Since I'm approaching the lovely age of 25, I thought I'd copy the 25 random facts about you that is circling people's blogs and facebook notes. Here goes...

1. I think I'm funny. And I'm not afraid to admit it. --- Hi, My name is Lana, and I'm very capable of making myself laugh.
2. I'm a music junkie. I'm always listening to it. I love folksy stuff, and anything that can be played better live than on CD. Those are my favorite kind of artists. I also am a huge fan of oldies, classic rock, and 80's. My favorite artists don't have lyrics that say "womanizer, womanizer" and don't start with B and end with ritney Spears. Nor do they ever sing about their grills, or popping that booty.
3. My sheet music library is in my trunk. This way whenever I find a piano that is all alone, I have access to my whole collection! I never have time to get any practice anymore though.
4. I am developing the ability to be able to have conversations with people I don't know. I'm not a pro but I'm getting much much better at this fine art. I'm finding it is giving me the ability to make friends with so many more people than I ever used to think I could.
5. In the past 6 months I have learned exactly what I really want in a guy. I'm sure there will be more fine tuning to this as I keep dating and meeting people, but I can say I now know what I'm looking for, and it's interesting because I found this out by trying something 100% new. It took me 24 1/2 years to solve that mystery.
6. I have a serious soft spot for little kids. I may not be the best at being all googly talking to them -- my idea of a conversation with a little kid is "Hey buddy, what's up?". I know the kid won't say "Oh nothing much", but I still try. -- but whenever I see them anywhere I just have to smile at them. Nothing cheers me up quite as fast as a little kid smiling at me. There's something so amazing about them. I love those little people.
7. I have a crush on Bear Grylls. Man vs. Wild. Something about a man who can jump naked into a bog to show me how to climb out... RAWR!
   
8. When I was 18 I peed my pants full blown. I had had about 40 ounces of water in a 1 hour period. And for some reason didn't have to pee until I had just left a guy's house I was hanging out with. It was the middle of winter and the middle of the night, and for those of you who are women, you know the cold triggers your pee urge. Well I didn't want to run back up and say "can I pee?" so I start driving home. I was about 2 miles from my apartment when I realized I couldn't hold it if I stood up, but as long as I stayed sitting I was good. So I sat in the parking lot of my apartments for 20 minutes debating what to do. Then I decided "It's raining, I'll just run and if I pee, no one will notice the puddle". So I get up, take 2 steps from my car, and BAM... the great flood occurs. And I didn't have time to warn Noah. Let's just say I've never had that happen since and am not a regular pants pee-er but I will still laugh to this day about how awesomely gross that was.
   
9. Small settings are my favorite. I get so much more out of sitting and talking to someone for hours than a big huge gathering of people. (Not to say those aren't fun though!)
10. I wish I'd never quit piano lessons, or clarinet lessons. I also wish I'd taken guitar lessons. I really want to be a master musician.
    
11. I teach Relief Society. If you would've asked me 4 years ago if I'd ever say yes to something like that, I'd have laughed in your face. Life is funny isn't it? I love teaching!
12. I will never fully decide on a major. I am graduating with a Bachelor's in Psychology which I love but sometimes I want to study world religions, photography, foreign languages, painting, so many things to learn!
13. I used to be so afraid of the dark that I wouldn't look out dark windows or around in my room when it was dark for fear of what I'd see. So I'd crawl up and down our back stairs to get to my room. I'd stay below the windows. I wouldn't want some monster to see me.
    
14. When people spit loogies in front of me I dry heave. It's weird, I can stick my hand in a sink disposal and pull out rotten soggy food, but I can't watch someone spit mucus. Go figure!
15. I don't kiss guys unless they're only kissing me. It's about respect. I don't kiss other guys when I'm kissing someone either. And I certainly never kiss any simultaneously!
    
16. I sing like a pro in my car. Sometimes I record myself to see if I am on key, and most the time I am. You will never get to hear these recordings though because I'm such a chicken that I immediately delete them so no one can find them!
17. When I'm by the ocean I feel a sense of longing, it's hard to explain. I could sit on the beach for the rest of my life and be just dandy. (Minus the skin cancer, but it may be worth it!)
18. My little brother is as tall as me and he's almost 13! I'm not a big sister anymore.
19. If you can make me laugh I count you as one of my favorite people. Laughing is one of my favorite things to do. I also like smiling. Smiling's my favorite.
    
20. I will always be impressed by and jealous of people that are naturally talented at anything artistic such as painting, photography, piano, dancing, sandwich making, fire building, etc...
21. I think valentine's day is lame. I've never had a good one though, so I am biased.
22. I think it's funny that everyone likes to tell me to eat more as if I hadn't ever thought about eating because I'm skinny. Hey people, why don't you eat LESS!!!!
    
23. I don't like to play or watch team sports as much as some people. I don't care who wins, ever. FYI - I'm probably someone you should pick last, I have this horrible condition called I AM UNCOORDINATED. (This does not mean I'm not competitive in other ways, just team sports I don't pay much attention to.)
    
24. The following movies are prohibited from ever being watched in my apartment, or around me, or even brought into my apartment at all - The Ring 1 & 2, The Grudge 1 & 2, Exorcism of Emily Rose, and any other movie resembling the scariness levels, story line, directors style, any characteristics of those movies. I don't even watch previews for movies that remind me in any way of these movies.
25. The first pop songs I remember hearing in my life are Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard, Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, and the entire Cosmic Thing album by the B-52's. This could be why I have a deep rooted love for all of those songs/albums, and anything similar sounding. And also acid washed jeans, whistling and odd sounding singers.
    

So there's a few things I'd like to do in the next little while. Some are possible with a lot of help, and others may take a lot longer to accomplish. Any comments are welcome!

1. First things first, what am I going to do after I graduate? I would like to move somewhere but I want it to be a social place where there are lots of people to have fun with. I'm going to be 25 when I finish up this summer, So any ideas?

2. Next I need to tackle the idea of Grad school. Where should I go? I know I probably will need to get on this one soon... I just can't bear the thought of more school at the moment. OR more debt.

3. I want to go to the study abroad in Mexico this summer. Or France. Either one teaches me the local language. Mexico is my first choice. It is probably going to be about $4,000. I have to pay the program fee which takes care of me while I'm there -- that is $2,000. Then I have to pay tuition (about 5 credits worth of spanish) and pay for my round trip travel and other discretionary spending. So I am estimating $4,000. France I'd be living with local families in Nice. Mexico I'd go the last month (JULY) and be staying in the Yucatan peninsula around Playa del Carmen, and exploring the Mayan culture. Also if I do this, I will be deferring my graduation til Christmas instead of August. It is worth it if I go. I just don't know what to do though!

4. Also, I want to go backpacking through Europe. Anyone want to come?! I need to know though, how much money I'll need, any tips for the travel, good places to go, things like that! I've never been out of the U.S. and am in serious need of some world exploration! My friend Andrea and I are talking about doing this next year. Please help us plan properly!

5. Also, if anyone knows anyone I could go stay with for a few weeks in another country, or a cool city in the U.S. and just explore the culture and such, I'd love to go do that too. I'd substitute this for my study abroad in Mexico!

6. Sometime before I die, I want to go work in a foreign orphanage. Mexico, Costa Rica, Romania, or help the starving, or AIDS ridden people in Africa. How can I make this happen? Any tips would be most helpful!

When I got a random free South by Southwest album download I found this lovely little song called Lights and Music by the band Cut Copy. I hear they're from Australia. While this song is a dance beat and may be considered gay techno, kind of like the weird song from HelloGoodbye, this one is fun! I like it! This isn't the original video, but it's all I could find that would allow posting from it. Also I just noticed it was posted on one of my favorite blogs. So I guess great minds think alike. Enjoy.

Well I'm officially a few weeks into my 2nd to last semester. I'm taking 18 credits, and am no longer an employee anywhere. It's an interesting setup for my life. I saved up over $5,000 and am going to be living off that until it runs out. Sometimes, even though I'm at school most of the day like a regular day shift at a job, I still feel so unproductive not being at a job. I've had a job my whole college and highschool career. This just feels off. I will adjust soon enough once the heavy homework load kicks in. I will say that it is really nice being able to sleep a little longer everyday than I've been able to in years. Also I have my nights and weekends back! I've missed them so much!

My classes are interesting. I'm taking Psychopharmacology, which is basically drugs and how they effect the brain. I'm taking Child Abuse/Domestic Violence, and also a Child Development class. These will both be very interesting subjects. I think the class that will try me the most is the Group Psychotherapy class. I signed up for the teacher with the best ratings, and for the first hour of every class we are doing group therapy as a class. So I'm going to be learning A LOT about everyone in the class this semester! Don't ask me to share what I learn, we've all agreed to confidentiality because it's really group therapy, not just mock therapy!


Here is a video clip from Hero. It's a pretty neat movie if you want to see it. It's got Jet Li in it. I really like it.

This is one of the first scenes. The other scenes vary in color, because according to the Chinese (and my teacher) there is an order of color for the more closeness to the truth. I'm not sure the exact order but I guess the movie goes by the color order so each scene is a different color. It's really a cool film.



Another class is survey design. We'll have to design surveys and conduct research at school or around town. This will be a big homework project, and I'm thankful we're doing it in groups. And then my last class is Myths, Magic, and Religion. It's an elective, and it's pretty cool. Right now we're watching Hero. For those of you who've seen this, it's big on symbolism and supernatural abilities. We're going to be studying shamans, medicine men, religions, and other things like witchcraft, etc. It's pretty cool!

I am so excited! I am hoping to be finished by August this summer! Keep your fingers crossed that my last 3 classes will be available in the summer so I'm not stuck in school til Christmas! Also, pray for me that I will be able to find the money to make this happen. Since I have no income currently, it will be a task in itself to make sure I have money for summer!

Last night I went 80's dancing in Salt Lake with some girl friends. It was great fun! We dressed in our finest multi-colored spandex and ugly shirts, and danced the night away to great 80's music including Men Without Hats, The B-52's, New Order, and other awesome bands! We did have to spend a lot of the night pushing guys off the back of us, some guys think they are given free reign to dance dirty with us, but we weren't having it! We were there to dance and have fun, not to meet weirdos! Haha! Thanks to Andrea for getting us to Salt Lake in record time so that we got in for free. I've never seen a Toyota Corolla move that fast, especially with a car load of people. Whenever I have more than 2 people in my car I am pretty sure my axles are going to snap and my wheels will fall off and start rolling down the freeway. Oh my glorious 11 year old car. It is going to fall apart before it ever stops running.

The weekend before we had the ultimate Rock Band experience with my friends Garret, and Scott. And some people they know. It was quite the setup. Mic stands, surround sound, projector screen, and concert lighting. HAHA! It was great! I even mustered up the courage to sing to No Doubt and The B-52's. The best part about it was that the music was so loud I couldn't hear myself so who knows if I have my mother's talent or not!

Anyway, here are a few pre-dancing pictures. Another girl took tons from the actual club and I don't have those from her yet! Also there are some Rock Band pictures first.

For New Year's this year I went to my friend Zane's cabin with his girlfriend Mikaela, and Brandon. His grandparents live in the mountains in Oakley, Utah. It was fun because once you get up to their neighborhood you have to snowmobile around to get to the houses. I'd never snowmobiled so that was a fun new experience! His grandpa came down to the parking lot at the base of the neighborhood and picked us up.

We spent the night at their cabin, and his grandma was so nice and made us pizza and root beer floats. Then we watched a movie and rang in the new year with Martinelli's, popper fireworks, chips and salsa, and a 1 o'clock bedtime. We were all so tired for some reason!

Then this morning we woke up and had a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and ham. Special thanks to his grandma again! She was great! Then the guys had to help Zane's grandpa shovel snow of the back porch roof, so we all went and played outside in the snow. It was so pretty up there with the quaking aspen trees everywhere. After all our hard work outside we had a delicious lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheeses (my favorite lunch!) and then watched another movie and came home.

It was so much fun! Here are a few pictures from the trip...

We were thirsty and thought eating snow would help... nope.

Waiting to whitewash the guys... hehehe.

All bundled up and ready to go play outside!

Admiring each other's manly ability of shoveling snow.

Mikaela leading our expedition into the forest.

Here's a scene from the forest... just kidding it was the backyard!

Keep up the good work guys!

We ate too much junk.

Happy New Year Brandon!

Zane's grandparents have a dumbwaiter... we put all our goodies in it and then sent them to the tv room!