Sweet dreams are made of these.

I apologize to those who feel that my updated picture and complete lack of updated blog material is...well, an evil trick. I could only seem to find the time for the photo change--and c'mon people. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing. Something positive anyway!

There has been way too much going on lately, and taking a breather on Thanksgiving is the best I can do. Let's just take a quick run through of the past month and a lot...

Halloween was pretty eventful-the day before, anyway. That was when I got all dressed up and went to 7 Peaks for a tri-ward activity. My new picture is from Halloween, but it was taken BEFORE Kiara gave my hair a sweet makeover. Here are pictures from the spontaneous photo shoot we did.

The activity was a blast, even if I am a HORRIBLE ice skater...and just plain dumb sometimes. Example: I'm putting my skates on and I say "I don't do figure skates," and my friend Thomas says, "Um..those are hockey skates." Well FLIP! In my defense, I haven't been to 7 Peaks in a VERY long time and they looked really different to me. Obviously. Doy. But I recovered from my moment and only had five or six near death falling experiences. And that was just BEFORE Thomas convinced me to play broom ball (which was actually really fun!). You play broom ball with your shoes on on the ice--and it can get pretty intense. Honestly, I was probably better at that then I was on skates built for ice. There may be something wrong with that...

The next big thing was D.C.! I got to take a break for a couple of days and fly out to D.C. for an internship interview with NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). My mom flew out with me (and luckily she was the one who got stuck next to the chatty mathematician on the flight out there. Way to stick it out, Mama!). Of course, other than the interview itself and the time we spent in the Navy Yard, the highlight was the food. When we were in Chinatown, we stumbled upon a restaurant called Nando's that I first experienced in London. I had no idea we had them in the U.S.! What luck! Then there is Potbelly, one of my favorite sandwich places of all time. Finally, there was the Dunkin' Donuts in the Navy Yard. I'm totally kidding about it being good--we didn't even eat there. But seriously, who said that law enforcement agents don't like a good doughnut?!

Since we had just been to D.C. the year before and seen the major attractions, we just ran around to the few things we hadn't seen (like the First Ladies Exhibit & a nice protest at the Capitol). It was really nice to take it slow, to get a lot of sleep, and to take the metro! I LOVE underground train systems. They remind me of Europe. But the most eventful thing, minus crawling into bed at 7pm, was the plane ride home. I had it all planned out to study for this major test for a good 3 hours. That didn't quite work out.

Before we got on the plane, I had this pain right below my ribs. By the time we got on the plane and took off, it had spread to..everywhere. I was twitching, my hands felt like balloons, I couldn't feel my arms and legs, I couldn't breathe, and I was dizzy. Plus I felt like I was going to puke my guts out. Oh wait! I did that. With an ER doctor rubbing my back and holding cold towels on my forehead while I up chucked in a big fat Delta bag. But that was after they put me on oxygen and realized maybe that was a BAD idea..so they tried having me breathe in a paper bag to boost my CO2 levels or some such thing. The bag stunk. Hence the up-chuckage.
Needless to say, it was super fun.

The next day my car key broke in the ignition.
One mostly retarded locksmith, a whole weekend, and a nice fee later, I got to drive it out of the BYU parking lot.

Good times.

Here's D.C.--

Next up is BYU FOOTBALL:
Last week BYU played Air Force and practically stomped all over them. It would have been way cooler if two of our touchdowns hadn't been stolen by the refs. One of which was for the dumbest reason I have EVER heard. Attempting to deceive? COMO?! And yet, we still won. And I was still FREEZING. I haven't been that cold in a long time, and it wasn't even that cold outside--according to Haley anyway. I totally trust her though, so I don't know what my deal was. Haley and I had a good time with our giant maple bar, aka cougar tail, I had a good time when she sat on me (for warmth sake, of course). And we had a much bigger party this game! Usually it's just the two of us, but some of my friends/wardies joined us--Thomas crashed the party, followed by Heather, Emily, Heather H., and Amy. But I don't have a picture...so you are just going to have to trust me.

The other exciting thing was after the game. Well, there were a few things.
#1-We went to El Azteca and got a fabulous bean and cheese burrito that warmed my soul. Haley was eating it and she put her salso on her seat in between her legs so she could dip it. I told her that it was time to drive, so she should pick it up, and as she went to grab it, her finger got stuck on the edge and totally tipped it over. As it oozed everywhere we BUSTED UP laughing. Boy, my car has been through the ringer! Thanks for the laughs, honey bun. #2-We went to IN-N-Out! Goodness it was good-and we only had to wait a half and hour. So worth it. Following that, we had adventure #3 and went to Barnes and Noble (to park and eat our food) and we ended up parking next to a car that had people in it. AWKWARD. And it happened TWICE. What the...

In B&N we had a PAR-TAY going through the 5 Love Languages test. My number one is Words of Affirmation, followed closely by Quality Time, with Physical Touch at a close third. Is it really that surprising that mine is Words of Affirmation though? I mean, I AM a Virgo. For those of you who don't know why that is important might want to look into it...or ask Bree, my horoscope guru.

THEN #4, we went to the mall to check out the super attractive guy who works there--the one I want Haley to date. She was so surprised that he was actually attractive! Don't you trust me, Hales?! You know I done good! Then we had to go get food for my parents (at two different places, haha) and THEN #5, we had to break into Ki's house to get the pomegranate Jell-o stashed in there for my potluck dinner the next day. THAT was an adventure. I don't know how people break into houses...it's way harder than it looks.

P.S. I would like to take this time to make a big shout out to Thomas for being a good sport and de-seeding the pomegranates for the fabulous Jell-o. There were a whole bunch of pomegranates and it is NOT an easy task. Thanks! I owe you!
And I am happy to report that I am pretty sure it was a success! The potluck the next day was awesome--and a lot of fun. Thanks for hosting me ALL DAY on Sunday, W33! I had a blast-even during the sketchy hour "waiting period" we had to live through, haha.

Other than all of that sweet action--I have just been moving my life, mowing a whole heap of lawn, ripping out hideous tile, tearing up loads of carpet, and injuring my body little by little, haha. But it is all for a cause that I am a HUGE fan of--a beautiful new house! I would show you pictures of the house, but I am choosing to hold off until I can post some before AND after pictures. You will need to see it to believe it, and I am all for keeping you on the edge of your seat until I can produce the shock factor.
Seriously.
Be excited.

Here I am--with my skillfully mowed lawn
And then a taste of the tile ripping action--and the result of such action














My Thanksgiving Break has definitely been filled with good times so far! I am so happy to be moving into this new house, and I am so grateful for so much right now (and how many times can I say "so"? Haha holy cow!)! Here are a couple things that come to mind off the top of my head:

SUPERB parents
Bree
Haley
Paper towels
New friends
Heat
Band-aids
Adoptive families
Woolstenhulmes-that's you!
Socks
Hands
Garbage bags
Good conversation
Music (Scott & Thomas-thanks for piquing my interest with the whole VH1 Top 20 thing)
Super soft sheets
Missionaries & the gospel of Jesus Christ
Hugs
Lawn mowers

And of course there are a plethora of other things. I really do have a tremendous amount of blessings in my life-and I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of all the potential blessings. I am excited to catch up with them!

Until next time,

And uh..Merry Christmas--just in case.

-T