Justin Might Be My Favorite Young Human, Even When He's Falling Down

My cousin is the best. Even when he makes me want to punch myself in the face, ten minutes later he'll say something about how much he loves something nerdy and I want to hug him again.

Sometimes I'll tell him about something--a new meme or a post on tumblr or a funny picture--and he'll walk up to me two weeks later, laughing about whatever I told him. It's pretty much the greatest thing ever.

The latest thing I've informed him of is doge. Doge is a new meme featuring a dog and the things he's thinking. Because dogs think about dog things, the meme uses a lot of "Wow" and "Very _____" and "Much ______" and "So _____". Kind of like this, or even this.

So yesterday, Justin and I were sent around to deliver the neighbor's Christmas gifts. In-between picking up the next round of gifts, a couple of people, one a twenty-something girl and the other an eleven-ish boy, were throwing snowballs at my house. I don't know who it was, but I do know that the girl had impeccable aim and was very pretty. Justin was giggling, almost like we were the ones throwing the snowballs, but that would be ridiculous and uncalled for. In fact, he laughed so hard at the landing of a rather supremely executed throw that he slipped on the snow in the driveway and almost fell backwards with so much force he would've bounced off his butt and cracked his head open on the concrete.

Bent over and trying to regain his balance as well as his breath, I shouted out a sympathetic "Dude, you okay?"

And he looks up at me, wide-eyed and winded, and says:

"Much surprise.

So slip.

Wow."




I'm telling you, this kid's going places.


~Kylie

Kylie Told Me to Blog This so I Am

     

This is a picture of me. Eating an actual vegetable for my lunch one day. (It's celery in case you were curious) I'm in my dark apartment, cause we are too lazy to even turn on the lights. 

I hope you have a good day. 

-Korrin 

 

Warning: This May Start to Sound Like a College Essay

12/5/13
So as most of you should know, I am a college student.  I am also a music type student (my major isn't music related though) and so when I talk about musical things it comes out like an essay cause I have written 50 million of them.  As I go on this little rant about something AWESOME please remember that if I start analzying things, its part of my natural life and I can't help myself.

Now that the disclaimer is over I will start on my tale of amazingness.  (Em you will probably enjoy this more than anyone else I know.)

Today in my music class we had the Fry Street Quartet come and perform for us.  The quartet is in residence at my college and is our towns little pride and joy.  Plus they are some of the most astounding and talented performers I have ever witnessed.  The way they move together and work off of each other is phenomenal.  The music they created today was the most grabbing, emotional, and beautiful music I have ever heard in my life.  I have heard them once before today, but that was in a giant performance hall, this was different.  Now to force my knowledge on you all.

A string quartet is a group of four string instruments (hence the name #duh) and was created to play what is called chamber music. Chamber music is intended to be played in close intimate settings, like in a chamber. (#anotherduh)  So when I heard them play in a performance hall, that wasn't really their setting.  But today they played just for my class of 40 people or so.  In a tinny classroom made for the choir people.  It was so amazing that I can not think of anymore adjectives that describe its beauty.

I have never before in my life experienced something so beautiful.  It was almost literally and out of body experience.  I don't even remember having a body while they were playing. I just remember the performers and the sound.  Maybe I died, went to Heaven, and then came back, because when they were done I remember my back hurting realy bad from the stupid choir chairs that make you have good posture.

It was also super fun to watch the performers faces.  They got this new 11 movement piece two months ago so they aren't comfortable with it yet, and you could tell by their faces.  Also the cellist had a really good mean face. As in when her face was resting, she looked like she wanted to murder someone.

They also really got into the music.  There wasn't a moment when they weren't moving almost out of their chairs, and more than one bow hair was broken.  It was fantastic.

PS: I will write something about finals later, be prepared for sadness.

-Korrin

This Is Why I Can't Serious

I have a natural tendency to find the humor in any given situation, and, occasionally, this causes problems for me.

Like today. Today was very bad.

Today was my last institute class of the semester (Wow. Such sad. Very miss. Much Spirit. Wow.), and, as I am in a New Testament class, we ended on the topic of the Atonement.

I have an extremely strong connection to/testimony of the Atonement, and I already knew I was going to be extremely emotional during this lesson. So when Brother Simpson said "Guess what! We're watching a church video ACTUAL FOOTAGE today!" I knew it would be "worse" than I was anticipating.

And yeah. It kind of was.

I always get a strong confirmation of the truth when I watch these kinds of videos, so I was crying. Like a lot. And I couldn't really stop.

And then comes the scene where the women come to the tomb to find the angels and no body.

This is an extremely spiritual and highly significant part of the story. It is not to be taken lightly. It is not funny. It is amazing and glorious and wonderful.

But when the one angel guy sitting on the stone looked at all the women and told them that Christ had risen, I almost started crying tears of laughter.

Because instead of what was actually said, all I could hear was "Hi, you've reached Christ's tomb. Jesus isn't here at the moment, but if you leave your name and number, He'll get back to you within three days. Thanks!"

And all I could think was "Those angels are like the very first answering machine!"

And I'm pretty sure the dude sitting next to me noticed my change in demeanor and looked at me out  of the corner of his eye like I was crazy, so that was pretty great.





Moral of the story: In case you were wondering if I can serious...

I can't.




~Kylie

Lol Whut

I was trying to get to Sister Emily-Face's Facebook page, and I messed up on her name.

Emikl. I spelled it Emikl.

And it still took me right to her page.

#ThatsCrayCray

~Kylie

I Hate Everything

HOW CAN I DO HOMEWORK WHEN I JUST FOUND THE ANSWER TO ALL OF MY LOKI QUESTIONS.

HOW.

~Kylie

Loki 2

Loki 2?

Loki 2.

Loki 2!

LOKI 2!!!!!!!!!!!!

And there's our review.

JKLOL. Imma tell y'all a little bit more about our experience with everyone's favorite anti-hero.

Korrin and Hammy came down to Ogden on Friday night along with Hammy's boy, Josh. So that was fun. But then Saturday was even MORE fun because we ate doughnuts and watched Loki 1 and then we made T-shirts.

 

We know. We're totes adorbs.

 

 

 

So then we went to the theatre. It was pretty great. Amanda was even able to join us!

 

It was so nice of them to let her join us. We all agreed that the one part where the people were doing the thing was our favorite.

 

 

 

But yeah, if anyone wants to know if Loki 2 is worth it, then YES. It is the greatest. Loki could give Tony Snark a run for his money, and that's saying something.

 

So go have fun and spend your money on it.

 

(Or just give your money to me and I'll go watch it for you.)

 

~Kylie of Asgard

I Suck at Blogging

11/8/13
If you hadn't noticed, I really suck at keeping up on things. Things like my homework, or my journal, or my blog.
I would try to catch you up on everything that happened, but honestly I can't remember it all. From now on I will blog at least once a week and will probably set up a punishment for myself with someone so that I am motivated to do it.
 I will however catch you up on the important things.

1- I have a nephew now. And he is the most aborable thing I have ever seen.

In the sunlight his hair has a definite reddish hue (GINGER!!) but it is most likely that it will be more brown than red. His baby blessing was last Sunday and I feel confident that he will be a strong young man in the gospel.  My sister also has some very interesting people in her ward...but it was a good day anyway. I keep getting withdrawals from holding him.  He's like a personal heater that you never ever want to let go of.  It may also be because I know that the spirit in that little skin sack saw my Grammie a lot more recently than me and I miss her. More than normal today.

2- Halloween was awesome! I was Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series and it was super fun because I got to wear my costume to work.  Only two kids recognized right off what I was, and that was sad, but I still had fun.

3-I have been sick since the Wednesday before Halloween and that really sucks.  I am nauseous all the time and I keep skipping class because I feel so crappy.  I am slowly becoming a really horrible student.

4- I have noticed that my depression is being triggered more by stress instead of loneliness now so that's good.  Especially since all of my social interaction is me being a fifth wheel.  The therapy is helping too, and it gives me an outlet where I usually wouldn't have one.

5- I went and saw Ender's Game last weekend. Can someone say one of the best and most accurate movies I have ever seen?! The book is fantastic and probably one of the best that I have ever read, and the movie equaled it in awesomeness.  I'm glad I convinced my parentals to go.

6- Tonight I am making an epic journey with Hammy and her boy Josh to the mighty Weber. We are going for a visit with Kylie and to see Loki 2.  But there will be more on that later, I'm just super excited and have been waiting for this weekend for three weeks.

I can't think of anything else to say at this moment that are my life problems. I have had to deal with my roommates ex boyfriend and all that crap. It got old really fast.  But I hope that I helped a little bit and won't give you details cause it's not my place.

-Korrin

How Do You Describe A Friendship Like Mine And Korrin's?

It's almost as difficult as trying to solve a problem like Maria.








But then again, maybe this video just explains everything:

~Kylie

This Is What You Get For Expecting Me To Be Engaged When You Get Back

Sister Merrill thinks that Korrin and I shall be married women with eleventy billion children when she gets back.

Not only is that physically impossible, it is absolutely ridiculous to assume that two socially awkward girls will be married in the next technically year and a half.

So today, I am starting a secret operation that I am letting you all in on.

I am starting Operation Fake Boyfriend.

Opening line of the email I just sent to her:

"Things have just been crazy around here, and there's this guy, and basically things are ridiculous."

She's going to go crazy.

Or she's not even going to think about what it means.


Honestly, I'm thinking it'll be the latter.



~Kylie





PS-- DON'T TELL EMILY

The Best Dream Ever

So the night before last, I had the greatest dream of all time.

Seriously.

There is no dream that could ever beat out this one at all ever in the entire world.

That good.


So I had come home for the weekend in this dream, and had just walked in the door when my phone chirped. I thought it was one of my friends, or even one of my parents, but no. It wasn't.

It was from Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD.

New mission, it said. We are on the way.

Normally, this would be the greatest text of my entire life. Like... SHIELD NEEDS ME AND I MUST GO! But instead, I just felt this rush of disappointment. I was finally home! I didn't want to go on another mission right now! So I texted him back with a quick "Sorry, but I can't. Maybe next time," groaning the whole time. If I knew anything about Coulson, I knew he'd come no matter what (or even if) I texted back.

Sure enough, at that moment I heard a car outside.

I walked over to the door slowly, because nope, no way, Coulson was NOT going to be there. There was no way. No way he had gotten there that fast. When I looked through that peephole, I would not see his car there. Nope.

Except when I looked outside, there was a black van parked outside my house, people rearranging stuff in the back, and none other than Agent Coulson half-way across the yard on his way to my door.

Needless to say, I was not pleased.

I opened the door for him because I knew that no door can keep out Agent Coulson--he's too fantastic--and I pretty much started yelling at him the second he waltzed into my house. Because HELLO you can't just show up at someone's house when they've pretty much told you to go away, and also expect them to go who-knows-where-but-it's-probably-dangerous with you for who-knows-how-long-and-may-miss-everything-important. But he just smiled at me and asked if I was ready to go.
"No, I'm not going!" I yelled. "I just want to be at home!"
And again, he just smiled at me.
"Talk to your parents about it. I have some things I need to do, and then I'll be back to pick you up."

Basically, Coulson is a jerk.

So then I was standing in the kitchen talking to my parents, telling them all about how I didn't want to go and why it was an awful idea. I was tired. I wanted to be at home. I just didn't feel like it. All that junk.

And then my parents got real deep.

"Kylie, we want to let you know that whatever you choose, we will respect your decision."
(AWESOME TEN POINTS TO KYLIE)
"But--"
(NO STOP PARENTS)
"We want you to consider the fact that they wouldn't keep asking you to help out on these missions unless you had something important to contribute."

I stood there for a few minutes thinking about how wrong they were when I realized they were right.
"Huh," I said, still considering everything, "I guess so. I mean, they're not asking me along for my physical abilities, I know that. Maybe they really do need me."

So, when that jerk Coulson came back and I gave him my answer, he just smiled and said "Yeah. I know."

And just like that, I was on a plane flying to--I think--some European country.

The rest of the dream is a little fuzzy after that. There was some guy who ran some sort of corporation who wore too much leopard print/ and kicked us out. We got stuck in the foyer because the elevators wouldn't work and I was somehow able to teleport outside onto the rooftop right next to whatever floor of the giant skyscraper we were on. There were weird monster hybrid things attacking the city and Coulson told me I had to start fighting them off even though I couldn't fight at all and had no physical skills. I was looking at the closest half-scorpion, half-lion thing, trying to figure out what I could do to stop it when I saw Amanda standing not too far away, also assessing the situation. We made a "game plan" (and by game plan I mean "hey I'm going to get a running start, jump on the thing's back, and start punching it in the head so you just jump in and start throwing punches when you feel ready") and I was just leaping on to the thing's back when my alarm went off and I cried because my dream was AWESOME and I didn't want it to end.




So basically the moral of the story is "never question a SHIELD agent."

Sweeney Todd Only WISHES He Was Erik

For my musical theatre class, we have to watch Sweeney Todd. Now, don't get me wrong, I love good theatre, I love Steven Sondheim, and I love Angela Lansbury, but there's just something about Mr. Todd that I don't like. Never have, never will. So I'm not too happy about having to watch it.

On the other hand, I don't know that there's been a time in my life where I've had to struggle so hard not to giggle while in class. I mean come on. This dude is so ridiculously overdramatic. "The world wronged me and now I have to seek revenge by killing everyone." Seriously?

And then I realized something.

Sweeney Todd is basically Erik but way less cool.

Like, if Erik wasn't deformed, he would be Sweeney Todd. He would still be all angry and murdery except he wouldn't look like his face went through a meat grinder and instead of a barber he would be a composer.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Sweeney Todd might be Erik's long-lost brother/half-brother. He has this obsession with blonde women, and all he can say is how beautiful his wife was. Now flash forward to Love Never Dies and the creepy little spawn of Christine and Erik, Gustave, as he sings with his dear old daddy in "Beauty Underneath." The following is a completely accurate paraphrase of both characters in their respective shows:

Sweeney: AND SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL OH SO BEAUTIFUL OH YES SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL AND BEAUTIFUL AND DID I MENTION THAT THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WIFE BEAUTY WAS MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE BEAUTIFUL

Gustave: I THINK IT'S BEAUTIFUL OH YES IT'S BEAUTIFUL THIS BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL THING THAT IS BEAUTIFULLY BEAUTIFUL I THINK IT IS JUST SO BEAUTIFUL IN ITS BEAUTIFUL BEAUTY





I think I've proved my point.

~Kylie


P.S. Also I forgot to explicitly state that even though he supposedly fathered the creepiest child in the history of musical theatre, Erik is still the best sociopath in the history of... well, ever.

I'm Not Gonna Lie...

I'm kind of legitimately upset that Amanda got her visa and is now leaving her difficult companion.

"WHAT??!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!" I know you demand, because I can hear you from here.

But you don't even know.

I just sent Hermana Lloyd an ENTIRE EMAIL with different strategies/comebacks to use the next time Hermana Crazy Pants went off on a rant about how pens are the worst writing utensils ever created.

It included such gems as:

• But Sister, we have AGENCY! I love using my agency! In fact, I think I'll use it right now! Thanks, Hermana!
• Hermana, I call you to repentance.

       And, my favorite,

• GET THEE HENCE, PEN-HATER!

So while I still want to shoot sparkles out of my hands and dance around like a mad woman, I can't be entirely devoted to this visa thing because I know she probably won't have another opportunity to rebuke her companion and tell a parable of the Hermana who wouldn't shut up about pens and was consequently hit by a giant truck.

~Kylie

Oh, Conference...

You always know just what to say.

Seriously though, from the very first talk I knew this General Conference would be great. My mom came across a scripture the Sunday after my grandma passed away, and she got a strong impression that my grandma wanted me to read it. Well, believe it or not, that scripture talked about putting on the armor of God. And, lo and behold, the first talk was about putting on the armor of God.

I think it's safe to say that Grandma wanted me to watch Conference.

That talk about depression and other mental disorders that Elder Holland gave? (The one that Korrin so AWESOMELY blogged about already) Yeah. That was about my grandma.

Every mention of death? Yeah. That was about my grandma.

Every mention of heaven, or family, or eternal life? That was my grandma.

I love the gospel so much. I absolutely love it. I love that it pushes me to be a better person and to love everyone regardless if their choices meet up with mine. I love that feeling of peace and comfort that the Spirit brings. I love how all trials we've experienced not only refine us, but bless the lives of so many others through our experiences and testimonies. I love that God prepares us for all things before we know we're about to face them. He amazes me every day with his love and His tender mercies, and I can never thank Him or our Savior enough for everything they've done for me and those I love.

I testify that this church is the true one. And that sometimes, that's all we need to know in order to keep going. And that's okay.

Because in the end, all you have to do is look up.

~Kylie

Conference is the Bestest

10/6/13

General Conference is the greatest thing ever. This one especially. I have never cried so much as I have during this conference. I was so spiritually strengthened and uplifted that I want to go to the mountaintops and sing praises unto The Lord. It was the strongest spirit I have ever felt. 

For this I want to thank my missionaries. Their leaving has strengthened me so much and built my testimony more than anything else. Every time that I hear from them, I can't stop smiling. They are so excited to be serving The Lord and through them and their excitement I have grown to love this Gospel infinitely more. 

Them leaving was super hard for me, and still is. I miss them every single day, but because I love them so much, and they love me, I feel like The Lord has extended blessings unto me. When a missionary goes to serve, their family is blessed in their absence. For some reason I think these blessings have been passed onto me in a fraction amount. Because I cannot talk to them every day my eyes have been open to the miracles of this Church. My spirit is strengthened and I am more capable of helping the people around me. 

So thank you, all my missionaries for loving me so much that you want me blessed while you are gone. I know you pray for me just as much as I pray for you and I feel your influence in my life. 

Good luck my missionaries that are still waiting to leave ( another one next month) it will be a fantastic experience for you. Know that those you leave behind will be okay. And that we miss you like crazy. 

Thank you Heavenly Father. You do so much for everyone on this planet. Thank you for inspiring our leaders to create such a spiritual amazing conference that will bless the lives of so many, especially mine. 

-Korrin 

The Prayer I Didn't Know I Made

10/5/13

I have been playing with the idea to talk about this for a while now. I didn't know if it would be appropriate. I was scared that I would make people uncomfortable, especially the people who know me and love me. But after today's general conference and Elder Holland's amazing inspired talk, I know that it is alright. 

I am suffering from depression. I have been for a long time and recently it has been pushed over the edge so that I sought professional help. (Which is free because my school is awesome). I have always had a genetic predisposition of getting depression and I am pretty sure it has been plaguing me since before high school. 

Depression sucks. Some days I don't want to do anything. Other days I am sick because of the stress churning in my stomach. Other days I cry, and I have a hard time stopping. It can come at anytime, be triggered by anything, and affect me in any number of ways. 

As mentioned before, I am in therapy. It's hard. I have to talk about the things that I am so used to keeping to myself. The flaws in my personality and the traumas of my past are things I keep locked in a box, behind a steel door, bolted shut and chained in a corner of my heart, are things that only I (and maybe my parents) know about. Now I am sharing them with a complete stranger that is there to complete their masters program. And right after all of that turmoil, I get to go to work and pretend that I'm okay and upbeat. Those days are the hardest. 

With all the problems that occur in my life because of my mental illness, The Lord blesses me enormously. Take today for example. Before conference everyone says, "Go into conference with a prayer of something you want help with, or a principle that you want more understanding of." And every time they said this I tried to think about what I needed. Depression never crossed my mind. I was doing all that I could to help myself deal with it, therapy, scripture study, righteousness, etc. I thought that what I would need from this conference was how to deal with missing people, or jealousy. I was mistaken. Ever since the words "mental illness" came out of Elder Holland's mouth, I knew this was the talk meant for me. And so I realized that I had made a prayer, a prayer I didn't even knew I said. My tender heart prayed for help. Help to feel safe in confiding my problems to others and to know that I was not alone in my issues. And to know that it will get better. To know that I will have all the blessings of the gospel and that I will overcome all of my trials. 

There is something for everyone in General Conference, if they will but listen and accept the counsel given. 

I blog these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, as his disciple. Amen. 

-Korrin

This Post Has No Purpose

Except to say that I have so much energy right now.

Like, I could go do parkour right now and jump off a building.

Okay maybe not a building.

Maybe a moderately-high ottoman.

Still. There's jumping involved. It counts.

I also want to go outside and scream REALLY REALLY LOUD AT EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING SO BASICALLY I JUST WANT TO SCREAM AT THE DARKNESS BECAUSE I JUST WANT TO SCREAM AT ALL OF THE THINGS.

I don't even know what's wrong with me.

I haven't even had candy or sugar or anything.

I mean I drank lemonade at dinner around 6 but then I haven't even eaten anything else.

WHY IS THIS.

I REALLY HAVE TO SLEEP TONIGHT.

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH

~Kylieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

One Sentence Blog Post: Baby

I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!

One Sentence Blog Post: Death

Death is just a mission where the letters you get from your missionary are a little bit harder to read.

~Kylie

The Obituary

In case anyone wanted to see it, here's my grandma's obituary.

Thank you everyone for your kindness and concern. My family and I really appreciate everything you do :)

~Kylie

It'll Be Okay

I was up doing homework last night around midnight when suddenly I just knew something was wrong. I wanted to jump up and run everywhere and yell and tell everyone who would listen that something was wrong and we all needed to watch our backs because something big and bad was coming. But instead, I texted my mom and asked her if everything was okay. And for that moment, it was.

But around three o'clock this morning, my grandma passed away.

I love my grandma. She watched me from the time I was just a little baby until I was about 12 or 13 and I could finally stand to be in the house all by myself. She loved to buy me things, which sounds silly, but it was her way of making me happy. She's always been there for me, and I love her like crazy.

My grandma went through a lot of pain in her life. She suffered from depression, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, and, most recently, heart problems. For the past little while, she had been struggling to breathe, even just for little things like getting up to use the restroom.

The last time I saw my grandma, I was at the fair and got to push her around a little bit in her wheelchair. I even took a few pictures of her smiling, which is pretty impressive (the pictures, I mean). But she was feeling really sick the day of my birthday party, so I wasn't able to see her that day.

The last time I talked to my grandma, I had to try and convince her that my grandpa really would give her a blessing and that the only reason he hadn't was because she hadn't asked. Whoever invented the term "stubborn as a mule" never met Marilyn Jones, I can tell you that right now. I told her that yes, Grandpa would give her a blessing, trust me, it'll be okay, and we ended our phone call.

The last thing I heard about my grandma was that she had gotten a blessing from my grandpa on Sunday.

This year has been hard. I won't deny that. Things happen in life that we can't control, or that we don't want to step up to and take control of. But things happen. Good things, bad things, it doesn't matter. Because things happen.

Am I going to miss my grandma? Like crazy. I'm going to cry every day for the next little while because I'll miss her so much. I'll be walking around campus with a stuffy nose and red eyes, and people won't be able to figure out why. And that's okay. I can cry because I'll miss her. I can do that. It's my way of showing how much I'll miss her. It's my way of coping with it.

But I'm not crying because she's gone. She's not gone. Her spirit may not be in her body anymore, but it hasn't ceased to exist. I'm sad for me, not for her. Now, she's not bogged down by everything that went wrong with her body. She's able to love life again. She's able to be with all of us now. She'll be there the day I take out my endowments. She'll be there the day I get married. She'll be there to hand off every single one of my future children to me, and I hope she'll be able to tell them not to worry and not to be scared because they have a good person waiting to be their mom. She's going to be able to think clearly, without the pain, and she's going to be able to take every step with her family.

The gospel is true, guys. It's so true. One day, I'll be able to tell my grandma how much I've missed her, and I'll be able to tell her how many times I knew she was there. I have no doubt in the plan of salvation. It's real, and it works. This isn't some bedtime story made up by a whack-job American. No. This is the gospel. This is from God. He is there watching over all of us, and Christ is there right next to Him, holding all of us up whenever we need it. They can't lie; everything that's ever been promised to us will happen in time. And I don't know that I've ever been more grateful for that than I am right now.

I've been able to feel my grandma here while I'm writing this. I think she wants to let me know that she loves me and that it's okay to cry because she'll miss me too. I've also felt divine love and peace, and had a sense that everything will be okay.

And because God tells me, I believe it.

~Kylie

Oops

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Things have been exhausting around here lately. I took like a three hour nap today and I only got up from that because I was hungry and also I slept on my arm funny and it hurt but let's not talk about that.

I can tell you, however, that since turning 20, I've had a lot of fantastic experiences. Like my parents surprising me on my birthday and taking me to dinner. Or getting a great score on my English paper and getting in trouble for NOT talking in that class. Basically, good thing after good thing have kept happening. Maybe turning 20 automatically makes life better for you? I don't know, but if so, I'm totally digging it.

Also, I totally beat my friend Alec at all his GameCube games last night even though I didn't know how to play any of them. So I'm pretty much the best at video games *hair toss*.

~Kylie

P.S. HAPPY TUESDAY THE 17TH Y'ALL

I'm Not Dead, I Promise

Stardate 9/13/13
 I'm still here. I promise. But when you have two full time (ish) jobs it's hard to keep up on everything.
Now some of you are going "two jobs? I thought she was going to school?" and you are right. I have always considered school a job. I don't get paid for it in money, but I get paid for going in knowledge. Plus I'm there for 5-7 hours a day, therefore, it's a job.

I'm going to try and catch up on my second and third weeks of school, so this post might be kinda long. Please bear with me, I have some really awesome stories.

First, college.  College is a weird place.  Some classes are so hard that you have a headache afterward, and others are so easy you sit in class and scroll through Pinterest. I obviously don't do that. Why would I do that? That's a horrible thing to do. STOP JUDGING ME! Oddly enough, my favorite class is the one I have to go to at 7:30 am. My teacher is awesome, but I already told you that.  Statistics is a stupid class. Today we reviewed what a line was. I feel like I'm in Junior High again at points in that class.
Walking up to campus is hard to. I live just off of my campus and there is this giant hill in between me and all of my studying. I have the option to walk up a nearly vertical hill, or to go up 300 stairs.  Guess which one I do more often. The first week of school I gave myself shin splints from walking up to campus and then back and forth around campus all day.  So, I have been taking the bus up to campus a lot more recently.  Busses are good things for people without cars, expect that describes every college student that has a class at 8:30am, so it gets pretty packed sometimes.

Second, work. I have the bestest job in the entire universe.  I am basically a part time teacher, and I absolutley love it. I'm majoring in Elementary Education, so this is a really good thing.  I am working with the older kids at my school and they are suprisingly well behaved. It really scares me actually.  They shouldn't be so well behaved. The kids just a grade younger than them are bonifide monsters some days, so why are they so good.  THEY ARE PLANNING SOMETHING DIABOLICAL! DONT MESS WITH ME!!
My coworkers are fantastic. When I told them that I had to ride the bus to work they all looked at me like "You poor thing! How could you do something so arduous and dangerous? We are going to make sure that very soon you no longer have to do that and we will always give you rides home." They are all super nice. And the guy that I work with in our grade and me are finally getting used to each other. Like we actually talk and joke now.
My boss is the best. The other day I had an appointment that would make me late to work (since I have to ride the bus) and I told her about it and she came and picked me up at the clinic and drove me to work so that I wasn't late to work. How many bosses will do that?

Thirdly, life.  Life really sucks sometimes. I look forward to working, WORKING! Honestly, sometimes its the best part of my day.  Stress creeps up on me from everywhere. It doesn't help that I keep hurting myself.  I have mentioned them before. Shin Splints, Toe, Hands, you know.  My hand got really bad one day, and I was in a lot of pain.  Hammy and I came back from FHE and I was nearly crying because of the pain.  Hammy asked me if I wanted a blessing, (she lived here last year so she knows people) but I told her no, because I didn't know anyone that I trusted enough to give me one.  I didn't know who was worthy and I didn't want to burden anyone. I took a shower instead, and got chastised.  I got told pretty definitely that I was being stupid. I got this distinct impression "You don't have to trust them. You have to trust me. You have to trust me enough that I will send someone to you that is worthy to help you and that even if they weren't completely that I wouldn't deny you blessings for their mistakes." I started crying.  I humbled myself and asked who it was that i needed to call so that i could get help.  I got told the Elders Quorum President. Remember, this all happened while i was showering.  I got out and we called and he came with his roommate (who had only had the Melchezidek Preisthood for two months) and gave me a blessing.  They were so great and nice. The next day the Pres. also took me to the clinic to have a doctor look at my hands and see what was wrong.  We made them cookies.  This experience was very special for me, becuase I have never really had a trial that tested my trust in the Lord. Now I have.  My hands were better within two days and I know without a doubt that it was because of that Priesthood Blessing and my faith that they got better that fast.
We still don't know what was exactly wrong with my hands, probably an allergic reaction of some kind. I'm doing experiments to find out.

So besides the stress of school and work, I'm doing pretty good.  Things happen, and I am about to start something really scary but will benefit me in the future, but i know that I have the ultimate authority on my side and that I can get through anything with Him besides me.

-Korrin

P.S. I sent out letters to my three missionaries and forgot to put the return address on. I feel really stupid.

Dialogue: Waiting For Your Missionary

Guy: So, how many missionaries are you waiting for?

Me: *thinks of Amanda*

Me: *thinks of Emily*

Me:

Me: Um... two?


~Kylie (the missionary magnet)

God Has A Sense Of Humor That Most Mortals (me) Don't Necessarily Appreciate

Note: This post is several days a week overdue. But I felt it was important to post. So if there are any time-related incongruities, please forgive me, I have been working on this since the first of September.


Long accurate title is long and accurate.

Basically, last Sunday started as "FAST SUNDAY! YAY BLESSINGS! BOO HUNGER!" And that was more or less all I expected out of the day.

And then I got asked to say the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting.

Now, most people would rather pray than give a talk or do anything else, and that's fine. But I would rather speak every week than pray in front of people. The only explanation I have is that I'm an introverted Drama geek and would rather talk in front of 500 people than talk to them on a one-on-one basis. Not to mention that I feel like prayers are so individualized and personal that it's hard for me to open up and pray.

But there I was, sitting in Relief Society, being asked by the second counselor in the bishopric to pray. So I said yes.

I have no shame in admitting that I started to panic. In fact, I started to pray that I wouldn't say a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad prayer. It was like prayer-ception. And then I texted my mom and was like "MOM. PRAY FOR ME." And she did because she's awesome (*waves* Hi Mom!). But I was still super worried because I didn't feel prepared.

So then I'm sitting there in Sacrament meeting, and suddenly something Hermana Lloyd said starts ringing in my ears. Suddenly, I had to be brave. I had to do something for me. And I had to jump up and bear my testimony.

I don't think I've ever popped up out of my seat so fast in my entire life. I knew if I didn't get up right then, I wouldn't get up at all, and I somehow knew I had to stand at the pulpit and speak for me. I had to wait for 2-3 people to bear their testimonies before I could get up, but I wasn't scared. I just felt peace. Usually, I'm terrified when I have to stand and bear my testimony. But I wanted to stand and scream it out then and there. I think maybe it was meant to give me a glimpse of what our missionaries feel. Because that was what I bore my testimony on--having my mission be here. That I felt like my place was here, as all of you readers already know, and not out in the mission field. I said a couple of other important things, too, and then scurried back to my seat.

But the weirdest thing happened (and by "weird" I mean "God is smarter than me and knows how to answer my prayers using what we like to call 'the right way'") was the fact that I just felt better about everything, even the upcoming prayer. And you know what? I didn't feel like an idiot when I prayed, either. It was probably the best prayer I've ever said in public not including the primary prayers where mom walks up and tells you what to say also HI AGAIN MOM! and definitely the only prayer that it seemed like I never had to thought about. My gratitude simply poured out into my words and helped me feel like I was giving a competent prayer.

I'm so grateful that I was able to have that experience, even though I was so worried at the beginning. Our Heavenly Father and our Savior know exactly what we need, even if we don't want that to be our answer. But even then, they aren't going to just drop you and let you run with it--they'll be with you every step of the way.

~Kylie

September 1st

Every gosh darn year.

~Kylie

One Week Down

8/30/13
This is the end of the first week of school this year. I feel like I'm going to fall over at any moment. Not only am I exhausted from lack of decent sleep, my legs hurt from walking up a stupid hill everyday.  They have never hurt this bad, ever.  I almost fell over when I got off my couch the other day because they hurt so much. Suffice it to say, I took the bus to class that day.

I am also mentally exhausted from school and work training. You wouldn't think that having training about being appropriate around children would be so tiring, BUT IT IS! It helps that the school I'm assigned to is awesome and I have good co-workers.

 And school on top of that, oh boy. I had to drop a class that I actually might have had fun in so that I wouldn't kill myself by the constant moving and working.  The class was "Intelligent Life in the Universe: Integrated Science." or more fondly referred to as the Alien Class. The professor is awesome and I'm really sad I had to drop it, but at least now I won't pass out every Tuesday and Thursday from exhaustion.

I also hurt myself this week trying to catch a bus to get to work on time. I tripped in my flip flops(yes, just like Kylie) and I hurt my big toe. That was two days ago and it still hurts, I even think the nail is not properly attached.  But here's the kicker, I wasn't even late to work, and if I had missed the bus, I still wouldn't have been late to work.

And finally at the end of the week my hands have decided to hurt and swell for no apparent reason.  I woke up this morning with my hands numb and swollen and it hasn't stopped yet. I'm kinda worried about it actually...



So all in all, college is trying to do me in.



Now for the good things that happened this week.



My class are overall very good. Except Stats. That class is just stupid and a waste of time, but I need it for my major, so maybe it will come in to play in the game that is my life.

I have fantastic teachers.  My special education teacher is very passionate and seems really kind. My history professor is so AWESOME! He makes it okay to go to class at 7:30. Like, I actually enjoy going to that class. He is really weird and has many of the same opinions as me. Except he's a lawyer, I'm trying not to hold it against him.

My new roommate is amazing. She is a nerd, just like me. I like her a lot. She likes Les Mis, and POTO, and LOTR and Avengers and Firefly. Basically, she is super duper awesome and I am really glad that she is our roommate.

Hammy and I have finally gotten to season 5 of Merlin! I'm so excited to see some episodes that I have never seen before. Except then we will get to the end and then, since it is BBC, I will probably cry my eyes out.

I also converted Hammy into the Tom Hiddleston fandom. It was easier than I expected. All I had do was show her some of the quotes I had of him talking about romance. She still thinks he looks like someone who is gay, but now she understands why Kylie and I think of him as perfect. BECAUSE HE IS!

I was able to go to the library! So I will no longer be sitting around with nothing to do! I HAVE A BOOK!! WHOOOOOOO!


-Korrin

One Sentence Blog Post: Religion

Religion is like a fandom all about God.

~Kylie

I Am About To Fall Over I'm So Tired

GUESS WHAT. (#SpoilerAlert) I'm at college. Whaaaaaaaat!

So this year is going pretty good... you know, for only being the second day in. I have nice friends who I don't hate, so that's awesome. (Friends, if you happen to be reading this, then HI GUESS WHAT I DON'T HATE YOUUUUUUUUUU)

My classes are definitely going to be a struggle this year, but I think I'm looking forward to the challenge. Mostly, anyways.

Not the "walk up and down a million and five flights of stairs" challenge, though, because my legs hurt. Like... my whole legs. All of them. ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME (How morbid!).

Basically I fell asleep and took a nap today and it was awesome.

I forgot what else I was going to say.

Oops? Sorry, not sorry.

~Kylie

Church Makes My Life Better

8/26/13
Saturday I moved back to school. It was exhausting and stressful, but it is done! I have one other roommate plus the one I moved here with. She is awesome and I think we will all get along great. She likes Lord of the Rings!

Yesterday I had my first day in my new singles ward. Singles ward is a very unique experience, and very odd compared to normal family wards. But yesterday, the lessons were just amazing. I haven't felt so peaceful in months. It was just what I needed. For the first time this summer, I feel ready for the first week of school. And I even know some people there already! Whoo!

Today is my first day of school. I have one normal class and an Institute class, so it will be nice and simple. That is also the reason I have time to actually write in my blog. I have to buy textbooks today though. UGH. I hope it't not too much money, I hate spending so much money.

You will probably hear from me in a couple days, and it will probably be me complaining about how tired I am. Tuesday and Thursday are non-stop days, and evil. But for now, here's me being hopeful that this week will not kill me.

-Korrin

One Day More

8/23/13
That's right, this is my last day at home. Tomorrow I am moving back up to school into a brand new apartment with my dear friend Hammy. I have no idea if I will have other roommates, that's part of the adventure right?
Moving is so nerve racking it's not even funny. I am so stressed about next week that I will randomly start crying, not that I don't do that anyway, and I may be making myself slightly sick. The human body is weird. And I don't like stress.
But I think that I've got everything packed and I know what stuff I need to buy at the grocery store. I just want it to be a week from now, because then the hard stuff will be over.

On a whole other unrelated subject, Kylie and I finished Emily's book , again, yesterday. It should arrive in about a week and if it doesn't get there, I will have some very strong words for the postal service. There is a book page in there that was so totally awesome I took a picture of it. Kylie handed me a quote and a picture while saying "You are going to love me forever because of this." Check it out.

If you can't read it the quote says "The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no farther than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before. " -Albert Einstein.
This was a graduation photo. They (our parents) told us to do a thinking pose. The look on Monica's mother's face when I did what is happening in that photo was priceless. As was the pride in my father's eyes. That's right people, I put my finger on my nose like I was picking it. It was totally awesome. This is the greatest page in the history of the world.

-Korrin

My Reaction To The THOR 2 Trailer

And that's pretty much it. 

~Kylie

Why Are Things So Far Away?!

8/19/13
As I was scrolling through Pinterest yesterday I came upon this picture,

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the awesomeness of this picture? I mean, look at McAvoy's hair!
I sent the picture to Kylie and she replied "HOLY. ATTRACTIVE. MEN." I kid you not. This picture is so beautiful, you have no idea. I need this movie, right now. (For those of you who don't know what this is going to be from, it's X-Men: Days of Future Past) Why do I have to wait for something so fantastically great? WHY?! It's agonizing how much I want this movie, right now.

And since we are on the topic, I also want it to be November. November this year is going to be the King month for all nerdom! Thor 2, Catching Fire, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Sherlock Season 3, The House of Hades, and probably other things that I am forgetting!!  Is it November yet? Because that will be the best month of 5EVER!

MY PATIENCE IS WEARING THIN!!! I NEED THESE THINGS RIGHT NOW!

 -Korrin

Growing Up Kinda Sucks

8/17/13
So it's official, I have one week left until I move back up to college. You think that I wouldn't be nervous, because I've done this before, I survived a year of it already. But no, I am irrationally terrified of going back to school. I always get nervous before a new year of school, I have since I was 6, but this feeling is almost as bad as it was last year. Transferring form High School to College is a very scary thing, it was hard to leave the comfort of home to live with people my age and be responsible for everything. And I feel the same kind of apprehension that I had last year.  It doesn't help that I have a monster of a first week.
The first week of school do I not only have all new classes to go to, I also have work training from 3:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. Monday- Thursday.  This isn't bad because most of my classes are over before 1:15 right? Except for the night Math 1050 class I signed up for so that I can somewhat get back on track for my major. It goes from 6-8 Tuesdays and Thursdays. Luckily, I have the best job ever and my bosses are probably some of the greatest people I have ever met and they work with students all the time so we were able to work something out. But that means that I will basically be gone from 7 in the morning till 9 at night all week. If I don't pass out it will be a miracle.
 I don't get how people can do this all the time! Some people "get married to their work" and they have those same kinds of hours that I will have in two weeks. I love my job and I still don't want to go all that time. I want to have time to relax and get used to my new apartment. I want to spend time with Hammy, my roommate, and if I have two other roommates, get to know them so that I can live with them for a year. I just want it to be November. Is it November yet?
Given, I don't feel as terrible as I did last Monday. As you know, Monday was a hard day because of the news that Emily's book was lost. If you read Kylie's post about it, you pretty much will see all of the emotions that I felt. Especially the whole "acting like someone died," because I really did cry just as much as i did when my Grammie died last April. Since then I had a kind of crisis week. Monday was terrible most of the day. It got infinitely better when Hammy came over to talk about supplies and we played games. I was so angry and upset that all of our hard work had not reached Emily.  But through Em's strong testimony and talking to people about it, I came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father had another plan for that book. (It was actually really interesting talking to Kylie about it. Our parents were basically receiving all of the revelation to calm us down. Kylie and I couldn't get it because, despite Emily's plea, we were super mad.)  This news coupled with my training schedule and my building seperation anxiety, I was not a happy camper this week.
 But Wednesday, my Daddy gave me a blessing. Obviously I'm not going to tell you what was said. It's kinda personal. I am so glad that I have the ability to have that kind of communication with Heavenly Father through my earthly father. I got so much comfort from that blessing. It addressed so much more than I had actually thought of in a while. I know that I will be looked after this next year and that if I work hard I can be a better person at the end of it with The Lord's guidance. I have a lot of things to work on, mostly forgiving myself for making mistakes and to believe that I can be loved, no matter how imperfect I may be. I am so grateful for the Priesthood in my life so that I can get this kind of comfort so readily. That may be a part of my anxiety...not knowing if I can easily find priesthood to give me blessings, it was kinda hard last year.
So now I feel better than I did six days ago. Still nervous and procrastinating packing as much as humanly possible, but better. I make things so much worse in my head than they actually are.

-Korrin

Bad News And A Sincere Request

Most of you know about the books we made for Sister Merrill and Hermana Lloyd. Books that contained pictures, quotes, stories, and testimonies written just for them, so that on days when they felt down, they could open it up and be reminded how much support they have and how many people love them. We had been working on them since May, and finally finished them/sent them off at the end of July. Amanda received hers within a few days, and Emily's was expected to arrive a week ago.

Today, Korrin and I received some extremely disheartening and upsetting news, and we will be needing a lot of support from our readers.

Emily emailed us this morning to say that she not only has not received her book, but that she will probably never be getting her book. The envelope and the letter explaining what the book was arrived, but the book did not.

The post office lost the book.

Apparently the package ripped open during shipping, and the book just wasn't placed back in the package. None of us will ever know what happened to the book, and it will probably never been seen again.

It has been extremely difficult for me to write this post. Sister Merrill expressed her gratitude for all of our effort and her sadness at the event, but she also asked us not to be angry about the situation. I put a lot of myself into that book, and it absolutely breaks my heart to know that Emily will never get it. And I'll admit it--I'm angry. I am so furious that nobody could save it, that nobody was paying enough attention to it to know that something had gone wrong. But I don't know what happened, and I shouldn't judge. At Sister Merrill's request, I am trying extremely hard not to let my anger overwhelm me, so I've had to consistently go back and delete previous things I've said.

Emily stated in her email that maybe there was someone out there who needed to hear the testimonies and the things written inside. Her testimony and faith in the Lord's will reminds me time and time again why she is in my life and how her decision to serve a mission is the right one. Her light and hope are an inspiration in my life, but I am so hurt that this happened.

This is where I need everyone's help.

Please, readers, please pray and ask that Emily's book be delivered into the hands of the person who needs it most. I don't know if it's Emily or not, but things happen for a reason, right? Especially when it's something so big like this. I can only speak for myself, but I know that I won't--I can't--be okay with this unless God is placing that book in the life of someone whose needs far exceed those of our happy and loving Sister Merrill. I really need everyone to help me with this, and to help everyone else affected by this loss. Something good has to come of this.

I know I sound dramatic, like someone has died or that my life will never be okay again, but it hurts to know that I worked so long and so hard on something for what seems like nothing. I have to put a lot of faith and trust in God for this one. It's like... I thought I was doing a good thing. The right thing. And then this happens. I just don't know why, and it's killing me.

Please, I ask you again, please remember to ask for the book to fall into the right hands.

And again, thank you all for your continuing support in reading our blog--it means the world to us.

~Kylie

This Is Amazing And Also Freaky

Amanda is going to the Sacramento California Spanish-speaking mission while waiting for her visa to come through.

This is not unusual.

In fact, Amanda has (lovingly) stated before that Argentina "is a butt about visas", and one of the sisters that was there when she first arrived was going to serve in Idaho until her visa came through.

So all in all, this is not an unusual thing and is, ultimately, utterly unremarkable.

Except for the fact that I have known she was going to California since before she got her call.

That's right--I knew she was going to California.

I remember sitting in my Education class the day Amanda got her call. In fact, it was exactly when Amanda knew she got her call, because I was trying to listen to class as she and Korrin chatted about it like so:

The blog makes a lot more sense now that you see a typical conversation, doesn't it?

And me? I was freaking out. It was really hard for me to accept that my two of my three best friends were going on missions, and Amanda getting her call stressed me out to no end.

So there I am in class, internally panicking about where is she going and what am I going to do, and suddenly I got this really weird feeling. It was a sudden calm feeling, and the extreme suddenness of it took me super off guard and left me with a simultaneous feeling of slight apprehension at the afore-mentioned suddenness.

And at the same time I got this feeling, my brain said "California. Calm down Kylie, she's just going to California."

I was shocked. Was I really getting insider information on where Amanda was going? Really?
I told my mom and (surprisingly) Emily about this feeling, but I never told anyone else about it.

So I was secretly expecting Amanda to say she was going to California but LOLOL nope. "Argentina" caught me so off guard I almost fell out of my chair. I thought I had been wrong. I had just imagined something that would make me feel better about her leaving, and that was okay.

But today, Amanda got temporarily reassigned to California.

I don't know why God let me have a sneak peak into the future--maybe He needed to let me know that He's watching over my friend. Maybe He needed to give me the same answer my prayers usually get (i.e. "STOP WORRYING YOU WORRYING WORRIER!"). And maybe He just wanted me to know ahead of time what was in store. I don't know. But He did tell me, and I'm amazed, humbled, and just a little freaked out that He did.

I can tell you one thing without a doubt, though. Hermana Lloyd is supposed to be in California. There are people there that need her light and her guidance, and the Lord is leading her right to them.

You guys better believe it.

I know I do.

~Kylie

UPDATE: I emailed Amanda and told her about how I knew she would be going to California. This was her response:

"Gift of prophecy, my friend. You truly have the Sight. (Psst. Don't tell Trelawney)"

Also, she's super excited to go to Sacramento, so that's excellent :)

Sewing is HARD

My Mom and I are making a dress.  Well, technically my Mom is making it because I have never made a piece of clothing by myself and I am completely lost. But since it is a dress for me, I try to help as much as possible. For instance,

I helped pin the pattern onto the fabric, and stuff. Here is my Mom doing the actual cutting...

And today I did some sewing on the machine.

Needless to say , I think I messed up my dress. Mom had me sew on curvy parts! It's like super hard!! I definitely messed that up, it looks terrible. I hope that it doesn't mess up the entire dress. Probably just the sleeves, because after that I kinda got the hang of it and was able to decipher the measurements on the sewing machine.

I suck at crafts, so why do I keep doing them? I mean really?First the books, I want to make onsies for my nephew,and a new dress, they just keep coming.  I have the imagination for these kinds of things, but I can never actually put my mind into action. If that doesn't say something about me, I don't know what does.

-Korrin

Sundays Turn Me Into a Blubbering Boob

8/4/13

Basically I cry a lot at church. Today was the last fast Sunday that I will be attending my home ward, for sure, before I go back to school. It's actually kinda freaking me out. Wait, I need to go back for this to make sense. 

Last week I didn't go to church. My parents were out of town and I was home alone because I had things to do, namely finish out scrapbooks. I didn't go because after a year of going to church by yourself, you kinda get tired of it. And family wards are different than singles wards, it just seems wrong to go alone. Instead I stayed home and watched the Joseph Smith movie. Amanda has been taking about it in her blog and stuff so I decided to look it up on YouTube because I didn't know where my DVD was. (Btw it is very edited on YouTube, the DVD is better) I bawled my eyes out. It got me thinking about missionary work and my own callings and everything. I also got the revelation that I should bear my testimony at sacrament the next fast Sunday. Hence we come to today. 

I sat on the pew with my dad and debates with myself whether or not the Spirit was telling me to bear my testimony or not. I had just written it to Em and Amanda, did I need to bear it in front of all my ward members and the visitors that's were there for the baby blessing? Eventually I got told that I did. I was crying before I even got up to speak. I always, ALWAYS, cry when bearing my testimony, but today was particularly bad. I got even more squeaky than I usually do and I expect that I scared a few people. I would be a bad missionary because I would just cry all the time. 

Since I got up I have been crying off and on. This is the dialogue that's been going in my head between me and my brain. It has a mind of its own. 

"Singing a hymn? Have some tears. Another person talking? Cry some more. Talking about church history? Remember your grammie and cry like it was April all over again." Says my brain

"Curse you, you stupid mass of meat that controls my emotions and listens to the Spirit talking to me and showing it in me sweating out of my eyes." I reply as I wipe my eyes and avoid any eye contact. 

This has happened a lot on Sundays lately. I do anything that remotely let's me feel the Spirit and I cry. I should invest in tissues because I use them so much. 

Me having a tender heart is better for other people. That way I can feel sympathy for others and can help those in pain. But when it's just me and my thoughts it's a curse. A curse that manifests in the form of my face becoming a little river. 

So if anyone in my ward is reading this, I'm sorry I cry so much, it's not my fault. My brain tries to kill me. 

-Korrin 

Of How They are Missing Geek Movies: and other stories.'

Star date 8/2/13

I have decided to start dating my posts so that the blog doesn't mess up the order, because it's been doing that and it's weird.

Yesterday was my dear mother's birthday. She turned 56. I know, she is older than most mothers with 19 year olds', but she got married at 27 and my sister is 6 1/2 years older than me, it's not my mom's fault they had a hard time getting pregnant. Anyway, we celebrated by going and seeing The Wolverine. This is the first movie that I know of that came out while our missionaries were away that Amanda really wanted to see. Needless to say, it was pretty awesome. There was a lot of Japanese stuff and that appeals to me because I am an Otaku. (For those of you that don't know Japanese aka everyone else that I know except three-ish people Otaku means fan-girl, specifically of Anime) There was also a lot of action and the after credit scene was super significant and made me grin like a mad person because I was so happy. The Wolverine was definitely not my favorite X-Men movie, hardly anything can beat McFassy, but it was amazing nonetheless. But afterwards I was really tired. Like I almost fell over due to exhaustion. Maybe it was from my heart racing with all the action and stuff, but that always happens, I always get tired after a movie. I wonder if it's a medical condition...It didn't help that later my mom dragged us around Hobby Lobby. A very cool store, but not when you circumvent the entire store. The only good thing that came from it was that we found onsies that I could turn into geeky things for my nephew. I'm super excited and I have a lot of ideas. Goodness, I just finished a project didn't I? Stupid world being expensive.

Today, I got a letter from Amanda for Kylie and me.  Basically it made us bawl. It was the letter that was a response to our scrapbook. She told us how much she loved us and that we were the best friends ever. We sat there crying going, "This was supposed to make you cry, not us! You Jerk! Justice was supposed to be served! And now we are crying more than ever, that's just great." I can't wait for Emily's response to them, but she won't even get it until next week so I will have to be patient. 

Speaking of dear Emily, in Amanda's letter she called her "Sister Emily-face" Emily's face is a joke between us because Em can pull some really hilarious faces.  And half the time she doesn't even realize it! When you point it out she gets embarrassed and its really funny most of the time. So if you know Emily and write to her, please address her as Sister Emily-face, because that would make my year if everyone did it and not just Kylie and me.  

K THNX BYE

-Korrin

I Just Got A Letter!

I just got a letter!

I just got a letter!

Wonder who it's from?!

(If you didn't sing that whole thing, go back and do so now.)

(If you don't know the song, then I am ashamed of you and your knowledge of 90's children's television.)

But I just received a letter from our marvelous missionary Sister Merrill!

She loves it in South Canada Minnesota, and she loves the people. She's thrilled to hear about the blog, and she didn't say anything about my Sharknado picture, which was actually quite disappointing because SHARKNADO.

Also she both loved and hated the postcard letter I sent her. She claims it was "TORTURE" and that it took her 5-7 to put it together. I don't know what 5-7 means, but I'm not about to question a servant of the Lord. She made sure to clarify that she loved the picture on it, though, which is good. I specifically sent her the postcard with the Lower Falls, so I'm super glad she liked it.

I was going to say more things and then I forgot. I blame Korrin because she just came over. #YOLO

~Kylie

If You Think a Girl Talking About Leg Hair is Gross, You Probably Shouldn't Read This Post

Why do humans have to be primates? Seriously, why? Especially in this day and age where if a girl has any hair, besides what is on her head, she is considered a disgusting creature.

This rant comes from the hour that I spent shaving my legs. I kid you not, it took me an hour to shave the whole surface of my legs.  Usually, I shave my shins, calves, and half way up my thigh. No one is going to see above that, I'm LDS people.  But since I am going swimming tonight, I was forced by the stigma of society to shave the entirety of my legs.  The last time I did this, was probably last summer, because it takes too flipping long. YOLO. I went through a whole Gaelic Storm album over the time that it took me to shave and shower. I don't understand why it is that people think for a girl to be beautiful she has to be hairless. Sometimes I wish I was European, so that I didn't have to care. But then I wouldn't have freedom and I probably wouldn't be LDS. Oh, the sacrifices that we have to make.  I also wish that I didn't care what other people thought of me, but because I am a human being, I have self esteem issues, just like everyone else. Therefore, I suffered through an hour of putting blades to my skin just so that I wouldn't have a Teacher call me 'gross' at my wards pool party tonight.  Or any of the Young Women that I still know. Or some of the little children that are brutally honest.

I am a mammal. I have hair everywhere else that males have hair. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I don't grow hair. Although, it would be super nice to not have a person laser it off, but I go to college, so that's not possible.
And also you never know when someone has a hormonal imbalance or something which is why they have so much hair. It could very well be a medical condition. So why can't they be beautiful?

Moral of this story, don't judge people based on social stigmas, love them for who they are and not what they look like. Also, shaving takes to long and sucks which is why I have hair on my legs sometimes and wear jeans a lot.

-Korrin

My Cat Flatters Me Like No Other

Eliot is such a sweet cat.

Yes he hisses, yes he scratches, yes he tries to sleep in my spot, yes he shakes the bed with the force of his bathing at night bathing is SERIOUS BUSINESS, but he's very sweet.

He has an adorable meow, he loves to roll around, and he loves to sing.

Well... he loves to sing with me.

See, one night I started singing to myself because gosh darn it, I love to sing. We hadn't had Eliot very long, so we were still getting used to each other--which explains why I was so surprised when he jumped up on me and started running from one end of the couch to the other, meowing the whole time. So naturally, as the cat was all over me and the couch, I assumed that he didn't like it. Because, you know, everyone is a critic.

But upon further experimentation and study, it turned out that he liked it. No--Eliot LOVED hearing me sing.


And he still does. He doesn't run around anymore, but he will slowly ease his way into the same room as the singer. And, if he really likes the song, he'll quietly meow along with you. His favorite song, believe it or not, is "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Mis. He's classy.

But today, I experienced the strangest thing of all time.

Eliot responded to a recording and thought it was me.

I'm watching "Hello, Dolly!" because it's amazing and I love it and everyone else in the world should love it too. The time period, the costumes, the actors, the songs, EVERYTHING is just fabulous!

But Eliot's favorite is when Barbara Streisand sings "Love Is Only Love", because he thinks it's me.

That's right. Eliot thought that Barbara Streisand was me.

He never responds to recordings.

Ever.

But he ran in the room and stared at me because he thought I was singing and was sad that I would sing such a pretty song without him there.

He's too nice to me.

~Kylie

IT'S MONDAY

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS

IT MEANS THAT SOON AMANDA WILL BE GETTING HER BOOK

IT MEANS THAT OUR BOOKS ARE ON THE WAY

EMILY SHOULD GET HERS BY THE END OF THE WEEK

I AM SO EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN

~Kylie

Okay Maybe I Really Am Going To Die

I have been in Yellowstone ALL WEEK, walking around, tripping over rocks and stuff, and generally doing crazy things.

Aaaaaaand then we get to the Thursday.

All I was supposed to do was take out the last load to the car. That's it! That's all! Just take my backpack, purse, and some pillows down a few stairs and into the car.

That didn't happen.

My foot decided not to step right or something on the last stair, so Kylie came tumbling down. Apparently I hit my back on the stairs as I came down, but I had no idea that happened until my mom told me. And no--my back does not hurt. At all. But my right foot started the swell up just beneath my ankle almost immediately, and my left leg completely jammed up.

Why do I even get out of bed in the morning?

There was a maid up on the second floor who heard me fall and helped us get ice and, believe it or not, a couple of very nice paramedics. And, believe it or not, they made me a pillow splint. Yes. A pillow splint. There is such a thing.

So we managed to get to Driggs, Idaho and into an urgent care clinic where all of the staff were super nice and helpful. Like seriously, if you ever get hurt in Idaho I can assure you that you'll have spectacularly awesome care.

Also there was a really cute unpaid doctor intern there and it was totally awesome so if you're reading this and you were an unpaid doctor intern in Driggs, Idaho and your last day was July 25th, 2013 and you remember the girl from Salt Lake who fell off a stair then I'm totes that gal and you are cute so if you somehow happen to come across this blog for some weird reason and say "Gee I wonder if that's the girl I talked to" then YES it totes is and hi you're cute

My medical instructions are pretty much "wear a splint" and "put ice on it" and "use crutches if you need them" and "never ever never wear flip flops ever" but LOL like I'm going to listen to that last one.

But it's been a lot better than I thought it would be. I thought I'd be rolling on the ground, screaming "THIS MUST BE WHAT PAIN FEELS LIKE!!!!!!!!" at any given time, but I'm not. I'm barely using the crutch(es), with the exception of long distances and stairs. It's a ton better than I thought it'd be, especially since I was bracing myself for today because it was the dreaded THIRD DAY but it was definitely not absolutely unbearable.

So I'm doing well and not hurting way too crazy bad.

But if this post doesn't make sense, I blame the bruise.

~Kylie

...And They're Off!!

That's right peeps, they are done!! We finished our project and they are in the mail to get to our two special missionaries. Amanda's will reach the MTC on July 30 and Emily's will be in Minnesota on Aug. 5. Here's me and Kylie at the post office.

It is such a relief to have them done. Now they will make those two cry like they made us cry! Justice is Served!! Plus, we got to do something really special for those that we love and hopefully they will be a help to those special ladies.

Btw, it is really hard to write a testimony while listening to "Darcy's Donkey" by Gaelic Storm. Like, really hard. I kept laughing while I was trying to be serious and heart felt. Kylie didn't fair any better than I did. It was quite hilarious.

-Korrin

Something is Trying to Kill Me

There keeps being reports on the news lately saying things like "An LDS missionary died today" or "an LDS missionary was in a fatal train accident"

Every time they come on my heart drops and I stare at the tv going "please don't say it please don't say it" waiting for names I would recognize. And these are just my friends that I'm worried about. I can't imagine what it's going to be like if I ever have a son. Oh, crap. I'm having a nephew...

Anyway, if this keeps happening, I'm going to have a heart attack. So please stop trying to kill me circumstance, I can't handle the pressure. 

Brownies of Awesomness

I keep forgetting that I'm supposed to update this blog with the things that are happening in my life. Oops. 

My friend Bri, the other missionary, left Wednesday to the MTC in Provo where she will be in the same building as Amanda. Cool, huh?  Tuesday night Mandy and me had a sleepover at her house, which was really weird because her mom doesn't like them. Anyway, we played games and watched Doctor Who, because Bri is awesome where some others are not. I was so tired that I basically slept all day Wednesday. That morning before she was set apart we said our goodbyes. She said that if we didn't write her she would come back and beat us up. The thing is, Mandy and I have been planning something special since the Sunday before. Tomorrow, we are going to Provo to mail Bri and Amanda brownies. So as she is threatening us we both sat there thinking, "calm down sweetie, we got this covered." It was awesome. 

Wednesday was also Pioneer Day and besides sleeping the only thing exciting that happened was me getting hit in the face with falling debri. Aerial fireworks are scary. 

 Today we made the brownies that we are shipping tomorrow. It was super easy and fast, so we played on her wii for a few hours. 

Then later I went to get the mail. There were two letters in there. Both for me. One was Amanda's weekly letter and the other a puzzle of a baby wolf from Kylie because she was in Yellowstone this week and almost died and sprained her ankle and stuff. I feel very loved.