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.

Awesome Week: Part I

Monday

Today, I went serious clothes shopping for the first time in a year. I really don't like shopping. Being stuck in the mall and trying on piles of clothes makes me really anxious and growly. I like to go in knowing what I want, buy it, and leave.

Somewhat reluctantly, I let my roommates steal me after school and take me to the University Mall. I was pleasantly surprised! They are incredibly efficient - they knew what would look good on me and what's in style, and so we went to three different stores and got fancy stuff for me. Two pairs of dark jeans and a black cardigan at Wet Seal. Two dresses, a sweater, a fancy top, black leggings, and fingerless gloves from Forever 21. And some black flats. And they taught me how to curl my hair! I feel so girly. And I think it might be a good thing.

Tuesday

One of my friends from blues invited me to see a movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. He thought that out of his friends, I would appreciate it most. And boy did I ever. It's about a boy who lives in Canada and falls for the American delivery girl. But in order to date her, he must first defeat her seven evil exes. And it's in video game format. I was geeking out, because it pokes fun at practically every video game ever. DDR, Guitar Hero, Rockband, skating games, Mario, Zelda, Portal, you name it. It was so fantastic, and the humor was spot on. And Scott Pilgrim was played by the adorably gawky Michael Cera. ♥

The movie is based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I did a little research, and I'm in love with his art style. Guess what I'm doodling in lecture tomorrow...

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

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.

Cat Rescuers!

It's not every day that you get to save someone's life. Today I rescued an abandoned kitten.

Today was pretty great: went to all my classes, ballroom team is going splendidly, did freakishly well on my calculus II exam the previous night. After work, I hung out with my friend David. We went to the Rock Canyon Park at the foot of Squaw in Provo to run around and dance. While we were talking about being a cat or a dog person, this little cat comes running up to us. We played with her for a little while and then walked on. When we came back, she was still where we left her. On further notice, her pink bedazzled collar was lying in the dirt a few feet away. I guess only a few hours earlier, someone had dumped her off and taken her collar off to face the elements. We were so afraid she would get run over by a car or eaten by a cougar, we took her with us. She was the sweetest little thing! She was perfectly tame, remarkably calm, friendly and sweet. We fed her a few cheesy crackers and some clean water and took her for a ride to the police station to figure out what to do next. Turns out, the nearest animal shelter is in Spanish Fork, and is only open during daylight. So we took her to David's friend's house, where she can be safe until one of us finds a home for her.

We named her Kaylee, after the Firefly character. I wanted to keep her so badly. I miss having a pet.

Back at BYU

Well, it's only a few weeks into the semester, and a lot has happened, both good and bad. Due to the more recent events, I've been really upset and I realized I'm not nearly as happy as I was at the beginning of last school year. I'm on a mission to get that Me back. It was that Me that attracted friends and made other people happy, and that made me happy. I was funny, silly, always found with a smile and something to talk about. Always ready for some new adventure, whether that was late-night park games or splashing in puddles with equally ridiculous friends. Now I want to find the balance of happy-friendly-fun Me and productive-scholarly Me. I know it's possible. I'm also trying to be better spiritually. I haven't been doing some of the basic things I know I should, like praying and reading my scriptures, not with real intent.

Maybe I'll be blessed with that artistic inspiration I've been missing for so long.

*So as not to seem so bleak, one of the awesome bits of news is that I got onto the 10 o'clock BYU Ballroom Team! It's an entry-level team, so we compete with each other to move up to the higher teams. BYU has five teams within the Ballroom Company, so there is plenty of room for improvement.

"Don't You Know You're Beautiful" by Seabird