Ah, the hair.

Day 5: A photo of yourself two years ago.

Applebee's karaoke, 2009. The main difference: the hair, obviously. Other than that, I'm basically the same person. I like to think that I'm a little bit more secure in myself, that I know better who I am and what I want with my life, but who knows.

An Excuse to Be Loud and Obnoxious

That's really all karaoke is. The music blares, and the audience sings over the people who kind of suck. But there aren't many places where you can sing at the top of your lungs without people looking at you like you're crazy. And tonight I needed some time to be obnoxious. To let loose. To have some fun without worrying about how what I said affected someone else or whether or not so-and-so is interested in me.

I tore it up with "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree," my all-time favorite karaoke song. Why is it my favorite? Because I'm good at it. (Nope, that's not very humble, but this is one of the only situations in which you'll hear me sound so confident, so I'm taking it.) I love any song that gives me an excuse to put some gravel in my voice.

Ahh, karaoke, my dear friend. I forgot just how much fun you are.

My Friends Rock My Socks

The other day I was thinking about just how lucky I am when it comes to my friends. Most of my college career, I wasn't very social. I don't know if I just didn't really care about making friends or if I just didn't know how, but I basically stuck with my roommates and that was it. Apparently I didn't know what I was missing, because friends are awesome! At least, my friends are awesome.

It seems like I have something to do nearly every weekend, and I love it. I have awesome roommates who are really fun to live with. We often end up doing random things in the apartment or we stay up until two in the morning talking about boys and other (usually quite inappropriate) random things.


This is us at Halloween. It's the only picture I have of all six of us.

We also have some great friends outside our apartment. We have the few guys who seem to spend a whole lot of their time at our apartment, and we love that they feel so comfortable with us. There is rarely a night when our apartment is devoid of boys. Someone is over most nights. We don't even have to be doing anything exciting. Sometimes we just chill.


Too bad Jordan's red Dell isn't in this picture too, it would be cooler.

We do often do some planned things, like seeing movies or karaoke or occasionally basketball games.


Karaoke night at Applebee's is pretty sweet. And we're pretty dang good at karaoke, if I do say so myself.


BYU versus UNM. This was a pretty good game. Mostly because BYU won.

My friends and I can talk about anything and everything, it seems like. Don't believe me? Just read the quote board in my apartment. (I know, that's a very freshman-like thing to do, but some things are just so funny that not recording them would be a crime.) Some of my favorite quotes include:

"You need to marry a good woman who will keep you in check." - Maren
"I need to marry a rich woman who will give me a check." - Jonathan

"If my left eye worked, I'd be a lot less cranky and I'd know who the hell John Kellogg was!" - Haliaka

"I'm going to be such a slutty woman when I get married." - Anna

"Every time you have a good idea, someone in California has already thought of it." - Justin

"When life gives you Provo, make it provocative." - Jillian

I can't help but be grateful for the people who are in my life. They are wonderful and I love them all. I'm so incredibly blessed.