sun.

SUN! What a beautiful thing!  Yesterday in the Burg it was sunny and in the 60’s. And I was in LOVE. In love with the sunshine that is, not a boy. Who needs boys? Yesterday was the day the inhabitants of Rexburg came out of hibernation. They slowly started to emerge in their t-shirts and shorts ready to soak up some Vitamin D. Lacey, Aub, and I went to the park and tossed around a baseball. I have to admit that I can throw better than I thought I could. Then Aub and I kicked around a soccer ball for a bit. While we were at the park we spotted the Kiwi Loco man on his bike and ran over to see what he was doing. He was giving out free Kiwi Loco (frozen yogurt). He said that the first person to bring over a kid would get a free yogurt for them and the kid. As soon as he said that Lacey yelled “Go get a kid!” So what did I do? I immediately ran to get (well politely ask of course, I’m not a creeper) one of the little boys playing football with his friends. Unfortunately some mom and her baby beat me back to the Kiwi man. But being the nice Kiwi Loco man he is he gave us all free yogurt anyway. Later that night me and the roomies went out for Thai food to celebrate Abby’s recent change in relationship status. (next month her and Kevin are tying the knot). Overall it was quite a WONDERFUL day! I swear I am a much happier person when it’s sunny outside.

P.S. I made a Pintrest account awhile ago, but I haven’t really done much with it, because I know if I start I’ll get addicted. I was right. Today I got back on and stayed on for an hour. There are so many cool DIY projects that I want to try. It makes me wish I had my own place to decorate! Someday, someday…

Hunger Games Love.

So I don't know about you but I CANNOT WAIT for the Hunger Games movie! I have already ordered my shirt and midnight premiere tickets. :) Needless to say I have had a lot of time on my hands lately. And with some of that time I made a Hunger Games countdown chain. It brought back happy memories of making Christmas countdown chains as a child :)

14 DAYS LEFT!!! 

Funny Little Things in Life.

So I bought this cute little notebook for a dollar at Porters today.

 I decided that so many random little things happen every day in my life that helps me appreciate the life I have been given.  Whether they are things I am grateful for or just funny little things that made me laugh.  I decided to write them down so that I can always look back on them and realize how blessed I truly am.

Here are today’s findings...

V-Day.

OH Valentine’s Day…I don’t even know how to describe you. I have never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day. I feel it is way too commercialized. If someone cares about me I would rather have them show it on a random day of the year then on a designated day.  I don’t want people to feel pressured into showing me they care….that defeats the point.  BUT I also know that many people LOVE this holiday and I don’t want you to think I am bashing you.  It’s just not MY favorite.

This is what I did on my V-day:

I got myself a public library card and stocked up on some good romantic novels! I’m so excited to read Matched! Busy Bee convinced me I couldn't live without it!

 Then I got some chocolates (no I didn’t buy them for myself!) and took a bite out of each one to find the caramels. Can you believe there was only ONE, ONE! caramel in the WHOLE box. SADDEST. DAY. EVER.  They should make a valentines box for caramel lovers! I mean come on, not everyone LOVES chocolate.

Also when I came home from work I found this cute little monkey on my bed. Apparently earlier a guy in our ward came by in a clown suit and made all of these for the single girls in the ward. What a nice guy!

 

Before work Chrissy (one of my roommates) and I may have been ranting about this particular day a bit, okay maybe me more so then her, and we had some interesting V-day related conversations on facebook…

This was my status: Sitting here eating chocolates and reading romance novels...Hello Valentines Day! Is it terrible that I'm happy that in the 20's there was a massacre on this day? Oh the irony!

Chrissy:S.A.D.! I just realized that Single Awareness Day spells S.A.D. and that is how we are both feeling...So glad that Al Capone and Bugs Moran got into a "conflict". YAY for the 7 dead gang members!!!

Ariel: YAY for St Valentines getting burned at the stake for heresy! And the fictional cupid who got punished by Zeus for sleeping with his wife!

Chrissy: And YAY for the other Saint Valentine who got his head chopped off and then was preserved in abbey...

Ariel: WHOA! Abby has a head inside of her....awk...

Chrissy: Abby spelled with an E!!!

Ariel :Oh ok good! whoo! I was afraid I was going to have to have an awk conversation with Kevin Reader....

Chrissy: don't think I'd want to be involved with that conversation!!! AWK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was Chrissy’s status: Oh Valentine's Day...You are a pointless holiday...

Ariel: S.A.D.

Ariel: A 'holiday' that makes pretty much everyone feel miserable, either because they're single, or have a 'significant other' who expects or demands to be showered with gifts and affection to make up for the other 364 days of the year that receive next to no attention. On the flip side, this 'holiday' has also become somewhat of a national make-up day that people use to 'make-up' for the other 364 days of the year that they aren't romantic and attentive to their relationships."

Chrissy: Agreed!

Chrissy: Though I don't know if it is an actual holiday...I mean people died. Why are we celebrating that?

Ariel: YAY! DEAD PEOPLE!!! YAY! YAY! YAY! I LOVE DEAD PEOPLE!!!!!...yeah it's not really very fun to celebrate...

Chrissy: ‎"My dad's a funeral director...I find death humorous!"
"What does your dad do Ariel?"
"He is in insurance..."
"That's not funny..."

Ariel:  Chrissy do you celebrate death with dead people?

Chrissy: Oh...Ariel, how well you know me. Why of course I celebrate death with dead people. How else would you celebrate death? You can't celebrate death with live people because then you would be celebrating life with alive people.

Ariel:  ohhhh...wow! thanks for the clarification!

Chrissy: Of course. Ariel...how do you celebrate death?

Ariel: I eat pickles.  

Chrissy: ‎(Eunice) I wear black...

Ariel:  ‎*insert Eunice sounds* nuff said.

Chrissy: HAHAHHAHAHAH! Oh my lanta!

**P.S. we are talking about Eunice. THE EUNICE from She’s the Man. If you have seen the movie, you KNOW what we’re talking about!**

Well I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day, V-day, S.A.D., Single Awareness Day, or whatever you like to call it! I sure had an interesting one…..

Dominoes.

Isn’t life funny? It never seems to do what you want it to do. It’s like dominoes. You set up a line of dominos in some intricate pattern and then before you’re ready to knock them down, someone sneaks up behind you and does it for you. AGH! Doesn’t the person realize you weren’t ready to move on yet!? You wanted to stare at the beautiful set up before you for a bit longer before you were ready to leave it behind.  Life it seems does the same darn thing! I guess the moral of the story life is trying to knock into my brain is that I need to enjoy every moment, be thankful for what I have, and be willing to accept change.  You know reading these words, makes it seem a lot easier than it actually is. Life is probably one of the greatest teachers I could ever have, but it is also by far the harshest one.  The only one more critical of me then life, is my own darn brain, but that is for another time and another post.

Living on a Plateau

I hate feeling like my life is just flat. I am the type of person that does not like doing nothing. I may think that I am, but after awhile I start to get antsy and feel like I’m doing squat with my life. That is how I feel right now. I mean ya my life is good and I have AMAZING people around me, but I feel like me, as a person, is lacking. I LOVE helping people and I think that when I’m not helping people I feel worthless. I think I strive on it. When I’m helping people I feel like my life means something. I feel like my life is moving forward. But right now I don’t feel like I’m progressing. I’m just a stagnant pool of water that bugs fly around and scum thrives on and where mosquitoes come to lay their eggs.  Ya…I want to be helping people! Today I have been in a kind of slump, well if we’re going to be honest; it’s been more like this whole week. Today I was reading my friends blog about her adventures volunteering at an all boys orphanage in Kenya.  Last fall she asked me if I wanted to go with her and I decided that I was finally going to fulfill my lifelong dream and go with her! Then a few months later I thought a lot about it and for some reason I just felt like I shouldn't go and that it’s just not what I was supposed to be doing right now.  Instead I felt like I should just come up to Rexburg and work on my off track. SO I did. And trust me I have been having a blast! But after reading her blog posts I just feel so worthless. I wish I was in Kenya  holding the little boys hands and cleaning up their puke when they were sick because they have no one else. To see the joy on those boys faces at the simplest things. To witness their kind hearts and strong wills. To see them embracing life despite the fact that both of their parents died of AIDS or some other ravaging disease. THAT my friends is what I want to live for! I want to help people and be there for them. To heck with this focusing on myself crap! I learn exponentially more about myself by forgetting myself and focusing on others then I ever do having “me” time. But yes this is how I am currently feeling. I just need to find something I can actively do to help others.

 P.S. Kenra is the best listener! Thanks so much Kenny! I really needed that tonight J

Waiting for Kenra

“Do you want to go to the gym with me?” asks Kenra.

“Sure” I said, “when do you want to go?”

“Oh I don’t know. In a little bit, I just need to rest my eyes for a second.” replies Kenra.

ALMOST 3 HOURS LATER…

*Text from Kenra*: “Do you want to go now?”

I run into our room and jump on Kenra’s bed, “Kenra! You’re finally awake! SO much happened while you were asleep!”

The following is the story I related to Kenra:

So about half an hour after you fell asleep I decided to go make the fudge for my class tomorrow since you did not seem to be waking up anytime soon. I go in the kitchen and start making the fudge. The fudge is boiling and a little bit of it sneaks past me and falls into the burner. Instantly smoke starts coming up from underneath the pan. I lift the pan off the stove for a second, turn on the fan, then put the pan back and continue boiling the fudge. Even though it was smoking I really needed to keep boiling it! (Sidenote: Fudge can be a very fickle substance to work with. It has to boil for a certain amount of time or it will not turn out.) Then I looked down and FLAMES started coming up out of the burner. So I take the fudge off the stove and stare at the flames, as they get bigger and bigger. This was my thought process in my head, “Okay so why can’t I remember how to put out a stove fire? I know there is something special you have to consider when putting one out. Oh ya! Something to do with flour! You throw the flour on it and it puts it out. *turns around to get flour* No idiot! Flour helps the flames grow! Oh ya! Okay why can I only remember what not to do? Hmm what if I just throw water on it? But I don’t think you are supposed to do that for some reason. *flames grow higher* Okay well Ariel you got to do something before you burn the place down, you can’t afford to pay for all that damage. Okay. *gets a handful of water and throws it on the flames* Umm ya that did squat. *feels a cup up with water* Why do I feel like this is a bad idea? *throws water on flames, flames go out* Hmm it worked. I guess there is nothing wrong with doing that. Great now my fudge only boiled for half the time and the stove is all wet. *looks around and sighs* There is not even anyone around to witness this epicness!”

SO ya then I put the fudge in the pan and let it cool. I came back in the room and you were still asleep! So I went back in the front room and turned on the TV. I mindlessly watched TV for who knows how long. Sometimes I would quietly yell, “Kenra! Wake up so we can go to the gym!” But of course you were totally out. So then I drew you this picture. 

                                

And finally I got your text and came back in here. Man! You’re eyes take long “rests”.  

*Kenra gets text from Mike asking her if she wants to come over. Kenra can’t decide whether to go to Mike’s or the gym. I (being the nice, selfless friend that I am) tell Kenra to go hang out with Mike*

“Are you sure Ariel? We were going to go to the gym though.”says Kenra

“Ya it’s okay, we can go tomorrow.” I reply.

*Kenra goes to Mike’s and Ariel ends up reading a book. Ariel thinks to herself, “Man! I still can’t believe no one was there to witness the flames!”*

Luckily the fudge made it through the ordeal and recovered quickly with no aftereffects.