I've Got the Swagger of a College Kid

So last Monday was my first day of school! It was interesting, to say the least.
I woke up pretty early* to get ready so I could get on the train at 8:23 to be at my 9:40 class on time.
My mom left me a real cute note in my bathroom and it totally made my day :)

She thinks I'm awesome :')

Thankfully, I knew where my first class was and walked right to it with no trouble at all *applause*. I have writing 2010 with about 23 other kids in this super old looking building for fifty minutes. It's kind of awesome :) I love how short class is. It is about as long as my attention span and we mostly just sit and discuss the reading that we had for homework.
After that is my LEAP 1100 class. I'm still not 100% sure what that is but I like it. LEAP is this program that the U does to help kids with the same goals get together and learn. It takes care of your diversity credit for your general education but the content of the class focuses specifically on your major. So since I plan to major in business management one day, I  am in business LEAP! We also have a peer adviser who brings us candy and keeps us updated on things happening around the school. It's almost like a homeroom class where you can actually feel comfortable as a stupid freshman! And we learn about things that are actually interesting :) score!
After my classes ended I went to the no good very bad bookstore (not really. It's actually like the coolest place ever! They have so much great Utah stuff! I want all of it!) to get my textbooks. I was only able to get two of them and I spent $98. Then I went back to the store the next day and spent $93. Also, I bought two books online for $120. Needless to say, my poor little bank account is mad at me for having to spend $311 on textbooks for one semester. Hopefully I'll be smarter next time. Ha. :)
Anyway, day two was less exciting. I have Nutrition at 9:10 and it goes until 10:30. I get kind of bored in there and it's hard to sit and pay attention to a lecture for that long. But, I know I need to listen and learn because I'm definitely not healthy. And it beats biology or chemistry for a science credit any day! :)
After that I walked over to the Institute to sign up for class. I hadn't really met any people yet and I felt so weird sitting alone in my classes and was feeling kind of lonely. But, as soon as I walked into the Institute, I felt so peaceful. I felt like I was back in my Seminary building with all of my friends and a million people who loved me. Everyone was so nice and said Hi to me. It was the BEST! I decided to take New Testament since I haven't had that for a while and I went to class. Brother Paige told us that we would be studying the life of the Savior in chronological order. He told us how important it is to learn about Christ so that we can come to know him and gain testimonies of him. My Tuesday/Thursday schedule was so freaking hard to plan out. I worried and worried about it all summer until I finally fixed it the Monday night right before my first day of T/TH classes. And now I am able to take the exact Institute class that I need in my life right now. I really do believe that our Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and is always going to help us out, no mater what! :)
After that I get a little break to just chill and do homework. Then it's off to Music 2100, History of Rock and Roll :) I've said it before and I'll say it again. I absolutely adore music. I love it! It's pretty much my entire life. Last year I took Music 1010, which was just music appreciation and history. It was kind of a hard class but I loved learning about the history of music and why things are the way they are. Now I get to move to a more modern time and learn about legends like Elvis and Jimi Hendrix and the influence that they had on society and the entire music world. It's really great :) I think it'll be a fun class!
Riding the train to and from school is quite the event. I spend two hours a day commuting to/from school. In some ways it's nice because I can just read or sleep or write papers. But at the same time it's annoying because uh who likes sitting with a million strangers on a freaking train with no wifi for an hour? Yeah. Exactly. I've met some interesting people though. It's nice to have chats with people much older than me who give me advice about my future. A lot of them have said don't try to do too much and remember to have fun. I really take that stuff to heart. After all, strangers know best! :)
All in all college is pretty cool. It's nice to have freedom and responsibility. But it sucks having no friends and doing everything alone. Oh, and being hungry all the time isn't really that great either. Hopefully I can meet some super hot guy who is about ready to graduate and has a good career in mind so I can marry him and have one major life event that I always worry about out of the way ;) Or maybe we can just be friends or something. Haha :)

Well that's all folks! Have an excellent week!

*So pretty much every night this summer I went to bed at 2:30 am and woke up around 10. So when I say "pretty early" I mean like seven. Because seven IS early to me :P

Also, I miss my friends. A lot. We had so much fun this summer! So many great nights and adventures! So many laughs and pictures and good times. Two of my favorite people ever now live in Logan and are attending USU. I have two other friends who moved out, one is at Snow and the other SUU. And we can't forget my best friend in the whole entire world, Elise! She's now in Orem attending UVU. It's just weird having everyone gone. I miss being able to just round everyone up to watch movies or go to Denny's or whatever. Thankfully they are coming back this weekend to work and hopefully this time I can give them all proper goodbyes. They're all really awesome kids and I appreciate the good times we've had together! Anyway, enough ranting. I know friends don't really matter that much but I still get sad when I see a day dot or a punch card with someones initials who has already left. It kind of breaks my heart a little. Haha Kara you're such a baby :P

Now, for your entertainment pleasure-

Peace out, girl scout!

Gnats

So this one time my family went on a trip to Yellowstone. It was right after my sister got married. Her and Shane came along with the Fab Five and we had a real good time :) Yellowstone is one of my favorite places to go camping. It is HUGE and there are tons of different things to see. But the animals are probably my favorite part! We get up super early and drive and drive and drive until we get to where the bears like to hang out. It's usually still a little dark and you have to search them out but when you find one it's so exciting! We stop off on the side of the road and run out to take pictures. This is definitely not a "safe" activity but it sure is fun! I love being the start of a bear jam ;)
My family and I have been to Yellowstone quite a few times. Every time is a new adventure and we always have so much fun! But this particular time stands out to me. I don't know if it's because my brother-in-law was there but it just seems to be different than all the other trips we've taken there. Maybe it's because of this beaut of a picture...

We were hiking around looking at different hot pots or something and were being eaten alive by gnats. They were awful, terrible creatures and were so obnoxious. They fly around your head and buzz in your ears. It's so annoying! Luckily we all had nifty jackets to protect us! So we walked around just like this for quite some time and Shane documented this moment. Aint that just special :)
I love my family and I love our camping trips. I've been so many amazing places over the years. I've seen some pretty incredible stuff!! It just proves to me that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he wanted to make some parts of this earth extra special. These National Parks are not accidents of nature. They were created to be places of wonder and beauty. I'm so glad my parents have taught me and my siblings how important it is to appreciate them. I'm glad they are protected and preserved by the NPS so that future generations will be able to enjoy these spectacular sights. I mean can you imagine if someone decided to start building houses along the Grand Canyon? It would totally ruin it!
So today I am remembering all the nights I've spent sleeping in our trailer listening to the sounds of the wild right outside. I remember one day I woke up to 9 massive Elk right outside my window. I remember playing in all kinds of rivers and lakes. I remember being up so high in the mountains that I felt  I was on top of the world. I remember having a snowball fight with my brother on the side of a volcano in the middle of July. I remember campfires and smores. I remember being able to see stars. I remember hours and hours in the car with my brother and sisters. I remember classic rock music blaring as we drove. I remember sleeping bags and cold pillows. I remember singing and laughing and gift shops. I remember ranger shows. I remember animals, particularly the time we watched a fox and a grizzly bear chase each other around a meadow. I remember hiking and getting dirty. I remember picnics. (Like in Yosemite when my dad practically cut his finger off and we sat at the only table in the shade for hours while he was getting stitched up. People were so mad at us. We were just four dumb kids sitting around with no parents... hahaha) I remember staying up late and waking up early. Camping is the BEST. It's the time when you can just get away from it all and enjoy the  outdoors. :)
Happy "So this one time..." Sunday everyone!

"So This One Time..." Sunday

I love memories, stories, and pictures. And I've got TONS of them. Problem is, most people don't really want to hear them. So yay for blogging! :D
I have decided that every Sunday (or whatever. You know how good I am at remembering to blog...) I will write about a memory I have of something awesome!
I have also decided that the first one shall be about The Lid Box War of '12. It was quite the event and it always makes me laugh so hard when I think about it. So here goes...

I was scheduled to work one night with Elise, Taylor, and Jason and I was quite excited because Elise and Jason are my favorite people ever! But when I got to work everything was weird. But I kept working like normal and then things got super slow so we decided to sit in the office where this event took place-

Elise was GLARING at Jason. (And I thought it was kind of funny so I documented the moment.) For some reason unknown to me, they were in a fight and both of them were angry. I had no idea what was going on until we were out in the kitchen later...
We have this wonderful thing at pour station called the lid box. When you are getting ready to pour a smoothie, you are supposed to take the tag off the lid, throw it away, place the lid in the lid box, and then continue to pour the smoothie into a cup and hand it out. Seems legit, right? Wrong. Sure it's fast and easy but if you get rushed and then run out of clean lids, you have to stop and dump them in the sink and wait for one minute for them to sanitize and it's inconvenient and kind of sucks. So anyway Jason feels that the lid box is an unnecessary and evil thing for those reasons. His philosophy is basically throw the lid at the sink before you pour so that someone can wash it and then you've always got clean lids ready to use! (which I also kind of hate because I have been hit by so many freakin' lids! Also, if it doesn't hit me it scares the crap out of me when I'm on dishes. So I just put them on the counter and carry them to the sink with the dirty blenders. Stupid lids...)
I was on pour and threw a lid in the lid box just like I always had and looked up to see the most terrible look I've ever been given. Jason was standing there and was like, "DON'T USE THE LID BOX!" and Elise was like, "USE IT!" and then they glared at each other and didn't speak for a while. I kind of just rolled my eyes at them because this fight was completely ridiculous and was disturbing our happy work environment. Taylor and I laughed and we all went in the back and discussed the problem. Elise admitted that he was right about the inconvenience of stock piling dirty lids. But she didn't want to say sorry so she continued to be mad. Jason tried to have group hug with us in hopes for forgiveness but Elise just would not have it. Thankfully Taylor took pictures of the event with my iPod :)

Our faces KILL me

hahahahahaha

Us being mad at Jason...

 I still don't know what was happening right here but it makes for an awesome picture 

:)

 And eventually I gave in but Elise stayed true to her anger and refused to participate in group hug.

And the first thing she did when we got back in the kitchen was throw a lid in the lid box. 

So, naturally, Jason freaked out and threw everything he could find in the lid box.

 And he did it with the straightest face and without saying a single word. By then Elise and I were rolling on the floor laughing. He had clearly won the war. And I have never put a lid in there since.
Long story short, I love my friends. And even though we do ridiculous stuff at work that we should probably get fired for, we have a lot of fun. Our staff is like no other staff. We are a family. Best friends forever. We care about each other and spend a lot of time together, especially outside of work. I couldn't ever ask for cooler people to work with!
And now it is time to say goodbye to six of them. Calvin, Kathy, Elise, Eric, Karley, and Jason (who technically already quit but still). They are my FAVORITE. I love every single one of them so much. They are all so fun to work with and make me smile on the daily. We've all had a lot of fun times together and I look forward to them coming back to work/visit on the weekends and summers. And every single time I pour a smoothie and set the lid on the counter instead of the box, I think of this day and the wrath of Jason. I look back at it and laugh. I'll miss him. I'll miss everyone! They've all been so good to me!

Well, that's that. My first really lame story that means a lot to me. I'm looking forward to every "So This One Time..." Sunday in the future :)

10 Days

That's when classes start. In TEN days.
Ten days left of summer.
Ten days left of freedom.
Ten days left until I won't see some of my best friends for a while.
Ten days left to get ready for this exciting and terrifying journey.
It's here. I can't believe it.

In Loving Memory

I don't even know where to begin this post. I have so much to say.

Earlier this week one of the greatest men I have ever known passed away. I was at work ready to end my shift and leave for the day when my dear friend Elise came in. She was getting ready for her closing shift and we were just chatting as normal when she was like oh by the way... Brother Timothy died this morning. 

I wasn't shocked by the news since he has been battling cancer for quite some time, but I was still sad. I was  glad I was done working for the day and could just go talk to my sister. He meant a lot to me and has really had an impact on my life these past 3 years.

Let me start from the beginning. Like, primary. The boys and girls my age in the Welby 3rd ward aren't exactly...friends. We've never ever gotten along super well and definitely don't hang out. We never sit together at activities and have separate sides of the room in our classes. When the Timothy's were called to be our teachers this all changed. Craig had this lovely idea of giving us a seating chart. He made us get to know others and sit with people we didn't know so that we would actually listen to our lessons. Also, for the first 15 minutes of every class we would go around the room and share one thing from the previous week. This gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other. Sometimes they would have us say one thing we learned about someone that we didn't know before. They unified us and made us feel more comfortable talking to each other. It reminds me a lot of the movie Freedom Writers. (Way to go Mr. Olpin. Something you taught me in my English class actually applies to my life) When people start to have a better understanding of the people around them, incredible things happen.

They helped us understand the scriptures and always gave us quality lessons. We studied the Old Testament,  New Testament, and The Book of Mormon with them. Craig always gave us a challenge to be better in our lives. He made us report back to him and follow up on the things we had been learning. 

We had our own Sunday School Facebook group and had parties from time to time. We had lessons over Skype when Craig went out of town and Janet was still there to teach us. I mean who does that?! Most people just get a sub and forget about their class when they leave but not him. He made sure he could at least call and listen to our news of the week when he was gone. They really did genuinely care about us. Plus they ALWAYS gave us treats which was awesome. Even on Fast Sunday Janet would pass around the bag of assorted gum. I can't even tell you how many cinnamon rolls and choco tacos I ate before Sacrament Meeting. It was the best :)

When we found out he was sick it was hard for all of us. He still continued to come and teach us even when I know he felt like crap. He was the ultimate example of sacrifice and priorities. He always had a good attitude and made sure that we were being taken care of. I really appreciate all the words of wisdom he gave us. The last week he was able to come to our class he thanked us for all we'd done for him. He told us to keep our testimonies strong and to be nice to everyone. All I could think was how on earth could we have possibly done anything for you? You were the one who taught us and stayed with us until the very end. He never asked to be released and give up. I'm so very thankful for him and his wife. His children as well. That family rocks and I'm so glad that I have gotten to know them so well over the past few years.

Brother Timothy will always be someone I look up to. I miss him a lot but I know he's happy in heaven. And I will forever be thankful for the things he has taught me. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Winter

8.4.12

Draper Utah Temple

It was a lovely day full of happiness and smiles.

Congrats you guys! :)