Questions of the day:

• Why does the first day of school exist? 
• Why have teachers stopped handing out syllabuses? And why does them not handing them out prevent the discussion of said syllabuses?
• Why is this first day of school so darn stressful? 
• The answer to this question is probably as follows: I still don't know what I'm going to be when I grow up. (I grow up in 3.6 months)
• What should I be when I grow up?

Commencing (Continuing) Chaos in 3...2......

We just got back from a lovely but exhausting two week vacation. One that included an enormous amount of driving... as in despite us starting our trip odometer over an hour into our journey, we got back with it reading 3,983.4. Miles. Driven. In a less than two week period of time. And that's with us not even starting the car for four days when we were in Chicago.

Speaking of Chicago, if you ever go for tourist reasons, get the City Pass. Get it. It's 80 dollars, which seems like a lot, but it gets you into the Art Institute of Chicago, The Shedd Aquarium, The Skydeck (aka the top of the Willis Center, formerly the Sears Tower), The Museum of Science and Industry, The Field Museum, and the planetarium more. It includes VIP entry, which saves you hours of time and other perks, such as discounts at the gift shops, free movies and shows at the locations... it's great. Ours paid for itself in one day.

(No, they aren't paying me. It was just completely worth it.)

Anyway, so we get back from our trip, our minivan (sans seats) was completely, completely full of furniture, gifts, some of our old belongings, stuff like that. Which means our apartment became chaotic again. Making it look like we'd just moved. Again. (We've moved twice in the last four months. Unlike the City Pass, I do not recommend that). So, all of that organization needed to be done. Some of it still needs to be done. Chaos!

Also, adding to the chaos: School starts on Monday! It's my last semester, and it's going to be busy. Three classes for my major, one religion class, two dance classes, and two miscellaneous phys. ed classes. Plus helping out in two labs. Plus my job in the library. All of this equals: On campus for 13 hours two days a week, 11 hours two days a week, and 10 hours one day a week.

I should start packing my lunches now....

I'm a magician. What are you?

To quote a lovely friend of mine "I love cooking with a burning passion."

Which... I also do. It's rather magical, haven't you noticed? For example, chocolate chip cookies: you take gritty sugar, mix it with a gross solid lipid, put in some slimy raw eggs, mix up some flour (which is pretty unpleasant if you eat it solo), some baking soda (which is even more unpleasant when eaten by itself), and some salt (which you also put on your green beans), mix that in, then put in some chocolate chips. Stick a couple tablespoons on a flat metal pan, put that in the oven for 8 minutes, take it out and BAM! You have a cookie. Something that is not only edible, but it also addicting and delicious. All from a combination of rather gross individual items and chocolate.

That's pretty cool, if you ask me. The same idea goes with almost anything else that you might eat. So, in my opinion cooking = magic. It's magic that improves your life, gives you more control over your diet, and helps you make healthy choices (or just empowers you to eat a half cup of brownie batter). Also, it's way cheaper,  helps you avoid consuming high amounts of sodium, trans fats, and processed foods. Plus, you can always learn how to substitute unhealthy ingredients for less unhealthy ingredients. Like applesauce for vegetable oil in baking... or yogurt for sour cream or mayonnaise.  And guess what? No one will ever know.

Because it's magic.

Transitory

I've always hated transition periods. You know those times when you know everything is going to change, when you've quit life as it used to be, but you still have to wait a bit of time before you can settle into new life? I've always hated that. And now I'm a couple of weeks (of over three months, if you count it that way) through a transition period that is going to last another 40 days. I'm living alone, attending a singles ward that I've been to once and will be going two, maybe three more times. So, I've mostly checked out of single life, but married life is still a ways out.  I awkwardly got hit on  by an awkward guy in this new ward in front of my future husband... and that guy continued to ask if boy and I are related, because we look "just like brother and sister." A lot of my friends have recently gotten married, with two weddings fast approaching... before my own can occur. That's a huge transition accompanied with an already quite long transition period.

In addition, most of my high school friends (and many of my college friends) all have recently posted their graduation albums on facebook. I have seven credits left. Seven. Almost there.... and still, 7 months out. Then it's off to find a job, figure out career plans, start getting ready for the future, for real life.

Gulp. Change is weird. And transitory periods are bizarre. On another note, here is a video with which I'm a bit obsessed. 

Finals?

Somehow, I've survived this semester to the point that today was the first reading day and I have two final exams left. Two? Just two? But then you take into account I also have to pack up all of my stuff out of the apartment I have been living in for 2 2/3 years, store it in an apartment that belongs to a busy, busy soul, and clean and check out. Between now and a few days. So, on test front: not bad. On change front: gulp.

And for your viewing pleasure (warning, I saw this video during the parasitology portion of one of my classes):

Did you know?

I've been taking Infection and Immunity this semester and it has been fascinating to say the least. Because of this class, I will undoubtedly be a germophobic cleaner and paranoid mother. However, due to the lack of anyone wanting me to disturb their appetites or dreams, I will sum up what I've learned this semester in a few succinct bullets:

• Wash your hands.
• Breastfeed your children.
• Vaccinate your children, yourself, your dog, and your mom. Also, your neighbors and their children, dogs, and mothers.
• Wash your hands.
• Sewer systems are good.
• Wash your hands.
• Breastfeed your children.
• Wash your hands.
• Vitamin C will not save you from having a cold and too much zinc in your body can be toxic.
• Ulcers can be caused by bacteria and some people get Nobel prizes for drinking bacteria.
• Wash your hands.
• Breastfeed your children.
• WASH YOUR HANDS!
• Get your shots.
• Refrigerate your food and cook everything to the appropriate temperature. Often, bringing stuff to a boil will make you less likely to die.
• Wash your hands.
• Breastfeed your babies.
• Wash your hands.

Story Time!

Warning: This blog post will be cheesy and mushy. If you do not like literary mashed potatoes (not literally mashed potatoes), I advise you go eat some meat and skip this blog post.

This one time, I met a boy. Well.... actually, this one time a year and a half ago, I met this same individual. At which point, although we were in multiple meetings together and went running together, I struggled to remember his name. So, he left for the summer and came back and we started liking each other and dating and it was weird. It was weird because it wasn't awful, but actually really good.

So, after a really long Thanksgiving break wherein I went home and he stayed at school, we decided to get married. Which is weird because I have never decided to marry anyone else and you only get one chance at this, ideally. However, we made our terrifyingly huge decision and went forward. He scheduled a flight out to home to meet my family and we planned out when I would meet him. Then, we went ring shopping.

I hate rings.

I have posted a long statement about my vendetta against rings a few months ago. Believe me, it was not a lie. This male individual managed to not only get me into a ring store, but he also got me to try on rings in an attempt to figure out what I liked. How did he do this? It was not through love, nor the promise of marriage. It was through not distraction via shiny objects not was it just to please him. He bribed me. Not with the ring itself but with ice cream.

Today, I can still say that I have yet to find a ring at a store that I can't find something I highly dislike about it. However, I did find two rings which had aspects that I liked. Compatible aspects that could be designed into a single ring. Done. We told the jewelers what we wanted and let them do their thing. For the next month and a half.

He met my family and did not die.

We were sneaky and did not tell people. Because we are sneaky, not because we don't love them. Sneaky!

Then, a few weeks ago, he gave me these:

They were very nice and many of them have lasted for 3 weeks.

The next day, he took me to the park to have a picnic. He gave me these:

And he made me eat one. One of the milk chocolate dealios. He told me about the little old lady who helped him pick the chocolates out and which ones were which. Now, based off our activities the previous two months, I was suspicious of his intentions. So, when he asked me if that was what I was expecting, of course the answer was no. But then, I answered "yes" instead. He didn't let that fly and asked, "Are you sure?" to which I replied, "Well... I could hope, right?" So, he told me he loved me and wanted to spend forever with me. Then, he asked me to marry him and pulled out this lovely guy:

And, of course, I said yes.

Needless to say, life is a bit adventurous these days.