the cannon center.

today, i went to the cannon center. :) i have never been there before. i couldn't have asked for a better first experience. 

the cannon center is a wonderful all you can eat establishment on campus. it is notorious for: being the reason behind the freshman fifteen, the best chocolate milk in-town, and  chicken cordon bleu sundays. i have heard a zillion good things about this eatery, but i never really put forth the effort to go. 

part of me didn't want to because of the whole all you can eat bit...i never feel like i eat enough and that i shouldn't leave without trying everything. i hate that feeling because for years i have been working on my relationship with food, and being content with feeling full.  additionally, i didn't want to go there by myself and since mostly freshman frequent this place it is hard to find friends that want to go. another concern for me is price: will it be worth it? plus, if you never experience something you don't have to form opinions about it and i seemed happy with my comment "oh! i've never been, but i've heard only good things." with all the wonderful things i had heard i was always worried that the cannon center wouldn't live up to its reputation. 

i'm so glad i went to the cannon center today. it was a spontaneous choice. i was going to just get a 99 cent taco from taco bell, but then mr. fisher's best friend mr. fields offered to treat us to lunch, which was so kind of him. thank you mr. fields! we went to the cannon and it was better than i'd ever imagined. it was brightly decorated and clean. there were so many food options. i had ravioli, lemon jello, a maple bar, strawberries, kiwi, honeydew, grapes, curly fries, orange-guava juice, chocolate milk...i'll admit not my healthiest meal, but not my most unhealthiest meal either. everything was tasty! the atmosphere was pleasant and the conversation with friends: fabulous. all and all way better than a taco.

15. the commons at the cannon center. 

still awake.

really?!? 4:50     this is a time that should only be seen in the afternoons. not before i've fallen asleep. seriously i almost went to sleep hours ago, but i'm kinda glad i didn't. i mean i'm not trilled that i'm still awake and that i need to get up in three hours. but i'm really glad that i stayed awake. if that makes sense. for those of you that merely think i am insane and don't know me well enough to know that i am truly odd and possibly crazy in that lovable sort of way, i'll explain: i did not stay up just for the sake of staying awake until this ridiculous hour. i was talking with mr. smith, and our conversation was so riveting and just fun that somehow the hours just kept passing by with out me noticing. 

anyways, i'm finally starting to yawn and my eye lids are getting real droopy...so...good morning, and good night. i hope i sleep well the next few hours. lets just say i'm just really glad today is sunday because that means i can get in a good little afternoon nap. 

14. long talks with a good friend, even if you should be sleeping.

a wonderful wednesday.

293th day of the year. october 20th. wednesday. yesterday. 

a little after 12:00am a good friend called me. i haven't been able to talk to smith for over two years. it was so good to hear his voice. :)) i really missed him. 

i went to sleep 2ish and slept really well, but i forgot to blow dry my hair before falling asleep. i got to sleep in which is always great :]

when i woke up, my hair looked...umm...special...but the moment i parted it was perfect! like way cuter than any day i try to do it cute. seriously less than two seconds of effort and done. i know this shouldn't matter, but a good hair day just does.

i wore casual clothes, and i looked and felt super cute. 

peanut butter, oj, candy corn: just a few of the delicious things i had. 

class was optional. i chose not to go and to study for my sociology midterm, and one of my favorite people noticed i wasn't there and texted me that they miss me. it is so nice to be missed, it is validating. 

after studying i was on my way to an important meeting and i ran into carter, who i haven't seen in a year, we caught up a bit on each other's lives. for awhile he was like a big bro to me and it was good to see him. 

the meeting was awesome and a lot of issues that have been bothering me for the past week were resolved. afterwords, i got to take a survey that took me maybe ten minutes and i was given $20. that is good money.

aced my sociology midterm! and got my final grade for kayaking, i got an a. :D

it was checo's birthday. i love that girl. i hope her day was even more wonderful than mine. we exchanged texts. i miss us chatting, so a birthday was a good reason to leave her a cheesy happy birthday song message on her phone that i hope made her smile. 

i talked to my babycakes for a few seconds. she didn't feel well, which made me sad, but it was still good to hear her voice. also spoke with the parentals. 

got some new music from itunes.

slider with cheese and green beans fo dinna. one of my favorite meals. 

ms. isaacson called me, she is always fun to talk to. 

ms. stovall brought me homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. those of you that know her, know she is an amazing cook and baker. i was blessed to receive those cookies, they were so yummy! we caught up on each other's lives, she recently started a new relationship. i am so happy for her, it sounds like her and her boy are perfect for each other. it is so cute to see someone in like. 

caught up on all my emails. 

two different foreign men told me I have beautiful lips, it was a tad awkward to receive that compliment, but i loved hearing it all the same. 
watched some psych. love that show, so funny!
my nail polish looked great! green on one hand, pink on the other.
chatted with some of my favorite peoples on facebook, you know who you are. i also got some cute comments on facebook...i love comments.
was about to fall asleep then brown called :) we talked and twas really good. 
around midnight smith called. :) he fell asleep while i was talking, again. silly boy. 
drank a sip of water and went to sleep


basically best wednesday ever!
well... besides the wednesday i was born on... maybe.


13. simple things that make your day, sometimes they happen all in one day. 

toy story 3 in 3D

i know i'm silly, 
but at 2am i couldn't help it

it is odd and wonderful how somethings turn out way better than you could have imagined. like: i had no plans for my friday night, so i thought i would end up bored and go to sleep after some dull studying. and: i am not a big fan of sequels; most are, in my opinion, awful. so, naturally i did not want to see toy story 3. i will admit when i am wrong and i was wrong about both. my night rocked! and it was largely due to the fact that after many good reviews from critics and friends alike, i changed my mind and really really really wanted to see toy story 3. six months and four attempts later, i can now say i’ve seen toy story 3 :))

i went with two great friend’s of mine and it was everything i had hoped for and more. excellent story line, adventurous, good music, bright colors,  touching, hilarious, entertaining, original voice cast, et cetera. we got to see it in 3D because it was playing at the local dollar theatre. i love dollar theaters (even if they aren’t really a dollar anymores). anyways 3D normally gives me a bit of a headache but it was a nice touch with this movie. so...i think i should just go ahead and say after tonight i would say that toy story 3 is a must-see. 

the remains of tonight’s events:

smoshed snickers bar in my right pocket

the ever so slimming 3D glasses on my face

toy story 3 ticket stub

half full ubber expensive dasani water bottle

and 

gratification that i played guitar hero and i wasn’t too shabby.

it was a good night. 

12. dollar theatre movie nights and chillin with friends afterwords. 

don't get me mad near breakables.

i walked away pissed. angry. un-happy. originally i didn’t know why and clarity didn’t really come for about two hours. i stormed about campus, so jittery and upset that i couldn’t stay still. i even had to fight (several times) the urge to slam my phone into the pavement and the urge to punch a building. 

so i did the only thing i could think to do...call a good friend of mine. she is a living breathing princess giselle from the movie enchanted. ms. isaacson is always happy and being upset around her is totally pointless. she was wonderfully and at the same time sickly happy. if misery loves company, then misery hates her. although i did break a branch off a unsuspecting tree (ok it was really a dead twig that might have already been detached that i just happen to smack down) while i was chillin with her. i sorta feel bad for that tree...but it did scratch my hand, so maybe we're equal? 

turns out i'm an entertaining upset person. i tend to yell at the world and cause a bit of a spectacle. a few people smiled and gawked at my anger. one guy in particular smiled so friggin big and nearly giggled when i informed him "don't mind me i'm just angry" while throwing my bag around haphazardly. i'm sure i looked like a crazy person, and having ms. isaacson at my side giggling and enjoying every moment of my madness didn't help my lunatic image. 

all i really wanted to do was find a porcelain anything and smash it and then sweep it up. the best i could find was a flyer that i ripped to bits dropped on the ground, picked up and threw away. 

it is the first time in three years, i've been that angry and now that i'm over it there is no point even stating why. 

11. get angry. 

kayaking.

as a college student, one occasionally gets to take a random fun class, this semester i am taking kayaking!! it is the coolest class ever. basically you show up paddle around for a few hours and practice rolling and rescue techniques if you feel like it. all in all we have a grand ole time kayaking at the local lake. unfortunately, today was the last day of my kayaking class and when things come to an end i tend to think of the beginning. 

bapa and i, on the oh-chin

the first time i ever went kayaking: the summer of 2009. my dad and i went with a tour group out on the pacific ocean. we were in a green tandem sea kayak, we paddled, had a blast, and even ate fresh kelp.  oh how i love thee fresh sea kelp. :]

the first time i kayaked with this class was the pool day. this was a few weeks ago...but it was a moment of self awesomeness. everyone met at the pool and the professor had a few kayaks brought in for us to practice with. the point of pool day was for us to learn the basics in a relatively safe environment. but it wasn’t what happen during pool day that was memorable for me. 

first off you need to know i am a sucker for rules. if there is a rules board, or list of rules i will read all of them and i will follow it to the t (until i learn that no one else does then i might ignore a few). i had never been to this pool and so i followed the pool rules no questions asked. some of the ones i remember: 

pool rules:

-no street shoes

-shower before entering the pool area

-females should be wearing one piece swimsuits 

i’m sure there were a few other rules, but they are not important to the story. anyways... i wore my uber attractive reversible one piece, took off my shoes, showered, grabbed my towel, and walked out to the pool area. which would have been totally fine and i wouldn’t even remember doing so it if hadn’t been for the fact that as i looked across the ridiculously long walk way between the two olympic sized pools i saw all the members of my class sitting in street clothes, wearing shoes, and not one ounce wet. for a spilt second i frozen in place. not enough for anyone but myself to notice, but i freaked out just a bit on the inside. there i was dripping wet, cold, bare foot, and i feel it is important for you to know that i am not a thin girl. yet, i kept walking. i made the conscious decision not to be embarrassed. as it turns out, that is not the easiest choice when a group of people fully clothed people are watching you an over-weight girl walk in a just a bathing suit. about half way down the walk way the confident wonderful carefree part of myself (that took a vacation for my teen years), spoke up and said: this is who you are, you are beautiful and confident just the way you are, you may be cold, you are wet, and you are the only one in their swim suit, but you will survive. all of these people would be just as scared to be walking with your bare-feet as you are, duh! or they wouldn’t be fully clothed at the pool. everyone will get wet at some point and you just happen to be the first one. you love rules and you followed them, go you girl! the only person here who can judge you or make you feel uncomfortable is you. so stand up straight, walk with confidence, this is your body you are blessed to have it. never be ashamed. my inner pep talk resounded as i joined the group wet and confident. pool day was great!

i love being in water: pools, lakes, rivers, oceans. this class helped me improve not only my kayaking skills, but to practice being more confident and comfortable with myself and enjoy what i love. when you find those things you love to do there is no greater feeling in the world. you will do whatever it takes to enjoy those moments, even wear goofy lookin spray skirts and a pfd. today, was the windiest day out on the lake. the water was bumpy and cold and the waves had white caps. there was a cold fall breeze in the air and kayaking class was optional. but it was the last day and i wouldn't have missed it no matter what. today was the best day! being one with kayak paddling through waves and surfing out the other side. lake spray hitting my face as i crashed down on the next wave. and feeling stronger than ever, after weeks of practice it was great just to have fun and kayak for no reason other than the mere fact that i could.

10. Kayaking. 

toes in creek.

here is how the story ends: i slipped each shoe off, dipped both feet in for a few seconds, put my shoes back on and finished walking. 

everyday i walk to and from class, and recently there is a new wonderful addition to the scenery of this walk. a creek. it like all bodies of water calls out to me: "come play with me!" 
so today i listened. :))


9.  stop to dip your feet in the creek. 

don't stop to smell the roses, well unless you love roses.

j dawgs and panda.

tuesday, i got a free j dawg. for those of you who don’t know what j dawgs is it is the only place to get a delicious  hot dog (check out the review link below, so you don't have to just take my word for it). each dog is beautifully grilled, comes with the special j dawgs' sauce, and your choice of toppings all on a fresh baked bun. it was yummy :] and totally worth waiting in line for.

 do you ever feel like your life is awesome after you’ve received free food? i totally do! i often show it off like a proud mother would her new born babe. “look! i totally got this scrumptious sustenance...for freeeeee!!! isn’t it beautiful? and to think i only had to stand in line for a half hour to get it. i totally recommend next time there is a free food line that you should stand in it, so that you could have such a marvelous meal like me,” except i’m pretty sure most mother’s don’t wanna eat their child. 

and my wonderful day of free foods didn’t end there, i also got free panda for dinner :] i’m grateful for simply wonderful free things in my life and tuesday was filled with them. 

8. free food: it don’t cost monies. why this is a good thing? that should be self explanatory: i like to keep my monies and i need to eat. win. win. 'nough said.

(http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/54/1415731/restaurant/Salt-Lake-City/J-Dawgs-Provo)

i'm gonna go make me a pb&j now...chyes!

home.

it’s 6:04a.m. pacific standard time. i just dropped my little sister off at seminary, and i leave for the airport in a couple hours. it’s been a good weekend. i’m ready to head back home. i’m glad i came home. 

7. heading home from home because it’s completely possible to have two :) .

an airport experience.

warning: this is a long post, but i believe it is a story worth telling. 

so...thursday i get the crazy idea of flying home for the weekend. ha ha ha i just imagined myself literally flying the 500+ miles back to my parentals’ house, arms flapping and everything. there were about a dozen reasons why this was the perfect weekend to go back for a visit. still, it was a huge decision for me, whether or not i should go. which is why i am so grateful to my family and friends who helped me to choose. i decided to go and late thursday night i bought a plane ticket for last night. 

i left with plenty of time to get to the airport for my 5:15p.m. flight or so i thought. normally, i would have arrived at the airport around 4 o clock, but not yesterday. no...of course not. i was raised to be on time or early to everything, especially flights. i started to freak out at 4:15 when i was still in bumper to bumper-going 3mph-traffic, and the airport exit was no where in sight. there is never a moment when i feel more trapped, angry, worried, frustrated, sad, and about to burst into hysteria, then when i am late for an unforeseeable reason.

i finally got to the airport at about 4:34 or so. but, i drove myself. i’ve never done this before, i usually find a ride out there and get dropped off right at the correct concourse. well....i don’t know if you’ve ever gone and parked your car in the economy lot at an airport, but they are about a million miles away from any airport. after i parked my car on the pavement desert, i started for the airport with all my bags. i could see that there was no way i’d make it to the airport alive if i had to walk there. the heat, my totally cute but impractical three inch high boots, and overall lack of water because i didn’t bring a water bottle just so the t.s.a. people could confiscated it, convince me i will die in this parking lot. hopeful to live: i look around for some sort of shuttle service. fortunately, this airport had a bus system and i wasn’t parked too far away from one of the pick up spots. 

just as i am about to get to the pick up zone 3, the bus pulls up, and for a spilt second i thought i wasn’t going to make it. don’t worry, i made it just fine the bus driver was kind and waited. its now about 4:46. i am sincerely worried i won’t make my flight, so i call the airline and i’m assured if i don’t make this flight i can board the next one 5 hours later. i’m not trilled about that idea; but now i can at least breathe again cause there is a plan b. after what seemed like a billion years the bus arrives at my stop. 

i literally run off the bus and rush to the airline baggage check-in. i pray because i’m so grateful there is no line. after the wonderful airline woman finishes her cute story about her new shoes with her co-workers she hands me my late check tag for my bag and a few papers. i ask if it’s my boarding pass, and when i’m assured i have everything i need, i run rush to drop off my bag and head to the t.s.a. check point. again i feel like the luckiest late girl in the world there is no line at the security check point. :) but after riffling through my papers, i see that the airline gal did not give me my boarding pass. i run (actually run, in my boots) again back to the airline station, grab my boarding pass and jog breathlessly back to security. 

it’s about 4:59 when i finally get to the front of the security line, again. only...you see this time there was a line of about 20 people.  i have only about 11 minutes before the plane is going to pull away from the gate. in-front of me in line is an elderly foreign woman who is clearly very confused by the process. i try not to get frustrated because my things are in the appropriate bins and on the conveyor belt just waiting for her to finish. i debate asking her if i could go first, but then i realize that if i miss my flight it won’t be her fault. i’m overwhelmed with compassion for her and i don’t want to make this experience anymore confusing for her. after a few minutes i get to the other side. 

so there i am shoving my laptop back into my bag, and throwing all loose items into the same bag. in a spilt second i realize i do not have time to put my boots back on. at this point i’m really glad that i have chosen to wear my knee high orange tye-dye socks...umm...not. i look at the airport clock: 5:06 pm. i run.

anyone that knows me at all knows i don’t run. i’ve already ran to and fro the airline baggage area and now i’m running up an escalator, down a hall, into the b terminal. i start to slow down because i’m in the correct terminal so i can’t be too far away from my gate, also because i’m huffing, puffing, wheezing, slipping on the tile floor in my orange socks, and i’m getting strange looks by guys from a basketball team that are walking around the terminal. i feel like i’m about to die and i swear that there are little black spots showing up in my vision. you can understand why i don’t run.

well as it turns out i looked down the terminal and it only went to b9 and my gate was b21. i about had a heart attack either from the panic that i had gone down the wrong hall or possibly from the after effects of running. at this same moment i hear “attention all passengers on flight 1270, leaving at 5:15, from gate b21, we are boarding all passengers, flight 1270 at gate b21: this is the last call.” i have two choices: give up, take the later flight...chilling in airports can be fun, but i won’t make it home in time for the homecoming event and my sister is a princess...or run around aimlessly hoping i magically find my non-existed gate. i’m about to ask the muggles where nine and three quarters is, when i see a beautifully lit sign that read: “b11-b22 downstairs to the left.” i take the sign as a message from god to try. i run to the downstairs area. i run down the escalator, i run down the hall, run past the twists and turns, and run around the starbucks, and i finally see b21.

as i run to b21 it looks i’m too late. the flight info for the next two flights are up on the screen. i skid to a stop and am about to ask if i missed my flight, but i’m so out of breath i can’t talk. then, the fabulous airline lady said the most amazing thing: “are you jeannette?” i nod yes. “well you made it just in time, didn’t you sweetie, haha oh and in orange stockings and all :)” i hand her my boarding pass which i didn’t realize until that moment i’m death gripping. she takes the crumpled sweaty mess and tells me to go ahead and board. 

i casually board and i’m greeted warmly by everyone. i sit down and take a much need deep breath. i’m overwhelmed with peace. i know i tried my hardest and i made it; i’m going home. 


6. running aka trying your hardest even when it seems you have no hope