Why ABC, why??? and What is wrong with this?

First, it was Pushing Daisies and now, it's Life on Mars. Two fantastic shows that were cancelled. I just watched last night's episode and it was FANTASTIC! The storyline has really veered from the original British plot but it works. In the original series Sam Tyler was hit by a car and while he was in a coma in 2006, but he was living in 1973. At the end of series two, Sam woke up and then jumped off a building, an act that sent him back to 1973 but really just killed him. In the American version Sam isn't in a coma (or so the information in TV Guide states) and the "solution" is totally different. I don't know what it is but I'm excited to see how it ends next week.

Maybe it is a good thing that it was cancelled. The writers had almost exhausted the two season series of source material and why not end it on a high note? I'm just trying to look on the bright side, I guess. It's a bit like the Beatles. They broke up before their music got horrible. I also think that being "older" isn't so bad. My life is relatively drama-free, I don't have any attachments to high school, I can communicate with members of the opposite sex, and I can rent a car (I haven't done it yet but I could!) There is also a sense of independence that I feel I have now as opposed to five or six years ago when I was petrified to do things on my own. I do have a slight fear that I will grow too fond of my independence someday. Hopefully that won't happen.

What does it mean to be "too accomplished" or "intimidating" or "too independent?" I've heard these words thrown around quite a bit lately, sometimes in connection with me. Just because I have a bachelors degree, I served a mission, and I am a graduate student; I have become a scary, accomplished, intimidating, and independant person? How does that disqualifiy me in the dating scene? If anything, I think those would be positive qualities! Heck, here are some more, just for good measure:

1. I have no student debt. I have no credit card debt. I am currently a paying off my car.
2. I can cook. Just yesterday my roommate's home teachers walked in and said, "Wow, it smells good." I can also bake.
3. I have a vast knowledge of things both useful and non-useful.
4. I love trying new food.
5. I like adventure movies more than romantic comedies.
6. I am clean---my room is clean, my interests are clean and my record is clean.
7. I have ambition.
8. I believe that church is a priority.
9. I can carry on an intelligent conversation (thanks in large part to #3 on this list.)
10. I have opinions. There are few things worse than people who have no set opinions. These are people who usually "just listen to the radio" or like to do "whatever."

Hopefully this list will be useful for anyone who might be frightened of RM grad students. Just a heads up.

The ward talent show

I have very brave friends here in Logan. Four of them participated in our ward talent show. They sang and danced to ABBA's Super Trooper from the movie Mamma Mia. They won second place.

Oh, and, I made the costumes.

And the assignment...

I'm going to design the costumes for USU's first show, "The Glass Menagerie." It opens late September and runs until early October. I'm excited for my first grad school design opportunity! I hope it doesn't look horrible...

When?

Do you ever feel like something is going to happen? That sort of feeling that makes you want to get up in the morning. Or it makes it sort of difficult to go to sleep at night, like a kid at Christmas. I've felt this way for the past couple of weeks now and I'm not sure why. It's not a feeling of foreboding or doom, it's more akin to the last day of school.
Maybe I'm crazy but I still feel like something great is going to happen.

Things that ARE going to happen in the next month:
Hilary and Avery are going to come for a week long visit.
I am going to my mission reunion.
I'm going to find out my design assignment for this fall at Utah State.

One thing that I hope happens, sooner than later:
A DATE!

That's all. Back to school on Monday.

Just call me Pollyanna

Some reasons why I feel like I have a good life:

1. I have a ridiculously cute niece who just learned how to laugh.
2. My family is fantastically great. Even though we don't get along all the time, I love them.
3. Despite the scariness of it, I'm attending graduate school.
4. Graduate Assistantships.
5. I have this odd tendancy to try things like book binding, pie making, and quilting, despite not really having any training or a clue.
6. I have good friends.
7. I have faith in God and His plan.
8. My taste in music doesn't suck. (this could be up for debate but I know what I like.)
9. I have figured out how to be thrifty.
10. I love cooking and baking. Now I just need to learn how to love running.
11. I'm feeling pretty okay with my looks, my eyebrows and hair don't match but it's fine.

I am currently in the middle of Spring Break. I decided to go home to my parent's house which I doubted at first. These doubts were swept away when I saw the weather report for Logan, two feet in some areas? No, thank you!

Our Dog...

My family's dog, Klondike, visited the groomer's today.

The last time this happened Lauren cried. Granted, it was almost six years ago. He looks like a completely different dog.

A Hodge Podge of Stuff

I just finished a research paper that I wrote for grad school. It took longer to format the pictures and figure out where to put them so it didn't screw up the whole paper. It was really frustrating. I'm pretty certain it took over an hour. Granted I took breaks and consumed a ridiculous amount of french onion soup. That stuff is SO good! I feel like it was worth it because it was about fashion and the Beatles. And I had the picture on the right in the paper. Isn't that a fantastic coat???
Here are a couple of things that have been floating around for the past week or so.

1. I found this quote in one of the books I used for research, John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me by Tony Barrow. He was the Press Officer for the Beatles for six years or so. Here's what he had to say about the backlash from John Lennon's 'We're bigger than Jesus' comment. "Unexpected support for the Beatles came from Salt Lake City, Utah, where the programme director of station KCPX said, "I don't believe in religious bigots anymore than I believe in Beatles bigots. I'm playing their records, not their religious ideals."

2. Item two is a picture I took while walking home. I think it's sort of lovely.

3. Another picture. This time it's...My drawer in the costume shop!

4. A picture of an unusually sunny and clear day on my way to school. This wasn't the same day that I fell. I think this was from the week before.

And finally...Me. Still in graduate school. Still not crazy. Yet.