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It's for Out of the Woods Designs.

My mother designs, burns and paints wood furniture and plaques, and is incredibly talented.

She is amazing.

Probably-asaurus.

So. I hate that I mostly only feel like blogging when I'm procrastinating something.

right now, it's finishing a geology term paper.

Yes. Geology. Term. Paper.

Why? Oh yes, I've been asking myself that too.

What's my topic? Oh no big deal.

It's just this bad-A sea-lizard.

THE MOSASAUR.

Look at that guy. Terrifying right?

Yikes.

So now I know more about this late-cretaceous beastie than I ever would want to.

(If its size weren't terrifying enough, this guy has teeth on the ROOF of its mouth. There is no escape)

So...now that you're here....

I forgot what I was going to say.

Really though.

I had a good idea. And now it's gone.

This idea probably would have changed your life.

After reading this blog, you probably would have gone out into the world, gone on a 15-mile run, cooked an amazing 4 course meal and then made about 4 people fall in love with you.

Really though. I'm sure it was probably brilliant.

You probably would have helped a homeless man, sung an opera, made several matches for best friends, slapped Keira Knightley in the face, saved 3 orphans from a bear-shark, and then given a Tony-award winning performance.

Honestly.

Probably.

Maybe these are just all things that I want to do.

Probably.

But in the mean time, watch this video. My mom and I do. All the time.

It's my favorite.

Heidi's Daily Affirmation.

I must admit that this post is plagiarism.

I took the idea from Emily. Whose blog I love.

Here is it. Pribbles and Prabbles.

She did this first

and probably better, but here goes.

You've probably seen this video.

She's pretty adorable right?

I love it. I also love that attitude.

This is the attitude that I have about my life at this very moment!

I can be a SHARK.

Now my whole life is great.

I can do anything good!

I like my school

I like my hair

I like my Scarletts!

I like my dads

]I like my play

I like my sisters

I like my whole house

I like my moms

I like my Kurts

I like my Senorita Eeeeeeeva Blancas

I like my church

I like my brothers

I like my

domesticity

I like my roommates

I like my whole life!

My whole life is great

I can do anything good

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah...

I can do anything good!

BETTER THAN ANYONE

The Game

Here's yet another Dallas Clayton poem.

I love him.

LIFE INSTRUCTIONS

Child 1: This game doesn’t have directions.

Child 2: So?

Child 1: So how do you know if you are playing it right?

Child 2: It’s fun. When a game is fun you’re playing it right.

-Dallas Clayton

I think there's a lot to be said of this. Unfortunately, I didn't get enough sleep last night to figure out exactly what.

I'm sure you can figure it out. You're smart and wonderful people.

-The Little Red Haired Girl

Stage Door!!!

Watch this to see how amazing my show is going to be. Oh it is.

Also, don't look for me in this trailer, I'm not in it.

But I AM in the play!

So come see it!

We open next Wednesday, the 27th and run through November 13th!

You can get tickets online, or on BYU campus in the HFAC!

Here's the thing.

This is my new goal, thanks to a little help from Marc Johns. Check him out.

I'm realizing it's easier just to try and be happy, even when you're not.

It's all in what you focus on.

and guesswhatsurprise!

Trying to be happy, makes you happy.

So here for you, my four faithful blog readers (all within my family, I'm guessing)

is yet another of my happy lists:

1. Oh my gosh the weather. I know, I know. Every girl, and every girl who blogs is talking about how amazingly wonderful this weather is and thescarvesandbootsandsweaters. yes. I feel the same way. But oh, the chilliness, the rain, THE THUNDER AND LIGHTENING! I've been waiting for 2 years for a good thunderstorm in Utah, and finally got one yesterday. It was wondrous. It makes me put on my "autumn" playlist on my ipod, and float away to the strains of the Amelie, The Village and Little Women soundtracks, Iron and Wine, Nickel Creek, Joni Mitchell, Josh Ritter, the Weepies and more lovelies. This makes me happy. It's Cozy weather. Capital C-Cozy.

2. How happy I am with my living situation. I thought it was a miracle when I got housing at all, and in the complex of my dreams. I went in with one roommate that I knew, and two strangers. I was nervous. And I LOVE THEM. It's wonderful. I'm incredibly happy with my roommates, my house, my ward and the environment I now find myself in. I've never been super involved in my student ward or apartment complex, and have mostly created my social circle outside of those parameters. However, this year, I am making an effort to be more involved. Play rehearsals make this difficult, but I am trying. But all, in all, my new living situation is highly pleasing. Highly.

3. I can again feel inspired, fashion-wise. I lost my fashion bravery for a while. It's back now. And right in time for Autumn. Today I am wearing Navy blue and black together. Which, in my mind takes the kind of attitude and posture which indicates that this wasn't a mistake, but a purposeful decisions. Do I think too much about clothes? Yes.

4. My hair is growing!!!

5. Coooooooking. I love cooking. I don't know why. It's all I want to do. I want to drop out of school and be a cook. What I love the most is inventing things with the items I have in my kitchen. Which generally means it will have either cilantro, or curry in it...or both. On Wednesday, I was having an absolutely terrible day. A Jonah day. Just the worst. Then I came home, and realized I had some leftover canned pumpkin in my fridge, and I whipped some pumpkin-curry chicken. It turned out pretty good, a little too salty, but pretty dang good. There's something incredibly calming about cooking, and I've realized that almost nothing makes me simultaneously happier or more stressed out than cooking for others.

I'm not a perfectionist in any area of my life, but when it comes to baking, I freak a little bit. Over Conference weekend, my roommates and some friends and I created a little cozy nest in our living room, piling cushions, blankets and each other all over our floor and carpets. I baked pumpkin bread saturday morning, and coffee cake on Sunday morning. Saturday night, I baked a couple of strawberry rhubarb pies for my friends Bethany and Graham. Almost all of these baking episodes had a serious incident that affected the product for the worse. The crust decided to be made of crumbly sand, and hate me. By the time I had figured out how to work with it, one of the pies was...special. The other one wasn't too bad though. All of this baking made me sososo happy. Again, can Julie and Julia be my life?

6. Stage Door. Seriously this play is going to be gooooood. Come buy your tickets! It starts the 27th of October and runs through November 13th.

7. I have some of the best people around me that ever were. Seriously. My family is the best. My friends, I've really discovered this year, are invaluable to my life. I can't thank them enough for listening to me whine dramatically, or cry dramatically, or giving me support exactly when I need them the most. Miracles. I have angels in my life.

Complementary Me.

"Oh dear me, what a strange peculiar thing that I should always see, someone just like me..."

-Elizabeth and the Catapult

I've been noticing a trend in my life.

The trend is doppelgangers.

I don't know why. I don't know how. But I have a million of these so-called "twins" walking around in the world.

I used to think it was just the fact that most people think red hair makes twins of everyone. When the Parent Trap came out, everyone and their mom swore I looked exactly like "that girl in the movie"...Lindsay Lohan...Yikes. And, honestly, I was flattered, because I ADORED that movie, and I wanted nothing more than to be Hallie with her twist-and-clip hair, bangs, chinese dress, fluffy purse, and blue nail polish. She was the ultimate cool. But really, we both just had red hair. It wasn't even the same color red. Not everyone with red hair looks the same!

But lately, I've noticed that when I mention the red hair phenomenon, people are saying, "But she didn't have red hair."

I just don't know.

This is also compiled with the fact that literally, close to every single new person I've met throughout my life has told me that I remind them of someone they already know.

I can't figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

One one hand, it's like people are comfortable with me because I seem familiar to them...

On the other hand...I remind them of someone they don't like...

On a third, mutant-hand, I am completely un-unique.

Un-unique? Is there another word for that?

Whatever.

Anyways, I'm finding this interesting.

The doppelganger effect.

Addendum: Literally 20 minutes after I posted this, my friend came and got me to show me my "doppelganger" in the HFAC. I didn't see the resemblance.

Addendum again: I'm thinking of using the above picture for Halloween. My hair looks almost exactly like that right now.

Thoughts.

I'd like to tell you all about a little green herb that makes me feel riiiilll good...

Yes. Yes, you've guessed it.

Cilantro.

Has there ever been anything as glorious as this plant? I submit that there is not. I now put cilantro in everything I make. Seriously. Ramen. So good. I put in on baby spinach with a little bit of lemon juice, and I don't need any more dressing than that! I put it in this chicken tikka-masala-type thing that I invented last Sunday.

It has become a staple in my fridge and life.

I shall probably name one of my children cilantro.

Joking.

But, really.

Here are some more thoughts from my head, I guess. I know, boring, right?

When you get new music, do you ever feel this strange sort of guilt if you attach onto one song, listen to it over and over and neglect the others a bit?

I do that.

I feel like I have this obligation to the rest of the album, and I am not fulfilling it, and I also might be hurting the feelings of the other songs.

Also, I looked at the wig I'll be wearing for Stage Door. All I can say is, I will not look like Heidi. Good luck trying to find me onstage. It would take my own mother the whole show to find me. It's blonde. Like this dishwater, greenish, dull blonde. The wig is also made of real. human. hair. It give-a me the jeeblies. It's from Korea. It was once on the head of a woman from Korea...or man. I guess I don't really know. The history of that hair.

This was random and not very interesting. Sorry.

Stop this train.

So. Sometimes being a grown-up is fun.

It's fun when you get to run around London and Paris by yourself. I learned that this summer. Being the baby of my family by a large age gap has left me without several basic survival skills, and largely dependent on others. This summer, however, when I was able to go to London, I was pleased to be able to master things and find my own way around.

The height of this grown-upness came during the travel week-end. Two friends and I decided to travel to Paris for the four day trip.

I found and booked our hostel in Monmartre. Found our way around. Mastered the metro. Spoke as much French as possible, and was really brave about speaking to strangers and asking for help and directions in French. I led my friends around Paris. They called me Tourguide Heidi. I'm bragging a little. But only because it was so new and unlike me and so much fun.

But being a grown-up kind of stinks sometimes when you have to make decisions. Decisions are not my friend. In fact, Decisions and I are enemies. But here I am. Making hard decisions. Being a grown-up. Satisfying. Also, painful. Also, confusing.

Can't I just rewind to the time I was still playing Barbies?

Oh wait...I played with Barbies until I was like 14.

Not to mention this little incident...

Which may or may not have been the summer before last...you don't know! (That's John Smith, Pilgrim Lady and Padme Amidala...yikes.)

Anyways. Even being 14 would be simpler than now. But then I guess I'd be stressing over things like no boys dancing with me or liking me ever at lame Connecticut stake dances. I guess that was pretty hard for me then.

I guess what I'm learning here is this is why we grow up. We are given challenges that we are able to handle as we go along. I wouldn't have been able to handle what I'm going through now at 14, which is why I'm going through it NOW and not THEN. I guess it's all designed to work itself out.

Though I do love those times when I can get together with some friends and watch Swan Princess and Anastasia and remember the time when all I wanted to do was be a princess...

Ebony Eyes!

Oh my gosh. My gosh.

This is my happy song of the moment.

I fell back in love with Stevie Wonder this summer. (How were we ever apart?)

And seriously, just TRY not to smile when this song starts.

I dare you.

It's enough to make me wish I had ebony eyes myself!

Try to remember the kind of september...

My life is turning all around right now. Here are some things that I am doing right now:

Taking a stage combat class....yes. Me. The girl who can hurt herself sitting on a couch, is taking a stage combat class. And injuring myself every day.

Trying to continue my running routine. I realize that I could run 4 miles. On an indoor track. In air-conditioning. At sea level. Yeah. Utah is pretty different. Also, running is a marvelous band-aid for a broken heart.

Learning that make-up is overrated.

Busting my bum in intermediate Irish dance. So hard. So worth it.

My niece is the most amazing. And I am endeavoring to have this kind of joy in my own life.

I've been cast in this play:

Ginger Rogers and Katherine Hepburn are my favorite ever.

I'm playing a couple of the fun bantering girls in the boarding house.

If you haven't seen this movie. Run. Run and rent it.

I'm going to look like this.

Or this.

I wish.

And, get this, the whole play is going to be in BLACK AND WHITE.

You heard me.

You should come and see it.

For Viv.

This is for my lovely love, Viv, as she is far away in India. She would love this. Will? Do you read my blog still, Lib?

In other news, I got my fashion bravery back! Woohoo! Also, my hair is curly and (comparatively) long now, and no one recognizes me, it's pretty fun. It's like having a new identity, only it's just new hair.

My what?

Today in Geology class, my professor was discussing the formation of the our solar system. As he was doing this, he happened to offhandedly mention the name of a certain planet...you know the one.

However, I noticed something interesting. He pronounced the name differently, not giving emphasis to the usual part. I thought "Well that's clever, he's trying to downplay the childish humor of that word."

Then I realized he had pronounced it "Urine-us."

Yup, still funny.

Happy.

Here is something that made me happy today.

Oh cuss. This movie is so good. I forgot how much I loved it, and consequently placed it in the Heartwarmers-That-I'm-Never-In-The-Mood-For category of movies. Do you know what I'm talking about? Maybe I'm just cold hearted.

This movie is such a gem. It's a wonderful love story of both the romantic and familial kind. Johnny Depp does these amazing comedic routines from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton and wins your heart immediately with all his strangeness and heart-hurting sweetness.

And with the amazing soundtrack from Rachel Portman (Chocolat, Nicholas Nickleby, Emma) the movie contains some of the most joyful moments I've ever seen. Also, who couldn't love the movie's main song I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers? That's gotta be the one hit wonder on the majority of people's ipods, and when it comes up on shuffle, you know you have to sing along. You know you do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oY5tSxv4oU

(It won't let me embed the video. But go here. Watch this.)

Mmm. Look at those boys. Pale. Pasty. Thickly be-spectacled. Very Scottish. Expressionless. How can you resist? (But really, I love this song.)

I just wanted to share the bit of happiness that came into my day. Go rent this movie!

P.S. I want Sam (Johnny) to swing by my window on a window washing harness. My bedroom is on the ground floor. Do you think this will be a problem?

You guys!

Hey you guys! I've hit the two mile mark! I can now run 2 miles at a time! Are you so proud?

I'm pretty proud of myself.

One one more mile to go!

A thing of beauty.

" A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

(Listen to this while reading)

The movie Bright Star, directed by Jane Campion is a joy. It is so incredibly beautiful in every way, it has no other choice. Whew. This blog started out like a serious-smart-person-movie-review. It's not. I just wanted to express how much I loved this movie and share its beauty with others. I knew I would love it from the moment I first saw the trailer, and thanks to Netflix Instant Watch, I was able to watch it during a night of head ache and insomnia.

The story is so beautiful in its simplicity. The poetry of John Keats, which I wish I was more than summarily acquainted with, is infused in so many scenes. There are incredibly wonderful recitations of his poems by Ben Whishaw (as Keats) and Abbie Cornish (as Fannie Brawne) that, done by another actor could have seems pretentious or dry. The poetry was heartfelt, sincere and completely honest. As Keats says when giving Fannie a poetry lesson, is that "a poem needs understanding through the senses" and a poem, like the experience of diving into a lake, cannot and does not need to be worked out, but must be luxuriated in, it is "an experience beyond thought." This movie felt like a a lake to be luxuriated in, experienced and, above all, felt.

If you're like me, and you have a love for tragic romance and beauty, you will love this film. It follows the three year love of the poet John Keats and Fannie Brawne. Their love is almost a character in itself, and like the movie it is engaging, graceful, pure and beautiful. The way their relationship grows and matures is really wonderful to see. I'm not going to say anymore, because I don't want to spoil it. Highly recommended.

I also apologize for using the word "beautiful" so much. But really. Beautiful.

Just look: