Because I haven't had much time...

Here's my life as of recent in photos. Mostly from Instagram and Facebook, so you've probably seen them, but whatever. I'm being lazy.

I got a haircut. My hair is short and blunt and I really can't wait till it grows out.

I've decided I need to do this ridiculously often.

New life motto.

My phone seriously thinks I have problems.

I waste too much time watching movies.

Jenny has concluded that the outside is awesome, but children are scary.

I have really really adorable cousins.

Bonus of spending so much time with them: Getting to love their cute faces and personalities every freakin' day.

Super Duper Bonus of spending so much time with them: When they get to be too much I realize how NOT ready I am for kids. Birth control at its finest people.

This conversation.

My mother is the best.

My birthday is on Saturday. I'm going to be 19. I'm sorta freaking out.

Also, I go back to NYC on Friday. Super super super ridiculously excited. 

Life is pretty good. Considering.

Live. Laugh. Photograph.

Well that sucks.

So you know how I was raving about my job in my last post?

Well I spoke too soon.

I got fired.

It really really sucks. 

I wish it wasn't the case, but what can I do?

They had to cut someone. I was the last hired. And I was late one too many times.

Now I have no idea what to do with my summer.

I'm gonna go wallow in self-pity now.

Remember to appreciate what you've got before it's gone.

Where Do I Even Start?

Well. Its been a while. Hello Blog, I've missed you.

I haven't posted since February. Its June. Holy crap that's a long time.

Specifically 5 Months.

How do I even sum up the last 5 months in a blog post?

Well, "Lemme 'splain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up."

I'll start back in Feb.

1) Well, besides re-evaluating my life decisions (see my last post), I pretty much did nothing. Well, besides procrastinate all things school related. And watch a lot of Divine Comedy. And other things. Yea, I was basically a very lazy individual

March:

2) Divine Comedy. Studio C. Enough Said.

3) Facebook stalked the whole world. (Not really)

4) Picked out an apartment to live in next year with KT (new nickname for the Roommate -- this will be explained later)

5) Visited some of my extended family up in Logan. Loads of fun.

6) Became Instagram obsessed. I have problems.

April:

7) Finished off the semester with more crappy grades. However, I only failed one class, so that's a plus. And, I got an A- in my Psychology Class. I'm awesome.

8) My brother moved to Seattle. Helped him move. I was sad to see him go, but super excited that he would get to start an amazing new job and be in an amazing new city.

9) Mom, Dad, please don't kill me for this... but I got a CAR! Her/His name is Serenity. 

(Have you seen Firefly? If you haven't, go on Netflix right now and watch it. RIGHT NOW!)

I'm ridiculously lucky to be a Freshman and to have a car available to me. Its amazing and grown up and overall awesome. Also, I get to put a ridiculous number of bumper stickers on her. My car is extremely nerdy.

Also, Gas is expensive. That really sucks.

But now, its way easier to visit people in Logan. And to escape the Zion Curtain. 

(Don't get the reference? Watch this)

10) I got a job! And not just any job mind you. A job working as a Student Photographer for BYU Photo! 

Now, there's a lot of backstory to this job. Waaayyy back in my Junior Year of High School, a dear friend of mine went off to college (BYU) and, since she's a freaking amazing actress, got some headshots taken of her. I LOVED these photos, so, naturally, I stalked the guy who took them. I found out that he also worked for BYU Photo, before he left on his mission. It was then that I decided that I wanted to work there if I went to BYU.

I held onto this little dream all the way through my Senior Year -- and when I was accepted, one of the first things I did was email them and ask what they did about hiring students. They responded, and were real sweet about it, too. Then in June -- before I had even graduated, I emailed them my resume and portfolio, hoping to get an interview. And in August, I went to visit their office, just to check it out and to further show my interest (or obsession, it could go either way). They just told me that they weren't hiring at the moment but that they kept all of their resume's and called people when they were.

Well, in Mid-April, they called me up, out of the blue, and asked if I wanted an interview. I said YES! (duh) and began to seriously freak out (out of nerves). The interview went well, but I figured that they didn't want a freshman who wasn't even in the Photography program or was even planning on doing it (although I hadn't officially changed my major yet), plus I was ridiculously inexperienced.

So, when I didn't hear from them after two weeks, I figured "Oh, well, at least I tried." And left it at that. BUT, I was totally shocked when they suddenly called me up and offered me a second interview.

WHAT? 

Serious freak out time.

Well, it went really well, because at the end of the interview I was offered the job!

Turns out all the things I thought they didn't want was exactly what they were looking for! Inexperienced (to a certain extent -- definitely not in photography), young (18 year old just finishing up her freshman year? Check!), and NOT a Photography major (What?!?!)

Yea, turns out Photography majors have a tendency not to focus on the job 'cause their too into their own work.

So, I tried to hold in my internal squealing and desire to jump up and down like a kiddy schoolgirl as I accepted and worked out the details.

I started the very beginning of May, and I've totally loved it! Despite the level of boring work I've got to do, as the newbie and lackey and all that. :D

Now, back to the list-- long tangent there, but the story had to be told.

11) Moved into a new apartment. I'll spare you the details until I have pictures to post on the awesomeness that it is.

May:

12) Work. School. Awesomeness.

June:
13) MY BEST FRIEND CAME TO VISIT for ALMOST A WEEK!!!

It was awesome. Too awesome to put here. It needs its own post. Along with the photos my super awesome aunt took of us.

So basically-- it's time to gear up and get ready for DA SUMMA!

Which is like... my FAVORITE time of year. Specifically for a certain day that comes at the end of July. It's like, the greatest day of the year, but I may be biased.

So I've made a goal to update this blog more often, so here's whats coming your way!

- Goals for the summer
-Best Friend's are the greatest when you see them in person
-My apartment is more awesome than your apartment
-My Cousin's are cuter than your cousins
-I have mad skillz. Specifically of the crocheting variety.

So ta ta for now!

Live. Laugh. Photograph.

What does the future hold?

Why hello blogging world!

Wow, I've totally bombed at this whole blogging for 2013 huh?

Don't worry, I'll get better.

ANYWAY,

Quite a few interesting things have happened since I last let the world know of my whereabouts.

I'll start by mentioning the future.

I'm a very good planner, the kind who gets everything planned out, and then throws everything out the window the moment something goes wrong. It's okay, I'm just weird.

So of course, upon starting college, I had quite a bit planned out. I had intended to try and graduate with a double major and a minor in 5.5yrs and then proceed to do a Master's program in Occupational Therapy. I even had my class schedule planned out for each semester between now and then.

But, as I hope many of you know, life doesn't like to play by my rules. So I had a couple of wrenches thrown in my plans, some good, some bad.

Wrench #1: I only passed two classes last semester of my original six. Yikes. Doesn't bode well for one's academic record now does it?

Wrench #2: It was announced that women could now serve as Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at the age of 19 instead of the previous 21. I turn 19 next July, and have decided that this is indeed something I strongly feel I should do.

Wrench #3: My double major and minor planned is not physically possible to complete at BYU. What do I mean? I mean, it'll require over 180 credits to do, and we need 120 to graduate. Once you hit about 140 you start getting pressured to graduate, and they have major issues with you going much farther than that. I highly doubt they'd even let me complete one or two of them after a certain point. Oops.

Wrench #4: Timing. Preparation. Consideration. (This will make sense in a minute)

So my life has been a whirlwind of changes and somewhat difficult decisions over the last couple of weeks. Not that the last year has been difficult enough...

So now I get to tell you my new-and-improved-but-will-probably-end-up-getting-changed-anyway life plan!

First things first. I have decided to change my major(s)/minor. I had wanted to get into the BFA Photography program here at BYU, and go through the Exercise Science degree and add a minor in Italian on top of that.

Well, as much as it kills me to do this, I've decided I can't do the BFA program. Photography is definitely my biggest passion, there's no doubt about that, but honestly, at this point in my life, I don't think I could actually complete the program, much less even get into it. I've been so busy just trying to live day to day to even focus on my passion. And that hurts more than anything else. 

But at the same time, it's the most practical of my dreams to drop....for the time being.

I don't think I'll ever let it go. But I do believe that it's something that I can either a) come back to later on in life, b) pursue on a semi-professional level without necessarily getting the education I'd like for it, or c) enjoy it as a passion, even if that's just my own daily life.

This then gives me room to pursue what some would call the profession that would "actually make me money."

No I don't think that I couldn't make money as a Photographer, but I also know that I have so many interests, I'd rather not limit the possibilities in front of me, or even limit the different ways of making money. If I felt that I could not be happy doing nothing but Photography, I would do it. But while it makes me extremely happy, it is not my only course of action in life, nor would I need to choose one way or another. Education in Photography is an interesting thing. Sometimes it is difficult to decide what level of education you would need to achieve which goals.

Although I do believe that one of my biggest goals for Photography is significantly less likely to happen  should I not pursue it educationally. And that is to have a photograph featured in the National Geographic. But one can still dream eh?

So. Moving on.

As you all know I then intended to get a Master's in Occupational Therapy, but that would require going down the Exercise Science route at BYU. However, BYU has just opened a new program for Communications Disorders, leading straight into their Speech Therapy and Audiology Masters programs. Unlike Exercise Science, it's significantly simpler, it narrows down the kinds of classes necessary for me to take, and getting in has a narrower field of requirements. Looking closely at this program, I really like that it is such a streamlined process, and one that would be less difficult to navigate since it wouldn't be on my own.

I also talked with one of the Advisors in the ComD program, who said that based on my personality tests or whatever, she thought that perhaps I was better suited to Speech Pathology than Occupational Therapy. Thinking about this, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, because it suddenly wasn't as complicated, and actually, less difficult, even though it's actually a more intense process because I have to actually apply. Which I don't have to for Exercise Science.

So I've decided to switch and to pursue the ComD program and Speech Pathology. I've also decided to keep to the Italian Minor, because I can do that quite easily tacked onto the ComD program.

I have always felt extremely blessed to know what it is I want to do and to get out of my life from a very early on. And while I wish it was exactly the same, I've come to realize that I really have sticked to what it is that I want, I've just been tweaking the process required to get there.

Ah, so, with that figured out, it then is easier to address the possibility of going on a Mission. And while it might makes sense to put my papers in this spring and leave in August, I think it's too early for me. Which means that I've decided, and with luck, I will be leaving sometime late April to early May next year for a mission! Still an extremely exciting prospect!

Ahah, I have no idea why I decided that this should be the subject of my post, but who cares? There's really no better way to share one's thoughts than over the internet right? ;)

So with that, I leave ya.

Next post will probably include something a little closer to this week rather than next year and beyond :D

Happy Living!

Also, check out this awesome photo I took for my Photography Class!

Live, Laugh, Photograph.

Wow! Has it really been a month?

Hello blogger world! 

I guess I've sorta been MIA for a month now...I don't really know what happened! Seriously! I don't know why I suddenly stopped blogging!

But I'm BACK! :D

Although, I guess I do know why I stopped blogging. Life happened.

WHOA, guys calm down know. I know...I have a life! Like, your minds were just blown huh?

But, seriously, life happened. 

Although I will admit it wasn't much of one.

But I'll update you on the goings on of my so called life in the last month.

So the last time I posted I was home for Christmas vacation. Beaten and bleeding but alive after quite a tumultuous freshman semester.

I finished with a 0.73. 

Yup, you read that right. 

A zero point seven three.

Out of a 4.0.

But seriously, it's okay. I've got a butt ton (dangit Katie! You're rubbing off on me!) of stuff to do to get off academic warning, but it's seriously not the end of the world.

And then Christmas Break was AMAZING.

It was so great to be back home. To be back in my city and to see all of the people I love. Sometimes I just curl up with some cookie dough and watch cheesy tv shows and movies that are set in NYC so I can at least get a glance of home.

Oh, and I watch Law and Order quite a bit too. Cause nothing says homesick quite like murder huh?
(I'm sorry, too morbid? too inappropriate? Yea, that's me.)

And of course there was Christmas. Just how I like it too. Quiet, relaxing, and just the five of us at home enjoying just being a family. Something I've come to appreciate so much more since I left home.

And of course, being me, here's break in a series of photos.

Jenny: Are you crazy? You're gonna read all of those books?

:D That's all of the books we got for Christmas stacked up. (Note: All of the books the WHOLE family got...it's kinda ridiculous)

Ruby got this Lego Mindstorm thing that's basically a lego robot on steroids. It's pretty cool, but I have no idea how in the world it works. Good thing she's got Michael to help her out. They make me feel awfully stupid sometimes. But in a really good way.

As you can see in the earlier photo, Ruby has got some seriously long gorgeous hair. And of course, I couldn't wait to try some new stuff out on it :D She's pretty darn cute huh?

Jenny didn't like all of us visiting. It messed with her too much.

It snowed. And UNLIKE PROVO, it didn't stay for very long. I have to say, it's probably my newest appreciation of NYC. I mean, I love snow, but I hate snow here. WHY PROVO WHY???

New Years was delightfully loud. Not for us really, but I loved all of the noise of everyone else celebrating. To be honest, I don't like New Years very much, I think it's a bit overrated and kinda dumb. But hey, who doesn't mind a celebration and some fun? Plus, all of the noise from the parties just made me downright happy.

Finally, it came time for me to come home. :(

I pretty much sobbed for like an hour. On the plane. Next to this girl who was my sisters age. Who kept looking over my shoulder at my video game and asking me about it. (Lego Harry Potter for those who are curious. She didn't know what it was! *GASP!*)

It was rather hard to play the game with tears in my eyes. 

I got back, and realized how cold it was.

And that there still was snow on the ground and it probably wasn't going anywhere for a while.

And then it snowed some more. And some more. And some more. 

And now I hate Provo.

(Or at least, Provo weather.)

But I made Apple Cider Donuts. Which made me feel better.

It took us three weeks to eat them. And we still have half of the dough in the freezer. Someone should help us out a bit next time. :D

Then school started up...and thankfully it's been a thousand times better so far than last semester. I really like my classes, my teachers are amazing, and one of them is an online class, no attendance required! AWESOME!

My two biggest problems have been the snow and homework, which is better than last semester, which was sleeping too much and too many video games.

Now the video games are strictly a weekend thing.

(BTW: LEGO LOTR IS SO AMAZING!)

We also got some new posters... 

(Thank you BYU Poster Sale.)

...Bringing the total number of posters in the apartment to 17. We sorta rock. 

And because I can, here's what we have:

Princess Bride

Avengers

Serenity

How I Met Your Mother

Hunger Games

Pirates of the Caribbean

Star Wars (It just says "Use the Force")

A George Washington Bridge Drawing that was done by my old Bishop from NYC

Three Harry Potter Posters (9 and 3/4, Mischief Managed, and It All Ends with the Deathly Hallows symbol)

Four Lord of the Rings Posters (Three small official movie posters and one giant combo one)

Three Hobbit Posters (A small one, a big one, and a giant map)

Yea. You should visit us. Our living room is awesome. :D

(I'm gonna post pictures when I'm not so lazy.)

So all in all everything is going pretty good! I'm excited cause this semester is shaping up to be a thousand times better than the last, even if there's still some hard stuff.

But that's life I guess. 

OH OH OH! I totally forgot!

 (Not really, I was just saving it for last.)

 I did an awesome Photoshoot with one of my dearest friends from NYC. She's a freaking amazing actress and is wayyy too gorgeous for her own good.
She needed some new headshots because she cut her hair (which, by the way, I totally love) and I was so honored when she asked me to!

Here's my favorite photo from the shoot:

Ain't she purty? :D

And since this is technically a blog about an "angsty photographer" I figured I needed to get some more stuff in here about my more professional work so to speak.

So ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to announce that Suzie Q Photography is officially open for business! I'm really going to try to work in a lot more time to expand and work on my portfolio and more time for photoshoots!

This means: if you know of anyone in Provo in need of Headshots, Engagements, Missionary Photos, etc...lemme know! :D

And to end this lovely and delightfully long post, here's a smiling pancake.

Live. Laugh. Photograph.

The post I promised!

SO! I'm here to write the post that I promised I'd write back in November. Yes, about my dearest best friend, Katie. 

She turned 19 in November, actually the day before my brother turned 24, if you remember this post about it.

I actually kind of find it a little scary that she's 19. That means I'm not far behind, and last time I checked I was 8 and she was 9. 

(Although in many ways we still are.)

So I was going to post for her birthday, but uh, I was a little busy, and didn't end up thinking about it until it was way too pathetically late. SORRY!!

So I decided on a Reunion post, that I'm dedicating to her in honor of our lovely reunion after 4 months, 2 weeks, 5 days and approximately 20 hours. (Not that we were counting. Note: I counted the hours after the fact...but the rest I knew ahead of time.)

And before I get into the details of the best reunion ever, let me tell you a little bit about my best friend.

I mean, the basics are over there, on your right, click on "My Best Friend."

It's got the basic backstory, but I don't tell you a whole lot about her.

What can I say? Katie is fun, full of life, beautiful, smart, kind, loving and generous. Also extremely patient. I'll start with that.

She's patient because I have a tendency to...um...be late to everything. And even though over the years I've been late to about 95% of everything we've done together, she doesn't freak out or get pissed of at me. Rather, she's compensated by laughing it off, telling me like it is when she really is pissed off about it, and planning ahead. She usually tells me time about half an hour earlier than she wants to see me. It's quite funny. We're going to a movie? She tells me that it starts half an hour earlier than it really does. Genius that girl is.

Which leads me to Smart. Katie is ridiculously smart, and always has been. She always tells me I'm smart too (and I guess I sorta am.) but she's smart in the general "I kick butt at life" sorta way. She's smart because she doesn't procrastinate like I do. She's smart because she knows her priorities and knows how to set herself boundaries. She's smart because she knows how to organize and manage her time and her life, which then makes her look even smarter cause she's always gotten freaking amazing grades! Like, Bard, the college she's at, gave her a freaking amazing scholarship because she's THAT amazing.

Oh, and did I mention? A few years ago she and I went to South Africa to take a course my Mom helps teach at the University of Kwazulu-Natal every summer (This course had to do with Microbiology research). We had an absolute blast and learned so much in those three weeks. But when we came home, we had the amazing opportunity to continue some of the work we did. While I was interested in what I had learned, and wanted to continue it, I didn't really stay dedicated. Katie however, started coming and working on a pretty regular basis, even taking the same course again at my Mom's lab over the summer. She is now a Biology and Chemistry major, and part of me feels like its because she found what she loves in these courses. She even got a freakin PAID internship at Sloan-Kettering Hospital last summer before we started college. I mean, seriously, she's going to go FAR!

She's beautiful. So she's smart, but add that to the fact that she's drop dead gorgeous and you're like, "Um, who is this person and can I be her?"

Like, let me show you.

I mean seriously. Totally not fair.

And she looks just like her mom too.

AND she's a freakin' fashionista. She dresses absolutely amazingly. I don't know how she does it.

She's kind, loving and generous. She puts others before herself. She's quick to compliment and is so honest about it. She gives so much of herself to you when she's your friend, but in such a quiet way it might take you 10 years to realize it. And then when you do, you feel so ridiculously lucky to be blessed with such an AWESOME friend.

And the best of all, she's fun, and full of life. I mean, seriously, we have the BEST time just hanging out. We can laugh and talk about anything, and manage to do the stupidest or the coolest things and we have a million hilarious stories from over the years.

Although I don't think it gets much better than it was on Thursday. We were actually jumping up and down screaming and hugging for about five minutes. It's ok, we're just awesome.

So, Katie, here's to you. Thank you for being my best friend. I count my lucky stars everyday because you're my best friend. And always will be.

And don't worry, we'll take that road trip someday.

Live. Laugh. Photograph.

A Divine (Comedy) Obsession

So there's a comedy group at BYU called Divine Comedy.

And if you know me (which I'm assuming) then I've probably showed you some of their videos before.

And last friday we went to see their Best of Show.

AND IT WAS PHENOMENAL!!!

Like, seriously.

You should become obsessed like I am.

I know all of their names.

I know all their famous sketches

I want to meet them

I want to work with them

I want to actually get glowsticks at their next show

I want them to have more shows

I wish I was as awesome as them...

Not to mention, some of the recent graduates of the show have started a BYUTV show called Studio C. Oh my gosh it's hilarious! I've seen every episode, every clip and basically everything relating to Divine Comedy on the internet.

And I'm going to share with you some of my favorite things about Divine Comedy.

And then there's Studio C stuff. Some of it is repeats of sketches they've done in DC, but they're hilariously awesome!

Ok, I'm going to stop before I go way too crazy with the videos. Lemme do this... watch Divine Comedy's videos here

And then do yourself a favor and watch EVERY episode of Studio C (there's only 9 of them, 30 min each) and you can do that here!

Ok, enjoy! And really, don't be afraid to waste your time on this...cause it's totally worth it! :D