So I wrote this post a long time ago, and never actually posted it... but here it is, preserved for posterity anyway!!!
---2 weeks ago---
FINALS ARE NEXT WEEK. I can't believe how fast this term flew by! It seems like just yesterday was my first day.... but at the same time I'm really excited to get a new load of classes. I'm definitely ready for a change! It's been hard for the past few days to have motivation to go to class, so it's a good thing it's all about to change and I'm going to have to be running to keep up with stuff again!
This past little bit has been just grand! I'll start with the things that are most fresh in my memory.
Yesterday I turned in my big humdinger of a paper! We had to write an 8 page research paper for Book of Mormon. We could pick any topic we wanted that was somehow applicable to the gospel, and then examine it in a religious sense, a secular/academic sense (like what other religions believe about our chosen topic), and then we had a personal section where we talked about how it applied to us individually. I chose grace for my topic, and I feel like I learned a lot.
Last night was also ward temple night! It was great! I hadn't been to the temple in a little while, so I was really glad that we got to go. I went with my roommate Lily and a girl we live with, Kaitlin. It was wonderful. I'm so glad we have temples today. :)
Also recently, I went to play night games with some people on campus. I went with my mission friend Kaitlyn and Lily again. And Spencer went too haha. We went and met up with a big group of people who were all super fun, and played games like Ghost in the Graveyard and Navy Tag. It was a BLAST. It was seriously so much fun! And I learned that I am a REALLY slow runner. I think I was the slowest of all of us...kkkkk but that's ok.
In my apartment, we've been watching one Harry Potter movie per weekend, which is great. And everyone thinks that I am just like Luna Lovegood. Which I don't necessarily disagree with, but I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that...-__-
The other day I was reading about the Prodigal Son in Luke. I think it just might be my favorite parable in the whole Bible! I love it so much. If you give it a chance, you should definitely give it another read, I highly recommend it. :) (It's Luke 15:11-32).
I really like my ward. There's a bunch of really fun people in it, and 3 of them are even from Georgia! It is so fun. I'm in the ward choir too, and so it's fun to get to know people that way too. :)
ANYWAY. I should probably finish up this post so I can talk about Summer term stuff. But finals went great, I'm glad that they're over, and I'm glad I have new classes! More to come on that later!!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Whirlwind
Hey yall! I have been pretty busy this past week and a half doing a ton of stuff! I think Michelle described it so appropriately when she said that Spring Term is sometimes like trying to drink out of a fire hose. Hahaha it is definitely true! But I am loving it!
So just to catch yall up, last Saturday I went on a hike at Bridal Veil Falls. My roommate Markie described it as being, "the easiest hike ever. As in, a bride could hike it in her wedding dress and not have any problem whatsoever." So that's what I was expecting. Just that it didn't turn out like that at all.
It was supposed to be a ward activity. Just that me, Lily, and 4 other boys were the only people who went, and 2 of the guys weren't even in our ward! Kind of funny. But we had fun anyways. The guy who put the activity together, Jared, turned out to be super hardcore and somehow convinced us all that we wanted to go up the actual WATERFALL instead of the nicely paved trail. It was INTENSE. And I didn't take a single picture, blast it, but it was super steep and slippery and we kept sliding down because parts of the "trail" were just little tiny pebbles on top of the dirt, and so on some parts we would literally have to run sideways so we could grab hold of a branch or something on the other side without falling all the way down to the bottom. We went all the way up to the second waterfall. (I was SO SORE for the next few days. Oddly enough it was my hip flexors that were really hurting. And I got pretty sunburned too. But it was totally worth it.) The view was GORGEOUS. Everyone looked so teeny tiny down at the bottom where we started. Every time I get up super high like that it always amazes me that even though we are so small and seemingly insignificant, Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us. It's so mind boggling and cool and comforting!
In other news, I FINALLY got tested for Tuberculosis. I tested negative. And I got a cool band aid.
And that same day, I went and opened up a bank account. The lady that helped me was a little weird, but she was nice. And she straight up lied through her teeth that she knew Shauna. HAHAHA :)
Concert (Joshua James). I went to my very first concert last night with Lily and a mission friend Katelyn. It was a rooftop concert, although they don't do them on the rooftop anymore because they outgrew it. Now it's just in the middle of the street in front of the Convention Center in Provo. It was fun! There were so many hipsters! So many beards! So many people with blue hair! SO MANY MAN BUNS. And there was Acai in a little food truck called Happy Bowls Bus. (It still was nothing compared to the real thing....) It was cool. There were a couple little local bands that played, and then the main act appeared at around 9:30. His name is Joshua James, and he was surprisingly good! Apparently this same place is where Neon Trees and Imagine Dragons started out. That's pretty cool if you ask me.
It was cool just to chill with my girls for a little bit. :)
We had a ward activity last Monday that was so fun! We all filled up long socks with flour, and then we had to hit everyone else with them. If you got hit, you had to sit down and you were out until the next round. Later we added an amendment that you could still hit people once you got out, but you had to hit them while you were sitting down. It was so fun watching the guys in my group go at it. Most of them are pretty athletic, and it was so fun to watch them come busting out of the trees with these huge grins on their faces, swinging their socks around everywhere and getting a ton of people out. #fhegrouppride
So for my Psych class we have to participate in a certain number of research projects. I went to one last Friday that I had to stare at a really bright screen with a little x on it. They had a fancy eye camera that they aimed at my eye so they could monitor my pupil dilation while they played different sounds. They played sounds from 60 to 80 decibels loud. Every time they played the 80 decibel ones i jumped out of my skin because it startled me so bad. Then the guy told me at the end that usually autistic people have much more pupil dilation on the louder sounds than "normal" people, because they perceive it as being louder than it actually is. So pretty much, he diagnosed me with autism. Nice. Speaking of which, we went over Psychological Disorders in my psych class, and I'm pretty positive I have ADHD. Really nice.
So I went to give plasma yesterday for the first time. I was there for over and hour and a half and ended up not even getting to donate (long story. I'll go next week.) but who should I meet at the plasma center but Doug's little brother, James! It was nuts! I heard the front desk call for a James and then I saw him get up and head over there. I knew I recognized him from somewhere, and then it hit me. So I went and talked to him for a little bit. He said he knew I was Shauna's sister because we all look exactly the same. Haha that's ok though, because I feel the same way about the Mitchell family. Anyway, that was pretty cool. Finally got to meet the kid, in the flesh!
Also, as I was walking to the plasma place, I was a SUPER old man outside walking very slowly to his car. I asked him if he wanted help and he said, "No, I'm ok. But I'll sit down and talk to ya for a minute!" So he sat down in his car and we chatted for about half an hour. He is HILARIOUS. His name is Don and we're friends now. He's a real sweet guy, has 5 kids and almost 50 grandkids! WOW. It was nice to take some time out of my day to help make someone else's day better. It makes me happy. :) Hopefully I'll run into that guy again soon.
Donut Day was yesterday!!! I had no idea that Donut Day even existed until I kept hearing the phrase floating around yesterday, so I googled it. Apparently it's to honor the people who first served donuts to the soldiers in WWI, and is celebrated the first Friday in June every year.
Oh, also the other day I saw 2 teeny tiny baby squirrels on campus! They were so stinkin adorable! I got about a foot away from one of them and we just stood there and stared at each other for a few seconds and then he went and dove into the bushes. But it was so precious. And then, I discovered a mommy duck with 6 teeny fluff ball ducklings in the stream! "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!"
Anyways. My phone's being silly so there's almost no pictures this post, unfortunately. But when it gets it's act together you can expect photo documentation. There's a stake activity tonight in Provo Canyon so I'll be sure to blog about that and keep you all up to date. :)
So just to catch yall up, last Saturday I went on a hike at Bridal Veil Falls. My roommate Markie described it as being, "the easiest hike ever. As in, a bride could hike it in her wedding dress and not have any problem whatsoever." So that's what I was expecting. Just that it didn't turn out like that at all.
It was supposed to be a ward activity. Just that me, Lily, and 4 other boys were the only people who went, and 2 of the guys weren't even in our ward! Kind of funny. But we had fun anyways. The guy who put the activity together, Jared, turned out to be super hardcore and somehow convinced us all that we wanted to go up the actual WATERFALL instead of the nicely paved trail. It was INTENSE. And I didn't take a single picture, blast it, but it was super steep and slippery and we kept sliding down because parts of the "trail" were just little tiny pebbles on top of the dirt, and so on some parts we would literally have to run sideways so we could grab hold of a branch or something on the other side without falling all the way down to the bottom. We went all the way up to the second waterfall. (I was SO SORE for the next few days. Oddly enough it was my hip flexors that were really hurting. And I got pretty sunburned too. But it was totally worth it.) The view was GORGEOUS. Everyone looked so teeny tiny down at the bottom where we started. Every time I get up super high like that it always amazes me that even though we are so small and seemingly insignificant, Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us. It's so mind boggling and cool and comforting!
In other news, I FINALLY got tested for Tuberculosis. I tested negative. And I got a cool band aid.
And that same day, I went and opened up a bank account. The lady that helped me was a little weird, but she was nice. And she straight up lied through her teeth that she knew Shauna. HAHAHA :)
Concert (Joshua James). I went to my very first concert last night with Lily and a mission friend Katelyn. It was a rooftop concert, although they don't do them on the rooftop anymore because they outgrew it. Now it's just in the middle of the street in front of the Convention Center in Provo. It was fun! There were so many hipsters! So many beards! So many people with blue hair! SO MANY MAN BUNS. And there was Acai in a little food truck called Happy Bowls Bus. (It still was nothing compared to the real thing....) It was cool. There were a couple little local bands that played, and then the main act appeared at around 9:30. His name is Joshua James, and he was surprisingly good! Apparently this same place is where Neon Trees and Imagine Dragons started out. That's pretty cool if you ask me.
We had a ward activity last Monday that was so fun! We all filled up long socks with flour, and then we had to hit everyone else with them. If you got hit, you had to sit down and you were out until the next round. Later we added an amendment that you could still hit people once you got out, but you had to hit them while you were sitting down. It was so fun watching the guys in my group go at it. Most of them are pretty athletic, and it was so fun to watch them come busting out of the trees with these huge grins on their faces, swinging their socks around everywhere and getting a ton of people out. #fhegrouppride
So for my Psych class we have to participate in a certain number of research projects. I went to one last Friday that I had to stare at a really bright screen with a little x on it. They had a fancy eye camera that they aimed at my eye so they could monitor my pupil dilation while they played different sounds. They played sounds from 60 to 80 decibels loud. Every time they played the 80 decibel ones i jumped out of my skin because it startled me so bad. Then the guy told me at the end that usually autistic people have much more pupil dilation on the louder sounds than "normal" people, because they perceive it as being louder than it actually is. So pretty much, he diagnosed me with autism. Nice. Speaking of which, we went over Psychological Disorders in my psych class, and I'm pretty positive I have ADHD. Really nice.
So I went to give plasma yesterday for the first time. I was there for over and hour and a half and ended up not even getting to donate (long story. I'll go next week.) but who should I meet at the plasma center but Doug's little brother, James! It was nuts! I heard the front desk call for a James and then I saw him get up and head over there. I knew I recognized him from somewhere, and then it hit me. So I went and talked to him for a little bit. He said he knew I was Shauna's sister because we all look exactly the same. Haha that's ok though, because I feel the same way about the Mitchell family. Anyway, that was pretty cool. Finally got to meet the kid, in the flesh!
Also, as I was walking to the plasma place, I was a SUPER old man outside walking very slowly to his car. I asked him if he wanted help and he said, "No, I'm ok. But I'll sit down and talk to ya for a minute!" So he sat down in his car and we chatted for about half an hour. He is HILARIOUS. His name is Don and we're friends now. He's a real sweet guy, has 5 kids and almost 50 grandkids! WOW. It was nice to take some time out of my day to help make someone else's day better. It makes me happy. :) Hopefully I'll run into that guy again soon.
Donut Day was yesterday!!! I had no idea that Donut Day even existed until I kept hearing the phrase floating around yesterday, so I googled it. Apparently it's to honor the people who first served donuts to the soldiers in WWI, and is celebrated the first Friday in June every year.
Oh, also the other day I saw 2 teeny tiny baby squirrels on campus! They were so stinkin adorable! I got about a foot away from one of them and we just stood there and stared at each other for a few seconds and then he went and dove into the bushes. But it was so precious. And then, I discovered a mommy duck with 6 teeny fluff ball ducklings in the stream! "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!"
Anyways. My phone's being silly so there's almost no pictures this post, unfortunately. But when it gets it's act together you can expect photo documentation. There's a stake activity tonight in Provo Canyon so I'll be sure to blog about that and keep you all up to date. :)
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Filling in my peeps
Hello again!
There's been quite a few things that have happened since I started back again at BYU!
1. I've had 3 big tests, (2 for Psychology, one for Portuguese) and I've done well on all of them so far! Post mission blessings are a real thing!!! :)
2. I got a calling! I'm an FHE mama! We haven't actually had an FHE that I've planned yet though, because last week we had a ward activity at Kiwanis Park (sooooo much fun!) and this week I was in Roy with Shell and the fam so we just combined with another group. But this Monday is going to be legit.
3. I spoke in church! My topic was the talk by Elder Dale Renlund, "Latter-Day Saints keep on Trying", which is an AWESOME talk, by the way. I feel like my talk went pretty well. I definitely learned a lot while preparing it.
4. Shell and Nate's house/Spiral Jetty/The Golden Spike for Memorial Day! It was so much fun that I couldn't make myself leave until I had been there for 2 days and nights, even though I'd only planned to be there for one day and one night. There's something about a little 3 year old saying "Aunt Bwi, I don't want you to leave." that just melts your heart. And going to Shell and Nate's house is always so much fun! I love it!
Also while I was there, I taught Asa to give me Xeros! A Xero is something they do in Brasil. When they hug you, they breathe in really deeply and it makes you feel great. :) I always do it to Asa when I pick him up, and he picked up on it (haha) and does it to me now. :)
And I was able to help Addison and Bryn learn how to do front flips on the trampoline! They are such champs!!!
5. I ran a 1.3 miles once, in a little over 11 minutes. That was pretty cool. #iamsooutofshape
6. I've realized that I actually really enjoy studying. I love reading my psychology book! Call me a nerd, but it is just so interesting! For example, one of the first days of class I learned that female's sweaty armpits smell worst than male's sweaty pits, because when females sweat, they secrete some kind of weird fatty stuff along with the sweat. Gross but true. And insanely interesting. Haha! It's been interesting to see also the changes in my work ethic since I came back out. I'm proud to say there's a big difference. :)
7. I've lost like 4 and a half pounds! WOOHOOOOOO!!!
8. I went to a little mini mission people reunion. :) We went to Sister Woodland's house (Laura) and hung out for a while and told funny mission stories, went and got Acai, (such a rip off! It was NOTHING like the real thing.), and then we were sitting around at her house talking and all of a sudden 4 boys showed up that nobody knew!!! They knocked on the door and said, "Uh, are you guys Kaileen's friends?" (Kaileen was one of the sisters in our mission). So we just awkwardly invited them in. Then Kaileen showed up a few minutes later. Haha it was actually pretty fun. We played Smurf until like 2 am! When I found out what time it was, my first thought was, "Oh, mom is going to be so proud of me!!!" kkkk
9. I saw my trainer in Mansfield, Sister Katy Williams! She came up one day last week and surprised me! IT WAS SOOO GOOD TO SEE HER!!! We went out to eat supper at Costa Vida and chatted it up. I've missed her so! And she's still the same old Sister Williams. :)
There's been quite a few things that have happened since I started back again at BYU!
1. I've had 3 big tests, (2 for Psychology, one for Portuguese) and I've done well on all of them so far! Post mission blessings are a real thing!!! :)
2. I got a calling! I'm an FHE mama! We haven't actually had an FHE that I've planned yet though, because last week we had a ward activity at Kiwanis Park (sooooo much fun!) and this week I was in Roy with Shell and the fam so we just combined with another group. But this Monday is going to be legit.
3. I spoke in church! My topic was the talk by Elder Dale Renlund, "Latter-Day Saints keep on Trying", which is an AWESOME talk, by the way. I feel like my talk went pretty well. I definitely learned a lot while preparing it.
4. Shell and Nate's house/Spiral Jetty/The Golden Spike for Memorial Day! It was so much fun that I couldn't make myself leave until I had been there for 2 days and nights, even though I'd only planned to be there for one day and one night. There's something about a little 3 year old saying "Aunt Bwi, I don't want you to leave." that just melts your heart. And going to Shell and Nate's house is always so much fun! I love it!
Also while I was there, I taught Asa to give me Xeros! A Xero is something they do in Brasil. When they hug you, they breathe in really deeply and it makes you feel great. :) I always do it to Asa when I pick him up, and he picked up on it (haha) and does it to me now. :)
And I was able to help Addison and Bryn learn how to do front flips on the trampoline! They are such champs!!!
5. I ran a 1.3 miles once, in a little over 11 minutes. That was pretty cool. #iamsooutofshape
6. I've realized that I actually really enjoy studying. I love reading my psychology book! Call me a nerd, but it is just so interesting! For example, one of the first days of class I learned that female's sweaty armpits smell worst than male's sweaty pits, because when females sweat, they secrete some kind of weird fatty stuff along with the sweat. Gross but true. And insanely interesting. Haha! It's been interesting to see also the changes in my work ethic since I came back out. I'm proud to say there's a big difference. :)
7. I've lost like 4 and a half pounds! WOOHOOOOOO!!!
8. I went to a little mini mission people reunion. :) We went to Sister Woodland's house (Laura) and hung out for a while and told funny mission stories, went and got Acai, (such a rip off! It was NOTHING like the real thing.), and then we were sitting around at her house talking and all of a sudden 4 boys showed up that nobody knew!!! They knocked on the door and said, "Uh, are you guys Kaileen's friends?" (Kaileen was one of the sisters in our mission). So we just awkwardly invited them in. Then Kaileen showed up a few minutes later. Haha it was actually pretty fun. We played Smurf until like 2 am! When I found out what time it was, my first thought was, "Oh, mom is going to be so proud of me!!!" kkkk
9. I saw my trainer in Mansfield, Sister Katy Williams! She came up one day last week and surprised me! IT WAS SOOO GOOD TO SEE HER!!! We went out to eat supper at Costa Vida and chatted it up. I've missed her so! And she's still the same old Sister Williams. :)
10. Payson Temple Open House! That temple is BEAUTIFUL, and so huge! I've never seen such a pretty baptistry in all my days. And there's 3 or 4 different floors that you can go on. And I loved the recurring apple blossoms everywhere- on the door knobs, painted onto the ceiling, on the BEAUTIUL, giant windows... it was lovely. I went with my roommate Lily and with Spencer. It was PACKED.
Anyway. It's been fun so far. I can't believe the spring term is almost over! Just a few more weeks. :) I'm going to miss my psych class, but I'm excited for Zumba to start up and to be able to say that I've got a good solid term under my belt.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Don't Blink
Wow, so much has changed since I last blogged! Deciding to go on a mission, going home to Georgia and working 4 jobs at the same time (Spine Care and Pain Management, Check it Books, Ingles, and babysitting), receiving my mission call to go to the Brasil, João Pessoa mission (BEST THING OF MY LIFE!!!) and having so many great experiences there. Then I came home on the 28th of January, worked at Cracker Barrel for a few weeks and then went back to Ingles (waitressing wasn't really my thing... haha) and now I'm out at BYU again, living with a mission friend and loving life!
It's crazy to think about how I have changed so much in just a short amount of time. I remember last time I was out at BYU, it was so hard. I struggled socially and academically and was super homesick all of the time. Then my mission kicked my fanny into gear and totally changed my outlook on life and it's challenges, and I'm loving it now!
So I came out to Utah the Saturday before classes started to hang out with Shell, Nate, Megan, Sam and the kids and it was so much fun! I didn't really get a bunch of pictures of all of us, but I took quite a few of the cute little ones. :) It was so much fun to hang out with them and get to see them all and FINALLY meet Natalie and Asa!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYyfwHixErM
It's crazy to think about how I have changed so much in just a short amount of time. I remember last time I was out at BYU, it was so hard. I struggled socially and academically and was super homesick all of the time. Then my mission kicked my fanny into gear and totally changed my outlook on life and it's challenges, and I'm loving it now!
So I came out to Utah the Saturday before classes started to hang out with Shell, Nate, Megan, Sam and the kids and it was so much fun! I didn't really get a bunch of pictures of all of us, but I took quite a few of the cute little ones. :) It was so much fun to hang out with them and get to see them all and FINALLY meet Natalie and Asa!
On our way to the Atlanta airport, bright and early! (Or should I say, dark and early?)
Goofing off with Leah on our way to Roy! She's a hoot!
Bonding time with Natalie playing the cupcake game.
The one, the only, Addison!
The fabulous Bryn!
On our way to church!
Addison's quite the photographer. :)
Birthday Festivities
My hair straightened a little bit when I left the humidity! A Christmas miracle!
I'm sad that I didn't get ANY pictures with the big kids, but there's always next time. :) It was seriously so much fun. We went on a hike on Saturday, and Sunday we all went to church together. Me and Meg stayed with Shell in the nursery (she's nursery leader), and it was a blast. Who know nursery could be so much fun?!
Monday morning Nate worked from home so Shell could go with Addison on a field trip. I got to hang out with Leah that morning, and it was a blast. This little gem happened:
And Shell and Nate were kind enough to let me crash their house and eat their food and party with the birthday boy (Asa) and take me grocery shopping and then Nate even drove me down to Provo early Tuesday morning. I left with a home made lunch Shell made for me with a cute note inside, that I still have. :) (She even made a lunch for Spencer. What a gal.)
It's weird being out here without Beck and Ben, but I'm grateful that there's still family close! We have the best family ever!
Stay tuned for the next edition: Entering the University- Take 2
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Finish it already!
I've decided something: catching up on the blog takes EVERY SINGLE OUNCE of fun out of blogging. I like to blog on things that are happening right now, rather than things that have happened weeks/months ago. So, I've decided I'm just gonna put it all in a mini size nutshell and get on with it. :)
Pretty much, I got home, got my job back at Ingles, and I got a job at Spine Care and Pain Management in Athens. I get there at 8 AM Monday through Thursday, sit in a desk in a really dusty conference room, and scan paper patient charts all day long, until I leave at 6:30 PM. It's extremely boring and it's making me fat because I sit at a desk all day long. NICE. But, I do get a lot of hours, and I get to work with some members (Dan Bryant and Steve Weidler [Emilee's brother in law]) and we spend a little bit of time talking about missionary stuff each week. It's great fun to hear mission stories from them. It makes me excited to go.
I work at Ingles on Fridays and Saturdays, usually for a combined total of about 11 hours.
Yup. That's what I've been up to. I'm going to run out of charts sometime in the next 2 weeks though, so I'm going to have to find another job. I've got connections with another place in Athens though (Checkit Books), so I'll just mozy on over there. Also, that job would be really fun because Mom is thinking of possibly getting hired there with me to work a couple of days a week. Which would be fantastic. :)
Hooray. I'm finally done. I've been dreading this post for a loooong time. Now I can finally get back to the fun kind of blogging. Which makes me happy.
the end.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Things 2 and 3
First things first: the plane ride home from San Diego.
For some reason, the assistant band director (Art Young) got the band to pay for my ticket home. I have no idea why, but hey, I'm not complaining. So I ended up with a free direct flight to ATL from the LAX airport. Simply divine.
I ended up sitting in the very back row in between a middle aged man and an enormous black woman who smelled like cigarettes. She was really nice, and let me read her magazines she'd gotten from the airport because she was asleep (and snoring) the entire trip back down here. Then when we got off the plane she gave me and the guy next to me a piece of gum, so she could "get back in touch with her southern hospitality." Hooray!
Christmas break was a blast. It was SO nice to have a break from college. So very nice indeed. Seeing the family again, visiting the grandmas, playing basketball outside, the pavillion, jumping on the tramp... it was all just fabulous.
Then came thing 3: I decided to go on a mission!
I had a dentist appointment on the 27th of December. While I was sitting in the chair having my teeth cleaned, I was thinking about nothing in particular when all of a sudden, it hit me- I want to go on a mission. I should go on a mission. There's no reason not to, and there's nothing but good that can come of it. I can just stay home this semester and work to save up the money. Let's do it.
When I got home, I told mom my thoughts. She was really excited for me, and informed me that she had been wanting to talk to me about staying home to save up for a mission all break long, but she was too afraid. Nice.
Anyway, long story short, I started my mission papers! The only thing left if my interview with the Stake President. I've been waiting for them to call me so we can schedule an interview with President Bradley, but they're taking FOREVER. Hopefully I can get that taken care of lickity split so I can get my papers all the way submitted. Ahhh exciting! I'll be sure to keep you all updated on that process.
I don't know how to end this, so I'll just close with one of my personal favorite quotes from Phil Dunfy (from Modern Family):
"When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all like WHAAAT?!!"
bahahahaha :)
For some reason, the assistant band director (Art Young) got the band to pay for my ticket home. I have no idea why, but hey, I'm not complaining. So I ended up with a free direct flight to ATL from the LAX airport. Simply divine.
I ended up sitting in the very back row in between a middle aged man and an enormous black woman who smelled like cigarettes. She was really nice, and let me read her magazines she'd gotten from the airport because she was asleep (and snoring) the entire trip back down here. Then when we got off the plane she gave me and the guy next to me a piece of gum, so she could "get back in touch with her southern hospitality." Hooray!
Christmas break was a blast. It was SO nice to have a break from college. So very nice indeed. Seeing the family again, visiting the grandmas, playing basketball outside, the pavillion, jumping on the tramp... it was all just fabulous.
Then came thing 3: I decided to go on a mission!
I had a dentist appointment on the 27th of December. While I was sitting in the chair having my teeth cleaned, I was thinking about nothing in particular when all of a sudden, it hit me- I want to go on a mission. I should go on a mission. There's no reason not to, and there's nothing but good that can come of it. I can just stay home this semester and work to save up the money. Let's do it.
When I got home, I told mom my thoughts. She was really excited for me, and informed me that she had been wanting to talk to me about staying home to save up for a mission all break long, but she was too afraid. Nice.
Anyway, long story short, I started my mission papers! The only thing left if my interview with the Stake President. I've been waiting for them to call me so we can schedule an interview with President Bradley, but they're taking FOREVER. Hopefully I can get that taken care of lickity split so I can get my papers all the way submitted. Ahhh exciting! I'll be sure to keep you all updated on that process.
I don't know how to end this, so I'll just close with one of my personal favorite quotes from Phil Dunfy (from Modern Family):
"When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all like WHAAAT?!!"
bahahahaha :)
Friday, February 15, 2013
Who has 2 thumbs and is a slacker? Beginning of catching up.
Not me! It just so happens that I've been EXTREMELY busy as of late. Since the last time I blogged was the beginning of December, this is going to take a while. You have been warned.
Thing one: The Bowl Game!!!
The San Diego State v BYU game was probably my favorite one of the entire season. The entire trip down there was awesome. The band all met in the parking lot we usually practice in at 5 AM on December 17. We loaded all our stuff, ate the breakfast they had for us, and left. I can't really remember, but we got to our hotel in San Diego pretty late that night after driving all day. It was on that bus ride that I decided that a desert sunrise is one of the most beautiful things in the entire universe. The sky was light blue on the horizon, then orangey-pink, then blue again. Gorgeous.
While we were in San Diego, we did a lot of stuff. The night we got there we had to march in a parade through some of the main streets in San Diego, and that was a lot of fun. Well, as fun as a parade can be, that is.
Then we went back to our super nice hotel/bungalow things, and slept in fancy beds. I was rooming with three other girls in the trumpet section: Jessica Bollwinkle, Alynne Hendricks, and Julie Hall. It was great! We had many a late night talking about everything; from boys to the gospel to if we were going on missions to boys to music to our families to boys... you get the idea. It was great fun.
I don't really remember the order of anything else, but we had a ton of long practices, played on a giant aircraft carrier where a Pearl Harbor Veteran (who had wanted to be a band director before he was drafted at like age 16 or something and forced to fight in WWII) conducted the fight song for us at the end of a very long, loud, and epic "Battle of the Bands" with San Diego's marching band. Awesome.
At some point we went to the beach. There were sea lions and ginormous waves. And the rocks we were walking around on were VERY slippery... I may or may not have fallen and gotten my pants covered in mud.
Thing one: The Bowl Game!!!
The San Diego State v BYU game was probably my favorite one of the entire season. The entire trip down there was awesome. The band all met in the parking lot we usually practice in at 5 AM on December 17. We loaded all our stuff, ate the breakfast they had for us, and left. I can't really remember, but we got to our hotel in San Diego pretty late that night after driving all day. It was on that bus ride that I decided that a desert sunrise is one of the most beautiful things in the entire universe. The sky was light blue on the horizon, then orangey-pink, then blue again. Gorgeous.
At some point in the bus ride IN San Diego. That boy is Daniel. He's cool and has a lemon tree in his yard.
While we were in San Diego, we did a lot of stuff. The night we got there we had to march in a parade through some of the main streets in San Diego, and that was a lot of fun. Well, as fun as a parade can be, that is.
Then we went back to our super nice hotel/bungalow things, and slept in fancy beds. I was rooming with three other girls in the trumpet section: Jessica Bollwinkle, Alynne Hendricks, and Julie Hall. It was great! We had many a late night talking about everything; from boys to the gospel to if we were going on missions to boys to music to our families to boys... you get the idea. It was great fun.
I don't really remember the order of anything else, but we had a ton of long practices, played on a giant aircraft carrier where a Pearl Harbor Veteran (who had wanted to be a band director before he was drafted at like age 16 or something and forced to fight in WWII) conducted the fight song for us at the end of a very long, loud, and epic "Battle of the Bands" with San Diego's marching band. Awesome.
At some point we went to the beach. There were sea lions and ginormous waves. And the rocks we were walking around on were VERY slippery... I may or may not have fallen and gotten my pants covered in mud.
Almost the whole section!
Our little bungalow things were BEAUTIFUL, but I didn't take a picture. However, there were ducks EVERYWHERE who woke up at around 4:30 every single morning and felt it necessary to scream at the top of their lungs until around 8:00. Every single day. Sometimes they would walk up our door and hit it with their beaks. Me and Jess were eating pizza by the pond one day and 6 ducks walked up and started trying to eat it! Right out of our hands! After a long and loud fight, we FINALLY got them to stop eating it. But they stayed there and stared at us the whole time we ate. What pumps.
We went to Sea World! We saw this AWESOME show with whales and dolphins and really cool acrobats. Then we saw Shamu, (I have no idea how to spell that) which was also incredible. I sat in the soak zone for each show, but I only got soaked at the dolphin one, lucky for me. It was freezing cold. They actually had these giant dryer things there where if you paid a dollar you could just stand in it and be warm. Crazy.
I don't really remember anything else. In fact, I don't even remember if we won the game. I just remember it was REALLY intense and fun and loud.
Trumpet girls! I'm not really that much taller than everyone. We were on a hill.
After these cool kids went to lunch at Subway. In our white pants. We're so awesome. :D
Before the bowl game:
After the game, Clif threw his shoes up into the tunnel in celebration of his last ever game:
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(I think that link'll work...)
Anyway, it was a fun time. I've got to go to work soon, so I'll finish this up later.
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