I think I’ve only gone more than a week between posts once, maybe twice, in the entire two and a half years I’ve been blogging.  That tells you how busy life is right now!

My typical day starts with me getting up at 5:00 am if I decide to make myself presentable by doing my hair.  Otherwise, I get up around 5:30 am.  I’m at work by 6:30 am and I stay there until no later than 3:15 pm.  My first class–Japanese, which is an everyday class–starts at 4:00 pm.  On Mondays and Fridays, Japanese is my only class.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I also have an English class that goes until 6:30 pm.  And, on Wednesdays, I have my Doctrine and Covenants class until 7:00 pm.  I usually don’t get home until around 7:30 or 8:00 pm.  Then, I do homework until around 10:00 or 10:30 pm and go to bed after that.

I’m thoroughly enjoying myself, though.  I love class and I love having something to look forward to each day.  Even though I’m not getting much sleep, I’m thriving.

With this being said, however, I wanted a way to simplify my mornings. I want to look presentable but not take the extra 30 minutes to fix my hair.  I almost chopped my hair off last Friday, even though I’ve been growing it out for about a year.  My niece Carlee gave me an alternative style, however, and I love it!

My hair is straight, thick, and coarse.  The only curl I have is just a few waves, if you can even call it that, when my hair air dries.  It’s not enough to look good curly and too much to let my hair air dry and still look nice straight.  But, Carlee cut my hair into choppy layers and then showed me how to scrunch my hair so it has the illusion of being curly.  It takes me literally 5-10 minutes to do!

In the post Coming Up for Air, I mentioned I had bought several school supplies that make me more purple than the Purple People Eater. My sister-in-law Jen suggested I post a picture of me in my purple glory.  I’m always happy to oblige such requests.

You can just barely see the purpleness of my shirt and my backpack.  I’d take another picture that shows them off more, but sadly, this is the last picture that will ever be taken with my digital camera.  Corey accidentally dropped it after said picture was taken and now it won’t work.  It was a very old hand-me-down camera, so I think it’s time for a new one anyway.  Hopefully, that’ll be sooner rather than later and luckily, you get the point of my purpleness.

You can also see the awesomeness that is my lefty notebook. (It’s behind the planner.)  I’m not holding it upside down.  The spiral is, indeed, on the right side!

As some of you know and as I mentioned in the My Take on Obama’s Health Plan post, I quit going to school about 10 years ago because Corey started to have health problems and couldn’t work anymore.  Well, for the past few years, I’ve really wanted to go back to school.  I’ve felt like my life has been wasting away at my current job and I’ve just felt so drained because I’m not doing something I enjoy or really important.

So, Corey and I decided it was high time I went back to school.  I put in a reapplication to BYU about two weeks ago and sent in my Ecclesiastical Endorsement last week.  I got an e-mail from BYU at the end of last week stating they had received everything they needed and to expect a decision no later than November 1.  I was a little surprised when I received an e-mail about an hour ago telling me I had been readmitted!

I’m so excited!  Some of you know that if I could, I’d just go to school for the rest of my life.  I love school!  At this point, I’m planning on majoring in English, with an emphasis in creative writing, and minoring in editing.  I’d like to use my degree to become a freelance copy editor for new authors.  It’s still hard for me to believe that I’ve actually decided what I want to be when I grow up.

I plan on quitting my job before school starts in January, so I can go to school full-time.  However, Corey and I want to make sure that we’ll be okay without me working.  With that in mind, I may keep working through Winter semester and just take one or two classes to get back into the swing of things.  And then, some time I’ll make the transition to going to school full-time.  We’ll see how it works out.

Even though I’m really excited to go back, I’m also really scared.  I haven’t been in a classroom for a decade.  I’m worried that I’ve forgotten everything I need to know.  And, even though I have quite a few … um, 95 … credits, I still want to take a few electives to get back into math and Japanese.  Hopefully, even with having a Senior status, I’ll be able to do that.

Anyway, I can’t wait for January!  I hope the next four months go by quickly!

I’ve had my hair short for two and a half years now.  About a year ago, I decided to start growing it out even though I didn’t really start the growing-out process until around January.  It’s been and continues to be a long process.

I’ve grown my hair out before, so I know I usually get to a point when I want to chop it all off because it becomes so annoying.  I’ve been at this point for the last couple of months.  I feel like my hair’s always so bushy, shaggy, and almost mullet-ish. I was going to chop it all off today when Carlee, my niece, and I discovered my hair was just long enough to start shaping it in an A-line-wedge style.

I really like the style a lot.  I just hope I can keep up with it since I think styling hair’s so monotonous! Well, see how I do.

Debbie, one of my good friends, gave me this award for my blog.  It’s the first award I’ve ever been given.  Thanks, Debbie!

This award has four requirements:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and list his/her blog (with a link).
2. Pass on the award to seven other people whose blogs you find brilliant in content or design.
3. Notify the bloggers you choose for the award and hopefully they’ll join in.
4. List 10 honest things about yourself and post a copy of the Honest Scrap Logo on your blog.

I wish I could give the award back to Debbie because I love reading her blog so much. This was really hard to decide who to pass on the award to.  There are so many blogs I enjoy reading.  However, I have chosen the following seven people to receive this award:

1. Ali & Tyler: Ali and Tyler are our best friends and their kids are my three favorite kids in the whole world.  There’s nothing better than seeing pictures of Jack, Sheridan, and Henry, or reading about something funny they did.  Okay, spending time with them is better, but if I can’t do that, then seeing their pictures or reading about them is a good second best.  Ali also has a great sense of humor, which you can definitely sense in her posts.
2. Alysa: She’s one of my friends and has two blogs I like to read.  I’m giving the award to her blog known as, “Everead.”  Alysa reads a million books a year.  Okay, I exaggerated a tad bit, but she reads a ton and always posts reviews about her books.  Most of the books she reads are children’s or YA books.  I think her reviews are really helpful and I know a lot of parents would appreciate them.
3. Ashley & Jordan: Ashley is Corey’s cousin and I enjoy reading her blog a lot.  She always has fun stuff to read.  I get to read about her family and the crafts she likes to do.  And, even though those are fun to read, I also get to read fun, little tidbits about the things she likes to do or finds interesting.  To me, getting to read about stuff other than one’s family or favorite crafts is what makes a blog interesting.  I get to know the person a little more this way.
4. Brodi Ashton: She’s an upcoming author and I love to read her blog.  She’s hilarious!  I always look forward to her posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  (She has a blogging schedule.)  They always brighten my day because of her creativity and wackiness.  If you choose to follow her blog, she’ll give you a free YA book of your choosing.
5. Corey: Even though Corey doesn’t update his blog very much and sometimes his content’s a little questionable, I enjoy reading his blog because he likes to post funny anecdotes in the form of videos, stories, and poems.
6. Jules: She’s one of my friends and has two blogs I like to read.  I’m giving the award to her blog known as, “Knowing Better.”  It’s all about her struggle to lose weight.  I’ve realized by reading her blog that everyone goes through the things I’ve gone through and it gives me encouragement to keep going.  It’s very inspiring to read!
7. Rachel & Don: Rachel’s one of my friends and I think she’s one of the smartest people I know.  I love reading her blog because she’s so insightful, funny, and always posts good book reviews.  She definitely has a way with words and I love to read them.

Now, for the ten truths about me.  I’m going to try to come up with different things than what I’ve posted before.

1. I put ketchup on my mashed potatoes because I hate gravy, unless it’s biscuits and gravy, and only biscuits and gravy without sausage.
2. I usually have to be talked into going places.  I love hanging out with my friends, but for some reason, I have a hard time going.  Usually when I hear about a party or outing, I’m all gung ho about going.  Then, the day comes and I always come up with excuses for not going.  Luckily, Corey knows this about me and usually talks me back into going.
3. I’ve never been to a concert.  When I say concert, I mean a concert for a musical group like Green Day, Linkin Park, etc.  I’ve been to plenty of performances that one might call a concert, though.
4. I think everyone’s out to get me.  If someone is upset or has a not-so-happy facial expression, the first thing I think is, “What did I do to make him/her upset?” or, “Why doesn’t he/she like me?”  I always have to talk myself out of those thoughts and realize that even if I did do something to make someone upset, I need to wait for them to tell me they’re upset instead of worrying about something that may not be fact.
5. I haven’t crocheted for almost a year.  I love to crochet, but for some reason, I can’t get myself to do it right now.  It’s sad because I have three or four unfinished afghans.  Sorry to those of you who still haven’t received yours.
6. I love to be weird!  Today, while Corey and I were running errands, I was drinking bottled water that was slightly frozen.  I caught the still frozen part in my mouth and made a sound.  Corey proceeded to ask me, “Is it stuck to your tongue or your lips?”  I shook my head and said, “I just wanted to catch it in my mouth.”
7. I’d love to be nominated for How Do I Look? or What Not to Wear.  (This isn’t a plea for you to nominate me; I’m just stating a fact.)
8. I don’t mind doing laundry.  I just hate to fold the clothes once they’re clean and dry.
9. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
10. When I obversed a dental office for a day, I really enjoyed watching patients get their teeth pulled, get a root canal, or have implants put in.  I really thought about becoming a dental assistant for a couple of months, but I’ve decided that it’d get old after a while.

Every Sunday, I ride my bike to choir practice.  Normally, I don’t have any issues and it’s nice to get a little bit of exercise before church.

Today, as I was on my way home, I realized I had left my sunglasses on top of the piano, even after I made a mental note not to forget them. I turned around to go get them and on my way back, I biffed it big time!

I was biking a little fast and I needed to slow down to turn into the driveway of the house we practice at.  And, instead of slowing down on the road like I should’ve, I braked on the gravel. Needless to say, the gravel didn’t provide very much traction and my bike slid out from under me.  I fell sideways onto the gravel and slid a few feet from where I first hit the ground.  When I got up, I noticed my foot was a little scraped up, but not too bad.  Then, I realized my arm was stinging really bad and I saw a huge gash or road rash on the back of my arm just under my elbow.  Once I got back home, I felt some stinging on my leg and found a little bit of road, or jean in this case, rash on my calf and thigh.

Corey and I thought it’d be better to get the dirt and gravel cleaned out of my arm and foot instead of taking pictures of the wounds.  It took about 15 minutes to sanitize my wounds with water, rubbing alcohol, and Neosporin, but I’m all cleaned up and bandaged now.  The ironic thing is that my wounds from my previous crash are just starting to disappear.

I checked my bike and the pedal and handlebars are a little scratched.  Other than that, it looks pretty unscathed.  I was hoping to keep my bike looking new a little longer, though.  Oh well.

Before you tell me I shouldn’t be riding my bike anymore, I figure that crashing comes with the territory.  Professional bikers crash all the time!  So, I’m no different than them … right? Anyway, I’m just glad the crash wasn’t any worse than it was.

Updated: I needed to change the dressing on my arm.  While I was doing that, Corey decided to take a picture.  So, here’s what my arm looks like.  The creamy substance is Neosporin.

Happy birthday, Addison and Kimberly!

You may remember I received my first speeding ticket last year.  You may also remember it was the mother of all speeding tickets. However, because it was my first speeding ticket or any type of traffic violation, the judge took pity on me and gave me a reduced sentence.  Instead of having to pay the $400+ fine, I only had to pay $152, which in and of itself was awesome.  The judge also told me that if I went 12 months without receiving any traffic violations, this one would be erased from my record as if it never happened.

*insert drum roll here* I made it!  As I was driving around today, I realized my 12 months was up a little over a week ago! So, you better watch out!  The speed demon is back in business! Okay, not really, sort of.  I don’t plan on getting caught for at least another 14 years anyway.