Three months.

Over the last few days I have been just overcome with excitement because of this fact: I am going to be in France for the entire month of May on a study abroad.

And I've recently realized that is only three months away. Ahhhh. So close, but yet so far!

Not only that, but while I'm there I am going to a play, a ballet in the same building that Phantom of the Opera happened/was inspired in, and a Coeur de Pirate concert! First of all, a French play is awesome. Second, Phantom of the Opera is up there when it comes to my favorite movies, and a French ballet has got to be way sweet. Third, Coeur de Pirate is probably my favorite ever and this is like a dream coming true. Please go listen to some of her music.

Basically, I've been spending all my time daydreaming about France and the last time I was in Paris.

I was only there for like three days, rushing around to different tourist attractions. I can't wait to go back and experience everything and take pictures and speak French and eat crepes and buy clothes and make friends. I'll be in Paris for three weeks and Nice for one week. I honestly can't even believe I'm doing it.

Other things I can't wait for:

• Spring break. Even though I have no idea what I'm going to do.
• Spring, in general.
• Festival of Colors.
• Soccer intramurals. Even though we will probably lose.
• Summer.
• Next semester and living with my best friends Marissa, Dylan, and Katey.
• Life!

I used to be a party animal and stay up until like three every night, and now it's only 12:30 and my eyes are begging for sleep. I'm trying to be a good friend though, and stay up until Tyler finds the prank I just played on him so I can help him clean it up. He did help me with the newspaper, after all. But I'm going to fall asleep soon and then he is going to be SOL! Curse him and his classless Tuesdays/Thursdays that give him an excuse to stay up late.

Oh, this is what I did:

That would be two giant boxes of Cheerios emptied between the mattress and the fitted sheet on his bed. I know the picture doesn't look like a lot, but trust me, there are mountains of healthy cereal in there. That should make for a good night's sleep tonight! And a hearty breakfast tomorrow!

Now I have to wait until tomorrow to actually publish this post since I just revealed all my secrets. So, as you're reading it, just remember I wrote it at night and it will all make sense.

Tyler still hasn't found it though, and judging from the fact that he is playing Call of Duty and not picking up on my subliminal (or actually, somewhat blatant) Facebook chat messages that he should get in bed, it's not going to happen anytime soon. So I guess he's on his own with this one, because I am hitting the hay!

Goodnight blogworld.

Best of days.

Okay. I always thought having my birthday and Valentine's Day so close together was a curse. But it turns out it just makes for a really great week!

You already heard about Sunday and Monday with me getting pranked and my mail and whatnot, so fast forward to Tuesday - Valentine's Day.

Tyler took me on a way sweet date! We doubled with Daniel and Sarah and began our evening with Texas Roadhouse and eating way too much food, as always. At least Tyler ate more than me this time and it didn't even include a salad! Then we went mini-golfing at Fiesta Fun, and I'm pretty sure their course is rigged because I didn't get a single hole-in-one. We made a bet, so whichever couple lost had to jump in the freezing cold pool at Daniel's uncle's house. Of course Tyler and I won, but then all four of us ended up jumping in the pool anyway. So that was pointless. We also went in the hot tub for a while before getting shakes at Iceberg and then watching Star Trek. As far as Valentine's Days go, it was the best one I've ever experienced!

Wednesday and Thursday I didn't do much, other than watch Footloose on Thursday night at the school. Marissa whispering "Take your shirt off" to the main character was probably the best part.

Friday was also a fantastic day. My awesome friends threw me a little party down in St. George at Dylan's grandma's house. We ate dinner and went to Dixie Rock with the cake, where I had a lot of random people telling me happy birthday and singing. Then we went swimming and played "PEAS" and went hot tubbing and made s'mores and roasted starbursts. We finished it all off with a quite hilarious game of Truth or Dare, my favorite.

Saturday we just slept and relaxed all day, until going to Panda for dinner. Dylan and I went to a littlebigheart concert that night, where of course Lance had to sing me happy birthday in front of everyone. Loved that! We came back and made some hot chocolate and watched Lost to end one of the best weeks I've had in a long time.

Basically, the moral of the story is, I have the greatest friends ever. Thank you guys so much for everything, I don't know where I would be without you! I love you!

Sardines.

Things that have made me oh so happy as of late:

• GHA Reunion. Friday night Mike and I headed out to Jared's house in Enoch to reunite with our old friends from the summer of 2010. Not that we don't already see most of them most of the time because we all go to school here, but it was way fun to sit down and have a conversation! It's a luxury that is not often available in the busy student life. Also, a game of Apples to Apples was in order. Even though I had zero good cards and had to play "baked beans" for "refreshing".

• A short trip home for the weekend. I made my way up to Sandy on Saturday morning and as soon as I arrived, I went out on an extravagant birthday shopping trip with my mom, which included lunch with my grandma and stops everywhere from H&M to Barnes & Noble. Then my family treated me to a dinner at my favorite restaurant, Asian Star. I can never get sick of that place! I just relaxed on Sunday until I made the treacherous drive home last night. But, I'm alive, so I can't complain.

• Pranks. I love when I risk my life on I-15 and then walk in my door, exhausted, to find this:

All I have to say about that is - It's on, Tyler (and Marissa).

• Mail. Today was the greatest day ever when it came to receiving mail. I got an email during English telling me that I had a package, and I had no idea what it could be! Upon picking it up, it was from Cort! And upon opening it, I found it contained Easy Mac, vienna sausages, spam, sardines, and a Virginia Tech snuggie complete with Cort's face glued onto the box. I don't think I could have ever gotten a better present. Or one that would describe Cortland so well.

• Mail continued. I didn't think it could get any better, but I checked my actual mailbox before going to institute, and lo and behold I had a valentine from my dog! He is so thoughtful.

It's been a great start to this week if I do say so myself. And my birthday is on Saturday! Even better.

Get creative.

Sunday is blogging day, judging from my homepage on Blogger and my Facebook news feed. So I figured I should join in the rush! Plus the Superbowl is on right now and it bores me. I'm just here to cheer for the Giants so I can get some free sushi!

This week has been all a blur. I don't even remember the first half of it at all. I probably just spent some time at the gym and on homework. Oh, and watching the same episode of AFV like 50 times. It definitely did not get funnier. Just saying.

Friday, Dylan and I went down to St. George to party it up at her grandma's house. We visited a hidden gem of a restaurant known as Benja, where we devoured some delicious sushi and received excellent customer service. I would recommend it for sure. I should get paid for all the advertising I do on here.

We then went back to the house and planned out our video that we wanted to make. This included making a long list, changing into costume, and risking our lives for a couple of baseball caps. Was it worth it? See for yourself:

Hot tubbing for an hour finished off our night quite nicely, before crawling into bed in the "Gypsy Suite" and sleeping like a log. The next morning, we made a quick run to Dixie Rock so I could take some pictures for my photography assignment, and the bookstore so I could buy my new favorite thing: A Wreck This Journal. 

Basically this is a journal that gives you instructions about how to destroy it. The instructions are, of course, open to interpretation, and the main idea is to expand your creativity and think outside the box. Lately I have been feeling like I need more creative outlets (thus the tree on my wall, constant guitar playing, and my obsessive redecorating of my room) so this should be perfect. I can't wait to start on it!

Last night I was privileged enough to go on a date with Tyler and we doubled with Mike and Dylan. It was super fun! We went to Pizza Factory for dinner, where I should have started an eating contest because I out-ate everyone without even trying. I think it's more embarrassing for Mike and Tyler than it is for me...

A game of Cranium proved that Tyler definitely made the right choice in asking me on this date, since we succeeded in guessing everything the other did, including making a trombone and a kilt out of clay, drawing a high five and a scooter with eyes closed, defining "schmutz" (thanks dad), and acting out bra shopping. All of these things combined produced a win for team Shannon and Tyler!

Krave was next, followed by a screening of In Time. Now I just want a tattoo of 13 zeros on my left arm so I can literally be the walking dead! 

In other news, I am thinking about starting a style blog. Not of my own fashions, necessarily, but it's up in the air. Thoughts? Collaboration requests? I'm open to ideas. Also, I added a page for my bucket list on here. It's mostly just for me, but if you're interested, the link is on the side right under my bio!

It's now halftime and my chances of getting sushi could go either way. Only time will tell I suppose! Come on Giants!