My Car and My Nerves Have Been Wrecked

I don't even know how long it's been since I wrote a blog post. I have two in draft that I haven't worked on in a while. Life has been crazy, but I think it's time for me to say something. It's going to be a therapeutic writing session, and I'm not going to go into too many details or the aftermath due to the on-going proceedings with insurance companies. I'll try to stick to basic facts.

Saturday, February 21, 2015, a little before 7:09pm I was rear-ended while stopped, waiting at a red light. I was hit with such force that all my airbags deployed, and my car went into the car in front of me. The car in front of me (Honda) went into the car in front of it (4Runner), so it was a total of four cars involved in the accident. I must have blacked-out or something, because all I remember is being stopped, looking up in my rear-view mirror, and thinking "That car is coming at me very fast." The next thing I remember is coughing from what I thought was smoke. I think it was the dust from my airbags, and it took me a bit of time to realize that's what it was or that my airbags had deployed. I called 911. I didn't talk with the girl, Nekeisha, who hit me at all. I remember thinking, "you have to take pictures. you have to take pictures." It was very hard because my hands were shaking.

You can see the deployed airbags in this picture, with some of the rear damage. There was frame damage.

My younger sister was in the accident with me. She told me that it's probably better to get off the road, because we were on the feeder of a tollway, after an event was getting out. We went into a parking lot. I started crying, shaking, and my body stopped functioning. Saryah sat next to me trying to calm me down. One of the ladies from the 4Runner got me water from one of the buildings whose parking lot we were in. One of the other ladies from the 4Runner was in front of me repeating ,"You're in shock. Just breath. Breathe. Concentrate on your breathing..."

To summarize the rest of the night: Saryah managed to get a hold of our parents. My mom came to help deal with the situation. Joshua was at a church meeting, and called as soon as he got the message that we were in an accident. He talked to Saryah and came up too. It was a crazy night, and I was taken to the hospital on a stretcher.

I was released that night and went home. The whole process of dealing with the aftermath, insurance companies, and details about my car, has been horrible. However, I would be one of the worst people if I wasn't able to look through the trauma, recognize, and be grateful for the people who have been so kind to me during this ordeal. I'm thankful for my mother, who had to put up with my crazy emotions as I yelled at her a lot that night. Joshua bought her I'm-Sorry-For-Yelling-At-You flowers on my behalf. I'm grateful for Saryah, who took care of me as I was unable to function after the accident. I'm grateful for Joshua, who came to be with me. He's been able to handle with my stress levels in the weeks since the accident, when many people cannot. I'm grateful for Greg and Steven, who showed up late at night to give me a blessing. I'm thankful for Jay, who has helped walk me through this process, and makes me feel like I'm in safe hands with him on my side. I'm grateful for Pam, who was okay with me going and looking at cars while she's supposed to be on vacation visiting me. I'm thankful for my awesome brother, who called Greg and Steven, and has helped me look at cars the past few weeks.

My car has been deemed a total loss. After much research and (literal) tears, I bought a new compact SUV, Mazda CX-5. Even though driving has become the most stress-inducing traumatic nightmare I must partake of daily, I'm glad replacing my car is over and done. One thing has been resolved, and many more are yet to come.

Boston Strong America!

Anyone who has talked to me this year knows, after my Europe trip earlier this year, I'm not making any more trips this year because I'm saving money. The problem is, saying and doing are very different things. Becca messaged me back in June. This is more or less what happened. I took out the extra stuff.

Becca: Do you have plans over labor day weekend this year?
Me: Not that I know of. What are you thinking? Britney in Vegas????
Becca: haha. That wasn't what I was thinking...
Me: What were *you* thinking?
Becca: I was just thinking that Labor Day weekend was fun last year, and it seems like a good vacation opportunity. I'll try and think of potential places.
Me: Boston?
Becca: Are you a mind reader?
Me: Yes, yes, and yes.

What can I say? It's very hard to convince me to travel...because saying and doing are two *very* different things. Funny story: we were looking at hostels, and the one we were originally looking at fell through. We waited a bit long to book rooms, and wanted to get it done before everything booked up. We were both away from our computers, so we ended up booking everything on our phones. #classylassies

I took a nice long Labor Day weekend vacation. I took of Thursday night, so we could have all of Friday together. Did I mention that Becca's parents were joining us on our trip? Because they did, and they are so funny! I was a little nervous because the only interaction I've ever had with Becca's parents, as Becca reminded me, was when her mom would transcribe my letter into an email to Becca, while I was on my mission, and Becca was teaching in China. I remember Becca telling me that her mom was having difficulties transcribing my smiley faces and other drawn expressions that I use in my letters. Anyways, Becca and her parents picked me up from the airport Thursday night, and we went to the hotel.

Friday morning, I should have gone running, but I made excuses in my head to no go. It's even worse, because Becca's dad came back full of happy runny energy, because he had a great run along the bay. Shame on me. We had a nice breakfast before heading out for the day. There was a nice man who redirected us to the correct side of the train by saying "you only go that way if you want to get run over by a train". He was funny. We walked along the harbor and waited in line for our whale watching tour. Another reason I'm happy Becca's parents came along! I'm not to sure I could have convinced Becca to go on a whale watching tour without the added votes from her parents. We were warned before going on the boat, there were 3ft waves that day. I may be Boston strong...but it turns out my stomach is not. Several kids and myself had motion sickness...unlike the kids, I found a trashcan to vomit into. The kids will learn, but I felt pity for the workers who had to clean the deck of vomit. Gross. We saw whales. (If Marijn is reading this...it says: we saw whales. Whales were seen. We zagen walvissen) They were so big! It was magical! Everything I wanted and more (in both a good and bad way. lol)

We walked to see a graveyard, some parks, and the Cheers bar. That place was pretty cute. Then we went to the oldest restaurant in the United States! Union Oyster House. It was cool. The waitress had such a Bostonian accent, it was adorable. (spoiler...Becca and I walked by the waitress again the next day when we were going to our hostel) We ate so much, and it was so good!

 Saturday we said goodbye to Becca's parents and went to find our hostel. We took the train to the stop, and decided to walk to the hostel instead of calling the shuttle. This is when we saw our waitress again. We both weren't sure if we should say hi or not, so we stayed silent. As we were walking on the sidewalk, a van pulled over and asked if we were going to the hostel. It was the shuttle! He was driving back from dropping someone off. What a coincidence! We checked in and went back to the train stop before heading off to the Freedom Trail.

Freedom Trail notes:

• The best part about walking the freedom trail: me wearing my American shirt that I bough specifically for this trip.
• The worst part about the freedom trail: the wreckage it did to my legs that lasted for a week. I was literally limping for a week, and I felt it in my left hip. Personally, I blame the 294 stairs at the Bunker Hill monument.
• It made the black history trail seem terrible. I'm just going to take a moment for this. Dear Boston, If you are going to advertise you have a black history trail, put signs up to mark where you are supposed to be going and where you should stop! The Freedom Trail has a trail in the pavement! The Black History trail had nothing, but other tourists wandering around asking each other if they think they found one of the landmarks. This is embarrassing for you Boston. Just stop.
• Turns out the midnight ride of Paul Revere NEVER HAPPENED! American history is a dirty liar. He had someone else light the lanterns in the church...and we aren't even sure who!!!
• We stopped at Mike's Pastries. It was tastey...but not worth all the hype. 

Saturday night was fireworks in the Harbor. It was gorgeous. 

Sunday arrived with achy legs. We played too hard Saturday, and our bodies hated us on Sunday. We still went into town for a much slower-paced day that the day before. We started off with Sunday brunch at a bookstore/cafe. Trident Book Cafe. WHAAAAAAATTTT???? Books and food! Dreams do come true. The food was amazing too. Apple turkey sausage! I died and went to heaven. Seriously amazing. Then we went to go to the library. It was closed. Obviously we checked the time again and decided to come back when it was open. Instead we went to Harvard. Why? To say we went to Harvard.

Harvard is not as impressive as I once thought. There was no sign that said "Harvard" anywhere. Who does that! Every school has a sign that says their name. Nope. Not Harvard. Stupid Harvard. We went back to the library....it was still closed. Turns out, it' closed for Labor Day weekend, all weekend. bah. Then we couldn't find a public bathroom, and I'm like a child when I got to go.  We couldn't find a public bathroom anywhere for me. I was a hot mess. We wandered to a park to rest and FaceTime Marijn. It was a Labor Day reunion, because we were together in DC last year for Labor Day.

I had taken some Earl Grey tea from the hotel earlier this weekend and had been carrying it around in my purse for this very moment...I was going to throw tea in the harbor. Of course, I ripped the bag to get the tea out; I didn't want to liter. It was magical. I love how excited I look in my picture...because really, I was that maniacally happy about it.

We then headed to dinner for lobster rolls. We wanted to go to this place with awesome reviews, but they had a two hour wait, and we were HUNGRY. We saw that the place next door had lobster rolls too, so we went there. Turns out, there is a reason this place isn't rated. It was SUPER overpriced and not that good. It also turns out, I don't like lobster that much. Surprise. We went and got sweets from a bakery down the road and went back to the hostel to read for the rest of the night. We were seriously knackered. I love that Becca and I can just go back to read in our rooms, and be 100% okay with it. Great travel buddy. We went to bed, and I flew out early the next morning.

I was driven to the airport by a taxi man that I wasn't 100% sure if he was really a taxi driver or a hippie homeless man driver who was going to kill me. It was a wee bit stressful. I still arrived home safely and in time to head over to Marcia's farewell family Labor Day BBQ party, which was super fun too.

Florida Fun in the Sun

Background points: 

1. I don't like using last names in my blog posts, because I like to give people some resemblance of privacy, and I hate when people use my first and last names in blogs. You know, do unto others as you would have others do to you, and all that jazz. Now that you know that, you must also know: writing this blog was really weird, because I call Zach by his last name, probably 90% of the time.

#tbt #iwasfat #CSRM #missionaries

2. I haven't seen Zach since the mission, so about 3 years or so. We've kept in contact, text, and chat on the phone occasionally. I think my favorite thing to ask him is "Why aren't you married?" because he just laughs it off. Either way, we got along really well on the mission, and we still get along fabulously post-mission.

Storytime:

Zach told me earlier this year that he was planning on going to Austin sometime this summer, which made me super excited all year. But like every other time there's a possibility of us running into each other, something happened where he couldn't go anymore. Like how he purposefully goes to whichever mission reunion I'm not attending. (I'm on to you!) We were chatting on the phone one night, and he was just "why don't you come here?" and I immediately say "I'm not flying to tampa to spend a weekend with you." He's saying, "why not" and I'm saying many reasons, "It's going to be expensive. I don't have any time before you go off to school again. You're not really serious." We talked, and I looked at flights, hypothetically of course. It turns out, Houston to Tampa isn't that expensive for a weekend, and since I would be staying with his family, I would just be paying for airfare and if we went out to eat. It also turned out, there was a great weekend that worked perfectly for my schedule. I made him go ask his mom, for real, if it would be okay if I came to visit and verify he wasn't offering as an impulse thing. Once that was okay, I just had to think about it....and the real concern surfaced. If I went to visit him and stay with his family, everyone is going to think we're dating. I told him this and he just said "who cares? people are always going to think what they're going to think". Valid. I booked my flight. 

The only plan I had for the weekend was spending some quality time with Zach, which is exactly what happened....everything else was extra. I flew in Friday night, and he's messages me to see if it's okay that his mom comes along to pick me up from the airport with him. I'm like, "uhhhh....sure." It was a great decision. His mom, is super awesome, and I adore her. We picked up his oldest (maybe?) brother and went to dinner near Clearwater Beach, where one of his younger sisters and her friends joined us. It was great. I think the best part is when we got back, and I met his youngest brother Matt, who was just waking up from a too-long nap around 10ish. I greeted him, and he just gave me one of those i-just-woke-up-and-nothing-makes-sense looks. I laughed. The next best part was that Zach's mom more awake and ready to stay up than I was. I felt so un-cool.

Saturday morning started off wonderfully. I did my 5-mile run on a trail down the road from their house (see pic above). It was my first 5-mile run; I was worried I would die from the distance, and Zach's family was worried I'd die from heat and humidity. Personally, I think Florida was less humid than Texas that week. I also had to tell Zach to make sure I didn't make up excuses to not run. The sad thing is, it was my last long-distance run. I've been making tons of excuses since. #fail

I went running, while Zach and Matt went to help someone move. Zach's mom made an epic breakfast when we all got back. We headed to the beach, where Zach and Matt did an indoor surf thing, while I hung out and shopped a bit with Zach's mom. Then it was beach time. The sand was so white and the water was nice, warm, wonderful, and clean.

On the way to the beach, I was having quite an interesting family drama morning, because everyone was convinced my older sister was dead. I thought she had been taken. It was very dramatic, and quite entertaining. Turns out she was just asleep. It was so anticlimactic. It did leave us very intrigued for the morning.

I'm not sure if I should share this story, but I'm going to anyway, because I don't have many boundaries. Zach's brother, Matt is a teenagers. One of the teenager things I heard from him was him complaining that his parents "cared too much" and "believed in him too much". I laughed so hard. Fast forward a few weeks. I'm in the car with my mom and sister, and my mom is driving me insane about something. I'm about to open my mouth and say "STOP CARING SO MUCH", but instead I think of Matt and start laughing. It was a great moment. I'm such an adult.

Dang. My face looks nice and tan. Go me...Zach looks tan too.

After the beach, we went back to the house. Zach and I went shopping for groceries for dinner, which was great, because we were very inefficient and kept backtracking trying to find things on our shopping list. I got to request spaghetti with meatballs for dinner. Victory! To make dinner even better, the sister missionaries showed up. I LOVE MISSIONARIES! It was a great night. The evening ended with a stroll and lots of sweets from the Sponge Docks. Then I introduced them to The Mindy Project. There were a few moments where I questioned my decision, but I LOVE THE MINDY PROJECT! NO REGRETS!

Sunset at the Sponge Docks. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!?!?!?!

Sunday Funday! Sunday was great. I wore my pretty new flower dress and had to borrow a safety pin to keep it appropriate. Clothing these days. geeze. Church was amazing. I was so uplifted. There were some great speakers, but my fav was a 15-year-old boy, who converted recently. The sunday school teacher was deaf, and had great insights into the book of Job. The Relief Society was full of women with wisdom. It was great. I didn't realize how much their words would impact me later the week. Seriously. There were a number of ladies battling cancer in the room, and they were talking about dealing with trials and cancer. I loved one older lady telling about when she got the call that she had cancer. She said something along the lines of, "When you get bad news like that, you take a moment to be miserable/upset/angry. No more than 24-hours. Then you have to get back and face it" She said she called her doctor back and said "ok. what are we going to do about it?" I'm not saying that everyone should deal with cancer or bad news this way, but I really liked the spirit behind her words.

We made sushi for lunch. Homemade sushi. I've never made homemade sushi before, and I felt super posh. It was awesome, and fun. After lunch, the only way to end a great weekend is with a great dessert! So I made Sister Bunker's birthday cookies (aka homemade oreos). They were a hit. Of course. You can't go wrong with those cookies. 

Overall, it was a great weekend. I needed it. I needed to relax, and spend some time with a friend. I had a great time. Maybe it won't take years before we see each other next. His mom asked me over the weekend what I thought about Zach, or if he's what I expected, or something like that. I've told him, and I told her: Zach is not what I thought he would be like outside of the mission. That may sound bad, but I mean it in the nicest way. You get to know and love fellow missionaries on your mission, and they just stay that way, in missionary-mode, in your mind forever. Zach just got more awesome since the mission, and I love it. 

I'm so fancy. You already know. I'm in the fast lane, from H-town to London-o!

When planning a trip, know your audience. What are the *must see* items? Is everything a must see item or are the people you with more relaxed tourists who don't care if you see everything? Are the people really into seeing iconic tourist things or experiencing the life of just enjoying *being* there? Do they like history? Do they like tours? Do they like museums? Art, history, or both? This was our itinerary for three days in London that will accommodate a mixed group of people who've already been to London and those who are there for their first time, with an emphasis on Harry Potter fun. We did not accomplish everything on our list because I was with relaxed travelers.

Day 1:
- Tower of London - £21.45
- Camden Town
- Platform 9 ¾
- 221B Baker Street
- Trafalgar Square
- Wander London
- St-Dunstan-in-the-East
- Millennium Bridge- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with a dramatic sequence of the London Millennium Footbridge collapsing. A pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing River Thames, the Millennium Bridge links Bankside with the City and offers dramatic views of St Paul’s Cathedral as you walk from the south side to the north.
- Buckingham Palace

- Big Ben

- London Eye

- Westminster Abbey
- Redemption Bar (non-alcoholic bar)

Day 2:
- 10am Brunch at Mr Buckley’s

- 1pm Church. 2:50 Sacrament service. London YSA Ward.
- Little Venice, London- The affluent district of South Maida Vale is is interspersed with picturesque waterways and the area where the Grand Union and Regent’s Canals meet is affectionately known as Little Venice
- Covent Gardens
- Dinner with England family

Day 3:
- Harry Potter Studio Tour+Audio Tour £35.00. Train: London Euston to Watford Junction (20 minute journey) A shuttle bus, operated by Mullany's Coaches runs from Watford Junction to the Studio Tour, with a journey time of around 15 minutes. Plan to arrive at Watford Junction 45 minutes before the time stated on your ticket, and have your ticket or booking confirmation ready when boarding the shuttle bus.

- Leadenhall Market 10am - 6pm, Monday to Friday - Leadenhall Market in the City of London was used as Diagon Alley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The entrance to wizard’s pub, the Leaky Cauldron, is an optician in Bull’s Head Passage in Leadenhall Market. Leadenhall is a superb example of a Victorian covered market with an ornate painted roof.
- (Tube: Bank) and approach the storefront at 42 Bull's Head Passage — the entrance to The Leaky Cauldron pub
- 7:30pm Les Miserables- Queen’s Theatre (everyone should do this. you can NEVER see Les Mis in West End too many times. Seriously)

Other suggestions:

- Tate Modern (art museum)
- British Museum. You could spend DAYS here.
- The British Library
- Victoria & Albert Museum (art and design museum)
- Imperial War Museum
- Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum
- walk through Hyde Park
- find the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens
- Abbey Road (for Beatles fans)
- Jack the Ripper Tour
- High tea at St Paul's Cathedral Crypt
- Beyonce Dance Class

Everyone on their electronics

Now onto the trip!
Rule #1. It's hard, but you have to get on a sleeping schedule or you'll suffer from jet lag longer than you want. Don't go to bed before 10pm each night, and wake up at 8am the first 2 days at least. This will help you get over jetlag ASAP. Don't nap whenever you sit down because it will throw off your internal clock. You want to be exhausted when you go to sleep because you want to be able to sleep through the night. Otherwise, you'll be able to fall asleep but wake up super early due to jet lag. 

Rule #2. Stay off your electronics, especially your phone! You're on vacation!

The Tower of London is *ALWAYS* a good idea. Saryah goes here all the time. It's a little strange. I don't think you can come here enough. The beefeaters (the guys in uniform) are always the best tour guides. I don't know how they do it, but you fall in love with them! Coolest people ever. The story of the two princes is always a fan favourite.

I wish this photo wasn't as fuzzy as it is....but I love it! There is an official queue up to this spot to take a photo. There are official people there taking photos that you can buy later, but you don't have to. They will let you take your own photos. We probably waited 30-45 minutes in line, but after we got through, the line doubled in size. Poor Erica, I was grilling her on the exact angle and time to take the picture so I could get the perfect photo. I'm intense.

 I just want to shout out to the guy in this photo who went to a crepe stand in Camden Town and just had them give him strawberries drizzled with Nutella, hold the crepe. Way to go stranger!

 The sun never sets on the British Empire. I love this poster. We were at brunch, and I felt so patriotic. #brits

Sunday was a relaxing day to walk around. We went out to Covent Gardens for a nice stroll and cool shake, since it was so hot out. Before heading over to Kate's for Sunday dinner. I adore Kate! Ben and Rachel drove down to see us too. I love family time in England! Especially when Ben and Saryah do yoga together. As we always say, a family who does yoga together, stays together.

Okay, let's be real. I'm such a Harry Potter nerd, I really just want to post all the pictures I took during the HP Studio Tour. I've been wanting to do this tour since the moment I heard it was going to open. I tried to back in 2012, but the weekend I booked, the studio was closed for some unknown reason. I'm still angsty about it.  You start off in this line to get you pumped. You then enter a standing room to see a video getting you excited. Then you sit in movie theater seats to see this little introduction video. No lie: I cried. No lie: Erica cried too. Words cannot describe how much Harry Potter has meant to me in my life, even though I tried to explain it once. 

 Wow. Could this lighting be any more beautiful?!?! Natural lighting forever! This is the back set. I have officially walked where the HP cast has walked. I loved every moment of it. Erica had her first butterbeer here.

Knight Bus! All Aboard!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Diagon Alley

They say the Mirror of Erised would show the happiest person a reflect of themselves, exactly as they are. I can tell you, I was probably the happiest person alive when I was there. The Mirror showed true. #fangirl

I could have done the whole thing again, but Erica and Saryah were tired and hungry. We went back into London to have some fish and chips for dinner before Les Miserables (my favourite!!!)  The whole cast brought their A-game, and I was eternally grateful. Next stop...Paris.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love

This is a love story. This will also be a "Natasha Story" as my high school bffs call it, meaning it will be a really long story and will take forever to get to the point. This love story starts on Sept 26, when I had to wake up really early and was miserable having to leave my wonderfully comfortable hotel bed to go to an early meeting, after staying up to work on a presentation I was going to give, but never ended up making changes to it, since my calculations were not making sense. I realized that I was a little Europe homesick. I have a group message on Whatapp with some of my friends from studying in Spain in this group. Becca tried to comfort me in my distress from the day saying, "don't worry, we will be in Guatemala soon. your job is paying for it!" and I said "I kinda want to switch Guatemala for Germany." She said "I'm okay with either, just as long as we go somewhere" wow. that was one of the greatest and easiest change of plans. It got me pretty excited. I was on cloud nine. Sadly, even though I was in a great mood, I was having some bad luck. Nevertheless, this news put a spring in my step all weekend.

I left work a little early to go pick up Teri Jo from work and start our weekend. It was gross stop-and-go traffic all to the airport. Bah humbug. The traffic wasn't as terrible as anticipated, so we arrived early. This was good because I was getting hangry for some food. The flight was good, and I got to start The Spy Who Loved, which is a biography about WWII spy who kept on blowing my mind with her quick thinking in super intense situations. We got to the LaGuardia pretty late and got in the taxi line, only for it to be ridiculously slow. The New Yorkers in line were getting very vocally upset and verbally assaulting the worker over the line. I was part amused and part horrified. Luckily, we got a taxi without any bloodshed, but after a super long wait.

We got to the hotel we were staying at, the W in Time Square. Teri Jo's friend is a chef for a super fancy hotel in Boston, and got us a friend-rate. So we walked into the hotel, and the lobby/check-in area is on the 7th floor. The 7th floor is also a club. There were people dancing,and great music. We checked in and got into a different set of elevators to get up to the room, except you have to insert your hotel card to get to the floor you needed. Teri Jo was having major problems with the key card. lol. I used my hotel expertise to get us to our room...and the room was super swanky with a beautiful view of Time Square. I hoped in the shower so I could sleep in a little more the next morning since we were going to get some CRONUTS!!!

Saturday morning began with waking up, putting on my red lipstick, and grabbing a scarf to keep me warm in the chilly weather...at 5:30am. We got a taxi to take us down to Dominique Ansel's Bakery, and figured out where it was at from the line that had already formed. We took a seat on the side walk and attempted to stay warm, and made a friend. She worked in fashion design for bathing suits at Target. She was pretty cool, and we became friends for the 3 hours we were in line. The bakery is pretty small, so you go into the bakery in groups. We were in the second group. There was someone waiting in line in a sleeping bag, napping. There was also another person with an office chair, which they claim they found outside by and took it to the line with them. lol.
We were waiting in line for the cronut inside the bakery. I spotted Dominique, and the New Yorker girl we became friends with said that he was really friendly and took pictures with tourists. I finally got up the courage to ask him for a picture. He looked at me and said, "No". My face dropped, and I said, "Oh. Ok." to which he smiled and said "of course! How can I say no to a face like that?" with a smile. He came from around the counter and took a picture with me and another one with me and Teri Jo. His French accent just melted me. I loved it. The cronut flavor of the month was fig. Honestly, you say fig, and I am not impressed. Oh snap. it was tasty. Was it as life-changing as everyone makes it out to be? Maybe not so much. But the experience of it all made it all worth it.  I ate a cronut and ate a few bites of a frozen smore. I'm pretty sure I was about to die from a sugar coma. Luckily, I got some milk to balance out the sugar. It was great. We then took a walk to the subway station. On the way there we walked past the Dash store, and I thought of Saryah. I didn't even notice it, since I'm super unobservant, but Teri Jo pointed it out to me. We got to the subway, only for me to realize, I don't understand the differences between the metro tickets. It took a few minutes and we just chose the $10 fare ticket you can reload with more money later. We hopped on the metro, switched lines to go up to Time Square. After a few stops, we started to suspect that we were going the wrong way, except we only were sure when the train went above ground and across the bridge into Brooklyn. It was ridiculous. But I couldn't find a map of where we were on the metro, and I didn't have signal in the underground metro to follow where we were on my phone. It was quite ridiculous; it's the first metro that ever got the best of me.

We miraculously found our way back to Time Square before heading off to book a bike tour of Central Park. Sadly, it was booked, so we had to go on the 1pm tour. Since this was the case, we went back to Time Square; Teri Jo wanted to see the Disney store (she's one of those Disney lovers). We were talking and saying how we would love to just love seeing another play on Sunday afternoon before we leave, even though we are going tonight. I was kinda happy that Teri Jo was so cool with this idea, because I could honestly come up to NYC and watch plays all weekend and be as happy as a clam. We went back to the bike tour place, and it was pretty fun. The biking was relaxing and nice. Teri Jo was getting a little annoyed with me always looking behind me to make sure I haven't lost her. She called me out on it, so I stopped. This backfired, because when we got to the lake in the part, she was not there. We lost her. She found her way back, but it was not unreasonable for me to check on her. She walks really slowly, so I wanted to check on her on the bike too.

I had texted Dan earlier in the week to tell him I was heading to NYC and how I wanted to meet up. We were texting to meet up. We finished the tour, and he called. The funny thing was, when I picked up the call, I thought, 'Why is a British person calling me?' and then I remembered...hahaha, it's my cousin; he has an accent. (i honestly forget my dad has an accent most times)

Teri Jo and I went to a little coffee shop on the corner, to meet up with Cool Cousin Dan. Plus, it was almost 3:30pm, and we hadn't ate any lunch. I needed a sugar level boost. Dan met up with us, and we had some great catch up time. I was teasing him about wearing a helmet as he was biking around. He said it was because he fell asleep on his bike one day and fell off. He really is the coolest. He introduced me to the concept of traveling the world for a year. I thought if I ever took time between jobs, it would be for two months or something, but when he said a year, it was like a light-bulb turned on in my brain and in my heart.

really cool art on the side of a building off the High Line

We went down to High Line to walk the trail. It was on a list of things to do that Saryah sent me. It was really beautiful, and was a nice place to walk. We were pretty hungry, and Dan recommended a pizza place off the line. We went, and it was delectable!!!!! The wait was a little longer than was desirable, since they didn't have any slice immediately ready. Nevertheless....sooo good. Dan and Teri Jo ate it so quickly, that I tried to eat it faster, and I'm pretty sure I burned my tongue. Dan then had to go get ready for a wedding reception, and Teri Jo and I needed to get back and get ready for our night on Broadway. I ended up passing out on the bed, while Teri Jo got ready. Teri Jo and I were headed off to two different plays. Teri Jo had the dream of going to Newsies on Broadway. I never had that dream. I was willing to go, but honestly wasn't too excited about it. Luckily, Teri Jo is pretty cool, and was like "you don't have to go to the same play as me" so i took that out like a Nox spell and went to Once. Oh my. Lindsay went to see this when she went to NYC last and told me how amazing it was. Before the show, the cast is on the stage singing Irish songs. It was brilliant. Then when the first song came on it, was soooo hauntingly beautiful. I was captivated. It as a totally British ending. I loved it.

After the musicals, we met up and walked around Manhattan at night, after Teri Jo got her pics with the Naked Cowboy. It was part amusing and part disturbing. lol. The walk was super relaxing and beautiful.We walked around for a while. We went to get some cupcakes for a midnight snack. We went to Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, NYC Public Library (they were having a black tie event in the library. i wish i was invited), and Empire State Building. It was a nice walk, even after being sexually propositioned by random guys I smiled at in a car.

We woke up and took a taxi to go to church with the Young Single Adult congregation in the Manhattan temple building. The bishop's wife was super nice to us. Everyone in the congregation looked like models. It was ridiculous. We took off after sacrament meeting to go to brunch at a restaurant Dena recommended. It was sooo good. Plus, there was live jazz playing. The ambiance was pretty legit. We then went down to see the Freedom Tower. I forgot to get us ticket to the 9/11 memorial beforehand, but the line to pick up those tickets was super long as well.

After the Freedom tower we went to Battery Park. It was beautiful. We got a ice cream and lemoneade as we sat on a bench and just relaxed. We were relaxing and waiting for Ben to show up #multitasking I honestly wanted to find a patch of grass and lay down to soak in some sun. Sadly, Battery Park seems to be more of a plant part rather than a grassy knoll park. Ben finally showed up, and we saw each other across the memorial and Ben started dramatically slow running toward me, so, of course, I had to join in the fun. Don't tell Ben, but I had forgotten how much I love that kid! I finally got to tell him, in person, how I've joined him in the i-dont-want-to-get-married-anytime-soon-slash-i-love-being-single club. I think Teri Jo was a little overwhelmed by the energy and excitement that Ben and I created. I had to explain to her that we were kindred spirits. Teri Jo told Ben that I was like a black widow, killing everyone who might be possibly interested in me. We caught up, we caught a taxi back up town to make it back in time for the musical Teri Jo and I were going to catch before our plane out. On the plane we were joking and having too much fun. I dont remember what the joke was, but I said one of my twisted humor jokes, and teri jo said "that is dark". ben said something along the lines of "there is no darkness with natasha, because she is the light". omg. I almost died. It rivaled my super cheesy comment to him i made earlier, which I do not remember, but it was too perfect to pass up. Ben dropped us off at the First Date, literally, right before it started. I miss that kid.

First date was amazing. I was laughing so hard with the first song. It is a "musical comedy", and when I heard that, I wasn't sure what to expect, and my expectations were pretty low. OMG. TOO FUNNY! It was as if anything awkward or ridiculous happened on a first date, it was in this musical. It was great. The best part...Zachary Levi. He is amazing. His singing voice was great. He was the voice of Flynn Rider in Tangled, and you always think that that Hollywood changes voices to make it better, but his voice was exactly the same as in the movie. Afterwards, we met him in real life after the play. We waited at the stage door, and the cast came out to tell everyone it was his birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him, and he went around signing things for people. I got him to sign my ticket and play bill. The girl next to me bought a Flynn Rider doll (action figure?) for him to sign (the box, not the actual doll). There was another girl who was telling him how she asked her friend to get something signed from him and it didn't happened and she tweeted him. He responded that he received the tweet and wanted to talk to her and how grateful he was that she came, so he could sign her stuff. It was then time for photos. I got a photo with him, and as I walked away, I looked back at him, made eye contact, and I fell in love. It was beautiful. Maybe it's true love, or it goes to show how I can only love people who are unavailable. We'll see. See....I told you it was a love story.

It ended on a great note. We took another walk, feeling high off the love in our hearts for Zachary Levi. Taxied our way to the Newark Airport, because NYC metro and trains confuse me to no end. We ate sushi and slept on the flight back. The end. 

So Light 'Em Up

About a month since my last post. Let's be real, it's because I've been feeling very blah. Life has been good, but I've been fighting bouts of anti-social behaviour, which means I've been trying to be more social to combat my desire to just sit in the corner of a room and not talk to anyone. Why bother, right? I wish I could just not be noticed ever, because I like flying under the radar. However, my life never works like that, because I see things and think "oh goodness, someone needs to do that or this needs to happen" but no one does it, because they dont see it. If not me, than who? So I put on a smile and do what I feel needs to be done, because otherwise it won't happen. But still, why bother? Because as much as I don't want to, I can't turn off the caring. I can try, but it builds until I spaz and draw even more attention to myself than I previously wanted. So I fight the anti-social behaviour to keep the balance. It's all about balance.

Ok. So a a few weeks worth of highlights, yeah? Okay. So Friday night (4/19) , I had a groupon was was about to expire for a large pizza, breadsticks, 2 salads, and a 2L bottle of soda. Yeah, when I bought it I thought I would have some friends over one day and use it, but that never happened. I asked Sonja if I could share it with her and Stevie because there is no way I could eat it by myself. I called in the pizza order and the person said I would have to pay a $2 fee. Ummm. pretty sure the point of Groupon is that you don't pay extra fees and stuff (unless you want to tip or something). They said it explained it on my Groupon. It did not. I called Saryah to make sure I wasn't being weird by letting this bother me, and she agreed that it was nonsensical. (not 100% that is the right way to use that word) When I got there, I told them that is wasn't on my Groupon. The guy got super rude with me, and I was like I dont believe you and in the end didn't have to pay the $2 extra but left feeling very annoyed.  Sonja gave me a kudos and we all had dinner. They also invited me to this art gallery thing and i was like.....errrrr. i have plans. When they asked what those plans were I was like...errrr. watch you got mail :/ lol. So I went home and had a nice relaxing night with me and my movie. #ilovemylife

The next day I sleep in, and like most mornings, check my phone in my sleepy haze to help me wake up. I read an email from my mom saying that her and my aunts and gpa are having crepes for lunch downtown at 11....It was 11 when I woke up. Boo. Oh well. I decided to go get groceries in my yoga pants and my fave Groundhog's hoodie. Sprouts was having a grand opening week and there were free hot dogs when I arrived. #win However, since it was a publicity stunt, there was someone taking photos. The last thing I need is a picture of me looking like a hot mess like that. Bleh. I found chia seeds, which I read about in Born to Run and some Dutch cookies that I absolutely love!!!!! I sent a pic to Marijn in excitement. On my way home, I got a call from my aunt saying they were heading to my parent's place and I said I would meet them there. I cleaned up and headed over. Gpa was there! yay! and I shared the cookies with them only to discover they did NOT taste like the Dutch cookies I know and love. They are horrible imitations. Bah humbug. We all hung out for a bit and then Aunt V and Gpa headed back home and mom and I spent the rest of the day together being vegetables. yay.

That Tuesday, I went to dinner with the Sisters and it was so much fun. Sister Jones invited Chris too, so it was pretty fun. Chris just becomes funnier ever time I see him. Where did we go? BJ's Restaurant. Why? To eat pazookies. omg. yes. yum. #bestideaever And it turns out they have a really good salad there too. yum yum.  That week I also made strides with learning the Ukrainian alphabet. I only have problems with about 5 of the letters, but that's serious improvement. woot. Thursday, I volunteered at the Mission at Serenity Ranch charity auction. It is a Houston NGO that works with women who have escape the sex-trafficking lifestyle. Yes. Sex trafficking. Let's be real people. It happens. It's real. It's a problem in America and in Houston. American girls are being brought into this life; it's not just for third-world countries. It was good to do something, even if it was manning the front desk with my cousin, Rebekah. It was a nice bonding event.

Friday night (4/26) was a night of Brave and Butterbeer! Laura & Teri Jo came over to watch brave because Teri Jo and I have never seen it. Teri Jo made us all butterbeer and we had a great night. We stayed up late girl talking and having tons of fun. That may not have been the best idea, because I was supposed to wake up early the next day. Different Laura and I volunteered to go work at the Bishop's storehouse that morning. We got there at 8:30, and got an orientation for volunteers and then got to work. We stocked shelves, helped patrons get their food, push shopping carts, and lift boxes. I've never felt so much job satisfaction in my life. It was a blast, and even better, you felt so good because you were helping people! It was past time to go before we knew it and even as we were leaving, we wanted to go back and stock a couple more shelves. lol. The senior missionary couple in charge complimented our work ethic and then went on telling us a story about how people nowadays  lack a good work ethic. #wisdomofourelders Laura and I then went to Target to get me an umbrella because it was raining and we wanted to go visit a girl we know, and we needed some food. Target Pizza Hut food. :) It was a great day. We parted ways early evening and I drove home and hung out with my parents for a while before going to the Best of Broadway NGO fundraiser night. It was awesome. They sang some of my favourite Broadway songs, and ended the night with Wicked's Defy Gravity sung by a friend of mine who has one of my favourite singing voices in the world. It was a great night.

good job satisfaction

Sunday was CRAZAY! Found out some good news from Sonja so I invited her and the fam to come over after church for some dinner! I forgot that Steven was going to be coming over for a visit too and that there would be some overlapping. I didn't really realize what that meant until that night. Kids are loud. When you are trying to have a conversation, it can force you to use your intense concentration skills. But it was a good chat. It was a little surreal, because in all honesty, I've known Steven for over a decade, but I would never really say we were friends, which is strange because a lot of my church friends were his friends, but we just never became friends ourselves. Granted, we were always friendly. I remember he gave me a ride to school after morning Bible study a couple of times. But it was nice to talk for a bit. It was also funny because Stevie and James like Steven and it was pretty funny seeing them all together. It was a crazy yelling across the room kinda fun. Overall it was a good night with friends.

The weekend past and a new exciting week was about to begin. Why was it so exciting? Because I got to go on a business trip to meet up with a team I work with in Fort Worth. They are the funniest guys! I drove up after lunch on Monday (4/29) and got there a little later than anticipated. I checked into my hotel and went to grab some dinner. Me and one of my co-workers are staying at the same hotel, and when I was checking in the lady was like "oh, a guy was waiting for you to arrive but went off to eat because it was getting late" Paul is so sweet. I went to eat and since I was flying solo, they sat me at the bar, but I didn't care because I was too busy reading Escape from Camp 14. Wow. Crazy good. After dinner, I went back and stayed up till I finished it. it was a pretty quick read but was very informative and awesome. #bookrecommendation

Tuesday was full of meetings, but was cool because I finally got to tour our Fort Worth facility. Awesome. I can see why Jon is so excited to work there. We all went out to eat Cajun food for dinner and had a blast. Wednesday, I helped with a presentation two of the team members were going to have to give on Friday and after lunch I drove back to Houston. On my way, I checked out Jon's future apartment complex to give him a 2nd opinion. he asked, i didn't creepily decide to check out his apartments on my own. lol. And I got to have dinner with my cousin Jax on my journey home too. It was a lot of fun. She's too cute. I want her to move back to Houston!

The week was going well. However, mentally, my brain was on overload and there is only one cure for moments like that in my life. I went to the temple after work on Thursday. It gave me the peace and clarity that I needed. I love the temple and I'm so grateful that I live close enough to go on a regular basis. It was perfection. To make the night better, I drove and picked up some Coco's to eat at home before some Scandal. It was the best Thursday! Friday, Sonja came over and brought dinner and 3 bottles of nonalcoholic drinks. lol. We had a party. The only downside was that I picked a super intense movie, The Impossible. It's about the tsunami in Southeast Asia. We were freaking out the entire movie. Super good, but super intense. We then stayed up super later chatting, and I was trying not to fall asleep toward the end of the night while we talked. woohoo.

Saturday, I fought the urge to never leave my room because i just wanted to stay in and read. I sat and watched Atlas Shrugged: Part 2, finally. It was a decent adaptation. Luckily, the 24 hour deadline for Redbox was approaching , so I forced myself out of my room to go return the movies. Since I was already out, I decided to follow-through on my previous plans for the day. Car shopping. I test drove 6 different cars and 6 different dealerships. Can I say, exhausting? It is exhausting having people sell you something the entire time you are there! And some of the people I just loved and wanted to buy a car from them just because i liked them. I'm ridiculous. The bummer was, I forgot my list of things I was specifically looking for, but remember a few of them. Luckily, my siblings were on standby and we were supportive with texting during the whole process. I have great siblings. I narrowed it down to 3 choices, except my brother suggested another car to check out before I make my decision and I found a different car I forgot to look at on my list I forgot to bring with me. So I have 5 choices right now. Therefore, I spent earlier this week compiling a more qualities in a car so I can make sure I compare the same specific qualities across the board to all the cars in order to have more well-rounded and knowledge base for my decision making. As Addy always says "this is a data-driven". Data driven decision.

The Fault in Our Stars

Let's face the facts. There are 2 comedians in my life that can do no wrong. Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey. I've read both of their books. Correction....I've listened to their audio books, which they narrate. Brilliant. In Tina Fey's book Bossypants she talks about the rules of improv. As someone who did theatre all in junior high, i know exactly what she's talking about.

1. Always say yes. #bestruleever. 
2. There are no mistakes, only opportunities. 

Now someone who does not do theatre or has a boring life, should take note of these rules. Why? because they make life more interesting. You want to go to Puerto Rico this weekend? No = Oh, okay.#nofun #nofriends You want to go to Puerto Rico this weekend? Yes = party time. See? Flawless logic. Of course, this rule has it's limits to excude the bad immoral sneaky people things in life. ie. No prostitution, stealing, breaking the law (some exclusions do apply), killing people, etcetera. It's fun and it keeps life interesting when you are open to new opportunities.

You know those old tv's with the bunny ears that were small screens in a HUGE box from the old days? You know, the ones that should be in museums for people to look at and laugh at as they think about current technology? Yeah, that's the kind of  tv my family has my whole life, since probably the 80's. It is pretty ghetto-licous. But with parents who grew up with nothing, they just see a working television and no reason to spend money to buy another working television. Now, to present time, the tv remote has been lost, so my dad missed watching Dr. Who. This of course is more unthinkable and ridiculous than having a super old tv, so my dad immediately requested that my brother go help them pick out a new tv. Now this new tv is all hi-tech and HD. It has netflix and my dad decided to get Hulu Plus so he can watch current tv shows too. He's so funny.

Now, the weekend of the new TV (3/15-6) , I slept over at home because I had a long week and wanted to escape. Due to my long week, I was feeling ready for a good long cry, which is ideal when you are planning on setting aside time to read a very sad book. That's right, I do enjoy a good emotionally traumatic book every once in a while. I read The Fault In Our Stars. Don't be alarmed by any spoilers, because you know it's going to be sad based on the summary, so please, calm down. As I was reading this book, I was cry. It was a constant of tears streaming down my face while I sat on the couch downstairs in the living room. My mom walked by and of course interrupted my intense emotional connection with fictional characters to ask me if I was ok. I responded "Of course!" and she interrupted again saying "are you sure?".  Please note the difficulty that exists when there is a very pivotal part in a book and then your mom interrupts because she's concerned that you are sitting by yourself in tears. Please. Later she came by and said sometimes along the lines of  "you dont have to keep reading it if you dont want to" and I said "why would you say that? I love this book!" and she said "it doesn't look like it". Don't questions a girl crying over a book! It was a great book. I loved it. It touched my heart and I will forever remember it. (I was introduced to my love of heart wrenching books when I read The Book Thief....on an airplane, and ended up bawling my eyes out next to a stranger, and trying my hardest to maintain some composure and not freak out my anonymous neighbor. #amazingbooksenvokeextremereactions)

(3/17) So does ditching your family to hang out with family take away from how bad it is to ditch your family? The other week, I was talking to my Aunt Sharron and she invited me over for dinner, and my mom said it was fine and added something along the lines of she's no longer friends with Aunt Sharron for stealing me away. I dunno. But I went and it was funny because Aunt Sharron meant to call my mom the next day and invite the rest of the family over, but she forgot. lol. So I went and ate dinner with them and it was fun. One of Aunt Sharron's old mission companions (from Argentina) was there, and Uncle David's mom was there. So we had a fun time after dinner talking in Spanish as I realize how bad my Spanish skills have become. Whoops. It was  lot of fun and I really enjoy this side of my family.

Now for the Charles quote of the week: I'm not diabetic, im just really angry!

So for work, my boss has asked me to update my resume to include things that I have been working on for the past 10 months. It was stressful. The bonus to working on your resume at work is that the management can look at your resume with you and give you some good advice about what they would be looking for in a resume. It was pretty funny because the plant manager was like "you need to put that your an excel expert!" lol. I'm really not that great. but it make me laugh. He thinks I'm so great that he gave me what he calls a "mission impossible" which lead me to having to read computer coding in Microsoft Visual Basic. I honestly never thought I would have to look at computer code again after my freshman year of university. It was gross. I gave up after two days. They really weren't expecting me to figure it out, but they were hoping. Nope. Leave that German engineering to the Germans (it was a program written by one of our German facilities)

So I've been meaning to do Pottermore for a while. I signed up when I was in New Zealand with Saryah due to her intense peer pressure. But when my big sister sent me a link about what each house would read in real life, I realized, I need to finally be sorted. So I did. It took longer than expected to get to the chapter where I could get my wand and be sorted. It turns out I'm a Ravenclaw. Woot. (I was secretly hoping I would be a Slytherin and terrified I might be a closet Hufflepuff #hpdrama) It was a happy day.

On Wed night (3/20) after golf, I was called out. I got another calling, and was talking to one of the stake counselors. He was pretty funny, and it turns out I live close to him, so he asked if I had taken a walk around the lake my hotel. I said I have seen it and have been meaning to talk a walk around it, but I become a vegetable as soon as I get to my room after work. He called me a lazy bum, and I laughed at he truthful remark. Therefore, the next day, after picking up some books from the library, I went and read outside by the lake and enjoyed the sunshine during my lunch break.

Now speaking of books. One important thing you have to know is I am a recovering addict. I'm addicted to reading. Sometimes I fall off the wagon and cannot stop. That is what happened that week. I read 7 books in 6 days, and didn't sleep much. A book to me is like a pringles can to everyone. Once you pop the fun won't stop, aka, i cannot stop. I just get tooo curious that I have to know how it ends. It's bad. I'm working on it. Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Right? I have to practice putting down a book in the middle of it. It is hard, but I try.

This fact may have contributed to Saryah coming over and us not doing anything...together. She came over and found me on goodreads. Then instead of encouraging me to do something, she joined me and we looked at book lists of books we could read in the future. Eventually we determined we needed food, and I made speghetti. It was great. Then we watched The Hunger Games before bedtime, when she went to bed, and I stayed up reading a little later. The next day (3/23)  was PANCAKE DAY! at Stevie and Sonja's. It was fun. We ate lots of pancakes. Everyone had a party. Afterwards, Saryah and I went to Half-Priced Books. Yeah. Problem, remember? Then we were so tired, that we went back to my place and sat on the couch together and read our books. She left, and I continued to read. It was a very relaxing day.

Speaking of Saryah, she is moving far away. So sad. She has asked me to drive up with her to her new residence to keep her company on the long drive. May I just note the life parallel of how we roadtripped the North Island of New Zealand together May 2012, and we are roadtripping the Southwest together in April 2013. Adorable we are. The only problem is I will have to fly back, so I had to start looking at one way tickets back to Htown. I pressed a wrong button at one point and accidentally searched for a round trip ticket to find that the cheapest round-trip ticket would save me $70 and get me home on a direct flight rather than a connection flight. #savyshopper #likeaboss

Now for some angst. I was talking to a girl the other day and she's about a year or two older than me. In our conversation she said a couple of times the key phrases of  "when I grew up" and "in my generation" as in...we are from different generations. She referenced the fact she grew up without cell phones and had to use payphones. Ummm, yes, so did I. I was on my best behaviour and smiled the entire time, but in my head I felt very patronized. It was one of the most ridiculous things ever. #bahhumbug

My last story of the week comes from me working from home on my laptop one night, while listening to music on my personal laptop and thinking, why can't i connect the two laptop screens? (I have two screens at work) It is hard to go from working on two screens to one small laptop screen. #workangst

my life is a romcom....minus the rom

My life is insane. No really. I sometimes just sit and think, I am so weird/awkard/ridiculous. But, hey, that's my life. Just a list of things that happened recently that made me laugh.

I was looking at possible places to spend my birthday. This popped up on the screen: "Due to United States travel restrictions, we are unable to display travel itineraries that include Cuba.". BOO!!!

That awkward moment that you are trying to change lanes at a stop light and the little old lady next to you makes eye contact and shakes her head no. 

I was chatting with Lindsay about a boy coming over to my place and said: I feel like people think I'm cooler as soon as they find out I live in a hotel. I want people to like me for me, not for my hotel. #firstworldproblems

I told a joke to my work mentor that I already told to my boss, Michael, and my mentor thought it was super funny. Last month, Michael told me he wanted to have a graduation get-together for me and the other new-hires for our one-year mark. I told him we should do it at our facility in Brazil and have a team building sandcastle competition on the beach. My mentor thought it was very funny and said "You are very good at thinking outside of the box". #professionalpride #gtforever

Jarrett making an acronym in anticipation for our Groundhog's Day adventure in Punxsutawney, PA. #GHD2K13

Family dinner discussing a date I went on: 

     Mom "Did he try to kiss you?"

     Me: "No"

     James: "It's because he didn't want to"

     Me: "No, he probably did"

     Saryah: "No. He didn't"

and it someone turned into a debate where I was arguing that I could kiss any slutty guy if I wanted to, but I choose not to. #bestfamilyever

I have a new bff. He's my brother's best friend's wife's brother, Seth, who I always thought was younger than me until a month ago when I realized he was 30. lol. I told him he was my new go-to guy because he lives so close to me. I've always wanted a cousin bff. Just like, through this marriage, Saryah finally gets a cousin her age (Seth's youngest sister) who we're friends with. Way to marry into a cool family Stevie. Best idea EVER!

My grandma has decided to throw herself a birthday party....on my birthday, after weeks of me trying to determine what I wanted to do for my big celebration #speechless

I still don't have a name plaque for my cube....so I printed and cut one out for myself. It looks legit #proactive

At work we were practicing with a fake fire extinguisher and a virtually simulated fire, and the funny Brazilian lady had her turn and started singing the line from Alicia Keyes' new song "This girl is on Fire" #mylifeattheoffice

I even have the sassy co-worker bff character in my romcom life. This role is taken by my new work bestie, Charles, who denies that we're besties. I tell him about my boy problems and he gives me advice

Example 1:
     Me: So, I'm thinking of just going up to him and telling him I would like to get to know him better.
     Charles: Yes! If girls just did that, the world would be a better place
Example 2: 
     Me: I'm so mad he didn't text me back last night!
     Charles: That's because he was with his wife and kids.
     Me: He does not have a wife and kids.
     Charles: That's what he wants you to think. 

I had a really bad day the other day. In order to make myself feel better, I listened to My Favourtie Things from The Sound of Music on repeat. She's right, when I simply remember my favourite things, then I don't feel so bad. :) #iwishmylifewasamusical

Me thinking: I wish I had a dvd player for the tv in my room. I want to watch the Sound of Music from my comfy bed instead of the couch. #firstworldproblems

I sometimes forget/forgo sleep in order to read a book #bookaddict

I have been lazy all week and have been wearing my glasses. But it's sunny and I do not have clip ons. So I wear my big hipster sunglasses over my normal glasses and no one is the wiser. #twoglassesarebetterthanone

I've decided: if there was an actress that had to be me in my life movie, it would have to be Mindy Kaling. I feel like she is the only ones who would be able to capture my essence. (plus, erica agrees)