Face Lift

I love giving my blog a little face lift now and again. There are so many creative websites where you can borrow ideas and graphics and there are some truly talented, designers out there.

I wish that I were one of them.

Did you know that I was accepted into BYU as a graphic design (pre-art) major? That was going to be my profession. My cockiness got int the way, and now that I'm into my 6th year in Provo, I wonder what I was thinking when I decided to change to social sciences.

Don't get me wrong. I loved 99% of my geography classes. I loved the teachers. I love the topics. I love geography in general. But I don't see myself really doing anything with the knowledge that I have gained over the past few years (except impress random Brazilians with my knowledge of their forward capital or identifying different housing styles in the European landscape...) career-wise.

If only I had stuck with design. I really love it. I love doing layout things and using creativity. One of my favorite parts of my job is designing the cover of the spec books that we do. The cover I designed is clean and professional. I think some people (Dad) might be surprised by my lack of various fonts and my limited coloring. But it works for what it is.

What I really enjoy doing is making new headers for my blog, designing Christmas cards and wedding invites. I don't have much experience with either - although I did help Camille with hers some....6-7 years ago? Anyway... maybe one day I will go back to school and get some legit training and experience so I can do some more work. If the whole author thing doesn't work out..........

Dating Friends

There is a practice that is accepted by some and widely shunned by others. I am an enthusiastic supporter of. it, though. I don't understand why there are so many people around here that think that when they go on a date, it has to be with a potential spouse. If they don't think they are going to end up marrying the person, then they don't want to go out with them. But that is just lame.

Friends make the best dates. You already know that you like the person. You know that you will be able to talk about anything with that person. You are basically guaranteed a fun night. I have one such friend that I go out with on occasion, and every time I come home I think, "Man, I just love him." Not in a, "man, I wish he would drop to one knee and take me to the temple," love, but in a... I just have a freaking good time with him every time we are together. Conversations range from anything to silly to serious. We take turns paying for each other. We laugh it up and make awesome jokes and dwell on inside secrets that we have with each other.

So why are there so many who reject this practice? I really can't figure it out. I was talking to another one of my friends who had said that when their parents attended BYU, everybody took a date to everything. They would find a date to go to a fireside, for a walk, on a picnic, out to dinner, up to the canyon for a bonfire... any social activity required a date. But just because they were taking dates to everything, it didn't mean that they were anticipating marrying each guy/girl they took with them. They were just going to have a good time and get to know a friend a little bit better.

I think we should re-engage this practice. Friend dates don't have the same pressures as other dating does. And it's usually cheaper. I've always liked the idea of pairing off guy-girl to every event, and I think that all social activities should be equally balanced. But I went to a dance party a few weeks ago, and it was a complete... fine I'll say it.... sausage fest. None of the guys had brought dates (not that I was complaining, it's just an observation. Though I did think it was really weird that there was a roomful of guys dancing with other guys. I know now you are wondering if I was at a gay bar or something. But I don't think that was the case. It definitely wasn't a bar. It was a house in Provo....) Had they brought their friends, that were girls, it would have been a more balanced evening.

I don't think this thought is sounding as coherent as I want it to sound. I've just been thinking about how lame it is when I hear that guys are sitting at home playing Xbox or doing homework all weekend long. Take a few hours and GO ON A DATE. Even if it is with your best girl pal who you wouldn't think to kiss in a million years. I should say that while I do support girls asking guys out - I'm typically not party to it - though, it is a lot easier when they are your friend and not some guy that you get all retarded around. I still like the guy to take control, regardless of their regards for me (whether friend or love-interest).

General Conference Day #1

Is it any wonder members of the Church enjoy conference? You are counseled to come to conference with questions that you would like answered and are promised an answer. How can 14,000,000 people listen to conference, all with a different question, and still receive an answer in just 8-10 hours of conference? I don't know, but I know that I always hear some things that I need to hear.

It is as if the General Authorities sit down and read each of our journals and then select their talks based on what has been written in the past six months. In reality, it's that our Father in Heaven hears our prayers - spoken aloud and pleading from our hearts - and then directs his oracles in what they should say. We are so blessed to have knowledge of living prophets on the earth today. We are even more blessed that we have the technology so that we can hear the conference sessions wherever we are. I've listened to conference online, on TV, in a Church, in the car and in the audience of the general sessions.

I love conference. I'm excited for tomorrow, because I'm certain conference will be focusing on the Easter theme - the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

"There's something wrong with your toilet..."

Also, see previous post... but this is what it totally made me think of.

Something Serious Better Have Happened

When I came home tonight at 9:30ish, I went straight to my room (after turning off all the lights that had been left on in the house) with the intention to work on Stats. I only got one quiz done, and it took me until about 12:00 a.m. And then I edited a friend's paper until about 1:00 a.m.

So when I headed to the bathroom in order to do my nightly bathroom routine, I was a little confused when I found the following:

I wondered if something really bad happened. Why is there no seat on the toilet? And why is the shower taped off and the curtain clamped shut? But surely my roommate would have let me know through text message or knock on my door or something.

 In case you can't tell what that is, that's the shower head taped off with electrical tape.

So then, I thought... this must be some passive-aggressive way of sending some sort of message. It was sort of confused when I found this:

That reads loud and clear....something? I can only think of a few things that would cause this drastic of a reaction to whatever I've done. So what could they be telling me?

1. Clean the bathroom. Well, I've been the only one to clean it since I moved in. I bought cleaning supplies for us to make it easier.
2. Empty the trash. Yup, check. Did that this week, too. There's barely anything in it now.
3. Replace the toilet paper. Ok. Done. I went out past midnight on Saturday to make sure we did not run out. I even bought the spare roll holder that goes on the tank. You can see the two new rolls I added before I took the picture. (When I got home at around 3 a.m. on Sunday, I deposited the toilet paper in the front room and forgot to take it out... so it got shoved away in some closet and not by me. So maybe she didn't know that was for us?)
4. Take shorter showers. Hmmmm.... maybe. But, I'm always the last one in, and I leave plenty of hot water when I get out. Also, I have mentioned to K that if she needs in the shower, she only needs to let me know so I can make it faster. (This is maybe the only one I can see being a potential problem, and I admit it.)

I even bought a new bathroom rug! And I wash the shared full-length mirror that I never use. I. Don't. Get. It.

And this is why I hate living with girls. As I say, I hope I am interpreting this all wrong, or something is going to go down in the morning. And considering that I'm going to bed with a full bladder at 2 a.m., I do not think it will be pleasant.

Maybe it's just an April Fool's joke? If so.... it's not funny.