Vote For Dawn!

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 "Vote for the Survivor you think deserves $100,000 and you’ll be entered for a chance to win $10,000! Vote up to 10 times for more chances to win! The Player of the Season vote opens at 8pm ET/5pm PT on December 14 and closes at 2:59pm ET/11:59am PT on December 18"

Dawn works with me in the English department. She was on Survivor this season. She is awesome. Vote for her! Just text 6 to the number 99888. You can do that ten times. Vote online at cbs.com for more votes.

Taking Over the World 1,851,000 Status Updates at a Time

My psychology presentation group focused on Facebook. I thought it was rather interesting so I think I'll share a few things we discussed. It's amazing how rapidly Facebook has, in a way, taken over the world. I only know about one or two people who don't have their own Facebook profile. Even businesses, bands, companies, etc. set up Facebook groups to advertise. Before I had a facebook, I refused to ever get a Myspace account and I know a few other people who felt the same way.

The Good...

• I think the main reason I wasn't as hesitant about starting a Facebook account as opposed to a Myspace was simply that the privacy seemed better. You choose your privacy settings and you choose your friends.
• I think people find it really appealing that you can basically portray yourself as the person you want to be. You create a controlled profile showing your best self.
• I know that a huge reason I keep my Facebook account is to keep in contact with old friends.
• Now some of my classes use Facebook as a tool for out-of-class discussions. I find out about school events, mission farewells, friends' birthday parties, etc. on Facebook. It's an easy place to create event invitations.
• Sadly, I do find out about most news through Facebook. The good part is, at least I find out faster than I would if I didn't have a Facebook...
• People love having a general place to post/share pictures, videos, music, and quotes. 
• Honestly, sometimes people ask me what my favorite music and movies are... and I check my Facebook page to remind me. Could be a good thing. Could be a bad thing. But hey, I know other people who do the same thing. So no judgin'.
• And let's face it. Everyone Facebook stalks other people. People will often be talking to me and say something like "I feel like such a creep because I was Facebook stalking so-and-so the other day." But isn't that the point of Facebook? If they don't want people seeing their pictures and such then they shouldn't be posting them. So don't feel creepy. Facebook stalking is not like stalking someone in person... If you do that, then yes, you are creepy.

 The Bad...

• It's the best way to waste time. You have homework? Facebook is the perfect procrastination tool! Suddenly you realize you've been on the computer for two hours and you haven't done anything...
• Self-Esteem. I'll talk about this a little later in the post.
• Spam/hackers. Don't click the random weird link your friend who rarely posts on your wall just sent you. Just don't do it. 
• Don't post about your vacation before you leave. When you come back feel free to post pictures and tell your Facebook friends all about it but if you mention before "Guys I'm going on vacation with my family!! See ya in a week!" it's basically an open invitation for robberies. See this article.
• Like it mentioned in the video above, some people do talk on Facebook more than they do in person. Which of course isn't just a problem with Facebook but also chatting on other sites like gmail and also texting. (Yes, Mom I know what you're thinking about my texting habits...)
• Some people don't know that you aren't supposed to add friends you aren't personally acquainted with.

Of course those aren't all the pros and cons but you get the idea.

The effects Facebook has on self esteem is a topic I'm particularly interested in. Studies have been done to see how people feel about themselves when looking into a mirror versus their Facebook page. Obviously, people feel more confident after looking at their Facebook profile because they have created that image of themselves and it's the version they want to be. So, my group came to the conclusion that self esteem is heightened by joining Facebook. I agree that it can, in some ways, make people feel more confident because they are seeing the person they want to see... but I also think it can go the other way as well. My friends and I have talked about how seeing other people's profiles makes it easier for us to compare ourselves. Which is not good; basically we are comparing our real selves with other people's portrayal of their ideal self. So, I'm sure you can see where I'm going with that. Comparing yourself to others is really easy with Facebook and can be pretty detrimental to your self esteem. Also, Facebook and other social media can increase the risk of depression. Here's an article.

I've run out of time and I'm sure this is much too long already anyway.

Farewell!

Sometimes I just need a little sunshine.

I love this song.
Kinda how I feel today haha.

Christmas List

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Okay, I feel a little weird posting a list of things I want because I really don't need anything, but a few people have insisted that I compile a list. So here it goes...

Just some ideas:

• Adele 21 Piano book
• Jack's Mannequin (preferably Glass Passenger) Piano book
• Snicker's bar hehe.
• Brown braided belt (such as this)
• Flat brown suede boots (like this)
• Gift cards anywhere with food or clothing :D
• Jewelry (I love all things silver and turquoise)
• Books
• Anything chocolate
• Cardigan (size small)

Umm... if you're rich you could get me an iphone! or a car. just kiddin'.

That's all I can really think of off the top of my head.

And here's some Christmas music you might enjoy: http://heyitschristmas.bandcamp.com/album/hey-its-christmas-vol-1


The end!

This is kinda cool.

Anyway, I should be writing my paper.... So farewell.

Halloween Happenings

 Jamie brought her dress up box home today. She has endless amounts of random clothing. We all put on various costume items to get ready for our Halloween adventures.

We decided to go bowling which was sufficiently enjoyable. Afterwards we made a Wendy's run for frosties and fries, then came home and bobbed for apples... which is such a disgusting activity but I tried to get over my germaphobia and it ended up being pretty fun. The bucket broke, so water was spilling out the bottom and we had to constantly fill it up using pans and bowls while playing.

We've been getting ready for Halloween all week. We carved pumpkins Sunday night, watched Hocus Pocus, and ate caramel apples. 

So anyway, Happy Halloween! I hope yours was as awesome as ours!

You'll find the horizon. I promise you it's not as far as you think.

I forgot to mention in my last post: remember how I celebrated my 100th post? Well... apparently that was a lie. My most recent post was my 100th. Turns out they include unfinished drafts in that number! Who knew?

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In other news, I went to the Jack's Mannequin concert at In the Venue Tuesday night. And let me tell you, it was absolutely amazing! I loved it. I'm a much bigger fan of them than I was before. That's for sure. They are pretty much fantastic live.
Unfortunately I forgot my camera. Oh well.
Andrew played "Swim (Music Box Version)" on the piano. It was so beautiful. I remember there was a time, maybe like last year? two years ago? I can't remember, but anyway, Camille just loved that song (I think she still does) and I would listen to it and be like "eh, it's okay I guess." I thought it was a nice little tune, but really cheesy, even for me. Then just recently, before we went to the concert, I started listening to them again to prepare. I heard that song and for some reason it just was a completely different experience than when I'd listened to it before. I guess, maybe it was that I was feeling sad and lonely, or just confused in general, so it was more relate-able. I don't know. I'm sort of obsessed with the music box version though. I really like it because when I'm sad I tend to listen to music that matches my mood. It doesn't generally make me feel any better, but anything happier just annoys me. In fact, it usually enhances my sadness haha. This song is just the right mix of sad and hopeful so that I actually feel better after I listen to it. It's cheesy, but it's pretty comforting and it's just a good reminder that there are reasons to keep trying.
You should probably listen to it.

I actually liked the version he played on the piano even better. So guess what? I'm learning it! Yay. Yeah, I decided to go back to my piano-playing. I miss those days. So I've learned the first page and plan on buying the rest soon. It's just beautiful. I think, anyway.
And here are the cheesy lyrics that I love:

You gotta swim,
Swim for your life,
Swim for the music,
That saves you,
When you're not so sure you'll survive,
You gotta swim,
And swim when it hurts,
The whole world is watching,
You haven't come this far,
To fall off the earth,

The currents will pull you,
Away from your love,
Just keep your head above,

I found a tidal wave,
Begging to tear down the dawn,
Memories like bullets,
They fired at me from a gun,
Cracking the armor yeah,
I swim for brighter days,
Despite the absence of sun,
Choking on salt water,
I'm not giving in,
Swim,

You gotta swim,
For nights that won’t end,
Swim for your families,
Your lovers your sisters,
And brothers and friends,
Yeah, you gotta swim,
For wars without cause,
Swim for the lost politicians,
Who don't see their greed as a flaw,

The currents will pull us,
Away from our love,
Just keep your head above,

I found a tidal wave,
Begging to tear down the dawn,
Memories like bullets,
They fired at me from a gun,
Cracking the armor yeah,
I swim for brighter days,
Despite the absence of sun,
Choking on salt water,
I'm not giving in,
Well I'm not giving in,
Swim

You gotta swim,
Swim in the dark,
There's no shame in drifting,
Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark,
Yeah you gotta swim,
Don't let yourself sink,
Just find the horizon,
I promise you it's not as far as you think,
The currents will drag us away from our love,

Just keep your head above,
Just keep your head above,
Swim,
Just keep your head above,
Swim,
Swim,
Just keep your head above,
Swim.

The world carries on without you but nothing remains the same.

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I feel like I have a lot to say so I might just post a lot of random blogs today. Just to give you a fair warning.

First of all, something has been on my mind quite a bit lately. This is probably because the people of Spanish Fork have been having a rough time. In case you haven't heard, there have been a couple of tragedies that have greatly impacted many people there. The main one was the terrible train accident that took the lives of three girls.
This stayed on my mind for days, I couldn't stop thinking about those girls. I thought about how they had facebooks, crushes, homework, and friends just like every other teenager I know.They had futures and dreams and they had no idea what was going to happen that day. It reminded me that life is short and we don't know how long we have. It made me want to better appreciate the life I have and the people I love.
I haven't exactly been loving life the way I should. After thinking about this for awhile though, I've started to try to really live it. I want to make my life the way I dream it will be. I don't want to be afraid to actually do what I want to do. My friend on facebook wrote a note recently about jealousy. She brought up a point that I think is very true. We tend to look at people who have the kind of life we wish we had and we say "They are so lucky! I am jealous, if only I could be like that." But really, they had to work for that and we can do the same. I want to actually be active in pursuing the kind of life I want to lead. Surprises will come along the way of course, tragedies and hard times, but I want to be prepared and to never forget to show the people I care about that I love them.
I didn't know these girls, but I am keeping their families in my prayers, I hope they can find comfort and peace through this really difficult time.

Fall is awesome.

 It's starting to get colder, which makes me sad, but I do love the fall colors. I hiked Big Springs and Stewart Falls with a couple of awesome people and the trees were just beautiful so I took some pictures, of course.

   Big Springs Trail.

This is for Tyler.

 On the way to Stewart Falls. I love the colors in this one!

Also, speaking of fall activities, I went to my very first college football game. BYU was losing pretty much all the way up until the fourth quarter so it got kind of intense. They ended up winning, it was kind of surprising but good. 

 And Halloween is coming up and turns out my roommates are fantastic at scary decorating. We're all pretty proud of what we created haha.

 Yeah, you should probably be scared.

...And Psych comes back in like two and a half days!

http://www.youtube.com/user/PSYCHonUSANetwork?v=n5_6ERGXyAE&feature=pyv&ad=6200662226&kw=psych#p/u/2/w3qwc53IBlk


Anyway, that's all I've got to say.

Wow it's been forever and a day.

It's been forever since I've blogged...

Well, school started. That's been great and difficult and crazy all at once. I feel like I'm always running because I'm pretty much gone from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm every day. I absolutely love my creative writing class even though I'm really not a very good creative writer... or writer in general, but I'm working on it! Human Development is interesting but the homework and tests are pretty intense. History of Psychology is really good. My professor leads great discussions and his lectures are never boring. We'll see if I like it after the mid-term though... Anyway, enough about school.

Aren't they cute?

A couple of weeks ago my family and I took a trip to Minnesota to visit with my dad's side of the family. My grandma turned 75 so we had a huge birthday party for her. I actually really enjoyed the whole trip. We were able to drive by the house my dad grew up in, the lake he lived by, and his high school and it was kind of fun to learn about my dad's past because I feel like I don't know as much about his as I do about my mom's. I'm glad we all got to go out there and see everyone because it really has been forever since we've seen a lot of those people--about ten years--and I don't remember much about the last trip.

Visiting with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles made me wish I saw them more often! I feel like there's a whole part of my family I know nothing about. They are all awesome though. The birthday party went really well and I think my grandma felt loved. At least I hope she did because like 50 people came and my aunt put a ton of work into making everything work.




Also, I think Minnesota is really gorgeous. The lakes are beautiful, the rivers are way bigger than the ones in Utah, and the trees are so green and shady. If the winters weren't so awful I'd consider living there someday. I looked out the window the whole plane ride back to Utah and the day was really clear so I could see the Minnesota scenery extremely well and I just thought it was beautiful.





Anyway, I have more to post about but I think this will have to be all for now. Ciao!