brief

today: cleaned kitchen, cleaned living room, studied much, ate some healthy food, ate a chocolate bunny. church tomorrow. mmm!

please, no velvet

tonight after we got back from the korean speech contest, we turned on the tv and on tlc they had a show called “america’s ugliest kitchen.” and oh man, was it ugly. the whole thing was covered in red velvet with a gold fleur-de-lis pattern. and I mean the whole thing: cabinets, drawers, the dishwasher. it was ridiculous. then one side of the room had a diagonal pink stripe going across from one end to the other, and the bottom half was black instead of red velvet. oh and then there was a completely mismatched (well, it all was) wall covered with some sort of zigzag multicolored yarn wallpaper. I’m fine with living in a shoddy apartment for the first five years of my marriage. that’s what being a newlywed is: being so poor you can only afford junk. I’m actually looking forward to it. but please, no velvet.

in other news, I retook the hist 400 midterm. hmm. it was exactly the same as last time, except the 16-point question about wills. it was no longer “what is the procedure for someone who dies intestate?” but now “what is the procedure for contesting a will?” yeah, I had no idea. I made crap up. there were a few other points I was clueless on, such as the four major immigration periods to the u.s. I really ought to know that. my guesses were pretty good. by all accounts I should have known that from the reading. but, it was lost somewhere in my memory, and as long as I get a better score than last time (which is sure to happen), I’ll be ok.

I may lose points for this, though: at the end of the test I wrote a note to the teacher, informing him that it was due to his slow grading process that I was unable to reapply for summer term, and I would appreciate it if he’d grade this midterm within three weeks — which is a week longer than the time period proscribed by independent study. we’ll see if it works.

then jennifer came by after jarom and I had dinner. it was good to see her, but I lost track of time and was late for the korean speech contest. I parked illegally and ran down to the basement of the jfsb, and surprise, they were running behind schedule. luckily my car was not towed (it was a “reserved parking only anytime” spot), and I didn’t get any tickets. hooray for luck!

tomorrow jarom is going skiing with ben, and then staying up there for his grandma’s birthday dinner. so I guess I’ll clean our kitchen (how desperately it needs it…) and maybe even my room. maybe. and I need to study more for my humanities test.

I wish I had known about taking tests at the independent study office. then I wouldn’t have to wait for the test to get processed at the byu testing center, and then wait for it to get sent back to independent study, and then wait for them to post my grade online. but oh well. life will go on.

things to accomplish

DONE 1. see a comet
DONE 2. watch a sunset on the beach
3. publish a book
4. really learn how to waltz
DONE 5. let someone know how much I care about them without being sure of reciprocation
6. read all the books on Arthur Henry King’s list
7. visit the Louvre/see the Pièta
8. become fluent in another language
9. take a photography class
10. plant and care for a garden – minimum 1 year
11. read the Standard Works in a year
12. get a telescope
13. cook a 5-course meal
DONE 14. marry my best friend, in the temple
15. see the awesome geological stuff in So. Utah
16. learn the capitals of all 50 states
17. read Wind in the Willows to all my nieces and nephews
DONE 18. paint a pretty watercolor and have it framed
DONE 19. buy a piece of original artwork
20. do baptisms in the Nauvoo temple
21. build a tree-house with my husband
22. have a bake sale
23. learn how to skip stones
DONE 24. get a puppy
25. attend mass in a cathedral
26. try fishing
27. volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter
DONE 28. have a nice family portrait done
29. sleep outside under the stars, no tent
30. see an opera – not in English
DONE 31. take a long train ride
32. take a trip with no clocks or schedules
33. see the Northern Lights
34. help someone else do something on their list
35. visit the Grand Canyon
36. go for a hot air balloon ride
37. fly a kite with my kids
38. hear a wolf howling
39. donate blood
40. become CPR and Red Cross certified
41. do some sort of pottery – minimum 1 usable piece
42. see a solar eclipse
43. see a lunar eclipse
44. find a missing link in my family history
45. learn to juggle 4 things at once
46. go whale-watching
DONE 47. finish a Sunday crossword puzzle
48. visit an active volcano
DONE 49. get a bachelor’s degree
50. work for a publishing company, at least as an intern
DONE 51. eat sushi
52. visit the Smithsonian
53. visit the Sacred Grove
54. share my testimony with a stranger
55. visit all the lighthouses on the West Coast
DONE 56. go horseback riding
DONE 57. sew a quilt
DONE 58. take care of someone else’s pet
59. learn to play an instrument
60. sing in a choir
61. play catch with my husband
DONE 62. look up an old friend
DONE 63. sit on a porch swing with my husband
DONE 64. mow the lawn
65. change a tire
DONE 66. read all of the Anne of Green Gables books
67. run in a marathon
68. say a prayer with someone who has different beliefs from my own
69. visit the Statue of Liberty
70. memorize the Declaration of Independence
71. travel to another country
72. visit Niagara Falls
73. send all of my children to college
74. go to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival
75. see a desert sunrise
76. host a foreign exchange student
77. fall asleep in a hammock
78. go on a two-story carousel
79. have a fireplace
DONE 80. sew a nice dress for myself
81. visit the Washington D.C. memorials
82. send a message in a bottle
83. plant a tree
84. visit a castle
DONE 85. be a bridesmaid/maid of honor
86. hike Y Mountain
87. make someone cry of happiness
DONE 88. be in a jury
89. attend a major film festival
90. stop to ask someone if they need help when they’re pulled over on the side of the road
91. see a movie at a drive-in theater
92. go sailing
93. fly first class
DONE 94. hear an owl hooting in the woods at night
95. visit Yosemite
DONE 96. visit Yellowstone
97. go in a submarine
98. memorize at least one poem every year
99. read the unabridged Les Misérables
DONE 100. read the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo
101. find a four leaf clover and give it away
102. stand in a waterfall
103. write someone else’s life story
104. ride a cable car in San Francisco
105. see New England in the fall
DONE 106. have a snowball fight
107. learn how to identify animal tracks
DONE 108. give someone flowers for no reason
109. make up a really good bedtime story on the spot
110. read Ella Enchanted to my husband
111. give each of my children a copy of The Little Prince
DONE 112. lie in a field and count shooting stars
113. go for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage
DONE 114. concede that I am wrong, and apologize
DONE 115. forgive another whether they ask me to or not
116. give someone my autograph
DONE 117. hold someone while they cry
DONE 118. smile brightly when I want to cry
119. use up an entire box of Kleenex in one sitting
120. sing a love song to my husband
121. keep a plant alive for 2 years
122. win a game of tennis
DONE 123. bake a delicious apple pie
124. learn to knit/knit a scarf for someone
DONE 125. go on a picnic with a blanket and basket
126. leave a $50 tip for a waitress
127. get absolutely soaked in the rain
DONE 128. walk down a stairway looking gorgeous in a formal gown
129. go Christmas caroling
DONE 130. teach a class
DONE 131. spend time at a cabin in the mountains
DONE 132. watch a meteor shower
133. go to a bluegrass festival
134. give a speech
135. make a mosaic
136. win a game of chess
137. have a window-box garden
138. learn to barbeque well
DONE 139. catch a firefly
140. own a complete tea set (for two)
141. make friends with someone I dislike
142. be in a parade
143. see Giselle performed
144. see a show on Broadway
145. write a letter to the editor
DONE 146. enter a cooking contest
DONE 147. vote in a presidential election
148. meet a rabbi
149. begin a sentence with “Mark my words…”
DONE 150. avoid the ER for at least 1 year
DONE 151. read 50 books in one year
DONE 152. see a shooting star
153. ride an elephant
154. go 24 hours without technology, voluntarily
155. build a sandcastle
156. eat at the Hard Rock Café
DONE 157. see an anteater
158. learn to cook an omelette
159. eat a Kong Kone
160. hear humming fish in Sausalito
161. learn to play the song from Winter Sonata
162. find a way to help North Koreans
163. go on a humanitarian mission (lds)