"Who died and made you king of anything?"
"King of Anything"

I think like this song so much because it sounds like things I would say in real life.

"Let me thank you for your time and try not to waste anymore of mine."

I am not the damsel in distress (or girl pursing her MRS degree at BYU) that every guy I go on a first or blind date with thinks I am. UGH.

Also I think this song is basically describing every terrible first date she's ever been on. His stare is basically boring holes into your soul? He talks to no end and doesn't let you get a word in edgewise?Ehhhh. Delusional sunset, for sure.



Don't take no crap from nobody. If you don't want to write a love song, don't do it!
"Love Song"

Basically, ain't nobody got time for dat.

A friend told me that she wrote this song because her producers legitimately wanted her to write a ballad-y love song for her first single.

That's funny and awesome.



I AM SO FREAKING SAD.
"Winter Song"
This song is UBER depressing. The only appropriate time to listen to this song is when you are dying of hypothermia, you just ran over your dog or

It's December, probably in Utah, so it's FREEZING. Also there's a breakup involved. Or maybe a dead boyfriend, I never can decide. Either way, so sad.

It's like the very terrible, pessimistic sister to Cher's "Believe". Is there life (or springtime) after love? If you ever ask yourself that question, for the sake of your tear ducts and very concerned roommates, please opt for Cher's answer, not Sara's.



Don't fall back in love with someone who is wrong for you.
"Gravity"

Guh. This song makes me weep. I love/hate it so much.

This dance from So You Think You Can Dance was really the first time I was hit like a ton of bricks by something so beautiful from that show. It still makes me tear up.

The dance is about physical addiction, but the song is a beautiful and sad story about a relationship gone south and being drawn back to them, even when you know they're no good for you (story of my life).

Also one of my favorite "sing in the shower" songs.



The glitter and glam of worldly success is superficial, and relationships are really what hold us in place.
"City"

I love her description of the big city on a Saturday night. She is truly a poet with a lot of her lyrics.

"You've got your wolves in their clothes, whispering Hollywood's name, stealing gold from the silver they see."

So cool.



Every heartbreak is different, and nobody else knows what they're doing either.
"Uncharted"

For such a peppy song, it has kind of a sad message, but a good one.

Everyone's life is basically "uncharted" and we don't have to listen to anyone else or live any life but our own. We each struggle with different things, deal with pain and loneliness in various ways, and get stuck in the mud over different life events.

My favorite line: "Compare where you are to where you want to be and you'll get nowhere."

This is also one of my favorite music videos of all time. Josh Groban is hilarious, Ben Folds is so goofy, I can't take Adam Levine or Pharrell Williams seriously, and Jennifer Nettles (from Sugarland) is CRAZY.



Cheaters ruin everything.
"Between The Lines"

This is another one where I'm so tempted to just post all the lyrics and say, "HERE. SEE? THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE SONG."

Also it's terribly sad, too. Basically it's about a girl dealing with her cheater boyf.

Here are a few of my favorite lines.
"No right minds could wrong be this many times."
"My memory is cruel. I'm the queen of attention to details, defending intentions if he fails."
"Wait for me, I'm almost ready, when he meant let go."

As a girl who has had to quite literally defend the intentions of loser boyfriends in the past and justify his actions (both in my head and to others), this song is on my "sad songs/breakups" playlist. If you haven't ever experienced that, it sucks and I totally don't recommend it. Not a lesson worth learning on your own, just take my word for it.

I'm also very grateful for a moral upbringing and church that teaches and promotes chastity before marriage and complete fidelity within marriage. The end :)



EINTKILF originally comes from HelloGiggles and the hilariously fun Jess Tholmer

Told you I was gonna make this a (somewhat) regular thing.

As far as singer/songwriters go, Elton John is by far my favorite. Billy Joel is fantastic, but we listened to more Elton John as kids, so I naturally know more of his stuff.


It's really okay and probably healthy to have a "sad song" playlist in your iTunes
"Sad Songs Say So Much"

Favorite line: "The kick inside is the line that finally gets to you and it feels so good to hurt so bad." 

It sounds happy, and it kind of is, but it's all about sad songs. Well, really it's about those "yes this is EXACTLY how I'm feeling right now" sad songs. Of which I feel like I have about 42 right now (that's how many songs are on my current "sad song" playlist, anyway. You laugh, but that's really what it's called on my iTunes).

But that's okay, because someone felt this way enough before to write and sing a song about it, so it's okay that I'm feeling this way.


Believe everything you read in magazines (or in today's world - the internet). Especially when it pertains to electric boots and mohair suits.
"Bennie and the Jets"

The lyrics in this song are impossible to understand. Most people get them wrong, as clearly evidenced by 27 Dresses. 

And even if you read them, they still don't make much sense.

This commercial is applicable to most Elton John songs.





Apparently Mars is cold. And lonely. So space exploration may not be the best profession for me.
"Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be A Long Long Time)" 

While Firefly may have changed my life (I finished the series and watched Serenity just a couple weeks ago), I don't think I'd like space very much. Especially if Reavers are real.

I mean, if Elton thinks it's cold and lonely, I'm willing to bet it's not for me. Plus, it's gonna be a long long time before he gets back. A long long time.

And a long long outtro.


I like being tiny. And a dancer.
"Tiny Dancer"

I really can't tell if this song is about Thumbelina or some crazy groupie or a toothless gypsy. Or Tony Danza. Anyone with more information on this song should really send it my way.

But whoever she is, I like her. And I kind of want to be her? As long as she has teeth.


Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it's okay to cry about it, too.
"I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues"

Bonus lesson: "Live for each second without hesitation." I like that idea.

You are the master of your own destiny. Also, move on and move up.
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

My favorite quote from my favorite movie.



Love comes in different expressions, but writing a song is definitely the cutest one.
"Your Song"

So for the purposes of this post, pretend we don't know that Sir Elton John is gay. Because that's what I have to do every time I hear this song (or just remember that Ewan McGregor sang it in Moulin Rouge instead).

In the story, he's kind of sad that he's not a millionaire or a sculptor (??) or a travelling magician (????), but instead, he just writes adorable songs. His simple expression of love, "How wonderful life is now you're in the world," is really really cute.

... I fail to see the problem here. I'd rather have a gay Elton John sing me songs forever than an excess of pottery or magic poisons potions.


Dads, Elton John included, love their children.
"Blessed"

One of the more obscure ones I feel like, but I remember loving this song as a very small child. I think I liked the idea of my dad, who loved Elton John, singing this song.

And I love my dad. The end.


Everyone needs one incredibly powerful friend who can control the sun.
"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"

Okay, but seriously. This is another one of my faves. The live recording with George Michael is the best.

I actually love sunsets -- way more than sunrises (probably because I've really paid attention to, like, two sunrises ever, because I'd rather not be up that early). But phrases like "frozen here on the ladder of my life" and "losing everything is like the sun going down on me" make me stop and reconsider what I've done and what I'm doing. And what could leave me frozen on my life-ladder.

The first two verses of this song, about trying to change someone, trying to be the light in their darkness, having that darkness consume you instead and getting totally shafted, are especially powerful to me.

Now if we could just get Clay Aiken in on this with George and Elton, it would be the greatest Gay Trio of all time. Also my mom, my dad and I might all just spontaneously combust with joy at the same exact time.

(Seriously though. How can we make this happen?)


Listen to your friends - it's okay to fall out of love with someone.
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight"

First of all - Sugar Bear?  Ugh. Worst pet name ever.

Still, one of my favorites of his. Minus the chick sitting in the electric chair. That mental picture always creeped me out, like, a lot.

The pure emotion Elton puts in to every word of this song. Like hypnotized and we've all gone crazy lately and LISTEN TO ME, GOOD!

But I love the idea of slipping out of someone's grasp, especially when we know they're no good for us. Like "sweet freedom" and "flying away."

Bonus lesson: Don't cling to stocks and bonds.



Again, the idea for this post stolen was from the Hello Giggles EINTKILF ("Everything I Need To Know I Learned From...") post series - like this one. Or check out my other EINTKILF post - Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Billy Joel

So I've had multiple people point out and several others confirm (including my own mother) that I look like Anna Kendrick.


I don't really see it, but whatever. Not a big deal. But I do feel like I can relate to her a little bit now.

I saw the movie Pitch Perfect a few weeks ago and couldn't believe it took me that long to see it. Some may judge me for how much I loved it, but like my friend Jenna said, "It wasn't inappropriate, it was just very irreverent." I feel the same way. And the music was fantastic.

The Riff-off was one of my favorite scenes (we may have gone back and watched it again after the movie ended), but I really really really loved the regionals performance.

I hope to make these kinds of posts a regular thing. Because I've learned lots of things from lots of places (???? Whatever.)
Anyone named Davey should always be in the Navy. 

Since Christmas is only 15 days away (can you believe it????), and since I get to read what Christmas means to others all day long at work (I know, I have the most fulfilling job on the planet, you don't have to tell me), I thought I'd take a minute to share what Christmas means to me.

Christmas is my favorite of the year.

December means I get to enjoy Christmas lights, gingerbread houses, The Polar Express movie and soundtrack, mistletoe, presents, hot chocolate, snow (sometimes), the excited laughter of children and the long-missed laughter of old friends, Santa Claus, beautiful window displays, sweaters and boots, White Christmas, baking with my mom and grandma, our cat nesting under the tree, an excess of Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble and Josh Groban, candy canes, hectic shopping malls, Charlie Brown, parties, caroling, holiday specials on TV and putting my birthday presents under our Christmas tree.

Christmas time is best spent with family and friends. There's nothing quite like being home with the ones you love and the ones who love you during the holidays. I love my family more than anything else in the world, and it's always a hoot coming home for Christmas. At our house, it always ends up being a collaboration of baking, sharing our favorite YouTube finds from the last year, eating way to much, poorly acting out the Nativity and sleeping in the same room on Christmas eve.

But more importantly, Christmas is a time to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's a time to reflect upon His life and love for us. He willingly and lovingly lived a perfect life on Earth, suffered for the sins and sorrows of all mankind, died on the cross and rose again - all so that we might be able to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. The Christmas season is a wonderful opportunity for the whole world to come together in love and friendship to worship the Master and contemplate the magnitude of His sacrifice and love for us.

And that is why I love Christmas.



Share what Christmas means to you and find out what other people are saying.

I'm slowly beginning to realize that every year around the same time, I develop an obsession. two years ago, it was Just Dance 2. last year it was Awful Waffle.

but can you believe I went 22 years and 9 months without experiencing the incredible joy that comes from...

laser tag.

I got a pass of all passes a couple weeks ago and since then it has paid for itself 3 times over, just from laser tag alone. now, don't think I'm crazy. I've only gone 3 times in the last three weeks.

....

okay, maybe I'm crazy.

the very first game we played, I got 4th place overall and I was super stoked about it! here I was, thinking I've got this natural born gift and I was meant to play laser tag for my whole life. I now attribute that great accomplishment to the amount of children that were playing that round and my insensitivity to the hearts of babies. I shoot everyone, regardless of age, skill level or amount of tears shed.

I would now like to take this opportunity to apologize to those kids for any mental abuse or broken hearts I caused. please come back again. I promise laser tag is really fun (or maybe it's just fun when you're 22 and you can shoot all the toddlers).

when we went this last monday, I found this magical gun just as we were about to start our last game of the night.


so, of course, that round became a fight to survive. while I didn't score all that high, it was probably my best, most strategically epic round ever. I give credit to that gun.

if you want a really accurate depiction of what the course is like, watch this video of the BYU Men's Soccer team playing in the same arena we go to.

so for anyone in Utah who thinks they love laser tag as much as me right now, or just wants to come with, I will pretty much play any time, any day. please let's go.

okay - first and foremost - just so everybody knows, Utah was playing this song WAY before California was. I've had this song as my ringtone at least since January (not that I'm especially proud of that anymore, now that it's taken over the planet). and it's still taking over the radio here. aka - California was super late at jumping on the bandwagon.

I'm beginning to feel that way about other songs, too, not just this one.

anyways.

can I just say I love all of these parodies I see on the internet? the song is UBER catchy to begin with, so I love that people are doing funny things with it.

here are my three faves.

seriously - every time I hear the song now, instead I hear Barack saying "HEY!"






and just for kicks, because I love this song and I think this is super cool.


any other CMM parodies I've missed that are worth viewing?

10/4/2012 addendum: this gem was created for general conference this weekend. my roommate thinks it's borderline sacrilegious. I just think it's awesome.

because really, everything that I currently love from YouTube, I watched / discovered last year.

like this


and it's original clip


and this


and don't forget this


and this entire series



.... this year - not so much. nothing cool yet.
c'mon YouTube. I'm ready. cross my heart & hope to die.

and since I'm on such a YouTube kick, here are some of my other all-time fave music videos.




and we couldn't get enough of this video over the summer.


heh. and this just makes me laugh.



share your faves?

okay, so only kind of. but you know how you have certain songs that instantly make you think of certain people? 

.... I may or may not feel like my entire iTunes is that way.

so. in honor of my 6 hour airplane ride home today and the extensive use my iPod will be getting because of it, here's just a few of the songs / artists that remind me of you guys!

• Chantelly = Eminem & P!nk & Closing Time
• Kenzie = J Biebs, Mike Posner and Bruno Mars
• Camille = Enrique Iglesias. before he was trashy. and George Michael. but mostly just Careless Whisper.
• Heidi = Simon & Garfunkel and Imogen Heap
• Leah = Justin Timberlake & Christina Perri & Enchanted  by T Swift
• Sean = Gary Go. and probly assorted other songs. :)
• Janet  = Backstreet Boys & Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga & Maroon 5
• Kenna  = Mika. or anything from Just Dance.
• Alyssa = Passion Pit & Kids by MGMT
• Kelsey  = In this City & The Funeral  & Walking On a Dream
• Jaime = Jack's Mannequin & Yellowcard & Don't Cry by Shiny Toy Guns & The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls
• Erin =  Waking Up in Vegas by Katy Perry, Please Don't Leave Me by P!nk & Josh Groban
• Lauren = *NSYNC and All American Rejects Move Along album
• Theresa = Mika
• Kjrstin = Paramore & Fiona Apple
• Lizzie - Bon Iver & super corny 90s artists like Evan & Jaron and S Club 7

so guys. what songs make you think of me? or did I forget any on this list?

I'd be her. Ivanka Trump.

is this an April Fools joke? nope.
is this a weird obsession? yes.
am I okay with it? yes.

wikipedia & everyothersite define her as "model, heiress, socialite and American businesswoman".

she's awesome. she's 5'11"! she's one of the judges/head honchos on Celebrity Apprentice. she's goooooooooorgeous. she wore a Grace Kelly-inspired Vera Wang wedding dress. she's strong and tough when it comes to business {well, how can you NOT be when your dad's The Donald}, and she knows it. epitome of coolness in my book.

can that please be me?!?!

plus I've heard her dad is running for president.... {question mark????}

bahaha. whatevs Donald. you're crazy.

other people just think they're weird.

after my grocery escapade at Winco the other night and my creative eating habits beforehand {mostly because I was out of almost everything}, I was thinking about the things I eat.

I ate all my delicious-things-that-people-think-are-weird this week.

1.  grilled cheese. plus ketchup.


ask my friend Jennie, she'll tell you so, too.
so, most people like grilled cheese and tomato soup- ketchup is just a condensed form of tomato soup.


2. chocolate covered sunflower seeds.






3. sandwich rounds.




4. creamed corn.


it's delicious. kinda looks like vanilla pudding with grossness it in, but I looooove it.

**Thinwich and Trader Joe's, you can thank me for the free advertising later. checks are always appreciated.

well, okay, not yet. but there will be. in a couple weekends.

oh. and reason why it's called a Toad Ball. really, I just call it that. it's technically a Cinderella Ball, but when our bishop announced it, he said it was a Princess and the Toad Ball, we'd be the princesses and have to dance with toads, or something along those lines. I thought it was hilarious and wanted to pee my pants in church and everything. I love BYU wards for that explicit reasons. hilarious reasons to laugh in church. :)

like this Sunday for example. when my friend Derik turned the super-bright-overhead lights on the ward choir while they were singing, but only flipped them on for like the last line and a half of their musical number. then went to turn them back off before he gave his talk and accidentally flipped off ALL the lights in the room. awesome.

oh. and reason why it's a Cinderella ball, not a Toad ball. so all the girls have to put in one shoe, and the boys pick their date by picking a shoe from the giant mountain of shoes. scary, right? yeah, no pressure boys. you'd better pick a great one.

so it was sposed to be last weekend, but it got rescheduled. that's okay. now I just have more time to freak out about this.

{I can write all this stuff because no boys read this blog slash care. at least, no boys of eternal significance, anyway.}

now I'm wayyyyyyyyy too excited/nervous/anxious. it's not for another week and a half, but I've been thinking about my dress and what shoes I'm gonna wear like 24/7. ridiculous, I tell ya.

still haven't decided my shoes. or my dress. help me decide.

shoe choices.

to start out, I think fickle is a funny word. plus it rhymes with pickle. which is strange.
... after thinking for approximately 3.5 seconds, I believe fickle is the only word that rhymes with pickle.
and that is strange, too.

okay, moving on.

I am a wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-too-fickle-pickle girl. I want to change my blog every day!

because I see other people's adorable blogs and want mine to be just as cool as their's.
curse you, cool people.

also because I know how to now. :)
thanks, web design minor. you are the COOLEST. {and quite possibly making me the ultimate nerd-o, too. bleh.}

in other news {now I feel like a broadcaster. ha}:

• BYU basketball is awesome. ask anyone you know. well, except maybe an Aztec.
• my mommy! came to visit me last weekend with her other mommyfriends. it was excellent.
• apparently, there are lots of new songs on the radio that I don't know about. and that is a major problem.
• I ran two miles this week!! and I'm going back to the gym tonight! it's a Christmas miracle!! ... but seriously. I never work out. Leah laughed in my face when I told her and said, "I've never seen you exercise a day in your life!" it's true though. I'm a pansy when it comes to exercise. so be really proud, please?
• I love these children. and they are now my ring tone.
• it's not spring yet. which is also a problem. it felt like it for about 3 days, and then the snow monster {not to be confused with the smoke monster on Lost. they're probly brothers, tho.} came back.
• I love this boy. and his movie. if I were Kenzie, I would say, "it was excellent". but since I'm me, I'll just say that it was pretty much incredible. **I may or may not have had a dream last night that I was in a high school science class with him and his grandma.
• as far as being fickle is concerned, really not much is changing in my life. it's good, but it's consistent and sort of boring. maybe that's why I'm having blog ADD.
• okay, I lied. I'm fickle about one other thing. I have a cupboard full of food and I never want to eat any of it. but when my roommate makes Rice-a-Roni, I feel like I'm going to flat-out die because that's the only thing in the entire universe that I want to eat, and of course, I don't have any. so I'm a foody-fickle-pickle too.

new song, yes? it's been a while, so we'll pretend it's Tuesday. Heidi will laugh at me, but I have fallen head-over-heels with P!nk's song, "Perfect". I may or may not have had tears well up in my eyes the first time I heard it. it's just a powerful song with a good message, okay!?

... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand there are currently people singing happy birthday in the library.
I'm confused? Randay?

so, I grew up on a Mac.

aka- love.

but since we got Macs at Qualtrics, I've learned exactly what my favorite Mac toys are.

my friend/co-intern Whitney always asks if I have any other cool toys or tricks. soooo... that's probly what inspired me.

1. Caffeine.
nope, not the real stuff you find in Mountain Dew. but instead, found here.
it's super convenient for when you're watching movies or Hulu or you're just tired of your computer randomly going to sleep on you while you're thinking of what to write next in your paper.

super convenient. and awesome.