Well, I'm done! I took my last final today, Physical Science. It was actually pretty hard, so I didn't look at my score afterward cause I wanted to end on a happy note! Well, it wasn't really happy, but it was not as depressing as it could be. But now I'm finally done.

And I'm excited to be home in a few days! It can't come fast enough!

Today we had lots of Christmas stuff. We had the Christmas program in church, then i came home, ate, then had hall meeting where we read our service chain aloud, then i took a very long nap, then i went to dinner at Ruth's where we had a wonderful potato soup and broccoli salad and then i went to our ward christmas fireside, which was basically a musical talent show, which was fun. Then we came home, had ward prayer, watched a slide show of our semester, then our home teachers came over and Naomi and I got blessings for finals (and in a way we felt bad, cause the guy that was giving them to us was really nervous--we think it was his first time, so we felt kind of bad for putting him on the spot and making him so nervous, but it was a good experience for all of us). Then I played Settlers of Caton (NO idea how that's spelled) with Caitlin, Nate, and Jeff and I actually liked it a little better this time--although it was a very raucous game.

My favorite part of the night was SO cool though. There's one kid in our ward, Matthias, that always takes lots of pictures of events and friends and parties and everything and always puts them up and basically is the unoffical ward-designated photographer, and he really, really likes it as hobby as well. Well, his camera broke a month or so ago, and so he couldn't take pictures any more, and his mom said he wouldn't get one for Christmas, so he was really, really bummed.

Well, our ward (because we are SO amazing) did a little secret plotting--tonight, we presented Matthias with a paper bag full of $115, mostly in one dollar bills and change. It was an amazing experience, cause Matthias started crying when we told him it was for him to buy himself a new camera. I just think it is so cool of everyone to pull together and do this--cause nobody can afford to do it, but everyone WANTS to do it. We're all really poor college students, but people were digging out precious laundry money, or the few dollar bills that they had so that we could do this for Matthias, and it was great to see the look on his face when we gave him the money. It was a great night!

To Mary Beth:

I feel immeasurably bitter towards you for the fact that you never told me that Archie died. I hope you know how miserable I was tonight.

Sincerely,

Elise

To Every One Else:

Naomi and I watched Horatio Hornblower tonight. During the second episode, she kept burying her head and saying fervently, "I hate this movie!" And I never could understand why. Until we watched the ending. We spent the next fifteen minutes literally sobbing and our friends were very confused when they were trying to talk to us.

But it was an excellent movie.

R.I.P. Mr. Kennedy :(

I'm at Mary Beth's right now and we just ate a very big dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans, kielbasa, and chocolate satin pie and now we're very full and not wanting to do homework. But she has to study, and I have to write a paper, so we need to buckle down...and not fall asleep at the same time, because our little tummies are very content.

So, wanna hear my schedule for next semester? I think I pretty much have it all figured out, at least for now........

Mondays:
11:00-11:50: American Heritage
12:00-2:50: French and Italian Cinema
3:00-3:50: Principle of Biology

Tuesdays:
10:00-10:50: Social Dance
12:00-12:50: Book of Mormon 2
4:30-5:45: Human Development

Wednesdays: (same as Monday)
11:00-11:50: American Heritage
12:00-12:50: French and Italian Cinema
3:00-3:50: Principles of Biology

Thursdays: (same as Tuesdays)
10:00-10:50: Social Dance
12:00-12:50 Book of Mormon 2
4:30-5:45: Human Development

Fridays:
12:00-12:50: American Heritage Lab
3:00-3:50: Principles of Biology

Should be an interesting semester! That's 14.5 credits....and I'm running out of GEs!

Some random Canada pictures, riding up int the hills to try and find the buffalo.


The picture above is probably my favorite mule picture...and the pictures below are ones I took as we were leaving in the car of the ranch and where we were riding....you may have to enlarge them to see it better, cause they're not very good pictures---don't really capture the texture of the land.

I just drank a cup of hot vanilla milk and it made me want to be home! I can't wait! I just realized that all my exams will be over by Tuesday of next week. I only have three exams, which is nice. For my other classes, I pretty much have papers, if anything. So it will be nice to have those over with! Right now I'm in my kitchen studying, wishing I was in bed sleeping. But I need to take my HEPE quiz 2 tonight then the HEPE test 2 tomorrow and then the physical science test later tomorrow. UGH! so many tests......

And my eyes feel dry, but if I take out my contacts, I will want to sleep. And I've shut all the possible doors between myself and the neighboring kitchen--that's the hangout spot tonight, since I told my roommates that our kitchen was off limits to whatever socializing they wanted to do tonight. I think of all my roommates, I find it the easiest to express my opinions. (Naomi secretly high fived me after I just went and told them all to be quiet--she and our neighbor Caitlin are going to bed in Naomi's room, and I'm terribly jealous of them).

Anyway, there's my little post for the day, now I'll look and see what I have as far as pictures....

This is the breakfast that Naomi, Isaiah and I made the next morning in Waterton before riding out after the buffalo. And it's pure Canadian. Canadian bacon, Canadian maple syrup, Canadian flapjacks (out of a mix....haha), Canadian eggs...and of course, Tropica--I mean, Canadian orange juice...freshly squeezed. I wish.

Yesterday was kind of crazy. We had cleaning checks so we were trying to clean and do homework all day. Then last night there was this huge activity at the ice rinks for all of BYU. They had broom hockey, cookie decorating and hot chocolate, ice skating, and a dance. The broom hockey was my favorite! It was fun to get into a competitive mood again, even if it was slightly crazy. So we were there until midnight, then we got shuttled back and I hung out with my friend Jeff for a while and had some good conversation. Then I got up for church this morning, and didn't shower like I had planned because I got up at a normal time, not early enough to catch the hot water. Our building, a building full of 75 girls, is constantly plagued by cold water. It does not make one want to shower very frequently if the only showers available feel like ice water.

So we had church today, Fast and Testimony Meeting. For the first part, they asked all of the people that are leaving at the semester to get up and bear their testimonies, so it was really cool to hear all of the guys that are leaving on their missions and hear their testimonies (It also changed it up from the usual people). Then Break the Fast (our apartment made Shepard's Pie) which went well, and now I'm back here.

And now for some Canada pictures!

Sometimes it's nice to run around and let loose...especially when you're miles and miles away from civilization. We could probably use this frolicking time this upcoming week.

These pictures were the result of us at the Waterton ranch getting tired aroudn 11 or 12 and deciding to go run around outside and climb on rocks to wake us up.
Me playing August Rush--unfortunately, neither of them had seen it.
This next one, you can't see me very well at all, but if you focus really hard, you can see that it's an awesome frolicking shot.

Last night my exam went okay. I went to the library around 3 or 4 (can't really remember) and studied for my test then went to take it around 7, got an okay grade (considering what I how stressed I was about it) then went back to the library to finish lots of homework on a sudden streak of wanting to do homework. Then at 9, Ruth, Jordan, and Amy picked me up and we went to go to Applebee's and got appetizers. Then we went back to Ruth's and watched Lars and the Real Girl.

Today, I was prepared for class and felt happy. After I got back from class tonight, I called MB to hang out, went to the beginning of the Whitney Hall Christmas Party, then went to hang out at MB's and watched tv episodes with really attractive men in them and just have fun with my sister, and then I went home and hung out with a bunch of my friends. (And the hanging out started at about....11? 11:30? On weekends, it's easy to fit both family and friends in. I hang out with family until they want to go to bed, then by the time I get home, things are barely just starting to happen with my friends. It works out nicely.


On a different subject...Did you know that I have skills? Well, I have some you may know about....but you don't even know the half of it! Maybe I didn't even know for a while...but thankfully, Canada opened my eyes to my wonderful talents!

Right now I'm in the library trying to make myself study for my HEPE test....it's really annoying (I don't know if I've said this on here yet or not) but this is my online health class. At the beginning of the year, I was all gung-ho and on top of things and going to get it done in the first few weeks. So I started it before classes even started, and got the first half of the lessons, the first quiz, done. But the first exam wasn't ready until another week or so, so I had to wait for that.

And I promptly forgot about the class.

And remembered about it when I got home from Canada.

And now I'm suffering. Today is the last day to take the first exam without the 5 bucks fine and then Tuesday is the last day for the second exam. ARGH!!!!!!!! I even contemplated withdrawing from the class...but then I decided that despite what I think, I probably can get this test overwith and the second half of the lessons by Tuesday. It's just frustrating, cause I don't know what the test will be like, so I don't know what to study, becuase I don't want to have to read all the lessons all over again. I repeat, ARGH!!!!!!

So that's what I'm doing tonight. And then after the test, I'll come back and study Physical Science and work on some Writing homework, cause we only have a FEW MORE DAYS OF CLASS! AND THEN EXAMS!!!



oh man.........

I'm going to bed early again tonight---I felt so gross all day. I really should be studying a ton for my health class, but I can't concentrate on school right now, so I'm just going to bed, and I'll study tomorrow before I take it! Today I talked to Lindsey and Dad and it made me feel better physically, but made me want to go home even more! I have 17 days until we leave....it needs to come faster! And I'm worried about exams.....

Oh, here are some pictures of my room for those that would like so see it (I know I always wanted to know what people's apartments/rooms looked like). It's really clean here, this is on a cleaning check day, right now it's almost as clean, but not quite!
And a Canada picture...
That was as we were leaving Banff--we just pulled off the highway and took it! And that lake was frozen and people were ice skating!

Also---would it maybe be possible to send my posters of Aragorn, Legolas and Jack Sparrow? I'm in need of some decoration.....and they are much more home-y.....Thank you!!!!

I'm sick. I thought I had fought it off....and I hadn't. So I'm sick. And I feel miserable. And homesick. And stressed. So I won't blog too much, cause I'm going to bed, but here are some pictures of a mountain goat that we passed on the way up in the mountains in Banff...it just sat there on the road and looked at us.

Today was kind of unsuccessful as far as studying went, but it was very fun as far as friends went. I went to my classes, saw friends during passing time, then I came home and did nothing really and slept a little bit and then I talked to Harriet for a while. Then I decided that I was going to go visit Mary Beth in the library and there we hung out and talked about my trip and lots of other stuff and I uploaded my pictures. I've been uploading a bunch of them to facebook, so I'm kind of uploaded out, but for those of you that don't have access to facebook (and I don't have them all up there yet, I'll probably put some more up after this), until I get a big desire to upload more pictures on here, I'm going to do a picture a day from my trip! And this will probably last a while...until I'm bored and need something to do. Unlikely to happen, I'll be very busy these next three weeks. But I have lots and lots of pictures (most of them landscape) so there will probably be a day when I will want to upload more of them.


This is one of the first pictures I took--this is the view from the back porch of Naomi's house, overlooking some of their land.And, since it's the first day, I'll upload another one, I guess.....well, I actually may upload lots more than one a day, but that's my goal. This next picture is taken from inside the car: it's a view of Banff as we drive up to it!


Mary Beth saw all my pictures and immediately decided that southern Alberta is a prime vacation spot. Anyway, more pictures to come! (actually, if you could all look on facebook, that would be ideal, so I don't have to put very many up here.....oh well.....let me know if you do see them...)

Well, we're back safe and sound. And as soon as I steal MB's camera cord, I will upload pictures and show everyone what a beautiful place southern Alberta is!

I don't really have much to say---all we did today was drive....and drive....and drive....and drive...and finally get back to BYU! So, my blog will probably get back to being boring college student life stuff, no cool adventurous "mountain man" stuff....

But I'd like to give special thanks to MOM who comments pretty much daily and I love it when she does! And everyone else who comments...I love it too! And I promise to be a better comment-backer!

I really wish that I had my camera cord and could update pictures when I talk about stuff! This morning I woke up around 9 after a kind of restless sleep and a really fun night and we made a delicious breakfast, then went out in the car to see if we could find any buffalo. No luck. So we took the horses (actually, one horse and two mules) out to see if we could find them. We saw one kind of far away, but didn't see any others--but we had a fun ride, even if our trusty steeds were fat and lazy. And now I've ridden a mule! Soooooo fat....I thought my legs were going to pop off at my hips when I first sat down on him....oh man, that hurt so bad! But it was a good thing that I didn't know how to open any of the fences/gates--Naomi and Isaiah had to keep hopping on and off and it looked/sounded pretty painful. So, it was really cold until like, the last half hour of the ride when the sun came out about noon--

Oh, and although we hardly saw any buffalo, we did see three bull moose with huge antlers!! We couldn't get close enough to get a good picture though because one of our fat, lazy animals made a noise or something, so they ran away before we could get close. (They look funny when they run). It was really fun, cause the ride was over lots of little hills and stuff--it was interesting to see the different ways that the horse and the mules approached it. The horse would just kind of stumble over stuff, or if it hesitated, it would just stand still and have to be kicked over it. But the mules, if we were about to cross a ditch, or a log, the mule would look way down at it for a second, and then proceed carefully---it was cool to see the different advantages of the mules, although they are very stubborn, and fat.

So, we went back to the ranch house, ate some ice cream, watched part of the movie Canadian Bacon (the President of the United States and his counselors decide to make a Cold War with Canada to boost his polls...but some Americans think its a real war...pretty funny) Then we packed up and headed out and on our way out saw a buffalo, so Naomi and I got out to take some pictures....just as we were getting back in the car, a fish and wildlife officer and a sheriff came over the hill and turned their lights on---we were pretty excited, cause Naomi said they probably thought we were hunters, but they owned the land, so we knew we weren't doing anything wrong! So we talked them for a little bit and I heard my first stereotypical Canadian accent! It was pretty fun. Naomi and Isaiah were pretty excited (Isaiah cause he got pulled over and Naomi cause just as we were leaving these hunters came over the ridge and got pulled over!) I guess they have a lot of problems with poaching on their land, cause their land is between the road and a big hunting area behind them (forget what it's called) but you woudl have to trespass on their land to get across it--so Naomi was really excited that they were catching hunters. Oh, and the one relatively close up picture of a buffalo that I have.....is a bull pooping (but it was HUGE!)

So, we're leaving tomorrow about 5 I think (unlikely, in my opinion---we probably won't leave till 6--her family is rather slow....) and then driving back to Provo. In a way I'm looking forward to getting back and settled, but I don't want this break to end! It's been so beautiful and relaxing here and I just love being in the country and having lots and lots of land to roam over and do whatever we want! I guess I will just have to marry a cowboy someday....

So, today, after a long deliberation (Naomi's family isn't the fastest on decision making--it was very difficult for an impatient person like myself to sit through this process, but I made it) Naomi, her brother Isaiah and I came down to their big ranch in Waterton. It is very cold outside, but it is a pretty spot, right at the base of some mountains. When we got here, we bundled like crazy up and then went outside for a little bit. We went to see the horses and they were very soft and fuzzy and warm in their winter coats. Then we went down to this little pond thing and walked around on the ice for a little bit and then we went wandering around a little bit more. It is very cool here and would be an awesome place to have your childhood. We also saw some moose, but couldn't get close enough for a good pictures.

We're anticipating a fun night tonight, at least, judging by the amount of food we bought, we are. I don't really know what we're going to do--probably eat, play games, eat, watch a movie, and eat some more...and then tomorrow we're going to have a fun breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon and then maybe go out with the horses at some point, and then probably search out the buffalo. I'm excited! Tomorrow's our last day though...sad....I've had lots of fun, and I love it here! I can't emphasize any more how beautiful of a country it is (like, the land, not the actual nation...I've heard some of the middle parts are incredibly boring--but that's coming from people that were raised in the mountains and foothills). Anyway, I finished all my homework!!! I just finished Cry, The Beloved Country...it was interesting...not a bad read, but...interesting. I also finished all of my Style stuff for writing, so I'm ahead! Well, I'm going to go put the pizza in and then have a fun time tonight! And tomorrow! And then we come back to school....

I find it amusing that everyone is on vacation/break and I, the least likely, am still blogging every day. I guess it is kind of homework.

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today Naomi and her brother Isaiah (who, Rosalind, just turned 16 and is pretty cute! hehe....) and I drove to Banff National Park--it was gorgeous!! I took lots of pictures...but I have to wait till I get home so I can steal MB's camera cord and upload them. Then we had a wonderful dinner and I got sooo full...seriously, I've eaten so much...Naomi and I decided today that we didn't gain the Freshman 15 until we came home from school. My stomach feels so tight after every meal!! So we ate, played some games and then we just finished watching Batman Begins. Wonderful movie. I like the second one the best though. I think. Maybe just because Heath Ledger is freaking amazing.

Anyway, tomorrow we are going down to their big ranch at Waterton to finish out the break. Naomi and I are going early and her brothers I think are going to try to get one more hunting trip in up here. Seriously, it is so sad. They seriously go out on at least one hunt everyday (today it was two) and they just can't find any thing satisfying--I think they've seen some stuff, but just haven't shot at it. This morning, Naomi and I woke up to her brother Hyrum knocking on the door and asking if we could come out to drive any possible animals up to them in their little staked out position on a hill, because everyone else was already up and long gone to town. So we went out for a while...I have learned that hunting requires lots and lots of patience and that patience may not be often rewarded...I really hope they get something tomorrow!

But--it's Thanksgiving...and here is just a little list of things that I'm thankful for!

MY FAMILY
Naomi's family's hospitality
Washer and dryers in homes
Long, hot showers
Mom-food
Movies
Wireless internet
Trees
Mountains
Crisp winter air
Beautiful country with few people
My deer-patterned p.j. pants
Parents' financial support
Scriptures
Games
Funny people
Sleeping in without an alarm clock
Long drives in the country
Sore throat-soothing herbal tea
Flushing toilets
Real t-shirts
Friends
Fabric softener
Clean, fresh sheets
Clean rooms
Sisters who will let you just come over
Good health
Temples
Just hearing Dad's voice on the phone
Leaves/sticks crunching under your feet
Peanut m 'n' ms
Doritos
My camelback water bottle
Knowing where my keys are
Having a mom that did everything for us at home
Selfless parents
Little baby hands
The fact that Dad made sure we were "outdoorsy girls"
When Mom had yummy food ready after school
Having a car during high school
Seminary
Best friends=family
Pretty dresses
Delicious food that you make yourself
When people say thank you
When people say "bless you" when you sneeze
Relatively cheap gas
Still firmly believing that my dad can do anything.
Having a little sister that *usually* listened to/took my advice
Having a mom that wants to talk to me whenever I want/need to
The fact that my oldest sister has beautiful children
The fact that so far my sisters have made good husband choices
Missionary work
The Book of Mormon
The Atonement
Jesus Christ
Knowing that my family loves me
My education (so far)
Clean clothes
Dessert
My country childhood in Ohio
My suburban teenage years in Michigan
Mormon boys
When Mom pets me...my roommates have grown to understand the importance of this
Having vacations with my family
Eternal families

And now I have to go to bed....but I'm thankful for lots and lots more things!

Today was lots of fun. Naomi and I slept in without an alarm, then had a nice slow morning. Then around noon, Naomi, her little sister Rebekah, and I went to Kananaskis Provincial Park and went and ate lunch by Forgetmenot Pond. It was so incredibly beautiful! It reminded me a lot of the U.P., except with lots of rolling hills and mountains. But there are aspens and fir trees everywhere and civilization is very....sparce. (Except if you drive about half an hour to Calgary) But their "town" is called Bragg Creek...I don't even think it can be categorized as a village...well, I guess it takes up lots of land, but the actual town part is basically like tiny little plaza about the size of the little part of the Qudoba/Coldstone one in Portage. For real.

So we went to the pond and put some blankets down on the rock and huddled together because it was very cold and ate the "Decker Family Vacation Special" except the meat was buffalo salami. It was different, but pretty good. And the bread was a little stale, and Naomi and Rebekah both ate about a fourth of their sandwiches, but I was so used to it because of our family meals that I had no problem with mine!! Haha, it made me happy. They think they're so tough....

So that was a gorgeous drive (and we took lots of pictures and a pretty good video of us throwing rocks out on the frozen pond and trying to break the ice--we weren't very successful). It was weird though, because the ice was very transparent. We walked out a little bit on it, and it it felt solid if you weren't looking at it, but if you looked down, it looked like we were standing a few feet in the air above rocks. It was weird.

Then we came home and got ready to go have make dinner at their great-aunt's house. (Oh, by the way, it started to get dark about 4:00). It was very good and fun, their aunt was very funny. We got back a little while ago, and tomorrow, Naomi says we're going to Bamff National Park, which is more famous, supposedly the "heart" of this area of Canada, and even more pretty then where we were today. So I'll take more pictures tomorrow (we haven't uploaded the pictures from today yet). But I'm having lots of fun, this area is so beautiful, and I would love to come here for vacation sometime in the future!!!! (hint, hint!) The family would love it!

But with everything I'm doing, I still have homework--we have to read Cry, The Beloved Country over break and do a lot of our grammar work that we've kind of fallen behind in (we just have to do it by the end of the semester). But I've heard that that book is kind of hard to get into, but so far I haven't found it that bad. Anyway, off to bed!

So, overview of today:

5:30 am--Get in to Naomi's house
6:15--Go to sleep
12:15 pm--Wake up
1:00--Have a great lunch that Naomi's mom made/meet more of Naomi's family
2:30/3:00--Go out on my first ever hunting trip!
5:00--Return home empty handed with frozen toes
5:15--Talk to Mom online for a bit
6:00--Eat dinner, great meal but decided I don't really like lamb chops, but baked potatoes are amazing
Sometime after that: Watch Ironman
Sometime after that: Spend a few hours with Naomi and her two older brothers trying to figure out a mass group date for tomorrow--just got confused--spent some more time, just got more and more confused and ended up somehow needing to set up a date for Thursday too.
Now: Typing this in my really warm fleece hunter's pajama pants, Naomi has results of date brainstorming--her brothers have dates for tomorrow and then the big date will happen on Thursday--somehow working around the Thanksgiving dinner.

What I learned today? No matter how far you go, you can never, ever escape BYU dating.

Naomi and I are so excited about going to Canada, we've been planning it all week! Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Creamery to buy "food supplies" for the drive...and i was sad we didn't have a cooler so we couldn't get bread and salami and cheese sticks and grapes! but we did get granola bars, peanut m 'n' ms or however you spell them, bananas, cucumbers, and lots of other stuff....and we're making cookies today!

While we were at the Creamery, MB called and said she had the afternoon off, so Naomi and I went over to her house and Naomi studied/talked with us about apartments for next year, MB made stuffing, and I made our cookie dough. Then Naomi had a date, so she had to go, but I stayed with MB and we hung out, made some delicious looking pies (she took the pictures, so she has to put them up) ate chinese food, watched some interesting tv, mourned over the BYU-Utah game, and just had fun together. It was a fun night!

Now, I'm waiting for my dough for my rolls to rise, and hopefully they hurry up and are done before 5! I'm very excited for the dinner tonight--Harriet couldn't come, but Naomi's coming, and she's excited to have an American Thanksgiving dinner for the first time! I'm glad that we could kind of show her something really American and feed her good food before she takes me up to Canada for a week!

Anyway, must go, I was in a lot better mood today (probably cause I'm looking forward to the coming week!) and I'm way excited for tonight! I don't know how blogging will go for the next few days, but I will have lots to talk about when I get back if I don't manage to blog.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING BREAK!!!

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUTH AND NEIL!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot wait to get away. Hopefully I'll get over all my hard feelings over the break, and be nice to everyone. Because today was difficult. Naomi and I are very excited for a break from everyone.

I've been getting really sick of my apartment lately---it's very small, and there are always lots of people over messing up the kitchen--it was like a pig sty these last few days, and I'm just getting really frustrated with a few messy habits--I've never been a nit-picky cleaner, as lots of you know :) but our apartment is so tiny and it's really hard to like being home when it's messy.

So tonight I was just fed up and I called Ruth and Jordan to see if I could just come over there---so I jogged down to their apartment (I've been running three days in a row!! I went running to the temple again by myself last night--I've never really liked running, but I've found it's a nice outlet when I'm feeling stressed out, so I'm starting to like it more) and we hung out and ate ice cream and laughed at Ruth's pitiful runny nose (and made up a game of jeopardy that's very fun). So after that, I felt much better about everything, until I just did everyone's dishes (it's my dish day today, so I have to start the dishwasher at night) and get really frustrated again and contemplated taping a slightly rude sign up on the wall telling everyone to do their own stinkin' dishes. But I got over it...kind of.

Anyway, to bed now, only one more day of classes then I'm free! I'm really excited for the dinner on Sunday, and then on Monday I get to leave BYU for a nice break to Canada!

I Fell Out of a Wheelchair.

It's been a pretty good week so far, despite my worries that it would be incredibly stressful. It's weird, cause I have lots of stuff to do, but it definitely doesn't stress me as much as last week. It's actually been pretty good this week so far! Tonight Harriet and I ran to the temple again and ti was COLD...it was a pretty nice day today, but running in shorts and a t-shirt made it very, very, very cold. So then we ran to the Creamery and bought mousse (so I can shower!!) and hot chocolate...which I spilled all over myself...then Harriet asked me to hold hers, and I spilled that on myself too.

Then we got back and went to return a borrowed iPod and Harriet went back to shower before she hung out with Scott, but since I am so self-confident about my natural personal hygiene, I didn't...instead I hung out with Jeff for a while. At one point, I fell out of a wheelchair (as the title says). There's this random wheelchair that some boys found that just floats around the apartments of the first floor....tonight when I was talking to Jeff, I was just wheeling around in the wheelchair and at one point, we were goofing off and I tipped over backwards and hit my head on a table, and thought I had a concussion....that really hurt.

But I recovered quickly enough and we had fun until midnight, at which point I had to leave Young (and I was so going to be in bed at 11 tonight.....) But anyway, I really need to go to bed now, cause I can.....have a presentation in Writing tomorrow at 9:00....

So, I just went ALL over Provo....and I still don't have a new coat. It's very sad. But I did go to Smith's and I got some delicious looking green beans!!! which Harriet accidently put in the freezer......I'm hoping they survive. I also got these two little tiny chickens for 5 dollars! I'm very excited to make them, although I don't think I know how to make chicken. I can't wait for Thursday because that is the day I turn in my last assignment before Thanksgiving! It will be amazing!

I came home from shopping and picked up my room a little bit so it's nice and clean again, and entered my receipts into my money account thing, and felt very responsible! And then proceeded to procrastinate finishing up my paper for tomorrow. Oh man......but this morning, I got to sleep in cause my writing class was canceled and I woke up naturally on a school day for the first time in a long time! I set my alarm for 9:00 and I woke up a little before it went off! It was an amazing feeling! And I found my planner the other day...which I am very happy about.

Anyway, I'm off to finish my paper--good night!

Dad, your comment on my last post made my day--and from now on, I'm calling you "Dud". haha.....hahahaha.

Right now I'm going to try to work on some homework in order to make myself tired (with Naomi), because I took a REALLY long nap today on accident! I went to bed around 1:30 or 2:00 after Krista fed me bacon, and then I woke up at 5:00 and realized that all my roommates were at ward choir, and I should probably go! Then I was like, "oh, I don't really feel like it, I'll call Ruth and see if we're having dinner". Ruth was in Grantsville, so I was like..."well...I don't really have anything else to do..." So I went to Ward Choir at about 5:10...and it ends at 5:30...but the choir director is my roommate and the pianist (who also helps direct, kind of) is one of my really good friends. So....I wasn't punished.

So after choir my friend Jeff (the choir pianist) and I decided to make spudnuts...and they were delicious! And we totally ate too many....but we had a ton...so we let everyone that kind of wandered in at different times have one or two (although, even though we had a lot, we only offered one! we're a little selfish...) and then I took some over to one of our FHE brothers, who just got called to serve a mission in South Korea! But he wasn't there, and Collin and Jackson kind of perked up with interest when I came in with something looking deepfried and delicious (It was funny, I walked in and I was like, "Is Brett here?" and Jackson was like, "No...but we are...." So I gave them a few and left the rest on the table.

Then we had ward prayer, and Jordan and Ruth came by to use my Ethernet and then Ruth told me about the dinner she's doing next Sunday (pre-Thanksgiving dinner kind of) and she was very cute and excited about it! So I'll go to that on Sunday, and then I leave for Canada on Monday after Naomi takes her test!!! YAY!!! it will be a very fun break. And I gave Ruth and Jordan some spudnuts too...Jordan was very dubious about donuts that had potatoes in them...but Ruth was very excited. and Jordan realized they were delicious.

Then after ward prayer, Collin and Jackson drifted into my apartment looking for more spudnuts and I gave them some. Then Brett came by and he got some spudnuts that were a little bit fresher and there was this other kid too that came with him and it was his birthday, so I gave him some too. Then I hung out with various people and now I'm going to have Caralee straigthen my hair so I don't have to deal with it for the next few days (I'm also out of mousse). And then if I'm still not tired, I'll do a little bit of homework and go to bed! (Oh and my room is so clean...on Saturday, I couldn't wait to do my homework becuase I could do it at my desk!)

Today has been much more successful so far than last night was (and Grandma if you're asking about the times that I post? Sorry if it's kind of confusing....but a lot of times I post really late at night, so even if it says it's the next day, I'm still talking about my "day" which is pretty long....I don't know if I understood your question or not or if my answer even makes sense).

Anyway, we have cleaning checks at 6:00 tonight, and my bedroom is all clean (and I took pictures! but don't really feel like uploading them now) and vacuumed the hallway and now all I have to do is clean the sinks in the bathroom and the kitchen floor and couch. (But I can't do the floor until all the rest of the kitchen is clean...so....I have to wait for my roommates to clean first). But while I'm waiting, I have a bunch of homework to work on, and I'm actually doing it at my desk! cause it's so clean....anyway, tonight we're definitely going to see Dark Knight (my friend made sure to buy tickets online today).

Anyway, off to homework and maybe more cleaning!

Well, tonight was kind of a blowout--basically half/maybe most of my ward went to go see Dark Knight, but i didn't know that you had to buy tickets online...and it was sold out...then Harriet disappeared with her kind of-boyfriend and so since I had no one to hang out with...seriously....i came back to my apartment. Talked to Lauren for a while, took a nap on her bed at about 10:00 at night, then ate ice cream with Naomi, then talked to Krista for a while, then Rochelle and I went to go get hot chocolate and a movie...so we came back kind of late to my apartment and watched Made of Honor.

I have lots to do tomorrow, and I hope I have enough time! We'll see how it goes...I'm dreading the cleaning check...So although most of the night disappointment (I'd been looking forward all week to seeing Dark Knight..that was going to be my reward at the end of my horrible week...but that didn't happen...) I got to talk to some of my roommates and then Rochelle and I had fun later. Anyway, now sleep.

Not an incredible day overall; I was pretty stressed out for the most part of the day. Physical Science test, I got a C....better than I expected before the test but worse than I expected after I took the test. Oh well. One of my smart friends got about the same, so I don't feel as bad about it. But CIV! We had our crazy wild intense civ group presentation test today, and my group got an A!! (the only one I've heard of so far...everyone else is like, "Yeah, I got an A-" or "Yeah, I got a B" and they're all like, "That's pretty good"....and my group got the only A that we've heard of! YAY! That made us all very happy---it was a 200 point test, so it will be a really nice boost to our grades.

After Civ, Harriet and I went and indulged at Sugar 'N' Spice and then later at the Creamery. Then I went to see Dancing at Lughnasa, which was fun and interesting but I was waaaayyy tired, but I couldn't justify falling asleep cause I paid 11 dollars for it, Mary Beth's roommate Julie was in it...and last but not least, I now have to write a Great Works response on it. So, I didn't sleep. Then I came home, relaxed a bit with friends, and now I'm doing my great works response.

Tomorrow, there's a HUMONGOUS group going to see The Dark Knight at the dollar theater, and I'm VERY excited for that. Saturday, we have our really intense cleaning check and then I have some homework to do. If I work hard, I might be able to get it done tomorrow....maybe, I don't know about that. Anyway, off to do homework! Only one more week of stress!

Today was really stressful too. I have two tests tomorrow, and another one and a paper due Friday...it's crazy. I just felt really miserable all day today as I tried to prepare for my tests and I am so scared to take my physical science test tomorrow. I've studied really hard, and I know most of what we talk about in class and review, but I still feel like there is somehow so much that I don't know. I've just felt really overwhelmed, and I seriously don't know how everything will turn out this week..

I've been pretty stressed out yesterday and today about this week and the next--we have SO much stuff to do and lots and lots of tests and papers, it's crazy. But today my Civ test group met with Mary Beth to get help on this INSANE test and we walked away feeling a TON better---thank you so much Mary Beth! We really, really, really, really appreciate it (and the other civ groups are gonna know nothing compared to us! haha, just kidding). So that helped, and then I just got back from a run with Harriet. We ran to the temple and back and although it was crazy how long it had been since I'd gone running and how hard the air was to breathe, it was still good and I'm glad that we were able to go, and now I feel very rejuvinated!

Well, now I'm going to go study for another several hours for physical science (and do my laundry at the same time) and then sign up for classes at midnight! yay!!

So, my post yesterday about craving junk food is now turned to the opposite--I came home tonight and I thought that I was going to die if I didn't have some fruit. My celery wasn't good anymore...oh, i just remembered, i was going to have some grapes!!! Dang it....oh well. So, i looked all through our fridge and decided I was going to nab some of my roommate's grapes, but I guess I forgot. I had the last of Ruth's waffles and now I'm very sad that they are gone...they were a very nice breakfast food for several days. Anyway, tonight I felt in dire need of fresh fruit, so i think I'll be making a trip to the creamery tomorrow.

This weekend will be crazy. Tomorrow I have to do lots of work on my part of a group test for Civ, and then Saturday morning we're meeting at 10 to work on it, the last home football game starts at 12, then we have our most intense cleaning check at 6 later...good thing that the really only big piece of homework I have is the civ test, except that will be really intense. I'm just glad I don't have a paper that's due Monday. Although, I'm told by my friends/roommates that next week will be really intense cause we have several papers and tests...hopefully we'll all be able to get through it.

It's kind of sad that Sundays aren't really a day of rest. At the beginning of the year, they were, but now they're probably my busiest day of the week. We have church at 9 and then ward council right after that until 1 (at which time hall meeting starts, which I usually skip....) and then there's usually home teaching/visiting teaching during these hours, then there's maybe a little bit of time to nap/catch up on anything, then there's ward choir at 4:30 (or 5:30, can't remembe, it's been a while since I've been able to go) and then I usually have dinner with Ruth, Jordan, and Mary Beth, then I get back in time for ward prayer at 8, and I used to go tunnel singing at 10, but that has ceased to happen lately. (oh, and there was Break the Fast in there this week, too). And a lot of times my whole Freshman Academy can't NOT do homework on Sunday cause we have so much crazy stuff due....so Sundays are crazy and not very peaceful....but it's okay, I'm still really glad that we have them and that we're able to go to church.

Oh my goodness. I think I already expressed my opinions about comments, and I try very hard to comment on all your blogs! (maybe not so much on yours, MB, cause you already have like 50 comments a day).

Right now I'm on my neighbor Caralee's bed typing on her computer and watching her try to restring her harp (it's a very difficult and frustrating business, trust me) and wondering why my computer wouldn't upload pictures. I can't remember if I already said stuff about this, but the other day I went with Caralee to feed her baby python a live mouse...it was way cool! I took pictures, but for some reason, they're not uploading to my computer...we'll have to figure that out. Today was a pretty good day. I left on time for Writing and I didn't have to run. It was snowing this morning and was kind of pretty, but a little too wet (but funny to watch those that hadn't seen snow before and just thinking about how miserable they will be in a few months). Then I went to Physical Science later (and didn't have to read for it today, since I accidently read this chapter for Monday's class) and discovered that while my professor was talking about fats and oils and all the foods that we love that contain them that I really was just in dire need of a Big Mac and French Fries. Seriously. He had a slide that was just solid french fries up for about 10 minutes, and my stomach decided so quickly that it was starving to death that I thought I would have to get up and run out to the closest food place.

Anyway, I had a little bit of time to relax by myself today, which I really like during the day. I like to have my free time during the day to myself, and then I like to hang out at night, and I got to do both of those today! Tonight, Harriet and I went to the Cougareat for dinner and then went to an acoustic guitar concert, which was pretty good, but the longer it went on the harder it was to keep our attention politely fixed on the student playing/singing at the moment.

Then we hung out for a little bit, then watched the beginning of Casino Royale for about 45 mintues then decided that although we wanted to stay up and finish it, that going to bed was the smart thing to do. So we did. (Well, kind of. I'm still on Caralee's bed. But I'll be getting to bed earlier than I would have had I watched the movie). But Caralee needs her computer now, so I'll be going.

So, I'm sitting in the basement waiting for my sheets and towels to come out of the drier. And Harriet is making fun of me. Again. We just ate some of the DELICOUS Hickory Farms box that Grandma sent (THANK YOU GRANDMA!!!! letter is coming soon...). We're about to take a break from polishing up our rough drafts of our research paper and will probably go over to Young and mooch some food off some boys. That's how it usually goes. And then we'll get irritated at the ones playing video games and stomp out. Then later we will come back and eat more Hickory Farms stuff. Then eventually we will go to bed and I will sleep on my new clean sheets. Our bishop was in the basement doing interviews and we talked to him for a few minutes about laundry, change, etc. and he said how much he hates change, then he gave me all his quarters and said that he would bring in all of his mounds of change from his truck and put it next to our washing machines......we have an AWESOME bishopric. I had some pretty great dreams during my nap today (MB--I dreamed that Sam Winchester was my brother---it was a good dream :)

So, I have nothing to say really (I don't think). Except today I read the wrong chapter for physical science. That was really sad. But class made up for it; my professor blew up some balloons and accidently lit some nylon he had just made for us on fire....which we had to use the fire extinguisher to put out....it was very exciting! i've never seen a fire extinguisher in action! lots and lots of fun....

Today I think I had the stupidest injury yet. A couple of us were working on my friend Scott's reply to Harriet's asking for preference, and he was doing a treasure hunt style thing, and we were burning the edges of the clues. I blew out a match, and it was still in my fingers. Then my face started to itch. So I scratched it. With the fingers that were holding the match. And apparently, the match wasn't out. So I burned my face. With a match. And now it stings. And has a big red spot. Ouch.

Last night I went to a Halloween party dressed up as a hippyish rocker. It was lots of fun to dress up as, and I'll put some pictures up as soon as I see some good ones. I've just finished my BOM midterm and breadsticks are just about to come out of the oven. I'm wearing capris right now, and it looks beautiful outside. I need to do my physical science reading, clean the shower, and then I think I'm done with work for today. (oh, and make sure that we have everything we need to bring to Break the Fast tomorrow....I am so worried about it coming through, I don't know if everything will work out. I hope it will!) Tonight, I'm going to watch The Dark Knight with some friends and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Today has been a productive day, even though it was a very slow morning. And I miss my family....

Today's been a pretty good day so far. Right now I'm in the library, getting ready to take my midterm for Book of Mormon, which hopefully won't be that bad since it's take home, open book and open note (I may have already said that, but I can't remember). It's due Tuesday, but I really want to have this assignment out of the way so that I don't feel pressured Monday night like I know a lot of people in my building will be---it just always happens that way. It's actually a really beautiful day today. Walking to the library in a long sleeved shirt I actually got kind of hot, which is nice! It will be fun to have a "warm" Halloween.

Tonight I'm going to a concert of the Utah Symphony for my English class (we got free tickets and it's a requirement). Hopefully it will be good, cause I don't want to get bored, and if I do, I might fall asleep which is always very uncomfortable in theater seats. But it's cool that we get to see the Utah Symphony for free.

Today a bunch of us went to go see Hocus Pocus in the Varsity Theater and it was a lot of fun! I haven't seen it for a really, really long time, and then after yesterday's disappointments (it was supposed to be free taco day at Taco Bell--the Cougareat didn't do it...i was looking forward to it for several days...and in response this morning to my roommates commenting on my late hours last night, i just kind of blurted, "No free tacos ruined my day yesterday, so I binged on social life!" it was interesting) anyway, so i really didn't want to be disappointed again....so i was very excited to see Hocus Pocus. It was fun and still kind of a little bit creepy. Then we were going to go to a corn maze, but then we found out it was 8 dollars instead of the original 4 that we thought it was, and so we stayed home and played games which eventually amassed large amounts of people and turned out to be both free and very fun. And now I'm going to write one more sentence on my Book of Mormon assignment for tomorrow (which several of my roommates are going to be up late doing) and then go to bed! Good night!

I'm really excited for this week. Nothing is really happening, but I have a week of just normal homework. That is, until I get my midterm on Thursday from Book of Mormon, which he said will be about 2 or 3 hours....but it's take-home and open book and open note...

But I read Rachael's post today about her freshman year....and I realized that my friends and I need to step it up on the craziness and making memories! Actually, I think we do some pretty crazy stuff, and I guess we've only been in school for a few months....but still....

Tomorrow night, Harriet and I and some other people are going to Hocus Pocus and I'm way excited!! Then I do'nt really know what we're doing this weekend, but it's always a surprise. It's kind of funny, cause some of my roommates are just starting to go out and play and party and they're always talking about it and about how late they stay up and everything....and then they're like, "haha, the roles have kind of switched in our apartments! (cause one of Harriet's roommates is in this group too) Elise and Harriet go to bed at midnight, and we're up till really early in the morning! haha!) and Harriet and I are just kind of snickering and waiting for the sleep deprivation to slam them. We've learned our lesson....theirs is yet to come, and we are eagerly awaiting it.

But it's funny cause their rules are: "well, we work on school stuff Monday thru Wednesday nights, and then we party Thursday thru Sunday!"

But Harriet and I have it planned out much better--we study during the day and then go and have fun with friends till about 11:00 or 11:30 and then we go to bed...and then we get about 8 hours of sleep! And then we still have lots of fun on the weekends! I think even though Harriet and I are seen as more "partiers" we get our work done and our social life in evenly....like for those research papers? Harriet and I were up late working on them...but then I got up this morning (and these same roommates of mine like to get up early and do their work) and I got up at 8 and I asked them how much of their paper they had done...and they said 2 pages (most of them)....the paper had to be 7 pages long....and most of them had class at 9...at the maeser building...so they had half an hour....it was a mess....and i felt much more responsible than my usually very responsible roommates.

Anyway, I think my time management is goign pretty well, which makes me feel better. We have a Book of Mormon assignment due Thursday, but Harriet and I are goign to get it done today becuase we're going to Hocus Pocus tomorrow! Aren't we smart?

My day is feeling very satisfactory so far. My rough draft of my research paper is done. I got my physical science reading/note taking done. I've gone to all my classes. I've eaten some good vegetable beef soup today (out of a can....) with some of Mary Beth's very delicious homemade bread. I don't feel rushed or stressed. I know what the rest of my assignments are for the week, and I will probably get started on them.....as soon as I have a nap :)

Tonight I went to Mary Beth's for some delicious, real food, and then I went to a fireside by Brad Wilcox on dating, which was hilarious! It was a lot of fun. (And we had some BYU brownies). And I have nothing else to say........maybe i'll talk about Harriet, since she's sitting right next to me.

Harriet is English. She is from the town of Yarm, but she says it like Yahm. And she makes fun of me a lot. But she says I make fun of her too, which is true. Sometimes we have insult fights, which are really fun. Actually, we only had it once, but it was really impressive. And she calls the bathroom, the "loo". (Which she just said is the correct name). Harriet just won the best game of ping pong ever. With herself. It was amazing. We are really tired. Sometimes she grosses me out. But other times she makes me smile a lot. Sometimes I imitate her accent, and she says I am freaking amazing at it. Well, maybe she doesn't say that, but that's what she's thinking. Sometimes Harriet and I watch movies under my bed, and then my roommates think we're really weird. Othertimes we put facemasks on boys and then laugh. She says that every food that is delicious is "gorgeous".

I've run out of things to say for the time being, and I'm needing to get to work on my homework, so I will post more later, and perhaps put some pictures up too.

Last night (well, I guess it was this morning) I had a dream that I was on my way to a dance and my two teeth on either side of my two top front teeth (whatever they're called) all got loose and for some reason I pulled them out! (it looked like there were other teeth growing in on top of them so i figured i should just pull them out if they were loose, but then the "new" teeth came out too!" So then i had these bloody holes in my mouth and Mom got mad at me cause why would I have new teeth growing in! And i didn't want to go to the dance and i was crying about my teeth and i was so sad and then my two front teeth started to spread apart cause the other teeth weren't keepign them in line...and I thought that I woke up crying! (but i don't think i really did--it just felt like it). s

When i woke up i immediately ran my tongue over my teeth and was SO Relieved to have no holes and all my teeth were there...when I brushed my teeth this morning, I thought that my smile was the most beautiful that i'd ever seen it....and then i really appreciated all the money that Mom and Dad spent on my smile. THANK YOU!!!!!

So, aside from that really depressing but ending up positive event, my day has been rather uneventful so far. I went to the creamery to buy milk--so now we have milk....and now i'm in the library getting ready to work on my talk for sacrament meeting tomorrow and my paper for monday...it may be a long day in the library today.

But the good thing is, is it is very quiet in here. There's a football game (which i decided not to go to cause i have WAY too much to do) and so hardly anyone is in the library, so it is very quiet. and now i'm getting really tired........

Oh man. Well, i'll get to work on my paper...and thank you for investing in my smile, Mom and Dad! I SO appreciate it!

Thank you all for commenting! that was very nice......last night after Harriet and I came home from the law library, we meant to make my roommate Lauren a birthday cake, but we came home and someone already had!! So instead we went to go to find birthday candles, but no one had them, so instead we put a few matches sticking up in the cake, lit them and told her to blow them out very, very quickly. Then after eating some cake, showering and feeling very clean, Harriet and I decided to be creative and make use of the fact that my bed is about four feet tall--we made a little nest under it and watched a movie! It was very fun...we ate some canned chinese food (haha....it didn't turn out very well). It sounds kinda weird, but it was way cool! My bed is seriously so high that you can get on all fours and crawl under it with out being even close to bumping your head or your back on the bed. But we had a nice quiet night in and went to bed at a pretty good time.

This morning my 9:00 class was canceled, so I got to sleep in, which was very nice. It is wonderful to not have to set an alarm and just to wake up naturally! In a few minutes, I'm going to the Civ movie and then I'm going to the Planetarium for something, I don't really know what it is, but I need to do it for English. the rest of my class is going to Thanksgiving Point right now to see the gardens, but I didn't want to make up the Civ movie and spend 2 and a half hours wanderign aroudn in gardens i've already seen, so I'm going to go to the movie and the planetarium instead. Then I don't really know what's happenign tonight, but chances are good I'll be working on my paper......I can't wait till it's over!!

For real....no comments=no posts on this blog....so comment! otherwise, i might decide that that means no one is reading it and so it's not worth it for me to post on here.

Anyway, Harriet and I went to go see Mary Beth a little bit ago and it was fun talking to her (although it took forever to find her carrel) Now we're studying on the main floor of the law library and it is DEAD QUIET. very nice....now i just have to buckle down on my research paper, which i am DREADING....but in other good news, they cleaned our carpets today, so they are very nice and slightly less flat and packed down and kind of damp...it kind of feels good to walk barefoot on them! and i cleaned my room for it, so my room is very clean too! it's a good feelign....i carved a pumpkin last night, and the hardest part was cutting the top off! (which i'd never done before...i said that to my friend Caralee (who i was carving the pumpkin with--it was a very spontaneous thing--we went to the creamery meanign to get groceries and came back with pumpkins and carving tool things) and she was like, "Me too!" and i said, "My dad always did it, " and she was like, "Me too!" so we were very proud of ourselves (although i did miss carving it with you, Dad!)

I carved Batman into mine...it looks really cool...i'll see if i can put some pictures up of it too.

It's our friend Rochelle's birthday today, and so Caralee and I decided last night that we would make her waffles with strawberries and whipped cream today. But then we thought it'd be really cool if we could do it exactly at midnight, right when it became her birthday. So we went to the creamery to get strawberries at like 11:30 and...they were out. So then we decided to go to Wal-Mart to get strawberries and really hurry so we could do it at midnight. Well.....we lost track of time, and came out an hour later with men's fleece pajama pants with deer all over them, thermoses to have hot chocolate in on the way to class, and then some barely remembered strawberries (which happened to be their last carton). It was a very fun, very spontaneous night...and I LOVE my pants...they're incredible. ANyway, i need to work on my paper.....

I'm sitting once again in the library, this time trying to motivate myself to study. It's getting more like fall here, the leaves are all turning and it's getting colder--it was freezing this morning and then it's just nice crisp fall weather right now. This morning I got up at 5:45 to go to the temple with our ward at 6:00--it was a good experience, although it was VERY cold and I wasn't able to stay for breakfast. I had to meet with my advisor at 8:15 and I kept worrying about it the whole time of whether I would make it back in time to meet her, so that detracted at little bit from the experience even though I tried not to think about it, but it was still a good experience. I did have to leave right after however; the rest of the ward got to go to the cafeteria in the temple and get whatever they wanted for breakfast--and the bishop payed for it. I was so sad that I had to miss it! My writing class came in and they were like, "oh man, i'm so full, i'm so stuffed, that was so amazing, best meal since i've been here, yatta yatta yatta" and i was just like....oh man.......sad.....

but anyway, i need to get back to my homework....

I don't really have time to write in here cause I have so much to do today, but I have to do a journal entry--it's part of my homework I guess. Right now I'm in the library studying for my physical science test, which I'm planning on taking tomorrow. I'm in the process of taking the vocab quiz online for it (you can take it as many times as you want...so you can take it, look at what you got wrong, go back, study, then take it again). I was just checking a few terms, and then I was coming back to take it and hopefully be done with it, and then Blackboard crashed!!! Stupid Blackboard...so now i'm waiting and hopefully it will be up soon so I can get this over with, study some more for the test, and move on to working on my Civ paper that's due tomorrow--which will probably keep me up late. I don't think I'll be able to make it to FHE tonight, and I don't know if very many of my roommates will either, cause we all have that Civ paper--everything is basically creeping up on us very quickly. So after I have my Civ paper turned in and my physcial science test done, then I have my big research paper to do! AGH! lots and lots of work---last night I got to bed at a decent time and then I kept waking up in the middle of the night! It was the first time since I've been here that I haven't slept soundly--the funny thing was, it didn't really annoy me, cause I woke up at 2:00 and I was like, "I have 5 more hours!!" and then after I eventually got to sleep, I woke up at 6:00 and watched my roommate get up to go work in the library on homework before class and thought gleefully that I didn't have to get up for another hour and a half...it made me happy. Anyway, I think I'm going to try to see if I can take that quiz---then I'm going to go home for dinner at some point, finish whatever physical science stuff I need to do, then come back to the library to do my paper. I've found that I really can't study very well at all in my apartment...so Harriet and I go over to Young a lot, but we can really only study there for an hour or two before we get distracted by the company...so if I want to go to bed at a good time tonight, I need to come back to the library.

Anyway, back to my homework!

So, tonight was a stake Halloween party/dance thing, and it was fun, but i got tired! So now i think i'll go to dances an hour or so late so that i don't get so tired. I did end up going as a lumberjack...i had a red plaid shirt and suspenders and my pants were rolled up above my shoes and i had a fake russian fur hat toboggan thing and i put dirt/soot looking stuff on my face, so it was a pretty fun outfit. Pictures will come later when my friends put them up.

We actually had a very scary incident this week. My roommate Krista had a pretty scary seizure and she had to go the hospital and everything...it was VERY scary to be there and to see it. There were lots of tender mercies though--my roommate Ashley was just about to go to sleep, but some quiz thing kept her awake, so she was more alert when Lauren came running and able to call 911 immediately and be coherent and calm. I had just walked in the door and was getting ready to go to Wendy's with some friends (we were going to leave earlier, but Harriet's homework was taking a long time and was being kind of difficult--if she had finished earlier, I would have been gone). I happened to be hanging out with our RA so I knew exactly where she was and ran to get her. Two of the boys I was hanging out with as well were at my apartment immediately ready to give Krista a blessing. There were just so many things that were exactly right at exactly the right time that was too much to be coincidence. I was really thankful that we were all where we were at that time so that we could help Krista right away (oh, and when she had the seizure, she was talking on Skype to a friend from home....the same friend had been with her when she had her first seizure 7 years ago--that was a blessing too--that friend called Krista's parents and was able to give us more information to give to the paramedics when they came). It was a really scary experience, but Krista is doing well now and we're all really thankful.

We had cleaning checks today, which was probably the most stressful time I've had since I've been here...I got home a half hour before our RA came to check and was REALLY stressed out about getting everything done...but we did very well and our apartment is very clean now! So now i'm going to bed, except there's lots of stuff on my bed that my roommates dumped on there while cleaning other parts of the apartment.....anyway....

I'm getting more and more excited for Christmas...it seems so far away, but this last month and a half has gone by way fast, so it won't be that long before Christmas! (which also means that exams will be fast in coming...) anyway, love all of you!

HALLOWEEN COSTUME HELP??

Quick, what should I be for the stake Halloween party tonight?!?! Costume ideas?!?

Well, I don't have much to say, but I figured I should probably update this before everyone starts thinking that I've died....just sometimes I'm way too lazy to actually write in this, so I just write in my journal for a bit...but my 9:00 class is canceled tomorrow! Yay!!! and I don't have it on Friday either, so I'm way excited about that! I do have lots of researching to do, however, in the meantime....

My room is very clean! We just cleaned it a few days ago, and it looks very nice! I'll take some pictures soon and put them up so everyone can know what it looks like :) um....Grandma, I wrote a letter back to you today, but when I went to go get stamps, they were out, so I couldn't send it today...but just know that I have a letter waiting for you!

My bed is starting to get a little too comfortable in the mornings...I might have to fix that somehow...it sometimes is nearly impossible for me to get out of my amazing memory foam mattress soft sheets, comforter, and blankets to get up for a cold mile walk to class (often with wet hair) every morning at 9:00

Well, that's long enough for now, I promise that next time I post I'll have some more substantial information...but it's an update!

So, I kinda lied yesterday when i said i had nothing to say---i'm going to homecoming this week...with a date...and it should be fun! it's so funny to see all the creative ways that people are asking each other and responding. anyway, tonight we all went to starla's to look at their closetful of dresses and everyone came home with one! but now i'm very tired and my arm is doing some kind of weird muscle clenching/cramping so i'm gonna stop typing...but this weekend should be fun :)

i really don't have much to say today....i'm way tired and i want to go to bed. maybe if i sit here for five minutes thinking about what i want to say, then it will count. it's getting way cold in the mornings and then hot in the afternoons...so it's difficult to know what you should wear for the day. i burned my finger like half an hour ago, but Starla has a little baby aloe plant and it's juice saved my finger. anyway, i've definitely been working on this for over 5 minutes....so bye!!

This morning Ashley and I got up at 6:30 and went to the creamery to get stuff to make breakfast for Krista, cause it's her birthday too. So we did that and it was very cold and dark and i was wearing sweatpants and sweatshirt and i felt like i was getting up and leaving for seminary! so we made hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice for Krista. Then I went to class and stayed after my classes in the library to work on homework and got my 2 hour long take home civ test done, which wasn't necessarily hard, it just took FOREVER. Anyway, i got that done, came home and made rocky road cookies for Mary Beth which didn't really turn out as well as i had planned because of some mistakes i made....i accidently put ALL of the chocolate chips in to melt with the butter...then i didn't let it cool long enough so it was very liquidy...then i put the flour in before it was cooled and it wasn't doughy enough, too runny, so i kept putting flour in till it was of a good consistency...which wasn't good when it eventually cooled all the way and became kind of like a paste...but they were still okay, and now i know how to make them better for the future!

Then we went over to Mary Beth's for dinner and had some delicious chicken enchiladas, mexican rice, baked beans, some good Ruth lemon cake, and whatever other delicious things that i've forgotten. it was fun to be with family, although we were all tired and ready to be done with homework...although Mary Beth has a week off! What a good birthday present!!

anyway, i'm going to bed at a pretty good time tonight, so have a great day tomorrow everyone and for one last time, Mary Beth, happy birthday today!

Right now I'm working on homework and it's killing me. I am trying to do this writing homework test thing and for this one question I have to do this thing but it needs a pop-up to do it...but I can't make my computer allow pop-ups! And it's killing me! This is the first time in college when I've felt totally stressed out about school stuff, and it's only over a stupid homework/little test question! so miserable right now............

But I have to write in my journal every day....so i'm doing it right now......and i'm having a horrible time! but we're working in the lobby right now and there were a bunch of people out here that came in started being loud and i got really mad at them and said something very shortly, but i don't remember what it was.

anyway, conference has been good, i've had fun watching it with friends and eating and making food. tomorrow is Mary Beth and Krista's birthdays and i can't say what i'm doing for mary beth, but i'm getting up early tomorrow and going to the cremery and getting stuff to make breakfast for Krista tomorrow. For FHE we were going to go ice skating, cause Krista used to ice skate, but i'm going to have dinner with Mary Beth and Ruth and Jordan tomorrow instead of FHE (which i want to do anyway--the dinner) but i don't feel as bad cause i'm going get up early and make her breakfast even though i might be up late and i feel horrible and feel like crying....arghhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Conference

Ruth called me in between sessions and Ruth, Mary Beth, Harriet and I all went to Macey's!! It was incredible! Mary Beth said that we looked like little European immigrants coming in and looking at the huge American supermarket---there was SO MUCH FOOD!!! I used my Visa gift card from the Christophers to buy some stuff--we didn't get a ton of food cause we didn't have that much money, but it was just nice to have choices and to be able to buy stuff at a cheaper price. (oh, i also got a bread pan! Yay for breadmaking!!)

So then Harriet and I took almost everything that we bought and took it over to a guys' apartment and we made a fun lunch and watched conference. We had some gouda cheese with some French bread, nutella, Grandmother Jere-homemade raspberry huckleberry jam that I convinced Matt Bahr to give me a while ago (and there was some forced rationing on this jam...but we did discover that that jam on gouda tastes AMAZING). Then we also had some gala apples with caramel dip and one of the guys made some bran muffins with fresh peaches cut up into them. I'm trying to remember what else we had, cause it felt like we had a ton! But I guess we didn't...anyway, we ate ALL of the cheese (7 oz) and then felt incredibly full and tired. Then we somehow got on the topic of these wraps at the Cougareat that I guess are really good, and they wanted to go get some. And I was like, "Are you guys seriously still hungry?" And one of them said, "I'd be hungry anytime for this thing".

So we went to the Cougareat, but only Taco Bell and Subway were open. So we wandered around in the rain and decided to go to the JFSB and see if they had good sleeping couches. Then we discovered that if you spin around really fast in an elevator while it's moving, you're CRAZY dizzy when you come out. That was entertaining. Especially when we took it to the Kimball Tower...eleven floors. There, we also discovered that if you jump at the end of your spinning (like you normally do in an elevator when it slows down....) then it feels like you're flying for a second and then you just fall. Unfortunately, this doesn't work very well when you've been spinning for eleven floors and no one else in the elevator can spin straight anymore and you jump and then come down really hard on the hand rail...that HURT!

Then we came back and had hot chocolate...then the boys went to Priesthood and Harriet's at work and I'm doing homework--later we're going to watch the Prestige!!! YAY!!!

Oh and last night was crazy fun too! We went to have a campfire up Provo Canyon and roasted marshmellows and played lots of games and had lots and lots of fun, then came back to campus and had even more fun there. Then people gradually drifted off to bed and those of us that were still up went to Kiwanis Park and sat on blankets playing more games and talking. It was funny when people would randomly fall asleep in the middle of games...especially when the round between turns is really short and fast! It was the walk back that was a killer....we were all so tired and were walking so slow that if you'd been like 20 feet away we wouldn't have looked like we were moving. Most of us were wrapped up in blankets so we looked like homeless people! And then we got to the Cremery and decided to sit down and rest...so we sat at the tables outside for a bit and were all getting more tired. I put my head down at one point and kind of fell asleep and when I lifted it back up (a few minutes later, I think) Harriet and Chris had their heads down in the arms, Scott was curled up in a ball on the two-seater bench and Rochelle was just sitting there...and all those other three were asleep! I seriously think it hadn't been long at all, cause Rochelle was still awake by herself...haha. Anyway, I woke everyone up and I was like "Guys! It's been a half hour! We need to go to bed!" Although it'd really only been like two or three minutes, tops. Anyway, it was really funny cause we all looked so homeless! We thought it'd be funny if we just stayed on the table sleeping and seen what people did in the morning when they came to the Cremery, but we all wanted our beds, so we continued on the trek home...which all in all took about an hour! A fifteen minute walk took an hour! It was way funny! But it was lots and lots of fun. It's so crazy how much fun I have every day. I work during the day and get my homework done and then I have so much fun every evening! It's a blast!

Anyway, I need to go work on my homework....so bye!

I don't think I really have anything to say...but it's been a few days since I've posted on here, so I figured I probably should. I had steak and it was heavenly. Harriet, Rochelle and I decided that we were going to buy steak and go over to a guys' apartment to make it and eat it...but not give them any, cause they had their own steak and wouldn't share it with us last night. So while we were at the cremery getting steak, we saw them just as we were leaving! And we were like, "we're coming over to make steak for ourselves" and they were like, "whatever" and we were like, "no, we really are" so then we debated about that for a while, and as we were leaving, i asked one of them (Ben), "is your door unlocked?" and he said, "probably not" and he reached in his pocket and gave me the keys. The other guy (Chris---see? i'm giving names) was like, "Seriously?" and Ben just kinda muttered, "They're gonna come over anyway"...

So then we had the keys to their apartment...but then on the way back, Rochelle had to go to the bathroom, so we decided to go in a guys' apartment and use their guest bathroom and meet guys at the same time....so we ended up visiting one of Rochelle's apartment and meeting all those guys and were there for like 15 mins....and then got back to the other apartment after the guys got home....but we still had steak!!!!

anyway, must go, love all of you!

So, today was crazy---lots of church meetings and stuff and then visiting/home teaching then a tiny bit of sleep, then visiting teaching fireside, then ward prayer. After that Harriet and I went to Ruth and Jordan's for cinnamon rolls and some fun time hanging out away from the dorms and Harriet's roommate drama. We think we're going to try to room in the spring if I stay and maybe summer if I end up staying then too---but Naomi is going to Vienna in the winter, so Harriet might actually room with us then! It would be lots of fun.

Tonight we just got back from Ruth and Jordan's and there was a big gourd sitting outside Harriet's door! It had a kind of cool love-ish poem on it but it said to return it in order to play the game or dance the dance or whatever it was. (oh, and it was from my FHE brothers, coincidentally). So we wrote a reply on it and ran it over to their door--except their door was OPEN and we were just going to put it down and knock then run down into the basement! Except just as Harriet was setting the gourd down, a boy kind of appeared in front of the door, and she dropped the gourd and ran and I squeaked, "Oh no!" and we booked it out and down the stairs. So we were waiting all night for a reply (standing on a balcony above their floor so we could see if they left) and they didn't, so we got our friend Jeff to slip a note under their door that said, "P.S. Reply, fools". Then when we were standing outside we saw them wandering around, but don't know if they actually did something. But it was a very exciting experience!

Anyway, I don't really want to go to school tomorrow cause I have soooo much to do--but after tomorrow I won't have as much. I'm looking forward to it!

We're Rockin' It Out....

There have been no posts for two days because I've gotten home very late and I was already in bed when I remembered--so I kind of wrote a little in my journal instead. So, last night we had our ward talent show! It was a ton of fun! A few of my roommates and I (plus Caitlin, our neighbor, who is pretty much our roommate--seriously. we're thinking of putting her name on the chore chart) did a Monty Python skit (the one where they all talk about how poor they are) and it was very funny!!!We borrowed jackets and ties from our friends and one of them turned up some pretty interesting stuff! Starla and I are sporting two of his jackets and ties (Starla's jacket was pretty crazy, you can't see it very well, and mine was pin-striped! But at the beginning of the evening, I thought I had a pretty crazy outfit--but then looking back, I really, really liked it!! Some more...

The mansion that we had the talent show at was INCREDIBLE. I have never seen anything like it. It was the house of the in-laws of one of our bishopric and it had 4 or 5 floors.....CRAZY. It was decorated like a museum...I think that's what it's kind of become. But seriously, you know those old museum like houses? Exactly that. It reminded me of a mix between Rhett and Scarlett's mansion and the Governor's mansion in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie (seriously....full size portraits, swords on the wall, everything).


On Thursday, Starla and I were in the kitchen making food I think, and our roommates were playing music in preparation for a dinner date they were having, and all of their cooking stuff was laid out on the table, so...........

Yeah......it's like that a lot around here......