today i don't feel like doing anything

And i don't have to

CAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS BREAK!!

So that also means I'm a little too lazy to actually blog something substantial (not that i ever do) but in an attempt to not totally ignore blogging i figure i'll post pictures with brief captions for the whole 3 or 4 people who follow my blog.

Pre-finals:

 

Look how happy we look at the amazing christmas party Ashley threw and on our Sunday walks. sigh.

Snow:

  

It happened. i finally have had a second experience with snow, but it hasn't been enough that the snowboarders have stopped complaining yet.  Utah has been nice to me. thank you thank you.

Finals:

 




We tried to find a new place to sleep   study everyday.  Overall a fun week. productive? ehhhh it went kinda like this:

Studying

Calc test

Post finals:

 

Finally I'm home with:

My adorable bald nephew (i'm obsessed and already planning shaving my child's head so they can be this cute)

My brother and adorable nieces. Babies are just making me so happy.

Santa came to my house just like every year. nbd.

Amelia Child I have missed so much. We like to go to ice skating rinks in "the slapaho" and outlet store snowsuit.

Nick Monzingo (nickarus) is visiting me for a week. hhyeah. love this kid.

My second roommate Ashley. he's teaching me how to whistle.

This has made me laugh all week. still laughing.

other than this i've just been watching countless movies, eating lots, and avoiding looking at my grades.

also i'm listening to my new favorite band, down with webster, and reconsidering my affection for them the longer i listen to them.

The layout of this is all screwed up, but i'm too lazy to fix it. yaaaawn.

White and Nerdy

Even though I am far from the most intelligent resident of Madison 5, there are multiple times during the day when my roommates give me the "oh, please" look followed with saying, "that's a smart person thing to say"

it all started when we had the idea, the best idea ever, to make a fort in the middle of our living room and i said, brilliantly:
"Hey guys! we should leave it up for 2 weeks and call it a fortnight!"
get it?
i thought it was good.
Ever since then i have just felt this outpouring of nerdiness from somewhere inside of me.
examples of things i've found super enjoyable that no one appreciates as much as me:

 

 







we also went to a nerd dance and it was the only one i've been to so far where i've completely enjoyed it

School continues to run my life.  I fell asleep prepping for my chem midterm, I think I only got about a paragraph in, and Ashley was kind enough to capture this stunning shot of me. 

I met up with Alex and Rachel today in the 'secret spot' of the library where we did absolutely no studying but we took pictures pretending we were.

After Rachel and Alex had to go to class I decided to stay and actually get some homework done, only to be joined by a very loving couple.  They proceded to have what I can only guess was a get-back-together-make-out session. I left pretty fast after that.  I'm used to a little PDA at BYU campus but I hardly think the library is the right place for something at this level.

Anyway, finals week is just about here.  The library has extended their hours til 2 AM and I plan on taking advantage of this. 



:)

I noticed that I've been subconsciously taking a mental break from school.  Hey, it's tiring to be constantly studying things that you probably wont even completely understand anyway.  Like how in Calculus we were tested on finding the linear approximation of some weird number, basically you start out with a problem that you could simply put in your calculator and come out with a strange decimal but instead we do a page worth of bullcrap math and come up with a DIFFERENT way to put it into our calculator....and get the same answer.
College just doesn't make sense sometimes.  Well, nerd moment over you're probably wondering what I've been doing besides the minimal amount of homework?

Well Friday I went to the Parachute concert in Salt Lake City with some of my favorite people ever.  I'm not a frequent concert-er so let's just say I acted like a little kid I was so excited.  Kate Voegele opened for them, my love for her stems from her role on One Tree Hill so it was kind of weird to see her in real life but she is amazing.  I had only listened to Parachute but never fully loved them, let's just say that all changed when they came on stage and I saw the beauty that is Will Anderson.  I am now following them on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Can you say creepy teenage girl stalker?
After the show we decided to forgo spending 30 bucks to meet and greet and left only to see my man standing outside looking just as good. He was nice enough to take a picture with us and even gave me a hug. 
Ps. I took home the pick.  I can't lie i randomly found it on the ground when the lights turned on but still it's a great momento.

Natalie, Brad, The Will Anderson, me, Brad's roommate, and Kaitlin.  One of my friends from home mistook this for me on a group date, i wish.

Saturday I enjoyed a lazy day of never changing out of sweats, hence no pictures. But I saw footloose with Rachel and Alex.  So good, Julianne Hough is pretty skanky in this role but apparently that means she's a good actress? or so that's what I'm told, still confusing to me.

My favorite part of Sunday, besides being spiritually edified, is my walks with Rachel.  We usually go to the park about 2 blocks away and swing and talk about whatever decisions we're trying to make with our lives.

It's great :)

So here at BYU we have devotionals every Tuesday at 11. It is impossible to sign up for class at that time and most of the school shuts down so you can attend. Guess who came this week. The prophet!! Yup, Thomas S. Monson came to talk to our school. This causes havoc. Some people sleep outside the day before in order to get seats up close. We weren't that crazy but we did go at 9 and waited in the rain for a half hour, of course there's terrible weather when there's large crowds, and get seats on the ninth row. Ditched my chem class, if I fail it'll be worth it right? He gave a great talk about being an example, if you missed it they're gonna rebroadcast it this sunday on Byutv. 

I sat by some of my favorite people.

My roomies plus Skyler and Logan. We're just so excited.

Good news, I passed cleaning checks today! First time, my mom would be proud.

Not so good, it snowed yesterday.  Definitely not ready for that yet.
Eh news, I'm pretty decided on changing my major but not sure what to sign up for next semester.
I have way too many decisions to make on what to do with my summer.  21 is a big year, when did RM's become the same age as me?
Great news, Amelia Child is coming to visit me in 7 days! Trouble for Provo.

Now to write more papers and solve more pointless problems.

I Have Been Blessed

So remember when I briefly mentioned how stressful and crazy life has been lately? Well that was kind of an understatement, if you're anyone I see regularly you know my continual complaints about my frustrations with school.  I'm not saying this to get attention or have a pity party but as a preface to the extremely humbling and faith building experience that has slowly been happening inside me and I don't know how to express that without explaining things completely.
I've always been good at school and without much effort. I wrote off all the people who told me that BYU was hard but it turns out they were right because I constantly feel like I've picked a fight with someone many times bigger than me; however, I know I'm not the only one but I tend to feel like it.
Surprisingly I've also started to develop the homesickness I had expected but I thought I was immune to the first couple weeks of school.
Even though I am terrified of failing and how bad I think I'm doing right now in comparison to the rest of my life leading up to now I am so incredibly thankful to be here.  During the times in my life where I feel like I have absolutely no control of how things are going, no matter how hard I try, it's those times when I feel beaten and near defeat that I can notice the quiet miracles taking place that I might not notice if my pride was glaring any brighter.

First of all, I couldn't ask for a better family. Every time I call home I am showered with love and support and when I don't call home very often I get texts and messages about how they miss me and those words comfort me more than they probably know.  It's weird how absence really does make the heart grow fonder.  Obviously I always loved my family immensely but being away makes me miss the moments I didn't spend with them.  The dating bubble I live in now has also made me love and appreciate my dad and I know that his example of continually service and devotion to his family and all that he believes in is something I wont settle for any less than if I ever get around to dating boys.

Second, I have amazing friends.  Luck smiled down on me when I got paired up with some of the best roommates ever.  You read about them before but I'll add again how nice they are.  I think we've bonded even more. In addition to my roommates, I have met a lot of other incredible people in my ward and on campus that make pleased with mankind.

Finally, I went on a media fast for my communicatons class.  It was only three days and luckily Alex Halladay was doing it with me we could be media-less together.
Things I miss about the about the media fast:
-cuddle time with Alex
-lots of naps
-less distractions while studying for my sucky midterms
-realizing how strong my dependence is on technology and how much better life is when we slow down and focus on what matters most.

Things I missed while I was on my media fast:
-encouraging conversations with my family
-being able to talk to people without the help of my friends with techonology
-being distracted

Life is hard but it's also amazing and filled with wonderful blessings that luckily there is someone who loves me enough to cut me down so that I can grow into something even better.

ps. sorry there are not pictures in this, the downside of a media fast, but i hope you enjoyed all the gospel links.  Check em out, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

so...i'm a cougar

Turns out i may not be cut out for blogging on the regular.  Since i've been at school life has been pretty crazy but in the best way possible.  Leaving Camarillo wasn't as difficult as i expect, probably because i had lots of months to prepare for it. I got homesick for the first time a couple days ago because i was sick and wanted my mommy. I had a hard time saying goodbye to these little ones though.

we were kinda sad my last day babysitting

i'm just going to pretend like this is what they'll be doing until i come back.  I facetimed with Mallory the other day and when i asked her what she wanted to do when i came back she said "just give you the biggest hug ever!" melts your heart right? i almost bought a plane ticket home.

My last few days were still filled with adventure.

Santa Clarita double date with Skyler, Mikey and Chelsea

I found a baby iguana just chillin outside.  I wanted to bring Beck, that's what i named him, with me so bad but i can't have pets and that's probably a good thing since all of mine usually die, so Kylie and Jeff are taking care of him for me.

These are the hott babes of Madison 5.  Kimmy, Alex, Rachel, Samantha, Ashley and yours truly. Taken on our first Sunday in Provo YSA 35th ward.

(notice the Transcending Eden shirt i'm sporting. It's Mikey's brand he's starting out that i may have a small part in.  Check it out and let your local sales rep, me, know if you're interested)

I got so lucky with all my roommates.  They're seriously the nicest, coolest, perfect for me girls.

Kimberly Jensen

 is super smart but amazingly generous in helping me since she's also a Chemistry major and in a lot of my classes.  She's tall and beautiful and very dedicated to everything she does; church, school, friends, family, you name it.

Alex Halladay

 

So i stalked most of my roommates blogs before i came to school.  Alex's was particularly interesting  and gave me lots of insight on the type of people i would be living with for the next two semesters.

Alex is super smart(i'm probably gonna say that a lot since i'm realizing everyone at BYU is pretty much a genius), stylish and a really great friend.  From the beginning she offered to share her clothes with me.  I wasn't sure if she thought i was totally homely and needed help but i soon realized she's just a sweetheart and caring in almost everything she does.

Rachel Callister

                         

Sometimes we call her Kim because of her striking resemblace to the Kardashian.  She's new to the blogging world but you check her out here.  This lovely lady is roomies with Alex, they roomed together last year in the dorms too so they're totally BFFs.  She's also from California so we like to talk about how cool we are, even though she's from the other end of the state.  She's got the casual thing going that i'm all about but she's also super sporty which i totally admire.  She's also smart and nice, this is gonna have to go without saying because everyone in our apartment has these qualities.

Samantha Boyce

Sam rooms with Kimmy.  I don't have pictures with either of them unfortunately.  Just group ones.  I'm gonna have to work on that.  Sam is our youngest one.  She's real witty and keeps surprising me with the things she says once she gets more comfortable around us.  We're both in the same boat as far as adjusting to a new school.

Ashley Faldmo

I also stalked this South Dakota babe before coming to BYU.  I get the pleasure of rooming with this crafty and spunky cougar.  Of course she rarely sleeps and when she does she sometimes chooses the couch instead.  I don't know how she does it but somehow she still amazes me with all she does.  We've had some good talks and i definitely feel like we're getting closer, i couldn't ask for a better roommate.  She made sure i felt included even before we officially met.

We're all hott babes.

I got to re-meet baby Collin my first day up here.  I also have a new nephew, Joshua James.  Natalee and JJ sure made a cute one with him, I'll put picures up sometime...hopefully.

I've also been lucky to have lots of familiar faces pass through and say hi to me.

 

First was the inspiring Mikey Murphy.  I also got to meet Ryan Pearson finally.  The two of them together equal the best guys i have ever had the pleasure of knowing in my life. I always go away from an encounter with either of them wanting to be so much better than i am. If you want to know high caliber dudes let me know and i'll see if they can show you what's up.

 

My BFF shelbee came next on her way up to Idaho.  I wish she was here in Provo with me but I know she's living it up.  Miss this girl.

Justin, i mean Jesse Miles stopped by while he was in town for conference.  Such a good guy, you can always count on him for a good story or two.  He also woke my roommates up at 1 in the morning in a gorilla suit. Enough said.

 

Mikey stopped by again while he was in town for a mission reunion.  He served his mission in Texas so naturally his favorite ice cream is Blue Bell which they just started carrying in Provo.  Those missionaries must've tired him out because for some reason he thought our kitchen floor was a comfortable napping location.

I had the pleasure of going to a Real Salt Lake soccer game.  They may have lost 3-0 but great company and free food really leave no room for complaints. 

These have all been really great distractions but it turns out school is kinda a lot harder than it's ever been in my entire life.  I really got to start to focus more.

Oh also it snowed.  First week in October and it's still 75 degrees back home.  Keep in mind i've only been in the snow like one other time in my life.  I don't really know how i'm gonna survive.

I'm missing a lot of different things that i've documented but this is already a super long blog.  I'll try to be more on top of it.

But to sum things up, life is great.  Super confusing and stressful at times but full of opportunites for growth and lots of other happy moments that make everything worth it.  I can't believe the semester it almost halfway over already.