Boxer Step, Bell, Scissors...

The easiest "tricks" of all time.  Jumper simply hops backwards and forwards, side to side, or crosses and uncrosses legs as the torso and head stay in a relatively stationary position.  These can become incredibly boring... (click here for a visual of the "boxer step")

This semester so far has been a little bit of a boxer step.

As in, if things don't start picking up in levels of difficulty then I might be just a little bit bored.

Last semester kept me pleasantly busy.  Not too stressful and not too easy.  I spent plenty of time working on assignments, yet I still had time for a Jamba Juice run every now and again AND I still had a social life.

Okay, okay, maybe I lacked a little bit in the social life.  You'd have to check with my best buds on that one, but I did make sure I had time for Jamba!  And in my defense, the fourth floor of the library is a great place and it kept me out of trouble!  I loved studying up there; I was basking in the wonderful feeling of accomplishment!

Speaking of the library...I sincerely miss that place.  I've only been there twice this semester, hence the boring part of this semester.  My classes have limited assigned readings and they are short when they do get assigned.  Nor have I had tons of papers due.  (I'm beginning to hope that I'm not jinxing myself by writing this post and dooming myself to the hardest semester ever beginning next week) So because I haven't been up to the fourth floor I'm really starting to miss the spinney chairs and big windows.  The fourth floor is almost like a big party room for us students.

WAIT! I take that back 'cause it is not actually a big party room!!! I'm telling you, the people up there on the fourth floor are study-sticklers.  I would know cause I was one of them up there last semester.  If you do so much as whisper you'll get a death glare that'll put you six-feet-under-and-pushing-daisies.

Once I accidentally dropped my phone.  I promise, it was a complete accident!  Problem was, it wasn't just a "clunk" onto the floor.  I dropped it right square onto the metal stand of the table.  You almost wouldn't believe it, but a small plastic phone dropped on a  circular piece of metal sounds like a Japanese gong.  And not a little cymbal-sized gong, this was like the huge Japanese gong from Cars 2.  I'm pretty sure it was loud enough to create an echo.

Loud enough to make me laugh actually, which, now that I think of it, may have had more to do with the death glares than the dropping of the cellular device.

But I digress.  Back to the subject at hand.

Thus far, this semester has been pretty chill.  I maybe read 20 pages on any given day from all my texts combined and then prep for a quiz.   As a comparison, last semester I had at least 30 pages of daily reading for History plus a chapter for Biology every now and again.  AND for English I always had a paper to work on...Plus Dance class and Health and Institute.  Yep, I kept pretty busy.

Though I guess I shouldn't be complaining.  Like I said above, this bad attitude might come back and give me a good swift kick at the beginning of next week.

I guess I should just be grateful for the way it's been thus far.  If it stays like this I'll have tons of time to study my scriptures, read Preach My Gospel and True to the Faith, and maybe still even get to bed on time!

Here's to the most boxer-stepping semester ever.

Tornado

jumper spins in a squatting position as jump-rope alternates spinning above and going around the jumper’s body.

 So I had this whole blog post written ‘cause I knew something was coming.  I worked hard to get all these crafty sentences and things written into it and I was all pumped to put it up.

And then something happened. It wasn't a bad something, but none the less I have delayed posting that particular post that I had worked so hard on.

Actually, the something that happened was great.  It was Spectacular! Amazing! Awesome!  I never expected it to feel Wonderful!  You know?!?!  Like, it was so awesome that I just couldn't believe it!  I can't even hold in my excitement any longer!

[:  (:   My mission application has been submitted to Church HQ!!!   :)  :]

I’m pumped.  Absolutely thrilled.  And I can hardly wait for these next two weeks to go by and have my call come back in the mail.

It reminds me of the first time I aced a tornado.

Both things were just a little bit hard.  As in oh-my-heck-I've-never-done-this-before-how-am-I-ever-going-to-figure-out-what-I’m-supposed-to-do?

Ya know?  That type of hard.

And when something is that type of hard it feels so good to finally figure it out, go for it, and freaking ace it.  There’s this feeling that comes with accomplishment that is one of those unexplainable, you-have-to-feel-it-to-understand-it experiences.

The first time I aced a tornado was in fifth grade.  We were doing two plays based on books by Dr. Seuss.  One was “Horton Hears a Who” and the other “The Star-Bellied Sneetches.”  We rehearsed in class and memorized our lines and practiced in dress rehearsals.

As part of class at that time we were also learning about advertising and persuasive writing.  So, as part of the plays, we got to make up our own commercial breaks.  Everyone had to be in a commercial.  I decided to make up my own commercial for “Mike’s Jump-Rope Gym.”  Basically I wanted to show everyone in my home town how jump-roping is the coolest thing ever.

Our first performance was for the students at our school.  My commercial was right before “Horton Hears a Who” and I had only one small little problem.  I was nearly petrified.  Why?

Because I had never actually done the tornado before and it just happened to be the perfect Grand Finale for my commercial.

I had practiced and practiced but never gotten it.  This was the hardest trick I had tried to do up to that point and I had never figured it out. So there I was, standing on the stage, just hoping it would work out.

I did the little commercial thing, said my lines, did a couple tricks, and then got to the end when I was supposed to do the tornado.

I took a breath.  Got down.  Spun the rope...

FAIL.

I didn't even go through one full rotation!!!

But I guess it wasn't so bad because, for some reason unbeknownst to me, the other students thought it was pretty cool despite my epic fail.  I still felt pretty lame though.

But then there was still the performance for our parents.  And I was gonna be ready.

Okay not really.  I didn't even practice after the first performance and thus I still had no idea if I could do it.  But the performance came and once again I found myself on the stage.

I did the little commercial thing, said my lines, did a couple tricks, and then got to the end when I was supposed to do the tornado.

I took a breath.  Got down.  Spun the rope...

AND FREAKING ACED IT!!! I went around a whole seven times (if I remember correctly), which was seven whole more times than I had ever dreamed to achieve!

And it felt soooooooooooo good.  I had one of those can't-wipe-this-smile-off-my-face looks.

Mission papers, then?

Yep! They're in!

Though it wasn't exactly the same as acing the the tornado.  There weren't the whole couldn't-figure-out-what-I-was-doing-no-matter-how-hard-I-tried or the I-tried-to-do-it-and-epically-failed aspects.

But the can't-wipe-this-smile-off-my-face look?

Yeah, I had that.

And it still feels so good. :D

m&m

jump-roper doubles over, swinging both hands and rope between legs.  Hands go out to the sides to allow the rope to make a full turn around the jumper, who jumps over the rope once.  Jumper exits by pulling rope out backwards, standing upright, and beginning a backwards jump.

While primarily being a jump-rope trick, m&m's also happen to be a candy!  Who knew?!?!

Also, Christmas is coming! Did you know that either?

But any-who, what's really important, and what I'm trying to get around to talking about here, is what you get when you put candy and Christmas together. Do you know what that is?

Gingerbread houses.

I love gingerbread houses.  They are the second best Christmas invention-decorations on the face of planet earth. (Of course, the nativity sets are the best Christmas decorations)

This year my loving mother let me decorate my own gingerbread house.  All.  By.  My.  Self.  I was so super-duper excited. More excited than words can even express.

Have you ever decorated a gingerbread house?  Not like the pile-on-the-candy-and-make-it-as-fast-as-possible kind of decorating.  I mean REALLY decorated one.  This means planning out each step and deliberately placing every gumdrop, m&m, licorice strand, pretzel, candy cane, marshmallow, and hard candy.  It takes patience to decorate a gingerbread house like that.  Mine, pictured below, took three hours to decorate.

Got that?  Three hours.

Front

Back

The Snowball Fort

There are many wonderful things about gingerbread houses.  First, the smell.  The molassesy-sugary-goodness makes for one of the best Christmas smells ever, right up there next to oranges, cinnamon, sugar cookies, and peppermint.

The second great part of gingerbread houses is the decorating and creativity.  I love to decorate for the holidays and to show my artistic side.  Gingerbread houses present the perfect opportunity for artistic liberties--especially in the details.  My house, for example, has four hand-crafted licorice bows; the snowman in the front yard has a modified-gumdrop face; a pile of snowballs in the fort were made from quartered mini-marshmallows; and each flower in the flower garden uses Mike-and-Ike's for the stem and leaves and a gumdrop for the petals.

Finally, each gingerbread house comes with its own epic story.  The gingerbread house below, at the Festival of Trees, was built and decorated by six women at the Utah State Prison over a period of 4 months.  They could only work on the house from 2am-6am and were only allowed to work on the house one person at a time.  They did the whole project without physically talking to or working with each other.  And the house was simply amazing. I think it's based on a lighthouse somewhere on the east coast. The detail on this thing was insane--the boat had little words piped on it with frosting and the boat dock was built from tiny pieces of gingerbread.

Some other gingerbread house stories might explain why there is an upside-down cinnamon Santa Clause in the front yard, or why there are only 6 & 3/4 reindeer pulling the sleigh.  These stories are highly entertaining and just as creative as the houses themselves.  My gingerbread house's story recounts the tale of an epic snowball fight that took place outside at the snowball fort.  As you might see, there's a snowball stuck on the wall between the windows, one on the striped corner piece, and, if you can see them, there's another three stuck to the front side of the fort.

The time spent on each gingerbread house is definitely worth it. Each of you guys should go make your own and see what amazing things you can come up with!

Oh Snap! I just realized something...

...I didn't use a single m&m on my gingerbread house.

Double Dutch

two ropes spin in opposite directions around a single void and alternate hitting the ground at an even pace.  Standing within this void enables a jump-roper to alternate jumping over both ropes while performing stunts.

Trying to find a place to sit on the fourth floor of the library today was like trying to jump into a Double Dutch formation.

There haven’t been this many people on the fourth floor since the first week of school!

Now, I know that finals are coming up, and that papers, projects, and presentations are soon due.  But why should those of us who have consistently studied on the fourth floor suddenly have to find a new way to sit down at a table so as not to distract all the new-comers?

I’m not trying to complain—these new-comers are quiet and respectful and they have a right to be here too.  I’m just saying things have gotten a little complicated.

This is why I felt like I was trying to enter a Double Dutch formation when I really should have been sitting down at a table.

Please note the similarities:

Entering a Double Dutch Formation

1) Decide on point of entry. Double Dutch can either be entered perpendicular to the spinning ropes or from the side at a near-parallel to the ropes approach.  If desired it can also be entered from a full parallel approach by doing a leap-frog kind of jump over one of the people turning the ropes.

2) Get the rhythm.  If you have no clue at what speed you’re going to jump after you’ve entered there’s no point in even making an attempt at an entrance.

3) Enter. Be sure to clear that first rope that takes most people by surprise.

4) Jump at the established rhythm.  Jumping too fast or slow will mess up the ropes within three seconds.  I find it easier to jump by alternating feat, rather than jumping with both feet at double speed.

Sitting at a Table Today on the Fourth Floor

1) Decide on a table.  This was extremely strange for me because usually there are open tables everywhere. And not just everywhere.  EVERYWHERE.  For example, last week there were only two or three tables that were taken by one person each.  Today, not a single one was empty.  To make matters more difficult, Unspoken Rule #1 on the fourth floor is that if there are open tables one must find and sit at his or her own table.  It’s not that we can’t share our tables, it’s that we don’t like to.

2) Get the courage.  Basically you’ve got to figure out how to sit down casually, but not so casually that an I’m-already-sitting-here kind of person gets the vibe that you have no knowledge of Unspoken Rule #1. Courage and casualness has to be well planned, especially if the selected table has an attractive person of the opposite gender.

3) Enter.  Be sure to clear that first angry glare by giving a nice smile.

4) Sit down and get to work.  No eye contact with or staring at the person already at the table or else they’ll think you’re a creeper.  You’d be outta there within three seconds if someone were to keep staring at you. I found it easier to work at double speed so that I didn't feel like I was intruding on their table for too long. There are few things worse than an uninvited guest who overstays his welcome.

With all these complicated procedures I think next semester I’ll just go outside and work on my Double Dutch rather than my research paper.

Or maybe I’ll go find wherever these people came from.  They must have left someplace on campus completely empty to be able to pack a room this big completely full…