Final Finals

So, Finals are next week.  These are my final Finals!  Well, at least until Grad school . . . but my final finals of my Bachelor degree.  It's quite odd, I don't feel old enough to be graduating from college.  Most people ask if I'm a Freshman, so apparently I don't look old enough to graduate either.

I have four finals, but only two are comprehensive.  For Aural habilitiation we have a take home, which is awesome.  For my Speech Assessment and Intervention class our final is only on one chapter, and we get a 4x6 note card. Sign language is comprehensive, but I get to take it online any time I want next week.  Sadly, physiology is comprehensive :(

Currently, as Mark would say, I am at the South-West corner of the second floor in the Merrill-Cazier Library of the Utah State University campus in Logan, Utah, USA, World, local solar system, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe, place of intelligence and matter (not created nor neither can be), studying.  Well, currently I'm blogging, but I should be studying, and I have studied a lot.  I had a physiology review from 8-10 this morning (which is quite cruel for a Saturday), and Kathy and I were here for 3 hours earlier before going to the LDV concert.  Now we're back at the library, and I must say I enjoy the way we study.  Mark and I are eating nerds, and Rachelle brought us delicious homemade cinnamon rolls :)

So it's been a week full of injuries.  On Wednesday the sun was shining!  We played volleyball outside our apartment, and it was pretty intense.  I have bruises all over my arms, and now it kind of looks like I'm diseased.  It was worth it though.  Last night Sean Kingston came to 'Aggie Fest', along with Allred and a ton of other bands. My audiology professor would have been very disappointed in my lack of ear protection.  It was fun, but as soon as Sean Kingston came on, it turned into a giant mosh pit, let's shove everyone fest.  We went with the boys from A1, and it's a good thing they're tall and easy to see.  At one point I seriously thought I was going to die.  A huge guy started pushing his way through, and shoved us all way hard.  He then shoved the security guy - bad idea.  This then started them shoving each other back and forth, and some punches were thrown. Luckily Paula pulled me out of the way.  They then 'escorted' the guy out of the area. It was intense!  My next 'injury' isn't nearly as cool.  This morning I was using one of those apple corer/slicer things, and it's pretty crappy.  Somehow I managed to slice two of my fingers open while using it . . . yeah, I'm talented like that. I'm now wearing two band aids, which make me feel pretty cool, if you know what I mean ;)

Thursday night the A1 boys had a dance party, and I'm pretty sure we cracked the floor, literally.  They had 70 people in their front room!  It was a bit crazy, but tons of fun.

As much as I'd rather continue to blog, I really should continue to study.  It may be hard though, because Mark is right in front of me, and Steph's behind him, so I keep looking at her and he thinks I'm looking at him and it's just awkward and funny . . . oh the joys of the library.

It's been a Good Day

Today was a really good day.  It was one of those days that you just sit there and smile :)

The sun was shining!  I think just the presence of sunshine makes it a better day.  Physiology was actually pretty good, I understood everything, and we got out 35 minutes early. Win!

At work today our Receptionist was out, so I was down on the phones for six hours.  It actually wasn't that bad.  I did some reading, and I got to study as well, though I didn't do as much as I should have.  But everything went well, and no weirdos came in! That's definitely the sign of a good day.  For lunch I couldn't decide between Old Grist Mill and Great Harvest.  I finally decided on Great Harvest, and I'm so glad I did.  I ran into my friend Brad who works there.  We talked for about 10 minutes while I waited for my sandwich.  He is just such a happy person, you just feel better after talking with him, even if you didn't feel bad before.  I found out both he and his roommate Scott will be here for the summer, so we decided we're going to do tons of fun things.  This summer is going to be so awesome.  I'm going to make a summer to do list to make sure that they all happen :)

After work I came home and kind of studied . . . I may also have played tetris . . . I blame Heidi and Kathy for my new found addiction.

Steph and I made pork chops, rice and asparagus for dinner, and then I drove to the library for a study session with two girls in my Physiology class.  It was good to study, but it made me realize how much I've forgotten and need to relearn before the final.  I ran into Todd in the library, which was also fun.  He's also a very happy person, which is contagious. 

When I got home Steph painted my toenails, and now they look fabulous :) Mark then came over, and we had a really really good talk about tons of things.  We talked for an hour an a half with Steph and Heidi too.  I love having deep conversations with people, it just makes you feel good, and a lot of times you learn a lot from others, because you get to see things from their point of view.

So I've decided that along with this summer being filled with awesomely fun adventures, I'm also going to work on improving myself.  I've found that it's really hard to work on self improvement while you're in school, especially because I work as well.  In the summer I won't have to worry about classes or grades, and can focus more on me, which I'm really excited about.

Yesterday was also a really good day.  Before FHE we got the opportunity to go and fill sand bags for a service project.  We've had a lot of rain and some flooding, and it was really neat to do something that was going to directly benefit the people around us.  We then went and had an 'intents' activity.  There was literally a tent in our living room :)  Mark gave an amazing lesson that started out on Faith, Hope, and Charity, and then kind of moved into how we help others around us, and how they help us.  It was so deep and powerful, and something that I'm sure a lot of people needed to hear.  We then had hot dogs and s'mores, because no tent is complete without them :)

So this is a bit odd . . . I haven't used a picture yet . . .  maybe it's because I haven't uploaded any from my camera that pertain to this post, and I'm a too lazy to do it now.  And because a blog post wouldn't feel complete without pictures, here are a couple - one of me and Steph, and one of me and Mark, the two people most involved in our awesome conversation.

Plane Tickets, a Mission, and much more!

I've been meaning to write a post all week, and somehow it just hasn't happened.  A lot's been going on, but whenever I think about blogging I haven't been in the mood to actually write, so I didn't.  I'm not entirely in a mood to write now, or at least about what I'd really like to write about, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

For FHE on Monday we made balloon animals, which was hilarious.  Needless to say, I'm not blessed with a talent for balloon animals.

I had a lovely physiology test on Thursday. I think it went okay, but I don't have my score back yet :(

WE HAVE PLANE TICKETS TO CONNECTICUT!!! For the past two weeks I've been looking at flight prices everyday.  Usually they were $400 - $500, which is higher than we wanted to pay.  Then on Thursday after my test I decided to check prices before going to work, and I found them for $326 including taxes and fees! I was so excited! It ended up being $74 cheaper to stay a day longer, so now we'll be back east from June 27th to July 6th. We're going to spend 3 days in NYC and got to Boston for the 4th of July :) I'm so stinkin' excited!

Wednesday Steph, Rachelle, Rachel, Heidi and I went to El Toro for dinner.  Everything was awesome.  They have the best chips and salsa ever, but it can actually be quite dangerous.  Steph broke one of her chips in half, but a small piece flew and landed on her eye.  She freaked out until Heidi got it out for her, which was quite hysterical to watch.

OH!  I can't believe I haven't said this yet, but Jordan got his mission call!!!! Little Jordan! I swear he's not old enough!  Jordan has been called to serve in the West Virginia Charleston Mission. He leaves June 1st! It's so crazy! He's way excited, and I know it's going to be so good for him.

Jordan and I when he was two days old.  When did we all get so grown up?

Friday was a pretty eventful day.  That afternoon I helped Heidi make hair pieces for her dance class, and then we went swimming in the hyper.  Mark, Cody, Stephanie, Rachel, Caleb, Daniel, Kathy, Andrew and I all went.  It was tons of fun.  After swimming we ate dinner at Arctic Circle.  We then met up with three of Mark's friends, and went to play sardines at the FAC.  IT was so much fun, but very tiring.  Steph, Rachelle, and Rachel wanted to leave earlier, but Steph needed to take Cody with her.  Instead of making him leave, he ended up sleeping over at M4, which I'm sure was an adventure :)

When we got back to the apartment we were greeted with a ridiculously loud dance party going on in the p-lounge.  You could practically feel it in our apartment.  It was 12:30 am, and there was no way we were going to be able to sleep with the noise.  The party didn't have great music either, and the feeling wasn't particularly great.  Asking them to turn down or off the music didn't stand a chance of working, so I jokingly said we should go flip the breaker.  "Hey, Stacy knows how to do that!" Rachelle said, so we called Stacy.  She told us how to flip it, and we decided it would be worth it.  We ran over to the breaker, and Rachelle actually flipped it! The music shut off instantly, people screamed and complained, and we ran back really fast :) Amazingly they didn't turn the music back on! VICTORY!!! We felt very accomplished.

Saturday morning I had breakfast with Cody, Mark, and Daniel.  We made waffles and bacon, and then went to choir practice.  I then did a lot of random things while procrastinating my homework.  That evening we made a trip to Wal*Mart and then went out to my house.  We made the best three pizzas ever.  Seriously, we should open a pizza parlor.  We then played pool and had chocolate strawberry shakes.  After that we watched Harry Potter 7, which was a lot slower and longer than I remembered.  Mark, Adam, Preston, Steph, Kathy, Todd, Daniel, and Caleb were all there.  My dad commented that the girls were greatly outnumbered.  I'm failing to see why this is a bad thing :)

Today Church was really good.  In Sacrament meeting five guys with their mission calls all spoke, and they all did an awesome job.  They're seriously going to make amazing missionaries.  We also had a linger which is always fun.  Next Sunday is Easter, and I get the opportunity to speak in church . . . I should really start on my talk now instead of procrastinating as usual.

So the guy I kind of wrote on his mission (he's also the guy I've been on the most dates with ever) got engaged this week. He's been at school for a total of one semester.  It doesn't bother me that he's engaged, I decided months ago that I don't like him like that, but it's just weird.  It's weird because he's younger than me, and it all seemed to happen so fast.  I swear, everyone's getting married and having kids, and I'm just chillin' here by myself.

So, there are three weeks left of school, and that's including finals week. Where in the world did the semester go?  I love my ward, my roommates, my classes, and my friends sooooo much, it makes me want to cry thinking it's all going to be over.  I know I'll still have my friends, but it's never going to be the same.  I'm not ready to leave behind everything that I have right now.  I don't want things to change.  I really feel like everything is rushing past me and I'm still just standing here, and all I want to do is just make it slow down for just a second - like everyone else is moving forward, and I'm still here, trying to catch up and breathe again.  When I think about it it's overwhelming, and I feel like I just need to anchor myself to something . . . I don't know what's going to happen next, and it scares me to death.

I have a lot of other thoughts running through my head right now, but none of which I really feel like publishing on the Internet for anyone to see.  I should really have a good girl chat. (*hint - Kaylee, that's for you!*)

Meet Frank

This is Frank.  He is some sort of tropical plant I bought at Sam's club for $2.50. What a steal! He actually looks much better now than when I bought him.

What's so great about Frank, you might ask.  Well, you see, I have a history of killing plants . . .

Not on purpose, of course.  I just have really bad luck with potted plants.  To date, I've killed two bamboos and a palm tree. But just look at how beautiful Frank is!  We did have a close call when he was all wilty when I got back from Thanksgiving break, but I saved him. Hopefully with Frank I've erased my bad luck with plants.   I mean, I'm going to be a mom someday, and if I can't handle keeping a house plant alive how in the world am I going to keep a kid alive?!?!

Baby steps people :)

On another subject, Church was amazing today.  Heidi taught a great lesson in Relief Society, Sunday School was awesome, and I LOVED Sacrament meeting.  I seriously have the most stellar ward ever. As soon as Bishop Bennett sat down, about 12 people got up.  The meeting was so Spiritual and awesome, I'm going to be so sad not to be in this ward later.

Funny story! Today after church Rachelle and I were in our room and we hear the door open and close downstairs. We knew someone had come in, so we yelled 'Hellooooooooo?' down the stairs - no answer. We yelled again, and still no answer.  I walked down the stairs and looked right to see Tyson, Todd and Justin (The Elders Quorum Presidency) standing there just staring at me. Saying nothing, they slowly walked towards me, until I was against the wall. The entire time I was trying not to laugh as they continued to stare.  When we were all standing in a nice little circle against the wall, Tyson hands me a flyer about the fireside tonight. "Going?" he asked rather sternly.  I replied yes. How could I not with the entire Elders Quorum Presidency staring me down? Hahaha, it was quite hilarious and made my afternoon :)

Getting rid of Blah

Do you ever have those days where you just feel blah? Yesterday was definitely one of those days for me.  I can't think of a single reason that I'd feel like this. Work was good, and nothing bad happened the rest of the day.  Sometimes you just feel like blah and crying over nothing, and you have no idea why.  Sometimes you feel a bit ridiculous. I mean, I was on MSN and saw a story about a cat who woke up his owner because their neighbor's house was on fire and he saved them, and I wanted to cry over it! I felt like crying over a hero cat! I mean, seriously! No wonder we confuse guys, we don't even understand ourselves! Oh gosh . . .

Luckily, last night turned out to be fabulous.  We went to my house and had a sleepover with Steph and Meggie.  We didnt' do anything out of the ordinary, but it was just nice to all be together.  We did our our nails, ate chocolate, and had girl talk.  We also got m&ms from someone, which just topped off the night :) It was very exciting.  This morning my mom made strawberry crepes and bacon, which is one of my all time favorite breakfasts.  We then all got ready and took roommate pictures.  We've been trying to get together all semester to take them, but it hasn't worked out until now.  We originally wanted pictures in the snow, and how ironic that our April pictures are snowy!  Stephanie took the pictures and did a fabulous job.  She then spent four hours editing them. She's quite amazing.

 Steph - "Stick your butts out more!"

 Love these two :)

 My fine photography skills

 So much awkward in one picture!

 Miss Rachel

 Chancho!

 Rachelley

Kathypants

This afternoon I also had the opportunity to go to the Temple with Mckenna, which was fabulous, and something I really needed.

Steph made all of us a fabulous dinner.  We used our 'wine glasses' to make it feel extra fancy.

We also went to a dance party at A1.  Those boys are hilarious, and it was so much fun.  We did their own original line dance and laughed a ton.  We also enjoyed a performance from Scott, Brad, Spencer, and Ryan.  They did the 'A Million Ways' dance by OK Go. They were hilarious! It was one of the best things I've seen in a while.  I also got a text afterwards that made me smile :D

It's so nice to be rid of the blah :)

So I've come to a little bit of a conclusion about guys.  It seems that even if you don't like a boy like you used to, there are still some that you'll always have a little place for.  I think it's because it's hard to say goodbye to something you once wanted.

Anyway, it's 11:43 and I have church bright and early at 8am tomorrow, so I'd best call it a night.

~Michelle~

Slushing

Today I wore my grey dressy capris to work and my new sandals.  It was raining lightly, but hey, I was going to be indoors all day.  Too bad I didn't know it was going to rain down slush!  I mean really, it's April! It should not be snowing.  I looked out my office window, and my world was now white.  Don't get me wrong, I love snow, but in January.  I got to walk to my car in three inches of slush, which resulted in numb feet. I guess I should always be prepared with my polka-dot rainboots.

 

So, Kathy and I came up with this grand idea: We're going to visit Rachel in Connecticut this summer, and we're going to Boston and New York! Rachelle's coming as well, and Mark's meeting us in NY after he gets back from Eurpoe.  I've spent the past week watching plane tickets trying to get a good deal. I swear, all they do is go up. We will find a smokin' deal, we will.  It's going to be sooooooo much fun, I can't wait for June :)

 



A typical Tuesday ....

Last night I scrunched my hair so I wouldn't have to do much to it this morning.  Normally scrunching my hair works really well.  I take the clips out and wa-la! Scrunchy hair. I really like to do my hair like this because it's low maintenance throughout the day, and it makes my hair look thicker.  Today however, it looked horrible! I swear I did it exactly how I normally do . . .  it was so bad! I decided to just deal with it for physiology.  For work, I like to look decent, so something had to be done.  I decided to pull it into a side braid, and it was like poof! Cute hair! I was actually amazed at how good it looked. I'll definitely be doing it again.

This is my attempt to take a picture of my hair. Have you ever tried to take a picture of the back of your head? It's quite difficult!

Today for lunch my dad took our family to Sushi. I've had it once before and liked it a lot.  Megan was not happy about it.  She ordered a bowl of plain rice, ha :) The waitress was dropping waters off at our table, and somehow managed to knock two glasses of water onto me and Cody. I was soaked! (For some reason I'm reminded of Sam;) She felt so bad!  We just laughed about it and told her not to worry about it.  You could literally ring water out of my shirt.  After lunch I had to go home and change my pants and underwear.  I must say, dry clothes never felt so good :)

Good news!  So our HR assistant and work is having surgery in June, so she'll be out for 6 weeks, which means I'll be able to work full time! yay!  This is especially good if the trip back east Kathy and I are planning works out :) more details on that later.

So tonight I got home about 5ish, and was the only one home. I was so bored!!! My apartment is quite lonely when I'm the only one there.  So in my boredom I was attempting to learn some songs on the guitar.  One song I came across today is called 'Sing Along' by the Janedear Girls - I absolutely love it.  The only problem was that since it's so new, no one's put the tabs online yet.  But, you see, my amazing friend Todd learned to play guitar and piano basically by ear.  I texted him and he came over and in five minutes had all the chords figured out.  It sounds exactly like the song. Wow. Mind blown.  His skills are amazing.  Thank you Todd :) 

 Todd and I boating last September.  Todd was one of my first friends this year, and definitley one of my best.  He has a way of always making me smile :)

Because Heidi, Kathy and I are against being productive tonight, we've just been goofing around. Kathy decided she likes doing dishes much better while singing, so I played the guitar and ukulele and the three of us sang.  Jamming out in the kitchen is definitely something I'll miss :(

Heidi and Kathy are two of my favorite people ever, and I'm so grateful they're my roommates.  Sadly I'm not living with either of them next year :( Oh how I love these girls!

Rachelle's coming back tomorrow!  She's been at home for her spring break.  She's student teaching, so she's on their schedule for breaks.  It's been kinda weird having my own room . . .  But this does mean that I need to clean before she gets here! Because she hasn't been here, I haven't been as motivated to pick my stuff up, and this is what happens:

I've just remembered I didn't write about General Conference.  It's a bit late tonight, so I'll try to remember to write about it tomorrow.