China?

So I’m going to china this summer. In exactly one month to be exact. This is how the story unfolds…

My brother Matt and his girlfriend got engaged about two weeks ago. Very exciting news.

Matt “oh but hey the weddings in china…”

Me “Oh”

So that ruled out any possibilities of any of our family being able to attend. I was pretty upset about it to be honest. It is hard to face the fact that you are not able to go to one of the biggest days of your best friend and brother’s life. I was somewhat resolved to the whole situation when in the temple Mom asked me if I would like to go to China for the wedding. WHAT! Was she for real? How could I do that? Well it turns out she was for real. Many factors were preventing her from being able to go herself, and we all liked the idea of someone from our family being able to go and represent us over there. It was fate that I have no ties or other responsibilities that would prevent me from going. I was thrilled at the chance. And so the adventure of applying for a visa and buying the plane tickets began.

Did you know that traveling internationally is one of the number one causes of headaches in melodees? It’s true while I’m grateful for the experience this is giving me I do not look forward to doing it all again anytime very soon. The most difficult part has been trying to make sure that I have done everything properly. Much of this can be avoided by the use of an agency but in the necessity of making this as cheap as possible, I’m doing it myself. In purchasing my plane tickets I spent over an hour just researching the cheapest flights. I was able to find one for $800. A steal, I added the traveling insurance for an extra $100. One of the reasons it was so cheap is that I plan to make my round-trip from Los Angeles to china. I have plans to go see plans in Bakersfield before heading home to Provo. So then I needed a one way ticket from SLC to LAX I was able to find one for $100, a steal or so I thought. When I was reading the confirmation email I realized the reason the ticket was so cheap was because it was going to Long Beach and not Los Angeles.  After waiting on hold for 40 minutes I decided to look into ground transportation instead of changing my flight. Hurrah, I found a van service for $30. So all told my transportation to china will cost just over $1000. A whole 200 dollars cheaper than if I had just bought the first ticked I found and saved myself two hours of trouble. You decide if it was worth it.

The plane tickets should have been a fore shadowing of what was to come. I am currently in the process of figuring out the visa issues. So far it has not been too bad, however, I have a lot of questions that I feel are unanswered. Even printing the forms for the visa turned into an hour adventure on its own, but that’s a whole other story.

So I don’t like to complain (*chough cough this is where you nod your head in agreement), but as awesome as the chance to go to china is, it’s really messing up my life plans for the summer. Ok really it’s not Chinas fault and I should give the country a break. All of the summer classes I was planning to take are no longer being offered (a week before registration is when it change, convenient huh). So I have to reassess my whole plan. Do I take no classes this summer and graduate a semester later? I I’m in china I really can’t take first block which leaves second block. But if I’m in school second block to I stay in my apartment the whole summer so that I’m not commuting. Do I live in my apartment at all this summer, or should I move home before leaving for China? What can I afford, what do I want to do, what are the pros and cons to all of my options? My life feels more in the air than it has in a long time, and it’s never really reach solid ground for a while. Oh what a joys time of life. I’m positive it will all work out in the end. The question is how do you find end?

Bucket list

I believe strongly in setting and achieving goals. I believe in it so much that I often overwhelm myself with everything I want to accomplish. That being said I have a fairly extensive bucket list. When I realized that I had missed placed my most recent bucket list I decided it was time to remake one. Now my one disclaimer for my list is that I include all my goals from the obviously achievable, to the reaching for the stars veriaty. So without further ado: See the northern lights See the Tibet lanter festival Walk the sonne Visit every continent Live in a different country for at least a year Fall in love Own a mini van Nationally certify as an interpreter Make an infomercial Be in the credits of a movie Read at least a verse of scripture every day of my life Watch the sunrise from the top of a mountain Run a marathon Learn to play the piano Learn to play the guitar Learn to dance Be happy every day Make it to the celestial kingdom So pretty much this is a rough draft until other details are finalized. Here's to a good life!

Re-visiting the Who Cares Report

When I was in middle school, before the age of the blog, my brother had a string of monthly e-mails he titled the who cares reports. They were cleaver and witty and gave a great sum up of his life. As I attempt my first blog I decided what better way to than with a tribute to he who taught me that life is funny and way to over thought.

I am single. have been my whole life. While I am not bitter about that fact it has lead me to several thoughts and understandings about the world. In fact I feel that all that universe juice my mom fed me as a kid helped my gain an insight to the dating fallacy. Fist, dating is the universe's way of performing torture. What better way to help the male and female variety of the human species find a mate than to stick them in the most awkward social setting possible and see who can make it out alive. The worst is the blind date. Here is my position on blind dates as a girl. Those boys that need to be set up on a blind date are either way too social awkward or not interested in a serious relationship. If they were not one of the two they would not need to be set up. I have had several blind dates and they all end the same way, with relief. Second, what is up with DTR's why are they such a big deal? I wish there could be a DTR every hour. I hate the constant wonder if others actions are the result of being nice or actual interest. I wish we could communicate our "like" in words instead of ambiguous actions. I understand that this could potentially be more awkward and require a heck of a lot more self-esteem then the average dating age individual posses, but I would be so much less confused, and that's always a good thing.

Well, I may need to revise this post since I doubt that two items can count as enough knowledge gained as to be divinely inspired by the universe. But they have been learned in personal experiences on the battle ground. For instance I had a wonderful date last night. I liked this kid all last semester, but after a batched second date I figured the stars were not crossed enough for us to be lovers. I got over my crush and moved on with my life. Well last night we had a ward date activity in which we were paired together. I was excited, I knew he was a good guy and we would have fun together. The problem is I had to much fun. The activity was a dance and since neither of us liked to dance we meandered to the RS room where he played the piano and sang. It only took about three notes for me to be head over heels impressed. It would have been a lot better if he couldn't sing, but boy can that boy sing. After our serenade session we went back to the dance and he taught me the Lindy hop. Let me sum up the date for you so far. He is supper sweet and talented, and now knows that I cant sing, play piano, or dance. He must have felt like the luckiest guy in the world (sometimes I wish sarcasm was easier to convey in writing). But wait it got better. We went to his apartment to watch a movie with his roommates and some of their dates, and while we are sitting there waiting for the movie to start one of the other girls there starts to flirt with him! Not just flirting with him, leaning over so she can see past me to him since I was in-between them, to flirt with him. See why I love dating yet?

I think I'm in serious trouble of liking this boy again. However throughout all our dates I'm still not sure if he is just nice or if he likes me. The hardest part of the date always seems to come the next day. Do you approach them at church or wait for them to approach you?  Do you act cool and not mention the date like it never happened? Are you suppose to make special mention of the date so they know you had a good time or is that more creepy and overbearing? Or is the best policy to through up your hands and tell the world "who cares!"