Sorry, August

I guess I dropped the ball on that one.  I didn't blog during the whole month of August.  But if it makes you feel any better, I didn't go swimming either. 

Except that's not true.  I went at least twice. 

I feel like I have so much to tell, but really, it's nothing at all.

Guess what my calling is this semester.  Oh, what's that?  You guessed that I was called to be an Institute Teacher again? Nailed it.  I get to wear the mic again!!

In other news, we moved.  Now, some of you might already know to where and are rolling your eyes at my usage of the word 'moved' but I'll have you know, dragging all your stuff across the hall is harder that in sounds, thank you very much. 

However, Stacy and I accomplished it.  We also deep cleaned our entire apartment.  Those blinds have never looked so good. 

And now, a memory slide of all the good times in the apt:

 My first pic

We made a whole lotta food.

And crafts.

That floor saw a lot of our hair (and not just the stuff we intentionally cut off :/)

 We had Christmas parties,

and Birthday celebrations.

We rearranged the furniture a tad bit.

 We added useful household items,

and priceless art.

 We mostly just hung around,

and were classy.

It was a wonderful almost two years, apt 305.  Thanks for the super fun memories and the beautiful view.

Bittersweet

Today was my last day teaching Institute for the summer.  I guess "summer" meant until the end of July.

It's funny how time can go by so quickly when you're constantly doing things.  I only taught every other week, but man those lessons would creep up on me every. single. time.

If you know me, then you totes def know that I am the world's most accomplished procrastinator (thank you, thank you).  In true procrastinating fashion, I didn't put my lesson together until the day of, but ladies and gentleman, I had a breakthrough!!

I planned ahead and made sure to review the material alllllll week before actually deciding what to use during go time.  I'm quite pleased with the results and how preparedy I felt.

The thing I'll miss the most is getting to wear the lapel mic every week.  It made me feel like I was a life coach teaching a seminar.  I kept wanting to shout out things like, "You can DO it!!" and "Life is a choice, make your choice today!!"  But, don't worry, I restrained myself.

Texts from my landlord

"I'm bringing new furniture."

Which means we get a bunch of 20-year-old stuff from our landlord's basement (because he is moving) and he pats himself on the back for being a good landlord by refurnishing our apartment (excuse me condo). 

Apparently his daughter didn't want to live here with brown carpet and green couches, go figure.

Though it did look like a jungle, I kind of liked it.  Except for the spring on the far right side of the big couch that sucked you in and then catapulted you back out when you sat down.  Or the wooden bar that ran the length of it and jabbed you straight in the lower back no matter how or where you sat.  Or the collection of hair trapped in them from decades of girl inhabitants.

Those couches have seen some better days. 

So we got some "new to you" couches that barely made it up the stairs (good thing Stacy and Lacey were there).  And got to rearrange the entire living room. 

 Before while reading the Ensign together

Sleeping...

 what is this? strong guys or something?

I was in charge of direction

 After

 lacking artwork--but not for long!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

OR if you give Danielle new anything...

She's going to want to change her life.  Seriously though.  The second I get some new stuff I want to revamp and clean out my old life.  And that is exactly what I did the second I got back to Utah from Washington.

The first thing that I did was clean out my closet of all the old clothes that I never wear.  I figured that I really didn't need 14 striped shirts.  Or do I?

Then, since that wasn't good enough, I decided to wash everything that I own.  Which was a really good idea because then I found a plethora of other clothes that I could give away as well.

10 loads of laundry later and I decided that I should probably organize all my paper stuff, too.  So I did.  All those papers and envelopes that were shoved into my drawer went into file folders in a plastic portable case (yeah, not fire-proof--whoops).

WOOHOO for the New Year.

The haps lately

I know you've all been wondering what I have been doing with my life during the month of November.  Not much, sad to say.  School, school work, work, and pinning on Pinterest.  All fascinating stuff.

I'm changing it up, though, as of tomorrow.

It's been rough switching from being a full time assistant to being in charge of all the Public Relations part time, while going to school.  I loved that I got to stay at the office where I have been working for the past year, with my wonderful co-workers, but the inconsistency made it hard to keep working there and still have the commute be worth the paycheck. 

My great Office Manager could tell I was a tad stressed and we ended up agreeing that it is more important to focus on school right now that try to run around taking care of PR.  Tomorrow is my last day.

It has taken a load off, even just for the past week.

I am currently looking for another part time job closer to school (or even on campus), though, since life isn't free.  Whaaaaat?  I have a group interview tomorrow and have applied to other places that seem promising. 

In the mean time, I have found that doing crafts keeps me sane.  Pinterest obviously is my inspiration, but I have no idea where the drive is coming from to make all these crafts I see.

The first is a result of the fact that I now have enough jewelery to clutter up my desk (only took me a million years to start dressing up a little) and need a place for it all:

I just painted a frame, then added some fabric, hooks, and some dyed ribbon and voila!!

I think I should have made it bigger, though, because I still have more jewelery to put on and it's kind of full already.  But that stuff is still tangled together on my floor...

Don't mind the weird carpet--it's NEW!

The next was just because I had the idea:

This was super easy, too.  Just painted the frame and added fabric under the glass and now we have a new message board!

Lest you think I'm super crafty, that's it.  

R.I.P. metabolism

Well, metabolism, it seems as though your time has come and that you have departed me for another world.

If I believed in reincarnation, I would release you with the hope that you could bring some other young girl so much joy at the thought of eating without regret.  Alas, I know that this is not to be and that you are just leaving me, alone and sad.

My only solace is that now, maybe, I will have to exert that thing called "self control" and my self discipline will finally grow (instead of my rear).

I knew it was coming.  The 8 pounds I gained overnight was just a little clue. 

RIP, metabolism, RIP.

Change, and this time I AM talking about the stuff at the bottom of my purse!

Welcome to the family!

I am proud to present the newest addition to my portfolio of things normal people don't need:

"Cool kids"

I'm replacing my piggy bank with a newer, tastier version.

Shown here are Reese's Pieces, Skittles, and chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  I'll venture to other candy in about a week once all this stuff is gone.

(special thanks to Allison and her sister for making all of my wildest dreams come true)

Change (not the stuff rattling around at the bottom of my purse)

Just as the picture shows, there are seasons.  And not only that, but there are ups and downs during those seasons.  I like to pretend that I take change really well. 

Change is a big part of life.  As someone living in a college atmosphere I live my life according to the set seasons of semesters.  Though not a partaker in the educational system that rules this particular set of seasons, I have been sucked in by proximity. 

When the change of semester is upon me I know that change in everything else will be upon me, too.  I lucked out during the last switchover by only losing one roommate (to marriage) and, by not having her replaced, little changed.

The big blow comes now.  My room roommate got married yesterday.  It was one of the best sealings (weddings) I've ever been to.  The tale of the providential hand that got me to the sealing on time, despite a plethora of setbacks, will have to wait for another post.  My roomie was an amazing person.  I really enjoyed rooming with her for a number of (sappy) different reasons (dedicated, Christlike, compassionate, RM, funny, good cook, down to earth, early to bed and to rise).  I already miss her.

My other roommate will be moving out in a week for some reason along the lines that she just doesn't think that her new husband will really enjoy living with a bunch of single girls.  Touche. 

In her place is now a well known and trusted friend from my favorite state.  She has already made our apartment cleaner than it has been in a long time, not to mention she has added a bit of style the place was really lacking (QUITE badly).

 So, while I am feeling a bit down about losing a wonderful friend and roommate (and title of chaperon, which I always thought was spelled with an 'e' at the end), prospects are looking up.