Boredom Gives Way to Blogging

I'm sure no one cares who my celebrity crushes are, but because I'm trying to kill some extra time at home and escape from family, I've decided to post them. Here they are in all their glory:

David Denman, or Roy from "The Office"--I'm in love with his scruff, and the fact that he's a bigger guy. I can't stop looking at him, but I probably should because otherwise my heart won't be able to take all the fluttering and skipping.

John Tenney, or FBI Agent Fritz Howard from "The Closer"--if you watched the show, you'd understand. Again, I love the 5 'o clock shadow.

John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling from "Mad Men"--there is no other silver fox like Slattery. I'll just go swoon now.

And the one, the only, Leonardo DiCaprio, because he's pretty, and has possibly been my celeb crush since I was 10.

Skeet Ulrich. He played the bad boy character from one of my favorite preteen movies from the 90's, The Craft. And how can you not be sexy with a name like Skeet? Mmmm. Just--mmmm.

Richard Armitage. He played Guy of Gisborne in a BBC drama series of "Robin Hood", and my personal favorite, Mr. Thornton from North and South, who is 10 times better than Mr. Darcy, because Thornton actually works for his money.

Another Year Gone

We all can't believe that another year has passed once it gets to the holiday season, but this year has flown by for me. Although, like any other year in the lineup, 2010 seemed to be chalk full of achievements and milestones for me, among other things. Although it's Christmas right now, I feel like I'm emotionally stuck in May, waiting for my summer to begin. Because I love lists and putting things in order, even though my life may be in disarray, here are some of this past year's highlights:

• moved into a new house with 1 bathroom and 5 girls I didn't know, as well as a ward in which I knew no one
  
• met and lived with 2 of my best friends (from that same pack of 5 girls) for about 11 months
• took 20 credits fall semester, 19 credits winter semester, and then maxed out my credit hours during spring and summer semesters
  
• swam in a crater
• went on adventurous bike rides on my bike Gigi-Greta
  
• graduated from BYU
• added texting to my cell phone plan (trust me--it was a big achievement for me)
• got accepted to a BYU study abroad to live in Madrid
• wrote and received my first missionary letter
  
• got my first kiss
• attended the temple for the first time in a long time

As I look back at all that's happened in the last year, I can't believe that things have drastically changed from the beginning of this year to now. What I may have thought to be true at the beginning of the year, don't necessarily apply to the end. Weird how things have changed so much in a year. Bring on 2011!

Have Laptop, Will Travel

That's right. After 2 1/2 years of not having a functioning laptop, I now own a mint-condition, onyx Asus laptop. And I may just be in love. I've only had it for a few short hours, but I've already planned our futures together, or at least what we'll be doing for the next 4 months. Life is going to be so sweet now that I've made the emotional cut from my dinosaur of a desktop into the sleeker present day. Looking at my lack of technological connections, I realized I've been without a laptop and itunes for a little over 2 years, and an ipod for about 4 years. And don't let me forget about texting; I just got it in September, which means that as much as I'd like to be associated with people my age, I'm seriously not a product of my generation. Although bittersweet, I'm glad that I could finally reconnect myself with the rest of society, at least superficially. We'll just have to see what Europe brings.

Side Trips

One of the perks of going on this study abroad (though EVERYTHING is a perk when you're abroad) is that I get to go on side trips. My group is going on specific trips every other weekend, but the other weekends I get to spend however I choose, which is awesome. I'm planning on going to as many places as I can, and the list below shows the distance from Alcalá de Henáres (where I'll be staying right outside of Madrid) to each city.

Places and distances from Alcalá de Henáres:
WITHIN SPAIN---
Toledo-- 122 km, roughly 1 1/2 hours
Zaragoza--284 km, roughly 3 hours
Pamplona-- 407 km, roughly 4 1/2 hours
Barcelona--585 km, roughly 6 hours
Cordoba--428 km, roughly 4 1/2 hours
Salamanca--251 km, roughly 2 hours
Sevilla--565 km, roughly 6 hours
Valencia--358 km, roughly 4 hours
Bilbao--398 km, roughly 4 hours
Cadiz--687 km, roughly 7 hours
Granada--455 km, roughly 5 hours
Segovia--129 km, roughly 1 1/2 hours
Malaga--575 km, roughly 6 hours
Alicante--422 km, roughly 4 1/2 hours

The below cities are places I plan on visiting once the program is over--I have 11 days after the program to make it to London, where I fly out of to return home to San Francisco. Obviously I won't be returning to Alcala de Henares once I get to each city, but this just gives you an understanding of how much I'll be traveling.

OUTSIDE OF SPAIN---
Gibraltar (which is a tip of Spain at the Strait of Gibraltar, right across from Morocco)--719 km, roughly 7 1/2- 8 hours
Toulouse, France--799 km, roughly 8 hours
Lisbon, Portugal--661 km, roughly 6 1/2- 7 hours
Paris, France--1,271 km, roughly 12 hours
Versailles, France--1,264 km, roughly 12 hours
London, England--1,716 km, roughly 17 hours

These are all of the places I can think of, but I'd love feedback. Are there any other places I should visit? What do you think?