Last Happenings

I haven't had a chance to blog about my last week in Rexburg yet, so here I go.

I am one of the two activities coordinators for my ward. Monday night we organized our ward talent show. We had dinner before the show that I arranged through catering through the school. It was awesome! We had herb-crusted pork loin, potatoes au gratin, steamed vegetables, rolls, and then raspberry cheesecake and eggnog for dessert. I hate eggnog, and so does my roommate, but she and I decided to do a shot just for fun, and I ended up laughing (no surprise there, I'm sure) and spewing it out. Luckily I made it to the kitchen before, so I didn't make a mess. ;)

The talent show was great! Lauren and I performed the closing act and received a standing ovation. She and I had been practicing that duet since we got back from Thanksgiving. We played it absolutely *perfect right before dinner, but made a few mistakes during the actual performance. Oh well, I'm over it...but she and I remember that time we played it perfect! We were so giddy that night, as you can see in the video I posted last week!

I went to a high school basketball game Wednesday night with Lauren and my Arco friend Nathan Davies. My co-worker has a son who plays for Madison, and she said the year before when they played Rigby at home it was a crazy wild game, and I thought, "What the heck?" Lauren and Davies play sports, so they were excited too, and they appreciated my reasoning for going.

It was a really fun game to watch. Basketball goes by much faster than Frisbee! There was one guy from Rigby who lit it up! He was really fun to watch.

Lauren bought an Aaron Carter CD at Hasting's and she took a video of us dancing to him in our room. She and I have been known to turn on anything Justin Bieber and rock out in our whole apartment (when we're home alone, of course...I'd never be THAT roommate). One time she and I were dancing and opened the door because we were actually getting hot. Then her volleyball coach (tall, cute, 6'6" volleyball player) came over and we were so embarrassed! But he was cool about it and danced with us. ;)

Thursday morning I took my friends to the temple with me. Davies said he hadn't been once the whole semester, and I said that was absolutely unacceptable, so Lauren, Grace, and I went with him. The temple is always a good time. Love it!

That night my friend Brett organized an indoor Frisbee tournament at the I-Center. We took up about four basketball courts and played for two hours. My feet were killing me -- I don't have the right shoes for that floor -- but we had a lot of fun. He came over to my apartment after and played a game of Settlers with Lauren and I. I killed them both! I had a brick port and two settlements (later cities) on brick spots.

After the game he hung around until midnight. We looked at youtube videos and he took a video of Lauren and I dancing...no big deal. =]

Friday was my last day of work. I wrote Judy a nice letter and I wrapped up a Book of Mormon and gave it to my other friend Angie. Judy ended up sending me a Christmas present in the mail that got here earlier this week, so that was so nice of her! She and I became really good friends... which is funny because she's about Mom and Dad's age. Angie called me later and thanked me for my gift. She didn't say anything else...I'm sure she's been proselyted to a hundred times, but you never know! I wrote my testimony in the front and marked my favorite scripture, plus the famous promise in the back. I was thinking about it...Angie is the sixth person I've given a Book of Mormon to. My roommates ask me if I want to serve a mission...I tell them I'll jump that hurdle when I get there. I want to graduate before that, and I may be married between now and then, so...it's hard to say. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be graduated with my BA two years from now. =]

Friday night I hung out with my friends and did my white glove cleaning job. I was up until just before 4AM doing all that nonsense.

Saturday I helped my roommate get ready to leave, and she and I pulled out of Rexburg about the same time. She hooked me up with a bunch of kitchen gear since she can't really take that stuff back to Puerto Rico. She grew up in Boston, but her family lives there now because of her father's job. But anyway--Thanks Lauren!

That night Chase and I went to our old friend Hannah's wedding reception. She had the most beautiful dress I've ever seen. I want it! I think December weddings/engagements are the most romantic things in the universe...but my mother has told me if I get married in December, she's not going because of slick roads. ;) Love you Mom!

So that was my last week in Rexburg. I can't wait to start school in January. I get to live on the first floor like I did in the summer, and I get to live with my best friend Kelsey Montgomery! I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!!

Ward Talent show

My roommate and I did the closing act for our ward talent show on Monday. We got a standing ovation! Check it out

Gingerbread Train

Last week was pretty chill. Things are slowing down over here. My job is almost done, and it's finals week for everyone in school right now.

I want to start off with a spiritual thought, so skip down to the next * if you're over this sort of thing. This semester I've learned a lot about myself and I've overcome some tough challenges. I'm just really grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Christ has atoned for my mistakes. Christ can heal a broken heart. I love this Christmas season where we have the opportunity to more fully think of the Savior and all he's done for us, along with the ultimate love our Heavenly Father has for us. He sent his only Begotten Son to die for YOU and for ME and for everyone who has ever lived in the history of forever.

Along with the gift of Christ, God has given us the gift of the Holy Ghost and scriptures to help us in our journeys here on earth. Sometimes in our personal lives, the gospel is really the only thing that makes sense. I'm thankful that in those times of anguish, when I turn to the scriptures with a prayer in my hearts to take the pain away, I find comfort in the words of the prophets -- every time.

*Now, onto the happenings of last week. My roommate and I put Christmas lights up in our room. We bought six strands of lights, and we LOVE it!

yes we have two posters of JB in our room =]

and a Harry Potter poster

 Tuesday in our school newspaper, there was an article that started a huge controversy about skinny jeans. Earlier this semester, the testing center had signs up that said if your jeans "show the shape of your leg" then they aren't fit for the testing center. Umm...news flash: all girl jeans show the shape of the leg. Then one of the workers there (a student) wouldn't let a girl take a test because her jeans were "too tight." Now, bless this girl's poor little heart, she wasn't exactly a size two. She was quoted in the newspaper as being totally humiliated by the worker's rudeness basically telling her she was too fat for her jeans. She told him if she went home and changed, the testing center would be closed by the time she got back. He said, "That's not my problem."

I posted something on facebook about it and people BLEW IT UP! It was the most entertaining three hours of my life. People of differing opinions were arguing with each other, including quotes from the Honor Code and even a few scriptures. It was great! My roommate and I were having way too much fun. But it was awesome getting 100 comments in three hours! Record!!

Just to clarify: skinny jeans are not banned from BYU-I or the testing center. The idiot testing center jerk-face was reported and they're taking care of the ridiculous sign in the testing center. Good times!

Last week I read Stephen Colbert's book "I Am America (and so can you!)" and it was really funny. My roommate walked in on me reading it and this is what she saw:

Stephen Colbert's head where mine should be! It freaked her out a little, but it was funny.

Thursday night Lauren and I made a gingerbread train we bought at Walmart. We had so much fun with this.

just starting out

Lauren's fell apart, but mine stayed put!

frosting!

...more frosting

funny story: we clicked the camera to take a shot and we were both smiling. The camera takes three seconds to take the picture. In the three seconds, Lauren's train collapsed, so the camera caught both of us screaming because it fell down! You had to be there, but this was really funny.

concentrating...

the train when it all worked

sad face...poor train

After that we went to our friend Bryson's apartment to celebrate his recent engagement. He proposed to his girlfriend after taking her to Taco Bell and offering to watch a movie at her place so she wouldn't suspect anything and would be totally surprised. When they got to her place, there were 500 candles lit (I'm glad they didn't burn down the building...can you imagine the newspaper headline? "Apartment complex burns down in lieu of marriage proposal") and he, you know, did his thing from there. We had sparkling cider in cute fake glasses, and Travis (Bryson's roommate, also our friend) toasted to the newly engaged couple!

Friday was my work dinner at The Sandpiper Restaurant in Idaho Falls. This place is NICE. It has a great location right across the river from the temple. Almost every entree was over $20 I took a cute guy friend to go with me, and the company paid for everything. He and I decided if we would've been there by ourselves, everything would've been close to $100! We went all out! Virgin margaritas, appetizers, a $25 entree each, and delicious dessert! He got halibut, I got tuna, he got creme brulee, and I got the berry cobbler. It was so good I could've cried.

Saturday my friends and I went to Idaho Falls to do some Christmas shopping. I bought a new hat that I love! I bought some things for Keaton. I bought him tons of candy and I made him this:

Sorry it's sideways. But that is his glitter Santa hat! He'll just throw it away, but it will be fun for a little bit!

That night we watched Mitzi's edited copy of The Blair Witch Project. We all thought it was dumb, but it's no big deal. We watched some of Crazy, Stupid Love while I cut out snowflakes and hung them around the apartment.

Sunday our ward had a Christmas program for Sacrament which was cool. That afternoon we had a special meeting to create two new stakes and to set new stake and ward boundaries. The first 45 minutes was all the business of calling new people and sustaining them, but the last hour and 15 minutes we heard some very good testimonies and council from the new presidents and three 70 members. President Clark bore a very powerful testimony, and then we received very good council from the other two 70 dudes. It was great!

That night was the last Sunday night for all of our friends to be together. We made doughnuts, scones, potatoes, (we are kind of obsessed with eating potatoes and ketchup) and went around the circle saying nice things about each other. We felt the love big time!

I have been blessed with a great roommate this semester. Lauren Endicott is a wonderful person! She was our relief society president, and let me tell you, this girl has a head on her shoulders! In my times of trial, she was right there to tell me to "stop being dumb" and to help me see the logical side of things vs. the emotional side of things. I truly believe people come into our lives for a reason, and she has been a tremendous blessing in my life! Hooray for the relationships in our lives that are as easy as breathing.

'Tis the Season

Last week I did some fun things with my roommates. For example, Monday night after FHE we went to Walmart and my two friends bought fake nails. I bought some liquid eyeliner and I love it! But anyway, that night my two friends did their nails and once they got done they asked if I wanted to do it too! I was skeptical, but I caved into the pressure and I like them! The only problem is I can't play the piano well at all (I can't feel where I am which is totally throwing me off) and typing and texting is slightly annoying, but they're pretty.

Tuesday's devotional was particularly good. A lady from the English Department spoke, so I had a good feeling about her from the very beginning. She did a great job, but one of the things she brought up made me rather upset: I hate when people put labels on women according to how old they are when they get married.

Feel free to skip to the next * if you want to bypass this rant.

For example, in the devotional a story was told of a girl who got married when she was in her 30's, and she said, "I relied on the Lord instead of my husband." Umm, excuse me? So what, because some women get married in their 20's that means they don't rely on the Lord, too? Or, on the flip side, some people say, "She was more righteous, therefore she was blessed with a husband early in life." What the heck? People are so dumb. How is anyone inferior to anyone else according to what age they marry at?? That argument is completely invalid and I would be embarrassed if I was responsible for articulating such nonsense.

*Whenever I can, I try to plan my gym trips with The O'Reilly Factor's TV schedule. I get on the treadmill, pop my headphones in, and listen away! The other night he did a segment where they interviewed random US citizens and asked them about the Republican Presidential Candidates. Some of them couldn't name one candidate! Determined to never be one of those ignorant people, I have diligently been studying up on the candidates at work during my down time (which is, let's face it, all the time). In Relief Society on Sunday, the teacher asked what are some responsibilities of citizens, and I said to vote! People laughed, but I'm serious. Get educated people! Don't be a pinhead!

Wednesday afternoon I went to lunch with my parents and my brother Chase at Costa Vida. I really enjoy my parents, and I'm grateful I'm able to see them often. I just think they are the most attractive, funny, and stalwart people I know! They are also the best examples of an eternal marriage and family. They raised nine pretty dang good kids (if I do say so myself) and six of them are married in the temple raising their own awesome families.

Turns out my back right tire had a nail in it, so I got that fixed that afternoon, and that night I went to Breaking Dawn! I quite liked it. I laughed a lot at the dumb stuff and made fun of the sick stuff, so it was way fun.

Thursday night the Frisbee league had our end of the semester banquet. Everyone got dressed up nice, they fed us a nice dinner, and then we had speakers, awards, and a slideshow. I was asked to speak, and let me tell you, it was super awkward because everyone was talking while I was up there trying to say what I'd prepared. I just plowed through and after I sat down, the coordinator got up and asked everyone to be quiet. I was pretty embarrassed, but it was no big deal.

Every year the coaches get authentic BYU-Idaho Competitive Ultimate discs, and this year we got JIPPED!! This was very disappointing to me, because I'd been looking forward to getting that disc all season. But my team surprised me with a disc they bought and signed for me, so that was awesome! Thanks guys!

Friday night Lauren and I went to The Battle of the Dance show and had a really fun time. I knew one of the groups, Formatics, before they performed, and I knew they were good! I took a video of their dance, but I can't upload it from my laptop. I'm trying to upload it from my smart phone, so if it works, that post will come later.

After the show, we were inspired so we danced to Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You about 500 times. We love JB. Two posters of him hang in our room, and we can often be found singing Mistletoe when we're together. Heaven help additional passengers when Mistletoe comes on the radio while we're driving in Lauren's car.

Saturday my roommates and I went to Applebee's for dinner, and then we went to the Christmas program at the I-Center. Weeks ago I saw a poster for this and I knew I wanted to go because Brian Stokes Mitchell would be there. He's the soloist that sings with MoTab every year at Christmas time, and he is great! I loved it. I'm one of those people that gets high off the Christmas spirit, and nothing brings that spirit better than great music.

Sunday was very cold. There was no cloud cover whatsoever, and there was a North wind, so it was quite miserable. My phone said it was -9 at some point yesterday. Brrrr. My friends and I stayed up watching Walk the Line and eating potatoes from the oven. 

Today the high is 18 with a low of 0 degrees. Bring on the cloud cover and snowfall so it can really feel like Christmas and it can be back to 30 degrees! I got an email from a missionary friend in Taiwan; he is complaining of the "cold" 60 degree weather. I know; I hate him too.

Well that is my life for last week. I have this week, then next, and the semester is over! My job will be over, and I'll spend a few weeks in Arco waiting for Winter Semester to begin. It's coming on fast, and I can't wait!

Saturday afternoon this was waiting for me when I got home from the gym:

Cute! Every girl in the history of forever wants to get flowers. Lucky me!