3.19.2013

freeze

Well, here is my last post on Tales of Garden Gnomes for 18 months!
I don't have much to say other than you can still follow me on my mission blog here, and that I will come back to this blog. Promise. :) This is not the last post of forever!

Now... I was featured today over here, thanks to the lovely Sister Dain Broadbent! She's super sweet, and her design? Yes. Love it. So much. I need some classes or something...

K! Y'all are wonderful. Keep in touch, k? My address for the MTC (next six weeks) -


Sister Kira Lynn Anjewierden

MTC Mailbox #269
BEL-NETH 0430
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
United States




PEACE.

3.17.2013

addresses and things

HERE are all the ways to contact/keep up with me for the next 18 months! 
I cannot believe that I leave so soon...
Wednesday, folks! :)


3.14.2013

four-eyes stylized



 When Firmoo.com contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I'd like to review a pair of their glasses, I may have gotten super excited. I'd heard good things about them via other bloggers. Plus, I needed a pair of glasses for my mission! What fancy timing!

Anyway, I chose my pair and submitted the order. I figured it might take a while for them to process and ship my glasses - I was actually a little worried they wouldn't come until after I left! Not to worry though, regardless of shipping from China, my order was processed, shipped, and delivered within ten days! I was super impressed.

Holy cow, guys, I love these glasses. They were delivered last Thursday and I've scarcely taken them off since I opened the package. I love RayBan Wayfarers, but I certainly cannot afford them - these frames are such a fantastic alternative! You can find them here.






Firmoo would like everyone to know that glasses are not only for people with vision problems anymore! Glasses are becoming a big fashion trend, and are a must-have accessory - they can instantly upgrade your style. That said, Firmoo offers both prescription (like mine) and non-prescription lenses, as well as the latest trends in frames (like my Wayfarer-style frames here), for glasses, sunglasses, and goggles.

Want to change up your style a little bit, or need/want a new pair of glasses like I did? Firmoo will make it easy for you! They have launched their First-Pair-Free program to people worldwide, which is exactly what it sounds like - you pay nothing except shipping! With their wide selection of high quality frames, numerous options for lenses, and fashionable designs, as well as their impeccable service and fast delivery, I am quite certain you will not be disappointed. It's totally risk-free - give it a try, hm? They've made a believer out of me... That's for sure! I know where to go for replacement glasses in the future!

Check them out here!

Shirt - Ross ($6), Skinnies - Ross ($15), Blazer - DI ($5), Shoes - RiteAid ($13) 
Watch - Target ($13), Glasses -  c/o Firmoo.com

3.12.2013

eeeeyup

Remember my fixations?

Well, they still exist...



...Yes, I did spend precious time making a pony version of myself on a flash game some genius created and put on deviantart.

But... It was fun!

The game is here, if you're interested...

3.02.2013

a formula for deep thought


visit school friends and former roommates for the last time in at least 18 months +

think about only having two weeks of being "Kira" for a while +

have several things on your mind +

watch Perks of Being a Wallflower =
___________________________________________________________

contemplate life and all its ins and outs


Thought provokers, my friends. Thought provokers.
Watch that movie. It will make you feel a lot of things.

DISCLAIMER: There are some things that The Perks of Being a Wallflower displays and/or promotes that I absolutely do not advocate or agree with. I simply think it is thought provoking (and the music is fantastic, by the way). It's also a bit irreverent and/or uncomfortable in parts, so be careful.... You have been warned.

2.17.2013

the best kind of day

Sometimes, you wake up, relieved it's the weekend and you have nothing to do until 4.
You proceed to do nothing except for work out, listen to fantastic music (it's an Arcade Fire kind of day. With some mixed in Bon Iver, but let's be honest, every day is a Bon Iver day), and window shop online.

At like 2:30, right before you were going to shower and get ready, you find out that Shade is having a really fantastic online sale. You find a ton of things that you needed for your mission anyway, on super-sale, promptly lose your debit card (ya know, the new one, that was in your pocket, that you got in the mail today to replace the old one that had been misplaced and was expiring soon anyway), frantically look for it, and don't find it, so your mother insists that you use hers and pay her back so you can get all the things you need.

After that, you look at the clock. 3:30. What?! When did that happen? You shower and get ready in record-shattering time, hurry down to your aunt and uncle's house with your family for like an hour to see your adorable newborn cousin(!!!), then, ravenous, head off to Salt Lake to go to dinner for your sister's fourteenth birthday (even though there is definitely no way she's fourteen already. What even? The lies they feed you...), where you spend the entire time antsy and fidgety because you're going to aforementioned sister's school's musical at 7:30, and you're not even seated until 6:50, so food doesn't come until 7:20.

When the food does come, you and two of your sisters (sixteen and fourteen) shovel it in (seriously. Like... Wild animal status), speed-walk, past the confused waiter who was bringing you water refills, out of Olive Garden, and half-walk-half-book-it to Rose Wagner, two blocks away. The play has already started, and the house manager says you have to wait five minutes to go up to your seats. That's right, not until the end of the scene, which is in about two minutes. Five. Which puts you walking to your seats in the middle of the next scene... Awkward and rude.

For the next 2 hours, you watch the high school musical theatre class from Legacy Preparatory Academy put on an incredible production of Sweeney Todd (which you already loved), the school edition, and you get to see some of your favorite people, who you haven't seen in ages, do spectacular jobs in some of your favorite roles! The impeccable acting; the right-on notes; the clever blocking; the fantastic covers of goofs. No, it's not Broadway, but for a high school? Holy cow!

After nearly tearing up because it was so good, the house lights come on, and you rush down to the lobby to congratulate everyone! You find the people you know and love, the people you don't really know, but who did a great job too, and the people who you have definitely never met before, but they were just so good that you have to say something. Hugs and compliments are given in abundance. And high fives, of course! Oh, and you and your sisters might get enveloped in a marvelous jelly donut of a hug (the dough is a little bit varied, but there's that Anjewierden filling), which, sadly, no one gets a picture of. You collect phone numbers of people you'd like to "hang out" with before you leave in a month, crack (and proceed to laugh at) loud and hopefully witty jokes ("Yeah, now I get to start soccer." "Well, that's a whole different ballgame."), laugh uproariously at funny people ("I've always wanted to be fat." "Well, this is America. You can live your dreams!"), and even indulge in a bit of not creepy/good-natured creeping. Eventually, you start to say strange things that don't make any sense, probably confuse those in your general vicinity, and then decide it's time to go home.

On the walk back to the car, maybe you spot some ridiculously drunk people, and maybe your sister has never seen a legitimately drunk person, and her reaction is hilarious ("Ha! This is on my bucket list!"). You laugh and have a good time in the car on the way home, then walk in the door at home to find not one, but three letters address to you, sitting on the counter - one a letter with heart confetti from a cute, considerate woman who sends fun mail to many a soul, another a missionary valentine from a great friend who sure knows how to make a girl's day, and the third a surprise letter from a good friend's missionary companion, telling you he didn't have any other girls to write, but was told you are "pretty cute," and that he'd love to get a letter from you (and he "wouldn't mind a picture," either, hahaha).




Oh, and then you find fun pictures from last summer on your memory card! Because apparently you have more than one SD card that works. Huh.







(Actually, Katie (the girl with me two photos up), Evan and Kyle (yellow and blue shirt directly above, respectively) were in Sweeney! Kyle was Sweeney, Evan was Pirelli, and Katie was in the ensemble! So great. So. Great.)

After everything is said and done... You go and you write a blog post about it. Because really... It was the best kind of day. Thank you to everyone who contributed to it. :) 

2.14.2013

because valentines are fun










I apologize for the Harry Potter overload... But not really. :) 
The dementor one is CREEEEEPY.

Here are some music inspired ones!

Happy Valentine's Day!
If you are single and/or bitter....
Happy Single Awareness Day!
Now go watch (500) Days of Summer, because it's the best anti-Valentine's Day movie ever made.


Valentines found here, here, and here

2.09.2013

transitions

So I am absolutely guilty of some blog neglect over here!

I promise I have good reasons. Mostly - I got that job I was worried about!

It's hard - I'm working in a plant, moving things and sorting things and such, with all standing some days and all sitting some days (I found out that only sounds good until you try it...), so I get really sore/stiff/exhausted, and it's 9 hours. Swing shift, 3:30 - midnight. Also, my body isn't used to the set sleep schedule I'm trying to implement for it, which means I can't get to sleep at night and I can't get up in the morning.

Even though it's not glamorous or terribly enjoyable or whatever, and the side effects are less than desirable, I am so grateful to have gotten a job where a) I can work for only 6 weeks (4 left now) and b) earn some extra money ($11.50ish an hour, folks!) for my mission, and hopefully some for when I get back! 

It is such a blessing, and the people there are super neat - they're actually all members of my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which has been different, and kind of neat! We say a prayer before we begin working every day, talk about church things sometimes in casual conversation, etc. It's certainly a change from what I'm used to from previous jobs!

Well, there's an update for ya. I have a post coming about Death Cab for Cutie... I might be in love with Ben Gibbard, folks.


2.03.2013

YES

Oh. Just found this in my drafts. I thought I posted it last week... Well, here!



Umm... First, sorry about that downer post. I was in a bad place. But really, I'm not sorry. I needed to document it. Just don't take any of the down-ing to heart.

Now for happy things! Woot!

So it is no secret that I love me some fashion blogs. 
I mean, there are a bunch chillin' on my blogger list over yonder on my sidebar!
The point here is that usually, I just follow fashion bloggers for their impeccable taste in fashion, and often their senses of humor and great writing. Sometimes, though, there are these little bonus surprises that make me love them even more!

Case in point -


Kendi made a Radiohead reference! Whaaaat? I won't lie, I got really excited when I saw it... And then I left her a comment about how much I loved it... Anyway.

Clever.




10,000

...what?!

I reached 10,000 views.

You guys are cool.

I mean... I really would still love keeping up this blog if no one read it.
But it's kind of neat to know that people care about what I have to say, ya know?

So... Thanks, y'all. I hope you keep reading. :)

LOVE.

1.22.2013

sister missionary series

I'm co-hosting a sister missionary series with Mo from xoxo, mo!


We both posted the first sister tonight. It'll be Tuesday and Thursdays from now on until we either leave or run out of sisters to feature!

Check it out by clicking here for me and here for Mo!

today I

felt -

sick.
upset.
physical pain.
mental pain.
self-disappointment.
chilly.
anxious.
worried.
nervous.
sorry.


learned (or in some cases, relearned) -

I'm not always awesome at listening to reason.
It sucks to ostracize your best friend. Especially when he or she helps keep you sane/stable.
Satan is real, and he hates future missionaries. A lot.
Anxiety when your stomach is already sick is probably the worst ever.
For a supposedly intelligent person, I make some pretty dumb decisions.
Just because I want to do something doesn't mean I should do it.
I am incredibly selfish.
I might be a little bit heartless.
A fevered brain is not a reasonable brain. Neither is a been-awake-for-19-hours brain.
Things that I do don't just affect me... They affect those around me, too.
Satan knows my weaknesses...
I need an ego-check. Or several.
Listening to the Holy Ghost will always be a good idea. The Lord is always right.
Prayer is awesome.


listened to -

"In Rainbows" by Radiohead (twice)
"Kid A" by Radiohead
"Hospice" by The Antlers
"Turn on the Bright Lights" by Interpol
(And they were all amazing, holy cow. I'd listened to Kid A before, but none of the others. My best friend recommended them all to me and it's taken me this long to listen to them... None of them are necessarily super uplifting if you're not happy, because they're all pretty heavy. So... Consider that. And Hospice drops the f-bomb a few times... Also not uplifting. But holy cow. Music.)


read -

Mosiah 29 through Alma 5. Needed it.


Overall... Today wasn't the best day. This post is more for me than anyone else, but if you were affected by what I did yesterday, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

1.17.2013

on worrying

Ahhhhhhhhhhh I have an interview today. It's a temp job... 6 to 8 weeks. It'd be perfect. It'd also be a swing shift from 3:30pm to 12am... That's less perfect, but I need the money. We'll see. I might be terrified... Shhhhh, don't tell.

1.16.2013

deer bois twulve

dear radiohead,
you're pretty much one of my very best friends.
didja know that?
now ya do.
--bon iver

dear skrillex,
i'm glad we're friends again.
it's nice. :)
--mumford

dear awolnation,
trying to get over myself to help you.
i promise. two weeks.
--coldplay

dear ben folds,
i'm afraid to even talk to you.
i think this is the most terrified i've ever been to talk to someone.
i'm so silly! it's not like i have anything to lose!
--death cab

dear indie,
i will miss you for a year and a half.
classical, hymns, and instrumental are great...
but let's be honest, i'll probably get you stuck in my head anyway.
who knows, maybe nederlanders and belgians have good tastes and i'll hear you on the streets.
--kira


1.13.2013

sister anjewierden

I decided to create a separate blog for my mission! You can find it here if you're interested! Keep in mind that it's under construction, which is why it currently looks SUPER boring...
While I'm on my mission I'll be posting my letters to it via email, so you can keep up with me. If you care. Ya know. Whatever.

Wooooo have a picture of the Netherlands in It's a Small World at Disneyland!


1.10.2013

motivational



Sometimes it's just nice to remember that you can do anything good. And to be happy of yourself.

1.09.2013

post-holiday update



















Well, I apologize for how many there are, but these pictures pretty much sum up my holidays.

We went to California the week before Christmas and had an absolute blast! We went to Disneyland... The beach... A couple temples... It was great fun! We got home the 22nd, then launched right into Christmas festivities. Some of our extended family came to visit - it was lots of fun to see everyone! New Year's Eve was spent at home... It was nice. We watched fireworks off the balcony at midnight and called it good.

As much fun as it all was, it's nice to not have so many things to stress over at once... Now I just have to worry about mission things! 

dear boys eleven

Dear Boys,
Wait, just kidding,
THERE ARE NO BOYS I'M NOT RELATED TO AT HOME.
Sincerely,
So many boredoms


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