Februarilist

1. Visit Huntington Gardens.
2. Celebrate Maren's first birthday with a blanket fort.
3. Finish my yearbook and mail it to Sam.
4. Submit my application for Ecuador.
5. Submit poetry to five publications.
6. Make Valentines. 
7. Start recording a new album.
8. Volunteer at CVRM or Martha's Village at least once.
9. Give 20 things to charity.
10. Finish at least one abandoned song idea.

Eine Kleine Churchmusik

Will probably never forgive me for putting this on my blog. Good thing he never reads my blog.

I was in this ward just after he got transferred from it. HA.

Today I'm recording a bunch of hymns for some of my missionary friends, including but not limited to Sam, Mike, and (not pictured) the lovely Natalie. Surprisingly enough, my favorite one so far is "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus."

Anyway, if you're going on a mission or if you just like church music, they'll be available on SoundCloud in a few days. FO FREE.

A Growth Chart

So far:

I came home to Provo and reunited with friends.

I moved into a fantastic ward.

I played piano at my friend's wedding.
I wrote letters and songs and poems.

I went to lunch in Maddison's studio.

I made clouds and rain and hung them around Velour.

I met a boy who liked my music.
He told me his name and then kissed me.

He said he loved me and met my family.

He doesn't see us getting married.

I listened to Pasty Cline for three weeks after.

I talked with Pearl and met her kittens.
I saw the Head and the Heart when they came to Provo.
I watched a beautiful sunset over Utah Valley from the hill at the edge of campus.
I don't see us getting married either.
Sam sent me a letter, and it was good.
I went to BKDG at Laura's house.

I went to Arizona for Thanksgiving and played with my sister.
I came back and kept taking pictures of a tree by the Maeser.
I went on a train ride in Colorado with some dear friends.
I took some tests and wrote some papers.
I learned some Christmas songs and played "Pie Jesu" at the Christmas special.
I came to the desert for Christmas.

A Very Silly Christmas Song

Hannah and I wrote this in about an hour on Sunday night, and we are quite pleased with it! In other Christmassy news, our apartment is decorated and today I cleaned a bunch while singing to a Christmas karaoke CD that my mom sent me home with after Thanksgiving. Also, we are all reading/listening to A Christmas Carol together, courtesy of the lovely Courtney Perry and her awesome reading voice. And last but not least, I am putting together a Christmas box for my dear friend, Elder Sam Sonntag. Even if you don't know him, you're welcome to add a letter. :) And on that note, until finals are over and I can actually write something neat on this blag...

Some things I am thankful for:

1. Good people and bicycle thieves, and learning from both.
2. A new sketchbook (which I have only drawn typography in so far).
3. Lemon tea and craisins.
4. Roommates who love Harry Potter as much as I do.

5. The gorgeous sunset over Provo tonight.
6. Speaking, hearing, reading, and writing poems. (Also, BKDG.)
7. Phone conversations with my mom about recipes, boys, and life.
8. Picking out a Christmas tree for the TMA office today with Elizabeth (my boss and good friend).
9. Letters and emails from my missionary friends:

Sam and his doodles of us.
Molalla, Washington

Mike (nice tie.)
London, UK

10. The healing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Diez

My blog is boring. I know. I am always much worse about updating it during the school year. Maybe in November I will FINALLY succeed at NaBloPoMo and be a good blogger forever.

Unlikely. Ha.

Anyway, ten things I have been doing lately:

1. Making creepy cookies with Maddison and Pearl:

This clearly, is my actual finger. Gross, huh? Read the full post at Pearl's blog here

2. Thinking about Halloween. I have an idea for a costume, but I don't want to post it here because you will ALL steal it. Just kidding. It's not that cool.

3. Working on new songs, as always.

4. Taking antibiotics and eating pineapple for my nasty finger. (Google chat status: explained.)

5. Going to the C.S. Lewis Society on Wednesdays.

6. Visiting the Pendulum Court in the ESC. Today they had Pirate Day. It was delicious.

7. Doing a ton of Spanish homework. Yuck.

8. Practicing for Fork Fest. (Tonight: Book on Tape Worm!)

9. Sending fun letters to Sam the missionary.

(Remember this? I miss this.)

10. Slowly working my way through the Book of Mormon in Spanish.

P.S. My family is coming to town on Friday!! Yessssssss.

The Stover Gentlemen's Club

This year, I made friends with an entire hall of boys living in Stover 3100 of Helaman Halls. How this happened is a long story (if you want, ask me sometime), but the point is, I became close with the talented and interesting group of gentlemen living there. Around Christmastime, 3100 collaborated on making a Christmas album, just for kicks. They called it "Christmas with the Stover Gentleman's Club," and it was hilarious in parts and brilliant in others. Needless to say, it was the soundtrack to my winter break.

Around Valentine's Day, they recorded another album all together called "Love n' Stuff," and it's part of the soundtrack to my summer, along with Leonard Cohen, Sam's playlists, and the Troilus and Cressida score.

I miss these guys.

So Long, Sam.

Hi. This is Sam.

I met Sam in my freshman English class (Honors 150: Writing and Rhetoric) this year. We realized very soon that we had a creepy amount in common and became really good friends.

I think the time we first hung out was after a football game. We saw a weird movie at International Cinema, played penny golf, rolled down the library hill, and then got a guitar and a ukulele and played music on some stairs by the RB.

Good times.


Some of the vaguely strange things we have in common are:

• We own the same shirt, from American Apparel (in the respective Mens' and Womens' versions). On top of this, that shirt happens to be my absolute favorite color and therefore one of my favorite things to wear.
• We enjoy all the same books: Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, etc. We are both borderline obsessed with The Great Gatsby. Oh, and Harry Potter.
• And my personal favorite: We were sitting next to each other at the 2009 Anaheim Choir Festival, and had no idea that less than a year later, we would become very close friends. 

This is one of many times we went to Salt Lake City. Sam's grandparents live up there, so we'd go visit them and finish his grandma's puzzles for her. We'd also walk around Salt Lake looking around in different stores. On this night, we just explored, along with our friend Dan.

We reference Harry Potter constantly, which is kind of part of our generation. This picture is Sam/"Harry" looking into a Pensieve.

Other Harry Potter references:

• Once we got wheat grass shots at Jamba Juice and called it Polyjuice potion.
• People: Sam- Harry. Dan- Ron. Emily- Hermione. Asian Girl in our class- Cho Chang. President Gordon B. Hinckley- Dumbledore. Karl G. Maeser- Godric Gryffindor.
• Places: Velour- The Leaky Cauldron. Wilkinson Center Terrace -The Great Hall. JDawgs -The Three Broomsticks. Etc, etc.

Anyway, the point of all this is that Sam is leaving on his mission today, and I am going to miss him exceedingly. He's one of my closest friends and I'm so pleased that I met him this year. I'm going to see him  and talk one more time today and then he's off to the MTC and later, Portland!

In conclusion:

Sam, you can be sure I'll be writing, fool. Even though you're not going to read this.

The End. :)

Hanging Out In the Sistine Chapel.

This is so neat. Thanks, Sam.

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Still more...

In other news, yesterday I gave Sam a bag shaped like a taco for Christmas and he loves it, which made me really happy. :) Also, I Skyped Charné yesterday and told her about life since Tuesday, which was fun. I CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME.

My Grandma Nora is having a Christmas party on Monday night! I can't wait to see her, since it's been such a long time. She's definitely one of the most prevalent influences in my life. :)

Anyway, for the party the family and everyone are all doing something musical. I think I'm going to arrange a piece and sing it or something. :)

Okay...

I tweaked the time on this post, because I don't feel like today is really over yet. Today I went to the Joshua James Christmas show with my friend Sam and then he came over and we made cookies, worked on our song that we're writing, acted goofy, and hung out until 1:30ish. :) It's been a nice end to the day.