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!
Showing posts with label classes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classes. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26
Monday, February 20
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
Much love to you all
Sunday, February 19
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
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
Sunday, February 5
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
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
Wednesday, January 25
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
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
Monday, January 9
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!
Saturday, January 7
back in the saddle again
Who would've thought that I'd ever miss having my textbooks. I need to do homework and they're not here yet! ugh....
Getting back into the swing of school is kinda weird. Something is definitely different about this semester but I guess its just something I need to get used to. Best friends off doing great things so I'll support them every step of the way but its hard when they're gone. I really just want to dive into school and focus on that but without TEXTBOOKS its makes that difficult so I certainly hope they get here soon.
All my classes seem like they're going to be alot of fun but very difficult all at once, I guess I shouldn't be surprised especially since I'm in lots of major and higher level classes but I'll be busy. Next week, I'm going to go in and start working on one of the journals that BYU produces to kinda jumpstart my editing skills and make it easier for me to get a job later. I haven't decided between Criterion (literary criticism) or Americana (american studies + humanities) but they start on Wednesday and I'm really quite excited. I'm guessing this experience will really help me in figuring out if editing is right for me but I have high hopes.
A New Testament assignment really got me thinking yesterday about the value of a journal. I mean isn't that basically what all the scriptures are? Journals that the prophets of old and new kept of the spiritual and physical experience of them and their people for my benefit? Kinda seems silly that I've never been good at keeping a journal so maybe this blog could help with that. I love the new insights I've gained from my religion classes. Feeling the spirit and looking at the verses in a new way brings the scriptures to life for me. My New Testament teacher tells us that we should look at the scriptures as our story. What can we see of ourselves in the characters? Do we allow the Lord with the Holy Ghost to work on us like the righteous men and women shown in the scriptures? It gives you a lot to think about. I sometimes feel like I need to improve on so many things at once; scripture reading (between the BofM, NT and Ensign talks), overcoming the sins of commission, reaching out to everyone and just being a better follower of Christ, and I don't have enough hours in the day. Then it helps to remember the quote I've put up at the top of this blog: "Just for today, I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once." The gospel is a process, it takes a lifetime to go completely. It just makes me excited to go to the temple eventually and just learn more. SO STOKED. enough said
Cheers
Getting back into the swing of school is kinda weird. Something is definitely different about this semester but I guess its just something I need to get used to. Best friends off doing great things so I'll support them every step of the way but its hard when they're gone. I really just want to dive into school and focus on that but without TEXTBOOKS its makes that difficult so I certainly hope they get here soon.
All my classes seem like they're going to be alot of fun but very difficult all at once, I guess I shouldn't be surprised especially since I'm in lots of major and higher level classes but I'll be busy. Next week, I'm going to go in and start working on one of the journals that BYU produces to kinda jumpstart my editing skills and make it easier for me to get a job later. I haven't decided between Criterion (literary criticism) or Americana (american studies + humanities) but they start on Wednesday and I'm really quite excited. I'm guessing this experience will really help me in figuring out if editing is right for me but I have high hopes.
A New Testament assignment really got me thinking yesterday about the value of a journal. I mean isn't that basically what all the scriptures are? Journals that the prophets of old and new kept of the spiritual and physical experience of them and their people for my benefit? Kinda seems silly that I've never been good at keeping a journal so maybe this blog could help with that. I love the new insights I've gained from my religion classes. Feeling the spirit and looking at the verses in a new way brings the scriptures to life for me. My New Testament teacher tells us that we should look at the scriptures as our story. What can we see of ourselves in the characters? Do we allow the Lord with the Holy Ghost to work on us like the righteous men and women shown in the scriptures? It gives you a lot to think about. I sometimes feel like I need to improve on so many things at once; scripture reading (between the BofM, NT and Ensign talks), overcoming the sins of commission, reaching out to everyone and just being a better follower of Christ, and I don't have enough hours in the day. Then it helps to remember the quote I've put up at the top of this blog: "Just for today, I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once." The gospel is a process, it takes a lifetime to go completely. It just makes me excited to go to the temple eventually and just learn more. SO STOKED. enough said
Cheers
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