Just Another Reason Why You Should Study in the Library

I know.

My school is awesome.

Begin Learning a Foreign Language

Thank goodness I didn't say, Become fluent in a foreign language. I can check this off of my list of things to do, because Spring term started yesterday and I'm signed up for a 2 hour Spanish class every day at 8:00 am. And it's good. I can count to 100. And I can tell you my telephone number. And I can greet you and tell you how I'm feeling. And I can say a prayer (because I'm at BYU and we always say lots of prayers here. What? It's a Church school.) The point is, it's only just begun, but I have a good feeling about this semester.

Ten (or Eleven)Things I Hate About Tuesday

You think it's pretty, huh? Snow is tricksy like that. I bet you wouldn't like driving this either.

I am a firm believer in equal opposites.
I think the Universe is, as well, and felt the need to counteract my happy Tuesday of last week.
Stop here if you don't want me to drag you down into the mire.

1. There is snow.
Everywhere.
Everywhere.
And I had to drive in that nasty stuff.
Please remind me that I love BYU.
Because I hate Utah right now.

2. Even though it is 1 degree out, my room has got to be in the nineties.
Not a lie.

3. The last assignment of the semester (to write a radio script for my advertising class) is hanging over my head.
It's due at 11:00 am and I haven't even been able to think of what product I want to write a jingle for.

4. My phone has done nothing but receive calls today.
No texts (to or from) and no phone calls from my end.
I feel lonely, detached, and ready to trade in a few fingers for the returned use of my phone.
(Cell phone, cell phone you're my heroin...sing along now!)

5. I have been waking up each hour for the past few nights.
No explanation.

6. I feel really fuzzy right now.
Which is mostly synonymous with blue/cloudy/under the weather/Eeyore-like/cranky.

7. I was irresponsible yet again (surprise!) and now plane tickets for Christmas have jumped beyond my price range. And I hate using my credit card.

8. The cute boy I have had a crush on for months has no inclination to ask me out, despite not a few successful and fun interactions.
I am starting to doubt what little feminine charm I thought I possessed.

9. I ate around twenty peanut butter cookies.

10. A certain four year old felt that entertaining her for 4 hours was absolutely necessary, despite the long list that her mother gave me to take care of most certainly proved otherwise. And because I am cranky, I did not appreciate being asked every 5 minutes (not an exaggeration) to provide entertainment.

And because I am cranky, here is another one

11. I was so tired (from being up all night) that I accidentally fell asleep from about 5:00-7:00 pm.
So I'm gonna be up all hours.

Happy post coming tomorrow, so don't fuss.

Ten Things I Like About Tuesday

Me and Dawna doing what we do best

1. I got a letter from Dawna. For those of you who don't know, Dawna was one of my first roommates here at college. It took us about a week to discover that we were each other's missing half. And then she left me to serve a mission in Scotland. Nice for her, bad for me. Her letters are the highlight of my life right now.

2. My World Religions class is UH-MAZING! Seriously. Take Alonzo Gaskill. The 8:00 am hour is so worth it. I am constantly amazed at how much he knows and how much I have learned about the beautiful religions in our world. It also helps that he is very funny.

3. Tuesday is Taco Night at Del Taco. 3 for a dollar. And way better than Taco Bell.

4. Jessica made pumpkin cookies. I think she is trying to make me fat. Curse her.

5. I finally checked the mail (first time in a week) and we all know how much I love getting the mail. That little box was chock full of goodness. It was amazing.

6. I got to take the kiddies I watch to the park. Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove is amazing! Why didn't we have something like that back home when I was a kid? Why do we still not have something like that?

7. This book I'm reading, about the Salem witch trials, is fascinating. I'm almost done.

8. I listened to Lisa Mitchell's Wonder album at least 4 times. Not an exaggeration, thank you very much.

9. Bishop Burton gave a wonderful devotional that I only got to listen to half of because I 1. didn't realize he was coming today and B. had to work.

10. I found out about Llama Caroling this weekend. Each group of carolers gets a llama and a shopping cart to fill with food for the needy. Don't ask me how I found out about this. Just embrace the awesomeness that is BYU.

The llamas in my Biology class last year

S: School {BYU vs. Hogwarts}

I am a proud student of Brigham Young University. I love everything about it {except for American Heritage}. I love my major {Public Relations}, the beautiful campus, the amazing people, the fun classes. It is all SO GOOD!

But a small part of me {the part that read all the Harry Potter books and saw the most recent movie} can't help but want to go to Hogwarts. I just want to be magical. Can someone please make that happen? And give me an accent while you're at it? And a broom. And a pet owl. I could go one and on. I mean, really. I wouldn't mind the snow if it was like this.

pride for my country has nothing to do with it.

I have a problem called American Heritage. Let me rephrase that for all you nonBYU-ers, because that might sound suspiciously unpatriotic.
I hate my class called American Heritage. Let me list the reasons why.

1. It is boring. So boring. America has a lovely history. Do we really have to ruin it with such an awful class?

2. The exams are the worst ever. Really. Going to lecture, lab, doing the reading, etc. makes almost no difference on my grades, give or take 5 points. Granted, I am not the best student ever, but I do try. I do put effort into my classes. And I like to see results of that effort. But when the best test grade from your section is a 73%, there is something to worry about. Or not. Because it is graded on a curve.

3. It is a freshman class and I am not a freshman. There are millions of freshman, all vying for a good seat in the JSB Auditorium, and I get accidentally {I hope...} groped every single Monday and Wednesday as I fight for a seat. By little freshman. Ugh.

{JSB=Joseph Smith Building. BYU campus is a classic example of how much we Mormons love acronyms. With things like CTR, LDS, & EQP, it's no surprise that our campus is full of MARBs, JFSBs, JKBs, etc.}

4. I am supposed to be writing a 5 page paper on the role that agency played in the constitutional development of the country. Right now. It is due at 8:00 am. I have one page. Wish me luck on the rest of the pretend stuff that I will be writing.

5. I sit next to a little freshman who makes almost perfect scores on everything. That's not doing much for me in the academic confidence department.

A Lesson to All Young Men: Smiles and Doors

Today a young man stopped at the Harold B. Lee Library to open the door for me. Now, I go to BYU, so this is not an unusual occurrence. I can't remember the last time I had to open the door for myself. {Note: Remember this boys.} But then he smiled. And I fell in love. Now, I don't know his name or anything else about him, but I want him. I don't even know if he really was cute. But that smile made him beautiful to me. My new life mission is to find him and marry him.

So, boys, remember to always open the door, and then to give a big, genuine smile. The girl will turn to putty in your hands.

The end.

Me. In Pictures.

Thanks to Jodi for this cute idea and for also loving creme brulee.


1. What is your first name? Reyna
2. What is your favorite food? cherries
3. What school did you go to? BYU
4. What is your favorite color? yellow
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Joseph Gordon Levitt
6. Favorite drink? water
7. Dream vacation? Ugh. Too. Many. To. Choose. Venice.
8. Favorite dessert? Creme Brulee
9. What you want to be when you grow up? a momma
10. What do you love most in life? the gospel
11. One word to describe you? crazy
12. Your nickname? Flossie

1: go to flickr.com
2: in another window open http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
3: choose 4 columns, 3 rows
4: answer the above questions in the search bar of flickr. pick your favorite one on the first page and paste the address into your mosaic


1. La reyna niña, 2. sakura, 3. 070606, 4. Red Poppies And A Dramatic Sunset Sky, 5. 500 Days of Summer, 6. Dusky Beauty, 7. Venice - the other side, 8. day 58: creme brulee, 9. X Vert tige X, 10. In the beginning, there was a Word.., 11. Masjid Al-Noor, 12. the green sand beach

Dream, Interrupted

I woke up this morning at 7:50 am to get ready to go to the chiropractor. I was possibly in a bad mood. As I lay on the table, my back being kneaded and stretched by the lovely massage therapist (whom I love, mostly because she also loves The X-Files), instead of letting her loosen the knots of this bad mood, I rubbed it until it got good and nasty. Sorry, Mom. I'm not really a monster.



Then my back started hurting. Usually I feel better after the doctor. Today, I just felt sore. So I took a nap. I dreamed vivid and exciting dreams. There were balloons and I was floating above the town. Then Matthew popped those balloons. One by one. And I was left with a sleep hangover. I hope you know what I am talking about. Where you feel tired and sluggish, a little bit weird, like you are running in your dreams but making no progress. Only you're awake. Grrr...

I'm doing a little better. Tomorrow will be better. I promise. To help me along, I am going to make that list of wonderful things I have done. Here goes.

I have knitted a scarf

I have hiked the Y

I have been to Tennessee

I have been to some amazing concerts

I have survived almost two years of college

I have canoed down a river

I have painted a room

I have swam under a waterfall

I have worn a dress that Johnny Depp liked

I have touched an alligator

I have pulled an all-nighter

I have watched nine seasons of X-Files

I have read the Bible, The Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants

I have been to the Salt Lake Temple

I have made a dress

I have made sock puppets

And that should do it.

.credit

Summertime Blues

Because Provo is the place to be.

Things I Miss:

~Someone to watch X-Files with. When I'm alone, sometimes I get scared and have to sleep with the light on.

~The amazing Provo library

~Costco water bottles

~Being able to watch Thursday night tv. My family doesn't like my shows.



~REEEEEEEEYYYYYYNNNNAAA (insert creepy voice here)

~Having a long bathroom counter that I only share with the ihome and one other person. Teenage boys are no fun to share a bathroom with.

~My car

~Rock climbing

~Friends

~My clothes. They have yet to arrive on the FedEx truck.

~Frizz-free hair

Sudweeks, I love you.

Pleated Pants and Greek Gods

All semester long, I have looked at one of my professors and hated his pleated pants. They are not flattering. Today he did not wear pleated pants, but flat front. Today, I thought my professor was quite cute, without realizing why. Then it hit me. I hate pleated pants more than I thought I did. You know, if he had skipped out on the pleats, I might have had a better reason to go to class. Just a thought.

One of my other professors (a German, sixty-something Classics professor) used the phrase "sexy flanks" in reference to the rape of Europa. Not once, not twice, but three times. I am still dying of laughter inside that he actually said that. Oh Zeus old boy, did you ever imagine that all fear and awe associated with you would be replaced by "sexy flanks"? Probably not, or you wouldn't have turned yourself into that white bull.
P.S. The flowers upon your head are emasculating.


by Guido Reni

Llamas? At BYU?

Why yes. Just another great reason to go to school here.

Up close and personal with Oscar the Llama. He kept humming at me while I stroked his neck. He loves me you see.

This is our amazing Biology professor with his llamas. He raises them and we (meaning Davey and Moon, we all know I hate math) figured he is worth about 3 million. I had no idea that lamas were so expensive!

The Llama Parade! I wonder what the kids on campus thought when he was walking them across campus and up the stairs in the MARB. Ahhhhh! "It's a crazy llama man!" or "Time to transfer to Harvard..." or "I think he's crazy." Whatever it was, I wish I could have seen their faces.

Only at BYU...

...would a law student from the apartment complex next door have to do a service project for class that included taking out as many people's garbage as he could in ten hours. Welcome to Happy Valley.

Dumb Boys in the Testing Center

Some people need to just Mind Their Own Business.
I just can't handle it when people take it as their personal responsibility to condemn the rest of us for not wearing skirts down to our ankles. Sorry, but right now is a complaint session. Stop right here if this bothers you.

Today I wore a cute outfit to school: a long-sleeved white tee under a cute yellow summer dress with tall brown boots. The dress came down to my knees, so it was Strength of Youth appropriate, and I got at least 4 compliments on my outfit. Made me feel pretty good. It never once crossed my mind that I could possibly be immodest. So I took my Biology test in the testing center, met up with some friends for lunch, and headed to a mini testing lab in the basement of the Joseph Fielding Smith Building (which happens to be my favorite on campus, I spend all my free time on these beautiful balconies...)to take my Humanities exam on Musical Drama and Opera.

I got into the center, the girl at the desk swiped my id, and I walked over to the amazing apple computers to begin my test. Then, this guy gets up from his test, walks over to the desk, and tells the girl that I am not modest enough to be taking a test at BYU and she needs to ask me to leave. I'm sorry, what? I'm not what? Hang on there buddy. But she asked me to leave, and being me, the last thing I was gonna do is pitch a fit. My face was already red, and I wanted to cry, and I had no desire to draw anymore attention to myself. So I got my bag, walked to my Biology class to await my friend Davey, so I could rant at him and have him assure me that I am in no way dressed bad enough to be kicked out of a BYU testing center.

So right now, the question I am asking myself is why? Why does a random guy get up and ruin my day like that? Was he trying to prove something? Is he one of those guys who is so super hardcore letter of the law? Or, like Davey thinks, did he just think I was hot and my legs were causing him to fail his test? Whatever it was, I don't appreciate it. And, if it was the last thing, Keep your eyes to yourself, Mister.