Burning a Birthday Effigy

     Turning 21 was a new experience for me, which sounds like a really stupid thing to say because, well, DUH.  Obviously it was a new experience, I haven't turned 21 before, have I?  I have not, but there were a few things that set this birthday apart from the rest.

     First of all, I had three different celebrations.  Wait, I've totally done that before.  It's great.

     Secondly, I did something twice last week that I've never done before, and somehow it's turned into a birthday tradition.  On Tuesday it was my friend's birthday, and he decided he wanted all of us to write down something we didn't like about ourselves so we could burn it.  We combined our scraps of paper and made an effigy, which we burned.  It felt good.

     We decided to make this a birthday tradition.  Then it was my birthday on Saturday.  We decided to take things up a notch.  Along with four of the coolest people I know, I went out to Utah Lake to burn a second effigy.  We drove for a while on a dirt road until we felt like we were away from the world, and then we walked out onto the frozen lake.  The fog was such that you could look towards the middle of the lake and see nothing but white.  We were floating.  We were flying.  Just the five of us.  Burning these things we didn't like about ourselves was freeing.

I think I like this new birthday tradition

The following pictures are for these reasons:

1.  I like making people laugh.

2.  Since turning 21 four days ago, I've been thinking a lot about how I got to be who I am.  These pictures might help others understand.

3.  This last year has taught me that it doesn't matter what I look or act like.  I'm freaking awesome and I always have been, I just didn't used to know it.

(Current picture of me)

     Ooof.  Growing up is hard.  I think it's safe to say, however, that I got progressively less awkward.  Boy, was that one crazy journey.  It was great then, but I'm glad to be passed all that.  I'm loving life the way it is right now!

     I normally try and end things on a happy note, but I'm going to turn that around this time.  I know this is going to make everyone feel despondent, but that's what happens to me every year after my birthday.  Do you know why?  Because after my birthday, it's FEBRUARY.

     I hate February.

     It's a really good thing I'm good at being happy.  This month is going to put my happy skills to the absolute test.

     Just kidding, I'll end this on a happy note.  Look at this picture:

This is me and my brother.  I was 16.

Feel free to refer to us as Batman and Robin.

     

This post is a little ramble-y and annoying.  Sewry aboot it, eh?

A List of Favorites

My favorite flavor of oatmeal:  Peaches and Cream

My favorite crayon:  Cerulean

My favorite citrus fruit:  Clementines (Grapefruit is a close second)

My favorite note:  F sharp

My favorite flower:  Daffodils

My favorite Ella Fitzgerald recording:  Mack the Knife (the live Berlin version where she forgets the words and starts scatting)

My favorite scene in Nacho Libre:  The Training Montage

My favorite character from How I Met Your Mother:  Marshall

My favorite number:  17

My favorite modern Jazz singer:  Stacey Kent

My favorite song by Bastille:  Laura Palmer

My favorite Runt:  Banana

My favorite crosswalk:  The one in front of the Kaysville Theater

My favorite flavor of homemade jam:  Raspberry

My favorite night game:  Bases

My favorite YouTube video about cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awf45u6zrP0&list=LLcGTxf5sQgYYj0YpDXY-Mxw

My favorite name for a cactus:  Otis

My favorite tile game:  Bananagrams

My favorite smell:  Pine Trees and warm dirt

My favorite invention:  Air Quotes

My favorite thing to throw into the air:  Maple Tree Seeds

Confessions of a Self-Proclaimed Sophisticated Lady

 Sometimes “Girls’ Nights” make me feel worse

I used to think a rheumatologist was someone who dealt with rumors

Once in High School, I peed my pants while talking to my friends in the parking lot.  Then I faked a call from my mom and went home

I really like that “Trouble” song by Taylor Swift

I cried twice the day my best friend got married

I didn’t like the movie “Avatar”

I have this picture (which I took and edited myself) saved on my computer:

Three of my favorite dresses came from the D.I.

I love making people laugh, even if they are laughing at me for a dumb thing I said or did

The previous confession is slightly false

I think I’m hilarious

I had a crippling obsession with Nick Jonas when I was 19

I am currently obsessed with One Direction

  

I like punctuating things correctly.  It’s killing me to not put periods on these confessions

Things I Learned From Christmas Break

 1.        Getting only one thing under the Christmas tree is sometimes the best.

2.        Little brothers will deface your copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone if you let them borrow it.  Then they will lie when you ask them about it.

3.        Taking a picture of yourself, your mom, and delicious Christmas-themed treats that you made together is not very easy (especially when you are dealing with SOMEONE incapable of making a normal face.)

4.       When you eat a greasy burger with greasy bacon and greasy onions and a side

of greasy fries, your face breaks out in zits.

5.        When you get a really bad cold and don’t shower for two days, you start to

look like Gollum….or a meth addict.  Even your dad will notice, and he will comment on it.

6.       Sledding is one of the most fun things in the world

NOTE:  As you get bigger, other things get smaller, including sledding hills.

7.        If you hire your close friends to be the strippers at a bachelorette party, they do this instead.

2,000 Nickels = $100

If I had a nickel for every time somebody told me I looked like a celebrity, I'd probably have about $100 in nickels.

Ok, maybe that's just a guesstimate, but in all seriousness, people tell me that almost every other day.  Strangers, mostly.  People I barely know.  People I'm meeting.  People I know very well but who happen to be watching a TV show with my doppleganger in it.  Family members I haven't seen in a long time.  First dates.  Strangers at the crosswalk.  Dental hygienists.  The point is, I get it a lot.

There are three that I get most often:

1.  Mila Kunis

2.  Selena Gomez

3.  Lucy Hale

Please don't take this the wrong way, I am in no way complaining about these comments.  Have you SEEN these women?  They're gorgeous!  Mila Kunis was voted the Sexiest Woman Alive in 2012, so I literally have nothing that I could possibly complain about.  I'm completely and totally flattered every time I get one of these comments.

There's a but.

I might vaguely resemble some movie stars (emphasis on the word "vaguely"), and maybe I've learned how to correctly wash my hair and apply makeup and pluck my eyebrows, but all this means is that some people have unrealistic expectations.

Sometimes people expect me to be super talented in one way or another, and they always end up disappointed.  Also, a few people are completely flabbergasted when I tell them I'm single.  "You could probably marry anyone you wanted to at any time, couldn't you," say the almost-old ladies at church.  "You probably have plenty of guys chasing after you," say grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors.

Historically, there have been a few guys who were initially attracted to me for some reason, and then I started talking and messed everything up.  There are two reasons for this:

1.  I make really weird faces when I talk and I use my hands much too much.

2.  They have to listen to what I'm actually talking about.

A lot of people don't realize that on the inside, I'm still this awkward person:

Yes, this is really 13-year-old me.

(Keep in mind that this picture was taken 

long before wearing adult-sized footy pajamas

 was considered ironic, funny, or cool in any way.)

I'm actually still this person on the outside, usually.

There's not really a huge point I'm trying to make here, I'm mostly just babbling to myself on the internet.  There is one thing that's clear, however.  If the movie "Oz" is at all popular in one way or another, I know what I'm going to be for Halloween: