Life's A Trip.

Life Lately

2012-01-26T10:23:00.013-07:00

Pictured: Ferry ride and subsequent day trip to Tiburon, engagement party photo booth gone wrong, weekend trip to Lake Tahoe

Conclusions: it's beautiful here, I'm a creep, so are my friends, so it's cool...

BART Olympics

2012-01-26T10:12:00.003-07:00

This is the kind of shenanigans that ensues on a 30 minute ride into San Francisco...

And I'll Keep On Fighting Til the End...

2011-12-15T10:08:00.005-07:00

Did I mention I won Poker Night this month and now am the World Series of Poker Champion? You must have forgotten to tune in to ESPN2 when I was on... It was glorious.

No time for losers, I am the champion, of the worlddddddd

It's Christmas Time in the City

2011-12-12T16:14:00.004-07:00

A bunch of friends went Christmas caroling on cable cars around San Francisco recently. We started out in Union Square, took a detour at Ghiradelli square (weird how that happened) and then hopped back on to spread some more holiday cheer, drunk on chocolate fudge sauce. This needs to be repeated at least once a year. Such a great time.

First cable car ride. Will not be the last. Worth it.

Check out Kimmy's sweater.

Part of the group

Neighbor loving. These boys live in the same complex as us and are great at killing spiders, opening jars, and lifting heavy things for us :)

Merry Christmas!

"Intellectual" Stuff

2011-09-30T14:42:00.003-06:00

Round two.

1) I tutor a boy that is a freshman in high school. Sometimes we work on math, at the beginning I was scared. But it turns out all those years I spent hating math were silly, I like math! I was just bad at math :/. Mostly cause I never did my HW or paid attention in class. Math is cool. I wish I could go back in time and make my middle school and high school self realize these things. Instead I will try to do this vicariously through my tutee.

(This could've been me.)

2) I love to read. I've read a lot of really depressing (albeit great) books recently. Sarah's Key, The Girl with the Dragon Tatroo, House of the Spirits, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close = Political corruption + Murder + Rape + Holocaust + 9/11 + Who knows what else. They're all great, I suggest them all. However, maybe don't read them back to back to back to back.

3) The Palo Alto Film Festival is in town this week. They showed a movie last night called "A Day in the Life" that we watched. They asked over 7,000 people to submit one-minute film clips showing a typical day in their life. What would yours show? Other than me showing off my office cube with my standing desk (so great), I'm still thinking...

"Important Stuff"

2011-09-30T10:48:00.006-06:00

Yeah,, I'm about to rock your world with all the "important stuff" I've been thinking about lately.

1) Chris Brown and Justin Bieber's Song "Next to You" is my favorite. The music video is not. Christ Brown looks like a creep/serial killer person, which isn't far off these days, and Justin Bieber kind of looks like some weird tranny woman thing. Observe (but don't let it take away from your enjoyment of the song).

2) Modern Family this season. Anyone been watching? How ugly did Lily get!? (Cameron and Mitchell's adopted daughter). She used to be really cute and now, she looks really weird. I've been trying to figure out if they switched out kids, or if she really just aged that unfortunately since last year. I hope my kids stay cute. Compare the photos below to see what I'm talking about.

3) Kate Moss. I don't get it. Really? Her? A model? THE model? Eh. She's just not. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I just don't see it. Vacant, drugged out stare. Gapped toothed. Stringy hair. Someone care to explain?

Maybe after this post I'll do a post you'll actually care about. Stuff that makes you say, "wow, Jess is really deep" or "hey, Jess really has made a life/name for herself" or "cool, I'd never thought/done that before". Until then...

Never Forget. 9/11.

2011-09-12T14:48:00.002-06:00

I love this.

My heart has been really heavy this week leading up to yesterday's 10 year anniversary of September 11th and continues today. I'm grateful for family and friends and this event's reminder that regardless of differences, we are all Heavenly Father's children.

Shark Week Copycat

2011-08-04T15:58:00.003-06:00

My friend Ashton already posted about our shark adventures together in Hawaii but I'm going to do it again, because I'm loving Shark Week and feel really proud to be able to say I did that when I watch people going down in shark cages on the Discovery Channel.

Did you see the one where a Great White swam into a cage through an opening and the people had to hide at the bottom for a while before mustering up the courage to escape out past him? Boy am I ever glad that didn't happen to us Ashton, although I think we both probably would have been pretty excited and thought it was pretty cool (our brains were a little too fried from the sun those few months).

Every time I'm in the ocean I try to swim out as far as I can hoping to see a shark, I wouldn't mind that much if I could tell people that the huge scar running down my arm was from a shark bite. My brother always gets angry with me for not following the buddy system and going against the "rules of the sea". He's old and boring ;). Living in Hawaii made me conquer my fears of pretty much everything I can think of. Heights, sharks, being kidnapped... I wouldn't mind spending a couple more months on the North Shore again one day.

Extreme Makeover: Gmail Edition

2011-07-26T16:18:00.003-06:00

I got sick of never being able to find anything in gmail due to the large number of emails (exaggeration) I've received over the years. I've been spending a few minutes here or there each day organizing my emails into their appropriate folders (this blog post is fascinating I know). Here's a buried treasure I rediscovered in the process...

http://mashable.com/2010/02/12/fresh-prince-of-bel-air-trick/

I've only got 1,500 emails left to organize. Remember that time I was going to go to Law School? Gmail does. Remember that time I was unemployed and tried to get a job at the Food Network as a food critic? Gmail does. Remember the time I learned Herb Brook's speech from Miracle to give to my lacrosse team? No? You don't remember those time? Gmail does.

Garden Parties and whatnot

2011-07-22T12:54:00.003-06:00

Favorite thing about living in Palo Alto? People have great gardens. Rose bushes out the ying yang, tons of hydrangeas, twinkle lights, etc. it's a magical little time.

Jess in Real Life

2011-07-08T13:39:00.005-06:00

Apparently certain members of my family (mom) get confused about why I have a blog and yet never post about my own life. Well, mostly I'm bad at remembering to take pictures and don't have babies to make people drool over, so I stick to random thoughts I have. But today I'll humor you with a photo montage.

I went to Lake Tahoe for 4th of July weekend with some Palo Alto friends. I got there Friday night and didn't get home until late Tuesday night and had a ball. We boated, swam, hiked, cliff dove, white water rafted, played sports, played endless card games, watched fireworks, went to a Giant's game in SF, ate tons of food, and had a great time. I wish it had gone on forever.

School House Rock

2011-06-24T12:38:00.003-06:00

I hate it when people mess up their and there, your and you're, its and it's. We learned these in like 4th grade people, it's not that hard! Guess who has realized they are totally guilty of doing this lately? Me! So next time I make these mistakes, please call me out on it so I can a) fix this problem b) not hate others who do so as much, and realize that they, like I, are just human.

(Not totally the same concept, but it's grammatical, and entertaining)

The More I Know, The Less I Understand

2011-06-20T15:25:00.003-06:00

I majored in Political Science in college, and whenever I tell people this they are interested to hear what my positions are on today's issues. They (and I) are always surprised at how little of an opinion I have on most of these topics. It's not so much that I don't have ideas or thoughts, but I think I see so much of what's going on as being entirely gray, while both sides are trying to make it seem like it's black or white.

I like to read Greg Mankiw's blog, he's an economics professor at Harvard, and he recently wrote an article about health care in the NYT that I thought was interesting and spells out some of the same thoughts that I have. I think both sides are more on each other's side than they realize or are willing to admit.

Radiohead said it best...

2011-06-14T14:53:00.009-06:00

I went to Utah this weekend for one niece's birthday party and the others' blessing. While there, I learned something about myself... I'm a creep. I spent practically all weekend trying to get my 1 nephew and 3 nieces to cuddle with me.

Case Study #1: Andrew was showing me a video on his dad's phone and I kept scooping him up on my lap only to have him say "no Jess!" and crawl right back off again and again. Here we've captured that moment on film.

Case Study #2: I convinced Madeline and her other cousins/friends to play hide and go seek. Every time I was hiding I would convince Maddie to hide with me. At one point I started tickling her and in her tiny little 2 year old voice in the dark I heard her say "quiet Jess!"

Case Study #3: I barely participated in any of the Little Gym activities because I was stalking a sleeping baby Olivia waiting for her to wake up. Here we are once I managed to convince everyone she was awake and ready for me to hold her.

Case Study #4: That's it. Baby Caitlin is a gem and willingly let's me cuddle her all I want (despite my creep face in this picture).

Two Rants and A Rave

2011-06-09T16:05:00.004-06:00

Time for a really deep blog post... Psych.
1) I am angry about Costco's lack of Honey Crisp apples for the last... I don't know how many months! How dare you dangle something so great in front of me just take take it away. I was perfectly happy with my pink ladies and royal galas until those babies came along, now everything else tastes terrible.

2) Oral-B Satin Floss is the worst. It breaks into string little piece and is just terrible. Anyone have good floss and floss pick recommendations? The last 4 I've tried have failed. I'm someone who flosses 3-4 times a day, at minimum, so this is a big deal.

3) Chobani Greek yogurt. I've been purchasing and eating this stuff for a long time but still love it a lot. Thank you Costco for at least doing this right. Although I think your pack should include Vanilla and Mango for me to try too... maybe replace peach? It's my least favorite. Strawberry is my most favorite. Peach is still a favorite too.

Pepper Pots

2011-06-03T15:26:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to my favorite niece named Madeline :)! Aka Maddie, Mads, Maddles, Pepper, Pepperoni, Pepperdine, Dr. Pepper, Pepper Pots, Peppermint Pattie, seriously? You're two and you already have more nicknames than I've accumulated over 23 years. That must mean you're pretty great, I think so at least!

This little girl was born while I was backpacking Europe two summers ago. I remember checking my email at random internet cafes like 5 times a day while we were in Greece and finally she was born one morning when we were staying in Athens (ghetto) and although I did not get to be with her that first day... I sang songs about her all day throughout the Acropolis in tribute. Can't wait to celebrate with you Little Gym style Maddie! When you're a little older, tell your mom to send you out here for a fun girls weekend with your "cool" Aunt Jess :)

Awesome People Hanging Out

2011-06-02T14:06:00.004-06:00

Ummm... so...yeah. I just stumbled upon this site... I wish I could give my thoughts on every single one of these pictures (call me, I'll give them to you) but I'll leave you with just a few for now...
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like and the Most Interesting Man in the World

- The Beatles and Mohammed Ali seem like they were pretty tight back in the day, wish Ali had been there to punch Mark David Chapman out
- Mother Teresa was a freaking midget, am I going to shrink in my old age too? Or do they just breed hobbits in India?
- Nancy Reagan and Mr. T? I wonder if Ronald knew about this love affair... "I pity the fool who doesn't 'Just Say No'"
- I could tell from his art that I wanted to be Salvador Dali's friend, but now that feeling is stronger than ever. "The Persistence of Memory"? More like the persistence of drug abuse.
- I bet Ludcaris and Bill Gates had a lot to talk about. Pimpin' hoes, Windows CE, you know, guy stuff...

Mostly just because I'm obsessed with the Beatles and Paul Rudd is hilarious.

Learning Curve

2011-05-23T12:06:00.006-06:00

My company is full of nerds. Some days I forget. Some days it hits me in the face the second I walk in the door. Today was that day. I walked into one of our programmer's cubes to find him taking a "brain break" to do a little online gaming... I don't know what the game was exactly, but you know the type I mean. He has a pony tail and was wearing leather pants. These two shouldn't paint a picture in your mind of someone that is cool. He is not. In this case, the pony tail and the leather pants just make him even nerdier.

Then I was responding to an email this morning and as I read over the email to make sure I'd touched on all the points they'd made, I sat back for a second and soaked it all in. After four months of working at this company, this email made perfect sense to me. Check out a snippet...

<< We're looking to use a RTOS on a TI AM/DM3730 based control system. Currently using the Mistral AM/DM37x EVM Development Board running Linux to test our application, but dedicated hardware is being developed. The finished product has very tight latency requirements for responding to external interrupts that are unlikely to be met with a stock Linux implementation. We would like to pursue a Linux-based solution for their finished product.

I would like to determine if your Real-Time Linux System would be suitable for this system. The primary task of the system will be to process external data at a 1kHz rate. Therefore, in less than 1ms it will need to do the following:
- Acknowledge an external GPIO pin interrupt
- Read in approx. 50-100bytes via SPI
- Process the data
- Transmit the results out of a UART
- Run background tasks to perform additional data processing

BSP Peripherals required:
- VFP (Double precision floating point and saving all VFP registers during context switching)
- DDR RAM
- NAND Flash
- SD Card
- SPI (12+Mbps)
- USART
- I2C
- GPIO and external interrupts
- DMA

Who's got two thumbs and knows way to much about random tech stuff? This guy!(girl)

Please Sir Can I Have S'More?

2011-05-19T15:32:00.005-06:00

In case you hadn't heard... my mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. So naturally, growing up, all I ever wanted her to do was buy crappy store bought cookies like all the other kids' mom's/nannies did. (One time in fourth grade I actually had a meltdown at school when she surprised me by baking a batch of cookies to bring to me and my friends at lunch time. Through my hot salty tears I yelled "why can't you just give me Oreos like everyone else's mom/nanny!" Yeah, I sucked as a fourth grader apparently.) Anyways, I've since recovered from that bout of youthful insanity/desire to fit in and totally appreciate my mom's cookies. And pretty much everything else she makes.

Howeverrrrr. There was one type of cookie that I would have her buy at the store that I still think are fantastic. Have you tried Mallomars? They were my favorite. They didn't sell them in the summer because the thin chocolate dipped coating melts in the trucks because it's so hot. (My mom learned that for us after constantly coming home from the store to me empty handed in the summertime). Mallomars are the best. You should try them. I couldn't find the brand name ones at Safeway but the knock-off ones are pretty o.k. for now.

PS I hope my future kids aren't stupid like I was. If my daughter started crying and screaming at me for making homemade cookies for her and her friends... I think I would lock her out of the house and let her sleep on the lawn for a night or two. Sorry mom, you're a saint.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

2011-05-17T12:28:00.007-06:00

Trip to Utah this weekend in a nutshell...
Flew in to see this little cutie... Olivia Havana Caffee

Spent some time at the Thanksgiving Point Farm with this one too

I'm having withdrawls from these little girls. They're the best. I can't wait until they grow up and do this someday

(Their mom's high school team was in the playoffs for state this weekend. They lost but played great and I was so excited to watch I nearly lost my voice.)

PS check out my sister's awesome parenting skills in this video

Whoopsie Daisies

2011-05-13T10:54:00.002-06:00

You know the scene in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant keeps trying to climb over a fence and every time he falls down, he says "Whoopsie Daisies" and then Julia Roberts makes fun of him and then he still does it again? This scene?

Sometimes that scene is all too familiar to me. Yesterday I was on the phone with my sister while at work, and must have said "okey doke" or "okey dokey" a half dozen times, and the second I hung up a co-worker popped their head into my cube to laugh and make fun of me for something only "little girls with blonde ringlets" and people from 50 years ago said. Help me? It's getting embarrassing.

Save Me, San Francisco

2011-05-09T14:22:00.007-06:00

One of my oldest friends from BYU came to visit me this weekend! This was pretty much the soundtrack to our weekend (the video's kind of lame... sorry)

We spent some time getting in touch with my roots at a Pow Wow at Stanford

Exploring some of my favorite San Francisco spots

Watching the Giants and Brian "I have a disgusting lice filled beard" Wilson

Napping on the beach in Half Moon Bay

You should come visit me too :) I'm a real good tour guide, I think.

Cougars, Caddies, and Mancubs

2011-05-05T14:21:00.003-06:00

I, along with two friends, have joined a women's golf league. Every Monday night we meet up with a number of Palo Alto women to play nine holes of golf, have a little friendly competition, and do some socializing. It's great.

Other than me and my friends, I'd dare to say the average age is 60. So now you can guess that the reference to Cougars in the title has nothing to do with my Alma Mater, and everything to do with the League's demographic. Golf League is the new Ladies Who Lunch, and I intend on become a key member of the group. It's my ticket in to society's upper crust.

After 9 holes we all meet up in the clubhouse to eat, drink, and enjoy the tunes of some aspiring musicians who double as Golf Pros. I like to refer to these as the Mancubs. 20-something boys playing Dave Matthews songs while these ladies indulge in a glass or two of wine and feast their Cougar eyes on young flesh, you can't make this stuff up.

Mondays just got a little bit better.

Colonel Mustard with the Wrench in the Library

2011-05-02T13:49:00.006-06:00

Last week my life was like a game of "Operation", this week it was like a game of "Clue". Next week... Scrabble anyone? (No seriously, I'm obsessed with Scrabble... if you have an iPhone, let's be "Words with Friends, friends)

I hosted a little murder mystery dinner party Friday night to celebrate a friend's birthday! It was a lot of fun to plan and decorate and turned out great.

We had fun dressing up and it was hilarious how into it people got.

I'm the Doctor for You!

2011-04-25T15:54:00.004-06:00

Is it water on the knee? (Operation!) A thousand dollar fee! (Operation!)
A Charlie horse it's true (Operation!) I'm the doctor for you!

Remember the commercials for the board game operation? We experienced a real life version of Operation (not to be confused with actual surgery) this weekend. Andrew-man broke off plastic fork prongs and shoved one up his nose. His mom used the iPhone flashlight app while his Grandma Julie pinned his arms down so that his Daddy could use eyebrow tweezers to pull the thing out from deep in his nose. I took pictures and tried not to laugh.

P.S. This is Jules' Easter hat she made with the seniors. Hilarious? Yes. Am I worried that at some point she might, as the anthropologists say, "go native"? Slightly. For now though, I think we all need to re-evaluate what Easter truly means, take a page out of the Harlem Baptists/British' book and bring back big, ridiculous, possibly made of paper bags, hats for Easter Sunday. All in favor?

Because Who Doesn't Like to Laugh?

2011-04-21T15:25:00.003-06:00

People have sent me some funny things this week. Feel free to keep it coming. I like to laugh, laughing's my favorite.

1) The World's Worst House Guest

2) Man Babies

3) STFU Parents

4) Hipster Animals

5) Mount Rushmore Photoshopped

Remember in High School Physics when you had to make a bridge of toothpicks and other stuff? We did that this week and used candy. Long story short, my physics skills have not improved over time, but when life hands you lemons and you don't know how to make lemonade... make an elephant!

(Smile)

2011-04-15T15:10:00.005-06:00

Some things that have been making me smile extra big lately*...

1) Chocolate Covered Acai Berries from Costco

2) Tina Fey's Book "Bossypants" (saved me from dying when my flight was delayed)

3) The TV Series "The Big Bang Theory" (thank you netflix!)

4) The Musical Stylings of Mr. Brett Dennen

* not to mention interaction with actual human beings from time to time ;)

Ninjas and Naysayers

2011-04-13T09:52:00.004-06:00

There is a clothing conspiracy against me.

Case #1: Throughout Middle School and High School, occasionally I would find that a favorite piece of clothing had disappeared. When pressed, my mom would tell me that the item had "shrunk in the wash", was "too stained", or my personal favorite, that she "hadn't seen it". In reality, I suspect that my mother, aka "the ninja" just didn't like those clothes and had seen to it that they disappear.

Case #2: Two summers ago I backpacked Europe with some friends from school. I brought along some great, very versatile sweatpants as part of my clothing rotation. My friends made fun of them so much and so often that eventually they convinced me to just get rid of them. In reality, those sweatpants were both awesome and comfortable and my friends were just jealous.

Case #3: Missing socks. OK, so everyone has this problem and it's not really a good example, but 2 cases is hardly enough to build evidence of a conspiracy.

Suffice to say I wish people would stop being jealous of my awesome clothes and trying to bring me down to their level of fashion.

Little Cuties

2011-04-08T12:02:00.002-06:00

Wish List

2011-04-05T13:58:00.008-06:00

When you're little and someone asks you how old you are, you always tell them to the quarter what your age is. As in... today I am 23.5 and I wanted to let you know.

Since it's my half-birthday and all, I thought I'd share with you my birthday present wish list :) Feel free to send me any of these in the mail, mmmk?

1) I am in desperate need of an arm chair for my bedroom. I was thinking this one would be fine... imagine all the hours I could log in it, curled up with a good book!

2) With the weather looking like it has been out, there's also a big need for some outdoor recreational equipment. I have a beach cruiser back in UT but I think what I really need is a more practical bike like this

3) On your half-birthday, you don't want practical presents. You want pretty, completely superfluous flowery pink shoes

Happy Birthday to me!

*Other things I'd also take : frequent flyer miles, hotel points, restaurant gift certificates, I'd even settle for a box of Godiva's and a bouquet of flowers... I'm pretty low maintenance these days ;)

This Might Be A Stretch...

2011-03-31T15:42:00.001-06:00

The weather this week has been unbelievable. I feel like I'm on some kind of drug because the sunshine makes me so giddy!

Good Clean Fun

2011-03-30T16:40:00.004-06:00

Me + 4 other friends did a 10k Mud Run in Big Sur this weekend.

(clearly I'm the most intense one in the group... or the most disabled?)

they had us climb over walls and swim through pools of mud intermittently

they also had drill sergeants who yelled and made us do push-ups and sit-ups

I think, like Buster Bluth, I'm not meant for Army... but it was a nice half day ;)

Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die

2011-03-25T10:28:00.005-06:00

1) I went to bed last night very sad about the BYU game. I woke up this morning and felt at peace about things. How? Me and Jimmer had a conversation in my dream last night. It was kind of like in the Sandlot when Benny the Jet and Babe Ruth have that conversation about heroes and legends and stuff. Essentially, Jimmer told me how he had given all he could, but they just didn't have anything left to give by overtime. I understood this, and I'm proud of them for making it to as far as they did, and I'm proud of Jimmer for having the guts to confront me in my dreams like that.

2) How gross is the word curd! Lemon curd? Cheese curd? None of these things sound appetizing at all. The people that say they like these things are fooling themselves. Curd is a filthy, disgusting substance.... like cottage cheese.

3) I googled images of the Sandlot and found this one of Ya-Ya and Ham Porter, who knew Ya-Ya pursued an acting career all the way to the set of Jersey Shore!

Happy Friday everyone! In case you've been living under a rock and missed this gem of a youtube viral sensation, check it out...

Our Hands His Hands, Our Heart His Heart

2011-03-24T13:49:00.002-06:00

This is a video made by some friends of mine, about a friend of mine:

Go here to vote for it, it's one of 10 videos that is a finalist in the International Video Contest for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I Know What She's Thinking...

2011-03-22T16:53:00.004-06:00

"When I grow up, I want to be just like my Aunt Jess..."

This is Pepper. Aka Madeline. Aka my niece. That is a lacrosse stick.

Puddle Jumping

2011-03-21T16:34:00.004-06:00

The weather couldn't have been worse, the trail couldn't have been muddier, the course couldn't have been any more uphill or steep... but I couldn't have had a better time.

Probably once every 5 minutes I thought to myself... "This is so fun, I love this, it is so pretty, I don't hate this one bit, I mean... this was my view the whole time.

By mile 12, the course flattened out, my shoes were completely soaked and weighed down by mud (at some point I gave up trying to jump around the puddles and gave into them) and I was starting to be ready to be done, but the musical styling of Jason Derulo and Eminem sustained me to the finish line.

Vegas Vacation

2011-03-18T10:18:00.007-06:00

Last weekend I headed down to Vegas for a little 3-day trip,
the dance party started the moment we got there and didn't stop...

Ok, so maybe it stopped for a little while when we watched BYU play in the MWC Finals, which was a little bit depressing. On to the NCAA tournament though!

My excuse/reason for the trip was to celebrate one of my best friends from BYU getting married! We had a fun time catching up with him and lots of other friends from school, and obviously enjoying the food a little too much :)

Of course, I returned from the weekend sleep deprived and without a voice (some things never change), so I'm still recovering... cross your fingers I manage ok with my half-marathon tomorrow!

Amuse Bouche

2011-03-14T16:19:00.004-06:00

More about my weekend to come,
but for now, just a little taste...

Yes, that is Father Time.
Yes, he did dance the night away with us at the clubs.

A Cable Knit Affair

2011-03-09T16:23:00.006-07:00

Saturday night = Golf themed Bachelor-ette party in San Fran...

Golf themed = Country Club

Country Club = My Closet

My closet = My friends play dress-up

My friends play dress-up = These photos

Happy Tuesday!

2011-03-08T14:50:00.002-07:00

Here's hoping you feel like doing this today. Nothing wrong with a little frolicking mid-hike...

Cause for Concern

2011-03-07T12:11:00.002-07:00

Did anyone else know robots were a real thing? I don't mean little robots that vacuum your floor or put together cars. I mean a human robot, like the ones that go crazy and try to take over the world in movies? I'm terrified.

Some Wanderings...

2011-03-03T16:20:00.004-07:00

And by wanderings I mean random things on my mind:

1) I'm sick of weird trend diets people go on. One of my coworkers just read a book called "The China Study" and now swears that all meat, even fish, is poison for your body. That book is the poison.

2) I want to be Kate Middleton. I read this article today and became depressed that I will never have a cabinet of jewels to choose from. Alas, such is the life of a poor peasant girl.

3) Remember that time we talked about Anderson Cooper getting beaten up in Egypt and how I love him? I'm currently reading his book "Dispatches from the Edge". That man has had a rough life. People should walk a few miles in his aqua socks before they judge him. That is, assuming he has aqua socks and would lend them to you. I think he would though, Anderson seems like a pretty generous guy.

4) #brandondaviesepicfail

5) We started a weekly documentary club and have watched some real gems so far. Please take a gander at this clip in particular from the cinematographic masterpiece "Darkon" . Fact. One in every 2 people is a LARP-er** (Life Action Role Play). If it's not you, it's your spouse.

** I made up this statistic.

Ski Weekend

2011-03-02T18:32:00.005-07:00

Me and some fellow Palo Altans decided to take advantage of the unusually cold weather in the area this week to go skiing in Lake Tahoe. The snow was plentiful, the skies were blue, the views were great... I don't really have a whole lot to say that will spark your interest so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. All in all, great time.

SAP Open

2011-02-28T11:16:00.005-07:00

So it's been like 2 weeks since this post should have happened, but oh well. Laura and I went to the SAP Open in San Jose one Saturday night. It's not quite as glamorous as the US Open or Wimbeldon, but we'll take what we can get. And we did get to see Verdasco aka #7 in the world. I'm not usually one to swoon and have crushes over celebrities (or maybe I am? Can't be sure) but this guy is fantastic. We stayed long after the match to listen to his thick Spanish accent during an interview, watch him sign tons of autographs, kiss babies, wave to fans... precious.

After thinking about it, I realized I'd never been to a tennis event before and was so weirded out by how silent the arena was the entire night. I am Julie Smith's daughter afterall, and am accustomed to a little bit more cheering and craziness at sporting events.

What Does It Mean!?

2011-02-25T14:54:00.004-07:00

Ok, so I only saw one rainbow in the sky this morning, not two... but it was a full rainbow, which was pretty awesome. What did this particular rainbow mean? I think it meant "Happy Birthday Andrew Buskirk". My favorite little nephew, goofball, man turned 3 years old today!

(I know this post really didn't make any sense, but I needed to combine the two things I wanted to talk about... sue me.)

It's Cookie Time

2011-02-23T12:05:00.002-07:00

I know, I already posted today... but this will be just a quick vent. One of my co-workers brought in a bunch of Girl Scout cookies to share with the office today, hurray! But I have to ask why? Why haven't I had the opportunity to buy cookies myself. The Girl Scouts of America have a seriously flawed business model. Their cookies need to be more readily available to the masses.

When I was a brownie, we would send my dad into the office with an order sheet for his coworkers to purchase cookies. What gives? Does no one in my office have children? This is just another example of how people choosing not to start a family is ruining America.

Family Weekend

2011-02-23T10:18:00.004-07:00

The whole family came into town this weekend for Baby Caitlin's blessing.

We had a nice little time in San Francisco on quite possible the rainiest day ever. The good news is, Ghiradelli chocolate and ice cream taste just as good no matter what the weather is like.

On Sunday after the blessing, everyone and their mom came back to Baby Caitlin's house for a party and we had fun teaching Andrew and some Buskirk boys about gambling.

I sure love these babies and was sad to see everyone go at the end of the weekend. Luckily, "Smith" baby #4 is on it's way and we'll have another reason to get together and celebrate real soon!

A President's Day Miracle

2011-02-21T17:08:00.003-07:00

Have you ever tried Sunbelt granola bars? No? Do it. Do it right now. I thought they were a Utah thing and gave up hope of finding them in California. For once in it's life Walmart actually has something on Target. Look no further... peanut butter, chocolate chip, almond sunbelt bars for every boy and girl! Thank you Washington! Thank you Lincoln! Thank you Obama!

Hope Through the Atonement of Christ

2011-02-17T14:00:00.004-07:00

I read a talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell recently that I really liked, specifically this quote...

"Indeed, when we are unduly impatient with an omniscient God’s timing, we really are suggesting that we know what is best. Strange, isn’t it—we who wear wristwatches seek to counsel Him who oversees cosmic clocks and calendars." - Neal A Maxwell

Check it out:

P.E.T.A is Going to Throw Red Paint At Me Someday...

2011-02-16T10:58:00.004-07:00

Is it weird that I have recently decided that I really want a fur coat? I saw this picture and all of my former notions of how gross, tacky, unnecessary, and gawdy fur coats are melted away into a strong desire to be the owner of one just like this.

Granted, I live in Northern California and there is no need for something so warm, but hey, the fog can be chilly sometimes, right? Game on fur coat. Game on.

High Rollers

2011-02-12T13:07:00.005-07:00

We've instituted a weekly bowling night, who doesn't love to bowl when it only costs a dollar? Not me. Not to brag... but I'm pretty much an expert at bowling these days. Last time I broke 140. Who does that? Not me. In the past I would have considered it a major victory to just break 100.

He can't even look at me he's so bitter about my skills.

We were excited that all three of us were wearing the same thing aka black sweats. Tracy (queen of always being in sweats) however claimed that her outfit was "business casual" that night and she didn't know what we were talking about...

The Same Old Bread and Rolls to Sell...

2011-02-07T17:32:00.004-07:00

I have yet to figure out the explanation for it, but my office smells like bread today. I can think of no reason for this to be the case. I love bread a whole lot and it's making me really hungry.

Speaking of great bread, there is this place in San Fran called Tartine Bakery I am dying to check out. They reportedly makes the world's best bread! I must investigate.

For now I'm off to sniff out the source of this delicious aroma...

Today In the News...

2011-02-02T16:46:00.004-07:00

3 stories that I would like to make a note of today...

1) Groundhog's Day Phil the 125 year old Groundhog didn't see his shadow... only 2 more weeks of winter! Two things here: clearly Phil isn't paying attention to the giant blizzard going on where he lives. 2) Two more weeks? Try it never happened here, I sat outside reading on my lunchbreak today tring to catch a few rays. Ah joy.

2) NYC Smoking Ban Just another reason it's the greatest city in the world. First you couldn't smoke inside in public places, now you can't smoke outside in public places. Smoking is disgusting and stupid, let's just vote it off the island (notice how this statement works both as a reference to "Survivor" and the news article)

3) Poor Little Andy Cooper Anderson Cooper got attacked by a mob of anti-American Egyptians. Poor Anderson, I hope they didn't permanently damage his pretty face... I have always been a fan of it. Gloria Vanderbilt and her jeans cannot be pleased.

*I also read that Pres. Obama invited J-Lo to his Super Bowl party... I know,I know!you're as interested and shocked as I was (meaning not at all).

Weekend Update

2011-01-31T10:06:00.005-07:00

First SNL's version of weekend update, then mine...

Friday = my ideal date night. Good food, mini golf, frozen yogurt. I could have easily been back in Provo and not even known it... except for the fact that we mini-golfed outside, yay for January in California! Can I just say that the Golfland course was seriously flawed in it's design... at least 3 times when it was my turn to putt, the ball went soaring through the air, across Golfland and we had to retreive it from another hole. Totally wrong, I'm a great golfer.

Went on an excursion up to Berkeley on Saturday and ate at quite possibly the most hippy place I have ever experienced. No gluten, no dairy, no meat. No taste? False. I was pretty pleased with what I ordered aka the "You are grateful" bowl. My inner hippy has been slowly fading away over the years so it was nice to give her a little attention for once... although this vegan, raw food, no shower, burlap sack for clothes movement is definitely not for me.

A Little of This A Little of That...

2011-01-27T12:41:00.007-07:00

1)The BYU vs SDSU game last night!? Dear BYU Basketball, please keep being good. You've made me so happy so far this year, but I don't think my heart can take another repeat of last season's tournament. Please make it to the Final Four. Please?

2) Do you guys use Groupon.com? It's the greatest thing ever. I just bought a 2 month pass to a yoga studio in Palo Alto for $25 (it's usually $400.) Check into that.

3) I got pulled over today for doing a (rolling)"California" stop at a residential intersection. The irony's not lost on me... I had to restrain myself from telling the officer I thought it was allowed here since it was named after the state we were in (cue obligatory laughter). Dad, I know, you told me so. I'll try harder from now on to be a careful driver.

No Turning Back Now

2011-01-24T17:05:00.003-07:00

I am officially registered for my first marathon! Momma Jules has already run one with my sisters, but I was younger and lazier and it seemed like a terrible idea to me at the time. Now she and I will be running the Santa Barbara Marathon together in November, and will do a little training for it at the Disney Half Marathon in September along with the other two Smith ladies! I plan to wear mini mouse ears.

Poker Face

2011-01-21T15:56:00.002-07:00

This = Me, last night*. Poker night at a friend's house ended with me coming in second place out of like 20 people! Can you believe it? I made sure to study up on my strategy beforehand. I'm going to request that next time we don't use candy as poker chips... maybe then I'd have enough left to come in first place :).

*Isn't Parent Trap one of the greatest movies ever? I Netflixed it last week and was reminded of it's greatness (poor Lindsay Lohan, it was all downhill from there).

Blog Stalking

2011-01-19T11:13:00.004-07:00

This weekend I got an email from my dad with a link to an article written about mormon mommy blogs...

I love stalking my sisters' blogs for cute pictures of my nieces and nephew, reading my friends' blogs to keep track of their lives, but i hadn't yet branched out into reading strangers' blogs all that much. Now I can't stop. Rockstar Diaries, Engaged and Underaged, Nat the Fat Rat? I love it. Check them out. Although I will say Rockstar Diaries is kind of like the Gossip Girl of blogs, very little substance, kind of boring but you love seeing all the pretty clothes. I find the other two entirely delightful/entertaining.

Now I need your help. I was in charge of making garlic bread last night and can't get the garlic smell off my hands... save me!

I Can't Take It Anymore!

2011-01-17T13:18:00.007-07:00

I almost had a meltdown at work when I saw this picture.

After years of being denied the one thing I really want in life, I'm fed up. After two weeks of trying to get one of my New Year's resolutions to actually stick, I've figured it out. This I promise you... come 2012 I will have a dog. I repeat, I will be the owner of a puppy like the one above or one of the ones below by January 2012.

Run Or Get Off The Treadmill.

2011-01-12T09:02:00.006-07:00

Since I know that none of you are guilty of this heinous crime, consider this post more of a vent than any sort of invitation to you personally. The only times I can to go to the gym are on my lunch break or right after work aka the peak gym times. I never get a treadmill. Why you might ask? Because of people who choose to use the treadmill to go for a nice leisurely walk. No more! I am glad you are trying to workout, but get on an elliptical and off my treadmill... I actually want to run!

(weird how the whipped cream in this picture looks like butter)

Also, I realized today while at Starbuck's and trying to avoid getting their hot chocolate, that a tall size is only 180 calories! That is the same amount of calories as a bottle of vitamin water and is wayyy more tasty! I will never again feel guilty for succumbing to that delicous, creamy goodness, from now on I will just pop a multivitamin as I drink and call it a Vitamin Water with a calcium boost.

It's Been A Year...

2010-12-28T09:58:00.003-07:00

Last year I decided to try and give up dessert for one year. I kind of figured it wouldn't last a whole year (since, let's be honest, who hasn't tried to give up sugar countless times?) but this time it stuck. It has been a whole year since delicious chocolate, caramel, sugary goodness has crossed these lips and I was excited to finally break that fast with a piece of Dulce De Leche cake from Extraordinary Desserts while on vacation with my family in San Diego this Christmas break.

The cake was delicious but too rich for this poor chocolate deprived girl and I could only finish 1/4 of it. I proceeded to eat it for breakfast or dinner or a snack the rest of the trip. I am happy to be back to desserts but the fast has helped me to transition it from the base of my food pyramid back up to the tippy top where it belongs!

Training Day

2010-12-17T19:33:00.004-07:00

Ok, it was more like training week... but that's not the name of a movie. As I mentioned I recently started a new job. They flew all of their new hires down to San Diego for training. The days were long and jam packed but I learned a lot and had fun exploring San Diego by night with my new coworker/friends

I had already been working for a few weeks before going to training and had been working with a few accounts. While in training, I was able to close my first deal and celebrated... as is tradition, by banging the giant gong in front of my "classmates"

In other news... our training instructor shared this video with us and I cried, I was laughing so hard. Here you go...

Talk to the Moose

2010-12-13T22:37:00.004-07:00

An ode to GAP commercials from Christmases past.

They just don't make them like they used to. Or do they? I haven't seen a commercial since the discovering Tivo and Netflix so you tell me.

In other news, I am now employed (and have been for about 3 weeks, hence my lack of posting). I am currently in San Diego for training. The thing I was most excited about for this trip was the gym at the hotel, I fantasized about it all day at the office (when did I start liking exercise this much?).

Say Goodbye To Sunshine*

2010-11-27T12:47:00.006-07:00

I'll post about my life or adventures or things like that sometime soon... but for now, this is clearly the most important story.

Some woman is claiming ownership over the sun and wants to put a tax on all of those who use it. I think I'm going to buy the rights to oxygen and not allow her to breath just to stick it to the (wo)man. Crazy Spaniards... first giant tomato fights in the streets and games of tag with angry bulls, now this nonsense? (I still love you though)

* You probably thought this post would have something to do with winter or rainy weather in the Bay. Not so, readers. Not so.

Grease Sing-A-Long

2010-11-18T16:08:00.003-07:00

Last night me and a bunch of friends went to a Sing-A-Long showing of Grease at the Castro Theater in San Fran. It's been years since I've watched this movie and I can't think of a better way to reintroduce yourself to an old favorite than to sing along to all your favorite songs with a bunch of strangers. Here's a little something for you folks at home to enjoy!

Rant.

2010-11-14T23:59:00.002-07:00

I hate getting towed. I hate tow trucks. They are stupid. They charge way too much. The people are mean.

I had a great day in the city shopping with a friend on Saturday, but when we returned to the spot I had parked my car... there was no car there. We had to take a taxi to an impound lot and pay a $350 (ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?) fee to get the car out. I pulled out the best acting performance of my life trying to make the man feel sorry for me and bump down the price. No luck.

An Oldie but a Goodie

2010-11-10T15:57:00.003-07:00

Back in the day I had this song memorized and used to laugh about it and quote it all the time. Ladies and Gentlemen allow myself to reintroduce you to Lazy Sunday...

And God Remembered Rachel

2010-11-07T00:03:00.003-06:00

Lately when I go running, instead of listening to music, I've taken to downloading conference talks and listening to those instead. Earlier in the week I was running and this talk came on, which I really liked, hope you do too!

Jessica's Secret

2010-11-02T17:57:00.003-06:00

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite products lately, Jessica Smith tested and approved.

Philosophy Miracle Worker: Use these pads on your face every night for a month. I got them at Nordstrom and they are kind of pricey so perhaps as a stocking stuffer or birthday present? They get rid of dark spots, redness from old pimples, and just make your complexion a whole lot better so going without makeup isn't quite as scary.

Morroccan Oil: I'm sure you've heard about it before and I'll say it again. This stuff is great. Put it in your hair after a shower and style. It makes your hair softer, shinier, and healthier without making it feel greasy at all. Get it at nice beauty supply stores like Trade Secret.

I hate hair. I've waxed, threaded, shaved, tweezed, and Nair-ed. This stuff works. It's basically like Nair except it doesn't suck. It gets rid of all your hair in 10 minutes, has an after cream so your skin doesn't get irritated, and it barely smells (and the smell is gone after you wash your hands). Buy it at beauty supply stores like Sally's.

White House Diary

2010-10-27T12:10:00.003-06:00

We were wandering around San Francisco yesterday when we stumbled upon a huge crowd of people. When we asked what was going on, someone let us know that Jimmy Carter, aka former US President was inside doing a book signing for his new book "White House Diary". Naturally, we got in line and waited our turn to meet our first President! Please excuse my finger in the way of the picture and pay attention to the important things, how old Jimmy Carter looks and the crazy lady to his right.

Also, I wasn't about to go a single day more without visiting the Full House houses. So we went there too. Between seeing where Michelle Tanner grew up and meeting the man who solved the Iranian Hostage Crisis, I'd say it was a pretty full day.

If Everybody Had An Ocean...

2010-10-25T12:42:00.003-06:00

Earlier in the week, me and some friends watched the 1987 cult classic "North Shore"
(check it out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093648/). I had never seen it before and it was love at first viewing. You could imagine our excitement later in the week when we found out that Santa Cruz's annual pro surf competition, The Coldwater Classic, was happening this weekend. With the countless viewings of Blue Crush in my lifetime and having lived on Oahu's North Shore, I couldn't believe this the first time I'd been to a real life competition. It was awesome.

Watching the pros got us pumped up and we put on wet suits and caught a few waves of our own. The boys go surfing pretty much every weekend, but since this was my first time they were nice enough to give me some pointers and take turns babysitting me. After a lot of paddling I finally was able to stand up, here's a picture of me hanging ten! Ok, just kidding this is one of the good guys... but I really did stand! I can't wait to get back out there soon!

Don't Be Evil

2010-10-22T18:20:00.002-06:00

The Church of Self-Actualization is laying the smack-down. Since my brother in law works at Google, I thought I should warn him and his fellow Googlers about the slanderous advertising that is occurring right down the road on El Camino Real*.

*The opinions expressed by the Ananda Congregation do not represent the views of this particular blogger and have merely been posted for informational purposes.

My Life Is Average

2010-10-15T12:02:00.002-06:00

If you haven't already checked out www.mylifeisaverage.com, please do so. Here's a recent favorite of mine.

"My sister asked me to keep my nephew busy while she went to the store. We played hide and seek. An hour later, my sister came home and saw me running in and out of bedrooms. She asked what I was doing. I said that Zach disappeared. She didn't believe me so she started dinner. She opened up the pots and pans cabinet and found Zach. Sitting there patiently, he asked "On a scale of one to Osama Bin Laden, how good was my hiding spot?" Zach's five."

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

2010-10-14T21:36:00.008-06:00

I've realized that I have the potential to start my very own non-mom, mom-blog with all the pictures and stories I have accumulated hanging out with my 2 1/2 year old nephew. Since his mom does a pretty good job on the mom blog front, I've decided to go in another direction. You guessed it! Today I will tell you about my adventures with Percy Jackson*.

This week we visited Mt. Tamalpais, home to the Titans: enemies of the Greek gods, mortal threat to human kind, pretty much all around bad guys. They live on Mt. Tam and are led by the Atlas, who is forced to hold up the world on his shoulders. Here are some highlights from our quest**.

We wandered the Muirwoods forest looking for tree nymphs to aid us on our quest.

We traveled through secret tree tunnels in order to enter the Titan's secret lair undetected

Finally, once we reached their lair, Percy's dad Poseidon (god of the Sea) helped us to destroy them by channeling the power of the ocean.

Then we had a victory meal back at Camp Half-Blood. Hurray!

* I realize that 9 out of 10 of you have no idea what I'm talking about. Feel free to ignore this post.
** I also realize that those of you who do know what I'm talking about probably still want to ignore this post. Feel free to do so. Sometimes unemployment gets really boring and I'm forced to think about things like this to entertain myself.

It's A Hard Knock Life

2010-10-06T17:04:00.004-06:00

This is what unemployment looks like...

What's My Age Again?

2010-10-06T16:37:00.005-06:00

You may be asking what all these fabulous people have in common? Then again, you might not be. It all depends on how smart you are or how well you know me. Yesterday I turned 23 years old, I have been waiting for this year my whole life. For one whole year, no matter what, I will be #23. This year I'm out to prove Blink 182 wrong (I'll let you figure this one out). Let the year of Jessie commence!

I Love You Spot Conlon

2010-10-01T12:58:00.000-06:00

Recently I added a Newsies Radio Station to the ranks of my Pandora playlists. For those of you who have never watched this glorious Disney-based-on-a-true-story-musical, I say shame on you. Me and my brother spent a good part of our childhood watching Newsies. And by watching I mean rehearsing the dance moves and acting out the fight scenes. Pay close attention at 3:58 for our favorite move.

I rediscovered this movie with some friends back in high school one rainy Saturday afternoon. Just as this scene in the movie began playing on the screen, I told my friends about how me and my brother used to practice the dancing (specifically the pelvic thrust part) all the time when we were younger. At this moment, my college age brother ran into the room, proceeded to reenact the dance and then ran out without saying a word. Dear Scott, Newsies screening/rehearsal and perhaps a few rounds of DDR sometime soon?

Dear Hippie Moms,

2010-09-26T22:23:00.003-06:00

Underwear doesn't count as a swimsuit. Especially your kind of underwear. And your children are definitely too old to be running around butt naked in public. I thoroughly enjoyed watching your families spend the day at the beach doing all sorts of weird things and wanted to take pictures of you, but realized this might have seemed a little bit creepy.

Subtext: I went on a day trip down to Santa Cruz on Friday and enjoyed some sun, sand, ocean, and some pretty weird people. In addition to the beautiful view of the ocean I had from my spot in the picture below, I also watched old bearded Indian men meditate and light all sorts of funky smelling incense while chanting. All in all, I can't wait to go back to the beach again soon!

Third Generation Beatlemania

2010-09-20T13:51:00.004-06:00

"Standing There" - Andrew Buskirk

My nephew may be a bigger Beatles fan than I am.

We had a little recording session in the studio last week

when I got to watch him for the day...

I Left My Heart in San Francisco...

2010-09-16T21:56:00.007-06:00

The first time I ever visited San Francisco was on a business trip with my dad, I was eight. As always, I was traveling with my favorite stuffed animal, a Gund puppy. It won't surprise most of you to hear that I lost this stuffed animal on the trip. I was beside myself with grief and my dad decided to teach me about the song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and then told me to change "heart" to "Gund puppy" and sing the blues about my loss. Here's to some more fun times in San Fran!

Here's my and the momster in front of my new house in Palo Alto! I had braced myself for something a lot older and grosser in a neighborhood that had couches on the lawns, so I was super excited when I saw my new place!

I've had fun exploring Palo Alto's downtown, big pretty houses, and Stanford' campus. This pictures at the top of the Dish, basically Stanford's version of the Y that overlooks the whole area. L-o-v-e it.

Although I'm new, I've had fun reuniting with the couple of people out here I already know, and meeting some new friends through them too. I've found myself singing the theme song to "Full House" a few too many times in the last couple of days and hoping that maybe if I put myself in harms way, Matthew McConaughey will magically appear to save the day. I'll keep you posted!

Dear Utah,

2010-09-10T23:02:00.007-06:00

I will miss you're big, tall, snow capped mountains...

but for now I'm trading them in for some rolling golden hills!

I'm going to miss this little baby tot and her parents and grandparents a whole bunch, plus lots of long time Provo friends who decided to be lame and not follow me on this new adventure.

but I am excited to be a bit closer to this little guy and his parents, not to mention a few old friends and hopefully some new ones!

Me and Momster reached Palo Alto tonight after a day full of driving (12 hours to be exact).

A few of our life lessons from the road:

1) Brian Reagan is still as funny as ever

2) The book "Eat, Pray, Love" is complete trash

3) Reno, Nevada is complete trash.

In other road trip news... picture this: We had just driven over one of many hills, the sun begins to set, San Francisco Bay comes into view, when the radio begins to play Journey's classic "Lights" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pODfbLv2nOo&feature=related). Fate has spoken.

It's Back!!!

2010-09-08T15:57:00.003-06:00

If you've spent much time with me recently, you would know that I have fallen into a deep state of depression over the sudden disappearance of my favorite website... This Is Why You're Fat. I spent a few hours researching this anomaly and could not figure out what what had caused some sick person to take away something that had given me so many hours of pure joy! Despite efforts to heal the cracks in my heart with new websites I'd discovered such as Food Porn Daily, Cupcakes and Cashmere, or Bake-A-Rella, I was inconsolable. None of these poor excuses for food blogs could come close to the sheer joy that was the Bacon Lasagna, the Donut Hamburger, or my personal favorite... the Bacon Turtle.

Imagine my surprise today when I typed in my beloved website's address (as I routinely do) and it was back and better than ever! Eyes can't imagine the amazing(ly disgusting, gut renching, heart attack inducing) creations that the restored This is Why You're Fat contained for me. Go ahead, peruse, fall in love like I did, feel like throwing up, but then don't look away, because you can't, it's just too glorious. It's back!

Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils

2010-08-30T22:34:00.015-06:00

Today is an historic day. For the first time in 18 years, I did not have a first day of school. No first day of school outfit. No wondering what cute boys would be in my classes. No ten pages syllabus that made me break into cold sweats imagining those nights staying up til 4 am before a research paper was due. No more meeting up with friends on campus for lunch. My career as a student has finally come to an end. All day I kept thinking that maybe I could just go up to BYU anyways? Maybe grab a wrap in the Cougareat? Wander around the library? Take a nap on the grass? I was able to restrain myself today by running errands for my working-mom and planning dinner (how did I go from 0 to housewife so fast?) but I can't promise I won't be having a premature college-reunion later this week.

I thought I would share some memorable first days of school from my past.

1) 7th Grade: Every girl knows that the first day of school was the chance to wear your my stylish new outfit and show off to your friends just how much cooler you had gotten over the summer. This hairstyle reflected what I believed to be the pinnacle of cool 90's style. Behold.

Luckily my mom and brother's combined ridicule made me question myself enough to take it out and thus avoid being made fun of the entire year for my hair (I'm sure there were still plenty of other non-hair related reasons to make fun of me).

2) Freshman Year of High School: My high school, Millburn High School was nationally recognized for the terrible hazing that goes on. I was able to experience this first hand. All freshman girls had to wear a red shirt the first day of school so that the senior girls knew who to target, I like to draw a comparison to Spanish bull fighting here. We were passed out a list of rules we were to follow for the year... one of these rules was "Don't use such and such bathroom, waterfountain, row of gym lockers". Let's just say I used an off-limits bathroom on the first day of school. Big mistake. Those senior girls were mean! The movie Dazed and Confused was their inspiration, this clip should give you an idea:

Senior Mean Girls

3) Junior Year of High School: I decided that I need to do a little eyebrow grooming before the first day of school. Rather than just use tweezers or go to a salon and get them waxed... I decided I would try and wax them myself. Big Mistake. Huge. Luckily I have no pictures to show you.

Hope the rest of you had a great first day of school or had fun reminiscing like I did! In the words of You've Got Mail...

"Don't you love the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies.

I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils."

Real Life's A Trip Too

2010-08-27T01:07:00.009-06:00

I've decided it's time for me to start using this blog more often, not just as a pseudo travel journal for myself and a way for my family to make sure that I haven't been stolen by human traffickers while I'm abroad. So start checking back from time to time and hopefully I'll have some funny stories to share. Love, Jess.