It's still unreal...

I am 1400 miles away from my family and feeling rather home sick. I can't believe it's been a month since I came out to Utah! It still feels like I'm at an extended-stay EFY (Especially For Youth) because that seriously is what BYU is. well, minus the hours and hours of homework. But other than that it's pretty much the same thing.

So I need to stop using Facebook so much (especially after being told so in General Conference) so here I am finally updating my blog. Hopefully this will become a more regular habit...

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!! Everyone is so incredibly kind and friendly; the Church plays into every single subject (my writing homework this weekend is to analyze the rhetorical strategies of the conference speakers); people openly talk about testimonies, missions, and getting ready for church lessons; we have a Family Home Evening group; I can attend the temple every single week; and so on. The guys here are amazing. I'll leave it at that for now :) And no I am NOT planning on getting married this semester, nor next semester, nor for several more years even if I am at BYU. 

So here are just a few of the activities I've been up to since being away from home.

Football. Yes I am learning to enjoy the games. Of course the only one I've been to so far is the University of Utah game in which our Cougars pretty much got run over, but it was still fun :) By the way Cody Hoffman is in my Book of Mormon class - there's my claim to fame.

My amazing friend Alyssa - we were EFY roomies last year and got our football tickets together.

Below is the view of the halftime show from my aunt and uncle's box seats. We were actually sitting on the very far left edge of the bleachers in the background.

I have been to a choir concert (incredible!), a Jimmer All-Stars Event (got lots of pictures for Megan), and to Target (a big exciting adventure for us college students who have our own little world here on campus). I went to Rascal Flatts with my aunt Carly - so much fun!!!! 

I have been to several devotionals, attended the General Relief Society Meeting with my aunts, go to Ward Prayer each week, and look forward to Family Home Evening as the highlight of my Monday. Seriously, it's the only reason I get through my Mondays. 

I have heard 2 apostles speak at BYU - Elder Oaks at a CES Fireside and Elder Andersen for a devotional. I have the incredible opportunity to attend the temple each week and go with some of the people from my ward. Picture will be taken SOON :)

Yes, I had front row seats to the Jimmer All-Stars game. I sat with my uncle and it was awesome!! Anyways, this is probably the best picture I got of Jimmer actually smiling that night :)

Rascal Flatts is amazing! What more can I say? This was them performing "I Won't Let Go," one of my favorites!! :)
And this is my FHE group - they are AWESOME!!! I love these guys :) We went bowling and I actually got a strike for once in my life!!! The rest of the game was pretty awful but I started out with a strike!! I was pretty excited :) Anyways, this is me, Annie, Logan, James, Alec, Angela, Newel, Andy, Austin, and Kyle in front.

So yeah. That's pretty much my exciting life. I have mountains of homework to do and it's a hard realization to see that everyone here is just as smart as I am so I have to now work three times as hard to get the grades I had in high school. My last test was a bit of a wake-up call...haha I've also realized procrastination equals late nights. I do not like late nights therefore my procrastination levels are going down. sort of. It's a work in progress. I also need to start taking more pictures of my amazing adventures at BYU.

By the way, General Conference was amazing!!!! Even though I was away from my family for the first time ever and missed going through 72 hour kit snacks (though I did not miss eating the MRE's or made ready to eat meals that we've had for six years now), it was an awesome weekend of listening to the prophet and apostles and other general authorities speak. 
My team-teacher and I will be having a kind of conference review activity in our Gospel Doctrine class on Sunday - I'm excited :) Did I mention I love conference??? Oh yeah, I was called as a Gospel Doctrine teacher in my ward. LOVE that calling - I learn so much about the New Testament and teaching everyone and getting to know the people in my ward is just such an awesome experience!


Just to show how busy I've been...here's my calendar from last month. It's NOTHING compared to this month.

And yes that does say "Fon't Dorget" on the far side. It's a joke that Rachel (my sister) tells and it makes me laugh and therefore helps me remember.


I LOVE this Church and I love being here at BYU!!! Go Cougars!!!

And remember to smile :)