Fun Times in Happy Valley

So, Mother...you think that what David puts in his hair is bad. Take a look at this! That blue glop is nasty, thick, gross gel. This is what we use to put in pin curls. Yuck. We use this stuff for practicing everything - curls, color, highlights, etc. I'm starting to really kind of dislike it...

So I think that something from my dad rubbed off on me. Whenever I do the dishes here, I have to also wipe the counters, clean the back splash, scrub the stove, sweep the floor, take out the garbage...just doing the dishes is never enough. :P The first week that I was here, my roommates came home and found me washing out our garbage can. They were kind of confused and said I must get really bored being home alone all day. The truth was that when I took out the garbage, it sickened me to see the mold and mildew and old food all stuck to it, and the smell... :X So of course, the knowledgeable thing to do was to wash it, right? I guess my roommates just aren't as domesticated as I am, or something. ;) I think it's kind of funny too how some of them absolutely hate doing the dishes, especially if the dishes aren't theirs. But they way I look at it, is if there are dishes that need to be washed, then they should be done. I honestly think it is worth it to spend 15-20 minutes cleaning things that aren't mine in order to have a clean apartment. It's also actually really relaxing for me. But that's just me. Another thing that I think is kind of amusing (sometimes) is how everyone leaves lights on. It's not cool to pay the bill for our electricity, but I can't help laughing when I come home, and I see the kitchen light, dining room light and living room light all on with no one in any of those rooms. I turn them all off and go into my room. I come out 10 minutes later, and they are ALL back on, yet again with no one there. ??? For real, people...is it that hard to keep the lights off?
P.S. My parents probably wonder why I didn't show these traits when I lived at home...

Hot Tubbing!!

No polar bear swim this time, but maybe close enough. Kimberly and I decided that since it was cold and snowing, we should definitely go in the hot tub at her apartment. We look pretty goofy in that picture...but oh well. That's okay. We made that sweet snow chicken and devil owl that you see there. There were a couple of other people in the hot tub, and I think they thought we were a little bit psycho and laughing way too hard at them, but that's okay too.
We kept getting too hot in the water, so we did the most logical thing we could think
of - go lie in the snow* of course.
I look kind of like a ghost in this picture and I'm not totally sure how that works, but it's kinda cool. The last picture...we just wanted to show how cool we looked walking back to her apartment from the pool, with our towels and winter coats. Yay for year-round hot tubs!!! :)


* Notice for any concerned parents, grandparents, or other relatives:

We were only in the snow for mere seconds, just barely long enough to take the picture. No frostbite.

Saturday

Last night, I went with Andy, Steph and her cousin Tim to eat and then go to a BYU basketball game. I wasn't really sure if it was going to be fun or not, because I have to say that I am not a huge fan of sports. I was slightly afraid of going and being bored out of my mind and wishing I hadn't gone. But...I figured I should be social and go anyway even though it's not necessarily my idea of a fun night. Most of my Saturday nights are spent at my apartment, so they're not very exciting. To say the least. But contrary to what I was sort of expecting, I had a lot of fun. We went to the Pita Pit, which was delicious of course, and then to the game. BYU won 47-54, but the last few minutes were kind of intense. We were tied 45-45 with only a minute and a half left in the game, so yeah...it was close. Afterward we went back to Andy and Steph's apartment with some of her other relatives and friends and ate ice cream with cinnamon rolls. It makes me laugh how they always invite so many people over to their tiny little apartment, it's so packed all the time. It's a lot of fun

though. Lois and Jeff's little boy Reed always entertains us...last week everyone was making him spin around in circles till he couldn't even stand up he was so dizzy, but he loved it. He also loves to dance. He danced during most of the game yesterday, Steph could hardly keep him from falling over. Then last night he was drinking out of a straw, but he kept dipping the straw in and then taking it out and licking it, getting just a drip or two at a time. Another thing he loves to do is try on everyone's shoes. It is so funny. This picture is of me and my "date", Tim. Andy and Steph wanted to find someone to come along with us and pay for my food. So Tim somewhat eagerly agreed when Steph suggested he come. I called him my "date" but Steph says he was my date, no quotes. However, I disagree with her because he knew he was literally being used for me to
get free food, so he was definitely just my "date". :P Anyhow...it was fun.

Nick, this last picture is for you!!! :D

Enough curlers?

So yesterday, we had to roll perms. It took us (my class) about 3 or 4 hours to finish each of our heads, which was a little bit long but not too bad. I thought it was awful, but I didn't know what was coming today. We had to put in about 4-5 times more curlers than yesterday. It took the whole 7 hours for us to finish this kind.

My fingers were tingling for quite a while after I got home today, I must say that perms are not my favorite thing to do (same as about 98% of the other girls at school).

Second week of School

I'm getting a little bit more used to school now, and expecting it to be mind-numbing so it's not so bad. We did french twists today and I have to say mine was pretty sweet. :) It's pretty easy to do, but we have to do so much back-combing in it, I definitely wouldn't want to be the one taking it out...ouch. We literally make a huge rat nest in the back on the bottom and then just lightly brush the outside to make it look like it's all smooth.



I can't really decide if this dog looks vicious or not. It makes me laugh, because he acts like he wants to kill you and tear you apart into a million pieces, and yet, that tail...
He doesn't even seem so mean in the video, but when I walk by, it really kind of scares me because he barks SO loud. I don't think I've ever heard a dog bark so loud before in my life.

Sunday

We had stake conference yesterday, and it was a little different than I'm used to because our church building has two chapels. So it's set up with one chapel facing east (I think it's east :P), the gym behind it, and then another chapel facing west. The entire thing from chapel to chapel was packed, and there were three screens that they used to project the speaker so everyone could see. It was pretty intense.

After conference, Andy came to pick me up and bring me to his and Steph's place for dinner. They're pretty good about taking care of me, they feed me a lot on Sundays. Partly so they can keep me past 9:00 so I can skip ward prayer, but I'd like to think they don't mind having me around every now and then. We also had Brittany, Roger, Jeff, Lois, Reed and the Leckies over, so as it usually is when I'm over there, it was a full house. We went for a walk to the temple after we ate, and we took some pretty sweet pictures!

Starting our walk

The Provo Temple

Dumb blond? What? Huh?

I started school on Tuesday, and it is similar to what I expected, only perhaps a little bit worse. I was already pretty confident that many of the girls there would not be the brightest light bulbs, but my worst fear was confirmed--they all seem quite incapable of doing anything other than cosmetology. The test we had had today scared me a little bit though. I only got 106% on it, and I didn't study for it at all. To be perfectly honest, I feel like my brain is melting away when I'm at school. Granted, it has only been four days, so I can't make any true judgements yet. However I am seriously considering taking college classes online as well, to keep me sane. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy school and it is fun, but I really need more. Anyway, here are some pictures:


This is the first half of my walk to school. The second half is boring and ugly so I didn't take a picture of it. I don't mind the walk at all, except that I have to carry a huge bag all the way there. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk.

This is my huge bag. In it, there is pretty much everything a girl could ever want for her hair...including five different hair brushes.

Right before I get to school there's this HUGE dog that barks his head off at me all the time and sort of looks and acts as though he wants to tear me into pieces, but his wildly wagging tail gives him away. Who knows though, maybe that's a trick. His little fuzzy sidekick always follows him and stares at whatever he's barking at.

And here is my school!!! It's located in a strip mall (if you can't tell...), and right next door is where we can buy our supplies at a lovely discounted price. I feel very special going in there, because on the door in big letters it says "License Required" and I totally have one!!! :D

This is just another thing that makes me feel somewhat like I'm in elementary school again. Not only do a lot of the girls act like they're still in elementary school, but the teachers talk to us like that. "Oh you girls are SO smart!!!!!" And today for about 2 1/2 hours, we (just the four of us who started on Monday) sat in our classroom and made dream posters--posters full of pictures and words that inspired us or represented goals we had, cut out of magazines. I guess it's just a tradition they have there.

This is me and my manikin, Annabelle. Her curls are lovely, no? We have to work on these heads before we get real people. I don't know why.... :P