A Little LA in UT

Some friends I made this summer in LA came to Utah to visit me this week. It was so great to see them again. We had so much fun! I dominated Tucker and Rodrigo in Monopoly, Domino Train, and Tubing Races which was awesome! We also had a little facebook fun! In the 4 days they were here we went tubing at Soldier Hollow, hung out at Temple Square (toured the conference center, saw the Christmas lights @ the temple, and ate at this awesome Italian pizza place), played laser tag, realized we were old farts at jump on it, saw 500 days of summer at the dollar theater, played a bunch of games @ my apartment, ate @ In-N-Out, Tucker read a book & cried while V & I laughed silently, stayed up late and slept in late (always great!), played in IKEA (mistletoe!), toured BYU, and basically realized we are quite the dynamic trio. Here are some pictures so sum up the week.

While driving yesterday I noticed the car in front of me was using a GPS as they were driving down University Avenue. Seriously, you need a GPS for Provo.....it's a giant grid.

I think I'm in love with Puck from Glee (Mark Salling)

I feel like a 13 year old right now.

Brrrr It's Cold!

I'M FREEZING!

Today was the first day of snow in Provo for this winter. It was awful and I'm constantly cold! The only bright side is that this is my last winter in Provo so thank goodness for that.

This past weekend I went to Disneyland with my roommate Emma, her sister, and her cousin. It was really fun. Some highlights of the trips were:

• Singing songs from Glee in the car and throughout Disneyland
• The new holiday decorations in the Haunted Mansion. It was all done up in The Nightmare before Christmas theme
  
• Getting on California Screaming twice waiting less than 10 minutes each time
• Space Mountain being decked out for Halloween and becoming Ghostly Galaxy.....so good!
• Riding Star Tours and remember Robert (an intern I worked with this summer) making all sorts of Endor jokes the last time I was there
• Eating at In-N-Out twice
• Getting frozen yogurt! I don't know why, but frozen yogurt in California is way better than the crap we have here in Provo
• Basically walking right on to every ride in Disneyland because Emma's sister has a special pass that got us to the front of like every line
• And best of all was just getting away from Provo!

Yesterday my nephew Khyri turned turned 1 year old. He's so stinkin cute and I'm gonna be going down to St. George this weekend to go to his birthday party. I'm pretty excited about it.

Oh, and the last big update is that I registered for my last semester of college EVER this week. It kinda sucks because I have to take 18 credits again but I'm hoping it won't be too bad because 2 of the classes are supposedly super easy GEs (Anthro 101 @ the Salt Lake Center and History of Creativity 202 once a week at night). It's weird to think I never have to register again and that I really am that close to graduating. I actually apply for graduation starting in the next week or so. Crazy huh?! I can't wait!

Too Much

I think taking 18 credits and working over 20 hours a week is too much for me to handle. It's only the middle of the week and I'm exhausted and there is no real break in my schedule anytime soon.... maybe there will be some time next week.

Bucket List

I've decided I want to make a bucket list of all the things I want to go before I die. So far I have 11 things on my list. It's pathetic so I'm looking for some suggestions. What are some things I should add to my list?

Farewell Steeds

I'm warning you right now that this is not your typical blog post. It's kind of a more serious side of me but something I felt others should or would maybe want to see.

For the last few years (I'm a slow reader) I've been moderately (or compulsively) obsessed with The Work & The Glory series. Well finally after probably about 4 years or so since I first started reading this 9 volume series I actually finished it tonight. I couldn't have finished at a more perfect time. The series ends with the family finally reunited in the Salt Lake Valley and they are remembering their past trials and looking forward to a bright future without the worry of constant persecutions. At the very end of the series one of the main characters was kind of wrapping things up and talking to the whole family now filled with the original Steed family plus spouses, children, grandchildren, and even a great grandchild. He was saying how even though they had finally reached the Salt Lake Valley it feels very similar to their time at Winter Quarters, but then he goes on to express one way it was very different. He looks around the family circle, focusing especially on the younger children and babies, and says,

"These children will never know a Far West, a Haun's Mill, a Carthage Jail. They may go to bed hungry this winter, but they will not go to bed afraid."

After reading this book and reading about these horrific events in Church history I feel so grateful for the sacrifice of those who did go through such things. I'm grateful for their faith and strength that help them through those early days and help bring them here to Salt Lake. After that statement the character goes on to say,

"The Valley represents much more than that, though. Like Israel of old, we have come through the wilderness and entered a land of promise. Not a promise of milk and honey - though I suspect those shall come too - but a promise of renewal, of growth, of vision - of Zion. Think of this. Our children will raise up children who have never known any life but life in this valley. Think of that and rejoice."

Ending this book the night before the 179th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints starts was perfect timing. I am so looking forward to being able to hear from the Lord's Prophet and Apostles tomorrow. As I've come to learn more about the history behind the Church I can't help but be amazed by the sacrifices and all the difficulties that people went through and the faith they had to persevere. They made a barren and destitute valley into a valley full of life and faith. I was invited to go up and see the afternoon session of General Conference in the Conference Center tomorrow and I can't wait to have another opportunity to be a part of something that was started to long ago and see what it has been able to grow into and then think about all the possibilities for the future. I feel very lucky to be a part of something and that has meant so much to people who came before and that will continue to spread around the world. And I'm wondering what my contribution to this giant puzzle will be. I guess we will see in time.

It's the final countdown!

I can't believe this is my last year of college. I'm so excited and ready to be done! I'm sure once I finally graduate it will be weird to not ever have class again or tests (besides the CPA exam of course) but as of now I can't wait to be done and move back to LA. Oh how I miss the beach, weather out there, and my friends.

This semester is crazy cuz I'm taking 18 credits and working a bunch. This may be a mistake because I'm exhausted already and there is still months of this to go. I work at American Eagle in the Provo mall which is funny and not super stressful which is good.

I got my first test of the semester back today and did really well especially for me and for an accounting test. The worst part is though that I totally could have gotten 100% on it but I made the dumbest mistake. The one accounting test I could have aced and I blew it. So annoying! But oh well, still happy about my score.

Nothing really interesting has been happening lately so sorry this is such a boring post. The highlight of my week so far is feeding the ducks at the duck pond south of campus last night and only having 4 chapters left of the Work and the Glory volume 9 - the final one. I can't believe I'm almost totally done with that series. It kinda makes me sad, but on the bright side maybe I'll read my textbooks more.

Well, that is all. I am lame. But I'm coming to terms with it.

The End of my LA Summer

It has been so long since I updated this. At this point I'm back in Provo and finishing up my last year of school. But so much happened my last month in LA and so I want to do a quick recap on my summer.

In addition to all the awesome things I already mentioned in older posts the rest of my summer in LA was spent doing the following:

• More beach time. I don't think I will ever get sick of the beach. So much fun.
• I had a great little summer fling, pretty fun while it lasted although there was some associated drama. But who doesn't want to move to a cool city and have a fun summmer romance?
  
• I GOT A JOB OFFER! At the end of my internship PwC gave me an offer for full-time employment that will start next fall after I graduate. I'm super excited to go back there! PwC is so fun and I love the people I worked with, so fun.
• A bunch of the interns went to Dinseyland after our last day of work. We had some much fun! We ate at Club 33 in Disneyland that is this super exclusive club that PwC is a member of. Hands down the fanciest (and most expensive) meal I have ever had. Also it look us 3 hours for dinner and I don't think I've ever had a meal last that long. But it's a sweet deal cuz you pay for you meal and then get a free hopper pass for the theme parks. Granted the price of the meal is like the same price as the park tickets but for the same price you also get a super fancy dinner out of it. I seriously love the interns. We had so much fun and I love that we've been staying in contact since we've all dispersed back to our schools.
  
• My friend Cameron and I went to the Long Beach Aquarium my last week in LA which was also fun. I pet a bunch of fish and a sting ray was kind of obsessed with me. Cameron put some sweet pictures and videos up of it on my facebook so feel free to check those out. The videos kill me. We had so much fun!
• I seriously had the best roommates ever this summer. I was really lucky and loved all my roommates but the last month it was just me, Janae, and Heather living in our apartment. We had so much fun and it was probably my favorite living situation ever! We had roommate chats every night and then Janae would help solve my problems by reading the cards for me. Also they were responsible for my summer fling so thanks guys! Yentas are the best! I am very much looking forward to living with at least Janae again, and if Heather is still around (which for multiple reasons I'm supposing she won't be) I hope her too. Oh how I miss them!
• I got some sweet PwC swag including a backpack, juggling balls, a cute internship scrapebook with so many fun pictures from the summer and the last day of work, a t-shirt, oh yeah and the fact that I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do after graduation. Thank you PwC!
• Every year there is a Mormon Dodger night. It was so cool. Elder Boyd K. Packer threw out the opening pitch. It was adorable. They also welcomed the different stakes in the LA area that were there that night - Go LA 1st ward/stake! Elizabeth Tucker and Rodrigo Vicuna (other interns I worked with) came with me too. They are honorary Mormons and Elizabeth spent most of the night trying to pick out a husband for me. She's so thoughtful. =) Also, Michael Orton, Emma Douglas, and James Barker (Orange County interns) came up for the game too. Such a blast!
• One weekend Emma and I went to a movie theather on Sunset in Hollywood and it was the weirdest theater ever. It was in a dome room that looked like a giant beehive - we almost felt like we were back in Utah. Then on the inside it looked like a play type theater cuz there was a stage and then a big curtain and there were ushers with little flashlights and everything. It was the weirdest but coolest thing ever. We saw the movie "500 Days of Summer". The movie was great and the park bench the main guy sits on a lot during the moving is actually right by my office building. I walked past that spot all the time and you can also see my office building a ton during the movie. I loved it.
• I saw the play Fiddler on the Roof at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. I loved the movie and thought the play was so good too! The Pantages is really pretty and that night I also ate a Rosco's chicken and waffles which was also quite the experience in and of itself. I really wanted to run into Snoop Dog there, but alas he was not there.
  
• In addition to seeing Dr. Robert Ray at church again (but this time with his family) I also saw.....Will Farrell! One day when I was on my lunch break with Elizabeth and Fuchi we went down to the different food places below our building and found a table and there was Will sitting a few tables away from us wearing sunglasses and reading a newspaper. It was pretty cool. Gotta love LA!
  

Well I'm sure there are so many more things that happened but I can't remember anything else at the moment. I've had some pretty great summers but I think this one may have topped all the others. I miss my intern friends, roommates, and so many other things about LA (Yogurtland!). I'm trying to stay positive about spending another year in Provo, but I wish just about everyday I was back in LA.

Another great week in the big city

Time is flying by so quickly which is making me extremely sad. When I first moved to LA all I thought about was my friends back in Provo and just wanting to be back there hanging out with everyone again. But the longer I'm here the more I love it in LA and dread having to move away in a month. Anyways, this has been a fun week and here's why.

First off my internship midpoint review was this week. I was nervous of course but my coach and I had a chance to talk about things on Thursday and he made it seem like everything went well. All my performance reports I got back from people I've worked with were pretty positive and while there are some things for me to work on it appears that I'm on the track to being an associate. So I was obviously really excited to hear that! Of course it's no guarantee but it was nice to know I'm not a complete failure.

Also on Thursday my group of interns, the blue group, decided we would all wear blue to show our group spirit. With the exception of a couple missing people here are the interns I work in the conference room with. The blue group is awesome. We have dance parties during our break and just have a good time working together. Also I believe this is my first picture I've taken this summer since moving to LA!


On Friday we had our first "Intern Friday Activity" We went on a double-decker bus tour of Hollywood and then had some time at the Kodak Theater shopping area and then went to the Grove's farmer's market for lunch. Minus the fact that my GPS lied to me about how to get to Griffith Park where we were meeting resulting in me totally being late (no real biggie) it was a fun and very hot day. Nothing like getting paid for a full day of work when you just hang out with friends, are fed breakfast and lunch, get a tour of the town, wear normal clothes, and are only there for like 6 hours. Loved it.

Also this week my parents came into town. It was really nice seeing family again. Friday afternoon my parents came up from Anaheim and saw my apartment for the first time as well as my office building and the streets I walk home from work on. This was to ease my mom's fears of my dieing in LA I think. Anyways, after that my mom and I went to Downtown Disney (I have now been there like 3 times or so since I've moved here and I might actually be going again this weekend, we will see....) and my dad just chilled at the hotel. Saturday Chel came up from Oceanside and we all went to my favorite beach ever (and yes another one to add to my list) BOLSA CHICA. Although we didn't get to the beach till kinda late I still totally got a sunburn in the backseat of my parents' convertible. Once we were at the beach though my dad and I played in the water for a while. It was way fun. After the beach we went down to Newport Beach and ate at the Spaghetti Factory down there. Mmmm so good.


Today at church was kind of exciting as well cuz guess who I saw as I walked in the doors of the building..... Dr. Robert Ray from Dr. 90210. Apparently he goes to church in the same building as I do. Weird I know. Also the girl from Center Stage 2 is totally in my ward as well. Oh LA, gotta love it - and I do.

3 more beaches added to the list

Since it was a holiday weekend I had an extra day off and you know what that means....... another day for the beach. This weekend I was able to get 3 different beaches in my list of ones visited this summer - and yes, I'm keeping an actual list. Friday I hung out with my friend from work, Elizabeth, and we went to Point Magoo (I think that was the name of the beach) during the day, and then headed up to Camarillo to shop at the outlets. What I learned from that day, I love the Banana Republic Outlet and I also love the Burbank area. If I end up staying in this area forever then that's definitely somewhere I'd consider living.

On the 4th I went with my roomies to "Huntington Beach" or so we thought. After spending a couple of hours with just our little group laying out on the beach we decided we should meet up with the rest of the people that we knew that were on the beach. It wasn't until then that we realized we were nowhere near the other people and we also couldn't see the pier. This is when one of the girls asked somewhere where we were and we found out we were actually at Sunset Beach. So then we all got back in the car drove down the coast until we hit Huntington. *Side note: It was during this trip down the coast that I discovered the location of my favorite beach from childhood. That's right.... Bolsa Chica is right in the middle of Sunset and Huntington! This and the Banana Republice Outlet were definitely the best finds of my week, dare I say the best finds of my time here so far. Side note over.* So we finally get to Huntington with enough time for Melanie and I to play in the water for a little bit. It was really fun. The water was so cold but we just got used to it and it ended up being totally worth it. The rest of the night entailed some random beach houses, a taco restaurant that wouldn't make me a cheese quesidilla, an awesome firework show on the beach, followed by some incredible people watching at another random beach house party, and then of course I fell asleep in the backseat of the car on the ride home.

All in all, another great LA weekend. This city grows on me more and more everyday. I'm excited for next weekend because either I'll spend a day at the pool at my apartment for the first time or I'll be trying out another beach. Either way, it has the making of a great weekend all over it.

LA Updates

Tomorrow is July 1st. Can you believe that?! This means that I have officially completed my first month of my internship. How crazy is that! Time has flown by so fast.

Since there's been so much that has happened I'm going to just give a quick and fairly basic rundown on my life the past month.

• Every Saturday for the past 3 Saturday's I've been going to the beach. First Oceanside, then Santa Monica, and then Zuma. (I think Santa Monica was my favorite even though everyone in LA talks about how disgusting it is. I really hate Zuma though. The sand and water are covered in seaweed. It is sooooooooo gross!! Plus it took forever to get there. The only cool thing about Zuma was the drive back because we [I made Emma come up from Irvine to go with me] drove through Malibu canyon through Calabasas and it was so pretty. I love seeing parts of CA that look like that!)
• I have been to some of my favorite food places: Pat & Oscars, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Yogurtland (my new found love!), In'N'Out, and of course Little Caesars.
• For at least a week straight I went to the hot tub after work and sat in the hot tub and read my book (The Work & the Glory - volumes 7 & 8 - I'm obsessed!)
• I've been to Downtown Disney twice (they have the best jewelry store in Downtown Disney. I'm obsessed with it! Also I love the movie theater they have there) and Universal's City Walk once.
• I've seen some great movies (Up, The Proposal, Land of the Lost, & Year One - The Proposal was hands down the best. I freaken love that movie!)
• I went to a cute little cafe off Sunset Blvd called Bourgeois Pig. It has a cute backroom that looks like the woods with trees and shrubby pillows. It's really cute and mellow.
• On the way to church on Sunday I drive down a street that leads straight to the LA temple. It is sooo pretty. And it looks especially cool at night. The LA temple is huge!
• I'm starting to figure out LA. It took a while to learn where things are and how to get there but with my first paycheck I bought a GPS and it was one of the best purchases of my life.
• Work is so tiring! I never realized how tiring working 8:30-5:30 everyday is. Luckily I live really close to the office so I don't spend very much time commuting. I usually get rides in the morning and then walk home at the end of the day (sometimes I get rides home but I only live a mile from the office so the walk isn't bad at all).

I'm sure there's been more that's happened but it's late and of course I'm tired. My mom told me today that I need to start taking a daily vitamin, so although I'm not a huge vitamin fan I think I'm gonna start taking them starting tomorrow.


*Also, as a side note. I am sooooo tired of my current hair situation. This is what my hair looks like now
and this is what I want my hair to look like again.
Hair school girls of America tell me what you think I should do to get back to this color. So currently I'm at a level 3 in demi permanent color sync and I want to be like a 6 with blonde highlights. What's the best plan of action? Bleach cap? Color stripper? Shave my head? I need your help to figure this situation out!

UPDATES*

There are sooo many things that have happened since my last post. First of all I finally moved to LA!!! After talking about it for so long the time finally came for it to happen! Of course it was kinda scary moving somewhere so different all by myself but I'm definitely glad I did! I moved there last Friday and my sister, Michele, cam up from Temecula to help me move into my new place. I live in downtown, less than a mile away from my office. The apartment building itself it pretty nice but the surrounding area is a little sketch. Sunday night my roommate and I watched a guy standing on the corner trying to figure out if he was waiting for a drug deal or something to go down. Unfortunately after standing pretty confidently for a while a car drove by that must have spooked him and he hurried to his car and drove off in a different direction. It was pretty interesting!!

My first few days in LA involved, lots of unpacking and trying to organize/reorganize, walking around downtown with Chel & Mia trying to find my office building, being really really sick (killer food poisoning) but still going on a way cool hike in the mountains, sleeping over 12 hours one night (the night I was really sick), a sweet cookie party at the apartment down the hall, getting completely lost every time I go outside, and lots of meeting new people.

On Monday my new roommate, Melanie, drove me to the airport to catch my plane for Georgia. I ended up sitting next to a girl on that plane that was a new intern too, and guess what .... we are practically bffs now cuz not only did we sit by each other on the plane but then we were roommates at the hotel, in the same office, and in the same group at the training and back in LA. It's pretty sweet.

Well class (training) is about to start again, so I gotta go!

Tears

So I've been thinking lately about crying and how I can get so emotional over a movie or a book and then I feel retarded for crying all the time. When I was talking to a friend about this and about Mother's Day they brought up this poem thing they'd heard once so I googled and found it. I think it's pretty good and so now I figure I'm just getting a head start on the motherly crying times.

A little boy asked his mother
“Why are you crying?”

“Because I’m a woman”,
she told him.
“I don’t understand”,
he said.
His mum just hugged him
and said, “And you never
will”

Later the little boy asked
his father, “Why does mother seem to cry for
no reason?”
“All women cry for no reason”,
was all his dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man,
still wondering why women cry.
Finally he put in a call to God; and when God got on
the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so
easily?”

God said:
“When I made the woman she had to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the
world; yet, gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and
the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going
when everyone else gives up, and take care of her
family through sickness and fatigue without
complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under
any and all circumstances, even when her child has
hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her man through his
faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his
heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good man never
hurts his woman, but sometimes tests her strengths and
her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed.
This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is
needed.

You see:
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her
hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes,
because that is the doorway to her heart - the place
where love resides.

-Author Unknown

Who would have thought I'd be this excited to go back to Provo

That's right! After weeks of trying to figure out a job down in St. George I've decided to go back to PF in Provo for a couple of weeks until it's time to move to LA. I'm excited to be able to hang out with my friends again and to actually be making money! The plan is to head up there tomorrow until the 27th. Then I'll have a day in St. George again before I move to LA on the 29th. That's the plan anyways.

So, yes I'M EXCITED!

My name is Genna and I'm a DP-holic

That's right I'm addicted to Dr. Pepper and I think it's slowly starting to poison me. For this reason I'm going to try to give up this magic elixir and go cold turkey for a while. I have included a "road trip" exemption where I'm allowed DP while driving long distances but other than that I think I'm going to give it a break.

We've had a nice run Dr. Pepper, but it's time I try things all alone for a little while. I will miss you my good friend. Thanks for the memories.

10 Things I miss about Provo

1. My friends
2. Raj & 7/11 runs
3. Zupas
4. Actually having a job/making money
   
5. Foxwood pool
6. Rollerblading around Provo & longboarding the canyon
   
7. Sitting in front of Canterwood with a popsicle
8. Being in a singles ward instead of a home ward
   
9. Campouts in the Canterwood courtyard
10. and did I mention my friends .....
    

I MISS MY FRIENDS!

Finals

This week I've written 3 papers and taken 3 tests. And next week I have another paper and 2 more tests and packing all my crap up. I just want to be done already!!! I have summer-itis real bad! I just hear the pools calling my name. Even pools are wanting me to get a tan already.

LA!

K so the summer is so close and I finally got my official start date for my internship. It begins on June 1st! I'm so excited! I also think I might have found where I'm going to live. The place looks ridiculously nice - it kinda looks like the place Lauren Conrad live at the first couple of seasons of The Hills. Anyways, I am getting so excited for summer in LA! Can it just be here already?!

Finally!

I've finally finished with all the tests based on the material I missed while I was on my fly-out and home for my dad's surgery. Thank goodness! I can finally relax and not feel like a total idiot!

Also, I have now been sick for over a week. It was the worst on Friday and every time I got out of bed even just for like 15 minutes I wanted to die. Now I'm just sick of going to bed and waking up coughing. Can I please be healthy again?!! Hopefully within the next couple days this stupid cold will be over! Also, it's totally jacked up my taste buds and even water has a weird taste to it, and - I know it's hard to believe - but even Dr. Pepper has tasted disgusting!! I've also had the nastiest voice! I sound retarded.

My parents were in town last weekend celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary. Congrats guys! 33 years is a long freakin time! Since I was so sick I couldn't really hang out with them cuz I didn't want to get out of bed and cuz my dad is still recovering from surgery, but I did get to see them for a little bit on Saturday. It was neat. Love the parents and the phone call my dad always gives me when we pass the area where my car broke down and he was my hero.

Amber sent me some new pictures of Khyri today. He is soooo stinkin cute and can sit up all by himself now. Man I love that little boy!

I can't wait for school to be over! I am so sick of studying or feeling guilty for not studying! I'm also sooooo sick of sitting through boring classes. Only one more year of school after this and I seriously can't wait to actually be done once and for all!

This post has been all over the place, but welcome to my life.

Preview of Summer!

Here are some pictures I took a couple of weeks ago while I was on the office visit in LA. The firm I'm signing with is PricewaterhouseCoopers! I love PwC! The people are so nice and the office is rad. My ears popped every time I rode to elevators up the their floors (I think their offices are on floor 44-51 or something like that. It's crazy!) They also have a sweet area in the middle of the plaza with a water show. There are also picture from the plane, my hotel room, and views from my hotel room window (I was on the 11th floor). The light building is the hotel and the glass one is the office building!

I'm so happy I could cry! ... and I kinda did.

Guess what...... I got the internship in LA!!!! I'm the luckiest person ever! First my dad kicks cancer's butt and then I get the internship of my dreams! Best 9 days ever!

As a disclaimer, I still hate Miley Cyrus, so don't take the fact that I added a song of hers onto my playlist to mean there's been a change with that. There hasn't. I just really like the song, not her!

More Updates!

The surgery was last night and so we were at the hospital from 3 pm to about 12:30 am. The surgery went really well and the doctors feel very confident that they got all the cancer! So yay for that! There were some complications due to some heart problems we've found out about earlier in the week. So he had to spend last night in the ICU because of low blood pressure. He's been there all day, but has been off the blood pressure medicine (another milestone) and he's actually been off all painkillers since about 5 hours after the surgery, which is pretty crazy! He's a trooper though and it not only missing the kidney they removed, but they actually had to remove part of a rib to get to his kidney, and now he's just hanging out with zero pain meds. He's awesome! They are keeping him in the ICU again tonight, but mostly because of a shortage of beds in the other areas and plus it's just cool for him to get extra special treatment! So I've been spending most of my time at the hospital the last couple of days and that's the plan for the upcoming ones as well.

Updates

So it's been a little while since my last posts and there have been some changes in plans.

My dad's surgery was pushed back from what we were originally expecting on February 18th to this coming Wednesday, March 4th. Another change was that what I had originally been told about not knowing if the tumor was cancerous or not was also not totally true. I guess they wont know for sure until they take it out and do a biopsy, but they are pretty confident that it is cancerous, but they're hoping the cancer is contain within the kidney area and they'll be able to remove it all. I came down to St. George tonight to be able to spend time with my fam for a couple days before and a couple days after the surgery. I'll be going back to Provo in about 9 days. Missing that much school is a little stressful, but being here is way more important and all my classes that actually matter my teachers are being way cool about me missing class. My tax teachers - Randall & Gardner - are the nicest men ever. Anyways, that's the updates with my dad to this point. Love him.

Other Events

I had my flyout this past with PwC in Los Angeles. It was so fun! I loved LA and the office! The people I met were super nice and really the LA office has the coolest clients! They said they'd let us know by March 10. It's always hard cuz you think interviews go so well, but really you have NO IDEA! They all went over on time which I hear is a good thing, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.Keep your fingers crossed!

I should be reqired to watch the movie "He Just Not That Into You" once a week to not overthink things. Everytime I watch that movie I realized how crazy girls can be thinking random things boys do actually mean something, and I'm totally one of those girls. I am Gigi - at least until like the last 5 minutes of the movie. But yeah, I must watch that weekly!

I went snowboarding last week for the 2nd time ever. I loved it!!! I really suck still, but it's sooooo fun. I want to get better, but that might mean I have to go more than once a year. Who knows if that will happen.

Well I can't really think of anything else right now, but I'll try to keep this updated in the coming week.

Diagnosis

After running some more tests today the results of my dad's condition came in. He has a 9 centimeter tumor on one of his kidneys and the other kidney looks like it is functioning alright, but it has a stone that will need to be removed. The surgery will be in about a week and half. They wont know if the tumor is cancerous at all until they remove it. The crazy thing is that he originally went in yesterday because he was getting blood clots in his bladder that made it so he couldn't pee, but had it not been for those blood clots he would never have gone in and found out about the tumor because minus the blood clots he feels normal. So in a weird way he's lucky. But one thing is that my dad has a low platelet count normally so they have to have a hematologist come in for the surgery to make sure everything with his blood is fine. In the mean time they'll let him go home until the surgery if the clot problems goes away otherwise I think he'll stay in the hospital for a few days. I'll be going down for the surgery and some days around it but I'm hopeful that everything will turn out just fine. I love my dad, he's seriously one of the greatest people I know so he's gotta be fine.

WORLD'S BEST DAD!

So I don't know if you've heard but I actually have the world's best dad! After hearing he went to the hospital today for some health issues (he's spending the night in the hospital and they're still running tests and we don't actually know what's wrong or what caused the problem yet) I decided to write this blog post especially for and all about him! There are so many reasons I love my dad, but really he's just the cutest, nicest, jolly-ist, most giving, most self-sacrificing person I know. To give you all some small idea of why he's so great I'll tell you some of my favorite stories about him.

*My favorite story happened right after my second semester at BYU. I was driving back up to Provo to start Spring semester classes the following day when my car broke down somewhere around Beaver or Fillmore. I called my dad and started freaking out cuz I didn't know what to do cuz I had to start classes the next day and I was working and I had to move into my new apartment that day and I had no clue how I'd b able to do any of that without a car. So what did my dad do . . . he totally came to my rescue. He drove up and met me with his truck that he had just barely bought not too long before this happened. While I was still in the process of freaking out he started moving all my bags from my car to his truck. Then he gave me his keys and told me to take his truck until we figured something out. This in and of itself was so nice and classic of my dad, but the story doesn't end there. This all happened before noon and guess how this story ends. My dad ended up waiting with my car for at least 6 hours in the heat of April until my brother in law got off work and was able to come up with a trailer to pick him and the car up. Then I was able to keep his car for a couple of months and he was the one found something else to drive. So great!

*Any story my dad tells is awesome! Last time I was home my dad was running to RedBox to rent a movie and I ran out and jumped in the car with him. He has so many stories that you can just tell he wants to talk to someone about, but he's just so cute cuz he's kinda talks slowly when telling stories so you have to be patient and wait for him to spit it out. But really he's so smart and has some great stories to tell!

*My dad is so patient! He has spent sooooo many hours sitting in a car or reading a book or just listening to some good old talk radio while the girls are inside the mall shopping for hours on end. He never complains and just goes with the flow.

*Another thing I love about my dad is just all the little things. He's always know the details about our birth and it really made me feel special to know that my dad actually likes being a dad enough to care to know the time of day we were born and how much we weigh and how long we were. Other things I loved was his big belly for using as a pillow when watching movies or a tv. He's also really fun to play with in a swimming pool cuz we'd always try to sit on him stomach when he was floating on his back and then he'd start rolling so we'd fall off. This was always a fun game. I would also hang on to his back, holding around his neck as he'd swim underwater. Body surfing and diving under the waves in the ocean is always a blast with my dad.

I really do have the best dad ever. I couldn't image anyone else as my dad cuz there's no way they could compare! Love ya dad!

PwC

I had another interview this morning with PwC. I really liked the people I met and talked with from the firm. Last night they had a dinner for everyone who was interviewing with them. It was at a building on campus and pretty nice. I always feel so weird at these fancy dinners but I'm getting more used to them the more I go to. Anyways, so I've had 3 of my interviews already and tomorrow I'll have the last 2. I'm so excited to be done with on-campus interviews I can't even tell you! And the "silence period" ends at noon on the 12th, so that's when I should hear back about if they want me to come and do a fly-out. Continue crossing your fingers for me in Orange County!

Other news:

• Today is day 2 for my VITA lab shift. I'm pretty excited about that.
• Last night I went to bed before midnight, which almost never happens.
• I don't have any classes tomorrow so that will be awesome.
• I miss my nieces and nephews. I was video/audio chatting with my mom the other day while Taia was at her house. It was the cutest thing ever cuz Tai was just laughing so hard in the background about everything. I really just can't wait to go home in a couple weeks and see them!
  
• I'm freezing! I need winter to be over already! I can't take the cold any more!
• And finally I'm giving a shout out to Emma. I'm pumped!
  

GT

This morning I had an interview with Grant Thorton. They're included in the Fab 5 of accounting firms and I think it went really well. I was able to totally be myself while still showing a professional side. Honestly, it was probably my favorite interview I've had either last semester or this one so far. They just seem like a laid back firm that has great clients, lots of grow, and lots of opportunities and openings for the locations I want (Irvine or San Diego - but really Irvine!). There's a silence period where the firms aren't allowed to contact us about whether or not they want us to do a flyout that last until about the 12th or 13th of this month and then I should hear from them. So keep your fingers crossed for me in Irvine with Grant Thorton!!!!

Nerd Alert!

Guess what.......

I prepared my first income tax return today! I'm volunteering with BYU's VITA Lab as a basic level tax preparer. During my little shift today I only did 2 returns and the first one made me think I should just totally drop out of school/life but I got through it and the second return went much much smoother and faster.

I'm not gonna lie, I actually really enjoyed filling out the forms and stuff once I was getting a hang of the software and stuff. Ahhhhh I'm such a nerd! Oh well, at least I'm getting good practice and something nice to add to my resume! If you want me to do yours for you (which don't worry, someone more advanced goes through and double checks things) sign up for a time on the bap website for BYU. My volunteer shifts are Tuesdays & Thursdays from 3-4!

Go taxes!

Sunday Naps

I must confess that Sunday naps are the best thing that has ever happened to me! For some reason I always seem to stay up ridiculously late on Saturday nights resulting in about 4 hours of sleep. The last couple of weeks I've made up for this by indulging in long naps, and when I say long I mean long! Two Sundays ago I took an 8 hour nap and then this past Sunday I took a 6 hour nap. After such naps you'd think I wouldn't be tired when it came time for actually going to bed . . . oh no, that's not the case at all. Somehow I'm able to pass out virtually the second I hit the pillow. What can I say, I either have a packed life or I'm a great sleeper! Take your pick.

I'm a deer?

Ok, so I just got home from my interview with Deloitte. I think it went ok, but you never really know what they are thinking.

At the end of the interview he asked if I had any questions so I asked him a couple questions and then I asked if he had any suggestions for me (showing that I'm interesting in feedback and improving). Well he started off saying things like that I did a good job showing that I was interested in that area (which I totally am!) and that I would be someone that people felt good about recommending for a position, but then he started saying that I really should be working for a 4.0 and that I swear he said something like "try not to look like a deer in the headlights" so I'm kinda confused right now. But seriously how funny is it to be pretty much told your grades suck and you look like a deer.

All in a day in the life of Genna. (Oh, and he called me Gina)

D-Day

If you didn't know, the internship interviewing processing last semester was really interesting. It was full of new experiences for me and I learned a lot from it. The biggest thing I learned it that I don't want to live in Vegas, which means I'm doing the whole process over again.

Tomorrow I have my first interview for this new go-around. I'm interviewing with Deloitte for their Costa Mesa, California (Orange County) office. I will have three other interviews with Grant Thorton, PWC, and KPMG that will all be the first week in February.

I'm not nearly as nervous this time around, the only thing I'm really worried about is if I'll actually get an offer. As fun as the process can be and the flyouts and all the cool socials and stuff I'd really just like to be done with this process and have an offer! Anyways, keep your fingers crossed!

Here's my question of the day:

How is my bed becoming more and more comfortable every day? I swear every morning it is the hardest thing to get myself to actually roll off my bed. It's just so warm and soft and good to me. Even talking about it now I just want to get back into in, but no I have to stay on campus and do school work. Sad day.

Anyways, I've just been thinking about how nice my bed is the last little while and so I thought I'd blog about it.

I think 8 am class will be the death of me.

my story

For my communications class tomorrow night we have the assignment of "telling our story". There are so many different stories to chose from that have molded different parts of my personality and character that I'm left wondering which story to chose. I think I'm supposed to make the connection of tying it into what kind of class member/student I'm going to be, but I'm really not that sure. Anyways, my preliminary idea is of telling about the flood in St. George. It was a pretty big and unusual event that taught me some valuable lessons about community and helping others even if you don't know them. It was taught me about what is really important in life and what we can lose in an instant. It also taught me that when the roads you always use are out of commission going the other way can be pretty annoying! Anyways I think I'm gonna talk about that but I still have 18 hours to change my mind. Any suggestions of stories that I wouldn't mind sharing with an entire class of basically complete strangers?

Real World Update

So tonight was the second episode of MTV's The Real World feature Chet, a Mormon guy from SLC. The more I see of him and the show the happier I am. He's doing a great job representing us and showing that we aren't perfect or professing to be perfect. On this week's episode Chet's family visited the house and it was so funny to see this big old family come walking in that all looked similar and clean and dressed nice. It was also funny to hear the other roommates comment on his family. They all had good things to say and his mom was so cute and totally your typical Mormon mom. I'm so glad that he's on the show and if the worst things people are saying about him is that he acts childish sometimes and has an interesting sense of style, more power to him, there are so many worse things that could be said about a person. So keep it up Chet!

A Mormon on the Real World

On this season of MTV's reality show The Real World: Brooklyn they have a Mormon on the show from Salt Lake City, Utah. This makes me kinda nervous and definitely guarantees I'll be tuning in on Wednesday nights.

On one hand I think it's really great for Mormons to get out there and start getting the truth out about our beliefs and who we are as a people and as individuals, but on the other hand it makes me really nervous that seeing one person's faults will led to new misconceptions about our religion as a whole.

The guy's name is Chet and although the other cast members have been giving him some crap about being gay due to his style of dressing and his friendship with another guy in the house, he's already come out as being a virgin, never masturbating, and as being the designated driver in the group. So far so good, I hope he can represent us well!

I do have one question though.... he's 23 and in some of the footage he's wearing a sleeveless shirt or a deep V neck, so is he not endowed?

So that's who does it

So the other day I was sitting in my car in a parking lot just kinda waiting around and all of the sudden this middle aged women walked past my car on the ways to hers and totally spit out her gum in the middle of the parking lot. Can you believe that?!! It's soooo gross. People, if you want to spit out your gum you should do it in a garbage can or a bush, not where people are walking. Anyways, I've always wondered who it was that actually would spit their gum out where people would be walking and I finally got my answer.

Not just in the movies

You know how in a lot of movies whenever there is water on the roads and people are on the sidewalk there is always a car that drives past and ends up soaking the people with water......well that totally happened to me today.

After class I was walking to my car with a friend and as we were walking and talking down the sidewalk a car drove past and splashed water all over my jeans. In a split second I was turned into a dalmation. It was hilarious! I'd never seen that happen to anyone in real life and let me tell you, if you've never seen it you should. I was just glad I was leaving school, not going to class. But then again, at least you'd have a funny story to tell everyone when you show up to class with wet spots all over yourself.

And as if that wasn't enough retibution for my hatred of this weather a few minutes after I was sprayed with water I ended up stepping in a giant puddle. Needle to say I got home with wet pants, socks, and shoes. It was a rough day for my clothes.

House to the rescue

I hate this weather! I'm freezing and it makes me extra sleepy cuz I just want to stay curled up in bed all day. And I hate that every time I go outside the bottom of my pants get wet. I end up going through multiple pairs of pants each day cuz of course I change them every time I get home. Another weather complaint, the icy sidewalks. Although it's funny when other people are sliding all over the place I hate taking those little tight steps to help keep from sliding around or falling down altogether. In conclusion, I do not like snow or cold weather.

In other news, today was the first day of school for this semester. Luckily I only had one class today and after some errands I ran earlier I put on slippers and laid in bed watching House all day. I'm now halfway through season 3 and as addicted to it as ever. Is it bad that I'm slightly attracted to House in a totally gross, I know I have a problem kind of way? Regardless of that I'm still wanting him to hook up with Cuddy. They also have good clothes on the show. Cuddy's are my favorite, but Cameron usually has great shoes and House wears some sweet shirts (I hate his shoes though). Anyways, I think I may have rein in my House watching since school has started. Oh, the good news of today, my only Monday class, which is at 8 am, has been cancelled for the next 2 weeks. Yay for that.


Lastly, my sister Amber started a blog tonight, so welcome to the blogger world sis.

and the total is.....

A few months back I wrote about a little skin condition I have called "I'm super moley". In that entry I had a total of 16 moles removed. Well add 3 more to the collection bringing my grand total of moles removed to 19. This morning while having a check up on the 4 moles I had removed last summer, I had another mole on my leg removed and then two more on the side of my face. I'm getting closer to my goal of having every mole removed! As of now I have four more that I'm hoping to have removed later this year, so I'll keep ya posted! =) 

Best & Worst of 2008

Happy New Years!

Since it's been a while since my last post I've decided to just do a year-end wrap-up of my favorite and also some least favorite things from 2008 and maybe some other random things as well.

*Favorite Movies - Mamma Mia, Twilight, 27 Dresses, The Dark Knight, Step Up 2: The Streets, 

*Least Favorite Movies - The Traveling Pants 2, Tinker Bell 

*Favorite TV Shows - Gossip Girl, Heroes, Lost, House, Grey's Anatomy, Project Runway (online episodes are the best)

*Favorite Books - Twilight Series, Those Who Save Us, The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, Life of Pi

*Favorite Music - Anything from Trevor Hall, "So What" by Pink, "I Don't Care" Fall Out Boy, Mamma Mia Soundtrack, Chris Merritt (especially live), Church music off YouTube, and whatever else is still on my playlist on here

*Favorite Restaurants/Food Places - Zupas, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Noodles & Co., Pizza Hut, In'N'Out, Little Caesars (that's right, I'm a little white trash), and of course table 21 @ Pizza Factory

*Favorite Pastimes - Painting my nails, "Grey's Night" with my nerdy accounting friends, 7/11 runs, lunch dates with accounting friends, tanning (stop judging me), staying up late watching movies after Nicole falls asleep on the other couch, roommate chats with Nicole and Monica (also fun when Rachelle was there too), Rollerblading and biking around Provo with Brenna, Chris Merritt concerts, talking Rachelle into spending the night at my apartment when my roommates were gone, online puzzles, chatting with George (my fish), getting Taia to say the word "diaper" cuz she says it really funny, hanging out with T during the summer, Freecell, Google Chat & Video (especially during classes), Sudoku, Friday afternoon movie dates with Meaghan, Sleeping

*Where I lived - Canterwood of course, with a ton of trips to St. George

*Where I worked - A server at Pizza Factory (I didn't work January-April while I was doing the Junior Core though) 

*Hair Color - From super blonde to dark brown, but for this year at least the winner is dark brown

*Favorite Purchases - Buckle jeans (I love them!), George (my Beta Fish), the coolest jewelry case ever, super thick white leather Fossil watch, Chi straightener, anything used to organize my room

*Favorite Shoes - I love all my shoes, but my favorites are my Vans, Globe, Red Soda Wedges, and Black Bongo Heals

*Big Events - 

        -New nephews (Ryder & Khyri), 

        -I survived the Accounting Junior Core,

        -Accepted into BYU's MAcc Program (Masters of Accountancy) and made it through a semester of that, 

        -Went on a flyout (first time on an airplane since 9th grade and first time flying and staying at a hotel by myself and riding in a taxi), 

        -Bought my first suit (which I hate wearing cuz it makes me feel like a man when I wear it),

        -Both my brothers got married (welcome to the fam Dannielle and Whitney),

        -2nd Annual California Trip with my mom,

        -Was Relief Society President for the whole year (that was eventful)

So all in all 2008 was a pretty good year, fingers crossed that 2009 will be even better!

*Random things/place I want to/go do this year -

        -Outdoor ice skating

        -Nicklecade

        -Classic Skating

        -Ride the Heber Creeper

        -Trafalgas

        -Jump On It

        -Ride Trax (one of my favorite things about Salt Lake, well the free area at least)

        -Disneyland/California Adventure

*What I'm looking forward to -

        -Hopefully more flyouts and an offer for an internship and a full-time position afterwards,

        -More nieces and nephews,

        -Finishing College, 

        -Moving out of Provo (bye bye snow!),

        -Learning how to snowboard better (ok, I've only been once but I did pretty good & I loved it!),

        -Summer

        -Where I end up, basically my future life - house, car, family, friends, location, job