I've Been Tagged!

I haven't blogged forever! I'm so sorry :(. School has been so crazy that I always forget to read blogs, let alone do it myself. I'm going to try to do better, because I've also been really lousy at calling my family and seeing how they're doing!

Before I get to the tagging business, I'll fill you guys in a little on what I've been up to:

• This semester, I'm taking some awesome classes: Advanced Media Writing, Intro. to Journalism, Advanced Writing/Critical Reading (which has actually turned into a philosophy class that I love!), Advanced Visual Media (for which I started a website! Check it out at www.madisonbeckstead.com), Modern Dance (my favorite), Scroll, and Church History.
  
• I'm working as the opinion section editor of the Scroll newspaper. Yes, I'm the big-time. Ok, no I'm not. But I do get to write a column every week, which inspire letters of hate from students who think I am evil for not loving Sarah Palin. I don't go off about it, but I may have mentioned my political views in a column or two. Also, I made a flow chart called the major-o-matic to help students pick a major. It was all based on stereotypes and it was supposed to be funny, but....it seems I offended a few. You can look up a few columns at www.icomm.byui.net/staff/madison-beckstead/. The website's not extremely functional yet, as we just merged all the media groups, but we're working on it!
• My band (Ro?) is working on forming a set because we got a show! I'm way excited to play, even though the show is in the attic of Hogi Yogi and probably no on will be there. We are also working on a music video for one of my classes that I will post at a later date :). I want to be a rock star.
• My roommates are way cool and I really like my ward, too, even though they haven't given anybody callings and we never have home evening.
• I went to the temple to do baptisms today and had to wait 2 and a half hours to get in — how awesome is that?! It's like that every day during walk-in baptism time and you can't make an appointment. I think it's so cool that the students flood the baptistry like that (no pun intended.) I love the temple!!
• I'm the coordinator over service activities this semester and I love it. Some of the things that I get to do are activities at the nursing home, reading the newspaper over the radio for blind people, volunteering at the hospital, helping out with after-school programs, painting cars for the Happy Factory, Special Olympics and recruiting people to teach classes at next month's Merit Badge Pow Wow.
• I am always, always, always in the Scroll office and have resigned myself to the fact that I will probably be here constantly until I graduate. I like it here because I know everyone, the computers are awesome and it feels like having a little family. Plus, there's a fridge where I keep food to eat while I'm on campus. I've adopted the department chair, Ron Bennett, as my Rexburg dad and he gives me lots of advice about what to do with my life.
• Dad always asks what I eat when I'm up here. The answer: nothing, until last week when my loving and kind mother took me grocery shopping and filled my freezer to over-flowing with lovely items. Now I am eating like a queen and no longer have to subsist on Clif bars! A few nights ago, I made ratatouille, focaccia bread and apple crisp for Matt and Chris. I like to appear domestic. The food was really good! I can say that because my cooking so rarely is! I really like cooking and cleaning and kids, so I think if anyone ever wants to marry me, I'll be an okay wife.

Now for the tagging:

Four Random Things I Like About My Husband

Um...irrelevant. Darn. Instead I will do:

Four Random Things I Like About My Friends

1. Monica is all-knowing and gives really good advice. Also she sometimes cooks me dinner. And her husband is cool.

2. My Scroll friends are really funny and make me feel better when I get mean letters to the editor. They also like setting me up on dates.

3. Alpine Chalet #12 contains some of my favorite people and there is always a party going on there. Also they let me store things in their freezer because it is bigger. Also, Chris always knows the answers to my doctrinal questions.

4. Chris Kirkham is taking modern dance with me because I didn't want to be the worst one in the class and he never laughs at my I-want-to-be-a-dancer-so-I'm-going-to-wear-dance-pants-and-a-leotard-and-lots-of-layers-like-real-dancers-do outfits.

Four Jobs I've Had

1. Pizza Yaya!

2. Old Lyric Rep. Company

3. nanny in Chicago

4. Oompa Loompa at Pepperidge

Four Movies I've Watched More Than Once

1. The Parent Trap

2. White Christmas

3. Casino Royale

4. Singing In the Rain

Four TV Shows I Watch

1. The Office

2. Our Savior in the Gospels (a doctrinal discussion on KBYU, because my favorite professor from BYU Jerusalem is on it and I love him.)

3. Long Way Down (with Ewen McGregor. Has anyone watched this? I am in love with it!)

4. Saturday Night Live (hooray for hulu.com!)

Four Places I've Been

1. Ecuador

2. Guatemala

3. Israel

4. Italy

Four of My Favorite Foods

1. Grapefruit

2. Pizza sauce

3. Falafel

4. Eggs

Four Places I Would Like to Visit

1. New Zealand

2. India

3. Tanzania

4. Antarctica

Four Things I Am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year

1. Graduating!

2. Maybe doing a Che Guevara memorial ride down the Pan American highway on a motorcycle to Buenos Aires.

3. Doing an internship

4. Seeing my family