Twenty-three Before 23

What the what?!
I have a blog?!
I totally forgot about that!

School, dear reader, has been hectic to say the least. And Netflix recently got a lot of new, awesome things to watch. But the good thing is I do all my homework first. Then I Netflix (in its verb form) until the wee hours of the morning.

Terrible, I know.

This month has been a blur. I have been busy.

Classes, "homework", blogging for #tbirdnation, working at home sporting events as an usher, being sick, participating in SUU's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera Trial By Jury, teaching orchestra and helping with advanced violin with the Southern Utah Suzuki Strings, teaching violin and viola privately, playing viola in the Orchestra of Southern Utah, running The Gentleman's Book Club of SUU in its pilot semester, while maintaining passing grades and a social life. And celebrating my twenty-second birthday.

My dear friend Becky and fellow blogger at #tbirdnation has a personal blog that is epic. You can find it in my links on the side or by clicking here. She had a post that listed thirty things she wants to do before she turns 30. So I'm following suit and doing something similar:

Twenty-three before 23 or #23b423.

Here's the list (in a random order):

1. Milk a cow
2. Visit a foreign country
3. Make a short film
4. Host a Christmas party
5. Cross-country ski
6. Enter a contemporary art piece in the Iron County Fair
7. Nurture a bonsai
8. Read Crime and Punishment
9. Visit all five national parks in Utah (Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef)
10. Eat calamari
11. Dye my hair
12. Bake a souffle
13. Give President Benson a high-five
14. Eat every meal for one week in a different venue
15. Build a tree-house
16. Learn  how to drive a manual transmission
17. Hike The Narrows
18. Attend Holi 
19. Eat a dozen doughnuts from this place
20. Go ice fishing
21. Float in the Great Salt Lake
22. Learn origami
23. Live a day blind folded

So. You all are going to have to help me with this list. If you tweet about it, be sure to use the hashtag #23b423. Let's make this happen! I only have 347 days!

Ucler Free Is The Way To Be!

19 credits.
Technically 23, but I'm poor so I'm auditing four.
Enter: week six.

Wish me luck.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrinnng!

(The title of this post is supposed to be a school bell ringing)

So. Here I am at SUU's beautiful Sherratt Library. Sitting in the computer lab. And it's the first day of the semester. I remember when I was a child and school shopping was a huge event. I would get new clothes, a pencil box, crayons, markers, colored pencils, a backpack, shoes, and number two pencils. Still in college, people love going school shopping to get the hottest new trends off the rack to look their best on the first day of school.

As I look around, I can see that some people are really concerned particular about their appearance. I can smell the newness of their shoes and see the unworn, store-freshness of their apparel. I have seen some that are trying too hard. Eye makeup in large quantities seems to be trending right now because it is everywhere. And, in my eyes, it is not an attractive look.

How am I doing on the fashion scene?

Erm.... I'm wearing jeans, a button-up shirt, tennis shoes. In other words, I'm wearing what I always wear (sans the jeans... I wish I was wearing shorts. It's rather warm). I just think it's interesting how my perspective on first impressions has evolved over the years. Yes, people as a whole (including myself) make primary judgements on others based solely on appearance. But today I'm wearing something that can't be bought at a store: a smile, a kind temperament, and an outgoing demeanor.

A smile is the best makeup any girl can wear.

-Marilyn Monroe

I'm going to modify that quote a little: A smile is the best accessory anyone can wear. 

Because you're never fully dressed without a smile and you'd best not leave your house without all your clothes on (that's from Annie).