I would like to toast ice, booty shakes, and wonderful people.

Well, the whirlwind known as my life has begun to die down. After working 8:30-5 Monday thru Friday at StoresOnline, taking Bro. Bott's mission prep class, planning Freeze Fest (BYU's Christmas party for it's students), preparing to transfer my life to Moscow, and having some fun times in between this semester, it has been a fulfilling yet busy time.
I was sorry to leave my job at StoresOnline because I made friends there with whom I became pretty much obsessed--Stacey Gonzalez AKA Gomez and Alicia Hupp AKA Aleesiahh. We had some good times keeping up on the company gossip, talking about going on diets but ordering Fiery Hawaiian pizza from Dominos instead, having girl's nights and playing Beatles Rockband (amazing) with weird popcorn concoctions, watching Modern Family/The Office instead of working, warding off company creepers AKA Mark, and pretty much laughing together all the time. They took me to my favorite restaurant (long live Bangkok Grill) for my last day of work. I now expect them to write me regularly on my mission concerning their pregnancy and boyfriend, respectively. Thanks to StoresOnline, I was able to finish paying for my mission in full. Ooo-OOH!!! (Baby Mama style).

Blessing our food...

After finishing my job, I spent a week doing nothing but preparing for Freeze Fest. Mother Nature decided she didn't like our idea of building snowmen on campus to hold our posters, so she kept it snowless that week. Luckily, Bob the BYU groundsman came to the rescue and took us into the deep dark abyss underneath the BYU bleachers and provided us an entire army of creepy styrofoam snowmen previously used for some independent film and then donated to BYU. Does anyone else think that's kind of weird? But I'm not complaining. Pretty sure everyone on campus was frightened into attending Freeze Fest.

Needless to say, Freeze Fest was a success. Kendra and I about fell over by the end of the night, but it was worth it. Plus, I got to lick the swan ice sculpture and tie Cosmo's ice skates.

To quote her, these are the things we accomplished:
We had an ice sculpture. It was a swan...obviously!
We used 48 strands of icicle lights to decorate the facility.
Cosmo was there in his blue Santa Suit. He LOVED us!
We had a cheesy sweater contest. The finals contestants had to do a walk off and I loved it.
We had two service projects going on. What better way to get in the Christmas spirit than with service right? That is what I thought as well.
We had a Hot Chocolate bar. Complete with flavor shots, creamers (7/11 style), nutmeg and cinnamon, candy canes to stir, and to top it all off, spray whipped cream! It dominated everything.
We had an AMAZING dance party! Thanks to the best DJ(s) in town!! Mark Boothe from MBX-treme! I absolutely adore him and Logan was also there to help out! Thanks guys!
We had sugar cookie decorating. 375 dozen sugar cookies to be frosted with 175 pounds of butter cream frosting. Mmmm.
Last but not least, we had ice skating and broom hockey ridiculously enjoyed by all who participated! We accommodated close to 2,000 people for ice skating and even more than that for broom hockey! Thank you so much to Ice Peaks employees who helped out so much this whole evening!

All in all, it was a new record for people at Freeze Fest and that makes us, as Event Leads, ridiculously happy and proud of our advertising (however creepy it may have been)! :)

I love my wonderful friend/partner in crime, Kendra. Thanks for making it a success!

Once that was over, I flew to Arizona to bid farewell to some family down there...and feel that last bit of warmth for 18 months...then returned to Utah for my Russian Bootyshake Dance Party Goodbye Extravaganza 2009. Thanks to Jay's massive speakers, Herb's knowledge of how to set them up, and Grooveshark.com's amazing ability to find every song I desire, from Ratatat to Beastie Boys to MSTRKRFT to Lady GaGa to Jay-Z, and play it in lovely succession, we had our entire apartment crammed full with hip hoppin' people the entire night. It was beautiful.

Now I am officially moved home and working on finishing some books, studying Russian, preparing a talk, and getting all of my shtuff together so that I'm ready to hit up Russia for some serious preaching. Get ready, my dear Muscovites!

A toast to the Miley Cyrus Virus.

So...there has been a crazy Miley Cyrus virus going around the USA. This is Provo's tribute to that virus. I'm proud to say that I lived in Helaman Halls--where this video was made.

The Miley Cyrus Virus

A Toast to BYU in the fall.

I love the fall. I'm not sure if it is my favorite season because I am fairly indecisive in this situation. I forget how much I like a season and then fall in love all over again and declare it my favorite and then rinse and repeat for the next season. Occasionally I loathe the winter come March, but usually I appreciate Utah's amazingly distinct seasons, making it one of my favorite facets of the state. Beginning school at BYU for yet another beautifully difficult, entertaining, and adventurous year is so magical. Yes, I know that using the word magical is super cliche, but it's necessary here. Slinking about BYU campus when it's still warm and admiring the trees from various countries of the world and appreciating the carefully planted flowers and casually watching the difference between the giddy freshmen and the harried graduate students, loving them both for just walking past me on campus and knowing that they hold many things sacred that I do while the sun shines equally as brightly on them as it does on me and we can enjoy this moment together because Heavenly Father loves us and we have the opportunity to go study so that we can sharpen our ability to learn so that eventually we can gain all knowledge and create our own worlds is just too much sometimes and I get that feeling of excitement/sadness that this won't last forever/ecstasy that it is here now/my heart is bursting and it kind of hurts/I want to stop and have a personal dance party/why can't I bis bis every person I see on campus and tell them I love them? In fact, why can't we bring bis bis to America? I feel like there would be much less conflict and stealing were we to instigate bis bis in the U.S. of A. The Spawn of Satan would have hesitated during the temple dedication when he stole my purse full of an iPod, camera, phone, wallet, cards, temple recommend, makeup bag, and clothes had he known that I would have been willing to kiss him on each cheek without even knowing his name simply because he is a human being (Yes, I am being sexist for assuming it was a man. Am I a Satanist for believing also that it was Satan?). Also, I believe dance parties would bring the world together through love. World poverty, hunger, and war would be alleviated simply because of that greater feeling of love and friendship. I wish that I could go to Romania, Senegal, Guam, Australia, Iran, Prague, Venezuela, Greece, Japan, and Laos and show them BYU campus just so they could know a different life and I would give them all peanut butter M&Ms and free tuition and we'd all learn about biology and art history and grammar and then have a dance party to celebrate our freedom.
These are the thoughts that run through my head as I walk across BYU campus at the beginning of the school year as the electric excitement charges us all enough to get through the entire year like the way I charge my newly acquired Zack Morris brick phone every night so that it lasts the whole next day. We have so much to enjoy and experience, my friends. Let's not lose a moment--do your homework, thrive in your classes, make friends with the girl on your left and the boy on your right. Sit in the front row in every class. Comment--you know you learn better when you do. Do your homework at the library and walk home with a new friend and then make dinner with your old roommates from freshman year and have a dance party with your new ward members. Write a note of appreciation to your parents for sacrificing so much to make you happy. Find a new favorite scripture chase and share it with someone. Thank Him for what you have. Read your patriarchal blessing and commit to attaining every one of those blessings you are conditionally promised. It's a new year! a new semester! a new beginning! Let's be happy together. Walk on the golden campus with me and love it. Good luck everyone, and join me in toasting BYU campus in the fall and the happiness it brings.