little family

love these little guys:

Where to begin...

School is dragging on and on like the thing that never ends. Maybe I'm being a little dramatic but that's really how it feels to me. Luckily it is punctuated by the occasional interesting or slightly fun activity that takes my mind off how much I hate it. A couple Saturdays ago, my science ed professor had us over to her house for...are you ready?? ...SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY. Try saying that three times fast.

It was there that I did this:

THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is a ball python, and I am holding it. If you want to get technical, all those snakes were ball pythons, of different colorings. Our professor doesn't just have them for pets, she BREEDS them. How hardcore is that?

Well super science saturday did have a purpose besides having an excuse to take pictures with large snakes. We did some neat experiments and talked about teaching kids, and all that jazz that is actually relevant to my major. That was two weekends ago.

Last weekend was valentine's day...it was really boring. I painted my toenails for the occasion. Observe:


The highlight was Mitch setting up a little scavenger hunt for me, with yummy treats and a PILLOW PET at the end! haha he got me a CAT pillow pet for v-day! kind of perfect for me, actually.

Also did I mention it is the same coloring as Diego?? hahaha.

Anyway then we went out to eat at Denny's our classic. I make it sound like we really wanted to go to Denny's on our date night, but the truth of the matter is that we soon discovered (for the second year in a row) that trying to eat at any semi-decent restaurant in Provo is not realistic at all on V-day. Apparently no restaurants these days accept reservations...what the heck, right? And I worked til 7 so there was no hope of us camping outside Red Lobster's doors to save ourselves a spot in line. With all 2 million couples that there are in Provo, it was a pretty fruitless endeavor. So Denny's it was.

That was last weekend.

This weekend...
Long story short, I found out that my grandpa was in the hospital again. His kidneys had failed and it was looking pretty serious, like he may not make it. My dad even flew in from out of state to be here with the family at the hospital. Mitch, my brother and I all spent most of two days at the hospital as well. My grandpa was diagnosed with prostate cancer, along with a lot of other health issues, but the important thing is that after switching hospitals, doctors, medications, and after many many prayers, things are finally looking better. The cancer is treatable and they fixed his kidneys and he will be able to go home soon. It was a very busy and emotional weekend, but it has made me even more grateful for the knowledge that I have about where I come from, why I'm here, and where I'll go after this life. It is so comforting to have that knowledge during especially trying times with people you care about :)

senioritis times infinity

Currently I am weighing the pros and cons of not doing certain extremely stupid assignments that are due tomorrow.

Pros:
I keep my sanity.
I stick it to my idiot professor.
I wouldn't be missing out on any valuable learning.
I don't even know how to do the assignment since she doesn't explain anything...so it just makes sense not to do it if I'm just going to be making it up.

Cons:
I may or may not lose some points in the class...oh the horror.
I may get a guilt trip when I walk into class tomorrow and all my friends have sucked it up and done it.
My guilt will probably grow into a huge worry monster, which may obsessively consume my thoughts for the next few weeks about how the loss of points will affect my final grade.

Resolution?
Take 5 minutes and just do it quickly and crappily. It's going to suck, but half points are better than none.

Then I believe I will treat myself to a sweet treat (see below).

:D

Food for Thought...Literally.

Recently I subscribed to Savingdinner.com's emails, hearing that it was a helpful and yummy resource to go to for dinner ideas. So far it has been an interesting read, but no overwhelmingly good recipes or tips have stood out to me. Until today. This it the "tip of the day" that I got today:

Recent research shows what many of us knew all along: Our moods dictate what we eat. Here's a few examples. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

* If you crave tough foods, like meat, or hard and crunchy foods, you could be feeling angry.
* If you crave sugars, you could be feeling depressed.
* If you crave soft and sweet foods, like ice cream, you could be feeling anxious.
* If you crave salty foods, you could be stressed.
* If you crave bulky, fill-you-up foods, like crackers and pasta, you could be feeling lonely
* If you crave anything and everything, you could be feeling jealous.

Not everyone will be the same, but recognizing your emotional eating triggers can help you make healthy choices when emotions seem to be ruling you.

I don't know how much stock I put by this...but judging by my moods and cravings the past few weeks, I'd say it's spot on. My classes this semester are giving me so much anxiety! All I have wanted to eat for the past few days is this:

doughnuts...mm. I feel like I would enjoy them that much more if they were beautiful colors.


oh my...bread pudding. specifically, the delectable bread pudding with caramel sauce that Matt and Cristy made for Christmas dinner last month...


and oh my word, the love potion. A frappe made with cocoa beans instead of coffee beans, and strawberry syrup and whipped cream. I am drooling.


I have senioritis so bad. Like, I had it BAD in high school and I think it might be worse now. I am so stressed with some of my classes that I just give up and don't do my homework most nights, because I can't bring myself to. It doesn't help that most of my professors are extremely disorganized and in three of my classes, I never know what is due at any given time. I'm sure everyone has these problems, I'm not special. There are tons of crappy professors out there who get tenure, though it still boggles my mind how they manage to do so. But the fact that I am not the only one with these struggles makes me even more determined to do something about it. Just what...I am not sure yet. If nothing else, they have a scathing end of semester review from me to look forward to :D