Lessons learned

There are a few key things I have learned this past month:
1. Never assume that your friend/coworker will enjoy your hokey song about a trailer for sale or rent as much as you do.
2. The song "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam, the one that goes "o where o where can my baby be, the lord took her away from me" was originally a Buddy Holly song.  Talk about nutty!  On that note the song "O Boy!" from She & Him (Zooey Deschanel's band) was also a Buddy Holly song.
3.  Bobby Darin is awesome.  So is Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros.
4. Never  in any circumstance ever tell a man he reminds you of a lady.  His ego will be mortally wounded and he will not only never let you forget, but he will take it upon himself to let the whole ward know how mean you are.
5.  Having the Olympics every two years is quite enough.  Anymore than that and my head might explode from awesomeness.

O Boy!

Trailer for sale or rent

enjoy :)

Holy Toledo!

Yesterday we went to Toledo, the holy city. Toledo is famous for its religious tolerance, marzapan, swords and cathedrals. The city is so old, and there's evidence everywhere of how cultures in the past have been able to work together.

Mazapan is surprisingly tasty by the way. Its nothing like the marzipan that they have in the states, I don't think so anyway. The spanish omelet the "tortilla" is also very good. The cold rice and incredibly runny egg we ate yesterday, not so much.

The picture with the giant glare is a replica of the cathedral made from mazapan. The middle is a shot of the cathedral. My camera really doesn't do justice to the beautiful stain glass art on the windows. The third is just me. Hola.

Madrid! The happy version

As promised, this one should be much less complain-full :)

Yesterday Miranda and I decided to go into a part of Madrid that we haven't been to before. We were going to go to the Prado museum at 6 so we left at 1ish and decided that we would go to the gardens and other things around that area. Well we got off of our train and started walking around. We went in a few stores, I got two of the same dress in different colors so that my seester and I can finally have something matching to wear :). Anyways we walked quite a while and it occured to us that we were going the wrong way so we

went back to the metro, took the tram one stop over, got out and low and behold-the Reina Sophia! We weren't expecting to go at all that day but we figured "what the hey". There was

actually a pretty long line so I asked a lady how much it cost and she said

that at that time it was free! What a coincidence! The Reina Sophia has more contempora

art, and I think it's arguable to say that it's most famous painting is Guernica by Pablo Picasso. Pictured right. It's a huge mural and lovely to see. I wish I understood art better.ry

We only went through two floors of the museum

because it is so dang huge, but we still have three months to come back.

Then we walked around, ate our lunch, got lost again and saw another building with art exhibitions. This one was having it's grand opening and it was only going to be free for one more day. Is that great or what?! This one had contemporary art but it also featured the works of Delacroix. An odd combination no?

Then of course we walked some more, found a group of girls from our program at a souvenir stand and all went to the Prado together. Those in the art class had a treasure hunt of sorts to do so me and another girl Jenna walked around. All of the art is so beautiful and it's all stu

ff you've seen before in pictures. It's kind of surreal to be honest.

Then on the way back a lovely man with a greasy ponytail and his nose in a book told us to be quiet because we were bothering him and that this is not our country. Very charming indeed.

Well that was my day, wish me luck that I get to try some chocolate y churros this week!

Above picture:

1. First train ride to Madrid

2. Santa Maria Cathedral in Madrid

3. Reina Sophia

4. A lovely garden area in the middle of the Reina Sophia

a few updates

So I've now been in Spain a few days and I must say it's been quite an adjustment.

My roommate Miranda and I live in a small apartment with a lady named Blanca Flores. Blanca is very nice lady but it seems as if we are more like boarders than part of a family. There is another girl here too from Taiwan which is really quite funny because some way or another I always have an Asian roommate. Only when I lived in Florida did I not have an asian roommate, but I worked with Asians for about 10 hours a day so I think that counts too :)

The culture here kind of reminds me of divergent evolution. Dumb analogy They're pretty similar to our own, but with little quirks that throw you off sometimes. Everyone here wears some kind of neutral color. Whenever I see someone who isn't wearing something other than black, beige, brown or blue I almost always do a double take because I'm so surprised. On the train to Madrid today I saw a lady dressed in complete beige. It's such a beautiful country with so much history but the way the people dress is kind of depressing. They also all smoke, so I don't know if it's just me but they all seem to have an unhealthy yellow tint to them.

We had our first class yesterday and I sat through the whole thing thinking "why on earth did I do this to myself". I decided to take the literature class rather than the architecture class because in a moment of weakness I decided I should do something challenging for me. It's kind of unnerving to sit through a class where your teacher keeps saying as he goes through the syllabus "o by the way Haley, you'll probably hate this too". Great. And there's only 5 people in the class, so no fluffing this one.

So far this seems like a really depressing blog post. I'm really sorry. My next post will be much happier, promise! Madrid is wonderful, really it is!

The land of the Spanish omelet

Hola todos! Big news in Haley town. In just three days I will be on a plane to Spain where I will dwell for 3 months! It's kind of hard to believe and I'm super nervous but excited of course.

As mentioned in the title of this here blog post it has been known to me that the Spanish omelet is one of the most popular foods in Spain. Those who know me best would realize this is a cause for much anxiety on my part. I dislike eggs very much. My aunt once used a very fitting term to describe them which I have hitherto implemented in my own life: butt fruit.

This is the part where my mom would say "If that is your biggest problem then I want your life"

Quite right. I have no room to complain. Very few people have the opportunity to experience new cultures and to travel. Even if I have to eat a few eggs I think it will all be worth it in the end.

To prevent this post from becoming any lamer I'm going to end right here.

Adios!

My new obsession

I saw the new Muppet Movie a few days ago. I really know squat about the muppets, but this movie was so great! It makes me want to watch all of the movies and shows I've missed the last thirty years.

Anyways, I love all things Muppet now. I've bought Muppet nail polish, I've been listening to the soundtrack all weekend. I also have a desire to play the banjo just so that I can play "Rainbow connection" if you haven't heard it you should! It's so beautiful.

I also want to learn how to whistle like this:

whoever that is whistling has mad skills.

Things I've been loving on lately

1. The Next Iron Chef: Super Chef Edition. This show is so intense. All of these chefs are the best of the best, so the competition is intense and the stakes are so high. I want every one of them to win because they all deserve it!
2. Bears. I finally got a spot in Dr. Tom Smith's research laboratory involving bears. Dream. Come. True!
3. The Awful Waffle. Emily has been telling me every day for a month how good it is and we finally went. Changed my life. For reals. I don't know what they put in my waffle, but it must have been some kind of drug because now it's all I think about. So goooooooooood.
4. Chicken Amore by Hungry Girl. So delicious and so easy to make. Really low cal too. Win win with that one.

Harold and the purple sweater.

In case you had a vastly deprived childhood, the above is a reference to the o so wonderful Harold and the Purple Crayon. I happen to be in the Harold B Lee library and am wearing a purple sweater. I thought it was pretty clever...
So here I am. Friday night at the library. There's fifteen minutes till the music turns on and I simply can't read another article on euthanasia My clock makes sounds like someone is walking down a hall. For the first hour I was here it kept physicking me out. I bet all the people around me were getting a little worried that I was paranoind what with all the looking up and all around I did. Pobrecitos.
I think I've spent more time in the library than I ever had in my whole college career and I always have to stay until the music starts playing. I find it really hard not to judge the people who leave five minutes before the music comes one. I mean, you've stayed here for so long anyways. Am I the only one who has an overwhelming curiosity to see if they will yet again play Mrs. Robinson? What's wrong with you people!

In other words, I missed both 11:11 11-11-11. I fail at life.
Well time to go!

Haley Boyle's food revolution

Yes, it is time for my bimonthly blog update, which can only mean one of two things:

1. I have loads of homework I should be doing, but really don't have to get done until later so I'm doing my regular shirking of responsibilities

or..

2. I've eaten a whole bunch of crap and must therefore proclaim to the world of my apparent addiction to food.

If you guessed a)1 or b)2 or c) all of the above, congrats! you win!

Anyways, emilia and i have come to a serious decision that we'll probably die an early death if we don't start rethinking our eating habits. So we did what any normal person would do. Bought a bagel bucket from Einsteins, a few pints of ice cream and vowed that once conference was over

that we would eat healthy. We actually did really well for they first three days. Emily made healthy enchiladas, I made ratatouille, did the whole carb counting shin dig and whatnot. We were on our way to heaven in a little row boat, but then Emilia's friend from home came down, and you can't feed a guest rabbit food. So the diet was delayed until further notice. Needless to say I returned to my bad habits. Today I found myself eating nothing but cookies, and a few grapes. I made about 50 cookies yesterday, and I swear I ate at least 20 of them today. My heart feels like it's beating sludge. Not even kidding. Does that stop me? I guess not.

Never fear! We're starting back up tomorrow with all the vigor and might two twenty somethings can muster. With the help of myfitnesspal.com and the BYU aerobics program I shall say adios Mike Wazouski! I've decided it would be best to update my progress on here, just so that I have some kind of motivation, because for some reason being healthy isn't motivation enough...

Most exciting isn't it? Yes, I thought so.

You can't roller skate in buffalo herd

but you can be happy if you have a mind to. Knuckle down buckle down Do it do it do it!

Today it's raining.- you know what that means?...

That's right. Toast. In this case Nutella (aka ambrosia) toast. With Hello Kitty on it of course thanks to my toaster which is pretty much the envy of all other toaster owners. Anyways I would like to thank the man or woman who invented Nutella for helping me discover the finer things in life. I'm not sure why it took me till college to realize what I had been missing. I am throughly convinced that the inventors have received a one way ticket to the Celestial Kingdom, assuming of course that they have not been translated already.

In other news Kid History is one of the funniest things I've seen in forever. I've wasted way too much time watching it.

My homestate decorates it's freeways- does yours?

I didn't really notice this before but Utah's freeways are very dull. While I think tax payers money could be better spent on things that are more important, I must say it's a lot more pleasant to look at walls that are decorated with lizards and snakes than just concrete. I haven't mastered taking pictures while moving, so none of these pictures do justice, but you can get the gist I think. Some of these I found online too.

THis one is my favorite, it's too bad I didn't get most of it

I haven't seen this one before, but its pretty neat no?

Not too great, but hey- it's home!

I'll buy you hat, a really big one...commodor

I really want a wide brimmed hat. Where on earth does one wear such a large hat though? The Kentucky Derby? As far as I can tell I won't be going there any time soon. Part of me just wants to buy the hat anyway in the hopes that some day I am asked to some kind of convention that requires such an object. But I have a closet full of things that I'm waiting to have a use for. In my sad experience I've come to realize that if I buy something expecting to use it sometime, I will most likely never use it. Such is the sad sad tale of an orphan's wardrobe.

one of those people...

Today I watched a video of a service dog that learned to surf, and no kidding, I was tearing up. I felt very much like i was this lady:



only hopefully less... like that

Here's the video about the dog in case you were wondering:

You might be a redneck if...

your bed propped up by cinder blocks falls over and you smack your teeth on a ¢50 bowl from DI

Or... if you had nothing but a plate full of meat for lunch

A little post for my roomie who dwelleth in Inglaterra

Here's a cute old song about England one could listen to whilst not doing their homework:

the new lord Voldemort

We keep getting in the mail these fashion magazines that no one ordered. We can't figure out why we're getting them and they're a little odd sometimes. This month's magazine feature Tilda Swinton, and why on earth she allowed herself to be photographed in this manner is beyond me. This one is by far my favorite---------------->

raisins are always optional

I don't even like raisins.
However, Ms. Emily left me a whole bag of them.
So I figured what the heck.
I can't tell you how tasty this bread is.
The best part is, it doesn't use much of my precious milk
and it's whole grain,
so I don't feel as bad eating the whole thing in one day.

So here you are:

Whole-Wheat Cinnamon-Raisin Bread on the Food Network
try it, you'll like it :)

los cereales

I'm not sure what it is but I just love cereal. I mean the concept of cereal sounds disgusting. Mmmm chemical coated dehydrated marshmallows and artificially flavored O's. I do hope with the advent of yet another remake of Superman it will also bring back Superman Life, my personal favorite. In the mean time I will have to numb my sorrow by watching cute Sesame Street clips.

Did I mention I love cherries?

When I was a kid I always wanted to eat a bowl of cherries while taking a bubble bath. I don't think mom would have gone for that though.