Stumbling Blocks of Life

The only thing between me sitting by the fire in my home and me sitting in this G-POD is cleaning checks tomorrow.

Blah! Arg! Boff! Gah! Boo!

...and any other obscenities you can think of. (Yes, those are obscenities)

It's actually not that bad. I always sign up to clean our bathroom, of which the size is always a hindrance, except when it comes to cleaning it.

And although we don't have to clean our rooms to pass our cleaning check, it would probably be good if the cleaning check guy could get to our bathroom.

One must cross our bedroom in order to access the bathroom. It's like having a master suite, which is absolutely fantastic in every way, except that the cleaning check guy has to walk through our room to check our bathroom. Therefore there must be at least a pathway...

satanresides@monticello.com

Today I paid my rent. Late. At least it was only one day though, right? As I was filling it out, I glanced at the little line in the bottom left corner of the check. The word for is written below. I continued to write "Satan" on the blank line.

But don't worry, Alexis and I decided it would be best to scribble it out before I begrudgingly handed over my money.

They will never know.

Alexis just said...

"I have the body of an 80-year-old man."

Some People...

...have a problem with celebrating or even breathing a word about Christmas before Thanksgiving. But I am just not one of those people.

I have no problem with celebrating the birth of Christ all year round. And I wouldn't mind if people celebrated my birth all year round either.

So here's a movie:



Admittedly, I realize this has nothing to do with the birth of Christ...

Morning class

I was going to write a blog on how I am always late to my first class, but today I was leaving early so I could take a leisurely walk up the cliffs of insanity and stroll right in to class. Unfortunately, by doing so, I am now leaving for class at 8:54. Which I suppose is still earlier than usual...

I'm tired of school...

I wish I was here instead...

Nicknames

Alexis has gotten in the habit of calling me

The Pantless Wonder

I have no idea what could have possibly caused this...

Every Day...

I walk up and down the stairs south of campus multiple times. Alexis and I refer to this area as the Cliffs of Insanity. The only joy I receive from this crucible is seeing this each time I pass:

Update

I now have 29 friends that have gotten married/engaged in the past year.

In case you didn't notice...

I have big teeth. But it's a good thing for two reasons:

1. I like them
2. Lex just threw a crayon at me and it hit me exactly in the tooth. Weapon of choice: Blue Violet

Wild Things

Last night I saw Where the Wild Things Are. It was SO good.

Oh Chemistry...

Chemistry has been getting a little difficult. My one consolation is that I get to use the term

"bondangles"

It's all fun and games until you have to memorize them all:



I think it would be more fun if I was studying this at Bojangles.

Bondangles at Bojangles. Priceless...

Let it be known...

I tried this again. But this time it worked!

...just wanted you to know.

:)

I threw it on the ground!

My dear friend Angie told me to watch this video. After watching it I want to throw everything on the ground for some reason. Starting with my Chemistry book.

This video also explains why I will start yelling,

"I'M AN ADULT!"

everywhere I go. Just for future reference.

Ah Marriage...

I just counted how many of my friends got engaged or married this past year. Final number:

28

That's right. 28.

Refer to the previous post, please.

Public Announcement:

I would like it if people would stop asking me why I don't date often (or ever). Because I don't know.

How about you tell me, alright!?

-Chelsea Katseanes

Home sick

I was going through some of my pictures today and came across this one:



I miss it.

30 Days...

So here's the deal. My 30 days of not drinking anything but water has changed to just not drinking juice. This is how it occurred:

Me

Me + Fake Mustache

= A Need to Go Out in Public.

And therefore my 30 days of not drinking anything but water lasted only one day.

Better luck next time...

We also sang this song while we were wearing our 'staches of invincibility. (Yeah. They make you invincible.)

Withdrawals

I WANT JUICE SO BAD!

...this is going to be a long thirty days.

Thirty Days...

So, many of you may know that Alexis and I successfully completed our Thirty Days of Madness. And if you didn't know that: well, we did. We exercised for thirty days consecutively. We didn't miss a single day.

So now I'm starting thirty days of water. If you know me, you know that I love, love, LOVE juice. I have to have it all the time. But I think I should drink more water and I am trying to be more healthy. I would have thirty days of eating healthy, but I can see me justifying that into insignificance... "I'm being healthy today by eating only two cookies instead of five." Seriously. I would do that. So I'm going for water, hoping that it will have somewhat of an influence on what I eat. I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news: I triumphantly painted my fingernails AND toenails without smudging them. I think that's a first EVER. I can never sit still long enough to allow them to dry. The secret was watching TV. I guess it's good for something...

Sometimes I just forget.

If any of you read this post, then you may wonder what ever happened to my legs exactly? (I know you are just dying to know). I never said exactly what I did... so I'll tell you now :)

First of all, I didn't shave my legs for about two months, and then my sister-in-law waxed them for me when I was in North Carolina. (even though she had just had a baby like a week before. She's amazing).

Here's the proof:

One strip gone

There's my hair! Gross!

One leg down, one more to go.

So that's that! I hope you weren't too grossed out...

Awesome

So I'm experiencing my first true celebrity crush. It's sort of a big deal...

Why is Brandon Flowers married with two children? Could someone please just tell me why?!

Lex and I went to The Killers concert on Saturday night and it was so amazing... simply beyond words.

Here's a little taste:

"Jack of All Trades, Master of None..."

This is what a fellow ward member said in his talk a couple weeks ago and for some reason I can't get it out of my head. It might be because it describes me perfectly.

I've grown accustomed to the notion that I am good at pretty much everything, but not excellent at anything. I'm pretty good at math, science, art, music, sports, etc. but I'm not really outstanding in any of those subjects.

This has placed me in somewhat of a predicament when it comes to choosing my major. Because I'm good at most things and I enjoy almost everything, the choice comes down to just choosing something. Pretty easy, right? But this also brings its own problems in that I may or may not be super good at it, and thereby spending all my days being mediocre at whatever I choose for a career and spending all my whole life thinking that maybe there is something out there that I am super good at. Who's to say there's not, right?

The talk the young man gave in church was on commitment. I never saw myself as having a commitment problem, but looking back on my life, I realize that maybe I do. As I recall my life I don't know that I've ever truely committed to anything. Not a single thing.

I guess now that I really think about it, I have committed to somethings:

1. The Gospel
2. Friends
3. Family
4. Billy (somewhat of a mistake)
5. Skiing (definitely not a mistake)
   

But as far as a particular skill or a school subject, I haven't truely committed to anything. I think I'm scared. I'm scared that I will be so sucked into something that I can't get out of it. I'm scared that I will spend my life committed to something and find out that it isn't what I thought it was; that I was wrong.

I think I should start making commitments. Even if I start with just one: my major. I've sort of half-committed because for one thing, it's a big decision and for another thing, I don't know if it's exactly right. But whatever the case, if I change or if I stay, I need to commit. Because as we commit to things we make structural supports to build our lives upon. This provides us with something to lean on in times of affliction or distress. Choosing not to commit is choosing to stand solitary and alone.

I'm tired of being alone.

Wishes and Dreams

For the past week, I have been doing this:
But I would rather do this:

Anticipation

I'm so excited to go skiing with my family... ( I should probably photoshop my dad in there... and I also have a brother and sister-in-law... and a nephew. Just so everyone knows.)


...and, of course, with my favorite skiing buddy...

New Purpose

Today, while at lunch with one of my friends (not Alexis) I was confronted with the question of what is fun to do at BYU/the Provo area. My mind quickly went through all the things that I do for fun. Make cakes, watch movies with Lex, go to dinner at Lexi's family's house on Sunday, go out to eat... and it stopped. Surely I must do fun things here?! What do I do?

This pitiful attempt at making a list of fun things made me realize that I need to focus on doing more fun things.

So that's the goal. If anyone is doing anything fun, let me know so I can invite myself. :)

Tiger Ears

I want one of these right now.

Theory Disproved

Title: A theory disproved: Chelsea has no "game" anymore (not that she ever really did...)

Abstract: Yesterday, September 7, 2009 goes down in history as the day that disproved a scientific theory.

Introduction: The theory: If you pretend you are interested in something that a member of the opposite sex is interested in, they will invite you to take part in that activity with them regardless if they really intend to do it.

Example:

Guy: I LOVE baseball. I go to all the BYU baseball games
Girl: Oh my gosh! I love baseball too, but I haven't been able to make it to any of the games, but I would love to go! (which may or may not be true)
Guy: We should go sometime! (which also may or may not be true)
Girl: Yeah!

There you have it.

Now the last part of the theory is important, because people don't necessarily have to do what they say they should do.

Real Life Example: Alexis and inviting people over for dinner.

If you know Alexis, you have probably been invited over for Sunday dinner with her family. When in reality, she has absolutely no intentions of speaking of it again. But this situation still coincides with the theory perfectly. It's the act of inviting, not the act of actually doing that is important here.

But last night, the theory was disproved. Big time.

Methods: Lex and I had just gotten back from a run, and were sitting on the front steps of our apartment, when an undisclosed member of our ward whom we both know came and spoke with us for a little bit. The subject turned to mountain biking (he is an avid mountain biker).

Results: I said, "Lex and I have always wanted to go mountain biking! It seems like so much fun!" This is his answer - are you ready for it?

"Well, if you ever need someone to fix your bike, I can help."

Discussion: Oh man. I had to check if my nose was broken from having the door slammed in my face so hard. My nose was still intact but my pride was another story.

Conclusions: Theory Disproved.

Sunburns

It's that time again! Time for Guess What Body Part That Is! First one is pretty easy: 

The next ones aren't as easy. 

Five weeks of self-acceptance

It's about half way through my outrageously awesome adventure. And I've learned many things along the way. But here I will only touch on one aspect of my trip: self-acceptance. 

My face. For about the past week, I have stopped wearing makeup, therefore, I must accept my face exactly how it is. Italy is a great place for this because though I may be in a busy town such as Florence, or hanging out with beach babes in Rimini, Italy doesn't ask you to wear make up. As one of my awesome friends who is french, has lived all over Europe and now resides in Venice, informed me, europeans think Americans try too hard to look like celebrities all the time. I most definitely have not been looking like a celebrity.

My hair. I don't do my hair, either. I don't blow dry, curl, straighten, or control it in any way. Sometimes I put it in a pony tail if my neck is getting too hot, but other than that it's wild and free. Italy doesn't ask you to do your hair either. Most people's hair is wild and free here.

My leg hair. Before the trip, Lex and I went to get our legs waxed and much to our dismay, our hair was too short. I still haven't shaved my legs. It's been 4.5 weeks. That's right. I haven't shaved my legs in 4.5 weeks. My hair is so long, I can feel the breeze in my hair. My leg hair. 

My body. I forgot my swimming suit, and upon arriving in Italy it became apparent that I really needed one. I bought the most modest swimming suit I could find, which is a far cry from my usual Speedo lap suit and shorts. At least my thighs are getting tan... for the first time ever. 

My clothing. This one has become so natural, that I forgot about it and I had to come back and add it! I wear the same clothes every day. I have three pairs of shorts and five shirts. I bought two shirts here, but I pretty much base my decision of what I wear on cleanliness, not style. 

I feel like I'm scraping all the superficial crap from my body and mind and replacing it with self-acceptance and love. It's feels great, even if it has its moments of discomfort and pain (sunburns).

But don't worry. I'll shave my legs when I get back :)

Favorite Places

It's our second day in Rimini, Italy; and although I have a sun burn, which on the Alexis Scale of Sunburns from grapefruit to raspberry rates a tomato, Rimini is my vary favorite place. Everything here is so beautiful: the beach, the food (especially gilatto), the language, the people. The list goes on and on. Coming from Florence, which seems to be about 90% tourists, (except for the super nice gillato man who asked Lex and me out for drinks, which we had to decline, thus casting a shadow of misery over our adventure especially when we buy gillato, which is often.) it is nice to be in a place that is completely void of tourists. Most people here speak some broken English, but a lot of our communication comes from hand gestures and what little Italian I can get from the Italian phrase book I bought. It's fantastic. 

Italy

It is our first full day in Florence. We've been out seeing the sights and have just returned back to our hostel. Upon returning, we swiftly took off our shirts and are now lying on the bed because it is SO FREAKING HOT AND HUMID HERE! I am ready to go to the beach.

Saying goodbye to an old friend

Many of you may know this jacket: 

In fact, I have had it for about 7 years! That's crazy. It's probably one of the oldest piece of clothing that I own, actually. This jacket has been with me through out the years. Keeping me warm; comforting me in my times of need. This jacket and me have grown to be close friends. 

But I recently had to say goodbye to my friend. He is lost forever on the trains of Europe. I'm not sure how it happened. After getting off the train, I looked down at my backpack and the bright red jacket was nowhere to be seen. My heart sank into my stomach and I started searching for my lost jacket like a mother for her lost child. I ran back to the train, boarded, and franticly searched the seats where we had previously been sitting. 

nothing.

I searched the WC, but there was no jacket. 

Forlorn, and feeling the depression one feels after the loss of a friend, Alexis was my only comfort.

Of all the words of sympathy and compassion, she says, "It reminds me of that IKEA commercial with the lamp that we watched in Bio 100. Remember?" She continues to describe this commercial to me: 

The funny thing is that of all the words of sympathy and compassion, this cheers me up the most.

I guess that's why she's my best friend...

Morning suprise

So when Lex and I went to bed last night at our hostel, we expected to wake up to a room full of girls. 

When we woke up, it was a room full of men. 

But they were cute and from Australia. But also hung over. 

I apologize

Seeing as how no one reads my blog anyways, this probably won't affect many people, but I was planning on keeping my blog up to date with my travels, but I am always so tired and I don't want to write a big long story about what I did that day. But fortunately Alexis does. So I will write some stuff, but for the best review of our adventures, go to her blog which is HERE. 

I love Europe!

A Free Cookie

Man at the cafe: (something in German)

Me: No Deutsch

Man at the cafe: English then? 

Me: Yes. English.

Man: Sorry, I don't speak English

Me: Well for some reason, I can understand you perfectly!

Man: Maybe French? 

(the rest of the conversation is in French)

Me: I speak French.

Man: Really? Well we'll talk in French. What would you like? 

Me: I would like that cookie, please.

Man: that's everything?

Me: Yup!

(man puts it in a bag, and I offer a euro)

Man: No, it's ok. 

Me: Really?!

Man: Yes. Take it.

Me: You are so nice! Thank you, monsieur! 

Man: Have a good day!

Me: Thank you!

I love Germany. 

I love Paris in the spring time...

I love Paris in the fall, I love Paris in the winter, when it drizzles; I love Paris in the summer, When it sizzles. (and apparently it drizzles, too)

I'm in Paris!!!! It's been fantastic! So far we have: 

• Seen 6,000,000 people's dead bones
• Walked so far my legs feel like jelly
• Slept for 15 hours
• Seen and gone up to the top of the Eiffel Tower
• Slept on the Metro (at least I have...)
• Been hit on by the security guards (at least I have...)
• Ate a REAL baguette sandwich jamon et fromage s'il vous pait!

And we've done tons more things but now, I must go to sleep.

children and airplanes

Observation: 

Children LOVE airplanes right? When they see one, they point and yell, "airplane, airplane!!" and it's a big deal, right? 

Why then, while on an airplane, they detest it beyond belief. They whine, cry, yell, kick the seat in front of them, etc. 

And yet they claim to love airplanes...

Denied

In preparation for our Europe Extravaganza, Alexis and I went to get our legs waxed today.

Lady: Ok... unfortunately, we are not going to be able to shave your legs because your hair isn't long enough. Sorry!

Me:Oh no! That's Ok... we weren't sure how long they had to be...

Lady: Yeah. they have to be about as long as your pinky nail in order for it to work. When was the last time you shaved? This looks like a couple of days...

Me: It's like two weeks...

Are you serious?! I have had hairy legs for two weeks for nothing! And my leg hair has to be as long as my pinky nail? Gross.

So then we left, dejected and forlorn.

But now I'm thinking I will just go all natural. I don't want to be bothering with shaving my legs every day. If there are any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace.

I just was on Facebook...

And noticed that a LOT of my friends are married and/or pregnant. Good luck and I'll see you when I get back from 5 weeks in Europe :)

Fourth of July

I know this is a little late, but it's so funny. I had to put it up. Make sure you watch the slow-motion background images.

My strength is failing

So this weekend I made three cakes:
1. Coke Zero Can
2. Five Tiered Wedding Cake
3. Treasure Chest

My feet hurt from standing for the past three days, my hands hurt from kneading and rolling out the fondant (so much so, that I fear I may have carpal tunnel), my right hand hurts especially bad from piping, and I can hardly keep my eyes open.

I am now going to excuse myself and enter into a voluntary coma.

I think this is funny.

Plan B

Well... here's the deal. I plan to graduate from BYU. But this is more easily said than done. So I guess if that doesn't work out, I am going to do this.

Now I know it's long, but you really must read it. And yes. It is an advertisement on Craigslist.

Here's another one. Since I've been home from college, it's been somewhat of a challenge to adjust to living with my parents again. Perhaps I will move here. At least cats and dogs are allowed.

I don't know... these have just been some ideas I've had.

New Post!

Ok. Sorry everyone for not writing on my blog for a while (I'm sure you have missed me). I've been super busy!! (but I really have been busy)

Anyways... I've also been trying to find a new design for my blog because I was getting a little bored of the last one. I hope you like it! Anyways... I will now try to write more often, now that I have a little inspiration from my new blog design.

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

Hi! So I created another blog for the cakes that I have made! You should look at it and comment!

chelseacakes.blogspot.com

Hamburg Song

(Matisse, I'm copying you sort of. Sorry.)

Here's the thing. I am always looking for new songs that I can play on the guitar. But a huge problem with finding cover songs to sing, is that although the original band might sound cool singing the lyrics, I would just sound crazy/stupid/lame/etc.. (This excludes the song "Summer Girls". I'm pretty sure NO ONE on the planet would sound cool singing this song. But that's just my personal opinion...)

Example 1: Regina Spektor "Hotel Song"

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my fool
Will never be my fool

Example 2: Ingrid Michaelson "Lady in Spain"

I am a Lady in Spain
I'll sing a haunting refrain
I am a lady from Mars
And i can unscrew the stars

Example 3: LFO "Summer Girls"

New Kids On The Block, had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick.
And I think it's fly when the girls stop by for the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch,
I'd take her if I had one wish,
But she's been gone since that summer...
Since that summer.
(If you read all the lyrics, they just get better... or worse depending on how you look at it.)

So whenever I listen to a song I like, I always think, "Will I sound like a fool if I sing this? Do the lyrics even makes sense, or did they just google words that rhyme with 'hits' ? (see above)

When I read Matisse's post about "Hamburg Song" by Keane, I looked up the lyrics expecting them to be somewhat lame. But, on the contrary, they actually make sense! And I like them.

I believe I shall learn to play this song when I return from taking MY LAST FINAL!

I will also take requests, if any of you think of good songs for me to learn. :)

"This is our decision to live fast and die young."

Recent developments concerning the Wonderful Adventure of the Century! (I can't remember exactly what I called it last time I wrote about it, but I think that's it).

So the motto of our trip is: We're going to Europe! Don't invite yourself.

This motto came about because a little while ago, one of my friends from high school invited themselves to our trip. But not to worry - it worked out and everything is fine and he is not coming (deep breath). So after that, we decided to keep our trip somewhat on the D.L. (you may ask yourself, "If it's on the D.L., why is she writing about it on her blog?!" First, you must ask yourself how many people read my blog. It's about 5. And they already know about it. So we're safe)

But we recently had another event that threatened the very awesomeness of our adventure. That's right. Another person invited themselves to our trip. And who should it be?

MY MOTHER.

That's right. My mom invited herself to come with us for at least a week. Sheesh! Now let me tell you about this. First of all, although my parents are not coming on this trip, they play a huge part in being the benefactor. So although my first reaction was "NO WAY!" I said, "Well, we'll think about it..." Then I tried to convince her that she didn't even want to come, and said,"You know we are going to be living as cheaply as we can, so I don't think you will even want to go with us." But she countered it with offering to pay for us to live better for that week. Because a trip that includes 10 days with my mother is better than no trip at all, I just said that I would talk to Lex about it.

Directly after I got off the phone with my mom, I called Lex and told her about the threat. When she got home, we talked about it some more and I proceded to call my mother and ask how long she wanted to come for, because she just said she wanted to come for a while before. She said about a week or 10 days. I gave a sigh. Was it worth it? How serious is she?

I decided I had to try the waters a little. I said, in a half jokingly voice, "You're ruining our trip!!".

...a good little test, right? ;)

She said, "I thought that if I offered to pay for better food and housing, you would let me come."

Right then, I knew we were in the safe zone. We continued our conversation about how Lex and I must go on our own, and how it would be much more fun for EVERYONE INVOLVED if she went with my dad.

So the awesomeness factor is still intact... for now. Hopefully we pull this off, even though my parents are being difficult.

Wish us luck.

cakewrecks.blogspot.com

So Alexis and I have been making awesome cakes lately, and we have found this website that is the best website ever. It is so funny. It' all about professional cakes that go wrong. These are people that are actually paying money for these cakes and they are just terrible. It's great. There's this video on the website and I had to share it with you, so I'm posting it. (I also want to watch it whenever I want because it just makes me laugh every time!) So here it is:

The People Have Spoken

So tonight (Wednesday 8 April 2009) was environmental science club elections. Now here's the thing - I love environmental science club (eSci) but it is a lot of work to keep it going and to plan all of the activities and stuff, so I wasn't really that excited to run for a position in the presidency.

About a week or so ago, Josh LeMonte, 08-09 eSci club president, chatted with me online and said that I should definitely run for something because he thought I would be really good. I was totally flattered, but as I thought about it I decided that I would not be able to give the time that is needed to plan all of the activities and do a good job being the leader and stuff. Also, I'm not sure that I am super qualified anyways. I love environmental science, but I am somewhat behind in my classes for my major... So I decided I was not going to run for anything.

Anyways... I got a call today from Josh. He says that he, Dr. Terry, and Dr. Hopkins are going through the applicants for the presidency positions and they noticed I was not among the resumes. I told him of my hesitancy that is noted above. He said it was okay; that I would be really good and I could run for a position that requires less time and my experience doesn't matter, etc. So he convinced me to run and I emailed Dr. Terry and said that I wanted to run.

So at the elections I ran for secretary against some transfer from BYU-I and some weirdo kid that sang a song about spiders.

Verdict:

transfer student from BYU-I

So that was a let-down. I mean - I've been highly involved in the club for two years and I have been to fundraisers and I've been to activities and trips. But the public had spoken...

The next election was for recruitment officer. It's pretty self-explanatory. So Dr. Terry carried me over to the next one, even though I said I would like to withdraw. It was just me and the weird spider song kid (who I think may be a freshman. He seemed like it, anyway).

Verdict:

Spider song kid

So I guess I was a little bummed that I didn't win, but 90% of the people there had never been to any club activities, so they were, as Alexis said, "uninformed voters".

So it looks like I will have little to no responsibility next year in the eSci club. Which I am not heart-broken about.

It means more fun.

New and Improved!

I noticed that pretty much everyone I know is changing their blogs now, so I decided to change mine too. ("pretty much everyone I know" consists of Mike Morris and Alexis Hales.) So this is it... I hope you like it. I give you permission to post a comment, too.

I've got asthma and I can't breath....

As some of you may know, I have asthma. It has been an annoyance my entire life and I need to go to the doctor and get an inhaler, but that is something that continually gets pushed back. Anyways... Alexis showed me this video and it describes my life quite nicely. (except the dying at the end...)

Enjoy.

A funny Video

Since Billy, Mike, and Lex are pretty much the only people I am aware of that read my blog, I thought I would post this video for them. It's funny... although I think Lex will disagree with the ending. (she doesn't really like comic sans)

Enjoy.

Watch Font Conference and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

The Cake of Disappointment

Ok. First of all, I apologize for not writing since the terrible toe incident... I have been sort of busy. Second of all, I apologize for this outrageously long post, but it has to be this way. Anyways... here is a story:

Alexis and I are in a class together and it is called 'The History of Creativity'. This class has the potential of being interesting, but in reality, it really, really is just terrible. At the end of the semester, there is a big project that we have to do. The guidelines are basically to do something creative and turn it in. That's pretty much it.

Lex and I decide to make a cake. So we got permission to do our project together and we started working on it Tuesday, March 31 (because it is due Thursday). So we baked all the cakes Tuesday and decided we would do everything else on Wednesday.

Wednesday comes and we are super excited for this cake. We decide to make a cake in neo-classical style. We found a picture of some building in Russia for our inspiration. We skipped our film class and Lexi skipped work so we could go out and buy all the things that we needed. Which included going to the Wal-mart in Springville, where we got lost for at least 1.5 hours. It was terrible. But we finally got everything we needed and we went back to our apartment, where immediately we realized we did not, in fact, get everything we needed. So Lex went and bought everything we forgot, while I started making the cake.


Alexis and I worked on that cake from 1:00 pm Wednesday afternoon, until 7:00 am Thursday morning. Non stop. (Lex had to go to class for an hour, but other than that, non stop) We FINALLY get done and we are both super tired. I decide I am going to go to sleep for an hour and then get ready to go at 8:00 (because our project is due at 9:00), but Lex says she will just be more sleepy if she sleeps, so she is going to stay awake. I go to bed, while Lexi gets in the shower and as I am in bed, I realize that I left both my phone and my watch upstairs(these are my only alarm clocks). So I decide that since Lex is staying awake, surely she will wake me up at 8:00. So I go to sleep.

Some time later, I wake up and look over towards Lexi's bed, out of habit, I guess. And she is asleep in her bed!! So I run upstairs and look at the clock and it's 10:00 am!! So I race back downstairs, wake Lex and tell her that we have to leave NOW. So we hurry and change our clothes and stuff and get the cake in the car. We go to the Crabtree building, which conveniently has parking right by it but inconveniently, it is all for faculty and staff.

After what seems like an ETERNITY trying to find somewhere to park, I tell Lex to just stay in the car while I carry the massive thing into the building. As I am carrying it towards the building, I realize that the usual tables are not set up and there are no other projects. Before I even get to the building, I turn around and go back to the car. Lex and I decide that it must be somewhere else this year... maybe the Wilkinson Building..? Finally one of the 15 min. parking spots opens up and we go inside to see if there is anything that we can see that would hint to maybe a large creativity fair taking place - nothing.

We go downstairs to the computer lab and look online at the syllabus where there is no information that would be remotely helpful. So we find the calendar of assignments and we are looking for "creativity day".

Suddenly, I hear, " Oh no. No. No way."

"what is it?!"

Alexis points to the screen

I look at where her finger is touching the text of the calendar.

It says:

"Creativity day...... April 9"

In the middle of the dead silent computer lab, Alexis and I moan in our disappointment, disgust, sadness, and stupidity. How could this happen?!

So we sulk back to our apartment. Alexis has to go to work and I go to my bed trying to forget the entire incident.

And that's the story of...

"The Cake Of Disappointment"

The Greatest Accomplishment of My Day

See Here

Something I didn't think even existed

SEE HERE

Whahooo!!!! I totally "embeded" these videos on to my blog all by myself!! Please... hold your applause. Anyways, these are AMAZING videos made by my friends for the Utah Tap project. The video explains...

I realize their accomplishment of creating these videos is shadowed by my own accomplishment of getting them onto my blog, but please - try to enjoy it. And leave a comment about how good they are. Ok?



Utah Tap :: Here's to the World from Mike Morris on Vimeo.




Utah Tap :: Here's to Doing from Mike Morris on Vimeo.


This one is my favorite -


Utah Tap from Mike Morris on Vimeo.

The Amazing Race

Alexis and I have been planing to be on the show The Amazing Race. We watch all the episodes, and during this we have taken note of what to do and what not to do. So here it is:

Things To Do:

• Wear underwear
• Learn a little bit of each language
• Have a map
• Ask directions
• Be fit
  

Things Not To Do:

• Wear thong underwear
• Leave your bag in the taxi
• Fight
  
• Get lost
• Form alliances
• Be mean to the other teams
• Waste time trying to read the name of the place we need to go
• Get frustrated when something is not easy
• Get mad at other teams for just playing the game
• Think you can do something better than your partner
  

Demain des l'aube

So I have an new favorite poem: "Demain, dès L'aube" by Victor Hugo. We read it in my French Class. I think the emotion behind this poem is sort of lost when it's translated, but I am posting the translation too.

Anyways... this is it:

"Demain, dès L'aube"

Demain, dès l’aube, à l’heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m’attends.
J’irai par la forêt, j’irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.

Je ne regarderai ni l’or du soir qui tombe,
Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur,
Et quand j’arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe
Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyère en fleur.

Here is the translation for those of you who do not speak French...

"Tomorrow, at Dawn"

Tomorrow, at dawn, in the hour when the countryside becomes white,
I will leave. You see, I know that you are waiting for me.
I will go by the forest, I will go by the mountain.
I cannot stay far from you any longer.

I will walk the eyes fixed on my thoughts,
Without seeing anything outside, nor hearing any noise,
Alone, unknown, the back curved, the hands crossed,
Sad, and the day for me will be as the night.

I will not look at the gold of the evening which falls,
Nor the faraway sails descending towards Harfleur.
And when I arrive, I will put on your tomb
A green bouquet of holly and flowering heather.

black diamond...? Check

So let me tell you a little story about Alexis and Me.

The setting: Lexi's apartment, freshman year.

Somehow we start talking about things we want to accomplish in our lives, which then turns into things we want to accomplish before we get married. (this is because the things we want to do require us to be quite irresponsible... needless to say the two do not mix well.) So anyways, we have little things like:

• Hike the Y (which we have yet to do)
• Go camping somewhere fun (somewhat done, but not really)
  
• Exercise every day for a month (which we have yet to do)
• Take a dance class (check)
• Have a crepe party with more people than just ourselves (sadly, yet to be fulfilled)
• Test drive an expensive car (haven't done)
  

We also have larger goals, such as:

• Spend the summer in Europe (which will be accomplished this summer)
• Go scuba diving in California (check)
• Attend mass at Notre Dame de Paris (this summer)
• Watch all of the movies Lexi's parents own (I don't know if we will ever accomplish this)

And probably the most unlikely of all:

• Have boyfriends at the same time
  

So this is only a small example from our list of 70 things we want to accomplish (some of which are not able to be mentioned)

Anyways... Lex and I went skiing on Friday and accomplished one of our goals:

• Ski a black diamond

Now let me tell you something about this goal. It has kind of evolved over time, because technically we skied a black diamond last year while skiing with my parents, but to tell the truth we were scared out of our wits an going so slow that it can hardly be called skiing. Anyways, to take the ONE thing we learned in our History of Creativity class, we decided the guidelines for this accomplishment had to follow the guidelines of creativity:

• Value
• Intention
• Novel
• Excellent

So on Friday, we accomplished this goal based on these guidelines.

The setting: Sundance, UT. Bishop's Bowl.

It was definitely of value, we intended to do it, it was new, and we skied that run all day to the point where we got pretty good. Some would say excellent.

So there you have it. One more check on the list.

Here are some photos to commemorate the day:


Lexi and I on the ski lift

It was so warm that day that the parking lot was totally mud! We got our boots all muddy :(

After skiing black diamonds all day, things got a little tricky on the green circle...


Yard Sale, anyone?

a confession of how truely pathetic i am...

So I just got back last night from Sun Valley. Alexis and I met my famly (consisting of my parents, brother, and his friend, Mike) to go skiing for the weekend. It was sooo much fun, and we had a blast! This is our schedule of events:

Thursday: Arrival, Iron Chef (which was both accidental and lame), sleep.
Friday: Ski 9:30- 4:00, hot tub, birthday presents and dinner!, scrabble, sleep
Saturday: decided not to go skiing because we were SO sore, jumped car because we left the lights on :( , shopped (bought two pairs of gloves for $10), lunch, family left, ***Lex and Chelsea's CRAZY night in Sun Valley!
Sunday: Church (good thing we remembered daylight savings time), clean condo, drive home
- for a more detailed schedule, see here.

***This is the part which this post is focused on. Here we are, two girls in a condo in Sun Valley, Idaho. All by ourselves. We could do ANYTHING we wanted. There are a million things to do (maybe not a million, but probably at least 5), and this is what we chose to do:

1. Eat dinner. We really weren't that hungry, but we could have gone to a million different restaurants (this isn't as much of an exageration as the previous one). We even found out later that the chef we watched on Iron Chef was from Sun Valley, and we probably could have gone to her restaurant. But no, we went to Atkinson's market (a small Smith's) and bought fruit juice and a fruit and yougart parfait. Which was good, but not exactly high class.

2. Return back to the condo. Instead of doing something outrageous on our last night in Idaho, we return home and watch a little T.V.. We then decide to watch a movie.

3. Movie of choice: Disney's Horton Hears A Who. AND not only that, we play Scrabble while watching it. If this isn't the recipe for a good time, I don't know what is. After the movie gets over we watch "The Science of Attraction" on the Discovery Channel while trying to decide if they will ever tell us how to be attractive or if they are just going to tell us all the reasons we are not attractive. The fact that I am coming back at the same level or attractiveness should tell you the answer.

So far, I'm sure you've thought, "holy cow, this is so pathetic." . Let me assure you that it only gets worse... or better, depending on how you look at it.

While watching this "Science of Attraction" thing, we fall asleep on the couch. Finally, I wake up, turn off the T.V., wake up Lex and mumble," We need to go to bed." So we come out of our stupor a bit, and I look at my watch to see what time it is, expecting 2 or 3 in the morning. But - and this is where the pathetic level is off the charts - it's 11:15 pm! So we stumble up the stairs and wash our faces and brush our teeth and go to bed.

So that is our CRAZY night... after telling my mom what we did that evening, she said she was worried about us... in a different way than normal parents. Or parents with normal kids...

But really, vacations are for doing things you never get to do in your normal life. And Lex and I NEVER get to watch TV because we don't even have one. And we never get to go to bed early, so that's what we wanted to do.

Overall, it was super fun and we had a great time. We had a wonderful welcome home by two exams, a history quiz, joural entries that are due, and a french quiz (which was due today, and was forgotten. Oh well...) But it was totally worth it. :)

The Fantastic Amazing Wonderful Adventure of the Century

So one of my best friends and I are going on a fantastic European Adventure this summer. This is something that has been in the works for a while and now it is finally becoming something real! I mean - this is something we've been planning since we were freshmen in college! (um... which was last year...) But anyways. We have been planning where we are going to go and how long we are going to stay in each country and how much it is going to cost (which is going to be more than we can afford, but we will make it work. We will probably come back a little skinnier...)

During our search, we have found little humorous facts along the way and I shall share them with you here.

We want to go to Greece because I have distant relatives that live there and we could stay there for free. And it would just be awesome. So we have been looking for ways to get there and they are few. One way is by boat. We would board a large ferry and depending on how much money you have (*reminder: we have very little) you can spend the time of travel in a room with beds, on the deck, or anywhere in between. Given the monetary position of Alexis and me, we were considering the deck choice. Until we noticed the travel time was 21 hours! Because standing and/or sitting on a deck of a boat for an entire day and night is not extremely appealing, we continue our search to find a way to get to Greece. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to share...

Now that I write this, I realize this is the only funny/ semi-funny thing we have come across. But if anything else comes up, I will write about it.

But this adventure is sure to be the best one ever. I am so excited and I will be sure to post stuff while I am there.
Yup. That's it - Alexis Hales. Chelsea Katseanes. Two backpacks and no fear. (or at least little to no fear...)

My first blog

So this is a blog about the happenings of my hood. It mainly consists of going to school and coming home and doing homework, but every once in a while something of note comes along and surprises me. So I suppose when those things happen, I shall write them in this blog.

So far, nothing exciting has happened since I created this, which was last night. But I am sick, which makes the above-noted actions of me going to school and coming home and doing homework extremely difficult. Which partially explains me writing this... because I don't want to do homework. I was in class today for six hours. During which there was a constant conversation between me and my brain. It went a little like this:

Brain: ...zzzzz...

Me: Brain! Wake up! We are in class. You have to pay attention so you can remember this later.

Brain: Yeah right. We are in LDS marriage and families class. Like you will even use this information with your track record...

Me: Yeah your right. Never mind. I'll just put my head down.

 

Time elapse...

Me: Brain. We have to pay attention. This is french class. This one matters.

Brain: You didn't even do the reading last night. We don't know what they are talking about.

Me: I know. But we have to make the professor believe we did the reading. We're sitting on the front row for heaven's sake! 

Brain: Just give up. There is no hope for you. 

Me: Yeah... You're right. I'll just put my head down.

Time elapse...

Me: Brain! Read the board - does it say that we have a chemistry exam on Friday? IN TWO DAYS!?

Brain: Yup.

Me: Brain! How could this happen? We haven't payed attention the whole last two chapters!

Brain: Deal with it.

Me: Yeah... You're right. I'll just put my head down.

Time elapse....

Brain: Why are we even here? We are just watching a movie.

Me: This is French and Italian cinema. It's what we do.

Brain: This is boring. Let's just go home.

Me: We missed the last two classes. I have to stay. Besides, the movie isn't that bad.

Brain: Yeah... actually it is pretty boring. 

Me: Yeah you're right. But I have to stay. Sorry, mate.

Brain: I just want to go home.

Me: I know the mucus and liquid build up in my head makes it hard for you to function properly, but we must stay. 

Brain: In that case, I am shutting off

Me: Ok. I don't even care. Just turn back on so I can walk home. 

Brain: Only if I get to shut off immediately when we arrive.

Me: Deal.

So here I am, my brain caught in the stupor of my illness and my achy body refusing to move. I have a quiz tomorrow, an exam in two days, two papers due on Monday, and no brain, no motivation, and little to no mobility. It's not looking good for me. 

Post Number One

This blog was created the same day I was! ... sort of... just on my birthday. I will probably not write very often, so I apologize in advance, but I will try to write posts as often as I can. 

Good day.