close your eyes, and picture

a house in magna. just a two story house, with a carport. the lawn is dead and brown. you drive around the corner and what's this? a little towhead girl putting in a sprinkling system? wait. yes. it's little girl, and she's digging the trenches all by herself?
now imagine that 6 year old, 15 years later. the scene is almost the same, she's alone, she has a shovel, only this time she's shoveling snow. she's trying to get her car out of a snow bank because her brothers think its funny when she shovels alone.
luckily a kind man with a bronco showed up, and said "want me to pull you out of there?"
"thanks, none of my brothers will answer their phones" "well i'll be your brother today"
i guess i just see how the Lord works in mysterious ways, there was a reason i shoveled that trench at grandma's all alone, it was so that i could know how to shovel my car all alone.
oh and so that the sweat of the righteous (me) will cry from the dust for the punishment of my brothers. except for my foster brother with the bronco and winch.

Christmas is THIS week
I'll be 21 (officially) in 6 days
there is like 1.5 feet of snow on the ground- it's gorgeous
sibling sleepover this week! predigious!
there will be music sharing, office/earl/youtube watching... and now thanks to eric and the HMDMSTV cable we will be watcing them on the BIGSCREEN
there will be diet coke
garrett!

Phillips family: get ready to get the business

mike

come home. i can't wait to see you.

shattered record

yesterday's math final took me 4 hours and 45 minutes. it was a glorious testing center experience, and my longest to this day

my last post was wicked long

so i'll try to entertain you for a moment in not so many words...
this past friday, tickets to WICKED went on sale for the play which runs through the month of April, 2009. because of some failed attempts to get tickets on the internet by my sister-in-law and her family, we had to go get some physically. which entails waiting in line. just some info about the night before: i got garrett in his carseat in the back of my car and set off trying to find brian's house (nat's brother) at around 11. come midnight, i am somehow in parley's canyon and nat and brian said "just pull over, we'll come get you." anyways... we went to bed at about 1:30 (because we had to play with garrett) and woke up at about 3 (because garrett was upset about something) then we woke for real at 5. nat and i stood in line at abravanel hall and sparky and jan stood in line at captiol theater (mind you, sparky was like the 600th person in line. seriously) nat and i made some BFF's in line and hung out with them until 10 when the doors opened. we ended up buying 24 tickets (the limit was 8 per person, and we actually convinced one of our BFF's to put 8 tickets on her card for us) totaling a couple thousand dollars. it was quite a day! BYU should rename the reading day-- go waste your time by standing in line day. just kidding, because i get to go see WICKED. so i guess it was worth it. and of course nat and i were being hilarious as usual so it was fun you see. we are probably going to start hanging out downtown around 5:30 am more if you'd like to come.

this saturday was glorious, just glorious

I rode to Helper for our family Christmas party with Brian and Cathy, and we decided that our conversation on the way through the canyon was emotionally, politically, spiritually, socially and artistically enlightening. I know you want to know what we talked about. We talked about the energy crisis, and nuclear legislation in the US versus the former Soviet Union's. We talked about our new president, and Jimmy Carter. We talked about Glenn Beck and Ezra Taft Benson. We talked about global warming and Annabelle's stroller. All the while Chris Ledoux played softly in the background (that's where we were artisically enlightened.)
We made a pit stop at Workman's market, where we selected some fine Ruffles, and Ruffles brand ranch dip for the grand occasion. (remind me to tell you about the time Cathy was a little skeptical about whether or not the ranch dip would be a good purchase for our possibly limited access to a kitchen and said "do we have to heat this up?"-- I'm sorry if you just threw up. I did too.)
We got our bowl on, and I annihilated my brothers. Don't act so surprised. I missed Dad, Mom, the Fergusons, and the Davisssss (yeah that's a difficult plural word) and Mike, but after about four seconds of eating, I completely forgot about them. Just kidding, jeez.
I was eating with James and Kaylee, and I was trying to fill in for Dad, and tease her and I don't think I was as effective, but I definitely made progress.
So many things happened that day, and I'm trying to keep this under a million words, so if you'd like more detail I can fill you in later.
It was so fun to be with Mainie, Chris and Michelle, Richie and Jen, and everyone else. Congratulations to Michelle and Levi who are getting married!
I wanted to stay all night, but alas we had more enlightening to get to in the car. This time, Eric and I just got ourselves all enlightened about sleep. Sorry we were so boring Brian and Cath.
Eric and I made it to the Energy Solutions Arena during the second half of the BYU vs. USU basketball. I hope those aggies... just kidding, this blog is G rated. We won. That's all. Same old, same old. ;)
Eric and I played with Garrett for a few minutes when we got back to my parents house, and let me put it this way, I am planning on kidnapping Garrett because he is too too cute. He giggled and we tickled him, and he chased my phone around the floor, and life doesn't get much better than that.
And for the grande finale, I had an interesting night (which is normal under the circumstances.) When it comes to love, its usually really awkward and hilarious with me. I really feel like this maneuver should be named after me. Ok, we were both sitting on this couch. He was trying to flirt with me by putting this disgusting chihuahua on me. I kept getting really grossed out (its a dog! ew!) and pushing it away and telling it sweetly I was going to kill it etc, etc. At one point I almost lost it because I thought he put the dog on my hand/wrist so I jerked my hand away, flinched, and probably said ugh! So I turned to get mad at this guy for letting that rodent touch me and the dog was calmly sleeping in his lap, and my friends hand was outstretched.
So ladies, (gentlemen too I guess) just pull your hand away fast and act grossed out, works everytime.

everytime

i see someone ride across campus on a unicycle, i try so hard not to yell "what a fag!"

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

quentin l. cook quoted that in his last conference talk called "i hope ya know, we had a hard time" he mentioned how we all experience this very phenomenon. i have to agree. often i feel like this is the worst of times:

• i have no money
• no new shoes
• no boyfriends
• no time to play
• i do homework all day
• i'm a little exhausted
• i just failed a test
• it's so blasted cold
• i'm late for class
• i have a headache
• i am freaking out
• etc, etc!

sometimes i have a little harder time remembering that this is the best of times:

• i get to stay out late
• i get to crack up with haylie late at night
• and wake up to her in the morning
• i get to meet so many people in this little city thing called campus
• i get to pray in class
• i grow so much from having to do really hard things
• there are fun people all around me
• absense from my family makes my heart grow fonder (i really love seeing them when i do get to)
• i've gotten really good at doing laundry when pressed for time at my parents laundro-mat
• i have heard from various mothers that your time is no longer your own when you are mom- i am so looking forward to being a mom, but for now i get to work on all my shortcomings with relatively few obligations that require me to distribute my focus

i pretty much love conference, and this talk specifically. my problems don't go away just because i'm choosing to feel happy, but life is so much more enjoyable. i love everything right now. including you.

the aussies call them fringe,

not bangs. Sister Roberts told me today "ay lack yuh fringe". Sister Milburn said "oh they'a fringe becauz they frame ya face". "they'a not bangs" "no-ay. they'a not"

if you want to say "no" like an aussie this is what Sister Roberts taught me:
say "no-you" but cut off the ou. Just say the y at the beginning of the word you.

good luck. Haylie made fun of me so bad for trying to say that like 10 million times.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I can say it now! I love this season so much. I went to see Christmas Carol and the Hale Center Theater in Orem twice last week. I couldn't find Tiny Tim the first night (pre-bang era), so I just got a picture with Brenna, who played the beggar girl, and the ghost of Christmas Past. But the second night I got one with Mark. Mark and Brenna Jeffs are my BYU bishop's kids, and everyone in their family are good friends.

Mainie loves trivia questions so I'm following suit...

What year was the Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens? (no help on this. period.)

let me try to explain

what happened on thanksgiving. it was fun. it was wild. and it was most likely completely normal. Sandy's charming house, noon, turkey day. Tay made like 200 stuffed mushrooms. Sandy made amazing turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and sweet potato pie. and the bestest salad with green beans, bleu cheese, pears, and walnuts. mmmm baby. i can't forget to tell you about tay's cheese ball, dani's chocolate cheesecake, sandy's pies, and i'll stop.

matt poured coke all over himself and said:
"ahhh i porked cork all myself!"
so when haylie opened the bottle of coke and it shot across the ENTIRE kitchen and soaked haylie- aspen and i could only try not to pee our pants and say "haylie! why did you pork cork all over yourself?!"
the elders came over and aspen and meg kept telling us how hot they were. when they got there, i agreed they were cuties. i happened to be in the basement helping (and trying not to laugh) haylie get cleaned up from the 'cork' mess. i came up the stairs and waited for the hall to clear so i could get by, i was waiting behind sandy, who was behind the missionaries. Sandy turned around and looked right at me and said, "get up here, and start flirting"

i had tears in my eyes all day yesterday. it was way too much fun.

i feel like i'm taking crazy pills

truer words have never been spoken

greg sent an email to me

within the last few weeks, and it had an animated cartoon of dilbert. it was hilarious partly because it was true. in this cartoon, a doctor diagnoses dilbert with 'the knack' he says 'he has a profound understanding of all things mechanical and electrical coupled with utter social ineptitude' late one night, while working on a homework assignment i showed this cartoon to dustin, another chemical engineer, and we laughed our heads off. 'utter social ineptitude' is precisely what is plaguing the clyde building. i'm serious...

me: (hummin a little kanye west) "do you like kanye nick?"
nick: "who?"
me: "kanye west, he's a rapper"
nick: "who?"
me: "he's a black rapper, kanye west...?"
nick: "is that a band?"
me: "no. he's a... nevermind"


me: "hey guys nick didn't know who kanye west was"
"dustin, dan, did you guys hear me? nick doesn't know who kanye west is"
dustin and dan: "um"
me: "seriously?!"
dan: "who is that?"
me: " he had a hit called gold digger way back when"
dustin: " oh that guy. i always thought his name was kane"


me: "tyler, your shirt is pretty"
dustin: "that is classic cowboy, with the pockets, and points coming off your shoulders"
me: "and the mother of pearl snaps"
dustin, tyler: (silence)
dustin: "haha... what?"
me: "that's mother of pearl on the snaps?"
dustin: "what's mother of pearl?"
me: "what?"
"tyler do you know what mother of pearl is?"
tyler: "uh-uh"

long time, no blog

i feel like it's been way too long since i said hello. i have really hit some milestones in the past week. for starters i watched almost an entire season of alias this weekend. aren't you proud of me? it takes dedication to sit home on friday night watching episode after episode, then staying up late into the night on saturday. but seriously, tv on dvd is so amazing, and that is why it is so bad. no commercials, no credits, just michael vartan standing there with the same look on his face he always has (literally, the man has one expression) and making me love him anyway. the only drawback to this weekend of productivity is that haylias wasn't there to be productive with me. she was wasting time visiting jodell, and her family. and now she's sick as can be! i'm really sad! she's been at home since friday, and i just want her to get better and come back to her real [temporary] home. GET WELL SOON HAY-YAY!

the weekend update (with photos)

this saturday the cougars creamed san diego state. Haylie, Brian, Cath, the fetus annabelle, Haylie's friend Jeff, and I were there to witness the massacre, and the marching bands rendition of popcorn popping on the apricot tree. Brian also spied another zoobie freak, and if you watch this video, you'll understand where cool kids like me get the bad wrap.

power of the wasatch's interpretation of guitar hero...see it? see it?

Tetris...

MORTAL COMBAT!

Brain and Cath. (he's giving them the crazy eye!)

The two cutest girls in the riv! (the cutest one is on the right)

weekend highlights

Dad: "I was watching the funniest show the other day, there was this really bratty rich girl, and her parents sent her to mongolia to teach her a lesson..."
Me: "are you talking about MTV's exiled?"
Dad: "I don't know"
Mom: "honey, i don't let matt watch MTV"
Dad: "it wasn't bad"
Matt: "see mom?!"


(on the way to the football game, a few minutes late)
Me: "I wonder why it is so quiet, usually you can hear the band and the announcer from my apartment. Oh, they must be saying the prayer"
Haylie: SHUTUP
Me: "it's BYU, don't act so surprised"

Me: "you'd only be so lucky to hear the band play popcorn popping on the apricot tree today haylie"
Haylie: "NO. shutup. seriously?!"

I'm part of the 2% of people with an abnormal brain

according to an email forwarded to me by aunt mainie. It had you add all these numbers consecutively, then asked you to think of a color and a tool. I thought of a red something, then i finally remembered those are called wrenchs. red, wrench. well apparently 98 % of people who take this survey (possibly even those who do not take said survey) answer red, hammer. i have no evidence to support this other than that is what the email claimed. and aunt mainie said she was part of the 98% in the subject line of the email. may i suggest, before any of you go getting the wrong idea, that i only have half an abnormal brain. my social skills may be getting rusty due to the amount of time spent in the engineering building, but i assure you my political and fashion judgement has never been keener.
on another note, i realize that some of my posts might leave my readers with feelings like "that wasn't sensational" or "man she's a downer." i promise you, that was never my intention. as a matter of fact, i'm really optismistic about the possibilties of wild and crazy times in the next two months. A) Turkey bowling on Turkey day 2) december. period. (well let me elaborate) 2a) after finals, I have a BREAK! 2c) Christmas with my family rocks. (well any weekend with sibling sleepovers really are the best-- wii, garrett, some youtube videos, mike teasing matt, mike teasing dad, dad occasionally swearing at mike over wii tennis, more trilogy time, etc, etc) 2e) I'm turning 21 this december so we're all gonna get loaded for new years (legally this time) (I'M ONLY KIDDING) and you know what else would make 2008 an awesome year... if Mitt Romney were elected president... I'll settle for McCain. And sexy sarah palin. (It's my first time voting in a presidential election tomorrow. I'm such excited)

life comes at you fast

that's why there's (chocolate, chick flicks, blogs, malls, etc.)

i usually need about 6 hours of sleep a night. on average this week, i have slept about 9.2 hours a night. when i ask myself why the sudden change, there is nothing that i can quite put my finger on. except that 9 o'clock rolls around and i think 'i'd rather go to bed than do anything else right now'

it all started on monday. i had the worst day ever! i am not one to cry (unless i'm at the pulpit, then heaven help me, it's like niagara falls) but this monday was really pushing the limits. I walked home in the dark and truly wondered if i would ever get a job after college, and if my family would still love me, and if obama would actually get elected. (the first two were rough questions, but it was really that third one that brought the tears) haylie told me over and over that this was no big deal, and it's not going to matter, and at least my life has problems i can fix. after a lot of contemplation about how much i worry about school and getting a career, i realized, there is no need to worry about this stuff as much as i do. i should be more worried about the sisters in relief society who don't feel welcome.

and that's my remedy for adding hours of sleep to your life. quit worrying.

i'll cheer for the cougars, try and stop me

last saturday, nat, eric, matt, and mike came to provo and we went to kneaders for a glorious french toast breakfast. we all went to the BYU football game and witnessed a mild fight between some morons about who was ruining the game more by loud obnoxious cheers. (i suspect a few gentlemen reported to their bishops about this particular tiff) what with our attention spans, the trilogy (nat, cath, and myself) embarked on a little walk to stretch our legs during the third quarter. low and behold, we ran into chris and michelle magann! i learned that michelle has been going to cougar football games with her parents since she was a little girl. jealous! we chatted in the apparel shop for a few minutes and tried to convince chris to buy a hat with cosmo's head on it, but he wouldn't go for it.

rarely, does any phillips get more excited these two party animals...
i especially enjoy cathy's expression in this picture, matt takes silver

this therapy might not be strong enough...

blogging is therpeutic for me. I'm sitting at work and I've read all my emails, facebooked as long as i could, perused ESPN.com, USAToday, watched The Office online, all in my lab waiting for a process that i have to monitor every 5 or 10 minutes. yum. after all that i knew it was time for a good blog post. too bad i don't have anything of consequence to tell you about. only that i feel like i'm in junior high every other day when i sit in class after class filled with boys, (boys not men) who throw things at me, and hit my elbow while i'm writing, over and over. i really could use a self-help book about "how to deal with the emotional effects of experiencing 8th grade while in your early 20's". it's not a complete repeat of 8th grade though. when i was a bobcat at bennion junior high, boys didn't tease me, they teased those little cheerleaders, and girls in the dance company. i ate school lunch, on styrofoam trays, with adria gardner and chelsea mcarthur. i was busy schooling my biology classmates on the functions of the cell. who in their wildest dreams would have guessed that the unpopular tom-boy would have turned into an engineer who is unpopular? heaven only knows.