hoarder... i prefer the term "diligent steward".

One of my friends needed to use my computer last night... I thought, no problem! So I handed him the computer and continued on my merry way cleaning the room. The next thing I heard was "woahhhh" - followed by, "how many tabs can you have open at the same time?" Yes. I know. But I couldn't help it that I didn't want to shut this one, and this one, and this one. I was still doing research! I hadn't decided which ones I was going to try yet! Some people just don't understand... (and if I get out of the tab, I know that I'll never find it again...)

So I've decided I want to be a famous blogger. Is this ever going to happen? Probably not. I actually compiled a list of things that needed to happen before I could have 10,000 followers:
1. I need to blog consistently.
2. Nobody wants to read about the blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah my life. (See what I mean?)
3. In order for people to read your blog, you have to say something important. I just repost pictures, show recipes I would someday like to try... not exactly a recipe for internet renown.
4. I need more friends. Or random people that like to follow people online. Like me. I'm the creeper that never posts anything but has read every single post. Ever. I could tell you their life story, what they ate for dinner last night, how married life is treating them... and probably more information than would ever be necessary to know. Could I tell you what I ate for dinner last night? Nope. But it wasn't prepared by a master chef and then photographed to make it look like it should be on the cover of a "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine.
5. In the words on Akmun Ra off of Battle of the Smithsonian: "You must THimplify."
6. I actually need to have a sense of style. Maybe I should just start taking pictures of my sister and then passing them off for myself... now that girl knows how to dress! (Definitely more than my typical t-shirt and jeans regimen.)
7. Definitely must become more tech-savvy. Those cool gizmos and gadgets help make you look awesome. I look like I am a high school student that made a website for a class.
8. It's hard to concentrate and type while getting a back rub.
9. I need to go to cooking school. Or take a cooking class. Just so you all know, I am planning on taking a cooking class when I graduate. They just don't have any culinary classes at BSU. At least there weren't any open when I was trying to fill my Tuesday/Thursday schedule. (I was determined NOT to take any classes on any other day of the week. It worked perfectly! ...until I realized that Tuesdays and Thursdays are a very looooooong day...)
10. And just to get an even 10: I need to get a good camera. So I can take all these magazine-cover-worthy photos. "Hey mom. I love you. Would you please buy me $1000 camera? I promised I will only take it hiking and camping and everywhere possible so that I can take fantastic pictures of how awesome my life is. Thanks."

I think that just about sums it up!
I just need a magic book that shows me how to "be the best blogger in the world". And always be funny, witty, and always know what to say... errr... type. No problem! I've got this in the bag.
Maybe...

camping. on steriods.

i'm never one to back down from a party. especially when i can be the hostess.
or so i thought!

after getting out of the bakery today with 15 loaves of bread, 65 hamburger buns, and spending my arm and part of a leg getting hamburgers and enough oranges to feed an army... i started to wonder at my sanity of agreeing to get food for (at least) 50 people to go camping this weekend. 
hmmmm....
i'll give you my answer when i get back. 
good news: i got 4 free loaves of bread today!

my shopping list for the night:
think bulk and you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. 
that and enough food to feed 50 people for 3 days. i don't know about you, but it sounds like a costco run is in order! and winco. oh winco, i love you! you make shopping for parties so much easier. 

other news:
i was feeling bipolar the other day... and this happened.

this.

to this.

i figured it was far too long since i had been a blonde... and that it was time to bring it back. (not to mention i was ready for a new adventure in hair! yes, i did it all by myself. well... with the aid of my younger sister.) 

hopefully i'll stick with this one for a while. i've decided hairstyling is an expensive hobby. and i'd rather keep my hair...

a quick look back...

i have just over a month left. 

can i just say how sad that makes me?

who would have known that a group of complete strangers would be such great friends today?

little did they know...

don't we look cute? and oh so very pale..

[nessa me and meg]

which reminds me!

i realized that i haven't talked about our amazing experience at the matisyahu concert!

basically awesome...

but definitely the hottest experience i've ever had.

probably even hotter than today.

and today was baaaaad.

my dear friend weatherbug said it was 90 degrees, but it felt like it was 93.

it says it is 97 degrees in ein gedi...

i'm gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie.

our teachers kept telling us how "green" it was at the beginning of the semester.

i didn't believe them.

until i look at this picture, and then i realize how dead and brown everything looks now!

 just take a look at the wall...

this is the outside of zion gate, on our way to dormition abbey.

just a little reminder of the conflict that is never quite over in this part of the world.

[me sharla and lizzie]

an older picture, but i just barely found it.

it went through all of the countries in the world and gave places that you had to visit.

done and done!

we call this place "costco"

because it has tons of wholesale candy for super cheap.

it doesn't even come near to the real deal. 

mom: when i get home, i want trail mix from costco.

that is supposed to be a subliminal message.

you know how you never know how much you love someone until they're gone?

i feel that way...

about DI.

before i left, i couldn't understand how there could actually be a line waiting to get in DI...

right now, i would be willing to camp outside, to i could get in. 

:)

and while we're on the topic of fantasies and daydreams,

i want one of these.

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i'm having a hard time being grateful for the sun right now...

but i have a kite!

...and we are going to fly it!

(just in case you didn't know that's what you do with kites...)

i need direction

i refuse to think that today is saturday.
because i forgot to post my music.
so, my excuse is that because i haven't gone to bed yet, that it is still technically friday. take that saturday morning!



this was going to be a list of music that had inspired me over the course of this semester... but it seems like the end of the semester has sapped all motivation that i had. (having said that, i can also contradict myself and say that i have so much energy i think i might explode!!!) i can't stop thinking about jerusalem.
not for a minute.
unless i am missing my weather-bipolar, former home.
it's amazing to me that i actually find myself missing it.

i've decided something (and it is your job as my reader to hold me to this...)
i need some goals for the summer.
otherwise i am going to just sit and watch the whole world pass me by for the entire summer, and i will come out of it, and not have made the most of it!
da list:

• do push ups every night. (i stink at push-ups... so the number is going to start very low. but i am going to eventually build it up... hopefully i can be doing 50 push-ups every night in a little bit. don't judge.)
• write something every day.
• spend a half hour every day in quiet. no music, no tv, no distractions. just me, just thinking.
• greet every cashier by their first name. (it seems like a really random goal, but my uncle made me promise i would...)
• train for a sprint triathalon. i don't know how possible this is going to be in jerusalem... but if not, i'm going to be able to run a 10k/half marathon when i get back!
• keep up my blog!
• wake up earlier - i really really realllllllly want to be a morning person. which seems really weird if you have seen me in all my glory in the morning. yes, i am going to make this happen.
• go to be earlier - again, me = night owl. (as you can see by the time of this post...)
• get to know everyone on the trip
• simplify my life - i think i need to start with #9
• do yoga. meditate. breathe.
• be on facebook less.
• spend less time on the computer in general
• be more patient with people that annoy me. (this is mostly because i am really snippy at my younger brothers. i want to be the "cool" older sister... not the grumpy one that comes home from college that they don't like to hang out with. you get my drift?)

i could really make that list inexhaustible... but for your sake, i will stop!

i saw this today, and i thought it was super cute.

i have a new project now... 

with a white t and skinny jeans??? i am sensing a fashion uprising here.

and most definitely in a good way.

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i tried on my old prom dress from senior year

and the first thing i said was - "that used to fit???"