Some people are actually requesting these!!

Sorry, but these really make me laugh, and some people are really requesting them! Ah, I should be doing homework.... Oh well.

1. Jack Bauer knows where Carmen San Diego is.
2. Jack Bauer doesn't breathe. The air hides in his lungs for protection.
3. Jack Bauer's house has an alarm system -- not to warn Jack of intruders, but to warn the intruders of Jack.
4. Jack Bauer doesn't lie. He tortures the truth until it admits it is wrong.
5. Jack Bauer can sneeze with his eyes open.
6. Jack Bauer can order a Big Mac at Burger King.
7. If you spell Jack Bauer in a Scrabble game, you win. Forever.
8. Don't ask what Jack Bauer would do for a Klondike bar...
9. Jack Bauer saved money on his car insurance by torturing the gecko.
10. When Jack Bauer was a baby, he took candy from adults.
11. Jack Bauer shops at Costco... without membership.
12. Most children slept with a teddy bear and blanket when they were young, Jack Bauer did the same thing but with a real bear.
13. Jack Bauer never needs to wear a raincoat. Rain knows better than to fall on Jack Bauer.
14. Jack Bauer doesn't aim. He tells bullets where to go.
15. If you run away from Jack Bauer, you're just gonna die tired.

I hope you all enjoy them!! Tune in soon for the next edition!! :)

US Navy Dream

Ok, as most of you know, growing up I had an obsession with the US Navy, specifically Naval Aviation. The Aviation dream I had to give up because of eyesight: it's not good enough. And, I sort of stopped talking about the Navy as I was going to school and got really involved in theatre and stuff. But, it was a dream that never really died. Well, again, as most of you know, as a freshman in college, for a semester I did the Army ROTC: a ton of fun, but not really my thing. It wasn't the Navy. For some reason, the Navy offers an appeal to me like no other branch of the military.
Well, the other day I walked out of the HFAC after class, and lo and behold, there was this huge Navy truck sitting there!! I immediately veered off my course to the library to this amazing sight: my heart was going "pitter-patter" the whole time. It was a simulation: like the Star Wars ride at Disneyland. It was a race car one, which really has nothing to do with the Navy, but it was still fun. Later this week they're going to have an F-18 simulation, and I'm really excited.
With this reemergence of Navy personnel on campus, my love of the Navy fired up again. And I started thinking about it and different opportunities available to me. I love my country and I am a patriot. And one of my greatest dreams is to serve my country. But I don't feel justified for myself dedicating all my time to that job, because there are other things I want to do, and other things I feel I'm meant to do. But, options are opening up for me to do both. We'll see what happens in the future. But I love the Navy; I really do. And one day, I hope I can be a sailor and proudly salute my nation's flag. Hopefully, in uniform on an aircraft carrier. But, one day. The dream is still very much alive....

Desire

I was reading this book and something it was talking about totally got me thinking. The book is called The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister. It's an amazing book. Anyway, he was talking about gifts of the Spirit and attaining them, and that in order to really attain them, the first thing you need is a strong desire. Well, what he was saying relates to all aspects of life: you can get and accomplish anything if you desire it enough. So he briefly told this story to illustrate his point:

"It reminds one of the students who had graduated number one in his class from a leading university. There were others with higher I.Q.'s, others with greater creative genius. Asked why he excelled them all, he replied, "As for the others I cannot say, I only know that I cared like blazes." Somewhere, sometime, that level of caring must surface. Pure obedience and silent endurance are not enough. There must be a burning desire, a reaching out, a seeking, in short, and exhaustive exercise of our combined spiritual, intellectual, and emotional energies, all focused on obtaining these divine gifts."

I just that was really impressive, and something I know I don't use enough: pure desire. If you want to achieve something, you have to put every energy you have towards achieving it: you have to care like the blazes. I think that's really good insight.

Noises Off

Ok, so had anyone seen a film called Noises Off? It's a farce with Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine. I had never even heard of it before. But we watched it in my film class the other day, and I have to say, it was the funniest film I have ever seen in my entire life!! Honestly!! I started laughing at the beginning, and never stopped till the end!! Usually in a comedy, you know, you laugh every couple minutes and maybe laugh really hard once or twice through out the two hours. This is not like this. The entire class never stopped laughing really hard!!! I loved it!!
But, as a precautionary, there is one f-bomb, and one of the girls spends the entire movie basically in her underwear. But other than that it's good. And, like I said, just absolutely hilarious. And Christopher Reeve's character is really great!!!

Valentine's Day: also known as Single's Awareness Day

Yes, Valentine's Day does have an alternative name: Singles Awareness Day. It takes on a whole new meaning when you're in college, and constantly surrounded and bombarded with couples. Honestly, Valentine's Day has never been a point of stress for me: I don't really care at this point that I'm single. It just means I have a good reason to eat a lot of chocolate on that day. Think of it as another Halloween. Sounds good to me.
But, there are many who do not feel the same. So, two of my roommates, also single, decided they were going to carry on the tradition of the Love Suck's party. Previous, a guy in our ward had done it for the past three years, but he's no longer in the ward. So, they got flowers a couple days before the party and let them wilt, and then hung them all over the kitchen and family room. Then they got bad love quotes from movies and stuff and put them all over the walls, had music playing, had cool black lights, and a lot of really good food. It was a lot of fun. So, although not the tradition Valentine's Day full of giving little cards and candy to your sweetheart, it was still a blast to celebrate Single's Awareness Day.

Teacher Shadowing

So as most of you know, my major here in college is theatre education, which means as a career I'll be teaching high school theatre. As part of the education program, you have to go and do a certain amount of hours in actual high schools during the semester, and every semester is increases. This semester I have to do six hours. Three of the hours I go into a classroom and just observe: that's teacher shadowing. Then the other three hours is actually me teaching the class. So I'm a little nervous, because I'll have to do that soon, but hopefully it should be good.
Anyway, so this last Friday I went and did a little of my shadowing hours at a local school called Mountain View. It was really interesting to go and watch this tech class, and the teacher was actually a student teacher herself. But it was interesting. But what this blog is really about, is what was next. The class ended, and I was going to leave as the next class was starting, but then I saw something that made me want to stay longer: a deaf interpreter! I'm totally mesmerized by ASL interpreters, because I know a little and so I just get completely caught up in what they're saying and I completely lose track of whatever else is going on in the world, like the teacher I'm supposed to be observing. But I love ASL! I'm not very good at it, and have a very limited vocabulary, but I love it nonetheless!!!!!!!

Um, what do you think?

I LOVE 24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Character Development

So I'm in a show right now, that's commedia dell'arte, and a bunch of us in the cast were all feeling the same frustrations yesterday at rehearsal, so we all talked about it with our director for a few minutes. In this show, we're all very physical, but in different ways than normal, so it is difficult to learn how to do. But for like the first week and a half of rehearsals, that's all we did: studied and practiced the physical aspects of the characters. This this last week, we started rehearsing from the script and actually talking and stuff. Well, it's all improv, and so it has been really hard, because we all kind of lost or physical abilities, because we were concentrating so much on talking and the story line. So now it's trying to balance out everything and improve everything, and it's really hard and frustrating. And tiring.
So that got me thinking about life in general. We've so many different aspects to our lives and it's frustrating at times trying to balance out everything. But if we work hard at it and keep trying, the pay off and final moments will be amazing and so impressive because of who we have become. Anyhow, thoughts of Kiwi...

Rain!!!!

Yeah!!!! It's raining!! Yes! Raining here in Utah!!! I'm so excited!! I'll be honest: I really don't like the snow. It's really fun to go visit for a week or two, but I hate living in it! I absolutely hate the cold and will take the warm sunshine, flip-flops, and shorts any day of the week! Here, it never rains. It only snows. But today it's raining. Well, sprinkling. But it's still water falling from the sky that's not a snowflake! ;)
Wherever I move to when I get older, is going to be some place where it's normally sunny, and then rains a bit during the winter. That's it. No where where it snows! No sir! I just love the rain and want to go play in it! So love rain and smile when droplets hit your face!!!!!

I couldn't resist...

Ok, this is just a couple more facts. They're so funny!!

1 Explosions do not kill Jack Bauer, they just get stuff out of his way.
2 When Jack Bauer jumps from an airplane, he doesn't fall to the ground. The earth rises to meet him.
3 Jack Bauer went out to the desert, and was bitten by a rattlesnake. The snake died.
4 Jack Bauer does not use doors. He makes his own.
5 The Black Eyed Peas were just The Peas until Jack Bauer heard their music.
6 The "Smoothie" was invented when Jack Bauer needed information from a banana.
7 When Jack Bauer took a stress test, the test failed.
8 When playing "Truth or Dare," Jack Bauer dares you not to tell him the truth.
9 When Batman is in trouble, he turns on the Jack Bauer signal.
10 People with amnesia still remember Jack Bauer.
11 If Jack Bauer lived next door to Kramer, Kramer would knock before entering.
12 Jack Bauer could get off the Lost island in 24 hours.
13 Jack Bauer makes onions cry.
14 Jack Bauer doesn't eat honey, he chews bees.
15 Jack Bauer ended The Never Ending Story.


There's plenty more, but I can only laugh so hard for so long in the hallways before people start looking at me funny! ;) Look soon for the next episode of "Jack Bauer Facts"

Ok.... you have to read these to make you laugh!

Ok, I just had to post a couple of these. They're some of the funniest things I've ever read before, and I honestly laugh out loud when I read them. Though, they probably aren't as funny if you've never seen 24. But, from all the things you've heard about Jack Bauer, and all these, you'll probably get a sense of who Jack Bauer really is!!! Enjoy!!! They're called, "Jack Bauer Facts":


1 Jack Bauer never retreats, he just attacks in the opposite direction.
2 When a convicted terrorist was sentenced to face Jack Bauer, he appealed to have the sentence reduced to death.
3 There are three leading causes of death among terrorists. The first two are Jack Bauer, and the third one is heart attack from hearing Jack Bauer is coming for them.
4 As a child, Jack Bauer taught his dog to play dead...once.
5 Life doesn't give Jack Bauer lemons. Life asks him which fruit he wants.
6 If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".
7 Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
8 The state of California plans to reduce violent crime by changing the method of capital punishment from lethal injection to Jack Bauer.
9 Jack Bauer could strangle you with a cordless phone.
10 When Christopher Henderson tried to shoot Jack, his gun was, in fact, loaded. The bullets were just too scared to come out.

And, just because it's me, I love this one!!!:
Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

There are many more, but I thought I'd just give you a couple at a time. And, I was starting to laugh too hard in the very quiet library! Go Jack Bauer!!! ;)

My name!

So I finally found out the origin and meaning of my name!
Here's a couple variations and differences:

"Kiely"
Origin: Pacific Islander
Meaning: Boomerang

"Kiley"
Origin: Irish
Meaning: Attractive

"Kiley" (male version)
Origin: Irish or Gaelic
Meaning: A wood or a church

"Elizabeth"
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Consecrated to God

And I did a couple searches for the family too! Just for fun! It's very enlightening!! :)

"Rosemary"
Origin: Latin
Meaning: Dew of the sea
"Scott"
Origin: English
Meaning: From Scotland
"Devin"
Origin: Irish
Meaning: Poet
"Denise"
Origin: Greek
Meaning: Sacred to dionysos
"Megan"
Origin: Greek
Meaning: Pearl
"Ryan" (how appropriate!)
Origin: Gaelic
Meaning: Little King
"Christian"
Origin: Greek
Meaning: Anointed
"Casey"
Origin: Irish
Meaning: Alert, vigorous
"Stephen" (also how appropriate!)
Origin: English
Meaning: A coronate
"Michael"
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Who resembles God
"Betsy"
Origin: English
Meaning: God's promise

Sleep: one of the essentials of life

Here's an article on how to get better sleep: it also discusses a little about the importance of sleep, and how we often overlook how important it is: I completely agree. Getting enough sleep really helps with your health, I promise!!!

7 Hidden Ways to Get Better Sleep

Go From Restless to Well-Rested in No Time

-- By Christine Seymour, Health & Fitness Writer

As a college student, I had my fair share of sleepless nights. But as I matured (and learned from the adverse affects I suffered because of those late nights), I began to realize that at the core of a healthy, long life is good sleep. Surprisingly, what we hear about health usually revolves around exercise and nutrition; the truth about sleep—one of the most important factors to attaining vitality—is often left out of the mix.

Losing sleep is certainly not something to be taken lightly. An occasional night of tossing and turning is normal, but continued patterns of this behavior can cause real problems in your ability to function normally. Research shows that inadequate sleep can have disastrous effects on your weight loss efforts, impair your concentration, and even mimic the symptoms of impaired glucose tolerance (which can lead to diabetes and hypertension).

Your mood also suffers when you don’t get enough shut-eye, causing you to become disoriented on the job, fatigued behind the wheel of a car, or irritated at home. But more importantly, these mood swings can affect your relationships with others, and even lead to depression.

But the good news is that, starting tonight, you can improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. Here are 7 ways to get back on track. You’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time!

1. Create the right environment. Get your body and mind in the habit of using your bedroom for sleeping. If you frequently sit in bed to pay your bills, do your homework, watch television, eat, talk on the phone, etc., your mind will expect that the bedroom is for daytime activities. Instead, create an environment that is suitable for sleeping. Equip your room with soft lighting, comfortable bedding, and relaxing music. Other tricks include turning the temperature down a few notches, and turning the clock away from your view. Recent studies reveal that watching your sleep time vanish into the morning hours only makes you more anxious and less able to fall asleep.
   
2. Get yourself into a routine. This is especially hard for people with wavering, active schedules, like students and parents. On busy days, it is difficult—but crucial—to be firm with a routine. If you normally don't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning, or if you don't have a sleep schedule at all, try going to bed a half an hour earlier each week, or set a time to get in bed and stick with it. Eventually your body will get used to going to sleep at that time and it will begin to come naturally.
   
3. Limit food and beverage intake before bed. As you lie down to sleep, acids in the stomach level out, making heartburn and indigestion more likely to occur. Also, your metabolism increases slightly to digest food, which can also raise your energy level. Stop eating at least three hours before your scheduled bedtime. If you must snack on something, keep it small, and avoid high-fat foods, which take longer to digest. Instead, have a granola bar, some toast, or a small bowl of cereal, but keep your portion small. Say no to stimulants like caffeine and nicotine, which can raise blood pressure and energy levels. Alcohol may be a depressant, but after its sedative effects wear off, your sleep patterns will suffer.
   
4. Consider a natural approach. Certain herbal teas can help you relax and fall asleep. Chamomile is a popular herb that slows the nervous system and promotes relaxation, for example. As always, consult your health care provider, use herbs and other supplements only as directed, and make sure to read labels. Some herbs may react with certain types of medication or cause adverse effects in individuals with liver disease, Parkinson's disease, and pregnant or nursing women. Other liquids, such as a small glass of warm milk, may also help.
   
5. Know when and how to nap. When energy levels drop around 3-5 p.m., most of us desire a little shut-eye. Napping is okay, as long as you do it wisely. Most sleep counselors recommend napping for no longer than 20 minutes. Exceeding 20 minutes could leave you feeling groggier and make it harder for you to fall asleep at bedtime. If you know you have to stay up late, or if you have an erratic sleep schedule (especially new moms), take a nap during the day. You’ll be more productive and in a better mood.
   
6. Take control of your worries. Let’s face it—most of us lead very stressful lives. Stress, surprises, and changes can take a toll on your sleep habits. Schedule some downtime each day for meditative activities like stretching or a hot bath. Try to decrease your brain activity before bed by writing down your thoughts in a journal and closing the book on the day. If thinking keeps you up at night, get out of bed and try to be productive. Deal with those thoughts (pay the bill that you are worried about forgetting, make a to-do list, etc.) in a positive way, and come back to bed when you’re ready to sleep.
   
7. Get a check-up. If you toss and turn most nights, it may be time to see a physician. You could be suffering from one or more sleep disorders, including insomnia and sleep apnea. The sooner you find out what's wrong, the sooner you can fix it. Sleep disorders are dangerous to your health, so if you suspect something is wrong, tend to it immediately.

The new Me

So, if you haven't heard, I'm in a show here at school called "The Faithful Friend". It's a commedia dell'arte show. It's really funny. Ironic I'm in it, because all the dialogue in the show is improved, and I hate improve. Oh well. It's hilarious. So, I'm Arlecchino, and I just wanted to show you guys some pics so you can get an idea of who I'm training to be. He's a mischievous servant who's always causing trouble and tumbling everywhere and hitting people with a slapstick or being hit with the slapstick. ;) I'm really excited. It's very tiring, but I'm still excited about it.

I have no control, but hey, I'm happy with who I am

Ok, so I've done it again. But it's not my fault this time!! It was totally my friend! She introduced me to a new TV show. I know you've all heard about it. It's called "24". Yeah, I know. It's really popular right now and everybody seems to watch it and love it and thinks that Jack Bauer is the greatest character ever created. Even one of my professor's went off one day in class on a tangent about how "24" is the greatest show ever and Jack Bauer is completely the man. It was really hilarious. But, I didn't really care: talk wasn't enough to get me to actually watch it; though my interest was peaked, not enough for me to go and seek it out. Plus, I have no TV so I can't watch the current ones anyway. And, I really don't need another obsession.
Well, that was all fine and dandy and worked perfectly, until I started hanging out more with a friend of mine. Oh man. We ended up making a deal one night, I would watch "24" if she watched something I picked. Long story. Anyway, I agreed to it because I'd been interested, and if it was torture, I only had to watch the first two episodes: I could handle that. My friend chose that show because she said she knew I would love it. Well, unfortunately for me to say, I guess I'm very predictable. Because I do really like it. Last night, my friend and I stayed up till 2:30 finishing the first season. I know, the entire time, before, during, and after, I'm thinking "You're wasting your life away. You have so much to do." I realize this of course; but then the other side of me says to the first side "Oh well. This is great! Give me more!!". So, you can obviously see which side has more influence on my actions.
Anyhow, it turned out to be really good, and I really like it. I like the whole action, suspense, secret government section, kick-butt main character type of show. It's kind of like "Alias". So, you guys might all like it, because it is pretty good. Though, probably a lot funnier when you've got someone there with you who's seen all the seasons and makes little comments about the Jack Bauer euphemisms. It's very funny.
But, if any of you are thinking about checking it out, I'll be honest. Starting it, I was like "This is good. Just, good." I didn't really see the whole amazing Jack image everyone keeps going on and on about and quoting. But, then I saw it in the last episode of the season. Exactly what everyone was talking about. And I have to say, at that moment, I was like "Jack is the man. I love Jack." It was pretty cool, and apparently, that was just the beginning from the rest of the seasons. That's to be expected.
So yeah. If you keep going in the first season, you'll really like it. Some things are totally unexpected. Anyway, that was a really long blog, but you can all now obviously see what's on my mind, and I'll tell ya, it ain't homework. Which, is a really bad state of mind to be in. But, I'm in it and kinda like it. :)
So, check it out, or not. But either way, thanks for getting to know me a little better by reading this, and have a wonderful day!!!

Children

Ok, so I found this really cool quote when I was reading a book today that really struck me. I completely agree with it. I love children so much, and look so highly upon them, that this quote just meant a lot to me. It's by Bruce D. Porter, from a book called "The King of Kings":

"And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof" (Zechariah 8:3). That verse for me has ever since personified the joy and peace of the earth's Sabbath day- a time to come in which children will grow up free from fear, from neglect and abuse, from darkness and ignorance; a time in which the little ones of the world will live under the seal of a higher law and a loving Lord. I yearn for the day when in every village and city of the world, boys and girls will play in innocence, and every child know the peace of a happy home. For me, that is the Millennium.

That just stirs up such emotions in me. I hope you all like it too.

The Corn!!

First Blog Ever!!

Ok, so I saw Jeremy had one of these for his mission, and it looks really cool. I thought I'd try it out, because it seems like a good way to keep in touch with friends and family. So, check it out every now and again to see if I actually do anything with it!!! It's my first blog ever!!!!