I Believe I'm Not In High School Anymore

Just like Dorothy realizing she wasn't in Kansas anymore, I'm realizing that I'm in a place much different than high school. For one, the homework load has more than doubled its normal time length. Its stressful, but that's the price college students pay, right? Besides my Fitness class and Math class/lab, I went on a run with Jonni. By the end of it, with the combination of not running in months and the altitude difference from back home, I'm surprised my lungs stayed inside my chest. Talk about heart burn. But other than classes and the workout, there was nothing but homework...gotta love college.

Little Fish in a Big Pond--First Day of Class

Talk about intense. Not so much the class itself, but trying to juggle getting from one class to another, trying to find a seat, trying to stay awake haha. Today I had Physical Science (and my teacher turns out to be from a different faith--at BYU of all places, go figure!) and American Heritage (it did not sound interesting at all...thank you GE's) and Book of Mormon 2 (my teacher wasn't the main Book of Mormon teacher, but he edited and wrote for the Ensign, Liahona, New Era and Friend and edited the Hymn book...sounds legit to me!). But like all colleges (or most, its not like I'm staying this from experience), I had a ton of homework. No fun haha. But it's gotta get done. Work hard, play hard, that's what I'm gonna try to live by.

Today was also FHE. We got to speed date. So I know more about the guys than the girls, but we seem to be a really sweet ward. :]

More classes tomorrow! Fitness and Lifestyle Management, math and more math (thank you labs). :P

I Love Bee-Why-You

Yesterday (Saturday) was quite a handful. I was sick Friday night (darn allergies) and slept for 11 hours and work up around 11ish. After showering and getting ready for the day, I had my "breakfast" with a hall-mate, Jonni. After a glorious breakfast (seriously, so delicious), we decided to go all around campus to look for our classrooms, not just the buildings they were in. This proved to be very helpful because most of the time it took us at least 5 minutes to find a certain class. But after that and after relaxing a bit (our feet were killing us at that point), we headed out for some dinner. Again, it was glorious. Then we came back to our hall and got ready for our first college dance. If you took out the slow dances and the swing dances, it was actually a lot of fun! Then all of us (Andre for a little bit, Alison L., roommate Alison N., Jonni and I) all hung out. We spent most of the evening dodging sprinklers, going lobby-hopping and then watching funny YouTube videos. All in all, it was a fun Saturday night.

Today will be my first church meeting in my BYU Ward. I'm really excited! :]

And it's official. I want to try-out for the BYU Women's Rugby Team. There's an interest meeting Monday. We'll see how that goes. Alison N., Jonni and Liz (a friend from my stake who lives in Heritage) wants to join the team too. So excited!

"Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve"

This is one of the most inspiring phrases I've ever heard and it just so happens to be the BYU motto. I love it. It makes you want to make a difference in the world, big and small, a change for good. I guess that's why I wanted to be a speech therapist (or just recently added, special education teacher--thank you David O. McKay School of Education for having both of them in the same section). I want to make a difference in the lives of young children, when developing social and academic skills are crutial. I want to inspire them to dream a size bigger than what people expect from them...kids that are slow mentally or talk differently and stuggle. To me, the size of a paycheck won't matter--the growth and happiness of a child will.

I've been thinking a lot about my future lately...I suppose college can do that to a person, weird haha. Today the biggest moment for me was when we visited our "schools" that hold our majors in NSO. My lovely school is the David O. McKay School of Education. President McKay said "I think it must be apparent to every thinking mind that the noblest of all professions is that of teaching, and that upon the effectiveness of that teaching hangs the destiny of nations.". That quote was, in a way, my "A-ha!" moment. It's everything I want to do and be. Brother Brad Wilcox (one of the professors in the school) said, "I'm so glad you aren't here to 'enter to learn, go forth to earn'." haha It's so true though. For professions as crutial as teaching, they don't get paid very well. But in my opinion, teaching is a great sacrifice (financially) but also one of the most rewarding professions. I never considered teaching, but I guess now I will be, just in a different way.

I'm very excited for my future. In my mind, there will be nothing better than helping the lives of young children. I hope it all works out. Keep your fingers crossed that it does!

Sticker Shock, Check-Ins, and NSO--So Many Things To Do!

First off, I would like to apologize to the blog stalkers (haha, just kidding family and friends!), turns out you need a special cord to get on the internet...so there's a lot of stuff to catch up on! So let's start with the day before yesterday! :]

The day before yesterday (Tuesday) was another sticker shock day. Honestly, you think tuition and housing and meal plans are crazy expensive...add books and more supplies (yes, our first day wasn't quite sufficient for the demand of college life and preparation) and you feel like you're digging yourself into a pit that could soon make you unable to get yourself out. Debt? No...not yet. But it does make one slightly worried. I went to a Financial Survivor lecture today and the lady said, "It is socially acceptable to be below poverty level as a college student". Truer words were never spoken. :P haha

Yesterday was check-in day. Talk about long and exhausting. We (Mom, cousin Bailey and I) got into my hall and spent four hours organizing and sanitizing and whatnot. Later Aunt Karen joined in. It was getting a little crazy haha. But we finished and my room looks great! Thanks everyone! :]

Today was the first day of NSO (New Student Orientation). Honestly, it seemed way "EFY-ish" to me haha. Not that EFY is a bad thing (trust me, I loved EFY), but I don't know...it seemed a bit much in my opinion. But the most useful thing (for me) was the financial lecture meeting thing (yes, Mom, I did go! haha). Very informative. After all that jazz, my cousin Lindsey picked up my friends Alison L. and Miles and took us over to our friend Sammi's house. We then went to dinner and (Alison and I) walked back home. Alison and I learned to one, get better acquainted with the campus (We got lost haha. Thank you, random biker who gave excellent directions!) and to not walk back from Sammi's house when the sun is setting...haha lessons learned.

Tomorrow's agenda: NSO...and who knows what else after that.

Knowledge Is Power, But It Comes At A Price

Today was the biggest "sticker shock" day of my life. I had to buy my books, my packets, my pedometer, my Iclicker. I had to buy laundry soap, bed sheets, hangers, dorm room supplies galore. I had to buy new glasses. Something I learned very quickly was that money goes fast! And the sad thing is that we're still not done.

But lucky for me, there were some new bits of "knowledge" that were free. Aunt Karen decided to give me a hair lesson and make-up lesson after my trim. Not to toot my own horn, but once she was done, I looked good haha. Now hopefully I'll be able to maintain it! Another tid bit--my throat started hurting...slightly paranoid that it was strep throat or something, I was worried. But Aunt Karen whipped out her special oils and prepared a remedy that could cure whatever was in my body and just to be safe, she wrapped cabbage around my throat (after putting some essential oils on) and told me to have it on for 45 minutes. "It'll hurt like the demons," she said, "but it works." And she's right. It feels like my throat is on fire. But if it works as much as it hurts, then I'm sure I'll be fine.

Rolled, Sprained, or Twisted, Doesn't Matter What It Is, It Hurts

Literally ten mintues before we were going to go to the family dinner, I was going to take out Uncle John's dog. His dog is a big dog and as I was going out the door, so was she. The combination of the dog blocking my sight and my weak perscription in my glasses made me mistake the step for a flat porch. One second you saw me, the next you heard a big boom with me on the floor. My ankle failed me haha. It hurt a lot, but it wasn't bad enough that I couldn't walk. So we all got in the car and drove to Aunt Karen's and Uncle Bob's house, where I grabbed some ice and wrapped it around my ankle and did "RICE". Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. This required me to lay on the floor and prop my foot on a couch armrest. I was quite the party pooper haha.

But, on the brightside, the food was delicious and the company was good. Mmmmm. Nothin' better, my friends.

Tomorrow's agenda: heading out to BYU to buy books and get my ID; order glasses; get hair trimmed; get school supplies. Very hectic.

The Great Laptop Search and Other Bits and Bytes

Yesterday was pretty fun (and somewhat stressful). The stressful part happened in the beginning of the day. After going to bed around 2 and waking up around 8, I got ready for something I've been dreading for a long time--laptop shopping. Laptops are amazing, don't get me wrong. But trying to buy a laptop for the best price with Best Buy guys trying to convince you that a certain $400 dollar laptop (with a $200 dollar warranty) was the best deal ever (not), and having a variety of laptops at Sam's Club and Costco makes you completely overwhelmed. Lucky for me, I have an uncle (John) who is a complete genius in this computer field (he doesn't think he is, but compared to me, he is the Einstein of computer knowledge). With his help, I got a laptop for a decent price, a very nice warranty, and some peace of mind. Thank you, Uncle John!

The fun part happened afterward. My mom and I met up with Court, my good friend and my mom's "third son". We ate at Cafe Rio and after lunch, we headed towards the University of Utah campus, where Court showed us around (it is quite beautiful, regardless of the BYU/U of U rivaly haha). After the campus tour, we went to the Gateway (the mall). It is much better than our mall back home, if I do say so myself. And then we went to see his new home where he's staying with his grandparents and aunt. It was very beautiful, the home and the view. Then Aunt Vickie picked us up from Court's and we said goodbye.

Later on in the evening, we (Uncle Chris, Aunt Karen, my mom and I) went to my Uncle John/Aunt Cindy's house, where my mom and I would stay the night. Never have I laughed more in a couple of hours in my life. When my aunts and uncles and my mom get together, they are absolutely hilarious. It makes me very excited for when my siblings and I meet up together.

Today is now Sunday and later on, all the Utah family (minus Aunt Vickie and some or all of her family, because of another thing) will get together for our big Italian family feast. I can smell Uncle John's sauce and meatballs from here...it's going to be sooo good! Ciao!

Pools, Drive Ins, and Lunch Dates, Oh My!

So yesterday, after waking up from the tent, my aunt had an idea--going to the pool! Fun going with your cousins, right? Yes. Fun going with your cousin's cousins, who aren't really your cousins, so its like you're one step above strangers and you have to hang out with them a bunch?...Debatable haha. The one "cousin" who was closest to my age and also going to BYU (Taylor) left to play Fantasy Football (or was it baseball?). The other "cousin", Megan, was hanging out with her younger cousins. This left my cousin Jacob and Brayden and my Aunt Vickie, who I spent most of my time with.

While we were there, I got Brayden hooked onto the diving board (Although I got yelled at by a psycho lifeguard for still being at the edge of the pool just in case Brayden needed to be pulled up. In my eyes, she should thank me. I was closer to saving a potential life than she was and I wasn't even getting paid for it. Punk.). After a couple of dives, Brayden seemed to get the hang of it. "I'm gonna do a front flip!" he said. "Brayden, I don't think that's such a good idea. You might smack your head or your stomach." I warned. Brayden then said, "Megan, I'm not gonna hit the bottom!" I left, telling him to be careful and highly suggested he just stuck to running off the board. Five minutes later, Brayden came back to where we were staying, crying and the side of his stomach bright red. Even though he went back to the boards and stopped crying, I still felt bad.

Later that evening, Aunt Vickie and her sisters decided to go to a "Drive In Movie". It must be a dying breed, because they don't even have those in Northern Virginia. So I tagged along with some of the Filoso clan (Aunt Vickie, Ali, Noah) to the movies where we met up with the "cousins" we'd seen earlier. The movies? Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me. Best two movies ever. By the time the movies were done, it was past midnight and by the time we got home it was 1 in the morning.

Today's agenda (that I know of) deals with going to buy a laptop with my uncle, John, and my mom, and going on a lunch date (again with my mom) and also my friend and my mom's "third son", Court. I haven't seen him in ages, so it should be fun.  :]

Tupperware, Tents and Trampolines

Even though only a few days passed since my last blog, so much has happened! So I guess I'll start from the moments after I made my first blog post. I was just relaxing with my cousins. My mom and my aunt Karen had already gone to Education Week at BYU. My uncle Bob had already left for work. My cousin, Josh, had gone to his job. Emily was gone (she did a night hike up to Mt. Timpanogos...I think) and was going to come back later in the morning. That meant that only Katie, Jared, Jacob, Ali, Justin, and I were at the house. But eventually Emily joined the home-bound ranks and we all just went about our morning business.

Not long after Em got home, my mom called and told us that we should help my cousin Lindsey and her husband, Kaleb. They had to move all their stuff into a new apartment. Not too hard right? Well, after Katie's ortho appointment, and Lindsey measuring someone's driveway for Kaleb's job, we finally headed towards the apartment. A bunch of lifting, organizing and disinfecting later, we hit a stopping point around 7 o' clock.

That's when Linds told Kaleb they had to meet up with friends...and that we had to stay at the apartment until Mom and Aunt Karen finished Education Week for the day--"around 7:30 at the Marriott Center" Lindsey said. We were told to wait in her old apartment until they called for me to pick them up...pick them up? Is she serious? I was to go to BYU campus and navigate my way through the streets of the campus I've only been on one time to pick them up? A little panicked, I was relieved to find out Katie knew the way and let Lindsey and Kaleb go off to their next destination.

We were pretty calm and okay with the whole situation...that is until we found out that to get on the computer you needed the manager password. The password Lindsey forgot to mention. I looked at the time on my cellphone. By then it was around 7:15...might as well leave to pick up Mom and Karen right? So we all headed in the car and I drove off. This drive proved to be more stressful than when I was trying to learn how to drive back in my permit days. Not only was I driving in a new place, my "co-pilot", Katie, couldn't tell her right from her left and Ali kept screaming "we're gonna die" about every minute or so. When we finally got to the Marriott Center, it was a little past 8, my nerves were raw, I was hungry and my patience was just about empty. When I called to let my mom know where we were, I discovered that Education Week wasn't over...the last lesson ended at 9:20. This meant that we had to wait until then to leave. And to make it worse, they weren't at the Marriott Center...they were at the Wilkinson Student Center. My mind was sarcastically saying at this point, "Welcome to BYU campus, where we love to keep you hostage".

After finding a new parking spot closer to the Wilkinson Student Center, we found our moms waiting at the cafe area. My mom handed us some money, and with my $8 in hand, I bolted to the shortest line in the room, only to satisfy my hunger pains with Japanese take-out (that was nowhere near as good as my Japanese grandmother's, but beggars can't be choosers). Dinner ended, so Katie, Ali, and I went through the bookstore, where Katie and Ali bought (in my mind) candy that was too expensive. That only killed about 15 minutes, so we left and sat in an open seating area. Eventually 9:20 came around and so did our moms. We finally left BYU and got home around 10:30.

The next morning, my cousin, Brittany, and I decided to go to Education Week for a few hours. The lessons were pretty good and the speakers were great which made walking up and down BYU's freakishly tall and long stairs worth it, one of which is called "God's Stair-Master"--even if we both had lung burn and "jello" legs by the end of it. I joked with Brittany saying, "if I don't have nice legs by the end of my first freshman semester, I'm going to be so upset".

When we left BYU, we headed back towards my Aunt Vickie and Uncle Chris's house. I stayed there my first night in Utah and was eager to see them again. A short visit became hours and by the time evening hit, Brittany's boyfriend, Noti, was at the house, as well as my aunt's family. By the time they left, it would've been a pain to drop me off back at Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob's. So my other cousins, Jacob, Noah and Brayden set up a tent on their trampoline, grabbed a bunch of pillows and sleeping bags and slept outside in the tent on the tramp. It was surprisingly comfortable and fun. Ali (there are two Ali's--a Karen/Bob Ali and a Vickie/Chris Ali) was just getting over a sickness so she stayed inside.

Now all of us in the tent, except Jacob, woke up from our sleep. I'm not sure what the rest of my day has in store, but if it was just as fun as yesterday or as eventful as the day before, I'm sure it will be "blog worthy" and I'll let you know.

Peace out boy scouts.

Fresh Start in Utah

Yesterday I arrived in Utah--my new home for the next four years. Crazy! I decided to create a blog, one because it's probably easier than writing in a journal every day and two, anyone can read it. So this will be used to write down all my adventures in Utah at my dream college, BYU.

So far, I have said goodbye to my family back at home and now I'm staying with my Utah family who I haven't seen in five years. Right now, I'm in love with the Utah mountains and air--no humidity. Yesterday, it was 90 degrees but it felt better than Virginia in 80 degrees! I also got to go see the BYU campus (first time ever) and I loved it. The campus was beautiful and I got a lovely tour from my Aunt Vickie haha. But the only confusing thing are the names for the buildings...too many to memorize! So I'm going to have to study the buildings before I go or else I'll get lost! But I'm so excited to go there! Only a few more days! :]