& all the awesomeness.

Yeah, yeah, two posts in one day.. A little excessive? Definitely.
So, I'm a firm believer in laughter. Like, the good kind of laughter - the real kind, not that tiny-little-fake-chuckle stuff.. One time somebody asked me what I'd want to be doing when I die.. Most people would say, "doing what I love!" or crazy things, like skydiving.. Right? Well, I decided I want to be laughing, because that is what I love. Is that totally cheesy? Yep, it probably is. But the thing is.. It's not hard to laugh. Also, that whole "laughter is the best medicine" stuff is totally & completely valid. When I'm at the end of my rope, completely bummed out, or even depressed as can be.. If you can get me to laugh, I'm a total goner. & it really does work. So, when I'm old & gray, regardless of how successful my life has been, regardless of how much money I have or haven't made, regardless of whatever hard things I may go through in my life - I will still laugh.

Laugh all you want at these cool sites. If you haven't seen em, you're missin' out:

Also, for your giggling, chuckling, chortling internet amusement:

Jack Handey always has wonderful things to say;

Urban Dictionary is basically, definitely promising (but, click at own risk - I can't be held responsible for anything racy you may or may not read!);

For all you crazy college kids, there's CollegeHumor;

& if all else fails, you can never go wrong with quotes from The Office;

So go ahead & laugh your faces off.

xo. :)

P.S. Cutest kids ever brought me down a plate full of homemade lemon bars they wanted to surprise me with as a goodbye gift & a note reading,

"Dear: Jesica,

We are sad you are leaving.

Please enjoy the lemon bars."

With all their names signed at the bottom. I also got a lot of big, cute hugs & a couple slobbery kisses. Plus, there were four lemon bars.. & they were very specific to inform me that I could eat two & Brandon could eat two. Gosh, I'm gonna miss them.

Here's to new beginnings!

Ever since June, I've been a nanny to six kids: Harrison, Porter, Ethan, Sara, Nolan, & Jonas.. But, yesterday was my last day. My decision to quit was definitely bittersweet & I will miss those kids making me laugh every day! However, I do still feel strongly that this is the best decision for my life right now & am perfectly content with how things have worked out. The little boys LOVE going to lunch at Ikea & ask every day if I'll take them there, but we only do it every once in a while.. I thought yesterday was as good a day as any! & later on in the day, pizza for dinner, & spending time with those kids I love so much! Now onto all the packing & moving out of my apartment. Craziness. Ahh, life. :)

Alright, so I've just about had it with Mother Nature. Yesterday was dry & totally nice outside, temperature-wise.. Then, I wake up to this?! Does not look like spring fever to me! If I didn't have a midterm to take, I would have stayed in bed all day & watched movies in my pajamas or something, but ya know.. School makes things difficult! Basically, school forced me to get out & go! (& yet somehow, I'm back in bed typing this right now..) & I guess even though I'm completely ready for warm weather, & I don't like that my toes are freezing (or, little fun fact: I have a tiny spot on my right foot that turns purple when I'm cold.. & guess what? It's definitely purple). But, I do have to admit.. The snow is absolutely beautiful.

Lately my life has been all about change. Actually, I guess that's not just "lately," I guess that's a lot about what life is about anyway, right? There have just been big changes lately, I s'pose. I think a lot of people fear change because it's all new & unknown & nobody really ever knows what to expect. I guess I'm feeling a lot of that right now.. I'm not really sure how it's going to work out, at all, but I do have complete faith that it will. & honestly, even though things are a little nerve-wracking right now, I'm excited for change. My life is good, & even with all its challenges, it is always, always good.. But, change brings growth & learning & I feel like it will be such a good thing. Change does not have to be bad, at all. I kind of hate that we see change as being bad so often, because really it's just another opportunity to learn & move & grow. It's definitely going to be hard.. I've gotten comfortable with the live I've been living & I've been perfectly happy with that, but I'm excited for a fresh, new start. So, here's to change, & here's to new beginnings.

xo. :)

Two posts within two days? What?

YES, it's true! Told ya'll I really am blogging again. Have some faith in me, yeah?! ;)
Anyway.. Remember on my last post how I mentioned the BYU Symphony concert we were supposed to go to? Well, long story short - parking at BYU is terrible. After a half hour trying to find a spot, we decided to nix the concert & find something else to do.. After all, we were all dressed up with nowhere to go - & who just gives up & goes home on a night like this?
We drove over to Noodles & Co. & found out about a symphony concert in the Ragan Theater at UVU we could go to.. So, totally, completely, randomly, we drove over to the school only to find the entire auditorium empty.. Why, you ask? After checking and re-checking the events calendar, we still have no idea what happened to that concert (click here if you don't believe me! February 23, 7:30-9:30 pm. Concert. Not.).
Back to square one. Somehow, we ended up at Nickel City..

We thought this was a lot of nickels, but when you're at Nickel City for two hours, you DEFINITELY go through three times this much. & still only spend like twenty bucks, tops. Sa-weet.

Two. lame. tickets. After all my hard work on that game, it spit out two tickets. It's almost like a joke.. It probably would have been less insulting to just not give me any tickets at all.. But two tickets is the perfect way to rub it in my face. Thanks a lot, Spider Stomper.

Go big or go home. It's Nickel City. So if you feel the need to act like a child, why not?

Yeah, that's right. I beat him!

Look at that happy, good-lookin kid! He wasn't so cheerful after I completely killed him in air hockey..

The game faces. Brandon may look a little more fierce and focused than I do, but don't let that fool you. I completely dominate at virtual snowmobiling.

Working the system at Nickel City? Never.

Two hours, One pair of giant sunglasses, two cool bracelets, two sets of temporary tattoos, a Fun Dip, & lots of tootsie rolls later, we left. Totally worth it.

xo. :)

It's about time..?

Alright, alright. More than two months later (& FIVE DAYS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY!), I am posting again.

My life has been a little bit, completely, one hundred percent CRAZY -- but oh-so-good. Because of some complications with my class schedule, I'm only in three classes: Biology (awful!), Humanities (also, somewhat awful), & English. In about a week's time, I'm gonna start some rockin' online classes to make up the credit for the Stats class I dropped because of my teacher-from-China-with-the-super-heavy-accent. Sorry, Chinese teacher! I just couldn't do it. (P.S. Online classes aren't actually that great. But I have to try to convince myself they're not so bad.. Right?..) Other than Friday's Humanities midterm & next week's big Biology test (both of which I have clearly prioritized beneath blogging, apparently), school is going well!

So, good news & bad news.. Bad news first? Yep.

First of all, my cute little car is completely broken down.. Unless you've got an extra $4100 (YES, $4100!) lying around for a new transmission, my poor Little Midge is gonna be collecting dust for a while... & you may or may not hear the end of it.. I miss that car! So, ya'll.. Either listen to me cry while I wait and save up to fix the car.. OR you could always start sendin' the cash. Either way.. The choice is yours. :)

Also, I recently quit my job (& yes, I understand that the fact I need to buy a new transmission completely goes against the fact I just quit.. It's complicated!).. I'm definitely going to miss these six funny kids I've been watching four or five times weekly since June, but overall it will be a good thing for me. Now to start the job hunt over again! It's scary business, but there's gotta be something out there calling my name..

On to the good stuff: This boy.

Brandon is my best friend. I laugh with him more than anyone else because he gets my weird sense of humor. When I don't want to talk to anyone else, I still want to talk to him. When I'm stressed & overwhelmed and freaking out (me? freak out? never!), he somehow manages to calm me down. After endless trips to Barnes & Noble, never-ending marathons of The Office & Modern Family, and billions of sweet words on blue sticky-notes, I definitely love 'im.

ALSO!

Two new additions to my little technology family:
1. Sony Cybershot. Cherry red. 'Nuff said.

2. MACBOOK. Beautiful, beautiful MacBook.

I'm basically obsessed with both of them, but I have to say - the timing was just PERFECT. My transmission went out RIGHT after I bought both of them. Just when I thought everything was good & I had plenty of money saved up. Guess that's just how it goes..?

Well, I guess I'd better get on with my day. It's the second-to-last day of my job (which, I have mixed feelings about), & tonight Brandon & I are going to a BYU Symphony concert for his music class.. & now that I think of it, my humanities class. Perfection!

I'll just leave you with this little beauty:

Didn't you miss me? Aren't you glad I'm back to blogging?

:) xo.