To party or study? That is the question...

This week was highly eventful with a pleathora of crazy random adventures, people, studying, decorating, cleaning, and the list could go on and on. Sleep wasn't a very major part of it though...there just wasn't enough time to sleep, too much to do, too much to see, just too much. But I enjoyed every minute of it. I am one of those people who is most happy when busy doing something, sitting around doing nothing is pointless and doesn't get anything accomplished or solved, no fun or work had, it's a waste of time that really bothers me. So this week was pretty much close to perfect for the main part. Ok, I guess Ill start out with Monday since that is when the week usually seems to start (one time I might just mix it up and pick Thursday instead, it deserves its fair chance to be first, right?). Monday was FHE, like always which is always tons of fun and way worth it to give up a few hours of studying to go and play and learn and serve. This week we went as an entire ward to go see the Salt Lake Temple lights and watch the Joseph Smith movie. We, meaning my "family" up here, played word games and "I have never..." all the way out there and back on the bus. Learned quite a few things about the people that I thought I had come to know really well after months of living with them and hanging out with them. Once there, the Joseph Smith movie is just the most amazing experience, no matter how many times you watch it. The spirit is so strong and overwhelming that I don't think there is a single dry eye left in the room by the end of the movie. Not one. That and The Testaments give pretty immediate spiritual highs that provide good pick-me-ups no matter how hard life is or what all you still have to get done. After that we had to run around to go see any of the lights because the bus was leaving in only a few very short minutes. We caught the Nativity and a lot of the random lights around in the trees. The most beautiful sight by far though was the Salt Lake Temple outline out against the dark sky. A true testament and symbol to its being a place of God put in the middle of an ungodly world shining out as a beacon of truth and light. You can catch a glimpse of it at the end in the pictures (yes, I couldn't pick just one this time) of the week. Tuesday was a good day because I got a lot of studying and work done. That is until my brain just crashed fried and so I did cleaning for our cleaning check that night. Which after that I watched The Great Mouse Detective and then headed out to the chamber orchestra concert for humanities. Man, I miss playing in a chamber orchestra. Symphonies are fun and big and loud and a complete blast. But chamber orchestras are just so....musical. Everyone there is at the top of their game and they all work together to create the most beautiful sounding music. Everyone is on a team and works as such without trying to outplay their standpartner or the section next to them. They played Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Haydn's "Surprise Symphony, and another piece tha was from the Romantic era. The cleaning check itself came next, which was the very first one I have ever actually been home for. Im always busy out doing something else. But I made it this time until I got a call to go on a quest to find the Museum of Peoples and Cultures for Sherrie's friend Jen. I couldn't say no (and I didn't feel like sticking around to have to explain how our theater room/kitchen works to our RA Benjamin). We found the building in a matter of seconds, it was right where Google said it would be. Jen was just blind and hadn't been able to find it after searching for hours all around it. After that we decided we were not yet ready to go back to BYU so we took a journey to go look at the light displays in the richer section of Provo and admire the view from offered by the mountainside that all these house are on. A midnight trip to IHOP was in order so that we could get some hot chocolate and thaw out for walking around the moutainside admiring the view. I tried one of their crepes and it was delicious, I would highly reccomend it to any one who likes IHOP food. Still not as good as the stuffed french toast though, that is by far the best thing offered at the restaurant. After that it was high past bedtime. Wednesday was the day of my first final for dance! I retested on the cha cha and had a blast dancing with the girl that I danced with at Dancesport before. One of my better grades for that class. She convinced me to add 280 with her next semester so my dancing career will continue for another semester at least. After that comes the mission and probably that will be the end of dance for me. Wednesday night was just a study night pretty much. Catching up on all the stuff I had to catch up on and getting stuff done. Thursday was the last day of classes for fall semester 2008 at BYU! Oh happy day! After they finally ended I had to head off to work and then I went to a Christmas chorus concert that Amanda, Greg, and Samuel all sang in. Plus it was free, can't get much better than that. After that was just a bunch of chatting and talking. Friday was the first reading day and I studied fairly hard. I threw myself at psychology and economics trying to understand and master all the crazy, weird, insane concepts. I think it actually did a lot of good and helped me to remember everything that I had struggled to learn all semester. Friday night was time to start preparing for the grand Christmas party that I had been planning for the past two weeks. We went down to DI and sorted through all the junk there to find the perfect decorations and ideas. We found a Christmas tree! How cool is that? And it was only $5 was the best part. DI is just simply amazing. It has the answers to most of life's questions and problems and for very, very cheap. That night was talked some more and played around. The next day was party day! We started out with going to Kneaders which is a little bread shop not far from campus. It offers a $4.99 homemade french toast (meaning that the bread, maple syrup, and whipped cream is all made from scratch) all you can eat special for breakfast. What better way to start you day? After that I came home and started putting up the tree and all the lights and getting all the cleaning done and made sure all the food was taken care of (dinner was potluck style). So my parents don't worry I didn't just do that, I managed to squeeze in an econ study party for my econ final on Monday. I am as ready for that test now as I am ever going to be and we will just have to see what happens. Then I had to run off to work and then I came home and changed and it was party time! And it was awesome! The girls had voted a long time ago that it was all going to be semi-formal/formal. So that meant girls in prom dresses, guys in tuxes, and at the very least everyone in Sunday clothes (although since Sterling was visiting from Idaho we cut him some slack). For dinner there was more food than I think have seen on one table since I have started college, we even ended up having to go get another table just to hold it all. There was chicken, pork chops, vegetable platter, corn, honeydew, pineapple, pomegranate, grapes, mashed potatoes, Martinelli's, lemomade, water, gingerbread cookies, homemade ice cream, hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, candy canes, rolls, chips and salsa, and lemon poppyseed muffins. A true feast. And everyone helped out, everyone brought something and helped get it all ready and cooked and made and wonderful. The turnout was pretty crazy too...20 people in humongous dresses or tuxes for dinner stuffed into our tiny kitchen which was even more crammed with the addition of the Christmas tree and at closer to 25 for all the games and the white elephant gift exchange we did later that night. I met quite a fair few of new people, but I also already knew most of everyone there. After dinner, we played the adverb game and then did desserts and dancing while waiting for the last few people to arrive so we could do the white elephant. The adverb game turned out to be a smashing success, everyone was laughing like crazy and had the biggest smiles and most fun. We played it for probably at least around an hour which is quite a long time for that game. the white elephant gift exchange took the party to a whole new level though. There was almost everything you could imagine there and probably quite a bit more. People were beyond creative to say the least. There was a reindeer lawn ornament, card games, a giant calculator, chocolate milk, the endless zipper purse, boomerangs, Saltine crackers, our peephole that Kelly Ann had stolen, pictures, and much, much more. It was a blast! Seriously, one of the most fun nights of my entire college career. I had forgotten how much I liked to plan things, get them all set up and then just relax and enjoy the result of all my hard work and planning. I got so many compliments, it was ridiculous. But I did not do that much except plan it out. Most of the work was done by everyone else and I just directed making sure that everything was ready and as perfect as could be. I think Im going to have to plan more fun things, because I like doing it. I like doing it a lot. Well, after that this week is going to seem pretty dull as finals hit me and crush me until Thursday afternoon. After that I am home free and and in fact am coming home of Friday the 19th with Joe. I am so excited! I can't wait to be home again even if I was just there a few weeks ago. Nothing quite compares. Dorothy had it right with her ruby slippers on this one. Well...its time for me to head back to work now, break time is over. I shall write of my hopeful triumphs over tests next Sunday and the great times I have starting at home on Saturday. also, I hope to go caroling this week with the BYU folk, but I will just have to see what time permits.

Thought of the week: It comes from my sister Lora quite a long time ago actually but I discovered the truth of it this week. I can't remember the exact quote but it had to do with the fact that I always had fun because I put work and effort into making sure whatever I was planning for fun would get pulled off and that everyone else would have fun too. That statment is so true. We get out what we put in. For work, life, parties, dates, and the list goes on and on. Just remember that the more work and effort and thought you put into something, the more you will get out of it and the more enjoyable it will be for you.

Song of the week: "Ill Be Home for Christmas" - true statement! I will be there in 5 days! :)

Pictures of the week:

Crunch time has officially started, but life is still ridiculously fun!

Well...just like the title states the craziness of finals and the end of the semester and Christmas shopping and cleaning and find a ride home and everything like that has finally started and in fact kicked into pretty high gear this week. It will probably approach levels of insanity this week and who know what will happen finals but that everything just explodes because of running around trying to finish up everything (and there is an infinite amount of things to be completed before leaving for home, the list just keeps growing and growing with no signs of stopping). After catching up during all last weekend from partying at home all during Thanksgiving, we went back to having a Sunday dinner where Sherrie and Amanda come over and they brought along Adam Herring too. We had waffles and then opened up my new Cranium game to just mess around and have fun. The game is simply amazing. Group party games are still my ultimate favorite by far and this has strengthened my addiction and bias towards them. Monday was time to take the waltz test in dance, which so far is my favorite dance because it is just so eloquent and graceful and smooth and beautiful. I got an A on the test which is a miracle because I hadn't practiced in a good solid week and half, but it was great fun. Monday night was FHE, one of the best parts of the week because we get to hang out with cool, fun people on a school night and we are commanded to do so by the Lord. If the Lord commands you to hang out, you do it. This week it was my week to teach everyone how to index and I can honestly say that it was a blast and everyone had fun doing service for about an hour's length of time at least. Indexing is amazing is what I have decided because even though it is impossible to read the handwriting or understand exactly what you are doing, the people up there appreciate it and are looking forward to their names finally being able to be found by family members in order for them to do baptism for them. Its service with a bang. Tuesday was a day of study or in other words I can't remember exactly what I was up to...but you can bet it had Ryan written all over it and was random enough for anyone you could think of. Wednesday was my final orchestra concert for the semester and to my great surprise we actually pulled it off. I thought it was going to crash and burn and end with the audience throwing rotten food at us like they did in the old days, but nope, we sounded great somehow. After sounding terrible in all the rehearsals and practices leading up to it. We played a very long concert with the following pieces and forgive my terrible spelling...there was Bizet's Carmen, Vaughn-Williams' tuba concerto, Leroy Anderson's Bugler's Holiday, Tchailkowsky's Roccoco Variations, and Aaron Copland's El Salon Mexico (just imagine there being accents over all the right letters in that title). The most amazing thing was the Roccoco because the bass soloist in it was one of the best in the world. He is the bass professor at ASU, and when he played...he made everyone feel like we were back in fourth grade just barely picking up an instrument for the very first time. That is how insane he was...people studying music at the college level just astounded by the pure, raw talent of the bassist. Who sounded like a cello or violin or bass depending upon what the music called for. Someone who can be that dedicated to the study of music is someone who I greatly admire. I just could never push myself that hard to do it, to practice hours upon hours upon hours a day, slowly taking apart each and every note and rhythm in order to be able to play it all and play it the very best anyone has ever heard. I think there only a very few select people that are able to do that and I had the pleasure of being able to play with one at this concert and it was one the best musical experiences of my life and probably will be for eternity. After that everyone who had come to watch my concert - Samuel, Aaron, Joe, Amanda, Sherrie, Kelly Ann, and Adam - came back to my apartment with me and we talked and hung out and ate the puppy chow that Kelly Ann had made. I taught Christine a few steps in the waltz later that night and got schooled by Kelly Ann in what the correct posture and frame is. But I don't know what to do there because holding my frame like that really kills my shoulders a lot. However, I also learned the polka earlier that day and I can totally do that dance, it is by far the most fun and energetic dance known to man. But maybe someday I will get use to it and I can be able to hold it the correct way. Thursday was a fun day where I started off with some hard core studying at Julie and Karsten's and then headed to the dance lab. The dance lab was not as good as the one before had been (probably something to do with them refusing to play anything but Christmas music), but it was still a blast. I got there right when the floor shows were starting and watched the amazingness of all the people in the upper classes dance away for us and decided that I am still quite very poor at dancing. Very much so. After the dance lab, I watched the Muppet Christmas Carol at the Varsity Theater which I have not seen in a very long time. It was a blast and much funnier than I remember. I love the music too, but then I always love the music so I don't know if that is saying very much. After that it was back to my apartment to hang out (it seems to be the place to go everytime...I don't know or understand why but everyone just congregates to our apartment and it is almost always packed every single night of the week with people). I guess we do have all the games and the projector and the Wii and the Playstation 2 and its relatively clean most of the time if I could get around to cleaing it that day (somedays I am just too busy and cannot get to it). I guess that is a good thing but it makes life very hard to study sometimes. Although according to my roommates I have the unique ability to tune everything and everyone out and just study for hours and hours and get done what I need to get done so I can be able to have fun later and also get enough sleep to sustain life (a concept the rest of my roommates struggle with). Friday night we were invited to a dinner and movie night by Kelly Ann. My two cents here: I provided dessert. We had the most amazing taco salad and then proceeded to watch Charade which is the cheesiest old movie I have ever seen, but also one of the funniest. After that was over we had the pie and ice cream that I had made (the pie being made by the fabulous Marie Calendar and the ice cream being homemade by me. It took forever to convince Whitney that I had made the ice cream though, she refused to believe that it was homemade for the longest time). Saturday was back to working and studying day...although I didn't get much done of either. Whitney came over and made us her famous bannana whole wheat pancakes (which are pretty much to die for by the way when topped with my berry ice cream, just saying). After that we went over to Kelly Ann's and finished watching Speed Racer, which is one the most trippy and random movies ever made, but it was still very, very good. I came home and worked on an hour of economics then and then headed out to Savers with Whitney in order to start getting everything prepared for the Christmas party we are planning for this upcoming Saturday. It should be a blast as long as we can convince anyone to show up. That is always the trick is getting people to come...for some reason they never do but then when they do show up they have a blast. Have fun trying to figure that one out. Saturday night was the freeze fest extravaganze thrown and paid for by BYU. There was ice skating, dancing, broom hockey, icing cookies, hot chocolate, friends, fun, and extreme exhaustion by the end of the night. Although that one is probably my fault because my roommate and I started jumping up and down during the dance and had a contest to see how could endure the longest and we eneded up having to call it a draw so we could go ice skating, or I should say they could go ice skating while I watched them enjoy themselves and have a good time. But I had a blast last night, it was awesome to just get to see everyone together and enjoying themselves without a care in the world. Well if last week was busy, its nothing compared with this week. Its going to be insanity but fun with temple lights trip, chamber orchestra concert, RHA party, work, study, classes, room date night, and Christmas party that I still have to finish planning and setting up for. So stayed tune next week for I survive and how I make it through, ciao!

Thought of the week: "Good, Better, Best" the conference talk. I think about it almost every day in my life and I am really applying it and how is the best possible way to use my time for every circumstance. It means that life comes at you hard and fast and busy, but you get a lot more stuff done.

Song of the week: "Gotta Be Somebody" by Nickelback. Its one of their brand new songs that just really means a lot for me. It is about no matter who you are or what you do, that there is somebody out there in the world who will love you and accept you. You will never be alone, and that message just means a lot to me. Not to mention I just love Nickelback in general, but hey that is just an added bonus.

Picture of the week: My roommates and I goofing off at the dance...this picture is just us. All the rest of my pics from the week can be viewed on Facebook like always

The Exploits of Thanksgiving Break

Well...where to start would be the question. I don't think I have ever cram packed so many things into one week ever in my life, especially without getting any real work done. Although I did do some reading and writing for papers and classes so at least that is a step in the right direction I guess. I guess I will start like I always do at the beginning of the week with Monday. It was insanity trying to pay attention to all my classes knowing that I would be going home in a few hours, seeing my family for the first time in months. I think I barely took anything in at all and if I did it came at tremendous personal effort and concentration. But somehow I made it through and then sat outside surround by my posse of roommates plus Jared DeLamar Jensen to see me off. You would have thought I was leaving for a mission or something the way I was surrounded, or at least for some extensive foreign traveling or something. But I guess my roommates are just cool like that, plus it gave me something to do while I (impatiently) waited for Aunt Julie to come pick me up. Not that it really mattered all I did was go to her house and do laundry for several hours anyway and of course I forgot my boarding pass in my apartment and so had to come back and get it. I mean, when does everything go perfectly when you most want it to? But the thing was that I really didn't care because I was so excited to finally just be going home. Something all my other roommates had already done or home had come to them with moms and dads visiting or flying home to rip open mission calls or for working or because Samuel just can or because Jared (not the same one mentioned above) already lives up here anyway. Home is such an interesting word though. You can't truly realize how much it takes in your life until you move away and then start having to do everything on your own, guessing at how things are supposed to work and turn out and getting it terribly wrong most the time. But what can you do? Just pressing on with a smile and laughing at yourself is the most tremendous thing. A sense of humor goes a long ways in surviving away from home and its only when I lost it that I have every truly had difficulty struggling through it. I got home around 11ish - midnight. It felt so weird to be home...like an alien world that was somewhat strangely familiar still. It didn't help that all the rooms had been moved around and my bed had ceased to exist. Plus they were all painted new colors that were really cool, I never got to do that (not that Im bitter or anything haha). Tuesday morning was get up off of fourish hours of sleep and head to the temple day (Sterling's idea). It was awesome though, the temple always is. And completely worth starting my week of utter sleep deprivation. It also kept up my goal of going to the temple once a week to do baptisms, plus it was with some of the same group of people who had gone with me over the summer. It just felt incredibly right to do. After that I had to go home to help my mom make salsa, from which I learned the art of chopping green onions, various peppers, and all sorts of other useful skills that I just won't be able to practice because all of that stuff is so expensive. Being healthy is really quite pricey, junk food is cheap. I got to just talk to my mom for hours on Tuesday though and that was good. We caught up on everything that had been going on and what was going good and not so good. I spent almost all of Tuesday day at home after that messing around with siblings or my parents or whatever. Just enjoying life and that fun that it brings. Collett and Biehl did come visit me for awhile and we talked and joked and had fun. That night was Ty Hancock's birthday party which was a complete blast because I finally got to see some of my friends who I have missed the most. It reminded me of the fact that I was extremely blessed with friends in high school, like extremely so. I took for granted the fact that I had such a huge close-knit group of friends that were always there for me and loved me despite all my quirks. And helped me to live the standards...and then I got to college and heard the horror stories of people from Texas and California who were the only Mormons in their entire high school and so had almost no friends and so had to struggle through everything on their own. I was beyond blessed with my group of friends from Moutain View High School in Mesa, Arizona. And I am so greatful for that. Anyway, at the party we had a blast playing random games like Catchphrase, the adverb game (me new all time favorite group game), "this is a solemn and serious occasion." Just talking and laughing and joking and getting Aubrey to ride a motorcycle and eating and poking and whatever else we did that night. It was just complete fun where everyone let loose and was not embarrassed of acting out or speaking up. Wednesday was Ihop breakfast day. Good stuff. Thanks for Collett and Biehl here for ditching school, it really did make my day to talk to and see you guys again. After that we ran and visited some Moutain View teachers because they are just awesome like that. Then we went to my house and played Quelf and had pizza. Sorry goes to my mom here for not forewarning her...but they all wanted to do something and I had to go home so I just brought them all with me. Thanks for being so understanding and accepting though. Wednesday night was the interesting party with the house burning down. Nothing can quite add excitement like that. Thursday was Thanksgiving and Im stealing your idea Aubrey from Britney Peterson. So I guess Im technically stealing it from her.

Im thankful for a family who loves and cares about me and accepts me despite all my quirks and faults. They understand me and know when to give me room or when to rush in and give me the biggest hugs. Their smiles and humor make my life so much better.

Im thankful I got to go home for Thanksgiving, I have been really wanting to for a very long time. Just hearing people's voices over the phone is not enough, I needed to actually see them and talk to them face-to-face. So thanks goes to Mom and Dad here to for buying my plane tickets so that I could make it home.

Im thankful for my amazing friends, both up here at BYU and those that I made in Mesa. They lift me up to become the best that I can be. They know how to cheer me up when I am down, how to keep me laughing when Im happy, and how to make me stretch to do the impossible.

Im thankful for a Heavenly Father who knows me individually and sent His only Begotten Son to die for me personally so that I could return to live with Him. That takes a love beyond compare that I cannot fully comprehend but hope to someday.

Im thankful for temples and the sweet spirit that they add to my life.

Im thankful for BYU and the education that I am receiving. Even if it does take me to the brink of insanity to learn it all, I love learning and gaining a greater understanding of the world around me and how it all works and how everything fits together.

Im thankful for music and the way that it can move me. Im thankful for the cello and the huge role that it has played in shaping me into who I am now.

Im thankful for random adventures, long night chats, game nights, movie nights, birthday parties, church meetings and outings, and all other events that fill up my time with wholesome and fun activites.

Im thankful for work and being able to clear my mind out while doing it. Im thankful for the money that I make that I can put towards my mission that I earn from it.

Finally, Im thankful for all those who have played a role in shaping my life and making me into who I am today. Many of you don't know who you are or what a major role you played, but it was huge.

So that is my Thanksgiving post. Oh...final, final thanks...Im thankful for life and all the joy that it brings. Smiles, laughter, puppy dogs, friends, Cheerios, ice cream...we have to live an actual human life in order to enjoy each of these and Im so thankful for that gift that I have been given in having one. Thanksgiving I got to see most of my extended family again which was just grand. I miss those Sunday gatherings a lot, more so than I ever thought I truly could. It was nice to have a review of what it felt like. Friday was Black Friday and all that entails. The crazy hectic shopping frenzy that is nonetheless fun and exciting. Friday, another one of my friends got his mission call. Trevor is going to South Carolina. It is so weird to watch them all get excited and pumped to go...Im still waiting to get to the right age to be able to do that. Friday night was family night and we played some Uno Attack. Great game. Especially for the competitive and those that like some sort of justice in the world in watching the person who only has one card left suddenly end up with like 20. I crashed then from complete exhaustion, and slept for 9 hours to amke up for playing so hard all week. Saturday was come home day...or my other home anyway. Its so weird having to deal with the dichotomy of two homes. Home is where the heart is, right? But what if your heart is stuck in two places? What happens then? Home is with my family, but home is also where I live and work and breathe and enjoy life. Home is where I will always be accepted for me but that happens in both places too. Home is home. But which one is really home? I don't know the answer to that anymore. A few months ago I would have answered 1727 N Ashbrook Circle in a heartbeat...but those days are over having moved out and establish myself in 118 Shipp Hall. But its not completely home either becuse its lacking the people that I grew up with and get to spend eternity with. I guess Ill just have to be satisfied with two homes for now.

Song of the week: "Just Dance" by Gaga something. Ok, so the song is actually really stupid but what the message of the song says to me is just live life the way you are supposed to. Don't let anyone tell you different. Be you and let the world deal with it. Don't change for the sake of gaining the admiration or jealousy of others, be who you are and don't let anyone but the Lord change you.

Thought of the week: "Be grateful for everything. Its what makes you, you"

Picture(s) of the week (sorry I just couldn't put one!):

Squeezing in the last little bit of college randomness

This week has been one of the best weeks of my life up to date. Although every week is full of its up and downs, bumps, humps, drops, extremely long uphill chain pulls, and then the eventual feeling of weightlessness as you clear the top and gaze at the deathly fun descent that waits for you below. Every week has life lessons, mess ups, moments of ecstasy mingled with brilliance, being overwhelmed and feeling not the least bit smart but far behind a lot of the other people around you. Anyway, enough of the random rant...this week was quite awesome. I rediscovered how much I liked writing by spending hour upon hour upon hour from Sunday to Wednesday painstakingly working out my 10 page Book of Mormon paper on prayer. I had to research all the different beliefs of prayer from the Latter-Day Saint, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Baptist, and world perspective. It had to be the most interesting topic I have ever had the opportunity to research. All the religion had vastly different beliefs and principles in their prayer but all still had the same base in the fact that somewhere a God was lovingly listening to that prayer and wanting to help in whatever ways that He could. All believe that someone out there cares and loves them enough to listen and understand. This was a great testimony strengthener to me on the fact that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and knows me individually. He knows all my needs and my wants, my wishes and concerns, my strengths and my weaknesses. He knows all. There is no better listener to be found anywhere, nor a more loving, patient, or understanding one. I didn't really spend much time with friends or goofing off during those days but it was just a great time for me to reflect for my purpose in life and who I am versus who I eventually want to become. Plus it set up the right attitude for Wednesday and Thursday evening when I went to the temple for two days in a row (most amazing thing to do ever, can't be beat guaranteed). The temple combined with the religious paper made this week a spiritual high unlike any other I have felt in a very long time. The fact that I finally went to the temple again lifted a huge load off my back and gave me great comfort and peace. It had been far too long since my last visit. I now have made the goal to go once a week and I am going to do the best that I can to stick to that. It will be difficult to be sure, but it is more than worth it. Oh, also during those days I managed to acquire a Santa hat from the creamery and have been wearing it to keep my head warm all week - despite all the curious looks from all sorts of people. One little girl about 4 years old did catch the Christmas spirit from me though and said "ho, ho, ho" and ran over to me to give me the cutest smile and laughter ever. So what if its a little bit early to be thinking of Christmas? Its the warm glowing feeling that she and I shared that really matters. The one of supreme joy, where nothing can pull you down. Friday was game night. We broke out Quelf again and had a blast playing it. I have yet to meet anyone that can resist that game or fail to not end up rolling on the floor laughing by the end of it. But it does require a person to not care about how stupid they look or act because of the various challenged that have to be completed. I also made some strawberry chocolate chip ice cream which was a major hit and completely consumed in that one evening. Ridiculous how fast such stuff goes. Ridiculous how fast anything I make goes really. From cookies to pasta to chicken pot pie to ice cream to ribs...its all gone immediately consumed by the ravenous beasts that are college students. Saturdy and today have been work days. But it feels so good to work, its one of my favorite activities because there always is a sense of personal satisfaction and ahievement that comes with working shifts doing whatever whether it be lifeguarding, loading dishes, or lawn mowing, the result is the same. For Saturday lunch I covered for Amanda and got to work the "line" or serving the missionaries for the first time ever. I didn't think I would see anyone I knew because all of them have already left the MTC by now or went to a foreign country's version of it. To my surprise and elation however, Kendall Sirrine showed up in my line to grab the bagel sandwiches I was serving. What was even better is that he was all alone, there was no other people behind him so we got to talk for a full five minutes before I had to get my butt back in gear and work again. Kendall is the same amazing guy I always knew - humble, loving, caring, understanding, happy, faithful, reverent, and megaspiritual. He is perhaps the one guy I know that was completely ready to enter the missionary field and so has had to change none at all at the MTC. How crazy cool is that? It takes a true hero to be able to do that, at least to me. To be able to live in the world but be able to pull oneself completely out of it at all time and in all places and circumstances. I admire him more than he will probably ever know for that. I have made it one of my life goals to eventually end up like him, but it is quite a high order to live up to. After work got over Saturday night, we decided to go ice skating because Samuel had never gone before and really wanted to try it out. I am the same klutz as always, nothing has changed there despite all my greatest hopes and wishes. So I ended up spending more time face down or sitting on the ice than actually skating on it. But I still had fun and it was awesome to watch everyone else be able to do it. I guess that is just one skill I will not master till after the Resurrection when the clumsy part of me won't be so controlling. The thing that hit me really strong last night though is how insanely fast life is moving now. In junior high, life was steady and slow like rush hour traffic. Then high school hit the open road with senior year starting to approach the speed of sound. Now college is going Mach 6 and it feels like I have barely had time to turn around twice and its already the end of November with finals and the end of my first semester just around the corner. Life is rushing past me and Im trying to hold onto it and finding it quite impossible to do so. This week will finally provide a nice clash to the normal routine though as I finally get to go home. I get to see my family, the people I grew up with and the ones I get to stick to for eternity. They say home is where the heart is, and if that is true than my home still resides at 1727 N. Ashbrook Circle...I just haven't been able to transfer my heart yet. I am fully mentally, physcially, emotionally, almost whatever-ally at BYU. But I left my heart behind, forgot to pack it. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing but Im really very exicted to see my mom and my dad. The two greatest parents anyone could ask for and all my brothers and sisters. Lora, my best friend in the whole world and someone so much like me its quite creepy sometimes. Nathan, the inventive, creative one. Ashley, the one who likes to take control and plan out events. Adam, the kid with the absolute biggest heart in the world possible. Tyler, the entertainer extradonaire. I think he will get far in life being a comedian or something someday. And Emma, the cutest angel to ever grace the earth, bar none. If those descpritptions don't convince anyone how happy I am finally see them all again tomorrow, I don't know what will. But I love you all and miss you dearly! Be home tomorrow!!!

Song of the week: "He's My Son" by Mark Shultz. Its a song about a father praying for his critically ill son who is lying in a hospital bed. One of the most moving pieces of modern music I have ever heard, definitely helped to get the brain juices flowing over and over for my prayer paper.

Thought of the week: "I am a child of God, so why shouldn't life be awesome?"

Picture of the week (all the rest are posted on Facebook): a rousing game of Quelf!

Week of Death and Misery

This week has been one of the more difficult weeks of my college career so far. It didn't help that I was sick for most of it. Still am congested a little bit. It was full of tests and trying to sleep and not getting enough work quite done so Ill have to make up for it this next week. Monday was terrible. I was sick through and through. I had to miss dance because I couldn't do much physical activity without having to throw up and we had a test in that class that day. Luckily, my teacher is nice and let me take the test on Wednesday. I made it to all of my other classes so that I could turn in a paper in mission prep that was due and get my take home midterm. And be able to take a humanities test on Shakespeare and theater. Then go to a review for my econ midterm over microeconomics. It was really a busy day and I was completely decked out in sick regalia for all of it. Had on sweat pants, a very large and warm sweater, comfortable shoes, and glasses instead of contacts. Tuesday I felt better which was a blessing, because I was pretty much stuck at school all day. I had all my classes to get through. Then going to 3 econ tests reviews in an attempt to try to get a much higher grade on this midterm than last one. Also, heading over to the Museum of Art to find a painting that I could write a 3 - 5 page analysis paper on. I was able to get all of that done, dressed in normal clothes for the day and still being able to make it through. Wednesday was the day of the dreaded econ 2nd midterm. I thought I had it made, I could do all the suggested problems in the book, and knew all the terms and how to draw all the graphs. But econ tests are just generally impossible, written so that no one can understand them. I ended up getting a 76% on it after spending a grueling 2 hours on it. And I felt really sick again that day. But I had to dress up in order to take my cha cha test for dance and then get through all of my classes. After that I came home and cleaned the fridge and other things for a cleaning check the next day. Thursday was an ok day. Just 3 classes and then off to take a nap while doing laundry. Not much productive happened but the nap did wonders for starting to feel better. Friday I finally felt most the way better and so starting writing my beast of a paper due in Book of Mormon this week. I already had it all outlined out before and now just have to crank through writing 10 pages for it. Saturday was my first truly fun day all week long when I went and competed in Danesport Championships for American social dance at the bronze level. We had to dance the cha cha for around 2 minutes and try to get noticed by the judges in order to get called back as more and more people got cut. My partner, Emily Tryon, and I made it through 3 rounds!! Not bad considering I missed practicing on Monday and we had never really formally practiced or tried to set up a routine to begin with. After that I made ice cream for Samuel's birthday (peppermint this time). Then off to work for 3 hours. I came back and Daniel Throckmorton had arrived to visit for a night so that he and Joe could swap computer stuff. He is a really fun kid from high school who now goes to the University of Arizona and is a crazy computer science genius. I had fun talking with him and catching up on how life is down in Tuscon. That pretty much covers this week, just working and being sick and then finally some fun thrown in at the very end to make up for it all. This week is my last insane week before finals when I have to crank through 2 papers and get them turned in. After that Im home free till December 15 - 19. The countdown is now one week and one day till I get to go home and I can't wait! Im so excited to see all my family :)

November fun! (and not so fun...)

Good morning! Or so I wish it was. All the working and the playing and the studying has finally caught up with me I guess and now I am stuck in bed for who knows how long with what is fastly becoming a major sinus infection. The ones that start out slow in in your nose and throat and lungs and then blows into full head congestion where you can't hear, you vision is off, throat and nose are full of gunk, and there is just a pounding constant headache that never seems to go away. I tried the medicine my mom sent up with me like the aromatherapy shower dissolve things but it didn't really work out too well. I guess I just have to get used to it and see what happens. It seems to attack me twice a year for about a week each time, so Ill let you know next week if it finally blew over. Unfortunately that doesn't happen until I cough forever and day to compltely clear everything out so whenever that starts it will be a good sign that Im starting towards getting better. Anyway, sorry for that overly long prelude...just thats what is going on inside of me right now. Some epic battle that right now it feels very much like I am losing. But this week was full of fun adventures and good times before I got sick today. Lets see....Monday. We made waffles for FHE which is always a good thing. Everyone likes waffles, no one can say "no" to one that I know of. I made my mom's from scratch recipe and as usual they were a huge hit, not one complaint, only compliments. So Mom you rock, just to let you know. I also suggested we play the game where a bunch or random famous names are written down on a piece of tape and then everyone attaches one to their forehead without looking at it and then has to go around asking everyone questions in order to find out who they are. I was "roller coaster"...not exactly the easiest one in the book to get, thats for sure. Samuel was Victoria's Secret though which was just hilarious. It was definitely a very amusing game. After that came studying for psychology like I did all day whenever I could squeeze it in for my second midterm in the class. It paid off well the next day though when I got a 99% on the 100 question test. Definitely a good uplifting moment when you walk down the testing center steps and next to your number and test score is a "Congratulations!". Much better feeling than when I walk out of an economics test, that is for sure. Or even a Book of Mormon test, but both of those are curved so my grade went up by over a whole letter grade in each. Quite ridiculous, but amazing. Tuesday was also Sherrie Allen's birthday. Basically one of the best friends I have made up here. We decided to go on a random mall exploring trip for her bday because her parents had decided to let her use the credit card to buy the stuff she needs to survive the winter. The mall is simply amazing. First, we explored some of the random fun stores. Like an amazing music store or a crazy cool board game store. Everything was much too expensive to purchase (typical mall there) but definitely fun just to play around in. We went to the arcade next and messed around all of their amazing games. There was this roller coaster simulator that was just made for the two of us and our randomness. We managed to ride all 6 different simulations which was way fun, like some of the most reckless type of abandon fun that I have had since I got up here. Here is a picture:
We also tried out some Deal or No Deal!, a random jungle adventure game that Sherrie let us all die in, and Time Crisis which we owned at. We then hit up the food court where I had some of my first Chik-fil-a in ages. One of their chicken salad sandwiches was so what I needed and just tasted amazing. After that we hit up some of the typical mall stores to get some winter shopping done. The only place where I bought anything was Aeropostale, but they had their end of fall, beginning of winter sale going on so I got a $25 shirt for like $5. Good deal, good deal. It was awesome. Wednesday was extreme musical focus day. I had a mega concert for orchestra where we played 13 different pieces of music, all long and challenging in their own right. So I had class for two hours, then practiced on my own for two hours, then went to a dress rehearsal for two hours, and then was played in a concert for two hours (with no intermission). What a day. It was crazy tiring and difficult, but definitely fun and worth it. We played a lot of really good music too that has expanded my musical repetoire to where it probably needs to be. I still need to find a new solo to try out on for next semester though if I am going to try out. Or I might just drag out the Lalo again. Maybe. Thursday is always a good break from reality because I get to ditch the hectic rabble of college life for awhile and go visit family. Where they feed me and take care of me and let me do my laundry because they are awesome like that. I got back from there and went to go see Wall-e at the Varsity theater which was great fun. One of the funniest, most charming movies of the entire year if you ask me. Definitely going to join the ranks of masterpiece Disney film anyway for sure. After that Jared, Sherrie, Joe, and I went on a random expedition to the nearby park to talk about life, the universe, and everything. They have the most amazing spiderweb type of jungle gym we can all climb on and sit down in and just chat. Friday was good because I started my study insanity for all the tests I have coming up this next week. Well, I started long before that, but it pretty much completely took over my life for most of the weekend. I did economics and Shakespeare and theater reveiw after review after review. I just hope it pays off this week, as I study even more and then take the tests about midweek. Friday night was Christian and Katherine's surprise birthday parties. It was great fun to be involved in those as we played a bunch of huge random group games that are always highly entertaining and energetic. Friday night I also finally fleshed out my tenative schedule for next semester. I am taking Biology 100, Geology 101, Book of Mormon 122, World History to 1815 (History 201), and Social Recreation Leadership. I am most excited for the recreation class. According to the catalogue and all the stuff I researched on the web to find out, the class is just meant to teach you how to lead big groups of people and plan mega social events. So we learn how to lead games, be chariasmatic, be able to do anything we want in front of everyone, and learn how to plan the best parties. Sounds like the class what was made just for me. Im excited for all the rest of my classes too, and so far have picked out the best teachers possible for each one according to all the reviews posted on ratemyprofessor.com. It finishes the majority of my GE classes that I need and gets me a little taste of some things I have never been involved in before such as geology. Saturday was study crazy again and thats basically all I did besides work and get too meet Amanda's Mom, who was pretty cool. My head is really starting to kill me, so Im signing off till next week.

Halloween, mission call, dance lab, corn maze, midterm, movie nights, Quelf, thrift store trips, working dishes, carnivals, homework, classes, sleep, making cookies, home teaching, Legends Grill, friends, food, fun, stress, practice, Iceberg, rain. Piece them all together and you get the general picture of my week this week. Every day was just go, go, go and they all just seem to blend together. Time is so out of whack - it goes so fast that you don't even know what happens. Its like trying to hold water in the palms of your hand as it rushes out over the sides and the cracks in your fingers, no matter how much you try to hold on and keep it, you still lose it. So it had better be spent wisely. That is real question: am I spending my time to the best that I am able? Surely there needs to be fun but there also needs to be work and school and sleep and church and all those good things as well. The problem is finding the right balance to make it work out and in order to fit eveyrthing in so that I don't go insane from too much of one and a huge lack of another. I guess Ill start out with Monday and move through the week even though its just a big jumbled mess of memories with no real day of the week attached to them. Monday we went to Cornbelly's as a ward which is a Halloween carnival place with a corn maze, jumpy things, go karts, haunted stuff, pig races (didn't even know that was possible), and amazing jack-o-lanterns. We started off with the corn maze and promptly got lost in the middle of it and wandered around forever trying to find the correct way out but really only getting deeper and deeper in. When we finally emerged, we found that we had somehow changed mazes halfway through and came out the kiddie maze exit. Thats how talented we are haha. We then played around on all the slides and bouncy stuff and just had a good time for a few hours forgetting about all the worries and pressures of college. After that we went over to Iceberg for some really good food and ice cream, I wish it had never left Mesa! I had the mini pumpkin shake which of course was about the size of a half gallon of ice cream on its on with a really good hamburger and some of the best fries ever. Delicious! After that we came home fo find that Greg had been asked to prefernce by his girlfriend (Samuel's cousin). We had goldfish all up and down our hallway. Although the sad thing is that none of them even survived a week, 60 dead fish that we kept having to throw down the toilet all week. Tuesday was a relaxation day even though it wasn't supposed to be. But Sherrie just came over to my apartment and we ended up playing Jeopardy for hours and having fun. That is one of the problems with me that I need to fix is that when people come over I stop working and start playing or talking or whatever. I never get anything done because people come over a lot. So I squish in all my homework in between people's visits and try to make it all work out. Which so far luckily, it has. Tuesday night we started using the projector and watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I just couldn't get into it though because it just didn't make any sense to me. Something about giant talking turtles just doesn't work. I talked to my mom a lot instead and we found a way for me to be able to go home for Thanksgiving! I am so excited and can't wait. I'm missing everyone growing up and mom and dad's comfort and support and Sunday dinners at Grandma's house and Mesa friends and my house and room and books. But mainly just my family and the fact that I took them way too much for granted while I lived at home. Wednesday brought its own whole new set of stuff to do. I had to take my Book of Mormon midterm which was really quite evil. I got an 83% but with the scaled curve Ill end up with a 90% or a 93%, gotta love the curve when it boosts everyone's grades up. I didn't know someone could test you over the Book of Mormon that hard though, it was quite an eye opener and now I know how much more I have to study and prepare for the actual final. After that I came home and made ginger snaps for hometeaching that I went to go do at 6, but they had forgotten the appointment so we just dropped off the cookies and headed back to our apartments. I had a dance lab next which turned out to be a lot of fun. They played foxtrots, waltzes, cha chas, and swings all night long and you would just ask someone to dance and then dance. None of the awkward stake dance kind of dancing either where you are trying to have a conversation the entire time, but actually dancing steps and having oodles of fun. I managed to dance them all and get all (well most) of the figures I had learned in and even got complemented on my good leading. I have worked a lot on my frame recently to bring it up and so far it has been working, my dancing has improved tenfold. About halfway through the dancelab they had a snowball showcase and my teacher came up and picked me to be one of the first ones on the floor. Not cool. I think I did ok, but there were about 200 people watching me dance and it was just awkward especially dancing with someone eons beyond my level. After that I got a call from Samuel saying that he had got his mission call and was going to open it now. Jared and I made him stop and wait till all his family was ready and all the people came over. He opened it up and got his mission call to Sacramento, California, reporting February 4. English speaking. Watching him open his mission call made me really want to get one to. I keep watching all those around me leave like Kendall, Darrik, David, Matt, etc. and new people getting calls like Joe, Samuel, Sean. Christian finished filling out his papers and now only has to wait for his call to get here. Its this mission frenzy and I really want to take part in it but can't because I am so, so young. After Joe and Samuel are gone next semester, Im afraid Ill catch it even more. Just restless to get out and go do the Lord's work for two years. Anxious to start serving and Im sure working at the MTC is helping that feeling out a lot too. Thursday is family day. I go visit Aunt Julie, Uncle Karsten, Bryn, and Brooke and eat, do laundry, do homework, and enjoy the company. Its one of the best days of the week and I wouldn't really switch it for anything. Especially Bryn's and Brooke's smiles and laughter as I play with them. After I got back from that, I went on one of the random adventures that college is all about. We went to Savers and Walmart and Krispy Kremes. The "hot" sign was on at the donut place and so we had to stop and go inside and get a free one. Then I tried one of their pumpkin spice donut holes and as Sherrie call it, it was "a ball of pure ectasy." We came home and played around in the leaves for a little bit and then watched some of Anastasia before the girls had to leave. Friday is sleep in day and that is truly marvelous. Then all I have is humanities which is one of the most fun classes ever invented. After that I come back to the apartment and clean up a bit. There was also a Halloween carnival that Jared and I went to on Brigham Square that was a blast. They had all those classic games like the fishing pond and the cake walk. We also played Jeopardy and I managed to win against 10 other people and get a t-shirt! Plus we got our caricatures drawn by another booth and got tons and tons of candy. Gotta love free stuff especially on a holiday. After that I tromp off to work and then got back and changed into my Halloween costume. It was interesting. I had a neon trippy headband, shirt, pants, and glowsticks. I basically glowed at the dance and it was quite easy to spot me. The dance was fun just wayyy too hot so we watched Nightmare Before Chistmas on the projector and then played Quelf out in the lobby. Saturday I decided to be ambitious and made the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies. And wow, does it take a lot of work. They came out good though. Then I went to Legends Grill with Samuel after returning the Lyon's white shirt I had borrowed. Then came work and finishing up the rest of Anastasia. Today it is all cloudy and raining and lovely. Perfect for contemplating life's deep questions kind of weather.