Recent Happenings

A lot of fun things have happened in the last week. My roommate Jennifer decided that we all needed a break from Provo for a night so she suggested that a group of us go up to Park City during the Sundance Film Festival. Six of us girls squeezed into a car and drove up to Park City to spot some celebrities. We didn't end up seeing anyone but it was still a lot of fun.

Jen and I before we left.

There was a really interesting cowboy shop that had tons of cowboy boots for sale. Each pair cost $2500. No one made any purchases there :)

We stopped into Mary Janes and Hannah found a pair of baby shoes that brought back memories of a nickname people used to call me. I don't think I'll ever live that one down.

We ate dinner at a pizza place and then headed back up the street to head home. However, we spotted a store that we all had to go into. It had some really cute clothes. If it hadn't been so expensive I probably would have three new shirts and a couple of cute new coats.

The next day, my brother Kiel was in town so he and his friend picked me up and we headed to Saratoga Springs to see my newest niece! Erica Allison Brown is absolutely adorable! She was four days old when this picture was taken.

Yesterday, February 4th, was my roommate Jennifer's birthday (and my sister, Shelley's!). We all went to Olive Garden and had a wonderful time chatting and eating delicious morsels of pasta and breadsticks. We then came back to our appointment and lots of people came over for cake and ice cream. Jen felt very loved :)

These are some of the girls that came to Olive Garden with us. A few more showed up a little later.

My roommate, Rhiannon, and I.

These three amazing girls, Rachel, Jennifer (the birthday girl), and Kristin, are also my roommates.

Our waiters were very kind to us so we decided to take a picture with them after we ate our meal.

Despite the tremendous work load that school inevitably brings, it has been a really fun week and hopefully I can continue to do well in school and have fun at the same time. It's a difficult but possible balance.

Realizations

• Things don't always turn out the way you plan.

• Some things take much longer to occur than you want them to.

• If you want something to happen, effort is required.

• If you find yourself getting prideful, something will happen that will make you humble again.

• You can't control your circumstances but you can control your reactions to your circumstances.

• No matter how much you want things to stay the same, things will change. No matter how much you want things to change, things will stay the same.

The month of January has been a month of realization for me. Deep down I always knew these things were true but I guess I've never had them verified as much as I have this month. Life has its positives and negatives but the one thing that positives and negatives have in common is that they are designed to make you stronger. You learn to overcome the bad and you learn to appreciate the good. I don't know what the future holds but I do know that I can choose to follow Elder Wirthlin's counsel: "Come what may and love it."

Christmas in Cali

After finals were over, I flew home to California for Christmas. I was able to spend about two and a half weeks at home. It was great to spend time with my family before plunging into another hard semester. Mom, Dad, Lisa, Kiel, Melissa, Bruce, Grandma, and I enjoyed a great Christmas morning together. I received many awesome gifts, including a new camera (my old one was nine years old and didn't even have a zoom feature on it) and a Payless gift card which I promptly utilized.


Bruce was super cute and gracefully let us poke, squeeze, kiss, and go nuts over how adorable he is.


After everyone left, I used my free time to do some arts and crafts. I started making vintage-looking advertisements as wall decorations this past summer and I decided to do a few more while I was home. This is one of the four I completed.

All in all, I had a great Christmas break. I truly saw the spirit of Christmas at work this year and I am grateful to all those who sacrificed for others and for me. Happy New Year!

Petty Pet Peeve

Confession: I have a pet peeve that a lot of other people probably wouldn't understand.

I hate the sound of people chewing. And when I say I hate it, I MEAN IT! I come from a family where I was taught to chew with my mouth closed. No one wants to be "distracted by the half-masticated cow rolling around in your wide-open trap." (I stole that quote from Miss Congeniality, if you didn't know.) No one wants to hear the sound of your food sloshing around in your mouth. No one wants to hear the sound of your gum and spit as you pop your gum during the middle of class or in the library (which is supposed to be a quiet place, people!). Seriously, I HATE IT!

You might ask why I'm venting about this. I don't know what it is, but people who feel the need to keep their mouths open while they chew seem to be attracted to my presence. I'm sitting next to someone in the JKB computer lab right now who is seriously adding to my displeasure over this issue.

If there is anything that I wish we would go back to the olden days of the 1800s for, it would be manners at the dinner table. Please people, is it so hard to keep your lips together when you chew?

Ok, I'm done now.

California Dreamin'

It's December. Sorry guys, I completely missed the month of November. But if I had written, it would have been about the same thing as the previous post. Sleep is still successfully evading me. I've said enough about that, though, because in two weeks I will be leaving BYU, Utah, and schoolwork behind for Christmas break and heading to the Golden State! In two weeks I will be in Concord, California!


Maybe we'll go into the city and see the sights. Or maybe we'll go to the Oakland Temple and see the Christmas lights.Or maybe we'll just stay home and spend hours and hours together as a family. Either way, I'll be happy :)

Good Grades, Social Life, Sleep. Pick Two. Welcome to College!

Anyone who has been through any amount of college knows what I am talking about.

The alarm goes off at 6. You pry yourself out of bed. You get ready. At 7:30 you step outside your apartment and stumble up the hill to campus, trying to keep your eyes open. You go to work (if you happen to have a morning job like me). You wash windows, take out trash bags, clean up people's messes, clean the fingerprints off stainless steal elevator doors, and open doors for teachers who forgot their keys (if you happen to have a custodial job like me). As soon as you clock out at noon, you head to another building on campus where your first class of the day begins. You take out your notebook and take notes on the history of United States and Latin American relations. After about an hour, you head upstairs to the next class of the day. Yawning, you take notes about the villages of Medieval England. You then head across campus to your next class where you discuss the book, Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer. You then drag your feet over to the HFAC where you sing in choir for an hour, hoping you don't faint into a dead heap while trying to keep your breaths supported and notes in tune. You then walk over to the Testing Center where you take a test you've been studying all night for. After about forty-five minutes you leave the Testing Center and walk home. You unlock the door of your apartment and collapse on the couch, relieved, but knowing that you are going to have to get up and start your homework. You start your homework. You cook yourself some dinner. You force yourself to go to FHE and try and be social. You come back to your apartment. If you have time, you go out running because you know exercise is important. If not, you keep doing homework and you do it until it's time for bed. You finally lay your head down on the pillow, knowing that you will be getting up in just 4 or 5 hours and starting the whole process over again.

Sound familiar? Like I said, this is the life of a typical college student and you've all been through it before. There are three things that occupy a college student's mind: good grades, a social life, and sleep. Unfortunately, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to do all three so you generally have to pick two and let one slide. Well, we all know I'm not the type that will abandon my school work. I've been told too many times in father's blessings and from other sources that I don't take enough time to have fun, so my social life this semester has picked up a little bit. So which one do I let slide? SLEEP. I don't think I truly know what the word means anymore.

Oh SLEEP! How wonderful that sounds! But it's Monday. I've got two papers due on Wednesday, two tests starting on Friday, two-hundred pages to read...

SLEEP: one day you and I will meet up again and it will be a glorious reunion.

I have the cutest nieces and nephews. Don't believe me? Take a gander.

Mariah Jordan

Logan Brown

Jack Jordan

Sydney Keogan

Bruce Christensen

Do not you agree?