Announcing the Birth of...

I am now the proud mother of Martin Atticus Freeman, born August 30, 2012 in Provo, UT.  The father is TBA (and the announcement will not come forth for a long while yet).  As you can see, Martin looks just like me, except bald.  As of yet, all he does is sleep, which is good for me to allow an adjustment to motherhood.  Martin is named for the great British actor Martin Freeman (known mainly for his role as Dr. John Watson in BBC's "Sherlock" and for his upcoming role as Bilbo Baggins in all three installments of "The Hobbit")  and for the great literary character Atticus Finch.

Martin Atticus Freeman and his namesakes:  Martin Freeman and Atticus Finch (as portrayed by Gregory Peck).

Okay, here's the real story.  This semester I'm taking Psych Developmental: Adolescence.  On the first day of class our professor informed us that as part of the course we would be responsible for raising a virtual child.  The child will grow according to the decisions we make and at the end of the semester, we get to see what kind of parents we were.  

Anyways, the process of getting this virtual baby was having to answer a bunch of questions about my attitudes and temperaments throughout my childhood.  I also had to answer a few basic questions about the color of my eyes, hair, etc.  And after all of that, I now have Martin.  I love that he is a boy, because I believe that every little girl should have a big brother (not that I'm planning on having any more virtual children).  Also, I must thank my roommate Sam and my brother Stephen for helping me name the baby.

And finally, a few words from my father as I was saying goodbye to him on the phone: "Be good.  If you can't be good, be careful.  If you can't be careful, name it after me.  Oh wait, I guess it's a bit late for that."  

Thank you Dad.

How I Spent My Twentieth Birthday: A Dramatic Short Story in Four Parts

(Please note that this story was thought out in a British accent)

Part 1: Pre-Game

    The week was shaping out to be spectacular.  Mine and Chloe’s birthday party was Thursday and it went smashingly.  The Olympics started Friday night.  And Saturday, oh my.  Saturday was my birthday and I was going home.  I was excited for the quality birthday time I would get to spend with my family,  My anticipation was so great that I did not even sleep the night before.  I was a doe-eyed believer in the magic of modern technology and airplanes.  They had never failed me before, there was no way they could fail me now.  I arrived at the Provo Airport (courtesy of Karrae) bright and early at seven a.m.  The tiny little airport was packed with Latinos and babies (but not Latino babies).  Right away I could tell that this was going to be an adventure.  Onwards! Forwards!

Part 2: Game Time

    The hour-long flight to Denver was uneventful.  As Rebecca Black might say, I was kickin’ it in the back seat of the plane.  We arrived in Denver right on time courtesy of Frontier Airlines.  My next task was to entertain myself for three hours.  ‘Twas an easy feat, as I simply watched “The Artist” and the Olympics.  I worried not about purchasing nourishment, as I would be home just in time for lunch.  And finally, I was called: Great Lakes flight to Prescott, AZ with a short stop in Page.  The plane was exciting, just a small twenty seater filled with tourists and people who were just going home like me.  The ride itself was more fun than any roller coaster.  Another hour and a half later we touched down in Page, we all departed the plane, and said farewell to our new friends.

Part 3: Overtime

    Upon exiting the plane, we were informed that we would have a short twenty minute layover to refuel.  This was fine as I found this explanation completely logical.  However, the twenty minutes soon passed, and the promise of re-boarding was denied.  Apparently there was “paperwork” to be done (remember this word “paperwork”).  Finally, after a hour and twenty minute layover, we were finally able to re-board the plane.  Our copilot greeted us and as we buckled down announced that we would be arriving in Los Angeles in an hour and a half.

“But nay,” exclaimed my fellow Prescott-bound traveler, “what about the stop in Prescott?”

“Nay indeed,” responded our copilot.  He then proceeded to mumble something about the weather and radar and how the two weren’t mixing together.  Our translation of this was that there was bad weather in Prescott which prohibited our entrance.  (Upon further investigation we found that Prescott and the surrounding areas were mostly sunny all day.)  My thoughts were: “It is monsoon season.  Just wait fifteen minutes and the storm will blow over.”  However, my thoughts were both silent and insignificant in the decision making process.

“Very well,” I concluded, “We shall endure this re-route in patience."

    As promised we arrived in Los Angeles just short of two hours later.  The pilots offered an apology about the re-route and promised once again that we would be on our way to Prescott in no more than twenty minutes.  Once again we departed the plane at gate 81B and, this time, went to find some nourishment.  Upon our return to the gate, the Flight Information Lady informed us that we have to make our way to gate 82, collect our new boarding passes, and return to 81B.  This we did, and we waited twenty, thirty, forty minutes as the plane was refueled.  Finally, we were approached by the nice Flight Information Man who gave us our boarding passes.  He informed us that there had been a gate change, and could we please accompany him back to gate 82.  We complied, and proceeded to sit in gate 82 for another hour.  In this time we watched Flight Information Man, Flight Information Woman, and five different pilots socializing and filling out the necessary “paperwork” for departure.  

    In this “paperwork” time, we observed the airport workers transferring our luggage to the new plane, both pilots depositing their own luggage on the plane, do a visual inspection of the plane, and open and close the door of the plane five times.  At long last we were able to board the plane to Prescott after a five hour total redirection to Los Angeles.  Where I was supposed to arrive to the sunny and cheerful Prescott, I arrived in dark and cloudy Prescott.  Night had fallen. After thirteen hours in either an airport or a plane (six hours of which should never have happened), and four states later, I had finally arrived at my destination.  And there to meet me were my mama and my papa.  It was indeed good to finally touch down on the green, green grass of home.

Part 4: Post-game Notes

On the flight home I made several observations:

1. The shadows on the mountains at sunset make creepy faces
2. There is a small landmass somewhere in Arizona that looks like the complete United States
3. Be prepared to entertain yourself for an extra three hours of flight time, just in case
4. Waiting for an hour long layover is being patient.  Waiting for five hours makes you feel like cargo
5. My one highlight was observing the flight deck during take-off and landing
6. And unfortunately, Great Lakes flights are now the poster children for inefficiency

‘Twas indeed an adventure I had been through.  And it was an adventure that, as the great Poe once wrote, now I quoth “NEVERMORE!!!”

The Greatest Adventure

The Monday before Valentine's Day, my FHE group made Lord of the Rings inspired Valentine's cards (they turned out quite spectacularly).  Anyways, during this creative time, we were listening to music from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which got us talking about the old animated versions of the Hobbit and Return of the King.  Now I am watching them, and I forgot how much I loved these movies.

I had also forgotten how well I knew the dialogue.  There was a moment where I was quoting part of the Hobbit for a good five minutes.  But the best part of these movies...Glen Yarborough singing...

Ahh, my childhood.  Good times, nay, great times.

Schnappi Das Kleine Krokodil

So, we have two sheets of butcher paper on our wall that we can draw pictures on.  The other day I decided to draw Schnappi, an adorable German crocodile that Josh introduced me to a few years ago.  This is what my drawing looks like:

Problem was, every time someone comes to our apartment they always ask who drew the green dinosaur, to which I always vehemently reply that it is a crocodile.  Anyways, this is where I draw my artistic inspiration from.

On a Wednesday afternoon...

So this one time, my brother Steve was in this group called Living Legends and he told me I should join.  So on a Wednesday afternoon two summers ago, I went to this "open house" thing where I could learn more about the group and then I decided to go to auditions the next day.  Lo and behold I made it and we went to cool places like Alaska, the Northwest, and Russia!

So anyways, after that happened I had a lot of new friends and a great Freshman experience behind.  In fact it was so great I decided to try out again and I made it!  So far we have been to the Four Corners area and SoCal.  We are just finishing up shows in Provo this weekend and we are eagerly looking forward to Nauvoo in the summer.

 And finally, there are three Tian(n)a's in the Native section this year.  We've decided to start a band called "Sharona and the Tian(n)as" and we will go on to have a fantastic career.

The Other Two

So, to dispel any confusion, I do have two other awesomely, fantastic roommates who respond to the names of Sarah Sokolowski and Megan Huckaby.  This is what they look like:

Maybe someday we'll actually do roommate pictures again with the new six.  Hopefully before someone leaves or gets married, whichever happens first.

Those Hairy Worms on Your Upper Lip

So a long time ago, my brother showed me a music video that BYU's Divine Comedy did called "Sexy Stache". At the time it was quite amusing, but now that I'm at BYU, I have found that mustaches aren't even remotely sexy.  In fact they are an abomination.  I even had a conversation about them that went something like this:

Me: I have concluded that mustaches are an abomination against the establishment of humanity!
Matt: Indeed.  They are the abomination spoken of by the prophets that will be mat with destruction in the last days.

Okay, so I didn't quote Matt verbatim, but that was pretty much what he said.  Matt's proposed solution to the problem is a "Mustache Board" that all students must appear before, but I say we ban it all together!!  So forget you little hairy worms, your days are numbered!!