The Question I Hate: a over-thought rant

The question I hate:  “What are you looking for in a guy?” 

What I am looking for in a guy: Someone who will take me on adventures. When I was younger (and more shallow) this strictly meant traveling and seeing the world but, as I’ve learned, life is an adventure on its own. I want someone who will stick by me through deaths in the family and future illnesses. Someone willing to have children with me and embark on the scary/trying journey of protecting educating and loving them. I want someone willing to do crazy things and make the normal things, like watching a movie or doing the dishes, exciting. someone who will grow with me, forgive me, and love me. I want someone who wants these things from me.

How do you tell your well meaning neighbor or girlfriend “this is what I’m looking for!” “Set me up with him.” You can’t! You cant determine these things from a first, second, or third date. (Okay, to be fair you can easily determine for some that this is not a possibility or a relative probability) It takes time to find and figure out who's the "one". That is why I hate the question “What are you looking for in a guy?” it tries to squish something intense, important, and complicated into a quick-fix solution. Your life should not be determined by check list of unimportant things such as hair color, height, favorite movie etc. A committed relationship with someone shouldn't be determined by something that changes.

It Just Gets Stranger: Snuggie Texts

It Just Gets Stranger: Snuggie Texts

This blog post is hilarious it made my day ... poor girl ..... but oh so funny :)

The Power of a Woman

Today is a day I needed to be reminded that womanhood is a force like none other and incase you did too here is an amazing video for you!

 

You don't have to be Mormon For this 

video to apply to you!

Keep Calm and Carry On

Life is uncertain. Bad things happen and they always will. We can let the world eat us alive or we can tread forward clinging to the good and withstanding bad.  Prayer is what gets me through the tough times in life. I believe trials make us stronger and that God has a purpose for them. I love my life but its no picnic. What I'm trying to get at is about a video I've recently seen. My film professor showed this video in class and it made me happy. A lasting happy not a temporary happy so I want to share it with you. Enjoy!

Language To the Heart

School has inevitably started and this semester a few of my classes are studying languages and there form. I'm currently trying to learn Thai and studying the base structure of language in my Linguistics class. In view of this Language and its surrounding culture have been on my mind. Though I'm taking this quote slightly out of context It's caused me to really think about the barriers or open doors languages can lead to. 

 "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that            goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."   -Nelson Mandela

The importance of communication in our society is endless. Its programed into our being we don't even have to think about it most of the time... that is until were are trying to speak someone else's language. We love foreigners whom we can understand. They are exciting and exotic we embrace them and want to know everything about their culture. Their differences from us are intriguing. However thinking about this quote (probably out of contest as well) made me realize their is and unfortunate flip side to this behavior.

"England and America are two countries separated by the same language" -George Bernard Shaw

When we meet someone, whether they are immigrants or tourists, that don't speak our language we as people often turn hostile. We become inpatient, dismissive, and a little bit racist. I'm guilty of this too.I used to work retail at a mall and when foreign customers couldn't speak English I would get frustrated. The lack of communication can be awkward and difficult which usually leads to agitation. But I also learned that it's my lack of patience that is the problem. 

"Language is the friendliest of the things from which we cannot escape" -Mason Cooley

As you may know from previous blogs I've recently been to Thailand. I can count on my hand the number of Thai words I could speak at the time. For example: turn left, right, I'm full, thank you, and hello. Being on the opposite end of the uncomfortableness was an interesting experience. Thai people don't really get angry like our culture but it was easy to see when others felt uncomfortable at our game of charades. My Thai professor talked about his experiences in the country where he lived for two years. He talked about people with thick American accents but a fluent knowledge of the language. How people loved them and were so excited they were speaking Thai. From my own experience I can attest to that. I would say thank you in Thai Khob Khun Khaa and People would love it. They were amazed that we had bothered to learn their language which isn't a global powerhouse. It was a humbling experience. I'll probably never take for granted the work many have put into learning English.

Boxes and A Rainy Day

It's overcast with potential rain today which is a bummer. Luckily I had a random urge to be crafty(thank you Pintrest) and to fulfill this need I decided to collage a cardboard box that I got from Ikea. Two hours later my wonderful roommate and I had Modgepodge masterpieces .... or so we'll pretend!

 Above is my box and my collages I still have one blank side waiting for inspiration!  The collage to the left was from some vintage scrapbook paper that I found but for the most part we cut up vogue magazines.

 This one to the left is my probably the one I'm most proud of (I'm kind of obsessed with orange)  I tried to pick pictures that were my style (I now feel like I should take up guitar to justify that picture) but honestly they were just pretty pictures and not a lot of thought went into it. Like I said not usually an artsy person

This was my roommate Katie's box and I loved it so much I'm posting about it as well. she was actually the inspiration for this project to beautify our blah storage boxes.
                      This was a big accomplishment for us unless you ask our other Art Major roommate. To be honest I think I have one tiny creative bone in my body and this project was exhausting ... I don't know how real-creative people do it???? but Power to them!!! As for myself I think this will fulfill my creative juices for a while.

The Never Ending Songs In My Head

Though I'm not really musically talented music is a major part of my life.
If you really think about it it plays a major role in almost everyones's life.
Everyday we exercise, hangout with friends, watch movies or just chill with our I pod and music is usually involved. In particularly, this weekend has been jam packed with really good music for me!

Thursday I got to see Band Of Horses perform live here in Salt Lake City!


For those of you who haven't heard this band they are amazing especially live. Some of my favorite songs by them are:
                         Life On Earth
                         The Great Salt Lake
                        The Funeral
                        I Go to the Barn Because I like the

                               
This also happened to be the first legit concert I've been to which was very exciting and ..... interesting. The band was even better live and I was like ten feet from the stage (mosh pits ... definite experience) however constant cloud of weed hovering over me ..... little to much. I'm just going to throw it out there  I rarely even take Advil or Tylenol so not a big support of weed or substances in general.  Anyways  back to  music definitely check this band out you will not be sorry.  



If you already listen to this band you should check out Of Monsters and Men. Their style is similar and their new album titled My Head is An Animal. I've been completely addicted since purchasing the album on Friday! .

Ode to a Slow Moving Monday Night

SO... I made possibly the dorkiest movie ever with my friends a few nights ago and to be honest its quite dumb. However I had an extremely fun time filming it :)  so enjoy!


ps. These girls are all quite normal and awesome in real life!

Who are the Mormons

So I don't know why I haven't mentioned this earlier on my blog but I'm a Mormon or rather a member of the LDS church. I've had to answer a lot of questions throughout my life and I recently discovered this awesome frequently asked questions add so enjoy!


PS If you are mormon It's still really neat to see :)

A Day in Kanchanaburi

Went to Kanchanaburi today. We decided to go with a tour because traveling by bus from bangkok was complicated and we wanted more time for sight seeing (which after all is what were here for).  We booked our tour through Good Times traveling company (based in Kanchanaburi) and it was the best decision of my life! The company was great our tour guide was great and it was a private tour so that was important to me. 

If your headed in this direction anytime soon here are some of the places I loved!


If you like history I definitely recommend the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre museum. The museum focuses on the the Japanese labor camps that were set-up in the are during World War II. It's a solemn subject but I learned a lot.  

Of course if your interested in this place you should follow it with a trip to the Bridge over River Kwaii.  The bridge is standing as a memorial to those killed while building it. I believe their is a move about it but I haven't seen it. The tourist market nearby is really cheap though somethings needed to be haggled over. There is a restaurant near the bridge with more westernized thai food. I believe it called the floating restaurant but i'm not sure. the view is beautiful as your practically eating on the river but I would have preferred more authentic food.

We also went to Tiger Temple. I loved this place but there is plenty to be cautioned about. Our tour guide booked us to feed and play with adorable baby tigers this was the highlight of the excursion and why I loved it. It costs extra and they only except 20 people a day but the temple isn't really exciting without it.  When you get there to take pictures with the adult tigers all of them are sleeping and are barely moving the temple volunteer drags you around while snapping shots and then your done. They go through fast and usually don't give you time to pose or adjust so be speedy. some of the photos were cool but all in all not solely worth a trip out there.

The last thing we did was ride Elephants! Lets be real thats why most people choose to go to Thailand. We had an amazing experience and the riding camp we went to was run by a couple families from Myanmar/Burma.  They'd walked 3 days to cross the border into Thailand for jobs because the economic situation in Myanmar isn't good.  The elephant we rode on was beautiful and by the end we were rather attached.   The elephant handler didn't speak Thai or English so we never learned the elephants real name but we ended up calling him Tantor :)

The Family from Myanmar

 After riding around on Tantor for a while we went into the river.   They guide called in Bathing with the elephants but it wasn't until we were soaked that we understood what she was trying to tell us :)
It was so much fun getting soaked... yes soaked! After a while Tantor dropped us in the river and Katie my roommate began drifting in the current I easily helped her back to shore but tips for being in a giant river: just get up and walk don't try to swim  ... or in my roommate's case doggy paddle :) The families kids were laughing at our foreigner struggles and beginners nervousness about elephant mounting. They were so cute and made the experience less touristy.

Kanchanaburi was a fun little day trip from Bangkok. It was nice to get out of the city and see more of the countryside.

Day two in Thailand!


Today I tried Kanom tuay, a coconut and palm-sugar delight. Its a popular and delicious desert here in Bangkok. Kanom means treat in Thai.

We bought ours here from a street vendor near Wat Arun but you can usually find a vendor in local street markets.




look for the little dish/molds used to form the desert!










We visited a lot of temples and other places to via foot. I thought the humidity would kill me! but my local friend was taking it harder then me. Still we got to see some amazing things and learn a bit about Buddhist culture. My favorite place we went was Wat Po, home of the Reclining Buddah.

After a heavy day of touristing, we hit the Siam Paragon. while it might not be the biggest mall in the world I would definitely say its the most interesting. Next to the actual mall is Hot Siam where bargaining and knockoffs are favored. Lining the street are several vendors selling everything from food to shower caps.

Its easy to take the sky train there but we ended up taking a tuk-tuk.

Jet lag must have caught up to me because I totally konked out on the ride (probably not a good thing to do if your alone but luckily I was with my wonderful host Hottie P and travel buddy Baby K. And to answer your questions.... yes one would think its impossible to fall asleep on such a vehicle in the middle of downtown bangkok traffic.

Adventure is out There

So in an attempt to broaden my horizons..... I'm in Thailand. 
Bangkok I.E. the BKK to be more specific. I'm visiting my lovely friend Ploy and exploring the only Southeast Asia country to avoid western colonialism. 


as I have only sat on a plane and taken a taxi to my temporary abode I'm am going to talk about my new found do's and don'ts of air travel.


Delta:  from salt lake to LAX

• Flight attendants aren't very friendly
• Sat next to my wonderful traveling buddy/roommate  baby K
• Best snacks because they have Biscoff cookies

Here's my ramble about Biscoff cookies. I love them!  The day I discovered they made a Biscoff cookie spread my life was changed.... as well as my caloric intake. 

The rest of our flights were through Korean Air. If I ever find myself traveling to an asian country again I will definitely fly with them. 

• The people were so nice and helpful. 
• Flight attendants smiled at you
• At check in, where they assigned us seats, the man gave put us in the side with a empty chair in between us
•  and last but not least they have decent food! best seventeen hrs. on a plane (we had a transfer in korea).

We had forty five minutes to catch our second plane in Korea but the staff rushed us through so we made thank heavens!

well I think I've put in enough commercial pluggs for a post but stay tuned for more :)

Fish Bowl

So here's a little about me .... I live in a fishbowl :) 

I call the apartment complex I reside in a fishbowl because the outside walls are windows to your soul (literally).  From my living room couch I can see into about five apartments.... think Rear Window people. This kind of layout encourages my neighbors to stop by often ... this is a constant source of amusement in my life because the people in my complex.... are entertaining to say the least.  My wonderful new neighbor  stopped by to say hello, an hour later she was teaching the basics of improve while demonstrating her hilarious abilities.   I love meeting new people and completely thrive here.

What I've learned today: Improve

Keep the conversation open  -   never shut down a question with a no!

Don't judge! --- people can only be outrageous in a safe environment

Comedy is all about reaction 

I have an odd laugh ( okay so I knew this but this occasion was a reminder :) )

Well one of roommates just turned on Kiki's Delivery Service so I'm forced to sign off and enjoy this wonderful film!