The devil did not give birth to a genre known as country.

Last week while getting ready I had this conversation with my mom:

MOM: You're listening to country music. 

ME: I am?! I had noooo idea. 

MOM: Why...? You hate the stuff.

ME: I thought I'd give it a try. Syd made me a CD so I could be weened onto it. 

***blah blah blah, irrelevant banter***

My entrance into the world of country had officially begun. 

For those of you who don't understand the gravity of this moment, just know that in the past the sound of a banjo or a sickly sweet drawl would make me want to rip my hair out. I couldn't stand the stuff.  

Last night I took another BIG step in my country gal transformation. 

Granted I was wearing a Pac Sun tank, flip flops and a sweater from Urban

buuuutttt.....

I WENT COUNTRY DANCING!

(Insert neon sign and flashing lights here)

Not only did I go country dancing, but I LOVED every minute of it. 

I went with Brent, and let me tell you, we were tearin it up on the dance floor.

...After we got over the awkwardness of not knowing what to do. 

Let's just say being described as a noob, novice, amateur, or rookie would make us look good.  

We recruited Brent's sister and brother in law to give us some instruction and it was free sailing from there! We may not have been the best dancers out there, but as usual we were the best looking ;)

After a lot of
 dancing
laughing
and sweating
 we hit up the drinking fountain and went outside for some fresh air.

funfact: there is a lot of stuff  (fake trees, chairs, lawn mowers, signs, creepy sheds, etc.) worth rummaging through behind Studio if you're ever in the area!

If someone would have told me that I could the Boot Scootin Boogie and enjoy myself at the same time, I would have laughed in their face. They only memories associated with that song are of Mr. Poff in Jr. High
GAG. ME. PLEASE.

Lesson learned?
Don't hate on something until you give it a whole hearted try!
I may not be wearing boots and a huge A belt buckle
but
I'd say it's only a matter of time before I'm in touch with my Georgian and Tennessee roots.

YeeeHawwww.

An ode to new friends and a beautiful baby sister.

Let me make something clear; I don't have a "baby" sister. Hannah will be 17 in October, but she will always be my baby! Even when she has kids of her own. She is my only sibling and even though we are very different, we have been partners in crime for as long as I can remember. When I was 2 years old I informed my mom she was pregnant. One night I was sitting in my highchair munching away on some dinner when I looked up at my mom and simply said, "Hannah's coming." I'm sure my parents were slightly confused seeing as I had never been one for imaginary friends and I didn't know any Hannahs, but it would take a few weeks until they figured out who "Hannah" really was. Soon after my mysterious declaration my mom found out she was pregnant, and when they found out it would be a baby girl they decided to name her Hannah. So...in essence, I named my sister when I could barely talk. Cool right? When Hannah was born I was very protective of her, and informed anyone that would listen that she was MY baby. Hannah and I have a mutual respect for each other despite our differing preferences for music, sports, food, movies, school, relationships, clothes...and just about everything imaginable. I just got back from school and one of the biggest shocks has been to realize that Hannah is not the baby I label her as any more. She probably hasn't been for the past 14 years, but that is beside the point! I love her SOOOO much and it is insane to think that my baby is growing up....eh. I'm going to brag about her for a minute :)

She is beautiful. She has amazing style-really, I don't know how she comes up with half the outfits she does, but she rocks them! Especially the colored tights. She is an amazing dancer-she hits up BSOB 6 times a week for ballet classes. She plays the viola AND mandolin. She just made the Utah Youth Symphony. Most of the musicians who audition wait and receive a letter telling them whether or not they made it. While Hannah was auditioning the lady stopped her in the middle of her second piece and told her she was in :) That's my girl! She has an INSANE school schedule and she is only a lil squashmore. Next year will be even crazier with all AP classes, early morning seminary, and on-line courses as well. I guess someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's her and not me! She has the voice of an angel. Sometimes she tries to hide it...good thing I have supersonic hearing and she belts in the shower. She is creative. She makes her own jewelry, paints, draws, sews stuff-like halloween costumes...if its artsy, she does it. She is sensitive! I'd much rather be related to someone that has a heart than an evil witch.

That's it for now. My sister's a pretty neat gal...what a shame she's related to me and not you!
Pause the player, we're switching tracks! The topic is: "Cool new friends"

Aight, so last night was an "Untalent Show" for my singles ward. I decided to bring 2nd in command, Sydney Rose Robinson. (Her middle name isn't Rose, and she's really not 2nd in command. We're on an equal playing field but saying 2nd in command just sounded more eloquent.) ANYWAY, I brought Syd along. The talent show was great, there was a lot of untalents, a lot of popcorn, and a lot of people to socialize with. At one point I was feeling a little parched so naturally I went to find a drinking fountain. I came across one and on the way I happened to come across Connor and Jeff; the coolest nose flutists I have ever had the privilege of meeting. We chatted in the hall for a while and then decided to relocate ourselves to North Canyon Park for a game of Ultimate. While at the park I had 2 significant lightbulb moments. 1) I don't miss high school and 2) Ultimate frisbee really is not my forte. The frisbee we used lit up and resembled a UFO. I'm going to scratch the bottom of the barrel here and say that all the color changing and blinking was the source of my frisbee retardation. I could catch it on occasion, but could not throw it to save my life. In order to be a functional member of society, I feel that having the knowledge necessary to throw a circular disk is mandatory. If you consider yourself a pro, hit me up. I'm growing desperate!

Even though the world didn't end today, our frisbee game had too hahah that was a Rapture joke for all you who are slower than most. Things led to other things and we found ourselves sitting on the ***cold***steps discussing the complexities of life. Meh...maybe that's an exaggeration. I was mostly talking with Connor and we were just discussing things. No complexities. I don't think Squidward and Jeff were either. This is what I heard of their conversation "aaglhdglhaga dgdafhdfghfj bh adfhdfn khopihf gBiggest Loser! aghadkgj fkajob bnjkvhafpioghg dhgiihie38r3y3yr 83ytyigalkh Patches! (Here Connor interjects with a witty rebutle in his cat's defense) agkh ggoah John Mayer. Pilot. 9th grade officer. ahgalgh adgh adghfih j" And that about sums it up from what I can tell. We covered quite a few topics but finally I had to say it, I was ***freezing***Connor may have mentioned it earlier, but there is a good chance I said something about him being a wuss and the confiscation of his man card. Once again we relocated, but this time it was to the boonies. RB's hot chocolate maker was broken, so we hit up some obscure 7-11 for a midnight hot chocolate run. More talking, more laughing, more incoherent jokes...I vaguely remember mocking Jeff's laugh and then cracking up over it. When it's late I tend to think I'm a lot funnier than I am....I like my friends, I'm glad I made new ones, I'm glad they forced the Grinch run out of me! Here's to a tightly knit bond because of it; and here's to things I like about them. It's a progressive list obviously. Just a little tidbit for starters.

Connor

Great style-bike chain bracelet included.

He has gorgeous eyes.

We crack the same kind of jokes! Nice to know someone shares my sense of humor.

Jeff

Dimples!!! I am a SUCKER for dimples.

He's a "cautious" driver :P

Funny. Funny, funny, funny. You can get some quality jokes out of this one!

Davis Blvd.

I just got back from a run in the rain. This whole day I have been complaining to my mom about how it is almost summer, and it is NOT supposed be raining like this. What is the point of being out of school if I can't lay out all day and get a step above the high schoolers on my tan?! Anyways, I decided to try something. Instead of complaining about the rain, why not enjoy it? Last spring me and my good friend Kyle took advantage of the rain. We would dance in it, go on scooter rides in it, and even made a "worm farm" to save all the worms that were trying to escape flooding. Hahaha we made a sign for their mason jar, named them, looked up what worms ate on the internet, everything! Hm...:) Good times. Anyway, I decided to take a page out of my own book and decided to go on a run. I ran up 1800 South, turned right onto Davis Blvd, ran all the way to North Canyon Road, then circled back to 400 East and down to my house. I LOVED every minute of it. As the rain started drenching my hair and running into my eyes, I was beginning to regret my decision but the wetter I got, the more I enjoyed myself! After I while I started seeing how wet I could really get. That is why now, as I right this, water is dripping off my forehead, down my nose, and onto my hands. I ran through puddles, let the tree branches swipe my head and arms leaving water droplets behind and just absorbed every freakin raindrop that fell from the sky. It was relaxing to see the clouds so low they were beginning to engulf houses, and to watch the raindrops hit the asphalt and break up into a million littler drops. All in all I'd say it was a good way to spend 30 minutes of my afternoon. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated, now it's off to body combat. Sydney, when you read this you'll know why I'm late :P haha I followed my crazy impulse.

That's me, Miss Milan.

My days in the bat cave are OVER! 

In Laman's terms it means I'm done sleeping in the basement, and I finally have my room back! 

It has been an insanely long process but at 3 o'clock today it'll all be done :)

I parted with all the old furniture in my room. 

I spackled little holes from picture frames, hooks, etc.

I patched a mongo hole from a wall-knee collision. 

Sanded the spackle flat. 

Picked out paint colors. 

Was almost reduced to tears when told to buy paint and paint supplies by myself. 

Convinced my mama to have mercy and go with me!

Period Charm for the walls.

Darkening Sky for the closet interior and stripe.

WHITE for the door and trim.

When I told the guy I wanted white he laughed and pulled out a stack of literally1400 white color swatches. We started going through them, but they were all tinted with black or brown. None were a true white and that was what I wanted. When I said "I want plain white. Is there anything with a name like that?" He pulled one more card out. "White." It even said it on the card so I said I would take it; in high gloss. He looked at me like I was crazy so, maybe I broke one of the cardinal rules of painting by siding with "White" instead of "Sandune." He's the expert, not me. 

After getting Frog Tape, and roller pads it was time to do business!

I learned about this thing called cutting in. You HAVE to do it unfortunately. 

Since the walls in my room were previously green and I was trying to make them yellow, cutting in was a long process but 3 coats later it was over with!

I lived in spankys and a 2xl red t/blue super man one, for 2+ weeks! I didn't want to ruin anything else.

Tape baseboards, doorframes, etc.

Cutting on the walls and ceiling: CHECK.

2 coats of paint on the walls and ceiling: CHECK

Back to Kwal Howel to buy more yellow paint....

Third coat: CHECK

Reverse all the tape...

Paint the door, doorframe, closet doorframe, and baseboards WHITE. Not too strenuous. 

Did get some on the carpet though...whoops. 

Tape baseboards and shelf in closet.

After I finished the cutting in for my walls I had had a hair appointment. While I was telling Jen about about my project she asked if I had heard of this nifty cutting in tool. It's about 4 inches wide, has wheels, and all you do is dip it in the paint and roll it on the wall. I about died after hearing that. I had spent hours manhandling that stupid paintbrush!!! At least I learned an original trick of the trade right? 

Cutting in? Go get the magic roller thing!!!

Went to get the magic roller thing.

Cut in closet.

Make pencil markings for stripe.

This part was nerve wracking to say the least. When you have a 8 inch navy blue stripe going around your room, there is not a chance you want that bad boy to be crooked. The top of the stripe was even with the top of my windows so I used a ruler to measure down from the ceiling; about 27 centimeters, around the rest of the room. I made it all the way around and discovered that the other window wasn't in the same position! It was about one and a half centimeters lower. At first this kind of stressed me out, but when it came time to paint I did some clever disguising and you can't even tell! :) After measuring I taped the stripe with tender love and care and went back to painting.

Painted the closet.

Used the magic roller thing to paint the stripe. 

It was a genius idea to say the least. I didn't want to use a roller and risk getting those tiny dot splatters on the yellow paint underneath, and I didn't want to use a paint brush and risk seeing the stroke marks. So, I improvised. It worked perfectly! 

2nd coat on stripe and closet.

Reverse the tape...

Paint shelf and baseboards in closet.

Take off all the tape!!!!

Annnnnndddddd.......

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When I taped the stripe I hadn't pressed it down hard enough in some areas so there was leakage. Not as much tender love and care as I though...I was so bummed! I was excited to be done painting and now I had some major clean up to do. UGH. Good thing I'm a force to be reckoned with! The second I saw what had happened I got the yellow paint out of the garage and went back to work. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! Luckily they weren't big drips. Just tiny spots on the edge of the line. I used the few bristles on the edge of the paintbrush and dabbed a drop of paint on. I finished in about 45 minutes and then I was really done!! 

***Que heavenly chorus and church bells ringing***

Next step, dresser assembly.

OH MY.

No one informed me that you have to put Ikea furniture together!! 

2 days and one power drill later, the dresser was a beauty!

Move clothes and other possessions out of laundry room and into dresser.

Move clothes out of storage bins on closet shelf and into dresser.

Move "sentimental" childhood possessions into 1 drawer of the dresser.

Arrange 3 flower vases, 3 books, 2 picture frames, and a tissue box on top of dresser.

Go to Smith's for 3M Command strips

Hang up 3 picture frames and giant mirror. 

Sit on desk and stare at the wonder you have created. 

hahhahhahahhaah

I really did for probably 10 minutes! After spending hours working on my room I couldn't believe I was done! I learned so much in the process, and I was impressed it looks so professional! Now, it being May 18 at about 11:30 am, I have 3 and a half hours until I can FINALLY move out of the bat cave :) The bed delivery/assembly guys will get here at 3, do their thing, and it's home free from there! I already have all the bedding I need, It just needs to be thrown on. But before all that can happen, one last thing.

Move green desk out of room. 

I say it goes. Dad says it stays but goes to the condo. Mom says...? I'm not really sure what she says.

Guess we'll find out when she get's back from the gym.

Basically I am more than enthused to have my room again. I have been living in the "bat cave" for about a month now. I started calling it that because A) it's dark 24/7 and B) it's dead silent. I sleep in until about 10 on a daily basis which is unheard of for me! I'm generally up about 8:45-9ish...

Imma put pictures up of the whole process. Stay tuned! 

Until then...

Adios bat cave, hola dormitorio!

:D

If I were a gardner I'd put my "Tu-Lips" next to yours!!

LBS

10 GREAT things about this weekend.

1. Slumberin it up with Becca and Lauren in Provo

2. Tulip festival. Nothing better than looking at pretty flowers with a pretty friend! It was Gorgeous! Oh my lanta...I would love to take bridal or engagement pictures there someday!

3. Becca's...unique...plies.

"Aaaaannddd, take it to the street! Take it to the street!"

4. It is HOT-3 times.

5. Sunshine! Sunburns! SUN SUN SUN :)

6. BYU baseball game wif ma papa.

7. Walking. We walked SO much this weekend! 2 something hours while looking at flowers, finding our way from the condo to Alpine Village, to Macy's,  back to the condo. Plus the normal walking that is necessary on a day to day basis! 

8. When a certain someone received a phone call from another certain someone. Jumping up and down. Ceaseless smiles. Holding of the stomach (I suspect butterflies). Giddy laughter. 

*spying*

aw...so precious. One day I will find someone that makes me feel that way. One day...

9. I found out that Becca's condo is directly across the street from my apartment!!! YEAH! Maybe not directly...there is one other building in the way but if you had x-ray vision it would be. But still, it would take like 30 seconds to get there-running. 

10. zip, zip, zip, bong, zip, bong, zip, aaahhhsspppaaahhhhhhhhhahahahahhahahahbhhhhaahehuhuhuhahahapshhhhhah

Translation: The evolution of Becca's laugh. 

"That's not how laughing happens, that's how barf happens!!"

Rainy Day Playlist

You know the days where it is raining and you love every minute of it? You probably open your window, put on sweats and fall asleep to the sound of rain and your perfect playlist. Maybe you forget how close your bed is to the window and wake up when your pillow starts getting wet. Then again, maybe that's just me...whoops. Here are a few of my rAinjAms, enjoy!

Paperweight-Joshua Radin

Samson-Regina Spektor

Who Says-John Mayer

One Year, Six Months-Yellowcard

Aliens and Rainbows-Ferras

Blame It On The Rain-He Is We

My Heroine(Acoustic)-Silverstein

Conversations With Starts-Brightwood

Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop-Landon Pigg

Merry Happy-Kate Nash

Brandy Alexander-Feist

Old School-Hedley

Six Stars Tonight-The Title

Summer Girl-LFO

Mr. Brightside-The Killers

New Soul-Yael Naim

***TOP THREE***

3. Can I Have This Dance-HSM 3

Guilty Pleasure. There is something about this song I just love!

2. Knock You Down-Keri Hilson

Two summers ago Kalli Wyatt and I hiked Elephant Rock early one morning. About a mile and a half into the hike it started pouring. We were instantly soaked, but decided since we were still going to get wet if we went back down to keep going up. We looked like drenched and frozen sewer rats by the end of 7 miles, but it was so worth it! I can't tell you how many times we listened to this song driving there and back, but ever since when I hear it I think about being chilled to the bone. 

1. A Drop In The Ocean-Ron Pope

No explanation necessary.