There is always a bright side

Dear Short Bus,

Thank you for hitting me the day before Halloween. Because my car had to get fixed, I now get to roll around in a rental car. Which is much newer and nicer than the wrecked car. Further more, it is equipped with Sirius Radio. Which is pretty great. So now thanks to you I get to listen to "the coffee shop" and all kinds of talk radio.

My ears are happy.

But next time, if you could be sure I am wearing clothes appropriate for winter and a ride in an ambulance with others that would be great.

Love,
Bethany

Seriously?

Last night I was sitting on Ian's bed
and i got stung by a WASP.

Clearly the universe is against me

I am trying to think of all the bad things I have done or bad thoughts I have had

Nothing I can think of warrants:
swine flu
car wreck
wasp sting

**however, I do have a bit of a free spirited wild streak so i think i'd better do some service to try and correct my karma.**

Getting car fixed = $2,300
Ambulance ride = $500
X-Rays + CAT Scan = $650
Prescriptions = $35
Missing Work = $200


Being able to tell the story of being hit by the short bus = Priceless
{unfortunately it also worried my poor boyfriend to death}

Twilight's Antithesis

I have found it...
the anti-thesis of Twilight.Featuring:
An eleven year old girl with braces as the heroine.
Plenty of references to Chemistry
Many witty comments
Lots of adventure
British humor
and just enough danger.

Bella has nothing on Flavia.

Read it, you won't be sorry.

P.S. Totally appropriate for all ages.

Happy Birthday to My {other} Favorite Man

Today is my Dad's Birthday!!

Things I love about him...
1) His love for education and enthusiasm for teaching.
2) The example he has set for me of the importance of hard work and service.
3) That he instilled in me a love for learning, reading, and music.
4) That he makes nerdy cool.
5) He listens to NPR every morning
6) How much he loves my mom
7) How he dances around with Moose
8) He came and watched me run in high school even though I was slow
9) He always supports my adventures
10) Even though I am in my last year of college and taking really hard classes he can still help me with my homework.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY!!!!

Belated

A Very Happy Birthday to Mr. Durant!!
He is now even closer to 30 than 20.
I had to remind him how lucky it is that he has a young girlfriend to help him keep what little youth he has left. He agrees with me. {obviously he is still as cool as ever}
I am attempting to make a peach pie from scratch for the birthday boy. wish me luck.

Once and other things

This movie was absolutely fantastic. The soundtrack is a must buy.
Latest great albums (in my opinion)
If you have never heard any of his stuff, give it a listen. So unique and great lyrics.

One of my favorites, second album did not disappoint. Not to mention she is gorgeous.

I'm not a real girl

I don't love....
I read the first two books due to the recommendation of tons of friends. I see why they appeal to people but I'm not digging it. I tried, really I did...but Bella is co-dependent and I've never been one to appreciate a damsel in distress.

And I really don't think Edward is all that great, or hot.

Sorry to Stephanie Meyer but I think your books are kind of yucky.

Two Dozen

I am two dozen years old

The cupcakes (pictured above) were made from scratch by my lovely mother. They were FABULOUS!!!!

Lola came over in our tradition of celebrating our birthdays together. We were born on the same day month and year.

I am feeling old and wise hahaha

Girl Crush

Just saw her in Gigantic and she was fabulous (as usual)
Love her helmet in Yes Man...i want it
Love that she's pale
Love that she's quirky and sassy
Love that she does independent films
I just really love Zoey Deschanel

Dentist Update

I threw up all over during my root canal.
They forgot to bib me so it got all over my favorite Obama shirt and brand new hoodie
Oh, and Ian was there and got to witness it in all its disgusting glory
Not to mention I was very drugged up and ridiculous
But he loves me anyway, and came over to take care of me, and didn't even make fun of me..
well not too much

Yes, he is that cool.

Well well well

Hello my name is Bethany
and I've been working graveyards.
B + Graveyards = boo + disorientation (and desire to pluck out eyes while working)

Due to said shift I
a) never know what day it is
b) always feel tired
c) can't sleep at "normal" times when not working

However I also
a) Watch loads of movies/ so you think you can dance clips on YouTube
b) Have been making jewelry and crafting like crazy
c) Make tons and tons of lists...to say I am a list person is a huge understatement

ohhhhhh...and I just realized school starts MONDAY....
as in this monday
as in 5 days
and I am not registered.

God Bless Graveyards

P.S. I have to get a root canal tomorrow. I'm rather anxious, so anxious in fact that I will be taking Valium and getting gas. When I am at the dentist I get the urge to run all around the room crying and gnashing my teeth. Its bad. I'd appreciate any good vibes you can send my way. Oh, and lets hope I don't act like David at the dentist and end up on YouTube.

What I've Been Up To

a) Well...I am back in the good old City of Cedars. Working two graveyard shifts a week. Which means I have loads of time to do the following:

-Read
Just finished these two books
The Hour I First Believed was so so so great. It is basically about trials and human emotion/reaction. It is centered around a couple and the tragedies they experience (Columbine shooting, death, lies, adultery, Hurricane Katrina etc). I liked the real-ness and its quite a long book but it didn't feel like it at all. Note: There is some adult material and some language --F words--. So if that kind of stuff offends you this is not the book for you.
Fluke was also a delight. Its about a marine biologist. It gets quite strange in the last half, but i liked it. A good mix of science and fantasy. Note: Also a few F words.

-Blog stalking
I kind of love, love so when I stumbled upon leloveimages.blogspot.com I was in heaven. It is a photo blog centered around all that is lovie, romantic, passionate, cozy ect.
Example:
{photo from Le Love}

-Etsy dreaming.
Etsy...oh how I love you.

b) I have also been happy to be home and enjoying more of this....{Don LaVange Photography}

c) Saw Comedy of Errors and Private Lives. I recommend both of them, festival has some great plays this season.

d) Loving that the pub re-opened and eating there more than I should.

e) Catching up with friends

f) Planning Adventures. -- Missoula Montana, Victoria Canada, Seattle, and EUROPE(i hope)--

g) Doing some fun community service projects at work...such as re-painting Park Discovery and getting sunburned while doing it. boo.

h) Participating in the Lovely Package Exchange of 2009. Which I found out about on ohhellofriend.blogspot.com I have a name and info sheet about someone and they have my info and you put together a lovely package for your partner. Then you each get something lovely in the mail.....ooooh I am so excited.

Oregon

A few weeks ago I went to Portland for the wedding of one of my dearest friends!
Here are some high lights...
a) Went to a mansion with amazing gardens
b) and a great view of the wonderful city
c) Strolled around taking pictures
d) Went to Powell's Book store...which takes up an entire city block. Yes, I was in heaven.{ yes this is a first edition, yes i am extremely nerdy...however if you know my parents this does not surprise you in the slightest}
e) Ate some fabulous locally grown organic vegetarian food
f) Set up for the reception, which included folding napkins in fancy ways and tying a million bows.
g) Celebrated outside the temple with the happy couple
h) Went with the other bridesmaids to 7-11 for national Free Slurpee day
i) Danced the night away at the reception. (note: one of the groomsman happened to be a ballroom dancer...we tore it up on the dance floor and I loved every second of it. He was very tall...so tall that I was barely taller than his pants --irrelevant fact--. We were spinning and dipping and lifting...in retrospect I realize most people could probably see my little bum due to my extreme dancing, oh well, I had a wonderful time).
j) Cried like a baby during the first dance and father and daughter dance.
k) Took down the reception, and ate my weight in cake.
l) Listened to Dane Cook and laughed out loud in the airport.

CONGRATULATIONS LOLA AND RYAN COPELAND!!!

Long Time, No Blog

I've Been...

Watching:

Brothers Bloom (****) Watch this
Hard Candy (***) SUPER DISTURBING but great method acting
Passengers(**) Meh
Choke (****) Good. Not for the faint of heart
Elegy (***) Strange and abrupt ending
Nothing But the Truth(****) Quite good, Kate Beckinsale
Weeds (*****) Love it.

Listening to:

Mickey Avalon
Matisyahu
Spill Canvas (latest album)
Lupe Fiasco

Experiencing:

Awkward moments...
Such as:
I was taking an interview out at my pervious job (more on that later) and the guy who was at the business lunch getting interviewed gets out of the car and passes me a note with his phone number and myspace page url on it and this message "call to hang out, for theatrics (he is a theatre major), or if you just need someone to yell at for no reason".
Ummm, yes I'd love to call you just to yell at you and tell you that its very unprofessional to hit on someone at an interview, further more I have a boyfriend and am not in the habit of finding prospective suitors on myspace...thanks anyway though.

And living the American Dream in SLC. Ha

Since I am unemployed....

I have much more time on my hands...and this is what I have been doing...

a) Crafting and making cards. Give me your address if you like mail AND if you will WRITE ME BACK because I am running out of people on my "to write" list.

b) Going here a lot
{SLC Public Library}

c) Watching a few movies, and by a few I mean one almost every night.
Such as:
The Blindness (***) dumb ending
Vicky Christina Barcelona (****) Pretty darn good.
Sunshine Cleaners (*****) Loved this one, very Juno-esque

d) Hanging out with these people, K (my roommate) and Joe (her bf)

e) Taking pictures

f) Listening to music and loving Ben Harper

g) Sleeping in

h) Blog stalking
Check out Le Love {leloveimage.blogspot.com}
because it makes me feel very cheery and lovie

Ohhhh...and I forgot to blog about a certain show I saw a few weeks ago. Maybe you've heard of it....

Play

Two of our friends (Danny James and Bradford) were in Treasure Island in SLC. Ian and I got to go and it was a fabulous show. Ian didn't find anything he really didn't like ---and he is quite the play critic. Of course we had to catch up with the lovely pirates for a photo op.
Yes the man in that pictures is Ian...not a homeless man. The beard can be deceiving. He also has a tiny pony tail that makes him look like a buccaneer...thanks to his festival contract and not being allowed to cut his hair.


Please ignore the lack of make-up and how ill I look.

Wonderland

I went to see Phoebe in Wonderland at the Broadway in SLC. It was fabulous...especially because my uncle did all the wardrobe.

Moving On Up In the World

Yes, its finally happened. I got my very own desk at work.
(Please ignore the mess)
I definitely feel grown up.
and I even have an inbox



Man, I feel like such a big deal. :)

Ode To Clairsonic

I recently splurged and bought the Clairsonic facial scrubber that I have been admiring and wanting for quite sometime. Some people don't know why I would want something that seems so ridiculous (especially Mr. Ian) but I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. My face has totally cleared up and my skin looks fabulous. It was well worth the price, and i figure sometimes its ok to splurge.

Keep It Loose...

"Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight"
-Amos Lee

Well I walked over the bridge
Into the city where I live,
And I saw my old landlord.
Well we both said hello,
There was no where else to go,
'cuz his rent I couldn't afford.

Well relationships change,
Oh I think it's kinda strange,
How money makes a man grow.
Some people they claim,
If you get enough fame,
You live over the rainbow.
Over the rainbow..

But the people on the street,
Out on buses or on feet,
We all got the same blood flow.
Oh, in society,
Every dollar got a deed,
We all need a place so we can go,
And feel over the rainbow.

But sometimes,
We forget what we got,
Who we are.
Oh who are are not.
I think we gotta chance,
To make it right.
Keep it loose,
Keep it tight.
Keep it tight.

I'm in love with a girl,
Who's in love with the world,
Though I can't help but follow.
Though I know some day,
She is bound to go away,
And stay over the rainbow.
Gotta learn how to let her go.
Over the rainbow.

Sometimes we forget who we got,
Who they are.
Oh, who they are not.
There is so much more in love,
Than black and white.
Keep it loose child,
Gotta keep it tight.
Keep it loose child,
Keep it tight.

Keep it tight,
Keep it tight,
Yaa..

I love this song, and it seems to really be applying lately. Due to my latest new job I have been forced (thankfully) to think about what i think it means to "love everybody". Now this is an easy phrase to recite in school, church, or in conversation. But so hard to really live to the fullest. So often I think I have told myself and others that I am/strive to love everybody, but what I really mean is that I will love everybody from afar. Yes, I'll love the liar as long as he doesn't lie to me, I will love the homeless, as long as I doesn't mean he's on my property, I will love the ill, as long as I don't have to care for them...so on and so forth. Loving from a distance means loving people in theory, but not loving them personally, not actually surrounding yourself with them.

I have learned a huge lesson in loving, even if it is just in a very specific sense. I marvel at the things I learn and the feelings I feel when instead of worrying about how being around someone who has made poor choices may effect me worrying about how I can just show them love. Not condone what they have or haven't done but listen with out judgment and give all the love I have. I understand the logic of surrounding yourself with people who have made good choices, but in the last few months I have also learned that to truly love someone you must be with them, love right there next to them, not from a far.

Love is more than a recital to proclaim your "goodness" it is action.

"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something" -Thoreau

All this time I thought I was helping them, but really they are helping me far more

Movies and Such

I have been watching movies like crazy lately (due to Spring Break and NO SCHOOL).
I don't want to bore you with my critiques...so I will be breif.


*** My mom and I got this out of the Redbox, and we had our doubts. But by the time it was over we actually liked it.***


*** Wow, great movie. Anne Hathaway definitely earned her Oscar Nomination. I thought of work the whole time I was watching. (by the way a few months ago I got another job).

*** Ummm...Sean Penn was FANTASTIC!!! He is an amazing actor and connected so well with the character. I loved the message of this film.***
*** This was intense, to say the least, thought provoking too. You can't go wrong with Leonardo Dicaprio lately everything I have seen him in has been good.***

Spring Break is such a good idea, even thought I have still been working like crazy. Even better is the lovely sunshine...maybe spring is coming after all.
{taken on campus}

Oh, and...Ian got hired by Festival for the summer season. He will be gracing audiences in the Adam's Theatre with his presence during Comedy of Errors and Henry V. Yay, he's not a starving artist forced to live in a box (at least not this summer :) )
{look, its actor Ian}

Random

Some conclusions I have come to

If the weather is going to continue on its current path I could really use some of these

{i figure i might as well find the positive side to the terrible Utah weather}

I think they would just make walking around the wet campus so much more cheery..and I have always had a thing for animal prints in small doses.

Also I think that next time I get pulled over (it is inevitable) I would like it to be a single man cop instead of a frumpy woman cop...which is a disgrace to feminists everywhere. I love feminism but hate tickets. Plus I figure if a man is going to let my femininity get me out of a ticket, so be it.

And lastly I just love Great Harvest. Especially when they make blueberry scones and especially when the worker knows me by name and saves one for me.

Sick and Stuff

First of all...I have been sick for 2.5 weeks.
I have seen the doctor at the student health clinic 3 times.
I have taken one round of antibiotic and codeine cough syrup
I still can't sleep due to pain.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor ONCE AGAIN
I hope she can help me.

Enough complaining and on to Valentines Day.
Usually I am not a fan of extremely mushy disgusting blogs, despite being quite the romantic. However since Elaine and Jillian are the only two people who read it, and because over the last few weeks some of my friends at school metioned that they never see Ian and I together and they wonder if I even have a boyfriend, I decided...why not write a Valentines Day post.

We went to St. George and visited my grandma at her assisted living home. Ian taught her how to play canasta...super complicated game. She remembered all the rules WAY better than I did. Then we went to Olive Garden and acted like giddy school children because we were so excited for some of our favorite foods. We also laughed all through dinner (especially me). We are a fan of home made gifts. I made him a book called I Love You More Than... and he made me a rice bag that I can heat up in the microwave to keep me warm (yes, he sewed it). He also made the most fabulous card with little paper people that look JUST LIKE US. He cut them out by hand.(hes even holding up two fingers, since it is our second valentines day together)
(oh and disregard my bad crop job haha)

Goodness he's a artsy fellow.

His parents came this weekend and we played Munchkins...another complicated card game. It is a big deal to his family and they DO NOT MESS AROUND. Its so fun to see how into it everybody gets. It was my first time playing but Ian had no mercy. I was one level away from winning and so he was doing everything in his power to keep me from winning. He even blackmailed his dad into stealing an important card from me (I know this is kind of confusing, but the details of the game would take forever to type, not to mention probably bore Jill and Elaine to tears). This went on for a while. Then he drew a card that basically gave me the one level I needed to win based on my race and class. HA!! He was so put out, but thats what he gets for being dastardly.

I loved it. I love him. He makes my brain and my heart smile. I am never bored when hes around, and hes not bad looking either (**see new head shot, just taken this weekend).

Hows that for a mushy post?
***feel free to barf

City by the SEA...

I figured it was about time to blog about my adventures in the Emerald City...otherwise known as Seattle Washington. I went to tour a Medical School with one of my dearest friends, Miss Jacqueline Thomas. It was fabulous, we definitely painted the town red.

Without further adieu...here are ten highlights from my trip.

1) The first two days were spent with food poisoning. Even though I was in a city famous for its moisture, I did not let this rain on my Seattle Parade.
2) Jacque and I toured Bastyr, which was absolutely amazing, it is surrounded by a National Forest and is just minutes from Lake Washington, we decided that it was fairy land.
3) We went to Cupcake Royale downtown and got cupcakes (they won an award for the best cupcakes in the city). It was great. The store is pretty cute, all pink and their slogan is "Legalize Frostitution"-- clever.

4) Our rental car died right before we were supposed to leave for our clinic tour...not good. So we called a cab and upon arriving downtown drove around for half an hour looking for the right spot. Only to finally realize that we had the wrong directions, by that time we had missed the majority of the tour. Luckily we had the most awesome cabbie ever and he gave us a huge discount and even checked out our rental car when he dropped us off. He was very concerned about us saying "two young and beautiful girls like you should not have a faulty rental car, what were those people thinking giving you this car with such a bad battery. You could have gotten stranded downtown". To top is off he had the most wonderful African accent.
5) We had a great time exploring the city, thanks to GPS we hardly ever got lost. Jac drove and I navigated, we joked that now that we had GPS we had found another reason that we didn't need men. We strolled around and I took the opportunity to do some photography.
6) We met up with Dave Goodman ---the world traveler---he just got done exploring for 10 months and 10 days, he sold everything he owned and went all over Asia, India, Cambodia, Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand. He brought along his friend Nations, who has lived in Seattle for quite sometime and knows all the coolest places to go. He was an excellent tour guide.
7) Of course we took a day and went to Pikes Place Market. It was the coldest day Seattle has had in a while and it was snowing, but we didn't care and just bundled up and walked all around the city. The market was so much fun. We watched them throw fish. Also down on the piers is the very first original Starbucks, we took pictures but didn't go in (after all we didn't want to support the coffee monopoly).
8) I loved being so close to the ocean, there is just something about port cities that I love. We walked all along the piers and took pictures and laughed...those poor boys that were with us probably thought we were insane. But I think we brought some cheeriness to their lives at the very least. My good friend Niall met up with us there too and strolled with us. It was lovely to see her.
9) As our trip was coming to a close we were both very sad, and felt ridiculous that we didn't want to leave eachother. The day we were scheduled to leave I had to go to the Dr. to get a breathing treatment, then we went out to breakfast and I got oatmeal pancakes...which were really really delicious. I now want to make them at home (**hint hint** if anybody has a recepie). Since we were both flying out the same day we got to run amuck in the airport together, we went to Duty Free and bought perfume and also sat at the resturant over looking the ocean and reminised about our trip. After I boarded Jacque saw the guys from Myth Busters..she sent me a text that said "I just saw the guys from Myth Busters and they were acting exactly like they do on the show, running around being crazy. The one guy was even wearning his Berret".
10) JAC found out recently that she GOT IN TO BASTYR....and will be going this summer. YAY! and CONGRATULATIONS to the FUTURE DR. THOMAS!!!!!!!!!!!