This is what I mean when I talk about the cats...leave it to some Japanese kid.

So That's About How It Happened...

and then I had a sister.

CONGRATULATIONS to the newlyweds Will and Kristen Meservy! We pretty much think you are an adorable couple and we are happy you our family!

Sad news guys

Foofi passed away 2 days ago. He was found stuck half way in the tube in the cage. I think he has stomach problems. He ate too much too soon. Maybe diabetes. But he did get fat and lazy the past couple of months. If there's a hamster heaven,he'll be there.
He will be missed greatly.

Halloween 2010

Here are some pictures from my radical halloween (spent like a true Nevadan//Vegan).  The first -- Our ward party which featured a DJ and an impromtu band who played covers of The Killers, OK Go, Coldplay, and more. . . not too shabby.   

Of course my costume was a vicious zombie...of course my time spent in Japan led me to always be a terrific photo taker... 

The last was at one of the top ranked haunted houses in the nation (#4 I think)--we went as a group.

Chris Callister Prank (ala Dan Reynolds) -- An added bonus for those of you who are deserving.  I pulled this one at least 5 times this Halloween and got great physical reactions out of those pranked.  So hilarious.

Congratulations to the newest called missionary, Cody Webb!

He's going to the Houston Texas Mission!

I thought it was cool that as I was searching under the google images for Houston Texas, this picture of the temple was one of the top images. Cody gets to go there. Legit.

ps I'll write ned and let him know the fantastic news, asap.

Somethings I've Learned--

1.  If you are an Imagine Dragons fan best thing to do for an update is to check their Facebook or Wikipedia Page.

2.  President Monson has a biography out called To The Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S Monson by Heidi S. Swenson.  He looks very dashing on that cover and being a fan, I am looking to invest haha.  I felt like that would be a very Pres. Monson type thing to say.

3.  I just finished reading Freakonomics by Steven Leavitt (famed economist under age 40) and am now on to Black Rain and Silence.  (Though both are Japanese novels--one on the atomic bomb dropping and the other on Christians being persecuted and forced to renounce their religion in the 1600s)

4.  I am somewhat ET-like in that I have a bump between my eyes because my swimming goggles are a little too small for my head.  So if you see me, please don't run away.  Don't be afraid.

5.  Sometimes at the stupidest times we all miss Ned.  I even ran into a girl who came to his farewell--she is very cute and I thought, wow, where is Ned now, hahaha...it's fantastic when you are like getting back but of course it's not so cool when you are a young missionary...so probably we shouldn't mention that to him.  Just shooting from the hip here.

What I Envision When I Consider Will and Kristen Having Children

This kid definitely has "genius tendencies".

i had a BLT yesterday.. but it didn't compare...

one day elise was kind enough to invite me to your blog.. and it made me feel really cool. i was also told to write something at some point.. so here you go!

idaho is lovely. i have class everyday at 7:45. but most days i have to be there early, which means like 7:15.. sometimes 7. its usually dark. pretty though.



i'm taking a class called IBC (Integrated Business Core) which is where we have two classes each day, with all of the same people. We have four teachers that switch off their subjects which are Finance, Organizational Behavior, Marketing, and Supply Chain. In this class we start up a company on campus and run it throughout the semester. Before deciding what to sell we took a trip to Badger Creek. Its a beautiful piece of land right between Driggs and Tetonia, that BYU-Idaho owns. I don't really mind camping.. but don't really like camping when its 20 degrees at night. It was just a little bit chily. We had a lot of fun though and definitely connected as a company! we were able to climb the power pole, the giant swing, the incline pole, and participate in other team building activities.


(this is the power pole.. pretty legit.. you climb to the top.. then jump off)

my favorite was the giant swing... everyone holds you on this rope and you have this twisty tie rope that you hold onto up at the top. When you let go of that rope you are gone. so cool. of course i screamed... it seemed like the thing to do. :)


At Badger Creek we presented our ideas to our company and then decided to sell jewelry and ties. Our company is called "Tie the Knot." cliche and cheesy. yes. and we love it. Our first day we sold $850 worth of merchandise, which is amazing! There are four other companies running, which have already been open for a week and have barely sold $200. we were pretty excited.


(this is our booth.. two of the guys from our company are sporting our cool "tie the knot" shirts.. classy.. well kind of. )

it is so fun having cody up here. i stop by randomly.. and he stops by randomly.. its really nice having a brother here. He has awesome roommates, that are all freshman as well. He has been having a blast! one day they took me to twizzleberry (our version of yogurtland.. or fro yo.. or whatever place you want to insert) love them.



By the way... take your bets! the papers are in.

well this is pretty much my life. its a lot of fun, just a little bit busy which is good. we miss you all.. so much! and can't wait to see you at thanksgiving! love you all!



P.s. HELLO HELLO HELLO! keep livin'. love cody.

The Lament of the "Spike Girls"

Let's just say, our intramural volleyball team had a short hiatus like the Spice Girls.

And their scandalous style too. I had to go home and change because my capris were too "yoga-like" (apparently you can't mix sports).

"never give up on the good times..."

goodreads.com

Well, you know all about the coolness of sites like ratemyprofessor.com which is extremely useful for finding good teachers your first few years of college and getting the low down on how they teach and how tough they are.  But do you know about goodreads.com?  I recently found out about another way cool site-- goodreads.com.

The premise is that you can keep track of and rate/review all the books you read.  They have pretty much every book ever on the site and you can read synopses or updates on new books by favorite authors.  You can also "friend" your friends and see what they read or recommend.

I am on this, Jeremy Foote and some others are too.  I like it because then I can look back at great books I've read from time to time.  I think the coolest thing here is that there are a lot of serious readers on it so that if you want some great opinions on what books to read you can rub shoulders with the wits of your very own wise-man.  You need their names or emails to find people (a lot of people go by first name only).  My email is joemeservy@gmail.com

www.goodreads.com

A Banana Fosters French Toast General Conference Morning

Ingredients:

French Toast-
1-2 Tablespoons Butter
6-8 pieces bread
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Banana Topping-
1 Tablespoon of butter
2 bananas, finely diced (add more if you like)
1/2 C pancake syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon dark rum (optional)

Instructions:
1. Beat eggs in a wide shallow bowl with a whisk. Add cinnamon, vanilla extract and nutmeg. Mix all ingredients together.

2.Melt butter over medium low heat in a non-stick griddle or skillet making sure to coat the entire skillet.

3.Dip bread slices (one at a time) in the egg mixture making sure to coat each side. You do not want to completely soak the bread, just coat the exterior of the bread. Place the coated bread into the skillet. Repeat this procedure one at a time until the skillet is full.

4.Turn the bread when the bottom side turns a golden caramel color. Cook until both sides develop a golden caramel color.

5.To make the banana topping: Melt butter in a small non-stick pan over low medium heat. Add bananas. Cook until bananas begin to soften. Add cinnamon, vanilla extract, rum and pancake syrup. Continue cooking until the syrup and bananas are hot.

6.Spoon the banana syrup over the French toast. You may top with additional butter if desired. Enjoy!

Whipping Cream Topping (thanks to Kristen):
1 pint Whipping Cream mixed with 1/8 C powdered sugar.

Absolutely delicious breakfast, even if you cannot find any rum (to add) in Utah. ;)

An El Salvadorian Experience in Provo?

To be completely honest, this post is primarily because I am sick of seeing myself in those flannel pants on the very top of this blog. haha. We don't need another post from me...who I sometimes wonder is the only person who posts to this blog.

Yes that is a challenge!

Because I was feeling down because I missed talking to Ned today, and I love Latino cultures and food, and because I needed to try some new food for a class assignment (I know. I have the coolest classes.) I tried some El Salvadorian food tonight!

If anyone who is in Provo is interested on going there on a date, the restaurant is just off center street past 300 w. It is called El Salvador Restaurant (hard to miss with that name).



I ran into Elder Miller (who served in our ward) and his fiance. They were so sweet and helped me order as they raved about how wonderful you all are. Miller loves our family and especially mom.

So the moment you are all waiting for. I ordered:


Bean and Cheese Pupusas and (yes) a mandarin Jarritos.

Pupusas kind or reminded me of a sopapillas/pita and a burrito. The beans and cheese are between the pita-like substance and then you top it with lettuce and sauce.

They were good, but to be honest I would much rather have a bean and cheese burrito from Robertos. And as for a Jarritos: I had often heard great things about them (but never had one being one who doesn't really like soda), and it was a nice flavor, but definitely made me feel sick from all the carbonation. ;)

Overall it was a fun experience and made me want to try more exotic and cultural foods. Any suggestions?

Christmas Pajamas in September

After an attempt to warm-up at a small small campfire tonight i decided to whip these bad boy matching christmas pajamas out.



okay so maybe I already got them out earlier this week, but you can see the excitement in my face. They've literally saved my life, or at least a few dozen nights sleep in my lifetime.

I think my roommates probably think I am a little strange for wearing these, but they really do attract all the boys! ;)

ps i apologize for not getting a full pajama shot. it was kind of difficult to do with myself. However, you know what the pajamas look like and if you don't..well,use your imagination...it is pretty close to that.

Mom, I hope you get yours out soon too! And maybe you'll even want to listen to Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire or Last Christmas just to get in the spirit of things. Christmas is only like 3 and 1/2 months away! Plus Liv once told me that you can start listening to Christmas music in July, so it is safe.

Anyways, thank you pajamas and Thank you Santa. Goodnight.

because i miss him tonight...

Tell them how it is Ned.

Hollow Ceramic Fruit. Whoever Knew It Would Be So Difficult?

I decided that you needed to see all aspects and angles of my oddly shaped and oddly arranged ceramic fruit....or at least I was going to make you see all sides of it. ;)

Here are some insights into this arrangement:

1. class assignment for one of my SA-WEET class: intro to ceramics.
2. had to join 3 fruits or veggies. all must be hollow and have different textures and sizes.
3. Cantelope was probably the easiest fruit to make. wait, all mine were EASIER (in comparison to others), hence the eclectic-ness.
4. Yes. That is a cantelope, peach, and squash. Yes I am sure. I think.
5. we get to color it next week!
6. I plan on finally reading this pottery book I bought myself 2 years ago. It's time to get on top of that.

Mom Showed Me This-- And I Thought It Was Hilarious

A Lesson: Don't read books like Hunger Games just because everyone is doing it.

BYU Students Hold the Guinness World Record NOW.

My sister helped fill these balloons for hours.  Miracle worker.

Happy Anniversary to a Smashing Pair!

Mom. Dad. Sorry I wasn't there to celebrate with you and the boys. But I think you guys are the best parents ever. Look how far you've made it! Maybe one day I can have my 27(?) anniversary too. ;) love you!

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

This is one of the best books I've read this year--perhaps the coolest.  I highly recommend this book.  It's chocked full of really great ideas.  If you haven't heard of it, Randy Pausch is a professor who gave a last lecture at the prestigious CMU after a terminal diagnosis with cancer.

The lecture was so captivating that he wrote a book which has sold 4.5 million copies and been a NY Times Best Seller.

Furthermore,

• The Pittsburgh City Council declared November 19, 2007 to be "Dr. Randy Pausch Day".
• In May 2008, Pausch was listed by Time as one of the World's Top-100 Most Influential People.
• Randy was named Pittsburgher of the Year 2008.
• On May 30, 2008, Randy received a letter from then President George W. Bush thanking him for his commitment to the Nation's youth.
• On February 4, 2009, The Walt Disney Company dedicated a tribute plaque at Walt Disney World near the "Mad Tea Party" attraction with a quote by Randy that reads "Be good at something; It makes you valuable ... Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome."
• The Walt Disney Company also created the Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University, which will support two graduate students.
• Per Jared Cohon's announcement on the day of the Last Lecture, a raised pedestrian bridge at CMU that connects the Computer Science building and the Center for the Arts is named after Pausch, symbolizing the way he linked the two disciplines.

Official Website
The Last Lecture (live)

Mitt Romney is VERY cool.

BYU is AMAZING! The Fifth Floor is the Best!

And it was featured on news like CNN here.

World's Best Pianist Contest

Okay, So I know I just posted a blog post like minutes ago and there is like an unwritten code that you shouldn't post two post back to back. But the I have to brag for a moment, because this was the COOLEST thing ever.

Yes, you guessed it. I went to the XV Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition Last night. I was 6 rows behind the greatest world pianists.

Here's the low down. There were only 6 competitors left:
2 from Cina
2 from Ukraine
1 from Japan
1 from Russia

I, however, only got to hear 3 of them: the Chinese man, a Ukrainian man, and the Russian man.

They played with the Utah Symphony which was already cool. But seriously, it was one of the coolest things I have ever been too! These pianists were extraordinary.

3 of the 6 contestants played Rachmaninoff and 2 of the 3 actually played the exact same numbers, which I personally think kind of hurt them. But it probably helped the 3rd guy playing the different # of Rachmaninoff.

Here were the winners (I know Will and Joe are eager to know if their Mission Countries won or not. Don't worry Dad and Ned. There was at least one French contestant which is pretty amazing):

6th Place: Zhang Zuo from China -played Rachmaninoff #2

5th Place: Kotaro Fukuma from Japan -played Schumann (sorry Joe...but he was top6!)

4th place: Yunjie Chen from China -Chopin #1 (He was brilliant and he won Best National Pianist in China at age 12!!)

3rd place: Dmitri Levkovich from Ukraine and now Canada -played Rachmaninoff #2

2nd Place: Serhiy Salov from Ukraine -played Brahms #2 (I think he possibly got @nd place because he was the only contestant to play a piece in Major)

And 1st place (you guessed it): Lukas Genusas from RUSSIA -played Rachmaninoff #3

Lukas Geniusas was AMAZING! Not only was he the youngest contestant, turning 20, yesterday and celebrating his birthday at the competition, but ( I believe) he graduated from a Chopin college at age 16.

He was beautiful and ridiculously skilled. But my favorite thing however was the fact that after he was done, he kept giving a hand to the conductor and the symphony and quickly escaped the applause. The conductor had to grab him back out so we could thoroughly applaud for him.

He was modest. He was brilliant. And I read a quote from him that he played music because he felt it brought people closer to God.

Here's a video I found of last night. This is video 5 out of 5. So if you want to see the whole thing just look it up on Youtube. This is different being able to actually see his hands, because at my angle I could only hear what lovely music they were making. ENJOY!

Old Spice Man-Man Take 2

Personally I don't like this one as much as the first one. But I still LOVE the scent of Old Spice and occasionally look like a creep carried away sniffing mens' armpits. What do you think?

USA

In reaction to the USA soccer team's last minute win to get into the final 16.

.America. . . Lift Me Up, Give Me Strength.

I miss Will and Ashwin. It feels like both are in different countries.

While Elise was in Vegas last weekend, I completed a myspace page for some of my newer solo music.

Check it Out:

http://myspace.com/nedmeservy

PS: Yes, I meditated over the Golden Gate Bridge in really life. And yes, my life's ambitions are nearly complete.

Leaving Wasden

I saw a clutch of dandelions today
laying beside the school garbage;
someone couldn't quite throw them away.
At fifty I
remembered
why dandelions exist--not to thwart Adam and Eve
or the Saturday gardener
but to make sunbeam bouquets for all
empty pocket children.

Happy Momma's Day!

Happy Mother's Day Momma!
I couldn't ask for a better mom.

Here's a few reason's why my mom is better than yours. jk. but seriously.

1. she's hott.
2. she has the best garden ever.
3. she cooks delicious pastas and blt's... etc
4. she has some kickin' dance moves.
5. she makes you smile.
6. she makes you laugh.
7. she truly adores and loves everyone I know and don't know.
8. she truly know how to serve.
9. she knows great books.
10.she is a phenomenal writer.
11.she does her civic duty (whether democrat or republican). ;)
12.she makes a lovely home.
13.she has a testimony of temples, of the atonement, of the prophet, and of the BoM.
14.she sings great songs.
15.she comes up with great words.
16.she kicks trash in scrabble...most of the time. ;)
17.she's LEGIT.
18.she likes to learn.
19.she likes to explore.
20.She's mine.

Don't We All Wish We Were NED / (BYU AD LAB)

So today I went to my first official BYU Advertising Lab meeting. I am hoping to be able to volunteer this spring and summer and get more advertising experience.

Most of the people at these meetings have already signed up and are working on assignments for clients, but since I was out of town, I am a little behind.

They called all the new members to the front of the room and made us share our name, our favorite ice cream, and what our name would be if we were race horses (plus they were allowed to ask any questions they wanted). I was a little nervous already since I hadn't officially signed up with the ad lab yet and then because I had no idea how I was going to answer creatively enough in front of the room.

Here were my answers: Elise (duh)

Mint chocolate chip (I was too embarrassed to say that I have a milk allergy, especially since one of the current clients is Haagen Dazs).

Slick. (it was the ONLY name that came to me!!! haha. Slick. so i tried to make my answer sick by saying I would "slick" my hair back and be "slick" with the other horses. cheesy....lucky for me, some of the others answers were even cheesier.)

So after that, a Hawaiian kid asked me if I was related to NED. This is how I know that my little brother is WAY more popular than me, when even in my own major and after 3 years of schooling, people still always asked me if I am related to NED. I await the day when someone asks Ned if he is related to Elise. haha. well I miss that boy anyways.

So in honor of me hopefully started some legit advertising research or brunt work I want to share some commercials I have recently stumbled upon.

Regretfully, my favorite one (and more serious or sweet toned one) I could not find on the internet. Don't worry I will keep looking, but if you ever find a Hallmark commercial about a mom reading her daughter, Jenny's, old cards you will know which one I am talking about. Seriously it moved me. Good ad.

here's some other ones I saw recently and gave me a little laugh:



and



You know you wish you were that cool. ;)

PS somebody else better start adding posts to this ad...ahem. yes that is you family!

My Past Week:

So seeing as we have all been lacking on our family blog I thought I would share in brief my past week so that you can get a glimpse into Elise's fab life.

here we go:

1. I came home one day from 10 hrs at work to find

and

waiting for me inside from a dear friend. So I have now started reading Alice in Wonderland, which I have wanted to read since watching the movie with the same friend. And the beautiful spring tulips are still in our lovely living room!

2. At my SAME work where I've been working 10 hrs days twice a week (until recently with my new summer schedule) I had a funny experience with some co-workers. We do online marketing and we've received a lot of new clients lately so they were deciding how to divide up the clients. I got a phone call that went something like this:

Ryan: "Elise on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the best, how much do you like dentists?"
Me (trying to be nice since it's work): "um I don't really care either way.."
Ryan: "Ok I gave you a 6/10. So that ties you up with Ashley."
Me: "um..ok."
Ryan: "oh wait hold on. Dan is going to spin the bottle to decide who gets the 15 dentists.". . . (spin) "Oh and it looks like you got the dentists. Congrats."
Me: "I better go floss right now."

So yes. I got my new work assignment because 3 guys a work used this:

haha. made my day. work is always this good.

3. I have been studying for finals like crazy an still have 2 more. Old Testament and Latin. Old Testament doesn't sound hard...but I have been postponing it and am likewise doing just that. ;) Latin is also another fun final, scheduled for the last day of finals. I struggle with that class but have the coolest professor Duckwitz. He is from Germany and is the sweetest man. His laugh is contagious! And he worked with Pres. Benson as a translator in Germany. Smart Man.
Anyways my studying has gone something like this:

4. I've been watching Shakespeare movies like crazy for extra credit in my Shakespeare class. One of my poor friends has seen most of them with me. Every time he wants to hang out I'm like ok, but we have to watch one of my extra credit movies. So we watched out last one together on Sunday before my final today. The movie was the 1965 version of Othello. Hilarious. Othello does not appear to be a real black man and Roderigo's wig is ridiculous! wish I could have found a picture of the wig for you. but here's the false black man. I feel like that makes the play more racist.


5. Ate OCTOPUS SUSHI! EW! Can I just say that the suckion (sp?) cups were still on and it was WAY rubbery chewy disgustingness. Sushi = good. Octopus = bad. I was cornered not only by a friend, but by the waiter. So yes, I woman-ed up and ate it. Regret it yes, but now I have bragging rights. Brothers: I don't think I have even told you. But look how brave your sis is!
I do not recommend it. Stick with Spicy Tuna or the Vegas roll.

6. My dear roommate, giggle buddy, and cousin Sarah left me this week to stay in Vegas for the summer while I remain in Provo. And she took our other fun roommate Liv for the week to party in Cali. Not able to be with them and missing their sexy bodies, I am feeling a song come on....and oh course it is a cheesy one. Sarah, Liv--this ones for you guys.


7. And last but not least: I AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR MY VACATION HERE-


I cannot wait to be home to visit with all my friends and family. I love you! Till Friday!

best ad of 2010

coolest commercial ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvPTO0_ZHuw

BYU Advertising Application

ad video test run

My new favorite performer

This is "sea sick Steve" a blues man is huge in Britain, but a lot of people in America don't know him. He got his big break when he played in BBC at 66 years old! in 2007 . He was born in California and lived in Tennessee for like 16 years. His life story is amazing. He uses strange instruments like a one stringed diddley bo! and his amaizing three stringed guitar he calls " the three string trance wonder". It only has 3 strings tuned to the wrong chords and use the wrong string thickness.(he has a story for it).
Elise I hope(strongly suggest!)that you (please) do a review of him in your blog at work.

His first appearance in 2007 on national TV



This after he came back later.


He is probably one of the few genuine performers out there, very humble and simple.
Here he is later in the show that made him big.