Les Mis [Christmas] Day

I'm not even going to try and act like I wasn't excited for Les Miserables the movie. I was over the moon. In the last week I may have talked more about that movie and my plans for seeing it than I did Christmas festivities. I made a shirt just for the movie. And a pretty awesome one at that.

Christmas day is always spent with the Hatch family. So I told all of them that I was going to the movie and whoever wanted to join me was more than welcome to. We ended up with a group of about 14 of us who went. We all got our tickets the day before and then went down to the movie about an hour before hand to wait in line. And the following picture was taken right as we told my grandma we would have to wait an hour in line. 

Funny story about my grandma. She has Alzheimer's (not the funny part of the story) and loves going to the movies. Well my grandpa didn't want to go to the movie and she normally doesn't do anything without him (and vice-versa) but like I said, she LOVES the movies. So I said she could come and be my movie buddy. She was so excited all day to get to go to the movies. She kept asking when it would be time to go. When we finally left to go I was freaking out and super excited. On the drive over she kept laughing at me and telling me I was wearing her out! And then we got to the theater and stayed in a line outside. That was when we told her we would be in that line for an hour. She was a little upset at that detail. And thus one of my new favorite pictures was taken.

The movie was AMAZING though. Lived up to all of my expectations. I laughed. I cried. I bawled. It was great. And I came home and bought the soundtrack (in addition to the Broadway soundtrack I already listen to on a near daily basis). After coming home I also told Wyatt (who had had to work) that I would be his date to go see it as soon as he has time. Any time this week works for me!

And I can't forget to include these two. Sometimes they let me be a third wheel with them and it's just great. Hope everyone else had a great Les Miserables Christmas Day too!

Take a Chance

Remember in October how I went up to Utah? Hung out with all my old friends? Caught up with everyone? It's ok if you don't remember.

While I was there, I had a couple of things happen to me that kind of gave me a little push. A much needed push. The first thing was that I went to a lecture with Kenzie. It was during an hour when like everyone was in class or working, so I went to this class with her. The second was a conversation that I had with a friend. We hadn't seen or talked to each other in six months and while catching up he laughs and says, "You're exactly the same...(blah, blah)...you still don't know what you want." A year ago that comment wouldn't have bothered me. Heck, six months ago it wouldn't have bothered me.

But when he said this it kind of stung.
Because it was true.
And that really bothered me.

So I decided I needed to take some steps in deciding what I want in life. I needed to start applying for different things that I had interests in and see what opportunities may come my way. So I have started doing that. And one of those applications led to a final interview with Teach For America. Now I just have to wait until the first week of January to see if that will be an option for me.

Now lets go back to that first thing that happened in Utah. That lecture. It was given by a lady who had her MBA. Now, I have considered getting a masters before, but I just had no clue what to get it in because there is no way I am getting one in Math. I have zero interest in mathematical research (although I will admit some of my professors had really cool projects, such as the double bubble theorem). But listening to the lady speak, an MBA became more and more attractive to me. So I started researching.

Long story short, six weeks later I took the GMAT and kicked its butt. Seriously. I could not have asked for a better score. I don't think there is a person in the world who would have been dissatisfied with the score I got. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. 1 or 2 people would have been displeased with themselves. And now I am just finishing up my applications to a couple of schools (trying to decide whether or not to apply to a couple more as well) and then it will be a waiting game for that one as well.

So basically, my trip in Utah became a little life changing for me. Especially since these different opportunities have the potential to take me anywhere across the country. Pretty big deal.

Now I just have to see what happens and be open to anything that may change my plans. Because if there is one thing I learned in the last couple years, it is that life changes very fast and while goals are necessary, you need to be flexible too.

Date Night

Don't let that title fool you. My date night lately has been these two kids.

Being the one in my family who doesn't have a boyfriend and who doesn't have a job that typically requires me to work the weekend evenings, I usually end up spending Friday night with my favorite youngest brother and sister. But we usually just stay home, maybe go get some dinner (tacos for me and Noah and Mickey D's dollar menu for Taya), and watch some sort of movie [or two]. Well last night I needed to get out of the house. My stresses of the last several weeks were finally over [more on that later] and I wanted to do something. And so we went to the Temple Lights!

They humored me and went to the musical concert that started at 7. But we only lasted there for two or three songs because a) it was freezing and we weren't really prepared for that, b) we were standing, and c) we wanted to look at the lights while everyone else was watching the show! So we looked at half the lights then went into the visitors center to see all the nativities (we found 4 from Germany, and Noah was shocked that I could read the German Book of Mormon...haha, apparently I have a really good fake accent and he doesn't know that I have the first line of the BofM memorized), and then watched Luke 2, and finished off with the rest of the lights.

These 2 can drive me crazy sometimes [a lot of the time], but when we do things like this they are so sweet. Noah was the one who really pushed us to watch Luke 2 and I am so glad he did. And then driving home we didn't listen to the radio....we sang our own Christmas songs! Apparently we don't know many words to many different Christmas songs. We kept going back to Rudolph! But it was a fun night and I loved seeing the Temple Lights again!

Side Note: An older couple at the Temple asked us where Dillon High School was. Trying to explain that it is a fictional high school in Texas from a TV show helped me realize for the first time how weirdly obsessive my family can be with that show. But we don't care. "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose! Rogers Forever." It's become our family motto! And by the way, I have become a fan of Connie Britton's (Tammy Taylor's) new show, Nashville. 

Reminders

Sometimes you just need a reminder. One of my old roommates posted this talk on Facebook the other day. I love Elder Holland. Well all the general authorities. But he can be so powerful.

While I was reading the talk I kept thinking back to something one of my other old roommates has told me many times through the past year. Doctrine and Covenants 45:62:

"For verily I say unto you, that great things await you."

I am applying to several different things right now for next fall. While I am excited for each potential opportunity, I am also scared out of my mind. And I keep wanting to back out and just stay with what I am comfortable in. But I can't do that. I know that the things I am doing are good and that I should be doing them.

That talk was a great reminder. Fear not.

Lessons From Roomies

I have decided that everyone needs to experience living with a variety of people. I know for some people it just works (and happens) to go from living with their family to living with their spouse. But I have had the chance to live with a variety of people and I think that if people have the opportunity to do that they should take it. I learned so much living with all my roommates in Provo.

I learned that no one likes other people's messes and you need to clean up after yourself.

A bowl of cereal at midnight is always a good idea.

Love someone and support them through their trials.

Sometimes, when you need to focus on something, it's ok to put your headphones in and pretend you are listening to music.

How to make really good homemade potatoe soup.

It's the little acts of service that mean the most.

Express your emotions. People feel the same way or have been in similar situations and can help.

Dancing in the kitchen isn't normal.

We all have our quirks, but those were the things I always loved most.

To all my former roomies: you guys are great. I miss you and love you all!

Acca-Believe It.

I love movies. I really do. I love to watch movies and I love to buy movies. And I love to go to the movies. Fortunately, my brother works at the theater so if we are ever not working at the same time (it has happened 3 times so far) we get to go enjoy some sibling bonding [but mainly] movie time. One of the movies we saw together was Pitch Perfect. Hilarious. So hilarious in fact that I paid to see it two additional times. And all three times were within the same week. I think I have the movie memorized.

Another movie I just saw that I would go see again is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. So. Good. I tear up in a lot of movies, but rarely do I have tears coming down my cheeks. There were tears on my cheeks during this one. This movie was funny and sad. You became friends with the characters, and just wanted to give Charlie a hug and shake him out of his awkwardness. But then Kaitlyn and I highly recommended it to our parents, telling them we both cried, and they came home saying it was just okay and questioning what part(s) we cried at. I'm going to say it's a generational thing. Or maybe not and if so, then they're heartless. Just kidding. A difference in taste? Or maybe who they saw it with? Cause believe it or not that makes a huge difference.

Anyways, the whole point of this post was going to be to vent my frustration on the rating system. And the fact that Hollywood feels the need to drop the F-bomb in movies, have nudity, sexual content, all that crap, when there is no need for it whatsoever. Most of the movies coming out in the next little bit that I want to see have the unfortunate rating of R. WHY?! Why has it become socially acceptable to be degrading, to promote immoral relationships, to use inappropriate language loosely and carelessly? It's so frustrating that the moral standard has become so low.

Now, I am not saying that all R movies are bad. I will admit that I have seen a couple where the reason that they were R was for reasons that are historically accurate/depict actual events. And with that I don't see a problem. People need to understand history and the world and not be coddled or protected from it. But some movies that are out or will be out soon that I would really like to see are R purely because the writer/director/producer decided to throw in some language and some nudity instead of leaving it out. And it frustrates me.

Right now the only two movies coming out anytime soon that I think I have interest in seeing are Wreck it Ralph and Les Miserables. Because everything else that has a trailer that appeals to me ends up with an R rating. Like Argo, Flight, and Gangster Squad to name a few.

And that's my rant for now. Stupid movies. But I still love them.

Sidenote: A movie I saw this summer that I just bought: Moonrise Kingdom. Go watch it. It's different but funny. And not obvious funny. Funny as in everyone in the movie takes themselves completely seriously but they do the most ridiculous things. And the placement of everyone in every scene and every movement is so deliberate. Wes Anderson is fantastic.

Morning Musings

I have officially joined the age of technology. Up till now, I have resisted Apple. I did not have any form of a smart phone, had my dell laptop from 3 years ago, and my iPod nano from 4 years ago. Well, I am officially the owner of an iPad. I am still pretty clueless to apps, do not understand Instagram, and #idontunderstandthis #itbugsthecrapoutofme. But not lugging my laptop back and forth to work everyday is fantastic.

Tomorrow I go to Utah. Hallelujah.

In case you didn't believe that I had a crazy schedule before, the stress of it resulted in shingles. A very mild case, but for about a week there it sucked. No worries though! It's all gone.

General Conference was this weekend and pretty exciting. I had to work during the first session though and when I got home my family told me the exciting news: boys can now serve missions at age 18 and girls at age 19. My response? I burst into tears and said, "That's so stupid!" Cause guess what? Wyatt can now put his papers in at anytime. And apparently I am not ready for him to leave yet.

I started training for a tough mudder about a week ago. And was sore for days. But that training is on hold for a little bit because I may be losing my race partner (see above).

And that is my life in a nutshell right now.