Brothers, Dinosaurs, Homework, Oh My!

Today was Isaac's 14th birthday, so we headed down to Washington DC for a trip to the Smithsonian (: It was bursting with people. But I saw a t rex, stegosaurus, the Hope Diamond... pretty dang cool.
School's great. I love it. Brief description:

History of Western Art is cool. We sit, watch powerpoints while the professor lectures.. yeah. Homework isn't too bad. Massively huge, heavy, expensive textbook. A lot of really cool insights into historic art.. I have learned so much already. Did you know the Assyrians were very dominating over the nations they conquered? But the Persians, instead of destroying their fallen cultures, had them integrate their culture with their own nations. Art is used in so many ways - to show power, to glorify or demonize an individual or idea, as a form of propoganda, to make people think and view things in a certain way. It's fascinating. It really impacts us more then we know.Oh, can you say college textbooks are money pits? Yeah. Forgot to mention that!

My first year American History seminar turned out to be about John Ford! Haha! He's a movie director from the early 1900's - silent film to sound. He was a crusty man, a very interesting fellow. So I'm learning a ton about Westerns and Hollywood, John Ford and John Wayne, in that time era.. interesting! We mostly get to watch movies, and read a 600 page book in a week. The people in it are pretty tight.

My other American History turned out to be about Architecture and Historic Preservation! Haha! So I guess so much for taking the type of history I was expecting (: But this class is super cool! Again, it is fascinating. Just opens my eyes up to so many things. Like how windows are almost always placed above other windows in multiple story houses? That's because glass is not enough support to hold a solid brick wall - it would crush the glass! Fairly simple principle, but I never thought about that - or any type of architectural thoughts- ever before. It's fascinating!

My favorite class is Design Principles. It's a rather intense art class, and I am SOO excited! A ton of work, super intense projects, but I know I'm going to learn a ton. The professor is a character! He has a handlebar mustache, with curly ends. He reminds me of Davy, the kid I went to prom with my senior year. On the first day of class, he wore a t shirt with a skull on it.. and on the t shirt was a matching mustache! Hahaha. It made me laugh so hard (: But yeah, my first homework was to write a Bucket List 100 goals long that I want to do while I'm alive. How fun (and easy) is that? The reasoning is to understand a piece of art from the artist's view, we need to know what inspires them. Knowing what a person's goals are give you a great deal of insight into what kind of person an individual is, I think. Anyways, that and look up 3 contemporary artists. I've only looked at one so far, Xu Bing, but his work is incredible. It's safe to say I'm already in love with this class. It is wonderful.

Other then that, life is also going great. Hollister was recruiting at Mary Wash, and I got asked to get an interview. So my interview went pretty great. They said I got hired, but she said she hired everyone in the group (they do group interviews). So I'm just waiting for a call.. we'll see if she really does hire me or not! That would be so great, no more mopping or mustard or food (: Wow! It's also much closer to school, friends, the branch, ect. which would be so convenient. If it works out, I would definitely miss Subways though. I've grown quite fond of the people there! But we'll see what happens.

Church is awesome. Sadly, I haven't been in 2 weeks, and I feel awful about it! Last week was the hurricane and today the family sporradically planned the DC trip.. after their sacrament, but before the YSA. So I had to miss it :'(. I got a new calling - FHE Co-Coordinator. I'll basically help plan Family Home Evening activities, and when the current gal leaves on her mission, the plan is for me to take her spot. Intimidating? Scary? Exciting? All of the above. I feel honored, and excited, and although I personally do not feel qualified right now, I'm going to do my best and let the Lord do the rest.

Also - last tidbit for tonight - the car stuff worked out! Dad decided to sell me his Tiburon. He looked up the price of how much they could sell it for now, and cut it in half - (since they offered to pay for half of my car for college) so now I am officially making payments toward the Tiburon. It's an awesome deal! Way sweet car, for a great price! It's so fun to drive, and will be reliable, good transportation, with great gas mileage. Thank you, Mommy and Dad!

The Week.

Wow, this week has been… I n s a n e .

I’ve been through an earthquake, a car breaking down/towing,  my first week of college, and Hurricane Irene.. not to mention everything that comes with those things! Needless to say, I feel a little shell shocked.

The earthquake was crazy. It was like standing on jello… it was a wake up call for being very grateful that things weren’t worse. My car breaking down was very sad. It was on the way to a dance, of course, with a friend. We were jammin’  to music, but whenever I turned on my blinker the stereo would turn off. Slowly it just turned off completely… and we were finally left stranded by a WalMart. A super nice cop helped us out, and a super nice tow guy. I’m so grateful we weren’t stranded! So we chilled at WalMart all dolled up on a Friday night. It was great…

My first week of college has been … hm, tough! Haha. It’s definitely popping the Utah shell. People are really nice and friendly. But I think everyone’s in the same boat, where their kind of trying to put on a show and make a good impression and everything. Which is totally understandable. But not fun when people act kinda fake :P I think the only real conversation I have had so far kind of went like this:

Whitney is sitting on a bench, eating her salad (free) for dinner. Suddenly, a young man with wiry curly red hair shoves himself into the seat next to her, almost knocking into her. He crouches over and begins eating his waffle with gusto. Whitney sits there a little awkwardly. Although he sat next to her, he doesn’t acknowledge her existence. So, she decides to say hello – take a little bit of the awkwardness away.

“Hi! What’s your name?” she says, enthusiastically but sincerely.

“I don’t know” he responds.

“Um… okay. Well my names Whitney. It’s nice to meet you.” She responds, and turns back to her salad.

“You don’t have to be so social you know. Even though everyone says make new friends and try to get to know everyone, you don’t have to. I bet you won’t even remember anybody’s name at the end of today” he says quite passionately, cutting his waffle into pieces.

“I wasn’t saying hi because everyone tells me to.. I was saying hi because you came and sat by me. I was just trying to be nice” she says, smiling a bit and a little shocked at this interesting young man.

“I didn’t come here to sit by you. I came here to sit because there aren’t any other seats in this place” he says.

“I didn’t mean to sit by me. I mean you happened to sit next to me, so I decided to say hi, to be a nice person.” She responds quite firmly, and resumes eating.

This seems to intrigue the kid. “Your majoring in biology, huh?” he asks.

“Nope.”  She says. “Guess again.”

“Computer Science?”

“Nope.”

“Linguistics?”

“Nuh uh.”

“English?”

“No sir.”

“Then what are you majoring in?!” he asks, quite exasperated at guessing.

“I’m majoring in art, and then getting a minor in business.”

“Oooh” he says. “It all clicked. Your personality, your view of life, your major – it all makes sense now.”

“Really?” she says. Inside she’s thinking, okay man, you know absolutely nothing about me. Instead of being rude, she simply asks “Why’s that?”

He proceeds to tell her that people who are artistic tend to be very nice to people, and that he’s found people who try to be nice to everyone are simply extremely naïve.

“There’s something usually wrong with their head” he says, wheeling his fingers around his ears in the universal ‘coocoo’ sign. “No offense. That’s just what I’ve found.”

She is very intrigued by what he says, and wonders why he thinks she is nice to everyone just because she is artistic.

“You know,” she responds, “I’m sure I would try to be kind to people, even if my major was business or biology or linguistics.”

He looks at her, his expression mixed with awe, astonishment, and a bit of newfound friendship.

“Who are you again?” he asks.

“Whitney Morris. You?” she replies.

“My names Freddie.” With that, he picks up his  now empty, sticky plate, and leaves Whitney sitting alone at the café table, without even a goodbye behind him.

Is that not the oddest conversation you’ve ever heard? I think my life could be a fascinating novel.

Other then that, school has been good. I’m being a bit dramatic with fellow freshmen at UMW. Their really nice. It’s definitely tough though, when in the new student orientation the school pushes students to endorse things that are against the standards I live by. It can be hard to have the Spirit. I am SO grateful I can go to church, and have my family, pray, and read my scriptures.. I would be so lost without them! I’m also super grateful for my friends in the branch, who are an awesome support (: I read 2 Timothy 3, and it really helped me out.. living a  Christlike life, there will always be persecution,  and it will never be easy. But it will be worth it. I know that.

Anyways, I’m excited for classes to start (:

The hurricane hit, and it was actually really cool. The storm was beautiful. I’m so grateful it didn’t do any damage to our house. Our basement flooded, and we spent ALL DAY bailing buckets of water out, and quite a few trees are down in our yard, but other then that there was no damage. The power is out, still, and their guessing it will be out for about a week. It's been fun having oil lamps and candles at night, playing the piano or reading scrips or writing in my journal to the flickering candlelight (:

So I’m sitting at UMW in the library typing right now. Taking cold water showers from gallons in food storage isn’t the comfortable life! But I’m so grateful it wasn’t worse! I guess I can check off earthquake and hurricane off my unintentional bucket list this week (: I’m so grateful for the gospel, and for my family. I’m excited for my future. There are beautiful things coming ahead (: I love life! It’s not easy, but it is wonderful!

the end for now!

Oldie Schmoldie

I had fun looking through old pictures the other day, so I decided to put up some more (: I had the best childhood. Roaming the woods, pretending to be horses and lost princesses, writing stories, drawing and painting, catching caterpillars and watching them turn into butterflies... it was wonderful (: Sometimes I miss those days. I'm so glad I made it through middle school ok, and high school was great, but childhood was really the best.

Hannah and Jacob (:

Dexter with Isaac and their model dino in Pennsylvania

The family (: school in Pennsylvania.

Studly boys at Katharine's baptism

Cutie patootie (:

Writing or... something

Goofballs (:

Hannah's backwards outfit

Beautiful Hannah (:

The Explorin' Gang

Creepy me at 15, haha

First stake dance! Wow!

Yummy hot cocoa chin (:

I loved Elbereth (: I would love to have a horse again someday!

Cute Adam

Stinky Pete.. haha

Life has been fantastic lately. Way too much to expound on right now, I'm kinda tired, but it's been lovely (: I'm so blessed. So, enjoy (:

-Whitney

(:

Cooper and I! Most adorable dog ever! I've already told him my life story (: He's great!

My 21 and a half inch catfish I caught (: First fish of the summer!! Beat Isaac's record, which he isn't too happy about (: Now he knows nothing of fishing! (inside joke, haha)

Laughin (: on a date! My smile looks kinda goofy, but I'm happy haha.

The adorable kids, when we lived in Pennsylvania (: We've all grown so much! I love these kids! Their my best friends (: Adam and Peter too!

Hello again! It's been a while so I wrote. Nothing too interesting has been going on lately... it's funny how no matter where you are, life just is ALWAYS busy! At least for me! It's crazy! As soon as one thing is out of the way, another thing just fills that time slot right back up immediately.

I've been working a ton, at Subways. It's a pretty great job - we get free sandwiches and drinks, and tips! I'm saving the tips in a jar to save up for a GPS. Virginia roads are insane, and I am, let's say.... directionally challenged. That sentence should suffice. I've also been checking them out for older coins - and have found quite a few! I guess the older they are, the more likely their made out of more valuable metals, and some of them are worth a ton of money. So that's been fun (: I've been working a ton of hours every day. It'll make a nice paycheck, but it's taking a toll on my energy levels!

Church has been incredible, as always. The branch here is amazing. FHE and Institute are so fun. My fellow "single adults" (Okay, that sufficiently just freaked me out. How about fellow college students?) are incredible. Super fun, kind, all that jazz. On my days off work, or even days with work, I usually have a date or a hiking trip or something fun to do which keeps me busy, and keeps life fun and super interesting(: Alot of the kids are taking off to college this week or next, some of them have left already :( Sad day! But Matt is staying, and a few other awesome people. So we'll keep the branch goin' while their gone (:

School is starting super soon! Next week is the New Student Orientation. I'm going to be joining a club called COAR, which is basically a huge service group. They go build houses during spring break, and do all sorts of service projects throughout the year. During orientation their helping out in the morning to clean the Rappahanock River, and then later we're going on a kayaking trip (: WOOHOO! Another check off my bucket list! I'm super excited (:

I'm taking pretty interesting classes too! I ended up having to drop horseback riding, which I am SUPER bummed about :'( It had a pretty hefty fee, sadly. Money, money, money... I also dropped my math class.. I am thinking of majoring in art, and getting a minor in business. That way I could own my own studio or gallery someday, and it would be more applicable to the job market. I feel super good about it. Pretty excited, honestly (:

So I am taking:

-History of Western Art (Turns out this teacher is LDS, and I've heard she's amazing. I'm excited)

-American Studies

-First Year Seminar in American History

-British Novels

-Principles of Macroeconomics

Tada! My first semester of college schedule. We'll see if I transfer any of them the first few days, but I feel pretty good about it.

Random Tidbits for the day:

On... Wednesday? When I was working, I got made fun of by an old man, WHILE I was making his sandwhich mind you, about my accent! Apparently I say words very oddly. He gave me quite a hard time, while I was dribbling mustard on his sandwhich. Ew, that sounds like I was spitting.. okay, squirting mustard on his sandwhich. He thought I was from the boonies of the Appalachian Mountains. Thanks, man! Little did he know, it was the U-taw accent! Slowly picking up the Southern accent, here and there... Southern accents have always charmed me, especially when attractive guys call me ma'am. Ever since the 9th grade, I specifically remember. Not sure why. It's very cute (: But I'm not sure how hot I am on my own Southern twang.

My Dad bought me this car air freshener, that smells INCREDIBLE. I almost drive with the windows up, even with no a/c which is unheard of here, because I love the smell so much. It's called "Midsummer's Evening" and it has a picture of a soldier's silhouette on the flag (Naval base - go figure). Basically, it smells like men's cologne. Being a girl who sometimes enjoys wearing guy deoderant, because it smells sooo good (: , I thoroughly enjoy it! Haha! I love it so much, it was worth writing about on my blog. It's wow. If you could sniff and smell it right now, you would understand.

Today I'm off to the temple. I'm so excited (: The Washington DC temple! That means I've been to the Salt Lake, Timpanogas, Denver, Manti, Nauvoo, Portland, and today the one in our nation's capital. I'm super, duper, triple excited, with a lip-smackin cherry on top (: Haha. Then tonight is a dance for the branch, it's funny - their alot like stake dances from the old days, but everyone is taller. That's basically the only difference. Their pretty fun (: We're supposed to dress up as our celebrity look alike.. I was going to dress as Reese Witherspoon, but I've been too busy to put anything together. So yeah.

Which reminds me, I got a haircut - EW! I got bangs, which look cute, but then she did this weird short layer thing... so basically, I look like a 70s shag rockstar. Like Shaggy from Scooby Doo? Slightly mullet like... bleck! I'm not a huge fan! I CANNOT wait for it to grow out. I'm going to grow my hair out long again.. longer then last time. Just trim it from now on. No more crazy hair experiments. Bangs... psh, what was I thinking?

Wow, I wrote a lot. Pat on the back for Whitney (; Thanks for reading! I'm off to party and work in my lovely life (: Life is beautiful, and I am so grateful for that. There are definitely tough times. But it's so worth it. Life is truly wonderful (:

the end, for today!

The Book Thief

So, yesterday I finished one of the most incredible books I think I've ever read. Seriously. Peeking between the pages, you would see the life of a young German girl during Nazi Germany. She lost both her parents, and watched her brother pass away on a train as they journeyed to their foster parents. It's a really neat book because it's not from the usual perspective. It's actually from Death's perspective.. which sounds rather creepy, I'll admit. It was very interesting though. He, Death's narrative, talks about what it's like to pick up the souls when they move on. Through his eyes, you visit everywhere, from the Germans and Russians battling in Russia, to the concentration camps, to the families back home in Germany. The way it's written is very expressive, and sad :(. Anyways, the girl is a German citizen, she's not a Jew, and it's about her life. It is a powerful book. It's aimed for young teens, but the message and experiences in it are just as moving to an older audience, if not more so. I bawled. It opened my eyes, yet again, to how truly blessed I am. As I read, I just hoped that if I was in that kind of situation, where hope seemed lost and there was so much pain, I hope that I would have the strength and faith to still be kind, and have compassion, like the people in the story.  Like I said, to really know what I'm talking about, you would have to read the book. My country is the best. The freedoms that I enjoy... I just am so, so grateful that I have the opportunities to make my own choices and live the way that I do. I'm grateful I have the freedom to speak my opinion, without fearing for the safety of my family or myself. I'm grateful to have the freedom to worship and believe how I want, without fear. I am so blessed. I love America, the Constitution and the principles the country was founded on. I strongly recommend this book to everyone. It is life changing. So good. Prepare to bawl your eyes out and be inspired.

(:

Grins (:

This week has been... what should I call it? A party week? I feel like I've done nothing productive, aside from read this incredible book - Finding Peace, Joy, and Happiness, by Elder Richard G. Scott. It's incredible. I strongly recommend it to anyone. It is fantastic.. honestly, some of the things have changed my life. Aside from that awesomeness, it's definitely been a party since last I wrote. I went on a date on Thursday with this great guy, John! It was super fun! We went and saw a movie, then had a picnic by a river in downtown Fred. I made delicious apple crisp and we had pb&j (: He showed me some songs he wrote on his guitar, and he's way good! He actually has a song on itunes - it's called lovely attraction. It's way cute, I recommend going and buying it, because it helps with his college fund and it's an adorable song! We also had a very brief photoshoot, which was interesting.. I never knew how goofy I look when I laugh, haha. I'm definitely more of a fan being behind the camera then in front of it! We got some fun pictures though!

Then Friday, it was too hot to do anything! Seriously. I walked outside, and my glasses fogged up.. it was what, 105 degrees? Including humidity, it felt like 115. It was intense. So I stayed home and read, practiced piano, read some more, drove Dexter some places with the a/c full blast.. yeah. It was great though. Watched Anastasia and A Walk to Remember (: Oh, and worked out! Finally got my kick butt workout dvd, so I've been pleasantly sore all week (: Then Saturday, went on another date with Matt! It was the one year anniversary of his baptism, which was way sweet. It was super fun. We went and toured this incredible mansion from the Industrial Revolution in Richmond, that has some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen! It had these cool trails and just GORGEOUS scenery. It was wow. Honestly. They also had a cute museum with fish and turtles, that was way cool! Then we went to the mall for ice cream and to chill. Afterwards, we went to the drive in movies - they played Zookeeper and the last Harry Potter. Sitting on the hood of the car, under the stars with the milky way in sight, with yummy popcorn and a fun date? It made for a fantastic night! Seriously, so awesome! We had some interesting conversations on the way back.. haha! I was kinda surprised. But it was totally comfortable and fun (: Then today, church was great! As it always is. I'm so grateful for the gospel. So.. yeah (: There's a few days in the life of Whit! Not too exciting. I'm very, very blessed! Got some great things to look forward to for this week.

I truly love life (:

A Day in the Life..

So the past few days have been great. Monday was a pool party for FHE, which was a blast! As I've said before, people here that I'm meeting are super fun and great. It's kind of funny, a lot of people are just here for the summer, and are going back to Utah for college in the fall.. Utah State or BYU I (: Those two seem to be the top two most popular wherever I go! But it was really fun. Yesterday I  babysat Adam and Peter all day, because my parents went to a conference about relationships between the USA and Israel, which sounded really cool. So I was at home with the two boys all day. Holy. Cow. I have a whole new healthy respect for parents! Every time I turned my back, they seemed to be getting into something! There is a constant mess, whether it's spilling milk, grape juice, pickle juice, or popcorn- and that's only moving into the food area, not counting toys and clothes and arguments and everything... phew! It was hard work! Haha but I loved it (: Their the funniest kids. They both have very uh.. strong personalities (: and make me laugh so hard! The messes are tough, but their definitely worth it (: By the end of the day, though, I was completely exhausted! I can't imagine having to do that every day. Yet another affirmation that marriage is likely 5 or 6 years down the road for me (: Haha. Although I did get to oil paint for a few hours, and that was awesome. I've missed being able to do artistic things because of time. As for the rest of this week, it's going to be great. Institute is today, and I give this nice girl Amanda rides, which is fun. My payback to humanity for all the mooched rides I received in my license-less days (: Institute is awesome! I'm so grateful the Church has these amazing programs wherever you go. It's a huge support. UMW is having an open house for new students, which I'm super excited for, and some more things with friends. I'm starting to miss simpler days already, and college isn't even here yet. To be honest, I'm scared. Ha. Very. But I'll pray my heart out, and things will always work out. Alright, the end for today. Peace out, boy scout (: