Dark-Chocolate-Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies

Yesterday we experienced a miracle. Somehow, our apartment didn't burn down.

Let's fill in on the whole story. We decided to make cookies for our FHE brothers who had just finished a very long and stressful week. So I pulled out the can of pumpkin, bag of chocolate chips, boxes of spice cake mix, threw it together, and made cookies.

Forgetting humility, the cookies were very delicious. We successfully delivered a plate to the guys, ate several ourselves, and were getting ready to head over to visit some friends.

In order to get ready, I cleaned up the kitchen and threw the final batch of cookies into the oven.

After we visited some friends for an hour, we came back and joined Kirsten and Ryan in the front room. We were watching a YouTube video when Jenny said from the kitchen, "Jess? Did you leave some cookies in the oven?"

My mind went blank. Did I leave them? Oh no. 

I ran into the kitchen, cracked the oven open, and there were 11 cookies. 
125% black. They had been in there for TWO hours.

Everyone started laughing so hard, including me. We immediately opened the door and windows as I took the tray outside and set it on the front porch. Luckily it wasn't very smokey or strong-smelling, just completely black and hard as rocks.

I don't think my roommates will ever let me live that down. But I prefer looking at it as though I magically changed them into dark-chocolate, chocolate-chip cookies. That works right? 

And on the bright side, I sprayed the pan so well that they just came right off! 

So I'd say it was a success :)

Who Knew Ward Choir Was Good For a Laugh

It all started with the xylophone. Pete brought it in our house to show my mom, the choir director of my home ward. 

"There is a young man in our ward who wants to play his trumpet in church," Pete said. "I thought this might be a better alternative..." 

That made us all laugh. We started rehearsing for the Christmas program. I joined in since I will be home for the holidays. My mom thought the small xylophone would be cool on the "ahh" parts. She tried to play it while directing and it resulted in both tasks not really being completed well.

"I can't play this," she said. "But Jess, come do it!"

That caught me off guard and said laughing, "Oh, cause I can play it!" Everyone laughed, especially my mom. But she was definitely serious. So, I played it while they were singing and I have to admit that it was fun.

About ten minutes later my mom raised her arm to lead and exclaimed, "Ow!" Her hand went to her back, and she seemed to be in a lot of pain. She took a second and then went on, but struggling a little more.

Ward choir ended right on time, which hardly ever happens. I stayed in the front room to talk with some people I hadn't seen in a while. I noticed that my mom had disappeared.  

After everyone left, I told my dad that mom had vanished. I called loudly, "Mom? Are you alright?" I heard a groan and "No, I'm not." 

We went in her bedroom and saw her lying flat on her back. She looked at us, half laughed and half groaned. "My back is killing me." 

The muscles in her back were seizing up. She was in a lot of pain but she took ibuprofen and laid on the heat pad. The whole situation was so funny though and my dad kept teasing her that he was going to have to ask the bishop to release her because she injured herself leading the ward choir.

The last funny thing that occurred from ward choir was that my 10-year-old sister LOVED the xylophone. It was left at our house and she spent a couple hours figuring out how to play Jingle Bells and other songs.

She came downstairs and said, "Guess what Jess, I am joining the ward choir."

"Oh really? You're singing?" 

"No I'm not singing."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I am playing the bells!" (she meant the xylophone)

So, the laughter all goes back to the xylophone and ward choir. 

Dance Parties Erryday

This weekend was full of dance parties. But that is nothing unusual. Friday night ended up with all of us dancing in the living room and showing some friends all our favorite songs.

On Saturday night I came home from the library with my roommate Elizabeth. We walked in and the apartment was completely rearranged, lights outlined the windows, the Christmas tree was lit up, Christmas music was playing, and our roommates, along with a few of our guy friends, were sitting in the front room.

We were so excited! It was like walking into a winter wonderland. We couldn't stop looking at everything. It was just so happy!

Both Ashlyn and I had dates about an hour later. So what did we do to pass the time? We all started dancing to Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe" single. Of course. We were all going a little crazy and the blinds were open.  

We heard a knock and yelled in unison, "Come in!"  Ashlyn's date entered the room dancing and joined right in.  Immediate points for him. We all laughed.

A minute later I got a text from my date saying, "Umm is this you guys having the Christmas themed dance party? Cause I am a huge Mariah fan!" We all laughed again. Instant points as well.

Both Ashlyn and I left with our dates, laughing and already starting off on a good note. 

Dancing in your living room with the blinds open makes for a successful weekend and gains friends.

A Christmas Miracle

Yesterday... we experienced a Christmas miracle. Yes, it's true. We walked into our apartment last night and there was a Christmas tree lit up in the front room. We were shocked. 

We then discovered the wonderful scent of cinnamon. We looked around and realized that there were two bowls of cinnamon-scented pine cones sitting on our table. How was this possible?

Our reactions to the scene were priceless. Jess M jumped up and down, Elizabeth and I stared in disbelief, and Kirsten... I am not sure what she did, but she was excited!

Jenny and Ashlyn came home today and didn't notice everything since we were in the midst of a Thanksgiving feast and a rearranged apartment. Jenny was sitting next to me and said, "It smells like cinnamon, it smells so good!"  

I got soo excited and grabbed her arm and said, "Oh, we had a Christmas miracle!"  (I had told everyone this all day, I was so excited)

This was unfortunate timing because Ashlyn was about to say a prayer on the food and Jenny was so caught off guard by my reaction that we both started shaking with laughter - trying not to disrupt the prayer. 

Well... we finally found out who was responsible. It was who I had expected all along. Ryan and Bailey. If we had guy roommates, it would be these two. They practically live here, and we love it. 

Needless to say, we were in shock that they had been so kind. And we had to find some way to thank them. 

So naturally we blew up balloons, wrote Merry Christmas on them in different languages, and each brought an "offering for their table."  I brought two beautifully colored eggs, Ashlyn took a pie, Jenny offered tea, Jess had some bubbles, and Elizabeth relinquished our rubber duck.  

We knocked on their door and a girl answered. We were slightly confused but Jenny and I had been there before so we were still confident when we asked, "Do Bailey and Ryan live here?" She replied, "No."

"No?" We were lost. They were either ghosts or they had been transported. We knocked on two more doors with no luck. One guy looked them up in the directory and let us know that they indeed lived in apartment #10. But that random girl said they didn't. 

So we called them, and sure enough, they came out of apartment #10. We put on a little show and Elizabeth completely failed and couldn't stop laughing when she went to say, "Mitt Romney is coming to town. Ho, ho, ho."  (he is coming to speak on Tuesday)

We put on the little show with the balloons outside, and then presented our offerings by literally placing them on the table. 

We were all pretty loopy and couldn't stop laughing. They probably thought we were a little strange but I think they enjoyed it. It was the least we could do. After all, they did provide us with a Christmas miracle.

Naturally

This week provided two simple, but very funny moments.  

The first was at a birthday party. But not just any party, a waffle party. And a waffle party involves whipped cream. Naturally. 

And what do you do with whipped cream? You put it on your wrist, hit your arm which launches it in the air, and catch the whipped cream in your mouth. Naturally.

Well, that is how it is supposed to happen anyway. That's not what happened for me! I froze with everyone watching me and ... let's just say that my nose got the brunt of it. The picture below says it all. But it provided a lot of good laughs for everyone watching, myself, and anyone who has seen the picture.

The second experience was even more entertaining. My family came to Provo to see a concert that my cousin was performing in. We went to Rita's afterwards. Naturally. 

Now a little background, my 9-year-old sister Lauren loves her American girl doll named Nellie and brings her everywhere.  And so naturally, she brought said-doll inside to Rita's.  

But who ended up having to hold it while Lauren ate her treat? My dad. Naturally.

A guy came and asked my dad if he was in line and then remarked on how relieved he was to see that the doll my dad was holding wasn't actually a child. Then my dad proceeded to tell the guy that "Nellie" was his youngest child. She was so well-behaved and never cried. He just had to shake her a few times and she was completely fine (which he then proceeded to demonstrate).

This story is difficult to describe because the combination of actually seeing my very masculine dad holding this girly doll and talking about her as if she is a real child can never be recreated. My mom, grandma, aunt, me, and this random guy we were talking to, were all laughing so hard. 

I can't do the story justice. But maybe this picture can help you get a better idea.

My dad is pretty much the best. He is fully confident in everything, and he does anything for us. That includes holding an American girl doll in a store full of people. Naturally. 

Eggs, Plastic Bags, and a GPS

Eggs, plastic bags, and a GPS made for one of the most creative and fun dates I have been on in a while.  When my date Ryan picked me up, my roommates proceeded to interrogate him.  Is that unusual? Definitely not.  Elizabeth and I have been doing that since freshman year and it's caught on with every group that we have lived with.  Ashlyn and Kirsten did the honors this time and I have to say... I have taught them well.  They asked surprising questions, tried to look intimidating, made everyone laugh, and made my date just a little uncomfortable.  He did well though!  He responded with appropriate answers, some of which were very unique.  

After passing inspection, we drove off.  Ryan had still not told me what we were going to be doing.  We parked at the base of campus.  We loaded a carton of eggs into his backpack and he handed me a hand-held GPS.  I was completely clueless.  I was instructed to carefully follow the purple line that marked our path, and that it was all up to me.  He would not be helping me. 

So, I followed the purple line in a wavy path through campus.  I kept laughing. It was so funny as I struggled staying on this line.  We arrived at the JFSB.  I was still so confused.  We headed up to the fourth floor and out on the balcony.  I looked at him skeptically and asked, "We aren't going to throw eggs off of here right?"  He jokingly acted offended and said, "Who do you think I am? NO we are not going to throw them off the balcony!"

He continued, "Using the things in my backpack, you have to get an egg down to the first floor without it cracking."  I laughed again.  It was such a random but fun idea.  He pulled out a lot of plastic bags, a roll of fishing line, some duct tape, and a pocket knife.

I decided to make mine by cutting plastic bags in order to reach their maximum length and proceeded to tie the ends together, making a long chain. The additional length needed was provided by the fishing line.  Ryan, on the other hand, made a very creative parachute with plastic bags and some tape.

It was time to test out our creations.  First, Ryan let go of his parachute with much trepidation, fearful that it would plummet to the ground.  But it filled with air just as it was supposed to and floated gracefully to the bottom.  My experiment took much longer. We laughed as it inched its way down the side of the whole JFSB.  (And four levels is really tall)  

Slowly but surely, my little egg reached the ground.  The whole front of the building is windows and I wish I could have seen the faces of people inside cleaning the building or finishing their studying as this long "thing" traveled towards the ground.  

The moment of truth arrived when we went down stairs to see the state of our eggs. Now, I had just written my name on my egg and Ryan drew a face sticking out its tongue.  I warned him that being cocky doesn't help anything. And sure enough, his had a nice crack and mine did not.  Winner :)

Who knew that eggs, plastic bags, and a GPS could create such a fun night.

Adventures that only papers can bring ...

Sometimes when you get lost in a cornfield... It's hard to turn in a paper before 11pm.

That's what happened this last Monday night.  I decided that before turning in my paper later that night, going to the cornfield for family home evening would be a great idea. I only began to feel a little anxious when my group decided that the 3.9 miles option was better than the 1.5 miles. Needless to say, we got terribly lost.  It took forever. But it was still really fun!  It was worth the consequence of what happened later. 

I rushed inside once we got home and quickly wrote a poorly written, final draft of my paper.  I finished with 30 minutes to go before the deadline.  I drove up to campus and jumped out of my car to print the paper off. 

I ran to the JSB. It was locked. I ran to the Brimhall. It was open! After wandering around, I realized there was no printer. So I ran to the McKay building. Locked. I ran to the Benson building. Unlocked! And I knew there was a printer. Success!  My paper started printing and I felt relief flow through me. But it was not my lucky day. The papers started coming out jaggedly and bent with the ink smeared. Perfect.

I considered still turning it in but only three out of four pages printed and that wouldn't work. Luckily, there was a kind janitor who took pity on me and allowed me to go into an already locked room to print off my paper.

I literally ran back to the Brimhall building to turn in my paper. I cut across the grass, through darkened puddles, and up the three flights of stairs to the top of the building. I got to my professor's door only to realize that the room number online was wrong. Great. So I wandered around until I finally found my professor's door and slid my paper underneath. 

I walked slowly back to my car, still a little tense from the stress but so relieved. Was the cornfield worth it? Yes. Would I recommend going there if your paper is not complete? 

Yes. But take the 1.5 mile route.

Spontaneity at It's Finest

Sometimes your best memories come from last-minute decisions. Friday night was a perfect example.

Seven o'clock in the evening and four out of the six roommates were sitting in one bedroom, looking out the window at what everyone else was doing on a Friday night. The week had been long and motivation was running a little low to try and think of something to do. 

We watched our neighbor come out of his apartment dressed quite nicely. He crossed the street to a girls apartment and knocked on the door. His date came out in a fancy black dress and we all crowded against the window to ooh and ah as we watched them leave for the formal Homecoming dance.

Suddenly Jenny looked at us, "What if we went to the dance?" We all kind of laughed. The discussion started. The dance started in an hour. You have to get dressed up. We have nothing to wear. We would have to find dates. 

What the heck. Let's go. 

Thus began the frenzied rush. Our lounging turned into quick movements and rapid thoughts as we spouted out ideas to make this work. 

The first goal? To find guys of course. We knocked on doors and we called anyone we could think of who would enjoy a dance. Our energized mood somehow led me to sing loudly to our neighbors' door, "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" from Frozen. In my defense, the apartment was dark and looked like no one was home. But as soon as I belted, "I wish you would tell me WHY!"... the door opened. Of course. Everyone started laughing as I said, "Hello Logan!"

After recruiting through phone calls, visits, and some convincing, we had six guys to go with the six of us girls. We got dressed and we were ready to go.

We drove to the Riverwoods to the Manor where the dance was being held. When we approached the door we were kindly informed that the dance was sold out. They must be joking. We knew it. But alas, they were not. We thought of every scenario to get in... What if people leave? Can we go in then? The answer was still no.

After all the effort it took to get there, we were not about to quit. We decided that we would just have our own dance party in the gazebo nearby. We were about to set it up when they came and found us. There were eight tickets left online, and if we wanted them, they would let all twelve of us in. 

Needless to say, we were ecstatic. The tickets were purchased and we walked through the previously-forbidden doors and made some triumphant noises. A lot of the people cheered as we came in, happy that we were finally able to make it.

Now the real question is, was the dance worth all the effort we went to? The answer is a definite yes. I am not sure if it was the atmosphere of the dance, the people, or the fact that we had to work so hard to get in, but it was one of the most fun dances any of us have ever been too! We took Polaroid pictures, drank chocolate milk from the BYU creamery, laughed a lot, and danced our hearts out. 

As Jordan put it, "We're artsy and stuff"

They even gave us some sparklers. I love these girls.

Sometimes creeping out your window has benefits... That's the lesson to be learned. It brings some great ideas.

What started as a dismal looking night, turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences we have had yet. It was the best spontaneous decision.  

This story may be short ... But it made me laugh.

The other night Jenny and I were in our room, both in bed and about to go to sleep. For some reason we started talking about middle names and who else in our families has middle names. We discussed it for a while and slowly started getting sleepier. Then I said something that made us question my sanity...

I asked in all seriousness, "And your name is Jenny, right?"

After a second pause we both burst out laughing. Through the laughter, Jenny replied (rather condescendingly), "Yes Jess, my name is Jenny. I have been your roommate for quite some time now."  

When I finally stopped laughing, I was able to defend myself by saying that despite what it sounded like, I really wasn't losing my memory, and I am not a complete idiot.  I just meant to ask if her name was Jennifer or Jenny. But instead, it sounded like I had just met her for the first time.

So yes, I have known Jenny for 6 months now. And yes I did spend 3 1/2 months with her in Israel, and the last 2, she has been my roommate. And yes, some of my not-so-bright moments have helped us bond during our late night conversations. Those times have been the source of a lot of laughter.

And yes, I DO know her name is Jenny. 

So everyone, meet by beautiful friend Jenny. I am grateful everyday that this girl is my roommate.

Buffalo Burgers

We talked for months about making buffalo burgers.  I had told Ben about how my dad and I had gone hunting, shot a buffalo, and now my dad makes the best buffalo burger you've ever had. We decided to invite Liza as well because... we like having her around. We didn't give Liza the background story, figuring that the title "buffalo burger" kinda said it all. 

Sunday, in between conference sessions, Ben and Liza came to my house for the lunch that my parents kindly prepared.  As we finished getting the food ready, Liza asked confidently, "So what's special about these buffalo burgers?"

Ben looked at her and said, "They are made out of buffalo."

Liza laughed and slapped Ben on the arm, "Oh my gosh, no they are not." That's when we all started laughing.

Through the laughter Ben said, "No really, they are."  Liza kept responding with slaps and exclamations that she knew Ben was teasing her and that she wasn't falling for it!  

I had tears and mascara coming down my face; I was laughing so hard.  I was going to try and correct her when Ben leaned over and whispered, "Don't tell her yet.  Let her finish and then we will show her the buffalo head."  It was the perfect plan.  So we told her that it was specially prepared by my dad with seasoning,  with no fat and so it tasted a little like a veggie burger.  

It was delicious. Probably the best burger I have ever had. Buffalo burgers, I am telling you, they are the absolute best. We had a great time talking with my family and enjoying the food.  When we finished, we knew it was time to take her to see Bronson. We instructed her to come with us because we had something to show her. 

We walked her down the hallway and told her to close her eyes. When she opened them, there was a huge buffalo head staring back at her. We told that yes, she had actually been eating buffalo. We laughed so hard. Luckily, Liza is a good sport and laughed right along with us. It's a fun memory for the three of us.

So what is the lesson to be learned? Although buffalo wings are misleading and they are actually just chicken, buffalo burgers... are really buffalo. 

Sometimes funny moments come when you least expect them.  Sometimes they occur in the last couple minutes of your Visual Literacy class.  That's what happened this week.

We were supposed to look at an object, view it in a different way, and present our ideas.  Most everyone had gone when a girl stepped forward holding a pepper.  Side note... in almost every class period, this girl has been eating a large cucumber or pepper.  So when she presented, she started by saying "As many of you may have noticed... I really liked vegetables."  We all nodded.  We've noticed.

She continued, "I have made it my personal goal to eat as many vegetables as possible." I would say she is succeeding. "I decided that vegetables represent life.  So that's why I brought this pepper.  I decided that this pepper represents a uterus."  Yes everyone, a uterus.  That caught everyone's attention and we all looked to see if she was serious.  She was.

It got even more surprising when we realized that there was more than to the object.  She surprised us all by saying, "Last night, my roommate and I filled the pepper with red jello... And put a baby in it. I haven't opened it since last night so I don't know what it looks like, but I am going to open it now." The whole class stared in amazement and disgust as she proceeded to break open the pepper and red jello poured out.  Because of the visual she had given us, it was gross.  There is no other way to describe it.  And sure enough, there was a plastic baby doll, covered in red jello.

We didn't know whether to laugh or barf.  So we laughed.  It honestly was so funny!  It was very unexpected in a Visual Literacy class (actually, probably any class).  But we all thought it was hilarious, and props to the girl for having so much confidence and creativity.

But I don't know if I will ever look at peppers in the same way again!

When four out of six roommates have dates on the same night, timing of picking up and dropping off can be kind of tricky. But after a couple years... I think we are starting to get the hang of it.  Dates at our apartment are always a funny experience. Guys always get a different perspective when they happen to be hanging out with the rest of us when someone gets picked up. I am going to share a sneak-peak of what it is like in our apartment.

Yesterday, Jess's date was the first to show up. Knock on the door.  The suspicion that he would be shorter than her was confirmed.  She takes off.  Ten minutes later, a phone call. Elizabeth's date was outside in a car, wondering which apartment was hers.  She goes on the porch, waving.  All the girls whisper loudly at her to come back inside. "He has to pick you up!"  She stands awkwardly half-in and half-out of the door.  She finally just goes outside where he has parked in the very middle of the street.  The four girls run to the window. Relief is visibly shown when we see that he at least opened her door. Robert laughs at us as he watches this whole encounter, remarking that he is seldom on this side of it. Date number three comes to the door.  This is a blind-date for Kirsten.  He walks in and we all sum him up in about five seconds. We look around quietly at each other, confirming that yes, he is actually quite cute.  Kirsten walks down the stairs and they meet. Love at first sight. Okay, not really.  But they introduced themselves and we all stayed on the couch, watching intently.  They leave.  I get ready for my date. Nerves are calmed, I feel validated as they assure me that I look "cute." (Being roommates with a bunch of girls is the best-just by the way).  My date comes and picks me up. 

Fast forward three or four hours....

Elizabeth is dropped off.  Five minutes later... I am dropped off. But as I am walking to the door with my date, my FHE brother Brock is walking towards our apartment at the same time. Not wanting to ruin anything, he doesn't even look at me and I can see him hastening his steps as he rushes to get to the door before we do. I tried so hard not to laugh as I watched him skip the step of knocking on our door and he walked right in. I then gave my date a hug with 20 people watching on the two stoops opposite my apartment. Definitely not out of the ordinary. I walk inside and laugh with Brock about are race to the door and he hears about both of our dates. Kirsten walks in the door literally two minutes later. We could not believe the timing. Doorstep scenes are awkward enough at the "Fish-Bowl," (the Colony) without four people trying to be dropped off at the same spot. We decided we are becoming quite pro at this. 

All week people have been talking about seeing the "Northern Lights." Did I know what they were before? No, not really.  I still don't really know what they are. It was all over Facebook, groups were planned, and everyone was pumped. Friday night came, I was tired, it was cold, and I was not about to go up the canyon to where it was even colder and bedtime was postponed even longer. Nothing was convincing me to go until Matt pulled out the peanut butter pretzel card. He had a HUGE container filled with them and promised to bring the whole thing. How could I pass those up? Needless to say, we dressed warm, packed the car with blankets, and drove up past Vivian Park. 

We got up there a little past midnight and it was even colder than we had anticipated. The grass was wet and we avoided the fires because Ashlyn didn't want to smell like smoke (not sure if that was the best idea we had). We sat down on the wet ground and tried to create what some like to call... a "cuddle-puddle." I have never liked that phrase. It's always just sounded gross to me. But that night it was necessary. We kept shivering and readjusting positions as we tried to get comfortable. We glanced often at the sky and as beautiful as the stars are in the mountains... the purpose of being there... the norther lights... were no where to be seen. We waited there for an hour, and we saw absolutely no variation of color in the sky. Surprisingly, we weren't that disappointed. We told stories, laughed a lot, and ate A TON of pretzels. 

We were about to get ready to go when I heard someone call, "Jessica?" I turned and said, "Yes?" and this guy walked up to us. Not to be racist, but as soon as he started talking... we knew he was black. 

He said, "Where you been girl? I have been texting you all day and wanted to see you. I have been looking for you girl!" 

It was hilarious. No, I had not been texting him and no, I did not even know him. But that night Makiki and I became friends. Apparently we already were... I just didn't know it. His two friends came up, Adam and Luke, and said, "Is this Jessica? The girl you have been telling us about?" Makiki responded and said "Yeah man, this is J-Smooth." 

So yes we did freeze, and no we did not see the northern lights... BUT, we did to see millions of stars, we created a successful cuddle-puddle for warmth, made a new friend with the cool name of Makiki, and I now have a new nickname... J-Smooth. 

I would say it was a successful night. And it's all thanks to those peanut butter pretzels.

What we were supposed to see...

What we saw... (still pretty cool)

One of my favorite authors is L.M. Montgomery. Her books were a big part of my childhood.  My favorite was the all-time classic series "Anne of Green Gables." I learned a lot from Anne Shirley and the eight books about her life. One thing that she really knew how to do was laugh.  And I'm assuming that meant that L.M. Montgomery had a great sense of humor.  She once said..

"Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it."

That is how I feel about life. I have always loved telling funny stories. Nothing seems to difficult, too overwhelming, or too much to handle as long as you can laugh. That is what has gotten me through a lot of stressful times. In junior high and high school I would come home and tell my mom all the funny stories from my day. I still call her with those same types of stories. She has always encouraged me to write them down and I never have. But now I'm going to. So this blog is dedicated to my mom. I don't know who else will benefit from it but I know that for me, life gets busy, and sometimes it's a little hard. As a result, this blog is to help me recognize and remember those funny moments that make life worth living.