Just so you know I have only 39 days until I go home. Which means there are only 43 days until Christmas. And there are only 10 days left before Thanksgiving break. And I really need a break.
These past two weeks have probably been the most crazy, random, social, exciting, busy weeks of my experience here at BYU so far. Seriously.
Saturday night (October 29) I went to my aunt and uncle's house in Sandy to spend the night, go to church with them, and be with some family. Plus I got to shower in an actual shower and sleep in a bed that I could flop onto without having to climb up five feet. That was wonderful. And then I got to go to a family ward and it was wonderful to hear little babies and small children throughout the meeting. I do love my ward, it's just pretty silent during sacrament meeting. So that was fun!
Sunday night was a Hyde family Halloween event - all the kids came dressed up, we bobbed for apples, ate donuts off strings, decorated cookies, ate pumpkin bars, and "practiced" trick-or-treating. I loved spending time with family, though it was a little strange to not have my immediate family with me there... it'll take some getting used to.
My baby cousin Jackson!! Isn't he adorable?!
And my other awesome cousins in their Halloween costumes :)
Monday was Halloween. Probably my least favorite holiday ever. But no worries - I ended up in the ER. Woke up that morning feeling sick, got sick (puked, threw up, whichever term you prefer) multiple times. I finally decided I was dehydrated - I could feel the delirium setting in and I couldn't force myself to drink anything. So I called my friend to come give me a blessing (can I just say that I love having Priesthood holders I can call pretty much anytime to have them come give me a blessing? it's seriously the best thing ever). My mom called my aunt to come pick me up, and off to the ER I went where I proceeded to spend my day watching Nickelodeon Halloween episodes and trying to sleep. See, my IV was being positional so I had to hold the tube in place with one hand and obviously couldn't move the other, making my book absolutely useless and when I fell asleep, I'd let go of the tube and the IV wouldn't work. Fun times.
I'd just like to point out that I survived TWO WHOLE MONTHS before having an ER visit. Just saying that's pretty impressive for me.
Anyways, it took six tries to get an IV started (actually pretty good for the first time at a hospital) and my aunt left to go to my cousin's Halloween party at school so I just laid there for about six hours getting fluids. Not too bad considering I usually have to stay overnight. Some of the people from my FHE group came to pick me up. Seriously MADE MY DAY to see their faces coming into the room when they got there! And I went to the Cannon Center and had some soup. And lemonade. And water. And more lemonade. Staying hydrated is very important. And then that night I stayed up late to snag my classes at midnight! Got everything I wanted and I am SO excited for next semester!
Tuesday was HAPPY NOVEMBER 1ST which means I can start playing Christmas music and no one is allowed to get mad at me! hehe I really do love my Christmas songs though.
I love BYU Devotionals. And so far in my two and a half months at BYU, I've heard from three Apostles and.... yep. President Monson!! He came to speak to us that Tuesday! I was soooo glad they didn't keep me overnight at the ER. President Monson spoke about the importance of being an example to those around us. I was kind of entertained by the fact that he quoted Mufasa in his talk. It was AWESOME!
I didn't go to classes that day - kind of just stayed home, slept, and worked on homework. Then one of my friends in the ward wanted to watch a movie for his birthday. So a bunch of us went up to the JKB and watched one of the greatest movies ever made: The Lion King.
Seriously, only at BYU will a bunch of college kids get super excited about watching that movie. And then proceed to sing along to every single song. And get really excited at the part that the prophet quoted that morning. Yep that's BYU for you.
The next day involved a lot of homework, a lot of sleep, and a lot of late-night piano playing with friends in the ward :)
Thursday was probably one of the craziest days of my life. I had to go make up a psychology exam that I missed on Friday, finished around 5. Ran out the door to pick up my awesome cousins Christopher and Clark to come eat at the Cannon with me. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet and they're teenage boys starting into basketball season. Needless to say, they enjoyed it. Then ran back to Stover to watch my friend Newel open his mission call (which is one of the greatest parts about being a freshman at BYU) - Olangapo Philippines Tagalog speaking! After congratulating him and saying hi to some friends, went to pick up a friend in my leadership class and then dropped my cousins off at their home before heading to Target. Where we purchased the items for our leadership project the day and looked at Christmas lights (YAY!!! Christmas!!!!).
When I finally got back from Target and dropping him off, some friends from my FHE group and the ward came out so we could go run to visit my friend Andy who had had elbow surgery that day. He was a little out of it, but it was good to see him and make sure he was feeling all right. On the way back, we passed a Little Caesars, and our craving for some food besides the Cannon led us all to go to In-N-Out Burger. Good times! On the way out one of the guys asked about the disabled sticker (always a fun story to tell and even more fun to watch people's reactions). When we did finally get back a bunch of us hung out in the lobby, playing pool and messing around on the piano.
Friday (insert song here) was another crazy day. Went to the Provo Temple early that morning (I really love the fact that I don't have to wait for a scheduled temple trip to go) and took a nap. Then picked up my leadership group for our project.
And I'll end there for now...this is turning out to be way too long for one post.
