Missing In Action.

Oh boy! What a crazy few weeks it's been, but first things first... I told you all that Alexis from A Beautiful Day to Be Alive is the winner for helping to name my panda, Reginald, right? Right. Well here is her prize....

A GEOLOGY BOOK!!!

Just kidding. That would be the worst prize in the history of ever. No. She wins this four-level box. It's good for holding jewelry or small candies etc. etc. 

Thanks for the help Alexis!

So I've been rather busy these past few weeks...
 First. Finals. Surprisingly, I passed! I have an A in four of my classes and if my other teacher would post my grade, I wouldn't have to check MyASU every five minutes. (Not bitter.)

Also, I got a job! I am a hostess at Joe's Crab Shack on Southern and McClintock.

Come visit me and I'll hook you up. (Okay, not really. I can do nothing about getting you free food, but you can still visit me, ya?)

I was also having fun with the cousins... What do we do when we're bored?

What a silly question! We choose a hat from our wall of hats and then we draw facial hair on ourselves with eyeliner. Duh!

And then we take weird pictures. 

My uncle thinks he's so manly with his fake chest hair. Ha!

More pictures (Don't worry, these ones AREN'T weird).

My little brother is graduating from high school! What the weird! Next year there will be three of us at ASU and only one in high school. Where has all this time gone? Twenty years goes by a LOT faster than I thought!

Anyways, I got to take his senior pictures! Here are some favorites.

I know I said no more weird pictures, but this is kind of hilarious! 

Really, that's all my life has been right now (besides watching Modern Family and Community. I may or may not be addicted. It's a problem.)

And to finish up, I think I'll do a mini "Stats" post from Christine's Blog.

Reading: 

Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul (Am I the only person that loves stories like this??)

The Ensign May... aka the conference talks.

Jane Eyre

Listening to:

"Tant Pis" by Joyce Jonathan

Never Shout Never on Pandora

"Superman" by Joe Brooks

Watched Yesterday:

The last two episodes of Community-Also, can I say that Abed is my very favorite? Well, I just did.

Want to Watch:

Leap Year (for the third time... we just bought it so I really need to watch!)

The Ultimate Gift (for probably the hundredth time. LOVE!)

Penelope (Again, probably the hundredth time. I will never grow tired of this movie.)

Pride and Prejudice- Keira Knightley version

Jane Eyre- But first I need to finish the book. *Sigh*

Well, that's it I think! I have a few ideas for an awesome summer and I'll try to post more often about it, but in the meantime, what's new with you?

Status: Currently in Love.

Have you ever felt so happy that you want to jump, skip and sing at the same time? Has your heart ever felt light and happy for days and days?  These are the symptoms of love. That's right. I've caught the love bug. Want to see my lover(s)? (Yup. More than one. Don't judge.)

I am definitely picking favorites so first and most important love is

General Conference! I love hearing from the leaders of our church! (If you want to know more about general conference go here or if you want to see it go here)

Second and also very important love

Easter pageant! I'm in it again this year and I am loving it! What a great blessing it is to be a part of this. If you're in the valley, please come! It is a beautiful performance of the life of Christ. The best thing... It's free! So come and enjoy!

Other less important, but rather wonderful loves

Question: Is Aubrey so lucky as to have something as ah-mazing as that?? 

Answer: Yes. Well, in my dreams, but one day I will! 

In love with this dress!! Seriously. Gorgeous!

This one too! Confession: Sometimes I spend slightly large amounts of time looking at the beautiful things on Etsy. To say I love that site would be an understatement.  

*Sigh* Anthro, oh Anthro. Why are you ridiculously expensive?!

My friend took me to see this for my birthday. I was more than okay with that. Don't worry, I'm definitely not freaky obsessed with him, but if we knew each other, we'd be tight, that's all.

I love me some crafty blogs. I read them at least once a week and I have a rather long list of things that I want to make when I have time... so probably never. Hah!

Anyways, this is my very favorite craft bloggy-blog. Check it. Love it. Yeah.

I know what you're thinking, "Thank you, Aubrey for your pearls of bloggy wisdom!" My reply, "You are most certainly welcome! Now tell me what you are loving because my heart is always open for more love. Just sayin'."

I can't believe I almost forgot the MOST IMPORTANT THING!!! I am pleased to introduce to you my panda: Reginald the Panda. Alexis suggested Reggie which led me to Reginald so she wins the prize which I will show on the next post. Yay for Alexis and thank you everyone for your help!

What would you do-oo-ooo for a... letter?

If you do not understand the title, read it in as if it were the Klondike bar jingle. Now do you get what I'm going for? No? *facepalm* Don't worry about it.

So I know I'm not one for posting often, but I feel like I just have to share this with the bloggy-blog world. On Mondays I get home really late. I am at ASU at 7:30am and my last class ends at 7:30pm then I go to FHE and I usually don't get home until sometime between 9 and 10. I do not tell you this for your pity (I mean, I knew what I was getting into),  I just wanted you to know the reason for my first mistake. So I get home Monday night.  It has been a long, but wonderful day and as I head to my room I see a letter. Can I just say that I LOVE receiving letters?? Seriously. There is something magical about actually opening and reading something that doesn't emphasize how poor and uneducated I am. ANYWAYS, I am ecstatic. I look to see who the letter is from and for some reason only two words stand out to me Elder and Switzerland. I failed to notice the very sloppy handwriting which my friend who is in Switzerland/France on his mish definitely does NOT have.(This is mistake number one.) Of course these two very important words get me excited. I was seriously jumping for joy. In the literal sense.

I quickly open the letter and this is what I read: (I wish I could say that I made this up, but I did not.  This experience and letter are 100% true and the following text is word for word -and punctuation for punctuation so don't blame me- from this letter.)
"Bonjour Aubrey"
My name is Elder (Last Name) Im serving in the Suisde (This word may very well be wrong. I could NOT figure out what it said) Geneva mission. I was with Elder Boatright for a day and he had a picture of a few people on his desk so I asked him who they all were and he told me all of them were married except two and so I took down your address and thought to write you, that sounds like I took down the other girls address too but I didn't Well you know nothing about me and I know nothing about you. So I'll just start out with a question."
He then goes on to ask me questions and then answer them about himself. Now I'm just going to skip to the last question and ending.

"Are you excited for summer? I would be if I was home. I love going to the beach and just being out side. and wearing shorts and flip flops.
Hmm Im not really sure what else to write about, sorry for the horrible handwriting and bad spelling as you can see I make alot of mistakes.
Have a good week
Hope to hear from you
sincerely
Elder (Last Name)"

All I could think was 'What the HECK was Josh thinking giving this elder my address?!" Although it is very funny and flattering that he wrote to me, I am at a standstill as of what to do. On one hand I really feel like this elder wrote to me because he is receiving very few letters from friends and family. On the other hand, this is a little weird and borderline creepy. SO. Should I write this elder for kicks and giggles (Don't worry, I'd be nice) or should I just pretend like this whole thing never happened? What do you, my dear trusted readers, believe I should do? What would you do-oo-ooo?

If you had a stuffed Panda...

So once upon a time there was a girl*. For the sake of the story, let's say her name is Aubrey. For her birthday, Aubrey received this bad boy:

*It's a pillow, it's a pet...*

 *It's a PILLOW PET!*

Needless to say, Aubrey was overjoyed with this amazingly thoughtful present. She hugged her panda and gave it all the love a pillow can receive, but then a problem occurred. People that will go unnamed (Ahem... Molly...) started calling this amazing creature 'Peter the Panda'. Aubrey was shocked. What kind of name is PETER for a stuffed panda?!!! So Aubrey searched high and low for the actual name of her panda. She asked her friends, she asked her peers and she even asked complete strangers, but with little luck. She received suggestions like Po the Panda, Dong Chung the Panda, Bob the Panda and Panda the Panda. Although Aubrey was grateful for the help of her friends, peers, and complete strangers, she has yet to find the true name of her beloved panda. She now turns to you for help and guidance. Aubrey and her extra-squeezable animal ask for your help in finding the true name of this exquisite creature.  There are only two guidelines. 1) This adorable pillow is obviously male and will be offended if a girl's name is suggested. 2) 'the Panda' is the last name of this beautiful bear.

Will you be the one to come up with the best name for _______ the Panda?! Aubrey and ________ cry for your help!**

*This story may or may not be true.

**There may be a nice prize for the genius that comes up with ______ the Panda's perfect name.

Well excuuuuuuuuuse me!

So I haven't really been in love with my bloggy look and I'm still learning my way around blogger (I'm kind of a slow learner), so please excuse the messy mess and just make up a cute blog look in your head and think of that when you think of my blog, okay? Okay. I think we're all agreed. Also, could you please enjoy this umbrella background because well, I think it's adorable and it will not be here too much longer (hopefully!)

Have the loveliest of days.

Sometimes.

Sometimes there are days where I just look like this... (notice the baggy eyes, pimpled forehead and greasy hair... On second thought... Maybe you shouldn't notice these things. In fact, you may just want to look at this picture through your peripheral cause this is a leetle scary!)

Sometimes when I look like ^this^ I need to where a feminine color to remind myself that I am, in fact, female.

Sometimes being sick 2 completely different times within 3 weeks is not cool. (Okay, reread that, but take out the sometimes, cause we all know that it just sucks.)

Sometimes I just need to suck it up and finish a project (like sending those letters! Seriously. I am awful!)

Sometimes a handful of chocolate chips after an awful day is necessary/mandatory.

Sometimes it's okay to flirt with the cute guy sitting next to you... (And by sometimes, I'm pretty sure you all know I mean ALL the time... well unless you're married, then you should change "the cute guy sitting next to you" to "your husband")

Sometimes you shouldn't read a book about dying when you're sick... it's kind of depressing (BUT it was a really good book! Entitled 'A Summer to Die' by Lois Lowry. I would definitely recommend any of her books.)

Sometimes you need to pray that your prayers get answered.

Sometimes you just need a cute/happy song to make you feel better.

"Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful." -Zig Ziglar (apparently he's some author or something...??)

Sometimes you just need to share your own 'Sometimes' list. With me. In the comment box. Yup.

Love.

So you know how I write a blog post probably once a moon cycle? Well, I do not love that, but I will tell you what I DO love.

I love the smell of Apple Cinnamon Tea. Seriously.

I do not love that it tastes like dirty water. Gross. (Unless you add honey with it and then it tastes like dirty honey water... Yeah. Still gross.)

I love reading funny blogs. Seriously. Please read this one that my friend's little brother writes. If you do not laugh at least once then you probably don't have a soul. Just saying...

I love finding things that inspire me/make me happy... Wanna see?

This is a day calendar where you can draw in how you felt that day... I want one, but it seemed kind of expensive so maybe I'll try and make my own.

So I may or may not be obsessed with a website called etsy. If you have not already, CHECK IT OUT! Seriously. It has so many cute things and gives me a lot of crafting ideas. I found this DIY project there and I feel that I just might have to do it.

Also on etsy:

Moostache Mugs (Yeas, I know this is not how 'mustache' is spelled. No, I do not care.) Love and love.

Okay so I don't actually remember where I found this, but I just thought it was so cute... Plus I may or may not be obsessed with cupcakes... They're just so cute!

Again, I don't remember where I got this pic, but I sure wish I did!

Something else that LOVE is learning something new. This semester I am taking French. What's that? You're not sure if you read this correctly? I AM TAKING FRENCH!!! I am so excited to learn this beautiful language!

I'm also in love with clothing. Dresses to be exact. This isn't in the 'Like OMG! Did you like see the new dress that my daddy bought for me? *smiley face* *winky face*' (Think valley girl.) sort of way, but in the 'I want to design a dress someday.' sort of way. Look at what I've found recently.*

*Disclaimer: Yes, I know some of these dresses are short. Yes, I believe in modesty. These are just some dresses that had distinct parts that I love. ie. a ruffle or the way the fabric is folded. Do not judge me.

What is something that you love/something that inspires you? I would love to know!

P.s. to everyone that I am suppose to send a letter to, I apologize! I'll hopefully be sending those out REEEEAAALLY soon.

Scattered.

So this post is going to be a little all over the place (Hah! Like the other ones aren't...) Sooo... this is me apologizing ahead of time. Sorry.

Starting with the most exciting news probably ever I'M ENGAGED!!!

not.

Hahahha! Did you have a heart attack? Yeah, me too.

No. The real exciting news is that my brother just got home from his mission yesterday.

He was suppose to get home around 3, but there were SO MANY difficulties and he was delayed until almost 10. That is seven more hours of anticipation. We were going crazy waiting but it was all worth it!

We went to the airport in the Brazil soccer jerseys that my mom got when the world cup was going on... and since they're ridiculously bright a little noticeable, people were asking what was going on. I even made friends with an older couple that I talked with. I don't know, but maybe this is why Drew was delayed... Maybe someone needed to know about the church.

It's so good to have him home. Today we looked at his pictures and watched UP. (Because obviously, he hasn't seen it.) It was perfect.

The second most exciting thing also happened yesterday. We had another baptism for my ward. I love going and participating in those. We've had 3 baptisms this last month and each time the Spirit has been so strong. Baptism truly is beautiful.

Okay. So I don't know if you've heard of ModCloth, but I love it so much that I follow the blog. That isn't what I wanted to talk about, though. What I did want to mention is this post.

If you don't want to feel like reading it, or you're opposed to cute blogs or whatever... I'll just sum it up for you. It is Universal Letter Writing Week (It's capitalized. That means it's official. Obviously.) ANYWAYS, I want to participate so if you want a letter or drawing or pictures or a surprise, please leave me your address either as a comment or email it to me (ajgibso2@asu.edu)Even if I don't know you, I would love a pen pal!

Welp. That's it. It's been an exciting week so far. School starts next week and I can hardly wait (Weird. I know.) Ultimately, life is great! You too, no?

Christmas and... oh what?? It's cold? That's right.

Hey! So I know you are just DYING to know what I got for Christmas. What's that? You really are? Well, who wouldn't be, right?

Okay. Here it goes.

A Cricut! This was definitely the biggest item. Want to know a secret? My mom and I got this for me together and I used it before I 'got' it (by my mothers request). I'm kind of a Christmas Cheater like that. Don't hate. (P.S. If you want vinyl words for your walls, I'm you're girl!)

I LOVE reading. There is nothing better, so of course I got lots of books. A few days ago I finished I am Number Four. It definitely wasn't what I expected, but it was really good and I definitely recommend it.

My parents Santa brought snack-sized Bugles bags and put them on our Christmas tree. Awesome. Oh yeah, except for the part where they don't fit on my fingers... Or my cousin's 2 year-old's finger. That is just wrong.

I also got clothes and scarves and gift cards and the coolest alarm clock of my whole life, so pretty much I now have a lot of cool stuff. And how could I possibly forget the best part... a phone call from my brother who's in Brazil on an LDS mission. He comes home in 12 days! Aaaaahhhh!!! I can't wait! This Christmas was the TOPS!

So... not to switch topics or anything (I'm totally switching topics. Hah!) Do you remember that time that it SNOWED in Mesa?? Oh yeah. That was today! Unfortunately, I didn't see any of it! Dumb!

Anyways, needless to say, I am freezing here. Please don't make fun of me. I have lived my entire life in Mesa and I enjoy spending a day in the snow MAXIMUM. I hate feeling cold especially when my toes are cold because it takes forever before they are warm again. Seriously. 34 degrees here? Not acceptable.

So I woke up this morning and I had 'Far Away' by Ingrid Micahelson stuck in my head all day. I was definitely not mad! You should watch it and enjoy. (I tried to upload it on here, but guess what... I am stupid when it comes to most forms of technology. True story.) I figured the main reason I have been singing this song all day long is because it is so cold here and I like to keep my mind on the 'island in the blue bay.' Can I please live there? Yes? Okay!

Words of wisdom.

You thought I was dead, didn't you? Well, I am was. Not only was it FINALS time (gross.), but I was also sick. Like nasty lie on the couch and cough-a-lung-up/blow-your-brains-out-your-nose sick. It was bad. I may or may not have thought I was going to die, but I'm better now.

Anyways, things have been a little crazy, but super great! Especially today when I found out my semester grades. Two B's and four A's! I'm definitely okay with that!

Seriously.

Well, besides finals, I've been busy getting ready for this Christmas concert, making Christmas presents, getting texts from strangers.... Oh, wait, what is that about strange texts? Well, let me tell you.

So on Thursday, I get a text from a number that I do not recognize inviting all "U5"-ers (people in my ward) to a party at their house that night. This isn't too uncommon... I mean I DO go to a singles ward and there are lots of parties and we DO have a ward directory so it is possible that this person got my number from the directory, so I'm not too worried. Well, I text back asking who's texting me. His name is Jake Lastname... No idea who this guy is. Still not a problem, I would just ask around and see if any knows him. Turns out NOBODY does... Freak-y! So my friend Angela and I decide to go to the house just to find out who the heck this guy is. We get there and this is in front of their door.

What the what?! Don't they know it's Christmas and not Halloween?!!! Well, Angela and I were dumb fearless and went up to the house and rang the doorbell and... nothing. We heard voices, but no one answered the door. Angela deemed this the perfect creeping spying opportunity and peeked through their curtains to see if we recognized anybody. Seeing how this story is going, is it really a surprise that nobody looked familiar? Of course not.

So what do we do? Hide in the car and spy on who is going into the house, of course. Every time a car passed we'd lie on our seats and peek out the window so we woudn't be detected. We looked stupid, but it worked. Unfortunately, we didn't recognize anybody. Are you surprised? Yeah... neither am I.

Well, we decided once more to be stupid brave and go in. As we get out of the car, the car alarm goes off, and blows our cover. After everything we had done to stay hidden... Freaked out, we decide to just leave and go to a friends house and watch Prince of Persia. Which I was definitely okay with... Yuuum... Jake Gyllenhaal... Just don't look at his greasy hair... Yeah.

So anyway, the moral of this story is do not go into a house with a freaky inflatable cat in front of it ESPECIALLY if it is Christmas and not Halloween and if the person that invited you is a stranger then that's a triple no.

The End.