So I didn't finish half of the things on my 22 by 22 list. That was kind of lame. But it was a fantastic weekend anyway, and I really loved being able to do the things that I did. I'll add the rest to an overall bucket list and get them done soon I hope!
I've been a bad blogger lately, but I'll pick it up, especially because I'm even worse at keeping a journal besides this. Oops.
On a fairly unrelated note, here's a shameless plug for my mama's business/hobby. If you want a way to spend your free time doing something fun and creative, go to www.mysweetmemorybooks.com and sign up under my mom's Heritage Makers account and create some stuff! You don't have to pay anything to just make things online. But if you want to publish something--which I do recommend, because it's so much fun to actually get the product that you make--then there are plenty of options. I am working on some 4x8 photo cards (which are really cheap) to just hang around my room and my office, as well as sending to some friends just because they're cute. (I will post a couple of my projects on here so you can feel better about your creative abilities, since I don't really have that many.)
Today I had a new (and glorious) experience. I rode my bike while wearing a dress. And before Mama can fuss at me for not being lady-like, I'll go ahead and clarify that yes, I did wear my stretchy pants underneath. Eet's for fun.
I guess I could always learn to ride side-saddle, but I still felt like a princess.
See, this summer I've really fallen in love with that bike. The weather is starting to cool down, and while I love it because it means cuddle season is on its way, I'm a little bit worried about what it's going to do to my relationship with Talula.
See, we've been through so much together this year. Since I won the custody battle (Maddie decided I'd be a better parent than her grandparents' garage), Talula has been my primary means of transportation to and from work, dinner group, the grocery store, and to a bajillion parks in the area. We've gone up and down hills together. We've visited friends and family together. We've gone to Utah Lake together. We even went to the temple and looked at houses together, so I guess you could say it's gotten pretty serious.
Talula has taught me a new definition of summer, such that when I even think of the word, I will always think of trips to the library, picnics in the park, and riding along sidewalks that seem to have curves meant just for us--for my bike and me--to weave in and out, left and right, all for the pure joy of the ride.
Now, don't think that we haven't also had our fair share of unpleasant-ish experiences. There were those nasty hills that our friend Steven made us go up. There were those bumps in the sidewalk on the way to work that almost made my laptop fall out of the basket. And then there was our wreck when someone didn't see me trying to turn and smacked into Talula--right in the butt! But through all that, Talula has remained a strong, trusty, and pretty adorable friend.
In fact, she's done a lot of what all of my good friends do for me:
1. She makes me a happier person. Every time we go for a ride, I end up grinning from ear to ear.
2. She protects me physically. She jumped in front of a train car for me. (And I bet if some guy ever charged me with a machete, she'd let me hit him in the face with her.)
3. She protects me emotionally by giving me a way to escape from my own stressed thinking.
4. She gives me rides to places when I need them most.
5. She strengthens my friendships with others. (First of all, we go on bike rides with our dearest friends, but also since I'm all the time grinning, people are friendlier while we're riding down the street.)
6. She makes me look good. Seriously. Do you see this?
I mean DANG, right?
I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . just . . . this. Forever and ever.
Since I am nowhere near finishing all the books I wanted to read before turning 22, I decided yesterday that I would come up with 22 things (dirt-cheap/free/pre-planned) that I've never done before or haven't done in a long time, and I will do them before I turn 22 in a week. Here they are:
Tuesday 8/30
1. Go kayaking down the Provo River.
2. Make chicken cordon bleu and share it with my dinner group.
3. Get Slurpees with Maddie and Debra.
Wednesday 8/31
4. Go the whole day without looking at myself in the mirror--this includes reflections in windows.
5. Serenade someone--guitar and all.
Thursday 9/1
6. Visit the BYU Museum of Art.
7. Go all day wearing absolutely no makeup and make a conscious effort to smile more.
8. Survive a P90X workout.
Friday 9/2
9. Take a road trip to California.
10. Create a new car dance move. Share it with the world.
11. Read a book aloud to my friends (to keep the drivers awake).
Saturday 9/3
12. Walk on the Golden Gate Bridge while singing the Full House theme song.
13. See Alcatraz. (I'm not going there, just seeing it.)
14. Buy a flower and give it to someone.
Sunday 9/4
15. Attend church in California.
16. Step feet in (and hopefully watch the sunset over) the Pacific Ocean.
17. Send an uplifting message in a bottle.
Monday 9/5
18. Do at least one cartwheel each time we stop on the way home from San Fran.
19. Crochet a pair of baby booties.
20. Design my dream home.
Tuesday 9/6 (The big day!)
21. Go to the BYU Museum of Paleontology. Call at least one dinosaur skeleton a "clever girl."
22. Kiss a boy. Or maybe just have a blacklight dance party.
I don't know how familiar y'all are with the weird Utah dating phenomenon that is the whole "creative asking" thing, but from my understanding it can get kind of out of control. Instead of just simple phone calls or face-to-face conversations, people make huge signs, put Oreos on people's cars, deliver a billion balloons with puzzle pieces that spell the question out (like in the movie The Singles Ward), and all sorts of other crazy extravagant things.
As fun as all that can be, I always swore I'd never be one of them. I never want to make dating a big deal until it deserves to be a big deal. And that's never the case on a first date, in my opinion.
But what was I supposed to do when my best friend Kaitlin and I had the best idea in the world of re-writing lyrics toJustin Bieber's "One Less Lonely Girl" to ask a couple of our friends out on a group date? I mean, it wasn't fair. We had to record it burn it to a CD and then doorbell ditch them, didn't we?
Yeah, I think I've been in Utah too long. But since I'm sure you're dying to hear the beautiful musical stylings of Kaitlyn (that's Kaitlin and Katelyn put together, in case you couldn't tell), just click below and enjoy.
***This version of the song has been anonymized. Those poor boys are probably really embarrassed.
Two Less Lonely Boys by Kaitlyn
Both: There’s gonna be two less lonely boys.
Two less lonely boys.
There’s gonna be two less lonely boys.
Two less lonely boys.
How many Friday nights have y’all spent inside
Wishin' you had somethin' to do?
Well, we’re here to say we gon’ make your day
‘Cause we got a question for you.
But you gon’ have to wait. We won’t ask it yet,
‘Cause we gotta fill the rest of this verse.
And it hurts to be this cute and coy.
There’s gonna be two less lonely boys.
We’ve wasted so many pretty faces
Just waitin’ on you,
So now we comin' to you.
Don’t think we hatin’ and impatient ‘cause we ask you.
Your loneliness will be destroyed.
There’s gonna be two less lonely boys (Insert boys' names.).
Two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.)
Two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.)
Two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.)
Two less lonely boys
We wanna take y’all out!
If you don’t wanna go, we’ll pout.
But if you do, we’ll be filled with joy,
And there will be two less lonely boys.
Hey boy and other boy, we want to take y’all out
To go Skittle bowling Friday night.
KG: Hey boy, I hope you’re free to go out with me.
KJ: And other boy would be my date?
KG: That’s right.
Both: We’ll get a bag of Skittles and bowl till midnight.
We’ll even pay if that’s alright.
It’s no ploy!
If you go out with us, there’ll be joy
And there’ll be two less lonely boys.
KJ: I saw so many bearded faces before I saw you,
And I liked so very few,
But it worked for you.
Now you don’t have your bearded face, and that’s okay too.
If you wanna go, just make some noise.
There's gonna be two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.).
Two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.)
Two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.)
Two less lonely boys (Insert boys’ names.)
Two less lonely boys
Both: We wanna take y’all out!
If you don’t wanna go, we’ll pout.
But if you do, we’ll be filled with joy,
And there will be two less lonely boys.
KG: Hey boy, you are a first-class friend.
So I hope that you want to spend
Friday night with me, yeah,
On a group date to Skittles bowl (KJ: Skittles bowl!)
Skittles bowl. (KJ: Bowl with me!)
With me . . .
You’re smart and fun, and I hope you’ll go with me.
I’ll take you and we’ll go bowl with two less lonely . . .
I have a friend who inspires me. Well, all of my friends inspire me, but this one in particular has inspired me with an increased passion for learning about anything and everything that I even have the slightest curiosity about. It's gotten to where if I wonder about anything at all I get really nerdy and excited to look it up in an encyclopedia or read about it online. It's almost always something little, but I love it. It's fun to have answers about little things I've always wondered about.
Recently my curiosity was piqued by a memory from my childhood. When my cousins came over, we liked to play Cops and Robbers in my backyard. The police station was over by the patio and the robbers' hideout was a little opening in the trees where the lowest branches made something like a little cave. Inside this tree cave, there was an abundance of this plant:
Kinda pretty, right? The seed pods, however, were our favorite part.
Every time we went to the robbers' hideout, we'd "roast marshmallows," which just meant we'd make a pile of sticks, break the seed pods off the plant, and hold them over the "fire" while we sat and didn't say anything. The twiggy stems were perfect marshmallow-roasting sticks.
Every now and then, I've thought about those "marshmallows" and wondered what exactly they were. As it turns out, a 10 minute internet search supplied me with the pictures and a description of the plant. Because of its transluscent pods, through which you can see all its seeds, the plant is called "honesty." I thought that was pretty ironic, considering it was in the robbers' hideout. As it turns out, though, another name for it is the "money plant" or the "silver dollar plant." We were a lot richer than we thought, I guess. I just can't believe we ripped up and "burned" our money!
My parents don't live in that house anymore, but I don't remember seeing that plant in the back yard for a long time. I guess we killed honesty.
