July Playlist

When I'm not interviewing someone or writing an article, I'm usually in the studio jamming out to music and saying nonsense into a microphone. I'm a radio deejay on a Top 40 station called Utah's VFX (94.5 & 98.3). Since I'm obviously passionate about music, I thought it would be a fun thing to incorporate it into my personal blog. I'm going to start putting together a month-by-month playlist of some songs that I'm loving! ALSO, even though I'm a deejay on a Top 40 station, I feel like I have pretty diverse taste in music. I love all kinds of genres from all different eras. Like, if you didn't know, I'm a huge 80s big hair band fan. My parents' taste in music may or may not have rubbed off on me ;). Without further ado, here is a list of songs that I will probably be listening to nonstop through the month of July!

July Playlist 

1. Let You Go - The Chainsmokers (feat. Great Good Fine Ok)

I'm obsessed to say the least. For me, this is one of those songs that I just get a natural high from. I crank up the volume in my car when it comes on and I just feel invincible. Definitely a fun one to run to as well. Add it to your workout playlist. 

2. Motorcycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind

Third Eye Blind Radio is probably my top played station on Pandora. I love me some Third Eye Blind. And I think this song is super underrated. When I listen to it, I feel sad but also really hopeful. "I've never been so alone, but I've never been so alive." I'm a sucker for good lyrics, fyi. 

3. Warriors - The Str!ke 

The Str!ke is a band based out of Provo, Utah. I'd heard of them before but just never taken the time to listen to any of their music. Boy, that was a mistake. They put on an outdoor concert during Summerfest here in Logan a few weekends ago. Brian and I jammed out to their music the entire time. Warriors was our favorite of the night. 

4. Thunderstruck - AC/DC  

If you don't approve of this song, I'm seriously worried about you. Another one for the workout mix. 

5. Fire Under My Feet - Leona Lewis 

Leona disappeared for a little while. She recently came back with this single and it is catchy, upbeat and full of soul. Another one from my running playlist. My music of choice lately is anything that motivates me to run because, hello, I'm training for a marathon (I'm crazy). 

6. Definitely Maybe - FM Static 

This was a favorite of mine from my high school days, and I just recently rediscovered it. The desperate cry of a man trying to win over the girl who has a jerk for a boyfriend. Sad situation, but really fun song. My favorite line: "I saw what really happened all those times he went for water, when we were at the movie theater watching Harry Potter."  

7. New Romantics - Taylor Swift 

I'll never understand how this song only made it on the 1989 album as an extra. It's one of my favorites from her new stuff. I love the techno/80s feel it has and the lyrics are so smart (but smart lyrics are kinda Taylor's forte). Favorite line: "Baby, I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me." 

8. I Need Your Love - Shaggy (feat. Mohombi, Faydee & Costi) 

This song screams summer for me. And every time it comes on while driving, I instantly start car dancing. Another good running song.

9. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac 

Give me this song, a swimsuit, a body of water, and a package of Chips Ahoy cookies already. I'm a big fan of Fleetwood Mac, especially this song as of late. 

10. Ship To Wreck - Florence + The Machine 

When the new Florence + The Machine album came out, I immediately bought it. I've had a girl crush on Florence for years now. I think her voice is incredible. This song is one of my favorites off the new album. Listen to it. Now. 

Hope you had a terrific July 4th weekend. I spent mine barbecuing with family, watching several firework shows, going down a giant slip 'n slide, and paddle boarding to my little heart's content. 

  

Current Events

Current mood: Restless. It might be the change in the weather, and now I'm just wanting summer and to be outside always. It might be the fact that I know I'm going on vacation in a month. I don't know what exactly it is . . . but I'm feeling restless to the point of losing my mind.

Current project: Brian and I made a headboard for our bed over the weekend. Fine, Brian made the headboard and I told him what I wanted it to look like. That husband is mega talented. I love that I get to benefit from his skills. I'm so in love with our bedroom. I'm actually excited to make the bed and put laundry away nowadays because the room just looks so darn good when it's clean. It's crazy how putting forth a little effort on something can change your perspective. I kind of hated our bedroom before. Now, after a couple Saturdays of projects, it's my favorite room in our bungalow.

The headboard has lights behind it too. Here's a photo to show that off . . . but just know it's much cooler in person.

Currently craving: Chick-fil-A!! I wanted those nuggets and that Polynesian sauce very badly for lunch today. But I resisted and had a hard boiled egg instead. Still can't get those waffle fries and a Cherry Coke off my mind though. Why does all the good tasting food have to be so bad for you?

Currently reading: Flygirl by Sherri L Smith. I bought this book on a total whim. It was used (but still in stellar condition) and only cost $3. It's truly a treasure and one I'm glad to have on my bookshelf. I have an obsession with books set around WWII time. The story follows a black girl who passes for white so she can join the WASP organization. It's absolutely crazy to me that people were and still are treated differently because of skin color. This book has also made me extra grateful for the women who came before me who were brave enough to follow their dreams (in a time when it wasn't so popular for women to do so).

Currently watching: I don't watch much television. Yesterday I made the mistake of turning it on when I got home from work, only to discover a marathon of America's Next Top Model was on. I immediately got sucked in and watched three episodes. I cleaned my kitchen during commercial breaks so it aint all bad.

Current tunes: I've been on a late 90s/early 2000s kick. Third Eye Blind radio on Pandora has been my jam lately. Like the rest of the world, I'm also obsessed with Uptown Funk.

Currently looking forward to: Our big vacation to THAILAND!! I cannot wait to kiss an elephant. Not looking forward to that looooong flight though. Hopefully I'll get some reading and writing done.

Currently wearing: Combat boots, grey jeans, grey shirt, and a maroon button-up . . . complete with a baseball cap. I'm real classy casual today.

Currently eating: I've been eating yogurt with granola mixed in every morning like it's my job. Freaking delicious.

Currently loving: My new hair for spring, courtesy of my lovely cousin, Megan. She did such a rocking job. I'm obsessed. I'm also loving this spring weather. Going outside and hearing birds chirping makes my heart so happy. They've been eating out of our bird feeder like mad lately. It's fine, I'm just sort of a crazy bird woman.

Currently wanting: A bengal cat. Google them and you'll want one too.

Currently missing: My little bro. I'm ready for him to come home from his mission already. I know he's doing great and important work, but I'm just getting antsy to hug him, argue with him, and laugh with him again. It's going to be awesome having him in Logan with me this fall.

Currently avoiding: Cleaning my office. It's bad, guys.

Currently trying: To go to bed earlier (so I can get my butt out of bed earlier), to drink more water, and to communicate more with the Man Upstairs.

Truth Tuesday

• I've only listened to Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" a million and one times. So maybe old Ed isn't the most drop-dead gorgeous man on the block, but whatever girl snags him up is a lucky woman. Holy smokes, he's romantic. And he adopts cats from animal shelters . . . major bonus. 

• When we originally bought our house, I thought it was beyond charming that it had a fireplace. However, I didn't know how much we'd actually use the fireplace. Turns out we use it a lot in the winter months (at least when there is no inversion). Last night, there was this wonderful snowstorm going on and so Brian lit a big old fire. Sitting near a fire is one of the most soothing things. We had all the lights off, so the orange glow of the fire was the only light we had. I listened to those flames crackle and watched them reflect and dance across our ceiling for a lengthy amount of time last night. It was the best.  

• I wouldn't mind going on vacation for a solid month. Just saying. I probably shouldn't be saying that right after the holidays. Didn't I have a long enough break from real life?

• Brian and I somehow just managed to find out that movies at the theater are cheaper on Tuesdays. Why didn't we know this sooner? I'm a little embarrassed to admit this . . . but tonight we went and saw "Taken 3". I can't help that I love watching Liam Neeson be a bad a**.

• I've never been too obsessed with board games or card games until lately. I can't get enough game nights, man. Lately I've been loving Spot It and Scattergories. If you want a good laugh, you should play Scattergories with my dad. If you get offended easily . . . then don't play Scattergories with my dad. 

• I bought a couple fake ear cuffs that I've been wearing on repeat. I really like the look and it's nice because I don't have to commit to getting a second piercing in my ear that I'd probably end up sick of in a few months. And to be honest, I like feeling a little rebellious. I'm Mormon, so a lot of us don't have tons of body piercings. So yeah, I sort of like tricking my friends into thinking I got a second piercing. I'm obviously easily entertained.  

Now here are some random photos of life to end this nonsense. Sadly, I'm not wearing my ear cuff in any of them:

Never Grow Up

I've been on a Taylor Swift kick lately . . . like the rest of the world. I've loved Taylor though from day one. I remember the first time I heard her. My friend had just bought her first album. I was in high school. We were cruising down the highway in her jeep, wind snaking through our hair, when she cranked up the volume. Young Taylor crooned "Tim Mcgraw" and I was instantly in love.

Fast forward to her "Speak Now" album and I was in even more love. I listened to that album over and over again. I was now a student at Utah State University. I listened to Taylor on my way to classes, while I did homework, while I did laundry, while I cooked. You name it, I was probably listening to T-Swift.

Believe it or not, this post isn't actually about Taylor Swift at all (even though I'm obsessed). This post is about my little sisters.

One day when I was driving home from campus, I had Taylor's "Speak Now" album playing in my van (yes, this was back before my beloved van broke down). I think I was already in a melancholy mood, thinking about how much homework I had and how much I wished I could be five again. That's when the song "Never Grow Up" came on.

The lyrics hit home for me. I felt like it was me speaking to my two little sisters. The first verse reminded me of my baby sister, Chloe. She was little and goofy, and I never wanted that to change. The second verse talked about wanting to grow up and call your own shots, and I instantly thought of my sister, Lexi. She was, at the time, barely a teenager (and developing the attitude of one). She had always been Miss Independent. The third verse was about me. Imagining my dad getting home from work and playing with my little brother, and wishing I could go back to those simpler times. Everyone always claims they relate to Taylor's songs, right? Usually it's a song about heartbreak or love. For me, in that moment of driving home alone, "Never Grow Up" was my song. I didn't want my siblings to grow up. I wanted them to stay young and innocent. I didn't want to watch my parents grow older. I didn't want to grow older either.

As I got lost in the lyrics, I realized I was crying. What the? I pulled in my parking spot at our townhouse and just had a good pathetic sob over my steering wheel. Growing up can be tough stuff sometimes.

Well, since that day, I still haven't figured out how to keep my sisters little. Chloe is now 12 and Lexi is 16. Sometimes it's still weird to think they're that old and sometimes I still get sad about it. Sometimes I get lost in memories of holding them when they were babies, rubbing my cheek against their fuzzy and small heads. But now they're big. No longer babies. Lexi is dating boys now. She recently went to her first Homecoming dance. She looked gorgeous and grown up in her dress, with her hair all curled and pinned up. She let me do her makeup. Chloe is in middle school now, and she's going through that weird stage of not being a little girl anymore and trying to figure out how to be a young woman. Sometimes I catch her talking about boys. One day she was bragging to me about how an 8th grader asked her, a 6th grader, to wear his football jersey. Then she quickly wiped the grin off her face and said, "I don't care though. I don't like boys." Yeah, we'll see about that.

And even though I sometimes still get sad that my little sisters aren't so little anymore, I have to admit that they're in super fun stages right now. Now that they are getting older and more mature, we act less like siblings and more like friends. I mean, Lexi is basically the only person I ever Snap Chat.

 

These photos are from the summer when my sisters slept over at my house. We set up a projector and played "Just Dance" outside. We also had a fire and stuffed ourselves with chips, hot dogs, and s'mores. Then we fell asleep in the tent. It was the absolute best night, one of those that leaves you feeling good for weeks.

Growing up is not always fun, but I think there's definitely more good than bad. I'm learning that there is beauty to each stage of life . . . and I really love the stage I'm at right now (and the people who are around to enjoy it with me). 

Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift 

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
No, no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off
At 14, there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots

But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she's getting older, too
And don't lose the way that you dance around
In your PJs getting ready for school

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

No one's ever burned you
Nothing's ever left you scarred
And even though you want to
Just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs

I just realized everything I have
Is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up

Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even though you want to
Please try to never grow up

Don't you ever grow up
(Never grow up)
Just never grow up

Truth Tuesday

• I get way too invested in whatever book I'm currently reading. I read a book a few years ago called "The Beast in the Garden". It's a true story about how mountain lions started attacking people in a town in Colorado. I almost gave up my love for hiking. But I couldn't do that, so now I just make sure that we always carry a gun while exploring mountains. I recently finished "The Fault In Our Stars". Now I'm really paranoid that I'm going to have cancer . . . or that someone I love is going to get cancer. I need to take a chill pill. 

• I have a new obsession with purple lipstick. 

• I have a goal to sleep outside for a consecutive week this summer. 

• Every time I go trail running or just take Munch for a walk up the canyon, I see mountain bikers speeding past me and then I get really jealous because . . . I hate riding bikes . . . but I want myself to like it so badly. It always looks like a blast. But then anytime I get on a bike, it's just treacherous. I don't think my butt was built for sitting on those awfully uncomfortable bike seats.

• I secretly get happy anytime Justin Bieber's "Baby" comes on the radio. Shhhh, don't tell.

• This morning, I asked Brian if he ever gets sad that the 80s are over. He answered that since he didn't live for much of the 80s that no, he was okay with it, but he did get sad the 90s were over. I didn't ever live in the 80s (I was a 1990 baby) but I still miss them like I lived them. I mean, I have the perfect hair for the decade . . .   

Throwin' it back to the 80s dance my freshman year at USU. Big hair: check. Leopard pants: check. Shoulder pads: check.

Sunday Best: ELLIE G!!!

shirt: Ellie Goulding concert tour, jeans: Smith's, sneaks: Target 

Let's be real, this post has really nothing to do with what I'm wearing and everything to do with me bragging about how awesome Ellie Goulding was in concert. She was good. Sooooo, soooo good. If you ever get a chance to see the girl live, grasp on tight to that opportunity. 

Brian got us tickets to her concert for Valentine's Day (best present ever) and then at the concert I even persuaded him into buying me the rad t-shirt seen above. Sadly, I caught a terrible cold last week but that wasn't going to stop me from having a good time. So we enjoyed a night rocking out at The Great Saltair, me with a packet of tissues tucked in my vest pocket. 

When Ellie sang "Burn" toward the end of the night, this drunk guy in his forties/fifties ended up right in front of me, dancing his heart out. It wasn't even aimless drunk dancing either, he had very specific moves at every point of the song. That's when I joined in and copied all his dance moves. Then I started a trend, because at least 10 people surrounding us started copying drunk guy's dancing. It was like Just Dance on the Wii . . . but in real life.   

XO/Kelsey 

Truth Tuesday

• I'm thinking I'll make Fohawk Friday a regular thing. 

• On Friday, I tried a new soup recipe. Taco soup. Turns out the recipe I followed made enough to feed a whole army. We ate it for the next three days and even invited people over to help us finish it off. You'd think we would be sick of soup. But then we were like, "Soup feeds a lot of people. Let's make a new soup and invite our neighbor friends over." So that happened last night. BWell and I tried a chicken enchilada soup and it was great. To top off the soup party, one of our sweet neighbors brought HOMEMADE bread. And my other dear friend brought the most delicious dessert that gave me an instant sugar high. So basically, soup parties are good things. You should take part in a soup party. Find the taco soup recipe I used here and the chicken enchilada recipe here. 

• I've never seen an episode of "Breaking Bad" or "New Girl" or anything else that's cool for that matter. I don't watch much TV. 

• I interviewed a world champion arm wrestling woman yesterday. Being a journalist is my favorite thing. 

• Tomorrow will mark four years since Brian and I went on our first date. Time flies when you're having fun. 

• The best way, and basically the only way, to keep my house clean is to invite people over.

• Pink proved at the Grammy's, yet again, why she's the coolest. Her performance was probably my favorite. Taylor rocked it too . . . but you just can't beat the acrobatics while singing act. 

Shuffle

Because when I have nothing good to say, I let my music do the talking . . .

1. Elastic Heart - Sia

2. Team - Lorde

3. Life of the Party - A Rocket to the Moon

4. Your Song - Ellie Goulding 

5. The Boys of Summer - Don Henley 

6. This I Promise You - Anthem Lights

7. Heaven - Brandi Carlile 

8. Think Twice - Eve 6

9. Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce

10. Make You Feel My Love - Adele

Also, below is an amateur sketch of myself created by the husband. Talk about raw and wild talent, am I right?

   Ha ha.

Truth Tuesday

• Because it's true^^^.

• On Saturday, Brian and I were out shopping. It was snowing really hard and I was, of course, wearing boots with zero traction. As we were driving out of the parking lot, BWell pulled to the curb so I could throw some trash in a nearby garbage can. I felt the need to run to the garbage can and then run back to the car. That was a terrible idea. As I ran in front of our car, I slid, fell on the hood, then plopped on the ground. Then I couldn't get back up. When I finally managed to pull myself off the ground of the Target parking lot, I was cold, wet and a man with a beard was laughing at me. When I finally got inside the safety of the car, Brian was laughing at me too. 

• I'm attracted to older men. Like, men who are in their 50s/60s. Brian is aware of this bizarre fact and I always remind him he has so much to look forward to. 

• I realized today that people who do not know me, but listen to me on the radio while I'm deejaying probably imagine me as an obese person. The reason being, I often go off on tangents about food. I like what I like. And that's chocolate and pizza. 

• A guy who helped me through the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A discovered I was "Kelsey from VFX" and he was all starstruck. This made me feel really weird. He also managed to utter out, "I always wonder what you guys look like," so perhaps he was just surprised that I was decent looking and not 500 pounds (since I always talk about food).

• Remember "The Famous Jett Jackson" on Disney Channel? I just found out the main actor died last summer. I'm depressed about it.  

• This song is one of the saddest songs ever written. In my opinion. 

• I adore cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. 

Truth Tuesday

• I enjoyed myself thoroughly last week at Selena Gomez's concert with my mom and sisters. I shamelessly sang "Slow Down" at the top of my lungs. Also, Emblem 3 was the opening act and who knew, they have a lot of awesome songs besides "Chloe". Ironically enough, we went to this concert for my little sister, Chloe's birthday. While it was a fun girls' night, I couldn't help but think of my brother who is currently serving an LDS mission. Jace (that's my brother) has always had a huge crush on Selena Gomez. That's why I tried my best to bring a bit of Jace to the concert with us. Seriously, I crack myself up. I emailed the below pictures to him and I hope they make him laugh. We are going to start taking this cut-out of Jace with us to all major events/vacations.

• I bought orange juice recently and I had never been so happy to buy a fruity beverage. The best buy date was Christmas Day. The holidays are coming! 

• I think I've sat in our hot tub every night this week. Thank you people we bought our house from, for leaving your hot tub behind. It's being put to good use. 

• Eating applesauce makes me gag. Therefore, I don't eat applesauce. 

• For some reason, I can never take Harrison Ford seriously. He's always so stern in all his movies and it makes me laugh.

• More often than not, I forget to take the tags off my new clothes. Oops. 

• Today I told Brian I wanted a Great Gatsby-themed birthday party. He laughed and asked me if I was a 16-year-old girl. 

• One of my favorite songs of all time is "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. Don't judge. 

• I often have moments where I miss my short hair but then I brush those moments off. Well, this time I can't seem to fight it. I want to cut my hair. I mean, when I get on Pinterest and search through photos of Carey Mulligan and Michelle Williams can you really blame me? I'm open to advice. To chop or not to chop? 

Truth Tuesday

• I am quite proud of this ridiculous photo above. I arranged the heart out of the leaves that were, at the time, taking over my lawn. Then I started snapping photos. I obviously had to get my feet in the picture because, duh, that's cute or something. Then a guy drove past my fence on his bike and stared at me and I felt super ridiculous. Don't mind me, biker dude, I'm just making hearts out of piles of leaves. I'm an adult. 

• Speaking of that, today before Brian and I went to a meeting, I ran to the bathroom mirror to quickly apply lipstick and said, "Sorry, I need to put this on so I'll feel like an adult." Honestly, do you ever hit a certain point where you actually feel like an adult? I kind of hope I don't.  

• I think I like room temperature water. 

• This week, I've been feeling so overwhelmed yet so thankful all at the same time. It's a weird mixture of emotions. 

• A couple nights ago, I walked out to my driveway to get in my car and a couple was walking past on the sidewalk. They startled me. I wasn't expecting a couple to be there in the darkness strolling past my car. I jumped and I screamed. It was embarrassing. 

• I bought Snowflake Ritz Crackers at the store instead of the regular ones and it was basically the highlight of the day. 

• That was a lie. It wasn't the highlight of my day. But pretty close. 

• BWell brought home a deep fryer and now we want to deep fry everything in sight. We're Americans and that's how Americans gotta eat. Okay, I'm kidding. We actually strive to eat healthy for the most part. However, we do want to experiment. We've mostly just been making fries. So, friends, what do you like deep fried? I think I need to try some deep fried Oreos because I've never had them. 

• I'm going to Selena Gomez's concert this week. Yeah, that's totally happening. When you're ready, come and get it. 

Truth Tuesday

• Brian showed me the above picture today and said, "This is totally a Kelsey joke." I laughed and felt very proud. 

• Today, I bought a cart full of white dishes from the DI. I felt bad for the poor lady who checked me out and had to wrap them all. She probably was wishing terrible things upon me and I apologized close to 30 times. I made it home without breaking any of them. Just wait until you see what I'm going to do with them next. Having a house is fun. 

• It's very bothersome when groups of people decide to stop and chat right in the doorway of stores/restaurants. Especially the grocery store. Then there is a line of carts trying to exit and everyone gets angry real fast.

• I've been obsessing over color lately. Whenever I paint a wall or piece of furniture, I have to try and determine which color is the right choice. Then I started to get all "scientific" and read about how colors impact your mood and such. This one was an interesting read. 

• I had a peanut butter Snickers for the first time this weekend. Where have I been? They are so tasty. 

• I still haven't changed my car's clock. It's kind of nice though. Maybe I'll leave it. Every time I look at it, I go into a panic but then remember it's actually an hour earlier. Then I feel like I'm really on top of things and have all this extra time on my hands. Stupid strategy but it's working for me thus far. 

• I was finding things to talk about on the radio the other day at work. I found a story about a girl who is dying of brain cancer and wanted to do a cover of Katy Perry's "Roar". A studio recorded it and the video of the song has since gone viral. I watched it and started bawling. So there I was, crouched over my computer, sobbing at work, praying that no one would come in and talk to me. Watch and prepare to cry.  

• Last week, Luna started drooling a lot. She was acting completely normal otherwise. However, since I'm the queen of worrying, I persuaded Brian to make an appointment with the vet. I left work early to be with her and was basically afraid that if I took my eyes off of her, she would fall over and die. She quit drooling as soon as we got to the vet (of course). The vet did a physical and said she is super healthy and has really nice teeth. Also, she only weighs 6.6 pounds. The conclusion of this story is, how in the WORLD am I going to have my own children one day if I go into a panic over my cat drooling?? I'm going to be one of those awful helicopter parents. 

Truth Tuesday

• I should not be allowed to enter a dollar store unsupervised during Halloween . . . or any holiday for that matter. I went in searching for one thing and came out with a bag full of weird Halloween shenanigans. But it was only a dollar. I brought home a glow-in-the-dark skeleton, an ice tray with finger and bone shapes and Halloween stickers. I was also tempted to buy Halloween pencils and a Halloween snow globe, but I refrained. 

• Today was my last time with my Activity Day girls (it's a church group thing). Technically, I already got released and they found a person to replace me . . . but everyone was nice and let me participate one last time since I have attachment issues. Everyone came to our new house and we had a Halloween dinner. We made green Mac&Cheese and called it gopher guts. Yeah, that happened.

• Also, we are now going to our new church ward. Everyone is really nice and things are super organized. There are lots of old people who like to make jokes about how they're going to die any day now. One man told me to start having children because he wants more little kids in the ward . . . and that was about 10 seconds after we met. But all joking aside, everyone was so kind and welcoming. I think we are going to love this neighborhood.   

• It will probably take me another month or two to memorize our new address. I am the worst ever with addresses. In rural Idaho we just don't really use them. Instead of giving addresses we say, "Turn left by the old tractor and it's the blue house with the goat in the yard." 

• When I was little and I unwrapped presents, I would get super offended if anyone tried throwing the wrapping paper away. I liked to scatter it all around me (I was a super weird child). I feel like I'm being like that with the leaves falling off our trees and into our yard. Brian cleaned them up over the weekend and I was sort of upset. 

• My biggest fear is dying. I hope I just die of old age in my sleep. I have no desire to go out with a bang. 

• This morning, there was a spider in the bathtub and I washed it down the drain to its death. I feel really guilty now. 

• My current favorite song we are playing on Utah's VFX is probably this one. I know it repeats itself a lot but don't judge me, it's catchy. I'll probably be sick of it in a few more days since as a deejay you hear the same songs over and overrrrrrrrr. Hey, I'm not complaining. My job rocks.  

Shuffle

It's nice to be sitting at my own computer at home. Not only that, but I'm facing a window and the tree in my yard is making me smile. The green leaves are starting to glow yellow with autumn. I'm beginning to feel at home in our new place. Things are still in boxes and it will be a long while until we are completely settled, but I have a bed to sleep in and I finally went grocery shopping so all is well.

The past week has been a whirlwind. My computer was packed up so I was unable to blog. I was so busy at work too that I wouldn't have had time to blog whether my computer was in a box or on a desk. I am also going out of town with my mom all of next week and I don't even want to think about the packing. The trip will be nice. Packing, not so much.

I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with catching up and relaxing. Conference Weekend is always a goody. Things will be even better if USU beats BYU tonight.

I've decided to do this new thang called "Shuffle". Since I am a radio deejay and all, I figure I should incorporate some more music into my blog. So, here's the deal. I put my iPod on shuffle. The first 10 songs to come up are the ones I share here. Although I deejay on a Top 40 station, my taste in music is very broad and random. Hope you find something below that makes you want to sing in the shower.

1. Almost Lover - Fine Frenzy

2. Mrs. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel 

3. The Quiz - Hello Saferide 

4. Corona and Lime - Shwayze

5. Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

6. Love Is Blindness - Jack White

7. Typical - Tickle Me Pink

8. Angel - Aerosmith

9. Begin Again - Taylor Swift

10. Give Me Everything - Pitbull (feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer

How was that for random? Well, gotta go dress in more layers and head off to the football game. Let's go, Aggies!

Truth Tuesday

• I discovered the above picture on my phone from earlier this summer after trail running in the canyon. Obviously, I'm a dork. Also, my legs are transparent which is trippy. 

• I don't think trippy is actually a real word, but it's lingo from my high school days and it stuck. 

• I swear every girl in her twenties wants to live in New York City. Well, except for me since I'm in my twenties and I don't want to live there. I visited once. It's a fun place to visit. I'd go back in a heartbeat but not ever to stay. I need mountains, fresh air, stars at night, cow manure, and other country things. New York doesn't have any of that. But it does have expensive restaurants and the restrooms at the Statue of Liberty are really filthy. 

• Today while driving to a store, I spotted a lady in the parking lot with a parrot on her shoulder. Pirate lady caused me to drive right past my destination. But seriously, what's up with that? 

• If you think your marriage is rough, read this and feel better. 

• So, I'm a radio deejay. So I now have this new deep fear that I'll suddenly get the hiccups while I'm on air. One of these days I might scare myself right into getting them. Except then there's that whole rumor that being frightened gets rid of hiccups. Perhaps that means I will be alright. 

• Confession: I'm listening to this right now and I feel like I'm 17 again. Awe, shucks. 

• Our friends Richie and Lauren have the cutest baby and she growl laughs. I better have a baby who growl laughs or I'll feel like I got cheated.

• Who do you think invented Rock, Paper, Scissors? Tell you what, I'll Google it and then let you know.    

Five Feel Goods

Just wanted to spread the joy of five things that have been making me feel good today (besides the fact that it's the start of a long weekend). 

1. I've had this obsession with listening to 70s Folk Music on Pandora every morning while I get ready. Through doing so, I've fallen in love with Fleetwood Mac. Two of my favorites from them are The Chain and Landslide.

2. The "Meow Loafers" from Delias. I'm googly-eyed over the black ones. I could wear Luna shoes everywhere I go.

3. The messy bob sported by Kate Beckinsale. Pretty sure it's a faux bob but I think it would be a cute actual bob too.

4. Munchkin is this strange card game that our friends introduced to us recently and I think we will buy our own in the near future. If you love board and card games, look into this one!

5. A quote I discovered a couple nights ago on Pinterest and something I want to ask myself regularly. Wouldn't it be great to do something for the first time every day?

Enjoy your weekend! Mine will be full of hiking, shopping and hopefully some boating too!

Truth Tuesday

• I went on a cattle drive to write a story for work recently. For some reason, I thought it was hilarious. Probably because I was surrounded by hundreds of really dumb cows who were mooing while peeing all over themselves. I also got this really weird feeling that I wish I could have been a real cowgirl. 

• And just when I wanted to write Miley Cyrus off as desperate and talentless, she goes and does this. What an emotional and meaningful song. Give me more of that, please! 

• It's a personal belief of mine that good karma will come to you if you are sincerely nice to the person at the drive-thru window. 

• I want a day off where it will just rain hard so I can read murder mystery books and not feel guilty about it. 

• This has been my theme song lately. Isn't James Taylor amazing? 

• I just painted my toenails black. This nail polish decision makes me feel slightly tougher and more hardcore than I felt moments ago.

• French fry burger for a dollar, say what? 

Sunday Best: Warrior

dress: Head Over Heels, vest: JC Penney, necklaces: Smith's & Forever 21  

Since it's still Sunday for a bit longer, I thought I would post some pictures of an outfit I wore earlier this week. I scored this vest recently for $10. The night after I bought it, I was on the phone with my mom and told her I went shopping. She asked what I bought and when my answer was, "a camouflage vest with jewels on it", I was a little concerned for my well-being. Sure, it sounds ridiculous but it feels awesome.

I honestly put it on and feel like I need to be in a dramatic 80s music video of "Love is a Battlefield". I put it on and think, "I am a warrior. I will own this day."

Also, I wasn't kidding about living in an 80s music video. My hair lately . . .
 

Around a Fire

Summer always truly starts for me after the first fire. Going to the pool and getting a sunburn, wearing shorts for the first time of the year, and eating corn on the cob are all signs of summer too, but a fire where people I love are gathered around it is the first sign.

My high school year summer breaks are filled with memories of fires. Coming from a small town where over half the kids had to work their tails off all day on farms, we didn't always spend our days at the pool, the lakes, shopping, or whatever else. Sure, there were times for those things. But a summer night fire was a regular thing for us all. When the sun started setting and the work for the day was over, we were set free for the night. If I wasn't sending a text out about a fire somewhere, I was receiving a text. It was always an open invitation too, you were expected to pass the message along in hopes that a load of people would show up. Sometimes there was food. Sometimes not. Sometimes we met at the lakes where the fire was on the beach, close to the water. Other times we would make a journey up a canyon, across rough dirt roads that you needed four-wheel drive to survive on, and we would start a fire on some mountain top, overlooking the valley. And then there were times we kept things simple and met up at the park where camp chairs, blankets, and picnic tables were pulled around a fire pit. 

It might sound a little lame to some people, but it wasn't. We loved it. We would all bring food to contribute and pig out and sometimes we would just sit around the fire, stare into the flames and think our seventeen year old lives were the greatest and most significant things ever (ha). If things got really rowdy, boys would show up with bottle rockets and throw them into the fire. They would then shoot off randomly and it was the most terrifying thing ever. On one occasion, an old sofa some people brought started on fire due to a bottle rocket. It was quickly put out. Just remembering some of these things makes me shake my head and wonder how in the world we all survived without starting a forest fire. 

Although food cooked over an open flame is great and there were nights filled with dancing and lighting things on fire, my favorite memories of those fires were the hours of conversation. It's funny how much closer you can feel to people when you talk to them around a fire with a moon and stars over your head. 

Although I am a bit older now and we don't invite the whole town, I still love having fires on any given summer night. A few weeks ago, we had our first of the year up Logan Canyon. We found the perfect camp site and invited our friends Rauren (Richie and Lauren) and Jayla (Jace and Shayla) . . . and we can't forget baby Claire! 

Everyone made food contributions so we could have a tasty dinner. We sat around, laughed, and talked. That troublemaker Claire wanted to toss bottle rockets in the fire but we had to stop her. Richie and Laur will have their hands full with that girl ;).

Now I will leave you with "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys since it says the word fire, but mostly just since I love it.

Truth Tuesday

• I have ombre hair nowadays (it's been like this for several weeks now and I'm just a terrible blogger). It was one of those things where I couldn't really believe I was doing it because there were very few ombres I saw on people that I liked. Not only that, but everyone was doing it. I guess it's kind of like that part in Mean Girls: "I saw Cady Heron wearing Army pants and flip flops, so I bought Army pants and flip flops." That's me and my ombre hair I guess. I really do like it a lot though.

• One of my favorite smells is freshly trimmed grass. I get to smell it quite often now that spring is fully upon us and summer is knocking at the door. Spring is filled with good smells. Blossoms, rain, and fresh cut grass. Ah, my heart. 

• I used the bathroom at work the other day and the toilet wouldn't flush. I had no idea what to do. I helplessly lifted the top off and tried pulling and twisting a few things as I hoped for the best. Nothing I did seemed to help. So I went to the nice secretary lady to tell her. Only she wasn't there. So what did I do? I went back to work and didn't tell a soul (until now). I let it be the next person's problem. I know, I am a terrible person. But I felt so embarrassed about approaching one of the men I work with and being all like, "Hey, since you've been training me all week could you also train me on how to work the toilet? I peed in there and it won't flush." Yeah, not awkward at all. All I can say is I'm going back to holding it and never using the bathroom at work again. 

• My wrists are sore from the half marathon I ran on Saturday. How is that possible? Why, I don't really know. My dad started teasing me and asked if I run on my hands now. I will assure you that I have not reached that level of insanity yet. I still stick to just my two legs. However, it was pouring rain the entire duration of the race and my hands got really cold around mile four. I think I may have clenched them for the majority of the race. Oops. I must admit though, I feel pretty hardcore that I ran in freezing rain. And of course the whole week before the race it was sunny and in the 80's every day. It's fine. I'm over it.  

• I wanted these sandals from Target oh so bad but bought a pair of wedges instead. Now I'm glad I did because I've seen these sandals every-freaking-where. Apparently a lot of people out there have good taste. They are cute, but I can't buy them now.

• I have the Great Gatsby soundtrack on repeat. Also, the movie is grand. So grand that I want to go see it a second time. This is serious stuff because I rarely rewatch movies. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on the movie and here's my take on it: Loved it. Be prepared for your brain to be overstimulated. There is a lot to look at. At times the cinematography is a bit over the top, I'll admit. But for the most part, it's absolutely beautiful to watch. Also, the majority of the dialogue is taken straight from the book, which this girl really appreciates. Any thoughts on the movie from those who saw it?