3/12-3/18

Monday 3/12: Ugh the Monday after Daylight Savings is usually brutal but for some reason it was especially bad this year and I could tell everyone on campus was struggling and just dragging. Tried to sleep in but ended up making myself a little late to my American Usage class and I only missed 6 points on the first half of my test so I was super stoked. We started our next unit talking about Parallel Structure and Shifts even though we still the second half of the test on Wednesday but at least we got a little bit of a break. I went to do my reading for NT and got that done but none of the LC reading (getting behind all thanks to the stupid American Usage class). We were a little behind in NT so we had a wonderful discussion about Ephesians and all the wonderful discussions on Faith, Grace and Works and how they all work together to gain our salvation. We had a great discussion on Saving Grace versus Enabling Grace that gives us the push for us to have Faith and do all the righteous Works. I really enjoyed it. Chapter 4 all about how to get along with difficult people and there is just so much power and knowledge in the scriptures, I LOVE IT :) Then you have classic Chapter 6 with the Armor of God - following the Gospel does indeed gives us power! Then after having all that spiritual insight, I go to LC and we talk about Heideggar and how important language is to breaking down a work into more intelligible parts. How language and words make up how we think about things and how we see the world. Spent a large portion of the day writing Jared again cause again so much to tell about what I'd learned in NT, BofM (which I am really behind in but that's what the summer's for) and just making sure he knows I support him. thats pretty much the most important thing. In American Humanities, we continued talking about Emerson but moved onto The American Scholar and talking about finding a truly American way of reading and discussing books and learning to read really really well.  Self-Reliance talked about how we need to do the best we can knowing our weaknesses and foibles. Really applicable to the gospel and how important it is to not get into things that are going to overtake your spiritual strength. I got home and did my reading for my Islamic Humanities class and went to FHE (chair soccer). Good times.
Tuesday 3/13: I woke up early and worked on my Lecture Summary and Commentary but I was determined to continue my streak of going to devotional and I did. One of the 70s came and talked to us about how important it is to be constant in our faith through the times that are expected and those that are not. Very important to remember and I really appreciated going to it. After, I went to Islamic Humanities and hurried to finish my assignment, which I did. Win. We had a really cool opportunity to have a world famous Arabic music virtuoso come and demonstrate his skills to us both on the oud and the violin. He gave a lecture and it was really cool to listen to all the ways Arabic music differs from Western music and it was awesome to hear such a different style. Then Giselle and I had the opportunity to go to the temple. It was packed because the PSAT made it so tons of high school students got out early so we were there for quite some time but there is no better place to be waiting in line then the temple. I just got to read my scriptures and have that time to focus on the Lord which is always a wonderful experience. After, I went to work (got a note :)) and came home to study in earnest again for my death of an American Usage Exam.
Wednesday 3/14: I actually went to school and finished taking that exam which I felt even better about. After I finished that, I went and did my reading for NT and attempted to get through LC. New Testament was absolutely wonderful. We talked about Phillipians, Colossians and Philemon - I loved Philemon especially because of the extended allegory that comes from changing Paul to Christ, Onesimus - us and the master to our Father in Heaven. It is a really beautiful and just touched my heart. In LC, I got some of the reading done and we talked about Austin and his ideas on performative utterances and how that applies to plays. It was cool and I thought it was really interesting so I ended up writing my paper on it later. Later, I went to American Humanities and we talked about Thoreau and I think my favorite quote from him is "Beware of any enterprise that requires new clothes." Gotta stick it to the man. After, I went home and ate and then went to orchestra. Which was great because we were getting really pretty good at the songs at that time and it was really fun to hear it all coming together.
Thursday 3/15: I got up really early because I had to do my Spelunking Paper for my Islamic Humanities  class. I finished it in plenty of time for class and it was just the beginning draft so I was happy. I went to class and we had a big introduction to Islamic  Humanities, which was kinda boring to be honest cause all it was was a lecture. But hey after I went to the library and actually finished all of my reading for LC and my exercises for American Usage for the first time in forever. Then i went to work and had a dandy time. I got home and was welcomed by a wonderful letter from Jared -  lots of stuff about different things he'd found in Alma, encouragement for me, all these different things that combine to make me so happy and give me such a great learning experience. I'm so grateful to have a friend like him because he has only ever influenced me for the better.
Friday 3/16: Sleeping in seems to be my own function on any morning now. I went to class, learned about Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers. Fascinating I know. That's what you are all thinking but hey it's useful, I promise. After, I went to the library and decided I didn't want to be in the library anymore so I went and chilled with Abby and Megan. We went through the Islamic art exhibit and went to Abby's apartment and watched The Office until work. Classic. It was a nice break so I then I went to work and had a dandy time there. After, I got home and Dana and I had a pretty chill night and watched "Better Off Ted?"and fell asleep pretty early. Nice and relaxing.
Saturday 3/17 and Sunday 3/18: Saturday turned out to be really fun. I went to work in the morning and got home later and got ready to go over to Dylan's Birthday Party. It was really nice to go and socialize and have fun with Steve and Dylan and Dana; we also played an awesome game of strange drink pong. Hilarious as you can imagine. Came home and had a delicious Leprechaun trap cake and fiddled with Dana in honor of Saint Patrick's Day. So fun. Sunday was insane to begin with. Megan's plane was supposed to go out super early but all three of us slept in and we sped to the airport but she missed the flight so we had to go all the way to Salt Lake to bring her to the airport and ran through the airport and had a nightmare at the desk trying to get her off. Finally, one very helpful desk lady later, we got her off and were on the way back to Provo. Then I had to rush Abby home and then back to work and it was boring but I was just happy to be at church for the small time I could be. Such a refresher for the week. Gotta love it and then there was peace.

3/5-3/11

Monday 3/5: In American Usage, we talked about lay vs. lie and imply versus infer. It was delightful and I figured out I had been wrong for a very long time. I was ok with it but not I have to get persnickety about it.  I devoted a large chunk of the day to writing a letter to Jared just because I'd learned lots of things that week and was really exited to share them. In NT, we talked about Paul's last visit in Jerusalem and how when he was thrown in prison, he was there by himself for a night before the Lord visited him. The trials of faith that go on in the scriptures sometimes are described like this verse as "the next day the Lord came". He had to stay in a damp, cold cell for a night for doing the Lod's work I can only imagine the things he was thinking as he sat there wondering his fate and praying to his Heavenly Father. How much struggle he went through, I can't even imagine. It makes me reevaluate my trials you know? In LC we talked about good ol' Freud again and "The Uncanny". It mostly has to do the repressed and how it changes things that are normal to us to something odd and disturbing. Needless to say Freud is really an odd way to think about life. Got to American Humanities later and needless to say, hilarious as always. I think if I ever take an evening class again it'll be from Prof. Sederholm cause thats the only way I'll stay awake. Talked about lots of American paintings and it was really cool and I really enjoyed Cole's Series called "Course of Empire". Got home and chilled and did homework. Got the reading done for Islamic humanities. Always an exciting and eventful evening.
Tuesday 3/6: I made a commitment that I really wanted to go to more of the devotionals on campus so I got myself up and made sure I got there and I'm so glad I went. The guy who spoke was Dallan Moody; he's a financial consultant for the athletic department so I was skeptical about going but it was such an uplifting and powerful talk. All about his son Caleb and dealing with life when it gets "one degree colder". How miracles sometimes occur when nothing miraculous happens and the miracle becomes our strength to overcome adversity. The link to the talk is posted here so please read it. http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=13613&x=10&y=8 After a tearful devotional, I went to my Islamic Humanities class and we had a lecture about dance and the professor who came in had us all get up and demonstrate and it was really fun and made me smile. After, Giselle and I went to the temple, and i just came out really happy and bouncy and glad to be alive sort of feeling. I went to work and I got a note so that made me smile even more.
Wednesday 3/7: In American Usage we reviewed for our ginormous exam that was on the coming Friday everyone was quite literally scared to death of. So many terms and definitions and examples and I was really worried because I hadn't done enough studying due to all of the rest of my crazy classes, so as I was panicking about that. Then went and did reading for LC and NT and didn't get very far into LC but it was still cool. In NT, we talked about the end of Acts and it was wonderful talking about the power of a prophet and how when they lightened the ships its related to how when we are in times of tribulation, getting rid of all the bad stuff is usually the easiest way to stay afloat. Also about how beind an "almost" Christian doesn't change anything and if a very scary thought so we must continually push forward in the learning of the Gospel in order to not diminish. Lacan for LC was really interesting to read. More psychoanalysis but all about the mirror stage and how we identify ourselves as ourselves in the mirror when we are babies. It was cool going through and discussing because for my paper I've been editing for Criterion she used Lacan's arguments for her paper so I actually get what I am reading now which is always a bonus! Before my class, I went to the MOA and walked through the Islamic Art exhibit for my Islamic Humanities class with a study guide and half of my class was there so we worked together and got it done super fast. Later in American Humanities, we talked about Emerson and his "Nature" and trying to describe things in the spiritual realm of emotion with his "transparent eyeball". Fascinating but hard to understand. Later that night after orchestra, I got to go to Becca's house and watch Psych and make a very delicious homemade syrup as a precursor to the delicious lunch we planned on having on Friday with Lena and her girls. Psych was really good as well but it was really fun hanging out with Becca and Brett.
Thursday 3/8: Slept in a bit and then got up and studied for American Usage - I knew if I didn't I would absolutely die on that test so I did that before I had to go to a Lecture for my Islamic Humanities class by one of the ladies who wrote our textbook and it was pretty cool stuff. The rest of the day of kinda free so mostly I tried to catch up in studying for that exam and as breaks in between to watch such important things as Modern Family. After, I went to work for a little bit but I had to leave early to get to my Review for my American Usage test and I felt a little better after going to that but not really (but I did get a very sincere little note at work so it made it worth going). I got home and just studied because there was just so much. I got a letter from my favorite missionary and its just a huge spiritual boost every week to hear about all the things he is learning and all the scriptures he gives to me. He wrote me a really long letter full of encouragement, spiritual growth and its just a great uplifting experience that he shares those experiences with me.
Friday 3/9: And the day came. I got up really early and was on campus before 8 so I could continue studying for that monstrosity of a test. I was just going over and over things and finally got through and then it was time for the test. We got pretty much the easiest things to write on which was most certainly a blessing for me and I was very happy about. I came out feeling pretty good about it and then went to Becca's house as a blessed relief from my test taking mindset. I got to see and play with Ella and little Julia and oh it was so fun. It was so fun in fact I didn't go to my LC class and thats completely fine with me. Becca, Lena and I just talked and Becca made homemade pancakes to go along with our syrup (delicious) while the girls and I had fun with puzzles and played hide and seek. It was so nice to see them and so fun to feel that kind of friendship from Jared's fam even though he's not here. I really really liked it :) After, I went to work and got off early because Abby and I went up to get Megan who was coming down for the week. Yay! We rushed and got her from the airport and then rushed back to get to Divine Comedy on time (Phantom of the Awkward--classic). It was so funny and so fun and a great way to start off the weekend.
Saturday and Sunday 3/9-3/10: Weekends are just blurs cause they just move from one week to another so fast. I went to work on Saturday and that was as exciting as work ever is. After, I came home and slept. I was just tired with such a crazy week and all and just did nothing that day because I really wanted to chill and not do homework. So Dana, me, Ty, Robert, Giselle and other all went to go and see Sherlock Holmes 2 at the dollar theater that night and it was awesome. Like AWESOME. I highly recommend it and it definitely had the best slow motion scene ever. Sunday was tiring because it was the beginning of Daylight Savings (lost an hour of sleep) and going to bed at 2 made it so I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Very tiring but we got to church and had a grand ol' time. Came home and just chilled and was determined to do no hw but started freaking out about my test score.

week gone by but not forgotten

Wow I guess I've been super busy and just haven't had enough time to sit down and blog. I need to set aside time each day instead of trying to find a giant hunk of time somewhere in the week.
Monday 2/27: Went to American Usage, then did reading for NT in the Tanner before going to NT which was wonderful. We talked about some really cool "water, blood, Spirit" symbolism from Romans 6:2-4 and Moses 6:57-60. All about how we are born and how that is a symbol of the Atonement of Christ, it was some really interesting stuff and I love building so much on the stuff I learn.  In Literary Criticism, we talked about Tartuffe, which is a great play so that was fun. I forfeited doing real homework in order to write a letter to Jared. And I didn't mind in the slightest :)  I certainly love writing him and I had to race to do it to get it to the post office before 3 so it could get the the MTC that day. They guy at the post office had to run outside to give it to the guy to get it there and I was very very grateful. Went to American Humanities not having done any of the reading but pulled of answering questions about the overarching principles anyways - WIN. After that I did some reading for Islamic Humanities and that was pretty much my day.
Tuesday 2/28: I had made a determination to go to more Devotionals because I had a slacker at going this semester. So I had determined to go but Maya called me and wanted me to come and have lunch with her and Papa before they left the next day so instead of seeing the devotional I got a delicious pulled pork sandwich with Abby, Katie, Cami, Maya and papa :) It wasn't the best barbecue but I was so hungry it did not matter :) We actually got back in time for school even though the weather was being really dreadful and snowing. Cold cold cold especially cause I was in a dress because I was planning on going to the temple later. Went to Islamic Humanities and starting watching (still haven't finished cause he talks so much in class) this movie called Arranged about this Muslim and Orthodox Jewish girls who work together and both going through the processed of an arranged marriage. Really cool to see their interaction in a US context because to be honest, I just don't know that much. After class, Giselle and I went to the temple which was wonderful as usual but it was pretty crowded cause apparently there was PSAT testing so kids got outta high school early. But I don't mind sitting in line cause I just read my scriptures. I didn't get to sit afterwards and read my scriptures as much before work but thats ok :) I went to work and got a lovely little note that made me smile all silly so everyone laughed at me, but I most definitely did not care :) I went home and attempted to do homework and was moderately successful but you know, distractions come.
Wednesday 2/29: Busy Busy Busy day . . . It started with me not doing Yoga because my shoulder has been hurting too much for me to do any such thing. My arm collapses underneath me so I am now in the process of finding a new sort of exercise. All I can think of now is running and that sounds miserable . . . Well I went to my American Usage class and started to get sufficiently scared for my midterm thats like most of my final grade. ugh . . . New testament came after and we talked about how confessing Christ as my Savior doesn't just mean saying it, but it comes from the Greek words meaning covenanting with the Lord to follow His path. What a wonderful concept! I love this gospel and how i can work one day at a time to make myself better you know? For Literary Criticism, we finished talking about Tartuffe and I was glad I actually finished the reading before class. After, I went and did some of the reading for American Humanities and then went to the class. If I ever need a good laugh, that class is sure to give it to me, Professor Sederholm is AWESOME. After, I went home and tried to eat super fast and then went to orchestra which was great and I think we are sounding really good :) The rest of the evening was dedicated to watching a really sad movie I had to watch for Humanities of Islam. Apparently most of their movies aren't really very happy, but it was called Leila and was about a woman in Iran who finds out she can't have children and then convinces her husband to take a second wife yeah sad right? It made me sick inside watching that pain and I read my scriptures and prayed really hard before bed so that I felt better.
Thursday 3/1: I decided I needed to get to school early so I got up earlier then usual and was at school by 9.  I got my Study Guide all done for Islamic Humanities which is definitely a good thing since I got called up to the front of the class to explain the movie and what I though was good about it. A lesson to all to do your homework! Cause your teacher calls on you when you least expect it, so just do your reading. It was a cool class period cause we just discussed our movies but didn't have time to finish Arranged. Afterwards, I went and met with my editing partner because we got assigned our specific essay to edit for Criterion so we met and discussed so she could discussed it with the author later that day. I really wanted to go but I couldn't get work off. I also had a review for my massive American Usage test that I missed because I couldn't get work off. But at least I got money right? No sightings but I had a good time with Chris and fellow workers and it went by fast. I can't believe how fast the weeks go by it really is crazy. All of a sudden its the weekend and I have a big test to study for. Then I got a letter, 5 pages, holy crap :) It was so great to hear so much from him and he got a great idea. We're gonna get two Books of Mormons and read them and mark them up like crazy and send them to each other every 4 months. Then, read the book of Mormon we receive from the other person and get all their insights into the scriptures that we might have missed or just saw differently. Essentially, our own little scripture study :) I'm really excited to be able to do that so we can grow and learn together.
Friday 3/2: Started the day by getting to school on time for American Usage and doing our exercises. Oh you know, great fun. After, I did my reading in the Tanner for NT and Literary Criticism.  Literary Criticism was great and awkward due to Frued. Frued is very successful in making every conversation awkward so that was just funny. I did lots studying for my LC test that I had to take the next day. I went through it all before work and had a dandy time. I had to stay in and write my Benjamin Franklin paper so everyone else went out and got malts while Carter and Brians chilled with me while I did that. When everyone got back, we went over to 462 to watch Catch Me if You Can with the whole crew. I finished my paper and turned it in 10 minutes late and went back to finish the movie. It was great again and we definitely stayed much later then curfew but you know, we're too cool for that, NBD.
Saturday 3/3: I got up way too early and did tons of studying for my exam I have to take right after work. It was exhausting especially after staying up very late the night before to be studying so hard so early but it was worth it. I went to work, I got a note, smiled my own little smile and had a great time :) After work, I got a call to go out on a date so that was exciting and then I went and took my Literary Criticism test. I really felt my studying of my notes, the Googledoc we did as a class and reviewing in class helped me alot. I made myself go really carefully through each short answer question and essay until I felt like I had gotten it right. I feel like I did really pretty well on that test and now I'm just waiting with bated breath to see how it goes. I got home, got decently dressed and went out to Pizza Pie Cafe with Carter, his roommate and his date. I was starving so it didn't matter to me that the pizza was that great, I was just hungry. We chilled there for a while then went back to their apartment and wathed Rise of the Planet of the Apes. One of the roommate's friends came down with her baby and watched it with us so I got to play with the baby alot of the time we were watching the movie. He was soooo cute and definitely would not stop wiggling but it was still really fun. The movie was god too especially watching it with two animation majors. After the movie, Carter and I went back to our apartment and chilled with everyone there for a long time. It was a fun night :)
Sunday 3/4: I got to sleep in surprisingly and even got up and ready to go to Choir. We practice a song that I'd only sung through a few times but decided it was good enough for us to perform that day and we did! And it was great. Its always wonderful to feel that special Spirit that comes in with music and I absolutely loved it. Church was great full of really powerful testimonies and fasting was great cause I felt really spiritually focused which was great, I went up to the Marriot in an attempt to save seats to see Elder Cook, but turns out, he's at BYUI. Lame sauce, So Dana kindly came and picked me up and I got back in time for break the fast. I was stil really hungry so while the devotional was going on , I baked some BBQ chicken in the oven and had a delicious meal. The Devotional was wonderful and powerful message on the importance of not wearing masks in our lives and presenting our best selves to the Lord, always something to be working on right? We got home and just chilled for a while and had a jolly good time until it was finally time for bed and I passed out immediately after doing scripture study. Scripture study is so wonderful and I have the best Hometeachers in the world for encouraging me to do it everyday. It has truly blessed my life and I am very excited for it to continue to bless me in the future. :)

birthday week

MY BIRTHDAY :) So I had a great birthday and that is thanks to all the wonderful friends and family I have in my life. I am very very blessed to say the least. To start off my day, my roommates convinced be that I should do yoga but sleep in so I did but then got woken up with a surprise. Abby came over and was making me crepes! Strawberries, blackberries and bananas with whipped cream YUM :) It was so great of her to come and a great excuse to not work out and just kinda enjoy my morning. I did some great scripture study and I had gotten homework dome the night before which was great so no stress in getting to class. Got to class a little late but it was my birthday so it was ok :) I had class then off to the Tanner building to do my Literary Criticism reading before NT. I love the New Testament and I love taking from Brother Griffin. We had a wonderful discussion on Romans and Paul's discussions on Faith, Grace, Mercy & Works. There are so many powerful principles in the New Testament that I just haven't known before and I went and thanked him after class for all the wonderful insights he has helped me to gain. Then I was off to Literary Criticism to talk about Spivak and her ridiculously difficult, "A Critique of Postcolonial Reason - Can the Subaltern Speak?". Even other critics have a difficult time deciphering what the heck she's saying, but never the less I need to understand it for the test. but no big deal it was my birthday :) So after that, I went to the library and did my American Humanities reading and had a dandy time with that. Then went to American humanities and laughed and laughed and we had brownies, Happy Birthday to me :) I then went home and found a large package from my Momma and Daddy :) It was so great that they thought of me and I opened it with my mom on Skype. They got me a really cool new satchel bag, a knit poncho (so hipster), feather earrings, some earrings I left at home over the break,  Hershey bars, an awesome purple coat, a cool belt and lots and lots of love :) It was great and I loved all of it. After that, Abby and Dana had something planned and  they took me to Goodwood's Barbecue, oh my goodness its so GOOD! And lots of friends came; it was me, Dana, Brian, Jasmin, Giselle, Abby, Dylan, Haley Christensen (so great of her to come!) and Madeline even came down from Draper and represented the Hinckley girls of Freshman year. It was so nice of them to come and celebrate with me. I had ribs of course (SO GOOD) with sweet potato fries ans baked beans. And Abby even paid for me (with help from my mother I found out later) which was so sweet and she got me tickets to go and see HUNGER GAMES. I'm so excited! Then our waitress brought us out 2 brownies sundaes for us all to share, fantastic :) It was all around a great dinner with great friends. Then we went back to our apartment and friends surprised me with a dessert party courtesy of Dana's excellent party planning skills and we still have the leopard and pink streamers on our ceiling to prove it. That was really great to have even more friends come and celebrate my birthday with me with a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and candles in the shape of a 20 and I got sung to :) I'm sure the pictures of my face were priceless. We then just sat around with people filtering in and out until midnight just chatting and having a grand ol' time. I'm so grateful so great friends, they all made me so happy and I hope they all know how special they are to me :) After that I said my prayers and thanked my Heavenly Father for my wonderful family, wonderful roommates and wonderful friends that made my birthday great. I'm 20 years old now so look out world here I come :)

On Thursday, slept in a bit, I got my reading and study guide done before class which was great. Class felt really long that day just cause he was just talking and talking about literature and it just isn't as fun as when there's more of a class discussion. After class, Giselle and I got to go to the temple because we didn't get to since Tuesday was Monday classes. It was more crowded then we're used to but still got some very nice scripture study and just calm time. It was wonderful, I love the temple. I stayed there until work and went to work. I had to leave a little early because I had a subject editors meeting for Criterion where we got assigned the papers we are going to be working on and the people we'll be working with. I'm excited for the opportunity to get some good experience on editing with this project. Then I went home earlier then usual so I made chicken puffs as a delicious meal to last me for a few days. It took a while and I forfeited homework time in order to do it but I'm not complaining :)

It most definitely felt too soon to be Friday because of the funky schedule for the week but it was a good Friday nonetheless. Did yoga in the morning and my shoulder is still bugging me so I've decided that I'm going to do my shoulder exercises on the days that I don't do yoga in hopes that it will actually help my shoulder and it won't cause my body to collapse in the middle of a yoga pose. I went to class decked out in my birthday gear and definitely felt very stylish :) We had a sub in American Usage who was really funny and actually co wrote our textbook and had taught usage at BYU for 40 years before retiring so it was definitely a good time. Then went and worked on my Literary Criticism paper that was due at midnight for a few hours before actually going to Literary Criticism and talking about our upcoming test. I worked on my paper some more until I went to work. I got another note and a sighting :) A little late birthday present that made me smile lots and lots. Even my friend Chris who works with me noticed and totally called me out on my silly little smile and blush I get when I see Jared. Thats ok though, I definitely don't mind :) A bunch of us from work walked home together and then I got to talk to AJ on Skype for a few hours. I took a break from that and finished writing my paper. I turned it in at quarter after midnight so I pray i don't get docked. Then AJ and I talked again for a few more hours and he kicked my butt in chess. I am definitely gonna miss that kid. He ships off to basic tomorrow actually for 2 months then 5 more months of job training for special intelligence for the Army. But he'll be great it always just makes me worry with friends going off and doing stuff like that. We'll write and I'll do my darnedest to make sure he keeps himself out of trouble. Finally at 2 Saturday morning, I collapsed on my bed.

So Saturday morning I woke up early with my stomach feeling terrible and staggered downstairs to collapse on the couch. No bueno. I decided I probably shouldn't go to work and expose the missionaries to my ickiness so I got a sub and just studied for my New Testament exam and lying down. Maya and Papa came into town so they came over with Darl and Nyc and gave me my birthday present. They gave me a really cute 30s hat and a sweater and a knit purse. So awesome. I made lots of awesome marks in my scriptures and now I have those forever and ever. Awesome. After much studying, I went and took the test and got a 94, I was very pleased :) I got home still not feeling great so I took a nap while my roommates went to the temple (jealous . . .) and woke up as they got home. I was drinking lots of water through the day and some Vitamin water for some electrolytes so by the time I woke up form my nap was feeling much better and actually hungry. I chomped down on Chicken Puffs and then got invited to go and eat at Slab pizza. So I got dressed up in my new hat and sweater and went and ate 1/4 of a buffalo chicken pizza - so so good. It was fun with Jackie, Carter, JD, Brian and Dana. Then we came home and I ate two of the leftover crepes from my birthday breakfast and everyone was surprised that I can eat so much. What can I say, I love FOOD. We discovered a Natural Hallucinogen on Youtube that made the world move in all sorts of weird ways and it was really fun, this is what Mormons do to experience getting high without actually getting high. After much deliberation, we all went to Ty and Robert's apartment and watched Ocean's Eleven, a classic movie. We were there way past curfew but shhhh no one has to know that. We felt so rebellious. NBD

Sunday morning got lots of great sleeping in and lots of scripture study in the morning. I read some really cool stuff in I Nephi today. In Chapter 15 verse 24 when Nephi is talking to Laman and Lemuel about the contents of Lehi's dream and what it means to hold fast to the iron rod (and we sang that song twice at church today too!). Hold has a cross reference to Proverbs 4:13 and I turned to it and I had 11-13 highlighted and they say "I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast ahold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life" and I just thought was was a really cool scripture that really emphasizes how important it is to cling to the gospel of Christ. Also another scripture (15:33) had tons of cross references talking about how no filth can be in the presence of God and what we need to do to be clean - having clean hands and a pure heart. Its all about working on the little things everyday huh? :) So then I got ready for church (I did a sock bun with one of my leg warmers and it turned out so good, I was so proud!) and then to go to church and have wonderful lessons from wonderful people and it was just great. I got to partake of the sacrament and it was just a wonderful experience overall and lots of guys complimented me on my outfit and even my walk so hey bonus right? lol Then went to family dinner at the Larsen's with all the Utah people present and had a great time chatting with family and playing with little Levon. Brittany is pregnant again too, more babies! Our family loves them :) Came home and started blogging and then got distracted and went to ward prayer and socialed at 462 for a bit before realizing my visiting teachers were coming over so I ran home and had a great little discussion with them. Then continued blogging and then got home- taught again by Phil and Jason which was super great and now just sitting and finishing up my post. I'll probably stay up late responding to Jared's letter and then doing homework for my 10 o'clock class tomorrow. Delightful. Have a wonderful week all! God bless!

off day in a good way

Tuesday was a weird day just cause we had Monday classes so everything was off. MY teachers even thought it was weird. I got up and had my reading dome for American Usage and NT and went to class. Had a grand ol' time getting scared outta my mind about the next Exam but hey thats what class is for right? Did my reading for Literary Criticism before NT ( not all of it but enough that I got the point of class) and New Testament was wonderful. For those of you who actually read my constant blabbering, you'll know how much I love that class. We talked about the importance of not having a perfectionist complex. We cannot save ourselves through works. The only way to keep the law of the law is to never break one of them and that simply is impossible except for one person. That One person gives me the opportunity to be perfected through His infinite atonement for my infinite frailties and mistakes. I don't want to do it on my own because Christ strengthens me in my hardest times. My trials are life experiences and sometimes aren't just taken away, but He strengthens me so i can carry them. Oh I love this gospel and I love my Savior. Literary Criticism was great cause I still had my spiritual high which makes anything better :) We talked about Said's Orientalism and his ideas on how the idea of the Orient is the perpetuating idea of the West that is often not founded in any reality. Interesting to apply to Moliere's The Would-Be Gentleman and its many of the same issues we've been talking about in my Humanities of Islam class. They all link together :) After Literary Criticism, I attempted to work on my Literary Criticism paper (applying Fanon's ideas to the Would-Be Gentleman) but was largely unsuccessful. I couldn't focus so I read my scriptures and felt much better after :) American Humanities was a hoot as always and we even got chocolate chip cookies with an oreo baked inside - HEAVEN. We discussed paintings and that was great too, and I'm being completely serious :) I went home afterwards and found our my Literary Criticism paper wasn't due till Friday (SCORE) so I focused on other homework and making chicken puffs and chilling with Dana for the rest of the evening. She's planning some sort of dinner for my birthday and she's making me a cake, love her :) But I am excited for my birthday :) Two decades old doesn't happen very often!

Much love

president's day

See? I'm doing better now I just gotta keep it up. Monday was delightful and lazy and semi-productive. I got up at 8:40ish to an empty apartment (with Dana at work and the rest of the roommates out of town) so I did my Yoga. My shoulder was hurting today as well and I hated it. I really do like Yoga and it makes me want to jus trip off my shoulder. I though that it would be helping strengthen it but now it hurting. I just wanna workout! Is that too much to ask? Well I finished and then played catch up with my blog this morning. I got through with that and made myself look presentable for the day and had some Ramen for lunch. Which reminds me that I didn't really have dinner, hungry, hmmmm.... Anywho, I did my American Usage while watching Once Upon a Time and Downton Abbey (which were both excellent this week by the way). After that I uploaded some picture from our Park City trip and did my reading for American Humanities for the first time in like a week and a half. Then I walked up to work (25 minutes not bad) and go there and was ridiculed that I didn't ask for a ride. I can't win. I worked really hard and got another surprise note saying "Happy two days before your birthday" and such things :) I was smiling alot. And I saw the one who wrote the message too and that was a wonderful early birthday present. I like that kid :) Just saying. I got a ride home form work and went to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes at Ty and Robert's apartment with the other roommates. It was a good movie and it was funny trying to explain how it fit into the other movies to my roommates, practically impossible. I had fun though. Dana and I came back and did studying (me reading and her doing lesson plans) and ending up looking up stuff about the new temples being built. Now I finished my NT reading and I think I'll look over my American Usage before I go to bed. Can I just say how grateful I am to be able to have the fulness of the gospel and understand that God loves me? I am extraordinarily blessed with the different people in my live and being apart of this wonderful church.It makes everything that much easier to go through because at the end of the day, my Father in Heaven loves me and my Elder Brother, Jesus Christ already did everything for me, what more do I need?

Much love to you all

days turn to a week

Saturday: Uneventful. I should've been doing homework but did I? Nope and it was very nice to just have a nice chill day. Work wasn't so bad, fun sightings bring smiles all around. :) Then chilling with the roomies till bedtime.
Sunday: A wonderful meeting and there was a powerful Spirit throughout. The people in my ward are all very genuine and in their lessons and talks, its easy to see how sincere their testimonies are. I challenge anyone to find a better ward with a better bishopric then the YSA Provo 95th Ward. Nice try :) I stayed up till 3 again but this time it was to write a letter to Jared. I love reading and getting his letters because he has such a powerful spirit and testimony that it strengthens me every time I read them. And I'll say it every time, mine is better :)
Monday: Well now we're running into Monday. Monday was good I finished my reading for New Testament and American Usage before class started but then was late due to the crisis of not being able to find my keys. Figures. Class was interesting as always but its getting harder now because were getting into grammar like Who vs. Whom. Its HARD to figure it out cause I for one don't use whom but I need to know it if I wanna be a good editor. So . . . let the notecards be made! Got most of my reading done for Literary Criticism before New Testament and then New Testament was wonderful as always :) We took apart 1 Corinthians 13 and Charity. True charity has only ever been performed once with Christ and his perfect life and atonement but, by accepting his love and bringing it into my life, I become a reflection of that divinity when I show charity to others. Charity is the true love of Christ, all the attributes described in verses 5-7 were done by Christ perfectly and only in accepting Him into my life, can I have any hope of giving these attributes to anyone else. THe scriptures and the gospel are amazing things :) Literary Criticism was interesting with our discussion of Benjamin's The Work of Art in the Age of Technological Reproduction. We talked about how art has an "aura" of being singular and how photos and cinema question the old definitions of art. A very materialistic argument but thats not surprising since he was a Marxist.  But the idea of what makes a work of art authentic was interesting to think about. I think did none of my reading for American Humanities but studied my brains out for my Humanities of Islam exam which I took after my class (which was hilarious as ever). It took me 3 HOURS. Oh my goodness did my brain hurt after that but I thought I did well. Needless to say, I didn't do my reading for H of I the next day.
Tuesday: Goodness this is going to be a long blog post. I slept in Tuesday and it felt wonderful. I woke up to a Valentines with my Valentine close by but at the same time far away. I was determined not to mope or anything so I didn't do my reading and went to class. I really need to get to the devotionals more though, I think I'm probably missing out on an opportunity to have my Tuesdays be even more spiritually invigorating by missing those. Time to set the alarm on Tuesdays and get up early and get going! Giselle was busy with papers so we didn't get to go to the temple which I was bummed about but I got some pictures printed for Caleb cause he asked for some in his last letter and sent some off to him. Then I was reading some blogposts in the library and Giselle, sitting behind me in the library, kindly offered to give me a ride to work. I was torn all throughout work trying and then not trying to see Jared because at that point, I really missed him. But I went through the shift and walked home and what did I find a Valentine's card just for me :) It was simple and sweet but man I was and am very much blessed to have Jared in my life. It made my Valentine's day probably the second best ever :) (last year taking first prize). Then Giselle came home telling us of her strutting into Ty and Robert's classes to give them their dinners with a black dress and red red lipstick. You go girl! The evening more then made up for the not so good day. Stayed up late doing reading for New Testament.
Wednesday: Got up and did yoga as always. It was a great workout cause I pushed myself. Love that feeling :) Finished my exercises for American Usage and ran with Jackie to get there on time. I finished my reading for New Testament and most of my reading for Literary Criticism before NT. In New Testament, we talked about II Corinthians, how comfort from God is the same with charity, only by feeling it through God am I able to really give it to others. God has given us an earnest (downpayment) of His spirit to give us just a tiny taste and an assurance that if we follow Him, we will receive all the more when we return to live with him again. We talked about the Great Exchange of the Atonement in chapter 5 verse 21 - Christ was sinless but consented to sin by taking on my sins so that I could be made perfect like He is. Such wonderful and powerful doctrine and I am so grateful to be at a school where I learn these things in class! Always have a wonderful Spirit. It doesn't even bum me out that there's a test in that class that starts on my birthday because I learn and grow each time I open my scriptures now. Literary Criticism was great talking about Bordeiu's ideas on culture and how taste in the arts distinguish people. A person doesn't understand why a piece of art is good with no training or background and that training sets people above the masses - like us as Humanities majors. People just look at us weird sometimes lol. After class, went to the library and started to do some reading for American Humanities but I got distracted by trying to find bus schedules/routes so Abby and I could go and visit Grandpa on Thursday. Things are just so stressful when they are in the planning process! So I went to class yet again without having done all the reading and had a hoot all the same :) I got home and saw the awesome box that Dana had made for our Valentine for the ward Valentines party - Phantom of the Opera themed with the soundtrack even playing on the inside of the box. It was absolutely fantastic. But what was even more fantastic was I got a letter from Jared, 2 letters in one week and I am a very lucky girl :) I'm so proud of him for all the wonderful work he is doing for the Lord, I've definitely got the best best friend ever :) Then I went to orchestra and had a wonderful time playing my heart out. I love music! And playing and singing and just everything :)
Thursday: Ah so Thursday I slept in again which is always nice but this time I got all my reading done for Islamic Humanities and we had a really interesting discussion about movies. We talked about how the council from the brethren is nothing "vulgar, immoral, inappropriate, suggestive or pornographic" so that sometimes is PG-13 and sometimes R, but its up to us to make wise judgements. Pretty cool discussion. After class went and got my ticket for the Passover Seder Service that BYU does every year in March/April. I'm really excited to go :) Then Abby and I ran to the bus stop to catch our bus to Salt Lake to go see Grandpa who got surgery on his back. I didn't get nearly all that I needed to done cause Abby and I just talked the whole way. We hopped on the Trax and went right through the stop Jared and I got off of last semester when we went to his sister Lena's house. That was a fun trip :) and our trip on Thursday was great too. We got to see most of our Dad's side of the family and Grandpa's surgery went really well and didn't have any pain in his back. It was great to see :) Grandpa is such a sweetheart and Grandma is sassy and its super funny to watch. I love them both. Kairisti picked us up and gave us a ride home. We stopped at Baja Fresh for dinner on the way which was delicious because I was starving. We came and chilled at my apartment for a little while and Abby and Kairisti left. I finished some reading and exercises for American Usage and headed to bed.
Friday: Friday was the countdown to the 3 day weekend. Yoga (where my shoulder started giving me problems and I had to ice it. Can't I just saw off the part that hurts?), went to American Usage, got out and went to the library and finished some reading for Literary Criticism. In Literary Criticism we talked about culture can be a factor in determining national identity and not only to our personal culture. Interesting as always. After, I went to my NT review for the test that starts this next week and felt really pretty good about it. Then I got to go home on a Friday which hasn't happened since last semester because I got it off thinking we were going to Vegas this weekend. But I just got home and chilled and watched a few shows and took a nap. A very long nap because I didn't wake up till 7 so then Dana, Jackie and I could go out and start our epic girls night. We went to both FYEs looking for Madagascar 1 and 2 and finally found them after a very long time searching. I also got Moulin Rouge, Monster's Inc. and Juno. EPIC. We got Little Caesar's on our way home (a staple on a Friday night in 431) and watched both Madagascars because I've never seen the second. SO FUNNY. Oh goodness a great night.
Saturday: Again I didn't have work so it was a nice relaxing morning where I slept really late. I watched some CSI just for fun and even took a little nap. Then Dana and I got ready for our night in Park City with Robert and Ty. We left at around 4:30 because Dana is far too popular for her own good. Awesome time jamming out in the car. We got there and just walked around the galleries with some delicious Hot Caramel Apple Cider - doesn't that just sound wonderful? Cause it was :) The galleries were really cool and off course tremendously outside my price range but it was fun just the same. After we'd wandered around for a while, we finally found the Blue Iguana, a mexican restaurant where we had planned to eat. We got seated and the dishes were really authentic at least thats what Ty said (served in Mexico on his mish) so I got the Mole Poblano with Pork and everyone else got new things too. Dana's grande burrito came out and we just started rolling from laugher. It was SO BIG! We had told her to order it because if you finished it you got a free dessert but my goodness that thing was huge. SO after we had finished our food, we were pretty full and then started on the 3/4ths of the burrito that Dana hadn't eaten. The beef in the burrito was not good but the chicken was, truly it was just one huge chuck of meat. Ugh my stomach has never felt so full in my life and it was not in a good way. But after over an hour, we finished it with only a small bit left and our waiter brought us the dessert! VICTORY! We downed the dessert in 10 seconds flat and led to a great discussion of how there's always room for dessert. After struggling for a minute, we all managed to get out of our seats, and started walking up to the car. We went in and out of some cool galleries, a little more slowly then normal, but then it started to snow so we booked it up to the car cause there was a big storm coming in. More fantastic rocking out on the way home and we watched Alex and Twitch on Youtube from So You Think You Can Dance because we had been listening to that song in the car. It was great fun and then it was almost midnight and we all went to bed with the intention of never eating again.
Sunday: I woke up at 10:10, 10 minutes before my home teachers were supposed to come and I booked it to get ready. I got my make-up off and my face washed and myself dressed when they got here. Hometeachers, well mine anyways, are always nice to talk to and work in giving me a kick in the butt when I need it. We talked about scripture study and how important it is and they challenged me to get up a little earlier every morning and do my scripture study. Check back with me in a month and I felt like an investigator lol. It was a very nice lesson. Then I had to hurry and get fully ready because I had work and Dana was nice enough to drop me off. Then I saw that Chris was there and had taken my shift and was about to leave but Jessie had people gone and sick so I stayed on. After apologizing profusely to Chris, I worked on silverware for lunch and had a marvelous time. They fed us and then I took a nice little nap in the locker room before I read my scriptures for a bit. I worked on first position in pit for dinner which is busy but keeps you occupied. First, I got a note from Jared without even seeing him he just put it on a random tray. My smile was the biggest ever, Chris even commented on how no matter how many jokes he told, he could never make me smile like that, and he's right only one person can. I continued working and I looked up and there he was smiling at me. I wasn't expecting it because I thought he'd already left. But he smiled at me and we did my favorite hand signal and he left. I have to say, I like that kid a lot :) We got out super early and Chris gave me a ride home. I got home and showered and got all looking nice because I was going to go to Hailey's house for pretzel night but my Skype date with AJ went much longer then planned. It was great though. I haven't talked to him in a really long time and he ships put for basic and job training in a week for the Army. Goodness all of my friends are going into the Army. I talked to him for 3 hours and it was really nice to talk to an old, white de-froed friend. Hopefully I'll get to talk to him later this week before he leaves. It was midnight by the time we finished talking so I went to bed.
Wow, lots of stuff happened this week and I will be better about writing everyday as opposed to a giant letter at the end. I will go and do right? Not sit and stew and play on the computer. Bring on the day!

Much love

good friday night

An unexpectedly full Friday to say the least. I got up and did my yoga, and I got a great workout :) It felt way good and I think I could totally continue this as a great workout regimen. I was talking to Dana and a friends of hers named Dallas and they were saying how ridiculously difficult it is. Yeah they're right and I'm gonna continue to do it because its the one fitness thing that doesn't hurt my shoulder! Maybes its even helping it! Yay for discipline!

Went to class which was just dandy you know. Got all my Criterion reading done between classes (cause I had finished my reading the night before, WOOT WOOT) and went and had, as always, an nice interesting discussion about Foucoult ideas on how the idea of prison and punishment has changed, I wonder how I'll connect that to The Would-Be Gentlemen . . .

Went to the library after class and did some scripture study. Great stuff in I Nephi about the vision of the tree of life and everyone striving to cling to God's word and return to Him again. It reminded me again that I'm not alone in my daily struggle through life. The struggle against myself is not a new idea in the world and others can help me along the way :) Then I was talking to my dad on the phone for a little while and finished that and came back in and starting writing Caleb back. He mentioned that he wanted some pictures so I went through and was looking for some. I LOVE PICTURES They just make me very very happy all the time I look through them. My best friends are most definitely the best, if you doubt look at how awesome our pictures are.

Went to work and was just happy the whole time. Moving to dishroom was great cause I got to meet lots of new people and only see a certain Elder very occasionally. But those occasions certainly make me happy for the entire shift :)

I was walking home and got picked up by Dana halfway there and we got taken on an unexpected date. We went roller skating (well I was roller blading) at Classic skating in Orem and made our legs awesomely sore in weird places from going in one direction around the floor all night. We all had a good time though. Then we all (Brian, Dallas, Me, Carter, Dana and Wes) all came back to our apartment and made cookie dough brownies, best decision ever. Wes had to go but then Jordan came over and enjoyed the brownies with us and we all talked for a while and had a jolly old time. 

Overall, a good Friday night :)

Much love

grateful forever

Sleeping in is always a wonderful way to start the day.  Got caught up on the blog posts this morning, did some pretty chill internet surfing, got ready for the day (I wore my "don't mess with Texas" shirt and laughed to myself at what Jared would say about it) and Dana kindly drove me to school on her way to work. I feel pretty good about my Humanities of Islam exam that I signed up to take Monday because the set up of the class means reading and going over the examples and the distinctives characteristics within the reading over and over in class. So I've got it pretty much covered, I think, I hope, I pray - there's always more time to study!
I got to class and we actually talked about Muslim comedy and watched lots of videos that were actually really funny. We were talking about how more minorities in times of hardship, are characterized by the comedians that come out so that they can laugh at themselves. Fun class with lots of laughs and afterwards headed to the library. I FINALLY printed off my paper for American Humanities and ran it to my professor's office. Then I got back and did my reading and exercise for American Usage. I did some scripture study in I Nephi 5, 6 & 7 and learned about what it means to be faithful God, the importance of remembering the Lord in all things, we are able to do all things through God, coming unto Christ and the idea of pleasing the world vs. pleasing God. So many wonderful things to learn in the Book of Mormon. and didn't wanna read anymore Marx so I settled for modern Family instead. More laughs ensued before I went to work. Work was ordinary and walked home to find a letter :) and Valentines packages from my parents. Got a movie, a pen, some socks and a small journal from my dad and some hot chocolate, vitamin water, Sweet and Salty bars, razors (shaving), and peanut butter and jam - random gifts and I love them all :) The letter was great because Jared is very humble in his calling as a missionary, he mentioned how when we learn we realize how little we know and want to learn more which is EXACTLY what we were talking about in my New Testament class on Wednesday. I Corinthians 8:2 - the more I know about God, the less I can really understand the breadth and depth of what He and His Son have done for me, but that doesn't stop more from feasting on the scriptures and having gratitude every night my prayers. Its the least I can do to constantly try to repay my Lord even though I will never come close, I will try so He knows how much I love and appreciate His sacrifice for me. haha One day at a time right?
Well to wrap up my day, I finished my Marx reading from Wednesday and finished my Foucault reading for tomorrow so I'm all set. Hopefully I get to read my scriptures lots tomorrow :) Its so great to be so excited about the scriptures, goodness I have so much to be thankful for!

God bless you my friends

busy and calm

Tuesday was very nice. Since I don't have class till 12 I got to sleep in and recover from my ridiculous night of barely any sleep. I got up nice and well rested and did a bit of studying for my Humanities of Islam exam that actually started today. Knowing significant places in Islamic history on a map, not too hard. Dana came home unexpectedly from her classroom and Giselle and I went up to campus. She was kind enough to drop me off which was excellent because I was in heel. Why was I in heel might you ask? I got to go to the temple right after class! I've never gone to the temple one a week before but Giselle and are are going to make it a tradition. It was a little more crowded this time but I didn't mind at all. Just thinking and feeling closer to my Heavenly Father was great. I just stayed after baptisms and got to do some more intense scripture study this time in I Nephi as I am starting the Book of Mormon over again. It was great :) I found lots of great stuff about what it means to be willing to go and do something, can I just say I love cross references? Why I haven't ever used them before I will never know. I left and didn't go to work because I had a review for my Humanities of Islam exam. Good review but walking there and walking home in heels was killer on my feet. I got my hair cut though! Just a healthy trim but it feels wonderful.

Today was busy but a good day. Its awesome to see what a spiritual high from going to the temple can do for you. It made me calmer and it was easier to take on the day. Can I just say that I love all my classes? In American Usage we talked about sexist language and how it can distract from your writing if you don't pay attention or if you pay too much attention and it breaks up the fluidity of the sentence. We even watched a 90s tv show all about being "politically correct", very funny and it certainly made me happy to be in college. Where else can you di that and still get credit?! I attempted to get caught up on reading for my Literary Criticism class before New Testament but looks like I'll need to spend a little more time on that. New Testament was wonderful we got really deeply into the "meat" of the gospel and talked about I Corinthians 10 where Paul talks  about women and how that all comes together in the greater gospel picture. I am vey happy to be part of a Church that values women so highly and teaches such wonderful values on the family and the home. Literary Criticism was an interesting discussion as always. Althusser was a Marxist thinker so his argument had distinct holes in it but its good to get a more complete view of the world's philosophy.  After, I went and got Believing Christ and Following Christ from the bookstore (by Stephen E. Robinson) so now I have my own to study and mark up however I like :) I did some reading for my American Humanities class which was interesting but the most interesting part was class. We talked about how Conversion has followed a similar pattern for thousands of years; from Paul to Muhammad to Joseph Smith and even to little old me. I am not singular in my problems, my pain or my struggles that come with faith but the Lord is constant from eternity to eternity, there is great comfort for me in that. I went home long enough to eat something, then went to a Dance Lab for a little bit and watched my fried Chris compete, makes me miss dancing and I can't wait to try some new kinds. I went to orchestra with all of our fantastic music and loved every minute of it. A wonderful way to just get lost in the music for a few hours a week. Then came home and had a dessert party! We socialized with people form our ward and I made them all try strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar; and they liked it! I was forced to say "I told you so" multiple times throughout the evening :) People stayed over till late and I made everyone laugh because I get loopy and silly when I'm tired. No video cameras will ever be allowed near me when I am in that stage. Its been a great few days and I'll make sure that they continue for a few more.

Cheers

a busy day through tired eyes

A tiring day. I had to stay up till 3 to study for an exam I had this morning at 10 for American Usage because my Literary Criticism paper took over my life on Saturday so I just didn't have time. All the nemonic devices with the first letter of all the things I had to remember worked really quite well (Ron Goes Calling Lavender for the 4 precepts of language - Rule, General/Educated Usage, Chameleon, Linguistic norm) and I feel like I did really really well. Fingers crossed :)

New Testament was wonderful as always. I love the new perspective I have on my scriptures and actually going through and searching and pondering things. Search, ponder and pray - amen! We sang How Firm a Foundation and man it was a powerful way to start the class. Music is such a wonderful way to bring the spirit into the room. In conjunction with that song, we learned from Paul how the prophets can lay the foundation of the gospel and a strong one it is but I have to be careful what I built on top of that foundation. What kind of house/life/family/happiness will I create? But if I rely on the Lord it certainly makes it that much easier.

Since I had my other papers today however, it made me get behind on my reading that I was supposed to actually have ready for today but thats ok, I'll do it tomorrow when I have my free morning. And I get to go to the temple tomorrow! I'm so excited to feel that wonderful spirit again and get to just spend time with me, my scriptures and the Lord. My American Humanities paper was all about the Puritans and how through their poetry they discovered a great personal relationship with the Lord, and it made me excited be able to go to the temple and feel the Spirit that is there.

My other classes were great! I mean I was wide awake - only I would find Marx ideology and how it applies to capitalism and looking at the texts of the Great Enlightenment absolutely fascinating. Its easy to see why I have the major that I do huh?

I finally got a letter from Elder Price - haven't heard from him since a Christmas card but hey that boy's apparently been super busy. I mean he got bumped to Zone Leader! But I mean its, Caleb so I can't say I'm surprised. Its cool to hear his stories about everything and I'm grateful to have him as a friend an example.

I just remembered that I need to do my Forum entry before I go to bed, its due at 11:55 - and I want to go to bed FAR before that. Its been a great day. Life is fine, Life is good, especially mine which is just as it should be! Onward and upward we go.

As Salaam ‘alaykum – May peace be unto you (Arabic from my Humanities of Islam class)

a week or so

hahaha so yeah . . . I'm terrible but I will be better.

Monday: YOGA to begin the day, I hate her, but I love her for it. School was fine. My American humanities teacher made possibly the funniest comment ever conceived on BYU campus. It included "professor talking about an experience where he had to talk to a guy who was telling people about visitation he'd had from angels: "I just wasn't getting through to this guy! So I finally said, 'You know what? Let's talk about my sex life!' The guy was shocked and said 'I'm just not comfortable hearing that . . .' I said 'That's the point, we don't talk about these things!'"
I've never laughed so hard in my life"Needless to say, it was quite outstanding.

Tuesday: Got all my laundry done in the morning before my class. I was then late for class, but hey it happens. After, I got to go to the temple with Giselle and it was super fast and I got to just stay there until work (like 2 1/2 hours!). Oh my goodness did I need that. I just sat and poured over Alma 5 and Alma 7 - the temple is such a wonderful spiritual place and I get to go again this week. I'm so excited!

Wednesday: Always a crazy busy day but I was on a wonderful spiritual high from going to the temple the day before. Yoga is a really great start to the day then get all bounced up and read to go. All of my classes are fun to go to. I started reading Believing Christ by Stephen E. Robinson and oh my goodness, its certainly something I needed to hear. I feel like EVERY single talk or lesson or class or anything has something that is directed right at me. On the previous Sunday, we had a meeting talking about the importance of scripture study and I knew that was something I really needed to change and work on and with that I had my awesome temple experience and man oh man, the Lord speaks right to us through the scriptures and I'm ashamed that I neglected them for this long. The Lord speaks to me through them and they prophets who wrote them, wrote them for me, not to be selfish anything but they knew what I would need and I will forever be grateful for their prophetic insight. I got a wonderful letter from a guy who inspires me everyday to be better and grow closer to Christ. I've got lots to learn and I cannot wait to learn it!

Thursday: I got lots of reading done for my Humanities of Islam class in the morning but still managed to be late, typical. Went to work, came home, did reading, went to sleep. Well as far as I can remember anyways.

Friday: Yoga, two classes, worked on papers, went to work, came home and THEN the parties started. I party hopped. Well first it was David's concert and he proposed to Karlee (which was very cute - did I mention I really like their music?) and then went to Slab pizza and crashed some random girl's birthday party and ate her cake with Taylor by my side (she invited us to have some so I didn't feel as bad) and then Dana and Brian and others and I all went to Jake's birthday party and I got some pretty epic videos of a few people playing pin the horn on the unicorn. Most excellent! Then came the crash of all roommates in the living room after all our partying and we went to bed content in how social we were.

Saturday: Slept in - wonderful, Work - including singing Bohemian Rhapsody and Make a Man Out of You so pretty darn good, then came the dismal paper for IHUM 350 combining the ideas of Moliere and Susan Bordo, it took me all day but I hope it was worth it. I didn't get other studying done though or my other paper done so that was abismal and I will do it as soon as the clock strikes midnight this evening. yay . . .

Sunday: A wonderful spiritual day and can I just say how much I love my roommate Dana? She's such a strong girl and makes me laugh everyday and I'm very glad she's my roommate. She even made a huge dinner and dessert (cheesecake no less) for her brother's birthday; how cool is that?! We had a great meeting at church today and the testimony meeting was the best part. I got to testify of Christ. How he has spoken to me through the scriptures and how I know He is my Savior. I just can't get there myself and I will lean on him just like a good friend taught me. A wonderful spiritual day and I'm excited for this new work. Tomorrow I have an Exam at 10 and a paper due I haven't written yet so needless to say, I'll be up all night. I hope...I know that if I work hard and put the Lord first, I'll get through this week and be stronger for it. I love my Heavenly Father and I love my Savior Jesus Christ because without them, I'd be nothing and no one. But they make me the best I can be and I want to live so I don't disappoint them but make them proud of me. One day at a time.

Keep the faith friends

aaaaahhhhhooooowwwwww......

Ah hah so Jillian Michaels kicks my butt in yoga. Literally, my butt, my back, my neck, my abs and my arms are all supa sore from doing Power Yoga this morning. Jackie (my roommate) and I are doing it Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. New goal to take one step at a time. But I'm excited cause it felt really good going to school and then throughout the day I got progressively sorer (more sore? I'm in a grammar class,I feel like I should know this) throughout the day. But I'm exercising now and its a start to a painful friendship with Jillian Michaels.

I had to present in my Literary criticism class today applying Bordo's Unbearable Weight and her theories regarding gender to Moliere's The School for Wives. Yes, I loved it. Yes I'm a nerd. No you cannot change my mind. LOVE IT

Did my first read throughs for Criterion today (BYU Literary Criticism journal) and oh goodness 17 pages but I feel like I was pretty good at evaluating them. Its great experience and I suppose I can't complain about 17 pages because in the future I hope to be doing the same thing for books :)

Sappy romantic comedies and Bob Ross paintings took up my evening. Pizza and chicken puffs also had their appearance which was delicious. Its been a good busy day, I'm off to sleep in now, yeh yeah.

Cheerio

a random thursday

When I have only one class on Thursdays and it starts at 12, then you finish everything early and are super bored? That was ALL day today. But the bonus is that I got most everything done and don't need to worry about it, YAY! (said like Flynn Rider in Tangled)

So You Think You Can Dance is absolutely fantastic! Roommates and I went back and watched all of our favorite ones, and oh dang, I'm gonna learn to hip hop dance. I will be the awesome (yes awesome not awkward) chick at dances who breaks it out and you'll all cheer for me just wait! It'll be fun to get back into Dance classes cause they make life so much fun :)

I got a letter! 3 pages! Very impressive: both in him and in me for being able to read all of it. He's doing so great and man am I proud to call him my best friend :)

Going to continue reading more talks about the Atonement before bed. I love my Savior and I can't even express how much His love means to me. God has blessed me so greatly for having a knowledge of His Son and the fullness of the gospel. It is everything to me and I'm just working on being better, one day at a time.

Remember the Lord

improvement

Days are long. Its been fun over the last few days to catch up with some old friend. I feel like I'm growing up really fast just cause everyone around me is too. I turn two decades old in less then a month, how weird is that?!

Yesterday, work was work and not that exciting but I put up all my pictures in my room last night :) As indicated by the smiley face, it made a not so great night pretty fantastic. Lots of great memories with lots of really great people who are all very good at making me smile. Now I smile every time I see the pictures, absolutely fantastic!

Orchestra is super fun to take a breather in the middle of the week but its also a VERY long day on Wednesdays. We're playing such awesome pieces (Symphonie Fantastique 4th movement, Beethoven's 7th Symphony 2nd movement, Carmen Suite and Finlandia) that it TOTALLY makes up for it. Classical music is the best kind of music ever, bar nothing and bar no one. Show me another piece of music that requires more skill, delicacy and patience. HA! You can't can you? Classical music for the win.

I love my religion classes and I love the fact that my other classes input religious subjects that go along with our discussions. I had religious discussions in 3 classes! New Testament was great talking about how men can agree maybe not on ideas but principles bring people together and bring more harmonious ideas. Literary Criticism we talked about the family and the roles we have and how society has shifted both for the better in these roles and in some cases, for the worse. I loved reading last night a Devotional talk about how we need to remember that we can't save ourselves only through Christ. We do our best and it may not be everything that everyone else can do, just what I myself can do. American Humanities was awesome talked about the Atonement and how by taking the Sacrament represents us believing what Christ said and knowing that He is the only one that can save us, we can't, and we need to remember that otherwise life is just too overwhelming. I just wish that more people understood or were open to understanding that; it'd save them much heartache.

Life is good you know? Life and I wil be better somehow, just take it a day at a time. Thats all I can do. Strive for improvement not perfection, working on it.

Fare Thee Well

insights

Snow = Winter. A simple equation that finally brought winter back to Provo today with the nice thick snow all over. Luckily I got a ride home from school so I didn't have to walk but it really makes me want to go skiing. Then I remember I haven't gotten paid yet . . . well I'll go when I can get a ride. :)

Lots of cool insights today :) It was a pretty relaxed day. I had all my reading done before all of my classes so I felt like I was prepared and understood more fully all of the things we discussed in classes. In new Testament, we talked about how having faith is one of the most important things when we are praying to the Lord. Even if our faith is imperfect, the Lord does answer our prayers, it may not be in the way we want it or expect it but an answer will come and by the time everything is gone and through, things will be alright. In American Humanities, we talked about Puritan poetry and the wonderful faith and dependence they had on the Lord. Man did they know how to endure to the end. Different kinds of trials brings different kinds of reactions from different people. The trials may be different but the Lord is always the same. He knows me by my name and is better at knowing what I need then I am. I want to put my complete trust in the Lord and ask, "where would you have me go? Who can I help/ How can I make someone's day better today?" I've got a long way to go but at least I know where I want to be.

Take me there one day at a time. I want to do good and be better. One day at a time right?

Adieu

spiritual

Its been great spiritual day, but hey its Sunday so thats to be expected. My home teachers (shout out to Jason and Phil) are great and gave me a great lesson about taking life one day at a time. Thats kind of the theme of my blog so it fit perfectly. They added how goals and things we need to do are one day at a time. Everything from reading my scriptures to washing my face before bed, its all just a day at a time.

I have a great ward. True, I'm still working on getting to know most of them but there's always a great spirit in Sacrament meeting whenever I go. We had ward conference today (which I missed most of because I was at work) but we had several people bear their testimonies and of course, at least least one thing of what every person said hit me hard. I'm such an easy cryer when it comes to spiritual things, and the thing is I kinda like it that way.

So work today was long but fine. Just long. I get a break tomorrow so that'll be delightful :)

Lets go read Acts :)

Cheers

funny thing

The last few days have been too crazy to remember to blog. But now I'll play catch up again.

Thursday:
I had gotten all of my reading done early for my one class of that day and enjoyed the extra time to just breathe and do homework as I pleased. I went to my Humanities of Islam class and the Imam (religious leader) of one of the Mosques in Salt Lake came and we got to ask him questions. It was a really great experience to hear him speak because a religion and a way of life is completely different in when you study it on paper and actually see it in a person. I certainly hope that, its as plain to others what I stand for as it was plain to see in him. I did more homework, mostly an Oral Project for ELang, after then work then home. And I got a letter :) My first one  which made me almost bounce off the walls with giddiness but you know thats just me :) It was great to hear from him and know how well he's doing, it just made me smile the whole time reading and re-reading it. Then Downton Abbey took over my life and I went to bed far far too late.

Friday:
I hadn't gotten nearly enough reading done the night before so I got up somewhat early and got lots of it done. ELang was great, I know not many would find any sort of joy in a American Usage class but I really find it great. Good thing too, its essential for my minor. I got out of that and did some great reading on the meaning of an author as its related to literary criticism (Foucault's, What is an Author?) and went and discussed it in my Literary Criticism class. Did no homework after that class but watched Downton Abbey some more and attempted to do a Sodoku puzzle. I went to work and found out that hiding just doesn't work sometimes funnily enough. I got home, watch more Downton Abbey, went out to see Beauty and the Beast, which was fabulous as always by the way, and came home. After being apart for a while, I pulled all the different parts of myself together and went to bed.

Saturday:
I slept in. And it was blissful thanks for asking. Got all showered and ready for the day and looked out to see the weather behaving in a very bipolar manner (rain to hail to snow to rain again, etc. etc.). I distracted myself with the computer and writing my own letter for a bit then went up to work. I was very precise in working in the very back. I was graciously given a ride home, on a scooter (it had stopped raining thank goodness). I helped Dana make our delicious cheesecake that will hopefully be a delightful dessert tomorrow and then made a nice and large batch of chicken puffs. Should last me at least a couple days :) We (Dana, Giselle, Jasmin, Jordan, Cole and Charlotte) then all went to Velour and watched David's (Co-chair's) band (Blind Actuaries) play. It was soo good! Favorite local bacd by far and i will steal the music from Dana as soon as physically possible. We all came home and enjoyed Jordan playing tunes on the keyboard at our apartment and just visited.

I am now typing my blog. And we are now here. Can I just say, Life is a funny thing, and this is my conclusion.

And to all a good night

bring it world

Wednesdays are LONG. Class all day and orchestra at the end. I don't get home for any real length of time until after 9. All my classes were great today, with lots of reading and complicated details - it makes for many great opportunities to learn. And I find that fantastic! I got all my reading done for tomorrow early so I'm going to bed before midnight tonight, YAY :) Oh an no class until noon so sleeping sounds like great fun :)

A mysterious American flag along with a new poster showed up in our apartment today. It must be because of our dumb lock that keeps breaking. It mystifies me as to where they're from, I don't know what to think. . . ;) Oh by the way, I love apartment 440.

Pictures make me so happy when i look at them and remember all the wonderful times I've had and the wonderful people I've spent those times with :) I will post pictures when I am done putting all my pictures up in my room.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love my New Testament class. Every time I go, its boosts me up. We talked about today that the Lord would rather help us become the best version of ourselves then making sure we're constantly comfortable. Being constantly comfortable leads to being a spoiled brat - thats just not appealing. I am so grateful for this Gospel and the wonderful truths it brings to my life.

To the Lord, I will say "Here am I, send me," and to the world I say, "Bring it on"

playing catch up

Gotta catch up from yesterday. I literally had just turned off the light and laid down with my eyes closed, when I realized I had not blogged yet that day. I put it off until today. I was far too comfortable to move at all. So lets see, what happened on Monday . . .

Well to start off, I slept in till 10. Then I got showered and comfortable and started doing my reading (which I thoroughly enjoy by the way). I read and read until Nyc (my aunt) came and took me grocery stopping. I got enough food to last me through the end of school I'm sure and came home and cooked Skillet Lasagna for the first time. And may I say, it turned out pretty outstanding :) It pays off being able to cook well :) Well at least I've been told I cook pretty well and everything's tasted good so far so I'll take that as a bonus! I also got new recipes today for homemade pancakes and waffles from Becca and am very excited to try them out. I certainly hoping they are much better then Bisquick.

Why am I always up so late? I'm always the last one in my apartment to go to sleep and thats probably not a good thing. These posts take place right around midnight every night. I want to make sure its the complete end of my day right before I go to bed, but I suppose I should start getting ready for bed a little bit earlier. Aaaaaahhhh and then I get distracted by quotes, curse my shortening attention span. I need to read more books, they boost your attention span. http://bookreviews.me.uk/rory-gilmore-reading-challenge/ I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was an excellent idea, now I just have to start reading, along with school and work and yeah, I WILL do it. No big deal.

Ok well today I got much of  my reading done and I feel like I'll be nice and prepared and caught up for my classes tomorrow. I'm also trying to use the phrase "a lot" less in my writing because I feel like I do it all the time. (I had to change it at the end of that sentence, to prove my point) I also just did research on that phrase for my Usage class and now I'm just self-conscious.

Work is better nowadays. I'm not looking over my shoulder frightened at who might be around the corner. That probably has to do with the fact that I sent the first of many letters to the MTC today. I also was looking through pictures and printing some out from last semester that just make me smile :) There is no use being sad because that's definitely not the point of this experience. I am diving into life (classes, reading, work, sleeping, socializing) head on and all I can think is, this'll be fun. "May you live all the days of your life." Johnathon Swift was a wise man, and I will take that to heart.

Much love

Just for today

You know the feeling when you're trying not to think about something but everything from TV commercials to wedding announcements to chocolate chip cookies is a constant reminder? But you know what? All those memories make me smile :) Things are as they're supposed to be and needless to say, I'm learning many things from this experience and I'm sure I will continue to for the next few years.

I love my family :) Talking to my Mom and Dad always makes me feel better about my day. In marriage prep we were talking about the importance of eternal families and I love looking back on my childhood because my parents and family made it wonderful and they continue that to this day :)

Church keeps me stable and I love how stable I can me if i work to keep following in Christ's footsteps. Can I just say how much I love this song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_ig_aM3zgw We sang the hymn version in church today and the lyrics always make me want to cry because it reminds me I need to work A LOT to get to the level I should be with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. BUt hey I'm working, one day at a time. Listen to the lyrics if you read this, see if it doesn't change you. Oh and it helps that it has a ROCKIN violin solo :) Double winning.

OH! And this video! http://www.youtube.com/user/MormonMessages?feature=g-all-a#p/c/4E784EC0770935C0/2/EMwKxmTLaCs When men's hearts fail, having faith in the constancy of the Lord and an eternal perspective that everything will be alright. No matter what, Christ and our Father wants nothing but the best for us, their patience with me is unending especially when I lose patience with myself for all my imperfections and weaknesses. "God loves our un-complete self completely and our imperfections perfectly." President Uchtdorf gives us our entire lives in one sentence. I can be just fine and suddenly everything is lonely. But I don't have to be. I can be better at . . . I can try not to fix every problem at once but take myself gradually through the steps to peace and joy. Kenneth Holmes says it better then I can.

Just For Today
Just for today, I will try to live through this day only,
and not tackle my whole life problem
at once. I can do something for twelve hours
that would appall me if I felt that I had to
keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today, I will be happy. This assumes to
be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that
"most folks are as happy as they make up
their minds to be."

Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind.
I will study. I will learn something useful.
I will not be a mental loafer. I will read
something that requires effort, thought and
concentration.

Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is,
and not try to adjust everything to my own
desires. I will take my "luck" as it comes,
and fit myself to it.

Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three
ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and
not get found out. I will do at least two
things I don't want to--just for exercise.
I will not show anyone that my feelings are
hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not
show it

Just for today, I will be agreeable. I will look
as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low,
act courteously, criticize not one bit, not
find fault with anything and not try to improve
or regulate anybody except myself.

Just for today, I will have a program. I may not
follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will
save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today, I will have a quiet half hour all
by myself, and relax. During this half hour,
sometime, I will try to get a better perspective
of my life.

Just for today, I will be unafraid. Especially I
will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful,
and to believe that as I give to the world, so
the world will give to me.
-Kenneth L. Holmes

If this blogs shows nothing else, it shows me living one day at a time. Change comes in small increments one day after another, I wonder how this blog will reflect my changes. Ah well a new day starts soon, so sleep is in order.

God bless 

Work to Missionaries

A day full of work and basketball and Bones and Psych. i could leave it at that you know. I don't have to write down everything I did I could have all of you (whoever YOU are) just take a wild guess. But what else would a blog be for then to talk and write.

 I love chilling with my family and chattering over our family pictures. Its just a fun time. Also the TV watching with my sis is always fun  :)

I got my posters today!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have to somehow find room for them in my room or maybe put one outside in the living room . . . but its an Asian theme out there and Idk if that would mess with the feng shui (who know that it was spelled that way right?) so we shall see what I decide.

I also love Mormon Messages on Youtube because they help me remember that my Heavenly Father's timing is so much better then mine is. Missionary work is the most wonderful opportunity for the rest of the world to understand the truths of eternal families, being spiritual children of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as our one and only Redeemer through the Atonement. Working at the MTC must be rubbing off on me but maybe thats the point :) God bless the missionaries, they deserve it :)

T.G.I.F

Cleaning checks are quite the odious chore but now everything is very clean in our apartment and I certainly hope it remains so. Cleanliness is next to godliness is the phrase so aren't we divinecause oh yeah we passed! :)

You know something I heard today in my American Usage class was great. We were talking about language change and whether that meant the language was decaying. My teacher said this "Change is not decay, change is just change." I feel like thats a metaphor for life. Everything changes and shift but for the better although we may certainly think otherwise. Change is what makes everyone so different but we are all similar in the fact that we were not who we were yesterday, but a new version of ourselves to try out every new day. Its our choice who we want to be and our own efforts dictate them,  so I won't sit on my butt and mope and be sad about anything, but ready and excited for the changes I experience and the changes I get to see in others.

What do I do with my Friday night? First comes work, then getting locked out of my apartment (my key wouldn't turn) but maintenance thankfully saved me, THEN getting hooked onto a UK television show (called Downton Abbey-its quite exciting actually, very dramatic lol) and after three hours, Charlotte, Giselle and I thought it best to wait and have a marathon tomorrow :) Goodness I need to do some reading, I suppose that will have to wait till tomorrow :)

Much Love amigos

another day

Another day, another blog post.

I have to say, my Humanities of Islam class is really opening my eyes to the very apparent similarities between Islam and the LDS faith which is SO COOL. I even get to go to a Muslim mosque service at some point and I'm really excited to get that opportunity. Everyone gets as much truth as much as they  can handle for the Lord knows exactly how to help us be better. And I am so grateful for that.

Work is boring, life is trudging and homework keeps on coming. Well at least I enjoy my homework. That reminds me, I need to write some letters :) Good to do on a three day weekend. Writing and homework for 3 days. Oh yeah and sleep. haha forgot about that . . .

Peace and blessings

Kanji

Today was busy . . . goodness not getting home until 5:30 and then stealing 440's flags and putting them in our windows, then I had orchestra, THEN we went to 440 with the banana bread as a peace offering and it worked (on everyone except Brian--but thats not worth mentioning).

So, this evening, for an hour and a half I watched Jordan Reading do Kanji :) Japanese calligraphy (they have a class for it here) and he did some awesome looking words that we're putting in our living room (with our names on them in Japanese). I feel like I will fit in very well in the Asian section of the library now :)

What did I learn about myself in New Testament today?
I need to be more like Phillip, not ask why and just go with the Lords plan. His timing is perfect and I cannot possibly understand. I love the Lord enough to do His will and give Him my will as my one gift I can give. At least thats what i'm striving for right? One day at a time and no take on my whole life problem at once. I'm so glad the Lord gives me friends, roommates and a room room mate that are so good at making me smile and just happy even when I don't want to be.

I miss reading just for me. Just picking up a book and not putting it down until I finish. Maybe I'll try to do that this weekend :) Good thing to do with a three day weekend right? I like my plan!

Much love friends

ramdom things in particular

Hugo was a great movie, I saw it today. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves movies, it really is quite magical. Makes you want to go wind up a clock, just for the heck of it :)

Textbook got stolen today in the warfare going on between 431 and 440. I guess I'll have to go read it in the bookstore . . . again. Vengeance is coming . . . watch your backs.

Its odd how time passes. So quickly one day and so slowly the next. Every moment is precious which makes life so much fun to live. To my friend Elder Erekson, make every moment count as I know you will. It'll all be worth it :)

School comes a day at a time, no more no less. So I'll take it that way. Much too busy for my own good.

Cheers

prayers and the arts

Today, I've been doing a lot of reading for my Humanities of Islam class and its basically been an introduction into Islam and Muhammad and its been really interesting. I like learning about other religions because it emphasizes to me how the Lord loves all His children and has given all different peoples truth. They may not have the whole truth but the Lord can build upon that truth through the work of the missionaries who give added light given by the restoration of the fulness of the Gospel. UNderstanding is made possible through the Spirit of the Lord which grants us the opportunity to be more calm and collected in our thoughts and actions. I mean no one wants to get in arguments, (well some people do) and the Spirit can help guide one through a conversation by helping you understand what the person is trying to say to you (a sort of interpretation of tongues if you will).  Learned that in New Testament today. I love my religion classes - they are such an uplifting and edifying part of my day. It keeps me going and makes me happier every time I read or study for those classes.

I am in a much better mood then yesterday and I am very grateful to my Heaven Father who listens to my sometimes pitiful pleads for help and always knows how to lift me up. Its all about God's timing, he knows EXACTLY what we need when we need it most and it is not for us (with the watch) to dictate to Him (the One who set the cosmic clocks) how or when our answers are given. Patience breeds calm confidence in One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Now if I could just be better at being patient and calm. . .

I got one textbook today so thats better then having one less but I certainly hope they at least come tomorrow, pretty pretty please. I really am enjoying my classes and I think I'm gonna join one of the Student Journals on Campus; probably Criterion (literary criticism) or Americana (American humanities) and I'm really excited. I'm not sure if I mentioned I was going to do that but shows how excited I am right? American Humanities today was great! It literally deserves an exclamation point. My professor is funny and always is up for any sort of discussion that lead to interesting points I'd never thought of before. Did I mention I love Humanities? Cause I do, oh wait! Its my major - I have most excellent taste :)

Now when it comes to apartment 440, let the merry war begin!

Cheerio!