White Hairs and Gingerbread Houses.

So I guess last semester really took its toll on me. While studying for a singing test, yes you read it right, I had a singing test, my good pal Constance pointed out a glistening white hair a top my head. At first I didn't believe it, but it is true. I guess I should just succumb to the fact that I will be dying my hair for years to come. Although I usually try to stay away from taking pictures of myself I thought this was a worthy cause.
On a more holly jolly note, we made Gingerbread houses last week. I think the activity was supposed to be for the kids, but somehow it ended up being Miranda, Jen, Tyler, Hatee and myself decorating.

Only At Christmas Time

Tis the season for creativity! Our decorations this year certainly are far from ordinary, which we ourselves are also becoming. Because of lack of funds and "real" decorations, we had to put our heads together (and steal some ideas from Alina) to make our apartment glow with Christmas goodness.
We started by covering our windows with shrink wrap, which I think is usually the best place to start the winter festivities. You may also notice that while inside our little apartment we are all wearing scarves (which Jen, I don't own one of my own ;) ), our heat is not working and we are FREEZING! Anyways, we ended up cutting a branch off of our neighbors pine tree (shhh, don't tell). We then grabbed one of Michelle's real skirts and used it as a tree skirt, then hung a star from the ceiling down to the tree. When we realized we had no lights for the tree we strung popcorn, and with no ornaments we hung our ear rings, no Christmas stockings we hung our own socks. Needless to say we are proud of our humble abode.

A new low

Well I'm not really even sure how to start this post. I want to think of something witty, maybe even funny to say, but am just speechless (which is saying something). Just click this logo or go to www.mormonsexposed.com, to see what I'm talking , or not talking, about. Once at the website click on "Meet the Missionaries", then choose a missionary, when his picture comes up, put your mouse on him and see what happens.



I thought that we had hit an all time low with the new LDS BMX'ing missionary movie (extreme mormons), but I was wrong, this is the new low. By putting this on my blog I am in no way promoting or condoning the morons that put this together, the exact opposite actually. hmmm....I guess I wasn't so speechless after all.

Time to grow up?

I think not. Yesterday I officially turned 21, I can now legally buy... well lots of stuff. The party started at midnight and lasted 24 hours. We had drinks, cupcakes and some very entertaining gifts. The girlies gave me a very intriguing calendar and The Planet Earth! Not literally the planet Earth, but the BBC series which I am super ultra (as Rowan would say) excited about. The twins gave me an anatomically correct model of a man, which we proceeded to put together last night. We thought it would take 15-20 minutes, well 3 HOURS later he was put together. It was a long night, but well worth the wait.

I am apparently a fan of slide shows, so here goes number two within a week of each other. Oh and we were arm wrestling to see who had to go on a mission, it wasn't just for fun, it was serious business. Good news, I am off the hook ;)

Halloween Logan Style

I know the rotting pumpkins on the porches mean that Halloween is over, but I didn't get a chance to post this until now. So put down your Christmas lights for just a second and revert back to Halloween mode. We had our 2nd annual Halloween party this year and boy was it smokin'. We were all a little melancholy for our childhood so decided to re-live it at the party by eating donuts off a string, dropping Jello and stuffing our mouths with marshmallows. On a more mature, but also more eccentric note, we also had an Edgar Allen Poe reading contest. I know, who does that, right? Well we do, so back off. The contests were of course backed with prizes which mostly consisted of over sized t-shirts and trophies we found at DI. Overall I would say it was a huge success.

Holding Down the Fort in Logan

Well I just thought that I would put some perspective on the phrase "mundane life". I feel like people have been throwing that term around a little too loosely. To demonstrate here is what I did this weekend.
Darci followed me around with her camera. I was a psuedo model for her art project. I look particularly homeless in this one, good thing I don't normally sit alone in alleyways.

In front of the cool Utah theater, standing in the middle of the road, hoping not to get hit by a car.

Alina, you can paint gourds.... but can you STACK them? And yes that is my Arthur coloring book in the corner, that was last weekends entertainment.

It took a lot of determination and time, but I finally got ALL of the gourds stacked onto one pumpkin. You may hold your applause. I hope you all had a great weekend.

USU students at their finest

Disclaimer: Do not judge all USU students by the actions and/or words of one.

In my health education class, our professor chooses a couple of people each day to answer some random questions. It is his way of making the awkward first day of school, last ALL SEMESTER. People usually say ridiculous things and make fools of themselves, but last Wednesday one girl one-upped everyone. Her question was "If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?" Her answer "ummmm, probably like mmmmmm, Justin Timberlake..............or like Jesus." Seriously, as if the answer Justin Timberlake wasn't embarrassing enough.

It's not easy being green (or is it?)

In honor of Blog Action Day, which is dedicated to the earth, I thought I would leave you all some tidbits of information.

-If everyone in the US refused their ATM receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long, or enough to circle the equator fifteen times!

-If every American changed out just five regular light bulbs for more energy-efficient compact fluorescent ones, we'd keep more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air - equal to emission of eight million cars.

For us ladyfolk...

-Opt for foundation in simple recyclable glass container over one sold in non recyclable plastic tube or bottle. If one in twenty women chose glass over plastic packaging for her next foundation purchase, the energy conserved could fill a twenty-gallon gas tank once a week for twenty-four years.

All of this came from The Green Book.

Nobody says it quite like Xavier Rudd.

The Center of the Universe

This past weekend we, as my brothers would say "Didn't let school get in the way of our education." We went down Cataract Canyon and lived to tell the story.

Bre and Myself hanging out on the party barge and actually reading something I wanted to read, instead of lame textbooks.

And the Gloria award goes to........One afternoon we all hiked to "The Dollhouse". Before hiking back down we sat down for a rest when I heard the soft clank of a ski pole. To all of our surprise, Gandolf comes walking around the corner. It seems that if you tell my dad he might not be able to do something, it only makes him want to do it more. Hmmm, I don't know why us Murdock kids are so stubborn...

I feel like this picture looks like a weird time warp, like we are climbing through the hole in time. But don't get confused, it is just a big hole in the wall.

Oh Tommy Boy

Yesterday I was running late and was booking it to my guitar class. As I am going in the building who should come out, Tommy Emmanuel, the guitarist that I had tickets to see that night. He said something to me about a fellow guitarist, to which I replied a smile and a half hearted laugh, because I didn't recognize him. Anyways long story short, he is the mother flippin', I know Germain is not gonna be pleased, but it is true. Just imagine him in a black velvet, yes velvet, top: That is what he wore last night.

Mi casa es su casa

The outside (our front yard if you will) is decorated with some simple but classy, cultural decor: the authentic Brazialian hammock (which is rarely empty) and Tibetan prayer flags. We have, by far, the coolest apartment in Logan and possibly West of the Mississippi.


On the inside you will find Stan the studley bike on the wall, Owlbert, the owl in dangling from the ceiling, and Alfred and The Lionness adorning the wall. Some people might think that naming inanimate objects makes you crazy: we beg to differ.

Wild Life

So I guess I am making up for the pictureless blog by having way too many on this one. This is from our trip to Jackson Hole, where apparently people think it is okay to have arches made of antlers.
This is Bjorn the bear, he decided to join us on our hike for a second or two. He looked all soft and cuddly until you saw the 4 inch claws coming out of his paws.


This is the sign coming into Yellowstone, don't worry we all giggled (even the tough guys).


Just hanging out (I know I've used the joke before) in my trusty hammock that goes everywhere with me...


One morning two HUGE moose came trotting into the campground. Although you can't see it, there was a trailer parked behind Bullwinkle with a 10 ft. satellite dish , classy campers I'll tell ya.


Everyone waiting for Old Faithful to come through once again.


A picture as good as this one can not be hidden away. Our bagels were so hard it was like eating cream cheese on a slab of wood (not quite concrete)

The Low Down on Logan

Because of the lack of internet in our apartment I am using the computer lab and even the geek squad at the desk can't figure out why my pictures aren't working so this has no visual aid. But here is the DL (Alina that means down low, as in the happenin's) about what is going on in Logan. We have a very cute (thanks to the hours of decorating and hugeungous tigers that Ash gave us) little apartment right off campus. It only takes 5 minutes, and an oxygen mask to hike the death hill. That is right death hill, sometimes it is so steep I want to just my hands out and crawl up it. I know what you're thinking, why not ride the awesome bike you spent all summer working on? Well I did once and almost died (don't tell mom), so for now I'm sticking to the hiking death hill. Classes are good, guitar I think will be the best. Work is going great, we did presentations yesterday so I had to dress fancy and help explain the program to 1010 classes (I felt SO old!) I share an office with a crazy lady/girl who I can not do justice on the blog. Trust me you will want to hear those stories in person. I went and walked around the "Day on the Quad" for the first time with out Toad and Trash, it was a growing experience but Logan is just not the same without them. As for the best thing I have seen in Logan well it is a tie between the girls whose shorts are so short they make Jessica Simpson look like Molly Mormon, and the couple I saw jogging who were rubbing each others backs...as they ran. I'll run a poll and you can decide. Sorry this is so wordy (I'll keep working on pics)

At Last, At Last!

After deciding to buy it, waiting for it to come, Creed putting it together, having it not work, then work, then Ty broke it, then I fixed it, then still broken, IT FINALLY WORKS!!! This is my custom motorized bicycle that is going to putt me around from class to class. I am so going to be the coolest girl on campus.

I know this video seems a lot like Napoleon but ... well I have no excuses :(

4 X 4

At first I was determined to not participate in this nerdy blogger tradition (mainly to bug Alina), but since I haven't posted anything in a while I thought I would try it out. Don't get used to me giving in though, this is a one time deal.

4x4

Four jobs I've had:

1) Part owner of "Cleaning Chicks", a house cleaning business that took Springville by storm.
2) Office aid at Springville Jr. High. (AKA: got paid to do my chem homework)
3) After School Club Leader (not a club I made up, a real one)
4) Maintenance Ma'm at Utah Lake State Park

Four places I have lived:

1) The North bedroom of my house in Springville Utah.
2) The East bedroom of my house in Springville Utah.
3) The freshman dorms in Logan Utah.
4) Old Farm in Logan Utah. (I am going have to be creative to fill all four places)

Four favorite T.V. shows:

1) Grey's Anatomy (oooh Patrick)
2) Gilmore Girls
3) The Office
4) Unwrapped on the Food network (mom's cable has everything)

Four favorite foods:

1) BBQ Chicken Pizza
2) Costa Vida (me and Maren have a lot in common)
3) Chicken Strips (I know I eat like a 5 year old)
4) Anything mom makes.

Four websites I frequent:

1) USU website (I constantly check my email).
2) Google (To prove I am right).
3) Wells Fargo to watch my money dwindle.
4) You Tube

Four places I'd rather be right now:

1) On a beach reading Pride and Prejudice.
2) At Hogwarts: The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
3) A good concert.
4) Sleeping.

Four Movies I love:

1) Moulin Rouge
2) The Family Stone
3) Stranger Than Fiction
4) A League of Their Own

Well I hope that was intriguing for someone to read because it took quite a long time.

Flying my "freak flag"

I am, in fact, aware of what a NERD I am. But the difference between myself and fellow nerds, is my willingness to embrace that fact.

A deathly wish

This is just reminder that Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows comes out tomorrow night. So help me if ANYONE spoils this book for me... I WILL KILL THEM!!

AVADA KEDAVRA!

"Hanging Out"

This is our camping/kind of backpacking trip down Huntington Canyon. I think there was literally an hour worth of time the Bre and Myself weren't "hanging" out in our hammocks. It was pretty relaxing...

Back By Popular Demand

Well you see Alina, my lack of blogging really does come back to Global Warming. Because of Global Warming the summer heat has obviously intensified, thus causing my energy to decrease and leaving me too tired to blog. I know what your thinking "How could you possibly to tired to blog?"

A new excuse

This comic was in the paper today, and I thought it was hilarious. So the next time someone asks you why don't work harder (or any question really), we can all respond "Global Warming"!

Moonlight hike

When we took the boys back to Moab, we went on a night hike up Millcreek.

Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite

River and Ridge got to stay at Grandma Murdocks for the whole week. On the last night we all had a huge sleepover on the tramp.

Those who plant trees be-leaf in the future

Just a couple of beau(tree)full trees I captured down Desolation canyon. Now come on admit it, tree hugger or not, the bottom tree is tempting.

Wahoo!

Girls rule, Boys...flipped their kayak! This was on our trip through Desolation/Gray Canyon. Me, Ashli and Bre rode through the big rapids and didn't flip, we barely even teetered ;) As you can tell we three girls rocked those waves like a southbound train.

We decided to ditch the boat on this one and just take the paddles.

So here is "The Story"

The real reason I wanted to start this blog is to show off this picture. Don't be confused, that is the one and only Brandi Carlile hanging out with myself and Bre. She wanted to hang out with us after the show, but unfortunately we already had plans. Maybe next time Brandi.

Indigo what?

Girls, that's right! And at this concert there was a plethora: big, small, long hair, mostly short hair, bras, mostly no bras, cute, eerrr mostly not-so-cute.

And just in case you were wondering that would be Brandi Carlile rocking out with the Indigo Girls.

The groupies: Creed, Jen, Myself, Sam, Miranda, Nate, Bre and Ty.

I don't "belize" it

I really can't belize that Toady and Trashli left. I thought that they were joking about this whole Peace Corps thing. This picture at the airport really sums it up. We are all really happy and just pretending to be sad.

Blogging my blog off

Well since Toad and Trashli decided to up and leave the country, and this may well be their only form of communicado, they (and others...Alina) have inspired me to enter into the world of bloggers. So here goes...