Sleep Adventures

For my birthday, my mom sent me some books, which I appreciated a lot. One was a retelling of the tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which is sort of like Beauty and the Beast. (Incidentally, I just accidentally wrote Beauty in the Beast instead of Beauty and the Beast, which sounds like a self-help book or something.) Anyway, one crucial element of the story is that while the girl is living in the palace, every night some mysterious man gets in the bed and shares it with her.

Well, I guess it was on my mind or something because the night I was up in Boise I woke up all of the sudden not quite sure who this strange man was who was sleeping next to me. Should I go get help? Should I turn the light on to see who it was? After sitting in the bed for like half a minute I realized it was Kevin, and he was supposed to be there. I looked at the time. 11:56. Then I went back to sleep and told him the story in the morning.

The next day we drove back from Boise and listened to a book on CD called "Till We Have Faces." It was actually kind of weird. Maybe it's because the first CD was scratched, so we had no idea what was going on for the first fifteen minutes of listening to the second CD. Anyway, the main girl's sister was sacrificed to the gods but it turned out she was fine, and every night she would go to sleep and then a man would join her in the darkness.

Again, I thought? What's up with all these mysterious men?

And again, last night I woke up suddenly, not quite sure who was next to me and if I was in danger or not. Then I realized it was Kevin. I checked the time. 11:56. Seriously. Then I went back to sleep.

I think I need to read different books.

Lately . . .

So besides doing a random post on my birthday about a weird thing I did as a child, I haven't blogged about life in a while.

And quite a bit has happened. But rather than blathering on and on about everything and every thought I may have had about everything, I'm going to save that for my journal and just share a couple of highlights. Occasional pictures. And I'll try to keep to the 6 word limit Ernest Hemingway kept one time (as shown by my wonderful cousin here), though I may have longer parenthetical remarks.

Here goes . . .

Garden

Just ask Jillian: I like dirt.

(or ask Kevin. I also like peas and onions and lettuce and marigolds and garden soil and watering cans and getting dirty and then getting clean. We don't have high hopes for the peas since it's finally warmed up, but it's still fun)

Finals

3 scheduled finals within 24 hours. Done.

(okay, that was 7 words. And those were just the scheduled finals!)

Graduation

At least my cap didn't fall off.

(7 words again. And it almost did 4 years ago in high school while I was giving a speech. This time my name was just mispronounced in front of thousands of people [though I made sure they pronounced it right when I was getting the diploma]. I'm over it now. :D

One of my favorite parts (and the most nerve wracking) is shown in this picture. I felt so honored to play a musical number at convocation. Also, Kaylie is very good at curling my hair into ringlets.)

Anniversary

Love Kevin. And Old Rock Church.

(okay, 6 words just can't do justice. This has been a wonderful wonderful year and Kevin is remarkable. I could go on and on about just how wonderful our anniversary was, going back to the inn where we spent our first night, watching the Importance of Being Earnest while eating breakfast in bed, let alone all the wonders of this past year and how it's changed me as a person and helped me remember who I was before I became a angsty teenager . . . but I will refrain. Just know that marriage rocks.)

Carl Bloch

The Savior loves us dearly.

(I feel like saying much more would be irreverent. It was a very humbling experience and the paintings were magnificent. I'm so glad the Church discovered Bloch's artwork.)

Work

Done by 5! No homework ever!

(and no other girls either, for that matter. Goodness . . . some days I look forward to grocery shopping just so I can talk to another female face-to-face for the first time that day!)

Birthday

Snow. Steak. Cake. Friends. Happiness. 21.

(Some of my high school friends had a party up in Logan [not for my birthday, just for fun] and it was good remembering how awesome they are. And my family fed us steak and cake for dinner, which was also awesome. I think it was one of the happiest birthdays I've had in a long time.)

Tulip Festival

I love tulips. Still use WordPerfect.

The festival promised "eye candy" and I think this picture definitely has a lot. :)

Wicked

Flying. Singing. 6 years of waiting.

(yeah, it was awesome. I sorta wish I hadn't known the songs quite as well going in, but it was still amazing. And Kevin liked it. And Boise was wonderful and I have the most wonderful family up there. And I liked the zoo.)

So that's some of the amazingly fun stuff I've been up to!

Honorable mentions: party at Joaquin (which ended with a missing wedding ring [not mine]), a wonderful lunch date with a dear friend of mine who didn't seem to mind that I can't eat Subway sandwiches like a civilized being, my obsession with cleaning windows and baseboards and floors and "owning" the apartment, my friend finding her ring after 2 weeks (i.e., today), giving me hope that I won't keep on dreaming she's found it since those are really depressing dreams when I wake up, baby blessing of my youngest cousin which made me feel old, induction into the Provo Married Student 34th ward (long name with unattractive acronym), family dinner, Kaylie's amusement with the "oompa loompas" in the cleanroom  . . .

Yeah, life has treated me well.