Blanket.

So, remember how I was really excited about what Chris got me for Christmas, and how he said it wasn't really that cool? Well, he was kinda right... He got me a GIANT 'cuddle blanket.' Okay, I will admit, when I opened it, I was disappointed. But it's growing on me. Especially since he left and now I have a giant blanket to cuddle with when I don't have him. A big blanket is better than the Utah sweatshirt I've been using. Like, if I fold this blanket into thirds, it's ALMOST as big as cuddling with Chris. Not good enough, but I'll take what I can get, ya know?
*Addendum. Cuddled with it last night and a) fell asleep super fast and b) stayed asleep all night. I think it's magic. (It's an addendum because I started this last night and then fell asleep.)

Anyway, he loved what I got him, which made me happy, but one of the tough things about dating a Vulcan is that I honestly can't really tell HOW MUCH he loved it. Either way, I thought it was cool. Sometime when I'm home I'll post it so you can see it, because it's wicked cool.

Sigh. Kind of in jest, I really wanna just marry the kid already.

BUT! Christmas with the 'in-laws!' It was great. I felt bad, I was actually super exhausted because I had a super tough lesson that afternoon, but they invited me to dinner (like, Chris didn't even bring me up. When he got to his parents' house his mom specifically invited me. COOL, RIGHT?) so I couldn't say no. Dinner was delicious, and of course I liked being with Chris. And getting in with the family. I like them a lot. I sat around looking like a zombie most of the time though... oh well. But craziest of crazy, they got me a present! That made me feel pretty cool. It was a little set of good-smelling stuff from Bath & Body Works. Yeah, they've got me figured out! F'reals. That made me feel pretty awesome. :)

And then... sigh. Waking up at 7:15 to be at work at 7:30 sucks super bad. I thank every god and goddess in the universe that I don't have to be at Sundance until 9:45 in the mornings. Get up at 8:45, easy peasy, in contrast.

Still trying to figure out what we're going to do about New Year's. Wahoo.

Oh! And one more thing. I did my first IQA West video chat last night. Freaking awesome. QUIDKIDS FOREVER.

Eve.

So, it's Christmas Eve, and Chris left my apartment a little over 40 minutes ago because he got called into work. PHOOEY. I'm significantly less than pleased. I suppose I could've gone back to my grandparents' house to spend Christmas Eve with my parents and such, but other than waking up in the morning to breakfast, there's really not going to be a whole lot different about me staying at home. Except that there's internet at home. Yeah, you know that's how I roll.

Chris was originally chillin' in Provo until he had to leave for work and I had to leave for family Christmas dinner, but then his work called at five and was like, "Hey, you don't need to come in until 11," so we busted out some awesomeness* and worked it out so that he could come to family dinner. Which was FANTASTIC. It's much easier to be cheerful and pleasant when you're with the person you're crazy about, rather than just the people who drive you crazy. ;) Hehe.

Dinner was lovely, I had seriously some of the best steak I've ever had in my entire life. I had to control myself from gazing longingly at Chris.... yeah... I like him. A lot. He seemed to get along pretty well with my parents, for the second time meeting them I think he'll end up doing alright. Especially when he eventually mentions to my mother that one of his greatest dreams is to own a beach house in SoCal, like the little dumpy ones on the Strand. (Yeah, 'dumpy' = multi-millions.) Once that golden nugget of information is out, she will love him, and pretty much beg me to marry him. HA. Just kidding. But only kind of. I know that will win him big points in the 'winning over mom' department.

Went back to G&G's to open presents, of which there were more than I expected. One thing I certainly didn't expect was a new camera! That one was crazy. I was so not expecting that. I'm excited about it though! I've actually been needing a point and shoot. Although my mother did say, "Well it was kind of supposed to end up being a mission camera..." and I'm thinking, then why am I getting it now instead of for my birthday? Whatever. I don't care. It's awesome, and I'm excited.

Then Chris got called into work... so freakin' lame... so we headed back to my apartment loaded with all of my stuff. (Although the person who got the most presents was my dad, jeepers creepers!) He left for work, I posted my paper on the IQA west page for everyone to read, and now I've just been sitting here in a stupor trying to decide precisely when I should go to bed. And wake up.

I can't wait for tomorrow after work. I'm not even thinking about work, because if I think about it then I'll probably start freaking out about not knowing stuff that I might need to know. Honestly I'm kind of hoping that there won't be any people wanting to learn things and I'll end up getting to ski all Christmas. Either way, I'll be home between 4:30 and 5, at which point Chris will head down (I think, we're still trying to figure out logistics) and I'll FINALLY get to show him his present! I'm also really looking forward to seeing what he got me, apparently it's "something I need that will benefit us both," and is only a 'secondary' present. What he got me for my primary present is still on its way, because (due to no fault of his own!) he didn't get it in time. He reserved it online at a store, and when he went to pick it up it the store said it wasn't in their inventory. Talk about freaking LAME. He wasn't particularly pleased either, but in the end, it gets me two presents... so... not really complaining. Although I'm not gonna lie, I REALLY want to know what the primary present is, because he sounded kind of excited about it, and it must be cool for him to go to the effort that he went to to try and get it. I guess it will have to be a New Year's present, hahaha. :)

Anyway, I need to get to bed so I can wake up and be cheerful for children in the morning... yayyyyyy.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!





*He hadn't brought any 'nice' clothes (because originally he was going to be working), so we not only had to rush to get him some nice clothes, but we had to make it to the restaurant in time. We were less than 15 minutes late EVEN AFTER RIDICULOUS TRAFFIC and Chris even looked good in his... $25 outfit. Seriously, Wal Mart is not as bad as it seems.

Alone.

So, this morning, Frieda officially moved out, leaving me officially alone in my apartment until whenever the new girls move in. (My management company said "Sometime next week" and I'm kind of hoping they mean more like, sometime at the beginning of January...) Listening to music as loud as I want, impromptu alone dance parties, Skyrim all night, sleeping on the couch, junk food, not cleaning... Yeah, that's my idea of a vacation! Stoked.

Okay, I have a tiny bit of a confession to make. Although I love Chris and if I could spend all of my time with him I would in a heartbeat, I'm not gonna lie, having a bit of time to just do whatever the heck I want (read: play Skyrim) and sleep in (without either a) cuddling on the couch or b) waking up just to spend time with him) has been kind of nice. KIND of nice. This, I think, goes back to my 'lone wolf' mentality, in that I do very much like to go off and do my own thing every once in a while. If I could be with Chris, I would, and I would love every minute of it. But since I can't, I am taking full advantage of my free time and loving every minute of it. I suppose that's a good thing, right? I'm not just sitting around pining for him. I think that's good. Loving life in whatever situation you're in is important, I think.

Oh, and you notice that I've had some time to play Skyrim? My review/gush session is coming soon. And it's going to be good, don't you fret. I'm FINALLY officially addicted. I think that may have something to do with why I'm so thoroughly enjoying all of my Chris-less free time. Except that I will admit, if he were sitting right next to me and didn't care that I was just playing Skyrim, I would be infinitely happier. So maybe I am pining. More than I care to admit to myself.

We decided, this summer, weeklong camping trip. You're all invited. It'll probably be a mixture of car camping and backpacking, in either Moab, Zion, or Goblin Valley, or somewhere else equally cool. Although I'm not gonna lie, a week camping in the Pacific Northwest (to check out UW's med school, scouting trip, ya know...) would be pretty cool. Or maybe SoCal? We could make a party out of it... Oh wait, SoCal is already a trip planned for the Western Cup! So I guess that's out. LOLz.

AHHHH okay I'm off to go make myself a 'tv dinner' and play Skyrim until my face melts off.

P-town.

So, Chris spent the last few days down in good ol' P-town. Okay, I went up to Salt Lake for a bit as well, because that's just what happens when you get invited to family birthday dinner at Tucano's, yummm. (And also, I totally win. Chris's mom gave me a hug and called me 'cutie' and LittleSister pretty much hug-attacked me as we were leaving. I am SO FREAKING EXCITED, seriously, it's almost better to 'win' the family over than to have them love you right off the bat, like Nine Toes's family did. I can't really get a handle on Chris's dad, but he seems more reserved (like father, like son) so we'll have to see. And LittleBrother... oh my gosh, who knew seventeen year olds's lives were just so... lol. He cracks me up SO MUCH. He might be my favorite. JK! Chris is my favorite. But no matter. I won over LittleSister and Mom and that's what was important to me. Okay. Moving on.)

We went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes, our first movie in a theater together (sigh, what a milestone!!! lol) and it of course did not disappoint! I had heard great things and had great expectations, and they were met, nay, exceeded! So good. Go see it. Now. That was my first movie in a theater since HP7.2, which Chris thought was ridiculous, but hey, I'm poor. OH WAIT, just kidding, HIMYM took me to 50/50. Which was also awesome, bt dubs. One thing that I noticed at the theater we went to for Sherlock was that they 'ID' for rated R movies... at least they said they did, whether they actually do or not is yet to be seen, but I found that interesting. Most theaters don't even notice, and at the very most they'll ID you when you buy your ticket. Whatever.

Anyway, we pretty much just hung out, did a bit of Quidditch practicing, where I learned how to properly tackle people who are bigger than me (an important skill for a keeper!) and played around in my sexy new cleats. Yeah, gotta love sales at Sports Authority! :) They're fly, I'll post a picture soon.

Another picture I need to post soon is of the gigantic bruise on my leg, seriously, it's eleven inches long by four inches wide. It's huge, and it's gross, and it hurts. :(

Sigh. Sometimes I wish we lived in a world where we didn't have to work, and we could just play all the time. Because if we didn't have to work, we wouldn't have to go to college, and if we didn't have to go to college, we would have absolutely no reason to keep living 45 minutes apart. We could live 2 minutes apart, see each other all day every day, and do nothing but play. It would be awesome. I guess that's one tough thing about winter though, it's COLD, and there's not as much playing to be done. Chris keeps telling me that girls always dump him during the 'second winter' because during the first winter, the fact that all he wants to do is cuddle and talk and watch movies is a novelty, and it's fun, and such. But after the summer, when apparently he plans/does cool stuff all the time (not gonna lie, definitely looking forward to all of the cool dates he's supposedly planning on taking me on "when it's warm"), they a) grow to expect him to plan/do cool stuff all the time and b) the novelty of cuddling/talking/watching movies has worn off, and they get bored, and leave. I think that might have been a really long run-on sentence, but I don't really care, so deal with it. My blog, my rules. Suck it, grammar. JK. (Oh little tangent, one of my friends is getting married on the fourteenth and her wedding announcement invites me to a reception in "there" honor. :/ Merf.) HOWEVER, I highly doubt that I'll dump him ever, especially during the second winter, because frankly, besides skiing, there's not much else I like to do in the winter besides cuddle/talk/watch movies. I will admit that watching movies with Chris generally tends to end up with him asleep and me being a little irritated, because I swear that boy sleeps more than any human being I've ever met. I mean, I know I shouldn't be irritated, because he works nights, and when he's with me in the daytime he's given up his normal sleeping time, but when there are nights that I KNOW he slept, and the next day he's still falling asleep all over the place? Sigh. It gets kind of annoying. I think mostly what annoys me is that when I'm with him, which is less often than I'd like, I want to be with him, enjoying his company, learning more about him, making him laugh and laughing at things he does, and, I will admit this without shame, falling more in love with him. If we end up falling asleep on the couch, sure that's great that we're comfortable together, but what did we REALLY gain from that experience? I dunno. This little rant makes it seem like it bothers me way more than it really does, because honestly it doesn't bother me all that much. We still talk WAY more than I have with any other boyfriend I've had, and we literally never run out of things to talk about. The kid is a genius, and will bring up topics of conversation that deal with things I've never even thought about to have an opinion on, but are admittedly super interesting. I guess that's what happens when you put a thinker and a doer together. I'll end up teaching him to do stuff, and he'll end up teaching me to think stuff. Not a bad trade, if you ask me. I like thinking, and he likes doing. So basically, I can't let little things bug me, because overall, we're almost too perfect for each other. Seriously, the fact becomes clearer to me every day. And I love it. :)

Potassium, longest paragraph ever, sorry. Last thing, Chris's present came in the mail today (while he was here! I had to run upstairs and sneak a peek at it) and it is so freaking cool. Oh my gosh. It turned out way cooler than I thought it would, I am SO EXCITED for him to open it. :)

Working tomorrow... ughhhhh. I don't like reality.

Sturdy.

Although it isn't really looking like Christmas anywhere but at Sundance, we've been listening to festive music at Outdoors Unlimited for the past little while, and I realized that I'm a lot like the tree in the park. You know, the sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow. :)

 My cousin got engaged yesterday. Never thought I'd see the day! But she doesn't want a ring... which I find extremely odd, especially because they're planning on getting married in August. (Yes, eight month engagement. Whatevs.) Does she WANT to get hit on while she's engaged...? Shrug.

I hate rocks. They're sharp, destructive, and they ruin people's skis. Aka our rental skis. Which means guess who gets to do all of the work on them? Yep, you got it, me. I mean, it could be a lot worse, but right now I've been coming to work at Outdoors directly from Sundance, which means I'm in full under armor, which gets hot even when I'm NOT working on skis. Add in working on skis, which makes me hot normally to the point that I'm going to start bringing basketball shorts to work, and I literally die of heat within the first five minutes. Yeah. It's awesome.

I just finished Chris's Christmas present. I think it looks absolutely incredible, but I can't share it, because... yeah... it has his name on it... Maybe I will share it without his name. LOLz. If I do share it, it won't be until after he sees it, because frankly, I don't want to ruin the surprise! :)

Sigh. I've got to be honest, I'd really like to sleep in tomorrow instead of going to church. But to church I will go, with Chris at my side, and we will stay awake the entire time.

Weirdo.

So let me tell you a little bit about my friend, Weirdo Blogstalker. She is fantastic. Apart from saving kittens from burning buildings and working to end world hunger, she occasionally likes to hang out with me and read my blog. After reading my blog, she will often tell me how much she loves me, and how happy my being in love makes her. Ha. She makes me happy.
Honestly, have you ever experienced the phenomenon that occurs when you have someone with whom to share your happiness? Your happiness somehow becomes exponentially greater, until you're reduced to a pile of lovesick giggling.
Okay, not really, but I will admit that whenever she tells me how much she loves me and Chris, I somehow get all giggly and love-struck. It's weird. And frankly a little abnormal.

Anyway, my dearest most beloved Weirdo, I just want you to know that you are beautiful and I adore you! xoxo and all of that stuff.


Moving on. Finally finished my stupid paper today at about 3:30. Woot. I have to admit though, I still don't feel like finals are over. It hasn't hit me yet that I'm free for the next couple of weeks. I still have this little lurking stress headache. So I'm definitely looking forward to a night full of Skyrim and texting Chris to relax. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to give my first adult 'lesson!' Haha, not really, I'm just heading up to work a little early to ski for an hour with my friend Francis. He skied for the first time today, and I'm looking forward to having a student to explain things to on a more technical level. And, of course, I'm excited to ski! Woot.

Then work, then work again, then Skyrim, then sleep, then CHRIS. :) Hurray.

Discovered.

Trying to finish my twelve-page paper tonight... No bueno. I'll probably end up being up until four or so, sleeping for three and a half hours, going to work, then printing my paper and turning it in, and crying tears of extreme relief before I collapse in a heap on the ground from exhaustion. Honestly I am so sincerely looking forward to tomorrow night, when it's finally all over, and I can just play Skyrim all night without feeling guilty. Oh, and text Chris, OBVS.

Speaking of Chris, Hannah found out about his blog. That may have been, in an extremely indirect way, my fault. (Sorry Nerf... yes, my pet name for Chris is Scruffy-Lookin' Nerf-Herder. You're jealous, don't even try to deny it.) Remember how I love the Anti-Austens? Yeah, go check out this post. Apparently Hannah's sister may or may not read the Anti-Austens, which led her to Chris's blog, which... if you read it and you know one or both of them, it's... yeah, pretty each to use powers of deduction. I only feel sort of bad, I personally think she deserves to see a) how much he actually loved her and b) how much she hurt him by leading him on. Again, I'd say I hate her, but I really don't. I seriously owe her, big time, and although I'm NOT glad she hurt him, I am glad she lost interest, because I love Chris way more than she ever did. No seriously, talking to him about it has always kind of astounded me. She put next to no effort into that relationship. Yeah, who was the one driving up to Logan EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND to see her? Yep, Chris. And yeah, I've pulled the, "hmmm, that doesn't sound familiar at all" line, but frankly, it does make more sense for me to go up there, plus I'm pretty sure Hannah never bought Chris a tank of gas in her entire life. Which Chris does. And he washes my windshield. Don't worry, I tip him very well. ;)

However, apparently, I've made it pretty easy to figure out who he is. BUT! Although most readers know my name, most of them only know who Chris is through me if they Facebook stalk me. (Tripp you are officially being called out. Right now.) Never once have I called him by his real name, even though I almost have like 50 bajillion times, because I really like his real name. And since we started dating/since I started getting mentioned on his blog, I have only commented as 'Mirage' and not myself. Yeah, okay, I've talked about him being on the Quidditch team a lot, and I've posted attractive Quidditch pictures of his posterior, but seriously, only if you had Facebook stalked me would you know who Chris really is. Or if you had Facebook stalked the Crimson Fliers. (Either way, Tripp, you're still a creep. It's okay, I still love you. And if you're going to Facebook stalk me, just add me as a friend for crying out loud, Chris and I are kind of actually dying to meet you.)

On a completely unrelated note, my tandem bike bruise is officially ten inches long by four inches wide. Yeah, as soon as I can get a good picture I'll post it, because it's freaking epic. Definitely the coolest bruise I've ever had.

On another completely unrelated note, my students today were tough. They were good kids, just... ridiculously un-coordinated. Like, unbelievably so. This resulted in one of them getting hurt, which resulted in me having to fill out an accident report with Ski Patrol... yaaaaaaay.

On what I believe is the last completely unrelated note, I completely rocked my final tonight. At least, I feel like I did. I finished it in like half an hour, and I felt like I really knew all of the answers, and gave more than was required of me on the short answers. I'm definitely looking forward to my next class with Dr. Barney, because he's frickin' awesome, AND it's Accessible Recreation, which will be really cool from him because he's in a wheelchair. Wheelchair basketball HERE I COME!

Wait, I lied. Last completely unrelated note. I have cleaning checks on Monday and I do not want to clean... Pleh.

Six.

That's how many consecutive days Chris and I have spent together in the past seven-day period. Yep, six. Birthday weekend turned into birthday which turned into finals all-nighter, so technically today (Wednesday) is only PARTLY contributing to the six, but w/e, it sounds more impressive/awesome. However, now I have to wait until Sunday to see him. *face melts into indecipherable expression*
But then we get to have another 'weekend' aka he's going to hang out in Provo for like four days and whenever I'm not working we'll be together. And when I am working he may or may not be vegging at my apartment playing Skyrim on The Gorgeous. Or watching Netflix. Or sleeping on my couch. My roommates won't be home, so I need someone to guard my stuff while I'm not there! (Right.) Either way, the month of December is going to involve plenty of Chris-Jen togetherness.

Next semester is going to suck.

The job at Sundance is still going ab fab, I'm finally to the point where I'm teaching lessons by myself, NBD.

The job at Outdoors alternates between putting me to sleep and making me want to kill all of the people who come in all at once wanting to return/rent skis. Grrrrrrrrr.

School is almost over. One more paper to wrap up and then I'm free, for better or for worse. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm not going to lie, I'm SO excited to get rid of the permanent headache that settled on me last week it's kind of ridiculous. I'm not even nervous about my last final, not even remotely. I'm just nervous about finishing my paper.

On the subject of papers, I don't know if I've told you all, but there have been a few times that Chris has told me that I'm "the best girlfriend" he's ever had. (Although I haven't actually heard him say it in a while, which is okay I suppose. It's just not something I ever get tired of hearing.) To be honest, he had been chilling at the topmost tier since before we even started dating, but there hasn't really been anything to this point that has "blown my mind." Until now. It's not even something that seems like a big deal, but it was huge to me. Some people might think of 'mind blowing' as some completely over-the-top romantic event, but to me, it was simply him helping me with my paper. Because of his help I was able to get it done on time, which might just save my grade. He had tons of studying to do himself, but instead he opted to help me. Seriously, I'm still in a little bit of disbelief. I know he doesn't think of it as that big of a deal, and some of you are probably like, "What? Something that simple makes him the best boyfriend you've ever had?" My answer to you is most assuredly yes. By small and simple means great things are brought to pass!

My family might call me a broken record, but I'm more crazy about this boy than I've ever been about anybody else. AND he got the, "he's really cute!" seal of approval from my mother. Which is a big deal to me. She called Brandon 'nice' (code for "what on earth are you thinking Jen?") and she never met Nine Toes. I honestly don't remember if she liked Mitsubishi or not, seriously, I remember very little about that relationship, even though it was essentially eight months long from start to finish and we had very seriously talked marriage. The last boy she called "really cute" was Dork Boy, and I don't think I've talked about him, but my mother LOVED HIM, in fact I think she's still secretly disappointed that I let him get away. Even though that was almost two and a half years ago and he's married now. Yeah. Either way, lately every time I've been invited to 'family things' it has been "would you and Chris like to come/be able to make it to..." YEAH. I don't think I have to tell you how much I really like that. I've always wanted to be "you and boy." And now I am. I love it I love it I love it.

Sunday is the Woods family Christmas party, and I don't know if I should be excited or nervous. Now that I think I'm over the parents hurdle I'm not particularly nervous. Besides, I'll be with Chris. Other than remembering to keep the PDA toned down (it will have been FOUR DAYS since our last time together, talk about difficult!!!! LOLz) I don't think I have much to worry about.

Tomorrow is a full day at Sundance, followed by Friday morning there as well. (Friday will be awesome, because I'll be off by 12:30 and don't have to be at work at Outdoors until four. Skiiiiiiinnnnngggggggggggg.) Stoked. I love skiing. I love Sundance. And teaching is okay too I guess.

OH, and today a tandem bike fell on my leg as I fell through a rack of skis. I'll be sure to post a photo/diagram tomorrow. It hurt. And I want you to fully grasp why.

Sequel.

Dinner at Chris's parents for the second time yesterday... infinitely better. So, that's a relief, because honestly I was concerned that it would be awkward forever. Thankfully, it is looking up.

Dinner with Chris's friends... while I might not have impressed Smartypants as much as I would have preferred, we ARE friends on Facebook now, so I suppose that's a good sign. As for the Quidditch team, well, they already love me, NBD. Nerdy Friend (I don't think he will end up meriting a nickname, but if he does, I'll come up with something new) would have to be clinically insane if he didn't approve, because we sat across from each other and basically ended up quoting Robot Chicken Star Wars and HISHE at each other all night... Yeah, nerd Jen definitely showed herself at that particular outing. Again, NBD.

Quidditch practice with the Fliers... SO AWESOME! It was fun to see what a 'real' practice is like, rather than just scrimmaging and such. I learned a lot from Brown Wig, and even though it was honestly like the second time I've played Quidditch with other people in my life, I feel like I didn't make a COMPLETE fool of myself. Chasing, however, is definitely not my thing, especially because now that climbing season is over my hands have lost all of their strength. :/ Keeping FTW.

OKAY, so. Onto sappier matters. Today is Chris's birthday. And, having spent his entire birthday weekend with him (the weekend which included the one-month mark, which I'm not going to lie, is a big deal to me, especially in light of my recent success in the dating world) I just have to say that caring about age difference is for shmucks. Not that Chris is immature, but I think we're on a pretty good level maturity wise. Does the fact that we're over four and a half years apart make me love him any less? Assuredly no. Does he love me any less because of that? I imagine not. So. Yeah.

Anyway, I'm heading to Salt Lake once again (isn't Chris nice for buying me gas?) tonight again for birthday shenanigans. Stoked.

OH and a final note, I freaking LOVE my job at Sundance. I have gotten total ballers for students so far, and I'm just... I love it. Putting on that dang Sundance uniform makes me feel (and ski) like a million bucks.

Soundtrack.

Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness MY SKYRIM SOUNDTRACK CAME TODAY. Yeah, the one signed by the composer, with four discs of video game soundtrack perfection. EEEEEEEE! I'm so pleased that it decided to come when I need it most, with many hours of paper writing looming over my head. Finally I get to listen to my favorite track (featured in the 20-minute gameplay preview from G4, it's called Under an Ancient Sun) without anybody talking to me, or wolves attacking me... It's gorgeous. Seriously, goosebumps.

The Quidditch team headbands came today. I bought two full sets (so, enough for a scrimmage) for like thirty bucks, which I think is pretty decent. I'm trying to decide if I want to BYU-ify them or not.

Another note, Saturday is Chris's birthday dinner. I wasn't particularly nervous about it until I read his blog. And now I'm way nervous. Meeting his family was... so awkward. Ugh, it was awful. We got there really early and so we sat around waiting to eat for like, half an hour-forty five minutes. It wasn't TOO terrible until Sister and Hubby showed up with Nephew, and then Chris ditched me to play with Nephew while I just sat there at the kitchen table awkwardly listening to their conversations. (That was one moment where I was like, "Damn, why don't I like little kids better?!") It was super awkward, and I kept shooting Chris these looks like, 'Save me!' which of course he ignored. It's not a big deal, if I were him I would've rather played with my cute nephew than sit awkwardly at the dinner table with my suddenly silent and thoroughly un-charismatic girlfriend. Yeah. Fail. Normally that never happens... but something about that situation, and the way I could tell that they were disappointed that I wasn't Hannah... I went into 'little shy hermit crab Jen' mode. Not a good mode when you're trying to impress people.

I'm hoping, though, that I'll be okay with his friends, because they're not as scary, and let's face it, Chris and I are pretty close to the same person. Plus half the Crimson Fliers will be there, and I already know them. NBD.

Still nervous though.

AND I have a huge paper to write tonight. Oh that writing a paper were as easy as writing a blog post!

Care.

So last night I was up pretty much all night with Chris being sick. (What?! You stayed at his house overnight again?! Yes, I did. Personally, I think it's a little difficult to be any sort of immoral when your boyfriend is puking his guts out all night.) Not exactly the highlight of my life. I felt so bad. Basically I just sat around and comforted him when he wasn't... yeah...
But here's a little moment of dumb/sappy/perhaps adorable? I feel like you can truly say you like/love (yeah, we may or may not have just reached that milestone...) someone when you don't care that they just spent the past ten minutes puking, all you want to do is hold them and make them feel better. You just want to take care of them. You want them to feel better so badly that it's almost painful. You ask them every five minutes if they're SURE there's nothing more you can do for them. People might be surprised to hear that coming from me of all people. Me, the girl who doesn't particularly care for children and sometimes comes across as utterly heartless...
Honestly though, as soon as he walked back in the room, sat down next to me and then whispered, "Jen... will you hold me?" I was toast.

Fa-reak!

It's been waaaaaaaaaaay longer than normal since I posted last... Blame Chris. He knows, he doesn't care. Neither do I, frankly. As much as I love you all, Chris trumps.

But seriously, today and Monday will be the only days this week that I don't see him. Can you say freaking spoiled? Yeah. It's been amazing, but it's going to make the next few weeks REALLY HARD. Because next week is crunch time, with finals the week after that and then... my 'break' from hell. I'm literally working every single day all break. Actually, I'm working every single day from the ninth to about... oh, mid-April. Yep. Every single day. I know, you're thinking, "What about Christmas? What about Sundays?" Yep, even those. I'm sure I'll get an earful about not working on Sundays, but if I don't, I won't make enough money to pay my tuition when March 1st rolls around. I know, depressing/scary/sad right? So honestly, I spent (and will spend) the majority of my week with Chris because I need to fill up the tank to keep me going for the next month, when I'm honestly not sure how much I'll get to see him. I'm sure I'll see him more than I'm thinking I will, because let's face it, we are kind of addicted to each other. But in a good way. :)

So I'll give you a rundown of my week, after Monday that is. Tuesday, went to work, then school, then drove to Salt Lake. Five Guys for dinner. (So good.) We talked about how smart we are (but seriously, we actually did talk about that) and other related topics, then headed back 'home' to watch... oh shoot, what DID we watch? Ummmm... dangit... what did we watch? I know at some point we played Harry Potter Scene It and I kicked his TRASH (he will deny this vehemently, but there's no way around it, I womped) and I seem to recall we watched... dangit, I don't even remember. He had class at nine and I had class at eleven so we figured we'd go really late, then do breakfast before heading to our respective places of education. Yeah, after sleeping for about five hours at my 'Salt Lake residence' (seriously, I might as well just move in) and then doing breakfast... yeah, he ended up skipping class and coming to mine instead. Yes, that does mean we drove down to Provo, and yes, he sat around doing nothing while I worked... Seriously, I had a work meeting at Sundance that lasted FOUR AND A HALF HOURS, it was utterly ridiculous. I had thought it would maybe be an hour or two... yeah, right. I finally got back to my apartment just before TEN. Ridiculous. At that point we probably should've just stayed in Provo... but we didn't. My one Thursday class got cancelled, so we were together all day until he had to work. It was fabulous. We attempted to watch Dune (too weird, we didn't finish) watched all three Robot Chicken Star Wars, watched Avatar, and of course, ridiculous amounts of conversation.

Today feels like Thursday because of that though. It's obnoxious.

Tomorrow... Full day of skiing! Yippee! And then... Chris! Meeting my parents! (Ay, I'm nervous.) Ugly Sweater Party! Double date with La and Marine! Church at Chris's ward and meeting HIS parents on Sunday! (Super nervous for that one... yikes.) And then... the week from hell! Yeahhhhhhh.

Giggly.

Today after classes I ran into the Super Best Friend. It was SO GREAT. I haven't seen him in ages (for me, with Super Best Friend, a week is an age, I love him so much), and this kid is the non-romantic version of my 'other half.' He is better than a brother to me. We've been through a ton together (seriously, we've been friends for six years and really close for two of them), especially this summer when we spent literally every day together at Aspen Grove. SBF is just... great. He's honestly in my top five favorite people of all time. We get each other, to the point that sometimes it's a little frightening. And we love each other a LOT, in the brother/sister way.

ANYWAY, this semester he got himself a girl. I personally am not surprised, I've known the quality of his character for years. BUT he is kind of an intimidating guy, and girls usually don't get past the Army ROTC badass exterior to the incredibly good-hearted guy underneath. (He'd kill me for saying that. Bring it.) This girl, though... somehow she saw what I see. And they are crazy about each other. It makes me happy beyond belief. He deserves to be happy more than anyone I know. He's even told her that he loves her. Dead serious, she is the first girl besides me (and his family) that he's said that to. Are you grasping why I'm completely thrilled?! My rough-and-tumble best friend is in love. It's weird. But the best kind of weird.

I think, though, that the weirdest part for me was how we were both super 'giggly' and just grinning like fools the entire conversation while we talked about our respective 'loves.' It was something I've never experienced with him. We've been through a pretty wide range of emotions together, but the fact that we were both super twitterpated was... a new one. It was fantastic. I mean honestly, we both had huge grins on our faces the entire time, and we both kept saying, "I'm so happy for you!" to each other.

I LIKE THIS FEELING. I've been twitterpated before... but not like this. Seriously, all I have to do is think about Chris and this ridiculous grin spreads across my face. I am incapable of rational thought. I just sit around and think about Chris and grin and giggle and... wow, what is wrong with me?

You know what the best part (for me) is? The fact that when he tells me he likes me/misses me/thinks I'm wonderful... I BELIEVE HIM.

Rough.

So, frankly, this Thanksgiving 'vacation' has been tough. I missed Chris A LOT, and let's just say that my parents and I don't have an idyllic relationship. Nothing bad, just... extremely frustrating.

Anyway, finally made it home today, Skyrim probably 70% of the time, sleeping 20% of the time, and just goofing around another 10%. Literally the minute my parents dropped me off at my apartment, I booked it to my car to head to Salt Lake to see Chris. Freak, I have never been so desperate to see someone in my entire life. Even with texting/calling/skyping, I missed him with pretty much every fiber of my being. Yeah, whatever, I'm pathetic. I love myself and I hate myself. My diet starts tomorrow. OUR DIET STARTS TOMORROW. Oh wait... lol. Props if you know what I'm talking about it. Every guy should have a knowledge of it.

But seriously, I missed him a LOT. I am utterly terrible at the whole 'long distance' thing. UTTERLY TERRIBLE. If I could just... apparate... life would be 100% better. Because I would be with Chris all the time, except when he's at work, or when we both need to sleep. And even sometimes during the latter. Oh well.

No matter though. Made super great time to Salt Lake, after pulling a few maneuvers of questionable legality (aka going through the light and flipping a U to turn right because the idiot in front of me made me miss the left turn arrow... yup) and literally ran to his apartment. Except on the stairs... those things are SO SKETCH, I just know one of these days I'm gonna turf it (or rather cement it) hard core on those things. Had the longest/tightest/best hug of my life before we geeked out about Skyrim for an hour before I took him to work. (Yes, I drove two hours round trip for one hour with my boyfriend. WORTH IT.) It's been forever since I've been to that hospital, that thing is crazy massive. Watched him walk all the way up the stairs (LIKE A CREEPER, yeeeeaaaahhhhh) before I headed home. That was depressing.

Came home and hung out with Knight, we played Scrabble Slam, and once I got into my groove, I pwn3d. I like winning. :)

Anyway... Tuesday... date! I'm excited! (Once again, catch the reference and I love you.)

Fate.

I've probably said this before but in case you don't read Chris's blog, you should. I'm probably going to reference it a lot.

His most recent post talks about 'karmic fate,' so I thought I'd elaborate a little on my thoughts concerning the matter. Frankly, there are too many 'coincidences' that have brought us together at the right time, and I wanted to share them.

Coincidence Thread #1 -
When Hannah was getting talking about going on her mission, she and Chris were in the beginning stages of talking about marriage, but she really wanted to go. Chris felt strongly that she should go, and that he should support her. (This I've talked about before.) She went, and even though we don't talk about it much, I know it was tough on him. Things were okay, but as time passed she started falling out of love with him (I would say "How dare she!" but I'm glad she did) and by the time she got home she essentially had lost all interest. Obviously, Chris was a little bitter. (Wouldn't you be?)

BUT - had she not gone, they would probably be married by now. Had he not felt strongly that she should go, he MIGHT have tried to convince her to stay (and thus, they would probably be married). Had he not felt that he should be supportive, and blog about it, the chances of us meeting are SLIM TO NONE.

AND - Chris met a few girls while Hannah was gone that he was interested in enough that he could've dated them, but he didn't, because of Hannah. He even told me that if we had met while Hannah was gone, we wouldn't have dated. So simply because I discovered his blog AFTER she was home and disinterested, I got a chance, which leads me to:

Coincidence Thread #2 -
I honestly, truly, legitimately stumbled upon Chris's blog by mere chance. (Well, actually, I don't believe that one bit. There was no chance at all. But it WAS extremely random.) I am quite thoroughly addicted to The Anti-Austens, and I read them on a daily basis. (No, seriously, I check for posts every day.) When I was first introduced to the Anti-Austens in early September, I enjoyed it, and intended to read through all of their posts, but somehow I didn't until mid-late September. I finally did, and through them discovered The Bubblys, and through the Bubblys discovered Tripp Hazard, and through Tripp discovered Wait(ed) for a Sister Missionary. Seriously, I honestly don't even remember how or why exactly I clicked on the link to his blog. It sounded/looked intriguing I suppose. Some girls might've been deterred by the title, but I wasn't for some reason. I was bored and felt like creepin'.

Dead serious, from the instant I started reading this post, (I answered 'yes' to almost every question, and had I read the post in time, I would've gone) I thought, "Oh my goodness. I need to meet this boy. I need to date this boy. I wonder if the missionary is home. I wonder if they're dating. I wonder I wonder I wonder..." I've been 'drawn' to people before, but not someone I didn't know THAT quickly. I read a pretty giant chunk of his blog that night and left a comment on that post, but pretty much went to bed not expecting anything to come of it.

So, as some of you have probably read, I was shocked when the VERY NEXT DAY he had not only commented on one of my posts, but had starting following my blog. And most of you probably don't know, but Chris doesn't check/update his blog all that often, especially since Hannah came home. So the fact that I just happened to comment and he just happened to check his blog and respond, in that short period of time (which, frankly, to me was an indication of interest) is a little crazy. And almost necessary, because what I figured to be an indication of interest gave me the courage to be a little more 'bold' and email him. That's about where the 'coincidences' end on this subject, because after that it was all definitely just interest. But wait, there's more.

Coincidence Thread #3 -
Both of my recent 'relationships' (one legitimized and one not) failed after less than two weeks. I started dating David way too quickly, and he had the intuitiveness to end it when it was clear that we really weren't all that compatible, dating-wise. Had David been more 'persuadable' I would've convinced him to keep dating me, and then... yeah. Had AFC shown interest earlier in the semester, we probably would've started dating earlier, and possibly been more 'solidified' in a relationship when I met Chris (and therefore less interested in pursuing something).

There are more than that for sure, but those are the definite 'off the top of my head' ones.

Basically, in my opinion, we are 'meant to be', whether it's forever or just for now I don't know. Because these 'coincidences' are anything but.

Thanksgiving.

I'm exhausted. Part of this is because I was 'Skyping' Chris until like 1 am (my time, I'm not a very nice girlfriend) and then woke up at like 9 for family breakfast. Plus I ate tons of turkey. Not really helpful.

Today was great though. Skyrim, college football, beach, body boarding (caught some SICK waves), hot tub, beach football, and lots of delicious food. Mmmmmm.

So, it's a little cliche, but here's a list of things I'm grateful for, the important stuff at the top but not in any particular order.

I am grateful for Chris. Not only does he make me happy, but he makes me feel important/wanted/needed/desirable. He has restored my faith in finding a guy as diverse as I am. Even when he posts things on Facebook that make me mildly unhappy, I'm still pretty crazy about him. I'm thankful that he cares enough about me to help me work through my insecurities and get to a place where I can accept compliments and believe him when he tells me he loves me. (He hasn't yet, and it'll be awhile. That's fine. But it's probably going to happen eventually.) I'm grateful that I found him, and most especially grateful that he cares about me as much as I care about him.

I am (obviously) grateful for my family. Even when they drive me crazy, I still love them. I've interacted with enough people in the universe to be very glad that I have as good of a family dynamic as I do. I love them, they love me, and even when tempers run high, things never go terribly awry.

I am grateful for my unendingly forgiving parents. I know I stress them out, and yet they still love me  without pause.

I am grateful for my (admittedly very few) true and lasting friends. Scooley, Bruce, Christel...

I am grateful for my wonderful roommates.

I'm definitely grateful for all of my friends, old and new. I could list them, but that would seem... lame.

I'm grateful for my coworkers and classmates, who make my days brighter.

I'm grateful for the technology that allows me to communicate with the people I love even when I can't be with them. Texting, Gchat, Facebook.

I'm grateful that I've been provided with a car that allows me to go wherever I want to go, whenever I want - yes, most specifically Salt Lake, but also my work.

I'm super grateful that I have a (mostly) perfect body. I may not take the best care of it, but it does pretty much everything I ask of it, and most of that it does very well. Harder, better, faster, stronger - that will come with time.

I'm grateful for Hannah's mission. If she hadn't gone, I never would've met Chris, and even if I had somehow, he probably would've been married to her. I owe her the best guy I've ever dated.

I'm grateful for my passion. Without it, I never would've made it to where I am.

I'm grateful for the Gospel, the Church, and BYU. I don't think I need to go into any sort of detail on this.

I'm grateful that I've never had the misfortune of getting rejected from a job that I truly, legitimately wanted. I've always had wonderful employers, and they have always been gracious enough to give me jobs when I wanted them. Jim, Gardner, Jerry - thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will love you men forever.

I'm grateful for snow. It makes me happy, and has provided me with what I hope will be a fantastic job, as well as a lifelong passion.

I'm grateful to live in Utah. Some people don't much care for the state, but I am deeply in love with it. It is truly a playground!

I'm grateful for music. How boring life would be without it! Music says what I need when words escape me.

I'm grateful for perspective.

I'm super grateful to you, the readers of my blog! Even though this blog is pretty much completely for myself, I love knowing that you enjoy it.

I'm grateful that today isn't the only day I can express gratitude for all that I've been blessed with, because one day is not enough!

So, in the spirit of this lovely day, what are YOU grateful for?

Growl.

Ugh, I just discovered that one of my stupid coworkers who shall remain unnamed *cough* CHANCE *cough* deleted the post about my weekend last weekend, after I'd already spent a ton of time on it. 'Recap.' I even posted it! But then he posted over it, because I accidentally left it open at work... yes, never making that mistake again. I know he didn't do it to be malicious, I'm just irritated now.

I already did a recap of recap, so whatever. To clarify, 'whole weekend with Chris' consists of me staying at one of my favorite Crimson Fliers' apartments and then getting together with Chris in the morning. It works, and it makes the weekend way better than if I had to go back to Provo. And it's nice to have someone I know/like to stay with, rather than "Hey, ummmmmm.... can my boyfriend crash at your apartment? K thanks."

Anyway, I made it to Carlsbad safe and sound, obviously. Had a positively lovely day at the beach, and told my mom that Chris and I are dating. Way less scary than I expected. Actually, she brought it up. She was like, "So, are you guys dating?" I was so relieved to be able to say yes with a smile on my face. I've been 'trying' extra hard to be cheerful, it really hasn't been that difficult. It's a little frustrating because something about being around my parents/family seems to bring out the crabby in me, but I think I've done fairly well at not being a snot while not being overbearingly, "Oh I'm so twitterpated and sappy and oh I miss my boyfriend so much!" Aka mature. Although I do miss him like CRAZY, I wish he were here so bad. I think I now have a small grasp of what he meant when he would say he wished I was with him in New York. Seriously though, having him here would accomplish a lot. One, we'd get to be together, in San Diego! Two, he'd get to meet/interact with all of the most important people in my life, and they could pass judgment before I'm too crazy about him to care what they think (oh wait... too late). Three, beaching is a complex and frequent activity in my family, and I'd be able to make sure that my beaching style is compatible with his. (Spurts of intense activity mixed into a day of lying around doing jack squat.) Some people don't like to just lay around all day, while others aren't huge fans of the ocean, while yet others DO like to just lay around all day. These things are not necessarily deal breakers, but I couldn't marry someone who hated the ocean. Thankfully I already know that Chris most definitely does not hate the ocean, or the beach. (He wants to go to med school at UCLA, that's a good sign I think.)

After the beach we went to the pool/hot tub. Again, shouldn't have to explain why I want Chris with me. (UGH, I always end up accidentally typing his real name, and being sad when I have to correct, because his real name is sexy. Seriously.) Dinner with the fam, then home for Cars 2 and eventually games.

Part of my wanting Chris here is totally selfish; I'm wicked tired of being the odd one out. My brothers have both been married for years (one for five and one for two) and so I've been the 'third/fifth/seventh/ninth wheel' for... a while. I know I shouldn't be dramatic about it, but it's getting old. Really old. It's honestly one of the things I'm mostly looking forward to concerning marriage - having someone on family vacations. Well, heck, not being alone anymore period, not just on family vacations. I've always been the 'buddy' type of person in that I'm fine to be alone, but I like to have that one person that I'm really close with. Especially in the family vacation setting, because I won't get treated like a terrible person for going off 'on my own.' Seriously, that especially is getting old. So what if I want to do my own thing for a little bit? Is that such a crime when I'm guaranteed to be with you people for at least four full days? Constantly? I'm not really much of the family vacation type anyway, so when I get 'chewed out' for wanting some alone time, it just gets on my nerves. When I have a husband though, we can go do our own thing and it will be totally acceptable! FINALLY.

Another part is just because I want to be with him ALL THE TIME. I know it's a little ridiculous, but if I could just drop everything and go on a dating honeymoon with him for like.... forever.... I'd be pretty happy. Alas, that's never going to happen. Seriously though, I want to be with this boy constantly. It's kind of crazy. But I like it. :)

Airport.

Well now it's time for the 'airport' post.

I am freaking pathetic. Tonight when Chris dropped me off at the airport, I was so bummed, it was a little ridiculous. And it's going to be a whole week until I see him again. PATHETIC. Pathetic pathetic pathetic. I am freaking pathetic.

Deep breaths. I'll be okay. I get to be in San Diego for the rest of the week! How is that a bad thing? And with the whole fam! (Read = favorite sister in law.)

I'm a dork and forgot about the TSA liquids rule... poor TSA guy having to go through my bag (read: swimsuit bottoms and other... similar... items...) to get my toothpaste out. Awkward.

Anyway, watching the Republic National Security Debate. Why are people so dumb?

A good day though - Chris came down this morning after work/school and we just hung out in Provo. Don't worry, there was dinch involved, so it did qualify as a date. But there was of course quality conversation, as always. Then he drove me to the airport, which frankly was really depressing, I am not a fan of saying goodbye.

Anyway, it's my turn to board... so.... peace and blessings!

Recap.

Okay, so guess what I did yesterday?? I won't tell you though. But guess anyway. so a guy named jingle heimer schmidt came to my work today and made me laugh so hard I almost kicked a stool over which almost hit him and caused a gigantic raucous with my co-worker I call morten butkis. But really, I am so cool I dont know what to do with myself. any ideas? maybe I should move to china. Anyway, back to reality, my long lost friend gina seymour chinamen came over and ate at my apt. It was so fun to catch up and remember the good old times at our old all boy boarding school. good times. I want to buy a bike  but I only have about 750 euros, which we know means somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 dollars and 75 cents. i have no sense. I'm all out. Got a concussion last night, don't know why. but I do know I am cooler than the other side of the pillow. I think I want to kiss jingle heimer schmidt, but for some reason I only see him when I sing a special song. That song is a secret but guess what it is anyway and i still won't tell you. I am in love with ********. decifer that and you will know whom I love. I must go to the bathroom right now...excuse me. anyone have a match I can borrow?


.... Wait.... That was definitely one of my coworkers... Thanks a lot Chance.

And now I don't even remember what this post was really about. If you got to read it before Chance deleted it (jerk!), lucky you.

Basically, whole weekend with Chris, skiing at Brighton was great, I got the job (woot!), but lost my iTouch (sad day, I'm so bummed). BYU football did great, and Chris did great cheering for them. Baby steps. ;)

Ugh, Chance, I'm going to KILL YOU. I had so much in that post.

Backflip.

I get to ski TOMORROW. Oh my goodness. I am so nervous/excited! Went on yet another lovely date with Chris. Cafe Rio and quality conversation, what more can a girl ask for? Oh and when we walked back outside? Snowing like a yeti's backyard. So happy. Chris doesn't much care for winter, but I'm hoping that my obsession with it will rub off a little bit. lol. It is beginning to astonish me how much Chris and I have in common. Tonight we got onto the subject of politics, and, shocker, we have pretty similar views. We're both 'moderate liberals.' It's just so funny to me that almost everything we talk about, we pretty much agree on. We disagree enough that it's clearly not a case of Runaway Bride Syndrome. It's like we're the same person... I won't pull out that ridiculous two halves of a whole thing quite yet, but it's an intriguing concept. Anyway, I need to be able to do a triple backflip tomorrow, as per suggestion of my home teacher, so I'd best be off to bed. I'll keep you posted on how things go! Triple backflip here I COOOOOMMMMMMEEEE!

Short.

I honestly don't have that much to say, because I'm a) exhausted, b) way too excited for this weekend, (skiing + Quidditch + Chris + BYU football... yeah, I don't have to explain ANYTHING to you) and c) about to go play Skyrim. Even though I am, yes, super exhausted. Skyrim > sleep.

An Eddie Bauer catalog came in the mail today. Man, if I could just dress like I walked out of that thing... or L.L. Bean... or Patagonia... or all of the above...

*** I had to give a little update... On the IQA Western Region's Facebook, Bear Train posted something about being mad that there weren't any pictures of them from the World Cup on the official website. I ended up commenting... pictures ended up getting found... And then Willis (the Fliers's keeper) said "Just go to the link I posted, and click on the picture twice. You might be interested in this one, in particular:

"

Let's just say, I blushed SO VIOLENTLY that I'm sweating...

But what can I say? He's like... the hottest thing on the planet... Seriously...

100!

A hundred posts! Crazy-ness. I never thought I'd ever stick to something so well.

Another good title for this post would have been 'Airport' but seriously, the 100th blog post is something to be celebrated, at least in my case.

So, THE AIRPORT! First of all, the BYU basketball game was amazing. I sat by myself (if you know who I am, and read this blog, and go to BYU basketball games, please tell me- sitting alone happens a lot and I am not a fan) but had a great time anyway. We creamed, which was great, but we definitely weren't at the top of our game. It's okay, we didn't need to be, I'm not really that disappointed. One thing that I WAS disappointed in was the complete desertion of the Marriott Center! Seriously, only half of the seats were filled! This is the MARRIOTT CENTER, people! The fifth hardest arena to play in, in college basketball, in the country! I was extremely saddened by the lack of support for our Cougars. In the Jimmer era that would've been completely unheard of, and that was only last season! Ridiculous.

Anyway, after the game, I made a quick exit out of Provo (seriously, it was SO slick, I was amazed) and headed to the airport. I was so excited, my heart felt like it was in my throat. Blasted my Skrillex to distract myself, and that kind of worked... except that Skrillex is a mutual favorite artist, but seriously, no amount of distraction was going to work.

Finally got to the airport at 10:30. Early. Typical "I am my father's daughter" moment. Thankfully though, my iPod was fully charged, so I took full advantage of my Kindle app, and then ended up reading all of the Priesthood session talks. Go iPod. There were a couple of families there waiting for missionaries to come home, and it brought back so many great memories. I chatted with one of the elders's mom, she was so cute and excited, and I just kept telling her how wonderful of a feeling it is when you see them/hug them/take care of them again. Obviously I've never been a mother, but I know how my mom felt, and how I felt. It really is one of the best feelings in the world. I mean, I was super excited to see Chris after five days, but two years? Total trump. :) When the elders arrived, I couldn't help but sit and watch them with a big grin on my face. One of them had a little sister who was the same age I was when my brothers were coming home, and I was admittedly totally filled with love for these complete strangers. After they all left, I probably had another half hour or so to wait until Chris's flight landed. More conference talks, hurray! When it got to about ten minutes before their flights was supposed to land, I kept looking at that stupid board that just kept saying 'On Time' but never 'Arrived.' Oh my excruciating. Especially when it was fifteen minutes past when their flight was supposed to have landed...

But then I looked up and saw familiar faces. People I had never met, but would know anywhere. The MUSS shirts kind of gave them away, but honestly, I would've known the Crimson Fliers anywhere. My heart skipped about six beats before restarting at an extremely heightened rate. I stood up and started walking towards the hallway they were coming out of, and then I saw him. Yeah, my heart did a combination of swan-dive, stopping, and frenzied beating. Goodness, he was/is so ridiculously handsome. And when he looked up and saw me? The expression on his face said more than any words ever will.

I had to restrain myself from being the obnoxious squealing run-and-jump-into-his-arms girl. I wanted to do that. But I knew he wouldn't particularly appreciate that, and I didn't want to act like a 12-year-old in front of his entire team, especially after he had apparently been 'bragging' about me all weekend. (A boyfriend who likes to brag about me? And does? Often? Seriously, WHO IS THIS GUY?) So instead I just stood there grinning at him as he walked straight up to me and wrapped me in his arms. Oh, there are no words for how great that was.

THIS IS CRAZY! I have never experienced twitterpation on this level. Ever. Even one of my oldest friends, Bruce, was telling me tonight that he's never seen me like this. And he's been there through ALL of my boyfriends.

Anyway, we walked over to baggage claim, where the point was reiterated to me how much better 'arm around' is than hand holding. And the fact that Brady thinks the same thing? I don't think I have to tell you how I feel about that. I finally met the team, which made me happy, because I've been feeling like I know them for weeks now. Sly and Schau, two of the girls on the team, are super awesome. I feel like we're going to be friends. But the whole time, Brady kept his arm around me. Again, I don't think I have to tell you how I feel about that. Just standing there, waiting for his stuff, with our arms around each other, and my head on his shoulder... Overwhelming happiness, on a level I haven't ever felt before. A mixture of contentment, and giddiness, and twitterpation... Ladies and gentleman, I MIGHT be on my way to falling in love with this boy. Might.

All of their stuff finally arrived, they had a team cheer, some trash talk was exchanged, (the co-captain of BYU Quidditch is dating one of their starting chasers, how could it not?!) and we finally headed home. Chris miraculously got work off, so we figured we'd take advantage of that and chat for a bit. And we MEANT a bit. Yeah, that didn't really work. Call us crazy, but we seriously talked until the sun came up without even realizing it, until the sun actually started coming up. It was the kind of conversation where we just kept talking and talking and completely lost track of time. You might not think that's possible, and if I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't either. But he gave me a play-by-play of the whole weekend, including the games they played in as well as the games they watched, including both of the Middlebury debacles. It was crazy! I've talked for hours on the phone and such before, and had conversations that lasted most of the night on the phone before, or such things with girls, but not anything like that. We just talked and talked and talked, and it didn't even feel like that long until we looked out the window and the sun was definitely rising. Ha. I had been planning on being home before one... yeah right...

Since we both had school, pretty much the only option was to go get food before I needed to head back to Provo. Ah that drive was difficult! And now I'm freaking exhausted from not sleeping at all, but it was so worth it. And I get to see him again on Friday! So excited. I'm staying at a friend's in Salt Lake so I don't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to make it to Brighton on time for my ski tryout for Sundance! And then after that, Chris and I are going to go down to Provo for BYU Quidditch practice and the football game. And this time, I have things planned for his visit. I'm so excited, it is kind of ridiculous.

Oh, I am in trouble.

Beliefs.

So, I know you're all desperately waiting for a Skyrim post, but I've only played 12 hours of it (I know, what is WRONG with me?!) and I want to do it proper justice, so y'all will just have to wait. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for not giving my life completely to Skyrim, although I will admit that has way more to do with the Quidditch World Cup and Chris than it does with school.

Speaking of Chris... 26 hours until I see him again!!! Ahhhhhh I'm so excited. I'm picking him up from the airport (that had actually been the original plan, Thursday just got added on because we were dying to see each other and I'M SO GLAD WE ADDED IT!) and I'm just too dang excited to contain myself. Chris after 5 days + BYU basketball after 8 months = super fab day.

Finally went grocery shopping today. I have this pathological hatred of grocery shopping alone. I don't really understand it, it's completely illogical, but when I go to the grocery store alone, I immediately become super irritated and cranky. Stupid. Add one person into the mix though, and I'm perfectly complacent. It's so odd. But I've been eeking out an existence on... nothing... for days now, so it was good to have an actual dinner again tonight that didn't come from O&W's. I had salad, mmmmmmm so delicious.

Today Chris was like, "Man, I really wish you were here. We're just wandering around New York and I miss you like crazy." For one, awwww, for two, ME TOO. I would love to go to New York with the guy I love (not saying I love Chris! Yet...) and just walk around, holding hands, talking and taking in the sights and sounds of the big city. So next year, World Cup, it's finally going to happen. I've already started saving. Not a whole lot yet though, I need to pay off my tuition stuff first.

"I thought you were going on a mission." I've heard that a couple of times lately, mostly in response to my talking about my plans with regard to Quidditch. I haven't decided. I have been thinking A LOT about some valid points that my mother has brought up, and admittedly Chris's arrival in my life has a small part to play as well. Not that I'm saying I'm going to marry Chris instead of going on a mission, but if I go on a mission, he's not going to 'wait.' Which is fine, I wouldn't blame him. But if we dated up until I left, and then he married somebody else while I was gone...? That would be really difficult for me. I'm not even saying I've thought about marrying him, but it's something I could see developing eventually. And let's be honest, you and I both know that I prefer marriage (or even just committed relationship!) to 18 months of not even TOUCHING guys.

Plus, some of the returned missionary girls I know are uptight and hyper-righteous. The idea of me being that person scares me. There's nothing wrong with being hyper-righteous! I've just never been that girl, and I don't really want to be. The holier-than-thou mentality really bothers me. I've always been laid back when it comes to Church, in the sense that I haven't ever been the type to shove my religion down other people's throats. Growing up from pre-school to fourth grade my best friend was DEVOUT Catholic. In retrospect it wasn't really that long, but we were INSEPARABLE. We did everything together, and we played together probably every day. We kind of drifted apart when she started getting more into soccer and such (she ended up played at Louisiana Tech for a while, it was a huge part of her life) but those years were crucial for my development as a 'cool Mormon'. Honestly, whenever my non-member friends would say that to me, I would swell with this immeasurable pride. To this day I still strive to be a 'cool Mormon', even though it's admittedly a lot tougher since I go to freakin' BYU and I'm constantly surrounded by them.

I realize the Gospel is a big deal, and not something to be taken lightly. I don't take it lightly! I just feel like living the Gospel in the way that seems to be interpreted by some RMs as the 'right' way isn't necessarily correct, and it's certainly not my way. I want there to be an obvious difference between me and your average Christmas-Mass-attending-Jill, but I don't want it to be obnoxiously apparent to everyone on the planet that I'm LDS. Call it the glow, call it having the light of Christ in your eyes, whatever. I want there to be that difference, but not something that is overbearingly blatant. My degree from BYU is one thing that I hope will help set me apart as a Latter-Day Saint, but mostly I will end up living my religion quietly. To me, truly living the Gospel isn't being judgmental or putting myself above others because they don't share my views. One of my greatest and truest friends, Timber, is atheist. He knows my personal views and values, and respects me for sticking to them. But I've been to parties with him where people have been drinking, and people have even told him that I 'seemed really cool, she's actually Mormon?' I would wager that pretty much my only complaint about this wonderful state we live in is the mentality of Utah Mormons. Granted, not all Mormons who live in/are from Utah are Utah Mormons, but you know the mentality. And it bothers me.

Oh well, it's not really my problem anyway. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I haven't decided either way on the mission yet, but serving a mission might not be the best way for me to share what I believe. I'll keep you posted.

Tag.

Playing Skyrim today, I was wandering around in Solitude, and started talking to some kids, and they invited me to play tag with them. So I played tag. With little kids. In a video game. IT WAS SO COOL. I love you Bethesda.

Utah lost in the first round of playoffs to Texas A&M. >:[ I'm super disappointed/mad/sad. They deserved to do better. They should've done better. This World Cup certainly did not go the way they expected. They did well in their pool, 3-1, but... yeah. It's extremely disappointing.

Middlebury won, again. Double >:[ I do not like Middlebury, and next year I WILL beat them. Well, we will beat them. We being BYU. Although Florida did bring up a good point about the finals being on Sunday and that being a problem for BYU... (Florida is the girl who's pretty much in charge of BYU Quidditch, but hopefully I'll still end up as co-captain or something.) We'll see. We still have a year to recruit and train and get amazing.

Chris's phone has been dead pretty much all day, well actually pretty much all weekend. I don't want to be whiney but I'm not gonna lie, it's been a little rough on me. It's stupid and it shouldn't make me feel unimportant, but it does. Whatever, I'm a big girl, I'll get over it. I do tend to stress. But saying it didn't matter to me would be a lie.

Anyway, I need to go write my paper. And maybe 'skype' Chris, though I'm admittedly not really getting my hopes up. (I know, maybe third time's the charm, don't be so negative Jen!) It's been a bit of a disappointing weekend, besides Skryim (that post is coming soon, don't stress!).

Man, just look at that good-lookin' Quidditch player in the red... can you believe he's mine? When this picture popped up on twitter I nearly had a heart attack. And then I proceeded to yell at that guy to get his hands off my man.

Ten.

1. Utah lost to Kansas, but only just. The Fliers's seeker caught the snitch RIGHT as Kansas scored a goal. So lame.

2. I didn't get to watch it, because they suddenly didn't have enough bandwidth to stream games. I'm irritated. Not only did I not get to watch Chris play, but I didn't get to watch Quidditch, period. I had to watch a bunch of dots randomly appear on the pitch marking where shots were made.

3. Bear Train's shoulder was dislocated (he's a chaser) in the Kansas game, and the keeper got red carded. Freaking ridiculous.

4. First legitimate phone conversation with Chris, 1 hour 42 minutes. I'm proud of him, if you've read his blog you'll know he's not much of a phone talker.

5. Quidditch practice for BYU was awesome, I was seeker until I had to go to work, but sprinting full out for like ten minutes in the cold took its toll on me and I had the most ridiculous exercise-induced asthma on the planet for the next couple hours. I was coughing like crazy and I almost blacked out a couple of times. I'll probably play keeper next week, and start getting into a training regimen. If it keeps coming back, looks like it's an inhaler for me. (Weird concept...)

6. Work was boring. 'Watched' Utah's second match against Hofstra, (again on the lame dot system, but I guess it was better than nothing) which they won, and looked at options for our future uniforms, which is pretty much it. Talked to a random attractive stranger who came in to get a Clif Bar about Quidditch, and he actually thought it was cool. He didn't look at me like, "What is wrong with you, psycho?"

7. Home from work, 'watched' Utah's last match of the day against Vermont, (they won that one too) then got bundled for the Idaho game.

8. Froze my fanny off at the Idaho game. Okay actually not my fanny, just my toes. Ugh I have terrible circulation, I hate it.

9. Caught up on Community because my roommates were watching Friends and I didn't want to be like, "Hey, you, I'm going to play Skyrim now. Go away." I love Community.

10. Missed out on 'skyping' (I use gchat video) Chris AGAIN, because he fell asleep AGAIN. It's okay, I know the Kansas game was rough on him and it sounded like he didn't make it back to his hotel until super late, seriously like 11:40 their time, and their last match ended at 7:20 (their time). But I feel like I'm somewhat justified in being bummed, because he keeps saying "we'll do it at [this time]" and then that time comes and he's nowhere to be found. I'm not saying he's a terrible boyfriend or that I'm not crazy about him anymore, I'm just not crazy about getting ditched. He's not doing it on purpose though. These things do happen.

As a parting gift, my design for our future uniforms. Yum.

Supreme.

Yes, I know, today is Skryim Day, but it's still installing, and these two awesome things each deserve their own posts. Skyrim deserves eight million posts. Chris deserves 100 million posts. BUT ANYWAY! That's not the point of this post, the point of this post is to tell you all about...

My new boyfriend. :)

And no, in this case, it's not snow.

It's CHRIS! :D

Let me tell ya the story, it's pretty adorable.

So, he has the World Cup this weekend. His flight left Thursday at like 11:30pm. We had been talking since our date about how we really wished we'd get to see each other before he left. Me especially. Well, actually, both of us. And I don't feel bad saying that, because I actually know it's true. :) Anyway, finally on Monday we decided to get together Thursday (yes, that puts me in 'the lead' of trips back and forth but what gives? We would get more time together if I drove up there) before his flight left. Actually the plan was I leave after class, go up there and play, then drive him to the airport. But whatever.

Anyway, decided on that, then anxiously waited for Thursday (for real, it was killer!) at which point I drove up there, very happily the entire time. Seriously, the drive didn't really feel that long. Once I got there (and had a very lovely hug I might add) we went to lunch at this really delicious Chinese place. We chatted about Skyrim (because I was wearing my awesome Skyrim shirt!) a lot and such, enjoyed our fantastic food, and smiled at each other. A lot. :)

After lunch, went back to his place and watched Rudy. Goodness, I love that movie. It's quality. Had a great time watching it, some quality cuddling, ya know, the usual. ;)

Somehow, I seriously don't even recall how this went down, but I think it involved me running away after accusing him of only wanting me for cuddling... I ended up kneeling on the floor in front of him sitting on the couch. He played with my hair a little bit, and then... took my face in his hands. Oh my goodness, I literally cannot even explain how fast my heart was beating at that moment. I knew what was coming. He reads my blog. He knows how I feel about face-in-hands kisses.

So, gently taking my face in his hands and lifting my chin, he leaned down and kissed me. *wave of several emotions* Oh my gosh, it was so adorable/exciting/sweet/surprisingly wonderful... Normally, soft first kisses don't do a whole lot for me. Notice I said normally. This one... oh my goodness.

The rest of the night, we talked, cuddled, and I would be lying if I said we didn't kiss a few times. And oh my goodness, the way that boy looks at me... Ladies, I am telling you right now, when a guy looks at you 'like that', KEEP HIM. 'Like that' being, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe my eyes, this beautiful girl wants to be with ME?!" A guy has never looked at me like that in my entire life. I cannot even begin to describe the way it feels. It feels amazing. I can't believe MY eyes. This handsome, smart, witty, nerdy, athletic, righteous, completely dreamy guy is looking at ME like he can't believe his luck? This is all backwards.

Of course, although I admittedly don't like the word 'boyfriend' (still don't know why, I like having one but I hate calling him that) I do admittedly like to be on the same page. And 'dating' and 'DATING' aren't really synonymous sometimes. I had already known that kissing me was a big commitment for him, as it is for me, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't go around calling him my boyfriend while watching the World Cup only to have him be like, "I'm not your boyfriend." Whatever. Anyway. I brought up the subject of labels. He asked what label I'd like to have. UGH. Wanting him to make the call, I thought for a moment, then said, "Queen Supreme of the Universe." He jokingly said he thought that was great. So now I am the Queen Supreme of the Universe, and he is the Prince Consort Supreme of the Universe. (Can we get any nerdier? Probably not.)

He's said a couple of times that he's worried that this is too good to be true. And to be honest, I am a little bit too. But it feels too fantastic and... real... to worry about it. I feel like a terrible person for being such a cynic about new love. It feels real. And it is real. Just a different kind of real. That I honestly hope just keeps getting more real. And more fantastic.

The best part? When he kissed me in front of his Quidditch team. That right there, ladies and gentleman, is the real deal.

Crash.

Well, that lasted a really long time...

Haha, don't worry, things are still good with Chris (nay, great, he gets better by the minute), but the high I've been riding on for the last couple of days just came to a screeching halt. My mom called to give me my tax info for my FAFSA (I almost said FAFSA application... redundancy derp) and we of course ended up on the subject of tuition (for fall and winter-keep in mind this is almost 5 grand). Yeah... I don't have it. I've spent the last four months fretting away most of my income on gear, clothes, gear, gasoline, and gear - plus necessities of life like rent and food. It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but it's kind of that "I have money! It feels good! I'm going to buy those two forty dollar carabiners!" feeling. I realize this is scary. Again, not something I'm proud of. I know money can't buy happiness, but the way I feel in those clothes, or the fun I have with that gear, or whatever... I don't want to say it's priceless, but to me it kind of is. I'm admittedly really insecure, you all know this. When I wear that Patagonia pullover or those Chacos, I FEEL SO FREAKING COOL. When I show up on the ski hill in the newest, coolest helmet and goggles, and everyone is jealous? Oh my gosh, words cannot describe the feeling that fills me with. Even if no one is jealous, I just feel better in that stuff.

I'm not trying to rationalize my bad habits. I'm just trying to say, there's reasoning behind it. And everything I've bought I've used - A LOT. (Well, the helmet and goggles and FatCats I WILL use a lot - every single day this winter.) The rock climbing gear? (Rope, quickdraws, carabiners, etc.) I used FOUR DAYS A WEEK all summer long. Want to do the math? Okay, I wouldn't either. Probably about 48 times. Roughly six dollars a day. I made probably that much in an hour, and that's less than half of what I would pay to go climb at a gym (which is significantly less enjoyable), plus the quickdraws and carabiners will last 3-4 years. (Draws are supposed to be replaced every 3 years.) When I start climbing twice a week with Hands, I'm going to use my rope a lot more, because we're going to get lead certified. At the beginning of the summer, or when I go on my mission, or when I go on my Study Abroad, my rope is going to get retired to be a boat rope at my family's cabin. It will get to have that job until it can't anymore. Waaaaa! Long life, and tons of enjoyment. Thanks rope, you were an excellent purchase.

There were admittedly things I should've been more careful about. I should've looked longer and harder for a cheaper Foo Fighters ticket, instead of freaking out and making a rookie mistake when I realized I hadn't bought a ticket yet. That was dumb, I admit it. The concert was INCREDIBLE, but I do wish I would've spent less money on it. I shouldn't have bought two iPod cases. That was pointless and a waste. I really didn't need to buy that Clymb t-shirt to get 'free shipping'. Yeah, essentially buying that shirt made shipping twenty bucks instead of eight. But I wanted it. And I do feel super cool wearing it. I really don't NEED those Chacos, but man I love them, and man they are good looking, and man I feel good about myself when I wear them. ("No! Jen, you don't need shoes to complete you!")

Other than the Foo Fighters tickets though, I looked for the best deals on stuff. (Those Chacos? 60% off retail.) And yeah, I probably could've only sank a couple hundred bucks into my old computer to fix it, but I WILL ADMIT IT, I wanted a computer that could play Skyrim. It's stupid. But Skyrim will provide me with literally hundreds of hours of entertainment.

Seriously, writing this makes me want to cry. I'm so stressed about school, and I miss Chris a lot, and now I have this on top of my shoulders. I have to come up with the money by March, plus pay my credit card bills (I NEVER, EVER do 'minimum payments'. It's all, or as much as I possibly can, which is usually all, though that generally ends up completely draining my bank account - doesn't that get me some bonus points?) and keep up with rent/eat. Sigh. I'm so scared. Why does this always happen to me?

Because I 'wanted it'. And little things add up. SOOO freaking fast. :'( I need a hug.

On a positive note though, I get to spend a good chunk of my day today with Chris. When I actually think about that instead of my current situation, I'm so excited, I can hardly breathe. But between that and SKYRIM (!!!!!!) I won't really have time to really post today, which is why I'm posting this at 1:30 in the morning. Yuuuuuupppp. And I'm up because I have cleaning checks. Boooo.

Fliers.

Chris plays Quidditch. I know I've already mentioned how incredibly hot I find this, but I'll say it again. IT IS SO INCREDIBLY HOT.

Anyway, this Saturday his team is playing the University of Kansas (they're ranked number 2 in the WORLD) at the World Cup in NYC and the game is being streamed live! So I thought it would be cool to reserve a classroom and project it on the wall and all that. After *cough* telling the Dean's Office I needed the room for a club meeting *cough* I got the room, and made an event, and invited the whole team and such. (Wanna come? Come! https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=248262195230681) I honestly didn't think it was that big of a deal, I just thought it would be cool to watch it on a projector in a place with really nice internet that isn't going to crap out on me!

Apparently though, it IS that big of a deal.

"It's incredible. And I'm sure the rest of the team will appreciate it too! I don't know anyone who would've done this, whether they liked me or not! That's the most sensational thing anyone has ever done for me!"

Oh. Okay. Well... okay. I admittedly did it because I want to be there and can't, so this is the next best thing... But I definitely was not expecting this kind of a reaction. It's nice though. :)

Honestly though, there really aren't any words to convey how bad I want to be there. I found a round-trip flight from Friday afternoon to Monday morning for $489. It is literally PAINFUL not to just do it. But we all know I'm not that great with my money. I'm way too impulsive. The fact that I even LOOKED at flights says that. But I want to be there so bad. And not just for Chris and The Fliers. I want to be there just to be there. The feel of it is going to be incredible. So many kindred spirits! So much passion! So much... awesomeness! I'm dead serious, BYU is GOING to the next one. 

I'm so hyper right now. This is like... probably one of the best feelings ever.

Chris.

So, because I doubt any of you actually took any sort of trouble to look at Chris's blog, much less find the post where he talks about himself, I'll tell you about him. I'm going to admit, part of the reason I'm doing this is because I thoroughly enjoyed reading his post about me. :)

Okay. So. Chris. The first thing I noticed... this is hard to describe in that way. But the first time I saw him, he was standing sort of shyly by his car waiting to pick me up. I didn't even have to second guess myself, I knew it was him right off the bat. Our eyes met, there was that moment of recognition, and he gave me this shy smile. I will admit it, right then and there I melted a little bit. I wanted so desperately to hug him, but I didn't want to seem weird, so I got in the car (he opened my door! Score, score, score!) and we went to Sammy's. The whole date, at Sammy's especially, I had to keep myself from being touchy with him. I'm generally a fairly affectionate person, but not THAT quickly. I don't know what was going on in my head. I think part of it was that he was just so stinking cute I wanted people to know that he was there with me. (So stupid! I'm stupid.) Anyway. As the night progressed I just could not stop looking at him. It was kind of ridiculous. He has these absurdly irresistible dimples, so I admittedly kept trying to get him to smile. And he has blue eyes and dark hair. If you don't know how I feel about that combination, you should hear me tell my sister in law (blue eyes and dark hair!) how freaking jealous I am of her all the time. Yep.

Aside from his ridiculous blue eyes and ridiculous dimples, he is literally my dream height. 6'3". When we were standing next to each other at Sammy's I was just like, 'He is the perfect height. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. He is the perfect height.' Y'all know that height is a big deal to me. (Remember how stressed I was about Fuji?)

Of course, this is all just based on attractiveness. But there is so much substance to this boy. And so much goodness. Example A, he was Captain Hammer for Halloween. Gracious, I love Dr. Horrible beyond what words can express. It's a little ridiculous. Example B, he's almost as excited for Skyrim as I am. Example C, he knows a ton of Star Trek episodes simply by their Captain's Log intro. Example D, he quotes Monty Python just as well as I do. Example E, he likes college football. Okay I realize that the first four were all completely nerdy, but one thing I've said (that he says the same, respectively, which I think is really funny) is that I want to find a guy version of myself. And let's face it, I am a GIGANTIC nerd. But at the same time, I am absurdly into sports, both regular and outdoor. I mean, do you know anyone else who hasn't missed a BYU home football game in 10 years? Or who camped out for days on multiple occasions in the cold to have good seats for BYU basketball, BEFORE Jimmer's senior season? Chris likes football a lot, not so much on the basketball end of things, but to be honest I'm not a HUGE fan of baseball (his favorite sport - I don't hate it, it's just not my favorite), so we will each have to learn to love our respective 'other favorite'.

On the subject of sports, it does bring up one tiny, kind of insignificant 'con' for me. He goes to that school Up north. You know, THE ONE WE DON'T LIKE. Not a big deal, I honestly don't care, it's a really great school. Whatever. But I don't know if I can handle being 'bitter' enemies a couple of times a year. (Sporting events...) It will only be a matter of importance when it comes to sports, so it really is tiny, but I'm just imagining the possibility of us dating, and going to a BYU/U game wearing different colors... and having to put up with each others' reactions when our respective teams do well... I mainly think of this because at the Utah football game this year, this one obnoxious Ute fan chick was sitting with her boyfriend IN THE BYU STUDENT SECTION, and I just couldn't stand her. Probably just because her team was doing well and mine was... not. But her being in the student section was obnoxious. Seriously, get out of there. But I digress!

Another pro, to be on to more positive things. He's a skier. Well, he's going to be. ;) I joke. But he skied when he was younger, and wants to get back into it. Which makes me super happy. I have nothing against snowboarders, I mean, come on, my best friend is a snowboarder, but when it comes to a 'buddy' having another skier is better. Best Friend can generally keep up with me wherever I go, but he complains when I take him on 'skier terrain'. All I have to do is get Chris up to a decent level and then he can follow me down as much 'skier terrain' as he can handle. :)

Also, aside from our nerdy similarities (he is more of a Trekkie, and I'm more into Star Wars, but we are both into the others) we have super similar taste in entertainment, be it movies or video games or whatever. He likes war movies (I honestly don't know many guys who don't, but I really like them), and doesn't balk at rated R stuff. Call me a sinner, whatever, I don't freakin' care, some of the greatest quality movies I have ever seen, be it based on story or production or message, are rated R. I don't watch crap like Super Bad and Knocked Up, super crude humor isn't my style. But war movies, I'll take them. Getting off topic again. Looking at Chris's movie collection though, I took note of what he had. He had some of the quality stuff, like V for Vendetta (I seriously have NO IDEA why that movie is rated R. Other than some lezzy kissing there's pretty much nothing). And Kingdom of Heaven was good. As was Fanboys. Seriously, Fanboys was hilarious, but it actually had this really cool underlying message. You watch it and tell me if you noticed it.

He also loves Foo Fighters. He went to their concert. We almost 'met' that night. It was the first time we actually saw each other in person. It was funny, we were sitting there texting each other about each other's location, and when he told me the general vicinity of where he was, I looked, saw him, and was just like, 'dangit, I want to go over there and meet him so bad, why am I such a freakin' pansy?!?!' Whatever. But other than Foo, he has great taste in music.

He drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I love me a man who drives an SUV. Seriously, I'm a total SUV girl. I will NOT be a minivan mom. I'm going to be driving my kids to the freakin' mountains to ski too much, plus minivans are fugly. But seriously, it's not like it's a major judge of character, but I do think it says something about the person. Especially when they CHOOSE an SUV, because people don't just drive SUVs because they like spending more money on gas. People drive SUVs because of necessity, or desire to be awesome. :D I haven't been able to get much of a gauge for how outdoorsy Chris is besides his wanting to return to skiing, his apparent love for camping, and his SUV driving, but the SUV driving says a lot to me.

A minor drawback though - the whole living in Salt Lake thing. Y'all know how I feel about Long Distance Relationships. 45 minutes isn't all that long, really, but my last boyfriend lived literally a one minute walk away. I got to see him every day. We could be spontaneous. Well, actually, no, that's a flat out lie, there was no spontaneity in that relationship, because we were together every single day. All we did was cuddle and watch movies, seriously. It was great at the time, but looking back, it was not a quality/real relationship. But what I'm trying to say with that is that I got really spoiled. And let's be honest, I'd really like to be able to see Chris whenever I want, but whatever. I'll get over it. Thus far he seems to be worth it. And one 'pro' of that is that it forces us to take things slow. Which is something I generally have to be forced into, because I fall fast. Maybe too fast.

Another minor drawback - I am super open. You know this. He is... not so much. I said MINOR drawback. It's okay, this particular drawback is way more about me than it is about him. I just know that I'll probably struggle with it. I share my feelings a lot, and he's been better about it, but I've even been holding back. If I could tell him/anyone what was really on my mind, he/they would be like, you freak, go crawl in a hole and die.

One thing I really like? He texts me a lot. You all KNOW I am a huge texter. Like, obnoxiously so.

I just got a text from him... "I miss you." I was [ THIS ] close to getting in my car and driving to Salt Lake. I'm not sure I can wait until Thursday to see him again.

I am falling for this boy. And I like it.

If this moment happens... I will melt.