A Tropical/White Christmas

For Christmas this year the parents flew us to Cancun to wash away our stresses.  It worked well.  The morning after I took my last final we hopped on a plane and that very night I was sleeping without any blankets on. We stayed in a wonderful resort called Quetzal owned by Iberostar.  It was so much fun.  All inclusive resorts have made me want to be on vacation for the rest of my life.

*More to come

Happy Hump Day!

On Looks

Alternative title:  I Don't Look Like a Beauty Queen Every. Single. Day.

I live with 8 other women. For those who are not majoring in math that makes 9 of us total.  We have the time of our lives together. We watch movies and chat about everything and eat food and chat about other things and go running and chat and chat and chat. And I love it.
We are all so different from each other which makes for some of the best conversation I have ever had because I am always learning something new about the people I live with. And sometimes I compare myself to my roommates. And that is where the trouble starts.
Living with 8 other women has it's pros and cons. Pros: what I already said.
Cons: comparing!
Everybody knows that we all compare ourselves to those around us. It is what we do. It is human nature. We find our strengths and say to ourselves, "man...I really have my life together compared to that guy".  And we feel good about ourselves for 15 minutes until our mind takes us somewhere else.
And sometimes we compare our lacking to someone else's abundance. And we ask ourselves, "how could they possibly have that when I am much more normal/smart/kind and I don't have it?" ("it" being looks, smarts, significant others, significant accomplishments, etc.). And we think about it for a bit and we muse with those around us that so-and-so just did this and they don't deserve it but I do deserve it because I am a somewhat better person.  And then we move on.
And then we find our weaknesses. And we compare them to someone who happens to excel at whatever we don't excel at. And then we dwell on it. And sometimes it eats at us. And then we smack ourselves in the head and realize that we have different qualities that may not be the same but they are equivalent. And we are just as good. And then it happens again. And this is the vicious cycle that I have been trying to rid myself of for as long as I can remember. I think a lot of people do this too. I do not think I am alone in comparing myself to others. I have had church lessons on it, school lessons on it, and roommate chats about it. We all deal with it to some degree.  At least I think we do.
I think girls compare looks the most. I know I do. I live with 8 beautiful girls and comparing is the easiest thing. She has better hair than me, she has the perfect figure, her make up always looks perfect, and on and on.
And while I compare myself to them they compare themselves to me. We even talk about it sometimes.  One roommate has the most voluminous hair I have ever seen- and it always looks beautiful.  She doesn't seem to think so. And wouldn't ya know that just the other day she commented that she wished she had hair like mine.  The grass is always greener on the other side I guess.
Anyway- what I am getting at is that we all compare ourselves wishing we had what other people have without realizing how beautiful we are in our own way.  I have this idea of what is beautiful in my head. When I don't match my own idea of beauty I see it as a fault of mine and then I compare myself to an ideal. It is like comparing a seed to a sunflower! I know that it is ridiculous yet I still do it.  I don't think I am the only one who does this.  Please tell me that I am not.
So in a rather abrupt conclusion: I don't look like a beauty queen everyday and I still receive compliments from those around me.  And one of my biggest weaknesses is being unable to accept a compliment from anyone.  I get shy and blow them off like they have no idea what they are talking about.  Nice shirt? Compared to what, a wife beater? Nice eyes? Surely you are blind! So this is my new goal: accept the compliments and see myself as others see me.  For I am beautiful.  Maybe not ideally beautiful, but still beautiful in my own way.  I will not compare my weakness to your strength.  I will be happy with who I am now.

Skyping

More fun than you might imagine.

and for anybody that cares about adorable little babies here is what Em and I used to do all day long.  We had so many long conversations.  We really got to know each other.

A Hike

I discovered a new hike this summer and I can't get enough of it! It is the same trail as Timpanogos trail but I don't climb that whole mountain.  That is an activity for another summer.  I hiked it several times this summer and I hope to go one more time so if anybody wants to go............
...
...
you know where to find me.

Too sexy for this trail

 

 

Look at that backpack of wildflowers! I shall date him!

So Bad

In case you haven't noticed I have not been blogging as of late. Time to start anew!
In July we had some visitors from Japan.  Yuki, her husband Toshi, and their daughter Rena come occasionally to visit my grandparents because Yuki was a foreign exchange student with them a long time ago.  This was the first time they had come to visit since both of my grandparents passed away.  It was hard not having my grandparents there but it was fun to have Yuki and her family stay with us!
We went to Salt Lake to visit Temple Square and the grave site.  We also shopped around the new City Creek Center and shared some caramel apples.  YUM.

YUM

Alyssa loves flowers

Thanks for visiting us Hasegawas!! We loved having you!

Braiding Fools

Boredom took on a whole new meaning today.

Mississippi

Bri has a birthday. It is in July.  I thought it would be fun to fly to Mississippi to surprise her for her birthday. So I did.  And I took my darling mother with me.  Thanks to a certain airline we flew with we missed a flight and plans quickly changed from surprise to expected surprise.  It was kind of a bummer but we managed.  We flew into New Orleans late one night and soaked up some good ol' fashioned humidity.  Bleh.  Then we slept.  Then...we played for like 120 hours straight.  Then we came home.  While I was there I was on a nasty medication that was killing whatever joined my digestive system in Ghana (3 years ago).  I was kind of a party pooper and I am sorry. I didn't take very many pictures because I wasn't feeling well, but here are a few pics to prove that I actually chose to spend time in humidity:

Crab! Yikes!

Uncle Sam wants YOU

Spring Break: Week 2

I happen to get a week for Spring Break in college. Yay college.  I also happen to work with multiple school districts around here so I get school holidays off. This included their Spring Break. So I got two weeks for Spring Break this year. Win. For the first week I did the whole bum-around-the-house-live-it-up-in-Vegas thing.  For week two I repeated step one in Spring Break: Week 1.  I sat around for a good long while and then I went with the fam to Park City for a day.  It was awesome. We shopped our little hearts out.  And I happened to try on the one dress in the store with the broken zipper. It was such a cute dress. Look!

I showed Alyssa and then I went back into the dressing room to change when I realized that it was going to be more of a challenge than I anticipated. I struggled with the zipper for about 10 minutes before I sent a desperate text to Alyssa that read "I am literally trapped in this dress".  She came to my rescue and we struggled with the zipper for several more minutes.  Here is what happened: nothing. Yup.  We pulled this and tugged that. She tried to hang on the zipper and towards the end of 10 minutes we had hamburger for fingers.  I was at the point where I thought I was going to be forced to buy the dress because I couldn't get out of it.  It even earned itself the nickname of "death dress" because I thought I was going to die before I got it off.  The struggle continued for awhile longer when Alyssa and I decided it was best to bring my dad into it,  That's right.  I had to summon my dad to save me from a dress. As he was coming back to the store (my family had already left) I had a genius idea. I took off all of my clothes and tried to slip it over my shoulders.  I had to work with it for a few more minutes but it finally gave.  When I had my clothes back on and my head back in order I put the dress back on the hanger and tried to zip it up.  It would not budge. I left it on the hanger in a disheveled manner and booked it. 

I need a long, long break from Park City.

Funny Funny Funny

This post inspired me to do one of my own.  Here is more of our hilarity:

Food

I am here (again) to show you the awesome food I eat.

On the first line we have: Pizza Factory, a piña colada, Guru's, Cheesecake Factory
Line two: Cheesecake Factory, my Easter dinner, another piña colada
Bottom half: another piña colada, Texas Roadhouse (kind of a disappointment), more Cheesecake Factory, El Mexsal, another piña colada, and my 10 dollar watermelon.
I really didn't think that watermelon through and....I ended up with a watermelon worth its weight in gold.

Direction

I officially have direction in my life! After a long, long, long time of wondering what to do with my life (mostly college) I have been accepted into UVU's newest major: social work! I will graduate with my BSW in two years.  Much rejoicing will commence and I WILL go back to Ghana.  These are my plans.  Wish me well.  For now, I think I'll bask in the glory of finishing another semester and go eat some supremely spicy hummus.

And if you don't believe that the Lord works in mysterious ways, just listen to my story.

Tag. I'm it.

This is me following up on a tag from....March 16.  Refrain from judging, please.


Rules:
1) Post the rules.
2) Post a photo and 11 random things about you.
3) Answer questions.
4) Ask questions.
5) Tag.

1. I have had long hair since 9th grade

2. I don't eat yogurt with chunks in it

3. My two pet frogs died

4. One time I watched The Grudge and didn't sleep for days

5. One time I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre and slept like a baby that night

6. I have had my current cell phone for three years. Three YEARS people

7. I welcome the return of boy bands One Direction

8. I started thinking of 11 random facts at 12:18 am.  It is now 1:32 am. That is how boring I truly am

9. When I am home alone I have dance parties with myself

10. I work with behaviorally challenged children.  Therefore I am patient...and a good listener

11. I have been wearing the same bracelet for 6 years straight (but for real...I have)

Questions:

1. Three words to describe me: Calm, cool, collected

2. I blog for a couple reasons.  It is a partial journal for myself, an outlet for my words, and (of course) a way to keep my many, many friends and followers informed of my every move. 

3. My idea of the perfect day includes sleeping in, 80 degree weather, water, sun, walking, yummy food, yummy treats, a comfy skirt, and of course lots of music.  Put that together however you want and you have my birthday present (October is rapidly approaching!).

4. Fave color: Green.  And yellow.

5. I don't mind splurging on nail polish.  I also don't mind splurging on make up.  

6. Song stuck in my head right now? Refer to number 7 of the RANDOM list

7. If I only had one week to live: I would take all my money and fly me and my family somewhere foreign so as to forget my upcoming tragic event.

8. My fave time-waster: Internet.  Pinterest, anyone?

9. a talent I have: patience.  a talent I wished I had: long suffering (jk). I wish I could paint.  And I also wish I could write music. And tan.

10. I am most grateful for my jobs

11. I am most grateful for my padres.  They keep me grounded (and goodness knows I'm a floater!)

Because I slacked off in the area of quick response time I am not going to tag anyone because if you haven't done this yet it is probably because you chose not to.  

Food

My whole blog post about Vegas was just a ruse to tell you about all the food I ate.  I don't deny it.  But while we are on the subject why don't I spill it and just share everything I've been eating as of late?

We have (in no particular order) Malawi's Pizza, Bombay House, Cafe Rio, El Mexsal, Applebee's, The Cheesecake factory, Brick Oven, and Chipotle. Feast your eyes.

Vegas

For Spring Break I went to Las Vegas, Nevada. It was rather enjoyable.  We started off the first night by wandering the Strip and going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

 I've heard their cheesecake is pretty good, so I got a slice (of course).  Following the Factory we went back home and slumbered in our dream beds.
The next morn we woke up late and went to the pool.  It was cold so we ended that activity pretty quickly.
But first we ate some fries.

me...at the gray day pool

Next we checked into the Venetian.  We had a gorgeous room with a concrete jungle view.  We checked out the room and then went in search of food.  After much trial and tribulation we ended up at La Cave, a "wine and food hideaway".  It was very chic.  Almost to the point of crazy.  I'm not posh like that.

Chicken wrapped in bacon with French onion soup in the background

Filet, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, Blue Cheese Flatbread

Fiery Artichoke, Roasted Pepper, Olives Flatbread

After some food we went back to the room to hang out.   I wasn't about to let Vegas slip away from me so I went out and wandered on my own.  I bought some chocolate and shopped for a few hours.  

The next morning we went to The Grand Lux Cafe for breakfast.  It is in the Venetian and was created by the people that created The Cheesecake Factory so it was, once again, delicious food.  We did Vegas-style breakfast with a...buffet!

After breakfast the girls decided to go to the spa.  I decided to do something different.  I walked the strip by myself like a real grown up.  I took myself to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and shopped until I dropped.  Then I went to the Bellagio to walk around the greenhouse and take some pictures of the ceiling. Prepare for the photo onslaught:

Then I went back to The Cheesecake Factory for one more slice of heaven and headed back to the Venetian.

We picked up our stuff, grabbed one last cup of gelato, and disappeared into the night sky.