i've been thinking...

...which may or may not be a great thing. I have a lot of life decisions coming up really fast. And it's kind of frightening.

I still need to choose a major. I have a non-profit management minor. And an editing minor. So if I could graduate in minors that would be fantastic.
The majors running through my head:

history teaching. 

                                    business.
communications.

 history.                      

                                        public health. 

medicine. 

                 food science.
                                                           media arts.

humanities.                                 

     and everything in between. who knows.

There are 180 majors at BYU. I know two I don't want to do for sure: physics and math. and probably psychology. So that leaves 177 to choose from... shouldn't be too hard right?

Remember this post where I said how amazing cooking would be? Yeah that hasn't happened... My current meals consist of pizza rolls (courtesy of Pinterest) and grilled cheese with salad on the side. My wonderful aunt assisted me with a two-week meal plan which I have followed so far (for two days). Tonight I will actually be making a healthy meal. We'll see how that goes...

Also I have a new plan. No classes this summer. I'm in desperate need of a break from school. Plus then I can work more which means more money. Which is great.

11 days until my sister comes to visit

15 days until my class ends (aka until my final...)

19 days until Brooke comes to Provo

...and a lot of days until I get to go the Oregon Coast!

Fun times ahead!

Also I've blogged two days in a row. Just hope you noticed that. 

thirty seconds of hilarity

So I just did a blog post, but I had to share this. I saw this commercial the other day. Makes me laugh so hard!
Watch it first then finish reading.

Lesson learned. I will not be attending my own funeral as a guy named Phil Shifley. Guess we need to upgrade our cable box here to DirecTV.

Find a laugh in your day today!

words for the wise

Pinterest is a wonderful thing. I particularly love finding quotes on there. You can look at my quotes board, but I wanted to share just a few of them that have particularly been running around me head or that I just really liked.

seriously though. country music is THE BEST. particularly Rascal Flatts' new album.

my mom actually shared this one with me. love it.

So here's the plan: 
Monday words of wisdom for the week (sorry I'm a day late).
And then Smile Moments on Friday.
Look forward to them. It's going to be great.

Hope you feel inspired. 

Now go do something amazing.

on the blogosphere

I really like reading blogs. A whole lot. And I hope you all enjoy reading mine.

I want to start something regular for all of you to look forward to and that will force me to blog at the very least once a week. Some ideas....

• happy lists (from Brooke)
• five things (from here)
• things I want my sisters to know (from this girl)
• smile moments (from my Laurel advisor)
• daily laugh (my own idea for once)
• picture a day (taken from a friend who's blog is private)
• song of the day. or lyrics. (another idea of mine)
• little letters from me (love her blog)

Also I am kind of obsessed with Brooke's blog (in case you couldn't tell). I really love this Rules of Summer post she made and I will probably soon be making one for this upcoming summer. Look forward to that.

Time for a laugh. Read this. Right now.

Just need to get this out there. I have a pet peeve concerning blogs: music players.
If I want to listen to your playlist when I go to your blog, then I will go click play myself. But I usually listen to my own playlist while I'm reading all these blogs I follow and it's kind of a pain to find the player and hit pause before I read the most recent posts.

Just a thought...

So what do you all think? What would you be interested in reading?

Start of Something New

I was listening to my summer playlist the other day and apparently I associate High School Musical with summer... anyways. Lots of HSM playing (with me singing along every now and then).
I am so excited for this summer! Lots of fun plans ahead! My first job ever, taking classes I'm excited for, a visit from my sister, hanging out with friends, meeting a new ward, having my first apartment. Lots going on out here in Provo.

Flying back to the MOUNTAINS!!

So remember this post about me and Angela getting our first apartment? Well I guess it didn't really sink in then. WE GOT OUR FIRST APARTMENT. Moving in was craziness. But I'm here. And I am now a whole month into spring term. again, craziness. Here are the sections of my current life.

The Apartment.

Let me introduce you to our lovely little place. We have a living room, dining area, and kitchen (oh I miss lots of counter space back home!). Then you enter the bedroom hallway - two bathrooms, one long sink area, and three bedrooms. In the back we have our random storage room that includes a second freezer. It's nice for the price, and (at least for now) it's home. It's super close to campus which is a definite bonus. The complex is a little older, but it's all right. We just got a new dishwasher and Angela needed a new mattress. But nothing else is falling apart too badly...except the front blinds.

The Roommates.

There are 6 girls in the apartment currently. Katie (my roommate) is engaged so I don't see her a ton. Mindy (Angela's roommate) is a senior majoring in Art History who is tons of fun and likes to make cupcakes. Christa and Lauren (Law-ren, not Lo-ren) are roommates from Heritage last year who are both crazy busy with school and work. It seems to be going pretty well so far.

The Job.

Work is...interesting. I work clear on the other side of campus at the big gray conference building. We don't have a ton of actual work to do right now, so basically I'm paid to do homework and watch TV shows. and update my blog... if I ever did that at work. It's a mile to work and a mile home, which means I'm getting my exercise. Once it gets hot (and it's getting REALLY hot) that'll be difficult so I'm currently researching bus pass options... look at me being a big girl. 

The Class.

School is fascinating. I am in a class called Intro to Non-Profit Organizations and absolutely love it! I am strongly considering doing a non-profit management minor. I'm learning a lot and really enjoy the class...too bad it isn't a major.

The Service.

I'm also a Program Director for the Utah Healing Arts program through the Center for Service and Learning here at BYU. It's awesome! I love that BYU provides so many service opportunities for everyone! It has been an adventure scheduling events and learning to run one of these programs, but I have been learning tons and met so many new people through it! Basically we go and sing in nursing and rehab centers to spread cheer. So much fun!!

The Food.

All those things I told myself about cooking a great meal every night. Yeah that didn't happen. For example our first meal in the apartment was chicken noodle soup. yum. I miss having a car so I can go get groceries. Thank goodness for awesome friends and family members who are willing to help out!

Lila's Chicken. another favorite.

The Fun.
- eaten at SLAB pizza. sooooo good.
- hang out with Skyler, Adam, and Victor, some old ward friends who live across the street.
- game night with Angela's brother and his friends.

- a trip with my aunt up to Heber for a scenic drive and dinner.

the mountains up in Heber

- pizza and frozen yogurt night with old ward friends.
- doctor's visit for ongoing cold and flu symptoms. I've been sick on and off since the start of spring term, but at least I haven't ended up in the ER yet.
- went to a missionary open house for our friend Alex and stayed there until 1 in the morning. man I love our freshman ward.

so much fun to be with these people. Alex you are going to be one fantastic missionary!
back row: Mark, Francis, Harrison, Alex, Derrick, Will
front row: Marissa, Christina, Sydney, Alex, me

with the crazy dog...

- read a book for pleasure. I have time and a couch. great combination.
- cooked meals for various dinner groups. chicken and broccoli stir fry is a definite favorite.
- spent a Saturday with my aunt and uncle and their family. got a new phone and new shoes which was a definite bonus. and delicious snow cones. yum!

snow cones!

- writing to missionaries who have entered, will enter, or are entering the MTC.
- got wireless Internet set up for our apartment. soooo nice to have wireless again.
- meeting new ward people including my Relief Society president and home teachers.

And to end... a great quote by one of my missionary friends:

"A smile can say a thousand words in any language. 

You can't fake a smile."

that kid is going to be a General Authority one day. I'm sure of it.

Life is pretty darn good right now. Summertime here I come!!

Road Trip

Monday I picked up my parents. And forgot to include these pictures in the last post. Love my parents so much!

Tuesday I moved out of the dorms.
Wednesday I took my last final while my parents toured BYU. We stocked up on Creamery chocolate milk with leftover dollars from my meal plan then headed to my aunt and uncle's home. We vacuumed out the car as well. fun times.

Thursday. We left the mountains behind us to drive back to the lovely Lake Zurich.
It was a blast to have 23.5 hours in a car just with my parents. It was such a different road trip without my three other siblings along, but it was still pretty fun! Though there was a lot more sleeping going on than usual.

goodbye for now mountains.

it's the Hub. Rachel will appreciate this.

one sleeps, one drives, the other takes pictures and attempts to stay awake and keep the driver awake. with the alphabet game. or word games. or the going on a trip game. lots of games.

waking up is hard to do.

one of the coolest things ever

...hours....and hours.... and miles....and miles.... of nothing....

FUNNIEST. MOMENT. EVER.
there is a scenic overlook in the middle of Nebraska. Let me say that again. a SCENIC OVERLOOK.

it's the exact same view from the highway...

we enjoyed it. and laughed a lot. and ran around. then switched drivers and headed off through the scenery.

hi daddy. he's great.

horse! something besides grass!

another hilarious moment: a sign for a local store. "We buy and sell antlers!"
seriously in the middle of nowhere. I guess that's what people do out there.

cool clouds.

shadows. clouds. flatter than a pancake.

gorgeous sunset.

barn in the middle of nowhere.

Friday. Drove a lot more. And finally arrived back home in time for dinner and to go watch Nathan's dress rehearsal for Sound of Music.

you start going a little crazy towards the end of 23.5 hours in a car...

 

 I have such awesome parents! It was a great two days with them in the car. 

a note: take a road trip. a long one. it's such a great experience.

The Final Week and Goodbyes

I really don't like saying goodbyes. Especially to people as amazing as these. My final three days in the dorms consisted of the following (besides studying for finals):
Sunday. I taught my last Gospel Doctrine lesson. It was awesome. I love the people in my ward so much. I was an emotional wreck just sharing my last few thoughts with all of them. I was so grateful for the chance I had to (attempt to) teach and learn from this ward. It was amazing. After church and after lunch at the Cannon, everyone gathered for an impromptu photo shoot right outside the dorms. So much fun!

Sarah, my darling Relief Society president

Stover girls! me, Annie, Lindee, MarLeice, Sarah, Melanie, Alexis, Brooke, Elise. love them all

los chicos. and all future missionaries.

love these people. Harrison, Haley, me, Hattie, and Angela

Provo YSA 119th Ward Freshman Year 2011-2012. aka best ward ever.

Monday. I studied for and took a final. I picked up my parents from the airport and we drove back down to Provo. Where my ward had taken over the Malt Shoppe (Stevenette's for previous BYU grads). SO MUCH FUN. The jukebox was playing and everyone was singing at the top of their lungs. My parents met my friends at their finest. Which was absolutely awesome.

me and my mom 

when I say we took over the Malt Shoppe... we literally took it over. there was no one (besides the employees) there that I did not know from the ward. craziness.

I can include this picture because of the top left corner. plus these are awesome people.

me and Austin. he heads off to Cuiabá Brazil in September - he's going to be one incredible missionary!!

me and Derrick. he is such a great guy - I'm lucky to have gotten to know him this semester!

Tuesday. Another final and then packing up. I checked out of the dorms and had to say goodbye to Stover Hall. What an amazing freshman dorm! And then I had to say goodbye to the people... so sad. But I will see them soon!

Andy. best home teacher ever. soon to be amazing missionary. all around fantastic guy!

Brooke. I cannot wait for this girl to get here in a few weeks. summer missionary-writing pool parties ahead!

Amy and Annie. Incredible girls! oh how I miss having them right down the hall.

Zoë. aka the greatest RA ever. thank you for making dorm life so incredible awesome!

goodbye to 1121 Stover Hall. it's been real.

Austin and Ethan. Ethan's a fellow Oregonian who also appreciates the delicious Tillamook ice cream.  who is also just an amazing person. so is Austin. and they're both going to be incredible missionaries!

Haley and Hattie. two of my best friends ever. and they're form Oregon. these are our temper tantrum faces. we don't like saying goodbye.

but then we decided to take a nice picture too.

goodbye to Sarah!!

And then it was over. I'm officially a sophomore. So weird. I still feel like a freshman who is figuring life out. Moving on will be tough after these amazing people and fun times.


Goodbye freshman year.
Hello RMs. yikes.