30 days to 30: day 21

in 2002 i was in my 2nd year of byu. during the winter semester i took my last and most advanced french classes. my french has gone all down hill since then because i haven't kept it up. yesterday i watched a french film called my best friend. it just so happened that it came in the mail from netflix, i didn't really plan this one.
i've always had a really hard time understanding the native french accents. i can much more easily understand an american speaking french, or even a canadian. i've been trying recently when i hear french to listen more closely to how the words are pronounced so that i can comprehend and hopefully imitate.
during my first year at byu, my roommate natalie and i would meet at the international cinema in kimball tower almost weekly. we tried to see as many foreign films as we could and it was awesome because they were all free! i didn't go as often my 2nd year but i really loved when i could. a few of the movies that i really remember were the umbrellas of cherbourg (les parapluies de cherbourg) and shall we dance (the original japanese version, not the lame remake with richard gere and jennifer lopez).
so, in memory of french class and the international cinema i watched this movie called my best friend. it's the story of man who must earn a best friend in 10 days in order to win a bet he made with his business partner. the problem is he's completely self-centered and socially inept. the movie was really funny and really heart wrenching. on netflix i would give it 4 stars, really liked it (for those not familiar with netflix, the other options being 1 star, hated it; 2 stars, didn't like it; 3 stars, liked it; 5 stars, loved it).

30 days to 30: day 20

here's a picture of my family taken at my great aunt emily's 80th birthday party in san francisco. remind me not to wear turtle necks.

this was during my 2nd year at byu. i lived in heritage halls with two of my friends who were my neighbors during freshman year in u-hall, lyndsee simpson and melissa ririe. it was a 6 person apartment so we had 3 other roommates who were assigned randomly. we couldn't have asked for a better random than karina miller! we had so much fun living there, so many adventures and our friendships continue even today.

chauncy and creepy cat (long story, ask me later) 

lyndsee and me in a snow globe during the 2002 SLC olympics

somebody put dish soap in the dishwasher

l to r: isaac hart,melissa ririe bell, karina miller feurelein, natalie mathie on temple square in slc.

melissa was my room roommate. we had our ups and downs but one thing i love her for is encouraging me to read jane austen. i had a copy of pride and prejudice that i weasled my mom into buying me years before at barnes and noble. i had tried to read it several times but didn't get very far into it before giving up. well, during this year, because of mel's encouragement, i finally finished reading pride and prejudice.
so, in memory of that time i read some of my favorite passages. i absolutely love the part when elizabeth and her aunt and uncle go to pemberley and unexpectedly meet mr. darcy there. when the housekeeper is showing them around the house, it finally begins to dawn on elizabeth who mr. darcy really is when he is praised so highly by his servant:
"'I have never had a cross word from him in my life, and I have known him ever since he was four years old.'
This was praise, of all others most extraordinary, most opposite of her ideas. That he was not a good-tempered man had been her firmest opinion. Her keenest attention was awakened; she longed to hear more, and was grateful to her uncle for saying --
"There are few people to whom so much can be said. You are lucky in having such a master."
"Yes, sir, I know I am. If I were to go through the world, I could not meet with a better. But I have always observed, that they who are good-natured when children, are good-natured when they grow up; and he was always the sweetest-tempered, most generou-hearted boy in the world."Elizabeth almost staredc at her. "Can this be Mr. Darcy?" thought she. [...]
He is the best landlord, and the best master," said she, "that ever lived; not like the wild young men nowadays, who think of nothing but themselves. There is not one of his tenants or servants but what will give him a good name. Some people call him proud; but I am sure I never saw anything of it."

i love how elizabeth is completely thrown off by all this. how she falls in love with pemberley and darcy himself when she finally sees him in his own element.

cheers to jane! her birthday is coming up too; december 16, 1775.

30 days to 30: day 19

in the year 2000 i graduated high school and started school at byu. it was a really exciting time for me. senior year was the best year of high school because i had my best girl friends. we did everything together: football and basketball games, dances, sleepovers, seminary.

i started byu in the fall and it was a whole new adventure. i loved humanities, dining plus, walking across campus, and hanging out with the girls on my floor (and the one below where brittney lived). there were things i didn't like too like 8am classes, snow, being stuck on campus (the campus is our world), and getting Cs for the first time. but overall it was a great time and i have so, so, so many good memories.

me and my roommate natalie nielsen in 503 u-hall, deseret towers.

where i spent most of my freshman year.
 when i wasn't in class i  was "studying," downloading music from napster, or chatting on aim.

30 days to 30: day 18

my 18th year of life was special because that is when i received my patriarchal blessing.  latter-day saints receive this blessing from a patriarch personal guidance, counsel, and comfort from the Lord. my blessing helped me learn a lot about myself and i read it periodically. i know that as i live righteously, i'll be able to take advantage of the wonderful things promised in my blessing. because of its sacred and personal nature, we are encouraged to not share but i can say that whenever i read my blessing i feel great peace and love from my Father in Heaven. i think about the things it says often and try to follow its guidance so that i can be safe and do what God wants me to do. i highly recommend everyone get one.

click here to learn more: Patriarchal Blessings

30 days to 30: day 17

being 16 wasn't all i thought it would be. i didn't have a sweet 16 party. i didn't go on tons of dates with cute boys i was crushing on. i didn't even get my driver's license until the following year. but being 16 had its moments of fun. at church, i became a laurel and sister states was my leader, so that was awesome.
around this time is when krystal and i started to be really good friends. we have known each other since forever. we both grew up in tracy in the same ward but although we are in the same grade, she was a year behind me in primary/sunday school because we were born in different years. we really became good friends during our sophomore year of high school. we had english class together with mrs. kona and she seated all the mormons in one row (me, krystal and joe adams). whether or not this was intentional, i'm not sure, but it turned out great for me because i got a best friend out of it (and joe ended up being my date to winter formal during our senior year).