Twenty Ten

So I'm sitting here listening to hate music and compiling my mix for snowboarding (when I eventually get to snowboarding this winter I want to be prepared with the appropriate soundtrack) and thinking about how much has happened this last year. It's crazy to think how much can change in that amount of time. I'm just going to share with you some of the things I mean.

January - Giulia left the ranks of the YUC club, the second of the four girls my age to get married. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend her wedding because I had some problems with some of my offshore banking accounts...uhhh...I mean I was on a cruise with my family to the Cayman Islands. (That trip was the first time I'd been on a plane, but I can't really count it as happening in the last year because we left on like the 27th of December) I moved into the Green house with Kylee and JB two of my best friends who I really miss living with somedays because we were the chillest roommates ever.

February - I think it was sometime in February that I became friends with Guido (Yes, I call him Guido. No, that's not his real name.) He'll be mentioned again later. Rugby 7's was this month! Oh man that trip was epic! Buff men covered in dirt and grass stains...Rawr.

March - I continued to be sick of school and sucking at it. But on the plus side I did lots of random things and had lots of fun with my awesome friends. Remember trying to light our popsicle stick boats on fire and failing miserably? Or did we do that in April...Kaylyn left for her mission, and I'm so freakin proud of her for going!

April - Finals! I'm fairly positive I failed all of my classes...except nutrition. I think I got a D in that one. This was when I got a job with Pinnacle Security as a field office manager and would be moving out to Buffalo, New York for the summer. Guido is the one who told me about this job and he's going out to New York as well. This is also the month that we had our epic ninja battle in Adam's Park! Poor Shannon, her teammates just stood back and watched as we subjected her to the beating of her life. Grizzly tryouts were this month as well and I got my first set of stitches ever!

May - I moved to New York. There were moments of complete happiness, but it was mostly just a black hole of depression.

June - The office I was working in wasn't making sales so I went home. I was also miserable so I came home. I started going to the singles ward in American Fork, the first singles ward that I've actually enjoyed going to. Jess left for Iraq at the end of this month.


July - Mexico trip and I drove down with Megan, Naya and Sabey. Despite the fact that it was freezing the entire time and we ended up leaving early so we could get back to Utah and the sun, it was pretty fun. The funnest part was stopping in Vegas on the way home and going to the Stratosphere. Yes, it took us like two hours to get up to the ride and when we were RIGHT THERE it broke down. But we had our embarrassing dance party on the way down that still makes me giggle when I think about it and then there was the Filipino lady who wasn't going to refund Naya so Megan was preparing to start smacking her down (no worries, Naya got the full refund and no Filipinos were hurt). I moved to Pleasant Grove with Megan to help her out with Sabey while Jess is in Iraq. The Young Family reunion was up at Bear Lake this year and Erin and I slept in an 8-man tent by ourselves. This is where the "Sometimes We Wear Pants Club" and the "Sometimes We Don't Wear Pants Club" were born.

August - Finally I found a job! It's working with Provo City as a referee for youth soccer. I LOVED this job!

September - My soccer job ends, and I get another job at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo as a stage hand. I didn't know anything about lighting/sound/other stage things so I was learning new stuff everyday. I love it. This is also when I came to the decision to serve a mission. Tucker left for his mission and I am terrible at writing him.


October - I finally stop crying over Guido. Sure, I still felt lonely 75% of the time and missed him like crazy, but I was starting to be genuinely happy again instead of just having to fake it.

November - Finally am able to start my mission papers and finish them in one sitting. I just need to go to a doctor to sign a note. I worked a ridiculous amount of time this month, one week I clocked in 50 hours. The next week I worked like 60.



December -21st Birthday. Some friends came down and took me on a zombie hunt, after which they gave me my present. Pretty much I have the coolest friends in the world! Erin got engaged, leaving me to sleep in the 8-man tent at the family reunions by myself. Maybe I can convince Naya and some of the other younger Young cousins to join me?

This is mostly just me writing everything that is coming to my mind, so I don't know if it even makes any sense or if you can see how much I've changed in the last year. I feel like I've grown up so much and my priorities now are so incredibly different than they were just a year ago. My future isn't any clearer though. If anything, it's even hazier, which is fine. It's ok that I don't have everything in life figured out, I'm still young, and things are going to get harder before they get easy. But that's life and growing up isn't it? Just as long as I make sure that certain things are always constant then I really have nothing to worry or complain about. This was kind of a sadish post I feel, it actually was a really good year for me, filled with great friends and great family.

What's Lost

So I've been feeling a little....blah...lately. Like I'm missing something in life. It went away when I started working a lot, but then it came back. It went away when I started my mission papers, but then it came back. It goes away when I am hanging out with friends, but then is comes back. It always comes back, and I couldn't figure out what it was that was making me feel so...blah...

Well I was on Facebook today when I read something that made me realize what it is! The following quote is said in reference to defending yourself from someone who has a knife.

"Look, you are going to get cut. Who cares? Beat the $*@& out of them and pick the knife up off the ground for the disarm; and bleed all over them in the process. Remember, they don't expect you to punch them in the face. When you are attacking someone with a knife and you suddenly get punched in the face, that ruins your day." -Joseph Gleed

I miss Krav Maga! I miss learning new ways to beat the crap out of people who are just asking for it! But I mostly miss being with people who are just as violent as I am and have a similar morbid sense of humor. I need a violence outlet, because without it I've become dead inside. All this pent up anger is killing all of my other emotions and then petering out until there's nothing left. This is a problem that is in need of remedy. And soon.

At Your Expense

I try and go play soccer on Thursdays with some people I've recently met. It's kind of a hit or miss because I work so much, but last Thursday I was able to make it. You know those days where it seems that everything is a joke at your expense? Well....

There I was! Pulling into the parking lot of the BYU men's rugby pitch (this is where we usually play because one of the guys has access to turn the lights on or something like that) ready to play some soccer. I had brought my good friend Erika to play with us. Well it looked like a men's rugby match had just finished because there were a plethora of men in short shorts and no shirts walking to their cars. Is it not natural that I would admire this feast for the eyes that had been laid before me? So I was drooling over and objectifying these ruggers while pulling into my parking space when OUT OF NOWHERE jumps this fence! Luckily, I have mad ninja skills and didn't hit it too hard. Really, you'd think by now that fences had learned not to jump out in front of moving vehicles...

Needless to say (but I'm going to say it anyway) the people who saw me/heard me run into this fence had themselves a good laugh. Including my good friend Erika. I sat there in my car, holding my head in shame and didn't even want to get out to check on my car until everyone had left. After about two minutes of shameful head hanging and embarrassed blushing (that's right, blushing!) I heard a knock on the driver side window. It was one of the rugby players. I was sure he was here to mock me to my face and I was fully prepared to disembowel him. No, I didn't have a knife on me. I was going to use my bare hands of course! Amateurs. I rolled down my window, not letting any sign of this poor unfortunate's doom show on my face.

"You guys ok?" He asked. Uhhhhhh....ok I guess I don't have to disembowel him. We assured him we were fine, made some polite chit chat and he left. Who knew there were rugby players out there who aren't obnoxious schmucks all the time?

The night continued as a big joke at my expense. Whenever I touched the soccer ball it had some sort of negative magnetism to the goal, pwned by one of my own teammates and was thrown into a dumpster (but it's ok, it was just full of sand).

So yeah, every time I turned around I was getting laughed at or picked on for something or other. It could have been embarrassing and miserable, but it was too funny for me not to laugh at myself. Even ninjas have their off days I guess.

Mo the Hermit

It's a Friday night and I'm home alone. What do I do? Why I call up all my homies and say, "What's crackin' yo? We should go catch a flick or cause mischief or something..."

That was a lie. I go get some movies, a pizza, and some Mt Dew and settle in for a night of solitary splurging. Half a pizza later I'm thinking that was not such a good idea, because that hot 'n' ready pizza did not agree with me.

I'm ok with being by myself, I really am. Sure, you feel a little ridiculous for laughing so hysterically at a movie when you're by yourself, but nobody is there to mock you. And I usually laugh harder because I think that me laughing this hard by myself is kind of funny, don't you?

I think that having time by yourself is healthy. This last year I was constantly around people, which came back and kicked me in the pants this summer. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends and I wouldn't trade any of our crazy random adventures for anything. I miss them like crazy. But I can't help but think that if I'd taken some time to be by myself I wouldn't have been so miserable in New York, or in Lehi.

Moral of the story? Be alone sometimes! No, you don't necessarily have to eat lousy pizza in order to do it. I would recommend a hike or some equally healthy option, anything to get some of that alone time to figure out who you are. Heaven AND Hell both know I've had plenty of time this summer to do that, and I didn't necessarily like who I saw.

I've learned a lot about myself recently and I like to think that I've been able to use that knowledge to be a better, more confident person. My faith is stronger, I'm making new friends down here and I have two jobs, one of which I actually enjoy!

I had no intention of going to spiritual side of things here, but here goes. I do have a testimony of Christ's love for us, I've felt that love more in these past few months than I have in my entire life. Even in your darkest hours, you're never alone and he's just waiting for us to reach out for him. He loves us more than we'll ever know or even be able to comprehend and I don't acknowledge him nearly as often as I should. He's got my back and I know he's got yours as well. Talk to him, I know he listens.

The Fun Way to Run

So I've been in Mexico for a few days with some of my family. Megan and I went running on the beach yesterday. I know, I know. Running sucks right? Right! But that's only because you've been doing it wrong! Don't worry, I was making the same mistake you were and now I'm here to tell you how to fix it.

So there I was! Running down the beach with Megan. We'd run to the pier and had just finished stretching and were heading back. Just running la la la when KNIFE ATTACK! Well ok, it was just headlock attack but it caught Megan off guard and she had to think about the defense for a second. She got out of it and we continued our run. A few more feet along and KNIFE ATTACK! Megan knife attacked me, I defended and countered by kneeing her in the face a few times. We continued to do this the whole way back and when we were done I wasn't really all that tired! I had too much adrenaline in my system. So there you go. If you find you have to do the chore that running is, find a buddy and randomly attack each other.

A Little At A Time

So I was going through my posts and looking at all of the drafts I'd started and deciding if I wanted to finish them or not. This one was too funny not to finish. It happened back at the end of June.
So it was Tucker's birthday and to celebrate my parents took us all and some of Tucker's friends to Jump On It, this building that just has a ton of trampolines lines up together and they just cover the floor and some of the walls.
So we were all there just jumping around like a bunch of maniacs, doing all sorts of stunts. Well you know how sometimes when you jump on the tramp you pee a little? And you know how when you get jeans a little wet it looks a lot worse than it actually is? Well I was wearing jeans. I as I was jumping, a little pee would come out. So basically by the end of the night it looked like I'd lost all bladder control. I'm pretty sure everyone noticed, but only a few commented on it. My sister Megan, who bluntly informed me that there is medication for bladder control nowadays. Naya, who I told it was just sweat...and she believed me. Sweet sweet Naya. And my mom, who I tried the sweat thing with and she just laughed at me.
Wow, I'm kind of mortified that I just told that story. But like I said, it's too funny not to share.

Summer Nights

Twilight. The crickets are chirping, there are a few bird calls. There's a slight breeze blowing to cool the remaining heat from the day. A peaceful night in Logan, UT.

"Mo's stealing second! Get her get her!"
"Mo you dirty whore! Come here!"
"Aaa! No! NO!"

A figure is laying in the ground, curled up around two sandals, while another figure repeatedly throws a small white ball at the one on the ground.

This is what I call baseball! Well actually we were using a t-ball set and were kind of making up rules as we went along. And we weren't really on teams either. So it's not what you'd call baseball really, but it was fun!

That's what I love about summer, doing random things with your friends. That's what I love about any season of the year really, but during the summer it's warmer thus more fun.

This week my friend Rowbs and I went up to Logan to visit and we did all sorts of activities. Soccer, Cliff Jumping, jumping into first dam at like midnight and then breaking into a random pool to get warm again, getting kicked out of said pool by an ornery old lady, driving to bear lake, soccer, t-ball. Oh yeah, we also did henna tattoos and wrote a pretty epic story for our teammate who is at basic training right now.

My point is, I guess, that we need to take advantage of these things while we're still young. I understand that we have responsibilities such as work and class and whatnot, but you aren't going to remember in thirty years what you learned in class that day. You're going to remember being curled up on the ground with your makeshift second base firmly grasped in your hands while your friend shannon tries beating you to death with a styrofoam ball. Ahh the memories.

Psychic

I'm psychic. Or my sister Megan is. Let me explain.

Earlier this week I was sitting on my couch finishing up "Fever Dream" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. As I lay there reading, I stopped and was thinking about how I was going to go home in two weeks and how excited I was when my phone started ringing. It was Megan! My sister and friend.

Now, I had not told any of my family yet that I was coming home. I was going to wait until the time was closer. This is important. NOBODY IN MY FAMILY KNEW!

This is how our conversation went. Well, I may be paraphrasing a little bit...

Tab: Hey Meg, what's up?
Megan: Hey Tab. I've been thinking and was wondering of you were still considering coming home? Because I have to get away from Mom's candy jar.
Tab: My flight comes in on the seventh.
Megand:...are you joking?
Tab: Nope.
Megan: I'm freakin' psychic!

That's one example. Another occured today.

So there I was! Laying out and reading by the pool! I'd just finished my book and didn't quite feel like starting my next one yet so I just laid there thinking about how I needed to find a way to get in shape. Martial artists are in killer shape, not to mention I need to hone my ninja skills. So I decided that when I got home I needed to look up some sort of class that I could take and wondered if Megan would want to take one with me. My phone rings.

Tab: Hey Meg
Meg: Hey Tab! Have you ever heard of the martial arts something something? (I can't remember what she said ok!?)
Tab: Sure haven't.
Meg: Well I just signed up and I think you should do it with me I-
Tab: Megan get out of my head.

I then told her what I'd been thinking about, not five minutes before.

Meg: Are you serious?! Get out of my head!

She then proceeded to tell me about this class and how she'd talked to the instructor and how it's kind of a violent discipline and the instructor told her she was a natural. He was surprised. I wasn't, we Morin children are a bloodthirsty batch.

So anyways, that's my story. Megan and I are connected on a psychic level, which is terrifying. Who knows what we're capable of! Kicking butt? Of course. World domination? Undoubtedly. World beware! You've been warned.

I Run To You

The reasoning behind the title? It's the song I'm listening to right now. Love this song.

So I've been in New York for a week now and the main thing on my mind is that I have another four months before I can move home. Don't get me wrong! I've always wanted to travel and I still do. I even want to live outside of Utah at some point, but it's always been part of the plan to go back. So what? Utah is home to me. No matter how much I complain about how people in Utah are crazy and the weather never really knows what it's doing I love it. All of my family is there, along with my friends (except for the few who are on missions, along with Mexican, Hannah, and soon Maggers). My brother is leaving on his mission soon and I'm missing out on the opportunity to play with him before he leaves. My brother-in-law is getting deployed and I'm going to miss that farewell too. I'm missing out on so much that I was planning on doing this summer and for what? Money? That's hardly a good excuse, especially for me. When have I ever cared about money when I can be doing something crazy instead? Don't get me wrong, I get that you have to work sometimes. I do. But all the money in the world isn't worth some of the times I've had doing something crazy and free with my best friends.

That's another thing. I went from spending virtually every minute of every day with these people and now I'm basically by myself. Boo.

Ok, now that I'm done complaining I'll point out a few of the positive things about being here.

There's a dollar store like ten minutes walk away that has EVERYTHING! Seriously, I love this store. I got my pans, plates, O.J., dish soap, sponge, light bulbs, and a few other things from here. It's amazing.

Ben's beanies! There's this guy here, his name is Ben. He's a pretty big guy, into UFC, working out, playing halo and....knitting hats. And he's pretty freakin' hilarious. I told him to teach me how to make hats and we'll see if it happens.

My apartment is haunted. I know, I know that really shouldn't be counted in the positive column but it is. It's haunted because my fridge clicks randomly, my cupboards don't stay shut, and when you get out of the shower the mirror says "GET OUT". It's pretty awesome. I've named my ghost (along with some help from Ben) Bruce. He's an Asian midget who speaks with an English accent. Whenever I get home I say "Allo Bruce" in an Australian accent in homage to everyone's favorite shark.

Being here has made me realize how much I love my friends. For that fact alone this has been worth it. You appreciate those people so much more when you don't have anyone to share your random jokes with. I was able to bring a little bit of music here with me and pretty much all of it reminds me of something we've done, even if it's just a song that was played repeatedly at our dance parties. You know who you are! I love you guys, try not to make too many inside jokes without me.

Reluctant Rugger

This last weekend I went up to Portland, Oregon to tryout for the U23 Northwest Pacific Grizzlies rugby team. I went to a camp earlier this year with my team and a bunch of other teams all over utah from which the girls were selected to go to the tryouts. Myself and four other girls from USU made up five of the seven girls from utah to go. Utah State hey Aggies all the way!

We left Thursday night (I considered not going at all because I really just wasn't feeling rugby right then. After Shannon threatened to come and tie me up and just throw me in the van I agreed.) after the girl from Weber (Wytnee) and UVU (Lisa) got up to Logan and it took us ten hours to drive up there more or less. We got about twenty minutes out of Portland and had to stop and sleep at a truck stop because we were all too tired to drive.




When we finally got to Portland we checked into our hotel and fell asleep for a few more hours. When we all woke up we decided to drive into portland and do some sight seeing.



It took Richie a few tries to parallel park but she got it down! I was so proud of her! Once that was taken care of, we headed to Powell's City of Books. Once I had gotten over that fact that no, I hadn't died and gone to heaven, I had to make a true effort to not drool so much as to ruin any of the books. I ended up buying five. That was me being frugal too! Luckily, I talked Shannon into buying a few books that I wanted. Such as a book dedicated to listing weapons that can be used during a zombie apocolypse once all the ammo is gone. Yeah.

After the city of books we went and wandered around Portland (the people there are freaking crazy by the way). We found this amazing Presbyterian church and went and walked around inside. After that we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. The bakers there are geniuses! We ordered the Voodoo Dozen and after five minutes with us this is what the box looked like.



After Voodoo Doughnuts we went back to the hotel and read/watched tv.

On Saturday we had the tryouts and I woke up still not really feeling rugby at all, but got dressed and went. Once we got there and started moving around I got more excited and was really warming up to it! Well we started running this drill where the offense was running some plays with a little defense. The defense was not tackling, only wrapping. Well I was on defense and went to wrap the girl with the ball, but my momentum was a little too much for just a wrap, so I went flying and the girl's foot came up and caught me right below my eyebrow. Needless to say, I saw stars and so I knelt there on the ground for a second.

"Are you ok?" Someone asked.
"I'll be fine, just give me a second." I replied.

At that point, one of the coaches came over. I don't know which one because I had my eyes shut.

"Whoa...that's going to need stitches."

With a little help, I hobbled off the field was put into a truck and driven to the ER by Gerard. He took this picture for me when we got there.



Four and a half hours, three ice packs, four episodes of Spongebob, and a glob of superglue later I was no longer oozing blood from my eyebrow and was on my way back to the pitch.

The next day i couldn't even open my eye so I couldn't try out. I ended up just reading one of the books that I'd bought on Friday. I watched them scrimmage at the end of the day and then we left.

When we were driving home I told Shannon that I blamed her. She just laughed.



My favorite reactions to my eye:

Tony: You realize you aren't supposed to put your face where the ball is right?
Me: Ah! You see, I always get really confused by that.
Tony: Were they really concerned or did they just laugh at you?
Me: They were mostly concerned I think...
Tony:...I would've laughed.
Me: I know.


Seargant Roberts: Are you ok!?
Me: Yeah, I'm fine! It doesn't even hurt so...
SGT Roberts: I'll kill him.
Me: Ummm...it was a girl actually....
SGT Roberts: Well I'll kill her too.

There Were No Survivors

My face mask was making it a little hard to breathe, but as everyone knows, a ninja isn't anything without her mask. Common knowledge. I was plastered against the wall of the Elementary School, slowly sliding along it and convinced that somebody was going to see four people dressed all in black being suspicious and call the cops on us. It was almost midnight after all, a time of night when most respectable people are in bed. We weren't seen.

Scanning the park for any movement, we could see a couple of people on the swings but we couldn't tell if they're friend, foe, or ignorant civilian. As we creeped closer, my communication device went off. It was one of the pseudoninjas calling to see if we were prepared for battle yet. Fool! I'm always ready for battle! But I just told her that we weren't there yet and we would meet them at the park, giving them plenty of time to set up if they were smart enough to take advantage of it. They weren't. The couple was still on the playgroud, swinging away.

My team set up, Kylee disappears up into a tree, JB and Richie fade into the darkness and even I don't know where they went. I went and set up in the nearest attack point that I can get to without being seen. When I was ready I let the enemy know "We're here".

They came slowly, but not carefully. Only one of them was armed so I released my sword from my back sheath and zeroed in on Shannon. The one in front, the one with the weapon, the only one I was truly concerned about. I would've be concerned about Maggars, she does have fists of fury, but it takes her awhile to get angry enough to use them.

Shannon is about fifteen feet in front of her group now and she passes my hiding spot, all alone. Since she didn't see me I sat there for a moment, waiting until she was to the point where she couldn't see me when i ran at her. Her team saw me, but they were too startled to say anything. I think it was at this point that the ignorant couple left. Probably to call the cops and tell them there was some sort of ninja gang battle going on.

Once I engaged I started to lure Shannon back to the tree I knew Kylee was in, it took a while but I got her there. Only Kylee wasn't in the tree anymore, she was on the ground. Shannon saw her and Kylee had no choice but to tackle her and try to take the sword away. It was Kylee's sword after all. Shannon's team stood back and did nothing.

At that point, JB came rushing out of the darkness wielding her staff of destruction. A weapon forged with the blood of nations and the tears of the fallen. Her fury was too much and after a few minutes of beating Shannon's inutile teammates, the staff was shredded. JB continued on though, her fury impressive and their devastation sure.

Shannon put up quite the fight. It took both Kylee and me to get to sword from her. At one point even JB was helping. Good thing her team didn't come to save her because then I don't think we would've ever taken it back. Once we did, Shannon lay there. Broken.

Once Shannon was gone, there was no hope for Maggars, Mexican, Noelle and Chad. There was a fruitless attempt to fend us off with pinecones but it was of no avail.

There were no survivors.

Random Stupid

So this last week we've been even more random than usual. Sunday night we went and grabbed a bunch of braches that were set out on the side of the road, filled Rowbs' trunk with them actually, and went up the canyon to start a fire to roast marshmallows and starbursts. When we got up there, we discovered that the wood was too green to really catch. Luckily, there was a group of guys also up there with a fire and they let us take theirs and they left.

Yesterday, because it was such a nice day, JB, Rowbs, Richie, Ky and I ended up skipping some of our classes and just went and ate lunch in the park. We were outside pretty much all day, either just laying out, playing basketball, watching Rowbs play softball (Richie and I were quoting Brian Regan like the whole time we watched) among other things. We also decided last night that we wanted a fire pit in our backyard. So JB and Rowbs dug a lovely pit and lined it with rocks. We then went and got branches on the side of the road again (Hey! It was a few days later, we figured that it had to have dried out by now...) and it was still too green to burn. Good thing that Rowbs had a box full of wood that we had so we could burn that instead. We sat around our awesome fire, roasting peanut butter and marshmallows, starbursts and peeps, playing the guitar and talking.

We made the fire pit because we wanted to sleep outside. Originally, it was going to be Rowbs, Richie, JB, Shannon, Maggers, and I but it ended up just being Rowbs Richie and me. It was freezing. At like two in the morning I woke up shivering, again, and said to Rowbs:

Me: "Rowbs, it's freezing! We should go inside!"
Rowbs: "No! Just trade me spots, it's warmer in the middle. You go over I'll go under."

So I went into the middle of our three man sleeping bag and it was still pretty cold, although warmer than the edge.

We stayed out there all night. We stuck it out. And I got not near as much sleep as I would like. Rowbs said that if we'd admitted defeat and come inside it would've been lame. I say that coming in would've been the smart thing to do because then we would've been warm AND comfortable. But we stuck it out and I can now say that I've had my first campout of the year. I think I'm going to wait at least a month before I try another, but knowing me and my friends? We'll be out there again next week.

Direct Tap to Happiness

You know the song "Soul Sister" be Train? Well without fail, every time that song comes on I whip out my air guitar and I just get this feeling of elation. I know it sounds kind of ridiculous, but it's gotten to the point where I'm having a truly poopy day and I listen to the song or watch the music video I'll have a complete 180 and be happy.

I've found that music has that affect on me. Another great song is by Josh Radin "I'd rather be with you". The guitar in that song is fantastic! I'm working on learning it.

My point to all this is that music is a direct tap to happiness for me. I've been known to cry after hearing a truly beautiful song and I love it when Shannon, Mex and I have our jam sessions. When I lived in the Rugby House this last summer I could sometimes talk Shannon into serenading me to sleep. Best. Thing. Ever. If you can find someone willing to sing you to sleep I highly recommend it.

Homework? What Homework?

I'm not the most studious person ever. Actually I'm rarely studious at all. Ok! Ok! I'm the head of the "Let's Blow Off School/Schoolwork to Play" club. Lot's of people are in it, they just aren't as good at it as me.

I have a theory as to why I hate being in school. I don't have a plan! I'll elaborate later, I'm going to go rock climbing and then go jump into first dam. It's such a nice day!

Ok, anyways. I don't have a plan. Sometimes I love my major and get really excited when I start thinking about what I can do with my degree, other days I don't know what the crap I was thinking when I chose it. And the result is, I'm rarely driven to do well in class anymore. So this semester I changed my plan.

No, I didn't change my major. The new plan (tentative plan that is) is to go on a mission! I'll take fall semester off to help me save up and then hopefully leave on time in December. Man, just writing about it is making me so excited! But I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of a fickle person. Before finally deciding I wanted to go into Exercise Science I must have changed what I wanted to be when I grew up at least once a week. And then I just decided I would never grow up and be a young athletic trainer my whole life, which IS possible thanks to my mother's side of the family.

So yeah, that's the plan for now. Hopefully it works out, but whatever the Lord wants for me in the end I guess I'll accept. Maybe instead of a mission he'll want me to become a wandering minstrel in Ireland. Who knows? That would be kind of awesome.

Damnsels in Distress

I hate it when in movies the female lead is completely useless in a fight. Seriously, i just want to shake the writers while yelling, "Give the woman a little self respect!" I understand that in certain things, guys are just better. I understand that. I do. But why portray a female as a ninja at the beginning of a movie and then later in the movie when the real fighting starts all she can do is try and run away (she fails at that by the way) and make pathetic whimpering noises. And THEN when she gets grabbed she doesn't do a damn thing! She doesn't even attempt to tuck her chin at all when she's grabbed around the neck, which any self-respecting ninja would know. Duh.

I guess this bothers me so much because I'm afraid of being a victim. I don't want to have to rely on somebody else in order to protect myself from...anything.

I read an article today about how there are a lot of rapes happening in Haiti since the earthquake. Because these women lost their husbands, brothers, fathers in the earthquake. The tent cities that they're living in have pretty much no security and the men in charge of the food stamps will only trade them for sexual favors. I think it said that females as young as two years old were being molested. That's terrifying to me. I hate that these monsters are able to get away with demanding this from women, simply because they are incapable of protecting themselves and their families because their men died.

Ugh. I'm thoroughly depressed and pissed off now.

Unfortunate Knock On

One of the funnier things that happened this weekend was when we were playing our game in the rain and someone, I forget who, gets hit in the face with the ball, knocking it forward. Now, those of you who aren't familiar with the rules of rugby (AKA 90% of America although that number is getting smaller, I read somewhere that rugby is that fastest growing sport right now) let me explain to you a few basic ones.

Rule #1: You cannot pass the ball forward. You may kick the ball forward or you may pass backwards/laterally and run it forward. If the ball is hit forward with anything but your foot it is called a "forward pass" or a "knock on"

Rule #2: No crying in rugby. Unless you are concussed or a bone is protruding from your skin, otherwise you shall forever bear the label of "pussy".

Anyways, back to the hilarious moment. The teammate gets hit in the face and the ball goes forward. The ref blows his whistle and says, "Knock on!...off the face." He was laughing at my teammates misfortune while he said this and to tell the truth, I don't blame him at all. In fact, those of us on the sidelines were giggling a bit and I know for a fact some of the field were laughing as well.

I bring it up because karma came and got me today. Curses.

Rule #3: When catching a kick, turn your body sideways so that if you miss it, it still goes backwards. By doing this, you will avoid knocking the ball on and looking like a fool.

The backs were practicing kicking/catching today. It was balls cold and we had the subzero wind from the canyon gracing us with her frigid presence. Kylee was my partner and had just kicked the ball to me. Now sometimes my brain freezes up and makes it hard for me to decide which way to turn. For example, I was once playing tennis with my little sister and she hit the ball right at me. I swung the racket both ways and then just ended up swinging it up and down right in front of me because my feet refused to move to the backhand or the forehand. I had another moment like that today. My feet couldn't decide which way to turn, so I just continued backing up until the ball just smacked me right in the face. Knock on of the face.

Needless to say, Coach Tony thought this was hilarious, as did Kylee. Once I was able to get past the stinging from my frozen, abused face I was able to laugh as well. Let's face it, when is it NOT funny when someone gets nailed with a ball in the face?

Dirty Canadians

So we (the women's rugby team) went to San Diego this weekend for the annual Champagne Classic, a tournament that we go to every year. We won one of our four games, or lost three of four if you want to be negative about it. Two of our losses came from when we played the Canadian National under 18 team and we got our butts handed to us both times, although we did get a try the second game. Despite the fact that we didn't do as well as hoped, I had a great time! I have an awesome battle wound on my hip that's going to last a while and I got to play in the mud! I love mud games. After our last game we went and jumped in a river with all of our rugby stuff on. True, we looked like a bunch of hobos, but it was freakin' awesome. And even though it wasn't very sunny and rained for about half the time, it was just as fun as last year if not more fun. Sorry, I can't really think of anything that I can go into detail about.

Movies

You know how when you're really excited to see a movie? Like you've been waiting for it to come out for months and then you go and...it sucks. Hard core. For example, I was really excited to see "Wolfman" but I went and the graphics were terrible, I was laughing like the whole time (this wasn't supposed to be a comedy) and the Wolfman looked like the lovechild of a dude in a gorilla suit and an Ewok.

Well my week has kind of been like that. I'm going to San Diego with the rugby team, I went snowboarding today, and it's finally getting warmer. Sounds great right? Well you fail because you're wrong.

I'm missing my last snowboarding class of the year because I'll be in San Diego, which is sad because I only made it to like two classes and I learned a lot. I was super bummed when I found out I was going to miss it. So I went snowboarding today with Kylee and JB and the snow was really slushy and poopy because it's starting to get warm again. Stupid sun.

Before leaving to go snowboarding I found out that I have to take a test from one of my friday classes early cause I'll miss it. It's an easy test, but on Thursday I'll already have to spend all day in the computer lab frantically trying to finish an assignment for Cyber Security that's going to take a few hours to complete. So I have to stay up tonight, study for this stupid class for this stupid test then wake up early go to the stupid computer lab where I have to do this stupid assignment, go to my lab where my paintball gun probably won't even work because the Army isn't very organized so that will be stupid as well and will completely fail at relieving ANY stress and then I'll have to come back and take the stupid test for my stupid class. Stupid.

So I'm yelling at myself all day because of this and then I go into work and find out that I'm being transferred to another house because one of our clients is moving out. That wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't have to do all the asinine training again. (Yes, asinine. I was over-using the word stupid).

I know I'm being negative and complaining, but screw it. This is my blog and right now I'm having a poopy day.

Genetics

My family is crazy. If you know me, you know that I have an obsession with zombies and ninjas, and obsession that I share with the majority of my family members. Over Christmas break Megan, Zach, Tucker, Jess and I made up a plot to a zombie movie that we thought would be awesome. Zach and Naya have both taken karate lessons and Megan was a ninja for halloween. We've even started corrupting our nephew Gage. We have this little blowup zombie that you can hit and it pops back up at my house, and Gage will tell you that the only way to kill a zombie is to hit it in the head. I'm so proud.

My parents are crazy too. In an awesome way. If you get a song with a good beat, they will bust out their mad dance skills. My mom skis and my dad snowboards. Nothing makes me happier than getting a text from my dad saying, "Hey Tab! So I went boarding with Zach and Tucker today and I totally shredded down the hill! It was awesome." He really sends me texts like that :)

My point is, it's not my fault that I'm weird/crazy. It runs in the family. I was talking to my grandpa yesterday and he even said himself that our entire family is short a few bolts in the brain and that the grandkids never stood a chance. This common oddity that we have makes us really close. It wasn't always like this. I have scars from where my brother lit me on fire, but now that we're all more mature (AKA since almost all of us no longer live at home) we get along a lot better and so we're planning this road trip for Naya's 16th birthday to San Diego. And you know what? I've never been so excited for a road trip! It's just going to be us siblings, so that guarantees that some crazy things are going to happen, so if there are some mysterious happenings in San Diego April 6-ish you know who to blame. Then again, we're all ninjas so nobody with notice our mischief....

Chick Flicks

Do you ever just get in the mood to watch a chick flick? It's been a while since I've watched one and so when JB said on Thursday that she was in the mood to watch one I was all for it. But it started me on this stint where I'm just in the mood to watch them. So tonight when I got home I popped in "Head Over Heels" and enjoyed the cheesy, fairly predictable, surprisingly hilarious movie. Then immediately watched "The Perfect Man" afterwards.

I think I figured out why I like watching chick flicks so much. I enjoy being able to say, "Oh how touching. I'm going to go vomit." And let's face it, I like cheesy movies. I find them highly entertaining. For example, when asked what I thought about the G.I. Joe movie my reply was, "It was cheesy and predictable. I loved it." It's fun to go to movies and then make fun of them!

Quote of the day: "Be an adult Kylee and eat your fruitsnacks!" -Me

Airsoft

The hallway is dark, my battle buddy is in front of me, ready to clear the room. Our fourth man has just cleared the door for any explosives and kicks it in. Our tightly packed line bursts into the room, yelling and letting loose short, controlled bursts from our rifles.

"Status!"
"One up!"
"Two up!"
"Three up!"
"Four up!"
"Room clear! Bravo team advance!"

Bravo rushes into the room, prepared to do the exact same thing to the next closed door. All of a sudden I hear a pop and my neck stings like hell and I'm down.

"Man down!" Chaos ensues while the squad tries to identify the source of fire.

Sounds pretty exciting right? Sadly, I didn't get shot in the neck today with an airsoft gun while doing the lab for my ROTC class. My stupid gun didn't even work! Although it was pretty funny to see some of the awesome welts some of the guys had at the end. I was really excited for this lab because I thought it would make an epic story. I guess I'll just have to start making up epic stories and use this blog as a creative outlet instead.....Have you ever heard of the Ninja Zombie Tabitha? Her story is an epic one. I like this idea.

Back to the lab. It actually was pretty fun. Mostly cause we actually had guns that could shoot instead of just pointing at someone and saying, "Bang! Bang!" Yes. We really do that. Don't judge.

On a completely random note, tonight was freakin' hilarious. We started off by getting home from practice and deciding that instead of popping in Flight of the Conchords, like we'd previously planned, we were going to rent a cheesy chick flick. I'd heard of this movie called accidental husband that I thought looked pretty cute. I mostly wanted to see it because it has Colin Firth in it and that guy from P.S. I Love You. No, not Gerard Butler! The other attractive Irish man.

So we watched this incredibly cheesy movie, complete with commentary and uproarious laughter (is uproarious even a word? If not, I'm making it one) it ended. Now, I sometimes say things without thinking about them so when I say, "Guys, I want to marry a boy." What I mean is, "I love the attractive fireman who acts like a little boy sometimes but manages to be cute and romantic" But the reaction I get is laughs all around and thanks for the assurance that I am, in fact, attracted to men.

But my roommate managed to top me off tonight in hilarious things. She comes out of the bathroom and says. "Guys" in a kind of embarassed small-girl voice. You know what I'm talking about? Well turns out she'd dropped her phone in the toilet and then flushed the back part down. She definately wins I think.

Night Owl

I am not a morning person. At all. I actually get really mad when I have to be awake before nine and people are happy, I seriously just want to punch them for being so happy so early. On the opposite side of the scale, I'm perfectly ok with staying up all night. This wouldn't be a problem if I actually used my time wisely but that's not how I roll. Last month I stayed up until five thirty in the morning reading mormonbachelorpad.blogspot.com, the next night I stayed up formulating a plan on how to figure out their true identities. I don't know yet what I would do with that information. Anyways! I bring it up because I think that my sleeping patterns (AKA lack of sleep) has started to effect my brain. I've seriously started losing my mind. And any motivation toward school I may have had. Is this normal? I hate going to class and I wait until the last second to do homework, if I even do it. I'm thinking that maybe it's time for me to take a break from school and I've actually seriously been considering a mission. Or joining the army. But I would only join the army if I wanted to stay in school so that I could take advantage of the fact that they would pay for it :)

Running

Can I just say that I absolutely LOATHE running simply for the sake of running? Well I do. It's different when you're playing a sport, such as soccer or rugby, because there's actually something you're running for. In soccer you get to kick something, in rugby you get to hit someone, definately worth the run.

I bring it up because this morning I had my first PT test. Pushups, situps, and a two-mile run. Gross? Absolutely. Don't get me wrong! I did it, and did well. But running is just crappy, especially any earlier than ten in the morning. Bleh.

Ok, now that I'm done complaining about running I'm going to do a quick highlights of my weekend.

Friday: skipped out on nutrition so I could go snowboarding with my sister, who is quickly making progress considering this was like her fourth time going. When we went to our seperate boarding classes I hit a rail boardside for the first time ever. I biffed it on the snow, but I didn't eat it on the rail so thank you! Then I also grinded off a tree that was sticking out of the ground. Yes, it did it on purpose! And no, I didn't wipe out. Yes, I'm a ninja. I ended up having to drive home though cause my sister broke her wrist during her class :(

Saturday: Rugby day! Our first game of the season and we got to play on our pitch that is an ice field right now. It actually wasn't that bad once we started, but I think all of our knees are bruised. I got in a few good tackles, but Tony has moved me to a back so I was mostly running around like a chicken with it's head cut off because I kept on wanting to get into the rucks. I scored two tries though! Woot woot! That night I went on a date (yes family, a date. Sometimes I go on them) and we went to a hypnotist and I volunteered to go up. It was tons of fun and my date ended up buying the DVD so he could show me what a fool I was. Something to look forward to ha ha

Sunday: Not much. Slept through church and finished the Matrix Marathon that we started on our way to Vegas.

FYI: 28 pushups, 57 situps, and a 17:14 two-mile on my PT test

Cracked

It's finally happened. I started a Blog. Megan says I should because my life is so epic and then went on to say how hilarious and ridiculously good-looking I am. Ok that last part was a lie. She actually wants me to pay attention to the rules she's saying about campaigning. I obviously am not very good at paying attention for very long. Anyways! (Vote for Megan! By saying that, I'm breaking the rules. I don't think I'm allowed to say that for a few days...) So a little about me. My name is Tab, my family is crazy and I love them to death. Currently, my life revolves around work, school, and rugby. Also, I'm obsessed with zombies and ninjas. I know it's weird, don't judge me. I am actually kind of a tomboy and love things like Batman, Transformers, etc. I actually have a Transformers backpack that is my pride and joy. That's all for now, because I really should pay attention to this.