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12.09.2010

A year in my life

Well, today is a big day for many reasons! First off, it's Thursday. I mean, come on. Who doesn't love Thursday? Second off, I'm going home tonight and we're totes going 2 watch lyke teh best show EVUR . Third off, my buddy Jackie is now 18! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKIE! But 4th, and probably most exciting reason for me at least, is that it is December 9th, 2010. Officially one year ahead of December 9th, 2009, and one year behind December 9th, 2011. Why is this important? Well on the day of December 9th, 2009, my best friend entered the MTC as Elder Joshua Brian Rice.

I am waiting for a missionary. That's not exactly a phrase that I like to have tattooed onto my back though. (It's like a tramp stamp, only higher.) I'm going to go into this blog post the same way most people go into their Sacrament meeting talks.



In the dictionary under the word "wait" we read "To remain inactive in a state of response until something expected happens."

Now this is where we drop all Sacrament-meeting-ness.

That's bologna! Yes! Complete and total bologna! I belong to a group of girls called MGs, and we are all waiting for missionaries in one sense or another, and I've got to say, from the ones that I've gotten to be friends with, none of us remain inactive in a state of response.

These two years of existence are big years for Elder Rice. Quite possibly the best years of his life. You'd think that through entropy, that would make these two years the worse of someone else's life, and using Murphy's law, you'd think that would be me. But like I said before. BOLOGNA!

I have done so much with the last year of my life, it has been incredible. I do not think there has been a time of my life that I have done so much, and I really mean that. To prove the point, I have compiled a list of 365 things that I have done in the time that Elder Rice has been gone. So take it or leave it.

  1. Eat sushi
  2. Freeze whence camping
  3. Learn to use busses
  4. Attend WSU
  5. Perform in Wind Ensemble
  6. Play some jazz piano
  7. Attend Jr. Miss as an audience member this time around
  8. Play a Steinway
  9. Learn to love USPS
  10. Learn to hate USPS
  11. Learn to appreciate a good mailman who comes on time.
  12. Discover ways of making juice last forever (almost)
  13. Burn rice really badly
  14. Take care of a plant
  15. Watch that plant take it's dying breath in my arms
  16. Perfect the art of macaroni
  17. Learn to never watch Bones and eat macaroni at the same time
  18. Get a good weekly does of escalator riding
  19. Try on crazy wedding dresses at the DI
  20. Take AP Stats
  21. Pass the AP Stats test
  22. Be the only one at OHS to pass the AP Stats test
  23. Skip school just because
  24. Write my own grocery list several times
  25. Be called as a visiting teacher
  26. Be called as a Sunday school teacher
  27. Attend girl's camp
  28. Graduate YW
  29. Apply to BYU
  30. Apply to the U
  31. Apply to a billion scholarships
  32. Get over my fear of auditioning
  33. Get my own camera
  34. Discover my favorite pen
  35. Start a blog!
  36. Learn how to substitute absurd ingredients
  37. Learn that it doesn't always work out too well
  38. Drive a neat car
  39. Try to learn manual transmission (Note, TRY is the key word.)
  40. Develop a love of vacuums.
  41. Develop a hate of 'fake dirt'
  42. Find the perfect size of milk bottles
  43. Perform with the best marching band in Utah
  44. Laugh uncontrolably
  45. Discover the value of sunscreen
  46. Realize that not all sunscreen works like it says it will.
  47. Use a (mini) grill
  48. Recieve a grenade
  49. Attend a masquerade 
  50. Dance in the snow
  51. Learn how to pack (for moving)
  52. Pack (for vacations)
  53. Almost finish the Old Testament (I've got just a few pages left!)
  54. Maintain sanity in reading the book of Numbers
  55. Go to many sleepovers
  56. Become an avid blog follower
  57. Burn 1 batch of cookies
  58. Burn 2 batches of cookies
  59. Ruin several boiled eggs (They weren't boiled too well.)
  60. Become the best toast maker EVER!
  61. Attend a Utah-BYU game
  62. Have my own house
  63. Do dishes by hand lots
  64. Realize plain grapefruit juice is acceptable
  65. Teach Sunday school
  66. Learn to ask what time it is like a pro
  67. Learn to ask what time it is in SPANISH like a pro
  68. Realize the purpose of mouthwash
  69. Write a LOT of letters
  70. Give someone a Book of Mormon
  71. Own a pair of tall tall shoes!
  72. Become really good at walking in heels.
  73. Walk to church lots
  74. Go to ward walk-abouts
  75. Develop an understanding love of turkey in the right season
  76. Learn to enjoy skiing
  77. Fall off a ski lift
  78. Watch lots of Fringe
  79. Own my own computer
  80. Learn to play organ
  81. Yell at the characters on the thrilling TV series Fringe
  82. Play organ in sacrament meeting 3 days after learning how to play organ
  83. Realize the purpose of rainboots
  84. Learn to not walk up steep slippery icy hills in shoes with no tread
  85. Learn to not RUN up steep slippery icy hills in shoes with no tread
  86. Perform in the Youth Spectacular with 3000 youth
  87. Get really frustrated at early morning rehearsals for the Youth Spectacular
  88. Learn some sign language
  89. Realize that sign and sing are made out of the same letters
  90. Go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple
  91. Learn how to spell Oquirrh
  92. Attempt to find a difference between Paradise Bakery and Zuppas
  93. Develop a budget
  94. Fly on an airplane
  95. Go to Chicago
  96. Watch my team lose.
  97. Watch my team lose BADLY.
  98. Watch my team win.
  99. Buy my own dish soap
  100. Have Chicago style deep dish pizza
  101. Learn that shrimp... it's ok!
  102. Learn not to force people to eat shrimp that don't like it
  103. Learn to not look away when forcing people to eat shrimp that don't like it
  104. Learn to have a camera out and rolling when forcing people to eat shrimp that don't like it
  105. Go to lots of dances
  106. Climb a mountain
  107. Wear socks with sandals
  108. Look for snow in July when everyone is suffering from heat exhaustion
  109. Learn that heat exhaust is different from heat stroke
  110. Learn that people suffering from heat exhaust or heat stroke are like vampires
  111. Go to improv comedy
  112. Use Microsoft paint a lot
  113. Learn to draw stars really well
  114. Discover my own style
  115. Become great at writing essays
  116. Express distress in school
  117. Meet several crazy people at the store
  118. Meet even more crazy people on Trax
  119. Discover the big deal about Pandora
  120. Befriend someone with the same  name as me
  121. Read political cartoons in politics
  122. Learn lots about politics
  123. And actually enjoy it
  124. Graduate high school
  125. Become great at making videos
  126. Learn the value of recording videos
  127. Learn to speak science
  128. Learn to speak political science
  129. Laugh at stupid things
  130. Attend  the only world ranked university in Utah
  131. Get accepted to BYU
  132. Turn their chubby face DOWN
  133. Stare at a wall of butter for a long time trying to find the best deal
  134. Learn how to hang things on walls without nails
  135. Skip pretty much everywhere
  136. Walk on a moving side walk and feel like a friggin model
  137. Make funny faces in a mirror for hours
  138. Complete the Hunger Games series
  139. Fill up an entire journal
  140. Hide offline for a long time to avoid people
  141. Learn how to press leaves really well
  142. Realize that 365 is a big number
  143. Realize that it's easier to stay awake in church functions when drawing
  144. Learn the value of organization
  145. Learn how to text when I can't see what I'm typing
  146. Learn how to live with a broken phone
  147. Learn to love that broken phone as if it was my own child
  148. Do 200-300 pushups every night
  149. Learn more names than I though possible in a very short amount of time
  150. Develop a means of talking to people that know everything about me, but I know very little about them
  151. Meet the President of the University
  152. Consciously choose mathematics over music
  153. Spend a reasonable amount of time crying over unreasonable things
  154. Spend an unreasonable amount of time being really happy over reasonable things
  155. Spend an unreasonable amount of time trying to spell 'amount'
  156. Learn some crazy dancing
  157. Realize that I don't much enjoy dances
  158. Realize that I really enjoy dancing
  159. Realize that Jason's Deli is way better than anything they have in Chicago
  160. Realize that if you want to do something cool in SLC, get a move on it, because stores close soon
  161. Get my own credit card
  162. Get my own check book
  163. Inhabit the most amazing college 'dorm' ever
  164. Eat a liver detox
  165. Somewhat enjoy the liver detox
  166. Realize that the liver detox was meant to be drunk, not eaten
  167. Stay up really late watching movies on Google
  168. Go to the movie theaters by myself
  169. Go to the movie theaters with lots of people
  170. See Inception
  171. See Sherlock Holms (Several times)
  172. Learn lots of cheers
  173. Perform for the biggest audience of my life
  174. Be boo-ed by the biggest audience of my life
  175. Realize that fast Sunday makes my tummy unreasonably small and unreasonable 
  176. Grow my hair out, if even just a few inches
  177. Experiment with bangs
  178. Settle on straight across bangs
  179. Change clothes whenever I get home from school because sweats are more comfortable
  180. Seriously consider wearing ugly clothes so I can go on What Not To Wear and get lots of money
  181. Turn the game boggle into a violent game
  182. Learn that everyone should live for per diem
  183. Learn that saving per diem is awesome! 
  184. Learn how to manipulate people to do what I want them to
  185. Use prepositions to end sentences with
  186. Go to Temple Square
  187. Go on an AWESOME behind the scenes tour of the Conference center
  188. See Savior of the World
  189. Get to be pretty much bff with my lil brother
  190. Get to be pretty much bff with my lil sister
  191. Wonder why the word sister is so much shorter than the word brother
  192. Get to be pretty much bff with my momma
  193. Get to be pretty much bff with my daddy
  194. Learn how to engage in intelligent conversation with people much older than me
  195. Recognize a value in studying
  196. Recognize a value in windex
  197. Learn how to manipulate light so that it does what I want in pictures
  198. Learn that the light around my dresser can not be manipulated, and I will never be able to see the clothes in my drawers in a decent light
  199. Purchase my own vitamins
  200. Drive ATVs like a mad-woman
  201. Teach young children to drive ATVs like mad women
  202. Attempt to make wookie noises and fail
  203. Sigh at the lack of Disney Land in my life
  204. Appreciate real pianos as opposed to fake pianos
  205. Sneak ice cream from my roommates that doesn't need to be snuck, they said I could eat it, but sneak it anyways
  206. Wish most passionately that snuck is a word
  207. Carry a tent a very far distance
  208. Become an administrator of Waiting For A Missionary
  209. Set goals on restricting computer usage
  210. Cope with the lack of natural light around winter time
  211. Be subject to the most brutal and dangerous cold temperatures of my life thus far
  212. Recruit for my marching band
  213. Be a member of a marching band with some of the most wonderful people in the world
  214. Learn how to say "That's what she said" in so many manners
  215. Become subject to a mock psychology session
  216. Yell at a man's dog
  217. Chase rabbits around campus for a while
  218. Play guitar some
  219. Think of a billion analogies
  220. Spend probably half of my life waiting for trax/frontrunner/uta bus
  221. Perfect the puppy eyes that will get a person to give you a ride
  222. Realize that it's better walking barefoot in the snow than wearing shoes that are soaked through in the snow
  223. Leave my window open as I fall asleep to listen to the music of the night (It's really there, I think my neighbor plays music or sings or something.)
  224. Make lots of lists
  225. Make hundreds of friends in a short amount of time
  226. Spell amount right for the first time without using a spell check or even pushing backspace once
  227. Talk in a British accent for a week and drive my family crazy
  228. Develop a wicked awesome valley girl accent
  229. Develop a killer memory
  230. Write several essays and prepare for several exams/quizes all in one night
  231. Understand a love in the simplicity of a sandwich 
  232. Realize that going to the grocery store isn't 'all-that'
  233. Cut my own hair
  234. Make it an entire year without coloring my hair (That makes 18.5 total!)
  235. Buy dry ice
  236. Throw a surprise party that sorta failed
  237. Be the subject of a surprise party that completely rocked
  238. Maybe sorta become a Gleek
  239. Use lots of printer paper, but somehow never run out
  240. Watch some Asians dance
  241. Talk to my German foreign exchange students
  242. Ride a scooter everywhere
  243. Learn how to brutally humiliate people that make fun of my scooter
  244. Realize that it's not that brutal
  245. Wish pretty much every day that my hair was much longer
  246. Learn how to save jewelry that probably would fall apart otherwise
  247. Do my own laundry, if rarely
  248. Do my own dishes lots, and even do my roommates dishes sometimes
  249. Let my mom do my own dishes and my roommates dishes once
  250. Become completely inconsolable for laughing
  251. Expand the range of music that I find entertaining
  252. Own a Scentsy 
  253. Visit the Rice's lots
  254. Miss the Rice family more than I miss Elder Rice sometimes
  255. Have senior pictures taken
  256. Learn to harmonize pretty wicked well
  257. Become a magician's assistant
  258. Perform in a magic show
  259. Joined a sorority
  260. Learned the lyrics to so many songs
  261. Went to General Conference
  262. Watched people swallow goldfish and then realized I couldn't live with the guilt of doing the same
  263. Bought a really cool water bottle
  264. Attended orientation
  265. Met a guy who's name was spelled Rajfier, but pronounced Rage Fire
  266. Made people laugh
  267. Listened to several songs over and over. And over
  268. Discovered the magic of frozen yogurt
  269. Discovered the magic of Owl City
  270. Visited several stores looking for a certain pen
  271. Became something of an expert in picking out ties
  272. Learned how to show in the gateway
  273. Marveled at the fact that my skin does indeed sparkle in the sun
  274. Smeared my face all over with oatmeal and eggs, and put mayonnaise in my hair.
  275. Went to a mission reunion
  276. Went on lots of dates
  277. Read the news a lot
  278. Appeared in the news some
  279. Appeared on national TV some
  280. Developed a passion for cupcakes
  281. Ordered sweatshirts for 14 people
  282. Shamelessly flirted the heck out of strangers at institute parties and then ran away
  283. Discovered a love for simplicity in all things
  284. Graduated Seminary
  285. Wrote a letter to an Apostle
  286. Used 1.5 bottles of Retin-A
  287. Used an entire bottle of multi vitamins and fish oil pills
  288. Eaten a bottle of peanut butter without eating a single peanut butter sandwich
  289. Eaten 4 boxes of oreos by myself
  290. Creeped out the dates of my roommates lots of times
  291. Lost my favorite stick of chapstick. Dr. Pepper. RIP
  292. Went shopping with my cousin lots
  293. Watched Murphy's law in action on a piece of toast. MY piece of toast.
  294. Saw the real, the actual, Touch Down Jesus
  295. Learned some martial arts
  296. Mastered the ability to do the splits, and then lost it
  297. Successfully switched between talking in the present tense and talking in the past tense all in the course of a single blog post
  298. Achieved a very straight marching leg, despite having gone ~2 years without marching
  299. Relinquished my mace to a very able drum major
  300. Owned my very own can of mace
  301. Learned how to kill someone with their own knife
  302. Tried it out. With a rubber knife.
  303. Discovered the best place to buy jewelry
  304. Discovered the value in HOME.
  305. Played my flute in Stake Conference
  306. Learned how to play the most beautiful song on flute
  307. Transcribed a song and assisted in getting it copyrighted 
  308. Used a tape recorder
  309. Hacked multiple people's facebook accounts
  310. Made bread-based foods without yeast
  311. Came to understand the value of music in my life
  312. Worked as a host for a winter line competition 
  313. Avidly followed America's Next Top Model
  314. Found the most beautiful flute song ever (Chaminade's Concertino for Flute and Piano)
  315. Become pretty good friends with a professor
  316. Become pretty petrified of another professors
  317. Learned how to dance like an Indian (Maybe?)
  318. Came to to terms with the fact that the only Christmas tree I'll have this year is 6'' tall and is made out of porcelain or something
  319. Gave a talk in Young Womens 
  320. Became really good friends with my YW teachers from the ward to stake level
  321. Participated in a brutal school rivalry
  322. Got stuck in a mosh pit
  323. Realized that a mosh pit is different than a mish pot. 
  324. Wondered what a mish pot was
  325. Grew super attractive calves 
  326. Realized that pink nail polish is the best
  327. Broke up with people I wasn't even dating
  328. Found out who Calvin and Jake really were
  329. Rode on a zip line
  330. Rode on a mechanical bull
  331. Won $50 at a graduation party
  332. Had a odd caricature drawn.
  333. Saw John Bytheway perform live
  334. Rode Wicked at lagoon
  335. Played a secret piano in the lunch room
  336. Watched fireworks on the roof
  337. Broke into the construction zone at OHS and scaled the side of the building to the top where we climbed through to the inside. 
  338. Saw a drug raid in which dogs messied up the entire hallway
  339. Heard Rhapsody in Blue performed live and beautiful
  340. Ate at the cafe in Napolean Dynamite
  341. Was present in an earthquake (Though I didn't feel it)
  342. Owned a pair of nerd glasses
  343. Learned to tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue 
  344. Was someone's first date
  345. Posed as a poll dancer on the frontrunner
  346. Ate coconut oil
  347. Had my license for long enough to drive without an adult present
  348. Rode my scooter to school wearing super high heels
  349. Was mistaken for being Mexican by some ward members due to the severity of my tan this summer
  350. Ate nothing but gummy bears in 24 hours. And was sick
  351. Ate 26 cotton candies in one night. And was really happy
  352. Realized my toothpaste was causing problems
  353. Went an entire week without my retainer. And was sad
  354. Lost multiple bra sizes and was perfectly fine with that
  355. Had spontaneous sleepovers 
  356. Made it through graduation without crying
  357. Left high school with 2 text books I forgot to return, one of which was from Junior year
  358. Participated in an amazing Testimony meeting in the Tower room, prior to seminary graduation
  359. Watched a storm roll across a beautiful green valley as I fell asleep, and woke up to ran on my window
  360. Participated in a reenactment of Nephi's vision.
  361. Was the musical number at seminary graduation
  362. Got straight A's my first college semester (this one is kinda my second semester)
  363. Had a passionate love affair with colored pens
  364. Helped my brother run for student government
  365. Learned by experience that the following quote is very true. "When we put God first, all other things fall in place or drop out completely"
There you go fellas. Things that I have done in the last year. I dunno about you... but it sure feels like I lived. And I was able to do it while having the awesome opportunity of writing a faithful and determined missionary. I don't think I have any 'waiter-haters' following my blog but... to everyone out there. Sure. "Waiting" for a missionary is hard. If you sit still for two years, that's gonna not rock. Hey, even if you're moving about and living every ounce out of every moment, you'll still have moments where you miss him. But if someone tried to tell me I was wasting my time by waiting for a missionary, why... I don't know! I would have to tell them that they were lying. Because this last year has been great. And it always would have been great missionary or no, because I'm just determined like that I guess. I consciously made the choice to make my year really great, and you know, I think I'll do the same thing next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. Because it makes life itself really great.

Put that in your hot cocoa as you will.

7 comments:

KaitlynMarie said...

I love this Lara! I think my favorite line was:
"It's like a tramp stamp, only higher." :D

Laurie said...

OH my crud girl!!!! That is great!! I love it, You are sooo funny! I could totally relate to some of these! We got this!!! Pretty soon I will be you! ;) 2 1/2 months ;) ISn't that crazy!!! Congrats!~

Estelle Stewart said...

That was awesome!!! Genius! Inspired!!! lol *goes off to make her own list * ;)

Unknown said...

Yay! Thanks for the birthday happiness! And also... "tramp stamp," heh heh heh. I still can't believe that.

Yo said...

I enjoy your blog! This is so cute!! :)

College Babes said...

I kinda love the idea of this list. Keep up the awesome attitude! --Cori

chip said...

I think that next year, I'm going to be super cool and use this list for every day. (With my own twist, of course.)