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

Let the Weekend Begin

School is still going swimmingly. It's nice to have my schedule set. It feel so good to have a plan for the day and to be able to fit little things in between so cleanly. It makes my life so much less stressful. And when I don't stress and get things done as they need to be, inspiration comes to me quicker than I can write it down.

I love making friends and keeping them. It's a wonderful feeling to be walking between classes and see a friend from two years ago and still be interested in each others' lives. Many of my guy friends got back from their missions a few weeks ago, and it's so wonderful to know that they are the same people I knew, but stronger and wiser. I'm so grateful to have friends that exemplify the values they believe in. It's such an affirmation of my own faith, and it gives me hope that I too can be strong and incredible.

Team is going to be awesome. Betsy, our 2 O'Clock Team coach, is going to be choreographing the new Lindy-Hop for the Homecoming Parade in October. The routine hasn't been changed since 2005, so this will be fun. I'm so flippin excited for this year! And my ballroom partner and I got a new Cha Cha routine from Brent. It's crazy, but fantastic. Like our samba routine.

I finally saw Kung Fu Panda 2 and drooled a little bit at the gorgeousness of it all. The character design...and the colors...and the action sequences...and the animation... *speechless*

Watermelon Juice

My goodness I love microbiology. We prepared agar plates today - it's like nerdy cooking class, except it's food for bacteria. And I learned that my professor used to live in Zimbabwe. He's white, older, and has that awesome South African accent. He asked me where in Scotland my family is from and I was blown away! No one I've met knows that the spelling of my last name is Scottish. Apparently he had some friends in Zimbabwe that moved there from Scotland who had my same last name. Genealogy time!

Among other awesome things we discussed, he brought up Schrodiger's Riddle: What is Life? and the interesting fact that just as Adam was commanded to name all the creatures he could find, we are still naming living organisms today (just in a highly organized, latin-based way).

Tonight were the ballroom auditions for the BYU Ballroom Dance Company. I went to help out and dance with the guys auditioning. Thankfully, both the guys I danced with got called back, so at least my shaky memory of social dance steps didn't hurt their chances! I'm really excited to see who got put on our team tomorrow :) Several of my friends from Summer Team got on. I think this will be a fantastic year.

I should mention that fresh-squeezed, chilled watermelon juice is an excellent beverage.

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]

Back into the Fray

This summer has been a marvelous experience for me. I took Spring and Summer terms at BYU which kept me delightfully busy. I now have a Latin Ballroom competition partner, and we've been having fun practicing, competing, and having various adventures (like breaking down in Vegas). My family got to visit Utah last week, and it was so wonderful to see and be with them! We went to Bear Lake and went tubing and soaked up some sunshine. I also got to go to several fantastic concerts this summer (Owl City, We the Kings, Ludo among others). Lots of my friends from freshman year just got back from their missions. Just so much awesome packed in to four months.

I have made some rather exciting personal discoveries. My mom brought me my copy of 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens from when I was in high school. I love that book. Maybe someday I'll read the grown-up version that Sean Covey's dad wrote. But it has so much good advice and uplifting, motivational stories. The friends that I have surrounded myself with this summer have been amazing; just being with them and watching them live their lives encourages me to be more than I am, that I can be more.I am living for the pure joy of life. It's hard work, but that makes it better. I have more confidence in myself and my ability to accomplish what I set out to do. It is such an empowering feeling.

First day of classes at BYU went well. I'm a Microbiology major for good. I had my first MMBio class today and Pearl of Great Price, as well as plenty of ballroom class auditions. I'll know tomorrow at 4 which ones I got into (crosses fingers). Probably doing Betsy's team again this year. Can't wait for homecoming! The Lindy Hop routine we do around campus is so much fun.

And here's a crazy, beautiful song by Imogen Heap that just makes me want to skip around

Propeller Seeds by imogenheap

So This Is the New Year...

I actually do have some resolutions. Each New Year's, our family has a tradition where we give each other goals and resolutions. Here are mine:

- study in the library at least 5 times a week, and keep in contact with academic advising (from Mom)

- get more organized (from Gramma)

- call when I need motivation (from Dad)

- go to bed at 11 PM on weekdays, 1 AM on weekends (from Lise)

- turn off the internet when doing homework (from Sasha)

and

- break one boy's heart every week, at least (from Dad of course)

Pretty serious stuff from my family, no fun ones this year. For myself, I aim to blog at least once a week, and eat breakfast every day. The thing about all these resolutions is that they'll undoubtedly make me a happier and healthier person.

Today was the first day of school. I've been running around trying to make my schedule fit, always a stressful process. I can't wait to have it set in stone so I can schedule other things. The break was very much needed, and it was really wonderful. Pictures and stories coming soon.

Awesome Week: Part II

Wednesday

Today I tackled on of the things on my BIG To Do List: decide on a major. Well okay, I actually didn't get as far as actually declaring it, but I narrowed it down to three. It's going to be Micro/Molecular Biology, Environmental Science (w/ Micro/Molec emphasis), or Genetics. And the nice thing is they have very similar required Chem and Bio classes, and some even have interships abroad! I can travel for my major! :D We'll see how this plays out. I do know I'm officially a Ballroom Minor, so at least I have that covered.

Work was actually really enjoyable today too! I finished all the data entry, and then did some manual setting changes on a virus-eaten laptop, and then played with a couple of disastrous Macs. And my boss and I decided to take a break and bought the domains for me and each of my sisters. We're kinda weird. To top it off, he gave me an early birthday present: a freakin' Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch graphics tablet. I kinda freaked out a little bit. It's been on my wishlist for six years, and I've been trying to save up money for one. Gleeeee! To my father if he reads this: I promise I won't let it distract me from my studies. It just sits under my desk, pleading for me to finish my homework quickly.

Thursday

One of my friends gave me a pleasant surprise this morning. He whisked me away at 7 am to Kneaders for breakfast. They have THE BEST bread I've ever had. I had a breakfast sammich on a croissant and we shared a humongous cinnamon roll. Pretty much the perfect way to start the day.

Then after working hard and braining good all day, I went to Blue Tango, where we are learning the Thriller dance! We're having an hour rehearsal every Thursday until the week of Halloween, where we will perform it. We're using a really good tutorial on YouTube. I'm also watching the original music video over and over to get down the awesome Michael Jackson-esque styling and moves. It's been one of my life goals to learn the Thriller dance, so it's a dream come true! I'm totally going to be a zombie flapper for our Halloween Blues night.

Spotlight! Mike Tompkins singing Dynamite and Fireflies. He sings all the acapella parts himself, and then fuses them together. Super fine.

BYU Homecoming!

After a couple weeks of exams and pain, we had Homecoming week at BYU.

This is my third year at BYU, and this is the most involved I've been with campus events. Homecoming here always starts with an opening ceremony on Tuesday with tons of presentations and a keynote speaker. Homecoming is always themed after an important person in BYU history, and this year it was Harvey Fletcher, the father of stereophonic sound. So homecoming was very science-themed. Apparently, BYU has one of the biggest Homecoming celebrations in the country. I believe it; there is always something going on homecoming week! Free cookouts during lunchtime at the Student Center, alumni reunions, True Blue Football (everyone gets covered in blue foam), Light the Y (people go up to the big white Y on the mountain and screw in lightbulbs that light up at night), the BYU Spectacular (basically a huge variety show of all the choral, dance, and acting groups), and all sorts of fancy dances.

Practicing our routine before the parade started - Jordan and I are in the middle back

This year, I got to be in the parade on Saturday morning. The BYU Ballroom Dance Company always does a lindy routine down the entire route, and since I got on team this year I got to participate! Our Tour team went to Blackpool, England this year (and won again, of course) so they got to show off and be awesome while we shook our tail feathers. Iting. But we had such a blast. It was a two-minute Lindy Hop routine with charleston, lifts, jumps and dips. The video link is from last year, but we did the same routine. Which we repeated over and over again for three miles. But we were laughing so hard trying to run and catch up with the truck, and high-fiving the little kids on the sidelines. We were so pumped with adrenaline by the end that we were just bouncing off the walls at the social. People were still dancing to the party music and goofing around. I love being on the ballroom team :) I love the people, the energy, the chance to perform and share my love of dance.

((brief side note: after the parade, I ran and beasted by MMBio exam. Booyah))

I then went to my first homecoming dance :3 We went as a double date, and got in free because we helped with the BYU Swing Kids charleston demonstration. So much dancing, my legs were dead the next day. It was super fun though! It was Dancing Through the Ages themed, so it started with 20s music and dance, and then went through every decade until the present with hip hop. People were dressed from all the different decades too. I had an amazing time. It was definitely a good day.

And the football team finally won another game. Thank goodness.

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.