Pugs gone Wild

I saw this commercial the other night on ESPN (I was not watching ESPN by myself, thank you very much), and I"m obssessed with it. Probably because the dog's so cute and reminds me of Murphy. Anyway, ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpjaOUjUPUc

The Awesome Long Weekend

So last week was a pain. I woke up Tuesday morning to people calling me saying "Camille you need to look at your car!" As it was the day after Valentine's Day, I was hoping that it was something cute that Brandon had done to my car. When I looked out the window, I said to myself, "It looks like the back window from my car is missing. Hmm, the back window from my car IS missing!" I immediately called my dad and ran out to my car. I was about to call the police when I saw a note. Somebody had backed into my car and luckily left a note. Unluckily, he had a massive truck with snowmobiles in the back.

 Poor CeeCee. She's now in the shop and getting fixed.
Needless to say, that put a little bit of stress on my week. The only thing I had to look forward to was the fact that Brandon and I were going out of town for the weekend. We had found a cheap flight from Idaho Falls to Long Beach, and were taking it to California for the long weekend!
When we had gotten to the airport, they asked me if I had any liquids or gels. I said no, because the only liquid I had was my foundation that was less than 1 ounce. I got through security fine, and when I sat down at my gate I dug through my purse and found this:

Whoops! It was full at the time. I also had a bottle of lotion. Also, their x ray machines are fake.
This weekend was so fun. We went to the last few minutes of Cole's basketball game (our flight was delayed), and he and his team lost but they were so cute. On Saturday, Brandon went to go talk to a nurse practitioner at Kaiser Hospital. So I got to sit there with the families of women who were in labor. So I heard lots of interesting stuff. We then got to go take Murphy on a walk. While we were out I heard the typical comment from someone who was visiting Irvine for the first time (or the second time, but really paying attention for the first time)... "Do you guys live in China or something?" Saturday was also Dallin's Eagle Court of Honor, which was so cute. He gave his mentor award to someone who had suddenly passed away, and it was a touching moment. He got the longest applause of anyone by far.
Sunday we went to church. It was pretty fun. I wish we could have talked more, but I know Brandon was fine with just the amount of communication that we had. He was excited, however, that he got to listen to an apostle's brother speak (Brother Christofferson), and shake Dog the Bounty Hunter's lawyer's hand (Brother Bollard).
We also got the chance to eat Sunday dinner at my house, which is such an awesome thing for me to have again. While my mom was getting ready, Brandon was a good enough sport to play Life with Bethany, Cole, and Dallin while I fell asleep on the couch. Shane and Kylie Leininger came over for dinner, so that Brandon could ask Shane questions about getting into PA school.
Monday morning Brandon was nice enough to help a lady in the ward move. Good sport. Almost as nice as Tommy. Then we went on a bike ride, which is where the only real pictures we took came from. We were so excited to actually feel the Sun:

Then, sadly, it was time to leave. We had one more visit for Brandon to make, to a hospital this time to talk to someone about what he would need to do to get a job there. So we took pictures with the siblings.

Bethany's as tall as Brandon.
It was so fun, and we really wish we could have been there longer. Just public shoutout, thanks to everyone for housing us, and especially to my dad for helping Brandon so much with talking to people that weekend! I can't wait to go back... We'll just have to see what happens with a job this spring/summer.

I miss Nicaragua

Ok so this is probably the fact that I'm so tired I'm not even tired anymore... but I really miss Nicaragua right now. I was trying to go to sleep, and all I can think of are all the adventures. I miss the gorgeous cathedrals we visited, and sledding down a volcano, and that sick cat that always sat outside our door, and the frog that sounded like it swallowed an air horn, and the sound of the animals running on the roof (maybe not so much).
Watching the rainstorm out over the Rio San Juan, even that crazy bat. Not having to wear makeup, or jackets or gloves or pants or tights... need i go on? And I'll even miss those little kids at the preschool, even the punks that called me "fea". I miss Claira's little quotes ("There is no laughing in jail DO YOU HEAR ME?")
I can't even explain how lucky I was to go there. I'll never be able to thank Annie and Wes enough for that great experience I had. It taught me a lot about speaking Spanish, and about humility. The people there were great, and it breaks my heart that I will never see them again.

My two favorite pictures... you can see the common denominator there. Ignore the fact that my hair is so nasty in the second one.

7 tips to survive college for Austin

As Austin is going to college soon, I thought I would give him some good advice based on experience.
1) Don't hang out with the loudest kids. When you hang out with the loudest kids, you get stereotyped as a tool. Yes, they are funny. No, they're probably not the brightest bulbs in the box. Freshman year is especially important for this, as the kids who are really loud usually are the ones who do the dumbest (and sometime inappropriate) things.
2) Don't get a girlfriend. You'll probably tease me about this one once you read it. But only 3% of girls who wait for missionaries actually marry them once they get back from their mission. Girlfriends only cause problems and drama. Plus, most guys who date girls before their missions don't have the best intentions at heart.
3) Dorms are good for freshmen. Any guy who lived in the dorms for their freshman year said it was a great year. Dorms are a breeding ground for craziness. You may find your best friends for a long time from your dorms experience.
4) Do NOT eat anything you want. Just trust me on this one... otherwise you might end up throwing up on your second night of college. Or so I've heard. Rosemary and olive oil Triscuits, pepper jack cheese, pickles, and yogurt do not mix.
5) Do NOT sleep whenever you want. I know lots of freshman boys like to stay up until 7 AM and sleep in until 3PM, but it's a vicious cycle. You will feel terrible, take a nap at 10 PM, and it will never get better.
6) Do your homework a day at a time. I know that at the beginning of the semester it may seem overwhelming to see all the tasks you have to do, and you will just not want to even get started. But if you do the homework for that day, you will find that the semester isn't actually that bad.
7) ENJOY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! College is awesome. Freshman year is something you can't get back... by the time you come back from your mission your girl friends will be married or going on missions themselves, and the guys will be doing different stuff. So take lots of pictures and love it.

2010

well, 2010 is done. It's been a pretty big year. I don't have a ton of things to say about it, as it's been blogged. And I have no melancholy moping about how I wish I had done more this time around, because I think I've done a good job of this year.
Highlights?
-Weddings weddings weddings- (with Rachel's being yesterday! Congrats)
-Two good semesters of school under the belt
-Lots of money earned and exercise done at work this summer
- The first semester I wasn't looking for someone to like, I met Brandon. It was a good accident, and taken up 10 months of this last year.

Happy New Year!

End of Fall '10

Well, the semester's done. I know I only posted like 4 times this semester, but I'm working on it. Being busy is a new feeling to me.
I was going to do a summary of all my classes, but then the blog deleted like half of it so I'll just go with this.
Social Dance- Great skill that I"ll have for the rest of my life. Class was even better after Brandon got mono and we didn't have to switch partners anymore. Ultimately, we were in a dance competition for the waltz and made it to the second round. Which was more than we expected so I'm totally happy with it.

 

Education Classes- I learned a lot about how I'm going to do with teaching when the time comes. I now know what I need to work on and what I am good at with regards to teaching. I learned how to make a lesson plan (and according to my teacher do it well... who would have thought?), and improved my handwriting a little bit.

Roommates- It was certainly nice to have roommates without drama this semester. I was beginning to believe that it was impossible to fit 6 girls into an apartment without problems. I can honestly say that I have not had a bad thought about any of my roommates.  Which, given my track record of somewhat lackluster living situations (not ALL of you guys, don't worry), is a feat.

Me- I can do hard things. I finally got a 3.76 GPA this semester, which wasn't even that hard to do. I am just going to try harder to not get a B+ next semester, and see how much higher that can raise my total GPA. I stayed on top of my classes, and actually learned a lot from them. I feel like I am becoming more and more cut out to be a Special Ed teacher, the further I go into my program.

Brandon- I'm lucky to have someone like him with me. He's patient, and puts up with my silliness. He doesn't let me talk badly about myself, but reminds me of the good I'm doing when I get frustrated. I won't write too much mushy stuff, but I'll just say he's pretty awesome.

Thanksgiving '10

So this Thanksgiving break I traveled a lot. From the first Saturday to Tuesday, I went to Denver with Brandon and his family. The first day was traveling, and lots of meet-and-greet. Brandon's family is awesome, they are like our family... nice but teasing to each other. It was also good to have Megan there, because she likes me on a less biased level. It made me more comfortable. Seeing Brandon with his family was pretty funny... he's just a typical son.
Some highlights:
Visiting Red Rock Ampitheatre (where Brandon's mom saw the Eagles in the 70's)

there were some deer by the road. They were running away from me but it looks like they like me.

We also raked some leaves, which might not seem like a big deal but I don't remember the last time I've raked leaves. So we were a little bit silly with it:

We also went out to breakfast, watched the 7th Harry Potter (EPIC), ate lots of good food (i overate at every meal because I didn't want to be rude), and played plenty of card games. We also met the minions from "Despicable Me"

The Denver airport is ENORMOUS, and they have a lot of restaurants. They also have a statue of a bronco outside the airport, which apparently killed its creator by falling on him. You can't tell in the picture, but his eyes glow bright red. Creepy.

I was excited to see my family, so I was willing to have ANOTHER day of flying to North Carolina. Most of these pictures are stolen from other people's blogs, because I knew my mom was taking lots of pictures so I didn't.
They went to the Duke and NC State campuses while I was flying, so I didn't get to see them. But we went to Cosmic Burrito (?), and I read the last two books of the "Hunger Games" series in a day. It was good.
After we ate Thanksgiving day, we went to the Raleigh NC temple. I thought it was really pretty

Afterwards we just took a ton of pictures... Enjoy.

I had just woken up from a 2 hour nap, so smiles didn't come super naturally to me.
My mom and Bethany made pajama pants for all of the girls, so we took pictures of the three of us together.

I had two days of flying and driving ahead of me, but it was so nice to see everyone. Since then we've been studying for finals, and celebrating birthdays. Brandon rolled his ankle, so he hasn't really walked all day. We also split a 1-pound burger for Jake's birthday on Saturday... we only ate half of it combined.

Letter to the Editor

Last week, some prospective BYU-I student wrote in complaining about how he was offended by the nude pictures that BYU-I professors show in art classes. He's an art history student. Naturally this rubbed me the wrong way, and this is my response (once I figure out how to send it in):
Dear Student,
I understand that you are offended by nude pictures, and don't think they should be shown in college. Here is some advice for you:
1) Don't major in art history. Some of the most famous and beautiful works of art are of nude people. They are not meant to make people uncomfortable, but to celebrate the human body. If you can't handle that, it's time for a career change.
2) Don't consider going to college anywhere. Any class in any college can have nude people. The upper level science classes make you TOUCH nude bodies, and dissect them and other things of that nature.
3) Don't live anywhere near a big city. People are not going to care if it makes you uncomfortable or violates what you think should be only within the bonds of marriage. They just aren't.

I thought you as an art history major would understand that this is not to bring up inappropriate feelings, but to show the beauty of the human body, and how society's view of it has changed over the centuries.




Yeah, that'll show him. Art History major, psssht

Halloween Weekend

This week was a long one. But it ended quite well.
First Brandon got sick... which is always hard. He's been a trooper though, and he's holding up just fine. Hasn't even missed class! So it was extra nice when on Friday (after I took my PE midterm) we had a spontaneous date to Idaho Falls. He promised that we would go on a nice date when he got feeling better, but it was awesome just being able to spend that one-on-one time with him. We went to the mall, took some photobooth pictures (that of course look totally ADD, but I love them), and went to Cafe Rio.
I didn't know what I was going to be for Halloween until I dressed up. Even then, my costume changed about 6 times. It started out as a nerd, turned into Pam from the Office, and ended up as a trophy wife with grey roots. Put in by flour in my hair, which is still not out even after 2 showers. Brandon ended up being a redneck, so we looked something like this:

Yes, I about died laughing when Brandon came out of his room. Since he's been growing out his mustache for the last week or so-- because I said he could as long as he was sick-- it was perfect. Throughout the night I put a pillow under my shirt as well, and it was pretty awesome.

Ugh, that's a horribly creepy smile.

Basically this is why Brandon is awesome. He's pretty shy when you first meet him, but every once in a while he will do something so ridiculous that you just laugh and laugh, and he's not even embarrassed. Until you bring a video camera around... Then he clams up. So I didn't get any of his dance moves.
Tonight we didn't do anything. Made waffles and watched Harry Potter. And, apparently, ate all the cookies that his roommate's girlfriend sent to him from Florida. He'll learn, don't set your cookies on the table and leave for Provo for a weekend haha.

October '10

So I fail at this. As it turns out, I have a hard time blogging while keeping up with classes (finally). However, some good things... I have friends on missions. I got a letter from Jenna, who's in Temple Square right now. I'm still waiting on Jamie, who went to Chile yesterday. And Bekah's going to Temple Square in February! That's so cool, you know I"m excited for you.
I taught my first lesson yesterday to my 4th grade class. (I'm not student teaching, I help a teacher for a few hours a week for a class.) I taught on words with the roots --spect and --sign. I have to say, I was really nervous. I was being observed by the teacher of my course (not the teacher whose classroom I was in), and even though she's a super nice lady and a kindergarten teacher, I just wasn't sure if I would crash and burn. Thus, the feedback I got was encouraging: "Your teacher voice carries well with kindness. Thanks for expressing your behavior expectation at the beginning of the lesson." etc etc etc. PS I really do have a teacher voice. Anyone who heard me teach Sunday School knows that.
Social dance is pretty awesome... when I get to dance with Brandon. We got a 96 on our Foxtrot test, which I thought was awesome until I saw how many 100's they gave out. Oddly enough, we got marked down because I wasn't following well enough. Please. We were definitely the only couple dancing that had real chemistry, and not some guy just trying to get with a girl. Some of the guys are fun to dance with. Others, not so much. One guy in particular decided it would be fun to practice our spins 15 times in a row, and complained that I wasn't following when I was too dizzy to walk in a straight line. But I digress. Now we're learning the Viennese waltz and the cha-cha. I have to say, this is a skill I'm not going to regret. Now if we could only learn hip-hop and salsa.
A few highlights of the last few weeks... We went to a haunted straw maze Conference weekend. Apparently I talk really fast when I get nervous, so everyone laughed at me when I talked the guy's ear off at the beginning of the maze talking about how I wasn't nervous. In addition, there was a monster in there that had a chainsaw and revved it right by my ear and I screamed and ducked. But that's the only time I screamed. That dumb monster followed us for a solid 15 minutes, and the first time he charged us Brandon stepped on my toes because he was backing up so fast. There were 5 of us, and we had a pretty awesome time.

In addition, Megan (Brandon's sister, far right) and I decided we were going to have a little bit of fun. So we put some of Brandon's deodorant in Jell-O. Here is the finished product.

My roommate from winter semester, Rachel, got engaged! Honestly, here's how it went. I went over to her apartment October 9th to have some girl talk (Rachel and I have a special way), and she said she was going to her boyfriend Cody's football game. As it turns out, Brandon and Jake were going to that same game, so I said let's all go. Cody had sent me a message on Facebook telling me to go to the game, but I forgot about it until Rachel's roommate told me that I needed to be there because *whisper* CODY"S PROPOSING!!!! We had a happy hands moment. You all know what that's like.
So we went to the game, and I was just about to go get some food when Rachel's roommate gave me a look that said "Don't go anywhere". So I sat tight.I have it on video, and my hands were shaking way bad when Cody called Rachel down to the 50 yard line. I don't even know why. It was way precious.
Other than that, not too much has happened. We've had a few good Sunday dinners at the grill. You know I hang out with a lot of boys when "Let's have a nice dinner" turns into "Let's grill steak".

I'm also flying out to Denver and North Carolina for Thanksgiving break! I'm so excited, the furthest I've been since getting up to Rexburg is Idaho Falls (25 minutes south). I was going to go down to Provo last weekend because my dad was going to be in town, but as it turns out his plans fell through. Sad.
I also tried my creative skills in making penguin cupcakes... They didn't turn out quite as cute as the book showed, but everyone thought they were cute. I think I found a niche. If teacher doesnt work out I'll make cupcakes from recipes.

I'm spending the least amount of time in the library, and getting the best grades I have. I wonder what that means. Libraries are inefficient.
That's all for now!