You can call me Audge

Dead.

2012-01-18T10:36:00.001-08:00

Did you know that I once died? I was four years old. I'll tell you how.

My dad's side of the family was having a family reunion at a natural oasis about 45 minutes outside of Vegas called Warm Springs. It is a natural pond with turtles and fish swimming around in it and is surrounded by palm trees. There is a rope swing, a slide, a cliff to jump from, a diving board...all the best stuff. And, just as the name of it implies, the water is warm. And crystal clear. For me and the rest of the Mitchell-side crazies, this place was too good to be true. TURTLES in the pond? Dude.

The people who bought this place built a mansion next to it and cleared out some ground for a camping area and would rent it out to families. So we camped out and the next morning all the adults started cooking breakfast in the outdoor kitchen. All 8 million of us kids jumped in the pool. Heaven forbid we wait 3o minutes to eat first and THEN swim. So I'm having a grand old time with my awesome floaties on my arms. The adults yell, "Yo, come eat yo breakfast" (or something close to that) and we all hop out and start pigging out.

Here's where it gets bad.

I took off my floaties to eat. And while I was eating I of course had a one-track mind (swimming turtles swinging fishies), so as soon as I'm done I book it on over to the diving board and jump off into the warm water.

That's when it hit me. I was already in the water when I realized that I hadn't put my pink floaties back on.

I remember panicking and opening my eyes under water and seeing the bottom of the pond.

Meanwhile, people are eating and cleaning and jumping and swimming and swinging and diving. And my dad's side of the family is pretty big. It was a zoo. So no one noticed that I had just jumped into the pond floaty-less. And I don't blame them.

A while later my mom is cleaning up the kitchen when she gets a distinct impression to come and look for me. She starts asking around, seeing if anyone has seen me. She starts to panic, as half of the group doesn't know where I am, and the other half is having fun and hasn't noticed.

She runs over to the pond and sees my body at the bottom. She screams and, fully clothed, jumps in and pulls out what she did not know at the time was my lifeless body. My body was blue and and my eyes were dilated--clinical signs of death. The party suddenly got quiet as my mom was screaming for help. My aunt Velinda, an RN, and my brother Charley, who had just learned CPR in scouts, started performing CPR on me. My mom was beside herself. People were gathered all around me. After several minutes of pumping and breathing, miraculously, I came to and started coughing up lots of water, then let out a scream..."I've never heard a more blood-curdling scream" my mom told me.

Everyone packed up and we were on our way home. I was laying down in my family's 15-passenger van and my siblings were all surrounding me and asking me if I knew their names. I did. In fact, I seemed to be just fine.

A couple hours later I was running around the house with my brothers and sisters and cousins. That night I slept in my parents' bed between my mom and dad. My mom says that I woke up early in the morning, sat straight up and said, "I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus and Santa Clause really love me." And then I went back to sleep.

She often wonders if I saw the godhead and thought the Holy Ghost was Santa Clause (long white beard=Santa. Duh.)

My mom couldn't talk about the drowning incident for a while. It was too traumatizing for her. Several months later, she was talking to my aunt Velinda who assisted in saving my life and decided she was ready to talk about it. She asked her what her thoughts were when she was doing CPR. My aunt said that she knew I was dead but did CPR anyway to instill some hope in my mom. She said that there was no doubt in her mind that it was a complete miracle that I was alive and had no brain damage or anything.

Apparently my time on earth wasn't finished.

The end.

P.s. I might be a LITTLE brain damaged...

2012

2012-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

I was with my sister Laura today and we were talking about how every new year doesn't really represent "starting anew" for us, because the separation of 'the old year' and 'the new year' is one day. One day it's 2011 and the next it's 2012. Yeah, I've always made New Year's resolutions, but like Jeffrey R. Holland says, "...you only made five [resolutions] and you have already broken four. (I give that remaining one about another week.)" But, Laura said that this year is hers and John's year. She feels really good about starting fresh. And then I realized "Yeah. It's mine, too." Because I am going to MAKE it that way, damn it. (Ann, I thought of you and how you might have winced when you read that little curse word. My bad.)

So my constantly over-thinking mind's wheels have been a turnin today and I've come up with some resolutions that are going to FREAKING hard. Here are some, and only some, because many of them are private.

1. Take down some of my walls. I have walls that put the Great Wall of China to shame. Plus my walls have thick vines and layers of plaster and super glue and duct tape and chewed gum to keep 'em strong. Well they're coming down!

Hopefully!

2. Just kidding that's all I want to share.

But I swear, I have other resolutions that I intend to keep.

So the resolutions for 2012 will be good for me, but I also can't help but be stoked about:

-my Seven Peaks season pass (I've always been turned off by the stereotyped people who go to Seven Peaks, but this summer I'll be hittin it up with some siblings so it will be fun)

-my H&M gift card that's worth 50 bones, even though I hate shopping

-my Quarry membership! Wee! My hands are already torn up.

-graduation in December (it's about bloody time)

-the arrival of my fifth niece

Sweet. Even though right now the thought of completing ANOTHER semester of school and having work at 7 in the blasted morning Monday through Friday makes me want to gouge out my own eyeballs, I am going to focus on the positive.

Amen.

P.s. That quote from Elder Holland comes from this talk. Read it. Better yet, WATCH it if you can find it on the internet. I promise you it will impact you. K bye.

The Top Ten of Christmas

2011-12-26T13:16:00.000-08:00

Some of the best parts of Christmas this year, in no particular order:

1. Caroling. My family doesn't sing, so instead we cranked some Trans-Siberian Orchestra and did air guitar/piano/violin. We had a conductor and a strobe light and groupies and everything. We got some great reactions from the peeps who were lucky enough to witness my family's talents.

2. Spending time with my family and becoming even more attached to my niece, Autumn (Auggie).

3. Taking these pictures. Let these blow your mind.

4. Watching movies together. Hugo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, And of course, the Christmas classics. It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, etc.

5. Playing games. Bananagrams, Truth and Lie, Pictionary Telephone, and some other fun game that I don't know the name of that Laura and John taught us.

6. Making homemade sugar cookies.

7. Actually sleeping.

8. Christmas Eve dinner. What a feast, even though I didn't eat the pork. But trust me, IT WAS CALLING MY NAME.

9. Seeing my dad bust a move to the music I was cranking.

10. Feeding the homeless. My family went down town to the Fremont Street area of Las Vegas and served a bunch of homeless people dinner. My mom's friend organized the whole thing, so my mom made some of her insanely good homemade bread (she grinds her own wheat, people) and we headed down there and served up some chili and crackers, bread, cookies, hot chocolate, candy canes, and other goods to many homeless people of Las Vegas. Some came back for seconds, thirds...FIFTHS. It was such a cool experience. One dude was in a motorized wheel chair and we all thought it was so great that he would finish one bowl of chili, put the pedal to the metal and blast on over for more.

Amen.

Sup

2011-11-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

Had a good Thanksgiving.

Stuffed my face with taters, precious.

And lots of fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, grapes.

Oh and my mom's homemade rolls.

Also became even more attached to my niece, Auggie (Autumn).

Played some Mario Kart on the Wii. I'm such a spaz.

PUT UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

Lounged by the pool.

Did lot's of sleeping. I think I got caught up from the past few months.

Played some games.

Won some games.

Threw around the rugby ball.

Enjoyed pie. Thanks, mom.

Celebrated my ma's birthday. She got a nook and some dollaz.

Watched Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy and True Grit. And other movies.

Cranked some tunes.

Didn't think about school once.

I dare you to touch one more piano key.

2011-10-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

There's this piano in the Wilkinson Center on campus. It's for anyone to play, and it is in a large, open part of the building. So if someone starts playing, almost everyone in the building has to suffer through it. I made the stupid mistake of studying at a table very close to that blasted piano. Here I am cramming for a test in relative silence, and all of a sudden some dude starts plinking away at the piano. Some tune that I have never heard. Some tune that I am pretty sure this cat made up. It was a horrid little tune. The notes didn't seem cohesive or melodious. I know squat about music so I don't even know how to explain it. But it was the kind of tune that was seriously making me think bad thoughts about the dude playing it. I wanted to yell at him and tell him to stop driving everyone in the building to insanity. The fresh anticipation of the four tests I have to take this week did not help the situation. I decided I needed to leave before I blew a gasket. However, a few hours have passed and I think "Geez. I was really irritated. Yikes. Glad that's over with."

But guess what just happened.

I am writing this blog and the girls upstairs are being really annoying. Just like they are every night. Always shrieking and laughing late at night. A lot of the time fake laughing. And every move they make upstairs--every footstep, every door closing, every pulling or pushing of a chair across the tile is magnified in my apartment by about 500 decibels. So what do I do? I stand on my bed and start banging on the ceiling with my fist. Shut em up real quick.

Looks like I am still in a "mess with me and I will cut you" mood. I blame it on the stress and lack of sleep. Four tests in one week? These professors. So sadistic.

While I might be scaring everyone away from me as I write this, let me just sort of redeem myself by saying that I am so grateful for many things in my life. The biggest thing right now being that I am so so blessed to have my family so close by. Not only do I have extended family all around the valley, but Charley and Kat 5 minutes away, Sarah and Aaron 15 minutes away, and in a couple of days Laura and John TWO AND A HALF BLOCKS away. And the rest of my family a phone call away. I couldn't have been blessed with a cooler family. I love them all like it's nobody's business.

Also it is almost Halloween. I love Halloween. So that makes me happy. I'm not entirely neurotic right now, you see.

Disclaimer: Every once in a great while someone will play an awesome song on the piano. Then I feel okay about someone playing that piano.

One last IMPORTANT thing: everyone check out and follow my sister's hair blog!

Secret

2011-09-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about how being open with someone can go a long ways. I once had a conversation with my sister Sarah in which we were both agreeing that a trick to befriending someone is to open up to them. You decide how much you want to divulge and open up about; but the key is making it personal. It sends the message of "I have enough of an interest in being your friend that I am taking the step of confiding in you" and "I already trust to you to a degree, so I am going to tell you something personal." I'm not saying walk up to a stranger and yap in their face for an hour. I'm saying that this trick can work wonders when you are in the process of befriending someone.

With that said, I have decided that I want to be more open with people outside of my family. I can be a talkative Tiffany with family members, and a select few friends, but that's about it. To everyone else I am Audrey who is kinda tomboyish sometimes, and that's about it.

So I am going to tell you a secret. This is hard for me to do, but I think it will make me a better person. I have had an addiction for a while that almost nobody knows about. I don't like to talk about it because I feel exposed and ashamed. My addiction is

Pinterest. Did I scare any of you? Hahahahaha. Sorry (mom) if I gave you a heart attack. Oh, and when I say I have had this addiction for a while I mean 3 days, cause that's when I got a Pinterest account. I would hear about people (mostly Kat) talking about things they saw on Pinterest and how awesome Pinterest is. Then I started hearing about it more. So I looked it up. Within 10 minutes I was hooked. And you know what I decided? Pinterest is porn for women. Because it displays all things beautiful, creative, delicious, artistic, etc. However, I have a love hate relationship with Pinterest. I love it because I fantasize of acquiring or experiencing all of these wonderful things that I see on Pinterest. I hate it because oh yeah I don't have any money to buy those insanely cute clothes and oh yeah I am a broke, single undergrad, so owning my own home is waaaay hay hay hay down the road, let alone buying things to go in the home. And oh yeah I am a student so I don't have time to do creative things; all I do is read six psychology books and go to five psychology classes and work at a job that is at 7 a.m. every morning and that pays me as if I lived in the 1920s. So basically I hate looking at Pinterest knowing that I can't make it a reality. But you know what? Yes, I may be a tomboy and yes I may forget how to be girly sometimes, but I can assure you that when it comes to thing like home decor, just homes in general, clothes, holidays, cooking heavenly food, etc. I am ALL GIRL. Which is why Pinterest is the bomb. And it's clean. And there are millions of little tricks and do-it-yourself type things. Let me show you some gems.

(Her tattoo says "chin up")

Give Pinterest a whirl. It might suck you right in.

Down

2011-09-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Today I feel down. But I honestly don't have any good reasons to feel down. It has been a good day. Started it out by working out at the gym. Saw the dude that I went on a date with there pumpin some iron. He came over and talked to me as I was cycling away, dripping sweat. I'm sure I was looking real fly (not). Then I showered and then I drove up Provo Canyon for a ward activity. Kicked around a soccer ball, tried slack lining, hula hooped, and ate some pineapple cobbler. Came home, played some sand volleyball with some hot dudes and now I am writing this. In an hour I will leave for the BYU vs. U of U football game with some friends.

Good day, right? Yes. And I am thankful for it. But I woke up feeling down. Had a bad dream; some people that I love and care very deeply for were telling me in the dream that I am not worthy of love and they shunned me away. Left me feeling defeated.

Hopefully I'll snap out of it.

On a different note, I went to a track meet last night with some friends from the ward. BYU and other teams were racing. This dude Brian that I know is on the team and this meet determined whether he would be on the traveling team. So I get kinda crazy when I go to events where I get to cheer on someone that I care about, ESPECIALLY when it's a family member. My sister Ann is like that. I have a memory of her yelling "GO POOTSIE POO POO!!!" at one of my track meets. I loved it, and I love that I am like her. Fan club? Who needs one? Fan Audrey. So anyway, Brian placed 10th overall and qualified to be on the traveling team. It was awesome, and I enjoyed screaming his name and chasing him all around the 4-mile course, being his personal cheerleader.

I'm gonna be one of those crazy moms that you can always hear cheering for their kid in the bleachers. I'm also going to be one of those moms that will threaten a little fifth grader with his life for picking on my child.

I look forward to that aspect of parenting.

Wow. This blog post has no cohesion whatsoever.

Peace.

Hey...........................YOU.

2011-09-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

I developed a syndrome, recently. Or maybe I've had it all along and just started noticing it. Actually, now that I think about it, I created a syndrome that I diagnose other people with. I call it S.F.S. Same Face Syndrome. In the last year or so, I have found it harder to remember names of people because so many people look the same to me. For example:

I'm working. I am delivering packages to an office. I walk in and the secretary says "Hey!" in a tone that suggests, Audrey; I know you and you should know who I am. So I say, " Hey!" back and ask how she's doing. Meanwhile I am racking my brain, trying to figure out who this person is. I think, "I've seen 57 people that look just like you and to me they are all the same person." But then, (my job as a mail girl saves the day) I hand her the electronic scanner for her to sign for the package. She signs, gives it back to me. Ah. I can make out her signature just enough to figure out who she is. Hannah Stone (not her real name). A girl in my ward. The ward that I have been in for a YEAR. Knew the name. But the face? What can I say, she has S.F.S.

Disclaimer: People who have S.F.S. are not necessarily homely, ugly, or unpleasant to look at. They just have common features.

Another example. My roommate used to talk about this dude all the time. We'll call him Ted. So one day I get home from work and Ted is in the kitchen with my roommate. "Hey Audrey, this is Ted. Ted--Audrey." Nice to meet you, blah blah blah. Cool. So I met Ted. Next day. I am in my room and I hear my roommate in the kitchen talking to her friend (another dude). I hear her call him Joe. So in the next couple of hours I am running errands, doing whatever, and I come back to the apartment. I see this dude, apparently named Joe, is still in the apartment. A little while later the dude leaves and I say to my roommate, "So, that guy's name is Joe? How do you know him?" She says, "No. That was Ted. The guy that I like. The one that you met yesterday." Gulp.

So, to clear up the confusion. There WAS a dude named Joe at my apartment in the morning. BUT, when I was gone, Joe left, and Ted came over a little later. I got home, and assumed that he was the same guy that my roommate had been talking to in the kitchen that morning. Because my poor little head was unable to tell that this was indeed Ted, who I had met yesterday. Because Ted has S.F.S. I have seen like three other dudes in my ward that I thought were Ted. Even one of the members of the bishopric.

So we've all been in situations (maybe?) where we see someone that we have met before, maybe even been around them multiple times, talk to them, and you can tell that they have no recollection of you or they say something like, "Well it was nice to meet you," even though you have already met them before.

What am I, chopped liver? Geez.

I hate that feeling. And I sort of dislike people like that. Because it makes me feel like they are too wrapped up in how awesome they think they are to remember me. Plus it hurts my pride.

Bottom line; I don't want to be perceived like that. Maybe I'll ask the Big Man Upstairs for some help in remembering faces, even though they all look the same to me. Mnemonic devices or something.

So does anyone else have this problem? Or am I just showing signs of Dementia or Alzheimer's?

I'm..........................gonna call it night.

2011-09-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

My thoughts a couple of weeks ago:

"This semester is gonna be good. New apartment. New ward. New dudes. New me? Yes! A new me! A social me! Naaaah. Yes! And I will be confident and talk to anybody and everybody and social will become my middle name! Alright, sweet. Let the new semester begin."

Here's the current score.

Audrey: 0 The new semester: 863

Last night we had a ward social titled "Homemade ice cream and homemade root beer extravaganza!" Beats me why they didn't just call it "Root beer float night." Anyway, the root beer was already made, but the ice cream wasn't. Whaaaaaa? You are telling me we have to make our own ice cream? How long does this take? Does this mean that I might actually have to talk to people as I make my ice cream? So I grab a baggie, put some milk, sugar, and vanilla in it and then put that baggie in a bigger baggie with ice and sea salt and start shaking. After I assemble my ice cream making kit, I look up and realize that there is a massive sea of people called my ward. GULP. I immediately scan the crowd to look for my security blanket: the Spokane boys. I find them. Phew. Then, after the ice cream FINALLY develops some viscosity, I bust that baggie open, poor some root beer in, and drink. I head over to the Spokane boys apartment and within 18 seconds realize that I will not be having fun with them tonight. Because they all sit down and open their textbooks. What? Who does homework during the first week of school? Apparently they do. So. I open their door and find that the sea of people is still gathered, chattin the night away. Right in front of my apartment. So, I hastily walk through the sea and into my apartment and, as the title of this post implies, call it a night.

Tonight. I find a flier on my door that says. "Luau at the pool! Wear Hawaiian stuff! We will be eating Hawaiian haystacks and playing limbo and some other games that I don't remember!" I think, "Sweet! Free food! I'm there." So. I get home from class. Luau has already started. I scan the sea of fellow Colonizers. Don't recognize anyone. So I bee line to the food, chow, and then people-watch by myself. And after about twenty minutes I think, "Not that I don't love beefcakes that are just waiting to take their shirts off and get in the pool and girls that are trying to look sexy in hula attire or anything, but (you know what's coming) I think I'm gonna call it a night. Which brings me here. Writing this blog post. Hello.

*Mom: be not distressed. I will make friends and practice flirting. Eventually.

GOOD

2011-08-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sand volleyball with some of my favorite people. Horseback riding in the mountains. Touch rugby. Cupcakes and Liz. The Spokane boys. India Palace. Great conversations. Sardines in a tiny apartment with all the lights out. Tumbling gym. Swimming. First day of school. Hot dogs. Cycling so hard that I dripped sweat. Reading Harry Potter 5. Sunday morning breakfast. Family.

All components of the last week.

But, one of the best things about this last week was this incident:

Friday night I was playing some Sardines with some guys. Michael. Mac. Mitch. Thomas. Brian. David. And one girl--Alyssa. There was a lightning/thunder/rain storm outside, so while someone was inside coming up with the best hiding spot they could think of in the tiny space in the apartment, the rest of us were outside on the porch watching the lightning. And then we would begin searching. In the dark apartment with occasional flashes of lightning coming through the windows. Brian curled up in a ball on top of the fridge. Genius. Thomas curled up in a ball in the cabinet under the sink. Michael laid on the couch--UNDERNEATH the cushions. You get the gist. This game forced creativity, and it was fun. Don't worry, the best of this story is yet to come.

Thomas walks Alyssa home at about 11:30. I say, let's scare Thomas when he gets back. Now when we scare people, we mean business. None of this "he opens the front door and we jump out from behind it and yell in his face" mess. I mean professional scaring. We were scaring ourselves as we were masterminding our plan. And when I say we I mean Mac. Here's how our sheer ingenuity went down. We find the breaker panel up by the stairs. A couple flips of some switches and we now control the power in the house. Mac finds some scary music on his phone, plugs that bad boy into the iPod player and cranks it. I find an app on my iPhone that allows me to record myself saying something, and then changes my voice into another voice. I find a voice titled "haunting voice." Perfect. Download that app and we're good to go. We turn the tv on so that it is just static. Hide under a sleeping bag that's balled up in the corner and turn the vacuum on and off. Check. Use one of the Spokane dudes to be our spy. Done. In fact he probably sacrificed his reputation around the apartment complex by hiding in the shadows by the apartment across the street and creeping out some girls, just so that he could text us and tell us when Thomas was coming home.

Alright. So now a play-by-play of how we freaked the crap out of Thomas. It was very rewarding.

We're setting up, and Mac gets a text. "He's coming!" it reads. David casually comes out from behind the girls apartment so that he reaches the apartment about the same time as Thomas. Thomas walks in. We are all hiding. The lights are on. Suddenly, David slams the door behind him and holds it tight so Thomas can't get out. Michael flips some switches upstairs and the lights go out. Mac turns on his scary music. The lightning storm is still happening, so there is still flashes of lightning coming through the windows. Then, the tv turns on by itself (we had the remote) and it's just static. Brian's little finger sneaks out from under the sleeping bag and turns on the vacuum. Occasionally you can hear a "Tttthhhhhooooooooommmmmmaaaaaasssss" in a ghostly voice issuing from my phone. Thomas says, "What the freak is going on?! I hate you guys! I am not moving from this spot!" This goes on a for a few minutes and we are all thoroughly enjoying it. Finding that we are not going to let up on our little fright night scheme, Thomas flees out of the apartment, ("I'm leaving!"). We turn the lights on, emerge from our hiding places, go outside to where Thomas is and just start busting up. Thomas was laughing too. He's a good sport.

Seriously, I felt like I was twelve. It was so great.

The other best thing was that my mom got this:

She's wanted it for years. A Toyota Camry. It's a 2010, XLE. V6 engine. Lots of power. Glad you got your dream car, Mom.

Meet Steph

2011-08-09T18:04:00.002-07:00

This is one of my dearest friends, Stephanie Edwards. I met Steph briefly my freshman year on a Sunday. About two years later, I walked into apartment b22 in the Elms after having been homeless for six days and announced to the strangers (except for Jill Fitzgibbons Mohlman, who I knew from home in Las Vegas) that I was moving in. Steph was one of those strangers. I knew she looked familiar though, and after a few minutes we made the connection of when we had met freshman year.

Steph and I quickly became friends, which is funny, because we are very different in many ways. For example:

1) Steph likes to wear bright colors and sparkly things and dance and sing and scrapbook and all sorts of jazz. My favorite color to wear is black. And I play the beastly sport of rugby and don't dance. Or sing. Or scrapbook. I do enjoy looking at her scrapbooks, though. I'm pretty good at that.

2) Steph has on several occasions thought of setting me up with a theater friend. I have to tell her, "Steph, I want the guy I date to be manlier than me." ***

3) Steph's married. I'm not.

4) Steph's an open book with everyone. It takes time and trust for me to open up to someone. I'm one of those diaries that has a lock on it. And the key is lost somewhere in the ocean.

5) Steph loves all things country. I.........................don't.

Yes, there are some major differences, but I love those things about Steph. I think she is exciting and funny and brimming with personality and open to new ideas and blunt and sparkly and so on. I truly appreciate the fact that she is different from me in so many ways. And she appreciates my differences. And that's how we are the same. That's the similarity. We love each other. I can say that confidently. Which means that when we get together we can talk like it's nobody's business. I trust her. I tell her pretty much everything. And she does the same to me. And she always has wicked good stories for me.

All in all, I'm so lucky to have her in my life. Life won't be the same when she moves up to Seattle and she starts her bomb job at Apple and her husband starts law school. We won't have our frequent get-togethers. But you better believe that she will always be one of my best friends and that we'll keep in touch.

Steph, I'm excited for this huge step in life. I love you. Save a couch for me up there in Seattle, will ya?

*** Not all theater dudes are effeminate. No offense meant by this statement.

My Trip to the East Coast

2011-05-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

Some things I did while I was in the East Coast:

1. Charley's graduation at University of Connecticut. Manchester, CT

2. Indian food with Charley, Kat, mom, and dad. Manchester, CT

3. Saw the Old North Bridge, Walden Pond, and other historic sites. Concord, MA

4. Stayed in the Onyx Hotel. Boston, MA

5. Ate at The Paramount restaurant where Allison Mitton and Melissa Parkinson joined me, mom, Charley, and Kat. Boston, MA

6. Ate at Marliave with mom, Charley and Kat. Boston, MA

7. Walked around Boston, MA.

8. Walked around on a rocky beach. Rockport, MA

9. Explored shops in Rockport, MA.

10. Ate fresh lobster and fresh clam chowder in Rockport, MA.

11. Hit up some H & M. Manchester, CT and NYC, NY

12. Went to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. NYC, NY

13. Saw the Milling family in Manhattan, NY.

14. Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, NY.

15. Watched Tangled and Michael Clayton and ate delicious Dominoes pizza. Manchester, CT

Bomb diggity trip, I'd say.

Mad

2011-05-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Jeannette Walls's parents will surely burn in hell.

Sarah

2011-04-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

My oldest sister, a quantum physicist, writer, marathon runner, mother of three, and wife of one (THANKfully) is one of the coolest people I know.

She has this mind that is unmatched, which makes for great conversation. Her brain is filled with interesting information on any given topic. Like dissonance and black holes and antimatter.

Recently Sarah moved to Mapleton. What a blessing having her just 15 minutes away. I feel like I have grown even closer to her.

Sarah and I recently drove to Vegas and back. We listened to about 8 hours of music during that drive. From Beyonce to Simon and Garfunkle to Geographer to Ghostland Observatory to Adele to Bonethugz N' Harmony to so much more, we belted those songs. And I don't know about her, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I just want her to know that she is one of my best friends and I love her.

Arby-Q

2011-04-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

For Laura and Seth, who eternally torment me about this.

We were flying to Boston in the middle of the night. Mom, Dad, Sarah, Ann, Scotty, Laura, Seth and I. All of a sudden flight attendants were running up and down the plane. Are we crashing?! What's happening?! Then I looked over and there's a man laying in the aisle with blood all over him. The pilot announced an emergency landing in Pittsburg would take place. The man had some sort of disease and had started throwing up blood (sorry for the disturbing details). We landed in Pittsburg at around one in the morning, and the man was taken to the hospital. He survived (I actually don't know that detail, but let's just say that he did because I'm trying to get away from the morbidity of this post). It looked like we were going to be at the airport for a while. Laura, Seth, and I were hungry, and the only food place that was open was Arby's. All the times I had been to Arby's in Vegas I had gotten a trusty Arby-Q. So I ordered first. I said to the young girl who looked like she hated her life at that moment, "Um. Can I have an Arby-Q?" She then said (in a voice that sounded ultra bratty teenagerish to me) "an ARBY-Q?" Mom had to explain to me that apparently Pittsburg Arby's don't serve Arby-Qs, so I ordered something else.

The end.

Seriously. That's the end of the story. So here's the eternal torment part.

Laura and Seth bring that up ALL THE BLOODY TIME. And they laugh and laugh because bratty Britney behind the counter said "ARBY-Q?" and there I was, looking sheepish. They find it even funnier because THEY WERE GOING TO ORDER THE SAME THING, but thankfully their innocent, angel of a sister ordered first.

Them bringing that up used to unleash my 10-year-old wrath. But now I just roll my eyes and laugh because they are still trying to extract any bit of humor from the story, 12 years later.

W, NW, E, and a little bit of S

2011-04-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

I'm proud of myself. In the last year I have been to:

Las Vegas, NV-home

Provo, UT-school

Palo Alto, CA-rugby tournament at Stanford

Coeur d'Alene, ID-roadtrip

Florence, OR-visit Ann, Brian and kids

Harrisonburg, VA-visit Laura and John

Washington D.C.- vacation with some of the fam

Miami, FL-for a night on the way back from Haiti, and

Port au Prince, Haiti-humanitarian trip for FFCIN

and will soon be going to these places (May 6-12):

Manchester, CT-Charley's graduation

NYC, NY-PARTAAAY, vacation with Mom, Charley, and Kat

Boston, MA- vacation with Mom, Charley, and Kat

Not bad for one year, eh?

Suggestions for places to visit in Boston and NYC?

Febrero

2011-02-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

I have another blog. This one is for everyone to see. I would prefer this blog stays somewhat private, but I don't care who sees my other one. If you want to check it out, click here.

Peace

Manipulation

2011-01-17T10:03:00.001-08:00

Alright, here it is. I've been thinking a lot about this, and I decided I am going to share it.

Some thoughts on manipulation.

Manipulate: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage

Manipulation is a science. It, like other skills, can be practiced. People who manipulate don't stick with old material; they find newer, more complex ways to manipulate people or situations. That is a scary thing.

I consider my encounters with manipulative people both detrimental and beneficial. Detrimental in the sense that because manipulation is a twisted way of gaining control, I have at times become trapped by some people's manipulative words. Beneficial in the sense that I have become able to often recognize when people are being manipulative. Thus, it helps me to better understand that person's character. I can not only avoid getting sucked in, but can distance myself from that person. Because people who manipulate have an agenda. They have motives.

Why is it that people use manipulation? Because it empowers people. It helps them gain control. Often times people who are manipulative have had traumatizing experiences in their lives, or have had some destructive or negative event take place in their lives that they cannot control. Or they were just born with certain misfortunes that they cannot help. So they find a way to gain control to compensate for their lack of control in other areas of their lives. They discover the art of manipulation.

Sadly, however, there are those who have made personal choices that result in a loss of control. Take some alcoholics, for example. We have all heard about alcoholic husbands or boyfriends that get so drunk all the time that they start beating their wives/girlfriends, and even kids. They are out of control when they do this. But they CHOSE to drink. That CAN be helped. But even though they chose to drink incessantly and consequently became wasted out of their mind, there is still a need to gain back the control. So they threaten their victim with more beating if the victim ever reports it to the police, or even tells anyone, for that matter. That is manipulation.

But why is it that people even need control? Yes, we want to be in control of our emotions, and be in control of the decisions we make and the person we choose to be. But why do people feel like they need to control others? Or control situations? Because it is a form of validation. When someone is able to manipulate a situation or person and is successful, it is a boost of confidence. It says, "You have power." It is an insidious and pathetic way to feel good about themselves.

Manipulation is destructive. People who are victim to it often feel insignificant, enslaved, powerless.

I believe, though, that we are all manipulators to some degree. I know I have used manipulation to get what I wanted before. We all do it; we just aren't always aware that we are using manipulation. And even though manipulation is used for personal gain, it doesn't always hurt someone else. People can use it on someone without meaning any harm on anyone else. But, (this part is key) just because they don't mean any harm doesn't mean that the result of their manipulation can't cause harm. In fact, I would say that most times it is harmful to a friendship or relationship. I personally have felt resentful toward people after recognizing their use of manipulation. Resentment, obviously, is not healthy in a relationship or friendship.

Thankfully, there is a better, safer, and truer alternative to manipulation. It's called, honesty, love, and a willingness to communicate openly. It works wonders in conversation between two people in some sort of relationship. Manipulation destroys, weakens. Honesty, love, and clear communication builds, strengthens, and fortifies.

But is there a good form of manipulation? The only good example I can think of is manipulating my hair to do a certain thing when I'm dealing with a cowlick.

Bottom line--stay away from manipulative people. Their mindset is often " me, me, me". And DO NOT use manipulation. I have come to find that being honest and open has amazing effects. It builds love and trust. It can make us feel vulnerable, but I promise, it will have good and lasting results.

It's Thursday

2011-01-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

First, Condoleezza Rice is the Woman! Today Condoleezza Rice spoke at BYU. She is so articulate and intelligent.

Second, a few days ago I was writing a blog post on all my thoughts about manipulation. And then seeing that it might make for a very boring blog post, I decided not to post it. I have had many thoughts about the destructiveness of manipulation and throughout the years have come across some pretty manipulative people, so that's why I started writing about it in the first place. That's all. If you ever want to hear about it, let me know...

Third, I have a theory (that has probably been already developed). I believe that when we (i.e. everyone) take time to get ready for the day, like putting on makeup, doing our hair, wearing an outfit that we think we look good in, etc., we perform better in everyday tasks. And I'm not just talking about social tasks. Because we all know that we are more likely to be social and put ourselves out there when we look good than if we look like garbage. But I am thinking that we would perform better academically (getting better grades on tests, paying better attention in class and so on). I started thinking about this a while ago, but a few days ago it really rang true to me when I went to work and then school looking like TRASH. Hadn't showered in a couple days (yow), my mascara was flaking big time, my hair was greasy, I was wearing an old sweatshirt, etc. The whole day all I could think about was how I just wanted to get the day over with so that I could go home and not be seen by people. I felt insecure about my appearance and couldn't really focus on school.

However, the next day of school I was clean, my hair was done, my makeup was fresh, and my outfit was bomb. You better believe I was cat-walking all over campus (not really--felt like it though). I didn't have to worry about if people could smell me, or see little black flakes all over my face, or just notice that I was the frumpiest of all frumpish greaseballs. I could focus. My confidence was high. I could do any dam thing I wanted. By the way I purposely spelled that BIBLE (mind you) curse word wrong so that no one will get up in my grill about swearing. Hehe.

Point is, when we feel good about ourselves physically, I think we perform better academically. Of course this is targeted towards students who are still being graded on assignments, tests, and the works. BUT I think this rule applies to life socially, academically, professionally--probably even spiritually, too.

So everyone, (I know it's hard to do all the time) every once in a while, go get yourselves lookin smoking hot and start booty bumping people out of the way, because [insert your name here] is here!

11 days and counting...

2010-12-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

This Christmas break I am going to...

do nothing. And it's going to be so great. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing that requires my brain to actually be used. In fact, I'll just put my brain on standby mode for two weeks while I eat cookies, wrap presents, watch movies, eat cookies, sit in the hot tub and watch movies. And many times I will sleep. And it will be heavenly.

Guys, I have been hardened. Some things in my life, especially some things that have happened recently, have hardened me. I'm the grinch. I'm Scrooge. I am Harry and Marv. I am Mr. Potter. Alright, I am not in that bad of a mood, but I have noticed a difference in myself and I don't like it. So today I made some resolutions. Not New Years resolutions like, "I will exercise every day and look like that Jillian chick from Biggest Loser at the end of the year" blah blah blah, just resolutions. And I intend on keeping them. Especially because they are really important things that I need to work on, and even change about myself. I know that when I am with my family in Vegas it will be that much easier to make changes and work on things, because I will be surrounded by people that I love and that make me so happy. Can't wait.

So why is it that when I think of good Christmas memories I think of me and Laura and Seth running around the coffee table with Manheim Steamroller blasting and Ann sitting on the couch putting her legs up on the coffee table so that we would trip? For some reason I loved that as a little kid, even though it had danger written all over it. I love that music and I love my family so I am bound to enjoy any activity that involves both of those.

So yesterday I ran some errands with Sarah and the kids. While I was in the car with the kids I asked them if they knew how old I was. Weslie said,

"umm..........................39?"

Doh!

Hopefully I don't look that old.

The Little Audrey that Could

2010-11-18T19:49:00.000-08:00

Keep going. Keep going. I can do this. I'm almost there. In five days I'll be here:

New York City, baby!

And then here! (Connect-i-cut)

And then possibly Boston!

Ain't it great becoming completely broke all because you treated yourself to something awesome? Yeah, it is. And you know what? I deserve this! So I don't feel guilty spending the money to fly myself out there ONE BIT. Especially when this is how I have felt lately:

So hopefully I'll come back looking a little more sane. Yeah...that'd be good.

More Autobiography

2010-11-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

First, I just want to say that Halloween is over, which means that

1. My birthday is a few days away (Sunday)! Turning the big 22 y'all.

2. CHRISTMAS IS HERE!

3. Crap that's all I got.

Also, I went to Stanford over the weekend for my rugby tournament. Drove there all day Friday, played in six games on Saturday, and drove home all day Sunday. My coach brought 30 girls from the team and divided us up into two teams because there were two brackets in the tournament, so each team was in a bracket. Well, we both ended up winning our brackets (my team played six games, our other team played five) and had to play each other in the final game, so either way BYU won. It was great. Never been so beat up in my life. Four girls on our team got concussions (I gave one of the girls a concussion when I tackled her in our final game, and one girl shattered her arm and wrist in one of the previous games--a freak accident, really) BUT, WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS MY FRIENDS.

Well it has been a while since I have put some of my autobiography up (probably because I haven't written anymore of it) so I thought I would like to put something up.

This is the first draft, and it's for you Charley. I am aware that everyone in the family knows this story, BUT it is always good to write these things down.

I title this one...how about...

"Master"

If you are a Mitchell or at least know us Mitchells, you might know that we all have an unhealthy love for candy. In fact, we'll do some pretty pathetic things to get some mere Starbursts. (This next part is unrelated to the rest of the story, but I think it is funny anyway...) I have these memories of Scotty always having big bags of Starbursts. Thankfully Scotty was pretty generous with his candy and would share the wealth with us younger ones. He would pull out a handful of Starbursts from the back and chuck them in the air. You better believe that we all went diving and scrambling to get as many Starbursts as possible. You also better believe that if we ever had candy and chucked them in the air Scotty was doing the diving right along with us.

Anyway...

Charley would bring girls to the house on dates to watch a movie out on the balcony or out on the trampoline. Beforehand he would corner me or Seth or Laura, but more often all three of us, and use bribery to get us to "serve" him while on his date. He took it a step further and said that we had to call him "Master" when we were serving him. If we did this he agreed to give us CANDY which of course caused immediate agreement to the deal along with excessive hyperness.

So Charley would be out on the balcony and he would say something like, "Hey Audrey, will you go get us some popcorn?" And I had to say "Yes, Master" and would then have to go get him some popcorn and serve it to him and his date. I was the best miniature waitress you ever saw. Charley took full advantage of this and would request orange juice and ice cream and this and that, but then one time he said this to me and Laura, "Hey guys, will you go get us a blanket?"

GULP.

So what's so wrong with a blanket? Well, once again, if you are a Mitchell, or at least know us Mitchells, you will also know that we seemed to live our childhoods on the couches watching tv and movies with the same blankets that were probably never washed, but who cares because they were soft and comfortable and warm. But an unwashed blanket that had probably collected many skin particles, been saturated with b.o. and had just been wrapped around some Mitchell body MANY times might be pretty disgusting. And at least Laura and I were civilized enough to know this. So Laura and I found the most promising blanket we could, which of course had not been washed in a while and did still smell kinda musty and probably had stains all over it. But thank goodness for Laura's preteen interest in lots of very pungent body sprays from Bath and Body Works or where ever those came from. We just took some body spray and sprayed it ALL OVER that blanket. The blanket was practically sopping wet with that stuff, but by golly it did not smell like Mitchell laziness anymore.

So we took it out to Charley and his date, feeling triumphant, but even more importantly, excited about getting our candy.

We still to this day have not gotten any candy. Wonder why.

My Turn

2010-10-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

So Laura tagged me in this. Can you actually tag someone on a blog? I still don't know any of the tricks about blogging. Someone teach me someday? Thanks. Anyway, I am supposed to answer these questions:

you just won 1 million dollars. you have to spend it all in one month. no investments allowed. it all has to be gone in one month. what do you buy/do?

EASY. First, I would pack up my belongings and move here:

Then, I would buy this:

Then I would take trips to places like these:

Then I would buy TONS of Christmas decorations...

Then I would hire someone to buy me lots of cute clothes and boots and more shoes. And then I would give the rest of the money to my Aunt Becky's foundation, Foundation for Children in Need.

you are being forced to listen to either EFY music or boy a cappella group music for the rest of your life. which one?

Oh freak. How do I answer this? I hate with a fiery passion both genres. Alright fine. Boy a capella. NSYNC's bound to have some a capella songs right?

if you were famous for something...what would it be for?
Author or athlete.

what did you do to get boys attention in junior high? for example i smeared glitter all over the top of my flat chest before church dances. it didn't work.
Yeah, Laura, you taught me that glitter trick. Remember that little pink bottle of roll-on glitter? I sure do. Probably still have it somewhere.

I liked to put sparkly eyeshadow on so I could bat my eyelashes and probably blind them at the same time because they were so distracted with all the sparkle and glitter. Yikes.

Now what? I tag people? Do I have to come up with questions now? I want these people to answer the same questions:

Charley

Melissa

The Goose is Getting Fat

2010-10-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

So in the last about . . . month and a half there have been a couple of occasions where I got so anxious/excited/taken back/pumped or something to that extent where it upped my heart rate to about a million beats a second and I probably started breathing hard and sweating. Well it happened again tonight. Guess why.

No actually don't. I'll just tell you.

There's already CHRISTMAS decor in Pier 1 Imports!!! (Right now I can picture Allison saying, "Oh boy" to this. Hehehe). I couldn't help but be distracted the whole time I was working there tonight! Psh, I thought the Halloween decorations were good. The smells alone of the new Christmas candles outdo the Halloween stuff. Like Peppermint Creme...mmm heavenly.

Ok. So I wasn't breathing heavy or anything like that, but seriously, I love Christmas and I got really excited when I saw the Christmas stuff. When I was young (actually up until like two years ago) I would always get depressed the SECOND after we were done opening up presents because then I would have to wait a whole year for Christmas to come again. Alright, that still kinda happens. BUT it's not so bad anymore because time FLIES so its always here before I know it.

I have this memory (I'm sure you all remember it well) of Charley waking Seth up like two weeks before Christmas and saying, "Seth! Wake up! It's Christmas!" Seth stumbled downstairs and lo and behold, Charley had stuffed pillows behind the 8 presents that were out so that it looked like the loot was BULGIN. Seth tends to be one of the sleepers in the family and it therefore took him a little while to figure out what was going on, but when he did he was TICKED. So funny, yet so sad. Poor Puppy.

Anyway. Are we exchanging names for presents for Christmas or what? Alright, we don't need to think about that right now. I'll enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving but you bes' believe I'm startin a countdown. 73...

Speaking of Halloween, I need a good costume. Any suggestions?

Help

2010-09-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

My title has two meanings. I finished The Help. Oh here's an idea Kathryn Stockett. END THE BOOK WITH SOME FLIPPIN CLOSURE. The ending was sad to me, but I loved the book nonetheless.

But I also need help. And when I say that I am not really asking for anyone's help (I have a hard time doing that anyway) I am just expressing the stupid position I put myself in. Tomorrow I am supposed to have read Guns, Germs, and Steel and have a 3-4 page paper written on it. So I am not very far into the book. Alright, who I am kidding...I never started it. It's a huge book about agricultural development and industrialization and BORING crap like that in 13,000 B.C. . . .or something like that. You think I am going to read a huge book about that? I don't think so.

But who knows, maybe it's a good book. Has anyone read it? Anyway, my procrastination lives on. It makes life more exciting that way.

So call me a nerd-bomber, ( I give credit of that phrase to DJ on Full House) but apparently in a marriage prep class at BYU students have had to take a test/survey that determines how "ready" he/she is for marriage, or at lease it measures something to that degree. I MUST FIND THAT TEST. Not because I believe that will be even a slightly accurate determiner, I am just curious. There has got to be some truth to it though, right?

So here are my next two reads. I started this one

and am about to buy this one. Yeah baby.

Uhhh...

2010-09-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Yeah I couldn't think of a title that would work for this blog post.

Not sure why I came to my Geography of the Middle East class. We are just watching a movie--well, the rest of the class is watching a movie and I am writing this blog post. I am seriously impressed with people who can write interesting blog posts on a regular basis. I struggle to write one once a month, and most of the time they aren't even interesting. Some interesting things have happened though.

I got rear ended on Saturday. Got some serious whiplash. My sunglasses went flying from my face when I got hit. Good thing I was wearing a seatbelt.

I realized that I am ambidextrous. For example, when I am at work in the mail room, I sort with my left land. I do this thing with my rugby ball where I toss it up in the air and spin it and I always do it left handed. When I play soccer, I prefer to play left defense, because I have more control of the ball. When I play cards I deal left handed. But in everything else I am right handed. Be jealous, y'all. Alright it's not that cool, but I feel slightly cooler for being able to say that I am ambidextrous.

On January 30, 2011 I am assuming I will not be married. In fact, I know I won't. On that day I will have passed the date of being the person in the family to get married the youngest. Not sure why I thought of that.

For the first time in my life, I am desperately trying to find a book to read. I like to read now! Today I saw Team of Rivals on tape in the BYU Bookstore and I was so pumped until I saw that it was 40 BONES which means I can't afford it right now. BUT I have The Glass Castle on special order right now so I am excited to read that. But I need some good suggestions of books to read.

Well that's all. Wow, that is PATHETIC that those are the most interesting things I could think of. I did it for the sake of putting up a new post though, so don't hate.

Peace.

Change

2010-09-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

I have had quite a few changes in my life recently.

First off, you know when someone asks you if you want to go out and do something with some people, and it sounds lame so you make up some pitiful excuse not to go? Well, life's great right now because I don't have to do that. 90% of the time I really can't go and do that lame thing with them. The reason I bring this up is because some guys that are probably in my ward (I wouldn't really know) just knocked on my door and said "Hey so uh we're getting a big group of people together to go bowling--you want to come?" (As I was writing that sentence I was saying it in a macho, beef cake man sort of way, even though they didn't say it that way).

First of all . . .

1. Bowling? Come on.

2. I have this class called ECON 110 that is pulling me along by a string.

3. I just got back from rugby and reek of sweat, dirty mouthguard, and grass. Fat chance.

So that is one of the changes in my life. I am really busy. It has its perks, but man do I miss being lazy.

Another change is that I am a bottomless pit. I don't get full. You would think that I would be puttin on the pounds left and right, but I am pretty sure that I am the same weight that I usually am. All my clothes still fit the same. I am convinced that me getting sick in Haiti is what I suspected all along; a sick nasty tape worm. Bet I still have it. Livin in my intestines. Eatin all my grub. Dude that's just SICK.

Thirdly, my night-owl days are over. Getting up at six for work at seven Monday through Friday BITES big time. But I gotta do it. Which means going to bed no later than 11. And you know I'm hatin myself every morning for even going to bed that late.

I actually wish I had time to read. No, no not my stupid textbooks; real books. Books that make me happy. Books that keep me sane. Before I know it I'll be calling that insane asylum up the street my home with all this textbook reading. I just want to finish The Help dang it! Last time I read I was getting to the good stuff, too!

So this last change isn't a change in my life, but a change in attitude of many people. Why the crap am I feelin all sorts of judged when people ask if I want to go on a mission and I say, "no."? Well FORGET YOU if you are going to judge me for not going on a mission. I don't want to. Nothing wrong with that. That says nothing about my testimony or of my relationship with Christ. I want to go to school and live my life here in Provo for the next couple of years. Sue me. Really though, the number of sister missionaries is skyrocketing it seems like. I can honestly say that I am sure some girls are feeling pressured to do it. It's great for girls who have gone and loved it and for girls who are excited to go on a mission because they WANT to. Power to them. But I am shocked that there is a pressure creeping up. Don't worry, I'm not feeling that pressure. I'm just noticing a difference in people's attitudes about girls going on missions.

Well, that's all for now. Maybe I should actually do econ so that I don't feel like a liar to those dudes that showed up on my front doorstep. I had to do something to keep me sane, so I feel justified in writing a blog post.

Oh yeah! One more thing. Guys, I have always loved Halloween. So let me enjoy a good month and a half of having a Halloween themed blog background thing.

Alright, Peace.

Post Haiti, Pre Hell

2010-08-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

Starting tomorrow, I am homeless. No worries, I've done this before. I'll find a place to live. And yet here I am, blogging. Well anyway...

My trip to Haiti was incredible. I don't even want to explain everything, because a) I won't do it justice AT ALL, and b) it would take a long time and I know how boring that can be to people. So, I'll give some highlights in no specific order.

1. Lesly's (sp?) orphanage. Those kids are so dang cute and happy.

2. The crazy rain/thunder/lightning storm on the first night we were there.

3. Riding around everywhere in the back of the truck.

4. Bony, Michelet, Jimmy, and Patrick.

5. Painting the orphans' faces/hands/arms.

6. Our incredible group of volunteers. All great people.

7. All the kids in general.

So before I left for Haiti I was in a funk. A BAD funk. And I'll admit, I am still pulling myself out of the last bit of funk. I have been starting to realize lately how awesome it is to be free. Especially when I am single and can do anything I want to. And so that is why I will be sure to go to New York sometime (hopefully when John and Laura live there) and I will move into some new place by myself, and HOPEFULLY (I am praying hard for this one) I will be able to come up with the funds to go to JERUSALEM, yo! Next fall for a study abroad, that is. And that is IF I get accepted. And I can study whatever I want to in school, and I can spend time with whomever I want--you get the idea. Anyway, I am starting to realize that I should forget my trials because right now is the best time for me to do what I want with no other big commitments tying me down--of course while still trying to be the best person that I can be. That knowledge cheers me up. Also, God is really looking out for me right now, so that is another reason why life is good right now.

So I write all of this because I came to another realization, and that is that starting on Monday, August 30, 2010, my life will be insane. Two jobs, school full time, rugby. GULP. So if I write another post in the near future about me being a stress ball or some sort of mental/emotional train wreck, someone refer me to this post so I can remember the positives. Thanks.

That's all folks!

Haiti

2010-07-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

So Mom picked me up from the airport tonight and the first thing she said when I got in the car was:

"We're going to Haitiiiiiiiii!" Nothing like, "Oh Audrey, I am so glad that my favorite child has come home" or anything like that.

I am so glad that I get to experience this trip to Haiti with my mom. I'll tell about my experience when I get back.

For those of you who did not know that I am going to Haiti tomorrow, don't feel bad. I didn't know either--until this morning.

My first time out of the country will be quite the experience.

This picture has nothing to do with Haiti, but I love it anyway.

Flames--on the side of my face, heathing, br...breathing

2010-07-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ok so the title of this blog comes from a line found in the movie Clue. But that is how I feel right now--like flames are coming out of me--like I want to chuck my phone at the wall or go and smash bottles on the ground or just go and break everything that is breakable. Don't worry, I'm not a lunatic. These feelings are fleeting...I think.

Well first of all, I just want to say that I am glad that I have a grand total of what...6 people who actually read my blog? You know why? Because I can be real. I don't try and pretend that my life is some stupid fairytail and I don't have the goal of having 100+ comments on my posts. I don't need that and I don't want that. I want to be real with the people that I trust enough to read my blog.

Anyway, back to what I was saying before. For the past 2+ weeks now I've been having a hard time about some things. I feel as if I am being tortured at times. I was talking to my mom on the phone about this, feeling very sorry for myself and you know what she told me? "Audrey, you need to find people to serve."

I tell you, that is THE FREAKING LAST THING I WANT TO HEAR. I don't want to go and serve anyone. Why doesn't someone serve me? These were my literal thoughts when she said that. It made me want to chuck my phone as far as I could. And then she said, "You just need to be patient." Oooh and that is when the flames on the side of my face came. Steam was coming out of every pore on my body. What do you think I have been doing for the past 3 months?

It is hard for me to be patient for a specific reason. All growing up I had never been around someone outside of my family that I felt like I could be myself with. And consequently I lacked friends because I felt like I couldn't show myself to people. And all growing up my parents told me (very lovingly and full of hope) to "be patient"-- that I would find someone soon. They told me that for YEARS and years.

That's why I want to curse the world when someone tells me to be patient. Because I think, "For how long? Ten years?"

I don't think so.

But as I sit here and write this, my mom's words are being echoed in my head because I know she is right. She also said that Christ was persecuted and spit on and cursed and eventually crucified. But regardless, what was he doing the entire time? Serving. He never stopped. And he had patience with everyone.

So yes, serving someone may be the last thing I want to do right now, but I need to do it anyway. And I need to keep being patient (not about the whole friend thing--I have come to terms with the fact that I don't really need a best friend outside of my family. My family fulfills that for me, and so will my husband when I get married). Telling myself to be patient is enough pain in itself, but once again, my mom is right. Patience shows faith, and apparently I have none right now.

So--I promise--I will work on that.

2010-07-09T15:41:00.001-07:00

Whenever I was invited to go to some girl’s birthday party, I would ritualistically go to the store (most often Target) with my mom and we would get what seemed like the best present anyone could ever dream of, a caboodle complete with all things miniature. A mini hair brush, miniature toothpaste and a miniature toothbrush, miniature makeup, a mini mirror, a Mini Cooper, a miniature poodle—you know, all the best things in the world. The process of buying all these gems and putting them all perfectly in the several compartments within the pink, sparkly caboodle was enough to cause me to keel over from excitement. I practically had a heart attack every time I got to experience this sort of occasion. You would think I would have tried to make more friends with girls just so that I would be invited to their birthday parties. My brain hadn’t yet reached such cleverness, though.

And speaking of rituals and birthday parties, my mom and I went through another ritual that I thought was pure genius right before I left for the birthday party. She would tell me to sometime during the party call her to “check in” with her. She would then say quietly, “Audrey, do you want me to come and get you?” If I said no, that meant I was having a good time and wanted to stay for the remainder of the party. If I said yes, that meant (obviously) that I wanted to get the crap out of there. The fact that that was even an issue still causes me to wonder to this day. It wasn’t unusual for me to respond, “YES.”

And speaking even furthermore on rituals and birthday parties, my mom 99% of the time would not allow me to sleep over at a sleepover. She would always come and get me late at night right before everyone went to bed. Sometimes it was maddening. But now I look back and realize that her reasoning for not wanting me to sleep over makes perfect sense. With all those sickos out there, my children will most likely not sleep over at sleepovers either.

He's Gone

2010-07-02T20:12:00.001-07:00

I just have the best family in the world. Look at all of us! We're so cool! I had a blast in Las Vegas with my entire immediate family and some extended (Charlie, Karli, and Deb). As you can see we rented this massive blow-up slide that went into our pool. Charley alone went down the slide at least 120 times, which means that altogether it was used about 8,254,796,341 times. Those little kids did not give themselves a break. They were in the pool from sun up to sun down--and so was I.

We also watched movies and tv (I'm hooked on the Bachelorette--sue me), ate great food (Mom, if I can cook anything like you I am in good shape), took pictures, were with Seth when he got set apart, played some Balderdash and Boggle, gave advice to Seth and Charlie for their missions, etc. It was fun and I did not want to leave.

And then we had to take Seth into the MTC. Can I just say THANK GOODNESS they don't have that whole long process where you have to watch the movie and the whole emotional "oh crap my son/brother is leaving me for two years and I can't even see him" feeling is drawn out for what seems to be like hours. All you do now is get out of the car, hug them goodbye and you watch them walk through the doors. BUT even though it all lasted about 3 minutes I still cried. What a comfort it was to see Seth and Charlie walk in together though. That was cool.

Family, I miss you. I can't wait to see you all again. Love you guys.

Kittens

2010-06-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Kittens

When I was seven I had a cat named Kitty. Real original, I know. She was always kind of a sickly cat and she took to peeing on our stair landing. Strangely, other cats we owned after Kitty followed in her footsteps. My mom was ready to kill those cats. Anyway, one day when my family and I came home from our painfully long three hour church service, I saw Kitty come out of a closet under the stairs looking a whole lot skinnier than she usually did. Either she had coughed up a couple hundred hairballs or, which my mom suggested, she had been pregnant and had given birth. A normal family would have opened the closet door to discover the kittens, but my siblings didn’t believe in cleaning (except for you, Ann!) and this closet had stuff piled up about eight feet high. And this closet is big. When it is actually cleaned out you can walk around in it. So we started unloading all of the who knows what crap was in there (probably old shoes, deflated soccer and basketballs and camping gear). Finally, there they were in the very back of the closet. Five tiny little kittens all huddled up together. Kitty laid down next to them.

Those kittens were maddeningly cute and I was glued to them for the next six weeks. I started naming them. One was black with a white spot on his chin. I named him Smokey. One always seemed to be eating and was consequently fat—Puff Mama. She had grey fur that was longer than all of the other kittens’. One was white so naturally I had to name him Whitey Tighty. Then there was Feisty (probably named after myself) who was dark grey and liked to pick fights with the other kittens. And then the last one. Light grey, affectionate and sweet. I never did think of a name for that kitten that stuck. Seth suggested Sweetie, which disgusted me. And my younger brother Seth, who was addicted to toy weapons and sword fighting and sports and all things little boy-like had suggested the name Sweetie?! It blew my mind.

My mom warned me that after six weeks I would have to give the kittens away. I dreaded this more than I dreaded the dentist. We went to the Smith’s grocery store and I sat out in front of the store with all five kittens in a cardboard box. One by one they slowly disappeared. The kittens KNEW what was happening—they whimpered as the litter dwindled in size. And I whimpered right along with them. Then a biker dude came up--he was probably 9 feet tall and 500 lbs. A Goliath man, really. He had a bandana on over his bald head, and wore a black shirt with a black vest, black pants and black boots. He had to have been the leader of some Harley Davidson club. He took one of the kittens and said to his nasty little sidekick, “This will keep the Doberman company.” And then he laughed a sinister laugh. A Doberman?! Those spawn of Satan dogs that always have spiked collars and eight inch long canine teeth?! Evil thoughts raced through my head as he walked away with one of my kitties. I wanted to run him over with his own Harley. When all the kittens had new owners I was completely traumatized and swore I would get every cat I owned thenceforth spayed or neutered.

Here's more

2010-06-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Pink Jumper

In first grade I liked a boy named Spencer Wanlass. One day I hit the jackpot when I found out that my older sister Laura was friends with his older sister DeAnne. So naturally when Laura invited DeAnne over I would invite Spencer over too. Well one day exactly that happened. My actions showed that there was some sign of a girl inside of me—I wanted to look pretty for him. I curled all 45 hairs on my head and put on a little pink jumper that came just above my bruised knees. It was like I was anticipating Christmas—it was THAT exciting. The doorbell rang. Laura opened the door and there was DeAnne! And no Spencer. I was completely crushed. After not seeing Spencer again after first grade until twelve years later I learned from Spencer himself that he was too scared to come over. Spencer and I ended up dating for ten months during our freshman year of college.

Feisty

I’m proud to say that when I was three years old I discovered the art of feistiness. When I was in the hospital at age four with a shattered femur, my granny came to visit my body casted self. I laid there in the hospital bed SURROUNDED with stuffed animals and other various toys. People pitied me. It was great. Anyway, when Granny came she brought another toy for me. Some sort of toy that rattled. My response was, “What am I? A baby?” You think being in a body cast in the hospital would have humbled me. Apparently not. I blame that on my age at the time.

It seems as though Granny remembers my feisty attitude the best—probably because I picked up that gem of a trait from her. She reminds me frequently that it was common for me to tell people to get a life. She also reminds me that I would tell her that she had cracks in her face. I guess I was blunt, too.

Autobiography

2010-06-07T14:30:00.001-07:00

I'm going to write an autobiography. Zippy inspired me. This is all I have written so far:

Somehow, when I was little, I had the ability to draw in boys pretty well. Probably because I was more like a boy than anything else. I was confident, too. I had barely any hair on my head, a gap between my front teeth that my older brother Scotty liked to call “the Grand Canyon”, and to make it even WORSE, a missing tooth right next to my top right front tooth. I was born without a tooth there—it never grew in. Those things seemed to not phase me much. Because I was cool. The hair that I did have on my head was white blonde and always in a ponytail, and I had brown skin and I was athletic. I could beat all the boys in the mile run during P.E. and kick the ball the farthest out of all the girls in kickball. In fact, when teams were chosen for kickball, I was usually one of the first chosen. And I apparently was good at tetherball. One day in fourth grade, a girl named Deah came up to me and asked if I wanted to play tetherball. I didn’t really ever play tetherball, but I agreed anyway. Deah was the tetherball queen. But then I beat her, and her reaction to her defeat was, “Your name should be Audrey Bitchell.” Looking back as an adult I think I would have stood there with a straight face and blinked a couple of times. But I am sure having been raised in a home where cussing is bad (I still think that swearing makes a person sound uneducated) would have caused me to feel shocked that a fourth grader just said the “B” word. Anyway, as previously stated, the boys loved me. Who knew that a boy could score a girlfriend that was just like him? It worked out perfectly. And I somehow discovered at an early age that you can win a boy’s heart with mere food, especially candy. Most likely because my heart could be won the same way. One day in fifth grade I saw my boyfriend Jordan talking to a new girl under a tree ALONE during recess. She wore make up. I couldn’t believe it! She was practically a woman! That night I looked in the mirror and thought that I would look that good too if I wore makeup. (Who was I kidding? I could stick the neck of a toothbrush in “the Grand Canyon” and my body was frequently covered in bruises.) Well I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup so I did the next best thing to win Jordan back. The next morning before he came into class I put a note that probably stroked his ego and taped starbursts all over it. He was sold.

Rolling in the Benjamins

2010-06-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

I need a get-rich-quick scheme ASAP. Then I can:

-go to Jerusalem

-send packages to all my peeps. I love the idea of sending people surprise packages frequently.

-buy a Dyson. I will be content with two toys in my life. One is a huge plasma screen tv with surround sound, and the other is a Dyson. Vacuuming with a Dyson is one of the funnest most pleasurable things ever.

-Buy a bunch of books that I want to read. Or at least just put them on a shelf so that people will think I am smart and have read them all.

-Though I will hate the process of buying, I will love wearing new clothes.

Changing the subject...

To my roommates Liz, Laura, Kim, Allison, and Melissa: I just want you to all know that I love you guys and can't wait for our trip to Vegas. :)

To Sarah, Aaron, Weslie, Riggie, Big Mac, Ann, Brian, Campers, Janie, Danin, Charley, Kitten, Yorla, Johnny Boy, Puppy, Yamigus, and Pops: I can't wait to see you all.

Provo-->Las Vegas-->Florence, Oregon-->Las Vegas-->Harrisonburg, Virginia-->Washington D.C.-->Las Vegas-->Provo

2010-05-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

It looks like Jane is dragging Dad up that dune.

I know, I know. That title was way longer than it needed to be.

Writing a blog would be so much easier if I had an exciting life. EXCEPT, it was super exciting going to Oregon to see Ann and Brian and the kiddies AND going to Virginia to see my Yorligus and Johnny Boy. It was all awesome. And I even read two books on the vacay. A Girl Named Zippy and Princess Academy. The first one was really good, and pretty dang funny. the second one is a New York Times bestseller and a Newberry award winner....SO it's for young adults and the book fits perfectly in the "young adult" genre of books. A good story, but a cheeseball one. (I realize that the word cheeseball is not an adjective, but I just love the word.) I plan on reading lots of books this summer.

I need to find a job. But I swear I just wasn't cut out to work! Looks like I will just have to lay out by the pool and suck up the sun. JK, hopefully I get a job soon. I perhaps would like to work at a floral shop. Wish me luck in finding anything close to that.

Is anyone else still shocked that Bryce Leavitt is getting married?! We got his announcement, and I swear every time I look at the picture he is the same age as when I was getting in arguments with him at age seven and telling him to "GET OFF MY PROPERTY!" What? Where did I learn such a dumb comeback? Probably one of my older siblings...

I made some new month resolutions. I am going to get into a routine of regular exercise, I am going to read some books, I am going to get a job, and I am going to be the best gospel doctrine teacher in my ward. :) Except I am teaching the Old Testament (gulp), and so all help will be gratefully accepted.

That's all.

Meet Melissa

2010-03-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is my cool friend Melissa. I met Melissa last year in my ward at BYU and I was her visiting teacher. Getting to know her has been interesting. Here's why:

-I should probably mention first that her name is Melissa Anne Mitchell.

-Her initials are MAM. Mine are AMM.

-Her family lives in Las Vegas. My family lives in Las Vegas.

-She was born in '88. Yeah, me too.

-She has three sisters. As do I.

-She has long brown hair. I have long blonde hair. Even our differences are alike.

-She likes skinny jeans and old school Vans. So do I. (See pictures)

-We just happen to be in Psych 341 and History 364 together. That wasn't planned.

-In fact, we are both working toward getting the same Social Sciences Teaching degree.

-She loves cats. :) ...enough said.

Weird, eh?

I'm Good

2010-02-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Frequently I come to realizations that I think should be shared with the world because I am convinced that they could help many people out. I have a secret (so much for a secret now) desire to write one of those self-help books, like How to Win Friends and Influence People because of these genius realizations I come to. Except I never write them down so if I were to write a book I would only be able to remember like two things and my book would have one chapter with one paragraph in it. Sounds like a New York Times best seller to me. Anyway, I had one of those realizations today. And that is: A human mind has the power to do anything it wants. So sometimes I live by the philosophy of getting through my college career the easiest way possible (alright who am I kidding. Sometimes? Nah...always). I demonstrated part of my brain power today in my Pearl of Great Price class. So after class I walked up to my professor and asked if he was acquainted with Brother Robinson (Stephen Robinson), and he said, "Steve? Oh yeah, we are good friends." To which I then said, "I was just wondering because I see some similarities in your teaching methods." (Oh please, since when do I talk like an intellectual?) My professor then said, "Really? Wow, well that is a compliment. What's your name?"
"Audrey."
"Well thanks Audrey."
And I bet he will remember that because I make comments and participate in class, and I always say thank you to him after every class. So basically if you play teacher's pet without being annoying about it, you're golden. A+ in PGP this semester? Oh I'll get it.

Ok ok I know it doesn't always work like that, but I really do believe those cheese ball, cliche sayings like, "If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything" blah blah blah. But it is true. You want to get on the good side of a professor? You ask him/her questions that convince them that you are genuinely interested in the subject they teach. You participate in class, etc. and you are bound to be better off than if you have no interaction whatsoever with that professor. I had some good interaction with my history teacher, Professor Fluhman, today too. He probably loves me now. (Charley can agree that Prof. Fluhman is the shiz).

Alright alright, so that might be a no brainer, but I swear I come up with better stuff than that--stuff that I will write in a book one day and sell millions of copies, yo.

No more boring talk. Any updates with me? Nope. Except I will probably be getting glasses tomorrow. No more squinting.

Buh bye now.

This one's for you, Ann

2010-01-14T14:40:00.001-08:00

Ann-
I just want you to know how much I love you. I was thinking yesterday about how much you accomplish on this earth, and it reminded me once again how important you are. Here are just a few reasons why:

You are one of my best friends.
In fact, you are a best friend to all of us in the family, and to many others outside of the family.
You are a great wife to Brian.
You are a great mom to your kids.
You have an eye for beautiful things, and you incorporate them into your home.
You are pure.
You are spiritual.
You make lots of people laugh.
You are willing to serve anyone and everyone.
You are nice to everyone--it doesn't matter who it is.
You are a MIRACLE.

Like I said, this is just a list of a few. I hope you know how much you mean to all of us.

Love you...

Pootsie Poo Poo

Christmas Eve

2009-12-23T23:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Christmas. I also can't believe that it is only me and Seth this year. We are going to have to come up with something good to make up for the lack of siblings here at home. Like make an unforgettable entrance when dad yells "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Whatever we end up doing (I guess I should say IF) it's going to be awesome.

Wait a minute...you know what I just realized? What if it is only ME next year for Christmas?! Seth will be on his mish. Everyone else is off in other states and I will still probably be single!

Oh well. More presents for me.

JK I'll be sad.

All I know is that I am pumped for Christmas. Not so much for New Years, because New Years (and the Fourth of July) usually bite. But I love me some Christmas. I'm excited to hear about your guys'. Oh and hey Laura...by the time you read this you probably will have already celebrated Christmas, so let me know how it went. Alright peace out.

Had to put some lights up.

These sugar cookies put those NASTY store bought ones to shizzame.

This one's for you John.

"The Claus" can feel free to fill up this bad boy.

I love this time of year...for the most part.

2009-11-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well right now I am doing what I do best. Procrastinating. So why not write a blog post while I procrastinate? So here it is.

Thanksgiving was great. A little chaotic, but great. And while I was in Vegas for Thanksgiving I realized that we had a very diverse group. We had some full Americans (me and the sibs, parents and a few others) some Japanese-Amy and her kids, some Haitians, and some Italians (the Martoranas). Crazy eh?

I got to bust out the Christmas decorations while I was down there. That was fun. Right now I have a headache and I have 5421325689 school things to do right now and OH MY CRAP THIS IS THE MOST BORING BLOG POST EVER.

Mom and I had to use binoculars to see the tv.

The result of my need for some Christmas.

Some of the fam.

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Horry...fa ra ra ra ra...

2009-11-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

Guys. Christmas is here. Most people say that the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving. Nah. The Christmas season starts the day after Halloween. Just go look at the bookstore on BYU campus. The Monday after Halloween there were garlands and wreaths and Christmas trees and Christmas decorations and pointsettias everywhere. And I am PUMPED. And I am starting to see houses with Christmas lights on it. I love it!

Yes, I do love Thanksgiving too, but there is no other time of the year quite like Christmas. I might even say that I like the Christmas season more than summer.

Even though I have been talking about how much I am obsessed with the Christmas season, I will mention Halloween. I was one of the four seasons as one of my costumes. Which one? Winter of course! Here is a picture. That is my roommate Steph next to me. She was Fall.

Well...I am 21 now. On my birthday I went and saw the Michael Jackson movie. It was pretty sweet.

Ok so this picture is from when I ran cross country my senior year of high school. Dude. Look at my body! I was so skinny! And tan! I was in the best shape of my life in that picture. Maybe I should start running again.

This the last time I bring up Christmas (in this post). But check out this picture. Probably one of the BEST pictures ever.

Oh and sorry this post jumps around so much...bye.

ASAP

2009-10-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Guys I need a sweet idea for a Halloween costume. So far people have told me that I should be Barbie, Baby Spice, and some other dumb things. WRONG. Baby Spice? Come on. When I was in fourth grade, my best friend Arielle had a "Spice Girls" birthday party, and because I didn't like Spice Girls she didn't invite me. Nice. Anyway! I need ideas asap because my ward is having a Halloween costume party on Thursday...and that is in two days.
So I went to Homecoming last weekend. Yeah don't worry I didn't know that college students went to Homecoming either, but I was asked, and so I said yes. Despite the fact that I was dancing in high heels for two hours, so I am pretty sure my feet are broken in 10 places, it was a fun night.
I saw the movie "Up." It was funny and cute. It was WHO I saw the movie with that I enjoyed the most though. Hehe.
Oh yes, rugby in New Mexico was really fun. Here are some pictures! Bye.

I'm leeeeavin, on a.........................15 passenger van

2009-10-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Today I feel weird. Not good, not bad, just weird. Anyway, I figured I would write a new post because I am procrastinating my homework. I justify putting off my school work by reminding myself that I am not even going to school tomorrow. Why? Because I am going to New Mexico tomorrow morning. Why? Because my rugby team is playing in a tournament. Why? Because we coo like that. So yeah, I am pretty excited about it! That is a "pro" for the trip, but the "con" is that I could be spending time with mom, Sarah and her new baby and Riggie and Weslie and Aaron and now apparently Seth! Dang it...next time. So I told mom this story, but it's good enough to record on a blog.

So I was at work at the Gap on Tuesday, and I noticed a guy walk in and start looking around in the women section. He then comes up to me and asks if we sold any "skorts." (Remember those?) Anyway, I told him that we didn't have any that I knew of in the adult section of the store, so then I asked him, "How old is the girl that you are looking to buy a skort for?" Then in a REALLY annoyed voice and with a slow blink of the eyes (surprisingly, a slow blink can stir up a crap load of fear) he said, "I am looking for me." GULP. Doh! So not only did I insult this....cross dresser? but I also felt like an idiot. So I said I would go ask my manager if we had any that I was unaware of, even though I knew dang well that we didn't have any skorts because A) skorts are from like '93 and B) GIRLS where them. Not mid-20 year old men. Yikes. Haha funny huh? I can see Laura cackling at this.

So these are my roommates at my roommate Stephanie's parents' house in Sandy. We stayed up til 5 in the morning making a lame (probably only funny to us) music video, and so we dressed up in these awesome costumes. And I'll be honest. My costume was bomb-diggity. I liked looking like a hippie. Well! That's it for now. I'll post pics of my New Mexico trip later. Peace in this nation.

CAUTION

2009-10-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

I love Costco, except for one thing about it. And that is the stupid Kirkland brand mineral powder they sell. Yes, it works wonders for your face and I thought I had found the perfect solution to covering up flawed skin...UNTIL IT DID THIS:

Yikes! Freak I don't even need a Halloween costume anymore. But yeah. Don't buy this terrible product because you will break out faster than a prisoner in an all glass prison. (Whaaat? I totally just made that one up...)

Oh Yeah Baby

2009-10-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

Conference was great. Elder Holland has so consistently given such powerful talks. Not that all of the other talks given weren't powerful, he just speaks with so much passion and emotion. The tone of his voice makes you want to listen to him forever. But what a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Wow.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR. General Conference, Halloween, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas....especially the Christmas season. There is something about the air around Halloween (Seth you know what I am talking about) and the memories of watching the Halloween episode of Wishbone with Seth when we were little. Ok who am I kidding, we watched that show up until last year. Haha, jk. Oh and also the memories of watching the Halloween episode of Home Improvement, and of course, probably the best memory of all...watching the Halloween episode of Boy Meets World with Charlie and Heather. Oooh I love it. And my birthday and Thanksgiving (which happens to be Mom's birthday this year) and then the whole month of December because CHRISTMAS is the best (and for Ann, her birthday on Dec. 1st makes that whole month even better)...I just love this time of year.

This is my flag-football team. We are terrible, which shouldn't be surprising, cause I mean come on...our colors are HOT PINK and black. Anyway...even though we will probably lose every game...it is still fun. :)

Shout out to Brian: CONGRATS on completing the St. George marathon!

And Kat: Good luck on your upcoming marathon!

Swine Flu

2009-09-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest. The last couple of days have stunk. So I might have swine flu. I don't know for sure, but I was talking to my 2nd counselor in the bishopric in my ward, and he said that he and his whole family got it not too long ago, and the symptoms he described sounded a lot like mine. So we'll see. If I am not feeling better soon I'll probably go get it checked out. I've been sick since Friday morning so I'll wait it out a little longer I guess. But I have this crazy bad cough...the kind that you can't just hold in, you have to let it out or else you will explode, so I am sure everyone was hatin on me during church today. Oh well. But let's get to the important stuff.

I have a trivia question. What's this off of?

"Give me back my pillow!"
"Not in a hundred years."

If any of you get this you are the ch ch ch champion.

Good luck suckas.

:)

Oh Snap

2009-09-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Well this post is going to be just a bunch of ramblings. So yesterday I got my third parking ticket within the last four days. Doh! WHAT CAN I SAY, BYU HAS A CORRUPT PARKING SYSTEM. And congratulations to the stupid Provo Parking Enforcement (who think they are cops....yeah riiiiiiight), they just yoinked $45 from me! Hmm what else...On Saturday my rugby team plays Utah State up in Logan and I think I might play because apparently Utah State has a crappy womens rugby team! Too bad for them...but lucky for me (suckers). Haha. Tomorrow I get to sleep in because I finished all my homework tonight. Yayuh! Oh yeah...I got that cookies 'n cream ice cream that Laura was talking about. Yeah it's the best. REAL Oreos (the chunks even have the white filling in them). My carton of it is almost all gone. What else? I, like Laura, love Halloween. Everytime I see Halloween decor in the stores my excitement gauge goes up like 5 million notches. But I need a good idea for a costume, which reminds me...I think my roommate wants my whole apartment to have a theme for our costumes (someone mentioned Disney princesses. You know what I say to that? NO.). So yeah...not so sure about that one. But yeah, hit me up with some ideas k? Coo. Thanks. So here are some things I have learned lately; some of these are school related while others are just facts and general conclusions I have come to:

-There are exceptions for everything.
-President Taft was a large man. So large in fact that he once got stuck in his bathtub, so the bathtub got a chainsaw taken to it!
-If you pick out the cookie dough from cookie dough ice cream and try and bake it, the little "cookies" will not really turn out because the cookie dough does not have a levening agent in it.
-Statistics show that people who co-habitate and then get married are generally more likely to have affairs. Ironic eh?
-Grandma's father was 20 years older than Grandma's mother. GULP.

Ok so I haven't learned that much. But interesting stuff right?

Madness

2009-09-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Laura cracks me up. She has mentioned a couple of times that she occasionally drops little hints to people about her running a marathon so that they will ask her if she has ever run one. So then she can feel real cool and say, "Why yes I have run a marathon." And you better believe that I think it is real cool that Laura, Ann, Sarah and Kat and soon to be Brian have all run a marathon. Sarah has run TWO marathons! Man they are awesome. Seriously. So then it got me thinking, and lately I have been dropping hints to people about my "busy schedule" so that they will ask about it. But I am not going to beat around the bush, so I will just tell you about my cool, busy schedule! Ok!

Right now this is what I am doing in life.

I am taking 16 credits at school.

I am still working at the Gap.

I joined the BYU women's rugby team. We had our first scrimmage yesterday, and won 28-0.

I just got called to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society.

And I just joined a flag football team yesterday!

Plus a little bit of social life here and there.

Ok so I realize that busy schedules are really nothing out of the ordinary, especially because so many people have busy schedules. But I feel cooler now that I have a busy schedule, because I have never been so busy in my life. So what if I like to be lazy?!? Haha.

Anyway. Life is pretty good. Here's a picture of me and my roommate the first day of school. We matched. :)

So I have been wondering...

Hey Sarah, when you poppin out that baby? Can't wait.

Charley, Kat, Laura, and John...when are you going to fly me out to the east coast?

Seth, when are you coming down to visit me?

Mom and Dad, when are you going to take me on a cruise? Christmas? Alright coo. JK.

Hey Ann, when are you going to come cheer me on at one of my rugby games?

Seriously though, (to Sarah, Seth, and maybe Ann). Haha.

Update

2009-08-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures! Hopefully the pictures will make up for my lack of anything to write about.

This is at the family reunion.

This is at my ward's formal "end of the semester" dance. I got to sport my red prom dress from my senior year of high school again. It was pretty fun. That is my friend Herb.

This is Seth being buff on his birthday. Happy 19th.

I love my mom. Notice something in this picture? Look just above my mom's shoulder. Thanks Kat. Hahaha

Hey Ann...speaking of white trash...check this out. I look like a wife beateE. I was playing football a couple of days ago...and yeah you get the picture. So yeah, this doesn't help those days that I walk around in some grey shorts and a baggy shirt with a messy braid in my hair, already looking white trash. But who am I kidding? I like bruises and scars and battle wounds. I feel tough.

This is me. Laura did a photo shoot of me for her portfolio for salons. She did the awesome hair and makeup and some of her friends (Carolee and Elise) took the pictures. The theme of this picture/photo shoot was "ice." Here is some more of their work...

The theme for this one was "fire."

This was just a "beauty" photo shoot.

This was the AMAZING hairdo Laura did.

And this is when I went camping in the Uintahs about a month ago. Look how pretty it is!

Lately

2009-07-12T15:15:00.001-07:00

Alright instead of just talking about what has been going on in my life lately (I would bore myself to tears) I will just explain each picture.

This was a date I went on. Went to Macaroni Grill then canoeing (doh! Don't know how to spell that word) down the part of Provo river that meets up with Utah lake. It was pitch black and at one point we saw some huge thing moving upstream...I am not lying, it looked like a fetching aligator. It creeped us out because I am pretty sure there are only fish and frogs and stuff in the Provo River. Unless we floated all the way to Florida? Anyway, it was scary. The date was really fun though.

This is what I rewarded myself with when I ran 11 miles last Saturday. Yesterday I ran 12 miles and was having some serious second thoughts about running a marathon. Because everytime I run I get blisters on my toes and overall my feet are killing me the whole time. I know I know, it is probably my shoes.

This is at Jill Fitzgibbons', (now Mohlman) wedding reception. I have known Jill for a while because she is from Vegas, and we were roommates for about a month. I am with my friend Cam in the picture. He was roommates with Jill's husband Jeff before they got married. Cam is awesome.

These are my roommates for Spring. Well and then Kathryn Driggs. (She is in purple). Now it is just me and the three girls to the left of me. And I get to enjoy the luxury of my own room. :)

This is self explanatory. Cutest little Swan Lake ballerina ever.

Me and Laura. When I was in Vegas for three weeks. I am going to miss her a lot.

But! I am stoked to see everyone soon. Ok peace out.

Crap! Has it really been 3 months since I last wrote a post?

2009-05-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Remind me again why I have a blog. Becasue obviously I am really bad at keeping it up to date, and no one looks at it anyway! But I guess having a blog is a good way for people to "stay in touch." So here is what's going on in my life right now. I am currently:

homeless
jobless
friendless
wardless
moneyless

For some reason I keep hearing in my head the line from Princess Bride..."friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were, unemployed, in Greenland?!" Yikes, I am sounding a little like Fezzik right now. Minus the Greenland part.

Anyway, my life may seem bad, but you better believe everything is going to be ok. And this is why. Not having a home means that I could just bum off of someone new everyday, and when Sunday rolls around, I can go to a different ward every time and keep meeting new people! And they would never know that I have the potential to be sitting on the side of the road with the other Provo bums, dirty and smelly with nothing to my name and a sign in my hand that reads "heaven help me." Plus, this way of living is free, baby. And jobless aint bad. Who likes to work anyway? And who needs friends when I got Laura and John? And I basically already explained the benefits of not having a ward. Moneyless? Once again, all I need money for is food, and like I said, all I have to do is bum off people and I am sure they will feed me.

Alright. This is really what is going to happen. Yes, I am homeless right now but I am going to find a place to live real soon. I have plenty of options, I just want to make sure I am in a good ward. However, I still think it wouldn't be to hard to survive homeless. I do have a car, and already discovered where I would sleep if I was out of luck trying to find someone to stay with. Today I drove to a park and went and layed in the grass in the shade (because I didn't have anywhere to go home to) and it was nice. A perfect place to sleep! I have been looking for jobs too, and I am sure I can find somewhere to work. I have to pay for rent and food and school in the fall and stuff! No biggie. I have never had many friends anyway so I am used to that. As far as a ward goes, well once I find somewhere to live I will have a ward. And once I find a job I will no longer be moneyless, and can therefore pay for everything I need to pay for. That is how my life really is. It may not seem too glamorous, but I have a lot to be grateful for.

Just a side note: I love my family more than anything else.

Alright peace.

Nothing Special

2009-02-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

So I don't really have anything special to say. Except my mom, dad, and Seth came up recently so we took these pictures while they were here in Provo. The first one was taken in Dan's apartment though.

Tomorrow mom is coming up again! My brother-in-law John is performing 6 songs in a concert at a place called Muse here in Provo. Laura is performing two of the songs with him. It is going to be sweet. So my mom and I are going to that.

So I was recently thinking about nick names. I think one time my mom and some of my siblings were discussing this topic, and some were saying that people have to earn the right to be able to call someone a certain name. That is true in some cases. However, for me, it isn't true in other cases. For example: my sister Ann and ONLY Ann (for as long as I can remember) has called me Pootsie Poo Poo, or Poodley Poo, or Pootsie Pew Pew Pew Pew Pew...or just plain Poop. If anyone besides Ann tried to call me that...that would just be weird and I would tell them that they weren't allowed to call me that. BUT...I love it when people call me Audge. To me it shows that they feel comfortable enough around me to call me that. I just like the name too. Want to hear what one of my biggest pet peeves in the entire world is? When people call me auBrey. THAT IS NOT MY NAME. To me it is offensive when people call me Aubrey because it kind of shows that they really did not make that much of an effort to really become familiar with who I am. I don't know. Now if I meet someone for the first time and a little while later they ask if my name is Aubrey or Audrey....that is alright. But if it is someone I know well and they call me Aubrey...What the crap!? Too bad a lot of the times I am too non-confrontational to even say anything, even though inside I am bothered. Anyway...I also realized that my family has a lot of nick names. Here are some of them:

Seth: Befford (me and Laura, and now my mom), Puppy Love (me and Laura), Pompie, Rompus,etc. (Ann), Buddy boy (mom), Cub (Dad), Ronkle (Charley), Sethy (most of us)

Me: Pootsie Poo Poo, Poop, etc. (Ann), Auzray or Auzee Double Auzoo Zoo (Laura), Audge(almost everyone), Auzshee Auzshah (dad), Podge (Sarah) Super model (wait what?)

Laura: Yorligus (me), Ann used to call Laura Toots, Laura Jane (a few people, including my mom and dad, but then again, Jane is her middle name), La (Sarah)

Mom: Yamigus (me)

Dad: Pops (me, Laura)

Interesting. Who knows where most of those came from. And you better believe that at my track meets in high school or Seth's volleyball games Ann was there yelling at the top of her lungs, "Go Pootsie Poo Poo!" or "Good job Rompie!" I secretly liked it. Who knows about Seth.

Welp...that's it for now.

Don't ask me why half of the picture is darker than the other half.

I am not quite sure what to say about this one...

Laura taking a whiff of Seth's pit as Seth "unintentionally" flexes.

Nice. Laura sneaks in a pose with Seth's bulging bicep.

Me and Riggie.

I just put this picture on because I think I look skinny in it.

Good Old Valentine's Day

2009-02-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

Everybody knows that Valentine's Day is either one of the best days of the year, or one of the stupidest, worst days of the year. Why? Because if you are dating or married, you get to spend that day with them and whisper sweet nothings to each other all day long and usually the girl scores some red roses or chocolates or a purple teddy bear or whatever that day. I was kidding about the whole "whispering sweet nothings" part. GAG. However, if you are NOT dating someone or you are NOT married, you don't get chocolates and you don't get roses and you don't get teddy bears and you don't get anything. (Alright, that last part was a little exaggerated.) But anyway, it can be a sad day for some. It should be called Single Awareness Day, or Hi, I Am a Loser Day. The point I am trying to make is that Valentine's Day can be a really fun, lovey dovey day, but it is sad when people (whom God loves just as much as everybody else) don't get to experience any of the typical Valentine's Day stuff and everybody around them can plainly see that. And that leads me to my next thought. Think of someone whose day would be made if there was a mysterious rose left at their front door. Or someone who would be stoked out of their mind because there was a plate of cookies left on their desk. Or just anyone who would just like to be acknowledged on Valentine's day, and DO SOMETHING FOR THEM. Anonymous or not, they will love it. I am sure of that. When I was in elementary school I was kind of a loner. I never really had that many good friends or anything. So when Valentine's Day rolled around I feared that I would be one of the kids that didn't get any Valentine's Day candy grams or what not. But when I was in first or second grade, a sweet surprise came. I am talking balloons, candy, etc. And sure enough, on the note tied to the ribbon of one of the balloons said, "Happy Valentine's Day Audrey Girl. Love Mom." I will never ever forget that day. Not only was I rescued by my mom, but that surprise meant so so so much to me. I realized all over again that she cared about and loved me so much. Thanks Mom...I love you.

At first I was being selfish and was pouting about the fact that Dan was going to be in San Diego on Valentine's Day for a rugby tournament. But now I am happy that he gets to go because I know he will have a great time playing in the tournament and being with his team. But I am also stoked because my mom and dad and I think Seth are coming up here this weekend and I get to hang out with them for the weekend, so Valentine's Day is going to be awesome spending time with them! Plus, I am going to find someone that I can serve on Valentine's Day and there is no denying that not only is whoever it is I choose to do something for going to feel good, but I for sure will too.

All I have to say now is that life is good.

Ok...so these pictures are staged. But we really like brownie batter.

Yay, I got to go home

2009-01-20T13:05:00.001-08:00

So I went down to Vegas this past weekend with Dan. It was so fun yet relaxing, and Seth entertained us the entire time. Oh and the weather was in the high 60s and low 70s I want to say? So in other words it was perfect. I was walking around outside in just jeans and a tee shirt. Even the drive down to Vegas and back up to Provo was really nice. Anyway, it was just good.
But did I take any pictures? Of course not. Why? Because I am the crappiest picture taker ever. I just never remember to take pictures. So sorry...I don't have any pictures to show. I will work on that.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: It was Charley's request that I tell you that I asked the same trivia question at the dinner table on Sunday (the Fugitive one) and he immediately responded with, "Cake. Charles Nichols." Soooo....he is the champ. Sorry Sarah.
So I was telling mom that last Tuesday Elder Holland came to BYU and gave a devotional. It was one of the best talks I have ever heard given by any of the general authorities. It was on forgetting the past and looking to the future and it is titled, "Remember Lot's wife." I encourage anyone to go and look it up somewhere online and watch it. I am sure it would be nice to read, but it will have a much greater impact if you watch it. But yeah, it was really good. I have already had to apply it to my life a couple times.
Alright well that is all I have for now. Peace.

There is no way you are going to get this one...

2009-01-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

Ok. What is the name of the doctor on the movie The Fugitive who turns out to be bad (Harrison Ford is fighting him at the end of the movie)? Boo ya grandmas. If you get this you are amazing. Laura you have a head start on this one...considering we recently were talking about this movie.

Trivia Question

2009-01-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

In the movie Labrynth, what is the name of Sarah's baby brother that she is looking for? Oh snap I bet I stumped you! Or perhaps the image of David Bowie in those tight spandex is distracting you, causing you to not be able to think of the answer. Side note: I did not look the answer up on the internet (Laura), and if any of you look it up you will be a cheater.

You Might Not Know Me...

2009-01-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am a crappy blogger. Who cares though, there's a grand total of like three people that even look at this. I just thought I would share some things about myself. (Partly because I am just now finding them out).

-I love Will Smith
-I am kind of a closet thug.
-I am near-sighted, so if I ever see you from afar and I don't do or say anything, its because I have no idea who you are. Sorry!
-I love the cereal Corn Chex. I could eat it all day.
-I love the movie Signs.
-I can shake my eyeballs really fast. Yeah apparently it's pretty creepy.
-I can wiggle my ears.
-My biggest dream is to be a piano genius but have never had patience to try and learn how.
-I have a crazy sweet tooth.
-I want to teach highschool because I think I would love interacting with all the students. And because I am pretty confident that I would be the favorite teacher in the school. Haha.
-I have a fake tooth.
-I once was walking next to Wayne Brady in the Venetian.
-I love Abraham Lincoln.
-My legs stay pretty tan all year long.
-I think that if I was a pofessional boxer, I would be pretty good....yikes, don't ask.
-I worship my family.
-I love cars.
-I love the New Testament.
-I love to decorate and can't wait to have a home of my own that I can do that in.
-My favorite color is blue. However, when I have a home to decorate I probably will not use blue very much.
-I kind of hate shopping.
-I was recently told that one of my records for the mile run is still hanging up on the wall in the gym/cafeteria of my elementary school.
-I still remember one of the blogs Ann wrote a long time ago about how she has a secret or two that she will never reveal to anyone. It is still driving me crazy.

Well that is all for now! If anyone knew every single one of these things about me, then..................congratulations!

Christmas Eve Eve

2008-12-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

YAYUH! I usually say that when I am excited about something, and believe me, I have plenty to be exited about. First off, it's Christmas Eve Eve! Second, Laura and John are coming down to Vegas tonight. Even though I see them all the time in Provo, it is always so fun to be home for Christmas in Las Vegas. Third, even though my man is in Kenya right now for two weeks, he sent me some flowers arranged in a Christmas design! He scored big time. Life is just good right now.

I am totally bummed that Charley and Kat are going to Arizona for Christmas. That will be an all time record low for the amount of kids home for Christmas (Laura, John, me and Seth). Charley's bizarre humor will be missed. Last night mom made tacos and so when dinner was ready, she was telling everyone to come down for dinner. Naturally, I was taking the longest to come downstairs, so Charley yelled up to me, "Audrey stop kissing your picture of Theo Huxtable and come eat dinner!" Where he came up with that? Beats me. Kat will be missed too; she is a very nice addition to our family and we all love her. Christmas will still be amazing though.

Oh yeah, and we got to watch Home Alone, only one of the best movies ever. My favorite line from that movie is, "I'm the only one getting dumped on." "You're the only one acting up! Now get upstairs. "I am upstairs, dummy!" Ok, so that's not my favorite line, I just think that whole scene is funny. We still get to watch Home Alone 2, A Christmas Story, and It's a Wonderful Life. Can't wait.

Maybe if I get around to it, I will write another post and tell how Christmas was. Bye for now.

Thanks Seth, Charlie, and Kat

2008-12-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

What do you notice about all of these pictures? Maybe that there is a "distraction" person in every one! I guess it runs in the family. But I think they are freakin funny. They make the pictures even better. Anyway, these are just some pictures that I have taken with some of my immediate and extended family. I love them all.

First Things First

2008-12-05T15:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah I know. I know what you are all thinking. "Audrey Mitchell has a blog? Pretty soon she is going to be rolling in the Benjamins because so many people are going to want to look at her blog and then big companies are going to ask if they can advertise on her blog. I should become better friends with her." JK. This blog may last about three days, because A) I'm not married, so I can't write anything about married life as most blogs seem to do, and B) I don't have kids, so I can't write about them either. However, if this blog survives, it will hopefully be cool even though I am not married and don't have kids. K bye.