying not to dread my return to reality, because I have to remember that I actually do love my life, both in Provo and in Denver. I just happen to love Denver more :)

Also, I hate January. Hate it. It is my all-time least favorite month. So I'm trying to alter my perspective this time around.

That's still a work in progress.

I'm also hoping that this January won't be as bad as last January--remember that emotional disaster?

I'm trying to focus my coping efforts this year around my new word, which I will post about later. :) I'm hoping it will help me have a better January than the last one.

I'm excited for the year itself, for the new people, new experiences, new TV episodes ;), but I just have the hardest time bouncing back from a completely responsibility-free vacation. I don't want this post to sound cynical and depressing, because I do have a beautiful life; it's just that jumping back into the cold and gray of January after the cozy and family-filled Christmas isn't too inviting on the outset. I'll get over it, but just not today. (It is only the first day of the year.)

I plan on writing a much more uplifting and encouraging post about the new year, because I'm really not such a grouch. I'm just blue that my time with my family is so short this time of year.

At least for the first three days of January I'm still at home. I still have two more days of avoiding reality. Still two days.

ultimate relaxation

I got back to CO on December 18, but I forgot my camera cord in Provo (along with my glasses, which my roommate mailed to me--they haven't arrived yet. . . .). So this is a picture-less post but will hopefully fill my blogger needs.

December 20: BYU lost the Vegas Bowl. Blast.

December 21: Christmas Sunday in the Applewood Ward. It ended up being a Wood-family sacrament meeting, actually. Mom and Dad gave the prayers, Grandma and Grandpa spoke, and Emily and I gave the musical number. And as always, I had encounters with some of the more unique members of the ward and was asked if I was engaged. I'm asked that question at least once every time I come home, sometimes more. Family dinner was Shamazing: roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, ice cream cake roll.

December 22: I got my hair colored again. It's super dark again. (Grandma is calling me her "Indian Princess," a reference I'm still not quite getting.) Too bad my camera cord is in Provo; otherwise, I'd post a picture.

December 23: We all went over to Grandma's in the afternoon and had a bake day! I read, helped with the sugar cookies, and just sat there, still detoxing from finals.

December 24: Christmas Eve! Delicious dinner, Christmas Eve program, new pajamas, electronic LIFE game=awesome.

December 25: CHRISTMAS!! I spent the entire day in my pajamas, watched P.S. I Love You (which I got from Emily) and Prince Caspian (from Santa) (for whatever reason, Blogger won't italicize Prince Caspian--my inner editor needs to give that caveat for the inconsistency), ate whatever I wanted, napped, and was a complete agoraphobe.

December 26: At least I showered and got dressed, but I still didn't leave the house. We watched almost the entire first season of "Chuck," which Santa left for the family. I think we watched another movie that night, but I don't remember.

December 27: I planned on leaving the house, but woke up with an acute abdominal pain. I can't figure out where it came from. It could have been the huge bloody nose I had in the middle of the night where I swallowed a significant amount of blood, my horrible holiday eating habits, PMS, or a horrid combination of all three. Regardless of the cause, I was pretty much incapacitated all day. (I think I've been watching too much "House," because during my bloody nose trip to the bathroom to grab tissues, I had visions of the blood not stopping, blood starting to come out of my ears, and then the cut to the opening credits--good grief.) I planned on leaving the house but didn't go out until about 7 pm for a friend's birthday party. That marked about 72 straight hours in my house. Wow.

December 28: Another day of church and another engagement query. On Christmas Eve, one of the missionaries who was over actually asked me in all sincerity if it was uncommon for a girl at BYU to reach her junior year without being married. I replied that no, it was not out of the norm to be single at twenty-one years old--I am not a BYU anomaly. Good grief. Mom, Emily, John, Sarah, and me (Dad was at home with the stomach flu, yet another possible cause for my freaky stomach pain the day before) went to a vow renewal for one of Mom's good friends. They weren't LDS, and I left feeling so grateful for the priesthood and temple marriage. Dinner that night consisted of a delicious, light meal of Cream of Wheat, scrambled eggs, and toast.

December 29: I cleaned, read, played Guitar Hero World Tour, watched "House" despite my self-diagnosed "House" overdose, ran errands with Mom, ate a delicious dinner, and the current blogging.

Sorry for the lack of pictures that would break up the grayness of this post. Oh well. Kudos if you made it through :) Thankfully I still have a week left (well, six days now), and I look forward to the Crop Day tomorrow, a homemade donut New Year's Eve, shopping with Christmas money, and more movies and TV, because I really need more time in front of the tube.

a cupcake sunday

So, Friday was Katelyn's 20th birthday, and so we celebrated all weekend! It was a blast, and I am so not ready to go back to school in the morning--ew. Anyway, here's a recap of the weekend.

On Friday (her actual birthday):



A trip to Smart Cookie.


Chocolate fudge cookies with Mint Chocolate Chip Dreyer's ice cream--yum.


My first experience with Indian food.

I just realized I got no pictures from Saturday, which is totally lame, but I'll still tell you what we did. We went up to Salt Lake with the intention of going to the Gateway Museum where's there's a children's exhibit that involves Sesame Street characters teaching about how the body works; alas, we got up there about an hour and a half after we wanted, and so we didn't go to the museum. The major goal however, was to make it to the new cupcake store, So Cupcake. It's the cutest little store in the more ghetto end of Salt Lake. They make a huge variety of cupcakes and the cupcakes are so delicious! It's locally owned, just opened a few weeks ago, and the owners built it for their daughter, who suffers from celebral palsy. The daughter, Selena, was at the store when we went, and so we all sat down and talked to her for a while. She's really smart! She reads a bunch (and by reading I mean she's read "The Life of Pi" and "The Zen of Falling in Love"--holy molies!) She told us all that she was so glad that we are her friends, and interacting with her was truly a blessing. If you can ever make it up to So Cupcake, you should totally go, and on Saturdays, Selena is there all day. I bought two chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. It was a way fun evening!

Sunday, we had another cupcake oriented party, and had a bunch of people over for cupcakes and socializing. First, however, this is what happens when you have to walk home in the pouring rain:


It was so nice when we walked to church, and then afterward, it was pouring outside. Now, I know this is not an attractive picture of me, but this is what we looked like when we walked in the door. Good grief.


Katelyn decided to make lemon snowball cupcakes for her birthday, and she had to whip the eggs on her own. Ha we all took shifts whipping really fast :)

I helped by filling the cupcake cups with the batter. Note my dumb wavy hair after it dried after the rain.
And then the power went out . . . when the second batch of cupcakes were still in the oven . . . the batch Katelyn was going to make into lemon filled snowballs. This is my dubious face as I speculate whether or not the cupcakes that are in the oven will make it.

Fortunately, all turned out well, we had a great turn out, and I was just so excited that Katelyn is my friend! Happy birthday pal!

progress

So, here's an update on the homesick situation. Things are way better. The weekend was a good turning point, and I haven't cried since Thursday. One of the things I decided to do--and while it sounds dorky, it's true--was to not listen to Harry Potter all the time. It's definitely an indulgence thing, but I thought I'd had enough indulgence and so I've been mixing HP listening with upbeat, boosting music. It's been working. I've been keeping myself busy and productive, and I am so thankful for Katelyn who has been so helpful and supportive while I've been ridiculously emotionally unbalanced. So, yeah. Things are good. I'm feeling good about school and church and life. I really want to enjoy this semester, not just endure it, so that's what I decided to do. At the beginning of the week, I told myself, "Charlotte, get over it. Suck it up and enjoy your life." It didn't have immediate effect, but it's slowly been working its way through my system.

I've been listening to my Pretty Much You Rock My Socks mix, the High School Musical 2 soundtrack, and John Mayer. It's been good. So, onto another subject, school is going well this semester; I already have midterms next week, so that's no fun, but at least January is almost over. I'll have to do a celebratory post about the end of January when it comes. Well, off to write more articles and do some homework, and then par-tay away the rest of the weekend!