Don't Mess With the Mafia!

So last night was our ward Halloween Carnival and it's probably hard to tell what the heck we were supposed to be. We got all kinds of answers like: professional sports players, and business women. Nope. None of those. We were the 303 Mafia. We were going to buy squirt guns but we forgot until we were walking out the door that we needed weapons. So I called around and managed to get the ok to borrow Jessie's sports equpiment. So I broke into her apartment (surprisingly, not my first illegal act. Okay. Not surprisingly...) and stole her stuff off of her walls. Thanks Jessie!

I was the Mafia Mama, Kellie was Racquet and Jessica was Pins.

Kelli the Magnificent did my hair. I honestly don't know how she did it. All I did was get it my hair to its normal curly and she went to town with bobby pins and hair pins and a curling iron. I loved it. It actually made me kinda sad that I never went to dances in high school. Who knew having your hair done could be so much fun?

Here we are. We're aren't a very threatening Mafia, but we're pretty. That counts for something. OH MY GOSH! Our weapons should have been our looks! ...I had enough bobby pins in my hair to perform some pretty scary voo doo!

Nicole was Velma. She had that "Jenkies" down pat, I tell ya. She isn't that tall. She's actually on her tip toes and I'm crouching. hahaha. Doesn't she look freakishly like Velma?

Lindsey was Daphne. Isn't she cute? I should have gotten a picture of her bright pink tights!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. The smell of freshly turned soil.

2. Using Nicole (not the above Velma, the original Nicole) as my guinea pig for all of my stupid story ideas.

3. Brother Babcock's Brit Lit class (I know it's on the previous post but honestly, I'll just have to do a post completely dedicated to Brother Babock to get the point across...)

4. My ability to freak people out by writing backwards in both cursive and print, with my left and right hands, and - my most favorite - both hands at the same time.

5. People who make a big show of sneezing.

The Little Things

Apparently I'm a blogging fiend! Sorry. :o)

So if any of you have been talking to me lately I've been a downer (to say the least) and I apologize. But I spent about 3 nights on my knees talking with Father in Heaven and woke up on Sunday feeling happier than I've felt in the longest time. I honestly feel like I'm back to the version of myself that I lost a few years ago and I can't stop smiling and laughing (ask Nicole).

To help celebrate this fun mood, I am committing to writing down the little things that have been making me happy. I'll do a pretty good list today and then - tagged onto the bottom of future posts - I'll include at least 3 things.

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. How when I hear Ian's chair slide back in Editing I know he wants to tell me something
2. Brother Babcock's Brit Lit class (angry people included)
3. Singing
4. The prospect of spending my life immersed in books
5. Reading
6. McMoviePhone (including, but not limited to his crazy laugh and quoting Monty Python in the middle of Brother Hansen's lecture about autonomous collectives)
7. Ben (hahaha)
8. The random ideas I keep getting for future stories and/or creative pieces that make me have to carry around my notebook and sleep with it by my alarm clock. Seriously.
9. My family that I can't wait to see soon!
10. Finally figuring out what God has been trying to teach me like 6 different times today (for like 6 different lessons. I'm not that retarded.)
11. Having my faith in prayer reconfirmed so forcefully I don't ever want to get off of my knees
12. The future niece (15% chance nephew) that I'll get to meet all too soon
13. The fact that my hair seems to attract the hands of everyone around me. Even complete strangers. No joke.
14. Paying $1.06 for an ice cream sundae
15. Yo-Yo Ma on The Colbert Report (priceless)
16. Being the Resident Shakespeare Expert in a class that is taught by a teacher who spent 15 years teaching Shakespeare on campus. Yep. :o)
17. How I'm completely free of worries that go anywhere outside of the 10-15 page research papers (one of them in French) that I have to write before the semester ends - and really, I'm not that worried about those yet.

Alright. I'll stop there. I thought about making it an even 20 but decided to leave it on an odd number in honor of Alli. Even though I doubt she reads this. hahaha. (miss you lady.)

Taco Bell Turns Me On?

I should be writing a 4-6 page psychoanalytical analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" but after 4 1/2 hours of diligent work, I decided to take a break to share something I was pondering today. This is going to be a really random post, but like I said...4 1/2 hours of working with Freud and Nathaniel Hawthorne, it's amazing I'm not curled in the fetal position, rocking back and forth on my bed.

I think college must be every nutritionist's nightmare. You hear all the time that you should be eating balanced meals. What's a balanced meal? And for that matter, what's a meal? You mean salt and vinegar chips and a piece of string cheese with a Capri Sun isn't a meal?

I'm sure some of you (the two people who read this thing) must be wondering what on earth brought this on. The answer will probably surprise you. Unless you know me really well. ;o)

I went to Taco Bell for dinner because I seriously didn't have the mental ability to physically cook something and I went through the drive through to expedite the excursion. (I love a good assonance hahaha!). A girl took my order so when I pulled up to the window I expected a girl. Nope, it was a boy. (I'm assuming he was new because I'd never seen him before and I go to Taco Bell a lot.)

Chivalry is lost these days. I've been on multiple dates that I've had to either drive myself to or walk to. I've had to pay for a few of my dates. I was left with one of the other couples that were making out on a group date while my date disappeared for 20 minutes. Most of my dates have a fear of conversation and the only boys that never have a problem talking to me are married boys *cough* McMoviePhone *cough*.

So this kid at Taco Bell blew my mind today and I drove away smiling quite the smile. I pulled up to the window and he asked how I was, introduced himself and asked for my name. He gave me my total and then said, "I will have your change directly, Lauren." That's an EXACT quote. He didn't use a contraction like "I'll" and he used the word "directly." And it wasn't like it usually is when you get people that say things like, "Hold up a sec and I'll get your stuff, k?" Seriously. Amazing. After he gave me my food he said, "It was nice to meet you, Lauren. Enjoy your meal." Not the ususal, "Thanks, bye." He said all of this with perfect articulation and enunciation.

Honestly, there is no better way to win my attention or get in my good graces than to use proper English with beautiful articulation and enunciation. I'm guilty of it myself, I've used a lot of contractions already, but that just proves my point. Taco Bell Boy is special.

I hope you all learned something. (Whether that something is to be more aware of your use of our beautiful language or that I have the ODDEST sense of what attracts me to someone, at least you learned.)

William Shakespeare's, "Hamlet" : A Muppet Production!

I was talking with Nicole (Norton) the other night, and we were talking about our favorite Shakespeare plays (yes, we are that sophisticated) and I had the BEST idea ever.

I think this one beats my Where's Waldo/Dentist office idea, and quite possibly even my flamigeon idea (I do love that one!)The Muppets have made so many great literary pieces into movies like "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and "Muppet Treasure Island." I submit the follow to the Powers That Be who are in charge of the Muppets as their next big movie break.

William Shakespeare's, "Hamlet" : a Muppet Production!

Here's the cast list!

Hamlet: Kermit (obviously)

Claudius: Fozzie Bear

Gertrude: Zoey

Polonius: Big Bird

Laertes: Count Von Count

Ophelia: Miss Piggy (again, obviously)

Horatio: Elmo

Fortinbras: Animal

The Ghost: Oscar the Grouch

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Bert and Ernie (respectively)

Osric: Cookie Monster

Voltimand and Cornelius: Beaker and Bunsen Honeydew (respectively)

Marcellus and Barnardo: Gonzo and Rizzo (respectively)

Francisco: Sweetums

Reynaldo: Clueless Morgan (genius!)

Gravediggers: Stadler and Waldorf

Seriously. I'm loving this whole idea.