Madness

As in, March Madness. The time when everyone fills out a bracket, pools together some money (or anything else that's valuable), and hope and pray that the teams that they picked win out so that way they can victory over others.

Now, some people try to fill out their brackets by looking at all the stats and picking the better team. Some people do it on the flip of a coin. If this year's tournament is anything like last year's tournament, then that might actually be the better method. Me? Well, I'm loyal to Florida, so of course I think they can go all the way end! Which is what I did :) But honestly, I think Kentucky's gonna win it all. They were the only ones during regular season that proved that they could sustain a steady winning streak, and they've also got a strong program right now. (Which is good. Those poor Kentucky fans need something to be proud of, and let me tell you, it ain't their football program!) Syracuse had a chance, but now their top player is suspended from the rest of the tournament. While they have depth, it's going to be hard to replace his presence on the court. Mizzou is fresh off a conference championship, so they're pretty solid as well. UNC... I don't know as much about them. Florida State (much as I hate to admit) has a fairly decent chance. I mean, they beat Duke twice, and they beat UNC twice. HOWEVER, the crazy thing about March is that it's Madness time, and anything can happen. As in anything. And who knows? Maybe BYU will play Florida again. Now that would pretty fun. Like last year's game? That was pretty intense. I only bring it up because Florida won. Oh happy day. I love it when Florida wins. There's just this awesome feeling that it brings to me. But I digress.

March is a wonderful month, not only because of March Madness, but because it's when the weather changes. I mean, it's been beautiful the past few days, and I really, really hope that it stays this way! Although I'm going to die when I get back home. I mean, I'm starting to think that this is rather warm and borderline hot. 50 degrees is a nice day now. I was talking to my brother, about how it was 55 and we were all playing outside and the like. He just laughed and said that it was in the 50s in the morning and he wore a jacket. That's how I used to be when I came out here. By the time I get back home, it's going to be so hot and feel so humid, and I'm going to die. Or go mad.

Do you know why else I'm going to go mad? Because it's March! And this week is usually Spring Break time, except not for me or my BYU compadres. Because BYU doesn't believe in giving us spring break, which is such a bummer! I mean, I would love just one whole week off from life! No work, no school, just relaxing, maybe getting to actually go off campus and stay somewhere else. Who knows? But it's not going to happen. The weeks here feel so long, and like they last forever! Which I guess I shouldn't be complaining about too much, because I'm going to be so sad when we all leave. Although I can't wait to see my familia again! I miss them. I wonder how they're doing... I should probably call them. Anyway, back to the spring break thing. It's hard to know that everyone back home is off not worrying about anything, while I have a Physical Science test and a paper due this week. And something else next week. Maybe another test? I don't even know. That's too far in the future. I like to take things a few days at a time. Unless it's plans for the weekend. Those can always be prepared in advance.

Good luck with the Madness! May the College Basketball force be with you. Unless you picked against Florida. Then I hope the force leaves you and your bracket for such blasphemy. If you ain't a Gator, then you're GATOR BAIT!

Not a Typical Friday

Today was a day filled with fun adventures! I got to meet the people who write the Vocal Point blog that I follow religiously. I don't think I've explained who they are. Well, remember my obsession with Vocal Point (because they're AMAZING!)? There are these two sisters who love VP as much as I do, and they started blogging about them and doing performance reviews and making random guesses on their personalities and things like that. Well, members of Vocal Point got wind that this blog existed and started commenting and adding their own feedback and then shared the link to the blog on their Facebook page, and it's really taken off from there. Anyway, so these two sisters (who don't live in Provo), made it out here for the Vocal Point concerts this weekend, and so I emailed them and asked if they would like a tour of campus. They agreed, so I got to meet them today! They are wonderful people and a lot of fun to be with. I just gave them a quick tour, and we took some pictures with a creepy Uno poster found in the library and it was super duper fun. And they mentioned me (scroll down a little and you see my picture. I don't use my real name, but I promise it's me!) in their blog, which of course made me feel special!

Emily, Susan, and I went to Divine Comedy this weekend (with the help of my friend Alex who got Susan and me some tickets), and it was AMAZING of course! Divine Comedy is BYU's sketch comedy group that is absolutely hilarious. It's so hard to STOP laughing, and their show was wonderful. It was great to hang out with Susan and Emily as our little threesome again! It was also great to get in some girl time.

After the wonderful show, Emily and I walked south of campus (by ourselves in the dark late at night. Don't worry, we're safe!) to rent a movie from the Redbox down there. We ended up renting Abduction, which is the action movie with Taylor Lautner, the hottie. What a great and wonderful movie. I just love a good action movie, along with, ya know, some other incentives ;)

Tomorrow is when I get to see Vocal Point perform here in Provo! This will be the 3rd and a half time that I will see them live, and they are absolutely awesome. I'm so stoked. One of the new guys this semester is the brother to my head secretary, Emily (his name is Jon). Anyway, Jon came in the office the other and we were chattin' it up and I mentioned how I was going to the concert tomorrow and he told me to come say hi after the show. Which I will totally hit him up on! I like getting to meet the people that I feel are celebrities. It makes me feel so accomplished in life! Well, it's off to bed for me, because I've got a big day tomorrow!

Oh, one last thing: my friends created this amazing and hilarious web show called Between Two Arms. Here's the link to their blog and their Facebook page if you have the time to check it out. They're pretty legit as they have guest stars, and a tech guy, and a title sequence and everything. Also, they're my friends, so of course it's awesome!

Something I'm Passionate About

Band.

Alright. Get it out of your system. All those Band Nerd comments and how geeky band kids are have a place right here, right now. All good? Is it out of your system yet? No? How bout now? Good. Let me tell you why I love band.

Performing is the most exhilarating thing in the whole wide world. Ask anyone who's ever performed anything. You wonder why people keep coming back? Because it's wonderful. There's just something about finishing the final cord in the song and looking out at the audience to the cheering and screaming and marching off the field that makes the long hours and tedious practices worth it.

And I mean long hours. As in loooooong hours. I was in a Texas Marching Band, which meant that band was a religion. If we wanted to be in concert band, then we were in marching band. Period. End of story. How crazy is marching band? The season starts in May. That's right. May. Then there's Summer Band for a week in June. Then leadership training and getting things together at the end of July. And then there's August.

Come August, the first two weeks are two-a-days. It's called getting up at 6am to be at practice, ready to go at 7. Then we're outside on the field from 7-11 because we try to beat the heat. Which fails miserably because it's already up to at least 100 by 9am in the bad summers. Which is almost every summer. Then we get two blessed hours off for lunch, and then we come back for music instruction from 1-5. Thankfully it's inside. Unthankfully, it's not any less brutal. After two weeks of that, then it's one week of evening practice from 6pm-9pm. All of it outside. Did I mention that it was hot? Always hot. Even in the mornings, once school starts. Because we practiced every morning from 7-8:30, and that was on top of class time.

I know, the above paragraph sounds absolutely horrid. So why do I look so fondly on my band memories? Because of the many wonderful friends I made in band and the many wonderful times that I had. As a "pittie" (a member of the front ensemble), we had so many inside jokes. We always had loads of fun, even when practice was boring and we didn't play for an entire hour (which frequently happens as a member of the front ensemble). I always had friends in the pit.

I was in front ensemble the first two years of high school because I didn't think that I would enjoy marching. Boy was I ever wrong! Junior and Senior year, I marched on the cymbal line, and it was AWESOME. Seriously. Best moments of my life. It was so much less boring, and playing in the stands during football games was a blast. One time, it started pouring during our performance at a competition and it was one of the coolest things ever. I mean, the rain was falling, and every time I crashed my cymbals, the water flew off and looked so cool. Another time at a competition, there were these huge storms that came through and we were stuck in a building for HOURS. We had rolly chair races and played hockey and we had a pretty good time.

Another great thing about band is the amount of fun we had at football games. They were a blast. We got to goof off in the stands (until Williams got mad at us) and just have a great time. Being a part of drum line was literally the coolest thing ever because drum line is the best section on the field. No joke. Everyone respects the drum line. We had so many fun cadences that we got to play and we just rocked out to whatever we wanted. And after halftime performances, the whole band got a snack, which was super fun. And after competitions, we ate Chick Fil A. Best stuff ever.

Bus rides!! Bus rides are also amazing because you get to ride with your section (again, percussion is the best). We always had bus buddies that we liked to sit with. Sometimes we would play "Big Booty", which is amazing on a bus where everyone can keep the beat and rap and switch it up. Oh man, such fun times. One time, we got lost, and a tree entered the window. Another time it was crazy raining. And it was always nice whenever we got to ride on a charter bus, which are super fancy and a whole lot better than school buses. I've spent so many hours in a school bus, it's not even funny.

Marching band is really one of the best things I've ever done in my life. I've had great friendships and have always had a blast. Don't get me wrong, there were some bad times, but we always pulled through with our own inside jokes and ragging on Williams (our head band director. You never say "Mr." in front of it. It's always "Williams") and other such crazy shenanigans. Marching band was awesome. And that's why I loved it.



Me, Jessie, and Hannah B on a bus ride to... somewhere. Probably an away football game. This was my... Sophomore year?? Crazy.



Outstanding Front Ensemble my Sophomore Year! (Also, look how dark I am! I miss the sun.)



Drum line my Senior Year. Gotta love these guys!


"East Side" Cymbal Line


3rd quarter shenanigans


Some of my dearest friends during an extremely long 3rd quarter break

And these pictures are only a small glimpse as to why I love Marching Band!

Memories

I remember walking in the door after a long drive and hearing you say "Hey kiddo!"

I remember you taking my brother and I to our cousin's Little League baseball game just because we wanted to see him play.

I remember you pulling out the old and decrepit SuperNintendo every time we visited just so my brothers and I could play Mario for a couple of hours.

I remember you filling up the candy jars before we came over just so my brothers and I would have candy.

I remember sitting in the living room, listening to you talk to my dad about sports and politics.

I remember coming inside from playing in your backyard, terrified of the bees that I saw and you comforting me and helping me find something else to play with.

I remember the neighborhood cats that you fed at your back door just because they were strays and were hungry.

I remember Sunday Dinners and Craw fish boils.

I remember the old cars that were your pride and joy because you worked so hard to fix them up.

I remember the big breakfasts that would send us off with for our next day of driving to get to Florida.

I remember the "Burger Money" you gave us before we would leave.

I remember after my brother was born that you and Aunt Sue took care of us while my dad was at the hospital with my mom.

I remember you taking us to church.

I remember the play kitchen that you bought and fixed up just for me.

I remember you helping my family whenever you could.

I remember the love you have for Aunt Sue.

I remember the life of service that you had, not only for your family, but for our country as well.

Uncle Ivan, you are loved and you are remembered. Thank you for everything you have done and everything you will do in the life to come. Thank you for the example you gave to us all. You lived a life of love, kindness and charity. You treated everyone the same, no matter who they were. I know that you are happy now, and free from pain. And one day, I will see you again. I hope to make you proud.

What boredom leads to

Boredom happens quite a lot actually, especially to me. And it's not that I don't have lots of things to do, because believe me, my schedule is busy all the time. It's just that I get put into situations where I can't do what I want and need to do. And then by the end of the day, I'm so tired from not doing what I need to do that I don't do anything. On the other hand, I finished the Flag Project at work yesterday!

Ah the Flag Project! The joyous amount of nothing that took over 6 hours of my life! And I'm not being sarcastic. I loved the Flag project. Those little flags are my pride and joy. Because of the gaping hole of nothing I'm qualified to do at the IS office, I volunteered to redo the flags that sit atop our pens in the pen jar because they were gross and gunky and were falling off the pens. Like how some offices have flowers and stuff? Yeah, we have flags from different countries, because we're, ya know, International and all that jazz. So Monday, I looked through the G drive (it has everything we ever need for anything to with stuff. Like the Flag project. Oh and some government documents as well.) and found some of the older flags that were used a few years ago (I think) and then I identified them all to figure out if I wanted to keep them or get new ones. Basically, that was just a waste of my time because lo and behold, those flags were all worthless to me. They weren't even in the right template format to put them on the pens. The only good thing that came out of that was that I was able to use them as models for the proper dimensions of the flags.

So after I figured out which flags I wanted to use, I had to figure out how I was going to copy them to where they would align perfectly with each other once I printed it double sided. That took a lot of trial and error. I inverted the flags on the second sheet, changed the margins, and then shifted each of the flags minuscule amounts in order for them to line up perfectly. WHICH THEY DID. And I only wasted like 5 pieces of paper! Huge. Success. After I printed the pages out, I got them laminated at the Cougar Creations place down the hall. And big key to the story (well not really, but still) I GOT A NAME TAG!! I mean, I've only been working here for like three weeks now. But I have a very official name tag and everything. It's wonderful. Anyway, while walking to and from the Cougar Creations place down the hall, I got stopped twice and had people ask me for directions. It was hilarious. I mean, all it takes is a name tag, and suddenly I know everything there is to know about the Wilk.

Where was I? Oh right. Laminating. So I laminated those suckers and brought them back. Then I grabbed the department card and headed on up to the bookstore, because I was not having my pens be violated by ghetto tape. Nope. Only the best for my flags! So I bought superglue. And while I was at the bookstore, some poor soul asked me if I knew where the stopwatches were. Dude, I don't work at the bookstore, regardless of my name tag. I'm sorry. So I bought the superglue, cut the flags out, and started supergluing them to the pens. Which took a loooong time. Because you have to sit there and hold it in place. And this explanation is not going to make sense, but I have nothing better to with me life, so here it goes: To make the flags stick off the pens, there has to be tail of paper to wrap around the top of the pen. So I glued the end of the tail to the pen, and then the middle of the paper, and wrapped it around halfway, and the superglued the last of the tail to the pen. It took forever. But I got all 15 pens done! And they look wonderful! And they are now my pride and joy, so those International students better not ruin them, or they'll have to face my wrath! Then again, on the other, it would give me something to do...

I guess I could now rant about how wonderful Valentine's Day was. How I came home to my bed being made and a flower and some chocolates on the pillow. How band ended 10 minutes early. How awesome it was to walk around Provo at night like I've always wanted. But apparently these stories make people gag because the concentration of adorableness is too much to handle. So I'll restrain myself. For now.

What a Guy Wants (follow up to What a Girl Wants)

So my last post was about the generalizations in what most girls want in a guy and what can make us attracted to them. However, what about us girls? Now, seeing as I'm a girl, I can't really give too much guidance on this issue, which is why I've asked around from one of my brothers to some good friends. And guys: if there is anything you want to add to this list, please, feel free to add your advice in the comments!

Take pride in who you are. One major side of that is how you look. Try your hardest not to leave without making an effort. Now I know we've all had those horrid days when all we want to do is wear some comfy sweats and not care, but let those days be few and far between. Don't make trying and making an effort become something that happens on occasion, because then it can seriously mess with everything else in your life, especially your attitude towards the day ahead.

Not only do you need to make sure you look good, you need to feel good about yourself. Guys don't want to have to reassure you every ten seconds that yes, you're beautiful. While that's always nice to hear, realize that your image does not rest with compliments but how you carry yourself. Does this mean taking hours upon hours to get ready every morning? Absolutely not! Making yourself look and feel good about yourself does not mean that you should take loads of time each morning to put on makeup and to do your hair, because honestly, that's not the point. The point is to have enough self confidence and self esteem to walk out that door and say "Look out everybody, because I'm going to rock your world!"

Smile! Be outgoing! Make yourself noticeable and show interest in guys. Make that first effort to look a boy in the eye and hold a legitimate conversation with them. And if you're naturally shy and shy boys are your type? Still make the first move. Someone's gonna have to rise up to the challenge, and believe me, if it's between you and the shy boy, the shy boy is the least likely to come up to you and strike up a conversation. However, there is a fine line. Don't be too outgoing and overly flirty because while you may "get" all the boys, nothing of meaning will last, and that is the worst.

Just like we want boys to listen to us, we should listen to them. Don't just pretend to listen to someone's conversation while thinking of your own response because that is not helpful. They could be trying to tell us something that has meaning to them, and if we blow it off, then we blow our chance, which would be rather unfortunate. Be sincere. Laugh when they tell a joke, but don't overdo it. Show them that yes, what they have to tell you is important, and that they have your undivided attention.

Don't be fake. One thing that my brother said was that he hates it when girls feel like they need to change their entire face by putting make up on it or by putting on a persona that's different than who the girl truly is. As long as you have confidence in yourself, put forth the effort, and are willing to listen, then things should go great. Don't be afraid to make the first move! Be friends with guys, because that makes it loads easier to figure out who they are and what they're interested in. A great analogy of how guys feel about their friends that are girls is given by my buddy Bryant (even though he called my previous post false doctrine, he was misunderstood about what I was saying. Trust me. It's not false).

Again, this is a brief and generalized overview. Sometimes, circumstances change. And seriously boys, if I have over/under generalized something, please let us know. Every input helps us paint a better picture!

What a Girl Wants

Preface: It is February. Also, there has been lots of talk between Emily and I about...stuff. That pertains to this blogpost. Which is why I'm writing it.

There are only girls at the IS office. This leads to some pretty interesting conversations. There are two girls that are married and two girls that will be married by the time 2012 closes out. As you can see, there are stories.

We watched April's engagement video. She was proposed to in Times Square over Christmas break a year ago. And she got interviewed for a Spanish TV channel. She and her husband are adorable.

Emily (the Head Secretary. Not to be confused with my roommate) just recently married her husband over Thanksgiving Break. Marshall seems like a sweetheart. He brings her snacks and comes in between his classes on her longer days. Emily has told some hilarious stories about Marshall.

Alexsandra and Allyson are the two girls that are getting married soon-ish. Allyson has already gone ring shopping and is expecting to be proposed to by April at the latest. Alexsandra is waiting for her missionary to come and is expecting to be proposed to by June.

Now how have these girls been so successful with their lives? I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I'm still the new girl. I don't know everyone's backstory yet. But I'm getting there. However, I do know some tricks to success on both ends.

Boys:

When we come to you with a complaint about anything that is going wrong in our lives, please please please DON'T try to fix the problem! Office Emily was telling us how she complained to Marshall about how something should work a different way than it did. Marshall, being a mechanical engineer (or some type of engineer), proceeded to explain that whatever she wanted from the device could not possibly work because blah blah blah. See the problem here? She didn't want an explanation to why it couldn't work. She knew it wouldn't work. She just wanted someone to hear her complaint and agree with her. The end. Unless a girl is like "Hey, can you help me figure out...?" or "Can you fix this?", then don't try to fix her problem! Just listen. And say things like "Wow that sucks" or "I totally agree" or "I feel your pain". Then it shows that you're listening, but not trying to fix the problem.

In addition to listening to her compliments, another thing that is really attractive is when you not only listen, but remember something and ask about it later. This works only when it's sincere. For example, if the last time you talked to a girl, she was stressing out about an exam, ask her about how her exam went. If there was something good that happened in her life, then ask her about that. Basically just follow up on events in her life, and it will show that not only did you pay attention and listen to her the last time you talked, but it also shows that you truly do care about her life.

Give sincere and specific compliments. And not just "Oh you look good today". That's BAD. Because then the girl starts thinking "Why do I look good today and not yesterday/the last time I saw you?" And then she starts to think back to things that are wrong with her appearance which leads to a whole train of thought that goes nowhere happy. Give a specific compliment. If her hair was what made you notice, then compliment her hair. Or her shirt. One time, a guy complimented the shirt I was wearing, and now I love wearing that shirt because I know that I look good in it.

"But wait!" you say. "How do I know that this will actually work? How do I know that I won't be Friendzoned?" Because sadly, girls just can't seem to realize that their really close friends are also date-worthy. So boys, let me tell you something. Dates mean something. Even if they aren't supposed to mean something, they mean something. And even if both the girl AND the guy know that the date doesn't mean anything, it still means something. Because here's what happens. The girl starts subconsciously thinking about her date in a different way. As in "could I potentially date this guy" kind of way. She starts looking for the qualities that she wants in her ideal guy in you. And sometimes it's not as subconscious. Most of the time it's right at the forefront of her mind. And the seed is planted. So if you like a girl, and you feel like you've been "Friendzoned", then just ask her out on a date. Make it fun and make it a double date (so it doesn't look like you're trying to be serious, but it's still a small enough group). BOOM. Seed planted. Now this is easier in the Mormon culture because going on a date does not mean actually dating. It's more for fun. No immediate commitment. Yet it still works the same way. So go out, plant the seed. Ask the girl on a date. Give it a couple of weeks and maybe two dates and there will be a perfect little seed planted her head. The rest is up to you. (**In retrospect, I want to make something clear. Ask girls on dates. Even if it is a "just fun" date, still ask her, and don't be intimidated by what she might potentially be thinking for the future. Because dates are fun, and they make a girl feel special [who wouldn't want that?]. What's going on through the girl's head is her problem, and you should enjoy yourself)

Don't worry girls. Your side will be coming soon!