I've been (re)watching Community a lot lately. And this is still one of my very favorite moments of the show: 

You're welcome. 

Twenty-Thirteen

Is it just me or are the years going by faster and faster? I know I know, its just because I'm getting old and so time goes by quicker because a year is a smaller portion of my lifespan... blah blah blah.

The point is, its time for the YEAR REVIEW!!!

Lists of memories from this year:

BIG Things:
Angel and Mike tying the knot!
Newest nephew & Nevin-ite born - Koen Hale Nevin!
Parker baptized at age 8!

Trips:
Portland - for Ari's very special Wildwood birthday party!!!
Texas - just because I miss all my dear friends and family who live far away & I had to meet all their new babies I already love and adore!
California - where we rocked six flags and sunburns (okay it was just Julie on the sun burn thing)
Cedar City - Utah Shakespeare Festival for my first time! We saw 12 Angry Men and Peter & the Starcatcher. Both were amazing.

Shows worked on:
Rapunzel - first time I was back ON stage, probably since High School, for reals.
Harlem Shake - does this count as a show? haha In case you missed it:

The Box - a wonderful new piece by Christian Swenson, that I was dramaturg for (kinda.)
Hello Dolly - SM for the Jerry Elison
The Scarlet Pimpernel - SCERA Shell Summer show, again alongside Mr. E!
The Jerry Elison Scholarship Night - I was the emcee - which was scary. But I'd do anything for that man!
A Christmas Carol - 3rd year! It gets better every time! And of course, with Jerry!

Other Shining Moments:
Our beautiful new juicer!!
Being Cinderella for a day in the 4th of July parade!
Seeing Wicked for my 25th birthday
#uglypicturefacecontest
Andrew finished wheel of time series - an end of an era
Hiking up around Strawberry Lake & seeing wild beavers only a few feet in front of us
Attending the Beautiful Singing vocal camp at BYU with my Mommy!
Lincoln riding on 2 wheels
Halloween - biker duo
Anvil, thermos, axe collection grew and grew
Little camping trip
Witches Tea Convention
Andrew's axe from the Ukraine
And of course just stopping at every estate sale and antique shop we can! seriously.

Not-so shining moments:
Spraining my ankle jumping in puddles
Scout's eye infection and having to wear the miserable cone
My awful sunburn from Cali
Cracking my iPhone
My fantasy football team
.....wait why are these mostly about me?
Wasting too much time of our lives watching the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove.

Memorable Movies of 2013 (in no particular order):
Catching Fire, Ender's Game, Gravity, Monster University, Iron man 3, Life of Pi, Bridesmaids, Warm Bodies, OZ: Great and Powerful, The Great Gatsby, Silver Linings Playbook, Django, Les Mis
Burt Wonderstone, Saving Mr. Banks, Bernie, and The host.... just kidding about the last one. :)

Firsts that happened this year:
Pyrex! And so began my obsession.
Dirty Dr. Pepper (at Swig)
Men in Black
Acting performance on Utah stage
Bachelor and Bachelorette viewing
Andrew's Handmade knife
Utah Shakespeare Festival

What I wish I could say we did this year.... and is *maybe* going on our goal list for 2014:
Buy a house
Start my online vintage shop
See a Broadway show in NYC
Take lots of pictures on our amazing camera. (I mean I took some this year, just not enough!)
Camping camping camping (again we did go, just not as much as we'd like to have)
More swimming and hot tubbing!!!! (notice the amount of exclamation points - this is serious)
Grow a garden

More of 2014 goals to come. But for now....

here's a little photo flip review of twenty-thirteen! 

How I feel about waking up in the morning...

This is a story about how I am just a cliche girl

It was the most normal of days as I can recall. 
Andrew was in Moab for work, that was all.
I came home from rehearsal at the break of midnight.
I opened the door, unloaded my things, and felt for light.

Then, a most peculiar thing happened.
As the lights turned on, I thought my eyes were to deceive me.
I saw a thing on the floor.
A wee of a thing. Just about 4 inches, no more.
It was brown and it was furry.
When saw what is was, you can imagine my worry!

I froze in my place and dialed for husband to make me feel safe.
Overcome with sheer angst I whispered, "there's a mouse in the house!
What do I do? I'm afraid he will run around in great haste!"
In his absence and his wisdom,
He called for his father come to my assistance.

In a very short time Leonard arrived, tools in hand,
To take on this beast I so frightfully feared.
In the large net he was utterly caught.
Leonard picked up the mouse
and flushed him right down the pot!

Now, some may laugh and point fun,
that I could not catch that little of one.
But mice are gross, and weird.
Cute from afar, or in a glass jar,
but not in your house, not on the floor.
I do not feel shame in my digust,
Only pure gratitude in those I can trust! 

Recent Obsessions

1. The Avett Brothers 

new album, "I and Love and You" 

2. Pinterest

If you don't, you should 

http://pinterest.com

3. My new cleaning products

(more about this later)

4. Bones

I know that I swore off Bones after the finale of season 3....but things change. 

Season 7 cannot come soon enough!

 

Lately.

So I pretty much just jumped on board the Hunger Games train (like last week) & I am LOVING THEM! 

I just started the third book! 

However, I will say that I do get frustrated at times because I don't agree with Katniss' every decision, and I cannot predict what she is going to do next. But I think that is what makes the books so addicting!

And, I love reading them on my new Kindle! She's so pretty! 

Shout for joy!

We have a new place to live!

It is a basement apartment. 

It has a washer & dryer.

It has a backyard, with a place to garden. 

And comes with a puppy! 

(okay, well really it's a dog, but we can play with her!)

 

I've just realized....

I think I'm a "stick a post-it on the mirror" kind of girl.

I love cloudy days

Texas!

Just a few things I did while visiting Texas:

1. Ate a LOT of Mexican food! (it was much needed) 

2. Visited friends at their work places

3. Stayed up late talking with friends about not life, love, religion, and texting while driving. 

(more on that some other time.)

4. Went to the Young Women's dessert auction at church!

5. Worked out at Curves with my Mommy! 

6. Learned more about my late Granny & Papa, and more about my family's genealogy, in general, from my Daddy. 

7. Lived with Holly in her cute grown-up apartment! 

8. Went Frisbee Golfing with Holly's friend, Logan while she was at work.

9. Hot-tubbed & learned that cold hands are a result of stress, and the need for relaxation. Thank you, Holly.

10. Ate the best cupcake in the nation (according to Ellen Degeneres, whom I fully trust) at Society Bakery.

11. Went to school with my aunt. She teaches theater at an Arts Magnet High School in Dallas, Texas, so I got to sit in on her beginning playwrighting class! 

12. Visited with Randy, Elly, David & Elana. We should really see them more often...

13. Watched a sailboat race (kinda)

14. Hugged & spent not nearly enough time with most all of my best friends!

 {Andrea, Travis, and me}

{Candace!}

 {Nikki & Matt}

 

 {Holly!}

*and there were many more friends visited that are not pictured.

this trip was a lame picture-taking trip for me.*

Drama, drama, drama

So, I live in this house that is incredibly nasty.

It. is. SO. Gross.

Let me give you a little background on this house:

It is a pretty old house. It is apparent that the people who tried to fix it up did a sloppy, quick fix. (the molding in the shower is almost gone, the wooden floors are completely thrashed, the shelves are falling off, the counters are no longer touching the walls (does that make sense?) and so on and so on.) The landlords live in California, so they are unable to swing by for any maintenance checkups. The only time they fix things is when there are big problems, such as mold, dead heater, etc. The house holds 6 girls - 2 shared rooms, 2 private. The shared rooms are $265 per occupant, and the private are $325 & $345 per occupant. So in all the landlords are making $1730 a month! What's worse, the contracts are year round so the rent does not change for Spring/Summer terms, which make it impossible to sell for the Summer. Around here in Provo during the Spring/Summer, private rooms in nice houses run about $150/month or so! So the tenants are stuck paying a horrible rate during the Spring/Summer for a poorly maintained house!

On top of that, the house smells HORRIBLE. All the time. I seriously and literally gag when I have to walk through or around the kitchen (which is where the horrid smell is coming from, to make matters worse). Luckily, I do not store food, prepare food, or eat food at my own house. The Nevin's have been gracious enough to let me steal their food for the past couple months, but that is a whole other story. We also are not required to do cleaning checks ever (only when we are checking out - ergo, nobody is forced to clean, so nobody ever cleans!).


And here is another thing: I am a good tenant. I am a good roommate.

Exhibit A: I always pay my rent on time. Never ever has it been late!
Exhibit B: I do the dishes sometimes. I shouldn't even have to, because I never use the dishes. But I do wash them sometimes. You know, when I'm feeling generous, or just super grossed out by the mess!
Exhibit C: I have never been the cause of any type of concern. No physical damage. No honor code violations. ~ I am never even in the house, really (except to sleep and shower).



So, I have had it. I am so fed up. I cannot and will not deal with this any longer. I wrote my landlords an email today giving them a few options:

A. Lower my rent to $100/month. I told them I would be willing to pay this through August even though I will be moving out in July.

B. Release my contract. I told them I would have no trouble finding another place that was more reasonably priced.

If neither of these option were satisfactory enough, I would resort to plan C.

C. I will go to BYU Off-Campus housing and schedule an inspection. BYU has very specific instructions for a house to be considered "BYU approved." I'm so sure this house would not pass an inspection as BYU livable! In which case, BYU would grant all of the occupants a release from their contract.

And now I impatiently await their reply.

Don't worry, I'll let you know how it all works out!

New Portrait of Shakespeare

There is a new portrait of Shakespeare that has recently been authorized as the only portrait painted during Shakespeare's lifetime. The portrait was painted in 1610, when Shakespeare was 46. A man, Stanley Wells, has spent 3 years researching and testing the painting to make sure it was authentic. It was apparently discovered by the "Cobbe family, which inherited it when an ancestor married England's Earl of Southampton -- a friend of Shakespeare who likely commissioned its painting." You can read more about it here or here.