New Favorites

Plaid umbrella from Gap. 
Normally I would be morally opposed to spending $20 on an umbrella, but this one was so cute, that I couldn't help it. Then I had to buy a red one for my sister-in-law's birthday. I wish I had a picture, but I can't find my camera battery charger and gap.com isn't selling it.




Colbie Caillat.
Songs on my playlist that are not classical or country are rare, but I'm loving Colbie Caillat. It started with a couple of songs, and before I knew it, I had bought two of her CDs from iTunes. (My roommate informed me that I'm a couple of years behind. Oh well. I don't really listen to pop.) Her voice is lovely. Plus, I love saying her name.

The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe.
It just opened in Provo at Brigham's landing. It filled an important niche in Provo: a place you can go after a movie, play, or concert that isn't an ice cream parlor. I've been there three times in the past few weeks. The cupcakes are yummy and the cocoa is delish.

(Photo: utahlovescupcakes.com)




Mustard yellow.
I bought this from Shade Clothing to layer with my clothes and I'm loving it. It adds excitement to my otherwise plain wardrobe.

BYU Basketball.
I have always loved BYU basketball, but they deserve to be on my new favorite list because this is my new favorite BYU basketball team ever.

Did anyone else watch Jimmer's 49 point, 9 assist game at Arizona? It was truly amazing. Truly. And I love his name. The rest of the team was amazing too. Tyler Haws should be MWC Freshman of the Year. Wow. Watching BYU basketball is pure happiness. And on the b-ball theme...




Women's size basketball.
For those of you who met me after junior high (and be thankful that you did), you might not know that in my past I went through an obsession with all things basketball. I spent hours upon hours in the backyard working on my free throws and post skills. Despite the glory of playing on Oak Canyon Junior High's second place in the district basketball team, I quit once I got in high school so that I could spend more time with my true love: tennis. All of the BYU basketball excitement has made me itch to pick up a basketball again and shoot some hoops. However, I hate shooting with a full sized basketball because I'm not used to the slight difference in size. So the other day when I was at the mall I picked up a size 28.5 basketball that I could call my own. Now I can't wait for the snow to melt on in my parents' backyard so that I can polish up.

Hot chocolate maker.
My wonderful brother and sister-in-law gave me one of the best Christmas presents ever. This:

All you have to do is add the ingredients and voila! Plus it has a button that makes the chocolate come out nice and frothy. I have been using it nonstop since Christmas.

Book Bleg

I am having my students in my world history class read a book this semester. I am leaving the assignment wide open and the only qualifications are that it has to be set after the year 1500 and outside of the United States. So yeah, that's pretty wide open. I have made a list of books that are in our library that work, but I'm sure there are a lot more that I should include. I'm going to let them read books that qualify that aren't on the list, but I want a good solid list to start off with. Also, the librarian has more money and he said he can order books that we don't have. What books do you think should be included on the list?

On Open Letter to Jessica G.

Dear Jessica,

I found a reason for you not to move to Florida. If you think that it's hard to find your way around Orem (and also Pleasant Grove), imagine trying to find your way in places like this. (Click on the map and read the street names.)

Also, I was listening to the radio and heard this. If you want me to think of more reasons, I can. Please don't leave me.

Love,

Jen

Monday Memories: McKay's Muscles

Meet McKay. He is one of my favorite people. Here we are in Las Vegas right before my mission, but I'm not going to share anything about that trip, because what happens in Vegas... just kidding. Nothing happened in Vegas. At least nothing that Las Vegas would want to put in an ad campaign.

Just before McKay left on his mission, a group of us was at Tasha's house. I don't remember why (maybe someone who was there could), but McKay felt it necessary to carry me up the stairs on our way to watch a movie. After a couple steps, he nearly dropped me. I was laughing really hard and insisted that I could walk up by myself, but by then his manhood had been challenged (really, I think he didn't want me to feel bad for being too heavy for him), so he insisted that he could do it. He picked me up one more time, and after struggling, huffing and puffing, with me laughing uncontrollably, he dropped me at the top of the stairs. I don't know who should have been more embarrassed, but by the end of the whole ordeal, I think that we both wished that it had never started. We all know that McKay is a muscle man now, and could probably lift me up with his left pinky, I'm just not going to ask him to try.

The Perils of Teaching Geography

If you are a geography teacher and you have a student named River, be careful what you say. My faux pas today: "You all know that rivers are not straight." The freshmen had a heyday with that one.

The Big Game

Today's the day, the day of the BYU-Utah game. I don't really know why I get so into it, but I do. A lot. I stayed up late watching a rebroadcast of the 2007 game on BYU-TV. I tuned in just in time for the 4th and 18. I was a little nervous and excited even though I knew how it would turn out. Then I didn't sleep very well when I would dream of failed 4th down conversions at the end of the game.

Having grown up living it, here are my completely unbiased observations of the rivalry.

*Many Ute fans (not all) are extremely obnoxious. Especially when they call BYU the "Team Down South." It reminds me of Harry Potter when everyone calls Voldemort "He Who Must Not Be Named." They must be afraid of us. Here is a good explanation of the obnoxious Ute fans by a high school classmate of mine.

*I've been reading too much on the web, and Utah fans are way too overconfident. BYU is playing a senior quarterback, the all time leading rusher, and an All-American tight end, and you think that you're going to roll right over them? I'll admit that there is a small chance that Utah could win, but there's no way it will be a blowout.

*BYU fans can be obnoxious too. I've seen plenty of it. It especially annoys me when fans boo their own coaches and call for the head of Max Hall, who also happens to be the winningest quarterback in BYU history.

*It is much more dangerous for someone to wear blue to Rice-Eccles Stadium than for someone to wear red to LaVell Edwards Stadium. My brother thought BYU fans were overdramatic until he attended last year's game in person. BYU fans can be obnoxious, but they are not abusive.
*Ute fans are annoyed by BYU fans because they are "self righteous." Does anyone else see the irony of calling someone self righteous? You're basically saying, "We're so much better than them because we are not self righteous."

*I don't like that it's called the "Holy War." Both universities were founded by Mormons, and both univiersities have Mormons in their fan base. It's not just BYU fans that make it about religion, there are people who cheer against BYU (aka for Utah) just because they hate the Church.

*I want BYU to win today for Max Hall's sake. I'm sick of the stupid jokes about guys in red jerseys being his favorite receivers. It seems that they have all forgotten that Max Hall and company beat Utah the year before. I think that Max Hall has been a great quarterback for BYU and I'm sick of all of the garbage that he gets because he "can't win big games." He's won big games and lost some too. Almost everybody does. At least he doesn't lose to mediocre teams.

*I know that Bronco Mendenhall still doesn't have a BCS game under his belt, but I'd still take him over Kyle Whittingham any day. BYU is at a huge disadvantage when it comes to recruiting because of the Honor Code. I'm not complaining because I think the honor code is great, but I think it's quite significant how well BYU does given the fact that they can only recruit a certain kind of player. Bronco is the perfect fit for the job.

Those are my observations for the day. Now I'm going to go pace around until 3:00. Go Max and go Cougars!!!

i'm thankful for...

the gospel of Jesus Christ.

parents.

siblings and their spouses.

nieces and nephews.

good friends.

friends and family who blog.

great teachers.

westlake high.

funny teenagers.

my tennis girls.

econ blogs.

good books.

people who are wise.

mashed potatoes.

the mormon tabernacle choir.

bronco mendenhall.

people who are kind.

the conference edition of the ensign.

opera.

people who create beauty.

love.

Monday Memories: Rivalry Week Edition

This week is one of my favorites of the year. The autumn air is crisp, and there is excitement throughout the state (except maybe in Logan). I'm not talking about Thanksgiving-- I'm talking about the week of the BYU-Utah football game. For this week's edition of Monday Memories, I'll share some of my favorite memories of the rivalry.

The first memory is walking on campus to find the statues shrink wrapped. I guess the powers that be at BYU don't want our sweet little family to turn into a family of Ute fans. (Some think they secretly are anyway since they have a child but no wedding rings.)

One of my all-time favorite games was LaVell Edwards's last game in the 2000 season. Brandon Doman led the most amazing drive downfield with about a minute left. What a great way to bid farewell to a wonderful coach. I still remember the excitement of that game.

More recently, the 2006 game was quite the classic. Unfortunately, I was on my mission, and missed the amazing Beck-to-Harline. I do, however, remember reading the play-by-play recap of the game that my mom wrote to me. It was almost as exciting. When I came home, I watched the replay plenty of times.

The last BYU-Utah game that we played at home is another that I won't forget. Yet again, it was a come-from-behind victory. It was 4th and 18 with the game all but over, when Max Hall threw a beautiful pass to a wide-open Austin Collie. After BYU won, it was my first field-rushing experience. I love this picture because there is some random guy and it looks like I'm pointing at his chin. I'm really trying to say that we're number one.

Here's to another game where a little "magic happens." Go Cougars!

What do these three things have in common?

What do New Moon, In N Out, and Air Force's pass defense have in common?
They're all overrated things that came to Utah County this weekend.

Monday Memories: Taco Tuesday

Welcome to the new segment in which Jen delves into her shady past to uncover some of her most interesting experiences. The first installment of this series comes from my sophomore year of college when I lived in the dwelling that we affectionately called "The Abode." The girls that I lived with, despite their antics, remain some of my dearest friends. It involves a scene somewhat similar to this one:

That lovely meal above was made by myself and probably someone else, but I don't remember who. We took turns three times a week cooking dinner with a partner. Most of us could put on a good spread, but it was sometimes bad news when the two ladies in the foreground of the picture were paired together.

One Tuesday, I came home to the lovely aroma of fresh tacos. Shalon and Tasha had lovingly prepared the tacos and arranged them on a cookie sheet for our enjoyment. Jenilyn and I were shocked by the deliciousness of the meal, and were complimenting their emerging culinary skills. Tasha informed us that she was over at her mom's house, and she was making tacos for their family, so she and Shalon made some for us. She also told us that the fresh churros that they had prepared were made with her mom's churro maker. Anybody who knows Mama Turpin wouldn't really have been surprised by the idea of her mom owning a churro maker, so we believed her.

As I was enjoying my taco, a sign that I had seen driving home on the bus flashed into my mind: Del Taco. I remembered thinking, "hey, today is Taco Tuesday" as we drove by. At that moment, everything clicked and I exclaimed, "TACO TUESDAY." Their jig was up. It turns out that they didn't make the tacos (Del Taco) or the churros (Macey's frozen section) at all. They were amazed 1) that we believed them for so long and 2) that I was able to determine the origin of the tacos out-of-the-blue. Needless to say, the next time they were assigned to cook together I wasn't fooled by their crockpot of Wendy's chili for one second.

I can now vouch for both of their cooking skills. I have had occasion to sample some of their masterpieces more recently, and they have been delightful. I don't think either of them were really that bad in the first place, but Tasha earned her reputation through mistaking the word "teaspoon" for "cup" when adding baking soda to some banana bread. Shalon cemented her reputation by buying a cookbook called something like, "Remedies for the 'I Don't Cook' Syndrome." Shalon now lives in North Dakota, where I'm sure there are no restaurants, so I hope she and Chris aren't starving.