Praises to Pineapples

I've always known pineapple was a good fruit; it's been one of my favorites for years. However, it's been many days since I've considered it one of the handsomest fruits of my acquaintance. And when I say handsomest I mean not only good looking and delicious, but practical and beneficial for the soul.

I'll tell you why.

I got my wisdom teeth out this past Tuesday and beforehand I was bracing myself for the worst. Everyone groaned upon hearing about my post-Fourth of July plans. I was given a lot of sympathy and I was told and reminded of many unpleasant stories about wisdom teeth removal. In the midst of my anxiety, my oral surgeon recommended that I eat as many servings of fresh pineapple as I possibly could two days before the extractions to place and two days following. Apparently, among the other good qualities of the fruit are agents that decrease swelling. I went through a pineapple a day before and after the surgery and experienced swelling in the most minor degree. The steroids and head wrap probably helped a bit too. On top of the fortunate lack of swelling, the pain was also easily manageable with hardly any use of the stronger pain medications the doctor gave me "just in case." And now all four wisdom teeth are out and I don't need to worry about them growing into my other teeth or getting infected anymore. Needless to say, I feel incredibly blessed. Yay for modern and natural technology!

Before: Preparing for the inevitable swelling and pain

During: The day after surgery sporting trendsetting, anti-swelling headgear that shows off the minimal swelling of the cheeks

After: Five days after surgery and looking exactly as I did the third day after the procedure

The Fine Art of Crocheting

I'm beginning to feel the weight of responsibility—the burden of maturity—which is apt to come when any self-respecting person approaches the departure of the teen years. In order to fully embrace this step into old age, I've taken up crocheting, with Abby, Bekah, Mommy, and Sister Jones as my teachers. It would perhaps appear, because the plethora of instructors, that I am not picking it up as swiftly I ought. Quite the contrary, I assure you. I would even go so far as to say I'm prodigiously talented (starting at such youthful period of my life and already well on may way to a glorious career of crocheting). They all want a finger in the pie of my success. Trust me.

I may have to reconsider the direction of my vocational pursuits.

The First Day's Work

Zum Schluss

This represents what I feel like right now...



Model credit to Laura Ebeling.

I cannot concentrate on homework anymore, so this is the next best, semi-productive alternative.

In two and a half weeks I will be an official Junior in college with roughly 5 semesters until graduation. It's coming to the halfway point in my college career. Oh mane Mr. Muldowney! I don't feel mature enough for this to be true. The consensus is that life is good stuff. So much has happened this semester; I haven't even been able to record it all in the multiple journals I've filled up. But as a rough recap...here are ten crucial points from my experience at BYU during Winter Semester 2011, not in order of importance or chronology:

1. I attended a mostly authentic, slightly "Mormonized," Seder meal with my Shoah (Holocaust) class and partook of the strongest horseradish I have ever had. My throat and stomach didn't stop burning until the next day. On a scale of 1 - 10, it was 11.

2. I mastered the passive voice in German, which enabled me (with luck) to take the German Proficiency Exam and do well enough to get into GERM 302, rather than the more popular placement for 202 students, 301. One less class to take!

3. Being made a lead design assistant has been a great experience, wonder of wonders. The new project has not been too difficult to pick up and my team is full of awesome, patient people.

4. Mild insomnia has become the second greatest bane of my existence, the first being laziness, and it has not helped me too much in the health department. But both of these "plagues" are resolvable with action and time, so I'm not too concerned about them lasting forever.

5. I watched the first two sessions of General Conference and cannot wait for Sunday's sessions.

6. Laura and I had what may be our last photo shoot. We're getting so old these days (I mean, I'm practically not a teenager anymore), and she is going to be to be putting in her mission papers at the end of April with the hope of leaving in August.

We make an awesome duo.



As much as we've talked about her going on a mission, it didn't hit me until we were eating dinner the other night and I suggested we take a class together next fall...

aaah bitter sweet



7. Jamie visited Provo to inspect BYU's music program. It was a rather pleasant surprise to have him show up at my door that Friday evening.

8. Participating in the English Student Advisory Council was cool, on top of not being super time consuming. We only had a couple of meetings. It was nice to voice my opinions (however uninformed) and my concerns. Plus knowing that our comments were making a difference was nice.

9. I got to watch the Martha Graham Dance Company perform at BYU, thanks to the generosity of my roommate. It was amazingly amazing.

10. It's almost over.

And after reviewing the wonderfulness of life, I think I'm revived enough to get some more homework done.

When One Has Hit a Slump

What does one do when one hits the "I-don't-want-to-do-anything-remotely-school-related-because-I've-been-in-school-for-eight-months-and-it's-time-for-an-extended-break-and-who-cares-about-grades-anyway" doldrums? Sorry, let's focus that question a little more. What does one do other than peruse one's Facebook photos two or three times and stare at the computer, trying to think of some use for it other than a tool that makes it possible for one to complete the list of homework assignments due tomorrow? To keep this all hypothetical, let's assume one has got the obvious first solution down to an art form and one needs another way to cure one's rebelliously lazy and wandering mind. Just a little study case for you to exercise your brains on. Thoughts?