Bun Friday

It's a tradition.

Kaylee and I do it every week.

Be there or be square.

Christmas

My parents took Kaylee and I to Mexico so that was basically our Christmas present. And oh boy what an awesome present it was! So it was really nice to spend actual Christmas focusing on time with my family and remembering why we have Christmas in the first place.
Christmas Eve I woke up and went visiting teaching. All by myself. I'm so brave you don't even know. Then I helped Elise finish her shopping. We had five people she needed to get stuff for and it only took us three hours and a few treks through the snow.
I got called into work early so at 12:00 I took off my cute Christmas outfit and put on my boring work outfit. It took me almost fifteen minutes to get to Jordan Landing and the blizzard was insane. Right about then I was thanking myself for biting the bullet and spending so much money on new tires. Anyway, I went to work and Rachel and I cleaned while Ashley took the deposit to the bank. Over an hour later Ashley came back and we were suuuuuper slow so she left. We basically just sold gift cards and cleaned. Then at four Rachel left and Shambray came in. I got REALLY upset and sad that I had to be at work on Christmas Eve instead of at home with my family. Plus, I was ultra bored and hungry. Shambray and I chatted a little and then we discussed closing earlier than 7:30 like originally planned.We only made nine dollars from 3-4, thirteen dollars from 4-5, and then six dollars from 5-6. So, we called Steve to see if we could go home early. He didn't answer so we asked Emily and she gave us the OK. We closed up the store and then it was back into the snow to go home.
It was so nice to be back with my family! We ate yummy dinner and opened our pajamas. Kaylee and I matched, of course. So we documented the moment. Shane read us a funny story and gave us "crap from my closet" gifts and they were hilarious. I love him. He's the best! Then we watched The Polar Express and went to bed.

We all now how excellent my iPod is at taking pictures... :P

This is one of the only pictures I got of Christmas.

But that's okay- we were really happy :)

The next morning I got up and took a shower and got ready so that I didn't look like such a bum all day. My siblings and grandparents came over and we had breakfast and opened more presents. My mom and dad gave me new sheets and soccer sweats <3 I was SO EXCITED. Seriously. That's exactly what I wanted! Kyle gave me some cute new scarves and my grandma gave me some barrettes and a charm bracelet. Plus the stuff she got for me in Mexico. :) We ate again and just hung out. Then Elise came over and we gave each other our presents. She gave me a Minnie Mouse from Disney World and a Blink-182 shirt. I also loved those :)
We went to her house to see her family and Ashley came over. We went to Jamba so that we could get another part of Elise's present- a box of soy milk concentrate. Hahaha she was stoked! Then Elise and I got in her car and drove around the whole state just like always. We discussed work and my fears for becoming a manager. We talked about our friends and how great they are. Suddenly we realized that it had been two hours and we didn't even remember where we had driven. We cranked up the music and jammed out to Avril Lavigne. I always love our car trips together :)
It was a really great Christmas and I was happy I got to spend it with the people I love most.

*Does Cartwheels*

Look at dem grades doe.

I'm so happy.

So, so, so, so, very happy.

I did it. 

And I did gooooood.

And even though it was hard,

I survived.

Bring on next semester :)

Also,

 

Notice anything different about my clock in receipt?

Probably not...

So I'll give you a hint.

It says MANAGER.

(and of course I kept it and hung it on my bulletin board. duh.)

I'm now officially a Team Lead.

Well, when I finish my book work I will be. 

But still, I get to manage my own shifts now!

And when I assign a cash drawer to my name, I'm a manager. 

I can void stuff and edit people's clock in/out times and such. 

I can do the safe count under my name.

 I can check hourly and labor and whatnot.

When I clock in the screen says, "SMILE! Have a great shift! :)"

I'm finally allowed to have that key Emily gave me in July.

And know the security code that I've also had since then.

I'm basically the boss. ;)

Hahahaha

But really though.

Getting promoted after working at Jamba for only 8 months is incredible.

I don't think it's happened before and I have a lot of pressure to do a good job.

But, Emily says she knows I can do it and I'm really excited.

Yay for my life!

:)

12/12/12

Apparently this is supposed to be some big huge deal.
And normally it is for me.
I mean, I went nuts on 11/11/11.
It was an awesome day and I'm never going to forget it.
But, today was average.
I finished my last test of the semester at 12:04 this morning. I was stoked to finally be done with all that homework!
I sold back two of my books to the campus store and got $51 for them so that was nice! It was more than I thought I was gonna get! So I went and bought myself more crap that I don't need :P
I got silver glittery Vans and a cute shirt from Hollister. Also, I bought yet ANOTHER bra from Victoria's Secret. I'm addicted. It's NOT okay. And I got part of Elise's Christmas present... which will remain a secret until she opens it :)
Then I went and got my toesies done. I've been so stressed out lately it was really nice to have a moment just to relax. I mean, besides the tickley parts hahaha! I was the only one there so she spent a lot of time on me and did a really great job. My feet suck and it's nice to get them taken care of every now and then. They always ask me if I'm a dancer. I just laugh and say no and then they look at me like I'm a freak. I'm just gonna start telling them that I am so I have an excuse to have such bad calluses :P
After that I got to go see some of my very best friends. I absolutely love that I can still walk into the band room and have at least 13 people run over to hug and say hi to me. It means the world to me that they still get excited when I come to visit. I was so worried about that when I graduated. That everyone would forget me and be like meh Kara's not really that great and we don't miss her. But, they haven't done that yet so that's good ;) hahaha I just love those kids. So much. And I'm so proud of how hard they work!
Now in just two short days I get my long awaited vacation. My parents, grandparents, little sister, and me are going to MEXICO :) It's def gonna be the best Christmas cruise of all time. I'm so excited :)
I guess 12/12/12 wasn't as lame as I thought! :)
<3

College From a Webcam

This semester involved lots and lots and lots of homework.
I mean really. Every single day I had at least an hour of stuff to do.
Which I know probably isn't a lot, but for a girl who has never done homework in her life... that's just a lot.
Anyway, sometimes I got super bored so I opened up my webcam and took snapshots of how I was feeling.
Let me share some of those with you today.
Now, I must warn you. They are not of super high quality but I think you'll get the idea.

The beginning of the semester was something like this:

Somewhat enthused.

Also, I love the Institute Building :)

My first big paper was a 5 page research paper on poverty and welfare. It was kind of a joke how not seriously I took that assignment. So this is me, wasting time at Challenger.

Preschool classrooms can make you go caraaazy.

And it was wicked cold in there.

Sometimes I just wanted to throw my computer across the room because the stuff we were reading/writing responses to in my writing class was just ridiculous.

It was 11 pm, I had been at work for seven hours, and I really just wanted to sleep.

hahahahaha.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to procrastinate my cultural analysis until the very last minute. I mean really though. I didn't start writing it until the day before it was due. It was a seven page paper on the topic of my choice. We were asked to write about something in the media that influences our culture. So naturally, I chose to write about the movie Mean Girls and how bullies are portrayed as popular and how that affects real life high school situations. I was at a complete loss for things to say and I watched the movie twice in hopes for inspiration. I ended up going to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 at 7:00 that night and when I got home at 10:00 I still didn't wanna write my paper. Finally at 11:00 after much convincing, I sat my butt down on my bed and cranked out that paper. I finished before 2 am and I was totally shocked. I thought I was going to have to stay up all night writing that thing. But I didn't. Oh, and I got an A. ;)

I had a photo shoot for a picture to put on Facebook and this was one of my favorites.

I started getting kind of crazy...

I was so flipping tired.

hahahahahahaha

And now, here I am at the end of the semester. I had just finished my last nutrition test that I probably failed. I had only one thing left on my homework To Do list. I was ready to just sit down and cry because I was so close to the finish. But I didn't. Because I'm a mighty Ute. And mighty Utes don't cry!

Back at the Institute Building, my most favorite place ever.

:)

And I actually edited this one because it's going on Facebook. HOLLA.

Also,

Accurate.

Have a happy Christmas break! :)

The End Is Near

Holy Hannah.
My first semester of college will be over on Monday after I finish my last history of rock and roll test.
That is absolutely insane.
I can't believe how fast the time went by!
Seems like just yesterday I was writing this and this.
Wowza.
Anyway, I've learned a lot of really important things since I started college. Some academic, some not.
I learned that: You HAVE to sleep. HAVE to.
Working more than 25 hrs a week is death.
Procrastination is not the answer.
People don't care if you get ready or not, so you might as well just be comfy.
Fake it til you make it!
Always check for personal belongings before exiting the train.
STUDY. STUDY. STUDY.
Writing papers the night before they are due causes panic, releasing pure genius.
A's are EXTREMELY hard to get.
Textbooks cost more than an entire paycheck.
Eating is a good idea.
Walking is good for the soul.
Institute is the greatest thing to happen to me since seminary.
Boys really do eventually grow up.
Saving money is more important than having "stuff".
Being a semi-grown up is harder than it looks.
Having friends is important. They make life a lot happier.
Never take early classes.
Making To Do lists just might save your life.
Parents are the single most amazing thing in the world.
And most importantly, GO TO FREAKING CLASS. No matter how boring it sounds or how hard it may be, just freaking GO.

I hate to say this but I learned a lot of those things the hard way. And that's just a fraction of the things I've learned. I learned so much about writing, money, and nutrition it's crazy! I loved my classes (cept for history of rock and roll. That basically sucked.) a lot! I had some really great and influential teachers. I'm so thankful for all of them and for the opportunity I had to go to school. I truly am so blessed.

Also, I've been doing basically nothing but homework since last Tuesday.

I'm ALMOST done.
:)

Alexander Cole

I'm here to tell you about one of the friends I made this semester. I'm extremely grateful for him and I want to be able to remember this experience forever. So bear with me. It might not make a whole lot of sense or be very interesting, but I just don't want to forget about it. So here goes. :)

The time was 11:45 on Thursday, September 13, 2012. I was eating lunch by myself in the Institute Building like I always did. I was on iwastesomuchtime.com and laughing my head off. Just then a guy came over and sat by me and asked me if I was in Brother Page's class. I told him I was and he told me he was too... but only on Thursdays because he's a bio medical engineering major and has a whack schedule. I remember talking about classes and school and whatnot. We talked about our life dreams and goals and I found out he graduated from West Jordan High School in 2009 and recently returned from a mission. He was so nice and I remember he was eating brown sugar pop tarts. Pop tarts are basically a food group to me, so I was happy we had some dumb little random thing in common. Eventually it was 12:10 and time to go to our classes. He asked me what my name was and then I found out his was Alex. I walked to history of rock and roll with the BIGGEST smile on my face.
We ate together every Thursday after that. He started sitting by me in class and would then walk me to FMAB after lunch because it was on the way to his other class. We never ran out of things to talk about and I loved that. We just talked about life and got to know each other better. We always laughed and I never stopped smiling. He just made me so happy. I was so glad to have a friend at school and a reason to dress nicely :P
One Friday I was riding the train to school and I was so tired. I think I was asleep before I even got to Sugar Factory Road. Hahaha. Anyway, if you can imagine this, I was wearing my Pokemon sweatshirt and I was participating in Bun Friday. I was out cold on the train with no intentions of waking up until I got to South Campus. Basically I looked ridiculous. Well, since I usually slept on the train I always had random people come sit in the seat next to me and we both just kind of ignored each other and I didn't really think anything of it. This day was no different. It was 11th West and someone got on, sat next to me, and started reading. Typical. I woke up a little bit but didn't open my eyes. I thought, "haha wouldn't it be funny if Alex was sitting next to me?" I brushed off the idea because I knew the chances of that happening were very slim. But, I guess they weren't so slim after all. At about Murray Central I opened my eyes, looked to my right, and saw him sitting there. I stared at him for a minute in disbelief and he looked at me and smiled and said, "Hey. I was gonna wake you up but then I decided it looked like you needed to sleep." I felt so dumb. SO DUMB. hahah He told me he liked my sweatshirt and we talked about Pokemon for a bit. We talked about work and whatnot and then he said, "We should hang out some time." and I was like, "UH. YEAH." When we were almost to Stadium where he gets off, he asked me for my number and told me he'd call me tomorrow at 5:00. I was so happy for the rest of the day. SO happy.
The next day I worked all morning with Zach and he helped calm me down a little bit. I was so nervous/excited and was trying not to get my hopes up just in case he didn't call. I got off work at 4, went home, tried to make myself look more like a girl and less like a smoothie, and waited. At 5:00 he called me just like he said he would and gave me the run down of the plans he made for us. I was so happy he actually came up with something for us to do! I love activities :)
I drove to his house (I only got lost for like 7 minutes! Which is good because he lives on like a farm and it was kinda hard to find. So HA!) and sat in my car for a while trying to calm down. I was so nervous. I wanted to just turn around and go back home. I didn't want to accidentally say or do something stupid and have him never talk to me again. Eventually I grew a pair and walked up to the door. He answered and smiled at me and it made me feel 1000x better. Seriously. I went inside and met everyone and then we walked over to his aunt's house with his sisters and brother-in-law to ride horses. I didn't fall off OR die. I was so impressed with myself :)
After that we went back to his house and ended up watching good old family home videos. Oh. My. Gosh. Can we just go back to the 90's? Seriously. Those were the golden years! hahaha Everyone dressed so great and said awesome things! Abbey was trying to find a clip of her singing in a school talent show to show to her husband. Since she couldn't find it, we ended up watching most of the tape and I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee. There was some wicked funny stuff on that tape and Alex and I kept looking at each other and laughing about the silly things he and his siblings used to do. Then we made/frosted cookies and chatted some more. His mom joined us and we played Rummikub. At 11:30 Alex walked me out to my car and we hugged hahaha and I drove home and told my parents all about my evening. It was so much fun. I was so happy :)
Ever since then we've ridden the train to school together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He always makes sure to call me if he's ever not going to be on the train so that I don't freak out and worry. I'm glad he's okay with how strange I can be. He is constantly reminding me that I'm fine and my life could always be worse. He is the best example of hard work. He takes ridiculous classes and does really well in them. He never gets stressed out and I just don't understand it. hahaha He's just awesome. I love the conversations we have. I've learned a lot of really cool insights on the scriptures from him. I love the way his face lights up when he talks about Scotland or people from his mission. He's always got a funny story for me and lets me tell him about my life. :)
He teases me about the awkward and embarrassing things I've done when he's around. Like the time I thought a button fell of his sweater and made it a bigger deal than it needed to be. Or when I couldn't stop laughing about the 3rd Nephites thing that Brother Peters said. Or my personal favorite is when one night I was at his house and we were looking at pictures on his computer and for some reason I grabbed his arm and was like, "oohh.." OUT. LOUD. He laughed at me and then flexed his arm and needless to say... he's got some muscles :P
I'm so sad that we only have one more lunch and train ride together. I have no idea if I'm ever going to see him again after Friday. I really hope I do but if I don't, I'm still really thankful for the time that I've spent with him and for the friendship we've made. He's one of the greatest people I've ever met. I just really like him.

"WILL YOU TAKE A PICTURE WITH ME?!" 

"Right now?" 

"YES!" 

"Yeah but you better hurry." 

"OKAY!"

literally the conversation we had before taking this. hahahah.

:)