Two's Company, Eleven's Like Heaven

Undecided

2012-02-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

I liked the Hunger Games series. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to see the movies...the books are just - well - they're kind of gruesome! It's easier to read about than to see those things. I can read a World War II book just fine, but watching Pearl Harbor is a different story. No way!

That being said, it looks like it is going to be pretty well done...I still need to determine just how much of a fan I am. If I haven't decided by March 24th, then I guess there's always redbox!

Lately, I've Been Having Quite a Bit of This...

2012-01-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

New favorite ice cream. It's probably time to head to the gym. :)

10 Things I've Gotten Really Good At In College

2012-01-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

I've been reflecting on the skills (valuable and not-so valuable) I've acquired as a result of going to college.

1. Taking naps - I never really could nap before BYU. It always seemed like a waste of the day, or boring, or frustrating when I still wasn't asleep after 20 minutes, or whatever. Now? I relish the idea of curling up with a soft blanket in a quiet, dark room, and taking a BREAK from HW or social drama. I. Love. Naps.

2. Cranking out papers - I'm actually not a terrible procrastinator, I just never seem to have time to write papers until one to two nights before they're due! As a result, I have gotten REALLY good at writing papers under a time crunch. Just give me a few hours and some good snacks.

3. Baking brownies - I have found my perfect fudginess level. I cook brownies in an 8x8 for 75% of the time the box recommends. I take it out when it's barely done, so it's super fudgy and warm. I love to eat them with ice cream - yummy melty goodness!

4. Sleeping in public - Some people are uncomfortable doing this, but I learned to get over that freshman year when I would stay up till 4 and still have 8 o'clock class. My favorite haunt is the memorial hall. I've also slept on the couches in the women's bathroom, or on benches in the HFAC, or on the floor of the library behind a random bookshelf...you get the idea.

5. Sight-reading - I wasn't the best sight-reader in high school, but I got a lot better after I went to college. It must have been because I was absolutely on my own piano-wise...no more teachers writing in the notes for me, haha!

6. Hiding feelings - College is great, but life gives you some hard knocks sometimes! You learn to have a thick skin, smile, and bear it. I'll admit this isn't always the best thing to do, but it comes in handy sometimes. My thought process is that I can always fix my feelings on my own time, so I don't have to burden someone else by being angsty. Right?

7. Saying "no thanks." - I've learned that you don't have to do everything everyone wants you to! Liberating. Although it's still a good idea to be helpful.

8. Understanding sports - I didn't "get" football or basketball until I started going to the games at the Y. That's the power of the wasatch for ya! GO COUGS! :)

9. Being patient - I'm still a pretty impatient person, but I've learned a couple of important lessons during my time here at the Y. Life's more fun if you are okay with waiting, and it's much happier if you can rejoice in other people's successes.

10. LAUGHING - My life is awesome. :) I have hilarious friends, and I've had such a fun college career. I am a lucky girl.

A Mitch Hedberg quote to part: "I want to get a vending machine, with fun sized candy bars, and the glass in front is a magnifying glass. You'll be mad, but it will be too late."

Haha. :)

This Made Me Laugh

2012-01-16T13:48:00.001-08:00

Press this in dire circumstances. If you like Star Wars. And have seen Episode III.

Anthropologie = Agony

2012-01-16T13:19:00.000-08:00

My outfits are pretty simple. Jeans, typically solid-colored top, a cardigan and vans. Maybe a decorative belt or a couple of bracelets if I'm feeling up to the weight on my wrists. I LOVE accessories, but usually only wear diamond stud earrings! Ironic, no?

However, I absolutely adore putting pieces that I DON'T own together. I think I have better taste than my budget allows. For example, I'm obsessed with this anthropologie dress. Look at the bike pattern! Adorable! I'd pair it with an emerald green cardigan and orange cuff bracelet.

That is, if I had $158 to spare. Cough.

Melinda's Media Musings

2012-01-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

Hello family! I'm doing a media blog for a class assignment. I have to post twice a week about media that I have been exposed to, its effect on me, etc. The URL (what does URL mean, anyway?) is www.moviemelinda.blogspot.com.

This week I blogged about my current favorite Mormon message and the cupcake blogs that keep me occupied for at least an hour a week. Check it out!

Also, you might enjoy this video about how media has changed our world. Two minutes long, and some pretty crazy stats.

A Psalm of Life

2012-01-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite poem. The first stanza sounds kind of trite, but it weaves itself into significant counsel. I especially love the last four lines - they've been something of a motto to me lately, one I hope to live better by in the future. The past was good, the present is good, the future will still be good! :)

Photograph by Peter Lik - see his amazing pictures here.

A PSALM OF LIFE

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy Monday! :)

I Need a Hero

2011-12-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas break means a few things for me. First, it means sleeping in until 10 daily. Blessed Utah time and catching up on all the sleep forfeited at college. Secondly, PILES of goody plates from generous neighbors that I just can't resist partaking of (I mean, really, what's the point of hurting their feelings? It's Christmas!). This last one leads to half-hearted exercise attempts (such as Yoga or Just Dance). Moving on! Christmas break also means dentist appointments (yick) since I don't have a dentist in Utah. Not looking forward to that one.

Christmas break means board games, late nights, delicious food, fun with family, and everything lovely. But I just want to pay homage to one essential aspect of my Christmas break: Austen movies.

That's right, we Cummings girls are die-hard fans of all things Jane Austen. With 9 of us in the family, are you even surprised? We are not ashamed! It's not like the Austen books are life-changing or significant, but they're entertaining and (at times) very clever. For my part, I enjoy the movie adaptations more than reading the books. And believe me, I've seen a few! I just thought it would be entertaining to post an analysis of what Jane Austen thought made the perfect man (based on her leading male characters), as well as what makes the most vile carrier of a Y-chromosome. Here goes!

Edmund Bertram, "Mansfield Park." Edmund is handsome, serious, honest, and intelligent. He's studying to be a clergyman (about the only clergyman portrayed positively in Jane Austen's books! More on that later). He has a passionate nature but is terribly bent on preserving family honor. He's prone to burying his feelings. "Tenacious willpower!"

George Knightley, "Emma." Okay, he's a favourite (trying to use the British spelling here). Extremely rational, brutally honest, not unhandsome, a defender of justice! A trifle older, but you'd never feel that when in his company. How convenient.

Henry Tilney, "Northanger Abbey." Handsome, playful, loyal to a fault! Gives up his fortune to be with Miss Catherine Morland. Also a clergyman, which makes me think I must be wrong about Jane Austen's disdain for clergymen...we'll get to that. Tilney is always cracking jokes, which makes me think he's the one I'd be most likely to fall for when...I mean if...I were to travel back to that time. Sigh!

Fitzwilliam Darcy, "Pride and Prejudice." Wow, this picture is hilarious! The google search "Darcy" brought up millions of pictures (Duh, he's everyone's favorite) but this one was too good to pass up. Darcy's proud, clever, rich, sarcastic, but passionate. He comes around. :) Who doesn't like knowing they've singlehandedly changed a man's life? Lucky Lizzy.

Severus Snape, "Harry Potter." Whoops, sorry, make that Colonel (Cristopher?) Brandon of "Sense and Sensibility." Older! Well-established. Protective. Future death eater.

Edward Ferrars, "Sense and Sensibility." Aww...who wouldn't love that boyish grin? Edward is shy and awkward but winningly sweet. Gives up his fortune and family to follow true love. A real winner!

Captain No-name Wentworth, "Persuasion." Dashing, obviously. Made his own fortune. Defiant at times, but a true romantic?

So obviously, the perfect man is either grossly rich or gives up his fortune for love of you. He's clever, playful, handsome (duh), affectionate, and loyal. Good luck in your search.

By the way, watch out for these creepers.

(Of course I don't mean Mr. Knightley!)

Blessings

2011-12-13T09:54:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting in the HBLL right now - I managed to snag a computer. That's an impressive feat during finals week! The seat's still warm...which means somebody was probably feverishly studying here a moment ago. They'll never know that I'm thinking about them RIGHT NOW. Haha. :)

I just wanted to take a break and write down some of my blessings. This has been an incredibly busy semester - 16 credits, working during college for the first time, applying to grad school, trying to still get good grades and have a little fun in between, etc. Looking back, I really can't believe I made it this far! I was pretty worried about my workload in the beginning of this semester. But all's ending well, hence, all is well! I just know that it was because Heavenly Father helped me and my family prayed for me (I love how dad always asks, "What can I do for you?" when I call home).

(This is for Aaron, who hates Thomas Kinkade)

Two finals down, two to go! I had astronomy at 7am this morning. Gah! Here's a little miracle: my alarm didn't go off but my roommate had set hers a little earlier than usual, so I was able to scramble out the door in time to take my test. Hallelujah!

Other blessings: this has been my favorite year of college so far. I have made some of the best friends I'll ever have, and I'm so grateful to them. Coming back to my apt is like coming back to family, because my roommates are so fun and crazy! I love them. :) This summer when I broke up with Nate I was worried that this would be a hard year for me. Then I just got a feeling that I would make all kinds of friends and have so much fun! It made me so happy then, and I'm happier now knowing that has come to pass.

I love my family so much. Everyday I think about how grateful I am for them. :) We're not perfect but we grew up surrounded by so much love, and that circumstance has blessed my life in more ways than I can number. It has given me confidence and security. It has helped me help others. I just love you all.

Blessings in disguise! Like when you pray for humbling experiences. :) Oh boy. But what those experiences create in us and out of us is more important than whatever we were proud about. So even that's a blessing, and I've learned that embarrassment can be put aside by reassuring yourself of what you know. Just pull in some Egyptian mythology. One day, when your heart is weighed against the feather of truth, all will be made right.

Haha just kidding. I don't endorse polytheism, by the way.

I have found so much confidence and happiness in myself this year. I'm not afraid to talk to people on the phone anymore, and I'm trying to create my life instead of waiting for it to happen to me. The Lord has given me experiences that have taught me to be resilient - I still have troubles (Slightly irreverent side note: Once in a father's blessing Dad told me that my future husband loved me even now and was praying to find me. I can't deny that at times since then I've thought, "Well, pray harder!" :) but you needn't worry, it's worth the wait) but I bounce back faster than I used to, and according to Sister Applonie, that's where real progress is made.

I just feel good about my life right now. There's a lot to be thankful for, and this is one of those times when I'm actually thankful and not "thank-you-I'm-so-grateful-and-blessed-but-inside-I'm-thinking-how-tough-this-is-but-I'm-being-grateful-so-that-you-will-see-what-a-good-person-I-am-and-bless-me-more" kind of times. By the way, it is really hard to type with dashes in between every word! I can't even tell you how much that slowed me down!

Time to finish a grad school app and study for church history. I just wanted to think and type. Love to you all! Can't wait to come home for Christmas!

Also, this video is adorable.

PURE GENIUS

2011-08-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I stumble upon a music artist that just AMAZES ME. This is one of those times. John Butler Trio's "Ocean" - I can't understand what he says in the first part of the video, maybe that he used to be a street performer? Whatever his story, this is one awesome instrumental number.

What's Your Astronomy Picture of the Day?

2011-06-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

This was the astronomy picture of the day on my birthday a few years ago. I think it's pretty sweet :) it's the space shuttle, connected to the space station, zooming over earth. At night. Lovely. :)

The Many Faces of Jane Eyre

2011-04-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

All right, Jane Eyre has been a favorite book of mine since I was 13. I love the heroine - plain, serious, strong, righteous, steadfast. And Mr. Rochester is, of course, a regular Byronic hero - brooding, impassioned, powerful, mysterious. As far as gothic novels go, it's definitely a winner.

So guess what - there have been over twenty-seven film adaptations of this book. Twenty-seven! I have NOT seen all 27, but I have seen quite a few. Some I like, some I loathe, some I wish I could copy and paste elements out of them to make one perfect, perfect Jane Eyre movie. Sigh. The following is my diagnosis of said adaptations.

1944, starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles. Joan F. has a flighty, frightened style of acting (have you seen "Rebecca?") that, while effective, is NOT Jane. Also, Orson Welles just reminds me a lot of "Poor Judd" from Oklahoma. Can't really get over it!

1983, starring Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. This is definitely a favorite. Timothy Dalton pretty much IS Rochester, and Zelah looks closest to how I pictured Jane in the book (though a little older). One rotten tomato: sometimes Dalton's impassioned outbursts are a little TOO Byronic for me...borderline cheesy? At times perhaps? Rarely though. Still a favorite.

1996, starring William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsborough. Seen a bit of this one. Fun fact, this was directed by Franco Zeffirrelli! He did Romeo and Juliet (the 70's version). This one's interesting...the Jane was a little too stoic for me, but I thought this Rochester was a pretty good choice. Better than the next one anyways!

1997, starring Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton. I've seen part of this. Okay, does anyone else think this Jane looks like Mackenzie Bezzant? Even a little? Haha okay maybe not. Anyways, Ciaran Hinds is not Mr. Rochester. 1) He has a moustache. 2) He is Captain Wentworth. 3) He has a moustache. Did I mention that Rochester should NOT have a moustache?

2006, starring Toby Stephens (Orsino in 12th night!)and Ruth Wilson. Okay, I really like this one. Visually stunning, gorgeous soundtrack, Ruth is spunky (maybe too much? In the book Jane is more sedate) and Toby does a surprisingly fantastic job! He's dark but still teases, and he's manly. The downside: Hollywood. Of course they find a way to make things sketch. Grr...

I'm curious about the 2011 version! Jane is young! Like in the book. And this Rochester seems to have a good piercing presence. Aunt Janet, have you seen it? Is it praiseworthy and of good report?

Well, I successfully postponed studying for my last final by posting something that probably makes no difference either way. :) At least the book will always be good.

Music, Art, and Science Meet

2011-03-15T18:40:00.001-07:00

Did you know there are music scores in Braille? Check out these elaborate notations! I'm not sure I would ever be able to make sense out of them. I don't have the patience or delicate touch for it. If I were a blind musician, I would probably just try to learn everything by ear. And, chances are my music would be limited to Fur Elise on the piano. :)

Artistically speaking, being a blind musician wouldn't be so bad! You would have no visual distraction from the sound you're making - you could focus exclusively on tone and sound. I love that idea. Sometimes Sister Applonie has us close our eyes in choir as we tune up chords. It's amazing what making your ears work a little harder will do to your sound. I mean, it worked for this guy, right?

(Blind Egyptian Musician, 15th century Wall Mural)

Music for the deaf is a little trickier. How does one make an art form based exclusively on sound accessible to those who can't hear? Well guess what! I found out about some awesome technology this week! There's a program that makes visual representations of musical pieces. This video is made by someone who does a bunch of these "animated scores", if you will. My favorite is Debussy's Arabesque No. 1. It's so much fun to watch! The intervals are pretty good for computer software! And the rhythms are right on. Maybe this is a way the deaf could experience music! And who knows, maybe in a couple hundred years this will be the way everyone learns music. You really should watch at least some of it. My favorite part is 4:28 to the end. And everything else.

BYU Student Section Flash Mob Dance

2011-03-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

Kansas State's student section surprised the crowd by doing a flash mob dance during one of their Basketball game's time outs. A week or so ago, the BYU athletic department sent out a training video for OUR VERY OWN surprise dance. My thought process was, "no one's going to do this, I'm not going to try to learn it" but boy was I wrong! The special day came and everyone was at the game hours early practicing! I learned it as quickly as I could. It was AWESOME. The crowd was totally surprised and we stole the show! Here's a video. I'm the one in white...haha just kidding. It's a little hard to see the dance moves because there's 5,000 of us! Beat that, Kansas State!

Oh by the way...we WON the championship! :)

Disneyland!

2011-02-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Nate and I drove to California over President's Day weekend to go to DISNEYLAND! It was nice to get out of Provo. We stayed with his parents in Irvine, which was only 15 minutes away! We stayed for 10 hours at the park both days we were there. It rained both days (ALOT), but we were well stocked with umbrellas, Gatorade, and Famous Amos cookies and hence had a fabulous trip. The pictures below were snapped between torrents.

Outside Sleeping Beauty's castle. It's smaller than the one in disneyworld, but...dare I say it? I think I like this one more! There's something so rustic and charming about it. I couldn't stop staring at it every time we walked by.

Outside the haunted mansion. Is it weird that this ride still gives me the creeps? We went on it twice, and that was quite enough.

This was taken in Tarzan's treehouse. I think around the corner is the huge plastic leopard Sabor that roared in my face and made me very frightened.

We caught a 3-D show (love the glasses), "Captain EO", which Nate insisted on seeing because of all his "fond childhood memories" of it. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Apparently George Lucas, Michael Jackson, and Steven Spielberg all teamed up to make this little classic. It was...well, I think it falls (along with Australian Musk Sticks and 2001 A Space Odyssey) under the category of "something you have to experience once but need never endure again". Basically Michael Jackson flies his starship to a planet full of creepy TV-cable people and uses his magic musical powers to turn them all into colorfully clad dancers.

Here's a short clip, for your viewing pleasure :)

Strange, no?

GORGEOUS flowers we found in California Adventure during one of our sunny hours. I had to take a picture. I think its my favorite of the lot!

At the end of the day - wet, exhausted, stuffed with cookies, and very, very satisfied.

We got a lot done! We went on Indiana Jones five times, Tower of Terror five times (3 too many for me), Matterhorn (an abominable snowman roller coaster - my new favorite!) 4ish times - a note on that one, we got to skip ahead in line 4 times because we only had two people! Woohoo! Space mountain 3 times (what an amazing ride), Soarin' twice, Peter Pan twice, Pirates of the Caribbean twice, and pretty much everything else at least once. Yet somehow we never did make it to It's a Small World...

Must You Keep Left?

2011-02-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

Master Yoda does a voice recording for the TOM-TOM gps system.

Ice Castles at Midway!

2011-01-31T11:06:00.001-08:00

This weekend Nate and I drove up to Midway to see the Ice Castles! It was a genuinely fun and NOVEL activity, which can sometimes be hard to find in Utah County. My roommate told me about these icicle-house things that some guy makes every year using pvc pipes and water pumps, so, naturally, we had to go.

The scene was gorgeous.

Nate's "Not-a-nutcracker" smile. I like this picture more than the other one of us together, but he doesn't.

The light is all natural! Just kidding. :)

A close-up.

My freakishly long tongue was parched.

The white witch, empress of the lone islands, is probably just around the corner.

Aww...

Sweet, no?

We had fun picking out our favorites.

This one was my favorite. It reminds me of Atlantica from The Little Mermaid.

It was quite awesome, and definitely worth 5 dollars. They say it keeps growing week-to-week, as the icicles melt and freeze and re-melt and re-freeze. (If Pete and Re-pete are on a boat, and one falls off...) :) haha anyways, I'm happy to say we found something new to do on a Saturday night. If you know of any other oddities to visit in Utah, let me know! I'm all ears.

Engrish

2011-01-16T21:21:00.000-08:00

I love this website. It's all about the funny mistranslations that occur around the world. Oddly enough, most of the mistakes (at least the funnier ones) arise from translating Chinese/Japanese/other Asian languages. As those languages have SO many characters, mistakes are understandable. And hilarious :) here are a few favorites. Check it out.

Tangled = Best Movie Ever!

2010-12-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, this movie was adorable, hilarious, tender, artistically beautiful, whimsical, MUSICAL, and basically everything else good. Squeaky-clean, well worth it. If you don't see it in theaters, make sure you netflix or roku it as soon as you can!

A Funny

2010-12-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

The other day in Women's Chorus we were doing a particularly shrill warm-up exercise. Afterwards, I heard a girl behind me mutter, "You hear that highness? Those are the shrieking eels." It took me a while to catch on, but once I did, I couldn't stop laughing! :)

My guess is this guy would agree with her.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCHKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We Were Care Bears For Halloween

2010-11-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

We got 5 dollar sweats from Walmart, made some tummies with felt and fabric, and glued felt to headbands for ears. Then we went to a dance party. :) It was a fun Halloween!

A Picture For Those Days When You Just Need A Laugh...

2010-11-12T13:01:00.001-08:00

A little gem from my Child Guidance class. :) I laughed SO hard when I saw this. I think being a parent will be a pretty interesting/hard/hilarious/do I laugh or cry? experience. :) Love to you all!

Murder Mystery Dinner!

2010-10-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

We had a ward murder mystery dinner this past weekend. Roaring twenties themed, and SO fun. I may be almost twenty, but I love dress-up just as much as I ever did! Here we are, all dolled up and ready to sleuth!

Bre and Joseph. I accidentally broke Joseph's cane later that evening. Oops!

Nate and I. I got that dress at DI for 6 dollars. Not bad :)

Peter and Jen

The gang :)

Ward Campout

2010-08-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend my ward went up to Peyson Lakes in the canyon for a campout. It was really fun! The girls stayed at one campsite and enjoyed AMAZING dutch oven dinners (courtesy of Bro. Mullen), while the boys slept under the stars and ate hot dogs. :)

Camping! It's been far too long since my last campout. I think it was...in high school?

Beautiful Shirlei, a girl from Brazil who's living in our complex. And she's getting baptized in two weeks! Woohoo!

Our campsite.

Eleven people, an air matress, and two plastic spiders in a tent. It was a leetle crowded.

The next day we met up with the guys and hiked to Grotto falls. Icy cold! But super fun to stand under and push your friends into.

It really was freezing!

This was my first time canoeing. It was so easy and fun! The lake reminded me of Greenbriar back home. I'm thinking we should take our canoe up there sometime, Mom!

Off we go canoeing! I don't have any pictures of our canoe wars with the rest of the ward, but rest assured that we were capsized several times.

I love my ward. Most of the people from this last year are moving out this fall. It'll be all new friends, callings, and experiences. But we certainly won't stop having such good times. :)

Inception

2010-07-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

Oh. My. Gosh.

I have never, ever, EVER seen a movie like inception. It is amazing. It is mysterious. It had my heart and mind racing throughout the whole thing as I tried to keep up with the multiple layers of plot. I can't even describe it to you. This is a movie that keeps you on edge and makes you think. It's not sadistic or sexy, which is so refreshing. It is an action movie but it's not based on killing people. It's about dreams and multiple realities and the incredible power of the subconscious. My friends and I were discussing it for about an hour after we had seen it. Too intense for little ones, but if you like an action movie once in a while chances are you will love - or at least be irresistibly intrigued - by this one. Dad, if it's showing on planes within the next couple of months, I think you should watch it. But make sure you don't get up to stretch during it, because chances are you'll miss something really important.

Uneconomical Addiction

2010-07-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

Freshman year I took a look around the Cougareat and noted with relief that it would probably be easy for me not to spend money there. None of the locations tempted me at all. Really, AT ALL. Taco Bell - I don't like cheap mexican food. Subway I can really live without. Teriyaki sticks = yuck. I went for months without buying anything from the Cougareat until...the buffalo chicken wrap came into my life.

That's right. L&T broke me. Delicious soups, salads, rolls and wraps. Picture this: chicken strips, lettuce, celery, bleu cheese crumbles, and cucumbers on a delicious spinach tortilla, doused in a delicious bleu cheese and buffalo sauce mix. My mouth is watering.

I get it every time I go there, and I'm ashamed to say I go there a lot! At least once a week. It adds up because the wraps are $5.00. I'm thinking they lace the wraps with some addictive substance because I just keep coming back! Well, they say the first step in overcoming an addiction is admitting it to close family and friends, so it looks like I'm on the right track. For now, I think I'll go get myself a wrap.

Just Kidding!

2010-07-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

We did break the record! 3,927 participants and 120,000 water balloons! Haha!

PS Congratulations Katy and Aaron! She is beautiful :)

World's Largest Water Balloon Fight!

2010-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

And I was a part of it! BYU wanted to break the world record for water balloon fights. They've been really into breaking records lately, a while back they wanted to have the world's largest capture the flag game on campus. Seeing as BYU has over 30,000 students enrolled during Fall and Winter semesters, that's actually a pretty feasible goal. I don't think we cracked the record today...we needed 4000 people to show up and I'm positive there were only about 1000. But it was SO fun! I was on the orange team, so we pretty much dominated. :)

After the countdown, thousands of water balloons were chucked into the air. I was wet instantly. It was so fun to watch all of the rainbow-colored water weapons soar! And man, some of them hurt. Alot. We had over 20,000 balloons and I got pegged in the face, chest, stomach and butt many times. But hey. There's not much I won't do for a free t-shirt!

Blog Makeover

2010-07-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, I realized the other day that I've had that same pink blog template for over a year. I do love that one, but it's time for a change! I've been picking over backgrounds for over an hour now, and nothing's really jumped out to me. This tree one is cool; it reminds me of Virginia, which I like, but I don't think it'll be the face of my blog for much longer. I'm tired of surfing the web though, so it looks like for now it's going to stay.

Face Reading

2010-07-17T14:48:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to a BBQ with one of my friends. Her grandma was visiting their family and I got to chat with her for a few minutes. She was a cute, perky old lady. My friend walked over and asked "Grandma, have you read Melinda's face yet?" At which point the old lady turned to me and said, smilingly, "Well, dearie, I didn't know whether or not you wanted me to." She focused her gaze on my face and this followed:

"You're musical and skeptical. You have a good sense of adventure and you have a good brain - sometimes it takes you a little longer to catch onto things, but once you've got it you've got it. You have a clearer sense of right and wrong than a lot of people. You're stubborn. You don't like being told that you're wrong. You also really enjoy looking at artwork." She took my hands. "You're right handed. And you're faithful in your religion. How high can you lift your eyebrows?" I hesitated, a little embarrassed, but then I went ahead and showed her. She sat back and smiled. "Good. You're gaining more confidence in yourself."

I was astonished. This woman had just barely met me, knew nothing about me, and yet by looking at my face she knew everything about me! My friend told me that she was taught face reading by her parents. By looking at certain facial features, expressions, the way you talk and carry yourself, she can pick out certain traits in you and tell you about yourself! It was a really fun experience. If you're interested, you can learn a little about facial shape and personality here.

SUPER Belated Pics

2010-07-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

This is from months ago. Oh well. :) We set up a campsite on the roof of our apartment building. It was really fun! But I am TERRIFIED of heights, so I was glad when we came down about an hour later. I don't really know why the pictures are so small...but you get the general idea! Haha I am so bad at figuring out blogger.

We are ready.

Well, sort of.

I did NOT want to go up.

Scary scary scary!

The ladder of death. It was named Rickety.

Safe on top!

Our floating campsite!

It was a good time. I'm getting a little more daring in my old age :) or a little more subject to peer pressure, I'm not sure which one. Maybe I'll post pictures of our end of the year couch burning soon. Love to you all!

Mice Sing Better In German

2010-07-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

I found this on youtube today, and I was laughing so hard during it that I was disturbing other people in the computer lab. I may or may not be wanting Cinderella in German for my birthday.

Only Harry Potter Fans Will Get This

2010-07-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Haha :)

Kristan Ruby Lusvardi

2010-06-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

I love and miss this beautiful girl. I think of her almost every day, but I know she's still around somewhere :) and I'm sure she's just as perky and peppy as she ever was. We love you, Kristan!

Beachy Beachy, Here I Come!

2010-05-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

I've been counting down to beach week for what seems like forever. I'm looking forward to playing in (hopefully) the sun, eating delicious food, playing games all day long, conversing with the fam, playing with my nephews and nieces, and rinsing all the sand out of my swimsuit. Yup :) This is going to be a very fun weekend. Despite the red-eye flight.

Old Spice

2010-05-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

I wonder how much Old Spice sales have gone up since they switched to the humorous advertising tactic. :) Enjoy a few of my favorite commercials.

Possibly the Worst Running Playlist Ever

2010-05-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went running and was having no luck finding good, motivational songs to listen to on my iPod. Perhaps sensing that my endurance was failing, shuffle picked out the following tracks for me. I kid you not :)

"No Air" by Jordin Sparks
"The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles
"Come so Far, Got so Far to Go" from Hairspray
"Help!" by the Beatles
"Far Away" by Nickelback
"Wanna Go Home" by Michael Buble
"Carry That Weight" by the Beatles - the Beatles were really not helping me out today
"Nobody Said It Was Easy" by Coldplay
"This Is The End" by Relient K

Good thing I had some disney songs on there as well. Otherwise, I don't think I would have made it.

The Miracle of...Wait...What?

2010-05-12T17:40:00.001-07:00

I'm currently in an infant development class at BYU. It's really fascinating, and I love the material, but I keep having dreams that I'm pregnant and don't know how it happened because I'm not married and don't even have a boyfriend. I wake up feeling disoriented, confused, and extremely guilty, before I realize that it was all a dream and that I'm not actually pregnant. (You can imagine the relief!) Hopefully we'll stop watching "The Miracle of Life" before too long so my dreams will return to a state of at least semi-normalcy.

Auto Tuned...

2010-05-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

I thought this was pretty funny...the things you can do with Auto-tuning. :)

Can We Please Get Beach House With a Foosball Table?

2010-05-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Seriously. We have one here at the Villa, and as entertainment is somewhat limited in my complex, it has become my default activity. My friends and I have tournaments. We play for about an hour every day, and practice has made - not perfect - but SO much better. I creamed one of the best boys in my ward. And I'm giving THE best boy a run for his money. One of these days I'll beat em' all. But in order to do that I need to keep practicing :) so can we find a beach house with a foosball table?

PS Good luck today Marie! :) We love you!

Best Friend Photoshoot

2010-04-12T22:50:00.001-07:00

My friend Jason is a really good photographer, and this last weekend my two best friends Jen and Vanessa and I wandered around downtown Provo taking some artsy shots for memories :) it was really fun. We took over 200 photos, so here's just a few of my favorites. I love you all!

The beginning of our modeling career.

Random brick wall in southern Provo.

I like this one. It took a few times to get it right though :)

Jen (a.k.a. Lil' Crack and J-dawg), Melinda (a.k.a. Lil' Crunch and Melly), Vanessa (a.k.a. Lil' Sketch and Granny Jo)

Just chillin' by a colorful van. Ya know.

I decided it would be a good idea for us to all squeeze into the gate around the tree. It was a very painful idea.

Goofing off.

Vanessa loves me :)

We found a sweet door on the north side of the Provo Tabernacle.

My roommate Jen is GORGEOUS.

This one took over 5o takes to get all of our faces in it.

It's been a great journey so far...

Best friends for life.

Indian Colorfest

2010-03-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the annual spring colorfest at the Krishna temple in Spanish fork. All I can say is...CRAZY! Basically it's a festival to worship the Hindu god Krishna and to celebrate fertility. There was singing and dancing in the temple, which was SO fun. I was tempted to pull out my Bollywood dance workout moves (thank you, Celeste). Then we and the other hundreds of people at the festival bought packets of colored chalk and after a countdown threw them all over each other! I don't know when I've had more fun.

Walking to the temple. Clean, but not for long.

Outside of the temple. It was beautiful!

Waiting for the powder throwing to begin...

Some people were a little overzealous and began throwing chalk at me before the countdown had started.

COUNTDOWN AND CRAZY POWDER THROWING!

Me Kasee and Bre. Filthy but happy!

The crew!

Okay, it was fun, but I have to tell you that when the countdown was over and hundreds of people began throwing fistfuls of colored powder into the air, the sky basically went dark and I couldn't breath for a couple minutes. It was a real third Nephi experience. All day long after that I was coughing up rainbows. And my shower is ruined :) but it was worth it. I want to do it again.

The Sticks

2010-03-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

T'was the night before the ward talent show,
and all through the house,
3 girls were frantically planning, which frightened a mouse,
planning something to do for the ward talent show,
the answer came almost too suddenly: GLOW!

That's right. We performed a glow-in-the-dark stick figure dance routine on stage. It was absolutely amazing. SO funny. Here are some pics. If you ever want to try this at home, plan on using a million glow sticks and about three rolls of tape.

Sparks

2010-02-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

A new restaurant/lounge just opened in downtown Provo. It's called "Sparks" and it's basically a non-alcoholic bar. :) You can get fruity martinis and pellinis without the booze. Perfect for mormontown, and absolutely delicious! The environment is pretty cool, the restaurant is painted black inside with cool light fixtures and candles at every table. I think the "bartenders" are sick of all the mormon kids freaking out about ordering their first "martini" though. I got a mango mojito with lime and mint (yum!). The others in my group got an apple martini (yuck, actually, this one was not that good), a double-berry martini, peach something or other, and pomegranate something. I don't remember what all the alcoholic names are. I guess that's a good thing.

Party Like a Goddess

2010-01-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

This was a really fun weekend. Friday we went to a dance (check out our sweet new Women's Chorus t-shirts, Celeste!) and Saturday we went ice skating (see the leg warmers Marie, see them?) Then my bestest friends at college and I went to a toga party at King Henry last weekend. The toga party was kind of lame (the guy in charge of the music told us it was an "indie" toga party, and that if we wanted him to play some techno, rap, or spice girls, we would have to pay him for the songs on itunes...my friend Vanessa got so mad!) It was way fun to get dressed up though. I don't know why people ever stopped wearing togas. They are super comfortable.

I Believe In The Ice Age

2009-12-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

(Frozen tidal waves)

And I believe that it will happen again. It was -1 degrees in Provo this morning...BRR!!!

Flu Vaccination

2009-12-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

BYU has been offering free H1N1 Flu virus vaccinations to students, faculty, and their dependents. I don't like shots and I'm a little afraid of medicine, particularly injections (cross-contamination, them giving me the wrong thing and I die, etc) so I was pretty proud of myself for taking this initiative. It was free, so I figured, why not?

I was in line, mentally preparing myself for getting a shot when the EMT guy told me they were going to be giving me the nasal spray vaccination and that I should go get in the "mist" line.

Huh?

I'd never even heard of a nasal vaccination! Needless to say, it was a WEIRD experience. The boy's expression in the above picture pretty much sums up my reaction.

12 days until I come home for Christmas! Yay!

I've Been Meaning to Post This Forever...

2009-11-27T11:39:00.000-08:00

Halloween: Ninja Turtle Style

2009-11-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what a little creativity and a 5$ budget for halloween can do. I teamed up with 3 of my friends and we were Ninja Turtles! We had to call our guy friends and ask what the names, colors, and weapons of the turtles were, because none of us knew, but it turned out pretty well! We even watched the movie to study their movements and behaviors, and we took copious notes. Just kidding about that last one. But we did watch the movie.

Wait...for real?

2009-10-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last year I blogged about how our family is given a name each year for giving Christmas gifts. I mentioned how for the last 4 YEARS I've gotten boys - Dan, Adam, Nathan, Aaron, and I might have even had Joel before that...anyways, this year I was determined to get a girl. (You'd think the odds would be better for getting a girl in our family, but we just keep getting brother-in laws!) So. I talked with Dad.

Melinda: "Hey Dad, I've gotten the guys in our family for the last 4 years, so even though Greg's new to the fam this Christmas I don't have him, right?"

Dad: (looks in planner...pauses...pulls pen out of pocket) "Oh...I guess I'd better change that then!"

What?! Seriously? Again? Not that I don't wanna give a you a present, Greg, but what are the odds! Anyways...I still don't know who my person is but I am almost 100% positive that it's a girl. Then again, there's always that lurking possibility...

This is CRAZY!!!

2009-09-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Maybe they forgot to do the haka?

2009-09-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

I can't think of any other reason why we lost our game today. SO sad! It was our first game at home for the season, too. Oh well. The cougs will rise again. Go Cosmo!

It makes me so mad when people don't sing the fight song. Sure it's cheesy, but it's a tradition! We should include that in the honor code.

Funny(ish) story - today I was eating a sandwich in the cougareat (just you wait, it gets even BETTER) and I saw a bunch of Florida State University fans walk in all decked out in red and gold and ready to eat our mint brownies. Needless to say, I was a lil' miffed. But then a BYU student walked up to them, shook their hands, welcomed them to Provo, and thanked them for coming all the way out here to cheer on their team. I felt so guilty! They had come all the way from Florida and I wasn't making them feel welcome! What kind of impression was I giving of BYU? I don't want them walking away from our campus thinking we're a bunch of trash-talkers (which, by the way, we most definitely ARE) so the next group of FSU fans I saw I smiled at and waved and welcomed them to Provo. They got really happy and said I was the first person ALL DAY that had said that to them. Yeah, I'll bet I was.

Maybe the Cougs lost because I was nice to those FSU people, but whatever. I still felt awesome after I had done it.

GO COUGS!!!!!!

Strengthening the Family

2009-09-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

As part of my Strengthening the Family class at BYU, I've created a blog to share weekly what I've learned. It's listed in my blog sidebar. Check it out!

I want one of these!

2009-08-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

I

I saw these on a website and I am sorely tempted to buy one! I just can't decide which! I absolutely love the smallpox one, but I don't think I would be brave enough to wear it in public for fear of social retribution. Input, anyone?

Directions

2009-07-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight Trina and Sarah were playing "Toy Store." They had quite a collection of play stuff set up nicely on shelves, with fake money for customers to use (they gave you the money for the purchases...my kind of store!) and cute lil' aprons. I visited several times. On one occasion I asked for directions to 6 flags and this is what ensued.

Sarah: "Take 1493 up to an intersection with 4 stops, and turn right. Two lefts, a right, another right, straight for a while and then up a curly-q road to the top. Then you're there!"

Trina: "Go southbound on 95, take 50 West until you come to the sign on the right. Easy!"

Umm...that was astoundingly legit for an 8-year-old, Trina! I half believed you!

Spencer's Bedtime Story

2009-07-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am babysitting for the Wrides as the parents get away on a date to see "up." I told Spencer a bedtime story. When I finished, he told me he had one for me in return. "Okay, but it will have to be short, I have to...umm...do the dishes. (I did wash a couple bowls, to be fair Marie!) "It's just a lil' one." Said Spencer. What followed was a ninety second regurgitation of the same story I had just told him, with a couple interesting twists thrown in. Spencer's masterpiece, for your reading pleasure :)

"Once there was a little princess. She would go to sleep every night and every night she would just get really scared. But sometimes every night a great big big huge unicorn would come and then she wouldn't be afraid. And some friendly little mice would leave her three crowns every time on her shelf. The end."

I wish I had some friendly little mice to leave me some crowns on my shelf!

Trina Story

2009-07-05T17:23:00.001-07:00

Tonight, watching old family videos. Trina sees on screen a much younger daddy.

Trina: "Whoa!! Dad's from the EIGHTIES!"

Melinda: "Isn't he handsome?"

Trina: : "Well, of course he is! If he wasn't, none of us would even be here!!!"

Umm....

Family Gifts

2009-06-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the unique qualities and abilities of our individual family members. It strikes me that even though we're all from the same family, our gifts and talents are really quite diverse. I thought I would post some of the primary characteristics I see in each family member (in-laws too!). These are just a few specific ones, you are all kind, wonderful people and I love you!

Dad- Resilience, leadership, and loyalty- to his family, the gospel, his job, and scouts.

Mom- Intelligence, faith, and love for family- mom loves family gatherings where we just sit around and talk!

Aaron- Logic, responsibility, hard worker, family leader, fun brother, helps the family try new things

Katy- Enthusiasm for life, appreciation of beauty and diversity, generosity

Marie- Nurturing, deep sympathy, drive for excellence, compassion

Adam- Innovative, love for learning, hard worker

Danny- Caring, affectionate, willing to serve, great with his hands

Jenny- Reasoning and logic--great advice and amazing at games, spotting patterns, putting things together, etc. Loving mother, sister.

Nathan- Politeness and diplomacy, spontaneity, balancing fun with work

Celeste- Deep feeling, loyalty to friends, gift of example, hard work

Michelle- Passion, dedication, sense of justice, ambition, sensitivity and gentleness

Greg- Quiet courage, strength, authority.

Heather- Desire to do what's right, sweetness, tender-hearted, wit

Joel- Constructive, creative, great with kids, spiritual

Sarah- Smart, bubbly, energetic, lively, brave

Trina- Dramatic, observant, spunky, funny, affectionate.

Our family is great. :) Love you all!

Think Pink!!

2009-06-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, I changed the template. This one is way cuter. Very girly, though. Sorry, Joel! Next month I'll choose the All-Star Sports one. Maybe. :)

Sunday Photoshoot

2009-06-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful sunday and we decided (as kids) to take some pictures. We miss you, Mom and Dad! We can't wait to see you! :)

Sacred Learnings

2009-05-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

On the way home from church.

Dad: Melinda, what did you learn today in relief society?

Melinda: (grunt) Sealing keys.

Dad: That's great. Sarah, what did you learn?

Sarah: (cough) Priesthood authority.

Dad: Also a very good thing. Trina, what did you learn today?

Trina: MOBS!

Playtime

2009-05-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been playing dress-up with Sarah and Trina. Dad caught me doing it once, and it was a little bit embarrassing since I just barely got back from college, but oh well.

The names of Trina's Barbies, for Celeste and any other readers' pleasure:

Ballerina Sparklelina
Beautiful Princess
Handsome Man (a Ken doll, don't worry)
Alariel (An Ariel doll...I think she might have made that name up on the spot. Just a hunch)
Grace (?)

Trina's Email

2009-05-02T13:55:00.001-07:00

Today Trina told me that her email is "TrinaTCC.com@.T.Com". Her password is "band club."

Trina Stories

2009-04-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'm SO glad I can finally write Trina stories now that I'm home from BYU. There have been so many...it's incredible.

Last night, as we ate cake: Trina- "I have saved over one thousand dollars. I'm planning on becoming a millionaire." I believe her total savings comes to about 98.75. :)

On the way to church, Trina drawing intently in the backseat of the car. Dad- "What are you drawing, Tree?" Trina- "A zombie." Startled, I look over and indeed see a spindly black figure with staring red eyes and blood dripping from it's mouth. I immediately began cracking up. Dad- "Oh no, Trina! Don't draw a zombie, draw a princess or something." Trina-(rolling her eyes) "Daaaaaaad.!!"

Last night Trina came into my room to show me her "special things box." Sarah said she had one, too, and showed me. Trina looked put out and left, but came back a minute later with a little box that she told me only I could see. I looked. Trina- "It's a Melinda feather!" I laughed outright. What a topper.

On the way home I played with Trina's hair. I make an effort to compliment her because she's the youngest, so I told her she had beautiful golden hair. Her brow furrowed. "It's not GOLDEN." she told me plainly. "Golden brown, then." I offered. She pondered, then decided it was "brown sapphire brown."

You Know You're in College When...

2009-04-17T12:07:00.001-07:00

You realize you poured way too much milk on your cereal but don't want to throw the excess milk away so you dunk a couple oreos in it. Aah frugality.

FHE Fun

2009-04-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I was the Ma of our FHE group at college this year, and our tiny budget gave rise to some very...well, creative activities! I thought I would post them in case anyone gets tired of fruit basket. Or cleaning the garage.

-Jello Sculpting Contest
-Cake in a cup-microwaveable yumminess!
-Shaving cream wiffleball-fill the ball with cream and it splatters all over everyone when you hit it
-Shaving cream fights that ensue
-Indoor camping- complete with marshmallow roasting over a gas stove and a crackling fire laptop screensaver for EFFECT!
-Scripture pictionary cookie baking
-Breaking into an apartment and cleaning it as an act of service
-The thimble game...classic
-The drawing game
-Photo scavenger hunt

And more!

Make-up Woes

2009-04-04T12:41:00.001-07:00

I don't like makeup. Really, I detest it. Firstly, because it is SO expensive- a decent mascara from a pharmacy costs anything from six to twelve dollars. A nice foundation is usually eight dollars. Secondly, I don't like how much of it people apply! I look around and see girls with plastic-looking orange faces, full red lips and heavily powdered eyes. My makeup routine takes me about five minutes and consists of a bit of concealer (for the trouble spots!), some mascara and a bit of eyeshadow. So imagine my chagrin at learning I have to go out and buy MORE makeup for Women's Chorus because our final concert is being filmed for TV.

I mean, it's awesome that our concert is being broadcast on PBS and I am really excited to see the final project, but I'm pretty sad that I need to get special makeup. It makes sense, we need to have particular face powders so we don't get washed out under the camera lights, but still! I wish I could make do with what I have already. Maybe I'll try to get away with that...haha. :) We took a whole hour in women's chorus to have a TV make-up artist come in and show us appropriate TV makeup procedures. It was interesting. Some of the members of the Men's Chorus (who meet right after us) came in early and laughed heartily at the sight of 180 girls intently taking notes on the exact location of the browbone. I hope that they will have to dab on some face powder too!!!

I Met Elder Calhoun!!!

2009-04-01T22:35:00.001-07:00

Kirby Heyborne came to Wyview and did a ward FHE. It was pretty cool to see him so close after watching movies like the "RM" and "Singles Ward." While he was giving his testimony on Joseph Smith, I could not stop thinking of "And I know that Joseph Smith was a pamphlet." I definitely had to stifle a laugh or two. When we talked with him afterwards, I was tempted to say "Hogar oog van hook van daan. Guda my oog." (My favorite dutch line from "The Best Two Years.") He sang us some of his songs, and they were really very good. He seems like a funny and nice guy.

I've been thinking about all the controversy over Kirby's beer commercial scandal thing. Sure I was disappointed that he chose to represent that product, but I feel like the hype about it is a little much...I think people should move on and let him do so as well.

Below is a fun pic of some friends and I with dear Elder Calhoun.

Guda my oog.

This is funny.

2009-03-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

I do remember plurals being hard.
This is a funny segment Brian Regan did on that particular part of speech.

"Brian, what's the i before e rule?"

"I before e... always."
"What are you, an idiot, Brian?"
"Well apparently."
So she explains it.
"No, Brian. It's i before e except after c and when sounding like a as in neighbor and weigh, and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May, and you'll always be wrong no matter what you say!"
That's a hard rule. That's a- that's a rough rule.
Plurals were hard, too.
“Brian, how do you make a word a plural?”
“You put a ‘s’…put a ‘s’ at the end of it.”
“When?”
“On weekends and holidays...”
“No, Brian. Let me show you.” So she asked this kid who knew everything. Irwin. “Irwin, what’s the plural for ox?”
“Oxen. The farmer used his oxen.”
“Brian?”
(chuckling)“What?”
“Brian, what’s the plural for box?”
“Boxen. I bought 2 boxen of doughnuts.”
"No, Brian, no. Let's try another one. Irwin, what's the plural for goose?"
"Geese. I saw a flock of geese."
"Brian."
(half-crying) "Wha-at?"
"Brian, what's the plural for moose?"
"Moosen! I saw a flock of moosen! There were many of 'em. Many much moosen. Out in the woods- in the woodes- in the woodsen. The meese want the food. The food is to eatenesen. The meese want the food in the woodingesen! In the, food in the woodenesen!"
"Brian! Brian. You're an imbecile."
"Imbecile-n."
"What are you speaking? German, Brian?"
"German. Jermain. Jermaine Jackson. Jackson Five. Tito!"
"Brian, what the heck are you talking about!?"
"I don't know, I don't know really."

Summer Series

2009-03-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things I've always disliked about school is how little time it leaves me to read for fun! As such, I use my summers to catch up on all the pleasure reading I've been pushing aside for midterms. I almost always read the Harry Potter series in the summertime. Over and over. I love those books! This year, however, I'm looking for a different set of books in which to lose myself. Any recommendations? I would prefer a good series. And I'm kind of against reading Twilight, though I liked the movie.

Here Are My Rain Boots

2009-03-27T14:37:00.001-07:00

Wyview is a 30 minute walk to campus and my tennis shoes were pretty beaten up, so Dad "made" me buy these boots! I love them.

I Just Want to go to the Beach!

2009-03-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty tired of reading my Physical Science textbook, my back aches from organ practicing, and it's snowing. I can't get Memorial Day weekend off of my mind! Have we picked a house yet?

Authentic Happiness: Signature Strengths

2009-03-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

There was a good forum address at BYU today. Martin Saligman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a specialist in positive psychology, spoke on the importance of optimism and focusing on mental health. One of his points was particularly interesting to me. He said that a way to achieve a greater sense of fulfillment and optimism in life was to identify our greatest strengths and consciously employ them into any professional or everyday endeavor. He has a website, authentichappiness.org, with lots of professionally validated quizzes and surveys. He reccommended taking the "Signature Strengths" test. 240 questions, but I was interested, so I did it! It took me about twenty minutes. The results seemed pretty much dead on, and they were very informative. I would reccomend it to anyone else interested.

The 5 Browns

2009-03-12T13:33:00.001-07:00

Last night I got to see The 5 Browns perform live in the De Jong Concert Hall! It was an AMAZING experience. I can't believe how in sync they are with each other. Getting 5 pianos to sound like one is surely no easy task! They played one of my FAVORITE classical pieces, Rachmaninoff's 18th Variation on a theme by Paganini. It's in "Somewhere in Time" if that helps. I'm so lucky to be at BYU and have the chance to experience all of these wonderful performances and other opportunities.

Kinda freaky how they all look the same, huh?

SO CUTE

2009-03-03T16:23:00.000-08:00

I love vintage swimwear. I REALLY REALLY want to buy this suit. I've wanted one in this style for a long time, and I finally found it online! Only thing is it's 65.00 $ and looks like it's distributed from a home-run company type...thing. So I don't know if I can trust it or how well it would fit upon being delivered. I want it red with white polka dots. Man oh man, it is just so adorable! And my three-year-old walmart suit is just about ready to be retired.

Child Prodigy

2009-01-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a while but that is mostly because I didn't feel like reacharging my camera and uploading pictures. Today, however, I rediscovered the story of child prodigy Akiane. Her parents were atheists, but one night Akiane claimed she had a vision and painted a picture of Christ. Ever since she has tried to create works that will bring people closer to their families, a true knowledge of themselves, and, most importantly, a knowledge of the Savior. Her paintings are often religious or whimsical. Below are a few of my favorites.

"Father Forgive Them" Age 9

"Love" Age 13, Akiane next to the painting.
"Search For Truth" Age 12

"The Dreams" Age 10

"The Journey" Age 9

You can learn more about her here.

Early Christmas Celebration

2008-12-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

My group of friends and I had a gift exchange today. Check out our tiny little Christmas tree.

Christmas Shopping Woes

2008-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm grateful for our family's tradition of drawing names so that we only have to buy for one person. It makes the shopping easier on my creative juices and wallet. But I always seem to be stuck with the hardest people to shop for. This year is NO exception. Not only that, but I have had boys as my people for the last 4 years. Joel, Dan, Adam, and then Aaron. Isn't that funny? ;) Some say boys are easier to shop for because they are more easily contented, but I find it easier to give gifts to girls because I relate to them better.

I was thinking back to past Christmases and some of my favorite gifts that have come as a result of the name-drawing. I came up with a few classics:

*Michelle's leather pants from Aaron-the subsequent tears that resulted
*When Dan had me and gave me ONE SHOE.
*When Dan had Michelle and gave her a can of applesauce from the food storage. (I believe he gave her a real gift later.)
*When Dan had me (wow, dan! you've made the classics three times) and gave me a box of dollar-tree treasures, including a baseball calendar, a rubber mallet, those stones you stick in fishtanks, and a huge plastic doorbell in the shape of red lips. I took those to spanish 1 class with senior landers and they were confiscated.
*When I gave Aaron a rugby ball last year but he didn't read the nametag so he assumed it was from our parents and said "Thanks, Mom and Dad!". Kind of awkward, because I didn't want to say "umm...actually..."
*That Christmas when Marie and Adam were first married and exchanged a great plenty of gifts
*Joel's cute cardboard constructions...tender!

Can't think of any more at the moment...does anyone else have input?

Quotes

2008-12-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been introduced to the quotes of a stand-up comedian named Mitch Hedberg. Disclaimer: My friends have only told me his good jokes and I believe the rest of his stuff is full of language, but I would like to share some of my favorite squeaky-clean quotes with you! (Sorry to Celeste, Jen, Nathan, and Michelle, they've heard these possibly a million times.)

"Once I had a parrot that talked, but it did not say 'I am hungry,' so it died."

"I was walking by a dry cleaner at 3 a.m., and it said "Sorry, we're closed." You don't have to be sorry. It's 3 a.m., and you're a dry cleaner. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open. I'm not gonna walk by at ten and say, "Hey, I walked by at three, you guys were closed. Someone owes me an apology. This jacket would be halfway done!"

"Vending machines are big part of my life, I like when you reach into the vending machine to grab your candy bar and that flap goes up to block you from reaching up, that's a good invention, before that it was hard times for the vending machine owners, "What candy bar are you getting?", "That one, and every one on the bottom row!"

"When I was a boy I used to lay in my twin sized bed at night, wondering where my brother was."

"I got a king sized bed. I don't know any kings, but if one came over, I guess he'd be comfortable. "Oh, you're a king, you say? Well you won't believe what I have in store for you! It's to your exact specifications!"

"I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large out of focus monster roaming the countryside. Look out, he's fuzzy, let's get out of here."

"I order the club sandwich all the time, but I'm not even a member, man. I don't know how I get away with it."

"The worst way to get killed would be with an arrow. Think about it, the cops would walk by, see the arrow sticking out of my chest, and say 'Hey look at that dead guy. Let's go this way.' "

Again, these are the few quotes of his that are clean, but I sure think they're funny.

:)

The Good Times at College

2008-11-26T11:15:00.001-08:00

Hey All! Here are some pictures of my crazy fun adventures at the Y! In no particular chronological order because I had a difficult enough time uploading the pictures anyway.

Breann and I getting ready for the Halloween dance. I was Barbie's best friend Theresa (kind of a stretch...you could also call me "ethnically diverse barbie" or "culturally aware barbie") and Bre was scary spice.

A group of us at the MIDNIGHT PREMIERE OF TWILIGHT. I have no idea how we convinced those guys to come with us.

Homecoming! My date and Bre's, looking oh so dandy. The sliver of face in the corner belongs to Jeff.

Bre and I at the dance.

Dinner beforehand- we had something like eighteen people in our group.

Bre, her roomie Megan and I at a Volleyball game.

So far- the latest I've stayed up has been four in the morning and I don't think I'll ever push past that. Some of my friends have been up till 8 am...I don't think so.

LOVE YOU!

Birthday!!!

2008-11-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say thank you for all the calls and happy birthday wishes from yesterday! It was great to talk to all of you. Celeste, the message your class left on my phone was PRECIOUS. And Marie, when I heard you and Spencer singing I almost cried it was so cute and made me miss him so much. Emma sounds like she is becoming quite the little lady!

Anyway, thanks again!

Painting

2008-10-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

My friend sent me this painting he did of me with a cougar and BYU. For my birthday. Kind of...well, it's a really cool painting, I just have no idea what to do with it now. I kind of don't want to hang a painting of myself up on the wall. Any ideas of what I should do with it?

Can You Tell This Is A Girl's Freezer?

2008-10-21T18:56:00.001-07:00

4 cartons of ice cream. Whoa.

I Still Have a Sister!

2008-10-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

I ran into Michelle by chance between classes today. It never ceases to amaze me how out of the 30,000 students at BYU, I randomly see my sister and recognize her. It's a real treat to chat with her nowadays, because she NEVER answers her cell phone and we're both so busy with school. I think she and I are going to have a sister's night with Celeste this Saturday...that should be a lot of fun.

I'll try to post some Homecoming pictures soon, Love you all!

Misdeeds

2008-10-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago my friends and I were walking outside of our apartment building when we heard a huge "BOOM!!!" and saw a large amount of smoke billowing from between two buildings across the street. Everyone froze, and then (intelligently) ran to the place where it had happened. Using the light from our cell phones, we ascertained that nothing had caught fire. No damage had been done at all, it seemed, and the only thing we could find was the remains of a plastic bottle.

About a half hour earlier my friend and I had seen 4 guys driving around the parking lot. They were older and didn't look like they went to BYU, if you know what I mean. One of them was wearing a trenchcoat. My friend said that she had seen those guys hanging out in between the buildings before the explosion occurred. When the police came, she and I were called to testify.

Apparently the explosion was a dry ice bomb. It was pretty scary. No one was hurt, but it's freaky that someone would do that. Last month someone lit a bush on fire. Gee whiz, I'm glad I know karate.

I love College #2

2008-09-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

Living in Wyview Park, I have a 30 minute walk to and from campus. I like the walking, actually. It helps me feel good to be getting that exercise since I'm not running or doing sit-ups or anything. I enjoy being far away from campus. Although I don't have easy access to classes or the cannon center, I like feeling that my school and social/home life are separate. It's nice to be able to finish class and walk home, taking that half hour to relax and clear my head before dinner and games begin! I'm told people that commute to work enjoy the separation as well, as long as the commute is a reasonable length.

I've really been enjoying listening to my ipod on these walks. I feel like my songs are a soundtrack to my life. It's funny how much my mood is lifted when I start listening and walking with the beautiful mountains in front and around me. Sounds sappy, I know. But I really love it. I was listening to MoTab's "The Spirit of God" and thinking of the pioneers crossing the mountains was really moving. It is so beautiful here, with the trees turning color and the air so cool with slight breezes.

The music helps me keep up my pace and not lag, as long as I choose the right playlist to listen from. Hairspray and High School Musical soundtracks: Great if you're running late. Very upbeat, you can't help but walk in time. Celtic Woman and Sara Mclachlan: Bad. I was a full ten minutes late to class because I chose that one morning.

So Dad, you can stop trying to get me to move to Helaman. I love Wyview! Thanks for trying , though. Love you guys!

Trina Story

2008-09-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, even at college I discover Trina stories.

I have a roommate named Ariel who has sort of reddish hair. When I called Trina and told her this, she asked in all seriousness, "Does she have fins?"

:)

Oh Trina.

Hurray!

2008-09-05T09:36:00.001-07:00

I made the BYU Women's Chorus! I am VERY excited about this. I heard them at a concert last November and it was like nothing I had ever heard before. The audition process was pretty...hmm...long. (Chuckle) I almost walked out of my call-back because it was taking FOREVER and I had a 30 min walk home and hadn't eaten dinner. I'm glad I stayed!

I love you all!

Melinda

Favorite Spot On Campus #1

2008-09-03T17:00:00.001-07:00

My new favorite part of campus is the Memorial Hall in the Wilk. It's this hidden-away room full of couches and pictures of BYU students that have died in war. It's SO quiet in there, and it's a great place to take a nap.

Yesterday I slept there in between classes, which was much-needed because the night before I had stayed up late talking to some friends and playing sardines. Bad idea at night in a huge complex, by the way. We just gave up. Poor Ariel.

GO COUGARS!!!

2008-08-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

I went to my first official football game yesterday and it was a BLAST. The team is so good. Of course we won. Poor Northern Iowa. It was the neatest experience to look around at the screaming fans and think that I am a part of this. I love BYU already. The people are so nice and friendly, and I feel so secure in an environment where most everybody believes the same things I do.

I love you all and miss you, but I am fortunately not too homesick because I have family out here, Breann Baldwin as my next door neighbor, and many good friends. I'm really pretty lucky. :)

God bless!

Melinda

Wisdom Teeth

2008-08-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

This past Monday I got my wisdom teeth removed. I have been really nervous about this for a long time, and my anxiety was not helped by the horrible dreams I experienced the night before my surgery. I drempt that I was in Sarah's room on a rickety stretcher, awaiting the arrival of my doctor. A short, blustery japanese woman entered bearing no surgical tools. In my dream I was very upset, because I was told my doctor was a man. The woman then told me that I would have to be awake for the procedure because she didn't know how to anaesthetize. I began shouting and crying passionately "give me the drugs! You are NOT my doctor."

That morning I got up and headed to the car. I was really quiet the whole ride to Landsdowne hospital. Mom kept looking at me anxiously, I think trying to figure out if I was mad at her. It really wasn't her fault. I needed to have this done, I knew that.

The doc and I took a look at my X-Rays. He was young and had a brooklyn accent. Craig Vigilante. Doctor Vigilante? Needless to say, I was still a little apprehensive.

The surgical room was this sterile octagon of menacing-looking instruments and machines. I had to look away for the IV insertion. Sorry, I'm a wimp. I started to feel really heavy, like I was sinking within myself, and then they were done. Whoa.

I don't remember getting home, but I do recall driving by the shell and remarking to mom that gas had gone down to 3.89 a gallon. As my whole face had been numbed, it must have sounded something like "gatfh wennndun." Sweet mommy just smiled and nodded, having no idea what I had just said.

Two hours later I woke up with a big face and a lip that felt like brotwurst. (sp?)

The next few days I lived off of pudding, ice cream, yoghurt, and the occasional jell-o cup. I slept with bags of peas next to my face and endured the taunts of my family as I wrapped a white ice pack around my head and was compared to Jacob Marley.

But I am now fully recovered in body and spirit, though I have gaping holes in my gums and can safely promise that I will not swish with saltwater for a good many years.

Thanks to all who made me soup and cheered me up. :)

Hacker--Haha!

2008-07-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

So Melinda, unsuspecting, left me alone while I was adding my link to her blog. She doesn't think that I am this sneaky. She even just walked by and declared, "Samsonite!" in a ferocious tone (the name of her new luggage for college." She also just said a most profound statement. "Look at our walls; with our lights on, they are yellow." Um...hate to break it to you, but yes. We did, indeed, paint the walls yellow two years ago. Well, a little scoop on Melinda, and a little dose of her own good medicine. Gotta keep things real here at the Cummings' house. Speaking of keeping it real--it's time to clean the bathrooms.
--Sneaky Celeste

2008-07-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

As Youth Conference approaches and we get ready to go to Palmyra, I've been reflecting a lot on the prophet Joseph Smith and his life. Mom, Heather and I are singing in the YC choir and there is a lot of beautiful music about the restoration. My two favorite songs are "O How Great the Goodness of Our God" (mom has a solo in this song) and "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee." That last one is my favorite, because it is based on the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants when Joseph is in jail. The words are so comforting.

You can listen to clips of them here.

I Love Trina

2008-07-10T15:39:00.001-07:00

She can be hyper, but she can also be incredibly funny without realizing it.

I was looking for a movie to watch this afternoon while I pieced together my college quilt. Trina was allowed to join in the movie-watching fun if she vacuumed the family room first.

Trina: (done vacuuming) Don't worry, Melinda, I'll read off titles of the grown-up movies that I actually like.

Melinda smiles.

Trina: Harry Potter?

Melinda: No.

Trina: Cheaper by the Dozen?

Melinda: No.

Trina: Care Bears?

Melinda and Jenny: NO!

Melinda: Stardust? It's new, but I think it might be PG-13.

Trina: (Solemnly) Oh, then I don't think I could see it. PG-13 stands for parents and grown-ups over thirteen.

Jenny: (laughing) Do you know how many PG-13 movies you've seen? Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter...

Melinda: Yeah, Trina, those are scary.

Trina: For you, not for me. I'm scared of the dark, but I'm just not afraid of any DARK LORDS.

A Moment of Silence, Please

2008-07-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, precious van of navy blue,
With seats so wide and space so great,
We fondly do remember you,
As this Monday thou didst finally break.

We reminisce of car trips past,
Of sleepless sleeps in the narrow footwell,
Of the stuffy back where no AC didst blast,
and Aaron's "rosy," footish smell.

Thou hast carried us to Disneyworld, Utah, and Kansas
Withstood wood, boy scouts, and bandits,
Surely no other car has merit
To compare with that of thee, Oh V-8 chariot.

Mother says that this is our last 15 passenger,
All we can say, is thanks for the ride.
You will be missed by all who have ridden thee,
And by the squirrels which in your vents did abide.

And so, valiant warrior, we bid thee adieu,
With tears for the "blue bullet," that will no longer run,
But though thine earthly travels are now over,
Thy greatest journey has just begun!

A little Eulogy for our sadly out-of-commission van. It's engine was going, and it broke towing 15 scouts to camp.

Trina Story

2008-07-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Trina: I'm bored! There's just nothing I like to do but play on the computer.

Melinda: How about you go play outside?

Trina: No, it rained last night, and I would slip and fall.

Melinda: Why don't you call up a friend to play with you?

Trina: (evasively) No, they're all busy for the next three weeks.

Melinda: Well, why don't you read a book.

Trina: (Really frustrated by this point) No, because you just can't learn anything from them and plus, it's NON-FICTION.

Oh, the woes of a seven-year-old in the summertime.

PITH day

2008-07-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Trina came up to me, her mouth covered in chocolate from a hershey's syrup-and-milk concoction, and stated quite solemnly "Tomorrow is pith day."

"Pith day?"

"You know. P.I.T.H. day."

"What is P.I.T.H. day?"

(Rolling her eyes) "The fourth of July, 'party in the house' day, of course!"

Oh, of course.

Happy PITH day, everyone!

Baby Monitor

2008-06-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

So Jen and Nathan are living with us for the summer. It has been totally awesome to have them and their son Isaac here. But it has given rise to some potentially awkward moments around the house. Firstly, there is the fact that from the side if you squint and are standing on your head, I look slightly like Jenny and have almost, but not quite been mistaken for her by Nathan. Luckily, those mistakes are few and far in between. Adam hugged me once because he thought I was Marie. I guess I'm getting used to it. Thankfully, Katy has never once mistaken me for Aaron. Silly in-laws!

Once I was up in the middle of the night because I had to go to the bathroom. I never turn on the bathroom light in such cases because it is very bright and makes a loud "whirrr" noise that wakes one up more than one wants to be woken up. This particular night, I heard eerie noises and voices issuing from what seemed to be the bathroom walls. This happened a couple of nights, until I finally realized that the noises were coming from the vent on the floor, right above the basement where Nathan and Jenny are living. They were probably just up giving Isaac a feeding. Phew!

Lastly, there is the baby monitor. It sits conveniently up on our kitchen counter so Jenny can hear Isaac cry downstairs. Today while Michelle and I were in the kitchen, we heard some loud singing come over the monitor. We recognized Nathan's voice in a passionate rendition of "Hello, Jenny" in true Louis Armstrong style. Nathan loves singing songs and substituting his wife's name in for any portion of lyric that would fit. Example: "Jenny, oh Jenny, don't listen to them...how can they say they're your friends?" or "Oh, it's a jolly holiday with Jenny...Jenny makes your heart so light."

Don't you wish your significant other would do such things? :)

The Last Gallon

2008-06-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast before church. I'm not a huge fan of cereal, particularly because in my family, the good and sugary ones (lucky charms, cocoa puffs) are usually inhaled by the younger ones before you have time to get out a bowl and spoon. True to form, today's box of Apple Jacks was no more than a disappointing spread of crumbs with the occasional cereal fragment. Turns out that didn't really matter...when I opened up the fridge I came upon a gallon of milk covered with the ominous, black-sharpied message: "The Last Gallon!" I shuddered in horror. One gallon of milk. To get through the entire day.

My mom usually buys about 6 gallons of milk when she goes to the store. Do you know what it means when you only have one gallon of milk for the whole family? Bowls of cereal only half-full of milk and therefore an unpleasant mixture of soggy and bone-dry cheerios. That is not good.

Here we go!

2008-06-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

Having come to the realization that our family is sadly underrepresented in the blogosphere, I'm experimenting with this blog. I figure we need to have a tangible record of the hilarious moments in this family that too often go untold. Also, this will be a great way for us college kids (that will be me in the fall...go cougars!) to have a way to connect with the goings-on at home. I know I'll be homesick!