Things I (Dont) Like About College!

I'll start with the things I don't like (at the moment), since they ARE at the forefront of my mind on this particular day!

1. Moldy Lettuce.. and really any food that spoils. 
2. Bad food. Oh how I miss good family dinners! For some reason pasta and sandwiches (what feels like 8 times a week) just doesn't cut it!!!
3. Classes. As much as I love them being only 50 minutes... Sometimes the professors just are NOT interesting. Like really though.. be interesting. 
4. Homework... I just don't understand why I have to read a MINIMUM of 2 books for each class. If i'm just reading to do the homework and then moving to a new book i'm not really learning anything am I?
5. Time. I hate that I have to balance all the stress of school, have a social life, keep in touch with my family and friends (who I miss WAY WAY WAY too much), study, read, sleep oh and eat.
6. Buying food. It's such a hassle. And sharing food. Like, who gets to eat what if we split the cost?
7. Roommate drama. SO overrated. Just be normal and we'll get along! You don't even have to be my BEST friend... Can't we just get along and once again... DO NORMAL THINGS? (I have to stress normalcy more than one should.)
8. I'm 2000 some miles away from the people I care about and love the most. 
9. I miss my Mom. I miss coming home and going up the stairs to find her in the playroom. I miss coming home and knowing that I AM home. As much as this is my new dorm room, it will never replace my HOME. And I miss talking to my mom face to face. The phone just isn't the same.
10. I miss hugs. I have wonderful roommates and friends who are more than willing. And of course Chase,  my PiC, Mariss, Aunt B and Uncle Terry (The people I love the most up here and am SO lucky to have) but nothing comes close to the hugs from your mom, dad, little brothers and Grandma...

After messing up SO bad on my first physical science test... No one sings about your feelings better than TSwift...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdzFekmOhHU

Some of the group from the football game.

After all of that ranting... I guess I should mention the things I like!!

1. The freedom! I make my own schedule. As stressful as it can be sometimes I like picking when and what I do!
2. The length of classes. 50 minutes is good. Makes for 4 hours of school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. One hour on Tuesdays and 2 on Thursdays.
3. Roommates. I love how close I am with some of my roommates. They are my GOOD friends here. And i'm lucky to have them.
4. Friends in general. Ward friends, Roommate friends, home teachers, class friends and just friends you met whenever wherever make for a really good time.
5. Going to Aunt B's. Me and Chase got to go down for a night on Saturday. It was much needed. A good shower, a good meal and good company. 
6. Family. Which goes along with the one above, but Chase and I eat lunch anywhere from 1 to 3 times a week together. Those are some of my favorite days. I also really LOVE when my cousin Mariss, comes to visit. (My roommates ADORE Chase, and love Mariss already!!)
7. When I say roommates, I include my good friend Tyler. He was also my first BYU kiss... it happened last night and I really enjoy his company. He is super nice and extremely sweet. He too really liked meeting Mariss, and finds Chase hilarious. Which means he passes the test in my book. He's a really fun guy. 
8. I love my bed. I love sleeping in it. I love jumping on it! I love wrestling Jenna on it late at night. :) Haha 
9. I love being crazy. I love going out and having fun doing whatever till whenever. I love the feeling when you get homework done. AH.. nothing is quite like that.
10. I love phone calls with my mom. I love talking to her LOTS. She is my favorite person in the WHOLE world... I miss her tons.. I am always thinking about how much I would like to fly down and just sit around and talk... watch a movie... go shopping just ANYTHING. And when I miss her most (as Cliche as it is) I have my go to song... And I just sit and think about life and how different it is now!

Once again though... its by Taylor Swift. So if you aren't a fan, i'm sorry. But this is one of my favorite songs by her!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq4W68_h6rw

This weekend was a lot of fun.. Mariss came down to visit. Friday night we all went to the Volleyball game followed by the  Hot Pots (Hot springs in Provo Canyon). And Whitney came down for the game. :) So once again here is the picture slideshow. ;) (There are TONS this time.. )

On the way to the game:
Me, Jenna, Nikole and Ashley

Mariss and Chase

Me and Jenna at the Hot Pots!

Jenna, Nikole and Ashley

The hot pots are basically natural hot tubs. Only 100 times
hotter than any hot tub i've ever been in.

Chase and Dave

Nothing quite like being best friends and family. :)

Jenna Me Josh.
(Nate (Jenna's older brother) and Dustin (his friend)
are not pictured! But were there.)

On to the game!

Tyler, Mariss, Jenna

Me and Tyler

I LOVE JENNA

:)

Mariss and Whit

Chase, Whit and Mariss.

Just a GIANT photoshoot.. BYU was losing. What else were we supposed to do?!

Haha our random face picture.

Chase and Whit. 

:)

Me and my CuZ

Chase, Russell and Dave. 

BYU lost...

I lost my wallet. A girl found me on facebook. Last night in my frantic search for a car to borrow I was too happy for words. Paul (my awesome friend/home teacher) drove Me, Jenna and Tyler to get my wallet. He is SO nice. :) Tyler kissed me. I messed up some settings on Jenna's computer. Went to bed happy. Life is good. (Except for the grades part. I'm going to do better. Since I have an A in EVERY class. Just that one test. Kill me.) I LOVE COLLEGE.

English Journal #2

This week's prompt is:  (And while I should've done this Sunday... I'm finally doing it now!) 

          

          "  People used to believe that comets were “portents”—warnings from God that let them know their standing with Him.  When the law of gravity was discovered, however, they found that comets traveled in predictable orbits dictated by the law of gravity and they stopped believing that God sent them as warning.  Before the discovery of the law of gravity there were (essentially) no (Western) atheists.  But afterwards, atheism was a significant theological movement.  Is there an inherent contradiction between science and religion?  Can you believe in God and gravity at the same time?"

I think that there is an inherent contradiction between science and religion simply because as long as there is religion and God there will always be someone working to prove it wrong. Before they may not have been working to strictly disprove the idea of God but in succeeding to prove that there IS in fact a scientific explanation they discover a way to remove God. 

I believe that in anything and everything there is reason to trust that there is a God. Especially when it comes to science! There is no other explanation for the way that things work so perfectly like they do. Gravity is just one of many scientific principles that work all to well to just be chance. 

The Principle of Gravity

I'd go and explain just what all that picture means, but i'm in physical science this semester and am NOT feelin' it. That class is the DEATH of me. I am not a big fan of science so, the explanation of God works just fine for me. I am not one to seek out answers when it comes to the earth and gravity and all that scientific nonsense! Well, not nonsense, I do believe in some of what they say as well. But, I think that there will forever be a permanent contradiction between any science and God. The big bang theory is another example of science vs. God. 

The idea that the world was created by a huge explosion of dust and other space particles just doesn't add up to me. How someone can believe that is incredible! I think that scientists are afraid of religion for the most part, afraid of conforming and finding out that so much of what they DO believe is wrong. Especially since I just took a trip to our planetarium and looked up at the sky and the stars, everything is too perfect to just be chance.

The "Eye of God"  I thought it looked cool.

Short Blurb

My weekend was really fun. :) Friday night I went on a date with Tyler. We had dinner at his dorm (THAT HE (and his cousin) FIXED!! ) The 3 of us had dinner (Me, Tyler and Thomas (the cousin), his date called in sick a little bit before dinner :( which was a bummer cause he's really cute and very nice.) But, we ate and then Tyler and I went to the Planetarium and got to look through all the telescopes and up in the dome/observatory deck it was SO cool!! We went back to his house and watched a movie and then came back to my apartment and played ping pong with my roommate Jenna and two guys from my ward, Jacob and Jordan. After he left I went outside with Jenna and we hung out talking till like 2:30 am with some girls from our ward and Lewis (my new bff), Mitchell, Dustin, Paul (My home teacher) and a couple other guys. It was really fun.

Saturday I got up and got ready. And worked on A LOT of schoolwork. Me, Ashley and Jenna went over to Lewis' dorm and had popcorn with him and a couple of his roommates. Afterwards we 3 went over to Tyler's to watch the second half of the BYU game. :) It was fun. Except for we lost. Tyler and I made pancakes for all of us for lunch and we met up and talked to Chase and Ben Shamanis. Afterwards we went back to our dorm and the 3 of us (Jenna, Ashley and I) Made Jenna's brother a cake for his birthday! We met up with her brother, cousin and 2 girls that go here, Tyler and then went to see that new thriller Devil. It was alright. I spent most of the moving WAITING for it to get scary. But it was pretty jumpy. Then we all came home and just talked. Tyler and I got on google and google earthed our houses and neighborhoods and then facebook stalked some of the significant people in our life! After he left around 1 something we went back outside to talk to Lewis and the boys again. But I had to finish my lesson for sunday school.

Anyways..  :) This is supposed to be a short blurb and this week i have been extremely overloaded with homework! :( Which is NOT fun at all. Anyways, I started my tutoring at this local elementary school called Spring Creek Elementary. Its about a 10 min drive away from BYU. And I love the reason to use the car. :) I really enjoy driving stick! It's weird. My class is a second grade class! TOO CUTE.

But I go every Monday and Wednesday to help tutor math. Today I actually stayed for recess with the kids and played with them. They are all so cute! Monday I got to a table and was helping them with math.
Me: Ok, then any questions?
Lanie: Yes. Where were you born?
Me: North Carolina. It's on the WHOLE other side of the country.
Lanie: Oh. You're by China.
Me: No. Its still in the United States just far away.
Bekah: I know where you are! By England!
Me: No.. I'm.. Have any of you been to Florida? I'm by Florida.
Bekah: YES! Did you have to swim to get here?
(All the kids laugh)
Me: No.. We flew. In a plane. But any questions about math?
Lanie: Yes. Do you shop at the mall?
Me: Yes. (Is there anywhere else to shop?)
Lanie: I thought so. Your clothes look really expensive.
Me: Thanks! :) Now, anyone need help adding?
It made me miss Bella and Sebastian and their crazy/witty little sayings!! :) And subsequently, Fiona and her pirate face, Mia and the way she says my name.. (And Greta who doesn't even know me)...followed by Jessie, Molly, Timm and Sam. It was a tender moment. :)

To break up all the text some random pictures. All of the US Flag. Haha

Today I was grading papers... I got to a problem on Cesar's paper where the question was. "Pick a number from the box. Add 1 to it. Tell how you solved the problem." It looked like this.

7 8 3 5 6 1 (Random numbers in a box)       _+1=_ His answer 5+1=6. "I soled it bie thinking.Followed by his explanation: " Clever Cesar. Clever. I had to laugh a little and show the teacher. It was really cute. I also thought a lot about when I was that little. And watched as all of them played. I tried to be nice and talk to the boy with no one to play with but he denied me and wanted to draw instead. I guess i'm not as cool as I thought.

The best thing about playing at recess with a bunch of 7 year olds is that they think you're the best at everything. I played one-on-one basketball with a little boy named Tyler, I even got to show him how to shoot. Then bunches of kids came and I just rebounded for them. Then I went to play soccer with Miguel, Alejandro, and 2 boys from another class. Im pretty sure they were better than I am, but it was still a confidence booster to hear the other team groan when I joined the other kids team.. ;) However, I ended up playing with Irvin a little mexican boy. We kicked a ball around and talked about his new Halo legos. Its really nice to be liked by everyone. Even if they're seven. I miss those days. :) Anyways here's another picture of the school and then I have homework to attend to. I'll post again later this week promise. :) Till then!

My Weekend, And Regional Conference.

Friday night started with the chicken and pasta I blogged about earlier and ended with a  "GNI" or GIRLS NIGHT IN!!!!! A phrase which I shouted many times throughout the evening. Let me preface with an explanation.

There was a dance. At the Wilk. A decades dance to be precise. We were all planning on going (and dragging Nikole along as she didn't really want to go.) Jenna had invited her brother and his friend to come down one from SLC and the other from UVU. So, we were all going to go until like 8:15ish hit and with it a big wave of apathy and laziness! Nikole muttered something about just staying and watching a movie since we were all clearly pretty tired. And with that the first "Gggggggggggiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrllllllllllsssssssssssssss Nnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiigggggggggghhhhhhhhhttttttttt Iiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!" Was yelled! At that we all went and put on sweats. Jenna the party animal refused to conform and wanted to go to the dance. Her brother and friend came and tried to convince us to come but we were set. And it's true I kinda wanted to go, but I wanted to stay home more. I was pooped. However, before the Nathaniel and Josh (Brother and Friend) got there we set a self timer and took some GNI pictures (of which we graciously allowed the non-participating Jenna to attend. ;)  )

Me, Jenna Nikole

Our first attempt. Jenna tripped getting into the corner. So no one was collected when the timer went off.

Roommate Picture! 

These GNI pictures posted are NOT even a fourth of the ones we took that night! I include the next two pictures simply so you can picture the two boys in your head. :)

Nathaniel

Josh

Saturday. Me and Jenna wanted to do something fun before we had stake conference that night! So, Me, Jenna, Tyler, Scott (a new Scott than the previous ones he's from Indiana), and Luke went bowling.

Me and Tyler.

Jenna And Scott. Luke was bowling. And in NO pictures. Ha

After bowling... Me, Tyler and Jenna went back to Tyler's to watch the BYU game. They lost. It was terrible. Both my teams lost this weekend. BYU and The Panthers. What is going on? Anyways after the game we all went home to get ready for Stake Conference! Me, Jenna and Ashley went together and Tyler met us at our apartment to walk over with us.

Jenna Ashley Me

Tyler Jenna Me Ashley

INTERESTING FACTS I LEARNED AT STAKE CONFERENCE:

• My stake is the entire Heritage Halls.
• 52% of students in my stake are NOT from Utah. That means 48% are.
• 55% are Girls. 45% are Boys.
• 49 States are represented in our Stake.
• 13 Countries are represented in our Stake.
• We are the smallest stake in the church. (Not in people but in area).
• 90% of our boys will leave on their mission before and by April.
• Our stake ALONE supplies 1-2% of ALL the missionaries WORLD-WIDE. Pretty cool huh?

I forgot to bring something to take notes with... I have a couple jotted down in a word document on my computer but those are more personal and i'll keep those personal!

My mom asked me to put my notes from Regional Conference up here. We were blessed to hear from Elder Boyd. K Packer, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Sister Julie Beck, and Brother Steven Snow a member of the Seventy. So enjoy!

Steven E. Snow:

• He stressed the need to remember. Remember our ancestors, remember the covenants we've made, remember our Savior and remember our place in this world.
• "Remembering is not enough; we need to renew." 
• Long-term memory is important but is not enough. We must learn to remember and keep the short, day to day goals and expectations in mind. He explained that short-term remembrance invites the ability and knowledge to renew.

Julie B. Beck:

• Spoke to all the members of the church when she said "YOU ARE DOING BETTER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE." She continued on to say "But we can do better than we are doing."
• Life is extremely hard. It wasn't meant to be easy. We actually fought to come here and live a hard life.
• Miracles happen. Miracles are happening. Miracles are available to each of us if we put forth the faith necessary to see these miracles happen. They occur not by our will, but by our belief that they will.
• Our (speaking to mothers) children are wanting and need our attention. Too much time is spent on the computer by mother's today. IT is your duty to nurture and care for them. Set the example and be the mother you said you would be. You have a divine potential to be more than you are, do not get swept up in the over-usage of the internet, TV and other modern day temptations.
• We should strive for prioritization and precision long before and over perfection.
• Know the scriptures. Know the Prophet and line up behind the Lord.

Jeffrey R. Holland

• Focused a lot on the difficult times we are facing. He told 2 pioneer stories and one from his own life.
• With God we WILL succeed. He is the best ally in these perilous times.
• Answer the call of the Prophet when it comes. He does not give us counsel for no reason. He tells us the things the Lord would have us do and know at that time. 
• Look to our pioneer ancestors for trials, faith and success (all made possible with God.)
• He told a story about a place that needed to be settled after the saints had just arrived in Utah. It was called the Muddy. Brigham Young got up and spoke and said that the following men and their families had been called to go and settle the muddy. One girl sat listening and at her father's name burst into tears fearing the horrible task they had at hand. When suddenly the girl next to her and leaned over and said "Why are you crying? My father was called to, and I know he will NOT go." Wiping the tears from her face she leaned back and said "I am crying because I KNOW my father WILL go and NOTHING will prevent him from doing so. And I should NOT own him as my own father if he would not go." This story stuck out strongly to me. And I realized how blessed I am to have the father I do. Because I know had we been in these pioneers shoes it would've been me crying and echoing the words "I know my father will go. And I should not own him as my own father if he would not go." He is such a good man and an even better example to me.
• We must strive for faith that this is the church and when you are called, you will go. That you will trust that you are given callings for a reason. (I was recently called as a Sunday School teacher!!)
• Nurture your own spiritual and physical strength so you have a reservoir to call upon in hard times. 
• Testimonies should be simple and deep not complex and superficial. 
• Faith is better nourished and longer lasting in a family. 
• There is still work to be done. 
• Be certain when the call comes YOU and YOUR family will go.
• Righteousness will ALWAYS prevail.
• Make our will the Lord's will. Make it pioneer strong. And we will succeed in sharing the gospel.

Boyd K. Packer:

• There at this regional conference were some 150 stakes present (over 1/2 a million members!!)
• "I didn't serve because I was experienced, I served well because I was called."
• "I am the Father, He is in me and we are One." Strive for a similar relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.
• The adversary can only do what we let him do. And in the end WE are in control of the impact he has had on our lives.
• Every soul is given the choice to be whatever he wants to be.
• No member of the church will choose a path that leads to destruction without being told not to first by the Spirit.
• We tend to say "I knew I shouldn't have done that." Then why did you?

Journal For English #1

For part of my English grade I am to keep a journal. However, I have to write in response to the prompts she gives us. My first one is "1.      Think about a big project or assignment you're going to have to do this semester (for any of your classes).  Write for twenty minutes about possible ways to divide the assignment into smaller bits that can be done a little at a time."

The worst project I will have to do this semester are my simple quizzes for anthropology. Because my professor has a sick sense of humor, the simple quizzes are ANYTHING but simple. The simple quiz MUST be a "perfectly structured essay, admirable in every detail, on the following theme..." (Fill in the blank with a prompt that is a paragraph in length and asks us to "draw extensively on the book for examples." It also must be "2332 words of truth and beauty." Now, this wouldn't be such a daunting task if it was just ONE of these, but no, I have THREE to do this semester. The final exam will also be a lengthy paper! So much writing for just one class! And on top of it we have so much additional work! It's insane! High school in NO way prepares you for this type of learning and expectation! 

I will divide these assignments into smaller bits by doing just that. I will try to take time to do some work for the upcoming simple quiz each week. Whether it is the assigned reading for the essay, understanding the prompt in its entirety, re-reading the chapters looking for examples, writing the essay and actually attending the lectures. This, however, is not an easy task for me. Simply because I AM A PROCRASTINATOR. It's hard to find a student who isn't these days. Also I am used to a school where the teachers tell you EXACTLY  what they are looking for and WHEN it is due! All this uncertainty of when things are due and what exactly is assigned is extremely overwhelming and makes me extremely nervous!

1. Reading for the essay. I am attempting to keep up with my reading (not just for this class but for all). The key word is attempting. I have a minimum of 2 books for each class that I am taking. It's crazy. And unreal. Like I said overwhelming. I often lose track of where I am in what book, and what I am supposed to be looking for. But, I do enjoy reading and am trying to make the best of this assignment. 

2. Understanding the prompt. We are discussing the prompt in my anthropology labs. It is a lot easier to focus in that class as it is so small and the teacher seems to want to help. It is taught by a student, one who has taken his class before and that too is nice. It seems like a good resource and I WILL be taking advantage of it.

3. Re-reading the chapters will take some time. But, I do have a general idea as to where some of the examples are. Plus the TA is taking quotes from each of us and making a website, a sort of database, full of quotes we can use in our paper.

4. Writing the essay and attending the lectures are easier said than done. Well, writing at least. But, I do need to get a head start on that paper. As it hangs over my head. Its quite frightening actually, this whole college classwork thing. I'll be lucky to graduate alive. :)

sWiTcHiN' Things UP a Bit!

Lets.. Start with Wednesday shall we?! If anyone really knows me they'd know that I am a ONCE decent basketball player as well as a former pretty good pianist. However, due to the fact that sometimes (for reasons that are UNCLEAR to me) I was unmotivated to practice. While it doesn't make sense to anyone especially me, I decided I missed both of those things! So! On Wednesday I decided to switch things up a little and practiced both piano and basketball for an HOUR each! Well piano was more of an hour and fifteen, and basketball a little more than an hour but who's counting! :) Rare? Just ask my mom! I haven't picked a ball up or sat down to play in MONTHS! It felt really good to do both. So, I made a silent commitment to myself to play piano for an hour once or twice a week! I'm not SUPER ambitious so i'll wait on the basketball goal! :)

Thursday, I went in and played piano for like 45 minutes! While Wednesday was a lot of Hymns and some sight reading of Jon Schmidt, today I did a couple of pieces from a book that has famous movie songs in it! It felt really good to rub the dust off my sight reading eyes and pick back up almost where I left off! I was surprised at how easy it all seemed to come back to me.. :) Thursday night I went to the soccer game (Women's). I felt some obligation to go since they were playing Katie Beck's school! LSU! Of course it didn't hurt that the cute guy from my ward, Terrell, asked me to go with him. It was a lot of fun and like 40 degrees. And guess who was in shorts. OH YA ME. He offered me his jacket but... He had on a short sleeve shirt and I didn't think that would be really nice of me to take his to wrap around my legs! Ha and to top things off they had shut the hot water off from 8am Thursday to 8am Friday. HOWEVER, we had discovered that sometimes we still got hot water. Earlier that evening Nikole had taken a shower and it was warm water. At like 10:30pm I undressed, turned on the shower and jumped in. Guess what happened. NO HOT WATER!! I was bathing in swimming pool water. I came out screaming,  freezing and dripping wet after taking a quick shower to Nikole laughing and saying "I hear it's good for your hair?" It better make my hair worthy of a Garnier Shampoo commercial after that pain.

Friday. Not much different than the others. No basketball. No piano. I did eat lunch with Chase and Nikole though. I am lucky. :) I love those two. And we all three get along really well. Nikole, Ashley and I went to the mall and I got my eyebrows done followed by shopping (which I NEVER do. Again switching things up! ;) ) Crazy huh?! When we got home we were a little on the rowdy side and decided to MAKE dinner. I had been craving REAL meat since as a starving college student I am a little deprived in that area. So together Nikole and I came up with a great recipe. It consisted of me standing over a frying pan with chicken, glancing in our cupboards and shouting ingredients. She of course picked out a few of her own. We then started 2 boxes of pasta roni (2 DIFFERENT KINDS to be creative. That was the theme for the meal). And began cooking. The chicken consisted of a lot of white wine vinegar, a lot of garlic salt, shredded cheese, butter, and a sprinkle of parsley. I cooked it to perfection (all my training finally paid off! ;)  ) We then combined the two to make an AWESOME pasta. Ashley joined in on the fun and made some crystal light to drink. Carrying on the theme when she left the room me and Nikole spiked it with orange juice, apple juice, and a little pineapple mango juice! And GUESS WHAT!! BEST MEAL EVER!! :) Try it if you dare!

From left to right:
White Wine Vinegar, Assorted Peppercorn, Pasta Roni 1 and 2, Garlic Salt, Parsley.
Middle Row:
Butter, Chicken, Cheese.

As this is the after shot the chicken is missing, the boxes are empty, we didn't use THAT much butter (less than half of whats shown) and the onion i threw in at the end is missing as well.

It was quite delicious. Next week were going to buy some ingredients and make a KILLER random soup.

Extended Family. (And a shout-out home)

I dont know about any of your families, but my family is THE best. I have a wonderful mother who is more than I can ever hope to be and an extremely kind and loving father. Needless to say, my parents are better than YOURS (whoever is reading this at the time. ;) ) I'm totally kidding, well kinda. My three brothers are also beyond awesome as well. Chase and I have been getting to hang out a lot at school which I really do enjoy. I have missed him these past two years and am excited we are still good friends. Hayden, is my bud always and forever. He is too sweet and I treasure the friendship we have as well. He is an awesome little brother and an even better friend! Blake, where can I start? Blake... Well, he ALWAYS seems to have my back (even when i'm wrong). And I miss having him around to ride around in my car and listen to music with... I miss my family back home too much! (AND I would totally be in the wrong if I didnt mention my twin.. Aeryn "A-Rod" Emmerich (Giler). I miss her so much.. and more often than not I find myself wishing the two of us were at school together. It's just not the same without her!) I wish I could have like even just 3 hours to visit my family back home, because sometimes all you need is a BIG hug from the people that love you most! (Luckily I have Chase here for that. :) )

My Wonderful Family
Blake, Me, Dad, Mom, Chase and Hayden

The Best Friend Who I Miss ALL too much

And! Onto the reason for the post my incredible extended family!! :) Recently (last week) The Sammons from Arizona flew in, to bring James to the MTC (he's going to Seattle Washington!) The Millgates drove down from Uintah, and we all met at Brick Oven! It was so good to get to see everyone again, especially James since he is leaving for TWO years!!

Paul, Chase, James, Me, Marissa

It was delicious and I was extremely happy to get to see Hugh one last time before he's gone for TWO whole years! It was a lot of fun and a much needed get away fromt my already crazy college schedule! :)

Mariss, Aunt B, Chase

Me, Mariss, Chase

The only picture I am missing is the group one we took before we all left! So, expect that one soon! My new "family" aka my roommates, decided to go out to eat together! Two of them (Holly and Amy were out and couldn't come.) So, Nikole, Ashley, Jenna and I all went to a cute little place near campus called Zupa's! They have REALLY good soup, salads and paninis! If you're ever in the Provo area and looking for a good soup, salad and/or panini definately look up that place! It was a fun time to spend with each other NOT on campus! We had a lot of fun and bonded over singing to Ke$ha in the car! Try not to be too jealous.

Ashley, Nikole, Me, Jenna
I had a weird setting I forgot to turn off..
Hence, the purple highlights we all have in our hair.

 Over labor day weekend I had the privilege of having my Cuz or PiC, come down and go to the BYU game with me and Chase! However, her ticket was difficult to obtain. It took many days of asking around (I even asked one of the random cute guys walking around on campus.. Me- "Excuse me do you know where the MARB is? Him- Ya! I have class there in an hour. Can I walk you to it? Me- "Sure! What's your name? Him- "..." He said a name, but I no longer remember it. We proceeded to talk about school, he is a sophomore preparing for his mission. Me- "So, you excited for the game Saturday?" Him- "Ya! But I can't go.." Me- (VICTORY!) "Oh why not?" Him-"Im going out of town.." Me- "Oh ya.. well I have a cousin who wants to come to the game, what are you doing with your ticket?" Him- "Oh no way! I totally just gave it to my sister, she wanted to go! She just graduated.." Me- "Oh. Well that's cool!" Him- "Ya, you coulda had it though.. but, I already gave it to her." Me-"That's totally ok!" Him- "Ok. Good. Thats the MARB. I'm headed to the library though.. Sophie right?" Me- "Ya! It was nice to meet you!" Him- "Definately! See you around?" Me- "Ya. Thanks again!" Him- "No problem.") The things you do for the people you love. I finally obtained the ticket by asking one of my new friends for it. He wasn't going to be able to make it. Somewhere along the way though lines were blurred and I think he thought he was giving ME the ticket. He asked if I would go on a date with him sometime (I think in exchange for the favor.) I agreed. However, I dont know him well. And well.. nevermind. Like I said. The things you do for the people you love. She got to come to the game, and i'm going on a date with this boy who really isn't my type. But he was really nice. So, he'll make a good friend i'm sure.

Chase, Me and Mariss at the Game!

It was an awesome first game and I had a blast. It was Me, Chase, Mariss and two other guys Dave and Russell, both who Chase was friends with before his mission.

Our friends. A couple in their 50's. Yes, the man does have paper in his hat to block the sun.
And YES the woman did come (and leave) the stadium with her hat on SIDEWAYS.
What?

After the game we came back to my apartment and talked for awhile before deciding we wanted to go out to eat! From left: Mariss, Nikole, Dave, Chase, Me and Russell. We picked up my roommate and had a really fun time laughing and talking at In N' Out!!

Sunday: We went to Chase's for fast sunday! Sadly no pictures were taken. But we did have a delicious dinner of lasagna, salad, rolls and brownies. This time the group was Chase, Mariss, Dave, Russell, Nichelle and Me. We laughed a lot and finished the evening with the movie "The Proposal" and a marathon of funny YouTube videos. Thrill seekers I know.

Various photos from the weekend:

Driving to get pizza and Chase. Well not driving. Sitting in the parking lot. Haha

Sitting in the Nordstrom dressing room as Mariss tries on work-out clothes.

Right before the movie "Takers" which actually turned out better than expected.

Needless to say, my family (extended and immediate) are an amazing part of my life and I love them all like CRAZY!! I am SO SO SO lucky to have the Millgates (Aunt B, Mariss and Uncle Terry) so close and enjoy getting to see them as much as I do! :) They are so good to me and Chase and I cant wait till I can go up there and eat a REAL meal, take a REAL shower and enjoy some company with my favorite family from Utah!! OH! And today is Aunt B's birthday! So HaPpY BiRtHdaY AuNt B! LoVe YoU! And now... schoolwork. :/