Mothers Know Just What to Say...

Well today was another long day. Add homesickness to the mix (yes, I had another moment), it was a very slow, mellow, half-empty day. That is until my mom's "spidy" senses kicked in...looks like I'm not good at hiding my emotions. She could tell something was wrong...and she knew exactly what to say. One thing she said that stuck out was when she said that "failure and struggles are part of the plan. If we didn't have them, we'd be perfect, and if we were perfect, we wouldn't need the Savior. Everyone has struggles and failures; everyone needs the Savior.". College failures--my test scores--and struggles--living on my own, eating right, exercising, studying the perfect amount, having "me" time, having a social life--have been quite a burden. But as my mom reminded me, everyone goes through this in some way at college. All this time, I thought my mom was the epitome of college perfection...I never heard about her failures...only her crazy roommates! haha. I didn't hear about my dad's either, or my cousin, Lindsey's, or my several aunts' and uncles', or really anyone's failures or struggles. I thought I was just alone--the only one to have failed a test (at least in my family) or gotten a test that wasn't an A or high B. It all sounds silly, thinking about my feelings and typing it all down...but to be honest, that's how I felt. But my mom reminded me something I'd lost sight of. No one's perfect. And I'm not expected to be perfect. Turns out, she wasn't either, which to be honest, set my mind at ease also...She simply told me that whenever I feel that way to just turn to the Savior and "stand in holy places, even if that holy place is in myself". I hope that when I'm a mom I'll have that ability to somehow know exactly what to say...love you Mom!

Other less depressing sides of my day (haha), I got to spend an hour and a half coordinating visiting teaching companions and their sisters...you'd think it would be easy, but its not. When you hold stewardship over people, you have suddenly a lot more pressure about their salvation and overall well-being haha. I also had Family Home Evening (or as we call it, Home Evening Group...I'm more of a fan calling it FHE, but whatever haha) and we played poker. I am not good! I lost all my cookies and Andes Mints...oh well.

Agenda for tomorrow: classes (obviously), visit the nursing home, pick my bundle for next semester...it will be another long, busy day. But that's college for ya.

Great Weekend, Not-So-Great Monday

But I guess thats the norm, isn't it? This past weekend was amazing! Friday was Jonni's birthday. We celebrated by talking...haha we had so many plans, but really it all boiled down to us talking. Which all of us were a fan of, so that was totally fine. Tyler (a friend from EFY years ago) came by to visit, which was nice. Saturday was amazing! It was General Conference weekend and I got to go to the Saturday morning session. It was so cool! I loved it. I got to see my friend, Court, too, which was nice. I ended up spending the whole day up in Salt Lake, because our (Alison L. and Jonni) ride forgot to mention they were staying up in SL for the Priesthood session. But it was totally fine because it got us to meet Jericho Road and David Osmond and get their autographs and we got to see our friend Julia from back home. She took us to her grandmother's where we feasted on German food...they had a family reunion the previous day and were having left-overs but they were delicious. And, turns out, Julia's grandma is first-cousin's with President Eyring. Small world! When we heard that, all three of us squealed a little bit haha. On Sunday we also listened to General Conference.

Today, Monday, was another tiring day. After my classes, however, I was surprised by getting mail. Two letters from my two brothers. Both made me laugh so hard. I loved them. I also worked out today and it turns out the clouds of Utah can't really make up their mind on the weather...because one moment, its cold, the second, its sunny, the third, it's pouring! And it just so happened that when I finished working out, the clouds decided to create a monsoon. So I ran/walked through the most bone-chilling rain of my life. It was fun though, just because I miss the rain so much...Utah does not get enough of it.

The rest of my schedule consists of studying, taking a math test, eating and studying some more. Wish me luck on another stressful week! Oh, and my grandma comes in today! I'm so excited! Just throwing that out there.

Tuesdays are the New Mondays

What I mean by that is that with new classes and a new day schedule, you're pretty much starting from scratch. Hence, "new Monday". Today, I had my Fitness and Lifestyle Management class. We learned about cardiorespiratory fitness...it made me want to buy a bike and just go bike around Provo all day haha. I'm putting that on my "Things to Buy Next Year" list--a bike! Then I went to my first devotional! Elder Robert D. Hales was the speaker and he primarily talked about how the things we choose can either "lead us to a door full of opportunities or keep us trapped in a corner with few options"...thank you, free agency! After the devotional, I headed off to math class...rational functions haven't changed. They're still just as boring as when I learned them the first time haha. But hopefully the intense boredom level won't prohibit me from continuing to brush up on my Algebra skills. To make sure I wasn't enjoying myself too much, I had to go to math lab not long after that class haha. But my TA is very nice and I got a 100% on the quiz and the homework. So far, so good.

Today I also had a new change...a visit to the health center to be exact. I had been feeling weird sensations in my chest. Afraid it was asthma or a heart murmur or some odd disease (trust me, I had a couple of weeks to worry about this and my imagination was running wild haha), I decided to walk all the way to the health center with Jonni. After a visit with the doctor and a breathing test and a heart test, the verdict was that it was anxiety and stress haha. Kind of lame and slightly embarrassing, but honestly, knowing what was wrong with me makes me feel so much better. Gotta love nice doctors and nurses.

Now I will be finishing up homework and just getting ready for tomorrow. Exciting!

Oh and yesterday, after my previous blog, I had my first Family Home Evening...it was interesting. But I'm glad my roommate and I will be going together. I'll just leave it at that. haha.

I Miss the Weekend Already and Its Only Monday

My whole weekend for the most part was quite enjoyable. On Friday, there was a 70's dance/event, which was pretty fun. Even though they ran out of tie-dye, Alison L., Jonni and I got two free white t-shirts...so we'll be having our own tie-dye party soon. We also got our faces painted and then danced the night away (a guy from my ward Sammy and a friend of his joined us). Then after the dance, we all got ice cream (despite the cold) and headed over to May hall where we hung out with other people as well. I learned how to play signs...seems to be a cut-throat game. Either that or the people who I'd send the "sign" over to wouldn't pay attention so I'd get tagged haha. But no hard feelings.

Saturday was a good day. I got up early, studied some math, and headed down to the testing center, only to find it was closed...so I spent a few hours doing homework and then my roommate Alison N. drove me and Jonni down to Riverton, where we saw our relatives. It was so good to see them and to have a home-cooked meal. My aunt Vickie found out I forgot to buy computer paper when I bought my printer last week (oops...), so she gave me a whole pack of it. That was very sweet of her. And later on, my uncle John took me and Jonni home.

Sunday was a fantastic day. We had Regional Conference and we got to hear talks from Brother (or should I say Elder?) Snow of the Seventy, Sister Beck, President of Relief Society, Elder Holland of the Twelve, and Elder Packer, President of the Twelve. I loved every single talk. The only downside was sitting on the uncomfortable bleachers for more than an hour haha. But actually listening to them and being in the same room with them (a plus to being in the same state as the General Authorities for sure) outweighed the seats. After R.C., I invited my cousins Sam and Lindsey and her husband Kaleb to have lunch with me. It was good to see them and talk to them. It lasted two hours, but it was very enjoyable haha. After lunch and Book of Mormon homework, I headed out to the Fireside, where Elder Scott would give his talk. It was so beautiful, hearing him talk so sweetly about his wife and children (yes, the talk was on marriage), it made me cry. I love it when General Authorities talk about their wives...you can tell they still love each other, if not more than they did as newly weds. I want that in my life. I told Jonni, "We need to find 'Apostle Potentials" as our husbands"...and we will someday! haha

Later on in the evening, I had some girl talk with Alison N., Alison L., and Jonni. Never have I laughed so hard in those short hours...haha. Just thinking about it makes me laugh.

Today is Monday and besides classes, I took my math test...it was open this time! haha. I did pretty good for my first college test. I was exhausted though...but my lovely roommate bought me a little drink to help me wake up haha. So sweet of her. And later on today, my plan's to work on homework, do some laundry and go to Family Home Evening! Busy, busy!

Girl Talk and Catch-Up Days

It's days like today that make me so grateful for the girl friends I've made. They know just what to say and they know what you're going through in all aspects--new place to call home, experiencing being an adult, balancing homework and church callings and not to mention a LIFE. They're the ones you can talk about boys and drama and boy drama haha (we're girls who love boys, of course we're going to talk about them!). There's nothing better than having that one friend you can depend on (and I'm lucky to have more than just one haha)...quality over quantity is a must in this aspect.

Today was Labor Day--no school! This day consisted of me cleaning my room (vacuuming made me miss the vacuum back home, as sad and slightly pathetic as that sounds--our vacuums are ancient!), eating, doing homework and going to FHE. All in all, a productive day. :]

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!