A Hip Hop Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Why BYU?

So I've decided to attend Weber State University next semester. Why? The only answer I can give is called, "Trusting in the Lord". Why did I attend BYU for a semester then? Why didn't I just go to Weber in the first place? These have been the questions consuming my thoughts for the past month or so. But I finally know why I was suppose to come to BYU - even if just for a semester.

Last spring was a time I wasn't looking forward to. Choosing which college to go to seemed like such a big decision, like it could affect the rest of my life - and it probably has. There were so many different choices and they all had their benefits. U of U: great school, expensive, close to home (good and bad)... BYU: great school, church emphasis, not too expensive... Weber: too close to home, in my opinion then "just" Weber... I prayed about my decision a lot but never had that undoubtable conformation that I wanted for any of them. Yet there was a little something pulling me more towards BYU, yet with no real reason to back it up. So... I went to BYU.

The past month I've had a feeling that I needed to rethink my college decision. So I studied it out, weighed the pros and cons, consulted friends and family, and prayed about it. The answer was Weber. Yet I wasn't so sure that was right. Maybe it was just my opinion getting in the way of revelation. So I studied and thought about it some more and prayed again. Weber. Instead of embracing the direction the Lord was giving me, I questioned it. "Why did I come to BYU then? Why don't I transfer at the end of the year instead? Why didn't I go to Weber in the first place? Why Weber?" I didn't get an answer to any of these questions - until today.

Human Development with Dr. Nelson. That's why I came to  BYU. Are you thinking, a class? She's HAD to go to BYU for a simple class that could have been taken anywhere? Ya, that's exactly it. But no, it's not just a simple class that I could have taken anywhere. Dr. Nelson truely changed my life. His passion for the subject he taught made him the best teacher I will probably ever have. But more importantly, his testimony of the gospel was so real and unwavering that it penetrated my soul and left something there that I will never forget.

Dr. Nelson was able to apply the scriptures to what we learned and to our lives more than any other "church class" I've had. As he shared his very pesonal experiences with us, I not only knew that he cared about the subject, but he cared about us as students, just as the Lord cares about all his children. As we wrapped everything up today, he bore his testimony so powerfully as he told us what he believed our purpose on earth is and why he teaches what he does. Many professors share their last few words and testimonies the last few days of class, and a lot of them seem like forced words - like they're just sharing because they're BYU professors. But Dr. Nelson was different. He bore a little part of his testimony every day. I learned so much from him. I understand this gospel so much more, why were here, why God loves us, and how I'm going to teach my children the same things. Not only was Dr. Nelson an amazing professor, he was the greatest example to me as well. Being a father himself, everything was just so much more relevant to him and therefore more relevant to what he was teaching.

There are SO many reasons why I had to have this class. I honestly can say that I see life differently now because of what I've learned. I will be eternally grateful for Dr. Nelson and this class. With more conviction than ever to go on a humanitarian trip because of him, I'm going to be able to embrace Weber, make the most of life where ever I am, and trust in the Lord always.

Christmas at Wyview

Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

Tanner and I went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert last night! It was PHENOMENAL!! I absolutely loved it! Here's just a glimpse of what we got to experience... (you should be jealous)

Essays and Pneumonia

College is so hard sometimes - and that's even before you get sick. My goal this year has been to not procrastinate, and I haven't, I just don't have time until the last minute.... I had three essays due today, one of them was 7-8 pages. I planned my weekend around these essays and I knew I was going to get them done... until I got sick. No, I don't have pneumonia. As of right now I just have a viral infection in my lungs that could become pneumonia. Could this virus have hit me at a worse time? I guess during finals would have been worse... I'm still not very happy though.

You know those Puffs tissue commericals? There's always one character with a red nose because of the rough tissues they've been using and then they get Puffs tissues and they feel better. Well that's what I feel like. My nose hurts :( I may go through this whole box of Kleenex in just a couple of days with all the coughing and sneezing I do. And last week I almost used an entire bag of cough drops to avoid getting a sore throat I felt coming on - didn't help obviously. Sigh.... I though complaining a little would help me feel better, but I'm still sick, and I've got homework to do. Hello college....

Delicious and Nutritious!

Doesn't this look delicious?! Well it was :) I eat a salad probably every day here at college. It's fast, easy, and nutritious, It combines my daily veggies, meat, fruit - usually dried but sometimes fresh, little bit of oil from the dressing, and nuts all into one meal! For the first couples weeks all I had was a chicken salad with ranch dressing and I got bored pretty fast. So I've decided to create and try new salad recipies every so often. Today it was this delicious combination of craisens, shredded chicken, pecans, and crutons covered in a delicious poppyseed dressing. (I wish I had taken this pictures, mostly because I wish I had square plates like that, but I was too hungry to go find my camera. But after seeing this, maybe next time I'll add apple slices...)

Tender Mercies

"Provo may seem like a safe haven, but a young woman's experience last week proved otherwise. The Provo Police Department dispatch center received a call from a young woman who had been assaulted while running on the Provo River Trail. She said a man attacked her from behind as she was running on the trail, forced her to the ground and thrust a piece of cloth with an unidentified chemical substances over her mouth. After the young woman screamed, the suspect let her go. Following the attack, a man was at the scene and assisted the young woman. He indicated he chased the suspect away.

The police took both the young woman and the witness to the police station for interviewing and found out that Micheal Workman, the purported witness, was in fact the alleged suspect. He told police he intended to sexually assult the victim, but desisted. Police arrested him and charged Workman with one count aggrivated kidnapping, as well as one count of attempted rape."

I read this in the newspaper today and was absolutely shocked. Before I left for BYU my dad made sure I knew that just because I was at a "mormon school" surrounded by "good mormon kids" didn't mean it was a safe place. He told me it was the perfect place for preditors to attack girls because they got too comfortable with their environment. I've always made sure I'm safe though. When I'm walking on campus after dark I always call Tanner and make sure I stay on main sidewalks.

The scariest part of this story is that I often contemplated running on Provo River Trail. When it was warmer I would go running a couple times a week and that trail was right next to my apartment. It seems like a beautiful trail, but for some reason every time I went running I felt like I should just stay on University Avenue... So I did.

I'm so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord and the guidance of the Spirit and that this time I was willing to listen. I just pray that I will be in tune more often...

One Year Down

Halloween was Tanner and my 1 year aniversary! I can't believe it's been an entire year... although some days just seem to drag on, the year as a whole went so fast! Anyways, Tanner planned the date and it was the best! The focus was our past, present, and future. I'll try and keep the details to a minumum so I can explain the whole thing. He made a CD and every song had one word that related to a date we had been on in the past year (I was suppose to figure out the word and guess the date...and with my memory I'm sure you can guess how well that went). The first two songs had to do with the hiking and tandem bike ride we went on, and the run in the rain. So I got to choose which of the two I wanted to do - I chose the second. We went to the Lagoon Trail and took some fantastic pictures in the leaves - in the present time.

This one of Tanner and me in the leaves is my favorite :)

The next two songs had to do with the dates that we went ice skating, and when we went to Salt Lake and pretended to be tourists. I chose ice skating, but when we got there a hockey team was on the rink :( So we went to "5 Guys" instead. We then drove to Salt Lake (after a failed attempt to ride the front runner) and walked around temple square - playing around with Tanner's new wide-angle lense and enjoying how absolutely empty it was.

After that, the next two songs had to do with hot chocolate, and our Christmas date (when we were suppose to go to the library but it was closed). We headed to this quaint little coffee place, drank hot chocolate, and Tanner had us write letters to ourselves 3 years in the future since that's when I'll be getting back from my mission...

After that we headed to the library, and ironically enough, it was closed. We just headed back to Tanner's house, and when we got there, he took me downstairs by the fire and said he wanted to read a story (which we did last Christmas). The story was titled "One Year Down" and it was the story that Tanner wrote of how we met and got together. It was SO cute!! He said he'd post the whole story on his blog, it's kinda long but you can read it there.

We ate dinner (soup and bread bowls) with Tanner's family and then enjoyed the movie "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" with them. After the movie, we put all the pictures we took on the computer in a slideshow mode, and looked at them as we sat by the fire... can you imagine a more perfect date? I sure can't....

Magic Cleaning Elf

The magic cleaning elf disappeared... I'm sure you've heard of her, she's the little elf that comes out early in the morning before anyone else wakes up and cleans up messes you've left. I don't think she knows that I moved... I wake up and the chair that I left pulled out from the under the table is still pulled out, or the cupboard I didn't close all the way is still not closed! I hope she didn't get lost on the way to my apartment, because if she doesn't come soon, I'm going to have to start remember all these little things that I have to do.

Maybe she's just feeling a little under appreciated and I need to remind her how grateful I am for her help. Just like anything, I didn't realize how much she did for me, but now that she's gone I realize I depended on her A LOT! She did so much for me that I didn't even realize. At home if I left the chair out from under the table, she would wake up and put it away and I wouldn't think anything of it. So I guess I should just tell her that I miss her and I want her back... Or I'm just going to have to take over her job, and I don't know if I'm up for the challenge...

(I love you mom!)

Half-Time

These are some pictures from our first BYU football game performance. Here we are getting ready to go!
Both Jake and Tanner think our color guard uniforms are extremely attractive, so of course we had to strike some poses for them ;)

This is my pose at the beginning of our guard feature "Hernando's Hide-away". Probably my favorite song of all the ones we perform.

Halloween Dinner

Tanner and Jake came down and surprised me and Emery with a halloween dinner. It was SO cute! I got home from my psychology class and walked in and our apartment was covered in halloween decorations. (Jake leaves on his mission Oct. 7th so we celebrated Halloween early) The decorations were fantastic! Streamers, tablecloth, dove chocolate scatter everywhere :), skull cups, fog!, pumpkin lights, you name it. They did a wonderful job and I absolutely loved it. They made spaghetti for dinner, which was delicious! And then after, they surpised us even more when they gave us both hats that they had made themselves. Tanner made me a headband and Jake made Emery a scarf, just like the one Tanner made me for christmas last year :) Could we ask for cuter boys?

Homemade Candy

One of Kourtnee's hobbies is to make homemade candy, so while Jake was down today she showed him how to make some suckers. They weren't too bad for his first time :)

My New Apartment

Emery and I have been living in our new apartment for 2 weeks! It's weird to think I'm living on my own (yet I'm really not, I still rely on my parents for SO much. Especially food...since I don't have a job yet). I love our apartment, it's a little bland right now, but hopefully we'll spice it up a bit. The only problem is that it's a half hour walk to the middle of campus and both mine and Emery's classes are on the south side (our apartment is barely north of campus, by the stadium).
But anyways, here's the grand tour! Come on in...
Welcome to the family room. (the most bland of all the rooms)

And here's the kitchen. It's a pretty nice size and fits the three of us roommates very nicely.

Here's mine and Emery's room!! (that's Em in the corner studying like a good little college student) We tried to coordinate our colors as much as possible. Brown and green. She's on the top bunk because she has the walk in closet and I'm on the bottom.

These are some fantastic decorations that Emery thought would spice up the room.

Here's my desk.

And here's Kourtnee's door... yes, that's usually what it looks like... But when she does come out she's a very sweet girl.

So far college is fantastic and I'm loving it!

First Foto Fun

I got a brand new camera on Monday! My old one stopped working over a year ago, so I saved up my birthday money and bought myself a Nikon Coolpix S220. It's a beautiful plum color and very small; only the size of a credit card and maybe a half inch thick. I already love it. These pictures are from my first photo run with Tanner and my new camera!

Some of these pictures are actually ones Tanner took with his camera, but I wanted to include them because they're amazing.

(haha so we've both been working out a lot since we don't get to see each other as much with living an hour apart. We decided to show off our muscles but we were both laughing so you can't really tell... I almost have my six pack though. Not to brag or anything ;) )

Those last three pictures were a little scandelous...haha. I wasn't sure if I should put them up on my blog, but they're here anyways.

BYU Color Guard...

We just finished band camp at BYU.... I don't really know what to say. It's about 10 steps down from high school guard. And it's incredible how immature these college girls are. I feel so much older than them, even though I'm not. For example, there were themes for each day at band camp. Tuesday was "80's" day...
Wednesday was "Movie Themes" and the color guard girls decided to be 101 Dalmations... I thought these girls were in their 20's? Some of them are even getting married? And we're dressing up like dogs! Are you kidding me?!

Thursday was "Blue and White" Day and we had to wear these ridiculous skirts. So Emery and I tried to make the most of it and got a little carried away. Probably too scandelous for BYU... haha.

I don't know how I'm going to make it the rest of the year with these girls... And not only that, but the work is SO easy and SO boring. In high school it was actually challenging. We did things I never thought I could do, but after a lot of practice I got it. Here all we do is carves, dropspins, and other boring work... Why am I wasting my time with this?