Spending Money

This is slightly old news, but I haven't blogged about it yet, and I thought I would rectify that situation.
So I've been wanting to get myself a TV for a while now. I figured I might as well own one, seeing as how I've got a decent movie collection that is always growing and a Wii with some awesome games. It was kind of dumb that I was completely dependent on my roommates as to whether or not I could actually play the Wii. The only problem with this was that I didn't want just any TV; I wanted a nice one. Which, unfortunately, is expensive.

But about a month ago, I found a pretty decent deal on a 40" TV at Walmart. And I was a little impulsive and bought it.

It's pretty sweet—I like it a lot. It goes up to 1080p, so I was pretty stoked about that.

After this purchase, I realized that I didn't have a DVD player, which was a problem, what with my aforementioned movie collection. Again, I ran into the I-want-the-best-in-my-electronics syndrome, so I started looking around for a decently priced Blu-Ray player. Because let's be honest, Blu-Rays look pretty dang awesome. And . . . I found a refurbished Samsung for a pretty awesome price.

I thought I would have major buyer's remorse after these two pretty major purchases, but I was fortunately mistaken. I freaking love these things. That might make me materialistic or addicted to entertainment, but I kind of don't care, and I don't regret spending all of that money.

Except that now I have to be all adult and exercise self-restraint for a little while. How lame.

This week has been awesomesauce

The past week has been pretty great. Last Thursday, Cora and Robyn flew in from Illinois, so I have been spending pretty much every day doing something fun with them. I love these ladies—they are so much fun.

Some of the highlights have been moving Cora into my apartment (she is officially my roommate now, and I couldn't be happier), crashing at my mom and dad's house for a couple of hours (Cora didn't even make it past the living room—she collapsed on the floor and stayed there), family get togethers with my nieces and nephews being adorable maniacs, a shopping trip to Park City where I spent too much money, walking through Provo canyon, watching "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and laughing hysterically (I highly recommend this movie), and simply sitting around talking and laughing until our cheeks hurt.

It has been so much fun to have family here, and I'm glad that I took the opportunity to take some time off work so I could spend more time with them. My family is fantastic, and this year is going to be the bob-omb.

*Sorry there are no pictures...I kept forgetting my camera, and when I did have it, I forgot to take pictures. I'm useless, I know.

How did that happen?

There was a time when I was ridiculously anti-social in my current ward. When I would spend every evening in my apartment reading, or watching movies, or watching TV, completely by myself. Occasionally I would do something with my roommates, but for the most part, I kept to myself.

I wanted to make friends, but I didn't know how. I'm not the kind of person who can just walk up to people and start talking and make friends in the blink of an eye, like some people seem to do. So I kept to myself. I made a few acquaintances and talked to a few people at church, but that was about it.

Then my apartment had dessert club, where we had to provide dessert for the ward. People came in, ate, and left, while others came in, left, and mingled. We started a game of Signs with those who stayed behind, and after that, a lot of things changed for me.

I have had something to do nearly every night the past couple of weeks. My roommates and I have been invited to and have invited others to do all sorts of things, like watching movies, playing an assortment of games, going off the rope swing in Mona, going swimming, going to the hot pots in Midway, throwing a birthday party for Harry Potter, and going camping.

I haven't been this tired and sleep deprived in a very long time. But I also haven't had quite this much fun in a long time, either.

These pictures are ridiculously inadequate, but I really didn't feel like looking through a bunch of Facebook albums to find more.

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.

Blah

Days like today are the worst. I have no motivation to do anything. FHE is right now, and I should go, but none of my roommates are home and I seriously don't feel like being social by myself. My face is pimply, my hair looks like crap, and I feel like I weigh a bazillion pounds. This is not a time when being the only girl at FHE (because I know I would be) sounds appealing.

I hate blah days. I think I'm just going to go watch "Little Miss Sunshine" and then go to bed. Sounds good to me.

They say it's your birthday

Olive Garden + Paul McCartney + family + kabobs + presents + friends + cupcakes + cheesecake + crepes + signs + a date = the best birthday EVER. Thanks to everyone who helped make it so awesome.

23 is going to be a good year—I can feel it.

Bloody Brilliant

I'm not going to even try to write about the concert and do it justice. I tried that last night while writing in my journal, and I ended up writing for two hours. I'm not spending two hours chronicling the awesomeness that was Tuesday night because a) I don't want to spend that much time on a blog post and b) no one wants to read that.

Suffice it to say, the concert was absolutely AMAZING. Paul McCartney is bloody brilliant. I teared up a few times, as did my parents, but it wasn't some adolescent screaming for some celebrity I'm in love with. I was listening to music that is so familiar that it feels like it's a part of me, and I was listening to it being performed by the man who created it. It was overwhelming. Even as I was staring at the man himself, I still couldn't believe I was there hearing Paul McCartney live. He played "I've Just Seen a Face," which is a song I remember making up dances to when I was four. It was so cool.

The Beatles' music is like the soundtrack to my life. I've liked different sections of their career at different points in my life, and some songs have significant meaning and hold significant memories for me. So when I heard Paul McCartney play songs like "Blackbird," "Hey, Jude," and "Let It Be," you better believe I teared up. He also played "Paperback Writer," which is the very first Beatles song my dad heard on his very first transistor radio on his eighth birthday, which started his love of the Beatles and therefore mine, and I heard it straight from the man who started it all. I'm still in awe. I just want to go back to Tuesday night and relive it over and over and over.

Thank you, Paul, for coming to Utah and giving me such a ridiculously awesome opportunity to see you live. And thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me the best birthday present ever and for letting me go with you so I had someone to experience it with. It was the most amazing night ever.