The Potential to be Potentially......Potential-fied.

Well, I need a post to bring in the New Year.

I've been thinking a lot about potential. I LOVE POTENTIAL. Allow me to explain first with some examples of situations that make me grateful for potential.

I love the potential that comes with crafting. One of my favorite things is to take something simple (and maybe even mundane) and turn it into something useful and beautiful. That's one of the reasons why I love Mod Podge. I've also picked up knitting (call me Grandma Zip if you'd like) and I'm working on an infinity scarf. Knit the yarn for a few hours, and you end up with a beautiful accessory. It just excites me to look at raw materials and figure out a way to combine them to make something unexpected, especially if it might somehow brighten someone's day.

I love the potential of organizing. I look at a messy room and see what it could be after a few hours of focused organizing, with label maker in hand and Coldplay singing in the background. Inside my brain, everything is already being sorted into color, size, purpose, etc. There is so much potential in a messy room.

I love the potential of an elementary classroom full of students. Little kids are amazing. They are so smart and their brains move at the speed of light. When they are young they learn and learn and learn and learn some more. I think that's one of the reasons why I am so excited to work with children in a classroom setting. I see it as an honor to help them reach their potential.

So this year, what's your potential?

Oh....so much to tell you!

As much as I miss blogging, my absence is good because it means that I've been busy with my list! Yes, I have crossed 5 more items off my list in the last two months. I'm aware that I'll need to cross a lot more things off if I'm going to finish by January 2, 2012, but I've finally admitted to myself that this will not, in fact, be possible. I also granted myself a year extension.

So, without further adieu, here is a summary (with pictures OF COURSE) of a really wonderful couple of months!

Mod Podge. I would eat it if I could...that's how much I love it. I mod podged this mason jar,
then went to Hobby Lobby and bought 3 more mason jars to mod podge because I had so much fun with the first one. I don't have a photo, but I also did one with pretty fall leaves. Made for a nice candle! I have also Mod Podged a tray, coasters, and a photo on canvas. 

I played Yahtzee with Peri. Needless to say....she SCHOOLED me. 

We made "Happy Salads" at Olive Garden. None of the tables noticed the
 carefully placed vegetables before they asked us to shred an entire block of
romano cheese on top. A lot of hard work gone to waste if you ask me.

Oh, and I quit Olive Garden. Yipeeee!

Did you know about this? It's an atrocity. I wrote them an
 email complaining and they sent me a lifetime supply of the gluten free kind
as an apology. Learned that one from Emily....

Football season!!!!! Yes, they could be doing better, but I'll take the improvement
we've seen since we exchanged Heaps for Riley.  

Got this one off of pinterest. Toilet paper rolls made into a cute flower wall hanging!
 I'm going to add more flowers then spray paint it yellow. 

#5 Hike Mt. Timpanogas

I've wanted to do this for years. Somehow it's just never worked out. FINALLY some friends invited me to come with them in late September. We left the house at 5:00 and started hiking by 6:00. For 5 hours we followed our fearless leader (the one and only Matt Butler) across straight up the mountain. We triumphantly arrived at the top almost exactly at 11:00 to see Utah Valley on one side and Heber Valley on the other. It was a day when my testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ was strengthened immensely. I don't know how anyone could see something as beautiful as what I saw and not know that it was absolutely created by a loving Heavenly Father. 

The sunrise - about an hour into the hike

Utah Valley

My name is officially in the book at the top of Timp. 

For FHE we painted white canvas shoes to donate to a women's shelter.
 It was so fun to see everyone's creative ideas!

It snowed. 

Dyed my hair back to dark!

We visited Bess and Russ in Las Vegas. Spike is growing so fast!
It was wonderful to finally see their cute house. I love that they're so close now.

#9 Run a Half Marathon

I ran the Provo Halloween Half this year! My time was 2:16.  The race went from Aspen Grove to Riverwoods Mall. It was all downhill so that made it much easier than it might have been. Not to say that it was easy....just easiER.

That person in the pink jacket is.....me. At mile 6! Emily drove into the canyon and cheered me on from the jeep :)

Oranges!

"Liv is heart our champion pumpkin." They were so sweet to meet me at the finish line!

I literally almost cried when I crossed the finish line.
They put that medal around my neck and I felt so accomplished!
Is a marathon in my future? We shall see.....we shall see.......

#43 Read The Giver

I forgot how good this is, so I'm very happy that I re-read it.

#77 Go to a Ballet

We saw "Dracula" up in Salt Lake. Emily and Natalie needed to
see a ballet for an assignment in class, and I just wanted to tag along.
It was a very fun, unique ballet!

#92 Drive the Alpine Loop

Now this is the one thing for which I do not have any photos. Of course I took photos because the loop is gorgeous, but unfortunately they got deleted off the memory card. Though I will say that the pictures weren't as good as they could have been because we went about a week after all the leaves fell. Oh well, lesson learned for next year. 

Well hello there blogland, it's been a while. Almost a month and a half actually. Can I tell you something? I love summertime with all my heart. I really do. But summer is usually very monotonous for me, as it consists mainly of work work work and more...work. It's sometimes nice to break from school, but starting about halfway through June I'm pumped for fall semester to begin.

Since every day is just like the next, it seems as though I have absolutely nothing to blog about. But I do!

Here goes nothing:

I went on an amazing trip to Hawaii and didn't even blog about it. Huh? Yeah, I don't know either. I have a TON of funny, weird, startling, confusing, and happy stories from the OG. I've been thinking about making a separate tab on this very blog for my restaurant tales, but unfortunately I'm not half as computer savvy as I need to be to accomplish such a feat. I've spent a lot of time with all my siblings together since Bess has been here for a few weeks. It's weird going back to just the 7 of us, and though I'd rather have all 8 members of the family there, it is fun to have just the sisters + buddy like the good ol' days. I got my teeth cleaned and didn't have any cavities. That's extra exciting news when you think you actually have 6. The light in our kitchen, which has been out for a couple of months, is finally fixed. On a similar note, I learned how to install fluorescent light bulbs. I also learned that there are 26 different types of fluorescent light bulbs to choose from at the hardware store. I will never again come to the store unprepared to make that purchase.

On a celebratory note: IT'S AUGUST! Yay. School starts this month. Anyone who knows me understands that I say this with zero droplets of sarcasm. Really!

You know...The more I settle into my major in Early Childhood Education, the more I realize it is so incredibly, perfectly, astoundingly FOR ME. Let me tell you why:

1. The most obvious reason...I love children. 
2. It's something that I've wanted to do since I was little. We used to play school all the time in our Chicago basement. I would type out worksheets, create pop quizzes, and formulate math problems to be solved by my class (which was usually just James after 5 minutes, and not because he wanted to be there). Most kids play house, or war if you're a boy. Olivia played school. 
3. I absolutely love being in school. Like I mentioned already, I am really looking forward to school starting in the fall. The following thought honestly came out of my mouth today while I was talking to a friend, "I would be happy to be in school for the rest of my life." And I meant it! Of course I need a summer break here and there, but for the most part I could do it forever. And guess what...with this major and the direction I'm going, it looks like that's exactly what I'll be doing! Maybe my students will love me so much that they will cry on snow days and the last day of school. Not that I did that... :/

Banana Crumb Muffins

You guys these muffins are so GOOD. I made them once a week down in Ecuador. Sometimes we'd make them, eat them all, then make another batch right away...that's how good they are. Today I made them with chocolate chips, and even though I didn't get to try them, they were delicious according to Windsor 2. Try this recipe. Just add chocolate chips at the end. It'll most likely change your life. 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter (melted) until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins. Don’t skimp on the crumbs! Make a solid layer even though it may seem like a lot.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Peri left me. 

I don't know who she thinks she is, but she up and moved to California on Friday. The nerve.

Peri and I have been roommates for 3 years, so without her college life is a little different. I was really sad at work the day she left, but she is so cute and thoughtful so I found these when I came home:

They were everywhere!

I'm still finding them in little hiding places all over the apartment.

I should've known that the post-it queen would pull a stunt like this.   

My favorite...she knew I'd go for the honeycomb first thing.

 This is my new bedroom arrangement! I flipped the bed to go along the back wall, and put the desk by the window. I like it better, and I think it opens up the room nicely. Unfortunately it's not the same without Peri. I miss you!

#53 Shoot a gun.

Check! Our bishopric took our Relief Society out to Spanish Fork Canyon for a shooting activity last week. There were about 15 different kinds of guns, and I shot every single one. Not only that, I actually hit some targets. Some of the guns had quite a kick, and it kind of hurt my arm but in the end it was all worth it! They also threw clay pigeons for us, and guess what! No no...I didn't hit one. Psych!!

The other day I was running and saw....this. You can't really tell (taking pictures on your itouch while running is a tough situation) but it's two people walking on these weird stilt things. It made me smile. 

You know it's summer at BYU when the EFY kids have invaded. I went up to the library the other day, and they were EVERYWHERE. They look so little, which is strange because they're only a few years younger than me. 

The other day at work this woman came in to celebrate her 105th birthday! She was so tiny, and just the sweetest woman. Apparently she still lives on her own and has a CNA visit a couple times a day. Pretty impressive!

Look what I can do! I taught myself how to crochet this week. I'm getting a faster and faster as I practice, and the stitches are starting to look more even. Project #1...a nice warm scarf for this winter. Notice The Office playing on TV. They aired 8 episodes in a row on TBS. It was perfect to just play that in the background while I taught myself how to crochet!

Confessions

The following 25 little tidbits about me may or may not surprise you. Let's find out.

• Disneyland commercials make me cry. 
• I'm a total introvert. 
• I secretly have a burning desire to change the world. 
• When we were little, I told Natalie that the word "buttocks" refers to one's neck. 
• I don't understand exactly what dry cleaning entails. 
• I'm obsessed with anything peach flavored. 
• I have a big crush on Ryan Reynolds. 
• I've read Ender's Game 11 times.
• I am OCD about cleaning out my purse/backpack every night. 
• My lips are addicted to cherry flavored natural ice chapstick. 
• The other day, I got my Fro-Yo with gummy worms (sour and regular), swedish fish, mike 'n' ikes, gummy bears, cheesecake bites, twizzlers, raspberry gummies, chocolate covered raisins, and a cherry. Every bite was delicious. 
• Sometimes I'm in a bad mood. 
• I love driving people to the airport so that I can have 45 minutes by myself to sing my heart out. 
• I can't sleep without my Moshi pillow. 
• I own more than 50 pairs of earrings. 
• I've always wanted to learn how to play the violin, and I think the cello makes the most beautiful sound in the world. 
• When I was 7, I had to get stitches on my chin after I fell while I was spying on my neighbors. While we're on the subject...until last week I thought that I'd had stitches 4 times. Nope...apparently it's just 3. 
• I hate showering without music playing in the background. 
• I have a really hard time obeying speed limits.  
• I really want to run a marathon, but for whatever reason the thought scares me to death. 
• I really don't like flossing. 
• When I'm stressed, I wiggle my nose. 
• In the third grade, I thought the word "orangutan" was pronounced "orange-gutan." 
• One time when I was grocery shopping, I scoured the aisles for 45 minutes looking for chicken bouillon cubes. I never found them. 
• My highest score on a word in scrabble is 84 points. The word: ditz.

First item of business...my gluten free sandwich from heaven. I don't think it looks particularly great in this picture, but MAN it tasted good. Who says a gluten intolerant can't have a sandwich every now and then? Just sub a couple of corn tortillas for the bread, pair it with a cup of grapefruit slices and you've got yourself a nice little lunch.

Peri and I went out to lunch at Chili's to celebrate her birthday (Happy 21st!!). The waiter big time flirted with us, and we did not flirt back. Strange. We got Peri a big Molten Lava Cake and she demolished what she could. All things considered, I think her efforts were commendable. 

                

Guys...I think I have a problem. That problem is called nail polish. I've never been a nail painter before. I've always gnawed on my nails, making them weak, stubby, and not pretty. But without class and the testing center (which makes me bite my nails off at an alarming rate) my nails have been looking pretty decent. Now they kind of look cute with color on them, so naturally I buy 6 new colors every time I go to Walmart. Sigh... Not only am I spending money, but I'm also spending about an hour every couple of days repainting my nails and toenails. I've gotten pretty quick at it, and I must say that my nocturnal ambidextrous capabilities have come in quite handy. 

This was my collection a couple weeks ago. 

We won't talk about how much bigger it is now.