Thanksgiving is a swell holiday

It's the last day in November, so I figured I would give Thanksgiving a shout out before we officially switch gears into Christmas, which I am also very excited about.

I love Thanksgiving. Even though we don't do anything important on that day besides eat huge amounts of food, which is fine by me. It's wonderful to have a day where the only thing on the schedule is to eat. I'm grateful for that.

Last year and the year before I spent Thanksgiving in Bucharest, and so this year was especially nice to eat Thanksgiving dinner with the fam again. And I am grateful for that. And speaking of Bucharest, I think right now I am most grateful that I went on a mission. I have amazing friends and a couple of besties from going on a mission, and it also strengthened my friendships from before. I am also grateful for that.

It's safe to say that every good thing that has happened in my life is because of the gospel. No doubt about it. My great friends, my close family, my education, my hopeful future. It's great! And I love the holidays! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Changing Times

I am trying to learn tolerance, and be more understanding of girls nowadays.

Like, the way they feel about these boys (overrated)

Is the way that I fantasized about these guys as a teenager. (And let's be honest, I still do)














Mr. Darcy or Gilbert Blythe, anybody? Who would you choose? That just may be a harder decision than between Jacob and Edward!!

So I am now trying to not be too much of a hater on ridiculous pre-teens, and ridiculous teens, and even ridiculous adults.

"Tolerance is always a good lesson, even when it comes out of nowhere." -Mr. Hall, Bronson Alcott High School

Happy Monday. Love, Annie

I'm just going to say it

Utah State sports fans are sore losers.

Seriously. They have such crap sportsmanship. I am so happy we beat them in basketball last night. Forget football: yes that was a painful memory this season and we better never repeat it. But before that, back when Utah State would celebrate their first touchdown of a season by acting like they had won the national championship (because it happened just as rarely), they would always cling on to that lame excuse that "we're good at basketball" and yet whenever I saw BYU play them, we still would beat them. (I am aware that they won last year, but I was out of the country, so, "out of sight (or country) out of mind.")

It's just pathetic though when a team's cheers and chants are all just to slander the other team. When their team does something good, rather than cheering that, they cheer on how the opposing team screwed up and how they suck, blah blah blah. That's just retarded.

The crowning moment was when I ran into a Utah State alum last night and I will admit, I loved rubbing it in their face that we won. I cheekily said, "well, nice try." But said person went off on "ohh nice try to you! you guys who were behind some of the game! boo hoo hoo." Excuse me?! Who won the game? We did. Almost winning is STILL losing. And Utah State, you did not win last night. Get over it.

Go ahead, lecture me about how I perhaps am being a sore winner. How I need to read Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from the recent priesthood session, which I already have, and I agree. Utah State fits that category of "normally kind and compassionate human beings can be so intolerant and filled with hatred toward an opposing team and its fans." And I will also admit that we BYU fans tend to make "broad generalizations and apply them to everyone associated with the other team." ex: that USU is just a farmer school and all they teach at that school are those cow whistles that were being heard all night last night (just to give you an idea).

To that friend and USU alum, I hope we can still be friends and lay these differences aside. I know that it shouldn't be so hostile, but in the words of Vince Lombardi, "If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?" That's all there is to it. We won. Sorry you lost last night. But I am not sorry we won!!!

Violin Remorse

I do believe that dreams can tell you a lot and hint to you about things you need to be doing better in your life. I can't tell you how many times that I have dreams where I am jogging and it is wonderful and feels good, and I think to my dream self, "I really need to do this more often!" And then I wake up. And I usually do not end up going jogging.

And then last night I had a dream that I tried to pick up my violin to play it, and I physically could not get my hand to go the way it should to play correctly. That was my cue: you haven't touched your violin for way too long!! And it's true. I feel so bad about it. And with the Christmas season coming up, I really need to get back in the groove, since our best family Christmas tradition is hosting our own private Christmas music recital on Christmas eve. The dream didn't get much better when I was trying to play the violin in a neighbor's backyard on a dirt pile, when the pile collapsed into the ground and covered my violin, and I didn't even notice for like 15 dream minutes.

Did I also mention that my dreams are very random sometimes?

Anyway. I REALLY should play my violin. I know it. But guess what? Next semester I registered for orchestra again which will require me to practice! Why am I best motivated by a grade for a class?

And for the record, this is how you properly hold a violin, as demonstrated by Albert Einstein. Yes, he plays the violin as well. So talented! (In my dream, my left hand was schrunched up to the violin instead of smoothed and relaxed like Albert's...in case you care)

Country Music and Fashion: They Don't Mix

The Country Music Association Awards were this week. No, I did not watch them, because I don't really care about country music. But you can bet that I saw the red carpet photos afterward. I love that kind of stuff. I always make it a point to purchase the Oscar edition of People magazine for that very reason.

And based on what I saw from those CMA awards, oh buddy, it did not look good. What is it about country music that makes people who usually have pretty good taste turn into horrible criminals of fashion? That twangy guitar starts to mess with their heads, and causes them to wear horribly tacky things. And THIS is why I don't listen to country music! I just don't want to risk it. As I was looking through the photos on yahoo's report on the show, it seemed like everybody was making the worst dressed list. This is not good.

Some examples:




















Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood: country singers. What were they thinking? (Just two examples of all the other country singers who had ugly outfits as well)

But what really gets me are the next two. Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow. Nicole usually dresses fabulously. Until she married a country singer. And Gwyneth? Well, apparently, she's "going country" now. She performed at the show, and she did a pretty good job too, and even looked amazing as usual in her outfit she performed in, but she arrived at the show in a very unfortunate outfit. If Gwyneth can't even resist the urge to still dress nice and be involved with country music, then who can?!

Well, that's about it. Please resist the urge to dress like this. Sorry if this offends any country lovers out there. I still love you. Happy weekend! Love, Annie

The Bestie Concert Series

It has been one great month for concerts in Salt Lake City! And I am a lucky person, because I have a bestie who goes to all of them with me. Kimmy. I love her.

I first met Kimmy in the far away land of Romania. We immediately connected when the subject turned to music. Kimmy has great taste in music. And while I myself wouldn't call my own taste great, I do know that my friends say that I have great taste in music.

Oh Romania. Did I mention that I miss that place? Because I do. A lot.

Anyway, back to music. Kimmy and I are kindred spirits when it comes to music. Since we have been re-united in the United States, we have seen some pretty sweet shows. This summer we went to the Mountain Goats. I had always wanted to see the Mountain Goats perform and Kimmy came with me even though she didn't know them too well. Now that's true friendship, people.

And then, there was Ingrid Michaelson last week. Her concert was amazing. And Kimmy stood in line a good hour before I got there to wait with her. She stood in the freezing rain, and then together we stood in the hail storm. But we got in! Thanks to Kimmy. I'm telling you, if you want a legit friend, call Kimmy!

On Monday, Kimmy and I got to experience Sufjan Stevens together. It was wonderful! We were so happy after! (as seen below: man with beard is Kimmy's friend Rudy)

School may be blah and boring, but at least I have Kimmy. And Ingrid. And Sufjan. And, on Friday, Kate Nash! But mostly, I'm glad I have Kimmy! Basically, I have some pretty legit friends, and yes that includes all of you reading this. So, I hope you have a good rest of the week, and remember that I love you!

xoxo, Annie

Save the Subjunctive! And other activist protest ideas

While some college students may feel that protesting a cause like global warming or saving the animals in the ocean (ehh emm...Kimmy) is crucially important, I feel like there are other issues that are just as important. First and foremost: the subjunctive. Ever heard of it? Maybe, but do you ever use it? Probably not, because the subjunctive is dying. This is serious people! A part of our language is just disappearing: this is a big problem that people just don't seem to care about.

In case you don't know what the subjunctive is, I will explain, and give a prime example of how it is dying. Some 50 years ago, the musical Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway. One of the most well known songs was "If I Were a Rich Man." Did you catch that? If I were a rich man. Fast forward four decades. Gwen Stefani comes out with her pop hit rip off called "If I was a Rich Girl." What the what?! She just killed the subjunctive. This is not right.

That's why if I were (yep, were, not was) to head up a college campus activist protest it would be to save the subjunctive. It needs to be saved. And it needs to be saved more than the whales in the ocean. I guess I should take my protest to the school boards as well because teachers really are no longer teaching grammar in schools, which is a travesty. Americans don't even know their own language, which damages them for life. It's not your fault you don't know how to use the subjunctive. You weren't taught it or encouraged to use it. And just to help you out, here are some sample sentences of how to use the subjunctive, taken from the real thoughts of yours truly.

I wish Tim Gunn were one of my best friends.
If boyfriend were to come this weekend we could go to The Drowsy Chaperon for 10 dollars. (student tickets are the best)
I wish I were skiing. (This sounds weird, but it is correct)

Only YOU can save the subjunctive!

So, moving on to other activist protests. I have a friend who is ridiculous. He is going to protest for mens rights. He calls it his mens revolution. I would usually frown upon such a thing, but he wants to protest for mens rights on college campuses simply to get a reaction from all those college feminists. (And if I didn't know it was a joke, I would probably be one of them to throw paint on him or something)

And for all you redheads out there. A protest for ginger rights. And this one really did happen. My co worker heard about it when she was living in London. Do gingers really need more rights? Are they discriminated against? Actually, yes. A fellow sister missionary in my mission who is a ginger spent weeks trying to find a new apartment in Bucharest and no one would rent to her because of that (she also had an asian companion and that just added to it). I don't think that I discriminate against them, unless it's discrimination that I get offended if somebody thinks that I have red hair, and that I often say that attractive red head guys don't exist. (I have only ever met one) So I guess a protest for ginger rights could be productive.

If you would be interested in participating in any of these causes, let me know and maybe we can make a difference in the world! There is strength in numbers!

Happy Monday. Love, Annie