thought of the day

it's amazing how some unexpected surprise can turn your whole day around. my day wasn't even going badly, but it's like a million bajillion times better now.

i was going to try and make some deep and insightful connection, but sometimes that just feels pretentious, you know?

but i will say this (about my day, not necessarily about how surprises are awesome): i am so grateful for awesome students. i love teaching anyway, but it's so much more fun when the students are eager to learn and fun to be around.

hopefully i didn't just jinx myself by saying that.

and, i'm kind of digging the random summer thunderstorm happening right now.

happy wednesday. have some flowers :)

for your viewing pleasure

(sorry the second one is flipped. it's worth it.)

best meal i've had in a long time

chicken and shrimp carbonara from olive garden.
quieted my seafood craving. for now.

watch out, red lobster. you're next

the doctor is in

i tried to resist it at first. i refused to buy in to something that looked like an amalgamation of many things that i do not like: science fiction, aliens, time travel. but, eventually i listened to my friends and my curiosity won out. and i realized that it actually had a lot of things that i love: british things, witty guys with accents, literary references, love stories.

so, i became a doctor who fan. i still don't love all the alien stuff, and sometimes it is kind of scary, like i wouldn't want to watch certain episodes alone at night. and i hate the daleks. they annoy the crap out of me.but  the things that made an impact on me with doctor who weren't the specific stories, for the most part, like which alien species is threatening all of humanity in this episode. what i love are the relationships and their progressions. the doctor and rose tyler (played by billie piper, which is my favorite british name to say, ever.) rose and mickey. the doctor and martha. the doctor and donna. donna and her grandfather. the doctor and the master. the doctor and amy pond. amy and rory. rory and the doctor. the doctor and river song. all of it is so great!


but, david tennant. be still my heart.

for a long time his was the face that greeted me when i opened a mozilla browser. he's skinny and goofy, but he's also scottish, he has great hair, and he was even in a harry potter movie. as far as icons go, it doesn't get much better than that. his tenure as the doctor set the standard for every other doctor past and future. i bawled (no, really) during his final episode...and the behind the scenes documentary.

because i love david tennant so much, i wasn't sure about the new guy, matt smith. but just look at him!

actually, he really can look pretty weird sometimes, but most of the time he just looks mysterious and awesome. and attractive. he's always asserting that "bow ties are cool." i'm not sure if i can say for certain that i like him more than david tennant, but there is a distinct possibility that i will come to think that.

so, doctor who is pretty great. if you don't like science fiction and aliens, watch it for the witty writing and interesting relationships. if you like science fiction and aliens, why haven't you seen it yet?!

i can't wait until i can start watching series 6 on netflix. i need to catch up!

mi familia

i think i'm pretty lucky to have such a great family. of course, we all get on each other's nerves sometimes, and i don't think i would go back to living at home, but, for the most part, we really love spending time with each other. i hope it stays like that when we all get married and have families of our own and move away. but i feel like i should tell a few things about why i love each member of my family. this reminds me of christmas time, when my mom is bugging me to write the family christmas letter so she can mail it out and i have like seven papers to write and twenty papers to grade, but now i guess i'm doing it of my own free will.

dad: he never met a pun he didn't like. we can laugh for hours, and i love that i got that sense of humor from him (not that mom isn't funny...it's just in a different way). but he can also turn any situation into a teaching moment. sometimes this seems tiresome, but it's actually pretty awesome. and he always turns to the lord in everything.

mom: she always says, hi court!, when i call her, whether it's been a few days or a few hours. she always thinks the best of me even when i know i haven't actually been my best. she taught me how to be courteous and considerate and how to keep a household. she buys baby clothes and keeps them in a closet in our house. she is really crafty, and, even though i don't sew like she does, i like to think i got that from her, at least a little bit.

meredith: when we fight or have some stupid disagreement, pretty much the next time we talk everything will be normal. we can look at each other and know what we're thinking. she makes dinner and drives when i don't want to. she doesn't know how goofy she looks doing zumba (i probably look just as goofy if i'm being totally honest). she has self-control and can actually save her money.

bergen: she loves to read as much as i do. she has taught herself to play the piano like a beast and she's getting good enough to be my accompanist, which has been my life goal (to have a piano-playing sibling so i don't have to bug someone else every time i want to sing). she does cute side buns of which i am jealous.

carter: he has one of the quickest wits of anyone i know. he is one of the cool kids but he still wants to hang out with his lame cool older sisters, and he still lets us call him little buddy. he always knows the latest music. he showed me keyboard cat. i can go to him with any sports-related question and he will know the answer (when is the nba draft? how did that whole byu-going-independent thing go down? he always knows!).

my family is awesome. how great is it that we get to spend eternity together someday? i'm sure there'll be a heavenly dinner table that we'll be sitting around, cracking jokes and telling stories.

**also, i was going to put pictures with this, awesome pictures of us, but i don't feel like getting on my old computer to get the pictures. i need to buy an external hard drive, stat, so i can transfer everything over. but, anyway, maybe someday i'll do a family picture post.

melancholia

do you ever just feel like there is something a little off? you aren't really unhappy, but you aren't really happy either. i'm feeling like that lately. i guess it is unrealistic to think that life is going to be one extreme or the other all the time; i probably wouldn't actually want it to be like that. but i feel like i need to do something to snap out of this slump.

i think what i probably need to do is quit thinking about how weird i feel and get out in the world and do something worthwhile, like serve people in need or do some yardwork or...something. i'm all for introspection and bettering yourself from the inside out, but sometimes i think i spend too much time inside my own head. i'm alone with myself and my own thoughts for so long that i get discouraged by all of the things i haven't done or all the ways i fall short. i worry about those things so much that i'm not actually doing anything.

so, i think i need to get out of myself in order to be happier and more satisfied with life. because, in reality, i have it pretty good. i have two good jobs, one doing the thing i love, a nice apartment, an awesome family, good friends, a testimony of the restored gospel, many talents, a comfy bed, and two floppy straw hats. i have a lot to be grateful for and not a lot to be ungrateful for.

i've been feeling lately like i really truly want to teach high school. i'm not sure what i need to do at this point to make that happen, but i'm going to find out. i thought that ship had sailed and i had embarked on a new career path, but maybe not. i'm kind of excited about it though. in the meantime, i'll take any teaching experience i can get. i still can't believe how little sleep i got last night in anticipation for today's eight'o'clock class. i definitely got up on time, but i was totally exhausted. i think my spiffy and stylish powerpoint and dorky anecdotes really won them over :)

school's back in for summer

school starts tomorrow. at 8am. i don't wake up before 8am. hardly ever. last semester when i was relief society president and had meetings every sunday at 8 i almost died. i was never late, and i was still completely primped and primed, but it wasn't easy. so, i know this term is going to be something of a challenge for me.

i had every intention of coming home from our father's day celebration tonight and getting my lesson plan ready and going to bed super early to make sure i got enough rest for class tomorrow. i mean, i want to set the example to my students--this may be too early to get up and be functioning in the summer, but we're here to work. i mean business! i guess i still intend to do that tomorrow, but all of my plans kind of went out the window when i got on the computer. i've been internet deprived this weekend, though it was somewhat self-inflicted, and there was stuff to catch up on, dang it! and now i'm blogging. but i'm still hopeful that i will be in bed dreaming of new students and worrying about how i'm going to cram three papers and a group project into seven weeks fairly soon. i've taught this stuff twice before; you'd think i'd have it pretty much down by now.

also, i think the keyboard on my new laptop is a little bit more spacious than my old one. i feel like i can't type or something; i keep missing keys and spelling things wrong. double letters (or leters) are especially troublesome. hopefully i'll get used to it soon. also (again), i just installed microsoft office 2010--exciting! i think i am way more excited about this than i probably should be, but i can't wait to use powerpoint and actually have some cool, modern-looking templates to apply! my students are going to be blown away!

nothing to report, really

if i haven't blogged in about a week, i start to feel like the blog is pointless. so, here i am trying to validate the existence of this thing.

(okay. i'm sitting at my desk in my apartment with the window wide open because it is super hot upstairs in my house, and that stupid car alarm is going off again!! it's so annoying! i've heard it at least a couple times everyday for the past three days. whomever (correct usage--object of a preposition--though i'm not following the dumb rule that you can't end a sentence with one) it belongs to needs to find a new alarm that isn't so sensitive. what could be setting it off all the time? the wind?)

anyway. i've been reading a lot, as is my custom, and all of the books have been quality pieces. also, for some reason, a lot of them have been multiple perspective narratives, for some reason, which is respectable, because i think those are generally harder to write well. the last few books i've read have also, appropriately, focused a little bit on writing. i'm almost done with the help by kathryn stockett, and one of the characters writes her prayers everyday, mostly so she would be able to continue her education after leaving school. but all that writing throughout her life has actually made her an eloquent and honest writer.

the other day i finished the distant hours by kate morton. i'm kind of in love with her style. she is a beautiful writer, though, after reading all three of her novels, i am noticing a lot of similarities that i'm not sure are totally healthy. but anyway. the whole story centers on writing and storytelling, and one character learns that good writing is often simply writing what you see and describing the way you experience things.

i guess all of this is just to say that i've got the writing bug again. i tried it a few years ago and it didn't work, but i just keep going back to it. writing is something i'm passionate about, though not always in the academic sense (obviously), and i think i really need to give the old college try. (i think that's the first time i've ever used that phrase in seriousness.) good thing i'm already registered for a creative writing workshop :)

i'm seeing a pattern

so, i recently joined this fairly new site, pinterest. i'm not sure how to describe it except as a style and idea clipboard. you "pin" the pictures and ideas you like into "pinboards" for different categories. like i have one for a future wedding and one for things that depict my style right now. i guess pinterest is just a place to keep all your inspiration together and to find more cool things. i also have boards for future art projects and yummy-looking things to try sometime.
anyway. i've realized that there are some things that i'm definitely obsessed with, because every time i see them i either pin them or think, ooh, that is so great. i love it.
for example:

florals

purple

sparkles

 

     black and white

teal

grey and yellow

lanterns/umbrellas

peonies/ranunculus

damask and toile

 if only i could actually have all of this stuff instead of just looking at it longingly. like i said, people put up a bunch of recipes and craft projects on pinterest, though, so i am getting some practical use out of it. i think tonight i'm going to make a chick-fil-a chicken tenders using a recipe i pinned to my "make it" board. and, i guess even if i can't have all of these amazing things, at least i can identify what i like and what i don't. then, maybe someday.

not just for swedish meatballs...

ikea is awesome. maybe a little overwhelming sometimes, but still awesome.
i have this thing where when i move into a new place, i don't feel totally comfortable or settled until i have places to put everything. for some reason the stuff i have already is never sufficient. i usually look around at walmart or target or maybe even the DI, but inevitably they don't have what i need. this means we need to plan...an IKEA TRIP! because you kind of have to make an event of it. you don't just run into ikea for one or two things and then run back out.
anyway, when i moved into a new apartment about a month ago, i went through this cycle once more. don't have enough storage capability, try target and DI, fail to find what i'm looking for, remember that ikea is the furniture and storage mecca, make plans for a day trip to the draper store.
this time, i wanted to find some taller bookshelves to fit in a narrow space, a light fixture to go by my bed, and a little set of storage drawers to go under the desk in my room, which oddly has no such storage. and, i hit paydirt. i found exactly what i wanted, with the added benefit of style. ikea is all about style and functionality, which is something that i can appreciate. i love love love buying things from ikea because i know i will be thoroughly satisfied with them. my little bedside lamp is beautiful, and both sets of shelves were easy to assemble and work perfectly for what i needed to stow somewhere. and further proof that the geniuses at ikea think of everything: when i was putting together the bookshelf that now resides next to my bed, i realized that there was a piece cut out at the base to fit over the baseboard so the shelf can rest flush with the wall. no risk of a top heavy bookcase falling over on you! so great!
and i even found this great set of tupperware that was like a million pieces for about three bucks. and i got another cool desk lamp that was relatively inexpensive. and really pretty napkins.
so, i consider my lesson learned. when it comes to my home furnishing and decorganization needs, i shouldn't fool around with amateurs. just go straight to ikea, where you not only get what you're looking for, you get an experience. and you can even get lunch.

it's about time

so, i've been pushing for a new computer for awhile now. i've had my computer since i graduated from high school, and five years is like thirty years in computer age.
my thirst for a new computer was really piqued when i saw this little beauty on walmart.com

i still love it so much. the keys are purple, too. the watercolor, the flowers, the colors. i love it.
but, i let it slip through my fingers. by the time i was serious about getting a new laptop (well, really, by the time my dad was serious about helping me get a new laptop), walmart was all out. alas, i had to start thinking about other options.

so, after some comparison of features, price, and appearance (really the most important thing to me...dad disagrees), we decided on this lovely machine:

the picture is a little blurry, but basically it's a slick charcoal grey. i'm debating whether i want to get a skin to jazz it up a bit. but it is so nice to have everything updated--windows 7, webcam, soon i'll have office 2010. i'm dying to use powerpoint 2010 for my summer lesson plans.


so, thanks for the new computer, dad! i love it!

only in dreams

this is a topic that has been discussed for centuries, so perhaps it is trite to bring it up now. but it's something that continues to fascinate me.

so, onward. to dreams.

what is the deal with dreams? there is still so much we don't know about our brains and, i think by extension, our subconscious. i'm not sure how we are ever going to know more about the subconscious, since the very word suggests it is below our ability to know. however, it is kind of amazing to me that people are still trying to figure this stuff out after so long. but what, if anything, do dreams mean? why do recurring dreams happen? how come sometimes i dream and sometimes i don't? it's perplexing.

i was telling my mom the other day about how i have dreams (more like nightmares) fairly often about not being able to pack properly. like i can't get everything in my suitcase or everyone is getting ready to leave and i don't have all my stuff packed. it makes me super anxious. usually i wake up and my heart is racing. what is the psychology behind that? i just looked it up, and this website says that dreams about packing, unpacking, and repacking represent chaos in my life. i need to resolve my unfinished business. hmmm. i'll have to think on that one.

sometimes i have dreams about the boys i like, which confuses me. that's the thing about dreams--nobody knows why they happen. according to wikipedia, the fount of all knowledge, some people go the simple physiological route--dreams are just results of some neurological processes still happening as we are asleep. some people (notably, freud) think it's psychological--our dreams are a reflection of our deepest, darkest subconscious desires. but still others give dreams a spiritual meaning, arguing that dreams are messages from god. so, if i'm literally dreaming about a boy, why? are dreams necessarily premonitions, or visions, the more common term in the lds religion? i think no, but how do you know if some are? maybe you just KNOW, like, hey, this seems more legit than that dream where i was sitting in the washing machine looking at the stars.

i guess i still can't come to any real conclusions about dreams and what they really mean. i can speculate all i want, but i think weird dreams are just a part of life. so thanks for letting me talk it out :)

here's are some parting thoughts about dreams and visions. and stevie. (sorry for the picture delay at the beginning)