"Oh Be Wise, What Can I Say More"

The day has come, my wisdom teeth are no longer apart of me... and you know what? It's been a blast!

November 1st at 10:00am, I went in for surgery and came out feeling like a million bucks!

Right after surgery

They put me under and my doctor told me that as soon as I started coming to, I broke into a medley of "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today", "More Holiness Give Me", "Lead Kindly Light" and "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today".  I was then taken into a room where my dear roommate Kati was waiting for me. She got all sorts of good stuff videotaped in that waiting room. They're pretty funny, not going to lie.

Over all, I was well-tempered, happy, pretty gosh darn loopy, but feeling good! I also desperately wanted to go to work and have apartment prayer..?

I went home and went straight to bed where I took a nice two hour nap and woke up to Hannah and Claire by my bedside, with applesauce, pudding, creamies, cottage cheese and more. Right after that nap was the worst because I hadn't taken my meds beforehand and I was in pain! I was also still really groggy and starving. However, Hannah and Claire were seriously angels and got some food in my stomach, ice on my face, and medicine in my system. I seriously would have just laid in bed for the rest of the had had they not come.

Next came more visitors! My awesome neighbors from 214 and Eric came over to wish me well and bring me a delicious Jamba Juice!

Nap time... again. (P.S. I have awesome dreams when I'm on drugs)

I woke up again to Claire who had made me green mac and cheese (sentimental :) and then more visitors (Kylie, Kelsey, Eric, Dallin, Sierra).

So great! By then I was up and feeling good and wanted nothing more than to go to my brother's softball game in the freezing cold. So I did! I went, cheered my guts out, froze my tush off and had a good time! Mind you, this was literally just hours after surgery, but I had so much energy and was feeling so good.


I did bow-out of the after party at Clark, but that was only because I had a lot of homework to do. So I came home and was greeted to more visitors and stayed up til about 2 doing homework and eating the most fabulous butternut squash soup that Kim had made for me.

Not bad for day one of surgery huh?!

Day 2
I woke up the next day, got ready and headed on campus where I spent 6 hours in the library and in classes. I got so, so much done, but it was not my smartest idea. I didn't eat anything all day and didn't take any breaks. I came home so stinking tired, hungry, in pain and close to tears. I'll admit that there were a few times I almost lost it and just wanted my mom to come take care of me. But I've held myself together pretty ok :)

Lucky for me, my friends know that visitors and social interaction are the most effective medicine for me. I just want to know I'm loved! So I had some surprise visits from Danielle and Angel from work, all three of my siblings and more, all bringing gifts of soup, hummus, pudding, applesauce and other edibles  that I was in dire need of!


And now I'm sitting here thinking, holy cow, getting my teeth out was no big deal and kind of fun! Minus the pain, emotional breakdown and loopiness.

Oh, I almost forgot about the swelling! Day one wasn't bad at all, but those cheeks sure blew up on day two!

Love, Noelle

Plate-Licker

You guys, I am the most unclassy person I know! Oh my goodness this is so bad....

So I'm at the most adorable wedding reception. It looked like it came straight out of Pinterest. Seriously so cute.  I was also reunited with Claire Ruth Salmons during this classy reception so it was a double bonus!!

So anyways, I'm sitting there eating the most delicious peach cobbler when a dapper young man of oh... 15 years or so, tells me that he's scouted out all the single groomsmen for me and that he'd be more than happy to put in a good word for me! So he points them out to me and tells me that he's going to make it happen.

Not thinking too much of it, I laugh, he leaves and I continue eating this truly delightful cobbler.

Ten minutes or so later, I'm sitting down with Abigail just having a nice chat. It was almost as if I had completely forgotten that I was at a classy wedding and I felt as if I was chillin' in Peru with Abigail again. I was also wishing so badly that I had more cobbler left on my plate, but trying to be strong and not go get another helping of it. So I had made sure that I had eaten every single crum and without even thinking about it, I brought my plate up to my face and gave it one good lick!

Oh my gosh Noelle. Are we back in preschool?!!?!

The next few seconds happened so fast.

All of a sudden I became extremely aware that I had just subconsciously licked my plate and I hurried to set it down, but not before looking up and seeing that right infront of me was standing every single eligible bachelor present at that wedding. That 15-year-old, true to his word, had convinced them to come talk to me... and this is how they found me...

Needless to say the made a quick left turn right out of there without so much as a hello to the clearly uncontrollable, single, starving student in the blue.

And they were never heard from again.

Oh boy, anyone willing to give me a few lessons in etiquette? Or maybe just, How Not to Repulse Boys 101?

Love, Noelle

First the Worst, Second the Best

I had a lot going for me last Fall semester. Because of that ... I was confident. I think that that confidence is one of the main factors that played into my dating life that semester. It was ridiculous. There was one month where I averaged 3 dates a week for the entire month. It was a really busy semester, but the dates were not in short supply.

 I was loving it and annoyed with it at the same time. I was getting ready to leave for Peru, and due to my internship which started right when I returned back to the states, I knew I wouldn't be back at school for a long, long time. So serious dating wasn't really in my game plan. With that stress off my back, I was able to have fun dating.  Now that I'm totally telling all in my blog (ok not ALLLL), I decided I can put in some of those first date stories. So we'll start with one Saturday in November.

This is a Saturday I will never forget because it started with THE WORST date of my life, and ended with one of the funnest first dates of my entire dating career (yup, two dates in one day... I told you it was getting out of control).

So I won't go into detail with that first date, I couldn't talk about it for a long time without cringing .... eeeeek. But I'll leave you with a little picture so that those of you who do remember can have a good laugh.

Anyways... later that night, I went on a date with a boy named Dan. Here's how I met said Dan.

I am a devotional usher. This means that I get to stand in the aisle ways an hour before devotional begins and reverently welcome  students and staff alike to devotional. That's literally all I do and I absolutely love it. Well one Tuesday afternoon, I was in my post, welcoming people into devotional when a group of three young men came my way. The first was a boy named Matt whom I had recently met at one of my brother's Classy  parties. I said hi to Matt and he introduced me to his two friends, Dan and Daniel.  About eight minutes after my encounter with Matt and his two Dan's, I hear a "Noelle?" and I turn to find that one of those Dan's had come back to find me.

"Hey Dan, what can I do for ya?"

He then proceeded to ask me on a date for that following Saturday.  (See I told you devotional ushering pays off!)

Anyways so off on a date we went and it was so fun!

  

First off, beforehand, Dan told me that I needed to wear an ugly sweater and long socks (it was winter time, so this was not an unusual request… ok it's kind of unusual). Since I didn't really know this boy, and I didn't know what to expect  in a date with him, this request was comforting. It showed me that he wasn't "too cool" to be silly and that he was fun and outgoing, so I played right along.

So he picks me up and we mash into a car with two other couples. (I loooove group dates!) and we meet up with another couple at the Benson building on campus.  For the date, they had PVC pipes that were maybe 3 feet long. They also had nerf gun bullets (some of which had velcro on the ends). They told us that we were going to use them like blow dart guns and shoot at each other.

We split up into teams, and loaded up with bullets and ran throughout the halls looking for a place to hide. This was war! Dan and I hid in a little foyer that had a section of large plants. We waited for our unsuspecting prey to come into sight. As soon as they did, we were ready with our PVC pipe and bullets. Crouched in the bushes, we'd load up our pvc pipes with the nerf bullets and use them like blow darts as our prey would approach. It was like we were in the jungle.

Once our location was compromised, we'd up and run through the hallways, risking our lives and our liberty as open fire broke out all around us. 

Oh my goodness, it was so much fun. I didn't know any of the people that I was there with, but we had SO much fun. We got caught by a security guard (of course) but he was super chill and didn't kick us out! He just laughed at us and let us keep playing.

We then went to the MC and played around some more. Seriously it was so much fun. Because of that first date, Dan was one of the few men that semester that I actually agreed to go on a second date with.

Guess what guys, it was a totally free date too! No dinner was needed, we didn't need to go get ice cream after wards. It was just straight up, reusable, clever fun. 

Now that I think about it, I'm going to have to make my own pvc blow dart guns... those paired up with all those sets of rollerblades I have... oh yes.

Love, Noelle

Awkward+Awesome: The Strip

Hank (from Weiser) has been staying with us the past couple of days and has never been to Vegas. So we set aside Tuesday night for a night out on the town.

The Las Vegas Strip has to be the epitome of Awkward and Awesome. See for yourself.

Awesome: The Bellagio fountain Christmas show

 
Awkward: Drunk Disney characters lying on the sidewalks

 Awesome quickly turned awkward as he yelled at me for being cheap :(

Awesome: The guy on duty at the Jewelery store.
Us: "Sorry sir, we really have no business bieng here." The worker, "Don't worry about it, I don't really have any business being here either!"

Awesome: The man at the Bellagio who so kindly directed us back to our car, "Ladies, you should take charge."

Awesome: Australian Peter Lik's photography gallery. Gorgeous. See for yourself here.

Awesome: Gallery worker trying to get Hank's attention, "Hey Mr. Idaho, you're missing out over here."

Awesome: Australian boy with adorable Australian accent in the Peter Lik Gallery.

Awkward: Free...awkward stuff... and little kids picking it up... yuck

Awesome: The ballrooms in the Bellagio and Caesars palace.













  



 Awkward: Men in Kilts Awesome: Jellyfish ceilings

            Awkward: Two Elvis's??

  Awesome: All the gorgeous Christmas trees

 Awesome: Taking an elevator to the 29th floor
Awkward: Realizing that we only have access to the 27th floor

 Awkward: This picture Awesome: Aquarium with giant stingrays and cool fish.

 Awesome: How incredibly huge Caesar's palace is.
Awkward: Trying to leave Caesar's palace. It was so big, it was practically impossible to get out of there.

Awesome: How clean and classy the first part of the strip was. Trae Chik!
Awkward: How trashy and dirty the other part of the strip was. Bleck!

Awesome: Winter in Venice...
Awkward: Winter in Venice
 

Awkward: Arriving at the buffet at 8:40. "We close at nine and we'll kick you out at 9:20"
Awesome: Making it a race to see who could eat the most, the fastest, in a forty minute time period.
Awesome: Our waitress
Awkward: Our waitress thinking that I was speaking Italian
Awesome: Blake, rather forcefully: "You know what's good??? This potato thing is good, BUT I DON"T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

I wish I had a picture of my all-time favorite awesome part of the night. It's when you're driving into the Vegas Valley and you come up over the hill. I LOVE the moment right when you can see all the Vegas lights. You can instantly pick out the strip, but I love the glittering streetlights in the residential area. It's so beautiful!

What do you think about the strip: Awkward or Awesome?

Love, Noelle

Awkward and Awesome: Asking the Dad

I was walking through the i-center on Tuesday about an hour after devo when I saw/heard the following. 

Picture this: 

There was a gruff looking older man sitting next to a timid looking young man. I caught onto the conversation at this point:

Awkward
Young Man: "No, I'm not trying to steal your daughter away from your family." (frantic expression, short, anxious breaths) "What I really want is to become a part of your family."

At this point, I was captivated. I had to find out what the older gentleman was going to say!

Super Awkward
The old man took a deep breath and then paused for what felt like an eternity... no expression on his face.

Awesome
He then leaned over, patted the boys leg and said, "We want you to be apart of our family too."

I had no idea who this boy was, but it took every ounce of my will-power to refrain from cheering and jumping for joy. I was just so happy that he said yes!

After recounting this story to my roommates and various others who joined in my excitement for the young man, we had some meaningful conversation about the idea of asking permission from the dad.

Perhaps if my father had been consulted beforehand, this proposal would have never taken place :)

Some said it was old fashioned and that the dad didn't really have a say in who their daughter married, others found it romantic and adorable. Some said that they felt bad for whoever they married cause their dad would be tough to please. What are your thoughts?

Old fashioned? Adorable?
Awkward? Awesome?

Stories are more than welcome :)

Love, Noelle

AwesomeAndAwkward: Work Edition

Heads up: I work at the Lost and Found Desk on campus

The following occur at my place of employment

awkward: the sweetheart of a boy who scours the campus for odds and ends to bring into the lost and found. usually they're bobbypins (which we throw away..shhh)
 
awesome: working every friday night, but not even being bummed about it because i get to work with Timber and Lyndi.

awkward: arriving to work after a grueling aerobics class... ehhhh

awesome: being able to blog and blogstalk while at work

awkward: the boy who comes in asking if we've found his swimsuit... a gold speedo

awesome: working with the greatest people ever

awkward: the poor boy who doesn't believe that we don't have his "black luminous sunglasses with two stripes down each side and lenses that are so reflective that they could serve dual purpose as mirrors." we've looked sir. you've looked. we don't have them. keep checking :)

awesome: the sheer joy etched on the faces of those who have been reunited with objects of utmost value to them.
 
awkward: the girl who comes by during every passing period to check if we've refilled our candy dish yet. can't say that I blame her :)

        Brief Photo Poll Intermission 

awkward or awesome? you be the judge.

 awesome: having one job that allows me to switch between three different desks/offices
 
awkward: a lost and found employee losing more stuff than the average BYU-I student.... whoops :)

awesome: the lost and found sale. seriously next friday 12-2. be there.
 
awkward: sitting at work and having a stranger (boy) serenade me with his guitar. as soon as he left, my boss simply says, "Precious" then walks away laughing

awesome: when friends stop by and chat 
 
awkward: having to figure out what to say when the following conversation transpires, (it happens at least once a week) :
me: how can i help you? boy (of which I've never before met):  i've lost something and was hoping you could help me find it. me: sure, what did you lose? boy: you're phone number      
i've yet to figure out a clever response to this, any suggestions would be most appreciated.

In any case, I looove my job. the awkward parts, the awesome parts. I love it all.
Good Night!


Love, Noelle

P.S. Hitch on a Thursday Night... awesome