my friend huseyin

this is my friend huseyin. we've shared an office this past year, and we've also taken some classes together. it's been a pretty fun year, and i'm surprised i haven't talked his ear off yet. sometimes i just get going and it's hard to stop me. anyway, huseyin is transferring to the university of texas in austin, so i'll have to break in a new office mate next year. but seriously, huseyin's been an awesome friend and i'll miss him a lot. these are just a few of the reasons:

• he has the greatest deadpan sense of humor that comes out every once in a while that ALWAYS makes me laugh.
• he's as dedicated to his religion as i am to mine. and we respect that
• the way he apologized right and left when he suggested we go to a coffee shop when i go visit him in texas. ("oh, um, no, i mean, you don't drink coffee. i'm very sorry. um we can go somewhere else.") like i said, we respect each other's beliefs.
• the way we both get very uncomfortable when our friend hyobin (from korea) starts talking about sex. again.
• he always offered me a cup of tea when he was making some for himself in our office. (ah the joys of electric tea kettles). and when i refused, he'd make sure to point out that it's just herbal tea.
• knowing how frustrated i would get when the wifi in the office was on the fritz yet again, he would always remind me where the logon id and password were for the computer in our office.
• completely being able to understand each other when talking about how anxious our parents are for us to get married. (sorry mom, you know it's true. it goes without saying. love ya ;)

and the list goes on and on. he and i were meant to be friends. our birth days are only 5 days apart. really. he was born 21 jan 1981 and i was born 26 jan 1981. you don't have to say it. it's crazy. i know. what are the chances. anyway, last week we had a little going away party for him. i made a cake and decorated it like the texas flag. sorry i didn't take a picture of it before we cut it up. it's was pretty amazing, though, i have to say. here's a picture of our little party.

(l-r, ilham (from azerbaijan), ilham's wife and daughter (also from azerbaijan), stithorn's wife (from thailand), stithorn (also from thailand), huseyin (from turkey), akiko (from japan), hyobin (from korea), me (from idaho), and doug (from pittsburgh))

i don't know if you noticed (that's why i'm pointing it out), but me and doug (irish lookin' guy on the far right) are the only americans in attendance. and i love it! it's like yellowstone all over again. i was only friends with the foreign folk (and a few other extra special folk, like you jenni). i like it better that way. please read the previous post again if you don't believe me.

IR radar

so tonight i went to a little house party with my friend julia. she's the only one i knew there, so i just kinda sat around next to her while she talked to the few people she knew. there was an empty space on the couch next to me, so people would intermittently come and sit next to me and kinda talk to me out of some sense of obligation. then this one guy comes and sits next to me and we started talking. turns out he's from spain and is here visiting his old mission companion (who, oddly enough, i had also spoken with). anyway, we sat there and talked for about 20 minutes or so and then he got up for a drink. julia had been sitting all by herself for most of that time and was pretty much ready to leave. so we did. i just think it's funny that out of the 50+ people in the house, i inevitably end up talking to the foreign guy. don't get me wrong, i love that. i just think it's funny. my IR radar is impeccable.

the finer points of charcoal

i know i said that i wasn't going to post again until i was done with the semester, but just can't let this one slide. tonight we had a little bbq for fhe. i got there just as they were attempting to light the charcoal for the roasting of the hot dogs. apparently, no one else has a dad as cools as mine who taught us how to do things like tie good knots and basic charcoal techniques. not that knots have anything to do with this post, i'm just saying that i can do some things better than a lot of boys now. like tie knots and light charcoal. so anyway, back to the point. there were about 5 people trying to light a big pile of charcoal. they started off well. a little bit of lighter fluid and some flame to get the charcoal going. but then the flame went out, as it should, and they started freaking out. to them, charcoal must be flame-y. so they added more lighter fluid and more flame. this process repeated over and over again. it even continued when i started quoting the lighting instructions on the bag that specifically state that the flame will go out after a couple of minutes, but that the charcoal will continue to turn into embers, because, well, that's what charcoal does. so anyway, we move to the other end of the pavillion for a short little lesson and when the lesson was over, the fhe co-chair gets up, looks back at the grill and says, "well, it looks like we've got some good flames going, it shouldn't be too long before we can eat." ahhhhhhhh!!!! CHARCOAL SHOULD NOT REMAIN FLAME-Y!!!! WHY DOES NO ONE BUT ME (and my friend julia) UNDERSTAND THIS!!!! obviously i'm under a lot of stress right now and this is what i've chosen to vent on. most of my friends decided that the next time charcoal is used at a ward activity, they are calling me beforehand so i can come and light the charcoal properly. patience, people, patience! that is the key to good charcoal.

so to sum up my sentiment of the evening, i borrow the words of the great madeline kahn."I hated her, so much... That... it... it... flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heaving... breath - , heaving breaths. Heaving breath... " i need to buy that movie and watch it immediately.

a green phase and a hiatus

i'm going through a green phase. apparently it's been going on for more than a few months. i wasn't even aware of it for the longest time. but i like green. i wore a super cute mock wrap stretchy top with 3/4 length sleeves (that i bought at new york & company for 6 greenbacks. hehe) last friday when i met with my graduate committee. i asked howard how he was doing, and all he had to say to me was, "well, i'm not green." i think we'll get along just fine. in fact i know we will. i took a class from him last semester and by the end of the semester, i wanted to take every single class from him for the rest of my life. that's how much i liked him. anyway, i digress. i'm going on a hiatus from the blogging world. you say, "wait, hasn't she already been on hiatus. no new posts in a week." okay, you're right. i'm just letting you know now. no bloggy time for me until i'm done with the semester next friday. between now and then i have 2 15-page papers to write (and yes, i have started one of them), one less-than-10-pages final exam to write, and a teaching portfolio to assemble (which will require the creation of a current resume and revisions of my teaching philosophy and sample syllabus). wish me luck. and then after that's all over, i'll be sure to write all about how terrible it all was and how i'm wondering why i thought grad school was a good idea and how i pulled 3 all-nighters in a row and how i'm so glad that school is finally over, well, most of it anyway, and how i never ever want to go back to school ever, even though next semester is going to be a cakewalk. so that gives you something to look forward to. until then. . .

mission story # 2998. with pictures. oooh.

as i was waiting for my institute class to start today, i ran across these little drawings in my scriptures.

there was a family that we taught and baptized named the Quisphes. Their youngest son was named Hector, but he went by the name Junior since his dad was also named Hector. He was only 6 at the time, so he could never really participate in the lessons, besides the opening song. instead, he would get out his notebook and box of crayons, pencils and markers and draw pictures for us. i have a million of them. one time we didn't go over for a couple of weeks, and he missed us so much that he was drawing pictures for us the whole time. i had a stack of about 20 little drawings that he made just for me. they were mostly the same, usually with a house of some sort and maybe some people out front, like the upper left one. anyway, one day we were there and i decided to draw for him. i drew him, his brother cristian and his sister selena (see middle picture). well junior decided to one-up me and draw selena as well. only his selena was sad and naked and crying. and then he said "selena's a crybaby." i laughed, and then he proceeded to fill the entire drawing with her tears. that's what all the little dash marks are. here are some pictures of junior and selena so you can see how adorable they are.

see, i told ya. they're so cute!

and just in case you ever wondered how elders look when they're shopping on p-day, here's the answer to that question. think of it as little bonus for sticking it out to the end of the post. this is my very favorite elder of my entire mission, elda gomez. he's the little kid in the car.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

i'm stealing this from laura's blog. . . just like i said i would

a-attached or single: um, single. thanks for asking.
b-best friend: probably my sister sarah
c-cake or pie: pumpkin pie
d-day of choice: any day with absolutely nothing to do, which will probably never happen again.
e-essential items: mary kay eye makeup remover, my computer, my contour memory foam pillow
f-favorite color: i really like red. i'm also going through a bit of a green phase right now.
g-gummi bears or worms: why choose? unless they're chocolate covered gummi bears, and then you should choose
h-hometown: montpelier, id
i-indulgences: anything sweet
j-january or july: january for my birthday.
k-kids: 85 this semester. maybe more, maybe less next semester
l-life is incomplete without: good friends
m-marriage date: your guess is as good as mine.
n-number of siblings: 4
o-oranges or apples: depends on the season
p-phobias or fears: not really
q-quote:
r-reason to smile: lately, jimmy buffett and barnes and noble
s-season: summer
t-tag 5: since there's only about 5 people that read this, you're all tagged just for reading this.
u-unknown fact about me: oddly enough, not even i know the answer to this
v-vegetarian or oppressor of animals: whoever wrote this was obviously a vegetarian. animals were made to be eaten.
w-worst habit: hands down, procrastination.
x-x-ray or ultrasound: i've never had either.
y-your favorite food: lately, strawberries wild with soy milk instead of apple juice from jamba juice
z-zodiac: aquarius

my new best friend, among other things

here she is. isn't she beautiful? i think so. it's my new sandwich maker. i use it every day to make a lovely toasted cheese sandwich to eat on the way to school every day. my other favorite not-in-a-hurry options are tuna or toasted pb & j. you should try it before you start making fun of me. have you ever put pb on toast? okay, then, it's just a question of preparation styles.

now for the other things. today i was so frustrated with my life that for a few minutes, i actually considered dropping everything and moving to wallace, id to be a silver miner. what brings that on, you ask? this article in the new york times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/us/03wallace.html?_r=1&oref=slogin I also though about going to detroit, but for slightly less time. i could buy a really sweet house there for $90k. of course there's the question of what kind of job i would get. i'm sure gm needs some help with something. or the tigers need translators for their carribbean recruiting office. who knows. there's also the question of why i would move to a city that is on the short list of most crime infested. which explains why i thought about it for less time than being a silver miner in idaho.