My Awesome Life

So... I feel like my life has fallen into a pattern. It's a good pattern, and I love it, but it doesn't let me have fun or exciting stories. Every morning, I wake up and go to class/work and come back at about 5-ish. Then I sit on the couch in 23 for a few hours doing homework, then I go to bed. So I live for Fridays and Saturdays because the pattern is broken!

Tonight we had a pretty fun time. Emily and I went over to 23...and no one was home! It was weird. But we stayed anyway because I wanted to play NCAA and so I did. (Not to worry, we found out that Murph was there the whole time, but he was sleeping. So we're not total weirdies). We ended up staying there for six hours. And then we went to a dance party that was being held in the basement, but I had a headache and Emily wanted to eat real food, so we left.

The exciting part is what happened when we came home. We walk in, and Brooke and Mikaela are cleaning up the most horrendous mess ever! Mikaela had gotten into a food fight with her date, and there was chocolate cake and pudding pretty much everywhere in the kitchen, including the ceiling. It was crazy. Mikaela insisted that we didn't help clean up, but Lindsay, Emily, and I all pitched in and cleaned up all the chocolatey brown mess. While this may have seemed like it was a chore, it was actually pretty fun since we all got to talk and laugh together, and we were pretty much all in the kitchen at the same time, which is a rare occasion. So thank you Mikaela and Coleman for making a mess so we could experience our roommate bonding time. It is truly appreciated.

On a completely unrelated note from the previous story: Emily and I share a brain. Which would explain a lot of things to everyone who has ever known us and tried to talk to us. Here is a typical conversation between us:

"Hey, it's like when Booth tried to..."
"I know right?! Isn't that hilarious?"
"Believe me. I can not believe that just happened!"

Or, like what happened in our Greek and Roman Mythology class:

Teacher: "Along with being the goddess of wisdom, Athena is also the goddess of war. Which you would think would be odd and slightly paradoxical"
Emily and I (to each other at the Exact. Same. Time.) "Strategy! Duh!"

And sometimes, we say the same sentence together. Which I would imagine could be potentially creepy and/or terrifying for a spectator. Speaking in unison can be oddly scary. And other times, it can be insanely cool. It just depends on the circumstance.

This happens all the time. Not even kidding. The boys from Broadbent 23 can attest to this. Yet despite our similarities, we have many differences. She likes cats, I like babies. She doesn't like football, and I love it dearly. She hates sweet things, and I have the biggest sweet tooth ever. And the list goes on. The moral of this story is that Emily and I are a great combination. And it leads to some funny times. Mikaela says that she could listen to us talk to each other all day (because we argue a lot too) and we crack her up. Which I guess we can live with.

So basically, I love my awesome life and my awesome roommate.

Star Wars

I LOVE Star Wars. To the extreme. I know it didn't make my obsession list (believe me, a lot of things didn't make the list. Like College Football.) but trust me when I say that I love Star Wars from the bottom of my heart. And then some more. It just holds a special place in my memories that can only be equaled to how much I love the Florida Gators. It's that big a deal.

I was first introduced to Star Wars when my dad bought the original trilogy when it came out in it's special Gold edition box set (yes people, that was on VHS). My earliest memories of watching Star Wars were when we lived in Georgia, so I was six. We would watch them on the weekends together (when we weren't watching football) and have a grand ole time. Sitting next to my brother Benjamin and my dad always made me so happy. Soon enough, it was all that Benjamin and I talked about. Star Wars became our lives. He would get to watch some of the movie while I was at school, and then he'd catch me up on it later. I can't even begin to count how many times I've watched the original trilogy. They're that good. My brother and I had Star Wars coloring books, and for Christmas, Benjamin got the Mellennium Falcon and I got Luke's X-Wing. We played with those for hours and hours.

Just hearing the Star Wars theme song makes me so insanely happy and excited. Last night, I watched Star Wars episodes VI and V and now I'm the happiest person alive. Whenever I went to go borrow Episode V from one of Brett's roommates, I kept telling Emily how insanely excited I was. In fact, I was too exited to wear socks under my boots because it would have meant taking an extra minute or two, and I just wasn't having it.

Now of course, the original trilogy is the best. Hands down. However, don't discredit the prequel trilogy. While it's nowhere near as awesome as the original, it's still Star Wars, so it still has a remnant of the mighty power. The prequel trilogy is more of my generation, and I remember when each of them came out and when I saw them. I wasn't able to see Episode III until after I turned 13, but believe me, it was one of the very first PG-13 movies that I saw.

As to the fan fiction "novels" that take place after Episode VI, those don't exist. I don't care if George Lucas supposedly approved them, but they are not real. I love Star Wars, and if you love something enough, you'll just let it go. Or in this case, stick with how and when the movies end. They end in a good place, and in my mind, that's where it'll always be. They are forever immortalized. Let's keep it that way, and not try to expand the story in places it would never go. Still suffering from Star Wars withdrawals? Watch them again. Don't keep creating things that never happened. (Clone Wars and the subsequent TV series is barely acceptable. And that's because it's filling in a story line that was already created and loosely discussed but never expounded upon.)

One of the best days that I've ever had was when my friend Becca and I watched all the Star Wars episodes in one day. It was magnificent. Hopefully I'll be able to do that again one day. But as for right now, I'll just watch them one (or two) at a time until I go through them all again. And then I'll probably start over. Because after watching them through once, I just want to go back and watch them again!

I suffer from Triple O (Obsessive, Obsessive, Obsessivness)

I have a partially obsessive personality. Except take out the partially. It's pretty bad. Some people obsess over food and have undesirable cravings, but not me. My obsessions deal with certain TV shows or various groups on-campus or certain people. And sometimes it's borderline creepy. My sophomore year of high school, I became obsessed with the 1994 Spider-Man cartoons. Which is unhealthy for a high schooler. It was all I talked about. FOR MONTHS.

This happens to me quite frequently. There was the time that I became totally and completely obsessed with Bones, the TV show. I printed out a list of all of the episodes, and checked each one off after I had watched them. I watched two or three every day. Again, it was all I could talk about for months. I still love that show and am an avid fan. It's a great show. Check it out if you haven't yet. Although it can get a bit gory and gruesome most of the time, so don't check it out if you have a weak stomach.

Last year at about this time, I went through a BYU Divine Comedy rampage. I would watch their YouTube videos all the time and again, and that was all I did in my free time. Watch Divine Comedy.

This year while at BYU, I became captivated by BYU Vocal Point, which is an all male a Capella group that is based here on campus. They recently participated in the Sing Off last semester, which is basically a TV competition for a Capella groups. Vocal Point is outstanding. They sing and dance and use only their voices. Once again, they became all I talk about, and I'm fairly certain Emily was on the brink of insanity. They are my celebrities. Having celebrities that I could actually potentially meet is so much fun. One time, while I was standing in line at the BYU Creamery, I glanced beside me, and there was Ben Murphy from Vocal Point! Now Ben is my favorite because I think his voice is the most beautiful. So there he was, standing right next to me! So of course I strike up a conversation with him, and we ended up talking for awhile, which I just thought to be the coolest thing ever. That was such a wonderful day. And I only felt partially creepy for knowing who he was. A few months ago, I was working with Catering, and I found out that Vocal Point was performing on the floor above me, so while I was on break, I ran up and listened to them perform a few songs. Afterwards, they were loading up their van while we were loading up our truck, so I went over and started talking to Jake Hunsaker, and I chatted with him for a couple seconds before I had to back to work. It was wonderful. He shook my hand.

So I have a problem. Am I going to change it? Nope. Do I even want to change it? Not really. Am I creepy? Absolutely not. All I know is that one day, I will pick up a new obsession. I wonder what it will be?

Why I created a fire-breathing circus dragon

In order to fully understand this story, one must go to where all stories begin: the beginning.

So I've already established the fact that I "live" in the kitchen of 23 Broadbent Hall, which is NOT where my actual living space is. This past week, I spent at least 5-6 hours each day sitting in my corner of the couch (and yes, it is my corner) and just hanging out, doing homework, and playing Madden. It's a great life to lead, trust me.

Friday was an awesome day. Why? Because I had Friday lunch with my dear friends Tyler S. and Jessie (who is amazing and I'm so glad we're going to BYU together now!). I was also able to go "home" right after my Physical Science class, which was a whole three hours earlier than normal. So I was sitting on my corner of the couch (I really do need to get a sign for it so that way Brett will stop stealing my spot. Silly Bwett.) and planning on staying in all night when Murph asked me to go bowling with him and a group of friends from our ward ("ward" being the people who we are zoned to go to church with. It's easier at BYU since you can go by Halls and not by streets and neighborhoods like they do everywhere else in the world). I agreed and thus began a pretty awesome night. We proceeded to play two games of bowling ("games of bowling"? I think that makes sense), and let me tell you, I kinda sorta really stink at bowling. As in I scored in the 50s both times. Afterwards, we watched MegaMind (how had I not seen this movie before?! It's hilarious!) and then sang Disney songs and danced. Which was super fun. I love Disney. And dancing.

Saturday, I worked at the BYU Basketball game for Catering, which are pretty long shifts, and I didn't get off till about 9:30 ish. I had agreed to going on a group date with Mike earlier in the day whenever I stopped by to plug my computer in to my charger (which I had left in their kitchen), and I still feel so bad for coming in so late. However, I walked in right when the important things were about to happen. We had a cookie-shape contest, and so we had to come up with the most creative cookies. We first did a basketball, because my mind was still on the game, but then we decided to create a super cool dragon. Mike cut out the castle and the flames, and I worked on the dragon. I must admit, I was pretty impressed with my work. I mean, ours was clearly the best. It BREATHED FIRE at a CASTLE while BALANCING on a BASKETBALL! How is that not the coolest thing ever? Sadly we did not win the competition, and now our work rests in my tummy.

And that is why I created a fire-breathing circus dragon.

Oooo look! Pictures!

Pictures courtesy of Mike Poret (at Quotidian Adventures)

An example of how I get distracted while I write

First off, I totally and thoroughly love my life. It's awesome. My friends are also awesome, which is why sometimes I appear to be awesome, but it's really just a ruse, because I'm really not that cool. For the past few weeks, I've been spending every single day with my FHE brothers (at BYU we're put into "families" and we have "Family Home Evening" once a week. Hence the fact that I have FHE brothers). My FHE brothers (and their roommates) are amazing and are so much fun. There's never a dull moment. The only downside is that since I'm a girl, I can't actually move in. So I leave when curfew hits every night. It's always a sad moment in our lives when that happens. But rest assured, I visit every day! Every night, they ask me when I'm "coming home" the next day. It's great.

So basically, I acquired a blog because, well, everyone is doing it. Positive peer pressure, right? Also, I love telling stories that happen in my crazy life, such as when I see BYU celebrities around campus and the like. The only downside is that I can only tell these stories a few times before my friends start getting annoyed (Don't ever ask Emily [my roommate] about my best day ever. She doesn't like that story anymore). I also like to obsess over things (ahem: BYU Vocal Point anyone?) and so I thought this would be a great way to appease my obsessions.

The title of my blog comes from everyone always joking around that I'm basically a guy because I like football and the like. For example, my "roommates" and I (really just the Broadbent 23 boys that I'm with all the time) are currently starting our Madden tournament. My name? Monica "I'm basically a guy" Tillman. Which I find hilarious. I mean, I grew up with boys, which is why I relate to them. Cracks me up. But, just so the world can know: I'm actually a girl. And in the personality test that I took the other day, my femininity is this much more [--------] than my masculinity. We've chalked that up to the fact that I love babies. And that I have enough maternal instinct for both Emily and me.

I currently have two jobs here on campus, which leads to some fun times. I recently started working as an "Office Specialist" (really just a secretary) for the International Services, which is kinda sorta extremely terrifying when I stop to think about it. I'm in charge of these International students' lives, and if I screw up in any way, they could get in serious trouble with Uncle Sam. And that would be bad. As in kicked-out-of-the-country-and-not-coming-back-in bad. But I try not to think about it too much. I also work for BYU Catering, which can lead to some interesting experiences. One time, I spilled an entire bucket of grease all over me. And I still had to work for another three hours. Another time, I watched BYU Vocal Point perform and got to shake Jake Hunsaker's hand (it was all part of the best day ever). And one time, I walked right by Brandon Davies, one of the men on the basketball team, and let me tell you: 6'10" is RIDICULOUSLY tall. So yeah, we'll get some fun stories from there too.

And now, it's time for my random and slightly ADD-ish rambling to come to close. For now.

~Monica

PS- Re-reading this made me realize that the order makes absolutely no sense. But I guess that just proves that I get distracted easily.