Look at this poor guy

I found this picture today.

Look at the guy in the middle who is clearly in love with the girl next to him. He is just pining away and she just won't give him the time of day. Just look at her face, obviously she is thinking "seriously". But really you can't blame the guy, its a bookkeeping class. So naturally the better option is to stare at the girl he is madly in love with.

This is probably the conversation that they had:

"Oh Justine, I just love you dearly! Don't you want to work on our bookkeeping assignment together? It will help to pass the time until I can devote all of my undying attention and love to you."

"No, Earl. Leave me alone"

"But Justine we're meant for each other!"

No response.

And the guy (Theodore) two seats to the right of Justine is totally pretending to lean forward and be all studious, but really he is eavesdropping and trying to get the dirt on what's going on between Justine and Earl. Because his friend Bertram, who is sitting in the way back by the window, is also madly in love with Justine. But Bertram was late to school that day and some jerk took his spot next to the lovely Justine, so now Theodore is doing his dirty work for him.

And Justine just sits there and looks annoyed to the camera because really she is in love with the blonde in the very front left hand corner, Alfred. But he actually is focusing on his bookkeeping and is oblivious to the plight of beautiful Justine caught between unwanted lovers and pining for another.

Anne Girl

I'm watching Anne of Green Gables right now. I love Anne of Green Gables, its probably one of my favorite stories of all times. Anne is just so fun and lovable, and says so many great things you just can't help but love her.

Like tragical. That's one of my favorite words that she uses.

I also love how adamant she is about the spelling of her name. I guess I can commiserate with her because my middle name is Anne spelled with an "e" and people always ask which way I spell it. It seems like everyone else who's middle name is Anne spells it without the e. And according to Anne spelling it with an e is "so much more distinguished" and personally I think it looks more complete with the e.

The whole part with Anne and Gilbert is so funny too. Anne is so mad at him for when he called her Carrots. I love how every time Anne makes eye contact with Gilbert she sticks her nose in the air and turns around, and the whole time you can just tell that Gilbert is madly in love with Anne. Really I don't know how Anne denies Gilbert - he is so attractive...

Also Prince Edward Island is so pretty. I love the lighthouses on the coast and the open fields that Anne and Diana run through. Wouldn't it be so cool to live there?

But one of my absolute favorite parts is at the beginning with Anne's window friend Katie. Mostly because the friends name is Katie and her name is Anne, which is my name, Katie Anne. Plus Katie lives in a perfectly beautiful window world that Anne wishes she could visit.

The idea of kindred spirits and bosom friends is another of my favorite parts. I have definitely had kindred spirits and bosom friends in my life. They're the ones that make the biggest impression in your life and the ones that you remember always.

The original testing center

Today I was working on linking photographs from the BYU 100th anniversary photography collection to their archive finding aids. Which basically means that in the archives we create this database of files you can search through when you're looking for something in the archives and it will tell you what the collection is about and where you can find it. So today I was finding the digital copies of the photographs and adding them so they'd be easier to find, and I came across this...

It's the original Testing Center!

This was taken circa 1890 in the old Brigham Young Academy building. (Now the Academy building is the Provo City Library and one of my most favorite places in all of Provo. It is seriously one of the coolest libraries ever, on the inside and the outside.)

The room the students are sitting in was called "Room D" and it could be changed around for different purposes, but it was often used as a study room, as shown in the photo.

When I saw this picture, the first thing it made me think of was the Testing Center-that wonderful building full of dreadful tests, runny noses, and broken dreams. Apparently, the idea for the Testing Center has been around for a while. And if you look closely at the picture you can see the despair in the student's faces, proving that students and the Testing Center have had a rocky relationship since 1890!

Now this isn't the actual Testing Center, since the Heber J. Grant Building, home of the Testing Center today, wasn't built until 1925. Did you know that originally the Heber J. Grant Building was the library? Isn't it funny that this picture, that looks like the Testing Center, was taken in the current Provo City Library and that the current Testing Center use to be the library? Talk about coincidences.

I also found this photograph of the staircase south of campus from when it was first constructed in 1924.

The hill looks so small, I swear it's bigger in real life! Tomorrow I'm going to count the stairs and compare it to the picture to make sure they haven't been adding a stair a year or something sneaky and devious like that.

This is one thing that I love about history. Finding historic evidence of things that still exist and seeing what it looked like at different points in history. Like take this example of Provo Center Street...

circa 1860

circa 1890

1900

Today...obviously

Isn't that just so cool?! I love how downtown Provo still has historic charm. Its obvious that its not all the same buildings, though I think further down the street some of them might be the original buildings, but it has the same feeling of a historic town center that it did in 1860. And it looks pretty darn awesome in the snow.

I learned a new word tonight

I try and get the school newspaper everyday. Not because I like to know what's going on around campus or in the world, really, I could care less about that. What I love about getting the newspaper is the crossword puzzle.

I usually don't finish the crossword puzzle, but I can usually make a dent in it. I let them pile up in backpack until its twice as heavy, because that way when I get bored there is always a crossword to work on. One of my goal in life is to be good at crosswords and be able to finish most of them, except the really hard ones.

Monday's puzzles are always the easiest, so naturally they're my favorite. I almost have today's finished, I only have 6 letters left, but staring at them was making my brain hurt. After dinner Brooke, Elsa, Brian, and I were working on the crossword.

(By the way, Elsa and Brian got engaged on Friday!!! They're getting married in Salt Lake on June 10th!)

Elsa and Brian were working on one copy, and Brooke and I were working on the other, and we were trying to finish before the other group did. I really like this crossword. One of the clues was "Disney Mermaid" which of course is Ariel, who is my favorite princess and one of my favorite movies. We actually did really good, and I felt really clever a couple times. But there was one letter that we could not figure out!

We had all of the letters for both of the intersecting words, but we could not figure out the last letter. It was very frustrating. Both Brooke and I went through the entire alphabet several times but none of the letters completed both words and made sense with the clues!

So finally Brooke and I broke down and Goggled it.

The across clue was for a R&B singer from the 60s whose first name was Marilyn, and the down clue had to do with bumming a cigarette.

Marilyn's last name is McCoo. We kept thinking it could be McGoo or McBoo, but both of those seemed just plain weird. Not that McCoo is normal...

But the really interesting thing we learned was the answer to the down clue. The answer was CADGE. According to dictionary.com cadge means "borrowing without the intention of returning." I feel so much smarter knowing that word. Like I could graduate tomorrow just because I know a word like cadge.

I'm also determined to start using cadge in everyday conversation. For example, "Can I cadge a piece of gum from you?" And then people will hear me and think, "wow, that girl is so smart, that was such an obscure word!"

Peter Pan

I saw Peter Pan last night. The BYU Theater department is performing it right now, and since Kelsie works in the ticket office she get free tickets to all the shows. When I heard they were doing Peter Pan I called being her plus one right away.

And what can I say but that Peter Pan was AMAZING!!!

The flying was so cool, it made me want to be in plays! And believe me, I have never, in my whole entire life, wanted to be in a play before. My favorite part, besides the flying, was the Indians. Their costumes were awesome and they had the best choreography. Everything else was really good too - the pirates were funny, the actors did an awesome job, and the sets were fantastic. I'm so glad I got to see Peter Pan. I should have started going to the school plays a long time ago. I feel like I've wasted the previous 7 semesters of my education. Just kidding, I really don't, but I'm sure the other plays were good too.

While I was watching the play I found my self wishing I could fly away to Neverland and not grow up. How cool would it be to play with fairies, fly, fight with pirates, fly, be friends with Indians, fly, never change out of your pajamas, and FLY?

It would be freaking AWESOME! Pretty much best life ever status.

But after the play I got to thinking, while living in Neverland and never growing up would be cool, I don't think I would want that to be my life. Wendy ultimately didn't. Personally, I think that Wendy had already grown up too much to have a satisfying life in Neverland. She realized that there was more to life than being a child. Growing up can be fun. Sure, it can be hard and full of sadness and trials. But its from those hard times that you really learn to appreciate the good times, which in the end far outweigh the bad.

One scene in the play is Peter giving the lost boys "lessons" and the lesson is all about not growing up and becoming a man. Can you imagine being stuck in one place and never growing? Learning and growing is satisfying. You become a better version of yourself. And if not growing up means not improving who you are, then I think I'm fine with growing up.

Although it still would be awesome to fly!

Some of my absolute favorite people

These are some of my most absolute favorite people.

They just make me smile. And want to jump in my car and drive all the way to California so I can play with them, even for just a few hours.

Its amazing having little cousins who adore you. I've always thought that one of the best things in the world is when you walk through the door and they see you and come running and squealing. Just because they're excited to see you.

Probably one of the best feelings in the world.

Dostoevsky said, "The soul is healed by being with children." This couldn't be more true. They make you laugh and wish you could be young like them again. Plus they let you play with their Barbie's.

Yesterday was Peyten's birthday. She turned 5. It really does seem like yesterday that she was baby and I was a senior in high school. Now look where we are - she's about to start school and I'm about to finish it.

When I called to talk to Peyten yesterday she was at dance class, but Ryen and I had a delightful conversation (more on that in a bit). But when I called back, Peyten answered the phone and the first thing she told me was-

"I'm 5 now!"

And she was so excited. I asked her what she did on her birthday and she said "fun stuff". Now, unlike Ryen, Peyten isn't much of a phone talker. She'll talk to you for approximately 1.59 minutes and then decide she's done and hand the phone off. So after our brief exchange Peyten told me that she was playing a game with Ryen and that she would talk to me later.

And that was that.

You would never guess this when you talk to Peyten in person cause she will just chat with you and tell you funny stories. Peyten says the funniest things. We call them Peytenisms. They include these gems-

"Ryen, you just have to ask Aunt Nancy and she'll buy it for you!"

"Lucifer is not a very nice cat"

"Lasterday..."

"I'm gonna win you!"

"what do you do with your brother?"
"I pinch him."

"She can't marry the mole!"

"We can play Rapunzel!" (Peyten)

"OK, who is going to be Rapunzel?" (me)

"Somebody whose hair touches their shoulders...mine touches my shoulders!"

I can't believe my little Peyten is 5. That's a whole hand!

Ryen, on the other hand, is quite the little chatter on the phone. She'll just talk and talk until either you have to go or her mom tells her she needs to let someone else have a turn. Yesterday Ryen and I talked on the phone for almost my whole trip home, which is 20 minutes.

Some of the best parts were when she told me about how she was trying to make a basket at recess and couldn't. She just sounded so forlorn. And then the absolute best was this question-

"Do you know what your new last name is going to be yet?"

Out of the blue a few months ago Ryen started asking me what my new last name is. I don't think she's made the connection that I'll change my name when I get married, either that or she's just the most roundabout at asking me if I have a boyfriend. I just about die laughing every time she asks me this.

I asked her what her new last name was going to be and she picked Rose. And then she said she was going to name her kids Rapunzel and Sweet.

And Cam, I'm just glad that he warms up to me when I come home. I've been away at school for most of his life and one of the things that scares me the most is that he won't know who I am. But every time I see him, even if he doesn't remember me at first, he does by the end of my visit. This last visit for Christmas was so much fun. Cam would just come over and sit on my lap and play with my fingers for a while. And then he would look up to me and whisper "I wanna go to my room." And then we would go play cars in his room until I had to go home.

I love having younger cousins. They just make everything more enjoyable.

Microphone and headphone jacks are different

Last night Elsa, Jess, Brooke, and I decided to go to the temple early this morning, so last night we were all trying to go to bed early. I decided that while I was trying to fall asleep I would watch the last 12 minutes of Chuck I missed when I went to FHE, on my computer.

Brooke was in bed already trying to fall asleep, so I got into bed and plugged in my headphones.

But I couldn't hear anything! Well I could hear it a little. But the thing is, I have really good headphones and normally the volume doesn't have to be up that loud. Regardless, I just couldn't hear anything.

So I turned up the volume.

Eventually I had the volume on my computer turned all the way up, as well as the volume on the media player. I chalked it up to a bad soundtrack on the video and kept watching.

A few minutes later Elsa opened the door and started trying to talk to me. Now I have issues with lip reading in the light, but in the dark there is no way in the world. I took my headphones out and start to get out of bed so I could go into the hallway to talk to Elsa and we wouldn't wake up Brooke.

In the middle of getting up, I realized I could still hear Chuck!

At first I was confused. "Wait I can still hear it..."

(Elsa and Brooke burst out laughing)

"I didn't have my headphones plugged in! But I swear they were in! No wonder I couldn't hear it..."

My headphones were plugged into the spot where the microphone is suppose to be plugged in. Who in their right mind designs a computer with the two right next to each other?! Well most people probably do, but really?!

So there I was lying in bed, innocently (or so I thought) watching Chuck. But noooooo! I was laying in bed watching Chuck blasting the sound so loud that Elsa could hear it in her bathroom.

Luckily, Brooke wasn't asleep or almost asleep yet, so I didn't wake her up. If I had, I would have felt AWFUL. Instead when I said that I would put my headphones in for the rest of the episode Brooke told me not to because...

"I have to see how it ends!" We may have another Chuck fanatic in our midst yet...

So Brooke and I finished the episode of Chuck and then quietly went to bed.

The moral of the story is - microphone and headphone jacks are different. In case you didn't know.

Awkwardness

Don't you just love when you're in a group setting and someone is trying to start a discussion but nobody will respond?

Well, that happened tonight. It was awkward.

It doesn't help when the discussion topic/question doesn't even make sense. Or when all you can think about is how you're missing the last 20 minutes of Chuck to sit in awkward silence.

Kelsie said to offer a suggestion about how to change this, but really I have no idea. I kind of like awkward situations like this because I know that I'm not going to say anything - EVER - and it can be kind of fun to watch people squirm.

Also I found out today that I am no longer a scorpio, but am now a virgo. I'm very upset about this. I don't even know what the description for a scorpio is, but I feel like my whole life has been a lie and that I have to go through a major identity transformation/crisis.

In closing, I would like to share this gem from Bro Haglund, a bishopric counselor in my ward-

"Awkwardness is the pathway to true happiness."

Truer words have never been spoken.

I have a problem

They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. The only issue here is that I don't want to recover because I like my problem.

My problem is that I watch TV shows.

Well more like occasionally I find a new series that I like and then I obsess over it. I watch ever episode, one right after the other, until I have watched every episode available.

This becomes an issue when silly things like school and work are a part of my life. Sometimes all I would rather do is watch the next episode of my new obsession series.

Freshman year was when I first came down with this problem. The show was The Office.

"Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica." Enough said.

I had never seen The Office before I came to college, but it was the cool thing to watch it, so of course I did too. Soon I realized that I loved The Office. I commenced to watch every episode until I reached the current ones. Now this wasn't such a big deal because I think The Office was only on like season 3, maybe. So it took me 2 weeks, tops.

It wouldn't have been so bad if this is where my problem had stopped. But nooooooo. It only got worse.

Every once in a while I get introduced to a new TV show and then I have to see every single episode. Its all I think about. Its the only thing I want to do. I even start to dream about the TV show (this is due to the fact that I get way to involved in the characters. Once I had a dream with the characters of Chuck, Vampire Diaries, and Bones all in it. It was crazy.)

I've done this with the TV shows

Chuck

Probably my most favorite show of all time. I own the first 3 seasons on DVD and watch them regularly. It is AWESOME.

Bones

Bones actually might be tied with Chuck for most favorite show ever. Temperance Brennan is my hero. If I could handle blood and guts, I would be her. You might not guess this, but you can learn a lot from Bones - at least I have...

Hawaii Five-O

I don't know why I love cop shows, but I do, I just can't help it!

Vampire Diaries

We'll just call it a guilty pleasure.

Nikita

My last obsessive TV show. I can't wait for the new episodes to start.

And probably several others that I can no longer remember. I obviously have a problem.

My newest TV show obsession is House. I love this show so much. I don't know what about it that I love, but I just do.

I just finished season 1. Currently season 7 is airing. That means I have 5 1/2 seasons to watch so that I can be current. I may not surface for a while.

With that said, I'm off to start season 2!

36 Days

That's how many days of class I have left to go to until I graduate.

That means I have 72 class periods left.

Do you know how exciting this is? So exciting I think I just peed a little...op definitely did (name that youtube video)

Technically there are still 97 days until graduation, but I only have class on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so those other days of the week I learned way back in kindergarten don't count on my calendar.

I need to start practicing my grabbing diploma cross over hand shake skills! I don't want to disappoint with Cecil and President Uchtdorf watching!

I'm a problem reader

I read a quote today that I loved. It was by Emilie Buchwald and it said,

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

I have loved books ever since I can remember. I am almost always reading a book and have read almost every day since the second grade.

My parents call me a problem reader. Which to be fair, my whole family is full of problem readers. It must be a genetic condition. All growing I continually got in trouble for reading too much. It was common to hear "Put the book down!" in my house. I also got my book taken away several times because I wouldn't stop reading it.

While we were growing up my parents read to my siblings and I all the time. My mom read series of books to the whole family, and every day we would listen to a chapter or two. She read us The Work and The Glory, Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites, Harry Potter (I was notorious for getting these books taken away. My dad would come in at 11 at night and take it away from me), Little House on the Prairie (I wanted to BE Laura Ingalls Wilder. I also totally checked this series out from the BYU library and read it), and countless others. My mom started reading the Little House series to me when I started kindergarten, and then I listened to it again when Kelsie started kindergarten and then again when Karlie started kindergarten. That's probably why I love the Little House books so much.

I saw my parents reading often when I was growing up too. Parents are the ones who introduce us to books and show us the fun in escaping to new and exciting worlds. Emilie Buchwald really had it right when she said children get a love of reading from their parents.

Brooke is back!!!

Brooke came back today.

The lucky bum graduated in December so she didn't have to come back when the rest of us did to start school. So instead of enjoying the freezing temperatures, Brooke stayed an extra week in sunny California.

But now she's back.

I told her that if she tried to move back home I would lock the door and refuse to let her leave. And if I had to that I would drive to California and kidnap her and bring her back.

Now everything is back to normal. Plus Elsa, Jess, and I got the dishes done and everything cleaned up just in time for Brooke to come back. Our goal was to have all our stuff from Christmas cleaned up and put away before Brooke came back so she wouldn't turn around and go home instead of living with messy roommates. I'm very proud of us for this accomplishment.

I just decided that this semester we need to work on taking pictures. Pictures of stuff we do and of the four of us. Because at this moment only 2 semi decent pictures exist of the four of us, an these are them.The fact that there are only 2 pictures and we've lived together for over a year now is just sad.

The beginning of the end...

In 99 days the giant Y on the mountain will be lit up for me. Because...

I started my last semester of college on Tuesday!

I'm very excited about it. So excited, in fact, that I can hardly function.

I also rarely talk about anything else. When somebody asks me how I'm doing my reply is that I'm doing good and that I just started my last semester of college. People are probably tired of hearing it, but I'm not tired of saying it, so too bad for them!

This semester I am only taking 9 credits. I only have two real classes, Late Middle Ages and Family Finance, and then I have an internship in the Special Collections of the BYU Library working under the University Archivist. I started my internship today and so far I've loved it, all 2 hours of it! Even though I'm not going to have a busy or hard semester academically, it will be busy/hard because I'm going to have so little time. With the time spent on my internship and my job, I'm going to be working close to 35 hours a week! Plus taking 2 classes.

This semester is going to be a great one, I can tell. And even if it isn't, in April I get to wear a funny hat and somebody is going to give me a piece of paper that has cost an awful lot of money, and I will be thrilled about it! Because I will be done with college!