The Good, The Bad and the Exhausting

Good: slept in; got both my Chem assignments done; made up my Chem exam 2; made a deal to purchase a painting of myself from one of the students in the class I was modeling for; it was absolutely gorgeous spring weather today in the mid sixties and I wanted desperately to just lie in the grass and soak up sunshine; wandered into Dave & Cranky Chuckie's American Bistro in Provo and made friends with the owners and chefs after being served a pizzookie on the house; Kent came back from the temple where his brother Daniel just got endowed; was reminded of just how strongly I love his face; bought him a nice suit jacket that was basically 85% off

Portrait of Marina Ramsay by Sheriden Bronson

Chocolate Chip Pizookie from Dave & Cranky Chuckie's

Bad: felt so disorganized during that Chem exam, probably partially to do with the fact that I just found out Tuesday that I could make it up, and the only time I could study for it was last night so I was up until 5 AM studying and finishing assignments; missed Physics because I slept in

Exhausting: only getting 5 hours of sleep; forgetting to eat because I'm so busy all day; sitting for three hours in the same pose; trying not to get overwhelmed with the To Do list containing family, financial, wedding and school things; having to stay up late again to complete other assignments

College is Hard

Another busy "first day" of school. I had another MMBio class this morning. It's an intro to Mircobiology class, but there are mostly seniors in it. I love the teacher so far - he says he's a big softie when it comes to grading, but his main objective is to get us to think and discuss things. I love that. It excites me when teachers want students to really stretch their necks out and go deeper.
But my Chem 107 class, a lab, is terribly disorganized. Two of the TA's don't speak very good English and for the first fifteen minutes, my labmates and I just stared at each other and our tables like "what do we do now?" So frustrating, but I'll do what I can to make it less complicated for myself.

I got into Gold I Standard Ballroom! I'm so excited, I haven't been in a standard class for two years. Since my latin partner has a particular love of standard and smooth, and my team coach does as well, I figured I would return to standard and brush up on the technique. I do love quickstep and tango :D

I also had my first meeting with my new bishop. I'm gonna love this ward! More details next week.

Aaaaand I decided to join a fresh produce food co-op with some people from Blues. I am SO excited, you have no idea. You only have to pay once, and the cost is split between us. Basically, tons of fresh, delicious fruits and veggies and meat every other week for the rest of the season. My mind is swirling with tasty dinner ideas. [nomnom]

Blessings

Church on Sunday was one of those really amazing, uplifting meetings that helps you float through the rest of the week. It was Fast Sunday (since we had General Conference last week) and therefore testimony meeting instead of talks. A lot of people talked about the blessings they have received from keeping commandments. Which makes sense, given the Prophet's talk last week about gratitude. But some of their stories were really amazing. One guy had a very interesting story. Last month, he shared in sacrament that he had been praying for a challenge. About a week later, his knee got completely busted playing basketball - his patella detached from his knee. He has a brace that he has to wear for three months. But he told us that since then, he's noticed nothing but blessings and the kindness people show him. He's noticed people who take the time to stop and talk to him, ask him how he is, help him out. Friends who stop by just because, or strangers who see him and ask if there's anything they can do. He also said something I really liked:

"If we're doing the right thing, the wrong thing never happens; good and bad things might happen, but never the wrong thing."

Personally, I'm trying a few things myself as an experiment on faith, if you will. My Chemistry 106 teacher gave us a challenge to not do homework on Sunday. He said that when he was in college, he took the same challenge and saw many blessings in his life, both spiritual and secular. Sometimes, a homework assignment he didn't have time to do on Saturday would be cancelled or postponed. And he felt his Sundays were more spiritual and he had more time to devote to his church duties. I've been doing this for a few weeks now, and I'm beginning to see the results. Sundays are certainly better. I'm using the time I would have been studying to talk to my family in Boston, talking to friends that had a rough week or were sick, reading scriptures, and reviewing my conference notes. Having such a peaceful Sunday seems to make the rest of my week go so much better.

PS This is a picture of me and Kaylee the night we found her. I miss her dearly, but I was told she was adopted into a wonderful home :3

Conference Weekend

This week has been surprisingly good. Hard work and prioritizing correctly really pays off and makes life a whole lot less stressful. If only I knew and employed that knowledge two years ago... So far, my exams have been going splendidly! I took Calculus II previously and didn't do too well (failed miserably), and my first exam I got a 100% on the multiple choice. I felt pretty good, not gonna lie. :) Still waiting to get the open response grade back. I also took my Old Testament exam this week on all of Genesis. My friend Katherine and I were freaking out about how much material we had to know, the genealogies and the covenants and the locations, but it turned out not to be so bad! I got a 98% on that multiple choice, but as with the calc exam, I'll have to wait and see what my open response grade will be. I have my Chem 106 and MMBio exams next week, so I'll have to study harder to even hope for grades like the ones I got this week.

It's been a week full of little blessings, though. Keeping focused and taking breaks when I need them have given me so many opportunities to learn and help other people. Finding Kaylee was definitely the highlight. By sharing her story, I met a bunch of guys in my apartment complex that are obsessed with the Firefly series, and we've agreed to have Firefly nights! The people in my ward are so amazing. I love walking out at night and joining in singing on the steps, with two guitarists and a uke.

Today was also the Saturday session of General Conference. It's a semiannual conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other authorities give messages of inspiration, and guidance. I woke up at 9:30 to watch the morning session, took a shower, and then watched the afternoon session. I love Conference weekend because it's like going to church in your PJ's! I always take lots of notes because otherwise I don't think I'd be able to stay awake. My favorites today were by Elder D. Todd Christofferson on consecrating our lives to God's purposes, and one by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf' on refocusing on the basics, simplifying our lives so we can make time to nurture our relationships with God, family, fellow men, and ourselves. It was a wonderful day and I'm so excited for tomorrow.