Hannah

A lot of disjointed thoughts

2010-07-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

News from me: I got my mission call! If you're reading this, you probably already know that, but I'm still going to write about it anyway. I'm going to the Ukraine Donetsk mission. I leave October 20th and it's Russian speaking. I'm super excited. I've been working on my Russian a little bit and I am sure terrible at it. It is not an easy thing to pick up. Now that I've got my call and I'm just sitting at home at my parents' house, I'm getting a little impatient. I'm working at the swimming pool again, which is ok. However, I'm starting to wish that I would've stayed in SLC and taken some summer classes. I am in some serious need of some intellectual stimulation. I feel like my brain is rotting out of my head. The other day I was thinking about some of the things I learned in Chemistry last semester and I couldn't even remember how to mathematically set up the problem. It's scary how fast we forget things when we don't use them. I'm just going to have to have faith that I'll be able to remember my school stuff when I get home.

When I start to get bored like this, I start to scheme all kinds of trips. Lately I've been wanting to hop on a flight and go to Chicago to see the Cubs at Wrigley Field or go to Boston and see the Red Sox at Fenway again before I leave. I could go to California and have my awesome cousin Clare take me surfing or go to Atlanta and visit Kynalie. I'd love to go to DC again and spend a couple of days looking through the smithsonian. If anyone feels a need to get out of Sanpete county and would like to accompany me on one of these adventures, please let me know.

These feelings of impatience and restlessness that I have been feeling are not new to me. This happens pretty much every summer. I think it is just more intense this summer because thispast school year was by far the most challenging and rewarding one of my life. Even though school was super hard and super stressful this year, I learned a ton. I really gained an appreciation for the opportunity that I have to get an education. I think I became more motivated to do well, too. I'm super excited to be able to move back to SLC when I get home from my mission and continue where I left off. Hopefully I'll be able to go back with a new perspective on life and be better able to enjoy my time there.

Even though October 20th seems like a long time away, it actually is going pretty quickly. It's already been a month since I got my call. I'm a little nervous about being gone for 18 months. There are going to be a lot of things that I'm going to miss. Music, snowboarding, family, friends. Snowboarding is going to be a big one because it is what literally keeps me sane in the winter. If it wasn't for my season pass to Brighton this winter, I think I might have died. Snowboarding is a stress relief like nothing else. Another big one is it's going to be rough to be away from my family. Not being able to call up my pops every day and get his advice on everything that's going on is going to be pretty weird. Also, I'm going to miss music like crazy. Especially Angels & Airwaves probably. Listening to them always makes my mood about 10 times better. All of these things, though, are going to be patiently waiting for me when I get back. I might miss them a little bit, but I'll probably be way too busy trying to learn Russian and trying to teach people that I won't notice it too much. Friends might be another story. I've been seriously blessed with some awesome friends. I'm a little nervous that everyone is going to be married and moved away by the time I get home. I guess that's just part of life though. People grow up. Hopefully I will learn some social skills while I'm gone so that I can make some new friends when I get home, and if I'm really lucky, maybe some of my current friends will still want to hang out with me :)

Even though it's going to be hard, I know without a doubt that going on a mission is the best thing I could be doing with my life right now. It's going to take a lot of hard work and it's probably going to be really stressful at times, but I know it will be really rewarding if I put my best effort into it.

Well, that's the end of this rant. I'm going to try and post stuff on here more often before I leave. I don't think anyone really reads these things but this is kind of like my journal so I'll just keep on writing.

Update

2010-02-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I've posted last and I'm really bored so I decided to write something. This semester is going well, even though my classes are way harder than they were last semester. I've been snowboarding whenever I get a chance so that has been fun. I've had a few fun experiences lately that I need to post something about but I'm not going to do it right now. The coolest thing I've done lately is go to Park City and watch the snowboarding grand prix. I was standing like ten feet away from Danny Kass but I was too scared to talk to him. I'm such a dummy. Anyway, that's all for now. Bye.

Just some stuff, mostly about libraries.

2009-11-01T21:11:00.000-08:00

It is Sunday night and I'm bored out of my mind so I thought I'd post a little update. School is going well. Only 6 weeks of class and 1 week of finals until 3 weeks of Christmas break. Can you tell I'm excited?

This week I got the results of my last chemistry test, which were better than expected. I had a test in Sport Psychology that I feel pretty good about. On Monday, I got to see Laura Bush, governor Herbert, and a few other important people speak at the rededication of the Marriott library. That was pretty cool. I'll tell a little bit more about that later. My cousin Brooke came to visit on Wednesday which was awesome. We went to the Pie, checked out a couple of shops close to my apartment, and just hung out. Yesterday was a blast because it was Halloween! I didn't actually do anything that had to do with Halloween, I just went to the Blackout game with my pops and my little brother. It was so much fun to have them with me at the game. My dad went to the U so it's always fun to have him come and tell me about what it was like when he was in school. Before the game we went to the campus bookstore to get some gear for the game. Then we went to the pie and ate until we were bursting. The pie is awesome. If you haven't been there, you need to go. After we ate, we checked out the tailgate party and headed to the game. Even though the Utes played like garbage, the game was a blast. My little bro was super excited to finally be at a U game instead of the usual BYU games that the ward goes to. Despite the horrible playing, the Utes pulled out the win, luckily. After the game when my dad and brother had left, I went to party with Winters and Sweaty. I don't get to hang out with them very often and it was a lot of fun, except when they made me sing when we were playing the Beatles rock band. It's ok though, I guess I'll forgive them.

Anyway, here's more about the library rededication. The library was crazy busy. I felt a little out of place in my jeans and hoodie because everyone there was dressed pretty nicely. I didn't expect to be able to see the rededication live because most people had gotten their tickets already and I didn't have one. They were showing the rededication on TVs in some of the downstairs classrooms in the library so that's where I was planning on watching it. With about a minute before the program started, a lady came into the classroom and told us that if we wanted to watch the rededication live, we could hurry upstairs and fill in some of the empty seats. I hurried upstairs and was lucky enough to get a seat with a view that wasn't completely obstructed. The program started and I don't remember everything that was said, but every speaker talked at least a little bit about the importance of education and how lucky we are to have this great library that we can use. I love libraries, probably a little too much. In the Lucy A. Phillips library at Snow College, I had one certain study spot on the third floor where I would study for hours and hours every week. I loved that spot. I probably spent more hours studying in that certain spot than I spent anywhere else last school year, including my house. The only problem with that spot though, was that it was in the library, which is filled with.....you guessed it....books! I absolutely love books. I'm one of the losers that spends my school holidays curled up in a blanket on the couch with a book...or two...or three. Every day I spent in the Snow College library, without fail, I would find an interesting book that would distract me from my studies. I found books on poetry, sports, old Utah ghost towns, books of Andy Warhol prints, and giant books of prints of ancient drawings. I read about Harvard's medical school, global warming, astronomy, and countless other topics. I could spend the rest of my life in a library and probably be perfectly happy and content. There are books on every topic imaginable. In the Marriott library at the U, there are miles and miles of bookshelves. It is like heaven! On Friday morning, just when I thought I had found a new study spot to take the place of my beloved spot in the Snow College library, I found out that my new proposed spot is right next to a whole section of books on Rock and Roll. While I should have been studying for a test, I found myself looking through a book of classic rock posters from the 1960's. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, if I'm going to be distracted from my studies, books are probably not that bad of a distraction (except for those rock and roll books, those probably aren't helping me all that much :)).

Anyway, now that you all know how much of a bookworm I am, I'm going to write a little bit about my school experience lately. When I moved to Salt Lake in August, I was super excited about starting this new chapter in my life. I felt confident and ready for whatever was going to come my way. After my first week of class, however, I felt pretty overwhelmed. My classes were going well and my roommates were really nice and helpful, but I just felt completely out of place. Nothing and nobody was familiar and I felt really lonely. All I could think about was how all of my friends lived 2 hours away and how I still had 3 years of this friendless torture to endure until I could finally graduate. To be completely honest, these thoughts have stayed with me pretty much all semester until this past week when I realized how lucky I am to be in the situation I'm in. I still don't have a lot of friends that I hang out with in Salt Lake, I still don't feel completely comfortable in my surroundings, and I still miss hanging out with my family every day, but I do know how lucky I am to be able to be getting an education. Not everyone gets the chance to go to college and become anything they want to be. I've realized that I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and enjoy college while I can, because it's an experience that I am very fortunate to have.

Anyway, sorry this post is just a bunch of stuff jumbled together. I do feel better now that I've written a few things down, though. If you read this whole thing, I'm sorry for the couple of minutes of your life that I wasted :) I'll try to make it up to you sometime.

A-Z Things That Make Me Happy :)

2009-10-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

In all of my post-fall break depression I decided to take a few minutes to remind myself of what makes me happy. Enjoy.

A- Angels & Airwaves
B- Baseball
C- Concerts
D- Driving while listening to tunes
E- Evening time
F- Friends
G- Grape snow cones
H- Harry Potter
I- Interesting things
J- Jelly
K- Kraft macaroni and cheese
L- Letters from long lost friends
M- My Family
N- New England
O- Otter Pops
P- Popsicles
Q- Quotes
R- Rain and Reading
S- Snow! and Snowboarding
T- TV
U- Underwear (I didn't know what else to put haha)
V- Very good books
W- Warm blankets
X- Xylophones. What else starts with X?
Y- Yummy dinner that my mommy makes.
Z- Zoos

NEW!

2009-10-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone, sorry it's been such a long time. A lot has happened since I last posted anything. My trip to DC with Winters was a success. After 2 days of trying to get a flight I finally made it. Sweaty, Winters, and I watched the Red Sox destroy the Orioles in Baltimore, toured the monuments, and looked around at the Smithsonian. DC is such a cool city. I wish I could have spent more time there. I'll just have to go back sometime. Soon after that trip, we headed to Las Vegas to see Green Day. The day of the concert we went to the buffet at Mandalay Bay. I was more full than I have ever been in my entire life. I didn't ever want to look at, smell, or think about food for at least a week. It was delicious though. Then, that night we went to the concert. It rocked. Green Day is comprised of some seriously talented people. The next monday was the first day of school. Yay for the U of U! That first week of school was a blur. As a person, I am very resistant to change so it was stressful to try and get into the flow of things. I did have one nasty surprise...I found out that my fees were going to be almost 600 dollars. I was expecting something more along the lines of 300 to 400 since that's what all of the letters I got said to expect. Because of this, my hopes of spending my free winter days snowboarding were dashed. I was super bummed. However, a few weeks later my parents and grandpa surprised me with an unexpected early Christmas present. A season pass to Brighton! I have never been so happy. I have the best family in the world. Thanks Mom and Dad and Grandpa! Anyway, I started getting into the routine of school. On labor day I went with my sister Carli and saw Blink-182 in Orem. We were in the second row the whole time. It was really really awesome. I've wanted to see Blink since I was in middle school so it was super cool. After that, all I've really done is go to school and do homework. I'm starting to go a little bit crazy with nothing to do but schoolwork so I'm really excited for fall break next week. Only 5 more days to survive until a whole week of freedom! I can't wait.

Nonrev

2009-07-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

This morning my friend Winters and I embarked on our journey to Washington DC. Lucky for us, we get to fly for free. However, we have to fly nonrev. Nonrev is short for "nonrevenue". This means that since we fly for free, we can only fly on flights that have empty seats. Unfortunately, the first flight we tried to get on was completely full so, you guessed it, we were left to try to get seats on the next one. Now we are sitting here waiting for a flight to St. Louis where we will change planes and head to Baltimore, and then ride the bus to DC. The flight to St. Louis has about 20 other nonrev passengers all fighting for only 12 open seats. Hopefully we have checked in early enough that we will get 2 of those 12. Needless to say, even though traveling like this is free, it is extremely stressful. More to come soon....

Update

2009-07-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a while since I've posted anything on here so I thought I'd leave a little update. The summer has been going well so far. I took a maymester statistics class and that is good to have over. I've been working at the pool teaching swimming lessons and lifeguarding almost every day so that keeps me nice and busy. I lucked out and somehow got the 4th of July off of work! This 4th of July was a blast. I've decided that it's my new favorite holiday. Every year for the 4th of July all of my little cousins from my mom's side of the family come and visit. It is the only time of the year that we have everyone together. My cousins are hilarious and I got to play with them all day. We went to the park, hung out at my grandparents' house, did some fireworks, and watched the big fireworks together. Another fun thing this week was my birthday yesterday. We didn't do anything huge, we just had a little BBQ with the fam. It was really fun. Now that all that excitement is over, I've got to find a place to live in Salt Lake so I can move there and start school next month. I'm really excited for school. I'm taking a chemistry class and a bunch of classes for my exercise physiology major. I'm excited to just have classes that are directly applicable to what I'm doing and not have to take dumb classes that I don't need and I'm not interested in. Anyway, that's just about everything that's going on with me. Have fun with the rest of your summer everyone!

Jacoby's Steal

2009-04-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here's that video of Jacoby Ellsbury stealing home. It was so awesome! Look how wild the fans are going. Also, look how fudging mad Pettite and Joe Girardi are. This just fills my heart with happiness. Enjoy.

Just Some Thoughts

2009-04-26T21:34:00.001-07:00

I just thought I'd get on here and write a few of my thoughts from the past little while. First off, baseball's back! I went to a Salt Lake Bees game with my family a few weeks ago and man, it felt good to be back at the ballpark. I can't wait to go to some more games. Also, this weekend I got to watch a couple of Red Sox games on TV, even though I probably should have been studying for finals. This series against the Yankees was awesome! Game one on Friday night was incredible. Jason Bay hit a two-run homer off of Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th to send the game into extra innings and Kevin Youkilis ended it with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 12th. It doesn't get much better than that. Then yesterday, the Sox were down 6 to nothing and I thought it was over. Jason Varitek hit a grand slam, and everyone just started hitting like crazy. The Sox ended up winning 16-11. 16 runs is a lot of runs. Tonight's game was awesome too. The Sox ended up winning 4-1. The highlight of the game was when Jacoby Ellsbury stole home with the bases loaded to put the Sox ahead 3-1. He's the first Red Sox player to steal home in like 15 years. Anyway, it's just super nice to have baseball season back.

In other news, it is dreaded finals week. I really should be studying right now instead of writing this blog but I needed a little break. I just finished a six page paper on the history of Punk Rock and it was harder to write than you would think. Now I've got a sack full of 20 stacks of physiology flash cards that need to be reviewed before my final on Tuesday. Also, I've got half a semester's worth of History of Rock notes to memorize. On the bright side, I don't have to take my Math final because I got a good enough grade that my teacher isn't making me take it and I'll be completely done with all of my finals by Tuesday night. That will give me about 5 days of freedom before my nose is back to the grindstone with a maymester statistics class and a summer calculus class. I really am not looking forward to those classes, especially calculus, but it will be super nice to have them over with.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. Good luck to everyone who still has finals, and have fun.

Bayside

2009-04-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

I realize that lately I have been blogging about music a lot. This is probably because my life consists of hours upon hours of studying in the library whilst listening to tunes. On Friday I had the good fortune of seeing one of my favorite bands live in concert: Bayside. It sure felt good to get out of Manti and see some live music. I have liked Bayside for a long time. They are not well known and I have not been able to figure out why because they freakin' rock. Friday was my second time seeing them in concert. They were one of the opening bands for New Found Glory. New Found Glory was ok but I would've much rather seen Bayside as the headlining band. Their most recent album is called "Shudder." If you are a fan of good rock 'n roll, I would definitely recommend giving these guys a listen. Frontman Anthony Raneri has a really unique voice and guitarist Jack O'Shea has some real face-melting guitar solos. I know because I was about 5 feet away from one of them on Friday night. Bayside has released 4 albums, one live album, and one acoustic album. I would definitely recommend their acoustic album as well as "The Walking Wounded" and "Shudder." As a matter of fact, I would recommend any of their stuff. Just give them a try and tell me what you think.

Angels & Airwaves

2009-03-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite bands, Angels & Airwaves. Wednesday, March 4th marked the one year anniversary of my first time seeing them in concert. I also saw them in October with Weezer, which was great, but the show they did in March where they were the headlining band was nothing short of mind-blowingly awesome.
For those of you who may not know anything about AVA, it was formed by Tom DeLonge shortly after his band Blink-182 announced their hiatus. Other members of the band are guitarist David Kennedy (who was a part of DeLonge's side project Box Car Racer), drummer Atom Willard (formerly of Rocket From the Crypt and The Offspring), and bassist Matt Wachter (formerly of 30 Seconds to Mars). They have released two albums: "We Don't Need to Whisper" and "I-Empire."
When Blink-182 announced that they were getting back together I was super happy, but I was also a little worried about what would happen with AVA. My fears were soon quieted though. DeLonge announced that nothing would happen to Angels & Airwaves and they're working on a new album right now.
If you haven't ever listened to AVA, I would highly recommend it. The best way to listen to them is to listen to one or both of the CDs all the way through without doing anything else at the same time. I love to listen to them when I'm driving by myself at night. Their lyrics are really cool to listen to and their sound is kind of outer-spacey, without sounding weird or like techno.
Their new album should be coming out this year as well as a feature film which is sounding pretty awesome. However, I've heard that they won't be touring this year because of DeLonge's commitment to tour with Blink-182 this summer.
Anyway, I hope this gave you a little insight into one of my favorite bands, maybe even my most favorite. I would highly recommend listening to them, I mean really listening to them, preferably in the way I described earlier. So go do it, and tell me what you think.

Day After Day After Day

2009-02-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This post is basically a big whining session so you may not want to waste your time reading it.

After reading a blog by my good friend Winters, I realized that I am not alone in my feelings of hatred for school. I have been told that one's college years are the best years of one's life. This is a flat out lie. Gone are the days of happily playing with friends every day and feeling carefree. The only thing college does for me is put a huge load of stress on my shoulders. I never get to play with my friends and every moment that I'm not busily involved in something school-related, I feel a huge wave of guilt spread over me because I know I should be working on something. At the start of the semester, I was actually excited about school and I was really into trying hard and doing well. Now it is only halfway through the semester and I am just about ready to throw in the towel. After spending 5 1/2 hours in the library yesterday studying for my physiology class, it hit me: this drudgery is not going to end for at least 5 more years. Holy fudge. Hopefully this hopelessness is just a stage that will pass quickly.

A-Rod

2009-02-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

You have all probably heard more than you could ever possibly want to hear about Alex Rodriguez and his testing positive for steroids in 2003. It is all over ESPN and every sports website on the web. In no way do I think steroid use is right or acceptable, but come on, give the guy a break.

A-Rod's name was apparently leaked from a list of 104 names of players who tested positive for steroids in the early years of this decade. Bud Selig (being the genius that he is...not) didn't ban steroid use from major league baseball until 2004. Therefore, even though using steroids is obviously cheating, these players weren't breaking any rules by testing positive before the 2004 season. Now people are talking about criminally charging A-Rod and other players for their steroid use. My question is, how will that help anything? It is widely known that a huge amount of players used steroids before they were banned from the game. If you're going to charge A-Rod, then you better release the rest of the names on that list and charge those players too. In my opinion, that won't help anything though. The whole "steroid era" of baseball is an embarrassment to the game, but going back and calling out every player who ever used steroids is not only impossible, it is unnecessary. There's nothing we can do about the past, we can only make sure that baseball is clean from now on. So, let's quit worrying about the idiot cheaters that got away with their dishonesty because of Bud Selig's incompetence. Let's make sure there are no more cheaters in the future and enjoy America's favorite Pastime this year.

Blink 182

2009-02-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

For those of you who watched the Grammy Awards tonight, you know that the band blink 182 is back together! I wasn't even watching the awards but my sister who was watching, yelled and told me to come and see what was going on. When I saw all three of the members, Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker, and Mark Hoppus, on stage together, I couldn't believe my eyes. Then came the announcement that they are back together, making a new album, and planning on a world tour. This is the best news I've heard in a while. I can't wait to see what these guys come up with next. Just like so many kids who grew up in the '90s, they were the first real band I ever really loved.

However, I do have a few questions. Angels & Airwaves (the band DeLonge put together during blink's hiatus) is another one of my favorite bands. What will happen to them? Are they finished, or is DeLonge going to take on both projects at the same time? Also, the band +44 (formed by Barker and Hoppus). Are they finished also? It will be interesting to see what happens.

Car Show

2009-01-27T19:43:00.001-08:00

So I made the cover of this magazine. I guess I've made it in life.

Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T14:37:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone got the chance to see the Inauguration of President Barack Obama today. Personally, I can't remember the last time I felt this patriotic. Even though our country has a lot of things that need fixing right now, today was a good time to be able to set those worries aside and feel patriotic and hopeful. Our country has truly come a long, long way. It was merely 60 years ago when people couldn't eat in the same restaurants as other people just because of the color of their skin and now, we have a man of color in our nation's highest office.

Sadly though, there was a sour note to today for me. When my little sister came home from school, she told me about the attitudes of some of her fellow high schoolers on the subject of Barack Obama. She told me that the majority of kids at her school were saying how upset they were about the situation and how much they hate Barack Obama. These kids, no doubt, have been listening to their parents views on the subject. I think it is sad that so many parents here in central Utah choose not to educate their kids and teach them to think for themselves. It is also sad that these kids won't have any fond memories of today's historic events. These high school kids didn't know anything about Obama's policies or stances on any issues. They have no idea why they hate Barack Obama so much. They simply hate him because their parents do. I am very thankful that my parents have taught me to think for myself. They have never tried to sway my political views. They trust that I am smart enough and educated enough to form my own opinions.

Even if you didn't vote for President Obama and even if you don't agree with most of his policies, I hope that you will still support him as our president. I, for one, am excited to see what the next few years will bring and I hope that when the next four years are up, President Obama will have given us all a reason to make us want to re-elect him.

Dark Side of the Moon

2009-01-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to some music for my History of Rock & Roll class and I have rediscovered one of my favorite albums of all time. You guessed it, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". I know a lot of people think this album is weird and creepy but that is the beauty of it. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics? They're actually really insightful. They're a heck of a lot better than most of the garbage that's being thrown around today. One of my favorite songs from the album is called "Time". It starts out with the sound of a bunch of clocks ticking and then chiming and alarms going off. It is an awesome song. Here are the lyrics.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but youre older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Don't these lyrics just make you want to kick yourself for all of the perfectly good time you've wasted doing nothing? I know that's how I feel. Now go and do yourselves a favor and do something worthwhile, like listen to this album. You're welcome.

Nerd

2009-01-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have recently decided that I am a nerd, a big one. I'm pretty obsessed with school and getting good grades. I love to read and spent most of my Christmas break reading. I have recently started re-reading my favorite books of all time, the Harry Potter series. I have read all of these books multiple times but I still can't get enough of them. Speaking of Harry Potter, have any of you read "The Tales of Beadle the Bard"? If you remember, in book 7, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", a wizard children's story book is mentioned called "The Tales of Beadle the Bard." J.K. Rowling has recently written this book and published it. I bought it when it first came out and I love it. For any Harry Potter fan it is a must-have. Also, all of the proceeds from buying the book go to one of Rowling's favorite charities. So, if you haven't bought it yet, go buy it. You'll love it.

Snowboarding

2008-12-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Brighton for my first day of snowboarding this season and holy cow, it was fun. Every summer I wait impatiently for snow so I can pull out my gear and head to the mountains and somehow, every first day of snowboarding, I have more fun than I ever remember it being.

Last week I got a new board and bindings so I was way excited to try them out. I waxed my board to perfection, played with my bindings until I had the perfect setup, and I was ready to go. I woke up at 5:45 am yesterday morning (snowboarding is probably the only thing that can get me to willingly wake up that early) and I was off. I went with one of my friends and a bunch of guys from the Snow College snowboarding club. I had never been boarding with any of those guys except for my one friend and i was the only girl so I was happy to find out that i hadn't lost any of my ability since last winter and I wasn't slowing anybody down. It was a beautiful day and the snow was good. It got a little icy and there were a few bare spots in the later afternoon but overall it was great.

I would encourage anyone that has never gone snowboarding or skiing to give it a try. It is one of the funnest things ever. There is something about being at the top of a mountain and flying down it in a matter of minutes with only a board (or a couple of skis) carrying you that never ever gets old. Plus, it is good exercise and you can make lots of new friends in the process.

Dog

2008-11-23T16:38:00.001-08:00

I decided that since this is my blog I should put a picture of me on it. So here I am with my dog Jack. Aren't we stunning?

The Hills

2008-11-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

Many of you may have seen the popular MTV show "The Hills." If you haven't seen it you probably have heard of it. It documents the lives of rich, beautiful, young adults living in southern California. Honestly, I think it is one of the most retarded compilations of video footage ever put together by humans. The embarrassing thing about it though, is that I can't stop watching it. What is it about this show that keeps me tuning in every week?

I think the reason I keep watching this show is I see these people and the jobs they have and I think "What qualifications do these people have that I don't have?" One example would be Audrina Partridge, one of the girls on the show. She works for Epic Records. She gets to go watch bands and see if they're good enough for a record deal, helps bands record in the studio, and does other rad stuff like that. In my opinion, you couldn't ask for a cooler job. Audrina doesn't have a college degree or any other special skills and from what I've seen of her on TV, she isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. How then, did she get such an awesome job? Chances are good that she got that job just because she is on this incredibly popular show. Is this fair? Probably not. In fact, I think it sucks. I could do this job just as well, if not better than Audrina. Audrina isn't the only one with an awesome job. Lauren and Whitney, two other characters on the show get to go to New York frequently for their jobs and they've even been able to go to Paris.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I watch this show because it makes me feel better that if these girls, who are no more smart or talented than I am, can be successful in what they want to do, surely I can be successful In what I want to do. Take my advice though and don't get yourself caught in the trap of this television program. It truly is a huge waste of time.

Tagged

2008-11-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

My cousin Brooke tagged me to do this. Here you go

tag you're it....

8 T.V. shows I watch

1.The Office 2. Family Guy 3. The Simpsons 4. Around the Horn 5. What Not to Wear 6. Baseball Tonight 7. The Hills....I know, I'm ashamed 8. Rob and Big

8 favorite restraunts

1. The Old Spaghetti Factory 2. Outback Steakhouse 3. Los Amigos 4. Panda Express (does fast food count?) 5. Olive Garden 6. Roy's pizza 7. I don't remember the name of it but there was this Italian place on Hanover street in Boston that was freakin' amazing

8 things that happened yesterday

1. Watched Manti lose the state championship 2. Went to Panda Express 3. Went to Sam's Club 4. Had a nap 5. Watched "The Pursuit of Happyness" 6. Played ping pong 7. Played Guitar Hero 8. Colored on a bowling ball

8 things I'm looking forward to

1. Thanksgiving 2. Christmas break 3. Snowboarding 4. Graduating from Snow 5. Going to the U

8 things on my wish list

1. Be done with school 2. Live in Boston for a while 3. Season pass to Brighton 4. Go to Europe 5. Be a rock star 6. Be a pro snowboarder 7. Season tickets to see the Red Sox 8. The skills and/or money to be able to do all of these things

8 things I love

1. Snowboarding 2. Sleeping 3. Music 4. Baseball 5. Free time 6. Funny things 8. iPods

8 things I can't stand

1. Jerks 2. Stupid annoying people 3. Sticky hands 4. When people argue about stuff they don't understand 5. When people let you down 6. When people chew gum really loud 7. The 4th Twilight book "Breaking Dawn." 8. Being a muggle

Movin' on

2008-11-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

Today I registered for next semester's classes. I've only got 3 classes: Physiology, Chemistry, (and the labs that go with those two), and History of Rock and Roll. It doesn't sound like much, but that's 12 credit hours, which legally makes me a full-time student still.

Anyway, I'm really excited because next semester will be my last one at Snow and then I'll be moving on to the U next fall. It got me thinking, my move to the U will probably be the biggest change so far in my young life, a lot bigger than graduating from high school even. I'm way stoked to live in Salt Lake because basically everything I love to do will be right at my fingertips when I'm there, such as snowboarding, concerts, etc... However, I'm also a little nervous to move. I'm not the most outgoing person in the world so it's probably going to be rough moving to Salt Lake and making a bunch of new friends. In fact, I'm so un-outgoing that I hardly ever go to my own student ward because I don't know anyone in it, I just go to my friends' wards. I tend to just sit back and be quiet when I'm around people I don't know very well. This could be a major problem for me come next fall. The way I see it, I have two options. Option one: keep doing what I'm doing now, which is not making an effort to meet new people, and be a recluse for the rest of my life, or Option two: suck it up and make some friends. I guess I'll give option 2 a try. This will be interesting.

Deseret Industries

2008-11-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the DI (deseret industries) with my friends and holy cow, it was awesome. I haven't been there since I was a little kid so naturally, I had forgotten how many treasures that place holds. They have everything you could ever want, from fine art (ok, the art is probably not "fine", but it's cooler than fine art) to athletic equipment, to the coolest sweaters you can possibly imagine . One of my first thoughts when I walked in was "I wonder if they have any cowboy boots..." So, after looking at a few things, we made our way to the shoe section and there they were, these beauties you see here in this picture. I have been wanting some cowboy boots for a long time so when I saw these, I couldn't believe my luck. And the best part is, they only set me back 8 dollars. The DI is truly a place where dreams come true.

Barack Obama

2008-11-06T22:55:00.001-08:00

This is President-Elect Barack Obama's acceptance speech that he gave in Chicago on tuesday night. This speech, in my opinion, was awesome. He was gracious and respectful to John McCain, and when I was listening to this speech, I couldn't help but feel patriotic. I hope that we as Americans can unite for the common good, just like our new president-to-be says. I hope that our country's leaders can set aside their party differences and settle issues in a way that will be best for we, the people of America. If you haven't already seen this, watch it for yourself and tell me what youthink.

Proposition 8

2008-10-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

A hot political topic going into next month's election is Proposition 8. Now I'm no political guru and I don't claim to be. However, this issue has caught my attention. Should same-sex marriage be legal?

Personally, I'm torn on the matter. What I think isn't going to make a difference anyway, at least in this election because I'm not a resident of California. You might be asking yourself "why is Hannah blogging about a political issue that she isn't even decided on?" Well, I'm blogging about it to express my surprise in the LDS church's involvement in the issue. The LDS church has always stayed passionately neutral in every political issue that I can remember. So when the brethren came out and actively supported proposition 8 (to make same-sex marriage illegal again) I was naturally interested. On one hand, I really don't care if homosexuals get married. They're people too and they have rights. On the other hand, I'm an active member of the LDS church and it just doesn't feel right to go against what the leaders are saying. In all of my confusion, my Dad showed me this article by Robert Kirby, humor columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune. I think this article is hilarious and I agree with a lot of Kirby's points of view. So, for your enjoyment, here it is. Let me know what you think.

Kirby: I don't care if gays get married

A couple of years ago, I wrote a column in which I announced my official position on gay marriage. Basically, I don't care.
    Not only do I not care if gays get married, it is none of my business. As a flaming heterosexual, it's a full-time job for me just to keep my thoughts clean in church. I don't have the energy to fret about somebody else's libido.
    The column must have resurfaced on the Internet. I'm getting mail again telling me what a failure I am as a Mormon because I'm not solidly behind Proposition 8. As I understand it, the California ballot item would prevent the domestication of homosexuals. Or something like that.
    Here are just a few of the attempts to get me to see reason.
    "Are you a member or not? Do you want gays to get married in the temple? Please follow the brotheren's [sic] council [sic] on Proposition 8. This is a important gospel principal [sic]." G., e-mail.
    "No unclean thing can enter the house of the Lord. Gays are unclean because of the Scriptures. You have to be hot or cold about it or the Lord will spat you out." T., e-mail.
    "Were you listening in church when the letter was read from the First Presidency about supporting proposition eight?" R.Y., e-mail.
    "Get with Prop 8 or your [sic] a homo." Anonymous, letter.

Hard as it is to counter such brilliant logic, my position hasn't changed. The only serious concern I have about gays getting married is that they'll register someplace pricey.

    The church is serious about the sanctity of marriage. I get that. But aren't more potentially "dangerous" marriages already being performed out there?
    For example, I hear in church all the time about marriage being ordained of God. But I also hear about how the glory of God is intelligence.
    Shouldn't it be against the law for stupid people to get married? What's more harmful to society - two well-dressed men getting married and settling down, or two idiots tying the knot and cranking out any number of additional idiots?
    You should have to pass a harder test to get married than the one we currently have. Essentially, there are but two questions: "How old are you?" and "Is that your sister?" Hell, you could pass this test just by guessing.
    There are drawbacks. Most people get married when hormones and youth make them about as dumb as they'll ever be. So, even a relatively easy test would by default raise the age limit to about 40.
    With an increased marriage age limit, there would be fewer births. Genealogy would become easier to do. With fewer births, there would be fewer children born gay. Hey, isn't that what Heavenly Father would want?
    OK, I was just kidding about that. But if you're really serious about putting a stop to gay sex, let them get married.

    rkirby@sltrib.com

School

2008-10-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the semester. Everyone across campus is starting to get burned out. I for one, consider myself to be pretty studious. I study like crazy for tests, turn in my homework on time, and never miss class. However, I have been having a super hard time staying focused these past couple of weeks. I can't seem to figure out what my problem is and I don't think I'm alone in this predicament. Tons of people are absent in each of my classes every day and I'm 99% sure that it's for the same reason that I have been thinking about sluffing class: we're flat-out sick of school.

I realize that I shouldn't be complaining. I'm pretty darn lucky to be getting a quality college education, but why is it so hard to stay focused? I know it'll all be worth it once I graduate and have a sweet job, but why is it so hard to keep that final goal in mind instead of focusing on the drudgery that is daily class? I think the key to being a successful student is managing your time. I don't care what professors say, iPods and Guitar Hero are NOT the devil (I totally aced my last anatomy test and every second I spent studying, I had headphones on). Taking free time for yourself to do whatever you like to do is a critical part of being a college student. When you've been studying your brains out all day, take some time to have fun. Go snowboarding, ride your bike, see a movie, take a nap, or do whatever you like to do because if you don't, more studying won't do you any good because you won't be able to focus anyway. Also, always keep your final goal in mind. When you're buried up to your eyeballs in homework, just think about how awesome it's going to feel when you finally graduate and you never have to go to school again. When that day finally comes, it will all be worth it.

Wisdom Teeth

2008-10-17T21:46:00.001-07:00

Today I got my wisdom teeth removed and I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected. At 7:30 my dad and I left Manti to drive to Sandy for my appointment. The Dentist who did it is named Creed Haymond. He was a rad guy and I'm related to him somehow, hence the last name.

I went into the office, filled out the paper work, got some x-rays, and had to watch a short little movie about what to expect. Then they asked me if I wanted to be asleep or awake during the procedure. Of course I chose to be asleep. It was the coolest thing ever. I have never had surgery of any kind. Heck, I've never even been hospitalized, so I had no idea what to expect. It was super easy actually. They just give you an IV, which doesn't hurt at all, pump some antibiotics into your arm, and then give you the anesthetic. I went right to sleep and I don't remember anything else until I got to the parking lot.

On the way home, I ate some Mac and Cheese from KFC, had a slurpee, and slept the rest of the way home. It wasn't bad at all. After hearing everyone's horror stories, my experience was a walk in the park. Maybe I shouldn't speak so soon though, I'll probably be super swollen tomorrow. I'm not too worried about the pain though. I've got a nice big bottle of Loritab for whenever I feel the need.

The moral of the story is, don't be too freaked out if you have to get your wisdom teeth out. Make sure you go to an oral surgeon so you can just snooze right through it, and just utilize your pain pills.

* * *

In other news, did everyone watch the Red Sox game last night? Wow, that was awesome. They came back from 7 to 0 in the 7th inning and won. That was the biggest deficit a team has overcome in the playoffs since like 1925 or something. It was incredible. The series is now at 3-2 for the Rays and they're heading back to St. Petersburg for tomorrow's game (I wrote in my last post that game 5 would be in St. Petersburg. I was mistaken). I would just like to say that lately, the Sox never cease to amaze me. They have had their backs against the wall so many times, and every time they find some way to come out of it. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow night. Hopefully they'll keep this comeback going.

Son of a .....

2008-10-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Right now, as I type, my beloved Red Sox are getting absolutely demolished by none other than the Tampa Bay Rays. By losing this game, they will go down 3 games to 1 in the ALCS. As you might imagine, I am pretty upset.

The Sox were in this exact situation last year. They were down 3 games to 1 against the Cleveland Indians. Facing elimination, game 5 was do or die for the Sox, just like it is going into Thursday's matchup in St. Petersburg. The difference between last year and this year though, is big. Last year the Sox had the postseason immortal Josh Beckett going to the mound for game 5. This year, Josh Beckett is not looking so immortal and the usually explosive offense is looking like a bunch of little leaguers.

Aside from the lackluster pitching and complete lack of offense, injuries are playing a big part in Boston's struggles. Now I'm not usually one to make excuses but, honestly, I don't think the Sox would be in this situation with a completely healthy Big Papi, Josh Beckett, and Mike Lowell. Papi's wrist has been bothering him since a torn tendon sheath earlier in the season. Word just came out today that Lowell will have major surgery on monday, and even though Beckett says he's fine, everyone with a brain in their head knows that either his elbow or strained oblique is still bothering him.

As bad as everything is looking right now, I can't bring myself to lose my faith that they could make a comeback. They've done it twice before in recent memory. They did it last year, and who can forget the mind-blowing turn of events in 2004's ALCS? With all of the great players they've got, they still have a shot, even though it might be a long one.

WEEZER

2008-10-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

On tuesday night I went to the Weezer concert in Salt Lake City and wow, was it awesome. The opening band was supposed to be a band called Tokyo Police Club but for some reason it was a different band that I can't remember the name of. They were alright, but nothing too exciting. Next up was Angels & Airwaves. I consider myself a pretty big AVA fan so I was pretty stoked to see them. As usual, they didn't disappoint. Their use of lights and lasers was super rad. They always put on a good show by building up to the more exciting parts. Even if you're not a big fan of AVA, it's still cool to see Tom DeLonge (formerly of a little band called blink-182). As enjoyable as Angels & Airwaves was, they were nothing in comparison to Weezer. They opened up with the classic "My Name is Jonas" and had a great set with a pleasing mixture of old and new songs such as "Pink Triangle," "Undone (the sweater song)," "Buddy Holly," "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived," "Pork and Beans," and tons more. Something that was really cool that I have never seen before at a concert was they brought up a whole bunch of people onto the stage with all different kinds of instruments. There were a bunch of guitars, a saxophone, a cello, a violin, an accordion, a trumpet, a trombone, and a few instruments that I don't even know the names of. Then they had everyone play "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills". It was pretty cool. Mostly I was just really jealous of all the people on stage that got to talk to Rivers. When all was said and done, my friends and I had been on our feet for 5 hours straight and most of us had a 2 hour drive ahead of us. After stopping to eat, we got home at about 3:15 am and I had class at 8:30. Needless to say, wednesday was a pretty long day for me. It was totally and completely worth it though. If you ever get the chance to see Weezer in concert, you would have to be a complete retard to pass it up.

Hannah

A lot of disjointed thoughts

Update

Just some stuff, mostly about libraries.

A-Z Things That Make Me Happy :)

NEW!

Nonrev

Update

Jacoby's Steal

Just Some Thoughts

Bayside

Angels & Airwaves

Day After Day After Day

A-Rod

Blink 182

Car Show

Inauguration Day!

Dark Side of the Moon

Nerd

Snowboarding

Dog

The Hills

Tagged

My cousin Brooke tagged me to do this. Here you gotag you're it....

Movin' on

Deseret Industries

Barack Obama

Proposition 8

School

Wisdom Teeth

Son of a .....

WEEZER

My cousin Brooke tagged me to do this. Here you go

tag you're it....