CHALLENGE?? I accept!

So there is a challenge going around the blogging world to answer these 8 questions... and I am never one to turn down a challenge. So here I go, answering these 8 questions. LET'S BEGIN.

1. If you could have any super power, what would you have, and why?

Well, this one is easy. I would want to be able to read other people's minds. I know that that sounds snoopy, but I have always wondered what people think about me... and I like knowing how people think... huh, maybe that is why I am a psychology major...

But seriously... I have struggled with insecurity my whole life. And I was always assuming that people were thinking the worst of me... so I figured that if I was able to read people's minds, that either my fears would be confirmed, or I would find out that they were thinking less horrible thoughts about me, which would be better.

Plus I think it would be funny to catch people thinking naughty thoughts and call them on it. MWAHAHAHAHA. AND I would be able to confirm that every-seven-seconds-guy-thing.

2. What is your style icon?

hahaha I honestly and truly have no sense of style... I just look in my closet and pick a shirt, and then pick some pants to go with it. Occasionally I try to pick out something cute that I think would look cute together... but then I end up not having the nerve to wear it and then go out in a t-shirt and jeans. MEH.

But honestly, I love weird style... I love being intrigued by people's clothing... I love weird dresses... which I just bought a green dress that is SUPER baggy, except for where a belt cinches it around the waist... I seriously want to wear that dress for the rest of my life. :)

3. what is your favorite quote?


My favorite quote would have to be from scrubs... "Nothing in this world worth having comes easy." I just love this quote, because I think a lot of the time we, as people, think to ourselves, "What is going to be the easiest way to achieve this?" and so when we realize how hard it is to, lets say, get a degree, or become a brain surgeon, we back down and choose something relatively easier.

Also, I think about my religion a lot when it comes to this quote. It isn't easy being LDS. You have so many guidelines in your life to follow... don't drink, don't have sex, no drugs, pay tithing... that sometimes it seems like it is just too impossible to obey it all. And that is why I think a lot of my loved ones don't follow it anymore... not because they think that it isn't true, but just because it is so much easier not following it. It's so much easier to go with the crowd and have "fun." They take the easy way out. But honestly, when you think of the big picture -- of being with your family and the ones you care about for all eternity in exaltation -- doesn't that make it seem worth it to you? Because when it all comes down to it, nothing in this world brings me greater happiness than my family. And to think that I could be with them for the rest of forever if I only can follow certain guidelines here on earth... well then, heck yes I am going to do them. And I know it isn't going to be easy... but it is certainly going to be worth it.

4. What is the greatest compliment you have ever recieved?

I know that throughout my life, people have said things to me that really have touched me... and its sad that I can't just remember them off of the top of my head. One of them was just recent... my friend Bri sent me a text saying "I miss you so much! Its funny, me and Ashley were just saying 'the whole world is depressed... well, except for Kara.'"

My mom is probably the biggest giver of compliments in the whole world... she does it indirectly too. My aunt told me about a time that my mom sent her an email about all of her kids, and what they were up to, and my mom's concern and love for them all. Each of the kids had one or two paragraphs about them. But when my mom got to me, (I'm the youngest, so I'm at the bottom of the list) all she said was "And Kara.... all is well, all is well."

5. What playlist/CD is in your player/Ipod right now?

Mindy Gledhill, anchor. Love that CD!

6. Are you a night owl or a morning person?

Honestly, I am a bit of both... I hate getting up in the morning, but I am always happy in the mornings... I get on peoples nerves, because once I am up, I am super cheery... but at the same time, I love staying up late, as long as I am not too tired doing it. I love going out and having fun late at night... I love the night hours more than any other time during the day. So ya...

7. Do you prefer cats or dogs?

This one is easy. My mom and dad used to breed dogs (labs... :) ) and so I grew up with puppies around me all the time. And even though they also give me hives and make me sneeze, I would play with puppies my whole life if I could. They seriously make me so happy. When they are just a week old and their eyes are still shut... so I pick them up all blow in all of their noses so they will remember me by my scent... to when they are a few weeks old and are just learning to walk... you put them on the grass and they get super happy! To when they get about 6 weeks old and learn how to run and chase you and bite your toes... so you just run around and around the yard until you finally fall down and the 8 puppies swarm on top of you and start licking you all over. I love dogs. :)

8. What is the meaning behind your blog name?

haha I honestly don't know, I was just trying to think of something quickly while I was setting up my blog... I honestly never really talk about my town, but I thought it was a nice title. And I do think that who I am was definitely influenced by where I grew up. So ya.

WABAAM! Well, I totally dominated that challenge... and now I extend it to you. GO FORTH AND ANSWER!

WHAT AM I DOING?

Honestly??? I think this is the lest productive I have ever been. I need to freaking do homework and practice the guitar and clean my piggy room... but I cannot for the life of me get off of the couch. This is pitiful... GAH

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE LOOKED LIKE FOR THE LAST THREE HOURS!!! (minus the deformed looking hands)

Ok, super short blog post, but know that I am going to leave the blogging world to go and do more productive things. I promise an awesome post very soon. :)

Wow.. this officially rocks

Got my first ever gig... that's right, a gig where I play piano and guitar and sing for a club called "Muse."

How did this happen, you ask? Well I happened to go shopping with my two friends Nancy and Kate today, (in which we drove my little car Floyd... he only died twice, thanks to Kate's awesome driving abilities...) Anyways, I was in Pac Sun looking for (and finding) and awesome back pack because my shoulder has been hurting lately because I just have a one shoulder backpack... and when you have to walk miles a day with a 50 pound bag, it hurts a little. But I got a back pack with TWO straps, so my shoulders are going to be very happy...

ANYWAYS... I ran into this kid Richard that I went with a date on last semester. We started talking, and he invited me to a showing of his band in a place called "Muse" tonight at 8. So I told him that I would think about going... well, I ended up going with Kate (we got all dressed up in our new dresses that we purchased at the mall that day.) His band was pretty legit, and then me and Kate left.

As we were walking out, we saw a big sign for when people could sing. So I looked and saw that Monday's was open mike night! So Kate encouraged me to go back inside and ask the manager if I could sing on open mike night...

So I went back into the club, and Kate found the manager for me. We started talking about open mike night, and he told me I could totally do it. (At this point I am really excited to be playing and singing two songs, so I'm ecstatic.)

BUT THEN, he says to me, "Actually, would you be willing to play for us this Thursday for acoustic night? You would play for half an hour, sometime between 8-10... probably around 8:30. " So I of course said yes.... SO FREAKING EXCITED.

*also, I don't have to pay anything to do this.. in fact, if I get enough people to come, I get some money out of it. Not that I am doing it for the money at all... I am just excited to be doing something musical!

Anyways, this day has been super legit. So please, please please please come and see me sing next Thursday at the MUSE in Provo UT. Its 145 North University avenue... its only 5 dollars, and it would mean SO MUCH to me if you came.

:)

My brain hurts....

Well... these last few days have been eventful...

I basically have my schedule set up for every day. It goes something like this.

6:15 AM: My alarm clock starts singing "DEAR JAMIE... I GOT A FREAKING LETTER THAT I WOULD FREAKING LIKE TO SEND..." and I frantically turn it off because I feel bad because my roommate is sleeping not 3 feet away from me. (We live in a very small room... because it was cheaper. But don't worry, it is already on the road to becoming decorated and awesome... anyways)

6:30: "I WOULD HAVE USED A PENCIL" oh my freaking gosh how could 15 minutes have already passed???????? At this point I kind of fall out of bed and go to my bedroom door... and pull with all of my might to open it because it doesn't really like to open or close...

6:35-7:15: Start doing my hair and make up all the while cursing the gods that I am a girl and that I have to look cute; whereas if I was a guy I could just roll out of bed and go to school... I also eat somewhere in that time, which is probably my favorite part of the morning. Also I seem to have a tendency to watch depressing youtube videos every morning...

7:15-7:45: Walk to work. Yup, that's right, its a 30 minute walk to my work. I could drive, but my car that I thought was miraculously healed all of the sudden stalls all the freaking time. So I am terrified to drive... even though my roommate is not but suddenly I am scared to drive at all because I watched this scary movie this morning about driving... (here, I will give you the website.... (If you want to watch it and feel slightly sick afterwards, here it is... http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1388779851607&ref=mf)

7:45 - infinity... ok, to 11:00 : Work.

Classes until, like, 6.

So my brain hurts... partially because I have not been getting enough sleep, and partially because byu assigns entirely too much homework. So I think that I am going to go and take a nap.

On second thought, don't watch that video... its freaking disturbing, y'all... unless you already watched it, then I apologize. Why don't I just take it off of my blog? Partially because I'm lazy and I don't want to go edit it, and partially because I want someone else to be horrified. GAH.

so much has happened since my last blog ahhhh

So .... I haven't written in a while, and I'm sorry, I really am. But all of the sudden I was packing up my boxes, cleaning out my cabin, going to zions national park, and then moving into my new apartment... so my life has been busy the last few days.

Hmm... oh ya, I found a bunch of dead spider carcasses under my bed... which completely and utterly terrified me and pleased me at the same time... I was scared because I knew that spiders had been crawling all over me all summer, despite my many searches on my bed each night... but it pleased me that I waited until the last day to find those dead and decaying spider bodies, because had I found it earlier there would have been NO WAY that I could have slept in that bed. *shudder*

Let's see... I went to Zions National Park with Kate. I was a freaking rock climbing/river walking queen, dear readers! oh my gosh I dominated that place... WABAAM! Every time I would see a big rock in the middle of the river, I would walk over it and climb on top of it with kate and then break out into singing "CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN!!!" (like off of the sound of music...)

It was very magical...


....... I NEED MY SLEEP!!!!!! I need to go to bed so I can get up tomorrow morning so that I can be awake in the morning and not sleep in on my first day of work... stop pressuring me to blog!!!!!

I love you though... :)

pretend that I'm famous...

You know how really famous people are always featured in magazines, and the headline of the magazine is "25 Things about Brad Pitt that you NEVER KNEW!" Well... what if I want to feel famous too? What if I want people to know things about me in such an intimate way??? So guess what, world, you can SUCK IT, because even though I'm not famous, I'm totally going to tell you 5 things that you didn't know about me. Because honestly, I don't think that I could think of 25 things, and I'm kind of lazy, so I knew 5 would be just right.... So you better read it. And freaking enjoy it.

1. I am completely and utterly terrified of bugs. My dad is always saying, "honey, did you know that only a handful of spiders in the world that are actually poisonous?" but what I want to know is who was the person who volunteered to see if they could all fit in his palm?

In fact, today, as I plopped down on my couch, a little spider jumped out from a fold of the couch DIRECTLY by my head... I almost peed my pants and jumped up to look at it from a safer distance.

This is what I saw.

My cabin is full of spiders... so every night I have to check my bed for bugs like a crazy person... I even have a routine! I take my comforter off of my bed and search it in the light for bugs... (normally there are none on my comforter). Then I check my sheets for bugs so that I can safely sit on my bed while resuming my search. Once that is all clear, I pick up all my pillows and search in, under, and around them. I almost ALWAYS find a spider or beetle under my pillows... it disturbs me, but only if I know that all the bugs are dead can I sleep.

(That is me on my bunk-bed... I don't know how to draw bunk-beds, y'all... so sad.... )

OH MY FREAKING FISH I JUST FELT SOMETHING ON MY FOOT AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A TICKLE AND THEN SUDDENLY I LOOKED DOWN AND IT WAS A FLYING ANT... bugs know when you are talking about them, I'm not kidding.... I'm so scared right now that I am going to move on to another subject so I don't anger the bugs any further...)

2. Onto a new subject that has nothing to do with bugs.... ya, you heard right bugs, I'm not talking about you anymore... which means you have no reason to walk all over me. Anyways...

I can move my pinky toe independently... like, without moving any of my other toes with it. And when I dance or stretch or do anything, it just moves on its own... I can't control it. And sometimes is just twitches...

3. I think... I think that there is a small possibility that I am a sadist... I know that sounds creepy and scary and makes you all want to unfollow me, but DON'T DO IT! I just love pushing people's bruises and when people are in pain I laugh hysterically....

EDIT:I don't find it funny when people break their legs or are having babies or are being tortured... I'm talking minor pain -- like, when someone gets a foot cramp or when someone is stretching and it hurts. THAT'S what I laugh like a maniac... seriously... it's so funny to me! ... I'm not a creeper, guys...

4. I have recently had a dream with both Brad Pitt (when he was young and unbearded..) and Heath Ledger in it... (Heath was alive and well in my dream and not a rotting corpse, just in case you were wondering...) I was in a house with them and we were just running around checking out all of the rooms together... at one part it got scary but I don't really remember why it was scary, I just remember being sandwiched between Heath and Brad as we hid behind a bookshelf... it was amazing...

Bradypoo.... (I would have tried drawing him, but we all know that my drawings would not have done him justice... just look at those eyes... and that armpit hair...)

Heathypoo.... (so sad he's dead.... moment of silence for my heathypoo....)

Taylorpoo

(ok, so Taylor wasn't in my dream, but I love him so much, I just knew that he had to be included in this blog somewhere... oh ya, thats another random fact about me... I have a cardboard cut out of Taylor Lautner. Got him for my birthday.)

(Yes, I am aware of how amazing of a couple we are... we are so lovely together... you can tell how much he is enjoying my kiss... look at that chin dimple!)

5. Anyways, I can't think of anything else to say about me... Lets see... oh I know!! I cannot pee if someone else is in the bathroom with me... that is, unless I am REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY close to that person... otherwise, I get complete stage fright... I just sit there awkwardly until they finally leave or I just give up. Sometimes, it helps when people put the faucet on, but most of the time... it doesn't.

Also, I hate those little cracks that are always there in the bathroom stalls... sometimes they are like three inches wide. I know that someone who is casually walking by doesn't even have to look in order to see me in the stall with a panicked expression on my face... sigh...

Can I draw a picture of this while keeping it appropriate?? I think that I can... and I shall....

THE END.

Dining Hall... DH!

Ok, as you probably know, I work in the dining hall for Aspen Grove... what does being in the "dining hall" actually entail? Well, according to the Aspen Grove website, working in the dining hall means that you "Will be responsible for the care of the dining hall; stocking buffets; running and maintaining the dish machine; washing pots, pans, and heavy cooking untensils; vacuuming; sweeping and mopping floors and decks."

Ok, I will admit that that definition is pretty legit... but they did fail to mention some of the smaller things that we would have to deal with on a daily basis. They left out the small, annoying things that were likely to happen to us as we went about our day... the "messes" we would have to clean up...

Lets give the typical run down of my day, shall we?

I will start my day by walking into the kitchen, being confronted by grumpy Scott who will say something to me along the lines of "I'm done with you" or "Have I told you lately how much I hate you?" or I will run into my abnormally tall/freakishly awesome boss Scott. I will walk into the back and put on an apron. (At this point I am the only Dining Hall person there, because I am always early because I am a freak about being early... So I kind of take as long as possible putting on my apron.)

Next I wander into the dishroom, hoping beyond hope that today there won't be many dishes.... and then I am confronted by this....

I think to myself "oh-my-freaking-gosh-that-is-the-biggest-pile-of-dishes-i-have-ever-seen!" and then I look over to the counter where most people drop of their dishes and I see this...

(I wasn't actually in this picture, so I kind of drew myself in there... )

At this point I am about ready to curl up on the floor and give up... except for the fact that our floor is completely and utterly nasty and it smells like butt so bad... actually it is one of my greatest fears that one day I am going to fall and land in a puddle of nasty butt water. So I don't curl up and instead start doing the dishes.

After dominating the original pile of dishes, we then go and enjoy a our breakfast. We get rejuvenated, and we head back into the dishroom with a new motivation! We are ready to take on the world... we are ready to take on the world's dishes! We stand at the window with pride, tearing apart the dishes that come our way. BRING IT FREAKING ON, BABY!

WABBAM!! This is us, happy once again with the world, so cheery and happy to all who drop off their dishes.... and then reality hits.... small things start happening that wears on our happiness. People will start coming up to us with their trays loaded with their plates, their half eaten food, their trash... and just leave it on the counter. Most people at least scrape of their food into the trashcans that have been conveniently placed next to the counter, or put their silverwear in the little silverware holders that are also conveniently placed for the campers next to the window... but they don't. They just shove their food onto the counter and skip away merrily...

So we grudgingly scrape their trays for them, all the while smiling and saying "Thank you!" But soon, we can smile no longer. No more happiness resides in our bodies... the counter will be full of trays and cups and plates, and the people at the window will be loading and pulling the dishes off as fast as possible... but we just don't do it speedy enough for the campers. So what they do is they put an inch of their tray onto the counter, and slowly start sliding it forward.... slowly, centimeter by centimeter, they push the big pile of dishes towards us. They think that if they can do it slow enough, then it will be ok, but the reality is that we suddenly have all these disorganized dishes that are being pushed on top of our hands and we can barely even think because now we don't even know where to start on the dishes that were just shoved towards us and then .... we snap. At this point I do the only thing that I can do... rap about cups.

"CUPS WIKI-WIKI-WIKI-CUPS-WIKI-CUPS!!!!!!!!!!!!" I suddenly scream in the camper's face... they look at me with alarm written across their face, but I don't even notice because of my rage. I have snapped, I am ashamed to admit it... I can't think coherently... all I can do is try to get rid of these dishes that are driving me mad, but they never stop coming... and then another innocent camper will come up to us at the window and ask, "Um, can I get a to-go box?"

This is probably the most frustrating part of my day... when campers ask me to do stuff for them while I am doing their dishes. "Can you get me some ketchup?" "The cranberry juice is out, can you change it?" "Can you put down that dish you have been scrubbing for the last 17 minutes and wash your hands so you can go into the back room to grab me a to-go box, because quite frankly I would just adore eating outside today... could you?"

NO, FREAKING CAMPER, I CAN'T. Because I am trapped in this vortex of a dishroom, and I cannot leave for any reason... I can not leave to get a drink or to go pee because if I do then the whole entire dishroom will suffer because suddenly we are one man short and then every one else has to do what you have been doing so then they can't do their own jobs so then we suddenly finish 10 minutes late because I had to tinkle. So no, I can't even pee... but please, let me leave my station to get you that to-go box.

Wow... I sound so angry. Eh, well, I guess I will just keep it up while I am on an angry rampage, I guess....

I think that my personal favorite is when we run out of food. Suddenly we realize that we are completely out of waffles... so we go back to the cooks and ask, "Are there any waffles ready?" Of course, there are not, because there are NEVER waffles. Seriously, every week, we run out of waffles. You think that while prepping the next week for waffles, they would think to themselves, "Hey... you know what? I think for the last 7 weeks now we have run out of waffles every time we have served them... maybe I should make a few more this week?" .... but no, they don't think that, so every week we have to go out and endure the anger of the campers while the cooks stay safely tucked inside of their kitchen, well away from the camper's eye daggers that they so love to throw at us.

People will come up to me and tell me, "You are out of waffles. Did you know you are out of waffles? Because you have been for 4 minutes now."

I want to say to them, "Really? We are out of waffles? REALLY? Wow... I didn't even notice... even though its my job to stand here directly behind the buffet line to watch the food and make sure that waffles don't run out... I can't believe that I missed that waffles have been out for four whole minutes! Thank you so much for telling me!!" (ya, thats right, you sensed the sarcasm...)

But I don't. Partially because I'm a pansy and partially because I don't want to get fired. So instead I just say "I know, and I apologize. The waffles should be out in about 3 mintues."

My favorite was one time a woman walked up to me with three empty crocks and shoved them into my arms (as I was carrying a pan of mashed potatoes) and said, "We need more cucumbers, tomatoes, and croûtons." So I had to man handle the pan of the mashed potatoes into its little warmer while holding these three partially empty crocks, all the while the old woman is staring at me and asking "do you know how long it will be until I can get those back?"

At this point I throw the croûton container into her face... she falls and hits her head and as she lays writhing on the ground I sprinkle the crumbs from the croutons in her face...

Ok, that never really happened, but it came SOOOO close to happening, dear readers...... I'm telling you, this job makes me nearly snap in a way that no other job can. Sheesh.

By the end of the day, we look like this.

Wow this was exhausting, writing this blog, so I am going to conclude... but if there are any dining hall friends of mine that have anything to add to it, feel free to post a comment...

Sorry for the anger.