twenty eleven

highlights of the year.

anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of when i almost went blind.

One year ago today, my sister, Katie, and I embarked upon a journey. One in which we got surgery on our eyes, or as the children are calling it, 'lasik'.

It actually wasn't that bad. Except for the terror, pain, going blind, wearing insect goggles, and stinging eyes for hours afterwards. It got a little better on the ride home in which I couldn't open my eyes the whole time. But we got some Starbucks caramel apple ciders which were quite nice. Ever since then it's been bliss for these eyes of mine.

This is us getting our eyes dilated before surgery. If you're wondering where we got those sunglasses so you can get a pair of your own, ask your eye doctor.

cavity plural

they're a nuisance.

if you're like me, you brush your teeth 2-3 times a day, floss 1-2 times per day, and eat a good amount of sugary food. and none of that taking care of my teeth really takes care of my teeth. that sugar somehow hides quick enough that my toothbrush bristles will never find it.

i don't like it.

cause then i have to lay there at the dentist's office with a bunch of hands in my mouth and eyes in my face, my jaw hanging open for many long moments, unable to swallow, almost gagging.

i'd prefer a bunch of food in my mouth and cool wind in my face, my jaw chewing slowly for many long moments, able to swallow, almost in heaven.

twelve twenty-five eleven

Christmas. A holiday worth celebrating.

Celebrating with your very favorite people if you can help it. But alas, sometimes you cannot help it. Sometimes your brother+wife have to go to her family's for Christmas. But, that's okay. I coped by drinking bubbly.

You know what this made me realize? When you get married, you get double the presents. Money from your own family's Santa and goodies from your spouse's family's Santa. If that's not an incentive to get married, then I don't know what is. But, since I'm not the greedy type, I think I'll wait a bit. Not that I'm like, "Shew!" to all them men. I'm just like, "Whatevs. Whenevs."

My Christmas morning started with Reeses Pieces. It ended with a book. It was filled with bubbly, games, getting sick of games, potatoes, pie, and iPod exploration. Oh, and church, which was swell. I also watched It's a Wonderful Life for my first time. It was a wonderful part of my life. But really, it was just about fine.

It was overall a day worth living.

 

final final

Tomorrow is the day.

I had five big ones this semester. The final final is chemistry, oh chemistry. As in, Oh-ganic chemistry. Just the thought of it makes my nose itch. But the thought of being done makes my belly roar. I'm hungry for the end.

I'll finally (haha get it?) be able to get in Christmas mode.

Now let me tell you what is so great about that particular mode. It's joyous!

When you're feeling joyous, you don't do crappy things like homework! You do things like drink bubbly. Or have sleepovers with your sisters. Or eat a whole roll of toll house cookie dough with them as fast as you can and maybe even hold hands.

My favorite holiday memory is when I was a young chitlin with a mushroom haircut. I was carefree with no worries but what my siblings got for Christmas that I didn't get. Well one year my sister got a remote control race car track. I wasn't jealous. I just wanted it for myself. How could I get it? I thought, I'd have to trade one of my gifts. I had a nice big teddy bear, a piano songbook, and... an orange. I showed her the orange and all the cool tricks I could do with it: throw it in the air, watch it fall back down, roll it around the floor. She thought that was stupid. So, I gave up.


I was a great example of humility that day. I gave up what I wanted for someone else's happiness. I just never thought it would be so hard.


Anyways, I'm really, really essited. Here's a Christmas video to spread the joy.

papa noel

i met santa for probably the third time in my life this weekend.

it was the most memorable of the three. cause now i'm older and wiser and more rememberable. behind that beard, he was younger than the others. i guess it's a new guy. i got to sit on his lap. but he didn't ask what i wanted for christmas, or even my name.

i guess you could say it hit a nerve.

all he did was take pictures with all the excited kids and didn't even smile. then, as if that wasn't self-righteous enough, he put all those pictures up on facebook. just to show off to all the world that santa is more popular than the rest of us. then he left without even saying goodbye, shaved, dyed his hair, and put on a christmas sweater. what is the world coming to when santa shaves and wears skinny jeans?

beardsley

Novembeard.

A great month for some men to look especially handsome.

And also a great month for more men than I ever realized could possibly look so patchy and foolish to look patchy and foolish.

I've never seen so much patchy fur as I did this Novembeard.

The thing is, a beard is supposed to be full and manly. There were way too many beard posers last month. And that is NOT full and manly.

According to a very reliable source, Wiki,

"a beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings".

Notice how it does not say, "a beard is patches of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks, and neck of human beings."

I just want to go up to one of those patch beards and say, "Hey Beardsley! What the ... is on your face?! This is Novembeard. Patchtober was last month."

Thankfully, Deshaveber came so every patch beard is no more.

thanksgivingsday

It was a very nice occasion on which my mother's whole family came over. My favorite part was when it was just me, my sibs, and the folks. We got out some bubbly, played some music, and had some fine dining. I also read a new book which I LOVED. It's called Divergent. Read it.

On Monday I was the only kid home with my parents. We wanted to try this new Indian restaurant. So we got some chicken curry there and 2 meals at Cafe Rio just in case the Indian sucked. But it didn't suck. Not to Dad and me. I enjoyed it. He devoured it.

Wanna know everything I ate during the break? I'll tell you anyway.

Chicken curry
Cafe Rio pork enchilada w/beans and rice
Cauliflower soup
Banana pie
Cookies
Turkey
jk i don't have time for this.

I've learned that the longer I stay at home, the more I don't want to come back up to Logan. Especially when you don't love your roommates. This week confirmed that knowledge once again. I didn't really relish the idea of leaving my nice, big, warm, food filled, parent occupied, clean house.  But I guess the thought that I'll be back in less than 3 weeks helps me get through that hardship.

Cheers to Thanksgiving.

p.s. I'm thankful for all those things I ate, Pillow talk with sisters, new Christmas quilt from Mom, Dad's hugs, the sight of my brother and sister-in-law after 3 months, car talk with Katie, Lindsay almost always coming to the store with me, and Carlee letting me sleep in the bed instead of on the couch. Also, bubbly.

breaking

dawn.
yep, i saw it.

and sure liked it.

some of it was a little much. but, you know. whatevs.

it's got the whole package. creepy. provocative. vampires. cheesy. weird. ugly. handsome. vomit. action. wolves. blood. baby. anorexia. pretty music. listening to minds. anger. motorcycle. bella. you know, things every good movie needs.

now i don't get what's up with all this "harry potter is so much better than twilight crap". i thought that was common sense. how do the two even relate, i ask?

you can't say harry is better than edward because they are totally different things. harry is a weird looking wizard while edward is a not-too-shabby looking vampire. 

their only similarity is that they both read minds. harry reads voldemort's mind, edward reads everyone's minds. oh, and that they both look pretty untasteful when shirtless.

but those are minor details.

if you really want to say that harry potter is better, twilight would have to be more similar.

such as,

edward loves bella, who is a muggle. edward was muggle born, also considered a mudblood (bad word) but found out at age 17 (a little late, seeing as he should have been graduating hogwarts at that time) that he had special vampire powers. volturimort didn't like edward because when he killed edwards mother, the curse backfired and made him into a vampire. so volturimort when on a rampage to kill edward. so edward hid in bella's room under his invisibility cloak while she slept. he wanted her muggle blood.

anyway, you get my drift.

so twilight haters, back off.

someone like you

good.

parachute

I just saw these guys for the first time ever.

And daaaaaaannnnnngggggg.

They were freaking good.

Also, nice to look at.

At this particular concert, there were a bunch of drunk girls yelling stupid things and embarrassing themselves.

Also, a girl got cheesed at me for pushing her. If people would just learn that when you're in a crowd of a billion people at a concert, you'll probably get touched and pushed around, then things would just be a lot more chipper.

These are my two favorite songs from Parachute's new album.



The second one is one of those songs that gives me chills. And the end of the first one.
Now that's rare.

let's go

My current favs.

Yes, I am turning into a rap girl, a little bit. Don't hate.

It's partly cause I've been in the mood to dance party for weeks. 

My Fiesta started this urge.

Plus when I walk on campus and listen to 'I Can Transform Ya' I have an extra bounce in my step.

I'm branching out in other ways, too. Weird music like Regina Spektor's type is becoming more appealing to me. What the?

I dare you to sample them all.

peter

Remember Peter? From the Sean Kingston concert?

I do.

Sometimes I see him on campus.

Every time I see him there's always a surprise in store. You really never know what he'll be dressed as.

The other day I sat down at a computer in the computer lab between two boys. I looked over and there was Peter! He was sporting a hat like this and some longer scraggly hair. It made my day. Then he stood up and made my week. He was wearing black hooker boots. None of that silver crap he used to wear. He is moving up in the world with black. Pants tucked in and all. I only took a mental picture, which I haven't yet figured out how to copy and paste to the interwebs.

He is one of my favorite people. And he doesn't even know it. He also doesn't even know that I'm making him famous right now.

viva la fiesta

It was Friday night last. The air was chilled and the sky was dark as night, because it was night. A little white girl decided to throw a Mexican Fiesta. She spread bean dip all over the kitchen table (separated by plastic wrap), and borrowed speakers the size of a small fridge. The mood was set with a black light and blaring music.

Slowly, people trickled in. And the party began.

People were bumping and grinding and dancing like chitlins.

It was the dance party of a lifetime.

Things got interesting.

  

Very interesting.

We danced to Mexican songs like I Can Transform Ya, Party Rock Anthem, and Say Ahh.

Basically, it was an excellente fiesta.

Fact: You can never trust a fake Mexican.

Fact: You can always trust a Luchador.

momma

If you don't know my mom, chances are you don't know what cool is. No offense.
It's just that I googled the definition of 'cool' and these are the results:

cool/ko͞ol/

Adjective: Fashionably attractive or impressive.

   - I always wore sunglasses to look cool.

   - Bonnie is cool.

Noun: The quality of being like Bonnie.

So you can see that I'm not making this up.

So since probably some of you don't know what that definition means, I'll tell you.

There's a lot of fun things you can do when you have a cool mom. Like crafts, eating out, chatting, making rolls or other goodies, eating delicious mom-made food, being punny, going boating, laughing, grocery shopping, and making sure your bed is made.

I've learned some valuable lessons from Mom.

One thing is that when you're boating and you're about to jump into the cold water, it suddenly becomes a 'hot summer day'.

Another thing is that you better go potty before you leave the house. And also make sure everyone else does.

I also learned from Mother that 'smack' is the new 'snap'.  One time Mom, a sister or two, and myself were making some food. It turned out perfect and Mom said, "SMACK!" Kinda like how people would say, "Snap!"

Sometimes she can be a little sarcastic...
Lindsay told me the story of she and mom going to Costco. Lindsay got out of the car and started walking while Mom just sat in the car.  Lindsay went back and said, "Mom, are you comin?"  Mom said, "No, I'm just going to sit here while you go in."

She called me gothic when I dyed my hair black... even though I wore yellow and other brightly colored shirts.

Back when I took guitar lessons from Jon Dansie and described him to her she asked, "Why do old musicians always have Jesus haircuts?!" If only I knew.

I like her.

boat 'n go

Boating is probably in my list of 'Top 1 Favorite Thing To Do', as you can probably tell by the looks of this picture coming up. Unfortunately, it's over till next year. Which means this winter's gonna be a cold one. Cold in my heart.     

This was on a 'hot summer day' when we were getting ready to tube. You may laugh, but goggles do offer a certain kind of freedom, if you will, while tubing. 

 

I've learned a few things this year while boating. I mean, I was out 9 or 10 times this summer, so I think I know my stuff by know, thanks. 

1. No matter what the temperature, it's always a 'hot summer day' to Mom. Or so she tells us so we'll get our butts in the water. 

2. The Banana Boat can be vicious. Cuts and bruises are often given.

3. When your goggles break, it sucks.

4. Don't trust your friends. Pretty much every bit of damage that has happened to the boat or toys on the boat are because of friends. (Don't take it personally, they weren't my friends).

5. Boating makes you tan for 1 day afterwards.

6. If you biff it, it better be with style. Like so.

7. A good photographer is vital.

8. If the water is choppy, or 'chop chop', then you're gonna suck out there.

9. If you swallow a gulp of water in Utah Lake, you've probably got your leafy greens for the day.

10. If you want Dad to run off the boat or climb the tower and jump, just play 'Fly Like An Eagle'. And he'll fly, oh, he'll fly.

porcupine.

Sometimes when you have cool friends you do cool things.

Sometimes when you have stupid friends you do stupid things.

Kinda like that one time last week when I went with my friends to Porcupine Dam out yonder in Who-ville and jumped off a 50 foot cliff, chipping my pride and joy... my front tooth.

It all started when my cool friends and I swam across the dam with arm floaties like little children in a bath tub.

Took me about 5 minutes to scrape up the courage to jump off the lowest jump; lower than a high dive, mind you.

From there, there was no stopping me I guess.

This is where the stupid friends come in.

I kept going higher and higher, each time taking me a few minutes and a few almost-jumps to jump.

Then. My friend said, "Em! Come up here, to the 50 foot cliff and jump off and almost die! It's fun!"

And I said, "Well, I'll have a look."

But of course, once I was up there I couldn't just walk back down like a fool. So, I jumped down. Like stupid.

While I was flailing in the air for 3 seconds I thought to myself, "WHOA!"

It. was. high.

I landed gracefully. But not totally, because I chipped my tooth on my other tooth.

I thought my world was over. If I had to choose my favorite body part, it would be the teeth that God, my parents, and Dr. McDonough gave me.

Now I have another soul to thank for them. Dr. Sundberg. He fixed it right up and I guess they're as good as new.

So, next time you're cliff jumping with your friends, keep it cool, not stupid.

coordinated.

If I had one word to describe my dad, that would probably be it.

After my one post about my dad's 'coordination' we decided to prove to everyone that he really is coordinated. So here's your proof:

Check that man out. Now that's legit.

Not only is he coordinated, but he wakeboards in style. I mean check out that form.

So if you had any doubts before, I hope these pictures set you straight.

rich.

If I had the funds, y'know what I'd get?

1 DSLR Camera
2 Trip to England (& everywhere)
3 Recording stuff
4 Guitar Pedal
5 Mandolin

But, the thing is, I don't.

If I had the choice, I would just play my
guitar (and other instruments), travel, and take pictures for the rest of my life.

I would like that.

So I guess I gotta get rich now.

wake.

I can board on one now. I guess I'm moving up in the world.

I used to water ski. Cause I liked it.

I tried getting up on the wakeboard last year. Y'know, when we had no tower and I had no motivation. Two very important components to a successful boarding experience. I couldn't do it. Instead I just wanted to ski cause I knew I could.

But this year I decided I really wanted to wakeboard. That was one of my goals for the year. And I done it. Wassssssuuuppppppp.

But hold up, near the beginning, my commitment issues started getting in the way. For a while, I couldn't make up my mind if I want to go regular or goofy. I started it out with goofy, but after a while, something changed and I started poppin up reg.

But I quickly overcame those issues and I'm keepin it goofy.

I've been trying to get air and do 180's mostly.

I kinda love this sport.

creep.

have you ever run in to someone that you met once long ago for like a second and so you both just pretend that you've never seen each other cause you don't wanna be creepy and then you relearn their name and their major and friends you might have in common? and even sometimes listen to stories you've already heard before?

i haven't. and i hate it when people do that. they're willing to look retarded in exchange for not looking 'creepy'. bless their creepy little hearts.

in my experience, it always goes like this:
the other person pretends they don't know me or that they vaguely remember meeting me but don't know where or how or why. but me, i'm not afraid to say,

"oh hey, i remember you. we met like 4 months ago because my friends wanda and sassy had a movie night and we talked for like a min and oh.. you're majoring in asian studies. right? right. i totally remember! and you like it but you don't really know what you'll do with it except live with some asians. oh and you were dating that one girl! are you still together? oh and i remember how you told me that one story about how one time you were in class and someone said that one thing and everybody laughed! haha that was a funny story... you really don't remember me?!"

creepy?

charming.

Yesterday, a few of my pals and I went hot tubbing. My friend Kraig's little ginger brother, Eric, is quite the charmer. He gets it from Kraig, no doubt. Well, he has a long protruding hair very near his nipple. And he was showing it off. Well, the hot tub was full of people, and after bucking up some courage Eric went over to an unknown girl in a modest swimming suit and said, "I noticed you've been checking out my nipple. Wanna touch it?" She respectfully declined.

pops

I have the best one in the world.
AKA Father, Dad, Daddy, Pappy, Daddio, and probably some more.
He's bald, he's buff, and he looks really good with scruff.
D'you wanna know why he is so cool?

Cuz.

He's classy.

He's coordinated.

He's romantic.

And then some.

He's the coolest.

One time while playing Scrabble he tried to put "Hogfat".

One time in high school when I was taking the class of death, Chemistry, I was on what Mom and Dad called "Mandatory Study Time" because of crappy grades. Dad was helping me with chemistry because that's his forte. I was frustrated and mad when I came across an element, Selenium. Dad said, "It's Selenium Dion!" Humor like this is what got me through those nights. And I've never thought of Chemistry, or Celine Dion, the same since.

I went home for the weekend a few months ago and I needed to tell Mom and Dad about my Dietetics program since I had just gotten in. There's a really expensive internship I have to do and it's a year long after I graduate. So I started to tell them about it.
Me: "Dad, I have some kind of bad news..."
Dad: "What? Are you pregnant?!"

I love my dad.

Oh. Btw, I'm not pregnant.

whistle

Allergy season is here. And with it comes something that I've never had a huge problem with before.

I'm whistling all the time.

I can't fall asleep because of it. I try to stop, but I just can't help it. I wake up in the middle of the night whistling and it takes me ages to fall back asleep. I just can't stop.
Don't you just love a stuffy nose?

number 4

Last week I got my 4th cruise out of the way. My fam went on the Freedom of the Seas for a week. It was an excellent ship. Complete with a rock wall, Flowrider, and ice skating rink.

We left for our voyage Saturday night (May 14) at 11:00. Our flight left around 1 am. When we landed in Atlanta for our connection to Orlando, I felt like death. It was 5 am Utah time and I hadn't slept all night and I was on an airplane. Blerg. But it ended up being quite worth it as we got on the ship that afternoon at Port Canaveral. It was the biggest ship in the dock. We ate at the buffet, took naps in our staterooms, ate a fancy dinner, and Lindsay and I checked out the hot tubs.

Monday was when the real fun began. The Flowrider was running that morning. I needed help getting out, as I'd never done it before and it is a pretty hard task. I did pretty well for a while. But I kept turning and falling. I did a 180 though. Unintentionally, but still.

Don't worry, though. By the 3rd day I was pushing myself out. And by the last day I was going out from the top... which is fairly difficult. Lindsay and I were the only girls that did it. But still don't worry. All my sisters were the only girls that went pretty much everyday. Other girls would try once or twice then ditch. But no, us Jenkins girls were determined to succeed. And that's what we did.

We also did some rock climbing. It was fun. And really high.

Tuesday we hit our first port: Labadee, Haiti. This is the ships private beach, so we just laid out and swam.

Wednesday we hit Jamaica. We got a driver, Conrad, who took us to Dunns River Falls. We climbed the water fall twice. I did this with Lindsay, Mom, and Dad a few years ago and we loved it so much we had to do it again with the whole fam!

Thursday was Grand Cayman. That's where we swam with some stingrays.

Friday we went to Cozumel, Mexico. We snorkeled there.

Every night we had dinner at this fancy restaurant. Honestly, it wasn't that good. But it was still really fun. They also had a little pizza place that I went to pretty much every day. It was waaay good. And on one of the last nights, Lindsay and I went to the buffet and found that they had some Indian food!

Saturday was another ship day. Flowrider, napping, and food was pretty much what my day consisted of. It was super fun.

Moral of the story: Best cruise ever. I'm already cruise sick.

utah?

Sometimes you go on a cruise where there is an extremely handsome British male crew member who has a really nice accent and works at the Flowrider where you go every day on that cruise. And sometimes said hot British man helps you get on the rider since you've never done it before. And sometimes you think about that man, "What would it be like to be that good looking?"

And then you wonder,
"Why do I live in Utah?"

mr kingston

Also known as Sean.

He is a black majesty.

I would know. I saw him Friday night free of charge at my school. Well, unless you count the thousands spent on tuition. If you do, then this was the most expensive concert I've ever been to.

The action started at 3:00 with locals bands playing till 8:00. The Fictionist and Allred were the highlights of that portion.





Another highlight was a gay cross dresser dancing seductively. His name was Peter. And still is.
Well, I was dared to ask to get a picture with Peter. And in return I would receive $4.50. So I went up to him and said, "Can I get a picture with you? You dance so majestically." And in as gay of a voice as he could muster, he said, "Sure."



Oh, and everyone stared as we posed.

At 8 o'clock it was time for Black Majesty to perform. But his DJ decided to take the spotlight for like 20 minutes before Sean came out.
Finally the moment came. But his performance was kind of lame cause he just sang along to his recorded songs. This is why rock concerts are so much better.

Three best things about Sean:

1. How incredibly big he is.
2. That he actually wore bling. (Huge diamond necklace and a diamond watch).
3. His Jamaican accent.

Three worst things about Sean:

1. He's pretty cocky for a fat guy.
2. He doesn't care about his fans. He just likes his fame and moneyz.
3. His best songs are Duets, which he obviously couldn't do alone.

I didn't get any pictures of him because I didn't bring my camera. Dang. I was in the middle of the crowd where there is no room for cameras. There was hardly even room for me!

Well, I'm feeling like I'm letting go.
Peace.

dietetics

I got into my program!
I almost didn't apply because they scared me (and a bunch of other girls) and made us think we wouldn't get in. But it turns out only so many people were even qualified and I was one of them!
So my program starts in the fall. I go for 2 more years (ugh) then up to a year long internship. Anywhere in the country. That I'm excited for.
It sucks that it's going to take longer than I want, but I really love it so it'll be worth it!

wakey!wakey!

I was recently introduced to this band. And I love them.

beastly meets sixth sense

Last night, Lizzie and I went to see Beastly.
But first, we went to Olive Garden.
It was snowing for the 3rd day straight and I was wearing moccasins.
They were soaked in about 5 seconds.
Our waitress was extremely awkward.
She just stood there silently as she thought of something to say.
But atleast the food was good.

After Olive Garden we went to the 3 Dollar Theater and saw Beastly.
It was really good.
Total chick flick. There were about 3 men there.



Go see it.



After the movie we went to Village Inn for pie.
It wasn't the best.
But still fun.
We came home and decided to watch Sleepover. Classic.

That night after we went to bed, I found out that I have a sixth sense.
I was sound asleep.
I had a dream that a spider was falling down from the ceiling on it's web stuff.
It was almost to my face, so I jumped out of bed and screamed.
I turned on the light and realized it had just been a dream and there was no spider.
But wait, there was a spider on the side of my bed!
And it was kinda huge.
Ten seconds later it was dead on the bottom of Lizzie's shoe.
It was crazy.

talent show

My ward talent show was last week.
Lizzie and I played 'The Best Of Me' by The Starting Line.
And here it is:

colors

This weekend rocked.
It all started on Friday. Lizzie and I ventured down in my car to Shaunzi's house in Pleasant Grove. We had a few pit stops on the way. First, we got some baked beans and onion chips at Joe Morley's BBQ. Best food ever. Then we went to my house and got my shoes that I left. We also got to see the new tower on the boat. Awww yeah, it's freaking sweet!
When we got to Shaunzi's, we (Matt, Shaunzi, Emily L, Brooke, Audri, Andrew, and Jason) feasted on her mom's homemade Cafe Rio salads. Deeelightful. Then we played games and went hottubbing. It was steamy.





The next morning we had another feast, compliments of Shaunzi's mother again. Then we took off for Salem, where the Festival of Colors was to be held. It's at an Indian Temple, which made me really excited. And made me REALLY miss India. The chalk throwing began. We all got covered. It was awesome! On our way walking back to the car, I got roughly 35 high fives from random hoodlums.


me, jason, brooke, andrew, lizzie, emily, shaunzi

Anyway, I would totally recommend going.