Hey Jenny!

         So we had a "surprise" birthday party for our Jenny the other day. For our decorations, we wrote down awesome pick-up lines addressed to her and put them on the walls around our apartment.

And my very favorite...

Bahahahaha!!

Something fishy

         Tyler and I went fishing in the Provo River this weekend? Can you guess the last time I went fishing? I was probably ten years old. I told Tyler I would only go if we threw the fish back...but of course I made him do it.

        We'd been fishing for about 30 or 40 minutes when I finally caught this bad boy. 

        To be honest, part of me was secretly hoping I wouldn't catch anything at all. Did I mention I'm terrified of fish? I don't like being in the same water as them, I don't like them nibbling at my legs and feet, I don't like the way they small or taste, and I definitely don't like how fish squirm on the hook when I'm holding it up next to my face for a picture. But life is about facing our fears, right? Did you even notice the fear in my eyes in the above picture? Or did I hide it that well?? 

        Tyler caught a fish right after I did. He's not afraid of anything. That's why we're friends.

Great roommates think alike!

        There were some companions I had on my mission where, after a few weeks of being always together, we started to pick up each other's style. With certain companions (namely, Jami :)), we would often end up in the exact same color combination for a day. Maybe it was pure coincidence part of the time, but more often than not I think it was subconscious imitation. One of us would see the other's outfit and would register that it looked dang good, and then be automatically drawn to those same colors in our own closet!

        Well, a few days ago the exact same thing happened with my roommates. I'll proudly admit that I was the first one to get ready for the day, and received compliments from my roommates on the bold color combination. Funny enough, when I met up with Jenny later in the day to get my lunch from her I thought her outfit seemed really familiar. It didn't register until a few minutes later when I realized we were wearing the exact same colors--purple and yellow! Definitely not a coincidence! I mean, who wears those colors together, really?

        Funny enough, when we got home, Averill was wearing the same shade of purple. So we took this picture:

        We didn't get another picture, but it turns out Rachel had worn a purple shirt to work that same day. Haha, we are so cool!

Two black eyes

Averill got home from her date tonight and was raving about how much fun it was. She was horrified when she looked in the mirror and saw mascara under her eyes!

Bahaha! We laughed about it :)

Why we have guys around

Last night at 9:45 I battled with this guy...

...and I lost miserably. All I wanted was to make a pb & j for my lunch, but even as I exerted all of my strength--over and over again--I could not pop the lid off. Jenny gave it a shot next and I genuinely thought she might have the right finishing touch after I had loosened it up, but she couldn't get it to budge either.

"That's why we need guys around!" Averill said.

Aha! Fortunately where we live, we have a wide selection of guys right across the sidewalk from us. So feeling slightly like the damsel in distress, I took my jam to our neighbors, and when Chris answered I asked shamelessly, "Chris, as co-chair of the service council, can you please open this jar for me?"

"Ooo," he said, feeling the pressure, I could tell. "I'll give it a try." Then, with much less effort than me, he twisted the lid right off and handed the jar of jam back to me.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed and began to turn back toward my apartment.

"Wait," he paused, a little confused. "Is that really all you needed?"

"Yep!"

When I walked back into our apartment I found Averill sitting at the table and told her, "We have some manly men across the sidewalk!"

What would we do without them?

Athletic Me

       Yay!! A guest blogger! Feel free to follow suite anyone who wants to...

       My name is Desirae and I hate moving.

        

        Let’s get a bit more specific: I hate running, jogging, hiking, and most conventional forms of exercise. That being said, I feel the need to mention what moving I do like, lest you consider me to be a recluse who lies in bed all day. I do enjoy walking (not too quickly, though), dancing, swimming, yoga-ing, and stretching. ­Most forms of exercise and movement are simply tolerated in my life either to keep myself fit or to be socially acceptable. 

        Today I found myself wanting to ride a motorcycle. That’s a problem primarily because I do not have a motorcycle. Somehow in my super-elite-logical mind I decided that riding a bicycle is like riding a motorcycle. I went to my closet and chose a cute exercise outfit, selected a helmet to match (since I couldn’t remember which was mine). I pumped up my tires and put on my not-so-stylish-but-oh-so-athletic sunglasses. After ensuring that I looked athletic and like I knew what I was doing, I put in my headphones and started up my new playlist, which I named “iBike,” because I’m just that athletic. I hopped on my awesome mountain bike only to sheepishly return after doing a circle in our street; my seat was too low. If anything that should have reminded me how long it had been since I had been out on my bike, which would further remind me that I do not like biking, but my mind was still misfiring… apparently. Having adjusted my seat and reassuring myself that I was the embodiment of athleticism, I jumped back on my bike and took off. Here’s a chronological progression of my thoughts:

        -       Ya, I’m so athletic!
        -       Biking isn’t as easy as I imagined…
        -       This is nothing like riding a motorcycle…
        -       This is the worst idea I have ever had.
        -       I wonder how I could attach a motor to this stupid thing…

        I’m not sure how far I rode, but I listened to nearly an hour and fifteen minutes worth of music. About two blocks away from my house I decided I needed a break to catch my breath, let my legs rest, and try to maintain my athletic image by drinking out of my legit water bottle. Mid-break I was struck with the realization that if I didn’t sit down or start biking I was going to vomit on some nice person’s lawn. I quickly began biking and made it to the stoplight one block away from my house. I pushed the crosswalk button, but before the light changed my body quickly reminded me that if I didn’t start riding or sit down I was not only going to vomit, but I would probably pass out too! That was a nice thought. Weighing my options, I realized that I needed to sit down since the light wasn’t going to change in time. 

        I set my bike on the grass and sat down leaning my back on the stoplight pole. I remember thinking to myself, “I probably still look athletic.” As I was reassuring myself of this, though, a car pulled up and a woman jumped out and ran to me asking if I was okay. She thought I had wrecked and was in extreme medical need, or something like that. Just like that my athletic image was shattered. After explaining to her that I was fine and just resting, I picked my bike back up and made the block-long ride home only to collapse on my lawn and vow to never be so stupid again.

What ya got cookin'?

        My roommates and I love each other so much, we take turns cooking for each other, eat dinner together as a little roommate family, and even clean up the kitchen together. Since we started doing this, I really feel more prepared to take on these domestic responsibilities as a future wife and mother!

        When I came downstairs earlier today to see if Rachel wanted any help with cooking, I saw this:

        Well, except minus the zucchini, since that wasn't added yet. Basically, I just saw two groups of orange, and I knew one of them was carrots, but I couldn't quite figure out the other one. I swear it looked like peaches, but who the heck fries peaches?

        "Hey Rach, is this..."

        I really wanted to get this right. Somehow I would fail if I didn't.

        "Ummm..."

        While my mind was busy deciding whether it was plausible that this orange fruit was, indeed, peaches (that could be really good! Maybe?),

        "Oohh, it's a..." I was about to get it! It was on the tip of my tongue!

        I noticed a cantaloupe on the counter.

        "Oh, it's a cantaloupe!"

        Rachel looked at me like Carly looks at Bella when Bella thinks the grass is blue.

        It wasn't cantaloupe. It was squash. Go figure : /