A new semester and a new experiment!

Well the semester is already a month over and I can not believe where it went! I am so happy where I am right now. I have an amazing apartment full of amazing girls and an amazing ward and amazing FHE brothers......need I go on? My roommate Cathryn posted some pictures of our apartment on her blog and I am going to steal them so you can see then as well.


This is our living room and kitchen! So much fun. It's rare that it looks like this but when it does I think it looks great!

My best friend Catherine Loveland is home and it is so much fun!!! It's like a slumber party every night! For all who were skeptical about our living arrangement (I was too) it is working out very nicely!

Let's see, I have been trying an experiment on campus. I have noticed that in the time I have been away the spirit of Ricks has changed a bit. Unfortunately it is just a little less inviting. I think my coworkers and I have discovered the culprit. It is actually a tag team of Cell phones and I-pods. People pop in their earbuds and walk to class in their own little world not needing to acknowledge anyone around them. (I have always refused to get an ipod and now, I have even more incentive. I can just listen to the music in my head is what I tell people who ask what I will do on my way to class.)

Okay, So back to my experiment. I have been making an effort to catch people's eye and say, with a smile of course, "Hello!". It ends up being quite a fun game because 5 times out of ten when I am looking directly at a person they try even harder to nonchalantly avoid my gaze and walk on by. LOL I understand how they feel. I mean now a days some times you just feel awkward looking at other people in the eye with a friendly greeting. However, thus far the results of my experiment has shown that the people who have not completely ignored me when I catch their eye smile more as they walk away. And I end up feeling so much happier and cheerful. So thanks to those people who still let me say hello and brighten my day!

One more down, 6 more to go!

Well it is finally over. The semester that I began wanting to be over as fast as possible is done and I am wishing it hadn't gone by so fast. The last week was the worst week as far as stress goes. It was mostly my fault. If only I hadn't waited until the last day of the semester to do my time management class maybe I wouldn't have been so stressed and bogged down with studying, papers, and reading. Yesterday I had 4, yes 4, finals to take in between studying and work. My boss and coworkers were trying to be encouraging by telling me I am done after my last test. When I walked into my apartment at 10pm after my last final Sarah said "you're done!" Even though I keep hearing it I really don't feel done. Not until my grades come out. Today at work things have been dead. Rexburg really is a ghost town during the break. I have been checking my grades about every ten minutes even though I KNOW they wont be posted until Wednesday! WHAT?! I wont be able to sleep until Wednesday? Oh well. Even though I don't know the results I am done with this semester. Not more Walking out of Econ worried that I am going to be broke in the next year, no more looking at dirty flash cards to cram for my anatomy test on the reproductive system, and no more telling myself to stop procrastinating my time management class!

My close call with drinking

Today I surprised myself big time! I found myself looking down at the dixie cup filled with a forbidden liquid in front of me and seriously considering giving into the pressure to just take a swig. There wasn't very much in my cup and I figured if I really pushed myself I could throw my head back and get it all down in one try. That is when I realized I was at a point of desperation. How could I be considering this? I was going against everything my mother had taught me my whole life. And for what? Ten measly extra credit points in my Anatomy and Physiology class? I looked at my cup and thought about my struggling grade. I thought about the 10 point quiz I just bombed and how I put hours in the library, with tutors and study groups just to pull between a 64-78% on my last three tests. Now all I had to do was over come my instincts and take a drink. I mean I am going to BYU-Idaho and my teacher just told the class he was giving ten extra points to the guy in the back who chugged it. My teacher was promoting it. It couldn't be that bad or that unhealthy. At first I thought that we might get in some trouble if the university knew what was going on but then again it was for learning purposes and I needed the points. Bottoms up!
"It not bad! Just kinda salty", a girl in the lab station over from me yelled out right before I took a deep breath to down the contents of my cup.
"What?! You actually tried it? That's disgusting" Brother hunt, my lab and anatomy/physiology instructor asked VERY surprised. All the boys were tasting it and so of course us girls, although grossed out beyond belief, were eager to suck it up and earn some bonus points. But because Brother Hunt hadn't directly promised 10 bonus points to any one who drank their urine other then the kid in the back, we were all hesitant and yelling out "I'll do it if you really are going to give me points" or "can I just barely taste it and still get the points?"
Yes, you read it right. The yellow contents of my cup was real live urine. GROSS. When I walked into lab this morning and brother Hunt brought out the cups i remembered the lab was on the urinary system and I cringed. He couldn't possibly make us go....you know.....in that! But yes. He excused the ladies to the bathrooms down the hall and the gentleman(there were only three of them) were to use the "special" bathroom in the back room of the lab. We laughed in embarrassment and like women always do headed to the bathroom in groups. We sheepishly brought our test products back into the lab room and sat down waiting for instructions. That brings me to the beginning of my blog where I was looking into my cup wondering what this vile act was worth to me.
Brother hunt was explaining that a sure sign of diabetes was glucose in the urine. He went on to explain that to test for it they used to have to taste it. He then proceeded to stick his finger in his own cup and taste it's contents. The girls cringed and he laughed. He offered ten points to some one if they would do it as well. There were no takers until a guy in the back began to chug his half full cup! It was the most disgusting thing I had seen in my life! And I've seen a lot! Well after brother hunt offered this guy ten points and we all decided that it must not be that bad I began to think about it. When the girl at the lab station over really did the finger test and tried it, brother hunt put a stop to it all. Through his laugher he explained that all the guys in the room were taken to the back and they put apple juice in their cups. The amber juice they were tasting was not what we thought it was and all meant for him to get a good laugh. LOL It was pretty funny and I laughed that I was that desperate for a measly 10 points to consider turning to drinking!
Boy the things peer pressure, apple juice, and a low grade can get you to do.

(I do want to clarify that I have a "B" in the class. The class average on his tests are 66%)

TAG!

My friend Inga tagged me. HA Here we go

10 years ago… I was almost 13. I was at cobalt middle school in the student government, beehive president, and just realizing that boys weren't put here to punch.

Places I have lived:
1. Rexburg, ID
2. Columbia, MD
3. Provo, Ut
4. Mechanicsville, VA
5. Victorville, CA
6. LaHabra, CA


Things that you may or may not know about me:
*I get a high off of dancing. Any type of dancing.
*I love to take walks by myself
*I can be alone for maybe an hour before I am ready to burst and have to go find some one to talk to or something to do with people around.
*I can live off of chicken cup of noodles (it reminds me of windy days in high school in CA)
*I really can be responsible when I want to be
*I dance it the bathroom
*I love getting mail (but who doesn't)
*I have been proposed to over four times
*I want to start a non profit service organization
*I want to start my own business
*When I get bored I get a surge of energy that makes me really hyper. I think it's to try to amuse myself
*I'm kind of a big deal

5 Things on my "To Do List" today:
*Do homework
*Register my car
*Find a new boyfriend
*Finish my tape to Catherine
*Find a new apartment
*Get motivation to go to the party

What 7 things would I do if I suddenly made a billion dollars?
1. Start a non-profit service organization
2. Buy my parents a house, buy myself a house, and probably my brother and sisters one as well.
3. Contribute big time to "the baby fund" (wink, wink you know who you are)
4. Pay for the rest of school and a masters degree
5. Invest and make my money work for me!
6. Buy a motorcycle and get my pilot's license. (probably anonymously pay for my friend's pilot's license too. He should get his before I do)
7. Travel with my best friend


3 of my Bad Habits:
1. wasting time
2. not finishing a project I start
3. saying things before I think about how they actually sound

Jobs I have had:
1. RNC Mail processor
2. Sale's associate at the GAP
3. I've worked at the Polls
4. Janitor
5. Phone sales
6. Caterer
7. Babysitter
8. CNA
9. Receptionist at a cancer treatment development center
10. Personal assistant
11. Student Admissions counselor
12. Cashier, Customer Service rep, Magnolia home theater admin., and Operations Senior at best buy.
13. Sports apparel sales woman
14. Victoria Secret bra specialist

(Wow I've had a lot of jobs for only being 23. In my defense I have worked since I was 14 and after I was 18 sometimes had two -even three- jobs at a time.)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Cup of noodles
2. Fresh Veggies
3. Fruit
4. popcorn
5. frozen gogerts (is that how you spell them?)

5 shows I like to watch:
1. Gilmore girls
2. The Office
3. Arrested development
4. amazing race
5. America's next top model

Places I have vacationed:
1. Nauvoo
2. Utah
3. California
4. Las Vegas
5. Guatemala
6. El Salvador
7. Mexico (but only TJ so it doesn't really count)
8. Virginia
9. New York City
10. Palmyra
11. Arkansas
12. Bear Lake
21. Saint George, Ut


5 things I want to learn:
1. How to be a nurse
2. How to scuba dive
3. How to fly a plane
4. How to play the guitar
5. How to cook so people believe me when I tell them I know how to cook
I can't stop there.....
6. How to start my business
7. to love to learn
8. to teach
9. To do my hair and make up
10. To speak French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Korean (and so many others)

I tag ELIZABETH! Hannah, Maclaine, and whoever else would like to do it.

What am I doing with my life?

My first semester here I was an enthusiastic 19 year old. My classes were beginning freshman classes; I was excited for a new adventure, and was relatively carefree. I had no money but was young and found ways around starving. ; ) I had my best friend two minutes from my apartment door and my rubber ducky blanket. What more could a girl need? After the semester and a summer I decided I would go concur the world and didn’t return.
A year and a half later the feeling I should return to good old Iceberg began to grow. I continued school in MD but it just didn’t seem right. I continued to look forward to the time I’d be back in the Rexburg action and ice. Finally three years later I am back. This semester has been very different from my first experience. I am not as care free as I was before. It is pivotal that I do well in my classes or fine a new profession. The thought of starting from scratch and maybe not going into such a competitive field has crossed my mind numerous times! However there are two things that keep me from punching out the miniature nerves, elements, and organs dancing around my head as I sleep.
First, I will be honest. I am plain scared. I have thought about being a nurse since Liz needed stitches when I was three, I saw Eldon’s skin bubble and fall off from his second degree burns when I was 11, or when my daddy had the flu and I would bring him Tylenol and water in my sippy cup from the time I could walk. It’s scary to change your plans when that has been your plan for so long. The second reason is that I just love doing it. I haven’t served in an occupation of a nurse but I have care for the sick, shadowed many nurses in almost every wing of a hospital, mentored with an orthopedic surgeon, and given home health care to many people as a CNA. It is hard and very taxing work, but I L-O-V-E it.
It is the kind of work that makes me come home after a hard day, sink into my bed, and know that I have done something worth while with my time. I have expressed in previous posts the great love and friendship I build with the people I care for. Even now as I write this my heart is swelling with tender feelings for my past clients.
With that I still find myself wondering if this is something I should do. It has taken me SO LONG to get here. And here is still at least two semesters away from the nursing program. (Dad was right switching school with different program requirements was not one of my smartest ideas, but I always have been one who’s needed to find things out on my own.) I just realized the other day what one of my life dreams is and I am wondering if another major will get me there quicker. Oh well. That is life and I guess we will see what happens. I am off to bed to get some sleep so I’ll be awake enough in Anatomy and Physiology to take decent notes.

The Good life

This has been an amazing weekend and it is only Saturday! It was much needed after the week from H.....Well, I think you understand. I came down to go to court about my accident and have spent so much time with people I can't live with out! It has been wonderful! Friday night I spent time with my wonderful friend Ashley watching movies and talking about a man that I love to pieces. Then Saturday morning I ate a Korean breakfast with my Korean grandmother and Aunt. Who knew that soup and extra sticky rice were breakfast foods? Everyone who knows me knows I am a picky eater. I was very proud when I got the strange spicy soup down. (I'm still trying to get the taste of sea weed out of my mouth)

Although playing with Ashley and listening to my grandma and not understanding a word was awesome, the best part of my weekend didn't start until I showed up unannounced (again) at my sister's house. Okay, she had about 15 minutes warning. Elizabeth and Mark really are so good to me. We sat there and talked about everything and nothing. I really don't remember half of the things that were said but it was nice to sit there and not have anywhere to be or anyone to please. A great part of the day was when I got in the shower and started listening to the CD my sister had made for me. This semester has been so rough in more ways then one and when I started to listen to the songs I just about cried. It reminded me how nice it is to be Liz's little sister and how much she cares about me. It really is so rewarding just to spend time with people you love.

Jared, my wonderful friend stopped by to make fun of my amazing dance skills and spend some time with my sister and I. We laughed at how when I got the call saying he was on his way I hung up the phone and with out another word my sister and I looked at each other and started straightening her apartment as fast as we could. It's funny how the training you receive when you are young sticks with you. Nonetheless, it was really nice to hang out with both Jared and my sister. If Nic was there it would have been just like the old days in Maryland. After Jared decided he had had enough he left to go watch basket ball (Of all things to ditch his two favorite people for....basket ball. I am only kidding.) Mark came home and we headed to to my cousin's apartment to play games. It was so much fun to talk to Abby and her husband Justin and laugh until we cried at everyone's off the wall comments. Who knew that shortbread wasn't German and High V is also spelt HIV! Why do I live in Idaho when there are so many people I love and enjoy in Utah?

A long cold night

Once again I am blogging when I should be doing my math homework. I shouldn't even have to say that anymore because it happens so often! It should just go with out saying now. This last weekend has been filled with so many adventures I don't even know where to start! May be I will split them up into different blogs each day. Let's start with last Saturday.

Well I think I need to back up and mention that last week was a very LONG AND HARD week as far as school work is concerned. By Friday I was ready to fall over from sleep deprivation. I needed a break! So off to Utah I went. about 30 minutes before I planned on leaving my roommate Shelly decided to join and bring two of her friends with her. We arrived in Utah around 10 and I dropped them off at the airport. (no they weren't flying anywhere. It was a long story and it's better if you don't ask.) After visiting with my best friend in Ogden until 2 AM I made the journey down to temple square.

President Hinckley's funeral services were Saturday and I REALLY wanted to be right there in the conference center for it. I would have liked to go to the viewing but school and work kept me in Idaho until after 5 pm. I heard that the tickets for his funeral were being handed out Saturday morning first come first serve. So I got there at 3 A.M. I drove past the north gate, where they were going to hand the tickets out, expecting to see a line already wrapped around the temple gates. But to my surprise there were two people sitting out front. I found a place across the street from the conference center to park (right in front of the sister missionary's apartments coincidently) and sat there wondering if I should go try to line up or if I would be arrested.

Finally another car drove up and two people got out and into the line. I followed suit and realized that I was entirely unprepared for the 6 hours in the cold morning that lie ahead. I had decided that because I was going to a funeral I would wear a dress so i wouldn't have to change incase there wasn't enough time. But because I was sure it would be a bit chilly I brought a zip up hoodie, a nice dress coat, and a pair of snow gloves. Oh silly me. I forgot the fact that it was the middle of the night during one of the coldest months of the year. As soon as I stepped out of the car I knew I had completely overestimated my winter attire’s abilities. I quickly grabbed a pair of jeans from my trunk and was off to face the cold as best I could. Luckily I met some very nice people there at the temple gates who shared a blanket with me.

After exchanging names and handshakes we settled in for the long night of coldness that lay ahead. We chatted, complained about the cold, split a cookie from a nice temple worker passing by, tried to keep warm, played eye spy, tried to keep warm, and had a great time people watching as the line grew bigger and bigger behind us. Over all we had a really good time. Because we were the first in line and maybe looked the most frost bitten I was interviewed by about a total of 4 different news reporters trying to get the scoop on why people would stand out side all night with no sleep in the freezing cold just to get tickets to a funeral. The ones who were LDS realized that this wasn't just a funeral but the others listened to what I said and wandered off making notes. Who knows if any of it aired or made the news paper but it still was pretty exciting.

After a lot of waiting and shivering my new friends and I were finally handed tickets. It was pretty exciting and as lame as it sounds I really did appreciate the ticket for the sacrifices I made for it. I grabbed my heals from my car and got in one more line with my jeans, dress, hoodie and all. We got in and had amazing seats. I was six rows back from the general authorities. (I would have been closer had I decided to wear my tennis shoes.) The funeral was amazing and I am so glad I was able to attend. The spirit was so strong in that room and the prophets death actually became real to me. Before it was just some news that I heard. I would share with you some of the thoughts I had but I have decided this has gotten entirely too long.

Over all it was an amazing day and I am so grateful for the Prophet Gordon B Hinckley.