GOOD DAYS.

Here's something I don't get.

I don't understand how someone's life is SO AWFUL and crappy that they have to post about it on Facebook every other day?? Their status will say, "omg I'm having the worst day everrrr" one day and then 2 days later it'll say, "having a super bad day :( just want everyone to leave me alone." Like, wtf? Does your life really suck that bad? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Because yeah, I have bad days too. There are days when I just don't feel like talking to anybody or going anywhere. There are days when I just feel like crying. But after I really sit down and think about it, my life is really not that bad. Sure, I have things I could complain about. I have money issues just like everyone else. My car sucks, and barely runs. I've made some dumb decisions that have prevented me from spiritual progression. I'm "behind" in life as far as LDS standards go these days. I'm not married. I'm almost 23 and I'm not even close to getting my degree yet. I have boy problems. All my good friends are 400 miles away. I don't have cable.

BUT. My life is not that bad. I have a pretty good job, with pretty good health benefits. I have A car. I have some good coworkers who look out for me. I have a lot of options as far as school goes. I have good roommates with good standards. I have the church. I have the institute. I have my family. I have a laptop and Hulu. So really, I can't complain all too much. There are things that I wish were different. There were things I wish I could go back and do over. But I can't. And I've accepted that. And I'm accepting the consequences and moving forward. But even still. Those are MY problems. I'm taking care of them. So, even if I do have a bad day, why let people know about it? Why should I make it public that my day sucks?

I remember a lady teaching a class at EFY some time ago. I don't remember her name or what her class was about. But I remember her telling us to play the "Glad Game." She said that for every trial we go through, whether it be life-changing or something minute, find something good about it and be glad about it, and thankful for it. She said it would help us keep a positive perspective and focus on being happy. That was over 5 years ago, and still, every time something happens I try to play the "Glad Game" in my head. Take all my 27 car accidents for example. I remember my first car accident. I was driving my parents' car, and some dummy hit me in Cienega's parking lot and totaled it. I'd never been in an accident before, so I was frozen. Frozen with fear and anxiety mostly. Fear that my parents would kill me. Anxious that I wouldn't have the balls to stand up to the dumb kid. But thankfully, Shane was there to yell at the dumb kid for me. Thankfully, my parents weren't mad at me. Thankfully, I didn't get hurt. And I was glad for that. That was a sucky, sucky day. But I was glad it wasn't worse than it was. And it easily could've been. Thank goodness for that Glad Game.

I just don't understand how people, especially people my age, can have such sucky crappy lives. Makes me wonder what makes it SO BAD. I guess either they're really dramatic, or they really want sympathy. Either way, I guess I don't know their situation so I can't really say anything. But I can say that I haven't had a super terrible day in a long time, and I'm grateful for that.

LC

As I was on StumbleUpon today, it brought me to Lauren Conrad's blog. Naturally, being the judgmental person that I sometimes am, my first thought was, "ugh, Lauren Conrad." But, StumbleUpon knows my interests, so I decided to see why it suggested this page to me. I don't even know what her blog post was about, but there were a lot of pictures of cute things. And when I saw this cake:




I decided that this will be the kind of cake that I have at my wedding! Good thing I live so close to the M&M store. Hope y'all like chocolate! Thanks for the idea, LC!

i dunno?

Okay. I don't know what it is, but for some reason I think I have this reputation that I'm just a sarcastic sally all the time? I don't know how I got that! An old coworker from Tucson texted me a couple days ago and was asking how I was doing, yada yada yada. AND THEN she said, "I miss your dry angry wit." And I was like "wtf?" Which, I understand that with this particular coworker, yes, most of our conversations at work consisted of mild bantering. Because she generally had a negative attitude towards life and it was hard to actually talk to her like a normal person sometimes. But it made me wonder, do I really have a DRY, ANGRY wit?? I don't think I am an angry person. In fact I know I am not an angry person. I remember when I first moved to Vail, a few of my volleyball teammates told me a few months after the season ended, that most of them thought I was a biznatch when I first moved there. Is it because I was quiet and didn't really talk to anyone? Because I didn't have any friends?? Another time one of my friends mentioned that she's never seen me cry, that I was just a bada$$. I don't know where that one came from?? And here in Vegas, at my new store, all of my managers just do the same thing as my old coworker. We just spend the day making witty comments back and forth. Which, I don't really mind. It's not like I'm trying to make my coworkers and managers my best friends or anything, but I really don't know what it is about me that, when I meet people my sarcastic side comes out. Sometimes, yes, I provoke it. But I know when I moved to Vegas and started working, I did not have very many witty things to say to my coworkers. I did not like this store too much, so I didn't really say anything to anyone. I guess there is something written on my back, because from day one a few of my managers were pushing the sarcastic buttons. And I guess that's where it started. I don't know why, or what compelled them to bring that out of me.

Just so everyone knows, I'm not sarcastic ALL THE TIME. I CAN have a serious conversation, I DO have other emotions. I DO cry. I DO care about things more than it apparently seems. Don't get me wrong, wit and sarcasm and all that jazz, is who I am. I've always been that way. My family is that way. My friends are that way. It's who I am, I don't deny that. In fact I like it. And yes, to a certain degree, my wit and sarcasm is sometimes "dry." But I don't think it's angry. I don't think I'm a tough bada$$. I've never thought that, ever. And I don't think I'm a biznatch. And I just don't know what it is about me that screams I'M SARCASTIC when I meet people. Maybe I'm just oblivious to it all. Meh. Life goes on. That's my thought for the week.

MOVING DAY.

Okay sooooo. I finally got the keys to my new apartment! Which is a big deal, because I almost had to stay in some shady weekly rental place with my roommates. But thankfully, we didn't have to do that. I met up with my roommates today after work, walked around the place (it's a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo), and got the keys. Then I went back to Jael's house, packed up most of my stuff, and drove it back over to my new place. I will have to move the rest tomorrow or Friday.

Jael and Paul are moving on Saturday, so that means I will be completely alone in Vegas :( I have my aunt and uncle and cousins here, who are super cool, so that will be okay. But I'm pretty much living here alone. I've never lived somewhere with none of my family around, so it'll be interesting to say the least. Who knows, if I don't like it maybe I'll move to Hawaii or somewhere like that. I was thinking a lot today about moving to Hawaii. I have no timeline. I have nowhere to be. I don't have anything or anyone holding me back. Except money. Money sucks. But really, I can go wherever I want or do whatever I want. (If I had money) So here's to adventure! But I really think I will enjoy this condo. It had a good vibe when I walked in. Not to mention the rooms are huge, so that's a plus. I have two roommates right now, and we are in the process of finding a 4th roommate. Cost of living is a little bit higher here in Vegas than it is in Tucson, so that kind of sucks. Getting a 4th roommate (Danni??) would help my rent costs go down significantly. But I've been spoiled at Jael's house having my own room and bathroom for the last couple months, so it's kind of a catch 22 situation. Pay less, or live in private bliss? Ah decisions. Pay less. That's always the option for me. DANNI, COME ON DOWN.

Here are some pictures of my new abode:



That is my room. Hopefully soon to be "our" room. I feel like it looks bigger in person...


That's my bathroom. Hopefully soon to be "our" bathroom. Okay I'm done with that. Sorry I'm so hopeful.


That is my cute half of the closet. Well, half of my half. The other half is hidden behind the HUGE MIRROR DOOR. I think that is my favorite part of my room. Not trying to be vain or anything, but I love that my closet doors are 3 huge mirrors. I just love it okay.

Anyway. That is my lovely new condo. Time for a new life again. New ward, new friends, new scooter (YES), new roommates, more strangers, more unfamiliarity, more fake laughing, more awkwardness, you get the picture. This will be cool. Cheers.

Music.

I was reading a girl's blog a little while ago, and she had a little blog outline, where every day she would write a post about something different. Like, one day was posting pictures of your friends, one day was writing 25 random things about you. It had I think 30 different things to write about, so a month's worth, but she didn't keep up with it so I don't know what the last 2 weeks' posts were supposed to be about. Ha. The last one she posted was about music, and what songs she listens to when she is in certain moods. And I thought that would be fun, because Jael says I have a very diverse taste in music. And I agree. And I do listen to certain types of music when I'm in certain moods. Here is a general idea of my music-listening habits:

When I'm happy: Country seems to be my happy music lately. I didn't get introduced to country until fairly recently, so I mostly listen to modern country. I'm not the biggest fan of older, super-twangy country. But country music is the perfect music to listen to when I'm in a good mood, and driving. It's the crank-it-up, roll-the-windows-down, sing-as-loud-as-you-can music. Some of my favorites are Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Tay Tay Swift, Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, etc etc etc.

When I'm mad: I was discussing this with Jael while we were driving recently, and Mr. Brightside by The Killers is my angry song. It always has been. When I'm mad, I turn that song up, head bang, and just yell to that song. I don't know how it became my angry song, but for some reason it makes me feel better when I am angry.

When I'm frustrated: Rap (and some hip-hop) is my go-to music when I am frustrated. My two favorites are probably What's Your Fantasy and Money Maker, both by Ludacris. I know it's not the most appropriate music, probably not appropriate at all, but I know just about every single word to both of those songs. In fact, I listened to them on the way home from work yesterday. Yesterday was one of the most frustrating days I've had at work in a very long time, and rapping those songs to myself always makes me laugh in the end. I also like listening to Lupe Fiasco, Gym Class Heroes, Jeremih, 50 cent, Wyclef Jean, etc. It's a good thing I'm happy/content more times than I am frustrated, because I understand that this is not very clean music to listen to. Haha.

When I'm nostalgic: A lot of people know that I love to talk about my childhood. My best and favorite stories are about growing up. So, naturally, I get very excited when I hear a song that I used to listen to religiously when I was younger. For example, when I hear the song "Angel" by Shaggy, it reminds me of an experience I had in 6th grade, when that song came out, that I will never ever forget. Or, the other day, Jael and I were walking through an outdoor strip mall, and a BSB song came on. We started jamming out, of course. I also love the songs from Britney Spears' first couple albums, N'Sync, Disney songs, Christina Aguilera, Blink 182, etc. AND, I love hearing songs like the Electric Slide or other songs that remind me of stake dances, old hula songs, stuff like that. Gooood times.

When I'm content: When I'm just kind of content with life, I love listening to alternative, indie, pop, that kind of music. I don't like that classification of music because it is confusing to me sometimes. Sometimes I don't know what genre certain artists would fit into, or what "indie"or "alternative" even means. But when I just feel like listening to good music, I listen to artists like Plain White Tee's, Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz, Hellogoodbye, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Michael Fronte, and other chill, lay-in-a-hammock-type music.


Something to keep in mind, though, is that I name all these artists I love, but most of them I only know a few of their songs. I hate the question, "What is your favorite band or artist?" because I'm not a die-hard fan of anyone, really. I listen to their songs, and if I like it I'll listen to it, occasionally buy it. But I don't buy CD's because I usually have a hard time sitting through a whole album, because I know that there will be songs I don't like. When I was younger, my first and favorite CD was NOW4. It had a bunch of music from a bunch of artists. I loved it. But I've acquired a pretty diverse taste in music. And I like that. People always ask me what kind of music I listen to, and I can literally listen to any kind of music. Well, except rip-my-hair-out screamo. And annoying techno crap.

Las Lomas

Yesterday I needed my social security card yesterday to run an errand. I keep my social security card in a sleeve holder, along with my birth certificate. When I got home I went to put my social security card away. Just for fun, I took my birth certificate out and started reading it. Upon reading it, I discovered that I was not born at 7:31pm like I had previously thought. I was born at 7:38pm. In case anyone was wondering. Anyway. Not many people know that I was born in Las Vegas, where I currently reside. Fewer people know that I was not born in a hospital. I was born at home. On the couch. I found the address of the house my parents lived in when I was born. I looked up the address on Google Maps, and found that the house I was born in is about 10 minutes away from where I work. So I thought, hey, I'm gonna go check it out after work tomorrow. So I did. This is what it looks like now:



Yep, I was born in that thing almost 23 years ago. It looks goooood. I remember my family was visiting Vegas several years ago, I was probably 13 or 14. We stopped by this place and my mom took a picture of me in front of it. It looked so trashy, and there was a big bright orange eviction notice on the door. Good memories.

i've found it.

I want my wedding band to be made out of a quarter! This is sooo cool. Partly because it has to be made out of an all silver coin, meaning 1968 or earlier, but also because it would mean it would be homemade! I think that would be so cute. It would be like a country song fairy tale. I also want to make one. That would be fun.

I will also have a chalkboard wall in my house. Probably in the playroom or kids' room, but I WILL have a whole chalkboard wall. And lots of colored chalk. And it will be awesome.