Turns out there is nothing to do in Rexburg...go figure. Last night I was sitting in my apartment on the brink of a nervous breakdown, literally. I grabbed a blanket, turned to Taylor and said "I've GOT to get out of here." So, she grabbed a blanket and followed. We took off in Kia and headed north with absolutely no direction. Then, common sense started to kick in: Kia can't travel very far (she's nearly on her death bed), we only had a blanket and less than a 1/4 tank of gas, not to mention no destination. Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out this wasn't my smartest plan. So, we turned around.
Common sense didn't last long. As I pulled back into to Rexburg the sense of imprisonment overcame me again. So, I contacted my dear friend Taylor Clark (not to be confused with female Taylor my accomplice). I asked to borrow his car. Surprisingly, the answer was simply, "Sure, where are you taking it?" Yeah, I was shocked. Totally and completely shocked. I told him I wanted to take it overnight to Mesa Falls to watch the sunrise in the morning. Stupid, right? But, he was serious. By the time I pulled out every blanket I owned he was at the apartment with the car running and warm. What a guy!
He had very few instructions: Have fun, and call if anything big happened to the car.

I'm the kind of person that:
**shops at Albertson's just so I don't have to run into anybody I know in Wal-Mart.
**doesn't care how much crap the Ketchup lid has built up, I will not be the one to clean it out.
**refuses to step on the cracks in the sidewalk.
**will point out an awkward situation, before it's awkward, to avoid any uncomfortable feelings.
**will stack groceries 3 feet high on the counter if the checker doesn't move the belt fast enough.
**sits in the very far corner of the library so I don't have to make casual conversation.
**says goodbye on the phone while the other person is still mid-sentence, just so there is no awkward, "Ok, Ok, Bye now" junk.
**when someone is staring at me, I stare back until they look away.
**will not hug without real purpose.
**threatens to throw a punch every time I get defensive.

I am the kind of person most people avoid at all costs.

Heidi is turning 20 on Tuesday. Heidi loves Benton Paul. Heidi introduced us to Benton Paul. We all love Benton Paul. We all love him so much, we are his friend on Facebook. Benton made an announcement on Facebook he was performing in Provo at a place called the Velour.

Benton in action. Phenomenal. Yes, we were indeed so close we could see just how sweaty he was.

Remember from a previous Benton Paul/David Archuleta entry that I didn't get to meet Benton? Yeah, that was not going to be the case this time. We literally ran to him when he came around the corner. Stalkers? I prefer... "groupies."

Well worth it. Thanks for being born, Heidi and giving us a reason to have this amazing night.

Benton, thanks for being born. Period.

Welcome to purgatory.I do want to throw in there that this is after an especially exciting and busy weekend. But, there are no excuses. And, truth be told, this is not all that shocking.

Somebody told me once if you want to get to know a person--look at where they live. This says it all. Great. Just great.

I woke up to a text message from Michele this morning that went something like this, "Just thought you would want to know...I'M ENGAGED!"

Um, yeah. Just thought I would want to know that little piece of information. My response went something like this, "Whoa, Whoa! What?! To WHO?!!" Then she called me, thank heavens. She seems so happy. Her story is slightly disgusting as they met during her semester abroad...in Jerusalem. She made statements like, "the night we were jogging down the Nile" or, "kissed in Galilee." Yeah, like I said, disgusting.

In high school, and the first half of college for that matter, there was three of us. Jessica: engaged. Michele: engaged. Alyssa: not engaged.




I'm so happy for my best friends. Truly. So happy for them.

So, until I find someone to capture my attention for time and all eternity:
from here on out I fly solo.

It was Saturday night. The night before Valentine's Day. Date night.

This is what I was doing:

Tonight I watched the new movie "Dear John." The love story kind of tugged at my hear strings. But the story between father and son pulled so hard those old strings threatened to snap right in half.

My dad is amazing. More so than even explainable. My dad had a choice, a choice to be dad...and he took it. Not many people would. In fact, he took it when someone else had declined the opportunity. Someone who shouldn't have had so much of a choice.

Health-wise my dad is a walking miracle everyday. God's hand is in everything, guides, and directs every detail of what happens here. This, my family can say for certain. There is no other explanation to my dad's health.

I wish I could expound on how amazing my dad is. He has been through so much, probably Hell and back a couple times. I regret to say, I put him there a couple times.

When I was little I used to open and close my scriptures over and over again, hoping that they would look like my dad's. He loves God, and his family, and to him the two go hand in hand.

I've taken my dad for granted way too many times. He's never neglected me, or my needs. I am selfish and don't deserve to be forgiven as many times as he has forgiven.


I literally am everything I am because he CHOSE to love me.

I was feeling rather alone, and kind of without purpose today. Just one of those kind of days. The boys came over after I got off work, not knowing that it was one of these days. We all ate a Symphony bar I had just bought. Then they left, still not knowing.
I spent some alone time. Just me and Kia. We tend to do that on those kind of days. She's pretty good company, her and MJ.

I got home, was just hanging out on the couch listening to some more Michael, when Taylor throws open the door and throws me a Symphony bar. He had changed the "hon" to "ath" so it was a "Sympathy" bar.

He still has no idea it's been that kind of day.