I Have Seen My Death

Yesterday I found out that I am going to die on Thursday. No I'm not planning on my plane crashing. Actually, my mother informed me that she and my dad were both working the night I fly into Minneapolis so my brother would be picking me up from the airport. So what's the big deal, you ask? My brother just got his driver's license a few weeks ago. Not only did he just get his license, but he failed the driver's test twice before he got it. Ack! So why don't I insist on driving home? Good question. I was planning on that until my mother informed me that he drives a stick shift. And as scary as it will be to have him drive, it will be much, much scarier for me to drive. We'd be more dead than we already are. If that's possible. So in preparation for my death, I would like to write out my will beforehand. Very morbid, I know. But just in case as it seems somewhat likely.

Jill - All math books including calculus, ordinary differential equation, partial differential equations. Also, all solution manuals to these books. The entirety of my religious book collection.
Lizbrith - Biochem book (Very pretty cover) and my car.
Sam - Both physics books and my physics lab manuals and all shoes with less than a two inch heel.
Ben - Organic chem book and solutions manual and all my original photographs.
Mal - Solid state book and bike.
Jane - Inorganic chem book and all Ute paraphernalia.
Heidi - Analytical chem book and any of my shoes with more than a two inch heel.
Coxy - Physical chemistry and History of Jazz book and accompanying jazz cds.
Lyndsi - Art history book and scarf collection.
Bawden - All computer programming books and all Elvis cds.

Think that pretty much covers it right there. Let me know if there are any disputes or other requests but please make sure to get them in before Thursday afternoon.

Ah, it's Christmas Time!

As much as I feel like living in Salt Lake is sucking the life out of me, I really do love Salt Lake City. There are so many things here that I love. The lights on temple square every Christmas are hands down one of my favorite things here. And now that I live just down the street, I get to see them every time I walk out of my house. Lovely! And I don't have to worry about crazy down town parking if I want to go see them because, hey, I can walk. Took some pictures last night and I really liked this one. The tree still has some leaves on it, so it looks especially red.



Also, on a completely different note, this is Jill, me, and Danny hanging out on Mars. We're supposed to be lost (that's why no one is looking at the camera) and clearly I didn't read the sign that said to stay on the trail. Whoops...


And Jill, Sam, and Danny on the moon:

And for the especially good news of the day - I went to talk to the Chemistry Undergraduate Secretary today and I found out that I do not have to take my senior comprehensive tests next week. Instead I'm scheduled to take them after finals. And she's letting me take them in a different order than most people take them in. I'm taking the Physical and Analytical ones the first day followed by the Inorganic and Organic ones. This is good because I'll probably need that extra time studying for the organic test. But to ease my fears, she said if I happen to fail it, I can take it again. So no worries.

Aversion to My Winter Coat

It was so cold this morning that I finally had to break down and dig my winter coat out from underneath my bed. Every year I try to put it off until I'm so cold that I'm completely numb and have no other choice. Like if I don't put on a coat it won't actually be winter. I realize this is completely illogical. But it makes me feel better. And colder I suppose.

Anyway, I pulled out my coat and threw on one of my favorite scarves (knitted crimson red with tassles) before I headed out the door to my classes. As I was walking to my car I thrust my hands into my pockets to combat the cold and to my surprise there was stuff left in my pockets from last year. I pulled the goods out to examine them and found two very pleasant surprises. The first was a very wrinkled dollar bill (love finding money!) and the second was a folded paper towel. Written on the top of the paper towel were three question marks and on the inside was written "A love note." It was an old note left in my pocket by Marie last year when I was having a hard day.

I love finding good stuff in my pockets when winter starts! Maybe next year I won't put off pulling my winter coat out for so long...

Halloween Mayhem

Just wanted to post a few pictures from this past weekend's Halloween mayhem. Mal as innocent Snow White, Ben trying to look like a sexy vampire (though the vampire teeth sort of kill it), and myself as jolly Santa.


Mallory as a not-quite-so-innocent Snow White.


Meghan, Lyndsi, Michael, and I. You can't actually tell from the picture, but Michael was extremely proud of the fact that he fit into his sister's pleather pants .


On a completely different note, I spent a freakishly long day in chem lab making these metal complexes. Twelve hours for this? I was completely jipped.

Question by the Old 97s

Ack! Today while I was making a cd for a friend, I was browsing itunes and came across a wonderful song that I haven't heard in ages and previously didn't know who it was by. It's called "Question" by the Old 97's. Sooooo good! An old friend used to play it all the time on his guitar but somehow I never found out who originally performed it. A very cute song that you should check out.

Magic Disney Ball 2

So, I've done some major work on my Magic Disney Ball. Unfortunately while doing all that major work, I've run into some massive problems. First, it took forever to cut through the ball. Then we found out that we had to cut through the liquid container. Who knew that this is what the magic eight ball looks like inside. I swear the magic eight ball company wants to keep people out. Well, too bad, because here are pictures for all to see. Look at how huge that die is. It has like 24 sides to it. How come I always get the same fortunes?

I made the die for my Disney ball with such fortunes as "The dream that you wish will come true," "Don't underestimate the importance of body language," and "Squeak Squeakity Squeakin." It made of wood though, so I'm trying to waterproof it. I bought sealant, but it didn't work on the first die and it was impossible to see the fortunes. So this time I'm painting it with clear nail polish in hopes that that will work better. I'll probably still put some sealant over that just in case. I'm also going to make the water inside the ball a light blue instead of dark blue. Then if it happens to get water in the die, you'll still be able to see the fortune.

Another problem I've had is making sure the cylinder with the die and colored water contains no air. I brought home a syringe from work that seems to work well. I can then fill it completely with no air bubbles and then screw the cap on. And hope for the best. After that, it should be smooth sailing. Just glue the two sides together and decorate the outside. That'll be the best part. I got this very fine sparkly powder in light blue, pink, and purple. And Disney princess stickers. So I'll paint the ball white and then decorate it with those, then mod podge the entire thing to seal it and make it glossy.

This is the plan. Hopefully it works out....

Magic Disney Ball

A few weeks ago I read a book called The Jane Austen Book Club which was surprisingly good. Especially if you love Jane Austen as I do. Anyway, in the book, one of the members converts this magic eight ball into a magic Jane Austen ball. Decorates the outside in Jane Austen theme and replaces all the fortunes with lines from Miss Austen's books. I thought it was such a wonderful idea that I am making a converted magic eight ball for my friend Samantha's birthday. I decided however to go with a Disney theme, since she is fairly obsessed with all things Disney. Today my mechanical engineering friend Danny is coming over with his hacksaw to help me get it apart, so hopefully all goes well!

Hippie Style

Really! I don't look like this all the time! We had this faux family feud thing last night where there were themed families and I was in the 70's family. Hence the sweet hippie look. I cut up a pair of old jeans, inserted fabric to make them into bell bottoms, and ironed on flower patches. I also made myself some love beads and got super cool sunglasses at Big Lots (one of the best stores ever!). It made me sort of wish I had lived in the 70's. It was fantastic to be decked out in tie dye. I think my favorite part was pulling up next to other cars while I was driving and seeing the people in them do double takes. The super tall shoes were a bit painful though, I must admit.

Space Cadet

Once again, I have proved myself to be a full-fledged space cadet. It was raining when I went to school and I accidentally left my lights on the whole day. Needless to say, my car did not start when I tried to go home. Luckily my fantastic roommate Mallory decided to come help me out of the goodness of her heart. Someday I won't lock myself out of my car, run my car battery down, lock myself out of my house, etc. I had actually been doing pretty well until this little mishap. It had been almost 6 months since I did something of that sort.