My Nana

I miss you already!

Here's a picture of my Nana camping up in the White Mountains

I wish I had an old picture of her from when she looked like a movie star...

Today I lost my Nana. She had been suffering from dementia for a very long time and was to the point of not even being the woman I grew up with. I should be so happy she has passed on to be with family in a state of joy and no pain, and I am. For a while I've thought that maybe it would be better if she could pass on and not have to suffer in this earthly state anymore, I just didn't realize how hard it would be or how much it would affect me.I think what bothers me the most is that I'm not with my family to say goodbye and to mourn together. Luckily, I saw her during the Christmas break and despite what people may think she was capable of, she greeted me and said, "Hi, Sweetheart. I miss you." I've missed you too Nana. I told her I loved her before I left and kissed her head. My mom also let me "talk" to her the last night on speak phone before she left us. I told her about all the fun things we had done together and what I remembered the most. I like to believe that some part of her could hear me.

I've always been very close to her, especially since I was the oldest. My heart aches knowing my cousins and siblings didn't have a chance to grow up knowing this wonderful woman before her disease kidnapped her body. I spent many nights and weekends with her and we took countless field trips together. Heck, I'd probably be named after her if my mom wasn't sparing me from being called Edna! My Nana was one of the strongest women I know. She was the most fascinating creature to me and I yearned to be like her growing up. My Nana always took me out into the community to experience cultures and enrich my life at museums, art galleries, libraries, the zoo, and many more places. She showed me pictures and told me stories about my ancestors and all the incredible places she had visited or lived in her life. She installed a curiosity inside me and fed my soul and mind with the possibilities of the world. She also spoiled me with little gifts and let me destroy her make up and jewelery by playing dress up. I aimed to please her and make her smile in all that I did.

Here are some reasons why I feel a deep connection with her:

• My Grammers said my Nana had the "itch" and couldn't wait to leave home and travel. I too left right after graduation and look for every chance to leave and explore. I want to live all over the world! I'm her little gypsy girl.
• My Nana loved art, music, traveling, cultures, and experiencing things within the community. I'm now completely obsessed with these things.
• She was one of the most independent and self reliant women I've run into. I too have been referred to as "fiercely independent" by my G'ma. I can and will take care of myself.
• Nana was a go-getter. She loved learning and trying new things. She was opinionated but also one of the most giving and thoughtful human beings.
• No one is perfect and I know my Nana wasn't either. But she was a good woman with an incredible heart and soul. 

I see my life and my dreams as a direct result of my Nana's influence and life. I strive to be more considerate like her and to live a life full of charity and excitement. I don't know what lies ahead but I know that I have very big hopes and dreams I plan on achieving because of one of my heroes and best friends, my Nana. I know you hated people talking about you, especially when it was praise. But I love you and want others to know how wonderful you were too. I'll try my best to make you proud Nana! Say hi to Grandpa for me too!

Happy Birthday Roommates!

Today (it's like 2am) is two of my roommates birthdays! Happy Birthday Rachelle Gleason and Heather Jenson!

I freakin' love these girls. They are both so wonderful and keep me going at times. Who would've thought that these two strangers would end up being my friends? I love how things work out sometimes. 

Here's a few reasons why I love these girls:

HEATHER JENSON

This picture is mainly for her boyfriend and his celebrity crush on T-Swift. Heather is so great, here's why:

1. Heather served a mission and now works at the MTC. (she had to wear a ring to keep the new elders from being in love with her)

2. Heather always laughs at my jokes and overall ridiculous-ness. She is very supportive in all I do.

3. She finds good in everyone. She never has anything bad to say about someone, she is so sweet!!

4. She gets really excited about almost everything and anything. Sometimes she scares me when she gasps really loudly or yells her catch phrase, "Shut up! Shut up!" I love it!

5. Not only is she gorgeous, she is very in-tune with the spirit and always has such a serene effect on people.

Heather is very good to me and I'm so glad we have become friends. I love that we're Glee buddies too! :)

RACHELLE GLEASON

Here is Rachelle and her boyfriend Justin. You may recognize him, he's kind of a big deal.

Let me tell ya about Rachelle:

1. Rachelle is probably to most Christ-like and giving person I have ever met.

2. She is so positive and always has the best attitude about life and the future even when things look dim.

3. She is hilarious! I've almost peed my pants a couple of times with her. She can make anyone laugh and is full of excellent one liners. 

4. She loves her family and friends. Rachelle is from a BIG family and cares about them so much. She would do anything for those she loves, even if it was a sacrifice for her.

5. Rachelle is extremely talented and in addition has a unique set of skills. She never ceases to amaze me.

Well, there they are. Did I mention they are both really hot? Oh yeah, not only are they both intelligent, spiritual, and fun-they also are gorgeous. I lucked out when I moved into this place. Happy Birthday ladies, you both deserve the best! I love you and would've never made it through the past year without you! :)

P.S. maybe if you are lucky senor will come sing "happy birthday" to you in English, Chinese AND Spanish...

How Did I Get Here?

I was going to take a nap but my next door neighbors are getting their floors done and there is a crazy loud noise so I thought I would do a little post...

I was walking around campus the other day and the thought entered my mind, "How the heck did I get here?" Really. I never planned on going to BYU. Actually, I'm pretty sure 2 years ago I was swearing that I would never live in Utah and NEVER ever step foot on the BYU campus. A little while later things changed and What Up Brigham Young University?! It's really strange in a good way how different my life is. Provo is like its own planet and BYU is about the same. A lot of times I feel like I don't belong but I know it's right and things have worked out super great. Walking around campus is always a frickin treat, Mormons are sort of nuts. People give BYU students a hard time but I now know why. Haha, there are some interesting (to say the least) people walkin up on that campus. I thoroughly enjoy awkwardness so everyday is basically my favorite day at school. I've heard some pretty hilarious conversations going on. Most of them aren't intentionally funny but I find myself ease dropping and cracking up all the time. I heard about this not too long ago..http://overheardatbyu.com/. It's accurate but I've seen and heard so much better.  For example today I was walking ahead of these girls and here was the convo I heard:
Girl 1: So I was like so happy, like I was on drugs or something. I mean, I've like loved him forever and now it's like he loves me too! I guess he like, liked me before his mission too. It's like oh my gosh, why didn't you tell me? We like kinda dated I guess but I don't know. Anyways, I'm just so excited about everything.
Girl 2: I'm so happy for you!
Girl 1: I know, right? He like even had a dream about me! He won't tell me what it was or what is was about.
Girl 2: It was probably dirty..
Girl 1: What? UH! NO! It was probably about marriage.
Girl 2: You're right, it probably was. It could've been dirty though...
Girl 1: Not a chance, it was definitely about marriage.
It was super hard not for me to laugh slash want to turn around and smack them. Girls, wow, they're crazy!
Everyday I get to experience little gems like this. Thanks BYU.
Also, thank you for my kick-A biology (aka birdology) teacher, Dr. Black. I knew we were going to be bffs the first day when he said, "Biology can be fun and it can be serious. What do I mean by that? SEX. It can be serious, you can get a disease and die. Or have a baby, that's serious. It's also fun though, just call your parents and ask em."  He is the funniest teacher I have ever had. He clowns on everyone but he can take the heat too. today he told us a story of a conversation he had with a girl (he referred to her as the reproductive girl b/c she was holding a baby) in the hall. He asked her why bats can make such high pitched noises. The girl responded saying because of their tiny testicles. He said, yes and no. Also their tiny vocal cords. He also said there is no use for horror films when you can just make movies about radioactive bats that have huge scary heads. "That would be a million times better than those retarded Twilight movies!"

I would have to agree

Some lovely people have started fan pages for him on facebook. Check it out.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hal-Black-Fan-PageYou-know-you-love-him/285974472275
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42231565849

Well, that's all for now. Much love and I'll work on some drawings for next time :)

Errbody got Nashty

I've been kind lame with the postings, school and work rule my life now. So like a month or two ago I decided that my friends/roommates needed to buy tickets to the Jazz vs Suns game with me. We finally we went to the game last weekend. It was super fun even though we were a little divided on which teams we were rooting for. We had a blast on the way over and during the game. It made it even better when the Suns won. Gotta love Steve Nash. Here's some pictures of our night...

Here's Carolyn, Heather, and Adam. I forced them to make faces.

Rachelle and I partying it up in the front seat

Group Shot

We were at the top but luckily sat by some awesome kids that cracked us up the whole time.

Their best line, "guys, we have really good seats!" 

Rachelle captured me dancing. Look at my friends pretending like they don't know me...so rude

All the girls (I'm just lounging on top of them)

"Where's Jimmer?"

         It was a fun night and I was totally stoked my boys won! Errbody in Utah was gettin Nashty...

Oh, and then later that night I had to go undercover for something, but that's a completely different story. Here's a picture of my get up. I jump at any chance to wear my mustache :{)

I'm so good at looking really dirty.

That's all for now. Stay tuned because I have a new obsession and I plan on sharing it with the world soon :)

Childhood Dreams

I've realized over the years that I'm one of a kind, especially as a kid. I've always had my own way of thinking and doing things, but I think I was a pretty strange child. For example, I used to pretend I was Oprah and interview myself. I could go hours back and forth between being myself and Lady O telling my fake life story to my TV idol. Yeah, I don't think that's normal for a kid. Another thing I struggle with (besides being ridiculously quirky) is wanting to do and be everything. I've had so many failed ambitions in life because I see or hear something and immediately want to do or be that person. So..here are a few examples of what I wanted to be as a kid due to outside appeal. I feel like I have to preface this and say that I was really innocent and naive. I had no idea what these jobs entailed.

Dream #1: Stripper
I think I was in the 1st grade when I overheard my mom talking on the phone about her distant relative or old friend that was a stripper. I HAD to find out what a Stripper was. After my mom hung up, I bolted over to discover what this mystery profession was.
Me: "Mom, what's a stripper?"
Mom: "It's someone that dances and takes their clothes off. They get paid a lot to do it too."
Me: "Hmm...okay! Thanks."
Ironically, the next day or so was "What I want to be when I grow up day." I couldn't wait to share my new dream of being a stripper! I wrote my little sentence or two of how I wanted to be a stripper when I got older and make lots of money. My mom got a phone call. Let me explain why this was appealing:

Stripping was my ideal job because: 1. I loved dancing, 2. I liked not being confined by clothing constantly, and 3. I liked money. How is being a stripper not an ideal job when you love all of those things individually? Collectively, stripping was bomb.     (I now know better and feel sad for strippers) 

Dream #2: Bartender

I don't even need to try and explain this one. Have you ever seen an awesome bartender that can mix up and spin drinks like nobody's business? Well, I did and I had to be one.

                                        <--Check it. Still need further proof?

Dream #3: Rabbi

In Elementary School we had to research jobs that appealed to us. I came upon a rabbi. I'm a fan of fun hats, awesome hair-dos, and a sweet salary. Being a Rabbi is where it was at!

I think that knowing all of this information and learning that I'm going to school to become a teacher is either a relief or concerning to most people. I think I found my niche though. Although I'm basically starting over at BYU and getting my Bachelor's will take forever, I couldn't be more pleased with my decision. I always think of the line in Tommy Boy when Richard tells Tommy, "A lot of people go to college for seven years....they're called doctors." Yeah, it may take me seven years to get my degree but what kid wouldn't want a teacher as crazy as me? Life is good and I can't wait for the future, my dreams are SO much brighter now than in my youth :)

Heather's Favorite Bedtime Story

I love to tell my roommate, Heather, stories. I tell her ones about when I was younger and all my hopes and dreams of taming wild animals into being my bffs. I'm a pretty animated story teller and I make sure to act out everyone (and do voices). She's always a good sport and laughs at my ridiculous tales so she definitely encourages my creative side. I also am kind of obsessed with drawing pictures. None of my drawings could be considered art, they're mainly stick figures with flair. Anyways, Heather's only request was for me to post the story that I entitled:

So, the story goes. One day I was driving to work, lalalalaa probably singing some JT song. I'm minding my own business and almost to the house when a emotionally compromised and distraught squirrel sees me.

All of the sudden I hear a thud and something goes bouncing around underneath my car. Not only did it scare the living crap out of me, it made me super mad! I thought a little rascal neighbor kid threw a ball or rock at me and it was tearing up my car!

I slammed on my breaks and looked around for the kid that I was going to give the stink eye to. BUT there was no one in sight. As I was trying to figure out what the heck just happened, I glanced up at my rear view mirror. Low and behold I see a little fluffy critter waving its tail around, trying to regain consciousness and mobility. I felt so bad that the squirrel had totally miscalculated the distance between my car and the road and about decapitated himself. I was overwhelmed with guilt but then realized he was totally fine! He was waving his cute little tail and started running down the road.

It was a Tuesday afternoon miracle!! Yay! He had survived the thunder dome of my Honda and came out victorious. I was quite pleased with the results and continued on my way up the street to work. When I arrived at work, I told my boss all about how this crazy animal had nearly killed himself and made a miraculous recovery. My boss was also surprised and happy but granted me permission to kill the local herd of squirrels because their neighborhood was infested with them.

I then went about my business but couldn't get over my little mishap. My boss had to go to a meeting and left the house. A few minutes later I get the call..."Hey Shelene! Guess what? There's a really dead squirrel in the road, I think you killed it!" I thought he was joking so I ran down there just to check. Sure enough, that little guy didn't make it. He totally fooled me by running 20 feet down the road and keeling over. Here's what I discovered...

Another view

He looks somewhat peaceful, right?

I don't purposely kill animals so I felt really bad. But at the same time it was slightly funny (is that morbid of me?). Anyways, my only consolation was to believe the fact that he was seriously depressed and to the point of suicide. I only helped him (with the aide of my car) to get past his troubles and make it into squirrel heaven. I never thought of it, but being a squirrel must be a hard life if you have to run under unsuspecting cars to end your misery. I always thought they looked really happy! I once caught one (but that's another story) and he looked full of life and happy to be a squirrel. Well, now I'm more careful when I drive to work and I look both ways for other little guys that may be trying to pull the same stunt. So, that was my first and hopefully my last accidental homicide. There ya go Heather! :)