a snow hating haiku

I really hate snow
You can't wear any cute shoes
Ruining my life

It's the final countdown...

In the wee, small hours of the morning, on the last day of my first semester of grad school, the only thing getting me through to that midnight deadline for this paper is thinking of all the stuff I'm going to do over Christmas break!! Here's a rough list.

1. SLEEP
2. hopefully watch marathons of stupid shows (i.e. Kardashians, Jon and Kate, What Not to Wear)
3. shop with my friend Anesha who will be visiting
4. work (just a little at my dad's office)
5. bake cookies
6. go out to eat/eat my mom's cooking
7. work out
8. visit with old friends
9. read (for pleasure...please send book recommendations!!)
10. go to the movies
11. hang out with my family
12. blog (ha!)
13. get warm (hopefully...stupid vegas snow)

Yes, it will be a good break. For now, the thought of it will have to do.

The end of the semester has been pretty stressful. In the course of transplanting everything I've learned in the past three months onto paper in coherent sentences, I may or may not have consumed the following items:

5 tear and share size bags M&M's
6 vending machine size bags of pretzels
1 entire bag of tostitos and 1 entire jar of queso dip
innumerable amounts of diet coke
5 diet rock stars
3 vending machine size bags of cheddar harvest sun chips
4 vending machine size bags of chips ahoy cookies
6 100 cal bags of popcorn
4 cookies brought by our neighbors
6 regular size bags of peanut M&M's
1 package of HoHo's
2 chocolate iced donuts from 7-11
1 apple coffee cake from borders

Part of this had to do with the fact that I lived out of a vending machine for days while working on analyzing data and stuff. Yeah, pretty disgusting. Unfortunately I will be atoning for these sins while on break, and therefore won't be able to partake in a lot of the good food. So, please, if you see me with a cookie in my hand, you have permission to say, "Fatty, put down the food."

In defense of the gold digger

I have had some interesting conversations with members of the opposite sex while here in Provo. During these conversations various aspects of dating have been discussed. On one occasion I was told that guys my age (26) like to date the 19-20 year olds. Not only that, but they don't want to date girls my age. The reason? Girls my age have expectations and have had experiences. It seems that guys want to date someone who will not expect that they have a plan for their life, or a plan for how they will provide for a family. They don't want to date someone who may have more education then them or who has had more life experiences than them. Another conversation informed me that all a girl needs to be is "hot and sweet." Kinda like wings?



I've been told I have "so much going for me." But come to find out, that might not be a good thing. All I really need to do is work on my abs, maybe dumb it down a bit, and apparently that will make me every guys dream. What the crap am I doing in grad school?



It has also come to my attention that guys don't like it when girls have expectations regarding their income or chosen career path. They think that girls who do are gold diggers. I find this interesting given the above conversations. Guys want a hot girl. I don't have a problem with that. I guess I have a problem with the hypocrisy. If at the top of a guy's list is looks, then how can he have a problem with a girl wanting a successful guy? Both are fairly temporal, no?



I have a problem with being labeled a gold digger just because I am trying to find a good provider for my future family. I'm not really sure why a guy would resent a girl who was trying to find that. In my estimation, a real man would take pride in providing for a family, or in developing the skills that will allow him to do that. I'm not trying to sound down on dating or on guys, and even though I have had some horrible dates, I'm not jaded toward the process. But I'm starting to accept that fact that the marriage thing might not happen for me.

An open letter to the jerks at Golds Gym

Dear 9th East Gold's Gym Members,

Are you completely and totally oblivious to the huge dumbbells you just left on the floor, or are waiting for your mom to come pick up after you? If I trip on a 55lb weight one more time I'm going to develop some super human strength, turn green Hulk style, and hurl the weight at your head. Just giving you fair notice.

Best,
Holly

Do you wanna hang out?

So I went on a date with a guy a while ago and didn't hear from him. I thought he was cool, so I was a little disappointed. Today out of the blue he calls. "Do you have plans tonight?" he asks.

"Actually I do," I say, "I'm going with a group to make tin foil dinners, plus I have homework and the gym at some point."

"Do you want to ditch?" he asks. No not really, I think.

"Well," I say, "They already paid for my food and are planning on me being there. And I can't really ditch homework. Why what do you have in mind?" I say this thinking that if he wants me to ditch my friends, who I really enjoy hanging out with and I'm not inclined to flake out on, that he must have a really cool date planned. Drum roll please.....

"Well I was just thinking maybe you could come over and we could hang out," he says.

Really. Hang out? You are 33 and "hang out" is the best you can come up with? You want me to ditch a fun activity to hang out??!! I know I sound like a brat, but everyone knows that when a guy asks you to hang out he really means come over and make out. He's taken me on one date, haven't spoken to him for days and I'm supposed to ditch the friends for what? Some mediocre make out sesh with a guy I couldn't possibly know I like? If you want the pleasure of my company, I need incentive, or least a little notice. Like call me the day before (at least) and say "Hey, do you want to ________" (insert fun activity or good restaurant name here).

I guess I'm just not the hang out kind of girl.

Tagged again!

I got tagged by my cousin Emily forever ago, so I better post something. I'm supposed to write six random facts about my self.



Random fact #1- I went to George Cloony's birthday party. George Cloony has a house in Green Valley, close to where I live. My good friend Heather and I went out dancing at a club in the Green Valley Ranch Casino. We were just sitting on a bench talking and a girl came up and asked us if we wanted to go into the VIP room. We said "sure!" We walk in and there was Jeremy Piven, Jeffery Tamboor, Seth Green, some other random celebrities and in the middle of it all was George Cloony making out with some random hot girl. He proceeded to make out with like 5 others while we were there. Pretty random! While living Vegas I have also danced next to Kevin Federline, Jessica Simpson, Kenny G. (seriously), the whole Sixers and Lakers basketball teams, and Paris Hilton, eaten dinner next to Andre Agassi and George Maloof, and shopped next to Beyonce and JayZ.



Random Fact #2- I have always wanted to own a bakery. I love, love, love to bake. But I hate getting up early, and you usually have to if you own a bakery. But my sister gave me the best idea to have a bakery that is geared toward late night studying college kids, open from 3pm-3am. I think it's perfect. If the economy is ever good again and I can get a loan I will do it.



Random Fact #3- I love beauty products. I can spend hours in Sephora. I especially love samples of beauty products. I love it when I buy a new product and try it for the first time. It's like Christmas morning to me. I know, it's weird.



Random Fact #4- I love Dr. Laura. If you haven't heard of her, look it up. Lots of people think she is harsh and mean for the sake of entertainment. I think her straight forward and pragmatic take on life is what is missing in the world.



Random Fact #5- I have a small fridge in my room where I keep my diet coke, and a basket where I keep my hundred calorie packs so no one will touch them.

Random Fact #6- I have some weird food issues. I hate mushy things...canned fruit and veggies, the fruit at the bottom of yogurt, bread that gets soggy on a sandwich , overcooked pasta. I also have a weird thing about temperature. I won't eat cold pizza or cold Chinese leftovers. Never have been sure how that is appetizing. I also thing that tuna fish should never be warm (like a tuna melt), and especially never mixed with thing like mac and cheese (that's for you Michael if you're reading). Fish like salmon should never be cold i.e. lox, or smoked salmon.

busy, busy

I have been a busy girl with no time to post. Between school and socializing I barely have time to shower! Last weekend a group of us went to see an 80's band in Salt Lake. They dress up like Revenge of the Nerds and cover tons of 80's songs. Jayson was the only guy...I think he felt like a pimp. Ha ha! The picture below is Me, Jayson, Erikka and Kallie.
This is the four of us girls: Me, Erikka, Kallie and Lindsay. They are so nice! The first ward activity we had they invited me to come hang out and play games at their apartment. The rest is history!

A couple weekends ago Heather (my old roommate who just moved out. Boo!) and her friend Jillian went to Park City to shop at the outlets. It was super cold and rainy, but we didn't care because we found amazing deals. Heather got a purse at the Coach outlet, I got a way cute dress at J. Crew and a denim pencil skirt at GAP and Jillian got some sweaters at Banana Republic. Then we stopped at Chili's for some much needed sustenance after a long day of shopping.

Jillian and Heather

Every Tuesday a group in our ward gets together to do something: a movie, games, etc. Last week it was Karaoke. The song list wasn't great. Usually I do Britney Spears, but that wasn't available. After scouring the list for a good song I saw Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. I thought, "I know that song. I've heard it a hundred times." Turns out I only know the chorus. And the key it was in was way too low for me. All in all it was a disaster. Regardless we had a good time!

Below: Me, Jared, Kallie and Jayson at Karaoke

This past week I decided to have a party to get excited about Fall. I made homemade soup and corn muffins, sugar cookies, caramel apples, and pumpkin trifle. Lots of people came and it was way fun! I think I found a new hobby: party hostess! I learned it all from my mom who has mad skills.

My roommate took pictures of me while I was baking.

This is my roommate Sarah and my friend Anesha. Anesha is in grad school with me at BYU. Both of these girls make me laugh everyday!

Me and Anesha

These are all people in my ward (left to right):Kristin, Jared, Lindsay, Kimber, Andrew. They were all watching the BYU game and were all depressed when BYU got spanked by TCU. Luckily, I don't care about sports!

This is the table that is kind of set up. Almost everything you see on the table was totally devoured. All the rolls, all the soup, tons of cookies, and even almost the whole veggie tray! College kids can put down some food.

More people from my ward: Ashley, Kyle, and Daniel

On Sunday, I posted video of me singing, but didn't write anything about it. I'm singing for a ward talent show. I had the words in my hand because I agreed to sing on Saturday and then had to perform Monday. On Monday, my power got turned because of a miscommunication with my roommate who moved out. So, I couldn't shower or do my hair or anything. Luckily Kallie, Lindsay and Erikka let me come over and use their bathroom. Thanks girls!

I've been tagged...not the graffiti kind

8 Favorite TV Shows...
1. So You Think You Can Dance
2. American Idol
3. The Soup
4. Grey’s Anatomy
5. Gilmore Girls (It’s only reruns, but I never get tired of it)
6. The Office
7. The Hills
8. Burn Notice

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Carrabba’s
2. PF Changs (or its cheaper counter part, Pei Wei)
3. Port of Subs (I miss you!)
4. Café Rio
5. Evos (I miss you!)
6. Mon Ami Gabi
7. Panera (I miss you!)
8. Cosi (I'm jealous that you have it there in MI)

8 things that happened yesterday (Tuesday)...
1. I went to class
2. I went to a study group
3. I watched the news
4. I posted a blog
5. I talked to my roommates
6. I went to karaoke (sang Sweet Caroline..it was a disaster. Turns out I only know the chorus.)
7. I did ALOT of homework
8. I went to the Crest

8 things to look forward to...
1. Finishing this awesome research project I'm doing
2. A good date
3. My Fall Fest I'm having next Friday
4. Going home for Thanksgiving and seeing my family
5. Christmas
6. Getting through my first semester of grad school
7. The election
8. Losing the last five pounds!

8 things I love about Fall...
1. Fall candles
2. Crisp air
3. Leaves changing
4. Scarves
5. Jackets
6. The smell in the air
7. Thanksgiving
8. Pumpkin desserts

8 things on my wishlist...
1. To see my family
2. Graduate from grad school
3. Visit my sister in MI
4. Pay off my student loans (one day)
5. Take an awesome trip- a cruise, New York City, something like that!
6. My landlord will let us throw away the ugly furniture that's here
7. That I will find something cool to do this summer
8. Overpriced Coach snow boots (I wish my sister could have them too!)


How To Play This Game of Tag:
1. Post these rules on your blog2. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names

3 Joys:
1. School/learning
2. My family
3. meeting new friends, keeping in touch with old friends

3 Fears:
1. The economy right now
2. Not graduating
3. A member of my family dying

3 Goals:
1. To get to the gym 5 times a week
2. Figure out how to live on less
3. manage my time better (hmmmm...)

3 Current Obsessions:
1. Blogging
2. Researching
3. Fox News

3 Random Facts:
1. I am a major night owl. I like to sleep from 2am to 10am.
2. I love samples of beauty products, or small kits with travel size products. I don't know why.
3. Before I go to sleep I check to make sure there are no spiders hiding in my bed.

Now Tag 3 people:1. Becky Evans 2. Celeste Bosch 3. Emily Draper

Of texting and talking

I'm curious to know what others think about this topic, so please comment if you have input!

I am old enough that that I can remember the advent of texting. I was slow to catch onto the craze. What was this texting business all about? It seemed to take an awfully long time to say very little information, you had to learn all these stupid abbreviations and you can't do it and safely drive. Finally, though, I learned to text and now do it on a regular basis. However, I still prefer to talk on the phone, especially to the person I'm dating.

The problems with texting the person you are dating are numerous. I'm a sarcastic person, but sarcasm doesn't translate well over text. Nor do any jokes, really. For instance, the current potential boyfriend loves to text. He texts me all the time, in fact, and tries to joke. I went back to Vegas last weekend and on Monday he sends a text "Are you happy or sad to be back in the 'tah? :) Do you miss vegas? :(" Back in the 'tah? What is that? It sounds ridiculous, but maybe delivered on the phone, with the right inflection, could have been mildly funny.

Another annoyance is excessive use of emoticons (smiley faces). Especially when guys use them all the time, I have to question their masculinity. PB (potential boyfriend) uses smiley faces so much that if I see another one I might hurl. I would say he averages two emoticons per text. Most of the time it's a regular smiley face, but he does make good use of the wink face. Then there's the use of silly abbreviations. LOL, ha ha, j/k and then a smiley face? Seriously. Again, things that when delivered on the phone or in person are cute or sweet, just annoy in a text.

I also think it's kind of cheating to ask someone out on a date in a text. But I can't really blame guys for this. A cultural phenomenon that has a occurred because of the diffusion of texting, is that calling someone has become a huge deal. To me, a text doesn't replace a phone call. A text is a lazy man's phone call.

Other problems with texting are logistical. When you end a phone call you hang up and it's done. But how do you end a text conversation? Also, you never really know if someone did or did not get your text. If they don't respond you don't know if it's because they don't want to talk or because they didn't get it. You could send the text again, but if they got the text already, they'll just think you are a little crazy.

Maybe I'm being harsh, but these are just my thoughts. Are there new etiquette rules for dating in the 21st century? Is "texting" the new "calling?" Anyone else have a thought?

Provo

Provo is beautiful. Trees and mountains and what not. Nature isn't really my scene, but I can appreciate it's beauty. Fall is slowly creeping down the mountains into the valley. I went on a walk today and got some great picutres. And yes that is snow on the mountains! SCARY!

One of my favorite places is the Crest. They have a drive through, punch cards that give you every 9th drink free, it's right on my way to school and thay have the best Diet Coke ever. The perfect syrup to carbonation ratio- it's like Diet Coke heaven!

So, I finally saw the house of the guy I'm kind of dating...

But first a few things...

If you have a facebook, myspace, or other social networking account look at this hilarious article.



If you want to know why we are in the financial crisis look here. (Hint: it's not Wall Street greed, lack of corporate oversight, or even President Bush.)



Didn't watch the debate? Just watch this clip.

Ok, so as I was saying, I finally saw the house of the guy I'm kind of dating. It's always a bit trepidatious on the way over to a guys house for the first time. SO many things run through your mind: Will he have a huge poster of Pamela Anderson on the wall as his only attempt at decorating? Will he have a huge plasma TV but only a futon or Luv Sac to sit on? And will the bathroom be sanitary enough to use? How many game consoles will be littering the floor with all of their various controls? One never knows when gentlemen are left to there own devices.

I turned the corner onto his street. On my left were little dumpy, ghetto apartments with chipped paint and rusty handrails along the stairs. On my right were some fairly new looking and pretty cute town homes. I frantically looked down at my directions. The first complex on the right. Phew, that was a close one.

I walked up the front walk and knocked on the door. There was actually a welcome mat. As I walked inside I was pleasantly surprised. Two new looking leather couches (typical bachelor, but not bad) with actual throw pillows. AND THERE WERE PLANTS. And actual photographs on the walls, that I think were taken by him on all of his various outdoor adventures. And the carpet had vacuum lines...VACUUM LINES. That means he ran the vacuum at some point recently. Maybe only in preparation for my visit, but still. The bathroom was cleaner than mine currently is. Best of all he had a Diet Coke for me. Totally adorable.

Needless to say, I was relieved to find his dwelling place to be clean, nicely decorated and comfortable. I would post pictures, but I felt weird asking him if I could take pictures to post on my blog- ha ha!

Why are there so many haters?

My amazing friend Caroline sent me this message on Facebook after the debate. I thought it was hilarious! And right on! I inserted my own comments in purple:

1. I have a freaking chemistry degree and sometimes, I CAN'T say "nuclear." Some people just have a hard time with that word. I love that everyone is blabbing about how she's so uneducated on facebook because of that stupid word.
Yes, you are clearly an uneducated miscreant because you can't pronounce nuclear.

2. I didn't think her grammar was terrible. (I am BY FAR not the queen of correct English but I think she sounded fabulous.)
She speaks like an everyday person, liberal elitists don't like that. They like big words.

3. I don't know why there are so many haters of this woman. I thought she was incredible tonight (AND I was one of the scaredy-cats)
People hate her because she has principles. She believes that life is sacred (even that with Down's Syndrome) and she sticks to her guns (literally). She wants to drill in ANWR (that gorgeous pristine wilderness-ha!) She is spunky. She's hot and she's smart. Basically, she makes feminists feel inadequate and she makes Obama look like an elitest because she is real.

4. I DO NOT think she speaks to her audience like they are a bunch of 3rd graders. I hate music people...and their crazy libby-views. GO SMOKE A JOINT IN GERMANY and be a take-all, give-nothing citizen.
Seriously.

Can't wait for the debate!

Sarah Palin had taken a beating in the press lately, but she's still my homegirl. I can't wait to see her demolish Joe Biden tonight. At least she better! I can't believe this bs about Ifill. How can the "debate committee" (whoever those people are) think that this is even remotely ok? They are really going to let this woman who is clearly in the tank for Obama moderate this debate. Not only that, she has a book coming out about Obama and will stand to gain financially should he be elected. Here is an excerpt from the National Review Media Blog :

Ifill, host of PBS's Washington Week, is writing a book titled, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, set to hit bookstores on January 20, Inauguration Day. When critics questioned how Ifill could possibly perform neutrally as a debate moderator given her clear personal and financial interest in an Obama victory, Ifill accused her critics of racism. "Do you think they made the same assumptions about Lou Cannon (who is white) when he wrote his book about Reagan?" Ifill told the Associated Press.


Cannon's biography, Reagan, was published in 1982 — after Reagan had been elected. At the time, the book was praised by both conservative columnist George Will and left-wing activist Tom Hayden. Hayden was quoted on the dust jacket saying, "Lou Cannon, with an objective insider's eye, shows us that Ronald Reagan is not an actor but a genuine dreamer — even if his dream becomes a new American nightmare."

Can we expect the same even-handedness from Ifill? A September 2008 cover story for Essence magazine provides a glimpse into Ifill's view of the Obamas. In a sub-section titled "The Michelle Factor," Ifill tells us that:
Michelle appears unfazed by most of the criticism, focusing instead on what she says she sees as she travels the country — people of all races and descriptions who crowd in to hug her at campaign events, and who do not seem to have gotten the word that she is supposed to be an angry Black woman. "In our generation, we were just taught that if you know who you are, then what somebody calls you is just so irrelevant to the day-to-day issues that have to be a focus of this race," she says, speaking in a rush, as her husband nods in agreement.


In another sub-section titled, "The Candidate Next Door," Ifill writes:
[Barack's half-sister] Maya is part of the tight family circle, accompanying her presidential candidate brother to the soccer games and dance recitals he crams in on rare weekends home. Barack's BlackBerry is ever present, his nightly conference calls with campaign staff a constant. But his wife says she gets what she needs.

"The thing that Barack does is that when he is there, he is a parent," says Michelle. "He's not like play dad. He's the guy who has read through all of the Harry Potter books with Malia. Barack is very good about understanding that the kids and their structure and stability are important. And he's somebody who, if there's discipline that needs to be handed down, he doesn't hesitate just because he hasn't seen them in a week.


The rest of the piece is similarly glowing. By contrast, consider her sullen reaction to Sarah Palin's convention speech: "She belittled — and so did other speakers — Barack Obama at every opportunity, mocking the size of his state, his community-organizer status, and every time there was an explosion in this room."

Ifill's unadulterated adoration for the Democratic nominee, her personal stake in his victory, and her willingness to play the race card against anyone who questions her ability to be an impartial debate moderator, place her firmly In the Tank for Barack Obama.

If you didn't feel like reading the whole thing, it basically says that Ifill is in love with Obama like most other Media types. Some say that regardless of her political leanings she can be objective. Is that really possible? I know I couldn't be objective. I don't even love McCain that much! And I wouldn't have any monetary gain if McCain were to win. So I'm not really sure how this woman is going to be objective. It may not be blatant, but there will be bias.

So. I started a blog.

Having recently moved from lovely Las Vegas to Provo,UT I've spent lots of time on the phone keeping friends and family caught up with the day to day of my life. While it's definitely trendy, and somewhat narcissistic to have a blog, it's also functional, so here it is!

I'm having a great time here in Provo, and I'm loving my classes at BYU. I have two cute roommates and, after many trips to Ikea and Target, a cute apartment. I feel so lucky to be where I am, and have overcome alot of stuggles to get here. But now that I am, it's time to enjoy the ride!