My roommate, Allison, is incredibly awesome and with the help of a Stanford program, got selected to be on the board of a nonprofit energy company. She's 19 and a board-woman!! She had her debut today at a gala in San Fransisco. Last night, she was looking for something business-woman-y to wear and we had fun rummaging through our closets trying to find something grown up enough. We thought the shutter shades and leopard fedora had added a touch of sophistication. What do you think?
With her successful-woman business skirt, the disparity between our levels of success became clear....
and was magnified by oh-so-unclassy outfit.

I love my silly roommate Allison. I can't wait to hear how her day as a Board-woman in my awesome pencil skirt went.

Since I finished my last round of midterms this week, I decided to enjoy my weekend and take Saturday off by going on a rock climbing trip put on by the Stanford Alpine Club. We were planning on going to Goat Rock, which is a 20 minute drive from campus, but it was raining there, so we decided to venture 2 hours farther south to Pinnacles National Park.

It was a beautiful fall day with awesome weather and great climbing. I can't wait to get back out again! Yay for being done with midterms :D

Saying goodbye to Andrew 3 weeks ago after Lexie's wedding was hard -- goodbyes always are. But this one was especially hard for some reason. My mom wanted to make the situation better, and so she was sneaky and found some cheap(er) plane tickets for Andrew to come out and visit. YAY!!! He came this last weekend for about 48 hours. It was pure happiness. We visited some schools Andrew's thinking of applying to for next fall: San Francisco State University and Santa Clara University. We both liked Santa Clara better-- he's thinking of applying to law school there

We also did some shopping in San Francisco at H&M, our favorite. Andrew found a sexy coat to help him brave the cold Logan winters. I think it makes him look about five years older. I bought a dress for my 21st birthday later this month and some ridiculously high heels that make me as tall as Andrew. Andrew told me that owning high heels is a rite of passage-- part of becoming a woman. I told him that heels were invented by men and that as a feminist I shouldn't be wearing them. But they're cute :D

It was the best way I know how to spend a weekend -- with my Andrew.

I was riding my bike through campus today, concentrating on all the things I had to do, when someone standing in White Plaza shouted, "Free Chalk! Is pink ok?" I stopped my bike and walked up to her as she reached out her arm and handed me that fat piece of sidewalk chalk. She said, "Draw or write whatever you like. Wherever." And then I looked down and saw on the road and sidewalk, people had written all sorts of things, like "I'm in LOVE!!" and statistics about AIDS and to come to their party on Saturday night. Then I looked up at the sun shining through some brilliant orange leaves and squatted down to write "Life is Beautiful".

-h

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Abena celebrated her 20th birthday in the best way known to man --- in a room full of trampolines. The place is called Sky High and is my own personal heaven. Even the walls are bouncy. We did get creamed by some ten year olds in dodgeball, though. All in all, that hour of my life was perhaps the best stress reliever, even more so than African drumming. I want to go every weekend.

This past weekend one of my best friends of all time, Lexie, got married. I got to go home for the weekend and celebrate the happy day with her family and friends. AND... I got to see Andrew! Yay! It was wonderful spending a couple of days with him, but saying goodbye was so hard.

Congratulations, Lexie and Jeffrey!!!

-h

dear andrew,

i miss you.

love,

heidi

i guess that's what you get for picking a techie major. sometimes i wish i could just be a surfer bum. i guess i'd have to learn to surf first, but it can't be harder than organic chemistry and differential equations, right? wish me luck this quarter :)

-h

So this post is surely belated but with at least decent reason: school. This semester I am once again taking 18 credits, but with an added twist... I got a job (as in off campus). I now work at the Pizza Factory which I thoroughly enjoy, but it does take up between 15 and 20 hours a week. The cumulative effect of this is me filling completly drained by Thursday. I love my classes and would not drop any of them (though I do have one class in which I am surronded by Glenn Beck loving neo-cons; which can be a bit tiring) but at times it does get overwhelming.

Enough of my uninteresting life. The point of this post is that it is my first one since heidi returned to Stanford and I remained here in Logan. It is expectedly difficult, but I feel much more confident and comfortable about it all then last year.

Closing thought (s)... Damon Cann is an excelent professor. As is Micheal Lyons. Oh, and having foreign language classes with RM's is about as much fun as reading epistemology. And if you have ever read any epistemology you know what I am talking about.

Back on the Farm (that's what some nerds decided to call Stanford). I'm so excited to be back at my beautiful school, but am missing Andrew oh so much. This should be a good quarter, but life is always better with my Handsomely Handsome.

-h

Last weekend we took my little niece, Tia, on her first real road trip. We loaded up the car and all headed down to Zion's National Park. The first time my mom took my sisters and I to southern Utah, my younger sister fell asleep in the car and woke up to beautiful red rocks. Being the horrible older sisters that we were, Jo and I told her we had flown to Mars and she slept through the whole trip. She was amazed by the alien scenery, and also very disappointed that she slept through her first trip flying through space. Tia isn't old enough to believe any of my lies yet, but her parents dread the day.

Tia absolutely loved hiking, giggling the entire time and enjoying the wildlife immensely. She especially liked one particular squirrel -- her eyes lit up when she saw it, she pointed, said, "Kitty!" and then barked.

My older sister, Joanna, and her husband, Ray, had car troubles our first day there, so we found other means of entertaining ourselves. Kellie looks like a distinguished professor. I kind of look like a truck driver.

We found a cool cave for Tia to climb in. She cried when we took her out.

It was a rockin trip.

-h

i love summer. mostly because i love hugging andrew every day. i will miss him when summer ends.

OH No!! I just went to the orthodontist. It had been two years, and naturally I wasn't a good girl like my sister who wears her retainer every night. I strolled in the office, planning on simply getting a new retainer to replace the one that won't fit on my pearly whites anymore, but alas, the three dreaded words came, "You. Need. Braces."

BAAAHH!!! 4 months. Metal face in college. Life could definitely be worse.

-h

So, as is evident by the title of this blog, heidi and i are not exactly the get drunk on friday night type. (though we did enjoy watching drunk people while in europe) Sos instead of losing ourselves to the euphoria of lost inhibitions, we play board games.

It just so happens that we have family and friends just like us. Take these last couple of days for example. On thursday night the idea was proposed by a friend, via facebook, that a game of "Risk" should be organized. I happily and immediately agreed, and was later able to convince heidi that it wouldn't be so bad. So, that evening we all arrived at our friend Sahil's house and began a lively game.

Heidi couldn't remember the rules, and I was inwardly sure of my ensuing victory. 20 minutes later, however, I was eliminated. It was embarrassing. Heidi, contrariwise, soon began to amass troops at an alarming rate. Not long after that she controlled Africa and both North and South America. After Ian threw self-interest to the wind and went on a suicide mission, heidi was left in a compromised position. That being said, the game was over 10 minutes later with heidi's brutal slaying of Jason.

Yesterday, Friday, we played Risk again. This time with Heidi's family, and this time things got a little more interesting (for me at least). To make a long story very short, we played for nearly four hours. I quickly captured Australia, and after some brilliant general-ing and a quite impressive display of patience, launched a sneak attack on North America and one round later the game was over. I was the champion... of the world!

The moral of this rather dull lesson: Do not mess with us; we will beat your sorry ass to the ground. That is all. Now, anyone wanna play Monopoly? (Warning, I am a libertarian, and take my capitalism very seriously.)

-a

So as anyone who knows me has heard by now, I have a major man crush on Tiger Woods. The final major of the year started today, The PGA, and I am currently watching Tiger play. What Tiger Woods has done for the Golf world, for Sport world, and for The World in general cannot be overstated.

In an era of exuberant greed, a culture of violence and performance enhancing drugs, Tiger Woods stands as the reminder of what sport at its best can achieve. It is no hyperbole to suggest that TW stands alone in history as the greatest example of talent, drive, dominance, and humility found together within one person.

Due to his on-the-course dominance and unmatchable marketability, Tiger Woods has been the highest grossing athlete in the world for each of the last five years. What is not usually mentioned however is the number of charities and foundations which he has started. His flagship organization, The Tiger Woods Foundation, focuses on helping low-income and high-risk children.

In short, Tiger Woods has in the last 12 years, revitalized a struggling sport, reminded the world of what the combination of natural talent and insatiable drive can accomplish, and more than anything, showed us what it is to achieve greatness, both in performance, and in what it is to be a decent human being.

-a

So we went to Border's last night with a friend. Stimulating conversation, innocent browsing, when -- WABAM!! -- at the check out buying thirty dollars worth of stuff -- Shadow of the Wind and a little journal with birds on the cover that I guess were peeping at me to buy them or something. Andrew also found twenty-five dollars' worth of merchandise and bought Guns Germs and Steel and Dante's Inferno. As we walked out of the store, we cursed Border's and our lack of will to wait 'til we got home to order the books on line. But oh how I love it....... especially today reading our new books under the tree at the park :)

-h

Whenever I sit down in an attempt to assemble a list of my ten favorite books, I seem to become increasingly more distressed as each number passes, realizing that I only have 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.... more slots to fill. So I'll do my best, but know that no list of mine is ever perfect.

1) The Poisonwood Bible -- eloquently describes the repercussions of a hell-bent determination that one religion can be right for every one.

2) The History of Love -- the author seemed to be describing me in a light I've never seen myself.

3) The Feminine Mystique -- a revolutionary text that turned out to be much more peaceful than I'd ever heard it described to be.

4) Hundred Years of Solitude -- the drowsy, dreamlike passage of time gave me an education on history, and the description of the Banana Massacre opened my eyes to US involvement in Latin America.

5) The Princess Bride -- hilarious. When I recommended this book to "a friend", she asked if I knew where she could get a copy of the unabridged version. Hehe

6) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- recommended by one of my favorite teachers. The story of a girl growing up in difficult circumstances, with a happy ending!

7) All the Kings Men -- made me try, for the first time, to define myself not in terms of relationships with other people.

8) East of Eden -- not quite sure why this had such a big impact on me. Probably because I was afraid of being like Kathy.

9) I Capture the Castle -- made me want to be a writer and keep epic journals.

10) The Brothers Karamazov -- because it changed the way someone I love sees the world.

-h

So here is the first installment in a "Suggested Readings" list. To start it off here is my top 10 list; only the first three are in order.

1) The Brothers Karamazov, Fyoder Dostoevsky: Simply put, the best book I have ever read.

2)Law, Legislation, and Liberty, F.A. Hayek: If you want to blow your mind and look at politics and policy in a completely new way, read this book.

3) The Theological Foundations of the Mormon Religion, Sterling M. McMurrin: Mormonism for the thinking person. The full theological power of Mormonism unleashed. This is not your mothers sunday school lesson.

4)The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling: The most entertaining books ever written. 'Nuff said.

5) The History of Love, Nicole Krauss: I dare you not to love it.

6) The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand: Rand at her finest. Philosophy is easier to stomach and purely brilliant writing.

7)East of Eden, John Steinbeck: A little tedious at first but culminates wonderfully.

8) Faust, Goethe: As much as I like Shakespeare, and I do so like my Shakespeare, I have to say that Faust comes out on top.

9) Hamlet, Shakespeare: Having just said what I did, Hamlet is still a masterpiece.

How should I wrap this up...

10) 1984, George Orwell: Guess I oughta put at least dystopian novel on here, and there simply isn't a better or more important one than 1984.

Yup so there is my humble list. I would highly recommend all of them. I wonder what Heidi's list will look like. Quite different I'm sure.

-a

For my inaugural post, I have but one thing to say. Thank everything that is good and holy that Sarah Palin no longer holds public office! That is all. Oh, and dessert is awesome.

-a

hehe, picking out a template is fun. we're the two butterflies. pretty and flighty. my sister says she's the three trees

-h

So, Heidi and I are starting this blog. We are not quite positive what we will write; but write we will. Seeing as how we live in two different states, we will be posting from different locations for the most part. So yeah.