Fun with Fish

One more post in January! Who knows? If I'm feeling a little nutty, I might even post tomorrow, too.

Truth be told, I'm halfway through my Double-breaded Lemon Flounder recipe and then discovered that we're out of eggs, so I'm chilling with my fish while Roommate runs to the store to get more. So I'm blogging instead of just wasting time mindlessly on the internet while she's gone.

It's okay. You can be proud of me.

Also, I made a smoothie this morning. It was delicious.

I'm not turning into a health nut. Or even a domestic goddess who posts perfect recipes on her blog all the time. I'm a big fan of eating food that tastes delicious, and I do love to cook (it's just the dishes afterward and the delayed gratification of having to cook while my stomach is clamoring for food that gets in the way of culinary bliss for both me and Roommate). But if I ever start cooking and sharing with everybody (unlikely), I'll be doing it on a separate blog.

But honestly? My mother is a fantastic cook, and lots of people knew about her skill back before blogs were a thing. I like sharing my cooking with people who can sit at my table and taste it. Also, apparently I have expensive, complicated tastes in food. When I look up recipes, I always manage to pick the ones that have a million ingredients and take forever to prepare.

Pfft. Forget that.

I want easy food. I'm planning on cooking for a husband and kids someday, and I've gotten old enough to watch my mother burn out on cooking perfect meals every night (Baby Brothers get more pizza than I ever did, the lucky ducks), so I like the idea of easy, quick, low-stress cooking.

Do you guys mind me rambling mindlessly about food? I always feel like I have to write perfect, wonderously interesting blog posts. Instead, y'all usually get slightly rambling, meandering posts. In fact, this one literally has no point. Well, except that I'm passing time until Roommate gets back so that I can finish cooking.

Welcome to a peek into my normal day. I don't usually give a lot of glimpses of that. :)

Guess What I've Been Doing?

Hello, friends!

So I haven't waited two months before blogging again. Go me.

I've managed to keep myself at least moderately busy, so the cabin fever isn't raging. (It helps that job-hunting requires a lot of work.)

What have I been up to? I figured I'd give you a brief summary, but I'm going to make this just a little interesting, because I'm not going to spell each thing out, which means you might have to guess a little. Plus, blow-by-blow accounts on goings on usually bores me when I write about them, so this gives me greater amusement.

1. Over the course of two days, I outsmarted a killer robot bent on revenge for me destroying her over Christmas break. With a gun that doesn't shoot ordnance. Which prompted Roommate to do this:

2. I dodged a dead end, though rationally (and financially), I probably should have gone down it. I don't regret it, though.

3. I sat on the edge of my seat through space battles and the destruction of an alien race while eating Red Vines to help me maintain composure.

4. I kidnapped my brother's vehicle so that I could dress up all fancy and talk to people about how awesome I am. (Bonus: they thought so, too, but please refer to item # 2.)

5. I rode the train to Bountiful, but had to be chased by my little brother in his car so that I could get into my apartment when I got there.

6. I dug through my family history and have produced very important cards that will be printed out pink, blue, and yellow, which I plan to take care of as soon as possible.

7. I can no longer technically put 0 for the same thing as I did last year.

8. Roommate and I have created a few new things that our children will probably consider tasty traditions someday.

9. I have been considering the possible ramifications of a slightly inept fairy godmother showing up in my room to grant me three wishes and have concluded that I probably wouldn't actually wish for anything. I learn through other people's mistakes. :)

10. Lastly, I saw this:

And this:

And this:

I've had an enjoyable couple of weeks. :)

(Stories on relevant items to follow later.)

Christmas Trees and Blonde Moments

Hi guys! I'm back again! Remember all that free time I said I had? Yep. Still have it. Cleaning my apartment and sending out resumes only takes up so much time when Roommate is gone. Also, I'm sort of  procrastinating taking my Christmas tree down.

Yes, it's the 9th of January. Judge me.

It's just so pretty. Did I ever show you a picture? No? Well here you go:

'Spretty, no?

Roommate picked out the colors this year, and I'm a big fan of them. Which is why I'm procrastinating taking it down. One month is not long enough to savor a lovely Christmas tree. But don't worry, I will take it down. This week. I think. Maybe.

In other news, the job hunt is going well. At least, my resumes are procuring interviews, so that's awesome. I'm just making sure I'm staying occupied during my downtime. It is nice to have the freedom to get a lot of things done without having to schedule them in minute-by-minute into an already-full day.

Oh my gosh this post is boring.

Let's see... how to spice things up...

Shall I tell you my recent blonde moment? Yes, I think I shall.

So once upon a time, my father bought a Blu-Ray player. Ever since then, he has been praising its superiority up and down. I'm a bit of a movie purist myself, so I can see his point. I finally put "blu-ray player" on my own Christmas wishlist (and Dad, being beyond awesome, actually got one for me, even though it was the priciest thing on my list—Dad, you're the best). I'd gotten smart and started buying blu-ray/DVD combos of new movies since the price difference was like, fifty cents.

Then I got a blu-ray player for Christmas. And had a panic attack.

WHAT ABOUT MY REGION 2 DVDS??? (Because I'm impatient and couldn't wait for BBC to release Merlin seasons 4 and 5 in the States) I SPECIFICALLY HAVE A REGION-FREE DVD PLAYER FOR THEM! OH NOES! I'm going to have to replace them with American DVDs or Blu-rays. THAT'S GOING TO COST SO MUCH!

Seriously.

It was stressing me out so bad. Yes, I'm aware that it's hilarious that I reached a stress breaking-point over movies. The things that rile us up, honestly.

Anyway, the brick dropped on my head right about then.

Duh, Lynnae. You can have more than one device plugged in. It's not like you have to throw away the other one just because you got a shiny new blu-ray player. You're a moron.

So the silly girl plugged both devices in, and now she can watch her region 2 DVDs, her blu-rays, and her boring normal DVDs whenever she wants. Ta-da!

That's my story.

And hopefully that's the diztiest thing I'll do this month.

No promises though.

2013, The Lynnae Perspective

So... I haven't written in two months. Most of you might have given up on me. But I have some free time on my hands (more deets later), so you might actually get more updates now.

Alright! Now that my almost-every-post apology is out of the way, on to the fun stuff! I sucked at it last year, but I have this thing where I try to give a brief, by-the-numbers recap of my previous year, just to summarize things and help me set my own stage for a new year (I did rock it in 2011 and 2012). So here is 2013 In Review.

ZERO boyfriends this year. This is a data point that has both blessed my life immensely and made it incredibly difficult. It's no secret that being single can be tough, no matter how good you get at it. Deep down, we crave companionship and support, and I am no exception. That means that certain aspects of this last year have been exceptionally painful, and I've struggled. But at the same time, I have learned how to find peace, happiness, and fulfillment on my own, with very little help from the usual sources, which is an incredible gift. I wouldn't change it for anything.

ONE amazing roommate for one year (plus a few months!). Aisley and I have had an adventure when it comes to figuring out how to live together (in some ways, living with just one person is harder than living with five other people, because you can't just ignore the roommates who are bothering you: if you're not getting along, there's no one else to mediate or diffuse the situation, and everything you do affects the other roommate). But we're figuring it out and learning a ton about ourselves and each other in the process. And I've gained a lifetime friend out of it. 

TWO years working on the 2013 Edition of the Scriptures, which finally ended in December. That project has made a huge difference in my life. I did that instead of full-time missionary service, and it's the best thing I've ever done with my life. There were ups and downs (a few of them chronicled here), but I wouldn't change any of it for anything in the world. As a result, leaving that job hurt. I miss it. I loved it. It has become a part of me that I'll always carry around, and I can only hope that I find something else as rewarding as that was.

THREE of us Jackson siblings living in Utah now. Jess is in Provo, living and working, and Brian is back from his mission, studying at BYU. I love having them close by. Brian takes such good care of me, and I can't possibly repay him for any of it.

FOUR times that my roommate has pranked the entire apartment out of revenge because I left her alone and went on vacation for too long (read: four days is too long in her opinion). Don't ever wonder why I love living with her. I'm never ever bored.

FIVE dagger or sword objects my roommate and I have on display in our house because both of us are happily nerdy and we take time often to indulge it. 

SIX thousand words written on a story that I started working on in November. That's a pittance compared to the typical word count of a novel, but it marks the first time that I've pursued a story idea into actual writing stage since high school. I may have decided to pursue editing instead of writing as my career, but I still have that starry-eyed 13-year-old girl dreaming of being an author hiding underneath, and she's getting to stretch her wings a little bit for the first time in years.

SEVEN members of my family, all back together in April, July, and over Christmas. I guess that's less of a huge deal for our family than it is for others, because none of us are married, so we don't really have anywhere else to spend holidays and vacation time, but it always matters to me. And I never know how much longer it will last, so I treasure it every single time.

EIGHT months until the two-year-anniversary of my going through the temple. Since it happened in 2012 and I didn't do one of these at the beginning of 2013, I have to fudge a little bit to make it work, but my endowment needs to be on this list. It has profoundly affected every other aspect of my life, and I could happily keep it on these lists for the rest of my life. Going through the temple has been one of the biggest, most personally sacred experiences of my life. It's something I'm grateful for every single day.

NINE petals on the fake flower bouquet I still have sitting in my room from my best friend's wedding, which happened in February 2013. She's the first one of our Terrific Trio from my college days to get married, and being her maid of honor was a major highlight of this last year.

TEN years ago, I met my best friend. She has been the one of the most important people in my life ever since then. Ten years is an impressive feat for both of us, since we both grew up moving around every few years, and both of us have made and lost track of many many friends over the years. There is so much solidarity that comes from having someone I can count on no matter what. Thanks, Q, for being there for me as much as my for-real siblings are.

Lesson Learned - The most important thing this year has taught me is that the best, most lasting happiness has to start with me. My friends, my family, and my romantic relationships all can contribute, but it's my choice that matters the most.

It's been a tough year, but I've discovered that the tough years usually yield the richest blessings and longest-lasting lessons. Whether this coming year contains the same kind of struggles as last year, or new ones stemming from things that completely alter my life, the lessons will all be worth it.

Last year and all the years before it have helped me learn what I'm capable of, and the best part is that my capacity grows every year. I face tougher challenges, but I also experience greater blessings each year. It truly is only uphill from here. It always will be uphill.

I'm ready for a wonderful year. Hello, 2014.