C'est ma vie maitenant.

• I started my internship this week. I'm back at City Hall, doing all kinds of exciting filing, typing, and turning unused rooms into storage. (But mostly filing.) Turns out I'm being paid after all, and I can't describe how grateful I am that that is the case. 

• Pottermore. I adore Jo Rowling's wizarding world and the imagination that she put into it. Hurray for getting MORE of it. 

Yep. I'm in Slytherin. I'm okay with it. They have a bad rap because the story was told from the point of view of a Gryffindor, but I'm clever (or I like to think I am) and ambitious. It fits.

• Today I had an encounter that made me want to go home, watch (500) Days of Summer, and cry. Instead I slept until 8pm. Now it's 1:20am. I'm feeling better, but we shall see what kind of adventures I'll have while I get myself to try to sleep again before I get up to be at work at 7:00.

• In the meantime, I'll take a page from Liz's book and tell you what I'd do if I had won $640 million in the recent lottery. 
• Pay off my debts, and then my parents'. 
• Put myself and my brothers through school. They'd be on their own for mission money.
• Get myself a car. Nothing too fancy, though. Probably something like my "first" car. 
• Get myself a nice place in Upland or Claremont with at least one room lined with bookshelves.
• Buy my Pinterest closet. 
• Open and run a charter or private school for girls. 

Social Media Appreciation

GPOY, n. short for "Gratuitous Picture Of Yourself," usually accompanied picture of yourself, or something that you do.Most commonly used on tumblr both in the main post and as a tag.

I worked all day today, with a power nap in between shifts. Tomorrow will be more of the same.  I have a lot of time to think while I do busywork. And sometimes those thoughts come in a status update/tweet form. Here are a few that crossed my mind, but I didn't post (even though I could have done a few. Things have been a  bit around City Hall for me lately.) 

I don't know how Relient K ended up on my Adele station, but I'm more than okay with it. #pandoraispsychic

I guess nobody gets used to the crazies coming here. #governmentwork

WHY is there still June gloom in the middle of July?!

It's cousin power night at Baskin-Robbins! <3

Can it be my birthday now so that I don't have to work? #exhausted

So there you go. My less-than-interesting day summed up in even less interesting tweets. But hey--twitter is not exactly a place of great profundity, either.

Fine, I'm Going to Complain A Little.

This week was STRESSFUL, complete with drama, dented cars, and 45 hours of work between two jobs. It's been a good weekend, but I'm still exhausted and aching. So I found little ways to keep myself together, because this summer is starting to feel like last summer, and that is the last thing I want in all the world. 

I bought myself sunflowers because they were on sale.

A little bit of ibuprofen. 

Too much TV.

A trip to Victoria Gardens with our exchange students.

Lots and lots of prayer. That's the main one right there, because Heaven knows that I haven't yet learned how to handle stress well, and I cannot do it by myself. 

And to make up for the complaints, I will count my blessings.

No one was hurt in the car accident.

I only cried once, and that was just over a false alarm.

I still have family and friends who love me.

HelloGiggles exists.

I bought my textbooks and I want to read them this summer to make Fall semester easier.

I only work 39 hours this week, and not at Baskin-Robbins until Wednesday. 

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY.

It's also the name of my favorite Jimmy Eat World song.

I had an interesting discovery recently. At first I thought it was a temporary feeling, but it's lasted a lot longer than I thought it would and has only intensified.

I love my job.

Yes, I love my little part-time job that eats up all my nights and weekends and used to stress me out so much in high school. It pays next to nothing and makes me hate people in general.

I love my coworkers. I love having a steady income. I love ice cream. I love the regulars. I love the customers who act like decent human beings.

But most of all, I like the accomplishment I feel from working. I think a lot of us forget about how awesome work in general feels because sometimes it sucks and there's almost always something else we'd rather be doing.  But we're on earth to work, so why wouldn't it be satisfying in the end?

Weekend Update Thursday

This weekend my mom and I attended BYU Women's Conference. It was a blast. I fell in love with the BYU campus and could definitely see myself going to law school there. (Plus it's cheaper than in-state tuition at UCLA.)

 And they make THESE.

 Photo fail at the Marriot Center before the concert. I may or may not have shouted "I'll marry you!" to Vocal Point about an hour after this was taken. 

I met up with my good friend Lisa at The Cocoa Bean in Provo.

I hurt.

But that's my own fault for being so out of shape and suddenly letting Jillian Michaels kick my but with the 30 Day Shred. Today is Day 3.

I miss my best friend.

And the best roommates ever.

 I got a job this week! 

Well, I technically got my old job back. I started again at Baskin-Robbins last night and it was a blast. I'm grateful to get an income at a place I already know my way around.

And here's Minnie, just for the heck of it.

Okay, I miss her, too. And I miss not being allergic to cats.

Christmas Vacation 2010

 We started Christmas off right--by going to Disneyland and getting annual passes! My parents and I surprised Jared & Noah. It was pouring down rain and we left early, but it was still fun and we're looking forward to going again and again and again (in better weather.) We took this picture in the parking structure.

 Christmas Eve brought the annual California Taylor family Christmas Pageant. It's always tough to cast. No one wants to be a wise man. 

They want to be sheep.

 Or the donkey.

Or the hay in the manger.

 The most coveted part, is of course, the innkeeper.

 But we always end up with a Mary and a Joseph. It's a cute tradition.

 We always get jammies for Christmas. Yep. Those are black and white camo print footie pajamas. They're awesome. Mine are way too big. 

 We got an ice cream maker! I'm so looking forward to using it. All the experiments we did before I left were the best I've had in a long time. And I was working at Baskin-Robbins.

It's probably because we're not just relying on the recipes that came with the machine...

The older kids all got iTunes cards in our stockings, so I got Paul Anka's album Rock Swings. It's big hits from the 80s and 90s in a swing style. It includes one of the best covers of Wonderwall I'm going to find. (Thanks for the tip, Rachel!)



Other non-holiday activities of mine included work, spending the night with my good friend Jenny, a rediscovery of my cat allergy, shopping and dinner with my favorite Yalie, and accidentally seeing a rated-R movie. (I was sure it was PG-13 at the time, I promise!)

Lessons I Learned (or Re-Learned) This Summer

1. When there's a job to do, get it done. 
2. That said, it's still crucial to eat three meals a day and get more than 4 hours of sleep a night. Even when you think you're too stressed out to do either.
3. Crying is not a sign of weakness.
4. You don't need a whole lot of things. They cost money.
5. Singles wards are going to have their awkward moments. Embrace them--they'll be great stories to tell later.
6. Handle situations like a mature adult. 
7. Living alone isn't that great.
8. Daydreaming about the impossible is fine as long as you can understand and accept the impossibility.
9. The Atonement isn't just for sins, but for sickness, sorrow, and pain.
10. For the love of all that's holy, wear sunscreen.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice, You Know...

Remember this list? This great list of things I wanted to do this summer? Out of the nine specifics, I've done three. Only three more are plausible. (Seriously, $15 just to PARK at Disneyland? No thanks.) But I believe I've done generally awesome things, too.

picture by jill rich

Like get to know these fabulous ladies better. You guys all know Seraphine by now, but her mom, Sabrina, has become a really close friend. We can get together and just talk for hours on end. I don't know how I would have survived the summer without her. 

Ohmygoodnessilovethepeopleinmywardtheyaresoawesome. 'Nough said.

Running a business almost on my own has been one of the hardest and most stressful things of my life. But I've learned a lot from it and it's paying for school.

In short, I have three weeks left of my summer. I'm going to make an adventure of it. 

I know you're all just terribly excited to see what I've done with my hair. Because I am just so awesome and everything I do is important. I have no good pictures of it yet. But I will tell you that I completely disregarded the overwhelming majority of you and went blonde. And I like it. I was blonde as a child and it still works.

The sad thing is that I put that before the news of my birthday! I turned 19 last Thursday. I didn't too anything too big--worked all day, then had dinner and cupcakes with my family after.

Uhhh, that's all. Bye.

Wait a Minute...

You never know what could set you laughing on the inside all day long. Today, it was this shirt.

On this boy.

And he wanted to show me how to drink from a water bottle. And watch cartoons on my iPod. And read Dr. Seuss. And "help" with orders. And everything else the world has to offer a two-year-old.

Or this kid. He asked if we could have a party when he found out that we would be the only ones home tonight. Luckily, his idea of a party is playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl on the Wii.

I felt like baking today. It's nice to be at home where my mom has a KitchenAid and a convection oven and everything I need for chocolate cupcakes and buttercream frosting. (I always bake from scratch!)

 (Okay, the blue and yellow frosting came from a can. But it was fun to decorate some of them!)

Geez,how did this turn into a Mom Blog? I'm only 18! Just look at this post--it goes from toddler to eight-year-old to baking completely effortlessly. I think this means I need a date. Or at the very least a girls' night out. Or a life in general. Anyone who wants to help in this effort will be compensated in dumb jokes and baked goods!

They Stab it With Their Steely Knives, but they Just Can't Kill the Beast.

On Monday I started my first full-time job. I'm a slave minion making pretty things for your walls.

(I checked the spelling for "minion" and discovered that it comes from the French mignon--cute. Go figure.)

I'm still learning the ropes, but so far it's much better than scooping ice cream. It's fun to hang out with people with degrees in political science and their two-year-old (who could've been my prom date.) He likes to give me lego flowers and if he leaves for a play date or something, he won't leave until he gives me a kiss and a hug. (Men of the world, learn from Reagan!)

It's still strange to be in California, though. I'm indoors all day and don't notice the heat. Today I took off my cardigan and kept it off for the first time in who knows how long because I wasn't cold anymore. It's still going to take a while before I even think about wearing flip-flops or shorts. They need to work their way back into my schema of appropriate clothing again the way bare arms took almost a week to do.

I also returned to find my family replaced by Trekkies. I like it. We watch reruns of The Next Generation together and got First Contact from Netflix. That's another way we know the world won't end in 2012--warp drive will be invented in 2063.

Now then, who wants ice cream? How about a cupcake? Yeah, me too.

Thank Goodness for the First Amendment.

Hey there, Federal Government.

Do you have a problem with my being born?

I think you do. I've had the same birthday for the past 18.5 years. It says so on my passport. It says so on the birth certificate that you never sent back to me when I got my passport.

What the heck kind of birthday do you think I have if I can't file my taxes with it?

You're lucky my political ambitions pretty much end in Sacramento.

One More Reason to Survive the Rest of the Semester

 

found this image here.

"My Summer in the Village." Sounds like an adventure, doesn't it?

 Of course, it won't be all exploring little shops and taking pictures in the most beautiful city in the general vicinity of my hometown (in my humble opinion). There's gonna be two jobs to work and all that jazz. 

But still. The Village. It's not exactly Paris, but I'm excited.