Report: Power is out

December 5. 8 something o'clock. We are at a play.
Play is over. We get a text from Rachel.

Report: Power is out.
Repeat: Power is out.

Power is out? Hmm...let's go to Dominoes and pick up a couple of "Finals Week Specials" and uses Jess's coupon for free Cinnastix. Delish, no?

We arrive. Whole "Morm Dorm" block is out. Flashlights flickering in the windows. They're alive. We manage to creep up stairwell by light of cellular device screens. No sign of threat - we make it in alive.

Our food supply is soon stored in the bellies of the select few who thought ahead and select fortunate others we had mercy on. Survival of the fittest. Done.

Commotion coming from floor below us. We navigate our way through the hall and down a flight of stairs. To our utter amazement, a group of people congregate around a light source of great obscurity. It appears to be some sort of representation of a greater idea...a Christmas tree of sorts. Indeed, it was just that. A Christmas tree of Mountain Dew cans lit by a single orange-vanilla candle from beneath. Remarkable. Who were the brains who drank this excessive amount of sugar and carbonation and are suffering from rotting innards? The boys downstairs. Brilliant!

The obscure light source representing a greater idea

We quickly join the group and exchange stories. Laughter brightens the eerie common area. All is well in the world. The exchanging of stories goes on throughout the night. Midnight approaches. At the change of the hour, a rendition of Happy Birthday  is screeched in multiple keys to none other than myself. I thanked them for their cultural celebration of my turning a year older. Talk continues on.

It is the early hours of the morn. The power has not returned, but Shanna and I have discovered we are weak and need sleep. Survival of the fittest. Done. But we are behind - others had retired to bed before us...we hope we are the fittest. Done.

I take Shanna home to her dwelling, which is fortunate enough to still have power. I leave and make way to my own abode. I creep up the quiet stairwell of my building alone, I have only my keys and my cell phone to defend myself...and a scarf...I have a scarf...I look at my phone and realize that Shanna had tried to get in contact with me since I had left her.

She had left her keys in her other jacket in my room. I must get them to her so that she might get into her room and sleep. Survival of the fittest theory...dwindling. I grab her belongings and pass through the stairwell and treacherous snow to get to my vehicle. I get to Shanna's and attempt to call her via phone - only to realize that her voice was not on the other end. I had made contact with her parents...specifically her father...at two in the morning. Curse my communication device! Why did it do that? I get Shanna her keys. She now can sleep. I can too.

Report: Power returns at 2:30 in the morning.

Happy Birthday to me.

A Frosty Logan Photoshoot

Taylor, Shanna, and I were able to do baptisms for the dead one fine evening, and come 6:30 PM, it's awfully dark outside. But my, what a pretty site the temple was to see! All lit up in awesome beauty.

Logan Temple at Night

After baptisms, Taylor really wanted to make a trip back to the temple to take some pictures. So we ran home and bundled up in much warmer clothes than skirts and convinced all our roommates to come along on our "arctic excursion."

We had a lot of fun posing for fake wedding pictures, or playing with our silhouttes against the lights around the temple. It was cold. This is something I need to realize about Logan.

Mallory and Rachel

Poor Kelsie and Jessica

Our wedding photographer, Taylor

Silhouettes 

(courtesy of Taylor)

Kelsie and Mallory - I loved this picture :)

(courtesy of Taylor)

After our winter photo shoot, we went back to the apartment and watched "My Fair Lady" and ate Reese's peanut butter cups. My life could not have been more ideal than that brief moment in time...but then the peanut butter cups ran out...life was not so ideal.

Our movie got over around midnight, as did the movie everyone was watching next door. Downstairs Mike came over to rant to Taylor and I about chick-flicks....which then somehow managed to morph into a 2 HOUR conversation about Pokemon. Curse the little beasts. How is it possible to talk that long about non-existant creatures? I know: talk about what would happen if they did exist...I had no idea that I knew so much about them until that conversation. Most of my elementary years consisted of going to school, coming home, turning on the WB channel and watching Pokemon with Jordan. My life was pathetic...actually, Downstairs Mike's life was pathetic. ;) Don't you agree Taylor?

L to R: Mallory, Taylor, Kelsie, Rachel, and Jess
(Michelle was at a choir concert)

Living the Life

I've done absolutely nothing productive today - except text...which can be productive on occassions, I swear.

I'm freezing. I have lost feeling in my toes and fingers. So what do I do to solve this seemingly dire situation that I have found myself in? I turn on my fancy new electric blanket that I received for my birthday, and go upstairs to find some munchies. I look in the freezer and there lies the my personal Holy of Holies. Ice cream.

I take out the box and realize that there is just enough for me to enjoy and keep all to myself. No need to dirty a whole bowl. I grab a spoon and wander back down to the depths of my room, ice cream box in hand. I snuggle in between my covers and smack on creamy goodness until it's gone.

Jealous?

And that's how I've spent my Winter Break thus far.

Hunting for Trees in the Idaho Wilderness

My alarm blares at me at 6:30 AM. I hit snooze - for the next half hour...

In a subconsious state, I hear Pops coming down the stairs and I know what he's up to. My door cracks open and I moan, "I'm awake," before he has a chance to say a word. Suddenly my alarm goes off again. Ok. I'm awake - really.

As much as I despise getting up in the morning, I wouldn't sleep through Christmas Tree hunting! I piled on layers of warm clothes and we all piled in the subby. Our neighbors, the Nichols, were parked by the curb waiting for us. We were off - almost.

We stopped at the park and ride by the freeway and grabbed Grandma and Grandpa. And we called Chad and Shallen to tell them we were on our way. Then we were off!

Grandma and Grandpa

Chad and Shallen

We drove through Sardine Canyon and entered into "my territory" - land of the Aggies. Except, I wasn't awake to comment on anything. I practically slept the whole ride as we made our way up to the wildernesses of Preston, Idaho.

After passing through a quaint little town, we soon transitioned to dirt roads. Closer.

We parked and the subby's skipping engine shut off. Let the hunt begin!

It was a most lovely day! Not too cold - all I needed was my coat and boots. The snow was super fluffy and "dry" so nothing stuck to you! I was pumped. After much debate, my mom and pops decided to head up the hill, and me and Jord followed. My boots are two sizes too big, so I trudged up the vertical "hill" with much difficulty. Of course, there was everything BUT worthy Christmas trees. We cut across the mountain side in hopes of spotting a tree. Note: I have never been whacked in the face by so many oncoming branches in my life!

I was tripping every other step and nearing face plants more often than not - I prayed that I could live to make it to my next step. I managed to jam my fingers between two branches, in which I was stuck. Later, I found myself lodged between two logs in which my boot was stuck! I came this close to losing my eye on another occasion! I slipped, I was whacked, I was slow...but my brother is the kindest kid out there, and waited for me! I love him. :)

We began crossing a grassy-ish hill, dappled in snow. It reminded me of Lord of the Rings. I was undoubtedly a hobbit. My boots were too large for my body. Jordan was Gandolf because he had a walking stick and had a huge coat that I judged worthy to be a cloak. Mom was Gimli, because she could be. And dad was Aragorn because he is the master tree tracker. Later, we changed him to Legolas because the saw in his hand resembled a bow and arrow...and that way Gimli and He were allowed to fight. :)

With no good tree in sight, we began trudging back up the road. I bailed when the cars were in my view. My family went ahead. I hopped in the subby, layed on my pillow, and crashed. I woke up, attempted to read a book that my roommate lent me, and realized that since I wasn't moving, outside was terribly nippy. Me and Jord cracked open some lunch.

Hark! Just then, Uncle Chad appeared from around the bend dragging a tree behind him! The first success! Suddenly! My mom and dad appeared from around the bend dragging a tree behind them! Then Suddenly, Tammy appeared from around the bend, not dragging a tree behind her - she came to ask my dad if he would go help Troy drag their monstrous tree out from the wilderness. We had all scored a tree at last!!! And they were Bee-U-Tee-Full!

Dragging in the tree

Our awesome tree.

We strapped them to the top of our vehicles. Classy, but nice. ;) Haha.

Our tree is a monster! It's huge now that we have it in our house! But it is a wonderful shade of green, emits a lovely smell of pine, and makes me happy inside.

Now, no matter where I go, whether at home in Logan, or at home in North Ogden, Christmas time is here!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

As of Saturday, November 21, 2009, all of us in the apartment deemed it appropriate to begin listening to Christmas music (much to Michelle's joy :) ).

As roommates, we prepared a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and it was simply delicious! There was "enough fruit salad to feed the Salvation Army" and the best yams ever! to be had for leftovers the next following days. Thank you Kelsie!

Most of us in the apartment are anti-Christmas music anytime prior to Thanksgiving, but the following were unconsciously considered:
     -There was snow on the ground and it felt like Christmas
     -Kelsie brought us a Christmas tree
     -We are only together for a total of maybe 2 weeks during the
       Christmas season
     -We just ate a Thanksgiving dinner...

We clearly had valid justifications. WHY NOT????

I walked into our living room Sunday night after doing some visiting around the ward. I was so excited to hear Michael Buble Christmas tunes ringing through the building, and was even more excited when I realized it was radiating from my apartment! Our kitchen table was covered in construction paper and glue sticks, paper clips and staples. The girls were making ornaments for our Charlie Brown tree! I joined in the creativity and snapped photos.

Creating Ornaments

When our tree was loaded with darling decorations, we began cutting snowflakes to hang in our hallway. It was a blast! There were pieces of paper scattered everywhere throughout the room as we made deliberate and crazy cuts into our folded paper. We had a few neighbors stop by and cut some snowflakes as well! It was a combined effort that left our hallway looking like a winter wonderland. It was so fun hanging them up and commenting on the originality of each snowflake.

Mallory creating her first snowflake of the year.

Taylor in all her creative genius.

Downstairs Mike concentrating very hard on the process of creating a snowflake

Me with some tape on my lips...

Kelsie loves the movie "Up," so in honor of it all, she created a "Kevin" Snowflake.
She even created a Squirrel snowflake later on!

Our apartment is beautiful! I love walking in and seeing our snowflakes, and admiring our quaint little tree that lives on top of our televsion. I'm truly in the Christmas spirit now!

Our Charlie Brown tree.

Bring on the Christmas music, for the actual Thanksgiving has come to an end. It's official! It's less than a month until the big day is here!!!! Do you sense the excitement in my use of exclamation points?

Afroed

It was a few days after Halloween.

Shananaba and I walked into Wal-Mart where we were accosted by the friendly Wal-Mart greeter. "All Halloween items 50% off!" And they handed me a slip of paper - suggesting that I wasn't paying attention to what they were being paid to say. But Heck! 50% off? Those are golden words to a college student! I heard them loud and clear.

We eventually made our way to the holiday section of the store and began checking out all the goods. We were trying to come up with costume ideas that Shanna and her date could wear to the upcoming institute dance. Lo behold, we found wigs. Our imaginations went crazy! Normally $8, these rad wigs were $4. We went to the check-out and were further stunned to see that the wigs were only $2!!!! Say what? We had struck gold in the Wal-Mart festivities aisle.

We returned to my apartment with excitement. Tim found the blonde wig and asked to put it on. Shanna agreed.

Tim

Then Shanna broke out the afro. It provided entertainment to one and all for the next half hour of our lives.  

Shananaba

Michelle

Jess

Kelsie and Jess

Mallory

Taylor

Rachel

A few days later, Shanna returned back to Wal-Mart and bought two more 'fros' for Michelle and I. We are the Fro Sistas!

Elevation: 9712'

We had one day. Count it. One. One day for fall break.

But Michelle, Shananaba, and I made the most of it. We hiked to the top of Ben Lomond. 16 miles. My buttox hurt for three days.

Shanna, Me, and Michelle at the beginning of the trail

We felt so accomplished! We had made the most of our break by singing, talking, prancing, jogging, short-cutting up the mountain side. We saw many a squirrel and took many a picture to pass the time. Shanna named rocks. "The" Rock, "A" Rock, "B" Rock, "C" Rock...."I" Rock...."P" Rock... Pinecones were chucked, and I fashioned a bouquet of dry wild flowers

"P" Rock

We encountered every season of Utah. We went through breezy, sweltering, muddy, snowy, cloudy. When we reached the top, we practically rested in a cloud. It was chilly, but so neat to watch as the cloud enveloped us.

Trudging through the mud

...through snow

...through heat

9712' in a cloud

And later that night I managed to drag myself to a football game. :) Go me.

Cannibalistic Overfed (Underfed?) Fish

Our fish are dying off...one...by one...and eerily enough, it seems to happen every 10 days.

Our fish arrived on September 21, 2009.

Phil passed through the watery veil on October 1, 2009 after being attacked by his cannabalistic fishmates...they ate one of his fins. He was alive, and resting at the bottom of the bowl, having no way to reach the food at the top. He didn't make it through the night.

R.I.P Phil

10 days later, on October 11, 2009, Taylor fed the fish their daily allowance of rations. All were alive and well. Not even ten minutes later, Kelsie walked over to the fish bowl to discover that Tim was now floating at the top of the water...no sign of a gill pump.

R.I.P Tim

We had intents of having elaborate funeral services. We even held viewings for each of them, but alas, dead fish in plastic food container caskets sitting on the counter do not store dead fish well over a few days. And their glazed-over eyes were heart wrenching. We flushed them ourselves. No Phil carrying a bible, just some one on one time with our fish and us.

October 21, 2009 is coming in two days....

One Fish. Two Fish. Gold Fish. Albino Fish.

Update! Our lonely fish bowl is now the crowded home of 6 adorable goldfish! (see end of previous post)

We had our stake carnival tonight. At this carnival, there was a game. And in this game you could win some fish! But to no avail, no one in our apartment won a fish - Despite the fact that we were already deemed fit to bring the babies home.

Later, after we had returned home, our "roommate" Brandon walked in carrying bags of goldfish! A gift. Our fish bowl would serve it's purpose at last! The carnival people had so many extra fish that they were begging anyone to come and take them home. They stopped Brandon, and he almost refused, but then he remembered our little bowl of water.

"Wait a second...I'll take six." He was their hero.
So the boys managed to transfer the fish to their new home. And then we realized how much responsibility it is to manage a pet...let alone six. We cannot leave the bowl by the window - the fish would freeze to death (Tim has had experience). We cannot leave them on the table - the water would slosh out. We don't have distilled water - David claims that water distills after sitting out after one day...well if that's the case, we have week old distilled water. They look so cramped - Think of where fish live in a pet store. Hold on! We don't have food - Now that's a problem....

We currently have six starving goldfish sitting on one of the burners of our stove. Ryan placed it there. It'll do for tonight. We have fish!!!
Taylor can't wait for the first one to die. She's very excited.

"I'm actually looking forward to the first funeral though. I want to see Phil dressed in black holding a bible in front of the toilet... :)" - Taylor A.

She may not have to wait that long. Maybe we aren't as fit as we thought...

Life in the Fast Lane

To all my adoring fans (aka: mom): Here is a post!

Living life in the fast lane may wear you out, but I'm still pumped...sleep deprived...but pumped! Let me give you an update of my life this past month at Utah State!

My friend Eric, from back in North Ogden, ran a half marathon and the finish was near Logan. So me, Shanna, and Jaquelyn went to see him cross the finish line early in the morning. He was so fast - we almost missed him when he ran by. But we found him afterwards and got his picture to prove that we did, in fact, see him. Good job Eric!

"The Boys from Morgan," as we affectionately call them, invited us to go ice blocking down Old Main Hill at 9:00 at night. Icing down that hill is a rush! And even more so when the sprinklers turn on and slick up the grass - no friction. Sweet. :) Me and Michelle (my roommate) earned the best grass stains of our lives. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to snap a photo.

Every Friday the institute holds an activity. On this particular Friday, it was the annual Jell-o slide. One dives, cannon-balls, or rolls in a pool full of liquid jell-o (strawberry flavored), pops out, runs maniacally, and slides upon a large black tarp as one would a slip'n'slide. Alas, I had a class during the hours the Jell-o slide was operating and was not able to participate. But Shanna didn't! So I stood by munching on a free snow cone and watched and admired her as she bathed in a pool of sugar water and slid like a penguin on ice.

For Labor Day, I drove up to Grandpa's Mountain in Idaho and camped out with my family. It was so nice to just relax and read my book! It was also a good opportunity to use my mom as a math homework resource. :) All the little kids were obsessed with the swings, so I sat by watching them and smiled and nodded occasionally when I heard, "Jessie! Look at me!" I took a gazillion pictures of 'em! It was so nice to see my family and spend a few days with them. We had some good laughs! But the one and only downside to this whole camping spree was that it threw off my groove for free laundry on weekends. I had to resort to the laundromat...which quite frankly...is NOT free.

This is what happens at 12:OO AM on Wednesday nights. Yes. We all had school the next morning. We said "good night" to each other and were all heading off to bed, when my roommates, Rachel and Mallory, suddenly hit this adrenaline rush and just started throwing on every random article of clothing that they owned. It was soooooo funny! Me and my other roommate, Taylor, stayed up laughing our heads off and taking pictures. Kelsie and Michelle slept through the whole thing! We still laugh about it all the time.

Last Saturday, one of my dearest friends, Angie Barlow, got baptized! It was an incredible baptism and such a tender experience. Our friend Andy was able to baptize her and a lot of us got to participate in the program one way or another. I said the opening prayer. :) Angie looked so happy and so beautiful. I can't tell you how much I love her. I'm so glad I'm not so far away that I couldn't be there, I wouldn't have missed that opportunity for the world.

That same night I went on a date with my friend Chris and a few other couples. We went to a Jon Schmidt concert in Brigham City for their Peach Days. We were right in the front where we could see his fingers fly across the keyboard - it was intense. And afterwards we went to Peach City and got awesome shakes! I was so content: Jon Schmidt, ice cream, and good company. Doesn't get much better than that.

The Logan Institute had the amazing opportunity to bring a choir down to Provo and sing in the monthly CES fireside. Michelle and I (and a lot of good friends) were lucky enough to participate with them! It was a giant choir of 800+ students, but it made for an incredible and powerful experience. We sang "I Marvel at the Miracle," in which the writer of the song attended the fireside and spoke to us as a choir (neat!) and "Come, Come Ye Saints." The speaker was Sis. Elaine S. Dalton, of the general Young Womens presidency. She gave one of the best talks I've ever heard. All of us were furiously writing notes down in our notebooks and soaking in every word as she told us how to make "A Return to Virtue." It was a long day, and a 3 hour long bus ride, but it was totally worth it. And as a bonus - it will eventually be broadcasted internationally!

While Michelle and I were down in Provo, our roommates were having a fun times back at home. Mallory and Rachel might as well be sisters because without even knowing it, they picked out the exact same outfit to wear to church that day. It was hilarious! And of course, none of us could miss a photo-op like that! Including our neighbor Phil. ;)

Speaking of Phil...this is him wearing what he calls, his "Stain Glass Nightmare." It's hideous. The end. ;) He got it on his mission in New Jersey. I have never seen a guy who owns more ties than him. It's ridiculous! Have I ever told you that I actually have 11 roommates? You see, there's Michelle, Mallory, Rachel, Taylor, Kelsie...Ryan, David, Brandon, Mike, Tim, and Phil. We just leave our front and back doors open all day and we have one huge apartment. It's so much fun and always makes for good laughs.

The same night that we were admiring Phil's collection of ties, Kelsie and Taylor baked a cake at 9:00 at night and brought it over next door. We all sat in the living room harfing German Chocolate cake straight from the pan. No plates required. That would require us to clean dishes. I have never seen anyone eat cake like our nieghbor Tim. Has anyone else ever heard of pouring milk over your cake and eating it like cereal? I never had! :) I need to try it some time.

So our RA (resident assistant) suggested that we create a chore chart. We agreed to make her happy. This is the list that I stumbled upon the other night. :)

Every Friday since school has started we have made it to the Logan Temple to do Baptisms for the dead. Sometimes we have large groups, sometimes they are smaller, but no matter the numbers, we always have an uplifting experience.

So this past weekend was my first weekend home here in Logan. Me and my roommates had a great time! We also tend to get a little hyper from the tick of the littlest things. After baptisms we all came back with wet hair and were all attempting to hurry and get ready again so we could make it to the Institute dance. I don't know what happened, but we all walked out into the hall with our hair half finished and we just went crazy. So we took silly pictures to document the mood we were in.

This is our fish bowl. We have no fish. Maybe one day we will. Maybe one day we won't. Kelsie and and Taylor went to Walmart and were picking some things up and decided to buy a pet. But when they went to go retrieve the pet, the Walmart worker told them not to get a fish there. Apparently their fish suck. They should go to Petsmart. :) So we haven't made it to Petsmart yet - and we're not going to go out of our way to do so...so for now, we are content with a bowl of water in our window.

Last night I had the first home cooked meal that I've had in weeks! It was so delicious! And it was free. For all those who do not know, I was recently set apart as the 1st counselor of the Relief Society in my student ward. It'll be intense, but I'm much more comfortable with the thought after last night! All the "Homemaking Counselors" of the University 1st Stake went to the stake relief society counselor's home, where we had delicious warm mouth watering food, and talked about what our calling entails. My calling sounds fun! I'm really excited! And all of the other girls are so genuine and helpful - I think the Lord will provide a way. :)

There you have it. My life over the past month in a nutshell....a very large nut shell. But now I'm sure you can all understand why I haven't been able to post in ages! I have good reasons! I love it up here in Logan. Everything about it is beautiful and amazing.

I miss you family! I love you tons and tons! I'll try to stay more current this time, but who knows...life in the fast lane is pretty fast. ;)