yes, yes it is

I ask you friends, is not this a miracle?

I submit that it is.

Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling sick. I didn't go to school or work. It was fabulous. Except that I had to host a dessert night I had volunteered for over a month ago for my ward then prep for cleaning checks this morning. Bad timing. Fortunately, I have some pretty fab friends who helped me get ready for the dessert night, didn't judge me when I spent half the night lying on my bed instead of talking to people, and then helped me clean my room and bathroom.

Yesterday, it was just achiness and fatigue. Then last night the nose started plugging up. Today it's a full-fledged stuffy nose accompanied by a pretty powerful gut-rattling cough. Believe it or not, my purpose in writing this is not to elicit your sympathy. (It's ok if you feel bad for me, though. As long as that sympathy turns into food and gifts.)

My real purpose in writing this post is to tell the world how much I love Puffs tissues. I've been a long-time fan of Puffs Plus Lotion. They're so soft and actually moisturize your nose instead of extracting as many skin cells as possible every time you blow. No, these tissues are kind. And gentle. Very Christ-like.

After work today (I left early. Booyah.) I went over to the kleenez aisle (yes, I say kleenexes instead of tissues a good 98 percent of the time) to grab some of my trusty Puffs Plus Lotion. Except wait, now they come with VICKS in them! I knew it'd be a great match from the start.

Tonight my friend Jaime was also very impressed with my purchase and suggested I sleep with one of the tissues (aah! It's so hard to say that!) draped over my face so as to breathe in the clarifying VICKS rub with every dreamful breath. I laughed at her then objected that they smell awful.

She's gone now. And for the last half an hour I have been checking facebook while holding a kleenex up to my nose, simply breathing the thearapeutic vapors in and out. I would probably be doing it right now except that typing requires two hands.

Not only is Jaime extremely helpful and kind, she's also a genius. She better watch out, though; these kleenexes, I mean tissues, may be threatening her best friend status.

musings

I should be studying for a phonetics test right now. So instead, I'll blog.

1. Tonight, my good friends Angela, Aubrey, Jaime, and I are heading to St. George/Mesquite/Las Vegas for the long weekend. I'm pumped. Our original plan was to go to LA because I've never been to California. And our original plan included DeeAura. But DeeAura had some family stuff going on this weekend so she couldn't come. And we were going to stay at her dad's house. So we didn't have anywhere to stay. Apparently the entire western half of the country will have rain this weekend (including SoCal). So instead of driving 9 hours, paying for a hotel, and enjoying a nice rain shower, we decided to drive 4 hours, stay in a house for free, and enjoy a nice rain shower. Cut your losses I guess. (I don't actually know what that phrase means). Anyway, I'm still really excited! I don't have to go back to work for 5 days (which is probably the greatest thing that could ever happen to me right now) and I get to spend the weekend with a few of my best girls! Hopefully we'll get at least a little bit of sunshine.

2. Yesterday morning I went running. I almost died, but that's besides the point. What is the point is that when I went running at 11 am, it was sunny and 55 degrees. Then last night about 8:30, it snowed. Yeah. There's a reason why Mother Nature is female- I don't think a guy could change his mind that fast.
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3. Sometimes even when life is going really well and you're doing exactly what you should be doing, it's still really hard. I guess it's growing pains. It just sucks when doing the right thing means giving up other really good things. It's at this point that an eternal perspective is helpful. Even though we have to give up good things to do the right thing sometimes, the greatest things will be part of the reward our Heavenly Father has waiting for us if we trust Him and do His will. It will all be worth it in the end. One of my favorite quotes is by Brigham Young. I can't remember the wording exactly, and I don't have my notes with me, but he essentially says that everything that we go through in our lives is necessary for our salvation. God doesn't do things just for fun. There's always something to learn, feel, or experience; it's all part of the divine design.

4. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to learn Spanish on my mission and it has blessed my life in a lot of ways. But sometimes at work, I get really sick of speaking Spanish. It requires thought and I just like sometimes to not have to think about every word that comes out of my mouth. Or every word that comes out of the mouth of the person I'm talking to, who I can barely even hear anyway. But that's fine.

5. I have lost my ability to wake up before 6:30. I am physically unable to do it. And if I try, I feel it all day long, no matter what time I go to bed.

share your sights

I'm an editing minor. That won't mean much to most of you, except that it just might.

The capstone course for the minor is a magazine publishing class. Which means that we, as a class, create a magazine. Our magazine is called Stowaway, and it's pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. It's a travel magazine targeted at young, budget-conscious travelers. It actually is pretty interesting and fairly well-written. If you're interested in reading it, go to the website: stowawaymag.com. You won't find anything I've written on there for a while. But when our issue comes out in the fall...just trust me, it's good stuff. My article's about things to do in the airport to make it more fun. How could that not draw you in?

Anyway, my purpose in writing this post was actually to inform everyone of this fabulous opportunity:

Your picture could be in the magazine! If you have a picture that rightfully belongs to you and fits into one of the two categories ("colors of the world" or "fairs and festivals"), then go to the website to find out how to enter!

You can also submit funny or embarrassing travel experiences for our "Tales from the Trip" section. All the deets are on the website, so hurry on over and check it out. The deadline for both is February 23.

Now, I'll admit, we may only have one subscriber (the BYU library) and one issue of the magazine may cost 16 dollars. But it's still a legit magazine! And you can view it online for free. So check us out!

Anticipation

5 days.

Oh, and if you're wondering, the high there today is supposed to get to 74. I'll take it.

Sounds About Right

This is a pretty fabulous day:

1. Sleep in until 8:30, missing my first class but not even caring.
2. Have a day nearly homework-free so I have to occupy my time by reading blogs. (I could really use some more frequent blog posts to read, btw my friends. Chrissi's putting everyone to shame.)
3. Last class is cancelled so I get to home at 3 instead of 4.
4. No work. That alone would have made today the best day ever.
5. Talk to my mom and get all caught up on the adorableness that is my nephew.
6. Texas Roadhouse with my BFF. For 13 dollars total. That's right, we had a coupon. And got there before 6 so we qualified for the early dine special. Mo-ney.
7. Watch the Bachelor with said BFF and be grateful I'm not on that show.
8. Have said BFF bring me a frosted sugar cookie (only my fave) back for me from her Relief Society activity.
9. Head over to a girls night with my other best girls. Cookies. Ryan Reynolds. Yes, please.
10. Go to bed knowing I don't have to go to school until 1 tomorrow!

I'll take a Tuesday any day.

Wait, What?

I'm the world's worst wife.

I've heard all about the movie "The Social Network" but somehow I missed the teensy little detail that my very own husband is in it.

Umm...what?

(check out those arm veins! yes, please.)

That's right, the same JT whose birthday we celebrated yesterday is in this movie. Did YOU know that? I don't know where I've been. But I'm ashamed.
Don't worry. I'm going this weekend. (It's still in the dollar theater!) Who wants to come?

In semi-related news, my friend Jaime and I went to see "Life As We Know It" in the dollar theater last night.


I loved it. Not only does it star the very yum Josh Duhamel, it was at the same time heart-wrenching and heart-warming. It's no Oscar winner, but it was entertaining and definitely worth my $1.25.