the adventures of a monday

I just dropped way too much money to print off 8 articles for a research paper about Tom Stoppard's play, Arcadia. At least that was what I meant to do. Instead, I printed off 100+ pages worth of the exact. same. article. At least now I'll become intimately familiar with "The Playwright and the Professors: An Interview with Tom Stoppard" by Katherine E. Kelly and William W. Demastes. And the best part? Yes. I printed all 100 sheets, though black and white, through the color printer.

And that is officially the dumbest thing I've done this week.
Sigh.
It's only Monday.

blizzard (not the delicious DQ variety)

This is what my Sunday looked like for 11 straight hours.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the commute between B-town, OR and Provo, that is an entire four hours longer than it usually takes.

Luckily, little Dekker (who isn't that little, interestingly) drove through all of the ugly stretches. Which as it turns out, was 9 of the 11 hours on the road.
Dekker=my hero.

So are these things, which I happily rediscovered on this marathon roadtrip:

And Taylor Swift, who might as well be crowned Princess of America, who served as the official roadtrip entertainment.
If you haven't heard this album, I honestly am at a loss as to how you've managed to avoid such a large chunk of pop culture.
Just go listen to it. Do it. Give in. All the cool kids are doing it...

Ps: this is my attempt to preserve a portion of Project: Gratitude...
Today I am grateful for: these cutie boots! I'm starting to fall hard for all things North Face. And my warm toes are definitely not hating.

Pss: BYU lost to Utah :( Sad.

Psss: MY BROTHER'S TEAM WON THEIR GAME!! Needless to say, after screaming pretty much the entire four-hour game long, my voice was a little pained. They won 47-29 and will be playing next week for the state title. Exciting, no? And that little guy ran for an 81-yard kickoff return! Ha he's so cute. You can read all about it here and here :)

a great day for football

Anybody else ready for this?

I think things look promising for the cougs today :)

I remember after last year's victory when Max Hall went off on this controversial little tirade. Everyone shook their finger at him publicly, but privately was thrilled that someone had finally voiced what we have all been feeling for years.

Amen, Max. Amen!

On a related topic, my baby brother Colten is playing in the semi-finals of the Oregon 4A state championship football tournament! Here is his adorable little mug in the newspaper.Fortunately, as per Thanksgiving break, I will be able to actually watch the game! I'm excited. My family is in Hillsboro, on the west side of the state right now waiting for a few hours before the game starts. In the meantime, my dad is spending his energy by loudly making snide comments about environmentalists when we find ourselves in large groups of native western-Oregonians. At the very least it's been pretty entertaining.

Holy War kickoff is at 1:30 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Baker-Gladstone kickoff is at 2:15 at Hillsboro Stadium.

Ready... BREAK!

Project: Gratitude, Day 16

I am a little ashamed at not having finished Project: Gratitude the day I was supposed to. I was so good about it until the very. last. day. How annoying is that? Sigh. Well I'm going to make up for it and finish this project though it is almost a full two days late. Over the past few days, I have been grateful for technology.

Isn't it so cool? I mean think about it. There are people literally all over this giant world who I love and I can communicate with them in a matter of a few seconds. And today my family drove more than 300 miles in a few short hours and the whole time, I was communicating with people in Utah. Back in the days of the Oregon Trail it would take a month to get that far and letters took about the same amount of time! We can have conversations with people who are hundreds of miles away, travel quickly, send letters and notes in the blink of an eye and access information about pretty much anything in the world faster than has ever been possible in the history of time. Just take a second and think about how blessed we are to be alive today. It really is incredible.

Project: Gratitude, Day 15

Well, I am nearing the end of Project: Gratitude. For those of you getting sick of this series, hang in there. I only have two left. Who knows, maybe I'll start another series after this? Either way, today I am grateful for (please brace yourself for the corniness that is coming) love.

On Monday during my last class, we were having a conversation about a scene in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf when Clarissa Dalloway's husband, Richard realizes how much he loves his wife and resolves to go find her and tell her. He goes and buys her flowers, but when he reaches her, he only gives her the flowers and can't bring himself to express his feelings.

It seems like situations like this are the case far too often. Why is it so hard to say those words, not just to a significant other, but to a parent, sibling, or friend? It is such an intimate phrase. There isn't a higher expression of attachment or respect in our language and saying it really opens up the possibility of rejection. On the other hand, we can't expect someone to reciprocate our feelings, because that is not love. Love is unconditional, whether reciprocated or not.

It is such a miracle to love someone! I mean honestly. Is there a higher compliment you can give somone than to love them?

So. My challenge to anyone stumbling across this blog is to not make the same mistake as Richard Dalloway. If you love someone, tell them. Right now. Each day. Every time you think it. It is such an amazing blessing to be able to love, and that is what I am grateful for today.

Project: Gratitude, Day 14

Today I am grateful for rest.

Since being home (approximately 24 hours),

I have taken a ridiculous amount of time to do this: watched way too many hours of this: Spent an inordinate amount of time using pretty much all of these:

and not worried for a second about this:

Yep, my life is great. And that is why today, I am grateful for rest.

Project: Gratitude, Day 13

Today I am grateful that prayers are answered, as evidenced by the fact that I am home safely despite Mother Nature's best efforts. And yes, I realize that this particular point is a little ironic considering my Day 11 post, but after staring at this scene for four hours as I tediously made my way from Happy Valley to my happy home, I am quite wintered out for now.

I know that the many micro-prayers said as I traveled along slushy/icy/snowy/windy/blizzardy roads today were answered because there is someone listening to and answering every word I pray. The ability to communicate with our loving and concerned Heavenly Father is amazing. It's not just because of this experience that I know that prayer is real, but today I am more grateful for it than usual.