Karen.

So it's been a month and a half since I last updated the blog. Sometimes I'm just not as into it as usual. But I'm back, hopefully. And ladies and gentlemen, let me just tell you... life has been a crazy hullabaloo of fun, sad, wonderful, hilarious, exhausting, stressful, and awesome memories.

Let's first just take a moment to appreciate love. And marriage.
Never fear, not my own love and marriage, but that of my roommates. In the last month or so I have had 2 roommates get engaged and the one that was already engaged got married. Lots of love? You are quite right. And it has been wonderful. In the last 8 months, I have been able to see these relationships begin and develop and grow and become something wonderful.
I am so so so happy for my best friends and that they have each found an AMAZING man to spend eternity with. Does life get better than that?

Kaylee + Daren = Karen. Or Daylee?
Kaylee has been my best friend for 4 years. Living with someone brings you closer than pretty much anything and I love this girl with all of my heart. She's always been the one to share all of my nerdy passions and get excited about the most ridiculous things. She plans the best parties in the world and she understands my love of themed events. Midnight premier? Kaylee and I are the ones at the front of the line and pre-buying enough tickets for all of our friends. We just have so much fun.
Kaylee is also my therapist. She understands when there is an issue and she knows how to make me look at every side of the situation. She knows just what to say to shine a new light on a problem and she will let me sit in my pit of stubbornness as long as it takes for me to understand what she's saying. And she gives unparalleled advice.
Kaylee has taught me how to give my all in everything I'm involved in. With her, there is no wishy-washy indecisiveness. You make a commitment and you stick with it until it is good and done. I admire that trait so much.
I honestly truly don't know what I would be like without Kaylee Joy.

Kaylee and Daren's wedding day was absolutely beautiful. They are so in love and I am so excited for their life together. I knew from the day we returned from our California trip back in February that they were perfect for each other. And I am thrilled to have been able to be there to support them for their wedding! Here's a few of my faves from the day:

All of Kaylee's friends that were there at the temple when they came out. I love this group of humans.

Bridesmaids!

And let's just take a moment to appreciate every person's face in this picture. Everything is solid gold entertainment. Winning.

MT and I proving that we were the one's that made this marriage happen. We brought them together in California. But you don't have to thank us.

Happy 100 & The Return.

Happy 100th blog post! 
This calls for some sort of celebration. I'll let you know how it goes.

How fitting that what I was planning to post today was about how absolutely ecstatic I am about this girl returning to Utah this week:

Why is it fitting, you may ask? Well, because Alyse is a complete party at all times. So why not celebrate 100 posts by talking about her?

Guys, she has been in the DC area for the last 8 months. That is such a long time! I have missed her so much. I have seen her once in all of those months and it was not nearly enough. She was there for the Washington Seminar, which is an internship program through BYU, and I'm so happy that she was able to go! Life changing, if you ask me.
It was really difficult for me at first when she left because I wanted to be going with her. You see, we started talking about the Washington Seminar together last fall and we both applied to the program and we were so excited. We talked for hours about how much fun it would be if we were in DC together and how we would party all the time and go clubbing together. It was one of the best ideas we've ever had.
So when she got accepted, and I did not, well that was a rough patch in my life. But after a bit of frustration, I came to the realization that I was right where I needed to be and she was heading to where she needed to be at that point in our lives. I've learned things about myself and grown in ways that I personally could not have if I was anywhere else but in Provo, and I'm pretty sure she has had a similar experience about DC. I'm so happy she got to have that experience! And now I'm SO happy that she is finally coming back!
I love that girl with all of my heart and I just have never met anyone that makes me laugh as much as her or who can make any situation the most fun thing that has ever been done.

Here's the one time we dressed up as lumberjacks (though we do also look like Hurley and Sawyer from Lost):

And here's the one time we wore mustaches at a dance party and then I told Brandon Davies that we were aware that he has a prostate:

And here's the time we were tribal (apparently we dress up a lot together. I'm a fan):

So here's to Alyse and her return! And to growing experiences that take us across the country from each other! And for 100 blog posts!

Current events

Typically current events are up to date news and important things happening around the world.
Not today.
This is all about my life.

These are my current events:

Getting crunk at Halie's birthday fiesta

*Note: no alcohol was involved in the making of this picture

Freaking out over an episode of  Doctor Who whilst wearing my Doctor Who t-shirt - when I should have been studying for finals, of course

Watching hands down THEE best volleyball game of my entire life. I'm serious, I cried.

Delivering a celebratory bust to a dear friend.

Solo ice skating with the BYU Pre-med Club

Right before I packed up my room... I lived there for 2 solid years, it will be missed.

Discovering treasures whilst packing

Graduation with these crazies aka my brosephs

THE WORLD IS OUR CAMPUS!!!!!!!!!!!

Last volleyball game as students. I miss them already.

Now this is growing up

So it's been a full month since my last blog post... why has it been a full month, might you ask? Because I haven't even had time to sleep let alone blog in the last month!!

My life has been crazy. Finishing final projects and papers and interviews for my last full semester of my undergrad, then studying for and taking finals, then graduating  then packing up our entire apartment and moving into an adorable little house, then diving straight into my internship, and then starting spring semester classes. Yeah, it's been busy. And it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon.

So who has two thumbs and walked at her college graduation last week? This girl.
I'm thrilled!

Your classic High School Musical jumping picture, but this is way better because it's College Musical.

I love them. We will never be hip.

Since I obviously struggle taking "normal" pictures, and I have surrounded myself with people who are just as ridiculous as myself, my mom made me promise that I would take a "good picture" for her... whatever that means. I held it for about 5 seconds. Yes, I'm a child.

Weekend update!

Hello folks! Guess where I was this last weekend? CALIFORNIA! Road Trip!!!
We spent an entire day just chilling on the beach for 7 hours. We laughed our heads off. Literally. [it was super uncomfortable.] We shared life stories - particularly dating stories. We bonded so very much. We played football and soccer on the beach. We got our feet wet. We didn't get enough sleep. We didn't do any homework. We played liars dice in a jacuzzi. We saw the San Diego temple. We ate delicious food. We played games. We sang songs. We got sunburnt. We did lots of driving. We had absolutely no plans at the beginning and the whole trip was so spontaneous. We remembered what it was like to see the sun and to be warm. We strengthened our friendships.
Yes, overall it was spectacular. I went with 3 of my wonderful friends and I just love them even more after this trip. The weekend was way too short for my liking.
Here's a quick pic of our beach partying:

And here's our tooth brush partying:

Now I'm back in school, and struggling. Ever heard of senioritis? Yeah, it's a real thing. I have not wanted to do homework EVER this semester. Bad news bears, if you ask me.

Acceptance.

I'm a nerd. We all know this already. However, my coworkers have not been exposed to exactly how big of a nerd I am. So I've been working at the same place for a year and a half and they still do not fully understand the extent of my nerdiness. It's not that I have been hiding the truth about me, I just tend to not talk too much when I'm at work, because well, I'm working. But this summer was an eye opening experience for them, as I was much louder than usual work Jennie.

But first, one of the best things anyone has ever said to me: "Jennie, I like you. You are just so passionate about some of the most random things. And you're not ashamed. You just love them so much."
My old roommate said this to me. I was thrilled. And I think that describes me perfectly. I find things that I love and then I ship them so hard to everyone around me. I find so much joy in being passionate about my nerdy tv shows, movies, and books. When I find something new to love, I just get so excited. I mostly blame my relatives for this, from the time I was born, my uncles have been exposing me to "culture." We all share the same nerdy love of the same movies and such. We go on quoting sprees and laugh our heads off. Yeah, I blame them for this.

Here's a brief list of some of my favorite things of which I am very passionate: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, my pez dispenser collection, Avatar: The Last Airbender, flannel, The Office, Weezer, ugly sweaters from DI, and most fantasy series' - I love magic, sword fights, castles, mythical creatures, etc. Yes, nerd. And my most recent nerdy addiction: Dr. Who. Oh how I love British humor.

Alright, now that you are fully aware of my complete nerdiness, I can get on with the story.

So I was at work last week and we were closing up the office a few hours early to go set up for our department opening social. Our boss told us to go close the door and tell anyone trying to get through that it is shut. My coworker, who I definitely should have pegged as a LOTR fan started walking toward the door and said: "The way is shut."
My head involuntarily whipped up to grin at him, and I immediately and mostly involuntarily said,
"It was made by those who are dead. And the dead keep it." 
For those of you uncultured readers out there, this is a quote from the third and final LOTR movie. About half of those in office had no idea what I was saying and the other half just stared open mouthed because they had not expected that from me. I just smiled and kept going about my business like normal... like I hadn't just revealed myself as the biggest LOTR nerd in the world. I was thrilled.

As of late.

Sometimes life can be a very surreal experience.
I can have a serious conversation with someone I hardly know. And the next moment I will have nothing to say to a good friend.
Maybe it's just me.
It's probably just me.
But life is weird.
Somedays your brother is a normal human being, and then the next he is a missionary in Provo, and the next day after that he is on a plane to England. Yeah, this is real life.
True that. My brother became a missionary last Tuesday night and it was amazing experience. I know that the gospel that he will be teaching is the truth and I'm so stoked for him to teach it. Then on Wednesday, due to the lack of visa-arrival, we dropped him off at the Provo MTC (missionary training center). It was sad, but it would have been way more sad had my family not been the most ridiculous and hilarious individuals in all of Provo. Then, blessings of the Lord, his visa arrived Wednesday afternoon and they threw him on a plane and shipped him off to the Preston, England MTC on Thursday
He leads quite a life. And because he is the luckiest person in the world, things just tend to work out for him.

So that's been an interesting adjustment without him. Thus far, I'm not a fan. Though I am a fan of him being abroad. Missioning and things.

Also exciting in my life: Spontaneous road trip to St. George this past weekend to the the solar eclipse. Yeah, it was sweet. My fabulous roommate, Jenna, and I were just sitting in our apartment on Saturday afternoon and within a matter of 30 seconds, we went from having no weekend plans to deciding to go on the 3.5 hour trip down to St George. SO FUN. We also went with some fabulous human beings. This is us looking at the eclipse (as stolen from Josh's fb album):

This is all 8 of us (Josh is in the picture via shadow). We were a little short on astro-glasses, so some of us went blind. Also, our names were a treat to list off: Jake, Jenna, Jennie, Jared, Josh, Kaylee, Halie, and Spencer. Someone stands out like a sore thumb...
Basically, it was an excellent 24 hour trip filled with laughter, games, banana stranglings, accent speaking, piano playing, singing, mission call opening, sun staring, driving, accent to apple inventing, and other shenanigans. I have good friends.

I'm a fan of the summer in Provo; people are always outside doing fun things, and craziness is always right on the brink of occurring. I don't even mind that I am taking a class right now. Though studying outside isn't nearly as productive as one would think.

Also, I love my job. We get some crazies up in there.

Pictures of Elder Lever departing are forthcoming. Prepare yourself.

This post was a random culmination of thoughts and events. Jumbled, it may be, but that's what my brain is like right now, so you're just experiencing my real life via blog.

Time marches on.

Today is the end of January.
Went be fast, didn't it?

Last week I was complaining to myself that the last 3 weeks have felt SO ridiculously long, but now that it has come to and end of the month, I can not believe how quickly that just passed me by. What even happened in January? It was just a complete blur. Really though.
I trekked through the first few weeks of classes, which are always decently easy, but also a really hard adjustment. Trying to get used to how new professors work and get into the groove of class schedules is tough, but it has been done.
I remembered that I have wonderful friends.
I made some good friendships much stronger.
I survived the first month of my best friend being gone. It had it's terrible moments.
I got a WONDERFUL new roommate. I was more worried to get new roommate than have been for anything in a long time, but I have been so blessed!
I went to some high quality sporting events.

Yes, January was solid. I'm a big fan.

Time is such a funny thing. It seems to change it's pace all of the time. I don't know how to handle this madness. In the moment, it takes way too long for time to pass. But looking back, it goes faster than I ever thought possible. Thinking about the past makes me think about what I've done with my life. I need to take advantage of every moment and never waste any of it. Life is precious. Sometimes I forget and I need to step back and remind myself.

And now February is now upon us. This should be good. I have high hopes for the next month or two.

Some thoughts.

I have nothing to say today. And by nothing, I mean that there are a ridiculous number of thoughts swirling about in my head and I don't know how to verbalize/put them in words. 

Life is crazy sometimes. 

I am crazy all the time.

I am wearing flannel today. I love flannel more than most things. It's Flannel Friday.

I want to watch Harry Potter 7.2.

Thanksgiving is next week. I'm a big fan.

Here is something that made me laugh today:

Ok. Seriously. If you didn't laugh at this, then we have a problem. I'm about to start crying, it's so outrageous.

Since I have nothing else to say today, I will now enlighten the world with what is currently on my Christmas wishlist. In case anyone is curious, I want:

The  Lord of the Rings Trilogy (extended editions, naturally)

All of the Harry Potter movies

A cozy BYU sweatshirt

Cool stickers

A new camera

Gouda cheese and salami

A sweet CTR ring

Definitely some new jeans

A pokemon

An increase in my DVD collection

Some fabulous cardigans

Some quality Chinese food

A turtle (ninja or regular, I'm not picky)

A phone call. I love when people randomly call me up just to say hi.

Week.

Within the next week:

Annual Epic All-nighter

Fam Pics

BYU football - most especially Riley Nelson's hair

Me 21st birthday (apparently I talk like a pirate now)

&& So You Think You Can Dance live tour!!!!

If only I had no homework. Then life would be perfect

Something else great about this week: I have teenage mutant ninja turtle finger nails.

They will eventually have eyes. And my thumb will say TMNT. It will be great.

Sometimes I forget.

Sometimes I forget how much I love college.

Sometimes crazy things happen. Mostly because I'm crazy and I have crazy friends.

Sometimes we randomly go to 80's dances in Salt Lake, even though I have work at 8 the next morning.

Sometimes (or every night) we have roommate dinners that end up lasting for hours filled with laughter.

Sometimes we break into random song/dance in our apartment.

Sometimes Kui and I lay in bed to go to sleep at night and then end up talking for hours about life and everything.

Sometimes I see my brother on campus and we take a stroll around the library.

Sometimes we have game nights and die of laughter.

Sometimes we go to Spoon It Up and J-Dawgs way more than is healthy or financially feasible.

Sometimes I end up watching hulu instead of studying (ok, this is like everyday..).

Sometimes we do outrageously spontaneous things.

Sometimes I laugh so hard my abs start hurting.

Life is fabulous here. Until classes actually start... then I have a bit of a problem. That's when I remember why I was dreading returning to college. But alas, I endure the torture of homework and reading way more pages then I actually understand. All of the ridiculous, hilarious things make life beautiful, no matter how much work I have to do.

Twice.

Sometimes grandparents come home from missions to Africa. This has happened to me twice. It was just as fabulous the second time.
I love when amazing, serving, loving, hilarious grandparents are back in Utah.
I also like when 90 year old great grandmothers take an extended vacation to Utah.
Mostly, I'm just a fan of grandparents. Specifically all of my grandparents.

I am all packed.

Tomorrow I move back to the unique college life known as Provo.

I have mixed feelings.

Happenings.

As of late: I have slept (or lacked sleep) on the streets of Salt Lake City. Lost my voice while cheering for parade entrants. Watched lots of children. Taught lots of swim lessons. Created lots of playlists. Witnessed a great concert. Traveled to the cabin. Played by a river. Blazed trails. Explored. Been scum. Eaten too much junk. And mostly, I have remembered how much I love summertime.

On an unrelated note: Tomorrow is August. Can you believe that? I can't believe that. I came to the realization today that I have less than a month before school starts again. This is a tragedy.

You caught me.

I've finally given in.
I never thought it would be me.
But I have now started a blog.
This is a big day. Momentous even.

I probably have more random thoughts than the average person.
Random is typically a good thing.

Opinions. I also have those.
I suppose that they will be shared in this here blog.
I think I approve.

Oh yeah. This is me--------->
I laugh. Kind of a lot.