The "Coloring Book Phase"

Every time my mom went on a trip or as a leader to girls camp or would be gone for longer than a night or two she took me to Kings before she left. I would go down to the basement and look at the wall of coloring books. I would debate and debate which one I would get. It was serious business, this business of coloring books. I am almost positive I never chose anything but the jumbo Barbie coloring book. It had Barbie as a cop, Barbie as a chef, Barbie as a dog walker…Barbie and her legs were everything a little girl could possibly ever want to be. And I colored away with my new box of crayons. Mom knew I didn’t like being left behind…obviously a brand new box of 64 Crayola crayons was the way to solve that. Life was a Utopia for me with Barbie and 64 colors such as “macaroni and cheese,” “burnt orange,” and “robins egg blue” by my side.

A few semesters ago my Art Methods instructor (the teacher who teaches me how to become an art teacher) started a class discussion on the negative affects of coloring books, claiming it destroyed creativity. Coloring in the lines is not what artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Picasso had in mind. Enraged students all around me raised their hands in agreement; out-crying at the nerve of those who professed to be a patron of the arts and yet used coloring books, even endorsed them. A large portion of my imagination and a meager piece of my memory brings up a scene comparable to Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451: students throwing bits of colored paper into the air with wild looks on their faces, banning and burning all coloring books to be found, the instructor standing on a table shouting encouragements, students declaring the reason for their failing watercolors lay solely upon the head of coloring books. Utter chaos ensuing. The only freshman in a class full of seniors, I sank in my seat, taking fond memories of coloring books with me.

There has been an internal struggle in me with the idea of coloring books ever since. What would Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso, and other great artists think? Would they be disappointed in a society in which coloring books were part of most every child’s happy younger years? Do they really stifle creativity? I like to think of myself as a creative person, yet I glorified in the day when I was the proud owner of a brand new, blank coloring book.

I’ve decided that when doubt and discouragement strike, not only in a child’s art work, but in life, when it seems nothing you do turns out as beautiful as the picture in your head, wouldn’t it be nice to be handed something where all you had to do is fill in the lines with your favorite colors and have something you were proud of to show for your efforts in the end? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crutch to lean on and encourage you along until you can leave the thick black lines for a blank canvas?

I still don’t know what Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Picasso would think. But when my kids get to the stage when they realize their drawings of people look more like bacteria than humans and are discouraged and want to break all of their prized “macaroni and cheese” colored crayons, I will gladly hand them a coloring book.



(Just as a side note…Microsoft word recognizes Barbie as a proper noun.)

Excited

After:

12 English papers (6 of them in two weeks)
58 PAGES with over 30 different sources
2 final art projects that took over 30 hours each
4 speeches
10 American classic novels
17 short stories
70 Robert Frost poems
3 sleepless nights in a week and a half
and countless hours of frustration and cursing the English language…

My finals are over and the semester is done!

Hallelujah.

I would have more enthusiasm if I had the energy.

Curse Modern Cartoons

I’ve come to the source of my lack of creativity and motivation this semester and especially during finals.

Cartoon Network.

My roommate loves Cartoon Network. Said roommate also has only two classes and her chosen activity of choice to fill the void classes, homework and social activities normally satisfy is to watch TV...more specifically Cartoon Network.

Here are a few of my observations of Cartoon Network:

• Every character has an extremely loud and annoying voice (take Spongebob Square Pants for example).
• No characters have ankles. I can’t tell you why this bothers me…but it does.
• There is nothing aesthetically pleasing about Cartoon Network. There are too many bright, uncomplimentary colors and ugly shapes forced together.
• Plots are stupid. I realize they are cartoons, but seriously. I think I get more stupid each time I walk into my apartment.

How could I possibly learn and write creative and intelligent papers (4 ½ of them) when the sounds of Cartoon Network are carried throughout my apartment and create an environment non-conducive to intelligence?

I can't.

Failure

(Kathrine)

While I was in Alaska this summer I met the most wonderful 17 year old girl. Her name was Kathrine. Kathrine had a baby exactly a year ago and I sat in a dorm room with her and watched her as she cried and cried telling me the story of giving her baby up to her aunt and uncle to take care of. She had been living with her grandparents who had both died within the last six months and was moving in with her alcoholic father and didn’t want to bring her baby with her. Kathrine loves to do Native Alaskan dancing. This summer Kathrine was the drummer for the group of students who did Native Alaskan dancing because dancing reminded her of her grandparents but still wanted to participate. Our group of mentors and teachers awarded Kathrine a full ride scholarship to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. I really felt like I had made a positive contribution to this girl’s life. I was so proud of her when I watched her receive her scholarship and wanted to cry when she was so excited she had also been given a graphing calculator because she, like most of the students there, couldn’t afford one. I remember thinking, “This girl is going somewhere and will do something with her life. She’s learned through her mistakes and has her head on straight now. She knows what she wants and won’t let anything get in the way.”

Last night I found out Kathrine is having her second baby this month.

I feel like a failure.

I know its not really my fault, I just feel like I did so much hard work and it made no difference whatsoever. If that program and all of the hard work we put into it could have changed anyone's life it would have been Kathrine.

Oh Yeah...

Horace Walpole said, "Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel."

Amen.

The picture also reminded me...I haven't yet told my blogging friends that I am going on the European Humanities Tour for BYU-I!!!!! Yay for me! I leave in April and come back the end of May. Our itinerary includes (but is not limited to): London, Canterbury, Paris (check out #5 from my 100 things about me post...hello Louvre!), Rome (I have always wanted to see the Sistine Chapel!), Venice, Verona (scene of Romeo and Juliet...I LOVE Shakespeare!), Florence (check out #52 from my 100 things about me post...Michelangelo and I will be best friends by the end of Florence), Vienna (I love Sound of Music), Salzburg, and Munich.

I'm just a little excited.

I also have to start selling my body at the plasma center (as well as continue working at two jobs) in order for me to be able to eat and go to Europe...If that gets to be a problem I can happily give up eating for a while...

Book List

This week in Neighbor Jane's (aka Mom's) newsletter was this list of questions about books...since I am at school right now (and an English Education major) I thought it only appropriate I post this. Sorry I get a little wordy.

1. If you could host a party with 7 literary characters who would they be and why?
*In no particular order.

a) Holden Caulfield from A Catcher in the Rye. Possibly one of the most complex characters in the literary world and to get to observe him close up…I wouldn’t call it a party, but definitely interesting.
b) Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black (but only if he came with Snape), or Fred and George from Harry Potter. I think Dumbledore is really entertaining, I love Sirius Black and Snape’s Interactions, and who doesn’t love Fred and George Weasley?
c) Fezzik from Morgenstern’s The Princess Bride. Not only does he rhyme he takes such good care of Inigo.
d) Death or Rudy from The Book Thief. Who wouldn’t want Death personified at a party? He would be the most interesting person there! And I think Rudy is one of the most charming characters I’ve ever read about.
e) Ishmael from Moby Dick. He is one of my all-time favorite characters. With the great opening line of “Call me Ishmael,” and being the only one to survive their whaling trip, and see everything for what it was, I idolize him a little.
f) Sunny from A Series of Unfortunate Events. I think she is hilarious.
g) Peter Pan from J.B. Barrie’s Peter Pan. I think I secretly have a crush on Peter Pan.

2. Who is your literary role model?

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird

3. Which literary house would you like most to live in?

I would live with the Weasley’s. I love the descriptions of it in Harry Potter and think it sounds like the most comfortable yet crazy house. I think I would love it. That and the garden gnomes.

4. Which literary couple would you like most for parents?

I’ve noticed that in most literature there are no parents. But from the few there are…
I would want the dad, Hans, from Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief and the mom from Don and Audrey Wood’s children book, Heggedy Peg.
I love the dad Hans. He sold his already rationed cigarettes to buy a book for his adopted daughter and played the accordion for her after she had nightmares.
I think the mom from Heggedy Peg is so clever, unselfish, and knows her kids so well.

5. Pick 3 literary characters you would like to have as siblings.

Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island
Gavroshe from Les Misearbles
Almonzo from the Little House series

6. Who is your favorite literary villain?

Fernand Mondago from The Count of Monte Cristo is someone I love to hate. Also, Voldemort genuinely scares me.

7. Name a character that most people dislike, but that you do not. Why do you like them?

I like Scarlet O’Hara from Gone With the Wind. I think she is a tragically misunderstood character. Yes she is selfish, yes she wanted another woman’s husband, but I think really her greatest desire was to belong, to not have to fight, and to keep the O’Hara plantation and no one (except maybe Millie) understood that everything she did was because of those reasons. I think I admire her a little because she was so bold and authoritative. And she does figure it out in the end. I personally can’t name too many real people who actually “figure it out” in the end.
Plus I love her philosophy of “thinking about it tomorrow.”

8. Which minor character deserves a book all to themselves, in your opinion?

The Giver in Lois Lowry’s The Giver.

9. Which character do you identify most with in literature?

I have thought about this question for three days now and can’t think of a good answer. If anyone has a suggestion…feel free to give it!

10. If you could go into a novel, which one would it be and why?

I would go into Harry Potter. Hands down. Don’t worry, I’m rolling my eyes too, but I still would go there…most likely by floo powder.

11. Name 3 books that you rarely see on people’s favorite book lists that are on your own.

Dark Angel by Robert Kirby
These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Roots by Alex Haley

12. Which is your least favorite book of those that are considered classics?

I’m not a huge fan of The Great Gatsby. I think it has some really beautiful moments and I love the theme but I hate most of the characters.

13. What are your favorite literary names?

Rhett from Gone With the Wind
Mercedes from The Count of Monte Cristo
Lorena from Lonesome Dove
Cosette from Les Miserables

14. What is a book that changed your life?

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

15. What is a book that you’ve read more than once?

I read most books more than once.

16. What is a book that you’d want on a desert island?

I would want all of the Harry Potter books. I find them so entertaining.

I just had a horrifying thought…I sound like Dwight Shrute from that episode of The Office when he says if he were stranded on a desert island he would take Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

17. What is a book that made you laugh?

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
Dark Angel by Robert Kirby

18. What is a book that made you cry?

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
These is my Words by Nancy Turner

19. What is that made you think?

The Life of Pie by Yann Martel. I finally have that book figured out. It’s the animal story, and I will happily argue my side.
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. I’m still not completely sure what this book is about. I have to think really hard in order to wrap my head around Holden Caulfield.
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card. I still think about this book and I read it years and years ago. It has a really interesting concept about the people who shape our lives.

20. What is a book that you don’t enjoy?

I tried reading Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West but couldn’t ever really get into it. It was too political and sexual. I’ll just watch the musical instead; I’ve heard its better anyway.

I can’t get into Jane Austen really either. Is that awful or what? I love the stories (I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be female if I didn’t) but, and I hate to admit it, I always end up watching the movies instead.

21. What is a book that you are currently reading?

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying

22. What is a book you’ve been meaning to read?

Earnest Hemmingway’s A Farewell to Arms
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer
Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible
Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning

23. What is a book you remember as a real page-turner?

Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card.

24. What is a non-fiction book that you have enjoyed?

Truthfully I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. I really want to read
A Distant Prayer by Joseph Banks and Berry Borrowman.

I usually don't like to talk about my favorite books because I'm always afraid people will judge me from that...so you, my blog friends, should feel honored.

As I Lay Dying

In my American Literature class we are reading William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying.” Wow. That is mostly what I have to say about that book. Intelligent review right?

One of the chapters in this book (which, by the way, is told from 15 different viewpoints…brilliant) is told from the perspective of a dead woman. In it she says, “words are no good; words don’t ever fit what they are trying to say at.” She then goes on to say that motherhood, fear, sin, and love were all words created by people who had never experienced those things because if they had, they wouldn’t have made a word for it, knowing those emotions couldn’t be contained by merely one word. In class we were talking about what it meant to be alive and dead (soul, not body) and how the narrator of this section of the book was saying words eventually lead to death and actions lead to life. We drew this diagram from a quote in the book:
Words are on one plane while actions are on another and you can’t straddle both lines.

In other words once emotions become merely words, they are dead. We used the example of love. It takes action to give meaning to words. The same with sin or goodness. What are they more than words?

That really makes me think. My poor brain is being wrapped up in knots and then thrown back at me and I’m not really sure what to do with it…

Ouch.

I’ve been running stairs for the last year or so…but I’ve been doing them in the auditorium and the flights of stairs are shorter (and easier). Lately I’ve decided its time for me to be a big girl and start running stairs in the stadium.

I now know why Rocky got so excited when he got to the top. It hurts.

And the Lucky Building Is...

It seems lately I have been reading a lot of blogs on the woes of dating (Clinton ,Tyler's , and Mitch's to name a few) so I thought I would hop on the bandwagon.

Tonight I decided to go to the gym and work out. It had been a few weeks and I decided it was time to get back into the routine. As I am walking to the Hart (Physical Education) building I realize that I have now had THREE (not one, not two...three) "relationship talks" at buildings on campus! The Hart building, the Kirkham building, and the Library. And just for the record...none of these locations were instigated by me. So I am just wondering why that is. Am I scary? Do the guys I date feel the need to talk to me about our relationship in a well lit, well populated areas just incase I go postal? That is the only reason I can logically come up with. Any ideas? I would love for someone to solve this mystery for me.

While we are on the subject of BYU-I...I have a few goals why I am here at school (besides the obvious of getting my education) here is my list:

1) Have my picture be on the BYU-I homepage. I see the people on the homepage right now and wonder who they are...I would like to no longer wonder. I hear I'm on a screensaver in the library right now so I'm getting there.

2) Give the prayer at devotional. Anyone part of devotional gets to have lunch with the speaker before plus not have to look at the screen to see what's going on. PLUS get one of the padded chairs. Enough said.

And my new edition...

3) Have a DTR at every building on campus.

The Link Between Calvin and Hobbes and Paid Study Time

Just incase you can't read what the comic says...I couldn't find a bigger one.
Suzie: I got a smiley face sticker on my quiz.
Calvin: Woop-de-doo for you.
Suzie: What did you get?
Calvin: Non of your darn business!
Suzie: You got a frowny face didn't you?
Calvin: As a matter of fact, I didn't.
Calvin (thinking): I didn't even know they made barfing face stickers.

I have the best job at school. Literally this job is the best idea I ever had. I am the Art Methods Lab Assistant (yes that is my full title). I go to a classroom three times a week and open up the cupboards and then sit and do my homework and close the cupboards two hours later. Every now and then I get to pretend like I know what I am doing and answer a question or two. For the most part, however, I am the only person there. And the beautiful part of all of this? I get paid for it. Every now and then I feel a bit bad thinking of some poor Argentine family’s tithing money going towards my paid study time.

So the other day at work the teacher of the Art Methods class comes in and is grading papers. She was a kindergarten teacher for dozens of years and so she often grades papers with stamps. You know the ones. Saying, “Good Job!” and “Nice Penmanship!” and the like. This one just so happened to say, “Very Creative!” A stamp that said “Very Creative!”?…anyone else seeing the same paradox I am?

P.S. Sorry about the dry spell...I promise there will be more on the way!

Goodbye Moses Lake...

Goodbye to the world of naps on the trampoline.
Hello to the world of naps in the Taylor Chapel…and the 2nd floor of the library…and the couches in the Kirkham building.

Goodbye to free milk.
Hello to plastic dishes.

Goodbye to jogging around the neighbor’s fields.
Hello to jogging on a treadmill next to a student in her second trimester.

Goodbye Family.
Hello five roommates.

Goodbye to the sweet luxury of a full night’s sleep.
Hello to all nighters.

Goodbye to hugs from Mom everyday.
Hello to the awkward door scene on a Friday night.


…Hello Rexburg.

Thai Cuisine

Last night was my last night at Thai Cuisine. It is a little restaurant in town owned and completely operated by a husband and wife who moved from Thailand less than 20 years ago. Somchai (the husband) cooks and is in charge of the finances and Jamsri manages the workers, waits on tables during the day, and helps cook at night.

It was a bittersweet moment.

Things I will miss:

· Somchai making me supper each night. He made my favorite things from the menu (pad thai, siam noodles and chicken pineapple curry) with the perfect amount of spice, along with things not on the menu (crab and lime fried rice and a lot of things I couldn't pronounce).

· Jamsri's gossip. She knows everything about everybody. She remembers almost everyone that comes into her restaurant more than once.

· Somechai's little personal corner in the kitchen. It has a TV with tons of blank tapes with Thai soap operas he taped from the day before and his Buddhist monk statue that he feeds curry, rice, and vegetables to every Saturday. Whenever he isn't cooking he is in this corner.

Tips. It's easy to get used to having large amounts of cash at all times...even if it is in ones.

Somchai and Jamsri's broken English. It was really hard at the beginning but it grew to be endearing. Jamsri's favorite phrase was, "It weird!" and Somchai's was "What his name?" (referring to the boyfriend I don't have.)

· Making jasmine tea. It smelled divine.

· Jamsri and Somchai love me. I am their favorite waitress. They trust me completely and give me total control of the front so I can run it how I like it to be run. When I graduated from high school Jamsri made me a lei. She folded rose petals into thirds and threaded them all together. She used over two dozen roses. Somchai knows I hate vegetables and not once let broccoli get into the food he made for me. If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Things I will not miss:

· Smelling like peanut oil. (Who likes smelling like supper?)

· Feeling greasy when I am done with work.

· Sore feet.

· Vacuuming under the tables every night.

· Making Shirley Temples.

· Cleaning the soy sauce bottles.

· Working with people when they are at their worst...waiting for food.

And the funny thing is...the last five months I worked there, my food handlers permit and alcohol serving permit were both expired.

Jamsri didn't mind.

In Another Life...

Hello day hair...

Hello morning hair...

When Ray, Cali's "friend" (as we apparently call him on blogs) saw my hair in all of it's crazy morning glory, he froze. Literally. I think his mouth was even open. He said I had the "Medusa Affect" on him. As in I turned him to stone with my hair.

My face is covered just in case I really was Medusa in another life.

"It's Always Better When We're Together" (We as in Jack Johnson and I)

(Kylene, Cam, me, and Kelsey at the Gorge)

Friday afternoon I decided to live up the last few months of my teenage years, be a bit irresponsible, and go to a Jack Johnson concert. I missed a night worth of tips and wages, paid $55 for the ticket and $20 for a shirt but it was all worth it.

Here are a few things I learned about Jack Johnson:

1) Sometimes even Jack Johnson forgets the words to his songs. And when he does he giggles.

2) Jack Johnson says, "Awww shucks!"

3) Jack Johnson sounds just as good live as he does when I turn my ipod up really loud.

* Just as a little plus I included a picture of what we watched for our pre-concert entertainment. This is our neighbors going to town on their joint. We stared. Unashamedly. Then we stared some more and tried not to inhale.

Son of...Naiveness

This last week I was in an art supply store and was looking through the prints when I saw this painting, Son of Man, by Rene Magritte.

Although it is one of my favorites it is just another reminder of how incredibly ridiculous I can be.

My sophomore year in high school in my biology class our teacher was trying to hold an intelligent conversation with our class (a difficult task I’m sure) and asked us, “What makes the world go round?” I raised my hand boldly (and apparently naïvely) and said, “LOVE!” My teacher looked at me, cocked her head, gave me a sad look, and said, “Uhh…no Ande, that’s very sweet, but money makes the world go round.” A little deflated I replied, “oh…right.”

You would think I would have learned…

During my literary interpretation class this last semester we were talking about symbols in literature. Up to this point in the semester I felt like all my comments were fairly intelligent contributions to the class and that I was overall doing a pretty good job interpreting the literature we had been reading. My teacher, Brother d’Evegnee, asked us what the forbidden fruit was, being the naïve little girl I am I raised my hand and said confidently, “An apple!” By the look he gave me I figured that that obviously wasn’t the answer so I tried again, “Oh…right, a pear.” His look, again, said it. I then caught on and said, a bit too enthusiastically, “Oh! Sex!”

Moral of the story? Never raise your hand in class to contribute unless you’re absolutely sure what you are about to say is somewhat intelligent and doesn’t make you sound like a girl that has been raised in a closet.

F.A. (Facebook-aholics Anonymous)

Hello my name is Ande, and I am a facebook-aholic. (You may now say, "hello Ande.") Yes I am ashamed to admit that I was sucked into the black hole we call Facebook. I recently noticed I was spending (wasting) a lot of time on facebook with absolutely nothing to show for it. Not only was it extremely unproductive, for me it was mostly just a virtual way to get gossip…and I spent hours in this faux community all in the name of “keeping in touch.” I’ve thought about deleting my profile more times than MCA thought about making a new Land Before Time movie. Instead I started a blog. I wanted something that was somewhat of a journal, pushed me, and used and stretched my talents. I guess that is the reason I started my blog. Not to mention the fact that my mom and Cali have been pushing me to do it for the last five months. (Then again, the last time they pushed me to do something…I ended up getting a boy’s haircut and consequently went through a sad little complex during elementary and middle school. Hmmmmm....)

99 Things about Me

1. My hips pop when I walk or swim. I can also move my right hip in ways that definitely aren’t normal.
2. I love to make pies (raspberry, peach, and apple are my personal favorites).
3. I don’t have a favorite color. It changes too often. Red is the only color I consistently like, but for the last little while my favorite color has been orange.
4.Some of my favorite movies are:

• Singing in the Rain/Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (it’s a toss up)
• Citizen Kane
• Life is Beautiful
• What About Bob?

5. I want to go to the Louvre before I die. 6. My lips get sunburned really easily and swell if I don’t use a lot of chapstick in the sun. It’s actually pretty embarrassing.
7. My favorite chapstick for the above is Blistex Silk and Shine.
8. I always have red polish on my toes.
9. I like to only wear clean pajamas to bed. I also like them to match a little. 10. My closet is color coordinated. 11. I enjoy driving stick shift.
12. My favorite book is Dark Angel by Robert Kirby.
13. I usually always have more than one favorite. For example, my other “favorite” books are:

• The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

14. I love to give and receive gifts.
15. I love old movies. Especially ones with Gene Kelley, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland.
16. I am committed.
17. I love spicy foods. I especially like curry, jalapeños, and chilies.
18. My dream job is being a high school English and Art teacher. (English Education is my major with a K-12 Art Education Endorsement).
19. I like road trips, but I usually fall asleep in the car.
20. I peel the skin off of grapes and the shell off of Peanut Butter M&Ms before I eat them. It is just about impossible to go back to eating them normally.
21. I am eager to please and easy to please.
22. I swam the 100 meter breast stroke in high school…and the 50 meter free-style, but only because it was a rule you had to swim two events. I hate free-style. I still love to swim breast stroke.
23. I am a bargain shopper. I rarely buy something that is not on the sales rack. Right now my best save is $240 off the original price. I feel very proud of this fact.
24. I get better grades in college than I ever got in high school.
25. Whenever I go to Safeway I go to the bakery to get a free day old cookie. For those of you who don’t know about this wonderful feature of Safeway, if you go to the bakery and look behind the counter, there are free cookies. A lady is always there to remind you to only take one. My favorite is when they have the poofy sugar cookies with the really thick frosting.
26. I am a peacemaker. For the most part I hate conflict and will try to smooth it over.
27. I hate blow drying my hair.
28. I enjoy the smell of corn growing. One of the best parts of Summer to me is the fact that my house is surrounded by corn fields. I always drive past them with my window down.
29. Fall and Summer are my favorite seasons. In the Fall I like the mornings and how crisp they are, (I know its cliché) crunchy leaves, and school starting. In the Summer I love it being warm, being tan, and getting to read whatever I want. For the most part I hate Spring. Except the lady bugs. I like the lady bug and the blossom part of Spring. Winter is ok.
30. I like to read short stories and I love poetry. True to myself, I have a lot of favorite authors.
31. My shoe size is a 7 1/2.
32. I love cherry and grape jolly ranchers.
33. I like to take showers at night.
34. I love Disney Land. I genuinely like all of the rides…except “It’s a Small World After All” and “Tarzan’s Tree House”…go figure, no one likes them.
35. I love getting notes.
36. I listen to movie soundtracks while doing my homework. Here are my favorites:

• Finding Neverland, especially “Neverland, Piano Variation in Blue” and “Why Does She Have to Die?
• The Man from Snowy River, especially Jessica and Clancy’s themes.
• Cold Mountain, especially “Anthem” and “Ada Plays”
• The Lord of the Rings, especially The Return of the King CD.

37. I have a wide variety of food tastes and I love good food.
38. I love shoes. Pumas, Nike Shox, and any kind of high heels always do it for me (With a special emphasis on “hooker boots.”) I’m also becoming a fan of Chacos.
39. I lose all sense of reality in movies. Yes I am the person in the movie theatre who screams, gasps, and jumps at the scary parts. It doesn’t matter how many times I have seen the movie, I still get scared. I also laugh at the same spots when I re-watch movies.
40. I like to paint. My favorite medium is watercolor though I think I would like oil if I was brave enough to try it. 41. I like to hike and rock climb.
42. I love cilantro.
43. I used to have an imaginary friend named Michael. He got eaten by dinosaurs.
44. I can sympathize with Scarlett O'Hara. She is both one of my favorite and least favorite characters.
45. I love the headers Google has. My favorite one was the one for Earth Day and for Mozart’s Birthday in 2006…yes I copy paste my favorites into a word file and yes I know it’s pathetic.
46. I look at the MSN/NBC week in pictures almost faithfully. They usually make me very grateful for the life I have.
47. I am trying to read from the book of Isaiah every night. Being an English major I love it. I have to read all the footnotes to even come close to understanding it, however.
48. I love school. Always have. Except Middle School.
49. I genuinely love to learn and grow (see above).
50. I recently spent two months in Alaska being a mentor to 40 Alaskan Natives in the Upward Bound program. It was one of the hardest, but most rewarding, jobs. (As a side note: The only wildlife I saw while I was there were birds. I think that is a record.)
51. I love toast and cereal. My favorite cereals include:

• Honey Bunches of Oats
• Cinnamon Life
• Trix
• Cap’n Crunch with Berries
• I used to love Frosted Mini Wheats until I survived on them my second semester of my freshman year.

52. Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of my favorite artists. I love his first Pieta. There really are no words to describe how beautiful it is.
53. I look terrible in hats.
54. I am an excellent multi-tasker. I usually blow dry my hair while either putting on make-up or shaving my legs.
55. I feel that I am, for the most part, a kind hearted person.
56. I often feel it is my duty to make the world a more beautiful, happier place.
57. I get genuinely excited each time it snows before Christmas. After New Years I, for the most part, hate the snow.
58. I love fruit and I hate most vegetables.
59. I like to jog but can’t motivate myself to do it without music. I hope no one ever judges me by my ipod jogging playlist. They might think I am a schizophrenic.
60. My favorite kind of ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby.
61. I wish I knew ballet and how to play the piano. Both are on a to do list.
62. I love organization but am rarely well organized.
63. I love going to plays. I have seen Les Miserables and The Lion King and hope to see many more.
64. I enjoy making pottery though I have vast room for improvement.
65. I feel a bit silly starting each sentence in this list with the word “I.”
66. I love clean towels.
67. I want to be a good mother some day. I think children are the world’s best asset and that they are often selfishly overlooked as such. I feel that this will be one of my most important roles and I don’t take that lightly. Secretly, it scares me.
68. I almost always have a list of books I want to read next.
69. I like paisley.
70. I bite my nails when I am uncomfortable.
71. I don’t enjoy walking into big groups of people…this is usually when I begin biting my nails.
72. I actually enjoy dating. For the most part.
73. I have bad hand/eye coordination. There is a reason I don’t do team sports.
74. I love to play card and board games. My favorites include:

• Settlers
• Speed
• Canasta
• Pounce

75. I like Normon Rockwell.

76. I love my family and they are most important to me. They are an amazing group of people.
77. I once slept in a closet for five months when I was little. One of my similarities with Harry Potter.
78. I am a terrible speller. Spell check and predict-a-text are my best friends.
79. I like and welcome change.
80. I am a hard worker but I have no problem relaxing and doing the things I want to do. There is a specific time for work and a specific time for play. I like to think I rarely cross the two.
81. My car’s name is Rocky. It is a blue 1987 Oldsmobile that was given to me by a family friend. It has the most comfortable seats though they have been around longer than I have. My car’s name is Rocky because no matter how hard he tries (and he tries hard) he just can’t win. I love my car and will be sad to see him die.
82. My favorite physical feature is my eyes.
83.I always wear a ring my mom gave me. It is small gold band with a ruby set in. It is now perfectly conformed to my finger.
84. When riding on an airplane I am usually asleep before the snacks come.
85. I like to cook.
86. I love the TV shows LOST, The Office, Firefly, and Seinfeld.
87. I like guacamole flavored Doritos and wished they were still made.
88. I think I was born in the wrong era sometimes.
89. I don’t like disappointing people. I think that is the worst, worst, worst feeling.
90. I hate math. I think it is terribly boring and I don’t understand it. I had to suck on jolly ranchers the entire hour to stay awake in my first (and last!) college math class.
91. I am naturally shy, though I have tried to get away from that mentality and have tried to become a more easily outgoing person.
92. I try to be socially considerate. It really bothers me when people aren’t. I actually get offended.
93. I love to give and receive compliments. A good compliment can last me a very long time.
94. I want to contribute to society in a meaningful way. Whether it is through being a teacher, a mother, or just a good person, it is very important to me.
95. I love color. As silly as it sounds, it will always be an important part of my life.
96. I am friendly and rarely get mad.
97. I have been debating starting a blog for over five months.
98. I have a firm belief that fresh lime juice, peanut butter, or salt and pepper goes on to almost everything that enters my mouth. 99. I decided on the number 99 because 100 things about me might be too much.