Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Finals and Christmas and other things

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Life... has been... lifelike. Too much, too fast and too hard. It's all I've been able to do lately to stay on top of everything. I had to give up on NaNo. Sadly. I just couldn't keep up. And now next week is finals week, so I hope you'll forgive the shortness of this post. I'm really, really excited for this semester to be over and to get to go home and spend Christmas with my family. I've missed them so very much. It'll be heaven to spend a full two weeks with them.

Now that you've been updated, I'm off to study math. Yay. (Blegh.)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

NaNo

Happy Halloween yesterday, I hope everyone had fun. I sat around with a cold, tried to do homework, and ended up watching a couple Halloween-y episodes of Psych.

Now I need to be ending this post, mainly 'cause I have to get back to my neglected homework, and partly because today is the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for anyone who doesn't know the term) and I shall be quite busy for the rest of the month between writing 1667 words a day and doing homework.

Have a lovely day, my dears.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Random Political Opinion Here


Completely unrelated to previous posts: I don’t like how the governmental parties work in America. It is rather frightening how the people on each side think their candidate is perfect and the other one is a scumbag.
Personally, I don’t like where this country has gone lately, but I’d like to believe that President Obama has good intentions. Also, no matter how much I may agree with a lot of what Romney has said, I don’t like the way most Republicans around here seem to paint him - as if he is America’s (political) savior or something. Even if he becomes President and does everything he says/they hope he will, one person cannot fix everything. And one person shouldn't have to. 
"If it’s to be, it’s up to me," as the saying goes and all that. In our government system, it is up to everyone to make sure the world is a good place. And yeah, this is rather the kettle calling the pot black. I know, I haven't been very politically/socially/humanitarianally(?) active lately. In fact, I haven't been all that active in making the world better... ever. At least, with helping causes, etc. But I do try to make the world better from my having been in it through how I live, and I hope that's something. One of these days, I'll figure out how to do more and do it.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Stuff

I feel bad for not posting in over a week. I promised 'my biggest fan' (yes, you Daddy) that I would be a better blogger for him this semester. Of course, he hasn't been able to read the last three weeks' worth of posts, but that's not his fault. I intend to have plenty on here for him to read when he gets a chance to look.


Life has been fairly normal, but here are all abnormalities from this week:

One of my roommates got pink eye and we had to make a run to the emergency room on Saturday morning at 5:30 am for her. It was the only thing open at that hour and she definitely needed something. She was shaking and crying and felt like throwing up. We didn't want to carry her germs to anyone, so on Sunday I just dropped off some birthday stuff at church to take care of my calling and then went back to our apartment. It was a long, boring Sunday. I love church. But you've got to do what you've got to do.

But it wasn't totally boring. That afternoon I got to skype Jared and Ashlee and my girls! That was the highlight of my week, lemme tell ya. I miss them so much.

We didn't go to FHE yesterday either, just in case. Today Victoria's feeling all better so I think the avoiding society will stop now.

I have a Women's Choir concert - well, two, but they're the same concert twice, one after the other, so I'm counting it once - on Friday. I was okay with that, but then I just discovered that, of all the foreign films they're playing each week throughout the semester at the Spori, this Friday they're playing the one foreign film I wanted to see. At the same time as our concert. Le sigh.

Work is boring. Nothing new there. But I forgot to sign up for this week during the last week, so they scheduled for me. I worked yesterday, and I've got to work Thursday during one of my classes' hours and on Saturday. At least it'll be the last Saturday shift I'll need to do for the month.

So yeah. That's all the scoop. Love you Daddy. And... you know, I appreciate and probably like a lot, if not love, all my, um, what, five? other followers as well.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Books and General Conference


Stayed up til 3:30 am last night, finishing The Way of Kings. It was… amazing. I mean, the Mistborn series was awesome, but this one book beats that by a bijillion points, man. For pretty much all of the last 150 pages, I was lying on the floor, flailing around, trying to stop giggles, squeals and small screams from escaping me and waking people up. Kaladin. Dalinar. Kaladin AND Dalinar.KALADIN AND DALINAR. KALADIN AND DALINAR TOGETHER. Sadeas is so dead. Not literally, though, of course, because that would be a breach of the codes. And the king! Rumplestiltskin, or whatever his name is. He’s behind it-! And now Dalinar’s on the list! And and and… Shallan and Jasnah! They made up and now that’s happy and they’re going to figure out everything and THE PARSHMEN ARE THE THINGEYS. 
Don't worry. I'm fully aware that made no sense to most of my readers. It's okay. Read the book. Then you'll get it.

Also, General Conference has been lovely so far. Elder Holland always amazes me with his infinite capacity to surprise me with how deeply his testimony runs and how simply he can explain that deepness. And President Eyring is such a dear man. I wish I could adopt him as a third grandpa. I loved his talk about the pavilions. It really hit home for me.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Bounce Back

You know, it surprises me how easily I bounce back to my default setting of happy/content. I mean, look at the last two weeks. I could easily say they've been some of the worst weeks of my life, considering all the stuff that's been going on. And yet I distinctly remember being happy most of the time during those two weeks. It has only been when I've thought about all the rotten things that I remembered I 'ought' to be unhappy and became so. Not only that, but thinking about all the things that have happened right now, I'm not feeling unhappy because I'm allowing myself to feel okay about it.

I don't think I'm all that unusual in this. I think, as human beings, we are meant to be happy. We are meant to find joy and satisfaction and comfort and love and peace in the things around us. That is our default setting, the setting God put us on when he sent us to earth. It is only through our own choices that we change that default setting to something else. People who are generally irritable, unsatisfied, find fault in the situation and people around them, who have to be made happy by something rather than just choosing happiness, for whom happiness is conditional, have a different default.

My day has been utterly unremarkable. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has happened today. If happiness is caused by outward events, then explain to me why, on this normal day, I am sitting here, feeling so completely comfortable, happy and satisfied? Sure, my Papa is doing marginally better today, you could say it's because of that. But I still have other things I could be upset about. I got a poor score on a math assignment, for example. And yeah, I'm not happy about that, but that doesn't mean I can't be happy about other things.

I stayed up a bit later than usual last night, so when I woke up this morning, I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep for another half an hour. I've been feeling lazy ever since. I got ready slowly, didn't bother making breakfast (I bought it; don't worry, I ate), walked slowly, took lots of breaks from doing my homework to fiddle around this morning, watched a little tv... lazy lazy lazy.

After my only class of the day, I decided to go to the grocery store. So I shambled on over there (there was this leaf being blown along by the wind that kept pace with me most of the way there, it was so cute, like I had a tiny friend trying to keep up with me), lolled around the store for a bit and bought a couple things. After that, on the way back, I made an unplanned stop for ice cream (guys, I think I've found a new retreat! $1 ice cream that lasts forty five minutes eating slowly + free wi-fi = yay!) (sorry, I've been doing a lot of math lately) and now here I am, lounging in a plump green armchair in the Snow building and contemplating this unexpected feeling of complete happiness in my chest.

Please don't take this to mean I don't care about my grandparents or that I'm fine with either of them dying. No. When they leave this world, I will not be okay with it. There will be plenty of tears here and I'll miss them terribly. But they're not gone yet, and I've grown tired of mourning in advance. It's exhausting to try and stay sad for long periods, and, anyway, I prefer being happy. So I hope I don't upset anyone if I defer my grief until it's actually time to grieve. In any case, I have total confidence in where they'll be going and it's not something to be sad over, so you know my crying will be more for myself than for them.





Sunday, September 30, 2012

My evening


You get a call that your Grandpa, who has been in the hospital for over a week, isn’t going to recover this time. That he’s probably going to lose consciousness before the night is over, and likely won’t wake up. That you need to call him to tell him you love him one last time, to say goodbye.
And as your Mom puts the phone up to your Grandpa’s ear, because he’s too weak to hold it himself, you suddenly can’t control your voice or your tear ducts.  You say, “I love you, Papa,” then try not to sob as he replies, “I love you too, sweetie.”   And when you’ve calmed down enough to shape sounds into words, you tell him he’s the best grandpa ever, and then completely lose it when the silence on the phone is followed by your Mom saying, “He’s crying.” 
And as you break down and weep, you contemplate this man, who dozens have compared to John Wayne. This man who built a business out of scratch, boxed with a bear, and caught burglars with the help of your shotgun toting Grandma. This man who stayed true to and raised six kids with said Grandma over more than fifty years of marriage. This man who still speaks of her with the voice and the boast and the look of a lovesick honeymooner. As you contemplate him, lying in a hospital bed, too weak to move, being talked about like a parcel by a man you can hear through the speakerphone, you want to let him know that - though he may be leaving this world on his back, unknown to the world - you always saw him as a giant, standing proudly on long legs with a firm jaw and a twinkle in his eyes. 
But with sobs closing your vocal cords, all you can get out is, “I’ve always boasted about you to my friends,” before speech turns once more to tears, and your Mom takes away the phone, because your Grandpa is too tired to talk anymore. Then, as your sobbing grows erratic, she tries to comfort you from a thousand miles away, but all you want to do is comfort her, because it’s her Dad that’s dying, and you can’t stand the thought that you can’t hug her. 
Yeah. That was my evening. How was yours?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Life

This week has not been as happy as last week, and that's an understatement. Having both my grandparents on one side rushed to the ER for separate causes on different days of the same week is not fun. In fact - surprise, surprise! - it's rather depressing and horrifying. At least the horror was short-lived. But nearly losing my grandmother and then, knowing how quickly my grandfather's health has deteriorated recently, hearing that he's ill once again, is a sobering experience.

Please, don't take this wrong. I'm not sobbing every night. Yeah, I'm a little quieter than usual, though, of course, no one here notices because they've only known me a short while and can't tell the difference between my normal quiet and abnormal quiet. And I do spend more time thinking about everything. But, despite what my sweet siblings seem to think, I'm not deeply wounded and in need of long, sympathetic conversations (but thanks for taking care of me anyway, guys! I sure love you!). I have total faith in the Lord's plan. I know that whatever he decides to do with my grandparents' lives, my life, or any of our lives, it'll turn out to be the right thing to happen.

In church today, we all talked about the mountains we have to climb, and then later, how service is the best cure when you're going through hard things. I've decided I'm going to try to serve as much as I can until I feel back to normal.

On the plus side, my classes are still just as great as they started out, and I've got two jobs. If I schedule my time well, I should be able to work, get good grades, get enough sleep, AND have a social life. I'm certain it's possible, even though this Venn diagram says it isn't.

And there, in that positive frame of mind that my roommates call 'perky,' I will end this post. Cheerio.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Happy Days

Guys, I am having an awesome week.

Monday, no classes (well, online classes, but I didn't have anywhere I had to be), I walked to the grocery store for a few supplies I'd forgotten to have mom and dad pick up when they went shopping for me the day they dropped me off. Then, after finding out that checks do indeed work there (yes!), I walked out the door and saw a little used bookstore! Of course, being me, I wanted to see it, and for once I had nothing else I needed to be doing so I went ahead and went in. I spent a wonderful half an hour browsing then bought five books from the cute little old guy who owns the place. He told me I had a wide taste in books and that he approved, haha. 

Tuesday, I had an 8 am class. Lemme tell ya, the time is the only thing about that class that does not add to how spectacular it is. I suppose if it was at an hour that allowed me to sleep in, it would be superfluously spectacular. The teacher is hilarious, the subject is interesting, the classmates seem nice, the syllabus is lovely and we get extra credit for bringing British breakfast foods to class and watching movies based on Austen and Shakespeare. I mean, dude. Awesome. 

Then later that day we had a nice devo by Pres. Clark and his wife and I went to my Book of Mormon class for the first time. My BoM teacher's voice was meant to be on relaxation cds, man. I'm not saying I felt like falling asleep or anything, but really, he has the smoothest voice ever, and sort of deep. I think that class will be good for me. It's going to require actual in-depth study, unlike last semester's BoM class.

Today, Wednesday, was the laziest morning ever. We watched Finding Nemo and I did homework. Went to women's choir - where I sort of messed up on my callback auditions, so I'm not sure I'll get in this year - came back to the dorm and signed up for another class so that if I lose the one credit from choir, I'll still have all the credits I need to be full time. If I get in, yay! That's excellent! If I don't, I'll be fine. I've got plenty to do, and I could stay in pjs all day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! It's a win win. 

I had a tiny freak out over my math class today - I was worried I wouldn't be able to pass the placement exam, I needed 70% and I'm so math phobic I was certain I'd get a 50% or something - but I got 85%, so the freak out has ended and all is well.

Not only are there all the above lovely things to be happy about, but just walking around campus makes me feel so bubbly inside. It's so beautiful right now! The grass is emerald green and gorgeous. The flowers are colorful and alive. The trees have leaves. It's so different from last semester! Sometimes I randomly stop walking in the middle of going somewhere and just stare around me and take it in. It makes me smile every time.

Yep. This has been a wonderful first week of school so far. Only two days left, and I'm sure they'll be fantastic too. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Back to School

I'm back at school. I got here Thursday. Classes haven't started yet, they start tomorrow, so the last few days have been pretty laid back. I've spent some of that time getting to know my roommates and catching up with an old friend. (And I spent several other parts of that time reading the book the old friend loaned me. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I know some people who see this will recognize that book. I'm finally reading it! Aren't you happy?) We went to I-night together last night, which was mostly kind of lame, but I got pizza and a hilarious improv show out of it, so I think it was five bucks well spent.

I think I'll like our Bishopric in this new ward. The Bishop sort of reminds me of my sister's former Bishop -- gray hair, glasses, sort of short --  but less... delicate, I guess. He's an elk bow hunter. The second counselor spoke for a really long time in Sacrament meeting about all the crazy injuries and surgeries and other various health issues he's had (survived is more like! sounded like he pretty much died several times - he said he watched his heart monitor line go flat - scary!). And then, most ironically, this girl in the row ahead and several seats to the left of us had a seizure/fainted right after he finished speaking and fell on the floor. They took her out into the hall and then everyone continued like nothing had happened. I guess she recovered though, 'cause the counselor (the one who'd just been speaking - he went with the group that took her outside) came back in and gave an 'okay' sign. 

On a somewhat unrelated note, I'm really starting to get nervous about my online classes. We got access to them on Saturday, and they look pretty involved, probably to make up for not actually going to a class. I think I'll enjoy my Pakistan class, once I get used to all the assignments, but Math has never been a strong subject for me, so I'm still pretty worried about it. I suppose if I get stuck I'll go ask the nice math experts in the library for help. 

Anyway. There's a little update for you. Now... If you have a blog I follow... it's your turn. Gwen, this means you. Also, I know a few northern friends who haven't updated in months. Hop to it, girls. Go on. 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Getting Ready

I'll be going back to school in about a week and a half and, guys, I am so excited. I've missed having classes, being surrounded by people my age, all the friends I left behind, deciding my own schedule and doing whatever I decided, whenever I decided to do it. Even though I am a bit worried about some of my new classes *coughmathcough* I am mostly hugely excited to start them.

You'll probably think it really weird when I say that I've missed using my brain. All this summer, I've been working, answering phones for my mom's company. Most of that job is just repeating the same information over and over to different people. Not much brain work involved. I probably should have used my spare time on stimulating reading or writing thought papers or something, but working, surprisingly enough, is actually tiring enough that all I want to do when I was done is veg. I'm so excited to get back to spending the majority of my time learning. It's so much fun. Last semester, even when I was stressing over my papers like the perfectionist I am, my ten year old self inside was giggling in delight at how fun this new game of college was.

I'm excited to meet my new roommates. We've already become friends on facebook and they all sound great. I'm sure we're going to have a great semester together. I'm excited to socialize. I've spent this summer rather like a hermit, sitting in my office (bedroom), working, and I am so ready to spend time with people again in a casual, non-church or activity setting.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that college is my 'station.' I'm not saying I've been miserable and being at school will make me happy. I may have lived like a hermit this summer, but I've been home. I've been able to spend so much time with my parents, which has been absolutely lovely. (Random tangent coming, feel free to ignore) The older I get, the more self-aware I am, the more I realize that my natural state is satisfied. I'm almost always happy with everything unless someone else points out things to be unhappy with, or if I've already learned that, should I encounter such and such a thing, it is not good and I should not be okay with it. This natural satisfaction is good, and yet I have to be careful not to get stuck in something that doesn't actually make me happy, because I won't notice, I'll just be satisfied, until it actually makes me unhappy. /ramble over

Anyway, I think I'm gonna have a great time at college, but I know I will miss the comfortable, sweet time I've had here at home. I'll miss working out with my sister and Sunday dinners with my family and hanging out with my nephews (and trying to convert them to Doctor Who, haha) and spending days in my pjs and my new singles ward friends. It's been a great summer, the few minor upsets notwithstanding.

Here's looking forward to a great fall.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pieces of my Heart

Guess who I'm going to visit?
Oh yeah. Jealous?

It's been six months since I left, and I cannot tell you how much I've missed my nieces. And Jared and Ashlee, of course. But... missing my girls... that's a beast. The months after I got home, it was an almost physical ache. It's gotten easier with time, but I still can't help but be super excited to get back to them. In a way, even though I'll be leaving my actual home to visit, I'll also be going home.

Because, you know. Home is where the heart is. And I have a pretty big chunk of my heart hidden away inside a little twin home in Texas.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Finalssss

It seems crazy that I'm to the end of the semester. The time, though it seemed to go by slowly at times, in retrospect seems to have flown. I believe that's called the relativity of time... have to check with my science-y friends.

I'm pretty excited about the results of this first semester of college. I've got good grades (as far as I know - my teachers haven't posted final grades yet - I've got A's and one, maybe two B's). I've made so many friends. I've gone on a lot more dates than I expected I would, and, in fact, have a boyfriend. I feel like I've grown a lot this semester not only in in social and secular ways, but spiritually as well.

Here are the last few news story links I've forgotten to put up before: here . (I know there's only one now - they haven't uploaded the others yet. I'll edit them in when they do. Chill.)

Yup. That's all I've got for you right now. My brain is a little fried from finals. Also, it's 4:30 am. That helps the frying.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Huh

I referred to myself as a 'teenager on the brink of adult-ness' in my first post.

I referred to myself as an adult in my recent blog post about clean checks.


I hadn't realized I had started thinking of myself as an adult. It's an interesting thought. I wonder when exactly I decided I was no longer a kid? I suppose it has come over me gradually as I've dealt with the more adult aspect of college life.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Lovely Weekend

My loverly parents came up to Idaho this weekend!

Daddy came and picked me up Saturday afternoon and took me to Idaho Falls, where we picked up Mom from their hotel and went to dinner. Outback Steakhouse - holy cow. Amazing food. *drools thinking about it*

*snaps out of it*
Sorry. College student here. We don't get amazing, delicious, expensive food very often.

Then, when we were done, we went back to their hotel and changed into pretty clothes for Chris and Keira's second reception. Since Keira is from Idaho, they had another one here for all the Idahoans who wouldn't get to go to the one in Salt Lake.

After the reception, we went back to the hotel and changed again (this time into my favorite pair of pajamas [same pjs in the pictures], which Mommy and Daddy were nice enough to bring me after I left them at home like a sillyhead). Then Daddy brought me back to my dorm. I would've stayed in their hotel room - I was pretty tired - but I had left all my clothes and makeup and everything here. My roommates had gone shopping via my friend's Mark car, and he was still at our dorm, so he and my Dad got to meet then.

The next day Mom and Dad were going to make my dorm dinner and I had invited Aretha and Mark as well, so Mom, Dad, and Mark came to our ward (Mark's ward meets during the time we were going to eat). I sang a duet with a guy from my ward named Paul during Sacrament, and after Sacrament, Daddy went back to the dorm to start dinner cooking and Mom and Mark tagged along to Sunday School and RS/Priesthood.

After church we had ward choir. Mom went back to the dorm to wait and help Dad finish up the food. Choir was fun - we're singing next week and the guys finally seem to know their part! - and then we all crowded into the car to go back to our dorm... except Mark, who walked Aretha's roommate Rachel home, because she didn't want to squish in with the rest of us.

Then... we ate. And ATE.

You must understand, Sunday dinner is usually quite boring. But this dinner was lasagna and salad and pasta salad and garlic bread and soda and... Yum. Food. Real food.

Before Mommy and Daddy left, Aretha asked Lindsey to take a few pictures of us all on her phone (so that is where my pictures in this post come from).

From left to right: Jessy, Stephanie, Aretha, Me, Daddy, Mommy, Mark.

Silly us!


After Mom and Dad left, we all played a round of In a Pickle then Mark left and I took a lovely nap. After my nap, I got to talk with my wonderful bestie Jessica on the phone for awhile. That was nice; I've missed her.

And that is my wonderful weekend in a nutshell.

Oh! And also, Mom and Dad offered to drive up and bring us all down for General Conference, and I think we'll actually do it. That'll be cool. I may live half an hour from the Conference center, but I've still only actually gone in person either once or twice (I can't remember) in my life. My roommates are all very excited about it.

Expectations

Throughout my life, people I have trusted and respected have put me under certain expectations, which I have tried very hard to fulfill. They called me smart, so I tried to be smart. They called me creative, so I tried to be creative. They called me sweet, loyal, a good girl, trustworthy, talented, and so I tried my very best to be so. I have a weakness for wanting to live up to what people think of me -- I think most of us do. I didn't, and still don't, like letting people down.

I'm very lucky that people have thought and expected the best of me, therefore encouraging me to be my best. There are people in this world who have little expected of them and are thought to be less than they are. Unfortunately, they too tend to live up to the expectations had of them, or rather, they live down to those expectations.

Now that I'm older, I have expectations of myself. Among other things, I expect myself to do well in school, I expect myself to keep my belongings tidy, I expect myself to keep my word and I expect myself to be responsible for the things put under my responsibility. I am more disappointed when I fail myself than I ever was when I disappointed everyone else.

So you'll understand why it bothers me that, after having signed a contract saying I would maintain my dorm, my dorm managers feel it necessary to have clean checks every week.

To me, this lack of expectations -- or maybe it would be better to say this over-abundance of bad expectations -- is offensive. They expect me to be an average, sloppy college kid, unwilling to do any cleaning unless it is under the threat of failing clean check. I can be and am responsible; I can and do keep my own dorm clean without micromanagement; I said I would do so when I signed my contract, and I can, will, and do keep my word. Having someone come poking their nose around my dorm every week feels like a slap in the face of my personal expectations.

As a kid, there was nothing that bothered me more than someone thinking I was lying when I wasn't. As an adult, it is still probably one of the most obnoxious things I deal with. I wasn't lying when I said I would take care of my dorm, and these constant clean checks show very little faith in my integrity.

It stings.

I could say a lot more, both on the subject of expectations and clean checks, but I'll leave it at that for now. I have homework to do -- homework for which I am responsible and therefore will do.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

This Week

...has been crazy. I started getting sick with chills and fevers last Saturday. By Sunday morning, I felt terrible, so I stayed home from church. There was a CES fireside with Elder Cook here that evening that I was required to sing at for Choir, so I had to get up for that eventually. By the next day, my sickness had morphed from really bad chills to a sore throat/cough/runny-stuffy nose, which was much better for attending classes (can you imagine me sitting in classes with the chills?) but still no fun.

Tuesday, we sang for devotional, (I, uh, haha, actually almost fainted during the practice we had just before devo, it was scary) and then that night we had a big performance rehearsal, which, gratefully, I didn't have to do any singing for, for most of it. They were videoing it, and the video was to be back up footage for the performance here on Friday, but I wasn't going to be there, so obviously they couldn't have someone in the backup footage and not in the real stuff, so I got to sit in the audience seats and listen. Our Sacred Music Project oratorio is really gorgeous this year. Sitting and listening was such a wonderful experience.

Wednesday was a brief respite from the crazy, then Thursday, I got up, went to my first two classes, cleaned, packed, and got on a bus for Pocatello with the choir. We had a performance there at this really cool building that I think is owned by ISU. This building looked like something out of Star Wars. It was probably three stories tall, but there was only the one floor, with enormously tall ceilings, and long, long, long windows and a windowed dome at the top. Really cool.

Then, afterward, while everyone else climbed back on the buses to go back to Rexburg, I met up with my new sister in law's sisters, Camilla and Mileah, and we drove the rest of the way to Salt Lake. They took me to Chris's house, where Jared, who stayed at my parents' house for the wedding, was waiting to take me home. It was nice to get to hang out with my big brothers for a bit before we had to get home.

The next day was surprisingly chill for a wedding day. I woke up when I was done sleeping, took a shower and got ready, then drove in to the temple with my sister, Gwen, and her family. Her mother in law (who was in town for my nephew Ethan's birthday) and I watched her kids while they were in the wedding.

I got to hold Ashland most of the time, but she started crying about half way through and I just couldn't get her to stop, and Tyler, Ethan and Lynn, Gwen's mother in law, had gone off on a walk together. That bit was stressful. I didn't know what to do. She'd fussed a little bit a few other times, but calmed right down when I'd pointed out flowers or let her touch trees or given her a cracker or something. None of that worked that time. I was starting to panic when, thankfully, nephews and mother in law came back. Those boys are such good big brothers to Ashland. It was so sweet how concerned they were when they came running around the corner because they'd heard her crying.

Lynn had the good idea to try putting her in her stroller and walking around, and she stopped crying soon enough. I'm not sure whether that was due more to the movement of the stroller (which Tyler pushed) or her distraction (Ethan, walking backwards in front of the stroller, making funny faces and dancing around). Those boys really are adorable brothers to that baby girl. We little sisters are so lucky/blessed!

Then the wedding was over and we all cheered as Chris and Keira came out. They are so cute together. I'm so happy for them! I've been waiting for Chris to find the right girl, and to be happy, for years. And now he has and he is. It makes me smile just to think about how happy he is.

We headed over to the chapel after that and helped set up for the family/friends luncheon, then had the luncheon, then, since Mom wasn't feeling good (funnily enough, she got sick just a few days after me and was still going through the chills) we went and took a break at Chris's house for half an hour or so. Then it was time to get back for pictures and then the reception. It's odd, being the groom's family, nobody told me what I should do with myself, so I just hung out by the table where they had a slideshow of Chris and Keira's lives going on a dvd and kept pressing play every time it got over. Also, I told people coming in where to put their presents. Small contributions, but hey, I was helping, right?

Eventually, Chris and Keira drove off in a toilet paper and shaving cream covered car and we cleaned up the church before going home with several dozen extra sandwiches and boxes and boxes of cookies.

The next day I hung out with my Daddy a bit then went up to Gwen's house to catch a bit of Ethan's birthday party. It was mad scientist themed, and they had bottles of water and dry ice on the table that smoked and looked really neat. I was only able to stay for about half and hour, though, before I had to go to Salt Lake. The choir had taken buses down here for a concert in the tabernacle and I needed to be at our first rehearsal.

After we were done rehearsing, we ate dinner in a cafeteria under the church office building. We got to it through the underground tunnel system -- it was so cool! Then we all got dressed in our performance outfits, practiced a bit, and went up into the tabernacle to sing. I didn't mention before that I didn't actually sing in any of our other performances, did I? My voice wouldn't cooperate, what with being sick and all. But last night I was finally feeling well enough that I sang everything but the highest notes. The only downside was that it made me have to cough a couple times in the middle of songs, but hopefully no one noticed.

After the concert we changed into travel clothes and I got to say goodbye to my Daddy and Jared, who'd come to watch my performance, before getting on the bus for the long ride back here.

We finally got here a bit past one in the morning (this is pre-time change time). I waited up for my roommate, Stephanie, who also went to Utah for the weekend, to go with her boyfriend to his old companion's reception. By the time I went to bed, with the time change, it was 3:30 am. I've already missed three weeks of church this semester, twice from going home and once because I was sick, and I didn't want to miss anymore, so I pulled myself out of bed at 8:30 this morning, five hours after going to sleep, to get ready for church.

Our lessons were nice, then afterwards we had choir practice and I practiced a duet which I'll be singing next week. Afterwards, I came home, ate some Ramen, and took a nice long nap.

Which has us caught up to now. Busy week, right?

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Things

Sorry, I'm tired and sick, so not much to say.

I saved Stephanie's life the other day. It's true. I did. I forgot to mention it in the other post. We were walking together and a car would've run her over, but I grabbed her and pulled her out of the way. Super Lisa moment.

Another thing, Choir has been taking over my life recently, and I don't especially appreciate it.

Third thing, I'm sick. I said that already, but it deserves to be repeated.

Fourth thing, MY BROTHER IS GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEK. YAY! I am so excited, guys. You have no idea.

Fifth thing, there's this guy who keeps coming to our apartment and making us brownies. *waggles eyebrows* There's also more to the story than that, but I'm not going into details right here, right now. Ask me some other time.

Sixth thing, I am SO EXCITED FOR CHRIS'S WEDDING. What? I already said that? Well, who cares! I'm doubly excited!

Seventh thing, I should not write blog posts when tired/sick. I am oddly loopy.

Eighth thing... There is no eighth thing in my mind right now.

The End.

Edit: WAIT. I remembered. I wanted to go on a bit about how sweet my friends are. Stephanie has been my mother hen the whole time I've been sick, Aretha brought me food today, Lindsey arranged for the home teachers to come give me a blessing, and Jessy has told me not to die every time I've coughed/shivered/appeared ill. Aren't they lovely?

Now that is all.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Stuff and things

Firstly, the other link: Here.

Don't want to bore you with weather, but... it's Rexburg. Weather is important here.

We've had loads of wind lately. Some days it has been a nice wind that reminds me of home. Other days, like today, the wind is icy and cuts right through you.

A few days ago we had a gorgeous sunset unlike any I have ever seen. I'm used to the red and purple sunsets of Erda. This sunset was blue and cream and gold, and looked like heaven descending to earth. Really beautiful. I would've taken a picture, but I was walking somewhere when I saw it and didn't have my camera with me.

As for other things... We had midterms. So I've stayed up late pretty much every night this week, working on homework and stuff. Also, I kind of was sick this week. Not too fun.

Erm... Sorry, guys, this update is boring. Sometime, I will do posts about what I'm thinking rather than what I'm doing, and perhaps that will be more interesting.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fun fun

First, the promised link from last week's story: here.

And, TWO STORIES THIS WEEK to make up for being late with that link. Unfortunately, only one has been posted online yet: here.

Actually, I don't think they published two stories by me this week for that reason... I believe it's cause I wrote the second story almost a month ago and they haven't had room for it til now. *shrugs*

This last weekend being Presidents day, we had a long weekend. Due to some last minute convincing from my mom and the amazingness that is the Salt Lake Express, I magically appeared at home at 6:15 in the morning after a very long ride (I got on the bus at 2 am) and surprised my brother Jared, who was visiting.

Then... I slept. I would say I slept for hours and hours and hours, but it actually only ended up being from about 7 to about noon... which technically is hours and hours and hours, isn't it. Hmm. Well, around 12 my bestie Jessica texted a reply to something I'd texted the day before asking where I was. When I told her I was in Utah, she stopped texting and called to excitedly tell me that she was coming over immediately to see me.

Of course, I got up for that.

After about an hour, she and her sister Rachel had to leave, so we said goodbye... and I went back to sleep.

At about 4, she called again, asking if I wanted to go shopping. I decided that if I didn't get up sometime, I would get my days and nights mixed up, and anything with Jessica is fun, so I agreed.

I still hadn't surprised my sister, Gwen, yet, so Jared came and got me after about an hour of shopping and took me up to her house. There, he knocked on the door and told her he had brought a friend, whereupon I walked around the corner and she squealed quite adorably.

We spent several lovely hours with Gwen and her family and then went home, where Jared and I had some sibling bonding time over pizza and James Bond.

The next day was Sunday, and Stake Conference, and I (still catching up on sleep, mind) woke up barely in time to be ready for it. In fact, I don't think I had any makeup on and my hair was still wet when we got there. There were several really nice talks; I enjoyed it a lot. Afterward we said Goodbye to Jared and sent him off to catch his plane back to his girls. I fiddled on the piano for a while then convinced my dad to watch three episodes of Sherlock in a row with me.

Afterwards we ate my favoritest dish in the world, this broccoli fetticine stuff that mom discovered last year, and played Clue for hours. I won both games. Or I would've won the first one, anyway, if mom hadn't put two room cards and a person card in the envelope instead a room, a person and a weapon. I love Clue. We listened to the Sherlock soundtrack in the background while playing. Most stimulating.

I haven't told you guys about my obsession with Sherlock on here yet, have I? Hmm. Post idea.

I got a very long sleep, til noon the next day, then went to the eyedoctors and gave them my scratched old glasses so that they could put new lenses in the frames. While waiting for them to be done, I spent another hour and a half with my sister and her family and enjoyed it a lot. Had to get going though, so we went back and picked up my glasses just in time to get me home to pack and eat dinner on the way to the bus stop.

I had another long drive back up here, during which I did a LOT of homework, and then, arriving, discovered that my amazingly sweet friends Stephanie (you remember her, she's one of my roommates) and Aretha (my friend from India) walked through the snow all the way across campus to 'pick me up' (walk me home) from the bus stop. They're just lovely, aren't they?

And that, my dears, was my weekend. I hope it was long and detailed enough for you (Dad).

I am going to bed now. Goodnight!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Annie the Snowwoman




Well, I told you I'd show these pics to you eventually. This happened several weeks ago now. It was the second snow of the semester, the first that we were all home for.

Stephanie, Lindsey, Aretha, Jessy and I went out to giggle like small children at the snowflakes. Lindsey and Stephanie made snow angels while Aretha and Jessy took pictures. Afterwards, those two went back inside and Lindsey, Stephanie and I drew pictures in the snow on the sidewalk and wrote messages and stuff. Then, because we were beginning to freeze, we were about to go in and be done when Stephanie and a girl from the next dorm over started a snowman. My shoes (just the slippers I'd had on to keep my feet warm inside) were soaked through, so I went in and put on boots and gloves and then rejoined them.

Once the snowman was up, we decided to make her a woman, because, you know, men can't be in the confines of the dorm after midnight, and we didn't think this one would be leaving anytime soon. So it was that Annie (named after Annie S. Kerr, the namesake of our dorms) was born.

The original Annie, before her make-over, provided by yours truly.

After make-over. She looks so much happier with definable eyes and I straight nose, don't you think?
The girl from the next dorm over who's name I have most unfortunately forgotten.


The Ode to Annie the Snowwoman
Beautiful Annie, made from the snow
after one night, she had to goooo.
The sidewalk scrapers didn't approve,
said poor Annie would have to move.
So they sent her tumbling down the hill,
so there she lies crumbling, in pieces still.
Of hat and scarf, we've nary a sign,
but don't worry, they're Stephanie's, not mine.

The end.

P.S. First sports article came out in the paper today, but hasn't been put online yet. I'll link it when it appears.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

It's Sunday afternoon...

and I want to nap.

Mmmmyep.


Now that we've got that out of the way, here's a quick update on my life.

I had a Women's Choir concert last night... well, two of them. We did the same thing twice. It was a Barbershop thing and lots of fun. For our first song, the Bases (normally called Alto 2s) jumped out of the first row and onto the stage, then the rest of us either ran across the stage or burst through the side doors. It was quite the entrance, if you ask me. I was one of the side door people. Then we all ran up onto the stage and found our places on the risers. After the opening prayer we sang Sweet Hour of Prayer, and then we sang (and did actions, including passing big green leaves) High Hopes. You've heard it, I'm sure. "Once there was a little old ant, thought he'd move a rubber tree plant..." etc.

Besides the concerts (and all accompanying rehearsals) I've also had two tests, two seminars and plenty of homework this week, which is my excuse for not posting in a while.

In other News, I've been switched (sniff, sniff, sob) from the Arts and Entertainment section of the Scroll to the Sports section. Apparently, because Sports lost four of the seven writers they originally had, they decided to steal me from A&E 'cause A&E has nine writers... or had. Now, without me, they have eight. We'll see how this new thing goes, since I know next to nothing about Sports and have never had much interest in playing them.

Probably ought to mention that I have lovely classes. I adore my history and English classes, my science class is a lot of fun, women's choir is exhausting but exciting, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of writing for the Scroll. (No article this week, sorry. They didn't have room for the story I wrote in this week's edition, it'll be in next week's. It isn't time sensitive, so it'll be fine whenever they decide to put it up.)

My friend Sarah had a birthday this week. She's 17 now. You all ought to wish her Happy Birthday in the comments.

Um.... yeah. I can't think of anything else to write.

OH. We built a snow-woman a few weeks back and I got pictures. I'll post them sometime.

Now that's all.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Newspaperyness

This week's article: Clicky. They didn't edit this one as much. I am pleased.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Hiya

Hi guys. Several people *coughmyparentscough* have requested I post a certain new article that recently appeared in The Scroll (BYU-I's school newspaper). So here's the link to the newspaper's website, specifically, the wanted article.

Let me just tell you though, due to excellent editors, what you will read is a lot better than what I originally wrote. You can thank them for the awesomeness with which the article glows. Not me. You can thank me for getting the quotes. That was scary. I would appreciate thanks for that.

And even if they changed it a bit, it still has my name on it. So that's exciting. It's pretty cool to see your own name in the papers under a headline. Well... I guess it wouldn't be exciting for someone whose headline said 'Criminal Scheduled to be Executed Today' and the line under the headline that had their name in it was just a line from the story...

Sorry. That was random.

Oh well. I am random sometimes. Get used to it.

*hugs* Have a lovely weekend you lovely people!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Adventures with Friends


I've been having a marvelous week. Lots of fun with my roommates and a few new friends.

It all started with Aretha. Aretha and I have a class together, and one day in class last week, she asked if she could sit by me. We got talking and she told me she came from India and the stuff we were learning (American history) was all new to her, so I offered to study with her some time and we exchanged numbers. The next class we sat together again, then afterwards we and my roommate Stephanie ate lunch together. A few days later at our first ward FHE we went bowling and surprise! She was part of our ward! So Aretha, Stephanie and I played miniature golf and pool (we taught Aretha how to play both, she'd never played them before -- it was fun).

Since then we've all been good buddies. I told Aretha that I needed to get interviews for a news article I needed to do and she told me I should just come over and talk to her and her roommates so a few days ago I convinced my roommates to go with me and we all showed up at their dorm and played games while I asked them questions. Then on Friday, Aretha texted to see if we wanted to go ice skating with her and her roommates. We had gone shopping, but were able to get home in time to go with them (mostly due to the two good samaritans, fellow-students-but-with-a-car, who gave us a ride back).

Leaving to go skating.

On the way to the skating rink, we passed through the I-center. As we were walking, we became aware that a part of our group had fallen back. We all hid in anticipation of them rounding the corner, so we could jump out and surprise them, but then only one of them came. She told us that one of the party (one of Aretha's roommates' shy cousin who'd been talked into coming) had felt weird, coming along with a bunch of strangers, so they were taking her back to her dorm.

While we were waiting for them to take her home and come back, we decided to play a nice game of squash. I was chosen to hide and took off down a corridor. Not very long afterward, Lindsey, one of my roommates, and Kaleigh, one of Aretha's roommates, found me. We decided where we were currently hiding wouldn't hide a bunch of people well and so we moved about ten feet away, through a set of doors and onto the landing on a set of stairs. While we were standing there, hiding, Lindsey... kind of dropped her phone into the small space between the wall and the glass divider next to it (to keep people from getting onto the window sill, I guess).

Lindsey, trying to get her phone.

Kaleigh 'kicking' the phone toward Lindsey's hand with her boot.

A moment later, Jessy found us. For the next few minutes, we tried to stifle our laughter as Lindsey entertained us by trying to scare the people outside, slapping the window and staring at them.






Lindsey was having a hard time remaining serious while I videoed her doing it.


Lindsey Pose!

Kaleigh Pose!

"Be quiet, you guys, they'll find us!"

Kaleigh, the look out.
For some reason, her position in this picture amuses me greatly.
She reminds me of a penguin.

As the time wore on without Aretha and Stephanie (the only others playing) finding us, Lindsey started calling and texting Stephanie and leaving odd messages for her. "How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood?" being one of them. So when, a few minutes later, Stephanie texted me asking if I had anyone with me, I replied, "A wood chuck."

For the next half hour or so, we waited, Stephanie and I exchanging tree and wood chuck related hints to where we were hiding and laughing at Lindsey's creeper act.

Eventually, Stephanie and Aretha saw us through the window. They'd gone, via the sky bridge, to the building across the way, which was technically against the rules (or so we decided, anyway) and so we changed hiding places. Stephanie and Aretha saw us running, though, so they gave up and told us to come find them so we could go ice skating for real. The other roommates were apparently not returning. But Lindsey needed to get back to the dorm, so in the end, we all decided ice skating would have to wait for some other time and came back to our dorm, where we had hot chocolate.



Then we went over to Aretha & co's dorm to watch a couple movies. Afterwards, I finished my newspaper article, which took til 4 am. D:

The next morning I had a date, which was fun. We got hot chocolate and explored Rexburg for an hour.

After that, Jessy and I had planned to go to the temple. Somehow, though, it got later and later, and began to involve more and more people until we had Jessy, me, Aretha (who had never been to the temple before, though she has a recommend, because there isn't one in India), Stephanie, Lindsey and Kaleigh.

We crammed ourselves into Kaleigh's car, rode up the hill to the temple and... were told that they had stopped taking walk-in's because it was really busy. We got to go in and sit for a while and watch baptisms, though. That was nice. I love the peace of the temple, even if I'm not doing any work.

A nice little old man took this picture of all us of together.

That night, Aretha invited us over to have Indian food and watch a Bollywood movie. We had a lot of fun.


Nothing left. We ate it ALL.


Then we had the cake that Jessy made from the cake mix we bought earlier that day (and which I accidentally carried in my purse, to the temple) and Sprite. It was crazy, but the Sprite made up for all the other things you usually combine with cake mix, like oil and water and egg. It was delicious.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Blessed

I just want to let you guys know, I have felt the Lord's hand so strongly in my life since I started school. I've had several experiences where I felt He was guiding me. The third day of school, I was convinced, 100%, no doubts, that my second class was at 3:00. I went to the library, determined to study til 2:45. About 1:45, I just thought that, even though I *knew* it was at 3:00, I should just look over my schedule again. It turned out that it was at 2:00. I have a different class on another day that's at 3:15, and somehow I'd mixed the two classes together. I got to my class just in time.

That class, incidentally, was Women's Choir. If I hadn't shown up that day to do call-backs, I would not have been accepted into the Choir, which would have left me one credit short of the full-time student credit minimum. It also would have been very disappointing, because I love singing, and so far Choir has been a lot of fun. Well, besides the scary moment approaching my director to tell her I'd have to miss a concert for Chris' wedding. But the director was so chill about it, my nerves were completely misplaced.

Other times, I have felt that I shouldn't study something at a certain time and instead take care of non-educational things. I paid for my student insurance in one of those times. I hadn't realized I needed to get it. That was the only time that day I could go before they closed. If I'd paid it a day later, it would have been late and cost more.

Things like this just make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside when I think about them. I mean, I'm hours away from all my family, so it is so comforting to me to know that my Heavenly Father is taking extra special care of me while I'm away from them.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Stuff. You know, stuff. Like... Life?

My classes are interesting and fun. I'm becoming great friends with my roommates. I've made several other friends in my classes and around campus. I'm getting hot chocolate with a guy on Saturday. I paid for my insurance and picked up my choir costume both during a time slot that I didn't think would work for either and felt like a ninja. I interviewed people for my reporting job at the newspaper today. I know the campus and my schedule well enough that I check my schedule/map combo that is always in my pocket less than once a day now.

The above? Random facts that add up to: Very Pleasant Life.

Also, it snowed for the first time since I've been here yesterday, and has been much colder since then.

In case you're wondering whether I'll ever post real, thought provoking stuff, never fear. I have some things ruminating in my mind that shall appear here eventually. But for now, I'm too tired and I can't afford to stay up much later, my earlier class is tomorrow.


Sunday, January 8, 2012

First Week

Guys, guys, GUESS WHAT?

I HAVE SURVIVED MY FIRST WEEK. And not only that -- I've loved it! I love all the reading and interesting things I'm learning and keeping track of my assignments and my teachers (one of whom is a pirate and another is a cowboy -- cool, right?) and my roommates and being in charge of my schedule and the responsibility and-- and-- *gasps for breath* and that was a very long run-on sentence.

I was really worried about my science class, and put off studying for it for hours, and then the text turned out to be really interesting. And I was so interested in my history class when I started, and then the text turned out to be rather dull. Funny how life works like that.

It is so interesting and fun, figuring out how to take charge of myself. I've only got one piece of homework that isn't finished and it isn't due til Tuesday, and I'm halfway done with it. Not only that, my desk, dishes, bed, closet, etc, are the tidiest in my dorm. I'm so excited. So far, I think I've done pretty well with keeping my life on schedule and well taken care of in all areas.


Yep. That's pretty much all I have to say right now. Well, unless you want to hear me squeal about my brother's engagement some more.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

My Roommates

These are the people with whom I live now, in all their 'Guys, I've got a camera and I'm taking your picture in two seconds!' glory.


Stephanie (and the top of Lindsey's head -- she ducked).

Jessy, the roommate who actually shares my room.

And Lindsey, once she had decided to allow her picture to be taken.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Le Update

Hola! (No, I'm not taking Spanish class. Be quiet.)

I am here to announce that I am alive. And not only that, I am having a wonderful time. I've only gone to one class and some newbie activities, but so far, I am loving college! My dorm mates... or roommates... (I have suddenly become unsure of whether the term dorm mate is a necessary distinction) are very fun and very helpful. I'll post a picture of the four of us on here soon. Two of them have been here a semester already, so they know what they're doing -- that's very reassuring for me, let me tell ya.

I've had an interesting few days. I've changed classes (sounds [and is] simple, but it worried me at the time), paid tuition like a grown up woman (SCARY! Who said I could grow up already?) and I've already started a study habit.

I am, overall, very pleased with my experience so far.

Also, I INTERUPT THIS UPDATE OF MY LIFE FOR A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.

My big bruver, Chris, is engaged! *dances in joy* Her name is Keira and I think she's awesome. I am so excited for him. I was at a dance (one of the newbie welcoming activities) when I got his text, and I actually screamed in excitement. Not very loudly, don't worry. And I don't think my neighboring dancers minded much, because it was loud in there already.

Yep. That's the awesomeness that is my life right now.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

College... Eep.

Well, this is it, folks. Tomorrow I will walk onto my new campus, move into my new dorm, and begin my new college experience. I am excited and very freaked out. I hope my dorm mates are nice. I hope I am not completely overwhelmed by my classes. I hope I don't freeze to death.

Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day.