Sweet Victory

My roommate has a friend staying with us a few days.

She said to me, "You have such a beautiful apartment! The decorations are so happy!"

My first attempt at beautifying a space has been a success.

It feels good.

Blast from the Past

My saintly sister Heather has taken the project of scanning all the Bluemlein family photos. Bless her! I wanted to share with you some of the highlights:

Me and some cousins playing in the mud


These two are legendary within the family. The first for absolute adorableness, the second for some random reason I couldn't tell you.

Me as a baby

My first Halloween (or possibly just another day with the dress up clothes)

Grandma visiting shortly after my birth

There were others that I wanted to share, but for some reason, my computer is not recognizing their existence. Maybe later.

Thank you Heather for your diligent work! And also, a shout-out to my seester Ann for starting the project.

Going ons

How is it that even in nature, everything cool happens in the Village first? The daffodils are up everywhere, but I have only seen blooming trees in the West Village. They are gorgeous.

I've been going to the West Village a lot lately (3 of the last 3 weekdays) because my new favorite thing is there: Yogurt-land I love it so much.

Another thing I am loving these days is Ticket to Ride. It turns out it's not just a Carpentar's song, but also a very fun, highly addictive board game. I've played 4 of the last 8 days. Here's a picture of my first ever victory. (I'm yellow which you can't see very clearly, but trust me. I won.)

In other news, Sunday I was at a friend's house for an Easter morning breakfast/singing party and on our way out, I saw this note from her super posted in the hallway.

Today I paid my taxes. Unlike last year, I only owe $7. Yipee! And I'm actually getting a tad back from the state! I sent my $7 check in a pretty card with a bright blue envelope. I hope that gives them some cheer at the IRS office. I bet it's not a fun time to work there. Everyone hates taxes, but really it's just the price we pay for living in a civilized world.

I went to Paris

I bet you thought I forgot. But no, two months later I will now blog report about my vacation to Paris. (I'll report on London later.)

I went to Paris.

I did all the things you would expect one to do in Paris.

Saw the Eiffel Tower

And Notre Dame (this is the back view, which I think is prettier) (the inside of Notre Dame was my favorite thing in the city)

And the Paris Opera House


And the Arc d'Triomphe

And all sorts of wonderful bridges over the Seine

And I ate lots of cheese and baguettes

I even got to go see Vinceness--the very very old fort/castle/suburb that the little city in Indiana where I grew up was named after




It was also a time of very "classy" eating. While we mostly ate frozen dinners, we did enjoy a spurge eating on the famous Champ-Elysee (at a McDonalds), another day I had a Parisian hot dog. (I KNOW it's a dumb thing they made up for the tourists, but it was yummy! I LOVE hot dogs!!!)

It was a very lovely trip, made all the better by being with a good friend, who doubled as possibly the world's best tour guide. I don't think I could have asked for a better trip.

"We're neither pure nor wise nor good ...

"...We'll do the best we know. We'll build our house and chop our wood and make our garden grow."

This profound truth from high school lit, re-manifested by Bernstein's take on Voltaire's brilliant truth has been on my mind today.



Now, compare that with the profound truth of Thoreau: "Go confidentially in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imaged."

Seemingly contradictory ideas, but I think that they actually fit together in a very very rich and meaningful way. Combine those two and I think you've pretty much got it figured out.

I've included the song around which these thoughts are based for your listening enjoyment. Bernstein sure knows how to throw down a tune.

Reasons to Rejoice

1. The cheap produce stand by my house re-opened!!! Today I bought a cantaloupe, five oranges, four lemons, three pears, two pounds of onions, a bag of baby carrots, a bunch of green onions and two pounds of tomatoes for $7.50! Yipee! Winter really is over.

2. I LOVE my new desk! I thought I needed a new apartment--I was wrong. I just needed a desk in my bedroom.

3. The mystery bruise that appeared on my arm last Tuesday is finally starting to fade. Its unexplained appearance and uncanny stamina have not really inconvenienced my life at all, but for the entire week I've had it, it has been dark enough to startle me every time I've seen it.

4. John Stossel. You know- the investigative report. I love him. SO MUCH. If you have any interest at all on getting an insightful understanding of the stimulus/bailout/etc stop what you are doing right now and watch this video:



If you like it, as soon as you have a chunk of free time watch the whole thing here
(And thank you Sharon for sharing the video)

Various Adventures

Have you noticed that it's been quite a while since I've posted about anything that I've actually been up to? I have. And luckily I've had a happy and exciting week, so I will share.

Monday after work, I took the super awesome free water ferry to Ikea Brooklyn. Yipee!!
I went there to take a further leap into adulthood by purchasing myself a) a garlic press b) a desk for my room. I am quite pleased with my desk purchase: While there, I also had the insight that I would need a desk chair as well. I love the super cute, quite comfy pink one I got (as seen above) but failed to realize that it would not fit under the desk. too bad. but it will work out.

While there, fortunately, I also remembered the SERIOUS need that my new sofa that I love so so much had for throw pillows, so I got some. And they're pretty awesome:.
Here's a close-up of just the pillow: (I'm also going to take this moment to point out all the lovely sunlight in my apartment --happy sigh--).

So I carried my desk (which is technically a dining room table that folds in half), chair, throw pillows, garlic press, and tupperware set to the ferry, across the bottom half of Manhattan to the subway and then the 2 blocks from the subway to my apartment and up the three flights of stairs to my home. I assembled the chair and desk, felt sufficiently pleased with myself and went to sleep.

At 2:30 am I got a call from a friend who needed to go to the emergency room. (it's too bad that I'm not still reading Twilight or I would have still been awake.) I will not share any info about my friend and her medical maladies because it's not my place to share her story on my blog. Sufficient to say-- the EMTs were useless (I ended up carrying all their stuff AND helping my friend down the stairs and into the ambulance). Also, having now having experienced another emergency room, my opinion that Allen Pavilion is the best er in the city holds even more true. We did manage to get some giggling about boys done, despite the inopportune local; and despite her severe pain, my oral reading of the introduction to "Don Quixote" did put her to sleep. I left at 7:30 when the crisis was passed and she was waiting for the specialist to come in. (She's fine now, just fyi).

I headed home with the plan to sleep 90 minutes before going to work.

But then, for the FIRST TIME IN MY ADULT LIFE, I decided to call in and tell them I wasn't coming. It was a bit unnerving, but empowering. I figured I had so much to do at home (especially with my new desk set up and all) that I'd have a chance to get a lot done.

So after sleeping in until 2, I made what I considered to be a very reasonable to-do list:
exercise
study scriptures
taxes
thank you note x3
write 2 hours
use eggplant

Of the above, the only thing I got done was exercising. But I did go to the drug store for my friend's prescription and that always take longer than you'd expect. And I did make an impromptu St. Patrick's Day dinner for my roommate and I. It was my first year EVER not having a big party, but I am having a rather antisocial, low-energy stage right now and didn't want to be bothered. But I guess Amelia and I had a party for two. And i did listen to my St. Patrick's Day CD while cooking. So my celebrating needs have been satiated. And if there is anything yummier than cabbage and potatoes stewed in vinegar, I don't know what that thing is. Yum!

Is this post dragging? Okay, I'll abbreviate-- I was supposed to go to a crepe party that evening, but I was too tired. I called my mom at 9:30 saying something like this: "boo hoo. i'm so tired and i haven't accomplished anything today even though I took the day off from work. I want to go eat crepes with my friends but i'm too tired. boo hoo." She sent me to bed immediately, which I obeyed, falling asleep with makeup on and contacts in listening to "Lord, Make Me An Instrument of Thy Peace" in lieu of scripture study. I slept peacefully and happily with a cool breeze from the fan blowing over me, anticipating all the exciting things I'll do with my new desk. --happy sigh---

Freedom II

On a whim today, I decided to.........



pay off my student loan!!!!


Yay!!!

There wasn't too much left, but I decided instead of paying twice a month until July, I would just take it out of savings and pay it all now.

So now I'm debt-free!!!

Yay!!

Freedom!!!!

As I reflect on the last two weeks of my life, I'm reminded of a line from Wordworth's Ode Intimations of Immortality: "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting." Only instead of "birth" it would be "starting the Twilight series." I feel like I've been submerged under a still pool of water, only vaguely aware of what was going on above the surface. But late Saturday night I emerged back into reality: "Hum, my bedroom is pretty messy--oh look, there's all the clean laundry from last week, I should put that away. Hum, I think I've eaten nothing but Doritos today. Hum, I'm speaking in Sacrament meeting tomorrow." I mean I've continued on with my life--going to work every day, attending parties, hosting FHE, etc but it was like a passing dream. Twilight pretty much took over my life.

So, how do I feel about the experience now that it is behind me?

At first, I was upset. I would tell people I was reading Twilight and many of them said that they never would, I would say "good idea. don't." But then, something strange happened during the second book--I realized it wasn't as bad as the first one. Then, eventually I decided it was pretty good. And finally I decided that I didn't hate/love it, I just loved it. I mean it's not like it's the best written thing ever, but it is FUN it is ENJOYABLE and it is addictive. Yes, the characters do stupid, unbelievable things. Yes, it requires a lot of suspended disbelief. But it is a compelling read. Interestingly enough, once I gave myself permission to just enjoy the books, the compulsive need to read read read was weakened significantly. Not to say that it stopped being my main focus in life. In fact, I would often say to anyone asking me any sort of question about my life: "I can't think about that until I'm done with Twilight."

So, now I'm done and can get on with my life. It was a little lonesome last night brushing my teeth without reading anything, but I trust that I will eventually shift back to normal.

My advise to others who are vaguely considering reading the Twilight series: Just do it. You'll have fun.


three of the four Twilight books, compared with the last book I read "East of Eden" (which despite being one of the best pieces of literature I've come across and, quite short in comparison, still took me almost a month to read)

This is why we should keep our promises

I've realized that I have shaken my fists towards the heavens in rage and frustration more in the last three days than I probably have in the rest of my life put together.

The reason is simple. I have been reading the Twilight series. My frustration is partial from the book itself and mostly my disgust at myself for reading them.

The first time I so much as heard of the books, my friend was reading them and made me promise that I never would. "I know you," she said, "you will read them all and you will hate them, but you will not be able to stop. Just like me. Spare yourself." I agreed happily enough because I am usually very picky with what I read.

Then due to a series of technical glitches on a trans-Atlantic flight, I accidentally watched the movie. I am sad, although not at all surprised, to report that I really liked it. Well, hated it. But LOVED it. I'm a complicated person. But it became clear to me: I HAD to read the books.

I said to myself, "Why am I being such a literary snob? Is that the type of person I want to be? Many, many people read and enjoy these books. Do I think I'm better than them?" A sensible enough thought, except I forgot to take into account two things about myself: 1) my strong dislike of badly written dialogue etc 2) my addictive personality which makes me easily obsessive over things.

Now I've read 1 and half of the books in three days. I have the third one in my purse ready to go as soon as it's needed. My laundry will have to wait. I'm busy torturing myself with these books that I hate to love. At least I can read until 3am and still get 6 hours of sleep before going to work.

Why, WHY do I do this to myself? I figure it's like a band-aid--I just need to rip it off quick and be done with it. Maybe I'll be able to finish the series in a week and get on with my life.