Bygdøy: Picture Post (Words will have to come later...)

This fairly indicative of my familial relations...

Guess which one just had their wisdom teeth out...

Puhleeeze.

Yes, this is usually their attitudes.

Great Day!

Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium, anyone?

Can you see what this is?

A Camel! In Orem! Inconceivable!

A Rainbow! (Sorry the pic is slanted...I blame Blogger)

Today was a fan-freakin-tastic day. Seriously. I went to the MTC to help out the new missionaries. It was so much fun. It's been awhile since I was there, and these new missionaries were just so adorable. And then I went to campus to help out some of my TA students. The session went well, I felt. I hope they do well on their test. I really try to do a good job. 

Anyways, after that, I headed home and me and Nay went to go get Janelle Monae and Bruno Mars tickets. Yes people. It's happening. I am actually going to a real concert. Pictures forthcoming.

On our way into Smith Tix we saw the camel, in the rain. That was definitely a highlight. They are huge creatures up close. Let's just say, we were grateful for our car between us and the beast.

And then after a couple of embarrassing drive-bys to get the previous shots, we got all cute-ified for a "stake opening social".

Funny story.

So yesterday, the word went out through the ward that there was a stake opening social at the Skyroom in the student center. For those of you not familiar with BYU, it's the "fancy" place to eat on campus. We were confused about the placement, but we showed up on time.

Only to find out that it was a stake leaders opening social. Someone got an email that they weren't supposed to. It was only our ward, so we turned the mistake into a Denny's run. There were about twenty of us. It was a good time and a good story. 

To finish off the day, there was a rainbow!

Things-in the-near-future-that-I-am-looking-forward-to

 

Utah Symphony presents: Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

Utah Scandinavian Festival in Ephraim, UT

Janelle Monae AND Bruno Mars in Utah Valley, this MAY

Both of them, together. It's like my dreams come true.

 

This comes out in July, so I won't be able to see it until I get back from Norway, BUT! I am intrigued and I have some high hope for this one. Everything I've read about Ryan Gosling is impressive and to finally see him in a romantic comedy? Knock on wood, I hope his performance is just as good as his other work. I also like the other characters: Steve Carell when he's not Michael Scott and Emma Stone was hilarious in Easy A, despite it's laugh-out-loud inappropriateness.
Again, here's hoping.
And of course: 

Norway.
36 more days.

This is what my weekend is looking like.

No joke.
I am not seem like the type of person to go all superhero nuts, but I am totally gaga over Thor. This is partially due to my love of all things Scandinavia and also, I am just a geek at heart. Iron Man and Batman (not the Christian Bale version) are also on my love list.
Here's to hoping Thor doesn't disappoint. It shouldn't. Everything I've read thus far has had only nice things to say.
Did you know Kenneth Branagh directed it?
This calls for only one word: epic.

Good Eats: Cake Pops!

Original source for the idea: Bakerella.com
Directions: here.
To make the actual cake pops from the cake ball directions above, just place sticks in them and dip them in chocolate and voila! Cake Pops.
Bakerella has all sorts of creative variations which are way beyond my talent or motivation level, but they are pretty to look at. Mine were just good to eat. :)
Basically, you make a cake mix (or from scratch, which is what we did because it's really the only way to go) and once the cake is cooled you crumbled it into one giant bowl. Take frosting (you can really mix and match flavors any way you want.) and hand mix it into the crumbled cake. It's kind of like making hamburger patties, because it's cold and sticky. You want to just put enough frosting into the mix that the cake will stick together in a ball form. Once they are formed, stick them in the freezer while you get the dip ready!

These are our cake pops, freezing in the freezer.

So, because we are the highly creative, poor college students that we are, to top the cake pops we scrounged around for any kind of chocolate. And I do mean any.

 Even an old (age undetermined) Easter bunny was sacrificed into the pot for pure deliciousness.

 Look! He's happy to see you! :)

 Nay is quite skilled at dipping things. Strawberries, cake pops, you name it, she'll dip it. One thing we learned from this experience is to invest in some melting chocolate or candy coating. We found out that when you add milk to the various assorted chocolates we had gathered, it never really hardens up, so the cake pops were more like brownies on a stick. Still, they were quite addicting and fun to make. But probably not often, because as one recipient noted, it's like a heart-attack on a stick.

But oh what a way to go. ;)
Let me know if you try these out!

Jellies!

 So...today was fun! Besides the fact that is was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and WARM outside, I also got the apartment (somewhat) organized and decorated.

My paternal grandparents came down to visit and spoiled us. I got bubbles for Easter!!! (As you can see, I was much more enthused about the bubbles than I was about the Easter candy or Easter monies.)

dang, I love bubbles

My grandparents treated us to dinner and then groceries, because we are poor college students. (When I say "we" I mean, my sister and I. No, I do not go around using the imperial "we" to refer to the single entity of moi) While we were at Smith's, look what I found in the promotional/seasonal aisle: That's right, jelly flats! No longer is this type of shoe only an elementary school-girl luxury. I can have them too!! And only for five dollars. Mmmm. That is my kind of deal. Anything that is cheap and brightly colored. And plastic.

While I know my shoes are clear and not technically brightly colored, the possibility was there. There were pink, purple, green, blue, and even black ones! So many decisions. I chose the clear ones because A: they will go with EVERYTHING and B: I can pretend I'm Cinderella going to the ball in my glass slippers every. day.

 

I can't get a really good shot of them because they are on my feet and florescent lighting is the bane of all photographers and it's one-freaking-thirty in the morning. I normally don't stay up this late. Oh wait, I'm done with school. I can stay up as long as I like! Well, what do you know...

 

So, so, so excited for summer and these jelly shoes. I'm telling you...Cinderella every day.

The Biebs: Like you've never seen him before

In my heart of hearts, I love the Biebs. Mostly because it's all just so ridiculous. Well, this youtube video takes the ridiculousness to a whole new level. These two fellows go through a instrument battle and "Baby" starts the whole thing, with a recorder! You know, that instrument that nearly every fourth grader plays at least once, but then it is never heard from again? If you have ten minutes to spare, I would recommend going through each link at the end of the videos. It's fairly hilarious.

P.S. It's late and so I do this.

Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3462771/Norway_during_WWII
This is a really neat website where you can input any text and the program pulls the most repeated words and you can change the font, colors, layout, etc. It's a super cool way to see at a glance what the main topic of any piece is. This wordle is from my capstone research Hist 490 paper. You can see what I talked about the most. Any surprises? Probs not.
Go Norway!

Imagine: BYU Ballroom Concert

This weekend, mi parentals came down to party. They took me and my sister to the BYU Ballroom concert. It's kind of a tradition, at least for my sister and I. I may not go to football or other sports, but I do make it to the ballroom concert every year. Anyways, it was breath-taking as usual and since I don't work at the RB anymore, I didn't have any negative feelings towards the dancers. (Cleaning up after people doesn't engender positive feelings sometimes) This video that I posted was one of my favorite dances. This actual clip was filmed about a month before when this couple won some national title. The Marriott center was too dark for any actual filming. And I think it was prohibited...Anyways, this performance was simply stunning. I loved it. The rest of the concert was top-notch as well. They had a whole Cirque de Soleil vibe going on. It was very effective at setting the mood. Very inventive and almost otherworldly.

An Ideal Weekend

Well, to be honest, it isn't quite looking up to be the idyllic ideal weekend. Grading deadlines are looming ever nearer...
HOWEVER

My roommate whipped out this little gem. While I only watched bits and pieces of it, I feel like it's going to be an Oscar Wilde Weekend. So word clever. LoVe It.
Recommendations?

• So watch something that makes you think. Be it lots of words or challenging topic or foreign language. Just do it.
• Bake something. Doing things with your hands relieves stress and impresses all of your friends with your handy skills.
• Be helpful and honest. You really can't be one without the other.
• Lastly, laugh. Life isn't worth it if you can't find something to have a good laugh about.

I am going to try to accomplish most of this list, hopefully more, to the tune of 75 papers calling my name to grade. Ah, the life of a history TA.
ALSO.
This just in: Today I was hired on as the program facilitator for the BYU Norwegian Study Abroad! Do I know what that means yet; no, not entirely, but you can be sure that I am super stoked about it!!! I will let you know more as soon as I know more. Keep an eye out.
Have a lovely weekend. Even ideal, if you can manage it.
:)

Just Follow Me...

Victor Borge was a funny, funny man. Super talented and still had a sense of humor. And, he's DANISH. And we all know how much I love Scandinavians. I saw this clip over the break with my grandpa. We both laughed very hard, but I was the one that ended up on the floor with tears in my eyes. Good stuff. Enjoy!

Wanna see something funny?

This is something that I came across as I was doing my project for English. It's pretty clever, not going to lie.
Enjoy!

LlamaFest

Are you excited?!
This is a sneak peek of what I am doing today!
Llamas.
Come on, say it with me. It's so fun to say.
"Llamas"
Anyways,
real pictures are forthcoming...
enjoy your weekend!

If the hands of time were hands that I could hold!

Things are flying by so fast! Yet again, another weekend has come and gone. No worries though, I have enjoyed every minute of it, for various reasons.
All of which are utterly delicious and I will share them with you now. This order is not necessarily mean they come in this order, they just uploaded in that way.
Exhibit a:

CARY GRANT. Or in other words, known as Dr. Praetorius from 'People Will Talk'. Hands down, one of my favorite movies of all time. Cary Grant is beautiful. Dr. Noah Praetorius is one of the best characters in film, so smart, loving, generous and Good. Just plain good. I made one of my good friends, Nick Vigil watch it with me this weekend. I told him about it but surprisingly, my estatic rendtion of the plot didn't do the movie justice. So he came, we watched. Everyone was edified. Good things happen when Cary Grant is on the scene...

Exhibit b: Sister mine. Denay Beddes. Affectionately known as Nay. I have other names for her, but they don't make sense to most people. Mainly just me. She doesn't even like the names I pick out for her. Anyways, me and nay played this weekend! All of her roommates were gone this weekend, so I slept over at her place! It was fun sleeping somewhere else than my bed. And nay is so good, learning so much. And funny too...

We were watching a movie once, (not this weekend, but it's funny) 'Bright Star' about John Keats. He had a brother. Nay turns to me and says, "If his brother stayed alive, they would have been known as a pair of Keats." parakeets. You get it? Yup, that pretty much sums up Nay's humor.

Exhibit c: Karina MAY!!!! Oh my goodness, I love this girl. I love that she loves what she does and who she is. I love that we can literally talk for HOURS and never repeat anything we say. I love that her friends are just as unique and amazing as she is. I love how smart and talented and creative she is. And...she makes me laugh and think. Not necessarily at the same time, but you know I admire it. We played this weekend. Watched her brother's roommate play guitar at someone's house. The house was CLEARLY packed beyond the fire code. But you know, we had fun. THE Ceiling was SPARKLY. That in and of itself makes it a great weekend.

Exhibit d: My friend suggested this book. I read it. It's good. This picture just symbolizes my love for books and literature in general. They open up such worlds that make you think and feel and become better people. I love suggesting books to people and getting suggestions in return. You share something in common with them, making your friendship stronger and also expanding your horizons at the same time. Wow. So good.

K, i'm done. Till Next Time.

"The Baffled King Composing Hallelujah"

Hallelujah is used to express praise or joy. At least, that is what the internet tells me and it makes sense to me. For the President's day weekend, me and the roomies went to southern Utah. We went for a little walk in Zions. Beautiful, beautiful. Looking at all of this physical glory, puts me in awe of the Lord's creative powers once again.
The desert definitely has some good points...

The sky so blue, the rocks so orange...

Look! A swamp in the desert! So GREEN!

And a heart made out of stone...

And no one could ask for two better gals!

*the title comes from "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. AMAZING song! I just found it, like last week. I like the version sung by Kurt Nilsen.
He was the World Idol winner, from NORWAY! *sigh* So good. So good. Sometimes, I feel like this, confused at the state of things but still thankful for what I've got. Poor King David...