Winter Wonderland. Kind of.

Things here in P-town haven't been very wintery. Just recently the temperatures dropped, but there are still more snowflakes in our apartment than there are outside. I guess the mountains are pretty much hogging all the white stuff, but that's okay. My walk across campus is already long enough, I don't need a trek through the snow.

It seems like Thanksgiving took a really long time to get here, mostly because we were all ready for Christmas music and there was just this one day holding us back. Once it came and went, time is flying again. Our family had a big Thanksgiving dinner together before everybody went their separate ways. It was pretty legit, too. 18 pound turkey. Yeah.

Then suddenly it was December, which is my favorite month of the year! The start has proven to me that it might be my favorite December of all the Decembers I've ever had! On the second, we got some cars and went to Temple Square to see the lights. It snowed the whole time we were there and it was just magical.

Basically, my birthday was the best ever. My roommates gave me breakfast in bed and a peppermint milkshake that I've been craving since last November. Seth's Christmas concert was amazing and the whole ward sang happy birthday to me at the Christmas party. Followed by a surprise cake! I love my family. They are literally the best. Plus, the cake eating contest wasn't too bad either. 

So now we're all preparing for finals and Christmas break... which is great, but let's just say I'm not looking forward to leaving these people for very long. 

November Already?

I'm seriously trying to figure out where all the time goes. It seems like just a few minutes pass by and suddenly is isn't "almost November," it's "mid-November." Next thing I know it'll be December and there's nothing I can do about it except enjoy every second, even if it disappears really fast.

A ton of leaves have fallen (with more to come) and we've even had a pretty decent snowfall. It hasn't been incredibly cold yet, but every morning I walk out the door expecting it to be worse than it is because every time I walked outside in Ohio that wind would get me... and it would hurt! I'm glad Provo isn't much like that.

It's officially less than a month until I fly home! Which also means less than a month until finals, but thankfully I'm not too worried about finals. At least... not yet. The downside of time flying is that I love the people here so much that with every day that disappears, I realize I have less and less time with them. What a pessimistic view to have... I know. But as long as it motivates me to spend as much time with them as possible, then I don't mind.

Seth got his endowments, so he was able to confirm/baptize us at the temple! So awesome!

Halloween dance. Best ever.

Faithful Latter-day Saints by day... nerds by night. Oh wait, we act that way all the time! I love these people to death. I'm never going to be able to leave Provo. I won't. Nobody can make me.

Hot and Dangerous

Honestly, the title has nothing to do with the post. That song has just been stuck in my head for way too long and it was literally the only thing I could think of as I was trying to think of some creative title. 


BYU has been great. My less than busy schedule got incredibly busy the last couple of weeks as mid-terms started, I made GleeYU, and became the ward choir director. I'm pretty sure I'll never be bored again. The temperature went up, but it's starting to drop. It smells like fall and I'm REALLY excited! 

BYU v UCF Game

 I was able to go to Salt Lake and see some missionaries that I missed oh so dearly! 

Our FHE group won the ward bake off... and received the golden spatula! 

Powdered sugar fight. Yeah. 

In Salt Lake for General Conference!
Allyson, Jessica, Allison, Brealynn and me.

Rise and Shout!

So basically, the first week of BYU was amazing. 


I couldn't ask for better classes and professors. Plus I've already had some amazing opportunities come my way... and it's only the first week! I've also had a sinus infection and our back door kind of sliced my heel open, but that's okay. 


BYU beat Ole Miss! It was such a fun game! 

My roomies Jessica, Brealynn, Allyson, Andrea and Sarah.

The weekend was so amazing! Plus our FHE boys are so awesome. Instead of doing something in the evening, we decided to take our day off from school and make a big breakfast... in our jammies! So fun. 

Allyson, Brealynn, Dallin, Dallas, Derrick, me, Jared, Seth, Klay, Andrea, Sarah and Jess!

BYU just doesn't disappoint. Smile! 

It's Official...

I'm a college kid! I just finished my first day of classes and it was so unlike anything else I have ever experienced. First off, I've run into Derek several times and I kind of feel like the odds are against that happening. Still, it's always happy to run into people and get to talk to them. 


All my teachers so far seem AMAZING. They're fun, spiritual, helpful and just really happy people in general. We opened classes with a prayer and discussed things like Joseph Smith and scriptures within the lessons. We also listened to some Lady Gaga and talked about how chocolate and music are similar. It's all supposed to be the dopamine, but another benefit is that they both work on girls. So true.


Campus doesn't seem very intimidating anymore and I can even find my way back to my dorm without having to "walk towards the Y on the mountain." By the way, I can see the Y from my bedroom window. Nice view. 


Other than that, everything is amazing! I got to see Divine Comedy and watch Tangled on a 40 foot screen (while eating our new ice cream: BYU Brownie). Our FHE boys brought us brownies which were REALLY good, so it looks like it's going to be a sweet time here in Provo. 

BYU Bound

         It seems like yesterday that I typed "August 24 at 4:15 pm" into my little countdown and the number 76 popped up with the seconds ticking away. Every now and then I would glance back and see the days disappearing and I wondered what it would feel like when it said 30 or 20 or 10 or 1. I hit my 30 and 20 mark and I have to say that it feels absolutely crazy.    
     I'm going to college in what is now 19 days. I'm excited, but at the same time... I've never liked Ohio and the people here more. There is this quote... "It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives." So true.  
          Ohio has been a fun place (... but I have 19 days and I'm not finished yet!) and I'm sure BYU will be even more fun. Last night I described how I felt to a friend as a train slowly taking off and I'm standing behind it desperately trying to slow it down. So maybe I'm not quite ready to leave Ohio yet. We'll see when that 1 day left comes around. 

For now, this song has been stuck in my head for a few weeks now. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co6WMzDOh1o&ob=av2e