Has it sunk in yet?

I am leaving in 8 days. Surreal much?? So I thought I would write one last blog post.

Oh, I have to tell you, I am big fan of Shannon Hale and last Saturday I got to meet her!!! I'm so grateful that my sisters came along, especially when I know that one particular sister wasn't really wanting to go (but she was glad she did because it was AWESOME)! If you do not know who Shannon Hale is or have not read any of her books I would recommend first and foremost Book of a Thousand Days. I almost cry every time I read that book (which is the equivalent of crying for me, since I don't really cry very much). And then once you've read it you can talk to me about it haha and we can gush over Khan Tegus. I would also recommend Princess Academy. That one is pretty sweet as well. And if you love Jane Austen then you should also read Austenland and Midnight in Austenland.

Okay, that's my Shannon Hale blurb. Enough said.

Also I went to the institute Valentine's Dance last Friday. I had very low expectations for that dance. I felt like I had been tricked into going when I didn't really want to go for several reasons.

1. I would be one of the few people there without a date.

2. Because it was a couple-ly dance, they would probably only play slow songs. And it's not very fun to dance to slow songs alone.

3. I am leaving on a mission, so even if I did HAPPEN to meet someone, what good would it do me?

So I wasn't really looking forward to it. When we first got to the dance, my suspicions that the dance would suck were confirmed when they were still eating dinner. About 30 minutes later (and after me saying, "Why are we here? We should blow this joint" about 10 times) the dance finally started. And again, my suspicions that they would only play slow dances were confirmed when the first two songs were slow ones. . . . But then the third dance was a fast one and the party began!!! It turned out to be one of the best dances I have ever been to! They played just as many fast songs as slow ones, and I even let myself have fun during the slow ones. And since I was going to be leaving in less than two weeks, I didn't care what anyone thought of me so I just partied it up! If you have not seen me at a good dance where I am having fun, you have not seen me! Hahahaha. Epic!

Okay, now I should maybe get to serious things like saying goodbye and all that. But it just hasn't really sunk in yet. I don't think it will sink in until I watch my parents drive away and abandon me at the MTC ;) The longest I have been away from home was the week I went to New York City. And I had two of my sisters with me then. I have suffered from homesickness in the past and I found a book in the library the other day that was all about hoomesickness. Did you know that in the Civil War, if a soldier was homesick they would let him go home?!?!? It was totally legit then whereas now it's like, buck up dude and get over it. I am very much a home body and I love the safety and comfort of being home. I'm also afraid to basically live out of suitcases for 18 months. But I need to remember that this is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. Maybe if I stop digging in my heels, this will be the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. Maybe if I just have a little more faith that things will work out the way they are supposed to all these dumb worries will just melt away. And it's not like I'm dying or never going to come back. It is going to be challenging but it's also going to be the biggest adventure of my life so far. And I'll get to spend my time preaching something that is very dear to my heart. Something that I know is true and that has helped me tremendously throughout my life.

I hope everyone who reads this will write to me. I'll post my address on Facebook soon.

Until then, God be with you til we meet again ;) or in Maurie speak, peace out me hombres!

66 Days and Counting

66 days until I leave for the MTC! Crazy! Sorry for the short post. Kind of pointless actually, huh? Oh, and the picture is of my Mom's bruise when she broke her arm. I shouldn't say "broke her arm" that makes it sound so weak. She broke it in two places and then the bone shattered in between those two breaks. It's pretty hard core haha.

Mom's bruise

Mission Call

I'm glad they called me on a mission, now that I have grown a foot or two! Haha

Most people were really surprised when I told them I was going on a mission so I've decided to give a little back story about it.

Growing up I never really wanted to go on a mission. Or rather, it wasn't that I didn't want to go it was just something that I NEVER thought of doing. It wasn't for me. I had no real interest or desire to go. Then in January of 2010 something happened. I had just turned 20 and was going to Weber State. I was finally getting into classes that had to do with my major. I was taking editing classes and . . . I hated them. That's what I wanted to do when I grew up, edit stuff, and I hated it?! And on top of that I wasn't any good at it either. I was frustrated and confused so I prayed to know if I should continue with all these English classes or find a different major. I was sitting in Sacrament meeting in my home ward. The speakers in the meeting were the matron and a guy from the presidency of the Ogden Temple. The matron spoke first. She didn't even speak about missionary work, really. But my head and my heart were only telling me one thing: mission, Maurie. Mission.

No, no, no, I told myself. No. Just no. After the matron spoke there was a musical number. It was a medley of "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" and "God Be With You Til We Meet Again". That's when it really hit me: Go on a mission, Maurie. And I started getting teary-eyed. I wasn't sure if it was because I was feeling the Spirit or because I just did not want to go on a mission.

But over the next few days, I just kept feeling like I should go on a mission. But I was confused. I was praying to know what to do about school and that's the answer I got? And I was only 20. I had a whole year before I could even really think about a mission (but I think Heavenly Father told me so early so that I could have a year to get used to the idea of going on a mission). I talked to my parents about it and both my mom and dad had a condition. My dad's condition: Graduate from college first. My mom's condition: Wait until all the boys your age are home from their missions. So when I was getting close to graduating I started thinking of a mission again. I even went to the bishop and lots of things. But I just didn't feel good about it. I was freaking out. I didn't really want to go, I was just going to go because that's what I thought I should do. Plus there was this guy, but that's a whole other story. When I was just about to start on my papers (in March of 2011) I told my Bishop about all these concerns I had and he told me to wait awhile and see what happened. So that's what I did. I graduated and got a job and felt good about not going at that moment. Every day when I drive to work I see what's left of the Ogden Temple. And one day in early September I looked at the temple and the thought of a mission came into my head again and I started to cry. I am not exactly a crying person so it surprised me that I was crying. But I knew it was because I had finally decided to go on a mission.

Long story short (not really) I talked to my bishop that Sunday, by the following Sunday I had all my paperwork turned in. The next week I met with the Stake President and four weeks later (there were two little hiccups with the missionary department after that) my call came.

Uh. . . blog much?

Um, so it seems that I have not been good at blogging lately. Maybe because not much is going on. Or maybe because SO much is going on that I don't feel like I have time. It's probably a mix of both. I've just been busy with work. Even though it's only part time it sometimes feels like it's full time and I've been taking a few institute classes. Plus my church calling keeps me busy. This last weekend felt like a never ending go go go session. I'm so glad it's Labor Day tomorrow and I get the whole day off (and I get paid too, can't beat that). But I just wanted to say that life is good and I am very happy these days :) no complaints from Maurie.

Harry Potter!!! (and t-shirts)

If there is one thing I love almost more than anything else (including Burn Notice) it is Harry Potter! As much as I love Harry Potter, I have never gone to a Harry Potter midnight showing before. How is this possible you ask? Well, because I value my sleep. And I don't enjoy movies after midnight usually, because I am so tired. But I decided with this last movie coming out, that I need to sacrifice some sleep to show what a true fan I am and go to the midnight showing. I am going with my sister and brother-in-law and we made these truly awesome shirts (pictures to come soon). Making those shirts was quite an adventure. At first, we were gonna try what my sister Linda did with these Robin Hood shirst she made where you bleach a black shirt. It was proving to be monstrous. We had to cut out all the letters and we only had a dull exacto knife (I cut my finger in this horrible process) and then we tried bleaching on shirt . . . to epic failure. To be honest, I was ready to quit right then. Then we thought about the shirts we made for Halloween. We used this thing my mom calls Stitch Witchery (but is actually called Heat and Stitch or something like that) where you iron on what you want. We decided to do that. It was tricky too, but not nearly as tricky as the bleaching thing. And they turned out so stinkin cute! I can't wait to wear it tonight!

Me from O-Z

O

Outside activity I love: playing tennis (though this technically can be done inside)

P

Pet peeve: extreme PDA and super loud chewing

Q

Quote I love: "Build a man a fire and you warm him for a day. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life."

-Terry Pratchett

R

Right or left handed: right

S

Siblings: four. One brother, three sisters, plus two brothers-in-law. Both named Scott, oddly enough.

T

Treasured memory: getting sealed to my family

U

Unspeakable vow: if it's unspeakable, why would I tell you? Haha (plus I can't think of any anyway)

V

Vegetables I dislike: mostly all . . . I'm just picky

W

What makes me smile: Burn Notice, cookies, funny jokes, good movies, great times with friends, thinking of a song I love and then hearing it on the radio almost immediately after I think of it . . . lots of other things that I can't think of right now

X

X-rays I have had done: one on my middle finger when I sprained it (thanks for nothing Spencer George) and another on my foot. It was hurting really bad, but there was nothing wrong with it so it turned out to be a waste of time

Y

Yummy food I make: blueberry muffins

Z

Zoo animal: Koala bear

As another note, my sister had her baby! Her name is Ella and I really, really, really wish I could go see her :(

Me from K-N

K

Kids: my sister is going to have another baby soon and I am practically dying because I can't be there. I want to babysit my niece and nephew while the new baby is being born. But I especially want to hold this new little baby (Wee Baby Three) and kiss her and smell her and feel her baby soft skin. It's killing me that I'm here. So if you're reading this Brittany and Scott, move back to Utah already ;)

L

Love of my life: Michael Westen

M

Milk preference: 1% but I can handle 2% and skim. I've never really had any experience with whole milk . . .

N

Nicknames: Moe, Moe B, Morrow, Snow White, Mars, Maurinator, Maurberry

Me from G-J

G

Game I love: ninja assassin!!!

H

Hobby I wish I took more time for: arts and crafts, like painting and drawing

I

Instrument I play: piano-ish

J

Job title: page

I just started working at the library as a page. I'm still learning what all my responsibilities are so far but right now I think I mostly just work on shelving books. It might sound boring but I love it a lot so far.

F

Favorite food: pizza

(Am I the only getting kind of bored of this A-Z thing???)

E

Expertise Knowledge of: Harry Potter

Lame, dorky, ridiculous, sad, take it as you will, but I am an expert on Harry Potter. Go on, ask me anything. I will most likely have an answer. (And if I don't, I know I could find it within a matter of minutes).

Another fun fact: my sister Linda recently downloaded all the Harry Potter audio books to our iTunes. My other sister Shelby was listening to all the songs on shuffle and sometimes a few seconds of the Harry Potter books would begin to play. Shelby and I played a game (mostly it was must me) to see how fast I could tell which book it was from. It usually took me three seconds or less. That's how ridiculous/awesome I am.

D

Drink I couldn't live without: water.

Duh. I would have said milk a year ago, but recently I have a hard time drinking milk straight. I can eat it in cereal but just a glass of milk does not tempt me much anymore. Unless there are a few cookies to go with it.

Speaking of cookies, I made some delicious snicker doodles last nigt. With all my spare time these days I have been enhancing my cooking skills and it's a whole lot of fun! Sorry to go on this random tangent about cookies when I'm supposed to be talking about a drink I couldn't live without. Oops.

Me from C to Z

C

Chore I hate: cleaning the toilet

Ugh! Gag me now, please. I don't mind cleaning the bathroom, but when it's time to get to the toilet (which I always save for last) I want to scream and run in terror. I loathe cleaning that thing. However, the alternative is to never have a clean toilet which frightens me even more.

And even as I am typing this, I know that the toilet needs a scrubbing and I don't want to do it . . .

Me from B-Z

B

Bad habit: laziness

Too often I will have all kinds of plans for a day, you know, productive plans. Then the day will come and I'll say, "Eh. Nah, no thanks. I don't feel like doing that." So then I laze around the rest of the day and then that night I say to myself, "I just wasted that entire stupid day!" This is a viscous cycle that I have a hard time getting out of.

Me from A to Z

I stole this from a friend's blog (what else is new) who stole it from another friend's blog. We're all little thiefs, aren't we? Haha. It is the A to Z of me. And to make things more interesting (and to just drag it out as long as possible) I'm only going to do one a day. Bahahaha!!!

A

Age: 21.

In maturity, probably more like 17 haha

(This is fairly short, some of the other ones will be longer and potentially more exciting. Depending on you excitability. We'll see, I guess.)

Graduate from college: CHECK!

Remember my Bucket List? One of the things on that list was graduate from college. And ta-dah! I graduated last Friday from Weber State University. I got a Bachelor's of Science degree. I majored in English and minored in Psychology. You see those purple and white cords I'm wearing? Those are honor cords. I graduated Manga Cum Laude (there's Suma Cum Laude meaning a GPA of 3.9 or higher for the goodie-two-shoes, then Magna Cum Laude meaing a GPA of 3.8 or higher for the semi-goodie-two-shoes, then Cum Laude which is 3.6 or higher for the below average goodie-two-shoes, just fyi).

It was a good day. I had to get up early to go to Commencement. Governor Mike Leavitt spoke and his speech was great. Pretty much exactly what I needed to hear. It was about making decisions. After commencement I went with my mom to Costco (weird I know haha) then we got lunch at Jimmy Johns and a cinnamon roll from Great Harvest. Yum!

At 2 I went to Convocation, which was just with my college-the college of arts and humanities. I'm not going to lie, as I walked across the stage with all the other graduates and I heard all the people yelling and screaming (even though I know most of them weren't screaming and clapping for me) it just felt pretty amazing. I think I'd like to become a rock star so I could have people cheer for me every day like that haha.

I was glad I got to see one of my absolute favorite teachers at convocation, Dr. Hogge. I wish I could have seen some of my other favorites, but at least I got to see him. Graduating from college makes you a very serious and responsible person. . .

This is me saying, "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" hahahahaha as I am still a bit undecided about what to do with my future.

My Awesome Friends

I have a lot of great friends. I love them a whole lot! So here they are (by category) in no particular order:

My high school/married friends:

Amelia, Jessica, Kara, me and Brittany. I think it's so great that even though it's been a few years since we've all graduated, and even though all of them are married but me we still get together every once in awhile and I know that I can count on them. And another bonus, I am now friends with all of their great husbands so the number of my friends has like doubled! Sometimes we have fun with just the girls or sometimes we all party!

My JD pals

Shantel, Megan, and Camrie. I love these girls. Even though none of us work at Johnny's Dairy anymore we still get toghether for our JD girl nights. And Megan is my gang member MC (I0I). Sometimes we go to Firehouse which is of course delicious. And I love that Megan mentions me in her blog. It always makes me smile. I just saw Shantel and Megan for Curved MC's birthday and I hope to see Camrie soon as well

My singles ward friends

I have made some great friends at the singles ward. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't like singles wards but if you go with the right attitude, you truly meet some of the funnest people. And you get to play fun games like Human Rock Paper Scissors (note Jayme's awesome scissors in this picture

My family

I feel fortunate to count my family as my friends. I love them!!!

This list also includes the great friends I have met at school including Brianna Kent, Melissa Brown and others :) I wish I could give you all a hug and say thanks for being awesome!!!

The Bucket List

For my stress management class I had to read a book that would promote anti-stressful living. I read this book all about setting goals and accomplishing them. So I've created a new and fully improved Bucket List!!! After I saw the movie I made a really weak bucket list that mostly had stupid things on it. But this book made my list more real and . . . cool haha. So I am going to try and document it when I accomplish things on this list. So, a few weeks ago I accomplished one thing on that list: I . . . MADE A CAKE FROM SCRATCH!

Yes, I created that white thing. My mom wasn't even looking over my shoulder the whole time. I only asked her where the vanilla was and the recipe for the delicious frosting. The frosting was the best part. The cake actually was a little burned but it all got eaten within two days so my family must have liked it enough to eat all of it haha. But the best part was that I made it all by myself!!!

Now you may be asking, what else is on this bucket list of yours Maurie? Well, I'll tell you some of the other things on the list (in no particular order).

• See the Northern Lights (I see them on TV but I just can't believe it, I want to see them for myself)
• Go the Wizarding World in Florida
• Graduate from college (three weeks and that'll be checked off)
• Go skydiving or bungee jumping-either one
• Plant something and help it grow
• Learn to ballroom dance
• Run a 5K
• Invent a board game
• Ride in a hot air balloon
• Milk a cow
• Go to Lake Powell
• Fly a kite (I've done this before but I want to do it again)
• Go to a spa
• Donate blood
• Join a book club
• Go paintballing
• Make bread from scratch

If anyone has any other suggestions, or if you know of a way I could accomplish one of these goals, or if you want to be with me when I check off one of these things, let me know! Let's start living!!!

Valentine's Day!

About five days ago I saw an awesome ad in the paper that Papa Murphy's was selling heart-shaped pizza. No way, I thought! I love pizza and I love hearts! So I put up this on my refridgerator for all to see: So today, Valentine's Day, I was downstairs blow drying my hair. When I came upstairs, this is what I saw on the kitchen table:

Someone noticed my sign!!! Who could have been so thoughtful to remember and then actually take my silliness seriously? They even got it with no pepperonis!

Why, it was my sweet brother of course!

And I got to enjoy some yummy heart-shaped pizza for Valentine's Day. Thanks Ian, it was just what I wanted :)

(And now I'd better go do my homework.)

Day 30(finally)-A picture of you today and three good things that have happened in the past

This isn't from today but it's one of the most recent pictures of myself that I have haha. Again, sorry it's taken me so long to finally finish this blog challenge.
Good thing 1: I am all cleared and ready to graduate with my bachelor's degree this April. AHH!
Good thing 2: I was sealed to my family
Good thing 3: I joined the singles ward. This has been such a huge blessing in my life and I've met so many fantastic people.
P.S. I wonder how well I'll be at updating now that I don't have a challenge to give me ideas . . . so any advice on what to write about if you're interested in reading would be great!