Dueling and Little Brothers.

My week has been splendid busy. It was homecoming week, and I am happy to say that I successfully avoided a date.

Avoiding a date? Why would Jenna avoid one of those, might you ask? Well. I don't remember if you recall, but I went on a date with a very quiet guy named Jon. And, uh... well, it seems he likes me. And he's an RM. (Oh no!) I keep hearing things from my roommates about him, such as, "I saw Jon today... he kept asking about you..." "Jonny likes you Jenna!" Thus, I have become victim of many many Jenna's-going-to-marry-Jon jokes.

Well, see... we all suspected that he would try to ask me to homecoming. And thus, we "accidentally" lose my phone. I never see him during the week... only at Family Home Evening, and occasionally at church. We figured that if he was going to try and ask me, he'd call. So we "accidentally lost my phone". And then we "miraculously found it" after the homecoming activities were over. And lo, and behold! There were a few missed calls from Jon.

But enough about that. My classes are going well... my job is going well... and I think (except for the homecoming thing) that my social life is going well.

On to the highlights of the week.

Our Book of Mormon teacher, Brother Wilson, decided that we were going to go see the leaves as they were changing color. Thus, he took the entire class down into the canyon, and took us into a little campground for a picnic.

Oh no, some of you may be thinking, Jenna gets crazy when she's camping.

Don't worry. I didn't do anything that bad... The boys start the fire (at my complaint asking why the boys get to do it, I get the reply "Because we're Eagle Scouts!!!"). And after it is started... nothing. Everyone is just socializing. There are hot dogs for roasting, and everyone is just... talking. Except... wait! Ryan! He gets himself two hot dogs and starts to roast them. He must not have been lying when he confessed that he was starving. I grab, Rachel, my roommate, and drag her over to roast hot dogs too.

We put the hot dogs on a pitchfork like roasting object... that feels like... well, a weapon. Rachel notices this too. We ignore the urge to duel and roast hot dogs. I sit by Ryan eating them, and Rachel sits by me. Everyone sees us enjoying food, and they realize, "Oh... we have to cook our own food!" And off they go to the fire.

Soon, I am done with my meat. Both Rachel and I are still itching to duel.

BAM! We are suddenly in a pose-off. Rachel appears like Batman, except with a roasting fork raising high above her head, pointing at me. I match the pose, but I do it so much more elaborately. Then the pose-off moves to our facial expressions. She raises one eyebrow incredulously. I raise the opposite eyebrow, and tilt my head to the side. I am aware of everyone's eyes on us, but I really don't care... and I suspect, neither did Rachel.

BAM! We are no longer posing... we are sword fighting miraculously with roasting apparatus. Then, from one of the boys (not sure if it was Clifton or not), "All you guys need now are flaming marshmallows on the ends of those!" Rachel and I both stop mid swing and realize we are both thinking the same thing.

BAM! We dash off to the marshmallow bag, spearing them incredibly with marshmallows. Oh, we reach the campfire at lightning speeds, thrusting our marshmallows into the hottest flames... My marshmallows are flaming beautifully. So are Rachel's.

BAM! We are back to sword fighting, but the flaming marshmallows certainly make it so much more interesting. A flaming marshmallow goes flying through the air as I knock it off Rachel's roasting stick. Her face at this instant tells me that I have just upped it from duel to war. And it was war. She stabbed at me more amazingly, and I dodge them more miraculously... and then. Finally. I have knocked all the marshmallows off of Rachel's stick, and I realize too late that I have taken it too far. Rachel swipes for my belly... and kills me. I act out an incredible death, falling to the forest floor, crying, "Alas! I am marshmallow'd!" And then I die.

I soon tire of looking like a dead person, and get up. Sweet, everyone is looking at us funny... and Rachel is yelling triumphantly. Brother Wilson, who has never seen me or Rachel outside of a Book of Mormon class, looks shocked, but starts picking up the carnage (not-so-flaming marshmallows...).

After all that, Brother Wilson decides we all need to see where Squaw Peak is, the makeout point. We go up there, and it was windy and beautiful... so I run up at stand on the rock wall, with my arms spread all eagle like while having a brief conversation with Ryan. Then... a faint push. I turn around, and there is Clifton, whom my roommates have declared our little brother (even if he is both older and bigger than all of us). Brother Wilson is calling out "Don't pair off, guys!"

Clifton has asked for it. I could have died... well, not really. But it does sound better that way, when you are about to attack someone. I revert into battle mode, prep for the attack, and then... I ruffle his hair? Oh wait. That would have been a more suitable attack for Hillary, who had long hair... but... Clifton had short hair, and ruffling it made no difference at all. I start thinking of a new attack, as Clifton laughs... and then he dashes away, up around the bend... I set off at a run, screaming, "OH NO, YOU DON'T!!!"

I am almost caught up to him. Then Clifton has to ruin it by pointing out that we have paired up and that people might assume we are doing something we are not... and after all, this is Squaw Peak. Frozen for a millisecond... then I bolt off in the opposite direction, screaming, as little brother chases after me. Hillary misinterprets the scene, and yells, "Don't worry, Jenna, I'll save you! Get behind me!" Thankfully I don't have to suffer the humiliation of hiding behind someone else, because Brother Wilson calls for us to all pile into the vans.

Yesterday, Clifton came over to mooch off of our sausage and eggs... like a little brother. Hillary wasn't there, so she totally misinterprets when I casually ask Rachel, "Who was it... I asked, "Are you playing with my ears?" this morning, and was it Clifton who exclaimed, "Yes!"?" Rachel nods, laughing.

Hillary on the other hand had been lying down in bed. At hearing that Clifton had been playing with my ears, she bolted upright, screaming "WHAATTT?!?!" She then proceeded to hyperventilate, and I could see her thoughts in her head, not believing that little brother would play with Jenna's ears.

To relieve her pain, I point out that I was wearing ogre ears at the time. Hillary starts to reverse-hyperventilate... and gasps for breath. Clifton wasn't playing with Jenna's real ears... that's good.