10 things you really want to know about

I have about a hundred million things I want to write about, but I have a mid-term tomorrow and about a million pages of political science/The Great Gatsby/Media Law cases to read before the weekend, so I'm going with the classic random list of what's in my brain/life as of late:

1. First and foremost, my friend Lindsay Law and I (both of us are former Scroll editor in chiefs) were given the FANTASTIC job of producing BYU-Idaho's firstever student-produced magazine, Bride's Guide. The Bride's Guide has been a special section of the newspaper in the past but we got all fancy this time with glossy pages and all that. We sent it to the printer yesterday and it will be next to the Scroll on racks across campus by Feb. 12. But if you're like me and just can't WAIT to hold it in your hands (try to contain your excitement, please), here's a teeny tiny sneak peek of what the cover might look like:


And an inside page/"my favorite thing I designed" might look a little something like this:

Keep your eyes out for this fantastic little piece of journalism.

2. I've been thinking a lot about the First Amendment and freedom of speech and all that because I'm in a Media Law and Ethics class this semester. It really is a total double-edged sword — the same thing that protects me from being arrested for going to church protects stupid people from being arrested for saying REALLY stupid things. Sometimes it's hard to live with it, but we most certainly can't live without it.

3. I got a new phone today. :)

4. You know how everyone makes a big deal out of missionary's shoes? How they're all worn out when they get home and everything? Well I have this pair of shoes that I bought for my high school graduation, and I'd put them up against ANY missionary's shoes. I wore them to Chicago in Summer 2007 when I worked at a camp for inner-city youth. I wore them to Washington, D.C., for a journalism conference that fall. I wore them through weeks and weeks of EFY counseling this summer. I wore them at the Hill Cumorah pageant. I wore them to school nearly every day — they've walked HUNDREDS of times from the Spori to the Ricks.

Anyway, I literally WORE A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THEM. I was walking to the Smith last week, and I felt a wet spot on my sock. Another step, and it spread. More and more water came into my shoe, and by the time I got there the entire bottom of my sock was soaked. Yeah, I know. Pretty impressive, yeah?

5. Have you tried Burger King's Ketchup & Fries Flavored Potato Snacks? As far as we can tell, they're ONLY sold in BYU-Idaho Bookstore. Ryan Kunz found them and I'm hooked. They taste EXACTLY like ketchup and fries, but they look like Fritos. Whoa.

6. Have you ever noticed that love and hate are kind of the same thing underneath? We just finished the short story unit in my Fiction class and we all voted on our favorite and least favorite stories. Interestingly enough, Mark Twain got second place for "favorite" and won "least favorite." How many people do you know that are honestly neutral when "Twilight" comes up? Everyone has an opinion, whether it's good or bad, and as far as I can tell, they're often pretty similar when you really look at it. (i.e. "I hated Twain because he didn't describe enough!" "I loved Twain because he said exactly what he meant without any fluff!" See what I mean?)

7. I still love (OK, live for) The Office.

8. I REALLY need a new camera. Just a little snapshot camera. Any suggestions?

9. I'm totally getting into this Family History thing. SO cool. I highly suggest it.

10. Confession: I'm taking a internet design class (i.e. html and CSS coding). And I LIKE it (Sandlot, anyone?). I'm a total nerd.