BYU Round 2

It's official: I'm no longer a freshman. I didn't have to go find my classes before the first day and I could even go on auto-pilot walking across campus with complete faith that I'd end up in the right building on time. Let me tell you, it's a good feeling.

But with that feeling comes those "real life" feelings. My horse is here now and I'm the sole person responsible for her. No more of asking my parents or best friend a favor to pick up some wormer or call the vet if I can't. I work a lot and for a little while I've been holding up payments on my own. Of course I'm going from 40 down to 12 hours a week since summer is over, but still. My car has been a little messed up lately and instead of having my dad walk down to the garage to look at it, I actually have to take it in and PAY to find out what's wrong. What's up with that?

Honestly, though... things have never been better. I'm living with my best friend with a seemingly never ending supply of popsicles and Orange Crush, I see my horse every day and she's making HUGE improvements, I've got a nice boy in my life, and I am absolutely in love with my classes. All of them.

This semester, more than the last two I've had, has put a huge spiritual emphasis on everything. It's making me ever grateful for my BYU education and it's also blowing my mind. For example: In psychology, we talked about altruism... and our teacher said, "Wouldn't you worship Christ differently if he didn't have altruistic purposes?" Yeah. I think we would. And in the very next class, linguistics, we talked about how we probably speak a fallen language and someday we will speak a perfect language again. In the Book of Mormon, when Christ was praying, it was recorded that the people could not record what He was saying. Cool to think that someday we can comprehend that (and all things), right?

This first week of classes has made me SO thankful for this opportunity to study at BYU. There aren't many schools that will start class with an opening prayer and tie in Gospel principles to our everyday learning. In our evaluations at the end of the semester, there is always a question that asks how our professors tied in Gospel principles and if the class has somehow strengthened our testimony. Obviously in Book of Mormon, yes, my testimony improved, but in some other classes it was hard to decide which level of "not really" to choose. I'm amazed at how, already, the 5 classes I'm in have managed to open my eyes up to how the Gospel really does tie into everything. Let's just say I think this is going to be the best semester yet.

Our cute first day of school picture. 

Spring in Provo

It's officially been over a month since winter semester ended and everyone went their separate ways. We were as far away as California to Ohio and that's a scary difference when you're used to being about a 2 minute walk from each other. Emily and I have a new ward and new people, which isn't bad, but it's a big change to make. 


In April, I got to go back to Ohio for Rolex and just visit for a while. Riding Dreamer for a week? Happiest week of my life. She's just as great as I remember and now... I'd do just about anything to get her to Utah. That's why I'm working double shifts at the MTC to save up and ship her here. YEP. 

The best place to be.

ROLEX.

Since we've been pretty lonely around here in Provo, we've done a lot of traveling. We actually went to Boise and got to visit a friend and go to a mission farewell! It was great seeing them, especially because Emily and I are probably tired of seeing each other ALL the time. :) But after a while of being in Utah and being stuck in constant Provo traffic, it was nice to run away to Idaho for a while. 

Alex's farewell! 

The time finally came, though... and a bunch of my friends reported to the MTC. I work there and I get to see them LITERALLY every day, but it still makes me miss them. We don't get to be crazy BYU sophomores together. But I get to send lots of letters to crazy places and that in itself will be way fun! I'm pretty sure that by the time all my friends get into the MTC/on their missions I will single-handedly be keeping the postal system from going under. Yeah. But I miss them all terribly. 

Family video chats are the BEST.

Love Shack

That's just what we're calling out apartment since, well, it's February. You have to have fun with it, right? Right. Let's see. I guess it's still winter... but it's almost 60 degrees. The perfect temperature for riding... and I'm dying. I NEED to ride a horse really soon or I might just throw a little kid fit until someone goes out of their way to find me a horse. Yeah. It's that bad.

After Christmas, Joanna and I made our three-day road trip from Ohio to Provo. While long, it was bearable and even enjoyable sometimes. Until we listened to every album and musical I had on my iPod and THEN had to drive through Nebraska... getting to Colorado and spending New Years with Emily there was way fun! I was ready to see the Y on the mountain again, though. Coming through the last break in the mountains was an ecstatic moment for me. I can't even describe my joy upon seeing the temple and knowing that, finally, we made it.

A few weekends later, our FHE group had the chance to go up to Boise and spend a weekend with Seth and his family. So fun! Basically, we played the whole time and then cried when he gave his talk. Saying goodbye is hard, but it was an incredible weekend. Plus, we saw a picture of him in Africa and he looks SO happy there. =]

Watching the sunset at Table Rock. Our last weekend with Seth. 

Classes have been busy, but we've all been pretty motivated lately. Midterms are killer, but we're making it through, and hey... at least we still have legs. The OTHER way exciting thing is that all the boys are getting mission calls! There are announcements left and right. Let's see...

Firstly, Seth is already in Ghana. We love him. 

Derrick: Melbourne, Australia - Mandarin speaking 

Derek: Cuiabá, Brazil - Portuguese speaking 

Colin: Cali, Columbia - Spanish speaking 

Klayton: Taichung, Taiwan - Mandarin speaking 

Dallin: Manaus, Brazil - Portuguese speaking 

I can't wait to hear about the rest! 

Our FHE group is currently playing a game called assassin. Basically, we all draw names (girls of boys, and vice versa) and they are your "target." Of course, you are also somebody's target. The way to kill is to get a clothespin on them. Fun? Definitely. But the fear and paranoia are real. Maybe that's just because I'm very competitive, but still. Walking around campus, people probably think I just robbed a store. 

Some intimidation pictures that Andrea and I took for the boys. Striking fear into the hearts of many.

We actually just finished up the first round. I'd say that Andrea and I are the master assassins! Dallas and Klay went first, then Jared, Derrick, Dallin... then Colin. I'd say the girls won this round, but we're starting another one soon and the boys are coming back with a vengeance. It should be exhilarating.

The other night we put together the BEST FHE ever. It was Survivor! Brea, Andrea and I planned some crazy games and it was so fun! Seriously. We went all out with decorating the apartment and putting together activities. It was the most fun I've had in such a long time. Love it! 

 

Yellow team!

Red team! 

     

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!