I'll come across the desert with no shoes on. I love you truly, or I love no one.

If you were inside my head for the past few days, these are the things you would have seen.

--One bad thing about the 1st cohort of the major (which is the second semester of the elementary education program) is that it's arranged so that the same people are in all of your classes every day. Which, okay, you're thinking that's great because we get to know each other really well and be friends and talk about boys and stuff. But. I don't get to wear the same outfit two days in a row. Gross, you say? No, economical.

--Within the last three days, three people I know have gotten engaged. What is going on???

--Married guys are the worst classmates. They've already snagged a woman so they don't feel the need to be likeable anymore. Exempli gratia: I sat next to this guy in a class. He brought this (LOUD) plastic bag full of really stinky food every day and would proceed to snack (LOUDLY) even though we had to sit uncomfortably close because the desks were attached together. This food always smelled egg-y, sulfurous, or like smelly room temperature cheese. And he would chomp so loudly that I couldn't even hear the professor. I bet myself that he was married. He raised his hand a few classes into the semester and sure enough, there was the ring. I won the bet, but it really wasn't worth it.

--I am ready for some fall weather. I just really like tights and cardigans.

--It's nice finally having a printer.

--I need to go to the gym more. Buuut...I think I'll just go take a nap instead.

--It's overwhelming having so many new people in this ward. And all the new girls are so young! Or, could it be--am I just getting old?

--I wish I didn't like The Bachelor Pad so much. It's embarrassing.

hello present-self, this is your present-self speaking

Sometimes late at night I have great ideas. I don't want to forget them so I write them in a text and send it to myself. A few days ago I woke up and checked my phone and there was a one-word text from me. "Sheeple."I can only assume it's some fusion of the words "sheep" and "people". Sheep people. There is some meaningful concept behind that that I wanted myself to remember. I just wish I knew what it was.

home is wherever i'm with you.

This:

is Elder Stepp. And this post is my tribute to him. So buckle up, this is going to get straight up maudlin. I met Ian at a stake dance in central Texas when I was 14, and we've been involved in some capacity since we were 15.

Here are a few things I know about Ian:

1. He is one of the most generous people I've met. He is always giving away his stuff, buying people tickets to movies when they can't afford it--he bought his brother a new Xbox when it broke even though it wasn't even Ian's fault. He's also thoughtful, which I think comes with his giving nature. The gifts he gives are always so kind and specific to the recipient.
2. He has great taste in music. Check this out if you don't believe me.
3. He is so fun. There is no one I'd rather hang out with, even when we have nothing exciting to do. He's always one of the first people our friends invite to hang out because he somehow makes stuff more fun.
4. He is the best friend a person could ask for. People always gravitate toward him because he's so warm and easy to get to know. He's very loyal and tries to never leave any of our friends out.
5. He's extremely unique. I've literally never met anyone like him.
6. He has a good, kind heart and he wants to do the right thing, the right way.

He left for the MTC last Wednesday. In two months he'll be serving in the Mexico City North mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and there is no doubt in my mind that he'll be a wonderful missionary.

Good bye, E. See you in two years.

The way you make me feel!

Wonka recently came out with a new line of candies, which they are dubbing "exceptional." One candy in this line is the so called Fruit Marvels. They are enticingly fat adorable little spheres. Ian and I were grocery shopping and he picked up a tin. We were excited to try them, but were quickly disappointed because they're straight up gross. We let them sit dismayingly in their little purple tin and I quickly forgot about them on the ride home as I sang a Michael Jackson song at the top of my lungs. I opened my mouth wide to sing passionately about pretty baby with the high heels on, and Ian popped a few of the forgotten candies in my mouth. And then a few more. And a few more until not a single one more would fit. We thought it was hilarious, kind of a much more uncomfortable game of "Chubby Bunnies." We laughed and laughed and then finally I couldn't stand to have them in my mouth a second longer. I opened the car window to spit them out, and in my head I advised myself, "Now Sara, be careful about getting them on the side of his car." I opened my mouth and SPIT EXPLOSION. All of the laughter stopped. QUARTS of orange spit all over my sleeve, the inside of the door, the floor, everywhere. I didn't even know what to do. Ian looked at me with a smile like he just couldn't believe what I'd done, then handed me a box of tissues with a "get to work" expression. I did the best I could, but the interior of his car seems to be stained with light orange drool. We stepped out of the car and he said, "Did any of it get on the door?" Lo and behold, not a drop got on the waterproof exterior, just the cloth interior. A success!

attn: whoever orchestrated the last 6 weeks of hell.

Dear Spring Semester:

I have hated you. You have been nothing but a pain in my neck for the last 6 weeks. There has been nothing to like about you. Did you expect to win me over with your hours of daily homework, twice-weekly tests, and group research papers? I mean, group research papers spring semester? Way to combine my two least favorite things ON THE PLANET. I am not sad to see your backside, not even a little. I'm sorry, but you brought this upon yourself.

If you want to redeem yourself, you can make my finals quick and painless. Oh, you can't do that you say? Of course you can't.

With anything but love,
Sara

ten days of perfect tunes, the colors red and blue

This weekend I went to the planetarium in Salt Lake. I learned some pretty cool things--like, did you know that Mars is less dense than water? Or maybe that was Saturn. Well, who cares. Anyway, I saw the "Night Vision" show, and I liked it. The guy pointed out a bunch of constellations which I have no hope of finding again, so let's hope that I'm never lost in the forest and need to figure out which one is Polaris.Yeah, I KNOW it's the bright one directly north, but if I knew where north was I WOULDN'T BE LOOKING FOR IT.

The coolest part of the show was the very end. I was skeptical when the guy said he was going to blow my mind, but he did! He pulled up this picture and it hung above us on the dome like this giant night sky.

This is an image from the Hubble telescope. They pointed the telescope at a tiny little pinprick in the night sky. There was nothing visible where they pointed it, just empty blackness. They wanted to see if it could maybe capture a couple of stars that weren't visible to the human eye. This picture came back, and it looks like a regular old starry sky, which is still cool considering that we can't see this from Earth. But the thing is, it's not a starry sky. I've circled for your convenience the only stars in the picture. Everything else in the picture is galaxies. Can you believe that? Galaxies! Not only did I feel tiny, I felt like the whole human race is so tiny. And now I know there are aliens out there and I'm not crazy for watching History channel specials on UFOs.

while under our feet, the rain paints the street with the stars

Meet Scout, my new bike.

I found it in the classifieds, and I had to beat off ten other girls to get my paws on this bike. As you can see, the frame is pale yellow, with a brown seat and handles and a blue basket. It has a few quirks--tilting seats and creaking tires--but I just love it. Here's to many anticipated summer adventures with Scout.