Happiness, Excitement, and News

Well, my ear infection is all but gone now, and Terrell and I talked some more, and he let me know that he still feels the same way about me; he just said that we really need to hold off till later in life for our own good.

Friday was pretty good. After school, Monica, Kyle and I went to the Kirkham to learn how to do some dance moves from Monica. My stomach is still sore from all of the intense sit-ups during the warmup. Then I went to work and had fun with that. Later on, Elora and I went to the Extravadance, an amazingly awesome dance show. Pretty cool... Then I tried to get the majority of my math homework done before Blake came over to hang out. I did some while he was there, then I gave up. We (well, I) made a batch of cookies and played Phase 10. After repeatedly saying that he thought he would win, he was beaten. :D Then we just talked and planned to try to watch "Breaking Dawn"on Saturday. By the time he left, it was about 2:30 am. I got up Saturday morning at 9:30 to get ready for yoga. Kyle and I both love it, so he wanted to tag along. He still hadn't shown up at 9:50, so I started walking over to the Hart, calling him on the way. He never answered. Later, he apologized and let me know that he had slept in. It felt so wonderful to get a good stretch. After that, I worked on my English and math homework off and on and talked to people on Facebook. Later, I finished making the cookies and got ready for a work meeting/party. I went to that, and it was pretty great. I met a few more people and ate pizza, salad, truffles, cookies, and soda. :D Afterward, I went back home to try to work on my English homework. I gave up and asked Elora if she was doing anything and if she wanted to watch "Breaking Dawn" with Blake and I, because if we were going to do it, it would've been just him and me, and I wanted to avoid more awkward situations. She invited me to come to DI with her and her amazing roommate, Dava. I agreed, and they came shortly after that to pick me up. When we got to DI, it was closed, so we went to Downeast Basics, then Walmart. Seeing all those jeans only reminded me of how sick I am of wearing the same pair every day, since I accidentally left my other pairs at home. :( I resolved then and there to save for a new pair. We went back to their apartment and watched "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" with Oreos, chips, and salsa. Then Elora took me home. By that time, it was about 11:45. After I got ready for bed, I told myself to get my math homework 95% done before midnight. I didn't quite make it, but something strange happened: before midnight, I was listening to party music and couldn't quite understand the 9 questions I still had. After midnight, I changed my music to Hilary Weeks, and I suddenly I understood 6 of them! I don't think that that was a coincidence...

This morning, my mom and I were talking, and she told me that one of our rex rabbits, Annie May, was killed because she dug out and the dogs got her. I started tearing up; I would miss her, but then again, this is country life. Interestingly, Mom said that Breanna (Annie May's owner) wasn't that upset. Mom also told me that our gray cat with the stubby tail, Martha, (I know, weird name for a cat) was hit on the highway. I just shrugged because I wasn't very attached.

I'm going to choir practice at 12:30, then I have things to do after church. I feel very spiritual and happy today. Let's hope it works. :)

Ear Infections and Overall Cruddy Days

My ear has been hurting ever since the day before yesterday, so I talked to my mom, who told me to go to the doctor's office to see if I have an ear infection. She also told me that my little sister Breanna has pneumonia. :'( I went in, and I did. I got my prescriptions at Walmart today, after finding out that the price of both would be around $55 ($50 for the ear drops, $5 for the pills). The pharmacist helping me offered to call and see if he could get a lower price for the same thing, and I agreed to wait. He got it down to about $7, making my total a little over $12. I was really relieved and happy that I finally got the medication I needed.

Terrell and I had been talking about how we needed to back off, which is good. We decided that we'd pray about our feelings, and he told me to send him an email about how I feel about it. I did that yesterday, and he responded today. Basically, he might've (he didn't say it was a sure thing) found someone else and also might choose her over me. That crushed my heart into powder.

So, today's pretty much been the cruddiest day of my life; I have an ear infection, my little sister has a very harmful sickness, and I pretty much got reduced to being just a friend by my big, long-time crush. What a draining day. :P

Wild Weekend and Typical Tuesday

Wowzers! My siblings are crazier than I remember them! Just kidding, guys. ;)

The weekend was pretty great. When I checked my weight Saturday morning, I was pleased to discover that I'd lost about 10 pounds over the course of a month and a half! :D I went to YW volleyball with my "twin," at about 9 am and was unexpectedly invited to play. The games won were even with those lost. The only downer about it was the fact that I popped some blood vessels in my arms from the ball. Thankfully, they don't hurt; they just look weird. A little while after we got home, my parents were telling everyone to get ready to do wood. I hadn't done it in a while, so I went right out in my BYU-I sweats and "loungy," "lazy" boots. :) The not-so-fun part about it was that I got wood dropped on both feet. :(

Later, I called Cherie' to see if she and Terrell wanted to come over and watch "Tangled." We decided that they (if Terrell wanted to or was able) would come to my house. Cherie' came alone; Terrell was so tired from the Klondike that he wasn't even talking straight! She had brought a few other movies, which was good since I couldn't find "Tangled." Sad day! :( We watched the movie "Emma," based on Jane Austen's book. It was pretty enjoyable, except that my 3 youngest siblings wanted to tag along. They eventually lost interest, and Brinley ended up falling asleep on my lap 3/4 of the way through the movie. I put Brinley in bed, then Cherie' and I finished the movie. I thanked her for coming, then she headed home.

I had learned how to play Rummy earlier, so I played that with my parents and a few of my older siblings. I don't think I like that game as much; it's a lot like Phase 10, but there's points involved and the numbers in any of the runs have to be the same color. :P

Sunday was pretty grand as well. I went to Terrell's ward for sacrament meeting because he'd told me that their ward choir (which he is a part of) would be doing a musical number. We chatted for a bit afterward, then I went home to play games with the fam some more before heading back to Terrell's ward to pick him up and give him a ride home so we could talk longer. After I dropped him off, I went to my home ward and stayed there for all 3 hours. After church, I found my devotional journal that Sis. Nicolaysen (I babysat for her several times, she's a friend, and was one of my YW leaders) gave me for graduation and wrote the notes I'd been taking in my touch in the notebook. Then I played even more Rummy.

Yesterday was probably the best day of the weekend (besides having to go back to Rexburg). Mom got me up at about 8 so that I could shower and pack a little before we left to get groceries I needed and donate blood together. Brandon and Brooklyn tagged along for the grocery shopping, then we dropped them off before going to donate. I was pretty nervous; when I tried to donate plasma for the first time, I almost fainted when they pricked my finger. This time, however, I didn't look, and I was fine. :) I just didn't look the whole time; I only stole occasional, quick glances at the needle in my right arm. (I wanted to do my left, since that was the hand that was pricked, but they couldn't find a good vein.) I felt so proud of myself afterward! Mom and I went to TCBY's and got mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt, then went to the hobby center to get charcoal pencils for Brandon and vinyl for Brooklyn. After that, we went to Costco and finished getting my groceries and finally came home. I finished packing, Mom fixed my sweats for me, and we played Mahjong while waiting for Elora to pick me up. I was proud of myself for not getting as emotional as I did last time. :)

We drove through one heck of a storm to get to Rexburg, but it thinned out and finally went away the closer we got to Rexburg. We stopped briefly in Pocatello for a snack/bathroom break and got some stuff from McKenzie. I finally have my artwork with me now! :) I'm planning on entering them into the student art show coming up next month. I hope for the best! :)

I got home to find Karla, Monica, and Kyle hanging out. I had a lotta stuff, so Elora and I made about 4 trips bringing my stuff into the apartment. Afterward, I unpacked everything in about 15 minutes, surprisingly. I'd expected it to take at least a half hour. Then I relaxed and chatted with my friend Jeff online. We all finally got to bed at around midnight.

This morning wasn't too bad, except I made the mistake of wearing my slip-on shoes I'd brought back with me, feeling too tired and lazy to get out my big winter boots. Mis-take! My heels were soaked with cold wetness by the time I got to religion class. :P I put them on later, after art class.

Devotional was great as usual. The scripture was Matthew 7:7-8, which reads:

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Pres. Mendenhall shared a unique story about a famous tightrope walker who would perform feats across the expanse of Niagara Falls, such as stopping in the middle and reading a book. On one such occasion, he had a wheelbarrow. He stopped in the middle and called out to the spectators eagerly watching, "Do you believe I can do this?" "Yes, we know you can do it!" they responded confidently. He focused on one man in particular. "You, sir. Do you think I can do this?" The man positively said, "I know you can." "Then climb into the wheelbarrow," the tightrope walker said. Of course, the man didn't. The general theme of Pres. Mendenhall's talk was fulfilling the Lord's expectations (they aren't demands). He shared a Father's Day card his son Mike gave him: "Dad, I know I wasn't easy to take care of. But you were no cakewalk, either. Let's just call it even." (paraphrasing) Parents aren't perfect, either. Just because you're older doesn't necessarily mean you're wiser. I liked when Pres. Mendenhall said, "Plan for the future, but look for today." We focus so much on what we need to do tomorrow and this week, but not as much on today. He then shared 3 different types of "wheelbarrows": the simple wheelbarrow (easy gospel expectations are either put off or somehow don't get done), the doing and understanding wheelbarrow (useless cares creep in everywhere; "I hear and I forget. I see and remember. I do and I understand." [Chinese philosophy]), and the in the world wheelbarrow (John 17:11-15). A great quote from Pres. Packer that Pres. Mendenhall shared can be found in the June 2002 Liahona ("It Can't Happen to Me").

Later on, I'm going to go kickboxing with some friends. I'm hoping that that goes well, since I feel like a slacker for not going for the last couple of weeks.

Late-Night Fun and Freedom

Last night, I was spontaneously invited to help Monica and Karla put fun pictures and leftover heart decor on our good friend Kyle's apartment door by means of ding-dong-ditching. I readily agreed. We all made awesome pictures, got several hearts and put them in a bag, and headed out to do our deed.

The problem? We knew what building Kyle lived in; we just didn't know what room. Karla tried to call him to ask, but he didn't answer. Then Monica tried, saying, "I don't think he's going to answer--oh! Hey, Kyle!" as he picked up on the third ring. She told him our made-up, prepared story that we had made cupcakes and wanted to bring them to him tomorrow, since it was about 11:15 pm, so she wanted to verify his room number. He told her, adding that girls aren't allowed in the men's apartments. She said OK, then they hung up. During the whole conversation, Karla and I were trying so hard not to burst out laughing. After they hung up, we all cracked up.

We got to the building, and going towards the door there were at least three to five signs basically saying, "No women allowed beyond this point." It was hysterical.

We reached the right room and got to work. Monica couldn't handle it, so she went out into the separated stairway and cracked up. I felt like we were being way too loud putting the stuff on the door, not to mention that the apartment door right across from us was wide open. Thankfully, no one came to it. We finished our mischief, got into a running stance, knocked, and took off. That was probably the fastest I've ever gone down three flights of stairs. On our way out the door, a guy coming out of the lounge area looked at us with a look of total confusion. "We're sorry; we're leaving!" we shouted as we ran completely out and towards our apartment for a little bit. We started walking and laughed so hard all the way home.

I tried to get to sleep around 11:30, but was having difficulty because Monica and Kyle were talking on the speaker phone afterwards. (Turns out that they didn't hear the knock, so Karla and Monica told Kyle to go look at his door. He said it was so awesome and thanked us) I finally listened to soft music on my iPod, coming back to "A Whole New World" by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, the one that always puts me to sleep.

I woke up at about 5:45 to my alarm, hit the snooze, woke up to it again about 10 minutes later, and hit it one more time before deciding to get up at about 6 am.

Karla and Monica had decided to sleep in the living room again, so I tried to be extra quiet. I'm not sure how great I did, but they're both heavy sleepers, so I wasn't too worried.

Today was pretty good in general, although it wasn't as great as yesterday. I'm planning on going to the temple with another girl in my dorm (Anne-Marie) next week. Super excited to see this beautiful temple from the inside. :)

We had our midterm test in English tonight, and I felt like I was reviewing things that I knew really well in 8th grade. I felt bad for some of the kids in my class who weren't really sure about some answers while we were discussing grammatical stuff. I did get a 90% on my first English paper. :)

I'm so thrilled to be leaving tomorrow with my cousin and her roommate to come home!!!! :D I'm not sure if I'll be able to get to sleep tonight, I'm so excited! :)

"Best! Day! Ever!" :D

Today was THE best day this week so far! I took my math test today, hoping for a 74% or 75% at least. I was rewarded with a 77%! I also found out I don't have math class on Friday, therefore I don't have any classes that day! I finally got my employee badge at work, which went by really fast. My science group meeting got moved to tomorrow instead of right after work, which normally leaves me starving and rushed. I also got 3 Brian Regan comedy talks downloaded onto my iPod ("You Too & Stuff," "Stupid in School," and "Donut Lady"). Last but definitely best, we had a movie night in our housing lounge, complete with giant pretzels, hot dogs, candy, soda, and popcorn with "Tangled"!!!!

No more explanation is necessary (unless you want the full version, in which case you would talk to me in person and expect to be listening and commenting occasionally for about half an hour at best). ;)

Enough said; today was stupendously fantabulous! :)

Valentine's Day

Where did this holiday come from in the first place? I'm not sure, but for those of us here at BYU-I who are single, it was "Single Awareness Day." :)

Devotional was really good. However, while I was trying to find my cousin Elora, who offered to save me a seat, I called her to figure out where we were. It turned out that I was standing almost right in front of her, off towards the left a little. Pretty funny...

The scripture for this week is Doctrine and Covenants 115:4-5

4 For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

5 Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;

Br. Mark Lovell (found it interesting that his last name includes the word "love") was the speaker, and his main theme was that we should rely on spiritual promptings, not our personal judgement, and that developing our faith helps our ability to love. A quote that he shared about joy is something I found especially interesting (can't remember the reference): To have joy means to be happy in an eternal sense (paraphrased). We were also told that the scriptures that say "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things," "God is merciful to all who believe," and about exercising a particle of faith can all be applied to dating and courtship. Another interesting concept was about falling in love being like a seed planted into your heart and blossoming, and losing love being like the seed dying and withering. I also like the concept about looking at marriage as your most difficult class; if you don't study and develop your knowledge, you won't be ready for life's tests.

Right after I got home, I did about 5 hours of straight math homework. I needed Tylenol after that. Then I printed out a ton of stuff about 2 days in advance, and I'm glad I did. Now I can relax a lot more. :)

Karla actually went to bed pretty early; about 10 or 10:30. Monica came home with Kyle and shouted, "Karla!" "Shhhhh!" I said from our bedroom. I came out and whispered, "She's asleep." "Ohh..." We all talked for a while, then Kyle left. Then Monica told me that Kyle had asked her on a date and that's where she'd been all day. Super cute: Monica being asked on a date by a big crush on Valentine's Day all day! :D When Karla heard it the next morning, she got excited, too. :)

Crazy Valentine's Fun and Other Hilarious Happenings

It's not even Valentine's Day and we're already celebrating it! Yesterday was interesting, to say the least. While Blake and I were watching "Despicable Me" with Karla and Monica on Friday, he typed something on his phone and then showed it to me: "will you go to the dance with me tomorrow?" I said, "Sure, OK!" So yesterday was spent doing my nails, going to Idaho Falls with Elora, getting my hair done at her house, and getting my makeup and dress on at home. Blake came while I was getting my makeup on, so my stress level increased exponentially because I'm usually on top of being ready. Gillian and her Chinese friend kindly took pictures of Blake and I before we left. I took pictures of my ticket, and we left.

We went to a place very much like Wahooz, only smaller. We played mini golf (I totally kicked butt!) :), then we went to Sammy's for dinner. After that, we went to the dance. It was fun...when Blake wasn't trying to get romantic with me by holding my hand like we were a couple, trying to pull me uncomfortably close while we danced, and picking me up for the professional pictures. We went home early because we decided that we wanted to watch "Despicable Me" because we kept talking about it, and he almost pulled the arm move on me while we watched it. So whenever he leaned back with his arm on the couch, I leaned forward, and vice versa when he leaned forward.

Thankfully, my roommates came back home with our guy friends Kyle and Joe (Monica's brother Tommy's roommate), bringing with them roses from Joe to each of us girls, chocolates from Monica and Karla for me, and a new member of the family: a beta fish! :) We named him Spongy, since his little house is Spongebob Squarepant's pineapple.

After getting our new friend settled in, we turned off "Despicable Me" and watched "Stairway to Heaven." We're almost done with it, and I'm so sad about that. :( In this recent episode, the main girl (Jung-Suh) is going blind with an eye cancer, and she doesn't tell anyone, even her father.

The episode ended, and all the guys left and us girls stayed up really late talking about them (how much Kyle probably likes Monica, and same thing with Joe and Karla, and Blake's and my behavior during the show; we sat at least 2 feet apart). Finally, we decided we'd better get to sleep around 2:30 a.m. I had already gotten ready for bed after the guys left, so while Monica and Karla got ready, I got my pillow and blanket and set them up. We talked a little while longer, then finally went to sleep. At about 10 a.m., my phone started ringing, so I groggily got up and turned it off. Then we finally got up around 11:30 a.m. to start getting ready for church.

Church was good, even though I got confused as to where to go for Sunday school at first. We got chocolate cupcakes in RS for Valentine's Day. :) Then, I came home (Karla and Monica left after Sunday school), changed, and did FaceTime with the fam. They included me in their game of UNO. So funny! :)

Later, our friend Joe came over and we hung out and watched a couple of episodes of "Stairway to Heaven." After that, I was asked to make cookies for hall prayer. After I finished a couple of batches, I went to where we have hall prayer, but there was no one there, so I went back to our apartment. We finished the second-to-last episode with Karla and Monica sobbing while Joe and I could hardly keep a straight face. I felt like a stone, something with no emotion whatsoever. I cannot figure out for the life of me why I wasn't bawling, too.

Joe took a picture of Karla crying on his phone, so she and Monica were trying to get it away from him to delete it, and I was just busting up on the couch. They won in the end, though. We're going to finish the final episode of "Stairway to Heaven" tomorrow!!!! So excited to see how it all ends!!!! :D Joe left close to midnight, and we just hung out.

Finally Free Friday!!!! :D

Who doesn't love Fridays? :) Today wasn't too bad; I didn't have humanities, so I got to sleep in. That was greatly needed, since my roomies and I watched episode 12 of "Stairway to Heaven" till about 12:30 a.m. Finally did my laundry this morning (we went outside to behold falling snow; OOHHH! :P), so it was interesting going to class in my slacks, my casual boots, and a nicer t-shirt. :) I found out that we MIGHT (we can't quote our teacher on this yet, according to him) not have class next Friday! What a tremendous blessing THAT would be; no math on a Friday! :D I wasn't very happy about falling on the way home, though.

I had to rush home because I still had to wash and do my hair and put makeup on for a date at noon, but Gillian was showering, so I waited. Then, I washed my hair, put on concealer, foundation, and powder, and was blow-drying my hair when somebody came. "Crap!" I thought as Gillian answered the door. "It's probably Blake!" (my date) She didn't come to get me, so I wasn't sure if it was really him. After I finally finished my hair, I went and asked her and she told me it was indeed "my friend." Shoot! I went into my room to get my jacket to go see if our laundry was done yet and shouted, "Hi!" to the living room. "Hey!" Blake answered. I felt so bad. I went, got all of our laundry (Monica's, Karla's and mine) and somehow managed to carry all 3 baskets down the stairs to our apartment. Blake opened the door for me and said, "Whoa..." "It's not all mine," I explained. "Oh, OK, 'cause I was gonna say..." After I was finally ready, we left.

Blake took me to Kiwi Loco, a frozen yogurt place. If you've never had frozen yogurt, it's so much like ice cream that I can't tell the difference! :) They had tons of toppings, from Reese's pieces to chocolate rocks to sour gummy worms! After that, we went back to my apartment to find Karla making a craft and Monica watching "Despicable Me." We watched that for a while, then Blake showed me his phone with the question, "Will you go to the dance with me?" I wasn't sure I was going before then, so now I am! It's a Valentine's formal dance. I'm pretty excited.

After Blake left, Kyle (one of our good guy friends and home teachers) came with his ukelele and we had a blast listening to it (and him!).

Work actually went by relatively fast today. I was so happy when I saw that it was 6:30. Then, I went to the Crossroads for a slice of pizza, since I really didn't want to make anything at home, and saw that Tuscan Valley (the pizza area of the Crossroads) had some pepperoni pizzas for $5 each. I couldn't resist the thought of having dinner, lunch, and possibly dinner again instead of just dinner, so I went ahead and bought it. I got some money out of an ATM for tomorrow, and finally got home around 6:50 or 7.

Later on, Karla convinced me to go latin dancing with her, Joe (Monica's brother Tommy's roommate), and Monica. It was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be, if I'm being honest. 2 guys (interestingly, one black and one Mexican) asked me to dance. We went home around 10:30-ish. Monica and Karla went to get frozen yogurt, and Gillian and I are staying home, doing miscellaneous things. For example, I'm doing my nails for tomorrow, checking email, and listening to Brian Regan. :)