Breathing is Good for Your Health

This blog seems to be turning into more of a once a month update than once a week or so update. But now that I have remembered to breathe, I will try to resurrect it.

Finals week was about as crazy as everybody said. I only had three finals, but it was enough to keep me busy studying. I had my last flute recital the saturday before finals. I played the first movement of Fantasie by Gabriel Faure. It is a very beautiful piece. Sometimes I feel sad that I am not going to pursue my flute further, but I know that it was the right decision to set it aside for a while. As much as I love playing beautiful music, I don't think I would be entirely happy as a professional musician.

My 4.0 has been ruined already. Thank you Social Dance. Yes. I have always been a horrible dancer, I tell my feet to go one way and they insist on going the other. If we were having a conversation it would go like this:

Me: Left foot please step back.
Right Foot: How come Left always gets to go first? It's not fair!
Left Foot: Right took my turn! I'll get you for that!
Me: Wait, which foot were you? Left. Left, stop stepping on my partner's toes, it makes me feel bad.
Left: You forgot my name again! Surely you should remember your own feet's names. I am insulted!
Me: Sorry. Now Right, go forward then right and stay on your toes.
Right: Ooh, but look over there!
Me: No. No. You're supposed to go right. Left, you follow.
Left: I refuse. I can make my own decisions. I think I will slide right here instead.
Teacher: "Don't look at your feet. They will still be there."
Me: (snort) FAT chance...

It has been a great first semester and I will certainly miss some of my classes. However, it is very nice to be home with my family and to take a break. I have spent most of it reading since I have had almost no time at all to read my own books at college. Some suggestions for you if you get bored this Christmas:

The Rent Collector (Camron Wright): This book is about a young mother living in the dump in Cambodia. She has several run ins with the grumpy, drunk rent collector. In pursuing a way to raise her family out of poverty and ignorance the woman discovers that the rent collector has some stories of her own. I would recommend this book to EVERYONE.

Mistwood (Leah Cypess): This is a clever fantasy about a girl who is supposed to be "the shifter", an ancient force of nature meant to protect the royal family. However she has no memory of her past lives and she knows that the current prince is lying to her about something...

Unwind (Neal Shusterman): This book is a thought provoking science fiction about the sanctity of life. In the futuristic setting, abortion is illegal, but unwanted children can be left on somebody else's doorstep where the new family is required to keep it. And to make up for it, parents can sign away children between 13-18 to be unwound, to be organ donors, like the three main characters. Lev is a tithe, signed away by his parents as an act of piety. Risa is a ward of the state, that they can't afford to keep. And Connor is a rebellious teenager who's parents don't know how to handle him. These three come together to survive and fight back in a world that doesn't value them for themselves. Because there must be something more than flesh. How else does a truck driver's hand know card tricks he never learned, or a boy's brain remember a place he's never been? Okay. So this book sounds creepy, but it is really amazing and well put together. My mom and I both loved it and highly recommend it.

These are just a few of our favorites recently, so enjoy!

I also have loved coming back to my homeward. Freshman singles wards are interesting... It's a good ward, and often the teachers are great, but I really love my home ward. At home there are so many people who are so much wiser and have lots of amazing thoughts to contribute that I don't get to hear in the singles ward. I am friends with a lot of the people in my home ward, and it's nice to sit around people that I've known for a long time, even if I never talk to them. And then there's the little kids. I love little kids. They can be kind of noisy sometimes, but I love how fun and sweet they are. Life is so much less exciting without kids around all the time.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. Always remember how much Christ loves you.

12 hours of sleep...

So. Whoever said that college students do nothing but party... They were lying. I have done a lot of studying, and a lot of sleeping, but not so much partying. So this is why I had to work pretty hard to find pictures for you.

All in all, life is good. I adjusted to living by myself so much better and faster that I could have thought possible. I can't believe I am already 2/3 of the way through my first semester here at BYU. I still miss my family and friends a lot though. I call home almost every day just to talk, and I figure I'll be doing that for a long time yet.

We went bowling for FHE a few weeks ago. I actually hit a few of the pins...

Chelsea made No-Bake Cookies. And we ate it all before they ever became cookies. It was wonderful.

Sweet and Sour Chicken. This was the only meal I had enough forethought to take a picture of before I  scarfed it down. But it looks good, does it not?

 During General Conference I made these to keep my hands busy. Thanks to Brittany, I learned how to make these paper dolls. Let's just forget the fact that she taught me over the course of four years of high school. In classes where we should have been paying attention. =)

Erika

Chelsea

Me

Kendall

Erica

Kimberly

Because it has been a while...

I made this blog so I could document my adventures for family and friends while I am away at college. It turns out that this was a great idea, except for the fact that at college there is never time.

I've adjusted to college life pretty well. I stay on top of my classes, which I love, get plenty of sleep, and do my own cooking. The only thing I seriously struggle with is remembering my keys...I got locked out three times in one week... so there is a new addition to our door:

Here's the general idea for my classes:

Biology 130- This class is required for pre-med students, which makes it really competitive. I have to study really hard to keep up with them, but the teacher is great and the class is really interesting.

Flute Lesson- This, sadly, is my least favorite class. I guess I got spoiled with Sally teaching me, because I don't feel like my lesson means anything to me or the teacher. She goes through the motions, but I don't learn much new, and we don't cover a lot of material.

Honors Writing 150- This class is a ton of fun. Part of it is that I love English, the other part is that the class is just great. The teacher is really fun and the class has good discussions. We do a lot of writing, but it isn't overwhelming. Our teacher makes food for us on peer review days. All the other freshmen are jealous.

Chemistry 101- This class is kind of boring. Dad taught me pretty darn well, because I remember everything within the first couple of minutes and then I have to fight to stay awake. I still enjoy the homework though, because it is like sudoku.

English 195- This class is pretty much about making the English Major applicable. Some of it is useful even though I know I want to be an English teacher. A lot of it isn't but it's only one hour a week, so that's okay.

Book of Mormon- Everyone said religion classes were hard at BYU. Some are, but this teacher is really easy, so much so that it is like Primary. I found a teacher that I think will be great for next semester though. This class can still be really interesting because I sit next to somebody who isn't LDS, and they ask interesting questions.

Social Dance- This is my hardest class. I have to concentrate really hard. I practiced and still I only have 88% right now. Hopefully that will get better though. We learned the fox-trot, and are learning the cha-cha, waltz, swing, and polka right now. I have also made some friends in there which makes it better.

All in all, I am loving college and my many adventures as a lost freshman.

Roomies!

I was really worried earlier this year when I chose my housing. I got it all done, then sat there staring at the computer, and realized that I was going to be living with complete strangers. It was kind of scary, but the Lord must have been guiding me because I really love these 'strangers'. Nobody is the same, but nobody is so different that we don't get along. 

 This is Erica while cooking and talking to someone. She's a real sweetheart. She's also from Utah and she is here on a track scholarship. 

 This is Kimberly, my Room- roommate. She is lots of fun. She came here from Wisconsin, where evidently, they don't have sprinklers. She loves the Green Bay Packers. We can always tell when they are winning because we hear whooping from our room. She wants to major in Actuarial Science. Feel free to look that up. I did.

This is Chelsea, from Washington. She is really nice. She loves to dance and she's very smart. 

This is Erika, from California. She's a lot of fun to be around. She is also here on a track scholarship. She rooms with Erica, so it's kind of confusing sometimes. She's very nice and friendly. She also makes the most heavenly banana muffins you will ever taste.

This is Kendall, also from Washington. She and Chelsea have been best friends since just about forever. She's super nice and funny. She also loves to make cupcakes. Snickerdoodle, chocolate chip pancake, chocolate peanut butter oreo.... you name it she'll make it. And she always shares. She also likes Roman Holiday.

When you live with 5 other cooks, you end up with a lot of food...we have to be pretty creative to fit stuff in here. I am pretty proud of myself for cooking here. I've made Fried Rice, Mexican Casserole, and Cauliflower Curry and they all turned out great. My mom must have taught me pretty well. She was also a very good sport about my calling her about the recipes.

Only at BYU...

I have wanted to go the college forever. I didn't know that there were other options, it was just what you did. I dreamed of going to college like some little girls dreamed of unicorns. I started to feel homesick before I left though. 45 minutes away is hardly far, but I'm the oldest child, so that made it hard. I knew it would change my relationship with my siblings, not being home as often. This is still hard for me, but I am not homesick now that I'm here. Let me tell you...I love it. It really is my dream come true.  I totally lucked out with my roommates. They are all really sweet, fun girls, and we get along really well. I get to cook fried rice for them tonight. I love all my classes, and have been having a great time.

This first week has been kind of crazy.

- They took everyone off the waiting list for Spanish 101 and I was the first person on the list. I went on a total wild goose chase to talk to the professor. I made it to one of the classes, but needed to go to biology so I wouldn't get behind. I was going to take Biology until I got into spanish. So I ended up going to Biology 130. I love it. The teacher is great, he reminds me of my dad. Maybe that's why I like him so much.

-I say "I'm sorry, I'm just a lost freshman" about 20 times a day. People are so nice here, especially when you explain that you are a freshman. It's like having a free license to do stupid stuff. People just expect you to be lost and confused, so you don't feel bad at all.

-The elevators at in my building make me sick. I live on the fourth floor. I am getting a lot of exercise.

-Campus is like a small city. Once again, a lot of exercise.

-We get to talk about religion in science. I absolutely love it.

-There are almost no children running around. I miss it. I like to look in peoples strollers and think about all the fun kids I babysat.

-There are people everywhere. And I don't know any of them. You have to introduce yourself to everyone.

-I'm pretty sure the people I pass think I'm crazy. I see something that triggers a memory and start laughing or smiling, but now I don't have one of my friends walking with me I look kind of insane. But insane can be fun!

-Our ward got split the very first Sunday.

-I am taking Social Dance. I do not know how to dance. I have to exert more concentration in that class than I do in Chemistry or Biology. Goodbye GPA.

-I got to play with termites in the hall during Biology. It was great fun. And educational...of course.

-All the professors tell you that you need to get married and make jokes about sitting next to your eternal partner. It's weird. And sometimes uncomfortable. Only at BYU would this happen. There are even wedding guides in the student center. It makes me laugh.


In other events, I got to go home this weekend! Grammy and Pa came up this weekend so Pa could hike and see the BYU football game. They took me home for a night and I got to see my family. Mike and Steph came with Ethan and Anna. I loved getting to see everybody. Anna makes me laugh so much. I loved playing with her once she warmed up to me. It was nice to eat dinner with my family and sit in a family room that had a family in it.

I feel very blessed. The Lord has made this step in my life so much easier. I am glad to be having such a great experience so far. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall!

Beach Days

Our family went to San Clemente for a week and had a blast playing in the waves. The weather was beautiful and while the ocean was a little too wild for our liking sometimes, we had a wonderful time.

This is George. I modeled him after the hippo in George and Martha...

The Family Graveyard

Happy Girls are the Prettiest

I have less than a month left until I leave for college. This is both frightening and exciting. I'm ready for this next step in my life, but it's a big jump. However, I've been having a great summer, playing outside, seeing my friends, and enjoying a slower pace. 

I had my 18th birthday last week, the last of my friends to become an adult. I can now get sent to jail and check out 24 books at the library. Life is so exciting. For my birthday I had friends over for pizza and games and we watched Megamind. If you have not seen this movie yet, you're missing out. I crack up every time. I also got a gorgeous painting done by one of my best friends. I requested one a couple years ago and she outdid herself. The painting shows a little girl in a white dress running through a fall forest into the light coming through the trees. It is breathtaking. I am definitely going to take it to college with me.

This quote makes me smile, and it is absolutely true, so I threw it in for everyone to appreciate. =)

Robyn and Brittany and I had a little fun with the Scrabble board. Unfortunately, scrabble was not designed to make fun crosswords, so yak looks more like that pile in the top right corner. =) 

Oh how I love these girls!

I Love These Girls

At some point in April I realized that school was going to finally succeed in killing me off unless I had something to look forward to. We planned ourselves a "Girls' Week" so we could say every time we went into an exam or wrote a paper that "after this" we would go and play to our hearts content when we were done. Our week wasn't as grand as we had planned, and was cut short, but it served it's original purpose. We are all still alive and have as much of our sanity as we were ever in possession of (don't ask how much that was).

Just couldn't resist the Cinderella Shoes...

Couldn't turn this picture, but I loved it too much.

Headwear- an essential. Camille, Robyn, Brittany.

Tradition

Two of my favorite ladies

So. I really did not like this dress on me. But it was the only one close to my size that was not hideous...

I feel like we belong at a garden party somewhere...

Graduation!

Twelve years of hard work have paid off. I am now officially graduated from High School and I am a college freshman at BYU. I am so excited. I bought my own laptop this week and my best friend and I went shopping the other day for our own dishes and whatnot. We felt all grown up, almost too grown up. We fixed that problem by getting lost. There are lots of new adventures ahead. I get to go to Relief Society this week and start doing my own laundry. Yes, I realize that it's a bit late to be learning that, but I'm a little paranoid that I will ruin my own clothes... Thank you to all the friends and family who have supported me and helped me get this far. I love you!

Robyn, Holly, Me: Senior Recognition Night

Senior Recognition Night

My Best Friends

With Sally and Paul

Me and my Daddy

Me, Dolores, Robyn

The Last Time

I had my last Band Concert. I'm ready to move on, but I will miss the experience of playing with so many other people. I also had my last recital with Sally. I will miss her. She has been my teacher and friend for over eight years. She is such an amazing lady. What would I have done without her?

Me thanking Sally, Robyn, Mr. Siggard

Last Band Concert