Balloon Mail

The highlight of my day was when I crossed another thing off my 101 list. I wrote a silly love note and attached it to some balloons left over from my farewell (which I will be telling you more about in a later post I promise) and then let them float away into the sky.

There was something so calming and wonderful about watching those balloons drift gracefully away. I closed my eyes for a moment and made a wish that someone who needs it will get that letter.

It was so silly. But it made me so happy. It was like backwards anonymous mail. Cause I signed my name, but I don't have a clue who is going to be getting the letter. Let me know if you are the recipient ;)

Nose-Hairs

About a week ago I let Emma bully me into getting my nose hairs waxed.

Weirdest. Feeling. Ever.

I pretty much thought she was trying to kill me. She shoved small wooden sticks with wax on them up each of my nostrils and then sat and waited for them to harden. I was trying to think about breathing and not dying and not talking (because it tickled super bad when I talked) - meanwhile she was assuring me that it'd feel so great when it was all over. 'Cause apparently everyone but me knows the joys of having hair yanked out of ones nose.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt when she yanked them out. But my nose has still not recovered. Contrary to what you might be tempted to think: I cannot breathe easier as a result, in fact it more just feels like my nose gets stuffed up easier and I have to blow it more frequently. It itches more easily too. So now I sit here with a hairless nose and wonder why I ever let her talk me into it in the first place.

Anyone know how long it'll take for my hairs to grow back?

Snowboarding

Once upon a time Krystal made a 101 list. And on this list she put 101 things that she was going to do in the next 101 days. And one of those things was "attempt to snowboard."

Saturday an ideal opportunity to make the attempt came around. But she didn't know if she really wanted to try it, because you see, all of her cousins were going to be cruising down the hill, and Krystal wasn't sure if she wanted to keep up with them or if she wanted to cross of something on her list. But, when 12:30ish rolled around she found herself strapping the snowboard onto her feet and asking Katelyn how the crap she got talked into this.

Ok guys... The first hour or so was crap. It took me about 20 minutes just to make it down to the lift. And then as the lift picked me up all I could feel was that: 'there's no turning back now' dread sink into my stomach.

Stephanie was oh so kind enough to video my first fall at the top of the hill, which occurred as I got off the lift.  I continued to biff it all the way down the hill after that. I think I left more butt marks on the hill than I did snowboarding tracks... and when I got down to the bottom I have to confess that I didn't really want to try again. At my request my cousins had all gone on without me... so I didn't have anyone standing there with me. Luckily at that point my little cousin came by on her ski's and asked if she could ride the lift back up with me. I was NOT going to look like a wuss in front of her, so I agreed. And up again I went.... all the while nursing a small hope that the 2nd time down would be better than the first.

And despite the fact that I fell again coming off the lift, it was. I'd realized by this point that I ride goofy, not normal - and I was getting the hang of how to stand up after a fall pretty well. By the time I had half slid and half ridden down the hill (leaving not nearly so many butt marks this time) I was actually anxious to try again.  

And then on the 3rd time down the hill I could actually steer myself and stop! This was in spite of the fact that all my muscles were begging me to quit at this point. Because snowboarding is a lot harder on the muscles than skiing is. But it's still totally worth trying.

Just be prepared to be humbled on your fist day :)

Murder Mayhem

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I did it. I killed my husband with the poison. In the tearoom.

Oh. And I had an affair with my date. Awkward?

Actually E.P.I.C is the word we'll use. Because that one about sums up last night.

It has been a marvelous week for me - I got hired to work for Alpine School District as a full time teacher, which was super duper exciting. I now have a salary and health insurance. Those are big grown up words that are excitingly intimidating and kinda cool when they apply to oneself. And then, to put icing on the cake, I went on an epic date last night with a Mr. Thomas.

The theme of the evening was murder. We all dressed up, and read our parts and laughed and laughed as we uncovered clues and tried to figure out who did it. Bear had way too much fun reminding us all that he was "successful" and loudly declaring that Christina was a floosy, I was the murderer, and that "marriage is not a crime!" Thomas managed to convince us all that he'd just been out cutting poisonous plants with his sword 'cause he happens to like botany, Taylor murdered her husband by pushing him out of a plane, and I killed my husband 'cause I wanted to keep the jewels.

Oh yes we had fun. And my date himself was wonderful. I hope it isn't too long before I get to see him again. Also, I hope to have another dinner party 1/2 that epic sometime in the future. Ash and I had a joyous time setting up for it. We learned how to fold napkins the same way they due in Buckingham Palace thanks to "Luigi! The maestro of napkin folding." You can see his marvelous video if you click HERE. And we created a shrine with candles to my deceased husband. Who wasn't really dead... but we didn't know that yet.

So yeah. If you are looking for a really fun evening, get a few outgoing friends together and do a murder. It's an evening to die for. (Now you should laugh, 'cause that cheesy pun was intended.)

Dilemma:

My roommies are trying to talk me into getting a Chinese fish. Which is slightly odd considering we only have 2 weeks left here in China. But whatever.

The thing is: as awesome as it would be to have a Chinese fish (my roommates have pre-named him and everything) --- I just don't know that I feel good about betraying Fender in that way.

Thoughts?

I think today....

I'll go to China.

Sound like a good idea to you?

Yup. China. Seems like a happening place to be. Ha!

So yes. Today is the long awaited day my friends. I am braving the unknown, heading into a completely crazy sitamacation, and I'm so excited. SO SO excited. I'll be there for the next 4 months.

It's kinda crazy how life turns out sometimes. When I stop and think about how everything has fallen so perfectly together to allow me this opportunity-- I can't deny that it's what the Lord wants me to be doing now. I'm all packed, I'm pumped, and I am ready to go. The only thing I'm not ready for is saying goodbye to my family. That one will be tough.

I've created a special blog for my Chinese adventuring. krystalinchina.blogspot.com. I'll be posting pictures and updates of my adventures. Therefore: this blog here you are reading might feel a little bit neglected for the next few months. I'll probably still pop in to muse occasionally, but if you'd like to read about Chinese adventures, and you are getting frustrated that they aren't showing up here -- you'll need to head on over to my other site.

Goodbye for now my friends! Or as they say in China: ZAI JIAN!

Fit for Adventure

I just bought my first set of Chacos.

As Brian would point out, this is a momentous occasion in my life. Brian is a dear friend of mine; (he advertises chacos in his sleep.... tee hee.)

Now I'm ready for a good hike. Maybe I'll break them in here and then see how they like the mountains in China....

"Your make-out chap stick is broken."

So my sister bought this chape sticke.... well actually, she bought two. And they go together. The whole idea is that one person puts on one, and the other person puts on the other, and when they kiss something crazy happens and the substances interact to make your lips go wild in a tingly sort of way.

So she told me tonight that I HAD to try it. And I told her I was fine with that... but there was no way I was going to kiss her.

Anyways. After a little brainstorming, I rubbed one type on my top lip, the other on the bottom, and rubbed my lips together.

Nothing happened.

So I washed my lips off and tried again.

I turned to her and told her her make-out chap stick was broken.

And then my lips started to tingle.

And it was really quite incredible actually....

Thoughts from the Trail

Antelope Island here we come!

Perfect day! Yay! Not so many bugs this time.

Sego Lillies! Wow!

Steph and I are going to be pro at practicing this romance thing. Horseback riding throw the meadows of wildflowers.... hehehe.

I am SO glad I don't have to use the restroom right now. No wonder women stayed home more when this was the primary mode of transportation. I don't blame them one bit.

Well Chelle, you're horse has a hard time keeping up because he's the fat slow one ;)

Silly horse. Quit trying to cuddle with me. You're far too big for that.

Golly Grandpa, this is a lot of food --- typical. Haha.

Freak child. You have a lopsided canter. Either that or you're just trying to throw me off...

You walk until I say otherwise: you eat. You canter and toss me around: you starve.

Oh my goodness! That buffalo is freaking close... woah. woah. woah. If you throw me off I swear... I can just see tomorrow's headline: Girl gored by buffalo. What a painfully fantastical way to die. Wonder who would actually show up to my funeral?

Real prancing ponies are not very comfortable to ride no matter how innocent the title sounds...

I am so glad that Grandpa brought me, Stephanie and Michelle to do this.

Starting to understand how it was possible for cowboys to fall asleep in the saddle... so tired...

I love riding downhill... it makes me feel so... wait. Slow down. Holy crap. WoAh! I think my respect level for that dude in Man from Snowy River just increased about 10 times.

Is it really a good thing Grandpa trusts me with the most difficult horse?

I think this grass is taller than I am.

I'll take the cold wind over those blasted mosquitos any day!

Wow, that salt breeze really clears up those sinuses.

Ten miles! I feel pretty legit.

Holy Crap. Note to self... leave stirrups slightly longer next time --- I don't think I've ever been this saddle sore!

Institutionalized

Thursday I went with Dora on a mini road trip to Montana. Nevermind why. Suffice it to say that we spent a LONG time in the car. And whenever one spends excessively long periods of time in a moving vehicle, bathroom breaks become necessary. So we stopped at a gas station in the Idaho Falls area, and she and I happily skipped inside (we were very grateful to be out of the car) in order to use the restroom.

As we walked in and followed the signs directing us to the ladies room, a man wearing casual business attire (he was probably in his late 40's) stopped me with a question. This was because he had noticed my shirt. I was wearing a USU Institute t-shirt. On the front the shirt says 'Institute' in bold lettering, the back features the Aggie A and the words 'a priority.'  Noticing me and the front of my shirt, he halted my progress towards the bathroom with the question, "Wait, you belong to an Institute?" Thinking that he might be LDS and was just appreciating the fact that he could easily recognize my religious affiliations by my getup, I proudly answered him with a resounding, "Yup! I go to Institute."  He looked back at me with a concerned expression on his face and said, "Hm. That's usually not something people advertise on their shirts." I shrugged and proceeded on my way.

While I was washing my hands and thinking about this incident, it occurred to me that the kindly-intentioned gentleman was not referring to the same kind of Institute that I was thinking of. So I turned to Dora and mentioned that the man had probably thought I belong to a psych ward. She and I chuckled over it as we exited the restroom, and as we approached the exit, the same gentleman stopped me again.

You know those times when you can just look at someone's face, and you know what they are wanting to say, even though they aren't saying it very well? Well --- this was one of those times. Because this guy looked at me with this queer expression, and I just knew that he was dying, yes, simply dying, to know what I had done that would cause me to be sent to the loony bin, and what on earth was I doing in a gas station in the middle of Idaho. He  asked me in a controlled sort of voice what kind of Institute I belonged to, and when I explained, "It's an institute for religion...." he looked at me with a dubious glance and said sarcastically, "I've never heard it called that before."

And it was all I could do not to bust up laughing as I explained that it was a USU t-shirt. I am an Aggie, and that the institute there really is for religion. He then proceeded to quietly explain to himself, "Oh. You're one of those Utah people...."

And I just laughed. Because he is in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Which, while it may not be Utah, is definitely not that far from USU, Mormons, Aggies, or other such similar things.

So yes. I had a random stranger try to ask me why I'd been institutionalized. Haha.
 Best gas station experience ever. Hands down :)

Dear Logan,

You are one of my favorite places ever. I got to visit you earlier this week, and when I drove out of Sardine and beheld your beauty, a smile crept onto my face and would not leave. Literally. I couldn't get it to stop even when my cheeks started to hurt and I tried.

I didn't do anything supremely phenomenal while I was visiting. Well, ok, ok, hanging out with any of the Musketeers is always phenomenal -- but I was so happy doing unphenomenal things with truly phenomenal people whom I happen to love dearly. My stomach was sore for nearly two days after just because I laughed so hard and so genuinely while I was visiting you. Thanks for being such a beautiful place.

I shall be looking forward in hopeful anticipation until the next time I am able to grace you with my presence.

With all my heart,
Krystal

The Three and a Half Musketeers!!!

Hem hem hem:

"One evening as I was out walking, though you'll find it hard to believe...
a little blue man, stepped out of the crowd, and timidly tugged at my sleeve.
    I wuv you! I wuv you! said the little blue man. I wuv you! I wuv you to bits!
    I wuv you! He loves me, said the little blue man. And scared me right out of my wits.
I rushed back to my apartment. I ran in and I closed the door.
But there on my desk, stood the little blue man, who started to tell me once more:
    I wuv you! I wuv you! said the little blue man. I wuv you! I wuv you to bits!
    I wuv you! He loves me, said the little blue man. And scared me right out of my wits.
For weeks after that I was haunted. Though no one could see him, but me.
But there by my side, stood the little blue man, wherever I happened to be.
    I wuv you! I wuv you! said the little blue man. I wuv you! I wuv you to bits!
    I wuv you! He loves me, said the little blue man. And scared me right out of my wits.
One evening in wild desperation, I rushed to a rooftop in town...
and over the edge, pushed the little blue man, who sang to me all the way down.
    I wuv you! I wuv you! said the little blue man. I wuv you! I wuv you to bits!
    I wuv you! He loves me, said the little blue man. And scared me right out of my wits.
I said, 'Thank goodness that's over.' I smiled as I hurried outside.
But there on the street, stood the little blue man, who said with a tear in his eye:
     I don't wuv you anymore."

This song was dedicated to Camille and Brian. Carrie and I unexpectedly serenaded them with it the other night - which was especially funny since Camille was being drawn and needed to keep a straight face. Ha! It also passes off #71 on my 101 list: to serenade someone who is not expecting it :) It went quite well. And then yesterday I Carrie and I made those two yahoo's their very own little blue men. That was before we dragged Brian with us to the fabric store... he is such a good sport.

The adventures of the Three and a Half Musketeers are so fabulous. We broke in my new Wackee 6 cards last night!!! There is going to be an upcoming match where we hope to use 3 sets of decks at once... mwahahaha! Wanna come? If you dare you are definitely invited.

Also, for the official record: Brian did not caress me with a knife. It was definitely a stab. Camille and I have come  up with a behavioral definition for cuddling (success!). Krystal doesn't like to shove people off cliffs - she just pretends like she does. Smurfing is pretty much one of the most fabulous activities ever.... and giving people grief over smurfing is even better.

And if any of you yahoo's to whom this post is dedicated happen to be reading this (no, I don't consider you dingo-brains) -- I will be holding you to the promise of rock climbing, chinese, and cleaning the sink this weekend. Don't think I won't.

This is Zoe

Isn't she pretty? She's a golden fantail -- and she's now my friend who lives on my dresser. I am happy to report that we both successfully survived the trip from wal-mart to my apartment this afternoon with little to no trauma.

It took me a while to pick out a name, but I think this one fits well. And of course, I knew you all would want to see her too, so I told her that it was time for a photo-shoot. She was camera shy for a while, but when she realized I wasn't giving up she finally held still.

I'm so extremely excited about her. And now I have one more thing crossed off my 101 list!

Last Wednesday we had an adventure.

We hopped in the car right after school and headed to Mapleton for the evening. Sharlee, Jacob, Dora and I were all so excited for Sharlee's mission call. We had a nice car ride home, and experienced lots of hugs and excitement all around when we learned she was going to CAMBODIA! Cool huh?

Look how happy she was about the whole thing!

And then we went and surprise visited my family, which was also tons of fun. After a scanty twoish hours in dear old Mapleton, we hopped back in the car to cruise right on home.

Only, in case you didn't know... sometimes it snows in Utah.
And sometimes that snow makes it really difficult to drive.
And sometimes when it's dark, and cold and windy and scary you realize that you aren't going to make it home that night.

So we had a sleepover! My Aunt and Uncle put us up for the night. They were so sweet to us. None of us had really anything because we weren't planning on an overnight trip. And it was a great adventure.

Go Sharlee! And thanks for the fun adventure.

Oh. And aren't they cute together? Hehehe.

Rebellious Streak

Last week I did something that I've wanted to do since highschool....

I died a red streak in my hair. It's underneath, so you can't see it unless I move my hair around or pull it up... but it's definitely red, and it's definitely there. I absolutely love it.

Dora and I were joking around last night, and decided that I've finally hit the rebellious stage of my life. Kissing a stranger... dying my hair... yup. I'm a rebel. Ha.



Dora was my personal hair stylist :)


The dye looked eerily like blood....


And this is a terrible picture. The red doesn't show up very well on camera, and this was technically only stage one (we did a second round to make it lots darker) but isn't it sweet?!

Proper Tea Party

Last night the Avocet 4 girls (that's me and my apartment) set up a magical tea party. We built a fort in the front room, and got little tea cups. We had herbal tea packets and frosted cupcakes and sent out invitations. It turned out to be lots and lots of fun.




I highly recommend it. If you want a good evening just throw a little tea party. And make sure you dress up :)

True Blue through and through...

So last night I went up the hill. Just a bit before midnight. And the A was all lit up.... and there were a lot of people there. And I, yes I, kissed a complete and total stranger and became a true aggie.

I fulfilled my goal! And for all you yahoo's out there who don't believe I actually did it, I have documented evidence. Yup. Dora took a picture. And if you desperately need proof I can show it to you later.

Since I know you are all curious, I'll tell you briefly how it went down: I wasn't brave enough to ask someone, so Dora's boyfriend walked up to a kid and pointed me out to him. Turns out he was a freshmen. That's right. A FRESHMAN. But I figured it didn't much matter anyways since I wasn't going to see him ever again, he was fairly good looking, and I figured, 'what the heck -- it'll give the kid a thrill to know he kissed a girl who is graduating.'

And then I stood there and tried to talk to the kid for ten minutes. And at the end of the ten minutes we had a count-down and he kissed me.

Ok. I don't consider myself an expert on kissing by any means, but let's just say I did not enjoy the kiss. Not even one tiny bit. In fact--- I wouldn't even really classify it as a kiss, it was that bad. Luckily it was short and sweet and I never ever have to do it again. In fact, I made a vow that I will NEVER EVER kiss a stranger ever again. My one time is done. And now I'm a true aggie.

Aren't you shocked? I am ;)

Arch-Nemesis

Last week I had a conversation with a boy. Part of it went something sort of like this:

Me: I have a feeling we are going to be friends.
Him: Why?
Me: Why not?
Him: Are you trying to force me to be your friend?
Me: Well... I'd rather not try to force you to be my friend...
Him: Well, how can you say that then?
Me: Let's just say I have this intuitive feeling.
Him: Hmm... WAIT! Oh my! WAIT! I have an idea!! Can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be ark-enemies???
Different Him: Don't you mean arch-enemies?
Him: Yeah that's what I mean, but ark-enemies sounds cooler.
Me: Haha, sure, but you'd better watch out....

And that's how it happend. I have a new 'arch-enemy.'

Sunday night he stuck a note to my door. It features a picture of a tiny car driving into a very large tornado. Underneath the caption reads: 'Perserverence; the courage to ignore the obvious wisdom of turning back.'

Below that he put, "Krystal, are you sure you are ready for this? Your currently-using-the-last-bit-of-mercy-in-him arch-nemesis, Me. And then below that: 'Can I please get a list of your visiting teaching supervisors?' Ha.

I think I'm going to take him that list he asked for. With a big plate of cookies. He can't eat cookies... he's allergic to wheat. Hahahaha. I have a feeling this is going to be good :D

And so it begins...

I have had this goal since last year. And I promised myself that I was going to start it over the summer... and then I didn't... cause I'm a slacker like that.

Today I repented: I started writing my book.

That's right. A book! I'm so excited, and for some reason also insanely nervous. It's just going to be a short children's book. Dora is going to illustrate it, and then I'm going to say a prayer and we are going to send it to a publisher.

I've only got a few pages down. It's not even close to being finished, but at least I have a start. Finding an idea that I was actually excited about running with was hard. I've been looking for inspiration for the past month and a half. Today I finally stumbled across an idea that I am happy with. A title popped into my head, and so I sat down and started typing.

I was nervous about sharing; but I showed the beginnings to Dora and she was more excited about it than I thought she'd be, which made me feel good about my writing. I told her she could start drafting drawings now, and I am so excited to see them.

Hooray for chasing dreams!

Alien Spaceships, Peach Trees, Sasquatch... Oh, and a Near-death Experience

Last night I went on a hike. Only this was not a regular hike, it was much more exciting than that.

Kyle, Stephanie and I decided that we wanted to check out what we dubbed an "alien" spaceship, and plant a peach pit on the mountain. Just for kicks and giggles. Well, that and we wanted a good hike. We were at snowbird and this spaceship of ours happened to be on the mountain opposite the one that usually gets climbed. There were no trails that we were aware of on this mountain, but we did not let that deter us. We sallied forth, and charged on up regardless of the fact that there were no trails to follow.

Before you accuse us of being complete idiots, keep in mind that this is a mostly rocky mountain, and so we could see where we were most of the time, in relation to the lodge and the 'space-ship' both.

We climbed/hiked up the side of the mountain for quite a while. I'd venture to say we got at least 1/2 way to the top, which I must admit was a lot further than I thought we were going to get. Kyle was protesting the entire time, telling us that we were being dumb for not following trails, that it was going to get dark soon, and that we were going to have a hard time getting down. He was right, but we definitely didn't let that stop us.

Then around... oh probably between 7:00 and 7:30pm, we decided that maybe we should listen to Kyle and try to find a way down the mountain. There were two main problems with our plan to go home: 1) the sun was already mostly down, and 2) we couldn't feasibly go back down the same way we had gotten up.

So we started to look. And look. And look some more. And then Stephanie stopped to plant a tree. Our silly peach pit also got all of the water that was brought on the trip. (Steph was the only one that brought anything besides her cell phone, and her belongings consisted of a camera, extra pair of flip flops, and a now empty water bottle. Haha.) And then it really was mostly dark. And then we decided that we were never going to get down the mountain unless we just went for it.... so we did.

It made for a pretty fantastical adventure. Let's just say that one dried up waterfall, a lot of crashing through underbrush, swinging on trees, a prayer and what seemed like an eternity of climbing down rocks and through riverbeds later we finally emerged on the road, and boy was it a glorious sight to behold. We thought we heard sasquatch at one point (well, we don't know what it was but we weren't about to check it out so Kyle dubbed it sasquatch...) and we got scratched up quite nicely. But we stayed in good spirits believe it or not, and as Steph would say "It makes a good journal entry." She took pictures the entire time -- we looked at them when we got down, and it's mostly just a whole bunch of trees.

So. I am excited to still be alive. And 24 hours later I'm still chuckling to myself.

Steph said she took a look a the mountain this morning, and decided that we came down at the probably what is the worst possible spot to come down. Go figure.

I think we're going to climb that silly mountain again next year for sure. Only this time we'll start a bit earlier in the day. Aren't adventures fun?