free wisdom

Well people, I've made it. I made it through the pages and pages of reading. I survived the research, the writing, and the presenting. I withstood the battering of other's opinions and I took all my finals. It's over. My education is now complete. I know everything there is to know. And because I'm now working full time and becoming an adult and going to 7:30 am meetings where we discuss the quarterly reports, percent gross increase of clientele and rolling 12 month audits, I now reveal my sought-after knowledge of how to survive a college education at Brigham Young University.

1. Avoid the Creamery on 9th during the evening on Monday (FHE night), Tuesday (Early Mutual Group night), Wednesday (Normal Mutual Group night), Thursday (Late Mutual Group night), Friday (1st Date night), Saturday (2nd Date night) or Sunday (blessed sabbath). If you do go, don't ask for a shake any time past 10:30 pm, because while they are open for another half an hour, the entitled freshman behind the counter will have prematurely cleaned all the blenders and will not soil them another time simply to satisfy your late night craving.

2. The printers in the SWKT will always be offline for 10 minutes every hour. That 10 minutes will always be right before your class on the 7th floor. Go to the MCKB to print off your 23 page paper when you have procrastinated printing and are now about to fail your research class.

3. The first floor of the library is the quietest place to study, but it is also 20 degrees colder than the rest of the building. Take your parka.

4. Hiking the Y is a rite of passage and all those who defy such tradition have cold, cruel hearts. you know who you are. 

5. Caffeine isn't sold on campus. It's actually not that big of a deal. People should just drink water anyway.

6. Don't study in the Media Center...ever. But especially not on Saturday afternoons when all the little boys from the surrounding neighborhoods come in to use the computers to play some sort of destroying aliens game. Yes, they are allowed to do this because their parents bought them a pass from the BYU library so they could use the BYU computers instead of their home ones. No, the student employee behind the circulation desk can do nothing about it. Yes, you can reprimand the 11 year old boy next to you and tell him to go play soccer instead, but yes, you will feel old, cranky, and guilty afterwards.

7. Take Writings of Isaiah from Brother Ball at all costs. Someone is yet to take me up on this advice, but I will proclaim such truth until it is the last word upon my lips. Life changing stuff.

8. Try not to get too sad that you're not dating anyone while everyone else seems to be dating someone. Instead, leave America and do cool things. then you'll come back and someone might think you're kind of cool and then you'll start dating in your last year of school. maybe. i don't know. it could happen i guess.

9.  Always remember to take your water bottle with you after class, for if you leave it behind it will enter the abyss of the lost and found, whose clutches will cling to your vessel of liquid like a sticky elastic hand on glass. analogies.  i've got 'em. 

10. Talk to your professors outside of class. I didn't realize that I was a person until my last year of school. Lame. You think they're intimidating because they have more education than you. And you're right. Go talk to them anyway and they'll help you, with more than your paper. And then when you walk across the stage at convocation they'll whisper your name out and wave to you and you'll wave back and kind of start crying because you actually do love them. It's weird.

11. Getting a degree is kind of a family affair. Keep them close. Go home or call on weekends. That way when you can't imagine writing another paper in your life while you're just a freshman HA! your family can gently remind you that you have 3 and a half more years of writing much more difficult papers. 

So yeah. Go to school. It's worth it.

peace and go cougs
rrw

easter

Some people have second homes in St. George or Palm Springs. Others have cabins in Park City or a time share in Mexico. The Weilers saw the light and bought a historical landmark of a home no. literally. in Logan, Utah. There is no wifi and our main mode of transportation is pony and cart. We all gathered in Cache Valley this last weekend to watch and listen to the words of our church leaders aka stare at Cooper and Timbre and smile at literally everything they do with conference playing in the background. forgive me lord, for i have sinned. The weather was prime, so much to the chagrin on my nasal passages, we spent a majority of time outside hunting for eggs, riding motorcycles, jumping on the tramp, playing badminton, and unintentionally posing on the front steps. it's like we live in a magazine.

i found the golden snitch because i'm basically harry potter

It's almost finals. And then I'm done with school forever. Pray for my motivation, for it is on the brink of death.

peace and pollen

i sneeze about 23 times a day

rrw

This last week my family did a lot of really neat things. My little sister ran a 4:55 minute mile at a race in Seattle, my older brother, sister-in-law, and niece went hiking in Southern Utah, my mom made a 12 foot giraffe for my nephew's Valentine gift, my dad flew to New York to be on the floor of the stock exchange, my sister and brother-in-law began retiling their kitchen floor, and today Rebecca has a birthday.

So yeah. Pretty cool stuff.

And I'm here eating my 11th vanilla wafer cookie from a Christmas party held last December.
It's fine.

peace and snow
PRAY FOR IT GOSH DARN IT

rrw

For the first time in my life, I am about to venture into a sphere of blogging I have hitherto avoided at all costs. Recent experience, however, has enlightened me to my civic duty to all of you. So I leave the comfort of my usual useless rambling to give you my first ever beauty blog.

Is it Loud in Here?

How to Turn up the Volume, Hair Edition

Many companies would have you believe that their product is the only combination of chemicals that can give you the voluminous type of hair previously seen only on muppets. I'm here to give you an alternative, based on personal experience. it's tried and true!

STATIC

While exasperatingly trying to dampen and control my static charged hair, which clung to my face and neck like the many tentacles of an ocean dwelling creature, a small and peppy girl chimed in from the sink next to mine.

"Wow, you have beautiful hair!"

I looked at her, peering through the blockade of split ends which had created a cloud of dead cells around my head and obstructed my view.

"...really? I was just trying to get it to stop standing straight up."

"No way, it has such great volume."

My voice, now muffled and masked by the matted hair clinging to my mouth, responded with a confused expression of gratitude. And from that experience, an idea was born and a generation of lifeless hair was given hope. The answer to our problems: state electricity. 

Yep, this natural and free electricity will take your hair to the next level, making even Edison admire with envy. So forget the conditioners and the thickening sprays. Leave behind the mousse, the Argan Oil, and expensive shampoos. Instead, find your nearest balloon, trampoline, or fleece jacket, and rub it over your head.

Because why have hair like this?

When you could have hair like this?

Your choice is obvious. And you are welcome.

peace and fashion
rrw

I sleep and dress and read and live in a very small room. It's part of the joy of living with five other girls, as is the amount of food packed into the fridge and the amount of hair... everywhere. But being in the small room means that the drawers I use for socks are in a corner of my "closet" behind all my clothes. To get to my sock drawer is like getting to Narnia, minus the talking beavers. and yes, I am talking about my sock drawer in the post. Invigorating.

For Christmas I was gifted new socks from about 4 different people. I appreciate this because the socks I've been using since freshman year... aren't really that fresh anymore. The only problem that I've encountered with this gift is that the socks are color coordinated. In a pack of 8 pair, there are two pink, two red, two green, and two orange socks. This has proven to be a difficult trial in my life, for I cannot stand to wear an orange and a red sock, nor a green and a pink sock at the same time. In no other way am I obsessive about order, organization, or appearance. ...right? I mean, I'm wearing brown pants and a black top today. Something my junior high friends would never condone. But, if I wear two different colored socks at once, I literally feel as if I am off balance. The foundation of my being, my feet, are at odds with each other.

So, as I venture through the forest of clothes, in the dark of morning, I cannot simply grab two socks and be on my way. I must find one and seek out its partner. Every morning is a struggle which I strive through.

Every day I am a champion.

Ps. I read some sort of blog advice with prompts and suggestions online the other day. One was to talk about a challenge I have overcome. Hence this deep and meaningful post. You now know me on a much deeper level. We are like unto matching socks.

peace and sandals
you don't have to worry about matching socks when you wear those.




rrw

 

To be alone is a necessary thing. To be removed from the world, from technology, from the buzzing and the ringing and the whistling brings you back to life. Gliding through the snowy trees, with the sun warming your skin as it peers through the branches to watch you soar cannot be replaced by any video, song, text, email, or blog. When all you hear is your own laughter, the chatter of squirrels, and the scrape of skis on snow, each pressed heavy to your ears by the silence of the forest....

 

That is when you hear God, telling you that life is good.

 

To be alone is a necessary thing.

 

 

 

alaska, august 2014

by harry b williamson

 

peace and skis

 

rrw

 

 

 

 

 



There's an ice cream party that starts in an hour and all I can think about is how much I want that ice cream party to start right now. I am also contemplating when the next time I will wear makeup is, because everyone in my life knows it's been a good while since that stuff happened. Pshhh. This look was good enough in elementary school. and we all know what a babe I was in elementary school. It's good enough now.

Photos taken by him in Alaska last August. He doesn't like to smile for pictures. We're working on that.


peace and feminist writing
i'm going to have a lot of new opinions by the end of the semester

rrw